Hey guys, I'm back with lots of pictures this time. Had been really occupied recently. Looking back at this few days, all I can say is that I'm truly thankful that I'm blessed with beautiful people around me. These people of course are my family including my Aunt Linda and my BFF's. Sometimes I feel like I take you guys for granted especially my mum and dad, love you both gargantuously. Haha... if only I have the guts to say it to them. Weird... As for my BFF's, you guys probably know me a little bit more than my family for "some reasons". Thanks for being there for me and for baring the years of hissy fits that I threw at you guys lol... Enough emoness. Moving on to my birthday celebration which had taken place more than a week ago. So this is kind of an overdue post haha.. Anyway, my mum decided to take me to Cameron Highlands on my birthday, right after I came back from KL so I was taking short snoozes throughout my journey there. However, I do know how to get there by car now*hint*hint* roadtrip*coughs* Overall, Cameron is a superb place for those who are looking for peace of mind. Imagine a place where cool breeze gently brushes on your face while you are comfortably wrap up in your jacket and the sun's ray does not scorch but instead provides you with warmth. You can fall asleep just about anywhere there, preferably lying on the oceans of greenery under a bluish canopy vandalized only by fluffy white clouds.






The above are from Bharat Plantation

Cameron was a lot different when I last left. It has so many things to offer now, most importantly good food. My mum, knowing what I like most, took me on a food marathon. I'll let the pictures do the talking.


First up, Oldies and Goodies Restaurant. We were having second thoughts whether or not to enter as it was stated there "Roasted Restaurant" Was afraid we might come out "cooked". Glad we took the risk as the food was delicious. Maybe because it was the cold weather haha...


Clockwise from top; Roasted duck and pork, Deep Fried Fish coated with Sweet Sauce served in Sizzling Plate, Old Cucumber Soup, Three Layered Pork Meat Braised in Fermented Bean Curd Paste Sauce, Stir Fried Long Beans With Braised Mushrooms and Stir Fried Watercress with Light Oyster Sauce.


During the second day, we went there again but I only manage to snap the first dish because there was a Singaporean couple joining our table... have to behave myself lol... Anyway the dish was Claypot Seafood Curry.

Next, we went to the Bharat Plantation and I had a slice of Strawberry Cheese Cake...


Looks nice but at the end, I wasn't craving for seconds.

Then we headed for The Big Strawberry Farm. The name itself would give you the impression that the place is filled with strawberries but I searched high and low for straberries to no avail. Instead I found these...


The Hanging Gardens of Tomatoes...

...and my past obsessions, cactus.

As I climb further up, I saw signboards leading to heaven...


Now for the real thing...


Strawberry Sundae & Strawberry with Yoghurt and Honey


English Scone & Tea

I could barely walk after all those goodies so I did what I do best, sleep! Went back for a short nap and woke up just in time for dinner...


Steamboat!

The restaurant that we went to wasn't exactly nice but the fact that the night was chilly, anything with a bowl of hot soup would have tasted great. Anyhow, we initially wanted to go to one of the restaurants in Brinchang to experience the traditional way of using steamboats but sadly it was fully booked.


Took this pic from the web. The charcoals are placed at the bottom and the long spout is where the volcanic effect takes place.

After dinner, we went for a short walk in one of the night markets...


Bought myself a strawberry fondue. The lady actually told us she was camera shy, like it would stop us... snap! snap!


Then I saw this cute lil' pop-up christmas card and decided to purchase it. Bargained for the price of RM5 and was proud that I succeeded until I found out that Gurney was selling it for RM4.90 nett. Anyway, dedicating this card to Yong Ming and Jim who is not here with us. Merry Christmas! Ah... so economical.


As if dinner was ever enough, we went for desserts which doubles as my b'day cake. Can't believe it takes so long to be 10...


...and my all time favorite fruit, Durians!

Well, that was how I spent my birthday with my family but wait! There's more lol... please don't die of boredom... yet. I celebrated my b'day with some of my BFF a little later but nevertheless it was no less special. Where did they take me? Tag along to find out.


Located at Belisa Row, Jurin


Kel's dish...


...Alan's dish


Ansel going on a diet...




...Nick going on an eating frenzy.


Evil! While they enjoy their food I was left with nothing to eat. Just kidding, I wonder where did the pictures of my dish went to? Food was scrumptious. Would recommend this place if you are willing to foot in a little more cash. As usual, we went for seconds at FACES after our first phase of dinner. There's where the cake was cut and the present was opened...


My Birthday cake, French Cuppachino.


Want a piece of me?


Beautifully wrapped up


Doesn't this remind you of some toy?


Glitter lamp!

Thanks a lot guys! I really appreciate what you guys did for me and what a thoughtful present. Promise I'll take it to my new place. So, that's it. Come to think of it, I still haven't receive a key from dad or mum. Does this mean I'm still grounded by my parents? Oh well, Merry Christmas...

Today marks the end of the first week of my new semester. I've so far received 5 group assignments out of my 8 subjects and will be expecting a few more to come by on the second week. Last few days has been stressful but I think I'll manage to pull through. Well, the grouping problems are not as bad as it seems now that I'm beginning to get use to my working environment. I guess I've been lazing around too much during my holidays lol... Needed that kick to wake me up from my slumber. Looking on the bright side, this semester's assignments are a lot more interesting as it requires a lot of out door activities which happens to be what I love most.

Class ended earlier than as expected because my lecturer for Marketing took a day off and how nice of him for not informing us. We were practically waiting for 4 hours thinking that he was late because of his Friday prayers. Our bad. We should have known better, he wasn't that "holy" to begin with. Lucky for me, that 4 hours was not entirely wasted as I attended a meeting for a cocktail mixing competiton. Oh, did I mention I was one of the participant? Lol... Anyways, keeping my fingers crossed so that I won't make a fool out of myself during "The Day". With only five classes left, I'll be competing with experienced people from the industry. Thank god there will not be any flaring or I'll end up with broken glasses on my head. Initially, I intended to take up table setting but after reading the contract that requires me to bring my own tables and chair, I pass the idea. I mean, can you imagine me with tables and chairs in the LRT? Not to mention with my service uniform! Assuming if it happens, most likely the scenario would be me standing next to the door asking, coffee, tea or me? This offer only applies to "you know who".

Back to reality. Since I got back to my hostel early, I decided to have dinner with Aaron in SS2 but not before buying some Durians for dessert. The journey took us 50 minutes but it was worth it as I get to savor the dish that I was longing to order for so long. Spaghetti Meatballs! The best thing was, it only cost RM10 and you really get your money's worth. Share it with another person if you're not a big eater. I had an ice blended drink called Lily to accompany this dish.


Spaghetti with cheesy meatballs!


Lily; combibation of ice blended lychee, mango and some funky green stuff that replaced ribena. Served with chunks of watermelons and longans with nata de coco.

After meal, we decided to have a walk around the area before we head for the bus stop so that my stomach could digest all those junk I've swallowed. We were about to reach the bus stop when something related to this day happened, something unfortunated. Not to us but some other people so hold your drama. It was an accident involving 2 cars and a bike. I manage to caught a few shots but most of it turns out distorted when I view the pics the second time at my hostel. Creepy! Fortunately, on an unfortunate day, my skin grew a little thicker and I manage to capture bits of the after effect in short clips. At one point I was even shooed by someone.


The victim's bike...


The victim...



Help arrives...


The treatment...


Victim in agony...


Me getting shooed... that a$$h0l3!

Our bus came as soon as the victim was transferred into the ambulance. Reached home just in time for dessert as my dinner was halfway through my digestive system.




All hail the king...

I wasn't expecting much since it just cost me about RM10 for 2 durians but it turns out to be good. I guess today it's not a day like I've imagined, a series of unfortunate event, at least for me it wasn't...

In just a blink of an eye my holidays are over. I can't believe how time has pass us by. Today is one of those days where I sit down and think about the yesteryears. It amazed me in a way that although so many events had took place, sometimes it feels like we went through it just now. There was a theory I've heard before, that every event is actually happening at once but the only thing that puts them in order is time. Maybe there's some truth in it.

What have I done during my holidays? Let's see... I had basically eat, eat, eat and eat! So, to make sure that this post remains fat free I'm not going to elaborate about my eating escapades. Then again, there is no such thing as fat free in my dictionary so lets just make it a "low cholesterol" post okay? Deal. Of all the days, I would say that my last day in Penang was a day well spent. It was as close as it could get to feeling the thrill of yesteryears given that many are not in Penang anymore. Those days, we would have easily filled up two cars and sometimes more. Damn, when will we get the chance to do that again? With another friend going off soon, the line of possibilties seems to grow thinner. On a brighter note, lets talk about what I did on my last day in Penang before I left for Selangor. As I mentioned earlier, it was a day well spent because we finally get to go on our so called "round island" tour. Okay... it wasn't exactly round island but what do you expect? It's dangerous out there you know... we might get lost somewhere in the jungle and get kidnapped by unknown man eating tribes or worst still, terrorirst that will send videos of us getting beheaded to our family members and to think of that cheap video quality that will not make it pass the acadamy awards, it's definately not worth our lives! I know... highly dramatized. Blame it on my obsession of getting an oscar. Continue on we first headed to Balik Pulau, the land of delicious Laksa. Since I've been eating Asam Laksa for like about... all my life, I decided to go for the Laksa Lemak which was simply yummilicious!


The Laksa stall...




Laksa unite!

That's for breakfast. Next, we headed off for lunch. On the way we decided to use the "jungle path" as described by Al and Kel. Sigh, some people are just too modernized I guess. It's not a jungle for heaven sake! There was even a trafic light! Lol... The view, breath taking. I meant literally, the air was full of haze so if you wind down and take a deep breath it could cut your oxygen supply for real! Okay, not that serious but still at an unhealthy level. After driving aimlessly heading to town, we stop by for "Economic Rice", every Penangnite's staple diet, well at least for me it is. There's something about Georgetown that never cease to captivate my imagination. Perhaps its those pre-war buildings that manage to capture the essence of the old world charm.



Majestic pre-war buildings...




Hidden treasures...




Avanza models???

As if lunch is ever enough, we headed to Swatow Lane for dessert...




My goodies, not your goodies!

After we filled our belly with food we decided to go for a walk in Chew Thean Yeang, one of Penang biggest aquarium shop. Ironically, I was more attracted to the dogs than the fishes over there. At last, our trip come to an end because Kel has to go for classes so we dropped Al, yes Al, even when his house was like few meters away lol... Then, we bid farewell to Jus next. I was not ready to say my goodbyes yet but my turn came soon. Just like that I was back home chillin out in my balcony while listening to songs...


Partial view from my balcony...

Then, I lived happily ever after... until the phone rang. God was gracious to me. He knew that I couldn't posibbly leave Penang before having my dinner so he sent Nicholas...


Oops... that's Saint Nicholas.


Yes, this is the correct one...

We went to a coffee shop in Bayan Lepas that serves fresh seafood with noodles or porridge as their specialty.


Featuring model Kelvin: Shirt; Tesco brand-RM5 the most; Accessories; Barley Ice-RM1.20, Seafood Porridge-RM8


My RM11 seafood noodles sigh... Nevertheless it was deli-cious

Before heading back, we stopped by at Starbucks, E-Gate, for a short chat. Ordered their new beverage, Azuki Frappuccino which comes in milk or coffee based. I chose the milk based and it was "shiok" to the very last sip. Now that's a happy ending. I wish. I went back and I started packing my stuff to get ready for my trip back to study. Sigh, when I'm all alone at night sometimes I start to think about the future, so I took a stool and sat at my balcony once again listening to songs as my mind wonders about what the future holds. If the theory that I mentioned earlier is true, then there's a possibility that men can actually foresee their future. Well that's just me, thinking out loud...