Precious 50 hours in Kuching

11/11/11 was a special day, which will only occur in another thousand year. I chose to be in two lands on this day, half of it in Singapore and the other half in my loveable hometown, Kuching!

From the moment I landed on Borneo, I only have 50 hours to spend (including sleeps) before I step my feet back to reality a.k.a work life!

After putting down my oh-so-light baggage, I quickly took charge of my car, and went out for lunch with my mum. I was so happy to be back on my wheels, at least for a while.

We drove all the way to town, hoping to eat one of my favourite dish, Belacan BeeHoon near Song Kheng Hai Hawker Centre. Unfortunately it's closed. So we went back to a place near my house for our long-awaited glorious lunch.

We had Sotong Kangkong, Belacan BeeHoon, Rojak, Prawn Crackers. In addition to that, we had Ais Kachang and carrot juice with milk! Imagine, me and my mum finished them ALL! We could hardly walk properly as if someone bumped towards our stomach, things would spilled out. Nyeh!

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12 years ago, on 9th September 1999 (9-9-99), I was still in Primary Six, and we all think it was a special day with all the nines. Us and our form teacher Mdm Chua decided on a reunion on 11th November 2011 (11-11-11). When time comes, we still remember, at least some of us. My cousin, who used to be my classmates for six years, organised this reunion. I flew back on this day and was really looking forward to meet friends whom I've not met for 12 years!!

The boys!


The girls!

And we presented a gift to our form teacher, Mdm Chua, by our ex-class monitor who is also my cousin, Calvin.


All of us on the Reunion Night! We started of with a little bit of shyness, people just talk to people next to them, sticking to their own seats. Girls talked to the girls, and guys to the guys. I must admit, as some of the people came in, I have to quietly ask the person next to me, 'what's his name, again? I remember his face but I couldn't remember his name.', in return I also get 'Erm, I don't know, too!'. Sooner, I heard people calling his name and all the flasback returns! After dinner, people walked about, and keep chatting and chatting, trying to catch up what's missing in the past 12 years. It was filled with laughter that none of us even bother to sing Karaoke as we thought catching up with one another is a lot more important!

If you notice, there's actually a baby boy in the picture. He's son of two of our classmates who fate to tie their knot in the end! Lovely!

The most classic thing I heard thoughout the night was the guy who used to sat next to me in class, Jeremiah (he's the one standing next to me in the above photo), said that I'm now shorter than him, and it sounded pretty unbelieveable to him. FYI, me and a few girls in primary school used to be tallest in class, beating all the guys. He kept mention that how can I be possibly shorter than him, all night! Anyway, I accept the fact that I've not grow any taller since secondary school, but guys are meant to me taller right?

Our form teacher, Mdm Chua, also brought along 'The Book' where we wrote our wishes to her before graduate from primary school. She remembered mine clearly as I put a photo for her, haha, super 'kiasu'! I never remember I did it until I saw it. Xoxo


More photos before we left. On far right, she's Adeline and is my BFF since primary school. And the girl next to her, in electric blue shirt, she, Siaw Yun used to be my best friend in primary class, too! Now we're reunited and we have to keep in touch!


Since 11-11-11 is a special day, I'd take a picture with my long time BFF, Adeline!! Woohoo!! Xox

The night ended with lots of joys and some of them asked me to go for a drink thereafter but too bad I had a wedding to attend to the next morning.

We all should keep in touch, making some effort to get along, and say, we meet up again during Chinese New Year?

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12th November 2011 (Saturday)

Mum dragged me out of bed as early as 5.30am. Yes, it's 5.30am!!! So early that the last time I woke up this early was the time I was still in Glasgow ready to depart for Malaysia. (T.T).

It was all for my cousin, Fiona's wedding. She was looking all pretty, and it's my pleasure to be there to see her tied her knot with her now-husband, Christopher.

FYI, my dad was one of the photographer for the wedding. :D

The lovely bride and groom!

We joy a holy matrimony of Fiona and Christopher in a Methodist church in Kuching. So happy for her and let her marriage long-lived!

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For lunch, I caught up with my Aunts for lunch. I've not seen one of my aunt for more than a year now and she's now back in Kuching for good. It's always good to catch up with them!

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Wedding dinner reception @ Hilton Kuching!

And that's me and my pretty cousin, Fiona, and her husband, Christopher.
And I looked so big when taking picture with them. Errr, maybe it's time for me to,.... control my too-good-weird-digestive appetite!

And, of course, this whole trip being back home is to be with my beloved family- my mum and dad!! The trip was short but I'm sure for time to come we would have more time to spend together! Love you, mum and dad!! XOXO

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13th November 2011 (Sunday)

I went for my usual church service in St Thomas Cathedral, Kuching. There I get to catch up with some friends and church members. Even my Revd was shocked to see me back, thought that I'm not used to Singapore and decided to go back to Kuching for good.

At 3-ish pm, I was sent to the airport, and it ended my short trip back to my exquisite-irreplaceable Kuching. It's a place I called home.

Where would you like to travel to?

I would say that I am a very lucky girl to be able to travel to many places in Europe during my studies here in Great Britain. I am from Malaysia, and honestly, the one and only country that I have been to in Asia is Singapore, which is just about 1.25 hours away by flight. Even in Malaysia, I've only been to Kuala Lumpur and its near proximity, and not the lovely island that many people might have already been to, i.e. Redang Island and Langkawi Island.

In short, I really enjoy my stay in UK with all the exposures I get, seeing different cities and of course, to study hard.

With my passion of travel, I love to read Yahoo! Travel Featured Articles section, to find out interesting tips, places to go and fun stuff about travels. One main thing about travel is that you need to save money before you travel and you will (most likely to) return home, skint.

I was reading the articles "Cheapest city breaks this Spring" and "Cheapest Holiday Destinations for 2011" (click on the titles to read in details), and I would agree with some of the facts.

One thing that I am still really proud of is be able to fly directly to Paris from Glasgow Prestwick Airport, for only £10 return. That is the amount of money you would need to spend for a nice main course of a meal. The thing is, your airticket can be so cheap but the local expenses at your destination may cause a bomb in your pocket when you are just trying to have a weekend away.

Here's the adaptation from the article of how much you would need to spend for holiday costs including accommodation, meals, drinks, travel and sightseeing. See below:
For those in Malaysia, in case you wonder about the foreign exchange rate to Pounds (£) from Malaysian Ringgit (RM), £1 = RM5.05. You can do the rest of the math yourself.

City	Country	Total basket price
Riga	Latvia	£114.92
Prague	Czech Republic	£134.79
Budapest	Hungary	£136.06
Tallinn	Estonia	£142.04
Warsaw	Poland	£144.18
Lisbon	Portugal	£149.93
Dublin	Ireland	£160.78
Berlin	Germany	£192.74
Edinburgh	UK	£202.85
Barcelona	Spain	£217.89
Bruges	Belgium	£228.62
London	UK	£237.10
Amsterdam	Netherlands	£242.42
Rome	Italy	£247.50
Paris	France	£253.74
Copenhagen	Denmark	£256.77
Boston	USA	£259.89
New York	USA	£305.97
Stockholm	Sweden	£313.64

(Cities highlighted in RED are places I have been to.)

It is amusingly interesting that Stockholm, Sweden is rated as the most expensive among all. I would nod my head twice as hard to agree with that. I stayed in a shared dorm hostel in Stockholm, and a night of cost was the same amount of money I would need to spend for a night in London or Paris. Imagine that! Many people may have thought London is the most expensive places and I would say "NO!". There are lots of little cafes, supermarket, fast food store within your close proximity in London, and that is how you can save on food. In Stockholm, a meal in their local fast food restaurant allows me to buy TWO meals in McDonalds of London. For all the places I've highlighted in RED, I still think Edinburgh is much cheaper than Dublin as a general observation.

Some random picture of me in London as you might have already seen it before. I'm just trying to make this post least dry.

Now it's to compare among countries around the world for their local expenses that includes coffee, beer, cola, water, sun cream, insect repellent, and a three course evening meal for two, including wine.

Position	Country	Typical price
1	Portugal	£32.84
2	Spain	£36.68
3	Czech Republic	£37.98
4	Bulgaria	£39.39
5	Sri Lanka	£40.62
6	Hungary	£43.52
7	Thailand	£44.26
8	Mexico	£45.36
9	Kenya	£45.99
10	Malaysia	£47.68
11	Indonesia	£47.96
12	Croatia	£57.32
13	Cyprus	£57.76
14	Majorca	£57.81
15	Greece	£58.30
16	Turkey	£59.83
17	Japan	£62.32
18	Malta	£63.04
19	Tenerife	£65.48
20	South Africa	£65.62
21	France	£70.72
22	Dubai	£72.25
23	Italy	£73.44
24	China	£80.24
25	Egypt	£80.46
26	Jamaica	£82.53
27	Brazil	£87.73
28	Antigua	£90.83
29	USA	£92.47
30	Mauritius	£100.42
31	Singapore	£105.83
32	Barbados	£111.27
33	New Zealand	£111.37
34	Canada	£119.32
35	Hong Kong	£138.64
36	Australia	£157.51

This is just an idea suggested by Yahoo!Travel. Australia is now at the bottom of the list, with it's exchange rate higher than US Dollar. I would think it's worth travelling to America than to Australia now. What do you think?? For those who have not been to Malaysia, YOU HAVE TO.

I was in Paris, 2010. This was the trip when my airticket was just £10!

I still love London, and I think it's still the best place in the world if you want a good combination of sight seeing, food, and shopping. Also, it's easy to travel within the area but be warned it's always jam-packed and the locals are a bit too calm towards tourists. Occasionally, you would feel as if you're not in the England when the charming-yet-confusing English accent not heard as often on the streets unless you enter a shop. I've been to London quite a few times and I would still love to go. (p/s: I have London trip coming up again)

If you prefer somewhere more relaxing and friendlier, Scotland it is. This is where I study and a place I can call 'home abroad'. It is also much cheaper here. The Scottish highland is a must visit place that the scenery is picturesque as you see in a postcard, but be aware of the moody Scottish weather.

Here are some pictures of Scotland and they are not any downloaded pictures. I should have more but pictures were kept in my other storing area.

Isle of Skye. I love the picture of sunset especially.

The view of Scottish highland in an August day.

Not just summer, winter can be beautiful especially when it snows in Glasgow.

Hope you enjoy reading and might anticipate your desire to get away from town for a while.

x.o.x.o

My ever-oh-so-lovely-one-and-only Christmas Card from home!

Woke up late on the morning on 2oth December, then as usual I always switch on my laptop before going to brush my teeth. (Yes, that's my routine daily unless I'm running really late)

On my browser, I have bookmarked some tab that I use always. Not to mention, it's Facebook, Hotmail, Twitter, and then Yahoo! UK news.

I got an email from my parents, and turned out they sent a Christmas card to me, specially made by my dad. It's so lovely, isn't it?

It's so cute! But wait, what are these little shoes? My mum has a habit of keeping stuff, for many many years. Then over the weekend they found these cute little shoes of mine, during the time when I dont even recognise things. And, it's just during the time when I just have colour vision and start seeing the world. My dad took pictures of these little shoes and compiled them into this one and only Christmas card for me.

I love this card very much and thanks to my beloved mum and dad! Too bad I missed another Christmas with them but my heart is always there. I will be home for Christmas next year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

p/s: I'm leaving Scotland soon, away to Manchester, London then Austria for my Christmas and New Year breakaway! I will be inactive in my blog again!

ONE last shot!

Just done with Ophthalmic Materials exam. Difficult to judge whether I did badly or did really well. It's the border line or just somewhere in between. I thought the exam (Intoductory Diagnostic Techniques) I did 2 days ago should be the worst of this January Diet but it seems to be a lot better. ........... I should stop judging it and look forward to the next exam coming up in a few days time, 91 hours later (from 1500hours on 16th January) to be exact.

One night, when I was browsing through pictures of friends, with food of Kuching (they are the best), seeing all those kolo mee, satay, Sarawak Laksa, sio bee and belacan kangkung. Then I felt like eating Sio Bee and the Chinese Groceries store nex to my halls sells frozen one. I made myself woke up pretty early the next morning, just to get out of my flat n buy SioBee to steam as my breakfast. It was Yummy!!

Then, I went to check my mail as a routine, once a week or so. Since I've been staying in my room, I hav not check my mail for about 10days. I did not expect I get any parcel (or bigger packed-mail) as I dont do any Online Shopping recently. HOWEVER, this came:

When I saw the stamps (I know it's a lot), I quickly knew it's from Malaysia! WHAT A SURPRISE! Then I see the handwriting for my address, it's my MUM's!! I was so touched and almost cried out (I really does), but I keep it to myself. The address of recipient is from my mum & dad!! I am really really surprised, happy and touched!! FYI, my mum always reluctant to send me anything as she said I can get a lot of stuff from UK.

My mum remembers that I always want to go back to Malaysia to celebrate Chinese New Year with them and coincidencely I hav about 10 days holiday. Travel on long haul is tiring and need to adjust my jet-lag, so it's not realy worth it to go back. Hence, my mum said she wants to send something about Chinese New Year to give me a surprise so she sent some Chinese New Year decoratives for me to hang in my room to keep me in CNY mood. I am so happy!! Thanks Mum & Dad! I love you both!

After all the tears of joy, I get back to my studies, in my small small room. My bedroom is in a mess, throwing things here n there. This is how my room looks like:

I've got caffeine to keep me awake, fruits to keep me biting (I love to eat while reading), pens, paper, music and most importantly, my brain!

I bought something pretty amazing while I was in Cadbury World, Birmingham. It's the BOOST chocolate which believes to give me energy. I thought i need that while studying so I tried:

I am not sure whether it really works for energy but I think I am wrong. Its 'Energy with Glucose' is for those who's doing sports to give them further energy, i.e. prevent from fainting while running 3k! No matter what, this chocolate is perfectly nice, better than I thought. Not too sweet and I like the bits of biscuit that is mixed within it together with Caramel, though I am not a fan of Caramel. Recommended. Rate: 4*/5

This is one of my longest blog in ages. I am just making excuse for taking a break from studies. I need to take a nap now to Recharge my Energy!!

Wish me luck in the nex exam!
Happy New Year and have a nice weekend!

hOMe

Hey ya!!
I am now back home in Kuching, Malaysia. Sleeping on my comfy bed and still suffer from jet lag.

HAHA.. I am noy sure which time zone i am living with right now as i feel sleepy at odd hours! Well, I think it'll be better soon.

I'm gonna meet up with friends, for a wee gathering during this summer break.

I will keep on blogging and I miss the fine weather of Spring and Summer in UK!!

Taste of Malaysian in Glasgow

There's a new Malaysian Restaurant open in Glasgow. RUMOURS KopiTiam.
Second post about this Rumours Kopitiam, click here!

Of course, I cannot resist for food. Went there with my flatmates for a try-out. I miss a lot of food back home and I am really happy that I am going HOME soon!! Yeah!!

Yeap, the most traditional food of Malaysia, NASI LEMAK! When I first see it, makes me feeeeels like home. I've not eaten Nasi Lemak for ages!! There it is! The taste, just irresistable! (I might be exaggerate a wee bit because I've not had it for a while!) It was a huge portion that when I finish them, my stomach bloated! In Malaysia, a plate of Nasi Lemak cost from RM2 onwards. Do you know how much is this?? Its approximately RM40!! I know it's not worth the price but once you are too tempted to have it, you wont resist!

This is a closer look of it! Nasi Lemak!

Apart from that, we had Rojak. It taste exactly like what we had in Malaysia! Yummy!


My favourite drink of all, Carrot Juice. I always thought the foreigner loves this juice but it's hard to get in UK. Many people dont like it but it's just so refreshing!! BUT I still think they have to add a little bit more milk. The other one, I forget what it's call, I think it's Mango Sorbet or something. There's lil' sago in it. It's yummy and refreshing as well!


Amazingly, they also have this Malay kuih.. Taste pretty well!

I can't help to countdown number of days I am going home. I will still miss lots of things in Glasgow as well: friends, shopping, food, weather and travel.

I sound like food-critic in this blog. Apart from Malaysian food, they also have Singapore dishes as well as Thai dishes. The most important of all is that they do not have SARAWAK LAKSA!! I miss that most!

Sarawak Laksa, Sotong Kangkong, Satay, Pisang Goreng, Kolo Mee, Beef Noodle, Sio Bee,... wow! There's a lot of food I wanna eat! I must make sure I dont put on much weight after I go back home!!