Google Image tag

I got tag from Mimi, a Filipino living in Malaysia. It's a simple tag. All I have to do is:

a) answer the question below, do a Google Image search with my answer, take a picture from the 1st page of results, and explain my answer with minimal words

b) tag 5 people to do the same.

It's so much fun trying to choose the image I like best among the myriad of photos that appeared in the 1st page of my search. So here goes...

1. The age you’ll be on your next birthday

Tick tock tick tock...can you hear my biological clock ticking?

2. Place you want to travel to

I would love to see the world. Been to most parts of Asia, some parts of Europe and Oceania, and a tiny part of America. I hope to visit more of America and Canada, South Africa and South America.

3. Your favourite place

This is where my favourite activity takes place...SLEEP! What were you thinking of?

4. Your favourite food

Anything hot and spicy

5. Your favourite pet

I never had any pets, so I'm not much of an animal lover. But I chose rabbit as the answer for this question, simply because I was born in the year of the rabbit.

6. Favorite color combination

I don't really have any favourite colour combination but I guess black and white are the easiest to match.

7. Favorite piece of clothing

I lurve empress cut blouses like this, as it hides my bulges very well. I have several pieces of empress cut blouse in different colours.

8. Your all time favorite song

No favourites here but I love Julie Andrews and her brood of Von Trapp family children. I watched this show over and over again when I was young and I can still recall the lyrics for some of them.

9. Favorite TV show

I love all three CSIs - Vegas, New York and Miami. Try not to miss any single episode.

10. First name of your significant other/crush

I had pictures of various people appeared when I keyed in hubby's name. This is one of the very few inanimate objects that appeared.

11. Which town do you live in

This is the most famous "wai sek kai" in the town I live in. Look familiar?

12. Your screen name/nickname

Surprisingly my screen name (= my blog title) returned lots of photos which I posted myself so I chose this among those that appeared in the 1st page.

13. Your first job

Notwithstanding my one-year pre-licensing training, my first job is as a sales representative in a pharmaceutical company. Nine years on, I'm still with my first company. Am I loyal or what?

14. Your dream job

Since having Yiu Yiu, I've always wished that I could quit my job and look after her full time. Cook for her, play with her, do arts & crafts, etc. But sigh! That remains a dream for the time being.

15. One bad habit that you have

I always go back to sleep after my alarm clock goes off, and end up rushing like a mad woman to work!

16. Worst fear

Dying...I guess I'm not spiritually fulfilled to accept death with a calm mind. I always wonder what will happen to me after I die, and will I ever see my loved ones again.

17: Things you’d like to do before you die

There are many things I'd like to achieve, so to summarise, I'd like to have a fulfilling life. Bring up my child(ren), ensure they have a good education and solid foundation for life, and fulfill my own wishes in life.


18. The 1st thing you’ll buy if you get $1,000,000

The answer to the above is "NO". I don't own my home, the bank does. So the 1st thing I'll do is to make my home mine.


19. Your husband/wife

This funny looking sculpture is supposed to be an atypical male. I described hubby as such coz he doesn't DIY and he doesn't watch sports. There's no Supersports, ESPN, etc at home. Instead, he's always glued to the HK/Taiwan series and variety shows. Enough said.

20. What present would you like for your next birthday?

Wish to upgrade my Olympus miu PNS to this baby. My birthday is in like, um, 7 months. Got the hint, anyone?

And now, let me pass the fun to:

1) Kittycat
2) Chinnee
3) Jazzmint
4) Hijack Queen
5) My Baby Bay

Short trip to Medan

Four weeks ago, we went for a short trip to Medan as hubby had a Lion’s Club function there. The initial itinerary included a trip to Lake Toba, and that was the main reason I decided to tag along but two days before departure, we received the revised itinerary and (gasp!) Lake Toba was out of the picture. Bummer! It was too late to pull out by then so I just went along grudgingly.

At LCCT and shortly after boarding

The first day was practically spent in the hotel with Yiu Yiu as hubby and his other Lion Club members went about their official functions. On the second day, members of the Lion’s Club in Medan brought the Malaysian delegation to Taman SImalem Resort, a hill resort about 3.5 hours drive from Medan. Though there’s an excellent view of Lake Toba from the resort, it still isn’t the real thing – taking a boat ride to the Samosir Island right in the middle of the lake and visits the traditional villages to experience the traditional Batak culture.

View of Lake Toba

Anyway, Taman Simalen Resort is an agro-tourism attraction so visited some fruit farms and organic vegetables farm.

More views of Lake Toba

Our flight home on the third day was scheduled at 8.20pm so we spent the day visiting some places of interest in Medan. We were brought to a Chinese temple, a crocodile farm and Istana Maimun, an ancient Malay palace.

Top: crocodile farm and bottom: Istana Maimun

An incident happened on the way to Medan. Just before the plane took off, we realized that the backpack containing Yiu Yiu’s milk powder, hot water flask and snacks were missing. Hubby pleaded with the crew to allow him to go back to the departure hall but he couldn’t find it. Only after the plane took off did we realize he may have left it at the scanning machine after going through passport control as we don’t remember carrying it at the departure hall. We had to buy her a new bottle and milk powder in Medan but unfortunately, we couldn’t find the brand she’s taking. We ended up buying Enfagrow but my little missy rejected it, probably it tasted different so she went without milk for three days. When we got back to the LCCT, we contacted the MAB personnel who gave us a KLIA number to call, as all missing bags are sent there. After several phone calls and a trip to KLIA, we managed to retrieve the lost backpack. What a drama!

Nilai Memorial Park Enlightment Ceremony

Three weekends ago during the 7th month of the lunar calendar, Nilai Memorial Park held its annual Enlightenment Ceremony to commemorate the departed. We made a trip there on Sunday, August 17 and everything was pretty much similar as last year, only this time, we didn’t stay till the end as we had three little children with us.

My little girl shielding me from the sun

Clockwise from top left: The makeshift prayer hall, monks blessing the altars, the sacrificial items to be burned, devotees marching along with the monks

The altars come in different sizes and prices. The two photos on the left are altars going for RM588, while the other four (clockwise from top middle) are going for RM10,888, RM5,688, RM2,388 and RM1,288 for next year's ceremony.

We adjourned for lunch at a restaurant in Nilai, famed for its Buddha Jump Over the Wall, but of course, we didn’t order that expensive dish.

Monkeying around in front of the restaurant

Merdeka weekend

I had a regional meeting last Saturday at Imperial Hotel Kuala Lumpur. Since there were some last minute cancellations and the rooms were block booked and thus were not refundable, I decided to stay in. Hubby and Yiu Yiu came to stay as well. Since the meeting ended on Saturday itself, we had a leisurely breakfast on Merdeka day before letting Yiu Yiu run loose in the children’s room.

Then we went to the pool before the little missy had a bubble bath in the bath tub.

Replenishing my energy with some biscuits with the Twin Towers as my backdrop

After checking out, we decided to pay a visit to Eye on Malaysia. We had wanted to make a trip there but it never materialized since we hardly go to KL during the weekends. Just as well that we went, coz we saw a notice that the Eye will be relocated to Melaka in October. It costs RM15/adult for the ride, and we went round five times.

Farewell, Siem Reap

Saturday, August 11

We woke up to a slow and lazy breakfast at the hotel. Our driver was scheduled to pick us up at 9.15am, for our flight at 11.40am. After settling the bill and taking some photographs in front of the hotel, we left for the airport. We asked John, our driver to stop by some fruit stalls as we had wanted to buy some local pineapples home. The pineapples in Cambodia are simply divine, sweet and juicy without any tinge of sourness. However, we had no luck as the few stalls we past by didn't have them.

We arrived at the airport at about 9.30am, and the first thing I noticed was the airline information board informing us that our flight has been delayed, AGAIN! John was still within sights, and in that split second, we called for him while deciding whether we should go back to town, since it's only 15 minutes away, rather than languish for three long hours at the airport. Unfortunately, John had another pick-up in Angkor Wat so he couldn't accommodate our request. Oh well, we resigned ourselves to the long wait.

The airport has two buildings, separated by a central courtyard but it's not accessible to travelers. We could only admire the beautiful landscaping through the glass door.

There was nothing much to do at the airport so we just killed time by reading and napping. Luckily the flight arrived ahead of schedule and we departed about 20 minutes ahead. We arrived back on Malaysia soil at about 3.30pm.

Other attractions of Siem Reap – Part 2

Friday, August 10

A new attraction in Siem Reap, the Cambodian Cultural Village is intended to introduce visitors to Cambodian culture and history. As you enter, there's a wax museum housing exhibits on wildlife, ancient jewelry and tools, and waxed figures from throughout Cambodia's history. Once we exit the wax museum, there are a number of ethnic villages with full scale models of a variety of Cambodian architectural types, including different styles of huts and homes, hill tribe houses, pagoda and mosque.

The colourful costumes of various Khmer tribes

There's a live performance at each of the different villages and we moved from one village to another trying to watch all the shows. The most impressive had to be the traditional Khmer wedding ceremony.





I also liked the performance at the Kola Village, Kroeng Village and Panorng Village, as the costumes were really colourful and eye catching.



The last performance wrapped up at 6.30pm and by then, it was too dark to have a good look at fascinating 1/20th scale models of sites such as Phsar Thmey and the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and the hills and temples of Oudong.

Dinner was at Pub Street, adjacent to the Old Market area. We walked around, couldn't quite decide which of the many restaurants to go into. We finally just picked one and had no regrets. The Khmer Family Restaurant offered great food in a pleasant relaxing atmosphere. We chose to be seated on the first floor near the balcony from where we could watch the world go by the liveliest street in Siem Reap.



Sis and I shared the Khmer set which comprised of curry chicken, fried pork with Khmer spices and spring rolls. The curry was not too spicy, but it was very fragrant with spices and tasted great. So was the pork. Mum ordered grilled chicken thighs and they were grilled to perfection, not too dry and the seasoning was so tasty that we didn't need to eat it with the accompanying sauce. Hubby ordered pork ribs steak and again, it was excellent. I would rate this meal as the best we've had in Siem Reap.

We walked a bit around the area after dinner before heading back to the hotel on a tuk tuk.

Other attractions of Siem Reap – Part 1

Friday, August 10

Our first stop of the day is the National Silk Centre, in a town called Puok, about 30 minutes drive from Siem Reap. Operated by Les Chantiers Écoles, a school specialising in teaching traditional crafts to impoverished youngsters, it is hoped that these youths would gain skills that allow them to make a living from handicraft production. Among the skills taught are silk weaving, stone sculpture, wood carving and lacquer painting.

The first process is degumming the silk so that the thread can be unwound from the silk cocoons.

Life cycle of silk worms - from worms to cocoons

Coarse and fine silk thread. Coarse thread is obtained from the outer cocoon while fine thread in obtained from the inner cocoon

After that, the silk threads are dyed using natural pigments. One of the most sophisticated types of silk cloth is hôl, obtained using the ikat technique. This method requires meticulous preparation of the pattern by dyeing the weft thread, the thread placed in the width of the fabric. The method used is a successive tying-in and dying process with different colors, which will then yield geometric or floral motifs. The silk threads are then hand-woven according to a complex intertwining of the warp thread, the thread that runs lengthwise through the fabric and the weft thread, resulting in a fabric with beautiful shades and shimmering nuances. Each creation is therefore a unique piece.

Natural dyes

The meticulous ikat technique and the beautiful results

On the way back from the silk factory, we stopped by the War Museum. Laid out on the compound is a motley assortment of tanks, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft guns, and artillery cannons flanked by a few sheds housing a collection of automatic weapons, artillery shells, mines, grenades, grenade and rocket launchers, uniforms and Khmer Rouge flags. The admission feed is USD3 which is a little steep but it comes with a free guided tour. Our guide was a soldier in the war and had lost a leg. He also had quite a few bullet holes in him, and some shrapnel was visible under his skin. An orphan by the age of 10, his parents and elder sister were killed during the Pol Pot regime. He joined the army for shelter, cloth and food. He told us some first hand stories as we went from exhibit to exhibit which was quite educational and enlightening. He was still very emotional when relating his stories to us, in particular when he told us how his wife was killed by landmines several years ago. We gave him a relatively huge tip, a little something which we hope will make his day a little better.

As it was almost noon, we decided to head to the Old Market area for lunch. We went to Khmer Kitchen Restaurant, which serves traditional Khmer fares. As with all our food encounters in Siem Reap, the food there was pretty decent. We then walked around the market before heading to the Cambodian Cultural Village.

(to be continued…)