What Else Series - Food and more food

Let's see, what's next in my pictures folder.. ooh i see yummy food. Bring it on!

 Ohh, my favourite place to go for japanese fusion food. Pasta Zanmai! Particularly like their monthly special where they offer a combination of pasta/rice/pizza/rolls in one set, so i could sample bit of everything. Pictured above if not mistaken, is chicken with onsen (hot spring) egg pizza, which tasted so wonderfully delicious with the runny egg yolk and creamy sauce. Wuu saliva inducing~

 The pizza comes with this seafood pasta which is also yummy because the squid is not too chewy (unlike some like chewing rubber), fresh big prawns, and best of all it's spicy! And it's got mushrooms! Tons of it! And one thing i like pasta zanmai is their pasta is always cooked to perfection. Not overcooked or raw.

 I feel like i'm advertising for them, but no, just that i really like their food. Pictured above is the yummiest, creamiest, most heavenly taste thing that we stumbled across some time ago. It's called cream croquette! It's crispy on the outside, and once you bite into it (caution: hot!) you will find a very tasty creamy corn filling which is verrrry satisfying. Especially when you are starving and cold from the blasting aircon. Having it "currified" with rice is just icing on the cake.

  

Oh, che cheong fun~ One of my favourite dish too. This is from Cravings, they serve non-halal home cooked food. This one was yummy; smooth skin, juicy char siew filling with fried har mai (shrimp) on top. Don't forget the sambal~ Jan intro this to us during lunch, heard it is a fast-selling item so have to go early if you want to order this.

 Pork with tofu that we ordered together with the che cheong fun. It was okay, meat a bit dry to my liking.

 A cup of tea from dim sum session~ 

 This teochew restaurant just began their business not long ago in TTDI, only operating at night. It's a corner shop among a long row of shop lots near the police station. Serves quite yummy and very "gao mei" （够味）dishes. The chicken was not bad, the fu chuk is nice, and the ham choi lived up to its name, very ham (salty). Great to eat together with rice.

 My cousin came over to kl for a visit and we went to Pavillion to have lunch together. She wanted to try Japanese cuisine (yay!) so we went to Ichiban Boshi which is just opposite the food court and near to Dragon-i. I think they are famous for their handmade soba noodles cause they have this chef in a room making the noodles from scratch. He has really good skills and i have to salute to him because he could keep his smile on his face all the while working on the noodles. There's even a mill to grind the buckwheat grains into flour beside him. Btw i didn't ate the noodles. Had wonderful udon noodles with sushi (the one wrapped with rice) and sashimi. Salmon belly was AWESOME! Melts in the mouth. =D

   

 After a really stomach-bulging lunch, excuse me, we went for desserts at a Taiwanese dessert shop called Snowflake. Pictured above is soya-flavored shaved ice with gula melaka topped with cincau, sago jelly, and glutinous sweet potato cubes. It was something new for me, quite yummy, except for the sago jelly which tasted like gummy worms to me. But the shaved ice was wonderful eaten together with gula melaka.

My cousins ordered the green tea glutinous rice cubes with red bean toppings. Was okay, but the shaved ice is a bit plain without gula melaka. 

 Another one of my favourite place to go when i don't feel like eating rice nor noodles is Paddington House of Pancakes (PHOP)! Yea, i have a love for bread-like meals. Pictured here is kinno's new favourite drink, Flat White. Strong and smooth coffee. 

One choice of my breakfast would be American pancakes with beef bacon, sunny-side eggs with runny yolk, sausages, beans (my mind can't remember what are those called!!), mashed potatoes, with salad at the side and yummy steak sauce to go together with it. I usually order the blueberry pancakes with sour cream, mushrooms and scrambled eggs, but i was particularly hungry that morning. Hehe. 

Wow, i feel like a food blogger already. LOL. Kidding. Just wanna share with you guys some of the yummy food i've been nom-ing lately.

To end this post i quote myself (lol),

"because the most interesting, is knowing the story behind the picture.

without a story, a picture can only speak a thousand words

and not more - Fiona W."

Wuhoo i feel like a poet already. 

What Else Series - Flowers and Fly-grass

What Else Series is something that i came up with (nothing better to do) where I'll be featuring events taken by my kinno's trustworthy SonyE camera phone. Taken by me. Not him. Lalala~

Yea, just wanted to waste time. And also feel like my pictures are wasted not showcased to the world.

Flowers blooming around the neighborhood. Mom highlighted to me how lovely the flowers are on the left, and i found this orange flower with a lost petal among his peers. 

Look! See if you are lucky enough to spot a four-leaf clover. We used to have tons of these in our garden back in KK, which grew at enormous speeds. Grandma called them fly-grass（苍蝇草）and she was always pulling them out. Who knows, I myself might have pulled out dozens of four-leafed ones. 

Emotion of 25/8/10

Of one which does nothing but munches on leaves all day

Resist the urge to skim the surface of your life. Search for substance, even if it only results in a paragraph or a few sentences.

Remember that your life is more than a series of actions and motions. Blur the edges. Sketch the mood. Use emotion instead of fact. 

 Excerpt from thoughts on writing courageously by marisa on all things new

Mind-blowing, overwhelming 7-minute experience

This is Japan! from Eric Testroete on Vimeo.


Now i wish even more to go; to retrace the person (Eric Testroete)'s footsteps in all the places he went to, and make my own version of a kaleidoscopic Japan video.

Of books and gadgets

After an uninteresting walk through the halls of the convention center where Femme City was held, we decided to head into Kinokuniya while waiting for the boys to finish their movie session. It was such a long time since i've been to Kino that i'm re-amazed (if there's such word) at the variety of books they have there! The price of the books was a turnoff, but it was fun nevertheless to flip through them, albeit not much choice to choose from since most of them were wrapped up in plastic. (Still an ultimate dream for me to have all the books in Kinokuniya for my own reading pleasure.)

I came across this section in Kino where they sell magazines and books all in Japanese, and i saw this shelf where they sell magazines from branded names such as Bathing Ape, LeSportsac, etc. And together with this magazine, they include a free gift, like a canvas/ shopping/ pouch/ wallet bag from that particular brand. (Ahh should have taken a picture to show you.)

Was thinking to myself, " For the price of around rm70 and you can get a branded bag (magazine became secondary subject), seems not bad a deal.", and suddenly out of the corner of my eye i saw... a lomography magazine. Which includes a lomo cam. *Eyes lit up* * Sparkles*

SuperHeadz White Slim Angel Camera

 Some features of the camera after i did a Google search on it.
- shoots standard 35mm film
- shoot dynamic, wide pictures with 22m wide angle lens
- surprisingly vivid colors
- vignetting effect
- plastic, light, portable

I know most of the effects can be achieved using Photoshop, but it is still a great toy to play with because of the surprise element of the outcome of the photo. Like this guy here, Martin Wilson, he creates these art pieces from 35mm film, each frame painstakingly choreographed to form the final picture.

This is one of my favorite. You can check out the others at his site.

Titled "Look Both Ways"

Amazed at what people can come up with using simple tools at hand. For now i'll just place the lomo cam in my wish list. Doesn't mean that i have to get it, but if i have a bit to splurge, i would consider it. Yeap, would rather get one of these instead of a Koach/VL/Cucci bag.

To end, i quote my mum, "Wishing for something doesn't mean i want to buy it."

Don't give a damn of the world

One of the entries from Canon BFF contest at Femme City.

Hilarious at first. The longer i looked at it, the more i feel... just how many couples would do that anymore when they get older? How many of us are able to scrap off that thick mask we wear everyday and just do something that we want to?

The more i look at it the more i want to say this out loud,

"I don't fucking care what others think of me as long as i'm with you."

Tried to make a heart for you in the sky

Instead i got these.

Was harder than i though..

Mexican wave wuhoo~

Drawing one in normal way, turns out upside down =/

Circles, much easier. The blue one looked like ShinChan.

And my favorites,

Full moon, but couldn't capture it well.. Darn camera.

Ooh i like this one. Couldn't get back the same effect the second time i took though.

It's so great to live above the streets.

Boxes of Life to be unrevealed

Hi blog, 

It's been some time. I'm now waiting to phone the company that called me for interview to say that i couldn't make it. Seeing how others struggle even to get a job or to make a living does make me feel bad for not accepting this job offer, but i believe taking up a job just because you HAVE to, is like casting a line in the deep ocean without a suitable bait or equipment. Yes, sooner or later you will have a catch, but is it the one you were hoping for? Are you just satisfied with what you get after all these efforts going all the way out to the open waters? 

I feel that since i have put in money and effort into getting this degree, i should at least find one that i am interested in.

Opportunities come and go. Never have i feel so conflict before. But here's something that reflects what i'm going through.

http://stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com

And on life.

http://stuffnoonetoldme.blogspot.com

On repeat: Yiruma - The river flows in you

Emo max. 

Of the Jerks and Janes in the world

Turned on comment moderation cause some jerks are spamming my comment box with links to scams and scandalous and virus-loaded sites! Darn you! Go spam those famous blogs and leave mine alone! Grrr...

Since i'm posting, might as well rant on about something i have in mind......

I've seen quite a number of posts on how to please your girlfriend/boyfriend on fb and blogs... but somehow i am quite pissed off at a number of them. Maybe is because of my own tak-apa personality, i find some things mentioned are really redundant.

Girls nowadays are so demanding! On the other hand, maybe is the guys that are getting d*** in handling girls. Or the girls that are d*** in choosing all the d*** guys, vice versa. Asterisked so as not to offend anyone. (yea being sarcastic)

Anyway, not to say that i'm not demanding as well. Just that i compromise, instead of whining there about how not to make girls angry. Seriously. If you think of your partner so badly, why are you still with him/her?

p/s: In case you do not understand my title, Jane = girl in general, as in plain Jane; Janes = many girls in general. Well, you get me.

Another mystery solved...

Ah~ It's great to be alone at home. Blasting the music, singing and dancing to it as i wish. Oh yea!

Some time ago i posted a link to my fb page, about a girl with long fringe, and she converted it into a short front fringe. Here let me show you the video again.

Gahh... it's not a youtube video so i don't know how to embed it here. Here's the link, hopefully you can access it.

Anyway, since kf was not convinced it was possible... i decided to demonstrate to him to show him part of the wonder world girls are living in.

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Before and After

Yay no need waste money go hairdresser! Btw shoulder length hair so hard to maintain, it curls up... =(

(Although i do think these tricks really shouldn't let guys know, else the mystery behind it will be revealed and no more attractiveness. Bah.)

[insert rojak feelings here]

Know the feeling when you are feeling kinda boring-ish, emo-ish, alone, and you decided to put on some music and all the songs that come out are so emo, just drags you further down that pit of (bore)doom? (LOL @ pun)

T___T

Final Year Project

Here's what i've been working on.

Just kidding.

Kraken appears!

ROARRRR!

Existence out of confidence?

I find it amusing on how people react on certain things, people's little actions, people's behavior and habits... I always have a little faith on this saying, that whenever you are, there is someone who is watching you. They are actually meaning literally as in at any moment, there is one person that sees you with his/her eyes. He/she might be just giving you a glance, doesn't really need to see you in the eye, but they notice your existence.

It might sound kinda creepy, but if you look at it in another perspective, it means that nobody is ever transparent. Someone is watching at you every moment, therefore you don't need to feel upset or depressed when you think that nobody cares about you or nobody notices you. In another way it does seem as if it is just a self-conscious behavior aka being "perasan", but i believe being self-conscious and having such thinking is better than being depressed about one's insignificant existence.

Could i now conclude that, people who gives out that confidence aura that just makes you say, "Wow, look at him/her! How does he/she do it?" are just people who are damn perasan?

Thus i shall suggest a way for those people who want to become a more confident person, which is to start building up a thick face to repel and block all criticism.

Wait, i think i just contradicted my own statement. *slaps forehead. Confident people are those that are not self-conscious AT ALL.

No, wait. That's not true either. They might seem confident to others but are actually very self-conscious about their every move.

I don't get it. Oh well. Thoughts going astray... Do enlighten me if you know which is which.

p/s: I finished Lovely Complex over the weekend. It's good. Recommended for people who need a good laugh, to get emotionally stirred (in a good way), who have a thing for slapstick comedy (kind of..), or just to enjoy a good anime. In the genre of high school life, romance, drama, humor. People who enjoyed Ouran High School would love this.

Lovely Complex saves the day

I was watching Boku ga Ita and got all gloomy cause the storyline progresses so slow in anime compared to manga and also because i already knew how the story goes, so i ditched the anime and watched this "Lovely Complex" anime from the same person who uploaded "Boku ga Ita". 5 minutes into the first episode of Lovely Complex i realized i read the manga before too. I'm now into the second episode and am loving every second of it. Really cracks me up, anime version is better than the manga! And i'm lately into crazy stuff like this youtube video i watched from my friend's FB profile in which a guy just dances around crazily in only an underwear and towel around it. Hilarious.

Yea. So my mood's a bit better i guess. Here's a few teasers. Do check it out and tell me if you share my humor or not.

Exaggerated but funny, just what i need.

Words can kill, so i chose to remain silent.

Been having terrible mood swings. Handed in my draft thesis on Friday and thought that i would be relieved and could go out and have some fun. Well i did went out to meet some old friends from A-levels whom i haven't seen for quite some time. Somehow things didn't go as expected. While they were arguing on whom's fault is it, i couldn't help but blame myself for assuming things. A square and circle just won't fit together and i should have realize that earlier and not think that it was going to be okay.

Today isn't any better. I felt restricted. Felt as if my presence is stopping the world from revolving. Felt as if i am a nuisance. Like it would be better without me. I hate living in such conditions. Everything is restricted. Like being in a cage.

You said that it don't matter whether both of you are present or not, we won't even notice. Would i not notice you with your smell flooding the whole house? Did you think i won't mind it? I have been patient regarding this matter for so long, but it's starting to get on my nerves lately. I think of my future. I think of whether i could live such days for the next 20, 30 years. I want to tell you in the face one day, " I have it enough. I can't stand this anymore. You are why i am leaving. Blame yourself for the grief of others. " I want to do it so badly. One day i just might. But i tell myself. How many out there who doesn't. Do i really want to be restricted by such matters? People will leave one day. Could i not just wait? But no. I don't want to think so. This hurts people. I feel discontented.

Blame it on the hormones. The mood swings. Lack of sleep. Whatever. But right now, i just want to get this all out.

I am not contented.

Unfair treatment

Just annoyed at the computers at my school's engineering labs. There are three main labs in the engineering building. One for final year students whom are doing simulations only for their project. Another is for final year students whom are doing projects with simulation and hardware. Lastly the general lab for all students to access and where classes are conducted.

Initially i thought i would be doing hardware so i applied lab space in the hardware/simulation lab. After i got the lab space, i head over to check the place and found that to my dismay, the computer specifications for the hardware/simulation lab is worse than the ones use in the general lab! Since i'm now doing simulations 100%, the speed is really killing me. Moreover the MATLAB version they are using is 2008a while the general labs are already using 2009a! My circuits end up in a jumble every time i open the ones i did in 2009a in the 2008a version. I rather do my stuff at the general lab but sometimes there are classes going on and the lecturers chase irrelevant people out of the lab. =(

So now i am stuck here with this pathetic comp. Touch wood. Better not complain too much later it breakdown.

Thesis due on Friday! OMGWTFBBQHAX

p/s: Comp specs shown below for you geeks out there.

Mine
Processor: 1.80GHz dual core
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics memory: 256MB

Theirs
Processor: 3GHz dual core
Memory: 3.5GB RAM
Graphics: 1024MB

Like, seriously?? WTF, man.

pp/s: On another note, I would like to get my hands on one of those....*drools*

It's like berserk mode, you know

This is funny. Not funny in a humor sense, but as in weird kind of funny.

I was working on my thesis the whole morning, and i couldn't get a word on that word file. Then dinner came, and 5 minutes before that, suddenly i want to write my report. My brain wants to work! But alas dinner was ready and i had to go fill my stomach. (Otak-otak, asam pedas soup and mushrooms yum)

Now i'm back, sitting down in front of the comp. And i don't feel like writing again. *slaps forehead*

Can anyone devise me a formula for the most efficient time in a day to write a report?! This is seriously potong steam.

On another note, maybe my brain works better when the stomach's empty. *pulls hair* ARGGHH

p/s: Berserk mode explained - Extra attack power when HP (life) falls below a percentage value e.g. 40%.

pp/s: Now i feel like playing Final Fantasy .___.

Charge!!!

This is just hilarious!

Before you scroll down further, please load this youtube video first to get the maximum effect. After you click play, you may proceed to scroll down.

At least load it to 30% if not 100%!

Edit: Ok just load the first 1 minute or so.

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Chiu chiu chiu!! Laser beam shooting from eyes!

Yay for more storage

Why does everyone think they are gonna have more free crepes? =___= Oh well... Tell me if you manage to get another one FREE from them.

I went and bought myself a new hard disk last Saturday because my old one was 80Gig and full to its brim. Even my laptop also has 80Gig only. Can you believe that i've already backup and reformated my laptop 4 times already? Just because every time it's full with those games and applications and all sorts, the whole laptop gets sluggish. And i am too lazy to sort it all out. So... yea.

This is the one i got from Seagate.

Seagate FreeAgent Go 320Gb

Looks kinda slick huh. I was planning to go for the Western Digital My Passport Essential (pic below), but it feels kinda small and not much grip when holding. These kinda hard disk if you drop it.... habis lah. If it's SSD then different story. But price is double/triple fold, so.... no further elaboration needed.

Western Digital My Passport Essential

And could you believe it that i paid an extra RM4 just to get the Seagate one in Red color? What to do, it looks more yummy.

O_O... I just heard a ringing sound and a pop-up saying "You received a text message from XXXX number"... not enough 5 seconds it disappeared. WTH just happened?! Virus? Don't tell me my 5th reformat time has come....

Good things come, you just have to wait.

It's true that good things come in waves, one after another. Or i should say, there's always a silver lining behind every cloud, especially a dark one.

In this case it's a heart-shaped cloud with golden lining.

Taken while on the road to Semenyih town.

I found out from a reader of mine (unique visitor! *glee*) that the Shimino Japanese crepe stall that i mentioned weeks ago pasted my crepe blog entry at their stall, and lovely greenteacarm found it and got a free crepe! How awesome is that! Awesomeness for the free crepe and also awesomeness for the publicity stunt!

Getting publicity for my blog is still something i am quite skeptical about since i have this huge fear insecurity of having the whole world know what i ate for lunch. Of course i don't really care about that, i am more concern about exposing my inner feelings to the world. The more i think of it the more it puts me in a situation that i would be closing down this blog again for another anonymous new blog. Of course, i am only thinking too much (i think), since people wouldn't go and visit the blog just because it says the crepes are nice. I am more concerned about someone whom i know recognizes me. .____.

It's a pretty darn small world, after all.

It is not only about you.

In any relationship, be it friendship, parent-child, boy-girl... there will always be a balance in everything that happens. True, there will be times both of you are happily together, times when both of you go through hard times together. But most of the time, there will always be someone who gets hurt or suffers. This is particularly true when a relationship faces hard times. Both sides suffer, yet both will complain that they suffer more than the other does. How do we weigh it out who suffers more? There is no scale to measure just how much your suffering is more than the other. You thought that you gave too much than what you receive. On the other hand, the person might think that what you give is not enough.

This is where Einstein's theory of relativity come into picture. It is very interesting and kinda awesome that each of us has a different mind of its own. A different level of sensory perception. The feeling that i get from touching this keyboard is different from how you touch it. In general it is easy to say for example, this keyboard is too soft, too hard, etc. But my level of softness in your perception, might not be soft. The thought of this is exhilarating. Till now we have not been able to come up with something to measure our senses. In another words, our feelings. We always hear people say, i feel your pain. I know how you feel. This is quite untrue, possibly overused/generalized as a comfort word. Each person's unique perception of pain, i must not forget, happiness, too, is what makes us living being such an interesting species.

I am still learning. Getting to know all these wonderful discoveries and figuring out human's complex mind is something that intrigues me. I find myself opening up to discussions instead of arguing that i'm right you are wrong. I find myself more forgiving to other people's behavior that would have offend me. I try to think in his perspective, what is he thinking when he did that, why would he do it in that way. I start to develop a curious mind in other peoples' minds and their behavior. Although sometimes i still cannot control myself and get emotional easily, but i'm trying. It's just amazing how the human mind works. How your physical actions would affect your brain. How, by mentally distracting yourself you might find better solution to small matters that makes you go crazy.

Of course, sometimes it clashed with my own principles. I become too focused on one matter that i totally ignored the opportunities passing by. Even when i am writing this down now, my brain is telling me all sorts that "distract" me from my main topic. All the possible things i could have say but i did not. Being out of topic yet feeling this is more important, etc etc. Sometimes i really wish to be a human computer. All the thoughts in my mind flashing by, i couldn't capture it, by the time i digest one, another piece comes. I need more RAM. More processing power. More storage. I want to document all these thoughts, i want to be able to flip through my files and say, "Hey, this might be useful in the future." It is such pity a human brain capacity is so limited.

One of these days someone might come up to me and say, "Hey! Our feelings are not for you to toy about like a scientific experiment!" Well, i am starting to see the human body as a tool. A capsule for our "souls", so to say. Since we all are gonna die anyway, why not make good use of our bodies, our feelings, and our actions to make our lives more fulfilling? And studying them is just another way for me to fulfill my curiosity, a learning process which all of us will be going through till the day we exhale our last breath on earth. Who knows, there might be exams on how and why we live on earth before we could enter Heaven.

Assuming is not a sin, it is not a pain in the ass just because you assumed and made the wrong decision. It is by assuming we open up possibilities and from there, only do we have the responsibility to make a right decision.

Back to Sandakan, once again

Toyed around with my phone pictures this afternoon by trying to adjust the picture settings to make them look nicer. Using the "Auto Correct" is not a smart move after all. After happily auto-correcting all my photos, and now only looking back at my "masterpiece", i realize...... It might had bring out more colors and sharper photos but consequently my picture quality dropped tremendously. I can see color pixel grains all over the place. I can see blueish hues. Blurry pictures. Maybe that wasn't a good idea... or i should learn more adjusting techniques and not be cheated by auto-correcting all my photos. Now i have to re-upload the original batch......

Meh. I'll just upload the bunch of auto-corrected photos for your viewing "pressure".

Lights-decorated temple on top of a hill

Still remember the last time i came was with my whole family and D+E. Climbed the long steep staircase back then without much problem, yet this time i'm grasping for breath after i reach the top. =___=

View from Ocean King Restaurant where we had dim sum on Day 1 CNY

Funny thing was the restaurant is HALAL yet i only see (mostly) chinese flock to the place. The "har gao" (prawn dumpling) was yummy. And we saw this gigantic "lu dun" fish almost the size of me that they rear at the side of the restaurant. KL people see this fish as the ultimate yummy fish. And yes, the restaurant's built on sea.

Mouth-watering "ngao lam" meehoon at the 1 1/2 mile market

They say there's another stall better than this, but this is already good enough for me. *Saliva drips* We went back to find the one we ate the last time we came, but it was closed.

Sunny blue skies as expected

House visiting non-stop. Chicken leg with mushroom, chicken leg with mushroom, chicken leg with mushroom.

The heavenly lamb in all its glory

Seriously the underside looks nicer, but they already turned it over before i could take a pic of it. This is, if i haven't stress it enough, the best lamb i ever tasted. Fit to serve a king. Yum.

Dog from hell

Just kidding, it's my cousin's puppy. Eyes blazing and full of lust for another lamb rib to munch on.

Cousin's puppy in human world form

It's actually cute and very friendly. And playful. Keeps sniffing all over the place and moving about. This is the best shot i could get of her/him.

Fat Cat Cake House

Don't know how many of you still remember this bakery store. Aah, childhood memories.

View of part of Sandakan town from the hilltop observatory tower

Nothing much to do there other than that. Saw some kids playing at the playground we used to play at, and wonder if the mosquitoes had start feeding on them or not.

Grasshopper on Hibiscus flower

Another thing i noticed, there are white and yellow Hibiscus flowers growing near the tower. Growing pretty nicely, too. Now if only we could find blue ones to match the M'sia flag...

Seafood mix meehoon at same market, different stall

This trip i missed out on the egg tarts and Bah Kut Teh, mainly because it was CNY and nobody wants to open shop just to "layan" few flies.

So did you find any abnormalities in my photos? Hope they made you hunger for some Sandakan food cause right now, i wish for a bowl of "ngao lam" meehoon to miraculously appear in front of me.

Shimino - Japanese Crepes at Ikano

On a lighter note, few days ago i saw in Cheesie's blog that there's this famous stall in Japan selling world famous crepes. Today i went to Ikano and saw this new stall opened selling Japanese crepes. I have no idea if it's the same stall as the one she mentioned in her blog, but i bought one nevertheless.

This is the first time i tasted crepes that are so yummy. I ordered strawberries and cream and boy, it was delicious. The cream was not too sweet, together with soft fluffy crepes with just a tiny hint of sourness from the strawberries. Superb. Best thing is i don't feel full after one, which is perfect for an afternoon snack.

There are plenty of other flavors to choose from, ranging from mango, kiwi, various ice-cream flavors, cheesecake (!) and also green tea with red bean. It is kind of pricey for a snack at RM7.90 (now having 10% discount), but it's worth it. I know, cause i will be back for more of it.

A friendly Japanese guy thanked us (in an "ARIGATOGOZAIMASU!" way) for buying one and my mom told him it was "Good!" and he was very happy. =D And he told us that they will be opening another outlet at Pavilion in April. So you people out there, faster go and try one!

Didn't know it was this bad....

This morning i woke up feeling kinda down. The fluttering butterflies in the stomach, a bad omen of something bad bound to happen.

I sat in front of my laptop staring at the screen, on the PDF file with my name on it. This is it, i thought to myself. Double-clicked on it and found myself face-to-face with my worst nightmares. Scrolling down i thought to myself, i deserved all of this. Life is about equality; what you sow is what you reap.

Shut down my laptop and went to bed, pondering over my bleak future or what remains of it.

Woke up an hour later with a depressed, confused, clueless mind. Went for late-lunch with mom nearby before her grocery shopping at Cold Storage. As we were eating, she told me that now's the right time for me to submit my resume to companies and start scouting for jobs. And she asked when is my convocation date.

My heart sank. My parents have high hopes on me, they are expecting me to graduate this June. Expecting to see their daughter receiving an engineering degree certificate on the stage. Expecting their daughter to make them proud working in an established engineering company. Yet, what their daughter had in mind was something else.

Might be how i was living, in a comfort zone having all these luxuries and more that i could want. All these while having choices around me and i just had to pick one and decisions would be made and other complications resolved.

Abruptly i found myself smacked right into this transition, from teenager to adulthood. All of a sudden i find every decision to be mind-boggling. Responsibilities became much of a burden and somehow i resort to shutting myself into a fantasy world of mine. I avoided problems. I chose to just let it be and see how it goes. Not wanting to bear the responsibility and wanting to prove to myself things would go smoothly without my efforts.

I hide into my own comfort zone and daydreamed my days away where i would live somewhere in the countryside, away from the bustling city and working life. I would tell myself i will survive on my own planted vegetables and eggs fresh from my chickens. Or i would make a living tendering to other people's property or working as a cashier at the nearby supermarket to sustain my own living. I would enjoy life and walk at my own pace without having to worry about being late for the next train or tight deadlines to meet some fussy client demands.

I was running away. Somehow i was hypnotized to believe that it could happen. But deep in my heart i knew it was coming to an end. I knew it would end up like this, and i told myself all i need was some kind of motivation. It was the lack of motivation, i told myself. I dreaded the coming of this day, a wake-up call for me.

It did rang, loud and heart-wrenching. I asked for it. Life was too good for me and now i need to "fix things right". I just hope i'm not too late.

More CNY celebrations

I uploaded two more videos i took during dinner at another aunt's house. This time to show you just how extravagant the CNY is celebrated here.

Highlight of video is the LAMB! The fat juicy tender lamb! Really good, so good i can only say it's too good to be true. But of course, it's true.

That was actually the second time they set the fireworks, and funny thing is the car alarm kept going off and the owner had to keep disarm it.

Ok enough videos! I'll put up some pics later if i'm in the mood for more uploading.

Tak dong chiang

This is the video taken when i was at my aunt's house and the lion "dancers" came to visit. It is very common in Sandakan and has been sort of a tradition during Chinese New Year. Btw, we call those lion dance "tak dong chiang". Don't ask me why.

I feel kinda noob-ish on my first video on YouTube. Too lazy to convert it into a better quality so i just uploaded it raw onto my channel. Still wondering if i should upload the rest.... maybe show you the fireworks/firecrackers?

Btw no criticisms/snickering on my video favorites, ok? .____.

The small town full of surprises

Just came back from Sandakan few hours ago (yea, internet addicted) and am going with dad to fetch mom from KLIA later cause she took a different flight.

Surprisingly, Sandakan was not as dull as i thought it was. I underestimated the wonders this small town could offer.

Firstly was the roads. A highway straight across the town really shorten the time it took for us to travel from one place to another. It was like we all lived in one big neighborhood. My aunt said if we drive fast we could get to the airport from BDC in 5 minutes. But what use is it to drive fast in such a small and peaceful town where everything is several beats slower and everyone is in such a relaxed mood. We could drive 50km/hr on the "highway" and no one would honk or flash lights at us.

Secondly, the sky at night. It's been quite a long while since i was able to look up and voila! millions of stars, shinning so brightly and clearly. The feeling was just so awesome, i could have sat there on the pavement and just stare at the sky for hours. Just so coincidence, i read a book about the night sky in a bookstore few weeks ago. I learnt how to read few of the signs and to my amazement i spotted it right there in the sky, among hundred thousands of other stars shinning just as bright and confuzzling (confusing and dazzling at the same time). This has sparked my interest to learn as many signs i could and the next time i'm going back, i will be ready. =)

Thirdly, the amount of angpao i received in just four days. I can't believe i have this much relatives in Sandakan all these while. Visited almost all of them in four days span and to be honest, i felt quite good to be able to meet them and their family. I used to be ignorant when we visit them during those visits years ago. Normally my parents do all the talking and socializing while i stuck to my sister(s) and we sort of gossiped there by ourselves. This year i was alone, and since my parents were independently sociable, i had to get around by myself and try to fit into conversations. It is still hard for me. Seems like i have lost the ability to sustain a conversation. I shall try harder next time.

Fourth, the Chinese New Year atmosphere here is just awesome. Everywhere i went decorations adore the houses and shops. Lion dances and drum sounds everywhere. Big beautiful fireworks every single night i was there. It's either the fireworks/firecrackers were dirt cheap or everyone was rich enough to splurge on it. Or it was just plainly families spending on something special on this special occasion where all family members gather together.

I have no idea when will be the next time i'm coming back to this town, but this trip surely left a deep mark in my heart which i'll be treasuring it well. Not to mention the fresh seafood, the chewy soft ngao lam mee, the fat juicy tender lamb i had at my aunt's house, the sweet refreshing lung dan fish soup which i can still remember the taste, and on top of all food, is the reminiscence feeling i had whenever we passed by some familiar place i once visited/lived at.

I guess this is why they say home is the place you truly cannot hate and forget.

Pictures up next, after i finish figuring out how to convert the videos in my phone into watchable format.

Xmas still rocks more...

...... even though the wallet bleeds instead of receiving. Just shows how much satisfaction you get by the act of giving.

I dug up some old photos from my phone. Just for your pleasure.

Xmas 2009 in blue

Or red if you prefer

My baby sis and "her" baby son

Life without you is so miserably lonely.

*Smirks*

(Ed: Now no one can stop me from dominating all mankind's attention with my mischievous smile/words/action)