Flu & Sneezes

With 32 more days to go before the year 2011 ends and I ended up catching a cold

-sunny skies in the mornings, thunderstorms in the evenings-

-pops a few paracetamols+covers with thick warm blanket before drifting to dreamland-

Someday

by U-Kiss

때론 hit 때론 miss
그런 거지 뭐
내일은 안 틀리면 돼
고작 실수일 뿐인데..

때론 밑, 때론 위,
때론 Number 1
뭐 1등 해 봤자 내려갈
길밖에 없을 뿐인데.

없으면 그냥
없는대로 사는 거지 뭐
가지기 전엔 몰랐던
욕심들일 뿐인데 oh(오).

지금 너 힘들다는 건
곧 노력했단 증거일 뿐이야
Everybody knows you tried
Everybody knows it’s alright

You get some right,
you get some wrong
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 올꺼야
When you fall down,
when you get up
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 와,
결국 웃는 날이 올꺼야

이별이라면 그냥 그녈 놓아 줘
거짓된 눈물 보여도
인연이 아니겠지 뭐

떠날 사람은 떠나가는 거지 뭐
그래 그 옆에 있어봤자
언젠간 그랬겠지 oh

지금 너 힘들다는 건
곧 사랑했단 증거일 뿐이야
Everybody knows you tried
Everybody knows it’s alright

You get some right,
you get some wrong
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 올꺼야
When you fall down,
when you get up
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 와,
결국 웃는 날이 올꺼야

The past is the past is the past
지난 기억은 이제 그만 It’s the past
오랜 시간동안 매일 아프기만 했던
The Past is the past is the past
너를 있게 한 날들인 걸~

Everybody wins sometimes
Everybody knows you lose some

You get some right,
you get some wrong
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 올꺼야
When you fall down,
when you get up
조금 힘들어도 웃는 날이 와,
결국 웃는 날이 와,
결국 웃는 날이 올꺼야

Sometimes hit, sometimes miss,
it’s always like that
Just do it right tomorrow,
It’s just a small mistake..Sometimes bottom, sometimes top,
sometimes number 1
Getting 1st place,
you can only go down.Without it,
just live without it
You’ll just have to buy it
It’s just greed you have before you win it, Oh~Your suffering now
is a sign of your hard work
Everybody knows you tried.
Everybody knows it’s alright.

You get some right,
you get some wrong
Although tiring there will be days to smile
When you fall down,
when you get up
Although tiring, there will be days to smile,
Eventually a day to smile will come

If it’s separation, just let her go
She might show lying tears,
maybe it wasn’t destiny

People who have to go, just go
Even if you stayed by them
It would have happened sooner or later, Oh~

Being tired right now
is just evidence of your love
Everybody knows you tried.
Everybody knows it’s alright

You get some right,
you get some wrong
Although tiring there will be days to smile
When you fall down,
when you get up
Although tiring, there will be days to smile,
Eventually a day to smile will come

The past is the past is the past
Previous memories It’s the past
The long painful days
The past is the past is the past
The days to forget you~

Everybody wins sometimes.
Everybody knows you lose some

You get some right,
you get some wrong
Although tiring there will be days to smile
When you fall down,
when you get up
Although tiring there will be days to smile,
Eventually a day to smile will come
Eventually a day to smile will come~

lyrics credit to ColorCodedLyrics

PS: A song that uplift my mood and encourage me to go on whenever I feel down

I noticed a distinct difference between Kpop and Jpop which the obvious Kpop leaning more to whispers of unrequited/broken love while Jpop is more of feel-good-messages

-shrug-

Love songs and soapy ballads are norm in the music scene so it’s not that Kpop consists entirely all lovey-dovey and neither is Jpop preaching on moral values but the lyrics tend to lean more towards one than the other

People do get inspired or find solace in music/song and no matter if that person is just humming along to the tune or mumbling to the lyrics, music does heal one’s soul

PSS: Now I know how a dog’s snore sounds like  -peeks at my doggie sleeping soundly next to my ankle-

Oh and I’ve finished a number of Kdramas over the days…

Finally fulfilled my wish of watching Sungkyunkwan Scandal (definitely recommended! can’t wait for the movie!),

Poseidon (interesting view on the life and duties of the Coast Guards),

Protect The Boss (real-life secretary vs fantasy secretary…later half is kind of too sweet for my taste)

Coffee Prince (um…caramel latte, anyone?)

Jungle Fish 1 n 2 (very realistic…albeit minor exaggerations take on the lives of exam-stressed students)

Tree With Deep Roots (um…i know it’s based on history but -scratches head- still can’t quite follow the storyline…Song Joong Ki -squeals-)

Princess Man (nice remake of Romeo n Juliet, korean style…it’s steeped in history too!)

Princess Prosecutor (money indeed makes the world go round, even in legal terms)

My Girlfriend is A Nine Tailed Fox (lol, just love the chemistry between Lee Seung Gi and Shin Min Ah)

Next up! My Princess+49 Days+The Moon That Embraces The Sun

Graduation Trip 2011

to Redang Island with my high school friends!

We departed from our hometown in the morning, picked a friend up on the way and off we go on the highway heading towards the East Coast

It was our first time driving all the way to the East Coast (the whole journey took us more than 8 hours!)

The highway was pretty much empty since it was a weekday and not during school holidays

Stopped at the nearest major town, Kuala Terengganu for the night

And woke up early the next morning to catch our ferry ride to the island from a nearby jetty

The boat ride was awesome! Cool wind and endless stretches of azure blue sky and ocean = heavenly!

It took us about 1 hour plus to get to the island and once we’ve reached, I was super amazed by the crystal clear pristine clean water and sandy beaches…

No words seriously can describe the beauty of the island…well, except perhaps a trip to Bora-Bora might change my idea on beautiful island

The first thing we did once we’ve put our bags down and checked into our chalet was to change and jump into the water!

Our chalet has 2 floors and 4 double beds…it’s pretty spacious and quite comfortable actually

After all the snorkeling and swimming, we replenished our energy with a sumptuous dinner…nothing fancy, just the normal rice+dishes combo

Our chalet was located at one end of the beach so after dinner, we walked the whole way to the other end of the beach and that’s where the famous filming location of the Taiwanese movie, Summer Holidays was located

And the famous Blue Sands Beach where it was said that there’s a stretch of sandy beach that glows blue in the dark…and it was indeed true! Unfortunately my camera was not high-tech enough to catch the glowing sands but to see those blue glows in the dark was truly a sight to behold…

Along the way back to our chalet, I chanced upon this very quirky and funny sign outside a diving center

We turned in early that night and dawn couldn’t come sooner…

Good Morning Redang!

A hearty breakfast to start the day filled up strenuous physical activities…

We went for more snorkeling, swimming and playing in the water till we were exhausted!

Spotted the residential squirrel while having tea…there were quite a number of them (a colony, perhaps?) and very friendly with humans

Thirst quenchers, take your pick from the home-made sirap bandung (rose pink syrup drink with milk), sirap mawar (just plain ol’ rose syrup drink) and orange juice

It was the best and memorable graduation trip ever!

Had a great time with my friends, the same friends that I’ve known for the past 10 years (a few of them I’ve known way back since primary school)

Although we have all graduated, busy at work, building up our own careers but I sincerely hope and pray that our special bond of friendship will remain forever and ever

It’ll be fun if we make another trip like this in the future, 10 years down the road with our own families towing along~

Happy Deepavali 2011

BATI Class of 07/11

this is super long overdue~ but anyway

a toast and a pat on the back to myself!

Merdeka Raya

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri Eid Mubarak dan Selamat Hari Merdeka ke-54

Maaf Zahir dan Batin

Wishing all my friends and everyone out there

a warm and joyous Hari Raya Aidilfitri

and Happy 54th Birthday to my beloved country~

PS: Happy Birthday too to my friends who celebrate their birthdays today~

PSS: Rain’s getting better with Mr. Sun finally out from hiding behind the gray clouds…and the holidays continue on~ My quaint historical city is under attack from hordes of tourists/foreigners…long queues in front of popular eateries, bumper-to-bumper traffic in the golden triangle, cameras flashing here and there…

it’s August and summer rain is finally here

-raindrops pelting on the window pane-

I’ve been neglecting my blog again

-sigh-

The recently gloomy weather certainly will make one feel lethargic and malaise

All I want to do whenever it rains is jump in between the warm covers of my bed with a nice book to curl up with

But need is different from want

I’m in the middle of applying for my postgraduate studies and so far, I’ve been accepted into one but I’m still holding out hopes for the rest that I’ve asked for

Life’s been pretty sedentary for me right now and well, I don’t think I want to leave this comfort zone anytime soon

-grins-

Anyway the Hari Raya holidays are just around the corner and I’m happy to say that I still do send out the traditional greeting cards to my friends…just hope that the cards will arrive safely

-fingers crossed-

On the other hand, I just found out that the small picturesque city that I’ve called home was first colonized by the Portuguese 500 years ago! exactly on 24th August 1511

Wow~ just to think that this city is already that old…

Anyway in the meantime I’m jumping on the Kpop wagon (or is it riding on the Hallyu Wave?) and am now loading up on mostly Infinite stuffs but anything goes for me…the only peeve I have is why are idols getting younger and younger nowadays?! I feel bad for them to lose their childhood so early but at the same time, they get to pursue their dreams and get to do what they want, what they like so is it a bad thing or a good thing to support them?

And Hangul, despite what people have said being the most versatile and easiest language to learn, is not getting any easier for me

-cries-

But I won’t give up so easily and try to at least master the basics…I can read Hangul better now than 2 months ago albeit still slow but hey, that’s an improvement! So yup, practice makes perfect!

-goes off to revise more on the different particles used-

 

Cambodia Trip Part 2 – Phnom Penh Day 2

backtrack date: 10-16 May 20111

–.–

Day 2 in Phnom Penh started later than the previous  days as we wanted to have a little lie-in

Met up with our lovely friend aka tour guide who brought us to a popular (judging from the packed crowd inside the shop) local eatery and the food was indeed good! or was it because we’ve walked 1 hour just to get to the meet-up point?

After filling up our tummies, we continued on to our next destination, the Russian market! I’m not sure what it’s called in the local language but that’s the name written on the guide book so we walked again from the shop all the way to the other side of the town…

which took us another 1 hour under the sweltering mid day heat so we quenched our thirst with these huge coconut drinks, cool and cheap solution to dehydration

yup, that’s the Russian market, there are a lot of entrances and exits so there’s no telling which is the front or the back

     

there were rows upon rows of stalls selling all sorts of things inside, from colourful lanterns and lamps lighting up the whole place to automobile spare parts (I saw car tires hanging everywhere!) and clothing and food and non-original copies of entertainment

we were there only for window shopping but our friend stated that the prices offered here are cheaper than elsewhere as locals too often visit this place to buy their daily necessities

after browsing around for another hour or so, a friend of mine wanted to visit the landmine museum which we didn’t want to so after that, we split up and promised to meet up again for dinner later

the rest of us took a longer route back to the meet up point and while walking around the city, we saw and heard a lot of backyard stories

there are no gated communities, no fences or big fancy gardens, just rows of shops with lodgings above them and sometimes we came across big houses like this nestled in between small, old houses and shops

we met up again with the rest of the group at the National Stadium and to my amazement, the people have put the stadium to good use, not only for athletic events or football matches but also for the others to have  their morning/evening exercises and the occasional dancing clubs

we sat down, watched the world go by while letting the cool evening breeze caressed our skins

the sky slowly turned from hues of evening sky to inky dark night with Kpop music droning on in the background

after cheering the last of the dance club, we got up and made our way for dinner, the last one with everyone before we leave the country

Cambodia Trip Part 2 – Phnom Penh Day 1

backtrack date: 10 – 16 May 2011

– . –

Good Morning Phnom Penh! We missed the sunrise in Siem Reap but we made it for the sunrise in Phnom Penh~ (^_^)v

Woke up at 5.00 am just for this and why is it the sun rises so early there? Back home, the sun rises 2 hours later!

Morning exercises~ Everybody now, 1, 2, 3 PUT YOUR HANDS UP!

-lol- I just promoted one of my favourite Kpop bands’ latest single!

After a simple breakfast of baguette stuffed with meat floss, we met up with our friends again and set off to visit the nearby Wat Phnom or its full name Wat Phnom Daun Penh (literally means Temple Hill Grandmother Penh)

And across the street from Wat Phnom is the statue of Daun Pehn (Grandmother Penh)

After walking under the hot sun for a few hours, we decided to stop at a nearby drink stall and my friend saw this drink in the guide book and wanted to try it so we asked the owner of the stall to make it and tadaa~ is it the same as the one shown in the book? I remembered it being called “Teuk something” which tasted like a mix between sour plum juice with soda

Next we visited the Central Market, another place where you can find all the odds-and-ends stuffs

The coolest part about the market is that there is a special area dedicated to all kinds of watches, jeweleries, gem stones, precious stones, golds, silvers, bronzes anything valuable in the middle of the atrium

There were even armed guards standing at each entrance/exit on a lookout for any mischievous individuals

Another area that I really liked was the computer/electronics/games corner which has all and everything related…memory cards, sound cards, graphic cards, speakers, ipods, iphones, ipads, servers, laptops, cameras, video cameras, camcorders, microphones…anything! wow! the prices are okay (reasonably priced) but I am more doubtful of their authenticity

This is another familiar sight all over the country, initially we thought they were some kind of dried/grilled nuts but upon closer inspection we found out that they were boiled? steamed? broiled? mussels (or some kind of shell fish) from the rivers…our friends advised us not to eat them as their cleanliness was doubtful and we, foreigners will not be used to the fishy taste anyway

After lunch at a local restaurant (rice+dishes), we continued on our city tour

Here’s the House of Parliament of Cambodia

And right next to the Parliament was this new hotel cum Casino! (can’t imagine a gambling center built right next to the Parlimen back home)

It belongs to a rich tycoon from Vietnam who built this for the locals as well as tourists who arrive in droves during holidays

Visitors were allowed entrance so we went in and wow~ what struck me first was the amazing interior designs (lacquer gold can be found everywhere) and the casinos themselves were divided into 2 main areas (the left was for serious gamblers with games such as poker, blackjack etc while the right was mostly slot machines and other miscellaneous games which escaped my knowledge)

The only thing that we were not able to comprehend were the signage and language used…it’s kind of unsettling when you hear someone shouting across the tables in some kind of language that you don’t understand or passing by a slot machine that keeps spouting out alien words in tempting you to put in coins and test your luck

Finally we made our way to the Imperial Palace where the entrance fee really burnt a hole in our pockets…foreigners need to pay USD 3 while locals need only 1000 riyal (less than even USD 1!)

This pavilion was given to the King as a gift from Napoleon from France in 1876 as a goodwill gesture and is currently under renovation

The Silver Pagoda which houses the Emerald Buddha and other Buddhist relics

We also visited the Palace Museum and this is a very interesting Cambodian tradition of wearing a different colour costume for the different days of the week

Monday is Red, Tuesday is Orange, Wednesday is Purple, Thursday is Grey, Friday is Green, Saturday is Blue and Sunday is Maroon

Then just as we were walking back to our hostel from the Imperial Palace, we witnessed a local gang fight right in front of our eyes. The main road was filled with after-work-rush-hour cars and then suddenly a motorist dropped his bike in the middle of the road, got up and began chasing another motorist at the opposite side of the road with a stick in his hand. They were running around like that for a few minutes before another motorcycle zoomed past and picked the lad up before speeding away in the opposite direction. The motorist with the stick quickly ran back to his bike (which caused a traffic pile up as each vehicle has to avoid hitting it) and sped away.

The fact that all these happened right in front of the Imperial Palace in full view of everyone (locals and tourists) was a shock to me as I thought the locals treated this area as a sacred place for them. The police were notified I guess as a few minutes later we saw them giving chase along the main road. Later, our friends explained that it was a gang fight between members of 2 different gangs.

We got back to our hostel, washed up and rested a bit before venturing out for dinner

As it was the King’s birthday, there were fireworks display by the riverside and we sat down to watch before dinner

After dinner, we went to a nearby night market just next to the riverside for a walk before calling it a day off

Cambodia Trip Part 1 – Siem Reap Day 2+Day 3

backtrack date: 10 – 16 May 2011

— . —

started our day with a scrumptious Western style breakfast

and off we go to the nearby Old Market

it was a weekday so everyone was busy selling and buying fresh produce

and that’s how they sell the rice (loose grains in sacks) and spices

souveniers for the tourists

globalization = multi-linguism!

the Old Market is situated along the river that runs through the Siem Reap town and while we were strolling along the river banks, we saw this old man in his boat tending to his catch of the day….talk about freshness!

spices left to dry under the hot sun~

After we’ve finished our shopping spree at the Old Market, we went on our first hot air balloon ride!

We were nervous and all and it was a bit pricey but the experience up there, suspended in the middle of the air with endless view of blue sky and white puffy clouds seemed like almost within reach, was one that I will remember for the rest of my life

The place to ride the hot air balloon is just south of Angkor Wat and from high up, you can see the whole temple with its surrounding moats and all

It was noon by the time we came down from the balloon and as we were going back to the town area for lunch, we passed by a local restaurant hosting a wedding lunch reception

Lunch was simple, rice with their local curry dish shared between the 3 of us…yup, the bowl was THAT big to be able to satisfy 3 hungry tourists

Next, we walked along the famous Pub Street and perhaps it was due to the hot weather, business was kind of slow

A shop was offering this crocodile burger on its menu…wonder how it taste like?

And a shop shows how easy it is to custom made clothes in 4 simple steps

This is the name of the hotel that we stayed in and I totally recommend this Hotel 89 to anyone who wants to have a comfortable, affordable place and the best deal, it’s within walking distance to anywhere in Siem Reap. The staffs were very friendly and helpful, going all out to provide the best service to their customers. We were really thankful and grateful for their hospitality during our entire stay there.

Dinner was another relatively low key affair with rice and local sweet and sour fish soup

Then we walked to the Angkor Night Market where you can find anything (clothes, bags, shoes, accessories, souveniers ect) all in 1 place…the market opens till the wee hours of the morning so it’s a good place to hang out after dinner/supper as most places in the town will be closed by then (exception would be the Pub Street of course)

I am not sure why but everywhere you, the chances of you encountering these Dr. Fish places are high

The amazingly witty caption really amused me

12 May was my friend’s birthday so we celebrated it with this super cute mini cake (the bears were made of icing cream) during breakfast before leaving Siem Reap for Phnom Penh

This is the main Siem Reap Bus Terminal and it has a very unique way of taking care of its passengers, for example we bought our bus tickets from the hotel so the hotel will buy the bus tickets for us and arrange so that the bus company will pick us up from the hotel and bring us to the bus terminal to board the express bus, and this is not a special treatment only for tourists, there were quite a few locals boarding the same van as us that day

Stopped by at a rest area for lunch/toilet break and here’s the menu of the day

Finally arrived in Phnom Penh in the evening, drizzling like mad and the bus terminal was soaking wet

Boarded a tuk-tuk to our hostel and after a wash up, we waited for our tour guides aka Cambodian friends to meet us up

We met while they were exchange students in our university and after we told them that we’ll be coming for a visit, they offered to bring us around

 

First stop, dinner at a local shop…trying out their L: 菜餅 (a type of snack made of flour with vegetable fillings) and R: fried noodles

The strangest thing was that we were the only 3 foreigners amidst the other locals who were having dinner in the shop!

-amused-

And we washed that all down with a glass of cold sugar cane juice (apparently Cambodia produces a lot of sugar canes!)

oh and ice-cream for dessert! notice those super long wafer biscuits~!? mine was tropical fruits mix ice-cream which has pineapple, mango, papaya and a whiff of tiny weeny durian (or was it the smell from the next door neighbour’s durian ice-cream?) and who-knows-what-other-fruits-they-added-inside…it was good so not complaining here (^_^)

Later we went walking around the many parks lined up along the riverside or located within the vicinity of the riverside

There were a lot of parks near the riverside (more than the number of parks available in my hometown) located just next to each other and actually I feel that this is a good move by the government as not only the trees in the parks provide shades from the morning sun but the parks themselves are good places for children and parents to spend some family time together, an avenue for youths and young adults to show off their dancing skills and the senior citizens for their morning aerobic exercises

Put on those dancing shoes and DANCE! DANCE! DANCE! people!

Kpop and dance tunes were aplenty…there were even huge giant speakers in the middle of the park blaring out Girl’s Generation’s (aka SNSD aka 소녀시대) Genie/Tell Me Your Wish/소원을말해봐 song

A funny incident happened when we were there watching, one group was dancing with a crowd gathered around them then suddenly their radio ran out of battery (or some technical problem cropped up) so they had to stop dancing and fixed the radio. Then a nearby dance group was suddenly (more like miraculously, I mean how can you get people to dance in a group in just 5 seconds?)  formed and the crowd dispersed and went over to the new group to watch their dance. A member of the former group saw the crowd running away and tried to lure them back by butting into the new group’s dance routine but unfortunately he received scoldings and quickly ran back to his own group. The radio was fixed and they were back on their feet in no time and another crowd quickly formed around them once more.

Now if only there was a dance battle thrown in the middle of the confusion…

We ended our night with a walk towards the Independence Monument, constructed when Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953