Praise & worship

One of the many things I'd do during my spare time is recording song videos with my sibling. As for now, there are two new videos we would like to share with y'all.

Uhm, I know our voices are definitely in no comparison with Darlene Zschech's voice. Nonetheless, I believe this is one great way of expressing our adoration and exaltation towards our heavenly father above us.


Till I See You


Worship Medley - I Worship You Almighty God & There Is None Like You

To view lyrics, you can find it on the Youtube site by clicking on 'more info' on the right box panel.

Cuti-cuti Malaysia at Sabah

For the next couple of weeks, you'll be reading more of east Malaysia from now on coz I've spent a week long in Sabah with a group of my unimates about a month ago, which I personally think is a pretty long holiday for a local trip.

All of this started almost a year back while attending a tutorial class, a classmate suddenly popped out an idea suggesting to plan a graduation trip. With a low budget one of course.

Some were more than keen but a few others contemplated. Nevertheless, we occassionally tried to come up with all sorts destination choices until one fine day, we settled for Sabah. *grin*

Plus, we got the help from Fung (one of my classmate), a Sabahan to handle the transportation and accommodation arrangement for us. The six days vacation was absolutely carefree and undoubtedly full with pure joy. To sum it up, I genuinely had fun mingling with those crazy fellas every single second. In fact, as cliché as it sounds, we bonded so much during the holiday making it difficult for us to bid goodbye on the last day.

Tonnes of stories, events and other things to blog about with millions of photos stored in my picture folder but with such limited time, it's a hard time determining which to post up first. :/ *sigh* I guess I'll just have to man man lei lor.

Anyhoo, let's just get on with the photos ayt.


San Fei and I at Air Asia airport on the 10th of June.


Jeffrey and Alvin.


Sook Fang, Jin Shyi, Mei Hoong and Pei Chie.


Touching down the land of Borneo after two and a half agonizing hours sitting on the airplane's uncomfortable chair. The button on my seat failed to work, so it couldnt be adjusted to a reclining position. Pfft.


That's Vincent (Fung's friend) who patiently stood near the entrance to pick us up. Also known as our voluntary kuli tour guide through out our entire trip. Heh.

Oh, try reading the piece of banner paper he's holding on to. Can read or not? It says 'UTAR FE GROUP 3' referring to the name of my tutorial group. Like waiting for the arrival of some big shot. Hahaha. For once, I felt like a V.I.P.

Not long after we left the airport, we made a brief stop at the sea side to freshen up. At the same time, the guys bought some kacang rebus, corn and Sabahan's famous preserved mangoes to share among ourselves.


Absolutely love this jagung manis. They sell jagung mayonis too but I didn't dare to give it try. Fattening lah.


See the guy in blue shirt? He is Fung, one of our class joker.


Then, we continue travelling in a rented van. RM 200 per day it seems. Just imagine a van has the capacity of fitting fourteen people in it. Thinking of it, I find it rather unbelievable. Fourteen wor, that's like more than a one dozen! O.o

Drove to this restaurant located at Lintas Square for lunch.


Apparently, they're famous for this - pork meehoon noodle with soup.


The other version - dried noodle with dark sauce.


Beancurd with meat stuffings in soup.





Next, we went to Yoyo cafe for desserts.


Ice blended jelly drink. Forgot its flavour.





Check this out! I'd say this ice cream has an exceptionally soft and fine texture. Delicious giler.


This may look like a bowl of typical ais kacang but in actual fact, it's definitely not anything like it coz it has this strange little pieces of crystallite ice cubes. O.o


:)

Will stop here. More updates will be coming up soon.

Of snacks & junk food

Okay, so I was lying.

Up till this day, I'm still blogging about something which is related to Bangkok. >.<

These were the junk food I bought all the way from Thailand yo!

Total damage : Approximate between RM 70 to RM 75.

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Different packets of instant noodles with most of its flavour ranging from mild to super hot wild spicy Tom Yam.


Durian flavoured chips and dodol.


And now for the junk food. Heheh. That's two packets of seaweed and I've also bought two boxes of Pretz (hamcheese and pizza flavour) and Pokky (milk, strawberry and banana chocolate). In Malaysia, we call it 'Rocky'. You should really try Pretz because I doubt they sell it here.


My mom loves these crackers. It's coated with sesame seed with chicken/pork floss on top of it. The bottom ones are of course cashew nuts lor.

p/s : Don't bother buying the durian chips. Sucks big time! However, I strongly recommend you to get the crackers and pretz. Definitely a must buy!

Shopping frenzy

To prove how productive our shopping activities were at Bangkok, I'm gonna show you photos of the stuffs I've bought. ;) Since I need to head to bed early, I'm gonna have to keep this blog entry simple and short.

Although several events have taken place during the course of our trip, we managed to put our shopping skills to good use - shopped till the last penny that we had in our pockets. O.o

A rough estimation on my total shopping expenditure would be approximately at RM 600 - RM 700.

Lovely dresses which cost between RM 18 - RM 20 only. What a steal!


Chio necklaces.

Best buy ever! They're all sold at a really dirt cheap price. Thinking of it, I'm regretting for not buying more. :( Should have bought dozens of it and sell it in M'sia.


Bags! All were bought at below RM 20.


Cute baby tees. RM 5 per piece.


I think these were also bought at RM 5 or RM 6 per piece.


These clothes probably cost around RM 10 - RM 17.


While I was shopping in Bangkok, I was constantly searching for shorts and more shorts until I ended up getting twelve of them. O.o


More tops!


Three sets of bikinis. ;)

Other things which I have brought home from Bangkok include :-

* A set of formal wear for RM 50
* Several pairs of flip flops
* A Wacoal bra
* A pair of couple t-shirts for

Lagon Bangkok

This blog entry will be wrapping up my Bangkok trip. I know, like finally right. *rolls eyes*

Photos of the fourth a.k.a last day in Bangkok.


By the look on my face, you can tell I was satisfied with the hotel's facilities and service. ;)

Our initial plan was to pay Grand Palace a visit, making it the last stop before we left Thailand. However, we changed our minds coz we felt that the previous shopping spree were still insufficient. Belum lagi ada cukup oomph! So, we headed back to Pratunam Market again. Heheh.

Around noon, we rushed back to the hotel to do our final packing.


Standing outside of a random room.


We were very fond of this room when we entered (a worker was upkeeping the room after the hotel guests left) to have a quick peek of its surroundings. If we have taken this room, it would be able to fit all five of us in. Cool-ness.


Managed to snap a photo with the anak tauke of this hotel before we checked out of the hotel.


Spotted this random temple (which was not really far away from our hotel by the way) when we were on our way to the airport.


There was plenty of time to bum around the airport since we arrived early. Walked around until we stopped at this stall for free fruit samples. Can't remember what was Phoebe holding.


A basketful of multicolored fruits.


At the check-in counter.


One last photo before take off.

The airline we took, 'Air Asia, now everyone can fly.' Cheh.

Dinner on board which cost a whopping RM 13 (Nasi lemak - RM 9 + Mineral water - RM 4).

p/s : The word 'lagon' in the title of this post above simply means 'goodbye'.

Amazing Thailand!

'Amazing Thailand' - That's the famous tagline of Thailand I read everywhere I went to.

Here are some random photo shots taken at Bangkok for you to view. Enjoy! :)


#1. The Democracy Monument.

One of the four wing-like structures which guards the Constitution, represents the four branches of the Thai armed forces.


#2. Rama VIII Bridge.

This bridge was named after the eighth monarch of the Chakri dynasty stretches for as long as 2.45 km.


#3. Hua Lamphong Railway Station.


#4. Try counting how many lanes are there. Super wide highway lor.


#5. A gigantic portrait of the Thai King (and his wife?) at the highway.


Even at shopping complexes, various pictures of the king would be put to display.

#6. The hustle and bustle of Bangkok's city life.

These taxis come in quite a few different colours though the green-yellow and red-blue ones are the most common. Bangkok has thousands of taxis and finding one at any time is never a problem.


And do you know that their taxis can anytime tapao the ones in M'sia? *tsk tsk*


#7. Tuk-tuk.

The fare has to be negotiated before hopping in. Or else they'll slaughter you kao kao by charging at a ridiculous amount for a short distance.


#8. An enormous weird white figurine by the side of the road.


#9. Thailand's different version of 7/11.


The store seems more spacious.


And they sell pre-packed food too.


#10. Central World, the largest shopping complex in Southeast Asia.


#11. Peculiar food stalls.


I honestly dont know what are all these laying on the grill.


Uncommon seafood.


Thai's style of pisang goreng except that it's grilled.

#12. Eyebrow threading business activity at Chinatown.


#13. McDonald's outlet in Bangkok offers a considerably generous portion of drink, provides better quality cups and gives the same size of the burger as shown in the ad.

On top of that, they serve babi meat too. Heh.


Pork burger.


As well as spinach pie.


Gonna hit the sack now. Will call this a night. Have a great weekend y'all! ;)

Thai Indulgence

The third night in Bangkok was exceptionally comfortable. I mean like the very syiok kind of feeling. Geddit?

For one, we had someone who brought us out for a decent dinner. Secondly, we were able to have something decent/clean to fill our tummies. Thirdly, the dinner was F.O.C. How not to be happy? *grin*

Meet Suzanne's friend Ken, who is based in Thailand to jaga dad's factory. Anak tauke lah in other words.


Another round of mango sticky rice. Way better than the one we had the previous night at Khao San Road.

Shortly after chomping on the dessert, a plate of green vegetable was served. I think it was kai lan.


Then came the fresh steamed fish.


Also ordered the Thai tom yam soup again. Lemme tell you, it was the bomb! Super orgasmic!! And..and it tasted amazingly authentic lor. And you know what? As I dug in deeper into my bowl, I was ecstatic to find chunks of scallop and huge ass prawns! *gasp*

Unfortunately, due to the aftermath of the food poisoning my stomach couldnt take in much of its spiciness. Since the rest were equally weak in the stomach, in the end no one volunteered to empty the remainings. >.<


Thai's style of fried oyster omelette a.k.a o-chien. The restaurant was very generous with the amount of oysters but we only managed to sapu 3/5 portion of it. Wasted!


Big succulent prawns garnished with chopped spring onion and garlic sauce.


Contented faces! ;)


I know this is totally random but guess what is this lobster doing? We saw it in the aquarium when we stepped outside of the restaurant. If I'm not mistaken, it was trying real hard to split its eggs into half. o.O

Right after dinner, we adjourned to Health Land for a serious massage.

Before our massage sessions.


Suzanne and Caryn chose a full body massage while Phoebe, Meei Ruu and I chose Foot Reflexology. A perfect package for me after tirelessly walking for a whole day at Chatuchak.

Phoebe was most pleased with their service. Meei Ruu and I couldnt agree more.

An aunty passed to us three cups of Thai green tea when our massage session was over. Its flavour was rather weird actually but I finished it anyway. ;p


Phoebe and Meei Ruu both sat at the couch patiently waiting at the reception area for the other two girls to end their massage session.


While I dozed off instantly the moment I sat on the sofa.

Good thing I recovered from the pathetic food poisoning immediately after having multiple jabs on the arm but you certainly would have no idea how exhausted I was that night.

And Suzanne claimed that I snored loudly when we were sleeping in the room. What to do? I was dead tired ma.

p/s : Be sure to book for an appointment beforehand as they require reservation at least a day before the massage session.

Upside down

Continuing from the previous blog entry, here's the story. The second night during our Bangkok stay was undeniably the least pleasant one due to food poisoning! The whole process of having diarrhoea and countless times of extreme vomiting was just utterly horrible.

Seriously, super sueh lor. From what I recall, it all started off with a major stomach discomfort. I tossed on bed for hours as I had trouble sleeping despite feeling drained out. The next thing I knew, Phoebe suddenly threw out and from then on, we literally took turns to puke in the toilet.

Our condition fell into a severe state so badly we had to admit ourselves into the hospital the following day. O.o

However, there was one problem. Which was the nearest hospital location we could go to? Thank God Caryn fortunately bumped into a kindhearted couple in the hotel lift who offered to drive us to...

...King Memorial Chulalongkorn Hospital which to our surprise was situated not far away from the hotel. The journey was only less than two minutes drive.

Fyi, they happened to be the owner of Take A Nap hotel. I'd regard them as good samaritans. ;)

While we were in the car, the aunty asked us what exactly did we eat. The conversation went like this :-

Aunty : So what did you girls consume?
Us : Errr, we're not sure. But we had our dinner at Khao San Road last night.
Aunty : Oh, you know I've never been there before for any food.
Us : Huh?! Why? O.o
Aunty : Coz the food is really dirty.
Us : -______-"

Anyway, back to the hospital experience. Hospital looked fine on the outside but alil eerie looking when we stepped into the waiting hall. The nurses on the other hand were really nice people but it was difficult to converse with them in English. Like I said, most of them spoke mainly in Thai language.

So to make things easier, the aunty became the translator for us.


The hospital's system was pretty alright. Got medical card some more you know. The best memorable souvenir brought home from Thailand.

She helped us with the remaining hospital procedures (registrations,etc) and left the place minutes later to do her errands.

Seated on an old wooden bench, we waited helplessly to be called into the doctor room. Soon after that when we realized a nurse was urgently looking high and low for us while shouting out our names, we immediately rushed to seek the doctor.

As the doctor scribbled on a paper while we carefully told him our symptoms in detail, I noticed that the prescription appeared to be quite lengthy. At that point of time, I somehow already expected to receive several injections to stop the nausea I had.

True enough, I got four jabs on my right arm and was given multiple packets of various pills. The nurses commanded us to lie on the sick bed for at least half an hour for observation purpose before we were allowed to leave. But it was way too long for us to wait. We quickly came out with an excuse and desperately left the hospital within the first fifteen minutes.

What about the cost of medical fees? It all came to a total of 450 baht (RM 45). Or was it 550 baht (RM 55)? Uhm, I forgot. :p Whatever it was, I first thought it was expensive considering it's a public hospital but according to Phoebe, she said given the same medical treatment in M'sia, it'll probably cost us twice (or maybe even triple) the bomb. *gulp*

Needless to say our appetite for the rest of the day was completely affected. Our weak stomachs just werent able to digest anything more than a piece of plain white bread.

Nevertheless, miraculously after being discharged from the hospital and taking a short rest at the hotel, I still had some energy to spare to shop at Chatuchak Market till late evening on the same day.

p/s : In case you were wondering, there are no photos taken at Chatuchak. Too busy to shop. :p

Chinatown & Khaosan Road

On the second day of our trip, we hit the streets at Chinatown in the evening to check what this place has to offer. I've been there two years ago though.

Chinatown.

Since we were in no hurry, we took a stroll along the narrow pathways of Chinatown or more like walking aimlessly until suddenly...

...we met a lovely couple sitting by the roadside who recommended to us a supposedly famous Thai fried noodle. We took note of their advice and searched for it later at night.


Before we left Chinatown, one of the girls spotted this wo tip look-a-like dumpling. My friend figured it would be nice to have a try, so she bought five pieces for 350 baht (RM 3.50).


Took a cab and travelled on the road for less than 15 minutes to reach the following destination. And that was where our food feast began.


Me, Suzanne and Meei Ruu at Khao San Road.


Caryn had the time of her life shopping for cute printed baby t-shirts.


Of course the first food we hunted for was none other than padthai as suggested by the elderly couple.


The various ingredients used for cooking padthai. As for its taste, it's somewhat similar to our local char kuey teow.

If there is one food Thai people that they can't live without, that would have to be sugar. In fact, most of their food needs a whole lotta sugar to compliment its taste.


Another food stall we tried was the banana + egg pancake which cost 250 baht (RM 2.50) as well.


Next, we hopped on to the next stall for mango sticky rice for 250 baht (RM 2.50).


Incredibly sweet. Very rich in coconut milk too. The sticky (glutinous) rice is like a solid rice pudding base to the dish (mango).


We also each had a piece of yummy grilled bbq chicken wing.

;)

Crafts, paintings, clothes, pirate CDs, DVDs, fake educational diplomas, fake driver's licenses, food, second-hand books and many other items are among the common goods traded along the road.

Walao, can you imagine I could just walk up to the seller and say, "Hey, I'd like to buy a degree certificate." -_____-"

Since our stomach were able to consume a lil more food, we proceeded to McD's for a second round of dinner. ;p


Ronald McDonald with a Thai pose which was something new to us. Sawadeekah!

Notice that pork burger is available here.

Oh and apparently, what you see on the board is the exact amount you pay for your food. Pretty good isn't it? Not so deceiving and all. Tsk tsk.


All of us were darn full when we finished our burgers, we couldnt stuff in anymore of the french fries.


When we decided to leave, the rain started pouring heavily. Luckily, we had our ponchos to put on. Teehee!

Tell you something, the second night of our trip was one heck of a nightmare when we were back at the hotel. By far, one of the worst experience I faced. More about it in the next post.

Signing off.

Tasty Thai

While I was in Bangkok, one major problem I encountered was language barrier. Out of 10 people seen on the street, only 3 could speak proper English. For instance, simple questions like 'How do we get there?' or 'Which train station must we board to reach this place?', some of them just couldnt understand.

So that made it even harder for my friends and I to ask for directions and other information. Fortunately Caryn prepared a list of English-Thai word translation. I'd say it helped us quite alot.

After returning from the floating market, we seeked for restaurant suggestions from the receptionist at the hotel counter. She named several but we were only fond of one name - Tasty Thai. O.o Sounded catchy ma! So off we went hunting for it.

The weather that day was exceptionally hot. I remember I had to endure a long tiring walk before we finally found the place.


Tasty Thai.


The color combination of this restaurant somehow reminds me of Burger King.


We were very thrifty during that particular lunch. Why? Coz we deliberately ordered two set lunch (which comes with two different dishes - a bowl of soup and a plate of appetizer) and added three more plates of white rice. That's how we save for the sake of more shopping! Smart leh. *grin*


For appetizers, we chose Por Pia Pak (crispy spring roll) and Tod Mun Pla (fish patties). As for soup, we tried Tom Yam Koong (tom yam with prawns) and Tom Kha Gai (tom kha with chicken).

Our food verdict? Wasn't the best Thai meal we had. I personally thought the food was mediocre in taste but to Suzanne a.k.a food critic, it was below average. She even reckoned the Thai restaurants in Malaysia are anytime way better than this one wor.

When we were back at the hotel for a short rest, a series of unforgettable incident took place. Have got nothing else to say but it was purely my mistake. My bad. :( By now, I presume most of the people who personally know me would have gotten a full coverage of it. So, I shall put a fullstop to this part. Period.

*fast forward*

In the evening, we wandered around the Japanese street. The girls were in search for some...

...Takoyaki!!!!!

I cant recall how much this cost but it was more or less the same price as the ones sold in Malaysia.


However in Malaysia, digging into a Takoyaki ball to find a huge piece of squid would be like hitting a jackpot. But at Thailand, it looks so visible you can almost die of delirium by the sight of its ingredients! *gasp* Like seriously.

This time, the girls definitely loved this one.

Salivating already? Heheh. Me too. *wipes own mouth*

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

I dont know how many of you have been to Floating Market in Bangkok before but during my recent trip to Bangkok, I visited it. And I got conned because we had to pay a massive amount of 400 baht (RM 40) per person, literally a daylight robbery to me. Mind you that was already a discounted price after a long bargain. Initial price was charged at 550 baht (RM 55). Siao.

[Long post ahead]

Nevertheless, for those who want to be amid the peaceful atmosphere and observe the traditional ways of life by the water, Bangkok has quite a lot to offer. It is also undeniable that one of the most visited tourist sites around Bangkok is the infamous Floating Market.


Early in the morning on Day 2 before we hopped into the taxi.


The same taxi driver who drove us to the hotel from the airport on Day 1.

This uncle damn smart lor coz he gave us his name card before dropping us off at the hotel. So we contacted him the following day to arrange for transport to the Floating Market.

Getting to the Floating Market takes between one and a half to over two hours from Bangkok depending on traffic conditions. Since we opted for a taxi ride so that we could travel using a faster route instead of taking the bus (which takes double the time to reach the market), we incurred a total fare of 2000 baht (RM200).


Getting all excited for the boat ride.





Happy faces. ;)


The original Floating Market Damnoen Saduak is so popular numerous markets have been developed around Bangkok for tourists to enjoy and are located 110 kilometres from Bangkok in Ratchaburi province.


This was the first stall we stopped at...


...where Suzanne bought a set of chopstick souvenirs.


Then along the way, we met this sweet looking girl selling another type of Thai handicraft souvenirs.


Different sorts of bags dangled from the top.

The weather began to turn humid when it was almost noon. So hot it caused us to sweat like pigs.


Plus, I cant help but wonder how these boats can move around so smoothly without crashing into each other.


Shared a coconut with one of the girls.


Somehow I didnt bother to haggle with the sellers simply because I wasnt interested with anything at all.


Rempah-ratus.


After for about 30 minutes of monotonous ride, we asked the boatman to stop and let us walk around to see if we could scout for food and grab some souvenirs.


























That's the portrait of the Thai king.


None of us got ourselves any food except for Caryn who bought two pieces of this Thai version of apam balik. Sorry, I've no idea what they call this.


All I can recall is it's super sweeeeeeeeeeeet. For people with a sweet tooth, this is the one for you. Strongly recommended. Heh.


I almost got myself this springroll a.k.a popiah though but I wasn't exactly hungry.


Roughly 20 minutes later, we got back into the boat and headed back to the jetty.


It's ironic how I could still put on a smile because frankly speaking, I think going to the Floating Market was a total turn off. Not that I didnt enjoy it a wee bit at all though.

Total damage : Taxi fare + Boat ride = 800 baht (RM 80)


Now, the only question that remains is - Is it worth spending half a day minimum on a tour to and around the Floating Market? What I would say to that is if you have sufficient time, and have looked at the pictures and feel it would be of interest. Then it's definitely a must go.

Right, I gotta get ready for youth cell soon.

Stay tuned for the next update. ;)