Nicole Chocoa Heaven

First Year + Two Days

2009-11-27T02:26:00.000+08:00

Sorry if I've been absent for the past few days.

I'm flying off later today at 3:30pm to London to embark on my two months Europe trip (considering it making it one month plus instead of two, too long a journey can be depriving). Yet to pack, what is new.

Tentative countries that I'll be passing: England (London to be exact), France, Spain, and Portugal. If you're in this region and want to meet up, shoot me a mail. nicootan@gmail.com

Anyone stays in Southern France and drives? I wanna go to Bordeaux!

The past week has just been amazing. The last two days was the pinnacle of this wondrous two weeks.

And I found myself ignorant of the rest of the world for the first time. To be able to cast everything out of my mind, and focus only on one.

Everything was perfect. Perfectly lazy, perfectly aimless, and it was beautiful.

One year. That was the period. From the day I stood and leaped from the cliff, and found myself diving into Eden's waterfall. Instead of drowning, I discovered euphoria.

Since, I have unfolded layer upon layer of cloud nine.

And there were hardship, yes there was. There still is.

Though even with doubt, I go on with life, with this, as if it were my last everyday. So challenge me if you will, fate. I am not afraid of what lies ahead, be it darkness or hope, as of present, I do not fear you. For I've always been hard-headed, and accepted the last could be the next day, the next hour, the next minute. Experience has taught me to be receptive and adaptive toward pain and sorrow, and loneliness can be nurturing when befriended.

Obstacles to happiness can only be seen as obstacles when regarded as.

With or without thy blessings, two days ago was a celebration of the past, the process and the unknown yet appealing future.

He drove up to the mountains on which I first saw our first sunrise, and brought back petals that I loved so much (which I used for my bubble bath the next day).

And ended the day with our favourite genre of food.

Dressed to the nines, I wore the dress I'd worn the first day he claimed love at first sight sparked.

It was simple. But meaningful.

Perth - Little Creatures

2009-11-24T06:46:00.000+08:00

After leaving Christchurch and New Zealand altogether behind, I've flown back to Australia via Melbourne and landed myself in Perth.

I know this map shows that I flew straight from Christchurch to Perth which was actually untrue since I did pass by Melbourne for a transit, but I'm too lazy to change now.

Perth was beautiful, immaculately modern and clean and new.

Despite the many proclamation on how it's boring and nothing compare to Melbourne, greeting a modernized sky scraping city in the face wasn't quite what I expected.

Perth was busting with new age folks and many people of different races from different parts of the world. It's like walking through "A Small World".

There were street performers, statue lady and band playing everywhere.

hey little girl, I'll give you some candy but don't tell your mama

Standing in the middle of the city.

Hello from Perth.

I met up with two girls in Perth. This time not readers but instead friends of friends (who eventually are my friends too).

First one being Fayth Tiah (photo of her will come later in the blog),
know her through her brother initially (guess who else is Tiah)

The second one was Pei Wen, Fayth's friend and coincidentally, Casey's friend too.

A quirky personality that has swam of guys over her year after year.

Hello Pei Wen.

I had a quick tour around town on my too-short-a-trip in Perth by Pei Wen,
since Fayth was busy that day.

She brought me to see the bell tower, an iconic building in Perth and apparently Western Australia that tourists have swarm in to see every day. Read up the details in the link.

Inside you'd find historical large bells that still rang for its people, well for tourists more like.

Considering it was more tourists who rang it.

A floor below.

On the observational deck, you would see the skyline of Perth 360 degree.

Ferris wheel next to it. Didn't get the chance to sit on that one.

Or really just 260 degree of Perth, since you're facing the sea.

Oh deym, looks like it's going to rain. Better get going.

I like this meaningful? meaningless? pole...

My favourite building in the city was this cottage looking shop smacked in the middle of the city,

which was why I loved it. It was smacked IN THE MIDDLE of the city,

between two really tall buildings that made it looked so out of place but ironically cute.

That night we met up with Fayth who drove us out of town to the infamous brewery Little Creatures.

It was where I fell in love with Little Creatures and began to appreciate beers like how I appreciate wine.

Many have mentioned to me due to my arrival in Perth to visit the infamous Little Creatures, somehow it just didn't register in my mind back then it was the actual brewery of Little Creatures the BEER. (I was thinking about a place >_<)

To mentione that it's a brewery was an understatement, it was more like a factory to me!

The place was HUGE!! and ever so crowded!!

We ordered Little Creatures Pale Ale at half a pint, which was my favourite thus far.

Fayth was so cute. She was craving for sticky date pudding non stop and she wouldn't rest commenting and fidgeting over it till she ordered and have some sticky date pudding.

Now everytime I think of sticky date pudding, she springs to mind. And it made me wanna try the damn cake. LOL

This was also when my camera was running out of battery. T_T

So quickly I took my last opportunity before the batt die to camwhore with Fayth before continue enjoying the rest of our evenings.
PS// Perth was getting pretty cold by then, so staying in for beer was the best idea one can have.

must I really use flash T_T

There. Satisfied.

Everyone, meet Fayth - the breakdancing wonder, Caryn's best friend.

Christchurch - The Last Leg

2009-11-21T15:47:00.002+08:00

*update* review of dim sum restaurant in this post has been updated in my food blog.

I arrived at my final leg in New Zealand - Christchurch adopting a new concept for masking tape.

My host in Christchurch taught me that the best way to not get your wallet stolen was by making your very own wallet from the cheapest material you can find in a stationery shop. (He lost his previous LV wallet)

After hitch hiking down from Marlborough with a random German couple, I met up with Danny, my reader and host in Christchurch. A sweet sensitive guy whom you should be dialing his number right now to ask for a date.

while I comfortably sat in his car as he drove me around Christchurch.

We went out of town to take the gondola up the Port Hills to see the beautiful landscape Christchurch takes pride in.

The ride cost us NZD44 for two. Not a cheap ride, but definitely worth while considering there up there were really spectacular.

The cafe's food quite delicious. A great place for an afternoon tea.

From the summit, you can catch a glimpse of Akaroa - a historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of an ancient volcano.

If you have the transport and time here in Christchurch, take a day trip 85 km east to Akaroa to bask in the beauty of what's left by two erupted volcanoes.

The place was first sighted by Captain Cook in 1770 and was then was settled by French in the mid 1800.

Get a jacket when you visit the summit, it's windy.

I mean really windy.

Now my Christchurch experience can be summed up in two: Food

& Culture.

Danny's parents own a very neat dim sum restaurant in Christchurch which he brought me there for lunch one day.

The restaurant is called Foo San. You should go and support our countrymen's business in foreign land.

He also brought me to sample some of Christchurch's finest desert in a local popular dessert cafe - Strawberry Fare.

Where we indulged in crazily sinful rich and moist cakes (keep a look out for my food blog soon for this one too).

At night we would sit at home in front of his big ass flat screen and sip wine and eat cheese with chutney while watching Slumdog Millionaire. Kiwi life, one has got to love it.

Danny's mom is one of those rare friendly awesome moms who allowed her son to invite travellers from all over the world to come to their house and stay and eat for free. They have a way to make you feel most at home that you can't help but to feel embarrassed.

Just before me, Danny hosted a Hong Kong traveller for a week who was visiting Christchurch in the guest room I was staying then.

Speaking of his house, he has a typical tree-hugging organic kiwi backyard where you can find all the locally produced fruit trees around.

One being the Feijoa fruit tree.

Amongst many other fruits too.

lemons, not lime.

Before I leave the city and country altogether, I was brought on a walking tour around Christchurch to see some of the typical tourist spots you'll find in town.

Like the famous Christchurch Art Gallery.

And its famous colorful staircase. Which we shamelessly took millions of photos on.

Danny jumps

Nicole jumps (photographer fails)

distant Danny

near Danny

cool pose

And then the guards came and we had to run. :p

Then we visited the Cathedral Square.

Where you'll find the strange metal sculpture in the centre in front of the Cathedral.

And a shot of me with one of the hundreds of similar Cathedral I've seen around the world.

And the inside.

And the pope's chair.

I'm just guessing. I don't think it's the pope's chair.

Fallen angel.

Then continue to act silly almost everywhere else, Danny being my ally.

If you can't tell, I'm imitating the angel with the sword at the top.

I also spotted Captain Cook somewhere near a fountain area.

Well, that's the end of my long New Zealand trip.

With that, I left Christchurch and headed back to Australia.

But not before heading toward Perth before flying back to Malaysia as my final stop.

Bye bye Christchurch. I lup you. *hug*

Yes I know. I'm loony.

Painting with Nippon Paint

2009-11-19T08:00:00.000+08:00

note: home lovers will love this

Weeks ago I attended the Nippon Paint workshop in KL convention centre where the Home Décor 2009 was held.

All the things you need in a house

Together with a bunch of bloggers, we sat through a talk course about how to paint your house with colors, etc.

No smile

Smile

It was an interesting talk by both charming presenters Ms Gladys Goh and Ms Wong Meng Lee about colors and what do they signify or represent.

It also taught us how to pick and mix-match the colors when deciding to paint a room/item/house.

Never knew painting a house could require so much knowledge, and I honestly though decorating and furnishing the house was the difficult part.

Here are a few fun color facts for those home lovers out there. Or for those who likes colors and love furnishings.

I like blue. Just don’t really like it in a room. It’s kinda.. moody for me.

And I realized how nice green is when painted on a wall. I always thought it would be really dodgy and odd. You know, one of those peculiar colors.

I like this yellow + green settings below too.

O definitely love this design

Reminds me of those cozy guesthouses in Europe. ^^

Then there’s a sexy red.

Which this design here makes it really classy and expensive.

Speaking of expensive, purple is definitely my favorite expensive-looking color.

They always looks so elegant regardless

I stayed in this resort hotel in Thailand once and it’s all purple and white. I LOVED that hotel so much.

This following design reminds me of Nuffnang office Malaysia.

No wonder their whole office is orange in color

Though I wouldn’t mind it in a house if the furnishings can be as nice as this next photo.

The one of the left, not right. Not too orange-y please.

Then there’s the typical pink.

I like pink. A lot. Though I don’t really show it.

Maybe because it doesn’t really suit me, who knows. But I love the color to bits! All my ipods are in pink.

Though somehow my current room color is a bit purple-ish. (purple used to be my childhood favourite, now it has become white, well, and pink)

But I have to say, when it comes to a furnishing a house. My ultimate favourite is still BROWN… and WHITE.

Not just any brown.
Light brown.

I mean, I like the woody Balinese style feel that most darker shade of brown can bring out, but I always think that Balinese/woody style should belong to a home-stay/resort holiday rather than an everyday color.

Like I said, I like lighter brighter colors. Not dark and moody.

Perfect example would be this super marble light brown design here.

OMG swoon! So Medieval Age feel!!

As for white: elegance, simplicity, clean, what’s not to like?

Or maybe I just can’t imagine my future Jacuzzi bathtub to be any other color. It would just be soooo wrong~

Come on. A pink bathtub?! /:S

The fun part began when each of us was given a canvas to create our own design, after a very brief talk on the types of design Nippon Paint can create.

I chose a lime green canvas, I thought it looked cool. As in really nice relaxing cool.

So with some creativity, we were off.

I started vigorously taping my masking tape away onto my canvas, in hope to create a base for up-coming design.

Then I took a white Nippon Paint white, my favorite color, from the table filled with assortments of paints.

And a brush.

And painted away I did.

And paint.

And posed for camera.

While I was working hard on my artwork, the rest were busy creating masterpieces of their own.

There was Red Mummy pouring out her creative juice. Or rather, the husband’s.

She was busy taking photos. Lol

Cindy was pasting blue tulips.

Ringo was cutting cheese blocks.

KY was obviously doing up a wall for a girly room.

And.. and… bah. Let the photos do the talking here.

Lovely love

Obviously a lot of people liked the square-masking-tape design

Oh this was unique

This was more like a painting than a paint job for a wall

And many others

(Sorry if your artwork is not here, I didn’t manage to take all with my camera)

And finally, my MASTER PIECE!!

Tell me you like it.

Did you see the kisses on the bottom right area? Hehe. That’s my lipstick prints.

What do you think?

Tell me the truth. No I’m kidding.
Be nice. I can’t handle harsh criticism.

Someone said it looked like Adidas. T_T

Autumn Happiness

2009-11-17T01:13:00.001+08:00

Ever realise that when you look through series of movement photos, your imagination will engage you into the photos too?

Since it's autumn season now (in the northern hemisphere), I'll like to share my autumn with everyone (which I had earlier this year in the southern hemisphere).

I've always wanted to do this. Run through the leaves, kicking them around and tossing them up in the air. Stomping on them as you walk pass, not caring if you're leaving a mess because you're already in a whole pile of beautiful mess.

It's like walking in a fairy wonderful. A dream. Wandering into the woods and get lost in your fantasy.

It's even more fun when there are more leaves around. I've once seen a kid on tv jumping into a pile of human height leaves and disappeared into it. Who cares about dirtiness, or making noises, or criticism for reliving your childhood.

It's one of those things that's meant to be fun and meaningless in life.

So when I arrived in Christchurch, I decided to take an afternoon out and indulged in my autumn silliness.

I call it My Autumn Happiness.

And another two dozens or more photos of it.

a happy danny

kicking leaves

more kicking

and more

danny stomping on leafy ground

fly leaves, fly~

Are you feeling the Autumn Happiness yet? :D

ps// I just realised this series of photos are really matching to my blogskin. :p

Hitch Hike across South Island

2009-11-14T23:12:00.002+08:00

*update* I've written about The Store in my food blog. Check it what I ate for breakfast that morning.

After two nights in Marlborough wine country, I was on the road again.

But this time, I was in the car of another stranger couple.

Meet the Germans.

I met the wife of the couple the night before after I cycled drunkenly back to my guesthouse from my one-day wine trail and we got to know each other through a glass of wine or two (from my stash which I bought that day).

Next thing I know, they offered me a ride down to Christchurch the following day.

Yay~!

It's amazing how many nice people one can meet on a single trip.

What's even more amazing was that they were going to pass by Kaikoura for a day trip on the 6-hr drive down to Christchurch. YAY!!!

Kaikoura is famous for their wildlife observations and more often than not, you're able to spot many creatures like whales at sea, dolphins near the shore and fur seals along the coastal lines. It's a wonderland for animal lovers.

Will talk about Kaikoura in a sec.

On the way, they stopped by a restaurant for a cuppa (where I had my breakfast) which was very famously known among the locals.

Introduce "The Store".

Apparently most people who do the drive down to Christchurch would purposely stop by this place (place in fact is Kekerengu) for an eat out.

Reasons being the obvious upon entrance.
~~(will do a review about the place in my food blog soon)~~

After breakfast (coffee for them), we walked out to the parking lot where fog was already collecting.

Not a good sign. But they drove on cautiously and made it through anyway.

While half asleep at the backseat of the car, I was suddenly jerked awake by the sudden stall in momentum. The car was parked at the side of the road.

I followed them out of the car and found myself facing the splendid eastern coastal line of New Zealand South Island.

Then I saw the couple speaking to each other in their native tongue and pointing towards the stone-filled beach, I followed gaze and was surprised with the cutest thing!!

Fur Seal!!!

Or seals rather.

The whole colony of them!!!

They were sooooo cute! Especially the baby seals.

It was a clear sign that we were very near Kaikoura already.

Here's a video of the cute mammals.

Here are some facts about fur seals.

Test to your eye sights. Don't squint too much, you can almost make out the words if you focus hard enough.

After 20 mins or so, we finally arrived at Kaikoura!

It was still pretty cold so we brought our thickest jumper and walked the beach.

I realized that the beaches here were pebbles instead of sand.

And the wave quite aggressive.

Spotted a guy challenging the wave next to us, which was pretty funny.

He was running even before the wave hit the shore. Haha... Cute.

Here are a few more random photos in Kaikoura.

a white among the grey

scouting for pebbles

sperm whale speed bump, lol!

bought two postcards as a remembrance of the cute baby seal I saw earlier.

an empty known popular seal colony area

Last photo was a reminder to all tourists to leave the seals alone in their colony.
I saw more seals at the beach along the drive than 10 people can spot in this colony.

By evening, we arrived at Christchurch where my next host was already there waiting to pick me up.... ;)

(to be continued)

Coffee with MILF?

2009-11-14T19:13:00.001+08:00

You know you've done the Cu Chi tunnel tour in HCMC when you see this in your menu for lunch.

Just coffee, thanks. You can keep your milf.

Lens Acquired!

2009-11-13T11:00:00.001+08:00

I know I'm suppose to blog about the last few remaining parts of my New Zealand trips. But I couldn't help it. The advertorial has to go up first and I just can't wait to share this news with everybody.

Remember the blog post I posted a few entries back calling out for a canon lens sponsor?

Well~~~

You don't ask, you will surely never get.

And I asked.

And and and...

Ta da!!!!

Thank you my 10-22mm sponsor Mr Tuang!!!

We should go for Peking Duck lunch in London?!! :D

Ngeh ngeh to all haters who criticized my shamelessness.

Initially I had wanted the 17-40mm wide angle lens but after reading my readers' comments (which I always take very seriously in, sorry that I didn't get to reply all the time) on the better lens to get, and after reading and watching few reviews on the net, I decided to go for the 10-22mm lens instead!

Equivalent to the price of my 500D.

The lens managed to come in time for my HCMC trip.

And OMG I love my new baby!!! I'm using this to shoot every thing now in Vietnam. Crazy nice and clear and WIDE!!!!

Dead.

Just to show you a photo taken from this baby at LCCT before my departure.

Casey sending me to the airport.

Look how wide the lens can capture. I can see everything!!!

*doing the happy dance*

*show butt to all haters before*

Follow Me Will be Following Me to My Travels

2009-11-11T18:38:00.000+08:00

Hi

Today I am going to perform an advertorial ritual.

I’m going to review Follow Me Oil Control whitening product series.

With that said, I brought the set into my toilet and laid them out on my dressing table.

Check out the travel pack! My favourite!

So without any make up on and risking the criticism of exposing my bare face to the world, here’s me on a bad hair day after not sleeping most of the night before.

Considering that I didn’t sleep much, I didn’t look half bad.
Though panda eyes were starting to show.
Tsk tsk.

Since I’d be washing my face, so it’s best that I tied my hair up.

Let’s start with the cleanser.

The thing I like about this series was that it has whitening feature, which is always a plus plus for me in buying any skin care product.

I hate being dark, though I am quite dark myself, and it doesn’t help that I travel so much. S.i.g.h.
(Why can’t the world be perfect).

Squeeze an inch or two out, rub it on your hand in circular motion and then apply on your face.

Looks like I have a white mask on. Haha.

Then after performing few circular motion on your cheeks, around your nose and forehead, wash it off with clean water.

Halfway washing

Ta-da! Clean face!
Damn it, dark circles still there.

Now move on to toner.

For girls, and guys, out there who don’t know how to apply toner, this is how you do it.

First you will need a cotton pad.

Hold it between your index and ring fingers in a way where the top of the cotton pad will be revealed on top of your middle finger.

Then soak it with toner.

Be generous with your toner. We want it really wet (oh yea~).

Then gently start tabbing on your face, covering the entire area.

Done?
Ok.

Final step.

Moisturiser.

Now this is the most important step for me.

You see, I have combination skin. And since this series is an oil control range, it would mean the normal non oily part of my face can be rather dry after washing with cleanser.

No worries. Just apply moisturiser and your face will be fine.

Slap a slightly thicker layer on the dryer part of your facial skin and less so on the oily part. That’s how you can control your overall facial skin balance. :)

DONE!

Now in case you have pimple, they also have the pimple gel that’s guarantee to make your pimple visibly less, well, visible in three days time.

The gel is greenish transparent like and consist of what I believe to be Sea Algae and Tea Tree Oil.

Could be lighting of my skin making the gel looked more yellowish than greenish, but it’s really is greenish.

Now I don’t really have any pimple on my face at the moment (thank god), but I did have a pimple mark left by a recent pimple on the corner of my forehead.

So yep, there it went.

Now I was finally done!
Ps// you should apply the pimple gel before the moisturiser, but I forgot and too lazy to repeat the process anyway.

Just when I thought I was done, I realized I forgot one more step! Before the cleanser!

Blackhead Remover!!!
So instead of starting all over again, I decided to pick a random make species to partake in this daily ritual.

Well, it is a unisex product. Yes?

“Wait! Before that! Your fringe is too long!” I shouted.

So I made him do the unspeakable.

Awe… how cute. And it’s pink!

Upon instruction, Casey rubbed the gel onto his T-zone in circular motion. And there I spotted little residue forming on his forehead as he’s doing this.

Then he proceeded to wash his face with the cleanser, applied toner and moisturizer.

And DONE! Again.

I use green leaves brush to match the color theme of Follow Me Oil Control. Hehe~

Shiny as new.

Here’s a contest that people like me, who takes a lot of photos of themselves, would be interested to join. :)

(link: http://tohtonku.com.my/index.html)

Buy RM20 and above of FOLLOW ME Oil Control products. Take a creative photo of yourself with the product. With proof (scan or photo) of your receipt, send your entry by MMS or email to oc@tontohku.com.my.

E.g.

You could just win a cover page opportunity with Campus Plus magazine cover and Follow Me press ad, a Samsung Delphi phone and ONE YEAR supply of the said products. Woo hoo!

It has now been 20 minutes since I applied my final step of the Follow Me Oil Control set.
And my face still felt really smooth, not too dry, not oily at all.

Almost like there’s a layer of smooth powder over my face. Nice~ I like this feeling
*touching my face*

Ermm… I think I would actually bring this set to my travels since they’re actually quite of convenient size in bottles even for the normal set. Affordable, easy to travel with. What’s not to like?

Here are a few photos of me shooting this advertorial with my 500D.

Not easy you know, camwhoring with a DSLR.

At the end of his ritual, I spotted Casey chucking his pink headband onto the floor.

But but, it looked so cute on you~? @_@ *watery eyes*

New Shoes and Fleeting Images

2009-11-10T23:46:00.005+08:00

Bought my mom a pair of new sport shoes today for our Vietnam trip tomorrow.

This is the first time I'm travelling with one of my best friends (a guy) with my mom.

She's thinking of adopting him as a godson. LOL. Funny mom I have.

Pair of fresh Reebok.

Wanted to get a pair of Nike plus which was my mom's initial choice but then decided that this was more comfortable for her to walk in. Afterall, she didn't need Nike plus shoes anyway. I, on the other hand, should get a pair.

But now she said she's going to reserve the shoes for her Korea trip next month cause she don't want to use it yet and want to wear her old sport shoes tomorrow. -.-;;

I was contemplating if I should bring my Xpax plan Blackberry Curve 8250 along since there seems to be a lot of free wifi service all around Vietnam. More so than Malaysia. o.O

Even if I can't use my data plan, well, msn on the go won't be completely impossible.

Oh god. Should I? I can't live without Twitter. >_<

Anyway, if you ever stalked my facebook (like how people stalk other people's facebook profiles), you will find in my videos a video with my face stapled on it.

It's a short film my friend Edmund made + produced and conveniently insert my scene into the film to make it his experimental philosophical film - Fleeting Images.

Here's the trailer.

Turn out. Fleeting Images, with me as the main actress (kinda) and my "borrowed voice"
(no I do not sound like that, though I wish I do >_<), won the grand prix (grand prize in French, taught by Edmund) for the CON-CAN Movie Festival in Japan recently.
(click on link, register and sign in to watch the whole film)

Oh. My. God.

A film with me as lead character inside won a grand prize at a film festival!!
o.O o.O o.O

Edmund, do I get a sushi treat from your USD5000 prize? :D :D

ps// Last leg of New Zealand posts resume tomorrow.

Don't blame it on yourself

2009-11-10T02:56:00.000+08:00

Report Police? Yea right~

2009-11-09T02:18:00.000+08:00

Just so you know, we've already reported the case to the police, together with the culprit who drove away.

But you know what did the nice police men reply to us?

"Oh, it's like this one la~"

"There's nothing you can do about it. If you want write your details down and we'll see what we can do."

500 bucks say that they won't give a shit about "the case".

This only proved that rude Malay guy right. Sigh~ Really? Do our police force do anything at all?

After reading the comments posted in the previous post, I realized a lot of you have experienced similar things too. Is this a Malaysia culture?!

1Malaysia? My foot.

However, a reader commented as such.

You can go to JPJ wangsa Maju
Go to the Kaunter : Butir-Butir kenderaan
They will charge you RM20
you will get the details of the owner of the car
Just tell them that you just want to buy the car and need to validate the information to avoid fraud.

I think I might just do that.

You know how Murphy's law goes?

My tragic series of unfortunate events didn't end just there that night.

That night, my BB curve hang.

Well, kinda.
It didn't literally hang.

But because I "BB ON" my data plan but the network wasn't registering. I have to force shut the phone (took the battery out even) and when I switched it on again.

My Blackberry Messenger disppeared. And there was this icon asking me to upgrade my BBM. So yea, fine. Upgrade.

Guess what.

Upon upgrade.

I lost ALL my BBM contacts.

F**k.

Now I need to collect them one by one again.

Back to two lonely contacts. *sob*

But you guys who upgraded your bbm already don't have to worry a thing. Because the new upgraded BBM has the auto backup feature.

I wish I knew this earlier. T_T

WLV4273 Kelisa - Fat Bitch!

2009-11-07T01:46:00.001+08:00

There’s only one thing more despicable than a hit-and-run, and that is a BAD BAD driver.

The type of bad driver that should not be allowed to have a permit to touch the wheel, least to say to drive.

But you know what’s more hateful than a bad driver?

A BAD DRIVER WHO HIT AND RUN!

WLV 4273

Silver Kelisa.

I'm watching you...

The lady (more like an ripen teenage looking aunty) who drove the car on the 7th Nov at 12am
in Jalan Alor (or more precisely, Jalan Changkat Tong Shin) was a fucking bitch who just hit and run on a BMW 3 series.

Yo anyone who knows this f*cking idiot FAT Chinese bitch who was flirting with a Malay dude in the middle of the night, probably looking for a few one night stands of her own, please tell her that she has the tendency to NOT KNOW how to reverse her LITTLE KELISA and scratched a BMW, drove out onto the street, even with the owner of the BMW standing next to her, upon instruction that she was to park at the side of the street and discuss this, actually drove on and AWAY!!!

She F*CKING RAN AWAY!!!

This was the whole scenario earlier midnight.

First we arrived at Jalan Tong Shin, where all the good food roams, with everywhere full parked.
So we managed to come in front of my boutique hotel where I was spending my few days in KL.

(I'm like on a hotel marathon every time I come up to KL, no point renting a place here since I'll be travelling again soon, so far I've stayed in Cititel, Sunway Resort, Pyramid Tower, Radius hotel, etc etc etc but that's another story)

Everywhere was full (of cars) and just right in front of my boutique hotel was this WLV 4273 Kelisa who despite its size, parked COMFORTABLY (to size in her lack of driving skill) in a space that's enough to fit in TWO cars!

We wanted to park, of course. Since there was no more parking space. So we got out of the car and asked nicely.

And seeing that there were no where else to park and the fat bitch REFUSED to move her LITTLE kelisa and continued to FLIRT and CHAT with the Malay guy.

We decided to improvise.

We wheezed our BMW into the space, careful not to scratch or come to close to her car, and managed to fit into the parking space nicely.

Then after ~~negotiated her price for the night and decided she was too cheap and cannot pay up to the Malay gigolo~~ finished talking to her "friend", which was like 3 minutes later (bitch!), she was reversing out.

ample space to reverse out, it was side ways afterall

instead of hitting on reverse gear and steering her wheel left, she reversed in STRAIGHT LINE!!!

It doesn’t prove that girls parking and driving skills are bad.

It is just the FAT BITCH who is the sad specimen of the womankind. Shows that ugly bitch (on the inside and out) can’t drive, don’t’ have the moral sense to face her faults, nor have the BRAIN and ethical sense (there lack of) to drive away!!

And this was after being instructed (kindly by the victim whose car got scratched) on how to reverse her car out onto the street.

SHE DROVE AWAY!!

No sorries. Nothing!

1st: she parked in two space (it's only a Kelisa, how much space do you want?! F**k woman! what's the point of driving a small car if you can't even park properly provided a decent space)

2nd: she refused to drive out and and parked slightly to the left while she chatted on with his street fling, who told us off and asked us to go away

3rd: she was there only for another few minutes, is it so hard to accomodate when we asked so nicely to move??? doesn't her mother teach her anything? uneducated fugly pig! oh, i guess not, she was too poorly educated to know what was common courtesy.

4th: she decided to drive straight out and hit the car! (instead of asking us to move, even if she couldn't find us, she could have honked her car like most people do here in KL to inform and ask us to move ours if she already KNEW that her driving skill was THAT BAD. Or maybe she actually thought she passed her driving test with flying colors despite the fact that it was her dad who bribed the driving instructor to let her pass)

5th: when we saw that our car got hit, we dashed out and spoke to the fat bitch, taught her how to properly reversed her car so that she could be on the road again, and also asked her to drive to the side of the road so we could discuss this incident further.

And she drove further in front, and decided, she was going to pull a hit and run.

So she DROVE AWAY!!!

When we confronted the Malay guy whom she was chatting to earlier, assumed by us to be her friend, the Malay guy told us off!!! Said if we want we can report to the police!! WTF?!

He dared to "pakat" with her and probably was the one who asked her to run away and don't care!

SO yes, if anyone's seen a FAT (ok I don't know if she's fat, she was in a pony tail so she looked kinda plump hiding in her car) SLUT (well, who knows, why else would she be driving all alone in Jalan Alor talking to some random crude and rude single Malay guy on the street?) who's driving a Silver Kelisa by the Number plate of WLV4273.

Please kindly direct her to me.

I have a bill for her to sign.

FAT BITCH~!

Year 2009

2009-11-06T19:45:00.001+08:00

Love.

Happiness.

Heartache.

Move on.

New life.

Accusation.

Migrate.

Travel.

Friends.

Trips.

Work opportunities.

Argument.

Disappointment.

Tears.

Hope.

More accusations.

Giving up.

Scream.

Settle.

More disappointment.

Picking up.

Retort.

Anger.

Fear.

Bleakness.

Weak.

Decision.

Isolation.

Separation.

Strengthen.

Wonder.

What's 2010 gonna be like?

BB On!

2009-11-06T17:28:00.003+08:00

Has been my ritual everytime I come to KL. Because the data signal in Melaka is weak, more often than not, I rather opt for my wireless internet at home.

So instead I decided the Blackberry Curve will be my constant supply of internet dose whenever I'm up in the big city.

Yep.

RM1 gone today again.

Calling for lens.. lens.. oh lens...

2009-11-05T20:01:00.004+08:00

It's one week to Vietnam.

Anyone can sponsor or loan me a wide angle lens for my Canon 500D?

Hopefully a specific EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM???

Well, actually, any wide angle lens suitable for scenery shots would do.

Anyone?
I'll post up nice nice nice nice nice nice photos after that. :p

Nicolekiss Best 5 Marlborough Wineries

2009-11-04T02:30:00.005+08:00

I've concluded a list of Nicolekiss Best 5 Marlborough Wineries and why.

This has totally nothing to do with public's judgment nor quality of wines but of personal experience in terms of the winery presentation, food and their selections of wines, especially sweet whites. :)

So here goes.

Number 5:

Wairau River Wines

I don't need to explain far.

Just note: Cheese souffle. Must eat.

Even if you don't like cheese.

Just for the sake of claiming that you've eaten a cheese souffle before.

Warning: very filling

Well, apart from that, it's a very cosy place.

:)

Number 4:

Framingham

Probably one of the rare wineries that has the largest production and selection of sweet whites ever! (aka Dessert Wines)

Just Noble Riesling alone, they produces 2,500 bottles every year.

On top of that, they have three types of Riesling Auslese (No. 1, 2 and 3) to add in my wish list.

Whoever produces three different types of dessert wines for the same (German) wine term is definitely my favourite winery of all time.

Just the reviews alone were enough to make me wanna wipe the entire winery clean of their sweet wines.

Their dessert wines even come in categorized boxes to make your purchasing decision much simpler, and a lot of more expensive.

If only I have a 1000 bucks with me then.

Number 3:

Allan Scott

Even with my mental judgment impaired by the mass amount of dessert wines in Framingham, I still have my moral judgment intact.

*whisper* Heh. As if. *cough*

My top 3 here has nothing of those fancy exterior nor commercialized packaging for their wines, and as I've always believe, a good winery doesn't have to be one that has the pretties layout or largest amount of wines produced.

This little humble winery has nothing of the former, but has everything a soulful winery should possess.

When you stepped into Allan Scott, or beneath, you'd find yourself in a cavern sort of room/space where you'd have your wine tasting done.

Tastefully decorated with lots of old and new retail items, machinery, and random artifacts; it's as if you're intruding someone else's wine cellar.

The lady who poured us the wine was stern in a harmless way, almost non-talkative but helpful when you inquired.

I came about a group of travel folks who visited the cellar for a bit of wine tasting, before I knew it, they started jolly singing in English, in their local tongues, and A Cappella a few even.

It's amazing how an environment and surrounding could evoke such emotion and actions from certain people.

This wasn't the only reason I rated this as Top 3 in my list.

For those of you who like, or dislike, sweet wine.

This would be my ultimate sweet white to date.

Go for Allan Scott Late Harvest Savignon. You'll never look at sweet white the same again.

Ever imagine what it's like to see Winnie the Pooh savor honey when you were young on TV? or how love-making was like when you read romance novel when they describe certain action to be sweet like honey?

The first time I tasted honey (when a kid), as in real honey, I was fairly disappointed how just plainly sweet and boring it was. To be compared in equivalence with the sweetest most exquisite act when used in describing an ultimate emotion/pleasure was really, well, exaggerating.

Not to mention my over-expectation to the food honey.

Since then I've always envisioned something out there that would be sweeter, richer, thicker than honey but non-sickening in taste.

Drinking Allan Scott Late Harvest Savignon gave me that sweet sensation I've been envisioning all my life.

It's like drinking honey, no, more exquisite than honey, like a burst of sweetness in your mouth which slowly spreads all over your tongue, before consecutively moving down your throat and sending your a thrill sensation that you've just tasted the forbidden apple.

It would prompt you to savor it slowly, but eagerly, simply because it's made so fine, so delicate and delicious, you would want to drink it again and again.

Sucky part is, they don't export to Malaysia. :(

Number 2:

Spy Valley

Spy Valley would easily have topped my first place in Best Wineries if the current Number 1 placing isn't so damn fabulous itself.

One cannot doubt the presentation of Spy Valley as the infrastructure of the winery itself is really impressive, modernly designed and looking very new.

But it wasn't the structure that brought me here.

I'll tell you a story.

A year ago I travelled to Australia and met up with my cousin who was then based in Canberra (still is), she brought me out to dinner in a fine restaurant one night, and being rather new to wines, the waiter recommended something light to me while my wine mature cousin went for the strong red.

It was then I first tasted Spy Valley's Gewurztraminer. (click on the link to see the photo of the wine I taken a year back)

You know the saying goes that if you're a good wine connoisseur, you'll be able to not only distinguish but also remember the taste and smell of the wine even after ten years?

Believe it or not. The taste stuck.

It was light, not too sweet, but sweet enough, slightly spicy but very adequately placed (as I normally dislike wine that has too strong of a spice flavour), and a tinge of lychee, it went superbly well with my fish that night.

And for as long as I was in Australia, and after my return there again the year after, I scouted for the same particular wine in every possible bottle shop I passed by. Alas, to no avail.

It was then I decided that if there's ever a way that I should locate this wine, it will be in Marlborough wine country, NEW ZEALAND itself.

No where else and none other than the producer of such fine wine - Spy Valley.

I got my wish~! ^^ After year long searching.
Damn I must be the most determined wine seeker ever.
(Next off, I need to go to Asti in Italy)

And no surprise when I found out that the fantastic Gewurztraminer here was a multiple awards winner all around.

The other wine I was tempted to buy here was the Noble Riesling. Simply deli-sh!

Alas it's not purchasable online. :((

Number 1:

Herzog

Finally, the top list of winery in Marlborough goes to, no surprise here, HERZOG!!!

You've probably seen a trend here, as I move higher up in the list, the longer the story goes. So I'll try to keep things short, simple and sweet here.

Afterall, it's won't be difficult to see why Herzog would be in my top list.

First off, Herzog offered one of the fine boutique restaurant dining experiences you can find here in Marlborough. No joke, their freaking appetizer cost me NZD 24.

Their dining tables stretched from the indoor to their private garden at the back.

Which set the perfect ambiance of dining couples who just want a quiet romantic time together.

And if you look at the map, they're located at the top left of the region, right next to the river in a very secluded end of the small road.

Other than offering 5 star food and services, their wines were pretty exclusive too.

How exclusive? Let's just say if you want to "taste" the wine, you gotta pay.

10 kiwi dollars for 3 pop.

And if you notice, their wines are of a higher pricing range compare to the rest of New Zealand retail wines, easily double the amount.

I had a glass of Botrytis during my meal there, it was rather exquisite. Generously priced and paid (by me T_T) at NZD12 per glass.

You know the fact goes that the best things in life are also the rarest to find?

Well, Herzog does not export their wines to anywhere else at all. Which means their wines are only purchasable at cellar door.

This is mainly because, according to them, their wines are so limited each year in production, they could manage sell off everything without the aid of exportation.

That's probably why you've never heard of it, case in fact that if you're a wine connoisseur.

So I brought home a bottle of my most expensive wine ever bought for personal consumption.

Hello my golden Botrytis Chardonnay

Bye bye NZD114.

Close your eyes, and you will see~

2009-11-02T16:00:00.002+08:00

This has got to be one of the best heart warming commercial I've seen in a long time.

Seriously, the hair flying around?

Cure for Monday Blues

2009-11-02T07:00:00.001+08:00

To those who's working today.

Here's a little something I snapped from a shop in New Zealand to brighten your weekly Monday blues.

So remember to smile after reading it. :)

Are you smiling yet? :)

ps// look out for another post after your lunch hour.

DIY Shandy

2009-11-01T22:13:00.002+08:00

Take TWO parts of 7-up mix with THREE parts of Carlsberg or Heneiken (or any lager beer)...

What do you get?

Awesome homemade DIY Shandy. That's what!

Yummy.

Even though I'm not supposed to be drinking now. I should be writing, writing, writing...

Anyway, check out my new wallpaper to match my new Blackberry Curve 8520 pink skin.

My free one week data plan service just expired few weeks ago. So I got myself a RM20 top up from Xpax for my data plan.

RM1 a day, it's gonna last me for the next 20 days. Woo hoo!

Marlborough Wine Country

2009-10-31T13:49:00.003+08:00

The first thing I did the moment I hit South from the North Island was to visit the Marlborough Wine Country.

Located at the tip of of the South Island, the wine country was my biggest motivation to cross the ocean and head straight for my 3 days long wine trail in the most popular vineyard valley in New Zealand - Marlborough.

When you get off the ferry, you'll land youself straight in Picton town (after being dropped off by a free-service van from the port).

You'd arrive in front of an information centre where you could book your tour, accommodation and bus ticket to the next nearest town.

It's only half an to an hour bus ride away to the towns of Marlborough wine region.

So from here I bought my bus ticket to Blehneim, one of the two towns in the centre of the wine country.

Map of Marlborough wine trail. Blehneim town on the right shaded area.

The other town being Renwick (on the right).

It was near 9pm by the time I reached my guesthouse near the town of Renwick. The bus driver was nice enough to drop me just in front of my guesthouse, before driving the rest of the passenger down to Nelson, the next nearest town which was an hour away.

I turned in early, not before calling home to inform my love ones back home that I have arrived safely (though I doubt they know where exactly I was).

Like almost every single time I arrived at a brand new place in New Zealand, it was always too dark to know where I've landed myself till the very next day.

This time, I woke up realising that I was being surrounded by apple trees!

Care for some apples?

There were lemons too!

This was the pay phone that I tried to used last night but failed, so I borrow the owner's mobile phone after much begging and got home to call me back instead.

me in the garden

I woke up really early (around 7:30am?) so I could get a head start on my first day in the fantastic wine region, in case I couldn't cover the whole region in two days.

I decided to rent a bicycle to get around. Unfortunately for me, most car rental companies were out of cars in this region that day, it was easter holiday, so boo hoo me.

Oh well, good for work out, yes?

It's the law here that you HAVE to wear a helmet when you cycle.

Not that my skull needs any protecting, it's thick enough. :p

Thank god I didn't look too shabby in it, or I would die of fashion horror.

Plugging in my Ipod, I managed to start the sunny yet chilly day cycling on a ridiculously straight and LONG road.

It's actually really uplifting considering I was surrounded by mother nature's best.

Look at the mountains in the distant.

So beautiful.

only my shadow and me

Then I arrived at my first winery!!!

Cloudy Bay - a rather commercialized brand

My first wine grapes of the day.

My first wine tasting session.

My first winery tour.

And my first winery shopping spree! (of the day ok, not of my life :p)

And my FIRST grapes tractor!

I've never visited a vineyard during the period of harvesting or planting before.
It was always somewhere in between whenever I visited a vineyard.

Autumn

It was April this year when I visited Marlborough and since most grapes are normally harvested in February up to mid March, I was lucky enough to see a harvesting in action!

One did the plucking, the other did the collecting.

"Interesting. So that's how it works?" I thought.
(sorry but I was actually anticipating to see farmers going down the vineyard to do the hand picking)

I did a few more wineries following that and bought some wines which I stuffed them onto my bicycle pouch at the back.

my first wine purchased! ka-ching!

bicycle pouch, such convenient thing

Then it was noon and I was hungry. I hadn't had breakfast, so I made a bee-line to the boutique winery restaurant I set my mind off after scanning through my map.

Herzog, my favourite 5-star rated wine and dine boutique restaurant and boutique winery of my choice in the whole of New Zealand.

I cycled in and parked my bike at the side before retreating to a table out in their private garden behind the restaurant.

It's no cheap affair dining here, so be prepared to splurge a good 50-100 bucks (NZD) if you really want to enjoy a fanta-bulous meal.

Because their ridiculously small portioned and thinly sliced but superbly delicious appetizer of beef salami with rocket leaves cost a hefty NZD24.

O look, a wine cat.

Who says only a winery that has one or more wine dogs produces great wine. Wine cat works just as great.

Then halfway drinking and taking in my surrounding, I met this lovely Australian couple next to me, trying to chat me up.

I ended up moving to their tables moments later, and even shared a dessert with them.

The events that followed the next few hours was incredible, and almost unbelievable.
But believable at the same time as this was not my first time having spontaneous encounter that threw you off your shoes.

Because the next thing I knew, I was in this couple's car.

Holding my map.

And have them drove me to all the desired wineries I had wanted to visit on my bicycle that day.

o.O

It just mind-boggled me how nice people can be.

The moment they knew I was on bicycle, they just offered incessantly that I were to join them for the day on the wine tour.

sitting in their comfy backseat

It was obviously much easier, and a lot faster to be driving than to cycle. Following that afternoon, I've visited all the wineries I had set out to visit the night before.

In fact, I covered most of the places in such speed, I decided to leave Marlborough a day earlier to head further down South.

*do the happy dance*

It's amazing how an industry as old-fashioned as wine-making can catch up so fast to our modernly pace.

Now wineries have their own facebook page!!

I even managed to visit this Wairau River winery to have an afternoon snack of their infamous CHEESE SOUFFLE!!!

CHEESE SOUFFLE!!!!!!

nom nom nom

Photo of my foot on pebbles.

I think I was just about tipsy when this photo was taken

Thank GOD I wasn't cycling the whole day.

Because later that evening when there's no more open wineries to visit, after dropping me back at Herzog winery where I left my bicycle, I was whoozing all the way on my bike back to my guesthouse.

I cycled left, right, in circles, just not straight.
(And this was after sobering up a little.)

I was lucky, there was scarcely any car on the road at that hour.

I remembered petting a horse on my way back.

I remembered going in zig-zag motion in one of the narrower secluded road.

I DIDN'T remember how I managed to carry three bottles of wines in my pouch, balancing in my state of unsteadiness, and cycled 3km back to my room.

check out my ipod hang in front of ze bike!

Kids. Never drink and cycle.

ps// I compiled a list of Top 5 Marlborough wineries. Check it out.

To Give

2009-10-30T18:55:00.002+08:00

In that past three days, I've realised something I've always heard and known but never truly understood. Not completely.

But this for sure, sometimes it feels equally if not even more exhilarating to be giving than to be receiving.

The joy I gained from giving joy to the one I love has been something irreplaceable.

And no matter where I'll be in life, whether if this will go sour and sweeter, I'll take this as my learning footnote to living a happier journey.

Love. Just give love. Nothing else.

Crossing from North Island to South Island

2009-10-27T23:15:00.002+08:00

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of Wellington here.

People visit the capital of New Zealand, Wellington, for two reason.

One is to claim that they've been to the capital of New Zealand.

Second is to cross over to and from the South Island(or North Island).

I found out there are only two common ways to cross between the two islands in NZ. First is, obviously, to fly. The other, more commonly used by locals and the adventure seeker, is to take a ferry.
(Third of course is to swim).

Few reasons. It's cheaper, well, kind of. If you don't manage to get promo fare of the flights, then it only makes sense to take ferry (I boarded the Bluebridge). Priced at NZD50 per way per person.

Or when you want to bring your car over to the South Island.

moving house applies too

Then there's the adventurous side of me where I just wanted to experience crossing the Cook Strait and to observe the Marlborough Sounds with my own eyes.

Marlborough Sounds are all the island and bay extensions from the tip of South Island

It finally got windy on the last day

I have to be honest here. When I decided I was to board a ferry to the South Island, I thought I was going to be stuck on a dodgy ferry with little comfort for few hours before finally arriving in civilization again.

Little did I expect that I was going to be welcomed with a full facilitated lounge!

Equipped with snack bars in every corner of the ship. Beers, chips, sandwich, hot food, you name it.

Cafes with dining tables.

Sit in movie theater.

Or get a beer and head up to the upper deck to enjoy some chilly wind.

From where I could see the harbour of Wellington which I was about to leave behind.

Soon, the ferry slowly roared its engine and left its port, leaving the town of Wellington in the dust.

While the view of mainland grew more and more distant.

Soon it would getting cold.

So I decided to head inside and grab a two seater sofa by myself in the lounge and slept. I had three hours ahead of me.

zzz...

When I woke up, we (the ferry) were engulfed amongst the Marlborough Sounds.

wide angle

It was quite beautiful really. But it was also too cold to be standing outside for too long.

Soon Picton harbour was coming into view.

Picton is a small port town in New Zealand that plays the important role of acting as the connecting hub from Picton (South) to Wellington (North) or vice versa.

There are, however, few activities worth exploring here. Tourists often travel south to the wine country for some wine trails trekking and tasting, or mountain bike around some of the gorgeous mountain treks in this region, or take a cruise out to the Marlborough Sounds to capture the beauty of Cook Strait.

parking

At a corner, yachts were abundance.

I wasn't going to be stop by Picton for long, but to know that I've finally arrived at the second island of New Zealand... enticed me!

Southern Island. Here I come.

Junior the Chihuahua

2009-10-26T01:16:00.000+08:00

This is Junior, Amy's Chihuahua.

Tell me. Should I send this to IcanhasCheezburger?

My New Blackberry Skin

2009-10-24T02:31:00.000+08:00

It's new.

It's pink.

And it's not the typical skin you think can be bought from a phone shop.

Check out my New BB Skin!!!

I got it skinned more than 10 days ago.
It's sooo pretty now I just fell in love with my new BB more!

At first I wanted to buy the skin for most BBs, kinda like a gel-stretchy like wrap-around the phone.

Because I didn't want to scratch my new phone and was so scared that any minute that I would drop it and break it into a million pieces (or at least land a scratch mark on it that it's irreversible).

But then someone suggested to me that I might as well really "skin" it rather than buying a cover for it.

So I did.

It only cost RM50.

Now I'm not afraid of scratching it anymore. ^^!!!

super *heart* my BB.