Thailand 2013

After a year, I visited Thailand again, this time with my brothers, sister, and boyfriend. I stayed at a new hotel which is located quite far from the city center (for me it's Siam), but pretty close to Ekkamai BTS (Bangkok Train Station) so that's totally fine for us. Near the hotel, there's this new lifestyle shopping mall called Gateway Ekkamai. The décor, the shops, and the restaurants epitomise the Japanese lifestyle. Once inside the mall, you will witness a whole host of things which remind you of the Japanese culture such as the origami birds floating high up in the central atrium, girls dressed up as Geisha’s moving around the mall, and the vibrant sound of the Japanese pop music doing its rounds. The Japanese theme is most noticeable through the selection of restaurants on offer. The ground floor is host to the usual fare such as Subway, Shabushi, KFC, Swensen’s and the customary Thai food court. But if you are really looking for an authentic Japanese food then head straight to the M floor, which is home to a host of some renowned Japanese brands.

Maneki-neko (lucky cat) welcomes me at the entrance of the mall    

Next, we went to the infamous Four Face Buddha. It represents Hindu’s God of creation, Brahma, which has 4 faces (symbol of kindness, mercy, sympathy and impartiality). This shrine is one of the most worshipped and famous shrine in Bangkok. This shrine is believed to be able to answer the wishes of the worshipper, so that it can attract many tourists from neighboring countries. This shrine is fully crowded by worshippers almost everyday, morning until night. The admission fee is free, and open everyday from 6.00 up to 24.00. I bought sticks, candle, and flower rings as my praying supplies. There are also several additional package provided for those who want to maximize their prayers (I'm not sure), such as teak elephant, birds to release (500 bahts), and Thai dance (260 up to 710 baht, depending on the number of dancers).
 

After praying, I visited Chatuchak market, the world biggest weekend market! It's a must visit place for tourists, a home to more than 8000 market stalls and offers diverse collections of merchandise that will bring any seasoned shoppers to their knees. This is where we can literally shop till drop. Literally drop if you plan to walk throughout the whole market. It's a perfect place for bargain hunting, although whatever we buy here is probably no longer the best deal we can find (brush up your negotiation skills here). There are almost everything can be found here, like antique wood carving, clay hand crafts, local souvenirs from every parts of Thailand, Buddhist amulets, wooden furnitures, handmade decorated flowers, plant, ceramic wares, dolls, Chinese wares, graden decorated plants, stones, trendy fashions, silk, hill-tribe outfits, fluffy animals, etc. Not forget to mention FOOD!

Pad Thai -  Don't say you've been to Thailand if you never try this
Mango sticky rice - this is so good, another Thai signature food  

How I wish there's at least one Auntie Anne's stall in my city

Penguin Likes Chocolate

After a long lost with the taxi guy, I finally found this place, Penguin Likes Chocolate. It's located in a small mall in Bangkok. To be honest I was attracted by the name only, instead of the food hehe. It's such a cute shop, decorated with penguin stuffs, of course. For the food, I ordered a chocolate lava only, because I was so full after eating a big bowl of Japanese udon on the upper level of the mall. Back to the topic. Dessert was average I have to say. I expected more, since it's quite expensive for a small chocolate lava.  

Who to please

Many of us, though, find that other people’s expectations can begin to rule our lives. In some ways, this is a natural thing: as humans, we’re social creatures, and it’s hard to risk being derided or excluded by community. Some of us are also people-pleasers: as children, we delighted in praise from parents and teachers, and we continue seeking this as adults.

I accidentally found this pretty good story about “The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey”. A Man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”

So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”

Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey with you and your hulking son?”

The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned. “That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them: “Please all, and you will please none.”

The point isn’t hard to grasp, trying to please everyone is impossible, and will result in failure to please anyone (especially yourself). If you’re trying to live up to all the expectations that crowd in on you (from parents, friends, and society at large), you’ll end up feeling miserable because you’re not living the life you want to live.

My Graduation Day

I put a long term to-do-lists on the top right side of my blog. Do you spot any difference? So I finally change my ninth point into something else, because I'm officially a graduate now! It's one of the most important day in my life because my four years struggle is paid of. I did set goals for my university life, that is, getting a satisfying GPA and award whatever it is because I want to give a little payback to my parents that has spent huge amount of bucks for this. Thank God I achieved both goals :) I got my Magna Cumlaude and Best Student Award! God gives me abundant blessings and I can't be more grateful. What I'm gonna do next is always being happy, thankful, excited, enjoying my life more, and be the best that I could be.

 

In my country, there's a "custom" or whatever they call it, where female graduates wear traditional clothes called Kebaya on their graduation day, so I choose to comply to it. However, kebaya skirt is usually long and fitted which is uncomfortable so I decide to take a slight change by making it short ;)

Hongkong 2013

I finally got the chance to update my Hongkong holiday. It's quite fun doing this at my room while listening to music. Looking at the picture also brought back fun memories :D Basically, my time had been wasted in some important occasions and short holidays. I visited Thailand last month and just went back from Bali few days ago so I still have lots of trip to share on my kind of abandoned blog T.T Blogging for me is all about memory keeping so I'll make sure to post any events in my life, of course, the word keeping ones. Psst, this post is mostly about food. Sorry but I didn't meant to make your tummy trembling.

Dishes from Pepper Lunch and deep fried pork cutlet with egg-covered rice

Pork bacon, one of my must have dishes in a hotel for breakfast! Anyway, my heavenly breakie contains half-done omelette with extra cheese, pork bacon, sausage, rice or potatoes, strawberry danish or croissant, and fresh juice as the refreshment. What's yours?

 

Junk food why so good 

Tian Tan Buddha, located in Lantau Island. It can be reached by two ways; by bus and by cable car. Cable car is preferable because you can enjoy the magnificent view of Hongkong from above. For the cheaper one, go for the bus. One hour bus journey from Tung Chung to Ngong Ping bus station was very impressive due to the beautiful hilly island, lush-green forests, breezy beaches, fresh air, and clean winding mountain roads. When we alighted, we were welcomed by chilled wind. In front of this circular platform, there is a series of 268 steps leading to the statue of Big Buddha. There is no entrance fee to visit this statue. Entry to the Big Buddha remains open from 10:00 AM to 17:30 PM. it is quite tiring to climb up the steps to reach the top but well worth your effort. If you get tired, you can take it slow and rest every few steps. Once I reach the top, I had fantastic views and the Buddha itself was incredible. The whole of the Buddha area is a good day trip and the shops for tourists are also worth the visit.

My childhood favorite drama characters, too cute!

SABOTEN, the Japanese tonkatsu specialist, probably my favorite eatery in Hongkong! For those who never heard about tonkatsu before, Japan tonkatsu is something difficult to make because if cooked in a wrong way, it’s just a piece of greasy and chewy meat. After all, Tonkatsu is high in fat and cholesterol, and if the dish is going to get my arteries blocked, it better tastes freakin good!

I heard a lot about the sensuous delight of it and finally found the stall in Hongkong Airport. It was a long queue that time. I ordered the reasonably priced porkloin set. It has a crispy greasy outer layer (which is one of the difficult things to control when making tonkatsu) and a juicy and tender meat. Shredded cabbage was so fresh and they help in balancing the "greasiness" from the deep fried cutlets The sesame dressing wasn't very thick. Its mild sesame flavor, mixed with the grapefruit vinegar dressing, went very well with the shredded cabbages. To sum it up, it's worth it to try Saboten.

Disneyland Hongkong

After all this time, I'm finally back to share my Hongkong Disneyland experience few months back. I went there with my only sister, yes it's just two of us this time, while mom and dad were having their quality time together. We managed to go there by subway because I want to experience the special line to Disneyland. We got there at 9.a.m on weekday to avoid the crowd, but it's still so packed that morning :s Once we entered the park, we could hear the dreamy Disney music playing on the speakers welcoming us. It's not my first visit to Hongkong Disneyland, but I was still as excited as ever. 

sporty shoes for Disneyland

Lion King show

With Mike Wazowski

Mike Cotton Candy!

Snow White's magic mirror

Tarzan tree house

Mystic Point, one of the newest land to open at Hongkong Disneyland. The theme features exotic travels, a mysterious mansion, and introduces two new characters. Lord Henry and his mischevious monkey Albert. My sis thought that it's a haunted house, but it's not.. Well, I won't ruin the surprise and just let Albert take you around if you go there!

Actually I  tried out the roller coaster ride from Grizzly Gulch and the RC Racer, probably the scariest rides in Disneyland, but there's no picture of me with those rides because my sis didn't capture me from afar. Yes, I queued and tried it out alone without her because she has coasterphobia (?)