5S2 Class Trip: Langkawi/Penang 6D4N

This was truly the last time 36 of my classmates and I could be together... I can't say it was totally worth the money but it was definitely fun... Most importantly, I got to know some of my classmates beneath the surface and they have definitely changed my perspective towards them...

Day 1 & 2: 15th and 16th Dec

Departed from Klang at 9.30 pm, had the tour guide telling us his tragic love story that (hopefully) is 100% true but sounds extremely Korean drama-ish, but i digress. So we reached the jetty by 6am, reached Langkawi by 8am.

~*Cheryl and I goofing out on the "midnight bus"..:P *~

Went to a couple of places like Underwater World Langkawi, Dataran Lang, etc... Pictures say a thousand words, right? so these will do the trick...

*~Grace, Cheryl, Chee Ling and I posing beneath the enormous Helang figure~*

*~ (amazing!) Photograph courtesy of Librainy :P~*

*~Hmm... Looks familiar... Like from some movie I've seen before...~*

*~ From left: Wan Yee, Chee Ling, Sin Yee, Cheryl, Grace and Me! on the top of some mountain... anywayz we sat the cable car up there... you can see how the strong the wind is by the looks of our hair... ~*

Day 3: 17th Dec, Mon

Island hopping we go! Unfortunately weather was kinda cloudy so we only went to Pulau Dayang Bunting... No pics for this cause I was scared that my my camera would be water-logged...

Day 4: 18th Dec, Tue

This was our free day so all of us basically rented a couple of vans to get to Pantai Cenang in Langkawi... Stunning view! 1st time I saw sunset on the beach! Went banana boating too! RM 15 per person! Wanted to go parasailing but it was RM70... According to Tiffy it's RM 35 over at Thailand...

*From left: Grace, Sin Yee, Me and Cheryl; behind: the calm sea!~*

Day 5: 19th Dec, Wed

Off to Penang! Checked into our hotel around afternoon... Went Kek Lok Si Temple and Dharmikarama Burmese Temple...

*~Grace, Chee Ling, Me and Cheryl with the fabulous Kek Lok Si Temple as the backdrop...~*

After having dinner at Gurney Drive, 10 of us (5 guys 5 gals) took a "short" walk back to our hotel, Hotel Continental Penang...

*~Top row from left: Chee Ling, Sin Yee, Ree Gent; Middle row from left: Xie Ming, Jin Wei, Chyi Shyn, Wee Chun; Bottom row from left: Grace, Me, Cheryl, Zhi Yuan~*

Oh wait! Before our "short walk", we took a tour into G Hotel.. looks really high-end!

*~They really do have a big "g"!~*

*~"SS"ing in front of the mirror--inside G Hotel~*

*~B-E-A-uutiful deco outside Gurney Plaza!~*

Day 6: 20th Dec, Thur

Time to say goodbye... went to a couple more short trips in Penang, stopped in Ipoh Hot Springs... (too bad no pics... again...) but it was definitely hot enough to (hopefully) improve my blood circulation! Btw there's sorta like a book fair in Gurney Plaza right now with up to 70% discount... Bought a book recommended by Amelia Foong (Special Topics in Calamity Physics for 30% it's price!)

That's all! Off to Shanghai this Sunday! More stories to come...

#2: My Family and Other Animals

This is a book casually mentioned by my English tuition teacher--after I saw her laughing her heads off reading the 2nd book in the series, "Birds, Beasts and Relatives”. Her words are like GOLD to me, so these are my findings after reading the book:

Book Title: My Family and Other Animals
Author: Gerald Durrell
Bought for: RM 29.95

Brief Overview: Gerald and his family move from England to the island of Corfu, Greece, and the story evolves around, obviously, his family members and the animals that he finds on the island (by the way, he is a HUGE animal lover!) The flowers, trees and animals are described not only with plenty of detail but also you can feel that he really loves nature… I mean he can just spend the whole day just looking at tortoises! It’s just a pity that most of the plant and animals species aren’t inhabitants of the Malaysian tropical rainforest, which pretty much holds back your imagination by a notch… (Unless you look it up on the Net or something!)

What I like about the book: It’s really very funny, and I mean the laugh out loud kind of funny… Durrell really knows how to play with words, and just imagining the crazy antics of his family and the animals will really make you wonder—how different are we from animals? (This is where the book title comes into picture!) I was reading this at the hairdressers’ and I reckon the customer next in line thought I was going cuckoo with me practically guffawing almost every 2 minutes!

Who should read the book: Not recommended for those who like fast-paced, mind-boggling and mystery-solving plots… This book has no actual “storyline” and it’s more like a “diary” in which Durrell indulges his thoughts and daily encounters… This book really is a combination of literature, documentary (you’ll know why you need to put a scorpion into a tin full of oil!) and adventure… It is definitely a breath of fresh air from all those Da Vinci Code-style novels!

Shmashing adventure!

2 out of 8 of my resolutions have been successfully completed...

Firstly, i went for a haircut and came back with a fringe! (cannot take any pics for this... My fringe is still pinned up so that it stays in place next time)

Besides, Tiffy, Cassandra (Tiffy's lil sis), Grace and I went a' gallavanting at AEON... Man, was it fun! Luckily Tiffy brought her camera so please visit her blog (click here) to check out the pics...

It seems that AEON has become the Kwang-Huarians' lepak hotspot... Saw 5S1 students and also our BM teacher having a munch at the restaurants... (BM teacher was giving us that what-have-all-of-you-been-up-to looks... hehe)

So anyway we had our lunch at Sakae Sushi and had my first try at raw salmon and wasabi (and no, I have not been staying at any kampung for 16 years of my life... I just haven't tried Japanese food in my entire life... except for a sushi 2 years ago...) so then I was mildly fascinated at how the ocha (which means green tea! haha!.... erm, you'd probably known that already, didn't you?) was served... I was thinking of pressing the wedge labelled "hot" with my palm... then my friends reminded me that I was supposed to pour hot water into the cup, not scorch my hand :P

Ok, cutting the crap, we ate rice (is it ubon? I forgot... anyone please correct me...) (which is supposedly donburi) and if you do go there, you might want to try Teriyaki ChickenUbon Donburi (which means rice)... but since I'm no connosieur on Japanese fine dining, I'll just have to tackle the limitations of my English vocabulary to describe the dish by using words like scrumptious, delicious, sumptuous, bla bla... Just try it lar!

We hung around for an hour or more till everyone were gone save for 4 silly damsels putting the digicam on self timer to take pics... all the waiters and waitresses crowded over our table to witness the incredible feat of us squeezing our heads and bodies to suit the height of the camera... and guess who got the largest head shot? yep, it was Tiffy's sis... check out the pics to see for yourself! and yes, the thought to ask the waitresses there to help us out did cross my mind, but what's more fun that body-shoving, head-ramming and mouth-screaming at each other in front of the camera?

Luckily I hung out with non-spendthrifts and I managed to save my wallet from being stripped of its dignity... but I still couldn't tahan myself from buying Big Apple Donuts... (its at the top floor... same floor as the cinema)

*~I bought a box of 6... but where did one and a half go? I wonder... burp. excuse me.~*

bye bye blue pinafore!

For the FIRST time in my life the term "holidays" can live up to its name! So behold, my “bye bye blue pinafore” resolutions:

*~2 years worth of knowledge... all of them going to end up at the recyling centre...
so, anyone! please save them from this gloomy fate! (with payment, of course)~*

1. TRY to sell all my Form 4 & 5 school books without suffering a great deal of loss (selling books at half price is a great loss!So, anyone interested? *flaunting the Shrek's puss- in-boots look)
2. Improve on my blog by frequently updating it (well, hopefully *grin)
3. Find a decent-paying-yet-not-too-tiring-and close-to-home job (too idealistic, huh?)
4. Watch Stardust, The Golden Compass, Enchanted (my movie list at the moment)
5. Rope skipping! (Is it wrong to give a 5 feet tall girl a teensy bit of hope?)
6. Pray harder so that I get straight A1’s for SPM and I will not get NS next year :)
   
7. Get a fresh new haircut (but not a new hair colour! Black is the new… black?)
8. Go to AEON Bukit Tinggi and shop till I drop! just look around… :P

Let's see how many of them can I tick off my list before 31st Dec!