2 months in a nutshell.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Ok, the Lazy Blogger is back.
This is my last weekend of freedom, might as well make the best of it. Back to uni tomorrow after 3 whole months of not using my brain(s). I don't think there's much left of it. Faded away due to unuse.
Had my very first Chinese class today. Class 3B run by the Overseas Chinese Association in some run down primary school. Yes, there are kids in my class, kids half my size that learn twice as fast as me. Keep in mind that when I stopped classes when I was 12, I was only in Year 2. So 1 year behind + long time no speak Chinese + even longer time to read or write Chinese = Headache. So embarassing that Mark is so much better than me. Even dares to gloat over his 94% for dictation. Pah!
This is the stuff I am doing... too manynew words!!
~~~
By the way, my Ipod shuffle is on sale on Ebay!!!!
~~~
Finally organized my shoes! Imagine all these shoes in a pile on the floor before this. There even is a 'drawer' of a carboard box cover. =)
Not so neat, my dressing table is crying out for help
And my bed. What to do with all these clothes??
And these winter stuff
Hey at least my wardrobe is neat albeit tooooo small!...
~~~
Ok, I guess I should write about nice little holiday in Malaysia. Spent 2 months have wonderful people over and showing them Malaysia and also (not so wonderful) working in Bangsar Pantai.
After Mark left, Martina came the day after I came back from Singapore seeing Mark off. She is my feisty German ex-housemate who went a little crazy shopping in Malaysia. Shoes, bags, work clothes, manicures, facials, she did it all. Also had a tour of KL thanks to Jason. I refuse to drive in KL. Especially not around KL. You might get a longer tour than you expect cause I may end up in Kuantan or something. Best moment: Trying durian. There's nothing like watching her reaction (so wish I got it on video), but hopefully I'm a good enough story teller. Simply, imagine this. There is a plump, juicy piece of durian thoughtfully left on a plate by Reuben. We find it on the table when we go for lunch and it has Martina's name all over it (not literally) We have lunch, with her asking a lot of questions about the wonderful fruit all the way. She having great doubts and I insisting she try it, at least. Finally, we finish our meal, and the durian is staring us in the face. She stares at it for awhile. I push it closer to her, full of anticipation. And I am not disappointed. She finally prods it with her finger and licks it. Her face changes. She stand up, smells her finger in disgust and rush to the sink where she proceeds to scrub her tongue and desperately wash her hands with A LOT of soap. Complains for the rest of the day that she can still smell and taste it. She didn't even break the membrane, ok. =)
Gotta be the funnies thing ever.
So she left after 4 days of shopping and spa-ing, and Sofia arrived that night, on a bus from Singapore. It was raining a lot in Sing so she decided to just come up. Yes, my room was starting to feel like a backpackers'. Not complaining though. Don't think we did anything hugely significant for the first few days.
OK Sofia, what are you trying to tell us?
SS2 pasar malam
Went to Kajang for Satay, went for kungfu lessons (apparently Swedish people don't even know what kungfu is). Oh she did teach me to ice skate at Sunway Pyramid, which I thought was so cool cause, you know, people from that end of the world are practically born with ice skates or skis on. She was so fast, that you could see her hair flying behind her. Quote of the day "Do you realise how wierd it feels to ice skate in a sleeveless top??". Yeap, I never realised that. =) It was so cool cause she could skate backward and pull me, so I could actually feel some wind, instead of just sliding around on the same spot. Yes, by the end of it I had pretty cramped feet but I could move at an acceptable speed!
Trying on Mom's clothes.
Ice skating with chinese lanterns. a bit of a contradiction?
Also went to the SS2 Pasar Malam, and of course she was really fascinated with the sights, sounds and smells. Got some of those 3 for RM10 biscuit things, and a fake cell phone cover in addition to the snacks we had along the way. Unfortunately, her sling bag got slit, and we only realised it when a nice lady asked us if it was her camera that was lying on a table, where she had rested her bag. It was then we realised there was a clean slit on the bottom of her bag! THe only consolation was that the only things missing were her spare phone, liquorice candy and laser pointer which she had just bought. Rude awakening to reality. Malaysia is not the safest place.
Other than that, she also got to try on some of my mom's old clothes that were going to go to charity (if anyone will take them!) And of course she got a hair cut and dye in cheap ol Malaysia.
Then Ilona came too and on her first evening here, we made her try 'Durian Bomb', something we hoped wouldn't be as 'disgusting' as the actual fruit. But I had a bit and the very distinctive smell and taste was definetely there! On the other hand, she did have a blocked nose.
Click here to watch 'Ilona try durian'
And the next day, we were off to Borneo. Kota Kinabalu, then Mulu and finally Kuching. One end of East Malaysia to the other in just 6 days. Not bad!
And the backpackers are off!
Our first day there was a little disappointing because with our very detailed itinery, we were to go snorkelling at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, a very beautiful 'park' of 3 islands protected by the government. There is a speedboat that runs to and from one of the main islands, but only takes off when it is full (at least 8 people). We didn't know this, but 99% of us tourists would leave early in the morning, at about 9am, and return at 5pm. We turned up at 2pm. Hung around about, while fretting about what to do, hoping more people would magically turn up, cause we wanted to go to the island and dip our feet in 'Island Water'.
Then this other guy came up to us and asked if we wanted to go to the island. ONly RM80 for the 3 of us, return. It's a pretty good deal, cause it was a lot cheaper than the other gvt run one. BUT of course we were very wary and spent about an hour waiting and debating whether or not we wanted to trust him. In the end, we thought, pfft, in the end it will be 3 girls against 1 guy, and what's the worst that could happen. BUT, it turns out his boat was at the island, and when he tried to borrow some other guy's boat, he refused cause 'Warna kulit lain' or 'Different skin colour', refering to Ilona and Sofia. Poor girls, they were so confused when I led them away after finally deciding to go.
Anyway, we hiked to a lookout point where we could get a view ofnot so stunning Kota Kinabalu, after getting lost on the first attempt. Whaddaya expect from 3 girls?? *flutters eyelashes*. Went to the Handicraft Market and the night market night then crashed early in preparation of the next day.
"Um girls, maybe this is not it?"
This is it! Presenting Kota Kinabalu!
Woke up bright and early the next day and had a day of Kota Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Springs. Being the low season, the tour we booked consisted of just us 3! Was great! Our guide was really obliging and informative. Did the canopy walk, hot springs, Handicraft place.... And ended our day with a beautiful and very fresh seafood meal at Ocean, where our we had to pick our still-swimming dinner from tanks! Was a fantastic meal. Both girls said that seafood was practically non-existant in Scandanavia, except for fish and prawns in pasta and such. Even the Malaysian thought it was a really really good dinner as well! Mantis, fish and crab, plus veggies, rice and beer for only RM50 a head. That is dirt cheap for seafood! *drools while uploading pics*
Handicraft market
At the entrance to the Canopy Walk
Me canopy walking
Ilona, Sofia and tour guide!
At the hot springs, waiting very patiently for our rotten eggs smelling water to fill up.
"We want.... that one!"
Remains of our feast
Ok, this is mean. But c'mon, can't you see the resemblance??
Then we were off to Mulu, where I was really amazed and continuously fascinating. The only thing I was not so impressed with was when I kept getting an allergy-type reaction everytime I got into bed, and Sofia figured the mattress must be mouldy. Yuck!!! But, can't complain for RM10 a bed a night. =) Our guide was only RM5 (as opposed to Kota Kinabalu's RM190 guide) and on the first day we went to the Deer and Lang cave, and then Clearwater, Moonmilk and Wind Cave the next day. Coincedentally, our (very cheap) guide is the son of the dude who found the Lang cave. That was cool!
Penan handicraft market. Apparently it's set up by the government. Bleh!
Cute little kampung kids
Overall, I was very impressed with the way the caves were managed and kept. Beautiful lighting, well run tours and simply nature at her best.
Swimming outside Clearwater Cave (hence the name)
And our final stop, Kuching. Another plan was foiled when we went all the way to the Orang Utan Sanctuary BY TAXI, just to be on time for the feeding, only to find that no orang utans wanted to be fed. So there we stood, very silently, for about an hour, with a lone guy calling out to the orangs to come get their chow. Sofia sat on her slippers and fell asleep.
This was the closest we would get to an orang utan.
Hey if I were an orang utan, i'd come for this! Quail eggs!
Oh the pretty views in Kuching
Sarawak Cultural Village. Impressive, no?
Our hotel was so bad, that when we complained there was no hot water (we meant shower!), they brought us this!
On our last day, we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village to get a bit of culture into us, Borneo being a tribal place and all. I have to say I was again very impressed by the way this place was set up and run. It mainly showcased the different types of houses and lives the tribes had, and the show that ended the evening was fantastic. Highly recommeded, especially for those studying Kajian Tempatan or Sejarah and especially for Malaysians who, like me, know nothing about 'that side of Malaysia'.
Being kids again.
And again
The fun never ends!
The impresssive show that ended our stay in Borneo very nicely!
So that was yet another amazing trip, and we flew back exhausted but happy on our RM10 Air Asia flight. I think Borneo is a very special place. Being from cold KL, I find the Borneo-ians very genuine and friendly, and I felt relatively safe there. No significnt hand-bag snatching and according to our guide the main form of crime was drug abuse. Yes, very scary. People there are very willing to help, and speak rather good English. Enough to put KL-ians to shame. I would definetely go back, even if just for the seafood!
Random nice pic with bro
All dolled up for Zouk
These are the few shoes Ilona bought in Asia
Then of course there was Chinese New Year, where the girls were delighted with their ang pows and Ilona says that this is even more reason not to get married. Hehe.. It was really fun to dress up, and even more fun to watch Ilona play hide and seek with my 5 year old cousin.
Also went up to Genting where Sofia insightfully commented "Why you want to go to a *shiver* cold place like this when you such nice weather??" Em... cause we have 'nice weather' all year round, and it's not really so special. Hehe.. They checked out the casino while I adjusted my halo waiting outside with my underaged brother. Also went to the infamous First World Plaza, and we hung around for quite a bit and did some shopping. How can you resist! They were yet again fascinated with Snow World. They actually found it so hilarious cause when we peeped inside, there were people standing around the halogen lamps warming their hands. Lol... Snow AND ice in Malaysia. What a country!
Snow World!
Lou shang!
Really cute pic Ilona took of Sofia and I
Ok, this girl likes her durians.....
And this one doesn't really.
Ilona left after to head to Laos, where is is now, and will be for another few months. (Hang in there, babe!)
Sofia left about a week after and I experienced some sort of 'empty next syndrome' cause for the first time in a long, long while, I had my room all to myself. And it was no fun. Bring back the backpackers! =(
Cute 5 year old cousin and friend. Yes, this is the one Ilona played hide and seek with.
Some time later, they may look like this!
But I didn't have long to fret, cause it was work the next day. Industrial attachment at Bangsar Pantai. 9-6 Mon-Fri, 9-1 Sat for 2 weeks plus. It was literally wake up, have brekkie, go to work, come home tired and depressed, have dinner and go to bed. Next day: repeat above. At first I really really really did NOT enjoy working there cause i found the people who were supposed to be teaching me stuff to be rude and unhelpful (bloody grumpy pharmacy assistants!), but as I got to know the other people, namely the other students and the young pharmacists, life at Pantai got a little more bearable. But i was still happy to stop anyways.
3 days later, here I am, back in Adelaide, ready to start a new chapter of my life!
This is my last weekend of freedom, might as well make the best of it. Back to uni tomorrow after 3 whole months of not using my brain(s). I don't think there's much left of it. Faded away due to unuse.
Had my very first Chinese class today. Class 3B run by the Overseas Chinese Association in some run down primary school. Yes, there are kids in my class, kids half my size that learn twice as fast as me. Keep in mind that when I stopped classes when I was 12, I was only in Year 2. So 1 year behind + long time no speak Chinese + even longer time to read or write Chinese = Headache. So embarassing that Mark is so much better than me. Even dares to gloat over his 94% for dictation. Pah!
This is the stuff I am doing... too many
~~~
By the way, my Ipod shuffle is on sale on Ebay!!!!
~~~
Finally organized my shoes! Imagine all these shoes in a pile on the floor before this. There even is a 'drawer' of a carboard box cover. =)
Not so neat, my dressing table is crying out for help
And my bed. What to do with all these clothes??
And these winter stuff
Hey at least my wardrobe is neat albeit tooooo small!...
~~~
Ok, I guess I should write about nice little holiday in Malaysia. Spent 2 months have wonderful people over and showing them Malaysia and also (not so wonderful) working in Bangsar Pantai.
After Mark left, Martina came the day after I came back from Singapore seeing Mark off. She is my feisty German ex-housemate who went a little crazy shopping in Malaysia. Shoes, bags, work clothes, manicures, facials, she did it all. Also had a tour of KL thanks to Jason. I refuse to drive in KL. Especially not around KL. You might get a longer tour than you expect cause I may end up in Kuantan or something. Best moment: Trying durian. There's nothing like watching her reaction (so wish I got it on video), but hopefully I'm a good enough story teller. Simply, imagine this. There is a plump, juicy piece of durian thoughtfully left on a plate by Reuben. We find it on the table when we go for lunch and it has Martina's name all over it (not literally) We have lunch, with her asking a lot of questions about the wonderful fruit all the way. She having great doubts and I insisting she try it, at least. Finally, we finish our meal, and the durian is staring us in the face. She stares at it for awhile. I push it closer to her, full of anticipation. And I am not disappointed. She finally prods it with her finger and licks it. Her face changes. She stand up, smells her finger in disgust and rush to the sink where she proceeds to scrub her tongue and desperately wash her hands with A LOT of soap. Complains for the rest of the day that she can still smell and taste it. She didn't even break the membrane, ok. =)
Gotta be the funnies thing ever.
So she left after 4 days of shopping and spa-ing, and Sofia arrived that night, on a bus from Singapore. It was raining a lot in Sing so she decided to just come up. Yes, my room was starting to feel like a backpackers'. Not complaining though. Don't think we did anything hugely significant for the first few days.
OK Sofia, what are you trying to tell us?
SS2 pasar malam
Went to Kajang for Satay, went for kungfu lessons (apparently Swedish people don't even know what kungfu is). Oh she did teach me to ice skate at Sunway Pyramid, which I thought was so cool cause, you know, people from that end of the world are practically born with ice skates or skis on. She was so fast, that you could see her hair flying behind her. Quote of the day "Do you realise how wierd it feels to ice skate in a sleeveless top??". Yeap, I never realised that. =) It was so cool cause she could skate backward and pull me, so I could actually feel some wind, instead of just sliding around on the same spot. Yes, by the end of it I had pretty cramped feet but I could move at an acceptable speed!
Trying on Mom's clothes.
Ice skating with chinese lanterns. a bit of a contradiction?
Also went to the SS2 Pasar Malam, and of course she was really fascinated with the sights, sounds and smells. Got some of those 3 for RM10 biscuit things, and a fake cell phone cover in addition to the snacks we had along the way. Unfortunately, her sling bag got slit, and we only realised it when a nice lady asked us if it was her camera that was lying on a table, where she had rested her bag. It was then we realised there was a clean slit on the bottom of her bag! THe only consolation was that the only things missing were her spare phone, liquorice candy and laser pointer which she had just bought. Rude awakening to reality. Malaysia is not the safest place.
Other than that, she also got to try on some of my mom's old clothes that were going to go to charity (if anyone will take them!) And of course she got a hair cut and dye in cheap ol Malaysia.
Then Ilona came too and on her first evening here, we made her try 'Durian Bomb', something we hoped wouldn't be as 'disgusting' as the actual fruit. But I had a bit and the very distinctive smell and taste was definetely there! On the other hand, she did have a blocked nose.
Click here to watch 'Ilona try durian'
And the next day, we were off to Borneo. Kota Kinabalu, then Mulu and finally Kuching. One end of East Malaysia to the other in just 6 days. Not bad!
And the backpackers are off!
Our first day there was a little disappointing because with our very detailed itinery, we were to go snorkelling at Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park, a very beautiful 'park' of 3 islands protected by the government. There is a speedboat that runs to and from one of the main islands, but only takes off when it is full (at least 8 people). We didn't know this, but 99% of us tourists would leave early in the morning, at about 9am, and return at 5pm. We turned up at 2pm. Hung around about, while fretting about what to do, hoping more people would magically turn up, cause we wanted to go to the island and dip our feet in 'Island Water'.
Then this other guy came up to us and asked if we wanted to go to the island. ONly RM80 for the 3 of us, return. It's a pretty good deal, cause it was a lot cheaper than the other gvt run one. BUT of course we were very wary and spent about an hour waiting and debating whether or not we wanted to trust him. In the end, we thought, pfft, in the end it will be 3 girls against 1 guy, and what's the worst that could happen. BUT, it turns out his boat was at the island, and when he tried to borrow some other guy's boat, he refused cause 'Warna kulit lain' or 'Different skin colour', refering to Ilona and Sofia. Poor girls, they were so confused when I led them away after finally deciding to go.
Anyway, we hiked to a lookout point where we could get a view of
"Um girls, maybe this is not it?"
This is it! Presenting Kota Kinabalu!
Woke up bright and early the next day and had a day of Kota Kinabalu National Park and Poring Hot Springs. Being the low season, the tour we booked consisted of just us 3! Was great! Our guide was really obliging and informative. Did the canopy walk, hot springs, Handicraft place.... And ended our day with a beautiful and very fresh seafood meal at Ocean, where our we had to pick our still-swimming dinner from tanks! Was a fantastic meal. Both girls said that seafood was practically non-existant in Scandanavia, except for fish and prawns in pasta and such. Even the Malaysian thought it was a really really good dinner as well! Mantis, fish and crab, plus veggies, rice and beer for only RM50 a head. That is dirt cheap for seafood! *drools while uploading pics*
Handicraft market
At the entrance to the Canopy Walk
Me canopy walking
Ilona, Sofia and tour guide!
At the hot springs, waiting very patiently for our rotten eggs smelling water to fill up.
"We want.... that one!"
Remains of our feast
Ok, this is mean. But c'mon, can't you see the resemblance??
Then we were off to Mulu, where I was really amazed and continuously fascinating. The only thing I was not so impressed with was when I kept getting an allergy-type reaction everytime I got into bed, and Sofia figured the mattress must be mouldy. Yuck!!! But, can't complain for RM10 a bed a night. =) Our guide was only RM5 (as opposed to Kota Kinabalu's RM190 guide) and on the first day we went to the Deer and Lang cave, and then Clearwater, Moonmilk and Wind Cave the next day. Coincedentally, our (very cheap) guide is the son of the dude who found the Lang cave. That was cool!
Penan handicraft market. Apparently it's set up by the government. Bleh!
Cute little kampung kids
Overall, I was very impressed with the way the caves were managed and kept. Beautiful lighting, well run tours and simply nature at her best.
Swimming outside Clearwater Cave (hence the name)
And our final stop, Kuching. Another plan was foiled when we went all the way to the Orang Utan Sanctuary BY TAXI, just to be on time for the feeding, only to find that no orang utans wanted to be fed. So there we stood, very silently, for about an hour, with a lone guy calling out to the orangs to come get their chow. Sofia sat on her slippers and fell asleep.
This was the closest we would get to an orang utan.
Hey if I were an orang utan, i'd come for this! Quail eggs!
Oh the pretty views in Kuching
Sarawak Cultural Village. Impressive, no?
Our hotel was so bad, that when we complained there was no hot water (we meant shower!), they brought us this!
On our last day, we went to the Sarawak Cultural Village to get a bit of culture into us, Borneo being a tribal place and all. I have to say I was again very impressed by the way this place was set up and run. It mainly showcased the different types of houses and lives the tribes had, and the show that ended the evening was fantastic. Highly recommeded, especially for those studying Kajian Tempatan or Sejarah and especially for Malaysians who, like me, know nothing about 'that side of Malaysia'.
Being kids again.
And again
The fun never ends!
The impresssive show that ended our stay in Borneo very nicely!
So that was yet another amazing trip, and we flew back exhausted but happy on our RM10 Air Asia flight. I think Borneo is a very special place. Being from cold KL, I find the Borneo-ians very genuine and friendly, and I felt relatively safe there. No significnt hand-bag snatching and according to our guide the main form of crime was drug abuse. Yes, very scary. People there are very willing to help, and speak rather good English. Enough to put KL-ians to shame. I would definetely go back, even if just for the seafood!
Random nice pic with bro
All dolled up for Zouk
These are the few shoes Ilona bought in Asia
Then of course there was Chinese New Year, where the girls were delighted with their ang pows and Ilona says that this is even more reason not to get married. Hehe.. It was really fun to dress up, and even more fun to watch Ilona play hide and seek with my 5 year old cousin.
Also went up to Genting where Sofia insightfully commented "Why you want to go to a *shiver* cold place like this when you such nice weather??" Em... cause we have 'nice weather' all year round, and it's not really so special. Hehe.. They checked out the casino while I adjusted my halo waiting outside with my underaged brother. Also went to the infamous First World Plaza, and we hung around for quite a bit and did some shopping. How can you resist! They were yet again fascinated with Snow World. They actually found it so hilarious cause when we peeped inside, there were people standing around the halogen lamps warming their hands. Lol... Snow AND ice in Malaysia. What a country!
Snow World!
Lou shang!
Really cute pic Ilona took of Sofia and I
Ok, this girl likes her durians.....
And this one doesn't really.
Ilona left after to head to Laos, where is is now, and will be for another few months. (Hang in there, babe!)
Sofia left about a week after and I experienced some sort of 'empty next syndrome' cause for the first time in a long, long while, I had my room all to myself. And it was no fun. Bring back the backpackers! =(
Cute 5 year old cousin and friend. Yes, this is the one Ilona played hide and seek with.
Some time later, they may look like this!
But I didn't have long to fret, cause it was work the next day. Industrial attachment at Bangsar Pantai. 9-6 Mon-Fri, 9-1 Sat for 2 weeks plus. It was literally wake up, have brekkie, go to work, come home tired and depressed, have dinner and go to bed. Next day: repeat above. At first I really really really did NOT enjoy working there cause i found the people who were supposed to be teaching me stuff to be rude and unhelpful (bloody grumpy pharmacy assistants!), but as I got to know the other people, namely the other students and the young pharmacists, life at Pantai got a little more bearable. But i was still happy to stop anyways.
3 days later, here I am, back in Adelaide, ready to start a new chapter of my life!
