hong kong (part 1)

12.32pm

hey its been a while since my last blog isnt it? well my husband and i decided to take a short break and instead of heading to kuala lumpur (our hometown), we thought this time we'd take a trip to hong kong and it was definately a good decision. the last i was in hong kong was about 6-7 years ago. therefore it certainly has been a while. 

we spent 5 days 4 nights there which was just nice. i didnt over plan things and we had a pretty relaxing trip. the only thing was that the weather was super hot and there were tons of people from china (PRC) everywhere! open eye close eye, you see them all around. and omg even at disneyland hong kong too! it seems to me that of late, these mainland china folks have alot more spending power, like a sudden BOOM in their spending. even when you go abroad, you'll see them buying stuff at those high end branded boutiques! anyways, none of my business on how they spend their money. im just saying that hong kong was filled with them. 

usually before any trip (especially if my husband is going along), i would sit and plan out the things to do, see and eat whilst we are there, so that we dont just go blindly. thankfully, we both dont really fancy going on tours unless worst case scenario the city that we're heading to is too big and too much to see, then we'd take a day trip. its too much of a hassle going on tours, rushing here and there from one place to another. taking the subway/underground tube/train is easy if you do your homework before you leave. so at least that will give you a rough idea once you get there. this is one tip from me. 

hong kong airport is huge and spread out. i think its better than KLIA. well, when you do go to these airports, you tell me what you think ok but until then this is my opinion. anyways, we flew by  CX (cathay pacific) since we've never flew with them, so we decided to try them out. our journey wasnt too bad. cabin crew was okay, nothing exceptional. food was ok, nothing to shout about.  

as you can see from this picture, it was my breakfast on board the flight to hong kong. the only put off was that the hash brown was soggy coz of condensation or water vapor due to the heating of the food. 

now this was my dinner upon returning to singapore. they had run out of their other choice (sorry i forgot what it was) so i had no choice but to have pasta. the pasta was dry and al dente (which means slightly firm texture and not soft). the green peas were a bit dry too. apart from that, i rate my meals 4.5/10. 

this is our aircraft, which i quickly managed to take just after we landed into hong kong and it was a boeing 777. 

inside the cabin of the boeing 777. flight was three quarter full.

inside the cabin of the airbus 330. it was an almost full flight. 

i took this picture before we departed back to singapore. as i mentioned earlier, its a pretty big airport. lots of shopping and eateries around, just like changi airport. these are the few airports in the world that i really like (oh lets not forget incheon airport too in seoul).

the outside of hong kong international airport. this was before we went to check in for our return trip.

the stewardesses of cathay pacific(boeing 777 and airbus 330) doing their duty. 

these are shots that i took (using my ipad) before landing into hong kong international airport. such a beautiful morning it was. clear blue skies (and super hot!) very picturesque dont you agree?

there's 3 different types of colored taxis around hong kong. they've got the red, green and light blue taxis. but i only saw the green and red taxis only. the green taxis services areas of new territories.

and these regular red taxis services all around the city/urban areas. and the light blue ones operates for lantau island only.

our hotel which was ramada at tsim sha tsui, kowloon. location of the hotel was perfect which was just about under 10 minutes walk to the mtr (subway) of tsim sha tsui and tons of eateries, malls and shops dotted all around the area. i am happy to say that we were upgraded to the executive room which i think was probably bigger than the normal standard rooms. (the last time i was in hong kong i stayed at the excelsior hotel over at causeway bay). our room was big enough and it was clean and tidy although the bathroom was a tad bit small but for us asian size, we managed well hahaha so for those of you who like the convenience/amenities and everything nearby to you, this is one of the better places to crash for a couple of days. 

well thats about it for my blog for today. in my upcoming blogs on hong kong its about food that my husband and i tried as well as places that we went to. until next time, take care, god bless and stay safe!

ttfn

1.35pm

batam island, indonesia, day trip

4.24pm

well good afternoon to all of you. how have you guys been doing? i trust that things are ok with you. anyways, i was doing a little bit of travelling lately and also some catching up with my close friends (from australia and qatar) who were recently in town. but thats another story.

my cousin and i planned a day trip to the island of batam, indonesia. indonesia has tons of islands surrounding it and batam was one of the nearest. besides batam, there's also bintan, where lots of singaporeans go for a short quick weekend break away from all the hustle and bustle of busy singapore.  

so our girls trip started off by waking up at 5.30am and then catching the bus down to harbourfront/vivocity mall, to catch the 8.30am ferry. we had to check in an hour before departure. i recommend the penguin ferries coz they are more trusted and reliable. the journey took ard an hour with some beautiful scenery of the open sea. 

ferry departed on time. oh but before that, just to let you know, we bought online a day trip pass, which was S$54 each person. for this we will get return ferry transfer to and fro from batam to singapore, a seafood lunch, a 135minutes spa treatment, land transfers to take us everywhere (like visits to the batam layer cake bakery, chocolate shop, the largest buddhist temple in SEA, a few factory outlets..etc) and some spending vouchers (of course with its terms and conditions). thankfully, we only had 4 travellers including ourselves on this day trip to batam island. therefore, it was quite fast moving from one place to another. so dear day trippers, you should look out for this deal as its very worth it. but if your group is big on the day you chose, then too bad. im certain there will be lots of waiting around for people to finish their shopping! its your luck really!

our guide was this nice girl who hailed from jakarta but moved to batam to work as a tour guide. she spoke in english and mandarin. not super talkative or pushy like some other operators are. i really hate those! ugh. anyhow, long story short, we got ushered into a 8 seater van, where we were taken to our first pitstop which was the chocolate shop. no big deal to me. singapore has better chocolates in my opinion. so did some quick browsing and off we went to the next stop which was the buddhist temple. there i took some photos and did some prayers. 

after 20 minutes, we got back into the van and headed to polo ralph lauren factory outlet. its not big. just maybe 2 shoplots joined together. did more browsing around but i didnt buy anything coz i knew i was already going to be flying to hong kong, a few days after this trip to batam. its called will power. i had to hold back. but honestly, there wasnt anything that really interest me in the shop. 

next destination was to a dry market, where they sold mostly dried food stuff or sauces. i did grab me a couple of packets of peanuts that was from bali. i love those peanuts! if you ever go to indonesia, do try the balinese peanuts and tell me what you think. in my opinion, its pretty good. my cousin grabbed lots of "emping" as her family likes it especially her husband. now for those of you who dont know what "emping" means, let me enlighten you. its basically indonesian chips, bite sized snack/cracker. made of melinjo or belinjo (gnetum gnemon) nut, after frying, it has a slightly bitterish taste to it. they come in several flavors which are of course the original, salty, caramelized or spicy. 

after that we headed to the batam layer cake bakery. no we didnt get to see any baking or how they do it. indonesia is famous for its layer cake. what is it exactly you ask? its basically cake done in super thin layers, one on top of the other. (thats why its called layer cake). made from spices, to give it the sweet aromatic smell. It is a very rich cake with very high contents of eggs and butter. Therefore, it is usually served in very small pieces. my cousin and the other travellers bought some back. i didnt coz i was given some previously and frankly, im not a big fan of this cake. 

then it was time for lunch nearby at a seafood restaurant by a pond. we had a 7 course meal..imagine that. just the 4 of us so we obviously couldnt finish everything! there was too much! they served us crabs, "gong gong" (steamed conch), stir fried veggie, soup etc. 
after our filling lunch, we moved on for our spa treatment! now that was what i was waiting for the whole day! i want that body massage!

the spa was at a hotel. it was clean and my masseuse was pretty good. started off with a relaxing full body massage, then a full body scrub and followed by a full body mask. to end off my spa, my masseuse filled my jacuzzi/hot tub with some kind of milk bath and warm water. relaxed in there for a few minutes and off to shower. aaah..bliss! what a way to end my day in batam! 

after the spa, we got back into the van and whisked off to a batik shop. its a technique of manual wax resist dyeing process, thats applied to whole cloth, or cloth made using this technique. (for more info, kindly google the word batik). and then, alas it was time to head back to the ferry terminal for our trip back to singapore. what a day it had been. my cousin and i had a nice day out. and that was that! (oh just so you know, we went to a couple more factory outlets along the way). 

ok ttfn


5.29pm

ferry terminal at harbourfront/vivocity mall

morning ferry ride across singapore

buddhist temple 

dry market

batam layer cake bakery

cheese flavored layer cake

prune flavored layer cake

original layer cake with spices

steamed "gong gong" (conch)

the batik shop

lobby of the hotel where we did our spa

my own private room for my spa treatment

the jacuzzi/hot tub to soak in after the massage

front of the hotel

my ride to and fro from batam to singapore

airconditioned ferry and clean too!

almost sunset in batam

hari raya aka eid al-fitr

1.44pm

to all the muslims around the world, wishing you a very happy eid al-fitr. in malaysia and singapore, we usually say - selamat hari raya (or wishing you a happy eid al-fitr). in a nutshell, eid al-fitr is an important religious holiday celebrated by muslims worldwide that marks the end of rahmadan (muslims have to fast from dusk till dawn), the islamic holy month of fasting. 

now in malaysia, since the majority of the population are muslims, 2 days public holiday are given to the nation as most would take this opportunity to go back to their hometowns for this big celebration. not only do the muslims take long leave at this time, other races too would grab this opportunity to take a couple of extra days off to go for holidays abroad or just go out of town for a break. however, for singapore only one day public holiday given because its population is predominantly chinese. 

when i was back in malaysia for a short break during the rahmadan period, there were lots of hawker stalls set up by the malays selling all sorts of delicious cooked food, snacks and drinks. let me show you some shots i took whilst walking around and checking what was being sold. 

there's grilled chicken, stacks of it. marinated with lots of herbs and spices. 

the ever popular satay. satay is actually skewered chicken/beef (generally) that's grilled over charcoal fire. marinated with turmeric and the condiments that usually accompany this dish would be cut cucumbers, onions and ketupat (rice cakes). the sauce/dipping would be the spicy peanut gravy. trust me, its delicious! 

then there's murtabak, some sort of a panfried pancake/bread which is sold mostly at Indian Muslim restaurants or stalls and on the inside of the pancake/bread, some minced mutton/chicken/beef will be added along with some garlic, onions and eggs and then it is eaten with spicy curry gravy and pickled onions.

 local fruits also being sold at these hawker stalls. in the picture above, its mangoesteen that you see. this fruit is generally grown in asia, is sweet and tangy, juicy, somewhat fibrous, with fluid-filled vesicles with an inedible, deep reddish-purple colored rind when ripe. not really my favorite fruit though. 

ah, lovely and decadent local "kuih" (bite sized snacks/desserts which can be sweet or savoury). these kuihs that you see in the photo can be steamed, deep fried or at times, baked. they sell pretty cheaply too! i was spoilt for choices, really! 

different varieties of cookies and biscuits are also sold here. cheap cheap! very cheap! hahahaha 

last but not least, is a popular snack known as  "putu piring", which is made of ground rice flour. a layer of rice flour will be steamed first then comes a spoonful of palm sugar which is placed in the centre of it and then only it will be covered with a second layer of rice flour. once its cooked, it is removed and placed on top of small cut banana leaf. they are topped with slightly grated fresh coconut.  The lump of palm sugar will melt during the steaming process and when you take your first bite oh my god, its heavenly, as the sugar just oozes out from the rice cake! so sinful yet so yummy.

well ive come to the end of my food blog for raya! hope you guys had a good celebration and wherever you go, stay safe! lastly please spare a thought and prayer to those families who have lost their loved ones in the horrible air crashes thats happened over the last couple of weeks. and not forgetting those living in war torn countries like israel, palestine, afghanistan etc. very sad times especially in this 20th century! its time to stop being greedy for money and power. innocent lives lost in these conflicts which is no laughing matter! may god give all of us strength and let us push on but for the right reasons. 

ttfn

3.11pm

mtv world stage insider

10.57am

well gooooooood morning world!! its another brand new day and im so thankful to be alive and i hope you are too!

today's blog is going to be a bit different. why different you ask. well im trying out for the mtv world stage insider job and hopefully i will be the chosen one for 2014.

these past few days i've been blogging mostly about the tragic crash of the malaysia airlines plane mh17 and i think for a change of "scenery" in here, i decided to try out for this gig, just to lift/brighten up my spirits and also to my fellow readers/followers.

the world has gone crazy i gotta admit. and with all the wars and political conflicts going on, i think music is one of the ways that can actually bring people closer together as a united front. makes them "forget" about the bad stuff that has been happening around them even if its just temporarily, it doesnt matter. dont you think so? music bridges people from all walks of life.  

i've been tuning in to mtv for many years now. i've seen it grown and look what it has become today! wow, kudos to all of you at mtv. and now, one of your latest addition is the mtv world stage insider. the selected will be the eyes and ears for the masses. thats so cool! coz usually it would only be the vjs that can get close to all of the going ons and now someone lucky is going to get the same opportunity! Bravo, bravo! (psstt..pick me pick me ok!) (*subliminal message coming though*)

anywho, its time for me to share with you some true stories. i've been to a few concerts here in singapore and the last one was for the F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2013. i went for the BigBang concert and let me tell you, it was a blast! unfortunately i went alone so i couldnt really share this experience with anyone. well it doesnt really matter because i got to see one of my favourite korean boy groups perform live on stage and of course i had a good time there at the padang, (you can refer to my previous blogs regarding the F1 concert) although it would have been way better if i had some company. oh lonesome me!

and also in 2013, not only did i attend the F1 but i also went for G-Dragon's One Of A Kind concert held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. it was awesome! sadly yet again, i went alone. now i wouldnt call these "wild" stories per se but to me it was certainly different, attending a concert all by myself (not only it wasnt in english but korean! getouttahere!) i get that not everybody is into kpop. however, i cant just sit around and wait for people to accompany me, gotta do it myself. if i did sit around for people, then i wouldnt have gone for these concerts and enjoyed myself right??

and so for that, it was kinda "wild" in my books. when i told my mates back in malaysia, they thought i was crazy! "kpop? omg you're so old liao..practically auntie...!" my mates couldnt believe that im into kpop! you know what, to each his own (oh fyi  im in my early 40s which to me, is the new 20s!). ooh even my own brother asked me "why are you so crazy over kpop these days? arent you a bit too old for it?" to that i replied "why not? is there an age limit as to how old/young a person should be in order to like/enjoy kpop? hey look,if it floats my boat, let me be ok, as long as im happy".  by the way, my husband has washed his hands off me with regards to my "love" for kpop and kdramas! but you know what, i somehow managed to get him to like korean food which he now enjoys.

how im going to bring my what? "cray-cray" onto the world stage you ask? well, um..by just being myself i guess, there's no other way round it. look, i've never been on anybody's videos nor have  i ever faced a large audience, and give a speech, in my entire life. (the only time that i had to face a small crowd which was when i was a flight attendant with malaysia airlines and i had to do the safety demo on the B737, but that was nothing, easy peasy. its not like im facing hundreds or thousands of people at once!) so yes, im just going to go out there,be myself and try to "wing it" along the way and fingers crossed, the crowd will like me and wont throw rocks and stones or rotten food at me! eeks!

 

look, see! im such a fan of mtv that i've even kept this old old tshirt for years now, (although i did cut off the sleeves because its hot in singapore!!) hey, is there a special "jam" made by mtv? hehe kidding,just kidding.... but its not a bad idea right? getting the vjs to "create" their own, oh i dont know, "jam"?

well i really hope (and pray!) that mtv world stage would give me a chance to be the insider for 2014, so that i can get myself stuck into the thick of things, the going ons, the happenings..ooh i cant bloody wait... i'll even glue myself to the producer/s if i have to!! i will eat sleep and only think about mtv world stage, how does that grab ya?

well alritey then, i'll be off now. hopefully one of you judges will like my erm...presentation via blog style? (just so you know, i thought about the 2 minute video presentation thingy, had to scrap that idea off because i cant bring myself to do it plus i rather pen things down!).

ok you guys at mtv have a great day and waiting anxiously to hearing from you! woopiee doo!


ttfn

12.15pm

#mh17

1.46pm

let me start off by saying that its dark days for #malaysiaairlines. been hearing alot of reports in the news about the tragedy of flight mh17 enroute from amsterdam to kuala lumpur. i cant even begin to imagine being blown up in midair and to fall from the sky at 30,000 over feet! images people have been putting up on facebook is really nauseating and im totally sick to my stomach just by looking at those horrible horrible photos! 

how on earth can a missile shoot down a civilian plane i do not know. why does it have to happen in the first place? the issue here is the so called war between ukraine and russia, where some people are just too blinded by power and greed, never satisfied with what they already have and counting their blessings. so well here you are, this is the outcome! an international tragedy with lots of innocent lives lost. was it worth it i ask you. 

i have not much to say as im just as speechless as you all are. so many questions left unanswered. i really hope and pray to god that this full on investigation into the downing of mh17 will be solved as soon as possible. (with not much thanks to all the looting and hurdles that the authorities have been facing each day). 

i want to share with you today, these photos which has been circulating all around the globe via facebook, twitter or instagram and this is my rough timeline on what had happened these past few days. 

on thursday night as i was happily chatting away with some of my batchmates, my husband called out to tell me that a malaysia airline plane was blown up (as he was watching the news on tv). then i quickly told my friends about it which they thought i was joking. i never joke about things like this! and soon all of my friends were also tuned in to their tvs. and thats how this nightmare began to unfold. my heart just plummeted to the ground and i felt sick to my stomach. i logged on facebook and messaged some of my batchmates who were still flying, if any of them were operating on that particular flight and thankfully none were scheduled to fly on that leg. 

bit by bit more information slowly trickled in to facebook and other social media outlets as time went on. the photo above shows you the crew that had been operating on mh17. i have the crew name list but out of respect i wont paste it in here. sorry. 

subsequently a couple of days after this tragedy, some of the malaysia airlines #cabincrew came up with this - #justiceformh17 - which i think is very appropriate. the world leaders should be involved in bringing down whoever did this unspeakable thing to innocent people on board. 

on behalf of my batch, i decided to do a tribute to #mh17 . what made me chose this particular photo was because i took it on the 16th july 2014 at klia, on my way back from a holiday. the registration of the plane that was 9M-MRD which was the plane that went down and if im not mistaken, it was the plane that operated from kuala lumpur to amsterdam and back. its purely by coincidence that i happen to take that picture as my aircraft was being pushed back. before that, whilst at the boarding area, i was just looking at the plane,while it was being loaded (you can see from the photo) with cargo or passenger meals, wondering where it was heading to, who were the crew operating... i reckon i was one of the last few people who actually took a photo of that plane. in some ways, i feel that i have some kind of "connection" with it. dont really know how to put it down into words. 

then there's this person on facebook - a fly guy's cabin crew lounge - and on his page, he made an album for cabin crew or airlines from around the world, to send in their dedication or tribute to #mh17. the album is entitled "letters of love to malaysia airlines". (which you can also see my tribute which i'd sent over).

i've also added some of the heartfelt messages sent by #cabincrew and airlines from around the world (thanks to a fly guy's cabin crew lounge)  #iberia #qantas #singaporeairlines #aeromexico

and finally i decided to create a ribbon in memories of mh17, whereby i just put in 3 colors - red, white and blue - which is the color of malaysia airlines. (white for body of the aircraft and red and blue represents the logo). if you like, you can go to picbadges.com and search for mh17 and add it onto your profile pix etc. in there you will find the one i've created and a few more different badges/ribbons done up by others. 

being an ex cabin crew with malaysia airlines, i still feel that bond that links us together. somehow that will never change i guess (who knows maybe in due time). you know, when mh370 disappeared i felt helpless and sick to my stomach when i'd heard the news. upon closer inspection of the cabin crew's faces (from #mh370 and mh17), only then i realise that i did fly with a couple of them once upon a time. so thats why its so upsetting and gut wrenching, not only for me but for my batchmates as well. 

before i go, let me remind you that if you have to travel for work/leisure, do remember to say your goodbyes to your loved ones, coz you just never know when "incidents" like these can happen (knock on wood). it is a wake up call to everybody, not only for all passengers but for the crew as well. 

and lastly, please help support #malaysiaairlines in any way you can. they really need your help especially at times like this. thank you in advance and god bless you all! 

my personal message before i end - 


RIP
MH17

a quote - "death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but love leaves a memory that no one can steal". 


ttfn


3.45pm