Europe Sept '09 - Antwerp (9th Sept)

So, the road trip now brings us to...

ANTWERP!!!

Antwerp - a city that assimilates cultural heritage and modernization

The first place we went to was "Het Steen Castle" (simply known in English as "The Stone Castle"). This place was first built to be a castle and a prison which then was partly demolished for the development of the harbour since Antwerp was Belgium's biggest port. Then it was used as the Museum of Archeology with annexures to house the Maritime Museum. There's also a small section that is used as a war memorial for Canadian soldiers in WWII.

Het Steen

Chin Aun and I in front of Het Steen








Several Views of the Castle on the inside






Heading to the harbour behind Het Steen (with the Canadian War Memorial in the background)

On the Harbour (check out the wind blowing my hair into a mad frenzy)

Gawking at the Lange Wapper Statue in front of Het Steen

The Lange Wapper is legend about a giant to irritates and provokes people and is supposed to be well known and told in Antwerp and other Flemish cities - and truth be told, I did not know that until I came home and googled it

The Anchor in front of Het Steen

After we've had enough of the castle (the Maritime Museum is closed and will be relocated elsewhere so there's nothing much to see except to feel the strong wind on the harbour), we walked across the roads and headed towards Grote Markt (The Main Square of Antwerp).

Heading to Grote Markt

The Cathedral of our Lady can clearly be seen in the background as we head straight towards the Main Square

Grote Markt (The Main Square in Antwerp - translated in English means Big Market Square)

Check out the fountain-statue in the middle of the square - in remembrance of Brabo and his defeat of Antigonus the Giant! If you look at the photo clear enough, you'll see that Brabo is holding the chopped off hand of Antogonus the Giant - poised to throw it into the sea. Apparently, it was from this Dutch Fairy Tale that it was how Antwerp got its name (Antwerp means Hand Throwing in Dutch!).

Chin Aun and I taking photos in the Square

Antwerp Town Hall in Grote Markt

Me in front of the Town Hall bearing the flags of EU

Chin Aun imitating the pose of 'The buideldrager' (The Bag Carrier)

Arbeid Vrijheid means Labour Freedom and this monument is to honour the labour workers and their daily hard work

Horsey ride in the Square!

Also in the square is the Cathedral of our Lady, a Roman Catholic parish church. I can't tell you how blessed we are that we actually got to see this church as it's one of the most beautiful buildings in Europe and is listed on the list World Heritage Sites. Some of the masterpieces of Peter Paul Reubens are found in this church - T"he Raising of the Cross," "Assumption of the Virgin Mary" and "The Descent from the Cross"

Chin Aun and I in front of the Cathedral




Inside the Cathedral

The Cathedral Interior

We didn't stay the night in Antwerp but continued with our journey to Paris... which was around another 400km+ away!

And of course on the way there, we got hungry and decided to go for a pit stop to refuel our tummies. We stopped at one of the rest stops only to find that it wasn't the typical rest stop but was instead a small hotel called Nazareth. I, being penny-wise, told Chin Aun that we should just drive on ahead and stop at the next one to find a cheaper alternative for food (say some fast food and coffee to go??) but he refused because he was too hungry. So, Hotel Nazareth it was!

Nazareth at the rest stop

Fuel for our tummies

Surprisingly, the food was rather affordable! We each ordered some sandwiches and some coffee and the bill amounted to only around 20 euros! Similar pricing structure as some rest stops, I would say. But with better service, better food presentation and cleaner toilets! Hehe...

After the food, we continued with our journey and reached Paris close to 7pm.. I'll post more on Paris in my next blog post :)

Till then~

Europe Sept '09 - Amsterdam! (7th - 8th Sept)

Next destination on the list was AMSTERDAM! :D After seeing Muiden for around 2 hrs, we drove another 30 mins into Amsterdam and got checked into our Botel (yup... the Amstel Botel = Boat + Hotel). We had a little trouble finding the place as the boat sailed off and relocated elsewhere! But all in all, we managed to get checked in and settled down by 3pm...

We stayed 2 nights at the Botel and spent 1.5 days exploring the sights and smells of Amsterdam. Here's the summary of our stay:

Breakfast on the Amstel Botel consisted mainly of bread, ham/bacon and cheese...

This is how the Amstel Botel looked like in the day time

And this is how the Amstel Botel looked like at night...

To get to Amsterdam, we had to wait at the port for the ferry to arrive. There's a 15-minute ferry ride to Central Station in Amsterdam.

A common sight in Holland - the parting of the roads to make way for boats passing on the canals

Waiting to board the supposed "Best Boat Ride" in Amsterdam to see the city while cruising the canals

Several takes on the beautiful city from the boat ride

The I amsterdam Guide and Card - we bought this for 38euros (? can't remember!) and got the boat ride FOC as well as free or discounted entries into some of the museums and places of interests.

In the Garden of Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum Entrance

I'm not much of an art fan - but this museum is truly breathtaking! You'll get to appreciate art in an angle you've never looked from before. Chin Aun also downloaded the museum guides into his mobile phone so we had a guided tour of some of the rooms in the museum :)

And I'll always remember "The Dollhouses" and "The Night Watch"...

After visiting the Rijksmuseum, we walked 10mins down the road to visit Van Gogh Museum... I'm sad to say I'm rather disappointed with that particular museum as I was really hyped up to see "Starry Night", my favourite piece of Van Gogh's work, to find out that this particular piece is only on display in the New York Museum of Modern Art *bah!*

Wanted to get some authentic "Starry Night" souvenirs from the souvenir shop in the museum and there was none too!! *bang head on wall* Left the museum feeling disgruntled...

My spirits picked up as soon as I saw a small souvenir shop selling Van Gogh art copies beside the museum and I managed to buy a ripoff of the ripoff of "Starry Night"!! Managed to convince Chin Aun to let me frame that in our house next year too! Haha...

Sorry, no photos of the museums as cameras were not allowed :(

Can you spot us from the hollows of the M in Amsterdam??

In front of Magna Plaza proudly holding my Van Gogh ripoff

In Dam Square - the heart of Amsterdam

Chin Aun in front of The Niewe Kerk

On the foyer overlooking the interior of The Niewe Kerk

The beauty that is The Niewe Kerk

Typical touristy shot of Amsterdam (against the canal)

Sitting in the Klompen (Dutch Clog!)

In front of a mural of the 70's (saw this being featured in one of the Visit Amsterdam videos that Chin Aun found online!)

Chin Aun taking a leak?? Hehehe... Nah, just posing!
This is a free to use 'toilet' for men found all around Amsterdam

The rainbow flag flying proud and high


In conjuction with the Netherlands Theater Festival - a truly eyecatching attempt. Talk about theatrics huh?

Consulting the I amsterdam Book Guide on where to go next!

Heineken - the City

Bottles of beer with Dutch inspired designs


Heineken souvenirs

No trip would be complete without a visit to....

Hard Rock Cafe!


The Jumbo Combo - a combo of all the best starters at Hard Rock Cafe - Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders
Tropical Rock in Hurricane Glass - Stoli Radzberi Vodka, creme de banana, pina colada mix, pineapple juice and a Midori Lemon Liqueur float (garnished with maraschino cherry)


Vondel Park in Amsterdam


Walking the streets of Amsterdam - heading back to the center square

And but of course... Amsterdam would not be Amsterdam without a night stroll down the famed Red Light District...

I've seen more things here than I have in my last 26 years of life! And some are too freakish to ever be erased from my memories *shudder*

Sex Shop Window Display - NOT A TOY! Plush rabbits with enlarged members

Also a Sex Shop Window Display - dildo's in all shapes, sizes with multiple functions

Truth be told... the Red Light District is not as seedy or shady as the reputation that precedes it. It is more of a tourist attraction of brothels on display rather than a notorious place for notorious people with even more notorious intentions. Of course, we also saw tourists who were interested to sample a piece of the delectable Red Light District (in the form of some middle aged Japanese man vehemently discussing who to take on a scantily clad young, beautiful and voluptuous woman behind the glass).

Amsterdam was GREAT :D I loved every second that we were there (even when my legs were killing me) and throughout my stay in Europe, we did go there again, even if it was just for a few hours (a day trip - from Leeuwarden to Amsterdam) to check out some stores on PC Hooftstraat (helping some friends look for handbags...) and to visit the Amsterdam Diamond Center. However, I forgot to bring my camera so I didn't manage to take any photos...

So after Amsterdam, the road trip continues...
Next stop : Antwerp, Belgium :D

Will post more when I can but I am really slow in doing this!

Europe Sept '09 - Muiden - southeast of Amsterdam (7th Sept)

So it's 7th Sept 2009 and it's the first day of our roadtrip across several locations in Europe. After a nice home-cooked breakfast at home that consisted of bread, ham and cheese, Chin Aun and I piled into the car with a truckload of luggage and food and headed down to Muiden, a little town on the southeast of Amsterdam to see the great Muiderslot Castle.

Road Trip
view from car with modern windmills on the right

After driving for a little more than an hour of driving and on the way -wondering at the evolution of modern windmills, checking out black and white cows grazing on green pastures and and admiring the rearing of black stallions in farms all along the highway, we finally found Muiderslot (which was around 110km away from our location in Leeuwarden).

Entrance to Castle Area

Front View of Castle

Castle Garden

View of Castle from Garden

Chin Aun standing outside the sheltered arch that leads to the garden

Walking along the pathway

After we were done admiring the garden, we went into the castle for a look-see (after all, we paid 8.50euros per person to enter!) The first place we checked out was the dungeon and torture chamber :D and there was a sign that showed all the different types of punishments that was carried out back in the 1200's.

And there was one that particularly caught my eye...

Tongue Piercing for Swearing

Yup! You read right... to think that back then, swearing was a crime severe enough to be punishable by piercing one's tongue. Who would've thought that by now, swearing is so common and tongue piercing is actually considered cool by a certain crowd...

According to the rest of the sign (which I didn't post up here), Murder was a serious crime that was punishable by Decapitation. Do you think by the year 3000, some genres would consider it cool to decapitate themselves?

Chin Aun posing with the hand and foot cuffs - we didn't manage to find out this punishment was belted out for which crime though!

Walking inside to explore the interior of the castle, we were taken to this room that gave a detailed description of how correspondence was like in the 1800's together with a functioning seal stamp (a seal to mark the letter intact and unread)

Me experimenting with the letter seal

There was also a room where we can see how the people were dressed back then. The clothes were propped up on a metal mannequin outline so that we can take photos with it!

And as you can see from the photo above, clearly the dames were waaaaaaay taller than since I am already standing on tiptoes and you can't even see my neck!

There were a lot more rooms in there - a room that showed the study of Floris V and a room that had showed the state of the castle throughout the years. There was this room where the castle flags/banners of Holland and Zeeland displayed.

Posing with the flags!

There was even a room with a built-in arcade game that simulates soldiers throwing cannonballs at enemies that are attacking the castle! The key to winning is to avoid cannonballing the peasants (which I did on purpose just for the sake of doing it!)

Travelled so far to be hooked on a game

It was a maze in there! There were doors that led to a bridge from inside that overlooks the front of the castle.

Chin Aun and I taking turns to take photo on the Bridge

The view overlooking the Castle Garden

We also climbed the tower inside the castle (which made me shudder and think of Martini Tower all over again because my feet was still aching!)

Taking photos even when making our way up and down the tower

The view from inside the Castle Tower

After we've finally walked everywhere (I think!), we just took a stroll along the side and back of the castle. There was a guided tour but it was conducted in Dutch so we didn't think to join since we won't understand it anyways.

Muiderslot Castle from the Back

Muiderslot Castle from the Front

And so, the road trip to Amsterdam continues... :D Another 20-30km!! (which I will blog about in a separate post)

Oh, I just realized that I actually took some photos of the Muider Town but since I have finally completed this post, I really am too lazy to upload the photos and go through the hassle of minding the alignment again... hehehe...

Europe Sept '09 - Oldemarkt & Giethoorn (6th Sept)

The day after my arrival in Holland, Chin Aun arranged for us to meet up with a colleague (Harald) of his who stays in Oldemarkt, which was an hour's drive from Leeuwarden for lunch before heading off together to see the small town of Giethoorn.

At Harald's, we had a simple but tasty Dutch lunch of croissants, sweet cakes, cheese and ham and Chin Aun and I were totally awed by the wonder that was his home. He had an awesome garden with pear, apple and prune trees with grape vines! It was the first time I tasted a fruit freshly plucked from the tree...

I've made a simple collage the town of Oldemarkt to show you guys how picturesque it is :) I love the photo of the sunset...

After lunch, Harald drove us down to Giethoorn, which was about a 20 minute drive from Oldemarkt. He also showed us a few windmills on the way there...

Giethoorn is also known as The Little Venice of the Netherlands. I'm not expressive enough to put in words the beauty that is Giethoorn so I'm uploading a few photos so that you can see for yourself how truly beautiful it is...

We walked around the whole place and stopped at a cafe for some coffee and ice cream before walking around the entire place and going back to the car to head back to Harald's place in Oldemarkt. In Oldemarkt, he showed us some of the local sights. From there, Chin Aun and I drove back to Leeuwarden and that marked my second day in The Netherlands. And tomorrow, the road trip to Amsterdam begins :D

Europe Sept '09 - Groningen (5th Sept)

On the same day that I arrived in Holland, after settling in and unpacking and having a hot home-made breakfast, we made our way to Groningen for some sight-seeing. Anyways, Groningen is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands and is mainly populated by students, so there are more foreigners there. It's about a 45minute drive from Leeuwarden and Chin Aun thought that we could just drop by for a look-see to kickstart the Europe trip.

Upon arrival in Groningen, it was close to noon and we parked in the carpark of Ikea and proceeded to see the city on foot. I wore flip-flops cos I was too lazy to wear my covered shoe and boy, I nearly froze my toes off!

The St. Jozef Cathedral of Groningen

Walking The Shopping Street of Groningen

There's this tower called Martinitoren (Martini Tower) in the main square of the city of Groningen that provides a great view of the square and the surrounding area. Being the tourists that we are, we paid the entrance fee of 3euros per person and took the challenge to climb up the tower to experience the view.

The Martini Tower

1. Standing at the entrance for the climb up
2. Taking a deep breath and climbing up!
3. A loooong and painful way down if I fall!

Stopping halfway at the chamber to ring the bell of the tower
(which I failed because it was too damn heavy. Chin Aun managed to do it though, after a few tries and rope-burnt palms)

Trying to pry a trap door open

The view from the tower halfway up!

In short, it was a LONG, PAINFUL and SCARY climb. he descent from the tower was even worse! The steps were steep and small and there were no support other than a thick rope hanging from the top. My feet hurt, my heart was beating too fast from the breathlessness of the climb and the fear from falling down. I suffered a severe cramp in the middle of the night as a result of climbing the tower in flip-flops! But it was worth it :)

Europe Sept '09 - Arrival (5th Sept)

So.... after much excitement and anticipation, the DAY has finally arrived :) I packed, hopped on the plane, sat in a cramped seat on KLM for 12 hours (with the service of rude stewardesses - remind me never to criticize MAS flight attendants again!) - I touched down at the Schiphol Airport at 5:45am but only finally met Chin Aun at around 7am+ (long wait at the immigration).

Schiphol Airport "Welkom"s Me

Chin Aun has temporarily put up home in Leeuwarden Friesland, so that's about a 1.5hr drive from Schiphol. On the way there, we'd have to pass through the Afsluitdijk - a bridge in the form of a highway that was constructed in the late 1920's to connect Friesland with North Holland that separates the a part of the North Sea into a fresh water lake called the IJsselmeer . So one side of the causeway (the North Sea) is actually higher than the other side! go check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afsluitdijk if you're interested to know more)

On the Afsluitdijk

The Aflsluitdijk Monument Area

Chin Aun has become a little cook and has started preparing meals for himself while he's there so he made breakfast upon arriving back home in Leeuwarden at around 10am :)

The Tired Cook and His Feast

Breakfast consisted of eggs - sunny side up, sausage, sauteed mushrooms and oven-baked brocolli, carrots and cherry mushrooms! *yum*

I'll try to blog more to keep you guys updated on the trip as much as I can :) Will leave for the roadtrip to Amsterdam-Paris-Brussels in 2 days. Thank God for an awesome Internet connection here!!

Something worth mentioning from my trip back home during the National Day weekend...

Bonding session with Mel dear over pedicure in e-gate :) This is something that we need to do more often.. Guess who's who??

I’m packed, all set and GOOD TO GO :)

I’m just counting down the hours and the minutes until mangkuk gets here (so that he can drop me off at Sentral to catch the ERL to KLIA)…

My heart, soul and mind already left the building a LONG time ago (I would say they just left but then I’d be lying, haha!)

I can’t believe I’m taking a break to go home after so long! The last time I was back home was in May for the long Labour Day weekend.

You know… I have so many things to blog about and so little time…

Top few on my list of things to blog about:

1. Mangkuk's Bday Dinner with Zilly (but that seems to be a few weeks back so I'm not sure about the 'timeliness' of the post)

2. my phone and its issues (many issues!!)

3. my new lumix (ok.. HALF mine anyways)

4. my upcoming trip to Europe :D

5. my upcoming trip to Beijing (company trip, hence it’s without the “ :D ” smiley face, but worth a mention, nonetheless)

Anyone care to place any bets that I will be updating my blog during the upcoming long weekend??? *winks*

So why are you going there for so long?

I'm running away...

The number of days since I last blogged

178 days

*ugh*

That’s the more favourable answer of the two. My other answer would be 275 days *double ugh* That's a great two-thirds of a year..

178 days – since my last blog entry (a mobile blog when I was waiting in line to see the doc)

275 days – since my last actual blog, complete with photos, emotion and dripping sarcasm.

I have been getting comments – both on my blog, thru email and verbally, that my blog is well … collecting dust., metaphorically speaking. But I’m sure you get what I mean.

And while most of the time, I brush off those comments – mostly with an airy wave, a shrug, a threat to shut up or be immobilized… there’s this nagging thought that asked me to go check how long it’s been since I blogged. And I have the answer.. there up above in the bold font..

Dang…

Random thoughts...
I'm sitting here with chin aun in the mediviron clinic branch in paramount n i just realized this.. AT THE RATE WE SPEND WAITING IN THIS DAMN CLINIC.. IF THIS WAS A LIFE-N-DEATH SITUATION, I'D BE LYING FLAT ON A MARBLE SLAB!!

There's something alien about Crocs

You know, I actually set up my laptop and made a cozy corner amidst the mess that is my living room so that I can prepare some slides for work (that I have been pitifully putting off!) when I decided that I want to blog something...

That's Procrastination hard at work!

Damnit!

I'm, once again, blogging about shoes :D Muahaha... I tell you, the way to a woman's heart is thru her feet!!! (oh well, this woman, anyway) I've been wanting to blog about this since a LONG time ago but I haven't had the chance... Anyways..

In Sept, I went home to the Great Place That Is. This place is so great, it doesn't even need words to describe it :)

Yup.. That's THE GREAT PLACE THAT IS that I am talking about.. Anyways, Chin Aun and I drove back during Raya to bask in the love that is home for a week. And in that week, I made the most of my time setting up shopping dates with Mello and Bee Sung and spending the rest of my time with my family, doing things that family do.

Mello and I went to QB to check out what stores opened up there (for my sake because I haven't been there since forever) and we happened to stroll into Crocs. I wanted to show her a pair of sandals that my sis and I were planning to get for my mom.

To cut the long story short, Mel and I walked in, tried on pairs after pairs of shoes and when I found my senses again, I was clutching on to a Crocs bag and so was Mel!! I checked the time and it has been an hour and a half since we stepped into the store! Can you believe it?!?! It's amazing that this happened in broad daylight!!

.

.

.

.

.

.

MEL AND I WERE ABDUCTED BY ALIENS!!!

TOGETHER!!!!!! FOR OVER AN HOUR!!!!!!

IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!!!

WITH THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AS WITNESSES!!

AND WE WERE GIVEN CROCS AS SOUVENIRS!!!

Isn't that totally awesome!?!??! What I wouldn't give to be abducted again *grins*

So Mel and I proceeded to discuss our miraculous abduction over a cup of coffee in Secret Recipe and checked out our gifts from our new-found-alien-buddies..

Pretty neat right?? They even gave us our shoes in our right sizes! Mine's size9 and Mel's size 7 (? - I think)..

Mary Janes - Sea Foam

Mary Janes - Lavender

And you know what? Those extraterrestials were so darned sweet too :) They gave us the shoes complete with Jibbitz!! Mine has a Pooh Bear sleeping with a Honey Pot and Mel has Marvin the Martian (I KNEW they were hinting something when I saw that!). They also gave us matching MO Jibbitz on each of our left shoe!~ That was sooooooooo sooooooooooo sweet :))) *teary eyed*

Marvin, Pooh Bear & MO

Look! A perfect fit!! :D

When I got home, I came to know that my sister also experienced the same abduction issue!! The aliens gave her a pair of blue suede shoes ;) My dad made known that he felt very left out when we were discussing our abduction adventure that we had to use our telepathic connections to communicate with these special foreign beings to come abduct my dad as well. They blessed him with a pair of boring black slippers that suited his old-man preferences well..

That's the 3 of us in our alien-induced glory

Sobek in Black

Celeste Suede in Chocolate/Peacock

And since the 7th of Oct was Chin Aun's Bday.... I once again misused my mind power to tell them aliens to send him a pair as birthday present ;) Boy, was he happy with them ;)

Off Road in Army/Orange (Chin Aun actually received it in another color but I could not find a picture of that)

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I just heard from Mel that a total of RM252 was charged to her credit card for the month of October. It happened in the short span of time that we were abducted. The thing is, her credit card NEVER left her purse.... I guess we'll never really know what happened in that 90mins in Queensbay Mall on that balmy evening of the 1st of October...

*****************************************

I know... I'm so full of sh*t... Ah well, but if you are reading this crap that I am writing at 11pm at night (to get out of doing my slides for presentation!) you must love me - even a little bit!. Haha...

In Loving Memory...

... of my Aunt Carol.

As most of you know, my aunt was diagnosed with the final stage of cervical cancer in 2007 and recovered after many sessions of radiotherapy. However, the cancer by then had spread to her lungs and liver and because she was unable to undergo chemotherapy, the doctor advised her to live quality life.

My aunt finally succumbed to the cancer on the 21st of October and I'm glad that I managed to get home in time and was by her side when she took her last breath.

That's me and my aunt in the Penang International Airport waiting to board our flight to LA

And this is a more recent photo of us when she was sending me off (together with my parents) at the Nibong Tebal bus station when I went back to Penang for a break. I know that this isn't exactly the most flattering photo of me with my puffy eyes but it isn't about me...

I will cherish and miss our times together, from the time I was a born until now. I'll always remember how she and my mom would patiently wait for my bus to arrive/plane to land when I come back home. How she and my parents will never fail to send me off when I go back to KL irregardless whether she was working that day. If she was, she'd take leave just to send me to the bus station/airport. How much I bugged her to buy me an iPod from US when I first caught the Apple bug and she complied. The weekend dim sum lunches and shopping sprees. How I put my hands over my ears when she nags at me about leaving the computer on overnight...

There's just so many things and I just don't know how to put it in words. I wake up every morning re-adjusting to the fact that she is no longer here.

I really miss her...

Random Thoughts...

...
Sugababes, without Mutya, is disgusting.
And that's with a capital "D".

*bleargh*

Show your support...

Free Handbag with Handbag Planet

To all you bag-lovers out there!!

HANDBAG PLANET is giving away 24 handbags in line with their launch on the 15th of October 2008. They're giving out ONE handbag AN HOUR *mouth hangs open* *drools*

Go check out their website at the following URL:

http://www.handbagplanet.com/

for more information. Do hurry though, contest ends in 6 days (and counting!)..

** everyone... please keep your fingers crossed that I would win some handbags!! :D

Bangkok Limbo with Air Asia

SMFS!!!

I bloody booked flight tickets to Bangkok sometime last year in Decemeber. I'm scheduled to fly off on the 14th of Sept and scheduled to come back on the 17th of the same month.

Look at the political chaos in Thailand now! How in the world am I supposed to board the plane with a happy shopping face on the 14th to fly there when a niggling thought at the back of my head is freaking me out!? My mom is worried that if I go, I might get stuck there and dear old Mel and Zeeks can see me on CNN running for my life. Yeah, just imagine the scenario of me haggling for a pair of shoes and I get shot in the back of my head - "Free shoes, ma'am?? They've got blood and brain matter all over it"

Chin Aun and I have been trying to call Air Asia's call centre to get further information since 2 weeks ago and all these while we have been put on hold for HOURS (yeah, think of the damn phone bill that's on the way). And we managed to get thru today at 6pm just now - not to the call centre but to the Guest Services centre. Isn't that absolutely great? *roll eyes*

Yeah, don't call Call Centre at 03-8775 4000

Call 03-8660 4388 instead for Guest Support. At least someone is picking up the phone there (please be prepared to wait a few hours)

Anyways, we have been informed that we will be charged at least RM80/person/flight if we want to change the date of travel - that would make it a freaking RM320!! (more than 50% of the price of our flight tickets and let's not even talk about my hotel booking fee).

Isn't this fantastic?? Our first experience overseas with Air Asia and the shit hits the fan.

And mind you, this shit is the wet type.

I know I am being disgusting but I can't help it. I'm pissed.

I guess we also reluctantly understand that Air Asia cannot do much because our government has yet to issue an official warning against travelling to Bangkok. Yup, the big ones are too busy playing in their political sandbox, blissfully unaware that the rest of the country is looking at them to make important decisions. Not determining whether they want to fucking flee the country before 16th Sept or whether they are backing the public for Ahmad's apology. Freaking dumb shits.

Look at China. At least they have their people's best interests in mind to issue a "no-fly" to Thailand instead of gorging themselves with selfish individualistic agendas!

So peeps, next time, think twice before you buy air tickets so long in advance. And if you really want to, fly Singapore Airlines. At least you pay a premium price and you get quality in return and someone's bound to pick up the phone at the call centre instead of putting you on hold.

And what's rich - when I'm put on hold, I was forced to listen to this message - "All our customer care agents are still busy due to our promotions. Please hold" (not in verbatim, something along the lines of that). I guess they couldn't say "We're sorry. Due to the shit that's happening right now in Thailand, our passengers have gone crazy and flooded our lines. Please hold while we get someone to tend to your crap".

Damn pissed ade... No mood to post photos taken in Korea now.

A post for the sake of posting...

Yes, I am merely writing a post for the sake of posting. It seems that in the past month, all my will to write and every frigging ounce of creativity that I have in my head has flown out the window and into the darkness of the night...

For those who didn't know, I actually just came back from a hectic 6D4N trip to Korea.. a company incentive trip :) I initially dreaded going because it's summer there and the Sun and I don't get along too well. But as soon as I set foot there, I wished that I had more money to spare!! Hahaha... cos I had so many things to buy, yet so little cash, so little time and so little space.

Anyways, as soon as I got back into the office today and before I started clearing tons of emails that amassed in my absence, I decided to write to my two best buddies in the world to tell them how much I miss them and that I got something for them from my trip. And what did I get in return????? *shoot daggers from eyes*

2 people complaining about my dead blog... well, two people who gave it to me in black-&-white complaining about my dead blog and Zeeks complained on his sister's behalf as well *give a withering look to Zilly*. These 3 nuts are ganging up on me...

As usual, Mello being the more subtle of the 2, mentioned that she is bored and asked me to blog something. But Zeeks, being the mangkuk Mah that he is, said this in verbatim:

yalar.. soon, plz lar, even my sis also complaint ur blog. no updates. she ask me after your top 10 songs you run oout of ideas already izit???
plz have some "hot and spicy" gossips in your blog in order to revive "shooting my @ss", i mean breeze.

im expecting at least 5 entries on your trip and some drama going on... like checking out the gay bars, go for guy stripping show, how you flirt with korean guys..... etc.. etc..
sthing like dat... plz.................

*give another withering look to Zilly*

Don't you DARE take after your brother, the renowned Mangkuk Mah!

Shooting my @ss!??! Checking gay bars?!?! Guys Strip Show!?!? Flirt with Korean guys!??!?!

Let me say something to the above:

1. The only @ss I'd ever shoot would be yours if you don't tone down and apologize and make it up for your harshness by getting me a fabulous gift from Hanoi

2. Checking Gay Bars?!?! What For!??! All the females there like females and all the males there like males. I don't see a win-win situation here for me...

3. Guys Strip Show!? Considering everything costs a bomb in Korea, I'm guessing I would have to fork out at least 30,000won for the Strip Show and I'd rather buy me something more tangible :p

4. Flirt!? How?! It's worse than chicken and duck talk.. and if you've forgotten, there's someone here called Chin Aun. Want me to get skinned and hung up to dry??

The most exciting thing I did there was go on a super-rollercoaster ride with 90degree plunges and it was freaking awesome!! If the line wasn't as long as it was, I'd go on it again and again. I'll show you guys some photos once I've scaled down the size and photoshopped them (it was 6 sweltering hot days and the heat don't do wonders for my face ok???)

Meanwhile, give me a couple of minutes, I'm sitting here, freezing my bum off in my towel, waiting for my face mask to dry. Once I get cleaned up, I'll blog something good ok?? :p

What a joke...

*snorts*

...our fuel dilemma, that is. Or is it?

In early March 2008, an announcement was made that there would NOT be any increase in fuel prices in 2008.
In June 2008, fuel prices rose to a bloody RM2.70/ltr (an whooping 40%)!!

Last month, the govt announced that petrol prices would not be reviewed for reduction until Sept 2008.
As of 12:00am today, petrol price went down to RM2.55/ltr...

Points to take into consideration:

1. General Election was in March 2008 - ruling party lost highest revenue states like Penang and Selangor to opposition and barely won by a hairsbreath.

2. Permatang Pauh by-election will be held final week of August.

Timeline seems to be of the essence, no??


My points of view:

1. The people are not stupid. On the contrary... we are aware of the mind-blowing activites that are coincidental with the timeline

2. According to The Star Online, a certain member of the parliament seems annoyed about the lack of appreciation from the public on the fuel price reduction (source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/23/nation/20080823172837&sec=nation) and says that the people should be thankful for the fuel 'rebate' otherwise, the rebate would be used elsewhere. However, whilst this particular person only SEEMS annoyed, I AM, TRULY, DEEPLY ANNOYED. Reason being - just because you inflict pain and anguish on someone everyday and decide to take a break by inflicting less for 15-days (? subject to review...), you think that someone is going to APPRECIATE you? wtf?! Someone here is deluded and it isn't me...

3. Someone important went on a joyride on our trusty old KTM and LRT and decided that it's in a sorry state!! *hysterical laughter* (He truly didn't know!? *raise eyebrow* & *roll eyes*) Why now? Why after so many years of sitting in that comfortable seat that he decides to go for a ride? Perhaps it's got something to do with a certain big-thing happening in Permatang Pauh...

4. Lastly... this whole debacle since March 2008 reminds me of a certain US President who said these evergreen words:

"I DID NOT sleep with Ms Lewinsky"

only to say this after several weeks:

"I DID sleep with Ms Lewinksy"

What a bloody stinking joke.

Top 10 Songs...

Zeeks came up with an idea to do a joint-blog post for him, Melissa and myself. And the topic that he gave us for this assignment is "The Top 10 Songs On Your Ipod". He actually gave us a deadline to post it up by the 5th of June at 10:00pm. But on the 5th of June, I was too caught up with work that it totally slipped my mind so I had to persuade the two royal highnesses to postpone it to today. After a while, they agreed and so here I am~ :)

Now the thing is, when Zeeks mentioned the "Top 10 Songs On Your Ipod", he did not mention whether he meant the top 10 songs that is currently playing on my ipod or the top 10 songs that is vital that I have on my ipod...

So I'll just answer to BOTH the questions at hand... *grins*

I'll just briefly run through the current The Top 10 songs that is currently playing on my ipod right now:

David Archuleta - Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

David Cook - Dream Big / Always Be My Baby / Time of My Life

Brewing from the fever of American Idol Season 7, I've been hooked on David Cook (the new American Idol) and David Archuleta's performances. I loved Archuleta's version of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"! It was even better than Clay Aiken's version, and about a gazillion times better than Elton John's version.

As for the other David, I am hooked on his performances in the final for "Dream Big" and "Time of My Life" (the winning song). And who could forget his cover of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby"??

Neil McCoy - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye

Then there's a cover version of "Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye" which Neil McCoy did for The Casino's classic which was used in the movie Paris Je T'aime. Zeeks actually watched the movie and he asked me to download the mp3 for him. I found the original version but Zeeks found the cover version and shared with me and Mel.... I LOVE IT!~ It's so lovey dovey melancholy!~

Marie Digby - Stupid For You

I found this song on YouTube :) and it's got a catchy-feet-tapping tune to it. Haven't found a good version of it yet.

Chris Daughtry - What About Now

Graham Colton - Best Days

I accidentally found these two songs when I was watching American Idol Season 7's Idol Gives Back and they were playing these songs when showing the top 3 finalists visit to their home town. I caught snippets of the lyrics and googled them and ta-dah!~ :)

Chris Brown - With You

And finally, there's Chris Brown's "With You" :) I love the part in front when he sings "I need you, bu"... and I also like David Archuleta's version of this song.

********************

And now, I'll proceed with going through The Top 10 Song that I will always have on my iPod *grins* It was hard to narrow it down to the songs that I'm about to name now but I guess I just had to think long and hard and just think what are the songs that I would HAVE to transfer to a new mp3 player with limited storage space.

Adam Sandler - I Wanna Grow Old With You

From the soundatrack of the magnificent romantic comedy "The Wedding Singer" starring Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. He sang that song to her when she was leaving on a plane because she thought he didn't love her. Although the song is very short and simple, the lyrics were so meaningful and romantic :)) hehehe... perfect for a sap like me...

Color Me Badd - Forever Love

This R&B group have been really successful in the early 90's and this is one of their less famous songs (as opposed to the raunchy "I Wanna Sex You Up"). They are also famous for their songs like "The Earth, The Sun and The Rain" and "All for Love".

Blessid Union of Souls - Light In Your Eyes

I heard this song long long time ago (I think that was when I was 13 or 14?? Which is like eons ago...) and I have fallen in love with it is. And there was a time when Mel and I actually drafted our own version of this song during a tuition class when we were supposed to be paying attention to add maths. I guess listening to this song makes me relive our crazy good times :) I miss those times...

Jay Chou - Lang Man Shou Ji (Romantic Cellphone) / Wo Bu Pei (I'm Not Worthy)

And on my MUST-HAVE list, there are 2 songs by Jay Chou! :) First is "Lang Man Shou Ji" from his November's Chopin album and the other one is "Wo Bu Pei" from his On the Run album (his most recent album). I guess I like them because they are so distinguished and so different...

Bon Jovi - Always

Bon Jovi's Crossroads album is their most magnificent album ever and I can be sure to say that this is their most successful album ever! Whilst "Always" is THE Bon Jovi song, they have many other hit singles as well like "Never Say Goodbye", "Livin' On A Prayer" and "I'll Be There For You" to name a few. All in all, Bon Jovi is one of the most magnificent and most awed rock bands in the history of music...

The Calling - Wherever You Will Go

Then of course, there's The Calling's "Wherever You Will Go". The Calling has many other great singles under their belt but this one is the most profound. And no matter how many great songs they have (like "Things Don't Always Turn Out That Way" and "Stigmatized"), I will never ever get sick of this one :) I'm even using it as my ringtone!


Lifehouse - Blind
Jason Wade - You Belong To Me

And finally on my Top 10 list is Lifehouse and Jason Wade (lead singer of Lifehouse) *grins* I love "Blind" but I don't know why. I also like Lifehouse's "Whatever It Takes" and "Chapter One" but this one is my favourite.

As for Jason Wade's "You Belong To Me" is from the Soundtrack of Shrek and I didn't even know it existed (because, can you imagine, I have never seen Shrek!). I accidentally found this song online and I have never gone more than 3 days without listening to it!

********************

Well here you go... my top 10 lists of songs :)

I know that this post is a little dry. But I'm a little tired because I'm mentally, emotionally and physically drained. But you know, after posting all that on music, it really does lift my spirits a bit.

So here you go, Mel and Zeeks's posts as well

Melissa's Top 10

Zeek's Top 10

The problem with us is...

.... our government. To be specific, our federal government.

It's true. The hike in petrol has been confirmed. From RM1.92 per litre to RM2.70 per litre = a whopping 40% increase! What next? 40% increase in toll prices too? With the massive jump in fuel prices, no doubt the price of everything else would just skyrocket! Somehow, I doubt there'd be massive skyrocketing in our salaries.

In the eyes of a disgruntled citizen as myself, I wished that there was something that we, a collection of ALL disgruntled citizens, could do about this situation. Isn't it bad enough that we are forced to settle for miserable excuses for vehicles with the likes of Proton cars when the taxes for all imported cars are preposterous?! These cars that shake and rattle so much that you can barely hear yourself think when you drive along roads with excessive potholes like Jalan Universiti??

These are the same cars that we, citizens of this country, are forced to buy because every other car that is imported that provides us with the bare necessities that our local carmaker cannot provide to us! And these bare necessities that I am talking about are not only in terms of performance and fuel efficiency...

I'm just bloody asking for an affordable car within my budget, within all young working Malaysians' budget, that doesn't have headlights that retain water when it rains. A car with power windows that actually works for more than 2 months. A car with doors that doesn't rust within the first year of purchase. A car that doesn't creak and groan and shake and rattle and basically sound like it's about to fall to pieces everytime you go over a bump or a pothole. (Speaking of potholes, why the f**k doesn't the government do anything about these road menace in PJ especially!?)

With the petrol subsidies pluging like birds' droppings, you would think that the government would reduce the taxes of imported cars so that us, citizens of Malaysia, would be able to afford better quality cars... right? That would be a sensible and logical next step - to keep our best interests at heart.

*scoff*

Best Interests at Heart? hmmph... that would be a first...

We're talking about the same people who issued a statement to the press about taking back everything that they've given to the Penang state (like the RapidPenang Bus System) when they lost the elections. Just one example of the many other childish post-election issues that were raised 2 months ago...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the ruling government's next step to 'get back' at the public for letting the opposition win more than 40% of the seats contested. And if someone who is as politically-illiterate as I am can see this, I'm sure that there would be millions more out there who can.

From the looks of it, Malaysia is just the federal government's playpen and we are the pawns with everything to lose...

********************

For those who have been following the election news and info, this is something that you would have guessed would happen when Khairy won the Rembau seat and there was speculation that it was not a clean win:

Rembau Election Petition Strikes Out (The Star Online, 4th June 2008

Sometimes you just wonder where we are headed to, where this country is headed to...

What's in a name??

*snorts*

I'm stifling back my laughter just thinking about it...

Anyone knows what KANTHAN is? *grin*

Maybe it's sort of a personal joke... but to Mel, Zeeks and myself.. we're gonna be laughing about this for a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time *grins*

ENJOY!!

2 Girls, A Guy and A Working Place


*Note to self: Don't laugh about KHANTAN too much... it's indirectly what's paying for some of my meals *grins* (well... a little less than 'some' now...)

More Skechers

From the title above, you can only guess that I've either fallen in love with another pair of skechers or I've taken an additional step and BOUGHT my love in the form of a pair of shoes *grins* In today's case... it would be the latter..

I LOVE SKECHERS!

See the picture up there?? I know EXACTLY how she feels when she looks so delirious about a few pairs of shoes.

I don't know why... love, more often than not, are deemed inexplicable and this is no different.

I've actually been hunting for the perfect pair.. I wanted something non-black and it's kinda hard to find a pair of shoes that is NOT black when I'm dressed in black 95% of the times *throw hand up in air - exasperated*

I went to MidValley, Sunway and finally 1-Utama and found this pair:

Loved it on the spot! :D I tried the exact same pair in brown in Midvalley but I wanted something a little bit more different and I found this!~

But, it was in 1-Utama and the lady, her name is Aishah, was being really rude and I was not about to give her 200bucks quite so easily. She gave me a dark look when I walked into the store and selected a few pairs and asked for them in size 8. Then when she came back with the shoes, she dropped them off on the seat beside where I was sitting as though I'm imposing on her. But isn't that supposed to be her job?!

I was on the brink of purchasing it and I knew that I could get it for 25% off with HSBC credit card (because a nice guy in Midvalley told me and a nice lady in Sunway reinforced it). But this Aishah lady told me that I could not get the 25% off because they were having in-store sales as well - of 20%.

I was like WTF!? Okay... I know that 5% difference isn't a big deal and if she was being nice to me, I would have just made the purchase and walked out of the store euphoric. But she was seriously pissing me off with her 'holier-than-thou' attitude and I guess after 20minutes of dealing with her, the bitch in me just emerged (I guess about time too... she's been repressed for far too long). I told her to pack it up; indicating that I would purchase it. Then I walked and tried on as many pairs of shoes that I possibly could. Knowing my big fat feet, my shoe size would NEVER be on display.. I MADE her go and get the shoes knowing fully well that I have no intentions of purchasing the shoes - or any other shoe from her. Finally, I told her that I wanted some time to think about it and I walked out. I bet she called me every filthy name that she knows in her head but I guess I just didn't give a shit. I'm sick of taking crap of everyone, much less someone I'm paying...

I continued with my shopping and then went back to the store and this time was met with another store assistant. She was there too and she recognized me. It was an Indian lady this time - real soft spoken :) I think her name is Kothmandy. Then she told me that she checked and she could give me the 25% off and so I bought my shoes from her. But I also asked her for her HQ contact information and the person-in-charge of customer service. I'm going to make a very interesting phone call tomorrow...

Kothmandy kept apologizing and I told her not to. She did not do anything wrong, so why is she apologizing for her colleague's behalf? *raise eyebrow* she didn't have to do that at all...

Back to happier matters... Aren't my shoes absolutely gorgeous??? *swoons*

I love the cutesy details :)









And when I have more money.. I'm getting these :D
They're called CALI GEAR and they're like Crocs... only cuter ;))))


I guess apart from Aishah crappy behaviour... it's all in all a great shoe experience :D

Random Thoughts

"Blue Skies and Everything Nice..."

[Zeeks]

Commenting on something that my blog and myself SHOULD NOT be. Feedback to make my blog more realistic, more gothic and more of a freak; in short... make my blog more like me

22nd May 2008

It's the 22nd of May again. How time flies...

As of this day, Chin Aun and I have been together for 6 years... It seems like just yesterday when we were fresh out of school and starting college life. But look at us now... already in our mid 20's...

To commemorate the event, Chin Aun took me to The Ship in Uptown for the "Best Steak In Town". And granted; it was :)

Clam Chowder and Crab Salad

The Clam Chowder is awesome!! It's the first time I've ever had Clam Chowder with a red base soup. The soup and the salad is so fresh that I would have been contented to just order another serving of that and go without the main course

Grilled Sirlion Steak

Sizzling Chicken

Chocolate Temptation
This ice-cream dish even comes with a personalized chocolate stick that has The Ship's emblem on it! Isn't that cool?? :)

Chin Aun with a Bib

He has to wear one because he ordered the sizzling chicken and the gravy would go splitter-splatter all over his shirt

The food excellent and the service is even better than that. It's nice to go classic and visit a restaurant as established as The Ship rather than going to the usual fast food / fusion joints that we often frequent nowadays...

And I even got a free gift from the restaurant :

A cutey bear :)

I'm hooked...

.... on this!

The tagline is sooooooo befitting...

"A Disturbingly Perfect New Drama"

Some issues and some scenes in the series are definitely mind boggling! And very unsettling... but yet I'm unreasonably addicted to it! Like I was addicted to CSI...

Chin Aun and I finished the entire Season 1 within the weekend and now we are so ruffled because we do not have Season 2 with us... argh!

For those who's never seen this. You don't know what you're missing...

The incomprehensible addiction and late nights are sooooooooooo worth it :D Julian McMahon is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better in this than in Charmed.

The thing about shoes...

On Saturday, it was chill-out day for me and Chin Aun with my sis and Daniel. So when we went to my sister's place, I was pushing and shoving Chin Aun until I tripped (luckily I didn't fall :p) and broke my shoe!!! *sobs* I BROKE MY SHOE! THE HEEL FELL OFF!!

So on Sunday, Chin Aun said that it was about time that I go look for another pair of shoes :) heh heh... and we went to MidValley to have a look since there's Isetan in The Gardens which is just within walking distance. I walked the entire MidValley and could not find any that I liked! I was at a the point of giving up when we walked over to The Gardens (personally, I don't really like the Gardens cos the stuff there are much too pricey for me.. and these same stuff are .. *clears throat* a tad bit too matured for my tastes -- in short, TOO AUNTY-lah).

Just to please Chin Aun because he likes Isetan, we walked into Isetan to just scout around and I saw this:

TIMBERLAND ON DISPLAY!!
BESIDE THE ENTIRE BIRKENSTOCK RANGE!!!

*swoons*

I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven!!!

And the place was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo quiet!! There was no one else there besides Chin Aun and I and the promoters. It was, undeniably, THE BEST shoe shopping environment. I hate going shopping when I have to shove with the crowds -- hence, I hate shopping during the Jusco sale even though there's mass sale going on. I often have to decide between whether I want to cope with the crowd or pay 20%-30% more so that I don't have to be in the midst of a retail-hungry crowd.

I tried on pair after pair of shoes. And the promoter was so sweet to actually measure the length and width of my foot so that I could get a perfect fit *beams* So I have feet the confirmed size of 8. Yeah...

When I was in the throes of shoes induced madness, Chin Aun brought over a pair of Timberland boots *gawk* it was the prettiest pair of boots that I have ever seen in my whole life and it cost a whopping RM499 (without discount!!!!!!). I HAD to try it on even though I know that I would never buy it. It was light grey suede with woolen in-soles.

Whilst I waited for the promoter to bring a pair of boots in size 8, I pondered as to why I would even consider trying on the shoes when I know I don't need it... for anything! So I walked around and Chin Aun was also walking around looking for another nice pair of shoes for me... and we saw this!

OMGawd... LEATHER sandals with the teeniest details so profound it made my heart stop just for a second!

Just at that moment, the promoter came back and informed me that they actually do not have stock of the Timberland boots at size 8. Apparently, not many people buy these boots.. not only because they are so ridiculously priced, but also because of our climate. Damn! So disappointed!! I really wanted to see how the boots fit even though I knew that I neither have the financial back-up nor a solid reason to want to buy them! *pouts*

To pacify my disappointment, I then asked for the sandals in my size and kept my fingers crossed. Luckily it was available in size 8 *grins*

I then put the sandals on, and I regretted it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until now, I am regretting it!!!!!!!!!

*scream*

The sandals were so soft and so comfortable!!!!!! I made the mistake of not looking at the price tag before trying it on!!!!!!!!! It cost a bloody RM365 and it felt like the top of the world!!! It fit like a glove!!!!! I've found the soul mate for my feet and I cannot bloody afford it!!!!

*bang head on wall*

I know that the shoes is not as dressy as the shoes that I've bought previously but what is the importance of dressy when the shoes are so comfortable!!?

I loved them so much I didn't want to take them off. The promoter must have thought she'd made a sure-sale. I was hook-line-sinker.

Chin Aun looked at me expectantly. Expecting me to do something. Pondering my next move, obviously! So I did the only thing that I knew I should have done since I saw the magnificent display of Birkenstock and Timberland shoes.

I whacked him.

Yup. Hard on the arm. If it wasn't because of him, I wouln't have this unhealthy longing tugging at my heart and making my knees weak.

I had no choice but to walk out of Isetan and cry (inside!) because I know it would be inappropriate to buy the shoes. But at least Chin Aun said that we should go home and think about it. If I still want it after 2 weeks, then by all means, go and get it. He did not mention the most important part :

The person footing the bill! *groan*

*bang head harder on wall*

Someone please shoot me *sobs* I'm a miserable wreck...

ALL BECAUSE OF A PAIR OF SHOES!

(This is really freaky and doesn't make any sense... I cannot recall any one PERSON who'd ever made me so miserable :D hee hee...) Talk about priorities...

Sick & Tired

I'm so bloody sick and tired of everything... SICK & TIRED!!!! I've said this so many times to Mello and she's reciprocrated the feelings.. WE ARE BLOODY SICK AND BLOODY TIRED of all these crap.

*SCREAM*

We'd rather be eating sandwiches with beach sand in it and getting sunburned noses than to be where we are now.

She has crap she needs to deal with, I have mine. Different people, different type of crap. But yet I know exactly what she's going through and she knows mine. She's what gets me going through every day...

Sick of the monotony. Sick of the sham. Revolted with the sorry excuses for people. Disgusted with their charade.

*PUKES*

You get so caught up in all these crap, you're in a danger of losing track of who you really are and what you truly believe in.

I know what I believe in.

I believe in the good of people and that one good turn deserves another. I believe that life is beautiful and friends are friends forever.

The longer I am here, the more disillusioned I become. I'm so afraid that I'll lose track of things and forget everything that I hold to be true. I'm so scared that I would get too immersed in what is actually happening in the world now that I'll forget to stand up for what I truly believe in...

Pretending to care. A counterfeit laugh. A smile that doesn't come from my heart. A smile that doesn't quite reach my eyes.. That's what I'm slowly becoming...

The pretense. The sham. The charade.

I'm tired ... exhausted... I'm worn out...

Getting to be more indifferent than I ever expected myself to be... I don't want to be that. I don't want to not give a shit.

I want to laugh and I want to cry. I want to feel the exhiliration of life. I want to feel the adrenaline flow in my veins. I want to smile and have the genuine happiness reflect in my eyes. I want to laugh with my heart and smile with my eyes. I just want to be who I am. I want to be me. I want to be REAL.

But what is real? Does being real mean sticking out like a sore thumb? Swimming in a sea of squares when you're a triangle?

I just don't know what I am anymore... I don't know what I'm going to become if I don't do anything else to shield myself from these.

I'm so afraid of losing sight of what it is that I have always believed life should be...

I fear that I'll eventually lose who I really am...

Day Trip

2 weeks ago (before I went back to Penang), Chin Aun and I went on a day trip to Genting to meet his sister who is working there to get some stuff from her.

I am generally too lazy to write much about it except that I lost 50bucks to Uncle's Lim's son. I don't like this guy :( his dad was waaaaaaaay more generous! I won 700bucks from Uncle Lim on a bet of RM10 once and 450bucks another time on a bet of RM20. So I would say Junior Lim here isn't in any of my good books.

When I told my mom about it, she was like "Eh! Why you so kiam siap one!? Allocate RM50 only?! Up the stakes a little lar... at least RM150 or Rm200 mar... Since you already drove all the way up there. Might as well make the most of it!" (ishh... I wanted to ask her to sponsor at that point..)

Anyway, here are the photos:

Yeah... I'm going for the shades and hoodie look. Not trying to be cool but trying to hide my limp hair and my puffy eyes...

We went for "Fish Spa" there and I squealed and almost dropped my camera into the tank. It was so ticklish, I could hardly sit still and I was squirming around so much that I think I drove off all potential customers...

Which one's my foot? ;) A clue... whilst I may not be hairless, my legs are not as hairy as a particular set of legs as photographed in this photo

That toothy grin you see in this photo is a deceptive mask for the clenched toes in submerged in water

Chin Aun is more sporting than me :p He actually told me to sit further away because my squirming is making the fishes swim away from nibbling on his feet

ChinAun looks so happy and I have that disgruntled smirk on my face... I don't know why I was smirking like that.. he must have said something... I just don't remember what

And finally... one photo that I sent to Melissa that made her Monday morning... heh heh... Imagine, I was at Coffee Bean with Chin Aun waiting for Chin Aun's sister. I was tired from walking around all day and fed up with losing RM50 in the casino. I was tripping on caffeine.. and I totally zonked out!

I bloody fell asleep curled up on the couch and on Chin Aun's thigh for over an hour! Needless to say, he finished the coffee and decided to take this photo of me snoozing off. He complained of a numb leg after that...

So that kinda summed up my day trip...

****************************************

When I was there and wanted to take a deep breath of the cold air, I saw these parked outside the hotel...

The magnificent XC90... You know I'm a sucker for Volvo's... Look at that beauty... being put to such shameless waste!! Look people... that's where your tax money all went to. What the bleedy f**k does the police force need an XC90 for??

Just so you know... parked in front of the XC90, in front of half a dozen policemen, was a family of a couple with 2 young children helping an elderly disabled man into the car. The parents were struggling to help the man into the car while trying to keep their young children in check. We, as passer-bys headed immediately to offer help but these half a dozen officers, in their crisp blue and brass uniforms, arrogantly stood by the side and served solely as spectators. I felt so disgusted that I wanted to walk up to those useless pieces of ass and kick their bulging stomachs in!

After that, I saw these parked nearby...

An Audi and an S-Class Benz. Even more ridiculous wastage of the people's money *sigh*...

I wanted to go outside to take in the fresh mountain air. Instead, I got even more disillusioned than I was before I went up to Genting...

Talk about revulsion...

*******************************************

Mobile Headache

Remember my shiny black brick of a phone? The one that I bought almost two years ago to replace my funky pink clamshell phone that was stolen from right under my eye??

I think that shiny black brick is paying me back for all those times that I complained that it's not the phone of my choice.. damnit! It hangs every time I try to text anyone! *pulls hair*

After mulling over it a while, I figured I might as well get a new phone since the not-so-shiny black brick is giving me such a headache and I've decided to get a Sony Ericsson this time. Never owned one before, so I thought it'd be cool to sway that way for once. Just so you know, my first choice was the iPhone but Chin Aun thinks that the iPhone is too fragile for someone like me. Besides, the camera is only 2.0MP and I was hoping to get something with a higher resolution... Anyway, after thinking about it for a day or so, I've boiled it all down to 2 choices: K810i and K770i

THE K810i

K770i

I liked the functions of the K810i more than the K770i because it was equipped with a genuine Xenon flash that is used in actual cameras. But then the physical attributes of the K770i is more appealing - it being slimmer and more brushed metal than the squarish and macho looking K810i :p and knowing me, since aesthetics would bear more weight than the Xenon flash, I made up my mind to go for the latter.

I went to Digital Mall with Chin Aun to ask around for the price range and to try out the actual handset. I found out then that it was available in 5 different colours - Truffle Brown, Sandy Beige, Ultra Violet, Henna Bronze and Soft Black. When I was viewing the phones on the Internet, my first choice was Truffle Brown, followed by Ultra Violet and finally Soft Black. To me, Sandy Beige looked more like Rotten Milk and Henna Bronze looked like Orange-Gone-Horribly-Wrong.

But when I saw the actual handsets, Truffle Brown dropped down from the list to No. 3 to be replaced by Soft Black and then Ultra Violet.

I waited until I was back in Penang to make the purchase with hopes that I would get a better deal here. AND I DID *beams* got a free set of speakers and an upgrade to a 2Gig memory card!! But the only catch was that the shop did not have Soft Black. I immediately went for Ultra Violet ;) I was having doubts about getting another black phone... it's so uncharacteristic of me to once again own a phone that is so understated in color. The purple was really striking and I guess if I don't put it close to anything Green, it won't remind me of stupid Barney.

So here's my new phone which I am still getting used to:

Referring to my last post - the quickie post... Yeah, I lost all my contacts so I hope you guys and girls would be darling enough to text me so that I can get back to 'rebuilding' my address book.

Oh yeah, one more thing... just an example of great minds thinking alike *ahems* Zeeks also just bought a new phone. I think it was yesterday :) he got a Sony Ericsson W660i ;) hehe.. ENJOY your phone dude!~

(ps - just so you know, iPhone is still number one in my heart...)

Contact Info Needed!

Hey everyone.. need a little help here. I've accidentally all my phone contacts when I changed my phone model!! *sobs*

Could you guys please text me so that I'll have your numbers again?? Thanks so much! *hugs*

Sorry yea? ;)

More "You Belong To Me..."

I know that I posted something about this several years ago when I was in my uni days and I was watching reruns of Ally McBeal. Despite it being a nice song, I didn't think much of writing anything else that would even remotely be associated with this.

Until I found a Jason Wade mp3 :D

Jason Who!? Jason Wade = Lifehouse! :D (If you don't know Lifehouse, don't bother to read the rest of this post *hmmph*)

*ahems*

(give Melissa the EVIL EYE... "I KNOW what you are thinking!!! *continue to glare at you accusingly* You think that I'm only blogging about this because he's good looking, but I am perfectly capable of blogging about other things too! *phwek*)

Yes, Jason Wade is indeed quite good looking - especially when the haircut is right. Maybe not "quite" but "very" but it's just wordplay. Alex Band is waaaaaaaay hotter, in my books anyway. But what is most captivating about him is his distinctive voice. Coarse and deep.. Somewhat similar to Alex Band! hahahaha...

Okok... Back to the topic at hand. I've always loved the song "You Belong To Me", especially when I heard Vonda Shepard's version of it on Ally McBeal. But when I found Jason Wade's version, it shed a totally new light on the song! The song's been stripped bare of its frills and was performed acoustic *dreamy eyed*

I'm such a sap for ballads...

I couldn't find the video of it on YouTube but I found a cover version performed by someone else and it was good too *grins* Gawd... guitars are so hot *winks*

I've always said that I would learn how to play the guitar one day and I've decided that when that day comes, this is the first song that I'll learn to play :D

Don't know who this guy is but I like his version too :)

This song was also performed on the 6th Season of American Idol by a man called Sherman Pore. I saw it when it aired on TV but I didn't realize that it would be on YouTube too :) hehe... (thanks to Wikipedia, now I know~). I was moved to tears by his performance and the reason behind his stint *sobs*

Yeah yeah yeah. I've admitted it already, I AM A SAP! So???

This is the clip from American Idol :) Please prepare a piece of tissue to dab at your tears...

So sad right??? *SOBS*

I think I'm getting sappier with age *sighs*

The broken clock is a comfort, It helps me sleep tonight

Maybe it can stop tomorrow, From stealing all my time

I am here still wating though I still have my doubts

I am damanged at best, Like you've already figured out

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing

With a broken heart, That's still beating

In your pain, There is healing

In your name, I find meaning

So I'm holding on... I'm holding on... I'm holding on...

Barely holding on to you

I'm hanging on another day just to see what you will throw my way

And I'm hanging on to the words you say

You said that I will be ok....

[Lifehouse - Broken]

Tinky's Extension

Tinky's got an extension!! :D

Today is actually the 10th of April 2008, I actually got this done on the 5th of April (a Saturday). That's why I changed the date for this post to the 5th of April instead of today cos I wanted to commemorate the event *grins*

As most of you already know, I got a tattoo of a fairy on my lower back several years ago. The event was a memorable, albeit slightly painful one.. and there's not a day that I look back and regret getting it done. I loved it so much that I actually regretted not getting it done BIGGER ( I was chickenshit you see? Was and still is, by the way).

Anyways, Zeeks and I planned and planned to get one done together after my incredible first experience *grins* alright, I may have stretched the truth a little. I'm the one who's longing and aching to get another one done and I've been brainwashing him for the past two years to do it with me.

I SUCCEEDED !

I got him hyped up and freaked out! We set a date in April 2008 where he would be in KL for training and gave ourselves lead time to search for our desired designs.

So the 5th of April finally dawned and we woke up feeling excited and nervous at the same time (I'll say this for myself. Zeek woke up trying to find a good excuse not to come over). We appointed Chin Aun as our designated driver in case we were in too much pain to drive and being the great sport he is, agreed :)

I wanted to get Tinky some fairy dust and a christmas star on my ankle ot upper back (the star of hope) and Zeeks wanted to get a nautical star on his back.

After a breakfast of pork noodles in PJ State, we headed over to Borneo Ink in Hartamas. Went up there without an appointment and nearly got turned away -- the next available date is in June! *scream* Then, someone who made a 3-hour appointment didn't turn up and the artist could slot us in :D As fate would have had it!

There was no turning back! Zeeks went first... and I was advised that the artist may not have enough time to get mine done. I was disgruntled and disappointed but since Zeeks had to go back to Khantan, he had priority *hmmph*

I'm gonna save the story of Zeeks getting his done so that he can personally blog about his own experience *smiles* It's not right to rob him of that...

After he was done, it was my turn. I was so excited! The adrenaline flow was magnificently inexplicable!!

First, the tattoo artist, Simon, advised against getting the single star on my ankle or upper back as it would not stand out (Chin Aun agreed wholeheartedly because he doesn't want me to get anything done on my upper back! He says it'll be visible when I wear a wedding gown *roll eyes*). He incorporated the christmas star onto Tink's fairy dust and freehand-ed it on my back (My previous tattoo was first drawn onto the tracing paper and then duplicated using petroleum jelly on my skin).

Then I had to lie down and listen to the whirring of the needle. I held my breath and waited for the sting.

And did it sting!!! It was so much more painful than my last time!! I think I am getting old *sobs* Maybe it's like getting your ears pierced. The older you get, the more painful it is. I flinched and cringed when the needle made contact with my skin (and gave Simon a hard time). I guess that's the reason why when Zeeks asked Simon if it was gonna be painful and he replied with a vehement "VERY!".

At this point, I told myself that I am never getting another tattoo ever again!

I remember the time when I was getting Tinky done.. it wasn's this painful... it was a searing hot experience and I got used to the feeling in a matter of seconds. Whereas with this one, it felt as though a million needles pierced right into my skin and into my nerves when Simon worked on the lowest part, near Tinky's feet.

Look at my miserable face in that photo! Zeeks has never seen me so subdued! hahahaha... He took the photo to etch an eternal memory of my pain, that sadist!

At this stage... the tattoo's halfway done and I'm halfway to never-never land. Surprisingly, once I've gotten past the initial pain, the middle part was bearable and my thought actually went to what pants I am going to wear to work to prevent the band of the pants from rubbing on my sore patch.

My thoughts were cut short when Simon got to the top part of the tattoo - the tip of the Christmas star. That part hurt as well!! But not as much as the first time.

My endurance finally paid off :)

The end result and the redness from the effect of the needle

Look at that beauty... Once I saw this in the mirror... I swore that this is not going to be the last of it :) I'm so getting another one!!! All the thoughts of the pain and the decision made not to get another one was throw out of the window.

It's no wonder they say tattooes are addictive :)

Zeeks says that he'll get another one only after 5 years but I think he's bluffing. He just wants to put me off track and get me off his back! :p

Meanwhile, I'll take the time to slowly figure out what I want to do next and where I want to put it. All ideas and recommedations are very much welcome and very much appreciated :)))

I'll check with Zeeks first if he's gonna post his photos on his blog. If not, I'll post it here over the weekend :)))

Updates (21/04/2008): Zeek's Nautical Star