Merry Christmas!

Hello people! Sorry I've been hiatus for so long. Been in Europe you see, and there ain't many wifi spots here. Been doing plenty of shopping and sightseeing, meeting new people from all walks of life. Loving this holidays.

 

I'll give a much more detail update from my trip as soon as I get my photos sorted out. I can't wait to get home. I miss the people back there. Sigh!

 

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

All the Small Things

I've recently been told by a very good friend of mine that I have a big heart. I always put others before me. Everyone else's welfare is more important than my own because when I see everyone else smiling and laughing, I naturally get very happy as well.

Sure, there are times when I feel under-appreciated and that I don't get the right treatment. But God has taught me well to not expect anything in return when we do good onto others. What goes around, always comes back around. Eventually, everyone gets rewarded for the good deeds that they do.

To those of you who complain to your loved ones that they don't do as much as you do, don't be calculative. If you're gonna keep score on who did what, it's never gonna work out. Both parties don't usually give their all at the same point of time. But be patient and do all the small little things for your loved one without expecting anything in return. Eventually, they'll see that you're worth investing their emotions in and that's when they give you the best and the rest of themselves.

Start small. A little bit goes a very long way when it comes to the matters of the heart.

Cheeky Maxis

I've recently been invited to the iPhone5 launch by Maxis but I can't attend it since I'll be in Europe this weekend. And I was pretty adamant about buying a Samsung Galaxy Note II.

But Maxis is smart.

They sent me a second notification and I seem to get better rates because I have Maxis One Club (MOC) privileges. You cheeky baskets. I might, MIGHT, just consider buying the iPhone5.

Damn my fickled mind.

Europe!

Things are getting crazy at work. To those of you who don't know yet, I've been transferred to another client. Not as friendly as the previous one but the challenge is there I suppose. Either way, at least I have something to look forward to this time around - Europe! Can't wait! Family time and a white Christmas; what more can I ask for. My euro trail starts at:

Destination 1: London, England

If I'm lucky, I'll get to see Harry and the half-bald prince.

Destination 2: Paris, France

No, I would not like my food to be cooked by a rat.

Destination 3: Lucerne, Switzerland

I would love my face on a Switzerland stamp too.

Destination 4: Venice, Italy

Visit the Palazzo Ducale and feed the pigeons. Oh wait, winter.

Destination 5: Florence, Italy

Gotta love Michelangelo. I'll be coming to touch you, David.

Destination 6: Rome, Italy

Trevi Fountain. I'm gonna take a dip there.
Oh wait. Again, winter.

I'm gonna be looking out for a few friends in London. Hopefully we'll be able to meet. Europe's gonna be awesome I bet. I'll be home for new year's. Time for new year resolutions :)

Phone Dilemma

I know I've said I wanted to get the Note II, but it seems like the more I think about it, the more confused I get. I'm not too sure which I would need.

iPhone5

The iPhone5 is thinner, lighter and faster as compared to the previous ones. Best iPhone yet for sure. Outlook is very pretty indeed. Sleek and sexy. Colours are really nice as well. Love the whole black/slate thing going on there. One thing awesome about having an iPhone is the AppStore that Apple has to offer. Robust and huge as compared to the Android's. I also like how the iOS has Facebook and Twitter integration, making it easier for tweet whores like me to post pictures on my social media.

But in terms of functionality, this phone isn't as good obviously. It's so static. I also don't like the fact that they've decided to remove all Google apps and incorporate their horrible Apple maps which sucks so bad. Mines Wonderland was apparently near One Utama according to one of my colleagues who recently got upgraded to the iOS6. Thinner is awesome. But to keep the same width and make it taller, that's just.. I don't know. What about the iPhone6 and 7 then? Make it taller than the previous one I suppose, Tim Cook? You guys can check the specs out here.

Samsung Galaxy Note II

The Samsung Galaxy Note II is probably the most powerful smartphone out there. Functionality of the Android OS is much better than the iOS for sure. Display is beautiful and having a dynamic display as compared to iPhone's static one, really displays the lovely graphics that it has to offer. With the stylus, some functions can be easily done: from cropping a photo to writing notes (rather than typing them). There's so much to do on the artistic side of things. Because of it's huge display, watching videos and viewing photos becomes a very enjoyable thing to do.

But the Google Play store is obviously not as great as the Apple AppStore. The huge phone doesn't fit into many pockets nicely and it might deter movement when you're walking (as explained by one of my friends). Functionality beats iOS for sure, but do I need all those? Do I need so many functions and endless customization on my phone? I do want to keep it simple after all. As compared to the iPhone, it isn't as user friendly. Specs here.

I suppose no matter how you look at it, one phone is always going to be better than the other for any given field. But as a whole, which is? I'll let you guys decide! Poll on the right!

Singapore 2012 - Day 3

On the third and final day, we met up with Sing Yee and her fiancee for a foodie trip at Tiong Bharu Market! It's like food haven on that side of Singapore. They've got almost everything, I think. Most memorable dish was probably the chicken. Tender, moist, tasty - everything good you can think of in a chicken. AHHH. Thinking about it now makes me hungry!

Super awesome steamed chicken

Kuey Chap

Pigs innards and what not.

Prawn Mee. Interesting how Singaporeans use pork ribs as the base for the soup.

We had tonnes more. Just couldn't be bothered taking photos cos I was just way too hungry at that point. After stuffing ourselves silly with awesome street food, Sing Yee brought us to this cute little cafe just around the corner of the market. Lovely place.

Orange Thimble :)

This place looks like some hippie spot

Coffee Art! I think Casey's one on the bottom left is the cutest!

Gotta love the Singapore trip. Such great fun and food! Most important was the company of course. Got really close to people whom I never really mixed with during university. I'm glad this trip happened! It was a great getaway from work and my personal problems. I left Singapore with a heavy heart but I'll probably be back real soon! For now, I leave you guys with Ivan doing the Gangnam dance in the MRT.

You look like some horny basket.

Letting go

Just saw this quote on Sze Yun's blog:

There are things we don't want to happen but we have to accept, things we don't want to know but we have to learn and people we can't live without but we have to let go.

I believe for most of us, the last bit of that quote tingles our senses a bit. Many of us find people we can't live without, the people whom we share our love, life and smiles with. But every now and then, we lose these people; whether through choice of separation or death. To those of you who have gone through or are going through this painful process of losing someone, there's always a time for mourning but not for too long. Keep your chin up. You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for.

It pains me to see some of my friends who refuse to help themselves. They say they do and they try, but if they really did, then they wouldn't be stuck in this lingo and vicious cycle for so long. I say, try harder. There's only so much a friend can help you with, the rest is really up to you. And if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.

I have once lost someone I couldn't live without. I told myself that it's impossible to get through this and that I'll never love again - until one day, a friend knocked some sense into me. Today, I have learnt to let go and believe me, it was much easier than I thought. That stupid phrase, "it's always easier said than done" is really just a demotivator. Get rid of that mindset, people. The sooner, the better.

When one door closes, another opens. I've grabbed my opportunity with the other door. And I'm happiest right now. I'll never look back in anger or frustration because I now have more than I ever wanted. If you're never gonna let go, you'll never be able to reach for greater and better things. You'll miss out on all the chances for you to be happier because you're holding onto your past which you think is the best thing, but it will never really be enough to fill that hole left in your heart.

You can't reach for something that's in front of you if you're still tied to something that's behind you.

This post goes out to all of you who have loved and lost. Food for thought.

Singapore 2012 - Day 2

Day 2 was even more awesome of course! A trip to Universal Studios is always a treat. I was there about the same time last year. Not many things have changed but I got to see so much more than I did previously. There was a Hollywood Boulevard Parade, fireworks, live band, and what not.

The famous globe. Way too many people that day around it.

This is like some advert photo.

Loved the Christmas tree!

And a treat for us late at night when the Daddy-O's and the ladies came up to sing Christmas carols. Loves!

Best shot of the fireworks I could get :/

Kinda bummed I didn't take any shots of the rides we went! We probably covered almost every interesting ride there. Still, the best ride was the Battlestar Gallactica: Cylon. Awesome stuff that! But the girls have made me curious to try this Oblivion in the UK. ONE DAY! Transformers was as cool as ever. Best motion master I've gone to to-date.

Highlight of the Universal Studios trip was probably the Water World one where there is this bunch of people putting up a show for us, like a play of some sort. So before the show, there were 3 dudes who were trying to get the crowd pumped up and basically, get us all soaked whenever we didn't obey their commands and what not. I was wearing my Manchester United jersey when the dude pointed at me and asked me to stand up. And obviously by then, I knew what was coming. Siao Han, being the blur person she is, didn't and just sat and watched.

Dude: "What's that right there on your chest?" *points at the United crest*

Me: "United."

And that's when I got sprayed at, with SALT water by the way; from the front and the left. Siao Han being closest to me wasn't spared either. Glory glory Man United.

For dinner, we went to Chinatown and had some awesome street food. Ivan being his usual self could not stop rating women who were passing by. He obviously did that the whole trip :P.

Oojian. The dude conned us. It was more like eggs and flour. SHAME ON YOU UNCLE.

Fried Hokkien Mee. Yes, very different from the Malaysian version. Wasn't too bad but ours still rock.

Bounciest fishball I've ate to-date. Ivan can vouch for me as he clumsily dropped one and it bounced to the opposite side of the street.

Self-torture looking at this photo now. I'm hungry. SIGH.

Day 3 updates will be coming up tomorrow!

Singapore 2012 - Day 1

I have always wanted to go back to Singapore after the first time I went there. It was only last year when I went there for the first time. Unbelievable.

Singapore is perfect. It's as if the country is being run by robots. Clean, efficient public transport, great people and the food really isn't as bad as how we Malaysians make them to be. We should really give some credit to them for some of their food. Continue reading this post and you'll be able to see some of the good food we had.

So about two months ago, I bought 4 tickets to Universal Studios Singapore because Li En could get them at a pretty good rate for me. Add 3 awesome people to the equation and some money (quite a bit), and you get an unforgettable trip! Loved every minute of it. And here are some snapshots of them.

Backpackers @ SG at Lavender

Thank you Casey for taking the trouble to book this place for us. We were cracking our head on where to stay. Pretty nice, clean place and very cheap too! The owner from Hong Kong was super friendly and very helpful :).

L-R: Siao Han, Casey, Me, Ivan

So after checking into our hostel, we went hunting for this awesome Pork Noodles that Singapore has to offer. Recommended by her cousin, this place was pretty difficult to find. We asked around way too many times! According to Siao Han's cousin, Sing Yee, this place was super famous and we will probably need to queue for a bit.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodles.

The queue.

Obviously they've heard some people who were trying to emulate what they offer.

Uncle making the noodles. By now we were getting impatient. Not to mention drooling. 

Minced Pork Noodles. Lovely combination of sweet sauce, soy sauce, chili oil and an interesting ingredient: vinegar. So appetizing. Would love to have more right now. Garnished with deep fried fish fins and the usual deep fried pork lard. Highly recommended.

Pork meatballs. 

Took some random shots after the meal cos I was bored. Burped at Ivan too and Siao Han laughed like the crazy woman she is.

I think this is such a nice photo. Profile photo worthy.

Took the MRT to Orchard to roam around, take photos and what not. Made a quick pit stop at Takashimaya to check the food hall out. Went crazy doing the whole food testing and tasting thing. Food in Singapore is actually so much cheaper than in Malaysia; dollar for dollar of course.

Stumbled upon a very interesting place; BEANstro by Coffee Bean. You can see what they're trying to do there. Cute.

Super yeng.

Durian mochi. We got this in the food hall. This mochi was stuffed with real durian flesh and not durian paste or something along those lines.

Met up with Kai Yee (uni mate) and Sing Yee (Siao Han's cousin) for dinner at Holland Village. Had Katong laksa and otak-otak. We only can use spoons to eat the laksa by the way. What nonsense.

Ended the night with some drinks and a live band performance at Wala Wala. Met up with Whyway, Esther and Li En too :). Super tiring first day. Next post will be about our Universal Studios trip! Gonna leave you guys with my favourite photo of the trip.

Thanks Siao Han for entertaining me. Boo Casey.