Friday 31 July 2009

A Couple of Shocks

I'm supposed to be updating about my trip to Singapore, but I still haven't gotten pics from my brother and I reaaaaallly needed to blog about this, so here's a short rambly post. Sorry! XP

A couple of shocks I've gotten in the past week:

1) First off, the good news. I got my uni transcript yesterday, and I got a 2.1! Yaaaay! My mum says I now have to buy everyone dinner, especially since I got my first salary cheque too. Ehehe.

2) I went for a blood test on Monday. My dad collected the results on Wednesday because I wasn't around (I was on a work trip up to Genting Highlands. I took some really nice photos. I'm definitely blogging about it after the Singapore trip!) and sms-ed the results to me. Nahh, don't worry, everything is normal. (But the doc scolded me for being too fat and having high cholesterol, lol)

But then I got home - and saw that there was a blood type card attached to the report. I hadn't noticed it till my mum pointed it out, but apparently I'm a blood type A! So this blood type is quite common, and seeing as my mum is this blood type, it's logical that one of her children would share the same blood type. Not shocking at all.

What was shocking was that I had actually thought I was blood type O. I could've sworn I read about it in one of my previous medical reports, but I searched through them and none of them explicitly say that I am blood type O.

So yeah, I'm an A.

I blame my weight gain on that. My family sort of does, sort of doesn't follow the eat-right-for-your-blood-type thing. When I thought I was a blood type O, I sort of followed the diet, eating more meat than carbs. This is the complete opposite of what type As should do - they're better built for carbs, and meat is very bad for them (apparently) :P

Since I really need to lose weight, I thought I'd try out the type A diet and cut out red meats from my diet. I'll wait a month to see how well it works! XD

On a smaller note, I haven't worn kimono or watched Lord of the Rings in a month and a half. I feel weeeeeeeird. Maybe I'll go cuddle up with my Lord of the Rings book tonight, and put together a kimono outfit tomorrow, or something XP


Tuesday 28 July 2009

Pangkor Laut Resort: Part 4

Okay, this should be the last entry! :D After this, I'll update about my Singapore trip ehehehe.

So! Second half of second day :D

After our spa treatment, we went back to our rooms for a short while to change clothes, then headed out again for our private sunset cruise around the island. On our way to Marina Bay, we bumped into another island pet, the male peacock! :D
Pangkor Laut July 2009

Isn't he preeeeeettyyyyyyy!

*coughs* So yeah. At about 6.15pm, we boarded this junk (yes, that really is what it's called!) for our private cruise.
Pangkor Laut July 2009

There was a nicer-looking boat nearby, but from what we heard and saw, the experience on that boat was nowhere near as nice.

My whole family headed for the "upstairs" part of the boat (I wanted to call it the "upper deck" but I'm not sure if I'm right). There are a couple of beach chairs on it, as well as a cushioned area for sitting around and enjoying the ride. Here's me with my parents in the cushioned area:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


And here's my brother on one of the beach chairs:
Pangkor Laut July 2009

We were laughing alot about this photo - we were joking about how he could act like the brat he is (the brats we all are, actually) and say that this is what he did for his summer holiday! "This is me, on our private sunset cruise around the private island we were staying on" :P

If you're wondering about the drink he's holding, a little while into the boat ride, we were served drinks and delicious seafood canapes. Service is good when you're there with Auntie S ;)

Here's a couple of pictures we took of the island! This is Emerald Bay:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


This is the private beach that four of the estates open out to:
Pangkor Laut July 2009

We also took pics of the helipad but it didn't seem like much in the picture, so I'm not posting it :D

When the cruise was over, we hurried on to our rooms to get changed for dinner, which was at The Straits. (I had meant to wear yukata to this dinner, but it was so hot I couldn't bear even thinking about it!!)
Pangkor Laut July 2009


There is a dress code you have to follow to be able to enter the restaurant, which essentially forbids beachwear and very casual clothing. It is, of course, one of the more expensive restaurants there, but once again, since it was Auntie S arranging everything, we got the prime seats of the restaurant. It wasn't till later that we found out why - they had closed the restaurant to the other guests so we could dine privately and exclusively!

Here is a picture of how the restaurant looks like with my mum sitting in place (please ignore the bad pic - lighting was horrid till I requested that they turn on the lights :P):
Pangkor Laut July 2009

The seats are actually in private little cubbies (they sit 3 to 4 each, but we made them squeeze 6 of us in) that overlooks Marina Bay, and are built over the beach. When we were sitting there, we could see the shoreline and all the little crabs running around on the sand! It was also very pretty when the tide came in, and the water came closer to us. Very peaceful, very pretty and very full of mosquitoes. Do ask for a mosquito coil from the waiters the moment you get there! :D

Since I was good the past few posts and not put up any pictures of food, I thought I'd torture you for a moment now :P Here's a picture of my favourite course, which is fresh tempura barramundi with a sweet basil sauce. Mmmmmmm~~
Pangkor Laut July 2009


I think that they should've ended the dinner with the dessert then, but there was another course of lamb shank that was really too much to eat! But the dessert was fantastic: pandan (screwpine) layer cake, which is a classic Malaysian cake. My whole family, cousins and all, grew up eating this cake. Of course, this one is very much fancier than the everyday stuff, but as long as the taste is good, I don't care! :D Here's a picture:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


After the dinner, we remembered to collect our dried batiks from reception. Here's my sister and I in our room, happily showing our creations off! :D
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We spent the rest of the night looking for crabs on the beach and playing cards in the library :D It was fun! (Of course, we did eventually return to our rooms to shower and sleep!)

The next day, we had the same breakfast we did on Saturday, before heading back to the mainland and going home.

And then, it was over :/ But it was a very good holiday! :) I can't wait to go again, if I ever get the chance! XD

If any of you, my readers, do go there, please please please let me know so we can gush together! XD

Alright, I'm going to go to bed now. Goodnight!!


Saturday 25 July 2009

Pangkor Laut Resort: Part 3

I am baaaack from Singapore! :D I shopped alot and spent lots of money! *phew*

Actually, I'd typed out this post on Tuesday, and was planning to post it on Wednesday at work, but it was really hectic, trying to finish up a project before I left for Singapore (just barely managed to do my part) so I didn't have time. Oh well! It's here now :D

To continue from my last post:

On Saturday the 18th of July, the day dawned not so brightly and clearly. Still, we got up cheerily and headed for breakfast at Feast Village - which, by the way was really good. After having some very very delicious roti canai and dahl, we split ways - my siblings and Rommel went to the beach, while my parents and I went back to our rooms to rest and read respectively.

For lunch, we headed back to Emerald Bay for a banana leaf rice lunch. While waiting for lunch to be served, my mum and I went to the Batik Hut on the beach and shopped a little. My sister soon came by, and since we wanted to try our hands at batik painting, we took up the lessons that were being offered at RM50 per person.

The guy who runs the batik hut was really nice! First, he showed us examples of what we could paint, then he told us to draw on our canvases with pencils first, so that we could correct any mistakes. We had to leave for lunch soon after finishing our drawings, but he was nice enough to wait for us :)

After our sort of good, sort of weird, definitely overly abundant lunch, we rushed back to the hut to finish our paintings before our spa appointments. The Batik guy guided us through every step, giving us tips and pointers on how to do everything nicely XD

This is my sister trying her hand at batik painting. Here, she is tracing on the hot wax that stops the dye colours from mixing with each other. This is what gives batik its patterns and multi-coloured effect.
Pangkor Laut July 2009

Sadly, we could only do the wax thing one at a time, and since my sister started painting her canvas straightaway after painting on the wax, there was no one to take pics of me doing anything :/

Anyway! Here's my sister's newly finished batik painting! It's a really cute and bright butterfly with flowers in the background XD
Pangkor Laut July 2009


And this is my newly finished painting, which features some funky seaweed and a fish. I was going to do more stuff, and better (for example, there was supposed to be a seabed and sparkly dots in the seaweed), but we really had to rush, so this is all I could do :/ But I'm still quite happy with it! XD
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We just barely managed to finish it on time, and left our canvases there to dry while we went for our spa appointment.

We are waiting for our appointment to begin:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


The entrance to the spa bath area:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We obviously couldn't take our cameras into the spa, so for pictures, I'm afraid you'll just have to content yourself with the fact that yes, it really does look like the photos on the website XD

What we did:
1) First, our feet were cleaned and given a short massage.

2) We were taken into the bathing areas, segregated by gender, and changed into the pareos they provide and put on you.

3) We headed to the wishing well and made a wish before tossing a coin in.

4) We walked through a cold pool with a fountain, which was a Malay thing. Apparently, it was to mimic taking a bath in a river.

5) There was a small area where we smelled the scents of four different types of smoke, like chrysanthemum.

6) Next, we were taken to a little bathhouse, where we showered Japanese-style (sitting on a stool in front of the shower heads).

7) Once we were clean, we were led out the other side of the bathhouse for a dip in their Japanese onsen.

8) Two at a time (we were joined by another lady), we each went through a Shanghai body scrub. Here we finally towelled dry and changed into new pareos that were given to us as gifts.

9) Finally, we had our massages. My mum, brother and sister had Balinese massages, I had a Malay massage (the softest one since I bruise too easily) and Rommel had the Hawaiian massage.

The spa was gooooooood. Very relaxing. I felt like a limp noodle when they were done with me XD I want to go for another spa treatment again!!! Ehehehe.

Okay, I've rambled on and on enough for now. I'll update with the second half of Day 2 sometime soon :D


Tuesday 21 July 2009

Pangkor Laut Resort: Part 2

To continue from where I left off last time:

After exploring the island and swimming (or lounging around) for a bit, Rommel, my siblings and I all went to Emerald Bay on the other side of the island to explore the beach and wait for dinner to start.
Pangkor Laut July 2009

(Okay, so there actually are other beaches on the island, and alot of them around the residential area, but those have sea urchins in them, and Emerald Bay is the one that's considered safe for swimming)

We immediately threw our stuff on the beach chairs and ran to the sea. This is my brother walking along the shoreline.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


I don't really like to touch sea water, so I decided to look for seashells rather than swim.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


My sister and her boyfriend went to lounge around on the beach chairs while I explored the beach as thoroughly as I could. They managed to take this really nice photo, which would've been romantic if it weren't for the fact that it was my brother and I in it LOL.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Soon after that, it was time for dinner. Auntie S had arranged for us to have a private barbecue dinner on the beach.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We had loads of food! We had steak, potatoes, chicken, crabs prawns, lobsters.... Mmmm lobsters! Those were really really good, even if they did trigger my sister's and my allergic reactions XD

What I found really nice was that after the dinner, the assistant manager of the place, who was kind of like our host, told us all to take our cameras and wine glasses out onto the more open areas of the beach and wait. Soon enough, there was a fireworks show, which they held specially as a surprise for us!! :D It was so nice of them! Hehehe.

After the lovely fireworks and a few more drinks, the whole group (there were about 20 of us) went to Auntie S's place. Her family was staying at one of the Estates, which are exactly as they sound: estates. Basically, it's an area that you rent as your living space for however long, and comes with 3 or 4 villas, a jacuzzi, a dining room, a gazebo, and a private pool, all for your own use. Three of the estates also have a private beach of their own. Obviously, they are reeaaaally expensive.

We stayed around the maybe overly luxurious estate for a while, even taking a dip in the swimming pool before we went back to our rooms, showered and went to bed.

And so ended our first day in Pangkor Laut Resort!

I will update the next part as soon as I can, but I'm going to Singapore tomorrow on a business trip so I will not be able to access internet till Saturday. Still, I hope you guys will enjoy the pictures and all for now! ^_^


Sunday 19 July 2009

Pangkor Laut Resort: Part 1

On Friday, my family and I went to Pangkor Laut Resort for a weekend trip. My mum's friend, Auntie S, had organized this trip, so it was really relaxing as everything was already taken care of! :)

We arrived at Auntie S's place at 7.45am that morning, and were soon boarding the hired bus that would take us to Lumut. I can't say much about the drive - I slept all 4 hours it took us to drive there. :P

Now, normally, we would have to check in into the hotel on the mainland or on Pangkor Island before taking a junk or ferry to Pangkor Laut Resort, which is on a private island. However, since Auntie S works for the company that owns this resort, we didn't have to check in and instead went to the Yachting Club on the mainland to avoid the crowds in the check in building.

We also got to use two of the company's new speedboats to get to the island, which cut off a third of the travelling time to get to the island! It was really cool :D

My sister enjoying the ride :D
Pangkor Laut July 2009


The Marina Bay of Pangkor Laut Resort.
Pangkor Laut July 2009

It's actually really safe on the island, because only staff and guests are allowed on the island. There are occasionally boats from the nearby Pangkor Island that come to see the "rich ppl's hotel", but they're not allowed to dock there except in cases of emergency. Also, there is little danger of pirates as there is a naval base nearby.

We were served lunch at Feast Village as soon as we arrived. It appeared oddly empty then, but it wasn't until later that we found out that usually, Feast Village isn't open for lunch. However, as it was Auntie S who arranged it all, they let us dine there for her.

Straight after the very delicious lunch, we were all shown to our rooms by usherers. My family got the Garden Villas, as it was my mum's and sister's preferences. My sister and I shared a room! :)

This is me, right after settling in:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


There is a cosy little couch that faces our bed: my sister claimed it as her knitting bay :P
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Our room has a balcony with a sitting area, which faces the swimming pool, a small part of the gardens and the beach. It was really peaceful, just sitting there and reading!
Pangkor Laut July 2009


After settling in, we got changed into our swimsuits and easy-to-get-out-of clothes before exploring the island. (Yes, it's me again :P I'm at the door to our room)
Pangkor Laut July 2009


First, we explored the main areas, and went up to the Hill Villas area to have a look at the view:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


On the way down, we stopped by Jim Thompson's and saw this really cute female peacock outside! :D
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We had passed by the hotel library on the way up, but we took a picture of it on the way back to reception. This picture isn't that great. The library is really much nicer than this, especially with the beds for lounging in! I'll have to steal better photos off my sister's old pics of the place.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Then we headed to the shuttle terminal to await a van. All around the island, there are vans driving by every few minutes. These vans pick up the guests and bring them to wherever they want to around the island. They stop mainly at terminals in each point of interest. This one here is the one at reception:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


We headed to the Spa Village to book our appointments for the next day. Rather than taking the van again for such a short distance, we decided to walk to our rooms instead.

This pavilion is where yoga sessions are held every morning and afternoon:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Walking along the Sea Villas, which are villas that are built on stilts right on top of the water....:
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Me, walking along again :P I was particularly attracted to pretty rock formations that day. I'm not entirely sure why! Hahaha.
Pangkor Laut July 2009


Once we were back around the swimming pool area, Rommel/Pot (sister's bf), my mum and I lounged around the Royal Beach Bay Club with drinks and some chips while my dad, brother and sister swam. Later on, we prepared to go to Emerald Bay Beach for abit of exploration and a beach barbecue dinner.

That will be part 2, coming up soon! :D


Thursday 16 July 2009

WOOHOO!!!!!!

I PASSED!!!!

I just got my exam results and I PASSED!!! XD XD XD You wouldn't believe the sheer amount of relief that is coursing through me right now. I must say, the university had perfect timing. Rather than spending my whole weekend miserable and anxious about my results, I can enjoy my holiday freely and happily!! XD

What's so special about this weekend, you ask? Just so happens, tomorrow I'm going off to Pangkor Laut, said to be one of the premier resorts in Malaysia. It's actually a privately owned island, and the owner turned it into a spa resort. My mum and sis went there for a wedding last year, and they said it is really luxurious (and the pictures prove it!) :D I can't wait!

I hope my sister managed to book us places in the Spa Village for Saturday morning. Mwahahahahaha!!!!!!!!

I'll be posting pics when I get back! (That is, if I can actually manage to upload pics onto Flickr from here. Stupid internet....)

Speaking of pics, I really need to remember to post about:
1) Kinokuniya books
2) Extension of April's yukata picnic
3) yesterday's shopping rewards

Okay, I'm still waiting to go home coz my mum's got alot of work to do. I'm going to log off now so I can make a quick getaway once she's done :D Bye!


Monday 13 July 2009

Going To Singapore!

Okay, I'm heading down to Singapore on the 22nd of July for a business trip. It isn't confirmed yet, but I may have the 24th off, and may stay an extra day and leave on the 25th.

If Mel is free, I will MOST DEFINITELY (!!) be spending the day with her. If not, I'll roam around Singapore alone. Either way, I have a long list of places to go to, including a long list of yukata shops that I'd gotten from SGCafe.com (many thanks, AngelZhou!!!) XD XD I can't wait! I haven't deliberately gone hunting for physical yukata shops before!!!!!!! Dangit, I wish we were going to Japan this summer XD

I'll need to go to Singapore armed with a load of cash, a few credit cards (or maybe just one unlimited one :P) and a large suitcase. Maybe a map or three as well. And then notebooks and papers with addresses of the places I'm going to......

Or maybe I shouldn't go to all of them this time, and save some for the next time we go to Singapore for a shopping trip? After all, for this trip, I also need to go to Kokon Tozai, une nana cool and Blum at Hitachi Towers... Then again, while at une nana cool, I may as well visit the yukata shop there because it's in the same building (Takashimaya)! :D

If I were free enough, I'd plan out my entire day, so that I can visit all these shops with minimal waste of time. :D

Oooooh I'm so excited about this XD


Sunday 12 July 2009

Event Announcement: Bon Odori 2009

I am not going to Bon Odori this year because I'll be in Pangkor Laut then, but I thought I'd post about it for other people who may be interested in going :)



Bon Odori Festival 2009 (Malaysia, Selangor)
Venue : Panasonic Sports Complex (formerly Matsushita Centre)
Address : Lot 4, Persiaran Perkilangan, Seksyen 21, Shah Alam, Selangor
Date : 18th July 2009
Time : 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Tickets : Free Admission
Phone : 03-2274 2274 (Japanese Club of KL)
Transport : Free Shuttle Bus from Shah Alam KTM Station to Matsushita Stadium is provided.


ATTENTION
● Strictly no smoking except for designated areas.
● No high-heels allowed in the dancing field.
● No wearing stuff like Goth lolita and any stuff that are considered not polite. You wouldn't want people to insult your ancestors that way now, would you?
● NO COSPLAYING. Please show respect towards the Japanese culture and tradition.

Malaysia
In Malaysia, Bon Odori Festivals are celebrated every year in Penang and at the Matsushita Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor. This celebration, which is a major attraction for the state of Selangor, is the brain child of the Japanese Expatriate & Immigrant's Society in Malaysia. In comparison to the celebrations in Japan, the festival is celebrated on a much smaller scale in Penang and Selangor, and is less associated with Buddhism and more with Japanese culture. Held mainly to expose locals to a part of Japanese culture, the festival provides the experience of a variety of Japanese food & drinks, art and dance.


Map




(Info from Tourism Selangor)
(Map from the Comic Fiesta Forums)

Go HERE for a flyer.


*tired* Cupcakes!!

(Warning: again a long, rambly post)

I'm so sorry for not updating regularly this month!!! This week's been busy and I've been feeling really tired :/ *sighs*

Key highlights:
1) Started work on Monday
2) On Monday, went for two-day business trip to Perak & Penang
3) Had baking session on Thursday night from 10pm - 1am
4) On Friday, we went to Shook!, Starhill for YTL's A Midsummer Night's Feast. Italian food. It was alright - last year, we had Stephen Mercer and it was waaaaay better!
5) Yesterday, I had a facial, then spent 5 hours baking and decorating cupcakes, then had a dinner at Overseas Restaurant, Jaya One (yum!!).
6) Today was my church's Family Day. More on that below..

I got up at 5.30am today and went to church at 6am to help my mum set up everything for the church Family Day, as my mum was sponsoring one booth to raise funds for Maranatha (the church's retreat home, which is run solely on donations). The theme of her stall was "Little Penang Cafe", and was selling alot of nice Penang food like char kuay teow, assam laksa, rojak, sotong kangkung and various preserved fruits and vegetables. My mum actually hired a caterer to sell these, and it was really popular! :D

I wasn't manning that booth - I helped out with the RCIA (Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults) because my mum is their secretary. The theme was home-made food. One auntie sold these incredibly delicious ham and cheese mini quiches which she made herself, all 200 of them. Another person made fresh pittas filled with roast chicken, cheese and homemade coleslaw. Both were really good!! I had two of the mini-quiches for breakfast, and one of the pittas as part of lunch. I bought another pitta to bring home, and am actually eating it now! :D Mmmm...

My mum contributed via reuseable bags made of recycled material that had been printed with the church logo. I sold those, and a big bunch of cupcakes that my sister and I (with the decorative help of two cousins and my mum and our maid) baked yesterday.

We made 30 boxes of 4 large-ish cupcakes each and sold them at RM12 per box. We were rather worried it would appear expensive to others, so we didn't mark up the profit margins that much (a profit of only RM1 per cupcake). Lucky thing we priced them at that level, because another booth also sold similarly priced but incredibly cute homemade cupcakes. The ones who made them were professionals - they said that for us to have made these cupcakes at "our age" (not sure how old she thinks we are) with absolutely no training but for pictures in books, ours were really really good!

As it was, we weren't sure if we would actually be able to sell the cupcakes, and we had a limited amount of time to make them anyway, which was why we made so little of them. (Although it doesn't sound too little when you say 120 cupcakes, each decorated individually...)

We had also made some tiny bite-sized individual cupcakes (about 160 of them I think) and sold them in little trays of 4 for RM3. They weren't as pretty, but were much easier to eat. We originally made them for people who prefer to eat just a small bite of cupcake rather than a full thing, but it turned out very popular with mothers with small babies, because it was very easy for the babies to eat.

I'd say the cupcakes were actually a big success compared to what we were expecting. We started selling at 8am, and were completely sold out of cupcakes by 11am! Considering that the event was supposed to end at 2pm, that was really quick. I feel proud :D

I came home as soon as the cupcakes were sold out because it was so hot and I was so tired that I was constantly swaying if I stood up without steadying myself somewhere. I'd originally meant to play around with kimono this afternoon, as everyone is out of the house, and maybe dress in a few ensembles and take pics, but instead, I decided to take a quick nap - and woke up 5 hours later ^_^"" But I will admit I feel tonnes better and more refreshed! :D

We're going to go to Uncle Max's house tonight to see the puppies their dog had. Ooooooh I can't wait for all the cuteness!!!! :D I gotta go get ready soon, so bye!

(And sorry for another long rambly post so soon after the previous one >.o I promise I'll have pictures of the past few days set up as soon as my sister gets it out of her cam!!)


Friday 10 July 2009

Event Announcement: SFX Family Day 2009

Just a quick post before I sleep, but my church is having its annual Family Day this Sunday. If you're in the area and free, do come and contribute to the church, as well as various charities and fundraising organizations :)

Here's details:



Location:
Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church

Address:
135 Jalan Gasing,
46000 PJ,
Selangor

Date:
12 July 2009

Time:
8.30am - 2pm

We're "going green" this year, so please bring your own (empty) lunchboxes if you want to takeaway food! :)

Oh, and sadly, I will not be wearing yukata, because it's really really hot, and this year's theme isn't Japanese. I'm absolutely dying to wear one, but I won't have an opportunity to until we go to Pangkor Laut. Will blog more about that later.

Okay, am very tired now. My sister and I were up till 1am baking cupcakes as a test round for what the RCIA is selling on Sunday (no, we don't man the RCIA booth so we won't be there to take questions :D Lucky) and I have to get up early for work tomorrow.

G'night people! :D


Sunday 5 July 2009

Warning: LONG Page of Rambling

Okay, so I decided to use today to catch up with all that I'm supposed to update about. Of course, since I'm feeling lazy, I'm going to do part of it in list form, with some ramblings on the side.

Patrick's time in London! We:
1) had Il Bordello one last time on the Friday he came down to London.
2) spent that Saturday pigging out at Borough Market, then watching Sister Act.
3) lazed about all Sunday. Did we go out even a little bit?
4) went to eat at Richoux on Monday, then stopped by Harrod's to get good macaroons and lipstick. It was also the last day I spent with Hong D:
5) spent the whole of Tuesday washing final round of laundry, packing up everything for Mel, packing up everything for home, and just generally cleaning the flat before I had to leave forever :'(
6) were late leaving for the airport, but got there in time to check in, get past security and spend time in the MAS lounge anyway. The guy in front of us took half an hour to check in!! Even worse is that there was only one business class counter, so we had no choice but to wait :/ My brother and I checked in 3 bags, and we were just a few kilos over our weight limit, but the lady didn't say anything. Yaaay!!! :D

The flight:

We originally had nice seats in a private area, where there was only space for 4 passengers when the area was closed off. It was right next to the door and where the staircase to the upper deck was. Of course, it would've been noisy anyway because it was right at where the galley was. Still, it was fun sitting there, watching the cabin crew work.

About half an hour after take-off, an air stewardess came to tell us that there was someone on the plane with swine flu symptoms, so we had to give up our seats to quarantine the person. They switched our seats to the upper deck (my favourite seats!! YAY!) and we got the seats right behind the cockpit, so we still had plenty of legroom :D

(Randomly: The flight didn't feel too long, but didn't feel short either. I didn't get to sleep much (what? 3 hours maybe?) but I spent hour doodling and playing Tetris and Bejewelled. The food was good. The fish Patty had for supper was amazing. I love business class.)

Patty and I didn't discuss the possible swine flu case out loud, because obviously it's common sense not to cause a possible riot on an already airborne flight. And we were damn right to do so - when the flight landed, the crew announced that health officials were coming on board to check the health of a passenger, and immediately everyone on the upper deck started shifting uneasily. They certainly were quick to get off the plane when we were finally given clearance.

Because we were sitting in those seats and were therefore considered to be in "close proximity to the ill passenger", we had to be quarantined off as well. But my brother thinks it was a false alarm because we got let go very quickly. Although I didn't at first, I am now inclined to agree with him. Still, it was an experience! :D

That was most certainly the most interesting flight I'd ever been on. I admit to having been alarmed when we were first told, but after a few minutes, I figured there was no point panicking - we were already airborne, so if I get it, then I get it. Besides, people do recover from it anyway.

Of course, we were placed under self-quarantine for a few days (not the full 7 days as recommended by the Health Minister) but neither of us showed any symptoms, so we went about as usual (eating, mostly :P). I can't believe it - we've only been at home for one and a half weeks, and we've already hit 8 restaurants on our list of 32 places-to-eat-at!! No wonder why I feel fat (aside from the fact that I'm incredibly bloated - it's the week before my period arrives. Sry if that's tmi :P).

OH speaking of feeling fat, I figured that having such a small waist compared to my chest and hips isn't so bad. When I was trying on some skirts from my mum, I couldn't fit some of them around my hips. Then I tried putting them on the other way around - from the top. I managed to squeeze into it, but surprisingly, once they got past my chest, the waistband was actually loose around my waist! XD Talk about flattering myself!

And speaking of the skirts, I've just finished sorting and hanging all of them up on my cupboard and HOLY COW! I knew there were alot of skirts, but after counting them, it feels ridiculous!! Get this: I now have 49 skirts hanging in my closet. O_O I knew there were many, but this many?? These aren't even counting the skirts that aren't being hung up, and the ones that are on their way from London!

.......... Is it bad that the only thing going through my mind now is that I have to get more tops to balance out my closet? :P

*coughs* Anyway! Tomorrow I start work. I'm going to intern in my mum's office again, and the reason I'm starting so soon is that my mum is going on a Penang trip with clients and I can learn alot from just watching everything. So yeah, I start work tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Okay, I think I've rambled on enough already. I'm going to take a nap before my sister comes home from Bali (their flight should be landing any minute now, if it hasn't already). Bye!


Sister Act the Musical

On Saturday June 20th, the day after my brother arrived in London before our flight home, we went to watch Sister Act the Musical because our whole family had loved the movies so much when we were young.

Here's my review of the thing!

Location: London Palladium , where Sound of Music the Musical used to be. It's an alright location, being right off Oxford Circus. I don't go that way often because I absolutely hate the crowds around there, but on that particular day, my brother and I were at the Apple store checking out the new iPhone 3GS. The theatre was across the road from the Apple store, so that was great! :D

Storyline: Same old, same old. They'd changed a few things around, added some characters and abit more plot, but it was about the same basic plotline from the movie: lounge singer saw gangster boyfriend kill someone, goes to police, gets put in hiding with nuns, helps nuns via singing, bad guy gets caught, etc etc. I can't say I really loved the whole plot, but whatever I hated in the musical, I hated in the movie too. The new additions didn't take away or add anything to the whole plot, really, so I'm neutral about most of them.

Music: The songs are really good! Not at all the same songs from the movie, so don't expect to hear anything familiar, but it's all really nice. I loved the song that Mother Superior sang (Here Within These Walls) to the point where I can still remember parts of the song now - and considering how bad my memory is, that is incredible. There are some songs that are very obviously filler songs to bulk out the musical a little, but if you ignore that little fact, they're actually rather nice songs. Some of them have incredibly catchy sticks-in-your-mind-for-weeks tunes :D

Comparison: Well.... Compared to the movie... There are parts that are better and parts that are worse, but like I said before, all the parts I hated in the musical, I hated in the movie too. OH! Except for one part - they had this part with a disco ball and flashing lights that gave me this immense headache right there and then on the spot. Yeah, I hated that. They were lucky the song during that scene was nice, otherwise I would've just left.

My Rating: Hmmm..... As a production, I would give this maybe a 3.5/5. That 1.5 I took off was only because of the parts of the plot that I'd always hated in the movie anyway! :P

Recommendation: If you think you can keep your views fairly free of tainted expectations from the movie, then you should go ahead and watch it! Even if you don't like it (I've read many reviews, both bad and good), it's still a good experience. After all, it is very amusing! My brother and I had a good laugh at many parts, and we really LOVE Sister Mary Lazarus! :D However, just a bit of a warning: if you haven't watched the movie in a long time and can barely remember what goes on, I recommend that you do NOT watch the movie again to "refresh your memory". Just go in blind, and I think you'll enjoy it more :D


Okay, that's it for my review! If anyone else does go watch it, please review it too ^_^


Saturday 4 July 2009

Closet Clear-Out

My closet is empty!! :D My mum has taken all of her clothes out of my room and put them into my brother's cupboards. On the other hand, we raided one of her skirt cupboards and found a HUGE pile of skirts that were my size, so I suddenly have alot of nice things to wear :D Yaaaaay.

I've also been shopping for work clothes all week. Today, my mum and I were shopping around in Gardens after visiting our hairdresser's (I needed hair treatments for the ends) and guess what? Raoul has a sale this weekend! It's really worth it - buy one item, get 30% off, two items 35% off and 3 items 40% off. Even better is that if you have a membership card, you get another 15% to 20% off on top of that! :D

I liked a number of things, but only found one top I really liked in my size D: It isn't really that I'm that big-sized. It's just that while my waist is a UK size 10-12, my bust is a size 14 through and through D: It makes it so difficult for me to find good clothes here! I'm glad I did manage to find one really nice white shirt - it's plain white, but the material has cherries woven into it! :D So cute.

Anyway, I'm actually in the middle of clearing out my closet. I've just finished arranging my tops and dresses, going by formality (casual > work > formal) then by type (no buttons > button-up blouses) then colour. It looks so neat now! :D (And also very OCD :P)

There is a ginormous pile of skirts sitting on the floor atm, and I still have to sort them out *sigh*... I don't think I'll be able to finish sorting them out and hanging them all up before I have to get ready to go to my cousin's house (for my uncle's 40-day prayers) but I'll try! First thing to do is to get away from this laptop.... :P

Bye ppl! Sorry about the random rambling post. "m sleeeeeepy D: (Yeah, I'm still jet-lagged D:) I'll update something more worth your time tonight or something. :D


Thursday 2 July 2009

Outfit Snap: Baking Session

We're trying out another broadband service provider. Let's hope it'll be better than all the others! So far, it's quite fast (v good) but it's a little unstable.. Today at around 3pm, it suddenly disconnected, and I haven't been able to access internet since then. I'm stealing internet from a neighbour atm :P

Anyway! I'm now posting about no.2 on my to-post-about list!

A couple of my uni friends came over on Monday June 15th 2009 to bake. I picked them up from Tower Hill tube station, and brought them home, stopping by Waitrose to get a few ingredients and lunch.

After a very filling lunch, we decided to bake a dark chocolate cake. The recipe was actually my white chocolate cake recipe, but replacing the white chocolate with dark chocolate. I was too lazy to find a different recipe, and why mess with something that turned out so good anyway? :P

I don't have any pictures of the cake-baking.. Jenny and Carol took all the pics but I haven't asked for them :P But baking the cake was easy, and it was fun to have them help! :D

While the cake was in the oven, I finally managed to fulfill my promise to Carol about letting her wear kimono. Of course, I only let her wear a yukata, because I'd already packed up just about everything, and it was so hot that even thinking of wearing a kimono wasn't worth it! :P

Here's a picture of them:
Carol and Jenny in yukata

Yes, it's a little messy, but I was rather tired, and I didn't really try hard enough :(

Yeah, that's about it... We spent the whole afternoon baking the cake, and when it was out of the oven, we put it in the fridge to cool faster. While it was cooling, we baked some cookies that Jenny wanted (remind me to get the recipe from her!), then we frosted the cake.

When the cake was done, we all had a slice each. I cut up the cake so they had some to take home, and I sent them off. Not much, but it was really fun ^_^ I'm going to miss them.... :(

On a side note, I went to Kinokuniya yesterday!! :D I bought a whole load of books. I really need to post about them XD I love books! Ehehehe~

Things to update about:
1) Farewell/Welcome Lunch
2) Baking Session

3) Sister Act the Musical
4) Patty's time in London
5) The flight
6) Kinokuniya books


Wednesday 1 July 2009

Chilli Crabs!!!

My sister's already blogged about the chilli crabs!!! :D

Click here to see the review and loads of pictures.

And just as a teaser:

My favourite chilli crabs with deep-fried bread to dip into the sauce!! Yummmm :D

Will post about today's meal once my sister has blogged about it. I also went to Kinokuniya to buy a load of books!!! :D I bought 8 kimono-related ones altogether :P Lol. That'll be blogged about once I've finally caught up with my list of things to blog about XP