Nov '17


// Happening this month // 
new iphone
outing with aleena
quest for shoes
hwee chien's wedding
sand & sky mask
trying out durian pizza
boardgames with strangers
ed sheeran's concert in singapore
#kennykellytietheknot
...  and more kitties' photos

Oct '17


// Happening this month // 
incredible wanton me at Eng's Noodles House
can't draw stuff properly
to Markdorf for biz trip
weekend trip to Lünersee
board games
trip to Immenstadt
Munich with Sevda
cats with boxes and plastic bags
eyebrow dilemma
Sam Rui at Noise Invasion fest
Weekend cookfest 
and other nonsense...

My 2017 Christmas gift list

I think it's a good idea to write this one month before because lately I've been hearing questions like "What do you want for your birthday". Obviously I was caught by surprised and my mind was blank. How the flying duck would I know? I don't really think about buying things everyday, although I did have this idea of keeping a "want list" but I was just to lazy to even open a new note in my phone and jot it down when I have a good inkling of what I want.

But hey, today I'll just try really hard and write down this list. Maybe I'll just keep updating this list for the next few days (because I am fickle minded like that).


  1. Mini Instax Films. Because I need them for my Mini 8 camera (which I rarely use anymore, because it's kind of forgotten and it's kind of bulky to bring around BUT it takes really good photos. So, I try to use it as much as I can. And I have only 5 films left right now. Any amount of donation is fine. Thank you.) I think Uncle Alvin is getting me this since he was asking me about it through my mum. Muahaha
  2. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Remix for PS4. I love my games. I bought these two for myself recently
  3. Since I like games, would like Okami HD for PS4. I even got a tattoo of it because I like the wolf a lot.
  4. Time. I need time. Somebody please find a way to slow down time or just give me something that could make me travel back in time
  5. Catnips... for my cats
  6. Cash donations for my bunion surgery because it's giving me a lot of problems when I go travelling
  7. A camcorder so I can start vlogging and stuff, upload it on Youtube, gain a million followers and then quit my job. 
  8. A Macbook, so that I can edit my vlogs in it and play Final Fantasy XIV all day long
  9. Since I said about playing Final Fantasy XIV, then I would also need the one year fee for playing it. 
  10. A yoga mat. Mine have some minor scratches on it (no thanks to my cats) and it's flaking off
  11. A clothes/bag hanger so that I can put my bags, currently my room is a mess because I don't know where to hang my bags. 
  12. A house, my own house. Which probably is not good as a gift, I will have to buy that for myself. I have too much shits, I need somewhere so that I can put my stuff and deco in it. 
I have a feeling this list is going to grow.. 



Sept '17

// Today's post features //
an *almost* visit to Yayoi Kusama exhibition in Singapore
flower dome x Lok&June
日本語の勉強をします
steak party
darts, my new found talent
Bianca & Grey
girls weekend
terrace house x Lauren Tsai
drunk man outside my house
photos around Singapore x snow app
hiking
some random shits in between
and a lot selfies recently

Joey's Diving Trip | 6 days in Bunaken & Lembeh, Indonesia

Blogging on an iPad is not an easy matter because blogger on mobile devices is shit. I can't scroll up and down when I am editing my post and I can't edit the picture properties properly. The setting just wouldn't show up. Then I paid for an app called BlogTouch Pro. It's still shitty, because I can't edit the picture size too! I can put, I'll have to manually drag each picture to the wanted size but the resolution would be shit. Why isn't there anyone who is fixing this problem!??!? Pictures are crucial to a blog post, doesn't everybody know that? Ah gosh. 

I'm always starting my blog with rants. I guess this is going to be a very frequent thing. 
But anyway, at least I recovered my last post for food review. It seems like the copy still exist on my BlogTouch because it's not resyncing every time to blogger. So I kind of cheated it out. Missing a few things, but I removed the map all together. Don't want to bother about that embedded nightmare anymore. I'm so restricted on the iPad. Urgh. And you think being able to touch the screen around is going to be more intuitive but no. We need capable programmers (HIRE ME!!! I know what bloggers want). 

I wonder if emojis shows up well on my blog. Let's see 🥘🌸👗👫💕😅

***************
Okay, enough monkeying around. I decided to blog it out first and find some other way to change the size of the pictures later on with a computer or so. I procrastinated too long to blog about my diving trip (one month flies by just like that). 

Last year was our first diving trip together with Shy Bey and her colleagues. We met Priscilla, Harry, Richard and VC during the trip and bonded really well. Everyone is very fun to be around with so we decided to go again for another diving trip this year! 


Food Review | Man Man, Non Entree, Aloha Poke, Tendon Ginza Itsuki, Tsujiri

It's been awhile since I have written a food review post. I kind of gave up on it few years ago when I started cooking more at home and the habit of taking photos of food kind of died out too. I noticed I am getting out more recently, but still not really taking much pictures. That is why I decided to compile all the reviews in one post, because there isn't really that much photos. Okay, might not be a "proper" food review post but hey, whatever. It's for my own amusement anyway but hopefully I could introduce good food around Singapore.

Oh, and uh.. I never bothered to edit the pictures. So, they are basically... #nofilter. *grin*




Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant | Facebook

We heard this place from a friend. Actually, from his facebook post and the queue he had to endure before getting his dinner was blardy long and the review was good. Therefore, we decided to go and have a try. The place is not easy to find but that doesn't stop the crowd from coming here. We started queuing at 6.30pm on a Thursday evening and I think we waited for an hour and a half or so. We could have entered earlier actually but 2 of our friends weren't there yet so the staff didn't let us in.

Large Una Don | 32.80$+
Actually I don't really remember if I ordered the Una Don, but I remember it was definitely a large portion and it's portrayed on a single page on its own. I guess it's a new menu which I can't find online.

July & August '17

// Today's post features //
Cat Town, Seremban
Bianca & Grey's status & 1st Birthday
Sprained ankle
Gathering X colleagues
Gathering X Alicia & Sam
Sweets from India

*Small rant*
I actually spent one day to write a food review post on multiple places the other day, I published it and reverted to draft because some of the maps are not embedded correctly. Then today, I used Ctrl + Z and suddenly evey thing on the draft post is gone, then autosave happened. I panicked and press the close button. And now everything is gone. Not even Ctrl + Z or Y can save me. Urghhh. I'm not gonna write it again. It's too darn frustrating. It's like playing a game from level 1 to level 30 and then I didn't save and then my game crashed. aslkdfalweualsjkdc nadasdlfja hjkasd fha Okay rant over. 



Heard that there's a new cat place in town! It's not a cat cafe. It's a cat haven(? If my understanding for this English word is correct). They charge per entrance so you can stay as long as you want there. I don't really remember how much it was, because I was not the one paying it. I think it's around RM16? *Not sure, so don't take my word for it*

Joey's Diving Trip | Tenggol, Terengganu X Viking Scuba

screenshot from Viking Scuba Instagram page

My first diving trip for year 2017. Our destination this time is Tenggol island, which has recently gain some fame over the year mainly because of whale shark sighting and only recently, like few weeks ago, some divers did met one and video-ed it down.

There were 10 of us on this trip. 5 from KL, and another 5 from Singapore. 2 fresh blood taking Open Water Course, 3 Open Water certified, and 5 Advanced Open Water certified. Oh yes, we are building a diving army soon (jk, even though it's not that funny, idk why i crack that joke). We signed a package deal with Viking Scuba (I think our friend found them in an expo or something) and got some discount, since we have quite a number of people. 

*Disclaimers: We divided some cost equally among us, so what I am writing does not represent the official cost they are charging and also keep in mind that this is a package deal. 

To break it down:
RM888~ per person which includes

24-May-17

Today's post features

- Journal Inspiration -
- How's work? - 
- Knitting projects - Windlass - Kit Kat hat - 
- Diet/Exercise effort - 
- Art Science Museum - Punggol Park -
- My 9 months old cats' hobby -


Ijen | Mount Bromo | Madakaripura Waterfall Trip 2017

// T O U C H D O W N //

What | Bromo Trip
When | 13th - 16th April 2017
Where | Surabaya, Indonesia

Thanks to Shy Bey for arranging everything, and all we need to do was buy the flight tickets, pay deposit and wait for the day to come. :D Everyone contributed to the pictures posted in this blog. So, it's all a mixture of pictures from our phones, GoPro and DSLR.

Price | ~220$
Inclusive | Tour, accommodation, transportation, entrance fees, breakfast
Flight | 222$ via JetStar from SGP to Surabaya 
Other expenses | ~100$ for food and shopping

Overall, I think each of us used around 500$ per person for the whole trip. It's quite a good vacation trip but need to exert a little extra energy. The view provided by mother nature is amazing, and there's none other like it. I highly recommend it if you're into nature and scenery. 
Like anyone who is going there for the first time, we were fretting a lot about what we should bring and wear. Since I've already been there, this is my advice to anyone reading this. It can get very hot and it can get very cold too. Yes, both! So, be sure to bring clothes that you can layer as the difference of temperature of the same place can change drastically during the day and night time. It was predicted that the temperature would be around 10 degree Celcius for both Ijen and Bromo in the middle of the night. It's bearable but if it's windy then it can get quite cold. Invest in a windbreaker if you can. I almost froze to death on the second night. Mask and raincoat is also advisable as you will need it at Ijen and the waterfall respectively. Some chocolate snacks would be good too to keep your body energized during your hike but not necessary. Be sure to change enough money because money exchange services are very scarce there! If you must, change at the airport as we found that the rate given outside was very very bad. Maybe it was our luck too, as the bank exchange service was closed and it was a holiday that particular day when we wanted to change some money. 

Our flight were scheduled on Thursday morning and by the time we reached there, it was already a little bit after noon. There, we met our driver who chaperoned us for the 4 days. His name was Pak Iman. Overall, I think he was okay, but I didn't like it when he deliberately drove us to some restaurant which cater to foreigners.. and also charge us the "foreigner price" too. When we see there was an English menu, we knew what was happening. There's this dinner place that charged us 25,000 IDR (2.60$/RM8) for a meager plate of rice with a pathetic excuse for a chicken drumstick and 3 pieces of blanch (or dying) cooked leaves. When we stood on our ground and asked him to find us a place where local eats and making sure there was no English menu, we found a place that sells a plate of food for only 5000 - 6000 IDR (0.60$/RM2). That's a very big difference folks! He was making this kind of creepy and nervous laugh at some point.. We suspected something before but.. it's not nice to allege accuse him for something publicly. So, I'll just leave it at that.  

Anyway, TLDR version; Be careful not to get scammed and stand your ground.

In our private van.
Not the most comfortable van but we endured. Our first journey was from Surabaya Airport to Ijen View Hotel & Resort which took 5-6 hours. Before heading off on our journey we had to take our lunch first. We ate at IBC and also made a little pit stop at the local mini-mart called Indomart to stock up on some water and snacks. 

Bangkok for Coldplay 2017

// T H U R S D A Y // 6 A P R I L 2 0 1 7 //
// A R R I V A L // 
I was thinking of writing this post down once I collect and upload all the pictures that we have taken in Bangkok. But then I realize, I'll forget all the info and experience if I were to wait any longer. And besides, I already have the pictures from mine and his iPhone. The only pictures missing are the ones from the camera and his GoPro which I think most probably won't be happening that soon. Anyway, I'll get started on writing and add more pictures in sooner or later. I hope. 


Where we stayed | Check Inn Regency Park
The first night there was pretty bad because when we arrive to our hotel at night, they told us our room was not ready and they didn't have time to clean so they transferred us to another branch with a much much smaller room space and they don't have hot water for shower. We were tired and I was pretty pissed off. I wanted to complain or something but then I didn't want to waste my time or energy doing something like that on our vacation. Well, at least the room were decent when we got our intended room on the second day. The hotel also have a sauna, gym and a swimming pool. The view up at the balcony is super (look out for pictures below). 

Other than the issue we had with them, I think that the hotel was quite a decent place to stay for the price itself. I mean the location is pretty good, Family Mart is just right beside the hotel. The view from the swimming pool is great. The room is quite clean and spacious. There's a bar next door which is an extension to the hotel. There's a really nice massage place just nearby called Lek Massage and it only cost like 250 Baht for an hour of Thai massage. There's a lot of massage places (including inappropriate one) but if you're looking for food, I'm sorry to say there wasn't much choices. There are some roadside stalls outside of the hotel, but we never tried any of them. Instead we took like a 10 mins walk to Phrom Phong or Asok MRT and tried most of the street foods there and all of them never failed to impress. 

I look so much older recently. Not sure if it's the adult world that is making me look that way or what.
// F R I D A Y // 7 A P R I L 2 0 1 7 //
// P R E P A R E D F O R C O L D P L A Y // 

Disturbing

My mind is running wild again. Probably doing some parkour moves in my head if it is even possible. I've been thinking a lot lately again, constantly worrying, constantly blaming myself, and constantly blaming other people as well. Most of the time, I keep it to myself, and some times the one close to me suffers for no reason, as if hit by a ricochet bullet because of my mouth.

Guadalajara | Second visit ft. Mexican Carnaval, Lucha Libre, Guachimontones, Snacks and Food list

I realized that I didn't blog about my first trip to Guadalajara. If it was the usual me, I would jump at the chance of blogging a travel post but.. it seems like my laziness has reached a whole new level. I was thinking of writing it now, like what I did with my Europe travel trip blog posts (which I finished not long ago, even though the trip was done back in 2015)... I don't want to squeeze it all in one post, I think it will be too long. And my memories are getting a bit fuzzy, so I won't be writing much stuff anyway since I don't remember them very well. It's always good to write everything down while the memory is still fresh in my mind, as they say.

-------------------------------------------
F R I D A Y // 2 4 F E B 2 0 1 7
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So I posted a picture of two pretty ladies sitting in the front seats of a car with the caption "Road trip with friendly strangers.", I'm sure most of my friends thought that I really went to hitch hike with some complete strangers. Well, it's not a complete lie or a complete truth either. 

Joey's 28 Days in Europe | 2 days in Nice


I have also added some useful info in the description on my map. E.g. the opening hours, costs, how to get there or what is recommended to do there. Please fully utilize it!

Is being too independent a bad thing?

This is going to be another long rant post of mine. Just had this thought because I feel like being independent is good but some times, maybe too independent... is not? Well, I guess this is very subjective. Well, I admit, I have thrown myself out there in the world, so with all those experience on hand, I might say I am quite independent. This may affect how I think and how I tend to judge other people. I know I know, it's kind of like hypocrisy. I always ask people not to judge other people, but in reality, I am like the supermarket employee that is always holding a label gun. HAHAHA. It's kind of like I am slapping myself when I am admitting this. Anyway...
Recently, I just feel like the words coming out from my mouth is hurting other people (especially my boyfriend and my close friends). Well, I mean well actually but maybe the way I say it or the words that I have used might be a little offensive... in a way? It's kind of funny, you see, I know I am being offensive right here (I mean after I say it) but I am never the person to filter out pretty words if I am talking to someone I know for a long time. I have a few friends who would straight out tell me when I am crossing the line, I honestly appreciate that because right then and there, I would know to when stop and apologize.

Rooster year 2017

This year, I was a bit smarter in choosing my transportation choice back home. Instead of taking the bus, I took a flight back to KLIA then had my brother to fetch me back home. Well, it's not cheap but I think a 160$ flight beats a 100$ bus trip back any day. At least I don't need to deal with traffic jam at the custom. 
It's also a lot quieter this year, I mean I think the trend now is to travel with family during the Chinese New Year. You know, just to avoid giving ang paos if you are married. Hahaha. No, I mean it's true though, think about it. Instead of giving the moolahs out to other people, you spend it on travel instead. Damn, all man for himself aye. Jokes aside, seriously though, my relatives are migrating, marrying, and the older one are having health problems. Friends are busy working or busy spending time with family cause this year's timing for CNY ain't that great. I only took 3 days off my work. 

Starting with pictures from the first day of CNY at my grandma's (dad's side) house. 


Easy DIY Apple Pen Cap Holder

If you own an Apple Pen, I am sure you are familiar with the problems of gripping the pen properly and storing the cap when you need to charge the pen. Honestly, the design of the pen is not that "great", it is nice to look but using it is somewhat a pain. I only had it for a week, and I have already improvised my pen twice.

 

I find that the pen always slips easily and it doesn't feel right when I am using it. So, I decided to add my own grip with

21-Jan-17 | DIY hair dyeing, Gathering dinner, Afghan cookies, Bathing my cat

 


Went to this really good Chinese restaurant that serves China's style cooked fish the other day with my colleague. It was unexpected good. If you have a chance, try the salted vegetable styled fish and order the "fruit fish", the meat was so smooth. 

Kuantan, Cherating, Chukai, Sungai Lembing Time Capsule Trip

Yes, all those places in just 4 days from my Christmas 25 Dec till 28 Dec. Although, we only stopped awhile in the first 3 places. We spent 3 days in Sungai Lembing

Say hello to my first Vlog! 



30 Days Drawing Challenge

I don't know if I am going to follow strictly to the challenge or just draw for a few days. I might delete this post if I decided to or just completely stop updating it. I don't know. I am just in the mood for drawing. So, here goes..
 
From: http://culturacolectiva.com/ 

Christmas Break, Otaku mode on

I had a nice Christmas/New Year break from work last month, as I took a long one week break from work. We were attending a wedding dinner in Temerloh (his relatives'), so I was planning we could go somewhere near there. It was a good chance for me to explore more of Malaysia, my own home country. When I think about it, it's quite funny when I was thinking where to go, and most of them are overseas, whereas foreigners are finding where to go in Malaysia. Then I realize, other than Malacca, Penang, Ipoh, Langkawi, Sabah, KL and my hometown, there are still a lot of places I haven't been to. 

So, I booked 2 nights at Time Capsule Sg. Lembing, it was in my to-go list after I saw a friend posted some pictures from his trip. Then, we went on a roadtrip to Kuantan, Chukai, Cherating, and Sg. Lembing. We ate so much nice food, and enjoyed our time with nature.

I made my first travel vlog in this trip! It was pretty awkward actually, I mean I had too keep holding onto my phone and record all the stuff, but I ended up using only a few parts. And it's so difficult to speak to the camera and pretend like it's somebody. HAH. I might slur a little too, because I don't know what to say. Basically, I am just video shy (I can't say I am camera shy, because I am not). 
But unexpectedly, I had fun making it. Although not so much fun during filming because of the awkwardness. The editing is enjoyable. I only made the first part of the trip so far, Let's see if I can finish the second on this weekend. And then I'll post another blog post about it.


I don't know why but I was really hooked up on reading manga last month. And I manage to finish reading two. HAH. I will also share about the anime title that I have watched or watching right now. 

Hana Yuri Dango

Hello 2017

It's the time of the year again. It's the time for a new year actually. Looking back at last year, it seems like I have done a lot. Although I was not very active in my blog.

But anyway, let's cut to the chase because my mind is blank right now. I can't really think of my highlight for 2016. I can only think of the recent ones.


2016 New Year's Resolution

  1. Learn German. Make it better!  It's a bit better but not much progress. Though I am learning Japanese in the mean time actually. So I'm gonna check this off. 
  2. Learn one martial art for self-defense. I did join Aikido! For 4 or 5 months or so, then quit. I might say I have no time, but actually I was not really interested in it. I rather use my time for my other hobbies like crochet. At least I tried. 
  3. Give back to the people who has been helping you unconditionally in your life. Still learning how to. I acted selfishly without knowing until I was told off. :(
  4. Exercise regularly! Stick to your plan! HAHAHA, I quit running after Australia trip because of my bunion, it hurts so bad. But I didn't even continue my pilates. Bad Joey. Need more effort here. 
  5. Learn to wear fashionably. Hello "girl", where are you? I did, only a few times. I even threw my make-up, it's growing mold. Eww.. Time for new ones.
  6. Do more good deeds whenever you can! Even small one counts. Donated a fair amount to WWF (yearly) and Project Aware (for the ocean). I like to donate to help animals and plants instead of people. Ask me why in real life if you are curious. 
  7. Pursue what you want. Do not let anyone hold you back. I don't exactly know what I am pursuing at the moment. I'm just following the flow. 
  8. Complete all those draft post in your blog! I deleted a few! HAH! But I still have a few drafts from my Europe trip. I am doing my best to complete them. 
  9. As always, be happy. I am having less depressed moments and lots of fun last year. It's a good year. 
  10. Explore more! Version 2.0 Loads of first times! Pulau Tioman, Pulau Redang, Gold Coast (Australia), Amed (Bali), Guadalajara (Mexico), Kuantan, Cherating and Sungai Lembing.   

I accomplished 7 out of 10. Not bad! Actually it's the same achievement as last year. Hahahaha. Well, I don't really actually remember the list during the rest of the year. I just do what I feel like. It seems like my mindset is still the same. So, it's all good. 

Now, it's time for.... 

2017 New Year's Resolution

  1. Take good care of Bianca and Grey. (I am actually very obsessed with them, they are so cute. They are staring right at the screen at this moment so see what I am doing. Kyah!!)
  2. Keep blogging. At least once a month! And a must to blog about your travels!
  3. Exercise at least 3 times a week.
  4. Keep learning at least 1 language (Japanese or German).
  5. Create more stuff! (I have been slacking off a lot)
  6. Knowing when to hold my tongue. Words spoken cannot be taken back. 
  7. Finish all those games you wanted to play... This is stupid but I can't think of anything else. 
  8. Be a good employee/colleague at work. Avoid office politics. 
  9. Be a good girlfriend/daughter/sister/granddaughter/person.
  10. Explore explore explore. 
Have a happy new year everyone. This year is going to be another great year.