Graduation Trip to Cambodia!!!

While the excitements from going to Macau July next year is still in the air (for me, at least), another trip has been planned and air flights booked. This time, it's Cambodia! The whole thing is full of ups and downs, with less than one day of planning and off we go to execute the idea. I already predicted that AirAsia would not be possible to accommodate the huge numbers of us with its RM1 promotion but it is still affordable and cheap.

The booking process is very exhilarating, rushing to get those promotion seats. Luckily, almost everyone managed to secure a seat. It's like a potpourri of emotions. You'll get high, low, excited, disappointment, joy, frustration, happiness, anger, all at one go. I learned my lesson.

Anyhow, with air flights' done, now, it's time to plan the schedule. Can't wait to actually step my feet on their soils. I need to start saving already.

Thank You, AirAsia!

Thanks to the people of AirAsia, I get to travel to Macau at such a low cost. AirAsia is having a mind-blowing promotion where fares are as low as RM1 only. Where can you get it at such prices anymore???

Since the air flights already settled, I'll be heading off to Macau July next year. I know, I know, it's still like almost a year away but the excitement is very elevated. Give me few more days and I'll be back to normal.

Ruins of St. Pauls
Macau without gambling??? Where can???

And, of course, BUNGEE JUMPING!!!!! Tonight I'm gonna sleep with a grin on my face!

Short Course In Penang

So, I went back Penang last Sunday after barely reached home for more than 72 hours with my friend to attend a 2 days course on statistics and I got to drive to Penang without parental supervision for the first time! To be honest, we didn't really go there for the lesson but more for the certs for it'll bring more colours to our resumes in the future.

Nothing to talk about that course but suffice to say that the RM 100 spent were really for that cert and that cert alone. To do the course justice, it's interesting if I didn't already learnt about it. Of course, being me, going back Penang with a car, surely I won't stay put inside USM for the whole duration.

After the course was over, we went to Bukit Tambun for some seafood meals it's famous for. It's before the Juru toll so we drove there and after some surveyings, we settled for Floating Seafood Paradise Restaurant, one of the many restaurants along the road. Hmm...the dishes were not bad but I must say that the crab we ordered had an unbelieveable hard shells. That stupid shell on its pincers simply freaking hard to crack it open, banging on it for so many time. And the stick (and I really means STICK) they gave us to crack it, it seems like those sticks you used to play fetch with your dogs.

The already set sun leaving behind the colors...

The restaurant
What we ordered...
The crab
Stupid pix of me trying to bite that shell off...

After that meal, we went to Station One for some songs and relaxation. Somehow, along the way, from the moment I stepped out of my room, I lost a key. Shitty thing to do.

Then, the following day, before we left, we woke up early in the morning to greet Mr Sun a very good morning. Then, we went for dim sum for breakfast before we went to do some business needed to be done. When all things were done, we went for Baskin Robbin for some delicious treat of ice cream. Those yummy, mouth-watering helado (that's ice cream in Spanish).

Mr Sun waking up...
A long way to go up...

Along the way heading back Ipoh, we dropped by at the ice kacang stall at Nibong Tebal for some cooling down since the weather was very hot and all. A very fun trip back Penang. Till later then, Penang.

That ABC...

12 April (Part 2)

So, my friends followed me back Ipoh on the 11 April since we got nothing to do anyway and it's study week. We stopped by Butterworth for a while before heading to Ipoh for a quickie tour around it. Well, nothing much about Butterworth and with the piercing weather, it's insane to explore around without a car. We ended up touring around USM Engineering Campus at Nibong Tebal. Luckily, I didn't really applied for any engineering courses for if I did ended up there, I'll rot to death. There's nothing except trees and trees.


Then, Ipoh we went and we reached around 5pm. We bathed and rested at my house. Basically, just to refresh ourselves. Then, we went out for dinner. Since night life at Ipoh is ever dull, we went to bowling while we waited for a friend of ours to join us later.

Typically Ipoh lifestyle at night, we went to Papparich at De Garden for yumcha. There, they pulled a 'mock' 'surprise' birthday celebration for me and by 'surprise' i kinda expected this and by 'mock', this so called celebration is a prank. They punk'd me!

At Papparich...

Don't be fooled by the Material paper bag...

The real surprise birthday celebration came in the morning of 12 April. We went to fetch my friend at her house and they pulled out a cake. And a real birthday present too. After lunch, we went to Lost World of Tambun. Four of us already been there before but the two of them didn't play enough the last time we went there.

The real cake...
The 'wet' group shot...
...and the dried up one...

After that, dinner with my family before we went yumcha again at Station 1 Cafe and Tong Shui Kai. On the 13 April, we went back USM.

I wanted to thank all of you again for wishing me happy birthday. All the SMSes and Facebook wall notes I received, thank you so much! And deep thanks to XH, Kk, Fish, Ling^2, and my family for celebrating with me at Ipoh. 谢谢你们！！！

The earliest gift I received from Chi Fang...
My sister's present...
The prank present...
And the real one from the quadruplet...
Even the Government knew of my birthday and gave me a present...

Kek Lok Si

So, last Wednesday night, me and my coursemates went to Kek Lok Si for some night viewings of the lighting the temple is famous for during Chinese New Year. It's my first visit even almost two years studying in Penang. It's was rather late when we began our journey - 9++pm - so, when we reached the destination, it's was almost 10pm. We just managed to tour a small part of the temple. Those that required climbing such as the pagoda and the Guan Yin statue, we didn't get to go. So, we'll be going tonight again (I think so) just for the purpose of visiting the pagoda and the bronze Guan Yin statue.

While still on the car...
Reaching the parking place...
The penang view from above...

I love the lanterns there...
I'm not sure what is their names...
Pagoda
Like I said, I like the lantern...

Maths Trip: Done!

Tired! Damn freaking tired! And sleepy too! So wanna sleep right now.

Just came back from the Maths trip to KL. It was tired, but fun, nevertheless.

We gathered at the PALAPES field at around 11.30pm on Friday, waiting for departure at 12.30am. Of course, being Malaysian, we all know how much we value the punctuality, so there's the 1 hour gap between the gathering time and the departing time.

Not much sleep for me in the bus as I need to constantly checked for the number of people in the bus whenever there's a stop at the Perhentian. They made 2 stops throughout the ride, always disrupting my sleep.

The 70 of us...excluding the cameraman la...

Therefore, when we finally reached National Science Centre, most of us were insufficient of sleep that we don't really much enjoys the Da Vinci Exhibition. There's quite a lot of fascinating displays of Da Vinci's works, especially those that seems impossible during his time. Too bad there's no photo taking allowed but I managed to snap a photo of Mona Lisa. Almost got caught, but managed to escape unscratched.

National Science Centre
Ticket for the exhibition
Mona Lisa
So tired till we can't stand it...

After that, we went to the next destination, 1Utama. We had our lunches at Fish and Co. Of course not the whole 70 of us as we all spread out. After that, our own bowling competition. The funny thing is, we excos managed to secure the third prize. Haha. Nothing valuable la. Low budget event. We headed back around 7pm, with a stop at Tapah for dinner.

My lunch

Some of the actions...
Us with the prize

Reached back USM around 12am. Luckily, the event went smoothly, though not without hiccups. All the worst case scenarios never came true, thanks God for that. And all came back in the same amount we set off and in one piece. Haha.

So gonna sleep now. Nights!

Maths Trip

This morning, I woke up with a small, bruised area on my palm which I totally had no idea how I get it in the first place. I was trying to recall last night's event but quite a fuzzy to me. Even fuzzier than the fuzzy MADM that I'm supposed to study but had been ignored. Don't care la.

Don't think can see at the picture...it was much deeper in colour, I mean the bruise...

Anyway, later, I'll be heading to KL for the annual Maths trip. This time, we'll be in Pusat Sains Negara (National Science Centre) for the Da Vinci's Exhibition. RJ went for it already and it's quite good, apparently. It's only been held in 4 locations and our National Science Centre was lucky enough to be one of the chosen one. More about it after I came back.

After that, we'll be at 1Utama for fun and relaxation. Haha, this is, I think, the main point for quite a lot of people in the trip. More shopping then.

Till then, adios.

KL Shopping Spree

Merry Christmas!!!

Just came back from one day trip with family to KL. When people goes to KL, mostly they had just one thing in their minds; shop. And that's what we did. Shop, shop, shop. We did a lot of Christmas shopping, or more precisely, Chinese New Year shopping. We went with nothing and came back with bags and bags. There's so many stalls on discount we just simply went crazy. At least my sister did. Hehe. Anyway, that's all for now.

Going back Penang this Sunday for new semester.

I'm Back From Malacca!

A very frustrated, tiring, and slightly boring trip. Frustrated due to the rainy weather we gotten ourselves when we reached Malacca and the heavy traffics when in highway and in Malacca. Tiring because we began the trip at around 7am and I did most of the drivings. Boring, well, all the usual tourist spots around Malacca I had already been there myself when I was with my friends, so for this particular trip, I was the tour guide to my family. A very funny thing considering I'm not based in Malacca and with just two trips, I already know roughly the roads there.

When we reached Malacca, rain was pouring in a weird pattern; drizzle for a while, then heavy, then drizzle. You get the drill. Besides that, there's the traffic jams everywhere we went. So not nice. When we managed to reach Jonker Street, it had succumbed to just a slight drizzle so we walked around. Not much to do for me since I had already been there far too many time in just a short span of time. Since I'm the unofficial tour guide, I just brought them to places when I've been before and had the foods which I eaten before. We had chicken rice ball at the same stall I'd been the last time for lunch (Dad: "char dou sei!" or suck in Cantonese) and satay celup for dinner (Dad: "hou mm wai sun" or unhygienic in Cantonese) and the same Jonker Stall 88 for assam laksa and chendols for lunch the following day. With rain, our activities were limited to just shopping at Dataran Pahlawan and later, at Jonker Walk night market at night.

Being the driver for my family can be a very uncomfortable situation. When I was took over the driving halfway at highway from Dad, Mom somehow appointed herself as my speed alarm. Whenever I was reaching 120km/h, she would voiced it out like my faithful alarm clock. "120! 120! Time to slow down! Time to slow down!". At least I survived the ordeal.

Very few photos were taken since I already...Well, you know. Luckily, the best thing about this trip is the all-expenses paid. I didn't spend a single dimes on anything...well, except for the three cloths I bought. Other than that, practically, it's a cost-free trip. So, that's all for now.

This is the only family shot I had taken, well, without me...

Oh, No...

Malacca o Malacca

I'm about to start my journey to Malacca...AGAIN, for the third time within few weeks. I'm so gonna sick of Malacca already. This time though, is with my family and it's all-expenses paid trip! Haha, I'm gonna eat what I had yet to eat when I was at Malacca last time due to financial situation now that it's not my $$$ I'm using anymore. XD. Gotta go.

Family Trips Around Perak

So, after all the excitement and fun during the Seremban - Malacca trip, I finally came back home on the 26th Nov around late afternoon. I thought that I could get some rest to fix my still-upset stomach but somehow, my parents had planned to go to Cameron Highland tomorrow, 27th Nov, since it was a public holiday and all. Barely settled down and off I went again for a 1 day trip.

Basically, there's nothing much about Cameron Highland than its chilled weather, beautiful flowers and fresh vegetables, tea leaves, and strawberries. Yes, Cameron is quite known for its strawberries, even though most of it are not sweet but rather sour. The weather was rather hot when we began our trip, roughly an hour plus of car ride from Ipoh, but when we reached Tanah Rata, dark clouds started to gather, and within seconds, rain began pouring down.

My dad was holding the camera...

With rain, everything turned harder as we can't get down from our car and walked around the farms and markets. When the pourings reduced to just drizzle, we made a stop and basked in the beauty of the flowers and cool weather. Around 4pm, we began heading down.

Then, on the 29th Nov, since my dad had a wedding dinner (or more like lunch since it began at 2pm) at Teluk Intan, the whole family tagged along, not to the dinner, but to Teluk Intan. He brought us to Bagan Datoh, a small town near Teluk Intan, for seafood lunch before he went to the dinner and leaved us wandering around town for 2 hours.


Teluk Intan is just a small town with all the usual charms of a small town. Nothing special, really, except for the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan, the local version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. If I remembered correctly, the tower was first built as a water tank, but somehow, the structure or the land the building was on, gave way to the pressure, causing it to slightly leaned to the side. Now, its main function is just the landmark of Teluk Intan.

The so-called Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan

Besides the tower, Teluk Intan is quite famous for its unique Chee Cheong Fun (no idea what its name in English). Commonly known as the Teluk Intan-styled Chee Cheong Fun, it had dried shrimps and other stuffs which I don't know what it was in it, making it a delicious delicacy. As my father now based at Teluk Intan, whenever he comes back, he would tapao the chee cheong fun for us to dig in as supper.

When the dinner was over with his face all red from all the alcohols he consumed, we began heading back home. That's how the weekend was spent.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 3)

Continued from Part 1 and Part 2...

24 Nov 09
After breakfast (herbal roasted duck rice) at the area near UTeM, the remaining four of us started driving back to Seremban, though, pulling a stop at Port Dickson first. We first thought of going to the TDDM Museum (Military Museum) but when we reached there, it was closed. Apparently, it only opened from Wednesday till Sunday, from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Bummer!

Then, we stopped by a Chinese temple for some sight-seeing before we continued our journey to some nice beach on Port Dickson. Halfway on the trip, we found an ostrich farm and thought of entering, but with the rather high entrance fee, it doesn't seem to worth it, so we moved on with the journey.


After some time, we reached the Tanjung Tuan Recreational Forest where we tried to reach the Tanjung Tuan lighthouse. The lighthouse was located at the inside of the forest, so we all walked to it. Not really a long distance walk and when we reached the lighthouse, we found out that we needed permission to enter the building. What a stroke of bad luck! But, the climb up was not worth for nothing as the view up there was breath-taking. We thought of staying up there till sunset but with about 3 more hours before the sun met the horizontal line, we had nothing to do to pass the time, so we scrap the plan. Oh, yea, there's quite a lot of monkeys around the area, too.

The view from up there...

By the time we came down from the forest, we drove to a decent-looking beach to bask in the beauty of the sunset, but the presence of so many clouds made it impossible to capture just the sun alone sinking down. By the time the sun had vanished from the sky, we drove back home and had some home-cooked dinner and rest.

25 Nov 09
Bad luck continued, especially for me. I woke up with an upset stomach refused to get better until today. From diarhoea, it evolved further, giving me a fever later the the afternoon, but, we still continued with our trip. After breakfast, we went to Wu Gong San (Centipede Mountain) to visit the Chinese temple. Then, she brought us around Seremban, introducing to us places where she and her gangs used to hang out.

After that, she brought us to Sri Menanti to look at the famous Minangkabau palace which was turned into a museum. The entrance is free so we entered and have a look at the structure of the palace. By now, my body was getting feverish and somehow, the tour guide herself was also getting a bit nausea. At first, we thought of heading to the waterfall at the Hutan Lipur Recreational Park and we did get there, but we didn't climb up for a closer look at the waterfall.

I finally succumbed to my sickness and we headed back to rest. It was such an embarassing thing to do, getting sick while on vacation. I used the remaining of the day to get myself up and going before I headed back home tomorrow.

That's the end of my Seremban - Malacca trip. Too bad that my body was not at its best on the last two days, making me unable to enjoy the trip to the blast.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 2)

Continued from part 1...

22 Nov 09
So, we embarked on a trip to Malacca with Xiang Yi's two other friends. Before we start our journey, we went to have our breakfast, a locally famous chicken rice shop in Seremban. Rather different from the usual roasted chicken. Delicious. After that, off we go!

We went through the old road instead of highway as there's more sight-seeings to be done through old road. Halfway of the journey, we stopped by Wet World Resort Pedas Hot Spring. We thought of going for the hot spring but the entrance fee was rather taxing as it included the water theme park, so we forfeited it. We continued our journey to Malacca.

The journey lasted at least an hour plus before we reached our destination. We parked the car somewhere around Jonker Walk and started walking around Jonker Walk. The beauty of Malacca can't be fully absorbed in just a day. We walked past those antique houses and shops while searching for a place to reside for the two nights.

The three girls kept making references on places where the Singapore TV series, 'The Little Nyonya', were featured. The show, about the life of Baba Nyonya, was mainly filmed in Malacca, known for the Baba Nyonya cultures. Since both of us guys had yet to watch the show, we just took in whatever was mentioned.

When we were a little tired, we entered the same food stall, Jonker Dessert 88, that I entered last Thursday when I went to Malacca with another bunch of friends. The chendols were so delicious I had chendol-carving for the whole trip in Malacca. I even had the same chendol at the same stall on the next day!

Look at the line...

Then, we went to the Stadhuys building, a must stop when you were in Malacca. Then, the same A' Famosa Port at the St Paul hill. Same old, same old. When it's about time for dinner, we went back to Jonker Walk for the night market. We stopped at a food stall known for its laksa. Almost everywhere in Malacca and Penang are famous for the laksa and chendols. This time, the laksa tasted like the one in Penang. For drink, chendol again.


After that, we went to Eye On Malaysia to bask in the night view of Malacca. When onboard, I was a little disappointed as the night view of Malacca was nothing special. In fact, compared to the first time I rode it, which on in the afternoon, the view is much more better as you can see better of the places around Malacca. Then, we went back to the hotel to rest.

23 Nov 09
Once everything done, we went to UTeM to drop off Xiang Yi's friend's stuffs as he has activities during the semester break. Then, all of us went back to Jonker Walk for the famous Hainan Chicken Rice Ball. There was a queue waiting outside the stall as people were lining up to taste the delicious food. It was worth the queue as the food there was really nice.

Then, we went to the Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum for more in-depth exposure on the Baba Nyonya cultures. It was quite a learning experience, to have a look at the traditional furnitures, the beautiful clothings, and the unique architectures. They have a tour guide for us to follow and explain to us the heritage but we did not follow her as that day was crowded with schoolchildren, a mark of school holidays.

Around 7++pm, we took the river cruise around Malacca before we went to the Portugal Settlement to have our seafood dinner. Quite nice, I would said, if only the crabs were much less salty. That's the wrap for the day.

ps - Due to my laziness to continue further, the last few days will be continued next post. XD

pps - The Penang trip's photos are uploaded! Click here for the story and here for the photos.

Seremban - Malacca Trip (Part 1)

20 Nov 09
Reached Ipoh around 0015++ from the bus ride, first, from Malacca to KL, then from KL to Ipoh. Rest was required for the day as I will be heading to Seremban the next day for almost 6 days!

21 Nov 09
Around 1++ pm, my friends had finally arrived from USM to Ipoh so I can tag along her car ride back to Seremban. Since all of us were rather hungry, I brought them to Kong Heng Kopitiam at Old Town for lunch, a place I for sure will bring those non-Ipohans to eat the Kai Si Hor Fun (Noodle with Chicken Floss) and the popiahs. Then, a quick tour before we began our journeys to Seremban.

It was a really long ride, almost 4 hours, I believe. Throughout the journey, I either dozed off or talked or simply just stared at the view. That day, the weather were rather strange, with sporatic rain and sudden sunlight for the whole 4 hours.

When we reached Seremban, our tour guide, Xiang Yi, had to leave us with two friends of hers as she had to attend her friend's bachelor party. Her friend's getting married...at the age of 21!!! And it's not 'mai dai son sai' ('accident') type of wedding. His family asked him to get married and, tadah, married he is!

Her friends were quite nice to talk to. They brought us to Restaurant Hock Hee (I think that's the name) for dinner. After dinner, we went back to fetch our tour guide and they brought us to a recreational park which was too dark to take any photos or did sight-seeing. We just walked around, trying the hanging bridge, and listened as the three of them talked about their old days. Interesting. Before we head back to rest, we went yum cha at a rather fancy place (again, name I totally forgot about it).

To be continued - Our trip to Malacca, my second in a week!!!

Segamat - Malacca Trip

After traveling for almost a week already, finally, I'm home-bound at last. With the amount of free time, it's time to mind my blog again which I leaved unattended for so long already. First, let me recount back my trip to Segamat, Johor, to visit my coursemate, on the 18th and 19th of November 2009.

Day 1
We took the night bus on 17th Nov 2009 and reached approximately around 9 in the morning. Chi Fang brought us back to her house first to refresh ourselves before bringing us for breakfast, a local favourite where it was famous for its roti canai (Indian pancake). What's so special about the roti canai, you wonder? Well, it was made by Chinese instead of Indian, and it was really crispy. Beside that, their sardine toast was also good. Simple delicacies, but delicious, nonetheless.

Then, she brought us tour around Segamat. Segamat is a rather small town, like many small towns in Malaysia. While there's development on the town, it still has the small town buildings and feels in it. According to our tour guide, Segamat mostly consists of retirees and old peoples as well as those still in schools as most of the youths would either migrate to Johor Bharu or KL to work. So, not much activities in the town.

After the mini tour, we went to have our lunch at a restaurant of name I had forgotten about it. As it was famous for wan tan mee, all of us had the same thing. While it was nice, I still prefer the one at Medan Selera near stadium in Ipoh. Hehe. By that time, all of us were bloated and rather tired from the night bus plus the rain, we went back to her house for a quick rest.


Before dinner, she brought us to taste the famous coffee at the Nam Yong Kopitiam. I like it, sweet and milky. Then, we went back home for some home-cooked food. Delicious for sure!!! Then, we went to have supper + tong shuis with her mother and friends when dinner still being digested. We went to bed with round bellies.

Day 2
Before we went to Malacca with Chi Fang and her friends, we went to have breakfast about 30 minutes drives from the town area. A really hearty breakfast to start the say as we went to have something that taste like bak kut teh but milder in taste. No idea what the name of the dish, though. Then, on we went to Malacca.

When we reached there, the first stop was the Eye on Malaysia. I did not know there is an Eye on Malaysia here on Malacca. I thought it was another replica of the Eye on Malaysia at Titiwangsa until I was told later by my friends on the second trip to Malacca (to be continued). After that, we went to Donald and Lily's to have some nyonya delights. Delicious!

Then, we went to the Museum of Malacca Sultanate (roughly like this, the name, I think) to look at the historical displays during the Malacca Sultanate time. After that, we went to A' Famosa Fort to get more upclose and personal with our history. The next stop was Jonker Walk which was famous for its handicrafts and local delicacies. We stopped by at a food stall and had chendols and assam laksa. It was so nice that when I went back to Malacca for the second time (to be continued), I had the same things again!

Before I went back Ipoh that night, we had the famous satay celup for dinner. With the chendol and assam laksa barely sinked in my stomach, again we had the next meal. I can't stomach much but just a few sticks. An unique local food which I will go for it again the next time.

It was such a lovely and stomach-filling trip with my fellow friends. I will for sure go again next time. Thanks, Chi Fang!!! Now, time to get ride of the extra kilos from the trip.

ps - Finally, pictures of the Ipoh - Taiping trip had been uploaded. For the pictures of day one, click here. For the entry, click here.