STaips Photography

The Tigress has arrived!

2010-08-06T23:48:00.003+08:00

At long last, our little tiger has finally arrived. This is what we have planned for. According to Chinese horoscope, if a family comprises of a dragon, tiger and a horse, the family is set.

so we had a horse and a dragon. and we needed a tiger. since the next tiger will only arrive in 2010, we had temporary (err...not really) tigers before this little one came.

so after 9 months of watching stomachs getting bigger (hers and mine; who said only the women get cravings....husbands share the feeling too OK!), she's finally here.

Introducing Tara!!

her official Facebook profile picture (TBA)

picture taken immediately after they cleaned her up

the very next day, more color to her soft skin

our one eyed Jill....

And some of the people who came to visit, sorry auntie Lena, auntie MJ & uncle TK, auntie Fiona & uncle Ming, daddy forgot to take a picture of you guys.....

Early early already want to follow mummy's need for a tan.

bundle of joy

2010-02-24T10:44:00.002+08:00

Sometime back...

2010-02-17T20:09:00.000+08:00

14 weeks ago.....

Yummy Mummy 2!

2010-02-09T11:24:00.002+08:00

Check out Wendy, another YUMMY MUMMY!!... 7 months ago, Melissa was our first Yummy Mummy and when we first posted up Mel's picture on our blog, our traffic spiked tremendously... since the blog is somehow making a comeback, we decided that it needed another boost hence Wendy has the honour of being Yummy Mummy number 2!

meet Wendy, the yummy mummy no. 2

meet Wendy's little boy, who's probably sleeping comfortably in her belly

the little one is actually the main star of the shoot!!

she's 7 months preggers and still looks as hot as ever!! Both Charles & Wendy were naturals... the moment steve pulled out his camera, they started posing already. they are very experienced as they have had numerous shoot for their wedding (wendy's dad is one serious hobbyist photographer!!)... it was really fun shooting the both of them.. oh, i mean the 3 of them.. kekkeke...

see what i mean by natural!!!

Daddy Charles can't wait for his little one to speak to him!

Mummy & Daddy's has already gotten a cute little shoe!!

snuggle, snuggle!! btw, i've tried lying down on their bed and it was the most comfortable bed ever!!

wendy & charles, we are so happy for the both of you... soon you both will be welcoming a new edition to your family.. a little "tiger" boy... we can't wait to see a mini version of the both of you... congratulations!!!...

Blast from the past 15: 2004 edition

2010-02-08T09:30:00.000+08:00

i lugged my shark bitten surfboard all the way to KK coz someone said the waves there was huge....

ended up having RM10 for 3 cans of beer instead while enjoying the sound of the waves rolling in and sand in between your feet.....bliss....

steve aoki lookalike knocked out after trying to catch surf worthy waves which were practically non-existant.

back in KL, attended a friend's wedding blessing in a temple in Brickfields with these 2, not knowing that in 4 weeks time, it was their turn to be blessed.

that's it for Blast from the past:2004 edition.

Look out for the 2005 edition soon!!

Blast from the past 14: 2004 edition

2010-02-07T09:30:00.000+08:00

joint birthday parties were huge. Always held at someone's poolside, where each birthday person would invite their whole kampung.

Blast from the past 13: 2004 edition

2010-02-06T09:30:00.006+08:00

back when hanging out at Suria KLCC was cool and happy hours at Chilli's started at 3pm and ended at 9pm.

this was when a bowl of beef queso with bottomless tortilla chips, a mug of tiger and a mug of guiness was our dinner before the weekly Pan Global Insurance free movie Thursdays.

rimless specs made one look cool instead of nerdy...

Blast from the past 12: 2004 edition

2010-02-05T09:30:00.003+08:00

the always popular peace sign or is it the japanese girl step 2?

aspiring hair dresser. not only does she dye whole heads of hair, can experiment with streaks summore. why pay RM300 to get it professionally done when you can do it yourself for less than RM50.

even i was not spared. the little leftover dye MUST not be thrown away!! so it ended up on me la...

Blast from the past 11: 2004 edition

2010-02-04T09:30:00.002+08:00

back when having a pixie look was way cool. at one point, her hair was shorter than mine!

some bar/club in ikano power centre which have since been replaced by starbucks. it might have had a polynesian theme or something....check out the roof of the bar.....

hot ladies above have since become expecting mothers and with lil young ones....

Blast from the past 10: 2004 edition

2010-02-03T09:30:00.003+08:00

The days when casino d' BU was still open and texas hold 'em & mahjong tables were setup.

the non gamblers had no choice but to watch tv or dvd with the sounds of poker chips on the table, cursing & cussing from the poker players and the loud noise from the mahjong tiles everytime it was time to make them swim.

admiring her work of art....

Blast from the past 9: 2004 edition

2010-02-02T09:30:00.000+08:00

Surprise birthday dinner for Lena, and of all places to have a dinner party although the al-fresco element was nice.....dinner party at the Kui's driveway!!

the very surprised birthday girl who cried coz her friends had her birthday dinner at a driveway instead of some nice restaurant with proper china and decorations....and ambiance.

this is where we park the cars, that night, i had to park my car outside!! grrr!!!

Blast from the past 8: 2004 edition

2010-02-01T09:30:00.002+08:00

Nokia 6100, small, light, antenna-less, color screen, dictionary for sms.

spent half of monthly paycheque on the phone!

no zero the hero back then....

Blast from the past 7: 2004 edition

2010-01-31T09:30:00.004+08:00

Sunrise Jazz Festival in Mon't Kiara...wonder if they still have them....

Back in the days when Palate Palette was just doodles in a notebook and in the imaginarium of su-ann's mind.....

way before he became the P.U.A.

Blast from the past 6: 2004 edition

2010-01-30T09:30:00.000+08:00

aips and her insatiable drive to be 'super tanned'.... a trip to Kuantan

in Swiss Garden Kuantan's lift, still experimenting with SLR settings....1/20 held with one hand???

Blast from the past 5: 2004 edition

2010-01-29T09:30:00.001+08:00

Olivers Sandwiches Baked potato with cheddar and lots of bacon bits!! yummy!!

Blast from the past 4: 2004 edition

2010-01-28T09:30:00.003+08:00

Back in the days when Jalan Telawi was happening. Even got Pashmina seller on the side walks.
Check out the mid riff!

Bangsar Village, before they decided they needed another Bangsar Village..

Blast from the past 3: 2004 edition

2010-01-27T09:30:00.001+08:00

Palate Palette worker before the dreadlocks and before people mistaking him for steve aoki.

Blast from the past 2: 2004 edition

2010-01-26T09:30:00.002+08:00

Sepang Circuit for Formula 1, the first and the last time.....figured it was much better watching the race from home, where you can see action on the whole circuit instead of just seeing & hearing the cars zoom past for 50m only....

not wanting to waste the powderful sunshine to get a tan, even to the extent of using newspapers for a mat....

semangat with the video camera summore. i think i still have the footage on tape....

after the race, after too much sun exposure, become tanned already

Blast from the past 1: 2004 edition

2010-01-25T17:26:00.004+08:00

was looking through some photos from the year 2004. This was the year i finally bought a SLR camera after years of having a regular Canon Powershot P'n'S and when 8MB cards were damn huge already.

Was laughing so hard looking back....was so young then, did so much stuff then. go here la, go there la, surely got something to do.

this was before we got our own place, so every waking moment had to be spent outside and not in the confines of our parents home.

anyways, the blast from the past series will be uploaded daily, from today onwards.

come back 9:30 am (malaysian time) everyday for a new 'old' photo... and see whether you're the lucky one to be featured!!

Today's photo was taken at Zouk, either a Stuff magazine or FHM party. A dance off where the winner walks away with an Olympus digital camera each.....guess the person.

sigh....

2010-01-25T09:52:00.000+08:00

so long time never blog already.....

but a blast from the past is coming up real soon.

baybeeee....

2009-12-12T00:33:00.002+08:00

A new addition....not mine la! too fast!

Karen & Pang Wu new addition, Ilyssa..... was introduced to the world on 4 Dec 2009. Another little princess for the both of them. Hope Isabel doesn't get jealous too much....

Here are some pictures of the lil one when we visited them last week.

breast milk is always the best!

just because we wanted to see how small she was...

such long toes....supermodel quality

so much hair

confirmed to be tall la, long fingers too

karen was up and running the day after giving birth

Congrtulations the both of you!!!

No more excuses....

2009-12-11T16:05:00.002+08:00

no more excuses.....

nike+ sensor bought....

iPhone 3GS activated....

sensor installed into shoe....

oh wait!!

no power song yet!!....

heheh....

tomorrow la!

aiyo.....

2009-12-06T21:21:00.002+08:00

that's the word....AIYO!!

Been ages since this blog was last updated.

The 'restart' that was the last blog post also didn't happen.

This blog will be filled with new life soon....

stay tuned!!

Restart...

2009-10-08T19:03:00.001+08:00

Put on the running shoes again...

Need Nike+ band??

See how long this health streak lasts....

Hari Raya 2009....and HOT triplets!

2009-10-06T18:47:00.002+08:00

Azareen, had her last Hari Raya open house, coz next year, she's going to be in Melbourne....she's going to learn to put make up professionally. heheh. like that also can!!

Anyways, as usual, no food pictures, but got pictures of HOT TRIPLETS!!

Even tough they look 'slightly' different with varying skin colors, height and size, they still try to make it a point to at least dress similarly.

Here you go, the 3 hot triplets....

aips, pia, lena

and then meifern and jinee wanted to join in the fun, while pia went for a breather

Then, since the ladies were already in their Sunday best, they decided to torture their respective partners to join in the 'fun'

lena & nick (who has embraced the Malaysian tradition of going kaki ayam)

the melbournians without the ozzie accent, meifern & justin

and the ever hot couple, justin 'sticky fingers' & pia

and our 4 month old bun in the tum

and the obligatory 'girls only' pictures

for pictures of the yummy food (nasi impit, rendang, satay, mee udang, roti jalan, kari ayam and pulut with durian (my favourite!!) look for lena ng!

In session...

2009-10-04T17:14:00.001+08:00

Fifoto 101 in session...

Anyone need coffee to stay awake?

Can I blog on the go?

2009-10-02T10:38:00.000+08:00

Would this app allow me to blog when I'm stuck in traffic?

If u can see this, means I can!

How could we have lived before the iPhone!

my iPhone 3GS

2009-09-17T12:39:00.003+08:00

I have been lusting for the iPhone since the very first day that Steve Jobs announced it in June of 2007 (i think). Couldn't get one last time coz didn't want to jailbreak it and risk turning it into an expensive brick.

Held out when the iPhone 3G started selling in HK unlocked.

And when we were in the UK, didn't get it coz it would have meant no fish & chips and beer. So i still kept sane and not got it at an instant, although the very first day out in London, i headed out to the nearest Carphone Warehouse to look at it....and thought......buy oni!!! Put on the credit card!!

And then maxis announced that it was going to launch the iPhone 3G in March when we were in London. I was thinking, I'd buy it in an instant if i was back in KL.

Then we went back to KL at the end of May.

By then rumours of a new iPhone was already making its way around the Internet.....front facing camera, matte back cover, faster processor, available in colors and much more.

Then in July, it came out, the iPhone 3GS. Nothing much new except the video camera, compass and the voice control.

Then maxis announced its arrival.

Stupid me didn't pre book it thinking that it's going to be easy to get. How stupid.

Anyways, to cut things short, after a month waiting after i booked my iPhone 3GS, it finally arrived!!

Finally, MY iPhone

and it's a 3GS, 32GB

unboxing it

(re-enactment coz they unboxed it at the maxis centre itself)

sync-ing it

the last i saw of the white back of MY iPhone 3GS, i quickly wrapped it up with a case....

So how's the experience so far?

Know why the blog has not been updated in a long time? That's coz the iPhone takes up too much of my time with all the nonsense free games, the Facebook-ing anytime and anywhere, and all the twittering (sibuk, want to find out what people are doing!!), and am still editing my contacts, the copying of the SIM from my Sony Ericsson messed up the names and numbers a bit.

I'm currently hooked to this game called Harbor Master and Tap Tap Revenge 2!!

It finally arrives

2009-09-07T21:35:00.002+08:00

After one failed car loan application, and one successful one, and weeks of waiting, the Lion finally arrives.

Yup, we took delivery of the Peugeot 206 (or locally known as the Naza 206 Bestari).

Not wanting it to be a Naza, we replaced all Naza logos with Peugeot logos, front & back lions were RM260. The car salesman also tempted aips with Peugeot rim caps....and someone got suckered into buying those too!! hahheheaheha

more proper pictures to come, this was shot while waiting for the car salesman to clean up the car before delivery. Photos taken with MY brand new iPhone 3GS!!! Woohoo!! Finally got it after weeks of waiting for it too!!

new addition....

2009-08-19T08:26:00.001+08:00

coming soon......TODAY!!!

re-edited: False alarm.....another 10 days

Experiencing Miniaturization

2009-08-18T23:11:00.004+08:00

Just last weekend i was at a Kent event held at "orange"... i was thinking to myself, isn't that place already DEAD or something!!!.. anyways, i was wondering how come Kent would want to hold an event there.. so i went there with low expectation but to my surprise, the whole set up was FANTASTIC!!!
360 was responsible in transforming the whole look and feel of the club... they are damn good!! konyun, jwan, hanwei & the rest of the team did a magnificient job.. the DJ console was the BOMB!! me likes!!!

happening DJ console

retro dance floor.....reminded me of saturday night fever

people grooving to the music

Twilight action girl was playing that night and they were awesome!!! never knew their music was sooo good... what to do, nowadays damn aunty already.. don't go clubbing anymore... those were the days when i partied till late and could still wake up for work the next day... now tak boleh already.. it will take me a couple of days to recover from one night of partying... shit, i'm getting OLD!!!

Twilight Action Girl in action

managed to sneak a peak from behind the DJ console

orange transformed....view of the outside

anyways, after 2 drinks (POTENT 42 below) or so, i decided to head home as i was looking forward to watch "True Blood".. i'm so freaking hooked to this show it's not funny.. but i'm still wondering how come ASTRO approved this series as every episode has a sex scene.. well, no point watching it on ASTRO as you'll probably be missing 40% of the show.. hahahaha..

Finally....a new ride

2009-07-29T23:58:00.000+08:00

After the numerous test drives, after the numerous deliberation on which car to get, after shortlisting the cars that we deemed good, we finally did not get any that we short listed!!!

And after saying that we were not going to pay RM60k for a Proton, we did!!

See the pattern here?? hehehhe

So in the end, we got the Persona SE in Haze Blue. We needed the car immediately so this was the only car that could be delivered within such a short time and the only car that we can afford at the moment.

15 July - Got offer letter from new job, put booking fee for car
21 July - Bank loan approved
22 July - Paid 10% deposit for car
29 July - Car delivered!!

Exactly 2 weeks from the time i booked the car and the time i received the car.... thank goodness. Now i don't have to do the DJ-Mid Valley-NKVE (DJ entry) - NKVE (Seafield exit) anymore...!!!

first refuel for the car...

new car smell + smell of the leather

the meter panel so small...

And hopefully in a month's time, we'll get to smell ANOTHER new car smell.... the old junk petrol guzzling body breaking satria has gots to be retired!!

Rome - Condensed...

2009-07-21T05:35:00.000+08:00

Again, these are from the pictures i had printed. Too few, but it'll do la.

Rome is actually a really small city. The day we got there, we walked around and managed to walk to Trevi Fountain....then we walked summore, we found The Pantheon, and we walked summore, we found Colleseum!! If you can walk and find so many things to see, it either means that it's a small city or all the sites are concentrated in one area.

Everywhere you go, you're bound to bump into some damn old rocks and ruins. It's like being transported into the ancient world. But you still get the vespas scooting in and out of traffic.

The Pantheon

Gladiators used to die here

The Colleseum

i wonder how old that tree is, the ruins are damn old already....at The Forum

Poser

A nice cold beer always good for quenching the thirst after a long day out in the sun exploring really old rocks

nice apartment facade

ecstacy of St Theresa, this is the church where one of the cardinals was burnt alive in Angels & Demons

Angels & Demons ROCK!! Aips was glad to have read the book in a record time of 3 days!!

The Fountain of 4 Rivers, where one cardinal was drowned in the book, but saved in the movie

one of the many angels in the thousands of churches in Rome. It is said that if you were to visit EVERY church in Rome, it'll take you 2 years....or something like that

And you can find Gelato EVERYWHERE!! So many flavours...so nice, had it numerous times!!

even McD's have Gelato

more Gelato

yummers...

Trevi Fountain during the day

Trevi Fountain at night

St Peter's Catherdral in the Vatican

This is where one of the Cardinals died from a punctured lung

inside of St Peter's

halfway to the top of St Peter's

from the top of St Peter's

deciding where to go next, completely worth the £6 we paid for the Rome guide book

At the bridge of Angels in front of the Castle of Angels where the assasin kept the cardinals

That's the condensed version of Rome. If you want more, wait for the Photobook version...

Rome - The Preview...

2009-07-20T07:41:00.000+08:00

Coming up in the next post....

Barcelona - Gaudi

2009-07-19T11:39:00.000+08:00

It's Sunday and it's Church day.... and some images from La Sagarda Familia....should be the greatest most stylish church ever built when it's finally completed. Gaudi was and is just a great architect to have all these designs in his head....too bad he got run over by a tram!!

i love this side (Passion facade) the most, with it modernistic sculptures

the stained glass window inside

the lone figure of Christ over looking the construction

haiya....dunno how to read signs ah??

Casa Milla is another one of Gaudi's unique creations. It's actually an apartment block....could just imagine living in an apartment here. You'd know the architect thought about ergonomic of his furniture and how to design the place so that you'd get the most of the natural lighting....

Entry was 10€ each but quite worth it la to get to see his unique designs...

the rooftop of Casa Milla, notice that the roof is not level, it's supposedly so that rain water is easier to drain....quite smart eh...

where else can you find desings like this??

a huge chimney

they said on certain summer nights, got cocktail parties up here, so nice....

the intricate design on a door frame

the ergonomic door handle, quite cool

even staircase also so nice....

That's it for Barcelona....next up, the Roman experience....that's going to be filled with loads of pictures!!

Barcelona - The Food

2009-07-18T10:52:00.001+08:00

I was just looking back at the photos of Barcelona that i have and realized that the pictures from yesterdays post, is just the tip of the iceberg!! Got soooooooo many more photos that shows Barcelona.....i think it can possibly fill up a whole photobook also!! And that was just a 3 day 2 night stay summore...

So what's a Barcelona post without some pictures of the food we had right??

First day we arrived, was way past lunch time, just chucked our bags to the hotel and headed back into the city to the promise of cheap shopping at Zara, Mango and Camper. Zara makes some good men shirts too. Kinda forgot that we were hungry too....lucky there was salvation next door....a McD's!! HAHAHAHA

always must try a McD's in a foreign land to see if it tastes better with babi in it.....

And yes, it tasted just slightly better.

Actually, we were really stingy with our €, since our RM seems so small. But what the heck, when are we going to Barcelona again. So we stopped converting and treated everything as it is in €.

Guided by the list that Amy gave us, we embarked on our quest for good food. Thank goodness for Amy, if not for her, we'd never get to do Barcelona a bit like a local, especially the food and beach parts. Thanks Amy!!

She recommended us this place called Sagardi...loads & loads of tapas on the bar top, just take your pick and they calculate later....just like lok lok, just take what you want and the guy counts your lidi (sticks)...same la, only here they use toothpick....hehhehh

beer on a hot afternoon, and tapas.......

sagardi, took us a while to locate this place, must bring gps next time we travel....

the tapas spread

Quite ok, but the bill came up to be about 30€ for a couple of 8 or 9 tapas and 4 beers.....NEVER CONVERT to RM!!

That was our 1st indulgence in good Spanish food.

The next day after spending too much on the entrance fees to the Gaudi attractions, we decided to spend less for food, so we went to another fast food place, but at least this one was local and had jamon!!!

the fast food sandwich place .... this is a jamon sandwich, part of a meal set, 2 sandwiches, 2 cokes and 1 fries for 8€

Later that day, nearly about dinner time, we passed by this courtyard. I think I've seen it before in some travel review or something, it had nice restaurants and some street performances and all that but we resisted the temptation to spend too much for our dinner.

nice place to chill and people watch

But later at night, after a whole lot more walking and looking for cheap food....we realised that it's going to be our last dinner here in Barcelona and decided to just #%@* it and just spend la!! We're not coming here again till we're 60 years old...yeah, we want to come back just to see the finished La Sagarda Familia!!

examining the prices first!!

chorizo, meatballs, calamari....and beerrrr!!

churros!!

churros glasses!!

money well spent. Although the churros could have been better if we had ordered chocolate sauce to dip it in. Oh well......

The last day, we went to the famous Boqueria Market to see the cured babi and all that and we stumbled to this place that was quite packed. And since it's quite packed, and the food smelt nice too, we also kiasu and just sat down and ordered la.

fried potatoes with some spicy mayo thingo....good!!

meatballs again...with some spicy sauce

chorizo with some other spicy sauce

sauteed mushrooms with garlic

the aftermath!!

this was just at the next stall, but we were just too stuffed to eat more jamon.....now, i want jamon....

where to get jamon in KL??

Barcelona

2009-07-17T07:04:00.003+08:00

I've just printed loads of pictures from 2009 thus far, so now I've got loads of pictures to blog about. Getting to be quite boring around here, heheh......starting a new job soon and will not have a lot going on besides 'real' work.

before i forget about this Barcelona trip, I'd better blog about it. This will be a really condensed run through of the trip.

Head out to the city on the metro (subway). Really nice modern trains, very informative when it comes to getting on and off your stops, quite easy to understand subway map. BUT can get VERY STRESSFUL when it's packed like sardines coz you'd be worrying about your bag getting pickpocket-ed!! Everyone holds on tightly to their handbags on the trains. Pickpockets are like part of the tourist experience when in Barcelona....

train not so packed, so can afford to be a bit lax and drink coffee

Tourist attraction time!! This is La Sagarda Familia. Basically it's a church designed by Gaudi back in the very late 1800's and construction is still on going till today. It's expected to be complete by 2040. It's truly an amazing sight when you see it. Really love Gaudi's work.

the construction site

the spiral staircase in one of the towers

Barcelona has lots of quaint small back lanes. So while trying hard to locate food, we get lost in these back lanes, but they are quite nice, so that's quite alright with us. Get to explore the local areas.

Then we went off to the beach. A really long stretch of beach. We started at one end and walked to the other end. And there's different 'areas' on the beach. There was a kids area, an 'adults only' area (you know where not wearing clothes are ok), there's a 'boys only' area, there's even a casino by the beach (in a grand building of course), and loads and loads of bars. So nice the beach, you can buy beer & sangria, enjoy the chill music and just chill by the beach. And the sun sets at 9pm, so at 8pm, you can still hang out at the beach.....nice!

sangia and estrella on the beach

Gaudi was like really popular. It's because of his unique designs, you'd never expect buildings to look like this! It's part of the Modernist movement. How often do you see wall that are wavy and bones shape on your grills of the balcony?? Gaudi was very into designing his stuff based on nature, that explains all the curves in his designs. He also designs furniture which are supposedly very ergonomic.

Casa Milla

Casa Batillo

love seat?

mosaic. see the nature influence? it's honeycomb-ed shaped

the door behind us was cool

Parc Guell was an adventure to get to. It's away from the city, takes 2km to get there from the metro station and the roads leading to the park was uphill, just as bad as San Fran's hills!! It was so steep that they decided to build escalators!!

girl chilling in the sun reading a book. we were so grateful for the sun coz we've been in wet & cold London and miss the heat. Now that we're back in KL, we run away from the sun!

told you they have escalators to get you up the hill

yup, it's THAT steep!!

more funky mosaics

Parc Guell, with the 2 funkilly designed houses at the entrance

how cool is that? a dragon design on the hinge

So when in Barcelona, the 3 main Gaudi works that you'd best want to see is:
1. La Sagarda Familia
2. Casa Milla OR Casa Batillo (they're both on the main high class shopping street, Passeig de Gracia so you can see these when you go shopping
3. Parc Guell (the ginormous park which was supposed to be a high class residential area)

Food is also good here. After you have gotten over the currency conversion that is. I didn't print any food pictures, so there'll be no food pictures in this post. But food was good. Tapas, churros AND jamon.....porky pork....yumm....yumm....babi bagus!! I think i'll go look for some babi pictures and post it later la.....yum yum.....

a cafe in the market, got loads of people, so when you unsure of where to eat or where to go, go to where there are crowds, guaranteed to be good!!

Next post will be food pictures in Barcelona!! Woohoo!!

And still got Rome, New York....Boston, Vegas, LA, San Fran......

which car should we get?

2009-07-08T13:59:00.003+08:00

I miss my old waja. It was a nice size, comfort to drive, does not sound like it's falling apart whenever it goes over bumps and the mileage was quite decent.

Now we're left with a DAMN old Satria, which rattles like it's going to drop whenever it goes over holes and bumps in the road and the mileage is DAMN high!! RM60 and it gets me only 300kms!!

So we're looking to get a new car.

We applied for the Naza Bestari 206, a locally assembled Peugeot which was re badged under the Naza name. The interest rate for this was just stupendously low, it's 0% for the full loan amount (which is the cost of the car) for up to a maximum of 12 years!!

The Pugeot 206
(photo taken from http://paultan.org)

Hope we get this car!! But we did not have proper documentation to apply for the loan....but we're keeping our fingers crossed!!

If we don't get the Naza 206, what should we get??

A Proton Gen2? Looks quite sporty and all that, but it's a Proton after all, and paying RM60k for a Proton (again) doesn't sit too well with us.

the Gen2 Special Edition
(photo taken from http://paultan.org)

Or the New Honda City. This is a really nice car, and at RM88k, it's a bit on the high side but it beats a Proton any day and the legendary mileage of a Honda City, would allow us to cuti cuti malaysia more often!!

the Transformers looking Honda City
(photo taken from http://paultan.org)

Or the Mitsubishi Lancer. At RM120k, definitely too expensive have. But it looks like damn nice to drive and all. Got paddle shifts on the steering wheel summore. And if looks can kill, this car will kill!!

The Mitsubishi Lancer
(photo taken from http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.my)

this guy damn smart, with the cool number plate

Read from http://paultan.org that Proton and Mitsubishi are in discussion to work together to produce cars again. Hopefully it comes true and the new model that replaces the old Waja would look exactly like the Mitsubishi Lancer, only with the Proton badge and a cheaper price. Then I'd buy that one!!

The New Proton Waja....hopefully
(photo taken from http://paultan.org)

In the meantime, keeping fingers crossed for the Peugeot 206 (refuse to call it a naza!!) and if that doesn't work out, then we'll just have to settle with having a Transformers car in the car park....good choice??

Where do you head to when you arrive a new city??

2009-07-07T21:07:00.003+08:00

On our little 4 month adventure, we managed to travel to a lot of places.

And every time we travel, we always look out for the local Hard Rock Cafe. Instead of getting those really expensive travel souvenirs like magnets and nonsense stuff that will eventually end up on the shelf collecting dust, we decided to just collect Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts, more specifically, the 'my very first hard rock cafe' t-shirts from each city that we visit that has a HRC.

HRC Hollywood (Los Angeles)

HRC Las Vegas

HRC Boston

HRC Foxwoods (Red Indian gambling city in the middle of nowhere just like Genting; in fact, Genting has a say in the design of this place)

HRC New York City

HRC London

HRC San Francisco

HRC Rome

HRC Barcelona

HRC Paris

So, now we have 10 Xtra Small 'My First HRC' T-shirts. Either we frame up each t-shirt with a picture of the city (that we have taken) or we have 10 kids to wear the t-shirts....

Bangkok will have one opening soon, so will Phuket and also one in Penang.... but now quite the boring, coz we can only collect from Asian countries only. But come to think about it, still got HK, China, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia.....

Will have to travel more!!

-steve-

Yummy Mummy!!!

2009-07-05T21:43:00.010+08:00

just this afternoon i was over at Mel's place, a close friend of mine since high school.. i really wanted to see her before she pops as she is due anytime soon... anyways, have you seen any mummy as yummy as her?? pregnant but still as slim as ever!! also, she just had a new hair do and she looked fantastic!! since i had my camera with me, i made Mel & her hubby pose for me.. both of them looked perfect together..

Mel, the yummy mummy to be---REAL SOON!!

the yummy mummy and me

mel & juyan

also, check out these 2 little cuties.. juyan's nephews, one 6 months' old and the other, 18 months' old.. they are both so so cute!!

only 6 months old and already so handsome

18 month old cutie pie

mel & juyan, I'm so happy for the both of you.. soon you will be welcoming a new edition to your family.. we can't wait to see a mini version of the both of you... congrats :)

Oil!

2009-07-05T09:01:00.000+08:00

This is what you get when someone next to you eat's Nasi Lemak with rendang ayam.

Oil on your MacBook Pro!!

Run...

2009-07-04T12:07:00.000+08:00

My one attempt at being healthy.... only once!!!

Nike Air 360 on jogging path in Taman Tun Dr Ismail park.

Will try it out more often.....maybe

CKT

2009-07-03T17:00:00.000+08:00

On a weekend long shoot in Penang with Fiona.

Our meals were, Sister's Char Koay Teow on Thur, Fri, Sun mornings.

Durians and rambutans for after meals.

Cempedak goreng (is it cempedak goreng or goreng cempedak like pisang goreng?) and pisang goreng for tea time.

How to not get fat??!!

Anyone know's where the 'BEST' CKT other than this Macalister Road and the Lorong Selamat one?? I think 'BEST' is very subjective. It depends on your taste buds ain't it.

For me, SS5 CKT is the best coz i have been eating it since i was 5 years old!!

my first contribution - wendy & charles's wedding

2009-07-02T23:52:00.023+08:00

this will be my first contribution to this blog... Steve has asked me to write several times but i refused coz i can't write for nuts!!

Anyways, last friday i was at Wendy's place for her "chip sang leong". She looked gorgeous with her "Audrey Hepburn" hair do.. actually after her hair was done, she turned to me and said, guess what style this is... i was stoning for like a couple of seconds and then she said, "Breakfast at Tiffany".. does that ring a bell?, then i instantly remembered the classic Audrey Hepburn hairdo.. she looked fantastic!!! she looked amazing in her dress!!

wendy the bride

the dress

the shoes

check out this little cutie, Wendy's niece.. she is such a darling, although she's only 1 1/2 yrs, she already talks like a 3 yr old.. Lena said she's so cute that she feels like smashing her... hahahaha... this is her way of expressing her love for cuteness!! i so geram la.. times like this i feel like having one of my own.. but then we are so broke, all money spent in london already... how to buy diapers la!!!

cute little natalie

oh finally the part which i loved most about this day, we get to torture the groom & his heng tai and get MONEY for it.. yes la!!!...HAHAHAHA.. look at Lena & Pia already stirring up a nasty concoction, a mixture of bananas, stinky apple cider, chili padi, chili sauce... yucks, it sucks to be the heng tais..

Lena up to no good

Pia, also up to no good

the nasty concoction

the chee muis (which doesn't necessarily mean girlfriends only)

here comes the groom!!!.. check out Derek on the move, already capturing the moment... Derek is an awesome videographer, the video that he made for Wendy was DAMN POWER!!!

Derek the videographer & brother to the bride

the groom, Charles

the enthusiastic heng tais but not for long!!

1st stunt: Groom n heng tais have to scoop up little fishes with a pathetically small fish net!!!!

2nd stunt: Charles loves to golf so he was asked to do so!!

3rd stunt: HOLE IN ONE.. my favourite!!! subra & ryan was demonstrating how it is done.. good job you two ;)

ryan & subra

subra spinning

the trick is to get the "rod" of the plunger into the "hole" of the toilet roll

4th stunt: Put on diapers and roll-over a pile of coins (Wendy secretly stole Charles stack of coins) - special thanks to Ryan for helping me to capture the moment while i was busy taking out the coins from one of the heng tai's bottom!!

5th stunt: Drink nasty concoction

6th stunt: Melt the frozen "house key", so he can get in the house

heng tais trying to melt the ice with a lighter

7th stunt: Charles had to answer 5 questions of which, 1 is regarding her bra size.. see Charles trying to gauge her size.. hehehe..

is she size "a", "b" or "c"..hhmm

Charles & Wendy look great together... congrats again you both!!!

the lovely bride & groom

it's been a year.....

2009-07-02T14:09:00.004+08:00

Just realized that's it's been a year since our DJ house got burgled. We would have actually gone to London exactly a year ago had the burglary happened. Well, at least we eventually went....and came back.... and we're back here again, one year later.

And the funny thing is, my mom in law's shared office got burgled last night.....how ironic!! Lucky thing there was nothing valuable in her office.

Even with the neighborhood security guards guarding the roads into the neighborhood, are we still safe from all this nonsense??

Hoegarden in KL

2009-07-02T09:00:00.001+08:00

One weekend whilst we were driving around town checking out and test driving potential new cars for us, we passed by Jaya One and decided to check out the new Cold Storage there. And since it was a sunny & hot Sunday afternoon, we decided to test out the Hoegarden that was served in Brussels (the pub, not the city!!)

OK. Glass is the same, as expected. Although it kinda looked bigger.
- FOAM was a lot more than what we were used to in London.
- TEMPERATURE was disappointing, either the tap temperature was not set properly, or Malaysian weather was THAT hot that by the time the beer gets to you, it becomes WARM.....or maybe UK is cold (but insides of pubs are not cold right??) and the beer just stays cold.
- TASTE was the most disappointing part of the experience!!! Just not the same!! Not as fruity as it is in London!! Not fair!! Why must water down draught beer!!!
- PRICE was just EX!!! RM28 for a pint?? eventough it's converted to about £4.60 which is just a tad more expensive than London, but psychologically, it's damn expensive to pay about RM60 for 2 pints as compared to paying £7.60....get it.....60.00 vs. 7.60!!

And half pint is not half the price of one pint!!

Think i will just try out bottled Hoegarden from Cold Storage la, or just start getting used to drinking Tiger again......

Times like this do i wish that we were still in London.....just for the beer!!!

NASTY!!

2009-07-01T12:12:00.001+08:00

Domino's Cinnamon bread with the icing put on top of it.

That's all I'm going to say....

First meal!

2009-07-01T11:32:00.003+08:00

I should write some things here......for those who still visit this blog.... the 5 of you!!

Here are some pictures i managed to pick from my phone....didn't realise that the photos the phone takes can come out quite nice too....should use it more often!

this is the FIRST outside meal we had the day after we came back......errmm........no, we had the famous SS5 Char Koay Teow the night before when we went back to my SS5 home......

Chicken Rice at the DJ foodcourt (opposite Atria's ex-Piccadilly's entrance) was really good. Didn't realise i missed the fragrant rice and the juicy drumstick.... yum yum!!

then went to eat at 7ate9 for dinner.... as usual, no pictures of the food coz it was gobbled down before i could even remember to take a picture....

..............

2009-06-24T23:27:00.001+08:00

krick......krick.....krick............

(sounds of crickets on a quiet night.........)

coz nothing interesting is going on.

must make something happen!!!

We're Home....!!

2009-05-29T19:01:00.002+08:00

We're back in Malaysia!!! It's so weird being back here but it also felt like we went for a 2 week holiday and now we're back here.

It was soooooooooo hot getting off the plane, gone are the days where you'd have to at least have a jacket with you (in case it gets cold), an umbrella in case it rains, an oyster in the pocket for the tube & buses, the many long walks getting from one place to another and the ice cold Hoegarden from the tap.....and the fish & chips where the fish is cod!!

This was officially our last pints in London!! Minutes before we had to rush off to board the plane.

On travelling to London. Next time you decide to make a trip to London, please make sure to take into account where your plane will land.

Heathrow would be the best bet, you can take a tube to downtown London in under an hour and a half and that would cost less than £2 if you do not wish to fork out £20 for a Heathrow Express which gets you downtown in 30 minutes.

Stansted is where the budget airlines land, but Standsted is DAMN far, the coach ride took one hour and 45 minutes but you get to see the green British countryside. Coach costs at least £10 to get you downtown London.

Gatwick is also far, would take about the same time to get to London, and coaches would also cost £10.

Both Stansted & Gatwick has express trains but that would set you back £20 each way....so that's waaaaaaay ex!!

So the best, even if it costs a bit more to fly into is Heathrow airport, got tube, and tube is the cheapest eventough it's not the fastest way to get into London.

A VERY BIG THANK YOU TO MARTIN & MICHELLE for letting us stay in hotel class accommodation and feeding us beer and banoffee pie and Chinese food and Sunday roasts and ice cream and Korean food (i miss it already!!) and yummy four seasons duck and more beer and salt beef baigels and smoked salmon baigels and super spicy tom yam and much much more that if i wrote it down, it would be a damn long post!!

And going out to Cotswold for the bank holiday weekend, where we were able to do this.....

don't mind the bit of 'up t-shirt' view i'm showing....hehehe

Paris Day 3 Part 3

2009-05-24T07:12:00.001+08:00

Last stop on the Paris walkabout was the Arc de Triomphe, even tough our feet were aching like hell, we MUST make this attraction to make the Museum Pass value!! The pass was 32€ for 2 days and you can go to as many attractions as you can.

So the more attractions you visit, the more value the pass gives you right? So that's why must make this last visit la.

the rain clouds begin to clear the way for blue skies

if you see closely, the red circle is where we were when we took the photo, after the gruelling spiral staircases

and then more stairs

finally reached the top, check out the face, almost white from all the climbing of stairs

Another arch in the distance, La Grande Arche de La Défense. Didn't get to go there coz our metro (subway) pass didn't allow us into that zone without paying extra

Eiffel Tower

if you look closely at the top right, you can see Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

all roads lead to Arc de Triomphe

we were there!! just so that you know the pictures were not 'borrowed' from the Internet

then it was time to 'sortie' so that we can make our way to catch our train back to London

love the rays of light through the dark clouds

not so nice if it was not HDR-ed right?

the loooooooong way down. Seriously, can get dizzy man!!

284 steps!!

The Arc de Triomphe

the dark clouds finally gave way....

for us to have our french McValue meal on the sidewalks watching people pass by

And finally, any girl's mecca, the flagship Louis Vuitton store!! I heard somewhere that you should never carry a counterfeit LV bag in France, as the police there are allowed to check your bags to see if it's a genuine LV bag or not!! can get fined if it's a fake!! dunno how true is that.

can only sit outside and sulk coz it's still so ex!! even tough there's like so many Asians inside buying purses and bags like buying fish from a high class market!!

And that ends the Paris trip. Went back to the hotel to get our bags and off to the train station to get home to London. The Eurostar train only takes 2 hours to get from London to Paris.

our magenta hotel, we would recommend it to travellers to Paris, cheap & clean

back home......temporarily...

Paris Day 3 Part 2

2009-05-23T07:05:00.001+08:00

The weather was still gloomy when we left the Louvre, it was drizzling a little. But bearable la. So in front of Louvre was this other arch, not as magnificent as Arch De Troimph but it's an arch la, one of the many you'll come by in Paris.

After the Louvre, must go to Musée d'Orsay, just a short walk from Louvre, so go there too, to see Van Gogh's stuff.

the walk under the rain

got pharoah on the way too

this would have been quite a view had it not drizzled that day

the River Siene

Musée d'Orsay

Musée d'Orsay was actually a post office, they transformed it nicely i must say

Van Gogh

Whistler's Mother....made famous by Mr.Bean: The Movie...hehhe

the huge clock

resting tired feet

the interior of Musée d'Orsay

After Musée d'Orsay, we continued walking to discover more sights eventough our feet was already hurting...actually too kiamsiap to pay for the metro la...hehhe

feeding the birds, the birds damn ganas, just fly and catch the food mid-air!!

another obelisk, so much egyptian influence in Paris

want to be pricked by the Eiffel Tower?

the walk turned out to be a bit too long...

i think this is the grand palace, passed by only, didn't have time to go in

Paris Day 3 Part 1

2009-05-22T18:53:00.002+08:00

The weather on the 3rd day of the trip was not too good. It was raining, but unlike London where we just sleep in if it rains, we have to go out to explore Paris.

all wet out there

our normal breakfast of nice soft fluffy croissant and cold cuts and sausages....yummy

the interesting spiral staircase of our hotel

at the famous inverted pyramid at the Louvre's underground shopping centre

got no 'holy grail' also??!!

one of the more interesting statues at the Louvre. I just found out that the Louvre is the biggest museum in the world and the Vatican museum is the 2nd largest

the Greek statue waits as the world passes by

da vinci's painting, if i am not mistaken, this is where the curator in Da Vinci's Code (the movie/book) died in front of

that's her alright, the mona lisa, so small.....always thought it'd be bigger

the mona lisa, some says that the one hanging there is not the original, the original is kept elsewhere

the main reason EVERYONE comes to the Lourve for

figuring out where to go next

chinese guy lepaks while the world goes by

we were here!!

old man 'zerox-ing' a painting

the famous tiles of the grand gallery

the crazier crowd when we made our way back to the mona lisa after getting lost

a huge ass famous french painting, famous coz i saw a jigsaw puzzle of it

chicko poses while the world passes by

the other famous artwork that people go to the Louvre for

the name says it all

not too famous statue

the original Louvre from the 1400's

thunder thunder thunder....thundercats.....hoeeee!!!

the Louvre and it's amazing pyramid

i swear that the Apple store in 5th Ave New York copied the Louvre's design!!

a really good hot chocolate to warm us up before we venture out into the rain

the Louvre and the rain

Barcelona Preview

2009-05-22T05:38:00.000+08:00

Just a couple of pictures from Barcelona. A stark difference from Rome where all you see are 'old bricks and stones', Barcelona is more of the Modernism feel.

the highlight of the trip, The expiatory church of La Sagrada Família. It is a big interesting construction site!! It will only be complete in 25 years time. So me and aips are making a pact to MAKE our kids send us to Barcelona when we are old so that we would be able to attend a service in this church.

Casa Milà or more famously known as La Padrera as it looked like a stone quarry, people do still live and work in this apartment building. It is truly amazing, there is not a single straight line in this building, everthing is based on nature

Casa Batlló another one of Gaudi's work. He revamped the whole facade of the building, you can't beleive the before and after pictures of this building. Truly another amazing building. Too bad the entrace fee was too expensive at 16,50€per person, otherwise it would have been really amazing to see the interior of this building

Park Güell another one of Gaudi's designs, a must visit for every architecture student, why don't people build builidngs like these anymore??

OK, just a preview. Full story after i post up Paris and US.....

Angels & Demons: The Movie was GOOD!!

2009-05-21T15:28:00.003+08:00

Don't know whether it because i read the book and truly enjoyed the book, or whether we went to Rome and traced back all the churches & sites as per the book or that the movie was just good.....but it was really good!! me and aips enjoyed ourselves and was worth the £6.95 for the 2 tickets we purchased, thanks orange 2 for 1 tickets, you finally fulfilled your promise of getting us a free tickets...hehheh

Although the movie changed a lot from the book, the gist of the story and the same race against time feeling was there. If you guys enjoyed the movie, you definitely must read the book!! If possible, get the illustrated version of the book!!

Fernny, told you to read the book before going to Rome!!

Angels & Demons trail in Rome

2009-05-20T19:55:00.006+08:00

After a lot of walking and aching feet and legs, we're finally back from Rome and London. No internet connection while there la, very the ex to pay for internet access, about 15€ for 24 hours, that's like RM80!! Crazy.

So, we had a quest while in Rome. Besides visiting all the old stones and buildings, we also had to find the signs from Angels & Demons. After i read the book the first time, i knew i had to come to Rome. I made aips read Angels & Demons, and amazingly she finished the book in the 2 days that we were in Rome. It was like, read the book, find the sign..... and now, we can't wait to go watch the movie.

the Pantheon, Langdon thought that this was the place that the first cardinal would have been, but he was mistaken.

the cardinal was here, in Chigi Chapel....unfortunately the church decided to cover the statue and the symbol on the floor. This was the for the EARTH symbol.

this is the Ecstasy statue, where the symbol for FIRE led them.

Fountain of the Four Rivers, this is where the WATER symbol was and where the cardinal was found.

the symbol for AIR

at St. Peter's square....

and this is where the heroine was kidnapped and almost the finale of the book

and this is where the finale happens, at St Peter's Basilica

can't remember if they have a scene inside the basilica

So, yeah, we did it, we found all the places that was described in the book and now we're going to watch the movie!! Have to spend £8 for the movie tickets, can't wait to go home to KL and pay RM10 eventough it's only a week away.

Other sites that we passed by as we were sightseeing around Rome.

the colleseum

inside of the colleseum

trevi fountain

Yeah, this is just a short preview....will write more later. And we didn't get mugged or cheated, so it's kinda good la..

Aiyo!! Forgot, haven't finished Paris yet!! And US haven't ever started yet!!

A trip to Brighton

2009-05-11T18:32:00.001+08:00

Sunday, Sunday roast day....no photos, too hungry, devoured the beef, yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes too fast, forgot to take picture as usual.

After the most satisfying Sunday roast i have ever had in my time here in the UK, we headed out to Brighton.

here also got ladyboys!!

Then we went to the famous 'The Lanes' a series of narrow lanes with shops, bars and what nots.....quite interesting, a bit narrow, but it has it's special feel.

i want one of these

beer break after all that walking through narrow shopping lanes

Guiness Cold, cannot get in Malaysia, so must whack more!!

grafitti's all over Brighton back streets

fluffy clouds

the scene at Brighton beach, got a lot of cafe's, beer gardens, basketball court, volleyball court (with 1 bikini babe) and loads of people

the really hard to walk and really painful if you fall pebble beach

the burnt down and never replaced pier

carousel

Brighton pier, a carnival like feel to it

the rides

disco ball

Brighton beach

Overall, i liked Eastbourne beach better. It's a bit too chaotic here. Not many nice shoot locations and an almost too city feel to Brighton, but still much better than London anytime.

Back to London today and then it's off to Rome. So probably no updates until after Rome & Barcelona.

Or maybe will have posts....depends

See yaaaaa!!!

Another toy...

2009-05-11T06:55:00.002+08:00

Bought myself a Limited Edition (only 2500 in the world!!) animated Darth Maul....

just something to remind me of my UK adventure....hehhehe........hey, it's cheaper than buying in Malaysia, so why not??!!

Eastbourne Trip

2009-05-10T06:59:00.000+08:00

We're in Sussex now, more specifically Uckfield (these British towns sometimes have really weird names...uck???!!) staying over with my aunt. Man, didn't realise that i would prefer the english countryside or country living as compared to city life in London.

With quaint little cottages and rolling hills and small roads lines with gorgeous green trees and foliage and the occasional sheep and horses and cows we see in people's farms. So nice. What a refreshing change from the double decker buses, fast moving people and the dirt in London.

First she took us to this high class apartments in the marina. Really nice, can park your boats downstairs. Or just take your boat out for a nice short sail to France.

Then she brought us to Eastbourne, damn nice place i tell you. She took us to have really good Fish & Chips in Harry Ramsden's. It was really good, and the best part was that the chips, which were real potatoes instead of those frozen fries were bottomless, can ask for more. Heaven!!!

cod & haddock, only in UK can you have cod fish for your fish & chips...better whack more before getting back home where eating cod will be a luxury

with beerrr.....

aips with the Eastbourne pier in the background

us on the pebble beach, interesting, pebbles instead of sand on the beach

photo op location

since got no pre wedding couple to shoot, we re-enact la

another photo op location

feet and pebbles

underneath the pier with beautiful golden light

camera obscura on the top of the building on the pier

photo op location??

the pebble beach

Eastbourne Pier

I am quite shocked that i enjoy the country life more than the hustle & bustle of the city.....wish we had explored the British country side more instead of just hanging around in London.....oh well, there's always next time....we hope.

Tomorrow, home cooked English roast and another pier, Brighton pier.....

Over the weekend: Another picnic & La Clique

2009-05-08T17:30:00.001+08:00

Taking a short break from all things Paree......

Went for a picnic on a nice sunny spring saturday at Kensington gardens...again!! don't know where else to have a picnic.

Had some homemade sandwiches and best of all had a few bottles of wine. so nice, can drink in a public park!!

steph, me, aips & eleanor

then chew ping (eleanor's flat mate) dropped by too, brought a bottle of wine but got no 'cork opener' so cannot get drunk..boo hoo!

saw this the other night, London is really a city under cctv

We caught a show on Moday which was a Bank Holiday, we watched La Clique, a circus type show. It was really good, worth the £10 that we paid per ticket....DAMN VALUE!! Got some 'interesting' performances too!! Check out the website!

the lights

the stage (no other pictures, didn't want to risk my camera being confiscated)

And since we're leaving London soon, we decided to have as much beer (as long as we can afford it) specifically Hoegarden on tap, as we can. £3.50 for a pint is DEFINITELY cheaper than RM30 per pint in KL, so we'll be drinking up till our last penny!!

1/2 pint and 1 pint (the beer, not the girls!)

err.....don't know what's this about??

Paris Day 2 - Part 3

2009-05-07T15:47:00.000+08:00

Back in the warmth of the hotel. You rarely appreciate Malaysian weather until you go out overseas and freeze your A$$ everytime you go out and not dress warm enough.

heard some 'noises' while waiting for the lift

the cold got to her, consequence of thinking that you really don't have to dress warmly when the sun is out during the day

out of the Metro and on to....

The Moulin Rouge

we were there!!

right smack in the red light district

can't beleive the things we saw.....which was nothing!!

view when you're in a spaceship waiting to be launched into outer space!!

we were there a bit too late, they didn't let us up the Champs Elysee, so we just take picture la, we were there!!!

After being shoo-ed away from Champ Elysee and no shops open at that time, we decided to go back, but needed to make a pit stop to the most famous building in Paris, besides Eiffel Tower...

The Lourve

at night, without all the visitors, so peaceful

we were there!!

Tried looking for the place where Mary Magdelene was supposed to be buried (as per Da Vinci Code) but couldn't find the exact place. Found out later it is actually in a roundabout and you can't really walk atop it unless you want to fall right through it, but we did find the point where the inverted pyramid touches the mini pyramid and the place is actually a shopping area just before the underground entrance to the Lourve

the Metro station to The Lourve

junk food in Paris is so much more expensive than London, Paris no credit crunch ah??

to be continued ... TOMORROW

Paris Day 2 - Part 2

2009-05-06T15:35:00.000+08:00

To make full use of the Paris Museum Pass which allowed us into many of the tourist/historical sites for a one off payment of i think 30 euro, we had to find nearby attractions and go for as many as possible, this is our usual kiasu-ness inherited from the asian in us.

beware of pigeons, they may shit at you at any time

the Conciergerie, not too good of an attraction, Marie Antoinette got prisoned there, and that's just about as exciting (if that is even exciting enough) as it got, apart from this nice spiral staircase

Sainte-Chapelle, home of the most stained glass windows in a church i have seen. nice, but you need to know what you're looking at. it's supposedly the story of the bible interpreted into stained glass art, but we got bored after looking at one section of the stained glass

then it was off on the Paris Metro in search of something more interesting....

The Pantheon, with its high ceiling and huge ass paintings and a pendulum right in the middle the catherdral....

the pendulum, to show the movement of the earth corresponds to time??

down below are the catacombs, where famous dead french people have tombs there

victor hugo wrote les miserables.....and is quite an important person in the frech revolution perhaps?

the outside of the Pantheon

forgot what this park was called, but it was a bit too cold to hang out there for too long....

double decker train in the Paris metro....we went home, to get warm and then maybe go out again, to see some 'intresting' stuff

to be continued ... tomorrow!!

Paris Day 2 - Part 1

2009-05-05T15:32:00.000+08:00

OK!! This is really outdated, Paris seems so far ago....i think i already posted the first day, so it's time to 'review' what happened in the 2nd day. In case next time i lose my memory or something, at least i'd be able to read this and remember how fun & tiring it was being el cheapo tourists in Paris.

Tip for the el cheapo tourists, ususally Parisian hotels provide breakfast, so have as much as you can, the food is usually good, crossoints and proscuitto, cereals and such....fill up until cannot fill up the stomach anymore and then tapau somore for lunch & maybe dinner!!! A usefull tip i just learnt, before you depart to where ever you're going, get those plastic bags from the airport....you know, the ones where you're supposed to put your liquids in....those are good doggy bags to tapau food from the breakfast buffet!!

We managed to find notre dame catherdral, sooooo many tourist, and so many gypsys too. If you see a middle eastern looking woman wearing a scarf on her head and asks whether you speaking the english, just walk away.....

the interior of the catherdral, the stained glass windows.....so pretty....

such a huge catherdral, the ceilings so high!! i wonder how to bounce flash if you shoot a wedding here....hehee

after we got bored of the inside of the catherdral, it was time to go up the towers, the very same towers where the hunchback, quasimodo, rung the bells

the many gargoyles/water sprouts on the outside of the cathedral

"what was i thinking when i signed up for this job??"

spot the non-gargoyle trying to be a gargoyle

more gargoyles

this gragoyle look like a kambing with his beard, see eiffell tower in the background

the doorway to the bell room was so small!! how did quasimodo get it???

one of the many bells in the tower, there's like a few bells, each one makes a different tone

the old wooden stairs

the Paris landscape from the top of Notre Dame

the crazy small spiral staircase. and this is at least 7 stories up, more steps than Batu Caves too. and the thing is, you can't really stop halfway up to catch your breath coz there's like a lot of people right behind you, so you've got to suck it up and just soldier on!!

going down not too bad, we took our time. can stop to pose pose summore

the front facede of Notre Dame, amazing how the did all the details on the carvings

yeap, it's THAT tall!!

mulled wine in cold weather keeps you warm....and that's a cool sculpture, when viewd from the side, it's a woman....

Notre Dame, in all it's glory!! Can't beleive it's been around for so long!!!

on to the next Paris destination......off to Part 2!! Tomorrow!!

Another Countdown begins....

2009-05-04T20:39:00.000+08:00

So, it's about time another countdown begins. Unfortunately, this is 'the' countdown. The Countdown to our flight back home to KL.

With the current economic recession hitting the UK really hard and with our fund running out really fast, we have decided to head home. sob sob....no more super cold non-diluted & cheap ($ to $) draught beers anymore.....no more picnics in the park and getting frozen towards the end of the picnic, no more having to wait for public transportation & having to travel an hour to get 10km away (this i don't mind), no more Sunday roasts with yorkshire puddings (altough i had only enjoyed 1.5 out of the 3 times i had Sunday roasts, no more hearing 'You alright??', no more yummy roast duck from Bayswater and the list goes on.

It's another 23 days till we get back to the sun....to roti canai, to kanna curry house, to pudu melt in your mouth siew yoke, to eat all you can sushi in Umaiya, to hokkein mee with crunchy pork lard, to being able to go anywhere you want, anytime you want, to the traffic jams, to being able to go to resort islands every other weekend, to driving up to Penang to have Char Koay Teow (4 hours drive ain't so bad as compared to driving 13 hours in the US!!).......going back doesn't sound too bad after all...

and also going back to see my new nephew born today, 4th May 2009, and to making his cousin, hopefully coming out in the year of the Tiger.......

it's time for a new start....

Goodbye London!!! It was fun.....while the money lasted!!!

I WILL post up Paris a& London posts while we go on another adventure to Rome (the land of Angels & Demons!!) and Barcelona!!

See yaaaaa!!!

The 2009 London Marathon

2009-04-27T06:31:00.001+08:00

Long time since the last blog update. Just too many photos from the US trip that i don't know where to start with, so i'll just skip it for a bit....come to think of it, i haven't done a proper Paris trip entry too......hrmm......should i do Paris first or US first??? So much decisions to make....arrgghhh!!

Anyways, i was sick for the last couple of days, and these couple of day were when events were happening in London. There was Singapore day at Hampton Court Palace yesterday, we were halfway there, when i felt unwell in the tube and had to turn back home. And when we got home, M&M called and said that they were giving away free food.....free asian/singaporean food!! AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!! Of all times to get sick!!

So today, was the London marathon, and since i already missed out on the 1st event, i'd better not lose the chance to experience the famous London marathon....like in Run Fat Boy Run!!! I'm a sucker for movies!!!

Yeah, so we made it to town and goodness, you can't beleive the amount of people present there!!

part of the funky spectators

another nice spring day in London, i'm not going to miss it by being sick and at home!!

the london eye, best view i suppose

the runners

so many supporters coming out to support the runners, even those they don't know

i didn't know you can cross the path of a marathon

a young kid patiently awaiting his dad to pass by

tarzan & jane

see the determination in his eyes, there's London Pride (ale) at the finish line!!

baywatch babe....guy actually!!

guinness will rehydrate your thirst....

the cheerleaders!!!

borat....lucky he wore his shorts...

pretty boys

more pretty boys....this time in pink tutus

camel toe

here comes the man we were there to support

a hug to get him going a couple more miles

a thumbs up

and off goes M.Ing

stormtropper from behind to whoop all those who are thinking of giving up so close to the finish line

sunburnt M.Ing

it's the real thing, not a chocolate piece

celebration dinner

Marathon finisher

ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch

Another London experience. I wonder if you can get people dressing up like this for the KL marathon. I'm sure the cops will pull aside some of them for not wearing enough clothes....hahhah

Yeah, so will blog more soon-ish, Paris or US??? Paris like old news already, i suppose US also a bit old news-ish also....maybe by the time i finish posting up US i'd already be back in KL??

end May, end Sept or end Feb '10......only time will tell...