First of all, a big happy winter solstice to everyone! Today marks the shortest day of the year, and according to Chinese traditions, we’ll be making glutinous rice balls today. We were busy rolling bits of the mix when mom realised that my aunt passed us the wrong type of flour, so we’ll have to delay our rice ball making till tomorrow :razz: I couldn’t stop giggling when mom and I desperately tried to make the rice balls float – if we were using the right type of flour, the balls will float after being placed in boiling hot water in a matter of minutes. We waited for 10 minutes, lol!
Sharing is caring
I’ve been spending some time reading blog posts and here are five posts that I think is interesting and you might love it ;) in no particular order:
- Sue shows us the 10 best photos she’ve taken in 2008 the past three months. Nice photos, Sue!
- Destiny shares her view with giving gift cards to family and friends during this festive season, which I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
- Benghan posts some photos from his recent trip to Gold Coast – simply mind-blowing! *pooof!*
- Jeff and his amazing code snippets for Wordpress, Windows (hi, Bill Gates!) and Firefox. And there are so much more good stuffs on his blog – a perfect place for web developers and code lovers alike.
- NoktahHitam gives everyone a good laugh on that funny advertisement on his news aggregator site, Negaraku.net.
If you are the impatient kind, you can always skip to the photos instead, heheh.
December wrap-up
teddY-risatioN™ Eta
So back to something that is finally relevant to the post title…
#1 – Presenting teddY-risatioN™: My December started off with extreme joy and excitement immediately after the end of my November exams, and the satisfaction of releasing my seventh theme, teddY-risatioN™ Eta. Not to mention recovering from a horribly long hiatus, all thanks to the nightmarish scenario of my first semester exams.
teddY-risatioN™ Eta marks the complete revamp of the typography and layout that I used to inherit from previous theme, making it one of the craziest experience I’ve ever had in making things work. In case you’re wondering why Eta, I’m currently numbering my WP themes alphabetically using Greek alphabets – by drawing inspiration from Yahoo!’s idea that there is no final version for their web services like Flickr. They’ll move on from Beta to Gamma, so on and so forth.
The Christmas Arch
#2 – Orchard Road, ready for Christmas: For the rest of the week I cooped in my room playing Spore, and before I left for home in Malaysia, I made a trip to downtown Orchard to capture the glamour the beauty of the famous annual Christmas decoration. I rarely travel to Orchard Road after I started my university because the campus is simply too far away from town, and it’s located at the fringes of a forest reserve (and an army live firing area, so I hear bombs and gunshots all the time).
I was lucky enough to stumble upon a temporary traffic island which made it possible for me to capture the photo on the left, with traffic flowing around me, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road.
Flying carousel, Spinner.
#3 – Three days in cloud nine: Then my grandparents came from their Penang home, stayed over for a week and we went to Genting Highlands during their stay with us. The trip was fantastic! I took a total of 805 photos (excluding the ones I’ve deleted before I returned home), but only used a meagre 26 of them in my update.
I’ve been to Genting Highlands for gazillion times in my life but I never got bored of it. For some reason, I find that it is a good place to explore – be it using your feet, your eyes or your camera. The theme park gives you plenty of photo opportunities for roller coasters, rides and riders (sometimes you’ll need to ignore that no entry sign). The parks readily embraces you with their cold, crisp air and throws millions of macro photography chances in your face.
A good thing about going to a holiday destination is that nobody looks at you like a freak when you unleash your inner devil – the shutter bug. For some reason, I feel that Genting Highlands is way safer than downtown Kuala Lumpur, that’s why I dared to roam around freely.
Things that I have not updated you about
I have so many things to update but I do not want to clutter you, and your poor RSS reader if you’re using any, with updates. I know how it sucks to log in to Google Reader the next morning and discover that you have 20+ updates to catch up with – that’s what I’m experiencing every morning since mid-December. With the festive season closing in, the blogosphere is naturally buzzing (and overflowing) with Christmas, shopping, gift posts.
Photos will be in cute little thumbnails so that I don’t make this blog a scrolling hell for both you and your mouse.
#1 -Christmas at The Gardens, Midvalley: Before my grandparents returned to Penang, we brought them on a day-trip tp The Gardens, Midvalley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur. Grandpa didn’t quite like the rather bland (but healthy) food we had for lunch, so he was a little grumpy. He even protested by pouring a whole lot of soy sauce into his rice. I find that the older grandpa gets, he acts a little more like a kid – like the way how he argued with grandma and the way he chooses to display his displeasure. Nonetheless, I still love him, of course!
I also fell in love with the reflections off the balls they hang on Christmas trees. They become instant fish eyes – in an interesting sense! No prize for finding where am I in the ornaments. Oh, and I took photos of people taking photos.
#2 – With Tysern at Lookout Point: Tysern was really nice to bring me to Lookout Point for supper on Monday night. We followed the directions Tysern printed out from a blog, which was misleading but still helpful, and managed to reach the mountain top in an hour’s time from my home. Not to mention making a wrong turn to Kampung Pandan instead of the Pandan Interchange as written in the directions, but it gave us more time to talk about Tysern’s Who Wants To Be a Millionaire fetish.
The view up there was magnificent, but the food wasn’t – as expected, after reading a few blog entries regarding the food. The lighting was dark, to give diners a clear view of downtown KL but then it was a wee bit too dark for me to differentiate between all the whatnots they’ve dumped into my seafood spaghetti, which costs a hefty $11.50 and is not really nice. Tysern was right about his comment on my rose tea, which tasted more like rose syrup plus tea than anything else.
View of downtown Kuala Lumpur from Lookout Point.
Lookout Point Restaurant.
There are plenty of better photos of downtown KL at night, like the ones over at Adrian Lee Photography blog. Mine isn’t that nice afterall, hah!
You’ve survived till the end!
I guess that’s all for this update! Thanks for reading ;) and an early Merry Christmas to everyone, just in case I couldn’t throw in an update before the big day. Have fun folks!
I haven’t been to Midvalley for a while. The Christmas decorations there do look very festive and grand. I used to go there for shopping during my pre-Uni studies.
I will be enjoying tang yuan with my hubby and parents-in-law later as well! :D
Check out Wendy’s latest blog post » Be Careful What You Wish For…
@Wendy: I hope you could be there – their Christmas decoration for this year is one of the best in town, all thanks to the profits they’re reaping from the hedonistic lifestyle of downtown rich folks, heheh.
Have fun eating glutinous rice balls! Ours were screwed up so we ended up eating at my aunt’s place instead.
Thanks for the link, Terry! Bill Gates sends his regards! Merry Christmas! :)
@Jeff Starr: You’re welcome Jeff! Early Christmas greetings to you too! I heard that the weather over there is pretty bad, ice storms and all, I hope you’re doing fine. I pray that Washington isn’t badly hit by heavy snowfalls across the US… it kind of worries me. Take care!
p/s: Thank you so much for the link! I’m really honoured, seriously *bows*
haha, i see, did u guys use the normal flour, instead of the glutinous rice flour?
haha, be like me. i damn pandai, eh if you din know, I AM A HUGE FAN of FILLED TONG YUEN, so i always get those ready made ones with peanut butter or black sesame filling. DAMN NICE MAN. I eat like every week or so one lar, damn siow, cuz i love to eat LOL.
hmmm, the pics at the lookout point are really fab, i mean, how can you ask for more. the photos u took have totally no noise, is sharp and clean. Really gets the message across, with just one look, on its stunning view.
MAN, its soo soon you’re leaving back to SG, but do take me out on a meal while you can alright?! Heh, take care. Bye
Check out tysern’s latest blog post » tysern’s major fail series
@tysern: Yea I think we got the wrong flour – we didn’t check properly before preparing that’s why we screwed it up haha! I didn’t know that you’re a big fan of glutinous rice balls with fillings! I only eat those with no fillings, sadly :P And you fill them up with… peanut butter?! WOW. That’s interesting!
You don’t have to be so generous with your compliments haha! There are lots of nicer photos of the view from Lookout Point on the net, I’m not going to brag about how mine stands out from the others teehee!
Hi teddy!! again -,-
thanks for the link =D wahha i get to be #1 how lucky!
0,0 december wrap up only?? i want 2008 wrap up!!! I demand it!
Wow but I think ur december’s wrap up is much better than mine =(
oh just a random question teddy, how many pics out of how many pictures u normally display here? because they all seem so nice =S
Check out sue’s latest blog post » Midvalley with Hor sue Ann
@sue: Hey Sue! You’re welcome ;) A 2008 wrap up will be posted soon, so do look forward to it! I’m not sure what to write though, since I’ve already done one wrap up during my blog’s birthday a few months back. Let’s see what else can I dig up from my archives. I might be posting the top 10 photos I’ve taken this year, just like you!
Regarding the number of photos that manage to survive my perfectionism and scrutinizing eyes, I guess the survival rate is around 3~5%? Like for my recent trip to Genting Highland, I only displayed 26 photos out of a total of 805, which is around 3%. I only pick the better ones to be display… the rest are either blurry or what, but for some reason I don’t feel the need to delete them. I’ll just keep them and see what I can do about them in the future :P
YAY!! 2008 wrap up!!! Cant wait for it!! Nahh, dont worry repeating isnt a bad thing, at least you can compare how bad/good you were last time =D OMGOMGOMG I want you top10 pics!! HURRY! 2008s ending!
WAHHH!! Same as me! I thought I was the only one that keeps imperfect pictures =,= But I think my survival rate is wayy lower than yours =( Still new in photography, need more experience first =D
Check out sue’s latest blog post » Midvalley with Hor sue Ann
@sue: I usually don’t delete my photos once they’re transferred into my computer :D When I want to delete them I’ll usually do them in the camera, and I consider the photos that survived the initial deletion somewhat worthy to be kept and so I don’t touch them heheh.
2008 is ending, and I’m going back to Singapore on Christmas Day! Haha, what a day to go back. Looks like if I want more updates of what’s going on in KL I’ll have to read your blog more often, hah.
merry christmas, teddy, and have a blessed year ahead.
Check out letti’s latest blog post » Letti Thursday
@letti: Merry Christmas to you too, Letti, and the little baby in your tummy. May you have a great year ahead ;) take care! I hope the snow storms aren’t that serious over there *crosses fingers*
ooo look out point…i also just discovered this place this year as well
merry x’mas and a happy new year coussie ;)
@med: I’ve heard of that place for some time already but I’ve never been there myself until this year. Did you dine at the restaurant there or just went up there to have a good view of KL?
Early Christmas greetings to you too ;) are you going to catch any countdown parties or firework displays in KL?
went up there twice…one time for sight seeing and another time for some food..think it was italian but its only so so
nope…will be in the comfort of my own house…lazy to join the crowd hehehe ;)
@med: Yea the food up there isn’t particularly wonderful… but the view definitely is! What a shame :(
That is a very nice view! Merry Christmas to you, Terry!
Check out Mingyun’s latest blog post » Correcting my eyesight
@Mingyun: Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too, friendly friend :) now I’m starting to wonder who came out with this cute term – I bet it’s you! Heheh!
All the best for your studies for the next semester! Sounds really geeky :P
nooooo!! dont depend on me for kl updates!! im outdated! see how slow i update things =(
ehhh got what to update one ahh kl?? firework ah?
Check out sue’s latest blog post » Midvalley with Hor sue Ann
Haha my schoolmates have crumpler bags too! Rich people these days really know how to spend money =D
WoooooT! Were gonna stay in the same place. But thats disgusting means, the hotel is very very old =( and not as clean as new ones =S
Yeah Im going to the rotating tower, its called menara taring sari =D Ill bring back some pics for u to see =D
LOL yes!! its called legend haha. or maybe landmarks.
Merry Merry Belated Christmas too!
Eeesh who doesnt wanna go to NY when it snows. Its just that do you have the $$$ to fly urself there?? I dont =( Maybe next time when I become the CEO of a company =D wahahha dream big
Check out sue’s latest blog post » Midvalley with Hor sue Ann
@sue: Woah, what a looooooong reply comment you have over there! Thank you! I’m gonna depends on you for updates in KL because my brother doesn’t go out that often and so he couldn’t update me about the latest happenings over there. It’s not only the fireworks – somehow your writings make me see KL in a different light. Heheh.
Crumpler bags are so expensive! I wanted to get myself one but after I checked the price in Singapore I’ve decided that the money could be better off saved for my future photography equipments. Muahaha. The hotel is quite old, and the only thing I remember was taking a dip in their small pool and mom stealing *gasp* a few towels from the hotel room the day we checked out =.=”
I am looking forward to photos from your Malacca trip! I can’t wait to see how Malacca looks like from your perspective. I’ve been there many, many years ago so I think the place must have changed a lot since then.
I wanted to visit New York – not only New York City but the surrounding area also. I wanted to visit the Bronx, the small little dark alleys in NY, squeeze into the subways, visit the Manhattan Market (my NY friends told me that it’s a great place to shop!) and the Central Park. Just by flying there will cost me a bomb, not to forget the conversion rate. Eeeeeks!
Happy new year to you! We are merely 22.5 hours away from 1st of January, 2009. May you have a great year ahead!