First Mid-sem break 2010

Here's a recap of the last 1 week holiday in. Maybe someday, 20 years later or something, I might wonder, "what exactly did I do during that holiday between March 12 and 21 of 2010?" Well, myself in the future, fret not because the old (or should I say, younger) you had brilliantly written your life down so you wont ever worry about losing your memory.

1.Weddings! Two girls I knew got married and I attended them both. Congratz Mass and Nadia!!

2.Went to IPBA for our KISSM cert and got a lot more than that. Met with a whole bunch of my friends, had lunch together and went all over the megamall like we used to when we were still students. Gundams, games, and pointless wandering. Ah, good times.

3.Got lost on the road for 2 hours looking for the hotel the wife and I are going to stay at. Priceless. The next day, I woke up to find my car clamped BECAUSE I PARKED IN THE WRONG RESERVED PLOT. I was only 5 minutes late of avoiding it too.

4.Video games of course! I can't say i've gone to KL without taking some games back. This time it's God of War III, Heavy Rain, Demon's Souls and Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening. That's three PS3 games, finally a reason for me to haul that thing over to the island. Oh, I've actually finished 2 of those.

5.Got two tickets to Video Games Live! Bought the third tier ticket which was not too bad a price, but realized later that we could've just bought a cheaper one. But what's done is done, and I'm super stoked about it. April can't come fast enough!

And that's about all there is. Today, work as usual. And first day of work after a holiday is always a major burn...

The Long Road Home

The last raya holidays was probably the most time I spent on the road in a week. Apart, from just going back to my wife's hometown in Pengkalan Hulu, Perak, we also went travelling some, visited a few friends, and explore roads we've never taken before eventually making it back to our little island escape... Ok, I was just trying to make myself feel better about that last part. There's a lot to record about the journey but I'm not feeling in the mood to write so I'll just post some of the photos we took and mention some.

On the first few days of Syawal, we visited a lot of my cousins. We didn't bring our camera along so. Also got to meet up with Aishah and her husband. She was staying at her in-law's in Kuantan.

We went to Perak a couple of days later and that's when the journey really took off.

These picture were taken in Betong, Thailand. It's really close to Soya's hometown. That car you see is the car I drove throughout the journey. Not too shabby for an old car =)

Picture of some building there. I don't know what it is but it looks pretty artistic so i took a photo of it.

The streets in Betong. Not too much different from our own, but there's a very different vibe to it.

On the same day, we went further up north to Gurun to visit Soya's best friend Wani and her baby Tariq..uh, I don't know if I got the spelling right.

They're doing mighty fine. Also, Wani served us a really nice lunch. Nasi tomato and daging rebus. Thinking about it makes my mouth water. It also makes me want to eat something right now, if i wasn't fasting...

Afterwards, we stopped in KL for a few days to indulge ourselves with all the delicious food we've been deprived from during our exile from the mainland. Ah, Italian BMT, I wish I could have you again right now. Too bad we couldn't find Yoshinoya. The one in MV seems to have been closed =(

Next stop: Seremban. We went to Hilmi's sister's wedding there. I got to meet each one of the boys in Seremban except for my ol roomie. T'was fun meeting with everyone. Reminds me of t he good old days in college.



And then we back to Pekan, passing through Melaka and took a detour to Johor along the way.

We stopped at this cool-looking mosque in Jasin for prayer.

And this picture of the assembly in Segamat we took is just for proof that we indeed went through Johor.

It was a really tiring but well spent holidays. My only regret was that it had to end.



And I'm feeling real bored right now *yawn*

The Time We Had

It feels like it was only a few days ago since the holiday started and it has already drawn to a close. It wasn't the longest holiday, but it sure was one of the best I've ever had, ever.

A good friend of mine got married, I got to meet many of my good buddies, and I even watched that stupid excuse of a movie Dragonball. How can it not be the holiday ever?!

And it definitely wouldn't have been half as wonderful had it not been for these very special people

In fact, I doubt it would even turn out this way if it was anyone other than them. I could never thank them enough for the fact that they were willing to go out of their way to pick me up all the way in Kuantan.

No one ever told me we had sightseeing as a secondary objective though. I totally thought we were going to the wedding and head straight home. But even the person who dislikes travelling I am thoroughly enjoyed every moment of that trip, even that night when we got lost, even that prolonged visit to Pasar Payang, even those weird banners and signboarfds we came across, and yes, even that moment Ali G got first ticket for passing at a no passing lane. Serves him right! ... uh, I was just kidding. Jangan marah ye Ali G =p.

Really, there was almost never a dull moment with you guys around. And for that short period of time, it almost seemed that all my work-related problems had just vanished into thin air.

This signboard is just out of this world

I only wished that it could have went on for a little longer (..and while I'm at it, I wish that the holiday won't end). Alas, like every other good things, it had to come to and end. Even so, this memory will be something that I will cherish forever. 本当に、ありがとうございます。




Time We Had, performed by The Mother Hips. Nice, relaxing song which always makes me feel nostalgic when listening to. Recommended listed. Give it a try.

Crazy Train

Some time last week. A cousin of mine asked me whether I be interested in going with him To Malacca. Me, who'd do just about anything to take a break from home gave a quick yes. And that lead to what I can sum up as a crazy 2 day holiday away from home. The whole deal is rather lengthy so here's the long short of it :

Day 1

Arrived at Malacca at about 1. Had lunch with the cousin and later parted ways. I was only informed that he was 'going to meet a certain someone'. Totally classified stuff, see.

I thought about walking around town but oh how naive of me to think that possible. The road in Malacca (and probably anywhere in Malaysia that I can think of) is very on-foot unfriendly.

Malacca city centre is suprisingly jam packed with vehicle despite it being a Monday but the traffic grows thin as the sun sets.

Saw Sue Fin and her sister. They introduced me to a fine bubble tea. Good. Not as good as in Wellington (cause they don't have vanilla, apparently), but good nonetheless. Recommended to anyone with the slightest interest in bubble tea.

The plan was supposed to meet her, have a drink or two and then split, but I ended up tagging along with the sisters for the most part. I bet by the end of the day they must've been annoyed by me messing around with their shopping...hehe. Sorry

Accidentally ran into Justin! Of all the places, the world really isn't that big after all. Highlight of the event - He told me he saw Sue Fin the day before. I said : "she's around (Mahkota)", to which he replied : "I know, she lives in Melaka". I had to say it 3 times before he finally understood what I was getting at. Funny.

Toilets! Is that too blatant? Ok, maybe I should say..washrooms. I went to 3 different washrooms. 2 in Mahkota and 1 in Melaka Sentral. I'm not sure about the ladies washroom, but the guys, you know how the doors in the stalls always had something (usually indecent stuff) written or drawn on it right? Well, all 3 that I went to had decidedly gay remarks all over the door. That's right, all of them, all over the door, which leads me to 2 hypotheses :

• most guys in Malacca are gay, or
• most gays like to go to Malacca.

Ate at a restaurant aptly named 'Chicken Rice Ball' for it sells 'chicken rice ball.' Wait. What exactly is a 'chicken rice ball'?. It can only mean

• rice ball with chicken filling, or at least tastes like chicken, or
• its a chicken rice with chicken balls (not likely)

It turns out that its the former. The linguist in me protests, but I digress. Also, the dish was out so we only had the normal chicken rice.

Melaka Sentral is the best station I've been to. There's lots of shops and restaurants, its clean, bright, not as crowded as KL sentral and the surau is very comfortable.

I realized that I'd forgotten to use my camera. Dank. Reached the cousin's place just over 1a.m. Slighlty later that planned.

Day 2

Invited the cousin for a trip to the beach. Him driving of course. I wouldn't be caught dead driving somebody else's car (had a trauma). I wanted to go to Cherating. He didn't want to because TC was nearer. In the end, the one who drives, wins. Fine, a beach is a beach.

If yesterday taught me something, its 'use thy camera!'.

Went to McD for some snacks as we walk along the beach. Saw a familiar face as I walked out of McD. I wasn't too sure so I hesitated to wave, but my hand moved even before my brain could send the message. I turns out that I wasn't wrong

As if meeting Justin in Malacca wasn't surprising enough. Yes. That's Qi Su. She's from Johor, on a holiday with her family and friends. Truly a chance encounter. Further proves that the world really is a small place.

And thats our snack. My treat of couse, since I'm the older of the two. Haha.

By the way, here's 'the cousin'

The wave was bigger than usual that day so I had to take some snapshots of it, even if I had to risk my life wading through the water.

Look behind ye!

But when I turned, its gone...

Also, I really should remember to not bring my wallet when I go to the beach. The wallet, and everything in it was soaking wet. Fortunately, no casualties.

TC was not bad, I hadn't been there in ages though the authorities could probably do better in collecting the rubbish. That being said, the blame ultimately goes to the people who litter in the first place. Also this particular group is part of the problem...

beach monkeys. You read that right. Beach Monkey.

The night before I went home was spent on countless hours of reading Eyeshield 21. I think it was about 2 a.m that I submitted to the spell of sleepiness.

A rather long post, for a rather crazy 2 days holiday. One that I was seriously in need of or I'd seriously go crazy.




*Crazy Train is a song performed by Ozzy Osbourne