Gold Leica M6 Brunei Silver Jubillee: WHO has this camera?

Hi all, I know it’s been a while. Been pretty busy with Plants vs Zombies. Haha! Ok anyway, anyway, guess what. I was browsing on Facebook just now and I found an album posted by this someone. I don’t know him of course, but his album was public see, so I was able to see everything. Anyway the album is called “Who got this camera?”.

Indeed who!!! Apparently Leica released a limited edition of this camera in conjunction with our Sultan’s Silver Jubillee! I don’t really know the exact details so I am not sure whether it’s commissioned or was it just a little gesture from Leica?

Crazy opulence! It’s not just gold, it’s freaking gold plated haha.

This is what it looks like at the back. It was released before the advent of digital photography. Still using film ok!

View from atop. There is a serial number “HB-017″ so I would assume there are at least 17 models of this camera in the world. HB would be the Sultan’s initials.

But my favorite would be the Platinum version, also released for the Silver Jubillee.

Gosh, I prefer this one to the gold. Gold seems too obvious. Hehe. This one is more subtle. But I can’t imagine how heavy it must be!

This one is HB-050 meaning there’s at least 50 models in the world!

Another one is also platinum, but has a diamond! I got this from this blog right here.

At first I thought it’s the same as the ones above, but actually, Leica released this one 3 years after the two above cameras in 1995 during the Sultan’s 50th birthday.

Isn’t it awesome!? See the difference between this and the one above? The the diamond instead of the red national panji panji, and the royal crest instead of the Silver Jubillee emblem. The serial number HB-010, means there’s at least 10 models of this camera in the world!!!

The royal crest in the front flap. I think it’s really lawa. I guess Monsieur Hassanal Bolkiah is very much into photography back then in the 90s otherwise he wouldn’t have established close relations with Leica!

If you are one of the 10 people in possession of this camera, drop me an email. I just want to have a look at it!!! I promise!!! It’s just so lawa.

Great Singapore Sale 2010

I actually went off on an impulse trip to Singapore last week accompanied with my eldest sister. And by impulse it’s very last minute! Haha. We were at a wedding and I was lamenting at how I wanted to go somewhere in June before I supposedly start working in July and she was like, ouh join me me me!! She’s off to Singapore for some facility management training thing in 2 days and so a few quick clicks on the Internet (spefically here) later I bought myself a trip to Singapore!

Of course, as some may remember, last time I was in Singapore was less than a year ago, during Halloween 2009 but I was still so excited cause it was the first trip I’ve ever taken with my sister since we went to Indonesia in like 1993! Haha!

We arrived in the morning and checked in the Royal Plaza on Scotts.

Room was pretty small but plenty of space for everyone and of course, it was perfect as it’s smack dab in the middle of Singapore’s famous shopping areas: Scotts Road, Orchard Road and Somerset Avenue!

So when I was there, while my sister dabbled in the fascinating world of facility management, I went shopping!

My day starts like this:

1. Wake up and get pretty.

2. Shop.

3. Rinse & repeat.

Just some places I went to. Highlights of the trip are as follows.

Ion Orchard: The giant mall place for rich people. Houses many brands including Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Dior, Prada but no Gucci hehe. Went into some boutiques to send in broken bags.

Wheelock’s Place: Biggest Marks & Spencer! Loves! When we were there, big discounts were happening and that was awesome cause Marks & Spencer stocks some awesome pants I could wear to work!

313@Somerset: My favorite!!! My favorite shop Forever 21 is here and all 4 storeys of it!!! I also think it is a sign that it’s named 313 after my birthday haha. Yes I’m so vain.

Speaking of vain, is this the shop of my long lost brother who became a designer?

Hehe.

Annnnnddddd I’ve ran out of photos.

Oh there’s the food we ate. I’ve found that there’s a lot of lovely Japanese food in ION’s food court!

Delicious Japanese sponge wafer with heavenly fillings!

TAKOYAKI!!! Loves.

And there’s Pastamania over at Far East Plaza. NOM! (No photos!)

Before you judge me for being a bad blogger, let me just explain why I have not many photos. Well, to put quite simply, cameras get in the way of shopping!!! Grr. So most of the time it’s in the deepest darkest corner of my handbag. My hands are full lah! Also I’m scared I’d leave it in the mall in the middle of shopping.

So some photos are from my camera, some from iPhone and some from Photo Booth. LOL.

That is all.

Abrupt end.

Foodie Focus: Grazie Mauri

Figured I should really blog before it turns July. Hehe. I just realised I haven’t written about the awesome time I had in the new Grazi Mauri.

But before that, I hereby digress. Boyfriend and I are simply opposites. Italian is simply my favorite cuisine but he says it’s “inda nyaman”. I didn’t bring him for this review because I wanted someone who knows a little something about Italian food, so I brought one of my awesome friends Liyana instead. Usually, I bring someone who’s not so enthusiastic with food as I am, just to give myself an alternative viewpoint that’s objective.

Many people say that we food bloggers/food reviewers get extra special food that are extra delicious. I really beg to differ. Food we received on our table is pretty much the same as the food you get on your table. The only thing perhaps that is different with us food bloggers, is the service. They may be extra attentive, but I never really commented about the service in a restaurant. I am not a restaurant reviewer, I am a food blogger. I describe the food I eat as honest as I can and if something is not nyum, I just don’t write about it. It will not make it on the blog.

Right!

As you know, one of my favorite restaurants in the whole wide world is Villa Mauri, over at Sungai Tilong. I gave it a RAVING review last Ramadhan and it is my pick for best sungkai last year. Unfortunately, despite it being my favorite restaurant, I don’t get to go there as often as I like, because Sungai Tilong is so far away from where I live and is so out of the way from most of my usual activities.

(Price is pretty inhibitive too, hehe)

Chef Maurizio in the middle, and Chef Salvatore on the left.

Enter Grazi Mauri! It is located in Gadong, at the spot formerly occupied by Sushi Tei. A little hard to find parking, but not impossible! Hehe. It is run by Chef Salvatore, or as his daughter refers to him, Chef Moto Moto, apparently the handsome one out of the three brothers. Well I don’t know about that but certainly the most charming! Haha!

The way the restaurant works is pretty much like Villa Mauri. The chef will have a special, which may be different from time to time. When we were there, the special of the night was the Beef Medallions in Chocolate Sauce topped with Sour Cream & Chives.

Unique and yums! The beef was blushing and cooked medium just the way I like it.

Also on the specials menu, and something I recommended the chef put on his regular menu, are the Magic Mushrooms! Gosh so delicious.

LOVES!!! These are the legal kind of magic mushrooms of course, but lethally addictive all the same!

Mmm, I could just have this for lunch with a salad. A very chunky Cream of Mushroom Soup, served with a slice of garlic bread.

Thanis didn’t like this dish much, but I love it. Beef Ravioli! Tastes a little like corned beef inside. Yums!

This is my favorite pasta in the world. Seafood Linguine! Really, anything seafood in tomato sauce is delicious. This version had some chilli added in to give it that kick!

Mushroom Risotto. This was soooo creamy! My friends enjoyed it a lot but I thought it was too heavy for me. Hehe. Then again by the time this was served I was well on my way to a food coma.

Taking a little break from food. The restaurant is very spacious, but still retained the homey Villa Mauri kind of deco. In fact the menu was not too different as well.

But the best best best best part of the meal was most definitely DESSERT! Almost everything on the dessert menu was ohmygod delicious!!! I still recommend the mindblastingly orgasmic Fantasia di Maria to finish everything off.

Grazi Mauri is located in Gadong in front of Pizza Hut, where Sushi Tei used to be.

The story of the Nokia E63, iPhone 3GS & the Mophie Juice Pack Air

Up until recently, I’ve been using the Nokia E63. I’ve spoken of how amazing it is before. It is a fantastic QWERTY phone, especially when you take into account the price tag of less than $300. I term myself a heavy user, because I am constantly on it Tweeting, Facebooking, taking photos, reading online articles, my emails are also received in real time (push emails) and since my car has no radio, I listen to music on it loudly on speaker. That means if it is not connected to the 3G, it’s on Wi-fi. Despite all this activity, one of the most awesome thing about the E63 is that, I only charge the batteries at most once every two days.

However, as is with all phones, to love it, you need to make it yours. For my phone I uninstalled and deleted all games that came prepackaged with the phone. With the space, I downloaded applications that are most useful for me. They are:

1. Opera Mini: fast and reliable phone browser, better than Nokia’s web browser. It has shortcuts, and loads low res photos so you don’t burn data charges like it’s free!
2. Snaptu: It is a Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, Flickr, Picasa client all in one! It constantly runs in the background and best of all it’s free!

That’s pretty much it! I love that phone and would’ve gone on to use it forever but I was suddenly and uncharacteristically lucky and got myself an iPhone 3GS in Ranoadidas‘s Twitter Competition!!! It was all over the news and everything haha.

Now, I’ve always marvelled at the iPhone, as I do with all things Branded with The Apple. I’ve always wanted it but I’ve always seen it as nothing short of “unattainable” cause of the (at least) $1000 price tag. Don’t argue with me on this. The iPhone, no matter what it claims to do, is an expensive, expensive phone that no matter how much in love I am with it, I would never buy for myself.

So there I was handed an iPhone 3GS on a silver platter. I didn’t even wait to go home to peel off the plastic and insert my sim card! I won the phone at the Mall and opened it at McDonald’s. Hehe.

First photo taken on the iPhone 3GS.

That night I plugged it in my Macbook and after syncing my contacts, photos, and all the shizz from the E63, slept happily while it charged.

The next day, after installing apps like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. I went out with friends in the afternoon, and went to work at night. I used my new phone with the same frequency as I did on the Nokia E63. It was amaaazing. Typing on the touch screen keyboard feels peculiar at first but quickly got used to it. I love QWERTY keypads!  However, I left home with 100% battery and sadly, not even halfway through my class, the batteries died on me.

I was taken aback. It can’t be? Surely a phone priced more than $1000 could get through at least ONE working day before dying on me? Is my phone faulty?

So when I went home, I researched and apparently it’s a common complaint among iPhone users all over the world. There are unified laments on the phone’s pathetic battery life. On Apple’s website, there are tips on how to prolong the battery’s life. Among the tips they offer are:

1. Don’t use the 3G
2. Turn off WiFi
3. Use Airplane Mode.
4. Don’t use location services (Switch off GPS)
5. Don’t use push notifications.
6. Dim the screen
7. Don’t check your email too often
8. Don’t use 3rd party apps (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare) a lot

In short, Apple wants us to use our iPhones like iPods.

The problem is I WANT a bright screen, and I WANT to use GPS for Foursquare and I WANT to use my 3G for everything I do. EDGE is damn slow why would I want to use EDGE when I have a 3G phone lah. And I WANT push notifications. I like to receive my emails and get alerts. These are the things that made the iPhone awesome and Apple is suggesting that I should turn them all OFF? Aiyah how like that!

So being the resourceful person I am I searched for alternatives. Apparently, there are two ‘remedies’. First is to get many many charging cables. One at home, one for the car, one for the workplace. Obviously, this won’t do. I travel a lot and I’m always on the move, and I don’t stay long in one location to charge a phone! All these wires just make me fell so nauseous!

The second is to get a hassle free battery pack that extends the life of the battery, and apparently a really low maintenance, remotely attractive looking one is made by Mophie! Chewah. Found out AV Electronics stocked the Mophie Juice Pack Air, and swiftly bought one in white! (Well, no I didn’t. I had to save up for it, cause it’s pretty expensive at B$139 a pop.)

But I love it. I extended the battery life more than twice and I don’t have to switch off and compromise what features I love in the iPhone. For a more complete review read here. SHIOK! It doubles as a sturdy protective casing for my iPhone and I don’t need to whatever bring so many wires around. The only thing I don’t like about the case is the fact that I have to buy it and that’s not Mophie’s fault!

So that’s that. Please welcome to the family me new phone.

Walau ku himpunkan sesalku

I am reminded of a post I wrote eons ago by a friend today who somewhat decoded what the post meant. Love lost is a great pity. I do wonder how he’s coping with his heartbreak. Or at least, that’s what I assume he’s having.

In fact heartbreak is something that’s been happening a lot around me lately. To good friends. It is always described poetically by artists. It’s vague see, and well, face it, it’s pretty hard to understand how each person reacts to heartbreak.

I’ve had my share of heartbreaks. Small ones, like everytime a student talks back to me rudely. Medium sized ones, like when I realized how nonchalant Boyfriend is about something that means a lot to me. And some big ones, well, those I still find hard to talk about..

Heartbreaks share some common traits. They all cause disappointment, in one degree or another, and it is that feeling that makes you sad, causing that terrible pain in your chest.

Sometimes you just shake it off. Or sometimes you cry, or get angry. If we don’t communicate properly, we recoil and build barriers.

I probably will never be as forgiving to that boy who was rude to me when he comes in 5 minutes late for class. Why would I want to invest time in someone who can’t even speak to me in a civil manner?

I probably won’t expect too much from Boyfriend, and just share my joys with someone else who sees how important that particular something is to me. I mean, you can’t make someone like something they don’t right?

But when you deal with big heartbreaks it’s a totally different story. Sometimes you change so much that, when you wake up, you just don’t recognise yourself in the mirror anymore.

Don’t change too much.

Panggilan Pulau: An Idiot’s Guide To Jetskiing

Last Sunday, I was invited for jetskiing by Labuan Waverunner, a newly established company in Labuan that caters to your jetskiing needs.

No I’ve never jetskiied before but yes I did it last Sunday. I came, I saw, I conquered.

Prior to Sunday, the only knowledge I had on how to operate them came from Mariah Carey’s Honey video: that is, nil. I believe she green-screened the jetski scene anyway.

The fact that I’m still alive and well now writing out this blog post, leads me to believe, ANYONE can jetski!

So I came up with this amazing idea of making an idiot’s guide to jetskiing, as I am pretty much an idiot for getting into something that I know nothing about, and I learnt many things about jetskiing on Sunday.

For example, if I know jetskis at all, I’d know that the above gloves are not meant for water sports as they will indeed, quickly disintegrate in the salty sea water.

1. What is a freaking jetski? It’s essentially a motorbike, made for the water. They have speeds that go from fast, to mutherf***ing fast with the push of a lever. Above is our jetski, as modelled by Awang and his sexy thighs. No jetskis don’t have brakes.

2. Safety first. Yes you may be an idiot but don’t be stupid and go in the water without a life vest!!! It might feel like you’re wearing an ass floss but trust me, you’d want to be flossed if you fall down from your jetski in the middle of nowhere, no matter how well you can swim!

3. Waterproof sun protection of at least SPF30 is a must. Sunburn is hell on earth.

4. STRETCHING! Before going in the water, make sure your muscles are warmed up. You’ll thank me the next day. I sure wish someone told me cause I can barely move my arms today. Hehe

5. You’ll be using your whole body for jetskiing.

• Legs and specifically knees act as springs to absorb the rocky ride on the waves, and will be instrumental in maintaining balance while you turn a corner.
• Arms must be outstretched and locked for maximum strength and control, and prevent you from flying off the jetski.
• Hands will be controlling the speed in which the jetski operates.

5. Aquapacs are meant for underwater photos. When they’re half wet, photos end up looking blurry and uneven. FML. Anyway, you cannot take photos while operating a jetski anyway. You need both hands.

6. Protect your eyes, you WILL get wet! The waves will splash into your eyes. When I was on the jetski, the only thing I kept on thinking about was how I wished I wore goggles or some sort or shield to protect my eyes from the salty sea water.

7. Get a guided tour for no extra charge: Jetskiing is awesome but if you’re anything like me, it is more awesome when you have an objective destination,

• Go around Pulau Papan
• Jet towards Menumbok
• Visit Labuan’s water village
• Simply cruise down Labuan’s downtown
• ….OR DO ALL FOUR!

*** Doing all four will take you an hour and a half or so. Bear in mind, your arms will get pretty tired after an hour. So time yourself well.

With owner of Labuan Waverunner on a supercharged jetski.

8. Don’t forget breakfast! You’d need all the strength you can get!

*******

Labuan Waverunner operates on Saturdays and Sundays, at the Labuan International Sea Sports Complex, from 9am onwards. They also offer fun banana boat, storm and matrix rides. Look for the blue and white mini tent! The friendly team will be glad to help you!

Bruneian readers: For further enquiries, bookings, fuss free arrangements, please contact the Brunei agent for Labuan Waverunner, Nazrie, at +673 8 622325.

Panggilan Pulau: Labuan Revisited

Trivia: Did you know that the name Labuan actually came from the Malay word “labuhan” that means anchorage?

So yes, sponsored by our friends in Gaharu Brunei, for the second time this year, I went back to Labuan! With company from media extraordinaires (eseh!) Aziz & Awang, we conquered the South China Sea and arrived safely at about 5.45pm.

Labuan is a pretty small place, small town, small population, whereby a big chunk of the population are Brunei Malay and Kedayan. So it’s pretty much Brunei, with booze. Haha.

Stayed at the Mariner Hotel. It’s at a great location cause you’re near to many duty free shops and all that, and the Labuan nightlife is literally at the back of this hotel.

My comfortable room with residual wifi signal from an unidentified source. Hehe. The hotel only has wifi at the lobby but for some reason, I could detect wifi signal called ‘dlink’ from my room. Was happy about that! Haha.

We had dinner at the Manja Rasa Floating Restaurant, which technically wasn’t floating, but was in fact, on stilts hehe. It was an eat-all-you-can, season-with-whatever-you-want, cook-however-you-want, type of place, where you have fun with your food. Was very very very full after!

Later we attempted to engage with the local community at a cultural exchange venue called Popin. Haha. Our attempt was rather unsuccessful what with the rather awful singing and sounds. Great songs, unfortunately the place had really bad acoustics. *___*”

Then as Aziz & Awang stayed back to watch some lame World Cup match, with what left of our eardrums, the rest of us went back to the hotel and to bed we went (separately) in anticipation of tomorrow’s fun filled activities!

Next post: An Idiot’s Guide To Jetskiing.

Tour of the Old Kingdoms: Visits in Yangon, Myanmar

1. Bogyoke Market

Paintings for sale!

This place reminds me a lot of Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. In fact it’s pretty much the same format, and pretty much the same kind of stuff. I bought longyis here. In fact we all did! LOL.

Longyis are like skirts made from woven cloth that many men and women wear not only here in Yangon but also the rest of Myanmar. They’re pretty cheap, some even only US$2 each but the silk ones can go up to US$25 each.

Inferior photo quality: I apologise!

But really people go to Bogyoke Market for the precious gems they have for sale. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, jades, emeralds!!! The whole shebang! You need to bargain and bargain and bargain really hard!

And fruits and vegetables too!

The place is really big! Also look what we found:

Sigup daun!!! Unfiltered cancer sticks for US$0.50? Can’t remember how much it was but it was pretty cheap. Bought for the novelty of saying, “we bought Myanmar leaf ciggies”…

2. Select

In Myanmar, because of the sanctions, it is not easy to get imported goods. There are only very few places that sell imported goods and often at exorbitant prices. Here is one: Select. Didn’t go in. I put down a photo of this because, my friend Michelle bought cough syrup here because we ALL suddenly had a cough!!! We all ambung and didn’t buy the syrup but in the end we all shared it! It was really good syrup too, the kind that really soothes your throat immediately.

3. Junction 8 Mall

Haha!

My crazy friends all had a near death experience crossing the road to get to the Junction 8!!! As you know roads in Myanmar are right hand drive, like the American system. When we were crossing the road, I stopped cause saw a big truck approaching fast. However, my friends all went ahead and crossed the road anyway at a leisurely pace. I was puzzled at first but quickly realised that they must’ve forgotten that the road was right hand drive and thought no cars were approaching. I screamed at them and thankfully they all saw the approaching truck and ran to the other side like chickens. Hahahah!!! Of course now in retrospect it’s pretty funny but at that time it sure wasn’t. Moral of the story is, always remember that in Myanmar, people drive on the wrong side of the road!

The mall, as expected was unremarkable, except for the security guard who did his job a little to well. We were followed everywhere we go. From a distance but still noticeable. That must be how the royal family feels everyday hehe. This is the only photo I took inside a mall, because as it turns out, no cameras are allowed!

3. Shwedagon Pagoda

This must be one of the most golden places I have ever been to aside from the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. Haha! And it’s HUGE!

To enter, one must purchase a US$5 entrance ticket and must wear a sticker all the time.

SM stands for Sex Machine hahahah!

A few tour guides will insist their services upon you while you’re paying your ticket. You can easilly brush them off by ignoring them but of course they are very good and will give you a lot of information about the place. We didn’t get a guide because I like to explore a place on my lonesome and daydream during my explorations. I have a vivid imaginations and sometimes when something is really interesting I even have dialogues in my head!

I’m weird like that.

Anyway, turns out, no shoes were allowed in the Shwedagon complex. So we had to leave ours near the ticketing booth on a rack and with a stinking suspicion that we’d end up shoeless when we came back down, we climbed aboard an elevator that smells like areca nut. Smelliest 30 seconds of my life haha.

The pagoda is really really gold.

When we were up there, feels like we were walking on hot ember!!! The green tiles were soooooo hot!!! Thankfully the marble white ones weren’t. Anyway, apparently this gold behemoth of a building is 98 metres high. To this day I still don’t know what’s inside.

I didn’t know it then, but these people are doing the cleansing act. They basically pour water over these statues like 13 times or something. It’s to cleanse your souls and apparently it is said that after the cleansing act you’d feel lighter.

A woman prostrating to her God.

Maha Tissada Gandha Bell

Carpetmen hauling carpet to praying areas.

Praying monk.

Photographer monk.

Some are only children.

This girl caught my attention cause she was learning English in front of an emerald buddha. The top book is in English, the second book is in Burmese, which I assume is the translation of the English words, and she’s copying the English words down in her notebook. I pretended to stand nearby admiring the emerald buddha, trying to listen as she reads aloud. It was a story, but her voice was too soft so I really couldn’t make out the whole story. Just a little.

4. Chaukhtatgyi Temple

Temple of a reaaaaally big reclining Buddha. Well what can I say about this Temple. We went here after Shwedagon and well, it looked a little plain after all the gold and glamour in Shwedagon. Note to future travellers: Go to Chaukhtatgyi (pronounced God knows how… something like CHO-TA-GEE?)  before heading off to Shwedagon. Haha. We didn’t really go in, just at the corridor and took photos.

After this sign, I realise that Myanmar is so full of not just monks, but pilgrims. They’ve come here for clarity and soul searching. This is their sacred land. Much like how we see our own sacred lands of Makkah and Madinah. I feel a bit pathetic that I actually paid so much to see all these temples and not even one mosque..

5.  Inya Lake

Some guys kayaking on the lake in the distance.

This is honestly my top most favorite location in Yangon! Inya Lake is, according t Wikipedia,

“located 6 miles (9.7 km) north of downtown Yangon, Inya Lake is bounded by Parami Road on the north, Pyay Road on the west, Inya Road on the southwest, University Avenue on the south, and Kaba Aye Pagoda Road on the east.”

We stayed with Ani, who lives on Pyay Road, so we asked our driver to drop us off there, so we could walk back home after watching the sunset. Perfect plan right? Haha!

The sun didn’t set over the lake!!! LOL!!!

Actually as we quickly realised, the sun sets on the other side of the lake, so we didn’t see the sun set and it looked very near to walk by car but actually the “leisurely” walk home was more than 5km UPHILL! Haha. Many interesting sights on the way though so we didn’t mind so much.

Back to Inya Lake, it is my favorite spot, particularly because it is a very popular place in Yangon to go DATING!!!

Get a snack of stomach entrail steamboat first?

Or perhaps some spicy mango?

Or some posh Burmese cigarettes? Hehe! (No warning signs!)

Basically when you’re at Inya Lake, you’d need to look for an empty spot to go berdating.

It can either be any of the seats, facing the beautiful lake…

or

…any shady spot will do! Hehe!

We chose a sunny pink seat sponsored by A21 Soap haha!

While sitting and laughing and hanging out there, we were approached by many kinds of people, and saw many kinds of things people are up to.

One man approached us just to tell us that a building on our right side is the Convocation Hall in the University of Yangon! *___*”

There was a man selling a bouquet of mango slices.

SO CLEVER!!! I now officially declare that I only want bouquets of sliced fruits instead of boring inedible flower bouquets!

We had music too!

Polka dot longyi!

As the sun sets and it becomes more shady, more Yangonites and young couples ventured out. It was all very romantic and nice! Me thinks these young couples go to the University of Yangon, located on the University Avenue, just a few minutes walk from Inya Lake.

Another reason why I think Inya Lake is so fascinating is because as you have noticed, it is nearby University Avenue, where Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest.

The area surrounding Inya Lake is one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Yangon… Lakefront properties include residences of Aung San Suu Kyi, the late strongman Gen. Ne Win and the United States ambassador.

This is the lake in the 2009 trespass incident involving John Yettaw. He swam across to her house uninvited and was arrested when he made his return trip three days later. His trespass caused Suu Kyi to be arrested for violating the terms of her house arrest. Apparently, Yettaw said he swam to Suu Kyi’s house to warn her that her life was “in danger”.

I hope you Google for more information. The house arrest of Suu Kyi and the Junta’s subsequent decision to not release her is a major current issue and is the reason why the US and EU are imposing economic sanctions, import bans, arms embargo, and suspension of all aid (except humanitarian) over Myanmar. They find it a human rights issue.

It’s quite sad really. Reminds me of the Malay saying, “gajah berperang, pelanduk mati di tengah-tengah” because well, Burma was in the past a centre of excellence, particularly in the area of medicine. Now, it’s just a military state, where the common people are so poor and a select few are unbelievably rich.

Overall, I quite enjoy my time in Myanmar. Things move slowly here, even slower than Brunei and that can make you sort of sleepy almost. But I think it’s part of Yangon’s charm.

Pink Desserts 2010

Don’t forget to buy the book! Especially when there are so many awesome dessert recipes to choose from. I myself am itching to try Thanis’s Luva Cake. Drools.

You can get a copy of the book for $10 only at the following places:

1. Swensen’s, Second Floor, The Mall, Gadong.
2. Shop@Sarah, First Floor, Seri Qlap Mall.
3. Frangipani Bistro and Cafe, Sengkurong, same row as Baiduri Bank
4. Brunei Breast Cancer Support Group Office, No.23, 1st Floor Bgn Hj Hassan Abdullah, Kg Menglait, Gadong BE 3978- near Le Apple in Menglait.
5. Le Apple Menglait
6. Le Apple Tanjong Bunut

Remember, we’ve already sold 160 copies in one afternoon! We only printed 1000 copies and they are going very very very fast!!!!!!!!

Foodadventures: Nasi Lemak Antarabangsa @ Hamberly Hills Cafe

One of my favorite foods in the whole wide world is Nasi Lemak. When we went to Hamberly Hills Cafe, they boasted of good nasi lemak: comes in both daging or ayam. Now the cafe serves nasi lemak antarabangsa, kind of the one I had in Kuala Lumpur in 2009. I don’t know what the difference is really between normal nasi lemak and nasi lemak antarabangsa. Maybe just the name?

Nasi lemak daging. RECOMMENDED!!! You MUST have this. The rendang is to die for! Tender, flavoursome. Slurps!!!

Nasi lemak ayam. So good! But I personally prefer daging better. Seriously, it’s making me drool right now!!!!

Hamberly Hills Cafe is situated at the Brunei Tennis Club, Padang Kebajikan, Berakas. They also serve other food like Nasi Ayam Penyet and Kolo Mee.

Tour of the Old Kingdoms: Yangon, Myanmar

Yangon, also known as Rangoon, is the former capital of Myanmar. That is, before the Junta ruling over the country suddenly decided that they wanted to move the capital to Naypyidaw. It was my first time here and it really was a charming place. I’ve really never been to a place quite like it. Many things here are just so out of this world that sometimes, I don’t even know what to say. Haha.

The view of golden land, Myanmar as we descended towards the airport.

Below are just some of the more memorable things about Yangon. You may or may not agree with my opinions.

The electricity goes off every few hours.

It occurs everywhere and also goes off randomly so you cannot time it. Night or day, you never know! I was there a short while and it was quite comical for me especially when it seem like we’re the only ones reacting to the power cut haha but I imagine it to be inconvenient and extremely frustrating for residents living there.

What if you’re halfway through baking a cake? What if you’re streaming an episode of your favorite series? What if you’re taking a hot shower? What if you just came home from a long and HOT day and had just sat down to luxuriate under the aircond?

But as I stayed there longer, I became used to the random power cuts. It’s not like you can do anything about it anyway. They usually last about an hour or so. Maybe more in some areas. However, I got the shock of my life when I was sitting down at the airport waiting for my flight and the electricity went off. Haha.

It does explain why the boarding pass is handwritten!

It also explains why the computers provided in the airport looks as if they are for decorative/ornamental purposes. Can you imagine if they were to actually be dependent on the computers? I cannot imagine the amount of lost data! Not to mention delayed flights and a whole load of crazy disorganization!

Coming to Yangon feels a bit like going back in time.

It’s true! The buildings, music, fashion, buses, the cars there, are all so 80s!

An interesting fact: if you look at the buses closely you’ll realise they have a lot of Japanese writing on the back, on the side, on the front. I wondered about this when I was there but I guess I never ventured further. A few days ago, I was reading my friend’s Daphne and our Japanese friend from SSEAYP, Romi’s, account of their Myanmar trip and found out this:

R was getting so excited over the many old Japanese public buses which she used to go on when she was little. I am guessing that Japan may have donated some of these as Japan is also very much involved with funding in the restoration of Cambodia’s ancient temples.

That totally made sense.

Even when boyfriend/girlfriends go dating, it’s a lot like P. Ramlee movies where they “berjumpaaaaa di taman Firdauusieeeee, bersamaaaa memaduuuuu asmaraaaaa~~~”. Haha, they will walk in the park, sit together, then the guy will buy flowers or mango for the lady and they whisper sweet nothings in each other’s ear as they watch the sun set.

This was at Inya Lake, apparently a popular dating spot.

It’s really sweet!

Further examples of “going back in time” was when we went to a mall there, and they’re still selling the likes of Walkman, Discman and all that. One shop called the “Music Centre” and we were amused to see that they were selling cassettes instead of CDs! Hehe. I find that really cute indeed!

I wish we could’ve taken photos but apparently photo taking is not allowed in any shops. In fact, the security guard will follow you everywhere! Which brings me to the next point.

Security guards will follow you everywhere

We just came from Bangkok where there is a very strong military presence due to the red shirt protests. It somehow dulled our senses a bit while we were there. However, now in retrospect, actually there is a strong military presence as well in Yangon, particularly in commercial areas cause there’s many people there. This may have be caused by the bombing during the water festival only a few days before we came. When we come to malls or whatever, we’ll be constantly followed by security guards, eyeing us suspiciously. Hehe. It’s very intimidating I think.

Everyone wears makeup

There’s this foundation thing that they wear only on their cheeks called the thanaka. It’s apparently made out of the root of a plant, ground to a paste and slapped on the face every morning!

According to Wikipedia:

Thanaka cream has been used by Burmese women for over 2000 years.^[4]It has a fragrant scent somewhat similar to sandalwood.^[2][6]The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek, sometimes made stripey with the fingers known as thanaka bè gya, or patterned in the shape of a leaf, often also highlighting the bridge of the nose with it at the same time.^[4] It may be applied from head to toe (thanaka chi zoun gaung zoun). Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn.^[1] It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin.^[4] It is also an anti-fungal

So cool right? Haha, saw some sold in the shops for cheap but smells kinda like betelnut so NO THANKS!

Everything smells like pinang!

Pinang is Malay for betelnut, or areca nut. When I come to a country, one of the first things that I notice is the smell of the country. India smells a bit like pee and garam masala, Thailand smells like rivers, somtham and in some areas, dogs. Malaysia smells like rice, China smells like salty and soy sauce, Manila smells lantuh like wet earth, Japan smells like cold and fish.

Well, everything in Yangon smells like pinang! In fact, if I get a Burmese boyfriend, he will probably smell like pinang.

A thriving Muslim community

I was very surprised to how easy it was to find halal restaurants in Yangon. In fact one of the more popular foods here is briyani! Not surprising really if you consider how near Myanmar is with India and Bangladesh, but I always associate Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam together so it was surprising to me!

It’s a very mild version of biryani, not too spicy. It’s quite yummy really and the chicken is tender and yummy. Feels like they used ayam kampong. Not too impossible considering how everything here is stripped to the bare minimum.

Also, as we’ve discovered, as we’re walking down to the parking lot of Bogyoke Market, I suddenly hear azan! It was unmistakable: Allahuakbar allahuakbar! I was so surprised to hear it in downtown Yangon no less. Apparently there was a mosque just 1km away from the market. I think having a mosque downtown, in probably the busiest part of the city, say a lot about not only the thriving Muslim community but also the high level of religious tolerance there.

You can just make out the shape of the mosque behind the Bio-Essence billboard.

Almost everyone can speak English!

When I was on SSEAYP, out of 28, only maybe 5 of the Myanmar contingent could speak English. So I was under the impression that perhaps it’s not a widely spoken language in Myanmar. Imagine my surprise when I came there and almost everyone could speak and even JOKE in English! In fact people here are really friendly and some would even approach us to just talk in English.

A lady who we bought longyis from. Speaks beautiful English and I won’t be surprised if she speaks many other languages as well since she sounds really bright!

FML all this while we’ve been punk’d! So now I am convinced that the PYs that joined SSEAYP are only pretending to not speak English, for whatever reason!

The Burmese Script

Don’t need to learn Burmese to understand what this means. Hee.

Before I come to a country, I try to minimise too much surprises by Googling the country to death and finding out as much as possible about it. In all that Googling, I never came across Burmese script. In fact I didn’t come across Burmese script when we were on the ship either. Turns out, they have very unique characters in their writing system. Most of the letters look like cute little circles!

Fascinating!

My friends and I, for a while, could actually read numbers. And for fun, we translated our phone numberse. Haha.

Haha!

Black Market Money

The currency used in Myanmar is kyats (pronounced “chats”). 1000 kyats is roughly equivalent to US$1. You actually need both currencies here and while US dollars are officially not accepted there, it’s actually still widely used. You can bring your US dollars in but to get kyats, you would need to money exchange illegally. Lookout for men carrying black plastic bags at Bogyoke Market, those are money changers!

I is rich to have the kyats!

Anyway there are no coins. The most common denomination is 1000kyats. However, there are smaller change:

These notes are so jarih.

But these are very rare, so most of the times, when you go shopping in stores there, if you have a bit of change, they will give you sweets amounting to the amount they owe you. Hehe!

Next post will be about all the places we went to in Yangon, Myanmar.

NB: Some of the photos in this post is taken by my good friend Ariffin Aziz. Especially if they look good and high res. He has a big ass camera. It’s black. He’s got a long lens too. In fact it could’ve been longer but back then it hasn’t arrived in the mail yet.

Tour of the Old Kingdoms: Experiencing Ayutthaya

DAY 1

1. Checking out of the Ayothaya Riverside Hotel.

2. Picked up in our celebrity van! Haha. It was tinted and check this out, it’s got mirrors on the ceiling. So kinky!

3. Registered for SIGA. Click here for more information on SIGA. It’s written also by me, and too boring to paste here.

4. Walked around in the museum above where we got registered. Tells all about history of Ayutthaya but most importantly, AIRCOND!

5. City tour by bus: Went around the city while waiting to be transported to the hotel. Very interesting, saw many elephants!

Also some colourful tuk tuks. BEWARE! They charge tourist rates.

And I love this burger shack! If I ever have a burger shack, then I’m gonna make a big ass burger just like this one and put it on my roof too!!!

6. You better believe it. Chicken and tongkeng! Yes it was halal. In fact, don’t be surprised at how easy it is to find halal food as there is a lot of muslims in Ayutthaya.

7. Behind the tongkeng stall, just a few minutes walk, was the cemetery of the man who brought Islam to Thailand (or something): Sheikh Ahmad. Al Fatihah.

8. Checked into our fancy hotel, Krungsri River Hotel.

9. Welcoming dinner! Met so many of my ASEAN friends. <3

Guess where we’re all from! Haha. I don’t think you can. We all look more alike than you think.

10. Nightly trek to a nearby 7-11. Haha.

DAY 2

1. Breakfast

2. Before passing out from the fever. I was burning hot but feeling sooooooo cold!!! So my friends prescribed me sleep. With a cold towel! Waste of make up… *___*

This was the last photo before I fainted in my room. Missed the rest of the morning.

3. I woke up midday and felt substantially better. So joined the bus tour. This was at the lobby.

4. Kudi Cho Fa Mosque: Biggest mosque in Ayutthaya.

View from outside.

Mimbar.

The women’s side.

It a very humble mosque and staff there were very friendly. I was quite surprised of the big muslim community here in Ayutthaya, but after reading about their history of trade with the Arab world, it’s actually hardly surprising. It was one of the more metropolitan cities in South East Asia back then.

5. Portuguese Settlement: Many skeletons here, very scary one!

Obligatory group photo

Eiiiiyyyy….. you don’t wanna be here at night.

I imagine ghosts roaming around. Hehe. Notice that in some of the graves, there are bodies with two heads, or bodies with abnormally long legs. Hehe.

6. St Joseph’s Catholic Church: Took a photo outside. Church was closed.

Didn’t get a lot of info about this place. It’s been here for 300 years. Hehe.

7. Wat Chai Watthana Ram: Big ass temple built many many years ago by King Prasat Thong.

Love this photo!

Opposite this temple is the King’s palace.

Critters living here.

This temple is a beautiful place I think. I’m not much of an architectural freak, but I appreciate the symmetry of the place. When viewed from the river that night from the Princess Cruise we were on, I realised that it was perfectly symmetrical with 4 towers on the left and 4 on the right. Those towers are placed in positions where from the river it looks as it they’re of different sizes, with the biggest on the side and smallest most near to the big prang.  I don’t have a photo of it cause my camera can’t take nice photos of buildings at night but it truly is a work of art. LAWA!

8. Dinner on the Princess Cruise So much fun!!!

Just finished dinner. SO GOOD!

We did country performances! Hahaha!

This is Thailand of course there’s a drag show! Haha.

DAY 3

1. Lobby of our hotel was noisy with music. Turns out there was a wedding and these old ladies were dancing and it was so awesome!

2. On the bus: bought a raffle ticket. Money will go towards the development of Joa Fa Sang.

3. Me and my car(s) outside of Bang Pa In Summer Palace!!!

4. Bang-Pa-In Royal Palace (Beautiful place but so hot!)

This is the Aisawan Thiphya-Art (Divine Seat of Personal Freedom)… Seriously!

In one of the buildings, called Warophat Phiman (Excellent and Shining Heavenly Abode), one isn’t allowed to go in with pants out of respect so sarongs are available for rent. Hehe! This is where the royal family would actually stay if they come over to the summer palace.

Do u see a face? Hehe. I actually wanted to take a photo of that trinket in the middle of the photo but when I uploaded the photos to Picasa, I realised the tree has a face. Thus began my obsession with trees. Haha!

She is actually carrying someone’s head. Who’s this woman scorned?

Touristy photo with Ho Withun Thasana (Sages’ Lookout) in the background.

This was taken from the Sages’ Lookout. It’s a photo of the red place below.

Wehart Chamrunt (Heavenly Light): Very red and Chinesey!

Cute little rabbits!

Obligatory self portrait with the new hat.

5. Wellness & Organic Resort. This was so interesting! Apparently, everything we ate was organic.

Lemongrass Tea. Very good!

I love the chicken curry here. I still dream about the curry gravy until now.

What’s a wellness resort without a living pond?

6. Bangsai Arts and Crafts Centre

Fishes look so big it looks as it they’re gonna eat the ducks!

Damn big rims!

Shopping tourists hehe.

Most delicious Ovaltine I’ve ever had!

Happy! Weee~

7. Dinner at a Wat I’m not sure of the name.

Fireworks!!!

8. Kantari Hotel for a crazy noodle party!

Me is the angel!

Devil, obviously!

Mango kings

Noodles, for old time’s sake.

Craziness I miss!!

9. Our ride home haha!!!

Haha! I am serious!

Haha! In a pickup truck. The kind they use to send construction workers in. LOL.

Gosh I miss SSEAYP and also SIGA!!! <3<3<3

Foodie Favourites: KFC’s black pepper crunch

For a limited time only: KFC’s black pepper crunch!

You want this baby.

Yes, you love the soft and fluffy.

Like I said, you do not, want to miss this.

Don’t forget to come to the PINKNIK!

FML I forgot to tell u guys all about the PINKNIK!

Yes it’s open to public!

Yes you may also join the sale! Just bring tables and chairs.

Yes you may dress up in wacky clothes!

Yes you can just about do anything here!

Come and get the recipe book!!!

For more information, click here. See u there!!!