gypsy on the move

Langkawi Through The Lens of Superheadz UWS

2012-02-01T00:00:00.000+08:00

I am excited to show you this new batch of lomo pictures from my family trip to Langkawi! I know I have not mentioned about my trip to Langkawi with my fams but I just have to show you this pictures first! I am still using the Superheadz UWS and even though it is a simple point and shoot, it has never fail to surprise me. =)

This was taken at the jetty while waiting for the ferry

Self shot with sis at Underwater World Langkawi

Mon famili

One of my favourite shots as this was taken without thinking much

The Langkawi Airport

Clear blue sky that I love

I made my parents stopped the car by the road side so that I can take these pictures...and it is totally worth it!

This was at The Eagle Square

Super super hot and sunny day!

Love the dark corners on the picture and the sea!

And I shall end it with another self attempt shot!

Camera: Superheadz UWS

Film: Lomography CN 100 ASA

Mini Updates

2012-01-26T23:11:00.000+08:00

Finally after 2 years of commuting to and fro for work, I finally gotten my own wheels. It feels good, it gives me a little sense of achievement and most importantly, these 2 years of commuting taught me a lot; which is never ever take granted of what you have in life. For 2 years I spent an average of 2 hours on the road commuting and I am thankful for everything I have in life growing up. I am also very very grateful to mom who helped me so much in order for me to get my own car.
Thank you mom.

I named her "Ari"! Say Hello! Kindly please ignore my hideous red pen drive that looks like a long tongue.
I love everything about Ari from the dashboard to the colour of the seats to every single details of the car =)

How was your Chinese New Year? Well, mine was the same. We spent our reunion dinner and first day of CNY down south at Johor.

Thought it would be fun to show you guys how my kampung (village) looks like. Yeah, you can hardly find house like this anywhere these days.

The front road that only got tarred just a few years ago. Previously, it was still red soil.

I started work today, the 4th day of CNY. It was a relaxing day as many still has not returned from the CNY holidays. Therefore, I got my own time and space to do my own things.

Last but not least,

Just to show you this beautiful sunset picture while I was caught in jam this evening. Till then peeps!

Year of The Water Dragon

2012-01-22T19:16:00.001+08:00

As the bunny slowly hops away, let's welcome the year of Dragon with cheers and smiles. May all of you be blessed with abundance of wealth, tonnes of good luck in whatever you do and most importantly, best health!
Can't wait for all the Chinese New Year cookies and red packets!!!

Happy Chinese New Year!

EFF YOUR LIFE!

2012-01-18T13:10:00.000+08:00

I really do not know what you want. If it is so hard and you need to know everything, why in the first place don't you do it all for me and I just sign the bloody paper?
Owh, you would probably said "You think I am so free?"
If you're not free then the least you could do is to tell me WHAT to expect. Not just keep quiet when I text you and all that.
Fuck you Fuck you FUCK YOU for pushing my limits and torturing me like this!

Tegalalang Rice Paddy, Mount Batur & Luwak Coffee

2012-01-11T22:50:00.000+08:00

Ta-Da! The delayed Bali entry is here. Ok lar...I know no one is waiting anyway. wtf!

We went to Tegalalang terrace rice paddy on the second day and we were lucky that it was the right time. It was a 30 minutes drive only from Ubud and you may stop by at Tegalalang on your way up to Kintamani.

Look at how beautiful the rice paddy terrace is. And it was a beautiful sunny day as well.

An obligatory shot with the driver. All of us! =)

We then continued north to Kintamani. It is famous for the volcanic Mount Batur and yes, this volcanic mount is still active. Apparently, at times, you may see smokes coming out from the Mount.

We reached slightly later and there were heavy clouds surrounding it. Nevertheless, it was still really beautiful.

You may even join the hiking package up to Mount Batur to catch the sunrise. I heard it is beautiful.

Next to it was a lake. The view from the top of Kintamani.

Us at the back seats. We took turn to seat in front during the trip. Each person gets a chance to sit at the front. Actually they rather not but I made them since I had to sit at the front on the first day.

And it was Loony's turn that day! =D

Next we stopped by Sai Land for the famous Luwak Coffee.

The luwak coffee came from the civet cat that has the habit of picking the finest coffee beans and eat them. However, their digestion system was not made to digest the coffee bean therefore, they eliminate coffee beans.

They were cooking the bali coffee, the other type of coffee found there as well.

Later, the coffee beans were grind to fine coffee powder

And I get to give it a try! It was not easy itellyou! Mine was still in big bits even though I pretty sure I hit them really hard.

This, ladies and gentlemen, are the coffee beans of luwak coffee.

And we get to try out various types of coffees! Perfect for all four of us since we love coffee. But not for luwak coffee tho. They will have to charge us and it was not cheap at all! =(

The cinnamon sticks were used to stir the coffee making the nice sweet pleasant aroma when you drink it. =)

Till the next entry...Ciaoz!

4 Simple Goals

2012-01-05T22:50:00.002+08:00

Picture credits to Elsie from A Beautiful Mess

I read about it from Rhianne's blog which was inspired by Elsie's entry. Elsie even go to great length to create guidelines to make sure the goals are achievable. I think it is pretty realistic and simple to follow. So I decided to give it a try.

Gypsy's 4 Simple Goals for 2012

1) Be Happy

-Like really happy and not just try to be happy. And stop worrying so much about things that I have no control over.

2) Take as many pictures (be it analogue or digital) as possible

-I have taken lesser and lesser picture compared to the year when I owned my first digital camera. Need to increase the number especially when I want to make analogue a hobby

3) Get fitter and stay healthier

-This doesn't limit to just exercising but also watching what I put into my mouth and my body. Got to cut down on coffee, eat more healthy stuffs (veges and fruits) and do that detox!

4) Be thrifty

-I have been working for 2 years but I am not proud of the way I manage my money. So this year is going to be the year I learn my "wants" and "needs".

Leave me your link if you happen to do yours. Would love to see what are your goals!

2012. Be Happy All The Way!

2012-01-02T22:55:00.002+08:00

You see, I was going through all the bloggers that wrote their 2012 resolutions but nothing inspired me until I came this blog that I religiously followed.
Heather from Flying Fish In Big Pond quoted this well known composition from Mother Theresa that ultimately makes me think a little bit more of what my resolutions should based on. You see, 2011 has it's own ups and down. I laughed a lot but at the same time, I cried a lot too. All the time forgetting that one of my previous resolutions in 2011 is to just Be Happy.
So from this moment, when I want to create a resolution or goal, it will ultimately come back to this very reminder...

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you.
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

Just so you know, I kickstart 2012 with a few sessions at Meeples the European Board Game in Subang, SS15. We had the time laughing and screaming while pounding the table trying to win the game and I think, it is the right way to welcome the new year.

So here's to 2012 and Happy New Year everyone!

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T13:43:00.001+08:00

I am sitting at the jetty of Langkawi and looking at my entries. Then I found out that it is customary for Gypsy On The Move to do a goodbye entry at the end of each year. Well, I just found out by looking at my end-of-the-year entries. So it feels proper if I continue it.
2011 has been nothing short but amazing. Amazing friends I've made along the year and amazing places I have been to.
Here's a little bit here and there that I remembered for the year:
1) Organized a trip for the Mitrans to Genting. It was only Genting but it was a hell of fun!
2) Made the decision to shift out to Funkytown
3) Got hooked into lomography, all thanks to Sherwynne and intend to take this addiction further
4) Went to Taiwan in May - one of the best trip Ever!
5) Changed job and went into something different
6) Had a great girls trip to Bali in September
7) Participated in BookFest and gain valuable experience
8) Participated in IBYG and we came in stronger than ever
9) Helped out for MITRA DYC 16 and it was an unforgettable camp for several reasons
10) Last but not least, this year is a year of friendship. Old ties were renew and strengthen, news ones were formed. You guys know who you are.

So as I looked at how amazing 2011 has been, I will be welcoming 2012 with an open arm with the least expectation so that the new year will surprise me. Till then, Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

Mitra DYC 16

2011-12-26T22:50:00.067+08:00

Ever since 2003, my December has never been the same. Ever. First brought in to KCBA DYC by a friend of mine and later the following year became the games department committee also with the encouragement of the same friend.

Fast forward, it has been 8 years. Many faces have I met and so many friendships have I seen built from just one single camp that happens every December. And also *ahem*there are relationships that blossom from the camp*ahem*.

This year is no exceptional. Coming out with a brand new name, Mitra DYC, our camp was held at the beautiful Samadhi Vihara on the 17th till 21st Dec. I was assigned to the admin team with Jing Wei, Regina and Li Peng and I could not ask for a better team.

Leonie and I decided to let Reg, Li Peng and Jing Wei to do the registration because both of us have done it before =P

Leonie busy preparing for Guardian Angel. She is the greatest help I could ask for.

Ice-breaking

Jing Wei and Li Peng waiting to sort the groups out

The pigeon holes for participants. Vitagen bottles all thanks to Yuan Yuan's aunty!

We managed to invite Uncle Vijaya for a session of Dhamma Talk and his topic for the day was "Gratitude". It was always refreshing to listen to his talk and I never fail to laugh at his jokes.

Captain ball in the evening of Day 2! My favourite sport!

Reality challenge game on the second night by Lee Hsiang. Too bad he was not around to witness the awesomeness of it.

Crappy sudoku challenge in one of the station

This station is probably the CRAPPIEST as they need to make the participants laugh. With Tze Huei in it? You can forget it! *inside joke*

Li Peng!

The second workshop on the last night, we have Bro Koh to conduct the World Economic Game

Tanzania sent out their handicapped to negotiate with the World Bank to reduce their charges. Smart move.

BFF! Come back soon!

The CSI (Crappy Scene Investigation) by BFF! The objective was to know who killed this guy for his special underwear!

LOL!

One of the crime scene of the victim that got murdered

My station which they have to give some ridiculous poses!

Certs presentation time along with lollipops in each pigeon holes!

The committees' pigeon hole which are in pink since our T-Shirts this year is in pink

The 2011 MITRA DYC 16 board of committee (picture credits to Wei Han)

What an awesome year it has been and I look forward to 2012! (picture credits to Mandy)

2011-12-16T09:03:00.000+08:00

The lack of updates means my life has been fantastic! thankyouverymuch!
Haha! How I wish to complete those entries on Bali but with camp coming up, my time is a little tight right now. Please be patient, yeah? =)

Okay, let's talk camp! Basically everything on my side has been completed. My side means programme book.

Did the whole thing myself and put together the whole thing myself as well. Couldn't have been more proud. Of course this would not be easy if not for those little help here and there by various people. And the programme book will not be possible without the awesome Asus laptop loan to me by Sharpay. I am so in love with Asus right now. Speakers have been taken care of, though, we are short of one. Simply put, we are set for camp this Saturday.

I am on an analogue addiction right now. Have been browsing through lomography sites to get tips on how to take better pictures and what is the next best analogue camera that I should purchase. I am thinking of a Diana Mini since it is small and handy enough to be carried around and it uses the friendly 35mm film. I would love to own the expensive LC-A but urm...with my current financial situation, I think that would have to be on hold.

I am looking forward to 2012 already because of all the exciting things that are going to happen. In the meantime, I am also thankful for 2011. Thankful for everything that I have been blessed this year. I couldn't have asked for a better 2011. I am also grateful for the people around me who keeps me going no matter how hard sometimes life can be.

Alright! I am scooting off to camp now! =D

Bonjour Le Décembre

2011-12-07T07:40:00.002+08:00

It's the last month of the year again! Last 31 days of 2011!
What have you achieved? Have you ticked off all the resolutions you made since the beginning of the year?
It seems like just yesterday I made mine.
December is a hectic month for me both work and personal. Camp is looming next week. Plenty to do yet none of them is done yet. I think I slept an average of only 4 to 5 hours each day except on weekends. Felt sorry that I had to turn down loads of invitations to hang out on weekend since I am just too exhausted.
As usual, December also means the Christmas season again! *skips happily*
All the malls in Klang Valley as usual are putting up their best decor of the year. Before I sign out, here was how Pavilion looks like when I was there yesterday.

Champlung Sari, Ubud

2011-12-03T01:34:00.000+08:00

Thought I would briefly let you guys know where I stayed when I was at Ubud. We booked two rooms at Champlung Sari Hotel. When we checked in, it was already dark.

The room was very spacious and huge and I think worth the money since it is only US$30 per night.

The next morning, I just couldn't wait to take pictures outside our room

The entrance to our room

It was really relaxing and everything was at a slow pace when you're in Bali.
Anyway, we didn't really enjoy the breakfast. Nothing much to shout about. But the next time if I were to come, I would choose to stay in Tegal Sari. I heard it's cheap and one of the best hotel in Ubud.

whatever that comes to my mind on a Saturday morning

2011-11-26T13:30:00.000+08:00

I just woke up! Muahahahahaha!

Sneaked in late back home last night (as late as 3.45am) after a movie (Breaking Dawn) and mamak session with a group of lovelies. We talked about everything under the moon; basically all camp memories. And all which is very funny. Camp is again just a couple of weeks way and being in admin team is fun. I get to have a say in the programme book and quite a lot of other things too. I think this year is the year that I felt I involved myself a lot.

Currently I am trying to just readjust my life and re-prioritizing stuffs that matters to me. Work has been fine and just recently I was confirmed. Getting to work has been a challenge but well, I have mentally quite prepared myself to it every single day. No denying that some days it can get very very tough. All in all, I can say that I am proud of myself for being this strong this far. My teammates have been extremely helpful and I hope this bunch of people remain a little longer. Simply because I love working with them.

So many people that I knew is back already and Sunflower being one of them. *yay!* But there are also some people that I know and love is leaving too...like Rachie. *sad* and I am still thinking what to buy for her! Pfft! Why does she has to leave? *troll face*

Anyway, I hope all of you out there have a lovely Saturday and enjoy the long weekend.

Signing out!

Dinner at Naughty Nuri's, Ubud

2011-11-22T20:00:00.001+08:00

On our way to Ubud, we stopped by the monument.

Unfortunately, we were a little late so we could only take pictures from outside.

Loony, Sharpay & Ailing

We also stopped by Sanur beach which I do not really like... =(

Finally checked into our hotel in Ubud called the Champlung Sari

And we proceed to dinner at Naughty Nuri's for their famous pork ribs!

The restaurant is this small quaint restaurant...

No menu brought to you but just refer to the menu board on the wall =)

Us, at Naughty Nuri's

We were still full from the late lunch so we only ordered one plate of the pork ribs which is really good. Yums!

Mashed potates

The pork rib goes really well with the Bintang beer (the well known beer in Bali)

Which made me wonder, how did the lady knew it is cooked when she is cooking in the dark like this?

Till then...

Penang Day 2

2011-11-19T16:48:00.000+08:00

Second day in Penang involved loads of walking, praying and of course, eating. I can have my own version of eat, pray, love in Penang. I am not sure why but I am always super happy and excited when I am at the island.
Started the morning by walking to the old town next to where we were staying.

Perfect way to start the morning with the famous white coffee.

Then we proceed to next food stop.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Bangkok Lane. I thought the buildings are really pretty. Very heritage-like.

People actually live in here.

The reason why we were here was for the famous mee goreng mamak (fried noodles) Bangkok Lane. Finally I got to try this after hearing everyone raving about it. I love it. I am not a big yellow noodle fan but I actually like it.

And to my surprise, Bangkok Lane was just right next to Burmah Lane where the Sleeping Buddha temple is. *face palm*

It was a beautiful sunny day to be out there walking down the street.

Beautiful paper-made lotuses for an occasion.

We then proceed to Kek Lok Si.

And the trip is never complete without stopping by the famous Ayer Itam laksa. =)

Zen and I at Kek Lok Si wearing the same top with just different colours.

We actually walked up and down.

Having fun with pin-hole mode.

And we had fun posing...

WJS with his famous Jay Chou-like pose.

We were intrigued by the door.

Beautiful skies...

Last picture,

Ciaoz!

Falling In Love All Over Again With Lomography

2011-11-10T21:33:00.002+08:00

Compare to the first roll of film that I took, I think this time I improved a lot. These are the best shots out of all the three films in no particular order.

Taiwan

Cing Jing sheep farm

Windmill joy

Yeh Liu Ecological Park

The long winding path

Sun Moon Lake

Bali

a self taken shot that turns out to be one of my favourite

our accomodation at Champlung Sari, Ubud

Tegalalang

Mount Batur

Sunset at Tanah Lot

Uluwatu cliff

Jimbaran beach

Random Shots

This is very old school. Sunny day at Sepang Gold Coast.

Kuan Yin statue at Kek Lok Si

The merry-go-round

This sort of encouraged me to save up to get a better lomo camera since the one I am using now is the most basic one. Definitely can't wait to post up more awesome lomo shots in future.

Penang's Trip First Day Drama

2011-10-27T22:04:00.002+08:00

A whole lot of drama going on the first day when Ai Ling asked us to get down at the RnR after the Juru toll exit.

But guess what?
She couldn't find us! She asked me to share the location via Whatsapp but Maps was being such a bitch and pin dropped my current location differently! -_-"
Close to an hour later, I realized the mistake when Ai Ling keeps showing up at random places which was totally wrong. I had to find the place where we are pin-dropped it myself.
Lesson learnt; sometimes, technology screws us up. In the meantime while waiting for Ai Ling to finally come, Zen and I did silly things.

Such as cam-whoring. I enjoyed playing with the pin-hole feature in Haley. All thanks to Sabrina who told me about. Imagine me having this camera after so long and didn't realize all those great features. =(

And someone kidnapped Jiet's pro-cam and I decided to give it a try!

After an hour plus, we finally on the bridge. Holla Penang!
We were super hungry that we went straight to hunt for food at Penang Road (Lebuh Keng Kwee) right after we picked WJS up.

The kuey teow that was cooked left-handed. =D

I thought it was okay but Ai Ling thinks it is a little too salty.
This place is right on the same lane with that famous teochew cendol that has Phua Chu Kang's picture hanging in front of the stall.

It was so satisfying. I am never a big fan for cendol but I make an exception for this one from Penang. Just taste really good to me.

This aunty in the shop sells one of the nicest laksa around. Probably because ours are one of the few last ones and we got the really thick soup left at the bottom.
We were seated in this really vintage/old school shop that I really like.

See what I mean? =)

Komtar from a pin-hole view!
At night, WJS insisted this must-try dessert at Gurney.

Took a stroll along the beach.

Someone acting like a pro when he is obviously not one. =P

We missed you here, Loony!

The must-try desserts at Crepe Cottage!

Mango crepe! Nadeje's crepe (from Melaka) is still the best but this will do at the moment.

Our awesome banana boat!
We then went to Straits Quay to see what are those rich people up to. Just kidding.

Pretty spiral stairs at SQ.

So many paying their tribute to Zoe's (iPhone moi) grandpa!
And then I got it. One of the reasons that WJS brought us here was to camwhore with the cute Snoopy Cafe they have here.

Snoopy and friends queuing to school!

Catch the ball, Zen!

I still can't hear you....

We end the night by looking at those expensive but beautiful boats at the dock. Sigh...I want one of those...

Pearl Island

2011-10-24T12:05:00.003+08:00

If you guess Penang, you guessed right! :)
Today is the last day of my 3 Days 2 Nights stay and I had so much fun throughout the trip; catching up with friends and the amount of food I had!
Special thanks to Ai Ling and Jun Seng for taking us around the island and for everything. More elaborated entries coming up when I reach home!
Ciaoz!

Bali Day 1 - The Land of Eat, Pray, Love

2011-10-21T21:00:00.000+08:00

More of Love actually. =)

There was so much drama once I got down from the plane. First, Sharpay's luggage lock just went miraculously missing. Our suspicion is that someone might have forced entry into her luggage and dispose the lock.
Then I found that my luggage handle was broken. It took them almost 2 hours to process the report and refund me. Yes, ladies & gentlemen, I took the Air Asia flight and I wasted almost two hours at the airport. Sigh.
Airport pictures first!

We were excited already.

Welcome to Bali

Super thirsty because we did not get any drinks in the plane.
We were so hungry because we only had McD's breakfast at LCCT so our driver, whom by the name is Ketut (yeah, I feel like I am Elizabeth Gilbert already) took us to this restaurant called Malioboro.

Sharpay & Ai Ling

Loony et moi

This was some egg cooked with tofu.

The spicy anchovies. A little to salty for my liking.

The original flavour of Malioboro chicken. Yes, you can eat all of it. The feet, the head, the neck (a-hem...Loony ate it without her knowing it and I just kept quiet) Hehehe!

The salted Malioboro chicken. This one taste better than the original flavour.

The sambal to go with the dishes.
Overall, I do not like it. I was trying to force myself to chew and swallow the bones. Not my cup of tea. I guess I will just stick to normal chicken breast meat.

The damage...

The most expensive meal we had in Bali and it doesn't live up to our standard. =(

Taiwan in Summary

2011-10-19T21:57:00.000+08:00

I think the Taiwan entry deserves a proper closure. I love the city and I love the people. Not forgetting the food and shopping! And I will definitely be back!

Here is the summary of my Taiwan trip:

Day 1
After reaching airport, took a 2 hour bus to Taichung. Visited Feng Jia night market & checked in at Feng Jia homestay.

Day 2
Right after breakfast, we took the public bus to Sun Moon Lake. Spent the whole day there.

Day 3
Waited for the shuttle bus around the lake to take us to Formosan Aboriginals Cultural Village. Spent the whole day there at the cultural village/theme park. In the evening, we took the cab up to Cing Jing, one of the highest spot at Taichung.

Day 4
Spend half the day at sheep farm. Later took an hour cab to the inter-city train station to take the train to Taipei. Checked into Pig Homestay at Taipei and dinner at Xi Men Ding.

Day 5
Visited Jin Gua Shi in the morning, Jiu Fen in the afternoon and dinner at the famous Shih Lin night market.

Day 6
Spent the whole day at Yeh Liu Ecological Park.

Day 7
Gained that extra knowledge about world 2nd tallest building, Taipei 101. Went to the famous Bei Tou hotsprings and ate the famous braised pork rice for dinner.

Day 8
Leaving on a plane...

For elaborated entry, click on the hyper-linked words.

This very cute dog is owned by our lovely homestay owner. Almost everyone in Taiwan owns a dog.

So fluffy!

The complete picture of all of us who were in the trip! =D

And a compulsory picture with the travel buddy.

At the airport!

Even the cute-sy side of Taiwan can be found in the airport! =D
It is a goodbye for Taiwan for now. Till my very next trip!

Hot Springs at Bei Tou & Braised Pork Rice!

2011-10-13T00:04:00.000+08:00

This Taiwan entry is at last coming to an end! =D
On the second last day, we went to the hot spring at Bei Tou. I was looking forward to it since I never been to one before.
To get to Bei Tou, you will stop at one last station to board another cute train that looks like this!

And the inside are information on the hot springs at Bei Tou

All of us are excited!

Cute little half naked boys!
There are two types of hot springs. One is the open area public ones where the entrance fee is super cheap but you get scary uncles with big belly hanging around. EWWWWW!
The other one is the boutique/hotel type of hot springs. We opt for the latter.

We took the couple hot springs but not so much of a couple for both PrincessX and me.

Nevertheless, we had a good time by just chilling and talking =)

We then went to Lao Jie (old street) for a walk.

And I found the collector piece of Jay Chou's 10 year anniversary stamps! It cost me quite a bit but I am happy! =)

Our last dinner was this famous braised pork rice. Something that both Pengsok and PrincessX have been hunting since day 1!

And they were having promotion!

NWT10 for a bowl of braised pork rice! That's like RM1!

Pictures time!

My ultimate favourite; braised egg!

The bowl of braised pork rice

Vege!

Corn soup

And some other soup that someone ordered =P

The restaurant was packed. Due to the promotion I guess...

Overall the braised pork rice is not bad. I kind of like the taste of it.

Proud to be single!

2011-10-10T21:15:00.001+08:00

So true!

Volleyball

2011-10-05T13:29:00.000+08:00

Note: No, I did not write this to make anyone feel bad. That is not my intention. My intention of writing this is because writing it out makes me feel better and makes me see and think clearer. So please do not come back holding this piece of entry against me. You have been forewarned.

I felt like a volleyball; at times I am being served, at times I am being spiked and there are times I hit rock bottom.
This time is no exceptional. I think I am hitting rock bottom. Served and spiked by the people I call friends.
Sad but welcome to the story of my life.

You told me how people need to get used to staying alone. How come I did not see you doing that? How come I see you protecting yourself first even if it means...

As for last night, how come you did not ask me how I feel about this before telling me your decision? By asking me how I feel about it after telling me your decision... -_-
Do I even look like I have a choice to say it? And even if I do, didn't it later remains just the same? Because the decision has been made. How silly.

I will tell you what happen if I did not shift out of home back then. I would not be silly to accept a job all the way at KL thinking that I will still be staying at Funkytown for sometime. I will not make silly decision like that.
Probably I will get somewhere nearer to home and today I will not have to be dealing with all this.
Sorry and No I am not blaming anyone. I blame myself for being naive. I also blame myself for knowing all along that the current roommate I have isn't the right one I should be staying with but I still go with it. In the name of putting others first in my prority.

Then someone reminds me of the things I once said. Priority changes.

How it rings in my head all night. I missed the time when life is simpler and friends are all you have. How did people maintain their friendship? How did they do it until their friends walked down the aisle and have grand-kids? Don't they have disagreements and rows?
I am amazed and I want to learn how to be one of them. I was happier back then. This year, there is just too much to cry for.

I do not want to keep thinking about this anymore. Because thinking about it does not give me a solution.
Right now, the question is, to shift home, to quit my job or to get a wheel?

p/s: I gotta stop stressing so much. There are more white hair and the thyroid is getting more prominent. >_<

Sunday Thoughts

2011-09-25T13:25:00.000+08:00

I think I am protective of my friends. Sometimes, I am overprotective. For example if they happen to be in a new relationship, I never think that the guy will be up to my standard. That is to say, the guy will never treat her as good as I do.
I never acknowlegde him that night. That is a strong indication that I never think that he is good enough for her. No reasons needed. Simply because he is not good enough. Never mind that I do not know his name yet or even seen his face. But sometimes, little actions can tell everything what a person needs to know.
There is also a reason why I will never be close to the boyfriends (but there have been some exception in the past). That is because it is easier to pick side when things do not turn out the way they should. It is also easier to blame the other person even though it is my friend who is at fault. Yeah, I am unfair like that.
But what about your guy friends? One asked. Well, I will teach him the correct way to treat a girl. Of what a girl need is simple; love and attention. Shower some gifts occasionally too! =)
What a random thought on Sunday. But that was because of a situation that happened one night that made me think of these things.
You are welcome to state your opinion if you disagree. Ciaoz!

Taipei 101

2011-09-20T19:26:00.001+08:00

This entry should have been up last week but due to internet error, hence delay.
Taipei 101 is the 2nd tallest building in the world and it is located in the heart of Taipei city.

The day we went it was hazy so the building was not so clear. To get to Taipei 101, you have to get out of the MRT station and walk around the block of buildings. Quite a distance I would say.

Like Suria KLCC, the inside of Taipei 101 is a shopping mall that carries various high end brands.

Not easy at all to get this shot. All of us was staring at the ground and smiling at it. -_-

Another shot with a clearer building but a darker shade of ours

See what I meant by them carrying high end brands?

All of us were wearing clothes bought the night before. Hehe! FYI, we only brought 2 full sets of clothes when we came on this trip. =)

Night look of Taipei 101

Day look of Taipei 101

The entrance ticket was NT400 (RM40) and I thought it was quite pricey. But was worth the money.

Not all of us went in though. Only PrincessX, Sharpay and GuiGui went in with me.

The city view lay out in front of us when we got to the top. Like I said it was kind of hazy so we could not see too far.

Double image! The first one...

and it shows the other one when you move to the side

Love this image of Taipei 101. It has hearts on it! =D
We then proceed to learn how the building holds itself when earthquakes happen.

This is a mass damper that will act to absorb any form of vibration be it strong or weak. It is supported by four strong ropes and will swing side to side like a pendulum when there is vibration.

This whole video/animation was projected on the floor while we were walking. It shows how the dampers will absorb earthquakes.

The damper is huge!

And they even use the dampers as their mascots. So cute! They have a lot of these in four different colours.

I spot our own twin towers all the way here too! =D *proud*
That was the reason why I said it was a worthy trip. With all the information learnt. =)

Will miss Taipei 101...
By the way, on my way back, I was VERY tempted to lie on this empty crossroad and ask my friend to take a picture of me.

But I didn't have the guts to do it!

Hello from Bali!

2011-09-16T09:23:00.001+08:00

Hello people! Am currently in Bali and that explains the sudden silence in the blog. I'm flying home tonight and this trip so far has been nothing but amazing. The people, the place, the food and most importantly, the massage and spa!
Hopefully I recharged enough to be back working till my next trip. :)
Ciaoz!

Day 6 - Yeh Liu Ecological Park

2011-09-06T22:50:00.000+08:00

We boarded a bus from Taipei to Yeh Liu Ecological Park. One of most beautiful wind-made park I have ever seen.

Bus ticket!

I am amazed by their public transport. Yeh Liu is situated at an outskirt and it take close to 2 hour journey.
Yet, there are buses that goes there. And stops at a strange looking place that looks like this.

It looks like a middle of nowhere! It is a small fisherman village.

School kids crossing the road.

PrincessX told me this school teaches basic marine science and everything underwater!

Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to Yehliu Geopark.

I love all these cute statue they have around the park. Apparently, they are the princesses named after each wind-made statue in Yehliu. Later you will see what I mean.

It is so beautiful and calm over there. Yehliu wins hands down as the most beautiful place I have seen while I was at Taipei.

Cropped top and tank brought from Shih Lin! =D

Yeah, the three of us got the same top. =D
We're here at Yehliu partly is to see the famous Queen's Head II.

And it is not man-made. It is made by winds that blow for many many years.

It looks something like this. This one is a replica of it. The real one is out there waiting for us.

Spot the resemblance? Hehe!

This is an overall picture of Yehliu. All the rock-like statue is made by strong winds. Reminds me of Kudat. Can you spot the Queen's Head?

And the wind here is super strong! Just ignore my messy hair.

Will never ever forget the beauty of this place.

Even PrincessX was mesmerized.

Lush green moss

Ta-Da! We queued up for about 20 minutes just to take a picture of the real Queen's Head II! There is even a guard stood by to keep an eye on the crowd.

Would love to come back here again someday.

Coming to Yehliu also made me realize how much I love the sea

Trying to dump all my so-called artistic picture here! HAHA!

Take me out to the sea!!

Colourful flowers!
I would love to end this entry with a statue which is also wind-made many many years ago...

Presenting you the mini Statue of Liberty here in Yehliu Geopark...
Right after this was taken, the guards blows whistle at us shoo-ing us away! Hehe! =P
Aites! Till the next one!

After My Last Entry...

2011-08-29T22:32:00.000+08:00

Suddenly everyone's asking me how am I doing. But, to tell you the truth, I know deep inside who's sincere and who's not. But then again, thank you for asking. =P
Here's a beautiful picture of KLCC twin tower I would like to share with all of you.

I went running around KLCC park and it was a beautiful moment and the right place to jog. Later, I just sat there and watch the twin towers lit up while thinking about home and so many other things.
Sometimes you see people taking granted of what they have. It is sad though but then again, you will never know what you lose until it is gone.
Alright, enough of the emo entries.
I would love to take this opportunity to wish all my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and please be careful on the road.

How Are You Doing Lately, Gypsy?

2011-08-25T22:57:00.000+08:00

The one question that I don't get asked much lately. It would be great if someone would be nice enough to ask me that. Not even friends that I know and close with. Or...do I still call these people my close friends?
It will also be great if my friends will be kind enough to drop by at BookFest just to show their moral support because organizing this mega event has been really really tiring. It is exciting but too bad, there are nobody around for me to share the excitement with. If they really can't, least I expect is to ask me how's the whole preparation going...
But I don't want to complain much.
After all, having expectations will just let me down further.
So I will just keep looking forward positively.
Strange though that the question above was asked by two people that shared the same name. And both are the least of people that I expect will ask me. One who is physically so far away in Perak and the other one whom I am not so close with. You cannot imagine what a rush of gratitude I have towards them for asking me that. Though I did not tell much but it is already enough to make me smile.
Maybe I would want to start re-evaluating who my friends are. Or maybe I should just expect lesser.
Or maybe...........I will leave this to your imagination.
Good night readers.

Day 5 - Jiu Fen & Shih Lin Night Market

2011-08-25T22:33:00.001+08:00

Right after the Gold Mining trip in the morning, we head over to Jiu Fen. Jiu Fen is literally known as "nine portions" is a mountain area in Ruifang district. Apparently, during the Qing Dynasty, this place housed 9 families and everytime they will request for 9 "portions" when shipments arrived.

Hence, the name of Jiu Fen. For more information, you can read it over here.

It is located near the gold mining area I blogged previously. It is basically a street that sells many varieties and this place is famous for it's taro ball. But I honestly think it is a little overrated.

I will let the pictures do the talking.

It is quite an old street

And it is crowded! Super crowded!

Love all the weird and quirky stuffs they sell here

Maltose candy

THESE yam cakes are delicious but SUPER expensive!

This is how they sell their anchovies.

Stumble upon this really cool looking shop

The many wishes of people around the world

The famous Auntie A-Gan Sweet Taro Ball! Wait till you see the amount of people queuing up!

And also the amount of people sitting on the stairs eating

The warm taro ball

And this is the cold taro ball

We then end our day eating and shopping at the famous Shih Lin night market!

There are two different place. This is the close area. (on the left once you get down from the MRT Station)

This is the open area night stall (on the right once you get down from MRT)

Had their famous XXL chicken chop!

Super LOVE IT! And cheap too. I think it is about NT550 (RM5.50)

Had the best ping tong wu lou!

Strawberries were extremely sweet! And they're only NT200 (RM2)

And of course I did lots of shopping!

Let Me Complain Just This Time

2011-08-18T22:52:00.000+08:00

I am so dead tired that I don't even have enough time to sleep, let alone blog. =(
The next entry on Taiwan was suppose to be exciting but I am just too exhausted. I have my swimming session to maintain which always ends at 9.30pm and by the time I got back and have finished with dinner and laundry, it is almost time to sleep. =((
BookFest is around the corner already. And that week is going to be another hectic week for me all the way until before my next big trip! =D (now that is something for me to look forward to!)

This is random but I would really like to know if any of you who came across people who just LOVE to complain. And they can complain just about anything under the sun. But don't they realize that by complaining will only make things worse? If only they realized that and if only they STOP complaining.

Alrights. I have to go hit the sack now. Been having very little sleep recently.

Day 5 - Jin Gua Shi (Gold Mining)

2011-08-10T21:35:00.001+08:00

Eekz! I realized my blog has been really quiet for some time since the last update.

Today, I will be bringing you guys through one of the places that I visited while I was at Taipei. It is the gold mining site otherwise known as Jin Gua Shi. If there is any spelling mistake, the translator is to be blamed! Heheh!

We walked out and took bus number 1602 that will bring you to the gold mining site.

Spotted at Sogo, Taiwan!

People, say hello to my travel partner!

Reached the site after about close to an hour ride.

I really do not know what does the chinese characters said. Probably Jin Gua Shi??

It was a really cool area as the mining site is situated near the mountains. I remembered buying 3 lovely postcards from here to post it out to people as souvenirs. =)

One of those wonderful pictures that Haley, my camera, can produce sometimes still surprise me.

The police station at Jin Gua Shi. Very traditional looking, isn't it?

We, then head over to the other side to see the part of the buildings and items that are still preserved from the mining days.

Look at their post box!

Here are a few items that those miners used back then.

I am sure everyone is very familiar with this telephone. But when I pick it up, there is a voice like an audio guide that will guide you through those items found on that desk which also happened to be a working station of one of the miner.

I assumed this was their torchlight back then

Table lamp, clock, radio...

Calendar...

Coins, keys and scissors

Their safe box?

Typewriter! Looking old and ancient...

This is their time sheet! You see those numbers filled in the box? Those are the hours that they worked.

Owhkay...I had no idea what is this...

And this I assumed is their pay slip! We were then ushered into a room to watch a video on the mining site which I personally find it quite interesting.

This place must have been some hundred years ago!

We found the railway!

And we made Lulu pushed us. After all, she is a qualified miner. Hahax!

I love the scenery. It was a whole lush of green and it was cooling..

Entrance to the mining site...

It was a no entry area

Try to guess what is the wall/portrait behind me made of? It is GOLD, you guys! And when we were taking pictures, we were not suppose to touch/lean on the wall.

How gold mining was done back then...

And how gold was extracted. This is a wax figure, mind you. He creeps me out a little.

And guess who gets to touch one really heavy brick of gold???

It was freaking heavy alright! And there are CCTVs everywhere!

Till the next one, dream of gold alright? Hehe! =)

I Am Magical!

2011-08-03T23:10:00.000+08:00

I FOUND THE MAGICAL QUILL!
Owh I was so sleepy already when I thought I'd refreshed the Pottermore page and immediately saw the 4th clue.
Found the quill and now I am officially magical!

You had no idea how long I waited for this one. Truly, 4 is my lucky number.
Just in case you are wondering what's my magical name, here you go...

And for those who wondered, the answer is 4 x 28 = 112.
p/s - Look at what my location is below the entry! Cool, isn't it? Alright, good night peeps!

Forgiveness

2011-07-30T00:10:00.001+08:00

is something I am still struggling at.

Today, I read a beautifully written article by Jojo Struys. Here's the link in case you are interested. It is about forgiveness. She mentioned how by just a simple forgiveness can heal a great deal of suffering that one has been carrying on their back. The inspiration of her article came from the Aba Gayle's story. How her daugther was brutally murdered and how the day she finally had the strength to forgive the murderer is the day she finally be able to be happy again.

This make me think about the time, the one time I find it so hard to forgive a person. This person is someone I have never met but have done something that almost took away my family.

This person whom I went to great length to do just about anything so that every inch of her life is miserable. Miserable isn't strong enough to describe what I did. Yes, I did that and I was never proud of it. All in the name to protect my family.

Today for the first time, I thought of forgiving. Forgiving the person whom I hated so much. So much that sometimes I woke up with nightmares. I realize I had already done the first minor step when I mentioned her (indirectly) through one of my entry. This is the second time. I wonder...if this is the first step to forgiveness?

Oh God, please give me more strength to do this. This burden and hatred that I have been carrying for 5 solid years...

I hope the day will come when I will finally be able to feel liberated.

Day 4 (Evening) - Taipei & bits of Xi Men Ding

2011-07-26T21:27:00.000+08:00

If you realized, my Taiwan entry went on a little mini break. This was because I left my external hard disk at home so I was without it the whole week I was at Funky Town.
Anyway, my last entry stopped at sheep farm.
And yeah, I was in great deal of pain! The plan was to take the bus down to the train station. But we found out that the cost of the cab was just as much as the bus would cost us so in the end we took a 6 seater cab.
Which I really appreciate given that I was too in pain to be sitting on a rumbling unstable bus.
Okay, enough with the whole pain thingy. By now you guys should be able to get the idea of how painful my PMS is. =P
We took the cab to the inter-city train station that will lead us straight into Taipei Main Station.

And the train station reminds me of the bollywood scene.

See what I meant??

Actually our ticket is a standing ticket but I was fortunate enough to get an empty seat. I guess the person who was suppose to take my seat just didn't turn up or something. We reached the Taipei main station after 2 long hours.
And frankly, we were quite lost in the station. It was underground with too many directions! But the picture below says it all. While all of us were lost, only one person is working super hard on the map to find a way out while the rest just took pictures and stood by the side.

Poor Pengsok! I think he silently swear that he will never go on trips with us again... =(

The many expressions of people while waiting to be rescued by the homestay staff.
Oh, brace yourself ladies and gentlemen. Out of so many homestays, this one at Taipei rock my world!
Wait till you see it!

Ta-Da!!! Welcome to Pig Home Stay. It was a small studio apartment turn beautifully decorated for us budget travellers.

It has everything. And it can fit 6 people! I super hate that alien on the LCD screen!

And I actually slept facing it. FML!

The mini kitchen.

Which has everything you need.

And let me take you guys upstairs.

To another bedroom.

It's like bedroom in the attic.

I guess everyone's ultimate favourite is this homestay too!

We also have an awesome bathroom that came with a rain shower.

The downside is, you can only use 30 minutes of the water heater and need to wait another 30 minutes before another batch of water heater can be used.
Confusing isn't it? Yeah, it is part of their saving the environment plan thingy.
We then went to Ximen Ding for dinner.

It was just a few stops away from Taipei Main Station.

Reminds me of a mini Time Square.

Its a whole street of fashion and all that

Spot us in ximen ding and till the next entry!

midnight rant

2011-07-20T23:34:00.002+08:00

My sleep activity now consist of me gritting my teeth while silent tears fell down. All these while counting down the days to Friday. Not forgetting the countless time I was jolted awake from sleep.
How long till this nightmare is over? Please popped me a sleeping pill for the next 6 months because I foresee this is how it's gonna be until I am finally home...
Good night & sleep tight, Gypsy...

I Couldn't Be Any Prouder

2011-07-20T21:36:00.001+08:00

I just have to show you guys how amazing my team members are. I gave them a task on designing the front cover for the flyers for our camp and wait till you see them!
The first one is designed by Jing Wei.

She draws this herself and I think it is really cute. She actually attached it together the meaning behind the whole drawing. I love it.

The next one designed by Li Peng.

Can you believe it? It reminds me of a masquerade mask. Very chic and certainly there is a lot of effort behind this design.

The last one is designed by Regina.

You know what this reminds me of? Wizard of Oz! Makes me think of this sentence immediately; "There's no place like home..."

I equally love all designs so I think I am going to find a way to publish all three through different mediums. And I just wanna say I could not be any prouder of the three of them. =)

what we need in life is to have a little bit more faith

2011-07-18T15:06:00.002+08:00

What suppose to be something I do not wish to discuss about has been violated. What I do not understand is how someone who is not related at all is the person who make things worse.

So you tell me, should I be mad?

I probably should attempt murder tonight.

But I think no point crying over spilled milk.

What further confuses me is why am I not allowed to keep stuffs to myself. After all, one has various reason to keep things to themselves. Reasons vary from fear of the consequences, fear of change, it isn't the right time yet or just anything. Despite whatever the reasons are, I believe the person knows best of why he or she made such decision. As much as others can ask why but no one is entitled to question that decision. What more, to further complicate the matter.

One may or may not agree that the decision made is right but then again, who's to judge whether one is right or wrong? If you are a true friend, you do not judge. You do not further complicate things. You LISTEN and you respect the person's decision.

To be honest, I am disappointed with the person who complicate the matter without even knowing what is going on. Worse still, after complicating the situation, he or she decided to just leave it as it is.

But I am ever grateful that there are still people who have faith in me. After all, this is what we all need in life sometimes; is just to have a little bit more faith.

Harry Potter - As I Remember It & Forever Will

2011-07-12T21:12:00.002+08:00

I remember it was back in 2001 (when I was in Form 3) that I decided to catch this movie (Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone) in the local cinema with my high school friends. That was the first time I was introduced to the world of Harry Potter.

After the movie, I felt something was missing the in the story. As if my life now has a missing puzzle on it.

So I headed out that day itself to a bookstore and got myself Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban which is the 3rd book.

There I went combing pages over pages, day and night, and when I ended, I knew exactly this book will not stop me just there.

That was how I start to follow the book religiously.

Never have I came across a book that absorb me out of reality and take me into a world so magical and that sometimes when I sleep, I dream about it. I once dreamt walking along the endless passageways in Hogwarts while performing magic, can you believe it? These books gave me and Ling something to talk to each other back then when we were not so close. The one and only common interest we both have but magical enough to spark a conversation between us.

All the characters were so well written by Rowling even the bad ones. You cannot help but admire them all. I believe everyone has their own favourite character and mine has to be Hermione. Simply put because she is someone I always dream to be but never will. =)

10 long years I "walked" the ground of Hogwarts but the wise one would say, all good things must come to an end. Come morning of 21st July 2007, I woke up early with Loony to collect the final book. The heart feels a little heavy but yet I know, someday this journey will come to an end. I did not jumpstart immediately but took my time. I reread some lines. I made sure I did not miss out anything. Just because I know when I hit "The End", it is really the end after all. I dropped one fat tear when Dobby died. Smeared my mascara that morning (I was waiting to get to class) when I was at the page where Fred was murdered. FRED WAS MURDERED! :'( My heart was further broken when Lupin and Tonks dropped dead. Felt terror of chills when Hogwarts was under attack. Finally felt slightly better when Mrs Weasley kill Bellatrix.

Simply amazing how a pen, gripped by Rowling can send me on a roller-coaster of emotions.

And this week, the final installment of the movie will be released. Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. I was excited and half dreading it. Excited to see the final part at the same time dreading that it all comes to an end already. I have already purchased tickets for Saturday night and will be watching with some of the biggest fans I know. And maybe for spirit sake, I will be donning a scarf similar to the colour of Gryffindor.

Deep down, we all know it is not the end. Not when I heard Rowling said this at the premier last week,

"Whether it's by pages or screen, Hogwarts will always welcome you home"

Things That Make Me Feel Good

2011-07-08T20:20:00.002+08:00

I have recently taken up running again after so long. It makes me feel good...no, in fact better about a lot of things. It takes my mind off things that bothers me and makes me look clearer a little bit. I think the influence must have come from reading The Sunflower's tumblr entries on running and healthy eating. Which is also why I have started to cook dinner on my own this week. Not 100% healthy but still, healthier than outside food. =P

I have been working in the new place for 2 months already. I think I start to grasp on more things that I have never come by before. I start to feel a bit more towards what I am doing. Hopefully, I can maintain the positive energy for at least more than one year.

I started to take up reading again too after abandoning my books ages ago. Started with Harry Potter & The Philosopher Stone first. I thought I would be able to finish all the 7 books on time before the final movie but I am now only at the 4th book. Don't think I will be able to finish before the movie.

The weekend is once again around the corner. I have a feeling this weekend will be a blast. What's with someone is in town and I cannot wait to see her again after so long!

Till my next entry, have a lovely weekend!

Hello July!

2011-07-05T23:24:00.002+08:00

Look at how fast time passed! The other half of the year is rolling in already.

I had an impromptu trip with PBG last weekend. It all started with dinner at Comida. I bought this awesome deal from MilkADeal and it was really worth the money!

First up, starter.

Mushroom bruschetta. Jack ordered this one and it tasted really good.

Musroom soup. I am a fan of this one. So rich with mushroom flavour.

Our 12 inch Hawaiian pizza. It was good.

And this is the 24 inch Seafood special pizza. Can you imagine how huge it is?

Yeah....everybody wants a shot with the 24 inch pizza =)

I was too hungry already to pose.

Kevin made decision on this Hawaiian pizza. =)

For the first time, we got to gather ALL six of us which seems pretty hard nowadays given that one is in the north and the other is in the south; working. The rest of us? Central! =P

So we were talking about the trip next day where initially, just Loony, Zen and me will be heading towards Genting for a relaxing trip since I have a free room.

And then AiLing seems tempted. And Jack was persuaded to go. Next thing you know, Kevin was asked to call his girlfriend and both of them were expected to come.

We ended up with 8 people in the trip. =D

I did not take lots of pictures so these are all random pictures.

Zen and Jack. With his super expensive camera. =P

The photog in our group.

It was the right time to come to Genting because it was really foggy and freezing out here.

The beautifully lit up indoor theme park.

The merry-go-round. Which I personally love because of the beautiful lights.

Had fun at the pool too and had a few rounds of Monopoly Deal in our room.

Overall, I think July could not have started any better than this. =)

Bar'licious

2011-06-30T22:58:00.000+08:00

I thought we should take a break from the Taiwan entries a bit and talk about... Jeng Jeng Jeng.... FOOD!
Been so long since I last go and try out some new food joint. This is one of my purchases from group deals out there specifically MyDeal.
Bar'licious is situated in Solaris Dutamas and it runs in a bar concept. So be prepared of people smoking indoor.
The deal I bought consist of 4 course meal; starter, main course, dessert and drinks.
You can choose to have wine or beer or free flow of soft drinks.

I chose iced lemon tea.
They had mushroom and pumpkin soup for starter choices.

I opted for mushroom and I think it's quite good. It's think with mushrooms. Always a bonus point for me.
There are a couple of main courses...

LuLu opted for Rib Eye Steak. It was alright.

I went for the Grilled Chicken Breast. It's good and they grilled it just right that the chicken is soft and tender.

Sharpay ordered the Beef Burger which is the best among all of our main course. The beef patty is cooked just right. This is definitely a recommendation.

The dessert came afterwards which I think it was a little too simple but hey, one can't complain when the deal is so cheap! :)
Overall, I think that the food is not bad. Worth the visit but I would not purposely go all the way to Solaris Dutamas since it is a little too far for me.

One last picture of the people I dine with

Ciaoz!

Day 4 - We Went Baa Baa White Sheep...

2011-06-24T21:30:00.000+08:00

Imagine waking up to this...

Simply breathtaking, isn't it?

We missed the sunrise but even if we were able to make it, we wouldn't see any since it was too cloudy.
This is what I see when I look to the left of my balcony.

Readers, welcome to Guan Xing Yuan Homestay. Super homey, I tell you!

Yellow cab in Taiwan. Tak dapat yellow cab in NYC, yellow cab in Taiwan pun jadilah... Sorry for those who do not understand.

It was so cold at night that the bed is equipped with heater.

They even prepare breakfast for all their guests and mind you, it is a home-cooked breakfast. It is sort of like a family business.

It was already packed when we got down in the morning.

Since we need to wait a little for our table, we decided to go snap as much pictures as we can! =P

The land below...

Times like this I wish Haley (my faithful camera) would have a panaromic feature.

It's pretty isn't it?

You should see the night view. It is even more amazing than it is in daylight. Could not take a picture the night before because it was drizzling.
We finally got our turn...

The people I went with. From left; Sharpay, GuiGui. PrincessX, Lulu and Pengsok!

Of course not forgetting yours truly!

I love the frames on the wall. All are pictures taken by the homestay owner and it is really beautiful especially pictures of the husky dog that they own!

My simple yet delicious breakfast.
We were up early for the visit to the sheep farm hence, that explains the title above! =)
But before that, let me tell you, at that time after breakfast, I was feeling a little drowsy already. I dare not hope for the worst but it happened eventually. My super duper painful menstrual cramp! It has to happen during one of my most favourite place to visit!

Horses!

The super cute vending machine to buy the food to feed the sheep! Notice I could not even stand straight?

Sheep trash can!

And loads of them came running out. So cute!

This mat salleh talk super fast that at time, I don't even know what is he crapping about. And his accent doesn't help at all.

Beautiful landscape pictures onward!

I was too in pain to pose for a picture.

Thank gawd they ask me to if not I would have regretted it.

If I weren't in such pain, I would have taken the opportunity to roll down the grass. Something that I have always want to do!

Sheeps grazing the grass!

Fluffy thing, aren't they?

NO chasing after the sheeps! But some tourist just do not understand the instruction at all. I saw one sheep got chased and it ran over that man's little 4/5 year old toddler. Serves him right!

Windmill! =)
And I shall end this entry with a beautiful picture of the mentioned husky above...

Mom! Can I please take him home???

Day 3 - Steamboat at Cing Jing (Guan Xing Yuan Homestay)

2011-06-21T22:51:00.001+08:00

Right after Formosan Village, we rent a car and driver to charter us up to Cing Jing. The view along the journey is simply amazing.

Reminds me a little of the journey to Kundasang. =)
The temperature was around 16C degrees. So we are quite glad to arrive to this when we arrived at our homestay.

Steamboat!

Dishes consist of vegetables and mushrooms!

Not forgetting meats and other healthy stuff.

I was rather skeptical at how tasty will these healthy food be but it was really good! =)

Imagine having all that while the temperature ranging from 10 to 15 Celsius degrees.

YUMS!

Look at how happy we were! Sharpay and Gui Gui.

Lulu and Pengsok

Yours truly and PrincessX!
And it is super nice to come back to this...

Will blog more on the homestay next!
Now I am hungry looking at those pictures! Darn!

Take Me To Faraway Land

2011-06-19T02:00:00.002+08:00

I miss...

This seems so faraway now...

The Best App Ever!

2011-06-14T22:55:00.000+08:00

Yours truly just got older by a year last weekend and I ain't complaining. It was a quiet celebration, nothing to Hoo-Hah about but I kind of like it that way this year. Not sure why but perhaps maturity is catching up on me? =P

Anyway, last week itself was injected with a couple of surprises.

2 out of 7 of the CDs are granted by Sharpay, PrincessX and Lulu! Thank you! They even gave me a huge ass GLEE posted which I did not take a picture of it. Sorry!

Good news is RT Pastry can now be found in Klang! I LOVE everything in RT Pastry. It is a well-known bakery shop in Subang SS15 and finally, it decided to open a branch in Bandar Baru Klang!

Mummy was really nice enough to suggest me getting my cake from there even if it means driving all the way to BBK.

I chose the Sesame Charcoal Cake. I think Sharpay will like it.

Even the presentation is sweet and pretty.

It is quite worth the money as it is only RM33 for this 500g cake.

And wait until you see the box!

Prreeeeeetttyyyyyyyyyyy!

In case you are wondering, I spent the day with PBG + Lao Da karaoke-ing away in RedBox The Curve.

And we later dropped by at ChaTime to try their famous milky tea. Well, it was just alright. NOTHING beats YoYo so far!

Okay...back to the title of the entry. I have just discovered one AWESOME and probably the BEST iPhone app in the world! At least for girls. The 美图秀秀 app!

Love how I can do all the special effects on my pictures!

MAD Love!

And I shall end this entry with a snippet of a video of the boys singing to Love Story. =D

Day 3 - Formosan Aboriginals Culture Village & Bubbles!

2011-06-09T21:37:00.002+08:00

We are going to theme park! The mini theme park which is located in Formosan Aboriginals Culture Village.

Spot our excited face?

It is located in Yu Chi, Nantou County nearby Sun Moon Lake.

We board the shuttle bus (which by the way is FREE and it goes round the island) to the cable car place

It felt a little like Genting Highlands. I love cable car rides!

And we got to see the most breathtaking scene of Sun Moon Lake. So pretty...

It is quite an interesting trip to the village. Loads of cam-whoring opportunities.

Love this long flowy top of mine. Got it at NT179 (RM18) at Feng Jia night market.

Apparently, it is a no entry zone but it looks sooooo pretty!

We cannot resist fooling around the payphones.

Remember how I said Taiwanese believes in owls?

We saw a lot of owl figurines here. And we eventually became one too!

Lavender and loads of them. It is a lavender garden.

See what I told you about cam-whoring opportunities and silly poses? There you go.

♥ this picture. They just look happy together. =)

We stopped by at various stops for food. This is the famous Bunun BBQ. You can smell it from a distance. Sorry, there is no picture of the bbq meat because we were so hungry and busy eating it all.

This was our next stop.

They are famous for their bamboo rice.

We were hungry and greedy people, I tell you. This trip is all about FOOD.

Argh! Looking at it makes me feel hungry!

Here is how the bamboo rice is cooked.

Owl again! ♥

This is sort of like a yam cake.

Soup which I think is a little too oily.

Bamboo rice! Which will rock your heaven on your first bite!

Boiled herbal egg which I think wasn't that good.

Food = Happy People

You must have been wondering where on earth is the theme park.

Here you go! It is really small and in fact, we only went for 2 rides. One was the motion master thing and the other one was at the Maya Adventure where it is one of the best roller coaster ride I had in my life.

It was so small that we spent our time playing bubbles!

Pretty isn't it?

It is so hard to get a good picture while you're blowing the bubbles.

I don't understand why or how PrincessX always gets the good shot!

And this is one nice accidental shot which I love! =D

Besides cultural village and theme park, this place is also known for the 公主小妹 (Romantic Princess) tv series setting starring Wu-Zhun.

It is set to look like an European garden

I love it here. I love the tv series and at that time, I did not know it was the setting. I just thought it looks familiar and only found out about it when I got back.

LuLu was trying to add some special bubble effects! Haha!

Another shot that I personally love.

Us, the SATC rocking Taiwan. =)

And I shall end this long winding picture entry with colourful post box!

A Girl Can Wish...

2011-06-03T20:06:00.008+08:00

Oh yes I can because... *drum roll*... June is my month! And I hardly ask for anything. So this time, I thought "Why not do a wishlist?" =)

1) Complete GLEE Sountracks!

That's right. I am a true GLEEK and I want to have all the CDs including The Warbler's CD.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3 - The Deluxe CD

Volume 4

Volume 5

Volume 6

and...The Glee Music Presents The Warblers!

2) A Long Vintage Wallet from Fossil

Picture is just for illustration purpose. I actually saw some nice ones in the Fossil outlets. I think it is time I own a proper wallet like a grown up. Hehe!

3) A Mini Wardrobe Makeover

Would love to throw out some old clothes and bring in the new ones. I saw some really nice stuffs at Cotton On. Would definitely check them out again.

4) Handmade Goodies from Pipit and Artchala Handmade
Take a look at these handmade long wallet by Artchala!

and this too!

There are so many more at www.facebook.com/thepipit ! I love almost all of their stuffs in the June Catalogue photo album! Sigh...handmade are expensive but then again, they are limited. Double sigh.

5) Hug-able soft toys

It is funny how nobody ever gives me soft toys before. Seriously. I think it would be nice to have one that I can hug to sleep or bring along when I go traveling. Nothing too huge or small.

Isn't that cute? Now everyone say...Awww...

That is all I could think at the moment. Oh wait. It would be nice if Darren Criss could wish me on my day! Just a thought! Hehe!

Day 2 - Sun Moon Lake

2011-06-01T22:35:00.002+08:00

Sun Moon Lake (Ri Yue Dan) is probably one of my favourite place in Taichung. Lulu told me it was "Day Moon Pond"! So much for direct translation! The lake is beautiful and surrounded by mountains. So we board a bus to Sun Moon Lake and it took us about 3 hour to reach.
We reached just right on time to check into our homestay with the name "Honeymoon".

It is a 6 people room and it is pretty spacious with 3 queen beds.

But personally, I prefer the one we stayed in Feng Jia.
We then bought ferry tickets to Harbour Yacht.

The tickets are pretty accessible near the dock. We got ours from our homestay reception.

Cam-whoring with my travel partner! =D

There are 2 stops that the ferry brought us. The above picture shows the smallest man made island in Taiwan. People here believe in owls. Owls are said to bring "baby" luck. When an owl landed in a village, it is said that someone will be blessed with a baby.
We reached the first stop called Syuan Guang Temple where there is a famous woman who has been selling herbal tea egg for many many years.

We're talking about from when she was in her 20-s till now.

I think she sells not less than 1000 eggs per day.
And there is always a queue in front of her shop.

We each bought one and later went back for second round.

I love the egg. It was a little salty but I like how the egg is cooked long enough that the herbs are infused in the egg.

This is the one and only stone that says "Sun Moon Lake" and it looks perfectly normal to me. But everyone was fighting to take a picture with it. Nah, couldn't be bothered.
We had to climb up the steps and we came to this beautiful view of the lake.

I love it up here.

Wishes made by visitors.
The next stop was Yi Da Shao which is a small native town where we spent our time eating and sightseeing the town.

I believe it says grilled Wild Boar meat.

First up, drinks! Which I think it's alright.

Here you go. The infamous wild boar meat. I think it was okay. Nothing much to shout about but if you have not try it, you can give it a try.

The small sausage wrapped around by the glutinous rice (xiao chang bao da chang)
One of my favourite in Taiwan and probably the best found only in Sun Moon Lake is the fried mushroom.

Their mushroom is different than ours!

See the one on the left? Yeah, that's the one. And they cut it into cubes and fried.

And it is only NT40 (RM4.50)! Yummy! I miss this one already. T___T

Spotted 7 Eleven that provides postal service so I sent out this postcard to someone. =)

Overall, Sun Moon Lake is really a small town.

There's not much night activities and the dinner here is really expensive.
So expensive that we bought dinner from 7 Eleven instead! But never underestimate their 7 Eleven. Theirs are the best I have ever seen. Love the variety of food you can get in there. Probably I should do one entry on that!

My dinner! It was delicious!

First Morning at Taichung

2011-05-24T22:50:00.000+08:00

It is breakfast time!
Warning: Loads of food pictures ahead. Hazardous for those who are hungry or starving right now. You have been warned.

Before that...

Street picture first! Taiwan is the first country that I spot almost everyone riding a scooter. Not the normal manual gear motorbike but SCOOTER! Even the guys! Cute! =)

This is what I see when I got down from the place I stayed.

I love the old street feeling. And all the signboards which are so foreign to me. Ahh....I am starting to miss Taiwan.

We walked about less than 10 minutes and we came to this shop which sells breakfast.

It has a variety of man tou, pao and some other fried stuff.

It helps if you can read chinese.

They serve soy bean as drinks! Not milo or teh tarik or the usual Malaysian breakfast drink.

One thing I must comment tho...

The fried food are oily. In fact almost all the food in Taiwan are pretty oily.

We ordered soy bean!

The difference of their soy bean is that they put coarse sugar instead of the normal sugar water. I think it tasted good. Especially when it goes with this!

You tiao! Yummeh!

Small bao that looks like xiao long bao.

See the oil on the paper? Now you get what I mean?

This man tou with floss is awesome! Was tempted to order a second one!

Some bread with egg and vege

See the oil on the plate?

This is how it looks like in the inside...

And more fried stuffs! =D

After breakfast, we packed up our suitcases and we are hitting the road again.

All of us were waiting for the public transport. Looking like a true backpacker! Hehe!

A pretty picture! =) And oh, when we board this bus, we met a really cute french guy. But we didn't take a picture with him. =(

Guess where are we heading to?

Just a little hint for the next entry...

Ta-dah! =D

A Letter To The 16 Year Old Me

2011-05-18T00:09:00.004+08:00

Inspired by Timothy Tiah and Jolene

Dear 16 Year Old Me,

I think you must have been having one really bad week. How many times did you hide in the school toilet to cry this week? Almost everyday? =( I know things are going downhill for you right now between you and the people whom you called "best friends". But let me share with you something, in this 8 years time, you will meet so many amazing people that will make your time spent in the school toilet seems ridiculous. I am very sorry to tell you that Joyce and you will no longer be close anymore but trust me when I say just be patient, everything will fall into place.

I know you are very worried about SPM. It seems like the only way out is to score full As and get into matriculation to lead you to public university. In fact, I know the 8 tuition classes that you are taking right now is so tiring that you fall asleep most of the time in class. Unfortunately, you only manage to score 4 As. And when you found out that you did, please do not feel that it is the end of the world. I know that you are so miserable as everyone you know is going somewhere but you have to stuck at Form 6 but bear with it because it is just the beginning to a wonderful journey.

How is Ben? I know you guys are really close nowadays and I know you have a crush on him. Huge one indeed. Well, here's another shocking truth. You lost touch with Ben after exam and you never hear from him again until after quite some time. I know you kept thinking what is wrong with you when everyone around you is dating someone but guys seems to not notice you. Let me share with you a little secret. Remember Kamaruddin from Form 3 Maths tuition class? His bestfriend is after your bestfriend? Sounds familiar? You will eventually go on a trip with that guy, get to know him and fall in love with him. There, you will have your first lesson of inter-racial relationship. You will have 2 years of ups and downs with him and finally, decided to break it off with him. I know it will be hard on you and you want to get back to him for every reason available but eventually, time heals and you will move on.

Form 6 will seems such a scary idea to you right now but trust me, all the early mornings that you woke up just to do your revision (as early as 4am) will pay off. You will be meeting one girl in tuition that will changed who you are. Let's just name her Sunflower. She will teach you independence and loyalty in friendship. She will be the first girl you meet after all your friendship disasters; so remember, do not push her away. She will become of the important elements in your life.
You eventually score in STPM and is accepted to Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Guess what course? Here's a little hint. Remember how you are struggling trying to learn swimming and you wish you can swim well and stay afloat in water? You eventually will because you will be studying Marine Science in UMS. You will even go as far as obtaining a diving license!

I know sometimes your thoughts get carried away and one of it is what you fear will happen. Can you recall what is the one? Yeap, that's the one. I am very sorry to break this bad news to you that what you fear is going to happen soon. Your first near encounter to it will be the night when you decided to check where Dad is. But you decided to shrug it off hoping that it is not true. The ultimate truth will be reveal when few months later, you decided to take a look at his phone when he got back from overseas. I am sorry it hurt so deeply and you wish you knew it earlier but please, please, believe me when I tell you this. There is a reason why the first time you shrug it off and decided not to look deeper into it is because you have not sit for your STPM exam yet. It was after STPM that you found out the truth. Imagine what would happen if you found out earlier? You will not be able to focus on exam and score. So yes my dear, everything happens for a reason. After this, you will start to be closer to Mom and develop a new understanding towards her. You will stood up for the family and do anything you would to make sure Ling, Siang and Wey feels secure. Did I tell you Mom was so proud of you? Do not worry much because over the time, our family will learn and improve. Did I mention Ling? Are you girls talking to each other? Are you treating her well? Well, here's another surprise. Ling will be the one sister that you are so close with that you will bring her along when you hang out with your friends. Shocking, I know!

Going to UMS has got to be the three BEST years in your life! You will meet Siew Wen in Form 6 who sits in front of you. You will borrow her maths homework to be copied. She will eventually be your best friend and roommate in UMS. She will know everything about you and your past and even able to read your mind sometimes. You will go into your course and meet an amazing family. When I say family, yes, there is a Dad, Mom and siblings! They will become your family when you are away from home in Sabah. They will be there for your ups and downs as a real family. Sharpay, Lulu and PrincessX will be three important family members that you will run to anytime of the day. You will stay off-campus and meet 2 more amazing girls (Zen and Ai Ling) and all these people will make high school seems so far away as if it never exist.

Here's another thing that I will like to share with you. After SPM, you will join a camp (a buddhist camp to be precise) at KCBA. You will be hesitant at first but all thanks to Weng Phoon, you will join this camp as a participant and later on become a committee for 7 years! You will meet one of the nicest group of people that will show you, well, real friends do exist. Somewhere in your 4th year (I think) you will meet Rachel and Justin. Rachel is one sweet girl that I promise, you will like this girl! Justin on the other hand...well, when you meet Justin, you will want to push him away but before you do that, listen him out. Take time and get to know him a little bit more. There is a reason why he wants to be close to you. After awhile, you will see how he is so similar to you. Stay, guide him and listen to him.

The 24 year old you right now is currently working. This is the second job and it is quite new; so, let me tell you a little bit about your first one. You will be in a magazine company that carry one of the 4 title that has the highest print run. I will save the title for your surprise. You will meet and work in an amazing team. Your boss is nothing like the one in Devil Wears Prada. Oh wait! That movie will only come out in 4 years time. Simply put, you will work under one of the best boss and learn from her. Yes, you will have one downfall but you will march through it like a brave soldier. I know you will be thinking of the salary. You will be surprise if I tell you that right now, salary will not mean the world to you anymore. You will prefer to enjoy doing what you do.

In my world right now, Friendster is no longer the 'in' thing. Everybody uses Facebook and Twitter for social networking. There is even such thing called blogs where you are allow to write and publish it online. Sort of like an online diary and the best part is people would be able to leave their comments. The phones today has gone way even better than just colour screen. We will be able to go to the internet from our phones and pretty much does everything a computer can do. You know the cameras where only the reporters use because they are expensive shit? Well, in my time now, almost everyone uses it! A DSLR they called it!

The current 24 year old you now loves traveling. I know right now you never would imagine you would travel to other country someday but yes, I have been to 4 countries so far and there are many more to come. Something you can look forward to.

So many more I would love to share with you but I guess, some of it you would have to discover it yourself. I hope you like hearing about how you have grown up to be.

Till then, please love yourself more.

XOXO,
Gypsy

Day 1 - Taichung, Feng Jia Night Market & Feng Jia Homestay

2011-05-14T11:24:00.001+08:00

Our flight departs from LCCT at about 10am and we reached Taoyuan Airport at Taipei around 2pm-ish. Once reached, we proceeded to the customer service counter where you can get your Taiwan mobile and sim card for free by just filling up some forms.

The package comes with a mobile phone, sim card, charger as well as a manual book.

Before the trip, it is also a good idea to drop by the Taiwan Embassy to check out their giveaway for the current year. This year, they gave out free EasyCard (similar to our TouchnGo card) that is pretty useful when taking the MRT and bus.

It comes with the cover and a nice package! I heard that they gave out theme park tickets last year. To get your freebies, make sure you print out your flight tickets before heading to the embassy.

We bought the bus tickets to Taichung so yes, you can guess, we were pretty much on the road on the first day.

The journey took about 2 hours and slightly more for us to reach Taichung. We had to actually hail 2 cabs (there were six of us with six huge luggages) to take us from the bus stop to the our destination.

And we are here at the famous Feng Jia night market.

The night market was buzzing with crowds coming in to grab their food for dinner.

Our first stop; this stall that sells some pork intestines and thank gawd, some fish balls and quail eggs.

You guessed right if you guessed that the fish balls and quail eggs belongs to moi. Others were PrincessX's!

This is street style eating, yo! Pardon their hungry face. =P

I saw this, which is bigger than the size of my palm and couldn't resist trying it out!

I have no idea what is it called but this is how it looks like in the inside.

Full of spring onion! Woohoo!

Of course, not forgetting Taiwan's fried chicken which is what they are famous for!

I love it! I like how the chicken piece is huge. Unlike the one sold in Shilin (in our shopping malls) where they are full of batter but the chicken is so small.

Pengsok reckon it's a little too salty because of the msg.

From faraway, you can smell something like shit. Say hello to smelly tofu!

Surprisingly, when you get near it, you can't smell anything at all.

It is alright for me. I can cope with the smell and it taste not too bad.

While we girls were busy shopping, Pengsok decided to go and queue (it was a looooong queue) for the famous bread noodle in Feng Jia. Never seen one before?

This is how it looks like. The normal noodle in the bread with mushrooms, thousand island sauce and sprinkled with chilli.

This is the second type which comes with the spaghetti noodle in the middle of the bread, parmesan cheese and mayo. I personally prefer the second one but all of them agreed that both taste equally good!
The eating was the tricky part. They will provide you with a pair of gloves.

Actually, one glove for one bread. >_<

And, make sure you have a really huge mouth to eat the whole thing! Hahax! Sorry PrincessX. That was not very princess-y. =P

After we were done with the night market, it feels good to come back to this...

This was where we stayed at Feng Jia. It was strategic and very near to Feng Jia street.
Cute isn't it? You get to choose the theme you wanted.

It is a 6 people room.

Spacious and very affordable. I think it's about RM40 per night per person.

And most importantly, the toilet is clean!

Overall, I would recommend to visit Feng Jia. It is worth it. It has cheap buys too! Bought a pair of oxford shoes at only RM30! =)

♥

2011-05-11T21:36:00.001+08:00

Everytime I see this picture, I smile.

"It was the four of us, is still the four of us and will always be the four of us..."

Quote and Requote

2011-05-09T22:07:00.000+08:00

I need to copy this sentence from this blog I read because that is just what I feel right now.

"I know I should be happy for the people around me. That I should share their joy and happiness, as they move on with the ones they love...

I should be happy for them.

…. but for what? Because honestly, are they happy for me? Do they bask in my glory and sheer joy (if you don’t know that this is sarcasm, we’re obviously not friends in real life) of being alone and having nothing to look forward to, other than the weekends and the late nights?" Quoted from Lynfunkstar

Yeap, why must I always put on the smile just to show everyone that I am happy for them? For once, are they happy for me? If yes, what exactly is it?? Is it my pathetic single life with no plans on a Friday night?
No, do not blame my pms on this angry entry ( I am NOT having one)!
For once, I am not interested in anything any of you have to say. I am only interested with me, myself!
Yes, I am selfish and I will be selfish for this period of time. Either you take it or you leave it.

Taipei

2011-05-02T02:44:00.002+08:00

Am currently lying in a cozy apartment in the middle of Taipei. Today has been Day 5 and I am loving every moment here. I love how everything from the city, to the people to the language is foreign to me. I only know how speak basic stuffs to them but other than that, every single words are in Chinese.
Would love to post some pictures but this blogging app from iPhone does not supports it.
So far this trip has given some time to myself to recharge and at times, I did some thinking to myself. At times it gets pretty lonely because it's sort of a couple trip but hey, one can't be complaining much right?
Alright. I think it's time to get some sleep. Nights world!

Lorong Selamat & Some Random Food Court

2011-04-30T00:29:00.000+08:00

At last I get to try the infamous Lorong Selamat char kuey teow (fried kuey teow). And frankly speaking, I was a little disappointed.

This is the aunty that I heard from some people that she does not take any special orders (for example you can't request that you do not want the clam or tauge or etc...). Everyone gets the same plate of char kuey teow. She also only cooks one plate at a time. So for instance, if you were to order 2 plates, she will cook both plates separately. So that is why patience is really important if you really want to try out Lorong Selamat char kuew teow.
I think the reason she is famous is because she used charcoals instead of gas to do the cooking.

The char kuey teow comes with 3 prawns and few clams. I think it was just alright. Some other hawker stall could even do better than her.

While waiting we actually ordered fried oyster and I love it even tho am not an oyster fan. All thanks to CL who taught me the correct way of eating it. =)
The plate of oyster is RM20 and I think it's worth it because the oysters are really big.

For dinner, the troop brought us to this hawker stall food court that sells all sorts of food. I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Ikan bakar that I think it is not worth the money. Not too nice. It was just off.

I love this one to bits! It was some fried stuff with scallops and some were stuffed with sausages and dripped with a kind of sauce. Yums!

If I am not mistaken, the direct translation for this is Noodle King. It came with crab! Sharpay thinks it's good.

This, is another plate of mixed crab and salted egg all cooked together. The plate that we did not manage to finish it up because we were too full!
This is practically the end of our food journey in Penang as we were only there for 2 days 1 night. An impromptu trip but I love it! =)

Maxim Dim Sum & U-Soya

2011-04-27T00:22:00.002+08:00

Last weekend was awesome. I was away during the weekend to Penang with Sharpay, Loony and Marcus. Tho, it was not too awesome for Sharpay because she ended up vomiting and having diarrhea. Poor Sharpay.
Once we reached, we were frisked away to what seems like the start of an endless journey of food galore. We were introduced to Maxim Dim Sum at Taman Pekaka at Gelugor (if I am not mistaken).
Below were some of the dim sum we had.

This is the chicken mixed garlic. I didn't try it tho because they said the garlic taste is strong.

I ordered my usual favourite glutinous chicken rice. It was not bad.

This carrot cake was one of the hit ones. It was crispy and not too hard. Just nice.

The egg tart is very highly recommended too. The filling is really soft and the outer layer crispy.

The siu mai is alright for me.

I think it is called the prawn dumpling. I didn't try it tho. Not a fan of prawn.

We then went to the shop next door where they are famous for the assorted tau fu fah.

First time had a cold tau fu fah and it is longan flavored.

Overall, it was okay and the price is average too.

Next to be continued with more food entries...Hehe! Too bad. Penang is all about food anyways!

Resolutions 2011

2011-04-14T00:12:00.003+08:00

I have been thinking for what seems like the longest time for this year's resolution. Almost every time when I thought about it, I asked myself, what do I want to achieve this year? Traveling? I have 2 destinations lining up for this year already; one at the beginning of the year and one at the end so that is hardly any achievement at all. Career wise? I am already at the middle of a career change so, nop, that is hardly anything to achieve at the moment.

So while I was having my mask done (had a facial session just now all thanks to Sharpay's treat), I had a lot of thinking done. I was thinking how I was so sick (down with high fever) in the weekend that I could barely crawl out of the bed. At the same time, I was having this weird feeling with my stomach. It's not like it hurts badly but it's just uncomfortable and it went on for close to 4 days and I did not know what the hell is going on.
Then I came to this facial session and the consultant took one look at my face and went,
"Phwoar! How did your face turn out to be like that? How long was your last facial session??"

Then it hit me. I have not been loving myself much lately. Not ever since I started working. I think I have been quite selfish to myself. So ladies and gentlemen, yes, this year, is going to be all about loving myself. I think, let's put it this way, it is all about loving myself physically and mentally. There are a lot if were to list down each in details so I think I am just going to list down the general ones.

1) Must sign up gym membership (by June)
2) Must reach the targeted savings in the bank account
3) Must go for facial treatment every month
4) Start the savings on both MBA and a car
5) Own that Coach bag that I have been eye-ing for so long
6) Own that Fossil purse
7) Own a proper watch
8) Do that 7-days detox program
9) Pick up where I left my french and learn Japanese.
10) Read one book every month.

I think 10, so far, is a lot. Well, let's see how I do when end of the year comes.

A Little Peek Into What's Inside My Head

2011-04-08T22:00:00.003+08:00

I was reading my past entries when I used to blog at Xanga and I realized how much I have changed. Gone were the days when I can just blog about anything at all without fearing of the consequences.

Now, with me working at all, it is vital to be careful of what I am going to blog about. This is because blogging about work is simply a no-no and if I am not mistaken, it is unethical.

My life now is practically going through some changes. And I hope these changes are good. =)

Right now, all I can think of is the Taiwan trip which will be happening in less than 3 weeks. It has been 1 year plus I have not been traveling out of the country so yes, I am looking forward to this for a very long time.

I also realized the things that I took for granted after I shifted out to FunkyTown. I realized how much mom and dad love me despite them not saying much. I also try to spend more time with the siblings now that I am away most of the time.

Anyways, this is all for a Friday Night! Have a good weekend y'all!

Applelicious Bag

2011-04-07T21:23:00.000+08:00

They say, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away".
I say it is perfectly true when you own a bag like this one below!

An applelicious bag by Anna Syue Fashion House! It just makes you feel happy all day!

It comes with an adjustable strap that can be functioned both ways - sling bag and handbag. Double joy!
This vintage is too cute and available at only RM42.

*Photos credit to Anna Syue Fashion House

Thoughts

2011-04-04T00:08:00.002+08:00

Should I go dot com? Hmmm...any opinions?

There Goes My Bieber Concert Tickets...

2011-04-02T01:15:00.001+08:00

I nearly won two tickets to Justin Bieber Live in KL through Hitz.FM and I blew it off! No, this is not an April Fool prank.

I was checking my twitter timeline when I saw the tweet from Hitz that the cue for Bieber's concert ticket is coming up shortly. I plugged into the radio and heard the cue just right on time. So I dialled Hitz's number without so much of hope. I did it for the sake of trying out my luck. Never thought I would actually get through and I did!

Natalie from Hitz picked up and I was suppose to sing at least 2 lines from the song that she was going to play. She played the song and I freaked out. Because I did not catch the song at all! And I thought it was some new song that I did not know so I told her I did not know the song. When I listen to the recording back when they played it on air, the song was...SOMEBODY TO LOVE by JB and Usher! Wtf! I KNEW that song!

Silly me! And ladies and gentlemen, that was how I blew off two tickets to go and see Justin Bieber.
Now if you would excuse me, I will have to go beat myself up through the weekends.
Ciaoz and enjoy your weekends guys!

p/s - I just got my Glitteratti status stripped off by Nuffnang! :(

Never Say Never

2011-03-31T23:30:00.001+08:00

Never Say Never to me means staying positive even when things seems bleak for you.

Yes, saying it is easy but doing it is another thing which is why I have a perfect story to share with you today.

I used to think that I will never ever know how to swim. I was afraid of the water and the bottomless possibility in the ocean. Well, that was before I got accepted into Universiti Malaysia Sabah as a Marine Science student.

What the heck right? I do not know how to swim yet I accepted the course and went along with it!

What was I thinking??

But it is true when people say Never Say Never. First semester came hard on me. Every weekend, I was scheduled to attend swimming training.

Mind you, the freaking pool was 5 meters deep! And they expect us to jump OFF the third highest platform into the pool!

I remembered how on the second or third training, at one point while we were all swimming back and forth, I lost grip and couldn't swim across in one breath so I had to stop in the middle of the pool. Worst still is, I did not know how to water thread or stay afloat at that time. I was gasping for air desperately trying to reach out for anything to hold.

Coach left me struggling for a few seconds before he finally pulled me up. I walked out of the pool and sat in a corner and cried. At that point, I told myself, I would NEVER EVER get into the pool again.

Boy I was wrong. After much reasoning from my mom and friends around me, I vowed to take this up as a challenge.

I trained myself until I could water thread. I went a few rounds jumping off the platform so that I would not be afraid of it. I swim back and forth until I could swim 1 km far. Without stopping.

The ending? I managed to yield an 'A' for the course. Best still, I am now a certified diver!

Which is why I think after all the challenge I went through above, I deserved to watch the movie, Never Say Never by Justin Bieber!

As all of you have already known, Justin Bieber is going to be performing live in KL.

At the same time, his movie, Never Say Never will be premiered on the 2nd of April 2011 at GSC Pavilion KL. This movie premiere and concert tickets are brought to you exclusively by Tune Talk Prepaid.

Tune Talk Prepaid is the latest mobile prepaid service and fret not, it comes with NATIONWIDE coverage. Which means, no need of waving your cellphones in the air desperately trying to get the phone line! You guys do that all the time, don't you? =P

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Free RM100,000 Personal Accidental Insurance Coverage underwritten by Etiqa
Option to change your number anytime
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After all the challenging time I braved through during my training, I deserve to watch this movie! *grins*

Interested to watch the premiere with me? Blog about it now and stand a chance to win tickets to the premiere!

So, what does Never Say Never means to you...? =)

ADV: Win Movie & Concert Tickets! Catch Justin Bieber LIVE in KL with Tune Talk!

2011-03-27T01:50:00.002+08:00

So are you girls (or even guys?) ready for this?

YES! I am talking about Justin Bieber! As if the title of the entry isn't obvious enough. =P
'Bielieber' or not, you can now catch Justin Bieber LIVE in KL as well as winning the Never Say Never movie tickets! All this brought to you exclusively by Tune Talk!

Good news is, it is SO EASY! You do not have to be a blogger to win the concert tickets.

MY WORLD TOUR CONCERT

Top 5 Most ‘LIKED’ Bieberfied Display Picture (RM288 X 5 pairs)
1. Download the TuneTalk Twibbon (picture overlay) for your Facebook & Twitter here:-
a) For your Facebook display picture
b) For your Twitter display picture
2. Change your Facebook & Twitter profile image, upload it on your Facebook & Twitter account.
3. Upload it on Advertlets Facebook link
4. Get as many people to ‘LIKE’ your photo on Advertlets Facebook.

Top 5 Most ‘LIKED’ Bieber Video Impersonation (RM358 X 5 pairs)
1. Give your Best Bieber Dance or Singing Impersonation.
2. Upload it on Advertlets Facebook
3. Get as many people to ‘LIKE’ your video on Advertlets Facebook.

As for Never Say Never movie premiere, you need to publish the blogpost in a blog. Come on, just any blog will do and trust me, it will be worth it!

Here is how you can get your hands on them!

NEVER SAY NEVER MOVIE PREMIERE
Top 5 Best Blogpost (3D Movie Tickets X 5 pairs)
Top 30 Runners up Blogpost (Normal Hall Tickets X 30 pairs)

For this contest, you MUST include these in your blog post;
1. About TuneTalk prepaid (http://www.tunetalk.com/services?page=features)
2. Why you deserve to attend the Movie Premiere
3. And what does ‘Never Say Never’ phrase mean to you.
4. Include the Movie & Concert flyer

And that is all it! 3 extremely easy ways to catch a glimpse on Bieber! So why are you still stuck on my page?? Start changing your display picture, get as many LIKES or blog your way to the movie premiere.

Terms and Conditions:
- Your entry must link to this blog post and have the 2 images (ABOVE) included in your post.
- (IMPORTANT) Do send your post URL to (jason.ong@advertlets.com) after you’ve done your blog post.
- Winners will be notified via email for tickets confirmation. Judges’ decision is final.
Closing date for all entries and voting is 31st March 2011 at 11.59pm

Updated!

"Tune Talk brings you The Belieber's Day Out at the Curve, 16th April, Saturday from 2pm onwards. Bieber fans, see you there!"

Pray for Japan

2011-03-24T00:05:00.000+08:00

I was having dinner with grandparents from mom's side last weekend and among the hot topics discussed during dinner was Japan. If you do not know (you must have been living under the coconut shell or something), Japan was hit by one of the worst earthquake followed by the tsunami that killed and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

So Grandpa was saying how they deserved it because the Japanese were cruel. I, on the other hand, however has to disagree but not with Grandpa. I think it is fair and I understood where Grandpa was coming from. After all, I have heard countless of stories on how the Japanese raped and killed the Chinese back then in World War 2. Yes, it was cruel of them. To Grandpa's generation. But not to us.

I think we (as in my generation) do not own the rights to say that they deserve it or this is some karma bullshit. First of all, we did not go through World War 2. We are born at an era where everyone is civilized. Even the Japanese are already civilized. In fact, they regretted all of that happen and strive to be a better civilian. Then why would we want to hold it against them? Wouldn't that make us look childish?

One has to give credit to how they calm they are in times of adversity. I have read countless of stories on how cooperative and helpful they are towards each other during times like this. The nuke plant problem isn't helping much either, is it?

I personally think that well, it is okay for the older generation to say or feel that way but not us; the younger generation. In fact, we can actually learn something from the Japanese out of this tragedy.

Note: I am not a big fan of Japan. I am merely stating what I personally think and have seen.

FREE Big Breakfast by McDonalds!

2011-03-22T23:22:00.001+08:00

Imagine my delight when I saw this at The Star!

Turns out that they extended the expiry date until 31st of March 2011! =D
Click on the image, print it out (it can be in black and white) and bring it to McDonalds between 4am to 11am. Simply spend a minimum of RM5 and you will get 2 FREE Big Breakfast. My suggestion? Just purchase two medium size coffee and you are entitled to the free breakfast already!
I've got mine this morning, have you? Don't say I didn't share it with you guys! =P

So Candy Looking

2011-03-21T22:24:00.000+08:00

It has been awhile since I last updated on bags. Today, I'm bringing you these candy looking bags from Candee-licious! And these bags definitely goes with the name of the blogshop.

The three and only designs. Aren't they cute?

These stripes completes a navy outfit.

While spring is here, this bag can be the perfect choice.

Feeling retro lately? Polka dots it is!

The interior of the bag is pretty roomy and it can be carry both ways. I am in love with it already. =)

Get this bags at only RM52 at Candee-licious!

An eventful trip

2011-03-18T21:00:00.000+08:00

This is another entry on one of my many trips to Genting. Yes, again! But, have to blog on this one because this time it was with my family and it was quite eventful. We were there for 2 days 1 night and guess what? The Sister, whom I am suppose to share the backpack with for my clothes, forget and left behind my clothes at home! Imagine me found out about it when I was all wet from one of the rides and is dying to quickly bath and change into fresh clothes!

Sigh. I had to wear mom's short pants which thank gawd, I can fit in. Anyways, I'm just going to show you some of the nice pictures I took especially the night shots.

It makes me smile everytime I see this picture of my mom and dad. Also notice how they have grown so much older and I must always remember not to take things for granted.

Little One demands to go on this ride. =)

Do we look alike? Many said so.

Love this ferris wheel picture.

The Merry-Go-Round is brightly lit up during the night. So pretty!

A closer shot.

The spinning chair.

The space shot and Siang went on it for the very first time.

Ending this entry with a night shot of the First World Hotel. Have a lovely weekend people.