My other obsession... KPOP music

I've always wanted to write about this particular obsession of mine but I was a bit wary about what others might say. I feel a bit daring today so here goes...

Why am I worried that people might find out my secret obsession?

Well firstly, I am not THAT young, but I'm young at heart. I am not the typical age group that would listen to Kpop musics. Generally, people would associate Kpop musics with crazy screaming teenagers with severe emotional attachments to one Kpop group or perhaps several, depending on their teenage mood swings. That's the general view, that is. I think music is universal. It is limitless and timeless. It transverse across culture, language and of course age. Well, that's what I believe and you might think differently.

Secondly, in Malaysia particularly, Kpop music/artists had gained unfair notoriety as moral destruction due to the infamous incident involving a scarf-clad lady. That one moment had marred Kpop fan's name, in general, forever. 

Why do I like Kpop?
 Well, its pop music hence its catchy even when I don't understand a single word they are singing, at first. But now, I can understand some of it. Hence, it's a bonus as I'm acquiring new language skill.

I love to watch their complex and unique dance choreography. I love dancing. But I only do it at home as I have two left feet. Zero hand and feet coordination! Only hubby can see my weird dancing abilities :-)

Last but not least, all of them are so handsome and pretty. I would love to be one of the perfect looking girls. As for the boys, they are just as eye candy as no one can be more perfect for me than hubby (wink!). They are living proof that success will come if you work hard even when you are not gifted/blessed with talents or looks. Some do had help from plastic surgeries but they are talented in their own way. Some can dance, sing or simply just being silly.

How much do I like Kpop?

I've went to countless Kpop concerts, both in Malaysia and overseas, and yes, I agree there were lots of screaming and crying involved. I did screamed but did not cry, mind you. You'd be lying if you didn't at least nod along to the song or screamed a little bit in a concert. It is one way of showing appreciation to the artist and their music. No one wants to go to a silent concert, don't they? 

If you've seen me listening to my iPod while working out, 99% it would be Kpop songs. If you seen me singing in my car, 98% it'd be a Kpop song. My ringtone is a snippet from a Kpop song. My twitter account is dedicated solely for Kpop fans. I've been there, waiting for the latest music video (MV) to be officially released and watched it over and over. The only music CD I bought were Kpop artists'. Well no one buy music CD anymore as you can buy any songs on iTune. But as a Kpop fan, you must have the physical copy of the album because the album is so unique which has to be part of the collection. Only a true Kpop music fan would understand what I was rambling above.

But, I'm so lucky, I have a very understanding husband that tolerated my obsession with Kpop music. He even went to concerts with me and surprised me with the latest Kpop albums that he bought. The albums are not cheap and sometimes you need to pre-order it weeks before its being released.  

So, there you go, the cat is finally out of the bag and I'm open to be judged by those who has strong opinion against Kpop music and Korean in general. I might lose some friends over this or their opinion will change about me. But who cares.. let's live freely! Love don't hate...

~XOXO~

Happy Malaysia Day!

It is 16 September 2015. It is Malaysia Day.

I am proud to be a Malaysian even with all the internal political turmoil and racial tensions that I'm reading every day in the news. I wish we will continue to have a prosperous and peaceful nation. 

Happy Malaysia Day!!!

Surprising reasons why we overeat!

I was cruising through the tv channels on my comfy sofa when I stumbled upon Dr Oz Show. I love watching Dr Oz on the Oprah Show but I have not had the chance to watch his own show. I know it has been around long but I can't find the time to watch it. He was talking about why people tends to overeat, which is always the case with me. He listed 3 surprising reasons why we do it. I had all the answers wrong so there you go why I'm so FAT right now :-)

1. Confused on portion size

Dr Oz showed 2 sizes bag of chips, one was supersize bag and another was a snack size. Mostly, I would grab a snack size bag of chips, it's a no-brainer. The chip company had nicely packed a snack size so I  don't have to think about the calories anymore. But, that's where we tend to overeat. The snack size bag is normally for 2-3 people and not for one. We would not feel guilty munching away the whole snack size bag as compared to the supersize bag. If I had a supersize bag, I would not open it until I know I could share with other people to finish it otherwise it'd go stale. I'd also looked closely at the label and measure the portion size accordingly. 

2. Group eating situation

We would normally think that we'd not eat that much when we go out with friends. But, it is normally THE situation where we tend to overeat. Why is that you might think? I had the same thought as well but Dr Oz explained that we normally would lose track of what we put in our mouth when we were excited or having fun. This is especially true when booze is involved. 

3. The colour of your plate

There's a reason why restaurant serves their food in white or fair coloured plates as compared to dark-coloured plates. On a white plate, we can see clearly the food that we're eating and it looked more appetising. In this case, Dr Oz demonstrated with spaghetti carbonara served on a white plate and another on a blue plate. Yes, I do agree, it looked more appetising on a white plate. So, if you're on a diet, buy dark-coloured plates to stop you from overeat! But in my case, the colour of my plate will not be able to stop me from eating delicious food!

There you go some health tips I gathered from Dr Oz. I have not been able to update this blog as frequent as I want as I'm also maintaining another blog in Malay language. It is hard work maintaining 2 blog at once. Do visit my other blog, if you can understand Malay that is at Contengan Rasa. Will try to update this blog as much as I can.

~XOXO~

Travelog - Little India & Jonker Walk Melaka

We were so bored during the long Merdeka weekend, so hubby and I decided to take a walk from our hotel to Jonker Walk. Yes, we are currently living in a hotel as we are yet to get the allocated accommodation for government servants. And why am I living in a hotel? So rich, meh? Noooo,  we are not super-rich or 'mengada-ngada'.

The issue here is, in order to get the allocated accommodation, hubby needs to get approval from the Director of the {place he was working, sorry can't disclose it} in its monthly meeting. But, the meeting has been postponed twice and so here we are, stuck in this dingy hotel. Enough rambling, back to the original story. Ah, yes! Jonker Walk & Little India...

Melaka is so hot during the day so we can't ventured out anytime before 5 pm. But, all the pa & ma shop lots along Little India area closed at 5 pm, so there were less crowd when we were exploring the Little India street. You'll definitely know why it's called Little India cause' you won't miss the lovely flower shops and Indian clothing shops along the street. There is a one nice Indian restaurant there as well, that sells yummy rice dishes on banana leaves. Sorry, I forgot to jot down the name of the restaurant, though.

Saw this ancient looking building that houses CIMB ATM. I'm not sure whether it's a fully functional bank because I only saw the ATMs, but it is interesting idea to maintain and protect old buildings in Melaka. It is part of our heritage and history. 

Moving along the narrow pavements of the shop lots, saw lots of interesting shops that you'd never see if you are travelling by car in Melaka. There's a Sikh Association, Chinese and Indian restaurants,   Tabib Cina (Traditional Chinese Healer) and it all looked so ancient as if time had stop in 1950s. Sorry, being an urbanite makes me a bit jakun (how to translate in English?).

Melaka is proud of its Little India....

I even saw this building named Bangunan Madonna. I wondered what's inside the building. I can't any info about it on Google, though....hmm 

One of the many bridges across Melaka River. I don't understand the signage in Chinese below, but it looked ancient. If you do know what it meant, do let me know in the comment ok!

This Discovery Cafe is famous among foreign tourists and received high ratings in TripAdvisor website. It looked kind of empty during the day but at night this cafe light up like Christmas tree. Maybe next time, I'll try to grab something to eat here.

There's a museum as well. I love reading about Admiral Cheng Ho and its related history with Melaka. I didn't get to enter the museum though as it's already close for the day. If you looked above to the left of the building, there are 3 stones statue overlooking above you. I was quite startled when I first saw it, I thought someone was looking at me from above. :-)

It was almost sunset when we reached Melaka river... I felt quite relaxed and happy to be able to enjoy this with hubby.

Walking along the tranquil Melaka River with lots of interesting looking building along the river. This picture captured my attention as you can see there's a guy that looked like Colonel Sanders (yes, the KFC guy) sitting there...

Awesome mural by Kiehls... Great place for your Instagram picture post! or wedding pictorial as well...

 Finally, we reached Jonker Walk. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take lots of picture as there were TOO many people. It was hot and humid, I was sweating like crazy. Girl, bring along small fan along with you as that place was super HOT even late in the evening.

 A bowl of cendol before heading home. It was super yummy!

 Gothic looking Hard Rock Cafe. Yes, Melaka do have a Hard Rock Cafe...

 I got to put in this scary looking building in my post. I don't know the name of the building but I had goose bumps when I was taking the picture.

 Well, it had been fun, scary and sweaty kind of day but I enjoyed it so much. I never know I would enjoy that walk that much as I had been living in Melaka almost 4 years before we moved to the UK. There are still things left to be discovered and explore.

Till next time, XOXO

Oldest siblings are likely to be FAT

Photo by ALAMY

Found this funny and interesting article in The Daily Mail newspaper Daily Mail - Oldest siblings likely to be FAT about a research done by some UK researchers. It stated that first born has higher chances to be overweight and have chronic diseases such as heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure. But, unfortunately the research didn't specifically said the cause of the concern. I guess there's some truth in it as I am the fattest one in the family beside my mom. My younger sister is tall and slim while I am short and overweight (my BMI  is still borderline overweight). I have always struggled with my weight since I was a teenager. Being 5"1 does not help either. It'd show even when I'd put on 1 kg. My small frame just can't take the extra weight. I can feel layers of fats rolling underneath my baggy shirt. I am trying to lose weight now by consuming Herbalife. But, I was not that religious in consuming it so the effect might be slow. I do go to gym 3 times a week now. But again, it has only been 2 weeks so no dramatic result as yet. At least, I am doing something positive about it instead of slumming it on the sofa and watch Korean drama on the TV (which I love to do right now!) 

So, instead of minding my diet, I am at a Starbucks with my Venti Vanilla Latte and Nutella Butter Cake. :-) Have a nice evening everyone!

My perfect way of 'chillaxing'

If you need to weigh yourself... #WeighThis

This video really touches me and made me think about what's important in my life right now. I've not always concerned about money before. I've always had enough to live-by and afford some luxuries along the way. But, since I was unemployed recently, I understand the feeling of restlessness of whether I'll be able to pay next month's bills. My family used to be my money crutches but now no more. Everybody is feeling the pinch from the poor economy condition right now. My dad had too downsized the car and monthly expenses since his retirement. I used to be happy just because I just got a new handbag or shoes and I'd be miserable if my friend had things that I don't. My happiness were measured by how much money I have and whether I had the expensive handbag. But since I lost  that power, I did feel a bit depressed. I was in emotional darkness but thankfully, I have God and my family to help me go through it. 

This video from Lean Cuisine channel is supposed to be about food and weight issue but for me it does have a different dimension to it. I did put on some weight as well due to depression.  So, watch the video and ask yourself how much does once happiness weigh. Is it based on your weight or other things that are more important?

What's in my bag?

Saw this FB post from Hitz.FM and I quickly have a look into my shopper-like handbag. It does looked a little bit a black hole, but it wasn't so bad. My husband used to complain to me that he can't find the keys or my mobile when I asked him to get it for me. He'd rummaged through the bag to find things which annoyed me as I have specific place for certain items. Haha, as if!

This is how my handbag looked like right now.....I don't have fancy purse organiser, just chucked everything in.

Things that I must have in my handbag:

1. Purse

2. Mobile phone

3. My Samsung camera

4. My small makeup bag 

5. Tissue

6. Ladies things - panty liner, sanitary pad

7. MP3 player

8. Something to read (Kindle, iPad, or my trusted reader's digest)

My mobile phone has a short lifespan hence I couldn't use it to hear music or be on social media for a long time. Need to save some batteries for emergency calls or whatever. So I always need an MP3 player, camera and things to read to occupy my time. My bag would be a bit heavier but I like it that way. I just don't like having everything in one gadget, call me old-fashioned but it is more of a risk management for me. 

See that Readers Digest there, I've been subscribing it for the longest time. I used to read it in school when I was in my primary school. It's where I learn and improved my writing skill. It has lots of short stories which are easy to read. I still kept my old copies of the digest, and the one in the picture is from 2013.

So, there you go, that's what I have in my 'black hole' bag right now. Sometimes, there's also protein shake bottle or water bottle hitching a ride :-)

Malaysians... where art thou manners?

Today marked one month since I came back to Malaysia. I was quite happy to be back mostly because I missed the food and of course my mom's cooking.  But there's one thing that irked me the most since day one. Malaysian drivers are more rude and impatient compared to last I drove here. Even up to the point of scolding me for following the road rules!!

Living in London where its public transportation is one of the best in the world, means I don't have to drive to anywhere. Just hop on the tube or bus to get to where I need to be. It was stress-free as the only thing that I have to do is to get off the right stop (which I did messed-up a few times). 

But back in Malaysia, I need to drive myself to go to everywhere, even to the grocery store down the road. It is just not convenient to take public transport and it seems nobody is walking anywhere (perhaps hot weather is one of the reason). 

This happened to me today.

I was driving at 60 km/h as per the speed limit and was in the slowest lane. The fast lane was quite empty but the cars were moving more or less the same pace as mine. But all of a sudden, a car behind me keep honking at me for whatever reason that I don't understand. Well, I'm not going to go faster just because someone asked me to! I was going to turn to the left soon anyway so might as well not   let that creep to pressure me to speed up. He then passed my car and suddenly slowed down his car in front of me. WTH? Luckily I was driving quite slow and able to avoid hitting his car. He then speed up and left the scene. I was quite spooked and quickly find a place to stop to calm myself down. Was I just being road-bullied just now? The only thing that I don't understand was I to be blame? Did I not follow the road rule? Was I wrong to drive at the speed limit indicated?  

I do have a feeling that Malaysians in general are unhappy. With the current political and economy condition of our country, no wonder we are throwing manners out of the window. We have no respect to each other. We just abandoned reasons and lead emotions rule our heads. 

~Being rude is just not cool~

Song Minguk... Oh My God!

Song Minguk Really..Really..Really "Daebak!!" | The return Of superman E...

Herbalife Shake Diet

Syawal was a month of indulgence as almost every other day, I'd be invited to Raya gathering or open houses. No matter how big or small the Raya gathering, there would be plenty of food around. Me, a self-confessed foodie, could never say no for a bit of ketupat, rendang, sate and my all time favourite pineapple tarts. So, of course, I'd be putting on weight more than what I'd lose during Ramadhan. Wait, did I lose weight during Ramadhan though? I can't fit into my jeans anymore and all my fats fold are showing through my tight shirt. I really need to do something about it and fast!

So, I thought why not try Herbalife shake diet to kick start my weight loss. It worked for me before. I was on Herbalife diet 3 years back and managed to lose 10kg in the process. But as usual, I got sloppy and fell back into my old eating habit and piled on the pound again. But, this time it was different. I'd put on weight in weird places like in my chest area and hips compared to before. My doctor hubby told me it might be due to hormones and ageing. Wait, what? AGEING? Well, excuse me, I'm still young ok!

So back to my Herbalife shake diet, I picked up the starter pack where it have one bottle of F1 powder (vanilla flavoured), one bottle of F3 Protein powder and 100 gram green tea. It all costs me around RM4XX as I am eligible for member price (yeay!). I started taking Herbalife shake twice a day on Tuesday, and today is Friday so it has been only what, 4 days? I don't feel any differences and I haven't weigh myself yet. My starting weight was 62.5kg (yes, I am that heavy) and goal weight is 52kg. Let's hope I can achieve it.

I chose Vanilla flavoured F1 powder because you can add anything to it. You can add fruit juices  in your shake to spice things up. But, I'd always use cold water with my vanilla powder as it tasted like vanilla ice cream (yumehh!) with no sinful calories (score!)

It's not all diet for me as I love food so exercise is a must. I joined a gym in Ayer Keroh to complement my Herbalife diet as well. Will update on this fantastic gym in my later post. Can't wait for weighing day tomorrow to see if I'd lose or gain (gasp!) weight this week.

Herbalife vanilla shake with grape juice

Laundry Bar di Bukit Baru, Melaka

Dah nak dekat seminggu la akak duduk dekat hotel di Melaka ni nak menunggukan rumah kuarters yang belum diapprovekan lagi. Baju pon dah bertimbun sebab satu hari 2-3 kali tukar baju. Yelah, satu set baju buat lasak-lasak dekat rumah, satu set baju gym, satu set baju tidur and then baju gi jalan-jalan. Tu dah lebih 2-3 kali tukar bajukan. So akak pon pergi la survey-survey cari kot-kot ade tempat laundry layan diri di area hotel ni. Alhamdullilah, terjumpa satu tempat dobi layan diri like 5 minutes dari hotel akak ni. Kedai dobi layan diri ni dekat Bukit Baru, nama dia Laundry Bar (wow!) just opposite Hadramawt Palace. Nampak dari luar macam quite new juga so apa lagi terus corner baring masuk simpang. 

Tengok jam baru pukul 9 pagi, awal lagi ni sebab tu macam lengang je tempat dobi ni. Dobi ni guna token instead of guna syiling 50 sen macam dekat KL nun. So kena tukar duit dekat mesin token tu.  Mesin token tu boleh masuk duit RM1, RM5 and RM10, duit RM50 tak boleh masuk ok! Ada price list  just above mesin token tu. So agak-agak la kan berapa nak tukarkan. Satu token = RM1. 

Akak nak basuh 10kg guna air suam so total charge RM6 sekali basuh. Ok la kan tu daripada dobi di hotel yang mahal sangat. Macam biasa, load baju dalam washing machine and bila nak masuk sabun tetibe nampak sign kata tak payah masuk sabun & softener sebab sudah disediakan. What??? Sabun FREE? softener FREE? Terbeliak jugak la mata akak ni baca sign tu beberapa kali. Siapa yang tak suka benda free kan, akak suka! Masuk token lepas tu tekan start, mudah kan? 

Display dekat washing machine tu kate kena tunggu 25 minit, so melepak la akak kat situ. Tapi tempat tu sangat open dan dekat dengan main road. So takde rasa takut sangat la, tapi tetap  kena berhati-hati yer semua. Sambil-sambil tu kita tengok-tengok around kedai, snap-snap gambar hrmm kalau owner tu tgk dekat cctv mesti tertaya-tanya apa la budak ni tengah buat.

Kedai ni ada sijil halal for its sabun dan softener, wow! tak pernah jumpe dobi yang claim halal ni. Good job Melaka! Washing machine ada 3 jenis, yang 10kg, 14 kg dan 28kg pon ada. Tapi masa akak pergi tu gambar washing machine 28kg jer yang ada, machinenyer takde pulak nampak. Dryer machine ada 4 biji, cukup la tu kan nak guna, tak payah berebut-rebut.

Nah, akak belanja gambar tempat dobi ni ok.

Mini get away - Johor Bharu

My brother and his family were in town last week, so we decided to take a mini family get away to Johor. There were 7 of us so we need to rent an MPV. Yours truly was in charge of booking a suitable MPV. It was my first time trying to rent an MPV and I was overwhelmed with the choices online. I used mudah.com.my website to find a suitable rental firm. I decided on Exora as it can fit all of us comfortably plus luggage.  I booked the car quite early, almost a week early. The rental rate is  pretty reasonable of RM180/day for 2 days and their pick up point/office is quite near to my house which is a plus point. So I happily thought everything was settled but the night before the trip, I received a call saying that my car was not available due to engine failure. They offered a replacement car,  Alza, which is a class lower than Exora and the rate remained the same. I was desperate so I had to agree. But in my heart I know that I've been duped. I guess it's a tactic they used on unsuspecting and desperate customers like me. I tried to be positive and believe that the original car was really not available. But I don't want the car drama to ruin our getaway so I put it behind me and tried to enjoy the rest of the trip. Apparently, the car was not that bad but poor hubby had to squished at the back with the luggage, sorry honey!

The day was nice, not too hot nor raining, so it was perfect for a road trip. We took our own sweet time, stopped at two rest areas along the way. We arrived in Johor Bharu at 4pm and headed straight to Plaza Angsana as my mom really wanted to eat the famous Mee Rebus at one its food court stall.

We had bowls of mee rebus, yong tau foo and rojak singapore and the prices were reasonable. But I don't get the hype for its mee rebus, though. I had better mee rebus here in KL and my mom's of course.

Then, we headed to our uncle's house who was paralysed from a stroke he suffered months ago. Looking at him lying there helpless made me sad as he was a bubbly person. At that moment, I was thankful to Allah that I still got to enjoy my mom's non-stop lectures and my dad moving purposely around the house, Alhamdullilah. You have to be thankful for those little moments as you'd never know when it will be taken away from you. 

We stayed at Hotel Seri Malaysia Johor Bharu for a night. We checked-in into the hotel quite late, around 8pm. But the reception just fell short of my expectation. I know it was late and maybe the receptionist just had a long day but I was quite put-off with it. But I had a long day and the only thing I wanted was a hot shower and a bed. The room was clean and a reasonable size but there were water leaking from the room above in the shower room. I hope the water was clean and I don't want to imagine where it comes from.

Started the next day with a hearty breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast buffet spread was good with variety of options of food such as nasi lemak, fried noodle, curry noodle, noodle soup, porridge, & toast. Yes, there were a lot of food and they did re-filling it non-stop during the serving period which is from 7am to 10am.

We checked out from the hotel and the process was quite fast and fuss free. So, no complaint there. We planned to visit Legoland, Hello Kitty Town and Johor Premium Outlet, so off we go. 

It was a 25 minutes ride from JB, perhaps it should be shorter but we did got lost a bit trying to find our way out of the city. The parking lot was a long walk from the entrance. Luckily, there was a covered walkway otherwise all of us would have fainted from the heat. It was so hot that I feel like my face was melting (my makeup did come off a little bit, time to buy new makeup I guess).  We didn't go into the theme park as we have not time. But the entry price was quite steep, RM170 for both theme and water park for adult. By looking from outside the entrance door, there were not many attractions/games that would interest me as I don't have any kids yet. Perhaps its target market is more of family with kids. But the pricing is too steep for a normal Malaysian family. It was quite empty even though it was a weekend. Maybe it was an off-peak season :-)

Next, we went to Puteri Harbour where the Hello Kitty Town was. It was just a 10 minute drive from Legoland. Again, we did not enter the attraction as I guess it was for kids and the entrance price is RM80/adult. My nephew is too small to appreciate such thing so we ended up taking pictures and off we go.

We were supposed to stop at Johor Premium Outlet (JPO) next, but missed the turn and too late to turn back. So we head straight to Melaka to have an early dinner there. When we say Melaka for dinner, of course it must be Ikan Bakar! Our favourite ikan bakar place is at Alai, Melaka. The price was reasonable and only cost us less than RM200 for 7 people. My favourite dish are mussels cooked with chilies and grilled stingray. After all that delicious seafood, it's time to head home. I slept like a baby in the car and woken up when we reached home. Wow, what a day! But favourite part of the trip  is the food we ate along the way. Oh oh, time to hit the gym!

Rambling of a jobless housewife with a Monday blues

I am back in Malaysia and I'm unemployed. Being unemployed here is really no fun at all. When I was in London, I really didn't mind being job-less as there were lots of things to do that interest me. I love history and museums and London has lots of it. I love to eat and the city has various kind of food from all over the world, you just name it.

I am struggling to find a job that I like with the pay that I used to enjoyed before. I am beginning to feel the economic downturn that everyone is talking about. It does make me sad and depressed a little bit, but I'm trying to boost my morale up by writing and taking care of myself (i.e. massage, working out, mani & pedi etc.)

Since, I had nothing better told do all day, I google up about being a successful blogger. I stumbled upon an article titled 'So you want to be a blogger?" It was so honest that it made me laugh. I did think about being a full time blogger/writer but that article made me think twice. I don't have any sort of reader fanbase now so the idea to be a full-time blogger just flew out of the window. I think writing should only be an outlet for my creative thinking and not as a profession.

So, what next I think? A baker perhaps? I am a decent baker. I could whipped up basic cakes like chocolate cakes, butter cakes, Victoria sponge cakes and muffins. But I do need to up my game in terms of cake decorations. I saw lots of talented cake decorators on Instagram and Pinterest. It does intimidate me a little bit but I think with a little bit of training I could be one of those talented bakers. Perhaps, I could give baking a try.

Next, the one that I'm trying to avoid, the Multi Level Marketing scheme. You know like Herbalife, Shaklee, Premium Beautiful and other companies. I hope I'm not offending anyone. I am amazed with people who are successful with these businesses as I am not good at it. I tried to do it once but I am just too shy. I am more of a writing kinda lady instead of talking. 

So what should I do? I need to do something. I am just so restless when I'm not doing anything. I pray to Allah everyday to show me the right path and hoping for the best, Insya Allah.

Sample of Europe - Spain & Italy

Tired and severely sun burnt, had no time to write an entry of our mini European tour adventure.
We covered the Andalusian Spain and major cities in Italy. Here is the sneak peek of where we went!.

Spain - Granada & Cordoba

Granada - Alcazar
This is where the Game of Thrones filmed for Dorne. It was a former Muslim fort hence the moorish architecture.

postcard picture - Alcazar

Cordoba - Alhmabra
Alhambra's Islamic palaces, were built for the last Muslim emirs in Spain and the court of the Nasrid Dynasty.

postcard picture - Alhambra

Italy - Rome, Florence & Venice

Rome - All major attractions and Vatican city

Florence - Actually the main attraction is the leaning tower of pisa in pisa which is 1.5 hours from florence.

Venice - Basically do all the touristy thing i.e. gondola ride and enjoying the city. It was a break from our rushed visits in Rome & florence.

I'll definitely will write an entry for each of the place that we went. But for now, need to sort out my pictures and notes!

Food hunting around London

It's going to be Ramadan month soon. For muslims, we can't eat and drink from sunrise till sunset. As now is summer, we have longer daylight hours, which means we have to fast for 17 hours everyday for 30 days. :-(

So, I thought why not go and search for interesting eats in central London while I can still eat during the day. I've always wanted to visit Cereal Killer cafe and have a look at the different kind of cereals there. It has two branches, one in Brick lane and another in Camden Stables. I decided to go to the Brick lane branch as its nearer to my place. Took the Overground towards Highbury and Islington and stopped at Shoreditch High Street station. It's my first time being in this area of London and was amazed with all the mural paintings around the area. There's also a line of shops just beside the station. It's really a 'hipster' place. So, I walked happily along the Bethnal street and taking pictures along the way. But then I felt like I'm being followed. It might be nothing but I got the hell out of there as fast as I can. Its better to be safe than sorry. Female travelling alone must always be vigilant and trust your instinct. A reminder to myself!
ps: I didn't even get to see the Cereal Killer cafe! 

Now that I was relatively safe in the Overground, I was thinking where should I go next. I decided to go to where the tourists are, Oxford Circus! I walked along the Regent Street to find a nice cafe to have some coffee and cake. Stopped by a cafe on Regent Street and bought iced coffee to go, my it was boiling hot outside. I continued walking till I reached Piccadilly Circus junction. Now, I'm hungry!

I felt like having a lobster roll today, so I headed to Bond Street to the Smack Lobster Roll deli. I bought the Seven Samurai Lobster roll, which has tempura lobster, Japanese mayo, Japanese cabbage & pickles. It cost me 10 pounds. It was quite cheap considering its a lobster, duh!. But oh my god, the lobster roll was really good. The buttered brioche was to die for and the tempura lobster was nice as well. Done with my late lunch now off to do some window shopping.

Laduree macaroons in Burlington Arcade!!

Walked towards Bond station and saw this new shop in West One Shopping Centre - Simit Sarayi. It's a Turkish based franchise that sells various types of bagels, breads and desserts. The smell of warm bagels was so enticing that I bought one (to go) even though I was still full with lobster roll. I was on my way to the underground that I saw Wasabi - my favourite sushi place. Bought my favourite dish - pumpkin croquette for dinner. Wow! That's a lot of food to be eaten in a day. But no worries, I always have my husband to finish it all off at home.

I really wish that I had a chance to visit the Cereal Killer cafe, though. Maybe next time with my husband as a company. Not going to that place alone again anytime soon.

Bloody Snow... Game of Thrones finale

OH MY GOD! Why GoT? Why? Why must you kill Jon Snow? The only male Stark left in this world. I know sometimes his character was one dimensional but who can resist his charm and hipster look. In addition to him being betrayed by his Night watch brothers, his 'trusted' help was the one who finished him off, that little shit! 

I'm not looking forward to season 6 next year as there's no more story line that I want to know the end. Oh, except for Sansa's story though. My favourite scene in the finale show was when Reek killed that bitch (don't know her name) and ran away with Sansa. Even though Reek/Theon was kinda cruel when he took over Winterfell but I think he's paid his due. He deserves good things now. But as GoT loves killing its main character, I think Theon will die next. I also wish Sansa will have good things happening for her in next season. Enough is enough. I just can't take it anymore, bad things always happens to good people. Not gonna waste another year of my life waiting for this story to end.

London Tube Challenge : Central Line

After I completed my Jubilee Line challenge yesterday, I thought it wasn't so bad. So, I decided to attempt the Central line challenge today because I have nothing else better to do anyway. Started from stations in Essex;  i.e. Epping, Theydon Bois, Debden, Loughton & Buckhurst Hill. I wanted to stop at Theydon Bois station and have a look at the quaint village. Wikipedia stated that there's no street light along its street. But, I stopped at Loughton instead and was greeted by a large Sainsbury building just in front of the station. Where is the village and churches that I saw in the picture?? I realised my mistake when I got home and looked at my notes. When the train was travelling from Woodford to Epping, I felt like I was stepping into a different place. I'm no longer in a city. There's even cows and horses in the fields along the train tracks. :-)

Next, the train passed through Woodford, Snaresbrook & Leyton stations. There's a large TK Maxx outlet just opposite Leyton station. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to pop into the shop. I continued on till I reached Mile End station. Once I exited the station, there's the usual London map board in front. I walked towards Whitechapel area when I stumbled upon a strange street. I was suddenly surrounded by South Asian people and hearing different language being spoken. There's a market along the road up to the Whitechapel overground station. I saw a large East London mosque as well. 

I kept on walking until I reached Old Spitalfields market. There's a lovely church opposite the market, Christ Church. The famous Ten Bell pub was just across the church. It was alleged to have been a rendezvous of some of the Jack the Ripper's prostitutes victims, before they were murdered. 

Continued on until I reached Liverpool street station. Don't know how I ended up there but there I was trying to find my way back to a tube station.

From Liverpool street station, I headed towards Ealing Broadway station, the last station on the Central Line. Passed through Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Queensway till I reached Ealing Broadway. Circled back on the same train back to Bank station  and head home. 

I wanted to stop at Oxford Circus but I changed my mind. I did stop briefly at Marble Arch station to take some pictures of the wall. There are artsy decoration on the wall and each are different.

I completed my semi-tube challenge (I missed some stations) of the Central line within 8 hours. I enjoyed the first part of the journey (from Epping to Stratford) the most. Once, I passed through Bank stations onwards, the train was too busy and full with people. It was warm in the train as well. I felt sleepy too due to lack of oxygen in the underground, I guess.

London Tube Challenge : Jubilee line

I read about this Tube Challenge in an article somewhere and I was intrigued. What is Tube Challenge? It is the accepted name for the Guinness World record attempt to visit all the stations on the London Underground network in the fastest time possible. The record for fastest completion is currently held for 16 hours, 14 minutes and 10 seconds.

Hmm why not? Let's do something crazy. I'm not going to break the record, of course. But, I'm going to try visit as much stations as I can. Bought a week travel card that covers from zone 1 to 3. I don't  plan to tag out if there's nothing to see outside of the station. So, I guess the travel card is sufficient to cover my journey. It costs me 40 quids for a week. Better make the most of it.

I decided to start off with the Jubilee line as that's the one that I'm familiar with. The journey started from Canary Wharf station towards Stanmore. I got down at Bermondsey station just to have a look at the area. I was curious. Walked from Bermondsey to London Bridge station. I've put up a post on that part of the journey earlier (see blog post here)

Next, I got down at Green Park Station which took me straight to St. James' Park. There were a lot of people lying on the green grass, enjoying the warm weather. Snapped some pictures and continue on to my next destination.

The station looked like it had gone thorough refurbishment. The red tiles really brighten up the otherwise grubby looking station.

St Johns Wood - There's where the famous Abbey Road Studio and zebra crossing are. The walk from the station to the studio was very relaxing and hardly any passers by around. But then I saw a bunch of people standing beside a road. Oh my god, it was so funny looking at those people trying to get the 'Beatles shot' on the zebra crossing. And the poor drivers need to stop everytime someone tries to cross. I did not take any picture but I had fun watching, though.

Swiss Cottage - The district is named after an  inn called the 'The Swiss tavern' that was built in 1804 and on the site of a former tollgate keeper's cottage. The inn's later named to Swiss Cottage. It is now becomes a pub. The station itself dated from 1939.

Finchley Road - I stopped by the station to find something to eat. There's a Mark & Spencer and Waitrose just outside the station. Then I saw a sign to Freud Museum. I decided to follow it just out of curiosity. Well, the route through the Trinity Walk was kind of challenging with a 60 degrees steep. Unfortunately, the museum was close that day. It only opens from Wednesday to Sunday. But at least I've seen his last house from outside.
I saw this Victorian building which I guess a pub with 1850 plaque on it. I googled it and according to London Remember, It was built in 1850 as one of first building to grace the new Finchley Road. It was purpose built as a pub.

I continue on the Jubilee line without stopping at any station till I reached the end of the line, Stanmore station.

It was a tiring feat to achieve and it took me 7 hours to complete the ride from Stratford to Stanmore and back. But I did take my own sweet time exploring the area nearby the station as well. Will I continue with other line? I don't know. :-)