Getaway. Get Away.
Fly
Not to the moon
But to the sea
Bathe
Not in the tub
But under the sun
Soak
Not in water
But in sweat
Walk
Not on the street
But on the sand
Sun. Sea. Sand. Sweat.
Where else can you get the 4 S’s?
The beach.
~ Ashley
I’m going to the beach! Yes! This time, my resolution will be, to get myself a good tan!!! Okay, you must be thinking that I’m crazy. Why would someone want to trade her the-fairest-of-them-all skin with a tan?! Hahahahahaha…… I don’t really like my fair skin, especially my legs!!! They’re so fair and I think they look like chicken feet. –____– Of course I wouldn’t get myself toasted! Just a good honey-looking tan will do. :D
Won’t be blogging for the coming few days, heard that internet access is very limited there. See you all in a bit. XOXO.
Bangkok City Hotel, Bangkok
If looking for hotel to stay in Taiwan was a challenge, looking for a decent hotel to stay in Bangkok was mission impossible! Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit, but it was so tough! I now realised it is a bliss for not having too many choices.
There are so many hotels in Bangkok. Take note here, MANY. Just go to TripAdvisor and search for “hotels in Bangkok” and you’ll understand what I mean.
How do you choose one out of so many? First, you gotta eliminate those that’s out of your budget. Then, you decide the location. Thirdly, look around and see if the hotel is near to any public transportation system. Then, read tons of reviews from the reviewers about the cleanliness and whatnot of the hotel. Finally, you make your own judgement and decision. Seriously, you can’t blame others for misleading/confusing you. Always remember, one man’s food is another man’s poison. What may be bad to others, can well be OK for you. So long as you are comfortable with what you choose.
The mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, didn’t make it easier for us. Melissa and I were headache about those reviews every now and then. This minute we thought we found a good, then we read something bad that freaked us out. We were going round the circle and it was pretty frustrating.
I saw a friend’s photo on Facebook about Citrus Sukhumvit 22, a very modern hotel. Then Melissa’s friend gave us a few suggestions and we short-listed Citin Pratunam too. I personally love Citrus Sukhumvit 22, but Citin Pratunam is slightly cheaper. So, we kind of decided to stay in Citin Pratunam and we planned to book the rooms when the date drew nearer.
Late March, Melissa came and told me one of our mutual friends, Vivian just came back from Bangkok and she stayed in Bangkok City Hotel, which is cheaper. Argh…… Another one to consider. -__- Of course we welcomed the choices, but too many choices made it more difficult to decide. Anyway, we went ahead with Bangkok City Hotel figured that we wouldn’t stay long in the room and a relatively cheap and clean one would do just fine. For a double/twin bedroom, it costs 1190 Baht per room per night, inclusive of breakfast.
The directions on how to reach the hotel, is unclear and confusing. The information provided on the hotel’s website was not very clear and it took us a while in the BTS station to figure out where exactly we should head to. Imagine 6 headless flies dragging their luggage walking here and there in the train station. LOL!!! Now I feel that it was funny. :P
Okay, for the ease of everyone, I’m going to tell you exactly how to go to Bangkok City Hotel, right from the Suvarnabhumi Airport. If you do NOT want to take a taxi from the airport, you can travel to the city by Airport Rail Link and get off at the last station, Phaya Thai. I can’t remember how much it costs, it’s not expensive don’t worry. It’s pretty convenient and comfortable. Again, I can’t remember how long it takes, not more than half an hour definitely. Here’s the link to the BTS’ website.
After you get off at Phaya Thai, purchase a ticket to Ratchathewi station. It is only one station, costs 15 Baht. When you reach Ratchathewi station, please take Exit 3. Exit 3 is the direction to go to reach Bangkok City Hotel. Walk for about 5 minutes until you reach an intersection, turn LEFT at the intersection. Don’t cross the road, just turn left. Walk for another 5 to 8 minutes and you’ll reach Bangkok City Hotel which is on your left.
If you’re up for the “adventure”, you can walk from the hotel to Platinum Mall, about 15 minutes walk. When you come out from the hotel, turn right, the way to go to Ratchathewi station. When you reach the intersection, cross the road and go straight. Walk all the way straight until you see the mall. Basically it’s like walking all the way straight from the hotel. :) I won’t say it’s near, because it was bloody HOT! However, if you do not mind the weather, it’s good to just walk.
All right, back to the hotel. The hotel is still pretty new, less than 2 years. So, you can expect that it is pretty modern and clean. Being Ashley, when I say clean, take my words for it. It is clean. Love the timber floorings in the room, I didn’t have to wear slippers in the room. :) It is pretty spacious with plenty of room for your luggage, especially after days of shopping, you do not have to worry about where to chuck your stuff.
You may want to request for a room at higher floors or a room facing the back of the hotel. The hotel is on the main street, you may get some noise from the traffic if you were at lower floors facing the street. We were staying at 9th floors facing the back of the hotel, totally quiet. :) Only some noises from the corridor if you so happen to have some noisy guests staying on the same floor.
There’s a small bathtub in the bathroom. There is some toiletries, they changed our towels and make up the room everyday. I don’t think they did a good job in cleaning the bathroom though, I could still see hair (my hair lah :P ) here and there in the bathroom. Well, since it was MY hair, I could live with that. As long as it was clean the first moment I stepped in. :) I broke my foundation bottle on the 4th day, the floor was sticky even after I cleaned up, thought they would clean it when they came to make up the room, but they didn’t. Came back at night and the floor was still sticky. -__- Perhaps I should have made mention to the housekeeping.
The TV channels available are rather limited, but well, we ain’t here for TV! So, we didn’t mind some boring shows. In fact, we have watched a very boring movie and a great movie in the hotel at night. Hahahaha. I still remember the titles, Lost In Translation and United 93. :P
The hair-dryer in the bathroom, takes ages to dry my hair. The air is not warm enough, and after 5 minutes of using, the handle becomes very hot. -__- If you’re someone who relies on hair-dryer to style your hair, just a little note for you that you’ll need more time to do that. Lucky for me I only need my hair to be 80% dry.
The hotel provides FREE wi-fi! WEEEEE!!! How cool is that huh? :D Just get the user ID and password from the front desk and you’re good to go. Please also note that you can only use one ID for one device. If you have multiple devices, you’ll need to get a few ID’s from the front desk then. The speed is pretty fast. Can’t complain. :)
The daily breakfast, is boring. They’re practically the same EVERYDAY. @__@ My taste buds couldn’t seem to agree to the taste of their fried noodles/rice, I was only having some pastries and cooked vegetables every morning. Well, it’s free, what do you expect? Just fill your stomach so that it can get you going until lunch time. If you seriously don’t like the breakfast in the hotel, there are lots of delicious food on the street. Don’t be too sceptical of them, they’re pretty hygienic. Most of all, they’re yummy. :)
Good thing about this hotel is, there are so many restaurants/street food when night falls!!! Along the street towards the hotel, it is so quiet during daytime, but it is so bustling with people and activity at night! We had our dinner there twice! Don’t know which one to go to? Choose the one with a lot of customers. Or, there is one that the tour agent in the hotel told us to go, when you come out from the hotel, walk towards your right, all the way until you reach the end of some GREEN hoarding, the one at the end of it is the famous one. We somehow missed it and went to the wrong one. Anyway, it was good too. :)
There are also some massage centres along the road. We went to the one few doors away from the hotel, costs us only 200 Baht for the foot massage. Do go to the tour agent in the hotel (located at the lift lobby) and ask for some massage vouchers from another massage centre, you’ll get some discount with the vouchers. :) Our men went for the Thai massage on the 4th day while we women went for shopping.
7-11 convenient store is at the corner of the street (left side of the hotel). In general, the hotel is at a pretty convenient location. TESCO Lotus is also nearby but you’ll need to take a cab. To get a cab in front of the hotel is very easy, the bell boy is more than happy to haul a cab for you. Just make sure that you insist on going on metre. After 2 days in Bangkok, we’ve learnt the fact that taxi is way cheaper than BTS if you travel with more than 2 persons.
We took a peek at the hotel’s guestbook and we were surprised to see that a lot of guests commented that the lighting in the rooms were too “romantic”. Hahahahaha. I must admit, it is. I find it a lil’ bit difficult to do my make-up and there’s no lights at the entrance/closet area. It didn’t surprise us at all when most of the guests commented that the breakfast was boring. :P
Again, if you’re travelling with a group of people, it is always wiser to take a taxi to your destinations. We hired 2 MPVs from the hotel to send 6 of us to Suvarnabhumi Airport on our last day. It only costs us 800 Baht in total! Comfortable, convenient and cheap! I was so happy that we didn’t have to go through all the hassles with the BTS. It takes about 40 minutes from the hotel to the airport, with some traffic.
Bangkok City Hotel isn’t a bad choice at all. Will definitely go back again, just because it is so near to Platinum Mall and Siam Paragon! Hahahahaha. :P
Looking in from the entrance, closet on the right.
There, there, the bed and my sleeping “beauty”. LOL! He refused to move away when I was taking photo! See the platform at the corner beside the windows? That is enough to put 2 luggage bags! Great convenient for us.
The bathroom. Pretty spacious and most importantly, clean and tidy.
Bangkok City Hotel:
268 Soi Petchburi 10 – 12 Petchburi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Bangkok Afterthought
Came back from a 5-day trip to Bangkok. It was an impromptu decision. We were supposed to go Redang Island for a trip together, but couldn’t work out the transportation and stuff. Andrew was asking “why not we go Bangkok”. We checked the flight ticket and MAS was having some promotion, the price was pretty reasonable, RM520 per person, return tickets.
We were having difficulties deciding on the hotel to stay. Not because of Bangkok doesn’t have any decent hotel, it is exactly the other way round. Too many good hotels that we got so confused and we weren’t sure which one to go with. Finally, between Citin Pratunam and Bangkok City Hotel, we chose the latter. It is pretty new and looks more trendy, and it is cheap. I’ll leave the hotel review for later.
Been hearing the negative sides of Bangkok city, I was pretty sceptical and worried about the safety and transportation. The moment I was in their skytrain (BTS), I got even more sceptical. When I had to walk under the extremely hot sun for 10 minutes from the BTS to the hotel, I was basically cursing everything under the sun. 10 minutes may sound very near, but try that under the super hot and humid weather lugging all the luggage on the not-so-easy-to-walk-on pavement. Lucky the hotel is good, I would have cursed even more if the hotel turns out to be otherwise. Lesson learned, don’t believe the “fairy tale” on TripAdvisor when the reviews said “it is near to the BTS with just 10 minutes walk”. For someone who walks fast, 10 minutes is near. For someone who walks moderate, 10 minutes is pretty far. Always, always, always take the weather into consideration.
There’s some similarity between Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok. The LRT here and the BTS in Bangkok, they’re not connected to most of the major shopping complex/malls! You reach the station, sometimes you will still have to walk about 5 to 10 minutes! It is another mistake to believe someone that told you, “it’s near, just a 5 to 10 minutes walk”. My goodness…… Seriously, I am not a lazy person, I can walk. However, to walk in such a weather is something I don’t appreciate. They also said that from one shopping mall to another is pretty near, I wonder how they define NEAR. When you are already tired from all the shopping and walking, to walk another 15 minutes to another shopping mall which appears to be “near”, is definitely tiring. Another lesson learned, stick to only 2 malls in one day! Even though it may appear to be near on the map, unless you really have the energy, don’t be too adventurous under such extreme weather.
Another similarity would be the taxi/cab. The taxi drivers will always try their luck to give you excuses of not using metre and charge you a sky-high amount for a very short distance. Never believe in them and always INSIST on going on metre. There are plenty of taxis, don’t have to worry that you can’t get one. We only compromised once for not going with the metre. The taxi fare is unbelievably cheap! If you’re travelling in a group of 3 or more, taxi is definitely cheaper than BTS.
Food is also cheap! For a meal of seafood dinner, we paid 160 Baht to 180 Baht averagely! 100 Baht is about RM10, you do the math. The price of food in the shopping mall isn’t too expensive too. You can easily get a bowl of noodles or some rice with less than 100 Baht! Unlike in major shopping malls in KL, usually you have to spend more than RM10 for one meal.
Shopping is cheap too. They have all these fashion malls offering wholesale prices. A piece of good quality dress only cost 200 Baht! Tell me, where to get it in Malaysia? The quality isn’t too bad at all! There are so many choices too! We could even get T-shirts at 95 Baht a piece!
However, I have this love and hate relationship with Bangkok. If the weather wasn’t this unbearable, I would have pronounced to the whole world that I LOVE Bangkok. Sorry, I can’t say that. Honestly, the weather is the biggest put-off to me. I would think twice if I want to visit Bangkok again. Perhaps in the month of February when it isn’t so hot.
Also, I am someone who fuss a lot over quality. I’ve been very choosy lately when it comes to clothes. When I find something of good quality, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy as long as the price isn’t too steep. However, if the quality couldn’t meet my expectations, I wouldn’t bother looking at the price even if it could be dirt cheap. I only bought 3 dresses in Bangkok, can you believe it?
I didn’t spend a lot in Bangkok, brought around 9900 Baht (RM1000), I still have 500 Baht left. Would have more if I didn’t buy cigarettes in the airport. Friends had been telling me that RM1000 wouldn’t be enough, I’m glad I went ahead with my decision. :P
So, will I be going Bangkok again? Yes, for shopping only!!! I don’t miss other stuff, only miss the cheap prices!!!
Photo taken by Andrew at Damnoen Floating Market.
Getting In The Mood
You know, when you know that you’re going to go on a vacation, the mood starts to settle in. Sometimes it kicks in a month before the trip, sometimes it only starts a week before. Generally, you will be in the mood for travel as the date approaches. You get excited, you start packing up, you look for places of interests and you are happy. You have that little voice in your head yelling “YAY” every morning you wake up. You can hardly wait! You even wish secretly that time could go a lil’ faster! You want to get out from this place and away from work soonest possible.
Hold on there…… I am writing in “YOU”, not “I”. Aaaahhhh…… Hmmmm…… Sigh……
I will be travelling to Bangkok tomorrow, with a bunch of lovely friends and Andrew. Seriously, the mood hasn’t come knocking. Hello Missy Travel Mood! Have you forgotten about visiting me?
Andrew was the one who booked the tickets. I wasn’t feeling anything back then either. When I booked the hotel a month ago, I was more like in a state of gotta-book-now-or-else-sleep-on-the-street.
I didn’t even bother to search for the attractions in Bangkok until last week. Melissa is the one who keeps feeding me the information and I felt so guilty. :P
I am not even doing the counting down. I did plan the itinerary with Melissa, but I do not “feel” it. I planned for the sake of planning, because I do not want to get the panic attack in such a foreign land where I can’t even understand their language.
I started packing for the trip last night, but still, I don’t “feel” it. I am worried about the HOT weather, I was trying to pack some casual and light-weight clothes. To my surprise, I have little of them. They’re either too plain, or I already feel HOT by just looking at them. I realised my wardrobe has either the working side of me, or the VERY casual side of me. There is nothing in between. Hmph! :(
This isn’t the first time I feel mood-less for a trip, but it is worse this time.
I am preparing for the sake of preparing. I know I am going somewhere, and that’s it.
I am not jumping with joy that I will be going for a vacation. There’s no little voice in my head yelling “YAY” everyday.
I know what I am doing and should do, but I am not feeling excited.
It’s like, “Okay, I’m going to Bangkok”.
Sigh…… What is wrong with me…… Going somewhere with a mood like this isn’t good. Guess I gotta switch it on “manually”, “Ashley, you’re going to Bangkok!!! YAY!!! Shopping!!! YAY!!! Food!!! YAY!!! Ayutthaya!!! YAY!!!”
Hope the travel mood will come when I see my friends tomorrow in the airport. Ya, their silly jokes can do magic. Wuahahahahaha.
Seoul In, Seoul Out #4
So, where did we go on the 4th day in Seoul? It’s shopping time!
Early morning, the tour guide brought us to the cosmetic duty free shop. All of us girls went crazy! We bought more than KRW500,000 altogether, got a hand-carry luggage as a free gift. Crazy shopping, I didn’t take any photos. Hahaha.
Later in the afternoon, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace (景福宫). A good place for photos. One of the tour guides told me a lot of couples come here for wedding photography. It was windy and gloomy that day, sort of giving the palace another kind of look under the gloomy sky. We were lucky that it didn’t rain heavily whenever we were out. :)
Since it was our last day in Seoul, did a major shopping in Myeongdong. Too bad we were only given 2 hours to shop, there are so many nice things in Myeongdong! I prefer Myeongdong than Dongdaemun.
We went to the JUMP show in the evening! It was so entertaining and hilarious! You can catch a glimpse of JUMP show on YouTube. For what is JUMP all about, read Wikipedia lah. :P
It’s all YELLOW!!! So pretty lah!
Our lunch, BBQ beef!!! Mashisoyo!!! Gosh… Miss it so much.
At Gyeongbokgung. *This is what you get when you give your DSLR to someone who’s unfamiliar with handling it. All the background people are in. Sigh.*
Magnificent!
Love this pic. :) Really wish Andrew was there with me. :(
Heading to Myeongdong for shopping. Shinsegae department store, didn’t get to go in. Sigh.
In Myeongdong! My favourite shopping place!
Skincare, skincare!
Clothes, clothes!
Food, food!
Aiyooo… Not enough time ah!!!
Our tour guides. The lady speaks good English. The guy is also the photographer.
On the 5th day, some of us who were on MAS flight left for their flight in the early morning. My colleague who shared the same room with me was on MAS. I, considered myself lucky to be on Korean Air, get to stay and hang around until 1pm. The tour guide brought us to Ewha Womans University (a very famous and prestigious university) and we again did some mini shopping there.
Since it’s a women university, it is surrounded by lots of boutiques and cafes. We went to this Zoo Cafe for some chillax moment. :) The interior is so unique and comfortable.
The university looks so nice. Not like us here so boring. -__-
Coffee time! I love giraffe! :D
My favourite mocha. Regretted that I did not bring back the cup. :(
This is not from Zoo Cafe. My colleague bought it in another cafe. The cup is cute. :D
On our way to Incheon Airport. See there’s a reddish layer on the ground? They’re crabs! So many of them, along the river!
Hello again Incheon Airport. Goodbye Seoul. :(
Ahhh…… I miss Seoul……
Seoul In, Seoul Out #3
On the third day, we visited DMZ, Korean Demilitarized Zone. You may read about all its history and such from Wikipedia, I’m just gonna spare my blog from all the reposting of history of which you can find in Wikipedia.
With so many tourists around, you do not get to feel much of the history around the area. I was merely enjoying the view. However, when we made our trip to the 3rd infiltration tunnel, the sense of history came rushing into the mind. The 3rd tunnel is the closest to Seoul, dug by the North Korean for a surprise attack on the South. We are not allowed to take photos in the tunnel, all our bags and cameras would have to be locked in the locker provided.
It’s no joke to go down the slope and walk back up!!! I can’t remember how long the slope is, but it is pretty steep, perhaps 200m. When we reached the tunnel, most of the time we had to hunch our backs and lower our heads. The tunnel is so low, we had to put on the helmet for protection. You can always hear the banging sound of the helmet against the rocky top of the tunnel. LOL! We walked another few hundreds metres into the tunnel until we reached the third barricade. No visitors are allowed to go past the barricade. The problem is, walk back up the slope!!! Oh boy, for a person who does not exercise to walk up the slope is like dying slowly. I’m not joking, but I am proud of myself. I only took 2 rests in between to come back up. I was sweating madly when I came up! With the knitted long sleeves shirt, gosh, I felt like taking off my clothes!
The DMZ was a great experience. If you happen to visit South Korea, make sure you go to DMZ.
After the tunnel visit, we went to see a 7-minute video in the theatre, briefly showing the war between the North and the South and how the DMZ formed. It’s so sad, to see so many people killed during the war. Sigh. We also went to the Dorasan Station, a train station which was once opened and then closed, the train travelled between South and North Korea. However, it is now only open for tourists. It does not transport people to and from North Korea. :(
After visiting DMZ, it’s time for, SHOPPING!!! We went to the Paju Premium Outlet which located, of course, in Paju. :P So many branded boutiques, but they’re cheaper than Malaysia!!! Yay! We were given 2 hours for shopping. 2 hours??? Seriously, 2 hours is not enough! Sigh…… I was busy shopping and didn’t want to waste time, I realised I didn’t take any photo in Paju Premium Outlet. Hahahahaha…… Shopping and photo, suddenly photo seems so unimportant. :D
Chinese breakfast. Not very nice.
Guarded post and fence along Imjin river, the river that runs from North to South. Security along the river is very heavy.
At Imjingak.
The wish ribbons.
The railway that runs in between the North and the South.
Imjingak during autumn is just so beautiful!
Dorasan Observatory deck. To take photo, you have to stand about 3-4m away from the binoculars, behind a yellow line. If you’re caught taking photos within the yellow line, the soldier will come immediately to demand you to delete the photos from your camera. It happened to one of the Korean tourists. Please obey all the rules when you’re in DMZ.
Dorasan Station.
Steamboat lunch again. A bit “jelak” already. @__@
Ginseng chicken for dinner!!! Superb! Yummy!
There goes our 3rd day in Seoul. Huh…… Time flies.
Seoul In, Seoul Out #2
By following a tour, we tend to be more disciplined. Woke up at 6.30am, as we had to gather at 7.30am for breakfast and the tour would start after that. Shower, dry my hair, skincare routine, make-up, change, pack… All done within an hour! No lazing around or taking my own sweet time. Phew. You don’t want to waste everybody’s time, you just gotta make haste.
On our second day, we went to Lotte World. It is pronounced as “Lot-Teh” World, not “Lot” World. According to Wikipedia, Lotte World has the world’s largest indoor theme park. The reason the bosses and I chose Lotte World over Everland, is because it has both indoor and outdoor theme parks, and a shopping complex attached to it. Those who do not like to go for the outdoor, could at least stay indoor and in the shopping complex. The indoor theme park is really an eye-opener! It is so huge! There’s also this cable cars that shaped like hot air balloons floating in the air! And an ice-skating space! The outdoor theme park is even better! So many adventure rides! If Andrew were to be with me, we would have gone for all the rides! With my colleagues, we only managed to go for 2, Atlantic Adventure and the Gyro Swing. Don’t underestimate the Gyro Swing, it may look gentle, but once you got into it and up in the air, that’s where the thrill is!
After half a day of fun and thrills, we went for some kimchi making class. It was pretty boring, after-all, they just wanted you to try their kimchi and hopefully get you to purchase some. I didn’t buy any, knowing that I do not have any refrigerator at home to store them later. Bummer. Also, they will let you to try on the Han-bok (韩服), Korea traditional wear. I was so reluctant to try it as I know the tour guide is going to take a photo of everyone wearing it and sell the photo to us later. Not that I am stingy to buy the photo later, but I see no point in wearing it. It’s not the real full set of Han-bok, plus, I don’t want to make myself a fool. Was forced to wear it and took a photo with it. Grrr…… I didn’t even buy the photo at the end of the trip. :P
After our dinner in Dongdaemun, we went for some shopping. Too bad that they’re selling winter clothings now, wouldn’t be suitable for us to wear in Malaysia, we didn’t shop much in the malls. We went to the streets and got ourselves some skincare and food instead. :D
Checked in to New Hilltop Hotel in Gangnam-Gu. Geez, can you believe that they off the air-conditioner? According to the front desk, it’s centralised, and it’s off ’cause it’s cold! The room was so stuffy and warm!!! We were forced to open the windows and risk letting in the mosquitoes. Sigh…… First time I slept in a hotel with windows opened! And it’s supposed to be a 4-star hotel! 4-star my a**! Forgot to take photos of how the room looks like. It’s pretty spacious. Well…… No complaints except that the bed is not comfortable. I usually do not have problem sleeping in hotels, but it took me 2 good nights to adjust in order to sleep well. Didn’t sleep well for first 2 nights, I was so tired.
On our way back to Seoul city.
Chocolate bar from our tour guide :D Yummy!
Lotte World! Must ‘tunjuk’ muka lah sikit. Hahahaha.
See that “hot air balloon”?
Lotte World outdoor theme park, Magic Land.
Gyro Drop! Sorry, I don’t have the guts for this!
We were starving, grabbed our lunch in Lotteria! It looks so much like McDonald’s, but it has more varieties than McD, and it is delicious! Got myself a shrimp burger, thumbs up!
Kimchi making! My “art”. Hahahaha.
Our dinner on second night, yummy!!!
Didn’t take many photos on the second day, too busy having fun and shopping. :)
Seoul In, Seoul Out #1
Went to Seoul for 5 days 4 nights, with colleagues, a company trip. This isn’t the first time I went for a company trip without Andrew, the first time was 2 years ago when I went Phuket. This time, I felt heavier to leave him. Hugged him few more times at the airport and my arms felt so heavy to let go. If the tea lady (I called her Auntie) wasn’t with me, guess I would just cry there and then. Hahaha. Silly me. Few minutes later, I received a message from Andrew, written in Chinese. I was touched, and that really got me teary. And I, really took good care of myself during the trip, so that I didn’t make him worried. :)
We were basically rushing for time everyday during the trip. That’s the consequence of following a tour, but you don’t have to worry about the transportation and food. There’s just pros and cons.
The sceneries in Seoul are just so beautiful during autumn. Fell in love with Seoul the moment I saw the falling leaves. The weather was pretty unpredictable. It was pretty warm last week, I didn’t even wear the down jacket that I brought along. The double-breast trench coat was enough to keep me warm. Perhaps I could stand the cold, and I like the cold, a trench coat and most importantly a shawl/scarf is enough for me. Don’t listen to too much of advice, just bring a mixture of thick and thinner clothes so that you will have something to fall back to whenever the weather changes. Do prepare some winter wear if you’re going during the winter.
First day, went to Mt Sorak (Seoraksan). That is such a beautiful place. We even climbed the mountain, I didn’t make it to the top, looks too scary for me. The view on top is just stunning! There are so many colors down at the Shinheungsa temple too! Mt Sorak is the place I miss the most.
Went to Teddy Bear Farm thereafter, saw a bear that I like but it is so bloody expensive! For a medium size it needs about RM85! Geez…… Forget it.
Brief stop in Daepohang port, bosses bought some seafood but the rest of us only bought some snacks to chew. Finally, checked in to Sorak Kumho Resort. We slept on the tatami! A unique experience. :D
Flying with Korea Air, superb service and meals!
Our beautiful tour guide, speaks good English.
A lot of bridges and tunnels in South Korea, no joke man! They’re all magnificently built!
On our way to Mt. Sorak.
Another beautiful bridge.
First lunch! Yummy!!!
Teddy Bear Museum.
Finally, Mt. Sorak!
Climbing Mt. Sorak. :)
That’s the peak!!!
View from inside the cable car.
Daepohang Port.
Lots of seafood.
Sorak Kumho Resort. Each unit can sleep up to 5 persons, but we only sleep 2. :)
There’s a kitchen in every unit where you can cook the seafood you bought from Daepohang Port.
There’s 2 rooms in each unit. My colleague and I used only one room, scary to sleep alone. Hahahaha.
That’s it for our first day in Seoul.
Loot from the Incredible Seoul
It was spending time! Spent quite a lot in Seoul. Not on the souvenirs though. Came back only realised I do not have enough souvenirs to give away! Shoot! I was so obsessed with all the fashion and skincare and I conveniently forgot about the souvenirs! I am in deep sh** now.
Here’s what I bought, for Andrew and myself! Yes, only for Andrew and myself! It was so rushing and I did not have the luxury of time to think of others except Andrew and ME. Felt guilty to go without Andrew, he was on my mind all the time. Hence, bought quite a number of things for him.
These are for Andrew. Polo Ralph Lauren @ Paju Premium Outlets. The blue one is the most expensive, only realised the price after I paid! @__@
Polo for myself. :) KRW42,300 each. You can’t get that kind of price here in Malaysia.
Finally, got myself a pair of running shoes! No excuse for me to not exercise now. KRW76,300 for the shoes, KRW8,800 for 3 pairs of socks.
Bought this at the very last minute. GAP @ Paju Premium Outlet, KRW42,300.
Bought this huge tote bag at Myeongdong, KRW10,000 only!!!
Got this in Myeongdong too, KRW25,000.
Also got this in Myeongdong, KRW12,900.
Skincare from The Face Shop for Andrew. Don’t know how good they are though.
Bought the powder puff and eye mask only for myself.
From Etude House. (Clock-wise) Eye-brow pencil, Hello Kitty Perfume, loose powder, BB Cream and eye-shadows.
Free gifts! I don’t even know what they are. The sales girls just chucked them into our shopping bag.
Got these from the cosmetics duty free shop, KRW30,000 each.
Ta-da! Got myself a Longchamp in Incheon airport. :D I wouldn’t have bought it in Malaysia. :P
Hmm…… I am missing Seoul already. -__-
Away
I’ll be away for a few days. Blogging may not be possible. However, shall try to post a photo or two when I have the chance.
Not sure why, I am already missing Andrew terribly even before the trip. Been to Phuket without him for 3 days, don’t remember that I was feeling what I’m feeling right now. Perhaps it is because I’ll be travelling so far away without him for the first time, and for 5 days!
I am just so used to doing everything with him. This is just weird. Seeing another whole new place without him by my side. I was once curious with travelling alone, but now I don’t think I would like that. I’m not travelling alone right now, but just the thought of not seeing him for so many days is enough to make me feel sour on the inside. Hmm……
Well, see you guys in a bit. Tata!
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Melbourne Trip Diary 1: Hotel Formule1 Melbourne CBD
Going to do my trip-blogging a bit different this time, not going to create another page in my blog but rather would just post them as a blog post.
Was having a hard time deciding on where to stay in Melbourne. There were 6 of us travelling together, some of us wanted it to be budget and some of us did not care. Me, all I wanted was cleanliness and convenience. Was having doubts for Hotel Formule1 in Melbourne CBD after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor. Then, read more reviews on other alternatives. Checked the rates of shortlisted ones, gosh, most of them are way over our budget. Got a friend in Brisbane to help, still couldn’t find a cheaper rate. Took us 3 months to decide on Hotel Formule1! It has the best rate ever and the room condition from the photos doesn’t look so bad at all. I was telling myself, it is now or never. If I don’t book it right there and then, I’d never find a cheaper one.
I made a grave mistake on the arrival date during the online booking. Was looking for the lowest rate available, when I saw the lowest, I clicked BOOK without checking on the dates. I did not even bother to check the dates too when I paid! Geez…… Yeah, I was so desperate because it was one month away from our trip. So people, never ever do your last-minute booking especially during peak season and you are desperately looking for the lowest rate! You wouldn’t know what mistake you are going to make because you will be so blinded with the rates and availability. The online booking guaranteed lowest rate but no amendment is allowed! Luckily, I managed to call the hotel and it was so nice of them to allow me to change! *Phew* You have no idea how much hassle I had to go through to get it changed. So please, be more alert when you do online bookings.
I managed to book a 3-person room (with en-suite bathroom) for AUD69 per room per night. That is about RM213.90 (@ RM3.10 exchange rate) per room per night. It only cost AUD138/RM427.80 per person for 6 nights of stay! If that isn’t cheap, I wouldn’t know what is.
We booked a return transfer at the Melbourne airport. They chauffeured us from the airport to the hotel and on our last day picked us up at the hotel back to the airport. It was AUD26 per person for two-way transfer.
After all, Hotel Formule1 of Melbourne CBD isn’t that bad. Sometimes you can’t just rely too much on the review Here’s what I think:
- Location – 9/10
- Cleanliness – 8/10
- Tidiness – 8/10
- Staff – 8/10
- Service – 7/10
- Room condition – 6/10
Generally, the room is clean and tidy, better than what we’ve expected. The staffs at the reception were pretty friendly too although they were a bit robotic in handling tourists. Good service. Due to the room condition, we actually changed 3 rooms on the first night! First room, the heater problem. 2nd room, the bathroom door problem. 3rd room, bathroom door problem too but Andrew managed to fix it on his own. The staff was quick at responding to our requests. No complain about it.
Couldn’t get a kettle from the reception to boil water for drinking and they asked us to boil it at the cafeteria area. I can’t possibly wake up 5am to boil the water and wait for it to cool and go back to the hotel midday to boil it again, can I? Was constantly buying drinking water from supermarket and convenient store. That is the downside.
Hotel Formule1 is at Elizabeth Street, which is only 5-10 minutes walk from the famous Flinders Street Station. Across the street would be where the Royal Arcade is. St Paul and Federation Square is like 10 minutes walk from the hotel. Crown Casino, Southgate and Yarra River is also 15 minutes walk away! Everything is so near and within walking distance! I love the location so much! No regrets with choosing Hotel Formule1, will definitely stay there again if at all I travel to Melbourne again. Highly recommended by the fussy and choosy Ashley. :)
Hotel Formule1 @ Elizabeth Street, Melbourne CBD
The entrance. Formule1 is right beside Laura Ashley. :) I regret that I did not step into Laura Ashley to shop!!! Saw a pretty scarf by the window on our last day. Argh. :(
The first room we checked into. Pretty spacious. The 3rd room we changed to was even more spacious than this but forgot to take photo. :(
The door and the bathroom on the right with the red curtain. Yes, the bathroom is only separated from the room by a red curtain! No clothes hanger for us to hang our towel when we shower. We got creative. We pulled the chair to the bathroom to put our changing clothes and towel! :D
See, the bathroom and the washing basin. It is small but better than Hotel Bridal Tea House in Hong Kong!
The toilet, all by itself and separated from the bathroom. Good that it is always dry. Bad that you can’t shower right after you do your number 1 business. You have to get dressed and come out and go to the bathroom to undress and shower. Bummer. @__@
That’s all for now. I’ll share other hotels that I’ve researched and the pros and cons of them. Stay tuned. :)
Back With A Loaded Heart
Back from Melbourne yesterday. My heart is filled with joy and experiences. It wasn’t a perfect trip, but somehow I’m grateful that I was able to go on a trip with Andrew in such a foreign country.
It is different this time, in such a land where most of the locals are having white skin and brown hair. Walking down the streets was enough to get us thrilled and excited. So yeah, basically you can see a bunch of “mountain turtle” (sua gu in Hokkien) walking on the Melbourne streets, ooh-ing and ah-ing at almost every little thing. LOL.
Melbourne CBD is very walkable, love walking around the city as there are so many things to see. The feel of the cold breeze and weather, you’ll never get it in Malaysia. Of course we want to enjoy that as much as possible and take in as many sceneries as possible. :)
Overall, it’s a great trip. The only regret is that we were there for too short a time. Hopefully next time we could stay there longer. Yep, Melbourne, I’ll be back. ;)
One of the 12 Apostle.
More to come. Give me some time to review the photos and I have some photos in other friends’ cameras too.
Kuala Terengganu. Sun. Sand. Sea.
Most of the people would give me a wide stare when they know Andrew is from Kuala Terengganu, followed by the remarks “so far”. Some of them would show their sympathy for the fact that I have to travel such a long distance with my husband. A lot of them would even be very surprised to know that I follow Andrew back home whenever it’s possible, few times in a year. Few of them said I am a good daughter-in-law and wife to do just that. :) I feel honored but that doesn’t make me a good DIL or wifey. If there wasn’t any North-South Highway, to go back to my hometown Batu Pahat is equally long too. :)
Kuala Terengganu, 6 hours drive from KL city center, at 120kmph average. It’s going to take longer if you’re driving at 100kmph. From Karak Highway to Kuantan, about 3 hours. After Kuantan town, there isn’t any highway/expressway. Hence, it takes longer. You will go into the Kerteh industrial park, with lots of oil processing plants/industries on both sides of the road. They look beautiful and amazing especially at night, with the burning fire (from the excessive gases). Day time, they look as impressive too.
I like Kuala Terengganu, for I am pretty much a beach person. I am not a sun person, but my first Redang trip has made me fallen head over heels for the beach and the sand. I do not like the sun still, but I am not afraid to go under it and bask in it. :) In fact, I kind of like getting a teeny bit of tan despite people has been telling me fairness is the queen of all. :D
The sea at KT, changes every time I visit. It is usually very choppy during the month of December and the color is brown, but last year August, it was pretty choppy and windy too. Early of this year, it was pretty peaceful but the wind was strong. However this August, it is extremely peaceful and breezy. The color is so pretty! I don’t remember seeing KT’s sea at this color!
The weather, HOT HOT HOT! Even hotter than Bali’s! It is stinging HOT in KT, whilst Bali’s hot is milder and hardly makes you feel uncomfortable.
Besides the sand and the sea, I like the food in KT too. There are so many delicacies that you could never get in KL. They’re not some expensive food in a luxurious restaurant. They are food on the streets or in some small non-air-conditional restaurant.
Also, mom-in-law’s home-cooked meals. :) She cooks whenever we go home, and she cooks a lot! Andrew and I often stuffed our stomachs so full until we could hardly walk. It’s not that healthy actually to eat so much, but you wouldn’t want to see the disappointment on her face. Plus, home-cooked meal is after all better and healthier than the food outside. :)
Other than the beaches and the food, there isn’t much entertainment you can find in KT. Cinemas? Sorry, there isn’t any. Shopping mall? Erm, there is a supermarket and it isn’t really that “super”. Water sports? Oh, if swimming in the sea is considered as water sport, yeah, you can swim. LOL. Oh yes, there is one place you will have to go when you get the chance to visit KT, the KT state museum. It’s boring but again, it’s not that boring actually. Hahaha. Worth a tour.
Next time, when I go back again, hope that I could remember to take photos before I start biting into those delicious food! Hahaha. I’m sorry, whenever I saw those food, I forgot to take a photo of them. :D
I have so many photos to edit. Please pardon me for a while. I promise I’ll come back with more photos, soon.
Here’s one to curb your “hunger”. Hahaha. Specially requested Andrew to help me take some portraits! Gosh, he needs a lot of practicing and polishing. Obviously he has forgotten how to shoot, decently.
From Bali. With ♥
Spent 3 days in Bali. Seemed short, but we felt like we were there for quite a long time. Why? We were out on the streets of Bali for 12 hours each day. Sounds short? Not really. Bali is a place heavy with its own culture. Everywhere and every corner you go, you’ll see nothing else but Bali/Indonesian. When you are exposed to so much of its culture, you think of nothing but only the place itself. Hence, the feelings of staying there for quite a long time.
The pace in Bali, neither rush nor slow. They’re all hard-working people. Most of the locals are in the tourism business. Restaurants (the locals called it “warung”) are everywhere. Handicrafts and souvenirs are there to meet every of your gaze. Drivers and tour guides occupying most of the tourists places.
People there are working so hard to earn a living. You can’t blame them for being pushy in selling things to the tourists. That is all they can do to make ends meet. One could hardly understand unless one sees how their life depends so much on the tourism. Our nice driver Mr. Bagus told us during the time of 2002 Bali Bombing, they were hit badly. For 3 months consecutively, they experienced their darkest time.
It isn’t easy to make a living there. Mr. Bagus told us he doesn’t get customers everyday. He sometimes do not get a single customer for 2 weeks continuously. He said he would so much want to visit Malaysia, but he has to save more money first. Now, being a driver in Bali isn’t as profitable as some of us may think.
Bali is a place to relax your body and mind. It is also a destination to do some soul-searching. By looking at how the locals earn their living, you will learn to be grateful and contented with what you have now.
I am a happy person, although I have my problems. :)
** I’ll be blogging about my Bali trip soon, but first, I’ll have to finish my Taiwan posts first. Hahaha. :P **
Taiwan Post Is Up #2
Posted 2 blog posts about my trip to Taiwan in January. They are Day 2 and Day 3.
Ermm…… Sorry to say that I still haven’t uploaded any photos. I’m so sorry. I’m still thinking of the best way to present those photos. If I were to upload them in the post, it would be so many of them and you’ll get tired of scrolling. If I were to select only a few, that will take some time too. Please, please, need your patience and forgiveness here.
Stay tuned. Most posts coming up. Perhaps with photos. :)
Taiwan Post Is Up
Yes, my first post on my Taiwan trip is finally up. :)
Don’t be too happy, it’s only 1 post without any photos. LOL! Please give me time to draft them up and upload the photos. Sorry.
You can find the my Taiwan trip on the right sidebar, under Page Taiwan Go Go Go. There is currently a sub-page of my first day in Taipei.
I guessed separate my Taiwan trip out from the blog posts would be easier for you people to look for it.
Please let me know if you find any misleading information in my Taiwan posts. All feedbacks are welcome. :)
Stay tuned for more.
Taiwan Touch My Heart
It was more than 6 months ago when I booked the air tickets. January 2010 seemed to be a long time to wait back then. But look, I am back from the trip.
Almost everyone told me I was out of my mind to go for a 8-day trip. I was worried too, about the money and the time. Tickets booked, I had to go ahead. After I’ve done some search on the internet, I realised 8 days in Taiwan ain’t long enough to cover most of the tourist spots. Enough for Taipei and hopefully some other places nearby Taipei. Went to MATTA fair once to look for some tour packages, we couldn’t find what we wanted. Everyone then decided we go free & easy.
The process of drafting our very own itinerary wasn’t easy. We hardly meet, all we could do was communicate through MSN. We have had countless headaches with the accommodation and where to visit. We compromised a lot to reach a mutual agreement, trying very hard not to make each other feel that they’re at the losing end. Disagreement did happen, to find the middle ground is harder than you think. Luckily we managed it well. Sometimes with so many inputs, I got impatient and confused. I am grateful I have friends who are willing to spare their patience on me. That left me feeling even more guilty than ever.
I felt a tinge of triumph when I saw the itinerary was all done and finalised. Special thanks to Melissa and Wan Yi who spent most of their time browsing through all the oh-so-confusing websites/forums. :) Their “web hunting” skills are incomparable! LOL! I sometimes wonder how did they get all those websites where I couldn’t even Google them out! Hehehe.
The itinerary wasn’t a perfect one, but it was good enough. I guess we were too greedy to have so many places woven into it, we didn’t have the time to visit all the places as planned! LOL! Part of the reason being we are all shopaholics!!! Can’t believe we shopped and spent so much, both money and time on shopping! Hahahahaha!
Let’s see…… We dropped Shida Night Market on the first night ’cause we were all so excited to check out Ximending first. Second night, we missed the Fishermen Wharf in Dan Shui ’cause it was already dark when we finished our shopping in Dan Shui Old Street! Gosh…… Didn’t manage to soak ourselves wet in the hot spring too. Strike out Miniature Museum since we got advice from Wan Yi’s cousin that it is a waste of time. :P On the 4th day, we missed Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Sek Memorial Hall!!! Terrible! But we made an impromptu trip to Mr. J’s French-Italian Restaurant and the Miramar Ferris Wheel. :) Mel was sad that we didn’t make it to Taiwan Storyland too. We spent 2 nights in Jiu Fen instead of 1 night! Sun Moon Lake plan sunk into the deep ocean. LOL! Jiu Fen is a beautiful place. We heeded the advice from the B&B owner to stay 1 more night to explore Jiu Fen. That we never regret. :) My only regret is we didn’t make it to Yehliu Geopark. :(
Although we missed out those places, it didn’t make this trip less pleasant. We all have had a great time. Traveling with a bunch of great “actors and actresses”, I can guarantee you there will be no boring moment. We were laughing like mad people during the trip! Oh, not to forget, we ate a lot too! The weather and the walkings, made us hungry all the time.
Taiwan is truly a great tourism place. They make it so easy for the tourists to get around in the country. I can’t help but think why can’t Malaysia do that? Our public transportation here is a mess, the signboards here are a mess too. I imagined if I were a tourist in KL, I’d get frustrated with the transportation. Sigh……
I’ve fallen in love with Taiwan. She truly touched my heart. Will I migrate to Taiwan? I will if I could. I can’t, I can’t dump my responsibilities here. But I will definitely visit Taiwan again. Hopefully in the near future. :)
P. S. : I’ll be posting my Taiwan trip itinerary slowly (please give me some time to compose). I have gotten all the information from the internet, now it’s time to return the favor to those who need it. :) I was a lil’ selfish in sharing it, until I realised “hey, you’ve gotten the information from the people who are willing to share, your itinerary isn’t original like you think it is!” :) If you’re willing to spend the effort, I am willing to share. Do watch this space for the Taiwan updates. :D
Phuket
Many of us remember Phuket as an island of paradise, shopping, relaxation and tranquility. After the tsunami hit in year 2004, a day after Christmas, many now are in awe of how a small town could rebuild in such a short time.
My first time to Phuket, with my colleagues. It was a company trip, kind of to motivate and reward every one of us as we did not get any increment or bonus this year. Every one was excited about this trip, except me. Anyway, I’m glad that I went. Didn’t enjoy much of the sea and beaches, but I did enjoy the Phantasea show and the shopping. :D The snorkelling trip was nothing, corals are all dead, fishes are of not many variety and it was crowded. You are bound to hit on someone wherever you swim.
Had our lunch in Koh Phi Phi island. The tour guide told us 3000 people died here. I couldn’t believe that this is the place where more than 3000 people died in the 2004 tsunami. Looking at it, you wouldn’t know that it has such a tragic history. The island is still full of people. Most of the buildings are newly built after the tsunami. There is even a tsunami evacuation route now. Too bad I forgot to take a photo of it. The tour guide told us he was on a boat when the tsunami hit, the sea receded about 1km and he found it weird. When the wave came, he could only feel the boat rising up and down and nothing much. He didn’t know what happened on the shore until he returned at a later time. He said he was lucky to be on the boat and survived.
There is still a lot of development going on in Chalong and Patong beach. You can see that most of the buildings are freshly painted. Well, 5 years after the tsunami, they basically rebuilt everything from scratch.
On the second night, we went to Jung Ceylon shopping complex. We were late, they closed at 10.30pm. So, we wandered along Bangla Road. So many things to see, but not much that you could buy. Then we were in this street where all the pubs and discos are there. Thai girls dancing on the tables, pole dancing, men asking you to visit their clubs…… It was so happening there!
We then walked all the way back to our hotel, Andaman Beach Suites, all of us felt our legs were giving up on us. LOL! That was a long way to walk! We nearly got lost too. Fortunately saw our tour leader on his way back too. :D A tips to share, do not ever walk alone in Bangla Road, walk in a group! Not even if you’re a guy.
We all woke up early on the 3rd day, to go to this Premier Outlet in Phuket town. Geez, Nike is cheaper by 30%!!! Got myself a pair of shoes. I regret now that I did not buy the backpack which is selling RM80++ here and it was selling at RM60 there!
Am thinking if I should go Phuket again middle of next year with Andrew. Just for shopping and walking around. :P
In LCCT airport.
Gems Gallery
Chalong Temple
Mind FM!!!!
The giant durian in fruits market.
It’s a pity that I didn’t get to go for a ride on that, no one wanted to go with me. :(
View from our hotel room! Nice!
Going for the Phantasea Show.
The buffet dinner in this restaurant was awesome! International standard. No regrets!
Getting ready heading to Phi Phi Island.
At Koh Phi Phi Don.
Sunset at Promthep Cape, we were late and it was cloudy, missed the sun.
Last dinner in Phuket.
When we reached the Phuket airport, we were shocked to see all the queues!!! The security check at all 4 entrance were full of people and the queue was so long even by the road side. Crazy!!!
Off To Phuket
Planning a trip is not easy, and what’s more, when you’re planning for the company trip, all alone.
A year ago, the bosses and management had approved the proposal of a company trip. Preferably local. Early of the year, there were 4 of us planning and brainstorming for it. After some surveys and search, the cost of travelling overseas in a group is about the same as travelling locally. Finally they bought the idea. Phuket, they chose.
Towards middle of the year, I was doing it all by myself. Liaising with the tour agent, discussions with my boss, deciding on the hotel, the air tickets, the dates…… Planning, organising, coordinating, negotiating…… They’re no fun and no joke. Made some mistake too. I’m not bragging about I could do so many of them alone. It’s just that now I understand how those people do it and I could appreciate more now.
The trip was postponed once, paid some penalty! What the…… Finally the day has come. I feel numb, after all the hard-work and efforts. I don’t feel excited, I don’t feel the thrill. I couldn’t find a concrete reason not to go. So, I’ve got to tag along. I’ve never been to Phuket. Wanted to go with Andrew, but that plan has sunk deep onto the ocean floor the moment this trip was confirmed. And now, I am not looking forward to going to Phuket. I just want to get over it and done with, soonest possible!
My luggage is sitting beside my bed now, waiting to travel across the borders and seas with me.
With Andrew’s snoring as the background music, I am feeling sleepy now. I have to wake up at 3am on Friday morning. Geez…… I’ll be walking like a zombie in Phuket on Friday. HA! That would make great headlines, “Malaysian Zombie Crossed Border, Found Strolling On Phuket Beach”! Hahahahahaha…… LOL!!!
Malacca Day Trip 18 Oct 2009
We were supposed to go Ipoh, but I had a photoshoot session back then. Hence, we postponed it to this week and we changed the destination to Malacca. :)
It has been 6 years since I last toured Malacca. Came here with Andrew and some other friends. Now to set feet on this historical heritage soil again, nothing much has changed. Only now that I am married and I am travelling with my girlfriends, not Andrew.
Most of the people in Malacca are friendly. Especially those in Jonker Street. We went to try the chicken rice balls in Jonker Street, it taste awful. The chicken meat was tasteless and the rice was cold. The cendol was delicious though. Then we went on to the Eye On Malaysia which is now in Malacca. A bit disappointed with the view when we were up there. Nothing much to see except the Straits of Malacca.
We didn’t have an exact itinerary of where we would be visiting. Just roaming around in the car, stopped wherever we felt like to. A fun trip actually. Just pity Phoebe that she had to drive all day.
We will definitely go Malacca again. It is an interesting place.
Fish head noodles, not in Melaka though. In KL.
You can't miss the church which is by the road side.
Walking along the river to Jonker Street.
Nice sunny weather. Super hot though.
This cendol in Jonker Street is yummy-licious
Jonker Street. Not so crowded, YET!
See the birds?
Yummy curry puff.
Eye on Malaysia in Melaka.
A very unique mosque. Tranquerah Mosque.
Dinner at Kapitan Restaurant.
Singapore Escapade
I’m so sorry that I posted this Singapore trip up so late! I went Singapore before Redang but I posted this after my Redang trip. Gosh…… Here it is.
It was a trip that I planned long time ago, to visit Adeline in Singapore. If you do not know just who Adeline is, click here for her blog. She married to a Singaporean last year and has been living her adventurous life there ever since. LOL! Ady, please don’t kill me after reading this. :P
The plan was to have a photoshoot session with her, but due to some other factors, the photoshoot didn’t materialise. Well, it’s okay, I bet there’s going to be more Singapore trips from now on since she’s getting her own house very soon. :)
This is actually my second trip to Singapore. My first was almost 3 years ago, with Andrew. Spent 7 days there in his auntie’s house. :P
I was in fact going together with Wan Yi, her husband and her boss’ family. Her boss Mr. Lew (I’m not sure if I got the name correct) has got a beautiful daughter!!! She is only 8 months old, yet she is a laughing-baby!!! She just loves to smile and laugh.
When we were outside of the Ion, we saw this RED man!!! Yes, we have yellow man in Malaysia, and now they have red man in Singapore! LOL! They are from SingTel, a telecommunication giant in Singapore. Okay, I guess having too much of soup and sandwiches could get you go a little bit of crazy. I couldn’t believe I suggested taking a photo with those RED men!!! Hell, now they were pushing me to go first! There I was, with Adeline, standing with 3 other red men. Hey!!! I was wearing red too!!!
When we reached Atria, we went to have our proper lunch in MOS burger. Geez, can you believe that I was craving for it like 3 years?! This time, I had the ebi rice burger instead of unagi since I’ve tried it before. Oh gosh… It was so yummy!!! Geez… I’m drooling now……
After 4 hours of shop and walk, Ade’s husband came to join us too! Well, to find a seat in the restaurants at such hour was disaster. Most of them were full with long queue outside! So, we went to Haagen Daaz to have an ice-cream treat. Ooohhhh…… I felt so sinful! LOL! Adeline and her husband are so funny! 2 of them are definitely made for each other, so funny and full of jokes.
We went separate ways after the sinful treat, by Adeline’s husband. He insisted on picking up the tap. Well, let him be the man then for this time. Hahaha.
The next morning, all of us woke up late, around 10am. Then we went to Ya Kun Kaya Toast in Lot 1 for breakfast. The soft-boiled eggs are so delicious!!! The eggs are so huge! What a satisfying breakfast. I bought some Giordano clothes there, for Andrew and myself. :) Wan Yi then brought all of us to the IMM mall. It actually has more of household items, but with one floor of the mall full of boutiques and food!
3 of us decided not to go for proper and filling lunch, instead we went for snacks and sharing the food together so that we could try more food! Hahahaha…… First thing we tried was this Istanbul Kebab, with 2 hunky macho men selling at the stall!!! LOL! Yes, that 2 Turkish men are definitely charming. We bought the beef kebab, and gosh, it was super delicious. I didn’t expect it to be so delicious! I’m not a beefeater, I eat beef occasionally. I would say that the kebab made me feel like eating it again and again!
After the kebab, we went on to have some oyster vermicelli at Shihlin Taiwan Street Snack. I have tried the one in KL, it tastes awful, or I would say yucky. But this one, is way better from the one in KL. See, once again it shows that the standard in Malaysia and Singapore could be so much different. Why is that? Do they think that Malaysian has a bad taste bud that we do not require such higher standard of food? Geez……
We went to Esprit outlet, I didn’t buy anything but Wan Yi bought a little dress for the baby princess and her husband bought a sweater which I think is cool. Hahaha. Well, we then had some ice-cream from Hokkaido Ice-cream. I had my favorite passion fruit.
We saw this wedding decorations shop and thought of buying a wedding gift for a friend. I saw this cute little pair of bride & groom decorative, but damn, the price is kind of steep for us. We had to give up the thought then. :(
Around 5pm we decided to go home and pack for the journey back to KL. Sigh…… Fun trip has finally come to the end. When we were back in Malaysia, we stopped in Yong Peng to have our dinner. The restaurant is previously being recommended by a local food show, famous for its Hok Chiew noodles. Well, the food isn’t bad, just that it’s a little too salty.
During the trip, I spent more on the clothes, because thanks to Mr. Lew who had actually paid for some of the food when we dined together. LOL! Also there were a few times Wan Yi paid for some of it. I am so lucky! Hahahahaha. Guess what? After all the spending and eating, I found out when I got home, that I still have SGD35 in my wallet! I was pretty surprised. I spent about SGD150 on clothes, and I only spent SGD17 on food!!! That is a new record for me!
Think I’ll be going to Singapore again and again…… Hahahaha…… Next I’m going to eat all I can rather than spend the money on the clothes. :P
Here’s the RED MEN!
The new Ion Shopping Complex
This is definitely NOT for sale!!! LOL!
LOL! Imitating Nicole’s pose in Seremban previously!!!
She’s the same like Wan Yi, so many facial expressions!!!
Here’s the little princess. She was so tired and bored.
All happy again after her meal. :)
Had our breakfast here.
The artwork from the children.
This is the hunky man I mentioned.
Oyster vermicelli from Shihlin.
Spotted this popcorn vending machine!!! Cool!
Baby princess is so cute!!!
One happy family.
Baby loves Coach!!! Gosh……
Superman hair style! LOL!
Had our dinner in Yong Peng. The food is nice, but a bit too salty.
A Retreat To Paradise
If you want best finest sand on the beach, Redang Island is definitely a place that you can’t possibly miss. It has got the safest beaches, even with the red flag up, you can still swim around, but of course, don’t swim too far from the beach. :P
My first time in Redang, geez… It was 6 years ago!!! Was still using the typical half-automated point & shoot camera back then. If I have the time, I’ll scan one of them and post it here. Let’s see how big the difference is between now and then. Hahaha.
I won’t describe much about Redang Island. You can get all the information about it on the internet. I’d only tell what happened to us in Redang. :)
Actually there were 5 of us, but I went back to KT earlier to visit mom-in-law. Well, we didn’t get to see her! Just right after Andrew bought the air tickets, his mom told him that she would be going to KL for 2 weeks with her boss! Gosh……
The other 3 fellas reached KT at 2.30 in the morning!!! Omigosh…… All 5 of us bunked in the small bedroom. By 9am, we were already at the Merang Jetty waiting for the boat. We were amazed by the service provided by Laguna Redang Island Resort. I remember during my first trip, I had to hand-carry my own luggage onto the boat and walked all the way to the resort. But with Laguna Redang, we didn’t have to do that!!! It’s all taken care by their porter. The room was quite spacious, just nice for 5 of us. The food, well, you can’t complain much since it’s not a 5-star hotel. I’d still say the food is okay.
We had 3 snorkelling trips. But out of the 3, 2 were actually changed to a different location as the waves were too strong. Actually, the thing that we enjoyed the most, wasn’t the snorkelling trips, it was riding the waves, oops… I should say hitting against the waves by the beach!!! LOL!!! The waves got so strong in the afternoon and we simply enjoy tossing and dipping ourselves under the sun and dipping in the sea.
Compared with my Langkawi trip last year, I’d say I didn’t take enough of photos. It’s a good thing, that means I had fun most of the time rather than spending time taking photos. :D
Anyway, I did have some nice shots. And thanks to Andrew, I have some cool shots of myself too. *Wide grins* :D
Despite the money I’ve paid, I’ve got back something valuable. Sweet sun tan and sun burn!!! LOL! And of course, the sweetest memories with friends in Redang. :) What a fruitful and precious trip!
Mind you, I suffer sun burn easily, even with tonnes of sunblock on! Even right now at this very moment, my right fore arm still hurt from the burns I’ve got. Yep, my right arm has more serious burn than other areas, I don’t know why. Hahaha. My skin is all red!!! 3 days after the trip and it is still red! Hmph! :(
Phoebe and I
Wan Yi and I
Cool. Andrew.
Great beach in front of Laguna Redang Island Resort.
Phoebe got that shovel on the beach!!!
The lifeguard in Laguna Redang wears red, and Phoebe was wearing red and thought that she would play a little with that red flag! LOL!
The famous “More More Tea Inn” filming spot.
This is the morning sun, not sunset. :)
Now I can’t recognise which ones are my footprints and which ones are Andrew’s.
Love the sand on the beach!!! They’re so fine.
I love this!!!
Hahaha. He’s got the move, but that skinny body… sigh……
Wan Yi always looks sweet!
Got ourselves soaked and drowned!!! :)
I HEART this too!
Okay, the occassional V-sign! LOL!
Pretty ladies, with the carp at the back.
Edited and made this B&W.
This is so beautiful!
Last one with Laguna Redang Island Resort.
If you don’t know about this place, well, go and search “collapsed stadium in Terengganu”. I wonder why they didn’t do anything about the debris after it collapsed!!! Another abandoned project??? Wasted the taxpayers money, again!
We stopped by to buy some corn, and saw these boys sitting at the back of the stall. Guess they’re the children to the “mak cik” that’s selling. They’re so shy and innocent. Love it.
Went to Kuantan, Tong Yuan Restaurant to have our dinner. This is the famous stuffed crab. Not bad, but nothing to shout about.
The fish and sotong taste better! And the veggie is fresh too. :)
Out Of Town
I’ll be out of town (out of KL that is) for about a week. Don’t plan to take my lappie with me this time. Therefore I may not be blogging. But seeing that I LOVE to blog… Hehehe… If I get any 3G reception there on my phone, I’ll grab the chance to blog then. :D
Till then, take care and see ya.
Redang!!! HERE I COME!!!
Day Trip To Ipoh
Went to Ipoh last Saturday, with Andrew, Wan Yi with her hubby, and Melissa with her hubby. All 6 of us, 2 cars. It was so much fun. We stopped in Bidor to have the famous duck noodles.
Around 4pm, we reached the hotel that Melissa was staying. Mel and her hubby stayed one night over there, while the rest of us rushed home on the same day after Nicole’s wedding dinner. Andrew’s gotta work the next morning.
The hotel is new, Tower Regency, everything still looks clean and new. Mel got the apartment suite, RM140 per night, with 2 rooms, 3 beds. It was kind of cheap. We went there to refresh ourselves and changed for the dinner later the evening.
The lamp melts!!! Hahaha.
Thanks to Andrew for this nice photo.
Me getting ready for the dinner.
Andrew took this, the view from the hotel.
Finally, the bride.
Thanks to Mel for this lovely photo. :D
Wan Yi and hubby.
Melissa and hubby.
The bride & groom of the day! Nicole looks so beautiful.
We enjoyed the trip and the night a lot, we were having so much fun! Laughing and chatting during the dinner. Hahaha.
P/S: My iPhone crashed yesterday!!! The screen went blank, home button is not working, couldn’t turn off the phone as well. It is only 2 months of using and I swear that I am not a heavy user!!! *Sobs sobs* Gotta send it in for checking tomorrow. My lovely iPhone, life without you is definitely miserably sad and bored.
Ashley
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