Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007
The Princess will be off soon for an island holiday and only will be back next year. Here's wishing all a happy and prosperous New Year (She could use the prosperous bit). Till then, be good and try not to get too naughty at the party, a'ight.
Of Homecoming Princess
Whoot! You know you're so back in KL when the Maxis billboard greets you at the airport. And also the many touts hanging around KLIA lar.
It's so great to be home. The Princess was chatting to Ken Lee just now when it started to rain. While everyone was rushing to close the windows, she was opening the windows. The smell of rain wafted in. The mixture of heat evaporating from the tar road and the earthy smell of soil with a hint of grass (and some smog lar) was so familliar and therefore, comforting. Before, she would have been turned off by the smell but now, she actually wished the rain could last longer. As Ken Lee said, "Travel all over the world, but it's the rain that amazes you. Sakai". No Ken Lee, not the rain that amazed her, but the place where it took place that made all the difference.
Merry Christmas everyone.
It's so great to be home. The Princess was chatting to Ken Lee just now when it started to rain. While everyone was rushing to close the windows, she was opening the windows. The smell of rain wafted in. The mixture of heat evaporating from the tar road and the earthy smell of soil with a hint of grass (and some smog lar) was so familliar and therefore, comforting. Before, she would have been turned off by the smell but now, she actually wished the rain could last longer. As Ken Lee said, "Travel all over the world, but it's the rain that amazes you. Sakai". No Ken Lee, not the rain that amazed her, but the place where it took place that made all the difference.
Merry Christmas everyone.
Of Memories
Actually, just trying out some CS2 brushes The Princess just found. How, chun bo?
Of Fried Dace in Black Bean Sauce
Please allow The Princess to rant for awhile. She's not a racist, but there's something about Tau Si Yu aka Fried Black Dace (Indians lar) that makes you just want to hate them. Now, before you start firing on all cylinders, please note she's talking about those Indians from Mother India working in The Sandpit. Now she knows she's going to get extremely unpopular for this, but these Tau Si Yu really have attitude problem. Mind you, she has met a few very nice Indians (as rare as you and I striking 4D). However, the majority are just plain lazy, inconsiderate and satu macam. The worst is, The Sandpit seems to be infested with the worst kind!
They will NEVER answer your questions in a straight forward manner. For example, a taxi driver:
"My friend, do you know the way to Nirvana?"
"Keleng keleng keleng *shake head* keleng *shake head* keleng...."
"Huh? Do you know or do you don't?"
"No problem. Keleng keleng *shake head*"
And once you get on the taxi, he would take you a for ride, finally dropping the bomb saying he didn't know the way. Come on, if you don't know something, just say it. Do not give out the wrong information, or beat around the bush.
And the way they work. Oh my, they're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter jam. Like today, The Princess was mightily pissed off. She was at the office to buy tickets. Pressing the queue number dispenser, she found it not working. And so she asked the worker (majority are Indians) and he answered somewhere along the line the machine was switched off as it's near to closing time (Hello? Office closes at 4pm, that time was only 2.30pm?). And so The Princess waited patiently for those with a number to finish their business first before going ahead and buy her tickets. But, more people came (for sure you dumbass, as it was still too early to close) and like The Princess, loitered around the area waiting. And these Indians without number, cut queue! Look, you can get all chummy just because you have the same skin colour, but you still need to line-up.
God forbid if you're Indian AND holding EU/UK/US passport. They would announce to everyone and anyone who care to listen. Poor crew is asking for your meal preference, not what passport you hold (The Princess once talked about this here).
Enought rant. Now don't hate her, OK?
They will NEVER answer your questions in a straight forward manner. For example, a taxi driver:
"My friend, do you know the way to Nirvana?"
"Keleng keleng keleng *shake head* keleng *shake head* keleng...."
"Huh? Do you know or do you don't?"
"No problem. Keleng keleng *shake head*"
And once you get on the taxi, he would take you a for ride, finally dropping the bomb saying he didn't know the way. Come on, if you don't know something, just say it. Do not give out the wrong information, or beat around the bush.
And the way they work. Oh my, they're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter jam. Like today, The Princess was mightily pissed off. She was at the office to buy tickets. Pressing the queue number dispenser, she found it not working. And so she asked the worker (majority are Indians) and he answered somewhere along the line the machine was switched off as it's near to closing time (Hello? Office closes at 4pm, that time was only 2.30pm?). And so The Princess waited patiently for those with a number to finish their business first before going ahead and buy her tickets. But, more people came (for sure you dumbass, as it was still too early to close) and like The Princess, loitered around the area waiting. And these Indians without number, cut queue! Look, you can get all chummy just because you have the same skin colour, but you still need to line-up.
God forbid if you're Indian AND holding EU/UK/US passport. They would announce to everyone and anyone who care to listen. Poor crew is asking for your meal preference, not what passport you hold (The Princess once talked about this here).
Enought rant. Now don't hate her, OK?
Of Snow Is Falling On Sahara...Almost
Something unusual is happening in The Sandpit. It bloody rains everyday. Continuosly for some days, even. As a result, the temperature plunges, sometimes to 14°C. Pardon her ignorance, The Princess knew the desert can get pretty cold (especially at night) in winter, but not THIS cold. And what with all the rains (it rained a grand total of 3 times last year), but this year it's crazy. Good luck to The Sandpit for coping with the irrigation system, because the last she checked, there was not one drain that's fit to be called, well, a drain.
On another thought, The Princess can't wait for Christmas to come, because she'll be going home on the 25th for 15 days. Yay! She has been working so hard it's time for some well-deserved break and teh tarik sessions. And a round or two of drinking thrown in for good measure, of course.
On another thought, The Princess can't wait for Christmas to come, because she'll be going home on the 25th for 15 days. Yay! She has been working so hard it's time for some well-deserved break and teh tarik sessions. And a round or two of drinking thrown in for good measure, of course.
Of Idleness Breeds Boh Liau-ness
The Princess and Ken Lee could do and talk about the most nonsensical stuff, as if they're the most natural thing in the world. Take yesterday, for example. They were watching some Chinese MTVs (on DVD, the TV is spoilt, again) at around 3am-ish. Out of the blue, The Princess decided to sing along to the MTV, but in English instead. Ken Lee found it so amusing she forced poor Princess to sing the ENTIRE song. The trouble is, The Princess is Chinese-illiterate, so Ken Lee would read out the lyrics and The Princess had to translate them into English. It was no easy task, OK. Her brain was racing trying to find the suitable words so that in the end, the same line in English has the same number of syllables in Chinese, before the singer starts singing the next line!
And this is what they did in Manila.
Look at the fairy sitting on....eek! Ken Lee's butt!
Swinging 60s?
Portrait of a lady
And this is what they did in Manila.
Look at the fairy sitting on....eek! Ken Lee's butt!
Swinging 60s?
Portrait of a ladyOf Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am
On one of those rare occasions where you get to fly with your housemate, something MUST happen to put a thwart to it. First, the aircraft went all hysterically technical. Then crewing went hysterically incompetent (not that they were ever competent). How else do you explain telling your crew to operate SIN at 9.00 am and NOT telling them of their roster changes until 10 mins before pick-up time? And Princess MoMo was way faster in informing The Princess of the roster changes while she was busy preparing herself for the supposedly SIN flight.
As they say, let bygone be bygone, at the least crewing gave her a long Manila instead. The was the second time she was in the capital of The Phillipines. Manila was not a pretty city, but what it lacks in look it makes up in character. Filipinos are such a bunch of friendly and hospitable host. Everywhere you go, you're greeted with "Good morning, Ma'am" or "Thank you' Ma'am" with such enthusiasm The Princess felt like lifting their blouses to check whether they're running on Duracell.
There's not much sighseeing to do in Manila, but the shopping is quite good. And oh boy, on this trip it was even better as Christmas sale was going on. The Princess gets her supply of wrappers, gift cards, and gift boxes from Manila (as fated, she always get sent to Manila in Dec). Mind you, these wrappers and cards are from Hallmark and they only cost a fraction of what you'd get in Malaysia.
Food wise, some food taste similar to Chinese food (as there are a percentage of Filipino of Chinese origin). On the first day itself, Ken Lee couldn't wait to grab hold of Crispy Patha (whole pork knuckle deep-fried till crispy). Suffice to say Mama Tju would have a heart attack just looking at this plate of cholesterol-laden dish. Filipino food tend to be on the sweet side. The Princess once asked her Pinoy friend why is it so. Her reply: Because of all the tastes, sweet is the most pleasant one, so Filipinos simply love it. Don't know how true is that or she simply made it up.
At night,they Ken Lee decided to go for seafood dinner. A main course was ordered to be shared with 2 side dishes.
The red circle is used to highlight the stupidity of Ken Lee in displaying the date, AND the WRONG date at that.
Grilled seafood platter
As for the soup, in the menu it was clearly stated pork ribs, but in the end 3-layer meat (The Princess doesn't know what it was called lar, so she translated from Chinese) was used. Sourish soup good to go with rice and very appetising.
For two whole days, they indulged in everyone's favourite medication - retail therapy! The next time you're here, do remember to grab a few jeans and tees from Guess as they're cheaper here (jeans for men can be as cheaper as 50%). The Princess got herself a pair of Levi's Lady Style for RM 150. Whee! Ken Lee got herself a pair of jeans from Mossimo (for less than RM100) and all the while grinning from ear to ear as she said "It makes me look so thin hor? See, see..".
And they both stocked up on instant noodles to last a world war! The Princess just loves,loves,loves their pancit canton. Damn those Japanese for creating instant noodles. Now she'd probably go bald before her father does.
All in all, a good trip admist the initial chaos. Just don't give her another Manila before she recovers what she has spent there.
As they say, let bygone be bygone, at the least crewing gave her a long Manila instead. The was the second time she was in the capital of The Phillipines. Manila was not a pretty city, but what it lacks in look it makes up in character. Filipinos are such a bunch of friendly and hospitable host. Everywhere you go, you're greeted with "Good morning, Ma'am" or "Thank you' Ma'am" with such enthusiasm The Princess felt like lifting their blouses to check whether they're running on Duracell.
There's not much sighseeing to do in Manila, but the shopping is quite good. And oh boy, on this trip it was even better as Christmas sale was going on. The Princess gets her supply of wrappers, gift cards, and gift boxes from Manila (as fated, she always get sent to Manila in Dec). Mind you, these wrappers and cards are from Hallmark and they only cost a fraction of what you'd get in Malaysia.
Food wise, some food taste similar to Chinese food (as there are a percentage of Filipino of Chinese origin). On the first day itself, Ken Lee couldn't wait to grab hold of Crispy Patha (whole pork knuckle deep-fried till crispy). Suffice to say Mama Tju would have a heart attack just looking at this plate of cholesterol-laden dish. Filipino food tend to be on the sweet side. The Princess once asked her Pinoy friend why is it so. Her reply: Because of all the tastes, sweet is the most pleasant one, so Filipinos simply love it. Don't know how true is that or she simply made it up.
At night,
Frm L-R: Stuffed Crabs, Pork Ribs Soup, Seafood Platter
The red circle is used to highlight the stupidity of Ken Lee in displaying the date, AND the WRONG date at that.
Grilled seafood platterOn the platter, there were some mussels topped with fried garlics. There's also a big piece of fish and a few of not-so-big prawns but very-big heads. Right at the center is a whole stuffed squid and lastly, some assorted vegetables to take your guilt away from indulging in such a heavy meal. The squid was the best compared to the rest, as the stuffing was really nice, crunchy with bell peppers and onions, with some minced beef added.
As for the soup, in the menu it was clearly stated pork ribs, but in the end 3-layer meat (The Princess doesn't know what it was called lar, so she translated from Chinese) was used. Sourish soup good to go with rice and very appetising.
For two whole days, they indulged in everyone's favourite medication - retail therapy! The next time you're here, do remember to grab a few jeans and tees from Guess as they're cheaper here (jeans for men can be as cheaper as 50%). The Princess got herself a pair of Levi's Lady Style for RM 150. Whee! Ken Lee got herself a pair of jeans from Mossimo (for less than RM100) and all the while grinning from ear to ear as she said "It makes me look so thin hor? See, see..".
And they both stocked up on instant noodles to last a world war! The Princess just loves,loves,loves their pancit canton. Damn those Japanese for creating instant noodles. Now she'd probably go bald before her father does.
All in all, a good trip admist the initial chaos. Just don't give her another Manila before she recovers what she has spent there.
Of Christmas In The Tropic
The annual Christmas In The Tropic Light-up has been going on since early November in Singapore. This year, the stretch of Orchard Road is lit up with fairy lights. Trees along the boulevard are decorated with glistening jewels and birds of paradise. Shopping centres have themed Christmas decorations, pumping up the atmosphere of approaching Christmas. Christmas is one of The Princess' most anticipated season, although she's not a Christian. The thrill of shopping for presents (or rather the act of shopping itself) and wrapping them up in fancy paper and ribbons, decorating a Christmas tree with bells and stars with an angel sitting prettily on top of it, the joyous sounds of Christmas carol filling the air - fun!
Yay-ness. The Princess just discovered this nifty function in PS to make the pictures all glowy and the subject angelic looking. Ok,maybe she OD-ed on the last picture a lil.
Who's dreaming of a white Christmas when you can have a golden shimmering one?
Yay-ness. The Princess just discovered this nifty function in PS to make the pictures all glowy and the subject angelic looking. Ok,maybe she OD-ed on the last picture a lil.
Who's dreaming of a white Christmas when you can have a golden shimmering one?
Of The Princess Diary
Things The Princess did last week:
- Started her torture regime - She has to be a vegetarian for a whole month.
- Played hopscotch 40,000 feet in the air (No kidding)
- Got a jab on her butt as prescribed by her dermatologist. *shy*
Things The Princess' gonna do this week:
- Continue her torture regime.
- Maybe get another jab on her butt.
- Get on a Hippo bus with Princess MoMo for a tour of Christmas In The Tropic Light-up in Orchard.
On a sidenote, Ken Lee will be turning into a chicken soon. She has been having KFC for 2 days in a row. Psst, check down there now. Do you see feathers? Eat sammo lar.
Heidelberg
The downside with leeching someone's Wifi is you never know when that someone will switch off the modem (apart from discovering that his/her connection is being leeched, which is quite unlikely as that someone would have installed a password aeons ago should he/she knew so).
And so The Princess lost touch with the cyber-world for a few days. Going cold turkey on the Internet is no fun, as she's left not knowing what to do. Suffice to say The Princess has no life in The Sandpit.
Anyway, this is a long overdue post on The Princess' latest adventure in Deutschland, or rather a small, quaint town in The Land of Sausage and Beer - Heidelberg. As she had two days in Frankfurt, she decided to make a sidetrip to this town about an hour away by coach.
The Princess and her travelmate, YL started at Bismarckplatz and walked down the pedestrianised Hauptstrasse (high street).Hauptstrasse is the main shopping streets lined with boutiques, souvenir stores, restaurants and whatnots.
The castle viewed from Kornmarkt
And so The Princess lost touch with the cyber-world for a few days. Going cold turkey on the Internet is no fun, as she's left not knowing what to do. Suffice to say The Princess has no life in The Sandpit.
Anyway, this is a long overdue post on The Princess' latest adventure in Deutschland, or rather a small, quaint town in The Land of Sausage and Beer - Heidelberg. As she had two days in Frankfurt, she decided to make a sidetrip to this town about an hour away by coach.
The Princess and her travelmate, YL started at Bismarckplatz and walked down the pedestrianised Hauptstrasse (high street).Hauptstrasse is the main shopping streets lined with boutiques, souvenir stores, restaurants and whatnots.
The main street
Strolling down the main street, one can find many of Heilderberg's attractions, except for a few such as Universitätsplatz which you need to stray away a little.
A Gothic church - Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Ghost church)
The main star of Heidelberg is the Heidelberg Castle and no one should miss this charming castle sitting high atop the hill. From Kornmarkt, one could get a beautiful view of the castle.
The castle viewed from KornmarktThe Princess and YL eagerly started their climb up the hill to the castle. The climb is not too steep for young legs, but for someone Mama Tju's age, it's better to take the Bergbahn (mountain railway) to the castle. Why, oh why is it so hard to catch a glimpse of beautiful things? They either involve some serious climbings or major distances or extreme weather elements. Not complaining, though.
On the way up to the castle, with a beer in my hand to chase the winter chill away
Sneak preview of what's up there
Poor Princess was stung by a bee on the way. Hello bee, does she look like a giant walking flower to you? No more Jollibee for her. *Pout*
The old town framed by a window
Vanna White-ish pose from Wheel of Fortune
Alte Brücke (old bridge) connecting the old town and the new town
Aku sudah gemuk - Tengok muka tembam I, adui sakit hati!
Adui sakit hati!
At the castle courtyard
Another view of the castle
After enjoying the many wonderful sights at and from the castle, The Princess and YL made a beeline to the River Neckar. Alte Brücke (old bridge) runs across the River Neckar and stand guarding before the bridge gate is The Old Bridge Ape.
The Old Bridge across Neckar River
Standing in front of Brückentor (bridge gate)
The castle as seen from the old bridge
Some interesting stuff from Heidelberg:
Edible PC, CDs and mobile phones? Now that's The Princess' kind of PC shop. On a sidenote, The Princess get to hold the cutest swan ever in Frankfurt weekend market.
No comment on the lady behind her, though.
Poor Princess was stung by a bee on the way. Hello bee, does she look like a giant walking flower to you? No more Jollibee for her. *Pout*
The old town framed by a window
Vanna White-ish pose from Wheel of FortuneThe view from the castle is simply stunning. Looking across the mountains, The Princess felt like yodelling and skipping around and getting frisky like a lamb. The clouds above cast an ever moving shadows on the mountains, and you could see a spread of lighter shade gradually moving from left to right on the green mountains.
Alte Brücke (old bridge) connecting the old town and the new town
Aku sudah gemuk - Tengok muka tembam I, adui sakit hati!Great view of Old Town from Belvedere terrace
Adui sakit hati!
Adui sakit hati!
At the castle courtyard
Another view of the castle
After enjoying the many wonderful sights at and from the castle, The Princess and YL made a beeline to the River Neckar. Alte Brücke (old bridge) runs across the River Neckar and stand guarding before the bridge gate is The Old Bridge Ape.
The Old Bridge across Neckar River
Standing in front of Brückentor (bridge gate)
The castle as seen from the old bridgeSome interesting stuff from Heidelberg:
Edible PC, CDs and mobile phones? Now that's The Princess' kind of PC shop. On a sidenote, The Princess get to hold the cutest swan ever in Frankfurt weekend market.
No comment on the lady behind her, though.
Of Head Of Medusa in Bathroom
What kind of tiles do you use for your house?
Where The Princess is staying, these tiles are used.
Don't play play.
Of An Itchy Feet Princess
The Princess plans to visit Portugal or Czech Republic (10 days) in August next year. Anyone willing to accompany her?
or
or
Of These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things
The Princess had a short stay in Frankfurt and came back with LOADS of chocolates. Chocolates in Germany are not only cheap (you can get a bar of 100g chocolate for as litte as Є0.30) but also of good quality, unlike those found back home (Bon Bon comes to mind) which are overly sweet and used to leave a film of white, greasy fat on your tongue.
Here comes chocolate robot man to conquer the world!
Whenever you're in Germany, do remember to stock up on Ritter Sport (Є0.70 ea). Sometimes, special editions are available as well, such as the winter edition out now which contain alcohol (Jamaican Rum, Vanilla Liquer etc).
And The Princess loves, loves, loves Giotto! It was love at first sight, or rather, bite. The love affair begun in July during the World Cup 06. Giotto's gaze caught hers, she took him home, had a sweet loving time and the rest as they say, is history.
Hanuta is also worth stocking up on, although The Princess could live without it. It is a firm favourite with her family back home, though.
Another favourite brand of The Princess would be Milka. The chocolates come in purple packaging with a picture of a cow.
Last but not least, do make sure to leave some room for the yummylicious sausage (bratwurst). Brochen with bratwurst make up her staple diet whenever she's in Germany. She would have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And for snack, it's pommes frite with, what else, sausage.
No choice, she couldn't bring pork into The Sandpit, so she had to settle for beef sausage instead.
Here comes chocolate robot man to conquer the world!Whenever you're in Germany, do remember to stock up on Ritter Sport (Є0.70 ea). Sometimes, special editions are available as well, such as the winter edition out now which contain alcohol (Jamaican Rum, Vanilla Liquer etc).
And The Princess loves, loves, loves Giotto! It was love at first sight, or rather, bite. The love affair begun in July during the World Cup 06. Giotto's gaze caught hers, she took him home, had a sweet loving time and the rest as they say, is history.
Hanuta is also worth stocking up on, although The Princess could live without it. It is a firm favourite with her family back home, though.
Another favourite brand of The Princess would be Milka. The chocolates come in purple packaging with a picture of a cow.
Last but not least, do make sure to leave some room for the yummylicious sausage (bratwurst). Brochen with bratwurst make up her staple diet whenever she's in Germany. She would have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And for snack, it's pommes frite with, what else, sausage.
No choice, she couldn't bring pork into The Sandpit, so she had to settle for beef sausage instead.
Of A Naughty Princess
The Princess has been naughty and got herself
THIS!
Now let's take a peek inside. Careful now, open the box.
Ta daa! She got herself a spanking newpurse Porte-Trésor International. Now she's raked with guilt for her indulgence. *Gulp*
On second thought, fuck it. She works damn fucking hard she deserves a treat for herself. And when the nice lady handed her the purchase, nothing beats the feeling of carrying the crisp, LV insignia paper bag in her hand. Even if it means she has to scrimp and save the following month.
Ta daa! She got herself a spanking new
Athens - Day Three
At 6.00 in the morning, still bleary-eyed from the lack of sleep, The Princess and Ken Lee were already up, preparing for their departure to the the airport. The nice owner was waiting for them outside to ferry them there. After many byes and thank-yous, they checked in their luggages and proceeded to wait in the departure hall. The scheduled departure time was 7.20am, but an announcement was made informing passengers on the delay of flight to Athens.
Soon,1 hour turned to 2 and then 3, and announcement was made throughout this time, each time only to inform the delay would be getting longer without stating any reason. Finally, at 11.00am, they were cleared for boarding. The reason for the delay was due to heavy fog in Athens, rendering the plane unable to land, so it was better to take-off after the fog had cleared.
The Princess' plan of making a short trip to Athens was messed up. The connecting flight from Athens to The Sandpit was at 3.15pm. They were probably the first to visit Greece without setting foot on Acropolis. *Sigh*
And you would never guess where they went instead. IKEA. They were so desperate to get out of the airport they went to IKEA, which is less than 5 minutes away. They had a nice lunch there before returning to the airport. And had enough time to camwhore a bit in the airport. *Clap hands*
This is Malaysia
And this is Athens
The Princess promises to return to Athens, this time making sure the mainland is the priority.
Soon,1 hour turned to 2 and then 3, and announcement was made throughout this time, each time only to inform the delay would be getting longer without stating any reason. Finally, at 11.00am, they were cleared for boarding. The reason for the delay was due to heavy fog in Athens, rendering the plane unable to land, so it was better to take-off after the fog had cleared.
The Princess' plan of making a short trip to Athens was messed up. The connecting flight from Athens to The Sandpit was at 3.15pm. They were probably the first to visit Greece without setting foot on Acropolis. *Sigh*
And you would never guess where they went instead. IKEA. They were so desperate to get out of the airport they went to IKEA, which is less than 5 minutes away. They had a nice lunch there before returning to the airport. And had enough time to camwhore a bit in the airport. *Clap hands*
This is Malaysia
And this is AthensThe Princess promises to return to Athens, this time making sure the mainland is the priority.
