Saturday, January 30, 2010

The true joy in life. ^^

When you grow older, you'll realized even more the simplest joy in life. When i was younger, i was happy when i get to eat good food on family dinners.

But tonight, i'm truly happy cuz of the company. Just nice that my sisters in-law were both around and i'm not working as well. We had zi char downstairs for dinner. Got dan to join as well and really, i love the company so much. =) Really means alot to me. And i appreciate dan for joining us.

And over dinner, dan suggested to do a dinner where dan's parents and mine will meet after CNY. ^^ Haha` i'm really happy! It definitely means so much to him and myself.

I've had a hard and long day yesterday and this definitely brought my spirits up alot.

==

Yesterday my set of crew and i reported for work at 3.50pm for Macau flight. I've already closed the doors and gave command to arm the doors for evacuation and we were halfway through the safety demo when the captain alerted me that the overwing exits doors were not armed. Which was weird as they should be automatically armed. Therefore it can only mean 2 things, the indicator is not working, or that the doors are really not armed.

Engineers came in and couldn't fix it cuz it'd mean a bigger procedure. Contemplated and followed orders from logistics. Only 2 choices left, that is to change aircraft or to offload 42 passengers in order to go. But it'd mean bigger problem as we'll need to offload the same number of passengers in Macau as well to comply with the air laws since 2 escape doors were down.

Passengers will have to volunteer to offload themselves or that they'll risk the ground staff having to choose those passengers themselves. But it became very chaotic whereby loads of passengers were standing on the airstairs and forward area talking to the ground staff. Ended up almost 40 or more of them rallying in front asking for answers and literary shouting at me and the ground staff. Really. Fucking chinese singaporeans. I'm ashamed of people from my own heritage.

I couldn't take it anymore and was almost in tears. I wished i could just tell them all to STFU but i can't. And i really tried to keep the situation under control but i don't even know what the logistics wants us to do and neither did the captain. I've got bloody uncles shouting at me asking me why i dunno how to control the situation and that i should do this or that. But hello, what do u know? And i've got parents as well, why do i have to be here and be hollered at you people? I'm here for safety and it's not even the crew's fault to begin with.

Totally crumbled under immense pressure. I told the captain we should deplane the passengers cuz i cannot handle their aggressiveness anymore. Even the engineers saw that i couldn't take it anymore. Pilots stepped down cuz hours were up, but we'll have to continue. Gotten Jet from Logistics to swap us to another flight cuz i told him we cannot face the same set of passengers again.

In the end, my set of crew operated the Shenzhen flight. Though longer hours and we're totally fatigued, definitely it was far better off. Worked our ass off till we touched down at 5:45 AM. Total 14 hours of flight duty period.

Please, throw me indians and fillipinos anytime.

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/30/2010 10:23:00 PM

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Langkawi - Most memorable trip ever.

Langkawi - 22nd Jan '10 to 25th Jan '10

It's an escapade with dan alone cuz the others couldn't make it. Little did i know that they wanted to leave dan and myself alone. o.O

1. First time i kayaked in this 2 seater kayak which uses only one sided oar. o.O

2. First time i rode in a dinghy, which is a boat made of rubber ? and comes with a motor.

3. First time i've spent time in a chartered yacht. =)

4. First time i've visited a waterfall.

5. Not the first time i've lost my shades ( the one i bought in perth =( ) In fact everytime i go overseas i'll be sure to lose my pair of shade. bah`

6. First time my choice of hotel/resort wasn't ideal cuz of the location. hmph`

7. And the first and the last time someone actually proposed to me. >.<

Now let's do the talking with some pictures we've took on this trip ^^ We took Airasia to Langkawi on friday morning cuz they've got better timing. Departed from Terminal 1 and we had breakfast at BK before the flight.

Breakfast King and croissant'wich meals. ^^ LOVE LOVE LOVE their croissant =))

While we were waiting for boarding. Gotten the last row in the a/c lol` And met this stupid steward who's totally a poser. I really suspect he's a gay. hmmmmmm` Very very attention grabbing. Said 'ice ice baby' when we asked him for a cup of ice for our ribena -.- And when there's turbulence and he was still with his service cart, he said to the passengers 'to the left to the right' -.- omg`

Reached Langkawi at about 12:30 pm, same GMT as SG. And we grabbed a cab down to our resort. It happened to be a very very far end of the Cenang beach (Pantai Cenang) so therefore, do not pick that unless u wanna rent a car/bike. Hai` lol

Dan checking in at Awana Porto Malai Resort.

Checking in was really swift cuz there weren't much people. In fact i believe the resort's not even 50% full for its occupancy rate. hmmmmmmm`

Our deluxe sea view room.

yup, it's got 2 queen sized beds lol` Due to legend, we've messed up one bed even if we're not occupying it just to let the spirits know that it doesn't belong to them hehe`

It comes with this rather big balcony which we can sit down and relax, as well as to admire the scenery. All in all we're rather happy with the room but the location is really much too far away. There's nothing in the vicinity at all.

Enjoying the boardwalk in our resort. ^^ And tt's baby trying to find fish -.-

Lovely trash bins

Nice huh. =) These fish stay around the area cuz we've got a fish feeding timing hehe`

Uninhabited island near our resort. See tt rocky pathway in front of it? tt's our romantic spot. =))

The restaurant in our resort. There're a couple of them so we didn't need to worry about food. But they're not too nice and rather expensive as compared to the rest.

We spent 10 minutes walking OUT of our resort and then another 10 minutes before we came to this island hopping tours place. It's actually a jetty which caters all these tours. omg we didn't find food there. Therefore we bought a drink and some snacks and headed back to our resort -.- Basically we didn't walk any further cuz it's really impossible and there's nth near our resort at all.

lol` and so we walked back. Went to the minimart in our resort and bought 6 cans of Carlsberg and a packet of non-crispy lobster crackers. =( Sad case hehe`

Settled dinner in our resort's restaurant.

Ordered Caesar salad to share.

Dan had tom yam soup with rice. Hmmmmm tom yam soup wasn't nice therefore not worth it to take anyway.

I had fried rice with anchovies and morning glory, topped with fried egg and a fried chicken wing. =) Not too bad hehe`

Ha, picture with an ATV, but we didn't ride on it. It was in our resort as a gimmick to attract tourists.

And so, we watched vision four channel on tv and while the night away. Slept early and woke up for breakfast provided in our resort stay!

Find that they have alot of varieties, from cereals to fruits, to bread and loads of spreads, to western breakfast, to malay nasi lemak and even porridge and soto ayam and egg station.

Sunrise right at our balcony. Woke up at 7am myself and sat all the way till 8am when dan woke up. The view was just breathtaking. =)

See what i mean?

Lovely isn't it?

Prata with dhal curry which was really good!

Toast with unsalted or salted butter, apricot, marmalade, raspberry or strawberry spread. =))

Soto ayam.

Omelette with green peas and mushrooms

Scrambled eggs

Headed to the boardwalk for a stroll before going back to our resort. Hmmmmmmm` Wanted to go to that romantic spot after our breakfast but dan said to go only after we've gone back to bath and change. o.O

^^

And so, we went back to our room, relaxed, bathed and changed. Called up Damai Indah's Captain whose name is Eva and she mentioned that they've got private charter on the day itself (Saturday) =( She said she would try to gather people for a shared charter on sunday for us. Thus we've planned to go to the Cable Car and also Seven Wells Waterfall on this day.

But first, before we head out, we went to the romantic spot. ^^ The gate's finally opened in the day and we're really excited.

Check out the rocky pathway, that's where we wanna head out to.

Our resort.

The rocky pathway looks like this but when it gets towards the end, they're all made up of huge rocks, so it's rather difficult to get to the end point.

I can't resist it, i have to do a jump shot. hehe` And dan's really good at taking jump shots!! lol`

1st attempt

And this is the last attempt. hehe YAY`

Almost reaching our romantic spot. Difficult to walk cuz i was in my slippers -.-

When we've reached the end, this is what our resort looks like from out in the sea. =) Nice huh`

Was walking back to our resort when i couldn't see dan keeping up with me. Turned back and saw him in on one knee and calling out to me... He then popped the very sacred question. Cliche, but it's happening to me. "Angela, will you marry me?" Was totally taken aback hmmmmmm`

^^ And i said YES!

Was really touched that i teared. But they're tears of joy. ^^

So here's my engagement ring, which he took pains to research for online, trying to find the better clarity/cut/set. ^^ Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee` I'm truly truly fortunate. And even spending 2 hours in ION jewelery street finding the perfect ring.

I'll always remember this romantic spot. ^^

Took a cab down to Oriental Village, where we could take the cable car from.

Saw these strange looking birds. hehe`

Not afraid of humans lol`

Kaypoh dear dear hehe`

Waiting in line for our turn to get into the cable car. After dan gave me the ring, he kept looking at it now and then to see how nice it looks on me. lol` Totally happy with his efforts.

Max 6 adults in the cable car. ^^

Had to go up this mountain. 42 degrees, can imagine how steep it is. hehe`

This is the middle station where there's a viewing platform.

Really nice view up here. ^^

I like this picture alot cuz i love the way the sun shines on us.

The suspension bridge from afar.

=))) *grins*

When we've reached the top station, where the suspension bridge is.

Baby's got a halo~

And so do i!

haha im so creative right??? ^^

Lovely patch of coral in the sea.

Taking the cable car back on ground ^^

Once we're on ground at Oriental Village, we decided to head down to Seven Wells Waterfall which the cabby driver said was 10 minutes away. Little did we know tt it's probably 10 minutes DRIVE away. Wth`

Walked almost half an hours? And decided to give up and sit down at this place selling massage oils made from sea cucumber.

Macik told us that it's just another 5 minutes walk away. But it'll take abt 10-20minutes to walk up the hill to see the waterfall. So we gave up and gotten her hubby to send us up there. He's a cabby driver as well. Got him to wait for us there so that he could send us to Kuah Town after that.

Tired us who've been walking up and down steps and a long long way on the road.

Really need to see the Seven Wells waterfall else we'll be really sad. Didn't see the actual waterfall though cuz it's far too high up. Went to the one beneath it. And it was good enough hehe`

Stagnant water beside the rapids. with loads of tadpoles in it hee`

And there we were, very pleased with ourselves =)) Of course it's really grand to me but not so much for dan cuz he's been to the great Niagara Falls. hehe`

yay! I've been to see a waterfall before!

You able to spot dan in the corner on the left?? lol` So cute and small lol like an imp =X

And there u go, i've zoomed in.

Love love love these set of pictures =))

Headed to Kuah Town where we had early dinner at this shopping mall. Ate in Marrybrown and walked around the stores. Did some groceries shopping at the basement before heading back to the resort cuz there was nth much to do in the vicinity as well.

My lunch cum early dinner in Marrybrown. =)

Relaxed for a while in our room and rested our strain bodies for a while before we headed back down for food again hehe`

This time dan had Mee Mamak which is really good.

And i had cashewnut with chicken and rice.

Called up Captain Eva and she said that nobody signed up for the shared charter from 2pm till 8pm on Sunday. Therefore she's still offering to take us out but only from 4 pm - 8pm. Original price was 450RM per pax but now it's 400 RM per pax for a private charter. wow`totally amazing hehe` Super excited about it. At least we didn't miss the chance of going out into the sea on Damai Indah!

Slept early cuz we were totally shagged. Woke up to see the sunrise at our balcony and had breakfast before going back to the room again.

Slacked till about 2.45pm in our room, sleeping and watched tv. Cabbed down to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club for our first cruise experience!

Oh i feel like a rich ass`

Went to the Damai Indah Office and looked for Captain Eva. ^^ Such a nice person who totally gave people good vibes and good energy hee` Gotten to know that 2 more will be joining us =( Sad hehe`

Lovely lovely berths for yachts. And such a nice sunny day!

Damai Indah

Boarding Damai Indah.

View of a restaurant call Charlie's Place from the yacht

Started off with a toast of champagne between dan, me and eva.

Eva's chef, Sham also served us cold and wet towels. =))

Nice cabin with the kitchen just beside it. =) Nicely furnished toilet too with towels, hand soap and even cologne. hehe`

Eva's crew Agus, went to pick up the other 2 guests from Westin using the dinghy.

Eva steering the boat.

Hammock onboard

Me & Lida, who's from Indonesia and came onboard with her daddy?.

One of the many lighthouses we see along uninhabited islands.

I'm loving it!!! =)) We went to this uninhabited island and dropped anchorage near there. Dan and i Kayaked over to the island and explored it. ^^ Found loads of snails attached to this particular rock. Took a dip in the sea and collected some seashells =)) Love love the place!

Many islands look like this, totally of rocks and trees growing out of it. =)

Can u see the eyes of the cloud? =))

And this was the island we kayaked to.

The dinghy. Rode on it to the bat cave which Eva discovered. hehe`

Limestone structures.

So man hehe` Eva stopped the engine of the dinghy and dan and her steered us towards the cave where we see the bat cave and smelt the stench of it.

Taken in the dinghy =)

Dan took orders from Eva and learnt how to steer the boat

Here's Agus standing at the far left hand side. The boat is his baby, pride and joy. ^^

Captain Eva who's from Germany.

=)) 3's a company

Going towards the best spot for sunset.

Our drinks just kept coming, fresh fruit juices, white wine and champagne. =)) And also salad and some nuts.

And i love the next 3 pictures alot =))

Sitting in the front of the boat for the best view of the sunset! ^^

Isn't this amazing? =)

Dinner was served during sunset, whipped up by Sham, who was also the ex chef of Westin Hotel.

Chicken.

Lovely vegetables in cream sauce

Mackerel

Superb prawns!

And also chicken curry =)

Love this meal alot! hehe` And of course the company. ^^

Had a drink in front of the boat with all of them and had a small chat till almost 9pm with loads of white wine before we left the yacht club. Headed down to Jetty Point which was a short walk away and had Baskin Robins Ice cream ^^ Packed KFC back to our resort for supper.

^^ To celebrate our love! hehe` Enjoyed all these on our balcony. but their hoegaarden sucks. hmmmm`

Skipped the free breakfast the next morning cuz we're sick of it. Chilled out till 12 noon when we checked out of our room and took the free transport to Cenang beach. Found brunch at this lovely place selling nasi campur.

Helped ourselves to the rice and dishes. I chose this ikan bakar too. ^^

My mixed veg rice with veggie, egg in sauce and also cuttlefish in sambal.

Dan's one comes with egg in sauce, chicken which was superb, mutton and kangkung.

Ordered this extremely huge bowl of tom yam seafood soup and total adds up to less than 15 SGD =)))

We were totally well fed and hit the beach after that. Well not exactly hitting the beach, we sat in the shade and enjoyed ice milk tea and coke lol`

Walked around and since we've got ample time to spare, we went for fish spa which cost only RM 15 for 30 minutes.

Dan's first time and he totally enjoyed it lol` Left my camera there and almost forgot to take it back =( I'm really a scatter brain.

Cabbed down to the airport and relaxed in Starbucks.

Left the ordering for dan to do and he did an amazing job hehe` Came back with Cajun Chicken dome which he got them to add cheese into it.

As well as a cup of really good dark chocolate mocha. ^^

Took Tiger back to SG and Captain was Anton. Was chatting with him before the take off and he included this in his welcome announcement "I've got happy news. One of our crew is travelling as a passenger and she thought she was going on an innocent holiday, but it ended up as a proposal. So let's wish daniel and angela a blissful marriage" lol and everyone clapped haha` But not knowing that it's us =X lol Really sweet ^^

It has been a really nice and memorable holiday. ^^ And i'll be sure to return again cuz i'd really love to visit Langkawi again. ^^

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/27/2010 11:24:00 AM

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Relax Bistro - 313@Somerset

Had a great time with the polka dotties at 313@Somerset last friday, 15th Jan.

Started off with a thread on FB with TY asking us when we'll be free for a get-together. In the end yx forgot abt the date and didn't join us -.- Toong Yeng is one of the few friends like Joanne and Yulian whom we'll never run out of topics to talk about even after years of not seeing each other. haha Which is a good thing.

Turned up just in time to save Sandy from her wild mushroom's soup. Not the best i've ever tasted but it's not too bad ^^ Waited for jy to come before we ordered our main. =) Relax Bistro is actually small restaurant tucked in the corner after Cold Rock Creamery. ^^

Sandy's fish & chips. Quite good i must say. ^^ Love their fries too. (Black backdrop provided by Sandy)

I ordered this penne pasta with bacon in tomato sauce. Don't know the name.

Toong Yeng's Aglio Oglio. Not too bad. ^^

JY's Vongole which surprisingly doesn't taste as good.

And Sandy never never want to show her face....

The 4 of us. ^^

The service in Relax Bistro is a little slow and they're not really attentive to patrons' needs like topping up of water. But all in all they're ok. Selection of items in menu is rather minimal though, but their food is not too bad.

Had a good time reminiscing the good old days in St. Marg's. Girls will always be girls. ^^

Head down to Cold Rock Creamery for some dessert and it kinda disappoint us cuz it wasn't as nice as the one on Perth. hmmmmm`

Toong Yeng's Ferrero with graham crackers.

Sandy's chocolate with cookie dough which tasted super average cuz the chocolate wasn't good enuff.

Mine - cheesecake ice cream with oreo, strawberry and blueberries. Let's just say I'd opt for strawberry shortcake McFlurry anytime. This is overpriced and not even tt nice and satisfying.

JY's vanilla ice cream with Tim Tam..

JY busy texting while Sandy was playing with her ice cream.. o.O

Look what happened next.

LOL candid.

o.O Poor waffle bowl.

^^ Had a great time with the girls! ^^

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/17/2010 01:19:00 PM

Saturday, January 16, 2010

A picture speaks a thousand words.

Here's many many thousands of words. ^^

It was a last minute decision to head down to Dbl O/O bar on 7th Jan. And it was made after our flight at 9pm when we walked back to the briefing room. lol` Went back home to bath and change before going down. Total of about 10 colleagues turned up, with Ben being the only guy around.

I love my hp camera, the shots taken were so clear given the conditions!

Hmmmmmmm my sexual direction is a little complicated sometimes.

Was totally crazy and mabo but i managed to drag myself up and even removed my make up before i plomp down onto my bed.

Almost got into a fight in O bar when a couple of guys tried to get fresh with the girls. Ben was almost throwing his fist when i remember pulling him back and shouting at the guys to go away.
Hmmmm totally close shave o.O Wondered where i got the courage, maybe too mabo le.

===

CIC Refresher Course

Takes place once every half a year cuz we need to renew our dates on our cards. hehe` Definitely a time to gather some CICs together and gossip =X rofl` Love love the time spent together. Took place this year at Alteon from 8.30 AM till 4pm.

And and and coincidentally, ALL of us wore BLACK!!!! except Steph who wore white but she brought a black shawl lol` o.O Amazing hehe`

Putting on an infant life vest for the baby.

Tea break.

Me & Steph

The team leaders hard at work. =))

See what i mean? Looks good huh. hehe`

Love love all these seniors hehe` ^^

===

Spent some time with dan last night and the whole of today. Managed to book resort for our stay in langkawi. Finally. Was having a bad headache cuz of it. Ended up all 4 of dan's friends pulled out of it. Ming xiang and weifa first, but i didn't feel much. When rach mentioned tt she wanna pull out of it last min with ron, i was really rather affected. But what to do, dan promised to make it memorable for me cuz i've put in alot of effort.

At least we wouldn't have to accommodate other people's needs now. It's sad that when she pulled out she mentioned that they still prefer to only stay in hotels/resorts of at least 4 stars. Oh well, so i know. Should there be a next time for me to plan overseas trip, i'd rather plan it for my own girlfriends. ^^ No hard feelings, but i think i'll never have other friends closer than my own good girlfriends. hee`

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/16/2010 10:28:00 PM

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

My unrealistic date

Shot taken from http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/andaman/photos.htm

I wouldn't say this would be my ideal date. But it'd be an unrealistic yet every woman's dream to have a romantic dinner while looking into the eyes of your perfect guy in this lovely setting. By the beach and just the 2 of you. =))

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/05/2010 11:56:00 PM

Alvin & The Chipmunks 2

Didn't catch the first one but the 2nd one was really hilarious! hee`

Stayed home whole day yesterday on my day off. Brewed white radish soup in the morning for dinner. Decided to go out for a movie with Jinwei and dan after dinner. Caught Chipmunks 2 at 8:50pm at amk hub. Love cathay's salted popcorn! hee` Had the staff brought it over to our seats cuz we ordered it when we bought the tickets.

Really enjoyed the show cuz it's one of those rather straightforward comedies. Company was great too haha` Went back home to sleep after the show.

On standby today but didn't get activated for any flight. Got activated for tomorrow's flight though. ^^ Watched hk series and also 'State of Play'. It's a really nice show that's really intriguing. ^^ 2 thumbs up for it.

Spent the rest of my day watching tv with mum and also curing my craving for udon. hee`

Yay now i'm under the SuperSim plan for Singtel! Meaning i'm not bounded by any contract and that i'll have double outgoing talktime and also double number of free sms! ^^ Yay!! hehe` therefore means my bill will be much lower i hope. hehe`

Feeling really bored now. =( Need to go pack my bag before i turn in.

Posted by reticent_aura at 1/05/2010 09:55:00 PM

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Sunday Brunch

Reported sick at 5am in the morning, when i was supposed to report for work at 8.50am. Thanks to the crew who stood in for me. bah` Was already down with bad throat after dinner last night and it evolved to a full blown one right when i woke up at 5am to go to pee.

Thanks to dan who showed up with 2 packs of Fisherman's friend. Love him loads. And so we slept in till about 10am before i woke up and showered. Went to have brunch first at Robertson Quay, The Quayside. Been searching online for brunch restaurants and found one that seems really affordable and good. =)

This place is call Epicurious and im totally hyped about it! hee` Was thinking that im not able to try their weekend brunch this week cuz im doing morning flights. But since i've taken MC so off we went!

Ordered Ginger Ale for myself and was surprised that this $3.80 Ginger ale is not the typical Schweppes Ginger Ale! YAY! It tastes really nice!

Dan had their home brewed ice lemon tea and it's really good too. =)

Was chatting away while waiting for the food to come. It took rather fast too. And since it's located at Robertson Quay, their patrons are mostly foreigners. Love the rustic feel of the whole restaurant and also its lovely food and nice servers.

Ordered pancakes to share. Can u see those vanilla beans extract?? =)) So precious hehe`

Ummmmmm i love maple syrup.. and And when it drowns my pancakes.

Dan ordered this for himself. Forgot the actual name. But it's ham and eggs baked with cheese. Served with home baked potatoes and toast to mop up the lovely mixture. Really really good, and i was so afraid that dan wouldn't like it cuz he's not too keen on too much cheese. But he loves this! =)) And he said that it tastes better than mine. hehe`

I've ordered Eggs Benedict cuz the food blogger was totally obsessed with it. hehe` It's actually smoked ham and poached eggs served on a toasted muffin with hollandaise sauce. Really really good but the gooey eggs gets a little bit too jelak towards the end. Besides these, we've also ordered 2 servings of mushrooms at only $1.50 each to go along with our breakfast. Totally love love love mushrooms!

Yay dan loves this place and the food they whipped up! I'm gonna look forward to coming back here again and again! Can't stop raving about their food. And it's totally worth the extra calories every week if im able to afford the time!

===

Stayed home the whole day after visiting the doctor. Packed dinner for mum and myself and watched Spiderman 3 on channel 5 with Chris and my mum. =)) Only thing tt's missing is salted popcorn from Cathay.

Having my day off tomorrow. Shall rest well!