if you feel like being generous, if your heart aches when you read about the famine in somalia, if you think that doing charity is going to make your day, if you have some spare cash to spare,

go to: http://www.wfp.org/

*wfp stands for WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

......and don't forget to get that credit card ready.

museums in london

i have never been a fan of museums. maybe because we do not get really interesting exhibitions here in the local museum. but as i get older and as i travel a bit more, museums have become one of the to-visit-places in my itinerary. one of the good things about museums is that there is no entrance fee charged except for special exhibitions. it is a place where you can spend a few hours marveling at the wonders and beauties that different civilizations and parts of the world have.

hence, when i was in london, i went to 5 museums. the close proximity of three museums in south kensington makes it a breeze. they are: natural history museum, science museum and victoria and albert museum. initially, i did not plan to visit V & A, but it started to rain as i was passing its entrance, and what a blessing the rain was. all things gorgeous and beautiful are here. it's no wonder that people in fashion always get inspirations from the beautiful exhibits here.

natural history museum
i started queuing at the entrance 5 mins before opening time. it is always good to go early to british museums because, every museum that i went, there were always school trips with eager and excited kids looking forward to exploring the things inside. it is such a joy to watch their inquisitive looks searching for answers to complete the worksheets given. that is what a real field trip is.
statue of charles darwin in the main hall.

love the architecture of the building. it allows so much natural light to get into the main hall and of course, the skeleton of a dinosaur there is one of the most photographed dinosaurs in the museum.




science museum
just opposite the natural history museum, this is one of my least favourites. maybe i am just not interested in engines and mechanical parts. this is one of the most tiring museums to explore as well because there are just so many stairs and storeys.



victoria and albert museum
where one goes to see all things beautiful......and to shelter from unexpected rain. ;) this is just across the road from the science museum.




a

british museum
the exhibits here are quite interesting as well.



you get to see well-preserved mummies!!!!


an art installation by a chinese artist.


tate modern
located along thames river. it is situated across the river from st paul's cathedral. the millennium bridge is the bridge to cross to get to this museum. after exploring paris' modern art museum, this seems to limited in term of art pieces on display. or maybe i did not finish exploring it??

on the bottom left is the millennium bridge. release ai wei wei refers to the chinese artist who is held up by the chinese government because of political reasons. i guess those in the art fraternities are all up for the artist.

the kind of art pieces i like.

so these are the 5 museums i went to in london. so those who are going to a visit, you can decide which you want to go to. make sure you check the opening hours and the nearest tube station before you go. the rest will be taken care by the exhibits in the halls. happy exploring!

some pampering amidst a busy week

gosh, i had had such a busy week at work that every night, i ended up knackered on the bed, yet i still refused to sleep because i wanted to finish a book called 'sea of poppies' by amitav ghosh, an indian writer. it turned out the book is the first book of a trilogy, and now i can't wait to get my hand on the second book! my brother too!!! checked that it is already out just last week, so i wonder if the bookstores in malaysia already have it. please please let them have it. i wanna continue from where the story stopped while everything is still fresh. but i guess i still have to wait 2 years for the third book after i finish this one because that is how long the gap between the first and second book is. ;(

i will check it at kinokuniya come next sunday ;) isetan is having their sale again!! i should not be shopping, so let's keep the fingers crossed that i won't be shopping on that day and only go there as a driver.

anyway, i dun think there is much for me to check in klcc since i went there just yesterday ;) hahaha....admist all the busy schedule i still can find time to go there on friday after work. amazing huh? the kids cancel the night's class, hence i went down to mulberry to pick up my already stitched back alexa handle which i paid rm65. apparently they only have warranty for one year and it is only for full price product. warranty does not equal to free i guess. they charged me what the bag repair shop charged. so i guess what they did for me was just sending it for repair F.O.C. will be more careful when using the bag now. definitely no heavy stuff.

it was difficult being in the mall just to window shop. it is really not my thing. i was growing restless. so i couldn't help cam-whoring at esprit just to have a shot of myself wearing my new platform wedges which i got from clarks in june. hehehe....the legs look so long....or was it the mirror? i have noticed that mirror in uniqlo makes you look slimmer. haha...so if you wanna feel good about your body, go and check yourself in uniqlo.

a close-up of my wedge. nice huh?? they are stable enough and i did not lose my balance. i walked almost 5 hours in them so of course the sole of my feet felt sore. the cushioning was not that thick for my thin sole.

now to something from overseas. souvenirs from belgium and england, and netherlands and france. wooweee!!!
butter fingers from england and leonidas pralines from belgium. they are the most mouth-watering pralines i have ever tasted! i still salivate at the thought of the chocolate melting in my mouth.
i also got 4 postcards waiting for me! thanks chloe. they are wonderful!!!

well, the high wedges did not make me fall, but my flat sneakers did at proton city park this evening. it drizzled as i was walking briskly and when i reached an area where it was paved by very small stones, it occured in my head that that area was certainly going to be slippery and a fall would not be surprising. and true enough, few seconds later, i slipped and fell on my bum first before i my elbow and palm hit the ground but not my head. it was not a hard slip as there was no sore on my buttock which came into contact with the ground. phew! i guess it is the shoes i was wearing, not running shoes. just plain flat sneakers.

well, hopefully next week will not be as busy as this week. i have been busy taking photos of all the uniform units, societies, teams and clubs. now i only need to sort them out and label them and send them for printing before accepting orders to have them redeveloped. gosh, i can't breath reading about what i have to do!!
and i have to work on this coming saturday!!! aaaah! i guess i won't be having a real break on sunday either when i am spending it at klcc.
psst....burberry has come out with a new lipstick concept called lipmist and i have seen how much creamier it is than normal lipstick. haha....i am planning to get one too. reward to myself lah!!!! hahahaha!

happy and fast

read an article in the newspaper that happy people make faster decision when they are shopping.

since i can make fast decision when i am shopping, then i guess i am a happy person. heck, people who see me do work will see that i can do my work fast, so i guess i am in a happy state almost all the time.
that is a good thing really.

so if you are a slow decision-maker, you might know one of the reasons now.
but sometimes, because i am used to doing things fast myself, i do tend to lose my temper a bit when people can't seem to make up their mind about something and making others wait.
one example is this. do you really need 30 mins to take a few snapshots of you and your birthday cake before cutting the cake? checking every photo taken and not satisfied with most of them without realising that it might be the low resolution of the camera. i beh tahan.
well, maybe it is just me who is impatient as i was getting hungry then.

anyway, be happy and you can do your things fast.


hence, you won't be surprised to see me coming back with shopping bags everytime i go shopping hor?? more blue in the wardrobe. can someone tell me why i am so fixated with the shade of blue?? since last month, most of the pieces of clothing i bought have been in the shade of blue. gosh, i really do want this phase to end soon. it sounds so depressing already.

well, if you wonder whether i burn a big hole in the pocket with these three pieces of clothing, fret not. they are all sold at 50% discount, and because we purchase 5 pieces, we got another 25% discount and since i am a member, we got another 10% discount. i only buy clothes when they are on sale and that is a fact.

fun with betty 7/6/2011

musical in london! must go and see at least one when you are there!!!
oh, i wished to see mamma mia or we will rock you when i was there! nobody wanted to go with me, so i ended up not going. hmhh.....

this is lyceum theatre where they are showing lion king. i think this is one of the biggest theatres in the area and tickets are usually sold out. never mind, i have seen it 10 years ago with sim. hahaha...love it!

anyway, i was still lucky enough to see one musical free! a friend of a friend had 10 tickets to betty blue eyes . it is a quissential british musical set in post world war period when food was scarce and the folks in town had to resort to rearing a pig illegally in secret in preparation for a big banquet. betty blue eyes refers to the pig actually and not a woman. hahaha
it was a funny play but quite a small production, most of the theatre-goers were in the middle-ages too. well, those that were sitting around us were anyway.


after the musical ended, we headed back to malaysia kopi tiam at leicester square for makan!!! the lady boss was the one who got us the musical tickets. the food here is quite authentic and most of the patrons here are asians as well. so our stomachs were warm and filled before we went back to our apartment. how not to put on weight in london???

fine-dining in ipoh and harry potter finale

it was birthday celebration part 2 according to those buying me dinner yesterday. hehehe.....and what a good yummy dinner it was. and oh, it was followed with harry potter finale movie after that. i had a very good night indeed.

this is the place where we had dinner. it was the old parkson complex in ipoh. i cannot tell you the exact location and address because i was directed there by my co-drivers hahaha.

The interior is kinda cosy and comfortable. i think this is quite unique for ipoh standard. some thoughts have definitely been put in designing the place.

there are 3 different sections in the restaurant-outside al-fresco, dining and bistro/bar. they seem to have sufficient bottles of wine for those who like a glass or two after dinner.

we were the first there in the evening, arrived before 6p.m. the food was kinda slow to arrive at the table although we were the only diners there.
the quality of food served is not bad at all. we ordered wild mushroom soup, chemoura marinated lamb cutlets, marinated steak, josephine chicken, roasted salmon with cauliflower (pathetic amount of cauliflower despite the name of the dish associated with the vege) and meat spaghettini. like the side vege given which includes pineapple slices. really help in easing digestion.
i enjoyed the food and the ambience there and it won't be the last time i am there. but i am keen to check other so called fine-dining places in ipoh. it is much easier going to these places in ipoh than in kl.

so if anyone has any suggestions, do drop them here.

as for harry potter finale, i love it. although it was quite difficult at times to recall what they were talking about as i had forgotten what i read in the book, it was still a gripping plot. i guess the movie stayed quite true to the book and fans will definitely not be disappointed. i won't mind sittting once more for all the movies in a movie marathon.
haha..i counted before i slept yesterday that it would take more than 16 hours to sit through all the 8 movies. if only someone would organise it and prepare all the food and comfy sofas.

oh what a night

i feel very very very full now!!! but it is not a complaint ah. i am so so so satisfied!!! i better go jog tomorrow regardless of the haze.

was a judge in a dance competition this afternoon. had quite a good time as it was my first time judging a dance competition. haha...what do i know about dance? mentang-mentanglah i danced 'nobody' before, so now am qualified lah to give marks pulak. wakaka.

anyway, that was not the highlight of the day. this picture below is the highlight of my day.

introducing the 'basin dish' or in cantonese : puun choi. haha....
dad booked us a table for 14 at zheng yong restaurant and i cancelled all my activities in the evening and night just to come back to tm to eat. what a glutton eh? well, i have heard of this dish for a long time and i have never tried it, so now that i have the chance, it is not to be missed right?
even my aunt from kepong heard about it from her friends who had nothing but praises after eating it here in tm.
basically the dish is stewed seafood. in the big bowl, you can find broccoli, prawns, abalone, sea cucumber, goose feet, mushroom, fish maw, abalone mushroom and some i dunno what seafood. it is a very rich dish full of good stuff. guess how much it costs?? if i am not wrong, it is about rm600. we ordered this for 14 people so everyone had an abalone each.

we had a plate of fried rice to go with it and at the bottom right, that is how the dish looks like after some digging.

besides that huge dish, we also had deep fried pork trotter, steamed fish, an egg dish which you eat with the ice cabbage and sea cucumber for dessert.

no wonder i am full leh???

and, of we had second helping of dessert back home too.
we surprised mom with a birthday cake. it was her birthday yesterday. well, i went to buy the cake and luck was with me. when i reached home, mom was not at home so i had no problem putting the cake into the fridge and she did not open the fridge at all when she got home. so atticus brought the cake out after i lighted the candle. everyone was just chatting outside the porch so we had our cake there.

the cake (tiramisu) was yummy.

and of course, the dog would never be left out. after atticus had his nibling and licking, it was beanie's time. atticus got a scare when he tried to approach the dog. it growled at him so fiercely. never ever disturb a dog when it is eating.

yawn. time to sleep now. have to wake up early to get back to bidor. it is going to be a long day tomorrow. have a meeting at 2p.m. sigh.

everything from head to toe at bicester village

this is the place where the rest of my english pounds went to.
for those who do not mind shopping for past season items, do go. some of them are not that old and things from cath kidston do not really go out of season, do they??


we picked up our rented car from south kensington. it was a volkswagen golf. initially i ordered a smaller car for the day trip, then they upgraded it for us at no cost. this car runs on diesel, phew!
the journey took us around one hour on the motorway.

those who are keen to look for branded bags, you can still find brands like burberry, prada and tods. just make sure you bring enough money.

well, i did not go for these brands but knowing me, it is impossible not to come back with something since i had purposely included this place in the itinerary.

so here goes:

4 pairs of shoes from clarks. i paid around 85 pounds for them. cheap huh?

a leather bag from kipling. they have so many bags here and the prices are really low. kipling lovers will love it so so much.

two shirts from thomas pink. i just can't resist it and those stripes.

last but not least....my diva sunglasses. oh-la-la. this was the first pair i took from the range and i was done with the browsing. the glass is polaroid as well. this was the highlight purchase from bicester. happy.

so those who plan to go to bicester, it is better to take the coach which leaves from few major train stations in london. taking a train is very inconvenient because you have to change at oxford. imagine lugging all your shopping bags on the way back to london? just take the bus. there will be more than enough time for you to shop.

well, i had more than enough time. actually the planned purchases were the shoes and sunglasses. the rest were extras. so i was really good at controlling myself eh?

oxford. just so-so

oxford- 6 june 2011.

bought the train tickets months before this date and i got it at a very very cheap price. i only paid 8gbp for one way. if i was to buy a ticket on my travelling day at the station, i would have to fork out around 20gbp. phew!

the journey from paddington station was about an hour and we reached there slightly before 11a.m.
we headed straight to the tourist information centre to book ourselves a guided walking tour. i would be walking blindly without direction without the guide i am sure.
somehow at the back of my mind, i was still thinking about the trip to cambridge i took while studying in the uk. i prefer cambridge more.i think the buildings in cambridge are not as old as those in oxford and the streets wider.

anyway, before the walking tour started, i headed to turf tavern, a place highly recommended in trip advisor and i was not letdown. phew! it was a small little place with outdoor seatings and the food was good. love the fish and chips so much and the dark chocolate dessert.

here are the few places we went to in the walk.

wadham college and its chapel.


st mary's church.

bodleian library.

these are the places we did not enter. you can punt in oxford and of course in cambridge. but the river here did not attact me to go unlike those in cambridge. hmmh...am i bias? i should not. the last time i was in cambridge was more than 10 years ago. who knows what it has become now.

wadham college chapel.

our tour ended before 3p.m. and we walked around the main street before it was time to go back at 6p.m. they went shopping at marks and spencer again while i only browsed the stored. i was saving all the shopping for bicester village the next day. so if you want to know what other things i bought in my trip, stay tune.