A day with the boys

All of a sudden, my dad suggested that we go to the Penang Hill. Weird eh? But sounds fun! All the while, I was very eager to visit the hill again after having been there with my friends years ago. The experience was great, a memorable one in fact! We had cycled there for more than the time allowed and we also walked on the canopy walk (which is now closed due to termites infestation). Put simply, that day was too perfect to be forgotten!

However, since the train service was halted for close to a year, I have to put my plan on hold for so long! Seriously, once my desperation took ahold of me that I had even considered hiking up the hill. Phew...luckily, the good news came in time. Now, I just have to pay RM4 for a return trip without breaking a sweat. God bless Penang!

Well, this time, we decided to bring along the two toddlers so that they will too, appreciate the iconic Penang Island (though they might be too young to understand).

But before they embark on this arduous journey, we need to make sure that they have enough SLEEP, food and energy.

So, once their energy were fully replenished, we wasted no more time and started our journey right away. Here we are at Penang Hill, the asset of Penang! Something that all of us should be proud of.

But hungry pangs hit them immediately when we reached there. No choice but to buy them food. Ironically, they prefer ROCKY biscuits to potato chips.
Aun: Ying, this one ok bor?? We share share la...

Ying: Haiya, cin cai la. Can eat can already. Must share ah...!!

Aun: Tauke, one packet how much?
Tauke: Cheap cheap nia...RM2.
Aun: Wah, like that also considered cheap? Sigh, what to do...

Aun: Cannot show my happiness too fast yet. Must act cool a bit.

Aun: Now's the right time!

Ying: Hmmm...I smell food. Need to walk faster a bit or else, Aun will finish everything.

In a haste to get there, he dropped one of his shoes. Looks like the temptation of food was way too strong to resist. Well, who cares about the shoe?

We taught them well. They know that they need to line up to get their food.



Argghhh...got to feed this lazy bum.

After quite some time, we finally get to board this tiny train. Goodness, there were so many people and the train was almost filled to the brim. Need to get in fast or else, we will have to stand all the way up the hill!

Look at the boys! Were they making a pact or something?

Luckily, a good Korean couple offered their seats to us. Or else, carrying a 10kg baby on foot for 1/2 hour can be a lil torturing for my legs.

A shot from inside the train. I wonder why it took so long for the train to get up to the peak! Can't they make it faster so that they can transport more people?

*Half an hour later*

We were so hungry when we got up there. I wanted to try the nasi lemak at the Malay stalls but dad shook his head in disagreement and suggested that we eat something Chinese...
After searching high and low, we finally made up our choice and headed for Belleview Restaurant.


The view was simply spectacular and amazing from where we sat. Definitely no regrets for shying away from the nasi lemak stall earlier.

Even Ying was shocked when he saw the blue blue sky.

Anyway, right after lunch, we all got down to the field for photo taking.

Ying was clearly too overwhelmed with the scenery that he didn't mind that one part of the pants was shorter than the other.

Ying: Some more eat??? Look at the camera la, wei.

Ying: Just like me. See, so handsome.

Ying: And cute.

Don't you think we should all emulate Ying's positive thinking and smile all the time, even if we don't feel like it? A simple smile like his is simply charming and sincere.

Okay, next venue. The hut.

Aun: No need to wear your hat la. Show Connie your botak head!

Aun: Hana, wear back okay? Was just playing with you.
Ying: Hmmph!

Did you notice that Ying was dressed in all blue whereas Aun was in red? xD

Ying: Boring la, keep on posing the same ol' style. Let me think...

Ying: Maybe I can roarrrrrrrr.....like this?

Ying: Or dance?

Ying: I'll have to be extra careful or else, I might fall. Phew...

Feeling bored, Aun ventured to somewhere else. Somewhere far where Ying can't tag along.

Ying: Wei, wait for me!

Halfway through, Aun ran as fast as he could to mum. Wonder what has gotten into him, eh?
Guess what?!

He wanted to POO!
Yes, right on the peak of Penang Hill.
Look at how big his gift was for this wonderful place.
The right place, right time and right thing to do, perhaps?

Anyhow, we were not going to let that distract us. We were still busy snapping shots.

It didn't take long for Aun to finish his business. Here, he is back again.

But it was time to leave. As can be seen here, Ying was definitely feeling the disappointment.

Bye, guys.

Till we meet again.

Prawn-aphalia...

I've been attending so many farewells and reunions over the year. Slowly, I'm starting to wonder when will my turn be. Is it really going to happen or is it going to remain as an unanswered question? *pause*

Here I have with me, pictures of reunion with another fellow friend, Chin Keat. I guess we must be real starving when we reached there as we wolved down 8kg of prawns, 6 crabs, a plate of fried oysters, cockles, a plate of friend noodles and another plate of fried beehoon without leaving a trace behind. Forget about the calories, what I'm worried about is the health hazard that the salted prawns post to our health. On average, it looks like each of us took ONE freaking kilogram of prawns. Salted prawns, to be precise.

That's it. No more prawns for me. We've killed too many prawns on this very night. We don't want the entire species of prawn to go extinct because of our humongous appetite. xD


7 January 2009. The night we wiped off way too many prawns.
May you rest in peace, buddies.

What is the difference between KDU students and those from other colleges?

Simple.

While they were busy studying on the first day, we, the KDU students, spent our time strolling at the mall and sipping a cup of coffee. Truly enjoying life, one would say. However, the fault wasn't ours. The class was cut short from supposedly 3 hours to a mere 10 minutes. So, what do we do with the remaining time? Get together with fellow mates of course!

We weren't quite successful the first time. But, we tried again.

It certainly got better in time! Practise makes perfect, eh?

On such a happy day, nothing beats the feeling of going out on the street with an umbrella.
Rihanna, here I come.

When the sun shines, we'll shine together
Told you I'll be here forever
Said I'll always be a friend
Took an oath, I'ma stick it out till the end

Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we'll still have each other
You can stand under my umbrella
You can stand under my umbrella

new year, new hope?

Time doesn't creep. It flies. So fast that I couldn't even catch a breath and gaze at the happy moments accompanying it. I've got to stop complaining or else, they will just speed even faster right before my eyes. Hmmm, I thought that I just gave a big farewell to 2007 not too long ago, but now I need to say adieu to yet another year and forced to welcome 2009 (said to be the year of ox) with joy and positivity. But as the name (ox) suggests, it is going to be a tough year ahead with many uncertainties in politics, economics and you name it...

And people, I just came across a very good song titled 'Fall' by a girl named Ina. Not sure who she is, where she comes from or what she does, but this is a pretty good song especially for those girls who just got dumped or cheated by their supposedly loving boyfriends. I really like the lyrics which I feel, give a platform for the girl to vent their frustration but at the same time, giving her the support to move on.

Also, Womanizer by Britney Spears is so cool and I am so addicted to it. It's a great come back by her and I hope that she will find her way through to stardom again, but I hope it's for the right reason this time.

Time's up. Goodbye 2008. And Hello 2009.
Hope you don't give us a crappy time like the previous year.

Kampar Fever

Do you know what I like about having family trips? Two simple reasons. First, they are fully sponsored and that means I don't have to fork out a single cent for the accommodation, food or other added entertainments. Secondly, mum will repack the things that I've packed earlier into a neater and more organised form (that encourages full utilisation of space!). Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

In view of the global economic crisis, we are heeding the advice of the government to cut on unnecessary spending like leisure travelling. But, what is the fun of life if it is all work and no play? Thus, we decided to travel locally instead and headed for Kampar.

For those of you who have not heard of this place, I assure you that it does exist! At least I've been there and I'm now back safely.

Check Wikipedia and you'll find heaps of information regarding this place. Put simply, this is a small town located somewhere in Perak, which boasts a laid-back and bustle-free lifestyle. I noticed that the people living here are really friendly and they are a very tight-knit community. All of them are known to each other and a stroll at the morning market will see many of them wishing 'Good Mornings' to one another. But, there is one thing lacked about this town.

There is no cinema and no shopping malls. The nearest cinema one can find there is at Ipoh, which is about 20 minutes ride by car while the only 'mall' available to the residents is Tesco. But, I wouldn't even consider that as a mall!

Apparently, a click on Wikipedia will show that there are five hotels in this small town. However, a chat with one of the locals there revealed that there is only one hotel here, which is the Grand Kampar Hotel.

It does give some resemblance to the Eastern & Oriental (E& O) Hotel we have here in Penang.

One thing I find unique about this hotel is that the building was surrounded by shophouses which were all different in terms of the architecture, shape and design.
The above picture portrays a shophouse from the Dutch community.

Next to it was another row of shophouses from the English community. This area was particularly quiet during the day and it only comes to life when the sun sets.

Never mind about the fact that it is the sole hotel here, as it definitely provide value-for-money service to the travellers. A suite only costs RM200 a night and the room is HUGE.

Okay, enough descriptions about the town.

I shall now touch on the activities that we have done during our three days-two nights stay in Kampar.

Frankly, all we did there was to eat and play. This town which was once famous for its abundant tin reserves has plenty of food to offer, but not to my liking. Notably, the trademark food of this town is freshwater prawns (which are 3 times bigger than the tiger prawns). Of course, other food can also be found in this town, but I don't think they are a lot special anyway. In fact, I find Penang's food better in terms of quality and taste. However, the servings of the food in Kampar is clearly more generous and they are easy on our pockets too.

So apart from all the munching, we also had various fun-filled activities to burn off the calories.

Day One:
We did water rafting at the Kampar River, which was located somewhere near the Gua Tempurung. A guide was appointed to show us the way there and it took us almost 20 minutes from the cave.


Upon completing the challenge, we were each given a certificate. Paddle or Die? Hmmm, certainly doesn't sound pretty convincing that we are going to be well taken care of.

Although seemingly the river is graded as level 3, I don't find it very challenging at all. The rapids were minor and though we were told that the whole challenge takes approximately 90 minutes, we had wasted almost 30 minutes waiting for either the photographer or the other rafts.

It was a tiring adventure as we had to row the raft using the paddles given to us. Even my mum was dragged to play along and despite almost falling into the water several times, she still managed to make it till the end. Sorry, no pics for this event....

Day Two:
Supposedly, we had nodded in agreement to go hiking at one of the recreation parks, Taman Ros. But, we were so tired from all the rowing that we overslept and missed the healthy activity. However, not all is lost. We proceeded to a hot water spring somewhere in Perak right after our heavy breakfast at the Kampar market. What have I got to say about this place? Hmm...spectacular..

Ironically, the river beds are boiling hot while the water is icy cold. Of course, not the whole stretch of the river bed is hot, rather, only certain parts of it. And when I say hot, it means business. It means that it is really hot! I tried soaking my feet into the river and in just a split of a second, out my feet went. Hehehe....anyway, it is an experience not to be missed. Besides, hot water spring is said to provide medicinal value by curing arthritis and many other sicknesses. For now, my mood instability (if only you consider that as an illness) has been successfully cured by the miraculous river bed.


Don't worry that you'll get bored there as I will now show you some of the activities that you can indulge in, while waiting for your friends/family to discover the fun of the hot spring.

If the weather is not too hot, you can always take a family photo. Just be careful not to get over excited and fall into the river.

You can also take the children for a stroll on the bridge if they are too tired of playing in the water.

That's not all. You can choose to either sit or rest on the tree branches too. As a safety precaution, just double check the branch to make sure that it is strong enough to accommodate your weight.

You can also walk to the middle of the river to take some fantastic shots if you want to. Still, remember to pack extra clothes into your bag.

If you don't like the mentioned activities, here is one more for you. Bring a mat, food and drinks for your own version of picnic. Not to forget, a food cover to protect your food from the flies.

Fret not if you forget to bring your food. You can always steal some of the eggs that have been left there to boil by the visitors. Hehehe...

I chanced upon this cute little girl playing in the river. Can't help it but to snap a shot. Isn't she chubby?

Even her sister is chubby like her. She somehow reminds me of myself when I was 7 years old. I was that size many many years ago...

That's it for day two.

Day Three: This day spells greatness. I get to visit a pomelo orchard in Ipoh!!! There were so many pomeloes that were still hanging at the trees, waiting to be plucked in a few days time. I reckoned that they use chicken poo as the organic fertilizer for the trees as the smell of the shits were so robust that I wondered if I was visiting a chicken barn instead. That was a total turnoff but all was forgiven when I saw the pomeloes..
There were plenty...countless...lots of it!!!

I wasn't lying! Look!!!

They were big and I bet they were juicy as well. Time to pass on some knowledge about pomeloes. You can touch, harass or kiss them, but you are FORBIDDEN to knock on them. Or else, they will drop from the trees but remain unripe. So, take note!

This is a twin pomelo. They clearly do not wish to be separated and they are still clinging onto the branches.

But, we were too cheeky. We had them plucked just for the sake of a photoshoot. Our bad...

And seriously, it felt great to be surrounded by pomeloes all over your head. At least if they do fall, they won't hurt so much like how durians do.

If I have the time, I'll be willing to sit and wait for them to fall. But, time is envious of me. No choice but to take my pick at the collection of those that are already ripe and waiting to be taken home.

Seriously, I didn't even know that this place existed. It has drawn visitors from as far as Hong Kong and as seen in the picture above, the BIG guy is a food expert whom can be seen on food-related TV programmes.

That's all about my holiday. I am looking forward for more places to visit in the future and hopefully, the next trip will be out of Malaysia.

But right now, Cuti-cuti Malaysia first lah.

Bye Bye Bye

Half an hour more to go and I'll be heading to Kampar! I know, you must be asking why am I so excited about it since the place that we're visiting is merely a sub urban area that is obviously, rather cut off from the entertainment world. Well, the fact is because this trip is fully sponsored by my brother and that the objective of this trip is to eat all we can. And doesn't that sound great??!!

Okay, just like what I have predicted, no one on my MSN list is awake at the point of writing. The 'online' list is EMPTY!! There might be two possibilities. First, I have too few friends on the IM and most of them wake up only after the sun rises. Second, they are all too, like me, away from Penang for holiday! I shall go for option 2!

Hmmm...What is Christmas, really? As a matter of fact, all I know is that it is the birth of Jesus Christ. Is that knowledge adequate for me to go hoo-haa over this special day? Yeah,...5 more days and it'll be a brand new year - 2009!!!. I'm only going to think about my resolutions for the new year when I get back home...which is real soon.

Bye, guys and a Merry Merry Merry Christmas to all of you.

And not to forget that I have a date on New Year's Eve!! Cheers.

Below are some of the pictures that I've snapped just for the mighty Winter Solstice Festival, which is also known as Dongzhi (in Mandarin) or Tang Chik (Hokkien) Festival among the Malaysians.

Every year, I will help my mum to roll out the glutinous rice mixtures into small balls, which will then be boiled and soaked in thick ginger-infused syrup for consumption later on. Gradually, the family members who are involved in the process of making the rice balls are getting less every year. However, I, for one, will never miss out on such special day and thus, here I am this year, sharing some of the pictures depicting the 'extremely delicious but high calorie' glutinous rice balls.

Bet it looks dull with only one colour.

I think the colour combination here is quite successful, considering the fact that it makes me drool even by looking at the picture.

Nah. Here it is!! The complete set of the glutinous rice balls...Total number of colours?
FIVE!!!!

It sure looks tempting, doesn't it?

These bowls are specially prepared for praying purpose...

A close-up of the glutinous rice balls...The colour of the two balls on the spoon are special creations by my mum and I. Initially, we wanted to make it orange in colour (by mixing pink and yellow), but somehow, it turned out to be...this colour.

Another close-up shot

That's all for today. Happy Dongzhi Festival!!