© ♥ the fiona chronicles♀♂

playing dress up on CNY #1

2012-01-27T00:51:00.001+08:00

Omeegosh! Seulong 2AM is dating Sohee Wonder Girls! How many more idol dating news ~~can we take~~ will be exposed? #fangirl

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Warning: this is a super girly post which needs no explanation, because, well I am a girl duh.

One of my most favourite things during CNY (besides family and food of course) is wearing new clothes! There is just something that makes you go all tingly when you wear new stuff from head-to-toe. I also put in effort to mix and match my new clothes (because when I go shopping, the simple idea of mixing and matching never came across #fail). Mostly every year I end up wearing really horribly matched outfits because none of the new stuff I copped ever goes well with one another.

CNY day 1

red nautical-printed blouse: anna&joey; green blazer: sg wang; denim scallop shorts: imbi; red flats: jusco; blue envelope clutch: fahrenheit88; rings: forever21 & fblock; earrings: forever21; gold necklace & bracelet: gifts from mom

So on the 1st day of CNY it goes without saying that wearing red is auspicious (I got two red items somemore #kiasu #WIN). Also, my mom said for this dragon year, it is also auspicious to wear either a green or blue item (I got one green one blue somemore #WIN). And according to my former roommate, it is also better to not wear any black coloured items on the first day so I settled for these denim shorts instead. Really love this blazer because I was looking high and low for a Zara-inspired candy coloured blazer but I did not want those made from thick material because it would be way too hot for work. This blazer is not only thin but cheap too. I love envelope clutches so much that I went out and bought another one in a different colour (I already have one in light brown).

CNY day 2

leopard printed: anna&joey; sheer kimono cardi: imbi; gold chain shorts: market; ring: fblock: earrings:
forever21 (others: same as above)

finally used the nutrimetics liquid eyeliner that my aunt gave me for my bday

Bought quite a number of shorts this year but no long pants since I can't wear them to work anyways. There was a time that I was tempted by the whole kimono trend and was looking for the perfect one. I love this pastel pink sheer kimono cardigan when I first laid eyes on it. I think this is definitely one of my favourite outfits. On 2nd day of CNY, went to Mid Valley as well after visiting grand aunt. My aunt bought for me a new lipstick - red rose (thankies!). I have been into the whole red lips thing lately wtf.

CNY day 3

Pink cardi: sg wang; green ruffles dress: emmycubic; red belt: seesaw's playground; bag: p&co; wedges: clark's bkk; ring: wooaai

Watched movie - Viral Factor today. Super awesome suspense thumbs up must watch movie. Guessing the locations was also super fun since the movie is almost entirely shot in KL. I have never been prouder of Malaysia (esp KL!) lol wtf. After wearing shorts for 2 days, went all girly for the 3rd day. #OOTD is a green dress bought online for almost a year but never found the right occasion to wear it. The reason I love it is because of the tiers but it is a little "too much" I realized *sigh*. Went for pastel colourblocking with this cute pink cardi that I would never have bought if not for Li Ling. She copped the same one but in black instead. I have a weak spot for quirky looking rings. Found this cute boutique at Times Square that is all vintage-looking and they have all these cute rings that are so hard to resist.

CNY day 4

blue drape blouse: imbi; denim skirt: forgot; headband: connaught; bag: p&co; shoes: market (not shown)

Went for lunch date with Len, Soo and Rebecca today at Caffeneeis (I hope I got the spelling right). Great meeting up and they all have such fun stories to tell. #OOTD is simple sheer blouse with really pretty draping at the sides. Had a hard time choosing a nice colour but I think I don't have a lot of blues in my closet.

That's all for days 1-4 :)

one year ago #cny

2012-01-22T11:04:00.000+08:00

As I was going through my CNY archives, I realized I did not blog about last year's CNY. Or did I? Surprisingly, since I thought I blogged about lots of things.

It has been some busy couple of weeks for me lately since I was stationed at Ward Supply, which supplies medicines to wards =.=! duh! HKL has about 32 wards and 28 medicine trolleys so it was total madness in the morning. Not to mentioned each PRP has to be in charge of dangerous drugs (DD) for 1 week. All the recordings and worries that they will not tally kept me in a stressful mood whole week. But that is all done for now because after CNY when I go back, I will be in a new station already.

So before I want to start blogging about CNY2012, here are some recap of photos taken during CNY2011. My CNY week is usually pretty quiet since my hometown is in KL and my family members are not that many. I only visit my mom's side of the family. My late grandfather's siblings left are just his sister and his brother. Even that, my grand aunt's children are in Bangkok and they don't usually come back for CNY. So the only busy side is my late grandmother's siblings.

my cousin's rabbit year inspired nails

outfit day 1- red jacket: online; white scallop top, red heart bag, black wedges: all from sg wang; shorts: market; earrings and ring: forever 21

Last year, on first day of CNY I did not know what to wear because out of all the things I bought, this was the only red item - the jacket. I know! How can I be so blur? #fail. My biggest splurges was this pair of black wedges and heart-shaped bag. My mom was very against me buying those shoes since she knew what I a klutz I am but I still bought them. #rebel.

CNY feast day one

Cousins having fun with my iPhone

I had an iPhone for 1 year already but it's not the same one. Yes, there were ups and downs in 2011. Someone stole my iPhone and I had to get a new one. Pains my heart when I thought about it. Hope that person burns in hell.

Me cousins all clad in red/pink

Siblings all clad in red/pink too!

outfit day 2 - floral dress: market; white jacket: times sq; bow headband: forever21

playing around with leme leme app

CNY feast day 2

outfit day 3 - green blouse, denims shorts: market; vintage look bag: times sq

On day 3, had lunch with mom and aunt at Purple Cane Tea House. Awesome tasting food but this was my least favourite outfit of all wtf.

outfit day 4 - romper: market; blazer: online

This was one of my favourite outfits. I love this blazer so much since it kinda reminded me of gossip girl wtf. Got it from a preloved shop online and real cheap too. Only RM25 because the badge came out. But I actually like it better without the badge.

Had the 7 dwarves came over to my house for CNY since it was my final year. Really nice of them considering that I live pretty far from setapak

too lazy to remember where I bought everything from wtf

This is one of my most favourite cardigans because it had little hearts print all over. Saw one selling in SEED few months back and I was like, I already wore it for CNY and now only you selling it?

Finally, want to wish anyone who is reading this a very HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 2012! Hope the Dragon year brings lots of wealth and blessings to all of us~~!! Have fun everyone!!!

new year, new resolutions 2012

2012-01-01T10:16:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year 2012!

This is my first post for the new year. I wondered how did everyone celebrated their NYE? Usually, I just prefer staying at home, away from the sweaty crowds. But this year, I received an invitation for dinner at a friend's house. It was so much fun chit-chatting with my Form 6 classmates all night. Will post up the pics soon!

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Here is a short update on my activities in the last month of 2011. Not much actually, I think I have grown old in the sense that I prefer spending my free time relaxing in the comfort of my own home rather than facing the crowds at the shopping mall. I was really tempted to join in the rush for the year-end sales but when I think about the crowd, the queues, the parking, etc. Maybe I am just getting old.

Just sometime last week, all the PRPs and also new FRPs were asked to attend orientation course at HKL. It was a full day event, with short talks given about each department. It is really interesting, the introductions each FRP gave about their respective departments. My only wish is for their talks to be longer and also, I wished they had given us this orientation sooner, instead of giving us after 4 months of work.

Joanne, a PRP friend was "distracted" during the talks. She sketched this and had each sea creature represent us. I thought it was kinda cute and funny;)

This was a really old pic taken at Great Eastern Mall where Anna and I had lunch. I thought it was a really good idea to make this snowman from office waste. Kudos for going green.

Btw, HKL is also going green. Please bring your own recycle bag when you go to the pharmacy to collect your own medicine. Thank you:)

Actually, we had pizzas beforehand. But to celebrate our last day at Pharmacy Store, we decided to have awesome cakes @Alexis. I had Nutty Choc Meringue whilst Anna had Pavlova.

This was taken when my relatives from Bangkok came to KL to visit my grand aunt who just had a hip surgery. We had dinner at Esquire Kitchen, with all their favourite Chinese food.

Friday lunch is when we take the opportunity to go out and enjoy our long break (although most of the time, we are always rushing and late afterwards). On that particular Friday, we had lunch at Tony Roma's Pavilion to commemorate all of us passing our forensic exam...and our first try too!

Well, all of us in the pic except Ai Ling who already sat for it before us and Bernice who has yet to sit for one;)

Bijan Restaurant at Jalan Ceylon is one of the places my mom read about in the papers. After having an enjoyable dinner there, I would highly recommend everyone to try their delicious Malay cuisine. It is pricier for local dishes but the food was simply amazing. Sorry no pics of food because it was too dark inside that the pics came out really dark.

Went for another grand aunt's birthday recently. There were so much food. But half of the night I was really preoccupied with this - Ipad 2! It actually belongs to my aunt's boss but she sometimes take it home for work. My cousin and I spend our time loading our favourite Kpop singers videos on youtube lol.

Happy Winter Solstice! Tong yuen @ Tang yuan @ Glutinous balls Festival marked the last day of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. I am really grateful to be spending that day with lots of wonderful home-cooked meals courtesy of my "chef" uncle. The tong yuen was especially delicious with gula melaka as filling. And to top it off, red wine as well:)

After that, we all had the chance to skype with my uncle who lives in Australia:)

How did everyone spend their Xmas this year? Usually I always travel around this time of the year but due to work commitments, I am unable to do it this time around. Instead I attended a small dinner function at my primary school friend - Stephanie's house. It was great meeting up with another old friend, Jessy, as well as meeting a bunch of other new friends.

Yup, so that was how I spend my December of year two-oh-one-one:)

can the truth really set me free? (december)

2011-12-08T14:48:00.001+08:00

Can you believe it took me 1 week just to finish this post?

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Yes, I am blogging finally.

Just completed my one month at the Pharmacy Store. Not too offend anyone but I felt like it is the place I learned the least from.

Yesterday I had on-call at outpatient Pharmacy (on a Saturday T_________T). If possible, I don't ever want to do Saturday on-calls anymore. Omg, I have never seen so many patients ever since I started on-call. I was trying to help with filling (which I am awful at) and every time I tried to motivate myself to finish one pile of prescriptions, another pile will come and another and another. Finally I gave up and went to eat lunch. However, fortunately by evening, less people were coming already. Thank goodness.

After an exhausting day, I went to Sg Wang to have lunch with my extended family. The occasion? Relatives from Bangkok were in KL so we had a nice dinner at Esquire Kitchen. But that will be for another post.

Here are some pics from my phone:

#1: Xmas at Pavillion

Seriously, I think Pavilion has really outdone themselves with the Xmas decorations this time around. The place looks like a gorgeous Winter Wonderland. However, with the throngs of Xmas shoppers, it was tricky to get good shots of the decor without getting people inside the shots.

Hate my hunchback of notre dame pose in this pic, but it's the best I got. Must teach mom how to use iphone camera more often;)

If you have read my previous post, maybe you would have guessed which birthday present I went for ;P

#2: Dinner at Carmen's

Last Friday, there was an awful traffic jam at KL (as usual). So for dinner, Mom and I just went to Carmen's @ Wisma Lim Foo Yong, which is just opposite my mom's office. I have never been there before. Mom ordered the healthier choice of Salmon Teriyaki Japanese set. Myself instead opted for beef sirloin with potato wedges and steamed veggies.

The beef actually looked raw when I cut into it but surprisingly when you taste it, it tasted really good. So I assumed they marinated the meat in something red? I know, I have

#3: Outing at PavilionKL

On the first week of December, Suz M came down to KL for her training and of course, we took this opportunity to eat and shop.

First destination of the day: Cafe Takahashi @ Tokyo Street for some Italian and Japanese fusion dishes. I must say, really like the pastas, especially mine:) Nice to meet up with Ngiik Ling and Huan Ching too:)

After lots of window shopping later (coz we are all so broke T.T), we dropped by Godiva to try their chocolate cake and also drink their hot chocolate since we were all such sweet tooth fanatics.

Lovely chocolate cake

Decorated box for RM5!!!

I didn't really buy much that day. Well, I did buy stuff just not as much as I normally would. Got myself 2 skirts, ring, box and beauty products.

Printed blouse: Mom's; mesh leggings and flats: flea market; colourblock bag: sg wang;
marilyn monroe earrings: jaya one; necklace: sg wang

#4: Random

During breakfast one morning at HKL cafe/canteen, we sat at the outside balcony since it was cooler. The view was none other than my alma mater, UKM KKL. It feels weird that I am now working at the building right next to the place I studied 4 years in. #storyofmylife

A belated birthday present that came by post. It was from my buddy, did not expect it although he did tell me beforehand. Want to thank him for remembering and for the kind thoughts ^.^

So much has been happening this week. I am now in a new department, my 4th station - Ward Supply that is also known as inpatient pharmacy. The workload is a lot more here compared to my other stations and my stress level is through the roof. I try really hard to not make any mistakes but I just cannot escape from it. Sometimes, I wonder if there is such a perfect person who exist in this world that makes zero mistakes and is 100% efficient and accurate in his/her job. But no matter what, I am determined to do just that!

fifiona

birthday wishlist 2011

2011-11-30T20:18:00.001+08:00

This year, for my birthday, my mom finally agree to buy for me a clothing item from any shops I like (but she did gave me a budget of less than RM200). Excited, I scoured over some of my favourite websites: Zara, Topshop, Forever 21, to come up with a wishlist of clothes I would love to have.

On the actual day of my birthday, we headed on to KLCC for my most guilty pleasure - shopping! But sadly, I could not find my perfect birthday present there and I was so disappointed when I got home.

So, last Friday, we tried our luck at Pavilion and I am so ecstatic that I finally got something on my wishlist:):)

This is my wishlist. Guess which one I bought...hehe...will reveal it in my next post;)

#1: Topshop Drape Front Blouse

#2: Zara Printed Blouse with Peter Pan Collar

#3: Zara Leopard Printed Collar Blouse

#4: Zara Cape Shirt

#5: Zara Cape Cut-out Back

#6: Forever 21 Belted Tulip Dress

#7: Topshop Scallop Blouse

#8: Cotton On Cut-out Shorts

labelled as: my bday is 22 nov

2011-11-26T22:21:00.001+08:00

*strictly for gossip girl fans*

I am sorry
...for losing my temper the night you told me Louie proposed to you
I am sorry
...for not waiting longer at the Empire State building
I am sorry
...for treating you like property
I am sorry
...I didn't tell you I love you when I knew I did
Most of all, I am sorry I gave up on us
...and you never did...

I am still such a fan of this series although some of the episodes from last season have been yawn. But when I heard this excerpt from the script of last week's episode, my heart started fluttering again. I was so touched by how Chuck apologized to Blair, especially when he said he knew he loved her all along.

Don't you just love awesome writers? ^.^

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A short update. Still having busy on-calls but fret not, since a whole new batch of PRPs arrived 2 weeks ago, ~~ready~~ to start on-call in January.

Right now, I am at my 3rd station - Pharmacy Store. Apparently, I am supposed to learn about procurement of medicine, invoices, etc. here but thanks to the influx of PRPs in the store, most of the time I have nothing to do. Nothing to do also means nothing to learn. Yes, I absolutely detest this kind of working environment. Now I am just praying that my time in Store finishes quickly.

I complained a lot, don't I? I was just telling my mom the other day how we should try to just go one week without complaining anything at all.

A really cute "customized" speaker I saw when I was touring the store the other day

On a brighter note, if you didn't know (shame on you lol wtf), 22nd November was my birthday and it also marks the 4th anniversary of this blog. Yes, it has been 4 years blogging now and I am still enjoying every moment of it. This may actually be the ~~only~~ hobby that has stuck with me for the longest time ever wtf.

The weekend before that, my aunt treated me to dinner. Initially, we planned to go to a place called "nine-to-five" or something, a restaurant serving grilled meat and fish. Unfortunately, when we reached there, turns out the restaurant had moved its premise elsewhere. Instead of wasting time searching for its new premise, we decided to settle with one of the restaurants within the vicinity of that area. Lucky for me, I finally saw the place I have been wanting to go all this while - Food Foundry at PJ. The reason? My cravings for Mille crepe cake that I had for the first time at Nadeje, Malacca. Since they also served main courses besides the specialty desserts, we decided to have our dinner here instead.

Thanks to me aunt for dinner;)

My cordon bleu chicken; my mom's grilled sea bass; and my lovely strawberry mille crepe cake!

A very belated picture(s) taken of my postcard from Hong Kong courtesy of Suzane. Actually, I asked her to send me a postcard since I like collecting postcards that bore stamp marks from overseas. Its a really cute postcard that has a picture of Agatha Christie's (one of my all-time favourite authors) book on it.

Thanks Suzy:)

My postcard from Hong Kong:)

On the actual day of my birthday, I took half-day leave from work so I can enjoy free lunch buffet at Saisaki Japanese Buffet. Yes, free! So awesome right? It only applies on your birthday and you must have at least one paying customer. Since my mom gets the senior citizen's special price, all in all our lunch buffet only costs RM31.50, which is approximately RM16 per person. Great deal right? LOL.

But the stupid parking costs RM10 wtf. KL parking are so damn cutthroat.

Saisaki raw fish and sushi

This is my 2nd time here so my goal was to try not to over-eat like the first time and to try things I did not have the chance to tried before. I was a little disappointed, however, because since we came a little late, some of the sushis were gone and some of the food were cold, with no one topping up. I guess this is a good lesson to arrive early at buffets next time:)

My outfit to work and play afterwards lol:

Mustard scallop blouse, black cropped cardi: flea market; Green pleated skirt: early bday present from WH (thank q); Leather bag: BKK; Blue wedges: Clarks BKK; Audrey Hepburn earrings: Jaya33; Cupcake ring: WooAai @ Times Sq

After lunch, we went shopping at KLCC for my birthday present from Mom. Went to Topshop, Zara and MNG but found nothing nice.

Since that was last week, I found something really nice already! But it deserves a whole post since I absolutely love it! Thanks to me mom!

Today, I followed my aunt and mom to visit my grand-aunt who is now staying at a nursing home following her hip surgery. Every time I go to a nursing home, I am constantly reminded that there are people out there who needs our help and contribution. I will try to blog a better post next time but I admired the lady running the place. It is no easy task and words are simply not enough to describe the deeds she had done.

On an entirely different note, after the visit we went to Mid Valley where we had lunch at The Han Room, Gardens because dim sum is one of my most favourite food in the world. The dim sum here, however still pale in comparison to the sister restaurant, Noble House. But I still enjoyed my hearty lunch very much:) Thanks again to my aunt for the treat!

All the dim sum we ordered at The Han Room

Outfit of the day (I looked and feel so tired nowadays, I don't know why):

Purple dress: Platinum @ BKK; Sharp shoulder blazer: flea market; Heart shape bag: Sg Wang;
Blue wedges: Clarks BKK

On Sunday, I also had a meet-up with my primary school friends (Jagdeesh, Stephanie, Raveena, Alice and Mallvina) and afterwards seafood dinner with BF Classmates. I did not take any pics but I am very happy to meet all of them. Thanks to them, I laughed like nobody's business and I really needed all those laughter seeing what horrible weeks I have been having lately...

-fifiona-

forensic exam is finally over...

2011-11-14T21:49:00.001+08:00

So exhausted today. Finally my Pharmacy Jurisprudence aka Forensic Law exam is over. I have spend 2 sleepless nights going through the Malaysian Law books hoping that I can pass the exam the first time around. Despite it being an open book exam, it is still so tough and oh well, I will just leave it to fate now to decide if I pass it or whether I will repeat it again next year.

Some few pics to update this boring blog. Lol. There really is nothing much to blog about since I don't go out much during my weekends. My weekends are either my rest days or my work days. But I have been shopping way too much. Must control my spending. I cannot wait to take snapshots of all my favourite shopping buys. #Shopaholic.

Belle & Stephanie during on-call at OPD

Last weekends, I did my OPD on-call with Belle and Stephanie was the Shift 1 PRP that same day. It was fun doing on-call with friends and an added bonus was that they both had attached to OPD before so I learned so much things from them since I have yet to attach to this super busy department.

This picture basically summed up what we do during on-call. OPD on-call usually is doing dispensing whilst Shift 1 PRP is in charge of calling regarding Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM). I absolutely detest the TDM part because I has such a nightmare with it the first time around.

Wai Yin driving and her little gift for me

On that same weekend, I went out with dear old friend who survived sitting next to me for 1 and a half years during Form 6. I am so glad to see her again. She is finally graduating and is starting work already! So fast, lol. Had so much fun shopping (but my purse did not have much fun wtf). She also gave me a little doll with handphone pouch. Now I have 2 dolls for my collection. #Super cute.

At Ben's @ Pavilion KL

Fridays are the best days ever. #TGIF that it's the end of the week but best of all, our lunch hour, which is for 2 hours 30 mins. On that particular Friday, I went to Pavilion with Len Yi, Li Ling and Stephanie. We tried Ben's, which was packed with people during lunch.

But my pasta was too sour for my liking so I was a little disappointed. But the ambience is nice and it was so cute that they have little cards placed in the middle called, "table topics" or something like that. Definitely will give this place another chance next time.

Char Siew Rice and Shio ramen

Roasted pork cheek

Last Friday, my Mom and I went to Tokyo Street @ Pavilion to try one of the Japanese restaurants there. It was a place my mom read in the newspaper earlier, called Hokkaido Ramen. The reviews were not bad and since we always run out of ideas on places to eat after work, we decided to give it a try.

The food is actually quite nice or maybe it was the hunger talking. The rice with char siew was fragrant and so delicious. The noodles were actually so-so but the soup is very good. Apparently, it was their signature soup. We ordered 2 side dishes, i.e. roasted pork cheek (very yummy, love eating it with rice but needed some sauce though) and chicken cutlet (which I am not a fan of, since it has some tinge of ginger taste).

The prices are pretty reasonable though but next time, we want to try the other Japanese restaurants in the same area :)

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Okay, way too tired to continue typing. A short update on my life in HKL would be that today is my 1st day in a new department - Pharmacy Store. I am not sure as to what my work here is since I clocked in at 4pm today (because of my exams in the morning, added with lunch and traffic jam afterwards) but I hope I can gained much experience here. I miss Gallenicals a little though, the people there are so nice. I am going to miss having morning break with the trainees and listening to the PPFs teasing each other. I am also slightly missing Orthopedic Clinic. The work there is a lot and difficult but the people are also nice and I learned so much there.

But life goes on, and I am just praying and hoping that I will only encounter good things in the Store. Gonna be here for one month before moving on to a busy and super strict department in December:)

P.S. there is this new stall called Planet Popcorn in Times Square and omg, I am so addicted to their popcorns - especially their cheese popcorn! So freakin' orgasmic...I can eat the whole packet in one go. SO must-try!!!

~11.11.11~

2011-11-11T23:11:00.000+08:00

Today's date is so special I just felt like I have to blog just to commemorate this date in my blog.

But unfortunately, I am way too tired right now to think straight.

Will edit this post soon with pics.

I just finished my 2nd station - Gallenicals. And I love every moment of it. Work is so not stressful and the people are so nice. Too bad it's just for 2 weeks.

Next Monday I am moving on to my 3rd station - Store *crosses fingers*. And on the exact same day, I have my Forensic Law Exam *prays*.

So I am really going to be busy doing last-minute studies this weekends. Boo-hoo.

Cheers,

Happy 11.11.11. <3

2011-10-27T21:48:00.000+08:00

I have always been reluctant to admit this. But I am just going to be honest:

I. HATE. MY. JOB.

I know, I should be thankful I actually have one and to do the job that was my ambition back in Form 6 (gosh, feel so old with ambition pulak).

SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST SO MEAN.

Did they not started out like us, being prps and all, making mistakes on the job since we are all new? What the fuck is wrong with them? If you are not willing to teach, just admit it. Stop acting like you are trying to teach when you are not and then expecting me to know what to do. And expecting me to do the job perfectly with zero mistakes. I am not a ROBOT okay?

I. HATE. THEM.

I know it is offensive to scold people like this but fuck, I am just so sick of these kind of people already.

Just so tired lately...

“oh for crying out loud humprey” – b.w.

2011-10-22T11:47:00.001+08:00

***The title has nothing to do with the post wtf. I am such a huge Gossip Girl fan and right now I am trying to stream the latest episode of Season 5 but the damn freakin’ line is so slow wtf.***

It seems that when I first started this blog, I wanted to write about everything happening in my life, 24/7. But nowadays just for me to type anything at all is an accomplishment. I am terribly exhausted from my work. But most of all I am tired of making mistakes. The worst kind of feeling is the feeling of disappointment in yourself. This coming week is my final week in Pediatrics. I just pray and hope I can do right by making nil mistakes.

This past 2 weeks and upcoming weeks will be pretty hectic for me, especially weekends since I started my on-call shifts. My first on-call shift was this past Wednesday night and it was a disaster, needless to say. T___________T…with all these catastrophes happening in my profession, I am beginning to have doubts as to whether I made the right choice venturing down this career path.

I am working tomorrow morning, hopefully it will be better this time around…

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Just some pics in my Iphone that I have yet to post;)

Some time after my convocation, my aunt treated myself and my mom to Oriental Palace at Jaya33 for dim sum. I absolutely love to eat dim sum since young. I have never been here before but the food was delicious! A big thank you to my aunt:)

This was one of my favourites!

Lo Mai Kai

Super cute earrings – grabbed 2 for myself, courtesy of aunt:)

Recently on Monday, they closed all the clinics at Pediatrics for the MRCP exam. It was an exam for medical officers to become specialists. Each clinic was used as a venue for a station with individual themes. For the theme of Communications, they needed to cast for the role of a 15 year old Chinese girl patient. As luck would have it, myself and Li Ling were asked to auditioned for the role by the officer in the pharmacy. In the end, we each took turns portraying the same role. Myself in the morning session and Li Ling in the afternoon.

All we had to do was act according to the script given and ask the candidates questions as if we were patients ourselves. Last Sunday, we were invited to Le Meridien where all the medical professors slash examiners were having a meeting. After the meeting, the examiners met up with us role players for a short discussion. Best part was after that, we were invited to have lunch at Le Meridien restaurant buffet-style!

There were so much food that I regretted eating such a heavy breakfast. I wanted to take more pics but felt a bit shy as we were sitting at the same table as the other professors. But the food was simply awesome and we didn’t even have to pay a dime for it!

Dessert – my favourite! There was a chocolate fondue fountain and the stone cold ice-cream booth where they will mixed any flavors or toppings for you (a la Gelatomio style @ Pavilion). I mixed green tea + vanilla + raisins + almonds = awesome but weird wtf.

One of my favourites was the pasta because we get to choose the type of pasta we wanted, the sauce and all the toppings. Then, they will cook on the spot for you. I was observing the chef cooking mine so that I can picked up some few tips wtf.

Some selca shots of me and Li Ling

Finally wore the blue floral dress that I bought in CNY but only worn once. I seriously need to start wearing my old clothes.

Please wish me luck that I stop making mistakes :(

-yours truly, fifiona-

snapshots of my convocation ♥270911♥

2011-10-09T12:10:00.000+08:00

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updates:

I dyed my hair! Well, sort-of. I actually originally planned to just wash and trim my unruly hair. After everything was done, the lady commented that some highlights in my hair would be really nice. Because I was so tired, I kindly declined but my mom was like, okay just do it. So I did! My first experience with hair dye. The smell was pretty intoxicating, to be honest. And then they had this thing rotating around my hair injecting heat.

But I am super stoked with the final results. It is not so obvious as I only did some orange-coloured streaks at the top of my hair. At least it's not the same boring hair I have had for 20++ years now!

On happier news, I finally got my first paycheck! And I blew some away by shopping this week. I know, I am super inefficient in managing my finances. Must. Control. Spending.

3 more weeks to go in Paediatrics before I moved on to my next station - Gallenicals. Praying really hard to stop making mistakes already :(

*******************

So finally decided to blog about my convocation last Tuesday. Yes, a weekday wtf. Well, I am not really going to blog full-length about it since there is nothing much to talk about. I will just post some of my favourite shots of the day. Btw, not all these photos are taken by me. Some I stole from facebook because those that I took were so fugly (of me, of course wtf). I am also super grateful Tze Im's friend is a pro photographer who captured some really awesome shots. You can visit his facebook for more details.

The Saturday night before, I had some impromptu shots with my extended family of uncles, aunts and cousins in my graduation robes.

I arrived pretty late and omigosh so glad to see Suzane there in her bright pink robes. I had to give FSKB's graduation a miss due to work commitments. So sad I could not be there for their big day.

More impromptu cam-whore shots while waiting to enter the hall

Whee! Waited so long for my turn and when I finally went on stage, it all ended in a matter of minutes.

Me mom bought a whole new outfit for that day

Aunt and mom

Ooi Tche and my little buddy, Chye Teck

The one and only Clara Sia

My food / movie kakis

7 dwarves have all separated and gone our separate ways: ~ ~

I super-lurveee this shot!

Faculty of Pharmacy Graduates 2011

I absolutely love all the flowers and gifts I received. Thank you everyone!!!

Truly, one of the BEST days ever:) #bestdayever

yours truly,

fifiona

woke up at 6.30am on saturday morning =.=!!!

2011-10-01T10:28:00.001+08:00

I am so ecstatic that it was Friday because the next day will be Saturday. I imagined a Saturday where I can feel relax and de-stress myself from all the troubles I have at work. But instead today I had so much things going on that before I knew it, it is already 11pm and I am too dead exhausted to do anything.

Woke up super early on a weekend morning >.<. Maybe coz I slept super early last night. First time ever I went to sleep at 9.30pm wtf. Even my mom was shocked. This prp job demands so much from me and although I love the complexity and varieties that come with this job, I find it an absolute nightmare to work with people. It seems like no matter where I work, there will be at least one person who gives me such a hard time at work. Sigh. I think I am way too soft is it wtf. That people can bully me so easily. T___T

***

On a happier note, this week besides all the shit happening at work, outside of work it has been a pretty awesome week. My bad streak when coming to food has ended, well, maybe at least for this week.

It started with Levain. When anyone asks me to recommend any nice places to eat in downtown KL, Levain Boulangerie always come to my mind. The soup is super nice ok. I almost finish it and it wasn't even mine lol.

Mushroom cream soup

Rasberry tea or something. Too sour for my liking.

Lasagna! Super delicious :)

♥240911♥

I specifically typed the date because it was simply, the #BESTDAYEVER.

The day started with awesome gathering slash lunch with my UKM mates - Clara, Jane and YS. It has been so long since I last saw them. Inevitably as we are all in the same profession, our talk mainly revolves around what else but our new jobs.

The food is not bad really. Quite delicious. Definitely one of those places I will frequent again in the future. The ambience is also pretty, a la Full House restaurants.

The choice for lunch at Mid Valley

Pretty decor

Jane and her new iPhone were inseparable

I like Jane's latte so sweet (metaphorically speaking)

My grilled barramundi

Clara's Aglio Olio pasta

Ys's Norwegian salmon

The other one is Jane's Chicken Teriyaki

Clara and moi

Ys, Clara, Moi and Jane

The pianist in the cage...looks a bit sad no?

After that, Jane went to join her family whilst the trio went to catch a movie. Due to lack of good seats available, we opted to watch, "Abduction" and we sat separately lol. Yes, blame Saturday morning at Mid Valley.

The movie was kinda great actually and I am not biased about Taylor Lautner ok wtf. I have always been a Team Edward. At least the storyline was kinda new and fresh. The action scenes are awesome but the ending disappointed me the most. I guess with all the fast-moving pace, I actually expected more from the ending. It turn out to be kinda too predictable and slightly corny.

Next we headed out to Alexis @ Gardens Mid Valley for one of the best cakes I have ever eaten in my life.

Because Clara was in a ~~weird~~ phase whereby she was craving for macarons, we bought a giant one from Delectables.

Salted chocolate macaron - Delectables

Lemon Meringue - Alexis

Tiramisu cake - Alexis

The cakes were heavenly - yum! I know I have a super sweet tooth. Tiramisu is still my favourite cake and a must-try for all cake lovers.

Alas, we did not have much time after chit-chatting at Alexis. Clara joined her family who also came to MV, Ys had to rush back to Klang and I had to rush for family dinner.

After such a heavy lunch + dessert, I joined my family in 988 Restaurant in celebration of my graduation. Because my convocation is on a Tuesday, my extended family could not make it. So instead, we had dinner to commemorate this event.

Crabs!

After dinner, we went to my uncle's house where my aunt surprised me with another dessert. A cake she made in honour of my graduation. It has 3 layers with the toppings being peaches. The purple layer is grape jelly followed by cheese yoghurt in the second layer. Finally the bottom crust is biscuit.

The cake was simply delicious!

And that was my super tiring but great day. After that, I took some pics with the family in my graduation robes. But I am lazy to upload too many pics here. Everything is posted on facebook nowadays anyways.

Next post will be MY GRADUATION. I had a blast that day and I cannot wait to blog about it! I will always remember the date ♥270911♥ wtf.

Polka dot and lace blouse: market (my mom's); Skirt & floral bag: Cotton On; Earrings: Bangkok; Shoes: Taiwan

Super love this new photo app on my iPhone. Makes everything easier lol.

yours truly

fifiona

second week of september

2011-09-18T17:36:00.001+08:00

I am starting to get into the habit of blogging on a weekly basis now. Yay for me. Just feel like venting out anyway.

So another week in Pediatrics Outpatient. The best thing this week, was the fact that Li Ling came to joined me! Yay, at least I have someone I know around. I became sort of like a "teacher", telling her the ropes of how the department ran. Not that I am any more experienced.

This week I also started to learn more about dispensing and counselling. The former, they don't really let me do much as it can be a bit tricky if you don't know how the medicine works. I only did it for one day when there were many patients. I had fun but I was also wary because I am afraid I missed some things or tell things wrongly to patients.

As for counselling, I finally tried it last Friday. It was a Malay couple, with 2 young boys. The 3-year-old son was my target. I was supposed to teach the parents how to use the aerochamber for their son. I slipped up in the beginning, teaching them how to use the inhaler instead (stupid of me), before finally the pharmacist monitoring me corrected my mistake. And that was just the beginning of my disaster. When I tried to demonstrate placing the aerochamber onto the boy, he started bawling. He cried non-stop throughout the whole counselling. I panicked, unsure what to do next. Finally, the pharmacist had to take over for me. Sigh...T________T.

****

Anyway, back on a happier note. Have been micro-blogging more often on Twitter now. So this is just a summary of my Twitter updates lol. Mostly are snapshots of my latest outing with my former roommate, Suzane (her blog is RIP so no point linking wtf). She finally quit her MUNDANE job in a insurance company and venture back to her hometown of the hill below the wind (geddit?) for a better higher-paying job in a bank.

This is the present she got for me. Love fashion books and I am happy to add this to my collection!

Bought a new Iphone case! Even before my first salary came out T________T. I am seriously so broke. But it was so so so freakin' cute and they only have one design each! What if when I come back later to buy it, someone else gets it? #Justified

Yesterday, went to UKM Bangi to get my robes for my convocation. I am actually more thrilled than I expected myself to be. Probably feeling glad that I can finally graduate! I swear, with all the ups and downs I experienced in uni, I actually doubt I would ever be able to graduate.

Black outer lace top: Cotton On; Top with bowback (worn inside): Ladies Fashion (online); Shorts: market; Envelope clutch: Garde-robe (online); Flats: Vincci

Yes, I finally bought the much coveted envelope clutch lol. I wanted to get one for the longest time ever. Super disappointed when I could not find it in Bangkok and then Garderobe was selling them like super reasonable price I had to grab it before it gets sold out.

Sushi Tei for lunch (have been here way too many times to be counted)

Printed tee: market; Scallop trim vest: Bangkok; Red bag: Sabah; Rosette tutu: Fashion City@Sg Wang; Wedges: Nautini; Ring: Forever 21

Roomie outfit of the day (let's see if I can remember lol) - Marilyn Monroe printed top: market; Black cardi: Agenda@Jusco; Shorts: market; Vintage bag: market; sandals: ?

P.S. Actually her shorts here is the same as the one I wore in the first pic. Shopping mates wtf *high five*

Suzane introduced me to this new place located at 6th floor Pavilion, called Tokyo Street.

This was in one of the shops - super cute Beatles right!

Btw, how aptly matching was my outfit with the place. I was wearing a Japanese-printed tee and we went to Tokyo Street! P.S. This will be one of those times I will be proudly bragging this connection and Suzane will give me the =.= #lame face.

And then we headed to Theobroma's

I suddenly had a craving for chocolate fondue

The Belgian chocolate waffle or something

Mah pig pig awaiting to eat wtf

I swear, the bad food streak is just continuing. The waffle looks so pretty right? But worst I ever eaten. I am never ordering that again. Seriously, when will this streak ever ends T_______________T

fangirl mode: I need a life:(

2011-09-14T21:36:00.002+08:00

Finally I am awake enough to blog. Been feeling super tired this week but I felt good last Friday since I made less mistakes than usual, albeit I still do the most silliest things.

I have been using Twitter more often than ever now, all thanks to my current obsession with Damian McGinty from The Glee Project. I am hoping he will retweet me but my chances are slim since he has about 165,000++ followers and gawd knows how many mentions a day. But still, I won't give up. Lol, I am in such a fangirl mode right now. I would ask you to follow me on twitter but if you don't want to get spammed by my DM tweets...well, you know *shy*.

Nothing much happening right now. I am still in Pediatrics unit, had my first lunch call on Thursday, where I had to work all through lunch. Other than that day, I usually have lunch with the girls - all the new PRPs. I feel really thankful because here in HKL, I have 2 friends from UKM (my uni); my 2 old friends whom I studied Form 6 with and part of the BF family; and finally my new PRP friends from IMU. Not forgetting the PRPs who are about to finish soon - they are all really nice:) But I wished I can feel less awkward around strangers :(

Been spending lots of time on youtube watching videos on The Glee Project. Some of the videos they made were super awesome. Few of my favourites and those you MUST-SEE are: The Only Exception (Paramore cover), Damian's cover of Beyond the Sea, and Cameron's Blackbird. There are many more but these are the few I can remember off my head right now.

So now my photo spam begins:

#1: Dinner at Al-Rawsha Lebanese Cuisine, Kg Pandan

My mom read about this review in the newspaper about this place. Seriously, the place win props for exterior design. From outside, it looks like a sprawling majestic castle. Cannot believe such design can exist in KL lol. Sorry no pics snapped because it was raining the first time I went there, and on the second time (which was Friday), my phone ran out of battery. Btw, they have free wifi too. I wished I have wifi, my ancient cable line is so freakin' annoying sometimes.

Okay, back to the topic. Since it is Lebanese cuisine, which my mom and I have never tried before, we thought we will go there for dinner after work. The first time was sometime during the puasa month, so there were hoards of people there.

Hummus for appetizer

Sorry don't know what this is called but it's like bread

We had the dish containing mix of grilled meat - chicken and lamb

The pics were from the first time we went. The recent visit, however, we tried the Mandy Chicken with rice and Mandy lamb. And it tasted great! Especially the Mandy lamb that I had. Even the rice was super delish, and I am not even a fan of rice! The chicken, I think was a little too dried. Caution, the portion is pretty huge, IMO, if you get full easily like me (slow metabolism wtf), better to share.

#2: KL Bookfest

It was actually a spur of the moment when we decided to head on to the annual KL Bookfest @ KLCC. We wanted to buy just one book but turns out that book was sold out (since it was so cheap so sad wtf). To "compensate", we ended up buying lots of books lol. They were so cheap! But there were just too many people around and it was so tiring lugging around the basket full of books. The aisles were also pretty congested making it difficult to walk around, IMO. I don't know, maybe I was in a rotten mood that day since I had to missed my ritual afternoon nap to go there.

Super like my new books! Although I seriously don't know if I have the time to read them all.

*************

Finally, to end this post with some random pics of new clothes that I finally wore. Seriously, my shopping needs to be controlled. I went on a shopping frenzy for new clothes for work, when I heard that we had to abide by a skirts-only-no-pants dress code. And the skirts had to be knee-length wtf. So I google-ed "how to wear midi skirts" and if you didn't know by now, midi and maxi skirts trend are kinda huge right now. There were so many inspiring looks by random people rockin' this trend. Honestly, if you can style it well, instead of looking like a frumpy aunty, you can actually look fashionable. It helps that I love vintage looks too.

Blouse:random; Skirt:random; Sling bag: The Kooky Thing (online); Ring: bazaar

This is only one of numerous midi skirts I bought. Really like the pleats and coral colour. The handbags-printed tee was not actually on my list of workwear outfits to buy. But it was so super cute to resist!

Caged / cut-out asymmetrical blouse: Platinum Bangkok

I wore this to KL Bookfest. I was so sleepy actually I just grabbed the first thing I saw. Like this shirt for all the unique features but best of all, just cost me RM10 only!

Purple vintage flats: Taiwan

This pair of shoes are not the most comfortable things on earth but oh well I still like them wtf. Especially the colours. I am obsessed with the whole pastel palette colours thingy.

Okay, gotta go work tomorrow but rejoicing the fact that Friday is a holiday! Times like this, I am super glad that Sabah & Sarawak became part of Malaysia on a different day than our Independence Day. If I remembered my history facts correctly (which was eons of years ago wtf), I think they were supposed to officially join on 31st August but something happened that made it get delayed, and thus they only joined on 16th September. Yeah, I know it's kind of vague but I am too lazy to get my facts right lol.

light blue eyes and baritone voice

2011-09-03T12:55:00.000+08:00

the bad food streak never stops...went to Kenny Rogers for lunch and their side dishes were so tasteless! Yesterday we ordered Pizza Hut delivery and for the first time ever, our delivery was late! Came like 40 mins later and our pizza was all cold, tasted horrible. Called them to complain since their policy was 30 mins delivery...I had to call twice before anyone listened. Ugh, hate bad customer service!!!

***********************************

Something totally random to cheer myself up. Had a rough day at work yesterday. Kept making mistakes and I am just so upset with myself. Luckily, the people were nice but I wonder how long can their patience lasts. I wished I can be less "blur" and focus more on my work. But I tend to panic especially when they expect me to do the work really fast. My mind operates really slow. Just so upsetting...

Go youtube and watch 2PM's necktie dance for "I'm Your Man", their Japanese single. I think it is one of their best choreographies ever. I hope they make a Korean version of that song so they can perform at Korean music public shows. Seriously, love the mv :)

Taecyeon, Junho, Junsu, Nichkhun, Wooyoung and Chansung

Have a huge crush on Damian McGinty, Jr. as mentioned in my previous post. I have finally been catching up on some episodes of "The Glee Project" and the talents on that show are enormous. Seriously, I don't know how they can eliminate anyone. My favourites are definitely Cameron, Damian and Samuel.

Damian's blue eyes are gorgeous and his voice is unique, the deep kind that I like. Probably because I have always had a soft spot for swingers music, like Micheal Buble and Frank Sinatra. Like his accent too although half the time I seriously have no clue what he is saying. And his humour. Cameron and him are besties. Google CDTV and you can find videos of them together.

Damian McGinty

Damian and Cameron, another huge talent:)

I absolutely love Super Junior's comeback of "Mr. Simple" and finally, after all this while, I have a favourite SuJu member. It's Lee Donghae! Although Eunhyuk came quite close, lol. I like his hair in this comeback and he can dance so well! Lol, I am being such a fangirl. Anyway, he got injured recently, poor thing. I was watching bromance videos between him and Eunhyuk...so funny but cute;)

Lee Donghae

Some days I feel so lazy to blog. It seems like my thoughts are all in a mess and it is hard to convey them through words. Having to face difficulties at work and at home, I look to the web for inspirational words to keep me going. I don't want to quit but when things can really hard, I feel depressed.

This is one of my favourite quotes, reminding myself (and maybe some friends out there) to not be "desperate" when it comes to relationships. I know, I talk like I am such an expert but I am not okay? ;)

My convocation is on 27th Sept 2011. Finally I am graduating =)

yours truly

fiona

starting work and bad food

2011-09-01T00:31:00.000+08:00

This week I start work.

Yes, work. A word I have been dreading. Some of my friends (who never work before, obviously) do not understand the reason I detest this word. Now they do. Lol.

But, everyone grows up. And eventually, we must enter the real world and start earning our own living.

I went to report to HKL on Tuesday and it was so so tiring running around from one department to another. Official documents, forms, cops and signatures.

I was assigned to the Pediatrics unit. The work is not much, but due to my lack of experience working in a hospital environment, I find myself struggling and making mistakes. Thankfully, the people have been great and cut me some slack since I am new but I really wished I can learn things faster and hopefully, not make any critical mistakes that can harm the patients.

Unfortunately, being in Peads also mean I have to walk quite the distance as the building is pretty isolated than the main block, where most of my PRP friends are. It is difficult during lunch hour as we only get an hour break and I find it hard to reach back Peads on time because I have to take 20 minutes to walk to and fro from Peads to the main block. This is a challenge that I must learn to adapt and work on during my 10 weeks attachment here.

I am learning lots of things, although I wish I had more work to do. I am a little worried because it is the 2nd week already and I have not yet started filling in my log book. But I have not been working with enough prescriptions to have anything to fill in. Sigh. How come working life has got to be this stressful as well? T________T

I am so so so so happy that we have this 3 days break in conjunction with the Raya and Merdeka holidays. How awesome is that? I wish every week we only have 2 working days. Lol. It feels so great to wake up late and not having to face the awful traffic jam awaiting for me. And then not having to wait around for work at OPD. And not having to walk under the hot sun for lunch. And not having to face another awful x 10 traffic jam when I drive back home.

Although I complained so much, I am, in fact, really glad and thankful to get the hospital of my choice for training and to be able to stay in my home sweet home. Just wanted to voice out some stuff. I guess all those prayers I did in both Taiwan and Bangkok really paid. I am so going to pray at Bangkok again after my PRP ends. So I am superstitious. Lol.

On my first day of break, my Mom and I had some cravings for lamb (must be those damn Hell's Kitchen and Masterchef series, gets everyone so hungry after watching them lol). After reading a review on them in the papers, we went to Athena's @ Pavilion KL. This is my 2nd time there actually, first time was lunch with my uni mates. The food was actually quite good when I went there the first time, so I had high expectations again.

Sadly, Athena's fail me this time. Not only the food was bad, the service was even horrible. Honestly, I think they have better service for the tourists / foreigners than us locals. The bill came out so expensive and it was so not worth it. So disappointed, not sure if I ever will go back there again.

This was the only thing that was delicious. Green peas cream soup.

My beef with black pepper sauce and mashed potatoes.

The potatoes were delicious but I ordered my beef medium, and they gave me well-done, so I was quite annoyed as I had to chew precariously. It amazes me they can make simple mistakes when only less than half of the restaurant is occupied by patrons.

Mom's lamb shank

Initially, my mom ordered the pasta Aglio Olio but it was way too salty, and too much olive oil dressing. The pasta was supposed to be slightly oily but it was practically drenched with all the dressing. Wait, more like drowned.

So, my mom complained and ordered the lamb shank dish instead. Actually, this dish was quite delicious but since we were both full from the previous entreés already, somehow we were no longer excited by it.

And the stupid waiter. Ugh. I asked him for an extra clean plate so I can share the lamb with my mother. Waited. Waited. Waited. Try to eat the lamb off my mom's plate. Had sauce dripped on me. Waited. Waited. Waited. Ate more of the lamb. Waited. Waited. Waited.

After giving up hope that the plate will ever reach me, I just ate the lamb, making a mess on the table. And then the stupid waiter came with the plate. By that time, I had already finish eating and didn't need the plate anymore. I could have been a nice customer and just returned the clean plate to him. But I was so annoyed with his inefficiency (despite so few patrons that day!), I tossed my dirty cutlery on the plate.

Going back in time, last Saturday I met up with Suz M again for lunch. Too bad we did not get much time to hang out since she had to come late (she was working in the morning) and I had to leave early (because my Mom was giving me a ride).

cupcakes dress: Girl About Town (online); cardi: jusco; bags and shoes: bangkok; rings: cotton on; bracelet: online

Finally debuted my Cupcakes-printed dress. Despite the childishness, I find it extremely cute dress. I think I am hooked on quirky printed pieces now.

We had lunch at Xian Ding Wei @ Sg Wang, one of my favourite hangouts with my uni mates. Food was horrible, despite it being acceptable back then. The meat was cold and full of fats. I feel like all I was eating was fats. Ugh. Ew. Horrible. Disappointed.

I have more stories of bad food. Will post them up next time. Time to sleep now. I have been in the habit of sleeping early ever since I start work.

Oh, one more thing. I. Have. A. Crush. On.....DAMIAN McGINTY, JR.!!!!!!!

Go Glee Project!!!!!

counting down the days

2011-08-18T09:56:00.001+08:00

Happy 24th birthday to my dear friend, Gary. It has been two years since his demise. I miss him dearly.

*********

I have finally decided.

Next Monday I am going to report myself at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) to undergo my one-year training as a Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) under Ministry of Health.

Quite psyched to work at HKL. It was after all, my second choice in my application. HKL is the largest hospital in Malaysia and receives the most number of patients than any other hospitals in Malaysia.

I have my work cut out for me, I know. HKL is not exactly the best place to undergo PRP training but with the numerous departments and clinical cases, undoubtedly I am sure I will learn lots of things there.

My biggest fear is that I do not seem to be well-prepared at all. Maybe I am still feeling a little traumatised from my previous training at Guardian, whereby the pharmacists there were really stern and constantly looked down on students. I hope the staff at HKL will be more forgiving and willing to teach us. People make mistakes, and perhaps myself more than others.

My batch coursemates, Stephanie from Kuching and Carrie from Malacca will be joining me at HKL. Plus, my former Form 6 classmates who studied Pharmacy at IMU, Len Yi and Li Ling also received posting at HKL.

I have made a list. A to-do list, actually. Things that I want to do before I officially start work.

~~Clean up my closet (again!)~~ I did it yesterday yay. Can you believe this is the 2nd time I clear and re-organize my closet in my holidays? The last time I re-organize it was 2 months ago! Lol. All of these shopping has to stop. I am fast running out of storage space. It seems the more stressed out I am, the more impulse shopping I do. Has. To. Stop.
Reading "The Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. Apparently, the reading list I self-made has gone down the drain. I only managed to ever finish reading "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown. The Outliers was actually a book recommended by my second cousin, JJ, whilst I was in Thailand. So, when I came back to KL, I went off to buy it. I am only in my 2nd chapter and I am already intrigued by it. I don't really read a lot of non-fiction books but maybe this book might change my mind.
Blog about Bangkok / Pattaya trip. The pics have been uploaded on facebook but I guess the blogging has to wait.
Study. Yes, the dreaded word is back. Being a provisionally-registered pharmacist means you will still be constantly scrutinized by colleagues and supervisors. The student life has not end yet. In other words, I am like an intern right now. I still don't know where to start reading as I don't know which department I will be assigned to:(

Been having some weekly dose of good food lately. Right after coming back from Bangkok on first week of August, we were whisked for a family dinner, a treat by my uncle. The next day, went to The Ship with former roommates and housemate. The second week of August, was actually my Mom's birthday. Every year, I treat her for lunch (or dinner). Buying things for her is a futile effort, as she is indecisive and a fussy buyer lol.

I try scourging for interesting places to eat online. It is a task because cuisines she enjoy eating, I don't. She likes Chinese, I don't. I like Italian and Japanese, she doesn't. Finally, after coming upon Kampungboycitygal, I decided to treat her at Alexis @ Gardens Mid Valley. I have only ever been here for the cakes, but apparently they also served Asian cuisine for main courses. Perfect for my ~~very Asian~~ mom. Lol.

Lunch at Alexis

I had their Nasi Lemak

Sarawak Laksa

Tiramisu cake with raspberry sauce

The food is not bad and has reasonable prices. I prefer my Nasi Lemak over my mom's laksa btw. I had like ,six different type of side dishes to go with my rice. But my mom still prefers Madam Kwan's Nasi Bojari lol. I would highly recommend the Nasi Lemak, really delicious. The Sarawak Laksa is not spicy, actually, much to us spicy lovers' disappointment. And pretty oily too.

The cake is mainly for me because I have such a sweet tooth. It has a thick coat of walnuts and caramel, so delicious. If you don't like it too sweet, the raspberry sauce is there to give it a hint of sourness. Although I was so full after the rice, I simply cannot resist this lovely dessert. The tiramisu cake is their specialty, btw, and is slightly more expensive compared to the other cakes.

After such a wonderful meal, we were subjected to more delicious food for dinner.

We went to my uncle's house for a family dinner in conjunction with the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival. My uncle is an awesome chef, cooking up another one of his delicious dinners.

Fresh from his Phuket trip, he made this prawn dish that he tasted there.

Playing around with the effect in my camera.

Wonderfully-decorated dishes.

I am really fortunate that my uncle is such a great cook because I get to sampled such amazing home-cooked dishes. I have fear of the weighing machine now after such rich food. Sigh.

This weekend, I am again going out for lunch with a friend who will be departing soon for Kelantan, where he is going to do his PRP posting.

Bought this trenchcoat dress way too long ago and now only I wore it for the first time. Got inspired by my K-dramas I supposed. Got it for sales 50% at a random boutique in Cheras. Just RM25, not bad right:)

yours truly,

Fifiona

crazy little thing called love

2011-08-10T01:09:00.000+08:00

So I called KKM already...and they said I got HKL...ecstatic at the news but I am still waiting for the official letter =)

--------------------------------------------------------------

I have been watching Gossip Girl online, as well as Korean variety shows like 2PM show and We Got Married until I came across this little movie called, "Crazy Thing Called Love" or also known as "First Love". It is a Thai movie, actually, and I have been reading about these great reviews by bloggers online. Their phrase of "Everyone's love story", really got everyone liking it.

So, wondering about all the buzz about this Thai movie, I decided to give it a try. Google-ed it and I found a site hosting this movie in English subtitles. The subs are not that great but it did gave me a gist of the whole movie.

Normally, I would not go all-out and become fangirl over love movies because they can get cliche sometimes and we all know, they are not real (I am a pessimist, bite me). This movie may have a run-of-the-mill storyline but somehow it really got me captivated.

It stars Pimchanok Lerwisetpibol as Nam, the main character who started out in this movie as a dark-skinned face, geeky and klutzy freshman. She harbors a secret crush on her senior, the charming sweet gentleman, Chone (played by this handsome actor, Mario Maurer).

He likes photography a lot and is hardly ever seen without his camera

I have been seeing a lot of film cameras lately - Ben's and Mel's in Kenyir and my cousin, JJ's in Bangkok. I am so tempted to play around with one now.

He is just so handsome:)

The movie chronicles through every year of Nam's life as she remains secretly in love with Chone for 3 years. Her best friends, who are just as awkward-looking as she is, helps her to be pretty and to drop hints to Chone through the 9 Recipes for love book.

Eventually Nam becomes from an ugly duckling to a lovely swan and yet Chone still did not make any moves on her. Instead, his best friend, Top, fell for Nam and pursues her. Nam felt bad as she didn't want to jeopardize Chone's friendship with Top but she cannot hide her feelings for Chone.

This is my favourite scene from the movie. So beautiful right?

So, she finally breaks it up with Top. Top, upset, tells Chone to not pursue Nam. Now, alone, without her best buddies by her side, Nam studies hard to get first in her class so she can go to U.S. to see her dad. When she gets the courage to confess to Chone, she finds out that he is already seeing someone else and was leaving for Bangkok to train in elite football team.

After that, comes the surprising twist that is slightly hard to believe, in my opinion, but still I am touched by it.

I won't reveal it, you just have to watch the movie.

I think the fact that most will like this movie is because they feel they can relate to it. I know I can, back in my younger years, throughout primary school and a little in secondary school, I remember having this huge crush on a schoolmate for close to 5 years. And the funny thing was, I never even spoken to him before. But I remember just being really happy to see him in class everyday. Later on did I find out that he also felt the same way as I did through a friend of ours. However, regretfully, nothing ever happened between us. Maybe due to the bad decisions I made in my adolescent years. But hey, we all live and learn right?

I can go on and on, writing about this movie but I am so sleepy now. I swear, I am feeling so unhealthy since coming back from Bangkok. I need to rev myself up. I am starting work next month, need to get my brain cells active again after such a dormant lifestyle:)

when the waiting gets tougher

2011-08-09T00:40:00.001+08:00

I am now back from my Bangkok trip. Pattaya is bad but Bangkok was a blast! Simply a city I would want to go back again, minus all the traffic jam of course.

I am having the flu. Crap. I attribute it to my mom, who had it in Thailand. Advised her to see a doctor but refused to listen to me. Now, she ~~generously~~ gave me the germ. I feel like shit now, sore throat and runny nose. Hopefully things will be normal soon...

Anyway, I am here to share more depressing news. The placement for my posting is out. The letters have yet to arrive but apparently we can call KKM and ask them now. Fear got the better of me and I have yet to call and ask them. But I know, sooner or later I will have to know. And if they are going to send me to some faraway place, it's better to know soon so I can settle my accommodation, transport, etc.

I guess there are pros and cons to this. Pro is I don't have to go out searching for a job like some of fresh graduates friends do but the con is I have no control whatsoever on the place I want to work in. I mean, KL is after all, land of opportunities. It would be much easier for me to look for a job here but now I have to place my fate in the hands of KKM.

I am going to call them tomorrow morning and fingers crossed that they will send me back to my hometown. But after looking at facebook on my friends' updates, I have my doubts. Please, let my prayers be answered. I not only prayed in Malaysia but in Taiwan and Bangkok too. Sounds kiasu hor.

Thought this post would look better with a picture so here is the latest pic of me. Taken on Sunday, the day after I came back from Bangkok. Seriously, you cannot imagine how much I have been eating in my travels =( TT__________TT

Dress: Sg Wang; Blazer: market; Leggings, shoes, bag: Bangkok;
Skinny belt: Times Square; Earrings, ring: Forever 21

I don't know if you can see but I looked really tired in the pic, even had swollen eyes. After arriving at KLIA, my uncle whisked us away for a family dinner at Zui Mao (literally "Drunken Cat"). The very next day, I went out for lunch with my former roommates and housemate at "The Ship". On top of that, I was having cold. So yeah, I was pretty exhausted.

BB's bf, BB, Suzane, Ngiik Ling and me

My former roommate, Beng Beng, was in KL with her bf. We had lunch with Suzane (my other roommate) and Ngiik Ling (now Suzane's roommate) who are working in KL now.

Sorry for the crappy pic. Iphone does no wonder at all in dark, dimly-lit setting. And no pics of food because I was horrendously late for lunch (like 1 hour late *paiseh*) but now The Ship is offering Ramadhan offer sets, around RM30.90++ per set, comes with soup, bread and drinks too!

Tomorrow is D-Day...keeping an open mind on the whole matter *zen*...

Hello from bangkok

2011-08-03T11:38:00.000+08:00

Hi

Right now I am at Bangkok, staying at relatives' house. My mother's cousin's family has been very gracious and hospitable to us. Tomorrow we are going to Pattaya and then it's time to go back to the real world, KL...

But for now just enjoying time here before starting prp soon:)

the difference between a great love and the right love...

2011-07-30T09:52:00.019+08:00

As the month of August is approaching, I am getting more and more nervous. Seriously, the waiting and the anticipation is more stressful than I thought.

It has been a wonderful 3 months holiday. Yes, although I realized I should have go look for a job in KL (the city of opportunities wtf), I instead devoted all my time into being a lazy bum. As relax as it sounds, I realized I have been wasting a lot of time. A lot.

So, here I am, wasting my life and time away by catching up on Gossip Girl Season 4 online. I can never get enough of my favourite Upper East Siders. Seriously, everyone is hooking up with every single person. The only two pairs that do not hook up are obviously Dan and Jenny (because they are related) and Chuck and Serena (well, not like he didn't try back in Season 1 but they are technically, step-siblings). Although does anyone else think that it's weird Serena and Dan wanted to hook up? I mean, although they are not blood-related, hello, their parents are married to one another? Admittedly, Season 4 is a little blah compared to its predecessors. But, the fashion is still as fantastic. What I will give for Blair and Serena's closets...:)

I have yet to finish catching up on all the episodes although I already watched the finale. Cannot wait for Season 5 which is supposed to begin in September. Seriously, I am addicted to the fashion and the drama of it all.

Staying on the topic of fashion, I am leaving for Bangkok tonight. I have been feeling a little down lately, because of my nervousness. It's good to get away and enjoy for one last time. But then again, now I am worried as to who will collect my letters for me when I am away. Sigh.

I still have some clothes still brand new and unworn yet. I seriously need to control myself. Anyway, feel like sharing some outfit posts of my new clothes:)

Shopping with Mom at UNIQLO Fahrenheit. She needed to buy some tees.

Lace dress: gift from Mom; Vintage red belt: Seesaw's Playground ; Wedges: Nautini; Bag: HK;
Necklace: Forever 21; Pearl ring: Sungei Wang

Love this lace dress, a gift from mommy:)

Vintage crochet dress: Mods Boutique (online); Grey leggings: forgot; Brown skinny belt: Sg Wang

Bought this vintage look dress for really cheap online because it was closing down. Really like the crochet collar

I recently had lunch in Bangsar with 2 of my oldest friends ever - Jagdeesh and Stephanie, from primary school. Dr. Jagdeesh finally completed her 6 and a half years in Kursk studying medicine and Stephanie is graduating at UKM this year with me, but hers is a Masters while mine is just degree.

Pink blazer: Taiwan; Polka dot blouse: market; Zipper skirt: Cotton On; Flats: Vincci;
Colourblock bag: Sg wang; Necklace: Sg Wang

I have been looking for a pink blazer for like, forever! So happy to find one I love at Taiwan. Glad that I bought it because after I come back, I realized many online sites selling them for double the price that I bought it for. The Cotton On zipper skirt only RM15. What a bargain. I bought a lot of sales stuff at Cotton On lately.

Just last week, went out with Suzane and Ngiik Ling, both now settled in KL for work. We finally watched the last installment of Harry Potter series. Love the movie!!!

My new necklace

I-City Shah Alam

Also last Sunday, I went to MTV World Stage 2011 concert with Suzane. My cousin Sherli also came with her Mom. They had local band Pop Shuvit, Korean band B2ST / Beast and also Americans Neon Trees and Thirty Seconds to Mars. Of course, it was kinda obvious who we came for:) The tickets were complimentary because Ngiik Ling and her brother won them in a contest and they could not make it...

B2ST Tee that I bought back in January when I went to Digi Kpop Live Party 2011~

Sterling Beaumon

Finally, end this post with a pic of Sterling Beaumon, this really awesome actor who guested on Criminal Minds and Law & Order. I cannot believe he is only 16 years old, even younger than Justin Bieber. He plays a psychotic killer and rapist on both shows respectively. Seriously, he gives me the goosebumps. But on a positive side, he's kind of cute and has really pretty eyes:)

running from Fear

2011-07-25T08:35:00.000+08:00

To organize my traveling posts more efficiently, I created a page of all my trips hoping that people might find it useful to plan their travel itineraries. It is under "Travel Chronicles".

********************

I wanted to post something nice initially but I am just feeling nervous to actually type properly here.

The reason? UIA has already received their posting letter and for UKM, the letter will be due anytime in August.

There are still many documents to be sorted out but every time I looked at my file, I just get lots of butterflies in my stomach and feel sick.

I am so worried to death where they will send me. Whether I had made the right choices in my application. Where will I live? How will I go to work? Who am I going to live with? What if my housemates or roommates are rotten?

I realized this is a new chapter in my life now but I am just so afraid to face. So what do I do? I run from it. I keep procrastinating my documents in hope that I do not have to face it.

Feeling like hell right now and so stupid too. Of course, many people have to go through this. I just wish I have the courage to do so.

I have so many fears in life and I just wondered, how long more I am going to run away from them. It would be so much better for me to face those fears, I know, but can I?

I put this quote as my desktop background in hopes it will motivate me. But obviously...

You gain strength, confidence and courage
By every experience in which you really
Stop to look Fear in the eye
Do the thing you think you cannot do
-Anonymous

In happier news, I am keeping myself distracted by planning places to visit in Bangkok. Yes, I will be flying to Bangkok next week via Lufthansa. My first time on Lufthansa wtf. Actually, because it was on such short notice, the tickets to Bangkok via Air Asia became so damn expensive wtf. Even more expensive than my tickets to Taiwan. So, my aunt booked another airline instead, which was only slightly cheaper. I thought my mom will complain about how expensive the tickets were, but surprisingly she didn't say anything. Fortunately.

We will be staying with relatives there. I have not seen them in a decade, I think. My mom's and my aunt's cousin so yeah, distant relatives. Hopefully *crosses fingers* everything goes smoothly. We will also be going to Pattaya as well (sunblock checked...why do I keep visiting hot places? wtf). I am kinda excited as this is my second time to Bangkok and I am itching to do shopping. Not sure how much shopping I can do since my mom tells me I have been using too much money traveling this holidays and also, my mom is not exactly a big fan of my fashion adventures wtf.

But then again, after this trip, I will have to return to reality. My greatest nightmare. I hate you *** for not letting me have a say in my future workplace. This sucks.

final post: random turkey

2011-07-24T10:18:00.001+08:00

So, for my final and last post on Turkey, here are just photos taken throughout my journey there...

A pharmacy in Istanbul

Proton Wira under the tree

Sabah is really famous!

Circus-themed (?)

Interesting place to set up a stall

Ankara railway station

Turkish men in Turkish garments at Hilton Ankara

When he saw me about to snap picture of him, he stopped and posed lol

At the restaurant where we had our last meal in Turkey

part X: shopping in turkey

2011-07-24T09:52:00.000+08:00

This is just going to be a photo spam post. As with any typical tour, the guide will bring you to places where you can buy Turkish specialty products. My mom and myself are not so interested when it comes to buying them as firstly, we lack the financial means (everything is either in USD or Euros) and secondly, we lack storage. We don't leave in a six-storey mansion ok. However, when you look on the bright side, you can actually get a slice of Turkish culture with the amazing sights and in some places, they actually show you the origin of them.

At the small shops along the alleyway in Ankara. I like all the lamps in different shapes and sizes.

These are called Baklava, a type of Turkish delight in a shop at Istanbul.

A place near Efes, where a jolly fat man promoted Turkish delights to us. He made me laughed a lot.

At a carpet weaving co-op. They help underprivileged women, especially those from rural areas by giving them jobs of weaving carpets.

A lot of details and meticulous planning go into the design of carpets.

When they were promoting carpets to us, they started throwing carpets onto the floor, one after another, until the whole floor was flooded with carpets.

This one I really like - "The Last Supper"

"With time and patience, the mulberry leaf becomes silk"

I thought the co-op building looks nice from outside

At Cappadocia, they showed us how they make the ceramics, from the clay process till the painting process.

Bottles of paint

Turkish small bowls, very colourful and vibrant.

A unique ancient wine jar. You are supposed to put your arm through the big hole in the middle and hold the handle in order to pour.

Very unique and pretty designs

Another interesting shop along Ankara alleyways. This one selling spices.

Another one selling nuts and all sorts of grains

Also selling dried fruits.

part IX: food in turkey

2011-07-24T01:09:00.000+08:00

For all food-lovers, food-enthusiasts or just those who are curious what food the Turkish like to eat...here is pics galore of some interesting meals I had there. Although they are mostly situated on Asia, their style is very much European. First comes the appetizers - salad and soup (along with bread), followed by main course and lastly dessert.

Day 8 lunch, Ankara. Turkish pudding is a famous dessert here. Most of them are really sweet but this particular one is just captivating with the right amount of sweetness

Day 2 lunch, Istanbul. This is how a typical main course meal in Turkey is like. Rice, mash potatoes and chicken with gravy. Pork is not allowed as it is a Muslim country.

Day 2 lunch, Istanbul. The restaurant that we went to had these jars of colourful preserved pickles. This is one of my favourite photos.

Night of Day 2, Istanbul. We went to Grand Bazaar and tried their fresh-squeeze-on-the-spot orange and pomegranate juice. You will find these stalls throughout Turkey, not just in Istanbul. I like that it is fresh and they actually don't add water or ice or anything, just pure fresh juice.

Breakfast Day 3, Istanbul. Hotel breakfast is also very European-like here. One of my favourites is pancakes! Topped with strawberry syrup with milk and nuts. I have such a sweet tooth =)

Lunch Day 3, Istanbul. One thing I don't get it is the fact that we were served the exact same salad wherever we went in Turkey. Seriously. I am not a big fan of veggies and worse still, the only salad dressing available is olive oil. Whatever happened to Thousand Island?

One of those rare moments when we had beef and I love it so much wtf. I was kinda sick of chicken after a while.

I think this one is called Kemal Pasha but I am not too sure. Supposedly made from cheese but I didn't taste any. I thought this was a little too overly sweet.

Breakfast Day 4, Troy. No, we did not have spices for breakfast but rather, they were condiments to our buffet dishes, which consisted of Turkish local dishes as well as typical Western breakfast.

Day 4, at a small restaurant where we made a stop on the way from Troy to Pergammon. If you are an avid coffee lover like I am, you have to give Turkish coffee a try. Very bitter, strictly for hardcore fans wtf. Imagine Americano or Espresso.

Lunch Day 4, Pergammon. Buffet styles are a huge thing here I noticed. More variety of food to choose from but essentially the same kind of food.

Dinner Day 4, we had dinner at a fancy restaurant in our hotel. We did have something different this time around. I think it was a combination of lentils and beans for our appetizer.

Dinner Day 4. This is one of my favourite desserts. Finally something not too overloaded with sweetness. Not too sure about the name but I think it's something like Turkish-style milk pudding.

Day 4 night. The ladies in my tour went crazy when they saw this shop selling all sorts of nuts - almonds, walnuts, even figs! The owner kept letting us sample his products which just prompted more people to start buying haha. I think my mom went broke in this shop because she finish all her Turkish lira here.

Breakfast Day 5, at our hotel. One thing Turkey is hugely famous for is cheese! So many types of cheese everywhere. For someone as ignorant as me, they all look the same actually, and tasted almost the same wtf.

Day 6, on the way from Pamukkale to Cappadocia. Homemade yoghurt with honey and poppy seeds. This one tasted so so so good I just wanted to have more. Yes, I am aware what are poppy seeds wtf.

Lunch Day 8, Ankara. Our appetizer was really good, it was some kind of cheese bread. Very delicious.

The waiter went to each person to serve our stew. He was very funny to pose for this photo.

Our last meal in Turkey which is not bad. I think it was lamb stew or something.

Day 7 in Cappadocia. The guy is actually scooping up Turkish ice-cream. It is apparently homemade but I don't really see the difference. It may look bright in the photo but the weather was actually quite cool and I actually bought ice-cream to eat wtf. P.S. there is a stall selling Turkish ice-cream in Sg Wang Plaza now. Not sure how authentic but the lady does look Turkish lol.

Anyway, there are still a lot more pics of food that I am lazy to post here.

Lokum, is another Turkish dessert that many of us bought back to Malaysia. Baklava is also another Turkish Delight, a term used to called Turkish sweets.

Their soup is also different. The lentil soup is not so creamy and have something that looks like rice inside.

Turkish spicy ham is also one of my favourite things to eat for breakfast (although my mom thinks it's too salty for her).

If you are not fans of coffee, you can try Turkish tea or Apple tea. Both are sweet and have nice aroma. Apple tea is slightly sourish.

And finally for meat, we didn't always have chicken. We had beef before, and lamb as well as fried fish with rice.

day VIII: ankara, the capital of old and new

2011-07-23T15:57:00.001+08:00

Finally we arrived on Day 8, which is our last day in wonderful exotic Turkey. We arrived at Ankara, the capital of Turkey last night from Cappadocia. They let us stay at Hilton Ankara which is one of the best hotels I ever stayed. I was so sad to leave the hotel when morning arrived.

Ankara, being the capital is also another sprawling metropolis, but less busier compared to Istanbul. People here still seem more carefree. Our first destination is to Anitkabir which means "memorial tomb" in Turkish, which is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of Republic of Turkey.

We stumbled upon large number of schoolchildren on an excursion to Anitkabir. They are so cute and friendly. And stylish too lol.

Changing of the guards ceremony

I guess we all stand out a lot because of our Asian features because all the students kept staring and waving at us. Some, like this girl, even asked to take picture with me. Imagine that.

They were all so supportive when I asked them to smile for my camera lol.

I will always remember this little boy who was so shy he ask his teacher to ask me take picture with him. Needless to say, I was quite flattered wtf.

A glimpse of the old and new city

Near the Ankara castle walls where we had lunch, were many of these old shops. I particularly like this shop because of the paintings

Having apple tea in Turkish glass before our flight back to Malaysia

We had lunch at one of these quaint old restaurants situated at the old castle walls. After lunch, I persuaded my Mom to explore the castle walls by going inside towards the main inner walls. Unlike many historical sites, the castle walls here are not protected so you can see lots of vandalism on the walls, which is sad. It took us a long time and luckily we managed to ask for directions before we found the inner towers.

So that concluded all the places I visited in Turkey. My next few posts will be photos on food in Turkey and things to buy =)

day VII part 2: Goreme Valley, Cappadocia

2011-07-23T15:38:00.000+08:00

Continuing from my previous post, we visited many heritage sites in Cappadocia. One of the famous places you have to visit is Goreme Open Air Museum, which is also on UNESCO World Heritage List since 1984.

Goreme Village

This is an example of how the buildings in Goreme looks like

These are called frescoes, which are wall paintings usually found in churches. The whole area contains many churches or monasteries like these but most have been vandalized during the Islamic period.

My mom thinks they look scary haha

The Goreme town, some of these places are still inhabited by villagers

Truly an extraordinary sight to behold

day VII part 1: the breathtaking view from the top

2011-07-23T09:52:00.000+08:00

On Day 7, we stayed at a town called Kappadokya. This town holds many historical importance as it still houses some of the preserved these cave-like buildings. I can't really describe it, just see the photos wtf.

Kaymakli Underground City. This man-made cave is by far the best I have seen out of all the caves I have been (trust me, China has endless number of caves). It is supposedly use to house many people during emergency times. They have rooms for cooking, meeting and even bedrooms!

One of the best experiences I ever had in life is in Kappadokya where I went on the hot air balloon for the first time ever! It was quite expensive to ride on one. When my mom finally agreed to let me go on one, I was ecstatic. But it meant waking up way before dawn.

It was really cold in the morning and there were so many hot air balloons ready to go up

Finally we were up too!

Looks like lollipops in the sky

Sunrise as we were looking down on the valley

The view was amazing

Our shadow...cute wtf

Tangerine in the sky lol

We flew for quite a distance and I enjoyed so much that I did not want to go down at all lol

With our pilot after we landed. They served us cakes and sparkling juice

The Turkish men handling the hot air balloon carried and threw (literally) myself and another lady in my tour onto the bags. Lol so much fun

And that was just the morning of Day 7.

day VI: cotton castle

2011-07-23T09:14:00.001+08:00

Feel like finishing my Turkey travel posts. A long delay, I know, since I went there last December...

On Day 6 of our journey across Turkey, we went to a small town called Denizli. Here lies the famous attraction - Pamukkale, which means "Cotton Castle" in Turkish. It looks like snow, but actually they are calcium salt. There are also hot spring water where we soaked our feet.

This is my mom's favourite place in Turkey and really, the calcium cascades are a great view to behold. Reminds one of Swiss Alps, although it is not as freezing cold as that.

You can walk barefooted on the grounds

The flowing hot spring water

It can get very slippery at times

Besides Pamukkale, Denizli also has Hierapolis which is also known as the Holy City because it contains many ancient temples. The city are in ruins now but still a place worth visiting. I did take pictures of the place but not very nice :(

From Denizli, we then continue on to the famous town of Cappadocia or Kappadokya in Turkish. This is my favourite place. You will see why...

sabah#4: last days at kota kinabalu

2011-07-20T23:14:00.001+08:00

-DAY 5-

This is my last post on Graduation Trip V (V as in roman number 5 wtf). Yes I have been keeping count of my frequent traveling this holidays. Four out of five of these trips required me to fly, which I am quite happy to do. I am bad when it comes to long distance ride on buses or trains, cars are still acceptable.

Anyway, on our last day, we spend a long time in Sabah Museum and then shopped for a while in Filipino Market and another where Ai Li's mother works in. Finally, we ended our trip by the beach and having dinner at Tanjung Aru Beach. Oh, and one more place - Perdana Park, where we went after dinner to watch the fountain show. However, unfortunately, there were maintenance works so no show for us T.T

There are exhibitions both inside the museum and outside. No photos allowed inside.

Outside, there were lots of train and railway tracks replica, which I think were great photography places

You can cross the hanging bridge to reach Heritage Village, which consisted of traditional houses belonging to different tribes in Sabah, much similar to Damai Cultural Village in Sarawak

Having fun taking photos here =)

Enjoying the science exhibition

Miss Director? Not! wtf.

Exhibition on vintage automobiles. Doesn't this remind you of Mr. Bean?

Shopping for snacks and food souvenirs

Sunset at Tanjung Aru Beach

Wanted to do a nice background shoot but my camera's battery ran out and I had to use my iPhone, which did not capture the light as well as I wanted it to

I kinda ordered the girls to do the jumpshots in the water against the sunset as the backdrop because I wanted to capture the jumping silhouette

We had our last dinner before both Wei Wei and Mei Chieng had to catch their flight back to Sibu the next morning

Stuff I bought: Red bag, Cotton On skirt (yes, I realized there are Cotton On outlets in KL too, but their sales items always sold out my size T.T), vintage gramophone record and stamps (from Gaya Street), traditional beaded anklet, and various KK specialty snacks

-DAY 6-we go home day-

Ai Li baybeh and her "baby" aka Chucky's little sister (as quoted from Suzane Mah)

Initially, all our flights home were around the same time. However, everyone's flights were rescheduled except mine. So I had to watch everyone leaving on their jetplane...because my flight was the latest at 5pm. Luckily, Ai Li accompanied me until my check-in time.

Finally, a last photo to shared. Funny isn't it? Saw this in a shop at KK Airport.

-THE END-

sabah#3: island-hopping day

2011-07-20T17:31:00.001+08:00

-DAY 4-

On our 4th day, we had breakfast at one of the shops at Gaya Street before doing some shopping at the street itself. There were so many people at the market that day and you can find lots of weird stuff at Gaya Street like even pets, fishes, etc. Mostly great for those wanting to buy souvenirs, accessories, hats, food / snacks and also for stamp lovers, they sell not only stamps, but first day covers and also old coins. I bought some stamps that had pictures of movie posters circa 90s' and a vintage gramophone record. Lol, I know, when I saw it I just had to buy it. I love all things vintage.

We walked from one end to the other end and back again.

After that, we went to Jesselton Point to buy tickets and get on the boat for island-hopping

We went to Manukan Island, Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. There are other islands in the vicinity too.

You can do snorkeling, parasailing, banana boat and also scuba-doo (mini submarine) on the island but we didn't do any lol

When we reach KK, we went to Signal Hill for a hilltop view of KK

After a splendid dinner with Ai Li's family, we shopped around at Suria Sabah shopping mall

mona lisa and seven songs

2011-07-20T08:50:00.001+08:00

Yes, I have been home for a week now since my trip from Sabah. I am just soaking up the whole kpop scene right now. Taking a break from holiday posts to share some of my favourite kpop songs I am listening now...

#1: LED Apple "How Dare You"

Actually I have not heard of this band before, I think it is a rookie band group. Watched KBS Music Bank and saw them performing. I thought their concept is kind of awesome. A band like CN Blue and FT Island but instead of one vocalist, they have two! (who also raps, btw). Not to mentioned this song is pretty awesome too ;)

#2: MBLAQ "Mona Lisa"

I have never been a huge fan of MBLAQ before although I like them. It is hard to distinguish all the boybands out there. But I am super lovin' this song, actually. I keep re-playing it over and over again wtf. Lee Joon is as charismatic as ever, must be all his yeonggi (acting) wtf. But I am most surprised by how good-looking Thunder / Cheondung and Mir are...super like this!

#3: 2PM "Hands Up"

Of course, how can I forget my lovely 2PM boys that I am super HOTTEST fan! I like their concept actually, the whole spontaneous choreography. It is actually harder to do spontaneous choreography than organized one I feel. But the 6 boys managed to bring out some humour and party feel when they performed. Love them, and they are really a class of their own.

#4: 2PM Nichkhun "Don't Wanna Try" (cover from Frankie J)

This one is an old old video of Nichkhun when he performed this song in Osaka, Japan. I watched WGM Khuntoria last night and I somehow remembered this song. I really really love him performing this song. Back then, I used to play this again and again. It was back when 2PM just debuted, you can see Jaebeom was still around back then...

#5: 2NE1 "I Am The Best"

2NE1 is back! I like this song, but I wish it was less electronic wtf. That is because I know the girls have really great vocals and this song totally drowned their voices. But nevertheless, it is a catchy song and I like their music videos mostly because of their fashion and style. It is like watching 4 Lady Gagas!

#6: Miss A "Goodbye Baby"

Miss A comeback is slated for end of this week and their MV has just been released. Awesome, the 4 girls are so talented. Love their dancing and of course, their voices. I think Jia really stand out in this MV, I don't know why, maybe because she is so charismatic in front of the camera. Wish we can see more of Jia and Fei in variety shows. Suzy was in "Dream High" and Min appears in many variety shows. I think JYP doesn't let them on because they are Chinese.

#7: X-5 "The Show Is Over / Don't Put On An Act"

Another older song by rookie group, X-5. I don't usually pay attention to rookie groups coz their songs are usually yawn...but X-5 is an exception. It doesn't hurt that the members are so tall (4 of them are over 180cm tall / 6ft) and the song is really awesome...

I preferred the performance video, btw coz in their MV you can't really see all the members' faces.

MV:

I know, I am such a kpop addict wtf =P

sabah#2:cows, flowers, sunny and gong

2011-07-20T08:25:00.000+08:00

-DAY 3-

We stayed one night at Ranau before moving on to Desa Cattle farm and Kundasang War Memorial in the morning.

You can see Mt Kinabalu clearly from this farm

Buying freshly produced milk yum...

Divided to Australian, English, Borneo and Greece Gardens

Morning Glory at Borneo Garden

"Gone but not forgotten, barren but not broken"

Some fun photography at Greece Garden (my idea wtf)

After Kundasang, we made another 3 hours journey to Kudat, the tip of Sabah and also Borneo. It was hot hot hot there!

Yay, we reached the tip of Borneo

In case you don't know where we are wtf

We stopped at few places to get souvenirs like the gong-making village, Kg. Sumangkap and honeybee village, Kg. Gombizau

sabah #1: from kota kinabalu to kundasang

2011-07-19T09:23:00.001+08:00

On July 6th, not too long ago, I went to Sabah, together with "7 dwarves", a group of Pharmacy friends that I always hang out with in UKM. We called ourselves that because there are 7 of us and yes, we are all quite the same height =P

Because I was the only one from KL, I had to fly on my own to KK. Although I traveled to places before, but believe it or not, this is the first time I am flying solo. To add to that, there were no cheaper flights so I had to reach KK one day before the rest of them flew in from Sarawak. Yes, 5 of them were visiting both Sabah and Sarawak but since myself and also Wei Wei had been to Kuching before, we decided to just join the others in KK.

I was supposed to live in my coursemate Ai Li's house but since she was not in KK yet, I stayed for one night at Suzane's house. Yes, my former roommate is also from KK but now she is residing in KL since she is working here. Because of me, she took few days leave and go back to KK, but her flight arrived later than mine. Gomawo, Suzane =)

The next day, I had the chance to meet Suzane's family - her mom, her sis, her bro, and of course, her little niece. All of them were really friendly and nice, haha, just like her. After her family left for work, Suzane drove myself and her niece for lunch.

-DAY 1-

Suzane's niece, Little Xin Yu who is just so adorable

Suzane's new phone - it's an imitation iPhone her sis got for her

The first place we went to is the Aquarium at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)

After lunch, Suzane drove me to #Aquarium @UMS to joined the rest who arrived from Kuching. She then dropped me at #Yayasan Sabah building before leaving for home. Together with the other dwarves, I went to #Floating Mosque before finally shopping and having dinner at #One Borneo shopping mall, the largest in Sabah.

The tallest building in Sabah

Reminds me of Kenyir Lake

Dinner at Nyonya House

-DAY 2-

Early next morning, our driver came to pick us up for breakfast. We were going to Kundasang, a town near Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Malaysia. We were not going to climb the mountain but will be enjoying the cool air at areas around the foot of the mountain.

Because it was a 3 hours journey, we hired a driver to take us there, who will also take us to the attractions in Kundasang as well as Kudat. Our driver, Uncle Phan, is an elderly gentleman who is an experienced and chatty driver. Lol.

Breakfast @Foo Phing Dim Sum

The peak of Mount Kinabalu surrounded by clouds

(L-R): Janice, Jane (Mei Chieng), Carolyn (Jia Ying), Sherlyn (Tze Im), myself, Clara (Wei Wei) and Carolyn (Ai Li)

This is my favourite shot of all the sceneries I took

Observation deck at Kundasang town

Kinabalu Park where we spotted squirrels

This is the trail that would be taken by those pursuing the climb to the highest peak in Malaysia

At a tourist centre / lodge / restaurant

Rafflesia, the biggest flower in Malaysia. We had to pay admission fee to see it.

Happy to finally see it!

"Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints"

At Poring Hot Springs, there are many things to do - hike to see the waterfalls,

or soaked your feet in the hot spring water

You can also pay to visit the canopy walkway or swim in the pool

When we went to the Fish Spa, this is not what we expected. The fish were humongous and it was supposed to bite our feet?

Nevertheless, we still ventured in although it was scary at first...

All photos taken using

Iphone 4 and Canon Ixus 220HS;

edited using Photoscape

eyes on ukm kkl (edited and updated 19/07/11)

2011-07-19T09:00:00.001+08:00

Varsiti Kita

Lihat kampusku yang tenang

Damainya alam ciptaan Tuhan

Panduan ilmu dan keimanan

Amal dan jernih digabungkan

Lautan ilmu kita harumkan

Sumber ilmu berkembangan

Inilah varsiti kita

Ditengahkan hasrat rakyat kita

Dari mula untuk semua

Bagai tanda perjuangan kita

Bangun berbakti membela

Memupuk insan jiwa bertakwa

Memimpin manusia semua

Kenal akan adat unggulnya

Membina negara senantiasa

Maju berilmu dan bahagia

Inilah varsiti kita

Ditengahkan hasrat rakyat kita

Dari mula untuk semua

Bagai tanda perjuangan kita

Composer: Nazri Ahmad

****EDITED*****

Few of my juniors recently made a video about UKM KKL. Take a look if you want to know more. The video is in Mandarin, btw =)

******EDITED*******

When one hears about Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), one will probably think it is in Bangi. But the fact is, UKM has 3 campuses. The main one is in Bangi, and another one in good ol' KL and the 3rd one is in Cheras, near HUKM.

When I first found out that I got UKM, I thought my campus is in Bangi as well until they send the letter and booklet stating that my faculty is in the KL campus and that is the place that I will be studying for my 4-year degree programme. So here is some little info about my campus, as many often confuse my campus with the main campus in Bangi.

~THE CAMPUS~

To differentiate our campus, we usually call our campus as UKM KKL whilst the Bangi campus is known as the UKM campus. The UKM KKL is located at Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz Shah, in close proximity of the KL General Hospital (HKL). We have the Chow Kit monorail station right in front, which is great, as that means we have transport to go to Times Square, Sungei Wang,etc.

A new chapter in my book...

UKM KKL houses 3 faculties. The Faculty of Pharmacy which started in 2008 (mine)Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FSKB) and the Faculty of Dentistry. However, UKM KKL also takes in Medicine first-years and second-years. After studying for 2 years in the KL campus, the medic students will then transfer to the Cheras campus, located near HUKM. The Faculty of Medicine is in the Cheras campus.

Our UKM KKL library

This is called the Bilik Karel for private time to study. I personally think it looks like a prison. Lol;)

The KL campus is definitely smaller than the Bangi campus as it does not have as many faculties and facilities as the Bangi campus. UKM KKL does not have any main hall, unlike the Dewan Gemilang in UKM Bangi. We do have a hall that we use for important events, but it is located in our hostel, which I will talk about shortly...

Initially, I studied at Department of Pharmacy under Faculty of Allied Heath Sciences (FSKB) but in my 2nd-year (2008), our department became a faculty of its own. So now we have Faculty of Pharmacy with our own dean, Prof Dr. Ibrahim Jantan.

The Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (Fakulti Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu) consists of 11 different courses, all dealing with health. They are:

Biomedical Science (Suz M's)
Nutrition (BB's)
Dietetics (Both Nutrition and Dietetics are under one department - JPD)
Audiology
Speech Therapy
Environmental Health Science
Occupational Therapy
Physiotherapy (Both OT and PT have to take some classes outside the faculty due to lack of space)
Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy (PDR)
Optometry
Forensic Science
~~Emergency Medicine Science~~ (this course was canceled after my 1st year)

The Dept of Biomedical Science is the largest department in UKM KKL and it also has the most students. This is followed by the Dept of Pharmacy, which has 90 first-year students for the 2007/2008 intake. Emergency Medicine Science (aka E-Med) was recently introduced in this latest intake, therefore not many people know much about this course.

Faculty of Pharmacy in my year, we had 88 students with an almost equal ratio races since 41 of us were Chinese, 3 Indians and others are Malays / Bumiputeras. I think we are the only course that has an equal ratio as most of the other courses have more Malays.

The largest lecture hall in UKM KKL, known as Dewan Kuliah 1 (DK1)

Unlike the Bangi campus, UKM KKL is located right in the heart of the city. Traffic jam has become a thing of the norm here. Within walking distance are the Chow Kit market, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and the Titiwangsa LRT station.

Random pics taken outside my campus (Bottom is Chow Kit market)

~THE HOSTEL~

Every hostel in public unis are called Kolej Kediaman. Unlike the Bangi main campus which has several kolej (e.g. Kolej Aminuddin Baki, Kolej Keris Mas, Kolej Tun Pendeta Za'ba, etc.), UKM KKL only has one kolej, known as Kolej Tunku Syed Nasir (KTSN), which is not within the campus area but in another area. There is a regular shuttle bus service that brings students from the campus to the hostel, and vice versa.

The view outside my room - Nothing much to see tho'

KTSN is located at Jalan Temerloh, which is a 20mins walk from our campus. Right in front of our hostel area is Taman Tasik Titiwangsa ~~so we can see the bright lights of the Eye On Malaysia every night.~~ Nearby KTSN is the National Library, National Blood Bank, National Archive (Arkib Negara) and Istana Budaya.

My twin-sharing room - There are also triple-sharing rooms, quad-sharing rooms as well as the apartment block which accommodates 10 students in one apartment

KTSN has about 10 blocks, each block being accomodated for the students. Girls' dormitories blocks are more than the boys' here, in the ratio of about 2:1. Starting in the latest intake, they have decided to put the students with the same course in the same block. However, you do see exceptions sometimes (J Block houses mainly Pharm students, although not all).

We have a large hall in KTSN, known as Dewan Serbaguna (aka DSG), which is used for important and main events as well as a secondary hall for exams. The other exam hall is located at the campus, known as TIBE (or Tingkat 1 Blok E).

KTSN is 4-storeys high and usually, first-years are placed at the 4th floor (*Groans*). Just like the main campus, students here have to compete for the limited number of rooms, which depends on the merit points that you accumulate at the end of semester.

The night view from my block - Can't really see anything but the moon

Seniors who get to stayed at the hostel can choose between single or twin-sharing rooms on lower grounds. However, if you do not want to live in hostel, like me, after 1st year, I moved out to Setapak area which houses plenty of condominiums. There are pros and cons to staying outside the hostel area.

Pros

There are more food choices (esp Chinese food) as Setapak has many restaurants. In KTSN, you can only eat at the cafe and there are no more nearby restaurants.
If you want to go out anywhere, there are bus stops right in front of the condos and buses are regular here. A few bus stops away can dropped you at Chow Kit Monorail Station, Titiwangsa LRT station or Wangsa Maju LRT station or just take a bus straight to downtown KL.
Friends. One of the reasons I decided to stay outside is because most of my Chinese friends stayed at Setapak too. It makes it easier to have meetings or to go to each other's houses if there is anything you need or want to know. Group discussions, reports, etc.
Groceries. Setapak also has many grocery shops, photostating shops, bookshops, bakeries, etc. Unlike KTSN that has none at all. For those living in the hostel, the only time you can shop for sundries is near the faculty, at Chow Kit area.

Cons

Expenses. Rent for one condo are around RM1000 - 1500 per month. Depending on how many people living with you, you will spend up to RM200 per month on rent and bills alone.
Privacy. Unlike the hostel, there is no guarantee that you will have your own room. For example, I have to shared a smaller room (compared to my hostel room) with 3 people instead of 2 like I used to. Not only that, I have to moved my study desk outside in the living room with 4 people sharing. If you are not used to having so many people around while studying, I strongly warned against staying outside.
Transport to faculty. Unlike KTSN, there is no shuttle bus service at Setapak. You will have to take regular public buses to and fro. Usually, it only takes about 15mins as it is about 3 or 4 bus stops away. However, if you have morning classes, you will be likely to get caught in the rush hour morning traffic jam that can easily take you 30 - 45mins to reach fac.

***will add in anything else to the list once I remembered any****

~CONTACTS DETAILS~

Fakulti Sains Kesihatan Bersekutu,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
Kampus Kuala Lumpur,
Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz Shah,
50300 Kuala Lumpur.
E-mail: dkfskb@medic.ukm.my
For more, see here.

Here are some extra pics that I took when I went to HUKM few weeks back. I do not know much about UKM Cheras branch campus. All I know is it houses Faculty of Medicine (3rd year, 4th year and 5th year) as well as the Nursing students. They also have one kolej kediaman only, called Kolej Tun Dr Ismail.

If you are a Pharmacy student like me, starting from 3rd year 2nd semester, you will have to go to HUKM at least once a week for 7 or 8 weeks for clinical subjects. There is a morning shuttle bus leaving from faculty to HUKM but I usually drive there as it is not so jam and takes about 30 mins drive.

My guess is the Fac of Medic is somewhere inside those gates? ;p

taiwan escape part IV: on our own for 2 days

2011-07-16T09:34:00.002+08:00

This is my last post on my Taiwan trip. I had to condense my 8 days journey into 4 posts. Not to mentioned having to choose around 20 photos for each post. It was a challenge, really, since I took close to 1000 photos whilst I was in Taiwan.

On our last 2 days in Taiwan, it was free and easy. For our own convenience, we decided to purchase the MRT one day pass, that allows you to ride buses and trains for one whole day by just simply using this pass. Taipei is a good place to travel on your own as the waiting time for trains are brief and even at bus stops, they will notify you how long you will have to wait before the bus arrives. Really, public transportation in Taipei is heaps better than in KL.

For this day, we each chose a place we wanted to go to in Taipei. At Ximending MRT station, we picked up a guide which introduces places of interest in Taipei and even teaches you how to reach there by MRT. That guide practically became our bible in Taipei.

The first place we went to is the place I chose - #Taipei Story House. I absolutely love looking at buildings and the wonderful European feel of this mansion prompt me to pay a visit here. However to visit the house, we have to pay admission fees. Since we did not have much time, we did not go inside. To reach here, we took MRT to Yuanshan station, which coincidentally is also the venue for the International Flora Expo, that was held in Taipei in April.

After that, we took an extremely long MRT ride to the last station - Danshui to visit Clara's choice, #Fisherman's Wharf, a small fishing town overlooking the sea. It was extremely windy that day, as evident by my horrendous hair in every photo of me :(

We had lunch at McD's opposite Danshui station because we wanted to try their pork burger but they didn't serve any that day. Sad. After lunch, it was shopping time as we visited #Wufenpu, the wholesale market. I could not find anything inexpensive to buy. On day 6, I was extremely broke already. After that, it was off to Sogo to buy Clara's and her sister's sports shoes. Finally, we ended up having dinner nearby Shihlin Night Market as I wanted to get some souvenirs for my mom and aunt. I managed to get a pair of earrings for mom and bag for aunt. For myself, of course, I bought another dress =)

-day 6-

-day 7-

On our last day, we had some time to visit one more place before our transport will arrive to bring us to the airport for our flight back to KL. We decided to go to #National Taiwan University, Suzane's choice.

But before that, I insisted we visit #Red House, an old theater house which is just opposite from Ximending MRT station (since we stayed at Ximending, anyway). The whole vintage architecture was awesome :)

Since we did not have our one-day MRT pass anymore, we had to learn to buy MRT tickets like everyone else. Except here, it is in tokens form.

When we reach #NTU, we were a bit concerned if they will allowed us in as we knew universities can have strict regulations about visitors. But luckily, that day was their convocation day and NTU was opened to the general public. Yay!

The first thing that caught my eye was the amount of bicycles inside. OMG, there were never-ending rows and rows of bicycles parked almost everywhere within the university compound. I can understand why. Because of the large area, walking from one place to another is so tiring, students have to cycle instead. It was fun watching all the students in their black robes lined with coloured sashes and their huge bouquet of flowers. I guess the 3 of us can't wait for our own convocation too.

Well, I guess that is all to blogged about my Taiwan trip. I had to make it brief because anytime now, I will be send for my posting and blogging has always been on my mind. So I want to finish all my trip posts before I start working.

For unedited and more photos, all are on Facebook =)

Next up, Sabah!

*all pics taken using Iphone 4 (some using Leme Leme app)

and edited using Photoscape*

taiwan escape part III: back to taipei again...

2011-07-16T00:42:00.002+08:00

Finally after making a journey around Taiwan island, we returned back to Taipei again, our starting point. Taipei is definitely my most favourite place in Taiwan. There are many places to go here, as well as more places to shop! And it doesn't hurt that their MRT is so convenient.

Day 5 was the last day our tour guide was going to be showing us around in Taipei, bringing us to famous attractions in Taipei. The first place we went to was #Yehliu Geopark, which contains various unique rock formations overlooking the sea. However, unfortunately, that day it was raining heavily and added to that, a very windy day. The weather was so bad, we were forced to buy raincoats as umbrellas were insufficient to protect us.

For lunch, we had it in #Jiufen. This place is a must-go in Taipei. It reminded me of those small narrow streets in China. There were many shops and restaurants here, mainly having Taiwan traditional and famous delicacies. Stinky tofu was my favourite =) Some were really weird, like snails.

After lunch, we went to #Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in Taiwan. This place is kinda like KLCC as it also has a small shopping mall housing some really famous designer brands that I can never afford :(

Although we went to another night market, #Shihlin Night Market, we did not have dinner there. Instead, we did some really good shopping! It was here I found my favourite boutique that had so many lovely clothes. However, due to tight budget, I could only buy this cute pastel pink blazer =)

Dinner was at #Ximending, which was also the place where we stayed at. The shopping here is not as good as Shihlin but apparently it is the most trendiest hang-out place for youngsters. The place is totally flooded with people and very stylish youngsters as well. Really, the Taiwanese dress to the nines. Kpop culture is huge here too as you can hear Kpop songs frequently in Taipei. I also spotted an amazing artist who painted using just spray graffiti paint. Awesome~!

-day 5-

*all pics taken using Iphone 4 (some using Leme Leme app)

and edited using Photoscape*

taiwan escape part II: from kaohsiung to nantou to taichung

2011-07-15T18:25:00.002+08:00

The reason we went to Taitung is to enjoy the soaking of our bodies at #Chihpen Goya Hot Spring. The 3 of us had such a relaxing time the night before, enjoying ourselves in all the pools available beside our hotel, including one that had temperature of 31 degrees Celsius!

But alas, in the morning we bid goodbye to the hot springs and start our journey towards Kaohsiung, another big city in Taiwan besides Taipei, located way in the south. Halfway there, we stopped by a mango grove to enjoy some delicious fresh mangoes. The guide explained that the farmers use expired milk to water the mango plantations so these were called 'milk mangoes'.

One of the attractions we went to is the #Hakka Mei Non Village which consisted of many old traditional buildings and restaurants. You can also play some of the traditional games available. After lunch, despite the rain, we made our way to #Fo Guang Shan. It is this whole large area dedicated to all things Buddhism, including a monastery, museum and even an university!

When we reached Kaohsiung city, we went for some window-shopping at #Dream Mall, the largest shopping mall in Taiwan, renowned for its humongous Hello Kitty ferris wheel. For dinner, we visited #Leo Ho Night Market for some famed Taiwan snacks.

-day 3-

-day 4-

After Kaohsiung, it was time to depart for Nantou. However, on the way we made a pitstop at a tea plantation center where they let us experience briefly how to pick tea leaves (it started raining again T.T). It was also here they try to sell tea leaves for us. Only Clara bought out of the 4 of us and I copped myself some biscuits made from tea leaves.

At Nantou, we took a boat cruise at #Sun Moon Lake. This lake is famous because it looks like the sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other side. The captain of the boat dropped us at a small island in the middle of the lake for sightseeing and to eat the famous 'tea leaf egg' (cha yeh dan).

After the cruise, we went to yet another temple - the #Wenwu temple. Because I was the only Buddhist out of the 4 of us, I was the only one who went to make some prayers at the shrine whilst the others waited downstairs at the foot of the temple. Close to Wenwu temple was #Peacock Garden, another attraction that we visited. It houses many species of birds, not only peacocks.

Once we reached Taichung, we had dinner at a very specially designed restaurant, the whole place is cave-like but beautifully unique. However, the food left me quite underwhelmed. After dinner, it was night market time! This time is #Fong Jia Night Market where I shop and shop. Love bargain buys at night markets. No wonder all the Taiwanese girls are so stylish~~

*all pics taken using Iphone 4

and edited using Photoscape*

taiwan escape part I: from the city to the countryside

2011-07-15T17:04:00.001+08:00

Yes, finally I am blogging about my May trip to Taiwan with my roommate, Suz M and housemates Clara and Ngiik Ling. We managed to book quite cheap tickets to Taiwan last year, around RM400. But due to our hectic schedules in 4th year, we have no time to plan so we decided to join ground tour and extend one day on our own.

We reach Taoyuan International Aiport and stayed one night at Taoyuan before taking a high-speed rail train to Taipei the very next day. In Taipei, we first went to #Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall before watching changing of the guards ceremony at #Martyr's Shrine. Later, we went to the #National Museum to listen to some ~~boring~~ history about ceramics and various art stuff (no pics allowed in museum, btw).

Lunch was delicious Taiwan delicacies - dumplings! Nyam nyam =) After lunch we took a long and winding bus journey to Hualien, another province where we stayed a night there.

-day 1-

This was one of the best hotels I ever had. Not only did they give us a triple bed room for 2, this hotel also provided free wifi. You cannot see in the photo above, but the room is also equipped with plasma tv and kitchen. I love the hotel more than Hualien itself wtf.

-day 2-

On Day 2, we start our journey by visiting #Taroko National Park. Must visit if you are a geology fan. If not, the gardens outside the visitor center has some really beautiful sceneries. After that, we had some cake and coffee at a small cafe overlooking the valley that houses few temples, including #Eternal Spring Temple. It was so cooling just sitting there and feeling the cool breeze from the valley. Lunch was traditional cuisine from the Hualien Aboriginal people, including some yummy glutinous rice that strangely reminded me of lemang.

Of course, when it came to joining tours, you are sure to be led to all these places where they introduce their products and try to persuade you to buy them. So annoying, really. One of these places was selling jade but of course the 4 of us totally skipped the whole introductory tour and walked in the grounds. There, we stumbled upon some really pretty Graeco-roman inspired marble pieces / statues.

On our bus route to Taitung, we stopped by at #Rei Suei Farm for some fresh milk (yum!) and to look at farm animals like rabbits, pigs, camels, rams, goats, horses and peacocks.

I keep calling this black and white horse, 'Black Beauty' and Clara was like, "It's not even black". Lol wtf.

*all pics taken using Iphone 4

and edited using Photoscape*