Thursday, August 04, 2005

Reminiscences...

After reading "A Year in the Merde", I realised that my experiences in Paris were not one-offs. Apparently, it's a Parisian's patriotic duty to act the way they do. And this is not always what we (mankind) would call normal.

Oh, to digress, there is a song by Minnie Driver called "Everything I've Got In My Pocket" which is surprisingly really good. It's very soothing adult alternative. She sounds really good. Get a listen if you can. You may download it (Oohh..!) or try to catch it on Yahoo! Launchcast on the radio station called "The Coffeehouse".

I think I'll save my Parisian stories for another time. I'm sure you guys are eagerly awaiting some Paris pictures, so voilà!




Cimetière Père Lachaise. What the heck is that guy doing dancing there? If he falls, he'll be so shattered!


No, the pic on the right is not that golden dot on the horizon of the left pic.
Pont Alexandre III (left) and detail of sculptures on the roof of Opéra Garnier.


In front of the Arc de Triomphe on Avenue Champs-Elysees with Grandpa G and Malaysian Devil.


In a bar/lounge, called (can't remember) at (can't remember). Can you help me out, Charly?!


Sacré Coeur and the view across the rooftops of Paris. Second highest point after the Eiffel Tower.


Does this really need any description?

Grandpa G and I were hanging around the Trocadéro to watch the sparkling lights of the Tower that happen every hour for 10 minutes. As it was nearing 11pm it was getting quite windy and cold, but I didn't want to appear wimpy in front of Grandpa G and decided to act like him and not put on my jacket. How smart was that, huh. I'm so macho.


Ah!! Bee-yoo-tee-full!


One of the 3 wings of the Louvre with a bit of the Pyramid entrance peeking out on the right. The bloody Louvre wings are so huge you can throw away your membership to Fitness First and just apply for a Louvre card and walk the whole floor on each wing every day and you'll have buns of steel in no time.

On the right is the Carousel in front of the Louvre. At night the carnival opens and it's a real lively do. All sorts of rides and games. Brilliant. Of course, one ride costs just a little under the cost of a heart bypass surgery.


Still at the Louvre. Pronounced Loov...ruh!


I think this is in Pigalle. Pervert heaven.


I could've stayed in front of this building for hours watching the fire eaters and listening to the gypsy music. Unfortunately, guys are not so romantic or dreamy. Too busy being macho I guess.


You'd better recognise these 2 places from before. And No, that is not the London Eye.

Actually, if anyone wants some advice from me, just sleep during the day and wander about Paris at night. It's much nicer and there are less unsmiling shopkeepers. They're all already at home practising for the next day full of un-smiles.


It's better appreciated at night and under it than from across the suicide's dream road - L'étoile of the 10 lane variety.


See why I said it's better to see Paris at night? Although this is still a pleasant building in the day.
Gosh, this doesn't need a description does it??? Okay, fine. 3 guesses - this is where the Hunchback of Notre Dame lived.


View of the majestic and très impressive gates from the compound of the Palais de Justice.

We had actually visited the Sainte-Chapelle which is just behind the Palais, but still in its compound, so this made the Sainte-Chapelle the only church I've ever known to have metal detectors and body searches done just to enter.


One of the immense stained glass windows that Sainte-Chapelle is so famous for. But I bet you've never heard of this church, have you? Have you?! Well, I hadn't heard of it either so relax.


Yes, it really is.


This is what happens when statues dance on stone tablets. They fall eventually. Oh, unless this statue saw some Nazgul/Dementors and is about to be stabbed in the left shoulder and risk becoming a wraith himself by having all the life and happiness sucked out of his soul at Mordor/Azkaban.


Le Moulin Rouge!! Nude ladies in feathers! Famous can can dancers!
Fortunately, tickets to the shows cost just a little over the price of the Crown Jewels so it makes this show more glamourous than the typical nude dancing show. Keeps the poor pervs away and the drooling princes coming. :P


At Montmartre taking a hurried picture before another "man who pretends he doesn't see people taking pictures right in front of him" walks right into the picture again.


Chinese restaurant at the Galeries Lafayette with French-speaking Chinese servers. The good thing is, Ils parlerent anglais!! And the bonus is, they smile!
Grandpa G commented that one of them looked like a hooker from Shanghai. To me she looked more like a frazzled housekeeper. What the heck is Grandpa G thinking??!

Monday, August 01, 2005

Back to KL

Aaahhh.... :(

I'll be leaving for the airport in 4 hours. I'm so sad!! I've been really enjoying myself here, meeting friends and Grandpa G's family etc. Everyone I've met has been really nice. Except for the Parisian shopkeepers.

Which reminds me, I just bought a book called 'A Year in the Merde' - 'merde' meaning shit in French. I've only read about 30 pages and it's making me laugh out loud!

Anyway here are some pictures of the Lake District and Paris just before I run upstairs to get packed.










Okay, on second thought, I'll go upstairs and get packed before doing the pictures of Paris. See you guys later!

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Off to Paree!!

The pictures below messed up the layout of my page! For the flooble and other links that used to be on the right, just scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

Just want to inform everyone that I'm off to Paris tomorrow morning from Birmingham. Will be staying at Montmartre, arty village that I hope will live up to my expectations! Also will see Charly again after a year. I wonder if he'll look any different??! :)

It's been pretty cold today because the sun never came out from behind the clouds. Didn't do much today either, just planned the trip, read my Harry Potter book, washed the dishes... went to Shrewsbury again to get a new car tax disc for Grandpa G. Shrewsbury looks more arty than the last time I saw it...

I'm really looking forward to watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!! I watched Fantastic Four two days ago. It was........ alright, I guess.

Au revoir! A bientot!! (Sorry no accents above the letters, for those who mind... no french keyboard here.)

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Cool, drizzly Saturday morning @ Telford

Okay haven't got long because I'm off to Stokesay Castle, "England's most perfectly preserved fortified 13th century manor house" and one of the Historic Jewels of Shropshire. Ooooooo....

So here are the pics from before. These are not all. Haven't finished transferring the recent ones. These are from Ludlow mostly. I think... Monday.

Hmm... something's gone wrong with my image hosting service, so I can't see them pics. I'll just add subtitles in case they appear later so that you guys can see em. Ciao!



Meerkat from Hoo Farm (leftover pix)



Wallaby at Hoo Farm. Very friendly.



Tyrley Locks. Very peaceful canal. I really loved it. Saw lots of little boats with families going on round-England trips with their lovely dogs.



Welsh Bridge at Shrewsbury.



Scenes of the areas in Ludlow, small quiet country town. Found it TOO quiet for me though.



A pigeon in a nest on the steps in one of the towers of Ludlow Castle!! So cute!!



Scenes in Ludlow Castle. Quite impressive.



Scenes from the top of Ludlow Castle of surrounding areas.



Pix of moi in Ludlow town and in the castle.



Moreton Corbet, some castle we encountered in our travels.

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Tuesday morning in Telford

I've been getting nice communication from Mom, Dad and Elle (yes the one abducted by aliens a few months ago) so I'm feeling very nice and fuzzy. Their emails and comments are so funny. I especially like your dream Mum!! The one about someone bought you a ticket to watch a cartoon!

Yesterday I went to Birmingham and it was nice. I didn't expect it to look so nice from what people have been saying, but apparently outside the town centre isn't so good. I went to the Bullring shopping centre which is apparently "Europe's shopping capital". Oho!! It was nice, but I hardly think it is Europe's best.

It was the first time I've been to Selfridges and it was brilliant! Very expensive, but the decor is so artistic, yet department store friendly as well. I wish we had a Selfridges back home! So many nice home stuff too. I found a really nice spangly leafy covering for hanging lamps. I'm planning on buying 2 or 3 for my new home... (September, October, Daddy??) HEHE...

I'm putting in pictures after this post cuz I need to crop them etc so I thought I should write first.

Big Brother is such an awful show but ppl watch it all the time. Don't people have better things to do than watch not-s0-nice lookin people gossip and scheme?

Lots of news on Jude-Sienna-Nanny too. Stupid Jude.

Oh back to Birmingham/Brum. I saw the Aston Villa football stadium from far and wanted to take a picture for you, Dad, but I couldn't quite capture it. It was too far and the car was moving on the motorway.

Like I said, Brum was better than I expected. The buildings are old and really nicely designed. In fact, it looks like Melbourne there. There was one part which reminded me of the back road/lane between Myer and David Jones where people do busking, eat etc... remember that place, Mum??

Also visited the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery which was alright. Not too bad. It was free.

Oh there were a handful of policemen interrogating this foreign guy outside Bella Italia where I had lunch. I think he was having a few packages with him. Dunno what happened after that.

The Mailbox is a new, trendy, expensive shopping place... with all the really expensive stores. But behind is the canal with boats and restos which apparently is quite happening at night. It was pretty empty yesterday afternoon.

Tomorrow I might be going to one of the moors/lakes and staying the night before going to Alton Towers the next day, so I probably won't be here to post to my blog.

Oh right, before I stop writing, I finally let loose yesterday. The whole weekend I didn't step into any boutiques at all to shop and I was really proud of myself. I'd just point at stuff and say "I'm gonna buy that for Mum/Elle/Dad/souvenirs" and that's it. But yesterday, I bought a watch (my first digital watch in ages) and it's really funky and reasonably priced. Then I bought sunglasses (finally!)... the ones I wanted - colour, shape etc. And then I walked into FCUK saying "I'm not gonna buy anything" cuz it was gonna be really expensive, but in the end I bought 2 tees which are really nice and not TOO expensive either.

Still got money left, don't worry, not gone over budget yet because of my serious saving over the weekend!

Pictures coming up!

Monday, July 18, 2005

First entry from Telford

Hi everyone! I've arrived safely and am now eating Coco Pops for breakfast, listening to the Goldeneye soundtrack. Eric Serra is the best composer in the world.

I purchased the new Harry Potter book yesterday for £9.99, meaning it's more than RM30 cheaper than back in KL! HA HA HA. I can't gloat TOO much though because after I bought the book, I went to Tesco and they were selling it for £7.99. Hmm... well, at least I saved some money compared to the KL-ites back home.

So far I've been to loads of places (and pubs). Taken lots of videos too. Here are some pictures I took. By the way, Charly, I will be in Paris after the 25th.


Me and Mom at the airport having a drink before I fly.

White Baa-Baa at Hoo Farm.

Black Baa-Baa at Hoo Farm.

I think this is the same White Baa-Baa. I had a nice conversation with this one.

Grey, Black and White Baa-Baas at Hoo Farm.

Black and White Moo flicking its tail.

Emperor Kuzco's second cousin 5 times removed. At Hoo Farm.

Poor little lambs trying to get out.

Two Baa-Baas trying to get the food in my hand.

Me on the Ironbridge, Shropshire. First iron bridge in the whole wide world.

Very impressive and huge power stations in the background. But what's nicer is the reflection off the river.

Interesting looking house.

A museum of something at Ironbridge.

Cute clock at Telford Shopping Centre. Your one-stop ssshhhhhopping experience.

One of two owls on duty during the Magical exhibition thing. Probably held in conjunction with the launching of Harry Potter.


Thursday, July 14, 2005

My Piano String!!

I was importing songs from my CDs into my iPod, getting ready for my travels, and it was taking a long time, so I thought instead of sitting in front of the laptop, I'd go downstairs and play some piano since I hadn't touched the piano keys for ages now. So there I was, nicely tinkling "Scarlet" (piano solo version from Ayashi no Ceres - very nice) on the piano. Everything went well for that song. The next song I decided to play was Rei's Theme from Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's a REALLY nice song. I entered the 7th bar when suddenly "Twang!"! My 'E' string broke I think!! I tried pressing it several times and suddenly there was no sound at all. Previously there was a sound of a little hammer struggling to reach a string. But now - ZILCH.

Hopefully it gets fixed by the time I come back from Europe HEHE.

Yes, I have taken quite a few video clips already with my new camera. It's really fun! I've taken shots of my sisters, dogs etc so I can watch when I'm in England whenever I miss them.

Okay, I'd better get packing. I'll keep you guys updated on what I'm up to! Check back often! And Malaysian Devil can finally make his appearance on my blog! Two blogs merging! :D

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

A Video Camera!

I just bought a digital camcorder today!! It's from JVC, Japan VICTOR Company! Hahaha... What a weird name. But anyway, I wanted Sony, but they were both the same price, and the JVC packs a punch compared to the Sony!

One really cool feature I like in the JVC is its built-in light that can automatically turn itself on when there is too little light to shoot.

I'm going to start shooting myself packing tonight and the next few days, then maybe a bit more at the airport. It's gonna be so fun!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Hello Hello

I know it's been a really long time since my last post.

I've been sick for the past few days with fever, sore throat and a cold. Right now, I've got a bit of fever left and a nasty headache and my voice is only 80% back. I don't feel so good!

I suppose Charly doesn't feel too good either, with the Olympics being held in London 2012! What did you do when you heard the news Charly??!

Nice to see that Janice has finally visited my blog and left a message! Sorry for not updating, but I guess you would have read a lot of my posts and seen all the pictures since you haven't been here for a while. It'll be good to see you again in August!

I'm flying to Manchester next week, and hopefully have a great time there.

I've been watching BBC all night last night and all morning this morning to find out more about the London blasts. It's simply horrific!! I can't help crying when I hear the eyewitness accounts and when I see people hurt. I feel so scared that there can still be these kind of people in the world with such evil and cruelty without remorse in their hearts. And who seriously believe they're doing something good!

Well, my head is really aching and my body is so heavy... I'm so sick of lying on my bed too. I guess I'll have a lie down on my sofa and watch Jamie Oliver. I wonder what he's thinking right now in London?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Ms Heartbreaker's 23rd Bash @ Poppy Garden

Yes! Yes! Finally the pictures have arrived! This night was really hectic for me because I'd been to Beach Babe's grand banquet before (for her birthday - pictures in the previous post) and then I had to leave early and rush to Ms Heartbreaker's party in town.

How could I miss it? I've known Ms Heartbreaker since I was 4 years old! Of course, she wasn't such a heartbreaker then... more like a little monkey.

Look how she's blossomed now...



Ms Heartbreaker and Boyfriend.


Ninjaboy et moi.


Gentle Giant et Binks.


Ms Heartbreaker et moi.


Ooelatualet et moi.


Binks and I.


Binks et sa femme HEHE.


Mr Always Late and I.


Binks' Femme, Az and I.


Az et moi.


Huey et moi.


From left to right: Az, Mun, Chun, Me... um, I can't remember his name. Please enlighten me!

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Beach Babe's 21st Birthday Bash

This party was also in April, but better late than never, eh? Pictures, I mean.

By the way, I just got a new keyboard, a real tiny, slim one because the normal desktop keyboards make my hands really tired cuz I have to lift my fingers up higher to hit the keys... hehe... I'm used to the laptop keyboard. So anyway, this keyboard is pretty cool, but I need time to get used to the miniscule Space Bar. I always accidentally press ALT instead! I guess this keyboard is even smaller than a laptop keyboard... imagine that.

Okay here are the pictures.



Birthday Girl et moi.


The Woman et moi.


The Woman lapsing into childishness.


Mel et moi.


Birthday Girl with Pooch (Lacey).

Thursday, June 16, 2005

What a techie!

Guess what?! My dad has agreed to buy me a video camera! Whoopee!! I'm definitely getting it before my trip to UK so that I can catalog my whole journey. Especially Paris. And I'll put some clips on my blog too so you guys who've never been to one of the most amazing cities in the world (Paris) can experience some of it.

By the way, my friend Charly has put some videos on his blog too from Paris ("Paris Pix de Malaysian Devil" on the right of this page) but I find it lacking in buildings. You should film more buildings Charly!

I'm also gonna try write in my blog at least once every other day to put up pictures so you can trace my journey. Not that I'm going to many places, but it'll be nice to look back on.

What do you guys think of the new song on my blog? Any comments, anyone who wants it taken off, just let me know.