Hiatus

Not sure if anyone still follow this blog since I haven't updated it for a while... a lot of things have happened over the past month... I will blog about them soon... just need to sort out my life for the time being..

Will be back... soon, I hope...

In the mean time a note to myself... Happy Birthday!!

A year older... but not necessary a year wiser...

Oh well...

Why??

Why do holidays come to an end so quickly??

SIGHZ...

I am not ready yet.

Lost

I am utterly useless when it comes to driving around KL these days... all the roads have changed so much that I don't recognise them anymore!!! There are so many new highways, express ways and one-way streets...

I wanted to get to Damansara the other to meet my friend for lunch... it's probably about 20 mins away from my house BUT BUT BUT...

I GOT LOST... REALLY REALLY REALLY LOST!!!

I was already within the area but somehow I managed to miss a turning and before I know it, I am on a highway and I had to pay the toll fee before I could turn back... then just when I thought I found the way... I missed another turn and this time it took me a while before I could do a U-turn to come back... only one my 3rd attempt I managed to get to where I wanted... and it took me more than an hour to get there!!!

SIGH....

I need a satellite navigator!!! At that point, I wished I could hear the irritating voice telling me "In about 400m, turn right and then bear right..." or "You have reached your destination".

A stroll down memory lane

Gone are the good old days when I was still in secondary school... time flies so quickly that I forgot how it felt to be young, carefree and stress-less...

Had a sudden urge to reminiscence about the past... so I took a stroll down my memory lane...

The metro buses that I used to take after school in the hot sun... where I usually fall asleep on the bus because the bus drivers used to wait until the bus was full before it starts moving...

The hawker centres that I used to have my lunches after school if I didn't want to go down to my dad's shop...

The traditional grocery stores @ kedai runcit that I used to walk by on my way to my Chinese lessons at the temple...

The Kong Siew free school at the temple where I would go for my Chinese lessons after school... hahah.. I remember that most of the time, I would be there too early as lessons doesn't start till about 2.30pm but school ends at 1pm... so I would do my homework and then sleep at the back of the class while I wait for my lessons...

Chee Cheong Kai @ Petaling Street... I probably walk here almost every other day either on my way home or to lessons or to have lunch or to go to my dad's shop... it is pretty much part of my life when I was growing up... of course, back then it wasn't as nice and there was no roof cover!!!


The famous longan drink stall... It's so hot that I used to stop here and have a drink... this stall is now so famous that it has stalls in proper shopping mall and I think someone told me that the owner is a multi millionaire leh... well, I guess the profit margin is really high... one bowl of longan drink is now about RM1.50 I think when it used to be only RM0.60!!! Talk about inflation...


Some of the familiar sights as I walk towards my dad's shop...




And of course... Sang Kee Restaurant...

I used to resent having to help out at the shop and having to eat at the shop all the time... but over the years, I guess I realise that it is part of my childhood, and I do miss it from time to time... while others seem to find it interesting (it was featured in a tv show and various local newspaper articles!!) I supposed I took it for granted...

Oh well... I have to admit when the main cook is on form, his dishes are really quite good... and whatever it is, I grew up here and the shop served my family well...

10 years down the road from when I graduated from secondary school in 1999... what have I accomplished? Where am I now?? Have I moved on with time?? Have my surroundings moved on??

And where will I be in 10 years time?? Only time will tell...

Home Sweet Home...

Back in KL for the next 2 weeks...

It is good to be back... because as we all know it... there is no place like home!!!

It's also one place where I can hide from everything...

Goodbye, my dear

This is where our paths diverge...

But I am thankful for the sweet memories that you have given me...

Take care, my dear...

I will always love you...

And I will miss you very much...

Algarve

Beach holidays!! I love it because you can just laze around and not do much... hehehe...

This summer, we decided to pack our bags and head off to the Portuguese beach resort of Algarve...

The weather there was really fantastic, with the clear blue skies and sunny days...

Vilamoura, the yacht-cluttered Marina... kinda reminds me of Monaco, albeit not as posh!!!

And most of the nicer hotels are on this side of the area... there is this hotel called Tivoli if I remembered correctly that was really luxurious and even has its own private beach!! But no... we stayed at a cheaper hotel... hehehe...


Given that it's a beach holiday, of course we spent most of our time just lazing around in the sun... hahaha... everyone was trying to tan themselves... I did my nails.. hehehe... read novels, had ice creams and ice-lemon tea... sigh... how I wish I was there again!!!

And oh... one of those nights... our hotel had this tribute to MJ performance... hahaha... I found it quite funny initially but then to my amazement, the guy was really quite good... he had all his costumes, the socks and shoes.. and even the hair (and skin colour!) right... if you look at him from far... you would have thought MJ came back to life!!! :P

Given that it's me... there must be something about food... hahahaha... seafood there was really quite nice... we had grilled fish, fish kebabs... super tiger king prawns (yes, it's really big!)... fish soups, calamari, garlic clams... etc.

Well... the boys wasn't really too keen to spend all their time on the beach (which Bin Bin and I was happy to do so!!)... so we headed off to the Marina for some water activities...

The boys with their "catch-of-the-day" from our deep sea fishing trip?

Of course not... me going fishing?? no thanks... I don't have the patience to do so...

We went for the power boat ride instead...

It was quite fun in the beginning... and the ride brought us all along the Algarve coast... there are so many different beaches but each and everyone of them was packed with people!!!

We also visited some sea caves, which were really pretty....

But after a while, I didn't feel too well on the ride anymore.... bleh... me and my sea-sickness... :(

The other activity that we did was PARASAILING... it took quite a bit of convincing from Naveen before I agreed to do it... sorry, yours truly is a coward... I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be hanging in the skies above the sea!!!

Getting ready and going out to the sea with our guides...

And before I knew it, it was my turn to go up... I was really scared initially!!! Luckily Bin Bin was with me... bleh :P

We went higher and higher and higher and higher... until everything was so tiny... see... we were held to the boat by this tiny piece of rope... sigh... I am such a coward...

But after a while, I began to relax because although the boat seems to be moving at a really fast pace... we were really just floating...

and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous... the bird's eye view was really superb...

and I started to actually enjoy it... hehehe... see my V sign??

But then... the guide cheekily dipped us in the sea on our descend even though Bin Bin said that she didn't want to get wet!!!

Then it was the guys' turn to go...

... and they were like... we want to go higher... and we want to dip and swim in the sea....

The experience was really more enjoyable than I thought it would be... and it was certainly less daunting that it seemed!!! So... I would recommend you to try it!!!

After this holiday, I made a promise to myself that I would go for a proper beach holiday every year because it is really a "holiday" compared to those trips that you try to get too much done!!!