Very Busy

Working. 75 hours a week for free. Today is a half day. Work ends at 1. I left at 1445 and so many people asked me if I were off or like "oh, going home already?". Bloody annoying.

I am an unpaid intern ffs. So many people in higher positions work lesser than I do! Can't wait to leave ths stupid place. 

What An Amazingly Busy but Fun Week!

I love this place, I truly do! You work hard and you work long hours but you cherish and put all your free time to good use! You feel energized and rejuvenated after your one day off a week. You go to bed happy. You enjoy your conversations with your colleagues cum friends. You have good meals, wine, good company... everyday is a holiday (eventhough you spend AT LEAST 10 hours a day, 6 days a week working).

Last week, I was given a great opportunity. At least, I thought it was great. I still like it. Basically, I was given a full-time position in marketing as the former executive left and the new one is only arriving in a month. I'm loving the responsibility but not loving that I still have all the responsbilities of my previous position in addition to the new one. I had expected my previous department to stop handing me things, especially when I do not have te capability to do the tasks that they want me to do (ie computer programmes on my new computer). They expect me to walk all the way there to do some crappy tasks which they can do themselves. I find that extremely annoying but I guess that's part of life. I just tell myself that I'm leaving in 2 months. No use stressing about rubbish like that.

I am actually really dreading going back to The Netherlands. It's just such a dreary place, where there are so many different kinds of unsaid boundaries one must not cross, where meeting people is a chore with obligations but where work is much easier and where one's free time is respected. 

Going to visit my parents next week. Looking forward to some proper shopping, a haircut and more good company!

New Post

will be up when I find my cable!

Very busy at work but also busy having fun;)

Over a Month

That's how long I've been working. The internship's OK, my colleagues are generally nice but I'm hoping for more responsibility.

Long hours but I generally leave once I finish my work after 5. I know some frown on that- they think I should stay back and be 'on call' but I think that is bloody stupid and in any event, I am only an unpaid intern. If there's something to do, I am willing to stay late (stayed til 11pm ) and come on Sundays (my one and only off day) but if there isn't, I just leave!

Despite the long hours, I feel more energized and relaxed compared to The Netherlands. Simply put, life is good in Malaysia. After work, some newly found friends/colleagues and I go out for dinner. We eat and chat with the occasional glass of wine whilst the sun sets with the sea breeze blowing and the sounds of the waves. On Sundays, we go to the beach, laze in our bikinis and catch up on our reading. People are friendly, easy going and simple. No need to over think or worry what's going on. I feel welcomed and accepted.

More food pictures coming up:

 Buffet

 

Big Apple Doughnuts. I only like their glazed doughnuts to be honest but they don't have it anymore:-(

 Biryani at the local Indian Muslim place

 Steamboat (Chinese fondue) for 2 people

 Flat Noodles in gravy. Love this with lots of bird's eye chilli

 Prawn Dumplings

 Rack of Lamb

 Pineapple Tarte Tatin

Grilled Sirloin Steak

Til next time, girls!

Food

 Yummy flat noodles with prawns

 Lousy (probably microwaves) spaghetti. This was actually pretty expensive...

 Tasty chicken biryani and chicken masala. For Indian food in Malaysia, this is pretty expensive! RM70 for 2 people.

There is obviously something seriously wrong with pastas here haha. This one was completely tasteless!

 Lamb chops. Lekker

One of the best Japanese food (of the non-bastardized variety)I've eaten in Malaysia. Unkaizan in Langkawi

Eating Out

everyday is so expensive when you need to take a cab as well. Taxi fares are fixed and I spend RM16 a day just on the taxi, another RM10 for the food and perhaps RM4 on a drink. I get free WiFi. Alternatively, I can spend RM20 on the cab and perhaps RM5 for fried noodles+a drink but without WiFi. Thank goodness for my Dutch study grant. Initially I thought I would have a ball with my grant but due to the high cost of food, taxi and other miscellaneous items like bedspreads, cutlery and what-not, it pretty much leaves me with just enough to fly to KL once in a while.

Regarding the internship, it's going pretty well. My colleagues are nice and my boss is really quite encouraging and helpful with teaching me how things work. I must say that I really enjoy business lunches!!! I don't usually take pictures of these lunches though as I don't think that's very professional:-P I like the fact that I actually like what we are selling. So much more satisfying than selling stainless steel pipes or something;-)

Last week, I went to Langkawi with my parents. Langkawi is really so much prettier than I remembered. I always scoff when people go to Langkawi because come on, qua beaches and snorkelling, Langkawi is rubbish compared to the islands on the east coast.  The nature in Langkawi is lovely, it's still relatively undeveloped, the locals are friendly and quite honest. It possesses a certain mystical charm, perhaps caused by limestone islands and the green water. I love that there are so many hornbills there, living literally outside our window. Monkeys are another common sight.

 -pulau beras basah/ island of wet rice-

I think my parents had a pretty nice time as well and we're going again in January- this time with the Dutchman;-)

Whoops, what's a food blog without food?! I am just so bad at taking photos when we eat out. I eat out everyday but only have a couple pictures.

Oh right! I also know where Dutchman and I are going to get married now;-)

Travel Blog

This is slowly becoming a travel blog!

I have NOT been cooking AT ALL. I'm currently doing my internship at a Fortune 500 company and accomodation provided by the company does not come with a kitchen. All meals are taken at the staff cafeteria (or out, most of us eat out twice a day despite the staff cafeteria being free...) . Food there is pretty bad, not a lot of variety and barely any vegetables. The internship itself is great and people are really nice.I'm out almost every evening because there is no Wi-Fi in the staff quarters and dongles don't work either due to the location (on a hill, reception is so bad you can only surf the net, no MSN/Skype).

Later ~

Hong Kong

What an AWESOME city!

That's just somewhere the Dutchman and I can see ourselves living. Pretty good pay (ie. one which will not only buy you a comfortable life in that country but one which would mean something in euros), vibrant, clean, ALIVE. Similiar to Singapore but bigger, better and with nature.

 The Dutchman has a friend living there so we spent a lot of time with him and his girlfriend. The first night, we went to this grimy place (which I later found out was Chungking mansions) where there was a pretty good Indian restaurant. It was probably not a place we would have found ourselves. Then, we went to party on the 29th floor of a hotel (I think the bar was called Azzuro) in Lan Kwai Fong which was awesome! Quite expensive but nice (great view from the rooftop). We didn't dance though as it was just way too crowded to do so. Again, something we wouldn't have done if Dutchman's friend didn't take us as we're not really into clubbing.

-Ngong Ping-

The next day, we decided to see some pink dolphins (again, recommended by Dutchman's buddy) near Tai O Island (west of Lantau Island). This took the entire day as we had to wait in line for over an hour for the cable car and it was stifling hot. Worse still, the stupid thing 'died' along the way (temp maintenance).

-really yummy roast goose, i'm salivating already!-

When we finally arrived at Ngong Ping, we had to get on the bus to Tai O (about 20 minutes?). Tai O is a quaint fishing village, not unlike Kuala Selangor or something. Very different from Hong Kong. BTW tourist sights are really quite cheap in HK. We went on a boat trip to look for dolphins and it was only 20 HKD (2 euro) per person! It was so cheap that we went twice when we didn't see pink dolphins the first time (we didn't see any the 2nd time too :-( )

It was just fun, walking around aimlessly, checking out the market, just spending time together. I was pretty much in a good mood the whole time we were in Hong Kong (except this one time at the mall ...but ok:-P )

-lots of dried seafood here, even a shark!-

We came across this man who was selling some little pancake thingies and there was this humungously long line so of course we had to try it! We were the 3rd last people to get a bag (only 10HKD/1 euro) before he finished his mixture. It was nice but nothing really amazing, in my opinion.

 

Our last full day in HK was pretty uneventful. I told Dutchman's friend that I wanted to try dim sum at this place with 1 Michelin star (apparently the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant, priced at about 15 euros for 2 people) but I couldn't remember the name (Tim Ho Wan) so he made some calls and took us to Fook Lam Moon which was also nice (also 1 Michelin star) but not as cheap. Still fine though and the experience pretty much made up for it. It turns out that Fook Lam Moon is actually a celebrity hang out which I should've guessed the minute we saw the paparazzi hanging outside.

The food was pretty good. No regrets! I'm officially a dim sum convert! Bill was about 50 euros for 6/7 dim sum dishes.

Uh oh, gotta run. Cafe with Wi-Fi is about to close. Ta!

Pulau Lang Tengah

Lang Tengah was once a very quiet, laid back island. So quiet that there were just 2 other couples other than  ourselves.

-sari pacifica beach-

Not anymore. When we were there, the resort (D'Coconut Lagoon) was completely full with Dutch and Italian tourists. The coral in the area was in a sorry state, although this is probably attributed to global warming which caused cloral bleaching and led the Malaysian authorities to closing some of the islands within the marine protection zone such as Pulau Perhentian, Pulau Redang, Pulau Payar (which belongs to Langkawi), Pulau Tengol and so forth.

There were not as many colourful fish as before. I remember when we first went there in 2007, we saw such a huge variety. I saw colourful rays, brightly coloured fish, Nemo's, sharks and even a pod whale. Mind you, I didn't even dive, just snorkled off the beach. We still had a nice time though.

We swam, we snorkled, we drank heaps of cocktails and we talked. Lots. *sigh* I miss the Dutchman right now.

Honestly, don't really remember what the 4 of us did over there. Most days, we'd wake up, have breakfast and then snorkle for a bit. Then, we'd shower and just hang out til it was time to go to bed.

 -seri nyonya in paradise-

Travel Tip: Don't go to D'Coconut, instead go to Sari Pacifica. While D'Coconut looks nice enough in pictures, it is dirty (yellow water in the bathroom, smelly toilet, bedbugs etc.) and just somehow.. not very professional (few staff, things not working properly etc.).

Fraser's Hill

The MIL loves everything British- tea, pretty China plates, Laura Ashley and afternoon tea so we brought them to Fraser's Hill. We had wanted to go to Cameron Highlands. However, the bungalow there is under renovation and Cameron Highlands can be quite crowded. We didn't regret our decision to go to Fraser's Hill because it was so quiet and pretty. We were probably 1 of the 3 groups/couples there.

Our bungalow (photo taken from the HRH website)

 The view from our bungalow. Gorgeous! Definitely NOT child-friendly though

Dahlias

No idea.

Jeriau Falls

We also had afternoon tea at Ye Olde Smokehouse but while the place is very charming, RM9 for a lousy cappuccino (half the size of Starbucks) is a bit much for a decaying place. 

The bungalow also provides catering. For dinner, we had a 3-course meal (mushroom soup, chicken chop and strawberry pancakes, RM18 p.p.) and breakfast was 2 eggs and chicken sausages (RM8? p.p.).

HRH Bungalows also has other bungalows in Fraser's Hills in their portfolio. The one we stayed in cost RM1000 per night (weekends)/ RM500 (weekdays). It's quite old inside so don't expect anything fancy but I will say that I liked it very much. The view is worth it:-)

Dinner at Sage

I took my parents and the bf to Sage for dinner as a thank you to my parents.

We all took the 3 course set (RM150 nett) and brought a good bottle of wine from home (corkage only RM30 or something).

I don't quite remember what we had as I didn't bother taking notes and it was quite an eventful month!

- amuse: something with clams and mushrooms. liked it quite a lot. not so popular which dutchman who hates mushrooms and who can barely tolerate shellfish-

- my starter, cappelini with scallops, prawns and other shellfish. not bad but quite filling-

-dad's starter: i really liked this. the abalone was really fresh-

-Wagyu carpaccio. Plain. No taste. Yuck. -

-smoked salmon. quite boring and too filling according to mum-

- my main: beef rossini and foie gras in a red wine sauce. Rich, but not really tasty somehow? but what do i expect from a RM150 dinner, right...)

-wagyu cheek, again just ok-

-both the dutchman and my dad ordered the lamb shank with couscous. this was very tender and quite yummy according to them-

- please don't ask me what this is. something tropical, something with passion fruit. 3 of us ordered this and mum ordered the hazelnut tarte (no picture)-

All in all, nothing special. Not even good. Never thought "Wow". Service was intrusive. They cleaned our plates before our entire party had finished. Will never go there again. Bill came to about RM680.

Pfft. What a waste of my money. Pah