London-Germany-Switzerland-Germany Winter Holiday

So! As some of you (whoever who reads this little ol' blog o mine anyway) may know, I recently did something I've never (really) done before-- travelling! My family was never one to travel much-- 98% of my life was spent in Melaka and so, I'm more of a stay-in-one-place kind of person. It seems that 2013 was a year of big changes for me but I'm not going to do my annual year-in review in this post so let's leave it for that.

*ahem*

Anyway, as the blog post title implies, I recently went on a London-Germany-Switzerland-Germany holiday!

Two days after the semester was officially over, I took a bus to London to go sightseeing before going to Germany. I mean, since the airport was in London anyway, why not take a look around, yes?

The main highlight of my 2-3 days in London was definitely eating the Lobster and Burger at Burgers and Lobsters.

Worth every single Pence even though it was 20 Pounds.

I also tried the, apparently, most delicious roasted duck in the world at Chinatown. It wasn't that great, to be honest. I mean, it was good, as far as roast ducks go. But somehow I feel like the ones back home in Melaka are about the same, at only a fraction of the price. Maybe I'll try it again one day during the peak hour. It might be better then.

I also visited Baker Street, home to the famous Sherlock Holmes. It was a pretty nice place.

And not to forget, South Bank-- where the London Eye and the Big Ben are located. 

But the main body of this post is going to be dedicated to my journey around Germany-- mainly in Cologne, Nuremberg, Munich and Berlin-- and also in Zurich, the capital of Switzerland.

But! I'm still kinda tired now from all the travelling (half of Germany in 7 days wow) so I'll  update this soonish!

MoRunning in Movember and having dinner with the Avalon family

I know, I know, I haven't been updating my blog lately. In fact, I haven't updated it in a looong time. I think I'll bring it up to date soon, but in the meantime I want to write about the very fulfilling weekend I just had.

On Friday I went to play badminton. It was great fun since I haven't really exercised in a long time. I then cooked a rather British meal using in-season produce like butternut squash, parsnips and brussel sprouts.

***

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 6am to see ice forming on my windows. The temperature was -2 degrees celsius and I wanted to take a shower but I decided that I couldn't and wouldn't brave the cold waters. I got ready and dressed really warmly by wearing many layers of clothing. It was the coldest I've ever experienced thus far.

I met up with Audrey and then Kae Huey to walk to Wollaton Park. It was a roughly 30 minute walk from our houses and thankfully it wasn't very windy-- it was just cold so in the end it was pretty bearable.

Wollaton Park's Wayne Manor-- where the Dark Knight Rises was shot in.

We arrived at the park at roughly half past seven and met up with the other members of the MoRun crew as we were to be volunteers for an event called MoRunning. I had originally planned to join the run, but since it costs nearly 20 quids, I decided to volunteer instead. And I think volunteering was much more satisfying than running.

We were asked to separate the medals into stacks of 20 and so we got to work...

Kae Huey and Audrey posing with the medals in the background. Oranges are 5k medals and blues are 10k ones.

After we were done with that, the crew gave us some hot drinks to get ourselves warm before the event began in earnest. I had hot chocolate with milk. The other two had a mochacino.

The three of us enjoying our complimentary coffee bean hot drinks. It was soooo good. So. Good.

Kae Huey and I were stationed just beside the lake, which had a really beautiful view (though honestly everywhere had a beautiful view-- that's just how beautiful the parks in Nottingham are). The best thing we found out was that it was so cold till the leaves were actually frozen!

That leaf is frozen. Really.

The view from where we were stationed at.

I was giving support and encouragement to the runners. They were a really great crowd-- very receptive.

All in all, I had a really great time in the event. The crowd was simply amazing and not only were we encouraging them, they were also encouraging us as well! Think about that. They were telling US that we were doing a good job when it was actually our job to tell them that they were doing great. So nice.

We were also given one more complimentary drink at the end of it so I took a hot gingerbread chocolate this time ( I was trying not to take the caffeinated options).

After that we stopped by to take a  look inside Wayne Manor.

Posing macam yes.

After reaching back home around 12-ish, Audrey and I had lunch together (she supplied pizza) since her housemates all went to Oxford and it was partly due to me asking her to join as a volunteer that she couldn't go and it's kinda sad to eat alone so we had lunch together.

And then we all went back to rest, and around 5.30, I met up with Audrey again to go meet our host family-- Peter and Elizabeth Avalon. They were a really nice couple-- quite elderly but very up-to-date with technology. Peter was a mechanical engineer while Elizabeth was a teacher at one point.

We ate dinner together prepared by the Avalon family and boy, was it delicious!

We had roasted potatoes, turkey, cauliflower with cheese, green peas, sweet corn, cabbages, bell peppers, baked mushrooms and gravy. So, so delicious. We held a very nice conversation till around 10.30pm and decided to call it a night. 

Anyway! I'll update more about my life in the UK soon. But you can always follow me on facebook for that, can't you? 

Dream Diary Day 27

I had a dream. Actually I've been having dreams for many times already before this-- I just felt too lazy to get up and write about it.

I was at home. As in, my house back in Melaka. There was a bus outside. I suppose I was supposed to get on, but I haven't packed anything. Other people were all getting on the bus, and I was rushing to pack my stuff-- pillows, soap, etc.

After packing like halfway thru, the bus moved on without me.

At first I was sad. But then I was a bit relieved, because I wasn't sure if I had wanted to go in the first place. As in, I was undecided to go and last minute decided to just pack, but then I couldn't go and then I was fine not going as well.

Penang: the Pearl of the Orient

I suppose this post was long overdue. Let me try to recall my experiences for three days in Penang (with the help of pictures, of course, since someone told me that my blog needed more pictures. I'll be relying on Ryan a lot for that).


On the First Day, I took the 6:30am bus to meet up with Ryan and Po Ee in Low-Cost-Carrier Terminal (LCCT for short). I arrived slightly shy of 8:30am, and then Ryan treated me to a burger for breakfast.

We entered the departure hall and waited for our flight.

The LCCT departure hall

The flight towards Penang took roughly 35 mins (wow!). We arrived at Penang International Airport and Hui Jiun, together with Han Ying, was there to pick us up.

Hui Jiun took us to a tour around Penang for a bit and then we went to have cendol, otak-otak, and fried kuey teow at a small cornershop which was overly packed with people.

 

It was good. Not really that great-- but good.

After that Hui Jiun dropped us back at our hotel (PP Island). It was a really nice place. We got two neighbouring rooms on the 9th floor, so the view was great.

(Das me, lying down)

After resting for a bit and putting our stuffs down, we immediately head out again to the heritage area on Penang Island. We took a lot of photos there while walking around.

We visited a camera museum,

Das camera museum

A temple,

And the Peranakan museum.

Hereby dubbed the NBS family photo

 After it looked like it was going to rain, we took a pit-stop at a place called China House. It's an art cafe ( those seem like all the craze lately) and they served really, really, delicious tiramisu cake.

Das me, vandalizing the table haha

What I drew-- and the super delicious RM 15 cake

After that Hui Jiun took us back to our hotel and we all rested the rest of the evening. I, apparently, was knocked out cold lols. Sometime around 6pm, Hui Jiun and her boyfriend (oooh!) came to pick us up again and brought us to a place called Northram Beach Cafe where we had our dinner. I had something like prawn mee. It wasn't bad, but nothing to shout about. We also had some fried chicken. Now that was really good. Anyone up for more Bishop's noses? Hahaha. After that, we went to a place in the upper crust of Penang Island called the Straits Quay.

Since it was raining, we stopped by a lounge/bar/cafe called The Library. I didn't drink anything, just to tell you beforehand. It was a nice place though. We sat by the outside so the sound of the rain, mixed with the swaying of boats and a live band further in really had a nice atmosphere.

Don't hate, yo!

After the rain stopped, we walked along the coastline(?) overlooking the sea and many boats/yachts.

Lumia Camera saves the day at night ;)

The time was around... 1am by the time we went back to our hotel. when we reached back, we started playing... MONOPOLY DEAL!

I was so close to winning to many times but alas it was not meant to be as victory escaped my grasp each time, and Ryan emerged victorious for the majority of the games.

At around 3am, we went to sleep.

Wow, can you believe it. That was just the First Day.


On the Second Day, still tired from sleeping so late the night(morning?) before, we woke up around 9-ish. Hui Jiun came to pick us up again at around 10, more or less. We went to Pulau Tikus and had delicious wan tan mee. It was really, really really good. It's kinda sad that Melaka's are really such a let down.

It was half white, half black. Don't ask, I don't know how else to explain.

After we were done we headed over to Kek Lok Si temple. It was a climb-- what a climb. We hiked all the way up to the highest level in the pagoda.

Right at the very top. No photos coz we were all afraid of staying there too long. It was scary.

After that we took a cable car to the top of the... area. And we saw a HUUUUGE Guan Yin statue.

Syok sendiri in the cable car LOL

It was freaking hot by the way. Pardon the Cina Eyes

After we were done we climbed back down and then ate Laksa. You know, the famous assam laksa. I also had some nutmeg juice.

After that we stopped by a place called Him Heang. The biscuits there were sooooo delicious oh my goodness, I should have bought more.We had dinner ( well, it was more like... tea time) at a hawker centre and ordered steamed white chicken, fish+chicken porridge, bak kut teh and some dim sum. After that we went back to rest for a while again (more like 3 hours), and then Hui Jiun brought us to the Penang Hill. She didn't join us this time though as she was busy with something.

Penang Hill was, in one word, beautiful. It was 712m above sea level. By the time we reached there, it was around 8pm.

They call it Bukit Bendera for a reason ;)

We walked around and explored the area and took the chance to take in the nice view and fresh air. We also took a few photos here and there.When we descended around 9-10pm, Hui Jiun again came to pick us up and sent us back to our hotel. So super thankful for her :)

We played monopoly deal again, but this time the millionaire variety until around 1am and then we went to eat at a mamak stall just nearby our hotel called "Jiao Sai" which is in Cantonese, and would translate to something like Bird Poop. It was pretty good by the way. They only sold maggi goreng and the varieties.

Jiao Sai maggi goreng. HAHAHA what a name.

After that we headed back to sleep. That was around 2am I suppose. And thus ended our Second Day.

On the Third Day, Hui Jiun had to work (can you believe it-- she took leave just for us D'AWWW) and we were lucky to have Ryan's friend, KC, to help us. In the morning he took us to a hawker centre where we ate dim sum (delicious dim sum too) and prawn mee.

MmmMmm good!

After that he brought us to the seafront and we weren't really sure what the place was called. KC said he called it the Ubah Beach. Here's why...

With DAP's UBAH! bird.

After chilling there for a while we went back to the heritage area to take photos with all the murals that tourists always take photos with. Once there, we rented some bikes to go around because walking would be just too far.

This kinda looks like a poster for some cliche movie.

You know, that was the 3rd time I've ever ridden a bicycle before so I was so afraid that I might be terrible at it, but somehow I ended up being pretty good. (the last time I rode a bike was many years ago, and I sucked-- so I stopped)

Anyway, we went around taking photos with the murals here and there. Gosh, we were all covered in sweat. 

Wah-chaa!

And of course, this iconic photo.

After that was over and done with, we went over to Hard Rock Hotel, in Batu Ferringhi. And Dayum, the place was really high class.

Just a small part of the huge hotel.

The beach was beautiful too, at any rate. The sand was smooth and soft. After that we paid a visit to Fort Cornwellis. There wasn't much to do there, to be honest. It's just kinda... like that.

Epic expressions. I was torn between smiling or acting. Ended up failing both.

Finally, we decided to head over to the airport coz it was time to go.

At the airport, KC's car boot suddenly couldn't open and we all panicked and rushed over to a car mechanic to get it fixed. Funnily enough, when we got there, it opened by itself. So... thankfully everything was solved without much hassle.

We ate a quick lunch at the airport, and then thanked KC and we got on our flights.

It looks like a sea down there! Oh wait, it IS the sea.

Upon arrival, we promptly parted ways-- me going to take a bus back to Melaka while Po Ee and Ryan were to go to their homes in KL respectively. I had to stay at the airport till 9pm since I missed the 6.30 bus and the 8pm bus was full. Ugh, crowded, smoky, smelly and full of flies. But oh well. A pauper can't be picky.


I arrived back in Melaka around 11pm and had a large dinner waiting for me (seriously?). And my parents continued to feed me like crazy for the next few days even though I just came back from a food trip around Penang. Hah.

Oh, but I am grateful though.

So this wraps up my escape. Hope to update with more good things soon!

Sunway Pyramid and 1 Utama, meeting some friends before I go to UK

Thursday and Friday, 25/7 and 26/7 respectively, I organized some outings with my friends. The first; to go to Sunway Pyramid, and the second; to 1 Utama.

As you might've noticed, my week here seems to be really packed, eh? Hahah. Just what I like, I suppose.

Anyway, for the first day, I was really surprised that Chew Yi could/would come. Why... well... I just kinda invited her on a whim, really. Because it's not like I was very good friends with her. But then again, maybe we were pretty good friends, come to think of it. But I'm happy to say that I'm glad that I did invite her because she was definitely a welcome and positive addition to the group that night.

She also seemed happy to be invited along and expressed her frustrations because nobody invited her out hahaha.So I guess I made the right decision.

Anyway, since the whole group couldn't come on one day, I split the gathering into two days and thus, two different locations.

On Thursday, the first day and original plan, Tzer Maan, and I drove to Sunway to meet up with Audrey and Chew Yi because I wanted to eat the Matcha Green Tea ice cream that Krystal introduced to me and I also wanted to share the ice cream with others. We chit-chatted for most of the time while searching for the ice cream because I conveniently forgot where it was-- but in the end, after walking through almost the WHOLE area, we found out that the stall was just beside the place where we started. Wow.

We wanted to eat at Bubba Gump, because I heard everyone saying that it's good, but it was full and the waiting area was full of smokers. Sooo... we decided to eat at Sushi Zanmai instead. We queued for a while and just nice as we entered the restaurant, Beng Guan arrived to join us. We had a feast of sorts, ordering so much stuff. It was really worth it though, in my opinion. And as always, Sushi Zanmai doesn't really disappoint. :)

After that we tried to go ice skating, but the rink was already closed. Then we tried to watch a movie, but the shows were all almost midnight-- too late. Then we tried to sing K, but the fees were outrageous (RM 42 per person? No, thank you!). Then we drove out, following BG's car and went to another KTV joint, but they were full. So I guess, no helping it, we decided to go to Asia Cafe where BG treated us to some fruit juice, before heading back for the night. I reached back home around 1am.

***

The Next day, I woke up at 8am for some odd reason and lazed around till it was time to go out again, this time to 1 Utama. The actors in this scene were Me, Tzer Maan, Audrey, Beng Guan (recurring casts) and Sunnie and Khai Wei. All of us arrived at around the same time again so I guess we had impeccable timing, except that Khai Wei was a little later.

We bowled first, while waiting for him. I guess it was OK, I did better last time. Haha.

We watched Wolverine. It was kinda sucky, in my opinion. But maybe it's because I expected so much more.

After that we ate at Fish and Co. The food there was good, as usual. But the highlight was definitely, oh goodness, hahah. Tzer Maan asked the waitress for her facebook saying that Beng Guan would like to get to know her better. And she really gave us her name, although afterwards BG said that he couldn't find her profile. Tzer Maan also asked another waiter for a slice of lemon for his water. That was definitely a first.. for me.

***

Both nights were filled with laughter and fun and... fellowship. Definitely. Gonna miss them when I go for UK. But then again... out of the 7 people who came, 3 of us are going to go to the UK together so... hahah!

Lights Up! NBS Welcoming event +Seremban Trip

24/7/2013

 NBS organized (in large part thanks to Bob and Celestine, I assume, for taking the initiative) a welcoming-come-introductory party for the freshers of Nottingham, e.g. mainly the July intake foundation students, for the first time ever on the date above.

At first, I was hesitant on going as I was still rushing to settle my fees, passports, CAS, visa, and a few other things concerning my UK application. Like how they made a mess of my offer letter. But let's not get into that.

Well, I steeled my resolve when Celestine contacted me personally and gave me the hefty assignment of being an MC, alongside her, for the event.

It's just something my mother used to teach me. Ask and ye shall receive. I have a very, very hard time turning people down when they request my help to do something. Usually because I don't have much of a reason to decline, at any rate. Did I mention that the movie, "Yes Man", had a great impact on my life? If you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you do. It's a Jim Carrie movie, so you should know that it's good. And also, I guess, it's become part of me to whole-ass one thing than to half-ass two things.

I drove up on Tuesday morning and met up with Celestine to discuss about our MC script as well as hand out some flyers and watch her dog, Royce.

After the lunch rush was over, I met up with Ah Cai and drove to Seremban to meet up with Sharon and Kit Wayne (Shireen couldn't join us) as Sharon had told me that she wanted to give me a gift before I left for UK. (I'm so touched :') ). Anyhow! As fate would have it, she forgot to bring it and so we instead went to watch a movie (Turbo, was kinda meh, not bad, not good) and then went to eat some stuff around the area. Sweet Hut, which served obscenely sweet stuff, which, at first was pretty good, but almost gave me a tummy ache, and then Yee Kee's beef noodles. I should mention here that I'm not a beef person as my family doesn't really eat beef. It's not like I can't, it's just that we don't so I've not eaten much beef before. So I needed some time to get used to the taste of the beef, but overall it was pretty enjoyable.

After that we headed over to Kit's house and chilled there by playing Dai Di and eating all his chocolates (as if I hadn't had enough sugar in my blood already) and soya bean. Muahahah.

Day ends, fast forward to the big day.

Bob, Celestine and I had breakfast/lunch together in Semenyih after she suddenly had the urge to eat Wan Tan Mee. I went back to sleep afterwards, and then in the evening, for tea/dinner we ate at Subway because she suddenly had the urge to eat there too. Hahah.

We arrived back in campus and then prepared the room for our event, Lights Up!, with the help of a few other committed committee members who happened to be free and willing to travel back/happened to be in the area.

We were holding our breaths in anticipation at whether our efforts could reach the students, whether our sincerity had made them keen on coming, and whether our HI ARE YOU A FOUNDATION STUDENT surprise attacks didn't scare them away.

THANKFULLY, a modest number of students came (exactly 14, exclusive of working members), which was about half of the max allowance we had. A pretty good number, I might add. Another thing to point out was that they were mostly girls. Wow.

Well, we had our games, and they were a good audience. I think we did pretty well. I also think that they seem to enjoy themselves, too. Had the chance to talk with a few of them and they were all pretty nice people too :)

The day ended without a hitch and tadaaa! A job well done, everyone. :)

I think I made the right decision to come. I felt super good after the event. Like I said before, it's a different kind of satisfaction. Sometimes I think I'm a two-in-one person. I'm a half of everything. I'm introverted and extroverted at the same time. So I need to find a balance of both. I can go into more detail in another post, I guess, if i have the mood.

Till next time!

So, Glenn has left.

18 July 2013, Glenn has flown off for Australia to study Engineering in the University of New South Wales (with Frank). He'll be there for the next 3(4?) years and I reckon... I won't be seeing him much anymore.

It's kinda hard to accept, because I'm used to seeing his mug daily and then some. Even when he was doing his A levels in Taylor's, I didn't see him much anymore but still, he was nearby, y'know?

But still, best wishes, dear Glenn. You damn retard, you. :)