Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tagged!

I was tagged by Shiau Ping and since it has been a while since I was tagged, I'm looking forward to doing this.

Instructions:
Remove 1 question from below and add in a personal question, make it a total of 19 questions. Then tag 8 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

1. What bothers you the most?
-- I'm getting a braces done? >.<

2. What is your most favourite thing to do?
-- Well, it depends on my mood, really. Most of the time just online or sleep but I also like to try out something new like sewing, cooking, baking, hiking, sky diving etc.



3. What kind of news do you read?
-- I used to only read cartoons (it's in the newspaper, so I consider it as news XD) and sports news but now, I'm quite interested in political news and of course, sports remain.

4. Have you been committed in any crime?
-- Driving without driver's license and lied to the police when I was caught ^^;

5. Is there someone in your heart right now?
-- No one really..

6. Do you believe you can survive without money?
-- No way. If you answered yes, you're hallucinating.

7. Are you afraid of pain?
-- 100% being most afraid, for physical pains (like a cut or burns), I'll give my self 70%, mental pains (like stomach aches, headahes) maybe 55% and psychological pains (like stress) about 35%.

8. What do you feel like doing right now?
-- Nothing. Just nothing XD

9. If there’s someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
-- I don't think so. Think when I really liked someone, I would deny it. You know my parents..


10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you.
-- Talks halfway then 'ya', laugh even before she finishes her joke, excessive hand gestures. They're all good points, okay? XD


11.What is your 5 most passionate thing at this moment?
-- Hmm.. I guess everything I have now are passionate because if either one is missing, it would disturb the whole 'passionate niche' LOL!
(P/s: Eh, SP. Your top passionate is YK ok? Don't bluff ah..)

12. If you can be on TV, which show would you want to be in?
-- Project Runway! Woooot~!

13. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
-- Eggs! Any cooking method :D

14. If you had a choice to be rich or happy, which one would you pick?
-- Can't deny the fact that both are important. What's the point if you're rich but not happy? And vice versa. But if I had to choose, obviously... (you know me) RICH!

15. If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
-- My temper? It would be nice to be temper-less like Guat Shan, yes? :D
(P/s: Yes, SP. I know which part of Gemini you're talking about. *high 5*)


16. Will you ever kill yourself for studies?
-- Ermmm.. Torture myself, perhaps yes. But kill, no.

17. What is the one thing you love about yourself?
-- I may not look like it and I'm not bragging but I think I'm an obedient child. I rarely go against what my parents disallow me to do. But I'm a devil alright XD

18. If you can bring only one thing along with you to another world, what would it be?
-- Another world as in Hell? Hmm.. a fan? LOL.

19. if you fall for someone that you shouldn't, what will you do?
-- Sing 'Fall for You' by Secondhand Serenade XD No la.. Like I've mentioned in ques 9, I would deny my feelings.


I'll remove question 19 and for the people I'll tag, please answer this question instead: If you have the power to change the world, would you help in environmental factors or mankind? And why?

I tag- Xianfu, Emel, Ah Wei, Kenji, Liyi, Sito, Eileen and Cwei. Have fun doing! ^^

Monday, October 27, 2008

Everywhere Jam!

First of all, no this post is not mainly about jam. It's about my one-day visit to Melaka yesterday and well, maybe a little on jam. My ta-ker suggested this title XD

So, like I said, I went Melaka yesterday. It was supposed to be a 2 days, 1 night trip but since we've finish walking around Melaka and because of the massive jam, we decided to leave on the same day.

Jam.

Here also jam.

There was jam- every crook and corner of Melaka from the time we arrived at 2 p.m. till after we left at 9 p.m.. My dad's car water temperature increased till almost 120 degree Celcius so we parked aside, had some cendol and decided to walk around Melaka. The cendol wasn't very delicious. In fact, I would say it's not even close to tasty. And heck, it definately did not worth RM 3!

Just some 'gula Melaka', cendol and red beans. Half a bowl for RM3.

So we walked to the famous Christ Church, then to the A'Famosa area but it was so hot I melted, evaporated, condensed and melted all over again.

Yeah, everyone knows this place.

Since it was so hot, we went to a food court with lots of stalls and a very nice environment. We ordered fried oyster and fried kueh teow. I don't know about the fried kueh teow (since I didn't eat it) but the fried oster was delici~ous!!

The yummy yummy fried osyter.

I don't know but it doesn't look that delicious.
After spending an hour plus there, my kayah wanted to go for this new ride in Melaka. It's Menara Taming Sari. It's very much like Selero Shots in Genting Highlands only thing that it's slow, it spins and it's expensive. The purpose of this tower is for tourists to have a full view of Melaka from high above. There were many people lining up, waiting for their turns so, we thought the price is reasonable. We then found out that it's RM 20 for adults for a mere 7 minutes!

'Kena tikam tak mati', remember?

That's the Eye on Malaysia in Melaka.

My kayah, the prankster. He tried to lit the canon to see if there's canonball in it.

Then, we continued walking and visited the new destructed fort they discovered. They're in the process on recontructing the fort but only on the space available. In my opinion, they should continue digging until they discoverr the whole fort instead of just build one on the space available. If they just build what they could on the available space, the fort they built is not what they used to have during the Portuguese era but something new.

It was written, 'Kincir Air sejak Kesultanan Melayu Melaka'. I doubt it though.

Pretty, isn't it? :)

At about 6 p.m., we walked to the Jonker street. It's a place like China Town in KL but to me, it's much better. They do not call out for customers or pull them or anything. Instead, they have variety of goods from food to clothes to accessories to shoes. There's even a stage where middle-age women sing.

Maybe you already knew but Jonker is Hang Jebat.

It's a fan. A 'mata sepet' fan.

Quite a number of audiences, yes?

Before we went back home, we went to this restaurant called A'Famosa to have our chicken rice ball dinner. It was something special and well, it's cute.

The one on the right isn't fishball but riceball. Cute leh?

It was a tiring trip considering the fact that we walked all day but it was the type of trip I like.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Time Eater

People always say that get a hobby to kill your free time but you know, in my opinion, what's the best thing to do to pass time? Get a job!

My mom got me a job in Star Cruise in Wisma Genting so I started working two weeks ago. What do I do? Basically, typing, typing and more typing.

The amount of data I typed in a week- finished in week 2.

I guess all of you know that Star Cruise is a cruising company, just like hotels but on water. And like every other hotels, they have satisfaction forms for passengers to fill to see if the passenger enjoyed their trip, or if there are any complaints in order to improve their performances.

My tag.

There is where my job comes in. I type in data from those form like name, addresses, contact numbers and email address of the passenger. The purpose? To send them a 'Thank You!' postcard. But when I just started my work, I typed data of passengers from the embarkation cards.

The 'Thank You' postcard, also serves as a decorative item on my desk.

For someone as dynamic as me, I found this job pretty dull. All I do all day is sit and type. It was an easy job, yes, but boring too. Not to mention, I only have 2.5 hours daily (on weekdays) for myself. This explain the lack of update recently.

I wake up every morning at 5.30 a.m., board the bus (Star Cruise provides bus for their workers) at about 7 a.m., work, work, work, off at 6 p.m., take the bus and reach home at about 8 p.m.. After which I would eat, online and then sleep at 10.30 p.m..

We know KL is well-known for its traffic.

It rained almost every evening and my journey home lengthens for another 15-20 mins.

For someone who goes online for more than 10 hours per day, do you think a drastic and sudden decrement of 80% online time is favourable? NO WAY.

I don't exactly hate my job. I get paid and I get to kill time. And I'm already typing customer survey form now and it's way much better than typing embarkation cards (at least I get to read the passenger's comments XD). According to one of my colleagues, I would be doing labels next week. I don't know if it would be more interesting but I seriously hope it will.

The eyesore embarkation cards- Finished in week 1.

I just dislike it when I do not have time for myself.

Sito is joining me next week, but in a different department. I told her about the job and what she told me was, 'Don't care la.. (that it's boring). Can get paid enough. Money!'. That was the typical me. I wonder if staying with me for more than a year influenced her. LOL.

My workplace.

Another 2 weeks and I'm off for good! ..But I'm still wondering if I should continue my job for money.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

First Vacation Since Sem Break

My first vacation since sem break, guess where?

No?
No?
No?

No? Okay, last hint..

Got it?

Answer : Penang!

That's right. I'm supposed to go Penang with my society but the trip was cancel. So, instead, I went with my family. It wasn't pre-planned but my first bro, Jeanette and her family coincidentally went on the same day too. And we stayed pretty closed to each other, to boot!

Day 1
So, we arrived at Penang at noon. We met up with Uncle Seow, my dad's friend who was kind enough to let us stay at his vacation home in Prima Place.

The living room. The apartment was very well decorated.

After we unpacked and rested for a while then about 5.30 p.m., we went to Queensbay Mall for about 2 hours. It's big, yes, but maybe because it's still new, there were still some shops unrented. In my opinion, Queensbay's interior wasn't as classy as any other shopping complexes in KL. I mean, the interior did not make the mall looked expensive. If I could compare it with any other shopping complexes, I would say Queensbay's standard is a little lower than Jusco Bukit Tinggi, only smaller.

Ate noon dim sum at a shop opposite Queensbay.

At night, after returning from the mall and showered, my brother, who was surprisingly pretty familiar with Penang, took us to New Lane for dinner. According to my brother, there were supposed to be a LOT of stalls lining up the street side but unfortunately, because it rained at that time, not many (in fact, were were just 2) opened. So, we ate at a restaurant there.

Jasmine soup tong yuen and 3 other types. Oh, yummy~

I was too indulged with my food, I forgot to take pics of my own food.

Because it was raining and Gurney Dirve was pretty congested, we headed home to our apartment early and rest for the day.

They call these, 'Apong'.

Day 2
The night before, Chee Choon (my Photography Society chairman who is a Penang-lang), spoke to me on the telephone and told me the direction to Jelutong Pasar. I got to know this place from Khai Chiah before I went to Penang. According to Chee Choon, Jelutong Pasar opens for the everyday, for the whole day. If want breakfast, go to Jelutong. You want lunch, go Jelutong. Dinner, yes you guessed it, go Jelutong. So, we went Jelutong, indeed. There were a lot of people walking around the pasar and eating there, either from the stalls, or shop, or both.

In a restaurant in Jelutong Pasar.

We were lucky we did not waited long for a table. I ordered 'chee cheong fun' and tea for breakfast. Perhaps because of the slight difference in the slang of Hok'kien, it was pretty confusing when spoke to the Penang-lang. I ordered hot tea. So, the waiter asked if I want milk in it (ai gu leng? When we usually say ai gu lin?) I thought he asked if I want it cold (ai uu leng?). Then I said no, then yes. Because of that, the waiter laughed and got our orders mixed up.

The tea was excellent! It was delicious! The chee cheong fun was just like how it's like in Klang, only without additional fish balls, fish cakes etc.. When I entered that shop, I saw a stall that sells 'roti bakar' and there was a long queue. Curious, my kayah ordered 2 pieces of toast. And I finally understood why would people queue for so long for the toast. The 'roti bakar' can easily make Uncle Lim, Kim Gary or Oldtown Kopitiam embarrassed. It was so tasty I wouldn't mind eating it everyday.

Teh ai gu leng XD

Chee cheong fun.

The best 'roti bakar' I've eaten so far.

Right after breakfast, my brother (who did not stay in the same apartment as my family) called and asked if we want to have breakfast together with Jeanette's family. Since Penang is all about food, okay! We waited for my brother and Jeanette's family at Fort Cornwallis. This fort was where the British empire watch over Penang from invasions. They have canons and stuff there, just like Melaka.

View of Penang from Fort Cornwallis.

Saw the canon?

The oldest hotel in Penang. Existed since the British Empire and withstand the Tsunami.


The 9 Kings celebration was very celebrated in Penang. There were vegetarian food stalls at almost every road side.

My kayah once watched 'Ho Chiak' and got to know one of Penang's speciality, 'ais kacang' with fruits and ice-cream. So, my brother took both families to New World, which was a food court to eat that 'ais kacang'. Well, the 'ais kacang' was unique but the taste was just normal.

There were ice-cream, mango, banana, and papaya in it.

After our second round breakfast, we went to 2 temples- The Burmese Buddhist Temple and the Siamese Temple. I didn't know that God would catch up with technology too. When my mom and sis went to 'kau chim' ('tilik nasib' in Cantonese), in the Siamese temple, there was this machine with a wheel where when you put your coin in, the LED will start to turn on and off and finally stop at a point and that's your fortune. The traditional way was to take a bundle of bamboo sticks and shake them so a piece of stick would drop out. Well, I don't know how true the fortune is but there were peopl queueing to put their coins in for furtune. So, I guess it's okay?

The Burmese Buddhist Temple.

The technology God was watching up with.

Yes, I was in Penang :)

Me, Jeanette and bro.

The sky started to get dark by the time we exit the temples to go to Kek Lok Si. Half way to Kek Lok Si, it started raining and the massive jam did not help. So, instead, we went shopping in Gurney Plaza while it cease raining. Gurney Plaza was smaller but much more happening than Queensbay. And there were more crowd as well.

After about an hour plus, we went to search for food again. We did not exactly search for food. Rather, it was my brother who took us to well-known hawker stalls. We went to this shop, where there were no other stalls save for one 'char kueh teow' stall outside. If I thought the crowd in the shop in Jelutong Pasar was huge, I must have mistaken because the number of people waiting for food in this char kueh teow shop was double. My dad was wondering how good can the char kueh teow be. Alright, maybe it's special since the aunty used charcoal to fry but that's all. So we waited and waited and waited and finally, after one miserable hour, 7 plates of the oh-so-famous-char-kueh-teow was served. It was yummy but certainly not worth the time waiting and certainly did not worth RM 6 per plate! One small plate where I can finish in less than 10 bites.

2 prawns, 1 hour and RM 6 char kueh teow.

Anyway, our next destination was Batu Ferringi. I guess this was the most exciting part of the vacation. I went for parachuting! Wooot~! It was awesome!! I'm so trying that again the next time I have the chance. Out of so many youngsters in both families (my bro, Jeanette, her 3 other brothers, my sister and I), only my brother and I took part. It would be fun if everyone took part, yes? The price was RM120 for 5 minutes but it was worth it, I tell you!

Batu Ferringi beach.

That was me and my bro :D

Landing...!

We survived! Yay~

We went straight for dinner after we left Batu Ferringi. My brother again took us to New Lane and this time, yes there were a lot of stalls lining up the road side. It's just so Penang and I loved it!

People sit from road sides to inside shopping mall.

Stalls by the road side.

After dinner, we headed home and rest for the day.

Day 3
We had breakfast at the canteen just a floor below our apartment. The food was okay. I had tea and egg sandwich.

There were 4 triangles but I've eaten one before I took a pic XD

Then, we went Kek Lok Si temple. There were a lot of renovation going on there. That's why they need lots of donation. I did! Look..

Poof of my donation.

I heard from my dad that the temple planned to build a free hospital as well. I don't know if that dream will come true for that temple but I guess it's a good thing.

In front of one of the buildings in Kek Lok Si.

Both the horses :D

At 12 p.m., we went back to pack and met up with my dad's friends. They were Captains who sailed, junior or senior to my dad. It was quite fun listening to their history and Uncle Seow was so so hillarious! All his jokes made me laugh XD

We rushed home before 4 p.m. to avoid jam in the Penang bridge. Well, it did not work since it started to jam at the Penang bridge by the time we reach there at 3.45 p.m.. We stopped at Tapah for dinner and reach home at 9.30 p.m..

Several facts I discovered while I was in Penang:
1. The fathers are all very young. I was quite a number of young men, aged probably 23-26 holding babies. So, they are either young or looked young.

2. More Penang-lang have tattoos. Beautiful ones on their arms.

3. I ordered only tea (for drinks) when I was in Penang.

4. Penang speak Hok'kien but much more polite than Klang Hok'kien.

All the while when I was in Penang, Chee Choon was very kind. He called and messaged frequently to ask if I'm okay with him bring me around Penang but sadly, everytime he invited, I declined. I really appreciate his kindness and I'm so 'pai seh' for rejecting all his kindness. Also, thanks a lot to Khai Chiah who told me where to go in Penang and Guat Shan who took care of my bonsai. Hahahaha!

Penang is pretty fun. If you have the chance, go!