Sheffield - Thirsk - Helmsley - Scarborough - Whitby - Middlesbrough - Sunderland - Coldstream - Edinburgh - Manchester - Sheffield - Malaysia

Yup. That was the trip I made in the past 1 week. Extremely exhausting I would say. The Sheffield - Thirsk - Helmsley - Scarborough - Whitby - Middlesbrough - Sunderland - Coldstream - Edinburgh - Manchester - Sheffield (which shall be called Leg 1 from here henceforth) leg was by car. And of course the Sheffield - Malaysia leg is by air.

This post will be focusing on Leg 1. I would say around 98% of it. (Apologies for the slightly blur pics as I shrunk them to save time uploading the whole lot)

OK, so part one of Leg 1. Sheffield - Thirsk - Helmsley - Scarborough - Whitby - Middlesbrough

Thirsk and Helmsley are small historical market towns. About 3000-5000 residents. Very small towns, nothing much really but at least it’s still a different scene compared to the cities.

Thirsk had lovely tearooms and fish and chips shops. LOTS of them!

The stone cross in the middle of Helmsley’s carpark.

Click here for a panoramic view of Helmsley’s market square!

The main road at Helmsley was pretty narrow but the pedestrian walkway was jam packed with tourists.

Next stop was Scarborough. We had tea there. A coastal city. Loaded with fish and chip shops. But we’re just too full to eat anything so we opted for a light and refreshing cup of English tea instead.

We spent approximately 30-45 minutes in each town before proceeding to the next town. After Scarborough, we stopped by Whitby. Another coastal town. Whitby is a lagoon where lots of yachts dock. For a full panoramic picture of the lagoon, click here!

After Whitby, evening has almost come to an end and it’s time to find some shelter for the night. We stopped by Middlesbrough to spend the night. There wasn’t anything interesting in Middlesbrough, it is said that the city is the dung of England. All the dirty industries are located there. Oh well, let’s fast forward to the next day.

Day 2, part two of Leg 1. Middlesbrough - Sunderland - Coldstream - Edinburgh.

First stop Sunderland. Another coastal city. We stopped there for some brunch and to restock our food supply for the trip ahead to Edinburgh.

We visited Sunderland’s Museum & Winter Gardens.

After Sunderland was the border town of Coldstream between England and Scotland. It’s on the Scottish side of the border.

We had high tea in Deakins Tearoom. Forgotten to take pics of the food because we were too hungry to wait for pictures to be taken.

After Coldstream, we’re off to Edinburgh. Starting from here onwards, I’m going to dump a whole load of pictures so I’ll just be describing the pics as I am just too lazy to tell you everything I did in Edinburgh.

The Royal Mile (Edinburgh’s historical stretch of road)

A medieval friend that we’ve met on the Royal Mile

One of many churches along the Royal Mile

Just another random road in Edinburgh

Ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel on the hills of Holyrood Park

The view of Edinburgh from the ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel. Click image for larger view.

Yours truly on Holyrood Park

Some swans at the pond in Holyrood Park, there were ducks too but they’re boring. Swans rock!

The National Gallery along Princes Street, I think that’s Queen Victoria sitting on top there.

Queen Victoria marks the end of Leg 1. Leg 2 of the trip, Edinburgh - Manchester - Sheffield wasn’t really eventful as we were rushing back to Sheffield to attend the convocation ceremony the following day and the trip from Edinburgh to Sheffield is about 5-6 hours.

Leg 3 was THE MOST uneventful leg of all 3. The pure boredomness of a 17 hour flight from Manchester to Dubai and then to Kuala Lumpur. Not to mention a 3 hour transit in Dubai. I stayed awake throughout the whole flight except for a short 30-45 minute nap on each flight which brings to a total number of hours awake to 36 hours.

Exhausted by the end of the flight and fainted on the bed for 13 hours.

Oh well, that isn’t news anymore. The news is that I’m back in Malaysia!!! Woohoo!! Food food and more food, here I come!

Hello

Hello again my nearly almost abandoned by me blog. It’s been too long since I last blogged. More than a week ago. To be honest, it’s been pretty quiet recently since almost everyone gone back home to Malaysia. Well, all I can say is that I’m going Birmingham next week! Woohoo!

Other than that very exciting news,  it’s the holidays! Been doing exciting things at home. Been using my right side of the brain more often the past few days. I realised that the house is totally bare! Walls all white and totally unappealing.

Well, my house mates and me gave the house a good make over. The living room is totally revitalised. Furniture moved around and decorations added to the walls and table tops. More pictures of it when the total make over of the house is complete.

The stairwell was not left behind either.

I would probably say that the stairwell now is the focus if the house! Our little stairwell is now a journey through the solar system. The journey includes all 8 planets, the Sun and also not forgetting our dearly neglected dwarf, Pluto. Accompanied by numerous stars, comets, amazing facts of the solar system, wise and funny quotes and also numerous Unidentified Flying Objects and aliens floating around the solar system.

Next up is another 2 more walls in the house. I would probably say that this make over project would last throughout the Easter holidays. Will definitely post pictures up the minute the make over is complete.

Until then… Namaste!

Christmas Part I

It is that time of the year where children go glee. Where people start to get some hype to willingly give people things for free. Where most of the turkeys in the world are slaughtered and roasted and where commercial businesses get their highest revenues.

Yes, it is. It’s that time of the year again. It’s Christmas.

The time where pine trees are chopped down but instead of becoming furniture as they usually do, fortunately the pine manages keep its shape as a tree, only without roots. Shiny stuff will be thrown all over it. Strings, balls, all kinds of shapes and figurines, shiny and gleaming off the lights from the fireplace nearby. Presents of all shapes, sizes and “monetary value” will soon fill the lower sections of the tree. Some tall, some short, some square, some round. Some thick, some thin.

A time where people come together to feast and laugh gaily.

Turkey, roast, wine, crackers and all things western are served on a platter lavishly decorated with all kinds of food in all kinds of colours.

And to top it all off, a generous slice of Chicago cheesecake with a milky taste topped with berry sauce served in a huge plate.

Wonderful ain’t it? I will say hands down, the cheesecake made my day. And the whole meal costs GBP10.90!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Food

Being a Malaysian, life is all about food. When we eat, we talk about food. When we sit, we talk about food. When we shower, we think about food. When we sleep, we dream about food. Food, food, food! We Malaysians literally live to eat!

Today, had a Japanese dinner meal at East Ocean, The Moor.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t disappointing at all.

I had Japanese Chicken Bento and other friends had a Salmon Bento and a Gyuuko (beef) Tokyo set. I would say that their Miso soup was exceptionally good.

Sadly, they didn’t provide us with Japanese bamboo chopsticks. I was really looking forward to pulling apart the chopsticks. Well at least there were chopsticks. Some Chinese restaurants in this country gives only fork and spoons which is just sad. Very sad!

Here’s a picture of all the food we had. I have to apologize, the plate isn’t the whole “original” dish with everything in it. Couldn’t wait to eat so I started digging in before it hit me that I’ve not taken a picture. There’re supposed to be 3 sushis instead of 1, a few more chicken pieces and vegetable tempuras. The only thing that was missing from the dish is the Japanese bean curd in Japanese soya sauce.

Should start looking for more Japanese food outlets in Sheffield. Hopefully there are more and not only East Ocean. I really need more Japanese food! Actually I need more food!!

Lim Goh Tong

 

LIM GOH TONG

1917-2007

 

 

Today, our country has lost a great entrepreneur. Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, founder of Genting Berhad, owner of Malaysia’s first and only casino and also Malaysia’s highest theme park, third richest in Malaysia and 204th richest in the world, worth an estimated USD4.2 billion and father of 6.

 

His contributions to the country shall never be forgotten.

 

Source 

1.5 weeks

is all the time I have left in this lovely country I call home, Malaysia.

I am probably considered wasting precious time typing out this post right now as I should be outside enjoying my last few days here in Malaysia.

The people, the food, the company, the environment, the shopping malls, the driving and all other things that I might have missed out will be deeply missed and engraved into my memory throughout my stay there in Sheffield.

As I leave Malaysia for the 18 hour flight and transit throught Dubai to Manchester airport, I shall start all over again, a while new chapter of life in Sheffield Part 2 just as it was when I left Malaysia for Sheffield for the first time 1 year ago.

This time, I’ll be on the same flight to Dubai and Manchester. Same flight number, same airline, same time, same place, same airport, and the same people that flew with me with a few more friends tagging along this time.

As usual, I now have a new camera and of course, no one will be left out. Pictures will be posted here every now and then to update you guys on what’s happening around me in the UK.

I guess, the next post will most probably posted when I’m in Sheffield. Hopefully with pictures ready to be posted up.

As usual, here are some pictures for you to look in awe.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia in Pictures

Day 1.

We arrived in Phnom Penh International Airport at precisely 4.12pm, after going through immigration and customs, we were greeted with our guide-for-the-next-4-days guide. Instead of hailing a cab, he got us “tuk-tuk”s. A popular mode of transport of locals (and much cheaper than cabs - they only cost USD 15 for one whole day from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.). People in Cambodia surprisingly use a lot of US Dollars to do business. Their official currency is Riel with an approximate exchange of MYR 1 = KHR 1000. Both currencies are accepted in all businesses and bigger businesses like supermarkets and restaurants operate using US Dollars.

Small, cheap, fast and windy! Phnom Penh is probably one of the dustiest cities I’ve ever been to aside from cities that lie near a desert like Beijing. Without the aid of super huge sunglasses that covers 50% of your face, you’ll be constantly blinded by dust particles blown into your eyes on a tuk-tuk. However, with shades to my aid, the ride becomes extremely interesting and fun too!

For dinner, we went to a Thai-Cambodian fusion restaurant. Interesting food too. Kang kung (Malay for a type of vegetable) is called morning glory there. I thought we were going to eat flowers but it ended up to be just an everyday vegetable we have here in Malaysia. Their cheese there is actually miso (a type of fermented bean curd eaten by Chinese and Japanese) and they have A LOT of sour soups. All kinds of appetizing sour soups. They even have banana flower sour soup but unfortunately throughout the 4 days we were there, all the restaurants we went to all ran out of it.

Day 2.

First place of the day isn’t really an attraction we would go to like in every other country. This place is called Choeungek Genocidal Centre.

Cambodia suffers from a very very turbulent past. A group of people called Pot Pol went on a killing spree slaughtering almost 2 million of their own people in fears of a rebellion against them. Men, women and children we killed without mercy. They forced everyone in the capital city into the country side to plant rice and made Phnom Penh literally a ghost town. One of the biggest concentration camps where almost 9000 victims were killed was the site of present day Choeungek. A shrine was erected on the site in memory of the dead.

Next was the second and last genocidal centre we visited is called Toul Sleng. It a high school converted into a torture and slaughter centre.

It’s saddening and heart breaking to read and learn what the Cambodian people had to go through in the past.

Anyway, sad stories aside. Next was the King’s Palace! It HUGE. Our Prime Minister’s new home in Putrajaya is still dwarfed by this palace. Here are a few of the best pictures I’ve got.

The architecture was amazing and the attention to detail was unsurpassed. No matter how close your look there are still more designs and shapes inside the already elaborate design. Sadly we weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside the buildings. The throne room was breathtaking. Rolling carpets, bright yellow decorations, detailed paintings on the walls and ceiling and amazing sculptures and furniture.

Next was the Russian Market. A tourist shopping area selling textiles, shoes, bags, perfumes, food of all sorts. I have no idea why it’s called the Russian Market. I don’t see anything related to Russia there. Anyway, everything there is super cheap (provided your bargaining skills aren’t rusty yet). We only had 1 hour and they were closing down at 5 p.m. So we postponed our shopping to the next day.

Day 3.

More shopping at the Russian Market. Shoes, clothes, textiles and more shoes were purchased. After shopping till we dropped, we went to Central Market to shop and drop even more. Another place similar to the Russian Market but this is more for the locals instead of tourists.

After having lunch, we went to Phnom Penh museum. The museum showcased Cambodia’s rich history during the Angkor empire’s rule (mostly stuff that we learnt in history books). Sculptures, statues, carvings, maps, furniture, small artefacts were among those showcased in the museum.

Day 4.

On our last day, we had some time to kill before our flight back to Malaysia at 4 p.m. So we headed to Wat Phnom (Cambodian for Phnom temple). This is the place where the city of Phnom Penh got it’s name from. A girl named Phnom Peng found a wooden Buddha sculpture inside a tree trunk that was washed ashore. She brought it to the very place and built a shrine and temple to honour the Buddha found inside the trunk.

Slowly the towns people began to build their houses around the temple and a millennium later Phnom Penh is what it is today. A bustling city of 2 million people. Those stone serpent like sculptures you see in the pictures are called Nagas. They serve as protection to the temple from bad spirits and auras.

After visiting the temple, we went for a boat ride on Tonle Sap, South East Asia’s largest fresh water lake. It only costs USD 10 to rent a big boat that could accommodate at least 20 people for an hour!

Too cheap to resist.

During the boat trip we get to witness how the river people whom are mostly fishermen or also known as Vietnamese boat people live their lives.

Cute tiny houses that float on water are their houses that they live in. They have dogs too that jump from boat house to boat house playing around.

The boat trip marked the end of our trip and it’s time to pack and go home.

All in all, I found the trip amazing. It’s something very different compared to other trips to other countries like China and Japan which are thoroughly commercialised. We learnt a great deal of their violent history, the amazing Angkor empire that once controlled most of Thailand, tantalizing and tasty food, and lastly their amazingly cheap stuff at their markets. Next trip to Cambodia, Angkor Wat, Siem Riep here I come!

Absence

Sorry guys for not blogging for sooo long although my finals were over over a week now. Have been extremely busy that past week. First I had to move out of Halifax Hall. Moving everything out of my room over to a friend’s place. 2 big luggage, 1 hand carry all bag, 1 bag pack, 10 small plastic bags, 1 huge duvet and 1 pillow! Moving out without a car is a logistical nightmare! Well, at least I started moving out weeks before my contract ended. So that gave me some time to relax before I had to move out. So now, after moving (twice!) I’m now over at my friend’s place who was more than kind enough to sympathise my homeless situation and offered my his place. I’m eternally grateful for this!

Well, what happened in the past week aside from moving my stuff around was me going to Manchester airport on Wednesday, 13th June, where 3 friends were going back to Malaysia. How I envy them. I too want to go home! Sadly, I can’t because I have to wait until the contract for my house begins on the 1st July which is still a loooooong way to go when I can chuck all my stuff into the house and then… Malaysia here I come!

*****

 

I has been raining here for almost 2.5 days straight. I rained quite heavily on Wednesday on the way back from Manchester. It looked like it rained as heavily as it did in Malaysia! But it didn’t last long. It then slowed down to a drizzle that lasted until this very second! English weather… Tsk tsk. Talking about rain, I’ve read the news that Kuala Lumpur is submerged under flood waters! Oh dear oh dear! I don’t want to go back to a submerged Malaysia! That’s like entering the hurricane ridden New Orleans or tsunami stricken Acheh disaster zone. Hopefully the flood waters will recede in due course.

*****

 

Looking on the bright side, I’m going back to Malaysia in 18 days! I’ve already complied a list of what I want and must to do the minute I feet have contact with KLIA’s marble floor.

1. Give parents BIG BIG hug.
2. Get excited to be able to ride in a big car again.
3. Dump my stuff at home, unpack later.
4. Go for Fatty Crab/Hong Kong food/mamak/Hokkien mee
5. Meet up with local friends which aren’t gone to somewhere far far away.
6. Go shopping!!
7. Watch a movie in GSC, 1U
8. Drive my car! (Hopefully I’ve not forgotten how to drive after not driving for 9 months)

o far these are the 8 most important things I have to do before I leave for Cambodia on the 11th. Means I have only 1 week to accomplish these 8 tasks!

*****

 

Oh, I’m going to Nottingham on the 24th to disturb Karen and her new (well, not that new anymore) found companion and then back to Sheffield on the 30th and the next day I can finally move into the new house! Yay! I can’t wait for that day to arrive! Lots of things to do again on the 1st. I have to go collect the keys to the house at the earliest possible time, move in my stuff into the house (not again! :S), get the wireless internet installed, unpack and sort out stuff in the room and finally clean up the house (if it’s dirty or messy) all before 3rd July. Woohoo! Busy busy busy!

 

Dududu