CNY 2011 Roadshow

It's been hectic for the past 2 weeks & there was no time for a breather. I had been travelling quite extensively this time, only returning last Sunday. Being the only representative from Food team to present the upcoming plans in Q4'10 & Q1'11, our first stop was at Penang for the Northern team briefing. A few of us were arranged to carpool with one of my colleague who had no prior experience in outstation driving. Upon hearing this, I had cold feet & thought to myself that we will be in for a wild ride.

Thankfully, we arrived there safely. The rest of the 2 days 1 night stay was nothing extraordinary & I don't wish to elaborate further on that. The usual tradition for our CNY roadshows would be having lion dance to bring good luck to our business. The lion dance troupe hired to do the deed has quite pretty lion costumes due to its shiny, glamourous gold with no signs of dirt or stains.

Taken here is my colleagues from HQ team during the a short break from briefing.

It was somewhat difficult for me to conduct the briefing mainly cuz I don't speak Chinese well & my vocab was limited to conversations only. Even engaging in simple Chinese conversations makes me tongue-tied -.-". Anyways, we headed back to KL after the briefing ended. It was a little scary driving in the evening cuz my colleague has bad eyesight at night & it was drizzling throughout our journey. I heaved a sigh of relief the minute we exit the highway back to KL. We may have took the wrong way & travelled much further to reach PJ but most importantly reaching home in one piece. *phew*

Next stop was travelling down south to Ayer Itam for a one day trip. This time, the briefing was held at a so-called villas for tourists looking for a quiet weekend getaway. The location has a small hall for our gathering & next to it is a cafetaria. Despite the small venue, the team made an effort to decorate the hall.

I didn't take much picture during the event reason being there was nothing to shout about. But funnily enough, we spotted a rather unusual Christmas tree made assembled using plastic bottles filled with coloured liquid. So economical yet glows well in the dark when lit up. Interesting~

Just a day after we arrived back to KL, we had to bound for a early morning flight to Miri the following day - the last stop of the entire roadshow. I do have pet peeves on taking taxi to the airport alone, thus took the KLIA Ekspres instead. It was still dark when I boarded the train at 6.15am but I wasn't alone as there were other passengers too. The train is a little old & the seats worn out but it travels fast - merely 28 minutes to KLIA. All safe & good.

The good thing about flying with MAS is that the seats are pretty comfy & spacious; although I'm not too happy with the stuffy environment prior to take-off. And rest assured that you'll be well-fed. Just look at my mealbox!

I fell asleep quickly after meal as I was getting quite bored of the 2 hour flight. Makes me wonder how I did endured the 18 hours flight to LA 13 years ago...O_o When the captain announced that we'll be landing soon, I looked out of the window & was quite amazed. The seaside view looks beautiful up here. And those white foam must be the strong waves hitting the shore.

Upon arrival, we were in for a surprising visit to the Niah National Park which is 1 hour drive from Miri airport. Only clad in a t-shirt, jeans & sneakers - mentally unprepared & not suitably dressed for the occasion - we were only geared with a few bottles of mineral water & torchlights. And we had to endure a 3km walk along the wooden plank trails which lead us to the main cave. That trail is takes approximately 1 hour on foot. -.-"

The longest stalactites I've ever seen; observed just outside the Traders' Cave, 200m from the main cave.

The Traders' Cave looks equally stunning...

The insanely steep staircase to pass through before arriving at the main cave. There were several of these, mind you!

Finally, we arrived at the main cave. The hour long walk was pretty worth it considering the beautiful view right before our eyes.

Noticed the staircase to the deeper sections of the cave? It's the path leading to Kuala Gankira & the Painted Cave where pre-historic humans once inhibited millions of years ago. This part of the cave is pitch dark & requires a torchlight for better visibility. I was literally fumbling in the dark as I walked up the steps in total darkness, gripping hard for stability & avoiding the disgusting feeling & stench upon touching the guano droppings on the railings. It was only then I realised that I'm acrophobic & fear of the dark. Or rather fearful of the dangers within the darkness itself. My legs were numb & nearly gave way. I thought I would've the difficulty to climb out of the cave later.

Fortunately, I managed to & it was another hour long walk back to where we started. There ain't any shortcut back so it was indeed torturous~ Other than a bruise on the left knee due to a slippery fall, my inner thighs were awfully sore from the excessive steep climbing. No doubt the hike was a great experience, if only we were more prepared.

I shall not elaborate on the rest of the events cuz there were just too many. One thing to note - the annual dinner was interesting & the karaoke session was pretty cool. Everyone loved it! We got to see serious colleagues revealing their wild musical side. Oh yes, the local dishes that we had the opportunity to enjoy...it's called bidin, usually stir-fried with belacan. And I'm crazy over golok mee~ Looking forward to have them in my next visit. =D

This wraps up my entire journey & experiences during the roadshows. Travelling to all roadshow locations for the first time was both exhausting & fun. I'm not sure if I could endure another round of extensive travelling but at least I'm glad & proud to say that I've finally been to EM. =)

Merdeka Trip Part 2

Here's a recap of what I did during the remaining days of the weekend holidays. Lots of time wasted, really. Oh well, time doesn't wait & we all know too well.

Day 2

Me, my sis & I woke up pretty late that morning due to long drama session the night before. It was already late when we left the house. Had lunch first with my uncle before we entered Singapore. Our initial plan was to shop around Parkway Parade where my aunt works but soon enough, my cousin & I decided to take our grandparents to visit our uncle who's currently living in Choa Chu Kang. It only takes approx 1/2 hour to reach Choa Chu Kang from Woodlands but we went straight to Parkway Parade. Imagine spending another 40 mins to drive out from that mall back to Choa Chu Kang. Not knowing Singapore roads well; driving oh-so-cautiously so as to avoid getting caught by speeding cameras & getting slapped with a summon that costs a bomb - all these definitely did not help us reach the destination any faster. To top it off, Grandma's naggings about us getting lost half way that lasted almost an hour made matters a lot more worse. Yeah, I know how much it sucks but she's my granny anyways. What can I do?? *shrugs* Meanwhile, my sis was stuck at the salon doing her hair & that saved her from all the commotion during the journey. Lucky her!

Finally, we found our uncle's house & we met up with my cousin sis too. Had yum cha session somewhere near & dropped by at Lot One Shopper's Mall. It's a pretty decent mall selling nice clothings, shoes, bags...you name it at decent prices aimed - mainly aimed at middle income earners. The interior is surprisingly good too despite the plain exterior I saw upon entering its car park. Saw aplentiful of pumps that I was so tempted to buy but knowing my Grandpa was there wheelchair bound & may be bored if we spent too much time looking at clothes, I'd rather not hog everyone's time. Then, Grandma decidedly chose those designs that I don't quite like & kept on complaining why most of them have sharp, pointed nose made me fed up. Of course, I was silently calculating the price after conversion at the back of my head just to make sure that I don't overspend. Seriously it's tough shopping in Singapore if you keep on taking the currency conversion into consideration. You practically can't get anything cuz everything seems so pricey. Look, I can't help thinking like that especially when the price of those less branded pumps cost merely $35.90 end up becoming RM70++ a pair. Not so worthy, isn't it? Now I kinda regretted not getting one after returning home cuz the designs there were much, much better. Boo-hoo!

Of course, we can't just go home without snapping some pics? Am I right? ^^ After all, it's not like we always hang out with my cousin sis & uncle in Singapore.

Just as we were about to leave the mall, a note was placed on our car's windshield.

Heck! Didn't expect the management was freakin' anal about vehicles parking at the wrong space. Fyi, we parked at a space specially for handicaps reason being my grandpa couldn't walk far & needs to use a wheelchair. Parking at the handicap spot was the best option cuz it's the closest to the entrance. I don't blame if the management didn't know if there was old fellow who couldn't walk but believe it or not, a vehicle with a Singapore plate number also parked at a handicap spot next to ours & didn't receive any note. Not fair~ Unless the vehicle just parked not long ago & yet to receive the warning letter, I have every right to say that the management is discriminating us. This sounds very sensitive so let's hope that whatever I said it's not true.

After dropping off our uncle at his apartment, we drove my cousin sis back to her university. And off we cruised our way to Woodlands checkpoint, then home.

Day 3

We were supposed to be heading back to KL today. Me, cousin bro & my sis being sleepyheads again ended up waking up from slumber pretty late. Say, around 11am. No one was at home except the 3 of us. Cousin bro drove us out to eat yong tau fu & later met the rest of my family at Sutera Mall. Didn't fancy the place that much cuz it reminded me too much of Sungei Wang, except that it's newer. It's like lala land where the lala ppl gather. There's a shop that sells goth-styled clothing, seriously. Honestly, it looks damn cool but it's just plain inappropriate to wear it in public especially in Malaysia. I wouldn't mind putting one on if I'm at Harajuku or Akihabara. Some teenager wannabes were seen walking around in lolita dresses & gothic outfits which attracted so many stares from passerby. My uncle was dumbfounded when he saw them & asked what on earth these young kids are up to. I answered, "They're cosplaying~ XD". He was like...bwuh? o_O

Next stop was AEON Tebrau City. OMFG. Huge place. Enormous. Bigger than ever. Comparable to 1 Utama. Awesomeness. Walking on such a long stretch of the 1st floor was a daunting task. There were so many shops to walk around & see. It was the last day of Mega Sale therefore I told myself that I need to at least get something before I return home. In the end, I bought two blouses from G2000. Hell yeah I know their stuff have hefty price tag. They're having sale though & some of the blouses have 50% off. Without the discount, I wouldn't have consider buying any cuz their blouses are bloody expensive. Like RM179 each depending on the fabric type. Now I only paid RM179.90 for two items instead. Not too bad, huh?

It was too late to drive back to KL which was why we made a last min decision to stay over for another night. Cousin bro took an emergency leave since Grandma doesn't really like travelling in the late evening. As you know, we would be reaching home during nighttime. We did her favour by opting to go home tomorrow.

Day 4

We're going home for real this time XD. Again, we woke up late but we quickly packed our belongings & stuffed them in the car. Went for lunch at a coffee shop operated by a lady who hails from Ipoh. Wooo~ Nice food, I tell ya. Gah, one of these days I should go to Ipoh for a gastronomic feat. We bidded my uncle farewell & travelled home. We're going to see him again anyways as cousin bro's convocation is coming up this Saturday. My uncle wanted me to stay back for a few more days but I couldn't agree to do so. I needed to be home in case the employer that Mum recommended would call me up for an interview. It wouldn't be too nice if I requested the interview to be held the following week. I'd totally stay longer & have more time walking around Singapore; maybe shopping for lots of interesting items. Pity, isn't it? Nevertheless, it's good to be home. I miss my bed. XD

The End.

Merdeka Trip Part 1

Sorry for the lack of updates. I just came back from a short holiday trip in JB. It was the Merdeka weekend & my grandparents had decided to drop a visit at my uncle's house. It's a norm for us Malaysians to go for trips on National Day as we usually have nothing else better to do besides hitting the malls. We just don't join in the fest & watch the parade like other countries do. But that doesn't make us less patriotic or love our country lesser than others. Let's just say we love our motherland a lot, not the one who governs it. And we have our own ways to show our love but on a less extravagant style.

Day 1

Travelling to JB alone already took us almost half a day. By then, we were already too exhausted to enter Singapore. Had lunch at one of the restaurants nearby my uncle's office. He ordered this rather unique kailan dish which is cooked using 2 different methods - fried & deep fried. This means one side of the dish has dried, crispy kailan leaves with its texture similar to nori sheets while the other half of the vege is like your typical fried kailan dish. Very interesting dish, indeed. Oh btw, he's using an iPhone 3G 16GB. OMFG. Effing cool design (just like the iPod Touch) but so-so on the functionalities. More on that later.

We settled down at my uncle's cribs while he returned to the office. Driving to Singapore was out of the question as we were too exhausted. Besides, it was late in the afternoon which means it would be pretty late by the time we reached there. And we need to return to JB again to stay for the night which left us very little time to do real shopping. Moonlight Resonance DVD was the only thing available to entertain us. What more can I expect when there's no Astro nor Internet to satisfy my daily needs. Nevertheless, I didn't mind cuz the house is really comfortable. It's so quiet & peaceful that I can sleep soundly & wake up feeling fresh later.

Our tummies started making noises when evening came. Off we went to a mamak to fill up our hungry stomachs. It's been ages since I last dined on mamak food. Oh, I so miss eating them. Mamak food in JB is a little different from what we have here in KL. For instance, there's no Indomie in JB which I think is quite a turnoff cuz I'm a huge fan of Indomie. How can they not have such tasty instant noodle?? I'm not entirely sure whether this applies to all JB mamaks but my uncle doesn't seem to know anything about Indomie either. So I'm assuming that Indomie is just not popular there. I ordered fried Maggi as a substitute to my fav Indomie. It turned out pretty delicious though it was a little too spicy for my liking. And then I had roti planta, a must-have dish each time I patronise mamak stalls (during the day, of course). The difference here is that there's no sugar but only margarine in it. This makes it rather bland & a tad too oily but the thin texture of the roti made up for it. Roti tissue was really good. I'm totally loving the thin, crispy pastry coupled with sweetened condensed milk. It was a little too sweet but still heavenly~ XD

Nothing fancy to talk about for dinner. The only thing was that we ate at 10pm cuz we had to wait for my aunt, uncle & cousin bro to return home. What's more, my aunt took the wrong bus home from Singapore & wasted lots of time stucked at the Causeway. We had crabs for dinner however I don't quite fancy crabs so I shall refrain from giving any comments. I just don't know how to appreciate it, if you ask me. After all, I didn't even touch the crabs. *shrugs*

It was foggy that night & cold air filled the surrounding. Cousin bro, my sis & I stood outside to enjoy the cool air since we were too stuffed from the late dinner & didn't want to go to bed early. It was the perfect time for shooting pics but it's a pity that my camera couldn't really capture the scenery well. This was the best I could do.

The quiet night sky

My pathetic attempt to capture my own jump in the pic is shown below. Here's a blurry vision of me jumping while my sis tried really hard to take a pic of me.

To be continued...

I'm bored. And still depressed too. The intense loneliness made me ponder about so many things. It made me reflect on the days that gone by. And so, pics are the best to re-live those moments. Events & little incidents that I didn't have the opportunity to blog about as I was too occupied. So here it is - a recap of what happened...

2 Jan 2008

My crazy friends had nothing else better to do & decided to goof around. If you're wondering what this is, it's err...bubbles blown out of a tube. It's impossible to burst & it can be pinched according to the shape you desire. Smells like UHU glue, though.

17 Feb 2008

A long overdue pic taken a week after CNY. It's a small gathering organised by my close friend of 7 yrs at her house. I don't get to see her often though we live so near each other. Guess the timing ain't right for the both of us.

21 Mar 2008

A surprise birthday cake from someone special a friend. Lovely cake, it was! Wished that I could taste it just once more. It's a day that I'll never forget.

1 Apr 2008

A trip to DiGi's headquarters. I tell you, the place is like every man's dream place to work. For a moment, I actually thought of applying to be part of the Yellow Man team XD.

5 Apr 2008

This is the shop I was raving about last year. Remember the fish paste wrapped in fu zok?? I had it again this year & it tasted as good as always ^^. Pity that I lost so much appetite that week; if not I would've eaten more.

11 Apr 2008

This unusual shape of a glass can be found at D'Italiane Kitchen, Jaya 33. Food is delicious, the price is EVEN BETTER XD. I had to take a snapshot of it cuz it's really weird. And you can see how the water takes it shape in the glass, further accentuating its curves.

*sighs* What a journey it has been...

Whee! It's the holidays~ ^^ For almost 2 months...o_O Time to look for a job to earn some extra bucks. Oh well...so many things happened last weeek. I'll just put it all in one post to save time ok. Here's what happened last week.

Sunday
Mum won an 80GB SATA hdd from the charity auction organised by the management of Digital Mall. Too bad I can't fit it in my CPU. Old mobo...what do you expect?

Monday
Study. Sleep. TV. Procrastinate.

Tuesday
Exam was so-so. Dun think I did well. Enough said.

Wednesday
My package came. Oh heavens! The box is absolutely gorgeous.

Thursday
Saw a video on Reuters covering Dong Bang's encore concert over the weekend. Then, the news went global & appeared in TVs at different corners of the world. Amazing, isnt' it?

Click here to watch!

Friday
Study. Sleep. Eat. Whatever...-_-

Saturday
Exam was nightmare. Just like what the lecturer warned us. Nevertheless, I'm free from exams~ Went for my first-ever cocktail party in conjunction with the official launch of the new Mercedes C Class. Champagnes, cognacs, Heineken beers, wine...you name it. Everything is on the house. Absolutely free. Even the cigars too.

Sunday
Tested AADBSK 2 on my DVD player & it wouldn't play 3 discs. Crap! Decided to watch it on my lappie until 4am. Woo-hoo!

P.S. I need a job...

I had been so occupied this whole week till I couldn't bring myself to post some updates. Hmm, I might as well summarise the eventful week for your easy reading. It all started last week...

Last Saturday
Mum set for Ipoh without me knowing at all while I was sitting for the last exam paper. Grandpa was hospitalised after complaining about pain at the right side of the crotch area. He was diagnosed with hernia. Surgery was scheduled on Monday, 9am.

Last Sunday
Sent my desktop PC for repair. My 5 year old 80GB hard disk died for good & I was hoping my data could be recovered. I couldn't be bothered if the hard disk is repairable cuz all I need is my mp3 collections. My hopes were dashed when the hard disk turned out to physically damaged. Bought a 160GB at RM210 & slowly build up my collection again -_-.

Monday
Became a chauffeur for a couple of days, fetching grandma to & from the hospital. Grandpa's surgery went well as expected. Nothing major. Was entirely addicted to 花より男子 & trying to hard to finish both Season 1 & 2.

Tuesday
Fetched grandma to the hospital again. Did some household chores at home. I haven't been ironing clothes since ages but I still can do it pretty well ^^. Continue with my hanadan (花より男子) fever & at the same time downloading プロポーズ大作戦.

Wednesday
Grandpa was dispatched from the hospital. He is healthy but just a little tired. Hospital bill turned out to be...do I need to say it? Hanadan fever continues. It took me several days to complete 2 seasons. Phew!

Thursday
The instant water heater in the bathroom next to my room hadn't been working for the past 2 weeks. I endured the lack of hot water by bathing in icy cold water instead. It wasn't that bad, after all & I'm starting to get the hang of it. Felt really refreshing after a cold bath XD.

Friday
Was watching 花ざかりの君たちへ Episode 7, I think. Couldn't really remember but I know I did something. Erm, I slept too o_O *shrugs*. Oohhh~ I just remembered. I went to the bank cuz I need to bank in some money to my credit card. Aiya, I wanna buy something online. What else?

Saturday
Only found in the morning that I had mouth infection after looking at myself in the mirror. Chicken pox-like pimples sprouted on the bottom right of my lips. It looked awfully bad & it kinda resembles the HFM disease. TOUCH WOOD! Had a really bad flu throughout the day & I couldn't bring myself to accompany my sis while she was busy with her art competition. And then I slept almost the whole day.

Sunday
Went to the bank pay up Dad's bills & did some minor cleaning up in my room. Though my table didn't look any better...-_-. I'm eager to watch The Da Vinci Code tonight though I already saw the premiere last year & had a plentiful of complaints about how sucky the movie was. I'd probably expected too much since the book turned out to be superb.