End of Summer Break

awww.. i'm slacking again! :D yeah i'm just way too bored right now, what a lonely saturday night without family, friends and lover's companion. #even all my flatmates are not at home right now. == okay fine, the best way to prevent myself from thinking craps is to keep myself busy. :)

just realized that i have been in perth like for more than two weeks already, exactly half a month! life is going well so far and i kinda enjoy the relaxing life i'm having at here. ;) it's just that the weather freaks me out which caused me to stay at home rather than going out. anyway, two weeks of orientation are finally coming to the end and that marks the beginning of new semester! :S

and there goes the end of my summer break. :(

well, summer break is plainly good. at least i don't have to think about assignments, i don't have to study for exams, i don't have to worry about my participation marks, attendance or whatsoever related to my studies. all i need to do is just to give myself a good rest! :D however, three months is way too long, it was my plan earlier to get myself a job to fulfill this holidays. yet it didn't work out because other plans have replaced it. ;)

this post is a super belated one, merely about my holidays spent in malaysia. xD

straight to the point, other than staying at hometown, i travelled to several places during this summer break, basically it's from south to north within three weeks! :P first and foremost, as usual, dad had organized a big family trip, but this is a slightly different one compared to the past. we went for a four days three nights trip to yogyakarta, indonesia, which is an extraordinary tour for me..

after a few days, i went to johor bahru for a short stay in my friend's house, and visited singapore during christmas season! it's like finally! :D i always wanna go to see the christmas decorations at orchard road since many years ago, and eventually i made it!!

a week later, i went to ipoh and penang with a group of college mates, another satisfying eating trip! i always failed to make up for a trip with my friends due to time clashing, parents' restrictions and plenty of reasons. anyway, i'm so glad that every plan has worked out smoothly this time. x) i'm happyyy! *peace out*

alright, i shall start here..

to be frank, at the beginning i didn't know why my dad would want to visit mount merapi and borobudur temple at yogyakarta, indonesia when he suggested to us during mid of the year. he said previously it was somewhat like one of the seven wonders in the world? well, i personally felt that there's nothing special with it, and why not we visit somewhere else like jakarta, bandung, bali island or wherever instead of a scary and mysterious place like this?! lol! xD i admit that my geography is not that good, but i really never heard this place before going there.

so we booked air asia ticket to yogyakarta at a very cheap and affordable price. :) going anywhere doesn't a matter but a family trip could make everything so special. just two months before the travel date, which was about end of november or early of october if i'm not mistaken, a natural disaster had happened. if you noticed the news during that time, there was a volcano eruption occurred which has killed a number of lives in indonesia. yes you're right, it was exactly mount merapi that we were heading to. what a coincidence.. :S you may click this for the news, or click this for further details.

that month all of us were struggling to decide whether still wanna make out this trip or not. just two weeks before departure date, we received positive feedbacks from their local travel agency and some comments from previous local residents, therefore we ended up going on the tour. :O i was kinda worried but excited for the trip on that time! unfortunately, everything was ruined up as i fell sick just two days before the trip! :( fever has recovered one day before the trip yet i was still coughing and sneezing during the whole journey.

ignore my sick look, perhaps pictures can tell better than words..



we actually visited several hindu temples, and this is one of it, prambanan temple. this is the largest hindu temple in indonesia, as well as one of the largest hindu temples in south-east asia. :) #spot part of my good-looking cousin brothers and sisters! except my uncle at the middle! xP



this is the purpose of the trip, borobudur temple. according to the tour guide, there are lotsa historical stories of all these temples but i'm not gonna type it all, because i can't remember. :P #i love this picture very much! i love the colour, i love the pose, i love the people in it!



jumping shot has become our favorite after the nz trip last year! xD



one more thing is, i've never seen a sea with huge waves like this. i'm not kidding, but it was really awkward.. it looks like tsunami. :S #in fact this is a candid shot of mine. i don't know what i was trying to say that time..

let's proceed to the most important part of the trip. look at this..



spot those coconut trees? look at the shape of their leaves? lol!! xD this is caused by the smoke after the eruption. i don't know how to explain in the scientific way, so maybe you can just google it.. ==



according to the tour guide, we were the lucky first group of tourists that visited there after the disaster happened. @@ this is the village that was destroyed by this volcano eruption. i remember there was a lady who came to hold one of our hands, cried and told us everything happened to her house and family, then she even pointed her damaged house to us. omg when i heard about this, the time my feeling was like.. :'(((

let's pray for the victims of this natural disaster.



we were just 15km away from mount merapi. @@ #i was imagining if suddenly the volcano erupts again, what could happen next? *touch wood*



a group photo as the unforgettable memory.



in this photo, i was trying to show that previously it was a river in this village, but now it has turned to become like this.

the atmosphere at this area is kinda scary, we could still feel the heat from the lava around the place after the eruption, especially when we moved our body to stay close with the land. after this trip, my sickness didn't turn well yet and it has lasted for roughly one month. it was so bad. :( anyway, everything was over now. once i think back of the trip, i realized that it was a fantastic one, isn't it..

okay for the next two trips i gonna talk about, i won't write that much craps anymore kay.. because i'm lazy!! ==

as what i've mentioned just now, i went for a trip to johor bahru and singapore after came back from indonesia. i was awesome enough!! that time i haven't recovered at all.. and it was like a backpacker travelling because i travelled all the way alone from kl down to jb by bus. @@ four hours journey sitting in the bus was seriously tiring, but it's worth.. #just feel kinda disappointed for couldn't meet up with one of the girls, sighhh! very coincidentally, another thing that ruined up my mood was having menstruation period during that time. urghhh!! :(

on a happier note, i was glad to meet up with my girls, and hanged out like what we've planned earlier, like years before!! anyway, million of thanks to my dearest girls and qq's mummy for that three days. i appreciate it. ^^ we didn't really travel around singapore, just went to bugis street and orchard road due to limited time. == nevermind, i gotta plan and visit singapore again in the future.

let pictures tell the stories! :D



it's SINGAPORE!!



the two pretty sisters and me.. :)



and the kinda disappointing bubble milk tea..



finally i came to orchard road! yayyyy!! xD



it's really a good place for shopping..



the sweeties of the day! ♥



this is to prove that i came to singapore.. ==



our sweet memories. ♥ #i love the ferrero rocher christmas tree!! ;D



i love this..



thanks for the day! ♥



and yeah, some special food that i've tried for this trip is this.. something called 'kuey tiow kia', if i'm not mistaken. i think i took something like this before, when i went to malacca last time but i didn't know this is the name. @@ perhaps it is only more famous in southern part of penisular malaysia? i guess. x) however it tastes good! *thumbs up*

now let's proceed to the next trip! it's penang trip with my college mates, after we've planned for a long time.. finally we made it!! ;) #seriously i'm running of ideas with what to type already..

what's the most special with penang? yeah it's their food!! they are varieties of nice food, with reasonable prices!! *drool* so the purpose of our trip was all about eating. anyhow it's a great trip after all. we stayed in an apartment at batu feringghi with a very cheap and affordable price! guess what.. i just spent rm250+ for the whole four days trip. :) five of us in a car, drove all the way down from kl to ipoh, and from ipoh to penang. tiring yet fun!



we had dimsum at here, somewhere in ipoh..



thanks my mate for guiding us around ipoh! xD



this is the symbol of penang, 'kek lok si'.. isn't it? @@



we were trying to act like snakes.. at snake temple. ==



eat! eat! eat! :P



our group photo! == *lame*



at gurney drive..



beaches are the must! ♥



my favorite shot! looks like dancing..

and here comes the most important part of my post!! FOOD that you can't miss out!! :))))



the colour is so tempting right? ;) we took at 'tong shui gai' in ipoh. to be frank the taste is just normal only.. i just simply love the colour of this picture! ♥



drive-through 'taufu fa' in ipoh..



ipoh coffee is a must! ♥

as for penang..



to be frank, before this trip, i didn't know that prawn noodles at here is known as hokkien mee. :S i was looking for it from stall to stall, but couldn't get it and later on i only realized! how blur i was!! ==

anyway, this is not bad too, but kinda spicy.



this is called 'apung'. @@



'lo bak'..



'mua ji'..



kuey tiow soup with duck meat! ♥ this is super duper awesome! the soup is extremely nice!! i'm not kidding, but the taste has made me thought of the soup cooked by my grandma that has passed away very long ago.. i never tried the same taste until i took this!! i love it to the max!!

and the following are recommended by various bloggers, 'ho chak', some of their local magazines.. :D if by chance you visit penang again, you can't miss out these!!



asam laksa.. ♥



'char kuey tiow'.. ♥



and the best ever cendol i've ever taken! ♥

frankly speaking, before we went there, none of us were familiar with the roads and places in penang. #as for me, the last time i went to penang was like more or less about 10 years ago. how could i remember.. so basically, our whole trip was like depending on the gps, did some research online, viewed blogger's feedbacks on the food and searched for it. that was great isn't it! at here i would like to thank to the couple for all the efforts! xD

click here, this is one of the famous blogger's website that we referred to.

finally i've finished typing this post! *BIG sigh of relief* actually i was not in the mood to continue with this already just now and the behind part i just simply typed, guess i've missed out many things that i wanna type at first.. hahaha!!

okay, goodbye summer break and hello new semester! NOOOOOOO!! *SAD to the max* :(((((

with love,
chinchin

A Brand New Start

hello peeps! this is my first post from perth, western australia. :)

it's still summer right now, sunlight strikes into my eyes during the daytime yet the strong wind has made the weather great. #therefore i have to be very hardworking to apply sunblock on skin frequently. ==

hard to believe that i'm currently situated at 4162km distance away from my homecountry. sitting in front of my study table at this new place, looking at the dark sky through the window during this beautiful cooling night, i think of everything at home. how is everyone there? :') *tears rolling in eyes*

anyhow, everything is fine with me at here. i just need a little bit more time to settle down. :D

two days ago was just like a drama. i used to send off my friends who were going to study abroad in the airport, and couldn't believe that day was my turn where my family and friends came to send off me. :S my mind has been struggling for a few days. i was excited to come over this place and welcome this new life, but at the same time i was so unwilling to separate with my family and friends. :( awww.. i don't know how to describe this type of feeling, but i guess anyone that could ever meet the same condition like mine, they would feel that too. :X the hardest moment is the time saying goodbye, i really agree with this statement.


i gonna miss them so badly on the coming days. ♥


thanks to whoever that managed to pick out free time during these hectic hours and came to the airport that day. and yeah, thanks for the surprise. ♥

thanks for the best wishes from all of you. i really appreciate it. ♥

okay, i admit that i'm a 'crying pau'. #i don't wanna be like that anymore after this. i cried when it was about the time to go on board. :'(


not forgetting a flying kiss.. == anyway, thanks for the shot! ;) #all the photos above are taken from 38 soo hua through facebook, thanks a lot! :D

GOODBYE EVERYONE.. take care and all the best! ♥

okay well, it's not like forever won't be going back to malaysia anymore. gonna meet everyone again when i'm back to home next time.. :'D

i've been awaiting for this life since very long ago, isn't it.. since the moment i stepped into the boarding hall, i knew things would be totally different with what i used to have. without hesitating, it's time to be really independent, it's time to learn. anyway, the most important is really thankful to my parents for giving me this opportunity, a chance to make a change. without their support, i won't be having what i'm owning right now. :)

now i'm at a new place, starting a new life all over at here. for me, this is a turning point, another new beginning of my life. #and i wish my plan goes on smoothly. :X

many challenges are coming ahead, i'm ready for all of these. *smile widely* yet sometimes when bad or difficult things came together and ruined me up, i just couldn't stand for it. #dear family and him, thanks for mumbling, scolding and reminding me constantly, on what i'm supposed to do. :')

"stay tough. stay calm. stay wise. stay rational. stay steady. stay smart."


cheers for this brand new start! *smile to the camera*

valentine's day comes together with the first day of my international orientation week, which falls on tomorrow. it's a good start though.. although i won't be seeing him yet, but still wish all of you to have a great valentine's day with your loved ones! xD

good luck and all the best to myself! ♥ gonna webcam with my family now, and then get into bed. GOOD NIGHT. :)

with love,
chinchin