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Showing posts from December, 2012

Vietnam 2012: Day 5 & 6 - Train Ride + HCM

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Part 1: Hoi An and My Son , Part 2: Hoi An - Da Nang - Hue , Part 3: Hue , Part 4: Train Ride + Saigon , Part 5: Saigon , Part 6: The End Resume... The day began early for us as we had a train to catch. There was a change of time to 8am from 10am, and the hotel staff was OK with our request that we need to take the breakfast earlier than they suggested time. With the PR staff in front of the hotel For the second time promoting: If you are planning to go to Hue, Jade Hotel is highly recommended! Extreme friendly staff, superb service, and nice breakfast too! Make sure you order the local noodle/pho for breakfast because of the portion and... local food is nicer than the usual omelet, baguette etc etc. When we stepped foot at the train station, we were a little skeptical because it's not really the usual platform we were expecting. Take note that the train fare has a different rate for the locals and foreigners. We booked our ticket online with Mr. Philong, and it is adv

What a Way to End the Year (Update)

Yesterday, I went to Tesco Mergong Alor Star to COD (cash-on-delivery) a Powerbank. In the parking bay, while waiting in the car queue for a car who's waiting for some car to get out from their parking, suddenly that car which was in front of me suddenly reverse, apparently without LOOKING BACK! This was the very first time I hold the honk down and not the tap-on-it kind of honk, but, still, 'BANG'. I literally rolled my eyes! ...AND THEY SAY FEMALE IS THE WORST DRIVER!? Got down the car. The driver is a Malay middle-aged guy. I was so freaking pissed off (not race-related, don't get me wrong), I didn't even want to put up the good-girl face and asked for compensation. He tried to talk me off that and settle 'without involving any penny', luckily there's a worker nearby to back me up. The settlement didn't go well and he started to say things like, "Come on, my car is scratched too!" Although mine is also a scratch and crack on the

2D1N Hatyai (Pre-Xmas) Trip

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Since the Vietnam trip posts are so overdue, might as well make it freaking overdue. LOL Went to Hatyai last weekend with a bunch of aunty-level friends, five of us, three married and happily away from home for a weekend getaway. It's actually a trip planned out of 'vengeance', because of some misunderstanding and crooked feelings. AH how I love this group of friends. We car-pooled to the border at 10am after breakfast, there was a long queue at the immigration counter. Please be kindly noted that they have this 'unwritten law' at the counter, subjecting to Malaysians ONLY, that they would ask RM1 from you when you hand over your passport/border pass to be stamped, UNLESS they don't ask for it then you don't have to pay. It is a very common thing, ask around.  We parked the car at a parking place near the bank, and walked to the van/bus station to Hatyai, 50Baht aka RM5 per person. We had to squeeze ourselves at the back of the van because the driv

The Chronicles of M&M: RIP Mozzie & Welcome Mojo

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This has been a little while now... 27th Nov, Tuesday: Woke up a little too early in the morning, went for a pee, sneaked back to bed. 9AM++, decided to wake up 'thoroughly', sneaked to their cage, and saw lil Moz lying still in his favourite half-transparent tunnel, not moving at all. Called him for a few times, when the big M freaked out and walked passed him (literally stepped on him) through the tunnel, and he didn't even dodge or get up to scold at big M, I knew something wasn't right. Stretched my hand into the tunnel to shake him and call him - not moving. My heart stopped a beat. While frantic big M ran round and round in and out of the tunnel stepping on lil M, I quickly took out a box, picked lil M out from the cage, and placed him inside the box. This is the same box that the seller use when I bought them. That day, they were so small size the box was only half full, both of them hid under the shaded side. Now, it's enough only for lil M

House MD - Final Season

OMiGosh the Vietnam trip blog is soooo overdue :/ Forever slowpoke, I have just finished season 8 aka final season of House MD. My feelings: it is a little too solemn and 'fresh' to be the last season.  I discussed the series with labmate Atun, and I agreed to her point about they shouldn't introduce new casts into the series since it is the last season. That's what I mean by 'fresh'. It is not really the same House MD I felt like the previous seasons. Ok there is Chase; Taub who I never liked; Forema, who has become Dean of Medicine, and feel totally different from who he was in the previous episode.  Lack of Cuddy is a definite feeling of absence, it just so different. I read a comment in IMBD few months that the commentator suggested the best season finale to wrap up the series would be Season 6's finale (where House and Cuddy finally being together), and I couldn't agree more. That is like the best thing that can happen to House, although the

Xmas Party at Theresa's

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Theresa held a pre-Christmas party at her place last Thursday. Managed to be back on Thursday morninf and thank goodness the dizziness didn't attack me (Felt dizzy the whole day on Tuesday after arriving Johor, consequence of sleeping in the moving bouncy van) It was the pot luck style again, but this time, since I wasn't around, all I sponsored were soft drinks. The meal the girls prepared was so yummeh!!!! Theresa prepared cookies (with Lee Jynn) and macaroni with beef; Rachel prepared Nando style set meal with chicken, salad and corn, and chocolate fondue!; Aimi cooked spaghetti. My tummy is so happy!! ^^ Look at the food!! The girly talks were fun! The gossips, the X rated, the old times, this and that... I was still in the tired mode as after traveling for 14 hours, I cleaned my room and their cage for the whole day, and Zumba in the evening, so I was all ears for the talks. And also photography sessions by Tess's Christmas tree :) Went home a little early

UTM Johor

My blog progress is just like my PhD progress - 'Procrastination'!! Put away the Vietnam stuff, let's talk about the recent stuff I've been into. Went to UTM last Monday for a conference with 4 other postgraduate students, and one driver. Yup, for some reason, Uni 'geniusly' sent ONE driver for a 800++km driving journey. Perlis-Johor, literally from the most North to the most South, bu shi kai wan xiao de!! We arrived there safely, and the pakcik driver was ultimately tired. Accommodation was prepared for us, the UTM's hostel. This hostel reminded me of my good old days in Politeknik Shah Alam's hostel, yet it was too creepy to compare with it. It was so old-looking inside out, it feels 'haunted'. The conference was packed with talks by the Professors, topics ranging from scholarships, graduate office, postgraduate students' issues, publication game, interdisciplinary graduate education, and my MOST favourite part - Graduate on Ti

Vietnam 2012: Day 4 - Hue

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Part 1: Hoi An and My Son , Part 2: Hoi An - Da Nang - Hue , Part 3: Hue , Part 4: Train Ride + Saigon , Part 5: Saigon , Part 6: The End P/S 1: As I mentioned in the previous post, here is where we booked our motorbike rider tour around Hue. Check out the cute owner when you visit the cafe!! :p P/S 2: Tino asks me to hurry up!! Arghh!!! P/S 3: Most of the info of the places is copied from the Stop&Go Cafe or the internet. ************************* The hotel provides complimentary breakfast, and we have a menu to choose from. The Hue beef noodle soup is nice!! Our motorbike drivers picked us up from the hotel at 8AM local time. 1)OH did I tell you how cute the Vietnamese motorbike helmet is? It is so cute I almost bought one for myself! Knowing it would be useless in Malaysia (SIRIM for sure ban this kind of helmet), I didn't buy in the end. 2) You MUST try one of these motorbike tour, provided you must have a strong heart and adventurous!As some of you might alr