Fancy an afternoon walk in Toton?

We rarely get sunshine here really, I miss it sometimes because I keep making excuses for not going for my walks if I don't see sunshine haha. The English weather really makes you feel lazy and just wanna stay tucked up in bed and just messing around with your MacBook Pro really. :) Okay I probably should stop moaning about the English weather if I am supposed to be here for some time. Anyway I was still quite pumped up about my daily walking habits I started back in Melaka before I got here, so it was quite a nice day and we (me, Laughton and his mum) put on our walking shoes and brought my Nikon along and started walking. We had a pretty good walk maybe close to one and half hours and we had a look around at the Garden Centre (just a big name for nursery basically).

Still feeling a little cold, I could use my windbreaker really, but it's still in transit from Melaka. Need to wait until my parents come with the rest of my bags. :)

Laughton's attempt at taking a macro shot at the little bee while I ran away avoiding the bee. I had always wanted to do a macro shot on a bee but guess it's a bad idea if I don't have the astronaut suit on.

I love the purple tone of this cabbage like flower. It had the texture of a cabbage too!

Pretty colour of the chrysanthemum.

Cute dainty flowers growing from the bushes and they were so sweet, really!

Beautiful purple chrysanthemum. So vivid.

Arrived in England!

Hello everyone, I got here to England in one piece and so did my bags. Quite a pleasant journey, 13 hour seemed short actually after my long trip to and back from Bermuda! I flew Air Mauritius I guess they are having an alliance with Air Asia X and the ride was pretty good actually. Cabin was probably nicer than some of the old rattling MAS planes but I didn't enjoy the food. Anyway, I was extremely pleased to get all my bags arrive safely to Toton (that's where his folks are living right now and us)

My special treat. I was complaining about how boring English breakfast was and I missed nasi lemak or chicken rice balls or wan tan mee and Laughton made this corned beef sandwich with a poached egg for me. It was good and I had it with some Lingham's chilli sauce we got from Tesco. :) By the end of the week, only one-third of Lingham's was left in the bottle. So versatile you can eat it with almost everything.

Outside his home, Toton, Nottingham.
Across his home.
They have this wheely/eye thingy all around the world must be? Posing with the eye in Derby.
Enjoying a cuppa caramel macchiato from Starbucks after shopping in Westfield Mall, Derby. I was looking for green tea latte but I think they don't do it in England Starbucks. Damn.
Autumn in England.
Guild Hall in Derby.
We are still in Derby here.
Up close.

9 days left to England

Happier days.

Days are flying past me so quickly, I could hardly believe that I am leaving home after almost 6 months break just lazing around at home spending time with my family and friends; next thing I know I will be leaving soon. In approximately 9 days time. Mixed feelings really, I am extremely pleased to be able to meet Laughton again after being apart for 3 months; but am sad at the same time because I do not have anymore available days or slot times left to spend with my family and friends. My Ical just said October 12th - Flight to England and then blank all the way. My goodness, this is for real. I remember being ambitious and thinking, I want to do this, learn this and that and sadly, I don't think I had accomplished much.

I am thankful to God for everything that happened since January this year, I am sure He has a plan for me. Never imagined that I could take such a long break off work and just having some personal time for myself to relax and really think what I want in life. I feel rejuvenated and fresh, seeking for fresh challenges and moving onto my/our next phase in life. I am grateful for all the emotional and yes, financial support especially from Laughton and my parents and family. Never would have done it without your support. Thank you! :)

I still get that ever popular question even until today, "So, what have you been doing?" My answer: Ermm, nothing. Nothing since mid-January, with a BIG smile. People seem amazed and I know deep inside they must be thinking I would be bored as hell but no, I just love doing nothing.

A visit to Singapore

Singapore

September 27th-28th, 2009

Singapore was actually an extension from my recent trip to Johor Bahru (JB), since I thought it would be nice to catch up with some old friends over there and yes, to "Charles & Keith" shoes store in Singapore! No visit to Singapore would be complete unless I get a pair of shoes at least from here. Haha, it's not a great shoe store, nothing compared to the US but it's a good substitute as compared to the crappy ones you find in Malaysia. I don't know why but they should shut down all Vincci shoe shops. Okay, Alvin and Garry made a joint effort in planning our trip itinerary for us and a big thank you to them for making us stick to the schedule as close as possible haha. We drove into Singapore on Sunday, after Garry's church wedding on Saturday in JB. We were still staying in JB because the hotel prices were extremely high due to the F1 that was held on the same weekend. Pretty cool also as we managed to catch a glimpse of the race tracks around the city area. We spotted plenty of ang-mohs around the city and we can see that they are big F1 fans and came to support their favourite teams and also managed some sight seeing around the city and shopping.

Day One

After breakfast we drove into Singapore, Alvin drove while CCY tried to navigate. I think we got lost and reached SunTech mall later than we planned haha. Can't complain, I just slept from JB to Singapore and only woke up upon reaching SunTech mall; as I just could not sleep the whole of the night before due to my sinusitis. We headed for some burgers at Burger King and we were suprised that the burger we had was really good! Next up was trying to get to Vivocity mall, a new shopping mall here. Bought a couple of stuff and then we headed to Orchard Road to meet some friends of mine. We had some cakes and coffee at Celede, Takashimaya (another shopping mall) and it was awesome catching up with these lots and I probably hadn't seen them since I left two years ago! We had a great chit chat session especially JJ's segment, haha he never fails to entertain us with his x-rated jokes. Oppss.. Thanks guys & gals for making the effort to meet up with me, really appreciate it!! :) Till we meet again..

KPMG days: Yin Leng, Me, Cammy & Leroy, Jen Jai (JJ)

One for the ladies: Yin Leng, Me & Cammy

As we headed toward SunTech mall again to get our car, I just couldn't stop myself and I finally told the guys that I need to head into Charles and Keith just 2 minutes to look at shoes!! They were really kind, despite us already late for our next place, they "happily" obliged. The shop was packed with crazy women shoppers and I managed to squeeze my way through and just catch a glimpse at the new arrivals and picked a pair of pumps and got my size and paid for it. :) They were surprised it didn't take me long to buy something haha! We rushed off to get the car and CCY was complaining feeling tired and he wanted to head back to JB but somehow Alvin lead us to the Night Safari and we reached there around half 8 p.m. Got our tickets, watched some performances and then took the tram around the safari.

Check out the man blowing fire action. It was pretty hot (and yes, literally also!), there was a part where they blew so much fire that even though we were seated really far away from the stage, Alvin & Me actually felt the heat! We were like WOW! Hot! Haha after our dinner we headed for the highly rated animal show. Honestly, I think it is slightly over-rated because we were kinda left hanging at the end, actually expecting for more action! Should be okay for kids or the younger crowds, I think we seriously think that the Singapore Night Safari team could have done a better job! Next up was the tram ride around the safari, again; I think they could have done a better job this time with the lighting. I am not stupid I am aware this is night safari, but some strategically placed lighting and a few more extra light bulbs would be helpful so that we can actually see the animal instead of trying to guess or estimate oh yeah, that one looks like a rhino! Or pig with beard?? Honestly I missed the whole pig altogether so how was I supposed to spot the beard???? Maybe, I need more action and hopefully one day I can go to Africa for proper safari. :) The night safari was quite well organised overall, just missing out on actions and I think we were short-changed for our $32 sing dollar entrance fees per person.

Some pre-Halloween decor for the party next month.

Spotted here, two volunteered models trying to be part of the Hallowen horror decor. (CCY & Alvin)
CCY & Me.

Day Two

We drove into Singapore after having breakfast at home and met Garry for lunch and we had claypot rice. Thanks Garry!

Chinatown Singapore! We were in the dessert shop and Alvin just went mad after looking at the menu. Hence, the 4 huge, towering ice dessert for 4 of us. I said clearly, don't count on me to finish them up cause I hardly take cold stuff anymore as it is bad for my sinusitis and overall health. Haha, look at how pleased he was! He wanted to add another one though, but we said NO!
Left: Alvin- "Oh this is pure awesomeness!!"

Right: Garry- "Wah-lau weh how to finish laaa????"

(By the way, they both are brothers.)

One for Chinatown! CCY, me and Garry.

Mr. Dessert 2009 & me
Sorry about the Lion facing its back towards us. I ran out of steam to get a proper picture. Singapore!

One of the rides we took. Pretty fun, but too short.
Next up was the memorable LUGE rides. We bought tickets for 3 same rides plus the cable rides. I had a lot of fun and pain on this one. I went quite cautiously on the first ride. On my 2nd attempt, I went a bit faster and they commented I was quite fast haha. We were all trying to race down to the bottom. So the third time, I went EVEN FASTER. I learnt a lesson, speed kills. I crashed at the final or finishing line simply because I went too fast and the brakes were not good enough for me. Thank goodness no serious injury just minor injuries. Hurt a bit honestly, I landed on my left side, so I was in pain for a couple of days. I told the guys, man good job I had those helmets on HAHA. They commented I was really fast and kinda lost me halfway, so we concluded that I crashed because of the speed. Oh well, we should always live life to the fullest and it was really fun! :) They were really concerned and worried but we laughed it off and headed for dinner after that before going back to JB.

Opps, we actually went for this show before my final LUGE ride. Very nicely done, fireworks and water display bearing the "Sounds of the Sea" theme. Very good! I think my $10 (SGD) was well spent here on this show.
The settings of the "Sounds of the Sea" show.

Ok back to JB and we left for Melaka the next day after having lunch. I might find some time and post the lunch entry. Will see.

Ok people, back to packing now.

Have a good one!

Seafood at Seri Kembangan, Selangor

September 20, 2009

Family outing to Kajang & Serdang (sound weird for an outing place but our main purpose was to do some family visit)

Since it was the first day of Raya and Melaka town was overflowed with balik kampung & raya visits and also tourists coming from all over the places, we decided that this was a good day to head out from Melaka. We saw the crowd lining up for the chicken rice ball and we just had a good laugh among ourselves. What goes round comes around they say. Proved to be very true when we (about 3 cars filled with people) arrived at the famous Kajang sate shop (chinese one) and we saw people all over the shop standing and waiting for table. Not a bad scene compared to Melaka but yeah, it was hot weather and the smoke from the burning sate didn't help much and we just decided to skip the sate. I used to come to this shop for Kajang sate and I really love it, have a good friend who lives in Kajang. :) Pity him, I know how it feels when you get visitors and they want to eat at those really famously packed places; I know. Very frustrating to wait especially you know you can always go there on a weekday morning and probably have the whole shop to yourself. Anyway, Kajang town was packed too. Went to visit his family and it was good to see almost everyone and hope to see them soon again! We also went to visit my aunty because she lives in Kajang too and managed to catch up with my cousins and nieces after a long time!

We went to dinner with Zin and his family. Thanks to him for recommending us to this awesome seafood restaurant and for the great dinner! I am quite familiar with Serdang town, having sort of lived there for a couple of years, in my younger days but have never discovered this restaurant. We will definitely come back here again for more seafood, as Dad is already chasing me to make a booking soon for the geo-duck feast. Yay!!

OK time to show some photos of our dinner.

#1 Sang yue (Ikan Haruan, if I am not mistaken) Oh this is absolutely good! I love the way they cook it and present it, very good for sharing if you are here in a big group (say 8-10 people). The fish was sliced up nicely and deboned!

#2 Steamed ming ha (prawns). Very fresh and succulent. Very simply cooked to maintain its freshness. Just dip it with some chilli for the extra ommph! Quite easy to de-shell the prawn, I like it.

#3 Yam basket with some stir-fried chicken and cashew nut. Honestly, this was the disappointment of the night. Would not order this dish again.

#4 Tofu with some onion and sweet chilli. I love the texture of their tofu, very soft and smooth. Yummy!

#5 Stir fried eggplant with braised peanuts. Oh this was truly delicious and tasty. A must order dish.
#6 Steamed frog with essence of chicken. I love this one too! Fresh, tender, succulent frog meat. Would recommend this also.
#7 Kam heong mud crabs. Very fresh seafood served in this place and the crab claws were huge! But Dad preferred medium sized crabs, so I think you maybe would like to remind them while you place your order or just pick the crabs before you send them to the kitchen. :)
#8 Stir fried mantis prawn with salted egg yolk, curry leaves and bird's eye chillies. I like the texture of the mantis prawn because they were really succulent and also fresh. Bite into them and you can really taste the meat instead of those smaller mantis prawn which are often de-shelled and fried with batter, where I usually struggle to taste the actual meat. The bigger ones like this are usually cut into 5 pieces and stir-fried with the shells on.

Haha we finished everything, all of the 8 dishes and there were 8 people on our table. Price was quite reasonable and we will be back for more seafood soon! Good company and great food, what more can we ask for?? :)

Till then, take care everyone. I will be heading to Johor Bahru for a friend's wedding and we are going to Singapore for a couple of days, so will only update my blog when I am back.

Have a good one.

Wendy