bits and pieces of me...

missed flight…

2012-01-21T15:47:00.001+04:00

i guess those on my facebook would have known, that i missed my homeward-bound flight last night… i was such an ass!

as i stay quite near the airport (15 minutes away), i always leave for the airport 1.5 hr before departure time, instead of the standard “be at the airport at least 2 hrs before”, so that i don’t have to spend too much time at the airport waiting for boarding etc. it has always worked, but apparently one can’t be so lucky every time, right?

i guess traveling too much has made me over-confident. i didn’t take into consideration the other factors that could cause delays… such as accidents, car breakdowns, forgot to bring passport, forgot to bring my e-ticket, can’t get a taxi, road to the airport super jam etc. i thought everything will go smoothly, every time, all the time.

anyway, i failed to get a taxi to the airport yesterday night. i stood by the road, in the cold and rain (more like drizzle in m’sian standard, but it’s RAIN in the desert), for more than 30 min and still no taxi came by! in the end, i had to drag my huge luggage out to the main road to hail a taxi from there.

by the time i got to the airport, i couldn’t find the screen with my airline’s logo on it! a bit panicky, i stopped an airport staff to ask. she turned behind her and was about to point when she realized that the screens above the counters were not showing the airline’s logo. so she said, “oh, the counters have closed”. a sinking feeling settled in my stomach then… shit! shit! shit!

the airport staff told me to rebook my ticket for the next flight, but i asked her if there’s any way for them to call the airline’s person in-charge, coz i was only late by a few minutes. so she pointed me to the airport office to get help from the people there. but when i got to the office, there wasn’t anyone there! omg, time was ticking by… more panic!

i went up to another airport staff for help and he pointed me to another section of the terminal to look for the duty manager counter to get help from there. by the time i rushed over, it’s already 40 minutes before departure and i felt my chances of getting onto the plane slowly slipping by. i found the counter and again, there’s no one there! frantic, i went to another counter (access baggage payment counter) to ask the staff there and they asked me to knock on the door next to the duty manager counter. so i dragged my luggage back to the counter and was about to knock when 2 airport staff passed by and asked me what happened. i told them my situation, and one of them tried to call the airline people to see if they’ll allow me to board. 10 more minutes passed before they called back to say it’s only 30 minutes before departure and they can’t allow me on-board. shit! shit! shit!

luckily the staff who helped me make the call saw my muka kesian (malay: pitiful face) and told me what i should do next: “go up to the cafeteria upstairs and wait until about 10 minutes after the flight has departed. then go down to the airline’s office in the basement. the people from the airline should be back by then. tell them your situation and book yourself onto tomorrow’s flight. make sure they make a printout of your new flight for you.” he even added in a “good luck” before we parted.

when i went to see the airline people, at first they said there’s nothing they can do to help me and told me to call their main office to work things out. but they did tipped me to say that i missed my flight due to illness or something serious like that, so that they don’t penalise me. and they said it in a nice and helpful way, not “it’s-not-my-business-i-can’t-help-you” kinda way. but i guess my muka kesian worked again coz after a while, one of the staff said he’ll try to see if their computers can be linked to the system and then he can book me for the next day’s flight.

waited for about 20 minutes while he kept trying but in the end, he managed to secure the last seat for me! he even put in the reason for my change as, “reported to counter late due to road accident”. and i don’t have to pay any extra charges too! i’m so grateful!

*phew* so much drama… so even though i’m delayed by one day in getting home, wasted time sitting around at the airport as well as the taxi money to and from the airport, at least i’m still going home for this chinese new year! must count my blessings…

come to think about it, i seem to meet with a lot of flight related “bad luck” this year of the rabbit, huh? delayed flight, airport closure, flight turning back halfway, stranded at the airport and couldn’t check-in at the counter… hopefully the year of the dragon will be much better!

anyway, here’s wishing everyone a happy, joyous, healthy, wealthy and prosperous year of the water dragon! gong xi gong xi!

happy new year from the land of the shimmering sands!

2012-01-03T17:36:00.001+04:00

a bit late, but better late than never, right? anyway, i spent my new year's eve and new year's day just like in my previous years... avoiding all the crowded places and just lazed around at home. i did went out to have new year's eve dinner with my 2 colleagues tho', just to make it slightly special and different than any other weekend.

oh, and i was recovering from a flu, due to the weather change in sandland. the temperature is getting quite cold now... something to be grateful for, instead of the scorching heat of the summer!

ok, i know everyone's talking about new year's resolutions, something which i'm determined NOT to make every year, but somehow still managed to come up with a semblance of a resolution.

this year, i'm NOT gonna make any. i swear... but just let me give a little update about myself here in sandland, in point-form.

1. i really enjoy having the whole apartment to myself, which gives me plenty of privacy and me-time.

2. i've been cooking a lot, on and off, mostly simple meals. i feel i have a knack for cooking, even though i've not had much practice *perasan*. i'm thinking of getting a smallish oven, so that i can try my hands at baking simple stuff like muffins etc. i also need something to heat leftover food with, so an oven would come in really handy.

3. work wise, things are going quite ok lar. work is just work, so nothing much to talk about... i have made some good friends among my colleagues, as well as some enemies but who said life is all a bed of roses, right? and like what a colleague told me, "we're not here to make people like us. as long as we feel what we're doing is right, there's no need to think too much about it." anyway, those who hate me are just jealous of my awesomeness lah! *flicks hair* :D

4. relationship wise, i'm still happily single and available... still have not found that special someone yet. or rather, like what my colleague said, still have not been found! YET! :D

5. my horse-riding lessons are still on-going... loving every moment of it!

6. financial wise, things are fine too, tho' i kinda regret having hastily invested in a 10-year savings plan that is leaving me quite dry every end of the month, with not much spending cash in hand. now, i can only look on the brighter side of things, that is i finally have some savings put aside.

i guess that's about it... happy new year, y'all!

the carrot girl...

2011-12-16T02:25:00.003+04:00

last friday marked my 30th lesson in horse riding and sad to say, i'm still in the red level, which is the beginner level. actually my coach said that normally, they will recommend the students to take their test to advance to the next level (yellow) after 25 lessons and actually he did mention to me about my test, but then it's either he's forgotten about it or he felt that i'm not ready to advance yet.

actually, i don't really care about doing the test also lar. i was asking the coach if i can advance to yellow without taking the test, like what N and i used to do in our ice-skating classes, but he said no. also, i wanna take things slowly and take the test when i'm truly ready. my coach said my posture and control is good, just sometimes i'm too soft with the horses (coz i refused to whip them hard!), which made them stubborn and refused to do what i asked them to do.

so far, i've mastered the posting trot, sitting trot, jump position and am learning the canter. some days i can do the canter quite beautifully, but some days i suck at it. it all depends on the horse i get for that day.

anyway, i'm loving my lessons and am so glad that i took it up. the horses are amazing! they've very intuitive in a lot of aspects. i guess they all know that i'm soft-hearted and a little afraid of them, so they tend to be quite stubborn and know they can bully me! :(

on one of my favourite horses (i have a few fav, actually), brownie/randolf. i'm still unsure about his name coz he's new at the school and the grooms are confused with his name. one groom is telling me this is brownie, but my coach said randolf! =_='''

the horses know their own name, even though they don't live like pets and are always surrounded by so many other horses. i found this out one day after my lesson when i went to give the horse i rode a carrot treat, something i've taken a habit of doing. they were all tied up in a row and i can't recognize any of them (they all look the same, ok?). so i asked the groom there, "which is denver?" but before the groom gave his answer, one horse raised his head and looked up at me, and i knew that's him! :)

most horses who've been in the riding school also know the commands already, so sometimes, they react more to the instructions of the coach than to the riders. when we ride, the coach will be standing in the middle and give us riders instructions. start trotting, trot faster, change direction, canter, walk etc... sometimes, when the coach said these things, even before we have time to react, the horses are already doing them! hahaha... but most horses who've been in a riding school for a long time will develop attitude problems. i guess it's from always being ridden by beginners, who don't know how to handle and control them.

that's one reason why i like to ride brownie/randalf so much. he's still new at the school, so he's very responsive. i just need to give a small pull on the reins to make him stop, go to the left or right, a little kick to make him go faster or to start canter etc. some of the other horses can get really stubborn and then we'll need to use the whip on them, which i really hate!

who wants a carrot? this is safaj, by the way...

i think when the horses talk to each other, they'd probably refer to me as "carrot girl". coz after a few times of bringing carrots to the horses, they seem to know my routine. so now every time i appear at the back, all of them will look up at me expectantly! some would even nicker at me! i have to hide the carrot behind me or in my jacket when i walk past them to the horse i wanted to feed and say, "no, not for you today!"

i finally got a pic of me taken while on a horse!

yeah, the weather in dubai is getting colder. and as i always go for my lessons at night, the night air can get really chilly, sometimes going as low as 14-16 deg C! that's why i was dressed the way i am in the photo above. but the thing is, after the lesson start, i will start getting hot and sweaty! so it's a dilemma: to wear a jacket or not?

maybe a waistcoat over a thin long-sleeved t-shirt would be better?

but i still feel cold before the lesson, and hot and sweaty during lesson! maybe it's time to go get proper riding attire for the cold weather? anyway, i wear the shorts over my breaches during the journey to and from the school coz wearing just the tight-fitting breaches on public transport is just too weird, not to mention all those mata keranjang men of certain nationalities!

uae 40th national day celebration

2011-12-10T02:46:00.007+04:00

the uae national day falls on 2nd dec every year, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of the union of the 7 neighbouring emirates. here in dubai, with nearly 80% of the people being foreigners, you’d think no one would really care. that’s what i thought so too, when i first came last year. but how wrong i was, coz nearing the date, every other person can be seen donning the uae flag colours (black, red, white and green). kids can be seen wearing dresses and clothes that resembled the flag, girls will be wearing hairbands and bangles in the 4 colours, boys will have the 4 coloured scarves around their neck, schools will have special activities to commemorate the day… and there will be many activities happening leading up to the date, and this year being the 40th anniversary, the celebration was even massive.

someone in my facebook shared a link to a celebration that involves releasing floating lanterns (also known as kong ming lantern to the chinese) or sky lamps, to the sky at night. these lanterns are banned in m’sia, so i’ve never had the chance to release one before, even though many of my friends have done it illegally. also, see this promo video for the event:

doesn’t it reminds you of the animation “tangled”? so i was determined to go! :P

see, so pretty!

the event was held in a horseracing racecourse… my first time in a racecourse! anyway, we were very early, which explains the empty seats…

the actual event started at about 6pm, with some traditional arabic dance…

then the hot-air balloons started coming in… see what i told you, the ang-moh girl in the basket is obviously not a local here, but so gung-ho in waving the uae flag…

preparing the balloons…

we realized our mistake of choosing an aisle seat, coz it got really packed and there weren’t enough seats in the grandstand. so people started standing at the railing right in front of us! luckily later on there were event personnel who went around asking people to move

at around 7pm, they started inflating the balloons… this huge one was a gift to uae (didn’t really pay attention to the announcer, so didn’t hear WHO the gift was from), flew in directly from US. it’s in the shape of a giant birthday cake

then the rest of the balloons were inflated, with air being blown in using giant fans…

then hot air was used to make the balloons stand…

then they switched off all the lights and each balloon took turns puffing the fire, so that there’s a blinking effect…

people and cars were used as anchor…

after about 30 min, they started to deflate the balloons… so much work for just a 30 min display??

we got free lanterns!

while the hot-air balloon display was going on, i saw around me many people holding the floating lanterns. so my colleague asked a man behind us where he got his and he said he won the coupons in a competition. we were like, “huh?” then i saw 2 ladies in front of me holding some coupons, so i asked them where they got their coupons. they said they called in to a radio station and won them… we were quite worried that we can only get the lanterns by winning these coupons, coz we didn’t have any coupon! can’t we buy them off the counter? then the ladies in front of us turned to me and said i can have 1 of their coupons, coz they have enough. woo-hoo! anyway, one coupon is for 4 lanterns… later we found out that they do sell the lantern coupons, for aed 40 per coupon. meaning one lantern is aed 10 (about rm 8).

a runaway, or rather, flyaway lantern…

after the hot-air balloon display, the dj announced that they will be opening the gates soon to let us go down to release our floating lanterns. he also specifically told us many times not to release our lanterns from the grandstand, coz it would be very dangerous… but there are still some who are stubborn/don’t understand english/boh-tak-chek (hokkien: never go to school). haiz…

we were very excited that while waiting, we quickly prepared our lanterns by fixing the wax to the wire below. i also told my colleagues about the chinese custom of writing our wishes onto the lanterns, which resulted in a mad scramble looking for pens in our bags! hahaha…

this is probably the closest i’d ever get to a horse racetrack!

lighting my first ever kong ming lantern!

taking flight!

halfway through, they switched off the lights, which made the place even prettier. should’ve switched them off earlier lar! then my colleague’s boyfriend bought some more lanterns, so we had another chance to make our wishes! :D

sending wishes to the heavens…

well, it’s not exactly like in “tangled”, but it was pretty enough for me… :)

staff party '11

2011-12-01T12:51:00.004+04:00

ok, this is also another long-overdue post - my company's staff party, which happened last september. the theme was "hollywood" and at first, they said to just dress up as our favourite star, actor or actresses.

this, in a way, can be very easy or very difficult. easy in a sense that we can just dress up in our best tux or gown, like in a red carpet event. but it's very difficult if we wish to be recognized for the star we're dressing up as. i think in the history of hollywood, there are very few stars with distinctive characteristic that is easily recognizable. i can only think of just a handful, like marilyn monroe, charlie chaplin, elizabeth taylor, elvis prestley and... that's it.

so i went to hr to give my feedback, that it's better to include characters as well. that way, our choice of costumes can be expanded further. so at the last minute (in the final week), hr agreed and changed the "definition" to the theme.

guess who i went as? ;)

at first i wanted to make my own costume, but my colleague found a costume rental place so i tagged along to see what they have. the adult size of the costume for the character i wanted is only for sale, not for rent. and it's only one piece of cloth with nothing else, for AED370 (≈ RM309). crazy... i won't even buy a piece of dress that i like for that price! then the shop girl said i can try the one for kids (with much assurance that it'll fit me), which is for rental at AED150 (≈ RM125), and comes with the full set of accessories (like the tie shown above).

if u still don't know who i went as, i was the boy who lived lar...

only me and 2 other colleagues from my department went dressed as a character. the rest of the company went in "red carpet" theme. anyway, here are some photos to share.

here's me manning my department's games booth. before the dinner starts, there's a segment where each department was given a "booth" for games and we had to sell tickets before the event to get people to come play our game. the game we chose were "guess the movie" (in-line with the "hollywood" theme) and we even gave away free popcorns! and no, i don't know what my colleague and i were sniggering about there...

as an added bonus, we even prepared this mug-shot thingy (dunno what's the actual name for this) free for anyone who stopped by our booth. i was the one who printed this out, joint up the pieces, stick them onto a foam board and cut it up! i had to do it twice, coz i got the hole for shrek's face too big. it's still too big the 2nd time, but slightly better than the first and i couldn't be bothered to do it a 3rd time. also, i was out of foam board and our printer ink was running dangerously low!

cam-whoring at the booth... no points for guessing that our "business" didn't do too well that night :P

each department had to prepare a performance too. sorry for the blur pic...

i suggested we do a number from "phantom of the opera" (again, in-line with the theme), with the song "masquerade". i feel it was an awesome idea, coz the other departments would surely do hot and sexy dances or dance to fast music etc, and ours would really stand out. too bad, my colleagues weren't very keen to take part and we had to literally force everyone to put each foot in front of the other. it's really that bad! so we got our act sorted out at the very last minute (an hour before the party, actually!) and only managed to do a very very short presentation. we were just getting started and the audience were only starting to anticipate a great performance from us, and then it ended! haha...

more cam-whoring... this is just part of my department actually. a few were missing, probably partying off somewhere with the free-flow booze, and some just didn't show up for the party just because they refused to dance! what wet blankets...

cool props prepared by the party committee... :D

best costumes of the night, roxy (of 1920's harlem) and zoro. both are from my department. so means i didn't win for best dressed, but i still had fun dressing up! :)

my department also won the 2nd runner up for departmental presentation, so at least our efforts paid off!

here's a final cam-whoring photo of me in closing... i love this costume so much! :D

addicted to prezi!

2011-11-21T18:27:00.003+04:00

i came to know about prezi last week, when my gen-y gm (or so he claims!) requested us to do up a presentation using it. it's such a cool app!

so i've made up another presentation for my department's christmas party, and everyone loved it! hehehe... just wanna share it with everyone here (tho' u're NOT invited to the party! :P)

wait for it to load fully, hover your mouse over the word "more" to view it in full screen, and keep clicking > to advance to the next slide.

sales & marketing xmas gathering on Prezi

here's another cool presentation, by the prezi team themselves. but this required a higher level of skills, involving flash and photoshop etc...

del – agra – kul: my 2nd wonders of the world

2011-11-19T03:12:00.001+04:00

as mentioned, it was just a short stay in the comfy and luxurious hotel. i was out of the hotel by 4am, dammit! that’s because i’m going to agra, a town next to delhi, and then had to be back at delhi the very same day to catch my night flight to my final destination, HOME! so the travel agent said that in order to do that, i have to start my journey to agra very early, coz the traffic condition can be quite unpredictable.

i think the driver the tour agent sent had a secret dream to be a formula 1 driver, coz he was driving like a crazy person the whole way! speeding, overtaking, swerving in and out, honking impatiently and worse of all, wanting to pick fights with other drivers! i was quite worried that i may not be able to make it back home in one piece that i didn’t dare doze off in the 5 hour journey…

once at agra, we picked up my guide, whose name had escaped me (sign of old age!) and we proceeded to my 2nd wonders of the world (the first being the angkor wat): taj mahal!

the driver brought us to the parking lot of the complex and my guide told me that that’s the furthest we can go by car. from there onwards, we had to either go on foot, or take one of the various vehicles there: tonga (a kind of horse-drawn carriage), the camel-drawn carriage, tuk-tuk or trishaw. as my package specified tonga, that’s what my guide and i rode in.

i really pity the horse. very skinny, smelly and it’s very obvious that it has not been well-kept. life is indeed hard there, even for the animals. especially for the animals :’(

the camels were pathetic looking too… :(

approaching the outer entrance to the complex

the inner entrance to the complex… we’re there, but not quite there! my guide was explaining to me about the 11 small onion-shaped domes at the top, but i wasn’t really paying much attention, coz i was impatient to go inside!

the front view of the inner entrance…

first glimpse of the white-marbled taj… my guide told me to stand on the line on the floor, and i can see the perfect symmetry of the entrance with the taj inside!

inside the gate, which is really a building by itself. i should’ve paid more attention to where i was standing to shoot this pic. now it’s not quite a perfect symmetry :(

and then it’s there, right before my eyes…

but before i can proceed to get a closer look, my guide insisted that i have my picture taken on this bench first and then bore me with a long grandmother story of the background of the mausoleum. things like king shah jahan, his queen mumtaz, the construction process, the architects and artists, the reasons for the various side towers and buildings, the architecture bla bla bla… to learn more about the taj mahal, go read here

then only i realized that he’s not gonna go with me, but will let me explore the place by myself while he waited for me on this bench. hmp, so lazy! but i was glad to ditch him too, coz he can be a real bore! hehehe…

of course, he did tell me where to go, what to see and where to take the best shots… took me dem long to take this shot, and as you can see from the position of the sprinkler/fountain faucets in the pond, it wasn’t taken from the very middle. that’s because there were so many blardy inconsiderate tourists who were busy posing and hogging the view!

before coming here, my indian colleagues told me that we have to remove our shoes before stepping onto the white marble floors. luckily my guide bought shoe covers for me at the ticket booth, coz it was raining earlier and i was quite apprehensive about walking around in my socks on the wet floor, or worse, go barefoot!

some inscriptions and patterns on the walls…

marble flowers…

the patterns on the walls were not painted on, because dye tends to fade with time. all the colours on the walls are actually gems and precious stones! i only remember the blue colour is lapis lazuli…

view of the entrance from the taj…

after exploring the inner chambers of the taj (we’re not allowed to take photos inside, but there’s a replica of queen mumtaz’s [right in the middle] and shah jahan’s [off to the side] tombs in there) and the side buildings of the complex, i went to meet my guide and we left the place. then i found out that my package did not include a ride out and i would have to pay extra for it! *^&@&#$^&#$@

3 men came over to try to get my business by begging my guide to engage their service. but my guide told them it’s up to me and then asked me to choose between a tuk-tuk, a tonga or a trishaw.

i chose the trishaw, coz i feel the trishaw paddler deserved my money the most, as it will be from his own effort. the tuk-tuk is motor-powered and the tonga operator is just abusing his horse for personal gains! also, the trishaw paddler looked the most kesian…

next, my guide instructed the driver to bring us to a shop selling authentic “stuff”, as my guide put it. earlier at the car park area of the taj mahal area, he stressed to me a few times not to buy from the many street peddlers there, as those are all fakes. i didn’t quite understand what are the “those” he was referring to, but soon realized it when i stepped into the shop.

a demonstration of how the gems and precious stones were laid into the marbles…

apparently, the “fake stuff” my guide was talking about were marbles! here at the shop, i was shown “authentic” marble furniture and other decorative stuff, with an explanation of how to spot a real marble from a fake one. as if i’d wanna buy a huge and heavy marble dining table that seats 12 people while on holiday! *rolls eyes* and when my guide saw that i only bought 2 tiny marble fridge magnets, he was clearly disappointed. and we all know why!

next, we went to visit the agra fort just opposite the river from taj mahal. read all about it here

it was said that nearing the end of his life, shah jahan was imprisoned by his son (who has overtaken the throne after killing the crown prince, shah jahan’s eldest son) in this fort, and this was the balcony from where shah jahan would look out towards the taj mahal everyday, which holds the remains of his beloved queen mumtaz

view from the chamber of shah jahan’s youngest daughter, which is right next to the chamber he was imprisoned in. the reason their chambers are next to each other was because the king (the son who deserved to be lightning-struck) wanted his sister to care for their father

some similarities with taj mahal, as parts of the fort were built by shah jahan, who prefers white marbles to red bricks

it’s a huge complex but as i’ve seen what i’ve come to agra to see and also i was really worried if i’d be able to make it back on time to delhi for my flight, i wasn’t really interested in exploring every nook and cranny of this fort

the journey back to delhi was jam crazy!

on the way back, we made a stop at fatehpur sikri, as part of my tour itinerary. but as it has started raining again, the guide asked if i wanna go in coz there aren’t any shelter in there, just a huge open space complex. i said no, coz it’s just a lesser-known unesco world heritage site that i’ve never even heard about before i came. so we just dashed out from the car to snap this photo and back into the car! and the driver didn’t even park the car, coz the traffic was jam like mad outside. the car was just a few meters ahead from where we got off!

on the drive back to delhi, the driver said i had to take a picture of this mosque, which was built as a replica of the taj mahal. not that i care, but he purposely slowed down the car for me to snap it, so had to oblige lar… :P

having checked out of the hotel at such an ungodly hour, i only had some oreos biscuits with plain water for breakfast and i was nearly dying of hunger by 2pm, when the driver turned into this roadside makan place. it’s obviously an establishment for tourists and travelers like me, coz there are shops selling trinkets and stuff at the side, something like those roadside food courts that some of the express busses turned into back home. i contemplated on getting a kamasutra book for my brother from one of the stalls there, but decided not to in case the customs officer wanna check my bag!

not really liking the idea of eating food from a road side establishment but not having much choice about it, i took my chance with a chicken thali, remembering how good they were in pokhara. but obviously they’re not the same thing… didn’t really finish it. luckily it didn’t do anything weird to my stomach

made it to indra gandhi international airport in good time at about 6pm (my flight was at 9.55pm) and this was my last meal in india: mc donald’s! so obvious that i’m done being adventurous with food, huh?

touched down in lcct at 6am the next morning, exhausted and in serious need of a shower! here’s a pic i posted on my fb wall…

so, this concludes my dxb–ktm–del–kul holiday series! *phew* took me long enough to post everything up… sorry again for stretching them over nearly 3 months. now i can go on and post about something else. and also looking forward to my 3rd wonders of the world holiday next year! ;)

ktm - del: first glimpse of india

2011-10-24T17:21:00.000+04:00

as my flight to my next destination, india, was at 2.40pm, i had planned to sleep in for a bit since i couldn't sleep early the night before due to all the noise. but the blardy koreans were up early and making the same racket as the previous night!

also, after they've left, there were still some loud talking on the corridor outside my door, this time in nepali. i opened the door a crack, and saw the guy from the front desk talking to a nepali lady. the lady was talking rather animatedly with big hand gestures, as if complaining about something. the front desk guy was facing in my direction and saw me open my door, so i put on a scowl on my face and raised my finger to my lips in the universal shushing sign. the guy nodded his head and said, "ok, ok" but didn't even bother to apologise. and the worse thing is, they continued talking in the same volume for a few more minutes before going away! this hotel is SO not getting a good review from me on tripadvisor!

with my sleep interrupted, i decided it's futile trying to go back to sleep, so i washed up and went down for breakfast. it's the same breakfast from my first night there.

after breakfast, i contemplated if i wanna go down to do some last minute shopping, but decided not to. i think i've had enough of thamel for now. so i just roamed around the hotel for a bit to take pictures. the hotel is quite a labyrinth, coz it consists of a few rows of the upper parts of shop-houses.

connecting bridge towards the cafe

they even have a lil garden with some rabbits in it

after exploring the hotel for a bit, i went back to my room to pack up and get ready for the travel agent's driver to come send me to the airport at 12.30pm. but 12.30pm came and went, and still no sign of the driver. after some 15 minutes, i brought my luggage down to the front desk and asked them to help me call the travel agency.

after more waiting, my guide appeared, sweaty and somewhat out of breath, but still no driver! he said he's also been trying to contact the driver, but couldn't reach him. so they've arranged for another driver to come, but the guide decided to come see my in person to reassure me. luckily the airport is not so far away, so i managed to not miss my flight. gosh, i really gotta stop rushing to the airport like this!

an extremely crowded city from the air

my flight from kathmandu was uneventful and i arrived in a rainy new delhi in 1.5 hours. i got a taxi from the airport to my hotel, coz my indian colleague warned me not to trust any other form of transportation other than the airport taxi.

the indian tuk-tuk, or auto-rickshaw. compare it with the nepali tuk-tuk here.

i had my first glimpse of new delhi on my way to the hotel, and my first impression of the place is, "good grief, the indian drivers are all crazy! they swerve into your lane as and when they like without giving any warning or signal. and that seems to be the norm, coz no one honks at them unless they're just inches from colliding into one another."

i was taking in the sights of the city when we passed through a housing area and i saw a dog on the streets. the dog had its backside facing me and i thought, "wah, what a big assed dog!" coz it's really big! but when i look at it properly, i realized it's not a dog at all. it's a PIG! imagine a pig running around the streets like a stray dog!

anyway, i finally arrived at my hotel and as the taxi driver is driving through the gates, we were stopped by the security guard.

waiting in line for security check

all cars going in would need to be frisked and checked, all the luggage need to go thru the x-ray machine and everyone going in would need to step thru the metal detector. at first i had planned to check-in, dump my bags in the room and then venture outside to explore the city for a bit and have dinner. but seeing the tight security, i decided the new delhi outside the walls of the hotel would be just too scary for a lone fair-skinned girl like me to roam about!

ah... at last, i'm able to get a night's sleep in luxury! ;)

you can see into the bathroom from the bedroom thru the glass window...

view from the other side...

so happy, like a cookie monster! :D

tandoori chicken with mango lassi from the hotel restaurant

as i will be checking out at an ungodly hour the next morning, i decided to go for an early dinner. after checking out the hotel restaurant and seeing a lot of foreigners (ang-moh, japanese etc) eating there, i guessed it should be safe to dine there, it being a 5-star hotel and all.

seeing this made me go, "damn, why didn't i think to pack my swimming suit?!"

after dinner, i took a walk around the grounds of the hotel, but after a few minutes, i felt some discomfort in the stomach as well as slight nausea. it felt like the onset of a food poisoning! omg, i was in a near panic state, coz i still need to travel to agra the next morning, a 4-6 hour trip by car!

so i quickly went back to my room where i had diarrhoea twice. and to be on the safe side, i stuck my finger down my throat to induce vomiting. did that twice. luckily i felt much better, tho' still a bit dizzy. i quickly took a shower, packed up my stuff so that i'll be ready to go when i wake up the next day.

sigh... it was such a comfortable room in a nice hotel, but just a short stay for me. felt a bit cheated... :(

anyway, before i finish off, let me leave you with an excerpt of a conversation between me and my friend on facebook chat:

stargal: eh, what's india's national animal ar?

dm: i dunno. kutch kutch hota hai?

stargal: hello, itu lagu lar! elephant?

dm: oh, animal. i thot anthem hehe

dm: india... snake? snake charmers?

stargal: i found it. tigers lar

dm: indians - double headed snakes

stargal: kakakakaka...

dm: oooh that was a bad one

stargal: teruk LOL!! u think i'd get thrown out of the country if i innocently say that to one of them here?

dm: oooh, i would try! hehehehe...

stargal: u cakap saja. i bet u won't dare. will kena ban for life

dm: they won't throw u out lar. they'll just make u marry a local tamil

dm: with mustache!

stargal: omg, that's like 10x worse! dun wan!

stargal: esp the mustache part!

dm: u'll have to put coconut oil on ur hair everyday

stargal: ok, cukup! i'll get nightmare tonight

stargal: eh, but hor, maybe i'll look hot in a sari ler

dm: oh yes, i'd have to agree. n can eat curry everyday!

hahaha... damn racist, right?

one year anniversary post

2011-10-15T12:51:00.004+04:00

first of all, my apologies for not updating for so long. i can't believe i only put up one post in september! work has been a crazy whirlwind since i got back from my vacation and there's a few pending posts up my sleeves that are waiting to be cleared. my vacation series is still stuck in kathmandu! will get those out soon, i promise!

anyway, 12 oct marked the one year i've been in sandland, so i'd like to make a note about it here. i was reading back to the posts from my first days here, and it seemed like a lifetime ago! but at the same time, it felt like only yesterday that i stepped off the plane, puffy-eyed, into the summer night of the land of the shimmering sands. time does play tricks on us like that, huh?

was having dinner with the ooi's the other day, coz ryuu was here with his mother and boyfriend (a stopover on their way back from london), and he was asking how i find sandland, it being my 1 year anniversary and all. hmm... i've not really thought about what i like and don't like about this place, so his question set me thinking. what DO i like about sandland? and DON'T like, for that matter?

so here's the like and dislike lists, in no particular order.

likes:
1. the streets are relatively safe. at least safer than back home.
2. the shopping is great, with more varieties of things to choose from.
3. public transport is very convenient, especially now they've opened the green line, coz there's a station quite near the place i stay. of course, it'll be better to have your own car, but we can still survive comfortably with public transportation.
4. the cool winter months.
5. working with an international group of colleagues. in my last count, we have about 15 nationalities in my department alone!
6. opportunities to try new things that i've never dreamed of doing back home, such as taking horse riding lessons, camping in the desert, picnicking in the park (ok, we can do this back home too, but it's never been the trend) etc.
7. the labour law dictates that everyone gets 30 calendar days of annual leave each *woo-hoo!*

dislikes:
1. too many people of certain nationalities here! nations that start with I, P (they're neighbours, but not very friendly/neighbourly with each other) and another P (m'sia's neighbour across the south china sea). at least too many in the area where i stay...
2. the summer months.
3. the taxi drivers, which incidentally, are mostly of the I & P nationalities mentioned above. from the way they drive to the way they sometimes try to con you by taking the longer route (to get more mileage in the meter). and also their body odour! *phew*
4. the price of things here are comparatively more expensive than back home, coz most things are imported.
5. eating out costs a bomb.
6. we only have 10 public holidays in a year!
7. the work-week (sun - thurs) is different from the rest of the world

ok, that's all i can think for now. 7 - 7, so it's a draw... as for how long i plan to be here, well, i've not really given that much thought. it really depends on where life brings me next. but i hope i won't be here for more than 2 years, coz really, there's so many more places to see and things to experience, and life to live, right? ;)

pkr – ktm: more sightseeing…

2011-09-03T18:53:00.001+04:00

after an early morning of “non-sunrise” watch, i was sent back to the hotel for breakfast. breakfast was at the hotel next door, which i think belongs to the same owner.

i chose to sit outdoors, coz the air was nice and cool after the rain.

typical hotel breakfast…

after breakfast, i went back to my room to try to get some rest, but as i had coffee for breakfast, i just managed to get a few winks of sleep.

great mountain view from the balcony of my hotel room…

as i wasn’t able to book a tandem paragliding (coz all the operators were fully booked), i decided to continue with the last activity in my package, i.e. the boat ride at fewa lake.

old boatman…

my guide and i were rowed over to that tiny island on fewa lake. i asked the guide if the island is a natural island or man-made, and he replied, “we don’t have the technology to build man-made islands”

there’s a hindu temple on that island, and just so happen on that day, it’s the festival of snakes. so the island were quite crowded, with boatloads of people going back and forth the island to offer prayers.

my guide took the opportunity to do the puja too…

after the boat ride, i had some time to kill before my flight back to kathmandu at 1pm. so i decided to take a walk along the street surrounding the lake area, which is lined with shops catering for tourists – restaurants, tours and hike packages, hiking gear shops, souvenir shops, etc. there’s also lots of shops renting bicycles and scooters. so on a spur of a moment, i went to rent a bicycle! it’s been years and years since i last rode on a bike, but since the streets were not so busy, i thought i’d try a leisurely bike ride through the streets and side streets. i was a bit wobbly at first, but it all came back to me soon enough :)

still full from breakfast, but don’t think i’ll have time for lunch when i get to kathmandu, i decided to try this apple pie in a small deli near my hotel.

after that, it was a mad rush to pack up and try to get to the airport on time, coz initially i thought my flight was at 1.40pm, but realized later that it’s at 1.00pm! i was praying the whole way to the airport that i dun miss my flight, but luckily pokhara is relatively small and the airport is just 10 minutes away. moral of the story is, always confirm and reconfirm your flight time to avoid crazy last minute rush! *phew*

back in kathmandu, sure enough, i was whisked off to 3 durbar squares in 3 different places in kathmandu valley before i was sent back to kathmandu resort hotel to call it a day.

from wikipedia: Durbar Square is the generic name used to describe plazas opposite old royal palaces in Nepal. Before the Unification of Nepal, Nepal consisted of small kingdoms, and Durbar Squares are most prominent remnants of those old kingdoms in Nepal. In particular, three Durbar Squares in the Kathmandu Valley, belonging to the three kingdoms situated there before unification, are most famous: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. All three are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

at the durbar squares, each building is dedicated to a god/goddess/king/queen etc. the 3 durbar squares are far from each other (definitely not walking distance), but i’m lumping the shots from all 3 together, coz to the ignorant me, all the buildings looked about the same! :P

long dried-up watering hole…

vegetable sellers…

pottery is the main industry...

still done traditionally…

food stuff are hung outside to dry as well as to keep them away from rats…

a lot of locals go to the durbar squares to lepak as well but they get in for free, while tourists need to pay an entrance fee.

this is the window of the kumari chowk (kumari house) in kathmandu durbar square, where the royal kumari lives.

the kumari is the virgin goddess who is selected as a child of about 3-4 years of age to be worshipped as a living goddess and will be replaced before she reaches puberty. there are many stories about the royal kumari, and i was told a version of it by my guide when i was there. but then i bought a book by a former royal kumari, “from goddess to mortal”, and found out that the story i was told (as with the many other versions presented in some documentaries and articles) to be untrue.

here are a few of the most common myths surrounding the kumari:
1. the selection process is rigorous, which involves having the child candidate spending a night in a room full of bloody cow and goat heads
2. a kumari is replaced as soon as she sheds blood, even from a fallen tooth or a small cut
3. a kumari must remain a virgin her whole life and can never marry

finally, here are some shots from the streets…

they have some fancy-coloured vehicles… does this reminds you of bob marley? :D

check out the shape of the rear lights!

tuk-tuk, the cheaper alternative to a taxi

transportation of goods…

it’s already late in the evening when i checked into kathmandu resort hotel. so after dumping my bags into my room, i went out again in search of an early dinner, coz i was famished!

i didn’t know what to have, so when i stumbled upon this korean restaurant (a different one from the one i had the first night), i thought, “what the heck, bibeembab it is!” :P

after dinner, i walked around thamel a bit, looking for souvenirs, but can’t really find anything worth buying. i ended up buying a few books!

i got a room on the 1st floor, where a group of koreans are also staying. the whole night, they were running back and forth to each other’s room, talking and shouting loudly in the corridors and slamming the doors. the same thing happened in the morning. i really felt like opening my door and shouting at them, but i don’t know any korean cuss word! :P

the room window also opens out to the street below, which is blardy noisy!

i was thinking of turning in early, as it was quite a tiring day, but i couldn’t fall asleep due to the noise, not only from the koreans, but also from outside the window – shop keepers closing their shops and people talking and calling out to each other. even late at night, there were people (the guards, i think) talking loudly!

pkr – ktm: the moment that took my breath away

2011-08-26T01:59:00.001+04:00

first of all, sorry for not updating more often. as everyone knows, i was on VACATION back in bear hill, so was a bit lazy to wanna do much writing. and now i’m back in sandland, i’ve been busy catching up with work that i just don’t feel like doing much writing. haha… anyway, i’ll try to finish writing about my trip as soon as possible.

---

the alarm went off at 4am in the morning, and i can hear that it’s raining quite heavily outside. i half hoped that they would cancel this part of the itinerary so that i can snuggle back into the bed. but then i thought, me coming all this way, paying all those money, all those effort… so i dragged myself out of bed to get ready.

when i came down to the lobby, there was only one person sitting there and when he saw me, he made a phone call to my guide to inform him that i’ve arrived. i guess the guide didn’t wait for me at the lobby because maybe he’s hoping i’d wanna sleep in in this weather?

anyway, when he appeared 15 minutes later, off we went in a bigger car than the one i rode in the previous day, something like a 7-seater mpv, but it’s smaller than our regular mpv and sits only 4. we drove in the dark along some path, turning here and there, and finally going uphill. it’s still very dark and because of the rain, the mist were very thick. i was quite worried the driver will drive us off the hill because he was going quite fast up the winding road even though visibility was only 1-2 meters! but of course that didn’t happen and we arrived at the top of sarangkot hill after 45 minutes drive.

we were the first to get there and my guide brought me up some uneven steps and dirt path and we arrived at a sort of clearing. everything was very dark below, with only some lights here and there. i was wearing shorts and didn’t bring a jacket, so i was quite cold. my guide said normally the coffee shop near the clearing would be open and went to check. i guess due to the weather, the owner decided to sleep in as well.

after a very short while my guide came back, followed by an elderly man who set about removing the wooden planks of a shack. we went into the shack out of the rain and sat down at the table. my guide ordered chai (tea) but i didn’t want anything, because i wasn’t sure if the water used would agree with my stomach. so i just sat there shivering, staring out at nothingness.

preparing chai…

30 minutes later, a chinese couple appeared. it was still raining, so they were standing about in their umbrellas. by then, the sky has lightened a bit, and i could see the green hills around pokhara. truthfully, i’m not a big fan of sunrise watching. and standing up there at sarangkot hill, cold and sleepy, it all looked not much different from the sunrise viewed from panorama hill in sungai lembing (also another rainy trip!) and broga hill. so i was like, “okay, whatever”. but of course, i still hung around because by then, more people has arrived and the rain has tuned down to a drizzle.

not like we’ll be seeing much sunrise in this weather anyway…

then at around 6am, the clouds and mist start to clear a bit and we saw something else unfold beyond the green hills…

slowly, we saw more and more of the annapurna himalayan range revealing itself and it was spellbinding. of course, it was still very cloudy and the machapuchare peak (a.k.a “fishtail”, the sharpest peak near the middle in the photo below) was completely hidden behind the clouds. but standing there, with more than a 180 deg view of the majestic himalayan mountains in front of you, bigger than life, it can only take your breath away.

initially i had wanted to stitch up a series of photos of the range, but since it were too cloudy and i don’t think you’ll be able to see anything, i’ll just post up this shot of a postcard that i bought.

this is the view you’ll get if you go during the non-monsoon months

i lingered around for quite some time, hoping that the clouds that enveloped machapuchare would dissipate. i even initiated conversations with a bunch of tourists from hong kong while waiting, something that is so not my style! :D but in the end, i had to leave without seeing the “fishtail” peak.

ok, i think this post is getting a tad too long, so i’ll just leave it here and continue the rest in another post. and anyway, since this is a one-of-a-kind experience, it deserves a post by itself, dun’cha think? ;)

ktm – pkr: stranded at the airport

2011-08-17T14:32:00.001+04:00

after a good night’s sleep, i woke up at 6.30am coz my flight to pokhara was at 9am and i needed to be at the airport 1 hour before.

hotel breakfast…

oh, before i proceed, i wanna show you this:

how impractical is this for a keychain? that’s why i always left it at the front desk when i go out.

the domestic airport’s check-in counters. check out the antique weighing machines!

water dispenser in the waiting room before boarding. see the 2 glasses there? most of the people will use those, instead of the white plastic disposables. they’ll just wash it, fill it with water, drink it and wash it before putting it back. a bit backward and icky, but so environmental friendly! anyway, they used bottled water to fill those tanks up, i saw it with my own eyes.

as mentioned, my flight was at 9am and was supposed to take 25 minutes… but 15 minutes into the flight, there was an announcement by the captain that the pokhara airport has closed due to bad weather and we were gonna turn back to kathmandu airport. i was stunned for a while… now what??? i had a hotel reservation in pokhara and my pokhara guide and driver would be waiting for me there! and what about my return flight from pkr – ktm the next day? would that be burnt too?

back at kathmandu airport, i asked the people at the counter. they said they’ll wait for the pokhara airport to open before announcing the next flight, but there’s no saying how long that’ll take. i tried calling my tour agent with my cellphone, but don’t know why, i can’t make any calls out. seems like digi was experiencing some issue with the roaming codes for some countries. then at the boarding hall, i saw a phone there with a sign that said, “free local calls”. imagine my relief!

so i called my agent and told him what happened. he asked me what i wanna do: to wait for the next flight or to cancel my plans to pokhara and they’ll arrange something else for me (like bring me to nargakot instead, where i can take a mountain flight to see the himalayas from the air). i said i’ll wait for an hour and if there’s any flight out, i’ll take it. if not, then i’ll go with plan b.

i befriended a young nepali guy (actually he chatted me up first, coz i guess i kinda stood out from the crowd) who was also going to pokhara for a short getaway. i don’t remember his name, but he helped me take this photo with gil the globetrotter ami-inu.

at about 10.30am, we were called to board the plane again. i quickly used the free phone to inform my agent before passing thru the gate. but then we sat in the plane for quite sometime, without any movement. and again, the pilot’s voice came on, informing us that the pokhara airport has closed again and we had to get off the plane. wth!

again, i called the tour agent to inform him of the delay. and again, i said i’ll wait for another hour. this time, there were quite a few passengers who were pissed off and were making a fuss at the counter. don’t they understand that it’s for their own safety? they wanna risk their lives by having the plane flying and landing in bad weather, just because they don’t wanna be late getting there? *sigh*

bored with all the waiting…

at about 11 something, close to 12pm, i saw a lot of people crowding around the airlines counter again, and they looked like the same crowd from my flight. then the young nepali guy, who was walking pass me from the counter, told me i can go collect my snack. at least they bothered to pacify us with some peanuts and coke, even though it wasn’t not their fault the weather was so bad. and because i was sticking out like a sore thumb, the guy at the counter served me first instead of the noisy locals there. i didn’t even have to jostle like the rest. talk about discrimination! :P

at about 12.15pm, we again got called to board the plane. i called my tour agent and told him that this will be my last try. if i’m still unable to get to pokhara, i’ll give up and opt for plan b. but fortunately this time, we were able to arrive at pokhara safely.

the airport at pokhara is even more run-down! the arrival room (i won’t even call it a hall) is like an abandoned building, with part of the wall crumbling off! sorry, didn’t take a photo of it coz i had to see to my luggage.

after checking in to the hotel spectacular view, i set out for some sightseeing with my guide and driver.

first stop was the international mountaineering museum

then i was brought to a cave with a hindu temple in it and photography was not allowed. anyway, nothing really much to see there lar. i think our batu caves is more interesting.

next was devis fall, a very rapid waterfall that got its name when a swiss woman named mrs. devis who died after being swept away while bathing there with her husband. you can see how rapid the waterfall is if you click on this link.

next, i’m brought to see this suspension bridge

and the last place for the day was this seti river. the water is white in colour, because this river runs through a series of limestone caves before arriving here.

as you can see, there’s not much to see in pokhara. that’s why at every small attraction also we need to pay an entrance fee.

back at the hotel in the evening. the room has a nice view of the fewa lake, the lake that made pokhara a popular getaway destination for tourists and locals alike.

as it was still early, i decided to venture out on my own, as well as to look for some food. other than the breakfast at the hotel, i’ve only had the packet of peanuts the whole day and i was starving! chatting with the young nepali guy at kathmandu airport earlier, i found out that the typical nepali meal is the thali. so i set out in search of this.

i wandered into this 4 or 5 star hotel with a nice restaurant and ordered this, a chicken thali. and it’s not expensive at all, considering it’s a hotel restaurant. i think it’s only npr 280 (≈ rm 11.70), with an additional npr 50 (≈ rm 2) for a glass of lemon soda.

walking along the fewa lake (some spelled it as “phewa”) on the way back to the hotel. as nepal has no sea, this lake is the main source of seafood for the people in pokhara.

pokhara is very different from kathmandu in the sense that it’s less congested, has less traffic, not so polluted and less noisy.

as it was still early, i decided not to go back to my hotel yet and was taking a longer walk when i stumbled upon this concerto cafe. so i went in for some desserts… superb rum raisin gelato!! a few moments after i took this photo, the electric power went off and plunged the whole town into darkness. but it seems like the people here are used to this, as they quickly cranked up their generators and its business as usual. the power came back on quickly tho’, much to my relief, coz i was starting to worry about having to take my shower in the dark, with cold water!

back in my hotel room, the wi-fi signal sucked, so i turned in quiet early. might as well, coz i had a very early start the next day!

dxb – ktm: flying cattle class

2011-08-09T21:42:00.001+04:00

waiting for boarding…

flydubai, emirates airlines’ budget flights…

cattle class. that’s how one would feel when flying budget. well, i guess budget flights would be the natural choice for workers flying back to their home country. and with so many nepalese working in dubai, it’s no wonder that nearly 90% of the passengers on flydubai flight bound for kathmandu are nepalese. not that i have anything against nepalese, but the way some of them act can really give you a bad impression of the people as a whole.

dunno if they really don’t understand english or really obstinate, but some of them really act like boh tak chek (hokkien: never go to school). this guy was still talking on the phone even after numerous announcements for us to switch off our phones. and he was not the only one! even the flight attendants don’t seem to care! *rolls eyes*

then my 7.00 am flight was delayed for more than half hour, because some passengers didn’t board the plane after checking in their luggage.

after numerous calls for them through the p.a. system, the crew decided to fly off without them. but they had to remove their luggage from the plane.

it really makes one wonder. how can someone just “forgot” their boarding time like that? these kinda incidents always make me think back of my late poh-poh. she was always flying off to hong kong and china by herself to visit my uncle, and never once had she missed her flight. if an elderly, illiterate woman, who can’t understand a single word of english can find her way around the big maze of an airport, i really don’t understand why other younger, literate, working class people can’t! looking at the picture above, it’s obvious that those luggage belonged to a whole family, and not a single individual stuck in a toilet somewhere due to diarrhea. *rolles eyes*

ok, enough of ranting. not a good start to a long-awaited adventure, right? so, i arrived at kathmandu airport at about 1.00 pm nepal time, and quickly found the sign with my name on it. i’m just so glad that i’ve booked my driver and guide in advance, coz the whole airport, the people waiting outside, the taxi drivers and tour agents accosting you trying to get you to engage their service… it’s all pretty daunting.

anyway, as soon as i got close to the guy holding the sign with my name, he grabbed my bags from me and asked me to follow him to the car. but once he put my bags into the car boot, he turned to me asking for tips! as it turned out, he’s not from the tour agency at all, but just some guy tying to get extra tips by helping tourists to carry their bags. and my tour guide allowed it! the guide and driver were just sitting in the car, waiting for this “porter” to bring me to the car. weren’t they supposed to do everything, instead of making me pay extra for such things?

the streets of kathmandu are a total chaos! most of them are like the roads in our kampung baru (malay: new village), without road dividers or traffic lights. and they’re really using their honks to their fullest. every little obstruction, it’s honk!! honk! HONK!!! phew, what a noisy place!

after stopping by the tour agent’s office to make the balance payment for my package and checking into my hotel, we set off to our first stop: boudhanath stupa, a world heritage site.

said to be the world’s largest stupa…

around the square of boudhanath stupa, there are little shops selling souvenirs and there are a few featuring the thangka painting. i feel the guide purposely brought me into this shop with the hopes that i would buy something and he’ll get a cut from it. coz when i went in, a guy in there proceeded to explain to me about the materials used to make the paints, the canvass, the meaning of the medallion and the images etc., to get me interested in them. really feel like when we go to china and the guides would bring us to the jade factories, tea shops, chinese medicine factories, jewelry shops etc. that really put me off and i lost interest for it immediately!

giant prayer wheel…

next stop is the swayambunath stupa, also a world heritage site.

also known as the monkey temple…

view of kathmandu valley from swayambhunath stupa, which is on top of a little hill…

smaller prayer wheels… that guy there is my guide in kathmandu, badri.

see why it’s also called monkey temple?

after visiting swayambhunath stupa, it’s already evening. so i was dropped off at my hotel for the day.

my room at kathmandu resort hotel…

but i’ve not had anything to eat since 4.30 am and was famished! so i wandered off again on my own in search for food. it’s a good thing that my hotel is in thamel, the part of kathmandu where most tourists stay.

since it’s a tourist area, they have all sorts of restaurants. i chanced upon this korean restaurant in a side street, and since i was craving for korean food, i decided to give it a try. i know, many of you are thinking that i should try the local food right? hehe…

surprisingly, the bibeembab was really good! even the kimchi was nice. at least they didn’t incorporate in some weird local vege as replacement, as what happened in siem reap. and they’re cheap too! total bill for a bibeembab (with 5 complimentary side dishes) and a bottle of coke came up to (if i remember correctly) only npr 300 (about rm 12.50). the waiter and waitress were nepalese, who can’t really understand my english, but i still managed to have a small chat with them and they said that their owner is a korean. too bad i can’t remember the name of the restaurant… :(

a side street of thamel…

after dinner, i took a walk around thamel. it’s really a very touristy place, with shops catering to tourists. their streets are really a maze, and i had to really pay attention to where i was going so as not to get lost. but i only walked about for a little while, coz i got really irritated with all the honking vehicles!

they also have baskin robbins, ok? dun pray-pray…

on the way back to my hotel, i saw a baskin robbins shop! whoa!! i bought 2 scoops just to see if they’re any different from those that we’re accustomed to. they didn’t have the regular flavours that we know, but the taste and texture are really that of the brand. i guess the shop can only survive in thamel, with all those tourists around.

so that ended my first day in nepal. as per my previous post, i had to take an early flight to pokhara the next day, so i slept quite early that night, after a good shower. oh yeah, i have to mention here that the tap water in kathmandu tastes and smells really weird! and yellowish in colour too! i had to be really careful not to swallow any when showering, and used bottled water to brush my teeth! :D

*more photos in my fb, if you’re my friend there (soon, maybe tomorrow – it’s late and i need to go to bed to avoid getting nagged by my parents tomorrow!)

namaste from kathmandu!

2011-08-02T19:57:00.001+04:00

hehe, so happy to know that all the 3 hotels that i’ll be staying for this trip have free wi-fi! but too tired to blog. it’s been a long day, not to mentioned tiring due to lack of sleep. will post about this trip when i’m back in the comforts of my bear hill home, ok? in the meantime, i leave you with this shot, taken from budhanath stupa, the world’s biggest stupa.

prayers in the wind…

ok, going to sleep soon. flight to pokhara tomorrow is very early!

woo-hoo, vacation!

2011-08-02T01:59:00.001+04:00

my vacation has officially started! ok, not really. i’m still at my apartment, obviously. but my bags are packed and i’m ready to go! my first flight is at 7am, it’s now 1am, so i decided not to go to sleep but to update everyone here about my trip. noticed that i said “first flight”? well, i won’t be going home to m’sia straight, but will make a “detour” first. hehe…

namaste! this is gil the globetrotter, the ami-inu who will be my travel companion this time… ;)

my first stop would be to nepal, where i’ll stay one night in kathmandu, before flying to pokhara the next day. pokhara, also in nepal, is a town next to a lake and is said to be a very beautiful place. it’s about 8 hours drive from kathmandu, depending on the traffic condition, so that’s why i chose to fly. it’s only 25 minutes via the air, so it really saves up a lot of my time, coz i’ll only be in nepal for 4 days. anyway, i’ll stay one night in pokhara and then fly back to kathmandu for another night’s stay before flying off to my next destination…

…which is new delhi, india. actually my decision to stop for one night in india was quite impromptu. originally it was only nepal, and then back to kl. but since all the airlines from nepal to kl will transit in india, i decided that since i’ll be going to india anyway, so might as well just stay one night there and see what the place is like. coz truth be told, india has never been in my list of places to go, and i’ll never wanna go there under almost any other circumstances.

anyway, in new delhi, i’ll be going up to agra to see the taj mahal before flying back to kl. agra is about 5 hours drive from new delhi, again depending on traffic condition and my schedule in india is really very tight! but the tour operator has assured me that we’ll be able to make it back to new delhi to catch my flight at 9.55 pm. so just keeping my fingers crossed.

so in short, my journey will be:

dubai – kathmandu – pokhara – kathmandu – new delhi – agra – new delhi – kuala lumpur

complicated neh? hehehe… actually for all these places, i’ve already engaged tour agencies to handle everything for me, with private guide and driver. actually i could’ve just taken public transports and do like what N and i did in siem reap. but since i’ll be traveling solo, and these places are not exactly renown for their safety, i thought i’d better pay a lil bit more money to be safe.

nice girl natalie, who went to nepal 2 years ago, kept reminding me to be careful of my belongings when on the streets, and to be careful of people trying to sell me weed. weed as in marijuana! on the streets! she also reminded me numerous times to be careful of my luggage when checking in at the airport, coz of drug trafficking. how scary is that?!

then when another colleague, an indian, he found out that i’ll be going to india alone, he looked at me as if i’m mad. no, he actually asked me out right if i’m mad. then while i was still wondering how i can get to agra from delhi, i saw on the internet that there’s train service between these 2 places. so i asked my colleague if it’s easy to travel by train. again, he looked at me as if i’m some alien from outer space and said i probably won’t even make it to agra before i disappear into thin air and not even a strand of my hair would be found again in 20 million years. so better be safe than sorry lar, i guess.

the last time i traveled solo was right after i graduated, where i went to singapore on my own for more than a week. well, i can’t say i was on my own in singapore, coz i was staying with my cousin there. just that since she’s working, i went out exploring on my own on most days. so in actual fact, this coming trip will be my first truly solo trip. so now, the feeling is apprehension mixed with excitement. also a tiny bit of heartache for the amount of money i’m spending for this entire trip. solo traveling is really blardy expensive!

neeways, i’m not sure how often i’ll get to go online while traveling, but i’ll try my best to update my locations on facebook, so that if ever anything happens to me (touch wood!), at least it’ll be easy for the authorities to track my last location, right? of course, hopefully nothing of that sort would happen lar.

of mee hoon kueh…

2011-07-29T18:46:00.001+04:00

been craving for this for quite some time, so i decided to try making it 2 weekends ago. i mean, how hard can it be, right?

yellow mee hoon kueh…

no, it’s not hard, but because i was only cooking for one, it’s quite difficult to control some things. for example, we’re supposed to knead the flour with water and egg. but because the flour needed is of such small portion, i didn’t even have to use water! i just broke the egg onto the flour and kneaded. that’s why the mee hoon kueh turned out to be yellowish. hehe…

anyway, i didn’t have anchovies, which is the main ingredient for the soup. the only anchovies i can find in the markets here are from india, and they looked quite weird. not at all like the anchovies we have back home. i also can’t find any ikan bilis stock cubes here. we have more varieties of knorr and maggi cubes here, compared to back home: chicken, beef, vege, tamarind and even pork. but don’t know why, no ikan bilis! *note to self: buy dried ikan bilis and ikan bilis stock cubes on my next trip home.

for the soup base, i put in prawns, dried shrimps (which is like redundant coz i already have prawns, but dun care lar), chinese mushrooms, chicken slices and some chinese cabbage that i bought from the chinese grocery store. the soup turned out quite nice, but the mee hoon kueh was too thick! so it’s not that nice. i should have thought of pressing it out with a rolling pin or a bottle to make it thinner. anyway, will give this another try when i get my ikan bilis.

making mee hoon kueh reminds me of my late poh-poh. when i was very young, while all the adults go to work and the bigger kids go to school, i’ll be left at home with my poh-poh. so most of the time, i’ll be messing around in the kitchen, while poh-poh was cooking lunch or doing whatever that adults do in the kitchen. i particularly loved it when poh-poh cooked mee hoon kueh, coz she’d always let me knead the dough and later when the broth is done, let me help to pull out the dough into small pieces to be dumped into the pot. then when it’s done, she’d ladle out a big piping hot bowl of mee hoon kueh for me, but won’t have any for herself because she’s a vegetarian.

i guess that’s the reason why i love mee hoon kueh so much. it reminds me of those innocent childhood days, all those precious time spent with my beloved poh-poh. for me, this particular dish would forever be my comfort food. it reminds me of a time in my life so long ago, where there was someone who spoilt me rotten and who held me so dear that in her eyes, i could do no wrong.

ok, stopping now before i soak up my sleeves…

dressing like a pro-rider…

2011-07-18T01:28:00.001+04:00

i went shopping for my equestrian apparels today… how do i look? :P

in full apparel…

previously, other than my helmet, i went for my lessons in my normal clothes, meaning a pair of slacks, a t-shirt and my brown hiking shoes.

then i discovered that i always end up with bruises in my inner calves. coz as we’re riding, our calves will be rubbing against the leather of the stirrups and sometimes a bit of flesh will get caught in between the leather and the horse’s body. sometimes our ankles will also hit the stirrup metal, causing bruises. so now you know why riders wear boots when riding. it’s not for fashion hor!

then i discovered that my fingers will always get blisters, coz they’re always rubbing against the reins, which are made of leather. hence the gloves…

and as i get more advanced (not advanced as in pro, but more advanced as compared to when i first learnt to ride), we’re required to start whipping the horses to make them go faster (with the trainer’s reassurance that they won’t hurt one bit). up until now, i’ve always used the trainer’s whip, but as they were not so expensive, i decided to get my own.

soft leather-like thing at the end of the whip. i gave my thigh a tiny slap with it and it hurt like hell! which was why i always only use it to slap lightly on the horse, much to my trainer’s exasperation coz my speed didn’t pick up at all! :P

actually i only bought an ankle length riding boots. i’d love to wear those knee length boots, but as i have such extraordinarily big calves, that i think only the phua chu kang boots will fit me! argh!!! so i had to go for ankle length boots and half chaps. half chaps are these covers for the calves, something like sleeves but worn on the legs to protect our calves.

ankle length riding boots and half chaps… sorry for the blur photo! click here for a clearer picture of how half chaps look like.

the riding pants, called “schooling breeches”, also has an extra layer of reinforcements at the calf area, for extra protection. it’s form fitting for ease of movement, as well as to increase the touch between our legs and the horse, coz we also cue the horse with our legs to get them to do what we want.

now, maybe you’ll ask, “since you have the extra padding in your breeches and the half chaps, why do you still need to buy the riding boots?” well, remember when i fell down twice previously? the 2nd time that i fell, my right foot actually got caught in the stirrup and my leg was still hanging onto the horse while my whole form was lying on the ground. it was a good thing that sebastian stopped when i fell. if he’d continue to trot, he’d be dragging me along by my foot! the reason my foot got caught in the stirrup was because i wore the wrong shoes. a pair of hiking shoes has more spikes and better gripping soles. but for riding, we want to wear something that has a bit of heels so that our feet will not slip too far into the stirrups and get caught in it, as well as will slip out easily in case we fall.

actually, looking at my photo now, i see that i’ve bought the wrong helmet. it doesn’t match the rest of the apparels at all! the helmet looks like it’s more for horse racing than for equestrian. should’ve gotten something more pretty and charming… haiz, too bad lar.

chicken porridge…

2011-07-16T19:27:00.001+04:00

made this last weekend, coz i bought some chicken breast fillets and had to finish them up.

chicken porridge with wolfberries and conpoy

just a typical weekend meal… but dunno why, even though i blanched the chicken, it’ll still produce the “white stuff” in my porridge/soup. maybe i didn’t blanch it properly?

claypot chicken rice…

2011-07-16T17:14:00.001+04:00

i made this some weeks back, but didn’t post it up due to sheer laziness… :P

in satisfying my crave for claypot chicken rice…

been craving for this for quite some time, so decided to google up the recipe and try to make it myself. i found a few versions on-line, but in the end, decided to use the one sent to me by absolut ginger. it’s her mom’s recipe, and i chose it for its simplicity.

but my first attempt didn’t turn out quite so nice… coz i didn’t really measure out the amount of sauces used, but just went by my intuition. a dash of sesame oil, pinch of salt, a dollop of oyster sauce etc. the result was too salty!! so obviously i’m not that seasoned a cook yet to be relying on my “intuition”… hehe…

and no, i didn’t cook it straight in my claypot, coz i’m not sure if it’ll work on my electric stove (something like a hot plate kind). i don’t want the claypot to crack while cooking… think of all those mess i’d need to clean up! so i used the rice cooker method as per the recipe.

neeways, here’s the recipe absolut ginger sent me, in case anyone wanna give it a try:

chicken - chopped in small sizes.
garlic, pepper, sesame oil, oyster sauce, black soya sauce, soya sauce, chicken stock (knorr cube or ajinomoto)
my mom would stir fried chicken first.
1. add oil. put some chopped garlic into wok. stir garlic until brown.
2. pour chicken in it.
3. add in oyster sauce, thick soya sauce, soya sauce, pepper, a little sugar, maybe a little chinese wine if you like.
4. add some strips of ginger if you like.
5. cook until gravy is thick.
6. add in chicken stock/cube.

cook rice as usual - when the rice is almost cooked, pour in the chicken. stir. leave for 20 minutes. then add some sesame oil (as you like). stir. garnish with shallots, spring onions and red chilli.
serve while it's hot.

may give this another try, when i get another round of craving for claypot chicken rice ;)

lavender me time…

2011-07-16T15:57:00.001+04:00

a pot of tea, a good book, a whiff of lavender, a basket of craft and a dose of tbv/k-drama… ah, blissful weekend!

who visits you when you sleep?

2011-07-06T13:02:00.001+04:00

i was sleeping peacefully and was vaguely aware of myself rolling to my left to continue sleeping on my side. then suddenly, i felt a slight stirring behind me, as if there's someone sleeping next to me on the bed, as well as a slight sinking of the bed. i thought, "ah shucks, not again!" and started chanting.

i tried to chant out loud, but no sound came out of my mouth. i can't move a muscle nor even open my eyes. but as soon as i started chanting, i can feel the "pressure" lifting off me with again, some stirring on my bed as if a heavy object has been lifted off the surface.

when i felt that i'm completely free to move again, i opened up my eyes and saw the clock reading 4:00am. damn! my heart pounding, i quickly looked around my room, but everything is in order as they should be. but now that i'm wide awake, i'm just angry. another interrupted sleep! blardy hell! took me more than an hour to fall asleep again, and then it's time to wake up for work. double damn!

actually this is not the first time this has happened to me. the first time was during my secondary school, form 4 i think. scared the hell out of me! up until now, i've experienced it for 5-6 times, in bear hill, in bkt jalil, and now in sandland.

according to chinese lore, this is called "pei kwai jak" (cantonese: pinned down by a ghost). in other cultures, they refer to it is "hag phenomenon" or "old hag syndrome". basically, the symptoms are about the same, with slight variations depending on the person. at first, i too thought that i was visited by some supernatural thingy. the first few times, i daren't even tell anyone. then another time when that happened and i told my parents, my mom said it could be because i missed my gongyo the night before.

then lately, i came across an article about "sleep paralysis" and the symptoms are what i've experienced, except that i had them while lying on my sides instead of on my back as reported by many others. so there's actually a scientific explanation for it! but they still can't explain about the hallucination (is the sinking sensation of the bed and stirring behind me really a hallucination?) though.

anyway, i'm more calm now, whenever i'm "pinned down", coz i know it's not really a supernatural visitation and i'm not about to be possessed by a ghoul or kidnapped by the aliens. but that doesn't dispel the initial fear when i feel the first stirrings behind me. after that, i'm just hell pissed that i'll have trouble going back to sleep, which will make me even more pissed! why am i always being inflicted with all these sleep problems??

blue moon at stargal’s…

2011-06-25T00:21:00.001+04:00

2 weeks ago, it was my turn to have a blue moon… actually, it was sweet sheila and yakking yvette’s blue moon, but they thought it’ll be more comfortable to have it at my place. so the 3 of us shared this “blue moon session”.

it’s steamboat again, since it’s the easiest to prepare and requires almost 0 cooking skills! “almost” coz u still need to know HOW to prepare the raw stuff :P

sempat cam-whoring even while eating. see that little blue japanese bowl on the table there? it contained a “special sauce” that i made using garlic, cili padi, coriander and soy sauce. not to brag, but it was a hit! :P

nice girl natalie and joyous josephine…

lovely lily and stargal…

for desserts, i brought out the chocolate liqueurs that my ex-colleague bought for me from her trip to langkawi, that i shipped over (resulting in a few getting dented). what better way to enjoy these than with a bunch of good company, right? besides, they’re nearing their expiry dates and i dun wanna be stuffing my face with all these chocs so as not to waste them!

actually the “real” dessert that night was supposed to be ice-cream (that pink stuff there) but a few of my guests have not seen these chocolate liqueurs before. in fact, i think only nice girl natalie has ever tasted them.

so it was clear who took centre stage that night…

anyway, at nearly every blue moon or makan session, we’ll come away with some funny remarks/phrase that we’ll joke and laugh, quote and re-quote after. here are 2 from our previous sessions:

"i'm shy" at chinese steamboat buffet:
joyous josephine: stargal, finish up this last piece!
me: dun wan lar. i'm shy!
joyous josephine and everyone else: =_='''

"we don't care" at korean restaurant:
smiling rachel: eh, u all scoop out the rice into your bowl ar? aiyo, i'm eating it straight from the claypot. so embarrassing...
nice girl natalie: it's ok, we don't care... just eat!

and at this latest blue moon, we had one more…

"built for comfort" at blue moon at stargal's:
me: aiyo, so full! we'll never become slim at the rate we're going!
lovely lily: it's ok, darling. we're built for comfort, not for speed!

kitchen goddess in training…

2011-06-24T23:31:00.001+04:00

this is just something frivolous that i bought from daiso… :P

what i wear when i’m cooking… ;)

not that i cook that very often, but hey, it makes me happy to be cooking in a cute red japanese-style apron, even if it’s just a simple weekend lunch!

the note on my front door…

2011-06-24T23:24:00.001+04:00

our staff accommodation had another round of pest control the other day, so i left my usual note on my front door. then when i came home from work, i saw that there were some scribbling at the corner of my note.

note on my door…

at first i thought one of my colleagues are making fun of my again, but upon closer inspection, i realized that it’s from the pest controllers.

“good sanitation of all area but only… need clean behind at fridge and washing machine”

hello, did they actually look into my kitchen and see the way my fridge and washing machine are arranged?

the cracks between the fridge and the wall on the right, the build in cabinet on the left and the floor can’t even fit my mop. how to clean lar??? and the fridge is so big that they can’t possibly expect me to move the fridge out from that space every week when i mop…

same goes for my washing machine… got space meh??

but at least they commented on the cleanliness of my place! hehe… :P

mamak in sandland!

2011-06-11T03:16:00.001+04:00

hehe… saw this shop at al karama after our indonesian dinner sometime last month, while on our way to catch the taxi home.

“malaysian fast food destination. kdai makanan malaysia mamak” they have abc and rojak!!!

dunno how authentic it is, coz they even spelled “kedai” wrongly. too bad we were full from our dinner. if not, i’d like to give this shop a try. maybe i can go again. but then again, it’s quite far and out of the way, so maybe not.