~sHin9's hOm3 p@rTy~

Daydreaming

2012-02-04T01:47:00.000+08:00

This post is absolutely random. I was too bored so started browsing around Yahoo!Trael to day-dream for some travel destinations...lol! Keeping my passion alive okay. :P Anyway, going through the many lists of "World's-Most/Best" reminds me of how fortunate I am to have had the opportunities to step food in so many amazing places...incredible gratitude. =)

World's Best Cities - Most Dynamic Vacation-Worthy Places

1.~~Bangkok~~ 2.~~Florence~~ 3.~~Rome~~ 4.~~New York~~ 5.Istanbul 6.Cape Town 7.~~Siem Reap~~ 8.Sydney 9.~~Barcelona~~ 10.~~Paris~~ (7/10)

World's Most-Visited Tourist Attractions - Embrace The Wisdom of Crowds

1.~~Times Square(NYC)~~ 2.~~Central Park(NYC)~~ 3.~~Union Station(DC)~~ 4.~~Las Vegas Strip~~ 5.~~Niagara Falls~~ 6.~~Grand Central Terminal(NYC)~~ 7.~~Quincy Market(Boston)~~ 8.~~Disneyworld(Orlando)~~ 9.~~Disneyland(California)~~ 10.Grand Bazaar(Istanbul) (9/10)

World's Most Popular Landmarks - Iconic Landmarks

1.~~Statue of Liberty~~ 2.~~Empire State Building~~ 3.~~Golden Gate Bridge~~ 4.~~Eiffel Tower~~ 5.~~Big Ben~~ 6.~~Colosseum~~ 7.Millenium Park Chicago 8.~~St. Peter's Basilica~~ 9.~~Swiss Re Building London~~ 10.The High Line NYC (8/10)

World's Best Airlines - Life's A Journey, Not A Destination

1.~~Singapore Airlines~~ 2.~~Emirates~~ 3.Etihad 4.Air New Zealand 5.Virgin America 6.Virgin Atlantic 7.~~Cathay Pacific~~ 8.All Nippon Airways 9.~~Korean Air~~ 10.Thai Airways (4/10)

Usher in the Dragon Year!

2012-01-26T01:29:00.000+08:00

Seems like we just welcomed the new year not too long ago...now it's time of the year again to welcome Chinese New Year! As compared to last year, work is not as hectic this time around and I also managed to do most of my new year shopping in Shanghai. =) CNY falls on Mon and Tues this year, and we were asked to take 2 days off work (to avoid charging time on the job)...kinda waste of my leave. :P Even though I had 2 extra days of holiday, I was on cny-lazy-mode...stayed home most of the time and enjoyed being a homebody.

This CNY, I also offered to host an exchange student (Thea) from Germany and share how we celebrate this 'ang ang' festive season in Malaysia. Main reason I volunteered to host was because I was fortunate enough to receive warm hospitality when I was an exchange student in the States and I would like to take this opportunity to give back by doing my small part in sharing our Malaysian hospitality. =) This is the 2nd consecutive year that we've hosted 'ang moh' for cny, let's see if this trend continues next year...haha!! :p

Pre-CNY 'lou sang' with Dell team on the last day of work before the holidays.

Jan 21 (Sat): Georgetown Heritage Tour

Brought Thea for a walking tour around Georgetown Heritage zone. Thanks to the hot weather...we almost got barbequed. :p

Jan 22 (Sun): Chinese New Year's Eve 除夕夜

Reunion dinner with the family at Vistana hotel. Pretty good that we had a room for ourselves. This year's reunion dinner treat was on 4 of us who are already working. =)

Chinese New Year = feasting season (we eat all day and night) :p

Group picture with all sorts of combination. :p This year we're missing 2 cousins...one in UK and one in Taiwan.

Once in a year...of course gotta take more pictures. :p

Was supposed to stay home and play mahjong after the dinner but we ended up somewhere else. =.=

Jan 23 (Mon): First Day of CNY 大年初一

Usual routine...paternal relatives gather at 姑妈's house for lunch. Last year we were all wearing England jerseys that I got from UK, this year we're all in traditional clothes that I got from Shanghai...hahaha! :p

All paternal relatives at our house...this year only one cousin absent. It's pretty interesting to see the exact same kinda group picture year after year. :p

Continuing with my task as a host...quick detour to Batu Feringghi.

Last stop for the first day...grandaunt's house.

Jan 24 (Tues): 2nd Day of CNY 大年初二

House-hopped to 6 houses.

Ended the day with a yummy dinner treat by aunt. =)

Jan 25 (Wed): 3rd Day of CNY 大年初三

Aunt's lunch treat with free lion dance. =) Told ya...CNY is all about eating! :p

New Year in Shanghai!

2012-01-10T06:57:00.000+08:00

29 Dec 2011 - 2 Jan 2012 ~ Work + Travel in Shanghai

As I mentioned before, I'm definitely very blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to travel overseas for work within my first year of work. #countmyblessings We do travel for our work every now and then but mostly within Malaysia coz we're a regional office...it's very rare for this kinda opportunity to come by. So this is one of the few good things about being in this team. :p Anyway, the 'work' that I'm referring to for this trip is stock count. Honestly, I've never attended any stock count before since I started work last January, and 'lucky' me my first stock count is in Shanghai and I'm doing it alone. :p

If Shenzhen doesn't count, then this would have been my first time travelling to China. Since I've never been to Shanghai, I decided to take this opportunity to do some sightseeing. Went to almost all the touristy attractions in Shanghai that I wanted to go...mission accomplished! #leggo Good thing about having to work on New Year's Day...we had the chance to countdown for 2012 in Shanghai. =)

28 Dec 2011 (Wed): Penang - KL - Shanghai

Took the night flight coz we wanted to arrive SH early the next morning and waste no time. My window seat wasn't comfortable but had a cool night view of KL from the sky.

29 Dec 2011 (Thurs): People's Square - Nanjing Road - YuYuan Garden - XinTianDi

Arrived Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 7am...hello winter!! =)

Our hotel for 4 nights...Renaissance Zhongshan Park hotel...very nice hotel. =) My room was at the 49th floor...awesome view of the city! =)

Tried something 'local' for breakfast...煎蛋饼...sorta like pancake but with 油条 in it.

First stop: People's Square Park...a park in the middle of the city. Love the autumn colours around the park...even though it was winter already, the trees weren't bald yet. :p

This park is definitely a place for elderly people...taichi, play poker cards, fishing...haha!!

Time to camwhore! :p

Some landmarks around People's Square - Tomorrow Square, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre.

Walked from People's Square to Nanjing Road pedestrian street...Shanghai's main shopping street but I didn't buy anything here. :p

Took the subway from Nanjing East Road (南京东路) to YuYuan Garden (豫园). Shanghai Old Street (上海老街) was filled with lotsa ancient architecture. All of the sudden I felt like I was REALLY in China...hahaha!

Lunch time! Had Xiao Long Bao at one of the famous restaurants in Shanghai...Nanxiang ManTou Dian. The queue for take-out was so long so we decided to eat-in and take a break. The price for eat-in was at least double the price of take-out...what a ripoff but we needed a break after all the walking since morning so it was fine. Honestly, I think the 'xiao long bao' was just ok...not fantastic...a bit overrated lo. :p

The whole area felt so 'ancient'...it was kinda weird to see Starbucks in such an 'ancient' exterior...lol!

We wanted to have more 'China' feel so paid 30 yuan to visit YuYuan Garden.

The surrounding of the garden was pretty and it was quite huge we almost got lost in the garden. :p

Thanks to Manrou for being my photographer. =)

The streets were already filled with Chinese New Year mood! Let's usher into the dragon year!!

Last stop for our first day...Xin Tian Di (新天地)...more high-end shopping, eating, and entertainment district. The unique thing about this place is that all the buildings are 'Shikumen' 石库门 style.

We were both too tired and our legs were aching after walking for an entire day. Went into 'Shikumen' style Coffee Bean for a break. :p

Dinner at one of the many restaurants in Cloud 9 mall next to our hotel.

30 Dec 2011 (Fri): Qibao Ancient Town - Oriental Pearl TV Tower - The Bund

Continued our sightseeing on the 2nd day. The metro was our main mode of transport to travel all around Shanghai...very convenient and cheap. =)

First stop for the 2nd day...Qibao ancient town (七宝古镇). Took us about 45 minutes to get here from the city by metro.

Narrow alleys...ancient buildings...plenty of 'local' snacks.

More street snacks!! I'm not an adventurous foodie so all these doesn't attract me...lol!

Tried some huge 'Tang Yuan'.

Picture time!!

Nice scenery of the canal. =)

Seeing the vibrant part of Shanghai was not enough...we wanted to explore more...

One side of the town was bustling with tourists...another side of the town was a quiet old neighbourhood...what a contrast! We also saw an old man sitting by the streets selling popcorns...the 'old-school' way.

Few more pics before we left Qibao ancient town.

Took the metro back to the vibrant part of the city filled with skyscrapers...Pudong (浦东)...home to many of Shanghai's best-known buildings - Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Building, etc.

And of course I've gotta be in these pictures...lol!

Had our dinner at Din Tai Fung with a view of the Bund...we took our own sweet time to eat till the sky turns black. :p

Xiao Long Bao again...hahaha!! This Xiao Long Bao was better than the one in Nanxiang.

After bumming in the restaurant for hours and trying out Osim's leg massager in the mall, we continued our sightseeing. Took a ferry for 2 yuan across the Huangpu river to Puxi (浦西). It's easy to pronounce Puxi wrongly and it will sound totally wrong...haha!!

We were both busy snapping pics of both Puxi and Pudong throughout the ferry ride. :p

Finally we're at The Bund (外滩)!!! Beautiful skyline of Pudong at night!!

Night view of The Bund. Whole stretch of nice colonial-style buildings.

Lucky us we saw some beautiful lightings as we were walking along the Bund coz they were rehearsing for the New Year's Eve countdown 3D light show. =) That's the HSBC Building and the Customs House.

31 Dec 2011 (Sat): Nanjing West Road - New Year's Eve Countdown @The Bund

The 'homework' for sightseeing that I did before coming to Shanghai...worked out very well. =)

Chillax day...strolled along Nanjing West Road and passed by Jing'An Temple (静安寺) along the way.

Lunch with the team at 鸭王.

It was New Year's Eve and Nanjing Road was super crowded...total contrast with the day before...really 'people mountain people sky'. There were soooo many people in the Apple store as if everything was FOC. =.=

Initially we wanted to wait for the countdown along the Bund but after sitting for 20 minutes, the others were freezing already and couldn't stand waiting in the cold for 2 more hours so we decided to find somewhere else to countdown.

We stumbled upon this place as we were walking along the Bund...The House of Roosevelt. Good job to Ali and Manrou...the very confident duos...we just walked into this posh place as if we've made reservations and went straight up to the 9F rooftop lounge...lol!!

If you compare to other bars...this price may be a lil' steep but for the view and ambience on New Year's Eve...I think it was actually quite reasonable. Best of all, we had a heater to help us survive the chilly night...lol!! =)

Fantastic view of Pudong & The Bund...what a great way to end 2011 and welcome 2012!! #blessed The only disappointing thing was that there were no fireworks at all in Shanghai for countdown!! =.= No fireworks...in CHINA...seriously?!?!

1 Jan 2012 (Sun): Stockcount at Songjiang

What a great way to start-off the new year...first stock-count ever on the first day of the year. :p No complaints at all...at least I got to travel this far for my first stock count. =) Definitely wasn't easy getting out of bed early in the morning after staying up late to countdown the night before...haha! Our driver picked us up at our hotel at 8am in an Audi (that doesn't look like an Audi at all)...took us about 45 minutes to get to Songjiang. I didn't take any pictures coz I was afraid that people will think I'm very 'sam pat'...haha! But in fact, I really thought about taking some pics but paiseh la! Honestly, it was quite an eye-opening experience to see manufacturing facilities in such big scale...the warehouse that I went was located in the compound of Quanta Shanghai Manufacturing City. The word 'city' is no joke...the entire plant was as big as a university campus with living campus for the staff. Sorry la I've never been to China so a bit 'sam pat'. :p

Dinner with the team at Spice Spirit.

2 Jan 2012 (Mon): Shanghai-KL-Penang

Time to go home...checking out from our hotel...goodbye Shanghai!

Lunch before heading to the airport.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Beautiful clouds & sunset.

Thank You 2011, Hello 2012!

2012-01-07T15:38:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year 2012!! Time flies...another year just flew by! It's the time of the year again to do a recap of the past year. I'm a lil' behind schedule coz I was in Shanghai for New Year and blogspot is blocked in China. =.= Will update more about my Shanghai trip in the next post. Anyway, I'm really blessed and grateful for a great ending of 2011 and a great start for 2012.

2011 NYE's countdown in Singapore. 2012 NYE's countdown in Shanghai. =) #blessed

Well, 2011 turned out to be better than I expected...was expecting work life as an auditor to be dull but I realized it's really up to ourselves to make our life more interesting. Took me about half year to settle in but second half of the year was pretty awesome. :)

Graduated and started work right at the beginning of the peak period. Having back-to-back engagements for almost 5 months was pretty exhausting but learned quite a lot. Also glad to have a bunch of great comrades/batch-mates/friends. =)

Started off the second half of the year with a blast!! =) Peak was over and I was finally done with my exam so decided to do something fun. Teamed up with bro to take part in the AXN Big Challenge and surprisingly won the grand prize...amazing experience!

As part of my resolution to keep life interesting, I took some time off work and travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam. Very grateful to be hosted by my lovely Vietnamese friends, VietAnh & Hang. =)

Also had the chance to travel to Sabah with my whole family and hiked Mt Kinabalu. :)

Second half of the year, I was recruited into the Dell regional team. This is a long-term engagement that not many people wanna work on but as I mentioned before, to be happy or sad, it's all about your own perspective and how you choose to look at a situation. Honestly, I think being in this team ain't too bad after all...another way of putting it...it's a blessing in disguise. :p Had the chance to travel to Singapore for training, seniors are very helpful, manager is pretty cool, work load is manageable, and also had the chance to travel to Shanghai for stock count. Things may get a lil' tensed and stressful as we start our peak period but I'll try my best to stay positive . =)

Work-life had been pretty balance as there were more activities in the firm. Took part in inter-firm games, organized a dayout for our firm, and went to Phuket for our annual trip.

Still kept myself active in the UGRAD alumni and volunteered at least once this year. :p

That's all for now...hope that 2012 will be another GREAT year ahead!! Who cares if 2012 will be the end of the world...just live life to the fullest everyday!! Cheers!!

Quote to share: Another fresh new year is here...another year to live!! To banish worry, doubt, and fear; to love and laugh and give.

Dayout At the 'Peak' Before the 'Peak'

2011-12-11T21:01:00.001+08:00

3 Dec 2011 (Sat): Teambuilding dayout at the 'Peak' before the 'Peak'

Our firm organized a dayout at Penang Hill before the super peak begins in January. Ironically, we managed to link these two 'peaks' together...lol! It's been ages since the last time I went up to Penang Hill...I could only vaguely remember that I was just a kiddo back then and the weather used to be chilly up there. :p Even though I keep emphasising that auditors aren't boring bunch of people, I can't deny the fact that quite a lot of people in our office are not big fan of outdoor activities, so it definitely ain't easy getting everyone to join us for this dayout. We were glad that almost half of them attended, better still almost all the bosses came, leading by example huh...hehe! :p Credits to XinYi for being our photographer of the day. Thanks for capturing these golden moments! =)

The first batch of committees and participants who arrived early took the 8am train uphill. The journey was supposed to take only 5 minutes but there were several stops along the way.

Thanks to some participants who arrived earlier and helped us carry our 'props'. :p The 'healthy' group of guys (including both our partners) started their 2km walk from the train station to the bungalow.

While the rest of us 'lazy bums' took the buggies instead...hahaha! :p

Finally arrived at the bungalow...Nature Lodge.

There's reason why we 'committees' had to arrive earlier and take the buggies instead of walking...coz we had to prepare for the first teambuilding activity la. :p

First things first...group picture for all 5 teams and the committees. =) They were asked to come up with their own team name and guess what we had...Team Apple, Team Shake Shake Shake, Team Pau Nya, Team Pau Ka Liao, and Team Warriors.

Getting creative and coming up with team cheers. :p

Game 1: Minefield. This game was supposed to be more challenging but our blindfold weren't good. :p The next time we have blindfold game...imma use goggles instead...haha!

Game 2: Put Yourself in Others' Shoes. Haha...literally yes...we actually put everyone in others' shoes! =) Each person will have to take turns to find another team members' shoe.

Looks like they were buying shoes from Lorong Kulit...lol!!

Next game...guess what were they trying to do with all those raffias? Hmm...fishing? :p

Answer is...Game 3: Toxic Waste. The task is to get the pail filled with water out from the toxic zone using just raffia and a hook. It was my idea to put all the pails in the same area just to make it tougher and messier...haha!!

At first, we were worried that we would overrun but we finished the third game well ahead of time. We took a short break after being out in the sun for quite some time.

Game 4: Hands, Legs, Butts. Time for MORE 'bonding'...haha!! Everyone else was having a good time watching other teams perform their 'stunt'.

Game 5: Face Your Food. I'm sure many people have seen this game from TV...this game was purely for laughters...hahaha!! Lucky us committees who didn't have to play this and avoided having our 'face-cramps' pictures captured. :p

Time to head back indoor for lunch and rest some before continuing our activities.

One of the managers brought her son along. He was a busy kid that day coz everyone of us took turns to play with him...haha!

Game 6: Break the Code. After all the physical games, it was time for some brain-game. This was a numbers + alphabets game...very suitable for auditors...lol! Proud of myself for coming up with this game...thanks to all the committees for helping to coordinate as well. =) Here's an example of one of the questions: Mississippi = 9, Morocco = 15, Alaska = 1, Alabama = ?

Game 7: Pass the Message. The message was funny and it was about bananas...lol!

The original message was totally 'distorted' by the time it was passed to the last person. Was hilarious listening to each versions of the 'banana' message...you can see it from the expressions of all the participants...priceless!! =)

Game 8: Build Your Shelter. Last game of the day to unleash the creativity of auditors. Time for us to sit back and relax while the participants to work on their 'projects'. =)

Tadaa...mission accomplished!!

And last but not least...the winner for this Penang Hill teambuilding dayout is....Pau Nya!!!

"I see countless happy faces while taking the photos! We, SRC members, are really grateful for the support given by everyone. Although some were unable to join us, we hope you can next round. Thanks! XD" - XinYi Lee

Million thanks to all the committees for all your support, hard work, and effort for making this event possible. Ain't easy planning and pulling everything off within 3 weeks. Awesome job guys!!

Bird's-eye view of Penang Island from the peak of Penang Hill.

Sincere thanks to everyone for making our first event a success. =)

26 Nov 2011 (Sat): MICPASS Dinner @ Parkroyal Hotel

This dinner marked the closing of 2011 MICPASS inter-firm games.

Receiving my Best Female Hiker trophy. =)

Thanks to all you awesome peeps for all the fun and excitement throughout the MICPASS games. =)

By the way, I've got a brand new lappie for work...one of the few good things about being in Dell team...haha! :p

Volunteering at Janda Baik

2011-11-22T21:11:00.001+08:00

12-13 Nov 2011 (Sat-Sun): Click!2.0 Camp @ Janda Baik

Traveled to this village about an hour away from KL over the last weekend to volunteer for a social entrepreneurship camp organized by the US Embassy. Now that I'm back in Penang, there ain't a lot of time and chances for me to participate in state alumni activities so decided to grab this chance since it falls on a weekend. Besides, one of the activities was community service which was something I wanted to do coz haven't been involved in any volunteering yet this year. Last year, I also had the chance to attend this camp in Cherating, this year it was held in Janda Baik.

Cherengin Hills resort was the location for this camp. Janda Baik is located deep within the jungle so nothing much there. :p I was lucky I got a room with the pool view all for myself coz my roommate didn't make it to the camp. =)

Misty mountain views. This hotel is located at an altitude of 600m above sea level so the weather was pretty nice and cooling, especially when the sun sets.

All the volunteers were alumni from various U.S. government sponsored exchange programs. Our roles as volunteers were facilitators/mentors/discipline master/teacher. =.= All of us had no idea what we were supposed to do until we got there...poor organizer.

I was given a group of 5 students...they named their team Jabbawockeez coz the 2 boys liked this dance group. As their facilitator, I helped to guide them as they worked on their ideas...but they called me 'teacher' pulak. =.= The participants of this camp were high school students and they are all supposed to come up with a social entrepreneurship idea and implement it with a seed funding of RM250. The best 3 teams stand a chance to win ipod touch, digital camera, or a chance to go for an exchange program in the U.S.

3 batches of Global UGRAD Alumni volunteers. =)

One of the activities during the camp...community service. We were split into 6 groups for different types of community service at the mosque, community library, kindergarten, and orphanage. I was quite lucky to be allocated to the group with the most volunteers and we went to an orphanage to help out with organic farming...sounds interesting huh! :p

The orphanage was the furthest from our hotel so we had a bus to bring us there. Mana tau our bus took us to the wrong place...luckily we got another van to fetch us. 24 of us managed to squeeze into that van...lol!!

Finally arrived at the orphanage. Big place with big compound.

This community service was pretty interesting coz we got to learn about organic farming. =) We helped to plant seedlings, transferred the plants to the ground, picked the weeds, plough the soil, and cleaned up the surroundings. It was raining for awhile but we were quite efficient and got all our work done within 2 hours. =)

It's pretty refreshing to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and get close to nature.

There were various types of veggies planted at the farm. Good initiative to reduce the food cost for the orphanage and also help them earn some money from all these crops.

U.S. Ambassador Paul Jones also came all the way to Janda Baik to join us in the community outreach activities.

Group picture of the volunteers with Ambassador Jones. =)

Another activity for the students during the camp...treasure hunt.

Farewell BBQ dinner and certificate presentation ceremony for all the students who participated in this Click! 2.0 Camp.

Hospitalized by a Coleslaw

2011-11-06T20:59:00.000+08:00

It's coming to the end of the year again, that means I've been working for 10 months now...time flies! :p There have been lotsa ups and downs but overall it has been pretty good especially these last few months. Hopefully it will remain the same for the next 10 months...I doubt though. :p So 'honeymoon' is over and I'm getting busy with work again...keeping my fingers crossed that the next few months won't be too tough. If you've read my last post, our sporting season is almost over. Been busy with these over the last few weekends but haven't got the mood to take pics lately so nothing much to update here.

Our firm's Sports & Recreation committee had an AGM 2 weeks ago and I decided to go back to office after work to attend the meeting...which appeared to be a wrong choice. :p Got voted as secretary (I'd rather get the lower positions) and unluckily got food poisoning after having the KFC coleslaw that was provided after the meeting. =.= Vomited till my hands & legs were numb and ended up in the hospital for 2 days...craptastic. Anyway, thanks mom for bringing me to the hospital at midnight. :p

Not fun having needles under my skin...eww! =.= Had plenty of rest in the hospital coz I was sleeping almost all day. :p

Sporting Season

2011-10-20T23:46:00.001+08:00

Who says auditors are boring bunch of unfit people? Imma prove you wrong...haha! :p Oct & Nov is the sporting season for audit firms in Penang. Everyone starts training and preparing for inter-firm games...this is also the best time of the year to do stuff with colleagues that are totally non-work-related. It was fun being involved in all these but too much sports took a toll on me lately. Hurt my back 3 weeks ago and still haven't recovered yet coz I haven't really rested much...bad timing to be injured. =.=

15 Oct 2011 (Sat): Netball competition

Despite my back injury, I still very 'hiao' played netball last Saturday. In fact, my back only hurts when I do a back bend...apart from that other normal routine movement is fine. But I went to see the doctor again right after the match. :p Btw, the pics below were taken by our pro photographer...Leng Hin. Thanks for all these nice pics! =)

Team A players...great teammates! Thank y'all for the effort and I'm proud of you gals! =)

We had a strong team of supporters who came as early as 8am to cheer for us. =)

Some action shots. We won the first game and got into the semi-finals. Even though we didn't win the 2nd game, we've already achieved our target and most importantly, we've tried our best. With so many first timers this year, it's actually quite a good achievement.

Half-time break. Discussing our strategy very SERIOUSLY...lol! :p

Group pic of our 'All Stars' netball players & our awesome supporters. =) Thanks everybody!!

McD treat after the game...good times. =)

Hat-trick Destination...Phuket

2011-09-22T16:44:00.000+08:00

16-19 Sept 2011 ~ "Crouching Krabi Hidden Phuket" Teambuilding Trip

My 3-months off-peak is finally over. =.= Just got back from our company's 4D3N annual trip. Traveled to Phuket AGAIN...for the 3rd time within 3 years (this explains the title of this post)! It's not that I love Phuket so much and if given a choice I would avoid traveling to places that I've been to before. Even though we were given the choice to vote for this annual trip's destination, it wasn't really a choice at all coz it was Krabi & Phuket vs. Trang (who knows where this is la). But at least my experiences for each of these 3 trips were quite different...1st trip with family in 2008 was free & easy, 2nd trip in 2010 was totally posh, and this trip was guided tour with colleagues, great company but lousy itinerary & tour guide. The tour guide Mr. Lu (lulu) & travel agent Beautiful Planet was extremely disappointing and I believe we were conned. Whoever suggested or approved this itinerary deserves some dissin'. Anyway, we still managed to syok sendiri and made my camera work hard again...as usual. :p

16 Sept 2011 (Fri): Penang - Krabi

I haven't been to Krabi before and I was actually looking forward to it. Besides, our hotel was near Ao Nang beach and I thought at least I can still see the beach. But nope, the first day of our trip was extremely boring and tiring. Started our journey at 6am and we were stuck in the bus for the rest of the day. =.= We were supposed to visit a cave along the journey but that was cancelled, so the only thing we did was sleep, eat, and watch movie. Bad idea to travel to Thailand by bus...flying is definitely the way to go.

Super long queue at Padang Besar border coz it was a holiday. Almost 50 buses queuing in front of us so had to wait for 3 hours. Because of this, Lulu cancelled our cave detour.

Had lunch right after we crossed Thai border.

Wattana Park Hotel at Trang. This was supposed to be our lunch stop but became our dinner stop. We had exactly the same thing as what we had for lunch. =.=

Finally reached Srisuksant Hotel at 9pm...spent only 12 hours here.

Dropped our luggage and took a TukTuk to the main street of Ao Nang.

17 Sept 2011 (Sat): Krabi - Phuket

The journey to Phuket was much shorter (anything below 5 hours is short after the 14 hours journey). Nothing much to see along the journey, only small roads and trees. They played James Bond's Die Another Day and that kept me awake for the whole journey.

Guess where's everyone heading to? The jungle??

Haha...it's the Crystal River. Never heard of this place before, no idea where this place was and we were the only tourist group there.

Finally we're in Phuket! Had our lunch at Boat Lagoon resort. This place looked familiar...I think this was where I boarded the boat to PhiPhi Island last December. Took some pics at the marina but it was definitely incomparable to the view in Monaco. :p

Thanks to our professional camera woman XinYi for capturing these.

We've arrived Patong!! Stayed at Duangjitt Hotel for 2 nights.

All juniors stayed at the Deluxe Pool View rooms. Everything was nice apart from the design of the hotel...we were greeted by the bathroom right when we opened the door. Yes very weird...had to go through the bathroom whenever we wanna go in & out. Also very inconvenient coz you can't go out or come in when your roommate is bathing, and if someone knocks on the door when you're taking a shower, you can't open the door either.

This was bro & Eileen's room. Seniors & managers stayed at the Sino Style Deluxe Bungalow. Haha no we weren't discriminated coz Pool View & Bungalow cost the same. :p

Preparing for annual dinner and trying out the cucumber game.

The theme for this year's annual dinner was 'Lost in the Wild'. There were groups of army, terrorists, cowboys, leopards/zebras, etc. It was pretty fun especially the games part.

Some of the entertainment during the dinner.

The food was just okay...not fantastic.

18 Sept 2011 (Sun): Phuket

Woke up earlier and went for a stroll around the hotel. This hotel is huge...36 acres ler!

Love these pics!

First activity for the day...teambuilding! Had to complete the tasks in all 5 stations...our team came in 2nd...not bad! :p

Where's everyone heading to again this time? Another sang-ka-la place.

Took a long-tail boat to a Floating Village for lunch.

Another random place for lunch...same like crystal river...there was no other tourist here. The seafood in Tambun is wayyy better than this. The tour guide then brought us to an overpriced local products shop, t-shirt wholesaler, and a honey shop...I DON'T LIKE this kind of guided tours...what a waste of time!!

How could you visit Krabi & Phuket and not go to the beach at all?? That is just wrong. So I 'chio' few other associates to go to Patong beach together. We're TRULY ASIAN coz there were a group of photographers with their DSLRs, a group of posers, & a handbag boy.

Credits to XinYi for these awesome shots! =)

Dusk at Patong beach...absolutely stunningly beautiful!

Dinner at a local Thai restaurant.

Alright, that's all for this Krabi & Phuket getaway. Don't think I will visit Phuket again anytime soon. :p Oh btw, I had few interesting encounters this trip...saw a Japanese guy slapping and scolding her gf right in front of me, and another rather disturbing thing that I witnessed in our hotel...not quite suitable to disclose the story here...all I can say is that it involved some police and a blue plastic bag.

August Feasta!

2011-08-30T22:51:00.001+08:00

August seemed to be quite a happening month...lotsa occasions to feast and get-together with family & friends. =) Work & life have been pretty well-balanced these 2 months...#iloveoffpeak!

July 31 (Sun): Dad's birthday @ CRC Restaurant

Aug 17 (Wed): Grandma & my birthday @ Double Good Restaurant (Almost forgot bout my bday) :p

Aug 18 (Thurs): Celebrated my birthday with colleagues @ Harvest In Cafe

Aug 20 (Sat): Lunch with relatives @ Stone Bay Restaurant (Thanks 二姑姐 & 二姑丈 for the treat!)

Aug 20 (Sat): Dinner with AXN Big Challenge supporters @ Corner's Club Restaurant :p

Aug 26 (Fri): Dinner with maternal relatives @ Green Wellesley Restaurant

Aug 27 (Sat): Celebrated Jiin Herng's birthday with colleagues @ The Sun

Aug 28 (Sun): Jap & Thai buffet dinner @ Cititel Penang. Used the 2 vouchers that we won for the 'Most Talented Twins' contest. :p

Aug 31 (Wed): Big bro's birthday @ Pinang Fisherman Wharf

More pics with the birthday 'boy'. :p

Seems like I've been eating a lil' too much lately. :p Luckily I've got badminton & netball practice (to prepare for inter-firm games) to keep me fit...lol! Thumbs up to healthy lifestyle! =)

As for work, it's offpeak so we've been attending courses with other new joiners.

Was blog-surfing & found this interesting "note" about the recent UK riots here...lol!!

Oh btw, I'm finally done with THE exam...a lil' slower than my peers due to several reasons but i'm glad that it's all over...slowly but surely. =)

Journey to Mount Kinabalu

2011-08-24T23:29:00.001+08:00

13-17 August 2011 ~ Land Below The Wind...Borneo

It's been 2 years since our last family trip to Bali. Thanks to mom for hunting for cheap airfares again earlier this year...we got to go on another family trip...this time it's Sabah!! This was my first time traveling across South China Sea to East Malaysia after 24 years...what a shame...haha! :p Anyway, the only highlight of this trip for me was to hike Mount Kinabalu...didn't get to go to any of the islands due to shortage of time. If I had more time, I would even make a trip to Brunei...you know why...hahaha!!

13 August 2011 (Sat): Penang - KL - Kota Kinabalu

We started our journey early in the morning from Penang filled with adrenalin rush...total madness and I was 'black face'...haha! Long story short, we almost missed our flight coz the gate was already closed when we boarded the plane and dad got on the plane 3 minutes before the flight took off. Anyway, it's all good coz we all managed to arrive KL safely after all the 'drama'. :p

Had 6 hours to kill at LCCT...luckily I brought my netbook. =) Saw a bunch of surfers with their surfboards...pretty cool. :p

Finally arrived Kota Kinabalu at 5pm.

Bro and Eileen arrived on an earlier flight so they rented an Exora and picked us up from the airport...save us from all the hassle. :) We headed straight to town and realized that there was nothing much to see in KK town. =.=

The Waterfront...sounds cool but I was a lil' dissapointed with this so-called 'Waterfront'...it was more like Esplanade in Penang. :p

We decided to stop at the nicer part of the Waterfront for a group pic.

This is no photoshop...it's just nice sunset. =)

Seafood dinner at Ocean Seafood Village.

Sumptuous and yummylicious!

We rented an apartment since there were 8 of us...best of all...the 'aunties' liked it coz they can cook.

View from our apartment..really feels like "Land Below the Wind". :p

14 August 2011 (Sun): Kinabalu Park

We hired a van for a day trip to Kinabalu Park as it takes about 2 hours to get there from Kota Kinabalu. That's also the starting point for our hike to the peak of Mt Kinabalu. Kinabalu Park covers a wide area and Mount Kinabalu is just part of it. It's recognized as one of the UNESCO World Heritage site because of its rich biodiversity.

I was trying hard to get a good picture of the peak all along the journey and it wasn't easy coz the driver was driving like a roller-coaster.

What I didn't know was that we were stopping at a viewing point for me to take all the pics I want...what a waste of my effort. :p

Of course gotta take pics with this picturesque scenery. :p

And...my signature jumpshots!!

Nice hilly valley sceneries along the journey.

Another attraction in Kinabalu Park...Poring Hot Springs.

The hot sulphuric minerals of this spring claims to have curative powers...good for muscle aches. :p

Went for a short hike to reach the Canopy Walk...nice canopies as u can see in the last pic.

The Poring Canopy Walk...157.8m long and 41m high...feels like hanging on the trees. :p

Had lunch on the way before dropping us off at our hotel in Kinabalu Park. The air up there was cool and fresh. :)

Stayed at Peak Lodge in Kinabalu Park...nice chalet with great view of the peak. The surrounding was tranquil, serene &amp; cool...very relaxing. =)

Another family pic with Mt Kinabalu. :p It was misty most of the time...I had to sit beside the door and waited for the mist to clear off then quickly take a pic.

Interior of our chalet...we used the fireplace to heat up the room.

15 August 2011 (Mon): Kinabalu Park - Gunting Lagadan/Laban Rata

It does not require any special skills to climb, but it definitely requires stamina...luckily I did some physical preparation with hiking, gym, netball and badminton. Typically, most hikers take 2-days to climb Mt Kinabalu and spend a night at Laban Rata or Gunting Lagadan resthouse before continuing our journey to the peak. As the hostel can only accommodate about 150 ppl per day, early booking is required to climb the mountain.

11 of us started our journey from Timpohon gate at about 9am. We decided to take the shorter route (Summit Trail) instead of Mesilau route. Good choice coz it would have been too tiring to walk 2km extra to see more plants and wildlife...I'm definitely not big fan of these. :p

We were all very excited &amp; energetic coz it was just the beginning of the long hike. :p

Luckily there were several shelters along the way for us to rest...it was uphill climb all the way...imagine climbing up the stairs non-stop for 6 hours. =.= Saw an porter carrying 40kgs of garbage down the mountain...they do this everyday to keep the natural environment clean...tough job...salute!! It's pretty interesting to see 4 different landscapes along our journey coz of the different climates. At the earlier part of the hike, it was still all green but as we got higher, the color changed into orange-cinnamon and the plants are shorter.

It started drizzling after lunch but we still had to continue our hike coz we've still got a long way to go...luckily everyone brought raincoats. It was definitely tougher hiking in the rain coz it was muddy and slippery. Bro &amp; I was a ahead of the others so we managed to reach the next shelter before it started pouring. Some of them were really soaked by the time they got to the shelter. Luckily the rain stopped shortly after.

As we climbed higher, the landscape changed again...this time it was rocky. The surrounding was also misty as the weather turned colder.

We finally arrived Gunting Lagadan resthouse at 3pm after climbing for 6 hours...we took a lil' longer than the average time of 4-5 hours and I'm gonna say it's not because we're not fit...it's all because of the rain...haha! :p

In fact, Laban Rata is the main resthouse, ours was 200m above Laban Rata so it was kinda troublesome coz we had to hike up &amp; down for our meals and the temperature up there was only about 8 celcius...definitely not fun being outdoor with sore legs. =.=

Nice sunset as we were having our dinner. =) We went to bed at 8pm...early huh! :p

16 August 2011 (Tues): Laban Rata - Low's Peak - Kinabalu Park - Kota Kinabalu

Our journey to the peak was split into two but it was a very imbalance split...haha! We hiked for 6 hours on the first day to get to Laban Rata but we had to hike for another 16 hours on the next day to reach the peak then hike back down to Kinabalu Park. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend anyone to take this challenge/risk if they're not physically and mentally prepared...this is quite an endurance test. It ain't easy waking up at 2am to hike under 5 celcius weather...felt like it took forever to reach the peak even though it was just 2.6km. =.= As most y'all know, I like taking pics but this time I wasn't as efficient coz I had to dig my camera out from my winter jacket's pocket every time and I was constantly worried that I might slip and fall down the mountain. :p

Had our supper at 2am before starting our journey to the summit. It was pitch-dark out there so we had to rely on our headlights. It's pretty cool to see one whole stretch of lights and not the hikers!! It's good that we were hiking in the dark...or else it would take even longer for me to reach the summit coz I would be busy taking pics. :p

The first 750m was a series of wooden ladders and the remaining 2km was only ropes and bare granite slabs. Some places were very steep (almost 70 degrees) and dangerous. I really held on tight to the rope for my dear life. Besides, my shoe wasn't really suitable for hiking coz it had no grip and I almost slipped off at some places...luckily I wore bro's jeans and used it to add some friction as I pulled myself up at those steep areas. I don't even dare to imagine what would happen if I really slip and tumble downhill. =.= Coincidentally, that day was the 15th of the lunar 'ghost' month and that was when the 'death gate' is opened (ok I know this is lousy translation)...thank god everyone stayed safe.

'Breaking dawn'...2km of granite slabs was really long and endless...it was really exhausting coz we couldn't see our destination (the peak) due to the mist and we just had to keep climbing uphill. The thin air and cold wind blowing in your face makes it more challenging.

Passed by South Peak and St. John's Peak...we're almost there!! The sky was turning bright but we could still see a full moon (bottom left pic). Awesome view!

Finally...few more meters to the peak!! That pile of rocks is Low's Peak! It was too misty so we didn't manage to catch sunrise.

Oh yeahhhh... the Twincredibles have conquered Mount Kinabalu!!!

We've all made it!!! All the effort just to take a pic with these 2 signs...lol!! Fyi, Low's Peak was named after Sir Hugh Low but it wasn't him that set foot first on the peak. Gunting Lagadan was the first native to set foot at the summit.

Magnificent view from the peak!! Can you spot the gorilla's face??

Absolutely breathtaking!!!

Camwhoring with South Peak. :p You'll be able to see this peak on your RM1 notes.

Amazing scenery on the way downhill. We were high above the clouds and mountains!

The climb downhill was pretty scary...definitely not for the faint-hearted. :p

Found some good pics from this site.

Back at Laban Rata to pack our bags, eat breakfast &amp; prepare ourselves for the 6km descent.

It was raining again our entire journey downhill. =.= It was muddy and slippery all the way. Going downhill was easier but it was straining on both our thighs and knees.

Luckily, my shoes lasted till the very last kilometer before it broke. I completed the last km of my hike with bro's sandals. :p

My left shoe already 'opened its mouth' before I arrive Laban Rata but our guide helped me to repair it using the shoelace. This enabled me to walk for another 5kms. :p The last pic shows how my shoe 'died'...haha!! Byebye my Nike!

Back at where we started all sore and tired. My leg muscles were aching badly for the next 4 days. =.=

~ Journey to Mount Kinabalu ~

Back to KK town &amp; stayed at Pacific Sutera Hotel for a night before flying back to Penang.

17 August 2011 (Wed): Kota Kinabalu - Penang

Famous Fish Head Noodles in KK.

Goodbye Sabah!!

We're on TV!!!

2011-08-13T05:44:00.001+08:00

Finally manage to share these short commercial clips...woohoo!!! Thanks AXN!!!

Training in Singapore

2011-07-24T14:50:00.003+08:00

18-20 July 2011 (Mon-Wed): Dell-APJ Training @ PwC Singapore

Back to work again after 'resting' for 11 days (5D Hanoi + 4D KL + 2D rest). The original plan was to have a week-long training in Singapore but it was shortened to 2 days to cut cost...well better than none. :p Besides, it's very rare that we get the chance to travel outside M'sia for training so I have no complains at all. =)

Stayed at Ibis Hotel...one room for myself. =) The hotel was pretty conveniently located near Bugis Street and Bugis Junction.

Jap food for first night's dinner at Itacho Sushi...Oyishi!

Penang's Dell team missing Ali, BC & Jennifer.

PwC Singapore...spent most of our time in sg here. We had 3 trainers...Brian & Mark who came all the way from the States and our Dell-APJ partner.

Even our lunch was ordered in...1st day Quiznos & 2nd day Berg...the angmoh type of lunch...cannot tahan if I have to makan roti for lunch everyday. =.=

The highlight for this trip is makan! James & Sheena brought us to Melben Crab at AngMoKio. The crab bee hoon (top left pic) was super yummilicious...very tasty soup!! Thanks to J & S for the treat! =)

Before...After...what a mess!!

Land of Motorbikes - Hanoi

2011-07-23T21:34:00.001+08:00

It was off-peak for me and I was 'advised' to clear some of my leave so randomly decided to take a short break to Hanoi...alone. This was quite a last minute decision so I booked my air tickets only 2 weeks before the trip...of course the tix were kinda pricey. =.= But I don't really have much options coz this was probably the best and only time for me to take some time away from work and go for a break this year. Besides, I'm neither a foodie nor a shopaholic so I guess it's fair to spend some of my hard-earned moolah on what I enjoy doing...i.e. traveling. =)

This was my first time traveling to Vietnam and I chose Hanoi over Saigon mainly because of UNESCO World Heritage Site - Halong Bay, while Saigon is perhaps just another crowded Southeast Asian city like Bangkok. :p

Coincidentally, 2 of my Vietnamese UGRAD friends (Diem & VietAnh) are also from Hanoi and VietAnh was back from the States for summer holidays so she offered to bring me around the city. Her friend, Hang was also kind enough to host me while I was there. I'm so so thankful for the warm hospitality that I received from my lovely Vietnamese friends. =)

7 July 2011 (Thurs): Penang - Hanoi

Heading off solo...first vacation all by myself. This explains why there aren't a lot of pics of me.

Arrived Hanoi Noi Bai airport at noon and was welcomed with 35 celsius heat. =.= VietAnh and her cousin came to the airport to meet me and we took a public bus (w/o air-con) back to the city together...a truly local experience...haha!!

It has been 2 years since I met her and we've got so much to catch up so we were talking all the way in the bus. Some other passengers were staring at us as if we were aliens and one lady even told my friend in Vietnamese asking us to shaddup...lol!! Well that's not very nice but I can totally understand that coz tourists don't usually travel by public buses and the locals from outskirts are not very comfortable with people speaking in languages that they don't understand.

Stopped by VietAnh's house for a short break and cool down a lil'. Her parents run a small cafe biz at the ground floor of their house and they made me a bowl of Pho...yummy! Honestly, I think Pho is kinda like our Koay Teow Th'ng. :p

Another truly local experience...rode on a motorbike on the streets of Hanoi!!! There were soooo many motorbikes and the traffic was crazy. They could do a u-turn almost anywhere on the road. Everyone keeps honking I dunno for what and some honks even had echoes. =.= Crossing a street was almost mission impossible...I could hardly find a gap to cross the road safely.

A short video clip that I took while riding on the motorbike to go book my Halong Bay tour for the next day. Consequences of this truly local experience...I got an exhaust pipe burn...unlucky me. =.=

This was my accommodation for this Hanoi trip...nice house with nice view. The houses in Hanoi are narrower but taller...theirs had 5 floors. =) Million thanks to Hang for hosting me.

8 July 2011 (Fri): Hanoi - Halong Bay

Woke up early and had Pho (again) for breakfast with Hang's dad before he dropped me off at the meeting point for my 2d1n Spectacular Halong Bay tour.

Some snapshots of local lifestyles

The journey from Hanoi to Halong took 4 hours and all we saw was fields after fields!! There were a total of 11 people in our tour group...mostly angmoh apart from a Vietnamese American & I. Most of the angmohs were traveling all around Southeast Asia so they were sharing and exchanging info among each other. It was pretty interesting listening to the conversation between 3 Irish girls and an Australian-Canadian couple.

Finally arrived the pier after 4-hours of bumpy ride...luckily I didn't puke. The pic on the right is our junk (p.s. junk as in jung...not trash). :p

Tadaa....my room on the junk!! I paid $10 extra for single supplement and got to enjoy this whole room for myself. =) Nice view from the window too!!

The dining area on the boat where we had all our meals. We had a pretty good mix of nationalities on the boat...Irish, Canadian, Australian, Belgian, American, German, French, Vietnamese and Malaysian. =)

Countless limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes as we sail through Ha Long Bay. All I can say is pictures really don't do justice to the beauty of this place. It was so relaxing enjoying the sun, breeze and scenery...absolutely breathtaking!!!

Another thing that complements this amazing scenery is the traditional chinese style junks.

Visited Halong Bay's largest cave...Sung Sot (Amazing Cave).

View of the bay from the cave.

We were given an hour to kayak aimlessly...luckily the one who was kayaking with me knew how to kayak or else I would be exhausted.

Saw some floating houses around that area...kinda similar to the ones we saw in Tonle Sap lake. Their houses are small but it ain't too bad coz they have such nice views everyday while we had to pay $100 just for 2 days. :p

Time to swim...or should I say jumping of the boat! :p Few of us 'bo kia si' people took turns to jump off the boat from the top deck...very cool!! In fact I didn't even know how deep it was. :p

Our tour guide suggested us to all jump together...I'm the one at the furthest end. Credits to Kayla for this AMAZING pic!! She's currently traveling around SEA...checkout more pics on her blog.

Sunset @ Halong Bay.

Enjoying the dusk before the bay fades into total darkness.

A summary of my first day in Halong Bay. The jumping off boat part starts at 1:10. =)

Demonstration of how to make Vietnamese spring roll before dinner.

9 July 2011 (Sat): Halong Bay - Hanoi

Woke up at 5am hoping to see sunrise but our boat was anchored at a very 'strategic' location. An isle totally blocked my view. =.= Instead of sunrise, I saw rainbow.

Yes I know all the limestones looks similar but I still can't stop taking pictures coz I was too bored. :p

The sky got darker and finally...pouring rain...and we were out on the junk in the middle of nowhere!! The wind was strong but surprisingly our boat didn't rock much. All of us had to stay indoor with nothing to do. =.=

Rain stopped so went back up to the sundeck to enjoy the scenery...and took more pics. :p

Chilling at the sundeck for the rest of the tour.

After lunch, it was time to say goodbye to tranquility and head back to the hustle and bustle of Hanoi.

After returning from the tour, Hang brought me to Quan An Ngon for some yummylicious Vietnamese food. Clockwise from left: 1. Pho Cuon (Noodle Rolls) 2.Nom Thap Cam (Mixed Salad) 3. Bun Thang (Chicken Noodles) 4. Bia Hanoi (Hanoi Beer) 5. Banh Tom (Crispy Shrimps)

Thanks Hang!!! =) We were supposed to meet up with VietAnh but she couldn't make it for the dinner.

Went for a stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake. The translation of Hanoi in Chinese means a city between the rivers. I guess that's why they have so many lakes...should be called 'city of lakes' instead. :p

10 July 2011 (Sun): Hanoi City Sightseeing

First stop...Museum of Ethnology. I'm not a fan of museums but one of the statue exhibit caught my attention...haha! If you still don't know which 1...it's the bottom left pic. :p

I haven't mentioned...Hang and VietAnh was my tour guide for the day...thanks gals =) It started drizzling when we were at West Lake...

...and I insisted on walking in the rain all the way to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum...I was soaked...haha!! :p

It was pouring again so we took a cab to the Old Quarters for lunch.

More Vietnamese food...woohoo!! This is Bun Cha (grilled pork with noodle).

Hanoi used to be an administrative center for the French colony of Indochina and the buildings are very much influences by the French colonial architecture style. I was expecting the Old Quarters to be sort of like the French Quarter in New Orleans but it was nowhere near...haha!! It was more like the old small streets in Georgetown.

I didn't get to take pics of these French style buildings in Hanoi so got these from internet instead. I wanted to go to the Hanoi Opera House (left pic) but didn't coz it was raining already. It looked quite similar to the National Opera House I saw in Paris.

Another French colonial style building...Saint Joseph Cathedral. We decided to call it a day after visiting this church coz it was gonna rain. We thought we were lucky coz it only started to rain heavily after we got in a cab but a fallen tree blocked the road to Hang's house so we had to run in the rain and I was totally soaked. =.=

Big thank you to Hang & VietAnh for being such great hosts!! =) I would be more than happy to host when y'all visit Malaysia!

Another truly local experience...a meal with Vietnamese family. =) Had Hoi An chicken that Hang made, kangkung, gio & lychee!

11 July 2011 (Sun): Hanoi - Penang

Time to bid goodbye to Hanoi. If anyone plans to go to Hanoi...rmb to take Vietnam airlines bus to and from the airport coz it's really cheap ($2) compared to a cab ($16). =)

Guess what I was watching on Singapore Air?

UGRAD Excursion

2011-07-13T16:53:00.000+08:00

July 2-3 (Sat-Sun): Global UGRAD Malaysia Taiping Excursion

Global UGRAD Malaysia Alumni organized a short trip to rainy town-Taiping to reunite 3 batches of alumni and share their experiences with the new batch of UGRADers who will be embarking on their journey to the United States this Fall. 10 UGRADers from all over M'sia (KhaiSheng, Khai Shing, Sean, YeongRu, ChoonSian, KiaLeh, Nasha, YuPing, Wilson & WeiJiet) traveled to Taiping for this excursion.

Ice-breaking session...getting to know the newbies.

Taiping Lake Gardens.

Time for a group photo!

Some activities for the afternoon...played Ninja (aka US version PepsiCola) & Word Game.

Alumni shared their UGRAD experiences with the newbies and answered their queries to help them better prepare for their brand new journey.

Twincredibles Conquers AXN Big Challenge!

2011-07-12T12:23:00.003+08:00

I'm lovin' June & July...work is less hectic and life is more happening...leggo!! =) As mentioned in my last post, we were one of the top 3 teams in Penang that got through to the AXN Big Challenge finals that took place in KL last last weekend. It's been 2 weeks since the super-duper-awesome challenge but I'm still burning with excitement so I'm gonna share all about this experience here...be prepared for a long-winded post. :p Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of pictures to share yet coz we were too busy running around the malls and our 'camera crew' (aka my parents) couldn't keep up with us all the way...hahaha!! :p

June 25 (Sat): Penang & JB Teams Interviews

Even though the final was on Sunday, the organizer wanted all 6 outstation teams (3 from Penang & 3 from JB) to arrive one day earlier for an interview. So my supporter team (mom & dad) and I drove down to KL in the morning and picked up bro who just landed from Langkawi before heading over to One Utama.

As the prelim round for KL was going on in the mall, the producer asked us to go outdoor to the park to shoot the interview. This was my first time ever doing a video/tv interview...kinda awkward coz talking in front of the camera was definitely not my thing but it was a very interesting experience. =) There was a videoman, a sound guy, and the producer. The producer gave us about 5 questions and asked us to think about what we wanted to talk about. So after discussing and deciding who to talk what, the videoman started recording. Of course there were several NGs either coz the mic was senget, or our conversation wasn't smooth, or bro 'naturally' faded away before the camera stop running...lol! But for a first timer, I think we did quite a good job...even the producer said she gave us few more extra questions coz she thought we answered quite well...haha! :p

KL prelims...so many people! I was actually kinda happy when they announced the top 10 semi-final teams coz they were all guys...that means I'm gonna be the only female in the finals...hahaha!!

After the interview, Gerry from AXN and Edora from Spanner Works (the events company) briefed us about the final on the next day and passed us our hotel keys. It was great that the organizers put us up in Eastin for 2 nights. =)

Our hotel room. Thanks AXN! =)

All PG and JB teams were advised to familiarize ourselves with the mall coz the KL teams definitely have homeground advantage for this. Even though I studied in KL for 2 years, it didn't really help me at all coz I'm not a mall goer. :p We spent about 3 hours walking around the whole mall trying to remember each and every shops...of course that was mission impossible la! By the time we got to 2nd floor, I've already forgotten what's on G and 1st floor. =.= Anyway, some preparation is better than no preparation. :p

Btw, thanks to facebook, most of my colleagues knew that Leng Hin & I were going for the finals in KL so I guess it's right to say that we've got quite a strong moral support team...lol!

June 26 (Sun): AXN Big Challenge Final
This was the 'big' day, time for all 10 finalist teams to show what they've got to win the grand prize of RM15,000!! Honestly, I didn't really do any physical training to prepare for this final coz I was sore for almost a week after the prelim round in Penang and I didn't want to work myself too hard the week before the final to avoid my muscle from aching again. Haha...a lot of excuses hor! :p

Team TWINCREDIBLES all set for the AXN Big Challenge!

We arrived 1U around 10.30am for another round of briefing by the organizers, filled up some forms, warmed up a lil', sealed our cellphones, then stand by backstage before Vanessa (the host for the day) introduced each teams on stage.

During the briefing, we were informed that there would be two parts for the final. For the first part, there would be 10 check points and we'll have to solve the clue cards to find the checkpoints then complete all tasks in each checkpoints. Yeah it's sorta like Amazing Race, just that this was in the mall. The 5 fastest teams to complete this first challenge would advance into the second challenge which would determine the ultimate winner of the grand prize. Regardless of whether you came in 1st or 5th in the first challenge, it would not be brought forward to the second challenge coz the second part was a new round of challenge altogether.

Host for the event...Vanessa Chong. =) She's one of the sisters in 'The Strong Chongs' who won 1st runner-up in the 2nd season of Amazing Race Asia.

Group picture of the 10 finalist teams before starting our first challenge.

Before the race started, we were given a race passport. Our task was to get all 10 stickers from each checkpoints (CP) upon completing each tasks. We were also given the clue cards CP 1-6 in a sealed envelope. FYI (if you're interested in the description of how the challenge works), the first 6 CP can be completed randomly. That means each teams can go to any of the 6 CPs in any sequence. And if we're unlucky, we may have to wait for the team who arrived earlier to finish their task before proceeding with ours. As for CP 7-10, we were required to complete each tasks in sequence.

Doing my signature jumpshot at the starting point. :p Look how 'energetic' I was when the race started...hahaha!!

As I mentioned above, our 'camera crew' only managed to take photos and videos of our first CP...wall climbing. They lost us from the 2nd CP till the last CP coz both of us were just running around like crazy using the stairs, elevator, and escalator looking for the checkpoints. Luckily my parents didn't run with us, abo they'll sure pengsan...haha!! Dad didn't even know that we have already completed all the checkpoints when he heard Vanessa saying that the first team has arrived coz he didn't think we would be that fast...hahaha!! :p

Honestly, our team definitely used internet to our best advantage for this challenge. Besides, the 'homework' that we did the day before also helped us familiarize ourselves with the layout of the mall...Rainforest, Oval, Highstreet, Promenade...or else we would definitely got lost...haha!! :p

Camp 5 was our first CP. We basically just tried our luck by getting into the lift and went all the way up to 5th floor even before reading all the clue cards. :p Good guess huh!! This task wasn't too difficult, but I was more cautious to avoid slipping/falling and getting time penalty.

Upon completing this task and obtaining our sticker & puzzle, we rushed down the stairs to level 3 car park for our 2nd CP...the fishing game. We were the 3rd team to arrive but luckily they had 3 bins so we didn't have to wait. Bro was the one fishing while I gave instructions coz he's got long hands and legs...haha! This game looked easy but it required quite a lot of patience coz it was kinda frustrating when the magnet just wouldn't 'suck it up'...hahaha!

Credits to Chris KY (the race marshall for this CP) for sharing this on her blog. =)

Oh btw, I just found out that being the odd team out, we do have some supporters when I stumbled upon these 2 blogs (xuanneh & deathly scorpia) while googling 'AXN Big Challenge'.

After 'doing the same thing over and over again expecting different result (=insanity)', we finally completed our task. =) Without wasting anytime, we went for our 3rd CP which was also in Rainforest...ran all the way down the escalator to LG to the Teh Tarik Place. For this CP, one of us had to answer 10 questions and try to get as many correct as possible while the other will have to score 6 goals by using a binoculars. Thank god I wasn't the one doing the questions coz there were quite a lot of football questions...haha!! Bro did a pretty good job getting 8 correct answers. No penalty for us. =)

Since we were already at LG, we decided to go up one floor to the outdoor CPs. There were 2 CPs at the Central Park and one more on the other side of the mall so we strategized our route to avoid exhausting ourselves running back & forth. We ran non-stop from checkpoints to checkpoints and I was already a bit exhausted when we were running to the 4th CP. As I was gasping for breath and walking slowly into the park, one camera man was standing there asking us to run while he took very un-glam pics of us running...lol!!

So this was our 4th CP. The task is for one of us to go through these obstacles blindfolded while the other person gave instructions. As you see from the middle pic, that is usually how ppl play this game. But the rule doesn't disallow us to crawl through the whole thing...and that's exactly what I did...hahaha!! I ended up with grasses all over me but who cares, that was the fastest and best way to complete this task...totally don't care bout how I look in front of the camera anymore. :p Credits to the race marshall for this CP for sharing these pics on his blog. =)

The other CP in the park was the easiest of all. Just scoop up the balls with alphabets to form the words given. Some teams missed out one of the CP in the park so they wasted some time running elsewhere then came back again.

Our last random CP was at the upper roof...the Batting Cage. Each of us had to hit 5 baseballs in 15 tries. I've never played baseball and it was definitely not easy. I see the ball coming, swung my bat, but I hit nothing. =.= Then we decided to change our strategy, who cares about looking pro and hitting it the right way, we just held our bat upright and aim to 'hit' the ball...well it's more like the ball hitting our bat not us hitting the ball with the bat. :p Anyway, this tactic worked well and each of us only got one penalty.
Upon completing the first 6 CPs, we would have collected 6 puzzle pieces which would be the clue for our 7th CP. The picture led us to a lift whereby we were required to count the number of logos on a poster while we took the lift from G floor to 5th floor. We were lucky coz the lift that we got on went all the way down to B2 and stopped every floors so we had ample time counting and recounting those logos. =)

CP 8 was a picture of a view and we had to look for the place that has this view, we spent quite some time looking for this location but luckily it didn't take us too long to find it. We were the first team to arrive in this CP, that means we were still leading the game. =) For this task, bro was blindfolded and I gave him instructions to solve a jigsaw puzzle. As we were working on the puzzle, 2 more teams arrived so we were a lil' pressured but still we managed to complete the task slightly faster and headed off straight to the 9th CP.

The 9th CP was at Celebrity Fitness. We were required to complete 4 tasks in sequence: 1km running on the treadmill (bro), 10 times weightlifting (me), 20 push-ups (bro), 20 sit-ups (me). While bro was running (I didn't wanna do this coz I was already exhausted from all the running around), I took some time to rest for a bit. When it comes to my turn to do the weightlifting and sit-ups, the camera crew was right in front of me shooting me doing all these...my goodness...I have totally no idea how exhausted I look anymore. Hopefully, if this clip is aired, nobody who knows me will see it...hahaha!!

It was quite 'gan cheong' when we saw the 2 other teams arriving at the CP coz we only had one more CP to go to complete this first part of challenge and stand a chance to enter the 2nd round of the final. The moment we finished our task in Celebrity Fitness, we ran straight down the stairs back to our starting point at G floor Highstreet. The privilege for being the first team to go to the final CP is...the camera crew followed us to run down the stairs. I was basically jumping 2 steps down but the camera crew had to go slower with all their eqiupments, and bro even asked me to slow down so that they could keep up with us. Lol...so desperate to be caught on camera meh? :p

The final CP was to arrange the different types of food into the correct category in the food pyramid. We got a penalty of 30 seconds here for making a mistake in one of the category. Upon completing this final task, we rushed to the finish line to clock in our time...1 hour 51 minutes!! We didn't know if we were the first for this challenge yet coz the we still had to add up our penalty time to it. But I kaypo-ed the 2^nd & 3^rd teams' time plus penalty, did some mental calculation, we were only about a minute ahead of them...woohooo!! =)

Since we were the first team to arrive, we had some time to rest and did another interview while waiting for all the teams to get back. We were pretty confident that we would be one of the top 5 teams to advance into the 2^nd round but it was quite nerve-wrecking thinking about the next challenge. We had totally no idea what we were gonna do but it was obvious that there would be flying fox and traversing from 3^rd floor.

After all the teams finally completed the first challenge, it was time for Vanessa to announce the results for the first round. Hahaha...the odd team out with 'the only female contestant' got number 1 for this challenge. :p Another JB team also got into the 2^nd round while the other 3 teams were from KL. All top 5 teams were pretty strong (apart from us) coz the JB team was marathon & triathlon runner, and one of the KL team was wall climbers. Honestly, I was glad enough to the finals in KL, didn't even thought that we could come this far. I think we were really lucky.

The race director explained about our task for the second challenge...one of us will have to traverse (walk & balance on a rope) and collect 5 puzzle pieces along the way, while the other will have to take a pic of the one traversing while doing flying fox down. After both members completed doing these 2 things in the air, we'll have to complete a puzzle then run up the stage to shout the slogan. The fastest team to complete this task (incl penalty) will be the grand prize winner.

Deciding who to do what was easy for us, I was the one traversing across coz I'm shorter, better in balancing and bro has fear of heights. Besides, I've done something like this before in Sheffield. :p Even so, I was so freakin' nervous and it's even worse coz we had to wait for 3 teams to complete the task before it was our turn. =.= When it was finally our turn to do the challenge, all the nervousness went away and I traversed across the mall at 3^rd floor with style...slow & steady....haha!! :p I was extremely careful not to drop any of the puzzle pieces coz we would be disqualified if I dropped any puzzle pieces or fall off the rope. :p Even though bro's task was relatively easier, he did a good job taking a perfect pic of my upper body and solved the jigsaw puzzle pretty quickly.

Finally, we're done with all the challenges and it was time to find out the results. Vanessa started from the 5^th place, then 4^th, then 3^rd...still haven't heard our team name...that means we were either 1^st or 2^nd. There were 2 teams left...the JB team and us...we were all on suspense mode...gan cheong gan cheong...and the camera crew were zooming at 4 of us. Then she announced the 2^nd place...Solomon USJ!!! OMG...that means Twincredibles is numero uno!!!!!! =) =) That was just unbelievable!!! Oh yeahhh...the only team with female wins the challenge...hahaha...that's just plain awesome!!!!! After the mock cheque presentation, we did another round of interview with the AXN crew and the press release company. =)

Honestly, the satisfaction of achieving something that most people thought impossible meant so much more to me than the cash prize of RM15k. I'm thankful to all the people (especially the females) who've encouraged and supported 'this only female contestant' from the prelim round till the finals. Hope I've made us (cha bohs) proud and prove that gals can achieve great heights too...hahaha!!

This was one of the finalists' status...the 2nd last comment made me laugh out loud! :p

Celebration dinner with my supporter team. :)

Media coverage:
1. AXA Affin (Full Press Release)
2. The Sun (5 July 2011)
3. The Malay Mail (6 July 2011)
4. Myfriends2u Blog

Cropped from AXN website =)

That's all for my long-winded story. Thanks to Vietnam for blocking fb and made me spend more time typing this long story...lol! Next post will be short...don't worry...hehe!! :p

Twincredible Weekend!!

2011-06-17T10:18:00.004+08:00

I've abandoned my blog long enough...pardon me for my long absence. :p Peak is finally over and I'm now officially recruited into Dell's regional team. That means I'll be working on this client at least till next March but I reckon this would be a good platform to learn something different. Being put in this position has taught me an important lesson - to be happy or sad...it's all about your own perspective and how you choose to look at a situation. =)

Now that peak and exam is over, it's time to color up my life again. :p As you see from the title of this post...I fully utilized my weekend to do some twincredible stuff. :p Coincidentally, both events were held in Penang Times Square so I practically spent my entire weekend at the same place (believe or not this was my first time there).

June 11 (Sat): AXN Big Challenge Prelim in Penang

I knew I wanted to try this out the moment I saw the ad on AXN. And the best person I could think of to make a team was my bro coz it's not easy to find people who are crazy like me. :p We had to submit a pic for the application and this was what we submitted.

Yes, it was my idea to do this crazy pose...it turned out to be a pretty cool pic that served multi-purpose. :p My dear friend asked why I take pic with my leg buka-buka...thanks for the very awkward question that left me speechless. =.=

I was actually contemplating if I should blog about this now coz the KL prelim is still not over yet. But then again, my blog is not popular so whoever is hardworking and kiasu enough to do research about this challenge...then lucky you if google brought you here. :p After all, this challenge requires fitness and luck...sorry that my blog can't help in either of these. :p

We were only informed to wear sports attire and sports shoes...totally no idea what we were gonna do for this prelim round. I thought there would be some running around the mall but when I got there, it was already quite 'lao juak' and some participants were already doing push-ups and sit-ups. Yup...the qualifying round was pretty quick & straightforward...just do as many push-ups & sit-ups within 30 seconds and they'll pick the top 10 teams out of 66 teams for the semi-finals...a lil' disadvantageous for teams with females though.

One of my friend said she was 'inspired' by this...are you kidding me???? This is not a good example okay...my abs was sore for few days as a result of this 30 seconds. :p

This pic is just to show that we were there at the challenge. :p Btw, we had a very 'gao bin puih' team name...called "Twincredibles"!! =) If you were wondering why I wore a trackpants instead of shorts...it was because this pants had pockets...and I thought we may need pockets to keep our stuff. :p

Our supporter team. We were the only team with supporters from beginning till the end.

The top 10 semi-finalists. I reckon we did a pretty good job for the qualifying round huh? :p If you haven't noticed, there were only 2 girls were in the finals.

With the emcees for the event...Jentzen & Vanessa. All semi-finalists were asked to change into the AXN Big Challenge T-shirt. Mine was totally oversized coz they only had 'L'.

Had to ride this mini bike to go around the course. Bro's long leg was definitely not good this time...haha!!

Had to climb up & down 6 times to collect all the puzzle pieces. Definitely not easy coz 3 teams couldn't complete this challenge and I was the first female who managed to complete this task in the AXN Big Challenge. =)

Oh yeah...we're one of the top 3 teams that will be advancing to the finals in KL!

http://www.axn-asia.com/axnbigchallenge/malaysia/penang

Cya'll in KL in one week's time.

June 12 (Sun): Twins Party

Since bro was already back for the weekend, I thought we might as well just go for this twins party at Times Square. Besides, we've never participated in anything like this before so I thought it would be quite interesting. We submitted our photo on fb earlier for the most popular twins contest..and of course we didn't win...but still thanks to everyone who have 'liked' our pic. It was pretty cool to see so many twins there...from newborn babies to 57 year-old uncles. =)

The winners for the Most Look Alike twins...so cute right??

We won something too...the Most Talented Twins!! Hahaha...talented...really??? I'm sure many of you can guess what we performed. Yeah...Oops...we did it again! :p

Haha...we appeared on 15 June 2011 光华日报! Can you spot us?

The Peak Thus Far

2011-04-24T00:49:00.001+08:00

I've been working for 4.5 months now...peak period is still not over yet but at least I'm still surviving. I joined at a 'perfect' timing...right at the beginning of peak and when others are quitting. Right or wrong choice...I don't know...but doubt is definitely there.

I used to say 'dare to dream' and this was the theme for the ACCA conference that I organized 3 years ago...but what am I doing now? "Dream big to achieve a milestone"...but when you start 'dreaming', people around you just think that you're day-dreaming, ignorant and ask you to be more realistic...which is kinda sad.

Anyway, here are some very limited pics that I've got for beach day and work.

Volleyball & kayaking. No pics of me kayaking coz I didn't wanna risk soaking and spoiling the camera that 'he' gave me.

Newbies with the Boss, BBQ, karaoke.

Saw these flowers blossoming on my way to work...looks like sakura. :p I quickly dug my camera out from my bag to snap these while driving...multitasking fail. :p

That's what we do...we mess up meeting rooms with lots of files. ;p

View from client's office.

Another view...and yes we work day & night.

View of Penang bridge and land reclamation for construction.

The reclaimed land in the pic above will become this in the future...pretty impressive huh!

Fellow Penangites...this could be the coastline for Penang in 6 years time...can y'all picture that?

Start of a Chapter

2011-04-17T02:56:00.000+08:00

Mar 1-11: Newbies Orientation & Training

After coming back from my convocation, I traveled down to KL again the next day together with the other 5 newbies from Penang. This orientation came a lil' late for few of us coz most of us started working since January. :p Anyway, it was pretty good coz we got to take a short break away from work (but still had to work in the hotel la) and it was much easier for us to understand what was being taught coz we've had on-field training prior to this.

Our accommodation...Cititel Midvalley. 3 of us shared a room for the first week so we got a bigger room which was quite nice. =)

First day of orientation at Sheraton Imperial Hotel. There were more than 100 new hires in KL for the March intake...that explains the turnover in this field huh! :p

Sumptuous international buffet lunch in the hotel...one day only. :p

All new joiners from Penang office for this batch...5 from assurance and 1 from tax.

2nd shift...balik hotel terus kerja. =.=

Everyone got a new t-shirt with new logo.

Had a treasure hunt at KL Sentral and guess what...we were the champions! :p

View from KL office...Penang's office view is still nicer. :p

Apart from the first day in Sheraton...we spent the rest of the time in this training room. Obviously, we all looked pretty bored...lol!

Another group photo on the last day of training.

Brought all our big and small bags to the office...kinda awkward coz we were leaving while everyone came back from lunch so had to say 'bye' to everyone we met. =.=

End of A Chapter

2011-04-11T01:27:00.004+08:00

Feb 26-27 (Sat-Sun): Sheffield Hallam University Convocation

Yes I know...this is another long overdue post. Not really in the mood to blog lately...which is definitely not a good sign at all. =.= Haiz...work sucks you dry till you have no life! (lol...it rhymes). Aight back to topic, my family and I traveled down to KL over the weekend to attend my convo. This is the 2nd convo that I've attended and it marks an official end to my study life after 18 years (well at least for now). Glad that this chapter ended on a good note, managed to get first class for BA(Hons) in Accounting & Finance but don't think it matters after all. So here's a short update of my undergrad convo at One World Hotel.

Thanks to aunt and cuz for hosting us in KL. =)

Some pics before the ceremony. Thanks bros for the flowers and the graduation pics! =)

Look at the amount of graduates...majority are the dragon babies! =.= Totally chaotic...I gave up looking for my friends coz everyone looked the same in that robe!

Alright...let's get the ceremony started. And then you start to wait, and wait, and wait...

After waiting and being bored for more than an hour...finally it's my turn! And everything's over in 10 seconds. =.=

Quickly snap few pics on the stage while all the kiasu people were busy fighting for food outside the hall and before everyone else block the stage. :p

Desperately needed to get away from the crowd so we decided to take our family pics outdoor. =)

Didn't take any pics with my friends coz it was too chaotic but at least managed to get one with Ms G. Thanks for crossing my path and helping me so much since 2007...really appreciate everything! =)

Had yummylicious lunch at Pasta Zanmai before heading back to Penang. =)

Life's Like A Box of Chocs?

2011-03-13T16:48:00.001+08:00

Too many things have been going on and lots of thoughts have been going through my mind lately...nobody that I wanna speak to so I'd rather just write it out here. I'm not good in expressing myself so instead of saying the wrong things and making ppl misunderstand me...I'd better do it here. :(

Looking back at my blog posts since 2007, I think I've really done and achieved a lot over the past 4 years. I'm actually quite impressed with myself for having the courage and drive to constantly challenge myself, strive and achieve new heights. Most importantly, I've enjoyed every moment of it. But...what about now?

I don't know if anyone noticed what I shared at the end of my blog...that used to be my motto. It's sad to say this but I'm using 'used to be' coz I feel like I'm going against everything that I wrote there now. :(

I mentioned before that 'life ends when you start working'...it may not be true to others but I really do think so...at least for me. My life used to be pretty colorful and I was able to do a lot of things that I wanted to achieve...like what I wrote in my motto. "Life doesn't hold tryouts"...being a radio contest freak...I won myself a free trip to Hawaii to see BSB...it's kinda unbelievable but I made it...coz I didn't stop trying. "Pushing the limits to bring out the best in me"...I know I'm not smart and I may not be the top in class...but I've tried my best to do well academically to make my parents proud. "Learn & explore as much as possible in life"...I got the scholarship to go over to the States for a year and had the chance to learn, explore and experience so many things that I never knew possible.

I just realized nobody really cares about everything that I've done...I'm the only one who's living in my own little world and happy over everything that I achieved in the past. People wished I didn't get the scholarship and regretted that they allowed me to go to the States...all bcoz of one thing. Nothing have changed since 2.5 years ago no matter how hard we've tried...I should have known this earlier. Perhaps I knew it...just that I was hoping for miracles. I guess it's all my fault coz I'm the only stupid and naive one who's trying to go against all odds. The fact is...nobody cares...period.

I tried to achieve so many things over the last few years...for what? Just so that I can get a job that I wanted. And yes indeed I've got the offer...the offer was only for 4 people in Malaysia and I was lucky to be one of them selected. I was only one step away from it but had to turn it down coz that's not what everyone wanted me to do. And that's the reason why I said life ended once I started working...I'm just doing what everyone wanted me to do. It seems like I'm moving further away from everything that I desire to do. Sometimes I wonder...what's the point of having an ambition coz at the end of the day...most of them doesn't come true anyway. I really admire people who have the courage to strive for their dreams.

What about 'dare to dream' and 'live life without regrets'?? I'm bout to make another step away from what I want again. Haiz...I'm kinda lost, disappointed and sad...what should I do? :(

Touring Kuala Lumpur

2011-03-11T18:36:00.001+08:00

Touring KL?? Doesn't sound very exciting huh...hehe! :p Well...this blog post is not meant for my Malaysian friends to read la coz I'm sure you guys wouldn't be interested anyway. :p

So after Siem Reap, we continued our SEA tour in KL for a couple of days. Thanks to bro, cousin, and Rachel for hosting both of us while we were in KL.

December 27 (Mon): KL City Speed Walking Tour

Our KL tour starts immediately after coming back from Siem Reap...had lunch at Secret Recipe in KL Sentral (introducing Daniel to our successful Malaysian franchise).

No car so had to travel by public transport...took the Monorial to the starting point of our free walking tour led by Sheng.

Petaling Street a.k.a. Chinatown.

Another Sri Mahariamman Temple in KL.

Walk...walk...walk...just followed our 'tour leader'...gotta walk fast coz it was gonna rain.

Masjid Jamek and ...dunno the names of those buildings. :p

Merdeka (Independence) Square and the Sultan Abdul Samad building. Tallest flagpole in the world? They were setting up the stage for New Year's eve countdown.

KL looks quite nice from these pics huh?

Took a break and had rootbeer float at Old Town after all the walking.

Old train station.

Don't remember the name of this temple.

December 28 (Tues): Batu Caves

Rachel generously pinjam-ed me her car for a day coz I had to go for an interview in the morning before continuing our tour in KL. Almost lost my way coz I didn't know how to go to Batu Caves. :p

Ooo-laa-laa...time for some work out. =)

Inside the cave...it's been a loooong time since I last came here. I was just a kid when I last came...I didn't climb the stairs at all coz I was too afraid of all the monkeys around so dad was the one carrying me up last time...haha!! :p

Yes...all these naughty monkeys.

Another chinese temple again...Tian Hou Gong. It was my first time coming to this temple as well.

This temple was used as filming site for a lot of CNY albums. But Daniel thought Kek Lok Si was much nicer than this. :)

December 29 (Wed): KLCC Twin Towers

Woke up early hoping to get the tickets to go to the skybridge but we were too late...all the tickets were gone by the time we arrived. =.=

'Chiak ba sio eng' posing with the 2 'corns'.

Some interesting graffiti.

Upon Mr Daniel's request, we finally visited a mosque...the National Mosque =.= Had to wear this 'cool Harry Potter' robe to enter...why izit purple har??? All the tourists dressed like this...so weird la!

Another request from him...The Islamic Arts Museum. =.= Luckily I had my ISIC student card so paid less for entrance fee. Guess what's my favorite exhibit in the museum??

Answer: The Bench!! =.=

Went to Seoul Garden with Rae & Shal for BBQ+Steamboat buffet dinner.

That's all for now...I'm actually on the bus back from KL to Penang...training ended today. I'd better stop typing before I puke...bouncy bouncy...this Konsortium bus driver a bit ganas lar. =.=