Malaysia Travels

This is gonna sound kinda weird considering how often as I am prepared to drive up to my neighbor country, Malaysia, but I have always been hesitant to drive to JB. I have no qualms about driving solo to Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh. However,when it comes to Johor Baru, I get cold feet. Thousands of Singaporeans go to Johor every single day and many drive over just to stock up on groceries or pump cheaper pertrol over the weekend. Somehow I have the impression that Johor Baru is more crime filled than the other towns and have generally stayed away. So Clara and I got really excited when Rapheal offered to drive us over for some yummy lok- lok and went back to get our passports on super short notice!

For those who have no clue what lok-lok is – It’s food on wooden skewers that are either boiled in a steamboat or BBQed then dipped in satay or chilli gravy for consumption. I usually stay away from lok-lok because the hotpot they use to cook the food can sometimes cause me allergic reaction as they cook mostly seafood. However, this one that Rapheal brought us at Taman Sentosa seems to specialize in the BBQ version of lok-lok. It was superbly awesome! The rest of the guys also had “abalone” wanton noodles which was supposed to be very delicious as well but I gave it a miss. Both Clara and Rapheal had their fill to last them till the next trip they make back to Singapore from Melbourne!

While we were having our meal, there were lots of touts selling all kinds of merchandise. One of which was the paper wish lantern or the Kong Ming lantern. There were so many people releasing them in the air that we decided to buy and release one as well. It’s probably illegal so don’t go trying it just because you read it here!

We didn’t write our wishes or even had a lighter with us (totally impromptu)! After igniting flames using the car lighter, it took awhile before the lantern was ready to be release. We kept cheering it on to fly higher! Partly because it was a beautiful sight and partly because we realized how silly of us to release it in the middle of town with a petrol station nearby, even though that was what everyone else was doing! Luckily, all went to plan, and up it went in to the dark night joining other lanterns with wishes into the sky.

It’s been awhile and since we were in KL for Chinese New Year, we decided to host a house warming party for our new place even though it’s currently more like a vacation home for us. Regina and JW drove down from Singapore to attend! JW’s main aim was to go rock climbing at his favorite Camp 5 though! LOL

We met for lunch before proceeding to my place.

There were so many people and we were all busy preparing food that I don’t think we got everyone on photos! LOL! I had to get half of the photos from AC again! I was baking muffins, making vanilla cheese for my baked apricots and pears while AC was trying out home made pizza recipes.

Leih Men  and Andrew were taking charge of the BBQ pit that day especially since Leih Men is supposedly the King of BBQ and is really good at setting up charcoal BBQ! We marinated the chicken with A & W Root Beer BBQ Sauce which sounds really funky but tasted pretty good!

Between Rock Band, mahjong, pizza making, BBQ and taking different groups of people up 3 floors to view the house, there really wasn’t much time to rest! It was really really exhausting!

Everyone tried their hand at making their very own pizza! It takes a lot of strength and skill to knead and roll the dough! AC is the expert and Shen Han was the next best instructor. Jw had to roll the dough out evenly cause we wanted thin crispy crust.

In between the pizza making we kept running out of the house or to my 3rd floor balcony to catch constant fireworks throughout the night! We managed to catch a couple of good ones when my neighbors released fireworks on the road just outside my house. JW’s cara was covered in fireworks paper! It’s actually kind scary how near they were releasing huge fireworks just outside my place! It’s the sort you see at the National Day parade and not the small kiddy ones! Throughout the whole CNY season there were fireworks every night and I would just pull a chair at my balcony to watch. It became so frequent that I could distinguish the type of fireworks based on the sounds and not having to actually see it!

It’s the sort of festive spirit that you don’t really get in Singapore.

As the night got late, we shifted the party to the balcony on the 3rd floor and lit the whole place with candles. It reminded me so much of Bali. Chatting with friends over moscato and all sorts of alcohol, it was nice to just chill out. JW didn’t join in cause he was fast asleep on the couch downstairs!

It’ll be quite awhile before I can take another vacation to KL but it’s nice knowing that there are such lovely people there waiting to meetup whenever I do get to visit.

I think I mentioned some time ago that we had a new place in KL. So this time when I was there over the Chinese New Year period, I was busy shopping for new stuffs for the home!

These were just some of the random photos we took while shopping. AC was super nice and super helpful! He practically followed me around to help me carry tons of bags! I would have never been able to do it without him!

On a side note, I think I was a little crazed at that time and we had just finished watching how people in Osaka would act along when you point a finger and shoot “Bang” at them. Supposedly strangers would stop whatever they are doing to pretend to get shot. I wondered if it’ll work anywhere else in the world so I actually tried it at a random DIY store! LOL. I had AC and Andrew for support and I tried it on 3 strangers. Only one reacted and pretended to get shot! LOL!!! Thinking back I can’t believe how crazy I was!

Well, after a hard day of shopping I had to settle down for some awesome root beer float and curly fries!  So many Singaporeans including myself have to run over to Malaysia for their quick fix of A & W. I really think A & W should consider re-opening a branch in Singapore again. They could do an express service type that only serves root beer floats, curly fries and waffles! And maybe coney dog.

While people had to pai nian, I had the most unusual Chinese New Year. I was in Malaysia visiting i-City.

I had wanted to visit this place last year but never got round to doing so and now when I had no intention of visiting it at all, here I am.

i-City located in Shah Alam, Selangor is known as the city of digital lights. It is recognised at the first lightscape tourism destination in Malaysia with state-of- the-art LED technology showcase.

Personally I do love how the lights turn out gorgeous in photos but the place itself is a little too honky-town for my taste. It’s a super huge tourist trap and not a very eco-friendly one at that.

The crowds were also pretty horrendous the day I went. Luckily we went pretty early and didn’t have problems with parking.

Of course since it was during Chinese New Year after all, there was the God of Fortune running around the place and enticing people to follow him with promises of Ang Pows! Lol! It was quite hilarious actually!

Credits for half of the photos you see here goes to AC! He’s got a much superior camera to mine and I had to bug him to take photos of me! hahaha!

Well if you are interested to head down to the super lighted up amusement park (great for night photography) then here are the directions!

From PJ/KL , use the Federal Highway heading towards Shah Alam. Exit at the Batu Tiga Toll Station, look for the first BP gas station you see. Then turn left at the UiTm/i-City signage. Drive onwards till you reach the traffic light and turn right. Drive on the left side of the road until you see the Shell gas station and KFC before the traffic light. UiTM will be on your right. Turn left before the traffic lights, then go straight until you reach a T- junction then turn left. When you see a chrome ball turn left & left again, and you will reach i-City.

I don’t think I’ll visit again anytime soon but I do love how beautiful the photos turned out. If I do visit again I might go visit SnoWalk which I skipped this time round. Its Malaysia’s largest winter wonderland attraction with 100 tons of ice sculptures that were designed by a team of ice sculptors from Harbin, China.

By the time you read this post I’m already up some mountain in Switzerland. The blog will still run new posts in my absence and I’ll check in whenever I can but don’t expect immediate replies for emails and comments

Here’s a recap of my instagram updates in January 2012.

Happy 2012!

New Years fireworks galore! All over Bangkok!

After countdown! First order of business in 2012 is to repay my sleep debts. Have a good year ahead everyone!

Another hound cafe for yummy lunch!

A & W root beer float to de-stress after a shopping binge!

A late night snack after an aroma massage.

This is awesome! Really flavorful!

Last of our massage marathon.

Having a cuppa with @reginachow

Red Velvet Cupcake!

Nandos for dinner! Peri-Peri Flame Grilled Chicken.

Yay! Air-flown in with love from @jolene

Supper with @sushiwu and @jolene

Jasmine tea after a late night impromptu massage session with @jolene

Dinner at Yayoiken.

Had a great chat with @rosannetangrs over sandwiches and soup!

Loving some of the earrings I’m selling!

Choosing one of the pairs of earrings to wear.

1st process in making pineapple tarts.

Part 2 of the pineapple tarts making process.

Part 3 of the pineapple tarts making process.

Part 4 of the pineapple tarts making process – before entering the oven.

Part 5 – Fresh from the oven!

My godson sent me this to cheer me at work! So cute!

This Japanese cup noodles is awesome! Perfect when I have to be glued to the computer.

Celebrating with bubbly after a day of meeting!

Ate so much macarons yesterday and so much sweets today… need to balance out my sugar intake!

Satisfying my midnight cravings with @kojikwek

@renzze with @rapheal and @sushiwu

With my little sis at CNY reunion dinner!

With godma and grandparents!

Visited the most unlikely places this CNY!

We had a quick stop at a bee farm on the way to the Cameron Tea Plantation for mum to buy some fresh honey products.

The last time I saw a tea valley was in Hangzhou but this is much closer to Singapore.

There are a couple of different tea plantations in Cameron and we ended up at the the Cameron Valley estate. It was a hot and beautiful day and before we ventured into the tea grounds, we first had our tea with yummy scones at the top of the valley, overlooking the endless tea bushes!

]

After satisfying ourselves with food, we started hiking into the tea valley. It’s an incredibly huge estate and it was extremely tiring to hike all the way down and back. My mum almost could do the trip back up and had to hitchhike on one of the work vehicles!

There were 2 methods of harvesting employed here. Manual labour and machine cut though they are going to completely replace hand plucking with machines.

]

I managed to speak to one of the tea harvesters to teach me and let me try my hand at harvesting some leaves.

It’s crazy hard work and the basket is heavier than it looks. But it was a fun experience and for the first time I got to find out how a tea fruit looks like!

Waking up at The Lakehouse with the cool crispe air was so refreshing. I almost forgot I was in Malaysia and I could absolutely imagine being stuck on some little house in the old English countryside.

A great English buffet breakfast selection was waiting for us. You could have your eggs done anyway you requested with toast, sausages, bacons, potatoes with a side of cake or fruits to finish off the hearty meal.

My mum really enjoyed the breakfast and had several helpings! We took our sweet little time since there wasn’t any other guest having breakfast other than us and by the time we were done, I was stuffed!

Time seems to have stopped whenever we are in the hotel. No stress, no rush and no constant urgency that propels our usual life in Singapore. Everyone of us just took it easy and lounged around the hotel, chatting, laughing, taking photos and exploring the various little trinkets found everywhere!

I love the outdoor sitting area overlooking the hills and the quaint little hotel bar with all the Scottish embellishments.

It’s a really nice place to stay at Cameron but the next time I go back I’ll probably try out another hotel. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because the hotel let me down but there are so many little quint resorts all over Cameron Highland, each with their own vibe and style so I really just want to explore what else is out there!