First time to Europe! (Part 1)

This is not the first time I travelled alone to a foreign land , the last time I visited a foreign land was the end of 2007 .
Actually it all started when I knew about the holiday in May 2009. That’s where I started my plan for my holiday . Before I plan , I decided to visit Japan once more but due to tight schedule of my friends , so I made my plan to UK.


Victor was very kind enough to accommodate me throughout the whole journey of my tour in UK . I had visited most part of south western England , including Oxford , Brighton, Guildford, Bath, Salisbury , Winsor and last but not least London.
My first impression of UK is a place of historical and full of fascinating sights including nature . There are vast differences including language and people if you compared it with Japan. Japan has lots of metropolitan cities with vibrant lifestyle . Whereas , England is a serene place with a mixed of nature and history . I felt a sense of security when I saw English words around but not in Japan. The direction of signs are written in English .


Oxford is on my first day ‘s travel list . I was delighted to be told earlier that Oxford is a place where Harry Potter movie was shot . The bodleian library and the dining hall in one of the colleges . The place has still preserved with its authenticity and the surrounding area of the colleges was surrounded by parks and streams. I was mesmerized by the intricate designs etched into the colored glass inside the cathedral. But Victor told me that I will be seeing more cathedral in my trip. It was such an English way of life , while sitting on the grass under a tree ,eating my lunch from Boots and looking at the happenings around the river .


The next day was the most hectic of all , we jointed a local tour agency called premium tours . The day trip brought us to Winsor Castle , Stonehedge and Bath . I was stunned by the exterior of the Winsor Castle , it looks magnificent . And one of the items I wanted to highlight was the Queen Mary ‘s doll house . I noticed the servants’ room was just as nice as the peasant room in the past . Every detail was made in a doll scale with high perfection in the workmanship .


Stonehedge was a place near to Salisbury and the placement of the stones were few metres away from the road . While standing in the field next to stonehedge , the horizon is endless with agriculture land . The formation of the stone was somehow unique to me . Every angle you looked into the formation , you will notice the differences. I still remember I asked one of the Japanese tourists to take a picture . And they were surprised and asked are we Japanese . ……Are we looked like Japanese? Haha ..


The last trip of the day was to the Bath which is a few miles away from Wales and Bristol. The roman bath was the center of attraction , for our tour we were given a guided tour by ‘Roman Soldier’ . He has a sense of humour in the way he speaks. We were late to meet up the group in front of the Roman Bath because I was looking at the souvenirs . We ran the whole way from a toilet inside a departmental store to meet up with the group. The small city has its beauty on the architecture and also the Roman culture.

Middle Eastern Cuisine- Al Rawsha Restaurant

I was delighted to have my first middle eastern cuisine in my life. Usually ,I will be thinking middle eastern cuisine is not my cup of tea until I have tried it .

From the menu of the Al-Rawsha Restaurant along Jln Seraya ,Ampang, I don’t know what to order but from the menu middle eastern food has some similarities with the local mamak food.


After my uncle had ordered , we were waiting for the food to arrive . While waiting , I noticed that the surrounding has a very decent and simple decoration. As we were sitting outside of the building sheltered under a canopy while the rain was pouring , we felt the breeze was adequate to keep us cool.
After the first dishes had arrived , it was the mixed grill meats (chicken , beef , mutton) served with Branni rice. I have to mention about the rice , the size of the grain is long and thin . When I first sink my teeth into the rice , it was soft enough to be called rice and fluffy.





Can u see the rice grain?

Next is the mixed grill sausages + meat balls , the meat balls were attached to each other , typically the round meat balls are separated individually , not attached to each other . But these meatballs were attached to each other ,in other way it is :plucked it and eat it . Don’t look at the dish of meat balls and say that it is too little for my stomach , in fact it is very filling !



The following dish comes with a soft bread underneath the grilled chicken . The bread was different with the mamak type of roti canai . The bread is minus the oiliness but additional crispiness .


The pastries corner , the tray on the bottom looks like ‘wantan’ don’t you think?



All in all, I felt very satisfied with the middle eastern food . One thing to mention , if you are on veg diet , there are limited food to choose from. Below is on of the veg we ordered.

Wesak Day 2009

The night before Wesak Day , I was flipping my street directory book on Buddhist temple in Subang area. To my surprised, I found none of the temple is in Subang, but there is one in Bandar Utama-Chempaka Buddhist Lodge . I located the area and I drove there early in the morning at around 7.30 a.m. I reached there quarter past 8 . Upon reaching the site , I noticed there are cars at the shoulders of the road leading to the temple . Temple is located at the end of the housing estate. I hastily found an empty space next to a corner house in a back alley . As I walked towards the temple , more and more cars were arriving . Entering the gate of the temple , there are lots of activities happening in the temporary stalls which includes charity offering , bathing the Buddha and blessing from the monks .

After bathing the Buddha , I entered the main temple which consisted of 3 floors ,LG,1st floor, 2nd floor. On the 1st floor is the main shrine , the intricate designs of the statute of Buddha and the simple but elegant decoration mesmerized me . I participated in the blessing ceremony and hymm singing until noon. The sense of familiarity I experienced before when I was small came back to me . I still remember those days when I followed the hymm singing and I was still too young to be able to recognize the Chinese words on the chanting book .

On the 2nd floor, there are also different types of deities and Buddha statues in separate rooms.
After the prayers , I was told by the monk that there was a vegetarian lunch to be served . As I climbed down the stairs to LG, I was startled to see the whole hall was full with people . I was in the line queuing for my turn . The situation was very under control although there were lots of people . I sit together with a family of 7 , and we were served with vegetarian 盆菜 and vegetable curry. As I never in my life eaten a vegetarian 盆菜 , I tried and I felt that taste of the pork cutlet was almost the same as the real ones . I like the meat balls very much especially with the savory taste of broth incorporated into the meat balls, as my first bite , I can feel the broth oozed out from the meat. I was very satisfied with the meal and I called it a day .

vegetarian 盆菜


Full of crowd.

I felt that I have fulfilled my ‘duty’ as Buddhist followers.

The full address of the Buddhist is:
Chempaka Buddhist Lodge
60,Jln SS23/25,Taman SEA,
Petaling Jaya,
www.chempaka.org.my



A female newscaster was recording for NTV7 channel.

18th March 09

Half past 12 a.m. on the early morning of 18th March 2009 , I was playing the borrowed iPod touch . And I missed to wish me Happy Birthday even though I reminded myself to wish myself when the clock strikes 12 . Anyway , I received my second sms on my birthday wishing me then only I realized that I forgot to wish myself . Haha to immerse in the nice and cute Rolando game .



Huh !!! Got into bed at around 1.30 a.m. And woke up around 8.30a.m , I received my first foreign sms on my birthday from UK . I was very happy upon receiving my his sms . But my the other friend maybe too busy with his vacation Down Under and forgot to wish me . Anyway I understand that .While I was replying his sms, I looked outside it was raining . So nice to fall back into the bed again And I did. Woke up again at 9.30 a.m. I was reminded by my family that there was somebody will knock on the door before you go to school. I was confused whether need to wait at home or go outside for a shopping spree on my birthday . A flash of ideas streaming into my mind and then I realized that I wanted to go to IKEA for some shopping . Then around 10.00 a.m. after keep on asking my sister who will be knocking on my door , she replied that I need to be in the house around 12 p.m. then you will be able to meet him . I was curious about the mystery man will appear at my door, kept on asking but she refused to answer.

Then around 10.30a.m. I received a call from Alex that the ‘mystery man ‘ will appear around 11.30 a.m. But at that moment , I was driving my way to IKEA and all of the sudden ,Alex called . I was confused and felt sorry about the postponement I made to him . The idea of me going to IKEA was to treat myself with a nice breakfast and then shop for something I like .

10.45 a.m. With the limited selection I have on certain food served at the IKEA food court I was done with the practical fried bee hoon and also a piece of chocolate muffin. The price of the bee hoon only costs RM1 and the muffin was more expensive than the bee hoon . All together RM 2.62 with taxes. Anyway while sitting on the table next to the window , the enjoyment to savour the food was very relaxing . With the morning after the rain , it was like the morning has just awakened. Looking at my watch , it was 15 minutes past 11 a.m. I finished my breakfast and then I went to the offer bin corner which is next to the escalator to pick up a mirror which initially cost RM 19 ,now it is RM 5. And went to the marketplace and picked up a replacement plant for my dad and I . A beautiful ‘ginseng’ bonsai with a shaped like a human and the top has few branches and leaves.



Aiya , luckily saved the flowers !

Reached home around 12 p.m. but without the ‘mystery man ‘ in sight . And decided to call my sister for confirmation , but didn’t . I read today’s newspaper and suddenly I heard the door was knocked . And Surprised ! a delivery man with a bouquet of flowers in his hands .The bouquet is full with pink and red colored roses and not to mention my favorite Ferrero Rocher chocolate . I never received a bouquet of roses before from anyone , this is the first time . Initially I felt weird about the whole thing of getting flowers for birthday but later I felt that it is okay and I was too into the bouquet and took lots of photos with the flowers . And I forgot about the time , I only ate Maggi mee for my lunch but it was alright as I was treated with such a surprise!Thanks my sister and my friend for making the surprise a success.

Then, in school . It was not that smooth sailing . For the past few days , we were able to roam freely in our school but today the wind was blown to the other direction . The management wanted to track down the students who are not in their respective classes. As I am the one who wanted to use the internet connection , with the immobility I had I was very reluctant to stay in the class assigned because I can’t use the internet in the class. So i sneaked out the room and went there . Burrrrrr..... I was like a fugitive .

But the other empty class has it .After loggin on to the Facebook , I saw lots of people writing on my wall to wish me Happy Birthday . I was touched by their moves .Even my ex-primary schoolfriends were among those who wished me. I would like to thanks all again for their time and their effort.


After around 9 p.m. I received lots of sms from my friends from ex-schoolmates to ex-uni friends. I was very surprised that some still remember my birthday . Anyway , my schoolmates decided to treat me at the Ipoh White Coffee at Subang Perdana and we went there to enjoyed ice blended coffee and tea. But after a glass , I felt I was going to vomit and hold back .I am certain that next time White Coffee or tea will not be part of my diet anymore. The feeling of indigestion in my stomach and the beverage seems stuck at my throat .




At around 11 p.m. I reached home and ready myself for the night . I replied all the sms greetings and phoned friends . Opps... my birthday was over when I was talking with my mother . Haha what a day of my birthday !

Thanks everyone again for the wishes and effort!

!! 新しMH B737-800 航空機 !! New MH B737-800 aircraft aircraft

I have noticed the new B737-800 in the hanger beside my training school . It was newly painted with the MAS logo on it. I was wondering when will I have the chance to sit inside it. But today I managed to sit onto one of 2 newly introduced B737-800 from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. Initially , I was given a seat number 27 . In the old configuration of B737-400 series which currently serving MAS , I would be in the last row ,behind me is the lavatory .

The B737-800 series which can occupy more seats in the aircraft and also the interior ceiling of the aircraft has a wavy element like a stream of air flowing smoothly above it.

It has few modifications inside the aircraft but that are enough for the passengers to feel there are some differences . According to one of the stewardesses inside the flight , she said there are two B737-800 flying with Malaysia Airlines , what they are doing now is to test the market . This aircraft I was flying with was the lease aircraft from other country.

Selama Famous Porridge

This is the porridge shop.

For all the places , I came to a place called Selama in Perak which is next to Port Weld (Kuala Sepetang) . The distance from Simpang to Selama is around 5 km , which is half the journey from Simpang to Port Weld.



I arrived at the restaurant just in time for my lunch. We had ordered a big pot of porridge which consists of big size prawns and chunks of promphet fish.At the first look , the porridge looks nothing special , but when you savour the porridge together with the soup , you will be surprised that the soup is exceptionally sweet with a kick of seafood taste.

The prawns were very fresh as you will know when you sink your teeth into it. The freshness of the seafood opens up my appetite. Actually I am not really like porridge , but the food really gave me a good reason to like it. Although the place is situated a few kilometers away from the port but the porridge stalls which available at Port Weld are incomparable with this restaurant. Although the price of the porridge is around RM 60 but with the fresh seafood it is really worth the price.


おいいし

Celcom USB Broadband

This is the most satisfied broadband I have ever used , maybe it is because I didn't use before broadband with such a high download speed . I downloaded most of my torrent files in just half the time . The package I am using is 384kbps .

In fact with this speed in the TM broadband , the download speed won't reach the level achieved by Celcom . I think most people use this USB broadband would be satisfied with the service given .