My Very First Blog

I have never been to London. But maybe that's about to change.

You see, I have always been fascinated by photos of the Buckingham Palace, the Big Ben, the Piccadilly Circus, the Marble Arch and iconic red double decker bus and telephone booth. Besides, I have always been following closely the latest news and events in London so it's quite safe to say I am a pretty huge fan of this lovely city!

There's only one problem going to London. Flying. It's not that I am afraid of flying but I can't stand being inside an enclosed area like a plane for more than 5 hours. And the flight from Malaysia to London takes 13 hours, no less!

I guess if I am serious in wanting to visit London, I will have to find a way to get around that. Perhaps there is a way to make me sleep throughout the flight? LOL!

Anyway, my friends who had been to London have recommended me many places to visit there. So I have compiled the top 10 places which every first timer to London must visit. (well, according to my friends anyway). Here they are, in no particular order ...

1. The British Museum


Image courtesy of The Sunday Times

The British Museum, which is the largest museum in Britain, is dedicated to human history and culture. Founded in 1753, it's remarkably comprehensive collection spans over 2 million years of human history! You can find world famous objects like the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon Sulptures and even Egyptian mummies here. Entrance is free.

2. Tate Modern


Image courtesy of About.com

As one of the most visited art gallery in the world, Tate Modern features modern and contemporary art from around the world. You can see amazing works by Cezanne, Picasso, Dali, Pollock, Warhol amongst others here. Admission is free.

3. National Gallery 


Image courtesy of New York Habitat

The crowning glory of Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery displays over 2000 Western European paintings from Middle Ages to the 20th century. You can find inspiring works by Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Renoir, Rembrandt and Gainsborough amongst others. Admission is again, free.
5. St Paul's Cathedral


Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

This is the famous church where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. Located just directly across the Thames River from Tate Modern, this is a must-visit for a first time visitor to London.

6. Hyde Park


Image courtesy of Fanpop.com

Too many museums may get a bit tiring, so a trip to Hyde Park is highly recommended. One of the greatest city parks in the world, Hyde Park has something for everyone. You can enjoy swimming, boating, cycling, skating, horse riding besides visiting many interesting structures and monuments here.

7. Tower Of London


Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

8. Les Miserables London


Image courtesy of Access London

Technically not a place you must go to, but rather something you must do while in London and that is, to watch the longest running musical of all time - Les Miserables. Some say that the Les Miserables in London is still the best compared to other places around the world.

9. Buckingham Palace


Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

As the official office and the London residence of Her Majesty The Queen, Buckingham Palace is usually closed to visitors except during the summer. Visitors can tour the 19 State Rooms, the Royal Mews and the Queen's Gallery. And if you are lucky, you can get to see the changing of guards ceremony. Ticket prices start from GBP19.00 (USD28.90) for adult.

10. The London Eye


Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The London Eye is a giant 443-feet high Ferris Wheel mainly for tourists, so not many people will agree this to be included in the Top 10 list.  But my friends said riding this Ferris Wheel will give me the chance to have unimpeded views of London city. There's a price to pay for this privilege however, and it's GBP19.20 (USD29.25) which is inclusive of an entry to the 4D cinema.

There are of course, many other places and attractions worth visiting in London but the above 10 are a MUST for first timers. Do you agree or do you think there are better places to visit?

You have probably read my post 10 Things NOT To Do During The Hungry Ghost Month and not took it too seriously.

Well, the peak of the Hungry Ghost Festival has already passed, but there is still a little more than a week before the gates of Hell (and possibly Heaven) closes. Today, I would like to share with you ways to stay safe for the remaining part of this Hungry Ghost month.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, these are precautions that I had researched and gathered from older people and also from feng shui expert Lillian Too. You might ask, what has feng shui got to do with ghosts?

Well, if it's classical feng shui like what is being taught by Joey Yap, not much. But in Lillian Too's case, she is also into Taoism practices, so it probably explains why she mixes both feng shui and Taoism together.

So, here are 10 ways to stay safe during this Hungry Ghost Month, and in fact, not just during this period but also any time of the year. Of course, most of the ways I outlined below will not work against things like toyol. LOL!

Read More : Terrorized By Toyol! (A True Story)

1. Do not start construction or renovation of your house or office during this Hungry Ghost Month. Contractors and builders in Asian countries normally adhere to this rule, but there are always exceptions. You may start before or after the Hungry Ghost month, but NOT during the month itself to prevent attracting bad luck.

2. Do not travel too much during this month. But if you really have to, only travel on the good days. To know when the good days are for traveling, refer to the feng shui calendar like this one!


Lillian Too's 2012 Feng Shui Almanac

3. Do not move house during this month. It's an inauspicious month to move house. Besides, you do not want a hungry ghost to move in with you, do you?

4. Do not get married during this month! Yes, choose a more auspicious date to get married. How do you like to have hungry ghosts roaming on the streets outside while you are having a wedding feast inside a restaurant?

5. In feng shui, we talk about yin and yang. There must be balance for us to have good feng shui. Now, human environment are usually more yang, but ghosts and spirits prefer environment that are more yin. As such, if the energy in your house or office is too yin, then it is more likely to attract ghosts!

How do you know if your house is too yin? Well, a yin-dominant house is usually dark, with little sunshine and fresh air. Even houses built near churches, hospitals and graveyards are attractive to ghosts! These are all very yin places and ghosts feel very comfortable in these environment!



To avoid yin spirit formation in your home (and this is not just during the Hungry Ghost month), keep your house clean and free from clutter, open the windows to let in fresh air and sunlight, install more lights to brighten up dark corners, and play loud music especially in rooms that are not often used.

Clutter and dark corners create stagnant energy which promotes a yin environment. This is also the reason why rooms in the house or office that are not often used attract ghosts to dwell inside them.

6. Do not swim in the lake during this Hungry Ghost month. Lakes and underwater are more yin and as such, ghosts prefer to dwell in there.

7. Do not start a new business or project during this month. Since it's an inauspicious month, delay your new business to the month after or your business may suffer from lots of obstacles and may not survive.

8. Invite Chung Kwei - the Chinese ghost catcher - into your home. Simply display his image in your home or office to frighten away wandering spirits and ghosts!


Chung Kwei images source

9. Wear protective amulets especially during this Hungry Ghost month. These amulets should come with powerful protective mantras, and you should wear them touching your body.

10. Hungry ghosts have very narrow necks so they are unable to eat and drink like humans. As such they are constantly hungry - imagine how suffering is that! Now they become very happy when they are fed with smells of incense and aromas of food! Is it any wonder that these desperate and suffering spirits create trouble for humans especially those whose life force or energy levels are weak?


A hungry ghost image source

According to Lillian Too, the best way to appease these hungry ghosts is to light up some sweet smelling incense like kemeyan or sandalwood. They are sure to like it and stop creating troubles for you! Now you know why the Chinese and Indian temples are burning incense all the time!

To take it a step further, you can do this not just during Hungry Ghost month, but also anytime you want to remove obstacles caused by wandering and local spirits of the land. During dusk, or right after sunset, light up the incense and holding the incense burner, walk clockwise around your house and every room while chanting this mantra.

NAMAH SARVA TATHAGATHA AVALOKITE

OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA HUNG

After you have finished walking, dedicate the incense and offerings to the holy beings, angels, local landlords and wandering spirits to look after you instead of harming you.

According to Lillian Too, if you treat these spirits with friendship and not fear, you will actually find them very nice and accommodating!

My daily breakfast is made up of fruits, fruits and more fruits which I eat at home.

But sometimes, I like to go out for breakfast. This happens like once or twice a week. These "outside" breakfasts are usually not as healthy as my "fruits only" breakfast but I guess it's OK to indulge once in a while right?

So where do I go for breakfasts? These are some of the places I enjoy going to and the food that I most likely order.

1. Otak Otak Place
Toast with butter and kaya, half boiled eggs and coffee with cracker



2. PappaRich
Half boiled eggs, steamed bread with butter and kaya and a cup of hot Milo



3. Departure Lounge
Breakfast set comprising sausages, baked beans, ham, scrambled eggs, pancake and toast with butter and jam.



Plus a cup of espresso macchiato



4. Austin Chase
Breakfast set comprising toasts with salmon and scrambled eggs, baked beans and hash brown plus a cup of brewed coffee



5. OldTown White Coffee
Steamed bread with butter and kaya



with a cup of hot milk tea



6. Canton-i
You tiao (chinese crullers) with hot soya milk



Plus egg tarts



and a cup of yin yang milk tea



7. EspresSoup
Mushroom soup in German farmer bread


before eating


halfway eating

8. One Kopitiam
Egg butter sandwich



And a bowl of bubur cha cha



9. Jin Xuan (Hong Kong) Restaurant
Dim sum



10. McDonalds
Filet-o-fish and Apple pie



Regular readers might be surprised to see McDonalds in this list. Well, I don't really like McD but I am just including it to make the list a complete 10. Haha!

For the record, I have never eaten nasi lemak, char koay teow, noodles, roti canai and porridge for breakfast (except during travels). Well, I don't like porridge but maybe I should give nasi lemak and roti canai a try one of these days. Who knows I might just like them for breakfast?

Meantime, I am craving for Kelloggs cornflakes in cold HL milk.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is back! The Chinese believes that during this entire 7th lunar month, the gates of hell are opened to allow the hungry ghosts to roam the earth. Whether you believe in it or not, that is really up to you.

But it's better to be safe than sorry, don't you think? So here are 10 things you should not do during this ghostly month.

1. Tell ghost stories
When two or more people group together to talk about ghost stories in the middle of the night, they will tend to attract unwanted attention from wandering spirits and ghosts! The Chinese has a saying "Don't talk about ghosts at night and don't talk about humans in the day".

2. Whistle in the night
If you are one who love to whistle, do it in the daytime. Whistling at night seems to attract ghosts! If you can't resist your favourite tune, try humming or singing instead.



3. Cut your finger nails at night
If you cut your finger nails after dark, you run the risk of seeing a ghost! I am not sure about cutting your toe nails, however.

4. Swim in the lake or sea
It is a general belief that swimmers will have a higher chance of getting drowned during the month of the Hungry Ghost. This is because ghosts like to stay in the water due to its "yin" environment and they will likely drag you down into the water.

5. Hang your clothes out at night
Wandering ghosts may get attached to your clothes - you surely will not want to be wearing them!
Or perhaps, this is just an advice to prevent us from scaring ourselves silly? You know, your clothes might just look like flying ghosts on a windy night!


Image courtesy of Of Memoirs And Musings

6. Touch the offerings meant for hungry ghosts
The food and burnings you see at the road side are offerings for the hungry ghosts. Do not mess or touch the offerings or even step on them. You might offend the ghosts and they may disturb you or follow you back home!

7. Wear red or black colour clothes
Not sure the reason why but ghosts seem to dig dark-coloured clothes especially red and black! Wear something bright like white or yellow instead.

8. Going out late at night
Since hungry ghosts are roaming the streets during this month, it is fair to say that your chances of bumping into them are much higher. Try to stay home more often during this entire month or at least be back before midnight. And if you are a pregnant woman, avoid going out at all costs since ghosts are attracted to foetuses.


Image courtesy of Dangerous Intersection

9. Walk in the dark and near the walls
If you really have no choice but to go out at night, it is advisable to walk at brightly lit areas and where there are crowds. Ghosts like to walk (or fly?) along walls and stay around dark corners, so avoid walking close to the walls!

10. Answer when someone calls your name
If you hear someone calls your name at night, do not by any chance turn around and look, or worse, answer that call! If you do, the ghost may just reveal itself to you!

Superstitions? Myths? Nonsense? Maybe.

Some of you may have probably done one or more of the 10 things above and nothing happened to you, right? Well, you may not be so lucky this time around. It all depends whether your spirit essence is strong or weak. Haha!

Oh, by the way, if you feel someone tapping your shoulder while reading this post, DO NOT turn around to look!

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Metal Rabbit! Happy Chinese New Year to all my Chinese friends wherever you are!

Since it's the year of the Rabbit, I got myself two pairs of cute rabbits which I bought from Petaling Street (KL's Chinatown).



A pair of yellow rabbits since mustard yellow is a good colour for 2011 (according to feng shui master Lillian Too)



But Chinese New Year won't be the same without red colour, so I got the red rabbits too!

I know what you are thinking - They are not real rabbits! But of course! Are they cute or what? Haha!

So now, here are my top 10 reasons why I love Chinese New Year!

1. I can collect angpows and hopefully make enough to pay for some of my future travel expenses!

2. I can finally eat yee sang after waiting a whole year for it!

3. I have a good excuse to stuff myself silly with lots of good food!

4. I don't have to go to work! Yay!!

5. I can enjoy driving around PJ and KL since the roads are practically jam-free!

6. I can sleep late and wake up late (well, later than my normal working days that is)

7. I can play In-Between! (Please don't think naughty thoughts here! Haha!)

8. I can gobble up loads of mandarin oranges!

9. I can snack on arrowheads and pineapple tarts without limits!

10. I don't have to do house chores as sweeping the floor is prohibited on the first day of Chinese New Year. (I make it an offence to do any house chores during the Chinese New Year holidays! LOL!)



Do you love Chinese New Year too?

Happy Merdeka to all my Malaysian readers, bloggers and friends!!!

Since today we are celebrating our 53rd Independence Day, I am coming out with a Top 10 Reasons why I love our beloved country Malaysia!! Let's begin, shall we?

1. Malaysia's weather is hot and humid all year round. Although this may be uncomfortable, the humidity is good for our skin and helps all of us look younger!

2. Malaysia has some of the best food in the world. Think nasi lemak, char koay teow, roti canai, teh tarik, cendol, satay, chicken rice, keropok lekor, bak kut teh, etc. etc!

3. Malaysia is home to some of the best variety of fruits in the world! Where else can you get durians, mangoes, papayas, pineapples, tarap, mangosteens, dragonfruits, rambutans, guavas and bananas in one place?

4. Malaysia is free from major natural disasters! We do not have earthquakes, volcano eruptions, typhoons, twisters and blizzards!

5. Malaysia has some of the best beaches in the world. Think Sipadan, Perhentian, Tioman, Redang and Manukan!

6. Malaysians are generally peace loving and all three major races live in harmony here! It's only the politicians who are trying to spoil it all for us!

7. Malaysians love to eat and we have 24-hour eateries! The only downside to this is we are getting fatter and fatter!

8. Malaysia has the tallest Twin Towers in the world! It's also the most beautiful Twin Towers!

9. Malaysians are generally warm and friendly. In fact, we are in the Top 10 most tourism friendly countries in the world!

10. Malaysia is among one of the countries in the world with the most public holidays. Now I like that a lot! Haha!


Sunrise in Redang Island

Although Malaysia is not perfect, and no country in the world is, I still think the positive aspects of Malaysia far outweigh the negatives. So let us focus on the positives, shall we?

The grass is not always greener on the other side. Let's appreciate our beloved Malaysia.

Thank you Malaysia for being such a wonderful and beautiful country. You are indeed my home sweet home, my Heaven on Earth! Happy Merdeka Day!! : )

OK, just for once I shall write a very short post.

The Top 10 things that make me say ...



1. I am in the middle of nowhere and my iPhone battery goes dead.

2. I dine at an expensive restaurant and when it comes to paying the bill, I can't find my wallet.

3. Mariah Carey's pregnancy is false and she is in fact, just plain fat!



(Note: She is still my No. 1 singer whether she's fat or slim!)

4. The final scene of Inception.

5. Lady Gaga is following me on Twitter.

6. Taylor Lautner reveals on Oprah that he is a girl!

7. I open up a letter found in my postbox and it reads ...



8. After watching a disturbing video, I answer a phone call and a very creepy voice says "Seven days."

9. I die, go to heaven, and God says to me "Congratulations! Welcome to the real world. You are now out of The Matrix."

10. I just came up with this Top 10 in under 10 minutes!

Have a great weekend, everyone! : )

I have not been updating my blog for almost a week now. You must be wondering why I was MIA (Missing In Action)! Well, let me tell you why....

1. I was busy watching the World Cup. I am not a huge football fan, mind you, but it was a once-in-four-years thingy and I just could not NOT be a part of it! I just realised the World Cup provided me with the BEST excuse for just about anything this month! Maybe they should have the World Cup every year! LOL!

2. When I was not watching World Cup, I was busy watching my favourite TVB drama serials. Seriously, why would anyone bother to watch Korean and Japanese shows? Hong Kong TVB dramas are the best in terms of plot-lines and acting! Well, to me anyway! haha!

3. When I was not watching my favourite TVB dramas, I was busy tweeting. Since I am not good at multi-tasking, don't expect me to blog and tweet at the same time! LOL! Well, tweeting is pretty addictive and I just got sucked into this whole Twitter phenomenon!

4. I was tired of waiting for my photos to upload. Now you know why this post have no photos!

5. I was busy working hard to earn money. You know right, the Government is going to do away with the subsidies and petrol price will be increasing soon, and we all know everything else will automatically be more costly once petrol price increases! How to survive if I don't work my panda ass off?

6. I was busy helping my mom wrap and steam those bak chang (glutinous rice dumplings). They were so yummy! Can you blame me for helping my mom make bak chang and not update my blog?

7. I was not in the mood to blog. Although I love blogging, I, like any normal bloggers, still have my off days. So gimme a break, will ya?

8. I wanted to know how it feels like not blogging for a week. Well, I wanted to experiment a little and see how it feels like not blogging for an entire week. Of course, I failed, because before the week was over, I had already resumed blogging. Damn!! Guess I would never ever stop blogging for good! Hmmm, wonder if this is good or bad news?

9. I was busy reading your blog. Yeah right! I can just hear you say that. Haha! But look, just because I did not leave any comments in your blog, that does not mean I did not read your blog or at least glanced through it. Well, I think I did admire some of the photos you took or at least downloaded from the Internet : )

10. I attended Bloggers Anonymous (something along the lines of Alcoholics Anonymous) and it seemed to be working!! Until now, that is....haha!

So there you are - my 10 reasons why I did not update my blog lately! What about you? Do you have off days in blogging? Have you ever thought of quitting blogging and leading normal lives again?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you would know by now that I am a night owl.

And by that, I mean that I love the night time and I am most active at night! It also means that I love to stay up late till the wee hours of the morning.

I know, I know, it's unhealthy to stay up late like that. My mom used to tell me to sleep no later than 12 midnight. I think she has already given up on me, haha! But I just love the night time!


Image courtesy of DryIcons.com

So today, let me share with you my top 10 reasons why I like to stay up late! Here goes...

1. After working like a dog in the daytime, I deserve to have a whole night to relax and chill out and enjoy myself! How can I waste the night time by sleeping early and waking up to another dog day world?

2. Night time is so quiet and calming! After all the stress in the daytime, I need the night to relax!

3. I can think better at night when everyone is asleep and nothing is distracting me. Best time to write new posts on my blog!

4. I can watch porn on my laptop without anyone finding out! Haha!

5. I can look forward to my next activity which is .... sleep!!

6. I can eat and indulge in my favourite pineapple tarts without anyone telling me that I should not be eating that much!

7. I can chat online with my other "night owl" friends.

8. I can watch as many YouTube videos as I like which I can't do on the job during the day.

9. I can have the whole TV to myself and no one to fight with me over the remote!

10. Sleeping is the most overrated thing since Blogger.

Note 1 : Please do not use the above excuses to stay up late. Sleep early, peeps! : )

Note 2 : I completed this post at approx. 3.26am : )