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[post updated: 20 August 2009]

I was in Singapore last Sunday to catch Liverpool FC vs the Singapore national team. Thanks to Kevin who got me the all expenses paid trip there. Although it was a rush thing, it was really quite an experience.

proud to be part of the entourage..

There were a total of 5 busses of Liverpool fans from KL with the labels  “The Red Entourage Tour” on the sides and front of the bus. There were also a bus each from Ipoh and Malacca, which we met up later in Singapore. We departed from Bukit Jalil on Sunday morning around 915AM. We stopped by a KFC outlet along the way for lunch which we redeemed with our given voucher. Voucher entitles you to an X-Meal…not too bad I must say. But by then, I kinda regretted having a little too much Dim Sum before we boarded the bus.

The journey took a little longer than expected because we made a few stops along the way. Mainly because, as part of an “entourage” all the busses have to stick together. So we met up at highway rest areas for “toilet breaks” and “beer breaks”. Yes…beer breaks..there were a few cartons of beer on board the bus in a cooler…how convenient. The organizers kept telling us, we have to finish the beer as we are not allowed to bring in alcohol upon reaching the checkpoint. So…you can see a few uncles and aunties drinking beer in the middle of the highway rest area in the afternoon. It’s quite a funny sight as the elder crowd kept asking us to drink up and don’t waste beer!

The auntie that can’t wait to drink..

Once we reached our hotel, which by the way was a Parkroyal hotel, we were given time to freshen up and rest, before coming down for high-tea. You see, the game starts at 730PM, so it seems a little illogical to be providing dinner. Very good compromise I must say. Well, being Carlsberg, what’s high-tea without free-flow of beer?!! Kevin and I had 2 bottles each during high tea but when we wanted to get our third…they ran out! Kevin jokingly said..”this is a Carlsberg event…how can they run out of beer!” Oh well, I guess the didn’t expect people like us there…haha!

free flow beer always makes me happy!

After high-tea, we were given our tickets for the game..

Oh..noticed the ticket says: “Grandstand Lower”? It means we’re really really close to the players. In fact, we were so close, one diehard girl fan wanted to give one of the players a present. Obviously she was being ignored, but it was fun to see how she begged (yes she really begged Xabi Alonso to take her gift!).

Calrsberg girls posed when we took out our cameras

The following are pictures of the stadium and during the match.

Reina warming up..

warming up during half time

the man everyone came to see…Fernando Torres

The atmosphere was electrifying. If you close your eyes for a moment during the anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, and during all the classic Kop chants, I swear you will feel like you’re in Anfield. The match ended with Liverpool thrashing the Singapore national team 5-0. Honestly I’m quite surprised with the score line because I always thought they were a better than the Malaysian national team who managed to play well although they lost (3-2) to Manchester United because of a late goal. Maybe its a sign that Malaysian football is improving..

the scoreboard says it all

We headed for supper (and a few more drinks) after the match and call it a night. The next day, we had an awesome hotel buffet breakfast, and then headed home. Thanks Kevin for letting me with you on this once in a lifetime experience and thanks Carlsberg Malaysia for organizing such an awesome event.

*Click here for more pictures

I got a call from Kevin yesterday afternoon and he told me that he had won some tickets to watch Liverpool FC play in Singapore and whether or not I’m interested to follow. Of course without hesitation I said “YES!”. For a chance to see Liverpool FC play?…anytime. It will be an all expenses paid trip…transport, accommodation and even meals will be covered by Carlsberg Malaysia.

However, there is a catch. It’s going to be a super rush trip…and super rush I mean that I’ll only be in Singapore for slightly more than 24 hours. I’ll be leaving on Sunday morning, and reaching SG by noon. The match is on the same night, so we’ll be staying over for a night before departing back home the next morning. Will be pretty tiring I guess…but hey..at least I get to see Liverpool play! YNWA!

This is about my trip to Tioman Island last weekend. It’s my first time there so I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. To my surprise, the place is simply awesome! If you really want a short getaway from the city and to chill out by the beach in some island…this is a place to consider. Clean sandy beaches, cheap accommodation, cheap booze (it’s a duty free zone), and great company…the perfect combo for a holiday.

There were 8 of us who went, and out of the 8, 5 of them were mainly there for diving and the other 3 (myself included)….well, we’re there just to chill and for the cheap alcohol.

upon arrival at the jetty, awaiting the ferry

We stayed in Coral Reef chalets in Tekek Village.Tekek is considered the heart of Tioman Island, and it’s where the airport is situated. Room rates are from RM45 to RM150.00 per room per night by the beach. The rooms comes with 2 beds, air conditioning, water heater and TV in some (got Astro some more wei!)…not too bad if you ask me. A word of caution though…if you’re planning to bring your “princess-like” girlfriend/wife who can’t tolerate bugs and a not so perfect bathroom…don’t bother getting a room here…after all we only paid RM75 per person for 2 nights…what more can you ask for?

there are several hammocks in front of our rooms which was simply heaven!

Can you believe that this is actually the view from the hammock?

The beach

Crystal clear waters

sunset by the beach looked so calm and peaceful

For us non divers, we went snorkeling and chill by the beach during the day and during the night…well need I say more?

choosing our poison at a duty free shop

With alcohol being cheaper than a can of Coke there, it’s quite hard not over buy. Imagine a can of Tiger beer is going for only RM2 per can and a bottle of Hoegarden is only going for RM5! So on the first night itself, we bought a bottle of Glenfiddich single malt whiskey (12 years), a bottle of Absolut Mango and a couple of bottles of other imported beers.

note the price of this single malt whiskey?

these are our purchases on the first night!

It’s actually quite surprising that despite so much alcohol that we bought, none of us were actually really drunk on both nights. I think it’s mainly due to the fact that the majority of them had to go diving the next morning and consumption of alcohol before diving is a big no-no (heard they can actually revoke your dive license even). But even so, being tipsy for 2 nights straight was good enough for me…it was really fun nevertheless.

On the final day, Rabin & I rented bicycles and we rode around the island. I think that was my first time on a bicycle in after 5-6 years. It really feels great to ride again. I did most parts of the journey myself though, as Rabin was too tired to continue and headed back to the room half way for a rest.

I cycled to this marina where all the boats are parked..

And to this pier where several people were seen fishing..

coastal view from the pier

I think judging from the pictures, it’s hard for anyone to leave such a beautiful place just after 3 days. We were all contemplating to actually extend our stay for at least a week! Sighh…Oh well that’s just wishful thinking I guess, but I will most certainly come back here again…if it’s not for the beach…it’s certainly for the cheap alcohol…haha!

Our final picture…

Note: Some pictures are courtesy of Eric Cheong

I just got back from a holiday in Hong Kong and Shenzhen for a couple of days and I must say, it was really good to be back there. Well, first of all, my trip was supposed to be during end of November, but was brought forward so that I can meet up with May Lynn there when she "transits" for 5 days, from Korea before flying back to KL. I was also initially supposed to go alone, and was supposed to be a purely shopping trip, but then Mike, my colleague decides to tag along as well. It’s a good thing too as he used to work in Hong Kong for 2 years back in 2002, so he knows where the best places to go are.

So what did we do in Hong Kong and Shenzhen? Well, for me…like intended, it was a shopping trip. For Mike, I think he just enjoys being back for the food and the city after such a long time. I also manage to catch up with old friends as well as meeting new ones.

Well, I won’t be writing a whole report on everything, I will just sum it up with lots of pictures as they always seem to say more anyway…

THE CITY…

awesome skyline via the Star Ferry

THE FOOD…

Pork dumplings stuffed with celery and vegetables with noodles

Braised beef la mien

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun

Click here for more food pictures…

THE COMPANY…

I met up with May Lynn, Penny, Su-Lin + her family, Melor, Michael and also Vicky. What’s really interesting was because, I have never met Melor and Michael prior to this trip. I used to liaise with them only through phone and emails while working in my previous company. Melor was based in KL before, but strangely enough, we’ve never met at all and Michael is based in Singapore all the while. Now both of them are based in Hong Kong. We kept in touched through MSN and also Facebook all this while (don’t you just love technology?) and finally met for the first time at Discovery Bay at a restaurant overlooking the sea!

  Mike, Vicky, Michael, Melor & I @ Discovery Bay

Mike, May Lynn, Penny & I @ La Qube, Lan Kwai Fong 

Click here for more pictures…

SHENZHEN…

Mike, May Lynn, Penny and I went for a day trip to Shenzhen for shopping. It’s about a 45 minutes ride by train to Lo Wu station, which is the border town between Hong Kong and China. We managed to get on-the-spot visa which entitles you for a 5-day pass into China. We expected a long wait for our visa, but to our surprise, it took us less than 10 minutes! Maybe because it’s a weekday that we went. The visa costs HKD150 (approx RM75) in case you want to know.

After the border, we took the subway to Laojie station. So what’s good in Shenzhen? Well…shopping of course. It’s the land of the knock-offs, land of the pirates…anything you want to call it. These places sell Grade-A fakes and you can’t tell the difference really. Just to illustrate what I mean - I saw this pair of limited edition Nike Footscapes Woven which cost around HKG1900 (approx RM950) at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, and by comparison…I got the same thing (just of a different color) at HKD290 (approx RM145). Cheap isn’t it?

On the bad side, Shenzhen is also known for its snatch theft. My friends and I actually witnessed a guy snatching a girls mobile phone while she was about to board the train! Then, we saw some ruckus amongst a group of people and some policemen! Talk about a dangerous place to be in….but I would still recommend anyone to go there for a day trip….just to shop…but nothing more.

Yatttaa!! - Hiro Nakamura wannabe..

Click here for more photos of Shenzhen…

AND THE SO CALL HAPPENING BITS…

In the end, I would say it was a memorable and awesome trip. And mission accomplished (for me…didn’t I say it was a shopping trip??) …I got 3 pairs of limited edition shoes - 1 from Hong Kong, and the other 2 from Shenzhen, Tees from Esprit and Bossini ranging from HKD39 to HKD79 per piece, Polo Tees from HKD 20 per piece, an Armani Exchange bracelet and souvenirs. It was all good…but tiring as well….but would I do it again?….HELL YES!

It’s that time of the year again, where I plan for my annual getaway. Every year, I always try to go somewhere out of Malaysia (NO! Singapore doesn’t count), be it alone or with a group of friends. End of last year, I was in Bangkok alone and it was great fun. Sometime in March this year, I was in Phuket and Phi Phi Island with 2 other friends. It’s now time to plan my year end trip! *YAY!*

Ok, so now what are my options? Well, I have the super expensive, the medium ranged, and the most affordable.

Option 1: The Expensive - Gold Coast Australia / Japan
These are the 2 places I would want to go at some point, but somehow this idea always ends up in the bin due to the high currency exchange.

Pros: Gold Coast / Tokyo?….need I say more + Air Asia now flies to GC

Cons: Super expensive. I think if I were to go any of the 2, I will end up eating white bread and sugar for the next 2 - 3 years. Whilst the price of flying there is rather reasonable, it’s the accommodation and everything else there that is the “killing” factor.

Option 2: The Medium Ranged - Korea
While I have heard so many things about Korea, I haven’t been there before. I was told by most people to follow a tour as you can get lost easily as there due to language problems. Nevertheless, I’m always adventurous and if I do go, it will be without the assistance of a tour guide :)

Pros: Korean food, shopping and Korean chicks! Some place I haven’t been to before.

Cons: Language might be a problem here. High possibility of getting conned, lost or kidnapped.

Option 3: The Most Affordable - Hong Kong
The last time I was in Hong Kong was in 2006, and I vowed to return to the beautiful city. I really love it in Hong Kong, partly due to the nature of the whole city and the weather during the year end.

Pros: The food, shopping and more shopping!

Cons: While this might be the most sensible and affordable destination, Hong Kong is a place I have been to before. I want to explore places/countries that I have not been to before.

So how? If you have to choose just one of the 3 above, which will you choose?