Poem for Manglish

To my blogger friend Manglish,
Whom never seem selfish,
With his BM or English,
OR his story living in land of Japanese.

Hence, I sincerely wish,
Manglish! Oh Manglish!
That god will fulfill your “bird-day” wish,
So that you “Year-year got fish”,
Like how they say it in Cantonese.

You are not that old! Sheesh!
It’s still okay to be kiddish,
Despite age force you to look mannish,
As long as they think you are “rich”,
After all they know no shit,
How much you earn in land of Japanese,
To them you still in a group of niche,
But to you, they’re probably just bitch (hehehee…).

Gee whiz...
I do hope you enjoy this little “speech”,
From me who follow you like a leech (hehehee…),
However different and out of reach,
For you like peach,
And I like quiche,
From coast to coast; till our world meet,
Here me; your blogger leech,
Happy bird-day I again wish,
From Malaysia - seal with a kiss.

Hustle Brussels, Distress Damsel?

Day 6 (15 November 2006). Wonder who's the damsel here? Hehehee....

As usual, the KIASU-ness in Anna & me “queened” over (we tried to fight with our "might" [yeah right!] but to no avail [drama LILY!]).... how can we be in Europe and only cover 1 or 2 country right... OFCOS CAN NOT!!!!! Our Kiasu-highness won't allow it *cheshire cat smile*. Even though our annual leaves were approved for 2 weeks (yeah silly Malaysia - we only have 15 days leave per year excluding festive season holidays - THERE GOES MY LEAVES), we simply must fully utilise our dollars & time spend in Europe, else RUGI LAR... K.I.A.S.U.

HENCE, hehehhe *cheeky laugh*.... our so called smart plan (am abit vainglorious on my beauty & brain I know! Macam real.... Memang dasar perasan max), we paid for Thalys Train €100 p/way (Am not sure whether you call this Bullet or Speed Train, since it looked slightly different from those in Japan). This super duper fast train takes ONLY 3 hours to reach Amsterdam from Paris, ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND the best thing this is that, it does a transit in Brussels OF WHICH you can get out and visit the city AND hop back the next train to Amsterdam at NO COST. I beginning to think that GOD love me at this point of time, I mean... it's like, everything in Europe conspire to make my trip a worthy one (perasan!!!!!!).... MUAHAHHAHAHHAH *Mumra Laugh - you know right? the ThunderCats villain (our absolutely favourite laughter in the office)*.

After what we thought is a great plan conspired by the whole universe (proud moment here!), we went to Paris Nord (or Gare du Nord ie "North Station") Station. We learnt that this station has services operated by SNCF, Eurostar and Thalys that handles trains to Northern France, as well as to various international destinations such as Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Very the changgih indeed.

Psst! Shhhhh... Apparently, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Ultimatum, Ocean's Twelve was shot here.... you know what it means right? I walked the same ground where Matt Damon walked or.. or.. or.. or Brat Pitt... GOSH! This is as good as touching them! *gibberish! :P*

OK! Since we didn't have 24 hours in Brussels (6 hours more like it or perhaps even shorter; luckily the train journey was 1 HOUR ONLY - phewww), we dump our stuff at this luggage compartment that was smartly invented for travelers (conspiracy all the way to Brussels just for moi! Sigh... felt sooo loved) - just use your credit card and TAH DAH.... your beloved luggage is safe. HEY! Malaysia should have this at KL Sentral, KLIA & LCCT - seriously guys!!!

We decided to walk (by walk I mean, slow & long PLUS asking a few direction and went to few wrong streets laar. HEY! I didn't say I was smart and by the way GPS wasn't cheap & easily accessible then either!) to Grand Palace Grote Markt. But ofcos, its Anna & me.... where got walk without any pic taking right.... anything in sight we will stop and pose. After what we felt like milesssss....our nose pick-up this chocolaty smell.... You guessed it! We practically FLOAT to Grand Palace Grote Markt.... along the street was full of chocolate shops... and the smell..... HIGH....DREAMY...(some people says it's better then sex...hahahah... am not telling who).

This is the how-many-ieth UNESCO site I visited in a single trip... the buildings? Exquisite! Let me remind you my pic skill was awful back then - traveling without purpose as I said (aside from hitting all the UNESCO & Wonders of The World spot). Nope! Not complaining.

I remembered clearly, Anna peeping at the Godiva Shop ogling away.... I'll get you a piece on your "bird day" ok! Kesian lar pulak.

Arrghh..... we almost miss the evening train to Amsterdam.... shucks! Rush like mad cow to the station, hop on the train to Amsterdam.

NOOOO!!!!! I know life can not be so nice, good and easy! Guess what happen when we reached Amsterdam???

..... Let me fill you with the backgrounder laar.... England versus The Netherland Friendly Football Match... thus yes.... EVERY accommodation in town let it be cheap or expensive, near or far, decent looking or eerr... were basically running FULL HOUSE. ANNNNND ofcos by virtue of Murphy's Law, we didn't book in advance (let's not start with the story on why did we not do that, it can be an entry on it's own). I was ever ready to sleep at the train station (REALLY!), Anna was grumbling, needed bathroom, shower, bed etc etc etc.... the whole 9 yard lar...

Strangely (an angel must have watched over us), we saw this flyers or was it a signage (!??!) promoting tour & accommodation package, their counter is located across the Central Station. We thought we should give it a try...

YES!!!! They manage to find us a room!!!! Near the Central Station which is kinda in the centre and accessible everywhere and only cost us €50 per night, just that..... it's on a BOAT! You read it correctly, we gonna live for 2 nights in a BOAT. And to get to "our" boat hotel/motel/backpacker/etc, we need to take a passenger ferry to the other side. Hemm....



CURIOUS?

Hyperlink credits : Amsterdam.info, Wikipedia, Trabel.com, Parisbytrain, SNCF, Eurostar, Thalys

Tech Babe

Appeared both in New Strait Times paper (with me pic on it and no [glamer sekejap], unfortunately I don't keep the copy) and online way back in March 2010, forgotten about it till I found this article online just now.... I thought they would have removed it by now, hehhehee....

Perasan moment

My sis did this cut & paste thing for me (I memang tak tau buat), thank Fatin!

Uneventful! Sexdrome?

Day 4 (13 November 2006). You read it right alright.



Tah dah…… no pic was taken on Day 4. Yeah! I know! How stupid right?

You see… I have this thing - when I choose to be bored, I can really be boring!!!!! Hehhehe….. I can’t even remember what I did on that day but I think I went factory outlet shopping near Auchen hyper mart (I think its a hyper mart as it felt like Carrefour/Tesco to me BUT MUCH BETTER). Well, you can’t seriously blame a girl if she got distracted with shopping to a point she forgot all about photo shoot right?!? (travel without purpose mah back then, hehehheee….) (excuses LILY!). Didn’t buy much, actually almost NONE but enjoyed the walk & window shopping time though :D lalalaa la la la la

Day 5 (14 November 2006). LOST.

Kid you not! We checked out from Disney Resort (yeah! Conference ended so gone the comfy accommodation [sob sob sob]) and checked into an city apartment for a night. Took the RER blah blah blah, got into town and look for our apartment (you know the drill). Found the place and dump our HUGE luggage…. Phew… almost a day gone!

Hemmm…. By then it was almost evening. Not knowing much about where we are, we decided to take a walk down stairs and look for food for our dinner (mana kedai yang ada). After asking for direction, we head on to a supermart 50 meter down the main street. We figured, since we were outside; might as well take a walk further down and check out the area lar kan. As we walk further down (after the supermart that is), the street became darker (or was is it because its getting dark ie at night time?!?!? DUH LILY!), I saw some shop signages in red from a distance… can’t read it clearly as it was not big enough BUT I remembered feeling uneasy. I told Anna, I have a feeling we are in red light district lar…. She said “no lar….”. I think to myself “then WHY ARE ALL THE SIGNAGES IN RED????? Hemmm…” “Tak apa…. Jalan aje” I told myself again…

As we walk further, I saw sexy female pic, then next shop - even sexier or some even topless… “Hemm…. Anna, really lar…. red light district….” then we look up on the opposite side of the street - in bright red neon light “ SEXDROME” & “SEX MUSEUM”… “That’s it! CONFIRMED” (at least that’s what it look like laar… hahhahahaa). No pics was taken as a proof, toooooo scared incase they scold us for doing so (yeah, you prob thinks am lying here, really guys; really am not!).

We burst out laughing…. Still, we pull out mighty guts to walk down further…. pretended to be calm, cool & collected lar! Then! We saw it! The famous MOULIN ROUGE…. BETUL!!!!

NO! We didn’t go watch the show lar ofcos… soooo last minute, didn’t even cross our mind when we landed in Paris (DUH! LILY!!!!!). We only managed to take a pic lar… jadi lar kan….

Next morning…. Brussels here we come!

Hyperlinks credits : Wikipedia

M.I.C.K.E.Y M.O.U.S.E

Day 3 (12 November 2006). ME & M.I.C.K.E.Y


Ahhh......A place where the child in you take CHARGEEEEEEE!!!!




Hemm... am torn between blogging or just photo uploading since no-one need NO INTRODUCTION to Mr.Walt Disney & his companion ie Mickey the Mouse. Ok, Why not I just do a gist of it; there's 2 visit site, (1) Disneyland Park & (2) Walt Disney Studio. My (ever so clever) plan was to go to the Studio first, take some pics and then proceed to Disneyland for night shot of the FAMOUS and most ICONIC fairy-tale fortress - THE Cinderella Castle.

Truthfully, my main aim (since this is my 2nd visit to Paris Disneyland) is to take pic with the cartoon characters... WHY right? I don't know... I suppose because I always see my friends' Disney photo album - them with cartoon character and I feel I should have one too (since my earlier visit to Paris Disney & Orlando Disney World was without any, sob sob sob). Hemmm..... SELF-PITY! And did I manage? YES!!! I DID!!!!! I even had a pic with Mickey!!! How cool is that Hehehhe....... HAPPY like a KID! *grin - did I not warn you that "it will bring out the child in you*.

Did I play any ride? NOPE! Did that in Disney World - Florida and besides, playing alone wasn't that much fun anyway (no one to scream with you nor share your fear, fear & more fear... Terasa rugi ler jugak kan). THUUUUUUUSSSSS, to make up for all these lost (trying hard here to console meself, mind you), I DECIDED to take pics of every little thing; even the road sign (especially Monster Inc. heehehee.... BOO!).

Then ofcos I went on the Studio Tram Tour which took you behind the scene kinda thingy (old scene props basically), their wardrobe/costume and vehicles used for some movies. You know, the normal stuff you see in movie studios.

Alas..... the parade.... Always wanted to take pics of DISNEY parade, kinda a small one though but good enough lar.

NEXT!!!! DISNEYLAND PARK!

As usual, you will pass the Main Street and shop at Disney merchandise store, I also bump into "MY" store which I don't remember owning. Hehhehehhe..... Of which, I ALSO DON'T MIND OWNING IT! MUAHAHHAHAA.....

I saw some Christmas carolers (strange, for some weird reason I thought this was supposed to spell with 2 "L"s) as I was roaming around waiting for night time. Aren't they cute with the old English costume *smile*.

After a minutes upon minutes of waiting (felt like hourSSSSS), finally! FINALLY! The Cinderella castle being "spot-lighted" (I created this silly word), ahhh...... BEAUTIFUL! You can here the song...

When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you

Aaaah..... ENCHANTING...

The crowd increased like sardines in a can, just about then….

.....they lighted up the castle.... LAWA!!!!!!

Soon after, I walked back to my hotel lar.....
Building my own little castle in the air.

And I said I might do ONLY photo uploading, yeah right LILY!

:P

Lagi Lagi BALI!

Was quiet for awhile last week or so (off and on), in fact I was away for almost a week in Bali for an event.. (Yeah yeah! Lucky me! BUT it was WORK OK! NO FUN ABOUT THAT). Tired but interesting and definately a new experience since I have never done any media retreat before this. Really hope they've enjoyed it.

Extended the weekend (it was my 6th trip to Bali I think hence no biggy and no need to extend that many a days lor). What did I do there for additional 2 days? Sleep & eat & massage & more massage & even more massage. Hehhehee...... DEstressing time!

Will blog about it soon :)

ALONE in Paris

Day 2 (11 November 2006). That's a sad thing to be all ALONE in Paris, sob sob sob....



How bad was it? I took only 46 photos the whole day. WAIT! You must be wondering why am I alone in Paris right? NOOO! Anna didn’t leave me stranded, ofcos NOT! She wouldn't dare! Hehhehee...... Yeah! Remembered I said she is attending the conference for 2 days (or was it 3 days? Hemmm....), well... our Day 2 in Paris was her 1st Conference Day. BORING her, ALONE me! I wonder who is better off? Or worst off? Hemmm....Anywaysss.....

Woke up VERY VERY VERY late, wasn't sure of what to do, figure I should take a walk in Paris again ie following the same route the day before, AND probably walk a little but slower this time since no one to wait for NOR anyone waiting for me. Hehhee....... this will be the 3rd time me walking the street - Champs-Élysées and not shopping - sigh... freaking expensive with Malaysia exchange rate.

Oh well! Decided! Took a train from Disney Resort Station called Gare de Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy (by the way, did I tell you the conference “forced” us to stay in Paris Disneyland Resort? Woo Hoo! Hehehee.... will blog about it in next entry).

The map looked complicated but pretty sure am smart enough to comprehend this, I figure if I can do this alone in foreign land and foreign language - other part of the world wouldn’t be that hard. I purchased the Metro daily pass so that I can take train everywhere & anywhere, I think I paid €12 for it. My first stop was Galleria La Fayette and decided to start on foot from there, the first time I was there, I remembered my cousin bringing me here to shop of cause back then I don’t have much cash since I just started work.

France was still using their own currency (before Euro came on board). Ahh.....The good old days for currency collectors. I should have kept some! Darn!

Back on Galleria La Fayette, ever since my first trip I always thought that La Fayette was the classiest, fashionable and most stylish mall and since this time around I seems to have more spare time on my own, I thought I should just drop by to take some pics. YUP! It didn’t fail me… fantastic as usual. LOVE IT!

I surely didn’t plan to travel anywhere that year obviously sooo I did not save enough dollars nor brought enough $ for any purpose. Arghhh…..!!!! Hence, till todate I still did not manage to take the cruise on River Seine. Sigh….. Oh well!… At least I get to go to Paris for the 2nd time and both times were FREE! MUAHHAHAHHAAA….. *evil laugh*

I basically took a stroll and took some building pics of which and what - I am so clueless, tangkap jek gambar. Back in those days I was travelholic with no purpose, hahahaaa….. even I feel my stories & pics not THAT exciting.

I remembered on 2nd day I was there I saw this small lane near Notre Dame Cathedral which I plan to revisit, apparently this tiny lane lead me to a Greek area (still not sure of the lane name till now, perhaps I should revisit Paris? Hemm….) and all the food there smelled SOOOOOOOOOOO FRAGRANT and YUMMILICIOUS. I saw some souvenir shops and accidentally bump into this stall (no regrets here!) ie SALAD BAR (vegetarian - not that I fancy veggies that much) - MAOZ. The food was yummy! (I went and look for it again in Amsterdam & Barcelona.... yup! That YUMMY!)

As it was getting dark and I’ve eaten my yummy food thus I head back to Disney Resort (what a boring ending to write, couldn't even find a way to spice this up... apa lar).

My plan for tomorrow?

Paris Disneyland!!!!

Hyperlnik credits : Wikipedia