As you all know, I love free stuff; be it a pair of free movie ticket, or even a simple free meal (depending on what food is served of course :P). And right now, there's a contest for a FREE TOKYO TRIP thanks to a youth blogger whom I met during the MySelangorStory contest: SY who blogs at SYLISTIC.com.
Well as for me, I have obviously tried my luck in answering the contest questions and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the good news to arrive!!
But I'd just to share how looooooong my ねがい or wish to visit Japan has been!!!
It all started with Dragon Ball manga or comic books. lol.
Yes. Dragon Ball!!
My mum thought it'd be good for my brothers and I to read in Malay, and so she bought us the malay subbed Dragon Ball.
That led to us buying MORE and MORE mangas (still Malay subbed);
Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)
to Get Backers
to 3x3 eyes, Fruits Basket, Hot Gimmick..and the list continues. LOL.
The manga-lover then became an anime-freak as well. If you haven't watched a Japanese animation before, you should. It's really wayyy better than watching Spongebob Square Pants on nickelodeon :P
Plus, japanese animation are almost always accompanied by GREAT soundtracks!!
All those fed my mind and soul with the ultimate desire to visit Japan one day.
In fact, I had wanted to learn Japanese by myself that I even bought a book that goes, "Teach yourself Japanese" and a mini Japanese-English dictionary!
My brothers both picked up Japanese while they are in university, and brought home this stack of Minna No Nihongo or Japanese for everyone!! That was almost 4 years ago, and till today I have yet finished reading the book. LOL.
BUT when I win the FREE air ticket, I can fully utilize the dictionary :P 日本が大好^^
It's really a pity that the contest came to an end, I was really enjoying myself and in fact on day 5 itself, most of the bloggers shared a similar thought:
"I don't want the contest to end!"
Yes, we love being in the My Selangor Story. We love being able to travel around together, despite being in the bus for long hours was a pain in the ass (literally). I really enjoyed myself throughout the competition so much so that it didn't feel like a competition at all.
Truth be told, this contest is biggest blogging contest that I have ever joined in my life! It's really the biggest, I am not kidding. I've only joined blogging contests to get free movie tickets and that's about it. So My Selangor Story is indeed the biggest contest I've taken part in and I am really thankful that I was given a chance to be in it! I sincerely have no regrets what-so-ever in taking part in this contest.
However I was a little skeptical about joining the contest especially on Day 1, because I know that the other bloggers are more professional than myself. Some of them are full-time bloggers, some of them are famous bloggers with more than 500 visits to their blog each day (if not more!), and some of them are professional photographers who started blogging to show the world their artistic photographs. Yes, I got a little scared and embarrassed because when some bloggers start snapping away with their big DSLR, my tiny Samsung camera looks like a toy beside them. lol. But after awhile I got used to the feeling of being a part of the "media" and realized that all those criteria doesn't really matter.
Personally I wanted the trip to continue because I really love the company throughout the trip! I've meet all sorts of different persons in this trip, from young to old, from different races and even different nationalities. But regardless of the differences we hold, I think that bloggers are generally fun-loving people because all of them infused the trip with happiness in their own way. Thus there wasn't really a boring moment in the trip because there's always things to do and see and people to talk and have fun with :)
I really do want to mention each and every one of the 26 bloggers who made it to the trip, but to be really honest, I really regret that I didn't take more initiative to talk to each and everyone of the blogggers, especially those from Indonesia as I was a little worried that they may not understand my Malay :S
I'll start by introducing our four Indonesian friends :)
First there's Fadly, whom I find to be really serious. I seldom see him smiling, whenever I see him, he's always with his white Pentax DSLR snapping away. Here's a picture of him with his Pentax at Kanching Waterfalls on Day 3 Second is the funny dude Alid!
LOL. Yes, that's how Alid looks and acts most of the time: crazy!!
Thirdly is Husni, whom speaks surprisingly good english with a wee-bit of American accent. That's myself, Max and Husni while queueing up for Flying Fox on Day 5 of the contest in Sunway Lagoon. Fun times indeed!
And last but not least, Citra: the shy one.I realized that I didn't get any pictures with him, so I visited his blog and grabbed this picture of him and the world's largest tankard made of pewter at Royal Selangor Visitors Center on Day 2.
Other than bloggers from Indonesia, there's a lone-blogger from Singapore: SYlistic! He's really thin and tall! What amazed me is the fact that he's a travel blogger who gets to go for free or subsidized trips overseas. I am honestly envious of him, he went to Japan a few days after the MySelangor Story ended! Man, I wish someone would sponsor me to go to Japan. If they do, I wouldn't mind doing a coverage titled "Cheapest way to travel in Japan!" LOL~
Alrights, now that I'm done introducing the non-Malaysians, it's now time to talk about the fellow Malaysian kakis!
The first one who came into mind is Feeq! Not because he was the first blogger I bumped into right at the start of the contest in Day 1, but mainly because he became my pet-bro, whom apparently gets bullied by me, throughout the trip! lol~ Feeq's a really famous blogger, who tries his very best to balance between his part-time blogging career and life as a student. He's always running around throughout the contest with not one, but TWO cameras! In fact, he's really famous in the contest as the "fish-eye-boy" because he always uses his fish-eye lens to capture group shots of the bloggers! His famous tagline would be:
"Wah...handsome-nye yang berbaju (colour of his shirt)" itu!"
Next person is MsXeroz @ Nicole!I have read her blog before her contests because she's a contest-junkie who won both blogging and non-blogging contests! I salute her creativity and "sampat-ness" :P But truth be told, I am kinda "sampat" as well, and because of that we made such a good combo and even came up with this short video just before leaving Kampung Dorani Homestay on Day 4! Do enjoy the video :D
Now after I mention Nicole, the next person that comes to mind is her best friend, Tian Chad.
He's a full-time blogger who covers loads of events and is too armed with a big DSLR! On a side note, I will always remember why he posed with a finger on his face. No, it's not to look cute, but it's to cover his big pimple for he fears that I wouldn't use Photoshop to eliminate the pimple. lol~~
Then there's Denise, the sweet law-student who was my roommate on Day 1 in Shah Alam :)She's really sweet and has a dimple! Not to mention a little blur at times, but that makes her even more adorable!!! Jing Yi was also my roommate for 2 nights while staying in Pyramid Tower Hotel, Sunway!I tried reading her blog posts on the contest, but I can't because it's all in chinese characters!*yes, I am a banana: yellow on the outside, but white on the inside*
Then there's Dania with her fantastic smile! One of the amusing things about the contest was that there's a couple who joined the contest together! That's the dude: KK!
He's another one of the guys lunging their DSLRs and even a tripod!
Then here's the babe: Chia Li The two of them are so sweet together! (not me and chia li lah~ I meant KK and Chia li). While we were mostly doing group activities e.g. running about in Sunway Lagoon, the two of them roamed together, so if you want to know what couples do while in Sunway Lagoon I suggest you head over and have a read on their posts :P
Up next is Spectre! The dude with his specs.. We took this pic because we saw that there's a contest by NewZealand Natural. lol. But in the end I didn't take part in the contest. Anyways, Spectre is a really great guy whom tweets a lot using his HTC smart phone throughout the contest. lol~
Then there's Dylan, the orange banana. Another guy with a big DSLR (I think all the guys own a big DSLR *scary betul*) When I asked him why he called himself an orange banana instead of yellow, he said...something which I forgot *oppps*.. LOL
Next is a fellow Klang-ite! Thristhan!! That's him with his signature pose: zombie-fied! lol...okay, I am kidding, I think it's supposed to be a hiphop-style-kind-of-pose, but the other bloggers called it the zombie-pose. Haha.
On first sight, he's really quiet. In fact I think he's the most quiet guy next to Citra. But once I talked to him, I found out a shocking fact: Victor's actually my SUPER SUPER SUPER SUPER junior from INTEC, Shah Alam!!! Yes, I am 4 years his senior :S
Next is Max, whom I remember because of his striking shirt which says:
LOL. Amusing t-shirt ain't it? Upon chatting with him, I found out that he's actually a hardcore runner who joins marathons a LOT! So here's a picture of me and him doing the "running-pose"! There was also a big bunch of Malay bloggers in the My Selangor Story contest. Prior to joining the contest, I had little exposure to the malay blogging community.
The most striking pair has got to be a mother and son team! That's Kak Zara and her son Zaid!
Did you know that Kak Zara is a writer for malay novels?! Interesting eh?
Then there's Azuan who gave an interesting three word to describe MySelangorStory: Monkeys, Nerds and Chicks!
And here's a picture of him and the chicks *perasan*, which I grabbed from his blog. As the saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words. From this picture itself, I shall tell you what went behind the scenes as the camera flashes went berserk as the chicks posed beside Azuan.
Other than being paparazzi-ed at, there were also "anti-azuan-supporters" going,
"Oi...take pictures with chicks lah! I tell your wife!!"
Those two were Eriqazz (who calls himself great teacher onizuka in his blog) and Abang Ben! Haha, i'm just joking about the "anti-azuan-fans", those three are in fact rather close to one another, and I just found out that they actually call themselves the "Bujang Lapok Trio!"
I think those are all of the bloggers (except for jac, who dropped out on Day 4 of the contest * i miss you girl*).
To all of you guys,
I would like to say a great big "THANK YOU"
for being so sporty and fun to be with! I think if it weren't for this group which we had, the contest would have been dull all the way. You guys have all made My Selangor Story memorable and unforgettable to me and I do hope that I too have played a part in making the trip fun for you guys :) May our friendship last!!
LAST but not least, I would like to thank our mummy Amelia being the great organizer of My Selangor Story. She yelled at us and had MANY MANY sleepless night because of the contest! I do feel really guilty about it, but honestly Amelia, you should get more rest. Your body needs it! Hehe~
Thank You to the sponsors because without them, the contest wouldn't have went on as well.
I have been told my posts are too long, but it's actually because I feel the need to cover all the events which we did, and mention all the sponsors in my posts, as a token of appreciation for what I have received throughout this contest: from the great food, to the great accommodation and the great privileges given to me as a My Selangor Story blogger!
So blame me for writing a wonderful story of my 6 days in this contest......
Day 5 marks the end, well almost the end of the entire MySelangor Story as this night was the last night and final time whereby all the bloggers gathered as a complete group :'( As this post will be SUPER long *as usual* because day 5 of the contest is one hell of a day! So let's skip pictures of the yummy-li-cious-breakfast at Atrium Cafe, Pyramid Tower Sunway and head straight to our first visit of the day :)
**************************************************** Fertilizing a baby?
This was our first stop of the day, and no, we did not stop by the medical center because someone fell sick or anything, but honestly, I personally think that we visited the center simply because Tropicana Medical Center is the official Medical Center for MySelangor Story :S
Despite that, I found myself strangely attracted to the hospital. Perhaps it's because I am a pharmacist and thus something related to the medical field interests me. Nah..not that, it's because there's *ahem...clears throat*
a SEMEN collection room. LOL~
And yes, we got to see the room of course, and it focuses on giving privacy and comfort to the males so that they will be able to "produce" *ahem once again* semen which is creme de la creme~~ *Yes, good quality semen = more good quality sperms = good quality babies!* So guys, make sure you get your creme de la creme sperm to fertilize your other half's ovum. *too scientific? :P
The "private" room for the guys to view selected 18-SX-videos which will stimulate productivity XD *Note Amber Chia's picture hanging on the wall. LOL. Does she really make every guy wet? I mean wild no wait...okay, I can't find a more decent word.. XD*
Well, basically I love this really scientific picture chart which shows the the formation of a human life. It's really informative!
Okay, now that I've got your attention, let's get back to serious stuff :)
Upon arriving TMC at 9.40am, we were greeted by Mr. Alan Chin, the marketing manager, who was really nice and friendly.
The bloggers listening intently to the short briefing.
(Note the cameraman at the far left? He's Afzal from TV Selangor (the official Online TV for the contest)! Plus there's Mr. Alan Chin (the tall guy in formal suit) 3rd from the right)
To be really honest, TMC is the second private medical center that I've ever stepped in my entire life, so far. The first one is a small private hospital near my house where I'd only visit to get my body check-up done. So this is my first time getting a VIP-tour around a private hospital!!
We were brought around the various centres in TMC, namely the Imaging & Image guided Surgery Centre whereby some very high-tech-state-of-the-art imaging machines are found!
Me with the CT or Computed Tomography machine
That's Thristhan fooling around while Tian Chad gets himself stuck in the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine. lol.
The most memorable part when taking this picture is the fact that prior to entering the room, all the three guys in the picture had to empty their pockets from all metal objects. It was then it hit me hard that guys seriously do not like keeping coins, cause I saw loose coins. I'm lucky ladies wallet have a coin compartment!!
Somehow I guess I really did enjoy myself by observing the surroundings in the hospital, the working personnels and the patients, as we visited the other centres in TMC.
The Rehabilitation Centre, where we were brought around by Dr Brandon Lee the Rehabilitation Manager himself. And I found this really sweet, a Thank You card from a patient to Dr Brandon.
When I saw this, I reminded myself that being in the health care profession is indeed a great career indeed. I am more than thankful to be given a chance to help people and probably even touch their lives, but I secretly hope that I won't endanger their lives by giving them a wrong dose by mistake *touch wood*
We also made our way to the Heart and Vascular Centre. The Women's Specialist Centre
The Children's Centre I really enjoyed walking around the children's centre as it was brightly colored and I saw this little kid enjoying himself with his parents in the playroom :)
There's even a ZOO in TMC :P
Remember the room with Amber Chia's picture? That room is part of the Fertility Centre.
In fact, the hospital management takes pride in the TMC Fertility Centre which was formerly known as Damansara Fertility Centre (since 1994).
Some of their many achievements over the years in Malaysia! (note: HIGHEST IVF(in-vitro fertilization) rates! *wow*
A picture of all the IVF babies that have been successfully conceived! This section is the one that I enjoyed the most, in fact, my group of bloggers spent a really long time in this section, while the other group had their morning break earlier.
I asked a few questions especially after I found out this bit of information from Mr Alan Chin.
IVF Conception Twins which were born 1.5 years apart!
It amazed me that the centre had the technology to store a embyro baby safely for at least half a year before it was implanted in the mother again in 1996!!! This then triggered my interested in the Stem Cell storage services offered by the centre (link), and got me asking several questions regarding the issue.
Stem Cells are sort of like the "wonder drug" currently. In fact much research has been conducted on it, as stemcells are the main cells in the body which have the ability to grow into any cells in the body. That's the basic which I learned in uni.
All along I had the perception that as adults, stemcells can only be collected from the spinal cord (I think I saw that from an episode of House :p) , but Mr Alan informed us all that the current technology allows the harvesting of stem cells without the invasive and painful procedure, however, it does cost a lot more compared to harvesting the stem cells from the cord blood upon the birth of a baby. Yup, I'll most probably be storing my future-baby's cord blood with TMC :D You may be thinking,
"Wah seh, you're not even married! Yet you're thinking of your baby??"
I know it's silly, but hey, that's how I operate. I'm far-sighted okay? :P
After TMC, we headed back to Sunway Pyramid for lunch at Frames! It's situated right next to Starbucks, on the ground floor of Pyramid.
It's a really nice concept restaurant, decorated with well, photo frames!
And as usual, being a MySelangor Story blogger means we get a special menu, whereby we can select our very own main dish :D credits to spectre
A funny picture which I simply adore thanks to Spectre again I just love such pictures whereby everyone has different facial expression. I'll leave it up to you guys to decipher the hidden meaning behind each smile/smirk/gasp/the macho dude flexing his muscle.. lol.
While at the other table, the bloggers look more serious. I wonder if it's because their food has arrived, so perhaps they were all digging into the yummy food and had no time to pose around like me >.< Just by looking at the pictures, you can see that the main course looks good, and yes..it tastes good as well :D Even the dessert rocks!
My Dark Chocolate Brownie! *nom nom nom* note the yellow drink at the background, that's called the Mango Kafir Blast and it has got to be the best drink of the DAY!!!!
Before leaving Frames, my pet-bro ChingYih whom I met via blogging managed to drop by to say hi to the other bloggers! *********************************
Fun Times at Sunway Lagoon!!
I had already knew from Day 1 of the contest itself that we'd be visiting Sunway Lagoon, and boy was I anticipating for the day to arrive Sunway Lagoon!! Yes! ALL the 5 parks:
Extreme Park Scream Park Amusement Park Water Park Wildlife Park
I guess I must have been one of the more hyper bloggers around as I was going around, trying to get almost everyone to get on the rides with me! lol~
Initially I tried talking my way into brain-washing Dania to get onto the rides but I failed miserably.
That's Dania going all oh-la-la as the puts sunblock on herself *lol* while Jing Yi (in yellow) and Denise looks on. In fact my attempts on getting Dania to ride with me began on Day 2 in Genting Highlands, but even as the contest comes to an end, my attempts prove futile in converting her into a dare-devil *sad face*
So then I concluded that brain-washing doesn't help, so I tried brute force! That's MsXeroz and I trying to get Feeq on board Pirate's Revenge using our manly womanly "charms".
Unfortunately that did NOT work out as well *sigh* so I was left being the only girl on board the ride along with the boys with balls: SY, Tian Chad, Dylan, Citra, Thristhan, and Max!
The Pirate's Revenge!
The best part about this ride is the fact that it made two complete 360 degree turns which made my hair hang upside down. I'd probably look like Ju-on to the kid who was sitting opposite me. lol. Tian Chad was supposedly taking a video of us on the ride, and there I was happily shouting to the digital camera while looking like Ju-on. Lo and behold, Tian Chad said
"opps, I think didn't record the whole ride"
Yes. Bummer.
But that small bit did not stop me from having fun. It's a theme park for goodness sake! Plus with such a great company, there was nothing that stopped me from going all out enjoying almost every ride I saw. LOL.
One of my favourite rides in Sunway Lagoon: Tomahawk!
Given the fact that we were once again pressed for time, I am really proud to say that I covered most of the highlighted rides in the Amusement Park!
The Grand Canyon River Cruises
and the canyon riders! Next was The Lost City of Gold! Happy bloggers while queuing for the awesome ride! Colorado Ride!
the view from ground level
A snapshot of the guys who climbed all the way up for the ride!
and the view of the way down! We also walked on the World's Longest Suspended Pedestrain Bridge at 428metres in length!!
a snapshot on the bridge
****************************************** Let's SCREAM your LUNGS out!
We also got to enter the Scream Park!! It's one of the latest extension to Sunway Lagoon and is basically a really BIG haunted mansion!
Confession time. I actually knew that we were going to Sunway Lagoon even before Day 1 of the contest (No, it's not because I'm a genius, although I do wish I were one, but rather because I saw that Sunway is one of the main sponsors for the contest, so of course I knew that the bloggers will be visiting Sunway) So prior to the contest, I visited Sunway Lagoon's website to check out what Scream Park is all about [here]. In that page, Prison break is mentioned, and thus I was expecting to see a Wentworth Miller look-alike-zombie there :P
Unfortunately, when we were there, we were told that Prison Break is NO longer running in the Scream Park!
I went,
"Why??"
Then one of the staff explained that the whole concept of Prison Break was to let daredevils who entered find their very own way out of the scary prison, but apparently a lot of customers complained about getting lost in the park :S
Once again, that didn't stop me from entering Scream Park! The wait was a little long because as I said, it's a really big haunted house, so we needed to wait in line as only a limited number of people can enter the house at a time. So if the group in front of you looks like the kind of person who'd pee-in-their-pants-chicken, congratulations to you! You'd probably wait longer in queue while they get chickened out in Scream Park MsXeroz went
"Don't come near me....go AWAY lah"
with her eyes shut when the "ghosts" tried to scare her! LOL~
I also loved the Rumah Hantu section of the Scream Park, whereby we were required to wear 3D glasses in the haunted house! I find it a really new idea and I loved the creativity that I saw.
Simple strokes on walls using different paints + the use of UV lighting
+ 3D glasses =
Awesome 3D effects!
Although I was a little jumpy while walking in Scream Park, I didn't scream much thanks to my pet-bro Feeq whom I used as a human shield at most times >.< style="font-weight: bold;">Rumah Hantu :) And Terror Tunnel got me dizzy after walking thru it! *fun fun fun*
I do apologize for the lack of pictures, but it's a rule by the management whereby photography within the Scream Park is not allowed.
*************************************
To the EXTREMEPark
Before entering the themepark, I was telling everyone that I wanna go bungee jump! Look at how happy I was even at the entrance.
But upon arrival at the bungee jump station, which is along the suspended bridge, I was this!The best part was I didn't bring ENOUGH CASH nor did I bring my MyKad to the theme park *sigh* So in the end, my hopes of jumping off the bridge was dashed. But I believe that I will be back for the jump sometime in the future!! :D
So instead of bungee jumping, I queued up for Flying Fox along with Max and two of the bloggers from Indonesia: Citra and Husni! (citra, I nak gambar flying fox :P)
I also took the opportunity to try out my skills as an archer at the Archery Section! Bulls eye?? Nah...looks like this group of bloggers aren't archers, we're more like posers..lol Unhappy with not getting a bulleye, I went off for more shooting practice at the Target Shooting range!
This time, I got a bulleye! *evil laugh*
I also went on board the Power Jump Bungee Trampoline!
The happy girls jumping around: Dania and I Yup, I basically tried almost everything that did not require extra charges (Bungee Jump & G-force) in the extreme park! Well almost everything except for the ATV ride!
By the time we completed the Extreme Park, it was already 5pm i.e. time to leave the park as we had to gather in the lobby by 6pm to depart to our great dinner place. So I really regret as to not having more time to try out:
Flow-rider!
It's the latest attraction in the theme park! It's a surf simulator whereby water lovers can try out how to surf and wakeboard! But one look at the queue and the time, I quickly decided that we didn't have time for surfing. So instead, we managed to squeeze some time for another two rides at the Cameroon Climb :)
Dylan and Tian Chad after the first round of water ride!
Overall, I had a really great time in the theme park, so i'll definitely be back the for a next time. And i'll make sure I'll spend the WHOLE day in the park so that I won't miss ANY rides! lol..
p.s: If you guys are planning to go topless at the theme park, please work out so that you won't look like this in a random person's picture. lol...
************************************** I'm at Haven!
I seriously felt as if I was at heaven at Haven Restaurant, Ampang Lookout Point!
Perhaps it's the fact that we, the bloggers, we warmly greeted by Haven's staff upon arrival in their restaurant, despite the fact the fact that we were actually almost 2 hours late, as we were stuck in the extremely bad traffic around the city area while on the way to Haven.
I was genuinely touched by the enthusiasm and great services provided by their staff! As the management of Haven knew we were all starving upon arrival, they reduced their introduction and quickly released us to the great spread of food which they served!!
The food was superb! The was even lobster salad as starters! *nom nom nom* And the main course served to the bloggers were ALL amazingly delicious!
A funny incident happened in Haven whereby both Denise and Feeq ordered beef ribs. Both their dishes were served at the same time, and within 30mins or so, Feeq de-boned and finished his meal, while Denise was still struggling at the 2nd piece of rib using a butter knife. lol. Once the waiter noticed it, he quickly ran off and got Denise a proper meat cutting knife! The best part was Denise was so touched she teared *awwwww*
I had a look at their menu, and am happy to see that the food is not overpriced. I find it to be about the same price range as Chilli's or TGIFs, but I personally think that visiting Haven is wayyy more worth the value because at Haven you'll get a great view of KL city! Combined with the relaxing and romantic ambiance Haven Restaurant makes a great place for any couple/love birds to visit!
More pictures of the bloggers at Haven at Haven's Facebook page [here] For more details on Haven and their recent activities do join their facebook page! [Join :D] Alternatively, you can also visit their blog for more information :)
Btw, Haven's having a photography competition starting from the 15th of November 2010, so those who are interested do check out the details here :)
I shall end my post on Day 5 with this great picture of me at Haven. Credits to KK the great photographer!
and the list continues. LOL.
and the list continues. LOL.
My brothers both picked up Japanese while they are in university, and brought home this stack of Minna No Nihongo or Japanese for everyone!!
