Vomit After Vodka

Closing Time

2008-08-31T14:12:00.000-07:00

I will not be continuing to write on this site, Vomit After Vodka.

This will be my last entry. Why? I guess.. I simply feel the need for a new one because here lies a deep jungle of my wild past, harsh words by unnecessary means, marshes of misinterpreted emotions, disheartened feelings of somethings and someone, uhmmm.. bottomline is, I just want a new one LOL

I took off the Archive feature but if you would like to read back my previous posts, you may type in the Search box on the top left corner. I'm not sure what might pop up though!

I'm gonna miss writing here someday. This blog meant so much to me from the beginning till today. I miss it already. 4 years of accumulative stories, laughter and tears.. all kinds of stories which took place in Russia mostly, otherwise back home in Malaysia and countries of my travels.

Oooohhh well. There's always time to start anew and here it is! :)

Last but not least, I’d really like to thank my dear readers, both known and silent ones, friends and blog hoppers. It gives me more reason to write, not only to record the happenings in my life but share my experiences with the world.

Thank you for following my updates, thank you for your support, and spending much of your time to hang around here. I hope that you would migrate together with me. Add/change the link to your listings!

My new site address is www.tastytreatsoftime.blogspot.com

Or just click here ---> TASTY TREATS OF TIME

My Moscow

2008-08-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Quote of The Day: "We await you on Monday" - Chief of Dermatology Dept.

Yes, I have returned to Moscow, nicely settled in our love nest at M.Ulitsa 1905. I am very glad things are going well for us. Holidays in Turkey was excellent. I couldn't ask for more. Fats is enjoying his classes in National University of Singapore (NUS). Mummy has started her expeditions to the Northern parts again. Everyone seems to be up with something.

And yes, I am going to study/work here. I have enrolled with MMA's Dermatology Department to be an Ordinatur. It's an immediate step into Specialisation. That means I will solely be studying the Skin and Venereal Diseases, putting a hold to my Housemanship. I thought I could finish all the formal education I need first, while I have the opportunities and I can plan about that later. All paperworks are done and processed, I start on 1st September 2008. Officially, the course is for 2 years but you can always prolong the contract if you feel the need to.

It's a path no one has taken so far (to my knowledge). I am the first Malaysian to have graduated but staying back for Post-Graduate. Why? Hahahahaa that's because our government doesn't recognise the extra certificates. All my batchmates have registered with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) like bees to honey and waiting for posting. I know Reena's in Canada and Jason's in Australia, both applying for the both of them and see which country gives positive response.

Am I considered a pioneer?

Or am I the blackest of black sheep?

Hehehee as an Ordinatur, no, I don't get paid. On the contrary, I paid them to supply me with new skills and knowledge. That also means I won't be earning my own dough for a couple of years more. I'm not sure if this should upset me because back in Malaysia, they pay peanuts anyways. Noble if you're in to treat and not the treat because it's little. I can easily spend the paycheck on shopping. One thing I know, I wouldn't have taken this step if Daddy were still around. I would be like most of my peers, monthly subsidised by parents and prolly getting a new car and so forth. But Daddy isn't, so life in Moscow would be better for me. For now.

I'm excited to start. Hopefully they'll be good news :)

New Gadget

2008-08-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Quote of The Day : "You'll die without the Internet" - Turkish

Turkish bought me us a 17-inch laptop. The model is *checking, checking* HP Pavilion dv9000. It's super gorgeous, rather big because of the screen size but I love it! The speakers are great since they are designed for Entertainment PC. It runs on Windows Vista naturally but I have no problems clicking around because I've got my experience from Muffin's (very sexy ASUS) laptop.

Zeee logo..

Zeee laptop.. (not mine, I got this off Google Images)

This laptop came in as a surprise actually. I knew I needed one in the end. For the past years, I was always sharing/using other people's. Like Pisa and I took turns to use Boss' laptop, it was fun. How did we do that? I don't know specifically but the good ol' COMPAQ served us well. Turkish has his own laptop but he leaves it at work. He explained it is impossible for him to bring his laptop back and forth, so yeahhh. My best friend was right someone would get me a laptop, the only thing is that I wasn't waiting for it LOL

Oooohhhh, the top cover is gorgeous! I fell in love with it the second I saw it. It's black and comes with circular/swirl patterns. I don't know how to describe them exactly but all I can say is that I don't need to buy a laptop skin anymore! I remember searching for one (just in case) at Low Yat Plaza. Phew! Luckily I didnt manage to pick any. But due to its reflective vinyl, I can't get a good picture of the cover.

Doesn't matter if I don't know jack about technology, as long as someone does! :)

Potential Retirees

2008-08-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

I forgot to write about the night the C4 clubbed together (August 1st) in KL proper. Poppy Garden is much spacious and pretty, well-ventilated thanks to the open-air sections. We had light dinner at Chili’s at KLCC. We nearly annoyed the rest of the world with our uncontrollable laughter and nonsensical jokes (only we understand). Hehehe that’s us.

Sha says her head looks senget here LOL

Chili's has served us well every summer ;)

Even in Melaka at the Pure Bar, we kinda felt age catching up with us. In the yesteryears, we used to party from 11pm-4am and sometimes more hours, right from Wednesday till Saturday or Sunday to chill somewhere. We drank like fishes, Sharon and Tri especially LOL Alcohol was at abundance, our energy was limitless. I can’t remember how the hell we loved clubbing so much. We were well-known and expected in our joints. Good times.. good times ;)

I guess we started at the right age. Imagine now only you feel the need for these activities, at the age of 24 (when you’re a professional to add)? At least our misdemeanour can be forgiven/forgotten now. Maybe I am contented that I don’t crave for a wild nightlife anymore. There is no need to flaunt ourselves on the podium, giving chances to HABs* or on missions to get wasted. Mamak or a movie is practical and just as much fun.

But seriously, those nights were crazy.

Sharon booked us tables a couple of days ago. I love it when we have tables, makes you feel like a VIP. If not, spending too much time waiting or hoping for a table is disastrous. Like good old days, our best friends were JD, Chivas and Johnnie Walker. Sometimes a nice chap called Absolut LOL

The DJ console

Our best friends to begin the night with

Taaa-daaaa! Sasha, Sharon, Tricia and myself :)

Finally, Farah joins in the picture :)

There were many familiar faces tonight, Dominic was one of them. He is Sha’s first cousin. His friends came, theirs friends and so forth. Farah and Fuad (her brother) too and I was delirious to see Farah. She’s damn cute. This summer, sadly, she turned MIA because of her internship I guess.

There were a few national ice hockey players with us. Hahahaaa I expected them to be huge ass fellas but they explained they don’t need to be because they play under Asian League. Not against the real giants from Europe/US. Wokay! To our surprise, 2 of our childhood friends we in the same venus. Bloody buggers couldn’t come for a reunion dinner but we caught them boogie-ing with a group of girls on the dancefloor!

Apart from the fact that Poppy Garden is fucking crowded, our tables weren’t at the most strategic location either. We were at the side of a passageway so imagine cows pushing their way through. From 2 tables, it became 3 and unknown/people with introduction shamelessly joined us. Hummph! By 245am, we were getting ready to leave. Feet painlahh, backachelahhh, sleepylahhh etc LOL

Ah Chai, since the SSM days

Harjit and Dominic laughing at something/someone? LOL

Tricia broke her heels!

Ah Moy the ice hockey player, the dude in the middle too and Andy

Clubbing is still fun. It’s just that we don’t roll the way we did anymore :)

Dapat Anugerah

2008-08-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

I guess Hannan was either too free or nice to make these sort of things!

Click here for his entry!

And he gave me the Award for the Cutest Blogger. Hahahahaa how flattering ;)

Walk Downtown

2008-08-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

I wanted visit the Galata Tower again because the last time I was 51++metres above ground, it was gloomy for us to enjoy the view properly. We went to Taksim Square after breakfast, walked uphill towards the what was once Istanbul's tallest building (at that time). There were many people seated around the bottom of the fort, relaxing and having tea.

There is a restaurant/cafe on the same level where visitors stand around. It's basically not so clever to be sitting there, having your meal while looking out of the window because you end up see butts mostly LOL I really like when Turkish @ personal Audio-guide points out where is what and what happened where. We could see the famous landmarks along the strait, poles of their National flag from one corner to the other..

This is Galata Tower for you!

OoOoohhh.. see those around-the-world cruises parked there

Breath-taking view, huhh?

Me, well.. the back of my head LOL

Whenever Turkish closes his eyes for a shot, he always blame the sun!

As we were strolling along the cobblestoned roads of Taksim, we caught a huge poster of an art exhibition, paintings by "Best of Our Contemporary Turkish Painters". Filled with curiosity and excitement, we went in to see what was so interesting. Plus we were too free LOL Okaylahh.. they were prolly for sale or something. No labels, no description next to their display also. Not like I was dying to know.. all these weird ass art isn't much of my cuppa.

We got cheated by this poster

Candy Man painting!

Uhmmm.. our batik motives maybe?

Hahahahaa I like how her underpants are merged with the background

Disturbing piece..

These paintings always make me laugh when I see them exhibited
How much would you pay for this piece of blue-black ~~thrash~~ art?

Tea Garden

2008-08-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

I never elaborated what is this Turkish tea-drinking culture. It’s all about relaxation and the hot beverage itself. Uhmm.. every local does it, whenever they have the time to spare. Turkish once said and I quote, “Hehehee why do you even ask? I cannot say no to tea”. Maybe I’m the only one who does and I’m not even sure if it’s impolite or not to reject a tea offer LOL

Turkish stays in Sariyer district by the Marmarus Sea downhill from his house. There are no beaches though, just sidewalks for pedestrians. But some folks still jump into the water from the pavement in the evenings LOL His district is like 30 minutes drive to the city centre, depending on traffic. I wouldn’t say far.. I mean with the car you can go about anywhere easily.

After dinner, Turkish’s mother likes to call us for an outing to the Tea Garden. It’s a very casual affair, no need for fancy clothes. We grab reading material, newspapers for his folks and (usually) National Geoographic for ourselves. The view of the seaside is always beautiful. You can see the silhouette of the hills when the moon starts to peek out from behind. The bright artificial lights from office buildings and houses alike add colours to the picture.

His Mum reading the daily paper

Not sure why I look like that, Turkish must have irritated me LOL

A bit of the moon rising for its shift of the day..

Aaaahhh.. see how packed the Tea Garden is!

That dot is a shiny star (stayed there for many nights)

I love Apple Tea. It’s savoury sweet and sour. Thinking it is supposed to be that sweet, I always added a cube of sugar. Then I pondered about the Diabetes issue and clarified with Turkish. He in turn, laughed at me :P Most of the time, we have 3 glasses of tea (minimum) over the time span of 1 1/2 hour. Any issue/topics can be brought up to discuss or merely for amusement.

Apart from gangs of Oriental and Far Eastern tourists wandering at historical sites of Istanbul, you won’t find too many individuals like yours truly. It’s funny how people look at me and Turkish walking hand-in-hand, they look funnier at the whole family especially when his Mum speaks to me in English. The onlookers surely wonder how open-minded his folks must be LOL

Brief Returnees

2008-08-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

Mediterranean Sea was all fun and grrrreat but the weather is way too hot for anyone to bear. Turkish fell victim to the foreign foods, I had "monthly debts" to deal with and it's better for everyone to go back to good ol' Istanbul!

We can always drop by Antalya again, but not when heat's 40C and rising. Seriously, it makes you wonder how soon the world is going to come to an end. Global-warming and those bad news on nature, animals extinction etc. Can't even swim properly under boiling sea water. I guess we'll keep a rain check for beach holiday next year!

I'm just bloody tired right now. Istanbul is lovely as ever. I gotta rest and apply Banana Boat's After Sun Aloe Vera lotion from head to toe. Ooooooohhh.. my tan. My face isn't evenly shaded though.. if you notice I've a blotch of hyperpigmentation on my right cheek LOL

*falls back onto the couch*.. we are headed to the Tea Garden for a cuppa. Laters!

Hot-ass Antalya

2008-08-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

No.. Antalya isn't some Turkish chick. It's a freaking hot city/province also in the southwest of Turkey. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains though, and coasted by the Mediterranean Sea. The drive from Izmir-Kemer took 7 hours. It was quite fun. We (actually just me) sang in the car and made a couple of stops for tea. We also passed by the city of Turkish's surname. Imagine a city of your own surname! LOL

View from the car window :)

Guess which is Turkish's surname LOL

Alafranga points to modern French and in this case, toilet!

The R&R stop for lunch, a shop famous for their Gözleme

Our lunch served :)

My favourite photo of the trip LOL

The Mediterranean sea is much more salty compared to the Aegean. The water feels smoother, less windy and cleaner. Mediterranean is THE place to be! Our Hotel OTIUM is an all-inclusive, 5-star joint filled with Russians. Hahahahahahaa yupe, you read right. Antalya reminds me of Egypt's Hurghada or other beach resorts that mainly attract these people. Even the local staff speaks Russian fluently. I had no problem ordering stuff in Russian :P

Let the sunshine in it seems.. scorching 38C, hotter than Malaysia!

Luxurious view.. swimming in the sea whilst facing the mountains!

A unique hotel but Turkish and family disliked it when they stayed there

Damn all-inclusive alright! Never-ending entertainment ;)

I loooooooove this place to bits! Since it's all inclusive, food and drinks are naturally free. Better yet, beverage booths are at every corner. There are hotdog stands, Popcorn stalls, dessert and cakes counters and a few Snack Bars by the pool. As usual, wherever Russian ~~sluts~~ females are.. there's ALWAYS a lot of cleaveges, boobs and balls(?). The place is huge, I could easily get lost. There are plenty of activities to do here. There's a big Schedule board with the list of ongoings, like tonight there was a Magic Show at 930pm. The old Turkish magician was good. Not some cheap hobo-performer.

Here are some more pictures. Check them out!

Buffet-style cum all-you-can-eat! *loves being a pig*

Not sure why Turkish looking crooked with his Tomato soup LOL

Turkish's Mum and I *she's a real darling*

Unlimited booooze! However much you want! Serious.

Turkish and I going for a late night stroll ;)

Dark waters.. heheheee

The full moon tonight was hidden (clouds cleared much later though)

And it's so much easier for me to swim in the Mediterranean sea. I can float without much effort to keep my balance ;)

My Kite

2008-08-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

Quote of The Day: "Really, Sis? GO FLY A KITE!" - Fat's SMS

Hahahahaha I flew Mr.Octopus! Successfully :P

When I bought my first kite at Jaya Jusco with Sha and Muffins, they laughed at me. The fact that I refuse to carry it in a plastic bag after I purchased it gave them more reason to make fun of me LOL It was hilarious. The name of my kite was Easy-To-Fly Kite and seriously, it lives up to its name!

I was prolly the ONLY ONE in miles seen doing this activity. The wind was strong, my handling was good and I never expected myself to send it in the air at one go. It immediately ascended by itself with little effort. All I did was tugged it a little bit (like how they do on TV) and release the line. Oooooooohhhhh.. magnificient ;)

Introducing.. Mr.Octopus!!

It would have been a gala if my best friends flew this

Sand Action

2008-08-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Aegean Sea has strong waves but not high like those in the Pacific Ocean. I'm just contented that I am still alive LOL I could have drowned when salt water kept choking my nose. I was literally pissing in my (swimming) pants! Turkish was always very nice to stick around, only inches away from me. He prolly avoids me so I won't kick his balls LOL

He also avoids me when he suspects or I look like I was going to pee in the waters.

Me: Laaa-lalaaaa.. *floating around, happily smiling to the blue sky*

Turkish: Are you pee-ing?

Me: No! I'm not going to pee!

Turkish: Did you pee?

Me: Yeahhh.. there *pointing nearer to the coast*

Turkish: ............ *speechless*

I love sunbathing. I think I can do it the whole day. Turkish's Mum gave us each a swimming cap. It's not the kind of tight ass latex that makes your head look like it's wearing a condom but cap. Hehehee it's the cutest thing I have ever seen, definitely the cutest gadget to wear to the sea. I couldn't take Turkish seriously when he told me we are wearing it into the waters!

And because of him, I swallowed more water from laughing too hard. Water went in my eyes, ears.. OMG.. I was out of control. When he flipped up his vizor, he looked like Napoleon LOL Surprisingly, the cap stays on our heads even when we do the Backstroke or Freestyle. It's material is polyester, nothing special but really good to prevent direct sun in ours faces. Aaaahhh.. *thumbs up!*.

Hehehee damn sweet right, we have matching caps!

This one he curi-curi snapped to check what's so funny :P

Turkish's folks love to collect stones/pebbles along the beach. Old, old couple but still so loving :) Turkish's Dad gave me a shell he found from nearby. I was so touched, it isn't common to find a perfect shell on our shoreline. He also found a heart-shaped stone. My eyes nearly popped out. I was very inspired to find some by myself but I kow-tow to their backs. I could easily break my spine from stooping so low. Better so lie back at the sun LOL

His parents are the sweetest :)

Picking stones ruins my manicure LOL

I did pick up a few nice ones myself ;)

Efes (Pilsen)

2008-08-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Sleep was goooood. I kicked Turkish out of bed by accident in the middle of the night though. He might claim otherwise but seriously, I can't even feel guilty about it because I was unconscious :) I love our Holiday Village. The staff are friendly and chit-chatty, helpful too. We don't have to carry any form of credit around, we are given a card to swipe (pay when we check out).

Pathway to our little chalet (behind me)

The very useful card! *being a jakun* LOL

We did something extremely interesting today. Turkish, his Mum and I visited Ephesus! The title Efes is its name in Turkish but it's also the name of their local beer LOL Anyways, Ephesus is an antique Greek city. The area is still being excavated for more buried stones/ruins/whatever that's left from its heyday. Today was too damn hot, I fortified myself with layers of sun block and wore a cap (even when I'm not a big fan of head gears). Ephesus was an eye-opener for me. I don't think I've walked through Greek ruins before.. Roman, yes.

Our tickets ;)

On the grounds of the Parliament, they spoke business here

Turkish and I posing in front of a (ruined) temple

Ephesus is HUGE. The main sites we covered were The Grotto of The Seven Sleepers, The Temple of Hadrian, The Roman Celsus Library, The 44,000-seater Amphitheatre etc. There were too much too see, left and right. The place was packed with tourists! I was damn scared I would get knocked down by the pushing fat ladies. Those stones were scattered everywhere, the archaelogists are trying to rebuild the city. But I must say.. I think most of the historical site diggers.. well, let's just say they don't look too professional LOL

See what I mean :P (Turkish's Mum talking to them)

Missing pieces are cemented to return its original look

Turkish looking/deciphering the ancient Greek letters hehehe

The Roman Celsus Library facade (top left is Turkish's thumb LOL)

The broken statue behind me is Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom

The Amphitheatre was the highlight for me. It is sooooooo freaking huge, imagine how last time with no loudspeakers, no mic nothing.. either the person has to have thunderous voice or audience with elephant ears. Then Turkish chirped in that the architecture of the curved seatings echoed the sounds so basically, transmission wasn't a problem. He added the acoustic may not be perfect but it was good enough. Hehehehee always handy to have a boyfriend with knowledge ;)

I couldn't take the full view of the Amphitheatre :(

Turkish and I (where's my cap??)

After following the crowd to through and through, we exited Ephesus and proceeded to the famous House of Virgin Mary. It was believed that Virgin Mary had lived and died/ascended to Heaven in a stone house on that hill. The Apostle, St.John brought her there after Jesus' cruxification. I'm not sure how true it is but there is an American Society of Ephesus to back up the "history". Signboards all over the place said visitors should dress decently before entering the house.. other girls who made me look full-clothed could enter, so I slumber only went inside LOL No pictures though.

Meryemana in Turkish means Mother Mary

Simply called "Mary's House" (Jenny's her neighbour LOL)

Light a candle for blessings.. *amen!*

Gigantic bronze statue of Maryemana

Aaaaahhh.. my complexion became darker +1. Love it! We didn't visit the Temple of Artemis though. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I guess there isnt much to see anyway.. I don't think that place exist anymore even. But it would be nice to go kick the sands which the great building once stood ;) I totally enjoyed our visit to the Ephesus. I look forward to visit Greece soon! That would be SO awesome!! :)

Wait for my footsteps, world!! LOL

Wheel South

2008-08-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

Anticipating to see this signboard for hours..

The duration C4 took to Melaka was minutes compared to the road trip I had with Turkish and his parents. We left Istanbul early in the morning, drove at least 11 hours to Gümüldür, Izmir. I slept through the journey, woke up once in a while when the sun shone on my face. Once we arrived at our hotel, my jaw fell from the beauty of its environment.

Let me rephrase.

It's Denizati Holiday Village (Turkish=Denizati/Seahorse). The entire area is shaded under tall pine trees, carpeted with green grass and out front is open to the Aegean Sea. We couldn't wait to jump into the waters, though I felt a bit shaky. I have hardly swam in the sea before.. only in swimming pools as long as I can remember. I couldn't wait to get tanned though ;)

Turkish and his Mum checking in at the reception

Half an hour later, we hit the beach!

Hehehehe shades IS essential wherever I go now

There were lots to do. We could play any sports we like, there's swimming pool if we don't go to the sea, snack bars, restaurants, shops nearby to look-see and a list of other stuff. We even played Mini Golf! But the weather is so freaking hot, all we wanted to do was relax and hide from the sun LOL Turkish is allergic to the sun really, too much isnt good for his skin. As for me, more the better :P

Mmmmm.. chlorine water, I like! LOL

At the snack bar with my Sprite and Turkish had his Carlsberg :)

Looks like a promising shot eh? Guess again LOL

At least my picture doesn't lie :P

Dinner is buffet-style (all the meals are actually) with a rich selection of local cuisine. Ohhh, my. I had a gala with their Main dishes of rice, lamb and more lamb. Salads are always rich, every kind of vegetables and with every kind of dressing there is. At night, we went back to the beach, not to swim but to lie on the benches. Turkish and I on one side and his folks at another. The night scene was beautiful. The sound of the waves and the not-so-dark-sky (moon was very bright) filled with stars. It was VERY romantic :)

I didn't snap too many of them.. I charged at the food LOL

Turkish and I *giggles*

Mesmerizing.. every couple should experience this :)

Castle Ruins

2008-08-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "If his parents like you, you should be even nicer and polite" - Mummy

Turkish is really taking my diet/slimming/svelte-dreaming plan to the next level. This afternoon, we crossed to the Anatolian side again to visit the ruins of the Byzantine Castle of Yoroz Kalesi, known since the 14th century as the Genoese Castle (meaning by the Genoa folks and according to Turkish, Genoa was a former city state in Italy.. at that time there was no Italy). My boyfriend who tells me that he loves me very much made me walk uphill, a very, very steep 70 degrees.

No joke.

Turkish looked very patriotic, his outfit colour combo of his national flag LOL

Sariyer Jetty.. Sariyer is the district Turkish lives

Sponge Bob lost his pants LOL

The signboard itself gives your knees the chills, no?

But once on top, all the sweat and weak knees were forgotten. The view of the Bosphorus was breath-taking. The strait into the Black Sea with few cargo ships in sight added pattern to the clear, blue waters. My, my. For the past years in my travels, I havent stood so high to enjoy view of plain hills. There were many other tourists.. a few Oriental cartoons, noisy Greeks/Spanish and a big group ~~Germs~~ Germans. We wandered around, I avenged for the tremendous effort my lovely legs have endured.. by taking lots of pictures LOL

Welcome to Casa Yoroz! Sorry only pebbles left, no nice rooms for tea :P

Turkish and I *giggles*

Pintu gerbang dinding yang termusnah LOL

Best angle.. Turkish had the ships in my head, my nose, some in my eye

An elderlyJapanese couple (the husband took this for us)
He held the camera and said, "Ichi!" *snapped*
I dont think he would understand the joke if I scratched myself

You see. Since young, I love going under the sun and getting a tan. I was born with hitam manis (BM=sweet black) complexion anyways. Just need to perfect the tone LOL So this holiday is one of the opportunities to darken my shade *jeng, jeng, jeng*. But I see, Turkey is really scorching hot. Not like Dubai kinda of heat but hot. Only a boyfriend with so much love won't be ashamed walking all the way into the town with me, sticking a tissue on my face (under my glasses) looking like this..

Hehehehee I wasnt joking :)

Me hissing under my breath at passerbys who stared at me
Notice the fellas far back, towards me.. THEY looked too!!

Would you? LOL

Istanbul Revisited

2008-08-10T00:51:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "I told you there will be fruits (in my garden) but there are none. I told you that you could swim with the dolphins but actually you cannot. I told you we have baby cats but they are gone. I tricked you again heheheee" - Turkish

Hehehee it felt like I was only in this city a while ago. I remember most of the roads, name of the places and buildings but the best part, I remember many Turkish words I picked up ;) Today, Turkish brought me to the Anatolian side. Also known as the Asian side because it's on the Asian continent. Pffftttt. Likelahhh Istanbul is helluva Europe *burst out laughing loudly*

We took a ferry from the terminal, the ride was roughly 10-15minutes. I am terrible at gauging time because firstly I dont wear a watch and secondly I was busy snapping pictures of us LOL I loved the sun and sea breeze in my face. The wind was a bit irritating though, my hair kept hitting my face and getting into my eyes, my mouth.. yuck! I need to tie them the next time I go out.

Hehehee this was for Turkish (I think!)

My favourite picture of the day! I dont know the dude.

Arrrghh.. I look like a Scottish Terrier *almost, god damn it!*

I became very fat this summer. No exercise, no clubbing to sweat them out, no nothing. So Turkish decided to trick me into walking uphills the hard way. Hahahahaa silly fella. But you know what, the hike was fun and rewarding. We stopped by the Tea Garden for a cuppa and played Backgammon. This board game is Turkish culture. This is what they do during breaks and/or their free time. Just sitting around, sipping tea and throwing dice.

It's really hard work! Tightens the butt and calves LOL

Turkish drinking his tea and my stupid Nestea spoiling the picture

Best thing I did up on the hills, being a Peeping Jenny at the houses below :P

I am damn excited for next Tuesday. Turkish, his folks and I are going on a road trip to Izmir, a city by the Aegean Sea. The ancient Greeks called it Smyrna like how they call Istanbul, Constantinople. I bought a pair of baby blue bikini ;) Now I have 3 pair of swimming suits!! Hahahahaa not to say a celebration since I am spilling on both flanks! I dont know if I even have the balls to take pictures in them. We'll see :)

Six Months

2008-08-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

I arrived earlier than ETA *estimated time of arrival*. Towing my 20.6kg luggage with my right hand and 5kg hand carry with my left.. I was extremely excited to see Turkish and his Mum standing in front of the gate :)

Guess why today is so special?

Officially.. I have been in a relationship with Turkish for 6 full months. He pre-ordered a Cherry Cake for us. It was wonderful. We've been having meals out in his backyard/garden. Hours after dinner, when the sky turned pretty dark, I hung a couple of lanterns on the tree barks. His parents found them very beautiful and thought I could lit up the entire area LOL

Aaaahhh.. I never knew these cheapo, paper lanterns can look this good LOL

Turkish examining the deco meant for Mid-Autumn Festival *in September*

Hahahahaa don't ask me what I was doing, I just got caught!

I wish there will always be more and more 6 months to come!! MORE!!!

Auspicious Date

2008-08-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

The big hoo-haa about today's date is finally here. It meant a few things, the official beginning of the Olympics in Beijing, god knows how many hundreds of couple getting married but the only one that concerns me is my flight to Istanbul.

Mummy drove me to KLIA. My best friends kept telling from a few days back about sending me off. Hehehee it was really nice since it has never happened before. On our way, Mummy gave me some last minute advice and stuff, I called most of our relatives to inform them. Same old, same old. Safe journey and the see-you-soons.

At the airport, Mummy and I caught the opening ceremony of the Olympics on TV (an hour later). We saw many dancers in their traditional costumes, then came the march past. It was a pleasant surprise to see Turkey, some African countries.. the next time I laid my eyes on TV minutes after, I saw songkok men and then gold baju melayu. No need to ask your neighbour, it was Malaysia LOL

Red and white damn nice contrast.. I like!

Mali, ohhhh.. Mali LOL

Our home country, Malaysia! Don't just wave, bring back medals!

Later, Sha and Tri arrived. It was coincidence Sha's Uncle "Eddie Murphy" and family were at the airport too. Sending the niece to US. Not too long after, Sharon and Harvin showed up. The airport roof would have collapsed if we stayed any longer :) Laughing too loud is not a crime, we just could control ourselves :P

Honestly, it meant a lot to me this time. Mummy was very happy as well. The hugs and kisses and exchange of Love You's werent enough. I know I'll see everyone soon, in January. I will most prolly bring Turkish with me ;) He includes himself in the plans and Mummy has told everyone "Her boyfriend will come in January". What was so sweet even, Mummy collected some tour offers and information for his visit *isnt she just over-excited LOL*.

The mother and daughter's seating position which caught our eye. Interesting..

Muffins, Mummy, Myself, Sha and Tricia (Mummy's very proud she blended in LOL)

Funny that my destination was underlined.. I didnt photoshop anything

C4 together in Turkey? That would be a grrrrrrreat holiday, eh! :)

Adios, folks! I loooooove you guys to bits *muuuuaaahhh!!*

MH0030 at 1159pm. It was turbulent-free and quick. I arrived before I realised :)

Message #01

2008-08-08T00:15:00.000-07:00

I'll be leaving for Istanbul tonight, my flight's at 1159pm with MAS.

I am very excited for my 2nd holiday but inside, I do feel very sad that my stay in Malaysia was so brief. I know I can't wish for everything my way.. otherwise I would be a billionaire now LOL

My best was right that we did try to make most of the limited time we had together. I shall return with photos and happy thoughts about what C4 did together this summer :) I hope to fly home again in January, for Daddy's prayers and together with Turkish ;)

Till then, adios!

Pajama Affair

2008-08-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "CHIN! WHY ARE YOU SO NEAR ME??!!" - Sha.

Hehehee I can't remember when was the last time I slept in my best friend's bedroom. When I was 16? 18? I seriously can't recall. I used to hang out her house often though but my numbers are way smaller than hers in my house. Sha's family is big. Her parents (Fa and Ma), younger brother (Boo), 76-year-old grandmother (Granny) and aunt (Aunty). Not forgetting her dogs, Puffy @Poof and Candy. Her elder brother (Ramesh) will come back soon from Japan.

We got back from Club Aman pretty late. We had to bitch about the a-hole and Sha said she went to bed with angers. Hahahaha after our delicious consumption of the Ramli Burger (OMG, heavenly!), we scooted upstairs. We yakked, online, Sha read a bit before turning in and it was madness just to sleep in her room! :)

"Chin, let me clean my room for you okay!"

"Chin, which blankee you want?"

"Chin, you can take the strawberry blanket. It's fleece, you know what fleece is right?"

I nodded.

"It's very warm!"

"Chin, quick! Choose a soft toy hehehee"

I picked the cube-looking tofu.

"Chinnnn!! How you gonna sleep with this tofu??"

I looked around, picked the evil black cat.

"Chinnnn!! What is wrong with you? It has a big head and body so small, not nice to hug!"

I looked around and picked the Radishman and little did I know, it's leaves on the top of his head poked my nose.

We both burst out laughing! LOL

In the end, she passed me a mini-bolster compliments of Juicy Fruit (the chewing gum). I love my best friend :) I woke her up 10 minutes after saying Goodnight and trying to sleep for real to take pictures! Hahahahaa she happily agreed and I set the timer to do the trick.

Getting ready for the camera, she's making fun of my actions

Then we tried an au naturale pose of us in the room

Very brave to take this picture (since no make up and all *clap, clap*)

Being us LOL

After several attempts (and scoldings).. I got it right :P

If you notice on the wall behind us, this is a present I made with pictures of us
The biggest one of us (heart-shaped) was taken when we were 11 years old :)

G3 Reunion

2008-07-31T23:30:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "Serves her right. You don't pity these kind of people. It's all karma" - Victor

I'm not a big cybercafe patron plus it's fucking noisy with the sounds of Counterstrike or Warcraft in the background. Anyways, I came on 2-3 days ago and received Victor and Zhao Ing's notice about a gathering. They were asking for my contact, left me theirs. Hmmm.. a gathering? Nice!

Although previous years, we never met up as a group before (maybe they have.. I was left out). You see, in Moscow itself.. not every time but there were times when I was uninvited/uninformed about these events regardless of size. I was very surprised to be informed about our rendezvous at 6pm Seoul Garden in 1Utama. I am so not familiar with Damansara area but Mummy always says dont be fussy and move along *nods*.

I packed to stay over at Victor's. I was the first to arrive in front of that all-you-can-eat restaurant, basically buffet style where you pick and cook your own food. Bad for small eaters like me. While waiting with Mummy for the company, I finally saw Victor, Sunny, Mun Yee and Douglas walking towards us. Mummy left and we went inside. We got ourselves 3 tables, for others who were coming. More faces showed up- Hwong, Cheng, Yee Gin, Zhao Ing and Justin. Quek too.

Victor sat right opposite me, looking very sharp and cool in his black shirt ;)

Hwong and Mun Yee caught offguard.. well, maybe not so LOL

Quek dragged himself here because of me! Hahahahaa cartoon!

A very complete Group 3, the next one might take a while..

The view of the table :)

I didnt like the place much, I could eat properly. The oil kept skipping onto my hand, our soup boil wasn't boiling and for some reason, the next table appeared more appetizing. My grill was shared with Victor and Sunny. As usual.. Sunny stealing looks at me *rolls my eyes*. I asked why he didnt bring his girlfriend to KL and he was like shrugging and stuff. I don't think we can ever be friends again, to be honest. I just wonder why he always act so pitiful and tells me how worthless his relationship is but have to keep for the sake of image.

So, our gathering was adjourned to Laundry. It was alright. The table was again too long, like one end couldnt converse with the other. I had a whiskey coke and a Mojito. Everyone kept more to themselves or the next person beside so I only interacted with Zhao Ing, Hwong and Douglas mostly. I told them of my plans, putting practice in Malaysia on hold and going back to Moscow. Most of them were curious with questions, some concerned while the rests just had no idea of what to say. I guess it's only natural. I wouldnt know myself either :)

Douglas pouting! Basically the ongoings at the table LOL

Mun Yee and Justin Tan who still has one more year to go :)

We are BFFs. Word.

6 1/2 years of being groupmates, except for Justin and Yee Gin LOL

I do look forward to seeing these people again, yeahhh I do.

KL Guest

2008-07-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Mummy and I drove down to KL on Monday. I had enough of Penang for now and needed to see my friends. Sha, Muffins and Tri have been expecting me for the past 2 weeks. I miss them just as much. Sha, Muffins and I met in Midvalley :) It was crazy. We did the usual, walked around, Secret Recipe and surprisingly, the first Moscow fella I bumped into was.. Justin Chai LOL

Justin was telling how he plans to open a Kroshka Katoshka in Midvalley

My best friend and I didnt make it to our free tattoo touch-up. I thought it was a blessing in disguise since I will be swimming in the Mediterranean and tanning under the hot sun, I didnt need to refresh my Butterfly yet. Perhaps months later when I get the chance. Since time is scarce for me this summer, I have decided to meet "outside" friends to a minimal. Yes, I have tons of them and like before.. I met these people in person on a 1-2-1 basis. I cannot afford to divide my time except to C4.

I don't want him to feel the least uncomfortable about my agendas.

KL didn't change much, still so polluted and bad traffic. Mummy brought me to my favourite restaurants and back to Cheras to run errands. I was curious about the new tenants of our old house at Jalan Lancang 2 but never attempted to drive by. Ohhhh well. Life goes on. Like the Chinese saying, "If the old doesn't go, the new wouldn't come".

Mummy and I at The Pavillion, reminds me of malls in Singapore

Dropped by at my dentist's for a good dental cleaning/check :)

I know my stay will be over in no time. I really hate to hear how disappointed my best friend are. Being in another state in hard, being away in another country is harder. When someone asks me where I'm going to do my housemanship, I dont have a straight answer. I have many options ahead of me and I gotta say, I'm spoilt by it. Seelahhh, step by step. How things go but applying to work in Malaysia is definitely NOT in near future.

Family Friends

2008-07-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "When you are young, you talk about boyfriend. When you are married, you talk about your husband and children. When you are old, you talk about your blood pressure and healthcare. When you are older, you talk about your grandchildren" - Mummy

I was born in Johore, stayed in Penang till I was 5 and grew up in KL. My childhood was also spent in betweens Negeri Sembilan. Apart from KL, the other states were just for family visits, balik kampung for festive/holiday seasons.

Even when I was brought back to KL to live with my parents, we still went back to my ex-babysitters' house just like how we visited our relatives. I love them very much and they love me just as much. Unofficially, I have 1 biological mother and 2 "Mamma" and Goddess of Mercy is my godmother. Yes, I am very loved LOL

Back then, before my brother was born.. a room in our house was rented out to a Penang-girl named Sylvia. She was doing her internship in Southern Bank (closed down now LOL) and my parents treated her like their own, in a way. Every time Daddy cooked, we asked her to join us and Mummy would give her some tips of life in the city etc. I remember she took me to Zoo Negara and a movie treat.

Sylvia returned to Penang, then flew with Singapore Airlines for a decade or so. We lost touch but 2 months before she got married (in 2000), she and Michael showed up at our doorstep and our connection came back to life. She has 2 children now, one lovely boy Justin and one lovely.. but damn naughty girl Megan. Sylvia runs her insurance company successfully and lives in a RM800,000 house by the beachside. Woooohoooo!!

Megan, the little devil LOL

Whenever we meet up, say on annual basis when I am back for summer.. she always brings up the good old days about her experience in KL, Daddy's cheerful character, his wonderful steamed fish, Mummy's pregnancy with Fats and how cute I was LOL This year, we visited her and she took us to Hai Boey Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Her friend, Ling came too. It was a pleasant evening, I really enjoyed the cool sea breeze! :)

I love this picture, the majestic tree in the background!

Me, Sylvia, Mummy and Ling posing together-gether :)

Penang Patrol

2008-07-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "It can't be Easter again, baby!" - Viro

Hahahaahahaa I met Viro and Praveen on the island! I was supposed to meet Viro tomorrow but she had to sub her colleague to on-call so we changed it to this evening. She lost so much weight compared to when she came to Moscow. Goodness. Hospital work is the best exercise ;)

Hospital Pulau Pinang!

Vv picked me up from Dato Keramat (where my ex-babysitter stays) around 530pm. Oooohhh.. her sexy white sedan. She gave me a tour of her office, waited around the corner of the morgue for Praven (where his hostel is LOL) and then drove us back to her crib. Verrrrrry good-looking apartment, great view and though she kept claiming that Starbucks was in sight, I couldnt believe her. She also said the Gurney beach was in plain view, I couldnt even see the bay LOL We met her housemate, Turka who reminded me of Turkish's green-dollar product. The Cola Turka which is a local made knock off of Coca-Cola! No idea how Praveen mistook her name for Durga.

Front view of the balcony, left, right and when you look down LOL

Colleagues studying sheets of drug information

We didnt have proper dinner or anything like that. Viro gave me a few choices, and ultimately we chose to pig out at Tiong Loh/Middle Road/usually known as Jalan Macallister. I had frozen Cendol Ais, she had Ais Kacang and Praveen copied my order. We shared some Popiah and Loh Bak. Very the yums! I couldnt help but notice how fatigue Prav looked. Poor thing. As bad as housemanship may be, Prav enjoys working and the experience anyways. Thumbs up!

Awww.. so sweet. Bunny babies LOL

I dont think I'll be seeing these cartoons till next year. We caught up alot, actually I was really glad we made this meeting. Viro won't be going down to KL anytime soon plus all the hectic schedule, pffttttt. She even toured me around the island despite the petrol price! I was damn touched when she said, "Aiyaaa.. doesnt matterlahhh, not to say always got the chance like this".

Before I leave to Turkey, I'll be back to Penang again. I hope to see them again!

The Trendsetter

2008-07-16T03:15:00.000-07:00

My little cousin, Siew Wei carrying the symbolic basket :)

The garden party held by my uncle was massive!

It was pleasant, so pleasant to see my extended families gathered together for my historic achievement. But at times, I wonder if the political dramas in the country is worse or ours. As much laughter there was, bad mouths were as many LOL That's TAN family for you!

It was a garden party held in 3Jek's house. Food was cooked by his wife, 3Sim and her friends. OMG. These ladies can cook! It was a real "kenduri", Chinese-style! All in all, there were 8 women (including Mummy and I) in AND outside the kitchen preparing the foodstuffs to cook. We, well.. to be honest I only stood around :P They spent the entire day cleaning meat, cutting vegetables and then cooking everything for 150-200 guests. Pots and pans larger than the size of truck tyres were used :O Gave me alot of inspiration to be a housewife! LOL

Before sunset, the buffet tables were lined along the roads. I was very excited, yet felt rather shy that this party is thrown for me. 3Jek said what I went through the past 6 years havent been easy and all of the elders are proud of me. I didnt know what to say. Apart from my grandmother's huge 60th birthday party.. this was the second most exclusive event. I knew they would have liked that I brought back my graduation robe and hat ;)

80% of the attendance, I have no idea who. Friends and families of families and friends. Many of their young children were advised to follow my footsteps, some wanted to be like me. Other parents said if only their naughty children were like me. Wokay.. hehehehe. Everyone asked about Fats throughout the evening. I wished for his presence too but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!

When we decided to call it a night.. guess what/who was in the house? One of 3Sim's friends had mentioned that it flew into the house, flapped about and landed above the door of our room.. The next morning, it was perched on the lower wall of the dining room. It stayed for a picture with me. When we were getting ready to leave for KL.. it had left before us.

Daddy, perhaps? :) :) :)

Life Adjustment

2008-07-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

I am back in Malaysia but no longer staying in KL.

I have moved to Penang where all my relatives (Daddy's side) are clustered at. I miss my house, I miss my room and everything in it. I have lived there for close to 20 years. Now it really feels like something is amiss and as though I am foreign in my own country. But, I am ready to start anew. Can be fun too! :)

Fats returned on the same day I landed. We've taken pictures here and there but I left my Sony W120 cable (I swear I thought I placed it in my luggage :X). Anyways, this is just word that I am okay and like every other year, I will BLOG backwards as soon as I have the time to do so. I can't wait to see my best friends, C4 and other folks!!

Turkish and I are doing pretty well, sms-ing and talking on the phone every other day :) I can't wait for our holidays at the Mediterranean Sea next month! I have bought so many summer dresses and beachwear for it! It's gonna be grrrrreat visiting the Greek/Roman ruins and sunbathing by the Aegean Sea too!

Stupid me. How could I have left the cable behind :( I've got many nice pictures, of us and little cousins LOL My 3rd Uncle is throwing a huuuuuge garden party for me next Wednesday! He is doing it on Daddy's behalf, he is sure that this would be something my father would really like (definitely). Hundreds of guests are invited and I am damn excited! ;)

Reunion Dinner

2008-07-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

Mummy brought Fats and I to the Overseas Restaurant at Jalan Imbi, KL. Aaahhh.. I might have mentioned in my earlier posts that this is the "place to be". Fats' return on the same day as me was a real surprise. Mummy was pleased that he arranged his schedule as such so that we can all go back to Penang and visit Daddy. Together, as a family.

Mummy and I (no idea why the pics so yellow)

The must-have, Shark's fin soup! Something Pisa despises LOL

Fats pouring us a hot cuppa tea the right way!

Our 3rd Uncle@ 3Jek is expecting our visit to his house. He has been very kind and supportive in every way to us. He even wants to throw a party to celebrate my historical achievement LOL We'll see. Daddy was cremated and his urn is placed in "Huai En Ge" in Bukit Mertajam. It means.. uhmmm.. let's see. Memorial of Remembrance in Chinese. My paternal grandfather was buried on the hills and Daddy's altar is at the bottom of it.

The entrance into "Huai En Ge"..

.. and inside is Daddy's resting place

Sometimes I hear people say outloud that Daddy didnt have the opportunity to see me graduate, poor him but some went on to say that he wasted his money and other sort of ugly statements. It hurts me to hear these coming out of their bad mouths but inside, I know Daddy witnessed everything from the day he passed on. I'm sure of it.

Embassy's Treat

2008-07-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day : "Go back Malaysia we lepak okay!" - Sukhi

My visit to the Malaysian Embassy this evening was heartfelt. Medical graduates from M1 and Volgograd University were invited for a formal, farewell dinner. It was formal with speeches by Dato Khalis (the Ambassador), Ju (our beloved M1 President icon) and Shamsul (I think, of Volgo). Not many faces showed up, most of our friends were gone for holidays. The dinner was arranged with our comrades from another state because they depart tomorrow, next week would be M2 and Nizhny's turn.

Dato Khalis is really not very good at giving speeches (an understatement)

"6 years that passed felt like 6 days, we all remember when
we first arrived at the airport.. we looked up and saw those tins.." :)

Usually, the Embassy would be sardine-packed with the world but this time, it was empty but then again, it's just for us. Even if the donkey juniors were here, they can't attend anyways LOL Only a handfulf of our batch attended. The darling Malay boys were all there- Ajed, Fiq, Macik, Fizal, Ju, Hafiz, Kindut, Min, then Venoo Boy, Prabu, Sukhi, Sharon, Sundram, Rajiv, Farid Khan, Wishi-wishu, Melvyn Edward, Jed, Yun Kin, Min Guan, Wei Shiong, Christabel, Lai Yee, Siew Lian, Jan Jan, Von Jee, Sharini, Puspha, and the Malay girls- Khairimi, Natrah, Hajar, Shikin, Sara, Fatin and Natiara. I think I didnt miss out on anyone :)

The M1 group :)

Rajiv and I (with Malaysian emblem above our heads LOL)

With Fizal and Ajed :)

Hajar ("my name is not Natrah" heheheee) AND Natrah

Sukhi and I.. jammed with peace signs LOL

Boss and Pisa were going to come but they had to meet that Zaman guy to hand him documents for apostillation. Otherwise, I'm sure they would have enjoyed the evening. I did. Somewhat. I felt really sad at the end, when everyone started to bid farewell and stuff. There was a Karaoke session before and a few brave ones sang LOL The VIP table were all eyes/and ears on us. Food was delicious and more than enough (for once). We were served rice, curry prawns, lamb, or was it chicken.., acar and dessert too.

Jed, Wei Shiong and Yun Kin posing for my camera :)

Von Jee, Lai Yee, Jan Jan and I posing back LOL

I was extremely touched when everyone enforced on the statement to keep contact, to hang out once we return etc. Of all people, Sundram surprised me because the other day.. he had called to ask when's my flight. If I do get posted in Malaysia, it's best to be in the same hospital as Sharon because he said he'll kao tim the alcohol and smokes LOL Insert IV with beer into his veins ;) Sukhi said he would drive me to fucking Jujhar's house and we will kick his balls. Hahahahaha that was a grrrrrreat thought.

Fiq and Venoo Boy posing for someone's camera and I snapped at them ;)

Sweet, sweet Christabel and Min Guan (lovely couple!)

Good friends, great folks whom I wish to see in future :)

I was pretty reluctant to leave when it was closing in to 11pm. My flight is on Wednesday (9th) and that's it. I don't even know if I'll see them when I'm home in Malaysia. Maybe a few but definitely not all of them. Khairimi and Fared Othman have big plans and I might prolly miss it. Khairimi, sayang oi! She is the closest Malay girl I know here, genuinely cute and speaks her mind. Also, she was the first JPA student I met in Pushkin, "Hi, I'm Amy". Hahahahahaa such fond memories.

Our Malaysian Embassy was really thoughtful and generous (I heard the Datin cooked all the dishes) to hold this dinner (and more) for us. Though I never stepped foot there as many times as my friends, it is a place we could call home in times of need. I guess. Some of us like them, some of us dislike but all my visits to that place have been fun. The BBQ, the dinners and such. Even this evening. It played a part of my stay in Russia all these years. Where else in the world would students and Embassy staff are so close-knitted? :)

Jan Jan trying to pose with Putin LOL

Sharini, my batchmate, friend and fellow Blogger :)

Feels heavy now that I'm leaving.

Mindful Of Art

2008-07-06T22:22:00.001-07:00

Quote of the day : "This is what they learn, this is how they are taught" - Turkish

We had an adventure this afternoon, after our breakfast at Starlite Diner. It was yet another rainy day, and again we refused to bring an umbrella with us. Wait a minute, we don't have one LOL I suggested we visit the World Press 08 exhibition at WINZAVOD actually. Off we went to M.Kurskaya in a blink of an eye. WINZAVOD means Wine Factory, which is exactly what it used to be in its heydays. Now turned into a neighbourhood of galleries and contemporary art houses, I'd say grrrrrreat job!

Signboard pointing towards our destination!

Hehehehee yes, I'm trying to be funny :P

Cute antique (prolly a Lada) car lined with fake grass

First drop off was of course, World Press 08 exhibition. These old warehouses are huge! Brightly lit and painted white to suit the events. We walked through about a 100 photo exhibits and I became depressed after a while. No happy, lala-fied photos of the world but sufferings and bloody poached animals. The narwhals, the dying polar bears and whales. Then came the section of current day war zones, its victims and refugees, captives and homeless people. Guns, ruins and more deaths. Not very nice. There were, some interesting photographs but the gigantic frames of captured hardships outweigh them all. Brrrrr.. how disturbing.

Looking through eyes of the world, except for the blindfolded Iraqi captive..
He was suspected of hidden agendas, thus arrested by US and Iraq officials

(Ex-) Russian President Vladimir Putin
1st Prized Portrait Singles UK, for Times Magazine

From the window, back area of the WINZAVOD surrounding..

Another exhibition we visited was "Yablaki pradayot adnavremennei v raznnih sadah" (Russian= Apples grown simultaneously in different gardens). The title sounds nice but trust me, it's those weird, mind-boggling contemporary works that isn't much to my cuppa tea. It's not that I am against these kind of arts but some appears to me as just sick and/or misunderstood. If one views the world/everything from a different perspective, sketch hidden meanings or lie behind encrypted explanations, it's fine by me but I can't stand if they expect others to see their twisted world, understand it and accept them for who they are or agree to their clouded emotions.. it's pretty challenging for me.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed our visit to the WINZAVOD and witnessed all sorts of art. It's just that too radical thoughts and environment tend to freak me out. Maybe from their stand, I am the abnormal one but seriously, I prefer light and the sun. The other kind of race that masks themselves with patchy, flour powder and alternative fashion tend to raise my eyebrow. I'm just trying to make a point here. Feel free to enlighten me if you think otherwise. Turkish was right that this is who they are and how they feel, we shouldn't make judgment about them (unless they are hazardous to themselves and us/others).

A bit too long right, the title? ;)

Definitely very different, yet mysterious in its own way

A Time Machine knock-off, or hi-tech Janitor's mobile LOL

Old torn building, to suit the style of the curator Anna Zaiseva

An ancient radio, Turkish trying to tune its dial LOL

There's more! This is waaaaaay beyond old school!

Classic picture.. felt like we were in a bomb shelter!
...and all we could depend on was the news on this radio :)

Then, we entered a separated section entitled Neue Erotische Kunst only recommended for visitors above 18. Turkish and I thought it should be strictly for 18 and above. Their display of erotic art gave a whole new meaning to the term LOL Very creative yet puzzling at the same time. This exhibition left me grossed out and captivated as well. I complained too much about the musky stench, the whirring sound effects in the background, thudding and noises of metal-banging. Still, it was quite an eye opener.

We couldn't tell what was running on TV (at first)

Then I thought it was some sort of metamorphosis material

Some images became clearer..

A lot clearer.. just waiting for the final picture

Voila! A very big.. uhmmm.. hole! Sorry, gotta censor this one out! LOL

I figured this is what contemporary art is all about. I am the one who should open up. Accept the masterpieces of the artists today. Well, in this aspect anyways. I was very intrigued by ~~meaningless~~ random brush strokes that could be displayed in an exhibition. I am so gonna buy the necessities and paint, form something and open my own gallery. Trust me on this! WTF. I really can't believe how these people do it!! I want my art to be known too!!! We further barged into more galleries, some with only a handful of display and I think we managed to cover all of them. Except its School of Art. We decided to forgo that one. Here are the pictures taken here and there.

Some of the graffiti, the bottom one on the right is done by
the RUS Crew All Stars International Graffiti Soldiers. Awesome spray!

Hahahahaa I'm definitely an artwork myself! :)

Russian girls posing.. what a choice to pose with LOL

With a name like Roman Ass, always a possibility to be famous :P

Some of Mr.Ass' sketching of Supermen/Uebermenschen (so-so only)

Door into the artshop haven! OMG, they sell everything!
From canvas to brushes to palettes to colours to chalks, anything you need!!

What a day but didnt end there! Like little wet puppies, Turkish and I stumbled into an Uzbek cafe called Jinn. Very decent joint and cheap too! I loved the interiors, very cozy (especially for a rainy day) and tip-top service! Our waiter was very efficient, a bit too nosy though.. but as far as I'm concerned, they serve one of the best Shaslik and Liolyas in town!! (even when it's out of town LOL)

The cushion thingy-bob is used to keep the teapot warm, cute!

And.. this is how you drink tea with style! *rofl*

Okay, okay. It's enough. I am too damn inspired to paint something now!!

Roman Tutus

2008-07-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day : "I've been together with you for only so long and we are seeing more rainbows than I ever did 6 years plus here, I love you" - Me

I had a wonderful today! Turkish and I went to watch our first ballet together, SPARTAK (composed by Aram Khachaturian) at the Hermitage Gardens! There is a Classic Ballet Festival going on from Romeo&Juliet to Swan Lake to Don Quixote and others! ;) I cant watch all of them because premieres are on selected dates and that also 2 shows each. I'm just damn happy we caught this one!

Poster of SPARTAK (the 3 performers, taken during an orgy scene)

Turkish and I in front of the Novaya Opera theater! ;)

The long listing of ballets for the Festival!

It rained on our way to the Hermitage Gardens, in fact for the past few days it was just gloomy and always drizzling. Such is Russian weather ie.fucked up. It was kinda fun though, and I was such a Braveheart to wear all white LOL There was also a Viva Cuba! fiesta on the lawns, it was crowded with young and old. The line was packed! The tents/concert stage was nicely hidden behind the bushes, we couldnt see anything. All we heard were jazzy music, then some samba drums alternately. It was pretty cool ;)

Surprisingly the hall in the Novaya Opera was full house! The vicinity is medium size, fancy-looking and we sat quite close to the stage. No cameras nor video apparatus were allowed so I didnt snap any pictures. Actually it was more of Turkish who didnt allow me LOL He explained that it isn't nice to do so, though I understood the idea of it but still refuse to fathom the reason. I guess it's like eating your food with your foot on the table. Uhmmm.. even eating your vegetables with your cleaned foot doesnt look like a correct/normal view. I guess. Hahahahahaa think about it.

Seated comfortably inside..

It was really full house, ticket sales were better than Swan Lake

Proof of purchase LOL

Ohhh well, wasted no pictures. The ballet was really good, though I felt the dancers weren't too synchronised (in the beginning). Their costumes were beautiful, the main character Spartacus was handsome and tall. Nicely tanned and oooohhh la-la! There were a lot of gluteus maximus, little loin cloths covering their not-so-modest parts LOL Every time they pranced, I had hopes that their balls might fall out or something :P I must say the orgy scenes were a bit too much, in time and choreography. It was like so obvious they were humping each other in a dance form but still, thrusting each other in the air or over the moon became rather obscene after a while.

Spartacus died. That's how the story goes.

Viva Cuba! carried on even when it started to pour. The lawn was now even more crowded than before. Lots of wet, Russian women salsa-ed with their partners.. some did it alone by the tree LOL It's true! Turkish and I stayed on for a while, until we decided to run. We didnt have any umbrellas with us so yeahhh, we were drenched by the time we got to the Metro station!

Before we entered the theater..

After we exited the theater!

We ended our day with a cup of drink at Look In Cafe. Well, it was really a glass of alcoholic cocktail LOL Look In Cafe is a memorable place for us. I hope it doesnt close down, keep it open for as long as we are together, we shall always return to relive the first dates we had back then :) I had a Elloy Melon Mix and Turkish ordered himself an Orange Calliway. Both contained Rum, Vodka and such. Wasnt too strong, just fruity and cold. We waited for the rain to stop but it didnt! Again, we had to make a run "bogel" under the rain LOL

One for you, and one for me :)

Clearing Out

2008-07-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day : "We have nothing in the house, we just cough and die" - Me

The house is a pile of mess! My room is packed with bags of donation stuff, unwanted clothes and a lot of other thrash. The corridor is jammed with Boss and Pisa's stuff, it felt like forever walking from the kitchen to my room LOL We prolly never realised it takes only a day or two to evacuate everything. Whoever receives the donated goodies can laugh until he/she cries!

Take a look at the condition of my crib ;)

Hahahaahaa the current state of my room

Outside Boss and Pisa's room, meaning the entrance

Old winter clothing which served us well.. goodbye!

Hats And Robes IV

2008-07-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day : "Someone's gotta do it, why not" - Hannan

It was RSMU's Graduation Day today, same time and place where we had ours. Hannan invited me to be his "mother" :P It was an honour to be there, witnessed my friends from M2 receive their diplom. Paul, Han, Suren, Aliah, Juani, Siva, Jeya, Sashi, Warren, and other familiar faces were beaming with excitement. Hannan and Shida looked gorgeous, she wore a purple/lavender traditional costume and Hannan with a matching tie.

There were big differences between our Graduation ceremony. We paid much for ours and I swear I will never complain about it again. The money was worth it, from decorations (inside out) down to the banquet after that. M2's was very simple. Everything was over close to 2pm. I liked the short speeched given by 4 ambassadors (I think) and another 4, by student representatives. I also liked the way they recited their Hippocratic Oath. TKY stood on the pulpit, reading them loud and clear and the students sworn to it.

TKY - Red diplom holder, the Man behind the graduation
and a good friend to his batchmates (very helpful too, I heard)

I only managed to catch Hannan upstage to receive his diplom

It wouldn't be fair nor right to compare this day for it is a very special day for each individual. Whether it was grandeur or modestly carried out, it doesn't matter. The most important thing which took place was, everyone finally got what they were here for. 6 years IS a long time especially in a country like Russia. No one said it would be easy. I met Paul's mother and sister, his mother is very friendly and a real darling. She remembers me as "the girl who lived with Paul" LOL Such a soft spoken lady. Siva introduced me to his entire family, I was pretty touched. I saw his mother and sisters were in tears as they exited from the hall.

Dr.Hannan and Dr.Shida! Wait a minute.. and I'm Dr.Tan! LOL

Clockwise: Dr.Por, Dr.Siva, Dr.Aliah and Dr.Warren! Botak bugger ;)

Hats-throwing Ceremony in the front yard :)/span>

Few of our M1 folks were there too. Min, Kindut and Fiq were one of the many official photographers. Thank God the formalities didnt take long, I was seated all alone at the back of the hall! I could have dozed off or something! I didnt stay too long after everything was over. Only later, I met up with Hannan and Shida at TGI Friday's for a light meal and drinks. They loved the present I got them, it wasnt anything special. Just a small gift as a token of our friendship :) Paul kept nudging me about partying after his family leaves LOL Bugger.

To all my friends who have graduated, "WELL DONE!"

Down-To-Earth

2008-07-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Last year when I hung out with my friends from Volgograd in Moscow, it was damn fun. RSMU hosted the Games and I brought them around. We hit the watering holes, played pool till 5-6am (except for Leeds who went back early to sleep- nerd :P). It was also followed by a sad memory though.. Daddy passed away after that weekend. That was why I didnt have an entry about the fun we had. Now I do! They were impressed that I remember Wan Wan and Michelle.

Such cartoons, how to forget?

Leed Wi is waaaaaaay (too much) taller than I *pine tree*

With the gang outside European Shopping Complex!

It was really good to see the familiar faces again :) Leed Wi, Kammow, Chili (her name is Hui Qien) and 2 of their friends. We had quite a dinner, from waiting ages for it to blackout and when the lights came back on, food was served shortly after. I didn't know Kammow graduated as a Dentist! Maybe I did, I just forgot :P I was damn surprised, seriously! Since he has graduated, that leaves Chili alone for one more year. She is a real darling, soft spoken just the way I remember her. We have a great connection with or without the Redd's beer ;) And she hustled me in pool the last time LOL

Kammow snapping pictures of the table full of Tibetan dishes

Leed Wi's high school uniform looked weird back in SSM times!

Turkish wasnt feeling too well, poor thing. Must be the ever-changing weather, from hot to cold and vice versa. I felt so bad asking him to join us for dinner but I did want him to be around :( Still, my boyfriend was a real sport to chitchat with them and when we were speaking in Cantonese (especially with Kammow), he was very amused, laughing away :) Ooooohhh.. the reason we came to Tibet Kitchen was because they saw the entry on my BLOG last week. My Food Guide is useful after all! :)

Leed Wi was pretty quiet, we hardly caught up with anything. I could make up some time to meet him again tomorrow but he said he might already have plans. We'll see. Turkish and I didnt stick around for too long though because after dinner.. we decided to make a move and they carried on with their agendas in the centre. It would have been really awesome if we could have Redd's and play pool again!

Pffftttt.. he didn't buy me these flowers, Turkish did LOL

It was my first time meeting W.Kiet and Hai Er (I think)
but they seemed like decent folks.. the other 4 are just nuts :P

Either ways, I reckon I'll see them back in Malaysia :) I know I will see Leed Wi, like I always do every summer.. no, wait a minute. Last summer we didnt meet up but hell, he's got another year to go. If I could meet him in London's Chinatown, IN a Japanese restaurant called Gili-Gulu on CNY 2006, what are the odds of seeing him elsewhere again LOL

Prolly my first time in history writing 3 entries for a day! So much ongoings, I feel busy and I like it! Day after tomorrow is M2's Graduation, I'm running out of dresses to wear! Hehehehe I think it's gonna be fun! Time is flying so fast it's not funny. My flight is on the 9th July (next Wednesday) will be here in no time! And I really, really got to pack, pack, pack! *jots down to my reminder*

Coffee & Cakes

2008-07-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Boss, Wishi-wishu and Mel came in very different outfits. Boss wore a sexy white (pristine white) jacket, Wishi-wishu was very casual and Mel.. well.. Mel.. uhhmmm.. ~~Hobo~~ summer-looking LOL The last time I was at Coffee Mania here was prolly 2 years ago when Shu was down. I was bitter that the Terrace tables were so damn packed, we couldnt sit out in the sun :(

View from our table, there must be about 10 Barristas at the counter!

Picky choosers (Mel looks like he's picking elsewhere :P)

Headlines of the day.. not to say too interesting for 1st July 2008

Nevertheless, anywhere with good friends is always a blast! We sat inside, made so much noise I was surprised Igor (our waiter) still served us :P I only ordered a Bingo-Bango Mint, don't ask why the glamourous name. Every one had a cake, or at least shared one. Igor was so eager to please us, he kept insisting on suggesting something for us. Pfffftttt. Newbie, issit.

The current issue is the big, crude mistake on our transcripts. Right on top of the mark sheet, our country is typed as "Republic of Malaysia". WTF. We aint no Republic! It looks more wrong than it sounds on our official document! I had failed to notice the atrocious typo earlier until Mel brought it up. Now the Malaysian Embassy is making a big hoo-ha and so is the Dean's Office. Some shit like that. They are calling all the papers back to not even erase (can dream about printing us new and correct ones) but CUT OFF THE WORD "Republic of". Humanity is truly losing any little intelligence/knowledge they have left. Can you believe it's gonna look like this?

Previous credential:
Higher Secondary Education Certificate 2001, ~~Republic of~~ *signed* Malaysia

It's fucking ridiculous.

On a happier note, we did have a lot of good laughs of other matters. Mel's Black Mamba cake was sinfully sweet and thick, 100% chocolate and 1 bite was enough to cause sugar high. Vv had an equally sinful Pecan Cake, that one I told Igor she is Diabetic but he pretended to be oblivious to maintain sales. Hahahahaa poor thing. We disturbed him enough, I think. He prolly thought we were a bunch of jakuns let loose this afternoon.

Black Mamba, Pecan Cake and best/most expensive Cheesecake in town!

Vv.. definitely gonna miss having her around! *sniff, sniff*

L-R : Myself, Mel, Viro, Wishi-wishu, Pisa and Boss

I went on to meeting Turkish at M.Kuznetsky Most for dinner with Leed Wi, Kammow, Chiili and their 2 other friends. Their flight from Volgograd-Moscow was delayed by many hours (which was a blessing in disguise for me because I got to spend time with my friends during the early half of the day). The rest of them headed to Kafe 123 and later, Poker Night. Oooohhh I missed another Poker Night!

W-Central

2008-07-01T17:44:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day : "CJ Tours rock!"- Viro and Pisa (one after another)

Boss needed his slept debt so this called for a Girly Group outing!! Yes, Viro carries a handbag now LOL Like a big Hobo, V announced that she wanted street food. Off we went to M.Park Kultury for the cheeseload stall. We had Tvorog Rings, a Hachapoori, more Tvorog Rings *standing while munching like real Hobos* and off we went towards the Bridge that crosses Moscow River.

2-cent chitchats with the seller.. not like she gave discount also! :P

I highly recommend these, fresher than fresh! Yummier than yums!

Theres yous goes, a happy Hobo V (at least Pisa looks dignified LOL)

I took the route Turkish once brought me ;) I was so proud to show us around. You should know one thing that CJ Tours include photography with or without requests! We had a gala snapping pictures and V the Camwhore couldnt be any more satisfied. Hahahahahaa I was very glad to see Vv and Pisa enjoying themselves already! I also brought them to Moscow's most beautiful perehot (underground pedestrian walk) that is also a gallery of beautiful paintings (for sale). We got out from the other end and voila, ART Museon!!

2 very dazzling, very chilled, very stylo-Milo.. errrr.. posers *rofl*

The perehot (my apologies, I know it's blurred)

The tour guide (yours truly) giving vital information about the place

ART Museon was indeed beautiful and with these 2 cartoons, it was brilliant. Entrance for Students in Russia (irrespective of nationalities) costs 10pyb (RM1.40). Hahahahahaa you can't even buy a loaf of bread here anymore with that kind of price! All of us got damn excited at the stone statues, sculptures, ironworks and all. Turkish and I have been there together and I knew which and which would suit their liking. True enough, the Sumo wrestler statue and women figures were one of the big hits!

Hamsap girls! Shamelessly trying to grope Felix Dzerzhinsky!!

Standing in the same lawn as.. Soviet Union's main fellas LOL

Wokay.. I admit I was being artsy-fartsy too :P

Since we were going to meet Boss and Melvyn at Coffee Mania, we couldnt park ourselves for too long. When I realised that I have lost my Aviator shades (must have left it on the bench to do that dramatic fetal-position, pic above).. we proceeded to the Christ the Saviour Cathedral at M.Krapotkinskaya hehehehee At this point, Vv and Pisa were non-stop singing praises of CJ Tours! *woot, woot*

On the way there.. we saw a Mama Duck and her baby
nestled on the little patch of grass (or whatever there is LOL)

Paaaaaansies.. oooohhhh how I love 'em! Oooooohhh.. Pansies!

Another shameless act, up to your imagination to what they were doing LOL

A candid shot of us in front of Christ the Saviour Cathedral! ;)

So yeahhh, CJ Tours ended here. I am extremely happy we all enjoyed ourselves. I promised them, CJ Tours will live as long as there are friends/guests coming to Moscow! Yeos! And with that, we further adjourned our lala-ness with the 3 boys in Coffee Mania (the one at Bolshaya Nikitskaya, next to the Conservatoire).

Friendship Food

2008-06-30T13:41:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "The wok must be hot" - Viro

My afternoon was slow and wet. I came home to find Vv alone, in her scrubs and pajamas.

Hahahahaaa her scrubs were stolen from GH and printed "Untuk kegunaaan hospital sahaja" (still got the cheek to wear to sleep and all over the place!). We caught up for a bit and she went on watching How I Met Your Mother until Pisa returned to the crib. Pisa has been running in and out of the Dean's Office for paperworks and whatnots, got a lot of shit from different individuals too. Bless her.

Highlight of the day was dinner at DRUZHBA! We rendezvous-ed with Boss at M.Novoslabodskaya around 9pm. We charged into the Chinese joint like a bunch of hungry wolves, settled down comfortably in the heavy Oriental decorated restaurant. Each of us picked a dish while I ordered in Mandarin. Speaking Mandarin to these Chinans always gives me a slur. Lucky I my tongue didnt tangle up. We had a sumptuous feast of Ma Po Tofu (told you I'd be back for more LOL), Stir-fried Brinjal, Chicken with Bread Crumbs and a Pork dish. Yums!!

Viro choosing her dish.. "Oi, woman! Fasterlahhh"

Boss and Pisa, feels good seeing them together~

Dishes prepared in less than 10 minutes! Except the pancakes (no wok LOL)

Taken before dinner from the left angle, nicer ;)

And guess what, all of us ate with chopsticks! Food came in the speed of lightning, Pisa didnt even have time for a smoke! I tell you, these Chinese can really operate business. If we had gone to Devi's (Indian food), we would have to wait at least an hour for a sight of Naan. Serious!

After dinner, we sat around yakking. It was pure joy. Then we started to feel sleepy.. Food Coma kicked in LOL As soon as we got up from our chairs to leave, Gary and Justin passed our table. They had their dinner there too. Maybe it was just me but Justin ignored my presence (he greeted everyone). Pfffttt. What's his beef with me? I didnt welcome his girlfriend to ZONA Club issit LOL Whatever.

Fish tank for good feng shui (even when the seaweed's fake :P)

Verrrrrry Chinese, eh?

Uhmmm.. I was particularly amused with the disco ball on the ceiling LOL

Tomorrow Leed Wi and his friends will come to Moscow. I have made plans to meet him, prolly for dinner to but that is up to Turkish because we are meeting in the evening. I suppose he would join if timing is right. Then on Wednesday, I have to make a run to the Dean's Office to seal the deal. On Thursday, I will attend Hannan and Shida's Graduation! Basically M2's Graduation. I reckon it's a good idea to do so because that gives me an opportunity to see my RSMU counterparts for one last time :)

SAFARI Circus

2008-06-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Quote of the day: "There is mass, like the luggage. Even when empty.. it still weighs" - Turkish

I really don't understand why this traveling circus at M.Rechnoi Vokzal isn't heavily promoted like Nikulin's or Moscow's Great Circus. Turkish and I went for the 3pm show, it was excellent. The circus is located deep inside Park Druzhbii (Friendship Park). We arrived an hour earlier to check out the area. Lush green, enormous lakes and a couple of fields for American football.

Hehehee some old farts fishing by the lake

A struggling mother pushing her pram through mud/puddle

Couldn't help it, the pigeon posed for me LOL

The weather was gloomy but our moods werent dampened by it! Safari Circus, here we come! There's a statue in the park, of a couple holding an olive branch (looks like it) high in the air and around them were 5 bronze plates of the continents. Like the Olympic rings- Asia, Australia, Africa, America and Europe. Turkish and I took turns posing with the plates, some cheap thrillslahhhh :P

The Friendship Statue ;)

Clockwise : Asia, America, Europe and Africa (Turkish meditating there)

Ta-daaaaa!! Australia Down Under LOL (gosh, I look evil)

I love our little outings. It's beautiful to have someone who enjoys what you like. Walks in parks, taking the Metro.. I know we've only been together for like 4 months, it could just be the honeymoon period and all but I really have a good feeling about us. The BIG step I plan to take secures the relationship and this much proves how I determine I am about our relationship :) He makes me happy. Better yet, he makes my entire family happy!

Yeahhh, the Safari Circus. It's strange how it's difficult to purchase tickets from kiosks. I have asked twice from different companies and they ran out of seats. I was damn excited to see the colourful tent, so was Turkish! We were discussing yesterday how we wished the circus nowadays would be like the Gimboli's circus, with cage caravans and gypsies and everything LOL Surprisingly, this Safari Circus was a little bit like what we wished for!! No fat, mustached Gimboli but there WAS a Gimboli, the ringmaster!! :)

Yupe.. ALL the animals featured on the poster performed!

Ancient circus posters! We found them pasted on the fences :)

Pictures I managed to capture in secret until I was caught :P

The 10-minute interval when picture taking with animals was free!!

The trapeze act was good, the acrobats.. all of them were awesome! Performers without safety or harnesses are always most entertaining. If there is some sort of string attached to their limbs are minus points. I mean, how to hold my breath if there isnt a chance for them to fall and break their neck? LOL Overall it was grrrreat. You know, halfway through the show.. it rained cats and dogs outside. The tent started to leak hehehee Classic. Even for a small scale traveling circus, they definitely left us impressed :)

Turkish and I are up for more entertainment. We have bought tickets to a New Opera titled Spartak for next Saturday! I cant wait! See. It's too good to be true to have someone to share my interests with!!

Boobies Boogie

2008-06-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

Our night at Hard Rock Cafe definitely was a must-do.

Like the Chinese saying, "I don't know how much leg hair I've dropped in that place". Hahahahaha from casual dinners to birthday bashes (my 19th and 21st). We didnt manage to get a strategic table but towards the end of the night, I realised it was a pretty good spot! We could see everyone scurrying towards the dancefloor and the over-excited party people.

Wishi-wishu, myself, Turkish and Pisa (V's taking the pic)

Pisa and Viro *smoooooches, babys*

Me and my sweet, sweet Turkish :)

The atmosphere reminded me of the Pushkin disco in the good old days. Packed with Russians, young crowd, dancing as though being electrocuted on high voltage! Village People's YMCA is still a hit, always THE song to get the crowd moving. Sadly, the new HRC staff who starts aren't as enthusiastic anymore. Back then, they were really into it as though it was the gay calling and they had more than enough energy to run a march. I spotted some waitresses rolling their eyes. Pfffftttt. How unprofessional.

YMCA isnt as fun as it used to be

C4's classic Umbrella song, now I'm doing it to Wishnu :P

Turkish enjoyed people-watching. Wishi-wishu was hoping to drink on the Tequila cowgirl, I mean drink with.. or was it drunk her :P Vv, Pisa and I had a good 3 round of tequila shot. Oooof. Tequila *brrrrrrr!!*. Maybe I didnt dance or move much, the alcohol was just sitting in my stomach. Easily I would have "1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila.. floor!!". Lucky I managed to control myself LOL

Tequila cowgirl preparing our shots

Round 1 : To Viro, "Welcome back to Moscow!"

Round 2 : "Aaahhhh.. Hahhahahaa" *gulp*

Round 3 : .... just look at our faces LOL

The night was slightly amiss without Boss around. He was prolly on the train returning from St.Petersburg with his folks. It's always strange to see Pisa in action without her other half. Nevertheless, we all enjoyed ourselves. Wishi-wishu wasnt in his best mood though, tired perhaps. He headed back to the hostel and we dispersed from the joint too.

3 females doctors on the strip of Arbat! :)

Now, I can't wait to go to the Safari Circus tomorrow with Turkish!

Trippin' Morning

2008-06-28T14:15:00.000-07:00

When Vv called me at 720am sharp for breakfast at Starlite Diner, I woke up faster than I went to bed last night. I was THAT excited. Pisa's folks have left for Copenhagen so they were returning from the airport. Breakfast was fun, considering that I havent spent much time with Vv since her Mission To Moscow's comeback. I was surprisingly energetic this morning, Pisa figured it was the coffee. "Bahahahahaha CJ never drinks coffee!!!" :P

Errrr.. I suppose they were right LOL

I had an omelette, Pisa had Beef Benedicts, Wishi-wishu had sexy Sandwiches while Vv hit straight to dessert, a plate of whopping Banana and Pecan Pancakes. Foooossshhh, it was really yummy. Hehehee Wishi-wishu was my victim because I teased him being "Bart Simpson on a Sunday" (when he goes to church). It was true! The hairstyle!! LOL We had a lot of fun watching news on CNN, about Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday ~~party~~, Obama and Clinton's pact (best friends now ehhh) and some other news. I remember one had fire chimneys.. oil issue I suppose.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day *snicker*

See what I mean!

Vv posing with everyone, her blissful expression with Pisa

After that, we lala-ed in Ashan City. Checked out a couple of shops, not to say damn interesting sales or what. The mall was very empty, well, it wasnt even noon yet. Pisa announced that shes got damn a lot of things to buy, so we went to the hypermarket. Vv even pushed a huge ass trolley around. Wishi-wishu needed hair gel, I needed body lotion.. OMG, it was massive. In the end, unintentional, all we bought.. or rather Pisa bought was..

Hahahahahaaa no shit, Sherlock!

I went on to meet Turkish and tonight, we would boogie at Hard Rock Cafe! Vv wants to scooter down memory lane by going to places and doing things she used to do. It is something very sweet she's doing.. though the gap's only 2 years. Not 20 hehehehee Actually, Vv's presence in the house, it felt either she never left or she brought the past back to us. Seriously speaking, its more of the latter :)

This is me, Viro and Pisa :)

Empty Emotion

2008-06-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

You know what is weird, now that I have graduated.. I feel unoccupied. I don't see my groupmates anymore, come back to the apartment to see my room tidy unlike the past week scattered with luggages, Mummy and Fats. Boss and Pisa are out and about with their parents, Turkish and I are taking a breather (he works anyways) so yeahhh, that leaves me pretty alone to myself.

I need to start packing. I need to get some souvenirs. I need to be in touch with friends whom I havent heard from nor contacted. There's a whole list of stuff I could do but first, I need to clear my sleep debt first. I havent gotten enough sleep since ZONA Club. Then my family came, St.Petersburg followed by graduation and earlier I managed to drop dead from 2-9pm. More, more, more!!

Tomorrow I'll go to the Dean's Office for some errands, inquiry etc. I'm considering to stay here for Ordinatura. That's the continuation to specialise, I'm thinking of Dermatology. It takes 2-3 years and chances are high for me to stay. I don't know, I don't feel like discussing it in the open because it is not common (actually never) for a Malaysian. I would be the 1st Malaysian in 10 years to specialise in Russia. Sounds heavy. Well, there's always a pioneer so why not me? ;)

It could be a shock to many but I really don't see why not. I mean, it's all great and dandy to return home, serve the government and stuff.. that's what everybody does anyways. For me, Malaysia isnt the only way and I aim to make a life abroad. I like my life in Russia. Sure, all my batchmates are headed home, I'll be alone here blah, blah, blah but I dont agree that is a reason to jump into the bandwagon. I don't expect anyone to understand my decision nor do I care judgment of my step. I'll just have to see what rolls from here.

Christabel and Quek came up with an idea of a Scrapbook. Excellent idea. Everyone was requested to submit a questionnaire and pictures taken over the years. I was one of the firsts to email everything LOL I am a sucker for these things. They are priceless as far as I'm concern. My answers to the questionnaire were brief, I wish I could have written 3-pages long of words and make it as personal as possible but it's too late to change it. I was too excited :P

This is the one song I've always wanted to sing at the end of my studies. I missed it when SSM days finished, now I've gotten my Medical degree and yet, never had the chance to do it. When Christabel proposed that each group make a video, I wanted to suggest we do an MTV clip of it but there was not enough time. So here you go.. (the clip's high school but the lyrics apply)

So we talked all night about the rest of our lives
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track
And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now
'Cause you don't have another day
'Cause we're moving on and can't slow it down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
I keep on thinking of the night in June
I didn't know much of love but it came too soon
And there was me and you when we got real blue
We'd stay at home talking on the telephone
We'd got so excited and get so scared
Laughing at ourselves thinking life's not fair
And this is how it feels...

(CHORUS):
As we go on, we remember
All the times we had together
And as our lives change
Come whatever,
We will still be friends forever

So if we get the big jobs and we make the big money
When we look back now will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything what we learned in school
Still be trying to break every single rule?
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?
Will Heather find a job that won't interfere with her tan?
I keep - keep thinking that its not goodbye
Keep on thinking its our time to fly
And this is how it feels...

Repeat Chorus:

La la la la la la la...
(We will still be friends forever)

We think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there?
Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it's like we're women and men
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us around
Will these memories fade when I leave this town?
I keep - keep thinking that it's not goodbye
Keep on thinking it's our time to fly

Repeat Chorus (3x)

Questionnaire

2008-06-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

1. Simply describe yourself in 5 words.
- Loud, jovial, carefree, compassionate, sharp-tongued.

2. Weird/interesting fact about you.
- I talk in my sleep.

3. Habits that you can’t change.
- Dying my hair, always up for fun even when I’m knee deep in work and being too noisy.

4. What do you do when you’re alone / when no one is watching?
- Blast some music and dance in front of the mirror, if there's one.

5. What was the craziest thing you ever did while you were in Moscow?
- Helped grow "Mary Joanna", harvested and smoked her (if you catch my drift :P).

6. If you could change anything at all about Moscow, what would it be?
- The locals' negative aura and rudeness. Moscow should have budget airlines like Ryanair too.

7. What do you remember most during your days as a student in Moscow?
- Big scale outings/parties/festive celebrations, made great friends and memories.

8. Any vivid memories / unforgettable experiences?
- Watching tons of movie with Boss and Pisa, and drinking too much in the hostel.

9. Name things you could have done in Moscow, but never had the chance to.
- Befriend Russians.

10. If you could have any other job than a doctor, what would it be?
- Definitely PR Manager for clubs/events or Marketing, those that require my friendly skills.

11. If they made a movie on your life, which actor/actress would portray you?
- Julia Roberts. Firstly is because I like her. Her character is strong, smart, adventurous and I love her big smile. Her role in movies like falling for her best friend (My Best Friend's Wedding), a liberal arts teacher who encourages females to be ambitious (Mona Lisa Smile) and fighter cock material simply fits me (Erin Brockovich).

12. What would you miss most about Moscow?
- Being a student and everything that came with it when I was one.

13. If you were abandoned in the wilderness, who would you like to have with you, and why?
- My boyfriend, just because.

14. Which Muscovite/Russian would you miss?
- Hmmmm.. this is a tough one. Maybe Galena, the doorkeeper of my apartment.

15. If you meet your batch-mates after 20 years’, what activities would you likely do with them?
- If really meet up after 20 years, I'd like to make a trip to Moscow with them.

16. Your favourite quote?
- One of Quek's most used, "Bored, sleepy and hungry".

17. Would you like to bring one of our lecturers back to your hometown? Why?
- Infectious Disease's Anokhina, she will be stoned to death.

18. In general, what do you think of Moscow? Muscovite? Russian cuisine?
- I enjoy them all, minus the unfriendliness. Food is always good here.

19. What are your future plans after graduation?
- Be with my boyfriend.

20. What would you like to say all your friends, whom you’ve spent 6-7 years here in Moscow with, before we part?
- Keep the cheers, leave the tears. Rejoice the best times MMA Class of 2008 had all these years! Remember who we are, wherever we may be. We graduated together in style; we are doctors now, finally!!

**Yellow questions are what I answered for the Scrapbook

Flight Time

2008-06-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

"All good things must come to an end", said Fats (when Pisa asked how he felt about leaving). I don't know if that reply tasted cold or bitter, maybe it's the truth about holidays/fun since he said it matter-o-factly. Anyways, that's my baby brother :)

I managed to get some sleep last night. Woke up around 9am and went to the shops to grab breakfast for them. The taxi driver arrived at the apartment at sharp 2pm. We loaded the luggages, bade farewell to Galena (our security/doorkeeper lady). Fats is very fond of her, always learning new words to greet her whenever we came home LOL

This is Galena, a real sweetheart from Ukraine

Domodedova Airport is packed, as usual. We needed another 1/2 hour to check in, we decided to queue at the THAI Airways counters to wait. There were many unfamiliar Malaysian juniors in sight, my guess was RSMU kids. One of them confirmed my speculation because she wore a black t-shirt with huge letters of their university. Hehehehe prolly fresh off the boat 1st Year judging by their outfits. It was a funny feeling to be sending my family members instead of me.

Mummy and Fats' flight schedule

Awww.. my Mummy dearest, I love her sooooo much!

Mummy giving Turkish an ang pau for well-wishings

Mickey&Minnie Mouse red packet LOL

Fats and I, the ultimate Tan siblings :)

After checking in, luggage and all, we went to the 2nd Floor for a cuppa coffee. Mummy being Mummy, gave me some last minute advice.. told me not to bully Turkish so much :P While Turkish and Fats stuffed their faces with sandwiches from Prime Star. I didnt really know what to say to her except wished them a safe journey and that I will see them soon. I didnt want to feel sad or anything because this is a happy trip :)

Mummy had a good laugh about the hungry boys
and commented that I'm advertising for the cookies :P

Fats and Turkish doing a normal handshake :P
(earlier it was Turkish style cheek-kissing hahahaa)

See the both of you back in Malaysia *hugs and kisses!!*

Hats And Robes III

2008-06-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

When I was seated at the ceremonial hall, I had flashbacks of Viro and Praveen's graduation. Today was mine. Ours. Mummy couldnt sleep the whole night, she woke up at 4am++ and woke me 1 1/2 hour later. Fats jumped up and we went to Starlite Diner for breakfast. I was feeling pretty calm, kinda excited when it was closing in to 9am.

We arrived at Dom Ucheonei (Russian Academy of Science) at M.Krapotkinskaya to find many others standing around the courtyard. I saw Douglas, Sunny, Quek, Aksan, Mun Yee and many other familiar faces with their parents. I panicked to see everyone dressed so nicely while I have yet to put on my black dress!! I sneaked inside the hall (entry only granted past 10am) and came out feeling much, much in place :)

Turkish, yours truly, Mummy and Fats! The ones I love most!!

Victor, me, Sunny, Min Guan and Yee Ling (guys carry bouquets)

Kisses to our Mothers!! Hahahaaha so sweet and cute :)

Turkish (hidden), me, Mummy, Jed, Sophie and Jed's sister- Joy

My robe fitted nicely but the mortar board was kinda loose. It didnt hit me to fix it with pins, but then again, it was my first time. Inexperienced :) Anyways, wearing it was quite a drama. A few cameramen/photographers recorded the entire scene and I was giggling away the whole time :P Mummy helped me with it, Turkish looked on while Fats snapped pictures. Everyone was moving into the building slowly and I got really excited. REALLY excited.

1. Wearing the robe

2. Mummy adjusting the hat

3. Done *notice the cameraman LOL*

Once inside..

Betty, my batchmate from Gabon striking in red!

Fizal, Macik, myself, Min and Kindut :)

Mel said we need to pin our robes *asking Mummy for it*

.. he's helped everyone with it, my turn here!!

I was very upset that Mummy and Fats sat far back :( So far back, like the second last row in the hall. Could barely see anything!! Those seats prolly costs 50pyb. They weren't with any of my groupmates' family but foreign folks. Whatever happened to the seat arrangement. Pfffftttt. The graduates sat in front. Archana was the only Gold Medalist in our year, followed by Red Diplom (1st Class Honours) and then commoners of Blue Diplom. I sat in between Aksan and Sunny.

See how upset Fats was, only my mother can accept such mistreat

The stage of VIPs and country representatives

A view of my seat (Aksan's shiny bald head)

Harlooooo.. yours truly is finally graduating!!

You know, Aksan is a real man. Hwong actually forgot to bring his robe and hat for him. Can you believe that he was angry for like.. 10 minutes, sighed mostly and then laughed about it? RESPECT! If I were him, I would have thrown a huge ass bitch fit! His outfit was superb for the day, a fancy French suit :) That's Aksan for you. He managed to borrow from someone who had gone upstage to receive the Diplom.

So the moment is finally here. Row by row of names were called, we cheered for each other and when my name was called, I felt like jelly. It was as though everything around me was shut off, all I concentrated on was "DO NOT TRIP" and "DO NOT STEP ON YOUR ROBE". Hahahahaaa imagine I fall on the steps and land flat on my face!! A few of the guys before us nearly tripped. My heart skipped a beat each time LOL

Kinda blur because of the distance but yeahhh, that's me!! LOL

First thing I did was ran to Mummy and Fats!! :)

Before reciting the Hippocratic Oath, aaahhhh..

Try to spot me LOL

Victor and I.. BFF!! (Best Friends Forever)

The Kitchen Crew! "We did it!!" *hugs*

I am officially a doctor as of today. If I see someone dying and not help, I can be sued. OMG. I am licensed to ~~kill~~ save people's lives! Everybody was beaming with joy, parents, Mummy, Fats and Tolga.. everybody. I don't really know how to describe how I felt but the only person in my mind the most throughout the day was Daddy. I felt that he was overlooking the scene, watching his baby girl graduate and soaring with pride. I love Daddy and miss him so, so much still.

It is a day I felt this proud of myself. Proud that Mummy and Fats enjoyed themselves here, glad that they managed to visit Russia and us, being together for 1 week plus. That meant the most to me. Turkish is a new "member" to the family :) I like how Mummy always nudges me to take group pictures, laughs whenever Turkish showers me with affection and she looks forward to Turkish's visit to Malaysia ;)

Mummy who cried happy tears, inside

This is me, the same person and always will be.. if not, better :)

Holy Kitchen

2008-06-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

Moscow is great when it comes to food. We didnt have plans for the evening @ Graduation Dinner though initially there was word about Group 3 & Families Combo or something like that. In the end, Turkish and my family decided to talk a stroll at M.Pushkinskaya instead. We walked down Tverskaya Street (it started to drizzle). I suggested we have Tibetan cuisine. Tibet Kitchen is set back a little bit off Kamergerskii Pereulok, which is hidden between patio restaurants.

Hehehee Mummy looking like a Arabic woman in pink

I highly recommend this joint, Tibet Kitchen!!

Mummy loved its interiors. Bright red walls, colourful woven Buddhist-prayer mats, a huge knitted view of Lhasa's Potala Palace and ornaments hung at every corner. There were prayer wheels too and I quickly explained to her how they are used ;)

Food names were interesting, their selection was even better. But they took too long to prepare, we waited at least 1/2 hour. Turkish was dying of hunger, so was Fats. Mummy was just annoyed that the table next to us came in later but could pig themselves before their asses warmed the seats LOL

Mummy made a toast tonight, it's rare that she does :)

We had Mo-mo (dumplings), Chicken Tashi Delek, Sheakar
Jong Curry, Fak Sha Khatsa, Tibetan bread and Zeera/Garlic Rice

Nice painting of the tower/castle.. I wonder where in Tibet is it

Well, Mummy and Fats leave tomorrow, flight at 640pm.

Their 10-day stay is just nice, I guess. Of course, I wish for their company eternally but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Fats will start university soon. Mummy was a great sport throughout the trip, only complained that we rode the Metro too much LOL She took back her word when we were stuck in traffic earlier today for 1 hour.

I fly home on 9th July though, and we shall reunite!! :)

Turkish will have his fun in Malaysia soon enough ;)

Souvenir Shopping

2008-06-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I graduate.. I have mixed emotions and I'm gonna use them well :)

I brought Mummy and Fats to the VERNISASCH this afternoon since Fats wanted to buy souvenirs for his friends. It's a Monday but the entrance was free (usually some guy would collect a small fee of 30pyb). The stalls were almost empty, only a handful were operating. I managed to help my brother choose some Matrioshka for a cheap price. Mummy didnt find that place too nice though.

Hehehehe and Fats says the souvenirs are for girls AND guys ;P

Mummy trying on a traditional "ushanka".. made of sheep skin I think

And Fats.. I caught him sniffing fox's tail LOL

My brother's favourite local drink, Kvass (a fermented bread drink)

I havent seen Turkish for slightly more than 24 hours and I miss him so much. Even Mummy agrees that it felt like a long time!! I mean, we spent a few days in St.Petersburg together and now without him around.. I felt like I was short of a kidney. Hahahahahaa Pisa's internal joke :P We made plans with Turkish for dinner at an African restaurant. Mummy was sooooo excited about having some exotic steak but unfortunately, Bungalo Bar is very modest, no crocodile nor zebra meat LOL

It offers Ethiopian cuisine and if you know Ethiopia which used to be one of the poorest country in the world, you can more or less imagine the selection of menu (not too fancy). Still, we went there for an experiment and seeing Turkish in a joint with Negro deco, added spices to the evening. We had rolled up pancakes, lamb Goulash and some other dishes. Quite interesting to eat with their thin, weird-but-quite-nice-tasting wraps. I passed him Victor's invitation card. He substitutes Victor's brother, Vincent Yap!! I am so thankful that he will be able to attend my graduation tomorrow!! :) :) :)

Damn cute picture, looks like "the blind leading the blind(s)" :P

Some pictures I took of them at Bungalo Bar/Addis Ababa

I am sitting on the fence about my graduation outfit!! I don't know which dress to wear!!! I have 3 lovely dresses and I need to pick the better looking one. Ohhhh well. I never wanted to wear formal/pant suit from the beginning so a shirt with slacks or skirt is a no-no for me. I know it looks professional or whatsoever, think about having to wear it for the rest of your live in your field doesnt give me much appeal for a special day. Plus, I have attended 2 graduation of yesteryears and trust me, dresses are just as nice (if not, more gorgeous) under the robe!! Now which one??

Free & Easy

2008-06-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

We arrived Moscow about 6am to find the city in a ruckus and mess. Yalahhh, so Russia beat Netherlands 3-1 last night. No need to behave like hooligans on the streets and scream their lungs out at every turning of a junction *roll my eyes*.

For one thing, Mummy is always intimidated by these kind of attitude. Her face turns pale and she grips onto her bag tightly. The 4 of us headed to Starlite Diner at M.Mayakovskaya and only to my disappointment, that place was under-staff and drunkards sprawling all over the tables. Mosseta Theater was bloody filthy with scraps and thrash, service was terrible and their famous Egg Benedict came overcooked. Machibai. Should have gone straight home to sleep!!

How disappointing.. I promised I'd make it up to them next time!!

After our dismal breakfast (and its environment), we parted with Turkish. Later in the afternoon, Mummy and I went shopping while Fats happily stayed home watch his House MD series. We scouted the sales in Festival, I bought some stuff from ZARA and other stuff. Not to say too interesting also LOL But it was fun. So relaxed and not in hurry to sightsee. Ahhhh.. finally :) For dinner, I took them to YAKITORIA nearby our place. The same place we celebrated CNY 2 years ago when Praveen and Kai Yen Yen was around.

Common sight of Fats wrapped up comfortably in my room

I'm just gonna post some pictures and call it an entry.

I think I influenced Mummy with my camwhore-ness *gasp!!*

Fats all Hawaiian to the Japanese joint LOL

One thing about the Sashimi in Moscow.. they are huge!!

Blue And Gold

2008-06-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

Rococo architecture!! OMG. I am freaking envious of the Catherine I *screams*. Her summer getaway in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin region) is gorgeous!! Unfortunately, palace was closed for renovation :( So we roamed around the compound, the lake and the Cameron Gallery. It would have been great to look-see inside her palace. The famous Amber Room, Grand Ballroom and the Palace Chapel. Would have been great.. ohhhh well.

Mummy hiding her pink skinnies LOL

Turkish trying to be funny by pulling down my sleeves :P

Fats and Turkish in front of the Cameron Gallery

We had light lunch by the lake and I bought bread for us to feed the birds/ducks. Fats had a good time throwing crumbs to them but soon, the evilness in him made him throw crumbs AT the birds LOL Turkish is a child of nature, he enjoys wading through bushes and putting his hands on tree barks, leaves and flowers. Then come touch my face!! It's really not surprising why I have pimples sprouting like them.

My Mummy *giggles*

Hehehehe before Fats starting hitting at the birds

Nature's best ;)

Mummy and Turkish having a chitchat under the sun :)

Another group picture in front of the Pushkin statue :) :) :)

We were very relaxed, revitalised in the green surroundings. Then headed back to St.Petersburg for dinner and Circus on Water!! You know what, the LOMOGRAPHY shop closed down :( We were disappointed but Turkish said its my fault that I didnt treat Diana+ so well in this trip *sniff, sniff*. But there was a French bakery next door which sold delicious pastries and yummy bread. Yummmmy!! It was the same place I went 2 years ago with my group mates, I dropped my Olympus camera. Exact same spot!! Turkish and I ordered a table full of French pastries. Mummy loved the Eclairs, so did I.

Don't ask me what Fats is doing LOL

Turkish patiently waiting for the train to arrive

Fats cheekily asked me, "Would you like some quiche, Mademoiselle?"

Our Circus on Water was at 7pm. Instead of the usual stage, this one is a pool with water and podium in the center. The show was alright, more like a dance/laser spectacular because the only animals which appeared were 6 poodles, one hypnotic duck, 2 gigantic pythons and one alligator. Sounds alot? Not at all. Didn't impress me one bit. I mean, their costumes looked pretty, colourful and women wore thongs mostly. Pffffttttt.. performers nowadays should be more conservative. It should be decent family entertainment LOL

It was full house!! didnt see any empty seats when it started

Mummy and Fats definitely enjoyed the show!! :)

Hehehehee the poodles in line, small and hyperactive

Collage of the circus performers, check out the S&M hoop lady

We left 20 minutes before the show ended.. there wasnt anything else. When we hurried out (to the train station), the emcee announced that they were going to have a competition between adult males or something like that. Off we went to head back to Moscow :)

"Hof" Or "Gof"

2008-06-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

Turkish and I read an article written by a traveler who searched for a Buddhist Temple on the Stone Island (Kamenny Ostrov - north of St.Petersburg) but couldn't find the religious sanctuary. But guess what.. we did!!! Hahahahaaa turns out, it is NOT on the location he described. You need to cross over to Primorskii Prospekt. By Metro, it is closest to the Staraya Derevnya station.

Mummy was the happiest to find the 4-storey Buddiiskii Khram. Its architecture doesn't resemble our Chinese Buddhist temples back home. It looks more like a fort, brownish-red in colour and the place gave me a heavy feeling of very deep historical past, like.. uhhmm, how do I describe it, like it has endured too much over the century. I read more about the Tibetan temple and its founder, Agvan Dorzhiev.. true enough, only a building as strong as its looks and in spirit, would survive the Soviet aggression and hostility (also from others).

The Buddiiskii Khram still stands high and mighty (founded in 1909)

Myself, Mummy and Fats at the entrance

Mummy posing sweetly next to the prayer wheels
(I told her I'd definitely post this on a dating site LOL)

No cameras allowed inside the temple so no pictures, folks. We arrived at a perfect timing because the Lama Master had just started saying prayers. The other devotees eyed at us strangely. They prolly mistook our curiosities as lost faces! Turkish watched the scene in silent, respectfully. After saying our prayers, we got "sacred butter cookies" from his assistant!! Feeling blessed, we continued our itinerary to Peterhof!! :)

Well, the Russians call it Petergof (just like Gary Potter for Harry Potter, Gamlet for Hamlet.. you get the idea LOL). Peterhof has hundreds of fountains, and of course, the main feat is the Grand Cascade, his Grand Palace and the Samson fountain altogether. Mummy said Petergof was way too crowded with tourists and in these kind of environment drives her nuts. Nevertheless, she enjoyed herself. We didnt enter the Grand Palace though, there wasn't much time and we wanted to get back to the city soon.

Fats and Turkish grabbing quick bites from the kiosk

Lovely Turkish's side profile cornered by the Grand Palace

This is Fats for you, Samson's kinda hidden in this picture LOL

A nice picture of us, eh? :)

Mummy and Fats get along very well with Turkish!! Fats is fond of him and looks up to him like an elder brother. They chat alot, feed on eye candies together and Turkish tells me, "Your brother is a good boy". Aaaahhhh.. my first boyfriend who came close to my family. Perfect. Mummy feels comfortable having him with us and that's the most important thing for me. I am glad this trip took place first, it gives them a chance to analyze and observe Turkish :)

We walked around Peterhof a little bit more and left via hydrofoil. Hahahahaa I thought it was a hovercraft :P When we got back to the city, it was a bit of a madness to see Militias and OMON fellas in position at every corner of Nevsky Prospekt. They barricaded the streets, many Russians were waving flags and still, we didnt have a clue of the occasion. Later, I found out it was a holiday today.. some Graduation Day for School Leavers. No wonder teenagers were clad in their best, many wore sashes over their shoulders so it was like a huge celebration for them. Big time ~~losing their virginities~~ street party.

On Board : Fats' with his loyal companion- PSP

It looked more like some demonstration going on LOL

Wild ass kids, some so rowdy I felt like smacking their faces!

We were all tired from the long day really. CUBA Hostel is damn noisy in the night. The backpackers dont seem to sleep, they stay in the common room chatting away. Not to say deafening but our room is in front of the living room/kitchen, we hear them easily. Turkish and I watched a bit of the Turkey-Croatia match before turning in. A few guys watched with us too, but we never spoke nor did they start one. In fact, I dont know why.. whenever we are in the same room, they usually pause/keep quiet in the middle of their conversation. I think that's just weird. Not to say their talks are substantial also. Their topics only revolve around their travels and only their travels.

Tomorrow we will check out, and visit the Catherine Palace in the Pushkin region! Nice!! Oooohhh, we also bought tickets for the must-see Circus on Water show!! We got the "black market" tickets because they were all sold out for the weekend. Hahahahaa it was damn funny. It cost us 250% more than the original ticket price but I really want to see it! Plus, it's also a great way to kill time before we board our train back to Moscow at 1020pm :)

By The Baltics

2008-06-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

Superb 3 days 2 nights in St.Petersburg with Mummy, Fats and Turkish!!

I havent stop grinning from the evening we left Moscow on an 8-hour train ride and back this morning. Turkish and I have planned this a month ago, for a little trip up north of Russia. Mummy and Fats enjoyed themselves very much, so did the both of us. Key word: CJ Tours.

Hahahahaaa CJ Tours is priceless.

Upon arrival at Moskovskii Vokzal at 9am++

Can't complain about our accommodation at CUBA Hostel. Its location is perfect, behind the Kazansky Cathedral and a block away from the main Nevsky Prospekt. Everything was reachable by foot. Mummy has a bad knee, she injured it a couple of months ago but being the strong, indomitable (thank you for the correction!!) woman she is.. we took intervals by parking ourselves on benches and cafes.

We had breakfast at this cheap Bistro called ProKaffein, ProKofin or something, somewhere opposite Kazansky Cathedral. Most of the ala carte dishes were under 100pyb. It was goOOooOOOod!! Turkish had the map of the city input-ed into his head (I seriously adore him for this skill!) so he was the real guide behind CJ Tours! I depend on him on everything, my Mum and I just lala-ed on the streets while Fats and him towed the luggages :P

Do check ProKaffein out, or Laima Bistro.. just as good!!

Fats in front of the Church of the Saviour On Blood (what a name)

The canals look like the ones in Venice, thanks to Petr I

On our first day, we scoped around the city. Visited the Hermitage, spent hours in there. The collection of art pieces they have took my breath away. I have been to St.Pete's in my 4th year with my group mates, revisiting this place kinda refreshed my memories. I had to show Fats two of Leonardo da Vinci's works, both "Madonna and Child". Turns out, Fats has very deep knowledge and interest in art as well! Guess it runs in the family :)

The Hermitage façade (partly under reconstruction)

Portraits in the hall of ~~dead military generals~~ fame

My brother likes to mimic the poses of people in the paintings LOL

This is one of my favourites! Turkish smooching me and I, Mummy :)

The four of us by Neva River, on a relatively sunny day!!

St. Petersburg was packed with tourists, groups big and small. Nevsky Prospekt was so crowded we had a hard time trying to pass through the herds sometimes. The locals were friendly, helpful whenever we asked for directions and they dont wear expressions as gloomy as the Muscovites. What a change. There was a lot of setting ups in the city, stages and all but we had no clue for what. Maybe some weekend shows.. kinda spoil the scenery with metal scaffoldings and stuff *frowns*.

We were too tired by the time we got to Peter and Paul Fortress. Half of the area was also under renovation, we lazily walked around and left for dinner. It was a mistake. Big, big mistake to randomly choose this stupid, shitty Japanese restaurant called Eurazia. Eurazia, my arse. Service was LOUSY, food came cold and waitresses looked like cock. I was freaking pissed off at the whole place. Damn lan si (Cantonese=arrogant). They have a large chain but remember, DO NOT GO THERE.

Pffftttt.. this is the place you don't want to be, definitely not me!

Stone Statues

2008-06-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

I think I might be running out of ideas to bring my peeps. I didnt expect it to rain so heavily at VDNKh!! OMG. I feel soooooo terrible for suggesting to Mummy and Fats. Not only the weather sucked, the fountains were closed and some renovation going on. It was really bad. Still, our happy family mood carried on as we proceeded to Ismailova which was pouring even more *sniff, sniff*.

Propylea gate where my brother feels the Soviet triumphant days

I loved my outfit today!! I look so peachy LOL

Seelahhhh.. lucky for us, we brought umbrellas in or bags

Actually, for like 10s of times I went to the Ismailovskii Park market.. I have never took a look at the Kremlin v Ismailova next to it. There are many colourful tourettes and very wooden architecture.. but it just never attracted me to enter. Of course, today we just had to LOL To shelter ourselves from the rain :P We even visited the Russian Vodka Museum!! Quite interesting but "see no drink". For whatttt then! Their TRAKTIR restaurant inside the museum serves excellent Russian cuisine. They have a wide selection of local dishes and we ordered several to try (and sat around till rain stopped).

Turkish admiring the collection bottles

Vodka brand name "100 Greatest" with names of historical Russian figures

Fats with "Scottish" salad on black bread

I turn 24 this year and Mummy still feeds me LOL

OoOoohh.. Russian caviar and pancakes!! (too fishy for me)

Mummy, Fats, myself and Turkish in front of Kremlin v Ismailova :)

**Argggghh, I gotta catch my train to St.Petersburg!! I'll write when I return on Sunday morning. Ooof.. I don't like to leave my entree halfway but ohhh well, that can only be all for now LOL

Now that I'm back, let me continue about our trip and post more pictures!! *Fats commented that I post too few hehehee*

It was still pretty early to head home or go anywhere else but Turkish spontaneously suggested that we drop by Victory Park. You'd be surprised that I have been in Russia for 6 1/2 years but I havent been there before. My family's 3rd Day here and voila, they have definitely seen more than I did LOL Victory Park has a huge obelisk (how phallic) and many fountains along the stretch towards it. The sky turned bright all of a sudden :)

Fats, myself and Mummy enjoying ourselves under the sun!!

Fats' triumphant pose in front of the 150 meter victorious monument

Turkish and I walking back to my Mum..

.. who sat all by herself while we charged upfront :P

Ahhhh.. my baby brother, always hawking to attack Russian girls LOL

The Red Square

2008-06-17T22:36:00.000-07:00

What a day!! If you never visited the Kremlin, you've never visited Moscow.

Even though slightly wet and gloomy in the morning, I brought Mummy and Fats to M.Ohotnei Ryad and lucky for us, the sun peeked out in the afternoon :) Otherwise, I can't stand to see Mummy shivering at every gust of wind. It was so lovely, strolling down the cobblestones with them. Fats is 19 this year and "Tears well up my eyes to see my baby brother grow into a fine, young man".

Upon entering Red Square, in front of the gates

Mummy and I along GUM shopping mall :) :) :)

Back then, he never smiled and always carried this expression like he hates the world. Now, he grins at anything, better yet, everything! Oohhh guess what happened at the Red Square. There was a group of 4 Russian girls and one of them blew smoke into his face, smiled at him. OMG. Sluts. Fats was naturally very flattered but didnt comprehend the atrocity of her action. Bitch.

We had lunch at this Japanese/European restaurant opposite GUM. After that, we walked past St.Basil's Cathedral and down to the riverside. Kept walking, until I felt we were rather lost and my Map boyfriend called to give me directions! We met up to visit the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour but guess what, Mummy was denied entry :P The security guard said to her "Noh, noh discko *pointing at HER shoes*, discko, noh!". Hahahahahaa her sneakers were sequined!! That also cannot enter. I saw some Russian girls with whore heels also can strut in freely *humppphhh!*.

Isn't it kinda obvious that Fats is a Mummy's Boy? LOL

Looks so beautiful from afar.. little did we know..

Hahahahahahaha Mummy's pair of discko shoes!!

Feeling dejected, we went to M.Kievskaya for a cruise LOL

Mummy, enjoying the scenic view on the Moscow river

My cheeky brother trying to sneak behind a group of girls LOL

Turkish and I *giggles*

Dinner was at the much recommended DRUZHBA. Last month, I didnt manage to patronise that joint with Group 5 fellas so this time was a grrrrrreat opportunity for me since Mummy requested to try Chinese food. So freaking authentic. The portions were waaaaayy too big though. Turkish loved the Braised Trotter, I loved the Ma Poh Tofu. Mummy said it wasnt too nice and Fats now whining he got chubbier. Hahahaha no comments :P

As usual.. being sneaky and now behind the menu

Very, very yummy Ma Poh TOfu! I'll be back for more!!

Mummy & Fats

2008-06-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

.. are in Moscow!! I was so excited today, gave my room a last minute cleaning while Boss and Pisa cleaned the house. I met Turkish who was nervous and excited as well to meet my family. We took the Airport Express to Domodedova, it was express in the sense that it stops for no one but it was as good as a roller coaster ride. The train honked for no reason, it shook all the way until I was groggy when I got off the wagon.

Turkish and I waited for an hour plus. I bought Mummy a stalk of scarlet Sunflower, as a welcome gift. There were many flights which arrived and I caught sight of a group of Japanese tourists, age definitely above 60-70 years old following their guide from KINKI Holidays. Hahahahaa I'm not sure how but with them nodding and shouting "Hai, Hai, Hai!" (Cantonese=pussy) left me laughing uncontrollably. KINKI Holidays, damn man. I gotta sign up when I fit that age group and if, still thriving sexually. Goodness. KINKI Holidays :P

Hehehehe my first time doing an airport pick up :P

Outside Domodedova and yes, Fats have slits for eyes!

We took a cab home and left to Old Arbat for dinner. I felt the weather was warm/humid but Mummy kept saying that she was cold and the wind was chilly. I intended to bring them to HRC for nice Pork Ribs but Mummy commented that it was too warm inside and music was too loud. Service was slow and patio seats were closed, so we left and parked ourselves at Shashlik-Mashlik. Ehhhh, surprisingly it's a nice joint (opposite Moo Moo)!!

Mummy and I in front of Pushkin and his wife, Natalya's statue

Aaaaahhh.. unbelievable! Mummy and Fats on Moscow streets!!

Fats enjoyed his Borsch, Mummy loved her Moors drink and I can safely say that they make excellent Dolma. Dolma is a dish of.. how do I describe it, minced meat (I had lamb mince) wrapped in vine leaves. Steamed and eaten with yogurt. It was delicious!! Their Mutton Plov was so-so. Rather plain but rice, these Middle Eastern cuisine make the best rice really. Fragrant and soft. Turkish was very comfortable and I am glad that my family members find him nice. Fats gave me *thumbs up* and said, "I approve". Very good, very good.

Everyone taken with their dish but I forgot about myself LOL

We came home and I am seriously tired as hell. I don't know why but it feels as though I havent fully recovered from that ZONA Club night. OMG. Age has caught up with me. Plus my emotions ran at its peak today, it's no wonder that I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm thinking of giving them a tour on the Red Line tomorrow, from Dean's Office to Kremlin and perhaps Detsky Mir. Mummy mentioned that she would like to try authentic food. I've got a few places in mind already. It's grrrrrreat to have them here. Magical, in fact :)

ZONA Club

2008-06-14T01:33:00.000-07:00

This entry is typed by my assistant boyfriend, Turkish. Hahaha this is so funny, note that he space bars twice after every sentence. And I'm making him type this too! (Wait till my typos get onto her nerves).

Our Post-GOS Exam Party was a real blast. I cant remember the exact number of people who came but it was confirmed more than 56! Few who have exams on Monday still came :P The night was awesome. Turkish and I checked out the joint at around 10pm to make connections with the manager, Tatyana and the bouncers to let in all the foreigners tonight. I explained that we have freshly graduated and celebrating it tonight.

The biggest club in Moscow!! Face control?? Hahahahaa go and die :P

True to their word, everyone got in without a sweat. The only sweat trickled was from dancing and/or shaking bon bons LOL I was so glad to see everyone having fun, drinking and simply enjoying themselves. Others who didnt make it *sniff, sniff* except for chubbipenguin (that one I personally made sure she didnt because MY friends are my top priority). I was exhilarated to be such an excellent host(ess), I really didnt expect being thanked and thumbed ups left right the entire night!!

Here are prolly 1% of the pictures taken during the 8-hour celebration. Hahahaha I will most prolly pass all the pictures to someone, someday. There are toooooooo many!! Rajiv was so right to say "This is home, they are the foreigners!" while pointing at the other white folks. The guys looked good, the girls were gorgeous and totally clubbing material, even my boyfriend was dressed sharply LOL I enjoyed myself so much, having shots with Pisa and others, danced and danced. I don't really know how else to describe the party. It was wild, sexy and bloody awesome!!

My boyfriend who supported me throughout the entire plan *mucuk*

Boss and Pisa, the loveliest friends I have around (Pisa the Lala)

Ooooohhh.. spicy babes I loved to see most!!
L-R: Puspha, Von Yen, myself, Sharini and sweet, sweet Swee Hung

Indian girlfriends who came! Where was Shilpa??
L-R: Nabeela, Esther, you know who, Archana and Reshma :)

The barmen who served us and definitely made much cash tonight

Hot, hot happy guys- Douglas, Igi and Mior!! *fan myself*

Pisa and I on B52!! Woooohoooooo, fucking yummy!!

Party people in da house! RnB dance floor belonged to us!!

We proceeded to the Summer Terraza when there were performances going on. I lost track of time but the sky was losing its dark blue so my guess is that, it could be close to 3am LOL There was a fire cauldron in the middle and almost naked female and not-so-attractive male dancers on the podiums. The girls ganged up and made me dance to a male dancer :P Hahahahaaa it was hilarious. Minutes after, I thought I lost my clutch. OMG. Turned out, Jan Jan was holding on to it when they pushed me to the podium!!

Check out how Malaysians can party everywhere!

Not to say the Russian clubbers looked too sexy also LOL

And I say we can easily top them!!

The guys went ~~horny~~ wild with these 2 chicks LOL

Yes! I found my clutch, I found my clutch!!

And naturally, I needed more shots LOL

No vomit after vodkas though, I had 5 (maybe 6 only)

Hahahahaa I told you :P

Everyone should be pretty exhausted. Most of us carried on dancing, RnB songs which came on got more and more unfamiliar LOL I think I got older now, my heels were killing me and I couldnt scream no more. Must be the cheap alcohol :P I need to get back in shape for summer!! The feng tau floor upstairs wasnt as fun, it was smoky and somewhat empty. You know, good thing I didnt reserve an exclusive table or two quoted by Tatyana, 30 people 20,000pyb and 50 people would have been 35,000pyb++. The entire 1st Floor was already ours *wink*.

Back inside to continue.. *I am posting soooo many pics, wait, there's more*

Rajiv and I, party liaisons just like good old ~~days~~ nights in KL!!

Check out how we dominated ZONA Club LOL

CK Moy and lovely Catherine who has exams on Monday! Hello, Gary!

Partial Group 3 members, Quek prolly drinking at the bar LOL
While Sunny and Victor are roaming Nevsky Street in St.Petersburg!

The Russian is Anya (nice girl), then Avadhut and Venoo Boy,
Pisa's state of highness, myself jivin' and CK grinning from ear to ear

My feet were killing me already by the time it was closing in to 630am. I had my last shot of Sembucha with Angeline, that sent me straight into blurry-dizzy-I-cant-walk-straight mode LOL I was intoxicated and sleepy. All I remember was, familiar faces biding farewell, the "See you on 24th" and lots of hugging action. I peeked out and the sky was brighter than the time before I entered ZONA. Hahahahaha I think the night lasted long enough. OMG. It was enough. Any more shots, I would have definitely embarrass myself or puked or something.

My poor, poor feet.. check out the strap marks LOL

The final moments, my Sony W120's energy was also drained

Hahahaha but grrrrreat lighting effects!!

Sembucha.. arrrgghhhh! Inhaling the fumes was fun though :P

Now I gotta think how to upload or pass all the pictures to my friends. It was surely a night to remember. It was worth all the calls and planning :) Now this is what a call, the best post-graduation party ever!! I cant believe I actually went around telling the staff that we are doctors. Which part? LOL

Chop My Sticks

2008-06-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

It was such a hot day, damn it. I joined Pisa and Khairimi shopping in Manezhnaya for a little while before meeting Turkish. He took me to a wonderful Japanese restaurant in Krasnopresnenskaya (the walk was helluva far, nearly broke my legs). He claimed that there is a branch in my area but I never noticed any also..

Here you go, the huge Japanese joint

Anyways, it turned out to be ICHIBAN BOSHI! Hahaha there IS one in Yugo-Zapadnaya!! My boyfriend wasnt lying! The place was posh, the non-smoking section was peaceful, the seats were huge and comfortable, but it was so obvious that the waiter and waitresses are all Mongolians. Ohh well.. this is Russia for you. Always hiring these folks pretending to be natives of the cuisine. When we enter they all screamed "Yo mama, bishi bishi.. something something ni Laima tata". I guess they were trying to greet us in Japanese LOL

Hahahahaha Turkish is damn sneaky to catch me on this one

Food was good though, variety aplenty. Their menu was like 10-page thick! I had a tough time choosing from the menu. Turkish on the other hand, was telling me how he doesnt know how to use the chopsticks, so I got the waitress to bring him the "fixer" tied at the end of the chopsticks for beginners. Hahahahaa Turkish didnt use it anyways. We just ordered a little bit of this and that.. this was what we had!

We had dessert too.. but I'm lazy to edit them :P

Tomorrow is the Post-GOS Exam party *wink, wink*.

Free Or Not

2008-06-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

I am so tired. Days are passing by so quickly, I can imagine Graduation Day here already. I also feel mentally tired about the post-GOS exam party at ZONA Club. Response is awesome, up to 50 people but I didn't know clubs here are not like Malaysia.

Back home, getting a table is no problem. Take Asian Heritage Row for example, 1 bottle of Jack Daniels 0.75L (RM350=2500pyb) for 5 fellas and you get the best service, nice spot and stuff. So this is my 2nd time clubbing in Moscow and definitely my 1st time organising one. I've never did something like that before, even in Kuala Lumpur since tables from Wed-Saturdays are taken care of by my friends. Only my presence is required.

I spoke to the manager of ZONA Club and she said for 30 people, I will have to pay 30,000pyb deposit. I was like, "Whoaaa, fuck it". Pisa spoke to her and we managed to come up with something. The manager assured us that on Saturday night, my friends can walk in with cover charge 250pyb.

Table or not, it's secondary now. It's a club, not a restaurant so it's not necessary to park ourselves in one spot. Turkish and I are going there earlier and definitely we will find a nice place and make it a "station". I mean, there are 5 floors in the building, come to think of it, it's really no point to book a table for 50 people LOL Anyways, it's all good and I just hope everyone will enjoy themselves. That's the most important agenda of the night :)

Turkish and I didnt visit the Oriental Arts exhibition in TSUM yesterday. My mind was too loaded with the Saturday's management. Instead, we went to a nice wine restaurant at M.Krasnopresnenskaya! I love that place actually. The waitresses were smiley-smiley, food was in big portion and not that pricey and their drinks were better. Turkish ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail called Virgin Colada. Yummy!!

What we had for dinner, whilst in discussion about Saturday's event

Me, scribbling the paper pasted on the table LOL

My partner in crime, sketching some artsy-fartsy picture

Taken outside the Moscow Zoo, trying to hide my supposedly unshaven ketiak LOL

Scribble and Signs

2008-06-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Guess what what this is?

Hehehee my results sheet. I think this was taken by Arunah after the marks were finalised. Turns out, (in some cases) marks given by the professors as soon as we got up from the chair were further discussed amongst themselves and prolly changed. A friend of mine said the marks he saw which were written on his paper were different from what he got now *shrugs*.

All is well though. If you squint closely to the picture, you will see a lot of scribblings LOL The top 2 columns are Therapy and Surgery while the last column that looks like "xop" is the ~~puki subject~~ Gynaecology. Then their signatures and a co-signer's who happened to be Hamiak (Russian=Hamster) from the Infectious Disease Department. Ahhh.. I forgot to story about her.

So, 3 professors right and an "assistant" to handle name list, writings etc. So Hamiak (she looks like one) was really nice. Even back then during our cycle, she was quick and straight to the point in her lectures. When I was done with my cases, this Hamiak caught hold of me and asked, "What about Cholera?". OMG. She needed some limelight for her field too!! I was VERY close to answering, "Think India, Think Cholera" but I didnt :P I answered her a thing or two and she was grinning, nodding and all. Those puffy cheeks LOL

My overall mark is still a 5 *wink*. Mummy is really happy and she said she'll bring me gifts and more. Hahahaahahaha yes! Speaking of which, I have stuff to do today other than shopping. Call the ZONA Club manager (again) because she found out we are foreigners and reserving table is NOT 250pyb. I feel like shit because I went around announcing the wrong price.. Oooohhh, man! I have a feeling I will just have to cover most of it *sniff, sniff*.

Also, I'm torn between bringing Mummy and Fats to a circus or ballet. I'll definitely do both but I'm not sure to purchase the tickets when they're here or beforehand. Then I need to clean my room!! Actually clean the whole house!! OMG. Imagine my family seeing the state of living condition I'm in. What else, I have a date with Turkish later in the evening. We might be dropping by the Oriental Art Exhibition in TSUM.. or was it some Modern Art?

And here I thought, exams are over. Seems like there's nothing to do :)

Detsky Mir

2008-06-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was super happy to meet Turkish despite my exhaustion from the adrenaline rush earlier cum my 5-hour sleep the night before exam. We went to check out the sales going on now at Detsky Mir, one of Russia's biggest/main toy stores. We read on the news announcement some time back that it will be closed down for years for renovation. Turkish frowned at the article because it's not exactly renovation but a change from the Soviet-style architectural design to fitting the "European standard" definition.

There are rumours that Moscow's endangered landmarks such as St Basil's Cathedral, Tsaritsyno Estate and other Metro stations will soon share the same "makeover" fate soon. Ohhh well. The sales are good though, items on discount from 20-70%. Detsky Mir's toys are not cheap, you know. Now is like the best time to be grabbing everything off their shelves. Turkish and I took the final opportunity to snap pictures of its interiors, something we will never see again. It is somewhat sad, Detsky Mir is beautiful and a haven for toddlers (and maybe grown ups) alike.

The Bear band playing at the east entrance of Detsky Mir :)

There is even a carousel on the 1st Floor!! Only kids allowed LOL

They sell the tiniest toys to live-size camels! Cost a bomb, of course!

Fancy masks for a party? *puuuurrrssss*

We wanted to buy a box of puzzle set to build together but we came to our senses that we dont have that much free time LOL It would have been really nice, though :) After leaving the place hand in hand, we had our dinner at Juggernaut. It's an Indian vegetarian restaurant around the corner from Detsky Mir.

The restaurant has 2 parts actually, the one at the entrance is like stalovaya (Russian=canteen). Pick the dishes you like, then the staff will scoop and microwave it for you. We chose a trayful of food, and little did we know, further into the seating hall (totally stalovaya-style).. the REAL restaurant is inside. It looked much poser. At least like a normal restaurant. Turkish suggested that we should come back here again. Sure! Food was awesome! Pisa's dhal is still a strong No.1 though LOL

This is me, pointing at a shish vegetarian kebab stick LOL
On My Tray: A miserable piece of "meat" patty and a close runner up dhal

They sell lots of Asian food products, every kind of spices etc

Turkish and his compote, while I had some weird organic drink

I loved the ambiance of Juggernaut, very the zen!

I went shopping today and I nearly dropped. My hands were full with god-knows-what I have so many bags to carry LOL I shopped for Turkish too! He doesnt have any dark coloured clothes so I bought black t-shirts, shirts for him. He looks sooooooo stylish :) I'm thinking of shopping again tomorrow but right now, I really gotta go to bed. I might have to make an appointment with the manager of ZONA Club to pay deposit for 30++ people. The number is pretty scary, to be honest. I really gotta confirm with the guest list because those "maybe attending" or "last minute only decide" will be on their own. I cant guarantee their entrance since Face Control is tight, or so I heard *shrugs*.

Guide To Russia

2008-06-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

I caught Pisa writing this (a day before final exams) to her folks who are coming on the 20th. I took a copy off her, edited and pasted it here. Handy for myself and an idea to anyone who is traveling to Russia.

1. Don't expect to be treated well in the airport. Turn on your phone as soon as your out of the plane. Try to contact whoever waiting for you outside. Also, they don't speak English. If your passport is taken for inspection and no sight of return even after 45minutes-1hour, DO NOT PANIC. They will come back.

2. When going through the Green Lane, avoid making eye contact with the Customs. They are rude and nasty. You probably won't be checked, but if you are, try hard to understand what they are saying. They won't see everything (lazy MOFOs) but if they see something and bug you about it, just smile. It traumatises them.

3. Walking on Russian streets is relatively safe. As long as you have at least one Russian-speaker with you, you don't have to worry about anything.

4. Make sure your pockets/bag is always safe. Remember, it's like India with white people. (Hehehee Pisa wrote this okay, I didnt :P)

5. While Russia is full with all sorts of people, coloured foreigners are few and far. Especially lala tourists like you, curious at everything in sight, snapping pictures left and right. Ooohh, some of the Russians HATE find it highly offensive when the camera is aimed at them. Watch your view.

- Gypsies (Romanies, not to be confused with Romanians) are highly skilled at robbing the pants off you. Notice a brown female who doesn't strike you as Arab/African/South East Asian, dressed in colourful rags, stay away. She'll do some voodoo shit on you. Yes, real gypsies.

- Central Asians are usually perverts/thugs/robbers. They are everywhere. No need to worry about them. You just avoid coming in contact with them. If one of them approaches, turn away and ignore them.

- Skinheads are no longer dress in the classic outfit, not as easy to identify as they used to be. If you suspect one in the same wagon giving you the evil eye, under no circumstances are you to show fear. Just get out at the next station. They are likes dogs, they can smell it.

- Goths/punks/hip hoppers are absolutely nothing to worry about. They love us, and we love them. Easily identified.

- Blacks are not your Will Smith, Denzel Washington or African Americans. Blacks means they can be from anywhere from Togo to Guinea Bissau. They are safe and friendly. As long as you have no business with them, they ~~wont sell you dope~~ bother you. Maybe just smile and all you'll see is teeth.

- Militia aka Cops/Police are almost always armed. Expect to see guns everywhere. Cops are disgustingly corrupt. They have the right to stop you anywhere and check your passport. If stopped, make sure you have at least one Russian-speaker standing with you. You are tourists, you will have absolutely no problems.

5. As backwards as it may look, everything is relatively high tech. Expect high speed free internet if you're bringing a lap top along. Russians aren't really violent by nature, they are just cold. If people don't smile at you, don't take offence. If they do, question their motives. The friendly ones are dangerous, unless identified to belong to certain social groups mentioned above.

6. Customary tip of 10% of the bill in restaurants. No where else will you have to tip. The only currency accepted as payment in Russia is Roubles. Roubles are like the Ringgit, you can't change it outside of Russia. Leave all your Roubles behind before you leave.. with ME!! :P

7. It is the 6th biggest city on the planet. 6th and not the 1st only because they don't know how many unregistered people there are. Estimated population: 26 million. It's a gigantic city and Russians have a very complex culture. Unlike Americans and English, they have very Eastern ways of life. They are very proud, and they are ALL highly intelligent. They are also highly educated. Literacy rate is unbelievably high, despite poverty levels.

8. Cars you've never dreamed of seeing on the roads will be easily spotted here. The highest number of billionaires live in Moscow. They are rich, and they are incredibly extravagant. Mercedes is considered mid range. You'll see the rich in Chrysler's, Porches, Hummers and others that leave your mouth agape.

9. Don't be fooled by the exchange. Moscow is very expensive. Be prepared to shell out tonnes of cash in the event of an emergency.

10. You throw a stone you will hit at least 50 girls named Olga, or 50 dudes named Sasha. The Russians have a thing called "patronymic" name. They carry the first name of their father as a middle name. As such, you address a Russian by his first name and his patronymic name. Not his surname. Heh.

So, if the Russian dude is Igor (name) Ivanovich (patronymic) Ivanov (surname), you'll say "Hello Igor Ivanovich". Not to say damn important but it's good to know.

11. Demographically, Russians are regressive. No baby booms for them, a high rate of infertility. Women aren't producing enough, or can't produce enough. And old people are dying. Maybe even the young ones. Ohhh well..

12. Upon exiting Russia to go into Europe, there will be confusion on Russia's part. They will not be able to understand how you can enter Europe without a visa, since you aren't from a country that signed the Schengen Treaty. Don't worry. Assure them that you don't need a visa, and that they can call and find out.

13. Security: High tech means high tech. They have the super body scanner located in Domodedovo Airport, none in Sheremetyevo. You'll be forced into metal detectors. In shopping centres, bowling alleys, wherever. They have very good anti-terrorism security. Every single shop you enter is manned by security. From McDonald's to upper class boutiques, these Russians believe in security. Most security guards either wear suits or company uniforms. Easily identified. "Security" was created to give idle men job opportunities, and it's a good idea too.

14. Old people here are very self sufficient. They are rarely accompanied by younger people, and you'll see them shopping, paying bills, doing everything by themselves. Anyone above the age of 65 is a war veteran, and there are a lot of them. They miss the Communist days. Everyone was equal, regardless of race and age. Some miss it so much, they become bitter and hateful to the world.

15. Most Russians can speak at least 2 languages : Russian and German/ French/ Spanish/ Italian. Hahahahaha good if you know any of this combination.

16. You cannot drink water from the tap. Russian water is known as heavy water. Bathing in it may cause mild itching for the first few days. When brushing teeth, use cold water instead of hot.

17. Girls are unbelievably gorgeous. Expect to see some of the most beautiful girls on the planet. In summer, you'll see more than just girls.. you'll see their parts too LOL

18. Sunrise in summer is 0400, sunset is at 2300. Getting used to the night-day cycle here might take a little time, but it gives you the opportunity to see as much of Moscow as possible!!

19. Everyone smokes. 'nuff said. 14 year olds and grannies alike.

20. This is from myself: Eating outside is heaven. There are many cuisines from Argentinean to Tibetan. Try to find out the price range so you wont get ~~a heart attack~~ hard feelings when paying the bill.

ENJOY YOUR STAY IN MOSCOW!! (AND OTHER STATES IN RUSSIA)

GOS Exam - Final

2008-06-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

IT IS OVER AND DONE WITH! *let out a deep breath of freedom*

Boss, Pisa and I marched towards Abrikosovskii Pereulok close to 815am. Everyone was gathered in the building and words like "5 went in already" increased my blood pressure. While most flocked together to go in together as tactical team, I went in spontaneously and one of them behind my trail was Quek. He was dressed so smartly somemore. He grinned, "Sei jau sei laa" (Cantonese="Die means die").

Anxiety in the air, I snapped this at the entrance

At the registration, I randomly (saying prayers at the same time) picked my envelope No.22 which contained 3 cases: Therapy, Surgery and Gynaecology. Everything happened so fast, the next thing I know, my name was called and dumped in front of the 1st Panel of Professors. Therapy and Surgery went well but Gynaecology was shit. The old professor lady, said to me matter-o-factly, "Better if you speak Russian" and I knew it right away.. I'm fucked. Well, at least I struggled in style. Later, I found out she is Yilanskava Hospital's Best. Pfffttt. Good for her. Bitch. Hahahahahaahaha it's all good because..

I got 5 for Therapy, 5 for Surgery and 4 for Gynaecology!!!

**That's superb!! It's equivalent to 2As and 1B!!

I don't think anyone got a 3. Boss got the exact result like me and Pisa.. wooooohoooo!! She got all 5s!!! 6 and 1/2 years of our lives spent in Moscow Medical Academy feels worthy now, come to think of it. The rest of the photos are taken after the exam, so much joy and laughter. All I saw were wide smiles and greetings like "Doctor!" and talks about ZONA Club!! OMG. I am sooooo excited since I am the one organising it!! LOL

Pisa's victorious hug to Wishnu, knowing she got 5-5-5!!

3 flatmates who ~~lala-ed~~ prepared for this exam together :P

Quek and I, who charged in on our own and out :)

"Ma/Pa/Darling/Everybody, I'm done!!"

Bunch of kakis who stayed around posing for pictures LOL

Peace sign and smiles come together!! *peace sign*

Quite a few disappeared the minute they walked out of the building, people like yours truly lingered and moved in with the pack for lunch. No one elaborated much of their experiences with the panels, we were just too thrilled it was over. Following are pictures snapped in front of the founder of our university, Ivan Mihailovic Sechenov.

I love this (almost) guy's group picture, notice Lai Yee's the rose LOL
The Malay boys are always a good sport to have around, bundle of sweethearts

With Rajiv, Mun Yee and Zhao Ing, lovely Fatin and Ju :)

Wokay.. last picture of close this entry
There are many in my batch, whom I will remember for the rest of my life :)

CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATION, FOLKS!!