Friday, July 27, 2007
To KL and back!
Following my mom's vacation (the first she took in 5 years after my dad's accident!), I decided that I ,too, should just get out of the country and get my passport stamped after all these years.
We (Nia, Mia & I) had planned to go to Bangkok initially, but stuff came up and we changed the location to Kuala Lumpur. Things didn't go very smoothly during the planning phase, but I'll pass recounting the incidents.
I've been on vacations before, but this is officially my first time going overseas with friends. I've been looking forward to the trip and my excitement peaked when we finally bought the tickets!
It was to be a 3D2N shopping extravaganza in KL!
13 July! The day finally came and I'm absolutely hyped about the trip: 3 friends going on a 6-hr road trip = endless chatter and flashing cameras! However, things didn't turn out the way I expected (strangely, nothing ever turns out to be the way I expect in life, so what the heck!).
Anyway, the trip kicked off on a rather hostile note when we barely made it for our coach. Apparently, I was the cause of the whole unhappiness 'cos I wasn't prepared for Nia to pick me up. And when I was, we were further delayed 'cos she was unable to get a cab and the morning rush hour didn't help. In the end, we're unable to pick up Mia and she had to get her own cab. I did sense some hostility from Nia when we shared the cab, but there were still some patronizing conversation from her. On the other hand, Mia's hostility was.... let's just say... omnipotent.
So I spent most of the journey to KL listening to my MP3, gazing at the endless palm plantation and sleeping. [I admit I wasn't guilt-free, but I was pretty pissed that my friends were giving me the cold treatment on my vacation!]
But the atmosphere eventually warmed up after our stop-over at Yong Peng...
After checking into our hotel (our room was pretty spacious!), we headed straight to Berjaya Time Square, which was a 10-min walk from our hotel. The gurls definitely seized every shopping opportunity they had; I was the bodyguard cum bag-carrier for most of the time. That was until we entered Body Glove (a surf shop) and it was having a store-wide 50% sale!!! I bought 4 t-shirts and a back-pack from just that store!!! [Of course, my purchases were nothing compared to what the gurls bought...]
The same evening, we visited Chee Cheong Kai (Chinatown) and it reminded me very much of Bugis Street. The place was kinda disappointing, 'cos most of the stalls sold similar stuff - fake designer bags, watches and shades. The only rewarding thing we got from visiting the place was locating the famous stall that sold 'luo han guo' drink, and buying a bunch of local products from a shop that features a 'boxing chicken' on its signboard - we literally emptied their rack of 'chicken biscuit'! Subsequently, we headed back to our hotel, but not before dropped by Jln Alor (street full of eateries) to order a sambal stingray takeout and some KFC set.
Day 2: Got up pretty early to get breakfast then head out to KLCC. It was the 1st day of the lunar month, so I was supposed to be on a vegetarian diet and I couldn't really enjoy myself at the hotel's breakfast buffet. Fortunately, they had a variety of non-meat stuff like cereal, waffles (they were the best I ever had!) and danish pastries, so it wasn't too bad.
After filling our tummies, we hopped onto a cab and requested that the driver switch on his meter - he did it reluctantly and was whining about it. We later realised that it was because the journey was a very short one and it would only cost about RM$4+. Anyway, our encounter with him didn't end there.. after alighting the cab, Mia sorta slammed the door a little (actually, it was pretty hard..) and the cabby actually got off the car and approached us! He was seriously intimidating, and went: " Why you slam my door?! I respect you, you tak respect me lah you!" I think we were kinda clueless at that moment, 'cos we just stood there and stared blankly at him. When he left, Nia freaked and thought he might get his 'ah-bangs' to come after us, so we hurried into the mall! It's hilarious thinking about it now, but we were pretty intimidated then!
We really wanted to go onto the skybridge between the Petronas towers, but the tickets were all given out by the time we got there (It was only 9.30am!). So we spent most of the day wondering about the huge mall, which houses a number of designer boutiques (it was like Paragon..), and decided to go back later that evening to snap some pictures when the towers are lit. We also went for a foot reflexology session @ RM$25 for 30-mins... Mia was 'diagnosed' with a variety of problems, ranging from gastric to teeth! Hah! =P
Day 3: It's our last day in KL and we had slightly more than 4-hrs before our departure, so we decided to explore Jln Bukit Bintang (the vicinity where our hotel was located..). Went to BB Plaza and Lot 10, but since we've already done most of our shopping in the past 2 days, we were pretty much just browsing around.
That pretty much rounded up our KL trip. Intensive shopping in a foreign capital was really fun in the company of good friends. It was most memorable and I'm looking forward to the next one!
Click to view pictures from KL
Posted by Hao at 1:43 AM
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Over so soon...
Time is passing fairly quickly for 2007... It's already July, and a new school semester has started for me. It's so depressing that the holidays are already over when I've just started to have fun.
My holidays kinda got off on the wrong foot when my little brother was admitted into the hospital on 12 May (Mothers' Day). He was diagnosed with a growth in his large intestine that needed to be removed immediately. It was really devastating and I took it pretty hard by blaming myself for the whole incident. (I'll pass recounting the details.., but it made me realise how much I cared about his well-being.) Anyway, he is much better now and he is back in school.
Times like that (which I've had enough of!) never fails to highlight the friends and relatives who cares. I am thankful for having these people in my life; I know who they are and I am grateful towards them. Life is made easier and happier with these people in my life... Enough 'emo' bits, I'll move on to the more enjoyable parts of my holiday:
- Fidz was back during the time when my brother was warded, so we spent a little bit of time together shopping for her gift as well as Tina's. Shopping was more of a secondary task.. the point was really to just spend time with her (also to help cheer me up) like we used to before she had her wings. Well, she rarely comes back and when she does, she'll prolly look up her 'fiance' first. I try to be really understanding when it comes to friends and their partners..... erm, actually no, not really! Hah! =P
- The barbeque dinner that we (Kerry, Naim, Don, Indri, Chin & I) had, was more enjoyable than I expected (given the depressing situation that I was going through..). From the grocery shopping to the marinating to the grilling... it was nothing but friends getting together, eating and chilling out. De-boning chicken thighs was pretty memorable for me, less all that blood (not mine!), and I was fairly proud of my 'Grilled Stingray in Banana Leaf' - the chilli was kinda weird though! :P It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the exams!
- I might have underrated cycling as a past-time... It was the most tranquilising thing to just whizz down the tracks, enjoying the sea breeze, the lush greenery, the sunshine, and the company of good friends (Nura, Ade & George) - not to mention that it is a cheap and healthy form of entertainment! Of course that is excluding the picnic that we voraciously downed after that... =) The stable at Pasir Ris Park was also worth the stop-over 'cos not only were we able to come into close contact with the horses (without entering the premises), the stallions were a real eye-opener! Well, I've heard of their reputation for being well-endowed, but seriously, they looked monstrous even when limp!!! Ok, back to the PG - the dwarf ponies were really cute!
I did loadsa other stuff during my break, like chilling out with Chin at Siloso Beach (got streaky tan from that!), and going blading/cycling with Xinni at East Coast Park (she was falling all over the place, hah!), but I shan't go into details 'cos that'll make this entry way too looong. The point is, I had fun with my friends and I don't think I'll ever have enough of them! =D
07.07.07 Live Earth: ...---... : "Answer the call!"
Posted by Hao at 1:30 PM
