AMPM Cafe @ USJ 21

An overview of the interior from where I sat @ AMPM Cafe

I've been wanting to look for an alternative cafe nearby to chill or do work because at times I am just too lazy to drive all the way to PJ. I remembered passing by to some cafes around USJ 21 once, and since I was slightly free last Saturday, I thought why not give them a try.

Spotted AMPM Cafe during my search and did a quick check on the Internet to find that this cafe is quite popular among coffee goers - seeing that they've been featured in quite a few websites. I always lookout for the "Top 10" listing that is featured on the Internet/magazine before making my decision, so thanks to those websites I made my decision to check it out.

My deduction: Not too bad, just that the ground floor is kinda warm when there are more people around. Otherwise not a bad place to do work. WIFI is available for free and the connection is not too bad, music choice is alright, Hot Mocha is good.

I have this weird habit of camping at the corner, but there is only 1 plug point available so it's more like on a first-come-first-serve basis, see if you're lucky. Second level seems quite cozy, the room temperature is cooler comparing to the ground floor. I might try to camp upstairs next time :D

Penang Trip

There was a long weekend last week lasting from Friday (Labour's Day) till Monday (replacement public holiday for Vesak Day which fell on a Sunday), and I was invited by my Penang friend for a short getaway. Ignored the fact that it's gonna be a full of tourist, I agreed and went along with the plan. 

Wrong decision. It took us approximately 6.5 hours to get there! Departed at 12 mid night sharp and only to reach Sg Nibong bus station at around 6.30am, which is a bloody long journey. Worst still, I thought taking the night bus would be the best decision ever as we can save some travel time plus start our Penang tour as soon as we arrive. Wrong again. Not only it was a long journey, I didn't even get to sleep at all due to the constrained space and loud snoring from the other passengers. Sometimes I just feel jealous that they are able to knock out so easily.

(Left) A shot taken from Chew Jetty (Center) The view on top of me @ The Mugshot Cafe (Right) Bagel for lunch!

View from the Penang Hill 

Done ranting. Penang is quite lovely overall, we started our tour by cycling around George Town. RM8 for a bike per day with bicycle lock provided, you are free to cycle wherever you go, which is quite nice as you get to explore more places, alley ways and lanes where all the murals are hidden.

Beach & Sunset view via Hard Rock Hotel @ Batu Ferringhi

Besides travelling around George Town and the Penang Hill, we also went took a detour to Batu Ferringhi for the beach and sunset - which I took a lot more photos then. It was a chillaxing 2 hours over there for us, we took some photos, chat a bit, people watch while enjoying the cooling sea breeze.

Mother-son moment on a guided horse

Wish I get to experience this someday

Well, Penang has nothing much to do since the traffic was bad practically at any hour of the day. Met up with some of my friends who are staying/working there for some catch-up-over-coffee-session. And also visited the Chinese Medical Hall for some traditional treatment for my back which unexpectedly cost me a bomb!! But then again, let's see if the Chinese Medicine helps. If it doesn't, at least I know I can strike this option off my list, no harm giving it a try anyways.  

One of the shot I love most, but it can be better - in terms of the composition and exposure level. Perhaps I should start picking up my camera again?

Motivation & Determination Required

I've not been discipline and I really need the motivation & determination in order to continue doing this. Since I don't exercise, I am hoping this will at least helps me to build my stamina while staying a healthy lifestyle, and at the same time, eliminate some extra fats in my body :D

Morning Lake View

Morning lake view behind Sime Darby Medical Centre

I just noticed that I didn't blog at all last month, been swamped with work and projects since last year. Unsure if this is a good thing or not but basically time passes so fast with work and stress piling up like a mini hill. In just a blink of eyes, we are now in Q2 of the year. It's april already!!

Anyway, since my gym membership ends in March 2015, and clearly I don't have the time to go for it, so it would be a waste of money if I extend my membership. Made a decision to kill the membership and resolved with jogging around the lake nearby.

Shot above was taken in one of the morning I went for a jog. Nice shot eh?

4th Day of CNY

The 4th day of Chinese New Year, as usual we have nothing much to do. Unlike other families, we don't go do house visiting and don't have other people over visiting, so mom decided to go to my grandma's place. As for me and my sister, we are allow to have our own plan.

After dropping my mom at grandma's, I went to the mall nearby and camp myself in Starbucks. This is like my second drink today (drink in pic) and my 2nd visit this week. Decided to challenge Caffè Americano but cheated in the end with some syrups, just can't take the bitterness. Healthy much?

Anyway, purpose of camping here is to do work, but instead of working, I've been chatting with friends, checking Facebook, reading a book which I borrowed almost a year ago, and people watch in the cafe.

Chose a quiet corner for all the activities listed above, which not quite comfortable as the air cond is not strong enough. Speaking of which, I don't think the free wifi is working too, scanned for the connection a few times but to no avail, maybe the modem is broken. Meh!

Okay, enough updating. I think I should really continue slacking my weekend. Next week gonna need to start combating all the workloads and crazy clients again :P

Oh by the way, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR guys!

Short Getaway to Taiping

HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!!!

I know, I know, another long abandoned blog since the last entry, yadda yadda yadda, busy working yadda yadda yadda, no time for a lot of yadda yadda, and I'm constantly being #tired. Not gonna continue yadda-ing around so let's proceed with this blog entry shall we :P

End of October 2014, I went to Korea with my bunch of high school buddies. By right, I should be blogging about the trip, but due to insufficient time (I have not even select any photographs from the pile yet) and my hard disk is currently with my friend, so posting about it is kinda not possible.

Last Sunday (1 Feb 2015) I went to a small town called Taiping (which means "everlasting peace" in Chinese) in the northern state of Perak in Malaysia. Reason? To visit my beloved brother. Well, not biologically related but when you have this one friend that you're well connected with, you tend to call them your "brother" or "sister" of different parents, right?

This is my first time going to Taiping, and this is also my first time taking a bus from Pudu Sentral all by myself. The other time I took a bus to another state was with a friend to Penang and we departed from One Utama bus station via Aeroline. Anyway, I experienced so many first time through this trip, one of the significant moment was when the bus I took (apparently the most trusted coach company) decided to take a stop at the road side while going uphill exiting Ipoh.

Luckily a back-up bus came for the rescue, in the end, we were only about an hour late from schedule.

Our first stop - The Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve which is located at Kuala Sepetang. It was quite a journey even though the friend claims that we completed the walk within 30 minuets, but throughout the journey I kept thinking about horror nonesense like how a group of people walking through the mangrove forest and one by one being killed by some murderous devilish creatures. LOL.

We then moved on to the fishing village. Since it was mid afternoon when we arrived the village, all the villagers were chilling and resting at home while doing their daily chores. What impressed me the most wasn't the fishing village nor the carefree villagers, but when I look up the sky, I saw eagles soaring/gliding in the sky. Many of them!!! It was so awesome!!!

The least expected place always brings you the best surprise. I never consider to visit the charcoal Factory because to me, they are just some light, black residue, consisting of carbon and any remaining ash - what is there to see? But like I said earlier, it was full of awesome insights and stories.

Perhaps it was the uncle's (who told us about the stories and processes of charcoal making) way of presentation that sparks my interest, or it was the aunty's (another group of visitor) reaction to the story made everything seems so funny and lively. Anyway, every single process in a charcoal factory is manually done by human power. Charcoal production is a long process and involved lots of man power.

This time I didn't manage to visit the zoo nor the Lake Garden (only drove pass at night), but I will definitely try to make it the next time! I had a pleasant stay at my friend's place and his parents we very accommodative! I guess besides Kuching, Taiping's gonna be my next favourite town in Malaysia. Looking forward to my next trip :)