Let word be out that if you ever cross path with one Dr Michael Newberry, please help me kick his ass, bitch-slap him and make him return me RM1,000!! That son of a *tut*. This is the story.
He was a tenant at my apartment. Never met him personally but according to my agent friend, he seemed friendly, funny and nice. I was rather indifferent to him but when there had been several delays in rent payments, I wasn't exactly too impressed. Yet the couple of times when he'd call to say that there had been faulty items at the apartment, I was prompt and quick in dealing with and replacing the items. The tenancy was due mid December and as I've sold the place, I needed the apartment vacated by the end of the year. Per normal practice, I gave him over 2 months' notice and he agreed that he would not be renewing the tenancy.
Come December, I'd emailed, sms-d and called him on several ocassions without avail. I was suspicious that something's amiss. This was further affirmed when each time I pass by the apartment at night, the place was in total darkness. Finally when the tenancy's expiry date was up, I decided to knock on the door and find out what's going on.
As it turned out, the bugger had fled! Fled!! And I'm sure of this as I found the car park transducer in the mailbox, a stack of unclaimed mails for the idiot and several unpaid electricity and water bills that had run up to really high amounts. After complaining to the management office and lodging a police report (after consulting my lawyer), I entered the apartment with a set of keys that I'd held on to. The apartment was in a mess but luckily, all the stuff I had there were still intact. Some of his stuff were still there, bits and pieces. Nothing of much value of course. On my 2nd visit there, I realised that his washing machine was also gone. It confirms that it was all premeditated. For RM1,000, the Australian idiot had fled. I'm flabbergasted as to how and why he'd do something like that for a small sum like RM1,000!! Wtf!!
So if you ever meet this Dr Newberry chap, be sure to stay clear away from him. But not before getting my money back for me ok. Oh and bitch-slapping him of course!! The nerve of that asshole!!!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
the year gone by...
it's gonna be a pretty quiet Chistmas this year. My annual X'mas party will be on the last day of the year.
My, my, another 12 months have gone by. What have I done this year?
- Quit my job at V4 and got hit on by ex-boss on the day before my last day. No regrets leaving. Definitely!
- Had a couple fabulous regional travels to Bangkok and Bali with awesome company.
- My baby girl had 9 babies from 2 pregnancies within 1 year! *aiks* ...yet what miracles they were, ay.
- Explored several business opportunities - from baking to pets to baking for pets. Didn't come to fruition after considering that the pet industry over here is definitely not as sophisticated as it is overseas.
- Came close to running a restaurant. There it suddenly was...fell onto my lap - an offer to manage a little cafe without even having to invest money - what a deal rite. But it fell through cos the prospective invetor turned out to be rather irresponsible and obnoxious. So it was a blessing in disguise.
- Did a salsa performance at the Singapore International Salsa Festival.
- And Petals & More was formed... The idea just came from a discussion of 3 unemployed beings over coffee. What a cool idea it turned out to be, ay. *wink*
On reflection, there were ups and downs....but it didn't turn out too bad. May 2007 be even better. *oink*oink*
Merry Merry Christmas!
My, my, another 12 months have gone by. What have I done this year?
- Quit my job at V4 and got hit on by ex-boss on the day before my last day. No regrets leaving. Definitely!
- Had a couple fabulous regional travels to Bangkok and Bali with awesome company.
- My baby girl had 9 babies from 2 pregnancies within 1 year! *aiks* ...yet what miracles they were, ay.
- Explored several business opportunities - from baking to pets to baking for pets. Didn't come to fruition after considering that the pet industry over here is definitely not as sophisticated as it is overseas.
- Came close to running a restaurant. There it suddenly was...fell onto my lap - an offer to manage a little cafe without even having to invest money - what a deal rite. But it fell through cos the prospective invetor turned out to be rather irresponsible and obnoxious. So it was a blessing in disguise.
- Did a salsa performance at the Singapore International Salsa Festival.
- And Petals & More was formed... The idea just came from a discussion of 3 unemployed beings over coffee. What a cool idea it turned out to be, ay. *wink*
On reflection, there were ups and downs....but it didn't turn out too bad. May 2007 be even better. *oink*oink*
Merry Merry Christmas!
cooking up a feast
Chirstmas dinner with the family was early this year. Dad could not stay till X'mas due to some engagement back home, so this year we decided to have our pre-X'mas-cum-dad's-birthday dinner celebration early on 22nd, which happened to be dad's actual birthday.
Cooking dinner for 7 this year seemed like a really easy task. Thank goodness for wonderful chef goddesses like Nigella and Delia. *grin* Here was the menu I conjured:
Roast Turkey - courtesy of Delia. It was cooked to perfection, if I may say so myself. *beam* It was nice and brown and succulent and not at all dry. I was v.pleased. :)
Paella with Tiger Prawns, Chicken and Chorizo - another of Delia's simple recipes. It was yummy, despite not having a paella pan nor paella rice. Had to substitute with normal rice and a shallow-ish wok. But it turned out rather well. Looked and tasted quite like the spanish rice dish. :D
Quiche with Ham, Tomato and Avocado - this came for a recipe book of quiches. An interesting recipe using bread as the base instead of shortcrust pastry. So simple and quite delicious. Was apprehensive how it would turn out with bread as the base, but it was great. The edges were toast-crispy and the filling was eggy-cheesy-yummy. Heh.
Tomato, Cucumber, Celery and Pita Salad - this was inspired from Nigella. Her recipe did not contain celery but I figured it would taste just as good with it in. And it was! Hehe.
Spaghetti with Prawns, Squid, Peppers and Brocoli - sis made this. It was not bad except the pasta could've been a bit more al dente. I have this thing about pasta being perfectly al dente - not too soft (*eek*) nor too hard (*yuck*).
And for dessert, we had jello and cute tiger-themed cupcakes, made specially for dad out of HappyBellyBites' oven.
It was a good feast! *beam*
Cooking dinner for 7 this year seemed like a really easy task. Thank goodness for wonderful chef goddesses like Nigella and Delia. *grin* Here was the menu I conjured:
Roast Turkey - courtesy of Delia. It was cooked to perfection, if I may say so myself. *beam* It was nice and brown and succulent and not at all dry. I was v.pleased. :)
Paella with Tiger Prawns, Chicken and Chorizo - another of Delia's simple recipes. It was yummy, despite not having a paella pan nor paella rice. Had to substitute with normal rice and a shallow-ish wok. But it turned out rather well. Looked and tasted quite like the spanish rice dish. :D
Quiche with Ham, Tomato and Avocado - this came for a recipe book of quiches. An interesting recipe using bread as the base instead of shortcrust pastry. So simple and quite delicious. Was apprehensive how it would turn out with bread as the base, but it was great. The edges were toast-crispy and the filling was eggy-cheesy-yummy. Heh.
Tomato, Cucumber, Celery and Pita Salad - this was inspired from Nigella. Her recipe did not contain celery but I figured it would taste just as good with it in. And it was! Hehe.
Spaghetti with Prawns, Squid, Peppers and Brocoli - sis made this. It was not bad except the pasta could've been a bit more al dente. I have this thing about pasta being perfectly al dente - not too soft (*eek*) nor too hard (*yuck*).
And for dessert, we had jello and cute tiger-themed cupcakes, made specially for dad out of HappyBellyBites' oven.
It was a good feast! *beam*
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
and so have the girls
Yay!! They all have homes! *Yippee* I think they're all in good homes...well, at least I hope! *fingers crossed*
*Sigh* Partly relieved....yet partly sad. Those little ones have definitely grown onto me! And I think Trin is suddenly suffering from post-natal depression. I dunno, is it possible with dogs?? But she's certainly acting strange. She's been crying a lot the last 2 days, whimpering and trying to tell me something. I wish I could understand what's she trying to say. And everytime we hear the neighbour's silky pup (yes, coincidently, one of the neighbours has a silky pup! what are the odds, ay) crying, she thinks it's one of her babies and starts to get worried, wanting to go to the little pup. Oh dear, oh dear....I sure hope she gets over this feeling soon. I feel so helpless and sad that I dunno what to do to.
*Sighhhhh* My poor baby... :(
*Sigh* Partly relieved....yet partly sad. Those little ones have definitely grown onto me! And I think Trin is suddenly suffering from post-natal depression. I dunno, is it possible with dogs?? But she's certainly acting strange. She's been crying a lot the last 2 days, whimpering and trying to tell me something. I wish I could understand what's she trying to say. And everytime we hear the neighbour's silky pup (yes, coincidently, one of the neighbours has a silky pup! what are the odds, ay) crying, she thinks it's one of her babies and starts to get worried, wanting to go to the little pup. Oh dear, oh dear....I sure hope she gets over this feeling soon. I feel so helpless and sad that I dunno what to do to.
*Sighhhhh* My poor baby... :(
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
the boys have left the house...
2 girls left... Astonishingly, the boys seem more popular than the girls this time around. Usually girl doggies tend to be harder to breed and more popular among some dog lovers. So the irony this time that we have equal distribution of the X and XY chomosomes, resulting in the birth of 2 males and 2 females, yet only the boys have caught buyers' attention.
People! The girls need good homes too!! Please take home a girl dog today!! Hehe... But seriously, please take one home now....pleaseeeee... :)
People! The girls need good homes too!! Please take home a girl dog today!! Hehe... But seriously, please take one home now....pleaseeeee... :)
Friday, November 24, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
miracle of birth part II
2 girls, 2 boys and a wonderful mom!! *beam*
It was a darlin girl first at abt 4pm...followed by a boy at 5.09pm, then another girl at 5.55pm, and lastly a boy at 6.02pm. What an amazing experience. It still awes me to watch their birth. Such a beautiful miracle.
Their tails have just been docked. Ok this is confusing part - the new vet I've been visiting says that puppy tails should be docked within 3 days from birth! 3 days!!! The last vet for my first round of grandpups advised that the tails be clipped at 6 weeks. What a disparity! The new vet claims that at 6 weeks, it would be too painful for the pups. Aaarrrgghhhh.....stupid old vet! Hmmph!! Poor 1st batch of grandpups - I feel so bad for having put them thru that pain. :(
Anyway, this time mah new grandpups get to be certified. Gotta start thinking of names... :D
It was a darlin girl first at abt 4pm...followed by a boy at 5.09pm, then another girl at 5.55pm, and lastly a boy at 6.02pm. What an amazing experience. It still awes me to watch their birth. Such a beautiful miracle.
Their tails have just been docked. Ok this is confusing part - the new vet I've been visiting says that puppy tails should be docked within 3 days from birth! 3 days!!! The last vet for my first round of grandpups advised that the tails be clipped at 6 weeks. What a disparity! The new vet claims that at 6 weeks, it would be too painful for the pups. Aaarrrgghhhh.....stupid old vet! Hmmph!! Poor 1st batch of grandpups - I feel so bad for having put them thru that pain. :(
Anyway, this time mah new grandpups get to be certified. Gotta start thinking of names... :D
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
shades of friendship
And once again I have to say "I have great friends!". *beam*
The day that was - awesome pampering....wonderful gastronomy....cool new shades *grin*.... and most importantly, incredibly fabulous company!!!
Friendships come in different shades - and there will come a time when the shades become more defined. That's when u know the true colours of your friends! People who don't matter won't matter anymore....
Ok ok...I'm being too philosophical. Hehe... In a Brazilian nutshell....I'm blessed!!! :D
The day that was - awesome pampering....wonderful gastronomy....cool new shades *grin*.... and most importantly, incredibly fabulous company!!!
Friendships come in different shades - and there will come a time when the shades become more defined. That's when u know the true colours of your friends! People who don't matter won't matter anymore....
Ok ok...I'm being too philosophical. Hehe... In a Brazilian nutshell....I'm blessed!!! :D
the price of perfection
It wasn't spectacular...but I reckon based on the number of hours practised and stress levels endured - we did our best. Whether or not we performed up to people's expectations, well I gez everyone's entitled to their opinions.
This time the feelings are entirely different from the euphoria felt during last year's competition. Maybe the 'lack of excitement' showed. Oh well...can't be helped - priorities have changed this time around. But it was not to say that we did not try our best - yet sometimes the best may not be enough....
C'est la vie...
This time the feelings are entirely different from the euphoria felt during last year's competition. Maybe the 'lack of excitement' showed. Oh well...can't be helped - priorities have changed this time around. But it was not to say that we did not try our best - yet sometimes the best may not be enough....
C'est la vie...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Wat else went on...
...in the months gone by...
- Trin is preggars....again!! *Sigh* Yes, me no good mommy! :(
- Trigger has been snipped. Finally! It was a strange trip to the SPCA clinic but it was all worthwhile.
- Tristan is now with mah mom back in Melaka. He had become somewhat difficult to manage. So some alone time by himself would do him and us some good. And it worked! He's a whole lot more obedient without his other four-legged compadres to play with. Hehe...
- Debut performance for Team Havana this Sat, 16 Sept! *Aiks* Well, I think we're ok, not perfect, but ok. So...*fingers crossed*.
- Team Havana to perform at the Singapore Salsa Festival on 13 Oct. *Shudder*Shudder* But that'll be another mark in my dance history! Heh...
- My latin dance 'troupe' will go under the wings of a new instructor come this month end - who's supposed to be teaching more competitive styling/routines. That should be more fun and challenging. :)
Life and times of a dog-loving-dancer-flower-girl...haha.... Till the next time....
- Trin is preggars....again!! *Sigh* Yes, me no good mommy! :(
- Trigger has been snipped. Finally! It was a strange trip to the SPCA clinic but it was all worthwhile.
- Tristan is now with mah mom back in Melaka. He had become somewhat difficult to manage. So some alone time by himself would do him and us some good. And it worked! He's a whole lot more obedient without his other four-legged compadres to play with. Hehe...
- Debut performance for Team Havana this Sat, 16 Sept! *Aiks* Well, I think we're ok, not perfect, but ok. So...*fingers crossed*.
- Team Havana to perform at the Singapore Salsa Festival on 13 Oct. *Shudder*Shudder* But that'll be another mark in my dance history! Heh...
- My latin dance 'troupe' will go under the wings of a new instructor come this month end - who's supposed to be teaching more competitive styling/routines. That should be more fun and challenging. :)
Life and times of a dog-loving-dancer-flower-girl...haha.... Till the next time....
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Petals & More
This is what I've been busy with....
www.petalsnmore.com.my
Check it out....and pls do give your support....*grin*
www.petalsnmore.com.my
Check it out....and pls do give your support....*grin*
Thursday, July 27, 2006
the heat is back on
Trinity is in heat! *Yikes* It's been driving Tristan mad! He's been 'marking' all over the house and consequently, driving me up the wall too. Ugh. I gez it's a real torture for him to have that 'manly lustful instinct' to fornicate and yet is unable to 'stick his equipment where it wants to be'. Hmm...
Trin is no longer fighting him off, which means it's that 'prime heat period'. This is when she'll start teasing and flirting with him. Oh dear....I gotta be real cautious and stop any 'humping action' from happening. I'm not putting her thru another pregnancy. Fortunately, Trigger does not seem to have reached puberty and did not develop any humping tendencies. Phew!
Can't wait to spay mah girl. Maybe after this period.
Trin is no longer fighting him off, which means it's that 'prime heat period'. This is when she'll start teasing and flirting with him. Oh dear....I gotta be real cautious and stop any 'humping action' from happening. I'm not putting her thru another pregnancy. Fortunately, Trigger does not seem to have reached puberty and did not develop any humping tendencies. Phew!
Can't wait to spay mah girl. Maybe after this period.
practice makes perfect
Practice sessions have progressively improved. The team is more confident of the routine and adapting better to the difficulty level. We're more comfortable with the speed of the song too. Hopefully with a few more practices, we'd have aced it. Hehe. *Fingers crossed*
Sam has invited us to perform at the Singapore Salsa Festival in Oct. Hmm...interesting. It would no doubt be a great opportunity to perform in front of the world - many overseas participants are expected to attend. Frighteningly exciting....yet excitingly frightening! Heh!
We'll see what happens after the KL performance at the end of Aug.
Sam has invited us to perform at the Singapore Salsa Festival in Oct. Hmm...interesting. It would no doubt be a great opportunity to perform in front of the world - many overseas participants are expected to attend. Frighteningly exciting....yet excitingly frightening! Heh!
We'll see what happens after the KL performance at the end of Aug.
how is it logical?
My iBook has just been discharged from the ER. It is unbelievable! My second notebook to fail on me. And due to the same frinkin thing. The iBook's logicboard (the equivalent of a motherboard) had apparently fried - it was the v.thing that caused my Fujitsu Lifebook to die. WTF?! Even the Mac technician said that it's truly bad luck to have 2 notebooks fail for the same reason. What blardy logic is that?? Aarrgghhh.... Sigh.... Mutha-fuckin-board indeed! Hmph!
Anyways...it's now back. Thankfully it's still under warranty, hence, this time I did not fork out any $$$. I'm pleased. Let's just pray that the logicboard stays logically sane from now on.
Anyways...it's now back. Thankfully it's still under warranty, hence, this time I did not fork out any $$$. I'm pleased. Let's just pray that the logicboard stays logically sane from now on.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
training days
3 couples, twice a week, 2 hours each session. Boy, has training been stressful and intensive. Our team members are slightly somewhat disheartened as it's the most difficult dance experience we've had. Our routine is hard, fast and complex. The hardest part is trying to make each of us look alike. We are unfortunately miles apart. Sychronisation is definitely a big challenge. But I'm sure we'll get closer as time progresses. Hopefully we won't make fools of ourselves at the end.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
R.I.P. Sapphire
Poor Sapphire. He had suddenly given up on life. Not sure why. He had always been rather weak since I brought him home. But at one point, his spirits went up and I thot he was much happier. Even his colour seemed a brighter electric blue and he looked comfortable in his abode. Then just few days before his departure, he was refusing to eat and looked pale. He didn't swim around as much as he used to. And one morning, his tiny body laid on the rock (stone) lifeless. *Sob*Sob*
Rest in peace, dear Sapphire.
Rest in peace, dear Sapphire.
and the Cup goes to...
What a thrilling end to the World Cup! Highly intensive and suspenseful penalty shootout that ended with Italy defeating France 5-3. Boohoo... I was rooting for le France....and only simply because I drive a pug. Hehe. Well, neither was really a favourite team, so I had to make a choice. What better basis than to root for the country I had already (indirectly) supported since I drive a French-made car. Heh.
Oh well...there goes for all the teams I had rooted for since the start of the World Cup. None made it thru, except maybe one - of which I forget which one now. *Aiks*
4 years to wait. In the meantime, life goes back to normalcy. :D
Oh well...there goes for all the teams I had rooted for since the start of the World Cup. None made it thru, except maybe one - of which I forget which one now. *Aiks*
4 years to wait. In the meantime, life goes back to normalcy. :D
Monday, July 03, 2006
he's....back
He's always been my all-time favourite superhero. And watching the return of the Man of Steel truly brought back many childhood memories of the Reeves's instalments. And Brandon Routh....he's immaculately gorgeous - bears such an uncanny resemblance to Reeves, including the way he talks and acts. Loved it, loved it....loved him!! Mmmm....Oh I'm in love... *dreamy sigh*
Monday, June 12, 2006
Germany World Cup Fever 2006
It's fun to watch the World Cup in a pub cos
- a huge crowd will be there glueing their eyes to the TV screen, hence creating an intensed feverish atmosphere;
- when a goal is achieved or missed, a frenzy roar of joy or disappointment rises from the crowd;
- your friends start to gamble and negotiate for handicap scores, incl. those who don't normally gamble;
- people start discussing how beautiful the goals were scored and u get to learn more abt football *hehe*;
- when the game's over, your friends gloat and argue to claim their prizes after winning.
Haha. Only once in 4 years.... It is rather fun...
- a huge crowd will be there glueing their eyes to the TV screen, hence creating an intensed feverish atmosphere;
- when a goal is achieved or missed, a frenzy roar of joy or disappointment rises from the crowd;
- your friends start to gamble and negotiate for handicap scores, incl. those who don't normally gamble;
- people start discussing how beautiful the goals were scored and u get to learn more abt football *hehe*;
- when the game's over, your friends gloat and argue to claim their prizes after winning.
Haha. Only once in 4 years.... It is rather fun...
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
T for three
Tinkles finally went home this morning...his new home that is. *sob* I shall miss him. Of the 5, Tinkles has the mildest temperament. Looks a lot like Trinity to boot - facial and size wise. He's the tiniest despite having a big appetite and eating the same amount of food as the rest. He can be quite an anti-social at times but at other times, he's sweet and docile. I trust he's in good hands with my godsis. Fortunately, I'll be able to see him once a while since he's with family. :D
So there left the T family...
So there left the T family...
Monday, May 22, 2006
and then there was one
Finally....finally...all my grandpups have been homed with good families. I can now heave a big sigh of relief. *PHEW* Hehe. I was beginning to worry that I could not find homes for Toffee and Tinkles. But He answered my prayers and helped me seek good homes for my two T's. And the best thing is that they're with closed friends, so I can visit them every now and again. *grin* So THANK YOU much!!
Toffee is now with Mike and his mom loves the baby to death. At his request, Mike dog-sat Toffee over the weekend. His mom suddenly took such a great liking to the boy and vice versa. Then Mike managed to persuade his parents to keep Toffee. Yippee! His dad, who never was v.fond of doggies, had also warmed up to him now. *grin* Tinkles has been adopted by my godsis in Melaka, so I can see him whenever I visit home. Coolio!!
And then there's Trigger. Ahh....my Trigger. He's such a darl. My bond's too tight with him to let him out of my sight. Therefore, here he shall remain. *big grin* Yes, now I have 3 dawgs. Slightly overwhelming but they do bring me much joy and love. Out of my love for them, I'd have them any day. Besides I think I can claim that I'm now a bit more experienced in raising the canine species. So this time, I hope to train Trigger well. Thankfully, he does not take after his daddy's 'over-activeness' and does not have 'pent up energy' boiling in him all the time. Heh.
Ok now the house can get back to some order. Hehe.
Toffee is now with Mike and his mom loves the baby to death. At his request, Mike dog-sat Toffee over the weekend. His mom suddenly took such a great liking to the boy and vice versa. Then Mike managed to persuade his parents to keep Toffee. Yippee! His dad, who never was v.fond of doggies, had also warmed up to him now. *grin* Tinkles has been adopted by my godsis in Melaka, so I can see him whenever I visit home. Coolio!!
And then there's Trigger. Ahh....my Trigger. He's such a darl. My bond's too tight with him to let him out of my sight. Therefore, here he shall remain. *big grin* Yes, now I have 3 dawgs. Slightly overwhelming but they do bring me much joy and love. Out of my love for them, I'd have them any day. Besides I think I can claim that I'm now a bit more experienced in raising the canine species. So this time, I hope to train Trigger well. Thankfully, he does not take after his daddy's 'over-activeness' and does not have 'pent up energy' boiling in him all the time. Heh.
Ok now the house can get back to some order. Hehe.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
my new pet...and it's not a dog
The studio's pet fighting fish, Barthalomew, have had quite a few offsprings before settling into his new home in a fish bowl on the desk of Havana Estudio. Boy, has he been 'sowing his seeds' around. Cos he's had quite a few of them. At least he's had some good fun action before leading his current solitary bachelorhood. Heh.
His ex-owner had been nursing Bart's offsprings. And when they've reached a certain maturity, he had been putting them up for adoption at the studio. Last nite, I adopted a pretty blue fishie. *grin* It was obvious that the fish was pretty stressed out as his pale colours showed. It must've been all the traveling about in a tiny plastic packet.
He's now living in a large fish bowl. I wonder if he'd ever get bored. Cos fighting fish do not like mixing with other fishies. They tend to get into fights with other fishes, hence, their name. But he looks so lonely all by himself. It makes me wonder how they co-exist with their surroundings in their natural habitat. Poor fishie or is he?
Tristan has been ever so curious with his new housemate. I had initially put the fish bowl on a low table next to the TV. Tristan kept staring at the little thing and must be wondering if this new moving thing is a threat. I have moved the fish bowl up high on a cabinet to avoid any possible destruction by mah boy. But he continues to stare at it with great caution. His watchful eyes never leaving the bowl wherever he moves. And he'd be staring at it till his eye lids get heavy and fall to sleep. Hehe. So farnee...
I need a name. Hmm....
His ex-owner had been nursing Bart's offsprings. And when they've reached a certain maturity, he had been putting them up for adoption at the studio. Last nite, I adopted a pretty blue fishie. *grin* It was obvious that the fish was pretty stressed out as his pale colours showed. It must've been all the traveling about in a tiny plastic packet.
He's now living in a large fish bowl. I wonder if he'd ever get bored. Cos fighting fish do not like mixing with other fishies. They tend to get into fights with other fishes, hence, their name. But he looks so lonely all by himself. It makes me wonder how they co-exist with their surroundings in their natural habitat. Poor fishie or is he?
Tristan has been ever so curious with his new housemate. I had initially put the fish bowl on a low table next to the TV. Tristan kept staring at the little thing and must be wondering if this new moving thing is a threat. I have moved the fish bowl up high on a cabinet to avoid any possible destruction by mah boy. But he continues to stare at it with great caution. His watchful eyes never leaving the bowl wherever he moves. And he'd be staring at it till his eye lids get heavy and fall to sleep. Hehe. So farnee...
I need a name. Hmm....
Thursday, May 11, 2006
almost paradise in Bali
Day 1: KLIA LCC
Left house at 2pm. There was a thunderstorm. Was supposed to meet with PP at Gavin's since he had graciously agreed to send us to and from the airport. The rain stopped after about 10 mins. Got to the new KLIA Low Cost Carrier airport by about 3.15pm. Our flight was due to take off at 4.40pm. At about 4pm, the announcement came that our plane was delayed by 3 hours! *Bahhh...* Horror! It was the first time I'd encountered such a long delay via Air Asia. *Hmph*
Finally boarded the plane at about 7.30pm and it took off at about 8pm. We arrived at Bali at 11pm! What a bloody waste of the day! *Sigh* But we were not about to waste the nite away. So we checked in to Masa Inn, Kuta (based on a friend's recommendation), freshened up and headed out to check out a salsa bar. Hehe. A salsa mate from the studio had referred me to a salsa dancer at Kuta. So with the taxi driver's help, we found the place called Obsession at Jl. Dhyannapura. Unfortunately, the salsa scene in Bali is not huge and there was hardly anyone at Obsession. Disappointed, we checked out the other salsa bar nearby called Bahianna. It was more happening at Bahianna cos they had some performances. But it wasn't quite what I expected. Relatively quiet for a Friday nite out. So after a drink, we called it a nite. After all, it had been a long tiring day...
Day 2: Basking on Kuta Beach and monkeying around at Uluwatu
When we first arrived at Masa Inn, we were kinda put off by a few factors:
- It was off the main road, thru a tiny dark creepy lane. We knew that we'd feel unsafe to walk on that lane to get to the main road, where all the happening places are.
- The reception area was just a large table at the front of the hotel manned by two chaps, one of whom was apparently the security guard dressed in a singlet. Hmm...
- We were rather impressed with the landscape as we walked past the pool area to our room. But when we got into our room, our faces fell once more. It was a dogdy and dark looking room.
So we made up our minds to go check other hotels situated nearer or on the main road. After breakfast, we went on our hunt and found a nice looking hotel just 50m off the main road called Kuta Puri Bungalows. The landscape was scenic and we were more pleased with our room's deco. So we checked out of Masa Inn and registered at Kuta Puri.
After all that was sorted, we were set to get on with our plans for the day. It was a day of sun tanning on Kuta Beach. The beach was just 100m from where we were. The day was scorching hot - in a way it was ideal for our objective to sun tan. The beach unfortunately wasn't v.impressive and the water wasn't clear. In fact, it was rather dirty and vile. But I've had prior warning of that - Kuta beach is more of a surfers' beach and not much one to be swimming or soaking in. Nevertheless it was still good for sun tanning purposes.
As soon as we stepped on the beach, we were terribly harassed by a string of sellers, begging us to buy their products and/or services. They were selling all sorts from sarongs to beach pegs to hair braiding services to manicure and pedicure. Eventhough the stuff were cheap, it was a rather harrowing experience as the sellers were awfully persistent and kept returning to bug us. And when we decided to go for the manicure and pedicure, other sellers kept persuading us to buy other stuff/services and were giving samples by tugging at us and pulling our legs and arms to sample a massage, for example. While we were quite pleased with our mani/pedi-cure services, it was overall a not-so-pleasant beach experience.
We decided to head back to the hotel to sun tan by the swimming pool. Then we booked ourselves a tour to Uluwatu to witness a supposedly stunning sunset view. The view was to be seen from a hilltop where a puri (temple) is situated and lots of monkeys reside. We were also booked to watch a kecak dance. It was worth the trip as the view was magnificent. However, we were not so lucky to see the sun setting as it was a cloudy day. *frown* The scenery would no doubt be much more spectacular against a sunset background.
There were monkeys everywhere at the hilltop. Some tourists had bought food to feed them. These monkeys were extremely cheeky and mischevious. One of them snatched my bandana off my head and went to the cliff side to play with it. After a few tries of retrieving it back myself, a local lady managed to pick it up from a branch as it was left there by the cheeky monkey for a small fee. *Hmph*
The kecak dance is a dance sung by a group of about 70 men, unaccompanied by any instruments and tells a story of a local legend. It ended with one character kicking up fire bushes. It was an experience all right but not one that I fully appreciated.
Later at nite, we headed out Bahianna again as it was supposedly salsa nite on Sat there. Met up with the Bali reference and danced a few dances - with a guy named Made, his girlfriend and another girl leader. Apparently, Made had learned salsa through dance videos and he and his girlfriend have been trying to boost the local salsa scene. Their leads were similar to the on-1 steps that I know although there some parts of their leads that were a little unclear. However, the fact that their salsa arose from videos, they danced as good as many 'veterans' I've danced with.The salsa scene however is small and not quite exciting - there weren't many couples on the dance floor and the salsa only lasted a couple of hours. Yet I was glad that I had managed some dancing. *grin*
Day 3: More basking at Nusa Dua and the Dirty Duck Diner
We were told that the beaches at Nusa Dua are lovelier, quieter and have far fewer harassing sellers. So we were looking forward to a more peaceful day of sun tanning. We got a reasonable taxi deal that took us to Nusa Dua, then Ubud as we had 2 nites there.
The taxi driver took us to the Geger Beach at Nusa Dua. It was as promised - the water was blue and crystal clear, the sand was softer and cleaner, there were just a few tourists under some lovely umbrellas and there weren't many sellers lurking around like a pack of vultures. It was another crisp hot day and we were fairly relaxed as we soaked in the water and basked ourselves trying to even out our tan. While I had tanned myself to a relatively nice golden brown, there were several uneven spots caused by my new brief-type-bikini I'd worn the day before. Silly me - I should've known better than to wear a brief bottom when sun tanning. Hmm...
After a couple of hours, we left Nusa Dua for Ubud. We arrived at Ubud in the afternoon. It is a quiet, tranquil town with lots of view of rice fields. The town central is simply a circle surrounded by artsy, hippy looking shops. After we had checked into our hotel at Graha Ubud Bali, we strolled around the circle. We finished walking the circle in just under a couple of hours. It is not a big area. Shopping at Ubud is not as satisfying - stuff were not as cheap as they were at Kuta and one could not bargain v.much. The shops would only offer small discounts. However, there were the occasional quirky and unusual stuff that you probably would not find elsewhere.
We booked ourselves dinner at Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), that had come highly recommended by some friends. The main dish is a deep fried v.crispy duck that was extremely delicious. Food was good but was not exactly cheap, yet it was worth the while.
There isn't much nite life in Ubud. So we retired to bed fairly early, compared to our stay at Kuta. Our room was pretty old but it had a quaint authentic feel to it.
Day 4: Volcano mountain and amazing spa
We had booked a tour that took us to several spots in the north of Ubud:
1. First stop was at Gua Gajah - a cave with elephant carvings and a place for the Hindus and Buddhists to worship.
2. Gunung Kawi was the next stop - there were a lot of steps to climb and we weren't extremely impressed with the view when we got to the end where another temple ruin was.
3. Then we visited Tampak Siring, where there is a holy spring water pool - a number of locals were bathing in that pool.
4. We then stopped by a cocoa/coffee plantation - it was a v.small plantation run by some locals mainly for their family consumption. Surprisingly enough, we found ourselves a few shopping items at the shop in the plantation. There were spices, coffee and several other natural produce from the plantation. The most worthwhile purchase was saffron and vanilla pods at Rp20,000 and Rp60,000 respectively - which translates to only RM8 and RM18 each - dirt cheap!
5. The highlight of our tour was the visit to Kintanmani to see the volcano mountain called Gunung Batur. The driver drove us to a restaurant for lunch up a neighbouring hill that has a spectacular view of Gunung Batur. The scenery was magnificent. It reminded me of the scenery at a homestay south of Christchurch, New Zealand.
6. The last stop was at a rice terrace. We took a few snapshots of the rice terrace but didn't stop to venture into it.
When we got back to Ubud, we decided to try out a Balinese massage. The driver recommended Jelatik Esthetic. We then booked ourselves 2 beauty packages, comprising Balinese massage, facial and cream hair treatment - for only IDR210,000 (approx. RM80). We had no regrets! The massage was amazingly awesome. It was the BEST massage I've ever ever had. And it only cost about RM30 (normal price for a single massage was IDR75,000)!! It was way better than Thai massages. In Thailand, while the massages are cheap, they are normally carried out in a simple room with several mattresses on the floor. In Bali, for something like RM5 more than what you'd pay for a Thai massage, the Balinese massage is carried out in a spa, where you have a nice private room scented with essential oils. The facial and hair treatment were fantastic to boot. It was certainly a fabulous treat to end the day.
Day 5: Yummilicious Babi Guling, more spa and bye bye Bali
The other famous delicacy in Ubud is babi guling, which is essentially roast pork that's served in a special sauce. Only one small stall called Bu Oka serves this dish during lunch and it was packed with locals and tourists. It was yummy.
After lunch, we did some more walking and a bit of shopping. Then we returned to Jelatik for another massage session. It was yet another fantastic massage. Definitely worth every penny!
After the massage, we were due to go to the airport for our nite flight. Thankfully, we didn't encounter any delay for our return trip and got home slightly past midnite.
It was almost paradise in Bali - the sun, sea and spa! Ahhh.....simply marvellous. And I love my tan (albeit some uneven spots here and there)! *beam* Bali is definitely worth returning to. I can't wait to plan for the next trip. Hehe. Check out more photos on my Flickr badge.
Left house at 2pm. There was a thunderstorm. Was supposed to meet with PP at Gavin's since he had graciously agreed to send us to and from the airport. The rain stopped after about 10 mins. Got to the new KLIA Low Cost Carrier airport by about 3.15pm. Our flight was due to take off at 4.40pm. At about 4pm, the announcement came that our plane was delayed by 3 hours! *Bahhh...* Horror! It was the first time I'd encountered such a long delay via Air Asia. *Hmph*
Finally boarded the plane at about 7.30pm and it took off at about 8pm. We arrived at Bali at 11pm! What a bloody waste of the day! *Sigh* But we were not about to waste the nite away. So we checked in to Masa Inn, Kuta (based on a friend's recommendation), freshened up and headed out to check out a salsa bar. Hehe. A salsa mate from the studio had referred me to a salsa dancer at Kuta. So with the taxi driver's help, we found the place called Obsession at Jl. Dhyannapura. Unfortunately, the salsa scene in Bali is not huge and there was hardly anyone at Obsession. Disappointed, we checked out the other salsa bar nearby called Bahianna. It was more happening at Bahianna cos they had some performances. But it wasn't quite what I expected. Relatively quiet for a Friday nite out. So after a drink, we called it a nite. After all, it had been a long tiring day...
Day 2: Basking on Kuta Beach and monkeying around at Uluwatu
When we first arrived at Masa Inn, we were kinda put off by a few factors:
- It was off the main road, thru a tiny dark creepy lane. We knew that we'd feel unsafe to walk on that lane to get to the main road, where all the happening places are.
- The reception area was just a large table at the front of the hotel manned by two chaps, one of whom was apparently the security guard dressed in a singlet. Hmm...
- We were rather impressed with the landscape as we walked past the pool area to our room. But when we got into our room, our faces fell once more. It was a dogdy and dark looking room.
So we made up our minds to go check other hotels situated nearer or on the main road. After breakfast, we went on our hunt and found a nice looking hotel just 50m off the main road called Kuta Puri Bungalows. The landscape was scenic and we were more pleased with our room's deco. So we checked out of Masa Inn and registered at Kuta Puri.
After all that was sorted, we were set to get on with our plans for the day. It was a day of sun tanning on Kuta Beach. The beach was just 100m from where we were. The day was scorching hot - in a way it was ideal for our objective to sun tan. The beach unfortunately wasn't v.impressive and the water wasn't clear. In fact, it was rather dirty and vile. But I've had prior warning of that - Kuta beach is more of a surfers' beach and not much one to be swimming or soaking in. Nevertheless it was still good for sun tanning purposes.
As soon as we stepped on the beach, we were terribly harassed by a string of sellers, begging us to buy their products and/or services. They were selling all sorts from sarongs to beach pegs to hair braiding services to manicure and pedicure. Eventhough the stuff were cheap, it was a rather harrowing experience as the sellers were awfully persistent and kept returning to bug us. And when we decided to go for the manicure and pedicure, other sellers kept persuading us to buy other stuff/services and were giving samples by tugging at us and pulling our legs and arms to sample a massage, for example. While we were quite pleased with our mani/pedi-cure services, it was overall a not-so-pleasant beach experience.
We decided to head back to the hotel to sun tan by the swimming pool. Then we booked ourselves a tour to Uluwatu to witness a supposedly stunning sunset view. The view was to be seen from a hilltop where a puri (temple) is situated and lots of monkeys reside. We were also booked to watch a kecak dance. It was worth the trip as the view was magnificent. However, we were not so lucky to see the sun setting as it was a cloudy day. *frown* The scenery would no doubt be much more spectacular against a sunset background.
There were monkeys everywhere at the hilltop. Some tourists had bought food to feed them. These monkeys were extremely cheeky and mischevious. One of them snatched my bandana off my head and went to the cliff side to play with it. After a few tries of retrieving it back myself, a local lady managed to pick it up from a branch as it was left there by the cheeky monkey for a small fee. *Hmph*
The kecak dance is a dance sung by a group of about 70 men, unaccompanied by any instruments and tells a story of a local legend. It ended with one character kicking up fire bushes. It was an experience all right but not one that I fully appreciated.
Later at nite, we headed out Bahianna again as it was supposedly salsa nite on Sat there. Met up with the Bali reference and danced a few dances - with a guy named Made, his girlfriend and another girl leader. Apparently, Made had learned salsa through dance videos and he and his girlfriend have been trying to boost the local salsa scene. Their leads were similar to the on-1 steps that I know although there some parts of their leads that were a little unclear. However, the fact that their salsa arose from videos, they danced as good as many 'veterans' I've danced with.The salsa scene however is small and not quite exciting - there weren't many couples on the dance floor and the salsa only lasted a couple of hours. Yet I was glad that I had managed some dancing. *grin*
Day 3: More basking at Nusa Dua and the Dirty Duck Diner
We were told that the beaches at Nusa Dua are lovelier, quieter and have far fewer harassing sellers. So we were looking forward to a more peaceful day of sun tanning. We got a reasonable taxi deal that took us to Nusa Dua, then Ubud as we had 2 nites there.
The taxi driver took us to the Geger Beach at Nusa Dua. It was as promised - the water was blue and crystal clear, the sand was softer and cleaner, there were just a few tourists under some lovely umbrellas and there weren't many sellers lurking around like a pack of vultures. It was another crisp hot day and we were fairly relaxed as we soaked in the water and basked ourselves trying to even out our tan. While I had tanned myself to a relatively nice golden brown, there were several uneven spots caused by my new brief-type-bikini I'd worn the day before. Silly me - I should've known better than to wear a brief bottom when sun tanning. Hmm...
After a couple of hours, we left Nusa Dua for Ubud. We arrived at Ubud in the afternoon. It is a quiet, tranquil town with lots of view of rice fields. The town central is simply a circle surrounded by artsy, hippy looking shops. After we had checked into our hotel at Graha Ubud Bali, we strolled around the circle. We finished walking the circle in just under a couple of hours. It is not a big area. Shopping at Ubud is not as satisfying - stuff were not as cheap as they were at Kuta and one could not bargain v.much. The shops would only offer small discounts. However, there were the occasional quirky and unusual stuff that you probably would not find elsewhere.
We booked ourselves dinner at Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner), that had come highly recommended by some friends. The main dish is a deep fried v.crispy duck that was extremely delicious. Food was good but was not exactly cheap, yet it was worth the while.
There isn't much nite life in Ubud. So we retired to bed fairly early, compared to our stay at Kuta. Our room was pretty old but it had a quaint authentic feel to it.
Day 4: Volcano mountain and amazing spa
We had booked a tour that took us to several spots in the north of Ubud:
1. First stop was at Gua Gajah - a cave with elephant carvings and a place for the Hindus and Buddhists to worship.
2. Gunung Kawi was the next stop - there were a lot of steps to climb and we weren't extremely impressed with the view when we got to the end where another temple ruin was.
3. Then we visited Tampak Siring, where there is a holy spring water pool - a number of locals were bathing in that pool.
4. We then stopped by a cocoa/coffee plantation - it was a v.small plantation run by some locals mainly for their family consumption. Surprisingly enough, we found ourselves a few shopping items at the shop in the plantation. There were spices, coffee and several other natural produce from the plantation. The most worthwhile purchase was saffron and vanilla pods at Rp20,000 and Rp60,000 respectively - which translates to only RM8 and RM18 each - dirt cheap!
5. The highlight of our tour was the visit to Kintanmani to see the volcano mountain called Gunung Batur. The driver drove us to a restaurant for lunch up a neighbouring hill that has a spectacular view of Gunung Batur. The scenery was magnificent. It reminded me of the scenery at a homestay south of Christchurch, New Zealand.
6. The last stop was at a rice terrace. We took a few snapshots of the rice terrace but didn't stop to venture into it.
When we got back to Ubud, we decided to try out a Balinese massage. The driver recommended Jelatik Esthetic. We then booked ourselves 2 beauty packages, comprising Balinese massage, facial and cream hair treatment - for only IDR210,000 (approx. RM80). We had no regrets! The massage was amazingly awesome. It was the BEST massage I've ever ever had. And it only cost about RM30 (normal price for a single massage was IDR75,000)!! It was way better than Thai massages. In Thailand, while the massages are cheap, they are normally carried out in a simple room with several mattresses on the floor. In Bali, for something like RM5 more than what you'd pay for a Thai massage, the Balinese massage is carried out in a spa, where you have a nice private room scented with essential oils. The facial and hair treatment were fantastic to boot. It was certainly a fabulous treat to end the day.
Day 5: Yummilicious Babi Guling, more spa and bye bye Bali
The other famous delicacy in Ubud is babi guling, which is essentially roast pork that's served in a special sauce. Only one small stall called Bu Oka serves this dish during lunch and it was packed with locals and tourists. It was yummy.
After lunch, we did some more walking and a bit of shopping. Then we returned to Jelatik for another massage session. It was yet another fantastic massage. Definitely worth every penny!
After the massage, we were due to go to the airport for our nite flight. Thankfully, we didn't encounter any delay for our return trip and got home slightly past midnite.
It was almost paradise in Bali - the sun, sea and spa! Ahhh.....simply marvellous. And I love my tan (albeit some uneven spots here and there)! *beam* Bali is definitely worth returning to. I can't wait to plan for the next trip. Hehe. Check out more photos on my Flickr badge.
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