A week in Macau/ Hong Kong, I bade farewell to the sunny island and a week later ready to embark on my journey in yet another tropical country – Malaysia.
Being the Aunt Agony I am, I always make sure I pack beforehand and more often than not I over-packed. This is nothing new. Heh. They always make me feel like the whiny bimbo. ☹
I was on the phone with Onion I still remembered, and met up with the buddies at Woodlands Interchange. This group of tourists includes Shy, Kimmo and Jo. ☺
So anyway, I thought Shy told me to dress down, which I think I did. The thing is, I got the date to dress down, wrongly.
Once in a while, I will reach earlier than the people I meet. This is my first officially overseas trip with friends, traveling on our own! Kudos to Shy, who did all the planning, booking, accommodations etc. *hugs*
After we crossed the borders via an SBS bus, Shy’s mom came to pick us up. I finally got to see her for the first time after hearing so much about her, and she looks really young. ☺
While waiting though, I had to bear the agony of watching a handicapped beggar, a mother I presumed, begging for money for a meal.
Auntie dropped us off in a nearby coffeeshop and I tried a new local delicacy – Hum Cha. It costs only RM4, includes a variety of veggies and this green tea soup. I like the vegetables, but I’ll not try the green liquid again. Hur.
It took three years to finally see Shy’s home. Haha. Her room’s view is awesome, hence all of us marveling over it.
And then I start unpacking, and exploring her room. I borrowed a book from her, it’s by the same author who wrote P.S. I Love You, but this one’s called Where Rainbows End. I got hooked almost immediately.
After we’ve settled in and got introduced properly to her sisters, Shy wanted to show us around Johor Bahru and brought us to this huge shopping centre. Okay, we only got to know after we took a picture that it was an extremely UNSAFE act we did, taking photos in public, what with JB’s sky-high crime rates.
This is the reason why Shy called me Whiny Thiang. We were all seated in Shy’s mom car and an hour ride to the shopping centre and I kept going, “Are we there yet?” non-stop. Heh. Irritating people is my forte.
Plus, did you notice who’s the driver?! SHYANNE WANG leh! It was such a funny and dangerous ride, because we almost got into an accident and Shy’s panic reaction is always very cute.
It was after that we went to giant Giant (pun intended) to get some groceries (which we didn’t eat it in the end) and basic necessities. I got my favourite animal prints plaster! ^^v
Late evening, we arrived at this Japanese restaurant that Shy high recommend for affordable and good food. The sad thing was that all of us were on tight budget so we could not eat much. ☹
Not to mention I love the seats, the kind where you can put your feet below ground level is my favourite. Heh.
Shy ordered this. We ordered a few other dishes and I swear the waiting time for each dish ah, I could have napped or go for a poop at least 3 times. It’s just very annoying to wait for food, you know?
No doubt the food was yummy, but the waiting time really is a major boo-boo. It’s not as if they lack any staff (from the way I see it lah)!
On our way down we were checking out hair salons since our original plans were to dye/cut hair in JB, but to my dismay, I didn’t do any kind of treatment to my hair. Ear digging service over there will cost you $3 and less! Hahaha.
Honestly, if you’re telling your customers that using quality shampoo will cost them an additional 3 riggit, so are you saying all these while you’ve been using crap shampoo on those who doesn’t want to pay?
After dinner, Shy called up Alan and asked him out for coffee. We headed to Old Town and had toast + tea, since we didn’t eat to our hearts content at the Jap place. ☹
Admittedly that night I didn’t sleep well. In fact, I felt like I didn’t sleep a wink. But the morning view and a little stretching at the balcony did help me feel better. Heh.
We got changed and headed to Alan’s place to pick up and were discussing how “jia zhua” (slack) the security officers were. Tsk.
That’s my very nice seafood Aglio Olio for lunch. ☺
Very unique way of putting the dish together, and Jo has the same cheese obsession with me! We don’t sprinkle cheese, we open the cheese bottle and pour them all over the food. Heh.
Alan bought a dessert for us all to try, and requested for a picture by the waitress.
Shy and Kim had been playing with Jo’s cap all day and I was tempted to try it on and see how I look. So how is it? (Digression: but how long does it take for my hair to actually, grow? Ugh.)
Outside, there was a Pasar Malam and in JB, it greatly differs from Sin’s version. Over there, they sell eggs…
And incense paper, joss sticks…
And even assorted vegetables. I can’t help but think that Jo is like the husband, while he waits for her wife to choose his dinner for the night. *giggles*
What about roasted meat then? I should think they’re a lot cheaper over there. Wait, everything in Malaysia is cheaper.
Well a little cam-whoring in the car wouldn’t hurt.
Before we were in Malaysia, my Malaysian friends has been reminding constantly about the robbery cases, especially popular among Singaporeans, and it is very easy to identify us. Thus throughout the two days I left many things back at Shy’s place, and grabbed onto my tote bag at all times. Freaky, but I didn’t feel that JB was dangerous at all (which means no weirdos that disturbed me).
Nevertheless, we should not rest on our laurels! It’s definitely better than heading to Thailand or Mumbai for nowI guess, where they hold you as pawns in battles of their own.
