Day 4 (30/12 Tuesday) - Escape Room, Berjaya Times Square

Didn't really do much in the morning. Just leisurely walked around the megamall with my mother. 

My cousins picked me up in the afternoon! We headed over to Berjaya Times Square - my first time here! - to spend some time at the Escape Room.

Awesome Christmas decorations that we never had and never will have in Brunei.

We all took a vote and Safari Room won with 2 votes HAHA! (I voted for Safari Room just because Indiana Jones is on the poster, but I wouldn't have minded any really - they all look interesting!)

Honestly, the puzzles were reaaaaally tough. Well, the difficulty of the room was 5 stars, but even then, there were things you wouldn't have thought to do to solve the problems. There were 3 rooms altogether for this game and we could ask for 3 hints. The ages of our team members ranged from 12 to 48. We had 45 minutes to get to the end. Our group of 7 were stuck in the first room for 30 minutes and we used 2 hints. Needless to say, we didn't make it in time.

It was fun and interesting enough to want to go a second round! Unfortunately, by the time we decided who wanted in and who didn't, and picked the room, the only room left available at that time was Escape Malaysia.

In this one, we were split into 4 different rooms in which we had to solve individual puzzles before we could enter the final room. The hard part was that the objects in our individual rooms were clues that solved the puzzles in the other rooms. So that meant a lot of shouting to communicate to your team members in other rooms. In the end, we managed to solve only 2 of the 4 individual rooms.

Double fail!

In hindsight, game rooms (at least the 2 we were in) weren't very worth the price - RM32/pax. But it was still a nice experience anyhow. I'm glad I got to spend the day with my cousins and aunt!

In case you were wondering, the Escape Room is on the 7th floor, the same floor as the indoor theme park that I have yet to try!

Flying home tomorrow (31/12 Wednesday)!


Goodnight, guys!

Thanks for reading :)!

Day 3 (29/12 Monday) - Mid Valley Megamall & KLCC

Slept in today till almost 10am! Had dessert breakfast before lunch at Magnum because the crowd here was craaaazy the days before.

It was gooooooood! I wish I had time to get a second one!

After lunch, we took a taxi over to KLCC Twin Towers to see the Aquaria! Unfortunately, it was pretty much the same as it was the last time I was there (maybe 6 years ago?), but at least it's still well maintained.

I'm almost certain this is the same shark I saw 10 years ago too.

Feeding Frenzy! except it wasn't because they get fed so often, they're fat.

Pretty huge turtle! Guy for scale.

Arapaima are among the largest freshwater fish in the world, growing up to 4.5m long. They mostly swam languidly here, but apparently can rush at you with such speed that you'd feel as if you were hit by a truck!

I think (I hope) i walked off all the ice-cream I have been eating over the days in just one afternoon! But then, I came across this snack stands (is that what it's called?) and just had to have one of the Belgium waffles. OMNOMNOMNOMM

I took 5 bites out of this waffle after the picture and promptly dropped it on my lap :( I saved it, took a couple more bites and dropped it again. The waffle must have been attracted to me. Unfortunately, the second time i dropped it, it fell onto the bench. Sigh.

Couldn't walk around the KLCC gardens because it was raining.

Originally wanted to take the taxi back to our hotel, but it would've cost RM80 because it was rush hour. Took the train instead. Been a really long time since I went on a train and I enjoyed it despite the sardine-packed throng of people heading home after work.

It got a lot more crowded :{

Had dinner and called it an early night. Tried to update my blog but it took too long to upload the photos. At least drafted out the things that we have been doing!

Goodnight, guys!

Thanks for reading :)!

Day 2 (28/12 Sunday) - Mid Valley Megamall

I always always try to have Baskin-Robbins whenever I'm in Malaysia. It's funny how we used to have it in Brunei long ago. Bad luck that being a pioneer in food chains in Brunei wasn't a good thing 10 years ago.

Was originally only going to order 2 flavours (Macadamia nuts & cream and Hokey Pokey) but then I saw that they also had Gold Medal Ribbon which had been a childhood favourite that I thought they had discontinued! YAY!

okay sorry, this is more of a shot of me than the ice-cream :3

As the whole megamall was really crowded, we shopped till almost 2pm before having late lunch. We came across The Mod House  by chance. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEIR STORE.  And they loved me too. Lol (I spent quite a bit there). Their changing rooms are really spacious, and they provide high heels so you can see what your outfit looks like with heels. That's really smart since everyone I see walking around here wear slippers/flip-flops/comfy shoes while they shop. Although their clothes cost a little higher than my usual budget, they're worth it because the quality is so good and fit me very well even though some of them are not stretchy.

I'm glad I shopped at The Mod House before having lunch because mum and I totally cleaned our plates at Waku Waku. The food is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and reasonably priced. The restaurant was quite full even though it was after lunch hour. Their potato salad (not a big fan of potato salad because they usually give me tummy ache) is the best I've ever had that I even took away the side dish to eat later in the night.

Went back to our hotel room for a nap after the very filling lunch in the afternoon! In the evening, we went out to look for dinner.

What happened at night was totally unexpected.

It was a totally unplanned evening with my cousins and Cheeming Boey. In the cousins' group chat on Whatsapp, one of the guys said the Malaysian artist was at his house playing Street Fighter 4 with the Malaysian artist (If you haven't read his largely illustrated books, When I Was A Kid 1,2 & 3, you should! He also writes a blog: iamboey.com. He was the lead animator for Diablo ll and Diablo lll). 

Before this evening, we were fans - not friends - with this pretty awesome down-to-earth artist. 

So the story goes, Boey posted up on his Facebook page looking for someone in Selangor to play Street Fighter 4 with, and my cousin responded and Boey drove over...

Sounds like a troll too ridiculous for anyone to fall for. RIGHT?! 

Turns out it was true hahahaha! 

Another cousin of mine who was staying at UM nicely drove over to my hotel to pick me up and home to Klang just to see Boey...and she's having exams hahahaha!

We all had a supper (incredibly late dinner for me) of roti telur and nasi lemak with him too! As it so happens, the greatest fan among us and who introduced to us his works was the only one not here. But my sister did get a 6 second video addressed to her and an autograph!

Goodnight, guys!

Thanks for reading :)!

Day 1 (27/12 Saturday) - Mid Valley

Early in the morning already have some drama. There was an unexpected problem with checking in at the airport. My mother wasn't allowed to check in because her passport expires in June 2015 (a few days less than 6 months). The travel agent had told her that it would be fine.

Anyway, my sister rushed her to the immigration office while I was left to check in with my grandma and we were both sort of expecting that my mum wouldn't make it back in time because the check-in counter was going to close in less than an hour :( I was also pretty concerned about checking in at the hotel because it was booked under my mum's name.

But all's well that ends well! My mother was able to check in JUST IN TIME. Seriously, at the very minute the counter was supposed to close. It was such a HUGE relief!

While waiting for my mother, I ran into Yuka going on the same flight!

All safely on the flight! I love how the clouds end right at the coast! Would someone explain the geography to me please? haha

Strato cumulus?

Decided to have lunch at KLIA2 since it was still kinda too early to check in at the hotel. Two enormous bowls of ramen, with the 2nd one at 50% off!

Itadakimasu!

It's been raining so much in Malaysia these last few weeks that Malaysia is experiencing its worst flood in decades. Approximately 118,000 people have been evacuated from 5 states, both residents and tourists.

On an unrelated note, we saw a car in flames on the other side of the road. It was a BIIIIGGGG fire, but it didn't look like anyone was hurt.. Passed by too fast to take a picture.



The view from the 17th floor of Cititel Mid Valley!

The rain cleared up!

Did some rediscovering of the megamall and quick shopping till my aunt came by to pick up my grandma.


It was difficult looking for a place to have dinner. It seemed like all the restaurants were full. Several restaurants had people queued up and some even had chairs lined up against the wall along the corridor. The queues started around 6pm and still long even at 8.30pm.

Lining up outside this Chinese restaurant were some people watching how dimsum is prepared. One kid was too short, so all you can see are his hands.

Mum and I ended up having dinner at the Chicken Rice Shop. The Pai Tee is awesome!! It's a must-have every time we're in Malaysia!

Goodnight, guys!

Thanks for reading!

Mid Valley - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

HELLO!

After a very long hiatus, I thought I would get back to blogging.

I would just like to explain that my previous posts were written mainly for the benefit of my mother while I was on a Student Exchange Programme in Brisbane, Australia. She isn’t very tech-savvy (genetics explains why I’m not either), so blogging was the easiest way to let her know what I was doing.

Anyway, it’s December! WOOHOOOO!

That means huge sales!

And THAT means shopping!

Kuala Lumpur was recently voted by CNN as the 4^th best shopping city in the world! 3 of the 10 biggest shopping malls in the world are also in Malaysia! Namely

-        - 1 Utama (4^th),

-        - Mid Valley Megamall (8^th), and

-        - Sunway Pyramid (9^th).

We always stay at Cititel Mid Valley,

It's a 4-star hotel which is conveniently within Mid Valley Megamall and only a 5-minute walk from Mid Valley Commuter Train Station. If you get a high enough room, you can see the KL Tower and the Twin Towers in the distance. This is our third time here and having obviously enjoyed our previous stays, I thought it would be a great idea to write a review of just how much I love these trips! 

Mid Valley Megamall has over 400 hundred retailers of medium- to high-end merchandise. The 5-storey, 4 winged colossal shopping complex has everything under one roof. It's a wonderful shopping heaven, but also nightmare. There are just so much choices that I shut down. I was going to list down 10 of my favourite stores that I love browsing in but after almost an hour of looking through the names of the stores on the website, I can't. I'll list them as I visit them and update you during my holiday!

In perfect complement, The Gardens Mall, some 200 meters away, is a premium 6-level shopping haven of more than 200 outlets of top fashion brands. Personally, it’s out of range of my budget but I do love their window displays.

I shall be there for just a short few days but..

HEEHEE I'M EXCITED! (about both blogging again and shopping)

Happy Holidays, you guys!

I'm flying off this weekend!

Thanks for reading :)!

Movie World!!!

My first trip down to Gold Coast (GC)!

Afiq and I had breakfast at Central's McD! The pancakes are surprisingly good! Ngam ngam after we finished, Wafiy turned up, and we caught the train down to GC.

Reached Movie World around 9.30+am, very excited!




















This is the first thing you see when you enter...

The scariest, fastest ride!! Already, there was a long queue for it although the rides didn't actually open up till 10am.


This was the first ride we went on. Scooby Doo! I think I shall bring Mum on this haha wasn't too scary. Maybe just a bit painful during the sharp turns. Warming up for the bigger rides!

Walked on to the Wild West Falls!

The water log ride at the Wild West Falls. Although the ride itself wasn't as scary as the one we used to have in Jerudong Park, Brunei, the scenery and story were very cool. (I shall bring Mum on this too, if she feels up to it). We got pretty wet but dried up fast under the hot sun.

We were making our way out of this section when we happened to walk pass the Castrol Oil show when it was open for seating, so in we went. The whole show was about how an action scene is filmed. So there was a robbery and the antagonist's quick getaway....

And the police car chase....

It was crazy how they managed to pull off their stunts in such a small space! Amazing!

Freaking. Awesome. Stunts.

The antagonist's flew his car across one building prop to another and there was a HUGE explosion. You could feel the heat for a few good seconds. Stifling but OH SO COOL!

We were feeling pretty good about ourselves and confident, so without any more delay, we headed straight to Superman's Escape roller coaster.

I had thought that I would be one of those cool people who would wave their arms in the air, go WOOOOOOOOOOOooOOOOOOoooo! I couldn't have been more wrong.

It was the only ride with that had a loop video playing that instructed you how to hold on and the right way to sit. That should have been a very good hint.

I screamed for, maybe, the first 3seconds of the ride and then squeezed both my eyes and mouth tightly shut for the rest. Wafiy, who was sitting besides me, said he looked over to check why I was so quiet after the initial screams and wondered whether I had passed out or something (he's a veteran rollercoaster rider).

My fingers are growing cold now even as I think about it hahahahah my legs were damn shaky when we got off, and I felt like I didn't want to go on any of the other rides!! My whole body was aching from the G-force and I somehow lost my all my energy trying to stay in my seat.

But I'm really glad I pushed through because I enjoyed the rest and they weren't as scary (to me anyway).

Looked really scary at first, because though you were strapped into your seat, your feet were left hanging! Ended up being my favourite! Haha! One of the guys said we were hanging upside down at one point. It all went by too fast for me, no idea what happened.

After that, we went on the Batwing. I don't know the proper term for these kind of rides, but basically it just goes up and down. HAHA doesn't sound so scary right? Watching how fast it went up and came down before it was my turn on the ride freaked me out though. I really wanted to climb over the chains to get out of the line, and I could've. And I very most probably would've if it wasn't for Wafiy hahaha But again, I'm glad I didn't.

We finally had a late lunch around 2pm. Didn't eat earlier because we were worried that the lesser veterans, i.e. Afiq and I, would throw up our meals. Had a quick snack and joined the line for the 4D cinema experience.

Honestly, it was disappointing. It was just a shortened Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (which i haven't watched so this spoiled it for me) with 4D effects. Even the 4D cinema in A 'Famosa Resort in Melaka, Malaysia, was waaaaaaay cooler.


Our last ride, the Green Lantern!

"In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power....

The Green Lantern's Light!"

Ngam ngam when we were on the ride waiting for it to start, the sun was shining directly into our eyes ah.

This ride was a different kind of terror. It was slow, so you could feel all the turns. There were two screwdrivers where you hung in the air upside down.

Actually, this was the last ride. But it was just a cart taking you through rooms where you shot at evil Starfish that clung to the heroes of the Justice League. In 3D and there were points recorded, so kinda fun! Hahahaha

With all the rides finally completed, we went around taking pictures.

Vavavoom Cat Woman.

Afiq didn't know who she was!! :O *gasp*

Harry Potter's shop!

Pretty cool. They sold Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. There were Boogers, Vomit, Earthworm, etc. Haha I wonder how they taste? Also saw Chocolate Frogs and their collectable cards.

Bought myself a strawberry sundae from Sweet Treats. Totally forgot about the Ben and Jerry's that I wanted to get :(

Walked around the Children's Section of the theme park....

.... with their own mini roller coasters. Can you see the tracks at the back over the carousel? 

MEEP MEEP!

YEAH I DID IT! I WENT ON ALL THE RIDES! WOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOoooo!!!

Bought myself a memorabilia! A charm for all the rides I went on (except the one with Bugs and Lola Bunny la).

Wafiy and I were out of energy on the train ride back to City. On the other hand, Afiq seemed to be filled with it. Haha it was funny how things turned out. I was the one who was pestering him about promising to go on all the rides BEFORE we went to GC and he was worried because he's afraid of heights. So tabalek in the end. 

That's all folks!

Wish me luck & send me love.