Cheat Work Thursday

Sitting in my room, sometimes my mind is transported back to that room. I don't even have to close my eyes. It was 6 in the morning, but I could see from the glass window that it was already bright outside. I loved the view, even if it was only the roofs of other buildings. Under my warm blanket and because I knew how high I set the heater the night before, I could almost feel how cold it was outside. I waited 10 minutes before getting up, not willing to let go of my blanket and sweater and socks just yet. My feet touched the soft, wall-to-wall carpet eventually. I got into the squeaky clean bathroom. The floor was dry and cold. The shower was hot. Then I walked into the tiny closet and picked out my clothes for the day: grey skirt, black top, black stockings, gold-coloured stud earrings, and nude-coloured handbag with metal and PVC handle. I only had two handbags. The other one was black. I had bread, scrambled egg and iced chocolate for breakfast, and packed my bihun goreng...

On one of the long weekends this year, the whole family and I went to X Water Park, spending the whole afternoon screaming and shouting at each other (louder than usual), going down the slides. I didn't realize how steep some of the slides were until the moment I was pushed down. But it must be nothing compared to this (via Reddit ) called Insano at Beach Park, Brazil. Man, that looks like just jumping off from an eight-storey building. I went to the market the next day with my sisters to buy fish, chicken and seafood for our BBQ and steamboat dinner that night. I do buy groceries for myself from time to time -- milk, fruits, one bag of vegetables and one slice of chicken. Buying dinner for 20, however, requires skill. And we drove to three places to find the last three bottles of BBQ sauce in town. The dinner was delicious, by the way. I wish I could eat a lot more than I did. We didn't really have any games this time (there was this new UNO game they played that I didn...

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I went back to my hometown last weekend with my younger sister and niece. Passing by Melaka, I suggested to my sister that we make a detour to A Famosa on the way back to KL the next day to which she agreed. (I was born in the state and used to frequently visit my grandparents here, yet I've never been to its historical sites.) So, the next day, I told my sister probably we should take the highway from Alor Gajah to the city centre. She frowned. "Where are we going?" she asked. "A Famosa." "Why take the highway? We are almost there already." "The historical site . Not the resort." "Ohh." Silence. "What's A Famosa actually?" she continued. ................ I really had no idea where this ruin was actually located, but I was positive it was supposed to be on a famous hill or something. "Oh, there's a hill somewhere around here," my sister said when we reached the Stadhuys area. (I just...

I spent 12 days out of the past 23 with my family, at home, at my sister's wedding, travelling three times KL - out of KL - KL, twice City X - beach - City X, impromptu packing and unpacking in a super fast way because proper plans would be sooo easy for 18 of us , having a super good time at the resort and beach* and cheering for my mother going down the water slide. Back in KL now, checking my cortisol level. *My sister's treat.

Travelling to me is like _____ to some people. Now you know my secret. It keeps my sanity. This is where I'm supposed to refrain from whining about not being able to travel for two years, right? Because there are much bigger problems in the world than that -- starvation, illiteracy, poverty, global warming, and, for God's sake, the whole of Gaza being blockaded, and also dry, frizzy hair? When this is over, I'm going to travel for a year! Image: Flickr, Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes , Melbourne, AU that I didn't visit.

I was doing laundry and cleaning my room this afternoon. That was when I found my old photo albums. (Not found like, "Here you are photo albums. I've been looking for you for years." No. They are just on my top shelf. I can see them every day.) And yes, Kodak film was awesome. So, from Kodak film photos -- already ditching my broom at this point -- I moved to the digital ones on my computer. 1) There are photos from my walk alone at night in Vietnam with only a map and a make-believe sense of direction, looking for this particular shopping street. The journey to the said street and asking for directions were equally challenging. I headed back to the hotel via a different but just as confusing route. On the way back, on a very quiet street, a motorcyclist stopped and gestured that he'd give me a lift. Great. In the middle of dark, nowhere. If I remember it correctly, this guy was pretty old and looked harmless. I can believe that he just wanted to help. Don...

One of my favourite blogs just wrote about her trip to Vegas, and one of the places that she stopped by was Madame Tussauds. In one of the pictures, she was sitting next to 'Cameron Diaz', having a good time. The post reminds me of my trip to HK a few years back during which I went to its Madame Tussauds. I didn't know that HK had one until about 20 minutes before I stepped into the museum while climbing the hill, well, by bus up the Island Road. I thought only London had Madame Tussauds. Anyway, I was all excited because I've always wanted to see a wax museum. I think wax sculptors are geniuses. I doubt meeting the actual people is as exciting. During that time, I didn't have my own camera, so I borrowed my sister's. Hers was a digital one that used AA batteries, which, I learned during the trip, needed to be replaced every three steps I took in the city. So I went inside the museum, all eager to be amazed by the wax figures and to take equally amazing pic...

CHARACTER #8 : Only travelling agenda is shopping, has problem finding things back home, needs to buy everything abroad, including a mammoth-sized gong: CHARACTER #12 : Asks to be left at one of the train stations along the way: CHARACTER #5 : Should never leave the house:

I'm spring cleaning my old, mostly travel pictures (some things are just better tossed :)) while making some mental notes on travel dos and don'ts, like: 1) Always use the bathroom when you have the chance. You never know when you are going to see the next one. 2) We know you want some backpacking adventure and all, but bed & breakfast might not be for everyone. 3) No matter how skeptical you are, respect the local legends and myths. 4) Make sure the ferry you board has air conditioning (that actually works). All cold and windy ferry rides only exist in movies. 5) Make a vow to never be on arranged tours again.

... which is delicious, just like what I heard before the trip. Traditionally, the coffee is brewed into a cup with a metal drip filter (which a friend suggested looks exactly like a sink filter -- err, thank you for putting that image in my brain), then mixed with condensed milk, ice optional. These shops should be open next to every Starbucks all over the world.

Our Vietnamese guide was funny and unpretentious, always ready with jokes and stories about his life and Vietnam. And one of the first things we noticed about Saigon was the massive number of bikes on the road. The second thing was the way they drove. Traffic lights (or road dividers) are not meant to be obeyed. Traffic comes simultaneously from every direction, and people honk every 30 seconds. Apparently, the road rule in Saigon is, "You win or lose." We went to the usual tourist spots/activities: puppet shows, sampan rides, candy making places, orchards, and coffee shops for their famous coffee etc on the first few days. Hawkers and street food were everywhere, with plastic chairs set up along the sidewalks. I loved the view and the idea of joining the crowd, but I had to pass up on that experience. Saigon is fast-paced and busy. This city is made of hustlers. Most of the people are friendly, but I have a feeling some of them are already tired of the repetitious p...

You can shop for a lot of things in Vietnam -- from lacquerware, embroideries and paintings to clothes, silk, kain ela  and millions others -- just ask my friends. The high-end shops offer higher quality, more expensive lacquerware and silk, but a cheaper version is always available in the markets. Two shopping spots that you may not want to miss are, of course, the famous Ben Thanh Market and maybe Nguyen Trai Street. I discovered the latter after asking the concierge for 'small shops to buy clothes'. I went there alone and, after making a few wrong turns, arrived at what must be at least two kilometres of mostly clothing shops. So, among other things, I bought a couple of dresses for a total of RM125, the famous star cap for... much more than its actual price (but it's one of my favourite purchases), 10 pieces of embroidered clutches for RM47 and 10 metres of satin silk for RM109. Street sellers selling stuff like handicrafts and handbags etc can be very persiste...

1) A 1970 tank displayed at the Cu Chi tunnel complex, an underground network turned war memorial park. (The tunnels apparently contributed to the US military withdrawal from Saigon.) 2) One of the many horrifying traps -- the round floor goes down with weight, leaving the victims stabbed. 3) The model of the Cu Chi tunnels. (Part of the tunnel has been made larger and opened for tourists to crawl through. I did crawl through the 100m route, and it was still scary. Imagine it in its original form, without the lights and expansion.) The tunnels did not only serve as hiding spots and communication routes, but also as hospitals and living quarters. They were part of a larger network of over 200km long, which took over 20 years to build, mainly using hand tools. 4) A Pulitzer Prize winning picture of a mother crossing a river with her kids to escape attacks. 5) Pictures of people exposed to chemical weapons. 6) A military helicopter displayed in the War Remnants Museum. ...

Here's a series of notes from my trip to Saigon early this year, between a good week and a shortage of clothes from not packing* enough. (Ok, it's Ho Chi Minh City, but Saigon sounds way cooler. ) (When I was in primary school, I was a big fan of Tour of Duty, the TV series. So yes, war remnants and superb coffee -- the mother ship is calling me.) (*Done in 12 minutes.) Map: Wikipedia

Earlier this month, I spent a three-day weekend in Phuket. It was ok. Patong Beach and Bangla Road were loud and lit up with colours at night. I walked around there for the market. As expected, the food was delicious and the water was gorgeous -- no idea what the names of the two beaches / snorkeling spots that we went to by boat were, though. But I'll always remember being duped into paying for three photos that I did not request 🤨. And that was nothing. Apparently, there are tons of bigger, actual scams targeting tourists on the island. Not cool, Phuket. Not cool. I stopped by, I think, the only museum on the island, where one section places debris from the 2004 tsunami, like the picture above. I was hoping for a bigger section and more information, but I guess you can always read about it on the internet if the museum is not enough. We walked till late on both nights. On one of the nights, we also had supper in a quiet restaurant and went for a local massage. After my ...

Since mid last week, I've been having this mild headache and pre-cold symptoms that aren't really bad but have been constantly bothering me. I went to Penang on Saturday morning, anyway, and couldn't wait to see everyone (reads: four people). We reached the first stop for the weekend ie Ave 's wedding, well, almost on time. I drove. Half of the journey was in the rain. And I'm a careful and courteous and safe and smart driver, of course. I love wedding food -- rich, all fat, high carbs, served buffet, and this one's complete with a round of teh tarik and bahulu. Lyle , Jones (who flew there) and I were the last to leave. So we did some catching up. If I always think that selling is nerve-racking, I should try Lyle 's job -- she prosecutes drug traffickers for a living! I can't stop dropping her name these days: "Owh, my friend Lyle is a DPP..." Then we picked my sister up at her uni and spent the rest of the afternoon climbing Penang Hi...

My number one favourite food in Melaka is kuih udang especially the one in Alor Gajah. My second favourite is probably the ikan bakar and seafood in Umbai -- plenty of choices, delicious and not as expensive as those in KL. I think. Over the long CNY weekend, I stopped by Melaka's Mini Malaysia and Mini ASEAN on my way back from a cousin's engagement kenduri. The parks are pretty, and they do have an impressive concept and replicas of Malaysian traditional houses. Unfortunately, I felt like they were a little bit unfinished . I wish the collections and the cultural show were more expansive. Assuming my judgment was not distorted by the exhausting four days of constant driving in congested traffic no matter where I went. But the exhaustion made me sleep like a baby at night (which means deep sleep, because babies so do not wake up three times in one night). I was really hoping the three nights of good sleep could get my sleeping pattern back to that of a normal human. Back...

I went to Hong Kong and Langkawi early this year. Apparently, HK Disneyland is not as huge as those in the US or Paris. Regardless, the five-year-old in me was still happy with it. I almost 1) watched the Mickey's 4D movie three times and 2) didn't have the heart to eat the Mickey-shaped waffle. I took over 400 photos and was lucky enough to meet several new people too during the short trip. Just wish I could stay longer. So I didn't really get the chance to see the shopping complexes or the smaller local clothing shops like I was kind of hoping to, especially when the longest of time was needed to make sense of the map and surroundings. Still, thanks to a friend for being the navigator. Plus, it helps that he speaks the language. Though at times he couldn't really read them either. So we'd blankly stare at an info board or a menu for a very long time, waiting for him to crack the codes . We did go to Dongmen in Shenzhen and a night market in Mongko...