Firstly, HAPPY MERDEKA TO ALL MALAYSIANS!!! I am very proud to be a Malaysian ;)
*"Jalur Gemilang" still repeating it's chorus in my head...*
I finally have time to update about my trip to KL!
I went to KL with my mum to do my Visa, go for University of Manchester's pre-departure briefing, settle my stuffs at Nottingham University, bla bla... and of course spend time with my dear foundation friends!
I really am so glad to meet you guys and have a crazy (seriously crazy) fun time together! What with the stormy weather and us in our drop dead sexy outfits (hoho!), splashing here and there in the cold.. waddling (me floating. "Princess" mah~ :p) in the water for warmth.. screaming here and there at the least scariest things (can't believe we screamed in that gentle river ride in the big donut).. getting soaked, walking in the rain, gulping down dirty water (yuck).. kena splash like crazy by totally unknown strangers???.. turning chicken in Scream Park *bribes Alice to not reveal how I was practically clinging to her for dear life*.. spying uncensored boobs + smack-able bums.. and getting our minds topsy turvy in that terrible teacup (which Pei Wern seems to love so much)..
That pretty much sums up "Sunway Lagoon Day"!
I also had a pretty cool time with my mum. ie. enjoying our stay at 5-star Nikko Hotel.. food/durian hunting.. SHOPPING!!.. and so much more but I'm too lazy to describe it :p
My head's feeling heavy and a lil blur now... less words more pictures? You bet!
Hotel Nikko's entrance
in the ladies toilet. *yup, I'm still sakai-ing in the hotel*
me. *yes, I'm STILL in the toilet*
in the room *that's my very famous pink bag! over there!*
Chicken + Beef Combo.. at none otherthan CHILLI'S Tortillas? Or is it tacos? ... I think its tortillas with salsa sauce!
I just couldn't resist. A stolen a picture of tea cookies from Marks and Spencer
My mum and the wonderful night view of Petronas Twin Towers *thanks to Wen Shan for introducing this amazing viewing spot!*
Creamy, bitter sweet durian~ A total indulgence. Faster, go get it at Jalan Ah Lor!
At Sunway Lagoon! Ready to splash and get splashed!
We the Pinkys!
Dinner Time! At TGI Friday's
Raaaarrrr!!! Pei Wern's lesson #1 to eating steak.. GET ENTHUSIASTIC
Alice: You want some Fish and Chips? You want? Want or not? Want? Want??
That's all for this trip.
For those of you who couldn't come to meet me on that day, I know you all have your own reasons for not turning up. Nevertheless, I'm grateful and very glad to know friends as fun and interesting as you guys! Thanks so much for the wonderful experience. I'm sorry if I ever hurt/offended any of you in any way (including physical harm). I hope we'll be able to meet again sooner or later. Wishing you all the best in life and in studies! God bless you~
I'm back! Had a short trip to KL to settle my Visa, pre-departure briefing, bla bla... and of course shopping and meeting friends.
*To Pei Wern, Shi Wei, and Alice: Thanks SO much for coming! I really had a blast! It was a day I wouldn't trade for any other ;)*
I have soooo much to blog about, but 1st I want to let out this aggitating feeling I gathered ever since I stepped into LCCT yesterday afternoon..
AirAsia's service was BULLSHIT HORRIBLE. Pathetic, really.
CHECKING IN
Complaint #1: The Malay flight attendant checking in flight AK 5110 for 7.30 pm flight to Kota Kinabalu.
He was a SNAIL. I swear it. At least in human form.
I was standing in line and not budging an inch for around 20 minutes before I was relieved from the stress and allowed to push my luggage trolley 2 steps ahead, and then wait again. Seriously, WTH IS HE DOING??? Flirting with customers? Or just learning how to type? If anyone was to miss the flight because of his super SLOW service... I was standing in line since around 5.45 pm and was only able to check in at 7 pm. If I didn't jump queue to the next counter, hell knows what time I would be able to check in.
Also, this rombongan of ladies with designer-label bags. If you want to check in as a group then LINE UP AS A GROUP laah!! What's with clogging up the only 2 available counters? Overweight? Just fish out that shining jewel-studded purse and PAY. It doesn't look like you can't afford it. Even if you want to spread the luggage weight between yourselves, HURRY UP Grandma! But of course, the check in guy might take up another hour attempting to figure that out..
BOARDING
Complaint #2: They put the wrong flight number on the wrong gate.
Enough to make Kota Kinabalu and Kuching passengers run in confusion between these 2 gates, which are on opposite sides of the waiting hall, dragging luggages and family members along.
ONBOARD
Complaint #3: Food deprivation.
I can safely say that me and my mother's seat was within the 1st 10 rows. And by the time the air stewardess dragged the food trolley to our row, the only proper "dinner" food left was 1 supposed-nasi briyani and a few supposed-nasi ayam.
Don't even get me started on the food.
If the packaging didn't mention what it contained, I wouldn't begin to decipher what I was stuffing into my mouth. To put it in a nice way, everything was soggy and have a remote resemblence of what it was suppose to be. Thanks to the price for it, I wouldn't be suprise if any tourist would think Malaysia is on food strike.
Everyone within the 1st few rows were grabbing off all the available food left. With limited food on board, what's going to happen to passengers at the back? Mind you, it was an AIR BUS. Let them starve? I'm sure no one had the time to pop in any McD's after having to let some snail check them in. If Air Asia had any sense, they should realize that this was a DINNER TIME flight. Between 7.30-10 pm. If they wanted to implement a "no outside food" policy, at least provide passengers with enough "inside food"!!
How about drinks, you may wonder? Well, they have coffee, but no sugar... Yes. You get the picture.
ARRIVAL AT KOTA KINABALU
Complaint #4: HECK! THEY LEFT OUR LUGGAGE BEHIND!
There we were, blurry-eyed and waiting patiently for our luggage to appear on the conveyer belt, tired of the poor services provided, thinking our worries were over and that we were finally going home..
"I'M SORRY, BUT YOUR LUGGAGES ARE NOT HERE! PLEASE BRING YOUR BOARDING PASS AND IC TO MAKE A REPORT!"
Just like a sudden event breaking the noisy atmosphere, all heads turned toward the flight attendant in one silent movement. Then, within a split second he was attacked and surrounded by a herd of trolleys and bags. Adults rushed over for some explanation while children and some blur-minded people like me linger around the conveyer belt, trying to process what had just happened.
"Was our bags left at KL? In the wrong plane? Flown to another country? Should we wait here?" All sorts of questions were asked in random. While most people were budging and pushing to make reports, others had their handphones chucked out, some complaining with a slighltly sarcastic air of humour while others worrisome. Finally, my mum decided to go home 1st and come back after midnight to check if our bags had arrived. Thankfully, there they were pass 12.30 am, among the sea of estranged luggages, waiting for their owners to come retrieve them.
The only 2 things I am grateful about was that the pilot didn't crash land, which is the worst-case scenario. And the fact that our luggages arrived safely.
Truly a masterpiece. Beautifully tragic beyond words.
Love, like a small yet delicate bud of cherry blossom on a cold, harsh and stormy night. Kenshin and Tomoe met in an unexpected way under cruel circumstances. Unknowing of the fate that would befall him, teenager Kenshin chose to work as an assasin purely to fulfill his idealism for the safeguard of common men. From the day he murdered his first victim, Kenshin destined himself to be hunted by guilt and mortal sin for the rest of his life.
Tomoe, his first love, and probably only true love, was the only woman in the entire Rurouni Kenshin episodes to bring out genuine happiness, contentment, and devoted love from Kenshin Himura. Now I understand why his love life with Kaoru developed at such a slow pace. Needless to say, Tomoe, Kenshin's first wife showed him the light out of darkness, the true meaning of life and happiness. It was an important turning point in Kenshin's life, when he begin to see beyond assasination and value the life of humans. Just when this was revealed to him, Kenshin loses Tomoe, at his own hands. She saves his life and carves her memory deep within his heart and the cross-shaped scar at the expense of her own life.
I would give the best couple award in this series to Kenshin and Tomoe. A love life so brief yet so full of depth. Each bringing out the best in the other. Tomoe's understanding nature allowed her to forgive Kenshin for the ultimate pain he caused her, and see beyond the assasin he is to his gentleness and pure intentions. Of course, Kaoru deserves as much credit as well, if not more for her ever-patient and devoted love for Kenshin, even when it took him forever to return that feeling. What is a woman? This anime gives credit to all women by portraying our inner strenght as true strenght. Our strong faith in love and gentleness is the little secrets of life that truly brings contentment. Tomoe and Kaoru have shown the true meaning of finding happiness in sacrificing for those we love.
I took a whole day watching the 6 OAV episodes-Trust & Betrayal, and Reflection. Sadder parts took me longer to get through, mainly because I : watched, tear drops fell, pause, repeat, cry, pause, slowly drink in the meaning of the events, and play again. You may say that I'm over reacting for this normal piece of anime, but I'll tell you that few shows can cause me to shed tears and reflect so much on it's story line. Rurouni Kenshin is not just an anime, it's a MASTERPIECE. *This is my blog so I insist it's a masterpiece ;) Even so, you are entitled to your own opinion*.
For those who can't bear long analyzing, I'm sorry but I am an ex-literature student :) It itches to keep all my thoughts to myself, and I can't help analyzing stuff that hits me so hard emotionally. With my qualification as an A-grade literature student, I conclude that the main theme for Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X is:
LOVE PREVAILS ALL
To the creator of Rurouni Kenshin, I give you my utmost salute *salutes!*
FISH MOUSE!! Huhu! :( I nearly got a Fish Mouse. I was so happy to plug it into my laptop and got so excited to see the huge eyes lit up... and then I found out that the laser movement sensor wasn't working! Aaarrggghhh!
Today is the last day for PC Fair in Kota Kinabalu. Just like all other PC Fair's, this fair was crammed with all walks of life. No need for me to mention it, I'm sure most of you are familiar with the pushing, budging, treading of shoes, scratching of nails, peeping over shoulders and such. Even cars were climbing over drains and curbs to snatch available parking space! 10 minutes into this and my brain was already all foggy. Luckily my dad and I were able to grab the "essentials" while drifting along with the sea of yapping and banging shoppers. Behold my new laptop skin!....:
I love the idea of skating while tagging 3 Elephant balloons along! :) It's such a cute concept, with the watercolour and simple outlines and all, don't you think? ;) I also bought some other stuffs AND my fish mouse. After I brought it home I realised it wasn't working well and brought it back to the PC Fair again. But unfortunately for me, Fish Mouses (or is it Fish Mice??) were sold out!! Aaarrrgggh! And I had to get the spoilt one... :( So I exchanged it for cash instead. Huhu.. I really want that Fish Mouse!! ...Too bad for me :'(
University update! My accommodation at The University of Manchester will be at Whitworth Park. CHeck it OuT! I was fine with it until I realised that I misunderstood one thing:
"Mixed sex accommodation in spacious single and shared study bedrooms with washbasins, ample wardrobe space, telephone and Ethernet connection."
From this phrase, did you think that all rooms will have their own telephone connection? I did. And I was so disappointed when they confirmed that all rooms share one public phone at the corridor! :'( Huhu.. Communication will be critical for me when I reach UK, especially to keep in touch with family members back home. And sharing a public phone means no privacy! :( Lots of other halls provide you with your own telephone link, and I had to choose this hall ...Well, there's no use complaining now, I'll just have to put it with it...
lesson of the day: Please make sure that something is in a good/expected condition before you buy/apply for it.
