Leicester & Rugby

Here's some highlights of my first month at Leicester:

- Work work work from Mon to Fri
- Window shopping, house-keeping on Sat and Sun
- I cooked dinner almost everyday!
- I prepared my own breakfast! No nasi lemak for me... sob sob.
- I managed to open a bank account at Barclays, finally...
- I watched Rugby World Cup for the last few weekends... cant believe it :p Never thought I would enjoyed the game, it is very rough to me. But, since its one of the most watched games here in the UK, England is in the finals and everybody is talking about the game, so.... I must not be left out. Enjoyed the semi-finals between South Africa and Argentina, its the first time I see them scored 5 points by taking the ball and run superfast to the line.
- I went to an english pub, entertained by our project engineer who sings there!
- I had dinners at a chinese restaurant which served nice dishes, and dont have to pay!
- I went to try out Fitness First yesterday, and the Step class sucks....bored me to death!

and finally....Kimi is a champion!!! hehehe

A Gift

...the gift is a bear
from a friend who is dear
so that i will not be lonely
along my journey...

note: picture courtesy of Mr Rock

I simply do not understand

I accompany a friend of mine, also a Malaysian, to open a bank account today. We went around all the 3 neighbourhood banks, and none successful. My friend just got her employment letter today, and she thought it would be easier to open an account that way. However, all the banks, ask her for the proof of address, which can only be in the form of other bank's statements or utility bills such as electricity, water, gas or a land line. If this is the case, most of us as foreigner who just come to UK to work, will never get to open any bank account. How can they expect us to have utilities bills since we just moved here, and also most of us will be renting, the bills will not bear our names. So we asked can the proof be in the form of a letter from the landlord, together with the bills? And the answer is still NO. So so so disapointed.

Having said that, it still depends on which bank officer you meet and whether you are lucky enough. A friend of us went to open an account in Liverpool, and the guy only ask for her passport, its that easy! This is a very rare case though. So try your luck!!!

Hopefully when its my time to open one, I will get lucky, haha...

Portobello and the London Freewheel

Its a Sunday, and its sunny... A good day to go out and enjoy! I went to Portobello Market in the morning. They have dozens of little antique shops, colorful buildings, restaurants, clothing shops, souvenir shops & stalls selling 2nd hand stuff here. We had fun window shopping, and I bought 3 postcards to send to my dear frens back home. Too bad some of the shops are not open on Sundays.


portobello market signage


a shop selling wallies decorations


Lush Times - this is the shop that impressed me most. They sells bath and hair products. The smells are so sweet, and they make the products just like food... haha.. i almost tempted to eat the soap bars :p


antiques


colorful buildings

After Portobello, we took a bus to Piccadilly, and walk to St James Park for the Hovis London Freewheel. Today Londoners get to cycle around London's famous landmarks with peaceful minds (the roads are closed to motor vehicle). This event is actually aimed to encourage more people in London to cycle. Hmm, but for me, I think its just too dangerous to cycle in the city centre.


thousands of cyclists participate in this festival, seeing them reminds me of someone, hehe...


cycling acrobatics performance


panda cycling???


a guy doing a test... but i am not sure what it is... hee..

London

I am here for 3 weeks plus already... just cant believe it. I have fun here holidaying everyday. Weather has been good for the first two weeks since I arrived. No rain, and we have sunshine almost everyday. Now, autumn came and the weather starting to get colder and colder. I already feel very lazy to go out :p Dont know what will happen to me when winter comes, hee. As for food, I enjoyed their sandwiches (which I bought from Tesco, Marks & Spencer or Sainsbury) at first, but after a few days, I started to look for asian food. Luckily, the place I stayed at that time, which was Bayswater, offers lots of choices on asian food. The famous roast duck is there. So far, I have tried the roast duck and fried rice in bayswater; Briyani rice at Khan's; nasi campur & meehoon goreng in Malaysian Hall; wanton noodles, rice with curry and sweet&sour pork in Chinatown; even go as far as Oriental City in Colindale for nasi lemak ;) Now, I am running out of money and since I stayed at a friend's house now, we cooked quite often.

Below are some of the places that I visited:

Trafalgar Square at the background- a place always packed with tourists and pigeons.


Piccadilly Circus - my sis told me before I came, this is not a circus, its a roundabout! with the famous Eros statue in the middle


Chinatown- we had our lunch at a Hong Kong char chan teng, which served very delicious seafood curry with rice.


Kensington Gardens - so peaceful


Royal Observatory at Greenwich - where east meets west


Malaysian Hall at Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater.


Tower Bridge - taken during sunset. Its very windy on the day we went to tower bridge, but we still waited from afternoon till it gets dark, so that we can take the different looks of tower bridge ;) This is also the 1st day of the London tube strike. No train for us to go home after our little day tour.


a street performance at Covent Garden. This guy is imitating the scene in the Matrix.


London Eye - took the ride during sunset. The view is worth the £13 we spend.


Big Ben - We walk across the bridge to big ben after our ride at london eye.


Buckingham Palace- for the changing of the guard.


Camden Town - lots and lots and lots of shops selling all kind of things, especially weird things, haha.


British Museum - Not really enjoying myself here, coz I am not a museum person, haha. They have mummies here and lots of ancient sculpture.

I will be visiting Oxford next monday.... yoo hoo..

Half a world away

Hmm, I have not been updating my blog lately... been very busy, lazy, etc... yaya, all excuses... Just wanna update all my blog readers that I am now half a world away fr Malaysia. I am in a place where this sight is common :)



ya, you guessed it, its London!

Been here for a week plus. I have fun and visited lots of places, but was home-sicked, and I miss all my frens back there. Will update more when I settled down... stay tuned.

the Children I met @ Siem Reap

One common sight around Angkor temples... is the children. We met a lot of them at each temples trying to sell us books, postcards, water, and some just asking for some donations. I would say some are really charming, they don't really disturb you after you said no to them, and their face immediately lighted up when I handed out sweets to them. I love giving out sweets to them, seeing their smiling faces brings warmth and joy to my heart.

The only bad experience we had is at the floating village where a bunch of kids came near our boat to sell us bananas. SC decided to buy one from one of the kids, soon after she paid the little girl, the other girls starts to cry and shout louder "banana, one dollar... banana, one dollar..." and all swamp to SC like asking her why you didnt buy from me??? Believe me, their voices are really loud till our ears can still hear the echo when our boat starts to move :p

As usual, here are some pixs to share.....with the subject - Innocent Faces :)


this girl pose for me and ask me to take her picture when she saw me with my camera. I think she looks beautiful.


at floating village...banana, one dollar....


two little boys at Beng Mealea temple... they kept asking for more sweets ^_^


Mom with her kid. We bought some candies which is super sweet and some utensils made fr coconut from mom.


hmmm, why do you look so sad, little girl???

my first on Panorama

During my recent trip to the Angkor Wat, I've tried to take some pictures using the panorama feature on my olympus camera, and later use the photomerge function in photoshop to combine them. Here are some of the pictures.


If you look carefully on this pix, its actually not perfect, because i have moving objects (ppl walking) in the pix. I use the clone stamp to cover up some of the area, but its still not perfect... hehe, have not master the use of clone stamp.


and this pix, you can see two green boxes on the temple... thats where they are doing some restoration now. May be I should make them dissapear too.... but just too lazy :p


the big tree at Ta Prohm Temple

Next on --> Siem Reap

Viv's journey continues..... to Siem Reap. Cant wait to see Angkor Wat :)


Siem Reap... where in the world?

map extracted from google map

Viv's Mount Kinabalu Guide - Part 2

I did mentioned that the next post would be on what to expect during the climb, but I think you should know how much is required for the climb prior to the climb, and thus part 2 is....

Part 2 - Plan Your Budget

Assumptions:
1. You are climbing the Summit Trail (Timpohon - Peak - Timpohon)
2. You are climbing with 3 other friends
3. Accommodations are budget hostels
4. Food are excluded
5. Calculations is based on Malaysia Ringgit (MYR)
6. Foreigner did not take the porter service & rental of walking stick

I did the calculations for both Malaysians & foreigner.

* for non-heated rooms, their rates are RM30 for M'sian, and RM46 for foreigner

The above climbing fees are provided by Sabah Park, go here for more info. As for the accommodation rates, please refer to Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.

For those who did not bring food, you can order the packed lunch from the Park HQ for the day climb (which i forgot how much it cost, sorry..). At Laban Rata, a plate of fried rice will cost about RM15, but the portion is big, so you can share between 2 person =)

Viv's Mount Kinabalu Guide - Part 1

OK, I promised to write something on my recent trip to climb Mount Kinabalu. So, here's some useful tips and guide for you.... if you are going to scale the mountain soon =)

Part 1 - Prepare for the Climb

A. Make your accommodation bookings
So you have decided to climb Mount Kinabalu, the first thing you must do is make your accommodation bookings. The journey from KK town to Kinabalu Park HQ took about 2-3 hours of uphill and winding drive. Thus, for 1st time climbers, its better for you to arrive at the Kinabalu Park HQ the day before your climb for a good rest, and you can also take the opportunity to register yourself for the climb tomorrow.


Kinabalu Park HQ

You have to make bookings for accommodation at the Kinabalu Park HQ with Sutera Sanctuary Lodges for the first night, and at Laban Rata for the second night. Sutera Sanctuary Lodges have few types of rooms for you to choose from. If you are on budget tour, take the hostel. I stay at the hill lodge this trip. Its a nice room with 2 single beds and attached bathroom, I like the extra thick blanket especially :)


the Hill Lodge


Our room

If you do not have a place to stay at Laban Rata, then you are not allowed to climb. Another reason for you to book earlier is that heated rooms/shower are only available at Laban Rata Resthouse, the rest of the huts at Laban Rata are not heated. It can be freezing cold at night, and just imagine you have to take cold shower....

They have two restaurants there, namely Balsam Cafe and Liwagu Restaurant. You can have your dinner there, pack your bag for the climb tomorrow, and go to sleep early.


One of the restaurants - Balsam Cafe. The daily climbing briefing is done here at 6pm by the park rangers.

B. Your Physical Preparation
Boost up your stamina & prepare your leg muscle & knee/ankle strength for the climb ;) For those that goes to gym frequently, all those hard work will pays off now. Just do some stepper exercise during the month before your climb. For me, since I have no access to gym before my climb, I have been training outdoors for two months. I exercise about 5 days per week, with combination of jogging, swimming, cycling & stairs climbing. Swimming is good for you to train your lungs for even breathing, this is especially important during the 2nd part of climb, where you are at high altitude & and air is thin. My friend did not really train for the climb, but she got to the top too :) because she has no problem with high altitude and cold weather. Just that after the climb, you will have muscle pain.

C. AMS - Acute Mountain Sickness
You've got to pay attention to this. Even you are very strong, this may be the obstacle for you to reach the peak. AMS is caused by a lack of oxygen while you climbing to higher elevations. This usually occurs in individuals exposed to an altitude above 8000ft (2400 m); & Laban Rata is at 3262m, Low's peak at 4095m. Some people get it, & some dont. If you have AMS, the symptoms would be headache, nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, disorientation & shortness of breath. I suffered mild AMS after Sayat-sayat hut at 3810m, I started to vomit and have short breathing. To try prevent this, bring along some panadols, & take them before the night climb. Avoid alcohol and sleeping pills the night before and stay hydrated. I am not sure though is there any special medications to prevent AMS. Go here for further reading on AMS

D. Things to bring - Day Climb
The climb to Mount Kinabalu summit consist of two parts. First part is the day climb from Timpohon Gate to Laban Rata (Summit Trail). There is another longer trail which is call Mersilau Trail. Both trail will intersect at Layang-layang hut (@ about km4). Since I am climbing the summit trail, the guide here will be all based on the summit trail. Total distance for day climb is about 6km, and the average time used to climb would be around 4-6 hours. Although the weather can be quite cooling, but because you are climbing, you don't really feel cold, thus you can wear normal t-shirt. Here is the list of things to bring:

1. Disposable rain coat (it usually rain in the afternoon)
2. Plastic bag to cover your bag pack (in case it rain)
3. 500ml or 1 liter of water (depends on you. There are untreated water for you to refill at every resting hut, and toilets too)
4. Energy food (e.g. Raisins, energy bars, banana, chocolate, etc.)
5. Small towel (if you really can sweat)
6. Good shoes (hiking shoes is the best, sport shoes is sufficient, but may be slippery)
7. Camera (with enough batteries)
8. Deep Heat (rub lots of these on your legs before your climb, you can re-apply while you rest at the huts too)
9. Knee support (wear this if you have problems on your knees)
10. Walking stick (if you have one; if not, they are available for rental at RM5 each at Kinabalu Park HQ)
11. Toilet papers

E. Things to bring - for the stay at Laban Rata
1. Slippers (when you take showers)
2. Sleeping bag (if you stay at non-heated huts)
3. Toiletries
4. Mee cup, bread, tuna, 3-in-1 drinks packet e.g. oats, milo (the food at Laban Rata is quite expensive, so if you bring these, you can buy the hot water at 60 cents, & make your own food)
5. Medicines

F. Things to bring - Night Climb
Second part will be the night climb from Laban Rata to the summit. The distance is about 2.7km. You will usually start the climb at around 2am, and its roughly 3-4 hours climb to catch the magnificent sunrise..above the clouds. Since its a night climb, the weather will be freezing cold & windy, at about 5-9 deg C. So, you got to prepare yourself for it.

1. Warm clothing (Winter jacket, those waterproof with Gore-tex would be best, thick trousers, long-sleeves shirts. For me, because I really cannot stand cold weather, I wore my long-johns too)
2. Thick socks
3. Gloves (wear your winter gloves inside, and wear another layer of cheap gardening glove outside, so that you can throw away the dirty & wet glove after the climb)
4. Beanies
5. Head Light
6. 500ml water
7. Energy food
8. Minyak Angin (in case you have mild AMS and feel dizzy. Sorry, I dunno what is it called in English)
9. Camera (dont forget this, the view at the summit is really breath-taking)

Don't carry too much during the night climb. However, its advisable to bring along a small bag pack. This is because when you climb down, the sun would have rise and thus the weather starts to get warmer. You can then start to take off your jackets one by one & put them inside your bag pack =)

Coming up next, its what to expect during your day & night climb! Stay tuned...

Viv on holiday....huh Again??

Hmmm, Viv seems to have lots of holidays recently. After Mount K, Viv went back to work at site, where she got to stay at a beach resort, then move to a golf resort (envy leh....kekeke), & after that, a company's trip to Tioman Island. On the last day of viv site work, viv happily packed all her stuff, & drove her old loyal car to Mersing, which took her about 2 hrs drive from Sg. Rengit, then another 30 min drive to Tg Gemuk Jetty at Rompin to meet all her other colleagues... They had fun at the treasure hunt (organised by Berjaya Tioman), snorkelling trip to Reggis Island, swimming in the pool, playing pool, cycling, drinking & dancing by the beach at night =) & the most unforgetful & tiring event... is the drive back from Mersing to KL, which took viv about 6 hours :((

to Chill Out

this would be a perfect place...

at the peak

Viv made it to the peak... with the help and encouragement from her guide, francis and fren, rae sher ;)



Viv promise to write on 'a guide to mt kinabalu' here for those who plan to scale the mountain soon.

Training Log - Week 14

Week 14:
Monday - Body Pump
Tuesday - Run (30 min)
Wednesday - Run (35 min)
Thursday - Run (40 min)
Friday - Steps (20 rounds) Swim (10 min)
Saturday - Swim (30 min)
Sunday - Rest

ok, this will be viv's last training log, coz Viv has completed her target of 14 weeks of training for her Mt Kinabalu climb. but do not worry, viv is still currently do her training regularly, it has become part of her daily routine :)

next destination...

is Mt Kinabalu...



All I did today is pack, hehe. Thanks zee for the backpack, mr rock for the jackets, and yc for the sleeping bag...


oh, did I pack too much???

Trying out for fun

a ride at Desaru

Viv borrowed a bike from generous W-LJ and brought it to the place where she work, on and off about 1.5 month already ;) Here is a good place for cycling, many singaporeans come here to cycle during weekends. When Viv is staying at Desaru last two week, she took the opportunity to cycle along the desaru stretch. It was a fun ride... under the sun, sea breeze, soft white sand beach, nice blue sea, cheeky monkeys, greenish golf course, fresh air... where can we find all these in KL huh???


the bike in my room


a nice holiday spot


the beach.... & the bike, of course... hehe


viv went for a jog too, along the beach. these are her foot prints :p


some ppl went there to fish


some playing water sports


some sharing their precious moments


while boring Viv make sand turtle... kekeke


finally, the wonderful collage :)