2014 You're History

YIt seems everyone will be making their respective New Year's resolution for new hope and new start in 2015. Unfortunately, some of them are too distraught and lost to make any sense of what New Year holds for them.

Thought we could head a new aspiration and new start in the final days of 2014 but the recent happenings has deterred us to achieve that. Sombre clouds are blanketing us once again with hundred thousand people were displaced in East coast and Northern Peninsular due to insurmountable flood. If that isn't worse enough, we received yet another heartbreaking news that  AirAsia QZ8501 had gone missing with 162 people aboard. 

2014 indeed has been a tough year for most of us especially for Malaysians. We lost two commercial planes within short span of four months. We lost a worthy opponent in the government. Our harmony was tested by the dumbfounded parties. And the natural disasters has unleash its full throttle in our soil - flood, landslide, draught and we even had tornado strikes for very first time.

Meanwhile, the international front didn't do any good this year either. We lost our beloved comedians. Israel assaulted Palestine without any mercy. The rise of ISIS caused crisis. We trembled as Ebola spread. Let JibJab reminisce some of the defining memories of 2014:

Likewise, it was a tough at first for me this year but it all went well eventually. I quit my job, I engaged in a relationship and I even had a trip with my mother after so many years.

Since it's the final day of 2014, don't be so depressed of what had happened in 2014. Let's embrace ourselves with hope and joy in these final hours of 2014. Like what Pharrel sings; Clap along 
if you know what happiness is to you!

Sexiest Boys Alive in 2014

Hello everyone.

It's end of the year, it's the time again to  continue the legacy of past three years in concluding the year in my blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present you The Sexiest Boys Alive in 2014. Waste no time and get smitten by the boys:

(Pic: Tiktalking)

Zac Efron - This kid from High School Musical did grow up good. I guess all the girls and fags out there would like to have a neighbour like him - doesn't care whether he's bad or good. Thank you Rita Ora for ripping his shirt off at MTV Movie Awards

(Pic:Hollywood Reporter)

Dylan O'Brien - I wouldn't mind to be lost in the maze with him. In addition to his acting career, this lad has produced, directed and starred in number of comedic short films. And yes, we will seeing him running through the maze in 2015.

(Pic: CapitalFM)

Ed Sheeran - I know he is not hot nor sexy but I like his songs. Don't you think his songs are mesmerizing. I don't how many times I've been looping "Thinking Out Loud". 

(Pic: The Star)

Benedict Cumberbatch - Surprised right that he's in the list given that he doesn't have boyish look but then again I just love his deep voice! BTW, he's the Smaug in The Hobbits.

(Pic: Digiday)

Alex from Target - Twist of fate indeed, never knew just simply bagging groceries could be an internet phenomena. His Twitter followers shot up to 300k within 24 hours and even CNN, BuzzFeed and Ellen featured him. Compared to those staff at grocery retailer that I frequent....sigh...

James Rodriguez

James Rodriquez - not a fan of football for all my life but the World Cup fever was just inevitable and it was so contagious. People watched football, I watched footballers. Don't you love his Columbian boyish charm.

Charyl Chappuis

Charyl Chappuis - Swiss + Thai parentage = Handsome kid. As i mentioned, I don''t watch football but there was a hot topic in the mainstream media about Malaysia vs Thailand for Suzuki Cup. Then there was a surge of tweets about this Thai footballer saying how cute he was. So I Google it and my gosh!

(Pic: Cinemablend)

Ansel Engort - I think most of you ended up being tearjerker after watching The Fault in Our Stars. Not me because I found the movie was rather draggy - I knew the guy gonna die, so throughout the whole movie, I was like "Faster die!". Nevertheless, he was really charming and witty in the movie. I wish I could be that witty...

(Pic: nerdist.com)

Chris Pratt - Hands down if you agree with me that Guardian of the Galaxy is the movie of the year. If you don't agree, I'm sure you share the same echo with me - Chris Pratt is hot. Glad that he has a lead role in a movie eventually after being a supporting actor in so many movies. We will see him again in Jurassic Park next year.



                                               

Logan Lerman - Who? Can't recognize him? The lad from Percy Jackson. Aside from being so cute, his acting skill is improving I must say. 

There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Let's hope that we will have more eye candies in 2015!

Maiden Arrival : City of Angels - Bangkok

I couldn't be any prouder of me for treating my mother for the Bangkok trip. Though it wasn't a luxury one or some European holiday but at least I did fulfill filial piety and spent quality time with her.

My maiden trip to Bangkok was a great one. The itinerary went smoothly and accordingly thanks to my handy assistance TripAdvisor which guided me throughout the journey. And of course, Google Map. Please download both mentioned apps to make your holiday a hassle-free one.


Without further adieu, let the pictures below narrate my travelogue in Bangkok:


Day 1: 

The view of infinity swimming pool of I Residence Sathon

We arrived at our hotel quite late in the evening given that traffic jam in Bangkok is a horrendous one. It's worse than KL - seriously, traffic jam in KL is crawling while the one  in Bangkok is standstill. Anyhoo, our accommodation was I Residence in Sathon. It was recommended by my buddy and I didn't have any regret in taking his recommendation. The room was huge, comfortable, value for money and the best thing was its convenience. It was just a short walking distance to Chong Nonsi BTS station.

Erawan Shrine

Since we arrived late, so our first stop was a close-by one - Erawan Shrine aka Four Faced Buddha (disembark at Ratchadamri BTS station). My mother wanted to pay a visit to this shrine. As per words of mouth among her friends, whoever pray to this shrine, your wishes would come true. Even I offered my prayers, see whether the words of mouth are really that trustworthy.

Snoppy flooding the Christmas decoration at CentralWorld

Kalpapruek's Tom Yum 

After making our wishes, we crossed the street to CentralWorld to have our dinner at Kalpapruek Restaurant. The food was great there (just a lil pricey). Since we were in Bangkok, so we ordered its local signature dish, Tom Yam. Compared to Malaysian version, Thai one was rather clear and not that very spicy as I expected.

Day 2: 

The second day was a hectic one since we gonna visit few of the main attractions in Bangkok. First stop, The Grand Palace and The Emerald Buddha Temple. Just be wary of the scam over there. When we reached there, we were approached by the tuk tuk driver saying that the Grand Palace only opened at 1 pm - so he recommended us to go to Wat Arun with his tuk tuk. Folks, please don't trust those tuk tuk drivers outside the palace - they just want your money. In fact, the opening hours is 8.30 am - 3.30 pm with 500 baht entrance ticket.

It was an eye-opening experience to learn the heritage, the glory and the history of Siamese Kingdom. The grandeur of the buildings there was simply magnificent. History has it that the palace had been the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782 until 1925. Though the current King Bhumibol resides at Chitralada but the Grand Palace is still used for official functions.

However, the drawback of this visit that it was too crowded. And I was annoyed with the tourists from China - they were really rude to be honest with you and they spit everywhere! . Nevertheless, the spirit of travelling and exploring must continue.

After two hours awed by the monuments at Grand Palace (and of course, struggling to go through  the crowd), our next stop was Wat Pho aka The Temple of Reclining Buddha. It is just a 15 minutes walking distance from The Grand Palace.

Wat Pho is one of the largest and oldest wats in Bangkok. This temple also houses one of the largest single Buddha image of 15 m high and 43 long.

Even Obama visited this temple

 108 bronze bowls indicating the 108 auspicious characters of Buddha        
                              

Next, Wat Arun aka Temple of Dawn. It is not very far from Wat Pho, which is just across the river of Chao Phraya (ferry service is available). My mom wasn't a fan of river transportation, so it wasn't pleasant journey for her. Furthermore, the river was rough and there weren't any life jackets. 

History has it that the temple was shown in French maps during mid 1600's. The main feature of this wat is its central prang (Khmer-style tower) which is encrusted with colourful seashells and bits of porcelain. You could climb the 200m or so tower but it is very steep. Since i'm afraid of height.. ..so yeah...

Across Chao Phraya River

                                       

Siamese cat at Siamese temple 

As the night fell, there wasn't any better place than Soi 38 in trying Bangkok local delicacies. Though it is much smaller than our Jalan Alor but the food is really nice and cheap too (just in front of Thong Lo BTS station).

Waited 20 minutes to be served - mango sticky rice, one of the famous local delicacies 

Day 3

Last year when I was in Hong Kong, I didn't visit Madame Tussauds there since it was very pricey. On contrary,  the one in Bangkok (located at Siam Discovery - walking distance from National Stadium BTS station) has early bird promotion in its website (only 400 baht per pax before noon entrance). My mom and I had lots of fun seeing the almost-real  prominent figures.

Beyonce

Katy Perry

Justin Bieber

Mario Maurer

Our journey continued with Jim Thompson House which is not far from Siam Discovery. Who is Jim Thompson? 

Born in 1906, Thompson was an American businessman who revived Thailand's silk industry almost single-handedly. Aside from being a businessman, he was also an ex-architect, so you would expect his house is rather interesting one. Using parts of century old houses, he succeeded in constructing a masterpiece that involved the reassmbling of six Thai dwellings on his estate. Unfortunately, this businessman disappeared when he went for a stroll in Cameron Highlands. Until today, his traces yet to be found.

Sieving out threads of silk from cocoons 

Cocoons before turning into silk 

To conclude our trip in bangkok, our final destination was Asiatique. Spanning across 12 acres of land, Asiatique hosts one of the largest night markets with over 1,500 stalls (which we were literally lost there). Forget about Patpong or Silom night market, this night market has it all and it's cleaner. It is very easy to locate this place - disembark at Saphan Taksin BTS station and take free shuttle ferry to Asiatique.

I felt like walking down at Main Street of Disneyland

                                     

The huge Ferris Wheel of Asiatique

That's all folks for Bangkok travelogue.  Definitely will make a return someday. Just love its accessibility and the weather there (suprisingly  it was chilly there).

So my 2014 trip had been accomplished. Maybe I should start saving for 2015 trip. Still no clue where I would like to go but I hope somewhere far far away. Somewhere cold...perhaps retracing the origin of The Beatles?....

A Holly Jolly Christmas

If ask Bart Simpson why Christmas is celebrated every 25th December - he will answer you this: 

"To celebrate the birth of Santa!"

His answer is rather funny but we could not blame him since Santa Clause does overshadow Jesus Christ during Christmas. Just look at shopping mall's festive decoration, Santa clause face is like everywhere. Even those evergreen Christmas carols are themed after Santa Clause. 

It will be awkward if Jesus is the main theme of  Christmas carols:

"I saw mommy kissing Jesus Christ"

"Jesus Christ is coming to town"

"Here comes Jesus Christ, here comes Jesus Christ right down Jesus Christ lane"

"Jesus baby, so hurry down to my chimney tonight"

Anyway, I won't be a honey bee to write sugar coated words but all I want to say, and since it's Christmas, I have to be honest, I'm thankful to have him in my life.

To my beloved friends and others, may your holiday season be blessed peace, love and joy.

P/S: Just a sneak peek of my Christmas Eve dinner moment ago - it was a simple candle lit dinner at home. Since our booking at some restaurant was cancelled last minute (that some restaurant is Halia at Sime Darby Convention) and we were very lazy to go all the hassle to find a dining place which would be still available for booking on Christmas Eve so we just bought some candles, a bottle of wine and Daves Deli roasted chicken for our 'meaningful Christmas Eve dinner. 

December Beaver

Well well....it has been two weeks since my last entry.

Lots of thing happened for past two weeks and one of them was I've got married. Just joking.

What kept me busy was that I quit my job and currently having a month break before commencing to my new job in January.

Sounds fun eh? Well, it's fun for being bothered about work but I was and am still pretty occupied actually.

First of all, I shifted to a new place. Not to say a super duper new and better living environment but it's more spacious I would say. Trust me, shifting to a new place is a daunting task and really tiring. I lost the count on how many rounds that I need to make to transfer my belongings from the old place to the new place - not forgetting loading and unloading part. Until now, I still haven't arranged my stuff properly!

Though my crib is a total mess but my partner and I took effort to set up the Christmas tree

Secondly, I made a quick escape to Genting Highlands with my partner since I missed the cold breeze over there. Yeah, the sole purpose for me to go uphill to Genting not for gambling (which I have no idea at all) and not for the theme park (though it has been closed for sometime to make way for Fox theme park) but for the cold breeze. I really like the cold breeze over there as it's really refreshing for  me though it's rather dry. Anyway, this is my second time staying at First World Hotel. I had terrible experience staying there for the first time like 10 years ago but I must say it improved a lot. It's clean and really comfortable. We spent more time in the room rather outdoor since twas so comfy to wrap in the blanket in the cold weather. I was pretty impressed with the self-check in/out kiosks which were really convenient and fast.

Chilling a cup of Starbucks tea in chilly weather - this is life!

So what's next? Bangkok trip, Mumma Mia The Musical and of course, the most wonderful time of the year - Christmas. 

Back to December

I had a very long conversation with old buddy of mine this evening. I was really delighted that we managed to keep in touch once again after like 10 years since we last spoke.

He was my buddy back in high school.  I still could recall vividly that we were struggling for SPM since we barely studied and look at us now, he's a doctor and I am...well.. a PR practitioner so to say. I have no idea where the path will lead us for another 10 years.

Maybe I should not look that far, maybe i should just look a little bit closer on the things that will be happening after this Friday. Yes, this Friday will mark my final day at my current company. Thereafter, i will have a month break and i deserve this break since I've been working like a dog for past five years! So no more alarm clock, no more deadlines, no more followups and no more pitching.

Sounds perfect but i guess my break will be very exhausting one since the lineup for the activities are so packed - from Bangkok trip to move into a new place and from short trip with my boo and my short vacation back in my dad hometown Penang. I hope all will go well - fingers crossed!

Since it's already December, so before i end my note, let's play this song to enliven the festive season- how i love Christmas! :)