Pulau Aman & Kuala Gula~

Lucky Shadows of Fairies~

During the end of May 2010, we organised a day trip to Pulau Aman and Kuala Gula. Pulau Aman (Peace Island) is an island situated right at west of Batu Kawan, Penang Mainland. 5 out of 6 Fairies took part in this whole-day event: Machine, World, Auntie Yang, Nini Global, and myself.

jelly fish that was washed up the shore of Batu Kawan~

mud-skippers~

We started our journey early in the morning, first heading to Pulau Aman. The plan was to have brunch there and then head for Kuala Gula (Sugar Marsh). So it was that we took the speedboat from Batu Kawan jetty to Pulau Aman which still cost RM6 to and fro. Upon reaching the island, we first headed for the "heh kor" (mantis prawn) as they sell fast. Late but a little and none will be available. We bought about 50 mantis prawns at rm1.50 each. I did mock my friends saying that it would be rm1 each in Kuala Gula. Then we went exploring the east coast of the island before heading to the restaurant for brunch.

Pulau Aman from afar~ very aman (peaceful)~

map of Pulau Aman~

where we bought mantis prawns~

heh kor (mantis prawn)~

RM6 fried rice~ price increase, amount of prawn decrease~

mee rebus RM6~

heh kor chuey (steamed mantis prawn)~

After brunch, we moved on to our next destination - Kuala Gula. I was one of the most excited because I wished to see some migratory birds (though it wasn't actually the migratory season). Along the way, we passed through Nibong Tebal, Parit Buntar, Simpang Ampat, and Kuala Kurau. I remembered seeing the map showing a bridge connecting Kuala Kurau and Kuala Gula, so we looked for a bridge. We found one but as we got closer, we realised that it was for motorcycles only. So we looked for another bridge and finally found one bigger one (fuck the road signs & Garmin GPS !@#$%^&*).

There were a few places of interests in Kuala Gula, i.e. charcoal factory, shrimp factory, temple, bird watching, and fireflies. However, we managed to actually visit the Hua Seng Keng temple only because the factory visits require us to be in a bigger group in order to arrange a visit. We drove through the "town" of Kuala Gula without even noticing that it was the town as there was only a row of shophouses.

Hua Seng Keng Temple~ quite big~

Hua Seng Keng Temple~

the 5 fairies~

In the attempt to see some birds, I insisted on driving through the trail which actually led to nowhere. We saw no birds because it was not the migratory season (migratory season is from September to March). The trail was kind of narrow and what's terrifying was that it was very near to the sea and it was high tide. Many houses were we because the seawater overflowed into their houses.

narrow~

so near the sea~ scary~

After the fruitless attempt driving through the trail, we explored the fishing village there and found that the ground had a strange bright orange colour, like red ground but it was too orange. When we looked closer, we were actually surprised to learn that they were actually dried shrimps. If one of my aunt sees this, I can actually imagine how she would bend down and pick these shrimps up one by one. There were also mounts of cockle shells every few metres away. We were then told by the people there that the number shrimps and cockles on the beaches of Kuala Gula outnumber the population of the village about ten times. This statement was accounted for the piles of cockle shells and the production of dried shrimps there.

heh bee (dried shrimps)~

dried shrimps at the house of one of the villagers~

We had dinner at Ai Tee seafood restaurant which was situated in "town". The famous food there was the crab beehoon. There was a red huu in the restaurant, but of course, can see, cannot touch. After a full dinner, we were briefed by the local tour officer, Mr. Tan, about Kuala Gula and fireflies. We learned quite a lot about fireflies and their distribution around Malaysia. Unfortunately, it was going to rain that night so he didn't bring us to see the fireflies of Kuala Gula. We then distributed the mantis prawn evenly so that we wouldn't have to repack them again when we reach home. Big mistake. One uncle on motorcycle passed by and saw us with the mantis prawn. He turned his motorcycle around and headed towards us and saw the mantis prawns. Then, each and every passing villager turned to look. Even young teenagers did. He then said: "ane seh ciak nia, 3 puat chee 4 puat chee pun boh lang ai," which meant, "so small only, 30 or 40 cents also nobody wants." We bought it for RM1.50. So much for the RM1 mock.

claypot fish head~

crab bee hoon~

lala~

Night came and we said goodbye to Kuala Gula. We thought of taking a shorter route home but the GPS sucks, and fuck the road sign~ it was suppose to lead us to Parit Buntar but it led us to a dead end. In the end, we took the route which we came by earlier. When we reached Nibong Tebal, World World then said that she now felt that Nibong Tebal wasn't really that bad after all. Then only we began to realise that there weren't any 7-Eleven at Kuala Gula, let alone Queensbay Mall. What's even more interesting is that, there wasn't a single traffic light in Kuala Gula. I don't even remember seeing one at Kuala Kurau as well.

心情好or心情坏

有什么好假装

反正天若真的塌下来我自己扛

天气好or天气坏

有什么好紧张

反正下一秒钟的我

开始开始流浪

我要一个人去东京铁塔看夜景

我要一个人去威尼斯看电影

我要一个人去阳明山上

看海芋拍偶像剧

我要一个人去纽约纯粹看雪景

我要一个人去巴黎喝咖啡写信

我要一个人的旅行

一个人透透气

向右转or向左拐

有什么不一样

反正每一条未知的路都有未来

我和谁在谈恋爱

有什么大惊小怪

早已早已离开

我要一个人在希腊梦见苏格拉底

我要一个人的通宵

看完鲁迅的背影

我要一个人呆呆的在浴缸里

思考阮玲玉

我要一个人的北京探望孟姜女

我要一个人的书局和志摩谈情

一个人彻底

一个人的旅行

一个人的行李

一个人的空气

一个人没有你

Machine Day & Life in a Renovating Factory~

Good evening people, once again, I know it had been a very, very long time since I last posted. Well, you may say that I'm awfully lazy~ one reason is this, another is that I was waiting for some photos to be uploaded. Since they never came, so I didn't start~ XD

OK, great, hope you guys are doing well out there. I myself am quite fine with my present life here. Over the semester break, I was attached to KCK Pharmaceutical Industries Pte. Ltd. for my third year industrial training. Frankly speaking, I'm never much of an industrial person, so I wasn't at all enthusiastic about starting my training there. Who would ever thought that on our first day there, we were told that the company was under renovation and there was no production at the moment.

KCK Pharmaceutical Industries Pte. Ltd.~

cute mortar & pestle~

So, for six weeks, what I did there? Training of course!! Though there was no production, there were still staffs there. We didn't get to see any real-time production of medicinal products, but since there were ample time for theoretical learning, we got a chance to learn about the various departments' roles and responsibilities, and also the management side of a pharmaceutical company. I'm kinda glad that the managers there were kind enough to spend their time training us for 6 weeks.

JiBai (cibai) Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.~

Basically life was boring in that company since there was nothing much for us to do. I have to thank one of my fellow trainee who brought some "entertainment" for us to pass our time. At times, I would wander down to the QC laboratory to play. There was even a karate training by fellow trainee Lian Ming Lee. Lunch was hell - only 45 minutes were allocated for lunch, so every time I asked my best friends out for lunch, I would be the one who arrived late and also the one who left early. Thank you, my friends, for helping me to pull through 6 weeks of intolerable loneliness~ XD

guess you can imagine how "interesting" life is here~

"sons of prostitutes" guidelines - my only entertainment magazine there~

greatest entertainer of all time~

hokkien mee (or har mee, depends where you're from) everyday punya lunch~ the auntie even forgot my orders 2 days in a consecutively~

sien until training was taken over by fellow trainee Lian Ming Lee~

Life was not absolutely boring in KCK though~ sometimes there were some "chi kek" times with stupid events taking place. Sometimes I don't understand how come some people could be so lame. Its like you're telling him to bring along an umbrella/raincoat as the sky is going to rain, and he'll ask you back whether we will get wet. Idiotic, if not, near idiotic. However, I guess great things outweigh lame things no matter how little greatness there is. Ms. World often asked me to join her for gym and cardiorobics. Thanks a lot World World!! Weekends during the training were mostly spent with World World, Auntie Yang and the other Beh Hau Kor Fairies, either for movies or karaoke.

first time preparing phenolphthalein solution after so many years being a science student~

L - R: World World, Dr. Machine, Ms. Earth, Auntie Yang, & Nini Global~

Dr. Machine's favourite colour in cute bottles~

One unforgettable event was Machine Day~ 12th June 2010. It was 3 days before Dr. Machine's sweet and beautiful 25th birthday and the Fairies decided to throw a "party" or more like a gathering for her. The event planning and coordination wasn't really good since it was done by me, and I was indecisive with the venue since Machine's taste buds were very much selective if not specific. It was a tough task deciding where to go for Machine Dinner, so I asked her to decide. It took her days (nearly a week) to decide the venue (and again, it was a last minute last resort decision). Where? "Chiu Chang Kha" (Big Tree Base).

something to do in the factory~

front cover~

middle~

back part~

A familiar course dinner we had (why familiar?) because the dishes were very much alike when they were there for my birthday. After that, we went for drinks and desert elsewhere and we played a game there. It was the craziest game ever played by us (since we were not really that open). We had a great time performing embarrassing moves that the loser had to draw from a bag of penalties. A few solitary drinkers there actually enjoyed our "entertainment programme" and kept looking at us for new moves.

kappa~

lemon chicken~

heh kor bak huan cheo kua (mantis prawn with dried chilli)~

eng chai belacan (belacan convolvulus)~

thor tau th'ng + kay khar (groundnut soup + chicken leg)

phee tan akk nooi chuey (steamed century egg with duck egg)~

traffic light drinks~

It was then time for Machine to BLOW (I mean blow cake candles =.=") and the cake was actually filling, though it wasn't cheese. After blowing, we headed home, but the fun does not end here. After dropping Auntie Yang (a.k.a. 3号妈咪 - read in Hokkien), I drove the other 3 misses and Machine back. On the way back, there was a road block and I was so afraid that the back seat passengers did not buckle their seat belts. The police officer stopped me. I halted. He knocks my window gesturing me to wind down my window. I wounded the window down. He then asked one of the most stunning questions of all time, "Belakang semua family kah?"

Machine cake~

cake cake~

lalela~

At that time, I was really stunned. I looked at him blankly and said, "Bukan, kawan." He then let us leave. As I continued the journey, we talked about how we could actually answered that question. Among them was I could have answered, "bukan family, pelanggan." If the officer suspected us for prostitution, we would have told him that we just dropped the most influential person in the prostitution industry - Auntie Yang (3号妈咪) - and that the officer should go look for him at his resident, 3rd floor, unit number 3 (that's why we also call Auntie Yang 3号妈咪).

My training came to an end on the 14th of July 2010 where I was assigned the title of Cleaning Validation to be presented. What the hell, I had no idea what cleaning validation was and I was actually lucky to have gone and saw the professional engineer and the QA manager for guidance. My slides were badly disorganised but with their help, I managed to prepare one up to their expectations.

sapphire jelly for KCK & friends~

Today was a fairytale
You we're the prince
I used to be a damsel in distress
You took me by the hand and you picked me up at six
Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale
I wore a dress
You wore a dark grey t-shirt
You told me I was pretty when I looked like a mess
Today was a fairytale

Time slows down when ever you're around

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale
You've got a smile that takes me to another planet
Every move you make everything you say is right
Today was a fairytale

Today was a fairytale
All that I can say is now it's getting so much clearer
Nothing made sense until the time I saw your face
Today was a fairytale

Time slows down whenever you're around, yeah

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

Time slows down whenever you're around
I can feel my heart
It's beating in my chest
Did you feel it?
I can't put this down

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way

But can you feel this magic in the air?
It must have been the way you kissed me
Fell in love when I saw you standing there
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale
It must have been the way
Today was a fairytale

Oh, oh, yeah, oh

Today was a fairytale~