Pulau Redang, Terengganu, Malaysia

No vacation break feels complete without a family getaway. This time, we decided to head to Pulau Redang for our family trip as my brother and I haven’t been there before. Pulau Redang was more beautiful than I imagined. White sandy beaches, crystal blue sea and warm balmy tropical weather are definitely a perfect combination for a relaxing holiday.

As the water surrounding Pulau Redang is home to some 3,000 species of fish, 1.000 of species of bivalves and 500 species of reef-building coral, it made a spectacular snorkelling experience. Initially, my brother and I snorkelled with our lifejacket on as it was recommended by the guide. But by the second day, we decided to free ourselves from the restriction of the lifejacket. It was so much more fun! We could do mini-diving trips and peep underneath corals. Pretty amazing experience. My favourite fish was definitely the clown fish (Nemo!). I found that clown fish are generally shy and easily stressed. They love hiding in their little seaweed homes. So I took some bread pieces and stuffed in their little homes. Other fish would then try to grab the bread from the seaweed. The clown fish would get stressed out and try to defend their homes by swimming around it. So funny! I could do that the entire day. If only I didn’t have to keep resurfacing to gasp for more air.












Spot the eel?

O, by accident, I almost fed a 2-metre long eel (a different eel from the picture above). We spotted a huge fish and I decided to chase after the fish to see whether it would eat the bread off my hand. So I took a deep breathe and quickly swam after the fish. But the fish, unsurprisingly, outswam me. I tried searching for the fish but efforts were in vain. A couple of seconds later, I turned around and spotted something that looked like the fish. I swam closer to it and then, hesitated. It looked slightly different from the other fish. It took me a good 10 seconds to realise that it was in fact, it was pretty different. It was a humungous eel with a neck the size of a tree trunk. Needless to say, I scrambled out of that area pretty quickly.


A better view of the eel



My brother and I love to watch the fish in their natural habitats. My dad on the other hand, had different interests. He was cute. He was like a little boy when thrown into the water. He bought loaves of bread to feed the fish in the sea. Usually, its difficult to identify one person snorkelling from another as everybody looks similar especially with the orange lifejacket on. However, it was easy to spot my dad underwater. Just spot the person with hundreds of fish tailing him. Its such a hilarious sight! The fish lover swam with loaves of bread in his hands while the fish try to nib from the loaves. Sometimes it was like a tug-of-war between man and fish. He had to keep covering the opening of the bread bag while the entourage of fish attack his loaves all at once.









The film set of the Hong Kong show, 'Summer Holiday' staring Sammi Cheng and Richie Ren . The show was filmed here at Laguna Hotel beach front.


Richie Ren's character name was "More more tea" and the Inn was called "More more tea Inn". It took me a while to get my head around that one.

Income redistribution

I think Ill be giving KL city a miss for the next week or so. Last night's affair with the road blocks left enough of an impression. The income redistribution has made one man's pocket a little more swell and left the other a little emptier.

Home

I love taking showers. I love feeling the water flowing down from the top of my head and into the little hole at the bottom. I love hearing the sound of water. It’s soothing to hear the constant flow of water. Like the waves lapping up on the beach. The thing is, I think a lot when I shower. Today, I thought about how my heart is torn into two. How I call both places home – Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. How I’ve been doing that for almost 6 years. And how tiring it is to do that for 6 years. The point is sometimes I don’t find a reason to build new friendships during my holidays back in KL. Because, the point is I’ll be heading back and the friendship will somehow…vanish over time. It always happens I suppose. And I should know because I’m so used to it. It’s like meeting new people when I travel. We promise to exchange contacts and photos. But really, the photo exchanging session rarely happens. Soon, we learn to drop our expectations and when the session actually takes place, it’s actually a good surprise. It’s a matter of handling expectations.

I like both places – Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. I can’t imagine myself permanently removed from Melbourne. Melbourne has become a part of me. I’ll miss the city, the little cafes located in the quaint little lanes, the good breakfast places, the parks, the jogging tracks, the beaches and mostly friends who have become almost like family. When I was in Perth, I tried to pretend that I’ll be leaving Melbourne for good and perhaps, moving to Perth. Don’t get me wrong, I love Perth but I was quite upset even when I knew that this was a mock play in my mind. Where are the little cafes? Where are the cool bars? Where’s the graffiti on the walls? Where are the good coffee joints?

By the same token, there’s so much of KL which I love. I grumble and rumble about this place, it’s lack of security and the corruption and political instability. But then again, I did grow up here, eating at the hawker stores and having countless yam char sessions at the mamak stores. I remember the weekly pasar malam sessions, my weekly trips to Holiday Villa, my yearly pilgrimage to Penang and routine meet ups in the shopping centres. Of course, and my friends whom many I’ve known for ages.

See, my heart is torn into two. It’s tough being an international student. It’s tough when you ain’t quite sure where home is for you. They say home is where your heart is. But I don’t know where my heart is. Right now it has a slit right down the middle

Post is slighlty backdated. Was written last night

Bangkok - Day 1 and Lub D Bangkok Hostel

We landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport and took the Airport express AEI to Lub D Bangkok hostel for 150 baht (The Airport Express Bus is the most convenient and cheapest way to get you to your destination. The Airport Express Bus counter is located on Level 1 near entrance no. 8)

One hour later, we arrived at Lub D Bangkok hostel. (Visit www.lubd.com for more information)

This hostel is by far, the best hostel I've ever stayed in. I highly recommend this hostel~! We paid approximately RM 48 per pax in a twin-share room. (note: that was the promotional price. The price might be reviewed upwards) The hostel is newly renovated. It still has that new paint-wash smell and the new woody furniture smell which i like~! I love the colour scheme of the place - think red, black, white and silver. It's so creatively designed~! The interior isnt necessarily expensive but who says good things come only with an expensive price tag~! I like it because I felt at home in the place. After a 12 hour shopping spree, I just wanna kick back, dangle my feet off the high stools, play boardgames, surf the net using the FREE wi-fi service provided, chat with other travellers who are also lodging in the hostel or even curl up on the sofa reading a book from their mini library~! Bliss.

There's so much to love about the hostel...and even more to write. So ill let the photos do the talking.


Boardgames provided by the hostel. We played chess and subsequently some mindless monkey pick-up-sticks game till 4 am in the morning~!




Steps leading to our hostel.


Check out the walls. Very artsy huh? Cheryl who is the artsy fatsy type loved this hostel~!


hehe, little wooden horses lining up against the walls.


The door to our room


I love the colour scheme


The bed, pillow and blanket are soooo comfy. I felt like I was sleeping on fairy floss~! Getting out of bed in the morning was an even tougher chore than it already is.


The bathroom. One huge tick off the checklist. A clean bathroom~! The bathrooms are routinely cleaned a few times per day. The bathroom comes equipped even with soap and shampoo. Cheryl was so afraid that the shared bathroom might be eeky and ill-equipped that she even brought a roll of toilet paper along with her. I can safely say that it stayed in her bag untouched throughout the entire trip.


The mini library. We brought a couple of books back to the room to read.


Free wi-fi with laptops provided~! This is a huge advantage of staying in a hostel. In many 5-star hotels, you have to pay exorbitant prices to use their Internet services.


The hostel even has a theatre room. There's a plasma tv, a bean bag and huge collection of dvds for you to choose from~! I could laze here all day~!


Brekkie the next morning





O, before I forget, another huge plus point for this hostel is the security~! I feel so safe staying in this hostel. We were provided a swipe card which we need to swipe once before going through the glass door which leads up the stairs to the rooms. We then need to swipe a 2nd time to enter our rooms. A safe is also provided in the rooms. I felt pretty relieved that we had a safe in our room. I could roam the streets stress-free, knowing that my passport will not be pick-pocketed by some thief.

After checking in, we heading to MBK shopping mall. MBK caters to low-end and middle-end shoppers. Definitely my kinda place to go. I love cheap bargains~! I bought 2 dresses and a top in one of the shops there for RM 20 each.


On the way to MBK.

After MBK, we took a taxi to Suan Lum night market. Suan Lum night market is the biggest night bazaar in Bangkok. I love shopping in Bangkok because unlike in KL where the clothes seem to be like replicated in every other store, most of the clothes here are unique. Every store seem to be different from the next. So, here's a tip, if you see something you like and if it's at a reasonable price, just buy it~! Chances are, youll might not come across it again! (especially in Chatuchak market)

Slightly off-tangent, a couple of years back, I went around Sungai Wang looking for a pair of white boots. I found this design that I really liked in this store but to my disappointment, they didnt have it in my size. So, I walked around and very excitedly, I spotted the same pair of boots in another store. But again, they didnt have my size. So very stubbornly, i decided to walk around the entire sungai wang, hunting for that particular design of boots. I finally stopped when the final straw broke. This sales assistant said to me, 'Are you the girl who walked to six shoe stores, asking for that particular pair of white boots?' I finally realised that most of the shoe stores there were owned by the same company.


I bought pillow cases for my pillows sitting on my sofa back in Melbourne.




Cheryl was very adamant about getting this design in red even though they didnt have the size she wanted. We thought that we will chance upon this design again in the later part of our trip. But no~! =( Sigh, we should have bought it there and then.


Pretty lamps


Earrings made with copper


I like. I bought two pairs.


This guy loves cats and draws inspiration for his designs from his two cats.



After Suan Lum night bazaar, we headed back to the hostel.

p/s: Most of the photos here and for the rest of my Bangkok trip are credited to Cheryl. She takes amazing photos while mine are...hm...well, not as good =)

Bangkok itinerary in summary

Day 1
Landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Took the Airport express AEI to Lub D Bangkok hostel for150 baht
(The Airport Express Bus is the most convenient and cheapest way to get you to your destination. The Airport Express Bus counter is located on Level 1 near entrance no. 8)

Arrived at Lub D Bangkok hostel. Visit www.lubd.com for more information.

Had lunch at a nearby street stall

Took a taxi to MBK centre (MBK is a huge shopping centre that caters to low-end and middle-end shoppers. It’s definitely worth a stop-over)

Departed for Suan Lum night market (It’s the largest night market in Bangkok)

Day 2
Had breakfast at our hostel

Took the express boat from Soi 30 (Soi means ‘street’ in Thai) to the King’s palace for 17 baht. (Note: the locals will try to convince you to take the tourist tour boat for 200 baht. In my opinion, the express boat is good enough as there will be a tour guide on the boat explaining the various historical sites as the boat cruises along the river)

Visited the King’s palace (Entry fee = 300 baht. Note: Slippers and sleeveless clothing are not allowed. The palace closes by 4 pm)

Subsequently, took a tuk tuk to Wat Po where the sleeping Buddha is located (Entry fee = 50 baht. Wat Po is located adjacent to the King’s palace but the entrance to the palace is located at the opposite end of Wat Po)

Took a tuk tuk to Khao San. Khao San is a backpacker’s haven. There are lots of pubs, eateries and roadside stalls.

Got a full body massage at one of the massage parlours in Khao San. We paid 230 baht for a full body oil massage. We subsequently realised that the price was dirt cheap. Most other places charged a minimum of 300 baht for a full body oil massage and at least 200 bath for a foot massage.

After dinner, we headed to Distil Sky Bar, the Dome at State Tower.


Day 3
Headed to Platunam market and Platunam mall. A lot of traders from around the world usually get their supplies from this place. Clothes are sold at a wholesale price (when buying 3 or more items) and also at a retail price.

Chatuchak market (Chatuchak is a weekend market that only operates on Saturday and Sunday. The market closes at 6 pm. This market is definitely worth the visit as it has 5000 stores.

Had a foot massage at Suan Lum night

Headed to RCA (many nightclubs are located in this area)

Day 4
Took a bus to Pattaya Beach from Mo Chit Bus terminal. You can take a sky train to Mo Chit Station and then take a taxi to the bus terminal. (the bus fare to Pattaya was 128 baht) It’s a 2 ½ bus ride to Pattaya.

Took a bus back to Bangkok in the evening

Went to Central World shopping complex

Went to RCA again

Day 5

Took a cab to Siam Paragon shopping complex

Walked to Central World shopping complex (Its adjacent to Siam Paragon)

Took a cab to China town

Finally, went back to the hostel, collected our luggage and took the Airport Express Bus from Sofitel Hotel for 100 baht

p/s: RM 1 (AUD 0.32) is approximately 100 baht

Back from Bangkok

I fell in love with bangkok. Thailand is adjacent to Malaysia yet the place is so different from Malaysia. Most of the Thais I met on the trip were very friendly. The shopkeepers were willing to take their time out to give us directions even when we didnt buy anything from their store. Some of the food was orgasmic. Yum yum~! And the shopping~! Where do i even begin?? Its dirt cheap. I regretted not bringing more Thai baht to bangkok. I brought only a minimal amount of spending money because I thought Ill only be splurging on food and cheap public transport fares. Boy, was i wrong~! The 5000 stores in Chatuchak market alone was enough to make my jaw drop. So cheap~!

I showed my mum my splurges earlier tonight. Everytime i showed her a new item, she goes 'I want!'. I finally looked at her with a frown and said, 'mm..you cant have everything....but it looks like Ive got good taste~!'

Mum replied, 'yeah yeah...self praise...Looks like you took after me'.

Hmph.


We took about 1500 photos in total~! So a long photo-filled post of my bangkok trip will be coming up soon~!

Pattaya

While roaming the streets of Pataya, Thailand's famous red light district, we spotted signs that read "cheap amazing hand massages for 500 baht". We looked at each other puzzledly and wondered why hand massages were more expensive than full body massages.

5 minutes on and a few similar signs later, we finally understood.

Bangkok - Note of advice to myself

- Try to catch a cab further away from the tourist attractions. Even crossing the road to catch a cab helps. There's a higher possibility that taxis across the road follow the metre (as oppose as charging a set exorbitant price)

- Catch the express boat to the King's palace. Its only 17 baht as opposed to 200 baht as charged by the tourist tour boats

- The minimum charge for a taxi is 35 baht. WHen travelling short distance, taking a tuk tuk maybe cheaper. Otherwise, take a taxi.

- Taxi drivers may insist that the meter stops running after 10 pm. That's a lie~! It's illegal and may be caught for their price fixing conduct.

- Catch the express airport bus from the airport to your destination. (150 baht) Its cheaper than catching a taxi unless youre travelling in a group. It's about a 45 minute bus ride into the city.

- Almost everything in Thailand is negotiable~! Including massages and even roadside food.

With love from bangkok

Hellooo..

Currently in Bangkok right now. I'm loving it here.

First up, I love the hostel I'm in~! Its absolutely fantastic. I paid less than RM 200 for this place. I'm currently lazing in the lounge downstairs, blogging, playing some sort of drinking game with some other travellers here. There's a theater room in this place, a laundry area, free wi-fi, boardgames and books lining the bookshelf for you to read at your own leisure. I love this place~!!!! Its the best hostel I've ever stayed in.

Will blog more when my pictures are uploaded =)

Photoshop tips - Removing shine

Cheryl has been giving me some Photoshop lessons this winter break. Prior to last week, I never really knew how to edit portraits and only tampered with the image brightness, contrast levels, colour balance etc. Now I know how to remove pimples, remove shine from the face, smoothen the complexion etc~! I decided to be generous and share these tips with you guys =) Its pretty useful especially if you want to print the photos or use the picture as your facebook/msn/friendster(if it still exists) profile.

Tip #1: Removing shine from face.

This tool is really useful if your face appears a little oily in photos


Pre-edit photo. I used this photo as my facebook profile pic. You can see a little shine on my forehead, left cheek and nose.



Firstly, click on the eyedropper tool to pick the desired colour (I've put a yellow circle around the eyedropper tool) Then click on a part of your skin that is near the shiny area which you plan to edit.

Next, click on the brush tool (I've put a red circle around the brush tool). Choose a soft round brush which is relatively huge. The larger the brush, the more natural the edited photo will appear. Make sure the opacity of the brush is about 30%. If its too opaque, it might look artificial.

Finally, start colouring in the shiny area. Usually its the T-zone area.


Ta-da~! Post-edit photo.

Photoshop is really easy to use once you get the hang of it. It works wonders =)

Travelling tips

I haven't had too many backpacking experiences to share but I thought that Ill share my little acquired knowledge with you guys because it might just come in handy one day.

Planning

As mentioned in my previous post, the best website to hop on to search for backpacker hotels would be www.hostelworld.com. It's very user-friendly. After you choose the country and the city you'll be travelling to, a list of hostels would appear, ranked by its 'availability', 'rates' or 'price'. By default, the page will list the hostels rank by availability. These hostels are not necessary the best rating ones. So what I usually do is, after I briefly scan through the list of hostels, I will then click on the 'rates' link. 'Rates' are the scores independent customers would give the hostel they have patronised. Even though those hostels do not appear on the 'availability' page, it does not mean that there are no available rooms. It might just be that certain specific rooms are not available (for example, 8-bed female dorms are available but 6-bed female dorms are not available).

Next, check the reviews given by the customers. Ask yourself these questions:
- How many reviews have been given? (was it 5 reviews or 500 reviews?)
- Why did this particular customer rate the hostel badly? Look at the comments. Is it because there are bed bugs? Was it the inconvenient location? Was it because it was simply 'not fun'.

After you have done your preliminary research, try googling the hostel name. Perhaps the hostel might have its own website and usually its slightly cheaper for you to book directly from the hostel rather than from hostelworld.
On the flip-side, hostelworld offers this 'cancellation refund' whereby you pay a few dollars extra and they will refund you the full cost if you decide to cancel your booking.

Things to bring
Many hostels offer bedsheet and linen. However, to be safe, you might prefer to bring your sleeping bag or even just a silk sleeping bag liner.
- Bring a padlock. Most hostels offer lockers in the room to store your stuff but they might not provide a padlock.
- Bring a torchlight. If youre planning to have a big night out and come back late into the night, it will probably not be a good idea to turn on the dorm light as there might be other people sleeping in the room. A torchlight might come in handy.

Caffeine - Brother Baba Budan

Just had my second cup of coffee tonight. Hm...yum =)

Here's a cafe that I patronise on a frequent basis. It has the best coffee in town (in my books anyway)

Brother Baba Budan
359 Little Bourke St
Melbourne






Notice the chairs attached to the ceiling?

Short update

weeee......caffeine overdosed....palpitations, tremors and a racing mind. Not good.

Anyway, I had a little bit of a panic attack yesterday as I was trying to plan my one-day Perth trip. I haven't organised any accommodation, transport etc. My initial plan was to spend the night in the airport. Horrors of horrors. The domestic airport does not operate 24-7~!!! What???

Okay, plan B. Sleep in the international airport lounge. I checked the Perth Airport terminal map. Its definitely not walkable~! Based on a brief study of the map, the terminals were kilometers apart. No can do.

Okay, plan C. Find a backpackers inn. Hop onto my most favourite website in the world (okay, I'm lying. One of my favourite websites. I web surf lots~!) www.hostelworld.com. There were only 18 hostels in Perth. Out of which, probably only 9 were in the city. And out of which only half had a decent rating. And out of which, some of them required a minimum of two night stay. Oh no. Panic attack. Plus, I wasn't sure whether I was allowed to check in as such a late hour considering that I'll be arriving in the city at about 1.30 am.

That left me to fend for myself in streets. Plus, i remembered that Perth is a small city unlike Melbourne. I wasn't even sure whether they had 24-7 Hungry Jacks or Mcds. And do I lug my backpack around???

I finally found ONE hostel near the city centre that had a decent rating and did not require a minimum of two night stay. I called up today and the receptionist said I could check-in at anytime of the day. Phew. Very relieved.

So, I now need to figure out whether airport-city shuttle buses operate after midnight and the good places to eat in the city~! I cant wait to just curl up in a cafe and read a book. I've got tons of unread books sitting in my apartment. I bought 4 books last week and 4 books the week before. I even bought a book on basic sewing. I've been patching up clothes, sewing dropped-buttons and even altering dresses the past month. I might as well do it the right way. And while I'm at it, I might as well get a sewing machine. But before I turn too ambitious, I'm gonna start by studying that book. (trying to be a domestic goddess??? eek)

......

oooo....I might be getting my scuba diving license in a few weeks time~!!!!!!!!! To be honest, Im a little afraid of sea creatures. I think that they are either slimy or dangerous. The first time i snorkeled, I jumped off the boat into a huge school of angelfish. Eek. They were so slimy...I didnt like them brushing against my skin. My brother and I were screaming our heads off. Back in high school, I used to have a weekly swimming routine on Wed nights. I'm usually the only one in the olympic size pool. I always imagined sharks swimming beneath me. I blame the movie 'Jaws'. But, I'll brave my fears and will try to get my license (that is if mum allows. She thinks scuba diving is dangerous)

......

On a side-note, do check out www.hostelworld.com if you plan to travel. Click onto the 'guide' section. They have many useful tips, travel podcasts that you can listen too, travel pocket guides and even sample itineraries for the big cities. Its pretty useful if you just need basic tips on a city/country.

An Asian affair

Urgh. I slept at 7 am this morning and stumbled out of bed involuntarily this noon at the sound of my apartment buzzer. Clara and I were busy preparing for my not-so-young brother's birthday party this afternoon. We had to feed about 20 mouths.We decided to make it an Asian affair. So we had nasi lemak with chicken curry, mee siam and assam prawns(courtesy of D's mum). O, also we complimented the main dishes with Asian desserts~! I bought Asian egg tarts plus Malaysian kuihs =) We started most of the preparations at 1 am this morning as we underestimated the preparation time. The sambal took the longest to make because of the lack of ingredients. We had to substitute the dried chillies for fresh chillies, added in copious amounts of additional sugar, salt, belacan and tamarind paste. And finally about 2 hours later, we were semi-happy with the end result =) It was all good. I'm such a failure at following recipes. I now remember why I dreaded chemistry lab sessions in college. Precision was never my forte.

Phew. So now that is done. Im back to hitting the books. Six more days....OMG, I'm going to be cooped up in the apartment or the library for six more days and it will finally be over....

My grand plan today is to finish up 3 1/2 Admin lectures plus 2 past exam tax papers.

And its 3.30 pm at the moment....omg. But, I will not sleep till its all complete.

Boy in Sapa, Vietnam

Tonight I attempted a sketch. I drew inspiration from one of the photos that I took during my Vietnam trip in Sapa (its a small quaint little town in Vietnam). This little boy was trying to sell us some handmade souvenirs. We gave him some chocolate waffle sticks instead. I think that gesture took him aback. Hence, the puzzled look on his face.

medium used: pencil + charcoal

The past week...

Clara is currently bunking over at my place as she is doing one of her medical electives in Melbourne.

That equates to girly chats, food, food and more food...yum~!



She graciously offered her services to cook dinner for the next 3 weeks~!!



Courtesy of in-house chef.


Loading up on the greens


A meal isnt complete without wine, no?


We were graced by Wing Yan's company =)


My newest winter purchase~! I call them 'exam gloves' because I can use them in the exam hall =)


One word. Finally. After 2 1/2 years of living with him, my brother cooked a meal for me~!! I took a picture because it was worth commemorating this moment. It's his favourite dish, stir-fry pork rashes. Very yummy but its a dish ill never whip up on my own. With every bite into the tender, juicy three layer fat, I imagine my arteries getting clogged up and my cholestrol level hitting the roof.


Finally, a view of Melbourne from my balcony

the bitter pill

In physics, we learn that energy cannot be destroyed. It can only be transferred. Anger can be turned into positive energy or a negative one. When life throws us lemons, we make lemonade. Anger. It’s an emotion that I’m quite used to these days. Being angry at him, her, him, her…and myself. Mostly myself. Because really, pointing fingers would not change the course of our lives. The earlier we swallow the bitter pill, the quicker we move forward.

So the other day as I was walking down the streets of Melbourne, I thought if I could turn back time, what stage of my life would I wind the clock back to? My first thoughts were - 1st year of uni. Then, I thought, actually, I might go back to college. Thinking about it more closely, actually, I might head back to high school. Then, I thought that in fact, I wanted to repeat elementary school all over again. I would have taken up more extra-curricular activities, perhaps join that chess club, take up martial arts, to take up competitive swimming. At the end of my futile exercise, I realise that regrets will always be present in our lives. Simply because we make hundreds of choices every single day. The choice to take responsibility for our actions. The choice to say yes. The choice to say no. The choice to eat that cheesecake. The choice to raise your voice. The choice to tear someone down. The choice to edify someone. The choice to be a deco of the backdrop. The choice to make a difference. I counted the approximate number of years I have left to live. Assuming that I’ll live till I’m 80 (not any later because I don’t want to be left with no friends and to be a burden to my family), I can live three times longer than the life I already lived. That’s a pretty long time. So why look back when there’s so much to look forward to.

I think the biggest procrastinating exercise is wallowing in your regrets without conjuring any solution forward. I call that ‘unstrategetic thinking’. Some call it ‘self-pity’. It’s something I’ve been trying not to do. Why engage in such unnecessary time-wasting exercise.

Choices. It’s a gift we humans been given I suppose.

The world is our playground

I'm contemplating staying a couple of days longer in Perth rather that a measley one day trip considering that I will only need to pay a minimal amount to change my air ticket to Singapore.

That will give me an opportunity to visit the outskirts of Perth etc etc...Travelling solo...hm...

..........


post-edit:

So I was checking out air ticket prices and Im getting more and more confused..initially, I thought of heading to Bangkok. But it cost RM 450 return after tax. I thought that was pretty pricey considering that Bangkok is relatively near KL. SO, I thought for that price, I can travel even further. FOr example, Vientiane, Laos. THen i checked the prices for KL- Manila. Its also, RM 450. Gasp~!!!

COnfused, confused..Ive always wanted to go Philippines. But then again, Ive always wanted to head to Laos and revisit Bangkok.

Oh dear.

The cheapest option would obviously be Laos considering that a meal there would probably cost US 2.

hm......

My chronic disease

There is one serious flaw about me. I’m a klutz. Seriously.

Today I told myself that I have to try really hard to not drop anything. Failed. Miserably. For example, this afternoon, I took out some ingredients from the fridge to cook fried noodles. While trying to balance a quarter of onion, a carton of eggs and a container in my hands, I almost dropped the eggs on the carpet~! That would have been disastrous. I quickly stuffed the eggs back in the fridge. In the midst of the chaos, I dropped a box of ‘chee cheong fan’ on the carpet. The box plonked open and the soy sauce drenched the carpet and in matrix style, the droplets of soy sauce painted the walls with eeky dark brown stains. My jaw dropped because that meant hard work. I hate cleaning the carpet. I cleaned it last week because wine was spilled on the carpet. And a few weeks before because I broke my eye shadow and the loose powder stained the carpet. Anyway, I quickly grabbed the stain remover cleaner and odour removal cleaner. Surprise, surprise, I dropped one of the bottles on the floor. Was absolutely disgusted with myself. And just a couple of minutes ago, I dropped my pen, and literally 30 seconds later, my laptop adapter. “Very lady-like,” was what a friend of mine commented the other day as I stumble over a chair.

As I was frustratingly blotting out the glaring stains, I remember telling myself that I would learn to be less of a klutz when I was a little kid. That meant not dropping food all over the floor and table every single dinner. haha. Never worked. I remember holding a bowl of fried rice and just dropping the entire bowl on the floor. And toppling my entire bowl of cereal on the floor. Actually, I thought I was quite smart because I intelligently placed the bean bag over the evidence. I was quite proud of my deceitful plan. Little did I realise that I was the only one in the household eating Kellogg’s sugar cornflakes.

This klutziness is like a chronic disease I tell you. It’s something I can’t get rid off. Oh well, my saving grace is that I have reasonably good reflexes. I can’t recall the number of times I almost humiliated myself by almost tripping down the stairs or being a split-second away from falling on a FLAT road. Most times, I manage to regain my dignity by holding onto the railings and acting all adult about it – which is of course, pretending that the last 10 seconds were wiped out from history.

Sigh. How now brown cow?

The world's local bank

I officially declare HSBC the worst bank in Australia...They have the worst customer service..ever. It spells inefficient and incompetent~! Everytime i request for something, I have to do it at least 2 to 3 times before I actually receive the item. Argh...And it doesnt help that each department likes to point fingers at other departments for their faults.I have half a mind to close down that account and start up a new one in another bank.


"The world's locak bank"

haha