Pulau Ketam 311216-010117

I spent my New Year on an island.. I bet that's gonna sound cool, I count down-ed in my sleep at a hotel room in Pulau Ketam with people singing karaoke at the hotel lounge right beside my room.. To be fair, they stopped singing at maybe 11.30pm.. So I would say.. Let me tell you how I spent one of my last countdowns in my 20s..

So, the plan started when the 4 of us were preparing for TOPIK (Test Of Proficiency In Korean language) and were so stressed out because we were totally not ready for it and took it just because we have been learning for so long, it is time to do something about it.. Before we attended the exam, we said that we will plan something after the exam to de-stress.. Yea, we seem pretty "mengada" about this but it was tensed.. Try taking TOPIK II unprepared, and you will know what I mean..

Then after the exam, we did came across some homestays via Facebook and discussed about our plan.. then we suddenly decided on Pulau Ketam.. I think it was my idea but I don't remember why I suggested.. anyway, Pulau Ketam it is..

So after the venue was confirmed, we had to fix a date.. and all of us being working adults.. It's pretty hard to get everybody together.. Me, especially *hides face* since I have been teaching on weekends, it's pretty hard to have an empty weekend for a 2 days 1 night.. We could have taken leaves but it was pretty inconvenient at that time and I forgot why.. anyway.. in the end, we decided to just go on the last day of the year and celebrate the New Year there..

And then.. we planned.. this is the boring part, which includes googling and whatsapp-ing so I shall skip to the day we put our plan into action..

The plan was to meet at KL Sentral at 11.30am, have lunch and go to Port Klang via KTM together.. and then everybody reached early, so we met at 11am, had lunch and head off to Port Klang at 12.50pm (coz the train only started moving at 12.50pm). It was an hour-long ride till we reached Port Klang.. and make our way to the jetty.. bought our tickets.. return air-conditioned ferry tickets for RM15. Waited again coz the boat will only move at 2.45pm.

We reached the island after a 30 minutes ride..

Here we are..

And that's the hotel we are checking in to..

Sea Lion Hotel.. you will see it the first thing after you jumped off the boat.. it's right at the jetty.. The Biggest Hotel on Pulau Ketam..

That's me checking in.. I have booked a VIP room for 4 earlier.. the guy was really helpful.. it's RM168 per night, including surcharge as it was a public holiday eve plus weekend..

I forgot to take photos of the room but it was decent, with 2 double beds, a TV, Hot Water Heater, Shower, and a Kettle..

It was drizzling slightly when we reached Pulau Ketam so we decided to stay in the room for a while until the drizzle cleared..

After hanging in the room for around 30 minutes.. we headed out mainly to decide where to have dinner.. I asked the receptionist for a map before we wandered off..

 

The first restaurant we set our eyes upon and became our dinner place that night..

Behold.. the colourful roads around Crab Island..

I love to look at colourful scenes.. and as you could see from the photos.. even the houses are colourful.. the villagers painted their house whatever colour they like..

Besides colours, there were pretty murals around too..










The island is pretty small, you could finish exploring within a few hours if you were to explore thoroughly.. if you are just glancing through.. then it may only take around an hour..
You could rent bicycles to tour around the island.. but we prefer walking.. it's just RM5 per bike per day... a different price for e-bikes.. I think it's RM20 per hour, if i remember correctly..

Besides mural and colourful houses, you will see quite a number of temples here as well since Crab Island's residents are mainly Chinese..

 

We stumbled upon a souvenir shop and decided to get some tidbits for the night as we count down.. we bought 9 packets of keropok that cost RM23.5..

And then, we became super hungry... so we bought a medium Oyster Omelette for RM10 from the stall next to the restaurant we had dinner at..

Yummy yummy yum... And behold.. our dinner! Which cost RM159.50

Salted Egg Crab

The crab was so good, it deserves 2 photos.. haha

Butter Prawns

Steamed Lala

Fried Veggie

And, we went back to the hotel after dinner, where we watched an episode of 도께비 and 竊聽風雲 2 while waiting for the clock to strike 12.. munching off keropok as we were waiting.. Our room was just next to the common area of the hotel and apparently there was a karaoke session going on and on and on... 

I guess it's the age factor as we decided to countdown in our sleep.. However the karaoke session did not seem like it was going to end... Anyway, we ignored and just went to sleep.. Luckily, it ended at around 11.30pm. but there were fireworks going off during midnight which I heard but am too lazy to get up and look.. So that's how we made it to 2017.. haha

We woke up at around 9-ish and head out for breakfast.. 

Nasi Lemak, Crab Island style where its sambal is made from dried shrimps.. tasty!! It costs RM2 per packet, we ordered 2 to share.. RM4

And because we loved the oyster omelette so much, we decided to the to the same stall for clam aka "lala" omelette, this time we ordered the big one for RM10...

While waiting for the to fry the omelette, the owner of the stall told us that the restaurant we went to yesterday had a lot of bad reviews online and asked how was our experience yesterday.. Besides, there were people smoking around us, it's quite ok.. I am not sure if the food is pricey or not since we didn't compare.. but if I were to visit again, i will give this man (the owner of the omelette stall) a chance and try the food at his restaurant..

We brought our breakfast back to our hotel and ate at the common area beside our room.. and discovered that the view from our room was pretty spectacular though.. we did not even open our window to look..

After breakfast, we packed and checked out from the hotel.. and brought some dried shrimp sambal from the hotel.. they were selling for RM12 per pack. but we bought 5 for RM55..

While waiting for the next speedboat to arrive.. we have 붕어빵 alike ice cream.. rm5 per piece.. a total of RM20 for 4..

One last look at the crabs from Crab Island..

I didn't bother to zoom in but there were plenty of little crabs scurrying around...

And then, we board the speedboat back to Port Klang..

And too a picture with the Golden Giant Crab before leaving..

The Port Klang Train station still has this vintage looking pondok.. In contrast to the modern building on the opposite, see below..

And, that was how i celebrated the crossing from 2016 to 2017..

I sure hope that it will be a good year ahead.. at least be smooth..

I have not been making resolutions for quite a few years now.. should I be making some this year??

We'll see if I will in the next post..

As for now... signing off..
Toodles!

[W] for Wongfu

I can't believe I didn't blogged about this... Last Friday, I attended the best event ever.. after my birthday, of course.. the Everything Before Us Movie Tour by WongFu Productions..

Everything Before Us is a movie made by Wong Fu Productions 

The movie was not available in cinemas, so you could only stream it online... Then... they had a tour!!

And they had a stop in Malaysia!!! And.. It is super near me!!! So, how could I say no?? I purchased my tickets right after it was open for sale.. Yea, typical kiasu-ness..

So, in case you didn't know about the movie.. Here's the trailer..



And in case you need more.. I shall copy and paste the description of the movie..

In the near future, all romantic relationships are overseen by the D.E.I. – The Department Of Emotional Integrity. Much like a credit score is given to represent financial responsibility, a 'relationship score' is given to keep people accountable for their romantic activity and choices. The score is public for all to see and affects various aspects of daily life.

Ben and Sara, a former couple in their early 30s, must meet again to settle a conflicting score and reconcile the reasons their relationship fell apart. Seth and Haley decide to enter their first registered relationship together after just graduating high school. With bright eyes, innocent hearts, and a naive view of what love could be, they face a long distance relationship for the first time. The two couples face different but intersecting challenges in love amidst the DEI rules.

'Everything Before Us' is the first feature film from Wong Fu Productions.

Founded by Wesley Chan, Ted Fu, and Philip Wang, Wong Fu Productions is primarily known for their YouTube channel where they create short films, sketches, music videos and vlogs for their amazing fanbase of supporters from around the world. Since starting in their dorm rooms 10 years ago, Wong Fu Productions has grown to over 2 million subscribers and over 300 million views.

They came to Malaysia to screen their movie.. I'm not really a fan of cinemas but it's a WongFu movie.. so i am a bigger fan of wongfu than I am not a fan of cinemas.. so wongfu won.. haha

While I was at the event.. I would certainly want to get my hands on the awkward animals but unfortunately  there was a limited number for the stocks they have brought over since they were touring Asia so I guess they had to limit the numbers per country so that everybody have a chance to get them.. I was eyeing the awkward fox and awkward giraffe.. Too bad the awkward fox was sold out when it was my turn.. we had to queue to buy.. But luckily there was one more awkward giraffe left and I got the last one!!! Yay!!

Here is how the awkward fox looks like..

Buying it online is too expensive as RM is dropping like rain.. So, i guess this will have to wait till next time..

Good thing I managed to get the awkward giraffe, that looks like this..

The picture on the website is cuter.. hahaha.. the neck is bendable.. so it might sometimes look like this..

Here am I with the giraffe

The event began with the screening of the movie and then a Q&A session..

Oh yes, there was a selfie session before the event.. which explains why I was late to queue for their merchandise and missed the awkward fox..

and to fulfill my inner wongfu fan girl.. I got the Wongfu lankyard too!

The picture in the website is nicer than the one i took of mine so i'll just use the picture from the website.. You may check out the website if you are interested..


Before I end, I would like to thank the extra guy in the selfie picture.. Thank you so much for accompanying me to the event.. Although I would usually go alone if there's no one with me but I really appreciate you coming with me and thanks for the giraffe and lankyard.. these are my best Christmas present of the year!! I know my interests are a bit different from my friends around me which explains why I usually have to go attend events and concerts alone.. I am glad that I have another person to be tagged along now.. Thanks!

And, that's all for now...

Signing off.. (I almost typed singing off.. haha)

Toodles!

The old times.. the time for us to realise we are old...

After so many years, the people that I use to hang out with during my primary school days finally got a chance to meet and have dinner yesterday...

I remember (as they didn't) it was years ago when we are permitted to go to malls together without grown-ups tagging along.. that was our first hang-outs at that time..

and yesterday, we came back to the very place we all use to hang out... and talk about things, about our old classmates about the old times when we used to be playing around class.. when we were all seated close to each other during standard 5 and how much noise me made much to the teacher's annoyance and she separated us out...

till, we talked about ourselves.. how long have we not met each other.. how long have we not gather as a group.. and we must admit that time flies.. we graduated from primary school and parted our ways during the year of dragon and the new year of the dragon is approaching next year..

Sigh~~ there will always be times when you have to admit that you have grown up...

Wedding Wedding

I haven been trying to post this since June... But i couldn't upload the photos so I delayed it till today and it's already the end of July... How time flies...

Last month was my training buddy, Hana's wedding... Our team organised a trip to Seremban just to attend the wedding...

We took off at 11.30am and reach the place later than we have expected due to the traffic condition.. It appears there was another wedding going on in one of the restaurant along the road we were using, and their guests were kinda slowing down the traffic.. As you know the roads in kampungs are usually narrow and 2-way so there's no way we could escape the traffic...

We reached the place at around 1.30pm... the ceremony has started.. we greeted the bride and saw her look of relief when she saw us at the reception..
the whole place is packed with guests~~ the food was good especially the lamb... we came all the way for the wedding and also for the lamb...

here's some photos for the day..