The London Pictorial II

The London Pictorial I

The synonyms:

The Paddington tube station.

Big Ben.

The Eye of London.

Red telephone booths.

Red double decker buses.

Home

HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


*puts on imaginary crown and sits on imaginary throne*


Much to do. Uni stuff (oh gawd) and outings with family and friends!

Am looking forward to the treasure hunt, guys!

Happy Holidays, y'all!




p/s: I miss Fiona Fong. :(

Prelude to Christmas

"Perhaps the best Yuletide present is being wreathed in smiles.'

Malacca Part 2

May I refer to my post titled Malacca Part 1. The area where we had seafood in Malacca is called Ubmai, not Pendu. Hehe. Thanks to TT for the correction. I can be bad with names sometimes.

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Here goes Malacca Part 2.

The chat session was awesome, though I didn't participate in the most part of it (was sleeping). Gave me an insight of the err, inside scoops. Had milk (purchased from 7-11) and Kah Ling's Tiger Susu for darndarnearly breakfast before dawn. Chatted till I felt sleepy again. So I hit the sack, and this time on the couch in the living room. The next thing that happened was myself waking up in a rather awkward position on the couch. I turned my head and saw Mr. TT lounging on the lazy chair just opposite. (He had a bird's eye view of whatever position/style I was sleeping :/ but I am a disciplined sleeper, so its okay) It was already 7:45a.m then. Perfect time to shower as Fatt, Daryl, Adeline and Kah Ling were still fast asleep.

The plan of the day was to have famous Malacca chicken rice balls, tour a bit around daytime Jonker, hunt for Cendol and visit Christ Church. We set off as soon as everyone was showered, packed and ready. We left Malacca on the day itself as we've got class the next day. Boo.

We had chicken rice balls at a quaint but popular shop called ( ). Seriously, I am just bad with names. :(

Verdict: It was okay, taste-wise. I would have preferred the rice to be more fragrant and less sticky. Chicken was well-cooked but not as tender as I hoped it would be. If you ask me, I still prefer the conventional version of chicken rice.

After the quite gratifying chicken rice, we explored the shops along Jonker. At night, most shops were closed to give way to the set-up stalls. Entered various shops selling all kinds of knick-knacks. From Portuguese egg tarts, dresses to candle holders, choices were aplenty. The colours of the shops' interior and exterior were resplendent and striking; humble, but still exude charm.

I also spotted many enthusiastic cameramen cum tourists with their huge DLSRs snapping away at the sights of Malacca. It later occured to me that I saw that exact activity at Jonker the night before. And it soon became a familiar sight around Malacca to me.

I bought walnut biscuits from a tart shop and sat eating them with the three boys, who opted for egg tarts from the shop. The other girls were shopping at a shop next door. We left the place together soon after to go to Christ Church. There were many stalls outside the maroon building selling all sorts of tourist-y stuff. Uncles with cheerfully decorated trishaws (some were playing MJ songs :O) dotted the place as well, discreetly trying to poach tourists into taking their ride. Wai Yi bought a hammock at one of the stalls. Cangotoherplaceforhammockingnexttimehurhur. I love hammocks. Reminds me of resorts and Hui Li's house. :)

We later had cendol opposite Christ Church. It was disappointing, actually, as we were hoping to eat at this famous one at Jonker which was closed. Adeline is an avid cendol enthusiast, you see, so it was double the disappointment for her.

We left Malacca at 12 noon to head back to KL. We stopped by Seremban to get their famous siew pow. They tasted fantastic when eaten warm. One is never enough, as their tagline goes.

Anyway, I expected the siew pow shop to be an ordinary-sized, shophouse lot. Boy, was I wrong. It turned out that the shop was in fact a building of its own. A big one too. On the wall of the shop a certificate caught my attention. Guess what? It was a certificate of recognition by Malaysia Book of Records. It was recognised as the largest siew pow chain in Malaysia with more than a 100 stores to boot around the country. W.O.W factor increased.

Drove back to KL satiated from the trip. It was a good way to take a breather away from the hustle and bustle of KL. It was a nice break from the stress caused by studies too.

*smiles*

Another trip like that next time?

Malacca Part 1

Am back from Malacca a happy person!

The trip was made even better because my stomach didn't act up at all. Seriously, I have milk to thank for. A day after my previous post, I went to nearby Giant after school intending to get some chocolates and suddenly, a thought hit me, "Hey, I ought to check out milk." Reason being, I haven't had good ol' comforting milk for a long time (since my holidays back home). I then belatedly remembered how good milk is for digestion. A bit to late lo! :(

Had the milk and boy, how I felt the change in my stomach environment. The pH seem to return to a more normal and tolerable one, compared to what I had experienced for the past two or so weeks. The effect lasted for the next few days.

Joy. Milk = solution.

Bought milk to drink in Malacca as well.

THANK YOU, MILK! Another reason to love cows other than for their meat.

Hehe.

Told mum about it in the evening and I got the very classic, "Told you so." Sorry, mum, I just plain forgot.

Anyway enough of digression. I am here to blog about Malacca.

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As I didn't bring along my camera, I do not have any photos from Malacca. Gotta wait for Wai Yi and TT to post the pictures in Facebook/upload them into their respective blogs.

Kean Fatt and TT drove us all there. There were seven of us altogether including our dear drivers. Malacca was about an hour-and-a-half's trip from KL. We left KL in the evening at about 7-ish p.m. We reached at about 9pm and headed straight to Jonker Walk, popular tourist destination and one of the highlights of our trip. Before reaching Jonker and after parking the cars, we took pictures at the jetty, a Dutch fort and a water mill (is this what it's called?)

Jonker is similar to a Petaling Street, except Jonker is cleaner, homlier and on a smaller scale. I just love the homely feeling of Jonker. Perhaps it was the traditional Chinese shophouses that line the streets of and how rooted the place is on tradition and heritage.

I had my first fried ice-cream since 2003 at Jonker and it was yummy. I smelt char kuih and couldn't resist so bought a packet. Speaking of char kuih, I noticed that the shells of the eggs used were considerably rougher and paler as compared to normal brown eggs. When asked, the hawker explained that they are called "white-shelled eggs". Hmm, they still tasted like normal eggs if you ask me.

There was a singing competition at Jonker. Participants were none other than old folks. The stage was modest, but grand in a way. I was actually expecting a dingy, rickety platform of a stage . The crowd was extremely supportive too, contrary to my belief that singing old folks are no crowd puller. There were even children in the crowd. What surprises Malacca folks offered, really.

After Jonker, we headed to the outskirts of Malacca to have seafood. I think the name of the area is Pendu and our seafood place is called Parameswara. LOL.

To those who know my extraordinary eating habits, I do not eat seafood (sneer if you like) so I sat and eat my char kuih while my other six buddies chowed down on fish and sotong. Was secretly thankful that no crustaceans were ordered.

Satisfied, we left the seafood place for Wai Yi's uncle's place. Her uncle was so kind to lend us his empty flat for our short stay. Saves us students on budget from spending on accomadation.

We played games that night. It was funny. I was frigging blur at one point because I was dead sleepy. It was really embarassing, even typing this makes me so giddy.

I slept only about 2 hours that night. Kah Ling and I hit the sack earlier while the rest had a chatting/whispering (so as not to wake us up) session. Woke up to hear them still chatting away and decided to join in. :D

to be continued...

I went an Ipoh-ing

It has been 2 days since I returned from Ipoh.

The original Old Town Kopitiam.

Rival at the opposite.

Shall update more on the trip when time permits. More photos on Ipoh in my Facebook page. Soon.

:)

My adventures!

Greetings!

Oh no, I discovered an accidental lovecurrentobsessionfunfunfun! Yada yada yada. You get the picture?

Its this Harry Potter game on Facebook called School of Wizardry!

Just when things are going to start being alot busier in uni.

*gulps*

Vow to self: Shall not be distracted.

This is not the main topic of this post, however. Just a short digression.

I am here to tell you about my mini adventures yesterday. It might not come across as being well, adventurous to you select few out there but the adjective adventurous suffices for me.

SATURDAY

The morning plan: To go to Legal Practice workshop in the morning from 9-12 instead of the afternoon one from 1230-1530.

Reason: The Career Fair cum Convention thingy in Universiti Malaya which Evon and I planned to go earlier that week. Adeline decided to skip the Fair.

This was our very initial plan. So we attended class in the morning. Walked out from the Residence. Saw two girl classmates walking to Wisma HELP (approx. 15 minutes away). Decided against taking the taxi, hence walked to uni.

Was a mini adventure. Road was mildly busy and mind you, the roads are really wide so we had to literally run across every single one. Thank Heavens for traffic lights, really.

Reached at 905am. Went up to Miss Mariette who was busy taking attendance. Gave a short explanation on why we were attending the morning session rather than afternoon. Got told that we have to inform her beforehand that if we want to changing the week's workshop. Hmm, new news to the ears. :/

Class went fine. Munched on my oat cookies for the first quarter of it. Had two mini breaks. Found out many new things about life in practice and the harsh reality that comes with it.

Class ended at 12 noon. Kah Ling said to eat lunch together. But the surrounding area is pretty much dead and boring on weekends. After much deliberation, we decided on going to Midvalley. Midvalley first, then UM, my mental note.

At Midvalley, Kah Ling and Huey Theng looked at Boss perfumes. Promotion going on. I checked my phone. Got a text from Wai Yi and the essence of the text was... ISETAN MEMBERS PRE-SALE. Suddenly, UM and lunch slipped of the mind a bit, became a distant memory (I absolutely love Isetan sales and try not to miss any when I am in KL). Shopping became first on my agenda and Adeline's as well.

But we have to satisfy them hungry mouths, hence, lunch at Little Taiwan. Had fried dumplings and pearl milk tea. Was mildly surprised that they were actually rather filling.

After the hearty meal, Kah Ling and Huey Theng left for home; Adeline roamed around Midvalley to wait for her parents' arrival; and Evon and I left for UM. We opted to go by bus, being the cost-savvy student that we are. Hurhur.

Bus arrived surprisingly fast, in mere seconds after we stepped out of the mall. Yay. Increased frequency, perhaps. Bus trip to UM costed RM1 and lasted for about 10 minutes or less. Very short route.

Arrived at Universiti station. Was told that I would have to walk some distance to get to the Uni but was consoled when told that the Law School is near the entrance that we were going to head to.

Mini adventure part 2 comes in. Traffic was worst at that time. Lunch hour, peak period, you name it. Had to run faster this time. Road was even wider. Sun was sunnier, scorchier and meaner. :( Luckily had Evon, so mini adventure wasn't that bad.

Registered, scanned the area, watched some video, got some freebies, listened to a talk, walked a bit, sat down at the benches, ate a cupcake and a cookie each, visited the richly-and-amply- stocked-library-which-put-HELP-to-serious-shame and called it a day at UM.

Mini adventure part 3 is similar to part 2. Evon and I then parted ways at the Universiti station. I went back to Midvalley for retail therapy and she, to Bangsar station to meet a cousin.

Used the same bus, costed another RM1 (in the good old days, it used to be RM1 for a whole day pass, translation: infinity rides till you get sick of the bus) :<

Reached mall. Adeline was out with parents so I was on my own. Went to a number of shops. Wanted to get this pair of sexy, chunky heels from Charles & Keith but decided against it. My books won the battle, much to spend on them books this month.

However, I didn't leave empty-handed. Restocked my body polish from The Body Shop. Using satsuma now but bought pomegranate instead. It was on sale so it was a good buy. Also bought a lovely dress from Cicada at Isetan for cousin's wedding. *smiles*

In between the two purchases, I walked walked walked. Thank goodness for my Crocs flats. Comfy walking without the annoyance and pain of blisters. Kept thinking about the heels from Charles & Keith. Thought about dinner and called Adeline, who came back to Midvalley with her parents.

Had dinner with Adeline and her parents at a record time of 8+pm (an achievement for me, I usually eat between 530-630pm). Company was good. Her dad was really funny. :) Thanks very much for the dinner!

The day ended at 930pm when we both returned to the Residence. Record: Out from 845am till 930pm. Been a long time since I have done so much walking and taking bus trips.

Will be going for a Japanese lunch tomorrow and movie! Will definitely be a shorter trip. Haha.

Till the next time I update! :D

Of travel plans, trips and food

Back again. It is about 2 hours till Tort lecture and here I am blogging in the room. Hurhur.

Some travel plans are in store for me next week and two weeks from now.

16-18 Oct: Will be heading to Ipoh for a food trip! Say yes to food and more food.

27-29 Oct: Will be flying back to my parents' hometown, Kuching, for cousin Alison's wedding. It will be fun. :D

And then we come to an end of October.

I shall conclude this post with pictures of

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THE HARRY POTTER WIZARDING WORLD IN FLORIDA, USA!

*excited*

Opening in 2011.

*excited*

Photo credits go to dailymail UK and are based on an artist's impression of the theme park.

Harry Potter broomsticking away from the theme park after his namesake.

Entrance to Hogwarts castle!

Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods!

There is even 'The Three Broomsticks' for comforting butterbeer!

Ollivander's!

Hippogriff Ride (Hagrid's hut below)!

Souvenir shop!

The Owlery!

Map.

Need I say more? Make sure you Potter fans visit HARRY POTTER WIZARDING WORLD at least once in your lifetime!

<3,

Jessica