Eat and Be Merry

This year's Christmas week has been a pretty gastronomic Christmas for me.

Three days before Christmas I went to eat dinner at Cubes Pizza with Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Victor and Wee. They served us a three feet long pizza of two different flavours. I discovered the place via Groupon and the service there was really good. The pizza was great too! It was loaded with cheese and the toppings were generous. Definitely will go back. After dinner we wanted to grab a round two because Kai got lost and was late for the dinner. After going the wrong direction and going round and round Sunway, we found that A Pie Thing was closed, so we settled for Rock Cafe and ate satay and chicken wings while we just chatted and joked around.

Two days before Christmas, I did go back. This time it was lunch with Rachael, Debbie, Ryan Ryan, Hannah and Leonard. First we met up at Centerpoint to carpool. I then took Rachael's car and we headed to Cubes Pizza. We played a round of Saboteur before our food came and after lunch, Rachael, Debbie, Leonard and I went to Uptown DU to try out Softsrve. Their ice cream was so-so, it was just more of a wow factor with their dry ice presentation and the taste was just on an average. After dessert, we went back to Centerpoint and we went our own way home.

On Christmas Eve, I went to attend a Christmas party at Mae's house. I didn't quite know what to expect, and also I didn't know if I should have brought something because I don't celebrate Christmas and Mae's party was my third time attending a Christmas party in my life. When I got there, Mae was busy preparing dinner and Tecky was there. I didn't know anyone else there but I recognised Mae's parents and siblings. Her uncles, aunts and cousins were there also and they were all very friendly. But of course, I'm an awkward potato so I just sat around awkwardly and bashfully helped myself to the finger food when they offered. Mae first served us this amazing cheese loaf. It was a loaf of bread with melted cheese put into cuts topped with bacon. Shortly after Melvin arrived, dinner was served. For dinner there were spare ribs, spicy pasta, fried chicken (from KyoChon), potato wedges and some kind of salad. Mae's dad had us glasses of beer and we all sat together at the dinner table to eat. Mae's friend, Shen Yen and her sister came later and also helped themselves to dinner. I joined a small conversation with Kenny, Melvin and Tecky, and shortly after Kenny brought out his bottle of absinthe and we each had a shot. After that Tecky pointed out that the label on the bottle said we were not supposed to take it neat but we already did. Obviously I turned red really quickly but I didn't get very tipsy or high. After everyone was done with dinner, we sat down on the floor and played Saboteur. After three rounds, Shen Yen came out the winner and it was late so everyone slowly went home. Marcus was supposed to come so I waited for him to arrive after his family's dinner. While we waited for Marcus, William and I talked for a bit. Marcus came after everyone but me left. Mae, Marcus and I sat down to talk while Marcus and I helped ourselves to the remaining food. We didn't want to stay for too long so we went home after we were done.

On Christmas day, I went to meet up with Kai, Wilson and KW and we had dinner at Sushi Mentai in Sri Petaling. The sushi on the conveyor belt were really cheap and I helped myself to 15 plates of sushi and two cups of chawanmushi. After dinner we sat down at Wilson's place for a short while before we went home.

On Boxing Day, I went jogging with Marcus and Yati like usual, only I woke up really late because I was playing Team Fortress 2 until late and so I only walked one round and then we went for breakfast. After picking Kuui up from his house, we headed to Kaffe Cafe to have breakfast. When breakfast was done, we headed to play badminton with Melvin, Beng and Luke at Sports Planet in Kota Damansara. We played a couple of doubles for an hour or so before going our own way. Yati, Kuui and I went to Yati's house to rest for a bit before heading to 1Utama so I can do my last minute gift shopping for Ethel's Christmas party in the evening. I picked out a teeth shaped ice mould, went to buy drinks and snacks, and then we headed to Marcus' house to play games. Tecky was there and we played Naruto Shippden 2 on Marcus' PlayStation2. Tecky left before we played before we started playing Digimon Rumble Arena 2. After taking a bath and a change of clothes, we then grabbed the drinks I bought and we headed to Ethel's house.

Some people were there already when we got there. Most are same people I've met at last year's Christmas party. Surprisingly Hee Ching approached me, we are only acquaintances in high school, she asked me about my job which, Melvin had already told her about before I arrived and we both agreed that Melvin is a blabbermouth. Marcus, Melvin and Kuui started to help out in the kitchen and it was crowded so I sat out in the living room with the others who I barely know (Yati didn't want to mingle so he squeezed himself in the kitchen). I reintroduced myself to Jovian and vice-versa when he saw me sitting alone, we just chatted a bit and then Jason came over to talk with the guys. Luke and his girlfriend, Carolyn came and they joined in the conversation. I just sat there listening to the others and Yati came out to join me because there was nothing for him to do in the kitchen. Andrea soon came and she was the next person outside my close circle of friends at the party to joyfully greet me. Soon Chelsea came out and served everyone garlic bread with sauteed mushrooms, there was a name for it but I don't remember those fancy names. Shortly Ethel announced that dinner was served and Jason came out with the baked chicken while everyone gathered around the table to help themselves to the food. There was pasta, sushi (bought from somewhere, maybe AEON), quiche, the baked chicken and potato salad. Hou Yi came just before dinner started and Abby next as we started to stop eating. Ethel then got everyone to sit in a huge circle and we did an ice breaker by stating our names and a random info about ourselves; I noticed that I was wearing the same shirt last year. Right after everyone introduced themselves, we got into groups of four and we played charades. I was put together with Beng, Josh, Vikram and Woan. Our team was doing great, we were leading everyone by two points until the bonus round where shit hit the ceiling because Jason decided to make the game harder by not having a specific category for his words. Our team was spot on for the answers a couple of times but we were too wary to lose points so we failed to answer them as the other team got them right. In the end, Luke's team won. Shaun and his girlfriend came the last round before the bonus round started. Right after charades, we did the gift exchange. Jason got my gift and I got Hou Yi's, which was a colour changing mug. A few people went home but the rest of us were totally up for games. We split into two groups, one played Cards Against Humanity and the other played Mafia. Yati, Andrea, Abby, Derek, Kuui, Jerrica, Luke, Shaun, Keith and I played Cards Against Humanity, it was great fun but my cards were crap so I only managed to win one black card whereas Kuui was racking in black cards with the epic cards he got. When we finished it was already midnight and people started going home. Abby was not feeling well and I had to pick my sister up, so I thanked Ethel for the party, bid everyone farewell and wished a happy new year, and I chatted with Abby until I dropped her home. I has been a long time since I last actually chat with Abby.

So that was the end of this year's Christmas and 2016 is just around the corner. I must say that this Christmas has been by far the most eventful Christmas I've ever had. I not only attended Christmas parties, I also ate a lot of good food and met new friends and caught up with old friends. Unfortunately it seems to me that this Christmas is also the time when I lose my friendship with good friend, she decides to push me away and not open up her mind, it is something she's brought upon herself so I shouldn't interfere with her decisions because I've already used up my chances already anyway. But hey, it's life, nothing I should be bothered too much about. Merry Christmas everybody.

The Boat Resting Atop Three Skyscrapers

On the second week of December, Steven, Owen and I went down to Singapore as a business trip to help with the setting up of the new Hamleys outlet opening at Marina Bay Sands. On Monday morning, we met up at McDonald's in KLIA2. After checking in our luggages, we headed to the departure hall to wait for our flight but it arrived slightly late. Upon getting onto the plane, the pilot apologised and informed us that there was a minor problem with the plane's pressure thing or something like that. While we sat in the plane, the engineers solved the issue after over one hour and forty five minutes. I slept dozed in and out of sleep on the flight and we reached Changi Airport safely. Steven lead us out after the immigration gates and we purchased our EZ-Link cards, which are used for taking the public transport. We proceeded to board the MRT and headed to Dhoby Ghaut. Our first stop was not our hotel, instead we headed to the Hamleys store in Plaza Singapura to drop off some items from Steven's luggage that was brought over for the store. Steven introduced the Singaporean team to us, Kelvin, Daphne, Beng Chee, Chester, Shirley, Jeremy and Fazzila. While Steven settled some stuff, Owen and I toured around the store. Because I was in work mode, it wasn't long before I was itching with the urge to notify someone that there were issues with the displays but Steven told me not to do so because the store is in the middle of transferring stocks for the new outlet so it was unavoidable that the store would be in a mess. After Steven settled the issues, we then collect our luggage and headed down to City Hall to check in to our hotel, the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel. After settling down for a bit, Owen went out to meet some friends. Steven had to go back to Plaza Singapura and I had nothing to do so I followed him. We went to have dinner at Mos Burger before going to the store. Mos Burger is a Japanese fast food restaurant who's highlight on the menu are their rice burgers. Steven had recommended it and boy, it was really good. After the succulent dinner, we headed back to the toy store and helped prepare for the transfer of goods. After we were done packing up on our part, Steven and I headed back to the hotel to find Owen back there all ready to sleep. Our room was a two person room so I shared the bed with Steven. Before we went to sleep, I updated Feng and my cousin, Dominic about my status. I had already informed them that I would be going down to Singapore for work the week before so they were expecting to see me. After that Steven, Owen and I went to sleep, w all knocked out pretty fast, probably tired from the delayed trip down.

The next morning, the three of us went to Raffles City to have breakfast. After inspecting the few restaurants, we settled for Nam Nam, a Vietnamese restaurant that had an attractive breakfast set on offer. I ordered a bowl of beef pho while Steven and Owen got a banh mi each. It was pretty damn good. After breakfast, we took the MRT and headed to Bayfront. It took us a while to figure out which trains to take but we got there just fine. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands was more than I expected. It was such a lavish mall, a majority of the shops there are expensive brands and there is a section of the mall that is dedicated to high class brands, so luxurious that I've never heard of the names and the items on display are so elegant, posh and extravagant. There was even a shoe shiner in that section. We were not sure where the new store is located so Steven brought us up to the ground floor to see this bowl shaped construct outside the mall. I later learned that this construct, called the Rain Oculus was an installation by some architect dude. Steven mentioned how the Rain Oculus can make sound travel through it from opposite ends so that if you whispered from one end of the bowl, another person on the opposite side can hear it. While we waited for Fazzila to come and show us the way to the new store, I walked around near the entrance to see the torch that was set up for the 8th ASEAN Para Games. After a while, Fazzila showed up and we walked to the new store together. It was located at the end of one of the blocks, and the first thing I noticed was the Christmas decoration set up right outside, before I noticed the massive DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe on the top floor facing Hamleys on the opposite side. I didn't get to go of course, we were working after all. Unfortunately, when we walked into the hoarding, we found that constructions were still in the middle of work. Workers were still installing the air vents, wiring and solving some plumbing issues. What's worse is that we found out that the stocks transfer that was supposed to be done the night before was not executed. It was postponed to Tuesday night and so we were left with nothing to do. We tried to make this trip productive so we fixed the height for the wall bay headers and started adjust them. After that we were left with absolutely nothing to do so I informed Feng that I was done for the day. Dominic had class so he had told me that he couldn't see me this day. Feng and I later arranged to meet up after lunch. Steven, Owen and I went to Plaza Singapura to have lunch at the food court before going our own way. Steven passed me the card key for our hotel room because I was going back to change first. Before we did go our separate ways, Steven and I went to buy some cans of beer for the few nights ahead of us. I took the MRT alone back to the hotel with a feeling of adventure because it was my first time going somewhere alone in a foreign country.

At the hotel, I took a bath, changed and then headed down when Feng messaged me that she had reached the City Hall station. I went out and before the pedestrian crossing I spotted her coming my way but she didn't notice me. I called out to her and she was taken by surprise because she thought I was another guy behind me. She said I had gotten skinnier and the first thing she pointed out was that I was slouching, something that she always tells me whenever we meet. It has been about three years since we last met and there were a few things we didn't quite remember about each other, like how I didn't remember Feng being taller than me. Feng however noted about how I'm still the same as ever. I barely explored Singapore before so Feng became my tour guide and we walked around the small section of the south of Singapore. First we walked past the National Gallery towards the Esplanade. We then made a turn and walked past the Victoria Theatre. I stopped to take some photos of these giant balls outside the Asian Civilisations Museum then we walked across the Anderson Bridge towards Fullerton Hotel where I told Feng that I've never seen the Merlion before. She then took me to see it which stood majestically facing Marina Bay Sands. It was less impressive than I had imagined it however. Feng then took me past the Esplanade towards Marina Square. She had told me about her favourite dessert place called Llaollao that serves frozen yoghurt with fruits and various toppings, it tasted way better than any of the frozen yoghurt desserts I've tried before. After the scrumptious dessert, Feng took me over to the Helix Bridge which lead into The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. She lead me up the longest escalator which took us up to the roof where we got a view of the bay. On the roof we walked through Marina Bay Sands towards the Gardens by the Bay. Feng told me about the light show that happens in the evening but it was still early, so we walked into the area and had a look at the Christmas decorations. Feng managed to convince me to climb up to the canopy walk but when we queued up to buy tickets, the management informed us that ticket sales have stopped because of the poor weather conditions. I was half relieved and half disappointed. We walked back to the vantage point of the Gardens by the Bay but we left before the light show because Feng was concerned about not making it in time for dinner unless we took the MRT, however I insisted not to take the MRT because I'd rather walk where walking is so safe (unlike in Malaysia). We walked back to the Helix Bridge and took some photos of the bridge because of it's beautiful night lights. Then we made our way back to Fullerton Road and towards Boat Quay. The whole street was lined with pubs and seafood restaurants. Eventually we made our way to Brewerkz at Clarke Quay. We got our table and we ordered a pizza to be shared and a pint of beer each. I got a lager and she got wheat beer when she actually wanted steamed beer but had at first ordered some kind of hop, basically she made her order wrong twice. Obviously I got tipsy and Feng was such a dear and guided me back to the hotel. We took the MRT but along the way I was already sobering up. I had a really good time catching up with Feng and I am thankful for her kindest hospitality. We chatted for a bit while she waited for her friend to pick her up outside the hotel. That night I knocked out after a bath on the sofa chair in our room.

The next morning, Steven had to rush to the new store because he was informed of some issues so Owen and I went to have breakfast together at Nam Nam again. I tried one of the banh mi this time and it was so good too. After breakfast we headed to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and started working. The stocks were already transferred over so we could display some of the products on the wall bays. We split into three teams and we got to work. I started off by teaching my team on how to do product display, I was still nervous about talking to new people and I don't quite know how to translate the stuff that goes through my head when doing product display so I wasn't sure if those guys understood what I was saying. Steven called for an early lunch and a group of us took the MRT to Chinatown for lunch. We ate at a Chinese food court and I ordered a bowl of mee pok. Over lunch we got to know the staff better. We went back to the store after lunch and continued to do displays. We were done before 7pm so everyone else went home but Owen and I had to wait for Steven to settle some operational issues. We then went for dinner at the Plaza Singapura food court, however we didn't have a lot of choices to choose from this time because a lot of the stores had already closed at 9pm. I ordered a bowl of la mian which was the most appetising looking store of the ones that were still open. That night Steven kicked me off the bed in his sleep in the middle of the night. His leg was taking up my part of the bed so I had no choice but to sleep on the sofa chair again, it wasn't that bad.

Thursday morning, the three of us had breakfast at the Plaza Singapura food court because Steven had told us about the breakfast set there being good. It wasn't that bad but the egg tarts there were wet and gross. On the way to the store, Steven and Owen were busy on their phones so we made a few mistakes getting to Bayfront. We first got on the wrong platform, then we got on the wrong train on the right platform and finally we went the wrong direction to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Dominic came to find me during lunch and he convinced me to try the McDonald's there. We headed to Chinatown and I got the McSpicy, the Singaporean equivalent of our Spicy McChicken Deluxe, only better but slightly less spicy. I also tried the seasonal truffle shaker fries seasoning which made my french fries taste like mushrooms, it was amazing! After lunch Dominic walked me back to the store and we parted. Someone had bought Pizza Hut for the managers to eat and they had a whole pizza (put together with three different pizzas) left for me, along with garlic bread and chicken drumsticks. I only ate one slice because I wasn't that hungry. We continued to work until 8:30pm. After that we headed out to find dinner. It was late already so most of the restaurants are already closed. It was so odd to me because in Malaysia our restaurants close at 10pm and we also have mamaks that are still open in the wee hours of the morning. Steven and Owen had no choice but to go to McDonald's. I had the leftover pizza from lunch so I was good. They had their meals on takeout and we headed back to the hotel to eat. After my cold dinner, I drank my double can of beer and then we went to sleep.

Friday morning is my last morning. I was gonna be flying back to Singapore alone because Steven is leaving on Saturday and Owen is going to Johor Bahru. I had some plans so I left early with my luggage. My first stop was at Chinatown, I went to buy some souvenirs and I spotted a sex toy shop. I wanted to mischievously check it out but it was close so I abandoned the plan and took the MRT to Changi Airport. I went through the gates and walked around the departure hall. There were a lot of things to see. The airport was so much better than KLIA, I got to see a plane leaving after the passengers boarded it. After checking out the Social Tree, I went to look for the thing I had the full intention of looking for, gummy candy. I knew for sure that they would be selling the real deal which was non-halal, the one with pork gelatin instead of beef. I walked into one of the candy stores and found an isle of them, it took me quite a while to decide because they had a free gift if I purchased three packets of gummy candies but I only wanted two, and if I had purchased three, I wouldn't have been able to get the lunch I was aiming for. So I just got a packet of juicy gummy bears and a a packet of gummy aeroplanes. After that I headed to Burger King. On our first day, Steven told us that the Burger King in Changi Airport serves their burgers exceptionally big, compared to the retail outlets outside (no need to compare to Malaysia's) and so I went there to have my lunch, and sure enough, the burger I ordered was huge. It was bigger than my palm, as big as my face! I ordered their seasonal Gourmeji Mushroom Swiss burger. It was too good to be true. The burger was bursting with the delicious taste of mushrooms and cheese and beef. I kept wishing that I could stay in Singapore with each bite. The flight back home was smooth and fast.

The business trip down to Singapore has assured my indecision to go down there to find a job. Hopefully I can get transferred there after I enquire Steven about doing so. The transport system there is so organised and swift, getting one place to another is a breeze and because of that there's no need to drive. People in Singapore may not be as polite, but the food there is reasonably cheap. Also, for the dough, I'd go there so I can help my family with the bills and also support my two sisters' education.

Skylines and Nature in Miri

On the last week of November, Marcus and I went on a short trip to Miri to visit Mae because it was already the school holidays. When Marcus told me about it, it felt kinda spontaneous. It wasn't very well planned and when he told her that we'd be visiting, she informed us that she'll be going for a run on the last day we'd be there. One thing lead to another and she registered us for the run as well and that meant that there was no turning back. After a few days we bought our flight tickets to Miri.

I was lucky that I had a replacement off day at work so the Friday of our flight, I got to sleep in and take my time packing my bag. I still woke up pretty early and I double checked my inventory before heading out. My dad dropped me at Kelana Jaya where to took the LRT to KL Sentral and because Marcus was working half the day, he wasn't there yet. It was still early so took a walk around Nu Sentral.

When Marcus arrived, we took a bus to KLIA2. I was kinda sleepy so I slept on the journey there. We got to the airport and went into the boarding hall but then we found out that our flight was delayed so we reached Miri about an hour later than planned. Mae was waiting for us at the arrival gates at the Miri Airport. With the way she was dressed, she looked like when we were still in secondary school, in a shorts shirt and track pants, carrying a backpack, I almost didn't notice it was her until she greeted us (also because my astigmatism kicks in at night). We proceeded to have supper at McDonald's because Marcus and I missed dinner thanks to the flight delay. After supper, Mae took us through the town and headed towards our chalet. Mae had booked us a longhouse to stay for the two day trip. To our shock, the gate was closed when we arrived. Maybe it was because it was so late already, so we tried to call the number provided on their website. A guy answered my call and after waiting for a while, someone opened the gate for us and we went in. The person who opened for us was a worker there and it seemed like everyone has gone to sleep. Because it was so late already, the guy just gave us a key and told us that they'll settle the room tomorrow, so our room was temporary. Frankly I was surprised because the guys was so trusting of us as to just give us a random room before properly checking us in. After bathing, we all went to sleep.

Mae had class in the morning so when Marcus and I woke up, she was already gone. Mae's class was something about self reflection or something like that so she was hoping that her class would end earlier than expected. After getting dressed and ready, Marcus and I went to the canteen to settle our room. There was a lady there who we assumed is the lady boss of the chalet. We informed her of the situation last night and she offered us a better offer for our accommodation and somehow we got back RM3. The worker who attended to us last night came and the lady boss and him talked. Then they approached us because there was a misunderstanding. The worker thought we didn't have a booking and the lady boss thought we paid for the room last night. After showing the lady boss our Agoda booking number, she informed us that we actually had booked for the more modern longhouse with fan room but because of the misunderstanding they decided to let us keep the discounted air conditioned room. After the confusing episode, we ordered breakfast (Maggi mee) and after that we walked around the compound to look-see. The place was very close to nature, there were a lot of chickens running around, huge lakes and a jungle around the place. A longhouse in the middle of construction stood beside the one we were staying in and a modern looking longhouse, which was where our supposed room is on the other side.

After sitting in our room for a bit, Marcus and I decided to walk out and see what there is to do. Near the entrance, we asked the worker what there is to see and he told us that there is a beach on the opposite side of the road. So Marcus and I walked out and sure enough, there was a beautiful, empty wide beach accompanied by the beautiful bright sky. There wasn't another one else besides us on the beach. The beach stretched out endlessly on both sides and the sea goes out into the horizon, with one or two oil rigs far off into the distance. There were tens of thousands of holes in the sand, made by tiny little crabs which skitter away swiftly like they're carried away by the wind when we approach them. We came across three jellyfish that got washed up onto the beach. One of them was massive. As an obligatory act, I picked up a stick and poked one of the jellyfish with it. It was harder than I thought, like a thick gelatinous blob, it felt icky. We spent some time walking around on the beach under the hot sun and then soon decided to go back when Mae messaged us, telling us that her class has ended early and that she will be with us soon. We walked back to the chalet and turned on the television in our room. After flicking around the channels, we came across this show about the police force but it seemed more like a love drama than a police drama.

Mae finally arrived with her change of clothes for the next day and we headed out after she changed out of her baju kurung that she wears to class. Mae took us to eat Dayak food at a zhapfan shop. The cooking style is similar to Chinese food but it has a different taste to it. I enjoyed the dishes I picked but I had close to no idea what I was eating. After lunch, Mae took us to Canada Hill to see the Grand Old Lady. She was really old, at 105 years old, standing tall in front of the Petroleum Museum. If you're not catching my drift, the Grand Old Lady is the first rig for the first oil well in Malaysia. Canada Hill seemed to me like the vantage point of Miri, you could see miles and miles into the distance beyond the city, and the amount of sky you get to see from up there was stunningly beautiful. After walking around the Petroleum Museum, Mae showed us the hiking trail she occasionally takes which was just opposite the museum.

After that we got back into the car and we headed to the Imperial Mall, next to the Imperial Hotel so that Mae can show us how lousy the malls in Miri are compared to the ones we have in KL. The mall wasn't as bad as described, but Mae was right when she said that half of the mall is like 1Utama and the other half is like Sungei Wang Plaza. We walked around and we went to Super Save, it's this shop that's like the combination of Tesco, Econsave and Fun and Cheer. You could find just about anything there and buy it cheap. We bought some bottles of water and I saw a guy buy an electric drill there. I guess that tells enough about what the shop is like. We went out with our water and as we walked by a similar shop, Marcus pointed out that he saw baseball gloves in the store, I quickly turned around and went in to inspect. Sure enough, there were an assortment of sport equipment in there, and I found baseball gloves, balls and bats and they were really cheap too! But the same can be said for the quality. We then walked around the store and looked around. Mae had a good laugh when we were trying to lift some weights and I hurt my back doing so. Before we left, I thought of looking for the phone pouch that runner wear when running and when I told Marcus and Mae about it, Mae mentioned that Super Save has them, so we went back in and I bought one. Before we left the mall for good, we passed by a bag shop and I remembered about the flat pouch that can expand, it was useful for runs so we went in to look for it but unfortunately they didn't have it. Mae said that she remembered seeing it at Super Save so we'll try and find it the next time we go there.

I was evening already so we were getting ready to go for dinner but before that, Mae needed to exchange cars with her friend because Mae's car can't travel long distances. We needed her friend's car so that we can go to Gua Niah the next day. It was raining by the time we got to her friend's house (the house her friends' are renting) so we had to do the exchange in the rain. It was a peculiar and funny feeling meeting new people while getting soaked in the rain. After the exchange, Mae went to her house first (the house she's renting) to grab some stuff. After that we went to this place called Rumah Asap (which translates to Smoke House). The reason it's called Rumah Asap is because the place is like a hawker centre but every stall is selling barbecued or grilled food, so there's all the smoke, hence the name. We sat down in front of one of the stalls that Mae said is her favourite and then she went and order the food for us. The dishes that came were delicious, first came grilled fish, it was crispy on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside. Together with the sauce provided, it was so delicious. The second dish that came was the grilled pork, like siew yok. It was really damn good too! The skin was beautifully crispy, the meat was tender and the fatty layer was easy to chew. What's more was that the fish and the pork both has this exquisite smell and flavour to them, it was a beautiful glaze of sour over the juicy meat that seemed to melt in my mouth, just remembering it as I type this out is making me salivate, just like how I did when I absorbed their aroma into my nasal cavity. Not the best way to describe that but damn it was too damn palatable to resist.

After the mouthwatering dinner, we went to the Super Save opposite because Marcus said he wanted to buy the phone pouch I got as well. While Marcus went ahead, Mae went to ask one of the staff at the restaurant where we can buy tuak. Mae said that because we're in Sarawak, we had to get tuak. After getting advice to find it at the night market, we headed to Super Save to catch up with Marcus. We walked round and round the shop but we couldn't find the phone pouch but before we gave up, Marcus suddenly found it and Mae also spotted the expandable pouch I was looking for. So we made our purchase and headed to the night market. The night market was just nearby so we walked over and Mae started scanning from stall to stall looking for the bottles of alcohol. We finally found a stall that sold them and she had a taste before buying one. She mentioned that it had a masculine taste to it and that we should like it so she bought one and I got a comb of bananas. After that we headed into the complex right next to the night market because Mae wanted to find some cups for us to pour our tuak into. While we waited for her outside the supermarket, Marcus and I watched this disgusting cannibal themed clip of a movie being played on one of the DVD shops. A guy was getting revoltingly dismembered limb from limb and head after having his tongue and eyes gorged out by some generically portrayed native people lead by a witchdoctor type, all while his caucasian friends watch in horror. This brought upon some memories from the depths of my head from my childhood where I remember watching gory B-type horror movies outside DVD shops. This terrible trend has stopped in KL but I guess it hasn't in lesser areas. I wonder why DVD vendors find it fine to play such sickening films for people to see, what sparked them to do it. When the clip replayed, Marcus and I turned away to not see the stomach churning scene again. Thankfully shortly after that, Mae returned with some small paper cups and we made our way out back to the car.

Before we made our way back to the chalet, we dropped by a shop that sold tau fu far to have some dessert. The shop was run by the parents of one of Mae's students, who was at the counter. The place was like a cafe, it had coffee tables, cakes on display and soft music playing. The atmosphere was really nice. Mae helped us ordered the tau fu far, including one black sesame flavoured tau fu far. The tau fu far was different from the one we know in a way that it was prepared and served. Marcus got a slice of cake and he let us have a taste, it was pretty good. After the dessert, we went back to chalet and we played the card games I brought with me. We played Coup and Saboteur while drinking the tuak. After a few rounds we went to sleep because we had to wake up early for the run in the morning.

The next morning, we went to Beach Republic for the Miri Beach Run. It was a 10km run along the beach. After we parked the car, we met up with Mae's friends who are also in Teach For Malaysia. We did warm ups and then headed down to the beach to get ready to run. The run was absolutely scenic but it got boring and bland fast because it was just a straight run and the way and back. There was nothing to see but trees, the sea and the sky. It was beautiful but while running, it wasn't very motivating. Also, running on the sand is different from running on the road, pavement or grass. After the run, we met with more of Mae's friends from TFM. We all went to take a group photo and then headed for lunch. Mae recommended that we try the Sarawakian laksa at this restaurant called Lolita which was located in a housing area. Sarawakian laksa is like Hokkien mee, a lot of prawn taste but in a curry based soup or something like that. While we ate, the others were chatting and from that Marcus and I could learn about them. Mae sure has got some good company with her. I can tell that everyone there were friendly and welcoming.

After lunch, we headed back to the chalet and we showered a bit and changed into fresh clothes for our next agenda. Marcus took the wheel this time to let Mae rest and we headed to Gua Niah. The journey to the cave was long and when surprisingly to me, there wasn't a lot of people there for a Sunday. There were like only two groups of us there to see the cave. After we got our tickets, we took an extremely short boat ride across a moat (was it a moat?) to get into the forest areas outside the cave. The three of us walked in as Mae told us about her experience going there for the first time. The walk towards the cave was a beautiful exhibition of greenery that seemed to stretched out endlessly into hills and swamps. The journey took about half and hour before we reached the cave entrance. There we could see what remained of the settlement of the families of bird nest collectors. We continued inward until we reached a huge opening, there we could see what remained of an archeological site and also the place where bird nest collectors climbed tall poles connected to the cave ceiling to reach the bird nests. It was such a marvel that only we could wonder and imagine how bird nest collectors could climb up such tall vertical poles without tire or fear. I was in constant state of fear just looking up at the cave ceiling and also the tall poles that hang motionlessly. We proceeded deeper into the path of the cave following the railing into the dark depths of the cave. Mae and Marcus had brought torchlights and I got my headlamp. Through the darkness, you could still make out the cave interior and also with various openings of the cave, the place was really scenic. Water fell from places I couldn't see, bats squeaked overhead and the smell of guano and limestone mixed in the air, the whole experience made me feel so close to nature despite the manmade structures for easier access into the cave. We made it to the exit of the cave and we continued our journey through more greenery towards the Painted Cave. The Painted Cave wasn't very big. It was like the side of a hill where sunlight touched almost every section of it. A section of the cave had a huge fence with a lock on the gate preventing people from entering it, along the gate were images and a information regarding the cavemen paintings that were present on the walls behind the fence. Mae pointed out that the cavemen paintings inside were the ones we had seen in a history textbook during secondary school, thought neither of us could remember it. However, what we could see on the wall was barely anything, only little smudges of what had been the cavemen paintings. Mae said it could be because people trespassed it to touch the paintings. Tired from out long walk, we sat down on some makeshift benches and ate some of the snakes we brought with us. While she took a rest, Mae told us that further into the cave was a dead end because the location is still under archeological excavation but we'd get to see a small portion of the archeological site where archeologists found a corpse in a boat coffin, the burial methods of the cavemen there. Some boat coffins were left on the cave floor near the other exit which was blocked off by greenery. Made went back shortly after looking around to find Mae had fallen asleep on the makeshift bench. It's no wonder because we had a tiring run in the morning and the cooling breeze blowing from the outside was so calming. We sat around for a while absorbing the tranquil atmosphere. After a while, Mae got up and we headed back out. The journey back felt shorter and faster.

Mae took the wheel again and we headed back to the chalet. Marcus fell asleep at the back and I felt that since I was in the passenger's seat I felt obligated to stay awake and keep Mae company, so we talked about various stuff. I think it was the first time I've had such a long conversation with Mae. We usually had other people around so conversations were shared, also even though we were in secondary school together, we were only in the same class for a year, and I used to be so shy and nervous around her, so it felt good that we could finally hold a proper conversation together. We got back to the chalet and we took a bath and packed our stuff up. After checking out, we went to have dinner at a place Mae had recommended from the day before, the highlight was this vegetable which were leaves like the one from the soup of of a bowl of pan mee, I forgot what it was called again. We also had curry fish head. After that we headed to 7-11 to grab some ice-cream for dessert.

Mae dropped us off at the Miri airport and we exchanged farewells and hugs. Marcus and I headed to the boarding gate and waited for our flight but then we were informed that our flight was delayed by two hours, as an apology by AirAsia, we got ourselves a free meal from Marrybrown. Marcus and I got our meals and we rested until our flight arrived. That night we returned to KL at 3am and so we waited for the first bus back to KL Sentral which was at 4:30am. I went to sleep at Marcus' place before he dropped me off at work. It sure was a tiring morning but the whole experience and journey was totally worth it.

I'd love to go back to Miri again, it's beautiful skies full of clouds is something I love to see everyday. When I checked the photos I had taken in Miri, most of them are of the sky. I think it's not enough thanks to say to Mae who planned out the whole itinerary, hosted and guided us through Miri. Her hospitality is really good. I enjoyed myself a lot and it was great first experience in East Malaysia.

It Was Blank

I've been pretty busy recently with settling into my job steadily and a few other activities.

Just to summarise what happened the past two months;

I attended Victor and Kar Wei's engagement lunch. There was also Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Wee and Cardin there. We caught up with each other over the Chinese seven course meal.

I participated in the Lite A Lif3 Charity Run with Rachael. The run is like Spectrum Dash, we had to be in pairs and we were tied to each other. Rachael doesn't run a lot so she can't really run, hence I walked more than I jogged or ran during this event.

I helped at an event job with Hannah. It was a corporate team building event and we were the marshals. Ryan Ryan was supposed to be there but he had exams so he couldn't go. Lydia and Kayla too, but they had a last minute call to meet their dean so they couldn't make it. The event was supposed to be like the Amazing Race kind of event but because of the hazard haze condition, the event was changed into an indoor team building activity in the ballroom of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. I forgot the name of the company but it's German and the employees (and employers) are these people of different ethnic groups from Kazakhstan, France and many more that I failed to take notice. I made friends with Jia Han, a friend of Hannah's. After the event was over, the client was gracious and grateful so they invited us to join their dinner later in the evening. It very generous of them because the dinner was fine dining. There was a free flow of beer and wine, and I ate these exquisite French dishes that had stuff like caviar (which I learn that I dislike) and made from French culinary technique terms that I'm unfamiliar with. It was pretty good and I had my fill.

I went to my company's annual dinner at SOULed OUT at Sri Hartamas. The buffet dinner this year is smaller though the food was better. The dinner theme was James Bond and everyone had to dress like the gentleman spy so I borrowed Ryan's blazer, slapped a few of my clothes together (I can't wear my slacks so I wore black jeans-like pants), a bow tie and somehow I got nominated for best dressed, though I didn't win, I was quite ecstatic (and a whole lot nervous). After dinner we drank beers down at the bar of the restaurant until late. There was a band performance and through a request, Far, KeShan and Ryan got Iman to sing on stage with the band. She didn't want to but went to do it anyway. What a night it was. Thankfully my alcohol tolerance improved so I was only tipsy and I manage to get myself sober before driving home. Luckily I rejected taking the unusual bombs Far and Steven ordered or I might have gotten smashed.

I started playing Quidditch. It started when I saw a Quidditch tournament on Halloween that was open for anyone, experienced and first-timers to join. Yati and I went for it and now I go for Quidditch practice almost every week. The sport is really fun to play, it's like two games going on at once, one is like rugby and the other is like dodgeball.

I went to the Foodgasm Fest with Lydia, Audrey, Kayla, Ryan and Yati, along with a friend of Audrey's who's name I forgot and this guy with Kayla who she didn't introduce. The location was very muddy thanks to the monsoon season bringing in the rain on a daily basis. The food was pretty good and we had quite a good time. During this time I caught up with Lydia, who I haven't talked to in the longest time.

I went to the Gunpla Expo & Builders World Cup 2015 with Saw, Rachael and her brother, who's name starts with R but I forgot. I was really damn lucky getting my hands on one of the last few sets of limited edition Neon Beargguy III and getting Kawaguchi Katsumi's autograph on it. Kawaguchi-san is the inventor of Gunpla. After that we went to check out Mr Gunpla Studio & Cafe in Kota Damansara.

I went to an event job with Ryan, Lydia and Kayla. It was the TLC Festival Malaysia 2015. The whole thing was quite the experience but it wasn't completely in a good light for me. The whole place was muddy, once again thanks to the monsoon season. I was layered with mud and I got a terrible sunburn, which is now a really dark tan on my skin. I can't wait until I become fair again. I heard that Lydia has got a new boyfriend quite some time ago and so I confirmed it with her about it after the event job. She actually didn't want to tell me about it because she was afraid I might ask a lot of questions but I assured her that I won't because there's no reason for me to. I felt happy for her and I took the news better than I thought. Looks like it's time for me to move on.

For the few weekends of November, I went jogging with Yati and Marcus around Bukit Kiara Park and Trail. I don't really know what's the name for the trail but we call it the Park and Trail respectively. The times when I go jogging alone, I got adventurous and I went on to juggle trek in the forest and the mountain bike trails. I got lost twice during both adventures and it wasn't such a bad experience. The first time I got lost I bumped into Xiau Fong. I'm surprised she remembered me because we only knew each other for two days at a scout camping course when we were 16 or 17. The best part about juggle trekking there is how I get to see nature so nearby.

As usual, I'm spending a lot of my money on food. I have to control myself somehow. It's making me constantly broke. Thanks to Groupon, I've been trying out new places. My interest in cafes have also increased. That's pretty bad news for my wallet though.

I somehow got conjunctivitis. It probably started when I accidentally rubbed some aloe vera gel into my eye while applying it to help recover from my sunburns. At first it was only in my right eye, after I went to see the doctor, my left eye got it too. Now it's gotten better and it's not so bad to the point I can't work properly, it's just minor.

Christmas is around the corner. I can't wait.