This time last month…

Remember me mentioning (before my blog became totally silent for about 3 weeks?) about my convocation around the end of last month and the big plans I had in store for the few days that we were there?

Well, I am glad to report (albeit a little late) that Yataa! I did it!

I planned to…

“AT LEAST have a proper farewell with my friends who were still studying/working there…just some “closure”…a proper goodbye…”

The night of my convo, before I left for Sarawak again the following day, I had my chance for a proper farewell…the last dinner you may say. It was kinda like the last contribution for CSS as well…I provided the budget to get all the raw materials needed and they did all the cooking. Hehe. Would have helped out but we were busy stuck in the jam in KL (read point below)…anyways, that night we had quite a “feast”.

There were about 20 of us (including me, my mom and bro)

…and we had BBQ chicken, BBQ sausages, curry chicken, chicken soup (yea2, I know…all chicken), steamed fish, steamed tauhu, mixed veggies, rice (of course) and fruits for dessert.

Oh yes! We also had cake. That was a nice surprise for me and all the rest who were having our convocation then…

And then after dinner, Jen, with Charles as our guide (so as not to get confidently lost like when we tried to go there the previous night after supper with Bong), took us to Uptown Shah Alam. (Bong, I was right. Section 24 not Section 15. Haha…) We were there cos my mom wanted to get an army-patterned sling bag for my kid bro back home. Anyways, for those who don’t know what Uptown Shah Alam is, its like a bigger version of Petaling Street…it’s like a big open air night market (open all night to weehours of tomorrow) where you can find all those el-cheapo imitations of branded goods…”designer” clothes, bag, jeans, perfume, what-you-want-they-sure-have…and if you’re tired going from one kiosk/stall or whatever you call it…there’s also food stalls at the back, Malay food lah.

And of course, here the prices are all “negotiable”…the better you haggle, the better offer you get. The bag my mom wanted to buy cost RM45…my mom haggle till it became RM40…I put on my charms and we got it at RM35. Should’ve tried for RM30…

Anyways, when I explained to Jen that Uptown was “where you can find all those el-cheapo imitations of branded goods”, she questioned the fact that the-people-in-authority actually “provided” the place for all these “piracy” to take place when you-know-and-i-know that the-people-in-authority are all against piracy and supporting original products…Ironic huh? Later, my brilliant bro came up with an answer to Jen’s question…

“It promotes tourism what. What you think tourists come to Malaysia for? Tourists come to Malaysia for the el-cheapo products laa…The original from where they come from damn expensive…and from where they come from, piracy laws are strictly implemented…”

Hahaha…what can I say? Malaysia Boleh maa…

“And I HOPE to be able to go on the Eye on Malaysia…”

Now this, I could never have achieved if it were not for Bong, so…THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU Bong…You’re really one great friend! So lucky to have friend like you…Muaks! =D

That said, let me continue to tell you what an awesome time we had…hehe.

The Eye on Malaysia is basically a giant ferris wheel (though a lot smaller than I’d had expected/ hoped for) located over/above/overlooking the Titiwangsa Lake Gardens in KL (Taman Tasik Titiwangsa). It’s supposed to be like the London Eye but the London Eye is a lot bigger and maybe London City is a definitely lot prettier to look at (compared to KL) from high above ground but since London seems really really far away…Eye on Malaysia is the next best thing. ;p

So after I was finally able to leave campus after the convo, which was around 2pm, we went back to CSS to quickly freshen up, stopped for a late lunch somewhere in Puchong and left for The Eye…

“Why you want to go on The Eye so bad?” Bong asked me when we were on the way there. “I don’t know…I just knew I had to try it AT LEAST once the minute I heard about it…”

So, some busy traffic later, we arrived at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa…the minute we arrived I was so excited!!! WE MADE IT!!! As per the tourists we were (all first-timers to Taman Tasik, including Bong) we took the obligatory tourists-style pics…hehe…

Walking along the lake kinda reminded me of the Kuching Waterfront…maybe they’re gonna have Mata Kuching (Kuching Eye, or if directly translated, Cat’s Eye) for Visit Sarawak campaign eh? Hehe…

So we proceeded to the ticket booth…

Wonder how the Private and VIP Gondolas differ from the “normal” ones…hmmm…

…and managed to get on The Eye just-in-time…(We might have had to wait longer ‘cos some BUSLOADS of school kids arrived just SECONDS after us!)…

Taman Tasik Titiwangsa (taken from inside The Eye)

The view…

Not that breathtaking…Nothing much to see in the KL Skyline…the only rooftops (if I may call them that) I recognized were the KL Tower and KLCC (Petronas Twin Tower)-the one pointed out in the background…

Maybe it’d have been better if it was at night…Next time lah…if ever.

But it was AWESOME still cos I got my wish and to be able to say I have been on the Eye on Malaysia…That’s just cool…Haha!

So, for me, RM15 per person is TOTALLY worth it…for say, half-an-hour or 6 rounds on the Eye on Malaysia…=D

My only regret was that we were caught in the worse jam ever (at least for me) on the way back from KL…and Bong kinda had plans that night so he was late/real late!…That made me feel guilty… =(

“TREAT my MOM to an all-expenses-paid *hopefully* “jalan2” and “makan2”…I want her to see where I’ve been living the past 3 years…I want to make it a memorable “vacation” for her…she could use the break from being a full-time Mom (no house chores, no cooking, no worries)…at least for those few days…”

Yes, I believe Mom enjoyed herself those few days of non-stop shopping, jalan2 and eating out…I managed to bring her and my bro around to most (though not all) of my fave haunts in Shah Alam:

• Plaza Masalam (lunched at The Chicken Rice Shop, window-shopping at Reject Shop)
• PKNS (Mom finally found that AVON lipstick she loved so much!)
• Plaza Alam Sentral (Hot Market is cool!)
• SACC [Shah Alam City Centre] (window-shopping at F.O.S)
• Giant Seksyen 13 (the biggest Giant outlet in Shah Alam, clothes-shopping)
• Tesco (currently the best/cheapest/biggest/nearest hypermarket in Shah Alam, I love the foodcourt and the potato bun here! Oh, and massive clothes-shopping happened here. Hehe.)
• Seksyen 16 for cheap Chinese food (but only open for lunch)
• Seksyen 24 aka Uptown Shah Alam.
• and not in Shah Alam, but Damansara – we went to One Utama (too bad it was already late else we could’ve gone to The Curve too…)

And of course, it goes without saying…the reason why we actually went to Shah Alam:

I am officially not a student anymore…gonna really miss those days…

So, yeah…I HAD A GREAT TIME during my convo-vacation-ing…

Thanks for the memories guys…

Love you all…