Begone !!! For a week !!!

Oh yeah, I shall disappear for a week starting 2.50pm, 29 Nov 2005. (which means I'm gonna skip some important things in my life - but I don't really care :P)

So see you guys in a week.

BTW, I can't believe I got this as an result... =.=;;;


Take The Quiz Yourself!

=.=;;;

YES I'M SO HAAAAAAAPPY NOW !!!

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

!!!

I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo HAPPY now !!!

Why ???

Because... I finally got Internet in my place !!! :D

YAY !!!

The Penang Trip

Oh yeah, 3 days out of the Internet world, all dedicated to Penang. And now I'm writing it down now.

1st day, Nov 3rd

Woke up *damn* early in the morning. 7 am we set off (my family and my uncle's, again - in short, 6 adults and 2 kids) and reached Ipoh by 9, had breakfast at the usual coffeeshop (Dad's customer BTW), and another 3 hours before we caught sight of that *unusually long* bridge in the middle of the sea.

The roads in Penang was always a pain to travellers on wheels. Due to seating arrangements, I was elected as the 'navigator' for Dad the driver. I was given a bunch of year-old maps and I had to figure out where the hell we are and where we might end up with.

The first thing that ran through our minds was the Ji Le Si (Kek Lok Si, but I prefer Mandarin - I'm no Hokkien). But as usual and expected, the bloody jam - cars and people - was in our way. We only managed to get our car parked, went for lunch (laksa, but I'm no big fan of it - took chicken rice instead - and ice kacang + cendol), and left - without any attempt to climb the steps.

As our check-in time to the hotel is around 3pm, we still have around 2 hours to spend. Where to go then? Since the hotel was close to the Botanical Gardens (and Gurney Drive too), hmmm, might as well go and take a stroll... with the monkeys.



"So ?" was my sis' reply, while I thought that monkey-killing was the civic duty of the locals.



My bro and lil' cousin with the Cannonball Fruit... now that's huge...

After the stroll and some nice-but-expensive mashed-peanut-topped ice-cream, we went straight to the hotel to check-in. After dropping our stuff, our next destination was - the northern seaside. Found a sandy spot with nice 'fengshui' (well it is, judging from the Chinese cemetery nearby - backed by the mountain and facing the sea).



Ugly posing with the kids...

Well, after that, we returned to the hotel, and walked all the way to Gurney Drive for dinner. After half an hour, we're disappointed to find that the stalls weren't there (we learnt later that they were relocated). So we ended up walking all the way to the Cantonment junction, and had dinner at a seafood restaurant (lousy + expensive, last time we'd be there). And finally, we turned back and took a peek at Gurney Plaza. Then we walked the 30 minutes back to the hotel, and a movie in the TV then Zzz.

2nd day, Nov 4th

It was decided that the early morning of this fine day *to sleep* will be replaced with the 8am visit to Ji Le Si, along with breakfast nearby the place. We have to wake up HELL early, but it was worth it - the breakfast there was nice (I had Hakka noodles) and there weren't too many people at that hour. Our trip upwards was a breeze. The pond, the compound, then some photos - then straight to the Inclining Lift (ain't free) that brings us to the new(?) statue of Kuan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. Well, construction wasn't complete there - they're still raising funds to build a Tian Tan (Heaven's Altar) style roof over the statue for more protection - actually to be specific, they're raising funds for the roof tiles.



Oh look it's me again... Zzz...



Zzz... another one...



I think I better stop this self-admiring of mine...*clicks the STOP button*

A round of photos, and we went down, next to the pagoda tower or whatever they call that (ain't free either). Nothing much except a compound filled with flowers, and now come to think about it, I'm starting to regret that I've entered that place for nothing. Damn.

Then it was the time for souvenirs, and finally the trip downwards, which we descended with much difficulty, thanks to the crowd and the stores that made the path narrow. We had lunch at the same place as yesterday (chicken rice again... and again, ice kacang + cendol), then we left for the Ssssssssssss Snake Temple.

I never knew there was more behind the century-old structure - at least until now. The moment I stepped to the rear section of the temple, instantly deja-vu hitted me - I've been here, but not in reality, but in one of my dreams. But who cares if I've deja-vu ? Nobody cares. We had a round of snake-visiting and then, off to the city center.

Georgetown was, to me, a mess - the maps I had were outdated, and most of the roads are one-way streets. We were looking for a particular small lane in Penang Road - in search for the famous Cendol there. It took us around 20 minutes and a couple of rounds of driving before we caught sight of the stall - which was so damn obvious with the crowd gathered around. The car was parked, we squeezed into the crowds, and we went Cendol-crazy with a bowl of it in each of our hands.

After the ice-thrilling treat, our next stop was Khoo Kongsi, or also known as the Clanhouse of the Khoo's. Now converted to a musuem, it only opens for a limited period of time to visitors. Was impressed with the wall carvings that were based on the 24 Filial Acts, and also it was the first time I get to see a REAL Chinese memorial tablet.

After that, we went back to the hotel. I had a nice 2-hour nap (well, gotta admit it's a waste of 2 quality vacation hours), then for tonight, we went to the open-air hawker stalls nearby (they were originally from Gurney Drive, but due to all the upgrading in Gurney Drive they were relocated here - just next to the enourmous Mt. Erskine Chinese cemetery site) for dinner. Food's not as good as expected (with the exception of the "Oh Jian", the oyster omelette), but at least we had our stomachs full. After that, we returned to the hotel, and after 'Puteri Gunung Ledang' we went off to bed.

3rd day, Nov 5th

We decide to leave early in the morning. We checked out, had our breakfast nearby, and we're off to the ferry jetty. And well, my 'Navigator' job ends here as well.

But well, the return trip wasn't directly to KL. We're making stops all around Perak, from Ipoh, then took the old highway to Kg. Tualang, Batu Gajah for lunch, then to Bidor where we retook the PLUS highway again, and re-exited at Tg. Malim because of the highway jam. Reached KL at 8 pm, and after dinner it was already 9 pm. Oh well, how much I missed my PC. :P

One Day Family Trip

Deepavali. To me it's another *yawn* ordinary day.

Except the fact that it's a national holiday. And also except the fact that Dad's factory was closed for today due to all his workers went back to their respective hometowns, which means my family and my uncle's (also my dad's foreman in the factory) were free for the following week. Seems like family plans are overriding my schedule for this following week.

So it was decided yesterday that both our families will be going for an outing together for today. Originally we were going to Frasier's Hill, but the recent rainy weather made it dangerous due to the risk of landslides. So we went to Dong Zen temple in Jenjarom instead. And since I've been there once, naturally I became the guide.

Start out 8 in the morning, fetched my uncle and his family (along with my aunt - who unfortunately have to work for today) and then, 'dim sum' for breakfast in Damansara Uptown (yum-yum). Then, head off to Puchong, and Dad decides to find out the 'alternative' route to Dengkil. But well, thanks to the development of Putrajaya/Cyberjaya, the old signboards with the arrows pointing for 'Dengkil' were useless now. We ended up somewhere near Cyberia, and waaaaaaaaaay out from the road leading to Dengkil (in case you guys are wondering, we exited from the 'Pulau Meranti' exit near the flyovers).

OK. So we have to make a U-turn at the Equine Park Interchange. And we're on our way. The moment we reached Dengkil, it was my turn to keep my eyes on the road. We drove and drove and drove, not without passing by certain places with 'oh' 's and 'ah' 's from my family (due to familiarity of the place). I went kinda lost in the middle but luckily a signboard saying '8 KM to FGS Dong Zen' corrected my pinpointing and we took an important turn that I've actually forgotten about (blimey, I only went to Dong Zen once - and it was dusk). The next 8 kilometers were a breeze - and when the familiar traffic interchange with the petrol kiosk (without a roof, amazing) went into sight, I told my dad to turn left. We reached our destination within the next minute.

Well, it's been a year since I came, and the renovations which took place last year has been completed. Of course, my mind can't stop some of those memories of last year's Dhamma course to pop-up in my mind - happy ones, and frustrating ones (actually, it was someone else who got frustrated but well, I'll leave that to myself).

Of course, I start off with the formal, uh, how to say, ritual (?) of um, 'greeting' my master and teacher, the Buddha. Then off to check the interiors of the redecorated 'Da Xiong Bao Dian' (had been destroyed by a fire some time ago, but can't remember when), then went off to enjoy the scenary. Man, even the butterflies are tame enough. Mum took two close-up pictures of one feeding nectar on some flowers.



Aye yie yie, I'm a little butterfly ~




Ahoy ! Here I come, with my wings spread !



The picture is nice but the guy... =.=;

Anyway, it was pictures, pictures and pictures, next to the lake, the flowers, the temple entrance etc. After that, time for lunch.

Jenjarom -> Banting bypass -> somewhere near Pandamaran -> ah, Klang city suburbs.

It's been a year (or maybe more?) since I set my foot there. But whoa, the whole place has changed a lot. There used to be a huge garbage dump area there (I can remember crows flying around and occasionally, sea birds) but now, it turned into a low-cost housing estate. Anyways...

Dad drove us into a really really 'ulu' (undeveloped) area, which he claimed that the food was good. We ordered noodles and sort, but well... it's cheap, but it wasn't really nice. Dad even admitted that it didn't met up with what he tasted the last time.

But bleah, that's not only that. As expected from suburbs, we ran into a minefield - thanks to the local stray dogs. We have to rub our shoes on the stones before we head home.

And well, that ends our daytrip. But a longer trip awaits us this Thursday - this time, Penang for around 3 days. Damn, that means I'm out of the cyberworld for that 3 days. *sob sniff*