Spooktacular

HK

2011-07-21T04:11:00.005+01:00

Greetings from Hong Kong!

It has been a long while since I last posted. Guess what? I have relocated to China for work. And of all the things, blogspot is one of the site that is blocked in China. Of course, there are options to bypass the firewall just like how you can access Facebook in China. It has been hectic and I haven't really properly settle in just yet. Currently, am in Hong Kong for my work visa application.

I may have been moaning about the depressing weather in the UK. It is probably just the same in the East. Both China and Hong Kong are having their wet monsoon season. It appeared to be raining cats and dogs everywhere I go. My first experience with bad traffic was just last week. The rain flooded the road and caused problems for cars. I was stuck in the traffic for a good 2 hrs. For a 40 min journey home, it took 2.5 hrs that day. Apparently, it is normal....oh my gosh. There are things that is just a norm in the East which I just have to get on with it!

Anyway, I am enjoying my retail therapy in HK. I don't think I have ever spent that much and return to hotel smiling even though I am left with just about HKD$8 in my wallet!

PS: Enjoy browsing the books in bookstore here. Definitely more international books than what I have seen in China so far. Two books caught my attention...but I didn't buy. If I did, I have to buy another suitcase as my initially half-filled suitcase is now nearly full.....*blush*

citizenM Amsterdam Airport

2011-05-04T17:54:00.007+01:00

Introducing citizenM hotel at Amsterdam Airport. I arrived late night. This hotel serve as a good sleepover so I could travel to Keukenhof Garden the next day. It cost €21 combo ticket (bus + Keukenhof entrance ticket) travelling from the airport. Save yourself from the long queue to buy the entrance ticket at the garden itself. So, you have seen some of the tulip photos from previous post.

Anyway, back to introducing this funky hotel.

Self checkin...it was self explanatory but there is always someone around the checkin area to help you out in case you are stuck. You even activate the roomcard yourself.

Love the contemporary design of the lounge, especially the purple chairs. Apparently, it is obvious to many friends that I have a thing for the purple colour.

This pink chair (low seating)...ideal for short legs :p

Another low seater.

These can serve as extra seating as well as decor in the background.

This is looking into the computers area for guests. Guess what?....they provide iMac.

Another purple chair. Don't you think it looks like an ice cream cone?

The corridor outside the rooms. A clean design...almost resembling a toilet?

Taking a peek into the room......this is exactly the whole room, bedroom-shower-toilet combi. The toilet seat was not in the shoot. Bedroom and shower is separated by a curtain.

I don't understand why it thinks that I am a Mr :(

The remote control pretty much is the key to many things. It even control the roller blackout blind. After a night in this room, I knew I was spoilt by technology. I moaned that I had to manually open the blind at other hotels after this one *blush.

King size bed with wall to wall window.

Here's the fancy moodpad control. It controls the lighting in the room. You can choose by theme. Should you wish to be relax, romantic, etc. See the colour changes below....cool, eh? You should see it for yourself. My photos do not do much justice. Oh, have I mentioned that there is music too? I recalled reading somewhere that all rooms are soundproof.

Funny door tag. In case you cannot read clearly, it says 'don't come in, there's someone naked in here' LOL

It was cool, it was fun. Worth a try.

SPAM

2011-05-04T17:29:00.002+01:00

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. In one day, I get two types of spam emails. First that say, I have US$2.6 million waiting for me to collect. Nice try but I am not thick enough to give you my passport or identity details. Instead I forward that email to the National Fraud Authority to add into their database.

This other spam is an interesting one. A year free coffee in Starbucks. I wouldn't have noticed this if it had been filtered into the junk. It looked dodgy anyway. The header indicated Starbucks UK and the content mentioned Starbucks Canada. The return email doesn't appear genuine. My guess....I would get 'bug' if I had continued pressing that magic green button.

Like I said....there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Beware of spams.

Keukenhof Garden, Holland

2011-05-01T11:38:00.005+01:00

It is the tulip season. Unfortunately, I may have arrived a bit late as all the tulips were in full bloom. Regardless, it was pretty colourful sight. Never did I know that there are so many types of tulips.

My favourite combination of pink and purple :)

This is not the biggest shoes I found by far.

Happy Easter 2011

2011-05-01T11:17:00.003+01:00

I have been missing in action for a while. Just returned from my Easter break. Here are some Easter theme display in Brussels. Aren't they delicious? Yum yum....but would you have the heart to eat it?

This is my favourite one of all :)

Stress therapy

2011-03-20T20:22:00.003Z

Every few years, my company has got in house health check free of charge. It involved a prick...ouch on my finger to get some blood and a little gadget evaluating my blood for non-fasting glucose and cholesterol. In return, I get to have a toy which comes in a form of an apple.

...and it's a stress ball. I took two and the other one is now in a bad shape....;)

Inactivity

2011-03-03T06:29:00.009Z

Time flies. It has been more than a month since my last post. Oh dear....much has happened in between. I just came back from a trip to the tropical. A trip home to surprise family on Chinese New Year. Good times always pass too quickly. Returning to the UK suddenly feel unreal this time round. Here's a snapshot of where I have been...

NBT seasonal display, Brunei

Getting my best wishes from Mr Rabbit

Where do you reckon I am at with chips in hand ;)

At Resorts World Sentosa, Singapore

with my good old friend

The glamorous Marina Bay Sands

Night scene of Singapore

Next, I brought my parents to Kuala Lumpur. The twin towers...

Chee Cheong Kai at Jalan Petaling

Thean Hou Temple

I was making a wish :)

Food paradise by night time at Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang

Las Vegas, Part 1

2011-01-12T16:09:00.001Z

The first hotel I stayed in was Stratosphere Las Vegas Hotel Casino. If the name rings a bell, then you would relate this hotel to Stratosphere Tower. The tower is the tallest observation tower, and the 5th tallest structure, in the United States, as well as being the tallest structure in Las Vegas. Now that is not the main attraction. The key attraction is in the thrill rides that you get at the top of the tower. I will go into details in another post.

First stop was MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Las Vegas...one of the main attractions is the hotels itself. They are massive and have plenty of entertainment within. How massive? Well, the MGM Grand is the second largest hotel in the world. It has five outdoor pools, rivers, and waterfalls that cover 6.6 acres, a 380,000 sq ft convention center, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, CBS Television City and the Grand Spa. It also contains numerous shops and night clubs, 19 restaurants and a large casino of 171,500 sq ft. You can easily spend a day inside the hotel. One truly appreciate the sheer size of it when you are out there personally to witness and walk the hotel yourself. Would you believe me if I claim that I end up with sore feet everyday?

Pretending I was in a movie set...

Coincidentally, there was a concert on Christmas day by Eason Chan (陳奕迅). My friend was a big fan and so I tagged along. We got ourselves the cheapest ticket costing US$47. A lot later I found out that Stefanie Sun (孙燕姿)had a concert too at another hotel.

The concert was held inside MGM Grand Hotel. It wasn't as big as I would expect. Regardless, it was still big enough to find the stage small. Had to depend on the monitor above.

Opposite the MGM Grand is New York New York Hotel & Casino. By now, you should have noticed that each hotels have their own theme. Its architecture resemble New York City skyline; where you get to see replica of Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc.

Can you see a roller coaster going round the outside of the buildings? Oh yes, there is one (named Manhattan Express) and I went on it. I wouldn't recommend if you have a faint heart.

Replica of the Brooklyn Bridge

Status of Liberty made up of candies....

I was wondering why the dog's feet look odd. I think it has got shoes on....

Can you see the modern pyramid behind me? That is the Luxor Las Vegas. The hotel is named after the city of Luxor in Egypt. It is of 30 story high that contained 4400 rooms. It didn't look like it from the outside.

Re-creation of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

At the entrance.

I couldn't resist messing about...:p

This is how the wall really look like in colour mode. I think it is better off in black & white or sepia.

The interior of Luxor. The guest rooms are situated on the outer walls of the pyramid and are reached by riding in "inclinators" that travel along the inner surface of the pyramid at a 39 degree.

I was so into shooting this Christmas decorated lamp until the receptionist came forward asking me if I needed any assistance *blush*.

This is the end of Part 1. To be continued....

Happy 2011

2011-01-02T13:01:00.000Z

With the snow chaos back in December, it was a amazing that I was able to fly out for my Christmas break. I went to Las Vegas with Grand Canyon in mind. I was out there for a week and as you can imagine there are too many photos to filter through. I have been back for a week now and I have not finished looking through all the photos I have taken *blush...

Anyway, wishing all a prosperous year 2011.

Snow

2010-12-18T13:30:00.003Z

The predicted heavy snow shower has finally kicked in. It was clear when I looked out of the window at 0830 this morning. At 1300, I looked out again....to be surprise it was covered in white outside. Of course I have to grab my camera to capture this moment when it is still virgin snow on the ground....

The virgin snow on my front porch (yeah a real mini one).

The barren trees braving the freezing cold temperature outside...

...and a courageous alien (with frozen smiles) here braving the cold to capture the moment.

Chin Chin Laboratorist

2010-11-28T19:29:00.003Z

It is not a lab. In fact, it is a nitrogen ice cream parlour in Camden Lock, London. First read it in the newspaper and thought it was a novel idea. I happened to be exploring Camden Market when I came across it by chance. So I thought I gave it a try. Shame that I did not have my digital camera with me at the time and had to make do with my phone camera.

The store was not busy when I walked in. There were three choices of ice cream and I had chosen Coquito which is 'Eggnog' appropriate for X'mas theme. The key ingredients were coconut, nutmeg and rum. The owner explained the procedure of making the ice cream.

You may be able to identify the nitrogen tanks at the back. Finally, the ice cream was tested for temperature using infra red thermometer which he showed it to me that it was -10C. I get a choice of topping and sauce so I chosen dark chocolate sauce and honeycomb. It was fascinating to see that they used laboratory items. It made me chuckle to see that my spoon was a dose spoon (those that indicate how much volume per spoon). They have beaker, conical flask, etc to store their sauces and toppings. Very unique, I must say.

It taste good to me. Definitely much denser than the usual ice cream. If I am comparing with Häagen-Dazs, obviously the nitro ice cream is not as smooth. But the flavour, texture and eating it when it was freezing cold outside...it was brilliant. One of which cost me £3.95 *grin.

Stitch.....grrrr

2010-11-28T19:12:00.002Z

Disney store was and still is doing a promotion of £20 for every large soft toys which include Mickey, Minnie, Eoyore and many more. I just couldn't help wanting Stitch. Look at him, isn't he adorable? He just want to follow me but but but....ultimately, I left the store Stitch-less.....:(

Check out my friend here....she has got a nosy affair with Tiger...LOL.

Cyclist vs. Car

2010-11-21T18:17:00.003Z

A car in front of me overtook the cyclist. It was then I noted the blinking back bicycle light. I was driving behind the cyclist for a while. I contemplated overtaking him but thought I better not as there were cars coming from the other direction and that the road was a bit narrow.

Suddenly, I saw a car entering a junction from the other side and I thought the driver may have not seen the cyclist. Note that it was dark at the time apart from some dim street lights. True enough, I witnessed the accident right in front of me. The bicycle front hit the car wheel and the cyclist flip into the air and rolled over the front screen of the car and drop onto the ground. The sound wasn't too promising either. It was a good thing that the cyclist had his helmet on. I suspected he might have bad whiplash and hopefully no broken bones. The driver whom was a middle age man quickly came out of his car to check the cyclist. I did not know what I should be doing. The car was blocking my way from going forward. The other side of the road was queuing up because the cars were stopping to see what was going on. Nobody came out of their car to help. Everything felt like slow motion movie playing in front of me. After a minute which felt like 10, the traffic started moving again and I thought I better get out of the way. Not far ahead, I saw a police car heading towards the accident direction.

I couldn't help thinking if I had overtaken the cyclist earlier, could the cyclist have missed getting hit?

The lesson for today;

It is the responsibility of the cyclist to be aware of the hazard when on the road. However, it is also the responsibility of a driver to be aware of the hazard on the road. So remain on alert at all times during driving. Be aware of cyclist and pedestrian. Whoever fault it is, nobody wishes to cause lost of another life.

Stonehaven, Scotland

2010-11-04T19:18:00.007Z

As mentioned in previous post, the weather was ideal on that Saturday morning. I pretty much rush my hotel breakfast and caught the train to Stonehaven town. It was 20 mins away. I got worried upon arrival when it started drizzling despite the full sunshine. However, it stopped shortly afterwards.

From the railway station, it was about 10 minutes walk into town. Lovely town and houses. This signpost got my attention....*open air poo*.....I was trying to figure out what could that mean...but at closer look, it was merely a dropoff letter L.

In town, there are plenty of signpost leading me to the coastal path. I was here to see the Dunnottar Castle..a ruined medieval fortress on a rocky headland.

My old time favourite for black and white. This was taken by the Harbour.

Two kids doing cartwheels by the sandy area. It took me a while to get that shoot.

There it is Stonehaven town in the background.

No doubt Stonehaven being beautiful....

Before the start of the coastal path, here is a warning sign for everyone. Hmmmm...but the logistic of the signpost could improved because I saw this only when I returned....

The sea beyond is the North Sea.

This was probably about 1/3 of my journey. You can see the castle miniature in the far distant.

The path would probably be dangerous if it has been wet and slippery. As for the warning sign, you will see what it means with the steep cliff from the photos below. Plenty of locals taking a walk with their dog/s. On one occasion, the dog was hyperactive and running at a speed towards me. Gulp....but it only wanted to bark at me briefly and move on.....*phew....

Finally arriving at the Dunnottar Castle, a ruined cliff top fortress in a truly stunning setting. To top it up, the whole scenic coastal path was an added bonus.

My first ever up close to the hay field.

Stonehaven's War Memorial, standing on top of the Black Hill just south of the town. You will not miss it on the coastal path as you are bound to pass it along the trail.

The whole return journey to the castle and back was 3 hours by foot. Note that there was no mobile reception whatsoever when out on the coast. After a good workout that day, I ended it with a treat to a cafe having a huge chocolate truffle, pancake with syrup and hot chocolate with marshmallow...*blush

Montrose, Scotland

2010-11-02T17:00:00.005Z

For the rest of the week, I stayed in Montrose where it is walking distance to work. I owed this opportunity to my colleague who contacted me if I was interested in getting some experience in other project.

I didn't think this bridge was built in 1910.

This was taken from the bridge overseeing the Montrose Basin. Montrose Basin is a large tidal basin of mud, sand, salt marsh and reed bed. During the day when the tide is out, the basin is not filled up with water.

Later in the day, the basin view changed! When the tide kicks on, the marshland was filled with water. The sunset was brilliant!

There isn't much in Montrose. Similarly to Carnoustie, the town is small. The local people are friendly. Very often, I get greetings from strangers on passing. Despite being the odd one out in town, I did not feel out of place.

Carnoustie, Scotland

2010-11-02T16:26:00.007Z

First day of arrival to Scotland, I stayed in Carnoustie..infamous for golf.

The hotel I stayed in was Carnoustie Golf Hotel. The town itself is pretty small. The key attraction is golf afterall.

I had a two unwelcome guests in the first room assigned to me. Two black spiders in the bathtub.....I requested for a change of room. The next room was better.

Forget about the spiders, I went out for a walk around town and by the coast. There wasn't much to see in town but I went towards the coast. Don't be fool by the sunshine from the photographs. It was freezing cold that afternoon.

That is the view of Carnoustie Bay. Despite the cold, the sound of the waves...the sea breeze and salty air....it was a relaxing moment for me. At that point, I realised I need to slow down my pace to enjoy the moment.

North East Scotland

2010-10-28T12:36:00.004+01:00

I was up in Scotland on business trip. The weatherman was generous to me in the end. The rain stopped and I had beautiful weather over the weekend. I am putting up some of photos to share. Nothing compare to seeing it with your own eyes.

The blue sky....I missed that. I rarely see it down south. Once I saw the sun was up from the hotel, I quickly decided to travel to Stonehaven.

From Stonehaven, it is at least 2.5 miles walk by the coastal path to Dunnotar Castle. The journey was very very very.....scenic. It was well worth the long walk. Despite the sun, the temperature wasn't as it seems in the photograph. Trust me....it was freezing cold....brrrr....

By end of the day, returning to Montrose town to be welcome by the sunset at the Monstrose basin.

Wet wet wet

2010-10-22T20:27:00.003+01:00

Autumn is here and the leaves have turned brown. The sun was momentarily out and now taken over by the dark clouds and rains. It has yet stopped raining since yesterday. When will it stop....?

Snow?

2010-10-19T22:34:00.002+01:00

There has been news about potential snow in October. I see no sign of snow yet but the temperature has dipped down to a single digit and near sub zero. It was raining when I went out earlier. As it rain cats and dogs, I thought I better used a big umbrella. Only to experience microclimate after 5 minutes.

London Fashion Weekend

2010-10-04T17:12:00.010+01:00

An interesting experience, one must try out if you can make it. Ticket for entrance and catwalk show cost approximately £30.

In The Tent, there are various workshop where you get to learn how to put on makeup. Too much crowd for me. I just went ahead for the queue to enter the catwalk show so I could sit right in front by the catwalk zone.

Catwalk last about 30 mins. Our host was Zara Martin. Note all the hairs done by Toni & Guy and makeup by Elizabeth Arden.

Kramer vs. Kramer, 1970's Housewife Chic meets a World of Camel, proving beige isn't boring.

By Ashley Isham, Singaporean-born designer whom is now based in London. For Autumn/Winter 2010 Ashley's signature 'goddess gowns'. There were many but I had to balance between watching the show and taking photographs.

I lost track of the theme at this point. They appeared to be funky raincoat to me.

Roughly from this point onwards, I noticed that the models all had the same footwear.

Is zero size deem to be healthy?!?!

That was the ending where all the signature pieces came back on the catwalk for the last time.

Did you notice anything above? I was thinking if it was possible one could trip with those high heels or....someone stepping on the back of your dress....

Fancy a coffee? Fancy A modo mio? A demonstration of the coffee machine and a free drink. The promotional price on the day was £99, a small reduction to what pay from the online store. I have heard of good reviews about Lavazza coffee. After having one, I thought it was ok.

We went inside the Somerset House to see the bargain sales. Many were buying like nobody business. Sure enough some of the prices were like a significant reduction. There was one which was £2300 reduced to £499. This lady just couldn't resist it and was convincing herself in front of the mirror how great the dress look on her. It was intriguing just watching.

This room was full of Juicy Couture canvas bags. They sold it by size and check out how they measure the size of the bag.....

Kellogg's Special K, Chocolate& Strawberry...I came back with four mini boxes of it, freebies of the day. And an Elle magazine that was at discounted rate of £1 vs. the retail price of £3.70.

Quote of the day

2010-09-20T17:32:00.002+01:00

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; Not going all the way, and not starting.
-Buddha

Segway Rally

2010-09-12T22:36:00.003+01:00

This was back in June on one very warm day. We bought the deal from
buyagift when it was on promotional price. Location we picked was Markyate. The rally track was reasonable size. The whole experience last for an hour.

Those are the Segways charged up and ready for usage.

Our instructor for the day. He started off telling us the safety aspect and the basic of using the Segway. Everyone of us are giving 5-10 mins to practice moving forwards and zigzagging around the cones.

Now, it does look pretty easy to maneuver the Segway. It wasn't in the beginning especially when you are still getting a hang of it in terms of balancing on top of the Segway. The gadget is pretty sensitive to movement so no big steer is require. And most importantly, one must not think of this as riding a bike or motorbike. No tense shoulder! The key is relax your muscle and trust the machine.

hehe...I came last in the rally. I didn't race really to avoid losing the rhythm. Overall, my colleagues and I had enjoyed the experience.

The Switch

2010-09-07T20:57:00.003+01:00

Watch this movie a few weeks back. Trailer was funny. Movie was even funnier. The storyline may be a bit long and predictable but admitedly enjoy the movie. A good laugh. The kid was brilliant too.

Back from Vienna

2010-08-30T20:26:00.005+01:00

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. Another year to my age but I have long stopped tracking my true age. I spent the long weekend break in Vienna. A trip that I had planned a few months ago. I had a great time. Admittedly exhausted by the last day. But looking back at the photos, I had enjoyed the trip. Plenty of photos to filter through. I will share some of my favourite ones.

St. Charles's Church

Vienna State Opera

Hofburg Palace

Zoo at Schoenbrunn Palace

Meet the animals

2010-08-19T21:57:00.004+01:00

A trip to the Van Hage's animal garden. Cute, isnt?

This one like to be scratched...

These goats just run towards you if they believe you have got food in hand. The attention from them was overwhelming, in particular the first scare I receive....

What are those? Guinea pigs...