Photos-Photos : The Penang Trip

I have kinda been delaying this blog cause the photos are gonna take a while to be arranged and uploaded. So finally i decided to break it into 2 parts. My Penang Trip and Ipoh-Food trip. And introducing another lengzai in the family along the way...

It has been 4-5 years since i have last visited Penang, or longer.. But in general, most places are still alike. We check into Sandy Bay Paradise beach resort along Batu Ferringhi. It was one of the erliest hotel Dad has took our family to before he went to US, so that's like almost 12 years ago... sure bring back lots of memory.. ANyway, this is the room, it has a living area,

Then the bedroom, pretty spacious huh? and for RM250 a nite, i say it is quite okay..


Then we went to a crappy hong-kong style restaurant near komtar for lunch cause we are seriously late.. nothing much to highlight cause we went back to hotel immediately. The next most interesting place, which I look forward most is this,



Gurney Drive!!! I love the food there, well, not calling this a foodie trip although penang is known for it too, but we definitely dunno where to find the best as we are just tourist here, but i missed the claypot rice with egg, this stall i tried this time just didn't make it the same way, egg is too overcooked..



But food are generally nice! Then i saw this Shillin stall, since Ipoh doesn't have it and my brother hasn't tried it before...

P.s. It is WAY larger than what they sell in Singapore

K... the other lengzai in the family, to be honest, i am jealous he is taller and more photogenic, see this photo i have to tiptoe to reach that height.. ='(

And even he is slightly fat he still looks good... gosh..! (more down to proof..)

Then day 2, at the breakfast.. hate them for being so bloody rigid, i have 4 vouchers for 2 days so my mom and aunt can join us, but they wont allow.. then my mom and aunt has to go out for breakfast!! I was pretty angry and thought of paying for the buffet but mom say it is not worth it (which is true after i eaten, for that price, they shud really be shame of the quality)

Anyway, ended up only 2 lengzai's at their table... This is the best thing that ever appear on the table, cause i made it.. =p

Our salad... Btw, introducing the Lomo camera on iPhone Apps, it really gives a different feel to photos, for those who have it, u shud try..

And the people eating it...

Even his haircut looks better naturally... (which is another story i was really down, bloody hairdresser!)


Then later in the evening, since my bro is preparing for IELTS, we just stay in for him to study (lunch was at a noodle shop in Gurney Plaza which is quite nearby, and we brought back a tub of Haagen Dazz to the beach for my bro to try.. too bad they dun have strawberry cheesecake)
We went to the pool and beach, while i was swimming he was doing his studying + free drinks..

Out hotel.. introducing another iPhone apps, this is call the polaroid camera effect, pretty cool too!

Lengzai again,

See!! this is why i am jealous, he looks really photogenic, and all the aunties in the market place near our home calls him lengzai now (title used to be mine) but, oo well.. he is my brother..

Then finally the last day, we didn't do much except checking out cause the entire morning till late noon was my brother's exam, we check out and went for lunch without him. By the time he is done, we only went to Kek Lok Si temple to buy the tou sha bing and my mom drove me up to see this really magnificient Guan Yin temple. I was really impressed considering this is on top of a hill..

*This is a more realistic photo of the "True" height of me and my bro.. =p

All in all, Penang is a lovely place, at least i feel so. Especially when we were driving to tanjung bungah side, i really fell for those super nice condo by the cliff, it was really luxury with stunning seaview. On top of that, Penang has its old side, modern side, good food and familiar people. So all in all, it feels like a nice place to stay. Not as busy as here, but just a pace for people who appreciate city life on a island but slower pace..

Maybe it will be a place i retire in the future...

A Dot? A Pink Dot?

I have read Singapore used to host some kind of Gay parade event in the past, however due to some reason, they stop hosting and it was subsequently in Bangkok and Taiwan. Which was quite sad and they are obviously losing a lot of the pink dollars. But well, it is not the most creative and open minded country anyway.

So I guess this event : Pink Dot 2010 can be consider a pretty major LGBT ( Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transexual ) event in Singapore.

Details are here : http://pinkdotsg.blogspot.com/

And I was there! It was the first time I have been to such event, and i got to admit i did feel a little awkward initially (I always thought i am quite indifferent but.. well subsequently it was fine subsequently) i was with another friend who then have his friends and i realize how little people i know, everyone knows someone else around, i was like only talking to my friend... so sad... i must club MORE!!

It wasn't exactly fun or special, but showing a support as part of the "society" and also well... again, made me realize something and gave me some thoughts on something... Sometimes i just hate myself, either let me be more dumb and insensitive or really high EQ and indifferently cool.. but not in the middle...

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Some people are worth our tears.. while others, maybe it is worth letting go..

最幸福的事

在我们的感情世界里从开始到结束，可以是见面的第一秒，也可能是一辈子。如果你记得有那么一件事，是你最幸福的事，那或许你真的有被你的他真心爱过。。。

一年了，我曾经有过我最幸福的事吗。。。？

Yin and Yang

I suppose the chinese belief that things comes in pairs is true. You need something to complement the other. Eg. after the good news (salary increment) it must be followed by a bad one.

So the bad news is, the person whom we dislike the most will be our administrative manager (it is a news from my reuters again but pretty reliable just like the increment amount she told me..) Why do we dislike this person? I am being fair here.. for one, he was suppose to be a technical analyst, though he used to manage the India team back there, but when he was relocated, we already have a boss here (the one who left) so he was TOLD to focus on his technical side and team lead for a team of 2 (him and another teammate). Which was all good and happy (to us). Why was he TOLD so? Because he keep hinting and arranging meeting (on his own) with the managers in our entire department, going around saying hello, talking, sharing his view cause he FEEL he is on par.. He even kinda say to my boss admin assistant that he wants the same service she is doing for my ex-boss. (btw, all these information comes from her.. and she told me she always gives him the F. U. C. K. smile when he says something like that... =p ). And he also keep hinting to be given a room, so that he can have his "confidential" talks.. yea right, as if he is that important. And worse of all, he monitors our work sheet.. questioning why we are doing those hours, checking if someone is there on their seat.. (wtf seriously, that was NEVER the culture in the entire company, he is making it totally so rigid and localise-to his culture, our boss never even care back then, he was totally the kind u get ur things done, that's it.. fully trusting us..)

But sadly, my ex-boss left shortly, and all-in-all dunno what happen but he sort of got into the right to be "manager" for a few of the smaller team, including mine... *sob sob*

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If things must always comes in pair... WHERE IS MY OTHER HALF!!!!!

A house, A home

I got this question, "You say u want to build a home in singapore? but if u do that it means u will say have to be here for long?"

I kinda think the question was meant more of a house, if i buy a house here.. i wud kinda be bound to this small island city.. (again, like i told a friend, i dun hate this place, in fact it is a nice place.. but i just couldn't develope a liking towards it.. ) back to topic, I guess these words kinda means differently to me. A house is a physical object to me, a house is where u reside, or for our case, the place that i fully own now is only a bed and my wardrobe, others are shared.. so my 'house' here is merely a place where i store my belongings and a place i sleep.. pretty much that.. A home on the other hand, is where ur family is, it is a place that u feel warm, that u feel protected, sheltered, that u own it, a place that u want to be in when u r worn out from a day work, that u want to spend a cozy, lazy afternoon on weekends with ur love ones.. and not feel like u rather spend outside at a mall because u cant even listen to a song or watch movie without using a earpiece cause ur roomie is there.. or it is so empty and u feel lonely to stay there...

So when i say i look forward to build a home.. it actually means more of a place i share with another person whom i can see as a family member (okay, i mean bf obviously). especially at this stage of life, where my career just started, and i feel like seeing more of the world,i wont be settling down at a place and have my parents with me (anyway, i deserve to have some 2-person time too right? i am sure dad and mom has theirs too!) so having this 'home' it doesn't matter where i am, or which house i live in.. we can always make it cozy and lovely when u r with the person u want to be with right? (okay, house does matters.. like i say my current place fengshui doesn't really match me somehow.. =( .. but still the person u live with is still more important..)

So a home is what i seek.. i know i always do.. and all the more now as i feel i am more ready for it..

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U probably cud summarize this into 'he is desperate for a guy' fine.. i am.. but having a home away from home.. i am sure u will understand if u are in a foreign land too..

Scent

This.. is probably one of our most mysterios senses. It is not something solid, sometimes u get this deja vu feeling that u know a scent, and it reminds you of some memories that could be as fresh as this morning, or as old as ur childhood. You might have a very deep memory of it, reminding u of special moments, or a scent from someone special, or a place.. Or you just have a blur or no image at all of what the situation or where the scent occur in ur memory but u know had it before..

I was walking past a mall today and it was raining outside so there is a very damp air atmosphere.. then it just occurs to me the scent (mixture or the air and the scent in the mall) reminds me strongly or somewhere in Shanghai.. It reminds me again of the other day when i visited a friend's home where his furnishing and the smell in the house is almost exaclty like the apartment i live in Shanghai.. it feels so weird as these 2 places have very different climates and the things in the home arent that similar.. but still.. u have no doubt of the scent that is almost 100% similar..

what we see could be deceiving, what we hear could be lies.. but the scent we smell.. it is probably the most reliable senses we have. Probably also because they are the hardest to fake.. The scent of the person u always hug, the bed u share once.. the room that always smells good with scented oil and cosmetics.. it will be the most lasting memory.. well at least they are sweet..

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There are so many thoughts during my trip home.. but somehow i still don't have the urge to put down yet while they r fresh.. like today.. suddenly the scent stirs up these mix thoughts..

The few things

There are many things that came to my mind that i thought i want to write down here, but the first agenda is sleep.. but still there are a few things that is worth flashing through cause the impression was deeper and i can still remember in this unconcious state..

*I am totally disoriented with my sleep hour, so dead with this

*I realize i get culture shock when i see the crowd from the MRT

*I am getting salary review, and although i have got my Reuters sending me news since last week, but still hearing the increment from my boss kinda gives me a solid feeling. I mean i have only joined this place for 5 months coming 6, and they are giving me 25% increment.. isn't that pretty wow-ing.. O_O"

And lastly, i couldn't help missing the feeling of having a home.. i am really determine to find and build one here... All the more stronger after the trip...