- Hiyashi's Beeping Hub -

They Rise to Take Over the World

2012-02-05T13:53:00.000+08:00

Woke up this morning to a Facebook wall filled with standing eggs.

Apparently, this phenomenon marks the start of the spring equinox.

Here's an extract from an article from New Straits Times,

"When the sun crosses the equator, making night and day equal on all parts of the earth,

an egg can stand due to gravitational forces of the sun being aligned with the earth.

Auspicious to the Chinese, Feb 4 is also known as Lup Chun day which marks

the beginning of spring. A standing egg is seen as the symbol of spring and a sign that

all of nature is balanced and in harmony." - Read more here.

Well, I'm not too sure about being in harmony.

They look like an army of eggs ready to seek revenge

for all the eggs we have eaten.

*shudders*

It is indeed a little freaky don't you think? Or is it just me and my crazy mind?

I mean it sort of feels like it is something against nature yet it is in fact,

occurring because of nature. Hmmm.

That aside, among the many photos I've seen on my Facebook wall, I had to say

the above taken by Yen-san is my favourite one among all. I knew I had to 'stole' it

with permission of course because I didn't managed to get a shot at this little

phenomenon myself.

Well there's always next year...

[L.E.P.A.K series: Amsterdam] Chapter 18: Trams, Bicycles and Boats

2012-01-29T17:48:00.001+08:00

So where exactly are we off to now? I bet the above picture is very telling.

Oh yes, we are heading towards the A in the L.E.P.A.K series!

It's time for some XOX Amsterdam yo!

*excited*

But first, it was time to sleep! The bus was not exactly the most comfortable place to call it a night but nonetheless, we were so tired from the full day's walk that we practically fell right into sleep. We were waken up somewhere along the way when some officers came on board to check out travelling documents. Surprisingly they were more strict towards fellow Europeans who were travelling with their IDs than us with our passports. So we went right back to 'bed' as they busied themselves down the aisle.

We woke up again some time later just before 5am and saw that we were already very close to our destination. Unlike when we were on the bus to Edinburgh where we woke up to see the beautiful sunrise shining down on vast fields filled with sheeps, here we woke up to darkness illuminated with cold street lights.

We were scheduled to arrive Amstel Coach Station at approximately 6.30am but found ourselves at our destination way before 6.00am. The entire station was soulless with just us passengers wondering around, seriously in need of a toilet. Hahaha. There was no one around and the train station next to it has not even started its operation for the day yet. *yawns* In fact, it was not even manned and we wondered in and out of the platform freely without the need of a ticket.

Still, not wanting to get into trouble we bought ourselves some train tickets and rode the first train out of the station towards Centraal Station. When we arrived though, we had problem checking out of the station since our tickets were never actually checked-in.

Our lucky streak of meeting awesome people continued as the friendly stationmaster approached us and opened up the gates for us. He warmly started a conversation with us and asked us where we were from. When we told him we were from Malaysia, he threw us off by speaking the Malay language. It was the standard "Apa khabar?" and stuff but still here at Amsterdam?! Wow!

We said our thanks and headed off to hunt down some breakfast

and found ourselves with some...

...'Gai Dan Gou'? (English: Egg Cake)

It was hilarious. Obviously we had no idea what we were actually buying except it' was food and it fills the stomach at only 1.70€. One bite into it and we looked at each other and asked "Gai Dan Gou?" Hmm.... wait...

*types 'Eierkoeken' into Google Translate*

Hahaha.... and it does indeed translate into "Egg Cake". OMG!

Our first and main itinerary of the day was to catch the train out to Zaanse Schans, a village just outside of Amsterdam that offers visitors a countryside feel of Holland. Because of its easy accessibility, it is also a much favoured tourist spot. It's like your one-stop destination for all things Holland.

However since it was still early, we decided to step out of the station and

enjoy the early morning beauty of Amsterdam instead.

We were greeted by the extensive tram lines. Something we rarely see back home.

But what's mesmerising about Amsterdam is of course its canal and its buildings. The water in the canal was so crystal clear that it completely mirrors the beautiful scenery above it.

While Paris may awe you with its luxurious beauty, Amsterdam's simple beauty

simply tugs the heart and soul.

Instead of sharing our space with a crowd of people, we found ourselves making way

for 'Tai-lou' Big Bird and his gang.

Yo, whatcha looking at?!

There's really nothing much to say when the picture alone is saying a thousand words.

All I can say is that it's true that the early bird catches its prey. The best scenery are those

at the early hours of the day where you can see the city slowly coming to life.

Time for a compulsory "I was here" shot.

Imagine there are people who call this their home.

Oh oh! Ever thought of going into the window cleaning business?

Well, this is the way to do it! Real dandy.

We then made our way back to the station, bought ourselves two tickets off the ticketing machine and was happily on our way to Zaanse Schans.

Off we go again!

Such a lovely way to start the morning.

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 17: Meeting Madame Mona

2012-01-27T22:37:00.000+08:00

Alright! That was certainly a loooong rest since the last L.E.P.A.K post. No time to sit and linger anymore. It's time to get up and go, go, GO! Boy were we determined to hunt down Mona Lisa. Determined enough to set it as our goal before dinner. So we walked and walked until we got distracted by the beautiful night view outside.

The sun had set by then and the lights were on. Pretty.

We finally found that little turn we kept on missing and was on our way

to meet Madame Mona...

... but alas, we got distracted once again.

This time by a gigantic art piece. I say it just goes to proof my earlier point that

Europeans have a thing for BIG THINGS. Hahaha.

Sure enough, we finally found the biggest crowd at the Louvre, all gathered to lay their eyes on Mona Lisa. It was impossible to get a good shot with her when there was a whole bunch of people to share the spotlight with. Not to mention she was shyly hiding behind a protective glass and surrounded by a barricade. Talk about being anti-social. Tsk tsk tsk. I came all the way just to see you, 'mam.

Oh well, you're even more famous than celebrities these days after all.

So I humbly settled with what she has to offer. *click*

Boy do I look tired out in the picture. *sigh*

Now that our mission is complete, it's time for a good French dinner!

We had enough of walking for the day so we decided to head down to a restaurant

inside the Louvre. Nothing overly fancy but still a very 'luxurious' place compared to all

the budget meals we were having for the past few days. All that savings certainly deserved

one good meal and what better place to dine finely than Paris, right?

I ordered my very first cup of coffee since I arrived at this side of the globe.

Truth to be told, the coffee was not very impressive which was kind of disappointing since I was kind of hoping to be wowed by it. *sad face* Now, those little sugar cubes and complimentary nougats on the other hand was conveniently brought home as my little momentos. Muahahaha. So Chinese. So proud of it. :P

Now for the recommended affordable dish-to-try in Paris, Croque-Monsieur!

Yummy. It was not bad at all. Cik Anai being the bread-potato-lover that she is

preferred this to our another order.

BUT! I stand to differ!

Because I was in loved with this other dish instead.

Yuuummmmy Poelon de moules au curry et poireaux. What?!!?! Haha... or in English,

Mussels and leeks casserole spiced with yellow curry. Again WHAT?!? Leek? Eww!

And why go all the way to Paris to eat curry. These girls are not in the right state

of mind are they. :P

But I see no leek and instead lots of what looks to me like alfalfa sprouts. Hmm...

and nope, the curry was not spicy at all, obviously. Spiced? More like herbs maybe.

Either way, it waaasss delicious. Well, at least to me lah. Each to their own.

I love it enough to insist Cik Anai to take a picture of me with it. Yum!

Oh and in case you're wondering about the cost of a meal inside the Louvre, well, the Croque

was 15€ and the mussels was 9€. Not to outrageous I guess for a tourist spot.

Now that we are all recharged and energised back to at least mid-battery level,

we're off again to hunt down our next 'target'. Venus de Milo. By then, the museum was pretty much cleared of tourist. Yay!

That gives us time to linger and take our time at every single thing that

perked our interest. Like insanely beautiful architecture!

The Nike of Samothrace or also known as the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

Why such a faraway shot instead of a close-up you say? Well, we were left in awe

of the sight of the empty stairway actually. Hahaha. Earlier in the day, this place was packed

with visitors as these stairs was the cross-road to different halls. There were people walking

from in every direction and there were also those sitting along the stairs, at the feet of the statue. There were people everywhere and now, waalaah! A lady and a statue.

And finally! Venus de Milo was surprisingly easier to locate. Maybe because

we were more calm and less distracted by the crowd. The down-side of a night trip

to the museum is the lighting though. :(

One last compulsory shot inside the museum. *click* There are a lot more to see in the museum actually. All that we saw were only in one of the three wings of the museum. Imagine that. Museum enthusiasts can easily spend three days in here and still complain there's not enough time. So yeah, this would have to do for us this time around. If the chance do come by again, I'll be sure to drop by and awed all over again. *smiles*

We decided to step out again for a night shot of the museum.

It was a bittersweet feeling for us as it was also time to bid goodbye to Paris.

BUT WAIT!

Not before we visited La Pyramide Inversée aka The Inverted Pyramid. Hehe.

With that, our mission here in Paris was finally completed.

Or so we thought!

Who knew we had one last adventure before finding our way to the bus station. *sigh*

For us, Paris does not sign off 'with love' but instead 'Paris... with adventure'. We headed towards the one route that we knew of, the route that we came but alas, we somehow got ourselves a little lost. With the clock ticking away, we hit the yellow panic button.

Eh? Eh? Eh?!?

Finally we found our way to the metro station only to discover it was already closed! Wooot?!?! Panic signal hit orange. Danger Danger! We headed out to the streets only to be greeted with a lonely street and a sad few pedestrians. Panic signal reached bright RED because we had no idea how to go about from here because we had no freaking idea where we were.

Weee!!! Heart-pounding excitement.

The thing was, we had a bus to catch and if we missed it then we're practically stranded in Paris. Yeah, worst come to worst, we can somehow manage a night's stay in a hotel but still.... *tick tick tick*

Time to ask for help!!

We quickly approached a young lady who seemed to be on her way back from work and asked for the nearest metro station and guess what!! She kindly offered to guide us there. Hooray! WAIT! Should we turn our suspicious mode on? No time yo! It's time to believe in the greater good of mankind!

And so we followed.

And so we arrived safely to the metro station.

*phew*

She even asked if we know how to manage our way with the ticketing machine and we said yes as we already have our carnet of tickets ready. We expressed our deep gratitude as she smiled and wave farewell to us. Yup! She was not heading to this metro at all. She just took the extra effort to help us! *sniffles* Together with the guy who helped us ordered our lunch earlier in the day, I'll say French people are so not what some made out to be, snobbish or unfriendly to those who knows no French? Well, not to us at least.

Thank you Paris for a wonderful and exciting experience like no other!

It will forever be a day we will never forget. :)

Now it's time for a rocky night's sleep on the bus as we get ready

to wake up in another country. Weee!

Tom Yam Kung is Tom Yam + Kang Kung?

2012-01-25T23:29:00.000+08:00

Eeek! Lame pun is lame.

Anyway, we're really doing things differently this Chinese New Year. First with our kimchi-fied reunion dinner and today I decided to spice up the festivity with some sizzles from our neighbouring country. So we headed over to Aroy Chang Moo Kata at Burma Lane for some yummy Thai food. Cik Datang had previously offered me a promo voucher that entitles me to a set dinner for four for only RM78 nett. A pretty good deal for a big meal where a total of six dishes were served.

So here we go!

The lame joke of the day! Tom Yam + Kung.

*food blogger mode on*

The soup was filled with generous ingredients from prawns, slices of fish flesh,

cuttlefishes and mushrooms. The kang kung was not the usual sambal kang kung that we

eat in Chinese 'zhu char' but instead carries a little tinge of sourness in it. Guess that's

how the Thais prepare it. A tad weird for mom and me but a total hit with young sis.

Dad seemed indifferent about it.

Next up was Green Curry Chicken and Cha Om Omelette.

I didn't taste much of the green curry because of the many dishes that were served,

we decided to 'ta pao' it home. Hahaha. As for the pizza-looking omellete, well,

we're still figuring what's the vege in it. *goes off to google* Oh! The vegetable in it is...

*drumroll* Cha Om! Hahaha. It's actually Acacia pennata. *as if I know what's that*

It was served with that little bowl of sambal. Yummy.

Next to be served was the highlight of the meal, Phad Phed Fish!

The fish was stir-fried and served in a thick aromatic curry, topped with

lots and lots of basil leaves. I like this even though I'm not a big fan of fried fish.

I prefer my fish steamed, plain and fresh. Oh oh, and I like my fish as a whole.

A big NO NO to a slice of steamed fish flesh.

Oops! Went out of topic there. Hehe. Anyway, there was one more dish after that.

Thai style deep fried chicken wings served with Thai chili sauce. Unfortunately, it came after we were all busy digging into our food, so no heart to take picture anymore lah.

Just eat lah!

Now, here's something worthy to mention about Aroy Chang Moo Kata. You see, Cik Datang

had previously patronized this place and commented that the bowl of rice served was

outrageously tiny that everyone definitely needs a second helping. It was the size of a tiny

soup bowl. She said she had made her comments to the owner but not sure if they will actually take note of her feedback.

Well, they did!

We were served with four regular size bowls of rice and only need one extra serving among

four of us. Extra points for listening to customers' feedback. I know that for a fact because Mr Boss (well, I assumed he was the boss or person-in-charge at least) was very much interested in our opinion on the food. When mom enquired about the surprisingly good lemongrass drink, he quickly asked us how was the food when we had not even started on our meal yet even though the dishes were already on the table. LOL. Talk about real enthusiasm. Hahaha. He notably enquired again when we asked for the bill. *claps claps*

So yup!

Not exactly super-awesome meal but was definitely super-awesome service!

A Rather Different Reunion Dinner

2012-01-24T20:10:00.001+08:00

Ever since our Christmas dinner last month, I was on a roll in churning out

'special' meal ideas for the family to celebrate every possible occasion.

From a roast-turkey-wannabe to a mouthwatering miso-marinated BBQ pork.

Y.u.m.m.y! Just the mere thought of it is making me salivate.

So how can we celebrate Chinese New Year

with just another usual steamboat right?

No Siree! Now the picture above might look like any other

steamboats in any other households...

...BUT...

Take a look at that my friends!

"Ceh... tomyam you say?"

NOoooooo! Impossibru!

That my dear friends is a kimchi-jigae steamboat yo!

Now look at that happy korean-loving sister smiling one for the camera.

You bet I'm smiling too behind the camera.

Now let us roll the date back to a few weeks prior to the highly-anticipated

reunion dinner. It was already decided then that we were going to do a steamboat this year

but... a sudden light bulb appeared over my head and then I calculated the risk

and voiced out the idea.

"I got an idea for our steamboat!"

"What? You want to do miso soup is it?"

-___-

*so sarcastic and yet so close to the truth as well*

"Umm... no and I not sure if we should risk it since it's reunion dinner

but I was thinking of doing... kimchi stew?"

*few seconds of silence*

"The one like we had in that Korean restaurant the other day?"

"Umm... yup but I don't know lah since I've never tried to cook it before...

maybe we shouldn't...."

"Ok."

Ehh?!?! Hahaha. And so Kimchi Jigae steamboat it is!

If you must know, it was not bad at all. Hehe. The funny thing was mom kept insisting that we need more soup, so I ended up cooking two pots full and guess what, we had leftovers! Hmmph! But all's good because we threw in some noodles and had ourselves some Kimchi Ramen for lunch this afternoon instead.

Y.U.M.M.Y

So I guess it's time to look at the calendar and see what's the next occasion.

Woohoo!

Oh oh... Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Meet My Oldest Friend

2012-01-17T22:06:00.000+08:00

I knew him since day one.

He was right beside me even when I was still in my stroller with

my pacifier in my mouth. I bet I even offered my pacifier to him but obviously

he's so not interested... in the pacifier of course.

Because I was pretty sure he was very much interested in me.

Since he kept telling me to hug him.

Though obviously I was clueless since I had no ideas what are words back then.

I mean, I barely managed "papa" at that age.

And nope, I'm not talking about my dad here.

I'm talking about my Hug-Your-Bear.

A bear as old as me and probably the only bear that has no given name.

(I called the one on the right "Patches". He's also the youngest bear I own.)

Well, I had Hug-Your-Bear when I was still a baby.

I'm pretty sure I was not knowledgeable enough back then to give him a name.

All mom did was kept telling me to "Hug you bear, Jo! Hug you bear."

*hugs*

27 years later and he's still here with me.

And honestly, I probably love him more today

then I was when I was a baby, kid, teenager, etc.

It's pretty awesome don't you think?

To still have your very first bear with you.

*hearts*

I think it's awesome.

A Purr-fect Family Trip! (Part III)

2012-01-15T17:31:00.000+08:00

Note: This 3-part blog entry was part of AirAsia Bloggers Programme and is also

a Digital Exclusive on AirAsia's very own in-flight and online magazine, Travel 3Sixty.

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

How can we make a trip to Kuching without visiting the home
of the Rainforest World Music Festival!

Sarawak Cultural Village is about 45-min drive from Kuching. The mesmerising view

of Mount Santubong as we ride on the bumpy ride exudes a sense of myth and mystery with clouds hovering above it. There are many tales revolving the place, one being about the famous Puteri Santubong where the mount got its name.

It costs RM60 per visitor to enter the Cultural Village. Not exactly ‘shoestring’ material

but after that entire savings, we decided to splurge on this.

But here are few tips if you still want to save a bit!

We did our research earlier to see where we can save up and my sister being a university student can enjoy a student rate of just RM15. That’s like 75% off the full price! Also, try to get a local to help you purchase the tickets because they too have cheaper local rates! Alternatively, there are tour agencies back in Kuching selling tickets at a discounted price of RM45. Finally, during special events like Harvest Festival and Hari Raya, the entrance fee is only RM10! So, it’s all about planning and timing your trip wisely.

There are a total seven ‘rumah’ or longhouses in the Cultural Village, each representing the different tribes and ethnic groups in Sarawak. From the very modest Penan Hut with only bare necessities to the tall and grand Melanau Tall House that is big enough for a few families, every house showcases its distinctive characteristic of each tribe.

These longhouses are not just empty display houses. There are actual people working and demonstrating the daily activities of each tribe. There are also Makciks (elderly ladies) frying local delicacies in these houses which you can buy and savour on the spot.

At the end of the visit, we made our way to the performance hall where a cultural show awaits us. There are two show sessions per day, 11:30am and 4:00pm. The show, like any Malaysian parade, was filled with vibrant colours, costumes and smiles.

At one point of the show, two warriors with blow darts easily burst some balloons at the far end of the hall. They then invited a lady audience to give it a try. She tried and tried, alas, did not have the ‘lung power’ to blow the darts that far. No words are needed in such a cultural exchange. In the end, she was ushered right up to the balloon and asked to blow again. Naturally, she popped the balloon and the crowd cheered!

It was certainly a great experience. One that we didn’t regret spending that extra bit of money on. Of course, for adventurous travellers there is always the option of experiencing real live-in longhouses in Sarawak. There are not many left these days and I most certainly don’t mind coming back and exploring them with friends in the future. But for now, I’m having a good time with the family here at the Cultural Village.

Oh, and there’s of course one last thing to do

in our shoestring family trip to Kuching!

How can we go home without a picture with the cats!

Indeed, there’s so much more of Kuching to explore with my family and low fares

at www.airasia.com made my family holiday a reality! =P

A Purr-fect Family Trip! (Part II)

2012-01-14T21:52:00.000+08:00

Note: This 3-part blog entry was part of AirAsia Bloggers Programme and is also

a Digital Exclusive on AirAsia's very own in-flight and online magazine, Travel 3Sixty.

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

Of course, how can we come all the way to Sarawak and not see the great apes, right?

So the next day, we headed out to Semenggoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre which is just
45 minutes from Kuching and charges a very modest price of RM3.00 per entry. Students and senior citizens enjoy an additional 50% discount.

Twenty-six Orang Utans are registered in the centre with the oldest Seduku a.k.a
‘the grandmother’ is still going strong and healthy at 40 years old. However, the big boss
of the jungle is Richie, the dominant male here in Semenggoh.

There are two feeding sessions in a day, 9am and 3pm. We were there for the afternoon
session and a word of advice is to arrive early because sometimes you may get a surprise
early visit from the apes. There is no promise as to whether the Orang Utans will
show up and a no-show is actually a good sign, meaning they could be doing well
on their own in the wild.

While some of us early birds were hanging around at the waiting area, a mama and her child appeared at the car park area and came walking down towards us. The young adult put on quite a show for us!

Finally, it was time to proceed to the feeding area.

That’s the feeding platform right there! We were told to remain quiet throughout

the entire time because we do not want to startle the apes; seriously, no one wants to mess with Richie, not even the park rangers.

Because that, my friends, is Richie the mighty!

And when Richie eats, everyone else waits. Yes everyone, both ape and men.

Only after Richie was done with his meals did the others come forward to have their share.

I guess there’s hierarchy in the Orang Utan kingdom too. We soon bid farewell to Semenggoh and dozed off in the car.

Our next attraction is the Kuching Civic Centre.

A place many would skip because it loses its charm over the years due to lack of offerings. But sometimes it’s not how much a place has to offer but just that one good enough reason to go there. In this case, a panoramic view of Kuching and its surroundings.

I can even see Mount Santubong from up here. On a bright sunny day, the view stretches out to even the sea. Sure, the place might not be as exciting as seeing Orang Utans or as fun as shopping at the mall but sometimes we tend to forget simple things in life that well, make life awesome just the way it is. Simple things like a breathtaking view… the refreshing breeze when you are up high...resting your head on the railings and a good old family portrait that has everyone beaming

Last but not least is the Sarawak Cultural Village!

A Purr-fect Family Trip! (Part I)

2012-01-12T22:46:00.000+08:00

Whuahh! A long overdue post that was meant for last year. This 3-part blog entry was

part of AirAsia Bloggers Programme. If you can't wait for me to post up part 2 and 3

(I admit I can be a tad slow at blogging.), then check out the complete entry on AirAsia's

very own in-flight and online magazine, Travel 3Sixty. It's there as a Digital Exclusive

since November last year. Imagine that!

Here we go!

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

Discovering Kuching on a shoestring?

It’s hard, yes. Travelling for one and travelling for four is very different but not impossible. With the right kind of help and proper planning, I successfully took my parents and my sister to the ‘Land of the Hornbills’ - Sarawak in East Malaysia. And it all started with the greatest saving one can enjoy in a travel - flight tickets!

Ticket price for four from Penang to Kuching, inclusive of luggage was only RM242.

That’s about RM60 per person. I can barely make it to Kuala Lumpur and back with this price. The key is to book early! So when 30 June 2011 came, the entire family packed up

and flew to Kuching!

The first thing we did upon landing and settling down was naturally to hunt for food.

It’s cheap, good and a totally different culinary experience from those back home.

Kuching is famous for its ‘Kolok Mee’, a plate of dry noodles that tastes pretty good in my opinion. The ‘Kolok Mee Special’ (photo on the left) that we ordered was filled with extra fish fillets and other ingredients. It was so good that we actually had a few servings of

‘Kolok Mee’ throughout our holiday in Kuching.

So what can you do on a shoestring trip in Kuching?

Easy. Like everywhere else in the world, you head out to town. In this case, the old town

and make your way towards the Kuching Waterfront.

The Kuching Waterfront

Here you will find stalls selling all kinds of things, from the famous ‘Sarawak Layer Cake’
to unique handicrafts and souvenirs, such as bracelets, necklaces and ornaments made
from beads and wood.

Walking along the waterfront, we found many signs of ‘cruise’ rides and many boatmen offered to take us on a ‘cruise’ along the river. My advice, skip it! It is nothing a cheap sampan ride can’t offer. There are numerous sampans along the river and for less than a ringgit, you get to experience the real way of commuting along the river!

Right by the waterfront is the Chinese Heritage Museum that is funded independently by the Chinese community here in Kuching. It is a small and humble museum with just enough exhibits to make it a short yet enjoyable visit. What’s more, entrance is… yup! Free!

What’s interesting here was the short audio commentary available under each description board which plays the dialects of each Chinese community. Apart from Cantonese and Hokkien, the other dialects were almost foreign to me.

There was a set-up of an old coffee shop inside the museum. That’s me sneaking a shot right there, posing as if I’m in deep thought for my next move in the Chinese Chess. :)
As a visitor, you can also help out the museum by offering a little contribution…

…that is if you can find the donation box!

Yup, it’s that finely carved pagoda right next to the Chinese drum.

That’s the donation box right there! Who would have thought right?

We spent the entire afternoon museum-hopping throughout town. I probably visited more museums that afternoon than I did in my past 26 years. If museums are not your kind of thing, I would suggest to at least visit the Natural History Museum. It’s educational yet spooky at the same time! Yes, spooky...in a good way of course, with all kinds of preserved animals at every corner to even the full skeleton of a whale. Sorry, no pictures though as cameras are not allowed in here.

Right behind the museum grounds was a beautiful garden with water fountains

and shady walkways. Don’t give this a miss because hidden in the middle of the garden

is the ‘museum cafeteria’.

But if you’re expecting yucky cafeteria food, boy, are you wrong!

Because what we discovered were the eccentric ‘Sarawak Laksa’ (which is an acquired taste in my opinion) and a very yummy plate of ‘Sambal Bihun’. Obviously, I love the latter more. It tasted very similar to the cuttlefish with ‘kangkong’ dish, except in this case, you enjoy it with ‘bihun’ (rice vermicelli). It might sound weird but I stand by my words - yummy to the last drop! Suffice to say that these Sarawakian hawker delights make a delicious yet very affordable meal.

Of course, how can we come all the way to Sarawak and

not see the great Orang Utans, right?

Next up! Meeting Richie the Great.

Even Better Than Christmas!!

2012-01-07T23:59:00.000+08:00

Don't get me wrong. We loved our modest Christmas feast the week earlier but...

we absolutely LOVED our work-hard-to-eat BBQ New Year's Day Dinner!

Korean-inspired, miso-marinated and somehow BBQ-perfected, tender juicy pork pieces.

Wrapped with layers upon layers of lettuce. *sigh in contentment*

Yuuuuummmmy!

Now remember my 2011 Special Pandan Chicken? Same turmeric powder, same chilly powder, minus the pandan. Sticked them up on a stick and waaalah! Real meaty satays! Boo to those tiny ones outside that are half the size of these but double in fat and oil. Ewww.

Cheesy cocktail sausages that oozed with cheese as we BBQed away.

Do you know that gigantic mushrooms coat with butter are the best thing that can

happen to a modest BBQ dinner? Even dad who does not fancy this mushroom in its many

other ways of cooking actually voted it to be the best of the night. Wooot??!!?!

There were more of course! Sticks of baby corn. *highly recommended* Al dente squids.

I know, I know. They're not spaghetti but they were cooked till juuuuust right.

Springy to perfection.

*sigh in contentment*

And then we have these! What the *toot*?!?

HAHAHAHA. Sweet potatoes left in the grill for waaaaay too long. We're blaming this on mom who insisted that they take a long time to cook. You know the saying that "when we spend too much time with someone or something, we eventually turned into each other." That's how husband and wife eventually look like each other after a whole lot of years together. =P

Well, our potatoes probably married the charcoals inside the grill

because guess what we found under the aluminium foils?

We fondly named them the four "Or sai"

which is the Hokkien equivalent to 'black shit'.

Hahahah. What a way to end the night. Boo hoo.

But that's okay because we had this.

It's was so good it deserves to be mentioned twice in this post.

Now I just can't wait for Chinese New Year's Eve.

*grins*

Hiyashibeeps' Ohhsome Awards 2011

2012-01-02T23:14:00.000+08:00

To quote exactly what I said last year in the inaugural Hiyashibeeps' Ohhsome Awards

"It's that time of the year again to reflect and remember." So here we are again! I'm trying my best to keep the same categories as last year so that it will mean so much more down

the road when we (more like 'I') look back at these wonderful memories.

Most Ohhsome Moment of the Year

I guess it would be when I landed in London with Cik Anai but that has won a category

on its own, so I'm going with a revised "Most Whuahh! Moment of the Year"

Winner: WHUAHH!!!

Most Ohhsome Long and Mighty Post of the Year

Winner: The Yet-to-be-Completed L.E.P.A.K Series

Most Ohhsome Comical Post of the Year

Winner: Boy Meets Girl (Penang Version) Part I

For Part II and III, head over to the Comic category.

Most Ohhsome Theory of the Year

Winner: The Simple Truth

Worthy Mention: When Life Throws You Lemonade

Most Ohhsome Conversation of the Year

Winner: Korea Called And Told Me He's in Front of My House

Most Ohhsome Video of the Year

Winner: Because He is Too Cute for Words

Another Worthy Mention: Just Because...

Most NOT-Ohhsome Bad Time of the Year

Most Ohhsome Style of the Year

Winner: To be Simple is Simple: The Results

Also read: To be Simple is Simple

Special Mention for

Most Ohhsome Comment of the Year

Winner: Pam Song aka Tinki Talks for That's What I Call 'Dedication'

*scroll and HAHAHAHAHA...*

I can't believe I actually managed to find a winner for every same category as last year. Hooray! But that list aside, I want to put it out there some other worthy mentions that I myself want to look back if I ever land on this summarised post some day.

I Had A Dream

What Do You Call Pandan in English?

That's all folks! Here's to a wonderful 2012 ahead.

Out With The Old And In With The New!

2011-12-31T22:31:00.002+08:00

That's exactly what one should do to greet the new year.

And that's exactly what we did at home.

Our old, worn and humble sofa that has served us not that well for many years.

If you think this is just a sad sight to behold, you will be glad to know that I have decided against posting the three-seater one. Hahaha. After editing the photo, I feel a tad bit embarrassed over it. So nope, not posting that up.

So the story begun months ago when mom finally urged dad to

"For god sake, buy a new sofa set!".

It was decided then that a new sofa we shall get except all of us kind of procrastinated

till the max. So there was no sight of a new sofa set for another few months until...

OMG! It's December! Hahaha. And finally, dad gave himself a deadline to get a new sofa set before the new year.

Three weeks ago, we finally stop sitting on the job and instead sat on what was going to be our new sofa set. It was told that a newly manufactured one will be delivered to us in two weeks time. So we waited. And waited. And then we called. "Where on earth is our sofa?"

And then we complained. And then to cut the story short.

It finally came yesterday night.

Delivered at 8.30pm at night yo!

Hooray! New sofa in sight.

New sofa trying to make its way through the doors.

New sofa landed safely into the living room.

New sofa gets an unofficial opening ceremony.

TADAAAA!!

Brand new pretty, comfy, 'luxurious' sofa. :)

Good bye poor old stuffy sofa. :(

And now I can finally show you our three-seater sofa.

Pretty right? Hahaha. Maybe a tad too pretty for everything else in our living room.

*shrugs*

Oh well. It's a beautiful start.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Who says you need a roast turkey to celebrate Christmas?

2011-12-27T23:47:00.000+08:00

And I bet no one said anything about being a Christian to celebrate Christmas either.

After all, it's also a 3-day long weekend. That itself calls for a celebration, right?

So instead we chose to forget about what we don't have and make do with what we have.

No roast turkey? No problem.

We went ahead and got ourselves a yummy roast chicken instead.

Baked up some cheesy cherry tomatoes and carrots to dress it up. Cooked up some mildly cheesy pasta. Faked up a minestrone. Mixed up some potato salad with fresh lettuce and eggs. Oh oh and somehow managed to also bake up a funny looking yet surprisingly delicious apple bread pudding. And top everything up with an affordable bottle of sparkling juice. *phew* And Waaa Laaaah! Enjoyed a grand feast for under uumm... RM40?

Now who says it costs a lot to enjoy a delicious 5-course meal?

;-)

To be Simple is Simple: The Results!

2011-12-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

TADAA!!

*click on picture to enlarge ya!*

I admit the pictures are not in the sequence of how I wore them because I'm anal and I think this sequence looks the best when put up together. =P I also admit that I did not exactly wore the flowery dress for the weekend like I planned since... well, since I stayed home throughout the weekend. So there was no point to dress-up. But I did make the effort to put the dress on and take a picture. Hah! But yeah, this little mission thingy is doable after all. And I think I can safely declare that I made it through the week without looking all that unfortunate after all. :D

Confidence Makes Awesomeness

2011-12-17T23:06:00.001+08:00

.
.
.

Though I guess it is also Awesomeness that makes Confidence.

I don't claim to be a fan, neither am I an avid follower of the Chinese music scene.

Heck, I don't even though half the songs he's singing *hides* but they're definitely super memorable hits since I vaguely remember most of the chorus and melodies. 'Most' being the keyword here. Hehe. But everything I see and hear him sing, my head just go "Awesome. Awesome. Awesome." until the performance ends. I mean, look at those faces of other celebrities watching him. They read "Awesome. Awesome. Awesome." too! Hahaha.

*in a small voice*

Though I did kinda cringed at his 'corny' antics at the end of the performance.

Hahaha. I guess he's totally 'feeling' it. =P Who cares? It's still awesome!

Am Feeling Very 'Rich' in Christmas Spirit

2011-12-14T23:43:00.002+08:00

*grins*

I may or may not have got all giddy over tying ribbons yesterday night.

I may or may not be a little obsessed.

I don't know and I don't care!

And you know what... these are only half of it!

And and... I'm not even talking about numbers here.

Wee!

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chapter 16: I Louvre Art!

2011-12-11T15:05:00.001+08:00

After all that excitement at Eiffel Tower, we were on our way again to our final destination for the day. According to our 32-page itinerary (in my defence, Paris was only 5 out of
the 32 pages), we were 'hoping' to catch an evening cruise along the beautiful Seine River.
It was a very 'hopeful' plan because it was only possible if we were super lucky enough to meet with a short queue at Eiffel, which we did not, and we even topped that with a bomb scare. Seriously, who would have thought?

So yeah. No Parisian cruise for us then. *sad face*

Instead, we headed straight to here!

*grins*

Can you guess where this is?

Yup yup! It’s time for some art appreciation class.

Who would have thought we ended up right under the Louvre. Eh?

Here comes Hiyashibeeps' Travel Tip No.10!

You see there are more ways than one to enter the Louvre. Of course, every tour bus and tourist alike will most probably arrive at the front entrance of the museum, then proceed to line up in another super long queue that rivals that of Eiffel at the main pyramid entrance. Well, if you are arriving via Metro, choose the Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre stop. Upon stepping out from the Metro, you will find yourself right under the Louvre and instead at the Carrousel du Louvre Shopping Centre. Here you will eventually find another entrance that takes you to the museum. The queue here is way much shorter. ;) But but, there's a flaw to this plan though. More about that later.

But what about the 'compulsory' shots of the iconic glass pyramid structure in front?

Worry not as you can always step out anytime.

See! That's Cik Anai with her canggih-manggih camera taking canggih-manggih

shots with the famous Pyramide du Louvre right behind her.

Her canggih-manggih shots of course should have me in it. :D

And of course, I must return the favour as well. But but! How can we keep taking separate shots of each other right? We're travelling together-gether and therefore, should take pictures together-gether. So with eyes like the hawk, we searched for our prey target and eventually settled for a group of girls chatting merrily in a corner. With our smiley faces on, we asked them if they can help take a photo of us together and they said.....

"Okay."

Hahaha. Of course they said okay.
It's not like we are two suspicious ladies asking them to help us buy LV bags right?

So finally we got another shot of us together!
In return, we offered to help them take a picture of them together too.
See! Win, win for both parties.

Noticed the change of colour tones between the earlier pictures with this one?

Well, that's cause the sun was beginning to set. So pretty. *hearts*

Now for the biggest flaw to the time-saving tip I shared earlier. *sigh*

You see, after all that photo-taking outside of the museum, we decided it's time to go

back in and pay a visit to our dear friend, Mona Lisa.

But... but... BUT!!

One turn around and we found ourselves facing with another long queue. Bummer.

*big big sigh* The biggest bummer though was the fact that I lost my shawl here. What made the situation so heartbreaking for me was the fact that the shawl wasn't mine but my dearest godmom's. *sad face* I didn't even realised it was gone until much later and in the massive state of lost and panic, we looked through our photos and noticed the last time it had made an appearance was in that shot of us together in front of the Louvre. You see it wasn't as cold here as it was in London and Edinburgh, so I knotted the shawl around my bag stripe.

My guess is that the knot probably came loose when my bag went under the security scans upon entering the Louvre.

So here's Hiyashibeeps' Travel Tip No.11 learnt from a costly and very regrettable lesson. MAKE SURE you check all your belongings upon picking up your bag from the scanners. We tend to be very careful when we go through security scans at the airport (most of the time it's because we're more afraid of not being let through the gates than anything else) but when its scans at tourist attractions, we see them as merely a needed procedure.

Well, never again!

*sigh*

I'm still very very sad over the loss. :(

And we're finally inside! There are three main wings in this massive museum. Word is you actually need three full days to see everything inside but all we have is only a few hours, so we head straight to Denon Wing where the famous Mona Lisa is located.

Obviously there were many other interesting exhibits along the way.

Like a lot LOT!

The place is huge and we're only at one of the many wings and each wing has a few floors. It's really an art lover's paradise. In fact, there were lessons going on right inside the Louvre. You'll see young eager students listening attentively to their teachers explaining enthusiastically about the painting behind them. You'll find art students sitting cross-legged on the floors, seeking inspirations from all that is around them and painting away. Wow.

It's a slow pace way to live life I must say but that's not us. We're two young ladies on a mission. Walk, walk, walk. See, see, see. Then suddenly... stop, stop, STOP!

We were 'stopped' by this interesting piece of work in the middle of the walkway.

You probably wonder "What's so special about this one?"

Wait till you see what's on the other side.

It's the opposite angle of the same scene! Nice. Very nice. I like.

Did I mention that the place was huuuuuge?
I'm repeating myself, am I?

That's because I'm not kidding. I was totally poof out half way through and

there was no sight of Madam Mona yet. *phew*

That's it for this post as I relief my poor arching feet.

Will we ever see Mona Lisa before the end of the night?

Or is it going to be a no show?

Till next time. Hehehe.

When life throws you lemons, make lemonade.

2011-12-10T23:46:00.001+08:00

When life throws you germs though,
don’t even look back, just run and run far far away!

To those who wondered what on earth happened to my ‘simple’ mission, well, the mission is fine but I’m not. I ended up falling sick right towards the last day of my mission and lived through the week with slower brain functionality. Felt totally terrible on Monday. Got a wee bit better on Tuesday. Functioned better on Wednesday. Stuck with a stuffy nose on Thursday. And finally thought that was the end of the whole ordeal on Friday.

Except I kind of feel worst today than I was yesterday.

What the *toot*?!?!

It almost seemed like I’m back at the starting point again with that stupid little sore in my throat that refuses to go away along with a little strand of phlegm caught in between the nasal. So tiny that I just couldn’t “craaaccc…eerrk… pui!” it out. :(

Am so very not amused.

So yeah. The result of my ‘simple’ mission is still in my camera. Hanako-bachan, I know you’re eager to know but you just got to wait a bit more ya. Gomenasai.

Early Morning Realisation

2011-11-30T22:31:00.001+08:00

I was getting dressed this morning when it just hit me like Bang!

Nah.

It was actually more like sneaky 'realisation' came sneaking right behind my conscious.

That the one hour of frowning I had earlier this week while picking my clothes for our little

I-hope-we-don't-look-like-some-idiots mini project, well... turns out it also saved me from an entire week's worth of my daily morning frowning routine. Hah!

I woke up this morning, switched on my computer (Terrible right? I know. I know.),

went to the toilet, took my bath, came back and got dressed. WHAT? No staring at the cupboard or digging through my pile of clothes? Eh? No panicky moments as time runs out

and I just put on whatever that wasn't all that bad?

Nope.

I just got dressed with what was already a pre-determined set of clothes and sat

in front of the computer with lots of time to spare. Hmm...

Nice.

But if you're thinking I'm all out with this new plan, then you're wrong. Nope.

I don't want to frown an hour over a week's worth of dressing on a weekend night.

Not gonna happen. In fact I can't wait for next week to come and all that little

panicky moments along with it. Yay.

To be Simple is Simple

2011-11-28T23:47:00.001+08:00

It all started one simple day when Yen-san came to me with a book and excitely whispered
"I have something to tell you." It was amusing to see someone being all excited yet trying hard to keep her volume down since we were at our workplace after all.

She handed me a book and said "You guess what I want us to do..." and ran off just like
that as she made her way to another department to pass some prints.

So I skimmed through the book and when she came back with her hopeful eyes
staring back at me, I replied "Umm... take photos?"

It was a close answer.

Yen-san replied, "Well yeah... but there's more!"

She flipped to the chapter "To be simple is simple" and there it was a photo of six pieces of clothing displayed out for the world to see and under the photo reads
"six pieces of clothing for a month's worth of wearing... try it."

The author shared a simple yet provoking thought, "So what if we were not as fortunate enough to have a closet full of clothes in every colour? What if you are in a place with bare necessities and you are lucky even to have clothes over you?" Ever wonder these what if's?

Well...

"Obviously we can't go for a month's worth... but let's try for a week!"
exclaimed Yen-san.

So I guess the cause behind our little project is not as worldly and bold as the author himself but it's still going to be one heck of a memory to remember. How we fussed for an hour in picking the ultimate six pieces that's going to last us for seven days. How we are going to lose some good little brain cells thinking about the variations to these six pieces of clothing so as to not look like we are poor unfortunate souls in dire need of some donations. Indeed, it's going to be an interesting week ahead.

And so it begins.

Six pieces of clothing, seven days to live in them.

Here we go! :)

Just Because...

2011-11-20T21:12:00.001+08:00

This stuff amuses me a lot lot.

And more often than not, it also pawns over the stuff we listen to these days.

*hearts*

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 15: Up, up and away Eiffel

2011-11-20T14:42:00.001+08:00

We're finally at our most exciting part of our one day trip in Paris. Oh boy, oh boy! First, we rode the metro from Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, located right under Arc de Triomphe to Bir-Hakeim, which was one of the two nearest stops to Eiffel Tower. That shot up there, right on top of this post is a shot that Cik Anai took from the train we were in.

From Bir-Hakeim, we took a scenic walk along the Seine River and passed by many 'illegal' roadside peddlers selling all things Eiffel. From key chains to small, medium, big displays of the tower, this is the best spot to buy your souvenirs. We were pretty happy when we found the stalls here were selling the key chains at a better price than those at the underground pathway of Arc de Triomphe. With that we bought them from a stall without much hesitation only to find the stalls far down offered an even more better deal. Dang. So the moral of the story is to never buy from the first nor second nor third stall. Hahaha. Go waaaaay down down down and you will get waaaay low low low price. :P

And finally we're here! Time for a smile and say

"Hey! I'm in front of the Eiffel Tower." :D

After a lot of look-see look-see around we finally joined the extremely long queue at

the ticketing counter. :( What a bummer to spend most of the afternoon waiting in line.

First you line up for your tickets, then you have to line up for the lift that takes you up to

the first level and, and! If you're heading up to the very top, that's another snake around

the lift area. Boo. No fun.

But wait we have to, and wait we did.

We were then squeezed into a little lift that takes us up, up and away!

"Hello, people down there. It's cold up here and I'm only half way there."

The view at this level was total unobstructed. So you can marvel away at the 360º view of Paris. However it of course did not stretch out as far as what you will get at the very top.

Another 45 minutes of waiting later, we were finally at the very top of Eiffel. Sadly, it's dangerous to be that high and windy without any safety precaution. Thus the ugly wire mesh all around. :( The view here though was amazing!

To the extend that if you zoom in close enough, you will the Arc de Triomphe right there.

Who says all roads lead to Rome? The way I see it, they're all heading towards Paris. :P

Now the top level is not very big, duh. So we managed to round the place for about twice, taking some photos with Paris behind us when we decided to split up. How bad can it be right? It's just a little space. No way to get lost here right? So here I am at one side of the tower and Cik Anai at the other when I heard a little commotion going on. What? What? Before I had any idea what was going on, I was ushered down to the lift area by a security guard telling us that we need to leave immediately.

WHAT?

WAIT!!!

I'm missing my partner! I quickly explained that I had a friend up there but the guard insisted that I need to go and the others will come down real soon.

Umm... okay...

*worried*

And Cik Anai appeared! Hooray. Except we did not have any time to say our 'hoorays' when we were once again told to line up and leave. Now that we're together again, our thoughts head off to other more 'interesting' stuff.

Like why are we leaving?

I paid 13 euros to be here and now you're asking me to leave after an hour and a half of waiting and barely 30 minutes of sightseeing? How can? How can? Are they just trying to get rid of us so that other people can have their turn at the top of the tower?

Umm... wait... the staff and guards are looking worried and they're staring everywhere.

OMG!

Is there a bomb?!?!!

Gotta go! Gotta go! Everyone move.

And finally when we were at the bottom, look at what was awaiting us.

Look at all that police cars!!

And look at us still thinking about taking a photo. :P If we're going to die *choi choi choi*, we might as well remember every second of it. Now leaving the tower wasn't enough, we were told to leave the entire vicinity. What's more, the enforcement people blocked the roads all around, including the way we came from Bir-Hakeim. Noooo... we had no choice but to divert from the plan. Ahhh!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!

Alright. I think I have made my point clear.

With that, we found ourselves at Trocadéro Gardens instead. No plans, no pre-planned guide on what train to sit, no idea where the metro was even. All because of a bomb scare. It can't get more excited than this. Well, I guess we just have to make do with what we can do.

Regardless of the situation, we shouldn't let a good shot go to waste, right?

Luckily, my months of research had somehow managed to prepare me for this. Muahahaha. Crazy obsessive planning for the win! You see, although the map in our 32-page itinerary cuts off at the Seine River, I was the one who cropped it. So I sort of knew what was at across the river. Thus, I can agak-agak assure Cik Anai that I agak-agak know where we were at.
"Don't worry. Stay calm. We can do this."

Except when we finally found the entrance to the Metro,
it was closed for construction!!

*sigh*

Why lah? WHY? :(

Luckily the other entrance down to the Metro is within eye-shot. Before we took off to our next destination, we decided to slow down our pace, stop and appreciate some street art.

Mr Scuffy Man at work.

Can you see me in the picture, taking another picture of Mr Scuffy Man. Hehe.

And here’s the picture from my angle. :)

Can you see Cik Anai in this photo, taking the above picture from her angle.

Hahaha.

Next up: More art coming your way... meeting Mona Lisa. :)

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chapter 14: Triumphing Elysees

2011-11-13T14:30:00.000+08:00

As we strolled down the road with a crepe in hand (well I had the crepe, Cik Anai had her camera :P), we soon realised we were no longer surrounded by trees but instead magnificent buildings. When we saw the many al-fresco cafes lining up the street, we knew we have arrived at the famous Champs-Elysees.

SEE SEE!

Told you there were many!

And they probably had a written code that RED was the official colour.

SEE SEE! Told ya.

And as we walked and walked and walked, suddenly cars came out of nowhere! At the walkway! Or at least we thought that was the walkway. They came from underground, nifty eh. *snap snap* *click click*

Who can missed the grand Louis Vuitton building when walking down Champs-Elysees?

Look at the lady in the picture, betul-betul ada gaya, mutu, keunggulan. Truly French.

Truly Paris. No?

Something really interesting happened here. While we were busy taking photos and being all touristy, suddenly two Chinese women approached us for help. First they asked us if we knew Mandarin, while being unsure of the entire situation, wenodded a little and said yes. Then they asked us if we can help them buy some LV bags and instantaneously we went like "Whoah!!" Defensive mode on. They went on explaining to us that they have bought just enough for themselves but they have friends back home that have asked them to buy too. However there was a limit on how many bags one can buy so yeah, that was why they needed our help.

Cik Anai and I looked at each other and probably had the same thought in our minds. These people are either damn rich or are some con women at work. Either way we're not risking it. So we told them no. And guess what?

They told us they will even pay us for helping them.

Hell, NO!

And after a few stubborn sorry's and no's later, the ladies' faces turned black and finally walked away. Shhh!

As we continue down Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe grew bigger and bigger. We were figuring out how to get a good picture of it when suddenly we saw the divider in the middle of the road and got a light bulb turned on right aboveour heads. *ting*The divider was actually there as a midway point for pedestrian crossing since it was a pretty wide road. So while everyone was busy zooming pass us, we stood at the very tip of the divider, hopefully out of the way, and took our money shots.

*ka-chak*

"Look 'ma! I'm standing in the middle of the road."

As we reached the end of the road, right across the arc, we got ourselves another good spot for some photos. And then we were lost. We stared across the road, looking in awe of the majestic architecture before us that was surrounded by busy traffic all around and wondered... how on earth are we going to get to the other side?

The answer was well... at the other side of the road.
The other side side. :P

TADAA!!

There was an underground passageway that led us to right under the arc. If you are a lover of art, you will find yourself walking pass street artists along the underpass. By the looks of it, if you have amazing negotiating skill, it's not impossible to get some nice paintings for a fair price here.

As we opened the doorway leading to the arc, we were once again left in awe of pure architectural beauty. The Europeans do have the tendency to "GO BIG!" with everything, from food to buildings.

They also have a good appreciation of space. I guess another fact to consider is that us Asians are generally smaller in body size, so we somehow see everything here as just big.

Though I don't think we were the only ones feeling small. :) We spent a little while resting our tired feet here as we sat along the base of the columns and took in the chilly breeze. After awhile, we decided we had enough. It was not the chilly breeze that was freezing us out, it was the ice-cold marble under our butts. LOL. From here, we went back down to the underground in hunt of the Metro. Our next stop was Eiffel Tower!

That's me being all crazy while waiting for the train at the platform. We finally took our first Metro ride instead of the RER. The Metro trains are more similar to our regular LRT / MRT / Tube / Subway trains found everywhere else in the worldwhile the RER gives an impression of a more upgraded version.

There were cute little foldable seats on the train. Space-saving during a crowded ride yet conveniently provide extra seats whenever possible. Make sense, right? As we sat and enjoyed the view outside, we noticed something odd. The doors do not open automatically at each stop. You have to do it manually. *shocking*

So I'm ending this post with Hiyashibeeps' L.E.P.A.K Travel Tips No.9!

See that little button Cik Anai is pointing right there? You gotta press it for the doors to open. So before you go all panicky that the doors are not opening when you are in Paris, remember that little magic button right there. ;-)

Stickywordsstick

2011-11-12T15:12:00.001+08:00

Because I was told that's how they appeared in some feeds. :(

They look fine in the blog though and I don't know why.

See the thing is, that was my very first post using the new Blogger workspace.

And I'm not liking the fact that my words are sticking together.

Who say change is good?

Hmmph!

So let's see how this one goes.

Because I have a long post coming up soon.

The one Video Contest that You and I have a Better Chance of Winning than Mr Spielberg himself

2011-11-09T23:21:00.000+08:00

Remember how I won myself some (seven) session of Free Antioxidant Hot Bed Therapy at Ecoparadise (whichI have yet to use *sigh*) bydoing what I love… BLOG! Well, the kool people at Koolred are having a contest once again. Although this time it’s not one of my many fortes but it’sdefinitely something some of you guys love to do. I personally know a handfulof people who seem to live, eat and sleep camera. *eyeing PSP-san and Mr IdunTalkMuch* Okay, okay, it’s not exactlyphotography but it’s one of the many functions in the camera anyway.

VIDEO SHOOTING!

It’s a natural thing that we do when we travelaside from taking thousands of photos. There are just some things that a stillphoto can never capture, like the smiles and waves from the locals or the sillyshrieks of excitement whenever we land at a foreign place. Come to think of it,I have a bunch of those in my folders. Maybe I should dig them out and join thecontest myself. Hmm…

After all, theprizes are FREE HOTEL STAYS!

It’s like you takeone holiday to earn yourself another.
How awesome is that?

If you have yet todiscover this little growing community, well, I say it's a pretty kool 'place'to 'hang out' since there's members from all over the world who share theirtravel experiences well, all over the world.

The Koolred Team is also sneaky enough to keep usmembers excited by having random big and small contests from time to time. I'mnot crazy enough to join every single one of them but that doesn't mean I can'tshare it with those who I believe will be more interested than me. Hmm…however, all these “Come on, let’s join and win this contest” talk are making me have second thoughts on this matter. Imight just join the contest myself. After all I do have my travel videossitting readily in my folders. Tempting. Very tempting.

Not to mention, I'vedone the necessary competitor analysis too
and my favourite entry at the momentwould have to be this.

I just think it has truly captured the essence of what this contest is about which is to share a video that will make a tourist want to visitthat destination. Winning entries are based on two main criteria, one iscreativity and the second one is how 'Kool' is the video. Basically there's a'Kool' button that works very much like the Facebook 'Like' button and the more'Kool' your video is the better your chance of winning.

Anyway, will I be one of the competitors to beatis besides the point. Check out the contest and prizes here (you gotta hurrythough since the contest ends in about a week's time, 17 November 2011 to beexact) or even if you’re not into the contest, check out Koolred’s website.It's a travel website after all, so you can roll around in lots of prettypictures from all over the world and read up on useful information that canhelp you plan for your next travel, wherever that may be. ;)

I’m back from the land of smiles yo!

2011-11-07T22:19:00.010+08:00

Were they all smiley over there? Not really. Were they grumpy? Not exactly. They’re just humans like you and me. LOL. My silly rhymes amuse no one except myself.

I might not blog about it since I did not take a lot of photos myself. There were at least four other cameras doing the job so I figure I just relax and pose for them.

So for now this is all you get!

Sawadika!

2011-11-04T23:17:00.008+08:00

I still can't believe approximately twelve hours from now I will once again be in
a foreign land. Frankly, I am not too sure what to expect from this short trip.
It's only for a night's stay but the itinerary seems very interesting.
Hmm... if we are to do what we all set out to do. We'll see. We will see.

Anyway, trip starts 6 freaking am, so it's time to zzzz.

I’m very tempted to watch the fresh new episode of Vampire Diaries though.

On a side note, Happy Birthday Papa! Although we celebrated the big day a week earlier
but it's still the actual day today so...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA!!

Ok. I really need to go now to speed through the episode. Grrr...

Rainforest Bakery: Rich Bread, Poor Manners (Part I)

2011-10-27T21:32:00.010+08:00

As some of you might or might not know, I managed to get myself caught on the online coupon craze not too long ago. Bought myself one coupon after another and finally decided to stop at coupon number four, because all that coupons have not materialise to tangible or even edible items just yet. So I said to myself, "Hey hey! Slow down girl. Wait till you at least try to redeem one of them and see how it goes."

So I did!

I finally used my very first Groupon on my own!
(Note the keywords "on my own". My first was with my fellow colleagues

and I just tagged along for a pre-paid lunch.)

Head over to Rainforest Bakery at Chulia Street after dinner with the family and bought myself RM20 worth of b.r.e.a.d. I know. I know. Omg right? Hahaha. Before you go all out thinking this young lady must be crazy, let me justify that the deal was I got RM20 worth of bread for only RM10. Yup. A good deal especially since Rainforest Bakery is known for its really good but slightly pricey bread.

So I came home loaded. I even paid an extra RM3.60
for ummm.. 'overspending'. :P

Need a better look?

Here you go! So what did I get?

Two thick slices of Yogurt Limonata Cake for RM4.20 EACH. Told ya. A loaf of Mixed Grain Bread for RM5.40. A Foccasia for RM3.90 and a gigantic loaf of Poppy Seed Bloomer for RM5.20. Yup, you read it right. Poddy seeds.

These were not my initial choices but unfortunately I went late after dinner and all the other good stuff were already sold out. *sad face* Now here's where the story begins.

Obviously the bread is good. There's no denying about that. In fact, we had a wonderful lunch yesterday from all that. More details later okay? But first back to bread shopping shall we? Well, there was obviously a lack of choices when we were there and mom went on to ask if these were all there is and the below conservation took place.

Conversation 1:

Mom: Is this it? But there are so many choices on the flyer.
Guy: You came late. That's all there is. You want you come in the morning.

Gee. Felt like I just got slapped by the truth.
I admit what the guy said is true but it wouldn't hurt to be nice about it, no? Say maybe...
"Sorry 'mam. That's all there is since it's late already. We have more in the morning."

*shrugs*

*******

Conversation 2:
Mom spotted some stuff behind the counter near the baking area.

Mom: What are those? Are there more buns inside?
Guy: No no. That's not... *mumbles something.. I wasn't paying much attention at first till I heard...* Why would we want to keep anything. Of course we want to sell everything.

Alright. True. I accept that.

*******

Conversation 3:
Mom spotted a basket of little pre-packed strawberry jam
like those in hotels and restaurants served together with bread.

Mom: Is this free ah? *excuse the Manglish*
Guy: *gives mom a are-you-being-ridiculous-stare*
No no no. You have to pay. Everything here you have to pay.

Hear that?

Everything here you have to pay.

As much as I felt embarrassed about mom's typical aunty-like antics, I was also very not pleased with the man's poor social skills as a salesperson. Hello. Know the words 'Please, Sorry & Thank You'? Guess not. Since mom was being an aunty, the man was being a jerk,
I might as well be the bigger person. So I paid for my extra RM3.60, smiled and say my "thank you" and enjoyed seeing confusion swept through the man's face for an instant in not knowing how to react to some proper etiquette and finally muster out a little "thank you" in return.

Sigh. Took a young to teach the old. Not cool.

Now as for the bread, well...

Rainforest Bakery: Rich Bread, Poor Manners (Part II)

2011-10-27T21:28:00.010+08:00

Now as for the bread. They were really gooood.

The Foccasia had a strong herb smell to it which may not suit the general taste buds.
Mom for one couldn't handle more than a slice. So I figured since its herbs, it should go delightfully well with some good old tomato soup. Dip dip. Yummy. Fortunately there was some tomato paste left from my last baked spirallini. So I added water to thin it out and simmered it with finely chopped onions and meat loafs. It's no surprise that Mr Tomato Man enjoyed his meal.

Then there's the Poppy Seed Bloomer covered with lots of happy seeds on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Do you know that you can actually fail a drug test after consuming poppy seed bread? Hahaha. I read that up on the internet. It has low opiate level
but still enough to place you positive for drugs. Whoah! Anyway, for that, I worked up some scrambled eggs with onions and meat loafs. Same same ingredients, just different way
of preparation. :)

The verdict? The bread was so good, we almost finished the entire loaf in one sitting. There's only three miserable slices left. Hmm... maybe it's the poppy?

So if you're looking for good old traditional bread, Rainforest Bakery is as good as it gets. Just beware of the 'unfriendly' man. Ignore him, get your bread and you'll be fine.

Rainforest Bakery & Pastry
300 Chulia Street,
10200 Georgetown, Penang
Tel: 04-2614641

FREE Delivery
Delivery time: Monday - Saturday
(2pm onwards)

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 13: An Afternoon in Paris

2011-10-23T13:35:00.008+08:00

Our next itinerary for the day was a walk down Champs-Elysees. Now we could have begun our walk right from Notre Dame Cathedral but decided we had a long day ahead of us. So we opt to cut our walking time short by riding the RER to Invalides stop.

This time we got a ride on a double decker train instead!
It was a first for Cik Anai as she merrily took multiple shots of the train. I myself have came across such trains during my travels in Japan. However, I still shared the same excitement in riding it. You see, even though I saw these trains in Japan, I did not had a chance in riding them.

So naturally, we camwhore like nobody's business. There were not many commuters on the train anyway as seen in the photo above. I guess it's because we were there on a weekday and most people were already at work during these hours.

While on the train, our stomach growled and we were reminded of our lack food since our 'junkie' breakfast. So upon arrival, we attempted to make our first purchase in Paris sans French.

We stared at all the yummy looking pastries and was drooling over the Pain au chocolat except we had no idea how to go about with our order. You see as much as we read and knew about it, we had no idea how to pronounce it correctly in French. Was 'Pain' pain? *frowns* We were all set to offend the bread lady with our ignorance when a helpful
Mr Black who was making his own purchase beside us, kindly asked us
"What do you girls want?"

OUR LIFESAVER!!

We promptly pointed the pastry of our choice and he ordered them for us. A very short conversation ensued as bread lady wrapped our pastries. Turned out he's not a local himself and is studying in Paris. We thanked him for his help and he wished us an enjoyable holiday as he went his merry own way. We on the other hand, proceeded to move ourselves to a corner to....

...take a photo of our yummy pastry!!
Hahaha. Cute right? The two choco dots made the pastry looked like
some funny muppet character.

As we climbed up the stairs and stepped out into the open,
we were surprised to find ourselves right under Pont Alexandre III.

Our photo-taking mode started to kick in. With one hand already pre-occupied with our dear pastry, we tried our best to take some good shots of the luxurious looking bridge.

And then we looked up the flight of stairs...
Wow! One more shot. :D

That's me and my yummy Pain au chocolat at Pont Alexandre III.

And that's Cik Anai with her yummy Pain au chocolat
already nicely tucked away in her stomach. Hehe.

We passed by lots of beautiful architecture along the way. From the modest statue of General La Fayette to a not very Grand Palais to what seemed to be a more lavished Petit Palais. It's not hard to guess which of the three is the one behind me.

Not to mention, very very scenic views one after another.

And another! Heh.

Tham-Chiak Girl in action!

Because let's face it. It's a little crepe stall. C.R.E.P.E. It's another must-have in Paris except it was probably not the best crepe in town. I wouldn't know since it's the only crepe I had that day but it was still an awesome experience standing there waiting for my crepe to be done. =P

Now how did we order our crepe this time without helpful Mr Black?

Well, lookie! An Asian girl helping out. Yay!
Except she doesn't speak a word Chinese and she seemed reluctant to even speak English. Woot?!? Not exactly what I called friendly but we managed to place our order nonetheless.
I had no idea how we concluded in chestnut flavour though. Hmm..

A happy me with our crepe.

The crepe was shared between us since we were still filled with our Pain au chocolat. The crepe was good in the sense that it was filled with warmth and was simply lovely to enjoy on a chilly afternoon. The chestnut though reminded me of sweet Azuki (Japanese red bean paste) which I do not exactly fancy. I love nuts. I adore peas. But I do not fancy beans. =P

Wow! This post is loooong and we're not even there yet!
Alright, it's break time!

My-Everyday-Groupon-Deals ;)

2011-10-22T15:32:00.004+08:00

Have you hopped on the online coupon deals bandwagon yet? I did. Yeah yeah. Before you start rolling your eyes and say "Now only hop, outdated already lah!" I will tell you that... that is so true! Hahaha.

I'm always a step slower than the rest in keeping up with the latest "in" things. Not that I'm not aware of it, it's just that I don't hop right on it. Get it? I always tread with caution. I don't just hop on the first bandwagon that passes by. I make sure a few bandwagons went ahead of me, reached the destinations safely, all hypothesis supported with proof and evidence, etc, only then do I hop on the next good bandwagon that comes my way.

Except I kinda plunged right in too deep and managed to get
myself addicted to the entire thing now. *frowns*

Now now, if you think I'm on my way spending my ka-chings away on cheap but unnecessary spending than you are very wrong. In fact, I have only made five purchases so far (since late August) and one of them was not even bought by me. I just paid for it. It was a lunch deal that the entire office gang bought together and enjoyed together. Hah!

My first two purchases were for a Photobook deal and one of them was even bought as a gift to dear Cubbie. So that left two minor purchases that cost barely RM10 and RM12 each. See, I am no big spender.

So why call myself an addict then?

Well, I'm not addicted to the act of buying, I'm addicted to the act of window shopping. LOL. Or is it call 'browser shopping' instead? It has somehow became a routine for me to check these online deal sites out every night. And that my dear friends, is very dangerous. Seriously, you are tempted to buy things you never thought of buying.

So be warned: Lots of discipline is needed when venturing into
the oh-so-very-convenient world of online shopping.

Side Notes!!
Between the three sites that I frequent: Groupon, Everyday and Milkadeal, my preference leans towards Groupon simply because I am a girl and I like things pretty. =P Did I just make myself sound shallow right there? Hahaha. Seriously though, I'm talking about the web design and presentation. Everyday and Milkadeal just don't do it for me. I know at the end of the day, it's about how good are the deals offered but it sure doesn't hurt to be pretty at the same time, right?

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 12: Say a Little Prayer

2011-10-19T21:35:00.004+08:00

We were still a little intimidated by the fact that we were in Paris surrounded by a very unfamiliar language. I can handle Japan with my survival Japanese but I speak no word of French and I admit, I made no effort in learning since it was only for a day's trip. :P

But that did not dampen our excitement over the entire thing. In fact in a positive note, our entire French experience was pretty delightful, not to mention, exciting! Maybe because it was such a short trip that we did not see any 'ugly' side of Paris. Unlike London which has its fair share of highs and lows, we left Paris with the impression that the people were nice and moving around was easy. More on that later, shall we?

So we hopped off the RER at St-Michel Notre-Dame, headed up the stairs and was greeted by the beautiful Seine River. A lovely start to what would later turned out to be the most memorable day of our week long trip.

A 180 degrees turn around and Notre Dame Cathedral majestically stood before us.

That's me and my little traffic light right there. Hehe.
Obviously every moment is picture worthy when you are travelling, even when you are simply waiting for the light to turn green to cross the road.

And finally we were standing right in front of our first destination of the day.

We then proceeded to take photos of each other with the cathedral as our backdrop. One of the few down points of travelling with just two is that you tend to be lonely in pictures. But alas, a sheepish looking man came forward and offered to help take a picture of us together. Sheepish. Really. But we took our chance with him. A big chance because we somehow ended up passing him Cik Anai's DSLR camera to him to take the photo. It was at that spur of a moment that happened naturally simply because Cik Anai was the one taking photos of me with her camera when he offered his help.

Now trust wasn't the only issue here. We stood together posing for our photo, trying hard to smile while at the same time stared worriedly at Mr Man who was holding the camera in a very unconvincing manner, swaying slightly, up and down, up and down. *sweatdrops*

Surprisingly, the photo turned out okay if you ignore the fact that we kinda look short and stunted in the picture. Hah. At least that's another picture of us together.

There was a lot of people hanging around the vicinity. And lots of birds too.

There was even an 'art class' going on in front of the cathedral.

No surprise coming from a place where art is life.

A silent "Wow!" was said in my heart as we stepped into the cathedral.
The entire atmosphere was so tranquil and serene.

The candles that were lighting up the entire cathedral was another sight to behold.
They were up in chandeliers, down on small rounded stands
(much like the cover photo of this entry)...

...and even in little glasses that stood collectively, shining brighter than ever.

These candle glasses came with a nice cover too and while they were supposed to be lighted up for prayers, you can also kindly dropped a sum of donation in the box and take one home. That was what Cik Anai did as a momento for her aunt back home. I regretted not doing the same as I had no small change at that moment and thought of buying a souvenir from the souvenir counter later. Nothing perked my interest at the counter later, much to my dismay, and I left the place with only our photos and memories.

Now for a short and simple photo tour of the place.

That's the confession room. Different eh.

And that's one of the many beautiful stained glass windows in the cathedral.

Visitors were actually not allowed at the centre worshipping area. We were instructed to only walk along the side, circling along the cathedral. However as we approach the stage, we saw everyone busy taking photos of themselves in front of it and proceeded to follow the crowd in doing the same.

We were in and out as quickly as possible because we were not sure whether if all this 'silent' commotion was actually allowed.

That's the wooden model of the cathedral. Impressive eh? If we hadn't see this, we would have not known that the cathedral was in fact that long in depth. All we saw from the front was its beautiful facade.

As we stepped out of the cathedral much later, we were continued to be struck in awe by the surrounding walls. See that third saint from the left? Quirky. ^^;;

And if you continue to look up, up, up...

you'll find yourself opening your mouth wider, wider and wider.

:o :o :O

And if you look down instead, well, suddenly I was reminded of home. Hahaha. Pigeons. Much like the ones hanging around our Kwan Yin Temple back in Penang.

Finally we were on our way again. But as we make our move, we can't help
turning back for one last shot of the place. <3

Next! Time for a walk along Champs-Elysees.

Sauceless vs Cheeseless

2011-10-16T15:13:00.010+08:00

This was what I cooked last week.

*points to picture below*

And this was what I cooked this week.

*points to picture below*

Monday Night Verdict?

Apparently the latter is the crowd favourite. The crowd being mom and dad. Heh. I got an instant "Nice." from dad even before I actually sat down. Dad was already digging in. *as shown in the picture above*

It was a no-brainer since it's been known that dad is a Tomato Man. I've been stubborn for the past few weeks in attempting to cook all my pasta-ish dishes without the regular tomato based sauce. Hence last week's Salmon Spaghetti was flavoured with just garlic and pepper. I personally enjoyed it. *bias* Because unlike dad, I have a thing for pepper. Many weeks earlier, I worked up a pot of Green Pea Spaghetti and let's just say that lunch was enjoyed in silence. =P

In my defence, it was still yummy but apparently,
nothing beats good old traditional tomato.

Now I came to realise that I've been posting up pictures of all my cooking adventures without actually sharing a recipe or two. Well, that's 'cause I rarely cook with a recipe.
I either randomly come up with an idea of what would work and buy my ingredients or in some cases, make do with what's available in the kitchen.
Hence, today's cheeseless baked pasta!

The idea of baking my spiralini instead of just cooking them ala spaghetti came about yesterday while I was walking around Giant. Now being right in the centre of the hypermarket, I could have easily grab some cheese for the idea yet I stood there in front of that cheese and decided against it. I admit they were not cheap and I was not feeling generous. Heh.

So I came home and seek Google for help. After twenty recipes asking me to put lots of cheese on my casserole and a read on a cooking forum later, I came to a conclusion!
What was important is that I have enough sauce to cover the dish so as to not dry up my spiralini. The cheese, aside from being rich and yummy, was a core ingredient in holding up the dish together. All I need is something else to do the job!

Finally, a first time in Hiyashibeeps,
I am offering a cooking tip instead of a travelling one. :O

If you're cooking for lactose-intolerant people or simply want to avoid the rich and not exactly healthy cheese, break an egg or two and coat it over your dish. There's also the other option of using yogurt in replace of cheese but again, I got none in my kitchen and there's lactose in that too.

So dear readers, if you are out there.
Try your luck with a cheeseless baked pasta today!

On a side note, I'm done with all things pasta for the time being. Mom just reminded me yesterday night that I still have my Japanese rice in the fridge. Yikes! Looks like it's time to go back to Japan. *grins*

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 11: To Paris with Love

2011-10-13T22:24:00.006+08:00

After sharing our humble shepherd's pie together for dinner, we then proceeded to wash up and hit the sack early as we have a loooooong day ahead. Not to mention a very early morning start. Now if there's TWO strong selling points that Tune Hotels pride on are their power shower and comfy bed – the two core essentials for tired travellers like us. So we snuggled in as early as 10pm...

... and woke up at 5 freaking am to catch the first tube out to King Cross St Pancras Station. We were literally standing right in front of the tube station waiting for the shutters to open... and before you start calling us crazy, we were not alone! Hah!

Oh oh! Before I go any further, let me tell you about this super duper
yummy yogurt we had for breakfast.

This is crazy stuff man!

Honey walnut yogurt yo! It was soooo goooood. All for a not-too-expensive-yet-not-exactly-cheap price of £0.79p. I mean it's cheap if you ignore the difference in currency and take it as 1:1 but if convert over that's like RM4.00 for a cup of yogurt. Then again, Cik Anai and I saw a walnut yogurt (minus the honey) selling at a whooping price of over RM10 at Cold Storage back here in Malaysia. So... £0.79p is so worth the every savouring slurp we had with that yogurt.

Yummy yogurt deserves one more shot! See it says right there
“Thick & Creamy Yogurt – Walnut & Greek Honey”. Yaaa meeee!
Alright, end of yogurt commercial. :P Back to our early morning adventure.

So what's with all the fuss about being early anyway?

Well, we were on our way to catch the 6.53am Eurostar train to Pa-Pa-Paris!

That's the Eurostar waiting lounge right there. We were worried that we might mess up the check-in process or get lost inside King Cross station since we have never been there before and therefore got off on an early start. Better be safe than sorry yo! And seriously this is one ride we cannot afford to miss. After all, it cost a small fortune to ride on the Eurostar. On the contrary, we found our way easily in the station and the check-in process was swift with our print-out-and-scan tickets. So with another stamp in our passport we made our way to the waiting lounge.

There was an information counter at the waiting lounge that was manned by a friendly staff. We picked out some free yet very informative brochures of Paris to read on board and even bought ourselves a carnet of tickets. That way we don't have to fuss about language barrier when we arrive in Paris later. A carnet consists of ten tickets that can be used in all Metro, RER, bus and tram rides in Paris. However buying it here at King Cross would mean you will be buying it in pound instead of euros and the difference in currency is a disadvantage in this case as we bought it at a slightly higher price compared to that of in Paris. But it is most definitely time-saving and convenient, so we went ahead and bought them. We also managed to pick up some good old junk food at the convenience store.

Finally we were called for boarding.

That's me in the compulsory "Hey, I rode the Eurostar!" pose. :D

The train was pretty empty since it was a weekday and we almost had the entire cabin to ourselves save a hand full of others. What's more we even booked ourselves the centre seats designed to accommodate a company of four. It has two double-seaters facing each other, sharing a single table. We took our chance with these seats hoping to either have the extra leg space or if the seats in front of us were occupied, well there's no harm in making new friends. ;-)

But there was no one to make friends with and instead Cik Anai pop over
and sat across the table. *grins*

And finally we were truly really definitely on our way. We grabbed our load of junks out and munch away on our very unhealthy breakfast. In our defence the Real McCoy's grilled steak flavoured chips were de-li-cious!

Cik Anai enjoying her yummy chips!

Time to show off the wonderful morning scenery Cik Anai managed to
capture along the way.

Rajin membaca konon. Hehe.

Did we just pass the border? *clueless*

Art or vandalism? *shrugs* I don't know.
All I know is that we are almost there!!

And WE ARE HERE!

After being in the cosy train for over two hours, we were once again greeted by the chilly breeze as we stepped out onto the platform. The real bummer though was not the chill but was the fact that we lost one hour due to the time difference between London and Paris. That means lesser time for us to see Paris. Not cool, not cool at all.

Time to hunt down the RER!

Our first stop... off to meet the hunchback of Notre Dame.

Umm... I mean Notre Dame Cathedral.

Promise no delays on the next update. Stay tuned!

What Do You Call Pandan in English?

2011-10-02T22:57:00.004+08:00

Or is Pandan English?

*googles*

Oh. They are indeed called Pandan Leaves.

Sometimes I hate the convenience of googling for answers. And the fact that the word 'google' has turned into a verb. It makes life too easy, knowledge less appreciated. *sigh* Which reminds me of an exchange I read in one of the livejournal communities I've joined. If you were the ones who utter these words, understand that I mean well and in no way being disrespectful. It is truly something that worth our two cents to think about.

"What did we do before the internet.

Before google and wikipedia and imdb and YT etc etc.

Just sit around confused and feeling stupid?"

-Unknown

I guess she's right in that sense. Knowledge is now out there for everyone. If anything else, we should be pretty empowered by the Internet these days. But let us not make it less meaningful just because it's easy.

* * * * * * * *

On a different note. This post started out with me wanting to tell you guys I made
'Pandan Chicken' today. Except I kind of wondered off topic as I typed my post.
That's the beauty of it, isn't it?

Eleven pieces of Pandan Chicken with a tinge too much curry powder.

Nonetheless, pretty good for a first try.

What a weird post this turned out to be.

Late Night Chat Deserves Some Appreciation

2011-10-02T01:55:00.006+08:00

Good night Cubbie! :)

The Creative aka Weird Birthday Gift

2011-09-25T14:22:00.002+08:00

This gift deserves a post of its own simply because it still leave me feeling puzzled and amused everytime I look at it.

And because it somehow manages to put a smile on my face everytime I look at it, it now sits strangely out of place on my 'new work desk'.

Umm... thanks Mr IdunTalkMuch!

The World As I See It...

2011-09-20T22:14:00.008+08:00

...is a remarkable place :)

"You are the world, and the world is yours."

An Itch You Can't Scratch...

2011-09-18T22:35:00.002+08:00

IS ANNOYING!!

>__<

I fought the sore. I killed the fever. I’m preventing the cough but an itchy throat is just too annoying. *clears throat* More so during the night than day. And the phlegm is another unhelpful culprit . Maybe I should sleep upright tonight, since laying down seems to worsen things up. *clears throat* I just feel the need to keep getting up from bed to spit ‘nothing’. Nothing because nothing is coming out except saliva. Eeeeww… *clears throat* *pouts* *cough* Blergh.

It’s just sad that I’m not even looking forward to go to bed. :(

When was the last time you reward yourself?

2011-09-12T23:00:00.006+08:00

Whether it's splurging on a fancy handbag, buying that dress you have always wanted or... well, to be fair to the guys, getting the latest camera, iPhone or whatever gadgets out there. The list is endless and not necessarily confined to... well, shopping. *shrugs* You can go travel! Okay, that involves lots of money too. You can sit back and relax at home. That's a reward itself, depending on how you look at it.

Or sometimes you can get yourself a birthday gift. :D

And it doesn't have to be expensive. It can be but doesn't have to be.

RM24.90

That's all it takes and you get to upgrade this

dish-drying-tray-turned-computer-table to...

THIS!

And amazingly turned dish-drying-tray-turned-computer-table to a CD rack holder.
Am I amazing or am I amazing?

Almost No.1

2011-09-11T21:48:00.007+08:00

Stepped into the office on Thursday morning and not long after received my 'first' birthday present for the year.

So, why 'first' with the quotation marks?

Well, I kinda received my first birthday present way back during Chinese New Year because the gifter had thoughtfully bought me something to keep me warm during my trip to London in March. The thoughtful gifter was none other than dearest godmom! *hearts*
Thanks kai-ma!

So unfortunately the above present was deemed 'second' place without a fair fight.

But.

BUT!

That's not the point of this story.
The crucial point to this entire post is WHO came in second place?

*drumroll*

Mr Skimmer Dude!

Oh golly, the sky must be falling. Hahaha. The gift got everyone ranting "How come he give you present one?" because Mr Skimmer Dude is not your usual present-gifter. In fact, he claims that we are just his 'colleagues' and not 'friends'. Yaya. *rolls eyes* Dude is so in denial. So anyway... "How come ah?"

Well, I guess I should say it's tradition. :P

Though honestly, seeing his gift then and now, I came to another conclusion as to why I receive gifts from him.

Obviously he thinks I'm a kid.

Rubik's Cube two years ago and a Slinky this year. What's more, *points to the lower right hand corner of the box* apparently I'm growing younger and younger. Ages 3 & up!

Here's the Rubik's Cube.

From 7, I'm now down to 3.
Will I be receiving a pacifier next? O_O

Hmm... Oh well.

A gift is a gift however small.

Thanks Mr Skimmer Dude!

[L.E.P.A.K: London] Chapter 10: Off to Meet the Queen

2011-08-29T22:51:00.001+08:00

After filling our much neglected stomachs with thick, yummy pies, we're off to meet the Queen! But first to get there... Baker's Street! Home of the famous Sherlock Holmes.

So it's no surprise that the entire tube station was filled with silhouettes of Holmes.
From rows of individual tiles in all colours...

... to well-arranged tiles that form a much larger Holmes.

Which reminds me, this is a shout-out to dearest Cubbie, an avid Holmes fan to the max! If we ever come here together in the future, we'll put this tube station as one of our destination in our itinerary and allocate a time slot for you to take pictures from every possible angle ya? =P In return, we have to put in some time for me to get to Abbey Road, too. Deal? ;-)

Oh and right outside of the tube station is of course Mr Holmes himself, standing tall and ummm... dark. My only regret? I should have stand next to him instead of being the one behind the camera but we had our destination in mind and the walking crowd was zooming by continuously. So... yeah.

That's our destination right ahead.
Only about 5 minutes walk from Baker's Street Station.

We handed over our pre-booked and printed tickets and asked about the closing time. The friendly attendant assured us that there was enough time to enjoy the entire place and then proceeded to usher us into the lift. Immediately as the lift doors opened, we were 'attacked' by flashes of light, making us feeling all celebrity-ish. Hahaha. It certainly was a nice time to visit Madame Tussauds as there was almost no crowd in the place. So we took our time with the celebrities.

First up, my friend Johnny said "Aye!".

Cik Anai got in between Justin and Mr Perry. :P

We took lots more photos with everyone but I'll save you some jealously from all our Hollywood sting and proceed right along to other more humble figures.

Like Shrek and tiny ginger bread man down there!
Didn't know Cik Anai were such buddies with them.

I met the other 'Sherlock' here as well and
I helped him figure out some cases.

Picked up my golden man while I was there and
thanked every possible Tom, Dick and Harry in my speech. *grins*

Little did I know, while I was busy receiving my award, Cik Anai was being naughty
peeking under Ms Monroe's famous blown dress.

We then reached the hall of fame and met Michael there.

There was a camera set up right in front of him with an assistant ready to take your photo and probably charge you a fee for it. However, instead of forcing us to pay to take a photo, he kindly offered to help us take a photo together with our own camera. What's more, he even offered us some props! Hahaha. So nice, right? It was the same when we 'met' the Queen. The best thing was, these people knows how to take a good photo. So you don't have to worry about out-of-focus shots. Nice right?

And then there were the Beatles.
So young and joyial but I kind wished there weren't so many things going on at the back there. Hate the backdrop. :(

Fancy meeting Mr Obama in London,
attending to a busy me nonetheless. Hehe.

Cik Anai on the other hand, went over to Downing Street
to pay the Prime Minister a visit.

Lots of things happened after that.

Threw some punches with Muhammad Ali.

Met up with genius Einstein who kept on insisting that E = mc2.

Sang some tunes with Pavarotti.

Got kidnapped by the Hulk.

Shared a picture perfect moment with Spidey himself.

And even showed my claws that rival that of Wolverine.

After that, we stepped into the scary part of Madame Tussauds where a seriously haunting Scream Room awaited us. There were literally screams coming out from that room and it didn't help that two equally spooky guards were standing in front of the door asking us whether we wanted to enter. There were no clues at all what awaited us behind the closed door. Sooooo scary wei! We chickened out in the end and took the less scary route out of the place. *relief sigh* Maybe if there were more of us, instead of two gals stepping into unknown, we might have taken the plunge. Hahaha.

Instead, we took the happy and joyful cable ride through the history of London. Sorry no pictures here as we were too preoccupied with the ride. But seriously, who would have thought there was even such a thing going on inside this little dome building? It's amazing so much is fitted into one venue!

Aside from that, there was even an auditorium inside where we sat and enjoyed a 4D Marvel Experience where superheroes were rescuing London from outside threats. The best part of this 4D experience that I have yet to experience anywhere else is the surprising stab from the backrest whenever Wolverine stabbed and slashed someone on screen. Ouch!! Did I just spoil your fun with that spoiler? *grins*

A short look-see stroll in the souvenir shop later and we were finally on our way back to our hotel to call it a night.

Our dinner?

.

Yummy Shepherd's Pie from Harrods!

Next Up? Pa-Pa-Paris!

I Got it from My Mama

2011-08-17T00:01:00.000+08:00

I've always thought I got my little 'loose-screw-in-the-brain' syndrome from my dad.
The quirky, funny, creative side of me definitely came from the man who plays waiter and surprises me with silly riddles. Because let's face it, mom is way too serious and...
*forgive me* but possibly slightly slow. :P

"But I still love you much much, mom!"
*over compensating* Hahaha...

Anyway,

BOY WAS I WRONG!

Tonight I came home to a bowl of fresh vegetables with Yakult as salad dressing!

I repeat "Yakult"!

And it was yum-meeee!

Who would have thought?

Hmmm.... so was it mom after all?

That's What I Call 'Dedication'

2011-08-16T21:53:00.007+08:00

Was tempted to post this up for the past few days
but was waiting for the right moment. *snickers*

And the day has finally arrived!

Tinki finally posted her entry on her fast-growing-hair... or so she say. :P
And her many close-up shots that you see to prove her point...
well it took some serious effort to take those shots.

See! Even an Art Director got involved.

The things a blogger is willing to do for her readers!
Such dedication. Tsk tsk tsk.

[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chapter 9: Yummy...

2011-08-13T13:18:00.009+08:00

Wondering what Mr Man is looking at?

Well, hopefully he's not reading this blog but in all possibility that he is, then
"Hi there, Mr Man! Please don't be offended by what I'm going to say because I don't mean it to be an insult. Just a light-hearted humour." Here goes...

Monkey See, Monkey Do.

*grins*

You see. We were busy taking pictures of our umm.. 'destination' because hello, tourists here! *points to self* In come along Mr Man in his smart suit, stopped, looked and decided to join in the fun and took some photos using his phone as well. Hahaha.

Always glad to inspire others.

*smiles*

So where is this 'destination' we're talking about anyway? If you've followed my previous posts, you'll know the answer is....

Harrods!
We were pretty bummed that Harrods was undergoing some construction work while we were there. Kinda ruined the pictures. :(

But that didn't stop us from taking more photos! :P

We actually didn't quite make it here after spending too much time at Tower of London but we have a few short hours to spare before our pre-booked time slot for Madame Tussauds, so we decided to give it a go. Oh and here comes some travel advice! ;)

Hiyashibeeps' L.E.P.A.K Travel Tips No.8:
If your schedule is tight or you simply want to utilise your time to its fullest, take note of the opening times of each attraction you're planning to visit. Schedule those with later closing times last in your itinerary. For instance, Madame Tussauds' last admission time is from 5.00pm to 5.30pm and you can stay in there till 7.00pm. So why head there during the afternoon when you can go somewhere else that closes at 4.30pm. Right? *winks*

Oh right. So back to Harrods shall we?

With only that precious hour to spare, we head to the one section
NO ONE SHOULD EVER MISS in Harrods.

The Food Hall!

I was looking at all that food and salivating. It didn't helped that we had nothing since a survival breakfast that morning. Shocking right? I did not feel hungry till I saw all that food in front of me.

PIES!

Surprisingly the food was not ridiculously expensive. Quite affordable in fact. I felt like buying every flavour and try a little bit of everything. If only I live there, I'll probably drop by after work and buy myself a different choice of food every day. Even so, I bet I can go on an entire month without any repeats! Yum.

To further proof my point.

Foood...

and more fooood!

Even the lady behind the counter is just as charming
with her matching top hat and apron.

I somehow managed to do some 'grocery shopping' here. Bought myself some cute little bottles of jam with equally cute illustrations of London's various attractions, some Thyme biscuits and a bottle of apple chutney claimed to go superbly well with roast pork. Even though my family rarely eat roast pork these days, we still have our ways of enjoying the chutney. Yum.

The only boo point of the food hall is that we couldn't find anywhere to actually sit and eat our food. Which was good. Hahaha. Because there and then, we decided to head over to Hyde Park which was only about 5 minutes from Harrods to enjoy our lunch-tea-dinner meal of the day.

*sigh*

The view that greeted us as we stepped into Hyde Park.

Never have I seen bare and botak trees to be that pretty. Hahaha. Remember I mentioned about how I will come by every day to buy myself a meal from Harrods? Well if that happens, you'll see me sitting here every day to enjoy it as well. Lovely lovely isn't it?

As we unpacked our food, furry horses passed by.

Sooo furrrry.

As for the food?
Look at how crazily packed my salmon pie was! It's crazy loaded with chunks of salmon.
YUM for the third time in this post.

And that's it. We're off to see giant figurines next. :P

Dory Couldn't Have Said It Better

2011-08-08T22:01:00.006+08:00

Swim
Songwriters: Mcmahon, Andrew Ross

You've gotta swim, swim for your life

Swim for the music that saves you
When you're not so sure you'll survive

You gotta swim and swim when it hurts
The whole world is watching

You haven't come this far to fall off the earth

The currents will pull you away from your love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets, they fired at me from a gun
Crack in the armor, yeah

I swim for brighter days despite the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in, I swim

You gotta swim through nights that won't end
Swim for your family, your lovers, your sisters
And brothers, and friends

Yeah, you gotta swim through wars without cause
Swim for the lost politicians
Who don't see their greed as a flaw

The currents will pull us away from our love
Just keep your head above

I found a tidal wave begging to tear down the dawn
Memories like bullets, they fired at me from a gun
A crack in the armor, yeah

I swim for brighter days despite of the absence of sun
Choking on salt water
I'm not giving in, well, I'm not giving in, I swim

You gotta swim, swim in the dark
There's no shame in drifting
Feel the tide shifting and wait for the spark

Yeah, you gotta swim, don't let yourself sink
Just find the horizon
I promise you, it's not as far as you think

The currents will drag us away from our love
Just keep your head above
Just keep your head above, swim
Just keep your head above, swim, swim
Just keep your head above, swim

I know it's not a new song but I just discovered it recently and I've been having it on repeat since. Then I youtube it for the video and love it even more. I guess I just found another pick-me-up, be strong and fight when the world gets you down song.

Yosh! Fighto!

Or like how Dory from Finding Nemo would say it,
“JUST KEEP SWIMMING!"

Boy Meets Girl (Penang Version) Part III

2011-08-07T21:54:00.012+08:00

So as we all know, Ah Girl likes Ah Boy. *nods*
Ah Boy however, likes pork dumplings. *shrugs*
Ah Girl tried her best to woo Ah Boy. Haha. Imagine that.
So so... did Ah Girl finally get her boy in the end?

Well... WONDER NO MORE.

Click to enlarge!

I know I said boy-chase-girl storyline is pretty predictable and boring
but hey! happy endings are always a must. Right? *grins*

Anyway, now that this is done. I guess it's time for me to get back to my L.E.P.A.K post once again. See, the thing is I've been editing photos more than I'm writing these days. Gotta arranged them nicely to be developed into tangible photos. Ya ya, I'm old fashion that way. As much as I live and breathe my dear computer and the internet, I still like my books paperback, my CDs in casing and my photos in real photo albums. So yeah. Not quite open to change, am I? LOL. Anyhow, patient is virtue. I'll get back to writing real soon.

Till then! :)

Boy Meets Girl (Penang Version) Part II

2011-08-01T22:10:00.008+08:00

Who would have thought a silly sketch can turned into a 3-part comic?

Yup, there's even a part III to this.

*grins*

Who says the girl is always the damsel in distress?
Or that the guy is always the one doing the courting?

Oh no no no!

That is just too predictable and b-o-r-i-n-g.

So will Ah Girl get her guy in the end?

I guess you'll just have to wait and see!

Boy Meets Girl (Penang Version) Part I

2011-07-26T22:09:00.008+08:00

You see here's the deal.

An Art Director draws.

She can draw and draw and draw cutesy little characters you adore.

A Copywriter writes.

She can write and write and write a story without a sight.

Put them two together and Waalah!

Umm... you finally get them right?

Okay okay. No more rhymes.

But you get the idea. :)

Click to enlarge and I assure you there's a TBC to this. :)

Waydup y'all.

And We All Sank Together Today

2011-07-21T21:00:00.010+08:00

A truly memorable "all for one and one for all" moment.

So did we fight for the float?
Or did we 'drown' ourselves in sorrow?

Nah. We got back on board and set sail again.

Korea Called Again!

2011-07-17T21:52:00.009+08:00

Got a call last Thursday morning which started like this,

"Hello! Ini TNT Korea."

*inner thoughts*

'Ehhhh!!! TNT from Korea. What?! Why are they calling me?'

*getting anxious and excited*

'Ehhhh! Wait. Wait. Wait. He's speaking Malay. Hmm...'

*mind goes into detective mode*

"Wait a minute. Hold it up. I know this!"

*imaginary light bulb appears*

This is not the first time I'm receiving a call from 'Korea'. Ahah!

It's TNT Courier!

And so, yes, I knew it has arrived.

1st brand for the day: TNT 'Korea'

Unsealed it to reveal an envelope.

2nd brand name: AirAsia!

And finally, inside!

3rd brand name: Koolred!

Woohoo! Won myself some free Antioxidant Hot Bed Therapy at Ecoparadise, ummm... Kuala Lumpur. *sigh* Giving a Penangite a prize only available in KL? Not Kool. But after some web browsing and enquiring, turns out there's also an outlet in Penang! Now that's Kool! Can't wait to check the place out and umm... fulfil the winner's responsibility. B.L.O.G. =P

[L.E.P.A.K series: London] Chap 8: Tower of London

2011-07-09T16:39:00.013+08:00

Woohoo! Was MIA for almost a month *grins* Was busy planning and jetting off again to complete the K in the L.E.P.A.K series with the family. Yup! That marks the end of this year's holiday spree. Now it's time to be a good girl, sit at home, edit photos and blog about the experience, so that I get to share with others and reminisce these cherished memories once more later on in life.

So Here We Go!

From Edinburgh, we arrived back to London at around seven in the morning. We then headed back to the hotel for a change of clothes and to fall flat on the bed for an hour or so. *phew* That’s the life of budget-ty traveling.

Finally, we headed out to our first stop for the day – Tower of London! At first, we decided to ride the tube to Elephant & Castle and walk from there. The plan was to pass by Manzes to have ourselves some Richmond Eel Pie and Marsh for breakfast. Yum! Unfortunately, we kinda lost our way around and in the end, went back to Elephant & Castle and ride the tube direct to Tower Hill. :( Not only did we not get to eat our intended breakfast but we even wasted half an hour getting lost. *double boo-hoo*

And finally, we’re here!
That’s Cik Anai doing the “I just won the lottery” pose with our tickets.

Upon stepping into the fort, a Yeoman Warder greeted us. Yeoman Warders is also popularly known as Beefeaters. Amusing isn’t it? The exact reason behind this name is unknown, though it is believed that the name came about due to the fact that these Yeoman Warders were paid part of their salary in chunks of beef.

The Beefeaters are the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London and in principle are responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the Crown Jewels there. But these days, with no prisoners kept at the Tower any longer, though the Crown Jewels are still safely kept within the walls of the Tower, these Yeoman Warders now act as tour guides for visitors and are even attractions in their own rights.

Behind the walls of the Tower is a beautiful courtyard.

London welcomes the sight of spring.

The Waterloo Barracks. Here lies the impressive Crown Jewels of England. There’s a queue here waiting to be let inside. No cameras allowed thus no photos to show you guys. :(

The White Tower where the royal armory was displayed.

One of the ummm… more ‘unique’ ones. :P

FIRE!

In the midst of all those armors on display, you’ll find a little entrance way that leads you to St John’s Chapel. Certainly a change of atmosphere from before. You’ll find yourself suddenly all the more quiet, all the more respectful and all the more appreciative. It’s a natural thing that happens every time you step into religious grounds.

That’s me attempting to be all solemn and deep in thought. The sight of the old tree branch from the equally old window is just so picturesque, don’t you think? *sigh*

Oh, let me introduce you to Raven here. Raven lives within the walls of the Tower. It has about five to six other ravens living with it. They are a group of ernormous ravens, bigger than any average ravens. Well, that is kind of expected seeing how well fed they were.

You see, the presence of the ravens is traditionally believed to protect the Crown
and the Tower, a superstition even suggests that

“If the Tower of London ravens are lost of fly away,
the Crown will fall and Britain with it.”

As much as they are so well taken care of over here, it is quite a sad sight to behold for such free-flying creatures, especially since they seemed to have their wings chipped to prevent them from flying away. :( And to add insult to injury, there's even little pigeons, the 'outflyers', flying in and out, next to these ravens. Kesiannya.

As we about to leave the grounds, we met two medieval ladies strolling by and quickly requested to take a picture with them.
*feeling a little out of place right in the middle there* LOL.

Right outside across the River Thames is the majestic Tower Bridge, often mistaken as London Bridge. A short stroll down led us to a pier where various cruise tours were available. Once again, we made full use of our Travelcard which offered a 30% off the regular price. There is of course the 2for1 offer but that was only for the River Red Rover ticket which upon calculation cost 60 pence more each. That's a whole RM3.00 after conversion and a total savings of RM6.00 for two persons. :P

And that's the cruiser right there. Sunny skies, perfect for an open-air ride. The tide was high that day and certain boats were having problem crossing under the many bridges along the Thames. We were asked to wait patiently for the tide to subside a little first and then we're off!

The view of Tower Bridge right from the centre of River Thames.

Mr Tour Guide quickly introduced himself as not a real 'tour guide' but still promised to

try his best to share with us all the important landmarks and facts about them.
I wouldn't say I was impressed by his commentary but at the same time has nothing to complain about either.

Yay for another shot of us together! :)

And we went, right under one bridge after another.

Finally we reached back to our most familiar point, the London Eye!
Our boat then came to a stop at Westminster Pier just across the London Eye.
We hopped off and was on our way again.

Next up! A quick trip to Harrods, then we're off to meet the queen. Wee!

One of These Things is Not Like the Others...

2011-06-19T23:30:00.010+08:00

*sings*

One of these things is not the same.

Can you tell which thing is not like the others?

Can you tell which thing is not the same?

*grins*

Threw them pillows aside to take off my bedsheet and saw this instead.

Mind you, that cutesy blue rabbit print pillow case is sort of like my "smelly" which I'm sure everyone has. Right? Right? Don't even try to deny it. It's not smelly in the sense of it being stinky, it's smelly in the sense of me hugging it to sleep every night and practically breathing off it. :P

Now what's the bolster for then?

*shrugs*

Its role is to lay at the side of the wall to prevent me from knocking myself 'blue-black' against the wall.

See! Every pillow and bolster has an important part to play.

*points to the standing red pillow*

That is what I lay my head on.

*points to big flat red pillow on top of the bolster*

And that is what my legs are laid on.

Yes. Yes. There's a pillow for my legs.

And that red piece of cloth right in front of the picture. Well that's my blanket. Oh and if you're wondering, the missing bedsheet from this picture, well, that's sort of maroon-pink-red too.

So yeah, blue cutesy is the bestest!