Up-close with nature

I like nature but the hot weather in Malaysia makes it hard to enjoy outdoor activities. I hate to be sweaty and the scorching sun in the afternoon. However, it was a pleasant day when we visited The Haven Lakeside Residences and Taiping Zoo 2 weeks ago. There was little sun and it didn't rain either. 

We stopped by at The Haven for a short while before we headed to the zoo. The place is exactly like what it was advertised on billboards. The limestone hills surrounding the residences are so awesome. It is so peaceful and calm standing there, enjoying the picturesque scenery. 

Taiping Zoo is about 1 hour drive through the highway. It's wise to arrive at the zoo early if you want to see active animals because most animals will probably be sleeping in the afternoon. (that's what we experienced during the previous visit) 

We managed to see quite a handful of animals that were very active and interactive as well. The elephants were playful and were taking bath in the pond. It was fun watching them played. We saw a pair of Orang Utans. One looked like meditating at a corner and the other was resting on the tree. From their looks, I think the one on the tree is a female. Look at the hairstyle!

The tigers were sort of like giving a performance as they were swimming from one side to the other side of the pond in their enclosure and then, walked up the hill and then, back to the pond again. This routine was repeated many times by 2 of the 3 tigers. They were not afraid to show off their swimming talent. It was excited to watch them. =) 

I love to see the sun bear the most. It walked toward us thinking that we had food in our hands. My husband would really love to touch it if it wasn't for their sharp claws that looked really dangerous. We tried to make it to stand up and raise its hands so that the crest is shown. It did! But I wasn't fast enough to take photos. What a pity...

We also saw giraffes, zebras, camels, hippopotamus, crocodiles, monkeys, birds and a lot more. I think this is the best zoo to visit in Malaysia. Not that we have a lot. There are only two zoos and the other zoo is in Kuala Lumpur. I haven't been there since primary school. I wonder how it is now because I heard a lot of bad reviews about it. 

Taiping zoo is open all year round from 8:30am to 6:00pm. Do visit with family and children. They will love it! 

My 2012

2012 was an exciting year for me. My sister said she sees changes in me over this year, in a good way of course! And she is proud of me! :D This is my first time writing back about what happened in my life in the previous year. For the past few years I started this blog, I haven't done this before and I think I should start writing one cuz it's good way to remember and count the blessings that I received from God. I'll summarize my 2012 by month. 

January

I spent New Year in Auckland! Isn't that awesome! hahahaha! Food in NZ was sooOooo good! I can imagine myself getting fatter and fatter if I stay there too long! Read more about food I had in NZ here! 

And then, there was Chinese New Year. There were a lot of food gatherings, reunion 'yumchar'/dinners and happy time. lol... Evie's wedding was in this month too! 

February

Seems that because of Chinese New Year, I didn't blog during this month. But I had a nice dinner with my best mate, J at Friends Cafe and I postpone this post to March. Nothing eventful this month because I spent too much during CNY! lol..too broke to spend more. Oh yeah...I started paying mortgage in Jan. That's why I'm broke. :( 

March

I bought my first smartphone! Something I wanted for a long time but only decided then. Why did I take so long to decide? What was I thinking? 

I'm so happy with my phone and it's been faithful to me until now. *fingers crosses*. Not much trouble except for a few glitches that I've posted here. 

April

My first visit to Aeon Station 18, the biggest shopping mall in ipoh. 

Sis was here in Ipoh with her children for vacation. We had dim sum at Foh San, shopping in almost all the malls in town (lol), playing with the kids and eating good Ipoh food. :D I've also discovered the famous Wan Tao Long which used to sell this iced dessert opposite Pasir Puteh (Tai Wo Yuan) market. 

May

Sabah trip with mom!! :D It was a fun and exciting trip. So long never been to a trip with mom. Hmm..we should organize a family trip soon. It's been awhile I have not travel with both sisters and mom together. 

And this month was my first encounter in online shopping. View my first experience here. 

Visited mLab 2012 at KLCC with my colleagues and.... my uni friend whom I've never met in 7 years came to visit and gave me a box of Godiva! lol

June

My braces were off! After wearing for 1 and half years, finally, they were taken off and I've got my retainers too. 

My cousin's wedding was in June too. It was a really big family gathering. I took 1 week off to spend time with family and relatives who came back from KL, Singapore, overseas. 

July

July was the month I did some backlog blogging. ;P 

August

Sis and her family came to visit Ipoh again. Everytime they are here, I'm just too busy playing with the kids and no time for blogging. ;P They are just so cute and growing up too fast! 

Oh, I baked some cakes too! And that's no ordinary cake. It's "apricot, dates, banana, almond and pistachio cake"!! :D But only one time. hahahaha! No more baking after that. Maybe I should try again soon. 

There's also Raya Open House that my colleagues and I were invited to. Having traditional malay food and a feel of kampung house.

September

My birthday celebration which I did not blog about. ;P I had a small birthday lunch with a few friends at the Artiste in De Garden. Not going there for food any more because the food is just too salty. Maybe for a drink and chat but not for big meal. 

October

Celebrated J's birthday at Capucino Cafe. Read more about what we had at this cafe. I changed my blog outlook in this month too. ;D

November

My friend accepted Christ on 23/11/12!! Praise the Lord! I took up the responsibility of being her mentor. By God's grace, we hope to finish the lessons before my friend leave for KL to finish her studies. Let's hope for a new beginning in the walk with God for both of us!

Tried this new B.E.D cafe in town with mom which we will go again and again in future! ;D Good food, good coffee, cozy place to hang out with friends.. just that they only open at certain hours. Check this out! >>> B.E.D cafe

Visited my sister in PJ. Lots to share here but I guess I have to do some backlogs again. 

December

And finally, it's the last month of 2012. Everyone was talking about the end of the world on 21.12.12. So, we survived and still is living as usual. lol. No la! God has His own time and Jesus will come back without anyone know when. So, there won't be any fixed date or time for us people to know. Therefore, for now, live as best as we can and share the love! 

And yes, we had a "Christmas Love Movement" that our family organized for Vision Home, Ipoh. We collected rice, diaper, milk powder and specific Christmas gifts for the children. In addition, we had extra cash for the children's education fund and the home general fund. :D 

Not to forget I had a wonderful Christmas time with my family. Here's a glimpse of our Christmas dinner table and a night scene of Kinta Riverfront where we spent on one of the nights during the Christmas holiday. 

Sorry for keeping you so long. I know...this is a really long post! :D Again, Happy New Year to you all and may God bless your 2013!

Journey to East Malaysia

Last week, I went to a trip with my mom and a group of aunties & uncles. The majority of them are senior citizens. At first, I joined the trip to accompany my mom and thought that since I haven't been to the east of Malaysia, it would be a great opportunity to see Sabah for the first time of my life. Furthermore, air ticket is cheap and the package includes accommodation, meals, transport from Ipoh-KL-Ipoh and transport in KK. But deep in my heart, I was afraid I'd be bored. But it turned out to be a very fun and enjoyable trip! :D

We departed from Ipoh at 4:00am on 3/5 by Yoyo bus and arrived at LCCT at 7:00am. Mom prepared tuna sandwich for our breakfast and we had some coffee at McD. The rest had McD breakfast. Our flight was at 10:20am. We took our time resting and chit-chatting at the boarding area. Got an sms from a friend who's also flying on the same day but she supposed to depart at 6:00am. But her flight got delayed to 12pm (6hrs delay?!) and she was still at the airport. But I didn't get to meet her because I was already at the boarding area. 

We arrived in KK at about 12:00pm and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Checked in at Gaya Centre Hotel in Kota Kinabalu at about 3:00pm and a rest before the next agenda. The hotel is new and the bed is so comfortable! :D

Sunset watching at 6:00pm. You need to go there before 6pm. We were slightly late. A few seconds late, the sun will be gone.

Musical fountain at Perdana Park. Entry to the park is free of charge. I got a nice seat, right in the middle. I guess it's because it's a daily 'performance', not many people came to see it. After Perdana Park, we went to see Sutera Harbour Resort which is a luxury hotel. Feel a bit 'paiseh' cuz we looked like a bunch of ppl from the kampung disturbing the quiet atmosphere at the hotel. haha!

Had seafood dinner on our first night here. Saw these funny looking rockfish at the restaurant. Wonder how they cook them?

On our second day, woke up at 6:30am as we need to depart to Mt Kinabalu at 8:00am. Took a few photos of the mountain but we can only see the tip as it was too cloudy that day. It was pretty amazing to see the huge mountain right beside you (literally). After that we had our lunch nearby Poring Hot Spring.

Just when we started our journey from the ticket counter, the sky started to pour heavy rain. We waited at some shelters for about an hour before we climbed the hill to the Poring Canopy walkway. Not an easy route to go up there. The paths and steps were all wet and muddy. As I'm an indoor person and seldom exercise, it was a fairly slow climb. Mom and I were the last few people climbing the hill. The tour leader and his wife accompanied us at the back. That's the wife behind me. :) I was so excited when we get there. Mom was excited too as she didn't think she could make it at first. Was hesitating before we went up the hill. 

Kundasang War Memorial. It was drizzling and the weather turned pretty cold. I love the pavement in the garden. 

At the start of the Mt Kinabalu summit trail. Just a short stop-by to take photographs and borrow their washroom. Not climbing up there. Haha! 

 

On our last day of our trip, our tour guide whom we hired in Sabah brought us to have this famous fish noodle for our breakfast. I don't usually eat much for breakfast but it was so delicious that I ate quite a lot! :p This restaurant is frequented by celebrities too!

After breakfast, we visited the Sabah museum, chocolate factory (beryl's), coffee shop (free coffee tasting), a shop selling frozen seafood, a short stop at University Malaysia Sabah and Yayasan Sabah building. Supposed to visit the aquarium at the university but the aunties were to eager to buy seafood, so we skipped that. 

Had the fluffiest bread at this kopitiam called "FOOK YUEN". Must eat with iced coffee. :) 

Though a tired trip cuz our schedule was really full, it was a very enjoyable one. *wink*

Food in NZ

I'm just too lazy to write about my NZ trip in Dec 2011. Uploading the photos in FB took me ages. So..i'll just share the food we had there. :P If I have the mood to write about the trip, I will definitely do it. oh yeah.. my writing mood swings a lot.

Here are some of the great food that we had during our first few days in Auckland, NZ. Cousins brought us to a cafe in Devonport (can't remember the name of the cafe but it's located in Victoria St) and we had a fantastic lunch at Wine Chambers, Auckland. I had Cordon Bleu which was so nicely wrapped. And that was the first time I saw my cousin eating rabbits risotto. Eeewww..can't rabbit, can we? They are so cute..but in NZ, it's common to eat them.

And we had home-cooked food! My cousin is a really great cook. :D She served us with delicious and healthy lunch & dinner. Oh and breakfast too. She cooked everything all by herself. I don't know much about cooking so i can just help with the dishes or cutting up the vege. ;p By the way, the fish in this photo below was caught by ourselves! We went for a fishing trip in Whangamata, christmas present from our lovely cousins. :D

Not to forget the desserts we had for Christmas! She made 5 desserts! Can you imagine how full we were after the main dish? And we still have space for 5 desserts! hahaha... we had the desserts for a few days. And I love her home-made ice-cream! Not sure when I can taste her cooking again.

Stroopwafel

A colleague brought back Stroopwafels for us!! All the way from Amsterdam! :D Ever since I tried it in Amsterdam during my uni days, I missed the waffle so much! The aroma is so appetizing..emm....

The way to eat this right is to melt the caramel first..place it on top of a cup of hot tea, wait till the caramel melt, and savour it slowly... It may be a little bit too sweet to some but if you eat it together with tea, it's super yummy! :D

Look at the melted caramel... ! slurrrpp...

After 8 months...

8 months have gone by and what have I achieved? My 2011 resolution :

1. Make new friends - Progressing.. :)

2. Get in touch with old friends - Hmm..this i need to put more effort. Promised to visit my ex-roomate but didn't get to visit. TOo lazy i guess..her children are growing up to toddlers already!

3. Join at least one activity - This i'm proud to say i've achieved quite a few. Attending a cell group and a choir practice. Choir practice every sunday, and i was appointed the pianist for Alto section. :)

4. Go back to church - Yup. Been attending CGBC.

And...

I went to Shanghai!! :DDD Though it was not planned for a personal vacation, it was still nice to visit Shanghai for just a short trip.

Oriental Pearl Tower, taken from The Bund.

The Bund (night scene)

The FOOD!!!! :))))

souvenirs from Taiwan

My colleague is such a sweetheart, remembering us during her vacation in Taiwan. She brought back tiny little glass deco for us. :) aren't they cute? I was amazed and excited over these 'toys'. Had captured them in photos just in case anything happen to them. The green hippo is mine. Nice huh? :P

 

These are my colleagues' with the hippo. Very cute huh? (hippo so fat, fell to the front! hahahaha!)

Of course, other than these glass deco, there were snacks already filled our stomachs. :P yummy!