12-days away!

No, I'm not going away for vacation for 12 days.. that would be nice. It just happens that my schedule has happened in such a way that three events have fallen back-to-back!

In early Nov last year, I have already booked my `coming-of-age' first solo-trip to Bali -the beautiful island i've already visited twice and still longed to go again.. I thought early March would be a good date and after trying to get the cheapest available flights, I would be flying off on March 6 morning and back on March 10 night - 4-nites and 5 full days.. And as of early this year, I have been busy surfing and hunting the Internet for suitable accommodations (ie. nicest within my budget) and was quite pleased with the choices..

I've digressed.. so why 12 days? It so happened that end of last year, I was contacted by the organiser of the Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) to be their show newsletter writer. Actually I was supposed to be part of the team last year but couldn't do it due to my involvement with another project. This time, the working date happened to be March 1-5, ending just the day before my schedule Bali trip! As i really do need extra and fast income, this job is ideal BUT although it' based in KL, we are to be put up in a hotel near by the exhibitions for the whole five days.. I heard we will be staying at the Grand Seasons - which is not bad. :)

And then just a few weeks before CNY, i was offered a short-trip assignment by a new magazine I'm contributing to - to Westin Langkawi Resort to review the food and spa. And the date happens to be Feb 27-28 - just one day before my job with MIFF. First i wasn't sure whether I should take it but after meeting with the marketing people and understanding the `light' nature of the assignment - I need to write two short pieces. And I get to enjoy free accommodation, food and spa in a five-star resort. No reasons for turning it down!

So I'll be flying off tomorrow tomorrow morning and would get to stay one night, and then another night back home in between the MIFF stint and my Bali holiday! Well.. at least it will be work first, and holiday later.. and I'm really looking forward to my 4-days escapade in Bali.

In the mean time tho, I am a bit worried about next Mon to Fri - as I have not done a 9am-5pm (well actually it would end later) for eons!! I would have to get up at 7-something each morning -which is really quite a daunting thing for this owl. My normal sleeping time is from 4am-noon...

Oh well... it's good to be out of the comfort zone sometimes.. and after all, I have Bali to look forward to!

So I will be packing in and out of suitcases. Just for the sake of frivolity, here are two photos of the suitcases I plan to bring for the 3 `trips' - and it will be in the order of the smallest to the largest.

And here's Jelly trying to get into the photo! :p

My year in review..

TIME FLIES..!! I mean, 2009 really really has flown by in a wink!

I just can't believe we're now in the last day of of the year.. Tomorrow it's a brand new year - and a brand new decade - if you have celebrated year 2000 as the turn of the millenium!

As with the custom since I started blogging in mid 2005 (gosh, has it been more than 4 1/2 years already?), albeit having really slowed down in the last few months, I don't want to miss out writing this `momentus' year-end post that includes both reflection of the year that has been, as well as setting `resolutions' for the coming year..

Ahh... resolutions! The big `R' word which many has a love-hate relationship with - and yours truly is one who believes in setting resolutions yet always almost never achieve most of them! Having said that, it is important I feel to have new goals for the new year, and also re-examine old ones that one has not realised - and try to make them work again!

Ok.. besides turning the Big 4-0 in the middle of this month, I shall recap of the significant events and things that have happened in 2009 - not a top 10 news of the world thing, but what has happened in my life - of course, this is my personal blog! ;)

1. Grandma passes away at 90, just after CNY after deteriorating condition of suffering a stroke for 10 years. We were sad but of course her death was not unpredicted. In fact, it was a relief for her as well as for us.. she was already in semi-conscious state and before that totally bedridden for a year plus.. She could even hardly spoke for some time already. There was no quality of life. The extended family, relatives and close friends turned out in full to pay her last respect. RIP Ah Nei - I still miss you..

2. The set-up of my SoHo/ home office - complete with new furniture and paint, and got my first iMac! That idea has been brewing in dad's mind for some time but due to lack of proper room space it was not done. But since grandma's passing, the room downstairs has been vacant so it seems a good idea to turn it into my `home office' - since I mostly work from home as a freelance writer, and working from my bedroom was not really conducive. That explained why I frequented Starbucks for a while! The conversion was an easy process and not expensive too - and by August, I had a proper SoHo to work in - and even got a new iMac which I heart!! Ya, now I always work (and play) in my private SoHo :p

3. I sat for my first vocal examination in June. After taking up personal vocal lesson proper (the ones I took in the past were infrequent and group classes) since November 07, I took the plunge and sat for the First Concert Certificate exam which required me to sing 4 songs by heart! It was a pretty nerve-wracking experience as my legs actually trembled singing in front of the examiner! Being pushed by my teacher, I was aiming high - but was quite relief to get a Merit and not less.. (Distinction would be great but oh well..) And with the exam preparation, I felt my singing has improved quite a lot this year!

4. I took up Italian lesson since beginning of this year.. but progress has been slow. Found my tutor Giovanna online and enjoyed learning.. however, the language is so tough and my brain matter (ie memory) is getting so much weaker these days.. I won't say it's a waste of money although I can hardly master much of the language after a year.. and she's leaving for Rome so I am not sure of the continuation.. :(

5. I was blessed to be able to travel to a few interesting places this year - some of which I didn't even blog about like my Shanghai trip in October - which I really had fun! We went on a family holiday to the scenic Wuyishan in Fujian, China - my parents, my sis and me like old time :). The following month, we did our annual `pilgrimage' to Hong Kong to visit sis family - particularly the three kids! It also turned out to be a shopping spree for I had lost some weight then (read more about my weight-loss achievement below) In July, I had my first World Rianforest Festival experience in the cultural village of Sarawak - which turned out to be pretty `memorable' for some wrong reasons! And then finally in mid October, I went to Shanghai by myself and was the guest of my Malaysian friend who lives temporarily. She drew up a concise itinerary for me and we did so much in a week - food and shopping being the highlight. I LOVE the cosmopolitan of Shanghai and want to go back again.. But alas, my blogging momentum took a dip after that so I didn't blog at all - it would have been a super-long post! However, photos that speak a thousand words can be seen in my Facebook album.

6. Ok, regarding my work.. hmmm.. what can I say? It has been VERY different from the last two years of being a freelancer. Oh ya, as of November this year I have been on my own for THREE whole years already and with God's blessing, i'm still at it. But now I'm doing only half editorial work and the rest is corporate/other forms of writing and translations. But for the first 2 1/2 months of this year, I was attached to GardnerAndWife Theatre and was helping them to write press releases and publicity materials that led up to their first production of the year - Wicked Wizard. That was quite an interesting jobe experience. But even if translation work pay prompt and copywriting pay more, my first love is still writing feature articles for papers and magazines and I pray I can still be doing that in 2010!

7. Some of my church friends had been battling the `big C' this year. An dear faithful servant, an auntie from church at just 60, has passed away in November while there were many new cases - including a close friend who was detected with stage 4 lung cancer which doctor and was only gave her months to live. However, her strong faith in God had seen her battling with medical means and prayers, and we were so glad that God had worked a miracle in her body and life - that her tumour has reduced and all cancerous spots were cleared from other parts of her body! It also spurred her to become an avid blogger who regularly updates her spiritual blog here. Now we are praying and ministering to another brother whose condition has worsened lately..

8. Farewell CCF. Ironically just 3 months after the nostalgic and wonderful CCF Alumni camp, the church's peer group fellowship that I've been a part of since 1994 has disbanded after being there since 1991. It has seen the coming and going and of course staying-on of many young adults over the years and has built up strong friendship as well as Christian foundations in many lives.. It was kinda sad but from its condition in the last two years, we know we need to move on. So since middle of this year, I have joined a home/cell group and also enjoying new fellowship with more mature friends and studying the Word together..

9. Woe to the Net addict. Sigh.. although I posted that in February, my addiction on the Internet had gone from bad to worse.. i think! Ok, maybe it had `maintained' since I also spend some time watching HK drama series on Astro. My work also demands the heavy usage of email and google and other Internet tools, and on top of that, I have somehow succumbed to the temptations of the many Facebook games - the ones I'm current playing actively are (ok, hold your breath!) Sorority Life, Cafe World, Petville, Pet Society, Word Twist and Restaurant City (RC not so frequent). This is on top of managing and sending messages, checking friends messages and status and all other 1001 things Facebook offers!! I'm a real Junkie but on the plus side, FB has helped me in my work too!

10. Last but not least.. if I have only been given one thing that is significant to review this year, it would be this: Since February till September - I have successfully shed off 15kg of weight - that's like 5 1/2 inches off my waist (no need to go into details of the other vital statistics). And the good news is, I have maintained that weight in the last three months - without having to go on a diet anymore.. It has been so obvious that so many people whom knew me before had commented - and then it has come to this stage that I had to get rid of almost all my old clothes! Especially jeans and pants.. and also most dresses, shirts and blouses!! No wonder I have been spending a lot - cos I had been shopping locally, in Hong Kong and also Shanghai for new clothes and now I decided also to alter some of the old ones that I like.. So how did I do this? Of course some of my friends would have known already.. but since there are lots to tell, I shall follow by another post soon in the future - dedicated to this `Big Loser' lol - and also with photos of `before and after' to show!

So you had my top 10 list of 2009. My next post that hopefully I would write later today.. or on Jan 1, will be my aspirations and plans. I shall not use the word resolutions anymore - for the year 2010.

Ya, it has been an eventful and unforgettable year.. And it's kinda hard to say goodbye.. to 2009..! :(

'Tis Singing Week!

It's the week of American Idol's semi-finals where the remaining contestants belted it out to get themselves into the Finale spot!! And of course I was glued to the screen to cheer my darling Adam Lambert on.

But over in this corner of the world.. I'm also experiencing a singing overdose of sort. To think of it, from Monday to Sunday, I would have sung five solid sessions!!

You see, I have extra singing classes because my first recital for my first vocal exam is this Saturday - ie. tomorrow!! And coincidentally I've been rostered to lead church worship this Sunday and we need to practise and rehearse.

Of course in between I also have to practice at home - not so much for worship songs but for my recital!

Normally I won't be so bothered with that much singing but the problem was I had just recovered from quite a terrible cold last weekend which had somehow affected my voice a bit. I had since been nursing my throat with expensive Hanuka honey - about 4-5 times a day!

So on Monday afternoon, after a not well-rested Sunday night, I managed to appease my vocal teacher after last Wed's quite disastrous effort. Thanks to my pianist' guidance and extra class last Friday, I have improved quite a bit since. And on Wed we went through the songs again but had to be accompanied (two songs) by my teacher's wife since my accompanist can't make it for the rehearsal. I think after going through a few times, sounded ok. Meanwhile, the two other songs have been recorded.

Btw, I'll be singing four song for my First Concert Certificate examination by Trinity College, London.

Just for the record, these are the four songs in order which I will be singing

1. Se tu Ma'mi - Italian aria by Perisoti
   
2. Have You Seen but the Whyte Lilie Grow - 16th century English song
   
3. Angels, Ever Bright and Fair - from Theodora by Handle
   
4. I Could have Danced All Night - from `My Fair Lady' musical!

This Saturday's recital is orgnised by my teacher as a `trial exam' of sort for his students taking exams. I have to dress formally and sing it as if it's the real thing. And yes, there is an audience. In fact, I've asked mom and dad (but dad has some important appointment) as well s some friends most of them are interested in singing - i think! It shall be a good practice for myself and I hope to get some comments too even not technical things.

Then there is the singing in church. We had a two-and-a-half-hour practice at church last night - covering nine songs. I tried to save my voice and not sing long but still, maybe I wasn't using enough support but I think mostly to do with my still not stable vocal/throat, by the end of the night I felt my vocal chord very tired.. so much so I didn't want to speak.. but when I woke up today, it's much better.

So ya, after Saturday afternoon, I still have to save my voice for Sunday morning worship - two sessions of it for the two services!!

No, I am not complaining about all the singing.. In fact I love it but just a bit concern that I'm not overdoing it.. oh well, I just have to take care of my voice and talk less!! :p

Borrowing the line from one of my exam songs (and twisting it a bit) , I'm crooning.. :

"I could have sung all night... I could have sung all night... and still have begged for more... la la la la la la.... " :)

What a month!!

This must be the most eventful month of the year for me! Can't believe my calendar is full till January.. and it's hardly work related.

So much has been happening.. and yes, I was distracted from blogging even! And to behonest, I I don't even know how to start.. I mean there are events - like the series of performances by my choir Cantus Musicus - they are definitely memorable - especially with the feasting and drinking that accompanied them!! ;P

Then there are the more reflective stuff I would like to share too.. they're kinda personal but definitely no secret. It's about the changes and much uncertainties surrounding my freelance writer career now. Actually I'm even reluctant to call it a career.. I really don't know what's going to happen next year, which is merely half a month away but I just have to trust the Lord in guiding me.

Indeed this second half of Dec there are so many things to look forward to! Firstly, I'm turning a year older in about just 21 hours away!! Argh, i've been in denial all this while and really dread for my birthday to come. But now that it's dawning on me, I think I've kinda accepted it and happy to embrace it.. You know it's something like you are nervous while preparing for a major exam but when the day come, you just go along with it and things are much more optimistic than what you thought it would be!!

And for once, my sis and my three nephews and niece will be back over Christmas and New Year! Ya, they rarely come back at this time of year.. So this Christmas will be a bit out of the norm. Well, I'll be preparing a Christmas eve dinner - complete with a roast turkey (bought, too much hassle to make) for the family. And then on Christmas day, we driving up to Penang to join my cousin's family for two day's holiday by the sea.. Then there will be more social engagements and parties till new year...

Ya.. you can guess I'm already in the festive and holiday mood.. Especially when we were singing all these lovely Christmas numbers.. I think I hardly get to work at all this month!!

Ok, I shall be putting snippets and photos of the choir performances in the next post! And then there will be more photos of happenings to come.. ;)

Stay tuned!

Chronicle of an Untypical Happening Sunday

Oh.. how I missed my room, my PC and my bed!

Have been out 12 hours and covered so many places and did many things - all on another sweltering hot day with me not in such good physical condition too..

It's not normally my thing to do this but since it's a pretty untypical Sunday, I thought I should just jot down what happened in brief - just for the fun of it! :p

10:20am - leave home to pick up May from Bangsar to go to church

11:ooam - arrive at church and attend service with a very interesting sermon on finance.

12:35am - service over, say hi to some friends and then leave.

1:00pm - lunch at a coffee shop in Lucky Garden, Bangsar.

1:30pm - walk to nearby pharmacy to get medicines and vitamins.

1:45pm - buy fruits at the stall nearby

2:00pm - decide to check out the Bijou Bazaar at the new Jeumpa D'ramo (a swanky boutique hotel) along Jln Maarof. However, it is rather quiet and not that many stalls and merchandise.

2:30pm - back to May's apartment and take a rest there.

3:20pm - say bye to May, leave for assignment at Park Royal Hotel - on the way, pump petrol.

3:50pm - reach the hotel. Interview Jolin Tsai and director Wu Nien Chen who are the Taiwan's tourism ambassadors. Sorry have to add that Jolin is probably one of the most bland and stuck up artistes I've ever met! (This is the 2nd time I talk to her so confirms it) The interview lasts 11 minutes!

4:10pm - wondering where to go and kill time before the Cantus Musicus rehearsal at 5:30pm

4:15pm - find myself at Pavillion! Happy happy do some shopping - buy a pair of black pants and eye cream - both are necessities!

5:30pm - reach 16, Jalan Kiaping - the Germen Ambassador's residence -where we are going to perform to his guests on Wednesday night together with the High Wind ensemble - it's called `Voices in the Wind' (more on that later!) So it's rehearsal time.

7:30pm - rehearsal ends. Leaves the mansion to join parents and uncles and aunts for dinner in Cheras.

8pm - reach Eight Treasures restaurant at Connaught after a slow drive. Wait for the rest to come.

8:20pm - all arrive and have a sumptuous dinner of homecooked-style food!

9:50pm - buy some breads from bakery nearby

10:00pm - drive home with dad as company (to check my car) and on the way, drop by ATM and am happy to see another payment is in!

10:10pm - reach home. Play a while with the two Js.

10:30pm - room sweet room. Check emails, blog, shower, read etc... (ok, can spare you the details now!! :p)


Gosh, that's quite a lot of things I did in one day.. definitely not a typical lazy Sunday!

Feasting & Fun Week!

It's already Christmas eve!!

It's unbelievable that time passes so scarily fast..! Chinese New Year seemed to have passed not long ago.. but it's coming again in just one month-and-a-bit!

It has been an eventful week.. I could have put up another 3-4 posts but alas, am getting a bit lazy these days.. or maybe my time to blog has been taken up by other things.. So here's a rather brief account of my feasting and party week! ;)

On Monday, dad and mom treated me for my birthday dinner at Max Kitchen & Wine. I've read a few rave reviews from some food blogs so I decided to try it out! The starters were excellent, so was the dessert. But somehow the mains weren't as good as we expected, especially my Tenderloin steak which was a bit bland in taste and not so good in texture. Dad's lamb cutlets were pretty tasty and succulent but the sauce a tad sweet. Mom's cod was prepared with much Chinese cooking influence.. pretty good. Anyway, the impeccable service had more or less made up for it.. and the ambience was charming, cosy and casual at the same time.. We had a lovely time :)

I actually took lots of pix of the food - had in mind to do a food post. But a Flogger I'm not as I've forgotten to even take down the names of the dishes.. ! :p






Our small gang from college finally managed to meet up on Wednesday after a few attempts.. yeah, most of them are real busy career women! So it meant a joint birthday dinner for two of us. Our culinary expert friend chose Vintry at Damansara, which is also a wine cellar, and it was really bustling! We ended up having a 4 1/2 hour dinner - as our most busy workaholic friend was 2 hour late.. and our first order took a long time to come! The restaurant specialised in pork so we had roast pork starter and pork burger with blue cheese. We ended up opening two bottles of wine, and I ended up drinking more than any of them.. and we finished off with cheese platter and lovely Tiramisu cake from Just Heavenly.. I was SO stuffed!

My friends are all camera shy so here're the only two pix I took of the night! (didn't take food pix)




Then on Friday was our peer group's Christmas celebration - this time it was at a friend's house. It was a pot-luck style buffet spread. The host had already prepared quite a few dishes and each of the Bible Study group also brought additional ones.. I think my group had the most variety! I made potato salad and tomato salsa salad - both tried and tested! :p I think there were easily more than 30 different starters, mains and desserts! But of course the highlight was not merely food but our gift-exchange with a difference - where one can `covet' another person's gift! It was kinda fun but most people were either too polite or just not greedy at all.. ;) We also sang a few carols and the rest of the evening was free and easy..

Oh, another highlight for me was playing with my friend's two dogs - Cotton and Sugar! Cotton is white - spitz mixed while Sugar is a miniature schnauzer just like Jelly! Except she's petite and slim.. (unlike my big fat Jelly) They're so cute!! and I couldn't resist asking my friend to take a pix of me and Sugar. I forgot to bring my camera - thus lack of pix - but good thing my friend did bring.



Of course Christmas is just around the corner and the feasting won't stop yet.. some sneak `preview': I'll be cooking a Western Christmas eve dinner for the family - Gotta go food shopping and then be the chef of the day! The next day, there's a annual Christmas party at my friend's house and the spread is lovely..

Gosh, really have to watch my diet soon... but making it a New Year resolution won't be easy for CNY is coming soon!! Argh!! : o

Has it been half a year already??

01-07-07.

We are at the half-way mark of 2007.

It's the 10th anniversary of the historic take-over of Hong Kong by China.

And it's time for personal reflection..? or some rant..

Gosh, time REALLY REALLY flies..!! Who doesn't agree with that please tell me. Somehow I feel as I get older, the faster the time goes by. I remember when I was in primary school, somehow one day is always SOOO long! (or maybe i woke up much earlier than :p) But now, with just a blink, half a year has flown past.

This also marks eight months of me not having a job.. ok, I've been doing some work but it is just different.. And I don't know, it seems that time passes even more quickly nowadays! and as i mentioned in a previous post, i know such luxurious and leisure lifestyle need to come to an end. I need to get back to routine..I need to do more work.. and I above all, I need to have more INCOME!!

And yeah, I am on a job hunt now.. but I'm choosy also (:p) so it will probably take some time before I'm gainfully employed again!

Instead of looking back this half a year - which all the highlights I've already blogged about - I shall look forward a couple of months. And yes, there's quite a bit to look forward to!

Next week this time, I will be in Bangkok for just a short holiday! Will be going with my marathoner friend. Again we grabbed the Air Asia offer and possibly one of the lowest fares.. and I was so kiasu that I even booked the flights BEFORE my Bali trip in January! Accommodation wise, we only booked on line two months back and already our first few choices were not available via the online booking.. well, at least we still managed to find a hotel of good location... only drawback for me is, I have to hold back on the shopping!

August will be an even more exciting month. There is our church camp to Penang in mid August. The last time - three years ago - when we had our camp in Penang, i had a wonderful and very meaningful time. And I believe this time too especially we have a great speaker. Of course we will get to have good fellowship with one another too... something we usually don't do much as we're such a big church.

Then just three days after returning from Penang, I'll be going to Bali again - this time taking my parents with me! Yes, I know I just went beginning of this year and blogged quite bit on it (here, here, here and here!) I loved it and I just couldn't wait to go again! This time, we will be staying five nights - two nights by the beach and three nights at Ubud. Will be celebrating dad's birthday as well.. and I managed to book some lovely hotels after spending hours surfing the Net! ;)

Yeah.. so, with these travel plans, I guess I will be happy to start work (God willing) in September only! But I will still be getting freelance work so I won't be like idling away...

Who knows.. maybe from then on I'll be so busy with work, and on top of that I won't be able to take leave for about a year..? So I guess like they say: enjoy while you can!! :)

Short Hiatus (?)

Looks like this blog needs to have a short hiatus.

After a rather relaxing couple of days recovering from last weekend's busyness, it happens again! I'll be swamped with work and assignments till end of next week - or even beyond!

Within one week, I will be going down south twice - both very brief trips. This Friday, I'll be taking 8:05am flight and back in the evening itself - to interview Hong-Kong-model-turned -Hollywood-kickass-actress Maggie Q. It shall be interesting meeting her in person.. thought she was pretty cool in Mission Impossible III and now she'll be starring opposite good ol' Bruce Willis in the upcoming Die Hard 4.

But, waking up THAT early to catch a flight is not interesting at all! I calculated. I need to rise by 5am! For this owl, might as well tell me not to sleep the whole night....!

The next Singapore trip will be commuted by coach and with an overnight stay, to watch a showcase and interview a musician whom I've never heard off! But based on the photos on the press invite, violinist David Garrett looks quite a hunk - with shoulder-length hair. ;) I was hoping the trip would be a two- night-one so I could look up friends/relatives or maybe even go shopping. But alas, there'll be no time at all by the look of it. So now the only consolation is meeting the cutie in person. ;)

To think of it, I would be going to Singapore thrice in less than two months for this particular newspaper. Looks like trips to our neighbour down-south are not popular with the entertainment journos there.. Sometimes I wish, if only I were given trips to further places.. fat chance i know.

Traveling aside, the stress factor is that I have a number of other assignments that's due early /mid next week which i still have to start work on!! And of course I also need to write up on the Singapore ones as well.. To think of it, being a freelance could be as, if not more, hectic than being employed with a paper..

Unfortunately.. even if I work as hard or harder than I used to be, my earning is still miserable.. Yes, I know I've whined about this before. Guess i should be counting my blessings.. As one who can't stand routine, I am really enjoying my lifestyle now that gives me so much freedom... guess there must be some kind of trade off..

Anyway I shall not digress further. Here I'm telling myself I shall be disciplined from tomorrow onwards - forget about blogging for a while and simply focus on my work.

Unless, I really need a break.... and that's when blogging may serve to be therapeutic! ;)

Updates- Assorted

After a lethargic week.. i'm facing a very busy week ahead!

Thank God i'm feeling much better already today. Had lunch with Boo_licious and our friend Ms C. - we went back to college days! It was a nice lunch albeit less than desirable service.. And later in the afternoon I went for training after a week's hiatus! And really feel good after that!

Actually I have one story to work on.. because from Wed to Sun, it's gonna be busy, BuSy, BUSY! Will be covering three assignments and some with deadlines too.. then there are the usual commitments as well. I know, i know.. just in my last post I thought I better slow down.. but I feel the assignments are necessary as I have not really been working much at all! Work less means less income..

Speaking of income and finance.. I realise now I'm getting more careful in my spending. When in the past I would spend unnecessarily, now I really think twice or thrice before making a purchase. That doesn't mean I stop buying things of course but I won't get unnecessary wants like DVDs and CDs or other `toys' at the moment..

And speaking of income and finance.. hehe, I am looking forward to a lump sum (can't disclose the amount here of course) being the back-dated payment for our new collective agreement about two years back i believe. Yeah, called up my ex-company and was pleasently surprise to hear I'm getting THAT much. YEY! :) But this time, I'm not going to blow it like what I did end of last year.. Am going to put most into savings.. mom will be proud.

Nothing terribly exciting to blog about at the moment.. I guess I will have more to tell later in the week.

Bali sightseeing photolog (part 1)

Just 4 days - how do you begin your vacation on a land that has EVERYTHING to offer?

Well, we finally more or less divided our time into two parts - sightseeing vs shopping and leisure. So after arriving in Bali in the late evening, we made it free and easy for the rest of the night - where we explored some eatery as well as checked out the famous HRC (Hardrock Cafe) in Bali!

Needless to say, it was too exciting to sleep early on the first night (however, we did not go clubbing after leaving HRC at midnite) We dicided to sleep in a bit so we got a guide to come to our hotel only at noon the next day..

Our itinerary was to visit two main places - Tanah Lot - a rocky temple on an island, and Uluwatu - a temple on a cliff. Along the way, we also visited Taman Ayun - the Royal family temple.

It was a blazing hot day - contrary to what i read in three separate weather forecast over the Internet which all said Bali would be cloudy during the time of our visit.. hmmm.. it turned out that the following days were mainly hot and sunny, with cocasional showers at night.


The entrance toTaman Ayun



Ok.. fortunately none of us are having that time of the month..


Inside Taman Ayun temple


A small art village in the temple




Trying to mimic the `creature's expression! ;)

Posing in front of the three towers



A dog spotted when we exited the temple.. (there were many dogs whereever we went, I don't know whether they are stray or otherwise..)

After another hour of drive, we arrived at Tanah Lot...

The entrance to the Tanah Lot temple


Some huts selling paintings


The grand doorway leading to the temple in the sea..


Posing with a local guide


The sunset terrace


The rocky temple on a small island just off the shore



We had lunch at Tanah Lot - there were lots and lots of stalls selling handicrafts and souvenirs as its a tourist attraction.. in fact we came across so many of them wherever we went that I somehow felt its `supply exceeding demand'.

Speaking of buying things.. one of the `skill' or `art'(depending on how u see it) you need to know is to bargain! The vendors hike up a price of a good a great deal! And of course, having been to places like China a few times and seeing my own mom's expertise in bargaining, I'm quite adept to this `skill'. In fact, the way I bargained seemed to astonish my travel partners for the most they could do is to cut the offer price down by half but I managed to do it to 70-80 per cent even!!

Anyway.. after Tanah Lot, we drove south to Uluwatu and arrived in the early evening to get ready for sunset!



The awesome cliff.. we either have to wear a sarong to cover up legs or don on a `holy belt' to show respect when visiting the temple

One of the peculiarities of Uluwatu is the wild monkeys there!! These creatures are quite scary as they were out to get food and would not hesitate snatching things like glasses, hats and other loose items from passerby.

We were repeatedly warned by our guide. But alas, i was wearing glasses that day and without them I would be practically blind! So I had to hold onto it tight while making my way to the temple. However, my hat I was holding almost got snatched by a monkey. Luckily I was stronger than him/her!



My friends took many more pix of the monkeys but I was too worried about my glasses and hat etc.. that I couldn't take pix of them!

Before sunset, we watched the Kecak Ramayana & Fire Dance - which is touted as one dance you shouldn't miss in Bali. It was perform on a `stage' overlooking the sea. Well it was interesting, the singing/chanting was good and the costumes were awesome. But to me, I got a little impatient sitting through same `music' background and similar movements on hard stone for 1 hour so I went to take pictures of sunset instead!


The traditional Kecak dance which was quite a spectacle


I managed to take a few facets of sunset from the holy cliff temple of Uluwatu




After the sun went down, we left fo Jimbara Bay - which is famous for its seafood dinner on the beach! The prices were not cheap at all.. so we budgetted for the less costly seafood.. it was quite nice enjoying our meals at the breezy sea-side. Oh yeah, the food was good but got cold quite fast unfortunately.




When we returned to Kuta, we decided the night was still young and went for a walk along Legian Street, which is off Poppies Lane.


Took a pix by the monument that commemmorates the victims of the first Bali bombing - that killed many tourists from all over the world. Bali was bombed again for the 2nd time.. but the terrorists could never bomb away the beauty of the island..

Bali sightseeing photolog (part 2)

The next day, we got up earlier and continued our Bali sightseeing tour.. This time, we asked our guide took us northward - onto the Kintamani Vocalno-Ubud route. Gunung Batur is one of the two volcanoes which are either active or dormant. And Ubud needs little introduction. I was really looking forward to visit the place full of arts and cultural heritage..

It was another hot day but this time I have both my sunnies and hat. ;) On the way, we stopped by a batik-weaving place (for toilet stop mainly), a silver & goldsmith shop, a oil-painting/art gallery, coffee plantation.. and in between, stopped for lunch at a restaurant with a great view of Gunung Batur.


Guess what I saw! A Jojo-lookalike at the gold/silversmith place.


The entrance to shop for paintings. I ended up buying two paintings - one abstract and another traditional Balinese drawing in woodcarving frame. And yes, I had to employ my bargaining skill and managed to slash the prices down to almost 70 per cent. Two nice paintings for just RM120.


A local artist at work

We reached Kintamani at lunch time and our guide led us to a restaurant with a great view of the volcano and the lake surrounding.. We had buffet but the main attraction of course is photographing the scenery!


Restaurant with a view


My buffet lunch.. (first serving)


The majestic Gunung Batur




Outside the restaurant after lunch. After which we adjourn to a coffee plantation for free coffee!


Trying my hand at roasting coffee beans!


At the coffee plantation


Sampling coffee, tea and other drinks, as well as rolling cigarrettes! (which wasn't easy at all)

It was then driving back southwards towards Ubud and stopped at two interesting `pura' (temples) along the way.. They had quite a lot to see and although we knew time was a bit limited, we still wanted to see as much.. so finally we didn't have much time left to explore Ubud town itself.. which was such a pity. Ubud streets consist of rows of interesting shops selling all types of arts and handicrafts.. But we only got to explore the market place for a while before heading back to Kuta. I told myself I would spend a day in Ubub the next time I come! (and yes, i am definitely going back!)


The entrance to the Holy Spring Temple - Tirta Empul


At the `holy spring' where devotees cleansed themselves




In the inner court of the Holy Spring temple




Offerings for the gods

Next we went to the Elephant Cave temple or Gao Gajah..

Touching the `holy water'



At the entrance to the Elephant Cave where statues of idols and gods were displayed inside.


A huge rock with Buddha's face that was split open due to earthquake


A man selling handicrafts - we bought some painted eggs from him and bargained hard - yes, it was me again at work but with my two friends around giving the man pitiful look, I couldn't be too `ruthless'!

Finally we reached Ubud town and first made a stop at the market which I ended up buying quite a bit there! We just walked nearby for a while and as it was getting late.. we had to go back.



With a local vendor at the Ubud market



On the way back, the guide stopped by a spa which I booked myself in for the next day.. I kinda regretted soon after as I found the spa was located by a main road thus traffic noises could be heard! Well, too late.. it was quite a good experience (more on that and other misc. of Bali later..)


We reached a busy Kuta and found quite a nice place for dinner to chill out a bit, and did some walking on busy Legian Street.

The popular Bounty club at Legian Street