Sunday, March 29, 2009

From France to Japan, Japan to China.

We took a trip to Bukit Tinggi and Genting on the 28th of January. It was a day after CNY. The main reason we went there is to catch a Shaolin Showcase at the Arena of Stars. The show was at night but we went there early just to jalaj jalan around Bukit tinggi first. Fuzz has never been there before so i we decided to go just for fun. Its as if we went to three different countries at the same day. I mean, they have the french town at Berjaya Hills, a Japanese garden nearby and all this Shaolin monks at the show.









Fuzz's got the kung fu excitement even before the show.














playing dress up at the japanese garden. Meet mr. and mrs. Faruzuwa






this is Fuzz's japanese tea ceremony interpretation


surfing samurai


beautiful chinese dancers. one of them really stuck her booty out. i really dont know how all the shaolin monks resist the temptation while touring with all these preety girls.



Saturday, March 28, 2009

Bangkok Shopping Spree

My first impression of Bangkok is that it is congested. Nevertheless, it is so full of life! we went to Bangkok on the 7th of february 2009. It was just the two of us, me and Fuzz. As usual we hired a tour guide to take us around. We stayed at Courtyard by Marriott Hotel situated at Erawan area right in the city centre. It was just walking distance from the largest mall in Bangkok, Central World Mall... and yet we didn't even step foot at that mall haha... not that we didn't have time, it's just we chose not to go to the typical big malls with typical shops and brands. We only invade the malls where local thais shop. First night was more laid back, except that we went to club Route 66 later that night where Fuzz spin. The crowd was packed but from what i saw, thai people prefer to drink and just dance lightly by their table. different compared o crowds in Malaysia...they like to show off their skills on the dance floor even if they dont have any...and majority of young kids in Kl aren't really big drinkers, they come to club just to be seen. Anyway... we had fun that night.





the hotel we stayed at.



Fuzz and DJ Ono at Route 66

this was before Fuzz started spinning.


The next morning we went to the famous Chatuchak weekend bazaar. We didn't shop much there...cause the place was soooo huge i got tired really fast. Plus the scorching heat defeated me. Not to say that we didn't like the place, we loveeeeed it. There's so many things that we found that is cheap and good. We only managed to shop for house stuffs. We bought a pair of table lamp for only RM200. It's something similar to those at Metrojaya. The ones with crystal legs...it actually costs RM500 and above in Malaysia. So we got a really good bargain for it. We are definitely going there again to shop for our new house...when we actually buy one...hahaha...


Many types of painting are available there. Including these muay thai sketches. Impressive huh...




those are the stuff we bought there...
Later that night we went shopping again. This time I shopped for my stuffs. The clothes there are ridiculously cheap! Its like 3 times cheaper than malaysia. So i went craaayyzzieee...
everywhere we go in Bangkok, we see mangoes. They're actually very very sweet. I love the Mango Tango shop there. They serve the best mango with sticky rice ever!

The next morning our indonesian-speeking, muslim-thai, tour guide brought us to a few places. We went to the emerald budha temple and palace.









Later we went to Safari World. I had a lot of fun there. we feed the giraffes. We saw the wild Serengeti animals. Lions and rhinos, buffaloes and deers. It was fun seeing the animals close to our vehicle.




feeding the giraffe bananas.


me: nooo.....u had too much already. NEXT...
giraffe: bbllllluueeekk....boo u for not feeding me!

We also went to Damnoensaduak floating market. Although it was a very long drive, it was worth it. Some people say it's boring...but we love it. It was definitely something else...




one of the many interesting items u can find at the market. Pinocchio was on sale.




After the floating market, we went to elephant village. It was the moment i was waiting for. I loooovveee animals. Elephants was one of my favourite. Fuzz said when he's rich enough, he'll buy me an elephant. I hope it can get along with Kimmy....hahaha....


this cute not so little elephant is 11 years old. And her name is Tongkang. Are u sure she's a boat? (in malay tongkang means boat)


Tongkang loves me....while we were riding her, she pulled up flowers and grasses and gave it to me...awww so sweet.
Later we went to Rose Garden to watch some cultural performances. It was kinda boring...cause it was tooo commercialized. They had this choreographed muay thai and a lot of acting. so it was a yawn....

some old men tryna prove that they're still strong.



Traditional thai dance. she look like a friend of mine.


they have elephant show too. They played Dumbo's soundtrack while doing this.


This was from a teak wood factory visit. I dont know why Lina (our tour guide) brought us to this place. The stuffs costs a fortune and its sooo orang tua like. But i managed to get these interesting shots.
he's actually working on a whole dining table which seats 6 people. The intricacy of the details are amazing.




O yeah by the way, I had my 26th birthday while we were there. Fuzz bought me a Diana lomo camera as a present and we enjoyed that little sinfully delicious cup cake.



We went back after 5 days. It was kinda sad coz we had to go back to real life. But, we sure had tonnes of fun... we are definitely coming back!



Friday, March 27, 2009

Escape to Bali

We went to Bali for the first time on the 7th of August 2008. It was actually our first honeymoon since we've been married. Ili and Bana came along coz we thought that lagi ramai lagi best...first day kat sane tak jalan banyak sangat coz when we arrived, it was already in the afternoon. So we checked in. But mase nak check in tu we took some time to actually check in coz at first we arrived at the wrong hotel. It's actually the same hotel but different area. Our hotel was supposed to be at Tanjong benoa but the supir mistakenly sent us to Novotel Nusa Dua. Luckily the right hotel was just 3 km away. Later our supir Pak Ali, brought us to Jimbaran for a dinner by the beach. We had the most romantic dinner ever! while we were having dinner, with the whole indian ocean view during sunset, we were serenaded by the local kugiran. Dear God! it was the most beautiful feeling ever... I have never been so blessed! it was such a blissful night.


This was the view from our table. The food was mmmm.... ok laaa... not so great. But the view! we had the front row seat to the greatest show on earth... the sunset. Later that night we watched some local girls perform a classical dance. It was kinda scarry tho.


The Band performed 2 songs. One english song U're beautiful by James Blunt and another a local song Kenagan terindah by Samson.

the dancers.


A vendor jual jagung bakar






First half of the second day was more educational. We took a trip to another beach via a glass bottom boat to see the sea creatures and other animals and giant rodents. It was fun playing and touching those animals. It was kinda like a petting zoo. Except the pets are enormous and lives a hundred year.




my new scarf


look how huge the bat is!



Later the girls got mani and pedi

while the boys enjoyed a massage...

Later that day we went to Villa Kayumanis to celebrate the wedding of Malique and Melissa. The whole purpose of this trip is actually for Fuzz to spin at their wedding party. My gosh the wedding was romantic and very intimate. They had an ijab kabul ceremony held at their private villa with only the closest family available. I guess Malique went with only one Lafaz since the ceremony was pretty brief. We weren't allowed to be at the villa to witness the ceremony but we were fortunate enough to witnessed the other ceremony. The couple add a little twist to their normal "batal air sembahyang" ceremony. They actually had a beautifully done exchanging of vows and rings ceremony by the beach. So...it was kinda different from a typical malay ceremony...but who cares? the most important part of the wedding was done lawfully and legally kalau nak ikut hukum syariah. I love the couple's walk along the aisle... it was accompanied by the song Somewhere over the rainbvow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and the walkway way covered with frangipani. When that happened, i almost cried. Melissa was so beautiful. She was this goddess like figure walking down the aisle, glowing and beeming with joy. Later that evening, we continue the reception indoor and afterwards a party at the loft above the reception area.

Walking down the aisle of frangipani

the couple exchanging vows


Glowing bride

Melissa showing her respect to her husband


U may kiss the bride..

Friends of malique and Melissa

Cutting the Wedding cake.


The third day we went to several places. First we traveled for three hours into the kampung area. we had lunch at a restaurant in Kintamani which has a picturesque view of Mount Batur, one of the many active volcanos in Indonesia. The only thing that we loathe was the ever bugging persistent local businessmen. They follow us like a hungry puppy everywhere! they even end up in some of our photos. Before that we interupted our journey for a cultural entertainment with a performance of the Barongan show. After Kintamani, we went to shop for paintings and souvenirs. It was a hell of a bargain! And for the finale, we went to Uluwatu to visit the monkey temple. It was during a sunset so we got to experience the Bali sunset again but at a very different setting. They have Kecak dance performance held at the temple everyday at dusk.


Ili and I


Mount Batur, Kintamani, Bali


Uluwatu




One of the most beautiful sunset i've ever seen
We went back to KL the morning after. Right after we arrived at home, Fuzz's workaholic nature automatically kicked in. He started working on the vacation video. Overall, we had fun at Bali and will visit it again definitely! for those who have trouble with their partners, i recommend u to escape to Bali. There's this vibe there which could rekindle troubled relationships. Maybe something in their water or something.