Call me Hai Bo!

FK bought the famous Shanghai World Expo mascot, Hai Bo for me from Shanghai.

Simply love it. Cute!

Unsettled

I could have lied but I chose not to coz I wanna respect you.

I really seek your understanding on this matter and don't make things difficult for us.

Thank a million!

Australia's top model finals

What a blunder! Or was it intentional?

Online Purchase Arrived!

After waiting for about 3 weeks, my online purchase from wardrobe54 has finally arrived. I am quite pleased with my purchase, though the maxi dress is slightly too big for me.

One of the dresses which I have purchased. Wore it to work today. =)

Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen 《精武风云: 陈真》

Honestly, I am neither a fan of Donnie Yen nor Kung Fu movie. In fact, I didn't watch IP Man despite all the fantastic reviews. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the show and concluded that it was indeed interesting despite the plain and predictable plot.

Thanks to omy, I had the chance to catch Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen yesterday. And, yes, I was captivated by the swift and suave Kung Fu moves of the male lead (Donnie Yen). In fact, he reminds me of Bruce Lee, especially during his last fight scene with the Japanese leader. Not sure if it is intentional though. -_-

The pitiful dance hostess cum Japanese war captain acted by Shu Qi and the comical policeman played by Huang Bo are also significant characters that have grabbed my attention throughout the show. In particular, I was enthralled by the fact that Shu Qi was able to display the internal struggle (being a spy and yet, a “genuine” close friend of Vivien and the love interest of Chen Zhen) of the character so well. I actually felt sorry for her for having to face the typical plight of woman (being deemed as just a sex tool) in ancient time despite trying her best to fulfill her responsibility of helping her country to win the war.

A good mix of violence, emotional struggle and slight comedy. In short, I will rate this movie 4/5.

Synopsis of movie:
While China is traumatized by military cliques during the World War era in the 1020s, Shanghai is the cynosure of all eyes. People see it as both Hell’s Kitchen and Heaven’s Gate/ One of the city’s most memorable heroes has to be Chen Zhen, who single-handedly avenges his mentor’s death by killing all the Japanese at a dojo in Hongkou, only to be showered with bullets while making his legendary flying kick. Vanished from the public eye ever since, he has been taken dead though his body is never found.

Seven years later, a wealthy entrepreneur called Koo returns from abroad and makes a grand entrance on the Shanghai social scene by befriending the notorious mafia boss of the city. This mysterious man is none other than Chen Zhen in disguise who dwells in a world of nefarious means in order to infiltrate the criminal empire. He soon discovers a clandestine collusion between the mafia and the Japanese.

Disguised as a caped crusader at night, Chen sets out to dismantle with his martial arts skill the evil collusion that plaques the country. One of his foremost missions is to ferret out the assassination list prepared by the Japanese.

Yomik Gathering @ Pu Tien

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Pu Tien @ Marina Square

The last Yomik gathering was on…I can't remember. It has been such a long time since we last met.

Anyway, I had been yearning to try the food at Pu Tien for quite some time already, especially so after listening to my mum's compliments of the restaurant. Indeed, the food was good!

The Tofu is a miss-try. I love the yam dish though most of friends prefer the noodles.

Disappointed with Last Minute Marketing and Planning Pte Ltd

If a travel agency can't even fulfill the basic of getting back to customers promptly, do you think it can provide good customer service?

Well, promptly has been loosely defined in this incident as I have lowered my expectation. I only expect them to reply my email which has been pending for more than 2 weeks and yet, they failed to do it. I am utterly disappointed with Last Minute Marketing and Planning Pte Ltd.

I was given a free voucher for 3 Days 2 Nights Batam trip when I went for a presentation conducted by Last Minute Marketing and Planning Pte Ltd in June. Given that it is expiring soon, I informed the staff that I would like to utilise the voucher and requested for the staff to book the trip. My last email exchange with the staff was on 6 Sep...coz the staff simply didn't want to reply! Yes, even after my chaser email on 13 Sep, they still ignore my request. Faced with no other choice, I have to call and hound them for a reply!

During the presentation in June, the manager confidently highlighted that their staff provide extremely good service as well as the 'incredible' discounts for flights and accomodations (which is actually not much judging by the fact that you have to pay a five figure amount to sign up for their package). Well, I have only one conclusion. He is a good liar.

Sydney Day 1

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Sydney

Back to Sydney again! I love the vibrant city!

Out of the 3 cities, the weather in Sydney was the best. Not as gloomy and chilly as Melbourne...

We stayed at Mercure Sydney and we really enjoyed our stay. Well-furnished rooms, accessible, friendly staff...they even provided us a pillow menu to choose the type of pillow which we preferred. Isn't it wonderful? =)

We spent our Day 1 exploring the city.

Walked from Chinatown to Darling Harbour and then to Sydney Opera House...

On the bridge, walking to Circular Quay.

The lovely city

What was he looking at?

Red House but no Crab...

Went for dinner with FK @ Red House.

But we didn't order crab coz both of us didn't want dirty our hands...& only 2 of us, couldn't order variety of crabs unless we wanna waste the food as we wouldn't be able to finish (of cos not! the food is not cheap k!)

Come to think of it, it was kinda odd...just like going to the AMK Mellben & never order crab. Hmmm...

But who cares...we still enjoyed our food!

Melbourne Day 3

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Melbourne

Mt Buller

Though we left our hotel at 5ish in the morning, we only managed to get Mt Buller at noon. It was such a long travel journey. And sadly, we couldn't stay at Mt Buller for long coz we need to make our way back to town before sunset. Nevertheless, we were glad that we took the opportunity to visit the place and captured a few nice shots.

Mt Buller was packed with locals, probably due to weekends. Anyway, tours to Mt Buller are only available from July to November so do take the opportunity to visit Mt Buller if you are in Australia during winter. =)

We gotta take a free shuttle bus which takes us to the ski resort. Yes, it is the blue and white bus in the third picture.

Yeah! We reached the ski resort!

0 degree! Cold!

Acting cool...Again!

The kids were learning how to ski

Snowing! Smeone who couldn't control his ski nearly bang into me while I was taking this picture...


Our lunch @ Uncle Pat's. The serving was huge

Yes, we enjoyed ourselves!

Next Target: Chanel

My next target

Have been eyeing this for the longest time

Yes, I will not sign up!

Went for my facial yesterday at Asian Skin Solutions yesterday evening and was told by the beautician that there is a change of management in the company and the price of their facial treatments have increased tremendously. Apparently, the new prices for O2 jet facial and TCA facial treatment are $280 and $480 respectively. OMG, even more expensive than visiting a dermatologist! And honestly, it is NOT worth paying so much for their treatment.

Anyway, I have left 8 sessions of O2 jet facial and I am adamant that I will not sign up for anymore facials with this company...not only because of the price, but also due to the fact they didn't honour what they have promised - the sales consultant is supposed to scan and do a review of skin after my 3rd session of O2 jet but she has clearly forgotten about it...or should I say, she doesn't give a damn since she has closed the deal and earned the commission?

Melbourne Day 2

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Melbourne

Great Ocean Road

Yes, Great Ocean Road is indeed scenic! Though this was my 2nd trip to Melbourne, it was the first time I went for Great Ocean Road tour. Have heard so much about it…the good and the bad…but my conclusion is that I enjoyed the tour. We were lucky to have Doctor Phil from APT as our driver cum tour guide. We rate him as the best guide out of the four who took us on tours with APT. Having an entertaining and humourous guide, I spent most of time on the coach listening to stories and laughing at jokes (instead of the usual snoozing...).

Our first stop was at Angelsea where we spent about 45 minutes to enjoy our morning coffee.

Angelsea - a relatively quiet small town

Yes! We have arrived!

Spotted beautiful scenery along the way:

Given that we had to visit a few places within a day, we couldn't spend too much time for our lunch. Glad that our food was served pretty fast and thus, we had ample time to enjoy it. =)

Went for a quick lunch before heading on to the 12 Apostles.

Took the helicopter ride which costed AUS 75 per pax. I managed to coax FK to take the ride with me...hehehe...

Such strong wind...I was soooo cold!

Acting cool

Sooo excited!

Can you see the seahorse?

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down...

A long ride back.

We only reached the city at around 8pm.

Went for a sumptuous dinner in Chinatown before we headed back to our hotel

Melbourne Day 1

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Melbourne via Qantas

Compared to Gold Coast & Syndey, Melbourne looked rather gloomy. In fact, it reminds me of winter in Europe.

We spent our first in Melbourne touring the city. And if you have read my previous post on my bad experiences in Hotel Sophia, you would have guessed that we spent some time searching for Holiday Inn Flinders.

the gloomy weather

Surprised to find beautiful pink flowers


Though Queen Victoria Market was supposed to close at 5pm, most of the shop owners have packed up by 4pm. It was quite quiet and empty when we reached there.

Honestly, there was nothing interesting in the city. Shopping wasn't fantastic as things were relatively more expensive...so taking pictures became our priority. Haha...

Choice

Life is full of choices

Once you have made a choice, never regret.

Rather, make the best out of it.

Bad experiences in Hotel Sophia (Melbourne)

Before I share my traveling experience in Melbourne, I need to warn all travellers or future travellers to Melbourne NOT to stay in Hotel Sophia. Not because of the physical conditions of the hotel, but the poor customer service that was rendered by the staff.

Was supposed to stay at Mercure but couldn't get any room so...

1. I shared with the Manager of Hotel Sophia that we need to board the coach for our tour to Mount Buller at Holiday Inn Flinders and requested for her assistance to check the location. I even provided her the phone no. of Holiday Inn Flinders so that she can help us call the hotel. However, she just brushed us off by saying that she will check the internet and send the info to our room. Needless to say, it was NOT done. We had to search for Holiday Inn Flinders on our own. Damn!

2. We requested for morning call as we need to get up early for our Great Ocean Road tour. Yes, no morning call! When we told the receptionist on this lapse in service, he insisted that he called us and even went up to our room to knock our door...ya, what a liar! We are not deaf or stupid ok!

3. Given that we had to board the coach to Mount Buller at 5.45am, we requested 2 breakfast boxes. We even reminded the receptionist the night before our tour to ensure that he wouldn't forget...but still, argh! We had to share 1 breakfast box!

4. The housekeeping staff forgot to put towel in our room after housekeeping. FK had to call them 3 times to request for towel before they sent it to our room. Argh! Testing our patience?

5. When we had our breakfast in the restaurant on the last day of our stay, there was no hot water. So no coffee or tea in the morning...pathetic right?

Poor attitude and customer service is something which I can never tolerate…if you can make your customers happy (or at least not upset) by providing the basics, why should you hestitate to do that?

Gold Coast Day 3

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Gold Coast

Paradise Country Farm followed by Harbourtown shopping

Living in fantasy in Day 2 and getting close to nature in Day 3.

Though I wasn't an animal lover, I enjoyed myself during the Paradise Country farm tour (except for the Billy Tea performance which I felt that it was kinda mediocre). Taking pictures with the Koalas (glad that we didn't pay AUS15 to carry the Koala in Gold Coast coz it was free in the farms in the outskirts of Sydney!), feeding and chasing the Kangaroos, observing the sheeps...made me miss my previous Safari tour in Johannesburg where I had the chance to carry the tiger cub. But of cos, the experience in Jo-burg was different as the animals weren't as tamed.

We were told that the Koalas sleep 20 hours a day and eat Eucalyptus leaves for the rest of the 4 hours. Simply good life ya. BTW, there is no such thing as Koala bear as Koala doesn't belong to the same species as bear.

FK is afraid of Kangaroo! Hahaha...that is why he is standing so far away from it!

We went around taking pictures as the Billy Tea show was simply boring

Lunch at the Paradise Country Farm was also one of the main highlight. Both of us selected fresh grilled fish as our main course and spaghetti, cheese potato (a must-try, super yummy!) and keropok (are you amazed that the restaurant served that?) as our side dishes. Ate so much... 我是大胃王...hahaha

After lunch, we went to harbourtown for shopping. Supposed to be factory outlets...but the things aren't cheap. Bought a pair of boots for myself but one of buttons on the boots came off when I was in the airport, travelling from Melbourne to Sydney. Zzzz...

Random Thots

Really love traveling…back from Aussie for barely a month and I can't wait to go for my next holiday.

Sometimes I wonder whether I will be happier being a crew.

BTW, Thai Airways is having promotion for SIN-BKK-TPE-ICN-BKK-SIN at $499. Finally the airlines begin to realise the popularity and perhaps profitability of multi-sectors flights. Have always wanted to plan for multi-sectors trips but the air ticket itself will cost me a bomb (unless travel with tour package which means no freedom) and thus, my plan never materialise. Finally, I begin to see some hope...

Gold Coast Day 2

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Gold Coast

Movie World followed by Eileen Peters Park

Yes, this is also my second time to Movie World.

Strangely, I can't remembered much of my first visit which was in 2005. Only vaguely remembered that Movie World is kinda small (Yes! It is still very small!) compared to Disneyland and I had a terrifying experience during the Scooby Doo ride.

Nevertheless, being small doesn't equate to being lousy or boring. I had quite a lot of fun taking the rides and watching the shows, in particular the Hollywood Stunt Driver which is proudly presented by Castrol EDGE. Hollywood Stunt Driver is a real-live action show which is relatively new in Movie World. During the show, both FK & I were immersed in act of the stunt drivers...I guess they must injured themselves a few times during the rehearsal?

Entrance ticket to a day of fun

Our first stop was at Shrek...experiencing the 4D effect

Hollywood Stunt Driver presented by Castrol EDGE. Miss see coz it simply amazing!

Lots of characters...though I don't really know who they are, except for batman.

Posing...camwhoring

Finally, the characters whom we know

Final picture @ Movie World before we takethe 3.15pm bus back to our hotel

We went to the beach at the Eileen Peters Park which is less than 5 minutes away from our hotel.

What a beautiful beach!

& I love seabreeze...

We ended the day with good meal at the clockhouse. Again there are jackpot machines in the restaurant...