I saw snow!!!

I really did see snow on 23.11.08. It was an unusually cold night n suddenly at midnite around 2am, small freckles of snow fell. At first, I thought it was raining but when I looked properly, it was actually snow. Being so excited, Amanda and myself ran downstairs equipped with my camera to record it down.

It was not really easy to catch it on video because the flakes were too small. But after an hour, the flakes became bigger and more visible. Both Amanda and myself were really excited and happy to witness it. We told our friends about it which many of them just shrug it off saying we are MAD!!! Hehe.

Anyway, forecast says its gonna snow again maybe on Monday or Tuesday. Guess I am gonna have a White Xmas after all!!!

White Christmas??

This is the first year I'm gonna celebrate Xmas away from home and my friends. Downloaded some Xmas songs and it makes me wanna cry cos it reminds me again how much I miss home. How much I miss my friends in Malaysia.

Not sure what are the plans this Xmas. Maybe just a simple party at my place with a few of my colleagues. Wonder if it will snow here. If it does, it would be my first ever white Xmas. I am looking forward to it.

A bit early to wish all my friends but all the same , Have yourself a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

WHY?

Sometimes I wonder to myself, why can't we escape from the 'we-are-buddies-but-backstabbing' friends. How much can you get from doing such hurt to others? I always believe,what goes around, come around. To bring one up takes so much effort, but it definitely does not take much to bring one down.

We live in a world where we confront people everyday. Is it so easy to forget that we can't live alone on this planet? We may look independent but the truth is, no one can survive alone. We need friends, we need loved ones, we need someone we can talk to when we are happy or when we are sad.

For me, I treasure all my friends and loved ones. They are the ones that kept me going. They are the ones I run to when I have happy news to share with. They are the ones I go to when I need a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on. That's why they are very important to me.

No doubt, there would be some that I don't really fancy so I try not to have so much in common with them. It's to avoid any conflict or hearing anything that I would not like to or being forced to participate in any discussion that may hurt my friends.

I always tell myself, by bringing others down to make yourself look good or feel good, won't bring you far. One day, just one day, the same thing will come around and hit you. It will hit you hard and you will fall hard. That's called, Karma.

My puppy, Moka

My dog,Bobo just gave birth to 3 puppies 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, 2 of them died and now left this one who we named Moka. He is one fat puppy and always feeding on mummy. Furry little thing with huge eyes like daddy, Richie. Wish I am home to cuddle this small fella. I love my furry friends because they are a real good companion. They know if you are sad, they know if you need company, and they share the joy when we are happy.

I remembered around 2yrs ago, Bobo was pregnant but she had a difficult pregnancy because she had uterus infection. When the babies were due, she couldn't even lick the pouch enveloping the puppies away. I had to help her deliver the puppies. I was so worried that I cried the whole night. Usually after giving birth, she would go out and do her business and look for food and water. But this time, she just laid still there. I couldn't take it and sent her to an animal hospital crying all the way there. She had to be hospitalized for a week before discharged. She gave birth to 7 puppies that time but unfortunately, none of them survived. I cried when one died and burying them.

Imagine how worried I was when my brother told me Bobo is pregnant. I do not want history to repeat itself and worst part is I'm not there! I was overjoyed when I heard Bobo gave birth to 3 pups but my joy was shorlived when I was told one of them died the next day followed by another 2 days later. I called home n tell my mom to go get some milk powder for pups from the pet shop fearing that the pups might have died because Bobo does not have enough milk.

As day goes by. I was praying that the puppy would survive and be healthy. I asked my brother to update my regularly on the progress, which he did diligently. My bro told me, he is a very fierce pup. If you disturb him during sucking, he will make noise. Oh, how adorable.
And now 2 weeks later, he finally opened his eyes. OOOO... I really wish I am there!!! To cuddle the fella and hold him in my arms.
Moka with Mummy

I bugged my bro and sis to send me more pics of him. I would look at his pics everyday. My bro decided to call him Moka , for some reasons which I do not want to disclose but I think its a nice name and suitable.
Moka being adorable

I told my daddy, I want to keep this puppy because when I am back to Malaysia, he will come live with me in my new house. Hehe. I don't care!!!

You will sure love my Moka when you see his picture. He is like a furball! EEEEEEeeee.... GERAMNYA!!!
Don't blame me for being cute!!!

So So So COLD!!!

Dun remember when was the last time I updated this blog, but today just felt like doing it. It has been really cold the past few days. Rain and strong wind. It just chills me to the bones. Walking to work was horrible with the rain n strong wind. I had to wear double jacket to keep myself warm.
Makes me miss Malaysia weather so much. Though its hot, but at least I am kept warm. It rained pretty heavy yesterday evening and we got hailstorm. Luckily I was at work. At least there is heater at the restaurant.

I don't know how I am gonna make it through the winter cos now I am already freezing. Gotta wear more clothings to keep myself warm!!!!

Die die le!

London! London! Here I Come! Day 1

Brriiinnnngggg!!! Alamak. I nearly fell off the bed. Looked at my mobile. What????!!! It is only 5am! @#$%^%&...Aiks. Wait a minute. I'm suppose to go to London today la. Bus is at 6.45am. Haiyo. No wonder la. I quickly got up and wake Chee Fai and Amanda at the same time. After shower, a cup of oat and making sure everyone is ready, I called taxi to take us to the bus station. As usual, bus schedule says depart at 6.45am means 6.45am on the dot!

London! Here we come!!!!

Being the piggy me, I practically slept all the 5hours bus journey to London. Bus is not really comfortable but I was too tired and sleepy. But before falling asleep, still managed to take picture. Hehe. So vain la.
Can you see Amanda behind us?? Hehe

Finally reach London at approx 11.45am. Got stuck in a slight traffic jam but luckily not as bad as those we experience in KL. Got off at Victoria Coach Station and made our way to Victoria Train Station. We decided to drop our bags off at the hotel before meeting my friend, CK.

The train station has many levels. We had to take escalator a few levels down to get to our platform. However, directions are very clear as to which line you should go to get to your destination. I am very impressed by the clarity of information but standing at the platform, I can feel the dust n dirt all stick to my face. New pimples are to appear for sure. Haizz... At Victoria Station

We stopped at Euston Station to get to our hotel. Had a hard time looking for it. Wasted about 0.5hrs to find the hotel. And not to mention the amount of walk we did that afternoon. Finally, a handsome young man showed us the correct way to the hotel. The hotel that we stayed in, Mentone Hotel is quite a nice B&B hotel. Costing about £30/night, it is considered ok. Taken inside our hotel room

After dropping our stuffs, we made our way to Leicester Square to meet up with CK. He then brought us to China Town which was nearby. Walked around China Town for a bit and posed for a few pictures, of course. In my opinion, London's China Town is bigger than Liverpool's. There are lots of shops and I even saw pao! Was craving for it so I bought 2pcs. But what a great disappointment. It tasted horrible. The paste doesn't taste like red bean and the dough is too hard. Not nice at all. Wasted my $. Posing at China Town gate

With Amanda n CK in China Town

After that we made our way to Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is a site of significant historic value and its monuments and statues also have individual heritage classifications. Since its construction in the early 1800s, Trafalgar Square has been seen as a centre of national democracy and protest. Rallies and demonstrations are frequently held at weekends on a range of political, religious and general issues. With its position in the heart of London, it is a popular tourist attraction; its trademarks are Nelson's Column, which stands in the centre, the four lion statues that guard the Column, and the large number of pigeons that live in the square. On the north side of the square is the National Gallery. Nelson's Column

Behind us is the National Gallery

I climbed onto one of the four lions guarding Nelson's Column

Having climbed the lion and taking loads of pictures, we made our way to the iconic London Eye. It was quite a distance but due to good weather, it was not a horrible walk. I even managed to take a photo in the famous red telephone booth. Such a poser hor... Halo! Halo! Wei Wei Wei

After walking for what seems like forever, I finally saw the big round round wheel. The famous London Eye! A brief history of London Eye.

Since opening in March 2000 The London Eye has become an iconic landmark and a symbol of modern Britain. The London Eye is the UK’s most popular paid for visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year. A breathtaking feat of design and engineering, passengers in the London Eye's capsules can see up to 40 kilometres in all directions.
These are some simple facts about London Eye that I found online.

A TEAM EFFORT

It took seven years and the skills of hundreds of people from five countries to make the London Eye a reality

A VIEW FIT FOR A QUEEN

You can see around 40KM (25 miles) from the top as far as Windsor Castle on a clear day

FLYING HIGH

The London Eye welcomes an average of 3.5 million customers every year. You would need 6,680 fully booked British Airways Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to move that number of fliers!

DING! DING!

The London Eye can carry 800 passengers per revolution - equivalent to 11 London red doubled-decker buses

HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION

Each of the 32 capsules weighs 10 tonnes. To put that figure into perspective, it's the same weight as 1,052,631 pound coins!

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

Each rotation takes about 30 minutes, meaning a capsule travels at a stately 26cm per second, or 0.9km
(0.6 miles) per hour - twice as fast as a tortoise sprinting; allowing passengers to step on and off without the
wheel having to stop

THE ONLY WAY IS UP

The circumference of the wheel is 424m (1.392ft) - meaning that if it were unravelled, it would be 1.75 ti
mes longer than the UK's tallest building - One Canada Square in Canary Wharf

TONNES OF FUN

The total weight of the wheel and capsules is 2,100 tonnes - or as much as 1,272 London black cabs!

UP, UP AND AWAY

The height of the London Eye is 135m (equivalent to 64 red telephone boxes piled on top of each other) making it the fourth tallest structure in London after the BT Tower, Tower 42 and One Canada Square in
Canary Wharf

BLAST OFF

The spindle holds the wheel structure and the hub rotates it around the spindle. At 23 meters tall, the spindle is around the size of a church spire and, together with the hub, weighs in at 330 tonnes: over 20 times heavier than Big Ben

Wow, too much to digest already. Well, anyway, how could I not take a picture of the famed London Eye?? So we of course posed for a few pictures. Smile!!!

London Eye

After crossing River Thames via Hungerford Bridge to get to the other side, we were greeted by a pair of silver couple. Are they real? I wonder. Suddenly the man moved. Wah lau. Scary but interesting. It was a Sunday and according to CK, there are a lot of street performers. Took pictures of a few of them (without paying of course) and just strolled along.

Street performers 1

Street performer 2

Street performer 3

Initially Amanda and myself would like to visit Madame Tussauds and there is a package ticket that include a ride in London Eye costing £35. But we also wanted to watch Phantom of the Opera and in the end, we chose Phantom of the Opera. We just spent our time taking pictures along River Thames. We walked till we reach Westminster Bridge and wondered if we should cross it to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Our feet told us to do other wise.

You see, Hungerford Bridge and Westminster Bridge sort of like run parallel. So, if we were to cross Westminster Bridge, we are gonna be back to Victoria Embankment where we started. Finally, I decided I just want to walk half the bridge just to take a picture of Big Ben. My legs are too tired already having walked the whole day.

Posing in front of Big Ben

Our next destination after London Eye and Big Ben is to find food!!! All of us are starving already. We walked back to China Town to have our meal. Nothing special bout the food but at least filling.

After meal, we walked to our last destination, Piccadilly Circus for a few more rounds of photos. The Piccadilly Circus boast the neon billboard that is similar to Japan's. Piccadilly Circus is famous road junction of London's West End and is close to major shopping and entertainment locations. There is a fountain called Shaftesbury in memorial of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury for his philanthropic works. At the fountain also stood the statue of an archer popularly known as Eros (sometimes called The Angel of Christian Charity , but intended to be Anteros).

Posing at Piccadilly Circus wit Dar

Big Neon boards

Well, that's the end of my first day tour of London. We were all so tired, all 3 of us just knocked out after our shower. We need to re-energise for our day 2 tour!!!

Meet the new Bond Girl!...NOT!!!!

Day Trip to York 21.5.08

It was off day and again we planned some outing. This time is to York, some 1.5hrs drive away from Liverpool. Enid thought it would be good to drive up there for a day trip. The 1.5hrs drive was quite interesting. Pretty flowers in the fields by the hiway, beautiful scenery all around. Really peaceful till I fell asleep. Wakaka!





First stop, Clifford's Tower. Didn't climb the tower as I have to pay entrance fee of £3. Haha. Kedekut ma. Anyway, some introduction about Clifford's Tower. Clifford's Tower stands as a proud symbol of the power of England's medieval kings. Originally built by William the Conqueror to subdue the rebels of the north, it was twice burned to the ground, before being rebuilt by Henry III in the 13th century. The tower takes its name from one grisly incident in its long history, when Roger de Clifford was executed for treason against Edward II and hanged in chains from the tower walls. At Clifford's Tower


We then walked around. There was a market that somewhat looks like pasar pagi where clothes, food, accessories and even paintings are sold. Didn't buy anything there though so we continued walking around.

One thing I like it here in UK is that, there are really alot of dog lovers. And most of them bring their pets out for walk. Managed to get permission to pose with a few of them. Really lovely.





















We had a very interesting lunch at Betty's. Its a very traditional English restaurant where they serve superb English tea and variety of cakes. Yummy! Really delicious. The presentation itself is interesting enough.














Finger sandwich, Sultana scones, cakes, cakes and cakes. OOOOoooo... Yummy Yummy.











Betty's Traditional English Tea







After filling our stomachs will delicious food, off we go again. Enid lead us to an alley where the shops all looked lopsided. This is The Shambles ler, she said. Shambles (also known as 'The Shambles') is a bustling centre piece of historic York. The way that fifteenth century buildings lean into the middle of the cobbled street means that the roofs almost touch in the middle. Mentioned in the Domesday book (making it date over 900 years), we know Shambles to be York 's oldest street, and Europe's best preserved Medieval street. This place is really interesting as you can get many cute stuff here. There are so many shops here selling souveniers, clothes, antiques, jewelleries to name a few. I even found one shop with my name. Keke. Didn't know I have business there. If it is really mine, wah! Kaya lor! Dreaming ler... My shop ler!!!

Reality check, reality check. Ok. Back to my sightseeing. Our next famous stop is the York Minster. Even from far, I can see the tower and even from far, it is beautiful. Enid told us to strike a pose in front of the building. The building is really huge and very fascinating. Again, we didn't enter the cathedral as we have to pay entrance fee of £7.50. Amanda n Me at York Minster


There was also a statue of Constantine the Great at the entrance. Amanda and I decided to imitate the statue. Hehe. Really 38 of us neh. 2 Constantine, the Great Wannabes!

After York Minster, we went to the park. We bought some bread to feed the pigeons and squirrel. Amanda went screaming away when the pigeons came too near and nauti Enid kept throwing bread crumbs around Amanda's feet so Amanda was practically screaming away. It was a really funny sight and I laughed till tearing. Keke. Amanda feeding the pigeons

Basically, these are the few places that we went for our day trip in York. Enid wanted to enter York Dungeon but unfortunately, it was closed by time we got there. However, I still managed to pose at the entrance. Just love to take pics eh.
Had a great day out in York and really want to thank Enid for bringing us there. Hope more adventures to come! Love tis pic alot. Blue Starbucks