Last Day

Today is my last day at work. And it so happens, the last day for Jan at work too. We both resigned almost at the same time and while she starts next week at her new place, I have a blissful two weeks!

Here's what I'm planning to do:
1. Go Melaka for Raya
2. Go Camerons this weekend
3. Run errands - settling stuff for my new workplace, shopping, fixing my computer, fixing my Roomba thing again etc
4. Go Singapore
5. Come back to my office to participate in a farewell lunch my colleagues are organizing.

Sigh. What a lovely break I'm going to have!

Krispy Kreme

Just had my first mouthful of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Plain ones. Very sweet but very yummy in texture. Bliss.

NoooOOoooo!!

U23D tickets are on a stand-by basis 2-3 hours prior to the screenings!! Unless I want to secure the seats, I'll have to pay SGD645!!! Which works out to be RM1,500 per person! Crikey. And I know there are many Singaporean U2 fans who will certainly go for this.

Sheesh.

Hong Kong Food

Fried fish skin dipped in soup Assorted beef parts noodle
Fried rice noodles, congee (in replacement of a hot drink), some dumplings, mango with grass jelly dessert
A huge sui kau
Pork knuckles in sour soup noodles
Beef noodles
Pork chop with rice
Borsch soup (Kim Gary KL has a nicer version of this soup)
Grass jelly with sea coconut dessert
Goose & taufu

HK Disney in Images

The Disney train:

Disney train handles:

Fountain at the entrance:

Grumpy Donald on his sinking boat:

Even the railings had Mickey Mouse:

The ticketing counter:

The tickets:

Flower arrangements at the entrance:

Sleeping Beauty's Castle

Mickey's ice cream

Even the takeaway bowl's handle has Mickey's print. Food there sucked though.

We watched the Lion King show, the 3D show (my favourite!), the Parade, It's a Small World (nothing fantastic), High School Musical (never watched it so didn't understand the performance), Winnie the Pooh (the crappiest since we waited almost an hour for a lousy ride) and the fireworks at night.

We didn't manage to cover Tomorrowland but since Space Mountain was closed in preparation of Halloween, didn't really miss much. Intended to buy some Disney stuff like cookies but they were so expensive! Plus we didn't have time so we didn't in the end.

Now I can't wait for U23D if it's going to be like the 3D show we watched!

HK: Bits n Pieces

Just some random shots from Hong Kong. Here's a building that looks like something from Lord of the Rings, with the sharp pointed tips. (Just told that this was where Morgan Freeman went to pay a visit the Hong Kong crook in Dark Knight and then Batman later went there at night to catch the crook. Geez, I can hardly remember the movie already.)
Then, there was a passing junk full of tourist, I think.

And a pet shop with a funny url: www.mybird.com.hk

We're Back!!

We're back after a 4 night 5 day visit to Hong Kong. Man, it was great! The food, the shopping, the transport...

Here's the most important card during our entire trip, the Octopus travel card. Used on trains and buses, it could even be used to buy ice cream at an ice cream truck along Ladies' Market!

Our first stopover was at Tung Chung, where there were branded goods at wholesale prices. Unfortunately for me, I remain an unbranded person and left the place empty handed. I had my first bowl of the famous wonton mee there though and each wonton had about two succulent prawns. Really yummy.We then headed to the hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui (TST), called USA Hostel situated in Mirador Mansions along Nathan Road. Oh boy, were we in for a culture shock! The entrace to the place was paved with shops selling fake handbags, tailors and a sex shop with a mannequin wearing bits of leather and chains.

Then the elevator was so small it could just about fit the 5 of us with bags. Up to the 13th floor, the narrow passageways led us to the "reception" area - a mere plastic foldable table and wooden stools for customers to wait their turn. We kept looking at each other, wondering if we had chosen the right place to stay.

The rooms were incredibly small. My parents and Jan had a double decker and a single bed with at least some walking space while our room was fitted with a queen sized bed wall to wall with a narrow area for opening the door. Here's a picture of the room with me standing from the furthest possible corner.

However, it was extremely clean and the location was fantastic!

On the first night, we went to the Peak. Pity it was a hazy night but here are a couple of shots taken from the rooftop.

On the second day, we had tim sum for breakfast and headed to Disneyland. Yes, we decided to go in the end and I'm very glad that we did because we really enjoyed ourselves! I think I'll write a separate posting on Disneyland later.

On the third day, we went to Stanley Market. The bus ride there was really something! Reminded me of Batu Ferringhi, Penang with all the twists and turns along a beachfront, on a double deck nevertheless! The market was so-so but I ended up buying a top there and some cute handphone accessories.

After Stanley Market, we headed to Avenue of Stars with a spectacular view of Hong Kong Island and some famous hand prints. Unfortunately, it was still quite hazy so my pictures are somewhat blur. Me and Tony Leung's handprint!

The final day, we were supposed to go Macau but since we had not had the chance to explore TST and Mongkok (Ladies Street), we decided to forgo Macau. And I'm glad we did because we discovered Muji in TST! Everyone bought something from Muji and were very happy with our purchases. I am now a self declared fan of Muji.

After a round of Muji, to my surprise, there was a Lush shop there too and I went crazy just stocking up my shampoo. Sigh. What a wonderful morning.

We then headed to Mongkok to the Ladies Street. It was simply PACKED with people! Incredible! However, given the warnings that we are not to touch or bargain anything we don't intend to get, we felt ill at ease and didn't look much. BUT! I spotted a shop selling handbag holders and Jan, Mum and I bought about 15 holders! Here's my five:

And finally, here's the damage:

Aji Iciban (the two packets at the back) is from a shop selling tid bits and we bought quite a lot of small chocolates for the office. But today's headlines screams, "Avoid tainted milk products from China!" so looks as though no one's going to eat it. Cheh.

Moving On Again

I have tendered my resignation with my company last week. Was rather caught up with the interviewing, negotiating and deciding hence my silence for the last couple of weeks.

I'll be going to another bank and I do look forward to having better prospects from there. The bad thing is, I have a new boss who just came in 3 days ago and she's really nice. But hey, I don't think a pinch of salt could make a pail of pipe water into seawater. Not just yet. More pinches of salt and it just may but it will take some time.

Again, the uncertainty, the worry about whether I'd be able to perform at my new workplace, new colleagues is kinda stressing me out. But I will stick to this decision. Especially after I hear from my new boss that I am known to "throw in my letter" a couple of times, which is absolutely untrue (it was once and I didn't throw in my letter) so it looks like I'm the boy who cried wolf with resignation letters now. Great.

So, in less than a month, I will be moving on to a new company, the second time in my life. By the way, funny thing is that Jan also resigned and will start almost at the same time as me at a new job.

Funny Thread

Man... this has got to be the funniest thread I've read. Check it out.

Crap...

So I'm off to Hong Kong tomorrow and what do I have plaquing me since Sunday? Massive food poisoning. I'm still having cramps but have restrained myself by eating just toast with jam since yesterday. Sheesh.

Hong Kong!

We're leaving for Hong Kong next week and I'm now getting pretty excited! We've got a few plans in the pipeline but it's going to be somewhat free and easy.

We have Disneyland in our itinerary but most reviews say it's a waste of time. KS and my parents insist that since Jan and I have never been, we should go. Oh well, we'll play by ear and see if we're really that keen.

I'm looking forward to more of just discovering the place, not so much of shopping or sightseeing. However, it's now Autumn and I'm an Autumn girl so shopping will still be inevitable. :)

Unfortunately our Ringgit isn't very strong at the moment so looks like I'll have to empty my savings for this trip.

Incredulous

Recently a Member of Parliament by the name of Ahmad Ismail called the Malaysian Chinese as ïmmigrants". A big furore ensued and the Chinese leaders from both the Opposition and the Barisan, one of them Dr Koh Tsu Koon, President of Gerakan. Dr Koh, amongst others, lodged a police report after Ahmad uttered the degratory words, demanding an apology from Ahmad.

While all this was going on, Ahmad simply couldn't be reached for comment. Badawi tried to calm things down and even got Najib to apologize on Ahmad's behalf.

Then, when Ahmad was finally reachable, instead of being repentant, he started accusing the Chinese press for "misquoting" him without explaining exactly how he was misquoted. Then he demanded Dr Koh to aplogize instead to him for stirring trouble.

Today, Ahmad proclaimed that Barisan ejects Gerakan from its coalition, followed getting his supporters to take down Dr Koh's picture and proceeded to tear it to bits in front of the press.

Obviously, Badawi is upset because all eyes are on him now to bring out the rotan. He really has no choice now but to excommunicate Ahmad from the party, really. But if he doesn't, it only shows how weak a leader he is. Well, we'll see.

5 Sen

While I'm on a roll, here's another Story of My Sister. We lived beside a rather rich neighbour in PJ and he had a son around the same age as Grace and Ron. Our houses had a deep but narrow drain just outside the house with slabs of concrete on top of it leading into the driveway.

As children, we could easily squeeze under it but it was always full of cockroaches, moss and creepy crawlies. Not a good place to hang out if you're squeamish.

So anyway, Grace found a 5 sen coin and challenged the boy neighbour to crawl under this narrow passageway before she would give the coin to him. He took up the challenge and as he was crossing it halfway, he started screaming. At that, Grace and Ron ran back to the house, and never gave him the coin.

Water Bed

Just had a good time reminiscing my childhood with Jan and remembered I promised to record my favourite stories I like to tell my colleagues about my siblings that they look at me and say, "Good thing you turned out normal".

So here's one about a neighbour's water bed. Apparently they were quite a show off and Grace and Ron were a bit dengki when they invited them over to see their new water bed. Of course Grace didn't go empty handed and when they were invited to sit on the bed, the mother called the daughter down for something, leaving Grace and Ron in the room alone with the bed. Out came the needle and a jab was quickly administered.

The spurting water caused a mild panic so Grace covered it up with a pillow and they quickly went down to tell the girl it was time they went home. We never knew what happened after that.

UPS On Nat Geo

Wow... just watched how UPS works on National Geographic. Did you know their chocolate vans never take a left turn in the US? This is because left turns causes inefficiency. And their Louisville Worldport is simply amazing!

Nerd sial...

Exploding Rat

A couple of days ago, my Aunt tapped my door and told me to throw my towel away. A dead rat apparently fell off the ledge just above my towel rack and it was heavily decomposed. She had so kindly cleaned up the mess by the time she woke me.

I then noticed some fur and juice on my white towel. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the carcass. But since then, we have been invaded by the leftover maggots. Now, the maggots that I normally see are the tiny white jumping crawlies but these ones! Wow! They are something else! I've never seen them so fat and they ooze slime when threatened.

Anyway, I pity my housemate who, upon shifting in just a couple of months ago, has experienced water cut, electricity cut and now, exploding rats. Think she might reconsider staying here.

Funny Signage

I had a function at the Crowne Plaza last week and came across the swimming pool up on the penthouse level. Gorgeous isn't it?And then I read the signage at the pool.

The first line says "Swimming is strictly prohibited".