London!

London remains the best city I have ever visited. I heard some say New York gives good competition to the status. Everything about the city is just wonderful; the food, the people and the weather in contrast to ppl's usual complaints of gloominess. I have been to London 3 times now, and I enjoyed my last trip there the best when I spent 2 months living the life of a Londoner:)

Best things to do in London:- 

1. A night walk along River Thames from Big Ben/Westminster, passing by London Eye. I've never done this in winter, but on other times the breezy weather and the lights are just breathtaking. I could walk all the way to Tower Bridge passing by London Bridge but you could choose to take the tube from Embankment to Tower Hill as it is quite a distance unless you have the time. 

    Big Ben

   London Eye
    Tower Bridge
View from the Tower Bridge at dusk
2. A visit to the War Museum. It is definitely the best museum I've visited and was amazed to have spent more than 3 hours. It should keep you really occupied if you really go through everything. There was this section on Holocaust with a lot of videos which were really informative. It is located within walking distance from Elephants and Castle tube station and there are ample directions to get there.
3. Notting Hill. I have always been inspired by movie locations and love going to places where movie scenes were filmed. This is also where the Portobello road market is located. 

Hugh Grant's travel bookshop

The coffeeshop across Hugh Grant's house

4. Borough Market. It is both a wet and dry market but unlike the markets we have here, this was a pleasant change of sight:) Lots of interesting things to see and buy.

5. Tower Of London. This is where you'll be able to see the Crown Jewels and visit an authentic castle. Again, I was inspired by the other boleyn sisters movie where anne boleyn was prosecuted here.   

6. Trafalgar Square  - National Gallery where I spent only 10 minutes inside (inclusive of toilet break) as I'm a noob in art. This is like our Dataran Merdeka or Penang Esplanade where most major events are held.   

7. Chinatown - A place you would love coming to if you are in London for long periods. Some serve good food but the one thing in common is that they present you the bill as soon as you finish eating. That's their way of saying "please pay and bugger off!"   

8. Leicester Square - Lots of birds here to see while you feast on ben and jerry's ice cream! This is also a famous venue for movie premieres. Emma Watson flashed her undies here btw, lol.

9. Piccadilly Circus - About a few hundred metres away from Leicester Square. The last time I was there, they had this Mcdonald's interactive screen, interesting idea. It is also the place I found Lillywhites/SportsDirect store and fell in love instantly. Football jerseys and sports stuffs are all cheap bargains.  

 10. Regent Street, Oxford Street - Nice view of the buildings as well as a shopping street. It is also where the Ice Bar is located.   

11. St. Paul's Cathedral 

View of St.Paul's from the Millennium Bridge

12. Buckingham Palace - There is exchange of guards every morning. 

13. Covent Garden - a nice and famous area of pubs and street performances, my personal favourite place

Cruelty of Sports (Life)

Those who are close to me know I am a big fan of sports. I absolutely love the way I was raised ; outdoors! I was never really a homey person who plays computer/video games albeit a period of time when i was all crazy over fifa, prince of persia and the blue brothers to name a few:)

First and the only game I still play frequently these days is badminton. My dad drew a badminton court at the backlane of my home and I started playing with my brothers and dad since I was 3! Then we would cycle around the neighbourhood together with my cousins, even made new cycling friends:) When I moved to Pulau Tikus (where the all so good chiu chang ka char koay teow is btw), there was a nearby army training camp. We would go there on the weekends and play war games. It does sound pathetic now as the furthest we have gone was using gunpowder. It must have been great if paintball was already famous back then lol! Not to mention the frequent swimming sessions as well. Hiking up no.84 (halfway point of pg hill) was almost a weekly affair with my dad and siblings.

I think kids my time were pretty creative when it comes to the outdoor games. Kids these days I see are all computer/video gamers...boring. then again, i think it's a non-city kid thing too considering when I share my stories with my kl friends, they sounded pretty amazed. haha
badminton can be played over the house gate, ping pong using the dining table and tennis at home, how about that!:) I have to say we were pretty resouceful and we would settle for anything just to play. short dining table? extend with a platform supported by chairs!

My cousins, brothers and I would also gather for mini-futsal sessions as well at my cousin's pretty huge garden. Sadly, I have not played much football ever since I started wearing specs. No contact lens for me as my eyes are too sensitive:p I used to play tennis and squash too, basically i get interested in whatever is thrown at me, but the only game I really like was and is still badminton.

So now I have to settle at only watching football. A big fan of Man Utd, supported them since I was young. I remember those younger years when their style and never-say-die spirit really impressed me and got me following. great players have come and gone, yet the team's still at the top! 3 years running and they just thrashed arsenal 3-1 last night, totally outclassing Ars. Which was my point of the title having detoured quite a bit (lol), I am also a fan of Arsene Wenger's style; attacking football, a great scout and the ability to develop young players. If there had to be one opposing team to win the league, I would respectfully give it to Arsenal. I think they deserve it after all the hard work Arsene has put in. Sadly, football and sports generally are cruel. Winners will continue to win and losers will continue to lose most of the big competitions. I reckon it has got a lot to do with having a strong winning mentality.

It is something that great winners like Sir Fergie, Roger Federer and Lin Dan have that you can't take away from them too often. You can only give credit to these winners as they always seem to up their games in major competitions. More so when they are written off by the media critics. Just look at federer, he had a bad end to 2009 and most people thought he's off with a total of 15 grand slams. It was just amazing seeing him play yesterday, back to his best and adding to another grand slam. Nobody knows how much more will he go on to win!

I am also a big fan of Chong Wei as I think he has been the most consistent player Malaysia has ever seen since Rashid. I honestly think it's just too bad he is in the same era as Lin Dan. I feel people just got to understand that there are some natural talented winners like Lin Dan but at least Chong Wei makes it up by training hard. The coach has always been very proud of his training ethics and that alone earns my respect. I've always been very critical of Malaysians who criticised him for losing so badly in the olympics final. Yes I was disappointed too but I thought he lost most of the matches against Lin Dan only down to mental strength. These highly critical people did not even watch how he got to the final! Skill for skill, I think he's better but he just got to play the same attacking way against Lin Dan which he has failed to do so far. Hopefully he can get the better of him this year, especially it being a Thomas Cup year.

I sure hope most people understand the level of commitment sportsmen have to put to get to the winning level. It's obviously not as easy as people who sit at home munching on junk food highly criticising the players. As life has taught me, hard training/work does not guarantee you success, that's the cruelty of life! some people are just smarter or more talented in whatever they do. Don't know about you, but I prefer supporting someone who is down to earth and true worthy champions like fergie, federer and chong wei!

A Malaysian Weekend

I had a very good weekend although as always, I wished weekends were a day longer. In the midst of all the politicised racial issues in the country, the past weekend made me proud to be a malaysian.

On Friday night, I met up with Fahmy, Yasser, Saiful and Yam Meng at the Curve over drinks after 12 years since we last parted ways after Std 6. We had so much fun just by catching up on old times and I have no doubts at all, the malay friends I made in primary school are friends for life. There would have been a better attendance if not for the different places we are all spread about. probably something for the future but i thought it was really cool. how often do we see ppl of all races hanging out with fun?

Also over the weekend I watched the badminton Malaysian Open with my dad and Jiin. The Malaysian players were Chinese and the supporters were all races you can find in Malaysia (very few Indians though surprisingly). There was never a glimpse of what you would have heard from the media reporting on the racial issues in the country as I saw everyone out there so supportively cheering for the Malaysian players.

Whilst I am saddened by how the Allah issue was played out of proportion by certain parties, the past weekend showed me that on the grounds, we are indeed all Malaysians, unbinded by the colour of our skin. Well at least, I believe the majority are.

While we are this, let's talk about politics. I am not really a fan of the opposition but I always believe in balance of power. I wish we could change the government and whole cabinet including the PM every 5 years but we all know that is very unlikely to happen unless everyone put his/her electoral votes to good effect. Recently I have come to a point of being disgusted by the government and seriously pondering on migration. The only thing that is holding me back is the wonderful Malaysian lifestyle I have here. Having travelled to a few countries, I still love our lifestyle the best. I have a car that brings me places, I get to have supper anytime I want, get to savour good variety of food and the list goes on. What motivates me though is the strong currency in the other countries!

Eventhough I am a Malaysian Chinese, I am still malaysian and I wish the racial cards were not played out by the irresponsible parties. Recent happenings seem to suggest that I as a malaysian chinese need to be very afraid as a May 13 may happen again. It really saddens me that this would and have to be a factor in my migration decision. Whatever it may be, I will be sure to vote for a new government come the next election. If you know the current one sucks, why not give the other a chance although they have every possibility of being a flunk too, but at least we would have tried and done ourselves justice. Anyway, irregardless of who you vote for, be sure to exercise your rights!

By the way, I'm very proud that I'm a non-racist Malaysian!

Reflecting on 2009

It's the time of the year again to look back on how the year has gone for me.

January 2009
I had a great family trip to Macau and Hong Kong. Can't wait to do it again in May 2010.


February 2009
Celebrated my 25th birthday in Phuket. This was probably our best Thailand trip, no scams and all fun!


March 2009
Had a few trips to Singapore as Jiin was working in a project here. If 2008 was bangkok jazz, 2009 was definitely crystal jade kitchen for its amazing shrimp dumpling noodles and dim sum:)

April 2009
Made quite a huge career decision which I am glad I did.

May 2009
Visited Siem Reap with old buddies. It was a great discovery trip and the highlights were the ATV and Tonle Sap lake tour.

I then made my way back to London and Poland for work.

This time around, paid my uncle a visit in his home in Dartford. It felt good to finally get to hang out and know my uncle and family.

June 2009
Jiin visited me in London and we made our way to Bath, Stonehenge and Paris:)

The amazing gardens in Paris and not forgetting the best steak I've ever tasted!
Then I spent a weekend in Amsterdam with Kam Tat.


July 2009
Back and away to Bali with old buddies! Nice trip. Man Utd was in town too.


August 2009
Celebrated mum and dad's 60th birthday. Amazing how far they've come!

September 2009
Celebrated our 3rd anniversary in Nexus Karambunai, Sabah. Had a very relaxing weekend all to ourselves.


October 2009
Probably the most uneventful month of the year, but we did have some dinners and a hotel stay in Westin!

November 2009
The birth of Jon, my first nephew whom got everyone in the family very excited:) Was also in Cherating for the company treasure hunt.


December 2009
Had a nice trip back to JB with ex-coursemates and then to Singapore for a long weekend break and then off to Penang next week!

Looking back on the year, did not accomplish much 'firsts' except for the travels. However, all in all a good year and can't wait for the new year, new goals! No resolutions, no targets so I need to have some:)
1. Get the damn 6-pack - every year's failed resolution:(
2. Watch a football match, preferably in Old Trafford - failed 2008 resolution
3. Excelling at work
4. New Zealand and a few relaxing holiday get-aways
5. Good financial management

Food Heaven!

I've often been asked by my friends and colleagues of the nice places to eat in my hometown, Penang. Lately, I got a note from Geocities that they will be closing down my food website which I did back in uni break quite some time back (www.geocities.com/weevern84). Guess it's a good time to transfer part of that site contents here, so here is an itinerary...hope you guys enjoy it! Don't agree? Suggest! My gf has now complained that whenever we go back to Penang these days, we seem to follow a template, so we don;t mind trying new places:)

Day 1
8am Hokkien Mee - Swee Kong coffeeshop, Burma Road, Pulau Tikus (opp police station). Note until 8.30am only.

9am Sleeping Buddha, Siamese Temple (walk across the road and straight along)

11am Lor Bak - Kheng Pin coffeeshop, Sri Bahari Road/Penang Road junction. This shop also serves average Hokkien Mee, Char Koay Teow and hainan chicken rice.

12pm Chendol - Penang Road. Walk along Penang Road from Kheng Pin coffeeshop and you'll notice a crowd standing by the stall on the last road on your left before the Y-junction. This shop also serves average Laksa, char koay teow and poh piah.

12.30pm Time for a break from food? Go shopping for cheap clothes at Prangin Mall (please be cautioned if you can't stand ah bengs and ah lians)

4pm Laksa (sweeter type), coffeeshop opposite Ping Hwa High School, Gottlieb Road.

5pm Batu Feringghi beach for watersports etc

7pm Ferringhi Beach Corner for Yam Duck, Spring roll and garlic prawns! Make a right turn after passing Parkroyal hotel. Go until the T-junction and turn right, the shop will be on the farmost end on your left. Note yam duck and spring roll need to be ordered a day before, contact number:

9pm - Walk along ferringhi night market.

For the heavy eaters, go on to Goodall Kafe at Gottlieb Road for best Char Koay Kak and Poh Piah. Alternatively, go back to the beach-facing Sunset Bistro for drinks by the beach (same row as Ferringhi Beach Corner but turn left at the T-junction)

Day 2
10am Hokkien Char, Chee Cheong Fun - Kwai Lock coffeeshop (adjacent to Swee Kong coffeeshop), Burma Road, P.Tikus. This shop also serves famous duck mee. Also check out the Ban Chang kuih stall just outside the shop.

11am Shopping at Gurney Plaza!

2pm Kek Lok Si and Kuan Yin Statue, Air Itam

4pm Laksa (sour type) - Air Itam market by the roadside

4.30pm Koay Teow Thing - Air Itam roundabout (toward Pg Hill railway station) under the trees. Note only opens after 2pm until about 5pm or so.

5pm Penang Hill. Might be worthwhile making a trip to the station earlier to obtain a ticket first as they now seem to implement scheduled trips, where there will be a defined number of tickets for each trip, first come first serve basis. Relax, buy some kacang kuning and snacks from the stall and enjoy a breathtaking view of Penang at dusk! It gets even better at night.

9pm Nasi Kandar Raffe, Burma Road (next to Kwai Lock coffeeshop), Burma Road. The key to having this best is 'kuah campur, banjir' or at least 'kuah campur' if you don't favour too wet rice. I personally prefer the red fried chicken.

10pm Muar Chee (Ma Zhi stall) and Rojak (GP Soon) - Gurney Drive Hawker Centre. You can also try out the famed chicken skin, laksa and tong shui.


Again for the heavy eaters, go on to Char Koay Teow (wet) stall in Kimberley St/Cintra St junction (in front of Sin Guat Keong coffeeshop). Also, try out the famed koay chiap (pig innards with koay teow) stall just right opposite.

Day 3
11am Curry Mee - Lorong Seratus Tahun

11.30am Mee Goreng - Esplanade Food Court. Make sure it's the Hameed-Mee Sotong stall! Also try the ice kacang and coconut shake.


12.30pm If you are interested in Heritage Sites, you are now right smack in the middle. Some places worth visiting are Kuan Yin Teng and Khoo Kongsi.

1.30 pm Char Koay Teow (personally my favourite) at Chiu Chang Ka which means 'under the tree' at Lengkok Burma, Pulau Tikus. There is also a good economy mee hoon/mee stall. If you happen to be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is this pork satay stall which is highly recommended! Note that this place only opens on WEEKDAYS.


2.30pm Ais Kacang and Rojak - Swatow Lane coffeeshop. Do not go to the huge hawker centre.


This is a pretty much cramped-up 3-day schedule. So far, only 1 friend of mine managed to complete everything in such a short timespan so good luck!:)

Other stuffs which you maybe interested:
Tambun biscuits - Him Heang, Burma Road (opp Union Primary)
Tau Sar Pneah - Ghee Hiang, Burma Road (opp Union Primary)
Nutmeg - Chowrasta Market, Penang Road or next to Air Itam market Laksa stall
Nightlife - Upper Penang Road
Take a ferry ride back
www.tourismpenang.gov.my

My Travel Log

Have always loved travelling. I can vividly remember my first airplane experience when i was 8, nervous yet excited! Can't really believe sometimes, how often I fly these days after I started working, the privilege that comes with my job. Still the same old feeling though not as excited as when i was 8:) All the places I've been to....

Singapore - 8 years old, with family
Bangkok - 10 years old, with family
Local places I've visited besides my beloved hometown, Penang, some countless number of times:
Alor Setar, Kedah - used to spend long holidays there as a kid at my nanny's house, the husband and kids adore us to bits. I will never forget the flat, overlooking the big football field and waiting for the nanny's husband to come back to give hime a surprise
Sungai Petani, Kedah - Spent almost every fortnightly at my grandma's place. It used to be some really cool 'plantation'. Grew up having coconuts, jambu, rambutan and ciku! too bad there wasn't durian hehe
Ipoh, Perak - Gives me the serene and quiet impression and of course the best dim sum in the country, with good nga choi kai as well.
Bidor, Perak - Great duck mee!:)
Taiping, Perak - Scenic lakes
Bukit Merah, Perak - boring laketown park
Kuala Lumpur - City where I work now...amazing variety of good western food
Seremban - Got lost there once while trying to be adventurous:) Food wasnt as nice as claimed by my local friend
Port Dickson - 10 weeks of great adventure in the Shell Refinery and the fun part of cycling/working in a big plant. Thanks to the boring town, I am now with Jiin!
Melaka - Great town, very much similar to Penang, in the roads and also the good food. Chicken rice balls, satay celup, mee siam!
Johor Bahru - Spent 5 years in uni. Mixed feelings of the place, never liked much of the food there but they were pretty wonderful memories.
Kelantan, Terengganu - Remember my dad drove 10 over hours to get there one way and our car knocked into a dog or something, had to get the car plate fixed, what drama. nothing much that i can remember and was too young to appreciate udang galah and the spicy stuffs:(
Cherating, Kuantan - Quick weekend getaway
Frasers' Hill - a very relaxing countryside place, one of my favourite local highland
Cameron Highlands - strawberries and tea plantations!
Genting Highlands - In the young days, I hope for clear skies so that the rides in the theme park will be open, nowadays it's only up there for the casino lol

November 2007
South Africa (Cape Town, Tulbagh and Stellenbosch) - 1-week business trip to the scenic countryside.

June 2008
Singapore - Shopping Day trip from JB with colleagues

September 2008
London - My first ever business class trip and absolutely love London till today.

Bangkok - 2nd anniversary with Jiin. The place was too hectic and kinda dodgy hence didn't quite enjoy it as I did in my last trip to Bangkok.

October 2008
Guildford, Surrey, UK - Another business trip to the countryside of Surrey for 3 weeks.

Lisbon, Portugal - Great city, love the monument and the belem tower. Had this amazing dinner at a huge warehouse-turned-restaurant. Spent a couple of days here.

November 2008
Hamburg, Germany - Continued on from UK and Lisbon for a further 3 weeks. Nice lake and not so nice everything else.

Berlin, Germany - A weekend day trip with colleagues.

January 2009
Hong Kong, Macau - Great family trip. Love Hong Kong alongside London. Will definitely make a trip again in 2010.

February 2009
Phuket - Birthday get-away trip, good island hopping and good food

May 2009
Siem Reap - Good discovery tour into the tonle sap lake, war musuem and the many temples. they were all same-same but different!:)

Augustow, Poland - Business trip, boring place

London - Another long business trip here, central London this time with a bunch of Malaysians and good doses of chinese food. Gotta be my best ever trip abroad.

June 2009
Paris - Weekend trip while Jiin was here. Stinky and dirty city, totally overrated! great food though, had my best ever grilled medium-well beef and crepe chocolat!

Amsterdam - Highlight of the trip was the cycling tour to the windmills, cheese and clogs' farm and to the countryside of canals.

Going to...
July 2009 - Bali
2010 - Hong Kong, Sabah/Sarawak, Brisbane/Gold Coast
2011 - Italy
China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Spain, Switzerland, USA

Beyond...

Today's game of badminton got me thinking. A senior once commented that I do not try enough to retrieve front shuttles. I look around my colleagues and realise they do try harder than me. I guess I have lost the competitive edge. Back in my Red Crescent days, we often go to competitions and people often ask how do we do so well, my answer was simple, we wanted to win very much. Also, we did not want to disappoint our teammates whom have all trained very hard with 1 objective in mind. Now, it's just another game of leisure so maybe it's not all that bad after all:)

Then I thought, perhaps it's just me. I just couldn't be bothered to find out about things that are beyond my reach. Sometimes I wonder why my friends like to research on cars beyond their capabilities. Dream, they say. I have dreams too but my dream cars for now would only be a honda, toyota, mazda or mitsubishi lancer. When I am finally in one of them, then I'll start thinking of probably BMW 5 series, then when I can afford one, I can start thinking of a ferrari maybe?:D Then again, I'd rather own a mansion than a Ferrari if I had to choose one.