Singapore

This is actually a belated entry on the Singapore trip.

Went to Singapore during christmas holidays... Took the 9AM bus from Puduraya and arrive Singapore around 3pm. The bus stopped at one of the bus stand, and we have to take the MRT to get to our hotels.

It was not a good timing, while carrying our luggage, we had to squeeze in in that pack train.
Anyhow, after a long tiring journey, we finally arrived at our hotel.

That night we went to Orchard street, and I bought meself a pair of jeans. Yes i think it was more expensive there but since Levis KL does not carry size 30 above so ithought just buy it..


Anyway, once after lepak at Orchard street we went to find a place to eat. Called my friend Tan, and he suggested someplace in Arab street. So off we went and surprise surprise.. the place is deserted and most shops are closed! and it was only 12 mdnight. Obviously teh tarik sessions and night caps are not the norm here.

DAY TWO

Started the morning with breakfast - courtesy of Dina and Co.. ;)
We then headed to the bus stop...took the doubledeck bus..

So Harbour view is the stop.. to catch the train to Sentosa Island we went to Vivo City.. Queue was quite long.. and we also had lunch at Vivo before going to the island.

Sentosa Island
Sentosa Island was really hot.. I cant stand the heat, it feels like as if we are in the desert. All in all, not much there. The only that I enjoyed was the Lugi ride. COol :)


Back from Sentosa, rest for a while and went out again. This time, we decided to checkout the nearby Foodcourt - Newton Circus Foodcourt. We ordered some seafood, and murtabak Singapore. The seafood was quite good, but murtabak was a disappointment.

That night we went to Raffles City area, where Suntec and Marina Square is located. Vaguely remember the last time we went. Anyway, I ahve been wanting to get on the Eye of Singapore thingy, and we manage to spot it from Marina Bay area. Unfortunately the service was suspended due to some malfunctions just couple of weeks back :(

As we were walking to the Esplanade, I started to get tummy ache. Ouch. Didnt feel like going anywhere else, so we just went back to our hotel..

Day THREE

In the morning, we went back to Orchard road... and ... bought me a Nikon tripod. I dontknow if it is cheap or not, but apparently it was on sale, so I got it at S$45. Had a quick brunch at Burger King after berpusing2 looking for it. Anyway, done with all that so we went back to the hotel to check out.

We then went to lunch with Uncle Bet's friend, he took us to this pandan leaves restaurant. Honestly that was the first time I was in one, so I am not a good judge on the food. Plus i was already quite full from the lunch.

Once had our lunch, we went back to the hotel to get our bags, and Uncle Bet's friends kindly dropped us off at the Mall where we are supposed to take our bus.

The place was a Sports mall some sort.. so didnt do much there, I just sat reading my books while others went jalan2.

At 6PM... our bus came... First Coach..

Sayonara Singapore.... So long..

I have finally decided to take my beloved ol' keyboard to my Pod

You see this keyboard and me has gone a long way. Long long way. This was the very first luxurious thing I bought with my first pay. It has costed me around AUD800, and of course at that time 0.8K is a big deal. To me at least.

So there I was, visiting that little shop located on the 1st floor of that building facing QVB, almost each week. I used to go there and play with the pianos, keyboards and organs that they have displayed. I have missed playing my old trusty yahama organ from back home.

Finally when I have saved enough money, I think about two months after I started my industrial training - I became the proud owner of the Technic SX-KN750 (er was it the other way round, nvm..)

When I came back here, naturally I brought along my baby, and it has graced my rented apartment in USJ. Until, I bought myself a secondhand piano. WHich then went kaput

Anyway to cut the long story short - now its back with me. But sadly my fingers arent what it used to be. I have forgotten my notes.
BTW, there is a reason for this entry - I want to have it recorded somewhere the method to reset the keyboard to its factory setting, which is by pressing the Transpose up (^) and down and exit button simultaneously while powering it on. For some reason when I take the keyboard travelling, it decides to go mute, and this step is required to restore order.

INTRODUCING... RENDANG TOK... edisi Uwan

INTRODUCING... RENDANG TOK... edisi Uwan

Ingredient

1. Daging 1 kilo [Potong sebesar 4cm x 4cm]

2. Santan 2 biji

3. Garam Secukup rasa (preferably garam kasar)

4. Gula 1 sudu kecil

5. Kunyit 2 sudu kecil

6. Daun kunyit 3 helai [Buang batangnya, dan ikat daun]

7. Bawang merah kecil 15 biji [hiris]

8. Halia sebesar ibu jari [hiris]

9. Lengkuas sebesar 2x ibu jari [hiris]

10. Bawang putih 5 biji [hiris]

11. Serai 4 batang [hiris halus]

12. Cili padi 15 biji [potong kecil2]

13. Cili Kering 15 tangkai [potong2 dan rendam]

Cara memasak

1. Blend Halia (item 8), lengkuas (item 9), bawang putih (item 10), serai (item 11), cili padi (item 12) dan cili kering (item 13) dengan sedikit air

2. Masukkan Daging dan bahan yg diblend ke dalam kuali dengan api sederhana

3. Masukkan garam

4. Biarkan hingga almost kering

5. Bila almost kering, masukkan santan. Kuatkan api

6. Bila menggelegak, masukkan bawang merah yang dihiris (item 7) dan daun kunyit yang telah diikat (item 6)

7. Masukkan gula

8. Kacau hingga kering

Whats there in Temerloh???

Over the weekend, with full anticipation I went with Hubby to his friend's wedding in Temerloh. With high hopes I brought along my camera, dreaming of capturing amazing photos along the way, or Temerloh town. Sadly, I didnt take any shot of Temerloh at all. For one thing, we did not detour or go anywhere there is attraction in Temerloh. Pressed by time, we only went to the wedding and back. Secondly, it was stinkin hot, that I could not be bothered to be outside of the comfortable zone of the car. So,.. in the end, there was just one worthy shot I took, which was taken on the Lancang R&R (eastbound). It was a shot of Jambu batu at one of the stalls (see accompanied photo)
All in all, the trip wasnt really eventful, except that it marked my first time to the district of Temerloh.
Hopefully our next roadtrip to Penang is more exciting.

Laguna Redang

Last weekend (10-12 May) we went to Redang for my Departmental trip. It was the standard Redang package, room, full board food, and 3 snorkeling trip..
so few days before the trip I got me a brand new Snorkels from Jusco.. RM69.90.. glass Mask TUSA brand. I dont really know much about snorkels and masks; but since its a Glass mask with decent price, I just took it. Here what it looks like


Apart from the snorkels, I also wanted a zoom lens. Btw I recently have became a proud owner of a DSLR.. not that I am such a good photographer but since I had to buy new one, might as well upgrade meself... ANyway, so I bought a D60, which came with the standard kit lense 18-55mm. It wasnt such as good range, considering I had 10x zoom on my prosumer. Definitely missing the capability to zoom. So.. Tada... the new addition to the family..


Done with the pre-shopping... lets start the journey..

We started our trip at around 3:00AM, and arrived around 8:15AM at Merang Jetty.
For those who wants to go to Redang here is the simple trip guide:
Your place --> Gombak /Karak Entry point (toll RM6.50)
Karak --> ECE East Coast Expressway E8 (another toll at Bentong cant remember how much)
ECE --> ends at Jabor (RM21)
Jabor --> Cherating --> kemaman --> KT
KT --> Merang
Anyway we wanted to take a different route after ECE ends, which is inland route (route 14) but somehow we missed the turn and ended up on the coastal road anyway.
Anyhoot, it was a really really fast drive so we still made it in good time.

Arrived Laguna safely on their painstakingly slow boat. The brochures said that it takes 45mins, but really, its actually about 1.5 hours trip.

anyway we had a nice break, weather was fair, sometimes a bit gloomy, so not too good for photos, but still it was very pleasant trip altogether.




On the way back, we stopped by the Taman Tamadun Islam where the Crystal Mosque is.


We then decided to also look for the inland route, to avoid the construction work going on around Kerteh and also to avoid the day traffic. We managed to find it, quite easily, it was actually towards the direction of the taman Tamadun Islam if coming from the bridge. The landmark is Mydin, turn right and then look for signs to Kuala Berang. It was quite busy, until Ajil, but after that, it was quite OK. There are number of lorries, but overall it was ok. Took about 3 hrs to reach Jabur the beginning of ECE.

At the ECE, Me drove pulak... quite mengantuk as it was quite hot, plus the road was just straight with boring surroundings... Past by a group of Bikers... and finally at around 4.30pm we reached the beginning of Karak..
Initially we planned to stop by at Genting Sempah for lunch/tea but just before reaching BuKit Tinggi, somebody decided to go up there instead..
nothing much there, we just had some pasta at the restaurants, took some photos, go see entrance of Japanese park (since its already closed). Quite rugi cnsidering we paid RM16 each for entrance fees.

Neway.. around 6-ish we headed back to KL and reached home around after maghrib.

Chicken Pox User Guide

Number 1 rule - of Course is do not eat chicken and its telur, because all the dead chicken are already taking revenge on you by giving you those blisters. That s why its called chicken pox. haha. btw i made it up. i udnno why its called chicken pox. but do avoid food yg gatal2. Paling senang go on a veggie & fruit diet.

no 2...
Take Air kelapa. Lots and lots and lots of it. Air kelapa will force it to come out of your system. Continually take sampai baik

no 3..
Avoid water.. Hujan.. mandi.. - i believe this one is because water cause the blisters to break, and those scabs to heal slower sebab basah

No 4..
Keep body temperature cool. Minum barley ... duduk diam2 kat umah dengan aircond.... jgn gi dekat2 tempat panas such as near kitchen stove.

No 5...
The blisters will be itchy.. so minimise it by putting calamine lotion.

No 6..
Bila gelembong ada air tu dah pecah.. Org2 tua punya petua lak, which I also applied, is to put a mix of daun mambu + bedak sejuk. I was not told why, but my own observation (yes.. i do make a lot of observation, since i dont hv anything to do for 2 weeks!), the paste will make the scab dry faster.. and apparently to make the scar hilang.. Anyway, it does make it drier, and cepatla baik blister tu nanti. Daun mambu in english is Neem. Usually can find near Indian areas sebab dorang use this pokok for a lot of things. Ada gak petua kata use Daun Asam..which I find a better option than Daun mambu cos its texture is softer, thus making it blend well. SEE STEPS TO MAKE BELOW...
Be warned bedak sejuk ni nanti peel off.. so nanti lantai2, cushion2 semua will be a bit dusty.

kalau nak omputih punya style plak.. pegila beli chicken pox scar lotion kat pharmacy.

no 7..
Be on quarantine la of course, especially so if ada pregnant people. If pregnant people kena chicken pox nanti effect baby.

No 8..
kalau tak nak susah2 ni semua.. mintakla ubat kat Doctor .. kat pharmacy pun ada - acicloir (Zovirax). Tapi better see Doctor la. and ubat ni kena makan 24hrs when the rash first came out. Pastu dah tak leh dah rasanya.
btw never take aspirin. It contain something that is dangerous for chickenpox. Panadol takpe. Lupa nak mention, first week tu memang nanti demam.


Cara2 membuat: campur bedak sejuk + daun mambu or the daun asam + air (very little, nak kasi basah sikit je), and then giling. I blended it. I think macam segenggam daun tu, need about half a bottle besar of bedak sejuk. pepandaila mix and match.. hehe.. asalkan dia nanti jadi macam paste hijau. Dah buat tu... tepek2 la kat badan.

THE DAUN ASAM

TAKE ONLY THE DAUN.. AND WASH

THE MIX OF DAUN ASAM + BEDAK SEJUK

TADA... THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS AFTER BLENDED. PASTE-LIKE & SLIGHTLY GREENISH

Phuket

DAY ONE at the airport...Arrived at Phuket Island around noontime. From the Phuket airport it took approximately an hour to get to Patong Beach, and guess what was our ride to Patong Beach ? the one and only Waja taxi there (or so he claims).
Anyway, once at Patong we checked in to our Hotel - hotel Leelawadee.

It is a very nice hotel, perching on the hill. However, not recommended for old folks or people who sakit kaki, or people simply don't like stairs.
The hotel is about 3-4 km from the beach, not too near, but still within walking distance. We walked to the beach, the only thing I didnt like was there were stray dogs, since I am so takut of them, I had to de-tour here and there to avoid them.

Patong Beach
Patong town is not so big, but it is very long... the whole stretch I think is about 8km? i dunno.. while we were there we started scouting for excursions for the following days. There were really a lot to choose from, though the packages are pretty much the same, the rates vary from one to another.. so must compare and bargain for the best rates. Roughly these excursions costs around 800 - 1200 Baht.
After that, we walked along the shops and started looking for makan place. I had researched for a halal makan place there, but we could not find it, so we just ate at one of the many seafood restaurants.
After makan.. already tired to walk so we took the tuktuk..

DAY TWO
Day Two we went to Phi Phi Island, which is approximately 50 mins away by Speedboat. The first stop is Maya Bay - This is where they shot the movie THE BEACH


Then went to see monkey island.... this is the first time i see monkeys in the water



aftter lunch we went to a small island, snorkel for a bit, but the best part is feeding the fish at the beach. Never knew that fish suka makan watermelon

DAY THREE

on the third day we head towards the mainland, to catch the boat to Phang Nga Bay.
more popularly known as JAMES BOND ISLAND .
After James Bond Island, we went Kayaking. This is highly recommended. They took us through really small cave opening, everyone has to lie flat in order to pass through

Lunch at the Panyee Muslim Village. Its a very nice place, it is like a floating restaurant

Afteer lunch, we went for Elephant ride




That night, we went to FantaSea to see the show..



DAY FOUR
Final day at Phuket.. our last stop was the race track.. Akmal's first Go-Kart session!



USEFUL RESOURCES


Phuket MapPatong Map

Aguilera

My Aguilera!

rainy evening

Your sweetheart

a bit dark.. so I used the light from Princess. takpela... kasi u tgk comel ni sikit

Dotti's improved pod

Dotti nearly died today. The pump is not working.. and water was very dirty. Nasib baik I tgk Dot.. dia breath using its mouth. Sekarang dah beli new air pump and cleaned the water...

My new workplace

View of the garden

The official Opening of Fluffy Bom Bom

Since you asked yesterday - I took a shot of montel...