Bicester Village yg berhantu!

two years i was studying there, never once i stepped foot on Bicester Village, mainly because people always say tempat tu berhantu! kenapa berhantu? sebab kalau pergi, macamana takde duit pun MESTI akan terbeli jugak sesuatu!! and then bila balik rumah, akan tertanya2 sendiri, eh betul ke beli nie?? what was i thinking?? i cant afford this gorgeous Gucci bag! mesti tadi kat Bicester kena rasuk and made me buy this!!

hehe...

ok lah, betul la berhantu tu, so dats why masa student tak pernah pergi, nanti terguna duit rent, jadi homeless pulak nanti :p :p

so when i went there last winter, baru la ada berani sikit nak pergi, itu pun credit card bawak satu jer, bahaya oooo!!

muka sangat sangat sangat excited untuk memula kan peng-shopping-an :p :p

this was on the 28th December, there were so many people there! even bumped into some "local politician and celebrities" there, shopping sebelah2 lagi :p

the pathways are super icy see! and it was freezing cold! but it certainly did not stopped anybody from shopping to their heart's content!

our loot! sikit jer :) and saja ambik gambar depan Gucci but didnt buy anything there, can u believe when we arrive just an hour after it opens, the shop is almost empty! the shelves are bare! they said almost all the sale items are already sold, we were late! tsk tsk...

but i got what i wanted and managed to shop for some cool stuff for everyone back home and they are all happy with their gifts, semua tu kira birthday present dua tahun hehe :p :p

mcm ni cara org kita buat bisnes??

my cousin just got married, masa christmas hari tu, i didnt attend as i was away in london, so mom told me some stuff that happened during the wedding, macam2 hal berlaku, my cousin ni pulak, and family dia semua jenis yang let go jer, so senang la kena pijak ishk..

cerita pertama - my cousin tempah pelamin nye set pasang kat rumah, so lengkap la with arches, and the chairs, bunga etc bagai, kat arch tu, ade tempat or soket for the lights kan, but diorang tak pasang lampu tu, which kalau tak pasang, the whole pelamin looks gelap la kan, mmg la ade main lampu rumah kat siling tu, but lampu at the pelamin will light up the deco more kan? so my mom ckp la, pasang la lampu tu, org pelamin tu boleh ckp "lampu tu takde, bulb dah rosak" so, kalau rosak bulb beli la baru ganti kan? my mom insist jugak nak, co dah kata bayar ribu riban for the pelamin mesti lah nak perfect kan?? so in the end they put in the lampu and they actually charge my cousin for the extra bulbs!!??? boleh tak? padahal its part of the pelamin package la kan? then boleh lepas tu pegi ckp kat my auntie (my mom's sister) yang "makcik tu bising la banyak komplen" and pointed to my mom!! my mom punye la nak mengamuk but sabar jer la cos its org lain punye majlis kan. so ok fine, next...

cerita kedua - my cousin ordered 200 chairs with the covers (so jadi la mcm kat hotel2 tu, ngan reben kat belakang). agreed cost was rm1 per cover, so okey la. turns out, diorang tak cukup 50 covers, so org kerusi tu kena gi amik kat tempat lain. ok fine. dah habis majlis semua, they told my cousin for the balance 50 tu, diorang nak charge rm3 per cover!! ape kes kan?? kata nye sebab kena amik kat tempat lain! so, its not our problem right? kan dah agree rm1 per cover for 200 chairs, takkan u didnt know how many covers u actually have right?? and u know wat, sebab dah end of the majlis, my cousin bayar jer la sebab tak nak gaduh2.

cerita ketiga (and last ye :p) - my cousin hired a professional photographer. konon famous la and in high demand, siap kena gi dari kedah ke singapore ke kl amik gambar bagai, harga pun boleh tahan jugak la kan. so my cousin hire dia untuk tiga event, malam akad nikah, then sanding belah bride, then the next day sanding belah groom. lepas sanding belah bride, they went to take an outdoor shoot tepi pantai (which last nampak gambar atas batu2 jer pantai langsung tak nampak ntah pape nye photographer), after that, boleh plak si photographer ni kata dia nak balik kl terus mlm tu, ada kerja kat melaka. padahal my cousin already paid for the three events!!! tak sempat nak argue ape2 mamat tu trus balik lepas outdoor shoot tu, so masa sanding belah groom, they didnt have a professional photographer!!

i can imagine the stress that my cousin and family went through but they shouldnt let these people walk all over them, terima aje org nak buat ape. memang agak sial cara2 diorang ni berbisnes, macamana nak maju?? pastu kalau kita hire bangsa lain to arrange, ckp kita ni tak tolong bangsa sendiri, bangsa sendiri perangai mcm haram nak tolong bende nye kan??

but lesson learned from this - i will get a trusted person to make the arrangements for the above for me, kalau semua nak handle sendiri (ni kes my cousin jugak, kalau ngan family jer mintak la tolong kan, that's wat we are here for) mau pengsan nanti. mcm kes photographer tu kan, padahal adik beradik my cousin ni semua camera dslr bagai tu, semua terrer IT, semua gang2 kelab photography, takkan tak boleh tolong adik sendiri cari kan professional photographer yg reliable kan? or yg buat part time pun kadang2 lawa jugak they work right?

so nway, itu jer cerita utk hari ini, sekian terima kaseh :p

Niagara Falls

one of the places we knew we must must must go on this new york trip is Niagara Falls. its not that near actually, about 9 hours drive but of course only an hour plus by plane. in view of the short time we have, we decided to take a flight there via Jet Blue (US equivalent to Air Asia but so so so much better!). the flight and hotel costs us about USD120 per person, not bad right?

ive been trying to get the pictures in the correct order but it kept disappearing and i had to upload it again! so i gave up :p but the order is in no way would deprive you of the pleasure of seeing the gorgeous beautiful pictures of one of the seven wonders of the world :)

the boat that we will be using, its called Maid of the Mist - about USD 14 per person (i think, cant remember, go google for exact price ok) the boat does not run every day throughout the year, in fact, the week we were there was the last week it will run for the year, it ends in late october, guess then it will be too freezing cold or too windy..

we were each given a blue rain coveralls, its so funny when we were all wearing it, we couldnt find each other, everyone looks the same! like a big blue bear hehe :p

its freezing cold there! and be prepared to get wet, despite the rain coats, and for those who wears a scarf, bring an extra, mine got thoroughly soaked!

the boat!

we look comel kan kan kan :p :p

gambar berterabur! this is actually the first picture i took, at the jetty while waiting for the boat :)

the first glimpse of the magnificent falls!

after the boat trip which takes about 20 minutes, we took picture around the park as the late evening sun descent...

the gorgeous view of the falls will really really takes your breath away. for a while i was literally speechless of the wonderness of it all and it makes you think, makes you humble and makes you feel small and insignificant but happy and great at the same time. its a weird feeling, your heart just kinda of overwhelmed with the beauty and greatness of the it all.

seriously, dont just read my words for it, go there.

other bits and pieces of this place;
1. we took the flight to Buffalo International Airport, there is a shuttle bus that goes to the falls directly about 6-7 times a day, and it will return to the airport as well. the timing is available if you google buffalo airport. the cost is about USD3 dollars only return (very cheap!) and it takes about 45 minutes
2. a day trip to the falls is sufficient if you do not want to stay overnight in Buffalo, about half day in the falls is more than sufficient
3. Buffalo city itself is not much, we went around a little bit but there's no major attraction to do
4. if you are like us, who had a day to spare, go and checkout the Niagara Falls Fashion Outlet, its like Woodbury Factory Outlet but its in a really large building instead of a large village. to get there, use the same shuttle bus from the airport and it will make a stop at the outlet, same way to return. note; some shops like Coach, Kate Spade, Michael Kors - are BIGGER and BETTER than woodbury outlet, so if you have plans to go there, its worth the time.
5. if u can, time the boat ride to be in the late afternoon, because there are less people, so the boat is not so crowded, otherwise there will be a push to get the best spot to take pictures.
6. there is a food court in a nearby building and there's is one indian shop that has halal food. otherwise, there's always pizza and such.

so that the Niagara Falls Trip! i only have Washington DC to upload, better do it before the yr ends hehehe :p

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! (^_^)

exactly 4 years ago today, i wrote this entry in my big yellow taxi blog (twas in friendster, those were the good ol days hehe)..

and for the two years i was there, it didnt snow once!

but info from the trusted weather man confirms that the chances are very high that it will be white christmas in plymouth this year! wuhooo!

am i excited? damn right i am!!

here are the entry, republish! (my style of writing was so different 4 yrs ago kan?)

1st Dec 2006

there are a few things that i expected to see or experience when i come to uk to study, first, i expected to meet david beckham when i visited the old trafford stadium in manchester (but i didnt, someone kindly pointed out that he’s in real madrid now, like watever, he’s still british aint he? he shud be standing guard in front of the stadium, waiting for me to come and sign my autgraph and take a picture with me huhu, i know i know, ovverrrrr!) and i have to see the queen (perhaps by some weird miracle that she actually wanna have tea, scones with cream and strawberry jam (which is my latest english craze) with me, and discussing the british weather, actually had a dream about this once, altho it was not d queen, it was prince william, of course! hehe) and another main thing ive always wanted to experience, is to have a snowy winter.

i soooooooooo wished that it would snow here in plymouth but unfortunately (or fortunately, i cant decide) i have picked the warmest part of the uk to live in. here in plymouth so far, the lowest that it ever went to is -1 celcius, and let me tell you now, -1, its not really really really that cold, sure its freezing and all and but not as cold as i imagined it would be, i define my coldness based on how many layers of clothing i have to wear, at -1, its just a thsirt, a sweater and jacket, and u need gloves and scarfs. for it to be really really cold by my definition will be actually wearing the long johns i brought from home, 2 tshirts, a sweater, and a jacket. and according to those who have lived in plymouth, the lowest it ever gets here is -2!!

so some of the people here in plymouth tells me that it is unlikely that it’ll be a white winter this year, but winter aint over yet, so im holding my breath and keep on wishing desperately that it will snow :p

on another note,

i am now officially on my 3 weeks christmas break, next term only starting on the 8th january next year, so from now till then, i have 3 full weeks of doing absolutely..nothing!! maybe i shud go out and find a part time job or sumting, and i do have some work to do as we are required to submit a couple pages of our dissertation the first week we got back, and i havent even make a dent on my reading list…but for now im just enjoying the novelty of being on a break! so here’s a list of things that i plan to do in 3 weeks;

1. visit the plymouth national aquarium, apparently its one of the best ones in uk, and seing the pictures that my friends has, i think its worth to dedicate a whole day to it hehe - never did this yet! two yrs i was there never went once haha

2. visit the national and art history museums in plymouth, the building itself is a gorgeous work of art and of historical significant! - stepped inside for like 10 mins to get out from the hail, im so uncultured :p

3. explore the tiny exquisite shops around the barbican, who knows i might find something really interesting or a cool bargain plus sister dearest wants me to buy the bone china plate set, so need to look for that! - this i did! knew all shops by heart! and bought my sis and me mom the plates too! shopping la, it figures i wud! :p

4. take a bus and go to exeter for the day, never been there yet, its another city about an hour away from plymouth - we rented a car there instead, they have the best briyani ever! we went every chance we got actually hehe

5. go down to the barbican and check out the fish market and the shipping area there, my lecturer has been urging us to try to find a part time job closer to wat we are studying, so working in a shipping company might be fun! (and educational of course of course :p) - fish market, check! part time job in a shipping company? err, i ended up at royal mail instead haha

6. go to london on christmas day with the motley crews from plymouth, and will wait for the boxing day shopping in london, huhu there goes my savings :p - went! but didnt buy anything :( so cant wait for this next one :p

7. go up to leeds to dear aunt and uncle’s place for raya haji and new year, where there will be lots and lots of delicious food and my fav cousins around for entertainment, and my brother who will be down from germany too, yay! - went! and had a super lovely time! :)

and then in between the sight seeings;

1. finished unpacking my stuff in my new room

2. settle all the change of address correspondences

3. set up the direct debit account with hsbc

4. finish at least 10 of the things to read on my reading list

5. complete the 5 pages of dissertation proposal

hmm, looking at my list, looks like i need more than 3 weeks break! hehehe but i think i can manage it

so keep reading my blog, while i keep you updated after each of the above is completed, till then, merry christmas and have a good holiday everyone!

travel schmavel

travel habits (1)
extra luggage
a.must. seriously. especially europe, uk, indonesia, vietnam, thailand, cambodia. ha wait, that's all the countries ive been to, and seriously, bring extra luggage. just chuck that foldable bag in your suitcase.

travel habits (2)
extra handphone
i always carry an extra handphone when i travel. one is my international roaming one. and the other i will use to purchase a prepaid card from that country. if they both use the same charger and battery, even the better. this is most useful if your other half actually lives in that country yr visiting and you need to contact him 24/7 and in case of emergencies i.e. "sayang, can u come to ladies changing room i wanna show you my outfit" you know, that kind of emergencies :p i usually only use the international roaming hp for work related calls, so secured that the company will pay for the extorbitant cost.

travel habits (3)
asam manis
oh, a travel must! i must must travel with some asam (pickled fruits). it tends to calm me down when i get anxious and a great remedy for nausea or headache in the long flights or long road trips!

travel habits (4)
medical stuff
panadols, clarinese, strepsils, tiger balm and pain killers. oh, handyplast. one time i got a horrible flu in hanoi and had to bravely go to their pharmacy to get a flu medicine and i was given a selection of unidentified names and the pharmacist didnt look too convincing and i ended up recovering my flu based on the fear of unknown medicine alone, such is the power of the mind :p

travel habits (5)
electrical stuff
hairdryer - the kind that brushes yr hair while its drying it. travelling iron - ladies that wears veils, unfortunately must have this everywhere they go, nanti tudung senget benget and kedut seribu. and international adaptor, of course.

not an easy country...

ive been having difficulties planning for my trip to NYC.

its really not as easy as planning my trips to Europe and Asia.

usually by this time, i would have some certainty on the where i am going, where i am staying and would have booked the respective flights or trains or buses necessary.

but i found myself still trying to figure things out and no decisions can be made :(

and i havent even submitted my visa application yet!

this is so not me :(

i have even finished planning for the quick break with the family end June, and the trip with mr sun in July and even the long end year break in December!

but luckily yesterday i met someone who is finally able to assist me! and answered all my questions! yippee!

hopefully can submit my visa application this week huhu...

wish me luck!