My new rainbow mobile decal stickers!

What do u do to make yourself happy? I'm not talking abt something major like achieving a scientific breakthrough, making a record sales, scoring distinction in a tough subject or blowing a few Ks on the latest products (you get the idea). Something more achievable and within reach? 

For me, I shop for bargains/sales in something I had wanted but didn't put in the effort to find or have been putting off buying to save that bit of money, or do stuff that I have been putting off the action for whatever reasons.

People who knows me know that I like to buy little cutesy knick knacks since I was little. I'd cut down a lot (There is this fear that people will judge me as being childish). But sometimes I just indulge in myself when the kick comes. ;-P I think this "child-like" preference is moderated by the fact that there are a lot of adults into toy stuff these days. Haaa. Anyway that's just an excuse for some of the teenage stuff I still buy. 

I like to personalize my stuff, especially my mobile. This explains the number of phone covers I have. I like to alternate    every other day to suit my mood and probably have abt 15 over covers. I don't just buy the very expensive kind la. Some times just from push cart or online, like $10 a piece kind. Having a new cover always brighten my mood for a while. It's like having a new phone. Lol.

Mobile phone decal stickers with front and back coverage have been gaining popularity. The front sticker also doubles as a screen protector. They used to be really expensive. Like $20-25. I didn't buy them back then cuz I think it's a waste of money la. It's more expensive than some phone covers loh. Anyway I'm protecting my phone with a cover so what's the purpose of a nice back sticker that ppl can't see anyway right? Well, the price have been dropping since a year back, and the variety of prints are amazing now. But of course, the nicer the prints, the more expensive they tend to be. And some shops still sell them at a ridiculous price.

Anyway, the last time I found a cheap set was at a wholesale centre at KL. I think the cost translates to abt $5 SGD. I loved the Rilakkuma prints, although I think some may think it's too childish for me. The front screen sticker was badly scratched after a few months of use. Here's a peek at my decal, you can't see the scratches due to the angle i took the shot.

This weekend, I found another set at KSL City at JB! (Ya, budget meow likes to go to Malaysia and help their economy instead.  :-P) The pretty rainbow decal costs $20 MYR which translates to about $8 SGD. Although I have been contemplating to buy the new iPhone 5S as my contract is over, I couldn't resist the rainbow decal as they are so pretty! Looks like I will stick to my 4S for a little while longer then! I think this set looks a little bit less kiddish than the previous. Hahaha. Here's my mobile's new clothes! 

I pasted both sets with my own hands! Not bad right?? Yes, little things like this will cheer me up. I need not spend a lot or achieve great goals for little joy in life. I hope you are able to find little things to cheer yourself too. ;-D Feel free to share with me! 

Travel entry - My first visit to Penang M'sia via Air Asia, stayed Bayview Hotel Georgetown!

Ok, I think I had wanted to post my second entry on my Phuket trip but I procrastinated and by now I had visited Penang... Tsk tsk. So forgive meow to jump right in to my latest trip to a wonderful destination - Penang, cuz the memories are so fresh and pretty!

I'm not sure why I had never visited Penang in the past. I suppose I'd focused mostly on beach destinations and shopping heavens kinda places. Penang is better known for its cultural heritage and food. 

It was another one of my quick escapee over the weekend, 3 days 2 nights. This is a birthday treat to le bf. And I flew by Air Asia. I'm a budget cat so I usually travel by budget air if it's to a nearby country. I don't think we should spend a few hundreds more on a short 2-3 hours journey trip when we can better spend the money elsewhere like on shopping, food or hotel. The furthest I had ever flown by budget so far is actually Taipei. My experience so far with Air Asia have always been very good amongst other competitors. Anyway, my Air Asia flight to Penang fr Singapore is only abt 1 hr 20 mins, with zero delay! :-D Any Singaporean can fly there over the weekend to enjoy the glorious food!!!

My choice of lodging is at Bayview Hotel, Georgetown Penang. That was decided after a bit of online research. I'm very pleased with my choice as it was a very good experience. Firstly, the hotel accepted my request for a piece of cake for le bf as it was his birthday as a "surprise" on our check-in. Bayview Hotel staff responded online to accept my request within 1 day turnaround time! Upon arrival, Bayview's counter staff immediately "signaled" that they have noted my request. In addition, they upgraded my room from a Deluxe to a Premire Deluxe on the 14th floor with a clear view of Georgetown. Speechless right?!? Here's a pic of the ultra spacious room that comes with a bathroom with both a bathtub and a shower section:

View of Georgetown from my room:

And they gave us a whole cake! It is yummy too.

Although it is only a 4 stars hotel. I felt like I'd been given a 5 stars experience loh. ;-D The hotel booking also included breakfast. I think the breakfast was ok ok only la. There are many variety served but  I would say 70% are carbohydrate based with less meat dishes. Then again, Penang hawker food is so delicious, no need to focus so much on the breakfast lah! Just have a bite to get you going in the morning! 

Location wise, Bayview Hotel is located in a great spot near to a lot of nice places. The Blue Mansion attraction and the famous Red Garden Food centre is only 1-2 mins across the road loh! And majority of the other attractions are actually not that far away la. And the hotel is reasonably priced. So although I'm not paid for so much raving, I would highly recommend ppl to try staying there for a visit to Penang. 

Red Garden Food Centre: 

In my opinion, Red Garden Food Centre should be a Penang attraction itself because the food are super delicious there!!! We tried Wu Xiang, oyster omelet, pork leg rice, rojak, cendol and char kuay teow. I'm super happy Bayview Hotel is 2 mins away loh. I visited the place twice and all the dishes were superd and better than the hawker food we tried at another famous eating place - Gurney Drive. The place opens from the late afternoon till the wee hours.

I didn't visit all the attractions in Penang due to time constraint, only selected ones I am more interested in - Kek Lok Si temple, Clan Jetties, Peranakan Mansion, Khoo Kongsi and Penang Hill. I'd also paid a short visit to Komtar, Gurney Drive Night market and the Gurney Plaza Shopping Centre. I will try to touch on a bit of all the places in case anyone happen to need some travel research and chanced upon my blog :-).

Kek Lok Si temple @ Ayer Itam 

Ok this is a famous attraction in Penang and is my top recommendation regardless of your faith. Fyi there were Indian, Malay, Jap, Korean, and westerners all over the place. We took a taxi to this attraction as it is not very near.  Btw, taxi rides are not very cheap in Penang and you can actually bargain with the driver on the price. None of the taxis run on meters. Lol. Ride fr Bayview Hotel to Kek Lok Si costs us abt $30 or $40 MYR I think. There is a free tourist bus running through Georgetown for your info. We took it once in our trip to the Clan Jetties but decided to travel by foot or taxi subsequently to other places as it wasn't easy to hunt down the bus stops and there was not much time for us to waste. Anyway, check out the sights of this mega temple:

I suppose most ppl expect Penang to be a place of cultural experience and this place fits the bill. Having travelled to many countries, this is probably the biggest Chinese temple I'd visited simply because it is sprawling uphill and I believe it is still growing as devotees are pouring in money every year. The Guan Ying statue at the top is very big. 

You have to pass by a lot of small stalls selling all sort of random souvenirs before actually reaching the first attraction which is a turtle pond. After that you should be greeted by a few interesting temples before u pay a small fee to take an "inclined lift" to reach the top with the gigantic Guan Ying and another temple. Yes - they built an inclined lift! I'm sure u can actually walk up to the top (which is not a big distance) except we couldn't find the walking path so taking the lift is more convenient. 

The overall architecture of the temple is marvelous and it is obvious that the Penang Chinese were and still are very rich and devoted to their faith. The temple is a vibrant place u should not miss in your trip. 

After ending ur temple visit, you might be interested to grab a bite at the bunch of eateries found at the bottom of the hill. On the way to the temple, the taxi driver told us the Assam laksa at Ayer Itam market is one of the most famous in Penang so we dropped by to try for lunch. We shared one and found the taste a bit "exotic" in comparison to the Singaporean style laksa. And we went on to a food centre nearby to have some handmade noodles which were delicious. We had the herbal soup version and the dry version. Oh, by the way, we felt that the food portion in Penang is quite small - perfect for sharing a large variety of food. Lol

 

Penang Hill

The Penang Hill is often quoted a must to visit when one goes Penang. In my opinion, it is not as marvelous as some other attractions such as the mega temple Kek Lok Si. If you do visit the temple, which u should, then perhaps it make sense to drop by the nearby Penang Hill Ayer Itam station (15-25 mins walk depending on ur speed or you can take a bus which we waited forever for and ended up taking a taxi $10MYR after the long fruitless wait under hot weather) to take the tram up the hill. 

The main attraction of the hill should in fact be the funicular tram that rides up and down the steep slope. This I find particularly interesting. But it costs $30 MYR for tourists for 2 way which is a bit expensive. Anyway, the air is cooling on top of the hill and u get to see a good view of Penang fr up there. Otherwise, there is nothing much up there. U can perhaps get a drink or an ice cream to enjoy the cool air before taking the exciting tram back down.

Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi

There are a lot of "Kongsi" in Penang. We passed by a few while searching for Khoo Kongsi. Before visiting the place, I don't really understand what is "Kongsi" because in Chinese language it translates to "company". I think these are the gathering houses of the Chinese clans in the past. These are more like "temples" honoring the clans, classified by surnames, with the Khoo Kongsi being the grandest. It's a really interesting place to visit because the concept is quite unique. In Singapore there are clan houses too, older generations' gathering places according to surnames, but not in the version of grand temples. U get to see how rich Chinese honor their family tying all the way back to their roots - by surnames. The place is well maintained and grand (especially the elaborated roof) although the attraction is not very big in term of size. There are quite a number of  large paintings to observe as well as interesting sculptures all over. It costs $10 MYR for entry.

Penang Peranakan Mansion

This is a famous mansion, a UNESCO world heritage site, that was featured in the very popular Singapore tv series - The Little Nyonya. Peranankan refers to the descendants of Straits Chinese , something unique to our part of the world. I'm not so good with history so I don't know how come some of us are Peranakan and some aren't when in fact all our forefathers came from China long long ago to settle along this part of the world. Anyway, Peranakan in Singapore are typified by some similarity - wealthy, English-Malay-Mandarin speaking, and with the ability to cook delicious Nyonya food. Haha! This awesome Peranakan Mansion gives an insight into how rich the Peranakan were in old days and their unique preference in home decal. Lol.

I think this mansion is sort of one of a kind. Not available elsewhere. There are Peranakan houses in Singapore as well, not as big as this one in Penang. There is a "secret" path leading to the ancestral temple located at the back of the house and it is amazingly big, so don't miss it. Entry to the place is $20 MYR. We were not offered a guide although we noticed some foreigners were given a guide... Anyway, worth a visit with or without guide. We saw two couples having their bridal shoots there to. Really beautiful place.

The Clan Jetties

Again, uniquely Penang and a UNESCO site. This is a row of jetties classified according to family surnames. You might be familiar with the concept of "Kelong", wooden houses on stilts on water. The Clan Jetties consist of a whole row of interconnected kelongs. I think the main attractive point is the concept that this still exist or co-exist with the rest of the more developed Penang. Essentially, you are simply walking through a fisherman neighborhood built on water. We visited the Chew Jetty as it is more tourist friendly and left thereafter.

Komtar, Gurney Plaza & Gurney Drive Night Market

Ok, if you need some quality shopping, Komtar is not the place. It's a seriously run down place with some random shops as well as a supermarket. I guess it should be well known for simply being the tallest building in Penang and that's all. However, the bus interchange is right beside it in case u are more keen to take the bus to the places of interest. 

We took a taxi to Gurney Plaza after our visit to Penang Hill as we intended to have our dinner at the famous Gurney Drive Night Market. The taxi is $30 MYR. Gurney Plaza is a decent mall quite similar to those in Singapore (maybe because it is actually a Capitamall) and it has a great cinema. We watched a movie there before heading out to the night market for food. This Gurney Drive market is really big, a long stretch lined with hawkers. We tried the Lok Lok, oyster omelet (again), char kuay teow (again), rojak (again - yes because the local delights are so yummy), ice kacang, and coconut drink. The food were nice. But if I have to compare, I think Red Garden is better!

Other than actual places of interest, Georgetown is famous with some wall murals and deco scattered all over. I think they make it interesting for tourists to hunt down. In fact, not all info can be found on the Internet, perhaps some are constantly added on. Here are some of my captures just because I happened to pass by. Haha!!! 

I think I will return again for more great food. Maybe I will stay at the beach area in my next visit. Hope my entry is useful to any wannabe Penang tourist!

Review: Tampopo BP Shabu Ramen @ Takashimaya

It was my best Friday 13th yet! Knocked off early from some company's initiative to "Eat with your family" and off I went eating, drinking, gossiping and shopping with 2 colleagues. U know, colleagues are just like "family" in an office context lah. 

Convinced them to go Orchard as I needed to buy something from Tangs. (Yeeha!) 

We decided to go Tampopo at Taka for dinner. I was trying very hard to scrutinize the menu for the least fattening food to minimize the damage to my growing waistline (A new initiative shared with a fellow colleague). I know that my late sleeping habit means that a salad will defeat the purpose as I will be super hungry later in the night and will probably go dig for food. 

I usually order the fried katsu at Tampop. I shall say those are rather satisfying. However, I managed to convince myself that "You can't have so much carbs, fats and proteins for a dinner! Please persevere!". So I started aiming at items that are not deep fried to cut the damage, although 90% of me wanna jump for the katsu. (Wtf perseverance!?) Then my eyes rolled across a print that reads "Voted Singapore No.1 by HungryGoWhere". What? A ramen that's no.1 that has not been tried by me? Obviously the thought doesn't sits well with a ramen lover like me.

So while my colleagues happily ordered their deep fried cutlets and rice, mine is a BP Shabu Ramen. I didn't counter check but I do believe BP stands for Black Pig. I'd always preferred cha shu over Shabu Shabu pork in the past, so I wasn't overly excited that the ramen would live up to its title. I was wrong.

Tampopo BP Shabu Ramen ($16.80 w tax)

A quick look at the ramen, it doesn't look anything special. My colleagues were a bit shocked at the amount of chili flakes on it. There wasn't any exciting ingredient in the bowl such as a giant piece of seaweed or an awesome onsen egg. In fact, there wasn't anything much. U can see from the pic that there are some bamboo shoot slices, some veg and barely visible slices of Shabu pork plus lotta chili flakes. However, take a closer look and you may notice that the soup isn't oily like usual ramen soup. I scrutinized the soup and was a bit amazed. Anyway, as I eat on, I uncover a decent amount of BP pork. Customers can opt to top up over a dollar for extra pork too. The shabu pork was thin, chewy and fresh. The soup was good & not oily. Not spicy at all. I added a little more chili powder on fact. The noodle texture was dense, which is what I like. In the end, I finished the whole bowl of ramen even though I wasn't extremely hungry.

We stayed on to chit chat after our mains. The waiter comes by 3 times to ask if we want desserts. I deduce this is a technique to tell us we have overstayed our welcome - but we didn't care lah. We were too tired and we needed a place to chat and catch up. It's difficult to go find an alternative venue. The waitress came by to refill my hot tea at least 4 times - how shameless of me. Anyway, no one really officially chase us away la.

My overall rating of the food & services: 9/10.

Singapore Toys, Games & Comic Convention (STGCC) 2013

Wanna blog abt my first time ever visit to a toys, games & comic convention (STGCC) And it was held right here in Singapore, MBS!!! 

I was amazed and impressed by the scale of the convention. And was even more astonished by the number of mind boggling Cosplay fans in Singapore!!!! The $19 entry was really well worth my money!!! 

I guess this year's main attention focus was on Iron Man. There were lots and lots of Iron Man displays and toys, And a lot in life size scale! There were also many  Iron Man fans around. Check out some of the photos.

The many life size Iron Man

Please note the one I'm standing next to is a fan in his home made attire!!! Amazing right?!? It's so well done!

The cutest Iron Man (I mean girl)

The many toys and displays

Of course, beside this man, there are a lot of other toy displays at the convention and a lot of other great cosplay characters. However I really have too many photos taken to have all uploaded in this post! I shall try to pick the coolest ones and merge some into collages. 

Some of the great cosplay & toys

And beside managing to take pictures of those awesome realistic toys and fantastic cosplay, I managed to snag some toys to lug home!!! Check out my new collection of nanoblock (Rilakkuma! My fav Sanrio character! I may ve aged but it seemed impossible to ditch Sanrio! Ha!) 

And a Tokidoki mobile charm.

There are a lot more interesting photos I'd taken at the convention. It will be impossible to post all. Haha! I will be so looking forward to the annual convention from now on! So now, whoever have thought that such conventions are for wannabe teens, geeks or nerds shall rethink! It's really a lot of fun to spend a whole afternoon on. And I think some ppl bought tickets for both days of the event!

STGCC - You rox!