Where to go and what to do in 2009.

After an amazing summer holiday in 2008, it’s going to be hard to match up to it. My sister got married last summer and later this year one of my dearest friends from my preteen days is getting married. I’ve been asked to be one of the bridesmaids so I’m excited….and I’m finally returning to the US after 5-6 years! I’ll be stopping by London again en-route to and from the US. One week in the DC/VA/MD area and a week in London. While the US is all about catching up with old friends  – my European leg of the trip is open to …more travel! London is a great hub to other European destinations. I haven’t decided where I want to go…. I’m thinking maybe Scotland this year. Or England (outside of London).

THE FOOD WEEKEND

Am back from my weekend getaway in KK. I’ve dubbed it the weekend of awesome culinary treats!

So on with the food adventures:-

The weekend started of with a very overpriced tuna sandwich at the FLY & BUY cafe in the KL LCCT departure hall. RM9 for a simple tuna sandwhich sliced in half. Not sure if I was hungry but it was a pretty damn good sandwich. However, note to first timers at the KL LCCT airport - IF YOU THINK THERE ARE MORE OPTIONS FOR PLACES TO EAT BEYOND THE SECURITY CHECK POINT – YOU’RE WRONG. EAT OUTSIDE IN THE MAIN TERMINAL.

Moving along, we arrived in Kota Kinabalu at about 10 p.m. Mel & John came and picked us up. We went to their house to ‘officially’ begin the EATAWAY…All the food was from Mango Cafe. We had Tom Yum (the clear kind) and it was so YUM (ha ha get it?). I apologize, I’m not really a food critic, I’m not sure how foodies would phrase it. Other things we ate include Phad Thai, fish cakes, mango/papaya salad, pandan chicken and this fish which hands down was awesome – even when eaten at room temperature (*note the food had been out quite a bit before we actually ate it). With my lack of adjectives and knowledge of thai food, let the pictures do the talking.

The morning after we made our way to the beach for a morning stroll (it’s the one not too far away from the KK airport)… It also donned upon me that I don’t know how to properly use my Canon Powershot S3IS *shrug*… Later we made our way to one of those Chinese coffee shops where they served freshly hand made noodles mixed in a light sauce with chicken/char siew. Again, very delish and not too heavy for breakfast.

the BAND shot

The GROUP shot

Breakfast noodle dish with chicken and charsiew shot

One thing I love about KK is how laid back everything is. The markets, the people – compared to KL that is. ALso, I LOVE AVOCADOES and they are really cheap in KK. 1 Kilo of avocado is something like RM4.30 where ONE avocado in KL is that price…. plus the avocadoes in KK are a little sweeter. I went and bought 2 kilos

Lunch was (physically) at Mango Cafe - I insisted Ben & I pay cause everything thus far had been paid for. We ordered the green curry, egg friend rice, pineapple fried rice, pandan chicken & glass noodle seafood salad plus a pumpkin custard thingie they have… For 3 people with the amount of food we ate was less than RM40. You have to try the green curry – the curry itself is excellent. Also, the pumpkin custard dessert is a must try. Wasn’t sure what to think of it at first bite but after finishing it (and on a super full stomach) – I have been dreaming about it!

Satisfied customers

Melanie flew back to KL after lunch so Ben & I opted for a nap. Not long after waking up we went for dinner for the Chinese version of Nasi Lemak. Essentially it was everything regular Nasi Lemak has except the  sambal tasted different. Again it was yums. With the amount of eating and lack of movement done since we were being chaffeured around in a car most of the time – the idea of going to a BarSu after dinner went down the drain. Eating is a powerful sleeping aid but not highly recommended if you plan on doing a lot of stuff (that isn’t sleeping!)

The result of eating too much....

Our last day in KK, we had brunch at another one of those Chinese coffee shops and tried the beef/seafood soup with dry noodles on the side John recommended. I don’t usually like soupy stuff first thing to eat after waking up but it was really tasty and apparently very easy to make. To make the beef tender, marinate it in corn starch and papaya. Beef will melt in your mouth no joke. No photos of this meal unfortunately!

The final ‘meal’ had in KK was Satay by the beach near the airport. Small in size but Ben seemed to LOVE it. He may even believe it’s the BEST Satay he’s had. Plus they gave us dried ketupat to accompany the Satay – which actually worked and tasted really good with the peanut sauce. The coconut juice wasn’t so happening though.

So there you have it – a weekend of food food food and more food! Thanks to Mel & John for their gracious hospitality on what was suppose to be a “birthday surprise but due to some communication breakdown was not a surprise in the end” weekend~ Still a good time…. didn’t even get to write much about activities OUTSIDE of eating … like the RM5 Japanese shop DAISO at ONEBorneo and the fact I didn’t utilize the loo properly the entire weeked (but that is a another post alltogether!)

Till MY UHH next travel destination (Perhentian)

Weekend getaway

It’s been a couple months since my last post and I did get those photos up however on facebook. Figured I didn’t want to clog up my space on wordpress

Anyway, yes, Europe was fantastic as you’d imagine but now I’m off to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to visit a dear friend of mine for her birthday. I finally get to eat at their cafe MANGO CAFE esp. the pandan chicken!. I have only been to Sabah one other time and I got to go snorkeling at Sipadan and of course Mount Kinabalu – but didn’t really get a chance to climb it (or rather - was not ready to climb it!) This time around I plan to take it easy and “chillax” a little. Take in the laid-back lifestyle, eat lots of avocado if its in season and if time permits, hop on a boat to Labuan for some duty free shopping.

And here’s some eye candy till my next post – taken the last time I was in Sabah (April 2007)

(L-R) Ben, Mel & John, Me!, Farah, Wendell, Edward

In Lille

Hey Folks – sorry for the lack of updates. I finally found some time to write a quick one just to let you know that France (Lille) has been pretty sweet. I arrived Thursday night. Saturday was my sister’s wedding - and let me tell you – it was so great. Everything from the morning rush to get ready and dash over to the City Hall for the civil wedding - to the reception at night. Personally, I don’t think it could have been better and mad props to the in-laws (yes I have in-laws now!) for an amazing job!

Congratulations to my sister Remona & to my brother in-law Jacques! Welcome to the family

Tomorrow I’m off to London! I have a day and half there before I’m back to Malaysia. I don’t know if I will have time to post pictures and videos till when I come back however….

For now – here’s the sweetest yet naughtiest kitten in Lille…Saint Pat – suckling on my fingers cause he thinks I’m his mother

It’s raining in Dublin

9 days of nearly perfect weather was good while it lasted. Now it’s raining, cold and wet and I’m hanging out in the “common room” at the Litton Hostel enjoying free wifi.

Dublin is one of those places you should tell everyone to go to. There’s no way I can cover even 25% of the things I want to do for the 3 nights/4 days I’m here (I’m leaving tomorrow) I did make it a point to do the utmost tourist thing though yesterday. I got on one of those hop on/off Dublin city tour buses and I went to the Guinness Storage Warehouse to learn about how Guinness is made and treat myself to a free pint after. 1 pint turned into 2 pints. For me that is a math equation for overspending at the gift shop! I got two things to decorate my new home back in KL and a bottle opener keychain. I spent something like 60 Euros…but at least I got a free pint glass! After spending nearly half the day at the Guinness factory I hopped on the bus again and got off at the Temple Bar area and did some walking. I saw these group of people cutting up old beer cans and making them into ashtrays. The sign they had up said “We are graduates, and…WE DON’T FIND A JOB!…Please!”. The were selling the ashtrays for one Euro each. A little pricy but they were really nice so I bought 2! It’s a pity my feet are totally ruined or I’d walk the whole city… And as I suspected, Aunt Flow is here – but I’m handling her remarkably well then I would other days!

After a nap – I went to the kitchen to eat something and I met 2 American girls Shannon & Amanda from Maine. We decided to go for a drink at Quays in Temple Bar – that led to another pub to another and another. It was fun though and  if by some chance they are reading this – drop a sister a line! It’s been my thing this trip to meet people and lose contact with them cause of a) lost phone b) lost among a sea of people.

I’ll be posting pictures and videos up soon!

Where the streets have no names

I’m here at my hostel in Dublin! It’s called the Litton Lane Hostel. It use to be a recording studio for acts like U2, The Cranberries, Van Morrison etc..etc.. There is a lot of art work around the hotel I’m going to take photos of later. The place is also in a great location! And they weren’t joking when they say the Irish were friendly. I got lost trying to find the place (what’s new?) so I asked 2 of these ladies about to cross a street. What they do is they even called the place up for me to double check where the hostel was located…. When I got to the Litton Lane Hostel – I was greeted by the very friendly receptionist guy Anthony… My room however is on the top floor (4 flights of stairs!)…and they put me on the top bunk! But still, it’s a nice quaint hostel with FREE WIFI! How refreshing is that? I’m actually in the common room now, it smells a little funny bu its really quite comfy….did I already mention they have FREE WIFI? I am a little more mobile now because during my arrival from Denmark and waiting to fly to Dublin – I bought myself a NEW phone…tax free! I got a K800i phone with a 3.2 megapixel camera. It’s on the Vodaphone network so call / sms rates are kind of high and I Will eventually have to unlock the phone to use the phone for other mobile networks – but a phone is a phone and you can pretty much unlock a phone by yourself these days.

I don’t know how to start with Dublin. It looks like a beautiful city with lots to do. I have 3 nights here. I may spend all of tomorrow on the Dart train going from place to place… Now I have 2 cameras! The crappy part right now is I know Aunt Flow is visiting. Actually I think she’s already here – I’m too afraid to check though :-/

Goodbye Denmark, Hello London, Goodbye London, Hello Dublin

I made it through the Roskilde Festival in one piece! It was an amazing experience despite losing my phone. I think the experience would have been greater if I had gone with a group of friends though but I did meet some interesting characters here and there. All the festival volunteers, Roskilde media centre people were very nice and helpful.  Before I left the festival site on Sunday morning back to Copenhagen – the last thing someone at the media centre said to me was “See you next year!” and I told him “I hope so!” I’m so happy the weather was great this year. Last year it rained and it was muddy everyone. Aziza told me that people from places like Norway & Sweden who made the trek to the fest left after a day or two because it was just unbearable, cold, and 3 feet in mud. Every year is a gamble I guess but if the opportunity arises again I’ll be there.

I didn’t stay the last day so I missed acts like Cat Power, At the Gates, Slayer and Jay Z but I think I saw more than my memory capacity could handle for 2-3 days! I managed to catch Clutch, Radiohead, Santogold, Grinderman, My Bloody Valentine, LIARS, Judas Priest, Gnarls Barkley, Neil Young, Tings Tings, Chemical Brothers and a couple more… I did the camping experience, setting up tent, being cooked alive in the tent in the hot sun, waking up to cold temperatures in the morning, taking “open” showers – but I think I had a rather sheltered experience considering the media village was my “comfort zone” away from the mad max world. My restricted camp site looked like the Shangrila compared to the camp site regular festival goers stayed at. Plus the toilets in the media village were exceptionally clean most of the time. I don’t mind roughing it out next time – as long as I am with somebody else. Strength in numbers I guess.

My final night in Copenhagen I spent with Aziza and her family. I cooked rendang for them which turned out wonderful! Who knew “just add beef” would work so well! I brought a long with me a couple packets of Brahim’s Rendang mix with me and the package says “add beef and 250ml of water and leave to simmer for 20 minutes”….in actuality, it took nearly an hour to get the beef tender enough and 250 ml is a little too much water for one packet. I used only 250 ml of water for TWO packets…. Being in Denmark has settled my chocolate and sweet intake for the rest of the year though! Surprisingly, no danish pastries – just a variety of chocolate, fresh cream X 3….

Having my last floderboller with Aziza....

And now I am at the Stansted Airport again waiting for the check in to open for Ryan Air so I can hop on a plane to Dublin. I hear it’s cold and rainy there! You know, I have no idea what to do there. But my stay wouldn’t be complete without going to the Guiness factory and having a pint. I hear Dublin is like a replica of Fells Point in Baltimore…or rather, Fells Point is like a replica of Dublin. Here I go again ….

Sunday morning post

Hey folks! I passed out at the media centre last night after the Chemical Brothers set. I also pulled a hip muscle. I feel like Hugh Grant in Music & Lyrics. I haven’t been back to my tent cause I can barely walk unfortunately. Last night was great however. 

The day started off with a very perky Ting Tings playing at the Odeon. Lots of people for a fairly early performance – considering things only ended a couple hours before. They played all their hits in the beginning (ie – Great DJ, Shut Up & Let Me Go) and saved the big crowd pleaser That’s not My Name towards the end. With only 1 slow song (Traffic Light) and ending their set with the same title name – We Started Nothing. Deliciously guilty pop music is what I call it. But I guess it’s no longer guilty – it’s just good!

The rest of the day after that was kind of slow for me. I took a few naps here and there. I woke up in time to catch Judas Priest at the main stage. Personally, it was more interesting to watch people around me than the actual band. I mean, who puts the PRIEST on in the day time? It was kind of lackluster. Rob Halford was way to nice for a metal god – you know what I’m saying? Plus I think he must have pulled a hip muscle himself… He was kind of dragging himself around real slowly – and with a metal studded leather trenchcoat the whole time. You could clearly tell he was sweating balls up there. I was hoping he’d be decked out in some bondage type leather vest or something. Oh Rob you dissappoint me!

Next act I caught was the recently reuinted My Bloody Valentine. I wasn’t expecting to SEE anything explosive really. They are more a sound band to zone out to – it did leave a good ring in my ear for the next couple hours.  No talking in between songs from what I managed to catch.  I can finally say HEY I SAW MBV LIVE.  I left a little early to catch a little bit of Neil Young on the main stage. The old man is angry at something. Early on during his set he complained alot about the sound and other stuff – which was as accidentally caught on the big screen and he was mic’d. Once he started with his slow folky stuff – I fell asleep. It wasn’t him though – it was me. I’ve been extremely exhausted! The nap did give me extra ‘oomph’ to catch LIARS at the Pavillion stage at midnight. This was my highlight performance of the evening. Not only was I up front to catch all the madness but they are my new jam. I’ve been listening to them non stop this entire time.

Of the songs I’ve heard by them (which you can also sample on their Myspace) - I don’t really know how to classify their music. They are mainly three piece band with Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums). They had another guy on stage with them to provide extra guitars though. Maybe he’s their 4th member – I’m not sure. Anyway, Angus is this tall, aloof looking guy who was clearly intoxicated or something but it was a good show. Aaron plays the guitar and he also plays a mean drum – in addition to the drummer they already have. He can bang my drum any time for sure! Also, when Aaron takes the main vocals – he makes their sound something like the Jesus & Mary Chain. Anyway, amazing band – I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of this band – and I ain’t lyin about.

LIARS (click on thumbnail to view larger image)

      

Random images from Saturday – July 5, 2008 @ Roskilde

A couple during the Ting Tings set

Judas Priest fans high-fiving - happy to hear Breaking the Law

Showing his respect to the metal gods

Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine on the big screen at the Arena venue

Neil Young at the Orange stage

Eye candy.

Hannah Blilie & Beth Ditto of Gossip

Gnarls Barkley (in the flesh) – superzoomed

Random girl who got in the way while I was trying to take a photo of the big screen while Gnarls Barkley was on. I thought the mistake turned out quite well

Kings of Leon

Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon (pic. of the screen)

Matthew Followill of Kings of Leon (pic. of screen)

The Amazing Nick Cave (in the flesh)

Blue Skies, hot sun

Trash

The long and trashy road