Family Trip 2009

Well, suppose to blog this right after I came back from KL but I guess that I am too lazy to. LOL~

Anyway, for this year's family trip, we went to Sabah on November and KL on December. This is the first time I step foot on Sabah and let say the scenery away from its city was really breath taking. We went to Labuan to legally snuck in some alcohol.. Hehe~ Everyone is allowed to bring 1L of alcohol out from Sabah so I chose Chivas of 12 years. Cost me RM75. The 18 years too expensive, RM120+ XD



We also went to Manukan Island for 4 hours which resulted in bad sunburn but all is worth it where I got to swim with and feed the fish! Lotsa rare fish and some rainbow colored one too! I even managed to snorkel! Wanted to try the parachuting activity but nobody wants to accompany me~ *stares at my bro and Jo*



Sabah's really breath taking. We rented a car and went to the foot hill of Mount Kinabalu. So cold and breezy! Would love to stay there! ^_^ We even shopped from the natives there. Super bargain~ hehe~ Oh and we also went to the Memorial Park in Kundasang. Reminded me how many people were killed in the war there and how dreaded must the situation be at that time.



Overall, Sabah is an awesome place to get away from work and all those modern facilities. Just walk around and enjoy its scenery. However, food and parking is wayyyy expensive here. Much more than Kuching and KL. If you are into shopping, then Sabah is not for you. Limited choices really. That's why we went to KL! XP



Ok, on my KL trip chapter, we arrived on 8th and went to Genting on 9th! This time, I didn't manage to go for outdoor theme park since everyone is into the casino. Yikes~ Wasn't interested on its outdoor games anymore cause I guess the maintenance sucks~ Since they changed their management, everything seems less. Most rides are closed and it just not as fun as previously. They even remove the OSIM chair from the cinema! NOooOoo.. The casino's great though. It can be addictive but I just lost my money.. err.. I mean played for fun. Even got I.D checked everytime I went in. The guard thought I'm 17-19 years of age. Whahaha! Made me so happy~ Syok sendiri la~ Hehe!



Back to KL, what else? Shopping time! SOGO, Berjaya Times, Mid Valley, 1 Utama, BB, Sungei Wang.. Reminded me of how I kept plucking my money out from my wallet.. Huhuhu~ We even managed to go to JUSCO Bukit Tinggi at Shah Alam thanks to a friend of bro.



We used MAS Airlines to come home. Luxuries food!! There's Ferrero, fruit cake, guava juice and even Baskin Robbin 31 ice cream for dessert! So heavenly! Hehe~



For more of pictures, check out my Facebook photo gallery. Lazy to update the pics here since it's super slow to me. Merry Christmas everyone! Be jolly! ^^

Clicky for bigger pic ^^

The Big Ka-BOOM!

A big bang happened in the house! Calm down guys.. It's not a bomb. It's my mom's 13 years old dining table letting go of its last breath.. That gigantice dining table finally takes its last toll and broke down. Mom and I had to un-attach its parts to make it easier to get rid of it.

It happened when we were doing house cleaning from top to bottom.. Sigh, looks like we need to go hunting for a new one.

Rest in peace, my precious dining table. You have served our family well over these years. X3

FAMILY DINING TABLE

1996 - 2009

*no photo was taken as it's just unbearable to watch*

Stop. Take a Look. Think.

I let you guess. Is this sunrise or sunset?

Pretty right? Ok.. Actually, it's much more beautiful in real life than the picture. And it is sunrise... What I am trying to say here is that "Stop. Take a look. Think". We move too fast and rush over things in life.

Sometimes, we think that what we are doing is right or wrong. Is this my road or just a road I'm walking on? Is this road leading me to a good life? I guess most of us worry too much about "me" and missed out on the beauty of nature itself. Its effects are just breath taking.

God created nature for us to enjoy, for us to appreciate. Take a stroll on the beach and let His magnificent work sweeps you away. While you're doing that, think not of yourself but of how beautiful life can be. Frustration, stress.. all will just puffed away!

I spent the last day of my vacation to the beach sitting down on a swing under a tree, looking at the sunrise. I guess that moment is the time that I stopped thinking of myself and of all that I am worried about and just relax, have my breakfast under the tree with such magnificent view.

Spend a day or two away from all your work, your city life and away from all the things you should be worrying about. There's more to life than our career, our study life.

STOP... TAKE A LOOK... and THINK...

Mom enjoying the swing under the cottage..

Movie nights in the cottage, cinema style...

21 With Me Best Friend!

ABOUT 23rd February....

I know, I know. This is about a week late. Should have posted it last week but I didn't. I was too butt lazy to edit all the copyrights for the pictures taken. Hahaha. Well, moments before turning 21 was, I may add SWELL!! Before I start with the details, I wanna make some intro intro on this one great person that share same birthday with me since 20 years ago.

He is a person whom I had cat and dog fight with since I was small. Although I seldom see him when growing up; with all the schedule of him and me being taken care of either my grandmama or mom since we were small, I really look up to him. He's a great guy and I know he loves me a lot even though he always wanna pick a fight with me when we were small, if I'm not mistaken.. xP

As we got older, he shared some responsibility with mom to take care of me. For example, sending me to school and tuition as well as picking me up and sending me to everywhere I want to go. I know, I know. Seems like my driver. Haha. What to do? No extra car. Even now, he still picks me up and send me to my college every week. It's so far off from his destination and still, he is patient enough to tolerate with my schedule.

He also tolerates with me in term of my occasional bad temper. Blame that I'm a dragon year baby. Muahaha.. Anyway, since these past few years, we got to bond along better as we are older. I know that I have this bad temper, but occasional one, not constant one.. He always show this patient voice and let me be done with my temper before he are able to talk with me again. So kesian, he become my lending ears besides my mom and some of my friends. Well, he won't have the chance once I find one perfect guy to replace his current position. Hehehe..

And what's more. He's caring too. Looking out for mom and me during travelling. Putting our needs first before rest. For example, he'll make sure that we have enough nutrients to walk around shopping. Very patient about shopping part. He'll just wait til we are finish with the shopping instead of rushing us.

So, this guy is none other than my brother, Andy who is exactly 6 years older than me. HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY, ko! So nice ho.. get a birthday cake from Jo (FYI: Jo is his gf).

Ok, back to my best friend who shares the same birthday with me but I'm older by few hours. We're born in Sarawak General Hospital. Must be I've heard her cry too at that day but I'm too young to remember. Hack.. Hahaha.. This pretty girl is none other than Kimber!

So, Sunday afternoon, 22nd February 2009. A day before our birthday. I can't celebrate the actual day with her as I will be celebrating it with tons of assignments in my room back in college. xP I picked Kim up at her place around 2pm. First, we were thinking of celebrating at Mango Tree but it's closed on Sunday. Darn~ Then, we twirled and twirled around Kuching looking for good place to eat where several minutes and minutes later, we ended up at Crown Square only to try the Indonesian food at Pulau Lagenda.

We ordered many foods which is far more of two stomachs can fill; grilled chicken ala Pulau Lagenda, tempe; king prawn and bora bora (I think I got the name correct..). The drinks that we ordered were great too! So, the story here is that we ate and ate. Halfway eating, the waiter sent us the bill and we're quite shocked. Not because of the amount of the bill but they said that they're closing. What the? Didn't expect that they close so fast at 3pm. Hahaha. I guess that was the first time I was asked, very very politely to eat faster and send myself out of the restaurant... WAIT! Not my first. The first time was at McD with Josiah, Manda and Yueh Lee. Hahaha.. Anyway, great meal stuffing our tummy before we turn 21! And it is just lovely to celebrate it with my bro and also my best friend!

Guess what I got this year?

1. Mom gave me a key pendant (21's freedom! xD)

2. Bro got me gold double key pendant (He acts more like a dad than a bro)

3. Kim got me this super creative 21 things in a bag for my lovely 21st birthday

4. My coursemates got me a bag. (I know using a backpack with long skirt or baju kurung is weird. So, I guess this is their way of telling me to be more ladylike. Hahahaha)

5. Someone (not a Chinese) gave me a musical turning clock. All my Chinese coursemates bursted out in tears when they heard it.

6. Cindy gave me a lovely call all the way from Aus! Love ya, Cind!

7. Joslyn gave me this lovely e-card from Hallmark! Muaks!

All the others wished me via sms, calls, facebook and friendster. Much appreciated! Thanks to all my dear friends for remembering! Last but not least, Happy Birthday to:

Bro

Kimber

Stephen Yee

Brandon Tan

My pretty next next door hostelmate. (I forgot her name)

Family CNY Dinner 2009

Well, I am sure that most Chinese family have their CNY Eve's dinner with family members. This certainly includes ours. Chinese New Year Eve for 2009 fell on Sunday. This year, I can see that Grandma was pretty happy because most of her children's family were there for the CNY Eve's dinner. Not only her, I was pretty excited as well. It has been a long time since I last met up with my cousins. All of them had really grown up especially Kelvin. Man, last year he was shorter than me and yesterday during the dinner, he's almost overtaking my brother's height. And he's only like what.. 17? Gosh! There goes another one taller than me. =.=" Ah~ and most of them are in a relationship now. Double sweat. Luckily, none of my aunties or uncles asked me about my relationship. Thanks God!

As we were waiting for all to gather at Grandma's house, my mom stumbled upon an article about the so-called Chinese Horoscope for those who are born in 1988, year of the Earth Dragon. Well, she teased me "Oh, this year Dragons will have a blossom in relationship." When she uttered those words, immediately, I can recognize that she was teasing me. "Cold joke for the start of lunar year, mom." Actually, I did some thinking about this matter not too long ago but I guess since most of my secondary school friends are still single, I just don't feel the pressure of getting one right now? And don't even give me the suggestion to find one in my college. We are considered the pioneer batch of our course so we only have juniors and although some of my juniors can be H.O.T, I am not too keen about dating a younger guy. No offence on younger guys who are reading this. XD

The dinner was swell! Dishes included were fish (nian nian yiu yu), prawn (hee hee ha ha), braised duck, steamed chicken, mixed vegetables and I can't remember the rest but I do remember how yummy and tasty Grandma's cooking is! Oh ya, her curry is a legend for its spicy-ness and the tender tasting chicken. Haha! Too bad I did not bring my T-series with me that day. If not, you guys might drool reading this post with the pictures included.

Apart from that, I just love the small talk and miggling around, catching up with current news from the others. I do believe that we need to mantain good communication to mantain good relationship not only with family but with friends as well. That's the reason why I like to bother you guys about gathering the moment you guys landed in Kuching. LOL!

I can't wait for next year's as then, every children of Grandma's will be here in Kuching. Well, Uncle Richard did mention of coming back for 2010's CNY. Maybe Aunt Lucy will tag along too? Fingers cross.

To all my friends and random readers of my blog, wishing you a blessed CNY! Never too late for the wish aite? There's 15 days of CNY! Have fun and eat lots and lots and lots! Whee~

F to the U to the N !

Seeing this picture, I think you can guess where is this hotel right? I'll give you a clue if you are really clueless. Check out the Largest Hotel in The World with 6,118 rooms. Well, my family and I went there last December. The check-in time is 3pm onwards and we arrived at the lobby around 2pm. When we went to pick our Q-system number, it has come to a shock!


Your number is 0824.
Now serving number of 0408.


Whoa! A jolt in disbelief. I think this is the only place in Malaysia where you’ll get your number to be this large? The gap between our Q-number and serving number is 416! Haha! What else can we do but to wait, enduring the boredom and agony that put our patience to the test. When my watch ticks 3pm, the number was about 1/3 of its way. Bored, I looked around me. The lobby was full of tourists and locals sitting here and there. Yes, if you can secure a good seat on the floor near one of the walls, it is good enough. You better believe it because the place was jammed packed with guests from all around the world waiting to be served and check-in.



We managed to secure seats on the bench provided. The only entertainment for guests who wait at the lobby was Discovery Channel with no sounds and Malay subtitle. Yeah, luckily I am a Malaysian. Hahaha~ If you can’t endure the long hours of the queue, just walk around and enjoy the exquisite scenery of the hotel or shop-till-your-hours-are-up.



Around 5pm, our number’s up. Gosh! Three hours! It was faster than what I have expected actually. Seriously! I thought that it might have to take us till the night to get into our room. Ah~ Room sweet room. With its natural air-conditioner, the room was chilly. Even colder than my fridge back at home. Hahaha~ But that is what I love about Genting. The cold weather and all its thrilling rides.



After dinner, we walked around and uh, there’s a cinema in here! Never notice it before. Haha, such a sakai. xP So, we pampered ourselves with OSIM-row tickets to The Day The Earth Stood Still at 1:30am. It was not expensive at all compared to the ordinary seats. Should try it. A whole movie-length of nice full body massage. Good way to relax and loosen up those stiff muscles after few days of walking and shopping.



next morning, it is time to fulfil my reason. I came with one simple reason. To conquer all its thrill rides. Since last year’s trip was a bit disappointing since it rained and I did not manage to play all, this year’s weather is siding on me. The only way to try all the rides in a limited time of 8am to 10pm, is Genting’s Express Pass. (Evil laugh) Although it is a bit more expensive than the ordinary all-day pass, I guarantee you that it is really worth it especially for first-time visitors. Ah~ The joy of cutting queues... Joking. Truthfully, I really do not savor the taste but if you compare it with the long hours of multiple queuing, it is definitely worth it. There are only certain rides that inclusive of the Express Pass. Others that are not included are such as Kart Prix and Bumper Boat. So, for these two, we did our part: Queuing. =.=

At the end of the day, I managed to ride all the thrill rides. All except for one, Flying Coaster. Still need time to gather up my gut to experience that hand-gliding roller coaster of 4. Although it is a thrill ride, the queue line to this ride was peculiarly short. Guess many were like me; courageous enough for other thrill rides except for this one. Seeing it roars the sky scared the hell out of me. Hopefully, one day I will manage to conquer it as well. Well, Genting was so much fun; I’ll say that it was a great way to end 2008!

Year End Family Get-Away

Let me see... I arrived back home yesterday night. Was it yesterday night? Yeah, yesterday night. Man, it was tiring!! The four of us (grandma, mom, bro and me) went Kuala Lumpur on the 13th December 2007. Grandma is going to stay at aunt's house in KL while the rest of us go on a shopping spree! The night we landed in KL, we lost one of our luggage. Correction! Air Asia lost our luggage. What better luck? That luggage contains me and my mom's outfit for the entire stay at KL! So, we reported the matter to the 'Lost and Found' section and they said, "Maybe the luggage in on the next flight. Do you mind to wait about 2 more hours for it?" Fine. We waited. Still no luck. The luggage might be left at Kuching or flew to another country. Eeks! Since we have no cloth to change, we slept with our jean. My first time sleeping with jean on. ^^



Next day, shopping! It was like heaven of free stuff? Yeah, kinda. We were like choosing all the clothes that we like then by the end of the day we went to the cashier counter to pay, it was a mountain of clothes. Pokai~ Oh ya, thanks God we found our luggage. Here's the story. The luggage actually arrived earlier than us via AK5213 which is an hour ealier than our flight, AK5125. Lazy ass attendant did not help us to check the storage. It was in there the whole time! Man! We waited for nothing. Oh well, at least we got our luggage back.



*side note: If you lost your luggage, call the attendant to check the store room. Who knows, your luggage might arrive earlier than you. Anything is possible, like in my case.



On the third day, we went to KLCC where we took a tour of the skybridge and also Aquaria. Nice! I took photo with the sharks! Sharkie! Sharkie! ^^ And the view from the skybridge? Simply spectacular. We are Malaysians right? So, we should go there and enjoy the nice view of KL from the skybridge where all the buildings are like miniature and its people are looking like ants. ^^



Fourth day? Genting! Genting! The place I've been waiting for! ^^ I got the chance to ride the Space Shot and Cyclone only. The day we went there, it's foggy and raining so it's not allowed to go to the Outside Theme Park. Huhu.. So sad! One incident I must jot down here. When we queued for the Space Shot...



Me: Ko! I wanna ride that one! (pointing at Space Shot from the Cyclone station)
Bro: (swallows sliver) Ah? That one? I accompany you there but you ride it yourself okay?
Me: No way! Choose! Space Shot or Flying Coaster? Space Shot is not that scary la. At least it goes up then down only right? Flying Coaster, you'll go around spinning at fast speed.
Bro: .....



At Space Shot...

Me: Okay. Our turn's soon.
Bro: You go ride alone k?
Me: You promise already right? Just try it! Overcome your acrophobia.
Bro: You ride then I'll help to take your picture. Okay? You know I'm afraid of height.
Me: Same la. I'm acrophobic also.
Bro: Yeah but not as worse as mine. What if I faint? Who are you gonna call?
Me: Mom of course! I think those guys will help to lift you to the clinic right? So? Our turn's soon. Decide, wanna ride or not?
Bro: (give up) fine...



Luckily he did not faint or else I'll be in deep trouble for dragging him along. This ride is good for acrophobic people. Ride this a few time and I bet you will not be arcophobic anymore. I think... The feeling? It was nothing when going up to the top cause that day, it's foggy and up there, we can only see fog which is like an endless white floor. When it goes down, you can feel that the chair goes down first before you do. Scary! Thinking about it now makes my heart beats faster. Overall, FUN! Too bad we did not have the opportunity to try all the Trill Rides.



That day, the temperature was about 16 degree and below. Cold! Cold! ^^



So, the last day we went back KL and stayed at Bintang Warisan Hotel, one of the most famous hotel where Kuching people like to stay at when they are in KL. Continued shopping... I think when we came to KL, our luggages were like 15-20kg? When we wanna go home, I bet it is about 60-80kg? On our flight back to Kuching, I held a bottle of mineral water onto the plane. At the highest altitude, the cap of the bottle burst! One type of bottle where we only push to tighten it instead of the ordinary screw-it cap. Air pressure. ^^ If you opens your bottle at the high altitude then when you on normal ground, the cap will convex inward.



Came home, straight away took my bath and lay dead on the bed! Fun! Tired! ^^ Looking forward to next year's! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2008!



*Fun fact for traveller: Roll your shirts if you have limited space in your luggage. Trust me, it will take less space than folding.

Santubong

This is what happened between timeline: 2:00pm (December 07th, 2007) until 1:00pm (December 08th, 2007).

My family, my cousins, their family, and I went to Santubong for two days, one night getaway trip. We stayed at the JKR's resthouse since my cousin's father work for the JKR. Nice... How come being a teacher does not have this privillege??

When we got there...

High tide. Swimming = no no. :(

So, we decided to play with the boomerang. Ok, not WE. My cousins actually. My cousins who are in Kuching.. well, all of them are guys. I'm the only girl. No wonder I grow up to be tomboy-ish. Never the less, it's fun growing up with them! "P Then, it happens. The boomerang was stuck in the tree.

Notice the boomerang??

Few tries of throwing stones, shoe and even the mop (government property), the boomerang finally decided to come down to the ground. The story doesn't end there. They joked about the first one but when the second incident happened, everyone went berserk. Everyone's laughing their mouth off! Even my uncle! The boomerang flew to the roof. There's no way we can climb there! Bye-bye to the boomerang. "P

Note: Throwing boomerang is harder than it looks. Especially this three-sided boomerang. Looks like we'll have to go Australia for another boomerang. That sounds nice... ^^

When it's low tide, we decided to take a walk on the beach. Now then we see the beach!! Yippie!

How marvellous is God creation? ^^ Simply beatiful.

I caught this candid moment. Looks like something bit my brother's leg. Don't worry, it's harmless. It's just a crab. ^^

Around evening, the boys went for crab/fish/prawn hunting. They'll catch anything that moves in the water.

How did we spent the night? By playing blackjack! My gosh, it's not Chinese New Year! We have tons of fun playing though. I can still recall my brother's reaction when I got blackjack in a row. Luckily he didn't poke a hole through the wall with his head. ^^

The next day,

It's low tide in the morning with cold breeze. Who needs air-cond? The beach streched until Damai Golf and Resort. We walked until the end just to swim. There's even dogs around, waiting for visitors to feed them. This one was laying down, getting some sun bath. It's not dead. "P

Around 1pm, after packing, cleaning and throwing the rubbish away, we were ready to head home.

Before leaving, we took this photo for rememberance. It's really been a long time since the last time we had a getaway like this! Thanks Uncle for the trip and thanks God for the lovely weather! ^^

Oh ya, when we got back, the boys moved the fish and crabs to the aquarium of about half meter deep chlorinated water. Sadly, an hour later, the fish and crabs went K.O. Poor creatures!