The 'Daze' & Nights of...

First Trip to Hong Kong - Day 4

2011-11-23T01:24:00.001+08:00

10 October 2011

We are to check out at 11am. I got an sms in the morning, informing me that our flight will be delayed. Instead of 6.15pm, it’ll depart at 7.40pm instead.

Our flight is in the evening, so we left all our luggage at the hostel and will collect them later.

Finally remembered to post our postcards :p.. on the last day of our trip heh!

We went to Causeway Bay and then met up with Soo Mei’s friends for dim sum lunch.

Ordered quite a lot for our lunch :p

So much to choose from...

Ready....?

Feast!!

Lots of mantis prawns in the tanks at the restaurant

Sky started to look gloomy and it started to rain a bit. Good thing it didn't rain the last few days.

After some sightseeing, and yet another final ‘biscuit’ shopping, we went back to our hostel at about 4pm. As we collect our luggage, the people were trying to fix the piping problem :p

Common scene we see in HK movies - 'dar siu yan'

We went downstairs to wait for the bus, that’ll go to the airport direct. I was getting impatient as it’s almost 5pm and still no sign of the bus. I let out a sigh of relief when the bus finally showed up at around 5pm.

It’ll take about an hour to reach the airport. It’s good thing that I’ve already done the web check-in earlier. Otherwise, we’ll be so late! It rained the whole journey to the airport.

We quickly went to the counter to drop our luggage. 3 of us will depart at 7.40pm while the other 4 will be taking a later flight at 10pm+. Since it’s just a few hours difference, we’ve gone to the airport together. I felt like there’re people who’re sending us off heheh

The last pic I took @ Hong Kong

The airport itself has got various biscuits shops. So, next time, forget about buying them earlier and bring them along everywhere you go. Just get it at the airport before flying off.

It was already 7pm+ when we reached the gate. Phew! We sat down and had our cakes (that we bought from the biscuit shop) and finished our snacks that we bought earlier (Pringles). We were the last to board the plane.

We were told that the flight was not full, so, we were trying to spot some empty seats so that we could sit together.

It was quite a rough take off and overall, quite a rough flight cuz’ of the weather. We had a proper meal on board this time. I ordered nasi briyani and 100Plus, Wai Yee ordered nasi lemak and iced lemon tea while Pooi Fun ordered BBQ roast chicken with mineral water. Cost us RM54! :p But we enjoyed our meal. Heheh

We touched down at 11.45pm. Quite a long walk from the plane to the terminal, and I could felt a blister on my toe @_@ on top of the pain on both my legs.

Then, another long queue even at the autogate. After we claimed our luggage, it’s almost 1am already. We took a bus to KL Sentral and reached there by 2am. Wai Yee’s brother came to pick her up, then Pooi Fun picked up by her sis, while Nel came to pick me up after work.

I was still all soaked in sweat, feeling stinky and sticky. Can’t wait to go home for a nice hot shower!

It was already 4am by the time I went to bed and there I was, setting the alarm to wake up at 8.30am to go to work… which never happen cuz’ I suddenly got up at 10.30am. I think the alarm didn’t work. I’ve decided to call in for a day off as I was way too tired. Both legs were aching that I don’t think I could drive.

It’s a very tiring trip. I wish I could spend more time there and have a more relaxing holiday. Hopefully.. I can do that when I go to HK with Nel next time :)

Thanks to all my friends for being such a great company and Leo for the amazing concert.

First Trip to Hong Kong - Day 3

2011-11-07T03:01:00.002+08:00

9 October 2011

We seriously slept at 5am and woke up at 8.30am @_@ and my legs are still aching!

Today, the 3 of us will be going to Disneyland, while the other 4 will have their own plans.

We took turns to use the bathroom and by the time we’re ready to go out, it was already almost 10am. But, something held us up even more. We heard loud screaming from the lobby area. A couple was having a fight! It was so loud that we could hear the whole conversation :s (sounds like the man was having an affair with another woman). We dare not go out until the coast was clear.

Instant noodles with pork chop, and instant noodles with luncheon meat and fried egg

By they time they stopped, it was already almost 11am. We have yet to have our breakfast. So, on the way to the MTR station, we just went into a random café for breakfast.

Considered looking fresh despite the lack of shut eyes :p.. maybe cuz' we were looking forward to go to the happiest place in the world?

We took the MTR to Disneyland. Took us about an hour to reach there after all the transits.

You know you’re reaching Disneyland when you see the Disney/Mickey inspired train :)

For someone my age, I’m not ashamed to admit that it has been my childhood dream to go to Disneyland :p I know a lot of people told me that the Disneyland in HK will not be as nice. But for me, until I could afford to go to US, Europe or Japan… HK Disneyland will just be fine for me :p And why I’m so gian with Disneyland? Maybe because I grew up watching Disney cartoons and singing to their songs. Many fortunate kids get to go to Disney when they were young… as for me… I finally get to go do Disney when I’m in my 30’s @_@

Yay! Dream come true!

As we walked, I could hear all the Disney songs being played. Couldn’t help it but to sing along :p

Our tickets... I didn't realise the prints are different until we took out our tickets before going in

Have to get our bags checked before going in

We have the whole day here. So we took our own sweet time to explore all the rides and shows. Already spent so much of time at the first stop - souvenirs shop!

(think it's better to describe Disneyland with pictures... instead of my long winded words.. so, more pics ahead)

Halloween is just around the corner

We were given one of this each

Waffles that we wanted to eat... but only remember we didn't eat that after we left :p I guess waffle will just be waffle irregardless if it's a Mickey head or not?

Overall, the rides are mainly for kids instead of adults (you can actually find more extreme rides in Sunway Lagoon or Genting) but no harm to be kids again with the rides :D

We also enjoyed the shows especially at the multi dimensional theater.

Reminds me of Stitch :p

Spinning ourselves crazy in the cup. Wai Yee actually recorded the whole spinning experience lol

Snack time. Couldn't resist the smell of the BBQ dried squid... only to realise later that it didn't taste as good as it smells

Got this from 'Trick or Treat'. Every now and then there'll be people giving out candies and chocolates. We got some chocolates and marshmallows.

But it was quite a let down at Tarzan’s home though.

The hanging bridge at the tree house. Climbed all the way up.. and all the way down after that... nothing much to see.

We stayed on till night, to catch the fireworks. It was awesome and really worth the wait!

Since Halloween is near, the park was decorated with Halloween theme decorations. Even costumes for the Disney characters and staff who’re working at the park.

I wish we could stay longer at the park at night. The whole park slowly turned into a ghost town, with zombies walking around, smokes being released to get the creepy feel. They even started to dance ala Michael Jackson’s Thriller ;)

1 thing I didn’t get to do was.. to take picture with the cartoon characters :p didn’t want to queue and just when I thought I wanted to take a picture with my favourite – Goofy, they said they have already closed the queue and we’ll have to wait again for the next session. Cheh! The girls got so amused when I imitated Goofy’s signature laugh ~ ‘ah-hiuk!’ :p

Must not miss It's a Small World...

Artist at work

Photo session with Jack

We quickly did some last minute souvenir shopping before leaving the place at about 10.15pm. Though I wish to spend more time here, we have another mission waiting for us…. At Hung Hom ;)

Bye-Bye Disneyland...

We took the MTR to Hung Hom. The journey only took us about 30 minutes. We reached Hung Hom at about 10.45pm. Why are we back here? Cuz’ we are to meet up with the rest… and to meet up with Leo! :D

The concert was still on at that time. We took the opportunity to grab a bite at McD, located just across the road.

After our meal, we went back to the coliseum, waiting for the concert to be over. I could hear Leo sang my favourite song, Dai Yi Jui Ngoi! (which he didn’t sing on the first night). Argh.. they encored the song for the last night! And he also sang ‘Ngoi Dik Gai Sik’, his first song as a singer. It was already almost 12am.

I saw a lot of people rushed out even before the concert was over. I guess they were trying to catch the last train back.

We met up with the rest, all wearing the orange shirt. We slipped on ours as well. We were then escorted into the venue and we’re to meet Leo backstage :) It is good thing that Angie managed to arrange this earlier with Leona. We were also joined by other fans as well.

Photo taken from kelvindad's weibo

It was just a brief meet up with Leo for a big group photo but it’s good to see Leo again. We last seen him in KL more than 2 years ago!

Yet.. another outing till 2am! We took 2 cabs back again. Got tired of walking and taking bus :p

The moment we reached the lobby, the staff informed us that there’s water disruption, and it’s affecting all the rooms on the same floor. It’s due to some piping problem at the common bathroom. But, they have provided us with a pail of water and 6 bottles of mineral water, which will allow us to at least wash our face and brush our teeth. Or, we can proceed to the 15th floor and use the common bathroom there. It’s already so late, so we didn’t want to go to the 15th floor.

Saw this pasted on the wall of the bathroom

While Pooi Fun has decided to use the bathroom at the other room (where the other 4 were staying), Wai Yee and I have decided to make use of the water provided for us :p Surprisingly, we managed to ‘take bath’ and still with balance of water hehe.

Since we’ll be checking out the next day, we stayed up to pack our stuff as well. And again, I think we slept at about 4am.

First Trip to Hong Kong - Day 2

2011-10-25T21:37:00.000+08:00

8 October 2011

Nice weather... (anything but rain or typhoon at least :p)

We are to meet the rest downstairs at 10am. And guess where we found them? They were at 7-11 (just next door), busy eating! Found some snacks like curry fishballs, wanton, dim sum and all you have to do is to heat them up with the microwave oven. We looked so jakun lol. But jokes aside, I have to say those fast snacks really taste good (eg. The curry fishballs tasted nicer than those we bought at the shop in Mongkok).

We took the tram towards Causeway Bay area. Yet more walking (and for some, more shopping!) to do. Before we forget, we have yet to have our proper breakfast. We went to yet another random shop for wanton noodles.

After a satisfying meal, we continue walking. This time to hunt down ABC (not Ais Batu Campur lol) .. :p Leo’s boutique. Not really a hunt, since my friends have been there before. Thought want to check it out.

We reached ABC… but guess what? It was closed! Guess the boss was too busy with his concert :p (Soo Mei later told us that the only shop operating now is at Tsim Sha Tsui)

Along the way, Soo Mei also bought some egg tarts, luncheon meat + egg sandwiches and cakes, for us to eat when needed. Obviously, we didn’t wait till we’re hungry ahahah. It’s best to eat them fresh so, we were eating as we walk :p

Leo in every Giordano....

After all the walking, shopping and feasting on our snacks it was already about 5.30pm. We also went to a supermarket to grab some mineral water and more snacks for our next journey.

We’ll be heading to The Peak. We took the tram again… and have to walk quite a bit before we reach the tram station to go to the peak. It was quite exhausting especially on the quite steep road. *pant

We boarded a very full tram...

I was sardined at the back of the tram... and for that.. I got this very nice view :)

There were a lot of people queuing up to get tram tickets. The moment we reached there, we were asked to get in line to queue up as well. The sign board says the line is to buy tram tickets and it will take up to 1.5 hours!

Soo Mei took out the egg tarts that she bought earlier and … here’s how they look like now.. lol!! Can’t blame us after all the walking and sardine-ing in the tram :p We ate them anyway.

Once we were getting closer to the counter to get the tickets, we saw a sign for those who wants to get the tram tickets + tickets to Mdm Tussaud’s. @_@ That’s exactly what we wanted and now wonder why on earth did we queue so long for?? It is after that, that I saw the staff took out the sign for those who wants to buy combo tickets. Chaik! They should have displayed that sign much earlier!

And so we bought our combo tickets and still need to queue a bit before we could board the tram. Some of us get to sit, while some of us have to stand. It’s quite challenging to stand in such a steep position.. hehe. So, we have to make sure we get to sit when we come down later.

The first thing that greeted us were souvenirs.. lots of them! As there are a lot of souvenir shops there. We bought some postcards to be posted back home :)

Then we went into Mdm Tussaud’s and of course, the main attraction? Was Leo… lol

We toured the whole place before we came out to enjoy the night view and some wind.

There’s a Disney counter there as well. Since Wai Yee, Pooi Fun and I will be going to Disneyland the next day, we bought our tickets there. For purchase of 2 tickets, we get 1 Disney umbrella for free.

We also sat down to snack a bit before we queue up to take the tram down.

We were hoping to board the bus with the open roof. But the moment we get there, the seats got filled up quite fast. We have decided to wait for the next bus and after waiting for about 20 minutes, another bus came. And it’s not even a double-decker.. let alone open roof?! Ahahah. Without wanting to wait anymore, we boarded the bus anyway. It was already about 11pm. We got down at the ferry pier and took a ferry across.

Then we walked to the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station and went to Yau Ma Tei. In Angie’s last visit to Hong Kong, she was staying at Jordan area and she was trying to locate a place to eat at night. Took us quite a while and loads of walking before we found the place. By now, I could feel my legs aching. We were extremely tired, hungry and soaked in sweat! Pooi Fun walked till she wanted to puke! :p

We passed by Temple Street and by then, some of the stalls were already closing. It’s like our pasar malam over here, with stalls selling all sorts of stuff. But what we don’t have in KL though, are stalls selling sex toys! Lol

Once at the eating place, the girls ordered mantis prawns, vege, fried rice, fried lala, frogs (thin gai), oyster porridge and beer :p

It was already after 1am when we’re done eating. There’re still so many people at that area, makes me wonder why all these people don’t need to sleep? But then again.. so were we :p We got tired of all the walking, so, 7 of us took 2 cabs back to our hostel. Cost us about HKD68 per cab (just slightly more compared to taking mini bus :p)

When we reached our hostel, it was already after 2am. Yet another tiring day. After cleaning up, I think we only slept at 5am after all the chit chatting.

We set our alarm to get up at 8.30am.... hopefully...

First Trip to Hong Kong - Day 1

2011-10-19T22:57:00.001+08:00

7 October 2011

The long awaited trip… after years of ‘planning’, is finally becoming true! :D

My stuff for the 4 days trip

The moment we get to know about Leo Ku’s concert in Hong Kong, my friends (Soo Mei, Angie, Wai Yee, Pooi Fun, Joey and Hui San) and I quickly made a quick decision to purchase the concert tickets, air tickets and started to source for accommodation. There’re some other members who’ll be there as well but we will only meet during the concert.

It’ll be quite a budget trip, so we’ve decided to make booking at Yesinn.

Our flight will be at 7.10am by Airasia. We left home at 4am and reached LCCT at about 5am. Good thing Nel has offered to send me and 2 other friends to airport :) while the other group of 4 will depart from Seri Kembangan.

Since we have already web check-in, we went to the counter to drop our luggage. It was quite a long queue there. Once done, we went to Oldtown for our breakfast. Nel accompanied me for a while before he left.

We took off at 7.10am as scheduled. Most of us were so sleepy since we have to get up early. I could only sleep for about an hour shortly after take off. But once I got up, I couldn’t get back to sleep. Was chit chatting with Joey instead and we shared a Pak Naseer nasi lemak :)

Hello Hong Kong!

We arrived 25 minutes ahead of schedule. Just when I thought the queues at the immigration counter are bad at LCCT, the queues at HK airport is even worse! It was quite a long wait. We then claimed our luggage.

We went to get our octopus card as well (similar to our Touch N’ Go). Paid HKD150 for it (HKD50 being deposit – refundable).

As per information provided by Yesinn, we can reach there by MTR, taxi or bus but as per recommendation, we took the bus.

1 bus just left when we reached the bus stop, so we waited for about 20 minutes for the next bus.

The real 'Bus No 11'... :p

The whole journey took us about an hour to reach Yesinn. We just need to cross the road and walked a bit to reach Yesinn.

Studying the map... konon...

Wifi in the bus... yay!

We reached Yesinn at about 2pm (just nice as check-in time is 2pm) and once we’re at the reception, I showed my reservation confirmation to the girl at the counter. One look at my booking and she remembered me, as I just spoke to her few days ago to reconfirm the booking.

3 of us will be in 1 room while the other 4 will be in a different room, located at a different floor. I’ll be sharing with Wai Yee and Pooi Fun and the room is just near to the lobby.

As expected, the room is small but it’s clean and neatly decorated. It has 1 single bed and a double-decker, a small flat screen TV mounted on the wall, a basin near to the door, a pot for boiling water, wooden flooring and mostly white furniture/beddings.

The bathroom is just good enough for you to stand there, with the basin in front, toilet seat at the side and the shower head/water heater on top. There’s also a towel rack above the toilet seat.

Toiletries and towels are not provided, so we have to bring our own. I even brought along my hair dryer ;)

We are to meet up at about 3pm to go for our lunch. I took the opportunity to freshen up a bit as I was feeling so warm. It could be quite a challenge for someone big like me to use such a small bathroom :p

I even have a runny nose which got me worried a bit. But I was OK after a while. I guess it’s just a minor sinus.

As planned, we met up with the rest at 3pm to hunt for our lunch. We were pretty clueless with that area but as we walked, we just went in to a random shop, to eat anything cuz’ we were starving! Some of us had rice with steamed chicken / pork, and we shared some cheong fun, steamed lo bak gou, fried noodles, tau fu far and soy bean milk for each of us.

After lunch, we walked to the nearest MTR station (Fortress Hill) and went to Mongkok.

We walked around a bit before heading to Hung Hom direct for the concert.

It was only about 6.30pm but Angie will need to collect our concert tickets from Leona and also to distribute tickets to other people who had ordered the tickets through Angie.

It was so nice to meet up with everybody there :) Bumped into Wuss from Toronto and also met with Jiun from London, Rina from Indonesia, Elaine from Singapore, and a few others from KL as well. This is probably the biggest reunion thus far!

Finally... dream come true....

We went into the concert venue at about 8pm. Leo Ku - Amazing World concert started at about 8.45pm.

The concert ended at 11.15pm. The group of us gathered for our ‘supper’ (actually.. it’s our very late dinner). As MTR stop operation at 12am, we went to the station and took a bus to Mongkok again. Again, we were clueless on what to eat. After so much of walking, we went to yet another random shop :p

We don’t care if the food is nice but we were starving! It was passed midnight and our last meal was at 3pm! We had some fried noodles, vege, lou sui ngor and fried lala.

It was pretty late when we’re done with our ‘supper’. We took a mini bus back to Yesinn.

After cleaning up, I guess it was about 4am when we finally went to sleep after a quite long chit chat :p (girls… heheh).

We are to meet up with the rest at 10am later, and continue with our exploration.

Leo Ku - Amazing World Concert

2011-10-12T00:03:00.000+08:00

Leo Ku - Amazing World Concert

7 – 9 October 2011

Hong Kong Coliseum

8.15pm

7 October 2011

I can’t believe it that I’m actually writing this. I’ve been writing about concerts that I’ve been to in Malaysia but attending a concert in Hong Kong Coliseum is something that I’ve always wanted to do :)

And what makes this special is, it is my first time in Hong Kong, first time attending a concert in Hung Hom and to make it most special, it’s a Leo Ku concert! This is something that my friends and I have always wanted to do and we’re finally here after years of talking about it. It’s just that not all of us could make it though. So, our group was not complete.

We reached Hung Hom at about 6pm. We have to be there early as we have to collect our tickets from Leona (of Leo Ku’s Kingdom), and also to distribute tickets to members who’ve bought tickets through us. We also checked out all the merchandises on sale.

At the side of the venue, a table was already set up for prayers. It’s a norm before the start of the concert, for a smooth and successful event. We caught a glimpse of Leo there, with fellow members of the management and crew.

While checking out the merchandises, someone who looked familiar called out my name. It was Wuss… from Toronto! Can’t believe it that the whole group came to HK for this! We’ve communicated through chats and forums but that was the first time we met :)

After distributing all the tickets, we went into the coliseum at 8pm. I’ve seen events held in the coliseum (from TV shows, concert DVDs etc) and I always got the impression that any events held there will look very grand and impressive.

But as I walked in, everything just looked simple. I saw some props hanging from above but the stage itself basically looked empty. We were seated at the 6th row from the stage. It’s quite a good view from there :)

We waited anxiously for the concert to start. Saw some other celebrities who attended the concert, including Gigi Fu, Sammy, Nick Cheung… and few others (I couldn’t see who else). The coliseum was full and finally, lights off at 8.45pm. A dancer came out, dressed in white.

Suddenly, what looked like strings of ornaments in white/silver appeared on my left (it was earlier covered with black cloth). It started to spin… and slowly Leo appeared from it!

He started to sing ‘Fa Sa’ (in a more upbeat version) followed by ‘Nin Nin Yau Gum Yat’.

The costume was all covered with blings! Which he later explained later that it took the staff a hard time to assemble this piece of costume as they need to put on about 90,000 pieces of crystals onto it! They literally have to put on sunshades while doing that as it’ll be too stressful for the eyes. He then sang ‘Ngan Jing But Nang Mut Ngan Lui’.

He went for a costume change while a girl dressed in white appeared… just like a beautiful princess.

She danced until Leo appeared, also in a white costume and sang ‘Dai Hoong’, followed by ‘Once Upon A Time’. There were foams in heart-shape being blown up from the stage. It looked so lovely. Also made the crowd went crazy when they kissed ;)

Leo then introduced the girl to everybody. Her name is Jessica C and she’s his princess of the night. He said we always hear stories about prince and princess in fairy tales but probably didn’t realize that there’re a lot of prince and princess around us in real life.

Leo gave quite a hard time to Jessica for trying to make her read out ‘Ngo lin mou lin dou jek geok ging zhung” (我练舞练到只脚劲肿). Since she’s not fluent in Cantonese, the whole sentence sounded funny. He sang ‘Oi Wui Ga’ after Jessica left the stage.

With another costume change, the props from above were slowly lowered down which resembles the shape of a ship. A ‘flag’ was lowered as well, with the projection of the skull on it and some ‘pirates’ appeared.

Leo appeared wearing a red costume, resembling costumes for a pirate/captain this time while singing ‘Dai Si Jok Bun’. He also sang ‘Duk Nam’, ‘Seong Jui Yan’ and ‘Bit Sat Kei’.

While Leo went for another costume change (sometimes I really wonder how the artists can do this within seconds or minutes?? And we’re talking about complicated costumes for the concert. I guess the time spent to change the costume is the time I spend to just put on my jeans :p), the grand piano appeared on the stage. Seated was a boy and a girl was next to the piano, holding a violin. Both of them played a medley of ‘Oi Tak Thai Chi’, ‘Oi Yu Seng’ and ‘Foon Lok Gum Siew’. And as they were doing that, Leo joined in to sing ‘Fook Lok Gum Siew’, wearing black costume with cape. And like previous time, the song made my eyes gone teary again :p The song sound very nice with just the piano and violin.

After the song, Leo introduced the 2 child prodigies. The girl is Sophia, who started to play violin at 4 years old and the boy is Thomas, who has already obtained Grade 8 in piano when he was 9 years old @_@ (what was I doing when I was 4 or 9??).

Leo also teased the both of them asking if they’re boyfriend/girlfriend. Thomas said no.. .then Leo said for sure Sophia will also say no as well. He asked Thomas to get Sophia’s number.. and that they should go out, eat something, watch a movie… get married and have a family and when the kid grows up, she’ll turn into the very pretty… Wong Dan Yee - the person who wrote the beautiful Fook Lok Gum Siew and she’s as beautiful as the song :)

She played the piano while Leo sang ‘Oi Yu Seng’. It is yet, a different arrangement in terms of music as it has the Foon Lok Gum Siew feel to it.

After singing the song, Dan Yee looked like she has dropped something and Leo was trying to pick it up for her but the platform started move down. Leo almost fell but luckily managed to balance himself. Phew! He said I was amazing wasn’t I? :p

After that, Leo sang a few songs that have never been sung before in his concerts, as requested by fans. They’re nice songs that didn’t get to be featured in the concert (as they’re not hit songs from the albums) The songs include ‘Sum Thiu Wui Yik’, ‘Luin Hau Gum’ and ‘Yat Sang Hor Kau’.

And it won’t be complete without a ‘shake-hand’ session :p He sang ‘Nam Tin Yue Bak Wan’ while walking around to shake hand with fans. I have decided to just sit there as I’m a few rows behind and I have way too many things with me to move around easily :p He also sang ‘Heh’, a feel good song with funny lyrics which suit the environment at that time before going for another costume change.

After that a familiar tune was played.. similar to the tune of encounter of the 3rd kind. At the other end of the stage, lights were on and what looks like a space ship. It was slowly ‘flying’ up… with a few dancers standing around it.

Then Leo appeared in a futuristic costume and started to do the ‘laser dance’.

He performed ‘Bao Liu’ and ‘Ging Gor Gum Kuk 3’. Leo really stepped out of his comfort zone with this performance as he was dancing throughout the 2 songs.

And I think it’s the first time we see him wearing sleeveless costumes :p I heard that he’s been training hard in preparation of this concert and guess what? He really did got buffed up a bit as we can see muscles on his both arms lol.

The space ship that appeared earlier ‘crashed’ down. Leo appeared in a different costume and started to sing ‘Dei Kau Hun Ngai Him’ and ‘Har Chi Joi Gin’.

Leo was asking the audience if we believe in 2012 and he explained why he’s willing to step out of his comfort zone and try different approach to his performance. He said he wanted to do this, while he still can as we don’t know what will happen in the future (he got teased as well that he should get married before it’s too late lol).

According to him, there’re fans who has commented that he should just do what he does best – singing nice slow/love songs and don’t try too hard with fast numbers, especially with his back injury. He started to get emotional, saying that he might not be the most talented singer/dancer but he is definitely a hardworking one, who has tried his best and he’s grateful for all the support.

With all that, even myself got emotional and eyes gone teary again. I can totally understand his point as it is difficult to please everyone and get everyone’s approval for what you do. But with the full house crowd in the coliseum, I guess Leo can rest assured that there are a lot of people who still love and support him.

With such emotion, he tried his best to sing ‘Yi Nei Wai Wing’. At one point, he was blaming the smoke for causing him to cry :p He finally couldn’t bear it and asked for some tissue papers lol. Mani waved a tissue at him and gave him a big hug of support.

He then sang ‘Si Doi’.. and said it’ll be his last song (which will never be.. without any encore … hehe). I somehow got a soft spot for this song and with all the emotions going on…. I actually cried :p (aiyo.. teary eyes again as I type this).

With the so called last song… he disappeared down the platform waving goodbye.

It was almost 11pm and everybody started to chant ‘encore’ repeatedly. He appeared in animal prints costume this time, singing ‘Yi Hoi Hou Ching’. It seems to be most voted song for him to sing during the concert. Next, he sang ‘Chung Fuk Fan Chor’, also another request from a fan.

And why this concert is called Amazing World? With all the props and performances, I can tell that it’s all very fairy tale related. He said when we were kids, we were so pure and innocent and everything we see seems amazing. But as we get older, the fairy-tale in us seems to be disappearing from us. He hopes that all of us can find this amazing world again, and appreciate things around us more.

He sang ‘Ngoi Tak Thai Chi’ after that and ended with ‘Yau Gong Ching’ (for us perasan case.. we take that as a song dedicated to us :p), with all the dancers joining him on the stage. It also ended with a bang of confetti.

The concert ended at 11.15pm.

As usual, it felt like it’s not enough :p but we can’t expect Leo to sing there the whole day lol While I’m only attending 1 night of the concert, my other friends are going for their 2nd round on the 3rd night.

It was an awesome experience for me attending the concert of my favourite singer in Hung Hom :) with a group of good friends (I have to thank Leo for this group of good friends). It has always been our dreams to attend the concert together and looks like our dreams have just came true.

We don’t get to see such props/effects in Malaysia and the sound system was good, nothing to complain about.

Vocally, Leo was amazing! Lol Guess the only hiccup is when Leo lost his words a bit when he was singing one of the songs (it’s hard to control especially when he was being emotional at that time) but it’s such a norm that other singers will also have that problem sometimes when performing. … and he didn’t sing my most loved ‘Dai Yi Jui Ngoi’ (but heard he sang that on the last concert – aiya!).

And most of all, after seeing this amazing concert … it also reminded me why I like this amazing person so much ;)

(the following photos were taken on 9 October 2011. I didn't attend the concert but met up with the rest to see Leo after the concert)

** someone asked me if I really get to enjoy the show cuz’ I looked so busy taking photos and taking down notes on my notepad :p I did asked myself when will be the time when I’ll just sit down and enjoy the show without having to take notes or photos but I just can’t help it when it comes to Leo’s concerts. Though we’ll normally get to watch the show on DVDs later, but having my own experience recorded is a different story… so that I can always read back whenever I want to revive those amazingly amazing moments ;)

Dinner For Tonight 7

2011-07-09T21:03:00.000+08:00

Today, I main masak masak with Nel :p Think we haven't done that for a long time. Since we're not going anywhere tonight, we grabbed some ingredients from a nearby grocery store and sort of cook up a storm in our small and hot! kitchen.

Tastes OK la.. though don't look like the actual thing in Junior Masterchef :p

This is supposed to be Chicken Schnitzel with Tomato & Eggplant Salad as inspired by Junior Masterchef. It's a 'kid friendly' dish that even a kid could cook. So er, we thought we can't go wrong with it :p

Over all, the dish is quite good though we couldn't get all the ingredients according to the actual recipe (didn't even bring the recipe when we did the shopping :p We just bought whatever I could remember).

Maybe we can perfect it when we try again next time ;)

Lover's Bridge.. not only for lovers ;)

2011-06-25T01:49:00.000+08:00

18 June 2011

My bro and I have been talking about visiting Tg Sepat for quite some time. Since it’ll be Father’s Day, we have decided to go there to some sort like.. celebrate the occasion. We stuffed our Livina again with Mom and Dad, myself, Nel, Bro with HL and Chloe :p and started the journey at around 11.30am.

And why Tg Sepat? Well, other than going there for sightseeing and food, our parents have actually stayed at Tg Sepat during the late 60’s. As for how long, well, my mom said it was for less than 2 years while my dad said it’s for a few years. So.. God knows :p Dad was working at that area then, and the employer provided accommodation for him and family too. Mom said the house was a bungalow near the beach and even with a maid too. Both my sisters were there too when they were just a few years old.

So, the trip is like a trip down memory lane for them as they have never been to Tg Sepat for a very long time.

Noticed the name? :p

During the journey, Mom recalled how difficult it was to travel around by public transport, especially when they need to get back to Pusing (our hometown in Perak). She said they need to get a bus from Tg Sepat to the town, and from the town to KL and from KL to Ipoh and Ipoh to Pusing @_@ I can imagine how many hours that would take and imagine buses during that time has go no air cond! And not forgetting with 2 young kids (and pregnant with my bro then) and it gets worse when the kids got motion sickness throughout the journey :s

Turned into the wrong road and passed by this place

Anyways, along the way to Tg Sepat, both Mom and Dad kept telling us their stories when they used to stay at Tg Sepat and wondering if certain shops are still around etc (I doubt so.. since it’s like..more than 40 years ago?!).

Though Tg Sepat is within the state of Selangor, somehow we felt that it’s as far as going back to Ipoh :p We stopped for toilet break (thank God for the clean toilets at the petrol station) and we reached the Lover’s Bridge at around 2pm.

Finally found it!

There are quite a number of stalls selling local products (fish paste, ikan bilis, dried shrimps, keropok etc..)

We are to have our lunch at the Lover’s Bridge Restaurant.

While the rest went to the restaurant, Mom, Nel and I went to the bridge first. Just couldn’t help it as it was so nice and windy there. Nel took the opportunity to snap some photos, which he needs them for work purpose.

Those are small lil' crabs... marching around

When we joined the rest at the restaurant, Bro has already ordered all the food and arrived shortly after we sat down. It is then I realised that I've actually been to this place before with Nel.. about 15 years ago. We used to work together in this company and we went for a company trip to Morib, and we had dinner at this same restaurant. The view during dinner was awesome, during sunset.

While we were having our lunch, a lady approached my mom with all the products she was selling. My mom bought stuff from her - sweet potatoes, ikan bilis and ‘ngan yue jai’ (whitebait fish?).

Food that bro has ordered – steamed fish, tofu in claypot, fried mee hoon with lala, fried oyster and crabs – steamed + kum heong.

Claypot tofu

Fried mee hoon with lala

Steamed fish

Streamed crabs

'Kam Heong' crabs

Fried oyster/egg

Somehow, after we were almost done with all the food, we also wanted to add on fried rice. Nel wanted ‘fried rice with lala and ngan yue jai’.. but the lady at the restaurant said they don’t have ‘ngan yue jai’. Since my mom bought some just now, my bro actually told the lady that we have our own supply :p The lady actually said ok to our ‘customed’ dish :p We gave her a small bowl of ‘ngan yue jai’ to add into the fried rice. The fried rice turned out to be so nice!

*Burp!

After a satisfying lunch, we went for a walk at the bridge again, enjoying the view and wind.

What's a lover's bridge without the lovers right? :p

View of the restaurants from the bridge

The are on the left, is the toilet.... :p

Very nice soft sand

After that, we just relax on the benches under the big tree near the bridge. As Chloe puts it ‘I can sit here forever’ :) We also enjoy some coconut juice… ah…. Bliss…….

Even got TV there

We spent quite a long time to lepak there alone. We thought of catching sunset as well but it was only about 5pm. We have decided to go to the Morib beach and then will come back here for the sunset.

As Dad said, Morib beach is so different now. They’ve built the area like a water front place, with food stalls. There was a carnival going on at that time, so it was quite crowded.

We didn’t stay on for long here and went back to the Lover’s Bridge by 7pm to catch sunset.

It was a beautiful sight… :)

We finally 'seh tak' to leave the place at about 8pm. The journey back home didn’t feel that long though.

We went to pick-up Hayley and went for dinner at City Star. We had our dinner at almost 10pm :p

I hope Mom & Dad enjoyed the trip as much as we did :)

My First Root Canal Treatment (RCT)

2011-06-09T12:45:00.002+08:00

Something that I dread doing... but have to do it in the end.. and left a quite big hole in my pocket :(

I got problem with one of my tooth for quite some time. It's one of the big tooth on the upper jaw. Probably about 2 years back, I went for my regular check-up and the dentist did the filling for 2 teeth. She actually told me this particular tooth got a little bit of cavity.. but she said it's just a small one and can leave it first.. until the next visit (I wish she filled that up for me then!).

And probably, my next visit was quite a long one since then (probably almost a year). I start to feel sensitive at the tooth area. So, I went to the dentist again and she said the cavity is quite big already. @_@ She filled it for me anyways but after 2 weeks, it's still feeling sensitive. I went to the dentist again and she said she'll try to re-fill again but if I still got problem with it means I'll need to do RCT @_@. She quoted RM700 for RCT.

Since then, I didn't go back to the same dentist (I went there at the first place for convenience sake as it was near to by previous office and she wasn't really the best dentist :p).

The reason that I normally go for yearly check-up, so that I can avoid RCT! And so, I've been avoiding for almost a year :p I basically didn't chew anything hard on that area. But, I was preparing for the worse and sourced around for the price for treatment. Got some recommendations from friends and basically, the price all range around RM1,000 onwards. :( Talk about sakit gigi.. even more sakit when you have to pay so much! And since I've never done the treatment before, I was wondering how it was done. So, I googled it... I guess this clip basically describes how the whole treatment goes (watch at own risk! :p) Honestly, I'm not looking forward to such treatment!

I don't really know what the dentist did as all I needed to do was to open my mouth big big.. so, I guess she was doing this to my tooth.

And so.. it dragged on. About 2 months back, I got a chipped tooth. And so happened my bro needed to visit the dentist as well. So, I tagged along to get the chipped tooth fixed. The clinic is located near to my current office too. While at it, I asked the dentist to check that particular tooth and she said it looked OK and I didn't feel the pain when she knocked on the tooth. So, she said wait till it's really giving me problem then will really need to do RCT if I want to keep the tooth.

2 months passed, and I got this massive headache on a Sunday night. The pain won't go away even after taking Panadols. The next day, I started to feel a bit of discomfort at the tooth area. So, I suspected the headache started from the problematic tooth (that actually caused other teeth at the area to feel a bit of pain too @_@).

I called the dentist and made appointment for a check up on the same day after work. This time, I could feel the pain when the dentist knocked on the tooth. Shucks... She recommended RCT if I want to keep the tooth. I didn't want to cabut gigi.. cuz' the last time I did that (when I was a kid), I regretted that cuz' all my teeth at the lower jaw ended up with big gaps. And I didn't like the 'after cabut effect'.

She recommended another dentist (in the same clinic) and quoted me RM1,000 for RCT and RM800 for the crown @_@ That's probably the most expensive out of all the clinics that I've checked earlier. But tentatively, I made appointment to see that doctor (I can cancel later). They gave me some painkillers and some antibiotics for the swelling. At that moment, the headache seems to be more serious than the toothache. But was feeling better after taking the painkillers.

The next day, I start to feel the toothache. Man.. I've never had toothache since I was a kid! (the same incident when I first cabut the gigi that I regretted). But RM1,800 for the whole process is seriously too painful for me. So, I called up another clinic nearby for a quote, and they quoted me RM550 for RCT and RM600 for the crown. OK.. still not cheap but at least cheaper than RM1,800. I made appointment straight away to see the dentist on the following day.

A lot of people told me that RCT is painless cuz' the dentist will use anesthesia. But some dentist would prefer not to use that cuz' when you can't feel the pain, you won't know if you've actually hurt your nerves or gums and once the anesthesia effect is over.. that's when the major pain will come.

So, for my RCT, the dentist didn't use anesthesia. I felt the pain of course but it's not like.. so pain that I'm gonna die type. I could still bear with it. The whole process took almost an hour. I was told to visit them again a week later for the filling. Well, the good news is, the dentist said the tooth can still be filled and no need a crown. Phew! Overall, just need to be careful. I mean in general, as the dentist said, we shouldn't really bite on anything hard as it's bad for our teeth.

I was having soft food that day.. still feeling a bit of pain. But the pain has gone the next day. :D

I went for my 2nd visit yesterday to get the tooth filled. Still feeling a bit sensitive but the dentist said it'll normally go away after about 2 days. I really hope so.

I hope I don't have to go for another RCT. I can say that I've been trying to keep my teeth clean and healthy all this while (though got quite a number of fillings :p). I've been brushing and gargling with Plax in the morning.. and brushing and flossing before going to bed and gargle with water after meal, especially after some sweet food.

So Kids... (and adults who refuse to brush) Better be more rajin now instead of the pain and bomb later :p

Egg Tarts & Chocolate Cake

2011-04-26T21:31:00.000+08:00

I love egg tarts :) I've tried to make egg tarts many years back and it turned out to be quite nice.. tho' looked ugly :p

This time around, HL ajak-ed for another baking session at her place. She found this easy recipe and we gave it a try. HL did most of the measuring while I did the mixing/beating.

It turned out to be not too bad :) .. tho' we can still improve it. Taste was good Since the oven is a bit uneven with the heat, some turned out to be like Portugese tarts.. lol.

For this chocolate cake, I was looking at this 80gm of butter in the fridge, wondering what I could do with it.. on a Sunday. I searched for recipes and finally found one that only requires 80gm of butter! XD Not only that, it's a very simple recipe that doesn't require eggs... and no beating too. It's basically dumping all the ingredients into the pan and just mix it with a fork and bake it for 35 minutes.

and Taa daaa!! here's what I got. From the recipe, I thought it'll be quite dry but.. it turned out to be so moist and nice! :D Yums!!

Phuket Revisited - Day 5

2011-03-02T12:00:00.002+08:00

17 Feb 2011

Buns, sweet & sour drummets, potatoes, and omelette

Can’t believe it it’s already our final day in Phuket :( We went down for breakfast as usual and after that Nel and I went to check out the swimming pool at the 8th floor. The spa is also at the same floor but of course, they won't open so early :p

Just a small pool ...

View from the pool area

We have decided to check out Laem Sing beach while Yuen and Ai Mun have decided to stay in the hotel to pack their stuff. It was around 10am and we planned to be back to the hotel at 11am to pack up and check out.

We first found out about Liem Sing beach from a lady at Wat Chalong. She works at one of the souvenir stalls there. We asked about it cuz’ one of the T-shirts that we saw got the print ‘I love Laem Sing’ on it. So, out of curiousity, we asked her where is Laem Sing. She said the beach is very nice and quiet.

So, we tried to locate the place.. and saw a small sign diverting us to the place but we missed the turn. Since we were going up, we also stopped at Surin beach.

Also nice with crystal clear water and it’s more quiet compared to Patong.

We didn’t give up on Liem Sing yet, so we turned in to the sign that says ‘This way to Laem Sing’. It’s just a small area to park the car and we have to pay 40baht for parking.

Unlike other beaches with a proper big sign, all we found for Laem Sing is this sign....

Instead of getting to park near to the beach like in Surin, we actually have to go down the hill via a path in order to get to Laem Sing beach.

It’s not a big place but definitely nice and quiet as what the lady has described to us. We wish we have discovered this place earlier, instead of on the last day of our stay :/ Other than the nice view of the beach…. There’re also ‘views’ of topless ladies.. sunbathing ;)

A little cafe near the beach

I went to snap some pictures of the place while Nel made friends with one of the guys working there. Who knows.. we might come again next time?

We have to leave after a while so that we can make it back to the hotel to check out. Took us quite some effort to go up the hill.. We were panting like mad.. lol

Our car was parked at this lane.. just next to the hotel

We were back at the hotel by 11.30am and we quickly took a shower and I started to pack everything, hoping that I didn’t leave anything behind.

It was about 12.15noon when we checked out. We were ok to leave after the hotel staff checked our rooms. As we will only be flying at night, we left our luggage at the hotel and then headed to Jungceylon for lunch.

This is like a 'mobile bar'. Saw one of them operating at night serving all sorts of liquor/drinks

Nel and I headed to McD again for Samurai burger :p and told Yuen and Ai Mun that they can go on their own if they prefer something else (they went for KFC - heard the portion is really big that they eat till jelak).

Dunno when we'll get to eat this again... :p

The 2 of us ordered 3 Samurai burgers and a drink instead of ordering the combos. Actually, I only had 1 burger.. while Nel had 2 :p It was nice and comfy at McD as we had our lunch and chit chat/hang out. They have a 'McCafe' there serving drinks/desserts like Starbucks.

I can sit here for the whole day :p

Also had another round of ice cream at Dairy Queen :p

We walked around Jungceylon for a while before we left the place at around 3.30pm.

With some time to kill, I suggested to go to Phuket town but regretted after that. We seems to be always lost in the town and we were stuck in the jam @_@ We ended up getting nothing from the trip and we have to rush back to the hotel to get our luggage before heading to the airport.

We were to hand over the car at the airport at 7pm but we were late. It’s so jammed at the Patong area as well. Argh! We finally reached the airport at almost 8pm. We hand over the car and straight away headed to the counter to check in.

Other counters were occupied by a big group of tourists from China

It’s good thing that we did the mobile check-in earlier, so we can just go to counter 33, just for those who did the self check in already. But instead of the instruction given in the website ie. To scan the bar code at the kiosk to get the boarding pass, we were told to go to Counter 33 straight. Despite that, the queue was quite long. We check-in our luggage and the staff at the counter printed the boarding pass for us.

We straight away headed to our gate. Our flight was 9.15pm and it was already 8.30pm. We haven’t had our dinner yet. Nel and Yuen quickly buy some food and thought we’ll still have time to eat. But the moment Nel sat down, they announced that we can start boarding now @_@

Teriyaki chicken rice... maybe cuz' I was eating so fast.. I couldn't remember how it tastes like already :p

We were getting kan cheong and finished our food ASAP (I think we finished the food in about 10 mins) and boarded the plane. The plane took off at 9pm instead of 9.15pm. We were thinking that, we might as well wait a bit and eat our favourite nasi lemak on board “-_-

Anyways, it was a smooth take off and can’t believe it that we’re already saying bye bye to Phuket… :/

The crew announced that we’ll be 20 mins ahead of schedule :) We touched down at LCCT at about 11.20pm. We didn’t have to queue as we used the auto-gate lane. It was such a fast process but once we reached the luggage collection place…. We noticed that none of the luggage bags were at on the belt yet. It took them more than 30 minutes to finally get the luggage bags out on the belt.

Once we were out from the terminal, we headed to the autopay machine to pay our parking fees.

Guess this will be cheaper than a return trip by airport limo? :p

Before going home we have to drop off Ai Mun at Gombak. It was already 2am when we finally get to sleep after cleaning up.

We enjoyed ourselves a lot during the trip, tho’ it’s tiring and I came home with bruises on my legs :p (for being clumsy when boarding the boats during island hopping). Maybe for once.. I got a bit of tan (not much).

Thanks to my dear for a wonderful and memorable trip for our anniversary / Valentine's Day :)

Until we visit Phuket again………..

A Change @ 1 March 2011

2011-03-01T00:20:00.000+08:00

All I can say is.. wish me luck! :p

*nervous

Phuket Revisited - Day 4

2011-02-28T12:00:00.004+08:00

16 Feb 2011

Our Jazz..... :)

The car will be delivered to us at 9am today. Probably cuz’ we were tired, we got up a bit late and went down for breakfast at around 9.15am. By then, the guys from the car rental company were already there waiting for us. Nel did all the registration and inspection while the rest went for breakfast.

After a few days of quite heavy breakfast... opt for something lighter..

In our last trip, we got a white Honda Jazz. This time around, we also have a Honda Jazz but the newer model :) We planned to return the car at the airport tomorrow and were worried if the boot will be able to fit in our luggage. One look at it… for a small car.. it has a very spacious boot! Definitely can fit in the 2 big luggage bags.. even have more space for more stuff too! So, no more worries ;)

Time to drive around today :) First, we stopped by Patong beach for a while.

Still early.. not many people yet

We went to Blue Marine Resort after that… the place where we stayed for our last trip in 2006. Just to check out how the place looks like now. I think there were some slight changes with the reception area.

Reminded us of the view we got from the room..and from the cafe while enjoying breakfast...

Then, we went to the pool area. What a flash back… We can enjoy the Andaman sea view from our room… café.. and the pool. Think the rates has gone up compared to the last time we came here. The resort is located at the cliff, so it’s more quiet over here compared to the more happening place at Patong. This is the type of place for total relaxation!

Next, we drove to Wat Chalong, reached there at almost 12 noon. Tho’ we went there before but guess it’s worth a visit again. The first thing we did was to get some coconut drinks :p Then we checked out the souvenir stalls before going up to the building.

Forgot how many coconuts we had throughout our trip :p The Uncle also helped us to cut it open so that we can have the isi too

When we left Wat Chalong, we noticed a sitting Buddha at the top of the hill. We have decided to go there to check it out. We got a map for guidance and once we’re going towards the direction, we saw signboards leading us to the Big Buddha.

Passed by a rubber estate

It could be difficult to locate the place if not for the signboards. It led us to some small roads.. then up the hill.

Along the way, we saw some elephants (think you can go for some elephant tracking there) and also noticed a number of cafes. And it’s such a nice view from the hill! So, we have decided that once we’re done visiting the Big Buddha, we’ll have our lunch at one of the cafes there.

As we were getting nearer and nearer to the Big Buddha… the Buddha is getting bigger and bigger :p We parked our car there and walked in. Seems that the construction of the Big Buddha is not quite complete yet. They were still trying to get fund to complete the construction.

We went up the stairs and saw this Big Buddha there… quite an amazing piece of work, built with marble. But what we enjoyed the most, was the view from the hill and the very strong and cool wind, topped with the sounds from the wind chimes. I think it’s a great place to meditate ;), we spent about 30 minutes just enjoying the wind while sitting on a rock.

As planned earlier, we headed down and had lunch at one of the cafes that we saw earlier.

Decided to eat at this place

Food wise, it might not be the best.. but it’s really so nice to chill and hang out there. We had tropical fried rice (pineapple fried rice, noodles in soup, cashew nut chicken and tom yam).

We headed to Phuket town after that, hoping to find the shop where we bought honey from (in our last visit) but as usual, we always get sesat every time we’re at the town. We gave up as it’s going to be 6pm. We have to rush to Phromptep Cape to catch sunset.

The place was so crowded. Nel bought some snacks from the stalls – BBQ chicken. The thing is, the food sort of attracted the dogs.. and one of them kept following us wherever we went.

We managed to catch the sunset and like a cinema.. once the ‘show’ is over, every body left the place.

I was still holding on to the piece of BBQ chicken.. and guess what? The dog managed to tracked us down even after we went downstairs. For its persistence, I shared the chicken with the dog :p I don’t eat the skin anyway… and gave some of meat to the dog too. After I got up from the place where I was seated (while eating the chicken), the dog actually went to the spot and ‘marked its territory’. lol

It was almost 8pm already. We drove to Rawai for dinner. We had a great dinner at this place in our last visit and here we are again. We can’t quite remember which restaurant that we went to, so er, we just went based on our instinct and what we could remember ie. Well lid with fluorescent tubes, and picnic on the sand. We saw a familiar place and decided to eat there.

We noticed that most of the diners were locals. We were given a menu in Thai...

We asked for an English menu instead.... and they serve 'stream' dishes... :p

The first thing we ordered was a large bottle of Coke (we ended up having 2 litres of Coke and a litre of Pepsi - think this must be my only time having so much of Coke :s)

Then, we ordered tom yam, chicken with cashew nuts, minced pork with basil, mango salad, garlic prawns and pad thai. We were afraid that everything will be too spicy for us, so we asked for everything to be less spicy.

Everything is so yummy! Each of us seem to have a favourite dish. Nel likes the minced pork with basil (meat is soft and juicy and full of flavours with the basil), Yuen likes the garlic prawns (with very aromatic fried garlic), Ai Mun likes the chicken with cashew nuts and for me, being fan of pad thai, likes the pad thai. The mango salad was not bad too – very appetizing but the tom yam is not too great tho’. Maybe cuz’ we asked for less spicy.. so.. it’s not that oomph!

We enjoyed our dinner a lot while hanging out. There were mosquitoes tho’. Good thing I brought along insect repellent ;)

I took a picture of the restaurant… to make sure that we remember this place if we’re to come again next time.

We drove back to Patong after that, passing by Kata and Karon. As we’re back at the busy Patong, we noticed all the stalls at the night market. We parked our car nearby and went to check out the night market. There were a lot of food stalls selling all sorts of food, including fried insects! Then, game stalls and also stalls selling stuff of all kinds, like clothes, shoes, bags, lamps, souvenirs..etc. The only thing I bought here is a 3D puzzle for my niece while Nel bought a new pair of Bermudas. We were too full from dinner to have anymore food.

Insects anyone?

A stall selling T-Shirts with funny/perverted prints

It's scary to see people simply throwing the darts while the dude arranging the balloons will just walk around.. it's as if the dart is gonna hit his head!

People playing Bingo too

Other than the many things to see here.. there were a lot of hot chicks to please our eyes too :p We went back to our hotel at almost 12 midnite.

Front desk of the hotel

Again.. I tried my luck to loan a hair dryer and yes.. finally… they have 1 available!

The lobby.... where we can use WiFi for free. Just need to get the password from the frontdesk

Normally on a day before check-out, I would start to pack our stuff but I was too tired. I put on a facial mask for Nel and I actually fell asleep :p So er.. the mask was left on his face till he woke up to go to the toilet. The mask was already all dried (supposed to put on for up to 30 minutes only). Oops!

Chocolate Cupcakes & Pound Cake

2011-02-26T14:21:00.000+08:00

Still in the mood to bake :p

Baked some chocolate cupcakes on 22 Feb, and since it was also HL's birthday, I gave a tray of them to her. Was told they're yummy :)

Dare not spread so much of frosting on top... and I ended having a tub of them in the fridge now ... what to do with them?

And just today... I baked pound cake. Nel and I love the butter cake from one of the bakeries. So, I'm giving this a shot to see how it goes. It turned out to be moist and yummy! And the whole house still got the aroma from the baking.. hehe

Nel couldn't wait to taste.. and had 2 slices tho' I've just transferred it onto the wire rack... it was still warm, and the brown sides were crispy

Not bad for a first time for both recipes. Shall keep them in my own 'recipe' book for future use ;)

Phuket Revisited - Day 3

2011-02-25T16:24:00.001+08:00

15 Feb 2011

I woke up at 6am! I went for shower before waking Nel up for his turn after that. I’ve packed stuff that we need… most importantly.. sunblock and my 'first aid kit' (at least got some panadols.. platers..etc)

We went for breakfast at almost 7am (breakfast started at 6.30am at the hotel). While eating, we kept a look out for any drivers.. who might be the person who’ll be picking us up for the tour.

After breakfast, we went to the front desk to loan some towels (we can loan 2 for a day / room). Yuen got 2 towels and when I asked for it, the guy at the front desk said he only has one left.. unless I want to wait till 8.30am for more towels. I obviously can’t wait till so late.. so, I took the last towel. Guess I’ll have to share that with Nel. We also left some of our valuables at the front desk, to be put in the security box. The guy at the tour counter at the airport told us that we don’t need to bring much.. long as we got towels, sunblock.. cameras… and since lunch will be provided, we don’t even need to bring money.

The driver came with a 11 seater van

We waited for the driver at the lobby. We saw a driver picking up some guests and we showed him our flyer. And Yeps.. he’s the one who’s picking us up. Other than the 4 of us, there’re 2 couples who also joined the same tour. The driver also stopped to pick up another couple along the way. The whole journey to Rassada Harbour is about an hour.

Once at the port, we saw a lot of other tourists who’re joining the tour… most of them were Mat Sallehs.

Name of the tour company - Friendship Sea Tour Co Ltd... Each of us were given this sticker to stick on our shirt

The ship that we'll be boarding...

We boarded the ship at about 9am and departure at about 9.15am. We were first told that the whole tour will have 70 people in the ship. Looks like it.. cuz’ the ship looks full. Most of the Mat Sallehs occupied the open deck.. for some sun... and here we are.. trying to avoid the sun as much as possible :p

The ‘Captain’ made an announcement, introducing himself and the rules ie. To follow instruction, time, putting on life jacket etc.. We were served with hot tea / coffee with some cookies.

We've finished the cookies before I snapped the pic :p

In the ship.. waiting for departure. We also shared the table with a Mat Salleh with his little son. They were playing UNO. I asked the rest.. how it's like if we're to playing Jengga? LOL!

We bought some bread (to feed fish) from one of the staff and also paid 100baht deposit for a locker, to put our stuff in. Yuen has the key tied on his (water-proof) watch.

The first destination is Khai Island. The journey is about 30 minutes. As the ship is big, it has to stop somewhere near the island and all of us will need to be transferred into long boats.

The long boat..

Once at the island, there were a lot of benches with umbrellas. We were told that we need to pay if we want to use the bench.

But we were only given 1 hour’s time on this island.. who would have time to use the bench? :p We took our snorkeling masks and headed to one of the rocks, to put our stuff on.

The sand is not so smooth on this island and also has quite a lot of rocks. The island was very crowded and a lot of people were snorkeling and feeding the fishes. I can’t swim (still can’t swim after so long :p) so, I didn’t go far while the rest went further a bit. Managed to have some close encounter with some fishes. There were quite a lot of left over bread floating on the water.. so er, we just picked those up and feed the fish :p I hold the bread and let the fishes swim by and started to eat the bread.. occasionally getting some pecks on my fingers by the fishes. Yuen said he saw a baby shark too! And with all the rocks there, Yuen got a cut on his foot and it was bleeding. I remember bringing along some Hansaplast but it’s in the locker. So, told him to wash the wound and put on a plaster later.

Sure enough, after 1 hour, we were called back to the ship.. :/ Time flies especially when you’re having a good time. Sigh.. We were transported back to the big ship by long boats.

Once back at the ship (at almost 12noon), we were served with lunch. I just realized that I didn’t take any pictures of the food :p It’s just a simple lunch with rice, fried fish fillet, vege and some fruits (pineapples! and watermelons). We have free flow of water and soft drinks.

The next destination is Maya Bay.. and the journey will be about 1 hour. I took a nap, resting my head on the table. The sea was quite rough at that moment and the poor brothers got sea sick. It’s good thing that the staff gave everybody a plastic bag.. just in case :p And it came in useful lol. Maybe it’s good thing that I was asleep.. otherwise… I would join in to puke :p (I’m the type of person who will puke too if I see other people puke).

We have 2 options while at Maya Bay ie. Snorkeling around the ship, or be transported to the beach by long boat. We chose beach instead… tho’ we can see the fishes swimming around in the very crystal clear water.

We were only given 30 minutes here.

The sand is so smooth on this island :) I only dipped in up to above knee levels cuz’ I was carrying my cameras. While the rest were having fun in the water, I went around snapping pictures.

We also found some sea cucumbers… and Yuen ‘rescued’ them by gently moving them into deeper waters so that they won’t be washed off to the shore.. dried up.. and die.. :p I tried to touch it a bit.. it’s kinda geli.

Saw a lady who actually 'packed' some sand in a plastic bag to be brought back. The Captain found out.. and confiscated the bag of sand :p .. poured the sand out and threw away the plastic bag.

30 minutes passed very fast. Sigh… but some of the inconsiderate people actually held up the whole schedule as we were waiting for this family to board the boat. The Captain sounded them, as they made the rest of the people waited for them.

Maybe next time can opt for this.. smaller group.. no need to wait so long

Next will be just sight seeing around Phi Phi Lay Island, Ao Loh Samah, Ao Bi-leh and Viking cave. Saw the cave where all the bird nests came from.

After about 45 minutes, we reached Phi Phi Don Island. Each of us need to pay 20baht, as a fee for them to clean the island. Both Nel and I didn’t bring any cash … and it’s good thing that Yuen brought along his pouch :p Otherwise, we won’t have money to pay them :p

It’s just free and easy in the island. There were a lot of stalls selling souvenirs. Since we didn’t bring money…. can ‘han fan’ :p We were given 1 hour to spend on this island (I wish we could spend more time at Maya Bay and less time on Phi Phi Don). We were told to be back to the ship at 4pm.

Once back at the ship, we realised that we were still holding on to the bread that we bought earlier. So er.. we just tear them into small pieces and threw them into the sea.. to feed the fish. Suddenly one bugger threw in a watermelon skin... "-_- Feel like scolding the fellar.

And this will be our last stop. And guess what? The journey from Phi Phi Don back to Phuket will take more than 2 hours @_@

The 'crew' - taking their shower at the back of the ship... they were not holding on to anything :s

And this time, instead of sitting in the ship with air cond, we chose to sit outside instead for some wind and enjoy the view. The journey is like taking forever! At one point, the ship stopped. We were worried if the ship got any problem. Skali, the Captain came up and asked all the people sitting on one side of the ship to move.. cuz' it's making the ship unbalance :p (cuz' 1 side is shaded while the other side is under the hot sun lol).

Can blow dry my hair too :p

Perhaps if we’re to go for such activities again, we can opt for speed boat instead (tho’ rate will be more expensive). Cuz’ for a big ship, we spent most of the time waiting for other passengers and also waiting to be transported by long boat while the speedboat will be good enough to go near to the beach and it can accommodate to only a small group of people. So, less waiting time. It is also faster in terms of speed. I think for the whole tour, we spent more time for the journey instead of having fun at the islands.

It was about 6.30pm when we reached Rassada harbour and the driver sent us back to our hotel.

Our ride..

We were extremely hungry (especially for the brothers… after they puke their lunch :p). We were in a hurry too cuz’ our booking at Let’s Relax is at 8.30pm. It will take almost an hour to reach our hotel.

Once back at the hotel, I tried my luck again for a hair dryer and again, the reply from front desk was ‘no have’. We returned the towels and got back our stuff from the security box. We rushed to our room and cleaned up. We survived with just some chips that we bought yesterday as we got no time for dinner yet.

Instead of walking to Let’s Relax, we stopped a Tuk Tuk and we managed to reach there at about 8.15pm … phew!

Terror ride in a Tuk Tuk :p

We made the payment by credit card before the treatment. The service was very good and the staff attended to us with friendly smile. One of the staff brought slippers for us to change and then we have to go to the basin area to get our feet washed.

The 3 will be doing a 2 hours Thai massage, while I opt for a package which includes foot and hand reflexology and shoulder/back massage for 1 hour 30 minutes. All the sessions are 700baht per person (RM70 for 2 hours.. ok wert?).

I was escorted to the upper floor and got seated at one of those single sofas. It feels great to get some massage especially after such a tiring day at the sea. But the massage style is slightly different from what I got yesterday. It’s my first time doing hand reflexology (for 15 mins). It’s quite good. Then it’s time for my back/shoulder massage. I have to sit at another chair, designed for back massage. I didn’t quite enjoy this session tho’. Again, it’s kinda painful!

Once done, I went to the lobby to wait for the rest. I was served with hot tea and 2 cashew nut cookies. Just nice as I was so hungry! They served the same to the rest once they’re done with the massage. Nel said it was a good session…

By the time we’re ready to leave Let’s Relax, it was already 11pm. We were hoping to grab some food at Banzaan again but it was too late.. most stalls were closed already. Jungceylon was closed too. We dropped by a Family Mart again for more water and also bought a pack of chips. At least something to munch first. As we walked, we get to see the night life around that area.

I suggested McD as I saw the sign nearby. At that point.. anything will do as we were so hungry!!

McThai sounds like 'Mrs Mac' in Cantonese

It is no wonder that an article I read some time back, said that our Big Mac is the cheapest in the world :p Cuz’ as we looked at the combo, everything cost around 160baht. While everything is similar to what we have here, something caught my eyes and I knew Nel would love this. I saw ‘Samurai Pork Burger’! in the menu! All of us ordered that. Can’t believe it that McD meals for 4 = 628baht!

But the burger was really really good…. It’s been a long time since McD in Malaysia served Samurai burger (chicken instead of pork).

We like the big plastic cups too.. and brought them back with us. Nel didn’t allow us to eat so much of fries (don’t want us to get too heaty especially with such hot weather).. so we gave them up… and left.

We walked back to the hotel… and went to bed after cleaning up…. (after makan straight away sleep :p).

Phuket Revisited - Day 2

2011-02-22T23:44:00.000+08:00

14 Feb 2011

The first greeting from my dearie today.. ‘Happy Anniversary!’ :)

Dining area at the hotel

We went for breakfast at 8am. Food was quite ok.. with the usual sausage, ham, bacon, eggs and some local dishes like fried noodles, rice etc. We noticed most of the guests staying in the hotel were all Mat Sallehs. And I think they’re big fans of tropical fruits – from seeing how every plates of pineapples and water melons kena sapu-ed by them. We love the pineapples too… it doesn’t have that ‘itchy’ feel on the tongue after eating and it’s sweet.

Very nice and sweet pineapples :) our dose of Vitamin C hehehe

After breakfast, we hang out at the lobby. I was checking with the front desk if I could make a local call and they told me it’ll be charged at 20 baht per minute @_@ and I can only make the call at the front desk (we can only call room-to-room from the phone in our room). I might as well make the call using the free sim card that we got yesterday. I remember in my last visit, the hotel allowed us to make phone calls from the room and it only cost us 10baht per local call.

Anyways, main thing is to call up the tour company for our Phi Phi Island trip cuz’ when we first signed up for the package, we informed them that our hotel is APK Resort. So, I have to update them we have shifted to APK Resort & Spa so that they can pick us up the next day. By the time I’m done with the call, we’re already running low on credits. Yuen went to the nearby Family Mart to top up the credits – 150baht.

While at it, we also tried to call some car rental companies, hoping to be able to rent a car. In our last visit in 2006, we have no problem at all renting a car once we arrived. But this time around, most of the cars are fully booked. Maybe cuz’ it’s peak season this time. We got 1 contact that still has a car available but rate seems to be higher a bit. We KIV that while we went out to jalan jalan.

The cables are really scary. Occasionally, I'll hear some 'sparking' sounds :s

We walked to Jungceylon, a shopping complex about 10 minutes walk from our hotel.

I saw Swensen’s there… thinking of the 59baht ice cream that we had in our last visit :p But nopes… no special promo and the price is about the same as in Malaysia. So, we didn’t go for it this time but went for a cheaper option at Dairy Queen. We are a fan of their sundae cone.. so, we had one each.. mine of course, was coated with chocolate :p

After we have cooled down a bit, we walked around Jungceylon for a while and also went to Carrefour to grab some snacks, water and also multi plugs. We were hoping that the hotel will be able to loan us a multi-plug but their reply was ‘no have’. Hmmph…

We then continue to explore Patong. It was so hot and sunny! Along the way, we kept a look out for any rent-a-car service but unfortunately…. They’re all out of cars for rent :/

We also rest a bit near the beach while we had some BBQ corns and some coconut water. Nel also tried the BBQ pork ribs. I didn’t try cuz’ ribs with fatty meat are not quite my thing.

Huge corns... I felt so full after I finished 1 corn...

BBQ pork ribs

Then, we tried to locate ‘Let’s Relax’ for our massage session. After a long walk and after calling them twice for direction…. We finally found it! By then, we were totally exhausted, hoping that they still have some available timeslot for today.. but.. they’re fully booked! :( So, we made booking for 8.30pm the next day instead.

While we were resting a bit over there, Nel called up the car rent company to confirm our booking. They will send the car to us on 16 Feb and we will return it on 17 Feb at the airport.

Sawadeekrap! Somehow Ronald looks different here....

We walked back to Jungceylon after that… and realized that ‘Let’s Relax’ is actually quite near to Jungceylon… and here we were.. walking one big round to reach there.. “-_-

Also saw this sign at one of the streets

At first, we thought of having dinner at the food court but once at the food court, we saw a massage centre next to the food court. All of us were so tired after all the walking and tho’ we have signed up for massage at Let’s Relax tomorrow… we walked-in for at least .. a foot massage.

Rates are much cheaper here. I only go for foot + back shoulder massage (for 250baht an hour).. while the rest went for 1 hour Thai massage (350baht). It’s a small place, and those who’re doing Thai massage got into a bed area.. divided by just curtains. As for me, I just need to sit at one of those single sofas outside. First, you have to take off your shoes and then go to a basin area for them to wash your feet. You just need to sit there and they’ll wash for you :p

I quite enjoyed the foot massage. 3 people actually attended to me.. first 2 were ladies who put the massage oil on my legs and then the last one was a man who did most of the massage. It’s so good when I could feel the ‘crack’ on both legs.. phew! After he’s done with the foot massage, he asked me to sit on the stool, and started to massage my back/shoulder. It’s actually quite painful :s But quite a relief after the foot massage :) Next up… we were hunting for food. Once we got out of Jungceylon, we saw this crowd across the road. We went over to check it out and guess what? We found a night market just near the Banzaan Fresh Market.

The first thing that we ordered was sticky rice with mango! Then we also ordered Pad Thai, noodles and shaved ice … yums! The lady selling noodles could actually speak Mandarin :)

We walked around the place after that and found out there’re quite a number of stalls at the other side.

But most of the stuff are fried/bbq and we wanted to go easy with our throat :p We tried the ‘pancakes’ (yums!), some fried popiah looking thing and some ice blend drinks.

Check out the carrier for the drinks...

The boxing stadium is just opposite of Banzaan

We walked back to our hotel at about 7pm. Tried to loan a hair dryer from the front desk and again.. their reply was ‘no have’… “-_- At times like this, I wish I’ve brought along my own dryer.

As I was all soaked in sweat, I went for shower straight away. Once I got out from the shower… I saw some roses on the table… Dearie gave that to me with a Happy Valentine’s Day wish :)

So er.. it’ll take some time for my hair to dry. We rested.. watched some TV and I started to pack some stuff for our Phi Phi Island trip tomorrow. They will pick us up at 7.45am.. so, we gotta make sure we have enough rest/sleep tonight for a long day tomorrow….

Phuket Revisited – Day 1

2011-02-20T15:57:00.001+08:00

Back in October 2010, I was suggesting to Nel that we can probably celebrate our 11th Anniversary/Valentine’s Day in Phuket. He said Yes! right away as both of us would really love to visit Phuket again.

We also ajak-ed Nel’s bro, Yuen and he also said yes right away.. and his girlfriend, Ai Mun will also join us.

After browsing the AirAsia website, I finally made the purchase of the return air tickets together with accommodation/breakfast. And since we wanted to celebrate our anniversary/Valentine’s Day in Phuket, our departure date will be 13 Feb 2011 and return on 17 Feb 2011. There’re no specific promo at that time but I guess what we got is still quite reasonable. The hotel that I’ve booked is located at Patong, supposed walking distant to the happening places in Patong.

A day before our departure, we tried to Mobile Check-In. As we can mobile check in up to 7 days before departure, we also check-in for our return flight. All we got is a confirmation and a bar code in the phone which we’re supposed to scan it at the kiosk later.

13 Feb 2011

For once, we’ll be flying at night @ 8:15pm and also for once, we’ll be driving to LCCT instead of taking a cab. We left our house at around 6pm in our Livina, which will have ample space for the 4 of us and our 2 big luggage bags. And what we’ll do with our Livina? We’ll park it at LCCT for 4 days :p (I think the fare for a cab for 4 + 2 big luggage bags x 2 ways will be more expensive than the parking fee at LCCT).

Once at LCCT, instead of going to the kiosk, we went to the AirAsia counter instead… Cuz’ there’s no one queuing there at all :p After the quick check-in, we went to grab some food. It was already 7pm, and we wanted something fast, so we ended up at Mary Brown for a quick bite before boarding.

We took off at about 8.30pm… and it was raining quite heavily. Quite a rough take off with the weather condition like that.

Not long after that, the crew were serving food and for Nel, he must not feel hungry while flying :p So, he ordered the chicken rice set, which also include drinks, and a fortune cookie. I was so eager to crack the fortune cookie but after that… I can’t find any ‘fortune’ in it… :/ Nel said I got no fortune “-_-

And in no time, the captain announced that we’ll touch down soon. Time really ‘flies’… lol

Once at the terminal, I grabbed some maps which will be useful when need to drive around. We were stopped by a lot of people for a cab and this lady brought us to a counter, offering us packages to Phi Phi Island …etc.. The catch is, if we sign up for any of the packages, they will provide us a cab to send us to our hotel.

Since a visit to Phi Phi Island is already in the plan, we signed up for it for 15 Feb 2011. The tour includes visit to Khai Island, Maya Bay and Phi Phi Island, lunch and they will also pick us up from hotel and send us back to hotel after the tour.

They also gave us this free sim card that we can use while in Phuket :) We can always top up at any 7-Eleven

We took a Camry to our hotel, which normally cost 750baht. We chatted with the cab driver throughout the journey.

The cabbie sent us to APK Resort where we’ll be staying. It was about 10pm (Phuket time) when we reached there. I went to the reception counter to do the check-in but we waited for almost an hour to get things sorted out. Apparently, we’ll be staying at their sister hotel - APK Resort & Spa instead. I didn’t know what’s going on here.. they probably overlooked my booking or something but they provided transport to send us to APK Resort & Spa, which is just about 5 minutes drive from where we were. I didn’t mind, cuz’ according to the rates at the AirAsia website, it is supposed to be more expensive than APK Resort, and at a better location :p

Once at the hotel, while checking in, I asked the front desk why it’s changed to this hotel instead. I was told that the booking made is under APK group, so it can be APK Resort or APK Resort & Spa (but my booking confirmation clearly stated it’s APK Resort). Both hotels are supposed to be 3 stars, but everything looks neat and nice to me.

Noticed the see thru' glass? If you don't enjoy giving 'free show', you can always lower the blinds at the toilet.

After leaving our luggage in our room, we went out hunting for food. It was already very late at night and we’re not familiar with the place yet. So, we just walked to a stall near by for dinner (or rather.. supper) But the food is not nice tho’ :p

Stir-fried kai lan, and prawns with garlic.

Fish.. also with garlic?

We also dropped by Family Mart (just nearby) to grab some bottles of mineral water before going back to the hotel. We cleaned up and sleep soon after, looking forward to a great day tomorrow……

During CNY 2011...

2011-02-19T19:27:00.001+08:00

CNY... as usual, the time to celebrate, spend some precious time with loved ones and pig out! :p

Eve of CNY

Unlike the previous years, where Mom will cook up a storm in the kitchen... this year, we had our reunion dinner at a restaurant instead. It's really tiring to prepare food for so many people.. so, I think it's time for Mom to have a break :)

We went to our usual 'Sun Seng' Restaurant but we can only order the set dinner as per their CNY menu.

After dinner... also had pizza for supper... @_@

1st Day of CNY

Mom cooked a vegetarian dish for today. Every year, we'll be vegetarian for a day. The thing is, I have something pending that I need to do at the office.. so er.. I actually went to my office on the 1st day of CNY to settle everything. Nel sent me to office and YH and HL also tag along.. hoping to have durian smoothie (we were lucky as the cafe was opened even on public holiday).

I spent the whole day at Mom's. Hayley got this pack of 'stuff' that I find so familiar..... it's something that I played a lot as a kid....

Blowing bubbles!

2nd Day of CNY

Again, usual Mom will also cook up a storm for lunch on the 2nd day of CNY. This year.. instead of all the hassle, we ordered pizza for lunch :p

3 large + 3 regular pizzas for the price of 3 large pizzas... for the 11 of us

Dinner at home...

After dinner, played a round of Monopoly with Nel and Yuen... I won 3.4k in cash... (not including all the properties :p)

3rd Day of CNY

I tried to bake chocolate lava again (after the first failed attempt - being over cooked without the lava effect). But this time around... it's just perfect! :) The chocolate just ooze out nicely from the centre... yums!

We had vegetarian food for dinner at Nanking Restaurant.

Vegetarian Yee Sang

4th Day of CNY

Had a 'small' Yee Sang at home... it's from those yee sang in a box that someone gave us...

Again.. in the mood to bake, I tried to bake vanilla cupcakes again (after the 1st failed attempt - being undercooked). And this time.. success!! and tastes really good. Li San and family came and we've actually finished the first round of cupcakes :p Since it's quite easy to make, I baked another round of cupcakes :p

Then brought some over to my Mom's.... as we'll be having dinner there. Had this huge portion of yee sang that KC prepared...

Then had some fried noodles prepared by KC.

10th Day of CNY

Met up with some friends for yet another Yee Sang session / lunch at Esquire Kitchen. We ordered their set meal for RM118.. excluding the Yee Sang.

On the same day, we have another dinner at Sun Seng again with Li San's family.

Now that I realise.. I had 6 sessions of Yee Sang this year.. :p With great food most of the time.. comes this big tummy too... :s how ar?

Bye Bye Birdie...

2011-02-11T23:09:00.003+08:00

Bye Bye Birdie... after 13 years...

In The Mood to Bake!

2011-01-30T19:54:00.001+08:00

Went to HL's place again yesterday for yet another masak-masak session.

HL wanted to baked some 'bunnies cookies' while I wanted to try to make some cupcakes. HL agreed with the cupcakes plan as she, also been wanting to make some.

We started with cupcakes first. We were worried that it won't turn out to be good but surprisingly.... it's actually quite ok, considering it was our first attempt with cupcakes. The only downside... some of the cupcakes were undercooked. Guess the heat of the oven is a bit uneven.

I shall keep this recipe and try again next time as I really love the cupcake texture.. very nice and smooth... and tastes really good. It's good thing that we reduced the sugar as we expect the frosting to be very sweet. Actually we're not really keen on eating the frosting but just for the sake of decorating the cupcakes :p

Once done with cupcakes.. and after we had one for our supposed 'lunch'.. we continued with the bunnies. HL prepared all the ingredients and my bro, Chloe and I helped out with the deco.. which took us quite some effort cuz' the choco rice are so small.. and our fingers are so big! :p

Just some of the many bunnies :p Was too busy decorating and I didn't snap much pics

Simply adore them so much!

And today, we finally went for our CNY shopping :p Also bought some ingredients for another baking session. Can't seem to find any walnuts @_@ So, I bought almonds instead.

Crunchy... full of oats.. and almonds! - Is there such a thing as 'healthy' cookies? :p

I've decided to give this a try - Oatmeal cookies. Again.. I reduced the sugar and my.. the whole mixture is so full of oats! and raisins and nuts! :p Quite an easy recipe and it took me about 1 hour to bake 4 trays of cookies. It's good thing my oven is quite big and I got 2 trays :p

I guess enough of baking for now.. :p And now.. I'm off to watch Junior Masterchef Australia ;) (I think we really got inspired by the kids to cook/bake! :p)

'Built' 2 Houses and Ate 'em!

2011-01-26T18:05:00.000+08:00

7 January 2011

It was a Friday and I was on leave.. and Friday is normally the 'Arts & Crafts Day" for Chloe. So, with itchy hands, I went over to HL's place again to main masak-masak.

We wanted to try to bake the lava cake (which didn't have the lava effect :p) and at the same time, we also 'built' 2 houses.

HL bought this earlier and been wanting to do this for Chloe. It's really cheap to buy this after Christmas as they've slashed the price so much!

Chloe so excited

The box has got all the ingredients and candies for deco. All we need to do was to melt the marshmallow and butter and mix in the rice pops. Then put them into the 'house tray' to form the house shape.

Yes! I'm ready!!! Let's get busy!

Best part was - the decorations! There're some colourful candies and 2 tubes of icing.

So, HL and Chloe decorated 1, while I decorated the other.

Chloe trying to get some inspiration...

Tho' seems to be quite sayang to eat the 'house'.. but.. we ate it anyway :p It's really yummy :p~ but we ate mainly the rice pops cuz' the candies are either very hard (we dun fancy 'em too sweet) while some are way too 'spicey' for us.

House decorated by HL and Chloe

And the house decorated by me... not very creative la

The 3 of us ate 1 house.. and we saved another for YH later :)

Neighbours.. :)

hmm.. let me try..

oooo.. yummy!

Looking forward for another masak-masak session... :)