Adventures and some money-losing experiences

Hmm. After reading CP's comment, I scared people will complain about my previous post. So I just deleted it. hehe... Dunno is it a wise choice to take it off. lol...


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I wanted to write this post. But I'm not sure how to put them in paragraphs. I wanted to make it as funny as it can. But, the more I want it to be perfect, the longer I 'postpone' writing it.

So here it is!

Have been really poor lately. First, it was the minor accident I had. I banged on my aunt's gate and had to pay RM280 for the repair fees. Mum paid for me first. So I owe my mum a big sum of money. Including here and there to sum up to RM360.

So, I had been saving money since then. I dun use Kesas Highway to go Sri Petaling for my swimming lessons even though it takes shorter time to reach. Because Kesas charge me RM4.40 (2 tolls). So I use NPE instead (only RM1.60, one toll). Coming also the same, take NPE not Kesas. This saves me RM5.60. Wow!

Then last Sunday I went to the swimming class again. My car desperately needed petrol. And because I would have to take a long drive to a U-turn and drive back to Shell station I decided to take Kesas instead coz there's a Shell station before the toll. But when I drove there. I missed the junction! Arghh! So, I turned to OUG Shell petrol station purposely just for filling up the petrol. And this 'U-turn' was even further than the USJ one. RM4.40 wasted.

And then going back was a nightmare as well. Normally I took the small roads to OUG then take NPE back one. But all the while I was curious whether I can take the Kesas from Sri Petaling Carrefour back to OUG then only take NPE back USJ. So I gave it a try. And the very unfortunate thing happened. lol. The junction to OUG is right after a RM2.20 toll! OMG. After paying the toll I asked myself "Should I just go straight back to USJ or go OUG and take NPE?" At that time I forgot about the RM1.60 Kesas Sunway Toll. So, I was thinking.. "hmph, the toll fees so expensive, I'm gonna boycott Kesas from now on." So I took the long way to NPE and back to Sunway. So, in total I wasted RM6.60 because I took an alternative plan to go and leave swimming lesson.

You say funny or not. Zhuang couldn't help laughing when I told her this. Sigh...

I dun mind being called pantang now. I'm gonna buy a new purse coz it's broken here and there. There's a believe saying that a broken purse can make one loose money. I know those money-losings were due to my carelessness la. But dun care lo.. I wanna buy new purse already. Saving money now for the new purse.


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Talking about Kesas Highway I got a little 'adventure' to tell. lol. I know for people who are working in KL will think it's small matter. But, it's a big thing for me. =P

I had never dreamed myself driving to KL. Summore today I drove alone there! From Kelana Jaya! Yes, me, the queen of sense-of-directionless. lol.

For a person who have totally no idea how to go KL (but I know one can go KL through Federal Highway la) driving to KL can be considered as an adventure already. lol.

At first it was all cool. I know where to turn to go Federal Highway from LDP. It was the first time I drove on Federal Highway! Yeay! Federal Highway at 12.30pm was ok. Slow but flowing. Luckily KL was easy to follow. I followed the signboard until Sungai Wang there. Was damn happy with myself.

Then, follow halfway, while frantically looking for the signboard showing KLCC (coz in front was a branch, going either left or right), I didn't see the car in front stopping. I almost bang that car's butt. Summore my car was not slow that time le. So, I quickly turned my wheel and luckily I avoided the crash. But there's a motorcycle behind me.. I didn't saw that. Luckily the cyclist managed to avoid me. I was really disappointed with my carelessness that after that I didn't see the signboard and hence turned the wrong lane. Luckily there's a U-turn after a fairly long distance.

It was raining very very heavily until I could not see the signboard clearly. I slowly explore on and tried to look for a clue to go back towards KLCC direction. And then Bingo! Despite the heavy rain that obscure the view, I found the signboards again. I went back to Sungai Wang there, the rain ceased a bit. I think it's playing a prank on me. Sigh... Then, I followed the signs and finally! I saw KLCC entrance!! I didn't want to park in KLCC coz it's damn expensive. So, I make a guess that going round the KLCC I might find the famous Avenue K. And I did. I parked my car there and saw a sign showing KLCC Rapid KL sign. So I followed, walked through the KLCC LRT underground and then mission completed! Yeay!

I went there for a talk about "Deciphering the Leukaemia Genome Using Next Generation Sequencing Technologies". I dun really know what it is about except that Dr Mardis sequenced the genome from cancer patients. Maybe I had not enough sleep the day before..

Oh yea. Talk about sleeping. I need to sleep now. Very tired. And I promised myself to sleep at 9.30pm today. But it's 10.30pm now. OMG! Ciao.

Mind-boggling

Ever since I came back USJ last Thursday, I find myself busy with practically nothing. I dunno why. I felt a lot of things are waiting for me to do and yet I didn't do much. Weekend was always busy. And when I had time to sit down, I would just sat in front of the computer thinking of nothingness. Or chat with Heng.

I wonder why I have no passion to update this blog these few days. Last time I blog everyday;. Now I blog every 3 days. This is worrying me. I have nothing in my life to share recently I guess. The only thing I can think of sharing is Desaru. Hmm...

On second thought, in fact there are a lot of things I have been thinking of lately and they are quite mind-boggling. One of them is my future. I'm not talking about marriage here of course. I'm talking about career.

I remember I wanted very much to become an astronomer when I was in secondary school. And when I started to take physics in Form 4, I totally gave up on the dream. lol. Coz I hate physics and I think astronomer needs a great mathematics and physics brain. And when I failed physics in my monthly tests, my astronomer dream is out of the scope.

Then, I was interested in organic chemistry when I was in Form 5 and when I heard that pharmacy involves a lot of organic chemistry, immediately I imagined myself working as a pharmacist. I always wanted to study pharmacy back then but I didn't choose to study pharmacy even though my pre-U results was eligible to apply for the course. Because I don't like to stand at the counters to serve customers, I prefer lab work. So, I chose Biotechnology. Too bad back then I was too ignorant. I didn't know if one studies pharmacy one can further study to discover drug and what not. But what had been done had been done. There's no use to look back and regret.

So, now that I had done a degree in Biotechnology. What am I got to deal with it? I know reaching for the phd dream is what everyone is planning. But, something deep inside is telling me that Phd is not what I want. I just want to work in lab with stable and good salary and have the chance to join a research team. That's all I want. I don't want to be a lecturer. I don't want to lead the research team. And I definitely dunno whether I can cope with the 3 years stress.

You can call me coward. But with the financial I lack, I can't picture myself working under both financial and academic stress. Because I've witnessed it in my friend who had suffer insomnia because of the two main stress in a poor student life - money and exams. And I don't want myself to go through this dilemma coz I don't want to use money from my parents again. Being money-less in country using expensive currencies. Summore 3 years! Unless I'm very sure I have enough money in my account to cover my expenses for these 3 years if transaction of scholarships or grant delayed, otherwise, it's a big no no.

With so many reason, which I hope it is not a looking-for-easy-way-out-thinking. Or maybe all these financial reasons are bullshit. I think it's just me myself who dun feel like taking PhD. Yesterday, after I went to the UK education fair. The lady at the University of Nottingham, although being frank, but what she said gave me a pang. She said "So you want to study PhD just because PhD has more scholarship offering, not because of your interest?"

She's right.

I had been creating myself a believe that "I want to study PhD because I really like it". But it was actually not true. If I really like it, why did I keep running away from it? Initially I thought it is normal to take sooo long to apply for a PhD. lol. But, seeing my progress in applying for PhD I sense some repulsive response whenever PhD flashes through my mind. Comparing to my impulsive decision on learning life saving Bronze Medallion, I'm sure something is wrong with my willingness to take PhD. And from the repulsive response, the conclusion is I love Bronze Medallion and I hate PhD. Dun ask me why I hate PhD. I also dunno.

But, the weird thing is I still have the love for lab work and research. I really want to upgrade myself in lab techniques. So, yea.. Now I'm still thinking about the possibilities. One of which is MSc in Food Biotechnology or Enzymology. And I know I love it because I don't need to force myself into looking for the info about master programmes. And I would smile when I looked at the course structures. The feeling was so soothing. =) Hope this is my final decision for my first step. Hope I won't fickled again.

I'm a Photoshop noob

Imagine sitting in the room, relaxing and checking emails. Then suddenly a very pleasant smell similar to the smell of dung slowly filling up the room you are sitting in. And it's too late to shut the windows because the smell had already gradually building up, because initially you thought it was just your fart. lol. Not funny. And what you have to do is either (a) ignore the smell by breathing normally or (b) take big breathes and sniff in all the smell so you don't need to sniff the same smell at second breath. lol.

This is the scenario of having a room near to a septic tank (or is it sewage tank?). Your luck is completely based on the wind. If the wind likes to blow towards the room window today, then it's bad luck day today. Sigh.. Praying hard when I sleep later it's not gonna stink.

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lol. Am very happy that Zhuang chased me to update my blog few days ago and today WY chased me to write another post. When I look at the date of my beach post only I realized it was 2 days ago. Sorry yea, Friday one whole day I take bus from hometown back to my USJ home. So, have no time to blog yet. Finally now got time. =)

There are several pictures I took at Desaru which I had not put here yet. Coz I wanna photoshop first. Let me show you my very beginner photoshop skills. =P

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Which one nicest?

The beach

Went to Desaru on Tuesday.

Many people asked me what does Kota Tinggi have. I always answered "Desaru and waterfall". But, I've never been to Desaru for about 20 years already. I only know that people don't go to this beach anymore coz I heard that it had become dirty with rubbish everywhere.

Suddenly I had this feeling to find some tourist spot in Kota Tinggi to just walk around.

So, Desaru I went.

There are 3-4 different resorts or chalets. We went to this oldest one, the one I came 20 years ago -- Desaru Holiday Chalet.

On the way we saw:

You can see Oil Palm estate almost everywhere in Kota Tinggi.

Poor cows going to get butchered later.

The famous Sekolah Sukan (Sports School) in Bandar Penawar. Can't take the full view of the school. Too many trees block the view.

Cyclists along the road

And me camwhoring =P

Here you go! The beach!

And the beach is CLEAN! Only some (very few) traces of rubbish at the night tide mark.

But I wonder are all ocean waves bubbly like detergent water? Why Desaru ones are bubbly? And although the beach is pretty clean, the ocean water is murky.

At least some living things. I guess the water should be quite clean then. Or the plants are strong?

Abandoned slippers

Dead sotong (squid). I never seen such big squid before. Dunno why when there's this dead sotong, the ocean water was yellowish with bubbles as if it was toxic. Scary. I din dare to step on that part of water.

Another dead thing. I have no idea what it is. A sea urchin?

Pirate of the Caribbean returns! lol.. Lame..

Away from the beach:

It says "Beware!!! Attention to all visitors. Beach is closed due to monsoon season. Not safe for swimming. Swimming is at your own risks." It's March now, east coast is normally safe to swim during this period of time. I think the next picture explains it all.

The board says "Awas! Pantai ditutup. Tidak selamat untuk berenang." (Danger! Beach closed. Not safe for swimming). Actually the ocean should be safe enough. The tides were small.

I guess they put the board because there's not enough staffs there to keep an eye on swimmers. And not many visitors go there. So, it's quite dangerous to swim alone there coz no one can save you if you're in trouble.

Abandoned chalets. There are new ones behind these chalets.

Old bridge. See the gaps where the planks should have been.

Can see that there's no one else at the beach right? I told you no one wants to go there anymore. It's deserted, except the very few staffs who only sleep and some chefs in the restaurant who prepared some dishes. I wonder people go to their restaurant for food.

That afternoon, we felt like we had the beach all to ourselves. No need to squeeze ourselves with the crowd to share this beach. When we walked back to our car, we saw 2 Chinese guys walking towards the beach. Hmm.. There's still some who discover the beauty of Desaru.

Guess what time of the day I went to the beach? 11am!! We walked along the beach until 1 something in the afternoon. And the worse thing was that I forgot to apply sunblock! OMG! That's how I got my sunburn on my shoulders. Damn painful la my shoulder. Sob sob...

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I made a prune cake after Desaru. Maybe I should call it Whisky cake. lol..

I soaked the prunes in too much Whisky that the cake tasted more like Whisky than prunes.

But, the cake became really watery. Bad texture. I tried to bake it many many times until the surface of the cake become charcoaled and some parts become crusty. (First trial: Bake 30 minutes. Second: 15 minutes. Third: 20 minutes. Fourth: 20 minutes. Total: 1 hour and 15 minutes). Yet, the centre of the cake was still lembik!! The soft texture at the centre was like thawed peanut butter. Eww!

After flipping over to a plate, the cake splitted into half because the centre was jelly-like. Urgh...

Mum helped me try cutting out the cake

Can't see properly?

See the zoom in:

This is a lump of shit, I admit. But a very tasty one. lol. Although it's all jellied up, the taste was superb!

I dun like alcohol coz it's bitter. But this piece of shit has the Whisky aroma in your mouth yet it is not bitter. But instead it was slightly sweet. The problem is only the texture - Too jelly-like. Next time (when I come back hometown) I'll give it another try with less Whisky. lol.

p/s: Know why I soak the prunes in too much Whisky? Coz the prunes absorbed all the Whisky. So I thought I should add Whisky until it stop absorbing. Bad choice. lol.

The best thing of being home

I cut my finger when I was preparing for the 'special' lunch today!

It was a very stupid mistake, as usual. lol. I was opening the luncheon meat can with the screw that can be spun around the can to peel open the can. But the metal came off the screw. So, I used my hand to pull off the metal instead, thinking it's only a bit more shouldn't be that unlucky to get a cut one. But, obviously I underestimated the metal. haha.

So I told myself I'm gonna make my blood worth it. haha. Luckily the lunch turned out pretty good. =) The image of this meal had been in my brain for 2 days already. And when I got exactly what I imagined. I just could not stop grinning.

Come see see my product -- Pancake with fillings

I make the 'skin' from egg, flour, water and sugar. The content consists of finely chopped Chinese mushroom, long bean, luncheon meat, mengkuang, carrot and cucumber. I seasoned these with soy sauce and black pepper powder. Yum!

It looks even nicer if served this way

Mum's idea. Nice eh?

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Finally found the name for the spooky song I mentioned in previous post. Thanks Yumin for that. =)

It's called "I write sins not tragedies" by Panic at the Disco. Wow. They have such weird band name. lol. But really nice song. I like.

After watching their MV only I realised I watched it before one. No wonder the song sounds so familiar to me. But their MV is a bit spooky. Really match the song lo.

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Yeay. I'm going to eat Bak Kut Teh this Tuesday! So happy! This Bak Kut Teh although not as gao (thick) as Klang's Bak Kut Teh, but the taste is there. Not like those diluted ones in SS14. lol. Can't wait to eat. Yum!!

And and. I'm going to make my first ever prune cake. Tomorrow going to buy prunes and going to soak it in alcohol overnight first. The next day I will start making the cake. Wish me luck!

These are the best things being at home =) To finally have the chance to eat food I always wanted to eat and to have the utensils to bake cake. Yeay!