You are now in Sing... no wait, Indonesia, no wait, Singapore.

On a flight to Singapore not too long ago,

35,000 feet above sea level, (or maybe not that high)

with my phone on silent mode (I know I was supposed to switch it off, but yea.. you know~),

I received a text on the plane while crossing the (tiny) ocean connecting Singapore and Malaysia.




No wait~ What's this?




Shit. Am I on the wrong flight? O Shit shit... wait... but that can't be~~ *look around*


*Five minutes later*




Bloody hell, that deym Indonesia line very strong right? Flying from Malaysia to Singapore also can interrupt.

My Valentine’s Day

Valentines this year was simple for me. Unique, if not.

Last Saturday I was at Sunway Pyramid witnessing the greatest love ever professed.




O btw, nice or not my hair. I curled it myself. I bought a new curler from Singapore. Super nice one, I can curl my entire head of hair in like ten minutes.







Super shiny under the sunlight right?


Anyway, let’s get back to my story. When I first learnt about Berry and Lemon, I actually thought they were a very cute couple online professing their love for each other.

What I didn’t know was that they were literally a cute couple!




Finding out that these two bloggers were really two fruits, I couldn’t help but to ROFL. It’s like…awe….


Basically the whole story was that Berry wanted to present to Lemon the biggest purple hearts ever filled with Ribena bottle caps as his way of showing his love for Lemon.


Imagine how much Ribena has been drunk here.


They went on road shows, flyers, posters, ads, even appeared on TV just to gather these caps.




Oh btw, Belinda Chee was pretty hot in real life.




She’s the emcee for the event and she was in yellow! :D

Hey I was in yellow too. What a coincidence.




I even got free Ribena with Lemon to drink.




I first tasted the Ribena with Lemon in Singapore over Christmas last year, and instantly I fell in love with the drink.




It was delicious! The sweetness was just right, didn’t know the lemon taste will complement the drink so much, everything was in perfect consistency.

I even got a few bottles back home and my mom has been at the bottles every day. Lol. My mom’s so cute.

The saga was over in a jiff when more caps were collected on the spot and poof… we had a gigantic purple heart.




So I then grabbed my creampuff to camwhore around the place,




We even had a go at the dance machine with a little Indian boy, who was better than creampuff. :p




Where were too many people waiting in line to take photos with the famous fruit couple, as you can see behind the big TV screen on the photo above, so I decided that these cardboards would have to do make do with my camwhore session.













I also met a few people there too. Like Mehlin and Timothy.




Timothy has lost so much weight and became quite buff, he looked completely different from the first time I saw him. Hehe.. guess love do change a person. ;)

We then went to watch a family friendly comedy movie “New in Town”, acted by Renee Zellweger.


OMG she has lost SO MUCH WEIGHT! She was SO SO SO HOT in the movie.

Anyway, we were given one bottle of Ribena with Lemon and some food each as we entered the cinema. And guess who we met there?!

It was Lemon!!!




Berry was there too, but I like lemon more cause we’re the same color. Haha!


The movie was pretty pleasant, especially if you’re a Renee fan, though most of the movie I was just plainly and crazily admiring her killer heels and killers legs.

We ended the day with a late afternoon dine out at Marmalade in Bangsar after the movie.




And I found a fascinating use with my new gold bangle.

Sydney Fish Market: Aggressive Seagulls

Now if you like seafood, then there is no reason you should not visit the Sydney Fish Market.




I can tell you a long boring essay of what SFM has to offer, but I rather be polite and let you have to choice to either read it all from here, or just have the pleasure of letting the photos speak of themselves. (I know most of you just like to look at photos)

Now be warned, don't get too hungry. Fish mongers might just become slightly richer today.


You can visit the fish market any day of the week,




preferably early morning when you can see the fishermen bring the fish up, or early afternoon so you can still catch some fresh sea critters for lunch.


Huge Atlantic Salmon fish *drool*



Hi, John... Dory.



Big Fish



Salmon!


Kif was nice enough to show me around. Both in tight budget, we can only drool at these luscious fish fillets.




Sydney Fish Market not only just sells fish, they sell seafood on the go too! Yes, I mean the freshest possible seafood by the sea.





Ouchy pricey too


As we walked inside the building, we were drown by the view of mountains of oysters. FRESH oysters!







GOSH!!! I love oysters!!! They're the sort of food that either you totally adore them, or hate them with a passion.

Or third, you only like them because they're expensive. Like abalone.




Yea? I know you know I'm right.

O btw, the abalones here were HUGE!




But what the heck, these oysters were fresh! Just to prove my point of how fresh they are, here's a video of the monger preparing the oysters.




It's so fresh I swear they could be jumping in my mouth. He took it out straight from the shell and placed it back on it in less than a second, and woila! An oyster served!

And check out the lobsters!




Wooo! Aren't they red?!

Or even the crabs.




And some weird name sea critters too.


Balmain Bug? What?


Prawns don't come cheap here either.







Or why not splatter some cheese on top of these delicious already very sinful lobsters.


Or oysters, or mussels.








Put everything on a plate and you get a mix seafood platter fit for the kings!







If you like Japanese, they have "unagi" too. Or eel if you prefer.




Or even "uni", or sea urchin roe.




You know what, since you're already going to be spending so much. Go posh and get some caviar and sprinkle on top.




So these were what we got.

Some unagi.




Some uni.




Some fried calamari. yum.




And of course...




Half a dozen oysters.


If only these were my lunch everyday


Now I want to tell you something about the Sydney Fish Market. When you're done getting your food, and you walk outside where the harbour is, there're few tables and chairs where you can sit down and have a nice meal over a nice view of the sea.




Be prepared for there is ONE creature waiting for you out there.




The seagull.

Or should I say, seagullssssss.




It's like nature call. Where there's fish, there's those bloody birds. (not that I dislike them, I actually do fancy them a lot)

They're all over the place.




I mean, these seagulls were fierce!

They're so aggressive even I get scared of them.

I saw this Japanese girl walking down the stair and accidentally, tripped and fell down, resulting in having her meal splattered all over the place. The seagulls just mercilessly flocked in and nicked and picked and grabbed all the food away from her, despite the close proximity.

Almost like how they attacked this table when the customer left.




While she just screamed all the way till the floor was once again cleaned.

And all that happened in less than 15 seconds. Not even the fastest janitor in the world can clean that fast! Or get there that fast.

Me and Kif decided to test the birds out with a piece of our fried calamari.




Look at them go! I won't want to imagine myself being that poor squid.

Arriving in Sydney: Pubbing & Malaysia Fest

Leaving Melbourne behind, I took the Greyhound and continued my journey back up north, this time across the Eastern coast line of Australia.




Met up with my cousin in Canberra, a small town with a big heart.

Took up snowboarding, met Brett the hot instructor.

Fine dine with my cousin in a posh restaurant,




Found love with Spy Valley Gewurztraminer from Marlborough New Zealand.


Anyone can get a hold of this bottle for me? I'll buy it off your hand. :D


Last I saw the bottle was in Hong Kong.

So fast forwarding the trip into Sydney. From Canberra to Sydney, I took Greyhound service again which lasted for three hours and landed in Sydney in the depths of the night.


I love the coach service here in Australia, the bus drivers were always so funny.

Quoted from one of the introductory speeches one particular coach driver gave:

Driver:

"Right ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Greyhound, thank you for taking Greyhound service. We hope you have a pleasant ride and I am obliged to remind everyone to fasten their seat belts as it is the policy of the company to inform its passenger of the safety procedure of Australian transportation.

So now that I have informed you that, it is no longer my responsibility if in case the bus was to crash and kill you. If you wish to do so, you are welcome to come to the front of the bus and I shall pass you my name and contact so you can address your will to me."


Continue:

"Please do not switch off the air condition flap on top of you as this will interrupt the overall air conditioning system of the coach. If you find it too cold during your journey, just direct the aircond to the person next to you to annoy the hell out of him."


Ha ha! I love them OZ humours!


Anyway, at the chilly winter Sydney central, I waited patiently for my host to come pick me up (on foot).

Kif, a fellow blogger just graduated from Sydney. (who has recently decided to move back to Malaysia, good choice good choice, welcome back Kif)




The second day, Kif dumped me to his housemate, Kevin, to fulfill his work commitments (what great host -.-, just kidding :p).

So having gone through a terrible heartache, Kevin took me out pub hopping in Sydney town.


The infamous Sydney monkey bar. No I did not go there, though I wanted to.


Two of us had a total of two bottles of wine that night.




By midnight, we were almost pissed drunk, half dancing, laughing, walking left to right all over Darling Harbour.




The lights became more twinkly that night. Right before we both ended up puking in separate toilets in a closed mall nearby.

Amen.




Sydney was so much different compared to Melbourne. The town of Sydney was pretty cramped, reminded me of how Hong Kong was like. But with wider roads.


Burger King's are called Hungry Jacks here.


Lots of tall building surrounding driving lanes and pedestrian paths. I like the walking culture here, places were easily accessible anywhere within 10-15 minutes of walking. Other than that, there were lots of buses connecting throughout the city, people coming in from the urban area day in day out.

I did enjoy looking at some of the old architectures Sydney has, usually mix among the new. Like this church.




Darling harbour was probably the prettiest and most touristy part of Sydney.


Just imagine, this was before alcohol.


The next day Kif took me out for a stroll around Sydney.

I watched the bridge at Darling Harbour opened (twice!) for ferries to go through. Lucky me.




There were lots of pubs and nice restaurants around the area. Like the Hurricane which was famous for their overpriced pork ribs.




Though some argued that Angus was much better in terms of size, taste and price.

After Melbourne, I was pretty much overdosed on Chocolates. The last thing, believe it or not, I wanted was a rich chocolate drink. BUT! Who could resist visiting this particular Chocolate cafe when the name of the cafe is Lindt Cafe!







I mean, it's Lindt man!! Everybody knows Lindt! It's only the most famous chocolate ever, I adore their super thin excellence slice!

So the first thing when I arrived at Daring Harbour was to pay a visit to Lindt Cafe.




It's located next to a fountain of dancing cranes.


That's me trying to dance with a metal crane


Lucky for us, there was a Malaysia Fest going on in Sydney when I visited, organized by the Malaysian student Alumni there. So we decided to pop by for a visit.




According to them, Sydney hosts one of the biggest Malaysia Fests around, all thanks to those hardworking Malaysian students. :D




It wasn't difficult to spot where the event was held, as every one mile you walked that day in Sydney, you'll pass by a yellow t-shirt wearer bearing Malaysia Fest '08.


kudos to you guys.


You'll be blind not to notice.

There were many familiar names around.




Even Penang Gurney Drive is there.




Meet Edward (his name is not Ben).




Who runs a Kopitiam in Sydney. He has a stall set up at the Malaysia Fest too.




One of his food captured my attention.




It was the biggest Chicken Satay I've ever laid eyes on. It's like the size of a hotdog!

Having entered my fourth week in Australia, I was actually beginning to miss Malaysian food back home. Satay included.

So I quickly look for the price tag shown on the side to check out how much were these to make my purchase of my first Sydney satay.

Guess what I saw?


(conversion rate was AUD1 to RM3 back then)


WTF! 4 pieces of satay for AUD6 .

Edward, you.. you... you..... day light robber!

That's it!! I'm quitting my job to sell Roti Canai in Sydney!

Nicolekiss Exfoliates and Mask-ing

Now’s your chance to see my face totally make-up-less for more than 20 photos!
(cheh, not like I ever apply make-up when I travel anyway, you’ve probably seen dozens of them on my blog before)




Anyway, in this entry I am going to show you how to use Garnier Pure Scrub Wash and Self Heating Sauna Mask.




As I have mentioned before, my face is less than perfect and with all the constant travelling, if I do not take care of my face I will probably look like an old crow in 3 years time. So what do I do to make sure my facial skin stays healthy and clean?

Apart from the normal washing and toner applying, one must exfoliate religiously every other week. And apply mask every other fortnight or month.

This is how you do it.

The Anti-imperfection scrub wash:

1. First you squeeze a coin size worth of scrub gel onto your palm.




See the tiny particles, those will help you exfoliate your dead skin and white/black heads.


2. Then you apply them onto your T-zone and chin.

Splat some on forehead.




Onto your nose as well.




3. Rub in circular motion




This is to remove all the dirty particles from your pores on your face.




4. Rinse


You have no idea how difficult it is to take this photo.

I’m trying to be professional.


5. and then, Sparkle!


I know I look weird. But this is the only photo I took after the wash. Heh…


Now this process has to be done religiously (note!), because flawless smooth and cleared skin isn’t attainable over night, and definitely not after one or two washes. Try it for a week or two or so, you will feel the difference.

After having not travelled intensively for a few months now, I feel that my skin has cleared up immensely and now I can take photo without make up with confidence. :D Oh yea~ liberating.


Now, the Self-heating Sauna MASK.




1. Squeeze a coin size worth (again)




It’s whitish, thick and creamy.


No, don’t think otherwise. I’m not playing with dirty stuff.


2. Apply on T-Zone.

Start from your forehead.


Doesn’t that look like a heart shape?


Then move onto your nose.




And down to your chin.










One packet is actually enough for two (which I were to find out later), so you can either find a sister friend to do your mask ritual with, or squeeze half and save the rest for next time.

I decided to find a partner.




What? It’s a unisex practice.


3. Wait for 3 minutes.

Have a 3 minutes nap (If that is even possible).




When you feel that you skin starts to burn, don’t panic.

You are not having an allergic reaction (or maybe you are, who knows, no I’m kidding, you’re not), it’s just the self-heating mask at work.


Casey doing his 3 mins too.








He seems to be enjoying the mask.


4. Rinse after 3 minutes.


Casey examining himself



“Goodness, I look gay”


Slowly wash off the mask off your face. Don’t dirty the basin.







5. Wipe clean and smile.




Fuu wa… Feeling refreshed!

Just like coming out from a sauna room.




Look at me sparkle! :D




I love being a girl. We get spoiled by all these fun stuff sometimes I think skincare company does earn a bundle from me alone.

I do recommend the mask. It’s so fun to do and I love the refreshing feeling it gives me after. Half the fun is also doing it with your friend. So faster go get your Garnier now.

Coaster Fun Facts

Saw this at the back of the beer coaster in a Canberra pub.




Topics to talk about when you're drunk so you appear sober and sophisticated.

Stars…

Stars…

Bright beautiful stars.

I remember being held in your arms and twirl around in silliness under these magnificent stars that shone brightly, away from the city lights. And miles apart we are. Miles apart our hearts are not.
I gaze up, walking up to my podium perches highly on the slope, I gaze, and I remember. We are mere insignificance under these planets thousands of light years away. Aren’t all things and matters in life insignificant to people that don’t matter, to millions of living things out there that don’t matter. You matter, and hence you are my world, my significant. Yes, my proof and reason for living, the breath that kept my heart pumping its blood in and out, keeping me alive as I am, letting me live. For I was dead before you.

I don’t want to sleep tonight. The memories are too precious, this moment is too precious. Stay with me darling, stay with me forever, till our hearts stop beating for each other, till our hands are wrinkly and shaky, till we are unable to remember words or lines. Hold me, endear me, embrace me, as you always have, as I you.

I want to dance through this moonlight with you, every second of my life, every second of your life. So come, take my hand, slowly, gently, carefully, lovingly, dance with me my love. Let’s dance the night away, and our lives along with it. Let’s dance under these gorgeous midnight diamonds, circling above us, watching us, smiling down and guarding over us.

I was lost, and you found me. You took away my breath, my body, my mind, and lastly, my heart and soul. It was you, it was you all along. It has always been you. And I was blind to have passed you once, twice, but never the third time. Guts told me so, and I have never been gladder to have followed pursuit, despite my skepticism. Thank you for finding me, thank you for giving me your hand, your voice and your everything. But mostly, thank you, for loving me.

Baby, I know I’ve said it a million times.

Baby… I mean it when I say,

I love you.

Sydney Darling Harbour

Just photos. Enjoy.

13 Year Old Daddy Kid

What is wrong with this world when you have a 13 year old daddy?

After having his virginity given last year to a 14 year old who has claimed to have slept around with few other teenage boys, both 13 year old Alfie Patten and 15 year old Chantelle Steadman became parents to baby Maisie earlier this year.

But damn.. despite everything that just seems wrong, Alfie is sure the cutest daddy.



photo by the Sun


He is loyal and responsible at his age too.


Quote from Daily Telegraph:

He told The Sun: "Other stupid boys are lying, saying bad things, like they have slept with Chantelle too.

"But I am the only boyfriend she has had and we've been together for two years, so I must be the dad.

"When she found out she was having a baby, I asked her 'Am I the dad?' and she went 'Yeah' so I believe her.

"I didn't know about DNA tests before, but Mum explained it's when they do a swab in your mouth and it tells you if you're the dad.

"So, if I have that, they can all shut up. But I don't really care what people say. And I don't like them being bad about Chantelle."

photo by the Sun

I know it's eww... But what done is done.

So everybody say awee~~~~~

The Great Ocean Road Roadtrip

To be in Melbourne, or Victoria state per se, is to go on a ride down The Great Ocean Road (talk about creativity of a name).




The 243km stretch of road was built to commemorate those who were killed in the World World I, also acting as a project to solve employments issue to the returning Australian soldiers from the war.

It's one of the greatest scenic drives along the most beautiful coastlines in Australia. They even have a website set up for it.

In other term, if you have not done The Great Ocean Road Roadtrip when you're here, for f*ck sake you come to Victoria!


We met up with Graham in Southern Melbourne, a random couchsurfer I met online who volunteered to take us out for a roadtrip down The Great Ocean Road.


Graham, a happy go lucky retiree, we should all live like him. Contented with life. :D


Then we were off driving toward the South in his new second hand Toyota.




with Tee Hiong and Henry at the back (two of my new found friends in Melbourne).




And me with me about-to-go-missing cap and Stuart's jumper.




In the car we cracked our Cadburry bars and joked and talked (most talked about Graham's life) and more than half an hour later, we saw the coast.


Winding road ahead


The road along the coastline was beautiful, with many winding roads,




up and down the cliffs, small bridges to cross,




and sometimes, pretty houses to look at.


fairly unique house


Made you wish you could buy a house and live here.

Soon it started to drizzle a bit.




When we arrived at our first look out point, the rain has stopped, and though cloudy, the view of the coasts was nonetheless magnificent!




We took a group photo with the Big Hill rock sign with a 3D map of the Great Ocean Road on it.







Further up the road, we had few more stops and the view of the Southern coast just got prettier and prettier, despite the foggy and cloudy weather.



















It's so pretty I even took the liberty to create a series of Wallpapers of the Great Ocean Road so you can download here to use.


Click here for wallpaper size.


Click here for wallpaper size.


Here are some wide screen wallpapers for those of you like me.


Click here for wide_wallpaper size.



Click here for wide_wallpaper size.


You know, one day I should create a series of Nicolekiss scenic wallpaper around the globe. What'dya think?


The last two wallpapers I took was at the last look out point before the hitting Apolly Bay (was it the first city or second city?). The journey, with stops, took us four hours from Melbourne city.






Graham stealing my limelight



Me and Tee Hiong doing the Dragonball combine!


We stopped by Apollo Bay for some quick lunch before hitting back.




I would have wanted to go forward till we hit the infamous Twelve Apostles but it was already mid-afternoon and Graham, at his age, was tired and needs much rest, so we reluctantly headed back to Melbourne.

But not before we cam-whored around for a bit.










Don't ask me what I was doing, I didn't want to go back. So have to stall some time. :(((





La la la, don't want to go back, la la la





I'm a pole hugger wtf?

Mama Song

wow.. this is some kick ass song.

You just gotta hear this.




Show it to your mom. LOL.

Droplets

I took these on a small road trip to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.


After Rain


They're now my droplets collection.


Nature's Tears



One of Each



Droplets and Leaves



Tissue


Then my fav,


On the Edge

I miss...

Happy Valentines

It's the season of love.

Big whoop!


Lovey dovey, the poor or the busy will be going out for movies or dinner in town, or if you can, go for the more expensive dinner in town. Say Ritz Carlton?

While the free or rich couple will go for a trip, travel somewhere, nearer say Genting? Penang? Koh Samui? Bali? The LV carrier will be heading to Europe this moment, moon lighting in Paris tonight.

And then there's me, stucked here blogging, in front of the screen.


No la, just kidding la. Actually just finished watching a movie, going for some food in a bit, might want to work a bit, would love to travel to Koh Samui actually but certain restriction withheld. So in the end, I'm still not sure what the plans of this Valentines would be.

I know, here's an idea. Since that everyone is going out tonight, travelling and checking into hotels, most services are going to overcharge solely for today alone. Instead of celebrating this one day, why not celebrate Valentines for a whole week? Wouldn't that sound more romantic? Or even better, you can celebrate valentines every single day for the rest of the year for the rest of your life?

Or would that be asking too much from your partner? -.-

The Chocolate Hunt in Melbourne

Short Note: so everyone has heard that Rihanna's concert has been postponed till further noticed because she was beaten up by her boyfriend. Poor soul.

So far no one has seen her injured photo yet, so technically there's no proof that the women whom Chris Brown hit was in fact her, but what are the odds of both of them missing the Grammys together? Bless her soul, hope she heals and come to Malaysia soon.


Now I don't like to disappoint, but Melbourne wasn't exactly my favourite city in Australia.

*now don't kill me or stab me with a knife or both*


I mean, everyone has a few favourite celrtain things that tick their senses, it could be partying, it could be shopping, it could be agriculture; unfortunately tall buildings, unlimited shopping choices and plentiful of shops and restaurants and city life just ain't mine.




In fact, I like Adelaide a lot more, the people were friendlier, warmer, it's cozy, small rural town, small place with a big heart and lots of wineries and vineyards surrounding the place.

But soon found out that Canberra was by far my favourite city (to be exact, life in the snow mountains was what completely blew my mind off).




But (there is always but)... I do love Melbourne for one thing. Their intensive selection of delicious dessert cafes, by that I meant specifically chocolate cafes.

Hence my one mission in Melbourne was the ultimate Nicolekiss Chocolate Hunt!




Ah hah!

With full on confidence and a determination that never dies, I set out in aim to find the best chocolate drink in the rich food culture Melbourne.

After 5 days of scouting up and down. I came down to three conclusions which I separately award the three best titles to.

So now~ *drum rolls*... The best chocolate drink in Melbourne Nicolekiss Awards!


Number 1!

Best Hot Cocoa Award

I don't care what you say or what you have tried before, this award can only belong to one and only one cafe in the whole of Melbourne. Brunetti takes the cake for the Best Hot Cocoa Award.




This Italian rich mixture will set your sweet tooth straight. If you like rich, warm, hot cocoa, think of drinking chocolate mousse or syrup straight from your cup. One little cup is enough to last for one whole afternoon. Just remember to drink plenty of water after.




It was a rainy afternoon when I tried this cocoa drink, all the birds flocked in to take shelter from the rain. It's funny that the sparrows were cluttered to one side (like photo above), while the pigeons shunned to the other side.




Birds and their respect for individual's space?


"We are the geek birds, we flock together."



The next award is my favourite award.

Best Ice Chocolate Award

Shout with me. "KOKOBLACK. KOKOBLACK!"




Yes I know Milo Ais (or Ice Milo) is the best chocolate drink in the world. But I BEG to differ. You know, I was naive like you were before, trapped under the well thinking that Milo Ais is all that! For a long time, throughout my puberty in fact, it was all that.

But until little naive Nicolekiss went to Australia and drank Kokoblack's ice chocolate!




Now little Nicolekiss has grown up to become big matured Nicolekiss who drinks the almighty ice chocolate in Kokoblack! Not little pre-puberty Milo Ais already. Little Nicolekiss has moved on!




I tell you. ICE CHOCOLATE at KOKOBLACK is da bomb man!





And their selection of chocolate desserts is fine~~~~~~


you just gotta try the chocolate mousse. chilled and rich. oh yum!


*If you don't agree with you, I don't want to friend you. hmph.*



Best Everyday Chocolate Drink Award

None other than Max Brenner.


"oh yea, I share the same love story as you do, whoever you are Max."


You know their specialty the hugmug?




Well, I dedicate this award to this special drink on the hugmug list.

It's called Chocolate with Crunchy Waffle Balls.

It's not too sweet, not too bitter, not too creamy, you won't get turned off too easily, and the waffle balls just made it so nice to drink, you chew, then you drink, then you chew again.

By the time you know it, poof! You finished the drink, and you'll want to order for more. It's so addictive!

Hence the name of the award. You can just drink this everyday and you won't get tired of it.










See the halo on my head? Real sunlight you know. *I am almighty*

The Cost of Travelling

This conversation took place a min ago.


Shawn says: have u ever calculated how much u will save if u didnt travel ?

Nicole says: I calculated. not much difference actually. considering if i didn't travel. i'll probably spend money on rentals and stuff

Nicole says: and also on entertainmetns like karaoke or buffets

Nicole says: or fine dinings.. which is like once a week or something

Shawn says: yeah

Shawn says: me too

Nicole says: and phone bills

Nicole says: and tolls

Shawn says: those are killer expenses lor

Nicole says: and petrols

Nicole says: and i don't have any of those when i travel. no phone bills. no tolls. no internet fees, no water or e bills. no entertainment fees. no rental. no petrol

Nicole says: now u calculate how much i saved by travelling.

Shawn says: true also

Nicole says: man i can write a book

What I was doing last night and Blog Calendar

Hogging up the laptops (note: plural) and wifi at home of course.

I know I know, I'm supposed to be posting my travel entries. But I couldn't resist blogging about what I was doing the whole last night. Most of the time spent loading the bloody page.




And not just one page.


5, wanna fight that? hah?!


No, this is not an ad. But I simply want to talk about what I do three times a year at midnight.

Last year during the Airasia Free Seatings Promo (which was in August), I was awake at 2am in the morning hogging the pc of my cousin in Canberra, booking flights to Australia and the rest of my trips this year (up till August so far).

Oh, btw, since this is a travel blog. I have set up a calendar (agenda) on the right side corner of this blog. Can see? You can track my travel schedule for the whole year round, at least then you will know where I will be and when I'll be flying off again. In case my off-date entries confuse you of my whereabouts.


Pls ignore my pimple face


Neat huh? I think so anyway.

Anyway, at 11:45pm, I was already seated in front of my laptop awaiting the final moment, god I could even hear my own breathing. Kan Jiong.

At 12:00am, I was clicking furiously away at the laptop. Selecting dates finding the 0 fare for countries that I have not been to and wanted to visit this year. Oh yea.. I love booking for travel flights, makes me high.

The site was SLOWWWW as HELLLL, you think that after so many years Airasia would have anticipated the crazy surge of traffic during the free promo period and super upgrade their server or something.

Though it's been better, despite lagging like crazy, the site did not shut down like it did one time years ago due to server down.

I come upon India, which was giving out really cheap fare.




It wasn't free seating for further countries like India, Australia and England, etc. But I reckon RM469 for a return fare to India was bloody good. Could have been better though, don't you think?

But what everyone was up late this night this promo was for ONE and mainly ONE thing.

The flight to London.

As of I.


It's the first free seating promo for London flights and I was already planning to visit Europe at the year end this year. Not know what kind of price they would be offering, I had been anticipating for this promo for days now.

After waited for so long, selecting the right dates, filtering the more expensive dates, settling for the cheapest date fare, I finally come to this result.




It's HOLY SHIT!!! AirAsia has officially set a world record!




No where else in the WORLD can a budget airline offer a flight service all the way from SEA to London at the price of less than RM1500!!!! It's insane. I mean, RM1500 is the freaking price to pay for a return flight to Melbourne on a particular cheaper flight fare day. Not across HALF the globe!

You know what that means? That means now the British only needs to pay freaking 280 pounds to fly to Malaysia and back!!! God damn it! That's like going for a fancy dinner for two in London on a weekend night with your darling!!!

ARGH. Why am I earning ringgit?!


Now if you REALLY want to see a record breaking fee!

Don't scream,

don't shout,

don't faint!


Now CHECK THIS OUT!!


Ok, I took back whatever I said about Airasia don't give RM0 fare to Melbourne.


HOLY SWEET JESUS OF MARY. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT?! LIKE WTF RIGHT!

RM111. That's like ONE bloody fine dining meal in Malaysia for ONE person!


Le sigh~


I guess you must be thinking I already booked the flight right? WRONG!

Oi, I need to save up for Australia and New Zealand trip again la this year. Finally going back there to graduate! Yay! Congratulate me. So I guess I have to leave the booking to a later date. Besides, I thought the promo to London would give me such a cheap fare like less than RM1000 or something. LOL

Since I wasn't booking the flight now, I decided to look into another favourable destination I want to visit this year end.




:D

I guess...

Skin Problems

Short note: Omg, I thought today was Tuesday already. Damn it, posted on the wrong date. Sorry guys but new entry will only be posted up tomorrow after lunch k? More travel entries then :)


Let me tell you a bit about my skin.




It’s oily.

Or should I say, it was oily.


No, not that kind of oil la.


Being a girl, my puberty hit me rather late, not late in my teens, but early in my twenties. My first pimple appeared when I was 23 (that’s just 1.5 years ago). And last year, it started popping like those breakdancers popping on a smooth marble floor.




But not before it evolved from oily, to well, really nice, and then following the pimple, became confused and not sure which skin texture it wants to go for.

Professionally, they call it combination skin. Or oily T-zone.

Strangely, yes very strangely, my skin became rather nice again since mid last year. It could be due to all those diving and constant exposure to sea water. Who knows, they always say sea minerals are good for skin right?

HOWEVER, because I’m always on the go, and as much as I try to apply sun block whenever I were to step out of my room/house/hotel/condo/hostel, I cannot 100% stop the 1001 external elements that are set out to destroy my skin.




Constant exposure to the sun, pollution in congested cities, dust (the density of dust in Cambodia, like holy macaroni!), and all the direct UV rays from my travelling down under (the big HOLE in the O-zone layer in Australia, oh yea, that helps -.-)

When I ZOOM in at my nose, I was shocked to no ends, though not totally unexpected.


Call me OMG-my-nose-looks-like-the-moon queen.


It was time for some emergency actions.

First, in order to remove all dirt from your pores, you need such a product called exfoliator, or face scrub. It’s like gel/cream with many little fine particles inside so when you rub it against your nose or T-zone with some water, it will rub away all those dirt and black- or white-heads stuck in your pores.

Blah blah blah…

Well.. let’s not go into details. (I’ll leave it to next time)




So then you pores will be clean and tighten.

Then you will need this mask, which says to deeply purify pores for 7 days, at least twice a week (for my condition).




Wow, self-heating sauna action.

Does that mean my face will become lobster after this?





*Stay tuned for my after-application*

Nicolekiss Spoof Rihanna – Umbrella

Rihanna, the uber hot girl with ever changing hairstyle.
















From super cute bob to long straight and wavy to ultra bob, Rihanna’s hair is as versatile and inconsistent as Britney’s body weight.

But her staple image is still the infamous fashion astounding statement asymmetrical black bob.




But what she is famous for was her omg-tight-ass body that most girls would give two arms, two legs and their credit cards for.




Good news to all die-hard fans out there. Her majesty Rihanna is going to hold a concert in Kuala Lumpur on February 13th. Yes, you get to see Rihanna the "Good Girl Gone Bad" tour LIVE in Malaysia!

MeTV is throwing a contest that might send you to meet Rihanna in person.

Heres how…

The catch is to create a video (creative as you can be) that shows how much of a Rihanna fan you are, aka make your own Rihanna short MTV clip.

And you need to upload your Rihanna mania video via mobile to MeTV…and the best video will win)


Methods of submission:

1. Record your best Rihanna mania video.
2. Send video via MMS to 26388 with RIHANNA typed in your message or subject box.


What’s more, it’s not just a meet. You get to…
Greet and send her off at KLIA.
Get VVIP pass to her concert.
Get invited to her concert post party.

And finally, get to talk and mingle with Rihanna!!!



This is my entry and ticket to see her in person! Rihanna, I LOVE YOU!




This is the original version. I’ve already truncated mine to enter the contest.
You should not exceed 300kb for your submission video. (that’s like 15 seconds of low quality video screenings ?)


While to watch, rate & download videos on MeTV from your mobile:

Step 1 : Log on to http://wap.channelx.com.my (from your mobile)
Step 2 : go to Fun Stuff and select MeTV,
Step 3 : click on Rihanna category.
Step 4 : Watch, rate (my video) or download any of the listed video.


Fear not, there are many tickets to be won! Let’s go welcome Rihanna guys! Don’t miss out! However, expiry is on 8th February, so chop chop, send in your video now!

One Grand Winner who gets the VVIP ticket to Rihanna LIVE in Kuala Lumpur, meet Rihanna, interview and talk to her, plus exclusive invites to Rihanna concert post party
And 15 consolation prizes with a pair of tickets to the concert each, each ticket worths RM198.

And winners of the above categories get to greet and send off Rihanna at KLIA!!!



Rihanna I lup you so much until my sister even cut her hair like yours!




Nice or not?

Say nice.

I Toblerone U

Valentines is around the corner. Have you gotten your honey something sweet?




Something literally sweet perhaps?




Whenever I get bored of reading a book at night.




And stars start to appear around you, dragging you into dreamland.




I have always like to have a bit of a sneak munch.




Sometimes when I get really bored at night working on my laptop.




Other times I just don’t know what to write anymore at 2am in the morning.




What wakes me up is a good bar of chocolate.




My blog ain’t called Nicole Chocoa Heaven for nothing. It’s no secrets that I love chocolates. Chocolate not only makes me happy,




It keeps me awake.




Allowing me to work on my paper throughout the nights.

It’s true that chocolates have always been the long standing tradition of gifts to those you care; they represent the gift of love.




However in this modern materialistic world, buying presents is no easy chore. It requires hard thinking, deep consideration and fierce debates (for some) with your wallet. Chocolates alone aren’t enough anymore.

So let I Toblerone U help you.




Toblerone came up with a brilliant idea to solve most of our problems in the wallet sector.




Because of tight budget during recession, I’m sending my sweetheart a list of dream gifts he would have loved to bits, virtually.




And a huge box of Toblerone. :D
For real.




Oh yea, for those who buy this box of Toblerone will receive a unique code on a card found inside the box.




There you will find a unique code which you can use to enter a contest that will entitle you to win real gifts of what you’ve designed.




Not just Malaysians, Singaporeans also can play.




See, if you win this, then all your virtual gifts for your darling become real gifts, just like how you designed it! Now tell me a better reason not to buy Toblerone this Valentines.




Of course, it would be wise if you keep the box close.




Baby, sorry I couldn’t resist!




But don’t worry k, at least you’ll still have your virtual colognes to smell right?


“I Toblerone U baby!”

Landing in Melbourne: Best Fish and Chips

Ahh, so I finally landed in Melbourne. The city that everyone loves and wants to stay on forever. The city of food, of beauty, of culture. The core of Australia.




Or so I heard.


After having heard all the fuss about Melbourne for so long from various friends and readers telling me how amazing Melbourne was, I was expecting myself to be looking forward to the day I landed in the city. However, I found myself dreading one thing when I took the flight there in August 2008.

The cold.

Oh yes, the deadly cold of the winter. Remember when I said I was already freezing my ass off in Gold Coast when I first landed in OZ, well, I realized one cold hard truth about my journey as I proceeded to hop from one city to another...

IT GETS COLDER AS I MOVE SOUTH.




Darn.


Lachy was nice enough to pick me up from the airport with his uber hot sexy girlfriend and brother-in-law? in his cool jeep. So figuring out transportation in Melbourne was least of my concern when I stepped out of the airport.

The next day, I arranged to meet up with my first Melbourne reader, Henry,




at Melbourne Central under the big pocket clock?




This is the Coop's Shot Tower in Melbourne Central.




Beautiful indoor infrastructure, ain't it?

Melbourne Central can be a bit confusing though. It's like a historical landmark, a shopping center and a train station all in one.




Is in indoor or outdoor?


It's an outdoor indoor.




Get it? Outdoor trapped indoor. Haha... Ha...ha... ah.. nevermind.


Anyway, I have heard more than a decent number of times that Australia is where you can find the best Fish and Chips in the world, a fact that I wouldn't think twice to believe. Seeing that England was where Fish and Chips originated from, and that Australians were practically English anyway when they first "escaped" to the land down under; plus the fact that Fish and Chips in England really sucked big time, oily blunt tasteless stuff of vinegar and salt...




It could just very possible that the Australians have taken the recipe and improved it over the decades?



I decided to scout it out. After catching up with Damon (another reader) and Henry at Melbourne Central, we drove out in Damon's car to St Kilda (said to have all the best seafood) for the best fish and chips in town.

Unfortunately the restaurant we wanted to go was closed that day so instead we stopped by a pub in St Kilda Beach for dinner.







Damon has his steak while Henry ate his chicken.







I of course went for my fish and chips. :D




Which was holy crap the biggest fish and chips I've ever seen in my life.




Which was wrong because soon I realised in the following few weeks that that's the decent portion any decent restaurant in Australia would serve you.




My say?

It was good, but it wasn't so good that one has to go around to shout about. Still, it was pretty good. I love the portion. Even though I forgot the name of the pub, but according to Damon, any pub in St Kilda served pretty good fish and chips anyway.

It's like saying cendol in any shop in Melaka is nice anyway. -.-


Not satisfied, Henry and I went out early in the morning the following day (11am was early for me) to continue our tour around Melbourne and the best Fish and Chips in Melbourne.




We went to the Victoria Market but it was closed. :(

It's ok, since I'm going back there soon this year. Oh yea~




And the weather was freaking cold!!!!




I looked like a freaking Eskimo here.


The thing about Melbourne was that it's filled with trams.


Notice the tram lines in the sky all over the town.


Public transportation here can be classified into trains, and trams.




Trams are so important and plentiful, priority must be given to the vehicles at any one time.




Not like I care anyway. :op



If you know how to ride, some trams are free in town from certain destination to destination, wait, or was that only in Adelaide?




Oh well, that's the great thing about having a guide who can bring you around.




Finally, we arrived at the beautiful St Kilda Beach.




Honestly, I thought Gold Coast had better sea view than this.

We proceeded to Beachcomber, highly recommended by Damon's friend, a rather exclusive looking cafe by St Kilda beach.










Where we ordered the Catch of the Day straight from the menu. (Dayum, AUD26 for fish and chip? that's expensive!)







Which came with a complimentary champagne.




And a glass of sweet dessert wine which was my favourite.




Sevenhill Botrytis Semillon, oh my god I love you.







and some starter.




:D


As for the fish and chips. (read my food blog if you want to see more photos)

All I could say is....

Let the picture tells it all.





I'm definitely going back.

How to Light a Fireplace

When I was in Melbourne, I bunked over at Lachy's and his very very very hot mix Indian girlfriend. They stayed in this very olden English cottage style house in the urban area.

It's so old that there's no central heating system in the house, in fact, seeing that it was winter, every night I have to sleep with a metal heater that operated on gas (or oil, yea like I can tell the difference).

But what I like about this house was that it was very traditional and ancient, and back in the days, people keep themselves warm through the most basic way.




Yes, the fireplace. In the living room. Or the common area if you must.

When I first saw the fireplace, I got so excited and started shouting

"OMG OMG you have a fireplace! OMG you so must light this up for me. Teach me how to light a fireplace, show me show me show me!"


So Lachy went to his backyard where we found a whole stock of dry woods and logs and twigs lying around on the grass.




He started choosing, selecting, analysing, discarding, and chucking them into a box.




So I asked Lachy: "Hey, why are you choosing? Can't you just get any log you want? What about that big one."

Without turning his back to look at me, Lachy replied: "No, you have to look for the dry ones, and the ones that are easily lighted, you only need one or two big logs, then you need to fill the rest (in the fireplace) with twigs".

Me: "Ohh....."




So this is five steps to How to light a fireplace according to Lachy.


1. Place two or three big logs in the fireplace, then cover it with smaller branches, dry twigs and stuff it with lots of old newspaper.




2. Light it.




Light the paper, not the big fat impossible-to-light log la.


3. Blow




Usually the fireplace blower will do the trick for you. But for a traditional fireplace such as this, you have to work your lungs like you mean it.

I was looking at Lachy working his lungs out like an full tank engine on lubrication for a good 10 minutes before the fire decided to get even with him. So keep on blowing till your face is rushed with blood.


4. Poke around




Give it a few final pokes so the fire and fully cover the log before settling back in your comfortable lounge of sofa and pillows.

It will take half an hour or more to turn the big logs into coal, which then the fire will keep on burning for hours on end.




5. Enjoy




On a cold winter, nothing, I mean seriously nothing, beats a good warm laze by the fireplace. Such fuzzy feeling, brrr.




Now all you need is a good rug,




and Coco.




Meet Coco. He She was so warm and cute, I simply adored him her.




Now that's what I called a comfortable evening on a cold winter night.