Confusion is nothing new...

2011-02-16T02:28:00.001Z

i need to get out of here soon... before i turn suicidal!

I know..

2010-10-08T06:53:00.002+01:00

I know you are constantly under preasure and stress... but can you at least let me finish my sentence before you cut me off with frustration?

I cannot do this anymore...

Good or bad

2010-10-08T02:54:00.002+01:00

I dunno... now you are trying to change me to be more like you...

Oversensitive

2010-10-06T09:20:00.003+01:00

Am I over reacting?

It has come to a point where I think that I am really confuse of what I really should be doing. I dunno if I'm just plain stupid or I am right about what I think of my boss decision.

I could no longer work in this situation anymore, but I cannot just resign.. not just like that.

I constantly work in fear; afraid I miss out something; afraid that I didn't check this; afraid that I didn't communicate properly with anyone; afraid to make any decision; afraid to call him to ask for his decision.

Perhaps he's looking for perfection?

U tell me, am I over reacting?

It's been a year

2010-10-02T12:39:00.002+01:00

... since my last post while we were still traveling and having the time of my life.

It's been 7 months perhaps since the sudden end of the relationship. Ending a relationship is never easy and never pretty.

I hope after 7 months, it's still not too late to apologize.

Dominic, I'm so sorry! I wish that you now have a much better life than before and a happier one too.

Spain makes you crazy!

2009-09-05T18:11:00.005+01:00

Spain is a very crazy country!They make you do crazy things! First, they make you run with the bulls, then they throw tomatoes at each other and then they make us miss our bus to our farm! Yup... we actually miss our bus to our farm because of some bicycles that we rent! (This happen a week ago while we are still in Valencia)

The story goes like this:

25th August: We rented 2 folding bicycle from this shop called Good Bikes. We were suppose to return it the next day, and the owner is going on holiday, the owner sister agreed to be at the shop the next day around 6.30pm to collect the bicycle.

Good Bike... so good, they let us cycle for free and caused us missed our bus!

So we happily cycle around Valencia, even brought it to Bunol for the Tomato fight (But didn't get to cycle much cos it's damn bloody hilly! Fun going down hills, cursing madly when going up!! So don't bother bringing a bicycle to Bunol if any of you planning a trip there! Get a scooter instead!).

At the train station, with the bicycles folded up waiting to go Bunol for La Tomatina

Bunol

26th August: After the tomato fight in Bunol, we went to the shop straight wanting to return the bicycle as tomorrow, we have a 10am bus to catch. Arrived at the shop, it's still closed, so we call her mobile number, the operator speaks in Spanish pulak! We are guessing that she can't answer the phone, so we called the shop number, no answer. Repeated the process a few times and decided that we should head back to the hotel first to get clean (At that time, there's still tomato pieces in my ears, on my feet... not very comfortable!) Reached the hotel, called the mobile again and this time, asked the receptionist to explain to us what the operator is blabbing about. She explained that it's 'leave a message' thing. So we did. 12 midnight, still no return phone call. So we decided to head out early, hoping to return the bike and catch the bus in time!

27th August: 8am, cycle to the metro station with a backpack is not fun! Especially you've only learn the art to cycle straight! 8.30am, still no sign of the metro coming... panic... 9.15am, the metro finally arrived. 9.45am, arrived at right metro station, got out and I was assigned the task to find the bus station, while he is responsible to bring the 2 bikes back. She still haven't return our calls. Asking for direction in Spanish is easy, trying to understand them is tricky! I can only guess by sign language if I'm in the right direction or not. The best part is, they showed me to the wrong bus station!!!!! Apalah! SOoo... by the time I found the right bus station and the platform, it's 10.16am... bye bye bus.... bye bye £30 per person...
We just could not believe that we actually miss our bus! For the very first time in our life!!! haha..
we spend half an hour, laughing at ourselves, still constantly checking if there's any chance that the bus might be delayed and at the same time, wondered what the hell are we going to do for the whole day!

not very happy...

In the end, we chucked our bag into a locker in the bus station, went back to the bicycle shop and took the bicycle and continue cycling around in Valencia. We went to the beach, eat some Paella, freshen up by the beach and then cycled around the park...

putting things in the gigantic locker

Some nice grafities

We were too stingy to spend on another night accomodation, so we decided to sleep in the park... bad choice! It's kinda creepy cos there's this man, constantly walking pass us... so we can't really sleep... then we moved to another spot, the bloody sprinkle went on!! Wonderful timing!

berus gigi di taman

28th August: 5am, we cycled back to the shop again and this time we know why she hasn't return our calls.... We got the wrong mobile number!!!! who to blame? Do we really care? neah...
Well, at least we have the experience of missing our bus and sleeping in the park, which both are not pleasant, but have always wondered how's it like... so... there you go....
10.00am, paid another £30 for the bus ticket, jump into it and slept like a baby!

Amsterdam

2009-08-24T12:22:00.002+01:00

For a moment, my blog title is in Spanish! Luckily, after refreshing it, it came back as English! Phew..

Anyway, we just finished our 3 days trip in Amsterdam and now in Spain. Pretty tired because didn't really get to sleep. We took a 12.30midnite bus from Amsterdam to Germany's Airport to catch our flight to Valencia, Spain. We arrived at the airport at 4am, our flight was at 6am. Arrived Valencia at 8.20am. The taxi driver have no clue at all where the hell is our hotel, so round and round we went on numerous roundabouts, U-turn here and there and she finally decided to call and ask a friend. After half an hour of seeing the same road sign, we finally arrived at our hotel, and found out that it's actually in the middle of industrial zone! cham lar!

Nevermind about that... Amsterdam is really a pretty place with canal system right in the heart of the city. And guess what... we actually stay in a boat!! the room is not the greatest and not the biggest you can get, but how often can you actually say that you've stayed on a boat.. in Amsterdam! Wicked ler..

We went round Amsterdam on rented bicycles. Good practice for me! A couple of falls during the ride, minor accident with other cyclist but no major injury.. so I consider myself pass as a cyclist! hehe... It's actually very safe to cycle round Amsterdam because it has bicycle lane almost everywhere! So you don't have to worry cycling next to a speeding car on the highway and knock you down!

Anyway, check out my facebook for pics!

To run or to fight?

2009-08-18T16:08:00.010+01:00

If you are planning to go to Spain next year or even any time soon and wonder which one is nicer to watch, I can definitely recommend the bull run! It's so much more exciting than anything else!

For the bullrun, It's like you are hoping that nothing bad will happen to anyone but at the same time secretly hoping that something will happen (nothing major of course!) during the run to spice it up! I know I'm a bit mean here... but I'm pretty sure most people feels that way too! =D

If you watch the video, you'll notice that there's a man that was stampede by the bulls... ouch.. Just glad that it wasn't me there!

However, if you are watching the bull fight... well, to be honest, bull fight is only fun to watch during the 1st match or even the 2nd match, by the 3rd match, you'll secretly hope that the bull will smarten up and attack the Matador instead of chasing after the dress cape... Again, I may sound mean, but trust me, you'll feel the same if you see what they did to the poor bull!

1st, they make the bull tired by fooling around with it.
2nd, a picador on horseback will stab the bull twice
3rd, 3 banderilleros will stab the bull again with 2 razor like stick each to wound the bull even more
then only finally, the Matador will kill the bull by stabbing it with a sword between the shoulder blades and through the aorta or heart (after at least 15 minutes of fooling around with the wounded bull!)
That's when you secretly hope that the bull will charge and attack him!

This video was taken after the 10th million times I press 'stop & record' in order to capture the Matador maneuvering the cape, putting the sword into the bull and slowly watching the bull dies..

One thing about bullfight that you will like is that the bull fight arena is divide to 2 section. Sol & Sombre (shaded & not shaded) Not shaded one is the one that no one really pays attention to the bull fight, instead, they squirt Sangria with watergun on everyone (ESPECIALLY TOURISTS!!!), throw fruits at you.. making sure that you are soaking wet with Sangria! They mean no harm but plenty of fun! haha.. after that, they offer you very nice and refreshing home made Sangria! Yum!!
The shaded area are for experts that analysis the bull fight...
You won't miss them as they are the one, sitting guai guai at their seat with clean clothings and dry hair!

Sangria stained shirt & wet hair with drunken look & 3 cups of Sangria.. what more can i say?

I love Spain! Next, we'll be at Valencia for the La Tomatina... will update you guys if we can get decent internet connection! :)

Why I like...

2009-08-18T15:59:00.004+01:00

I like Paris because branded or high class stuff in Malaysia is just normal regular stuff there. I discovered that the Segafredo that Malaysian worship so highly is actually just a lousy kopitiam in Paris... haha..

Doesn't it reminds you of kopitiam with the plastic chairs? =D

today is good!

2009-08-13T13:35:00.004+01:00

Today is a great day for me...

My best friend from secondary school finally proposed to his gf.. the girl he tries to date since Form 4 and only was given the chance in Uni time... Well done! :)

My ex-boss from Dell has finally proposed to his gf too after countless time of us asking him when is he gonna propose...

So excited for them!!!!

today is a good day... wonder who's going to propose next? =D

Malaysian Boleh?!

2009-08-08T11:45:00.005+01:00

After spending 3 days of planning & re-planning, the room is in a mess and paper work everywhere, we've finally slowly have a plan for the next 3 months to come...

We'll be flying off from Manchester on the 21st August to Amsterdam and spend 2 days sleeping on a boat. hehe... it's actually a hostel but it's in a boat rather than the conventional 4 wall building.. cool ya?!

Then, we'll take a flight to Valencia for... FOOD FIGHT!!! La Tomatina! If you've never heard of it before, it's basically an event that the Spaniard celebrate every year by throwing tomatoes for a solid 1 hour! No body knows the actual origin of this fight, but some people say that it started with people throwing tomatoes at unpopular politician while some say that it was a street brawl near a fruit store. Anyhow, this fight happens every year on the forth Wednesday in August!

tomato fight!!

So, we are going there to collect some tomatoes, some bruises and maybe lose some clothings (Hopefully not!!!!)... and then we will start our farm work in Andujar from the 27th August onwards!

It all sounds so exciting... until our piggy bank screams for our attention... After breaking a few calculators, we realised that we've only got £1000 or less to spend from now till the end of December, traveling from here to Amsterdam to 3 different county in Spain, to Portugal, to Italy, to Greece & finally to Turkey...

Question: Bolehkah?????!!!!!!

Last day

2009-08-02T17:53:00.004+01:00

Today is the last in little Austwick! yahoo!
Well... I think we'll probably miss this place soon... not for now... but maybe when we go back home, we'll think about the peacefulness, the tranquility & the sheep that scattered all across the hill!

We'll miss our colleagues and friends that helped to make our life here better.. simply by being our friends... thanks guys...

Today is the last in little Austwick! yahoo!
Well... I think we'll probably miss this place soon... not for now... but maybe when we go back home, we'll think about the peacefulness, the tranquility & the sheep that scattered all across the hill!

We'll miss our colleagues and friends that helped to make our life here better.. simply by being our friends... thanks guys...

Next up, we would like to meet up with CY & FH, but this time round, the train fare is freaking expensive!!!!!! :( now trying to see if we can meet half way.. if not, have to IOU de lor.. :(

Then, we'll take an overnight ferry to Amsterdam and spend few days there, then head down to Spain again, this time to Valencia for La Tomatina. So far, the hostels there are fully booked, left those overly expensive hotels... so we might just take our chance by arriving there without any accommodation and then ask around the locals for a spare room to zzz... wicked ya? hehe.. otherwise, train station or bus station shall be our shelter.. :s

After that, hopefully we'll be able to confirm our placement for organic farming in either Spain or Portugal. We are hoping to go whale watching while we are in Portugal! =D

Then, hopefully, we can organise our placement in France, Italy, Greece then finally Turkey before head back to UK to meet up with Dom's brother, spend Christmas in Southport and then plan to travel again!

Oh, Ling, I know that you are interested to travel abit in the Europe but not wanting to spend too much (like us), this website might be helpful. www.helpx.net
It allows travellers to volunteer in exchange for food & accomodation. It not only involve farm work, some has horse ranches, hostel work or even just giving the local a hand in repairing their house.. so it's more versatile compare to WWoof.com.uk (which only list out organic farm work). Helpx membership fee is £18 for 2 years for all over the world where as Wwoof is about £20 per country per year...

Lesson learnt from the recent trip

2009-07-25T18:53:00.007+01:00

During our 12 days trip to London, Pamplona, Barcelona, Paris & Brussels, we learned a few things and would like to share it with everyone.

1. Plan your daily activities carefully. On our last day in Pamplona, we chose to watch the bull fight. In the bull ring arena, there are 2 section: the serious section and the party section. We chose the party section. Right choice at the wrong time! The moment we stepped into the arena, the locals splash us with Sangria & throw fruits at us. It's nothing rude but just part of how they will behave in the bull fight arena. So before the bull fight actually start, we were soaked in sangria, dirty & sticky... on the day that we are taking the night bus to Barcelona. As we have already checked out from the camp, there's no where that we can actually clean ourself properly! Imagine sweet red wine on your hair, shirt, pants and on your body... you'll be able to imagine how uncomfortable I am!

sangria stained-pants

2. Sleep is very important! I say this because we took a 1am bus from Pamplona to Barcelona, thinking that if we arrive early in Barcelona, we'll have a full day to explore the place. But we were wrong. We arrived at Barcelona at 7am, tired, lack of sleep, dirty and sticky and last but not least, lost! It took us awhile to focus and find our way to the hostel. After a long zombie walk, passing by lots of beautiful buildings that we didn't even bother to take pictures, we finally arrived at the hostel. Can't check in but he allow us to use the shower room.. Thank God for that! It seriously feels soo good to be clean! Dom says that the water actually comes out greyish! I was half asleep when I shower so I didn't notice it. Anyway, we wasted half the day wondering around, too tired to enjoy anything. It's only later, when we get our bed and got some decent sleep that we get to enjoy the scene around... so yes... sleep is very very important!

swleepy!

3. Location of your accomodation. The first 2 nights of our hostel is a nightmare! our room is right next to a railway track! every 5 minutes, the screeching sound of the rail track gives me goosebumps! Oh well, at least I know that there's a train coming every 5 minutes and I have goosebumps every 5 minutes too! hehe.. So unless you can sleep through that, research on the location of the place you'll be staying especially if you'll be spending few nights there. Don't worry about staying slightly away from tourist attraction, especially in a city centre because most of the times, you can use local transportation like Metro or bus to get to those places at quite a reasonable price.

shadow of Eiffel Tower

4. sarong is bloody useful! I used it as blanket in the bus, in hostel that don't provide blankets, a changing place at the campsite, as a mat that you can sit on at the beach!

5. The tourist Hop-on Hop-off bus is only good, if you have patient to sit through the bus ride and listen to the history of all the places. If you are slightly more adventurous and your legs itching to explore some place new, get a 1 day pass and hop off at any stop and explore the place without all the tourists! We discovered a nice park and a modest Paris University building when we got bored of Paris touristy stuff!

market in Paris (Things in the market are extremely cheap! Eg: 2KG of grapes at only 1.50Euro!)

Lastly, just relax and enjoy your trip... it doesn't matter if you didn't get to see that famous sight, you are on a holiday to enjoy and to experience the cultural differences! Not to rush through everything, just to see everything!

one of the many cute fountain in Brussels

new house

2009-06-23T21:15:00.003+01:00

we finally give our resignation notice to the boss! Yahoo!!
so what's next?
well Spain trip is coming soon.. can't wait for the Pamplona Bull run!

just wanted to show you guys our new place... well, it's a staff house, where there's 5 of us sharing the house.

a bird house.. just right next to our bedroom window!

back garden

kitchen

view from our window

view from our window 2

We are still not sure our plan for the next few months yet... after our work here... he's still trying to arrange for some volunteering job in Greece... otherwise, we might just get some part time job while we travel...

a new laptop & more blabbling

2009-05-22T12:31:00.003+01:00

we finally got a new laptop... this time we only got 1 to share cos... expensive lar... our new laptop is Asus Eee PC 10.2" screen in white! :) very chic... hehhe

and I'm glad that those Ireland photos are still in the camera when our laptops got stolen.. so very soon I'll resume normal postings of my Ireland trip... good thing they didn't take the camera with them.... if not... hmm.... I'll hunt them down!!!!!

I'm slowly receiving all my new debit & credit cards... but still haven't found a proper purse to keep it... can you imagine that we shop the whole and can't find a single purse for me?!! It's either too big or too small or too canggih as in, on the purse it self, it has way too many zips.... we don't really need that much zip right? the one that is really nice is just too expensive... :(
sponsor me please, anyone?

anyway, I need to get some zzz now cos I did something stupid just now... I actually went to a walk-in fridge wanting to take table clothes! :s not very smart eh...

stolen

2009-05-13T20:04:00.002+01:00

right... for something more serious... yes... both our laptops were stolen yesterday while we were at Manchester China town....

So, please do expect a slow update on my blog... sorry...

This is to whoever that took it... You can keep the laptop... but why took our clothings bag??? why in the world do you want someone's dirty underwears & dirty socks? Do you know that you have taken my most valuable thing? MY PILLOW!!!!b It's something money can't buy ok?! And you've taken my Malaysian ID card & driving license... so if you'll be kind enough to send these back to me... it's not valuable to you anyway....

my address is:
The Austwick Traddock
Austwick via Lancaster
LA2 8BY North Yorkshire

Thank you kindly...

gone forever

2009-05-13T19:54:00.003+01:00

I'm mourning now....
our laptops was stolen yesterday....
My purse & handbag was taken too...
my toiletries was taken away too...
so are our dirty laundries...
worst is... they took my beloved smelly pillow...
the one I had for years....
Is now gone....FOREVER....

Ireland Trip Part II

2009-05-11T22:44:00.017+01:00

Day II - Drogheda - Newgrange - Knowth - Belfast - Giant's Causeway

The alarm goes off at 8.15am on our second day in Ireland... "Oh bugger!" My fingers wonder around the fridge top for my phone and then switched the alarm off, and continue to sleep... or at least tries to sleep...

Both of us tried to be hero last night and thought that we'll be fine without pillow, but looks like pillows are crucial for a good night sleep... oh well... we learned our lesson...

doing my facial routine in the van...hehe

Our first breakfast is instant noodle! hahaha... what??! sedap dan cepat mar... ok.. we'll skip the boring part of eating & cleaning up and move on to our next journey which is to Newgrange & Knowth.

Newgrange & Knowth is actually tombsite.... before you call us 'siau' to fly over to Ireland to visit someone's tombsite.... Look at the pics below and tell me if it looks like your ordinary tombsite at any part of Malaysia that you can find...

visitor visiting the visitor centre

The tombsite we visit is special one ok.... It's round in shape and made by the stone age people thousand years ago....erm... quite a bad way to describe it ya...hehe.. Well, both Newgrange & Knowth is known as Megalithic Passage Tomb and are all surrounded by kerbstones... stones soo big, it's quite hard to imagine how normal human can carry it from other place to the top of the hill to built the tombs. Looking at the stones, I can't help but to imagine that all these stone age construction might be done by giants...who knows right? I mean, in the Bible, it talks about giants... so I'm sure giants do exist at that time...

the round round thing that looks like a mould is the tombs lor.. And the lady is our tour guide.

see... i told you the stone is huge! And it's all around the mould

more tombs

Dom & ju-on

Newgrange Passage tomb
people queing to see the passage and the chamber inside

Newgrange from afar

The passage tomb in Newgrange is built in such a way that the passage and the chamber are lighted up by the winter solstice sunrise. A shaft of sunlight shines through the roof box over the entrance and penetrates the passage to light up the chamber. The dramatic event lasts for 17 minutes at dawn on the Winter Solstice and for a few mornings either side of the Winter Solstice. cool right? The tour guide illustrate it by using a torchlight and it already looks magical... Surely the real things looks much much better!

the passage way to the chamber

Anyway, after spending few hours at the tombsite, facing strong hurricane-like wind, we drove to Belfast to get our much deserved pillows! =D Belfast is quite similiar to Dublin... If you want me to describe Ireland... I'll stay it's a combination of UK & Malaysia... some houses look like Malaysia house with UK sceneries. The road is like Penang or Kuching's road (lots of potholes & unevan!!! hehe), drivers are like KL drivers... rude & impatient! haha... but maybe that's just how city people drive... :p But Dom says he feels at home driving in KL style again.. haha..

the eye of Belfast?

Belfast

That night, we found an abondon harbour, called Ballingtoy Harbour, just slight off the Giant's causeway. The wind is hauling so strong and we can feel the van being blown by the wind... Again.. I didn't sleep well that night because I was so worried that the wind is going to blow the van into the Atlantic sea... I mean... seriously... the last thing that we need is to wake up the next morning in the middle of the sea! :s And with the wind draft, it makes the van feels like a freezer! I sleep with a long john, my jeans & sarong on.. with sleeping bag as blanket and yet... it's not enough to keep warm....

So.. that's the end of our 2nd day in Ireland... be patient as there's more... hopefully will have the time & a good internet connection to post those pics up for you guys.. :)

the way to Giant's Causeway

dinner for that night is steak with rice! hehe..

or is it rice.. plenty of rice with steak? o.O

sunset

New look

2009-05-11T22:42:00.001+01:00

I decided to change the outlook of my blog... what do u think? Do you guys like it or prefer the old look? hehe...

Ireland trip Part 1

2009-05-10T22:19:00.012+01:00

Just got back from Ireland yesterday and the campervan trip is awesome! :) Be patient and I will slowly update & post some pics as well about our 5 days 4 nights journey.

Day 1: Dublin - Drogheda
At 6.20am I have to drag my lazy bum and my sleepy head out of my comfy bed to jump into shower. It's not a pleasant shower cos it's just too cold and too early to shower.. :(
anyway, seeing that I have a train and a plane to catch, so I hurried up.

The train took us from Settle (a little town next to the village we stayed) straight to Manchester Airport and the journey took a good 2 1/2 hours.

Talking about the train, can you believe that we actually pay more for our train tickets than our flight tickets!!! Our return flight from Manchester to Dublin is only GBP35 for 2 of us whereas the return train ticket is GBP65!! cilaka!! expensive nya!!

Breakfast in Manchester Airport

At about 3.15pm, we finally arrived at Dublin airport. This is when the interesting part begin. We actually need to pick up the campervan by 4pm because that's when they close. As Dom dealt with the campervan company all these while, so he's in charge of getting in touch with them to arrange for pick up. First attempt, the screen shows number error. We thought that it might be the country code. 2nd attempt, it shows the same, so we decided to ask the reception at the tourist information counter. He said the country code is correct so we give it a try again. We kinda starts to panic at that moment as the clock is showing 3.30pm... great... looks like we'll be spending the first night in dublin airport! Then after numerous attempts, walking in and out of the arrival hall, we finally find out what when wrong... My dear friend saved the wrong number!!! And he said he already double check the number.... >_<

Dublin Airport

Aaanyway...... we finally get to see our van cum hotel cum kitchen. It's quite nice actually, with a small sink, 2 gas hob and 2 seating place that can be converted to a double bed. That's where we will be spending our next 5 days 4 nights in.

The back of the van: the seat cum bed & sink & gas hob

gas hob & the sink

So after picking up the campervan, we head to Dublin city for a quick stroll and did some food shooping.

one of the bridge that connect Iffey river

Street performers. Very talented! But the lady that looks like she's dancing is actually drunk! She later puke into the guitar case... ewww!!

One of the many bars in Temple Bar, the famous bar street in Dublin

Sorry about the look, a bit stoned here... Maklum lah... tak cukup tidur!

For the first night, we drove to a little town called Drogheda, about 45mins away from Dublin city. We stopped there as it's nearer to our first visit the next day. Our first night campsite is by the road side near some bushes with river at the back. It's kinda creepy for me, but he loved it as it's more quiet. Both of us are very different. I'm afraid of the dark, but to him, the darker the better, pitch dark is the best for him...

Cooking in that particular campervan is interesting! As it's a van, so we have to half stand half bend to do the cooking... and we've knocked our head countless time on the van ceiling... wonder if our head has gone slightly bigger! :s

professional chef cooking 3 course meals.. :p

Getting ready to sleep... without any pillows.. :(

That night, we only get to sleep at about 1.30am... :(
Did we have a good night sleep? read Part II , coming soon...

Whitby part 2

2009-04-24T15:36:00.008+01:00

Whitby.... what can I say about Whitby? It's a very beautiful seaside town. The most spectacular I think... All these while, I thought San Diego in US is the most beautiful town I've ever visited, but Whitby just won my attention. Mind you, I'm not just talking about the sceneries... even the people there are unique too and a little quirky!

St Hilda's Abbey.

Interesting facts about St Hilda's Abbey:

It was founded in 657 AD by the Saxon King of Northumbria, Oswy (Oswiu) as Streanshalh (Streonshalh). The name Streoneshalh is thought to signify Fort Bay or Tower Bay in reference to a supposed Roman settlement or Roman Signal Station that previously existed on the site.

He appointed Lady Hilda, niece of Edwin, the first christian king of Northumbria, as Abbess. The double monastery of Benedictine monks and nuns was also home to the great Saxon poet Caedmon.

In 664, the abbey, built on the east cliff overlooking the Esk and town of Whitby, was the site of the Synod of Whitby, at which the Northumbrian Celtic church was reconciled to Rome.

In 867, the abbey fell to Viking attack, and was abandoned until 1078, when it was re-founded by Regenfrith (Reinferd) a soldier monk, under the orders of his protector, the Norman, William de Percy.

Looks like taken from some sad love songs video, minus the sexiness! :s

I have a feeling he's not that into being photographed.. :s

Whale's bone.
Dom: *knock knock* anyone home?

St Hilda's Abbey from afar

Captain Cook.. At first I thought it's Captain Hook from Peter Pan! :s

For some reason, some people there walk around in Gothic costume, at first we thought that they might be attending some school play or some fancy dress party, but wearing that as early as 8am in the morning to attend fancy dress party is just too odd. Then as we walked past the town, our question is answered. Apparently, Whitby is famous for a Dracula story written long long time ago by Bram Stoker.

Even the food sounds scary! "Death Beef Chilli & Rice"! :s

It says: GRAVE YARD: Tombs for rent. One Plot left.

Looks like the Adam's family.. Don't you think so?

Whitby part 1

2009-04-24T13:43:00.010+01:00

With the staff car that this hotel provides now... it comes in handy.. in fact, very very handy.

Yesterday, we actually put up a night in the tiny, ugly green little Peugeot!! Of course the next morning we suffer quite teruk, due to lack of streching place in the car, I won't call it a good night sleep.. at all! But for the following beautiful sceneries... I'm glad we did this spontaneous drive up to Whitby from Liverpool in the middle of the night! :) Poor Dom.. he was walking around like zombie the whole day.

Sun rise from Whitby

Leftover pitta bread as breakfast Whitby St Hilda's Abbey

Ireland

2009-04-21T21:53:00.003+01:00

Ireland trip is coming soon... not much prepared actually...
RIght, we've only got 5 days and 4 nights to cover the whole Ireland. then we only realised how crazy that will be! most people spend a month to cover the major interesting places of Ireland.. and here we are naively think that we can cover the whole island in 5 days time... haha... siau...

It will be alot of driving for poor Dom and because to save cost, we decided not to add in additional driver as it cost GBP6 per day for additional driver plus GBP48 per day for foreign driver... so forget about it...

Now we can only continue to do more research and if worst comes to worst, we'll just have to skip a few places..

We'll see..

birthmark

2009-04-20T17:08:00.003+01:00

I finally have the guts to call to the clinic and made an appointment to possibly have the birthmark remove...
It's on the 12th May... we shall see... fingers crossed! :s

what's going on..

2009-04-09T16:26:00.003+01:00

Right... sowey for not updating regularly! you all can smack me with a big fat trout...

we are still working unhappily in this hotel but kinda get used to the messy management... (close one eye lor..)

we will be going to Ireland for 5 days in a campervan.. too bad you can join us, Ling... by the way, how's Barcelona? We are planning to go in July after going to the Pamplona Bull Run. any cheap deals that you found?

2 days ago was my birthday, my sweet sister call me at 3.30am IN THE MORNING, to wish me 'Happy Birthday' just as I was dreaming of sinking my teeth into a piece of lovely cheesecake... Thanks Mousy! and after chatting with her for awhile, I can't sleep till around 6ish... well... good thing I'm not working on that morning..

We went shopping at Liverpool One (Deepak, you should go there if you are planning to shop for Liverpool football club thingy...er... u ARE Liverpool fan right?)
Anyway... I saw this lovely wedding dress for only GBP225...so tempted to buy.... but... got dilemma a bit lar...
you see... I got an ugly birthmark on my left shoulder...and the dress is a halterneck.. :(
I don't want to look ugly on my wedding day... suddenly have the urge to do laser treatment on that birthmark... He keeps on saying that it's not a big deal... sigh.... headache..
Then... he raise more concern saying that the dress might be too simple as a wedding dress.. he's worried that our guests might dress more glamorous than me... hahaha... lagi headache..

apa macam? nice o not har the dress?

wedding bell

2009-03-23T18:42:00.002Z

i can't believe I'm going to miss my own elder brother's wedding!!! Not that we are very close... but still... I only got 1 brother ler... and I sincerely hope that this is his only wedding!

Yor... uselar this brother... purposely arrange the wedding date in Dec.. :( knowing that I'm still in foreign land! :(

dammit... already miss 2 close cousins' wedding last year... sigh...

foreign language

2009-03-10T13:05:00.005Z

finding information about traveling in foreign country can be fun and a nightmare sometimes... The more i do research about the places I want to go, the more anxious I become.... but when it comes to finding out their local train or bus services... it's a nightmare... especially when it comes in French or Spanish and no button for "English" in their language option which is not offered in the first place.... so what do u do??? well... use Google translate lor... but sometimes... the translation come out a bit funny and it makes you wonder if it's being translated correctly.. :s

in Spanish

Note the underline, it reads: Trains are only sold to 62 days.
huh?

GPS

2009-03-06T16:57:00.002Z

Sometimes... GPS also tak boleh harap....

What happen is.. we have chosen to go to our destination via the shortest route, because sometimes it really offer great English country view... but on this particular occasion... I think the smartass GPS thought that we are traveling by horse... :s

Note where the GPS is pointing us where to go... in front is someone's house and it's a dead end as well..

This is where the GPS wants us to go... :s

The picture may not be clear, but this is actually public footpath, and just next to it is a stream. Although the car we drove is small... but i don't think we can drive pass the 2 wooden pole without scratching both side of the car!

Random pictures

2009-03-06T16:22:00.005Z

Chocolates!!!!!!!!!

I thought it's supposed to be spring, but it snowed yesterday!!!

Botak tree!

Back in Bowness town where I've stayed for 6 months. The butcher shop in front made the best Cumberland sausage that I've ever taste! :)

Travel plan

2009-03-06T16:02:00.003Z

after MIA & hiding underneath the blanket for a few weeks.... I'm back... hehe...

Winter time really really is gloomy & thus has affected my brain's ability to function properly....

Spring is here... or at least I think it is... the day now is brighter... and it only gets dark around 6pm... birds are chirping more happily and the sky just seems much better in my favorite color: blue! :)

After much planning and hiding underneath the duvet, we decided to only start traveling to Europe in late August for straight 2 months. Again, we will ditch our job and purely travel for the whole 2 months going to as many country & cities that we can cover and we are trying to stick to a budget of GBP3000 per person for that 2 months (inclusive of all travel cost), that will works out to be GBP50 per day per person. and the country that we wan to cover? ALOT!!!! we are still working out which country we have to skip... sigh... what a waste right? Anyway.. this is another 'Siau' project by 2 siau people.

Part 1 of travel plan:
To fly from Manchester to Amsterdam. the journey starts there, as we slowly travel to Belgium (Chocolate!!! Here I come!!), Paris, Bordeux (maybe), Lisbon (Portugal), Spain (still haven't work out which city to go yet), Rome, Venice, Florence, Tuscany (Italy), then may fly to Athen (Greece), Istanbul in Turkey and perhaps want to go nearer to Mt Ararat (if we can find out the national park that holds the Noah's Ark) and the last destination is Germany.. just in time for Octoberfest! :)
We also want to go Eygpt and a whole lot of other country... but that really depends on the time we have & $$$

Part 2 of travel plan:
After Europe, Dom's younger brother will be coming to UK, so we plan to go Switzerland for a skip trip in the winter

Part 3 of travel plan:
in Jan 2010, we'll be spending a week in London before our flight back to Malaysia. Sad but glad at the same time... Our flight back to KL is on the 28th Jan 2010 from Airasia for only GBP200! :)

Do you think we can survive with a budget of GBP3000 for 2 months for so many place? :s

wedding dress

2009-02-04T20:06:00.002Z

I know it's still early.. but i really really like this dress. what do you guys think? I'm not sure where i can get this... so I'm thinking of tailor-making it... what do you all think? it's simple but i think it looks very elegant! hehe... =D

Austwick

2009-02-04T15:13:00.002Z

Austwick is the tiny wheeny village that we work and stay in.

Behind me, is the one and only shop in the whole village. It's a post office cum atm machine cum kedai runcit cum bakery.

Ju-On waiting for bus in the one and only bus stop. another ghost is taking picture of this!

The tiny wheeny little village of Austwick

The front lounge of the hotel with real fire going on. That's Hugh Grant in the laptop. nice & cozy...

planning

2009-01-29T18:33:00.003Z

wah... didn't know that wedding planning can be soo mahuan.. :s

so many things to consider and so many things to do!!! even worst now that we are overseas...

Ok... I think so far, the plan is to have wedding ceremony in 2 place. Most probably will do Kuching wedding first and then Penang wedding.

And then we have to plan for our trip back to Penang. Where we are going to stay. Where we are going to settle down...

That's the downside of 2 crazy people dropping everything in the first place to go see UK and then decided to come back after getting bored of the place... :s

Boys & girls.... don't repeat our silly mistake ok... plan ahead & plan far!!!

Venue... Venue... Venue... we definately need help to find out about this.. We are moving towards beach wedding... probably in Parkroyal. Any other good hotel around that you guys can think of?
Good location for wedding, reasonal price, good food...

Wedding photo package.. this lagi headache!!! I'm not sure what sort of price will give us what kind of package. We don't want indoor photos... we would like outdoor shoots, eg: by the beach..
I think he will looks really really cool with tux, holding a guitar, under a tree... :) something that means something to us.. :)

need ideas!!

engaged

2009-01-27T12:27:00.002Z

He proposed to me last night & I said yes...

His mom called me this morning... giggling away happy for the good news... :)

I haven't told my parents yet...somehow a bit scared of their reaction...especially my dad's reaction.. will he still think that I'm too young to get married? Mind you, I'm turning 27 this year...

I'm happy & scared at the same time... is it normal?

No plans yet for the wedding date, the location (definitely not in UK!!)... Location might be a problem.. i think.. I'm from Kuching, he's from KL, but most friends are in PG... could it be in PG then?

Can we plan our wedding in UK and then go back get married straight away?? a bit siau right?!

What sort of wedding theme? Garden? Beach? normal boring banquet? jungle?

Heck.. I don't even know which finger should i wear the ring!!!! :s

Gong Xi Fatt Chai!

2009-01-26T20:20:00.002Z

Happii Niu Year everyone!

I miss CNY at home... steamboat during the eve of CNY, fire crackers everywhere despite the ban by the gov't.... Those rich people will keeps on lighting the long fire crackers till past midnight or till your are deaf... whichever comes first... (which makes me think that the gov't must have forgotten to ban fire crackers in Kuching!!)

Collecting Ang Pao from relatives.... eat Bak Gua, all sorts of junk food that makes you sick and also makes you glad that CNY only happen once a year! :s

Visiting all the long lost aunties & uncles, great grandma's sisters and great great grand uncle's mother's sister's son's granddaughter that you din't know they exist till CNY!!

And what did I do this CNY?
I worked! and wear black uniform somemore! Despite Chinese taboo of wearing black during first day of CNY! feels like we are mourning lar.. haha...

I'm so sad... my friends... please give me Ang Pao to cheer me up pleasssseeeee......

Anyway.. Gong Xi Fatt Chai! :) Hope that all of your CNY celebration is much better than mine...
Don't forget my ang pao ok... :p

something interesting

2009-01-18T22:00:00.000Z

Everyone that reads this blog.. I would like to share this blog link as well and feel free to spread it around to people that you.

http://gwa-joj.blogspot.com/

It's a site basically for you to post items that you don't really need but it may be useful to someone else and you give it away for free :) And if you do happen to find something that you really like on that site and wants it, you can drop a comment on whatever items that you like and you'll get it for free..

have fun! :)

nonsense pictures

2009-01-18T21:33:00.003Z

ei... what is this??

hmm... interesting..

Almost there...

Gotcha!! :)

brain... where are you??

2009-01-18T21:15:00.003Z

I think my brain has gone missing...
Why?
I've lost the ability to think...
So many things happen but lost the words & will to blog about it...
Dad ask me to think about business plan for the orchard... brain = empty

I must have left it in Scotland... or maybe eaten by the monster that I caught in Loch Ness...
dunno lar...
help?

are grass always greener on the other side?

2009-01-05T14:02:00.003Z

I've always thought that UK will be a better country compare to our corrupted country... but after staying for so many months... i realized it's really not that great afterall....

I like their idea of work life balance, but that also means that the shops closes early.. now I know where the words "window shopping" comes from.. basically, after 5 or 6pm... you can only look at the stuff from the shop's window and not being able to touch or buy it... kinda kills the fun ya..

Ang Moh do work slow and easy.... it's good in a way... but when you have a long queue behind the counter, perhaps it's time to speed up the work rather than still chit chat with the customer... one thing i do admire them is that, despite the long queue, most of them can still give you a smile... unlike Malaysians that work behind the counter... the face can eat people one... scary!

public transport same same sucks like Malaysia.. so no comment on this...

food here = horrible! Malaysian food... is still the best at all time!!! lots of variety and cheap! and most are available 24/7... this one... Malaysia rock!!!

Talking about food.. I can't belive that I dream the hotel chef here cooked Sarawak Laksa for staff lunch with lots of big big prawns in it.. *gulp*

I think i'm going nuts!!!

01.01.09

2009-01-01T19:07:00.002Z

Happy New Year everyone!

time flies.... it really really flies... one minute, I'm in Penang, the next thing you know.. I'm in UK... shocking! and now it's 2009!!!!

Whatever it is... time waits for no one and for sure time don't change things or situation... only action change things. If there's a past wound that's holding you back and you are hoping time will heals it... sorry my friend... you've got to work something to get the wound heal, not just sit and watch the clock ticks by...

Hurry up.. before you know it, 2010 will be around the corner! scary huh...

2009

2008-12-30T15:37:00.002Z

ok... 2 more days before we all say bye bye to 2008...
Whatever that happens in 2008 will soon be history... it will just be a part of our journey in the world. All the UPs and DOWNs happened has already happen. What else can we do? Perhaps work on the DOWNs that it will be an UP in 2009. Cherish the UPs and maintain in throughout 2009.

Ok... i'm starting to talk crap... so anyway, 2009 will be an awesome year...

I bought a devotion book as a little Christmas present for myself. it's called "Ending your day right" by Joyce Meyer.

I have made a promise to myself and to God to read the book together with the Bible every evening, no matter what.

Tell me your plans for 2009. :)

public transport

2008-12-29T17:59:00.002Z

Today, I waited for 40 minutes for a train to go back... only to be told at first, the train is delayed. At first it was late by 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 15 minutes... then finally they cancel the train. and guess when is the next train? 2 hours later!!!!!

@($&@*$^#*&

And the people that build the train shelter must have just been here during the summer or they must have forgotten about the door...

OI!!! It's bloody cold in the winter ok?!!! And your bloody train service is never on time!

Geram lor... it's not like the train fees are cheap.... and then I decided to take a bus to go back instead of waiting for 2 hours for the train that might not come... and guess what... the single bus fee is GBP4.45!!!!! Wah lau....... somemore the service not very good!!! the driver let us wait outside in the cold while he slowly take off his jacket, play around with his seat's setting, fiddle some switches and only finally open the door to let us in....

Chao Ang Mo!!! :(

Wishes

2008-12-26T18:46:00.003Z

Merry Christmas!
Happy Boxing Day!
&
Happy New Year!!!

HELP!!!!

2008-12-18T22:13:00.001Z

Help!!! I'm sooo bored here.. can die one ler...

I've been sitting here since 4pm not knowing what to do... and my shift finishes at 11pm...

arghh!!!.. Facebook also facebook sien already...

wah... really can die of boredom...

winter

2008-12-12T20:18:00.003Z

i think I'm beginning to hate winter... I love snow.. provided it stays that way...

I hate it when it starts to melt.. and then melt half way turned to ice... it's sooo difficult to walk on icy pavement... it's already so uncomfortable with so many layers of clothings, & heavy coat... and there you are try to stay put on your feet and not landed on your butt..

yes... yes... i slipped and fall... bruised my butt... sorry.. no pic to show.. don't think anyone is interested to see a bruised butt.

Good thing it happen at night and not in broad day light on a busy street.. if not malu lor...

a frozen lake & 2 overweight homosapiens

2008-12-12T14:17:00.004Z

situation like this...

2008-12-09T19:12:00.003Z

Imagine this:

You have been with your bf for 10 years, married for 3 years and it's only recently that you found out he has been cheating behind your back for the past few years. After being confronted, he's still not willing to give up the bad habit. What would you do?

I'm sorry to hear all these happening to you girl. Please don't put the blame on yourself or poison your thoughts that you are no longer beautiful. It's never easy to face this kind situation. Be strong and let your family know. You'll be better with their support than to shut the whole world out. The best advise I can offer is, try talking to God... He'll makes you feel better... perhaps you don't believe, but just try ok?

What I did during my holiday

2008-12-04T15:19:00.012Z

I saw a reindeer hiding behind a bush

I 'milked' a cow

I ate German sausage

We both have Krispy Kreme donuts

I drank Ale & hot chocolate with Baileys

I ate pancakes

I also have goulash!

He have 2 goulash!

I saw a dead pig...

... and he goes & order it

I saw Santa Clause stuck on the town hall roof!

Our first snow experience

His first snowman

My first cacat snowman, which later turns to a snow-woman

P/s: Ling, sorry we didn't go and visit you as we found out that the train fare to your place is very expensive!!! Perhaps we can plan for a holiday together to Europe next year?! :)

leaving...

2008-11-29T10:54:00.002Z

It's soo hard to leave a job that you actually enjoy doing it...

Goodbye is so hard... especially when you just starts to get comfortable with everyone...

I can't help but feeling doubtful & scared of the new place that we'll be going soon...

my daily views

2008-11-17T13:52:00.004Z

the views I normally see when I go to work or go back home:

View in the summer

View in the autumn. Notice the tree botak liaw.. hehe

my hair

2008-11-17T13:38:00.002Z

my hair now looks just like this:

just like the tree branches in autumn: dry, split-end & brittle :(

choices

2008-11-15T22:10:00.002Z

to say "I'm not doing well here, let's go back" or "I'm doing well here, I don't want to go back" is just too cruel...

to wait is a torture...

to choose is a torture too...

Money or God? Stability or dreams chasing?

To say "of course I'll choose this" is easy... but when it happens, will you still stay true to your word?

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil 1Timothy 6:10

lies

2008-11-12T13:52:00.002Z

I don't like it when my job requires me to lie... I'm terrible at lying and I don't like to.. I don't think anyone likes it...

I understand that for business to work & prosper, sometimes we need to use lots of colorful words to lure the customer to buy our product... but to the extend of lying and trying to hard-sell something that don't exist... I think it's not fair for them...

What happen to honesty? trust? Integrity?

fire alarm

2008-11-06T21:35:00.003Z

No word can describe how shocked I was this morning when I was awoken by the fire alarm in the hotel at 4am in the morning.
Even right now, the thought of how the alarm sounds frighten me..

Being the only person in charge at night & looking after the wellfare of 22 guests is not easy at all.. Worst when you are not trained about the fire procedures.

But I did my best to solve it and used the best of my brain to think logical solution at 4am in the morning.

The owner is not happy at all.
Some guests are not happy and upset at how I handle the situation.
They complaint and most probably going to take it up to the Health & safety or Fire dept.
:(

I need something to calm me down... :(

But for all of you, let this be a lesson as well... If you are put in charge of something or travelling, find out about the fire procedure or any emergency procedures... don't be a blur cow like me..

Lesson learnt hard & well...

bonfire night

2008-11-05T19:06:00.003Z

Tonight is Bonfire night and also happen to be my brother's birthday.

happy birthday bro... :) sent him a text.. but i think Malaysia time is already past midnite... oh well... belated birthday then..

Try to search him on facebook... turns out plenty of people with similar name... and knowing him.. i don't think he'll be posting his face on the website.. so nvm...

Anyway..

it feels like Chinese New year today with all the fireworks going on.. minus the lion dance and the 'tong tong chiang' song of course..

The bonfire night is actually to mark the failed Gunpowder plot in 1605. To find out more about the event, read this

I wonder how will next year CNY gonna be... It's gonna be the 1st year ever that I don't go back visit my parents... no ang pao.. :(
The first year to be in a foreign country...
White and cold CNY maybe, instead of red CNY.. hopefully can see snow by then..

we'll see...

Halloween

2008-10-31T20:45:00.001Z

Happy Halloween my friends!!

Today, as I walked to work, I saw 2 little ghost & a witch... counting the chocolates & sweets that they have collected... haha...

so cute...

run away

2008-10-22T20:56:00.002+01:00

in my earlier post, i wrote that i want to run away.. that's when I was still stuck in Penang.. thinking that after I run away from there to UK, I'll be better, I'll be ok... but now... seems that the same thought come back and haunt me again...

What is wrong?

double siau

2008-10-15T22:33:00.003+01:00

I think we are nuts... me & dom...
Fly all the way here to UK, rent a car to Liverpool, just to go to a Chinese supermarket to find some familiar food stuff that is 'Made in Malaysia' & some chinese raw material that we always have in Malaysia.

You say lar... siau or not? He's already a 'Siau' ... now double siau...

People back in Malaysia... treasure the damn Nasi Kandar, laksa & the chinese 'zhu cha' ok...

For those that is planning to come to UK for long term, please pre-ship all the herbs & spices to UK. You can earn big buck here or you can simply save lots of money by not buying from the chinese supermarket here...

Mousy, if you plan to come to UK or know anyone going to UK, can u ship 10KG of the market fish ball for me ar? I've been dying to eat those fish ball... :(

maybe make tat 100kg...

period.

2008-10-09T22:27:00.003+01:00

have anyone told you guys how much i hate period?

I HATE PERIOD!!!!!!

I'm having my period soon.... mood swing faster than the seesaw in the playground... back hurts like want to patah already... bloody hell... pimple under my chin... goodness... of all the place.. now makes my double chin even more obvious... ("*£^"*&$** tummy bloated like a big fat balloon...
I HATE PERIOD!!!!!

I miss my massages in Penang... :( here all the services are so expensive.. :(

Bedazzled

2008-10-07T22:41:00.004+01:00

It's probably the 4th time I watched Bedazzled... I know I know.. it's such an old movie.. but it's a nice one and it also present a good message to everyone as well..

Last time I always have alot of wishes... Well, I still do have now... but not as siau as last time lar..

I always wished to be rich, rich to the extend that I don't have to work, go shopping everyday in those upmarket shops, buying designer clothings & shoes. I also wish to be prettier, to have a nice body, nicer butt, nicer facial features, nicer hair, handsome & rich boyfriend, and soo many more... trust me.. I can go on and on on my wish list...

But then again, I will also question myself.. If I have all those, will I be a happier person? Will I have the friends that I have now?

Anyway, in the movie, the devil looks so delicious and God is just someone in prison.. truth is... that's reality... the devil will always tempt us to sin against God by making things that are wrong looks right & delicious... and living God's way is... tough.. but in the end.. i think that's the only way to live life to the fullest...

another lazy day..

2008-10-07T12:06:00.007+01:00

it's raining again.... looks like gloomsville outside.... it makes me sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lazy......

wanted to do laundry... lazy
wanted to hoover the carpet... lazy
wanted to clean my bathroom... lazy
wanted to eat... also lazy

God... I'm so lazy....

Good thing I don't have to work today....haha... so lazy...

On my double bed... yawning away...

It's 12 noon... belum berus gigi lagi... hahaha...

Tat's how lazy I am

Blackberries crumble

2008-09-27T19:09:00.006+01:00

After we got the berries.. we don't know what to do with it.. so I told my landlady that she can have it.. As a result, she made us Blackberry crumble! And it's super delicious!!!! :)
Best of all... I've got the recipe on how to make it... muahahahaha!!!!

Sorry, the pic a bit ugly.. because it's taken when we almost finished it.. :s

Crumble served with custard

Left the last bit

under 21

2008-09-23T12:11:00.013+01:00

Yesterday, we went blueberries picking by the lakes.... There's plenty of those & it's quite tricky too...

Berries have thorny stems & there's another plant that always grow next to the berries that can sting you when u touch the tips of the leaves... I got sting 2 or 3 times, cut by the thorn 2 times... :(

Here's some pics of us doing berries picking.

Lake Windermere

Do I look under 21? :p

Ah Siau picking berries

The view as we go along picking berries

He's going to be my new coat.. muahaha

The last part was me ouching away as I got sting by the plant.. :(

So... after berries picking, we decided to pop in to Tesco to get a bottle of white wine and buy fish & chips for dinner.

We pick up a bottle of wine and I head to the cashier to pay... then the lady ask for my ID... I said I have none.. then she say she can't let me buy it because I look under 21... ahhahahhahaha
She just made my day! ehehhe :p
So I have to get him to pay... but even she guess that he's only 23... hahaaah...

We Asians always look younger than our age, whereas the Ang Mo looks older than their age...

under 21... can u believe that?! haha...

Negaraku

2008-09-21T12:56:00.002+01:00

suddenly I start to whistle Negaraku tune... hahahaha... dunno y.... maybe to remind myself that I'm a Malaysian afterall... :)

Wanted to write about work stuff.... but just feeling very lazy to complain about it... so... nevermind...

I think everywhere is the same. There's always staff attitude problem, some stupid work policy that we can never understand why, work dissatisfaction, and bla bla bla....(yawn..) It's just up to us on how to handle it...
It's Sunday... so... whatever lar....

memories

2008-09-20T21:32:00.005+01:00

suddenly feels like going to theme park and go through all the rides again... scream my lungs out..

so much fun when we were in Genting...
Mousy... ah... mousy.... I miss u lor....

The elephant ride... hehe

Before the dragon flies...

Before the ship starts to rock us away!

Mousy: Oh shit!
Me: Oh Shit
Dom: Oh Shittt!!!!

Whatever lah..

2008-09-20T19:11:00.003+01:00

If I didn't leave my hometown, I would probably be in the same picture with her... proud parents, square hat on the head, and a paper that says MBA.

No.. instead, i choose to explore the world.... I choose to explore myself.

Regrets? Well... yeah... It's a lie if I say no... call it peer pressure, call it parents pressure... yes, I do feel the pressure to drop everything and go back to study again But then again, I keep on reminding myself of my dream. Dream that I'm not sure when it will be fulfilled. Oh well... God will decide on that...

Anyway... enuf of all the emo shit... Some good things happening in my hometown and my 2nd home in PG and i want to post my wishes here to them! :)

A big congrats to Ah Min & Mr Tham on their graduation.
Congrats to Joy & Edwin for the birth of their little baby boy.
Congrats to Penny & Ken on their wedding.

questions & tonnes of questions..

2008-09-18T21:41:00.002+01:00

Have you ever suddenly stop everything that you are doing and think to yourself... what am i doing here? Why am i doing this?
I'm having this moment now... I wonder about my purpose here in UK. I don't know what am i doing here. I'm not sure what's gonna happen next.

Everyday, I walked to work. That 15 minutes of walks everyday made me think alot. I ponder about my future here. After my visa expires, what am i going to do next. Can I stay here longer? if not, do i go back to my hometown? Will there be jobs for me? If I don't, where should I go? maybe the next country to explore is US... maybe...

I thought about marriage. With our situation like this, will we ever be stable enough to get married? Or we will just continue to travel and forget about the marriage thing. Afterall, it's not cheap getting married nowadays.

Do any of you feel like this too sometimes? Or I'm just the only lunatic here with questions swimming crazily in my tiny brain.

If one day, God appears and He allow you to have a peek about your future life... will you do it or just let it happen naturally?

How to make me happy

2008-09-13T19:23:00.004+01:00

I forgot that there's something else that can make me happy....

SHOPPING!!! :)

Hehehe...

I recently bought a pair of boots and a pair of skinny jeans. Now.. I'm searching for a jacket...

wahahahaha....

I'm going nuts.... anyway... show u my new boots & jeans hehehe

The boots are bargain from Clarks at only 20GBP & the skinny jean is from Dorothy Perkins at 15GBP

I'll shoot u if you say my legs are big!

SOoo happy....

Next, I should REALLY get some long sleeve shirts... winter is coming.... I don't want to die frozen in my bed... :s

Geram..geram..

2008-09-12T13:16:00.002+01:00

Wah... asking these girls to come to work on Friday evening is like asking them to commit suicide!!!! Super susah....

And yet, everyday complain money not enuf, pay not good.... of course lar... you don't work extra hour, where got extra money... duh...

Geram lor...

rambling

2008-09-07T21:43:00.003+01:00

I'm very tempted to go out and see the night life of the Lake District...

but I fear for my safety as there's been a lot of stabbing cases going around and it normally involve teenagers stabbing their friends... Dunno what is wrong with these people... Must be high on drugs or alcohol. A moment of highness that might cause some innocent life lost.. Is it worth it? I doubt...

Therefore I choose to stay at home. Gone online a thousand of times, not knowing what to do, the same music has been playing in the background a thousand of times too... I think it's time to get more new songs.

Dad has been pestering me to continue my degree, especially after attending my bro's convo recently... I'm tempted but that means it may cost alot if i choose to study here. I don't trust our local Uni... I just don't like how they work...discrimination...

Thinking of taking an online study... do I have such discipline to organise my time? Well.. maybe... If I continue to live alone.

Something has to be done soon... before i die of boredom

Should i take part time study? Should I take another job?

Maybe I should do both. I can fulfill my dad's wish, earn extra cash to cover for the study cost and keep boredom away.

English celebration

2008-09-06T20:28:00.002+01:00

Tonight, I join Rob & Becky (My landlord) for their celebration of a new born baby. It's a wonderful and informal celebration.

We drank a 20 year old champagne before we have our meal. Rob's mom make Lasagna and it's absolutely delicious..

English celebration is different from what we normally have in Chinese culture. Chinese culture, red eggs, Ka cha ma (for those in Kuching) and the poor mom in confinement for 1 month, cannot shower.. wah lao... kesian lor..

Ang mo ler... after give birth.. like nothing happen, continue to drink champagne, eat all the normal food.. no such thing as confinement, they are allowed.... encourage actually to shower to be clean..

It's nice to stay with an english couple... It's a great experience to learn about their culture :)

That's the bear that i bought for their baby and that's their new-born baby, Alex :)

rain.. rain..go away...

2008-09-03T21:55:00.005+01:00

Ok.. enough of talking about gloomy stuff.. the weather here doesn't really turns better... goodness... the rain should really get a life and go to Malaysia...:p
let's talk about something else... hmm... let's talk about my hair... =D

My hair is getting a bit out of control... long and it gets tangled... like a bush.. on second thought. i think i look more like a lion now...

anyway.. any tips to tame it or at least make it abit tidy? any product or cream or hair stuff that you guys use tat is really good to cure that problem?

I tried baby oil.. sometimes it gets abit too oily for me... i like the shine though...

I thought of cutting of the hair... but bloody hell.. it's freaking expensive to get a hair cut! So have to tahan a bit before cutting it away..

help...

i don't want to become...

lalala

2008-08-30T17:14:00.001+01:00

yahoo... wireless at home is finally set up! :)

Now can blog more often.. if not... very susah to blog from work... hehehe

updates

2008-08-28T22:12:00.001+01:00

Nope, he didn't get the job in Intel... In a way, he's relieved about that because he's not too keen on going back to the same job.. but he's feeling down lately...

How to console a man who is jobless & lost?
:(

help..

alone

2008-08-24T11:49:00.002+01:00

I hate being alone...

being alone has killed my appetite... I've lost weight. I used to wear size 10 now it shrunk to size 8.
being alone has made me prefer to come to work then staying at home and don't know what to do
being alone means having to buy things alone and carry them all the way back home alone by foot
being alone means going out alone and it's meaningless to me...
I don't want to be alone

A prayer..

2008-08-13T22:30:00.003+01:00

Dear Lord,

Tomorrow is his interview with Intel in Swindon. If this is Your will for him to be in that company again, then let it be done and close all other doors that he's hoping for. If it's not, show him which way to go.

You have revealed this to him today: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11"

We will wait faithfully for Your plan Lord.

Amen

who's the boss?

2008-08-13T18:42:00.003+01:00

I can't never understand why some people are sooo soo bossy... i mean.. if you are the boss.. then fine, you are allowed to boss your employees... but now i'm talking about those working for other people and they are just a housekeeping staff...

2 of the girls that work in the hotel are like that. & they are sisters... (no wonder..)

anyway, what happen is, I'm suppose to be supervising them on their work but they turn around and said that they have work here longer and i have no rights to tell them what to do and instruct me to do some of their work...

So I had a word with my boss, just to clarify on this and she said that they are suppose to listen to my instruction and she said that most probably I'm new there so they took the opportunity to boss me around.... sorrylar... wrong person to bully...

So, she managed to talk to one of them, just to let them know who is in charge and what's their duty are. The manager speaks nicely to her, but that girl with a high and unpleasent tone told us that we are not her boss and she don't have the mood to talk to us and that we have just spoilt her day.... WTH???!!!!!! and she said tat me & my manager pakat together to bully her... hahaha... at that moment... when she said it... it was so funny that i laugh out loud...

Oh well.. good news is.. she's leaving us in 2 weeks time... what a relief... imagine have to handle her everyday... wah lau... it's either she kills me first or I'll just hang myself...

Glory to God for giving me strength to handle such people.

All the best to her future boss...

Olympic fever

2008-08-12T14:04:00.002+01:00

left, right, everyone is talking about the games.

& guess what... my little tv in my room shows more "ants print" than i can see half naked men in their tiny swimming trunk jumping into the swimming pool...

I miss those men..
erm... i mean those games...

exchange

2008-08-12T12:55:00.003+01:00

Last night was a good night. Chatted with Sun & himself makes me feel better after being bullied...

Went home to cook dinner.. so used to cook dinner with him, i accidentally cooked dinner for 2 person... opps... looks like that will be my dinner tonight again..

The landlord & his wife made Mango & Laici Crumble and gave me some... it's delicious... maybe simply because it's home prepared dessert. We managed to talk much longer this time as I don't have to rush off to work. We exchange photos and talked about food. The wonder of food.. the topic of all nation... hahaha... I told them about Sarawak Laksa & Penang Char Kuey Tiaw... wah lau... makes me lau chui nua nia...

As she's pregnant, we also talk about our wedding ceremony & maternity leave... I ask them, how long is her maternity leave. She said 9 months... 9 FREAKING MONTHS!!!!!! 9 MONTHS!!! that's enough time for me to make another baby!!! Malaysia one so pathetic... 2 months nia...

Now you know where's the best place to give birth.... 9 months... wow....

gloom...

2008-08-11T17:16:00.002+01:00

The weather outside is gloomy.... it's raining again...

I went to a church on Sunday morning. Don't know what to expect, don't know who I will meet... at the last minute, i thought of not going because the wind is strong and rain is getting heavier.. in the end, i drag my lazy bum off the bed and went to church.

It's a small community church with only about 10 people there. They welcomed me and told me that it's an informal church. I smiled. They started on time with a prayer. During the prayer, i closed my eyes, not listening to what he's praying about, but i can feel my eyes getting moist. Odd..
what's going on? why am i crying? Is that Holy Spirit? Is it stress? Am i that tired? Am i sad? Do i miss someone that much? or Is it just the gloomy weather? I don't know... but i felt better afterward.

maybe it's homesick... maybe...

Argghh!!!!

2008-08-04T23:55:00.001+01:00

Arrgghhhh!!!!!!!!!

Computer kena virus again!!!!!

Geramnya!!!!!!!!!!!!

where I stay

2008-08-04T11:28:00.005+01:00

I've shown you where i work, now it's only fair that I show you where I have been staying in the Lakes.

Pictures time! :)

this is the living room of the place that I'm staying.

This is the dining room

The kitchen

The staircase that leads to my room

My room! :)

My room from another angle

The view from my room

Nice right? I love this place.As you can see in the picture, summer time already using the thick comforter, can you imagine what's it like to be in the winter? Gosh.. i probably have to mummified myself...

God is good all the time...

2008-08-04T11:23:00.001+01:00

... and all the time, God is Good!

Oh how i miss these phrase that the church always use...

God has been good to me, Amen!

He never fail to protect me from harm and even little things like the weather, He took care of me too. Every time, when i'm about to go home or about to go to work, He'll just stop the rain for me until i reach safely at home or at work.

I have to thank Him for this job that I'm having as well. I think He's giving me training for what I'm wishing of: running my own lodge or hotel.

Alot of times things just happen without you understanding why.

While I'm doing alright for my job now, he on the other hand seems having problem.

Sometimes, I wonder if God is training him to be patient or is preparing him for something much much better.

Darling,
be patient. I care for you but I've never been good with encouragement words.
While you are feeling lost for your career path, I feel lost too not being able to help you.
Just remember that Jesus loves you and He's always with you.

Lord,
help him. You understand him much better than I do. Help him find himself, find out what is his career path or his purpose for this life.
Amen.

business tips

2008-08-01T14:08:00.004+01:00

I think working in different field and different company has indeed expand my thoughts about doing business.

A lot of times i think that being a business person, you need to be flexible and not obsesive about money.

the current hotel owner is not flexible at all and is absolutely obsesed about money.

1st point: cashier must have some change money in the drawer right? However, this morning, he left only less than £2 in the drawer!!!! !"$%@:* customer gave me £40 and i have to return them £10.. open drawer, only few penny left... wah lau eh.. so kiam siap lor.... so end up, i have to go and take my money and return the customer first. if I'm broke on that day.. how ler? tsk tsk tsk...

2nd point: booking system is very redundant. alot of times, mistakes can easily happen if you don't double or tripple check. This morning, i took a booking on Saturday only. he checked the booking and insist on calling the customer back to tel them to change to another room because that room is reserve for bookings for 2 nights.. wth again.... flexible a bit lar... in the end, customer say want to cancel booking.. but because of their policy, once booking is confirm, you can cancel it. kua kua kua.... pening lor....
In this situation, won't it be better to let the booking be, rather than causing customer to be upset and wanting to cancel the booking? Yes, i admit is my mistake, come on lar ok.. it's only my 2nd day working alone.
In another situation, we miss out alot of bookings, because we CAN'T do 1 night booking on weekends. I think it's a good idea to sell 2 or 3 nights on weekend, but most times, customer just don't have so much time, can't they just reserve some rooms for 1 night booking and some for 2 or 3 nights booking?

Oh well... a bit frustrated with how the system goes here... but i'm not the boss...

birthday wishes

2008-07-29T11:01:00.003+01:00

Hi ma,

Happy birthday! didn't realise that you are getting old and your grey hair is getting a whole lot more... How good it will be if you are here in the UK to enjoy all these that i'm enjoying, rather than you being alone most of the time at home.

I'm sorry and happy birthday! Hope you like the flowers that i've ordered for you.

my new work place

2008-07-23T14:53:00.002+01:00

Just within a week of work, I've heard lots of gossips about one another... oh dear... looks like everywhere u go, there's bound to be gossips... especially if you put a bunch of girls to work together... i better watch my mouth and be careful with what i say... i think the people there are quite sensitive towards the things you say. Joke or not, you'll never know how they will react to it...

Other than the gossip thingy, they are generally ok... they treated me good despite me being the odd one out, the work is not too hard and the working hour is quite alright.. at least it's more human and don't have to wake up at some odd crazy hours like 4am!!

I'm doing both reception & serving breakfast & dinner as well. It's fun because i get to learn to cook some english dish with some funny names on it. :)

This is where i work:

http://www.21thelakes.co.uk/

crazy

2008-07-23T14:49:00.002+01:00

my new colleagues say that I'm crazy to ditch the hot weather in Malaysia to come to the cold & gloomy England..

hahaha...

I told them i like the weather here because it's cold, then one of them say: "wait till winter, see if you will still say the same"

another say: " you like cold weather? you should go to Russia then"

hahaha...

can't wait to experience winter...

freeze my brain out! =D

church

2008-07-23T13:36:00.002+01:00

I miss going to church... i really do... :(

i miss all that happened in PCC

I miss Pastor Isaac, Pastor Lydia, Pastor Thomas

I miss the Jr Cids team

I miss the kids in jr cids

I miss those that I've known in church

Those that became close to me...

I wonder if I'll be able to make such friends here...

Lord... help me out here...

before & after

2008-07-19T22:11:00.003+01:00

been busy working.. the shift is quite odd for the time being due to training...
I'm in the training to become chef.....

hehe... no lar...
i'm currently working in a small hotel where i am the receptionist, the chef, the operator and also the waitress.... and i'm happy with the job... siau right?

I've also moved in to a single room, staying with a total strangers without him by my side. I think i can manage alright...

As my place is not too far from the hotel, therefore i'm spending 10 minutes walking down hill to work & probably 15 minutes up hill back home.... oh well.. need those exercise after feasting for so many days or weeks...

In Penang, i have a double bed room, sharing with a friend i know, a sit down job that only needs to answer phone and sell some pcs & a nice white myvi to drive around and i'm not happy with my life.. (i do miss my car though)

now, everything is reversed and i seems to be happier.... so at least i think i am right now...

weird right?

UK..... it's a crazy place...

Employed

2008-07-09T23:10:00.003+01:00

I think I've got myself a job... however, I'm not too sure if they are aware of my visa status...

hmmm.... I wonder if I'll be employed and made redundant in few days time? :s

*slap*slap*

I think I still don't believe that I've got the job... The reason perhaps is that I haven't seen the acceptance letter and the way they hire me... a bit not systematic... so... dunno if jadi or not one...

Just don't wan to put too much hope on it just in case it's a false alarm.. :(

Anyway... all glories still have to go to God! :)

I was thinking "God, if this is not the job You want to do, then let it be... "

Then, she called & told me that I'm hired...

I shall confirm everything when I receive the acceptance letter..

doubtful little me... sigh...

Lake District - Pictures

2008-07-06T16:18:00.007+01:00

Lake District is best described by photos... enjoy! :)

The fire place in the living room inside the cottage

The reading area which also leads to the kitchen. That's Tigger sitting there.. :)

The reading area with lights on

The fire place in the reading area

The pier in Bowness (just few streets away from the cottage)

The night view of the cottage

Sheeps..

Outside the cottage, overlooking the street

The cottage

The cottage

The famous Cumberland sausage.

me doing the traditional English dance by the lake

Row row row ur boat...

so... when can we expect you all to come over? :)

Lake District

2008-07-06T15:52:00.003+01:00

To write about our trip in Lake District is like writing a thick novel.

Alot of thoughts about u guys when we were there. It's no doubt the most scenic place I've seen so far and there's many things that can be done there with a group of friends.

It's a waste really, just to go hiking with only 2 of us, when it's gonna be soo much fun hiking with many close friends.

It's a waste too, to go rowing with only 2 of us, when there's so much water to be splashed on all of our friends!! :)

Camping sites are plenty too, but what fun will it be if it's just the 2 of us?

We miss u all...

new friend

2008-07-06T15:11:00.004+01:00

I found a new friend few days ago when I was at Lake District.

The first time I met him as along the way to the lake. There he was, sitting on top of the road sign, all by himself, wet because of the rain earlier. He didn't say anything. He just smiled at me.

I walked over to him and I took him home. I gave him a good shower under the hot water and have to put him on the window to get dry.

He's too adorable to be left at the cottage and therefore I brought him back to Southport.

Meet Marky, Teddy's new friend. :)

holiday is over

2008-07-05T19:51:00.002+01:00

holiday is over and reality must comes now...

I've managed to went for a job interview in a hotel in Lake District. So far so good but fingers crossed for good news on Monday.

The sooner I move out, the better it will be for everyone...

Can't wait...

Holidays!

2008-06-28T11:08:00.001+01:00

We'll be going to the Lake District today for a week and doubt there's any internet connection. I shall update once I'm back... be good now.. :)

potatoes, potatoes & potatoes

2008-06-28T10:56:00.004+01:00

Mr & Mrs Potato

Been having lots of potatoes lately and it's not doing good to my body!!

1st, it makes me fat.

2nd, it makes me constipated & bloated.

3rd, it causes gastric!

I can't refuse them because it's simply too rude.... sigh... how? Any idea how to refuse food without hurting their feelings & save my stomach before the acid burns a hole on it?!

Don't get me wrong.. the food is nice & lovely but my stomach just can't take soo much of it! It causes indigestion & I'll end up with gastric.. :(

Help...

Evil potatoes!!!

Durham

2008-06-27T21:48:00.005+01:00

Just came back from Simon's graduation and it's one special event that you don't see in Malaysia.

For once, you welcome the sunshine and it's actually OK to stand under the sun without being hot, sweaty & moody! I'm not a uni graduate but I've attended my cousin's graduation back in hometown and I tell you.... it's not exactly a pleasant feeling of standing under the hot sun and have sweaty armpit wetting your nice dress or shirt (it's not a pleasant sight or smell too! Ewww...!!) Ok, enough of disgusting stuff, let's get back to beautiful things i want to talk about.

Durham is about 3-4 hours drive away from Southport and all along the way, the scenery is just awesome. Cows & sheep are everywhere and they look cute too... :D The farmhouses are very cool looking... *No photos here as I fall asleep half way... tired ok?! :p

Durham... what can i say... It's a historical site with many many old buildings. If you want to know more about the history, go Google it. ;p

After visiting the university and staying in the hostel, I personally think that Malaysia's Uni has a lot of catching up to do. Forget about comparing how big the uni compound is or how canggih the libary is. Let's start with the basic one: The accomodation. Malaysia weather, it's hot & humid & to make it worst, they actually put 4 person in 1 room with only a small tiny fan!! It's a torture ok! Here, they really emphasis on comfort & privacy. They only put 2 students in one room and there's plenty of space to move about. The place is clean & so far didn't hear them complain of lack of water to shower!

Yeah, from outside, our uni looks good with all the canggih technology but the hostel is just terrible. I feel sad that my sister has to stay in such shabby hostel!

Oh well, what to do...they always looks good on the outside but the inside is just horrible...Hopefully, they will slowly change for the better... hopefully...

Alright, I shall shower you all with some pictures now... enjoy! :)

This the hostel that we stayed in.. cool right?

The street of Durham

Historic building... Loved the door!

People graduate, I kepo kepo there! :p

Even the town is filled with ancient buildings!

The street

The street

The 1000 yr old cathedral

"Green house" haha...

The proud family members! :) Congrats Simon!

lunch is dinner?

2008-06-26T07:53:00.002+01:00

Learnt something new yesterday. apparently they call lunch time "dinner" & they call dinner time "Tea break"... hmm...wonder if they call breakfast "lunch" & supper "breakfast"?

Wah... confused... I shall call every meal "Chiak Peng" hehehe.. :p

anyway, today we'll be going to Durham to attend his cousin's graduation. Hopefully will have more pics to post it up here...

will update soon! :)

1st day in UK

2008-06-23T22:07:00.004+01:00

UK....

People asked: "Is it the same as I've imagine it to be?"

Truth is, it's actually very hard to imagine. Just like telling Mat Salleh to imagine the smell of durian.

Right now, it's summer and it's quite cold. Hard to go out if you don't have any jacket on.. The days are much longer. Right now, it's 10pm UK time but the sky only starts to get dark.

Today is also officially the first day i learn to cycle! :s ( yeah... a little late... but better late than never.. :P)

OK, previous entry are all long & boring, therefore this entry I shall put in some pictures for you guys. Enjoy! :)

At KLIA, running late, but still got time to pose for pics.

shopping for pork

UK streets

*Hopefully more pictures soon! :p

21st June 2008

2008-06-23T21:08:00.003+01:00

Long distance flight and me just doesn't seems to click on well. The first time i travel to US 2 years ago, the plane can't land in HK airport because of some taufan going on, in the end, we were diverted to Manila and have to put up a night there. That time, i wasn't very happy with such arrangement because I was anxious to see him again after being seperated for nearly 3 months! Imagine the agony. Don't have much choise then, so just have to follow the arrangement and enjoy the stay in Manila. The next day, when we managed to land in HK airport after some scary turbulance, we were again shocked by the news that there's no more seats for us and will have to wait for few more days before we can go to US... FEW MORE DAYS!??!!! That basically means that i'll be spending my holiday in HK and not in US!! Anyway, that time, the airport is just in pure chaos with many people stranded there, flights canceled and angry people screaming at the counter. Patience is indeed in great need during these time. So after much begging and internal adjustment, we managed to secure 2 seats to US and were forced to run to the terminal which is situated at the other end of the building....That's 2 years ago..

Now, for this UK trip, it didn't start off quite well. Over some silly mistake that i did online, i was rejected by the counter for boarding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The supervisor somemore ask a silly question to DOm :"If she can't go in and board the plane, will u still go?" What in the world??!!!!

The mistake that i did was, somehow, I accidentally put the passenger name as J Ho instead of my IC name. At first, they say they can't change the name in case I'm a fraud case trying to cheat them for a free ticket to UK... which i understand, but the question that the supervisor ask is just way too funny.... Anyway, the girl at the counter is nice enough to do some internal adjustment and change the name and I'm allowed to board. That's the first problem.

The 2nd problem is our luggage are overweight by 2kg. Each KG is charge RM180!!!!!!! Freaking RM180!!!!! 2x180 = RM360!!!!! I can buy lots of stuff with that money! so we ended up, taking out some of the clothes and stuff it into our hand carry.

Then, because of the 1st problem & the 2nd problem, we only have about 10 minutes before they close the boarding gate. There we go, dashing thru the airport, catching the train to the international terminal, queue for the custom check before running again to the boarding gate. Again, the boarding gate is quite towards the end of the building. By the time we sit down in the plane and settle down, we were sweating like we just came back from the gym or something like that....

tension!!

Lesson learnt from 2 trips like this:
1. Don't kepo kepo put ur nickname in when doing your flight bookings.
2. Arrive early in the airport
3. Check in early.
4. Don't carry too much on ur hand carry in case you need to run the whole airport!
5. If u must carry loads of stuff, make sure your hand carry got the little wheels on it so u can run faster without carrying so much weight.
6. keep a spare clothes in ur hand carry. they comes in handy after a jog in the airport! :p
7. If all the above fails, pray hard to God, He's the only that can help you. He has helped me in that 2 occasions! Amen! :)