As you all have known, the first three days of my Chinese New Year is spent rotting at my hometown.
Every year, me and my brother did nothing at our hometown except for rotting.
And my mom did nothing except for playing her mahjong.
Same old routine every year, without fail.

Forced my mom to drive us back to KL earlier on Chor 3 so that we don’t have to rot any longer.
I was all prepared for my day to kick start!

Went to Fatty’s cousin, Je Haw’s opening house to enjoy the Lion Dance, the food, the gamble session, and of course the ang pows given. /hehe

* Oh Hi there!

Fatty’s entire family was there, from grandma to parents to uncles to aunties to cousins!
I was stressed though not as stressed as last year.

And Fatty’s mom gave me an ang pow with a message on it, how nice of her.
I was really happy. (:

On Chor 4, I had my Chinese New Year dinner with Fatty’s maternal side at Cheers Palace just a few minutes away from my house.
We then head over to Alvin’s for some gamble session and I finally get to see Vivien after quite some time.
Was winning until Gavin played with us. I always, ALWAYS lose when he’s around playing with me. PFFT!

Played Chor Dai Di on the 5th and 6th day and surprisingly I won quite a lot.
In fact, it’s the most I’ve ever won from gambling in my entire life. T_T

Also on the 6th day I went to Fatty’s aunt’s to ‘bai nin’ with the family and went to Citta Mall after that.
Where the hell is Citta Mall, I’ve got no idea.
Watched I love Hong Kong 2012 after lunch and the movie disappointed me quite a bit.
To make a comparison with I love Hong Kong 2011, it was 50% less funny.

My Chinese New Year kind of ended right there and then because my life went back to normal.
Except for praying on the 8th day at Sin Sze Si Ya Temple and also ‘Bai Tin Gong’ at Fatty’s during the night.

It was a really small praying ceremony at his place compared to others because his mom wants it simple.
I kind of miss the roast pork I get to eat whenever I ‘Bai Tin Gong’.

I secretly wish that Chinese New Year is all year long.
Then we’ll have all the excuses to eat, gamble, and play like there’s no tomorrow.
Better make full use of the remaining for days and enjoy it to the fullest, if possible. (:

Weeks ago, he went to Singapore with his family for a day for some reason and he came back telling me that the streets on Singapore are all decorated with Christmas lights and tress.
He told me Singapore looks really beautiful and that he would want to bring me over for Christmas and of course upon hearing this I was mad excited.

We did some research and realized that it was quite costly for the both of us to spend our Christmas there.
And as you all know, it’s Christmas which means everything will be much more expensive especially the accommodation.
The cost for a room per night itself can already cover my Hatyai trip expenses.
Which explains my trip.

We were still deciding on where to go until Gavin came up with the idea of going to Hatyai.
And off we go, the eight of us.
We departed on the 23rd, Friday midnight after our super at Jalan Alor. The guys drove for seven to eight hours, all the way to Thailand’s border.

I think we reached the border at about 11am (I was busy sleeping).
We parked our car at the duty free car park and get a van to fetch us to our hotel.
Before that, we had to line up at the immigration to get our passports stamped and the amount of people waiting in line shocked us.
We were all like, ‘Fck do we really have to go through this!?’.
Then there came a savior or money-eater we called it.
He said for Rm20 per pax we would be able to stamp our passports immediately without having to wait in the line.
Greedy man!! RM20 is hell lot and we said no. We bargained and he agreed to Rm15 per pax.
Still a greedy man but we, the lazy men agreed to it.

After getting our passport stamped we told the van driver to bring us to a famous chicken rice shop which is just along the way to Hatyai.
I researched it on the net but I do not know what the restaurant is called. Also my friend told me that there is really a famous chicken rice shop and they said it’s good.
But I guess he brought us to the wrong one!

* There’s crowd in it and I thought, ‘YES’ because I’m hungry!

* Our sugarcane drink.

One thing good about Hatyai is that there are still some people who speak Mandarin/ Hokkien and that ease the trip a little.
None of us knows how to speak Hokkien except for Ben, so whenever we’re not able to communicate we would ask him to try to speak in Hokkien and see if they understand him.
Thank god for the fat translator.

* Very dry chicken. Seriously I think the van driver brought us to the wrong chicken rice shop. ):

* But the siu yuk is pretty good. Very crispy skin they have.

After our breakfast/ lunch we slept all the way till we reach our hotel at Songkhla.
Why Songkhla is because by the time we wanted to book our hotel in Hatyai town, it is already fully book so we’re left with no choice.
We stayed at Pavilion Hotel in Songkhla and the first thing we did upon reaching the hotel is sleeping like there’s no tomorrow after the very long ride before going out for dinner.

Take note: Do not book hotels in Songkhla if you’re not as desperate as we are because honestly speaking it’s a waste of time and money.
From our hotel to Hatyai town cost us about 500 to 600 Baht and it takes about half to one hour, depending on the speed of the tuk tuk.

The first tuk tuk we took to Hatyai town is mad slow and according to Gavin who sat in front, next to the driver, he only drove like 40 to 50 km/h. Not to mention that the roof of this tuk tuk we picked is extremely low, makes it hard for the boys to sit.
Hatyai’s tuk tuk is very much different from Bangkok’s. I did not take a picture of it but here it is, from google.

* Bangkok’s tuk tuks are motorbikes which maximum can probably only fit in 3 people but Hatyai’s tuk tuk is a van or mini lorry which can fit in about 8 people.

* Fatty looks like he’s lost, haha.

* Bff

* Alvin and his girlf Mai, camwhoring?

* Gavin and Zoe, the entertainer.

We walked around Hatyai town looking for a suitable restaurant for us to have our dinner.
Passed by one restaurant that has chinese words all around and is very packed with people but we figured that it might be very costly because they target people like us, tourists.
As we continue walking we saw another restaurant, ‘Hong Gei’ and the lady knows how to speak Cantonese, so this restaurant it is.

* Very refreshing guava juice.

* Something you must order no matter which restaurant you’re in, Tom Yam.

* Deep fry pork knuckle, extremely delicious.

Everything from that restaurant is pretty good, from their Thai steam fish to fry green leaves.
One of the best meal we had there.

* And THIS!! Is of course, our second best meal! Extremely large prawn!

We walked around the town after our dinner, giving it some time for digestion before we head to massage parlor.
We walked into one, somewhere around Lee Garden Hotel named Sawasdee and all of us went for Thai full body massage.
That is by far the cheapest massage in my entire life. 200 Bath per hour for a full body massage.
Oh you gotta be kidding me.

We all enjoyed the massage session especially fatty.
After massaging, we decided to take away whatever we can from the street and have another eating session at Mc Donalds.
Of course, one of the must do in Thailand is visiting their Mc Donalds because theirs’ are more awesome than ours’. Pfft.
Pork burger!
But this time, pork burger isn’t the champion.
I shall reveal at the end of my post.

* Durian sticky rice that I did not try. Durians over there are HUGE, just do a comparison with that white styrofoam in the picture.

After our meal, the alcoholics bout beer and off we go back to our hotel.
We picked a different tuk tuk this time, we picked one with speakers and we party our way back to hotel.

* That’s where the party begins.

* That’s Alvin, attempting suicide haha.

* Gavin, Zoe, Fatty and me. (:

Went back to hotel and it’s time for gift exchange.
I bought a pair of monster socks from Topshop and Alvin got mine, while I got the best gift of the day.
A Starbucks tumbler. Hehehehe.

* Look at bff, that’s her present. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

We end our night with laughter and cheap beers.
I should have just down some beers and sleep soundly but I did not.
I lay on bed feeling extremely scared (yah yah I’m afraid of ghost and I scare myself often wtf), so I just grab fatty as close to me as possible and keep praying.
Amitabha!!! Thank god nothing happened, I heard too many stories no thanks to people who told me.

The next day all of us woke up feeling oh-so-okay but that 40/50 km/h tuk tuk driver has to ruin our mood!
Not knowing where to eat I asked the receptionist and she wrote us the name of the restaurant just somewhere nearby our hotel.
We were reluctant to go for that slow ass tuk tuk at first but there wasn’t any more tuk tuk for us to choose from.
And this slow ass tuk tuk is seriously a cheater because he brought us to the wrong restaurant and that bloody restaurant is bloody expensive with food that is not even half as nice to begin with.
Kena conned! We were all so pissed at that tuk tuk driver, seriously.
He should have told us that he do not know where the restaurant is instead of just dumping us just like that.
But we figured the restaurant owner is his friend, pfft!!!

After our kena-con-lunch we went to a temple located at Songkhla called Chedi Thaimongkhon.
The temple is located uphill and we have to pay 30 Bath each for the cable lift ride.
Yes, not cable car but cable lift.

* That’s how we roll.

* Me and Zoe.

* By the beach.

No pictures of temple because I was busy praying and by the time I’m done with my praying it rained!! There were so much more that I have yet to explore but it rained! What on earth ):

* This is all I’ve got, hahahah.

* Kepala senget.

* Boyf #likeaboss.

* Some floating market it seems.

After our praying x raining session we went to Hatyai again to eat and to shop.
First we went to floating market but there’s nothing floating on that day because it rain.

* Fried quill egg.

* Would you like to try some!? Worms and more worms. Disgusting!

Shopping in Hatyai IS NOT FUN and it just makes me miss Bangkok even more! Rawr!
First they have ugly clothes or okay clothes, then their ugly clothes are really expensive comparing to Bangkok’s.
I can get a dress for 10 Bath in Bangkok but in Hatyai a top cost 20 Bath!
For reals!!???

It’s okay it’s okay, fatty said we’ll go to Bangkok together in the future because he knows how much I love that place! (:

Overall, Hatyai is quite a boring place but a boring place can still be fun when we have friends around.
The whole trip cost me 4000 Bath, it should be cheaper if not for the tuk tuk service from hotel to Hatyai town.

* Mc Donald’s Spinach pie, the best pie on earth I swear!!! MC DONALD Y U IS NO HAZ SPINACH PIE IN MSIA!?

Two Bangkok post here and here if you’d like to know more.

I AM MISSING THE SPINACH PIE ALREADY!!!

Most of the time in the middle of our research, we’ll go ‘OH WOW! this looks damn good’ and ‘WAH SEE! Look at that beef!’.
Food blog is the root of all fats, in our case.
We just really cant say no to food. No food good food no life.

So this time for our anniversary, we decided to go for lunch instead of dinner for a change.
We picked Il Lido, located at Jalan Mayang which served classic Italian cuisine.
We made a reservation but this action is not needed because it almost seems like we booked the entire restaurant.
Empty during lunch.

* He’s the one who decided to have our lunch at Il Lido.

* I was a tad bit reluctant at first because I heard it’s pretty pricey until the boyf told me they do have lunch set menu.

* Il Lido – “The ultra-luxe interior, combined with the warm, inviting atmosphere, allows diners to ease easily into the experience.”

* Complimentary bread which I personally did not very fancy. Reason being that the taste of garlic in the bread is a tad bit on the heavy side. The taste of garlic lingers too long in my mouth and somehow affect the taste of my starter. There’s a mini fight inside my mouth when I took a bite of my starter.

* Amuse Bouche – which stands for ‘mouth amuser’ if were to direct translate from French. It is a little bite of food to amuse the mouth and different form appetizer, you wont be able to order it from menu. Instead it is selected by the chef accordingly. And the above is Tuna Carpaccio.

* Beef Carpaccio with Rucola, Parmigiano Cheese and Truffle – Rm39. Other than scallops and foie gras, the boyf likes carpaccio too and this is pretty good I must say. Wrapped the beef, rucola, cheese and truffle, stuffed it into our mouth and savour it.

I ordered Festive Season Lunch Menu that costs Rm88.
There’s two starters and three main dish for me to choose from.

* I choose Pan Roasted Scallops with Cannelini Beans, Carrot Jus and Bottarga as my starter knowing that the love likes scallop so much. There’s really nothing much for me to rave about this dish, sadly.

* And Pan Roasted Atlantic Cod with Smoked Caviar Sauce and Whipped Potato as my main course, also knowing that the love likes caviar. Did not like this either, especially the whipped potato because they whipped it with some almond and I HATE ALMOND A LOT BECAUSE IT SMELLS LIKE COCKROACH!

Boyf likes all sorts of expensive food! And I like all sorts of nasty food like cockles and pork intestine LOL.

* My dessert, Chestnut and Amaretto Parfait with Warm White Chocolate which I really dislike because I hate nuts and chocolate. What a combination!

I guess I just really dislike my set, haha. But it’s just preference and somehow the ingredients they used are foods that I dislike eating. ):

The boyf went for Degustation Menu instead, which costs Rm198.
He cant resist degustation menu, that’s for sure.

* Crab Salad with Watermelon and Tomato Elisir. This is a cold dish, it’s fresh and it tasted damn good, one of my favourite of the day.

* Pan Fried Goose Liver with Duck Terrine and Wild Berries Sauce. This is also my favourite. Their pan fried goose liver is one of the best goose liver I’ve tried by far. Slightly crispy on the outside and it melts in your mouth after the first bite. So flavorful!

* Homemade Spaghetti with Lobster and Spicy Tomato Sauce. Don’t find this interesting except that the spaghetti they use had a really different texture and I quite like it.

* Prime Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce and Truffle Potatoes. Boyf said hope it’s as good as Nathalie’s and when he took a bite he said IT IS really as good as Nathalie’s and when I took a bite I said no. Not as tender, I swear but I quite like the potato though.

* Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. I ate the ice cream while he ate the chocolate cake. In fact he dislike chocolate just like I do but he said it’s really good. Still I’m not interested to give it a try.

I figured that I prefer French cuisine more than Italian cuisine when it comes to fine dine.
I don’t know how to explain this but I just find french cuisine more ‘in-depth’ when it comes to taste or maybe it’s the restaurant I don’t know.
I’d still prefer Nathalie Gourmet anytime and also not to forget Bistro à Table.

But still I did enjoy my lunch a lot, especially with him by my side. (:
Our bill came up to about Rm400.

ilLido Italian Dining + Lounge Bar
183 Jalan Mayang (off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng)
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Phone: +603 2161 2291

Some pictures from that day.

* I look so tiny beside my fatty

* I did not only organize the bazaar, I have a booth on that day too. I like my old wooden table!

* FHL again for accompanying me through the entire event. Haha

* This is the homemade scones I was selling on that day, made by fatty’s mom. Incredibly delicious and smells extremely good when I heat up the scones. We have about 60 scones and we sold off almost everything. (:

* My scones packaging (:

* Handmade by Ben and me, also with the help of bff for helping me paint the wood when I’m mad busy.

* Ampersand.

More pictures of the vendors at Big Market that day.

* Mossery by one of my designer colleagues. She designed and produced all of the notebooks! Very affordable too.

* LOZL selling handmade accessories.

* Momage selling handmade frames.

* Some lovely stamps.

* And books from Whenever Shop. Why the name is because the seller feels that we shall not restrict ourselves to buy gifts for our dear ones only on special occasion. We shall do it whenever we feel like it!

* The Great Indoors, they source for local vintage furniture, salvage them and it’s up for rent/sell.

* Petit Paper selling high quality stationery source around the world.

* BisouRose selling handmade body care with really nice packaging.

* Miracle Watts selling all sorts of beautiful stuff, from notebook to vintage typewriter.

I am now considering organizing another bazaar next year if all else permit.

* Ending my post with a moustache picture of myself. Moustache handmade by me (:

My twenty-third mini birthday party will not have ‘succeeded’ if Mr.Ben decides not to lend me a helping hand.
I am such a troublesome girlfriend sometimes.
And I gave him even more trouble when he needs to cook together with me for the food.
Gosh he hates it but still he’ll do it because he loves me. /tak-malu haha

* He blew the balloons and hang it on the tree for me.

He actually took the time and Google on how we can decorate the place to make it looks nicer, more appealing to the eyes.
How thoughtful (:

* Along with my helium balloons.

* This post is actually bombarded with pictures of balloons.

* Pink carnation (:

* Seriously hate taking these polaroids with a camera.

* But my scanner doesn’t seem to work ):

* I look like a little girl here. Sorry if this makes you puke haha!

* Wo de bay ♥

* Hihihi, Bryan always looks so cute.

* I like floating helium balloons!

* Spot Poh Juan, trying to help us snap a picture.

* My balloons are kinda big! /happy

* The only person who’s willing to take pictures with me and ze balloons.

* Yan and me.

* One thing sad about balloon is that they will ‘die’. And I thought of keeping ‘em till they ‘die’ but my annoying boyf set them free to the sky. Almost want to strangle him ):

* My birthday ‘cake’. Haven’t even started arranging my macaron, Alvin already took one and put it in his mouth. Almost strangle him too.

* Ending my post with a funny picture of me. /heheh

Just a simple birthday where some of my close friends celebrate it with me.
Appreciate much!
A big thank you to those who wish me and to those who made an effort to be with me on my birthday.
A big thank you to my love for doing so much, for all the surprises and love.
A big thank you to my parents for the life they gave me and thank you God for everything.

Oh wait, how can I even forget to mention this.
A big thank you to bff’s boyf Mah Weng Kee for letting me fill up his house with balloons, hah.

With ♥

So to feed my blog, here’s a few taken last Saturday during Halloween at Zouk.
I did not dress myself up in costumes or more like we did not.
But if I have the chance next year, probably I will.
I had fun seeing people dress up, their outlook entertained me.

* Taken with boyf’s Iphone. Zoe and me (:

Remaining pictures are from Zoe’s camera.

* Zoe holding the little mask that Zouk gives us.

* Both the guys looking cute

* Absolutely no idea what Ben and me trying to do.

* Great buddies, having such ugly expression HAHA.

There goes October and here comes November, one of my favourite month.
And I know, this year’s November is gonna be different.
I cannot wait for the weekend to come because it’s gonna be a long weekend. (:
Excited !!

One day, when I have the ability I will explore Egpyt. One fine day.

I don’t hate camping, I just hate camping in the forest. And I have not camp once in my entire life, don’t be shock. I really want to go on a camping trip, anywhere but forest.

I would love to go again before it sinks.

And ride the gondola with my soul mate (:

Sometimes I dislike China but this is a must go.

One more time please. I was too young to enjoy the beauty.

Not the one in Hong Kong. Somewhere further away.

And this too. The best pizza I ate in my life is the pizza I ate in Italy. I want to do this again, enjoying every bite with the boyf because we both love eating as much.

Tried crepe in Melbourne and love it. I can imagine the crepes in France.

Pictures below, some from my bff’s big ass DSLR and some from my poor camera that’s still usable at that moment.

I-City, a place where I once wanted to go quite badly but eventually lost my interest as time passes by.
My friend suggested that we gather around,snap some pictures and have some catch up time at i-City.
So, there I am. At least it’s a been there done that.

And I had fun with my friends. Something I did not do for such a long time.

* Poor camera, you’ve served me well even though I tortured you with non-stop camwhoring. You’ll definitely be miss.

* Friends lighten up our life (:

* And this is one of the brightest light.

* Wearing blue, coincidentally. Great mind thinks alike

* Heh, cheeky time!

* Times like this don’t come by easy (:

* Bff looks like she’s got a one-sided wing.

* I almost climb and sit on top of that what seems like a reindeer.

* Mustache

* Can’t resist taking pictures with Colonel Sanders.

* The two on my left looks so emo!

* Ending my post with a random candid shot.

Ben rented a car and off we go to Mount Dandenong. (:
First stop was Puffing Billy. It’s a century old steam train that will bring us around the mountain allowing us to have a view at the scenic Dandenong ranges.
There’s a history to it but I cant quite remember it right now, haha.
The price is slightly expensive to me but I did had fun sitting on a steam train listening to the puff-puff sound that the train makes. (:

* Say hi to billy.

* Train stop.

* And the best part is of course we get to sit at the edge and put our legs outside!

* Like this!

* And stuck my head outside hoping that there aint any giant knife chopping my head away.

* ‘putt-putt’

* We didn’t go all the way, we just stop at the middle, get down and snapped some pictures.

* It’s really really cold.

Went for late lunch after saying bye to Billy at a place I cant remember.
I just remember seeing lots of cows when I was enjoying my meal. Or was it lots of sheep?
The restaurant is surrounded by beautiful trees.

* Lovely branches and dried leaves. Love it!

Leave the place and went uphill to enjoy the friggin cold breeze and beautiful view.
Boyf said I sure will like this and brought me to this Giant’s Chair.

* Trying to show how giant the chair is.

* I wonder how many times he sat on this Giant’s Chair, haha.

* If only my picture can tell you how cold it is at that very moment.

* This is a tree hole ….

* …for people like me to make a wish. ‘Dear tree hole, ………’

* Of all trees, why did I picked the one that look most pathetic?

* He’d been to all these places for a few times, yet he brought me there for me to enjoy my holiday. How nice of him (:

Since the boyf bought his i4, we’ve always been taking pictures with Instagram. Especially me because it can save me lotsa hassle from editing my pictures and I took all of ‘em with his account.
He don’t really bother accepting requests or stuff like that, so three weeks back I took over and created my own account instead. muahaha!
Follow me if you wish, just look for ‘peggychow’. (:

I had much fun reading and learning and seeing all the stuffs in Melbourne museum.
We went twice on separate days because on the first day while half way enjoying the museum someone called and we need to go home instantly because that someone is coming over to fix the phone line.
Gawd, hate it like why cant they inform us earlier instead of calling and requesting us to go home of all sudden. PFFT!!

So we went back again after a week or two to continue the journey.
Lack of time still, there’s still parts which I have not explore yet. ):
Sigh. It really does take a lot of time to finish every part of the museum, there’s too many things for me to explore.
When I have the chance, I’ll definitely go back for the third time.

* museum day (:

* the use-to-be-tram, looking so cute and lovely. I’d love to take a ride to Richmond in that tram (:

* there’s all types of crystals, in so many different shapes, forms, and colours. never in my life saw such crystals before!

* and there’s even glow-in-the-dark crystal. how amazing.

* the museum not only showcase dinosaurs, but their poops and eggs as well.

* bugs, butterflies, spiders, bees, ants, and whatnot. there’s tons of them.

* real living bugs and their home.

There’s sections on human body and mind which Ben likes the most, and then there’s section on planets and earth which appears to be the most boring to me.
Exploring human minds are fun, I’m always somewhat drawn to that.
Funny how the part that I missed out exploring is the part that showcase things related to Australia.
What a waste.

After exploring we have a slow walk back to the city enjoying the autumn breeze.
Autumn is one of the four season I like the most. The sight of the fall leaves are just too beautiful for me to ignore.
My nickname for ICQ ten years ago was AutumnGal, hahahahahah.
And some of my friends still have the funniest email address ever, haha.

* strolling around the park.

* just look at the leaves. now i wonder, why didn’t I lay down on it once.

Visiting the museum worth every dollar I paid, it’s just 8 dollars.
And if you’re a student studying in Melbourne, or Oz it is absolutely free. Students are under concession.
Trust me, it’s fun. (:

p/s: my guest ‘blogger’ asked me to introduce him to the whole world that he’ll be guest blogging and i wonder when will that be.