Something to Share

Hi everyone..
I was watching Samantha Brown : Europe on TLC this afternoon. She's my favorite female travel host ever because she's so funny and has such a cheery personality. She was touring Edinburgh, Scotland and she mentioned something that kinda bowled me over and I felt that I just have to share it with you guys.

Samantha Brown

When people say Great Britain, I always thought of England, London, tea, scones etc. Basically, all things English. Britain is English and English is Britain. It turns out that Great Britain is comprised of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Did you guys know that? I certainly didn't. The most interesting part is this means that a person who is born and raised in Scotland for example is a Scot, not English but they are British and this goes the same to the Welsh and Irish as well.

 London

Scotland

Ireland

I don't know why I'm so excited  over this fact but...  I just am. Nerdy huh? Hahaha... I've always wanted to travel to Scotland, Ireland and England *keeping my fingers crossed* but now I can just unclutter my goals by aiming to travel to Great Britain.. Hehehe...

It just hit me that maybe you've known about this all these while. Gee, that would be embarrassing although I must say those who knew this because they went to school overseas in the UK and Ireland doesn't count.. :)

That's all for now peeps. Cheers!

Chit Chat and Milky Teas...

Dear Readers..
So sorry for not having any entry for so long. I've been focusing more on my beauty blog this past two weeks (phoebe-loves-makeup.blogspot.com). Do check that out girls. And boys if you're interested. I won't judge you I promise.. Hehehe...

Anyway, I don't have anything specific really. I do want to wish all my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir dan Batin. I spent my Raya at my kampung during the weekend. It didn't really feel like Raya. I feel like every celebration this year lacks the celebratory (is that a word?) feel to it. Feels just like any other day.. I did go shopping with my sister and mom on the 2nd day of Raya though and that was fun. I got myself a pair of fuchsia pink sandals and a black and white top (both of which I am wearing right now. Hehe..)

I feel a bit dizzy today. I don't know why. I mean I got in about 7 hours of sleep and I ate breakfast this morning so lack of sleep or food is not the factor. Could it be low blood pressure? Everything is so wobbly right now.

Oh! By the way, I don't know about West Malaysia or even Sarawak but in Sabah (more specifically, in KK) we have this milky tea shop named Yoyo and it sells the best milky tea ever! I'm obsessed with milky teas and I can tell you none of the other milky tea shops have beaten Yoyo yet.. I'm the kind of person who, when I like something like the pearls, I'd get obsessed with it and order that every single day for a couple of weeks. Then when I try something else like coconut cubes I'd get obsessed with that and order that for weeks and so on..

Recently I tried the mini pearls and I fell in love! It taste just like the original milky tea pearls but the difference is that since these mini pearls are smaller than the straw, you can sip it freely without experiencing any blockage. You know how annoying it is when you're happily sipping (read:slurping) on your cold, delicious milky tea and then suddenly you experience a blockage? You suck and suck on the straw, blow into it and such till you look silly but the straw still stays blocked? Yeah, that's what usually happens with coconut cubes and pearls.

But no more with the mini pearls! It's a smooth drink (slurp) to the last drop.. Ahh... Gee, I'm so bad when it comes to milky teas... So obsessed with it.. I'm trying to cut down on it cuz I have a nagging suspicion that it's adding inches to my waistline (Duh phy!). Is there like, a milky tea rehab that I can go to? Seriously, I need help.. :)

Well, that's all for now folks. Have a great weekend.. Cheers!

Road trip to Kundasang/Ranau...

Dear Readers,
I've been MIA for quite sometime and I do apologize. I haven't had the time to update my blog the pas 2 weeks.. Anyway....

Last weekend a couple of friends and I went for a road trip to Kundasang and Ranau... We started off at 9.30am from Tamparuli. There were 9 of us and we used two cars. 3 of our other friends would come later as they had commitments to attend to at that time.

We arrived at the Strawberry Garden Hotel at around 11am. For this trip we rented a bungalow with the rate of RM380 per night. We checked in but couldn't enter it yet as it wasn't cleaned up yet.. Why? The reason was quite funny... Turns out the house-keeping staff was not around at that time because they went to the Tamu.. Boleh pula...

The entrance..

Where we checked in...

  That's our bungalow on top of the hill..

The guy at Receptions told us that it would be quite a while before our crib for the night would be ready but we can unload our stuff on the balcony. We decided to do just that so we took the steep, winding road up the hill to the bungalow.

Concerned that our food and things might be tempered with while we're gone, we took pictures of our things to make sure it was exactly as we left it. Jai even took a pic of the knot of the rope used to tie our cool box. After that we all drove to Pekan Kundasang to visit the War Memorial there..

Oopppss... Careful with the Tomato sauce Kitol...

  L-R: Bb, Nanak, Bubu, me and Esther..

We arrived at the Memorial Park at around noon. Took lots of great pictures there as there were no shortage of cameras, memory space and willing models to pose.. Poor Jai had to run to join us every time we took group photos (the camera was on timer mode). Thanks Jai for being the designated cameraman.. Hehehe... I think a picture (or in this case, loads of them) say a 1,000 words.. So let the story unfold...

Me and Esther at the entrance...

Us girls again...

The Guys.. L-R: Abel, Jai, Kitol and Mike..

 

The POW Aussie soldiers walked this distance. Sure makes me think twice before complaining to walk long distances..

So beautiful.. Yet so sad at the same time for so many lives lost..

Naughty feet...

Strike a pose...

Capturing the Greek-like columns..

Aaahhhh... Fresh air and gorgeous view..

Uiseh...

We had planned to go to the Desa Dairy Farm after the War Memorial but it rained and our other friends haven't arrived yet so we decided to give the visit to Desa a rain check (no pun intended).. We went back to our bungalow and it was ready for us.. Yay! 

The view from the balcony..

I don't have any idea what this is but I love it...

Our fireplace... I was half expecting Santa to come down from the chimney despite it being only September... Hehehe...

It rained harder and so we spent the rest of the day watching a horror movie *wink* on Kitol's laptop, cooking and eating lunch, hanging out on the balcony and taking pictures.. The next day we checked out of Strawberry Garden at noon and went to Desa Dairy Farm but unfortunately we arrived at 12.30pm and the staff were on lunch break until 1pm. 

We didn't want to waste our time waiting around cuz honestly, who comes in from lunch break on the dot right? So all of us camera crazy wherever there is a view. After we got tired of doing that we went to Pekan Ranau for a loo break and to buy durians...

Me being vain on the way to Desa...

Was looking forward to drinking milk.. Oh well.... 

They look so cute! 

White fences.. So Western one... Hehehe...

This truck attracted my attention somehow...

Me, Esther and Vv.. One for the album... 

Breath-taking...

Last destination was Poring Hot Springs. We arrived at Poring and 'chupped' our respective tubs. I was a bit dissapointed that not all tubs have their own stopper so we had to resort to 'kidnapping' plugs from other tubs. The water flow from the hot spring was not consistent as well. Some tub took ages to fill while others fill up in record time. 

On top of that it rained again. Let me tell you, soaking in the warm water while it is raining made me not want to leave the tub at all even though I was as wrinkled as a prune. It was so cold out of it! Unfortunately all good things must come to and end and when it started to get dark we dragged our unwilling selves out of our deliciously warm tubs to the changing rooms to rinse off and, well, get changed.

Our hot tubs..

Waiting for my tub to fill up... 

Waiting for the rest...

Goodbye for now... We will be baaaccckkkk... ;)

This was my 1st road trip ever in a group and I'd like to thank all my friends on this trip for not making me feel like an outsider. I had a wonderful time and I hope you guys did too.. Let's do this again in the future.. Cheers!

I'm Proud To Be Malaysian Because...

Dear Readers,
In about 2 days time we will be celebrating our beloved country's 53rd year of Independence. Whenever the month of August comes around there will always be patriotic-themed ads shown on tv and heard on radio. We also see and hear people, whether individuals of the public or local celebs professing why they are proud to be Malaysian. The answer is always, ALWAYS one, or at most, all of the following three reasons:

1. Malaysia is a country where all races can live in harmony and come together as a nation.
2. Malaysia has an abundance of foods where you can get Indian, Malay and Chinese cuisines all in one roof.
3. Malaysians are so in harmony that we can wear each other's traditional costumes.

United regardless of color..

I myself am proud of us being a racially harmonious country. We had our bumps and scrapes in our quest towards acquiring unity but we did it and it 's not something that was easy to achieve. As a food lover I too enjoy foods from various races and adore fusion foods. I am also glad that I don't have to go to India if I want to purchase or wear a Sari costume and am confident that if I wear a Cheongsam to a formal occasion, I would be greeted with smiles and "Nice lah..." instead of frowns of dissaproval (unless of course, if they disapprove the thight high slit*wink*).

Food, glorious food!

Our beautiful Traditional costumes..

However... I personally think that saying you're proud to be a Malaysian because of the food and traditional costumes are a bit... well, lazy. Although it is an element to be proud of but it's as if you don't really give too much thought to your answer. As for the racially harmonious line, although it's true but it's like a default answer that has been overused to death, a safe and convenient answer that will always be right.

For me, aside from the 3 answers above, I am proud to be Malaysian because:

We Achieved Independence Peacefully
In my opinion the way we achieved Independence is a true testimony on how peaceful our people are. It would have been easy to succumb to anger and used bloodshed but we achieved it through negotiation. Imagine that! How many countries have done that? None as far as I know.

Slowly But Surely
We have come a long way since 53 years ago. Although some may say that development in Malaysia is slow but as far as I know we never stood still, never stopped proggressing forward. Slowly but surely we move to improving ourselves. We can see it in our education, our economy and that is just to name a few sectors.

Malaysia Boleh
A lot of people scorn at this line. Maybe because when we look ourselves up on a globe or in an Atlas, we see are a small country and feel pretty... well, small. But Malaysia Trully Boleh in my books because if not then Jimmy Choo wouldn't be one of the most sought-after shoe designers in Hollywood, Datuk Michelle Yeoh wouldn't be acting in the bigscreen, Datuk Nicole David wouldn't be a World Champion in squash 3 times (or is it 4 times? Anyway, that's proof it's not a fluke) and we wouldn't have a flag perched on top of Mount Everest TWICE.

There are a lot of other reasons why I'm proud to be Malaysian but suddenly I'm getting a bit emotional typing this. Gasp! I'm not usually this patriotic. Oh well, people can change I guess. Anyway, I'd like to wish all Malaysians Selamat Hari Merdeka. Cheers!

Terima Kasih Malaysia!

Ramadhan Bazaar in Telipok..

Dear Readers..
A lot of people take the opportunity to make extra cash on the side in the month of Ramadhan. Some sell ready-made clothes and shawls for raya, some sell Raya cookies and some sell juadah berbuka at the Ramadhan Bazaar. While doing business is a trade that is encouraged in Islam, traders are not allowed to practice Ribah which generally means making too much profit by selling goods at very high prices.

Three days ago on the spur of the moment, me and my guy decided to buy food from the Ramadhan Bazaar at one of the housing areas in Telipok. Let’s call the housing area PJ for privacy’s sake. I was a bit disappointed for a few reasons:

1. They didn’t sell anything that was different or extra-ordinary. I think the Pasar Malam in Tuaran offers more choices than what was available there.
2. The food was overpriced!
3. The location of the Bazaar was near a rubbish dump. Eeewwww….
4. The sellers were rude.

My guy asked for plain rice. Now if you go to any of the restaurants in Tuaran, the price of plain rice is RM1 and at most would be RM1.50 with the tapau almost bursting with rice. At this Bazaar however they charged RM1.50 for slightly less then the usual amount of rice. He asked the lady to add a bit more rice. She did so and promptly charged us RM2. Walaweh! I don’t know about the price of plain rice in KK but in my opinion that’s really expensive just for 1 measly tapau of plain rice. Where’s the spirit of Ramadhan? You’re selling at a RAMADHAN BAZAAR for Heaven’s sake... Nda takut kah rezeki yg dia dapat tu nda berkat? Geez…

I decided to buy noodles with a side of sausage and I was holding 6 RM1 notes in my hand as the seller was packing my purchase. His partner was attending to another customer and suddenly we had this conversation:

Seller: Bagi sini duit ko..(Give me your money) *reaching out to take my money*

Me : *looked at him as if he’s grown a pair of horns on his head while holding my money tighter*

Seller: Sini bah sia mau tukar. Bagi sia lima satu2 ringgit ko cepat! (Come on, I want to change. Give

me five of your Rm1 notes quick!)*beckoning with his hands*

Me : *Gave him five RM1 note and received his RM5 note*

Seller: Haaaaa.. Kan senang gitu.. (Haaaaa.. Now that’s easier..)

Me : *feel violated somehow.. and a bit dazed*

Come to think of it, the “conversation” was pretty one-sided.

I don’t think I will ever, ever, go there again.. Unless I haven’t eaten for weeks and that’s the only place on Earth that has food.. Or maybe someone that I really, REALLY care about is dying and the only way I can save his or her life is if I buy and eat the food from there. Or... Well, you get my drift.. Oh well…

Anyway, I hope that your experience at Ramadhan Bazaars are better than mine. However, if you've experienced aggravation as well, feel free to share your experience with me in the comments bellow... Cheers!

Cari Jodoh... Or Rather, They Do It For Me

Dear readers,
As I was spring cleaning my pendrive I came across this draft that I made back when I was in West Malaysia. I totally forgot to publish it! Anyway, I decided to publish this post even though it’s long overdue.. Hope you guys enjoy it..  

I don’t know why but lately it seems that my female colleagues have made it their life’s purpose to fix me up with someone and get me married before I’m 25. I’m not sure if it’s out of sisterly love or if they’re just jelouse that I can walk free and easy when shopping whereas they have to lug their screaming kids with them everywhere. Almost every week I will hear the words like: 
"Come on and follow me to the 2nd floor. There are a lot of single guys there" 
"You should check out the doctor from Biosecurity… He’s cute AND single…"*meaningful wink*
"There’s a Sabahan boy up at the 5th floor who asked for your number. Shall I give it to him?"

Look, I have nothing against marriage and having kids. To all my friends who are happily married with their cherubic brood of kids, allow me to extend my warmest congratulations to you. I am happy for you and I hope for that too for myself in the future (read: in the FUTURE). Not right now. 

From where I come from, marriage and kids don’t really stop us from having fun. With that being said, to my people it doesn’t matter whether you marry young or a bit later in life. Well, at least not too much. Here where I’m currently working in however, it seems as if I’m living in another planet altogether.

I’m 24 years old, fabulously single and have a career. The world is my oyster. I should be rejoicing right? Not according to these people. For them, young ladies like myself MUST get married AND have kids ASAP. Why? Here are some of the reasons: 

1. If you’re too picky, you’ll end up a spinster.
2. Your parents (or in-laws for those who are married) are lonely and want to have grandchildren to play with.
3. You need someone to take care of you. 
4. Unless you’re married and have children (note that it’s plural) your life is not complete. 
5.  Don’t really like the guy much? Don’t worry, love will grow in time.  

Let’s start with the first reason. I don’t think that being picky is bad. It’s good because it helps us women to filter the good from the bad and the ugly. Women need to have some standards when it comes to picking their partners. Not necessarily the famous 5Cs but some form of benchmark. And no ladies, ‘as long as he’s breathing’ does not count as a benchmark. 

Next let’s go to the parents being lonely thingy. What’s my answer to that? Ask them to get a pet, have another baby of their own or take a foster child. Even better, get all three. That should keep them occupied for a few more years. It pisses me off to no end when parents and/or in-laws pressure their children to have a baby just so that they can have something to play with in the day time or on the weekends. That’s just selfish. 

Okaaayyy.. On to the third reason. Feminists would foam at the mouth if you tell them that women need a man to take care of them. Personally I think I’m quite capable of taking care of myself but I would definitely feel safer if I have a brave, ripped, macho man by my side. Hehehe…So I kinda agree with them on this point.  

The fourth reason is about completeness. You see, there are two basic types of completeness. The first one is external and the other is internal. Having a husband and children may complete you externally but that doesn’t guarantee that you feel complete internally. E.g. Being married with children but it’s a loveless marriage. Singletons can be ‘whole’ as it’s really up to the individual and what they want at that particular point of their lives, a concept that the people here can’t seem to phantom. 

Lastly, getting married with just about any breathing male within your immediate reach because you’re afraid of not having a white picket fence and two children before you’re 25 is just wrong. If you’re not compatible with a guy or you’re just not that into him then don’t marry him. Seriously, need I say more?   

Once again, I have nothing against marriage and having children.. I’d love to have a family of my own someday. Really… Although I do appreciate the efforts of my kakaks at the office, please stop trying to fix me up with someone. Unless of course if you personally know Faizal Tahir, Jehan Miskin or Fahrin Ahmad… *Meaningful wink*

Cheers!

Ramadhan Month 'Mukadimah' and Log (Day 1-Day 4)

Dear Readers,
It's the month of Ramadhan al-Mubarak and I'd like to take this opportunity to say 'Selamat Berpuasa' to all my Muslim friends. This is the month for the umat of Nabi Muhammad SAW and we should take this opportunity to reap as much pahala as possible. Aside from the pahala part, personally I'm aiming to kill two ADDITIONAL birds with one stone. How so you may ask? Well my dear friends, I'm aiming to lose weight and save money this Ramadhan.

In theory Ramadhan is the easiest time to do both. Afterall, those fasting do not eat from sunup to sundown thus saving money in the process and they will lose weight. In practice however most people tend to GAIN weight and spend more instead. Acting on impulse is the culprit, which we tend to do when we're hungry. Can't pick between Nasi Beriani Special and KFC? Have both! Can't make up your mind between pudding and ABC for dessert? Get both! Pedahal hari besa nda pun berdessert2 ni kan... Not only does this widens one's waist, it also slims the wallet. We want the opposite, no?

So here's a log of what I eat for sahur and sungkai for the past 4 days of puasa. Just want to record it to remember what I ate so that I can see where I can improve in my food choices.

Day 1
Sahur: 3 Dates, 1 glass of water
Sungkai: 3 dates, 1 glass of water, 2 slices of Thai Seafood Pizza with Volcano (or is it Volcanic? I'm not sure) Cheese (Stuffed Crust) and half a serving glass of Asam Boi Fizz Mocktail.
Cost: Not sure, my guy treated me on this. Thank you Ted..

Day 2
Sahur: 3 dates, 1 glass of Nesvita Low Fat Milk
Sungkai: 3 dates, 1 glass of water, Burger Special (with cheese and egg), 1 glass of cendol and a cup of pudding.
Cost: RM8

Day 3
Sahur: 3 dates, 1 glass of water
Sungkai: 3 dates, 1 small bottle of water and 3/4 bowl Konlau Mee with chicken.
Cost: RM4

Day 4
Sahur: 3 dates, 1 glass water, 1 glass of Nesvita Low Fat Milk and 1/2 packet of Chicken flavored Maggi with 1/2 an egg.
Sungkai: Not sungkai time yet so I'm not sure what I'll be having.
Cost: None... Yet.

You, my dear readers are invited to leave a comment on what you think I can improve in my meal choices so that it will be more nutritious and cost-friendly... Or you can even share your food log.. That would be great.. Cheers!