One step at a time

Il est surprenant comment, après tout ce temps, ça reste une plaie. Comment ça n'a pas encore cicatrisé...

The pain dulls, like when you live with something for so long, that you don't notice it any more. But once in a while, something will make you look at it and say, "Oh! It's still here..."

Et puis on se rend compte qu'on n'a pas encore oublié. Peut-être qu'on ne l'oubliera jamais.

Mais pour oublier, il faut d'abord que ça cicatrise. Si ce tour n'est pas encore joué...comment passer à la suite?

The trip to Cameron Highlands

Last month, we made a weekend trip to Cameron Highlands (led by a couple of colleagues who had already been there several times). For most of us, our participation was "pay up" and "show up"; we paid some money in advance for the apartment we were renting, and for the food we were going to bring there (to make steamboat). Then after they had decided on a time of departure, we had to show up at that time.

We left at about two in the morning, because we wanted to get there in time to see the sunrise. (hence the worry that some people wouldn't "show up" in time :P ) Anyway...I'll spare you the details and show you how the sun looked like when we first arrived at the sunrise-viewing spot.

I hope you can see the tiny bit of sun

It was raining a bit when we arrived in Cameron Highlands...so we went to the hotel and took shelter there for a while. Then when the rain stopped, we went to the sunrise-viewing spot, as I called it.

A little later...

the photography enthusiasts with their huge cameras and tripods (no, the leftmost one doesn't count :P )

we girls taking a photo while waiting for the sun to appear more

as it got brighter, we could finally see where we were (and where we would end up if we fell down...)

tea...

It would be a long fall...

After the sunrise (and after taking all the photos we wanted to), we went to a tea plantation. We had to wait outside for a while because it was still too early, the plantation wasn't open yet! There was a little waterfall thingy (can we call that a waterfall?) and some pretty flowers on the roadside where we waited...so some of us started snapping photos again.

I like this one...lovely rose, complete with dew on it ^_^

Then we went into the plantation...we had to walk up a bit to a little terrace-restaurant, where we had breakfast.

can't believe I managed to catch the sunrays with my camera...those high-tech cameras the others were using must have captured them even better!
And yup, that's the terrace-restaurant I mentioned.

this is the entrance

There was a shop selling tea, a TV screen showing documentaries on the tea plantation (or Cameron Highlands in general?) and even a tea factory which we could visit...but we didn't go in, partly because we had to wait for the visiting time, and also because we weren't really that interested...

tea, viewed from the terrace

On the way out, we saw people picking tea (click on the picture, in larger size you might see them!)

or I'll just zoom in for you :P

And then...since we had so many professional photographers with us, of course we had a few special shots. Here are all the girls, photo courtesy of our driver Philips :P

From left: Doris, yours truly, Nichole and Yi Yin

He also took photos of us on the terrace.

the guys after breakfast
From left: Beng Sun, Ch'ng, Frankie and Samson

The table wasn't big enough for all of us, you see...so here are Wooi Kiang and Steven

And of course, it wouldn't be fair to leave out the person who took all those photos... so here's a photo of him, courtesy of Frankie.

Cute, eh? Kekeke...

There are more photos...I'm not sure how many, but this isn't the last post on this trip! ;)

Of self-bloating mirrors

I just saw a blog post (I say "saw" because I didn't read it all the way through, just skimmed through it) about a girl getting injections in her face to look prettier. She says that her chief complaint about her face is her eye-bags, and she decided the get injections in her cheeks to make them look fuller too.

Okay, this isn't new...everyone's heard of botox, right? But what makes me gasp is how excited she sounds about the whole thing...she sounds like she's a little child who's been shown into...Charlie's chocolate factory? Maybe she has to sound excited because it's a commercial...but still...I think the excitement is overboard.

Now maybe some people are going to say, "Easy for you to say, you don't have any eye-bags to hide anyway". I'm not sure whether that's true...I actually have difficulty making out dark circles under anyone's eyes, be they mine or other people's. I don't even stare at anyone's eyes that much. Not enough to notice any eye-bags.

I might not be sure about the eye-bags, but I'm sure about one thing...in Penang everyone is saying that I'm thin. :O (and that they're fat) And here I am, unable to wear some of my jeans...

Don't get me wrong, I refuse to say that I am fat (plus I don't dare, because some people are going to kill me if I do). But I do wonder what's wrong with some people's eyes...once someone said that I would disappear if I lost weight. Hey...I'm not even blown away by the wind yet, okay?!? Don't speak like I'm only skin and bone...it's not even a compliment, I don't want to be skin and bone!

I want to be skin, flesh, and bone...all in correct proportions, if possible. :P

Kung fu noodles!

Ever heard of maggi kung fu? This is what it looks like:

Sorry, the photo's taken half-way through eating...I didn't think of blogging about it until then!

I went to a Malay stall eatery (it's not a stall, but not a restaurant...just a roofed space on the roadside) not too far from my place, on my way home today. I had wanted to try it for some time, but there isn't much place to park there, so I always ended up thinking, "nah, let's not risk it..." Today I finally made it there, and ordered this (and nasi goreng ayam merah, which was not bad but more like nasi paprik actually) for take-away.

I saw maggi kung fu on the menu, and asked the guy there, what is this? He said, the gravy is thick. Then I asked, is it spicy? And he said, it can be spicy or not, as you like. -_- I find that Malay food sellers like to say that...but when I ask, I usually want to know the "normal" state of it, you know? Or else I would need to say "pedas" or "tak pedas" each time I order it...

Actually the maggi mee is deep fried, somehow...then we pour the sauce on it. It's not bad...but the noodles look like they come from a single packet of Maggi, which is...um, not much. (okay for me, but definitely not enough for WW) There's a lot of squid, though...and that is enough to make me happy with it :P But I think the guy who took my order could have told me it came with seafood...I mean, what kind of description is "the gravy is thick"?? And there I thought it was fried noodles with sticky sauce...lol

The fried rice was okay...not exceptional but good enough, I guess. I might go there again. :) They also cook dishes served with white rice...but that will have to wait till there are more people to go there.

Tumbling down the hill

We had planned to go hiking after work, but it rained in the morning and was rather cloudy in the afternoon. So we were discussing whether to go ahead with our plan.

Me: I'm worried about falling down (if the ground is slippery)
C: If you fall I'll carry you down lo, what to do...
Me: I'm afraid you'll just roll me down the hill instead...
C: (starts to laugh) You also know ah...
(and after a while) I'm not so unkind, I will wrap you up first, so that you won't feel painful when you roll down...

Great friends I have, huh? -_-

Hahaha...okay, really, it's pretty funny. :P


Oh, and I cut myself on the finger last Saturday. Not a really bad cut, but deep enough to draw blood. And the lousy thing is that it's really easy to rip open again :( I already ripped it open once Saturday night, and today I kept a plaster on it the whole day so that I wouldn't tear it at work. When I got home and took off the plaster, I was glad to see that it was better... and then I tore it open again. Drawing blood again. -_-

So much for being plaster-free tomorrow. I don't like plasters very much because I feel that they trap my skin, not letting fresh air through. Oh well, I'll see how it is tomorrow...

Legends and roundabouts

On our last day in Langkawi, we went to Taman Lagenda. It's supposed to present all the legends of Langkawi in a park. But...it wasn't really well done, and we just walked around in a rather dirty (and ugly :s ) park, wondering what we were doing there. In some places there were stones with plaques describing the legends...but they were so faded that we couldn't read the words properly. I'll just post a few of the more interesting pieces.

the entrance

the map of Langkawi

the layout of the park

not sure what this is...

Ayer Hangat

Kuah and Belanga Pecah ("gravy" and "broken bowl/urn")
Maybe that's the legend that gave Kuah town its name...but there was no information there.

 And then...there were lots of other stuff but I kind of gave up on understanding the legends.

the is Garuda and Jentayu, though I've no idea what's the story behind it...

This one is quite funny...a recreation of the black sand beach (I wrote about it in this post)

 There was quite a large area of the park dedicated to Mahsuri (I wrote about her tomb here)

This is Pandak Mayah's spear (Pandak Mayah is Mahsuri's father, and supposedly only his spear could kill Mahsuri...or was it his keris? Anyway, that's the legend...)

the eagle can be seen from the park

To end the Langkawi posts, here are two rather pretty roundabouts that we came across while driving around the island.

That's all folks!

Before departure

At the dock, there are two boats. Maybe more. But two in particular interests you.

You reach there early, not quite sure whether you want to sail out.

After some time, you decide that you will sail.

Then you look at those two boats...you wonder which would be the better choice.

After a while you decide on the first boat. You check the next departure time...it is two hours away. It is the same for both boats.

Then while waiting for your boat to depart, you start thinking... Shouldn't I take the other boat instead?

Then you skip over to the second boat to wait.

And then you start wondering, again...shouldn't I take the first boat?

And you change boats, again and again...and between the two boats, you also wonder, should I even be taking any boat at all? Until it is closer and closer to the departure time and you start panicking...am I on the right boat?

Decisions, decisions... I guess sometimes deadlines do kill stress, because after a deadline...there is nothing else you can do. The boat has left, and there is no turning back.

Reddish-brown eagle

Langkawi got its name from "lang", as in helang (eagle) and "kawi" which means reddish-brown in old Malay. I'm not sure what happened to the original reddish-brown eagles that gave Langkawi its name, but now there is one huge eagle on Dataran Lang (Eagle Square) to keep the myth going. :P

reaching the square

the entrance arch looks better from the other side, because of the position of the sun (it was nearing sunset when we arrived there)

view of the square

Here is the eagle from a few different angles:

Next post on Langkawi will the the last!

Scraps

...that didn't quite make it to Facebook.

A hollow feeling...

- I need to talk.
- Again?

Can I tell you? Can I trust you?

Could you guess?

I'll complain about anything...anything to get my mind off... the biggest problem at hand.

Of brand power and equality

Today we had a conversation on how girls spend money on cosmetics and handbags...branded stuff. The guys were saying how it would be worth their while to provide a house and a car for their wife, and that she could take care of her food and cosmetics, etc on her own.

Somehow the talk turned to branded stuff (I'm not sure how)...and their prices.

Which leads me to write this post.

I don't know what it is about branded goods, but I wouldn't pay a few hundred bucks for a handbag. Even if it's of great quality...I mean, what are you going to use it for? Throw it from the top of the building so that you don't have to carry it downstairs? A handbag doesn't have to be that durable...

I think one of the most expensive things I've ever bought was my camera (check out this post when I had just bought it)...how much was it? Almost 200 euros, I think...together with the case (which I had to buy separately), if I'm not mistaken. (at 4.5 to 5 ringgit per euro, that makes almost a thousand ringgit...ouch!) Then there were my walking shoes when I was in France...I always bought them in Malaysia, though. I think my favourites (I went through a few pairs during those seven years, since I walked around so much) cost about 200 ringgit, and they were worth it because I wore them almost every day, and they lasted about two years (they were Reeboks, I remember)

Maybe I am biased on these things because I'm not a fan of handbags...but the same goes for shoes and clothes. Sometimes a perfectly mediocre-looking piece is so highly priced just because of a tag that carries a brand name on it. I sometimes think that prices keep going up because people are always willing to pay more. We should all stop buying expensive stuff...and then they will be forced to drop the prices! Who's with me? :P


By the way, this isn't the first time I've heard of guys buying cosmetics for their girlfriends.Some time back when I was out with a few guys, one of them asked another, "how much do you spend on your girlfriend?" In reply, he mentioned cosmetics, and I remember, SK-II. Now I don't know how much that costs, but I know that it is one expensive product. And I'm thinking, if you can't buy it for yourself...why are you using it in the first place? Maybe I'm an arrogant, over-independent female, but if we girls truly want equality, getting your boyfriend to buy cosmetics for you is NOT the way to go. A handbag, yes...it could be a gift for a special occasion. Even perfume, yes... But...skincare??

To each their own, I guess... but I do wonder, is there anyone out there who thinks like I do?

Of hot springs and political gifts

Time to continue on our Langkawi trip! This episode, we're visiting the hot springs. There is a gate leading into what they call Ayer Hangat Village.

the hot spring area

The water was rather dirty...I wonder why they don't clean it up a bit. There wasn't any information to be found anywhere either...maybe they're just starting to build up the place for tourists. There was someone cleaning one of the jacuzzis as we walked by, so we got to take a peek into it.

the jacuzzis (there are a lot more)

inside, there's a private pool (and a shower head too)

I can't remember the price, but it was per hour, and any number of people can go in.

the main hot spring source (the original Telaga Ayer Hangat), boarded up

little pools with roofs over them...there were several, but some weren't warm at all!

here we can soak our feet...again, there was no sign board ot anything

Now this one was really warm...especially when we put our feet in. Just touching it with our hands at first, it didn't feel so warm...

Inside the pool...is it algae?

The water's not very clean, huh...but maybe this is what contributes to the medicinal properties? :P

After that we went to the Perdana Gallery (which was on the way back to our hotel, actually). We weren't planning on going in, but it wasn't too expensive (RM5, RM3 for senior citizens, I think) so we went in to take a look. There were really too many things...all the stuff that Mahathir received during his stint as the Prime Minister. Looking at all those, I wonder...how much money was spent just to make yourself look good to other countries? :s Rather pointless...

If we wanted to bring our camera into the gallery, we needed to pay an extra RM2, so we didn't. So I only have photos of two ships in the parking lot outside the gallery.

Impressive...especially the first one.

More to come...you haven't seen the eagle yet! ;)

Secrets

No, I'm not telling you any.

I've always been good at keeping secrets...from when I understood what a secret was, I mean.

Agatha Christie said in one of her books (I think it was Hercule Poirot who said it) that a murderer is put in a very lonely position, because he has done something that he is unable to speak to anyone about.

Sometimes a secret is that way. When you have a secret, you are placed in a position where you are unable to share something. Sometimes it is because you do not want to share it, but sometimes you cannot share it because, well, the secret is not yours to share. So the burden is yours alone to bear.

Some people would say, why don't you tell me your secret? Don't you trust me?

But secrets are secrets for a reason... Sometimes you do not tell someone a secret not because you think they will tell other people about it, but simply because you do not want them to know about it.

Imagine the murderer...he might not want his friends to know that he has murdered someone, even if he might be sure that they would never turn him in to the police.

Once someone knows your secret, and you know that they know...instead of being in a lonely position, it might be an uncomfortable position.

Oh, if only there was a way to erase memories...then we could share our innermost secrets with trusted friends, share opinions, and wipe the slate blank, leaving your secret intact with you...and in addition, you would have shared it with your friends.

Unfortunately the world doesn't work that way... (or maybe, fortunately...because what would be a secret then?)

Thanks for the smile

Hey man. Yeah, you there in the red car, dancing at the wheel. Thanks for the smile. :)

There was this red Kancil in front of me at one point, when I was driving back from work. The driver was waving his hands around quite a bit, and after a bit I realised that he was dancing to some beat. It was rather amusing...I couldn't help but feel a little happier as I watched him shaking away.

And hopefully that just put a smile on your face too... ;)

I am so easy to please, aren't I?

Edit (15th March 2014):
Just added the MMS tag to the post. Since it didn't exist before... and I came across this post.

Like a fool

Because I am, you know. A fool.

...like a fool I keep losing my place
and I keep seeing you walk through that door

...like a fool who will never see the truth,
I keep thinking something's gonna change

Optimism is inborn, but pessimism is learned.

I guess inborn qualities are not so easy to get rid of...

Prawn mee on Pulau Aman

Time to take a break from Langkawi (I'm not done with it yet!) and hop over to Pulau Aman for a day.

Last Tuesday (Labour Day), a group of us went to Pulau Aman for a short trip. We initially wanted to go there to eat mantis prawns (or he kor in Hokkien). But the price was too expensive - RM100 per kg...and we would be getting only about 5 of them per kg. So we ended up only having the prawn mee, which is also very famous by the way.

leaving the jetty from Batu Kawan (or Batu Musang as a big rock said at the entrance)

 We had to go over to the mainland to take the boat. The boat was really quick...in about five minutes (maybe less?) we had reached the island.

the famous Restoran Terapung (floating restaurant)

a zoom-in for you to see the name of the restaurant

beside the Pulau Aman jetty

A short walk brought us to the floating restaurant
On the left is where they sell the mantis prawns and crabs

The restaurant, where we had our prawn mee

The famous prawn mee!

Actually, it wasn't that good. RM6 for a plate like this, and for a "special" one (which means a few more prawns), it would cost RM10.

If we bought any seafood (from their stall outside the restaurant, or elsewhere), they would steam it for us for a small fee. They would only steam it, no other cooking method. Anyway, that's what we heard...because we didn't buy any seafood after all. :P

After eating we walked over to a little fishing area built out into the sea. It seems that quite a lot of people go to Pulau Aman for fishing. I didn't take any photos of that because...well, it didn't look that great :P

And after that we went back to the mainland. We took the boat to the island at 9am, had our breakfast and made the return trip at around 11am. Two hours for breakfast (and a little walk), RM6 for the noodles, RM6 for the boat trip (return trip) and a bit more for drinks. How's that? Not much value for money...but I guess it was a nice experience, discovering someplace new.