[KL Know-How]: Taxi-ing

Dear pipsqueaks,

Counting in total, I've already been working in KL for a little more than a year and three months. No one really asked me how I thought about this place. Really, it isn't too too bad. Having said that, there are *rolling my eyes* tons of tidbits that seriously causes some major point deductions. Of course, with this topic, I can write as much as a book, but I’m not about to fill my life with all these negativities that shall be forgotten as soon as I move out of this country. Actually, I’m quite glad I’ll always have that choice.

Now, what kind of “tidbits” am I taking about? In particular, today, a visit had to be paid to the nearby hospital for my minor toe infection caused by ingrown nail. Don’t ask for details, trust me, you don’t want to know. But a little medical advice, never ask for oval or squoval when doing pedicures as they may cause ingrown nails due to the growth of the flesh to cover the receding corner only to face the slow growth of the nail later on. It can be uber nasty, so just avoid as much as possible. If in doubt, oval or squoval only in the white regions of your nail tips. Any shorter and you’ll end up like me- a pus-sy toe that smells like overdue milk. Gross.

Weekend in [Paris]- Part II

Dear pipsqueaks,

The day had finally arrived: we were going to voluntarily jump off a plane cruising at the altitude of 4000m for the sake of bragging rights. Well, that's what most people think, but it's really just for me to know that I didn't chicken out. Why else would I want to skydive? To feel what it's like to be a bird at free fall before it expands its wings and glides. Though, I do have to say, the moment the parachute opened is most likely nothing close to how it feels when birds take flight. But anyway, it may be easiest to let the photos tell the story...

(before anything can happen, we gotta sign our lives away! of course, you must bring along a doctor's note stating that you're in good health & can physically participate in this dangerous activity)

Weekend in [Paris]- Part I

Dear pipsqueaks,

Truth be told, I hadn't planned to include Paris in this summer's travels, but considering my hands had been washed of all preparations, there was no way I would get involved with the discussions between le sister and le bf. So Paris it was. There's nothing wrong with Paris, really. It's just, I wanted to visit places I haven't been, and I have been to Paris before- keep in mind, there will be more trips made there because le bf lives in Paris. In any case, there was something more important to do this time: skydive.

Le bf knew of my bucket list, and on it written all kinds of adventures. One of which was to skydive. Prior to the whole "attempting to kill ourselves" jump, I must say, I hadn't felt much nerves. Actually, this was suppose to have taken place in April when I visited, but it didn't fit into our schedule, so we had to postpone until December. But seeing that I was already in Europe, a short stop in Paris should be easy enough. Plus, the weather was definitely more stable during the summer than winter (jumps are more likely to be cancelled or further postponed), which by the way was so ridiculously hot that even a Taiwanese living in Malaysia was complaining. Summer in Paris? Not even in my shorts & t-shirt. In that weather, you'd practically have to walk around in bikinis not to overheat. Really, it's no wonder that Frenchies go travel during the summer, because it's almost an unliveable condition. Conclusion: no summer in Paris.

[Budapest] in a Splash- Part III

Dear pipsqueaks,

Note: Please excuse the wiki link for a few of these attractions as I couldn't find better websites for further info, but meh. It's enough to get your research started :)

This morning was less of a surprise as we expected the same schedule as yesterday's, probably with a little more time too as the meeting point was in Buda. Guess again! Despite the fact that we were already staying in Buda, it didn't mean the meeting point was any closer. Suppose we had to take two trams and walk a bit. Oh, how I wish it were that simple. Before we even reached the tram stop, things were already a mess: I realize I had left my Budapest Card on the table, and we were as of then running slightly behind. So, with what was left of my athletic training from years ago, I bolted back to the house, calmly unlocked all the gates and doors one by one, ran to the coffee table to grab the root of all this exercise first thing in the morning- le card, swiftly locked everything, and practically rolled down the hill to meet up with Ivy. Now thinking back, that was an operation well done! I don't even know how I managed all those doors, but I guess when the time calls for it, somehow, we are all very capable of accomplishing miraculous things.

(Random breakfast to finish all the stock we have left: mushroom with peppers & egg accompanied by chicken steak and toast- yummm :P)

[Budapest] in a Splash- Part II

Dear pipsqueaks,

The day began with me waking up super early to cook us some breakfast: chicken steak with eggs accompanied by toast and juice. Maybe even some pan-fried peppers were on the menu. (I can't remember what I made because I simply cook as I feel with what was available. A picture of tomorrow's breakfast will explain that~). Anyway, as we never seem to have enough time, after securing the place- several locks needed to be turned coming in and going out- we rushed down the hill and hopped on the tram to Pest.

We met up with the "Pest Walking Tour" at the Budapest Card Info-Point at Deák Ferenc tér, and you wouldn't believe how convenient it was to take the tram- literally the last stop! And to think we were worried about being late and missing the tour? Well, that can happen and we never know what else can happen too, so I do prefer to be AHEAD of schedule than chasing it. Following this tour guide with a Dracula like accent, we began our Pest-roaming. For some odd reason, he reminded me of this Hungarian classmate that had joined our class for a couple of years back in elementary school. Super blonde hair, lanky and shy, I can almost complete the scene in my head the day he walked into our classroom. He was all I knew of Hungary, and nothing more. So, definitely about time to do some proper learning of this mysterious country.

(more ways to keep tabs on the things you wanna do, grab a mini card!)

[Budapest] in a Splash- Part I

Dear pipsqueaks,

Apart from the near miss of our flight due to the train's delayed departure from Barcelona Sants, the morning went relative as expected. The heat didn't make transporting our luggage any easier, but we survived the 10 minute drag from our hotel. Despite it's hiddenness within the network of Barcelona streets, I adored our stay at the Live&Dream. Definitely Jessy recommended for our next trip here. You will be missed, Barcelona.

The rush was as quick to leave as it was quick to come. We were soon waiting in line to board our plane to, you guessed it, Budapest! I didn't really have much of a chance to become all excited because I was too busy looking for a postbox, except, none could be found. So, I activated the last resort: ask someone local to post them for us. That moment, the scene of the sales girl texting on her phone panned across my view as I skimmed for a potential person to do the job. I observed a little while before approaching, noting her smile and friendliness. There was a good chance she would grant the favour, so I made the move. What great profiling- all she asked was, "are they all ready to send?", and accepted the request in no time. Phew! Done and done. That's one more reason why I hate being in a rush, because imagine how much it would suck to have a stash of postcards all written and ready to go, but no where to post it?! *nightmare* But anyway, no need to freak out- it has been taken care of...this time. Now, the worry is that the girl forgets to mail them or lost them in the process of posting them. Oh, stay positive!

(could this get ANY MORE sketch than Air Asia?) 

Gaudilona aka. [Barcelona]- Part III

Dear pipsqueaks,

The first order of business today was- of course- rush to Sagrada Familia as we were told the wait can be up to a couple of hours long. Oh boy, was it a scary scene by the time we reached there! Suppose the entry begins at 9am in the morning, the line up would have started about 8~8:30am. So imagine the crowd of people when we got there at 9:15am! From our first view of the "Sand Castle"- doesn't it look like a humongous sand castle?!- as we walked out the station (we decided to take public transit because taking our hop-on-hop-off bus would have been way too late to beat the crowd, so we took it straight there from our closest metro), it was literally O-M-G. The end of the line could not be seen because it curved two corners of this gigantic artwork. Weather was also a challenge as the sky was crystal clear of clouds, so the sunlight beamed proudly. I would have loved this weather if we weren't waiting in line. Though, surprisingly, the line moved quite quickly, and within 45 minutes, we were picking up our tickets and headphones preparing to enter! How exciting after a long wait~

The exterior was already an eye opener, with three façades- Nativity, Passion, and Glory- each with their own stories to tell. Even for someone non-religious, it stopped me in my path with its intricate detailing of each element. Construction began in 1882, taken over by Gaudi in 1883, and was only 20% complete at the time of Gaudi's death in 1926, it is STILL incomplete. Suppose its scheduled to be completed in the year 2020? I'll definitely pay a visit to Barcelona just to see the finished presentation. Oh, and how crazy is this?! This is also where Gaudi forever rests, down at the crypt! Story goes, he got hit by a street tram and mistaken for a poor. Upon being taken to a hospital for the poor, he refused to be relocated because he "belonged among the poor". He died three days after the accident and was mourned by all. How unfortunate to have lost such a gem. For the most part, I will leave it up to the photos to speak for themselves...

(finally tracked down the END of the line up! so began the 45min wait...) 

Gaudilona aka. [Barcelona]- Part II

Dear pipsqueaks,

What better way to start the morning than with a fulfilling breakfast? Actually, we weren't sure what to expect but we figured it would be more troublesome to find breakfast outside of the hotel anyway, so we dealt with it at Live&Dream. Surprisingly, it was better than I expected. Though they didn't have a large selection, the tiny breakfast lounge catered the necessary: toast, tea/coffee, sliced sausages, fresh fruits, cereal, and a mini fridge with fresh milk, juice and several cups of yogurt. As usual, we took a little bit of everything, filling up the table to the maximum. But no worries, nothing was wasted except that weird hot chocolate which tasted so funky no matter how much water I put in it- or maybe I put too much. Anyway, summary: don't try their hot chocolate powder.

(such a cute & simple set up- love it!)

("That's where we're going tomorrow!" said le sister) 

(Yes, we finished ALL that...)