yippee yippee yippee....the first day shot of gossip girl season three has started. more lovely pictures will be coming up from their sets.

dang!

i am rereading twilight. can't keep to the promise i made. was actually planning a 30-minute session with the book last night because i had a mask on the face and i needed something to read. but when i turned to look at the clock, 90 mins had passed without me realising it.
i am really a sucker for this story.
however, i am more selective, only reading the parts i wanna read. lagi teruk huh.
anyway, might go cold turkey soon. the other 3 books will be returned to their owners tomorrow and thursday, while i can still keep the first book for as long as i want. hahahaha.

the week in colours

i have called the notebook company twice this week and there is still no progress report of it. damn, these ppl are really slow. the notebook is still under warranty, so they better come up with something. if the problem cannot be fixed, will i get a brand new one? dream lah....

ok....a compilation of this week's photos again.
first to start....transformer 2. hehe...can't help it .

all our tickets. hate the seats. the reviews in the newspaper have not been very positive either. i have finally seen the trailer on tv, no wonder they say the movie is not good. the whole storyline is already revealed in the trailer! too much.

our heavily-transfatted meal in mcdonalds before the movie started.

and gosh, i can this week be without the twilight saga?? these were all the books from the saga in my room! none is mine though. i had orders to buy them. 2 boxsets, even a chinese version of breaking dawn and a few individual copies. how can i not be hynotised? looking at this picture already makes me swoon all over again. someone called those vampires in twilight saga emo-heartthrobs. haha....i agree. they make me so emo too.

next, i got 3 postcards from total strangers through postcrossing this week. you have to send postcards before you are entitled to get them.

from sussex, england.

from slovenia.

from germany.

and last but not least, from yesterday's meeting with ex-bosses from noodle bar restaurant in canterbury. they have sold the noodle bar and are now running a chinese restaurant in the city. seem to be doing quite well since they can travel so much. and both of them still look as young as ever although they are in their mid-40. tony has lost quite a lot of weight. he eats really little and he stayed off rice. staying off rice definitely works. aunt went with me so i dun have to drive back alone. we met them in midvalley. they are here for one of their staff's wedding to a malaysian gal. tomorrow they are off to redang first before coming back for the wedding.

we had dinner at ss2, tanjung bunga nyonya cuisine restaurant. met his other ex-staff...most of them were students who used to study in university of kent. the dishes were so so.

i guess that is the week....am i supposed to say anything about michael jackson here? well, my closest encounter was his concert in kl. had no plan to go at all when it was first promoted. it was a last minute decision to attend his second night of concert in malaysia. so off i went with a group of girls from the college. it was all right, the concert i mean. we were seated sooooo far from the stage....the other end of the stadium (merdeka) so he was just as big as a grasshopper.

i am not really a big fan...but love his music videos. they are really revolutionary.

keep my fingers crossed that i will see the notebook this week.

a new day

i have finished the twilight saga...and i was mentally drained and exhausted. so no wonder i got a sound sleep yesterday.
it was good to finally come to an end with the book. the ending was kinda not as exciting as i hoped it would be. so i guess the roller coaster ride with the book came to and end. dunno how else to describe the emotional ride with the 4 books. i think roller coaster ride suits it best.

will i read the book again? dun think so....i am never the type who read a book twice. but some of the scenes from the books will definitely stay in me.

back to reality now. tomorrow have to work. sigh....then have to go down to kl to meet my exboss from england who is here with his family before they head to redang island. it is going to be exhausting.

june is coming to and end....then july. yeah...birthday month. haha...the joy of getting older, you just dun mind counting now. hmmhh...what am i gonna do for myself to celebrate?

Love
There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city. And when these two people’s paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance, and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand. The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun. Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.

from paulo coelho's warrior of light.

pop!

i have walked out of the bubble i built around myself since reading the twilight saga! yeah! i am no longer walking in a daze and thinking about the relationship between edward and bella....though edward name does come up once in a while. you can't blame me....i still haven't finished reading breaking dawn yet.
but i am sure i am finishing today.
part of the 'wake up' was from the fact that i stopped reading the book for the whole day. so i guess that one day absence did the trick. and another reason is because i suddenly just guessed the plot while i was in the toilet while brushing my teeth. yeah, toilet is my source of inspiration.
my premonition was totally right. i dunno about the ending though...but i will find out.

i guess now i better run through why i was so engaged and affected by the story at the beginning. it must be the tenderness, fragility and passion shared by the characters.
well, no more of my crazy talk....sigh....back to some boring posts.
i have enjoyed that frenzy pace...it was fun while it lasted.

i watched transformer 2

ok wanna know my reaction to the movie transformer 2???
dun read if you dun want know any spoiler...not that i am planning to reveal anything about the plot anyway.

well, waaaaa....i dun fell the kind of high i felt when i watched the first movie. the wow factor is gone since it is more of a familiarisation tour this time around. i dunno why i feel this way. it could be where i was sitting- row D, yeah the fourth row from the screen. so all the fight scenes were like metal against metal all lumped together. i really hate that seating. if i were further at the back, i wonder if i would have felt differently.

however, those who went with me also did not come out impressed. everyone was just ok. they said the trailer was exciting but not the movie. so they have taken all the exciting scenes in the trailer then i guess.

it was kind of dragy too. 2 hours and 3o mins, flat. megan fox was sexy...well they really focus on that part at the beginning, but as the movie moves on, she was more like a deco in the male and robot dominated movie. the new female villain stole the limelight though.

hmmh....i might go and watch the movie again, i believe it is good. but i just need to get a better seat.

restless

this morning, it felt like i woke up with a hangover.
it was a restless sleep last night, in fact i think i did not catch any sleep at all as i remember the countless times i was turning and tossing around trying to find sleep.

i am sure the restlessness came from reading breaking dawn. the whole story is really making me tipsy and adrenalin is on full gear throughout the night. the fast pace is definitely not good for bed time, hence the restlessness later.

i am trying to grab a grip of the ground now since i have reached book 2 in the book (those who have read should know whose view it is from...better not spoil it for ppl who haven't read yet). so it is not as intensed. in fact, i think it is slowly wearing out of me....which is not a bad thing. the books have been like parasites, sucking the life out of me and turning everything into a daze.

i am now trying to kick my enthusiasm for transformer tonight but am having some trouble still. well, the kids are more excited and envious when they know what i am up to. maybe i will put their excitement in me. please let the movie be as good (better is preferred) as the first one. 2 hours and 30 mins should be a breeze then.

what i am doing is stupid. i know i am torturing myself. but it has been a while since i have this kind of emotions flood me. well, i guess i just have to face it by the second and learn to live with it at the moment.

the coming dawn

i feel like i am walking around in a bubble i have built myself....and i hate it.
it is like sleep wandering, you are not sure what you are doing and the things around you still keep revolving.

i have got my hand on breaking dawn and i can't wait to sink deeper into the story. but i have a nagging feeling that it is going to be a journey full with frustration over how the relationship(s) are building up in the story. urrrgghhh!!! i better not spoil it for ppl who haven't read the book.
i wonder if i am going to be soo emotional and cry over the ending??? is there a scene which will make me cry?
well, i have screamed in frustrations while reading eclipse. so let me just let go of whatever suppressed feeling i have in me and ignore my screaming if you hear it coming out of my room.

what adjectives are there to describe my state? emotionally disturbed? emotionally unstable? gullible? desperate? crazy? mad? over-reacting?

edward...

hmmhh...i am flitting in and out of eclipse the whole day. and i dun like it. read, stop, read, stop. so i guess it is putting my two feet closer to the ground that way.
i am more rational now but i think it is still not close to normal standard. edward is still etched everywhere i go and in everything i see.

the craze should end by this week when i am done with breaking dawn. by tomorrow i will be starting the last book...gosh....it has to end sometime. then there will be a break on tuesday for transformer...hmmhh...i wonder if i should bring the book along to ipoh. haha...
anyway, i will definitely have the books with me in ipoh- i have received orders to buy the books. yup, 2 and a half box sets. haha...i am sure i will try hard to fight the temptation to take the book out of the box to read it while waiting for the movie to start.
gosh, the movie is going to be 2 hours and 30 mins. i hope it is going to be good. i can't wait to see optimus prime and bumblebee again.

ok...i am wasting my precious seconds here by typing when my mind has already flitted back to the book. eerrhhh...i dun like werewolves.

the week at a glance, in colour

it has been a week since there is any photo posted....
hence, there is a need to add a stretch of colours now.

the sky has been bright everyday so there is no excuse not to go for a brisk walk. yup, no more jogging for me. i dun think my feet can take the strain. i am just staying with brisk walk.

so this is the palm oil estate i have to pass through first before reaching another stretch of road heading to jalan paku, the stretch of road for jogging. this estate is just 10 m away from my house.
the housing area is next. just go straight.

and this is just a part of the stretch ppl jog and brisk walk every morning and evening. it is not crowded or anything, so sometimes when u go alone, you wonder whether you will meet anyone and then only decide the distance you are going to walk.

and as in every holiday, there is bound to be after holiday souvenir from colleagues who went overseas for their holidays. this piece of batik cloth is from a group of colleagues who went to bali. i am not going to sew it into anything. at the moment, it is functioning as a blanket on cooler nights when i decide not to switch on the air-conditiner....trying to be environmentally friendly.

last but not least, what a near miss. the thick branch just fell without any warning in the afternoon when we were having a meeting. two cars were hit but not mine. it was just inches away. phew!

now i can't wait to get the notebook back. have phoned to enquire, if i do not get it by wednesday, i am to call again.

off for the eclipse now.

personality eclipse

i have finished reading new moon...as predicted. one day- and i did not put the book down since i got back from work in the afternoon, except when i needed to go for my brisk walk time, dinner and shower. unfortunately, it did not manage to evoke the same kind of intense emotion as in the first book. and i think i know why- edward is missing for the most part. it is the yearning for love, of finding love and experiencing the sharing and the bliss of sharing the new journey in twilight which drew me to it like a gigantic magnet.

does it reflect my own state now?? or the lack of it which makes me cringe everytime edward and bella share their intimacy. the more i read, the more i realise or can feel the void and hollowness in me. i am only human and a vulnerable one at this.

we had to attend a talk at the work place this morning regarding ways to manage stress and healthy eating. there was a warm-up slot where you had to close your eyes and relax and do gestures or small movements instructed. and oh boy, what a 'vision' i had when i close my eyes in my own world. ...............if you can't stand corny stuff....stop reading now.........................................no reward for guessing what came to me. sigh....edward. (muahahahaha) the sound on the microphone told us all to relax, and all i could see was edward. the sound told us to turn our head to the left and right, and i imagined edward breathing onto my neck and throat. the sound told me to put my palms up on my lap and curl my fingers, and i curled mine imagining edward's were in mine. the sound told us to smile, and i did albeit a sad one coming from the realisation that my life is void from the kind of love expressed in the book.

sad huh. this piece seems more suitable in a personal diary but i dun think i want to bottle up this feeling.

i wonder if i would feel the same way if i had read twilight in my teen. well, i had all my lovey dovey doses of mills and boons in secondary school mind you, but it was not the same. why am i feeling this way? i tried to remember the last romance novel i read but i guess they all ended up happily ever after and did not have as much pain as in this one.

well, this kind of melancholy will still be around me for few days no doubt. i have eclipse with me now and breaking dawn is coming on monday. i am just getting online to do some chores and then i will start the book. i won't be able to put it down once i start.

to a new moon

i have finished twilight yesterday...just before twilight hit. hmmhh...i really did not want it to end so soon...
but i am onto the second book today. in fact, i think i am not going to put the book down today and i might even finish it by tonight. oh, someone please help me.
i need to have the third dose as well. i can't stop with this adventure.

i am definitely not craving for the movie. those who have watched the movie after reading the book said it was not good. but those who only watched the movie without reading the book said it was good. so it just proves that reading is always better. i dun think they can transfer the intensity and details onto the big screen. no....definitely not.

all right...i have to get back to the book now....yes, i am at work but the book is with me. borrowed again. now, where do i find the third book today??

counting down to 23 june, 7.30p.m., tgv ipoh.
event: transformer: revenge of the fallen

hehehehe....yes, i have booked my tickets today. all other activities are cancelled for the day.

hopelessly infatuated

help! i am hopelessly infatuated with edward cullen! every english word i read whether online, or on paper brings me back to pages in the book.
i am still reading the book...only because i am slowly savouring every line in the page and not rush through it. the longer it is the better. i know how sometimes you can't wait to flip the pages of a good book. but with this interesting book, i dun want the story to end so soon. gosh, i wish it is as thick as a dictionary.
i also limit myself to reading the book in the confine of my own bedroom. sounds crazy, but i dun want to be disturbed. i want the story to stay in my room only and not leak into a bigger space.

photos of robert pattinson surfacing almost everyday in entertainment sites are not helping either. they are building up to the mtv movie awards now and twilight has been nominated for 12 awards. i am still deciding whether to watch the movie. i dun want the plot to be different than what is offered in the book. maybe i will finish the whole saga before i watch the movie. i know i can do it...look at me disciplining myself to savour each line...i have been slowly perusing the book for few days.

*gosh, do you feel like you are reading a teenager writing about her crush?

i am 'twilighted'

oh, i have finally succumbed to the lure of the vampires after resisting for soooo long.
i thought i was not going to join the hype and read the book that all teens are gushing over....yet, when the book is available in the library (i.e. i dun have to fork out any penny to get the book), it is too tempting. still dunno which book i am reading?? twilight by stephenie meyer.

i can't get my mind of the characters of bella and edward. the images of the two actors playing these characters have been embedded in the mind since production of the first movie and they help in giving life to the characters in my head. no wonder teenagers swooned over robert pattinson. the character is such an alluring one. i have just started a few chapters yesterday. a 30-minute bedtime reading turned into 60-minute without me realising it. now, i can't wait to get back to continue reading. i can't bring the book to my workplace, i am sure all the other books will be left untouched if i did.

the head is spinning lightly because of lack of sleep. it is always hard to get back on this bed in bidor. the first night is always the worst. yesterday was better but there were many intervals when i woke up.
i am still without a laptop. still in the workshop. will call them tomorrow to check the progress. it has been 2 weeks. so posts will be a bit colourless without pictures to share.
better go finish reading today's paper so i can attack twilight as soon as the last bell rings.

tata- two weeks

well, goodbye to the days of waking up when the sun is high.
no more wandering the days in shorts and sleeveless tees the whole day and only sit in front of the computer.
i will say goodbye to my pet kept in pet society in facebook. i am sure it is already on the brink of dying.
as for the restaurant in restaurant city, well, it is going to rot and all the workers are going to be malnurished and maltreated without any food nor rest.
the plan to be a successful barn owner will perish as all harvests in barn buddy go stolen and the plants die of insect infestation and drought.

the end of the holidays is today and i did not even finish one book which i listed for my holidays reading. if it is any comfort, at least i have progressed in some chapters in rupert of hentzau and have come to the part where the king rudolf has died. that part is not the middle of the book yet. the story is getting more interesting though. will the hero, rassendyll get to be with his love, flavia in this sequel? have to read on to discover it i guess.

oh, i joined postcrossing 2 weeks ago. it is a website where you get to leave your details and if you send postcards to others around the world, you will get some as well. i sent out 5 postcards last week and one has reached the netherlands. i am waiting to get my first postcard. i hope it will be soon. i guess i am desperate for something in the mail for me. since the era of e-mail started, postman has only been sending me bills and catalogues. i have quite a collection of postcards, so this time with postcrossing, i am going to add more to it.
if you are curious, go to http://www.postcrossing.com/

i used to hear that you get paid for attending political talks but i guess time is changing now. ppl are actually willing to fork out money to pay to hear these politicians talk but depending on who is giving the talk.
there is one now and the price of the ticket is rm50. how do i know? dad went.

blueberry pies

just finished watching my blueberry nights staring jude law and norah jones.
it is a 2007 movie by wong kar wai.
the last line sounds like this: it wasn't so hard to cross that street after all, it all depends on who is waiting for you on the other side.
yeah...i would have crossed the road myself as the person waiting on the other side was jude law.
hmmh....it would not be so hard to fall in love, it all depends on who loves you right? agree?

and how can ppl not love blueberry pies?? blueberry is one of my favourite berries.

finally....

i finally know that it is not flea that attacked beanie...u know that fat grey bug-like creature that i killed few days ago?
a fellow blogger dropped by and gave me this link:
http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.com/2009/02/ticked-off.html
and i finally knew that it is actually a tick. yeah, tick tick tick.
been searching his body again for flea and tick, and thank god, no more. i tried to clean his left ear using buds but he refused. well, if those tick really do burst and kill themselves after they are full, let's hope that they do die and not leave eggs inside. aiyoh...i dare not imagine the consequences if there are eggs.

on another note...i finally found out the price of a trinity ring from cartier. i went into the boutique right and took the opp to try one lah. the price is around rm3000+/- depending the thickness of the band. waakakaka.....so i guess that one time trying might be the only time i can feel the trinity on my finger lah.

rm2.50 only

i did my part in helping to save the environment while i was in kl. there were 3 things on the agenda for the trip actually. first- to pick up aunt's watch, second- to recycle all the old phones and chargers at home, third- get free dinner. and i managed to do all three.
the most important is, i did not spend any money shopping. yeah! frankly, there is nothing i need. so i better remind myself that i have all the necessities already and the extras will be extras....for the time being lah.
money for my car petrol and the toll dun include lah. i only paid rm2.50 for parking at klcc, after getting 2 hours free (aunt bought something in isetan, so got free 2 hours parking). at pavilion, we had dinner there and also got another 2 hours free and ended up paying only rm1....aunt paid.

so if you are interested to recycle your old phones and not dump them and cause hazards to the environment, you can bring them to nokia kiosk at klcc. there are 2 other places where you can go to. just search online lah. i recycled 4 mobile phones, 1 battery pack, and 4 chargers. 2 of the phones were mine- my first motorola then the samsung.

the stupid thing with the machine is, it has to be restarted everytime one transaction finished. something was wrong with the running of one of the programmes in the computer. and everytime i need to put in another item into the machine, i had to type my name, contact no and ic no. so i actually keyed in all the above details 9 times! at first the assistants managing the nokia booth were not friendly at all. i was standing there looking at the kiosk while 3 of the assistants were busy smsing. i had to call one of the nearest ones to me to guide me in using the machine. those assistants are really dungu and a waste of money i tell you. if i din call for help, i am sure i would be standing there till the sun set. one guy who wanted to do something at the kiosk was facing trouble and no one bothered to help...in the end, he just left.

and there are still sales in kl malls but business is not that brisk. isetan was empty. coach has clearance sale but kinda crappy one. they call it clearance sale but the things are only at 30% discount. chech. that is clearance? clearance to me will be more than 60%. the above are mulberry bags at pavilion...they are going at 60% discount. these are the only 2 left. both are nice....if only i have the extra money and the use for them. but of course the price is still four figures....less than rm1500.

and i finally get a chance to use my lv speedy 25. aunt is also using hers that day. u can still see those creases from folding the bag on mine. although the bag looks small in size, i was surprised that it can actually hold quite a lot. a bottle of water inside is definitely not a problem and there is still a lot of space remaining. so i better make good use of the bag to make sure it is worth the price i paid for. reminder to self: go out more often.

our dinner was at kampachi and the banker is non-other than cousin jia en. thank you. it is a nice place and it seems quite popular with the crowd. the ambiance was good and the service excellent. but food wise....so-so. i am not really a fan of soba so i din quite enjoy mine. but luckily i had my soft shell crab temaki, grill salmon and tempura prawn...they were yummy. we had green tea ice-cream for dessert, that was also so-so....can't really smell the green tea fragrant. the prices of course are about two and a half times prices at those sushi outlets like sushi king.
but the seafood was good.

reached home at around 10.30p.m. so that was an afternoon (3.30p.m. onwards)and evening at klcc and pavilion.

i bought them...but i won't be getting them yet

dear blog,
i have sinned again today. remember i said that i was not going to shop for a while? well, i never thought that 'a while' was really so short really.
the temptation to spend money came all the way from melbourne australia.
we got a call the other day saying that swarovski crystal store was having sale in aussie and their things were going at 30-50% discount. how could one not skip a beat in the heart hearing that?
then i got online and managed to have a conversation with those in australia and see some of the pendants on sale. bracelets and ear-rings, i am not that keen. i love their rings, but after discount, they are still too expensive for my budget.
today, we did the transaction live over phone. they were there at the store and i could here the store bustling with the crowd because it was a public holiday. above are the two pendants i have got. i won't be seeing them till october i think. but the damage has been made. the mini stonehenge pendant costs A$50 and eros pendant costs A$60. the prices here are after discount.
the prices are ok right??

well, it is too late to do anything, and no....i am not going to sell them nor am i regretting. hahahah...

but i am keeping my fingers crossed that i won't be spending money tomorrow in klcc and pavilion. have to go to get aunt's watch and then meet cousin for dinner. yippee. dun spend money. dun spend money. dun spend money.

flea- caught on camera

the search for flea on beanie is neverending. as long as he is scratching, then you know there are fleas on his body. this one above...eewwww.....i still feel itchy all over looking at it......was what i caught yesterday. this is the mother of all fleas i think. as big as a raisin. the other normal fleas are as small as ants. this one could be the female (??). and i caught 2 of them. it feels plasticky, not soft. on the right, is the result after i had pressed it in the newspaper. the amount of blood...ooh...gross. i am thinking twice about touching beanie now. not that i dun want to catch fleas on his body, but the gruesome find makes me twitch all over. who wanna help??

tortoise's new master

remember i told you guys that one tortoise died and there is another left in the house? well, there is none now. above is the tortoise's new master. a friend of mom's. they have 6 tortoises at home and this is their seventh. the tortoises in the house crawl freely so i guess ours will find all the freedom there after being kept in a plastic basin for so long.

and guess who misses the tortoise? beanie. he went to the basin and searched high and low for it.

day 3, gh

last day, genting highlands. so close to home yet so far. had to spend 9 hours there. managed to get staff price for the theme park ticket....so what the heck...rm22 to spend some time on the rides.
it has been a while since i last been there...can't even remember the last time i went. i know i haven't been on the new rides so it was the opportunity.
went on most of the rides except cyclone and corkscrew. corkscrew was not operating on that day. we had no time for cyclone.
we were stuck in the queue for a long time for the rides. the most exciting would have been corkscrew. i remember being on it for 6 trips without getting down when i went with pikkien, yunli and siawfong last time. there was just no one in the park. hmmh...come to think of it, i think that was the last time i went to the park.
ok, so no corkscrew, then the most exciting on that day was spaceshot. thank god i had been on similar rides in gold coast, so this one was all right. used the same trick. haha....look up! hence, no fear.
the spinner (swing-like ride) was really a woozy one. those who could not take it could throw up after getting down from the ride...just like one of our group members. haha....and he wanted to challenge me on all the rides. those who get queasy easily should not go on this one.

the weather that day was cold...brr...really....we were hugging our jackets. strong winds and fog. and i thought we were in the midst of global warming. hmmh.....well, glad we experienced the cold...that is what genting highlands is known for right.

well, the end of my 3-day trip. for rm130, i managed to do quite a lot right??

day 2, kl

second day of the trip started early from melaka. we boarded the bus at 7a.m. yawn and the destination was beryl's chocolate factory in seri kembangan. another yawn!
i read an article in the star published 2 years ago about them letting ppl to visit the factory and how the writer felt like the character charlie and the chocolate factory. so my expectation was high.
well, as you know, i was disappointed. i din feel anything like charlie. i dun even feel like roald dahl. basically they show u video on the manufacturing process of chocolate and then they focused more on the different mouldings and packagings. sigh. that was over in about 10 mins. then the brought you to see the different machines used (all behind glass) and voila, the end of the tour.
oh not yet, how can we forget the store where you will get 5% discount for all your purchases.
all in all, this stop took us only 30 mins.

then we headed to sunway pyramid which should only be a stone's throw away right? unfortunately the driver went out all the way to federal highway and then back to sunway. still, only 30 mins. what if he took kesas? 10 mins???

had so many hours to spend in sunway. we only had to board the bus at 4p.m.

so i was looking for a place for either a massage or a facial to use up the time. and i found it in 'reborn'. it is a massage parlour on lg1. i took their foot massage and full body massage package. only rm110. one hour for each. my feet felt so relieved after that massage but i can't say the same about my body. gosh, when she pressed those strained points, they were really painful. she said my right shoulder was especially stiff. i had expected that. i could feel all the muscles there screaming with tears coming out when she pressed the right side. the left was all right. gosh, such a big difference.

the massage ended at 1p.m. time for lunch.

and i went to canton-i as recommended by pikkien. time for something plain. the food here is delicious but a bit expensive. i ordered wanton noodles (rm14) and we also ordered a plate of honey roasted pork aka charsiew and roast chicken (rm24.90!!). the rest ordered dumpling noodles, fried noodles with shredded chicken and mushroom and 5 combination rice.
the charsiew was heavenly though. the roast chicken was nothing special. that meal came to around rm110. expensive hor??? but luckily it is good.

i still had 2 hours to kill. wanted to do a facial at institut clarins but the therapist was out. well, save money. so decided to get newspaper and found a place to read it while waiting for time to come.

on the way to bukit tinggi, had a fight with the bus driver in the bus. i thought the driver knew where we were going. he never asked the exact location. i knew we were going to selesa resorts but he thought we were going to berjaya resorts. so when the bus passed the turning to selesa, i knew something was not right. so i asked someone to go and asked (i was never in charge of the trip ok). the driver said something about that way was a less steep way so i thought he had another way of going. mana tau, he brought us all the way to berjaya...the entrance. then he started shouting how come we never told him this and that. gosh, i had to pacify him although i wanted to scream at him at the same time. the sky was not dark yet so no problem. i comforted him that the way was going downhill now, so his bus would not be suffering. he told me how the company's bus once 'died' because of bukit tinggi. yadda yadda yadda.

well, luckily we arrived safe and sound and the bus driver calmed down and we could talk without any anger. phew! in fact, he treated me better after that. hahaha.

there was nothing to do for the night but luckily we had the pool. spent an hour there....so relaxing.

foodie time in melaka

waa..time to get hungry for lunch now....seeing all these photos make me hungry again.

i think i have attacked the main must-eat outlets in melaka in that one day.

first to come: chung wah chicken rice ball. this is my second time here so it is quite easy to find this place. we were there before 12noon so we got our tables as soon as we were there. yippee!!!
my table ordered 20 rice balls and 2 plates of chicken. sad to say, the chicken rice ball is not as fragrant and delicious as last time. the ooomph is missing. it is actually quite plain. however, the smooth chicken made up for the disappointment. in fact, all chopsticks were headed towards the chicken instead of the rice balls. last time, it was to the riceballs first. their chicken is different because there is the strong smell of ginger and something else i can't name. so lunch was settled.

and since we were just outside jonker walk, we decided to head in. this is where we discovered jonker dessert 88.....the famous cendol store.

the cendol store takes half of the shop lot while the other half is shared by a noodle store. it is rm1.70 for a bowl of baba cendol which is what i ordered. the gula melaka was to die for. it was so thick and condensed. but it was a bit too sweet when it gets to the last few scoops. the fish balls in the noodles store was too tempting, so we ordered a bowl. it was only rm3 and we did not regret ordering. the balls were springy and fresh. waaa....and cheap. we took our bowls into the shop lot and found a place inside the long shop lot. hah...finally i get to enjoy a meal inside a proper baba-nyonya heritage lot.

night time...you must not miss the satay celup!!! there are other satay celup shops but this is the original and the best! i have tried another before in my last trip to melaka.
the walk there was worth it. we had to pass through small lanes, turnings and stopped twice to asked for directions. one chinese apek was so good to wait for us at the small junction that we would have missed if not for his kind action. even malay know of this place.

my fear of the food not reaching the expectation was erased when we saw ppl queueing outside the shop when we reached at 7 plus. the shop opens at 5.30p.m.

there are only about 8 or 9 tables so you have to wait for sure. i was there on a tuesday. imagine if you go on saturday or friday. i cannot imagine how long the queue will be.

the special ingredients they add into pot of sauce for the dipping. we were seated right next to it, at the inner corner of the shop. who cares. the big fridge where all the ingredients for dipping are next to us. haha!

the workers in the shop were on the move at all times. they have to watch the fire of the stove, add sauce to the pot, add the special ingredients to the pot, etc. the boss too was busy encouraging ppl to eat more. if you could beat the record, you won't have to pay for your meal. for ladies. you have to eat more than 80 sticks! men, go for 180 sticks! how??? each stick is only rm0.70. cheap leh! i only had about 15 sticks and some fish and meat balls from the plates.

do not bother ordering the plates of cucumber and bread pieces. the bread pieces were so soggy and soft when u dip them into the sauce. yuck! disgusting. go for all the fresh ingredients where you have to cook them in the sauce. they are the best.

and the best was yet to come.....while you were eating....wait for the boss of the restaurant to suddenly bring you sticks of big fresh prawns with shell. he also brought some oysters and one other thing. and the price? still rm0.70 for each stick. this is the time you should attack your food. he only brought certain number of pieces to the table. the prawns could not be even bought in the market he said. they were fresh from the sea. yummy. and i got a very very big prawn from him. hahaha....see the picture. the one on top is the normal sized one, he gave me the big big one and gosh, eating that was like eating a piece of tender succulent chicken. someone even came over to me and asked where i got the prawn from. haha...i told him to eat and wait for the boss to bring it to him.

so after all fingers got sticky and sweet from the sauce, the whole body soaked to the skin again with sweat, we left at around 8.30p.m. everyone was very satisfied and the walk back to mahkota parade was very welcomed.

the highlight of my trip to melaka was definitely the food. i am glad i did my homework before i went.

one round from menara taming sari.

melaka day trip

i am back! and i have totally enjoyed the trip although the excitement of the trip seemed to go downhill as the days passed. the first day was the best because there was just so much to see and do in melaka. and oh, walked we did, till our legs were sore, clothes soaked with buckets of sweat and stomach filled with scrumptious food.

my journey started at 1a.m. when i boarded the bus in tm. managed to get a little sleep in the bus although it was uncomfortable. we reached melaka before 5a.m. but we did not get out of the highway. official time reaching the city centre was 7.30a.m. dun ask me why we had to set out that early to melaka. i was only one of the paid customers on board. but oh-boy, was i glad i did my homework before leaving and i had my printed map along. i played guide to a group of 22 who decided to follow me (the other group consisted of 2 adults and 14 teens).

weather was perfect albeit a bit too hot. the sun was bright and there were only some clouds in the sky. luckily i brought my umbrella along. haha....sediakan payung sebelum hujan.

this was my transport to melaka...nooo...not the BIG one. the grey on at the bottom. haha...the bus was parked here the whole day and we actually passed the bus twice in our rounds of the city. i did not realise melaka city is this small. well, it makes it perfect for walking tours. the tourism dept should have a walking tour map of the city.

we did not go to the maritime museum because it was not open when we were there. it was only opened at 9a.m. so we decided to go photo taking before the places got crowded.

Maritime Museum is constructed after 'Flora De La Mar', the Portuguese ship that sank off the Coast of Malacca on its way to Portugal. With its hull laden with invaluable treasures seized from Malacca, the ship was doomed from existence had it not for the efforts to Malacca's heritage. At the museum, visitor can get a closer look at Malacca from the famed Malay Sultanate of the 14th century to the Portuguese era, the Dutch era and the British era. There are exhibits of foreign ships that had once called at the port of Malacca during the height of its maritime hegemony.
we walked towards the stadhuys and on the way we passed this fort. i think this was discovered not long ago when they were doing digging work for the quayside project. it was located strategically next to melaka river.

they have also built this water mill (??) next to the fort. it replicate those used in ancient time.

aah...the beautiful clock tower and whatsitsname fountain on a beautiful sunny morning.

The Stadthuys (1650) was the official residence of the Dutch Governor. It now houses the Historic Museum and Ethnography Museum which has many traditional bridal costumes and relics on display. Nearby, one will also find the Christ Church built in 1753, another fine example of the Dutch architecture

i remember reading somewhere the name of the fountain, but i really can't remember which page. it is gorgeous.

The Christ Church was built in 1753 by the Dutch to commemorate a century of their rule. It still stands today in Malacca city, a landmark of fine Dutch architecture.

from stadhuys we made our way up st paul's hill. it was so quiet and pristine as we were the only group there. aaah...to be in the midst of history and the past.

On top of St. Paul's Hill is the St. Paul's Church, once the prayer house of the Portuguese Catholics, then turned into burial ground for their noble dead by the Dutch. The tombstones have Latin and Portuguese inscriptions on them. St. Francis Xavier was buried here in 1553 before his body was moved to Goa in India.

then it was downhill to this recognisable landmark of the city: a'famosa. love how the colour of the brick is reflected in the sun.

After the Portuguese captured Melaka, they built a fortress to defend themselves. The fortress, called A'Famosa suffered severe destruction during the Dutch invasion. What's left today is just the entrance walls, still well preserved till today

and the day was still early. it was not even 9a.m.!!! we decided to sit around this area while waiting for the next attraction to open at 9. everyone was glad for the recess and time to wipe away all the sweats while quenching our thirst.

admission price is rm2 for adult. i managed to get discount for our group and we only paid rm1 each...psss....i got free entrance. hehehe...

A replica of the Melaka Sultanate palace was reconstructed at the foot of St. Paul's Hill. The design is based on the description of the palace from the sixteenth-century 'Malay Annals,' or 'Sejarah Melayu.' It is the only building of its kind in Malaysia, and it provides a rare glimpse of the ancient Malay kingdom that once flourished here. The palace houses the Malacca Cultural Museum, which includes many artifacts of that kingdom.

the palace is more impressive on the outside actually. inside, it was not as impressive and i thought the curator (??) did quite a shoddy job. they had mannequins in traditional customes, but the fabric used was not of real top-notch quality one. you can see frayed seams and colours fading on them. what a shame.

some of the exhibits inside. it was cool in the building- air-cond and fans. we were reluctant to go out but we finished exploring in 40 mins. we managed to linger till 10a.m.

next stop: menara taming sari.

yes, you have to pay to enter the revolving platform. the published rate is rm20 for adult. i think they only charge rm10 for malaysian and you have to show your id. me? i had discounts again. haha...the group paid rm7.20 each while my ticket was rm8. phew!

eye on malaysia from the top of the tower. with the tower providing all the bird's eye view, who need the wheel?

we enjoyed the ride and it was not bad for the price we paid. for rm20, no way.

Officially opened for business on the 18th of April 2008, Menara Taming Sari is the first and only gyro tower in Malaysia so far. Measuring 110 metres in height, its revolving structure offers a 360-degree panoramic view of Malacca town and beyond.
Located in the popular district of Bandar Hilir on Jalan Merdeka, only 3 minutes’ walk from Mahkota Parade Shopping Complex and Dataran Pahlawan Megamall, the tower is named after the Taming Sari keris, a mythical weapon said to possess mystical powers belonging to the legendary Malay warrior, Hang Tuah. Even the structure’s design follows the shape of the keris, with the peak of the tower resembling the its hilt.
Built using advanced Swiss technology, the tower’s structure is reportedly tough enough to withstand earthquakes measuring up to 10 on the Richter scale. Able to accommodate 80 people per viewing session, which lasts about 7 minutes, the glass cabin hypnotically revolves as it rises from the ground to the top of the tower.

then it was food time. everyone was very hungry due to the dawn-breakfast. where did i bring them? gosh, i had a food list in hand and i managed to go to 3 out of the 5 i had listed. consider that good because we only started food hunting for lunch.

okok...all the food will come in the next post. they deserve their own post....yummy....wait ya....

since we were around the old part of the city, we walked walked walked around jonker and jln tun tan cheng lock admiring all the intricate baba-nyonya heritage style buildings.

the diversity makes it so unique. each lot is different from the one before but unfortunately not all are well-preserved. we wondered if some were even occupied. what a pity.

we went into a malaccan house selling all sorts of antiques. i was hoping to visit baba-nyonya heritage museum but waaa.....it was closed!!! the external building is beautiful though. sigh!

by this time, our clothes were really soaked. luckily those with me followed my every step. my legs were in as much pain as theirs. luckily i had my running shoes on.

we decided then for another rest. it was time for a cruise of the melaka river. price- rm10 per person. no discount. hmmhh!!!!

the cruise is 45 mins long...yeah....45 mins of getting the butt on a seat. some even slept in the boat. who wouldn't? with the sound of the engine and the lull of the breeze. i wanted to as well, but i had to stay awake for the rest of the group.

i was slightly disappointed by the ride. there was actually nothing much to see. well no rubbish either but the stink is still there. i did not know the name of the places we passed by because there was no board or whatever information. no audio or video information on the boat too. we knew we saw a lot of water geckos (??) along the river. more need to be done to make this cruise a must-do in melaka.

then we headed to one of the new malls in front of the independence memorial to buy some food and drinks before the time to get back on the bus came.

at 4, time to go...phew! what a long day. we checked in at garden city service apartments, about 3 mins by bus. we booked 2 3-room apartment and it was quite comfortable.

we came out again at 6.30 after some of them freshened up. i did not even bother taking a bath! i had no change of fresh clothes. i only bought enough for 3 days. haha...just washed my face. after all, we are going to get sticky and wet again looking for my dinner haunt. why bother.

for dinner, my group has become smaller. the rest decided to be at mahkota parade while i walked yet again to look for food. there were only 11 including yours truly for dinner. those who followed me in the morning could not walk anymore. sigh...so lousy. but those who followed, grumbled while we asked for directions and kept complaining when we were going to reach, etc. but when we reached, all was forgotten and we had the best meal of the day. they bragged to those who did not go about what they had missed. no pain, no gain i guess.

yawn, i will continue tomorrow.

*the descriptions in brown are from melaka.net and www.malacca.ws

3 days cuti-cuti malaysia

i am going to be in melaka tomorrow, then kl and finally genting highlands on thursday.
the first thing i printed from the printer is a map of central melaka so i won't lose my directions. haha...it is not complicated at all....but i need the names of the streets to cari-cari makan as well.
it is going to be a hot hot day no doubt, but i am going to go armed with an umbrella and a bottle of water. maybe some ice-kacang and cendol can cool me down.
so see you when i get back.

................oh shit!! i have just checked the weather forecast of melaka....thunderstorm!!! i checked 2 pages...and both have the same prediction. WAAAAA!!!! how many fingers do i have to cross to change the weather prediction?