Wholesome Threesome: Penang edition

So we had a blast in Penang (and Alor Setar, where J grew up). S was an excellent guide - I love how adventurous she was on her own, and we reaped so much from that. I don't know how to articulate it, but the trip was.. very balanced. Maybe it's an odd choice of word, but it was. We had a bit of everything, old and new, street to cafe to restaurant food, east and west, quiet moments and loud conversations, man-made architecture and nature's glorious handiwork.. and I left Penang sad, but so enriched, so loved, so accepted. It was a very balanced trip.

Switchfoot - Souvenirs

Here’s to the twilight, here’s to the memories
these are my souvenirs, my mental pictures of everything
Here’s to the late nights, here’s to the firelight
these are my souvenirs, my souvenirs

~

Here’s to your bright eyes, shining like fireflies
these are my souvenirs, the memory of a lifetime
we were wide-eyed with everything
everything around us
we were enlightened by everything
everything

---
I don't know if I should apologise for the brevity of this post. It's not because the trip wasn't great, in fact, it was so overwhelmingly awesome that I struggle for words to describe how I feel. Hence, this post is merely for posterity and date keeping. I think I'll just leave the memories in my heart to keep it warm for all days. :*

Hmm.

In the past two days, I came to hear from different people some not so nice things said about two people I was really close with at different points in my past, but we are now more like acquaintances, strangers even.

And I felt sad, because I don't know why they did what they did, and also because I believe those things are not totally out of their characters. Maybe they have their own views on those matters and reasons for their behaviors, but... I can't say I wasn't disappointed. Sounds judgy right? Sigh.. Were they always like that? Maybe I was more forgiving of their flaws when we were closer, or maybe they have changed, or maybe... It's been a long time. And I remember them from when life wasn't so complicated. When all we had to worry about was finishing school homework or whether we registered in time for a particular course that semester. Not when friendships come to a crashing end due to misunderstanding or drift away as we head different directions in life. I sometimes do miss friends I've lost to time and circumstances, and I wonder if they think about me sometimes -- if they do, hopefully it's with fondness and not with grudge lol. :(

Mm, I wonder what other people are saying about me.. I've definitely done things that warranted a raised eyebrow or two. I would still cringe when I remember some of those deeds where I could have chosen to be the bigger person, a more gracious person, a more humble person, but didn't. *oh god why* I was (and am) naive and proud and oblivious, the three main ingredients to brew the perfect storm. Bleh. To anyone I've unknowingly or intentionally hurt, I'm sorry. I'll say that to you F2F if I could, so this is my err.. rain check.

And speaking of the past, goodness gracious, last night I was happily digging into my favorite fish head noodle at my usual joint by myself, when whose face shall I see from the table next to mine but that of Miss Nomer (evil ex-boss with a name that doesn't suit her personality) O_O I might have stopped breathing for a few seconds there. Thank God she wasn't looking my way, so I quickly looked down to my lap (if ducking under the table was an option, I just might have), grabbed my phone and texted the girls for emotional support. I didn't dare to move for a while as I was sitting in a way that our eyes would definitely meet if I just sat upright.

I actually thought she saw me, so I was hoping she didn't remember me. Last thing I need was her coming over to say Hi. J asked if I was sure that it was her, but I didn't dare to avert my eyes her direction to confirm. I did however curi-curi snapped a blur photo of her. She was sitting with her husband and they were at the end of their meal. When they left, I looked up as she was walking away. The gait was unmistakably hers. I was relieved.. but on the whole 15 minutes drive home, I was reliving the nightmare that was her. It was more emotionally charged than usual, but I calmed down somewhat by the time I got home.

The thing is, I have long stopped hating her, and even recently ceased to hold her accountable for what I don't dare to do career-wise, but seeing her in the flesh for the first time since July 2009, it was truly unnerving. And at my favorite restaurant at that! *takes another deep breath* I had allllways played out the scenarios of what I would say or how I would react should this moment ever happen. I never come to any conclusion because even in my head I was trying to avoid/shun her. Bleh, I don't know la. J suggested I either kick her in the shins, or bless her. Can I opt for (C) God, please don't ever, ever let our paths cross again. EVER. Please? I suck right? Haha!

Anyway, sad and scary stuff aside, I will be going on a road trip with the girls tomorrow, and we are all very, very, very excited about it. J and I are driving up to Penang to meet S who's been there for a couple of months now on some artsy assignment, and she's finishing this weekend. So this is a makan plus homecoming entourage trip. Wholesome Threesome: Penang edition yo! :D

Btw, discovered this song by local singer Ali Aiman via A, and I absolutely love it. It deserves to go big, and I hope it does. Its mood befits mine right now. Happy long weekend for me! :D Xoxo.

packing order.

I dread packing for trips and I always do it last minute, and the minute would stretch into hours. But I guess the reward justifies the "pain" lol! But really, the more important decisions when going on vacay are which books to bring and what music to listen to, right? Right. :D

So I've narrowed my selection of books to three, one a biography of Indian-born, Canadian-American renown Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, another a collection of articles that previously appeared in The New Yorker by English-Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell, and one mystery novel by British author Dorothy Sayers written in 1931. A pretty awesome mix there I'd say, from gender and genre to the authors' nationalities to even how I got hold of each book (J lent me RZ's book which incidentally went with her to Geneva last month, I'd say that this book is better traveled that I am!; I found MG's book at the bottom of my shelf with no recollection of having bought or borrowed it from anyone; and DS's book was from a book sale). These should keep me pretty occupied during the long transit.

So I've sync-ed my song playlist, and for the first time in my life, I'm going all out with stuff I've never heard before and some I'd never thought I would. This is a departure from my usual preference to go with something I've listened to a million times from the usual suspects (like how I listened to Leehom in my entire Melbourne trip). This time, I just want to break away from that habit, and I'll admit it's kinda unsettling but boo hoo. Every song is new (to me) and I've never known any one of them just a month ago.. and like my books, they cover quite a range, from Instrumental and Jazz to Pop, Rock, Soul and Rap (of course ;), and I have songs from the 70s, 90s, noughties, 2010's all the way up to some singles released not a month ago... I randomly downloaded some albums from the awesome free music site Noisetrade, and the rest from you-know-where-haha after reading music articles over the past couple of weeks. And while I'll tell you about every book I have or will read, I am pretty coy in sharing my playlist -- just chalk that up to another quirk of mine :D

So I've stuffed all my clothes and shoes and toiletries and lingerie and cosmetics and electronics in my new giant fuchsia luggage, and in my tote bag, I've got a book and iPod and passport and neck pillow and mint and cardigan and cash. I've got an awesome ten days ahead of me in an island not too far away, where I hope I'd bump into Leehom (who is in NY now, but 10 days is a long enough time for me to hope that he'd back to Tpe haha) and where I know my hubby is waiting for me, so..................

Taiwan, here I come again! :)

"How utterly ignorant!" she chastised herself. "You're all over the place, jack of all trades, master of none!"

She looked out of the rain-stained windows of the moving bus as it cruised down the highway.

"Look at those trees and shrubs. What do you know about them? Nothing. Not their names, not their species, not the climate they thrive in. What have you got to say for yourself? Look at your colleague, he's busy with work, taking the same diploma course as you, and he wants to embark on a master's course, while balancing his family life, and is even active in sports. And you?" 

The sky wasn't very pretty that day. The usually brilliant blue looked dusty as it was lightly covered by the white. The weather was great though. The sun was casting no shadows, and there was no indication of rain. Just quiet.

Well, it wasn't really quiet. Her favourite Chinese singers were taking turns singing in her ears, dictated by the recently created playlist. One and a half year after she found someone she could be inexplicably yet immensely interested in, she still couldn't fully grasp what it meant to be a fan of Chinese pop. She wondered if her interest in a subset of C-pop amount for anything. She wondered if she should even wonder about such topic, which she does on a regular basis.

She glanced over to her best friend who was totally engrossed in reading, and decided she should get back to her book too. 

[retropost]

spirit me away.

I have been away from home the past three weekends out of four, and this weekend the ratio will be four out of five. the first was a pound-loading foodie trip to Ipoh during that one week with the Friday off; next was spending the weekend of the King's birthday in Bukit Gambang for my church camp; and when I got back I left for Kuching for a week's worth of work. was home for Father's Day this past week, and this Thursday... I'm off to SINGAPORE! ^_^ I love being away, could you tell? Maybe it's because I don't get to travel often... unlike a certain Mr Wang here who's lamenting about his nomadic living situation:

17-June | Weibo 

我这次住了加州三个星期。 难得这么长时间在一个地方。下个礼拜终于要回亚洲继续住旅馆的日子了。 从19岁出唱片之后搬家成了习惯，但还是会舍不得。 你们有搬家过的经验和同感吗？ 请分享…

I’ve been in California for 3 weeks now. It's rare for me to be staying in one place for such a long time. Next week I’ll be back in Asia resuming my hotel-living days. I've gotten used to moving like this since I debuted at 19, but there's always the lingering reluctance. Have you had the experience of moving or do you feel what I do? Please share… 

I'd say the rate at which he travels would be unsettling for me. Might be fun the first few years, but to be at it for 17 years and counting is no mean feat. But it doesn't look like it's time for him to slow down yet. And as for me, I dream every day that I would be some other place. I would love to travel the world, first second or third class!

With that, I leave you with Yuna's latest song, I Wanna Go.. which totally is a loop-worthy song :)

i wanna go wherever, wherever you go, whenever you wanna, i wanna go with you

i wanna go wherever, wherever you go, whenever you wanna, can i go with you?

more Melbourne moments: Great Ocean Road

this should be my last batch of Melbourne trip-related photos. all that i have posted here were taken with my iPhone. the rest which were taken by the digital camera are in the other laptop, and i suspect they will not see the light of facebook or here. because i am too lazy to want to do it. :D

typical Aussie motto: recycle ALL the things!! old fishing line included. this bin was found near a pier. 

the first kangaroo we saw. it was a relatively small-sized one, as were all the ones we saw.. i wonder where the huge ones were. in the zoo perhaps.

 

the emu looks camouflaged eh? :)

i found the candor of this sign amusing, hilarious even. hehe... 

taken at the Twelve Apostles.

at Lorne, one of our many many many stops. :) the grass was so green and inviting, so i tried rolling on it. but erm it wasn't as easy as i thought it would be. not as fun either. so i stopped very soon after i started. :D 

baby acorn. i think.

at port fairy. sigh. i'm missing GOR all over again.

this is a direction marker for hikers. it was a circular route and at the starting point, you can choose to go from left or right. these markers are found along the way to guide you. 

i took this pic because i find the "face" amusing (yes, i'm easily amused). it reminds me of the Easter Island head statues.

this is another amusing photo. it's like "suddenly, mountain!" 

i think this is the first photo of us from that trip that i posted here. there were very few of such photos, primarily cos the husband detests having his photos taken (-_-") this was taken atop the lighthouse at Aireys Inlet. we paid AUD12/pax for a 30-min guided tour. i think it was pricey, for what the tour was worth. gorgeous view of the ocean though. :)

since he doesn't like to pose for the camera, i have to resort to taking his photos without his knowledge. win-win for the two of us. :) 

this was back in town, at the botanical garden. sorry for digressing from the post title.

i love what autumn does to trees. bereft of leaves, what's left of a tree is a sight to behold. :D

this could have been my favourite photo of myself, had i not "lost" my left arm. i love that striped top (from Esprit), and when i bought it, i knew i was gonna wear it specifically during this stretch of the trip. hehe. this was taken at Port Campbell, our lunch stop for the day after spending a couple of good hours at the 12 Apostles. 

it wasn't always the coastline allll the way along the GOR, sometimes we were greeted by longgggg stretches of grazing fields. Aussie farm animals must be the happiest of the lot. so much space for them to roam about. 

sheep! they are so cute! i giggle every time we drove past them. tee hee.

baa~ baa~ white sheep, have you any wool?

yes sir, yes sir, many bags full!

psalm 23, naturally. :D

the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

he makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.

he guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

even though I walk through the darkest valley, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

a bronze statue of a shearer and his sheep, right in Melbourne airport. this was the last photo i took before we flew home........ awwwwww, i miss Melbie so muchie! rarely does a city so this to me. so to end this series of picture, i would like quote a famous Austrian-accented cyborg: 

I'll be back! 

miscellaneous Melbourne moments

the capricious Melbourne weather, the week we were flying in. thank God it was sunny for most days ^^

saw this on the wall of the airport when we touched down. i wonder if anyone could use this, or only trained professional. i hope no one would have to use it though.

we took the Skybus from the airport to the city. it's a non-stop shuttle that ends at Southern Cross station. AUD17/trip is quite steep methinks. for two of us, it's comes out to be only slightly cheaper than taking a cab straight from the airport. 

the tourist shuttle is one of the best things for tourists in the city. it's regular (there's a bus every 30mins), the driver also acts as a tour guide (there's also the pre-recorded tracks), and it stops at every major tourist attraction in town, making it very convenient. definitely a must-take for 1st time tourists like us! :)

i've no idea what the greatest show on earth is. was just struck by how striking this mosaic piece is on that gray wall.

this shop is full of Matryoshka dolls. my mom has been wanting a set so i went in and checked for the price. they were going for about AUD120+ per set. too pricey for my pockets, but still nice to look at. :)

street art, literally. that's a fish he was painting. reminds me of the street calligraphy by Chinese men in China. 

somewhere over. my phone was not able to capture it, but this was a complete half arch, over River Yarra. we were walking home from town. nicee.

i read in the papers that elizabeth hurley was visiting her Australian fiance the same week we were there, and she visited this exhibition on Napoleon at the National Gallery of Victoria, with her son. we pass by the gallery each time we walk home from town.

here comes the tram. we took it once, to town. it was quite pricey (about AUD4/ride)(but there was a 2-hr ticket for around AUD8, which is still expensive)(thankfully, i had Adrian's monthly pass and rode this for free)

Queen Victoria Market has everything, from food to clothes to souvenirs. i was enthralled by the food selection, from the freshest of meat cuts and fish and vegetable and fruits to dried foodstuff like salami and cheeses and what-have-you-not. it was here at QVM that i decided that i HAVE TO move to Melbourne. hehehe.

why anyone would become a vegetarian is beyond me. the eyes of the cave woman in me practically lit up at the sight of this. om nom nom.

get free parking at QVM before 9am.

the Yongs' abode at 88 park street south melbourne. i had this memorised by heart, cos it was the starting point of all my google map searches. :)

it wasn't the butler.

i love whodunits. i like page turners and detective stories excel at that: making you stay up all night just so you can find out who bumped who and what and why and how. Agatha Christie must be the queen who ruled over 'em mystery novels (she's said to be the best selling novelist in the world). her books gave me one of my fondest memory of being a librarian in Form 6, getting my hands on the entire series of AC's books available in the library.

anyways, anyways, anyways... guess what we chanced upon that first afternoon in Melbourne, as we were somewhat lost while looking for a Vietnamese restaurant? the Comedy Theater, that's what! and guess what was their next show? Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, that's what!! haha! my heart leaped outta my rib cage and did a little dance, right there on Exhibition Street, while I just stood there, not believing my fortune. i've read about this play before, as it has the "longest initial run of any play in history, with over 24,500 performances so far"" (wiki) and never thought that i'd be able to catch it this side of the globe :). as I walked closer to the theater to make out the show dates on the banner, I prayed that I would still be around in Melbourne to catch it.

and I was!

the show was scheduled to open on the Thursday of that week, the day after our trip back from the Great Ocean Road. do i need to tell you how excited i was? tra la la.. anyways, that night i went online to check out the tickets, and goodness, there were only two price tiers: AUD75 and AUD85. that's RM248 and RM280. and there weren't even that many seats left. i was kinda torn, cos that's A LOT OF MAH-NEH, so I spent a good half an hour rationalizing it. happily, the darling husband gave the green light to get the tix. whee! tried purchasing the tix with my mastercard but the transaction was rejected (could it be that i can't use a Msian card to make purchase from an Aussie computer?) so i ended up using cassie's card instead and paid her back in cash. it ended up costing me AUD82, incl of processing fee. ouchie!

thankfully, the show was good. it was a solid performance by the cast. at one point, although not very confidently, i could kinda guess who the murderer was (after reading too many of her books, you pick up on things like this) but it still made for a nice twist. at the end of the play after all the actors take their bow, one of them would request that the audience do not reveal the identity of the killer to anyone outside the theatre, so that future audiences would still be able to enjoy the twist.

passing by the theater on the tourist shuttle bus the day after the performance.

uncle adrian and the hubby dropped me across the street from the theater. seen here are people who were milling about waiting for the show to start.

the online ticket. i should have opted to collect the ticket from the box office - i would have loved to keep the stub, instead of this self-printed copy. ah well.

the moon was humongous that night! i thought it was an Aussie thing haha.. but the moon also appeared to be about the same size when we got back to Msia. it was the time of the month i guess. :D

the souvenir booklet cost AUD20 which i couldn't afford. so i brought back the promotional leaflet instead. heheh..

driving miss crazy

the best part about our Melbourne trip, for me, was the driving experience. that fact is indisputable, i wouldn't give it a second thought, hands down everyone, and i'll say it again: driving along the Great Ocean Road (and then some) tops my list of best vacay moments. and i would fly back all the way to Melbourne just to do it again. have i convinced you enough just how much i love.. okay, i'm sure you get the idea by now. :D

i was behind the wheel for about 400+km (basically from Geelong all the way to Halls Gap at Grampians National Park)(see map below)(we did the whole red line journey, also known as the Great Southern Touring Route), and the joy of being behind the wheel for the entire was indescribable. i was already gushing about how happy i was even when we were still on the road. hehehe..

for more about the car rental, check out my earlier post. all together, we spent about AUD600 (apprx RM2,000) for this whole journey, including food, accom, and car rental. if we could stay the extra night at the Grampians (which i would totally do the next time), I guess it would cost around AUD700 (apprx RM2,300) for two pax for a 4D3N trip. this figure is for budget travel (it could go slightly lower, if you stay in a hostel)(this cost also assumes that you eat out only once a day, and cook the rest of your meals).

blue sky, blue sky everywhere.

the weather was gorgeous for most part, thank God! :) the sun was out every day, and the temperature was between high13-low6, which was just loverly. we didn't have to switch on the aircond, which saved us quite a bit in petrol money. i gather Sept would be the best time to go, because Spring would have just begun and the weather gorgeous, and there won't be the Summer crowd to annoy or distract you -- we practically had the road to ourselves for most part of the journey. :)

most stretches of the roads were sheer pleasure to drive. the roads are in good conditions, with hardly any potholes, coupled breathtaking scenery outside the windows that seamlessly change from trees and shrubs to vast grazing land and then miles and miles of shoreline. love it! 

me at the wheels B-)

this wasn't on a main road. we had taken a detour into Tower Hill Reserve (about 10mins from Warnambool town), a supposedly dormant volcano. we parked and hiked up the hill (needless to say, we were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the surrounding area -- see below). here we also saw our first kangaroo here, and some emus too. :)

atop Tower Hill Reserve.

leaving Port Campbell, with the sea behind us. 

it had just rained, and we were making our way up to Beroka Lookout Point at Grampians for a view of the valley. unfortunately, a heavy fog caused poor visibility and we could hardly make anything out. boo. the rain also thwarted our plan to hike up to the Pinnacle, and we were caught in about 10 minutes of it, which left us drenched and freezing.. thank God for the heater in the car :)

it was 6 degree outside the car, after the rain. the wind made it feel like it was zero degree, but we braved the cold and was outside chatting with a pair of old couple who was spending their week at the Grampians. the man said that every year, they load up their caravan with food and wine to last them a week, and they just spend their days there. i want to do the same when i retire!!

it gets dark quickly. by this time i had return the control of the wheels back to the husband, who is a much safer driver at night hehe. good thing too, cos there were at least three times that some kangaroos decided to dash across the road at that hour. there was even a pair of mother-kid hopping from the left to the right side of the road, prompting the age old riddle we all know so well: why did the kangaroos cross the road? :P

this was probably taken around 6pm at Ararat (hello, Noah :D)  

took this pic just before we returned it. i had half a mind to drive around the block just so the meter would stop at 888.8 :D