~* MY LIFE - with - MY CHOICE - at - MY PACE *~

Monday 16 November 2009

2012 Doomsday

Release: 12th November 2009 

Run Time: 2 Hours 45 Minutes 

Plot Summary: '2012' is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors. Disaster movie maven Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow) crafts this apocalyptic sci-fi thriller following the prophecy stated by the ancient Mayan calendar, which says that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. When a global cataclysm thrusts the world into chaos, divorced writer and father Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) joins the race to ensure that humankind is not completely wiped out. 

A good one to go! But pertaining to the recent disasters happening around the world, I wonder when are we going to encounter the very same situation? Hmmp...

Thursday 12 November 2009

Thailand (Bangkok) - November 2009

This was a 5 days 4 nights trip for 7 crazy girls going around Bangkok snap shooting almost 3500 photos with 5 cameras within 5 days, hence uses up much of my time putting everything in order subsequently into this blog post. Kinda lazy to draft my journey in details this time thus taking the short-cut as below:

Day 1 - *4th November 09, Wednesday:
8.20am Gather at the Penang International Airport having McD as breakfast
- Free gift: A small box of cornflakes each which subsequently became the lunch for some of us.
10.35am Depart from Penang to Bangkok 
- The seat on the airplane (AA) was rated less comfortable (yea I know…low cost airline mar -.-”). 
* The following time was recorded in GMT+7 instead of GMT +8 *
11.15am Arrival at the Suvarnabhumi Airport 
- Indeed a ‘wow’ compared to Penang International Airport. 
- At the exit of the fourth floor, taxis are all around soliciting customers while the traffic regulators keep whistling to expel those parking vehicles. They talked + whistling at us while we were looking for taxi but we couldn’t even understand a single word thus ignoring them. :p
2.00pm Check-in Lamphu House at Khaosan Road 
- This is a famous guesthouse located at the backpackers’ hotspot with budget accommodation prices offering a level of aesthetic elegance and comfort. 
- 2 rooms for 7 of us with 2 king size bed in each room.
2.30pm Visit Wat Intharawihan and Wat Benchamabophit
- We were being approached by a tuk-tuk driver offering us a package to visit some places of interest with a reasonable price. We then accepted the package and started our tour.
3.40pm Visit Chin Jewelry Factory
- We were only being told afterwards that those tuk-tuk drivers will try bringing customer to this factory so that they could receive some petrol voucher and subsidy.
5.00pm Stroll around the night market nearby Golden Mountain 
- This is where we get to see and experience different types of local delights which are hardly seen in our country (Including fried cockroaches, worms, grasshoppers and etc) but none of them would try the worms with me...ish...
- Unfortunately this was also the place where we being "left behind" whereby the tuk-tuk driver did not come back to fetch us as promised hence we have to find our own way back to the hotel.
9.00am Body Massage at Khaosan 
- An hour’s massage was truly relaxing after a long day’s journey. 
10.00pm Dinner at PO Piang House in Khaosan 
- A dinner with tom yam, clams, coconut shake and squid fried rice. 
12.00am Back to Lamphu House 

Day 2- *5th November 09, Thursday: 
7.00am Gather at the hotel’s lobby waiting for transport to Damnem Saduak Floating Market 
9.30am Arrived at the Floating Market
- Needed to rent another small boat to go around the floating market. 
- Brand new experience having lunch on the sampan while moving on. 
2.00pm Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) 
- This is a place where strict dress code was imposed. Visitors must be properly dressed before being allowed to enter into the palace/temple. Men is required to wear long pants and shirts with sleeves.
- No tank tops. If you're wearing sandals or flip-flops you must wear socks (in other words, no bare feet.) Women must be similarly dressed modestly. No see-through clothes, bare shoulders, etc. If you show up at the front gate with improper dress codes, there is a booth near the entry that can provide clothes to cover you up properly with the deposit of 100Baht. 
- It took us around 2 ½ hours to walk around the palace. 
- While on our way back, we packed ourselves (7 in 1) fitting into one tuk-tuk.
4.30pm Back to hotel for a short rest 
6.00pm Proceed to Yaowarat for dinner 
- Famous and well-known for the bird nest and shark fin. 
- Once again, 7 of us fit into one taxi going for the show. 
9.45pm Asia Hotel’s Calypso Cabaret Show 
- Booking through the hotel will get you a cheaper price and the show was indeed excellent and worth watching. (most of the ladyboys were much prettier than anyone of us @_@”) 
11.30pm Back to Khaosan 
12.00am Foot Massage 

Day 3- *6th November 09, Friday: 
7.45am Check-out Lamphu House 
9.30am Check-in The Palazzo Hotel 
- 2 studio rooms at the 4 stars hotel was truly comfortable.
11.00am Proceed to the Erawan Shrine (San Phra Phrom) 
11.30pm Lunch at McD + Shopping at Central World Plaza 
- This is where we get to taste the Samurai Pork Burger find nowhere in Malaysia. 
- We also get to visit the famous Naraya Boutique for silk goods and bags with reasonable prices for souvenirs and gifts. 
2.00pm Siam Paragon Ocean World 
- Though the entrance cost us almost RM100 per person, but it was indeed worth visiting since the aquarium was nicely decorated and the ticket includes Happy Fish Happy Feet Spa, Popcorn and drinks, Glass Bottom Boat and Sanyo 4D X-Venture. This was the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia featuring marine animals which includes: Penguins, Grey Nurse Sharks and Giant Spider Crabs etc. The aquarium also offers a "Dive with the Sharks program" where visitors can scuba dive in the Open Ocean side by side with the sharks and rays. 
7.00pm Walk around the Pratunam night market 
9.30pm Dinner at Aka Japanese Restaurant, Central World Plaza 
- The Bacon Enoki (barbeque pork bacon) was delicious. 
11.00pm Back to hotel 


 
Day 4- *7th November 09, Saturday: 
7.30am Buffet breakfast at the Palazzo’s Lazio Restaurant 
9.00am Chatuchak Weekend Market 
- Nothing but hot, hot and hot. (No lah, actually still got many things around de…lol
- Drinking 2 coconuts at a time (per person) as we were in fact dehydrated. 
4.00pm Big C Superstore 
- This is where the communication problem occurs as the taxi driver brought us to another Big C instead of the one at Central World. 
6.00pm Platinum Mall 
- So disappointed that the mall was almost closing by the time we arrived thus we are unable to buy much stuffs this time.
7.20pm Late high-tea session at Swensen’s 
- This is where I get to enjoy the Chocolate Fondue for 2 but I gobble them up alone. Muahaha...
8.30pm Back to the Hotel 
- Purchased dinner from 7-Eleven including cup noodles, dumpling, ham, seaweed roll and spaghetti.


Day 5- *8th November 09, Sunday:
8.00am Buffet breakfast at the Palazzo’s Lazio Restaurant 
9.30am Check-out and proceed to the Suvarnabhumi Airport 
2.15pm Depart from Bangkok 

Monday 2 November 2009

A Weekend Getaway to Pulau Aman

Pulau Aman is a small fishing village nearby Penang Island which took us about 20 minutes drive from Penang Bridge to the jetty. The boat fare to the island was pretty cheap at RM6.00 per person for an approximately 10minutes ride to and fro. It was a traditional Malay fishing community with a population of only three hundreds living a simple and modest life.

  

Nearby the Jetty was this fabulous Restaurant Terapung with their specialties- prawn noodle, prawn fried rice and everything that has to do with prawns! It's pretty easy to explore this small island with the cemented pathways.


-* Delicious Prawn Noodle & Prawn Fried Rice