.: asylum for the sane :.

Okay this is the final installment of the Malaysian trip trilogy. It was a day trip to KL from Batu Pahat. The drive was not very long, but long enough to make Short Attention Span me bored.

Bored enough for me to be wearing my monkey hoodie (with monkey ears) with my first Oakley Frogskin Shades, indoors.

I camwhored, i chewed gum, i read. And then I lost my limited edition Oakley Frogskin. So after my precious shades flew off, I kept a very low profile in the car and mourned for the lost.

FP was very comforting though <3!

But my losing the shades actually kinda ruined my mood which is why most of the pictures you'll see in this post have me looking like a punani. What is a punani? Go figure.

We finally arrived at Damansara where we had lunch at Paddington House of Pancake - a pancake restaurant.

What I remembered from this restaurant was that it was very tiring to read the menu. I don’t know if it was because I was exhausted from just crying but it was really difficult to focus on the menu. Each and every food name was not a food name.

They are named after cities, like Vienna and Brussels. And then a very elaborate description of what it was. A completely different dining experience!

Ok here are some photos of the food that we had. I’m sorry I can’t remember any of the names and what they actually are. But they will do your eyes good.

Kawan E & Kawan C’s food

FP’s Steak

My pasta

Not forgetting this photo. I wanted a Pineapple Freeze, which I expected to be a good mix of sweet-sour goodness. But it was incredibly sour that I thought it was lemon juice. We asked the waiter if they got the order wrong, but nooo.. it was pineapple freeze alright.

Fine.

So after lunch we shopped and shopped. I bought a lot of shoes and a lovely denim jacket. We tried on silly things, but no photos coz photography not allowed. What silly rules. I was amazed at the variety and quality of clothes and shoes at Charles & Kieth and Forever 21.

How come in KL the stuff are nicer in these shops than in Singapore. How unfair.

Some random photos in KL:

This was a really lovely restaurant / cafe which had a garden theme. Nice!

This photo just looks sick. I am digging the horsey’s butt.

Here’s a proper photo of me and the horsey.

lol

And finally it’s dinner, at this restaurant called Delicious. Seriously. But the food was indeed delicious, lucky for them. This was our spread!

This was my sambal prawns with rice. It was extremely yummy and has really too many things in a single dish. I was at a lost of what to eat first on my plate.

This was the full view of the contents:

I can’t remember if this was FP’s dish or Kawan E’s but it was creamy pasta anyhows.

Yummy yummy strawberry cheesecake!

And after a day of tears, eating and shopping, we made our way back to Batu Pahat.

Okay that’s it for the Malaysian trip! Till the next trip we take!

We went to Malacca and was blown away by the culture that runs so deep in the city’s blood. I’ve been to Malacca many times in the past but I didn’t really explore the city as Malacca was usually a pit stop on the way to Kuala Lumpur.

So this was the first time I actually explored Malacca, albeit not fully because it was already almost evening time when we arrived in Malacca. But still, better than nothing.

We went up many, many steps to Bukit Saint Paul (I think this is the correct name) to discover really beautiful architecture. It’s basically a memorial for dutch soldiers who died in Malacca (I’m sorry I don’t have the exact facts) but there was a Dutch graveyard and many tablets that have tribute messages carved in them.

I really wanted to go through these gates and walk through the graveyard but it was almost closing time and I seriously did not want to be trapped inside overnight. Not a good idea when there might be Dutch zombies walking around looking for brains to eat for dinner.

I really love the structure of this.. fort? memorial? building? castle? It makes you feel like a princess and it’s great for photoshoots. Oh look, I have a stalker.

And I become part of a “group picture”, lol.

A very lovely photo of Saint Paul

And this is the base of Bukit Saint Paul:

After sightseeing, we headed on to Jonker Street for some flea market kind of shopping. By this time, I felt so hot that I tied up my hair into a ponytail and was then forced to take tourist-like photos:

I kept referring to Jonker Street as Jongkong Street. No idea why.

Jonker Street in the day:

Jonker Street by night:

Didnt really shop much there, bought a few magnets tho.

Other random snapshots in Malacca:

This is an actual fighter plane back in the days. Thanks to the movie Pearl Harbour (and Josh Hartnett), I adore old fighter planes. Simply love this shot, hehe.

Just like the fighter plane, this train was a real train once upon a time. It was a donation from KTM (if I got my facts right) and as usual Sha likes to action away. Please ignore the pink slippers, thank you.

I wanted to go and explore this exhibition. Not because I am a sadist, but because I love the medieval times. This was an exhibit to showcase torture methods in the medieval period. But we didn’t go in

Malacca is a museum heaven which I’d gladly spend days in just walking and being amazed by exhibits but it was such a pity that by the time we got there, they are all closed for the day

Oh well, next time then.

Malacca by night, along the river overseeing the Eye of Malaysia.

The river by day.

This was taken inside a dessert shop (selling Malacca goodies). It looks like one of those ancient china taverns. And I look like a tired cow

One more photo to round of this trip:

Okay the story here was that we were all supposed to go to a restaurant that serves chicken rice balls. This simply means that it is normal chicken rice, just that the rice is shaped like balls. It was supposed to be very yummy chicken rice. But when we got there, the shop was closed.

So we compromised and ate at the food court, which also had chicken rice balls (which is as above).

Verdict: Not nice at all.

Lesson learn: Don’t ever compromise.

I’ve never been to Batu Pahat, and now that I’ve been there, I fell in love with the charming little town. It’s a town that proves that life can be sweet at 3 miles per hour. The slow pace of life was such a huge relief to me, the change I needed from the hustle and bustle of city life. And it has simple pleasures too.

Like this cup of black coffee. For those of you who don’t know, I love my coffee black with a bit of sugar. I like my coffee bittersweet. And this cup of coffee was magical and certainly one of the best cups of black coffees I’ve ever had.

And it’s making me want more, even though for every morning that we were there, I had a cup of black Batu Pahat coffee.

I love how vintage everything is in Batu Pahat. Just look at this unpretentious price list. When was the last time you saw a sign like this? Fantastic stuff at such cheap prices.

Nothing fancy, nothing over the top..

Everything is old school and simple..

Some simple yummy pleasures that I had:

This gem right here is just bread and kaya. But you wouldn’t expect such a simple serving can be magical, especially if you dip it in the magical black coffee mentioned earlier. It was yummy, omg.

This was something different altogether. Never before have I seen lontong being served with a fried egg. And to be honest, I don’t really like lontong even though I will eat it if there’s no other choice. So for me to love this dish is something big. And wow an egg to go along! It was absolutely delicious

And lastly:

Yummy, yummy mee rebus! Just add coffee to make it a wonderful breakfast.

There you go, hehe.

I have a funny story which revolves around this picture:

Does this look like a well to you? Well it totally looked like a well to me.

So as we got out of the car and I saw it, I excitedly exclaimed, “EH LOOK! A WELL!!!” -> exactly like this.

The rest of them just stared at me for a second and burst out laughing. It turned out that it wasnt a well. It was a place that the Chinese use to burn hell notes and other things for praying.

But in my defense, it did look like a well ok? And I got weird stares from the locals when I took this photo. They must have been thinking, “stupid city girl”. LOL.

And oh ya, I love this pic below. Loved the foliage that we found, and I love the tshirt i was wearing

Can I be a Threadless model? hahaha

A silly pic to end this post

Transit Area at Terminal 3

For my third trip to Jakarta, I flew by Qatar Airways. I was supposed to be taking a budget airline (like Jet Star, Value Air or Air Asia), but because of my fear and distrust for budget airlines, I managed to snag a flight on Qatar instead. No, I’m not a spoilt princess, I just wanted to have a comfortable flight. Nobody wants to be cringing and panicking throughout a flight. It will defeat the very purpose of flying, don’t you think?

What I didn’t realize at first when I looked at the E-ticket, was that I would be flying from the coveted Terminal 3 at Changi Airport. It was only the next day that I did a double take at the E-ticket when I saw that my flight would be embarking from Terminal 3.

I almost hyperventilated

As you might already figured out, I am extremely particular about my flights. I normally prefer Singapore Airlines any time of the day. So it is a big thing when I say that I love Qatar and it comes on par or even better than Singapore Airlines.

Here’s why I love Qatar Airways:

Gorgeous crew
Honestly, you’d think that you’re on a fashion runway. Both the male and female flight attendants are drop dead gorgeous, which made the flight even more enjoyable. <3. Wish I had taken snap shots, hehehe. Maybe if I had a companion that I am more comfortable with next time.

Could you believe it, even the flight attendant in the safety video looks like a model. He made blowing air into life jackets look so attractive!

Excellent service
As if it is not already enough that they are all so good looking, they do their service with a genuine smile that is so often not seen. Doesn’t help that good looking people have the best smiles. I love it because it makes the flight a lot more pleasant, especially if you land in the wee hours of the morning.

Also, the male flight attendants offered to help Maggie and I out our heavy laptops in the top cabin, without even being asked. How nice!

This happened on both flights. You may say it’s part of their job, but I didn’t see the same thing on Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa at that.

Food looked great, and tasted great!
For the flight to Jakarta, I was still fasting during the flight. But I saw the food being served to the people next to me, and the food looked awesome. For the flight back, I managed to have a taste of Qatar’s food since it was a late night flight.

Looks good doesn’t it? The first photo shows a chicken and yellow rice dish – which was yummy. The second is some kind of salad and fruit.

But just a slight turn-off though they may have a good reason for doing what they did. The gorgeous flight attendant, with this thick lashes and sharp nose cleared my meal tray while I was halfway through my watermelon. I guess it must have been because it was a pretty short flight (1 1/2 hours?) and that soon after he cleared we started our descend.

Just thought it was weird that he cleared my tray too fast but it’s okay

In-flight entertainment
This is where Qatar might have an edge over Singapore Airlines. On my SQ flight for my first trip to Jakarta, we were not even given earphones to watch movies or listen to music. So Toni and I had to watch Watchmen in silence, with me explaining what’s going on in the movie to him.

For Qatar, not only do they have excellent movies and TV shows – they provided earphones for the short trip because you know it only makes sense.

One plus point that they have is that, they had Big Bang Theory amongst the many TV series! It was just one episode, but it was enough to make my late night meal on board extra enjoyable. It was the episode where Penny gets addicted to online gaming! HAHAHA!

So two thumbs up for that!

In conclusion
I highly recommend Qatar Airways! Trust me, I hardly recommend airlines (I normally recommend Singapore Airlines). Great now I feel like a traitor. But seriously, I believe that it is on par with Singapore Airlines, at a much cheaper price. Plus you get real eye candy (whether you are a guy or girl) so why not?

Book your next flight on Qatar! (someone should really pay me to promote things like this)

I was right there when it happened, unbelievable but true.

At first, I didn’t even feel a thing. I even thought it was a fire drill when everyone started to stand up. This was despite vaguely hearing the word “earthquake” which caused people to stand up in the first place.

Selective hearing, much?

But as soon as I stood up, I could feel the building literally swaying. At first a little, which I found very exciting (because I have never experienced anything like it before). And then when it didn’t stop and seem to get worse, I think my face turned pale and I panicked.

I felt scared, and stunned all at the same time. Many people have started evacuating the building and I just stood there. And then I decided that I shall also go down – this was in my subconsciousness. But then my colleague Maggie screamed at me to take my bag along. So I went back to the office to grab my bag.

During this time, we could all still feel the swaying and my face was probably getting more panicky by the second.

And then.. it seemed to stop. Looking out the window, I saw people standing outside the building as if it were a normal fire drill.

View from the 5th level of Wisma 77, Jakarta

There were more people actually but I guess they moved away by the time this photo was taken. Below is a photo of a crack that was created in the guys’ toilet by the quake. Apparently the crack wasn’t there before, and when Nico told me about it I was very excited (despite being so frightened moments ago) because it would be a real life earthquake crack on the wall! So we got victor to bring my pretty pink camera to the land of the unknown.

I know. It doesn’t look like much. Believe me, Victor and I are disappointed to because the way Nico has described it to us made it seem really major. Like you know the big zig zag kind. But this is all we got, and this is still an official earthquake crack. Pretty cool.

********
Aftermath of Earthquake

Of course I had to sms FP and tell him what had happened. To be precise, I sent him this message:

“Earthquake! Building is shaking and swaying!”

To which of course he panicked big time, which was really sweet because he urged me to take a flight back to Singapore amongst other things. He got angry because to him, this was the last straw. He made me promised him to find better prospects when I get home.

While it was mainly the anger and fear talking, his main concern was.. “What if anything happens to Sha?”

It is at times like this, in the wake of natural disasters that you know just how much you are loved. You know that someone cares enough as to whether you are dead or alive, safe or in danger, injured or not. It doesn’t matter that you have always known that this someone loves you more than life itself, but it is always accentuated in the face of danger.

It is good to be loved

********
Traumatized

What I experienced from level 5 of the office building may not be anything major but it haunted me for many nights. It was measured as 7.3 on the Richter scale which was pretty high by earthquake standards. There was news that there will be several aftershocks of the earthquake.

On top of it all, I was staying on the 21st floor of the hotel. And the higher you are, the worse it will be (so I’ve learned). Apparently, at our sister company on the 20th floor, they had to hold on to things when trying to evacuate the building. Many fell while running. It all sounds very scary and very real.

So that very night, I woke up several times before Sahur. After Sahur, I found it hard to go back to sleep for the longest time. And when I finally drifted off, I was ambushed by weird and scary dreams. All sorts of it. And Maggie told me that I actually screamed.

Same thing the following night. Except that no nightmares, just a major case of insomnia. Even on my first night back in Singapore, I still couldn’t sleep at all! I guess psychologically, I am / was scared of it happening again. I didn’t want to sleep because I was afraid I will wake up to a swaying room or worse in rubbles.

Contrary to what I said about finding the whole thing exciting (which is true), it is also very frightening. Thank God, I wasn’t near the Epicenter and that my building didn’t turn to rubbles.

It may not be a full fledge earthquake experience, but it is enough to make it a lasting memory.

Later on today, I will be making my third trip down to Jakarta.

While I truly look forward to flying from Changi Airport Terminal 3 for the first time, (don’t you know, I am Changi Airport’s biggest fan?), I feel sad about leaving this time.

It is the fasting month after all. Whatever it is, emotions will be raw.

It has so far been a fasting month of many firsts this year. I’ve been alone for most of the fasting month. I broke fast all by myself for the first time ever and it wasn’t a heartwarming feeling. This morning, I had my sahur all alone while watching Disney Channel. It was my first time having sahur in solitude.

Really sad stuff when you think about it.

And now this. I’ve never had to fast while traveling. That said, I have never been away during the fasting month. When you think of my solitude this Ramadhan, this going away certainly pushes my isolation to the next level. No doubt that this will add on to the experiences that will make me stronger but it’s also something that will push me out of my comfort zone entirely.

Of course sahur will be provided by the hotel – an experience that I am actually quite looking forward to try out because I’ve never heard of such a service, very interesting indeed.

Also how can I forget I actually have some special people (hello, girls!) who look forward to seeing me. It’s a nice feeling to be wanted, hehe. That is of course beside the fact that I have people to interview, people to review and projects to discuss. So in actual fact, I won’t really be alone all that much.

So I should be okay right?

I should just take this experience with a grain of salt and an open mind. I survived Banda Aceh at Hari Raya. I can do this.

So I’ll blog when I get back, hopefully with nice photos.

xoxo.

For my second trip to Jakarta, we flew on Lufthansa Airlines – mainly because Singapore Airlines was fully booked for two weeks straight.

I’m especially particular about my flights. I don’t trust budget airlines and have never been on one. My best way to fly is always Singapore Airlines, though I have been on others as well.

So, Lufthansa. A foreign airline (to me at least). Well, well, well.

Did my research, and discovered that it is a German airline. And upon knowing this, I got gleeful because I love Germans (and their football team, hehe) and looked forward to good looking European flight attendants. I actually casted all my worries and doubts aside just because of this little discovery.

But as soon as I got onto the plane, my hopes dissipated fast.

And it only got worse as the flight progressed.

First of all, most of the crew were Europeans. But not in the right age group that I imagined. Why I ever imagined that it would be a younger, more attractive crew – I will never know.

Second, the aisles were really narrow and it was quite a chore putting our bags (and other misc. items up the .. cabin cabinet? (is that what it’s called?)

Third, I didn’t get a window seat. I was in the middle of 2 strangers while Toni and my boss were in the row ahead of me. Uncomfortable much? I always prefer to sit by the window because I want to look at clouds hehe. I don’t like siting in the middle of nowhere because I’m slightly claustrophobic.

No, a window seat doesn’t make me claustrophobic because I have the entire sky to my side. Well that’s my logic at least.

So other than these logistical issues, came a rather major issues which made me think about the intellect and tact of foreign airlines.

Ok so normally when we fly, we will place an order with the airline at the point of booking tickets. We will request for seafood, Muslim food etc. This time round, with Lufthansa when we tried to order, we were told that no food will be served during the flight.

That was already a turn off before the flight. And in my head, I was thinking – even budget airlines have food. At least they sell them. Pfft.

But as it turned out, they did serve us food. And that is where the drama began.

So served to us were a sandwich (i think it was turkey bacon or something), a simple fruit salad, German mineral water and a Kit-Kat.

My boss is very particular about Halal food. So because we didn’t know what exactly was in the sandwich and whether or not it’s Halal – we asked.

We were told it was turkey something something sandwich (can’t really recall right now) but I clearly recalled what we were told when we asked if it was Halal.

The (not so hot, not so young) flight attendant gave us a blank look and asked, “Halal? What’s Halal?”

Ok so this one, perhaps I can let go. It is a specialised Muslim term. FINE. So we tried another term. We asked if the food is for Muslims.

Another blank look as if we’ve asked her a ridiculous, time wasting question. And then she said, “Muslim? what’s Muslim? I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I can’t help you.”

Like HELLO?

It doesn’t matter that you are from a country that probably have very little Muslims and the Muslim culture isn’t really widespread. BUT. But you are in the service line and you have to cater to people from all walks of life. Surely, you’d have to at least know about this?

Besides, you are on a flight from Singapore to Jakarta. There are bound to be people who will have such a request. Even if you have never heard of the terms, at least don’t show it so blatantly. I was appalled and shocked by the exchange, from my middle seat one row behind. Flaberghasted.

So in the end all I had was the Kit-Kat and the fruit salad and some water. Doesn’t matter, we had a nice dinner and Sour Sally waiting for us at the hotel.

But still. Pfft.

So that was that. On the flight home, another incident happened. Also involving food.

We were served a beef dish which all of us couldn’t consume. Toni, being a Buddhist – doesn’t take beef.

So we asked the same questions we did. And got slightly better answers though it didn’t amount to anything.

We also asked if they have anything for vegetarians. Which they answered, “You have to order before the flight for such requests” – which got mild mannered Toni very upset. And which brought us to square one, where they told us that NO FOOD WILL BE SERVED.

But we were let down very gently despite our attempt to tell them their service sucks (hey it does) and we were given extra containers of fruit salad.

This was after a MAD, MAD jam on the way to the airport, a crazy RUSH to check in and then a stupid incident on the flight. Which made the evening fanstastically perfect.

But it’s okay, we all went to Swenson’s once we landed because we were obviously starving.

As for my flight preference, the best way to fly is still with Singapore Airlines. Lufthansa? Never heard of it.

I’m leaving for another work trip to Jakarta tomorrow afternoon.

So before I go on my trip, I guess I should blog about my first Jakarta trip that I went last month. Yes the month that this site died just a little because its owner went on a rampage doing other things.

Let’s continue. This will mostly be a pictorial post, with elaborations where needed.

I’ve never been to Jakarta before in my life, so I was quite excited at the prospect. Not only will I get to experience the typical Jakarta jams and the awesome food – I will also get to meet everyone whom I’ve been working with for the past one year (at least).

So to Jakarta we flew.

boarding pass and passport. SQ baby!

It has always been a habit of mine – taking photos of clouds and the skies whenever I fly. Looking at fluffly clouds is like looking at cotton candy. It’s like looking at a fantasy world in its own right. And doesn’t it make you like want to skip around on the clouds? Okay, maybe that’s just me.

So we stayed at Hotel Menara Peninsular, which is just beside our office. The hotel’s not too shabby and quite comfy. No bad vibes from the room that I got when I was in Banda Aceh. And this was the view from my 12th floor room:

The breakfast buffet wasn’t all that impressive, but it was still ok. At least they had my apple juice.

My outfits for the two days of work while I was there. Please, spare me for these moments of vanity.

Apart from being busy in meeting after meeting for most of the two working days that I was there, what stuck in my mind was the food.

Toni made me try all kind of food. Usually all at the same time. Haha. He really wanted me to have a taste of every kind of food that he deems nice. So, I was pretty bloated throughout the trip.

This was taken at a restaurant called Bumbu Desa. Just look at all the food on our first dinner out with friends! He ordered practically one of everything! We ended up sooo full that our minds went numb. It’s a bit like the episode after level 4 buffalo wings. It is true then that when you are full, you become stupid lol.

Oh this yellow drink was lovely actually. It’s a orange-coconut drink. Totally refreshing!

Apart from food, the company Toni and I kept was a pretty good one too:

Toni and I with our group of colleagues

Nico and Indra – the two bonkers pple without whom all my projects will never be a reality.

Us girls with a big, big man behind us lol

without the big man. Ros and I really do look alike yes?

My friend spongebob and me <3!!

One thing I’ve discovered to love is..

Fruit Tea! From the same family as my favourite teh botol. I’ve never tried fruit tea before, but now.. I really like it! Of course teh botol remains a true classic in my mind, hehe.

This is of course, apart from the Sour Sally yogurt that I must definitely get on my second trip to Jakarta. With plenty of strawberry mochi please!!

One last thing before I end this very lengthy blog post:

I had a little trouble with money when I was in Jakarta. I brought some rupiahs left over from my Bali and Aceh trip some years back. Turns out that all of my dominations of 50,000 rupiah (oh yes I am rich!) cannot be used. I got rejected at a bookstore.

I wanted to pay with credit card, but my purchases doesn’t meet the minimum requirement for a credit card payment. So, I wanted to pay by cash. Did some math and took out a 50,000. And I was told, it was no longer in use *gasp*. So I took out a 20,000 note (you see what I mean by rich? That was accepted.

In the end, we had to go to the bank, and exchange my wad of 50,000 rupiah notes for the new ones.

Kawan E, you are right. Things crazy things only happen to ME.

Haha, there you go. My first trip to Jakarta. Not sure if I’m able to garner plenty of pics the second time round because we will be on a very tight schedule.

But I will try!