La Rochelle et les SOLDES!

Most of the students from Alliance Française that I know have decided to go to the beach at Biarritz this weekend. Since I only had one weekend in Bordeaux, I chose La Rochelle over Biarritz, and travelled alone.

But it was NOT BAD, not bad at all! In fact, I am really glad I chose La Rochelle, cette ville est tellement très très jolie!!! I arrived La Rochelle about 1pm, approximately 30 minutes late from the original scheduled time, but it was alright. The weather was perfect, not too hot, with occassional cool breeze, and not too crowded. As usual, I headed straight to the Office de Tourisme (OfT) when I arrive in a new town, and got myself a guide for just 20 cents. From the OfT, I found out that there is this Vélos Jaunes, that offers free use of bicycle for the first 2 hours, and subsequent hours for just 1 euro/hour!!! C'est genial!

I didn't start on my tour immediately as my tummy was growling. I found a nice restaurant just by the Quai Duperré (Vieux Port). Well, there wasn't just one, but a whole lot of restaurants there, so I had to randomly choose one, Les Regates, which turned out to be quite good. I ordered Moules Marinères as a starter, and a plat du jour, which was some kind of fish served with Normandie sauce, accompanied by some vegetables and rice. The seafood was really fresh, and portion was also sizeable enough to fill my tummy. While having my lunch, I went through the guide and found recommended walks in town for 1 hour, or 3 hours, which was really helpful.

I started my tour by first going to Vélo Jaunes, and found the process of getting the bike to be fuss-free. Just give them your ID or driving license, fill up a simple form, and you off you go with a bike. No money deposit, ilek. From Vieux Port, I cycled up to Baie de Port Neuf, then across Promenade de Chef de Baie, to Port de Pêche and Port de Commerce de "La Pallice" before heading to city centre, along Parc Charruyer then back to Vieux Port. After approx. 3.5 hours of cycling, I returned the bike and did the city centre tour by foot.

Oooh là là... what did I find?? Arts and crafts market, and rows of shops on summer sale! I know...I know.... I really shouldn't be doing any more shopping, not when my luggage is already up to the max weight limit. So I limited myself to just one...one tinnie winnie little handmade necklace. That was it!!! Really....honestly, that was the only thing I bought! Of course, I uhm, am waiting for my darling to come over next week, so that I can offload some of my stuff for him to bring home, and uhmmm... then I can shop again :P

Ok, back to my trip.... I was yet again caught in another delay when returning from La Rochelle, due to some Rave Party, where lots of youngsters group together for drinking sessions, techno music, and doing other crazy stuff. They happen to be partying right beside the railway track, and the train had to go real slow, to be able to brake on time. Why? Some wasted youngsters may decide to do some stunts on the track, then end up being like those bugs on your car windscreen when you drive late at night. And that slow down thingy caused a delay of 40 minutes, and I only managed my dinner at 10:40pm.

Anyway, the trip had been great, just regretted that I was not able to spend a little bit more time there, so that I could also visit Ile de Ré. Next time perhaps! Here's the photo album specially dedicated to La Rochelle.

Allez Les Bleus!!!

More football matches for me. Apa nak buat, Malaysia tak jadi masuk World Cup 2006, but France jadi mah. While I am here, gotta give a bit of support lah. Plus, if they win, also means lots of party party here...hehehe.... everyone was crazy yesterday when Zidane scored the but. Unfortunately, Carolina (espagnole) and Paula (brezilienne) were both supporting Portugal and were really disappointed. U faham, I faham lah........

Next match: France vs. Italy (Lo siento Federico, me quedo con la Francia!!!)

Perfect Timing

I arrived Bordeaux during noon time, and Mdm Brosseau was already at the station waiting for me. She was with Paula, une brazilienne who arrived last Thursday. I was really really surprised when Mdm Brosseau told me she has 5 kids!!! :O That's really not a very common sight on this part of the world. The kids range from 3.5 yrs old to 16 years old, and the youngest, Anne-Victoire, is really really cute. The rest of the girls and a boy, must be like the sweetest kids ever! And not to mention, hyper-active!

Today the family had some guests at the house; while the adults dine inside, the rest, which include the kids (of Mdm Brosseau and the guests), Paula and myself, had our lunch in the garden, with sausages, fries, fruits and ice-cream. The kids were kept busy with lots of toys and games, so that they wouldn't disturb the adults, while Paula and I chatted away.

In the evening, Carolina arrived from Madrid, and all 3 of us went to the Bordeaux Fête Le Vin. It has been running for 4 days in a row, it was the last day today. Seriously I couldn't have arrived Bordeaux at a better timing. We thought it would be nice to get ourselves Pass de Degustacion to try out the wines while we were there. With each purchase of the booklet, we get a wine glass, nicely stored in a pouch. Everyone was tent-hopping to try out all the wines available. That evening we managed to taste 3 types of vin blanc, 2 vin rouge, 1 rosé, 1 margarita and 1 mojito. And guess what, after that, with the alcohol still in our heads, we had to run home as it was raining cats and dogs. The very next morning, we hafta wake up early for class...... TOUGH!

Sachiko et Si Theng

Those are the names that I am giving to my 2 new friends. Sachiko, who adores rabbit and the colour olive green, gave me 2 new friends to accompany me on my trip. I decided to name the frog after Sachiko, since it was in her favourite colour, and the rabbit after myself, since I was wearing pink all the time in France (I have no idea why 80% of my wardrobe is in pink...though my fav colour has never been pink). Anyway, from now on they will join Li'l Teddy and Blue Friend in all my adventures!

Sachiko/Si Theng/Li'lTeddy/Blue Friend

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut!!!!!!!!!!

Ouch, my butt hurts. On my last day in Toulouse, I decided to watch the match between France and Brazil at the Place du Capitole, where the Mairie de Toulouse have set up a grand projection screen for this grand match. By 9pm, the square was crowded with football fans. Sachiko and I found a nice spot to sit, but we forgot our beer. Ai ya ya ya ya yahhh... Neither of us wanted to leave the place or else it would be gone in a second. Il faisait très très chaud, and we felt as if we were enclosed in an oven. Plus, the floor was so hard (I know...when has floor ever been soft?) and I had to shift several times during the first half of the match.

During the break, we decided to move to a bar where there were less people. Although it was just as warm, at least I did not have someone kicking on my butt everytime they tried to squeeze through the crowd to join their friends. France played a good game. Seriously I thought Brazil would kick their butts, but after the first half, I was convinced that they had a good chance of winning. I guess watching a football match is NOT so bad after all. Especially with good company and good beer :D

Last day of Class

I am left all alone in the class today, everyone else have left, while some decided not to come at all (except for Chang, who came for just an hour, and then left) . Instead of having French lessons as we were supposed to, Valerie, my professeur, and I, just chatted and worked on Sudoku puzzles instead. Hehe...what a way to end a session. :D

Just one more goodbye dinner tonight, and tomorrow I'll have to return my bicycle, and start packing. Bordeaux wines, here I come!

Je suis crevée

I know I have been lagging again on updating the blog....but I can't really help it with so many happenings in town. First it was the Fête de la Musique, then came the Rio Loco, and then Fête du Cinema and since this is my last week in Toulouse, there are also lots of goodbye dinners. Estoy hecha polvo!

List of movies that I watched during Fête du Cinema

1. La Colline a des Yeux (Hills Have Eyes)
2. X-Men
3. Cars
4. Scary Movie 4
5. Paris Je T'aime (Paris I Love You)
6. Volver

Except for Volver, I watched everything else in French. So proud of myself...hehe...

Anyway, I still have several posts in draft mode, will try to get it up as soon as possible, hopefully before I leave for Bordeaux this Sunday. Ah yes, I am moving again!

Mon "amour"

Je pense à toi, tu es loin de mes yeux mais près de moi des mes pensées.
(I think of you, you are far from my sight, but close to my mind)

Tu es une pierre très precieuse pour moi que je souhaite conserver pour l'éternite.
(You are a stone so precious to me that I wish to keep for eternity)

Je te remercie car je suis convainçu que tu penses à moi.
(I would like to thank you because I am convinced that you think of me)

There you go, some of the messages that I get from Gemma, the guy I met about a month ago on the streets of Paris. I never thought he was actually serious in coming down to Toulouse just to see me, but he arrived last Friday night.

He had originally wanted to come a week ago, but I managed to escape as I was supposed to have this excursion to Pyrenees, which was eventually cancelled. I could not run away this time as I had no excuse :P He asked for my help to find him a hotel, and being hospitable, I found him a cozy 2 stars hotel in the centre. On Friday, he arrived close to midnight, because he didn't know in advance that the train would take about 7 hours to reach Toulouse (and he didn't take the TGV anyway). I was glad Sachiko was with me in town while I waited for him. We went to watch the match between France-Togo then headed straight to town to meet him.

Oh well, when he arrived, I took him to the hotel where he could check-in, told him I was tired, and that we would meet next morning at 10am. He said sure, why don't u come up to my room when you arrive and give knock on the door. I told him NO, we can meet downstairs, at 10am.

Sachiko had to leave for the beach next morning, and she offered her bicycle for Gemma to use, which was very kind. I certainly prefered to have him on the bicycle than walking next to me. So Gemma and I cycled to the Canal du Midi. While we were cycling, he called me 'Mon amour, mon bébé....'. I had to explain to him again and again I am NOT his baby nor his love.... geeesshhh.... why is it so difficult for man to understand the word NO???

Anyway, to cut long story short, he offered to buy me jewellery, attempted to hold my hand, and insisted several times that I should walk next to him with my arms tucked under his and not well ahead of him. He threatened to leave the very next day if I keep rejecting him (I couldn't have been happier). He then helped returned Sachiko's bike, and then again tried his luck to see if I would let him into the house. I guess he finally got the idea that he's not getting anything from me, and walked straight to the metro station without saying a word, just a gesture to say he will call me. I never heard from him again. *phew*

Fête de la Musique

The Festival of Music is held every year on the 21st of June, which also marks the beginning of summer. I was in Carcassonne earlier during the day, but in the evening when I returned, the Fête de la Musique has started. It was just like any other working day, so the highlights began only from evening 7pm onwards.

People playing musical instruments, singing, dancing everywhere ..... partout! Whether you are a professional or an amateur, this is the day for you to show off. Find a spot that you like, then start making music... or noise .....whatever. Nobody will care, not until 2am the next morning. The Mairie of Toulouse set up a grand stage at Place du Capitole and it was almost like an open air discotheque. It was really weird, everyone was blasting their speakers really loud, and you can hear rock blasting on your left ear, and church choirs singing on the right. Then near the St. Etienne, there will be some jazz and classical music played, and lots of jamming as well near Pont Neuf. Just weird. Lots of stalls popping up like mushrooms, selling kebabs, and saucisses de Toulouse and sandwiches and beer. But the crowd was enormous! I thought I saw a stall somewhere selling saucisse, but when I tried to search for it again later, it just disappeared, camouflaged by the crowd.

On the same day was also the opening of the Rio Loco festival along the Garonne. This year's theme was Senégal, and lots of artists were invited to perform in this festival. Although everyone was busy promenading on the streets for the Fête de la Musique, the crowd at the Garonne was not small neither.

Check out the photos of Carcassonne, the Fête de la Musique and Rio Loco. (end of album)

World Cup Mania

Sachiko and Liko wanted to go watch the World Cup at the cafe today to support Japan in the match against Croatia. I thought I'd come along and joined them. After our lunch at Flunch, we settled in a small little cafe in town centre. The moment we sat down, there was this viejo verde, seated by the bar, who could not stop staring at us. Every 5-10 minutes, he would turn his head back and look at us. The match was not even interesting enough for him; if he was not staring at us, he would doze off with his head rocking back and forth a little. We didn't pay much attention to him, and left after the game ended.

Sachiko and I decided to stay at home and watched the match between Australia and Brazil, but we ended up watching the match between France and South Korea instead because I got the wrong information about the match time. The match between Australia and Brazil was already over. That shows how much interests I have for football...bleeehhh :P

Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire, SÉDUISANT?

What more could I ask for in a class? We are blessed with 2 handsome gentlemen (Steve* & Chang*) who are willing to take turns every other day to perform a table dance for all of us before the class starts. Ok, I am joking about the table dance part, but they really do climb onto the table, but to do all of us a favor...(nope, not pole dancing neither). We normally open the window on the roof to let some fresh air in, but at the same time, some of us in the class would be exposed to the risks of sunburn. These 2 nice gentlemen will climb on the table to shut the blinds, so that the ladies are well protected ;)

Today was Steve's turn to be on the table, and Florencia jokingly offered her sweater, for him to dance with :P Then later during the class, we came across a word which we did not understand, "Qu'est que ça veut dire, séduisant**??" , Valerie nicely explained, "C'est Steve sans chausseurs, avec le pull de Florencia sur la table :D" (That's Steve, without his shoes, with Florencia's sweater, on the table). And boy did that made Steve blush! ;)

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the innocent
** séduisant = seductive

Horse on Wheels

Yesterday, 10 of us from Alliance Française Toulouse went on a cycling trip along the Canal du Midi (which starts in Toulouse, and goes all the way to the Mediteranean sea, approx 250km). It was marvelous! We started our little tour immediately after class, and then we went off-route to a nice little garden to have a picnic before continuing. We cycled about 8km before pausing for a break, then cycled a little bit more before making a retour back to the town centre. In total, we probably did about 19-20km. The cycling path was shady, not crowded, so it was really really nice. I'd probably do this again on one of the weekends with Sachiko :D

The activites organised at the school has been quite interesting. We had Soirée Gourmand last Tuesday i.e. everyone who wanted to attend had to bring a typical dish of their country. Guess what I brought? Nope, not Nasi Lemak, coz I did not have ikan bilis :( But I managed to find some sambal to make Mihun goreng! I was quite proud of myself, and would have given a score of 8 out of 10 (masuk bakul angkat sendiri....hehe)

Right before the Gourmet Evening, we had Atélier de Cuisine, to make Fondant au chocolate et amandes, yummmyyyy. Seriously we were no chefs, so, the cake probably didn't come out looking like it was supposed to, but it tasted good all the same. And we had fun! Not forgetting to mention that we had good wine to accompany it in the end :D

More photos

I thought I'd upload some of the panaromic photos that I have taken both in Paris, Versaille and Toulouse here. The rest of the photos will be in my Yahoo! album.

Place du Capitole à Toulouse


Musée du Louvre


Versailles

Pont Neuf à Toulouse

**Albums moved to http://guiri.site.shutterfly.com/ (Update: 16 May 2008)

Disorganised

Ok, the blog hasn't really been in a proper chronological order lately. I had them written offline, then posted them at different times. It should be fixed by next week, so don't be too surprised if you see a new article dated several days back. Cheers!

J'ai un velo!!!

Well....I thought I had to wait till I was in Chambéry to get a bicycle. Fortunately, NOT! My housemate, Sachiko, thought it was a good idea to rent a bicycle too, considering that we have to walk at least 25 minutes a day to school, and another 25 minutes back under the hot sun, with a temperature of 32 degrees. Of course, we could take the metro, but it's not really worth it.

Today, we finally got our rental contract done, and a bicyle to ride for a rent of 20 euros a month (or less if you rent for longer duration). It's really handy if you know how to operate a bicycle properly. We have to be quite careful in some of the areas though, coz the some of the streets are really narrow with lots of pedestrians, and quite often cars too. I guess I'll be quite an expert by the end of June, before I leave :D

Am staying with a French family, and the lady host is really nice. She is more than 60 years old, but still goes out every weekend to dance! That's the spirit! Elle est très gentile, and also a good cook, so I am really quite happy here :) My housemate Sachiko, does not speak English, which is perfect. We are all the time speaking in French. God knows if it is correct French, but at least we understand each other .... hehehe...

The French class is so far going all right. I almost missed the first class as I thought it was the Pentcote holiday. Thank goodness me and Sachiko decided to take a walk that morning, drop by the school and found out that we were supposed to attend class! I was also put into the wrong niveau on the first day. It was too easy for me, and I requested for a change. I guess it's somehow my fault coz I didn't do the pre-entry test properly :P

Oh well, I haven't taken too many photos so far, but here are some picture of sunset in Toulouse. (go to the end of the album)

Kena halau!

Oh well...I didn't exactly get shoo-ed away. The guy was quite polite although I had taken his seat. I was so glad to have found the seat no 64 without having looked carefully at the coach no. Well, I did look, but apparently it was not the coach no but the seating class :P I plonked my ass on the comfy seat, plugged on the MP3 player, ready to doze off when...

Nice guy: Excusez-moi, uhm.... c'est ma place? (Excuse me, I think this is my place?)
Me: Uhm, moi aussi? (Me too? I quickly digged out my ticket to confirm). C'est la voiture 1, place 64? (This is coach 1, seat 64?)
Nice guy: Non, c'est la voiture 2. Pardon. (He said sorry although I was the one who was mistaken? How sweet.)

I quickly left the seat....malu again.... and searched for my rightful seat. Ah, the new one is not too bad after all. View was perfect. I had a bel homme sitting diagonally opposite and facing me. He got off at Bordeaux though, which was 2 hours before me, *sigh* what a waste. NO more wash-eye :(

Bye bye Pigeons!

Am packing my bags now, getting ready to leave for Toulouse tomorrow. Except for Rana, the only girl I knew in the residence, I only have the pigeons to say bye bye to. They are outside my window every morning, going 'crrrrrruuuuu ...crrrrrruuu ..... crrrrrruuuu....' and leaving lots of souvenirs behind. :P

Back to packing, I just hate it when I have to cram everything back into the 2 bags. It's always a mystery how I managed to squeeze everything in before, then when I had to do it again, it doesn't seem to fit, and I have to dig out everything and rearrange it again. Thank goodness I won't have to do it again, at least not for another 4 weeks, when I leave for Bordeaux.

More Random "Friends"

It's so difficult to walk on the streets alone without attracting unnecessary attention. Since it was my 2nd last day in Paris, and weather was wonderful, I decided to take a walk in Paris, to see the places that I have missed. I went to see St. Sulpice (another tourist attraction because of Da Vinci Code), Jardin du Luxembourg, Jardin de Tuileries, Trocadéro, Porte de Choisy (Chinatown), and Bastille.

While walking across the garden in front of Palais de Chailliot, this guy who was sitting on the grass reading a book waived at me from far. I pretended not to notice him, but as I got closer, he waived again, and gestured for me to walk towards him. I just nodded to say hello, but did not walk to him. Enough of weird men, I thought.

Then, while I stepped out from the Bastille metro station later in the evening, I was greeted by another guy, who was also just promenading on the streets without any objective, like me. He asked if he could join me to just walk, and we chatted a bit along the way (in French, yay!). Later I found out that he was from Congo, his name was Gemma, works in Carrefour, and he has been living in Paris with his family for the past 5 years. Oh well, we ended up chatting in a bar, and yeah, he also called me a bijoux (jewellery). He then showed me a picture of his son, and mentioned that he is divorced, blah blah. He was quite nice I guess, considering that he asked me to contact him if I was in Paris again (I did tell him my boyfriend would come along). He also said that he will come visit me in Toulouse. Tengoklah camne nanti....

Stuck on a bench

This is one of the situations when one goes'La la la la laaa...' and pretended nothing happened.

While waiting for the metro this afternoon, I sat down and worked on a Sudoku puzzle. When the metro arrived, I tried to get up but was unfortunately glued to the bench. While everyone was busy boarding the metro, I was struggling to escape from the bench. Apparently the belt buckle of my trench-coat kinda got hooked between the gaps, and just would not budge. So I had to sit down, and pretended I WAS NOT planning to board the metro, and only watched as the metro left, then and attempt to free myself again. Voila! I finally got myself free after quelque minutes.

iDTGV

How nice. I have booked myself the iDTGV to Toulouse (I got first class ticket as it was the same price as the second class when I booked), and 3 days before my departure, I receive an email reminding me the time of departure, information about the weather during my arrival, and boarding time, a link to Toulouse tourism office. As I chose to have the iDZen ambiance, they also have this nice little sleeping kit on sale for 2 euros, which includes an eye mask, ear plug and a travel pillow. In case I didn't like the iDZen, I am also allowed to change to iDZap, if they have availability. 5 hours of peaceful sleep ;) Sweet.

I am a new Sudoku addict

What do you do when you only have 20 minutes, and you are stuck in a metro with nothing to do? (and you don't know enough french to read the whole paper). Well, I did Sudoku. First week I was really attentive in the metro, paying attention to each stop, so that I won't miss the station, this week I was bored. So I started working on the Sudoku, and now I am addicted. Every morning now I would make sure I get a copy of the 20 minutes so that I have something to work on in the metro. I was doing it before my class started this morning, the professor thought I was doing the french crossword (which was on the same page). Yeah, right, crosswords...with my level of French?? :P

Anyway, it's probably just a temporary addiction. Probably I'd kick the habit when I get to Toulouse. Of course, it would be nice to keep some handy sudoku websites if I am bored again with nothing else better to do :P

Walking in the Rain

Last Tuesday evening I met up with Pauline for a drink and a chatting session. It was really nice to see her again since last September in Sevilla. This afternoon we met again for lunch and a walk in the city. Unfortunately it was raining and very windy....brrrr....cold....

Then we went window shopping at Galerie La Fayette & Printemps. There was no way I could buy anything from there. It was just WAAAAYYYY to expensive. But it was a good eye opener, and a nice shelter from the rain :) After the rain, we walked on the streets again, and Pauline and I found some nice looking cows on the street and took some photos :D

Weekend at Ile de France

Last Saturday I spent a day with Bruno and Monika at Fontenay-aux-Roses. They were really nice to let me stay for lunch, tea and dinner. I tried some fromage, camembert, blue cheese, and some other I dunno what cheese.

We even went to the movies together (a French movie, mind you). I could guess the story roughly, however did not really understood what was said, neither did Bruno nor Monika. :P Guess it was not so French after all. Apparently they had lots of colloquial French among the Jewish population, which was not fully understandable not even by a native French.

Both of them then showed me around the city and Parque de Sceaux on bicycle. YES! Bicycle again....that funny little apparatus on 2 wheels that I still can't operate properly. We went uphill, downhill, tight stretches, across parks and so on....we cycled probably about 2-3km (it could have been less, but it just felt really faaaaaaaaar). I am quite determined to learn to ride a bicycle properly now. It's just so embarassing that the kids could ride better than me....*sigh*

Hmm...let's see....where can I start....ah yes, in Chambéry, where there's less traffic. And whaddya know...that's not going to happen, not in 2 months time! I can always practice mentally now of course. Perhaps tonight with Mr. Sandman ;)

Gloomy Paris

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30am as usual, to get ready for school. As I walked on the streets, I couldn't be more surprised that it was almost deserted, and there was no need to wait for the traffic lights to cross. The metro station was also almost empty. Uh-oh, something's fishy, don't tell me its a public holiday today, and NOBODY told me??? Hmm...come to think of it, I think they did mention something about it last Monday, and I wasn't paying attention.... :P Oh well, I proceeded to the school anyway, and confirmed my doubts, as there were a big sign on their door that says 25 mai 2006 IS a holiday.

Anyway, I had my camera with me, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take pictures of the almost deserted streets of Paris on a cloudy morning. And off I went walking to Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysées, Tour Eiffel, Grand Palais, Concorde, and along the Seine, snapping photos before my tummy started making noise and signalling me that its lunch time.

So, here they are, a view of Paris on a cloudy Thursday morning.

Updated....finally!

After abandoning my blog for more than 2 weeks now, I finally have it all updated .... well, almost. For those who have been following my blog closely, thousand apologies for the delay but it can't be helped, I don't have constant Internet access :(

Parisien Sympa

Who says people in Paris are not friendly if you don't speak French??? Hah! You'd be surprised how friendly they can be.

I arrived on Sunday afternoon by TGV from Zürich, and in less than half an hour, I checked into my room at the Youth Residence for Nurses in Montparnasse. I was quite proud of myself, I thought I managed the French language quite nicely, until of course when I tried to buy a metro ticket later and it felt like the cat's got my tounge :P. I then took off for a stroll, while searching for my school. It's a good thing it had not rained in the afternoon as it was forecasted (but it did rain later though). After a few turns of yuen wong lou, I finally found it. Then I decided it would be nice to take a stroll around Montmartre, while trying to find the previous hostel I was booked in, so that I could make a cancellation and see if I could get back my deposit. While looking a little lost and struggling to find the street the hostel was on, I met this "friendly" Parisien:

Alain: Vous êtes fatiguée? (Are you tired?)
Me: Huh??
Alain: Vous êtes fatiguée? (...then he made some gestures to his face to say that I look tired)
Me: Ohh...non...non..
Alain: Vous parlez français? (Do you speak French?)
Me: Erm....seulement un peu. (Only a little)
Alain: Anglais? (English?)
Me: Yes

It was a relief for me that we continued the conversation in English, and sometimes in French, because I told him I was in Paris to study French. He told me he was an architect, and that he lived near Gare de Lyon, and was on holiday for several days. What a coincidence, he has also been in several parts in SEA, including Malaysia! He helped me find the hostel (I was walking the opposite direction earlier, hence, more yuen wong lou - oh, I am hopeless with maps :P) He did most of the talking, coz I still had my cough, and everytime I attempted to talk, I would also start coughing. After finding the hostel, and settled what I needed to do, he showed me around Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. It was not long before he started an "interesting" conversation.

Alain: You know, it's hard for me in Malaysia
Me: It's too hot for you??
Alain: No, not HOT, but hard.... I look at a pretty lady, and my friend tell me, 'No, no Alain, you cannot do that'. But why? But what is wrong if a I see a girl that I like, we stay together for a night, and then if we like each other, we stay longer, if not, we say bye bye?
Me: ...things are different in Malaysia, I guess
Alain: No, you shouldn't think that way, you are not in Malaysia now!

Then he goes on telling me he is a good cook, but just don't like doing the dishes. And I could help him do the dishes if I think he is a good cook....etc. Less than 10 minutes into the conversation, he is already telling he would like me to stay with him during my 2 weeks stay in Paris (and hopefully more). There was no need for me to waste money staying in a hostel. He would loved to see me every morning when he wakes up. Whooaaaa! Wait a minute... this guy is already asking me to move in with him less than 30 minutes of knowing me? Wah liao.... sorry mister...that's not how things work. I politely told him I already HAVE a boyfriend, but he was quite insistent and said it does not matter because I am not in Malaysia now. Most important thing was that I was happy doing what I want, and it does not matter if I have more than 1 boyfriend. ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Anyway, I bid him farewell (in which he asked me several times to reconsider) and finally we went our separate ways. *PHEWWWW!*. After that, I decided it would be wise for me to return to the residence and have some rest before another nice guy ask me if I was tired again.

Finalé

Sevilla-Eindhoven-Berlin-London-Perugia-Zürich-France

My Europe tour comes to a finalé, and its time to be a little more serious and start working on my français!! I must say I have had a super duper fabulous time!!!! It's really nice to be able to meet again some the great people I have met in Spain last year. I would have loved to meet more people, but I understand my stop is always too short to fit everyone in.

Nevertheless, I'd like to thank the following people for making my trip an unforgettable one:

• Anette, Lindsey, Angele, Sarah, Rosie, Antonio, Pedro (Sevilla, Spain)
• Irene & Hans, Ineke (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
• Niels (Berlin, Germany)
• Mark, Jane, Paul, Y.Kit (London, England)
• Federico & family (Perugia, Italy)
• Michael & his mom, Sarah (Zug, Switzerland)

And not to forget as well the friends of Niels, Federico and Michael :)


Millones de besazos a vosotros!!!

Upcoming Next: Paris - Toulouse - Bordeaux - Chambéry

Rain, rain, go away....

I always thought I brought the sun with me everywhere I went, but I guess I was wrong when I arrived Zürich on Wednesday. It was raining cats and dogs, and the sky was filled with gloomy dark clouds. It almost seems like the weather reflects how I felt at the particular moment, gloomy and moody because of the stupid flu bug. If it would just go away.....*sigh* Michael arrived at the airport to pick me up, and within less than 1/2 hour trapped in the car with me, el pobrecito caught the bug from me and had a headache :P So we decided to just stay in and cooked something instead of eating out.

Next day was really nice though, since Michael had to work, his mom, Beatrice, took me on a nice excursion to Ticino, Lugano & Lüzern! Weather was warm and nice, we had a nice sandwich outside their holiday apartment up on the mountains. While walking along streets of Lugano, I almost had to take off my cardigan because it was too warm. The landscape of Switzerland is MARVELOUS!! Endless views of scenic mountains and beautiful lakes. I was just gaping in awe as we drove from Zug, but didn't manage to snap as many photos as I would have wanted though. In the evening I joined Michael and his friends to watch Da Vinci Code in a local cinema. Halfway through the show, the movie was interuppted, and lights were switched on. Just when I thought "Awww, NOT AGAIN??", I realised it was just a commercial break, and half the audiences left the hall to go to the toilet, or to get a drink. And there I was, sitting there, feeling like a jakun :P

This morning was really fun, as after breakfast, Sarah (Mic's darling) and I danced in the living hall, practicing on my jive, salsa, disco rock, samba, cha cha and waltz :P Was really a nice sweat out.....though I am having lots of difficulty recalling the steps. And after that I went cycling with Michael around Zug and to Steinhaussen. YESSSsss....cycling...and in the rain too. I was so clumsy that I fell off almost immediately after climbing on, and was going eXtremely slow. At one time I almost bumped into him. All I knew was my hands felt like my feet, and my feet felt like my hands. Probably it would have been wiser to cycle upside down :P But overall it was really cool experience. A pity it was raining, or else we would have been able to cycle more. I was just starting to get the hang of it after a few rounds. We then walked home with Mövenpick ice cream in our hands....kekekeke....

Tonight I will attend a 50th birthday party of Mic's colleague, Kurt, and tomorrow I will be off to Paris, another early departure, at 6:29am, though not the earliest so far. Oh dear, I have only been using english and español so far. My french course will be starting in less than 2 days time and I can't remember a single french word!!! Uh-oh.....................

Chicken & Duck Talk

Finally arrived Rome this morning, and was greeted warmly by Federico who drove almost 2 hours from Perugia (and stuck in traffic as well) just to pick me up. I was then told that his parents will be at home in the afternoon for lunch .... unfortunately, neither of them speaks Spanish nor English. Federico said he would be the translator between us.

I arrived his house close to noon time, and was not too well received by his cat, Rambo. The cat seemed to think that I have invaded his territory and was not too happy about it, and decided to keep away from me. While waiting for Federico's parents to return for lunch, we took a stroll along the town of Ponte Valleceppi, where Federico lives. I was surprised to see that the houses here have grills and gates and fences, just like in Malaysia, not a very common sight in Europe; well... at least I haven't noticed it in Spain, UK, The Netherlands or Germany.

For the next few days, we had lunch at home, but Federico's mom just would not let me help. Not even the dishes or with the cooking. I was treated like a VIP in the house. Throughout lunch and dinner time, I attempted to pick out italian words which I understood. The rest I had to rely on Federico to translate it for me :P The second day of my stay I got to meet Francesca, Federico's sister, and her boyfriend. We had a nice dinner at home; his mom made gnocchi and verdure ripiene, while Francesca's bf brought a strawberry pastry. The gnocchi was so good I had to ask for the recipe. She wrote it in Italien of course, and Federico had it translated for me to Spanish :D

17th May - Federico's birthday!!! On this day, Federico took me to visit the Lago Trasimeno, and along the way, we visited several other towns close by, like Corciano, Magione, Castiglione del Lago and Assisi. Assisi was one of the World Heritage site. As usual, como una guiri, I tried to take as many photo as I could, and Federico was never too shy to be my model! :D Overall, the day trip was nice, but there were just too many hills to climb (like Perugia)! I felt sorry for Federico because the poor chap had to climb hills with me and work so hard on his birthday! :P In the evening, Federico invited his friends and myself for a drink at the town of Perugia. Feliz cumpleaños, Federico!

On my last day, Federico drove me to the airport. Just before I left Rome, I bought a bottle of Limoncello from the duty free shop.... hehehe ... I fell in love with it the last time Federico made me try it :) Erm, of course, the promoter at the shop also gave me another sampling while I was contemplating if I should get a bottle or not :P Oh well.....more to add to my luggage weight now!

Things to buy in London

London is such an expensive place to go shopping. Nevertheless, I have 2 very important things on my shopping list:

1. A Lousy T-Shirt: Sam gave me 5 quid to get a "My friend went to London and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" t-shirt for myself because she didn't manage to get enough souvenirs for everyone during her last vacation. Since London was part of my trip, she gave mine away and told me to get one myself.

2. Giant Lollipop: A souvenir for Hazel. She's into collecting huge lollipops, what else can be better for a gift than a one with a Big Red Bus on it?

OK, those weren't really to tough to get....with help from Mark and Yoong Kit, of course. So my shopping mission was accomplished quite easily. What I did not manage to fulfil during my trip in London was to meet up with Tinisha, Keith & Andrew. Que lastima! I only managed to catch up with Paul on my last day, which was really great. Together with Mark, we walked around Portobello and Hyde Park. Had several photos taken with my camera phone! ;)

To the photo album!

Magpies & Sorrows

One For Sorrow,
Two For Joy,
Three for a Girl and
Four for a boy,
Five for Silver,
Six for Gold,
Seven is a secret never to be told,
Eight's a wish and
Nine's a kiss,
Ten is a bird that you must not miss.

The next magpie I see alone on the parks of London will be a dead bird. I am not being cruel, or anything of that sort, its just that I hadn't been really that lucky every time I see a single magpie. Mark says that I can't accummulate all the magpies I see in a day, it doesn't count. They are the only ones we could blame for walking in circles in Hampstead Heath. Everytime we see a magpie, we head for the wrong direction (and always uphill too). Hmm....come to think of it, maybe it's not the magpies' faults. It could be just Mark who thinks I could lose the extra pounds by walking uphill more....hmmm.....*deep pondering* Of course, it was also my idea to walk. I get so used to going round in cars that I am just getting fat and lazy. Anyway, I'd rather walk in the nice parks than get stuck in the stuffy tube stations. And oh did we get a good view of London on foot!

Talking about 'EXITS' in my previous post, I was nicely ushered out of the theatre in central London and shown the 'EXIT' sign just 2 minutes after the show began. Nope, I didn't do anything annoying or created a havoc in the theatre, in fact, the whole audience was requested to evacuate the theatre due to some security alert. No tengo ni puta idea de que pasó. Probably somebody has left an unattended baggage somewhere, and they had to check it to make sure it was not a BOMB or something. Everyone was allowed into the theatre again after 10 minutes. What an experience! Mark said it was the first time this happened to him, so it MUST be my fault.....hehe....didn't realise I had such impact???

Mark has been really nice and generous with me, knowing that I have been deprived of Chinese food for very long time, he had nasi goreng prepared for me on my arrival. And the very next evening, he cooked fried cod fish with chinese wine and ginger sauce. Mmmm..mm....yummy. Am certainly a happy baby horse. :D

Ah, something I should not forget - though not something that would be approved by my grandmother...I went visiting cemeteries on the very first day of my arrival :D I even took a picture with Karl Marx!

Mana Keluar???

Sevilla-Eindhoven-Berlin-London-Perugia-Zurich-France

Guess what? Yep, I am in London now, and the next few days, I will be spending a lot of time with Mark (Sam's gonna be so jealous ... muahaha).

Berlin has been a such wonderful city to visit, also thanks to Niels. Right from the Berlin airport , he has been giving me lots of tips and advices on moving around Berlin, helped me with my luggage (thank god he was around to help carry my luggage to my room - it's on the 4th floor...and without elevator!!!) He also made me nice German breakfast in the morning during the weekends, and also brought me to this nice bar on the 14th floor where I could have a nice view of the Berlin city at night. Ooh...and I also tried Berliner Weisse, a nice refreshing drink for the summer - a combination of white beer and rasperry syrup.

It was really interesting to see 2 sides of Berlin, the east and the west (one can easily tell if you have entered the east zone by paying attention to the traffic lights - there exists a different "green man"). With so much being destroyed during the war, Berlin is undergoing lots of construction and re-construction. Probably in another 15 yrs time, sights of towering cranes and excavators will be less common.

My last night in Berlin, Niels brought me to join the members of Rotaract Club Berlin for their weekly night out. It was really nice!!! :D I had second thoughts in the beginning as I did not speak German, but the group really made me feel welcomed, and I had no problems to mingle around as they spoke perfect English :)

Come to think of it, I have now a collection of the word "EXIT" in different languages. Here goes:

Keluar - Bahasa Malaysia
出口 - Chinese (chú kou) /Japanese (de guchi)
Salida - Español
Sortida - Catalan
Sortie - Français
Uitgang - Dutch
Ausgang - Deutch
Uscita - Italiano

Ah yes, just before I forget, here's the link to the Keukenhof photos :)

Currywursts & Bratwursts

I guess you can all tell that I am already in Berlin :D Stuck in an internet cafe, so I won't babble too much for now. I am just extremely glad the weather has been really kind to me, I can almost walk on the streets sleeveless in the daytime, and just need a light jacket for the night. Have tried about 4 types of wursts in just 3 days...hehe....with currywurst being the speciality of Berlin, i.e. sausage with lotsa ketchup and a sprinkle of curry spice powder over it.

Oh yeah, I had marvelous time at Keukenhof, and snapped over 100 photos of flowers alone. Can't wait to upload it when I arrive London this coming Wed. Will have a separate album especially for this set of photos :D

Of Bells and Stairs

I thought I'd better make full use of the Internet access while I have one. Not sure if I would have the luxury of Wi-fi while I am in Berlin *sigh*

Ever since I left KLIA, I have been walking sooooooooo MUCH! Sometimes I wonder if it is really a coincidence that my boarding gates are always the furthest, what a nightmare sometimes when I think about dragging my luggages (30kg in total) from one end to another. I deserve it of course, I decided on this in the first place.

Sevilla
Feria de Abril was really nice, though I must say that it was not all that I have expected. Seriously, unless you happen to know Sevillanos that own a nice private caseta, you'd probably be well off somewhere else, than to go to the Feria. It is amazing though, to see so many local Sevillanas dressed in nice colourful trajes with elaborate cloths and some with polkadots but after a while you get bored if you don't take part. Mind you it is not cheap to own a dress like that. It can cost up to 1,000 euros, or more, and imagine owning more than one! (girls are not gonna wear the same dress for 7 days in a row, of course!). On the first day, I went to a caseta publica, and then the next few days I was invited to a caseta that belonged to Antonio's friend, Pedro. It was fun and I joined in the Sevillana dance, even though I only knew la primera :P Though I had some Sevillanas lessons almost a year back, and I just couldn't recall anything. During the weekdays, the Feria would be filled with people up till 5 or 6am, though it officially ends about 3am, where the lights of the main Puerta would be switched off. That whole week, I drank lots of Rebujitos i.e. a combination of Manzanilla (a type of white wine) & 7up.

Eindhoven
The second day after I arrived Eindhoven, I went bicycling with Ineke. Well....actually, she was doing all the work while I sat behind, just like the movie 甜蜜蜜. Of course, if Ineke was Tom Cruise, it would have been a dream come true, but I loved the ride all the same. We went looking for a place to do ice skating, only to find out that it is only open during winter.... hehehe.... the ride was certainly worthwhile, I get to see almost half of Eindhoven on a bicycle! We got hungry and decided to have a picnic by the park. Bought some nice bread, chips, salad, juices, then plomp our big fat butt on the grass. Occasionally the wind would bring some unpleasant smell, and we thought it was just probably the smell of fertiliser. It was fertiliser alright!!! As we were just about to finish our lunch, there we noticed, less than 8 metres away from us was the dog poo.....Yuckkkkk and DOUBLE yyUUccckkKK!!

Den Bosch/Delft
Irene is the best tourist guide I can get. From trips to Den Bosch, and to Delft, she explained every single thing in detail :) She even got me to try the apple pie and savoury crepes in Delft.....ooohh...they were SOOOOOOO goooood! I could drool just thinking about it. We saw the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), where William of Orange was buried. Then we've also seen houses with roofs that looked like a bell, or stairs, and some, like a neck. In the evening, we had a nice dinner with Mirte (Irene's daughter) and her boyfriend. It was Mirte's birthday! ;) We were very lucky as the weather was perfect, nice and windy, and not too cold. Unfortunately, when we were about to return to Eindhoven in the evening, we weren't so lucky. There was a fire at one of the stations, so the trains had some delay and a change of route. We had to make 3 train changes in order to get back to Eindhoven. During our rush, Irene left her handbag in the train from Rotterdam-Utrecth and only realised it as we boarded the next train to Eindhoven. Thank goodness there was a nice handsome (ehem) conductor around, to help spread the message to track the bag, and it was finally found just minutes before we reached Eindhoven *phew*.

More adventures when I go to Keukenhof tomorrow for tulips!

Meanwhile, here are some of the photos taken so far in my trip :) Check this album often for updates.

The Journey Continues...

Just arrived Eindhoven train station few hours ago with Irene and Hans waiting to pick me up. They are really nice to let me stay with them, and boy did Irene feed me well tonight. We are also gonna have a nice home cooked Spanish dinner on Wed night! Ever since I left Malaysia, I haven't had a proper and decent home cooked meal, just lots of tapas and restaurant food. Hmm...not to mention the bed's really nice and soft too...without a doubt, I'm gonna have sweet dreams tonight :D

Started on my Europe tour on the 26th April with Sevilla (and a day of transit through London). The Feria de Abril was humongous, with lots of casetas (tents), beautiful women dressed in trajes de Sevillana, and lots of dancing going on. Didn't really take that much of photos as I had originally planned, as I was being teased by Antonio for taking too much guiri photos.

*Yyawnnnn* ....looks like my appointment with the Sandman can't wait anymore. Just a quick one before I blog off - of my travel route in Europe:

Sevilla - Eindhoven - Berlin - London - Perugia - Zürich - FRANCE (Paris, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Chambéry)

Will try to upload pics as soon as I can ....ZZZzzzZZzzzzZ

Call me Goldie

My mom and brother just branded me as a goldfish. Well, with a memory of a goldfish was more like it. Sí, es verdad....tengo memoria de una pezecita. Every few seconds or so, they have to repeat what they have said to me - they can't blame me. I've just got too much on my mind! The grey sponge is no longer able to suck up any more information fed to it, without having to gag on what's already in there.

Having just moved to a new home less than a week ago (my room's still a complete mess!), I had to get my visa done (thank god it took no more than 3 days), as well as my air tickets (off I go on the 25th!!!), and hostel bookings in Paris. Having limited access to Internet for the moment is not helping either. Thanks to hostelbookers.com, I didn't have much trouble finding a place to stay in Paris. *phew* And Anette, she's such a darling for letting me stay at her place in Sevilla :D. Also got my airport transfer from Heathrow to Stansted done online too at National Express website. Next I gotta have my train booked from Paris to Toulouse from SNCF. Arrgghh...time's just too short.

Shucks....I have NOT even written to my host mom in Toulouse yet.

Jump, Fly, Sail away!

Last few days had been super duper fun! Spent 3D/2N at Club Med Cherating with my darling TW, and I tried to fill up the time with lots activities available i.e. ADVENTUROUS: archery, flying trapeze (I did it TWICE :D), bungy bounce (I managed a back flip!!!), sailing (I was in-charge of the jib sail, and TW the main sail); CALMING: yoga (imagine doing it in an open space facing the sea!) It was tough to fit in so many things into such a short period. Check out the photos - there are not many though....was busy having fun ;)

The whole village by the way, was filled with lots of French & Japanese. Though none spoke to me in French, there were French conversations almost everywhere...perfect for my listening practice! Lots of wash-eyes opportunities too of course...kekeke...

Food was good too, with great variety...we stuffed ourselves silly....except that for 2 days TW decided to have a FRUITs ONLY diet for lunch (hehe...after I complained about his spare tire, of course). And me? Diet? What diet?? With so much good food? No way! Once, just like a snake who just swallowed a big cow, I hibernated by the sea side after lunch. Of course it was under a swaying palm tree, with sounds of waves racing to the shore, and rustling leaves, while I listened to soft Latin Guitar Moods music on my Zen Vision:M. Though I managed to doze off, I had my pouch clutched tightly....there are lots of straying monkeys around! And I mean real monkeys! :P

Bayu
bagai pemangkin alam ceria
penggerak pada yang leka.

Dedaun
kerana bayu melambai gembira
berbisik seolah mempelawa
'Menarilah bersama'.

Lautan
ombak berkejaran ke pinggir
desiran memecah kesunyian
membawa inspirasi.

Irama gitar
bermainan di latar
bagai hanyut ke alam fantasi
resahku larut.

My attempt on the Flying Trapeze!

G.O.: When I count to 3, let go, and you land on your punggung ok???
Me: Ok!!! (still swinging)
G.O.: 3, 2, 1!
(Instead of landing on my butt as instructed, my feet touched the net first, and I bounced back almost landing flat on my face)
G.O.: Hey, where's your punggung??? Tell me, you're not a Malaysian right?
Me: (LOL) I guess my punggung is on my head! :P

(There goes my chance with the cute Trapeze G.O.!)

*G.O. - Gentil Organisateurs or Congenial Hosts. They are in charge of all the activities at Club Med, making the stay an unforgettable one. The job's really cool. Every working day is almost like a holiday. Oooh I am so jealous!!!

Ops Cicak

The Kem Latihan Negara (KLN) allowed some of the chinese participants to be back for the Qing Ming festival from 1st till 3rd of April. My sister of course, can't wait to take advantage of this holiday to return and stock up on food as well as to bring some extra clothing (it is compulsary for them to wear long sleeves with collar shirts when leaving the dorm). Parents were required to fax in a surat permohonan cuti, and personally come pick their kids from the camp.

In this rescue operation, my dad, mom and I drove up to Kuantan for an overnight stay on Friday, then early Saturday morning, after breakfast, we continued our journey to Kem Semarak in Pekan (45 mins drive). When we arrived, Sean San was already all excited waiting for us near the entrance. She was SOOO DARK!!! Not to our surprise of course, the rest of the Chinese participants were also eagerly waiting for their parents to come fetch them. I believe that the boys must have had a stricter Camp Commander, considering that ALL the boys were queued nicely, "At Ease" in front of the administration office, while the girls were just wandering around. All, with their bags ready to go home. As each one exit the admin office with their parents, you would have probably thought they have just collected the jackpot lottery winnings, with a grin wider than a mile.

On the way home, my sister was non-stop jibbering about the "torture" she had to endure, having to wash her own clothes, sleeping w/o AC, having to wake up at 5 am, having to share baths and toilets, having to walk at least 20 minutes from the dorm to the field for drills every day...the list goes on. If you ask me, it's not that bad, I guess she is finding it a li'l tough because she is the youngest in the family and get to be pampered all the time...Hah! :P But then again, she gets to have 6 meals a day! No wonder she hasn't lost any weight...hehehe...well, she is complaining about the variety of food though. From now until the day she return to the camp, I bet she would be stuffing herself with lots of Bak Kut Teh & Wan Tan Mee.....LOL!

Qing Ming - Chinese All Souls Day

I have never been very keen on visiting graves or paying respect to my late grandparents during Qing Ming, not because I'm unfilial, but more due to the reasons of tear jerking jossticks burning at every corner of the temple. Been there, done it before, and unless somebody points a gun to my head, I really would never think of going to those temples again. I managed to escape the ordeal for the past 5 years or so, mainly because my mom prefers to go during the weekdays, when the temple is less crowded, and FORTUNATELY for me, I have to work during weekdays.

This year I've got no excuse of skipping. My sisters are all away, either abroad or at the NS camp, my brother needs to work, while I am at home just "shaking legs". Can't bear to see my mom go through all of it alone, so I tagged along. Plus, it gives me something to blog about.

As usual, all the family members will bring the favourite food of the deceased, which could range from dim sum to durians. Fruits are very common. Some will include as well as favourite cigarette brands of the deceased, e.g. my granddad used to smoke Camel. Here is approximately how the whole process went.....mom provided the instructions, and I followed:

1. Serve all the food on the table
2. Serve the chinese tea with the mini cups
3. Light the yuin bou lap juk (red joss candles)
4. Light the giant joss sticks
5. Light the rest of the joss sticks and then invite my granddad from where his ashes were kept to where the food was served
6. Stick a joss stick on every single food item on the table so that my granddad will know what to eat.
7. Proceed to the burning area to burn all the items meant for my granddad (the box was sealed with his name), containing hell money, clothing, shoes, etc.

And guess what, not too long after the family members leave, the monks at the temples will help clear out the tables for the next family to use. So where does all the food go? Whatever that could be salvaged would be kept by the monks to be consumed later. The rest? Down the garbage bin.

Stomach Churning Day

Today marks the end of 2006 first batch of Beginners 1-4 French Class at Alliance Française Kuala Lumpur. Except for Jasmin, who was not able to join us for the lunch at the cafe, everyone else was present (15 of us).



After the lunch session at AF, Laure-Anne joined Gan, Chew and myself at the Berjaya Times Square Indoor Theme Park. Nous avon passé un merveilleux moment! Yan Chyi and Yi Jing followed us to the Times Square, but not the theme park. We went on the bumper cars, kiddie train rides, roller coaster 2x, and a few other spin stuff which I can't remember what they were..... only remembered that I regurgitated my lunch after one of the rides (how embarrasing).

After several flips and turns on the DNA mixer, everybody was feeling wobbly on the legs, so we decided to take a break and went to the Arcade. Chew went on the Para para dance machine - Laure-Anne and myself was going like WOW!! We played on several arcade machines before returning to the theme park again.

I was dizzy again after another tower ride, so we stopped for a while and rested in a mini karaoke room. Unfortunately, we have to pay for RM1 for each song, and there was this irritating and deep growling voice that says, "PLEASE ADD MORE CREDIT" everytime we pressed on the keypad. Guess what???? We found that they have ONE French song....erm... what was it again, S'il sufficait d'aimer by Celine Dion? We gave it a try....hee..and Laure-Anne was kinda annoyed that the lyrics were not properly laid out....spelling and grammar mistakes and all....LOL!

We spent like almost 3 hours in the room chatting after that.... TIME FLIES!! We didn't even realise it was already sept heures et demie! We just went on yakking and yakking...! Gan & Chew sent Laure-Anne home and we finally went our separate ways....*sigh* I am so gonna miss all of you.... :~(

Here's the link to the photos taken on our last day, and at the theme park.

I look like Stephen CHOW????

Boy, did I have a shock when I decided to check my resemblance of a celebrity. WHAT?!?!? My Heritage actually thinks that I look like the HK actor Stephen Chow (tried and tested with several photos of different face angles). Thank goodness that apart from Stephen, I also resemble Jessica Alba & Tata Young.....*phew*

Senderismo

J'ai fait de la randonée avec ma famille ce matin. C'est le cinquième fois ce mois. Estoy muy contenta porque cada vez, lo hago en menos tiempo.

About a month ago, my dad's friend introduced us to a jungle trek not too far from my house (less than 20 minutes drive). Ever since, my dad has been making it an effort to get all of us to climb the hill at least once a week during the weekends. I do not find it a problem because I simply adore trekking. I fell in love with trekking ever since my first climb to the Pinnacles at the Mulu National Park in Nov, 2003 with Hong Teng.

At my pace, the whole trek takes only about 1.5 hours, involving crossing mini streams and several hills. My first attempt took me close to 3 hours though. I am glad I have made a lot of improvement. Will continue to try and break my own record! Heard that some of the superfit ones can actually complete the track in less than 1 hour!!! Ganbatte kudasai!

Boh Tak Chek!

Damn "2 larn" today. Today is Festival of Goddess of Kuan Yin.....no, I am not being religious, just that some of the BTCs really made my blood boil. We live a few houses away from a Chinese Temple on Jalan Midah 9, Cheras (which happens to be a dead end street). We moved into this neighbourhood close to 4 years now.

And every now and then, when the temple organizes some functions, or when it is a special prayer day, there will be some inconsiderate *BTCs whom will park on both sides of the street, turning it from a 2 lanes to 1. As if that is not bad enough, these BTCs would even block the entrance of some of the residents (yes, we are not the only ones being blocked). We have tried all means to keep them away, at least from our gates, by putting NO PARKING signs (which a Super BTC duly removed and dumped into the drain), lining the road side with potted plants....but to no avail.

This afternoon case was the worst of all. BTC#1 driving a big 4WD blocking a portion of our entrance, with another BTC on the opposite. And to add to all this, 2 whole stretch of cars parked on both side of our street. There was no way we could have entered through our gates, whether direct or reverse. That's it! We've had enough. My dad was really pissed and decided to just stop our car and walked into the house, leaving the car in the middle of the street. My brother followed suit. Some of the folks on foot who were about to leave the temple watched us walked into our house, and did not dare say a word. We waited from inside the house. Let them have a taste of their own medicine.




A few moments later, BTC#2 decided to honk. We did not budge. He did not even bother to ring our doorbell, just honked and honked. A few others walked by, and no one...I repeat, NO ONE even cared to ring our doorbell, or even cared to get BTC#1 to remove his car. My brother decided to take a picture of the 4WD (BTC#1). I gave up waiting and went for a shower to cool down. BTC#1 finally removed his car, and then 3 policemen came and rang our doorbell.

This is where the drama begins:

POL: Encik, saya terima aduan. Ini kereta encik? Boleh tolong alih kereta encik? Kereta encik ni ganggu laluan lah.

Dad: Encik, gerak saya mesti gerak punya, saya mau itu semua orang tau macam mana rasa kena halang.

A mob of BTCs: Move your car lar! How can you park like that! All of us cannot go out lar.....we wait very long already, you know??!!??

Bro: Anybody cared that we waited a long time too??? (some of the BTCs kept quiet and walked aside)

POL: Encik boleh guna NO PARKING sign ka, letak kerusi ka, tak baik buat macam ini. Encik boleh panggil kami jugak.

My dad said nothing - he finds it pointless to explain things all over again, went inside to get the car keys and walked to the car, now that BTC#1 is gone, we could get both our cars in.

BTC#3: If you've got balls....leave your cars there lah! See if I'm gonna break your windscreen or not?? See if I'm gonna burn your car!!! You are chicken if you move your car NOW!

One BTC tried to grab a brick nearby but was hold back by another.

Bro: Encik, nanti tolong ambik semua nama dan IC dia orang. Nanti kalau apa-apa terjadi pada rumah kita kah, anjing kah, kereta kah, boleh saya repot polis.

POL: Sabar, encik, ini semua belum berlaku lagi.....

My brother showed the picture of the BTC#1 blocking the road. Then the group was trying to explain the police officers, while another BTC continued to scream at us.

BTC#4: You pun olang Cina, olang sembahyang mesti ini maciam punya lar...bukan tiap-tiap hari mah! Itu olang sembahyang hari Jumaat pun cincai cincai park kereta! Tak boleh masuk panggil olang keluar kah??

BTC#2: Why you so larn-cee?? The other day I park in front of this house oso they never complain?

BTC#3: Yeahlar....saya pun tak boleh sabar lagi...tengok encik! Dia olang tanam bunga ini maciam, kita olang mau parking pun susah! (ooh...guess what, apparently this nitwit have not realised we did that on purpose)

After getting both our cars in, the rest who did not want to be any part of this also left. As there were still some outside our house refusing to move, my brother brought the camera out and attempted to take a picture of the mob again....they were dispersed almost immediately, except BTC#3 who was caught off guard.




BTC#3: HeeeeeyyYYYy!!! Why you take my picture??!!??!?!?

BTC#3 ran to our main gate and kicked it, trying to break it down, and was stopped by the officers

Bro: Encik, ambik gambar pun tak boleh kah?

POL: Boleh, ambik gambar boleh....tapi masuk dalam dulu.....

My brother ignored them and went into the house after snapping a photo. The mob was finally dispersed after a while with orders from the officers.

There you go, a friendly encounter with my "neighbours". These people don't live here though, they are just here at the temple for prayers. And they think they have all the right to block others just because they are here for a NOBLE cause. I would have expected a peaceful and educated bunch of people, rather than a mob of BTCs. And the funny thing is, BTC#1, the catalyst of all this nonsense, just quietly vanished into thin air and not to be seen again.

The other residents in the neighbourhood, who were also victims of the rampant parkings, have been keeping quiet all this years and did not want no troubles. We wished we could do just that, but its easy to lose patience when it happened again and again, and each time it gets worse. I am not sure if this would ever happen again, but for sure that we ain't gonna be quiet about it.

*BTCs = uncivilized idiots

Gamarjobat - THUMBS UP!

This evening I went to see Gamarjobat with the rest of my family at Actor's Studio, Bangsar, and we were very well entertained. I wish I could mime it here to show how good it was, but I'll leave the miming work to both Hiropon & Ketch! whom are the experts :D My mom, who normally falls asleep halfway through a movie, actually stayed completely awake throughout the performance. She was quite reluctant to go at first, but I convinced her that she'd love it! She did! They'll be here in KL till this Sunday, GO WATCH it while you can! Highly recommended!

Internet is UP again!

After countless days of being "Internet-less", I finally got it up again. Ohmigod, it does feel like eternity. There was a heavy thunderstorm few days back (and hailstorm too!), and almost like striking the lottery, the lightning struck my beloved modem. My brother put a new one up again after 2 days...as if it's not bad enough to without the Internet for 2 days, Streamyx was apparently down too. It was only after another 2 days, that we found that Streamyx had already fixed their problem....yet we are still left without Internet. Which zooms the problem to our own internal connection. After spending several hours of troubleshooting this afternoon, I found the culprit. One of the ports on the router, which connects to the modem, was damaged by the lightning as well. So, my brother brought home a new router today, and voila! We all have Internet again!! Hurraaaayyy!!!

This made me wonder - can't we live without the Internet? I have such a huge dependency on it that I have not really realised how important it is to me. I probably could go without Internet for 2 days MAX. When the modem was down, I did have some intermittent connections with my Bluetooth phone, to make sure all my important emails were received. But it's just too expensive to use a dial up, not to mention slow. My sister was caught in the same dilemma. She was so miserable (almost like a walking zombie) the past few days and was also bugging me day and night to get it fixed. But the good thing is, we finally managed to get her to go to bed earlier....about 11pm, instead of 4am! So, my mom was the ONLY one who was actually glad that the Net was down :P

J'ai mal à la tête

After approximately 90 hours of french classes, we are due for an exam tomorrow. This time there will be no listening section, like the previous 2 tests (which I got très bien overall...ehem!), instead it would be replaced by an oral test. Uh-oh.....my worst fear. Je toujours ne peux pas parler en français! We did have a practice in class today, I seem to do quite alright though....hopefully I won't have any trouble with it tomorrow :P I can't believe this class is coming to an end soon, and since I won´t be continuing after this, I am gonna miss all my classmates....*sniff* *sniff* Well, Ee May has got some great pictures and even a video taken of all of us. Though group's a little cuckoo, but without them, it would have been such a boring class.... ;) BIG {{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}} to all of you.

Another thing that is giving me a headache is my upcoming Europe trip. Being a little greedy, I tried to squeeze in like 7 or 8 destinations in my Europe tour, including Feria Abril in Sevilla, which I am really looking forward to (chance to practice my español again...and Sevillanas too!). Unfortunately the French embassy would not let me have my visa earlier, so I have to rearrange my French courses a little to make some adjustments and cut my Europe tour short. Anyway, keeping my fingers crossed that all will go smoothly. Mis amigos, ¡os veo pronto!

Quiet days...

Both my beloved chatterbox sisters are back in Brisbane to continue their 3rd year studies. *sigh* Such a big difference it made to our house. For the past 3 months, the house was filled with laughters and lots of noise (imagine, at any one time, we would have at least 10 people in the house.....neeehh...their boy boys as well leh...).

Now, apart from my normal routine of daily french classes and yoga sessions, I am left alone with my youngest sister, Sean San, since my brother is working (and I am not...:D) and my mom sometimes join in the fun. I don't think it'll be too long before I turn a little cuckoo. She has the habit of talking to her soft toys...and making them talk as well. Poh Lah (a polar bear), Wee Wee (a red fat devil), Ah Taz (a tazmanian devil), and Bulldog (not a real dog). She even made me talk to them too! Poh Lah always insists to have air conditioning in the room, or he would sweat, and Ah Taz is always blocking the way (he's gigantic). GGGgggrrrrrrrrr..

But anyway, she is the CHOSEN ONE....which means that she will be away for National Service in the mid of March :( And she has given me the responsibility to take care of them, and make sure they'd still smell the same when she's back. It's gonna be such ghostly silence in the house in March. It's probably wise to start building a good relationship with Poh Lah and the rest now...wouldn't want them to report of abuse to my sister later... :P

¡¡¡Enhorabuena!!!

I can't believe it, I have actually passed my DELE Intermedio exam!!! No puedo creerlo! After countless of sleepless nights, the DELE results were finally released about 1am here in Malaysia. I was hopping around like a happy bunny (ok...a crazy one too) and screaming "I have passed!!! I have passed!!!!!!". My neighbours probably did not find it very amusing :P My brother and sisters were happy for me as well, and threatened that I now owe them a meal ..... yeahh... sure...Mamak stall lor! ;) Well, the hopping kinda worsened my insomnia, I was too happy to sleep last night, and couldn't concentrate on my revision although I had my French test today.....bummer :P

Anyway, I am very glad to know that a few others who sent out emails almost immediately (they must have been just as excited too!) upon seeing the results, have PASSED too!!! ¡Felicitaciones! *hop* *hop* *hop* ¡Espero que los otros hayan aprobado también!

It's a TORTURE!!!

The day finally comes, and frankly, I've been mugging that Cervantes site since a month ago. But on the 19th, with a glint of hope that the results would be released just a teenie weenie bit earlier, I checked the site again and again every hour or so, until it was the 20th, Europe time! B.b.b..b..b.bbut not even a sign of my results! *sob* *sob* This morning I checked again, and they have changed the release date to 22nd!! How long further are they gonna torture meeeee??? Arrgggghhh...

Happy St. Valentine's Day

This year we all decided that we are not going to spend a ridiculous amount of money on unnecessary Valentine's set dinners, and swarm into restaurants like the other love bugs. No red roses, no candlelight dinner. Instead, we decided that we'll sing our hearts out together at the Karaoke after a hearty Thai dinner! Muahahaha...it's so convenient to have at the vicinity of your home :D Amazingly, we were not the ONLY ones who thought of this idea.....the place was crowded till 1am! These people no need to work wan ar??

My mom, the in-house VET

Just witnessed something revolting this morning.... one of my dogs, Bernard, is infested with maggots. We tried to get the vet to come and see him before it gets worse, but the vet won't be available until the evening. Why can't we bring Bernard to the vet instead? Well, you see, Bernard weighs almost 200 pounds, and to get him into the car is hell of a task.

Mom decided to spray the wound with the maggot spray, and the maggot start to squirm out one by one...Eeyyyeeewwww....the problem is Bernard just wouldn't stay still although we have tied him, and those maggots start falling all over the place. :P Yuckie yucks!!!! Mom then washed the wound, and used a forcep to try and dig more of those maggots out..... uuurrgggh... I lost my appetite for breakfast. After almost an hour's ordeal, the wound's clean. We called the vet again, and he told us to go over to the clinic collect some antibiotics.

Mom just coolly went off to take a shower, and when she came out, said, "Jom, let's go makan breakfast". That's my MOM!!!

Sawadee kha

We had marvelous time in Bangkok and Pattaya this CNY. This very last minute plan of free and easy tour really brought us lots of unforgettable experiences.

Firstly, we arrived Bangkok only to find out that Air Asia did not send (or maybe misplaced it somewhere) my mom's luggage. My mom got really upset (all her new clothes were inside), as none of the staff was able to locate the bag. Dad tried to pacify mom by offering to buy new ones after we check into the hotel. We were definitely more excited than my mom....like what happen always, teng jie yao fan :D. While my mom tried to buy the essentials, we went on a shopping spree (we live just above a shopping complex, how convenient). Anyway, it was more like a LINGERIE shopping spree....they are soooo cheap here (just 1/3 of the price in Malaysia). Plus, possibly because of different sizings in Thailand, we all gained one cup size! :D

We got no news of my mom's luggage until the next day, and they had it sent over to the hotel (without any compensation at all...*sigh*). Anyway, we didn't actually get it until the evening as we spent our day at Pattaya, parasailing, banana boating, jet skiing and a little sunbathing...it was rather cloudy, so I didn't get the tan I wanted :( just a teenie weenie bit browner...

On one of the shopping days, we got so carried away we almost missed the last MRT and Skytrain (BTS). All 11 of us ran from one connecting station to the other, almost running out of breath. And at the final boarding station, we arrived just before the gate closes, but ran too fast that we were blindly ushered by the guards straight to the exit gate instead of the boarding platform...yikes! Thank goodness we realised it on time, and ran back into the station....bought our tickets, just on time to go on the last train at sharp 12 midnight. *phew*

Food wise, everything is yummy......especially my favourite young mangos dipped in sugar and chilli with fish sauce!!!! Just talking about it makes me drool :P~ And then the McD Samurai Pork Burger, bird's nest, tom yum koong, and grilled seafood on the Coral Island beach. Then there is this signboard of a restaurant that caught my attention...heheh....am really curious the type of food they serve ;)



All good stuff have to come to an end....we shopped till the very last minute and rushed to the airport just on time to board the plane...not even a minute left for lunch :P At least I managed to tah pao some mango and the dip back home....heeee... :D

Here comes the rest of the photos!

Tooong... tong tong CHIAAAANGGG!!

I know, I know, I am guilty of procrastination lately. Somebody's really gotta hit me with that Chinese drum thingy. Haven't been replying or writing emails (sorry guys!), have not been cleaning my desk, and have not been updating my dear old blog.

I have so much to blame on, my daily French classes (since 9th Jan '06), last minute Chinese New Year shoppings (maklumlah, CNY is early this year), catching up with old buddies (still a long list unattended to), reading my piling collection of books (my room is almost like a junkyard now), and trying to keep myself in shape so that I could fit into those new clothings I bought for CNY (tortured myself in continuous daily yoga sessions for the past 1 wk....Ouch!...my arm still aches)

Anyway, am glad to have met up with Tinisha last Sunday. We had a lovely time doing shopping, hadn't we?? *grin* Our nice li'l chat really brought back lots of wonderful memories of Granada, and Spain....wonder what the rest are up to? I guess I'll know if I could just start sending some emails out......will probably get it done before the first day of CNY, which is like.....tomorroww???

Am also doing countdown for the DELE results.......*biting nails*.... expected to be out by end of February. Gosh, wonder what's taking them so long? I will have to start planning on my Europe trip now too I guess, if I want to be in time for Feria Abril! Keeping my finger's crossed my español would not deteriorate with my new knowledge of français. In fact, come to think of it, I have already confused some of the words...oops!

Bonne! Will have to start packing for my vacation to Bangkok this Sunday. Ooooh...Thai massage....*heavenly*

Hello 2006...bubbye 2005

Welcome to year 2006! For some, it will be another year to fulfil hopes and make dreams come true, while for some, another year of struggle. However 2005 has been, let's hope that 2006 will be a better year for everyone. :D

As usual, we had the normal fireworks display from the Petronas Twin Towers. Only managed a glimpse from the balcony of my home. Decided to stay in, enjoy Spanish wine, bak guah, and Turkish delights with my family rather than get stucked in the traffic jam. Beautiful shots of the fireworks should be left to profesionals: Glenn and TVSmith both captured great shots of the moment.

Time to start working on my new year resolutions .... 2005 has not been too bad, having travelled to various parts of Spain, learnt Spanish, and made lifelong friends with people all over the world. Hopefully I'd be able to visit some of them with my next trip to Europe some time this year. Ah yes, one other thing too...unfortunately the good food in Spain and being a leong dei goon for so long have somehow unnecesarily installed a spare tire round my belly. Will need to work on that too! :P

May the year 2006 be a good start for many more wonderful things and wishing everyone the best of health :)

White F..f..frreeezzing Christmas in Türkiye

Oh, my family and I had soooo much fun in Turkey this Christmas!!! We knew that the weather would be cold, but we certainly did not expect snow! Boy were we surprised when we arrived the hotel in Bolu on first night only to find it snowing.....it was the FIRST white christmas for all of us and despite the cold, we were hopping around in the snow and taking lots and lots of pictures. The first night, the temperature reached -11 deg Celcius during the night, and next morning was about -2 to -3. Our poor li'l fingers and toes almost turned into icicles but we didn't care (we do look like a bunch of jakuns though...hehehe).

I was really amazed with the friendliness and hospitality of Turkish people. Almost everywhere we went, we were sure to be greeted with smiles, adults and children alike. Our tour guide, Sinan was like our history teacher as well, giving us all interesting information about the history of Turkey. We also had a wonderful driver, Ugur, although he had to drive on ice for few days, made it seem effortless. Not to mention the those at the souvenir shops, they really must be applauded for their iniative. First they thought we were Japanese, and greeted us with Konnichiwa, but when they saw no response, they asked where we were from. Upon knowing that we were from Malaysia, they all chanted together, "Mari, mari....lelong lelong!" That really caught our attention ;)

There were several highlights in our itinery, to mention a few, Cappadocia, Troy, Ephesus, and Istanbul. But for me....one of the interesting highlights of the trip was WC visits :P We spent lots of time on the bus travelling from one end of Turkey to the other, and we had toilet stops every 1.5 - 2 hours. Couldn't help but took pictures of some of the interesting WCs, dating from 200 AD till today.....hehehe...


Anyway, I was hoping that I could meet up with Zeynep in Ankara, but our trip itinery was really tight, so we didn't get to meet. Next time perhaps!

Here's the link to the rest of the photos taken in Türkiye.

Tourist Guide "Celup"

Spent my first week in Malaysia as a tourist guide....a loyar buruk one :P Antonio, a friend of Stefano, happened to be in Singapore, and decided to visit KL while he was here in SEA, so I became his guia for 3 days. Thanks to the ASEAN Summit, we spent 2 hours looking for a place to stay for him.

It was then I realise how little I know about Kuala Lumpur, the dear old city that I have been living in for 18 years at least. I don't even recall having any proper photos of it, despite having snapped more than 10,000 photos in my life. I am almost a foreigner in my own city! I have never been up to the bridge of Twin Towers, have never travelled on the PUTRA LRT, have never walked in the park of the KLCC, have never been to Batu Caves.... and the list goes on. When Antonio asked me about some of the places mentioned on the Lonely Planet, I have never even heard of it!(gotta korek one lubang and hide myself) :P I was also a tourist myself when I visited some of these places for my first time (shame shame lar...)

Anyway, we did have lotsa fun. On his first day, I took him to RedBox for a karaoke session with my darling, Sam, SC and KH. Having heard how the rest sound like when we sing (as well as those from other rooms, of course...ehem!) , he was not anymore shy to sing along .....heee... Then the next day we went to KL Tower, KLCC, Chinatown, Dataran Merdeka, etc. The funny thing is that once he walked alone in KLCC (with people giggling at him) wearing a t-shirt with vulgar Cantonese sayings , not knowing what it meant beforehand because a banana like me can't read and translate it for him. Pobrecito....:P

I got him to try nasi lemak, cendol, ais kacang, claypot rice, tomyam seafood noodle and teh tarik. Even with all the spices, he did not sweat...way to go Antonio! ;) Espero que hayas gustado Kuala Lumpur! Un abrazo fuerte!

I am HOME!

After 16 hours mas o menos in the plane and in transit, I finally arrived Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday afternoon. Oh boy was I relieved. I have been so worried for the past few days about my excess baggage, but finally escaped without having to pay a cent though we were exceeded by approx. 35kg! *phewwww*

Weather was perfect when I arrived, though some thick clouds could be seen ahead in the centre of town. I have been told that KL has been raining for the past few days without fail. Oh well, it's not so bad, I would always trade a nice gloomy warm humid Malaysian weather with the cold autumn in Spain anytime. :P Let's hope I have not spoken too soon...hehehe...

I'm now haunted by a stubborn flu.... *sigh* guess it's my own fault for eating too much heaty food before I board the plane. Roasted lamb chops, fries, and churros con chocolate! Padan muka. Keeping my fingers crossed now it will be gone soon.

Will be changing the title of my blog soon. My Life in Spain is no longer valid I guess, if I am going to continue updating it. Will see what my genius brain tells me later......... :P