Discovering the other side of the world - Part 1

Holidays started off with a family trip to Bangkok! This was my very first visit to Thailand and it was indeed an incredible and unforgettable trip !

On the very first day, we reached Bangkok around 9pm(M'sian time), we were STARVING. So, after checking into the hotel, we went around searching for food. Found a roadside hawker stall serving beef ball noodles and we decided to give it a try. The surrounding was quite dirty but the noodles turned out to be good, especially when all of us were hungry.

Sluuurrrp

Along the street stalls, we also savoured some local favourites, the thai-styled kuihs.

The small bowl of noodle by the roadside was not able to fill up our stomach, so we went to Baiyoke Sky Hotel's restaurant to have another meal :)

Sis & Mum posing.

While waiting for our food to be served, we enjoyed good music by the pianist . A very well-mannered pianist who greeted most of the guests who walk into the restaurant.

The food was scrumptious ! Ichiban !

We were on a half-day tour the next day and we were told to wake up at 6 something in the morning. The tour leader brought us to visit the Chao Phraya River. Our tour guide, ah ying, provided us with a lot of useful information in a very entertaining manner.

This is the Bangkok Railway Station. Have a guess how long it takes to reach Penang(Butterworth) from Bangkok by train ? - 24 hours by Eastern & Oriental Express, a luxurious carriage. The Thai King is very popular and well respected, as you can see the King's picture in most public places and this one in front of the railway station.

The Chao Phraya river. I've read about it in history but didn't thought i'd have a chance to visit it :) We were told the Thais depended very much on this river for their water supply.

Me & Sis posing by the Chao Phraya river.

We experienced a strong wave on this windy day and the boat ride was abit rough though.

We visited Wat Arun also known as the temple of dawn located along the riverside.

The background shows where the Royal boats are kept for use by the King and Queen .

Houses by the riverside. All boats have to keep a distance away from these houses for fear of water splashing into the houses causing damages.

Floating market. See the vendors plying their trade.

The statue of Kuan-Yin

Will be sharing more photos in my next post =)

I'm like a bird !

Yay!!! SPM exam is finally over. And it's play-time !!! What a relief ! I still managed to gain weight despite having stressful exams :) I've been snacking away ... Today, i finally had the chance to hang out with my buddies at Queensbay to celebrate Huijing's birthday. We really had fun and a good time chit-chatting. Stay tuned for more updates !

INTI college forensic camp

Finally, I've got something to blog about. Hahahahaha.

I attended this Forensic Camp organized by INTI college months ago(during the June holidays), and just got the photos yesterday so I thought of sharing them on my blog.

On that day, we were first brought to a small room and were briefed on courses offered in INTI, then we proceeded to another room for a talk on DNA stuffs, then carried out some experiments. We also had the chance to observe some micro-organisms like paramecium & amoeba under the light microscope,which was far better and more advanced than those provided by our school!

After that, we had a crime investigating "CSI" game -The Murder of Dr. Looi. We were divided into three different groups and the group that resolves the case first will win. We were brought to separate rooms to question different people and also to search for evidences.

Group photo.

DNA DNA DNA...

Slicing onions for experimental use :)

Eee Laine collecting one of the evidences..

Me questioning the bartender.

Analysing the evidences collected..

Entering the crime scene

Aha, finally, confessions of the murderer :)

Congrats FedEx !

Ahhh, I have not logged into Roger Federer's official website for weeeekkss. Finally dropped by his web today and found out this piece of wonderful news :

" Federer and his wife, Mirka proudly announced the birth of their twin daughters who were born Thursday night!! "

So happy for him :) Their twins are named Charlene Riva & Myla Rose. Really nice names!!! Who knows? The twins may be the future Serena & Venus Williams ... Congratulations, FedEx !

Primary Six (6K) gathering

Attended my primary six (Class 6K) gathering yesterday night. It was held at our Taman's Resident Association. Our class teacher, Ms Ooi also turned up for the event but she was reluctant to take photos with us for reason(s) best known to her.

The Girls

Guys...

Group photo ...

Me & Yee Wuan

Adoria & Me ^^

It was a potluck get-together but we were all too busy to eat. So we had lots of leftovers. Anyway, we had a good time reminiscing about our primary school life. Hope we can have another gathering after SPM !!

KL trip

Last Sunday, we went to KL to meet my ah yi from Sarawak. My ah yi came to KL on a trip organized by her school in Miri. Mum had not seen her for a few years and decided to meet up with her in KL to catch up on the lost time. We arrived in KL at about 11am but went round searching for the hotel. We had booked it through net and it was our first time staying there. After several attempts, we still couldn't find the hotel (mind you, we had the hotel map otherwise we would have been lost!). In fact, we were in the vicinity of the hotel, but couldn't locate it. Suddenly our Hero-- Uncle Robert rang up and said he's already at the hotel waiting for us. So mum asked him to come and lead us to the hotel. By then, it was already 12.30pm. HAHA. Then, we contacted ah yi and she's at Sungai Wang Plaza. After picking up ah yi, we went back to the hotel and walked over to KLCC, which was within a short distance from our hotel to have our lunch. It was almost 2.30pm when we had lunch in KLCC. We did some shopping, bought mainly food stuff and juices before heading back to the hotel. Back at the hotel, mum, Uncle Robert & family and ah yi were busy chatting. Mum then invited ah yi to stay overnight with us at the hotel as we had booked a two room suite and the place was spacious enough to put in an extra bed. :) Ah yi agreed to abandon her colleagues for one night to spend time with us.

The living room at our hotel

KLCC's view from our hotel room

Uncle Robert & Aunty Jasmine

Father & Son - Uncle Robert & Justin

FOOOODD :)

Right after dinner, sis requested to do more shopping at Pavilion, but I was already so so so tired, I decided to accompany dad back to the hotel since he had not been feeling too well due to the hot weather. Moreover, there's broadband in our room so i can go online while ah yi, my mum and my sis can do their shopping. Once back from shopping, ah yi and my mum sat down to continue where they left off earlier. They chatted all night long, while ah yi told us some interesting stories about her family and I sat down listening to the funny conversations. Ah yi told us some stories about Ai Ling ( hey girl, now i know more about you and some secrets, too hahah! ), and it was really funny xD. It was almost 1.30am and we all decided to get some sleep as ah yi had to leave the hotel as early as 7.00am to meet up with her colleagues.

At about 6.45am, mum accompanied ah yi to have breakfast at the hotel. After sending ah yi off in a cab at the hotel, mum waited for everyone to get ready for breakfast at the hotel. The coffee house was packed with holiday makers. By 10.30am, we checked out from the hotel and headed for One Utama shopping mall at sis's request,again. Frankly speaking, I dont really fancy shopping. I just wanna go to One Utama for BURGER KING, hahah ! Left KL at about 2.30pm and stopped by Ipoh for DINNER !!! Ohhh.. i tell you, Ipoh is a heaven of fooooodddss ! My parents decided to go for tauge ayam, which is very famous in Ipoh. The shop we went was patronized by many actors,actress and singers. And one can view their photos on the wall of the shop.

and the very delicious IPOH HOR FUN with TAUGE CHICKEN !!!

In short, this was a pleasant trip - mum gets to meet her sister , sis gets to shop while I enjoyed eating ! Thanks to dad and mum for this wonderful holiday ! 5 more days and its the end of the school holidays ...

Horas!

"Horas" is a new word I've learnt from my recent trip to Medan,Indonesia. " Horas" is a greeting frequently used in everyday life by Batak people from North Sumatra. Here are some photos of my trip to share with everyone.

Have you ever seen a hotel providing bolsters ? If you ever miss bolsters at home, stay at Grand Angkasa Hotel in Medan.

Korean drama "Boys Over Flowers" airing in Indonesia !

Sis, mum and me posing at the room balcony of Niagara Hotel.

Scenery from our hotel room balcony in Parapat, Lake Toba

Sis & I

Breakfast at the Grand Angkasa Hotel in Medan

The Marquisa fruit, rarely found in Malaysia.

You can only find authentic Marquisa fruit juice in Indonesia.

Lake Toba and some of its surrounding islands like Samosir

We were thrilled to tour Lake Toba and its surrounding islands by speed boat

We enjoyed playing pool in the hotel !

Samosir Island

Another hotel by the lake side


Residence of Raja-Raja in Samosir island

Front view of the Raja's residence

Inside the Raja's residence

A free range hen with its chicks

Family pose

Dad's good friend, Uncle Lim & his wife who were our special host took us sightseeing and brought us around to enjoy the delicious local food.

Group pose at the hotel lobby in Lake Toba before leaving for Medan airport

Holidays

Finally, the dreaded exams are over. Now I can fully enjoy my two weeks holiday. Today, i went shopping with my family, from one mall to another in Penang Island. I was the only one who came home empty-handed while my sister had a fruitful day. I'm super tired right now, but I'm determined to update my blog since I had not done so since April.

My new Indian neighbour moved in a couple of days ago. They were really nice. I have a new friend of my age, so hopefully we can share more on school stuffs, go for a walk in the field or have a game of badminton :) She speaks fluent English and studies in CGL, and I take this opportunity to communicate with her in English so as to improve my second language. The family rears two dogs, a Rottweiler (don't know if I spelled it correctly) and the other is a mixed breed, one in front and the other at the backyard to guard their house. The dogs are well trained.

Last month, I went to the Penang Street Market and I want to be there again tomorrow, as it is only held once a month. My parents agreed to bring us there provided the weather is good. Yay. I'll share some pictures in my blog if I remember to bring the camera along.

People, excuse me for not blogging last weekend. Gugu and her family came to Penang for Qing Ming, so we spent some time with them. We had a really nice time together. Haven't seen my twin cousins for almost 2 and a half years since we last visited them in Singapore. During their stay in Penang,we went shopping, watched horror films, gossiped and took a lot of photos.

My sis and JW trained in outward bound school

JL, the gorilla & me, the gymnastic

Under the bamboo tree...JW , EL & HL

The twins with their energetic brother, Joseph.

Grooming Joseph to be a professional photograher.

The Mischievous Four.


See, we're buddies!

The sky was amazingly BEAUTIFUL, so i took a few photos of it yesterday ...

Back to blogging

Dear readers, after two months break, I'm back to blogging !!

I had an awesome weekend. Sis was back from varsity and dad brought us to E&O for dinner. The food was quite similar to those we had the last time but I really like the ambience there. The theme of the night was Dine & Dance and there was this band of three playing music and singing. We sing along and you just can't believe it.. there were three tables of guests celebrating their birthdays. We really had a good time. What I want to mention is that, one of the band's member is visually impaired, and yet, he played the guitar so well.

These few days, the weather in the afternoon is so so so hot, and you just feel so sleepy at broad daylight. When the evening comes, it pours cats and dogs. What is happening to the Earth ???

For your information, Federer had been ousted from the Sony Erricson Open semi-finals on Friday. He lost his cool and smashed his tennis racquet when he lost the game to Djokovic. It was a shocking outburst. So you can imagine how frustrated he was. This was the first time Federer had such an emotional meltdown. He always stay cool even when he loses his game...So sad for him...Thank God the hard court season is over and let's hope he could try his best on clay!

P/s : will do the tags as soon as possible !

Valentine's Day

Someone sent me this bouquet of flower ??

Chap Goh Meh

Today's not only Thaipusam but it's also the last day of Chinese New Year, a.k.a Chap Goh Meh. Chap Goh Meh represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year. This Chinese New Year, my family and I had "Yee Sang" twice- once at a restaurant and the other one at home. Yee Sang or Lou Hei is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor and is served as an appetizer to raise 'good luck' for the new year.

Yee Sang at restaurant

Lou Hei

Yee Sang @ home :

Which one looks better ? Both taste equally good...

Updating

In this post, I wanna mention that Roger Federer has lost to Nadal in the Australian Open 2009. Federer needed just one more victory to equal Pete Sampras's number of grand slams but Nadal crushed his hopes when he defeated him in the final which lasted five sets and more than four hours. FedEx started sobbing when he was about to give his speech. I believe Federer can win his 14th Grand Slam very soon and I'll always support him !

Last Wednesday, I did high jump in school and accidentally sprained my toe. Seeing I was still limping after so many days, yesterday mum and dad suggested that i should consult the doctor in pantai mutiara hosp. As expected, the doctor sent me for an X-ray scan to check if i have any bone fracture. Luckily, there was nothing serious, but the doctor told me not to get involve in sports for one whole week.

We had an early lunch as we had to send sis back to university. After dropping her, we went to the duty-free zone complex which was located at the Malaysian-Thai border to shop for stuffs. Surprisingly, the things there were pretty pricey despite claiming to be duty-free. The only attractive thing was the Chocolate section. I am not exaggerating but they really do have a good variety of chocolates that you can even smell chocolate when you walk into the shop ! Some of the chocolates especially the imported ones could not be found in Malaysia.

A piece of good news for everyone - Electricity tariff rate is going down soon !!

Tomorrow's Thaipusam and it's a public holiday so we don't need to go to school ! But then we have school replacement for CNY on Saturday ( Valentine's Day ). Before I sign off, HAPPY THAIPUSAM to all Malaysian devotees !!

p.s : Tammy will be back TODAY !!!!!!!!!!! Welcome home...TAMMY!

CNY 2009

Here's an update on how i spent my Chinese New Year this year...

CNY Preparations

Mandarin Oranges

Biscuits & Snacks

Preparing Jelly

Braised Pork Knuckle

Sushi !

Reunion dinner @ TGIF

Reunion dinner at TGIF was awesome. The restaurant was fully packed. Luckily we made reservation in advance.

Like every year, we proceeded to Mahindrama Temple for candle lightings & prayers after our dinner. As usual, the main shrine was crowded with people even before the prayers started. The prayers were led by the chief monk together with his followers and it ended slightly after midnight, at 12.10am.

Nian Chu San

We had dinner at the Japanese Restaurant in Cititel Hotel.

Cheers!

Justin says "Bottom Up" with green tea





After a scrumptious Japanese meal, we proceeded to Swensens @ Queensbay for dessert !

School

HECTIC is the only word that could describe my first week in school. Gone is the honeymoon year. I find Form Five to be very different from Form Four. At the very least, i don't need to crawl out of bed early in the morning last year. These days waking up as early as 5:45am every morning is no easy task for me and i need the alarm clock to disrupt me from my beauty sleep.

During the one week at school, the teachers are giving quite a lot of lessons, and there are heaps and heaps of homeworks to finish. I just can't believe that almost 1/2 of my add maths exercise book is already used up over such a short period of time.

This week, i attended two meetings for the school graduation magazine. Everything is progressing well and there is a lot to be done and i need to deliver them after Chinese New Year. Ahhh..Chinese New Year..just can't wait for it to arrive... It's only the first week of school and i'm already longing for another holiday break.

Ohh...i want to share a piece of good news. On Friday, i received an sms saying "Anda telah memenangi Peraduan Teka dan Menang yang diadakan di C-Mart.Sila hubungi.... ...". Yes, we won a contest held by C-Mart in Changloon. Why in Changloon? It is near my sister's varsity and she wanted to drop by C-Mart to get some groceries. C-Mart is the only supermarket in town which is reasonably well stocked. One of the items, my sis purchased is a pack of Milo drinks and the purchaser is eligible to enter the contest with any purchase of Nestle products. What we need to do is to guess a certain number of Milo tins that is kept in a big container. Initially, we were reluctant to submit our entry form as we never thought of winning but the sales girl encouraged us to join the contest. And it's just one entry form with my name submitted and we won $$$ voucher to shop in C-Mart. I am really lucky! Dad is the one who provided the figure and I filled up my particulars in the entry form. This was the first time we won a contest as we rarely enter contests. We should thank the sales girl who convinced us to give it a try! JUST DO IT!

Hope i can find more time to blog in the coming weeks.