wordless: we love eating out!!!

Bangkok Trip yg best!

we went for a short getaway to bangkok during chinese new year weekend. i was quite nervous since this was the first trip that i planned for both of us. planning on what to do and visit, how to travel around bangkok, where to eat halal food, etc etc. memang susah woo! normally dear wifey will be in charge, but she's pretty occupied at work. my last futile effort was back in sheffield when i arranged a trip to belgium, and the whole thing have to be cancelled because of the 9/11 event that occured two days before our departure date. for this trip, i'd give myself a B- (due to some hiccups. nasib baik a pro intervened, hehe). will improve further lah for our next trip...

back to bangkok...

first of all get baht at midvalley, it's cheaper. we got RM10.1 for 100B. at lcct the rate was RM11.3!

we travelled with airasia, the price was a bit steep because of last minute booking. tersilap purchased luggage allowance for the outbound trip, patut beli for return journey je. plus the online pre-purchase meal is cheaper because it includes free tea/coffee. kalau food saje sama je kalau beli onboard.

arrived at suvarnabumi airport on friday morning and quickly used its express train to the city, stopping at makhsan station at a cost of 75B. from there we took taxi to new world hotel. cost us 130B. we booked the hotel via at agoda.com. hebat website ni. this three-star hotel set us back RM103 per night. it is located on the samsen road / khaosan road area and there was no MRT or BTS route close by. so we had to move around with taxi, or tuk tuk or go on foot. for the trip back from hotel to airport, we used hotel transfer sebab awal pagi (4.40am from hotel to catch 7.15am flight back) and beg berat with all the shoppings. cost us 550B for 45 minute drive.

the hotel area was... nice. very bangkok-like. surrounded by old buildings and shops. in daytime the road was boring, but as the sun set, the area became happening, full of mat sallehs lepak2 makan kuehteow and other thai delicacies.. tapi the shops jual barbey, so kitorang tak try lah. the main reason we chose new world was due to availabilty of halal food at its sara restaurant. the most famous being 'phad-thai' lah. so breakfast makan banyak2, then got through the day with thai desserts (pulut mangga, miangkham, fruits, coconut ice cream, etc) jer before coming back at night and belasah room service (around 150B per dish, very affordable lah).


chatuchak market was... awesome!!! over 8,000 shops selling everything on earth. it is located in north area of bangkok and between 100B to 150B taxi ride away from our hotel (depending on taxi driver punya skill and tahap penipuan mereka). went there on friday, then again on saturday because shops banyak close on weekday. the market can also be reached via MRT khampaeng park station. there's leather stuff, thai silk, kitchen stuff, jewelries, souvenirs, animals, foods, furniture, electronics, gardening, children toys, posters, art products, etc. we had a great time over there, though tak habis round semua kedai lah. letih jalan2 and shopping, took breaks with desserts and drinks at plenty stalls in the market. even foot massage is available.

bargain was the order of the day. tak bargain, kena cekik laa jawabnya. first offer must be around 30-50% of quoted price. then pandai2 laa tebal muka mintak diskaun, buat2 nak blah from kedai, or cakap kedai lain offer lagi murah. tapi kadang2 malu laa gak nak mintak diskaun ni. so ada gak laa rasa we've overpaid some items. another tip is beli banyak2, so dapat laa better deal. there was also international delivery service overthere, so boleh laa nak borong all the furniture or pinggan mangkuk dan sebagainya...


floating market was.... over-rated. simply because there were more boats with tourists on board than the locals selling daily produces. it was still a great experience and worth a visit. we just didn't think it was worth paying 150B per head to get sun burnt on the hand-rowed boats. you'd better off strolling on the banks of the canal. we paid 350B per person at the hotel's tourist info desk (i presume other hotels have one too), inclusive of round-trip by van to the jetty (which was 1.5hrs drive from the city) and 'james bond' boat fee from jetty to the floating market. the motorboat took us through the canal before arriving at the market. bila dah sampai market tu boleh laa nak jalan2 or bayar extra untuk naik sampan manual pulak. we spent two hours taking pictures and eating (makan lagi???) before getting back to the hotel.


thai food was... deliciouso! first time here i tried phad-thai and miangkham. tom yum gung rasa ok jer. then there were coconut ice cream, pauh mangga, nasi goreng, pisang bakar. sara restaurant at the new world hotel is one of the famous halal restaurant in bangkok. another one that we went was mak yah muslim restaurant, which was about 3km away from the main shopping area (siam square). it was close to hotel asia. from the main entrance, turn left and walk until a junction which has a fly-over. the shop is located accross the street (go below the fly-over). it's easier to go there by taxi. we kena katok guna tut-tut (200B from siam square? dah la tak jumpa pun restraurant tu, kena walk by foot pulak from hotel asia. hampeh). another halal food joints can also be found at the fifth floor of mcb shopping centre. other than these three restaurants, we buy desserts and fruits from the street vendors laa. for more halal restaurant in bangkok (or other cities for that matter), go to zabihah.com.


wah, this is too long of an entry. dah letih la nak tulis. other activites were window shopping at the complexes around siam square (mcb centre, siam paragorn, little siam, siam discovery as well as hard rock cafe lah.. to get our shot glass collection). we also went to siam niramit show at night (950B per person). it was expensive, but the 1.5hrs show was good and also included entry to thai traditional village which showed thais way of living. siap ada elephant ride lagi (at additional cost laa). taxi from hotel cost 100B. klu budget ciput, boleh skip laa. emmm, apa lagi? biasalah check out one of the many wats they have here in bangkok and also thai massage (balik2 tgk harga kat seremban 2 almost tripple for a same massage). night markets were nice too, but bila dah letih jalan2 siang hari, malam nak keluar pun malas. lainlah mat salleh yang suka ber par-tey...

as a closing, i just have to put up this photo as a sign of respect to the thai electrical engineers and also to remind myself not to ever apply for a job at bangkok's supply authority... scarry!

honda city

we finally owned a honda!!! actually it's been a while dah, since before puasa last year. dah lama myself personally nak ada keta honda. sejak zaman ada honda civic bullet lagi. tapi apakan daya, tak berapa mampu waktu awal2 kerja dulu. after 5 years survived with just one car, ke hulu ke hilir, sometimes tumpang kawan2 kalau ada outstation ke kl, we deserved to add a second car laa kan (tu pun tambah after both of us dah naik pangkat, so tak laa rasa bersalah sangat). lagipun kesian our old car kia rio, dah almost 220km he has covered. now with city around, he can relax his muscle a bit...

this car we bought at honhin kuantan. the sales guy was really2 nice. until now he still keeps in touch with me. selalu call tanya khabar. of course laa dia asyik cucuk suruh upgrade ke honda accord...

so mana satu pusat service honda yang bagus kat kuantan?

naturally, i sent the car to honhin laa, sebab beli kat sana. the waiting room is small, muat laa 5-6 orang. wifi ada. it is in the city centre, near traffic light to teluk cempedak. owners normally take a cab to the mall close by, then comeback once their car is ready for pick up. but most of my frens prefer macinda kuantan. altough a bit far from the centre (located in semambu) the waiting room is bigger, with wifi, tv, and play area for the kids. tak silap ada free coffee lagi. i never been there, so i cannot judge which service centre is better. tapi honda kuantan kalau hari jumaat memang queue panjang gila. so pergi mana2 service centre pun sama je la kot. hari tu pulak pernah try service 20k at ttdi shah alam. pantas dan tuntas. 1 jam 45 minutes jer dah siap...

ingat tak nak upgrade kereta sampai dua2 dah habis bayar... boleh ke?

2011 targets

hello 2011!

last year did not put anything in writing, this year wanna do it. so here goes:

1. enjoy life to the fullest life and live happily. everyday nak rasa best macam makan tulang atas tu.

2. saving target of rm40k in cash, 10k in gold. then need to find new tenants for suriamas apartment. that's it. nak menggemukkan saving untuk future plans.

3. travel target this year will be bangkok, hong kong and europe. mmm best nyer!

4. get my Ir status. tinggal final report and interview je ni.

5. get handicap lowered to 21.

6. nak improve skill photoshop.

7. nak tingkatkan fitness. sejak main golf ni, jogging 5km pun kaput. main futsal 10 min pun letih.

semoga segalanya berjalan lancar!

Layan sport rim kat kedai papan

I had a chance to check out the most famous sport rims shop in kuala lumpur last weekend. The shop was huge!!! It has two sections, one side is for rims 16" and below the other side is for 17" and above.


Official shop name is 'perkhidmatan tayar hing leong', but more affectionately called 'kedai papan'. when i arrived, the shop was packed with customers selecting rims of their choice and negotiating the best they could get. The shop caters the demands with five replacement bays on each lot.


macam orang beli ikan kat pasar! the price was really cheap, compared to other places. even the trade-in price pun mahal jugak dia ambik.

kedai papan klang ni memang jual sport rims murah. address dia senang je. search petrol pump shell jalan kapar kat google map or garmin.

myself pun sempat usya few rims for our 'vintage' rio. After over 200km of loyal service, its time to upgrade it.













mmmm, mana satukah patut ku pilih ni?


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mobile update

testing testing.

hopefully with blogpress and iphone this blog will be updated at a more regular basis...

PEACE!




-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Jalan Lumba Kuda,Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

tua on paper

i am three-decade years old.

had lunch at italiannies, then karaoke, then watched a movie at cineleisure's platinum suite.


to top it off, got this present from her (guys, jangan jealous ok).


bye bye callaway... hello cleaveland cg7 black pearl!!!

thank you babeh. i love the irons very very very much!

2010 us trip

spent merdeka day in kerteh. pagi tadi dah kena 9 holes kat kgrp. pancit. after zohor, spent time browsing through photo albums with star world repeats on the background. stumbled upon our us trip pictures. best betul trip ni... jom layan gambar.

1. first time ever in klia golden lounge: the facility was superb. great food, wifi, prayer room, shower, etc. and oh, ada putting room too!




2. boarding time: mas airline. economy class. flight food. best!



3. transit in uk: lepak airport je. my trip partner dah start shopping. signs of things to come!



4. arrived in newark airport, new york: from london, amik british airways. sampai2, kena tahan dengan airport security. ada laa dalam 2 jam went through second level security control. masuk in this small room, filled with all kinds of people. immigrants ada, yg macam gangster pun ada. gila cuak. ada yang tengah gaduh ngan immigration officers. last2 i had an individual interview ngan polis tu. apparently my family name ada dalam their wanted list. dah clarify, 2 min jer habis. nasib baik tak kena bogel. lega but terus bad mood. hence no picture of the airport.
*tips: even passenger in transit needs to go through the passport control (unlike in other countries), so must make sure ample time between the flights, just in case kena masuk bilik kecik tu. ada a few people yg miss transit flight. kesian diorang.

5. our nyc crib: located in 137th street, manhattan. agak dodgy area in the night. tapi ok je bila siang. rented a room in a student house. cosy and murah and the host was super helpful! wifey found this from airbnb.com. dia memang hebat part2 planning trip ni.



6. scenes in times square: memang pure tourist spot la. berjuta2 orang ada. ada gift shops, hard rock cafe, m&ms museum, ripley's, cheesecake and pizza shops, tourist centre, etc, etc, etc.





7. world trade centre: they're building some sort of monument / building over there. there's a building nearby which acts as a small museum to display all things related to the 9/11 unfortunate event. worth a visit.



8. brooklyn bridge: the bottom part is for cars and the upper deck is for people to walk through, or jog, or bike. spring time ni memang cantek la kalau jogging.



9. statue of liberty and ellis island. ada big, famous green figure. semua orang pi tengok. so kita pun pi jugak laa. advisable to go super early in the morning as the ticket line can be very very very long!



10. niagara falls: beautiful scene. memang mahahebat ciptaan Ilahi. air melimpah tak henti2. we drove up to the falls from nyc. rent a dodger. not a bad ride at all. stayed in a few motels along the way.





11. shopping shopping shopping: this trip was 70% shopping, 30% sightseeing. we went to almost all outlets along nyc, new jersey, niagara falls and in between. seriously, guys yang tak suka shop pun sure jadi gila once they've been to these outlets. girls jangan cakap laaa. and then, once back home, sure tak beli dah shirts and pants and shoes and bags at the mall (at least not the same brands). that's how cheap the price was!




12. the end. many more pictures, tapi nak bukak posa dah ni...

one of the most rewarding experience ever. looking forward to our next adventure...

it's New York babeh!

after 20 hours of flying, three airports, five flight meals, we are finally here in New York City!

time to relax, shop, eat and sightseeing.

life is good.

midnight shopping at uptown sham alam seksyen 24

my bro in law and i went to uptown shah alam to check out the night market last night. mak aaiii, happening gila! all sorts of stuff are on sale. jerseys, watches, bags, jeans, shirts, sunglasses, perfume, crocs, brooch. well, you get the idea. there's also stalls offering foods and drinks for dinner and late supper.

since now we are fasting and i'm not in the mood to write, layan gambar je laaa...















on weekends, there are a lot of people there and the place is really crowded, so it is advisable that parents do not bring their little ones, susah nak control nanti.

refer to googlemap on how to get there. opens from 7pm all the way to 3-4am in the morning!

happy shopping!

p/s: rule to live by when shopping there:
bargain, bargain, bargain!
never pay the sticker or offered price!