State of inconvenience

Didn't anybody teach them some common sense that it is an absolute no-no to block people's entrances just because they can't walk their million-dollar asses a few steps further? I take that back, sorry, why should I give them credit...I don't mean million-dollar asses, come on any Tom, Dick and Harry on the street nowadays can own BMWs and Benzs and what not. Let me rephrase, they can't walk their 2 cents worth of asses a few steps further?

Exhibit 1 shows you how the cars are park so 'conveniently' that it blocked the road and blocked entrances to people's homes. *smack head* BMWs, Benz..big freaking deal. Anybody can own one.
Exhibit 2, oh what's this...a car slotted so beautifully in front my house gate that ...wow..nobody can go in or out. I can't even drive into my own porch. I would have no problems at all with this if I had no plans to go anywhere but it so happened that we just came back and are trying to get into our own house. DUH! I was about to honk till my windscreens cracked had my dad allowed me to do so. He didn't allow, so things settled peacefully.

Daydreaming

Now playing : James Blunt - Carry You Home

These past 2 days, I've been reminiscing about San Francisco. Although, like what I told my friend today, I've only seen like probably 5% of San Francisco during my 1 day trip there but I fell in love with it, 5% of it anyway. I mentioned that I regretted not taking more miscellaneous photos while I was there, watching a man jogging with his dog, a couple roller skating, the cool breeze blowing in my face, the cosy-looking terrace houses along the roads - each uniquely painted and decorated and the view overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. As I didn't capture the moment, I have to constantly think about it because I didn't want to wake up one day and not remember what it looked like. *chuckle* That moment in time. I remember what I saw as I walked along the streets that was lined with tall narrow houses, each house with it's own Halloween decoration...again I didn't take a photo of that.

I remember strolling from one street to another and then finally turned back to Ihop (waffle/pancake shop). These days I've been having a horrible time at work, when I feel stressed out, I tend to daydream. Sometimes my mind will take off into its own realm I'd imagine myself living there. How cool it looked in my head. Then the phone rings, people wanting answers and solutions and I'm dragged back into that hole called reality.

Sleepless nights

Now playing : Matchbox Twenty - Leave

I hardly slept a wink the night before last night. The end result was a panda-eyed zombie sitting in the office the next morning, wide eyed, mind in outer space, tongue numb to the point of throwing up thanks to horrid torrid tasting lozenges, motionless and stifling the urge to cough uncontrollably. I coughed out a lot before I went to bed last night to relieve the feeling of phlegm stuck in my throat causing me to want to clear it every few seconds. I coughed to a point it started to hurt and I thought I had scraped the walls of my throat. At that point, I pictured myself grabbing my throat, yanking it out and scrubbing it with a toothbrush till it sparkled and re-assembling it back…in my sadistic dreams maybe.

I tossed and turned in bed as the cough and phlegm attack kept me up and the clock ticked away hour after hour, 1am…2am….3am…4am….I missed 5am, I think fell asleep finally and awoke again at 6.15am (alarm clock rang). The something-stuck-in-my-throat feeling still intact. I stumbled out of my bed and prepared for work. The drive to the office was possibly the slowest morning drive I’ve made as my mind wandered from one thought to another. Strangely, I didn’t feel sleepy at work, I just felt absolutely restless and on the verge of losing my temper trying to control the urge to cough. The nearby operations people were speaking loudly into their speaker phones as I tried to hold myself from hammering him to death whenever he said the word ‘deliveli’ (he meant ‘delivery’ by the way)

Last night, I had another sleepless night. I was so tired but I couldn't sleep. The moment I was about to doze off, I coughed, over and over. It was damn right annoying, I sat in the kitchen at 4am sipping hot water and I ended staying awake till 5am. Thank goodness I'm on leave today although strangely enough I feel quite energetic this morning.

Ushering in a new year

Here's wishing you a happy and prosperous year of the rat / rodent / mouse / tikus / hamster / mickey / minnie / ...

Where was I...oh yes, wishing you a Happy Chinese New Year and may all my dreams...oops...and your dreams come true. Cheerz~!

Happy Belated New Year

Now playing : M2M - Give A Little Love

It's nearing the end of January 2008. Funny thing is I started this year writing out a draft for my blog on the highlights/'lowlights' of 2007 and what I'm looking forward to in 2008. Whadya know? I wrote the draft 3 times over, 3 versions and threw them away (well virtually). I couldn't write one that I liked. I would start off nicely and it will slowly spiral downwards into a bitter piece of pathetic post.
It had been quite a busy start to the year. There had been many tasks piling up but somehow, miraculously I've managed to take them all in my stride. I stressed over deadlines but miraculously again, things seemed to work out at the end of the day. Well, there's more to come so I better not get too happy. Brings to mind this advice that an ex-boss gave me years ago when I was doing my training. He said 'There is no such thing as no solution. Everything has a solution, you just need to find it' Of course that was said to someone else in a different context but I remember it till now. It always makes me feel a little better when I run it through my head. Aside from these routineness of everyday work, that's just how it is... I've come to be quite bored and resentful of it. I've always known programming and software support is never my thing. It's strange though how I can do it for 4 years. I guess that's a perfect example of procrastination. This crossroad in my life has got me thinking that it's almost time I ..hmmm...maybe follow in my dad's footsteps. Who knows? I might just do that... :)
On a personal front, to be honest, things have been up and down like rapid waves and so melodramatic sometimes. Sometimes we have to play peacemaker, sometimes we have to put a fake smile on our face so not to hurt others that hurt us and we can't show the hurt because we don't want to hurt them (complicated...yes), sometimes we need to be ignorant and thank God for the creation of mp3 players and headphones (ignorance is bliss, but frankly it's easier said than done). 2007 had been a year of petty chaos and this past 1 month or so hadn't been any better. Sometimes I feel ashamed at myself for being over-sensitive and sometimes I feel ashamed of the people around me that make a big fuss out of nothing. These past month I feel pressured for no obvious reason. Now I go to sleep fearing the future and fearing what people expect of me which I can't fulfill. All this pressure and worrying I'm putting on myself really takes a toll and at times I really don't know what to do but just think of nice shoes and sleep it off. Sounds melodramatic as well.
Anyhoo, Chinese New Year is coming. It's a time of eating, watching tv, eating...oh well, that's like what I do every day. *blush*

Heath Ledger...dead

Heath Ledger, the Australian actor has died so suddenly. I've only watched 1 of his movies, which is none other then the teen flick, 10 Thing I Hate About You. My favourite part of that show was when the character which Heath played sang the song 'Can't Take My Eyes Of You' to his on-screen love played by Julia Stiles. Subsequently I got pretty hooked on his version of the song. Now his dead..rest in peace.

Photo of the week

One of my 2008 to-do list is to post my favourite photo of the week each week (assuming I took any photos). This one is my dog with her new squeaky toy. Can also be found here (http://mellim82.multiply.com/photos/photo/7/18)

The most desirable men

Now playing : Colbie Caillat - Bubbly

Welcome to the little fantasy corner of my little fantasy world...my very own la-la-land. Have you ever gone starry-eyed at these hot guys? I’ve eyeballed their photos, performances and tv shows but no, I’ve never had dating fantasies but if I did, these guys would be the ones that I would dream to win a fantasy date with, maybe in my next life if I’m a Victoria’s Secret supermodel or something. These guys don’t necessary have to be the most handsome and sexiest men alive but they have a little something special that most sane (or not), sensible (or not) girls (like me…) would ‘swoon’ at. I love to watch them.
Owen Hargreaves – football player with MU, stylish curly hair, great eyes
John Mayer – musician, guitar genius, his curls are to-die-for
Michael Buble – musician, heavenly voice. I told Soon Yee that if he sings the song 'Everything' to me I will totally elope with him *in my dreams*. She agrees too....
Jamie Scott – musician, I think of him as the British version of John Mayer, and no they don’t look alike. I like him for his songs.
James Marsden – he has got the most attractive smile. He had me at Disturbing Behaviour (starring as a moody newbie in town opposite a moody Katie Holmes). Nowadays he plays a lot of cheerful roles like in Hairspray and Enchanted, so I get to see his enchanting smile. The picture here shows Cyclops, it's not Cyclops I'm drooling over but the person playing that character. I just couldn't find a full length photo of him.
Keith Urban –Guys with guitars make my knees go weak on condition that they look like any of the above. His hair is to-die-for by the way. Not every guy can pull off that long-hair look successfully.
Jamie Oliver – celebrity TV chef, “I’m serious!”..not sexy but totally attractive in a cosy, cute way

Now for people who know me, you would be shocked to see that Beckham, Justin Timberlake or Brad Pitt didn’t make it into my fantasy list. Why you may ask? David Beckham is definitely still my football idol and always will be and one heck of eye-candy but he is wayyyy above... Too sexy, too perfect. It's suitable for the 'too hot and sexy list' but not 'date-able fantasy list'

Some photos courtesy of http://www.michaelbuble.com
http://www.mostbeautifulman.com/musicians/JamieScott/bio.shtml
and etc.

Cruelty to animals

These barbarians are so cruel to animals. Why can't we better protect dogs? They are living, breathing creatures...just like humans are living, breathing creatures. How'd they feel if someone chased their kid down the road and shot them in broad daylight. Our pets are like family. I'm guessing family value is something these people do not comprehend. Even if the dogs are strays, there are more humane ways to handle the situation and the SPCA I'm sure would be willing to assist in handling strays in the best possible manner. Someone needs to enforce a law to restrict such dogcatching activities as soon as possible and in the best interest of these poor helpless animals. The current punishment is so light that any Tom, Dick and Harry can pay the RM200 fine and go out earning more again catching a couple more dogs, torturing them and getting rewarded for that? Seriously...it's getting out of control. I believe in reincarnation and karma. Maybe these fellas will next time be reborn as animals and their barbaric buddies will torture them the same way they tortured these poor dogs. If you still don't get what I'm trying to say, please go to the link below for the article and THEN you will understand why I'm so pissed off.

Taken from NST Online (2007/09/29)

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Focus/20070929191152/Article/index_html

Jamie Scott and the town

Park Bench Theories is the new album by this British singer, Jamie Scott. I feel that he sounds like a younger version of John Mayer. Not that John Mayer is old..no no, just that they sound alike but Mayer has a slightly huskier, deeper voice. Jamie Scott looks scruffy, ‘yeng’, hot and sounds real sexy. His album ranges from acoustic sounds of indie pop to jazzy feels. My favourite songs in the album are Runaway Train, London Town, Standing In The Rain, Changes and Rise Up. One of my favourite albums of 2007. Tips: Play it loud in a semi-quiet environment, perfect for a Friday afternoon in the car on the way home from work. Move aside James Blunt!

The pants I love

Now playing : Gipsy Kings - Amor

This post is long overdue. Soon Yee bought me this cool pair of pants/bermudas that I absolutely adore and fits me just perfectly. Hopefully I don't grow any fatter. I promised to update her on this and *sorry* it took me so long. But the photos are very recent. I'm wearing it right now at 12:05pm 24-Nov-2007. I've been looking around for this style of pants (a bit of stripes and yet look so stylish). My dear friend can surely read my mind. I LOVE the side button at the bottom. Here are 2 photos of it. I'm no Gisele or Kate Moss so please forgive me for these awful poses.

I thought I was losing grip

Now playing : The Jets - You've Got It All
What will happen in 5 years time? What will I be having 10, 20, 30 years down the road? Where does this road take me? Am I going to be sitting in the same cubicle doing the same job? Or will I have the courage to take up a more creative and fulfilling career? Will I get to see the world before I die? The past few days have been like an emotional rollercoaster ride which I believe eventually contributed to the nightmare I had.
These questions populate my mind every now and then. Sometimes I can feel that I might spiral out of control and lose grip on my life and the people around me. Today I feel especially awkward. Last night I had a bad dream and I woke up still feeling a pang of sadness and anger eventhough, logically speaking, the story in my dream was a little non-sensical but it felt so real. The fears I have on my life played out into a movie by itself in my sub-conscious reality. In my dream, I had no control, I had no say. I felt like I was under invisible lock and chain as I shifted from scene to scene. Everything was revolving around a default scenario that I didn’t agree with. The life that was normal was lost in translation and I ended up helpless, which gave me an extreme feeling of losing grip. The moment I opened my eyes from the sleep, I still felt that wave of misery washing over me. Ever experienced a time when you suddenly wake up from a dream and realize that you were crying? Or that immediate tug on your heart and the tight knot you feel in your tummy? I wasn’t crying though, but I was mildly down in the morning after. It gave me fears that I’m going to be losing grasp of decisions and the fear of living by other people’s rules but with fear came determination too. It was pretty silly now that I think of it. I’ve had dreams of alien bugs attacking me, Godzilla chasing me, me turning into a vampire, me being chased by a vampire, me surfing on waves, me playing basketball with Michael Jordan. God knows I have dreams of everything under the sun.

Carrie Underwood : Carnival Ride

Now playing : Carrie Underwood - I Told You So

I have a thing for country music. I like most of the songs by Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Rascal Flatts, Tim Mcgraw, Shania Twain, Collin Raye. Most country song's lyrics tell a story. It never fails to strike a chord in my heart. Listen to Collin Raye's One Boy One Girl and you will understand what I mean by story. Unlike some of the pretentious songs such as Britney's Gimme More...whole song just going gimme gimme gimme..no meaning also..gimme gimme more, give her a slap ler. iissshh (anyhoo..I admit I'm shamefully addicted to that tune). Back to country... I like ALL the songs by Carrie Underwood. Serious..it's really that good! Her 1st album was worth it. Every single song suited my taste and her powerhouse vocals was worth every dollar. Now she just released her second album, Carnival Ride, and her vocals have gone from power to power. This album is 5 star. I repeat...5 star (1..2...3..4....5...star) or gazillion stars..
Anyhoo, I bought it a week ago. One of it is her 1st single from this album which has been playing on my ipod for ages already, So Small. Now, the other song which really caught my attention and has now become my most hooked on song for the week is "I Told You So". First time I heard it, I fell in love with the song. Ok, here's my dog hair's worth of thoughts on this album.
Track 01 : Flat On The Floor - This one is so country with a little bit of rock. This fella really can rock. I didn't like it when I first listened to this one. But after a few times playing it in my car, it is quite a catchy, wake up song.
Track 02 : All-American Girl - Favourite part of this song is the 1st 5 seconds (the instrumental part). Don't know why, I just like the tune. The chorus is pretty nice too. Back again to the part I said that country music always tells a story. This piece is one good example.
Track 03 : So Small - I did talk about this song a few posts ago. A strong ballad. One of me favourites.
Track 04 : Just A Dream - This one is a pretty sad song about a girl losing her soldier boyfriend/husband/lover..etc. It's slightly too depressing for me.
Track 05 : Get Out Of This Town - This...I likey! A fast track. Kinda makes me feel like going on a road trip everytime I listen it. "Let's get out of this town tonight, nothing but dust in the shadows, gone by morning light, somewhere we won't ever get caught"
Track 06 : Crazy Dreams - Didn't really catch my attention.
Track 07 : I Know You Won't - The beginning of the song was slow but then it started getting into my head just as it reached the chorus. I'm hooked on the chorus. Talking about her powerhouse vocals...this is one heck of a powerful song. Picture this, if I ever attempt to sing this, I'll very likely gag and choke on my own saliva..and pass out before I can hold the high note. Ok, that example is a little odd. This is one of her best songs in the album. It's a gorgeous, monster ballad.
Track 08 : Last Name - Another rock-like country song. Pretty funky...
Track 09 : You Won't Find This - Another one of my favourites. Don't really know what to say about this. I'm just getting really lazy.
Track 10 : I Told You So - *drumroll* This one is DA BEST! Loved every single part of the song and the melody. The lyrics are pretty sad and sympathetic about someone leaving their lover and only to realise that he/she is the one but it's too late.
Track 11 : The More Boys I Meet - You know what I like besides the fact that this is quite catchy, it is the part she sings "the more boys I meet, the more I love my dog" Cool....I love my dog.
Track 12 : Twisted - This track is ok. The chorus is pretty fine..the rest of the song is just alright.
Track 13 : Wheel Of The World - A nice piece to close off a fantastically fine album. A slightly slower pace song, softer and great lyrics.

Ok, I'm dead tired now.

Oh darn, what have they done?

Soon Yee and I have declared war against Westlife, and we are not the only ones. It all started from a song called Home which was originally by the one and only, the great, the awesome, the legendary - Michael Buble. We loved that song because it was one of the most beautiful songs Michael Buble ever wrote and sang. Westlife destroyed it!! They made a mess of it!!It is meant to be a personal song about loving someone, missing someone. How could they allow Westlife to sing it? The saying goes, if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. And Westlife is obviously not in a position to try a Michael Buble song. They killed it. Unfortunately I will never listen to Home in the same way that I have before because I will always be reminded of the destruction caused by this overgrown boyband. They have transformed from potential boy band with considerably good original debut and sophomore albums years ago to freakin'-I-wanna-throw-up-in-my-mouth-when-I-hear-them-kind-of-boyband. I don't like them anymore. Basically they have quickly and surely deteriorated to doing horrible renditions of other people’s classics. Let’s be frank, it really sucks. Here's a tip, if you are not as talented as someone like Michael Buble, please puh-lease stay away from spoiling other people's songs. I'm not alone in this, here are the links to Soon Yee's and Zeeko's 'heartfelt' objection to Westlife's painful destruction of such a beautiful song. This is a collaborative, coordinated, timely objection merely to fulfill our heart's discontent on this matter of a horrendous cover version. Here are the links on what others have got to say:

Soon Yee's post "Michael Buble"
Zeek's post "Westlife.. Please DIE?!"

Winter Warmers

Now playing : Nelly Furtado - All Good Things Come To An End

Tonight I had dinner at Winter Warmers in Gurney Plaza. It's a cosy little place which has been there for a long time now and this was the first time I ever stepped into the place. The interior is very cottage-like and it smells good inside.
For my beverage, I ordered the Vanilla Ice Blended which was priced at RM7.90. A mixture of vanilla, tea and well...ice, of course. That's the tall one on the left. It wasn't too bad. The first sip I took, I immediately felt that it wasn't sweet enough. But after a few tries, I kind of liked the simplicity of it. My dad had the Rose Coffee which is the pinky one and notice the tiny dried rose on the top. It smelt great, just like its name but obviously we didn't eat that rose coz I felt it would be like eating potpourri. The drink tasted coffee-ish, strawberry-ish and rosy.

For the main course, I took the Macaroni Cheese Bake. Costs about RM14.90. I'd give it a 7/10. It wasn't creamy enough but I guess it's a good thing since I'm getting fat already. The taste was slightly bland but fortunately the 2 side dishes made up for it. Kinda even out the taste. Portion was just right, not too big and not too small either.
This is the Grilled Fish my dad ordered. Looks plain, though..don't ya think? I guess I would call the portion too small for him. Again, I felt it wasn't salty enough but my dad said that it tasted quite nice. Apparently, it went well with the coffee he ordered.Maybe next time I'll order the other type of tea which comes with a mini jug and a martini glass which was oh-so-cute. I meant the jug was cute. I saw a couple of people ordering that drink. :P

The melody in my head

Alright, it's been 2 months since my last blog about the music that I've been listening to and the list has changed totally. For the past 2 weeks I've been immensely hooked on these pieces below:
Jamie Scott – London Town. This song reminds me a little of KT Tunstall’s style of song. Nice soft drum beats at the back. Loved that part where he hums in the song.

Joey McIntyre's Someday. Haven't heard anything from him for ages. I read that he released 2 new albums after Meet Joe Mac but I haven't managed to locate those CDs in Penang. This is an old song from him. I’ve heard it like a zillion times before but recently got hooked on it again because the song goes like a conversation between 2 friends. One is saying that someday he will get the girl. The other is saying it won’t happen. Good melody.

This is a rock song by Chris Daughtry and it's called Over You. His latest single which is playing quite often over the radio. It is addictively loud. He’s got a fantastic voice.

My favourite of all favourites at the moment is this Cantonese song by Eason Chan (the God of song...in my opinion). It is entitled 富士山下 (Fu Shi Shang Shi) Hahaha...you'd think I know that but I didn't and I had to ask my friend for the title. Thanks to the language bar installed, I managed to type out the name successfully. It means 'at the bottom of Fuji mountain (as what my friend translated for me) Love it love it love it. I’ve put it on repeat mode. Sounds like a sad song…probably a reflective song about the past and the memories of a love. I’ve heard it quite a long time ago and have been looking for it ever since but I didn’t know the song and only knew it was by Eason. Then…my colleague played it over his notebook recently and I pounced on it like lion on a carcass.

Come So Far from the Hairspray soundtrack. The people singing this song includes Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Nikki Blonsky and etc. It’s a very cheerful song with a nice beat that keeps my feet tapping. A happy-go-lucky piece about encouragement and not giving up.

Missing you by Tyler Hilton. 'I ain't missing you, since you've been gone away, I ain't missing you at all' Rings a bell?
It’s a cover version of the original by I don’t know what band. Heard this acoustic version on One Tree Hill in the scene where Nathan and Haley were standing in the rain holding each other. It’s just as good as the original.

This is by Kiki Ebsen, Say A Little Prayer. This is the adult contemporary, jazz-y style of this song made famous in the movie My Best Friend’s Wedding. But the one in that movie was sung by Diana King. It’s a softer, toned-down version with nice guitar sounds. Perfect for a scenario that involves a romantic dinner by a pier overlooking the sea, with a waiter in a black and white uniform serving meals, pouring me a glass of champagne which I don't know how to drink.

Winners At A Losing Game by Rascal Flatts. A very nice country ballad on unrequited love where he sings about loving a person that doesn’t love him back and that he knows that he will never be the man of her dreams. One the lines goes like this “If love is really forever, then I’m a winner at a losing game”. I’m thinking it probably means that if this relationship really works and last till the end of time, he wins because he has the girl of his dreams but the girl will never love him truly for no matter how long she tries. So ultimately, the relationship is a losing game because he may get the person, but he’ll never gain the heart. I like the way the lyrics were written, it’s like a puzzle. It's a kick to figure out meanings of songs.

The perfect vacation-welcoming song. Coconut Grove by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. What a freaky name! It sounds like an oldie to me but my mum didn’t seem to have heard this song before. My uncle was singing that at the top of his lungs in the car though. A mixture of muffled sounds because he forgot the lyrics and he sounded a little like a broken guitar string. Anyhoo, this song is really nice and everytime I listen to it. I imagine the beach and blue skies. (It’s part of the lyrics by the way) I googled the name Coconut Grove and found that it is a place in Miami, Florida. I wonder if this is the one they were singing about.

Gimme More. Ahem…it’s Britney, bitch. I hate to admit it but this song is so infectious. The more I listen to it, the more I feel like moving to it. I really can’t help bouncing my head to the beats. Although pretty much the whole song, she’s just going ‘gimme gimme gimme more gimme gimme gimme more gimme gimme’.

Blue sky blue

Now playing : Jamie Scott - Runaway Train

I woke up abnormally early today knowing eventhough it's a Saturday morning. It was already bright and sunny compared to the past couple of days where the morning was cool, rainy and good to sleep in. During a work day, it's cloudy, cold and rainy...a kind of day I would kill to stay in bed but I can't because I have to go to work. Bah!

After countless days of gloomy skies, today was quite a beautiful change in a way. I was just done bathing my dog and as I was scooping her poo, I looked up to skies and was taken aback by the gloriousness of it. I love looking at the sky. It's like a whole different world and imagine if I was like Superman with the ability to just fly all the way up there...endless..endless space. Here's the beautiful blue sky captured this morning.

3D/2N in Langkawi

Now playing : Take That - Rule The World

My trip to Langkawi had been a good one. For those that don’t know, Langkawi is quite a pretty island which is part of Kedah, Malaysia. Flying in the air above it, I had notice many tiny islands nearby which made it look breathtaking. You can find out more about this place in Wikitravel (http://wikitravel.org/en/Langkawi)
I spent 3 days, 2 nights there. In actual it’s more like 1.5 exploring days.
Day 1:
We touched down in Langkawi at noon on 28-Sep (Friday) which gives us about half a day to explore. Kudos to Ding for being the ‘PLANNER’ (as how he likes to put it..ha ha) and planning the itinerary for our trip. Well, we fulfilled almost 80% of the itinerary and I’m sure he should be proud of that. The flight there was a peaceful, non-turbulent journey which is our first time flying Firefly – its motto is something like Malaysia’s first community airline bla bla bla. I’d like to point out that I LOVED the black t-shirt that the stewardess had on. The plane was tiny (could hold probably 50 passengers). Upon reaching Langkawi airport we rented a car for a pretty good price in our opinion. RM120 for 3 days, that’s like RM40 a day. We got a Proton Savvy as Ding had never driven one before and had a little trouble at first working the auto/manual gear. It was drizzling as we headed out towards Awana Porto Malai resort. The map was simple and direct. There were a lot of signs that could point us in the right direction. The 1st few hours we were just learning to get used to the map and the roads. We made some wrong turns sometimes but I would say traveling by car in Langkawi was not too bad. We spent our afternoon at Oriental Village where the Langkawi cable car was. The journey there was briefly disrupted when we took the wrong road and ended up on a narrow 1 lane road just big enough for a Savvy to pass through. It was some ‘kampung’ in Kedawang and there was no turning back. Thank God we managed to get out of the maze. At Oriental Village, it was drizzling and the cable car service was stopped briefly so we didn’t take it. Besides, I was really disappointed because the weather made the distant view look so blurry and white so much so that I think it would be a waste of RM25 to go up there and not get a good clear view. In the Oriental Village, there’s a section housing rabbits and deer and anyone can walk right in and feed them. When we reached there it was only the 2 of us but unfortunately a big group of party poopers followed suit and crowded the whole place, hogging all the rabbits’ attention. Ding and I were attacked by deer. When I had food in my hand they start rubbing against me and aiming for my hand. One damn deer stepped on my foot. Imagine the pain. I went ‘OUCCCHHHH’ but the deer wouldn’t budge. And the guy there had the nerve to say they are harmless. They practically ambushed me. Ewww!
Here's a lowdown on Awana Porto Malai (that's the hotel we stayed in):
I liked the front walkway that leads into the lobby. It was flanked on both sides by Koi fish ponds which was unique. The room was quite nice and the sea view was pretty.

Day 2:
We got up to an early start and first destination was Snake Sanctuary which is very near the Makam Mahsuri. Never ever go to this stupid snake farm. Waste of money and time. Along the way we say the Makam Mahsuri and decided to take a look. I thought it should have been free but they are charging RM5 per person so I thought…WTF? 5 dollars to see a ‘makam’. No thank you. We left immediately. The next destination was Crocodile Farm. Why snakes and crocs you may ask? Well Ding loves to watch these reptiles. We had to pass by Ulu Melaka to get there. This is how most of the roads in Langkawi looked like.Fitting to say, it’s quite ‘ulu’. Everywhere is flanked by shrubs, trees, bushes and all green plants. Houses that we see along the way are always surrounded by overgrown shrubs. Crocodile Farm was definitely worth it. I would recommend this for those that won’t scream everytime they see a crocodile move. Not really for the faint-hearted sometimes. There were quite a lot of crocodiles, big ones, tiny ones, motionless ones. We were in time for the 11.15am show. Voila~! This is the star of the crocodile farm..which one you might ask?
The interesting part of this farm was the bridge above the crocodile pond. It’s a wooden bridge which was kinda scary. I was afraid it would break and I’d fall straight into the mouth of a crocodile. There were quite a lot of them in the stinky pond. We completed the first 2 destinations way ahead of schedule, so we wanted to stop by one of the beaches and the easiest along the way was Pantai Pasir Tengkorak…or maybe loosely translated to Skull Sand Beach.

Our next stop was Kuah town. Upon reaching the outskirts of the town. We started to see more ‘civilization’…meaning we started to see more concrete, shop houses, buildings etc. and less jungle. We knew we were close. We stopped for lunch before heading into the several duty-free shops to scout for chocolates. At this point, it is CADBURY time~~!! Finally we headed off to Langkawi Parade shopping mall and bought chocolates…lotsa chocolates.
As we had planned to visit the Night Market, it was way too early so we headed back to the hotel to get a short rest before coming out again to Kuah in the evening. At 6pm, we went back to Kuah and visited the Eagle Square. (eagle eagle..come to mama!)
Next stop was Langkawi Fair..there wasn’t much to see there so we went to the night market after dinner. It was lame. Lame lame lame night market. I only saw 2 stalls selling food.
Day 3:
Anyhoo, that's about it for our trip. Day 3 was our flight back on..Firefly. The return flight was ... freaky. So much air pocket travelling on a teeny-tiny airplane so much so that it felt like I was sitting on a roller-coaster ride. Even my sunglass I placed safely on my head fell off. I can see that the middle-aged fella sitting on the other row was freaked out to the point of pee-ing in his own pants but he still had the balls to laugh at Ding. It was raining and windy and it did feel like the plane was falling at a couple of intervals.
Well if you want to see more of our Langkawi photos. Here's the link :
http://mellim82.multiply.com/photos/album/9/Langkawi_Trip_2007

Reminiscing the old times

Now playing : Vitamin C - Graduation (Friends Forever)

Recently I read an article in The Star about board games such as Monopoly. It reminded me of the fun times I had playing those games with my 2 cousins and my brother. We used to play Monopoly, a short stint on Cluedo and there was a few times we played Pictionary. I remembered that I have a few other board games like Scrabble, Mastermind.

my Barbie doll shoes and accessories(below)

one of my board games that is not stuffed somewhere deep in the closet(below)Those were days back in primary school. My cousin would come over my house and hang out during school holidays. We’ll play Barbie dolls, Polly Pocket, even build Lego houses. Sometimes we’ll cycle outside our houses along the road and get into arguments with the ‘children’ living opposite us. Sometimes my cousin and I would cycle to the nearby library and look at books. There was once we saw a recipe book and immediately went back to my place and started making sandwiches with ingredients like cheese, banana *gasp*, grapes *gasp again* and what not. It tasted quite nice. We sat there in the living room and ate our masterpieces while watching Hindi movies with my grandma.

Back then when we were young, I’d sleep over at my cousin’s house and vice versa. We lived just 2 houses away so it was easy for me to drag my pillow and bolster and blanket over to her place. Imagine tiny little me, carrying my pillow..scurrying over to her place. In the evenings, we’d play badminton outside our house until it was dinnertime. I used to have early dinners. 5.30pm was my dinner time.
Together with all this play time there was also tuition time, music lessons, ballet lessons that I had to take. I didn’t like ballet lessons but I don’t regret it either. I cannot at this moment imagine myself prancing around in the tight body hugging ballet costume which looks like a swimming costume anyway. I never practiced my ballet steps so I’d always make a mess in class. Sometimes I get punished but I guess I’m the type that doesn’t like to be embarrassed that way, so I had to get my act together and not humiliate myself. I stopped ballet when I reached Standard 4. The music lessons were still going on though. I loved playing my electronic keyboard a.k.a organ. I didn’t like the lessons because I was a lazy bum but come to think about it. I enjoyed playing music very much. The teacher let me take the practical exams and I got to Level 5. It’s been a while since I last practiced. I stopped music lessons I believe sometime in Form 3 or Form 4. My excuse was exams.
Now the days are gone. It’s something of the past and those are memories that I would love to cherish forever. When we entered secondary school, we didn’t really have time to play anymore. We kept out Barbie dolls and polly pockets back into our boxes. Tore down our Lego houses and packed it. Since entering high school, play time was reduced. Besides, we were already growing up, we can’t be playing Barbie dolls no more. At times before we also played 2 player computer games like Bubble trouble. We were addicted to that but I couldn’t recall at what age did we play that. More and more time was spent studying, going to tuition, after school activities, doing homework and worrying about exams. Years later, I graduated from high school and started my college life. When I was young, I played a lot of girl toys as well as boy toys too…FOR KIDS!~! What you thinking??!! I will always reminisce the good old times because I had a nice childhood surrounded by sleepovers, sandwich experiments, board games, badminton, TV, ballet lessons *eck*, music lessons, tuition (that’s like mandatory, I had no choice) and some toys.

MIX fm turns me on

I listen to ...

Normally when I go to work, I’ll pop one of my cd’s in the player and listen to it on the way…yes, occasionally I do sing to myself in the privacy of my own car..duh, who doesn't. Sometimes I’ll listen to Lite n Easy aka Lite FM but since I discovered a certain threesome in the morning, I’ve switched channels. Nowadays, I tune in to Mix FM during my drive to work. That's 91.1fm in Penang. I’m so hooked on the Mix breakfast show with Ika, Serena C and Pietro.
I think these 3 fellas make a good match and gives the right vibe. It’s much more entertaining and humorous now. If one of them is missing on certain days, it just doesn’t feel so right or as funny as usual. It’s wacky, the things they say and the jibes they pour on each other. I especially like those parts when Phua Chu Kang makes his appearance for celebrity news and starts joking about Britney ‘throw the knife’, Britney ‘javelin’…no..Britney Spears and other celebrities. It’s a good move pulling him in here and there. Totally beefed up the entertainment value. In the evening on the way back home from work, it's Ross and I totally like the way he talks.
Besides, Mix FM plays great songs. I still like Lite FM occasionally because of the softer songs and oldies that they play. To me, other than Mix FM and Lite FM, the other channels are just...blah.