15 march, prambanan temple

time for travel blog.

destination: java tengah, (mid java)- yogjakarta

flight: airasia...freeeeeeee!!! got it last year during their free tickets promo.

arrived at the local airport at 0830 and the tour i had booked earlier was waiting for me. 7 of us went together and we got into a small mini bus.

i thought we were going to borobudur straight but the guide suggested prambanan temple first since it was on the way. hence that was where we went.

prambanan is a hindu temple.
Prambanan temple has three main temples in the primary yard, namely Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva temples. Those three temples are symbols of Trimurti in Hindu belief. All of them face to the east. Each main temple has accompanying temple facing to the west, namely Nandini for Shiva, Angsa for Brahma, and Garuda for Vishnu. Besides, there are 2 flank temples, 4 kelir temples and 4 corner temples. In the second area, there are 224 temples.
taken from: http://www.yogyes.com/en/yogyakarta-tourism-object/candi/prambanan/

it was destroyed in one of the earthquakes and is still undergoing reconstruction processes. but the main temples are all up and good, only those smaller ones surrounding the main ones.

saw this patrol car at the entrance.
we stopped for a drink outside before entering. having no water on the flight was a torture. i had a coconut at 7,000 rupiah.

ain't it beautiful? toyted as one of the most beautiful hindu temples in the world.

this is the main temple

shiva temple
steep steps everywhere. and you can enter all the temples


definitely not the orgininal stones from the colour.


statues of the gods are in the middle of the temple. rub the statues 3 times and you will get the luck. and you should walk the temple clockwise too.


below are some of the shots i like.

not sure if the mountain behind is merapi or not.
but i think merapi is visible almost everywhere in yogja.


my favourite shot here.


here are the stones getting ready to be reconstructed and arranged into temples.

the museum in the temple ground.

in the museum ground.

you have to walk through a maze of stalls selling souvenir items before you get to the exit. batik and crafts are the common things on sale.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

okie....that is all for today. have to go change now. my dad is driving mom and i up to genting highlands to catch sammi cheng in concert ;P hope to have a good time albeit the faraway seat. well, free ticket kan. can someone smuggle me in please?????

new acquisition

introducing my new camera:

nikon p500. no dslr for me. just point and shoot. and i don't like those very thing cameras either. they don't feel stable in my hand.
this one weighs 494g and is not too heavy.
have tested it in yogjakarta and love the result. and i can play with many editing functions too on the camera itself, so it was fun trying out.

see there?? 36X optical zoom.....jauuuuuhhhhhh tu

the back screen which can be extended

so the damage to my pocket??? i got those lens protector sheets as well and an extra battery. i think it comes to around rm1700+/-. hehe.....i said i think because i did not go to the shop myself to purchase it. my colleague was the one who did the shopping as she was getting a camera as well, and both of us got the same one. i guess we can share our discoveries with each other.

sob sob, another hole in the pocket. but the old camera is not that reliable anymore. so now i have one extra camera at home. what to do with it?

so hopefully tomorrow i will be able to load some photos taken in yogyakarta. it was a good trip.
and tomorrow night- sammi cheng concert in genting highlands. yippee....thank god for the free ticket. i wonder how it was tonight.................yup, she is performing 2 shows

greetings from borobudur

greetings from hotel manohara, the hotel that is adjacent to borobudur here in java tengah ;P

arrived in yogjakarta yesterday at 8.30a.m. and was picked up by the tour company i have booked earlier. gosh, all those 000,000 in rupiah is confusing me. i am not going to shop and bargain for prices unless my gal friends are around me to tell me the prices in rm.

i am unofficially the banker of the group and i have to hold all the money and pay for group expenses. that is already so confusing. and you expect me to deal with my own rupiah? i will be making a lot of these javanese traders' day when i get my amount wrong instead.

places we have visited so far: merapi mountain, prambanan temple and borobudur temple. can't really see much at merapi. damn, can't even see the peak! it was covered by clouds. but we saw the devastation created when the eruption happened last year.

prambanan temple is a hindu temple. but i find that the temples here in yogya are not as grand as those in angkor wat.

even borobudur is pale in comparison to angkor. it is only a stand alone structure and not that big. so we finished touring the temple quite fast. and it is only 5 mins walk from manohara hotel. the only hotel within the site. we don't even need to pay entrance fee to enter the temple.

this morning, woke up at 4a.m. to join the sunrise tour. we had to pay for it of course and got a small torch light and a light meal with the price. the sunrise was nothing to shout about. there was no explosion of the rising sun from behind the hills and clouds. instead we only got slow brightening of the skies. but it was good being at the temple when there was minimal crowd.

we are off to the city now. will be in yagja city centre for two nights. hope the hotel will have free computer at the lobby too ;P

yogja, here i come

the tummy feels so full now. how am i going to sleep? anyway, i am too excited to sleep.

will leave for lcct at 3.30a.m. dad is driving.
i will be in yogjakarta for 4 nights. hope to get a nice relaxing holidays there. i don't want a too tedious holidays. have to try and fit in a massage or spa.

i am full because i just came back from a buffet dinner at a relative's house. his son is getting married and they got the caterer from ipoh. gosh, there was sooo much variety of food!!! it was truly a good buffet. and they themselves actually operate a restaurant (fu man) but of course it is closed today and will be closed tomorrow for the banquet too.
i went with mom and dad. grandma did not go because she felt weak in her legs today. she said she would attend the banquet tomorrow. gosh, i wonder how she is going to sit there for so long.

well, see you guys on friday.

a good jog

am supposed to upload this photo at facebook but i just can't. have been trying for the last hour. is it my connection or what??? must be facebook, or else i won't be able to post here as well right?????

had a good jog today at proton city. first time i ran 4 rounds non-stop at the lake park. woohoo!! personal record lah. it felt good when i was all wet and sweaty and flushed.

the kids just went there to take photo with their nikon dslr. i think i was the only female jogging there. saw a few other males but less than a handful. many went there to stroll while eating and drinking. so unhealthy, eating those deep fried food sold from the van.

two groups were playing football at the grass pitch and there was one group of bangladeshi workers playing cricket as well. so innovative of them to create their own pitching ground.

one wedding and a funeral and some shopping

the title for this post came when i left the house yesterday to attend sim's wedding in damansara utama methodist church centre.

dad and i left the house at the same time (7.30a.m.) and it crossed my mind that we were both going out to attend two very different occasions.

dad was going to kl to attend a relative's funeral wake. the deceased was grandma's niece and i had not seen her for more than 20 years too when she left for england. my siblings and i used to go to her place almost everyday when grandpa still had his shophouse in town.
grandma wept when she heard the news on friday. this 'aunt' of ours succumbed to breast cancer i heard. may her soul rest in peace.

my trip to the wedding met some glitches along the way. i was to pick up aniq in segambut first. i used dad's gprs navigator and it navigated me via the shortest way there from sg buloh tol exit into segambut. unfortunately, many of the roads i went through were all through housing areas and smaller roads off main roads. hence i missed a few turnings because i could not see the smaller roads.

i breathed a sigh of relief when i arrived. aniq's house is really lovely and spacious inside. this will not be the first visit now that i know where it is. haha.....i will go again to 'explore' properly next time.

as promised, aniq had prepared breakfast for me. yummy roti canai. there i was eating alone while she was drinking her protein shake. so i guess i was stuffing myself fat while she was losing some fat that day.

both of us reached the church at the same time as the bride. lol just like vip. we were stylishly late. but we had valid reasons. first both of us were from outstations and we had to rely on the navigator. and of course, we also missed one or two turnings and the navigator had to recalculate new route for us. anyway, we were seated in the hall 5 minutes before the bride walked in. well, no good seats in the middle or the front of course.

while waiting for the bride to make her entrance, i still found the time to love love love my black ensemble. ;P love my new nine west strappy heels. love the lace-motive skirt. and finally, still very awed by my black shatter nail lacquer now on my toe and finger nails. it was almost all black on me yesterday including my black mulberry alexa.

okok...back to the wedding. these mashimaro dolls were used on the bride and groom's car. so cute. just like sim's eyes when she was grinning hehehe

the slide commemorating this special day.

the decoration of the hall.

the bride and groom . sorry for this blurry photo. was only using my phone and was seated at the back corner. this was taken after they had exchanged their vows and both the bride and groom gave gifts to their parent. here sim was seen hugging her mom.

wedding favours. very cute stickers on kisses chocolates.

the wedding was over by 11a.m. and everyone adjourned to the foyer for luncheon. i did not really eat because i was still full after the roti canai breakfast.

all in all, it was a very sweet wedding. sim was grinning while posing for all the photographs. she was really the most beautiful lady in the hall that day. she was not the tomboy sim who was usually in her trousers and collared shirt. she turned into a beautiful swan in her white gown standing next to the beaming groom. congratulations friend! wishing you both a happy new journey paved with sweet nectar to pick along the way.

we left the church before 12 and headed towards klcc because i have to run a few 'errands'.

first stop: tiffany & co to pick up my bracelet. wooohooohoooo.....rm290 flew out of the wallet just to replace the 10 missing beads and the bracelet. i vow not to buy bracelet anymore.....or one which is so fragile!

prices for their jewellery have increased this month too. sob sob! the silver crown key pendant that i am thinking to buy for my birthday this year has increased from rm780 to rm 840. i checked the price on the USA website and it is only US$225, but not inclusive of tax. willl it be cheaper after tax in the states??

next stop: isetan
but, before we reached the entrance of isetan, we stopped by m.a.c.'s cosmetics wonder woman limited edition promo counter. as lipstick and make-up remover were on my shopping list, i decided to get it from MAC. my first purchase from this brand. love the wonder woman packaging. as if i can feel wonder woman's power after i use the lipstick. muahahaha. and because of this promotion, aniq and i got to take a photo with a tall model dressed ala wonder woman in their store and we got a complimentary printed photo too. aniq got a lipstick for herself too- an impulsive purchase? hahaha

ok, now isetan for real.....and they were having sale!!! fret not, i did not buy anything that was not on my shopping list. the word 'england' was screaming at me.

helped aunt redeemed her la mer birthday gift. i did not even bring the redemption card, luckily the counter manager knew me.

not only the card, i forgot to bring my isetan card too. luckily i also had no problem redeeming the cash vouchers based on points accumulated last year.

so, with the cash vouchers from isetan, i got myself a new pair of running shoes. my first asics. look at the gel at the heel. woohoo!! pretty right? and this was the last pair in my size. phew! it felt so sturdy when i put it on. 60% discount. from rm799 to rm319.

and i put on this pair of running shoes as soon as i paid for it. the black heels i was wearing were really killing me! hahah....was testing how long my feet could endure the torture of heels while shopping. the answer: not even and hour! the back of the heels were grazed by the shoes. maybe i have to apply a layer of wax next time.

my first pair of teva sandals too. 50% discount. from rm299 to rm149. this pair of sandals will make its first trip abroad this tuesday to yogyakarta.

so i had everything i wanted in my shopping list. and since i could walk better then, we decided to grab our lunch at 2.30p.m. at miss kwan.

could not resist taking this photo when i saw both our bags sitting so nicely on the chair. ;P have to document my alexa's outing hahha

aniq bought me lunch- chee cheong fan and chicken curry. the chee cheong fan's texture was not that good. nevertheless, it was a very filling meal and i could not even finish them. priced at rm11.90 plus a glass of iced lemon tea.

after lunch, it was time to go home. sent aniq back to her house and i headed back to tm. felt so tired when i reached home.

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aah...sunday's breakfast. got the bread from sun moulin's bakery yesterday. the only accompaniment i can think of with bread is coffee. so fitline, you are taking a backseat for breakfast today.

to foam or not to foam? (SLS)

found this in the star paper today:
one of the ingredients called 'sodium laureth sulfate' used in our daily shampoo is also commonly used in our floor cleaning solutions.

so as soon as i got home, i checked the shampoo i am using now and of course, it is one of the ingredients.

and this is the shampoo i am using.
have you checked yours?

the SLS is said to cause skin damage and hormonal change. hmmh....so do i just throw this bottle of shampoo now??

then i checked on wikipedia, and it says that SLS is found in many personal care products and is used as a foaming agent.

might have to make a trip to the nearest guardian and check the range of shampoos they have and check if any does not have SLS. i think a little foam will do no harm.

i am going to have my bath now and wash my hair.

first attempts

a weekend of first attempts.

first up: mom's attempt at baking soft japanese cheese cake. this is just fresh out from the oven after being baked for almost 90 minutes. well the oven is not a good one, so the heat is not evenly distributed and hence you have the dark edges i think. but i think the cake is going to be a success. i just can't wait to dig in and bring some back for tomorrow's breakfast.

in case you are wondering if aunt's baking bug has also bitten mom, well, mom is just trying to finish up the cheese left in the fridge. i doubt i will get another cake from the oven in the coming months after this.

next: my brother tried to paint his nails! muahahaha. no joke.
well, i leave all my newly bought nail lacquers on the pc desk since it is so convenient to pain your nails while watching my favourite episodes of glee/grey's anatomy/ amazing race/ gossip girl/ modern family.

and i bet my post previously on the blog showing the effects also intrigued my brother. haha
he tried black shatter alone on bare nail and it did not work.

then he also applied last friday night (from katy's collection) on another nail.
that was when i came into the room and he showed me the all black finger nail of black shatter.
so then i applied black shatter over last friday night, only then the shatter effect formed on the nail.

earlier, i had applied a layer of fiercely fiona (yellow) on my nails. i also tried applying black shatter on top, but it could not glide at all.
so we came to a conclusion that black shatter only works on lacquers from katy perry's collection.

gosh, i wanna try china glazer now. it is another lacquer brand which has all these shatter effects but they come in more than one colour. but i don't want to buy some more after the recent spending! can someone buy that and let me try??? go to www.nailfiesta.com and choose ;P

third: i bought my first beauty product from laurent cristanel's line.....but it is not actually what i want. this is one of fitline's products as well. i thought their make-up remover is something like the other removers which can be used to remove lipstick and foundation, etc.

however, this one is specifically formulated to remove eye make-up only including mascara. it is gel-based. so i have no use for it since i don't wear eye make up nor mascara. can i return this or sell it to someone? it costs less than rm100 i think. i have confidence in this product but i wonder if others do. if it is non-returnable, i cam think of selling this to my cousin in australia who is so into mascara and make-up.

lastly: well, this is not really first attempt. it was more of an attempt to get into top 10 in the recently held cross-country race for the kids. my aim was to get into top 10 placing since last year i emerged no 11. got what i wished for when i came back placed no. 8. quite satisfied since i did not stop at all in the roughly 5km run. so next year's aim will be top 5??? hahaha....all the kids in the top 7 are going to leave this year....so i can even aim for top 3 hor??

ookok...am shutting up now. time to pack and head back to bidor.

haha.....4 days in proton city starting tomorrow!! yippeee!! no teaching. poor kids, they are anxiously waiting for their rest results since last friday. sorry guys. you'll get them only this coming friday.

spinning till melbourne

my head is spinning now. whatever i said earlier did not count. this is sort of like a continuation of the previous post which i posted about 1 hour ago.

after i finished that earlier post, got a phone call from my sis in melbourne- airasia promotion for flights to australia has started. please start booking.

then my whirlwind round with airasia started. was booted out of the page a few times. luckily my maxis broadband went smoothly tonight. i would be tearing my hair out if it wasn't.

so after a few attempts, i finally managed to book my mom and her in-law tickets to melbourne on 28 november till 30 december for around rm1700 each. quite cheap, i bought 30kg luggage for them both ways. hahaa...i want my cherries!!!

the head is really spinning for real now and i feel kinda nauseous. trust me when i say i won't be drinking nescafe from the can for a long long time.

oh, mom gave me good news too. her in-law have 2 tickets for me to watch sammi cheng in genting highlands in march. yippeee!!!! i dunno which day but i am very very happy.

so i guess one good turn deserves another huh? ;P

head spinning

i am on a caffeine high now. who would have thought that a can of nescafe milk coffee drink can have such effect. my head is still slightly dizzy now one hour after finishing the can here:
ooh ooooh.....unhealthy diet tonight. the food at the canteen did not appeal to me today, so i did not buy any back. so this piece of dried meat becomes my dinner. i am on a caffeine and calorie rush tonight. i hope i won't stay awake at the ceiling till dawn comes become of them.

it's a wonder what a good sleep can do to you...and i got that just today. i woke up all refreshed and rejuvenated and i think even the facial complexion and texture exudes a certain kind of radiance. hahahaha
so i hope i will get another good night's sleep tonight. but looking at the picture above raises my doubt.

my head is also spinning with choices and choices and choices of accomodation in bath and london now. yup, it is a lot of homework to be done for the trip in june.

and i have just found out that they will have french open at rolland garros when i am in paris. so now one more decision to make- to go and watch or not? or can i get the ticket just by queueing outside the stadium on the day itself? i will only be able to catch 4th round matches, so hopefully the tickets will not be that expensive and the crowd is manageable.

the initial excitement to catch a match at wembley stadium in london has gone to ashes now. nobody wanna go with me! boohooo!! i will arrive in london just in time for champion's league final match on 28th may. and i will also be in london when england play swittzerland in euro cup qualifying round. but, no one wanna go with me and i dun think i wanna go alone in the midst of so many crazzeee footie fans.

back to the accomodation in bath and london. i think i will choose a holiday inn express in bath which is about 3km away from the city centre because it has a parking space. we are planning to rent a car from heathrow and drive to bath when we arrive from paris. the rate is quite reasonable, around rm300 a day if i book from the internet via malaysiaairlines website. it is the cheapest i have found so far. after 2 nights in bath, it will be one whole week in london.
the website i use for hotel is www.agoda.com
i also found my hotel in paris, airport hotel in heathrow and bath's holiday inn from this website.

am looking for apartment and the rates are around 1000GBP for one week for 4 persons.
they have some really nice studio apartments (1 bedroom and 1 sofa bed) at really nice area such as kensington and hyde park. but will the people taking the bedroom and sofa bed pay the same rate? it is unfair right if they do??? gosh, photos of kensington are so lovely and the area looks so posh.

another option i have got is a 2-bedroom apartment in west hampstead. heard of the area before??? it is cited to be in central london and there are 2 tube lines servicing the area plus railway line too. found this apartment on www.londonchoice.com while browsing today. i stayed back at the workplace just to browse the internet and i only came back at 4.30p.m. fuyoh....so hard working.
and guess who are some of the famous celebrities staying here: emma thompson, emma watson, chaka khan, doris lessing, and there are a few more. how do i know?? go to :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Hampstead and check it out.
the area also have a number of restaurants and bars. gosh, i hope i won't meet any brawls when i walk back to my apartment.

decisions, decisions!
the dizziness is almost 80% gone now. ok, now let's hope i can sleep well.

uh huhuhu....all $$$ gone now this month just for accomodation. april and may will be saving for my pocket money in europe. how much will i be able to save?
and is anyone coming back from england?? i wanna exchange some pounds! going to the money changer means higher rate. mutual exchange is not that bad right? so if you know anyone, please tell me. tqtqtq.

feeling like ke-dollar_sign-ha

can you guess who ke-dollar_sign-ha is????

hahahaa....i learnt this from watching glee today. this is how the principal pronounced ke$ha's name.

yup and that is how i feel right now...instead of like katy perry.

tried 3 of the nail lacquer colours i bought and this is the result:
this green matte is on the toenails and i felt like shrek after putting it on. the matte effect is really there. it is very powdery and looks cakey. imagine if they have it in neon colours and can glow in the dark?? they should have all the lacquers in matte in neon colours.

next up- the finger nails.
this is katy perry's last friday night. it is not as blue as expected but the glitters do come in larger quantity than those cheaper lacquers. i have put 2 layers here.

and this is after i put on black shatter. wakakakaka.....what do you think of the effect??? cool huh? so you think i should feel like ke$ha or katy perry???? katy perry reminds me of all candy colours. this is kinda 'thrashy' to me but in a cool way.

excuse the beads of sweat on my hand. it is a hot day.

the texture of black shatter is thicker and not as fluid as normal nail lacquer. the effect comes almost immediately and it dries fast too. when it is dry, it leaves a matte effect. but i put another layer of nail strengthener on top so it glosses now.

it is quite tricky putting on black shatter as it does not glide smoothly on the nail. i listen to my friend's advice of only putting a thin layer and according to her, i can play with the brush strokes too- vertical, horizontal, criss-cross,etc. then the shatter effect will be different.

now i am wondering how long they can last on the nails.

oh how i wish all these pieces are in english pounds instead. i am almost all set for my trip to yogjakarta come march 15. i have 1 million and 700 thousands there (rm600 only). should be enough for 3 full-day trip.

so so, anyone gonna try shatter and share here???

colour my nails

yippee!!! new nail polish is here!! i just placed my orders on tuesday, and the package arrived all the way from kuching on thursday. is that fast or what??
you want yours too?? go to www.nailfiesta.com
i get no commission from doing this...it's just that i am happy with the service and the prices offered make me happy too.

the colours from left to right are: gargantuan green grape matte (matte collection), fiercely fiona (from shrek collection), last friday night and black shatter (from katy perry collection) and dulce de leche and 2 bottles of mini nail strengthener for my cousin and her friend.

can't wait to try them on.
the matte nail polish sounds like trouble. according to the small piece of instruction given- matte by opi does not wear as long as original nail lacquer. do not use base coat, top coat, drying products or hand lotion when wearing matte. do an all matte nail.
waaa...i think i am colouring my toe nails with this instead. yup, that is the plan.

the fingernails will have katy perry's collection. i hope the results are good enough for me to show them here.

my cousin and i are wishing that my sister is here with us now!!! i don't get the nail polish thing without her. she was the one who started it, buying all the nail polish and emery board and stuff. without her, i don't think i would ever start using nail polish. we are hoping that the next time she comes back, she will 'invest' in some nail lacquers and will share with us. muahahaha. i wonder if she is colouring her nails over there.

to rice or not to rice?

it had been a very tiring week with all books coming in and so many side activities to take care of. i really feel the strain everyday at the end of the day. sometimes, before it hits evening, the brain seems to have lost so many cells that it wants to shut down.
and all the burden is not only in the workload.
the diet too has gone on the heavier side.

nowadays, lunch is at the canteen-rice accompanied by 3 dishes.
and at night, i was force-fed with more rice. as shown in the evidence below.
it was brought to my house and i was warned to finish every grain. well, to show my gratitude and appreciation, of course i finished everything.
now i am feeling all the guilt and remorse of eating so much rice!!! i don't want to eat rice!!! i can feel the tummy and hip area getting fleshier. oh no!

personally, i dun think i can get a lot of nutrients from eating rice. try googling the benefits of eating rice and i tell you, you don't really find a lot of useful information.
in one of the articles i find, it says that rice is a good course of complex carbohydrate and a good source of protein alternative for meat in a vegetarian diet.
ok....i don't need more carbohydate in my life and i am not on a vegetarian diet.
more information- rice helps in the proliferation of healthy bacteria thus helping in good bowel movement. but we are already eating fruits and vegetables right? so we do get our fibres for the bowel movement.
so my point is (personal view)- i don't see any benefit in eating rice.
i am going to insist on taking less rice starting from tomorrow. even mom and grandma at home do not talk about my habit of not eating rice with the cooked dishes.

the canteen operator usually gives me more rice than i can finish. what a waste. i have told her countless times to reduce the amount.
am considering bringing my tiffin carrier to the canteen so i can just order take-away....and then divide that 1 meal into 2 meals- lunch and dinner so i can reduce the amount of food intake. i think it is not a bad idea.

my discipline to jog need to come back as well!!! the target is to lose 2 kilos!!! and these are the 2 kilos i have put on mind you. damn!

some news from home.
grandma has been walking with the aid of a walking stick orginally bought for grandpa since the chinese new year.
when i see her this weekend, she is much better and more energetic. her speech is loud and clear and not slurry. so thank god.

the weather has been hot too so does that contribute to their health? they were always complaining of cold when the rain come, so the hot weather is normal weather to their bodies i guess.

but to us, gosh, it is so hot even at night. can't sleep without the aircond on but the damn aircond at home here is so noisy. i wonder why my aunt did not complain about it. anyway, hope mom will call someone to check it.