In 2 hours' time I should be in the car heading for the airport to catch a flight to Langkawi for a 6 days escapade which I seriously need, a break from all these travellings, a luxurious break.


Sky view of Langkawi taken from my last trip


There will nothing but relaxation, lots of wine, chocolates, good food, good company, good music by the beach for a blissful six days. Or at least I hope.




And... I haven't even pack yet. Gosh~ Why am I always like that?!! -.-

So in the mean time, I will keep this blog updated with the rest of my China trip that has long been pending. :D


Anyway, by now I bet you have heard about the MTV Asia awards thingy that's going to go on.

MTV Asia awards!!!

Woo hoo!! I want to go. Can I can I can I?


Anyone got tickets? I’m serious. Shaz? Timothy? Kenny? Andy? Anyone?

I want to go! Pur-lease~~~

I mean, I’ve never been to an actual MTV awards, and to be able to meet all the fehmes celebrities, singers, stars, idols… *wails*

To be honest, I’m not really a big fan of any real superstar in real life, never have been. Ever since the fall of Micheal Jackson since 10 years ago, I never could bring myself to love anyone as much anymore. But hey, if you put Christian Bale in front of me, for real, I’ll probably drop dead and die. Shallow, I know. Sigh~




He’s gorgeous. With the muscles, the thick brows and deep luscious eyes; he is G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. An uncanny resemblance to a young Tom Cruise though. However I don’t really give that much credit to the movie, yea yea, everyone says it’s awesome and all, it’s TOO LONG!!! Draggy! Tiring, over-climaxed! I still think Transformers is cooler.

Where will it be? Let me see~




According to this poster, it’s at Genting, Arena of Star. Ohh… stuck on a mountain with Leona Lewis.. mmmm…

What do you mean you don’t know who is Leona Lewis?!

She’s the singer who bleeds her fans’ hearts out with her habba habba.


*Keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding~* God I love that song. It's the type of song you listen over and over again till you puke.


Wait.. it’s on … 2nd of August?!!! WHAT?! NO!!!! I’ll be in Langkawi!!! WTF? NO!!

No.. no no no no no!!! Leona, no no no.. how could you! Leave me stranded on an island?

NO!!! Leona~~~~!!!! Fine! I’ll get drunk by myself with cheap booze! HMPH!!

SIGHHHH.

Let me see how you can get two tickets for yourself? Ermm (eye-ing the poster), ok.. this is only for XPAX user, if you are, good! Sms XPAX MTV to 28881 and reload RM10 (or more) on your XPAX account and see if you can get two tickets to attend the award.


Oh.. and there is a PARTY! Oh oh oh!!! Faizal Tahir will be there!! He’s cute…… *sheepish grin* (I met him once).

Now this is the tricky part, getting the tickets I mean.

Make yourself brilliantly noticeable (how I don’t care, a Joker make up might help), and get spotted by Celcom’s X-Girls (you will know, it’s some hot chicks in their purple shirts) on the street in KL from now till 31 July (wait, today is the 31st, lol), Penang on 23 July and Johor Bahru on 25 July (more lol, all passed already), and note: from 11pm onwards. Okay… maybe wearing a joker mask in the middle of the night isn’t such a great idea.




But hey!!! It’s two tickets to Genting and the MTV Asia Award Party!!! (X-Party to be exact)



Sigh… focus on Langkawi. Focus Nicole, focus…

It’s few days to Chelsea’s live match event on the 29th of July and it’s time to announce the winners!

I have a hard time choosing the winners and never did I expect so many die hard Chelsea fans out there who’re dying to watch this match. (seriously, I ain’t kidding when I say I didn’t get football)

Anyway, the grand prize winner is…..

*drum rolls*

Kien Wei Chow

He shares one of the coolest beer and football moments and I don’t know how he does it, it has elements of friendship, humour, excitement and happiness. Wtf.

And also has one of the best photos I received so far.


“Heneiken, so good you can drink it underwater!”


Damn hard sell wei. LOL

Kien Wei Chow, you and I have a date. (Oh btw, what is your PADI level? :p)


The other two winners walk away with two free tickets to the match.

First runner up goes to TJ!

For making up one hell of a quirky story that depicts the link between football and beer, it actually made me laugh.

The relationship between Beer (Heineken) and Football (Chelsea) started
a long time ago, although no one has yet to determine the exact time.

Before things arrived at the stage they are now, Beer used to be
extremely good partners with Tennis. As they got to know each other
better, Tennis demanded for a more exclusive relationship, which even
resulted in Tennis limiting Beers interaction with other partners to a
maximum of 2 people (hence doubles Tennis). After a series of problems,
that included missed overhead smashes and double backhands that resulted
in the racket being thrown into the stands, the both decided to end the
relationship and just remain acquaintances. After all, Beer was a
friendly person and was well loved by all. After some time, Beer
stumbled upon Tennis and his new found, not so friendly and gassy,
sparkling water (Perrier). The 2 appeared very serious in their series
of exchanges.

One day, whilst hanging out with his good friend Rugby, Beer met
Football in a chance meeting on the field. Beer and Football instantly
hit it off, as both were friendly and well loved by everyone.

As time passed, their relationship was again tested as Beer, who because
of his friendliness and likability seemed to attract interest from a
variety of other people that included FMW (Female Mud Wrestling), BV
(Beach Volleyball) and Surfing. At the same time, FMW, BV and Surfing
were courted by a variety of other imposters. Beer would sometimes find
FMW flirting with Whisky and BV with Vodka at their normal hang-out
places. Surfing on the other hand had other interests that were not of
liquid form. It was then that Beer realized the relationship it had
with those passer-bys were merely flings.

Through the thick and thin of it all, it was Football who stuck by Beer
when the going got tough. It was all 11, and sometimes 22 of Football
that made Beer feel that he was a genuine friend. A friend that he
could count on, although there have been interferences from the
occasional imposters like Stout and Cider. Occasionally, when Beer and
Football get along too well, Referee normally interferes and flashes his
sexy yellow and God forbid red play cards. Referee also sometimes gets
Scolari involved and he really can kick up a fuss if Beer interferes too
much with Footballs routine. But at the end of the day Beer and Football
know that they can go back, kick back the boots are relax and get merry
on the telly.


Seriously, how can I not let him win after such effort. LOL.


Now, it’s difficult to choose the final winner as there was two favourites. TIED. Hence I have decided to give one ticket to each of the winners.

First ticket of third prize goes to Ronnie!

For producing one of the most intriguing splendid photos of football.




And the second ticket goes to Thomas Tiong,

For his quirky captions to downloaded photos of Chelsea footballers, and also some rather.. erm.. explicit ones.


“David Bentley loses ball control

He sure needs a lot more practising, especially on his ball control. Otherwise, his balls will suffer serious injuries...”



“OH SHIT!! This is how Gary Neville (Manchester United) will react when he drinks too much Heineken and then saw a bunch of Chelsea players walking out from the tunnel.”


And finally… in his words…

Football is about drama, joy, excitement and most of all celebrations. When it comes to celebrations, we cannot disassociate celebrations with beers, obviously.

That's why we always say CHEERS! whenever there's a celebration, same goes to GLORY in football. That's why Heineken and Chelsea are well blend.




“Oh please!! no no no, not here!”

You know, I am rather excited about my Australia trip this coming August. To be exact, 6th 8th of August. (OMG I actually got the date wrong >_<)

Not before flying to Langkawi for a chill out escapade with some of my peeps from 31st July to 5th August.

I know, you must think I'm off my head to be booking the dates so close to each other. Honestly, I didn't know I have booked a ticket last year to Langkawi until.. well.. a month ago. -.-


Oh by the way, for fun and for pure pleasure and because we are all stressful working people, I have created a group in facebook called I LOVE TRAVEL. Click here.


I designed the photo, nice or not?


It's a group for travellers around the world but mainly in Malaysia because this is where me and my pals (nah, ky, i tag you already ok, ; andy ma man, he's the reason why my camera has been so inactive, and shaz, happy belated birthday, birthday boy, lol) will be arranging and organizing some fun trips around Malaysia or within SEA.

Langkawi is actually the first trip organized here. :D


I designed this photo too. Ke ke ke


Why? I'm definitely not doing this for money (despite popular belief that most of my trips are either sponsored or financially supported, they are not. I am a rather care-free hardworking person), and because I love travelling so much, so might as well include more people on these travel trips for more energetic young-minded people to share. Yay!!!

And also because it's stressful to be travelling all the time. Phew~ *wipes sweat*


Okay, back to my Australia trip. Woo hoo!! It's my first time heading down below and I'm very anxious about it. This is going to be a proper backpacking trip since Indo-China and to be honest I'm rather terrified, not because of being alone, but because OZ dollars now are SO BLINKING EXPENSIVE!

WTF? RM3.17 = AUD 1.

I mean. Jeez... that's means RM5k is not even gonna worth AUD2k. How the hell am I going to survive in OZ la like that?!

I decided to take matters into my hands.


Thank god I have friends everywhere.

So far I have managed to secure a place with Lachy (or Lochy) in Melbourne, a globe traveller whom I met in Bangkok last year.




Lachy and his gf, Priya, are sweet enough to offer their place for me to stay and to show me around town and cramped in as many plans as they possibly can (so they said to me) to make my trip there worthwhile. Sniff. Thank you Priya!!


As for Sydney, Kif!! I want to visit that opera house behind you!!!




Kif's my Project Trafford's partner in crime btw. :D And he is kind enough to give up his room for me.. such a sweet guy isn't it. If only I can get to watch a performance in the opera house. Sigh~ *hint hint*

Also, my professor Ursula from my Master course, who is the sweetest lady and inspirational professor ever! has offered me to stay over with her for a weekend in her humble home with her hubby.




I really missed her. sigh~


And a month ago, my cousin from Canberra has emailed me and guess what?! I'm going snowboarding!! Woo hoo!!!! My virgin trip to surf the snow~~~!!!! Yay baby!


Just today, Stuart who has been travelling since god knows when, the decent all English guy whom I got acquainted with in Cambodia, confirmed with me that he is able to host me during my stay in Gold Coast.




Surfer's Paradise here I come!!! He has become a Tuna Fisherman since landing in Australia. Haha!!


So that's pretty much settled for most places except for Adelaide. But lady luck was on my side, few hours ago a lovely couple whom I emailed to on couchsurfing.com replied and they can host me during my stay in Adelaide. *jumps around in joy*


OMG, I have actually managed to cover all my stays around Australia from Gold Coast, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney for a month!!! *gleam*


And this, guys, is how you save money for your accommodation when travelling. Network, lots of wonderful friends (thank you everybody!!!! Thank you for understanding that I am not made of moneeeeyyyy!!!), and a good site that links you to more people who're willing to offer free stays for backpackers around the world.

Really, it's not that difficult at all.

My baby, my love, my one truly,

I miss you, to what extent you will never know, couldn't feel, wouldn't understand...
Oh, but I miss you

till it aches

till it hurts

till it ties up itself and curls into a ball

till the moon shines and the sun dims

till the day I close my eyes and tell myself I can no longer love anyone else any more than I already do for you...

till the day the sea dries and the stars fade... the mountain roars and the trees grey...

I want to hug you.. to cuddle you and to kiss you tenderly.. on your forehead to your cheeks, to wind you up in me and let you melt inside of me.

My world spins with you, and every time I hear your voice the world becomes a better place... every time I see you, nothing else matters anymore...


I want to shower you with kisses whenever I hold you in my arms, to touch your neck lovingly while you work on your laptop, maybe steal a cuddle in the lift when no one’s looking, or a kiss behind my aunt’s back. The world stops and people around us pause when we hold each other, when I’m in your arms, whispering sweet-nothingness in each other’s ear, nibbling on your skin and you plant your soft lips on the back of my hand, while I lift mine to cup your face.

It pains me to know that we’re world apart, for I cannot be there for you and you for me when we wanted, to wake up with you beside me every morning, and rest in peace every night against your broad shoulder; too see you off to work, and to welcome you back home with loving arms and a warm hot pot of tea to share, maybe a dvd to spare.

These are the luxuries I never get to experience. How I dread to have them, to spend every waking moment with you, to know that loving you makes me alive, my life more meaningful and bright with colours; knowing that my life is not wasted, for without you, it’s pointless.

Even if it means to argue with you and then make up later, because being able to be with you, to be next to you, to be able to hold you, means more than anything to me right now, rather than spending days, weeks, months! away, in silence, unable to reach out to you whenever I wish, unable to hold you when I please. It pains me deeply.


Heal my pain my love, mend my soul, for I have lost my direction and I cannot seem to find the road back to life that was once so clear to me.

Why do love hurts, when it feels so wonderful? Why? Why do you exist? Why is my world so complete with you? Why, my love?

Tell me, let me know, with a simple kiss, a warm hug, and maybe some three little words.




Thank you for the lovely little surprise when you sneaked up from behind the sofa.

I almost thought you've left me sitting alone in Starbucks.

xoxo

I received an email from a lady reader one day, sincerely asking me out for tea. *wave at Sharon*

As a tea sucker, I was all for it. (She was very sincere)

Little did I know, unexpected I was, when I arrived at KLCC Kinokuniya cafe, I was made to do this.




Mr Tan Eng Yew, Good Morning and Happy 26th Birthday!!

A full entry dedication? Hey, why not, he's the birthday guy. :) Everyone says hi to Eng Yew.

Apparently Eng Yew reads my blog every day, especially in the morning when he got into the office.

Eng Yew, you have very very sweet friends.

Sorry I couldn't lip print your "card" because I didn't bring a lipstick, so instead I drew a black kiss mark. :p


ps// please ignore the label, there isn't a birthday wish label to choose from. -.-

"Would you like a cuppa tea, my love"




Ahh.. the English. I simply love their culture. Tea tea tea. Anything, anytime, there's always a time for tea.




The creation of tea at leisure made the Victorian age ladies, well.. ladies.

And I simply adore gentlemen, them with their top hats and penguin suits, coats for the winter and trek suits during windy season, an elegant walking stick by their sides and hats off to any lady who walks by, in her silk gown drapes down from her breasts revealing her creamy soft lumps and arched back that runs for miles.




Afternoon tea is a splendid tradition, taking a sip of that wondrous hot fragrant liquid will transport you back in time, back to the olden days, back to London, lazing under Big Ben tower and watch the days go by. Where ladies will greet "Good day" and the Gentlemen bow in response "And to you".


the subtle attraction


Every since finding out that sitting around with your guy and girl friends on a lazy cooling afternoon with a hot cuppa tea in your hand and chit chat the hours away is the most fantastic leisure time ever, better than heading out for a movie, better than going for a jog and definitely better than taking your dog out for a walk; I have been hooked to having afternoon teas like how I am hooked to internet.




If you're not a tea fan. Learn to taste the subtle fragrant that of tea, start with a mix fruit cocktail *points to photo above*.

An exquisite china teacup can be very lady-like, dress up for the occasion, a cute dress why not, instead of your usual jeans and t-shirt;




go out have a fun day with your girls, with your guy friends, charm them with your adorable dress and new found feminity, have fun, have a good flirt, have a good chat.

We're living in a very busy world and crowded society, no one has time anymore for a casual tea. I think it's essential to learn to sit back and enjoy a hot cuppa tea, it's even more essential we learn to take a step back and look out into the garden, appreciate the joyous greenery of nature. Learn to take it easy.




Now go over to my tea session and join me for a cuppa tea.

Short Note: I'm getting used to living in the hospital. And I don't like it one bit.


You know, students get all the fun nowadays. They get to attend fancy prom nights, exclusive gala dinners, organize extreme competition and be involved in big time reality shows.

I remember back in my days, being a student meant study, study and mamak. Lots of mamak. Not once I remember being offered an all expensed paid trip to even Pulau Besar in Melaka.

It’s sad really. No wonder a friend told me I am still considered part of Gen X; am I not part of the MTV generation? Darn it.

Why am I making all these complaints? Because I’m being sour about it, that’s why.
Here’s another opportunity for all students out there to stand the chance to win an all expense paid trip to Portland, Oregon in USA. *Oh great, go ahead, make my day why not*

Held by the al-mighty Nike, aka everyone’s worshipped brand, aka wearing Nike means you are cool, aka Nike is status;


You get my point


Project Lightweight is a competition open to currently registered college/university students in Malaysia whereby the best lightweight athletic product design


so light it floats


will win its owner an exclusive and personal trip to Nike’s World Headquarters in Portland where he/she will be given a tour around the Campus and once-in-a-life-time opportunity to visit the “Kitchen” that houses the top designers in Nike.


Kitchen?


Rumour has it that any product of Nike’s that comes out from the Innovation Kitchen will take the world by storm, clouds will part and angels will sing; stock market increase and people go insane.

What? I wouldn’t know. I’m not in the States to see the real thing. But I’m the real fact is not far from what I have just said.

Everyone knows that Nike is best known for its advertising campaign and quirky innovation marketing scheme and amazing products. I mean, admit it, they’re good in what they do. And they do it with a bang.




They find the best people,




The best product placement,




Their messages are always “in your face”,




With a sense of humor,




Hence, when Nike does something, they go all the way. That means flying a student all the way to the states to meet some of the top geniuses and brains behind Nike.

Just do it. (Deja Vu, this is exactly what I said to myself when I was contemplating to backpack across Indo-China alone)



And to think their logo looks like a check mark.


Which is exactly their point, just do it. Go submit that entry now you lucky bastard student.

All submissions must be made between now till 31 July 2008. Get your passport ready and go to their site to learn more about the competition. Or is it the other way around? Sigh~ *sulks*


Hey Nike, when do I get to visit USA?

I don’t mind being the winner’s bag carrier. :D

I'm sure the girls there are very cold.

I mean, it could be intentional.

Right? Righttt????

Following my previous trip to The Bund, I headed south along the Huangpu river to further my exploration around Shanghai on foot.




This is me walking with Voon Ping following closely behind, he's a friend of a friend who was my ex Master coursemate and also best friend to a family friend of mine (have I confused you yet?); he came all the way from Zhan Jia Gang (2 hours from Shanghai) for a tour in Shanghai and we met up.

Such is the small world, it's creepy sometimes.

On the way, we walked through this old street of Shanghai, called Shanghai Old Street (like duh!)




Here you find shop houses on both sides of the road, and a tiny road which many food stalls that leads to more residential flats.




The houses here are even more runned down then the ones I saw at Tai Kang road.



At a glance of it, I couldn't quite get how they can actually still stand, on the second floor!!

What's worse, it's next to this mesh of wired and cabled lamp post.




Talk about safety. -.-

Below this lamp post was where I had my crayfish (I still want to call them mini lobsters, cause they're so cute).


Pretty (red) aren't they?


It's sinfully unhealthy though.

How they cook these was to put them through hot used and reused cooking oil over and over again (whenever it gets cold, they'll just deep fry them again, it' horrible).




But mind you, it's really delicious.


"Hey, you look good"


We decided to take away some and have a feast in Starbucks. :D


Playing with food


And amazingly, even my weak stomach (I had six food poisoning in the past two years in Malaysia from Roti canai and Kuey Tiao) can handle it with ease, so it should be clean enough.

Just don't think about it. (Nicolekiss' rule of thumb to Eating Around The World guide)




Anyway, as we ventured further. We finally arrived at the infamous Yu Garden (Yu4 Yuan2).




A classical garden located in Anren Jie, built in 1577 by Ming Dynasty government officer named Pan Yunduan for his parents. In 1760, rich merchants bought Yu Yuan Garden and spent more than 20 years reconstructing the buildings. Severely damaged during the Opium war, it was restored in 1956 and opened to public in 1961.


Can you spot the starbucks?


When I saw the place, I thought it was mighty impressive. It's like a small confined city of its own, with its own houses inside a little great wall. It'll take you through several buildings and arches before you can actually arrive at the small central garden itself.

Must be some pretty rich merchants.


Some random dragon statue in front of a restaurant


I managed to grab myself some pretty decent snacks here.




Soup in a bun (pao) with a straw.




Careful, it's hot. Don't sipped too fast, because I did. T_T





This photo makes me look like a goth.


And and and... I got found some smelly tofu!!!




Being adventurous, despite being full, I want to try everything they have there which I have never tried before in my life.


with sauce


In spite of its taste, looks and price (ok, maybe not really price). In this case, it's smell.




Phewit!

It didn't taste that bad, it fact, the pungent smell wasn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. Maybe it wasn't the really bad (or good) ones, and the taste of smelly tofu was said to be really good, melts in your mouth and heavenly flavour, a heavy constrast to its odour.

Well, at least that's on item off my to-try list.

Here, you find Shanghai's BEST xiao long pao (mini soup in pork dumpings).




Highly recommended everywhere, by everyone, on every guidebook, it's said to be worldly known. Name precedes its taste, I decided to investigate Nan Xiang ManTou Restaurant of its infamous Xiao Long Pao.


First you divide the dough


From the window, you can have a clear view of the chefs preparing for these soup dumplings. Each doing one task, at a speed so fast it puts me to shame.


Then you put the flesh paste in



Finally you wrap them up


Unfortunately, in order to have a taste of the xiao long pao in this restaurant, even just to take away, you have to endure a ridiculous long queue that could last for hours (reminds me JCo donuts in Malaysia) any time of the day, any day of the week.

I decided to skip it because first, it was getting late; second, shallow as it may be, it didn't look that good at all from what I have observed. I mean, the skin of the dumplings looked like they were too thick, too quickly done, which has put me off in queuing an hour for a 5 yuan serving.


Walking off, I decided to catch a cab to head back to XinTianDi (near where I stayed, a very happening place) to buy some movie tickets and dinner with VoonPing.

When I saw this.




It was wiggling on the road, just letting off two of its passengers, so adorable!! OMG. It looks totally like those tuk-tuks in Thailand. (I shall refer to them as Shanghai tuk-tuk from here) I hailed it down and haggled a price before hopping anxiously on with Voon Ping to experience the olden days of travelling in Shanghai.




It was really fun. I love the ride, instead of seeing everything facefront, you are looking at Shanghai, on the road through the back end. A total different sight to offer.

I managed to take a photo with my Shanghainese tuk tuk driver before heading into XinTianDi for dinner.




Uncle so cute even posed with me.