A short trip to Sri Petaling

Months without penning down my thoughts here have caused some form of rust to begin to develop in my brain cells. So I shall begin just like when I started way back in 2004. I wonder how long I could persevere but I will try my best.

Let's move on to two weeks ago when I went for a short trip to KL. Well, I think it will be more interesting to speak of events that have happened in my life rather than random ramblings which will bore you all. If you prefer those kind of posts, I can assure you they will bound to flood the site when I am on an 'event-less mode'.

I would say the highlight of the entire trip would be this:


A fountain of water that shot out of nowhere. Looks refreshing, doesn't it?

It was such a sight to have noticed this when we were somewhere in Damansara. At first, I thought it was some sort of natural occurrence, which would definitely be extremely interesting globally but this turned out to be a man-made error. Such a disappointment to see water being wasted that way.

Bursting pipes are trendy these days.

A pre-celebration for mom's birthday had been decided before this trip but we did not know where to go. I made the suggestion to go to B.B.Q. Plaza as it is one of my favourite places!

Now that I think about the aroma that emits from the bacon on the grill, the crave to go back there returns.



An assorted plate of delicious ingredients that complement one another to perfection.

Albeit a tiring meal, it was totally worth it.

We had a stroll at 1U doing some real plus window shopping.

The initial plan was to go to another mall but we decided to spend some quality time in the hotel before going out for a sumptuous dinner at a restaurant located just across the road.

I love convenience so much that it is a plus point for the hotel if the food is easily accessible by foot. Not only does it do good to my feet which remain inactive during my working hours, it also helps me save some money and time spent on transportation.

I am so excited to show you what I had for dinner that night. Check them out!

Are you salivating already? If not, I don't know what else can.

We were like gremlins looking for more food even after dinner and we stumbled upon a vendor who sold a variety of drinks and desserts.


The beancurd pudding was a tad too rough and tough for my liking.

My night ended with a sweet dessert and although I sort of froze to sleep that night as the air conditioner was almost at freezing point according to my standard, I managed to survive through the night and got enough sleep to last almost the whole of the following day.

Breakfast time came and we were satisfied with the choices we saw at the cafe.


I had a typical but extraordinarily tasty breakfast. I did not expect much as most hotel breakfasts that I have tasted are just mediocre. This surprised me. Pleasantly.

Looking forward to another trip in another state. If it is any interesting, I will post an entry about it. Hope the next post will not be about Hong Kong as that would mean I will not be blogging till middle of March next year.

The umbrella tree

Something interesting caught my eyes today. The drill has been conducted so many times before so how did I miss it?

The tree that looks like an umbrella or a roof

The rainy weather subsequently made way for the sun to shine through. It would have been such a waste if the tsunami were to come. This unique roof-like tree might not be safe when it happens. And this picture would have been worth millions of dollars since there will never be another shot like it.

Late night ramblings as my stomach rumbles. Just another seven hours to wake up.

Happy Mother's Day, mom!

Dear Mom,

Although we could not be together to celebrate this special day most of the years, thank God for the Internet that enables this message to go directly to you. Eat a lot of good food today and I wish you healthy and be happy forever.

Love,

Fiona

Back for a breather

I am hearing the strong wind for the whole day but the rain is still yet to come. Instead, I can feel the heat, an unchanged temperature since evening.

I wanted to talk about my trip to Gurney today first but found it hard to express myself freely even after so many years of writing on this blog therefore the talk about the weather came about. Probably the infrequency affects my writing cells greatly. I will try my best, nevertheless.

For the past few weekends I have been back in Ipoh so it feels rare to wake up in Penang with the familiar 'weekdays' surroundings. During my Saturdays in Penang, I would usually sleep till noon but today I did not as I got to go somewhere for a break.

The second stop - after the first stop which I will mention soon - was at the cinema where I watched 9-9-81, a Thai horror film. There was a time I stopped watching Thai horror films as I found them not as thrilling as Japanese and Korean ones. This 9-9-81 however, was unique as the story progressed on and instead of a combination of nine different tales lumped up together, these tales were intertwined with one another, creating an ideal roundup for the basic story line, the events that led to the suicide of the bride and the aftermath. Albeit being a low budget film, it was quite well done.

Of course, eating was also part of the plan and both of us had our first meal of the day at Kopitan Classic where there were three set lunches to select from. 

I chose the Thai sauce chicken rice set. It was a funny coincidence I ate and watch something Thai today. 

Tasted as good as it looked.

Here's the iced lemon tea without ice that came with the set.


I initially had the feeling they were going to give me half a glass as that would be the normal practice for drinks ordered without ice.

Have you heard of cone pizzas? I heard it the first time today although it has been in trend for quite some time. Rather than eating pizza by the slice, the bread is rolled into a cone and the fillings are added into it before it is baked in the oven.

This is how it looks like.



It was so yummy! The inventor of this cone pizza is probably someone who cares for those who eat alone but are craving for pizza so badly! Here you go, a pizza for the solos.

I will definitely buy it again someday.

Final food picture of the day: Grilled scallops.


There were so many flavours to choose from so we decided on 随便 which literally means "simply or anything". Mixed with all sorts of sauces and spices, the scallops were grilled to perfection.

I am once again drooling looking at the picture.  真係好好食呀！

What a well-spent afternoon!

Is this post suffice to compensate for the couple of months without entries?

I don't think I have any readers left.

A post that came five days late.

So I have been missing for yet another two weeks. I have a great lunar new year although the red packet collection has been quite bad. It is time to admit that as I age, the food has become more important than the money. 

Two more days of break till I get back to work. I still want more off days!

It's still not too late so I shall wish everyone a very happy Snake Year! ♡

May you learn to snake more; in other words work smarter in school or at work this year! ;-) 

0.25

I welcomed the quarter of a century of my life with this. Thanks to my lovely friends who spared no effort to prevent me from taking out a single cent. You guys are just too... wonderful!!!!


The dinner at Kaffa was so good and I really enjoyed the quality time with you all. Even the photo session with people I don't really know could be so much fun!

Do you know why the food seemed to taste good? It is because it was shared, that's why!

I would love to write longer but I have been taking too long a break to string more words together to revive this almost soon to be white elephant. If you are still here reading this post, I have to apologise for the long absence. Now that I am 0.25 century old, I thought maybe I should continue penning down my extraordinary moements of my ordinary life.

This is the first post of 2013 so a very happy new year to everyone!! Let's pretend that new year only begins on my birthday.

Shenzhen and Guangzhou Trip (6 - 12 November 2012)

您好! I am back from my trip to China! There are many photos and as I am too lazy to upload all of them here, please do check out my album in Facebook. However, here are some pictures to appease you readers, if there are any left who have been faithfully refreshing this page for new updates!

The start of the journey began with this remarkable view.


Look! There was a rainbow in the distant clouds! Something that I noticed when I uploaded this picture just now. What a great form of welcome to start our adventure in a foreign land.


In-flight meal. The last Malaysian meal before we had Chinese food every meal for the next seven days.

4 HOURS LATER... 


At Bao An International Airport, Shenzhen!

Then it was another an hour or so journey to the hotel via the Metro.

This greeted me when I opened the room door.


It was so tempting to immediately slip myself under the duvet and sleep till morning!

The following day, we went to Window of the World (世界之窗). It was a fascinating place with all the popular landmarks of the world replicated to the tiniest detail.

A part of Malaysia or rather Penang was also there!


Do you Penangites recognise this famous landmark?


A pat on the shoulder for you who guessed correctly. I am proud to be a Malaysian! Our pagoda is as famous as the Eiffel Tower and the London Bridge!

Let's fast forward to the next day when we went shopping at Dong Men Pedestrian Street located two stations away from Luo Hu (罗湖)), Lao Jie (老街).

That place was crazily packed with people! One tip for shopping is to haggle the price as low as 70% from the original price quoted. Indeed, it worked!

The famous milk tea brand there is not Chatime but Da Ka Si (大卡司).


What I like about the milk tea here is the pearls are smaller and that makes the chewing more fun!

Soon it was time to say goodbye to Shenzhen and we had dim sum for our last breakfast there.


I don't know why but I still prefer Ipoh dim sum. My palate is too used to Malaysian food.

The next destination: Guangzhou

We took the train from Shenzhen to Guangzhou. The fare cost RMB 80.



After an hour's ride, we finally reached our destination.

Time for a good rest before torturing our legs again.


A quaint little place. The bed was not as comfy as the one in Shenzhen but I slept soundly for the next three nights nevertheless.


The busy street of Jie Fang Nan Lu (解放南路). This was the view from our room on the 9th floor of The Bauhinia Hotel.

We did more shopping at Chang Shou Lu (长寿路) where we bought most of the items.


The stretch of the road that seemed endless. We walked and walked for almost six hours!

Some bronze statues along the way were spotted. Here are a couple.


An old man selling herbal tea


Two naughty boys climbing the gate

They were fascinating! Even the expressions were given the attention to detail.

The following day, we went to Yue Xiu Park (越秀公园) to see the famous statue of the Five Rams also known as Wu Yang (五羊).



Here is the legend of how the five rams came about.



Isn't it a fascinating story? No wonder the rams have been held in high regard by the citizens of Guangzhou and now the main attraction for tourists. It was that significant.

We headed to the Canton Tower (广州塔) where we were lifted up to the 107th floor for a magnificent view of the whole of Guangzhou. The entrance fee is RMB 150 per person.


A replica of the tower within the tower.


It's mesmerising to be looking down at all the tall buildings and they now looked so toy-like.

Another picture of the view from another part of the tower.


With more water this time. Still breathtaking!

The next day, we went to Beijing Road for more shopping. This time however, we did not buy a lot of things. We spent more on snacks.



Now here is a photo of an interesting snack.


A sausage wrapped in the waffle! Only RMB 10 for 2 pieces.

Time flies and soon it was time to say goodbye to Guangzhou.


The receptionists at The Bauhinia Hotel, Kitty and Candy.


We finally reached the Bai Yun International Airport.


Goodbye China! Till we meet again.

So that was just roughly what I had in mind for this blog post as I was too lazy. Hope you enjoy reading this short entry (it was a six nights' trip, so it is considered short).

Although I don't speak much Chinese, I think we did okay and managed to bring our messages across to the people there using mostly Cantonese.

Penang War Museum

Tourist attraction to be struck off the list.

Penang War Museum

Yes! Finally I have been to somewhere touristy! The next destination would be the Peranakan Mansion. Hmm, I wonder when I will have the determination to go. If it were not for friends, I think Penang War Museum will be the last place that I will visit because it is so far away!

All of a sudden, my cold seemed to get better when I was out having fun. Thank God for giving me strength in times like this!

So the adventure began at approximately 9:00am on a clear Sunday morning, 12 August 2012 to Batu Maung. The fares cost me a bomb! RM4 to go to Batu Maung from KOMTAR. Two and fro would already be RM8! That excluded the fare back to Feringgi. Add another 50 cents to the total of fares and I would be able to purchase a ticket back to Ipoh. Oh well, it's way cheaper than driving to the site though.

The journey took almost two hours from Feringgi to Batu Maung (inclusive of the time we waited for bus). After an arduous journey on the bus, we had to hike uphill to the museum for another 500 metres which felt like 500km under the afternoon sun which was fortunately filtered by the shrubs and trees along the way.

This was the sight to behold. The mark of the start of our adventure!


Let's begin the journey to take a step into the past.

I was a little apprehensive before entering the museum because I did not know what to expect. RM20 per entry so it better be good. I mean, better be good in the supernatural department.

I did not know what I expected to see or hear then. Probably some shadows and sounds of screaming from the living quarters of the soldiers? I really had no idea.


It was reopened in 2002.


A soldier greeted us when we entered.


Lest we forget the brave and gallant soldiers who fought for our country, look at this. A memorial stone is erected to commemorate them. Did you see the figure in multi-coloured outfit? That was not a ghost. It was me. Hehehe!!!

Please be prepared before scrolling down to the next picture because there is something real in it that you will soon find out.

A brief description about the photo: The location is just opposite the memorial stone and right behind it, a banner with a figure that looked like a Grim Reaper chopping the head of someone is hung in full view with Japanese words "Sayonara" (which means good bye in English) written on the painting. Gruesome.


Oh yes, the human skull is real if you are wondering.

Entertainment is essential and pivotal to the survival of humans even in times of war.


Here's the proof. They played the piano till the keys were peeling off.



These are snapped from the barracks of the British soldiers.




They were drinkers too.

I didn't snap many photos so the photos that you are seeing here are just random shots taken whenever I felt like it.


During the Japanese Occupation.


One of the original bicycles the Japanese soldiers used to invade into Kota Bahru in December 1941.



Wanna take a ride home?


I have no idea what this was.


This picture was snapped from one of the torture chambers. I don't see how torturing it was but there was one room where a mannequin with long hair covering the face stood in the room. That was torture for me.  


A huge snake outside the torture chambers (if I am not mistaken).

The next photo is also quite shocking so brace yourself before scrolling down.


The boards hanging on the wall were used to chop off the heads of the Japanese soldiers when the British returned. That is literally putting your head on the chopping board. I actually touched one of them without knowing the purpose of the boards in other chambers.

*shudders*


This tunnel leads to a few rooms used for discussions on strategies. Rumour has it that the light will automatically turn off at random so visitors, remember to keep your flashlights on all the time while passing through the tunnel.

We spent approximately one and a half hours in there and after visiting the museum, I felt thankful that I was not born during the World War II era.

I guess I shall stop writing now and hope this post does not scare some of you till you can't sleep at night. There is no escape from haunted places because every place has its own past and there is no way you can change that. :o)

Next up: Wait for it.... I might go eccentric and post up something interesting again.

Healthily gone for two months but sickly back after that.

It is a surprise, isn't it? After disappearing for more than two months, I am finally back here to pen down something. I can be a little eccentric and do the impossible -yes, I call posting an entry in my blog impossible because it feels like a chore most of the time - when I am sick.. Well, not that sick. Probably I should call it less healthy. :P

The period from the last post I wrote till a few days ago, I was still very much myself. By saying that, I mean I was as healthy as I could be. How I wish I could answer, "I am fit as a fiddle!" whenever anyone asks me how I am. All I could say was, "I (let out a Super Cough) am (another long stretch of Super Coughs) FINE!" Notice how I capitalised the last word because that is exactly how I desperately form a sentence now from my mouth. The sentence would rise in a crescendo and ends with the last word ending up as a shout, most of the time. Sorry if some of you who have spoken to me experienced my reply in this manner. I absolutely did not mean to be rude or being deaf. It is just how the cold is taking away my good manners.

I remember the last time I had a bad cold was the beginning of last year when I first started my industrial training. How time flies! Weird thing though. I seldom get sick when I was in Ipoh but here, I have been struck by the cold virus for three times! I hope third time's the charm and this will be the last of it. No more cold for me. Okay, I will allow you (Mr. Cold) to visit me for a maximum of 24 hours and after that duration is over, you have to be gone!

On an unrelated note, sort of related I guess, because I feel a little stressed out due to my current sickness as there are so much to follow up at work at the moment since my dear colleague is going to leave for another department starting from next week. So it means, I have to be versatile enough to do jobs for two people. Not to mention some of her tasks are quite different from what I have been doing so I just have to get used to it.

Tuesday will be the only day for me to do handover with her. Hope we do not leave out anything important!

Counting down to Raya as I will be back home eating all the wonderful delicacies again so Super Cough, I warn you not to ruin my festive mood! Be gone by then!

Signing off with another blast of SUPER COUGHS.

*cough cough cough*

UGH.

Before I forget, please like www.facebook.com/rasasayangresort if you haven't because we have great promotions to offer and it will be quite a waste for you to miss it.

Okay, thanks and bye!