Throughout the past month, I've been playing host to many caucasian buddies of mine here in Malaysia.

December felt like a month of not only sharing & introducing Malaysia, my culture, my lifestyle, my food and my people to friends from abroad but also getting more in touch with my own country on a totally different level.

 

Believe it or not, being a constant tour guide does have its profound impacts on a local. 

I can vouch for that in its entirety. 

 

But to be honest, being a tour guide/host is not an easy streak as constantly going out and about to never-ending places of interest is more than likely to render me strapped for cash; draining my wallet of its dosh. $$$$$$$

 

En route to Batu Caves!

 

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy it regardless – well proven with my 1st Australian guest I hosted last month.

So…. bring on round #4 of bringing foreigners around in a month! 

 

Batu Caves, the 400 million year old sacred Indian hilltop temple of worship

was one of the touristy destinations I took 'em all to

 

That 140 feet Lord Muruga statue we have is the tallest statue of its kind in the world! *proud*

Currently it's not so pretty as they are re-doing paintworks – hence construction scaffoldings around it.

 

Birds will flock together in unbelievable amounts! 

I've seen the entire walkway covered with a sea of birds on certain evenings

 

Oooh tiny boy chasing pengui – - wait, I totally meant pigeons.

Honest mistake there. Unbackspaced for shits and giggles 

Anyway, I've been frequenting Batu Caves so many times in a month that I think I could totally climb up the stairs in under 5 minutes now. It's not exactly that tough, trust me 

300 steps all in all – 272 steps to get up there and another 20ish steps inside the cave.

 

But seriously, please, what can 300 do to you?

 

Oh wait…. right. 

 

*gulp*

 

Right, so…. the next time I pay a visit to Batu Caves will be to bring le boyfie for the (much dreaded) staircase hike, the Ramayana cave, the Dark Cave tour, the Indian blessings and to simply witness the picturesque sights of KL & the Klang Valley from up above

 

Only a halfway mark? I kid you not.

 

What's also wonderful at Batu Caves is the fact that you will see so many tourists/foreigners/expatriates flock from all over the world; curious to know the ongoings within the walls of our sacred cave. 

 

My Aussieguests Allyce & Lauren attempting the climb!

 

Armed with their cameras of all sorts, maps and escalated enthusiasm, people of different races and religion come to this limestone hill which bears home to arguably the most popular Hindu shrine in South East Asia. 

 

Incidentally, I made few new friends up on the steps too

This is Anamika. She hails from India and is in Malaysia for a holiday & to pay her respects to Hindu Lord Murugan

 

Finally arrived the peak! Batu Caves beckons us

 

Amazing view of nature from waaaaay up here!

 

And part of the Klang Valley from the look out spot

 

inside the main cave of Batu Caves – the Cathedral/Temple cave!

 

Stalactites and stalagmites come in abundance!

 

 

So much more to see inside! Ancient Indian paintings line the walls of this enclosure 

Intricate statues and devotees getting their blessings by the Indian monks as they murmur spiritual incantations and sprinkle by holy water onto them are not to be missed! I watched closely too 

 

Not gonna show you anymore – you have to see for yourself!

So here's a photo of the staircase as we head back down to the foot of the hill again

 

David – my Swede buddy and I having a refreshing coconut drink after the climb

 

Insane amount of pigeons were still around!

 

Cave visitors and devotees often buy food to offer these pigeons

 

 

I shall now award this t-shirt to a specific someone

 

TO THE PIGEON WHISPERER

 

Amongst the flock was a rather aggressive – AND HUNGRY – monkey

 

Who I felt was rather indignant that they get all the food and he doesn't

 

He took some for himself

 

Correction : took ALL the food to himself

 

And the birds soon surrounded him. Hah! You're outnumbered now, lil monkey

It was quite the spectacle, if I do say so myself. A funny sight to see although eventually, more visitors started to bear them more food. That certainly put an end to the food wars LOL!

 

Batu Caves has never failed to be an experience for me.

Neither will it ever be for anyone – both believers or non-believers! 

 

Here's to hoping that the paintworks on the Lord Murugan statue will be finished and the scaffoldings will be taken away by the time I bring le boyfie to visit. He arrives Malaysia in 3 days!! *eggcited*

 

Pretty damn sure you would've known how occupied I was the past week with my lovely guest from Australia.

If you follow me on Twitter or subscribed to my Facebook updates, I've posted up heaps throughout her stay!

 

I hosted my Aussie buddy on her trip to Malaysia and decided that I only yearn to achieve one goal.

To be the best host ever of all things Malaysian. I wanted to share our culture, people, food, nightlife, shopping, hanging out, nature with her and condense everything Malaysian lifestyle was all about

- into a single, one week!

 

Picked her up as she arrived!

 

I documented our (mis)adventures all documented on Twitter with the hashtag #aussieguest :

 

Brought her for a late lunch-tea time sesh at Secret Recipe to try our famous signature cheesecakes.

We shared a Creme Brulee Cheesecake & a Dark White Chocolate Cheesecake. Absolutely loved it!

 

Brought her back to my humble abode 13 stories above the ground in the cosy & busy suburb of Damansara

Rested for a bit and it's out the door for a shisha session!

 

Shisha has been deeply intergrated into the Malaysian lifestyle now – it's everywhere!

 

Another shisha sesh elsewhere!

 

Took her for the famous Satay Kajang! It's grilled/barbequed meat on skewers with yummy peanut sauce!

There were all kinds; we ordered all kinds! Chicken, beef, mutton, fish and duck

 

Rabbit wasn't available today - yes, I said rabbit.

No need to double take

 

 

Brought my lovely Aussie guest to experience another Malaysian way of life – PASAR MALAM!!!

Pasar Malam (night markets) come in abundance here. It boasts heaps of food, trinkets, clothes, gadgets, accessories, shoes – you name it, they've got it!

 

Best part is, everything is so cheap! 

 

Brought her to try a Chinese-Malaysian favorite, known as Lok Lok 

… she never looked back ever since then. Love at first sight!!

 

Told ya it's yummy!

Can't really explain what it is, something like cut-up food (anything!) on a skewer and then you boil it yourself then dip it in a variety of sauces. Pretty healthy too, if you ask me

 

Homehomehome in my cosy room Wheeee

 

Carly somehow loved tormenting me with cotton candy (of which she calls fairy floss)

 

 

We headed to Singapore for a roadtrip with my buddies

Why? Because we were going to attend the biggest beach rave-party of the year – ZOUK OUT 2011

(more of that soon!)

 

Had some nommies at Esplanade, Singapore

 

Brought her to sight-see around Esplanade and its pretty sights, a lightshow and well-lit buildings across the water! When I last went to Singapore before my stint in Australia, Marina Bay Sands hotel wasn't exactly quite open yet.

So this is technically my first time here too!

 

Marina Bay Sands hotel

 

From a friendly local host, I suddenly warped into an over-enthusiastic tourist

 

Yes thank you I know I'm being all touristy

 

Moar photos with my chicas! 

 

The 5 of us headed to a Chinese Dim Sum outlet for late dinner/supper

Geez I look lika typical Asian here; with chopsticks and whatnot

 

Breaktime & breathers at Orchard Road

 

Public transport-ing it back home!

I'm so not used to public transport as I drive all the time!

More public transport-ing the very next morning!

Yeah, don't we look like over-zealous tourists waiting to excavate the city?

 

Writing our lovenotes & well-wishes for 2012

Some little cute tradition where the balloons will be placed into the sea & let it float away

 

Brought this foreigner to something all foreigners hate.

Is it REALLY just a stereotype?

Why on earth do yall hate durians when it's sucha soft, creamy and flavourful fruit? 

 

 

Ya'll say it's the smell. But really… WHAT SMELL? The only way to get rid of the "smell", is to eat it 

 

Ohhhh so delicious and creamy! It's like eating creme brulee or ice-cream

 

 

Apart from bringing her to Singapore, I also brought her along to a Christmas party that my clan and I have been planning for a few weeks! It's a houseparty + Christmas potluck + BYO drinks and MORE

Let the good times roll!

 

Christmas photo credits to housie Edwin!

 

We did some more touristy stuff like taking her to Petaling Street to eat local hawker food!

Some of which, I hardly eat myself. But here they are…

 

KL Hokkien Mee and Beef Tripe Noodles

Yes. Beef tripe. The 1st half of the cow's stomach

 

Teehee! Don't kill me, babe!

All I wanted was to have you remember at least ONE exotic food/animal organ you ate whilst in Asia

 

More outings!

 

Ready to rumble?

 

Heading off to the city again – this time, to Pavillion Kuala Lumpur along Starhill

 

Thanks housie Edwin for all the photos taken tonight at Starhill!

 

Welcome to Bukit Bintang (Starhill)

The city never sleeps

 

One of our largest & most prestigious malls – Pavillion KL

 

Christmas time!

 

Coincidentally, there was this United Buddy Bears campaign going on along the streets of Pavillion.

Every single country and nation acknowledged by the United Nations will have their own version of a bear – fully designed by a national of whatever country they represent – portraying their culture or their identity.

 

There were so many; couldn't take all! Here are a few which I took an instant liking towards

 

The two main Western capitalists & movers of the world, United Kingdom and the United States of America

 

I'm in love with all things Egyptian

My wrist tattoo of the Eye of Horus testifies that!

 

Here's the Greece bear which bears Goddess Athena's name!

My other tattoo along my ribcage, are ancient Greek quotes in scriptures

 

Israel bear!

 

But of course, the country which I was born and bred in – MALAYSIA!!!!! 

 

Carly found her Australian bear too!

See the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge motif in yellow?

 

 

Shisha and mamak sesh at NZ Cafe right beneath the Petronas Twin Towers

 

Malaysian food omnomnom

 

Wondering what this is?

One of my mamak faves – Roti Tisu 

 

 

 

Malaysia loves you Carly!  

You assimilate so well with us… and your Malaysian slang is pretty good hahaha!

 

So technically that sorta sums up what we were up to within the week – albeit a very summarized version!

If given more time, I could've shown her so much more

 

 

It's time to play host again. My 2 new Aussieguests

Allyce & Lauren has just arrived Malaysia yesterday

Three cheers for Round 2!

 

Thanks for coming to Malaysia, Carly. T'was a pleasure hosting & showing you the very best of Malaysian lifestyle!

It's my 1st time playing host; here's to hoping I did a good job teehee! 

 

Oh and….. your best friend says goodbye

 

I live and breathe parties, especially rave ones of booming electronic dance music with wicked basslines

And FREEDOM, proved to be one of the most stellar series of rave parties yet again.

 

The previous FREEDOM event I attended was the one 4 months ago in the lovely island of Penang

The party had a blue theme, but this time round, the theme was one of my faves ever!

 

FREEDOM rave – with a spooky twist! 

 

As you might've already known if you're a loyal reader, I simply adore costume parties – or fancy dress parties – or whatever you call it, cos it's so much for fun. Just as long as there's a theme to adhere to, count me in!

The more extreme or outrageous, the better 

 

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

 

When I arrived the venue, I had a tremendous – albeit pleasant – shock of my life! 

Not only haven't I stepped foot in KL Live for as long as I can remember (as I was abroad most of the year), but FREEDOM has certainly transformed the place into a dungeon of horor!

 

Greeted by the Count Dracula + stone gargoyles + tombstones + cobwebs at the entrance

 

Stepped inside to see an extensive graveyard barricaded by spiked fencing + ghouls dangling from the ceiling

I could even hear (pre-recorded) eerie screams & laughter from the corners!

 

There was a smoke machine in motion too.

Aye, foggy foggy, misty graveyard!

 

So what am I? A devilish, flesh-eating zombie with Freddy Krueger claws haha!

 

When I brought my clan to party with me, I implored that they ALL dress up for the occasion.

I know it's the Malaysian party-culture to get lazy/uninvolved in such active participation of themeparties whatsoever but no, I shall not condone going to a themeparty in a pair of jeans & tshirt.

 

And neither will my friends! 

 

It's time to up the freak factor!

 

Darryl and I bleeds it out!

 

Vic and I, bloodthirsty vamps for more of your blood

 

So…. who says Malaysians don't dress up according to the theme?

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

I'll kickstart the revolution if I had to

 

Say hello to one (amongst many others) that will!

 

So as I said before, about how FREEDOM's Scream Your Choice party set-up was really impressive, check out more of what they've got done up. The entire stage was adapted into a giant tombstone!

 

With loads of spooks roaming around everywhere!

 

Just as you thought Halloween was over, yeah?  

No. Not quite over, methinks.

 

I liked the 2 giant gargoyles mounted atop the stage which flanked the DJ spinning for the night

 

Dutch DJ Ummet Ozcan was one of the DJs spinning for the night

 

I checked out his tracks on Youtube. My faves are Arcadia and Timewave Zero!

He's pretty damn good. Could see the crowd tearing up the dance floor already

 

My buddies and I

 

What really got me going, apart from the deep, dark trance/electro/house beats of course, was the fact that this terror dungeon was full of party mascots mingling with the crowd! They were the side-acts of the night.

Here are a few which I managed to catch for a photo :

 

The Mummy!

 

A Pontianak (Malay vampire)

 

Guess who? It's my all-time favorite bad-ass villain!

 

None other than…….. Chucky the murderdoll!

 

And heaps more

Now that's such an awesome way to freak the shizz outta partygoers 

 

We were treated to a freeflow of bloody cocktail, Cranberry Vodka for the night

T'was yummy… and the lychee reminded me of floating eyeballs haha!

 

Anyway, more random party photos of ze clan and I from the horror rave night!

 

 

 

Ze clan and I 

 

 

Before we knew it, the next Dutch DJ of the night, Leon Bolier took to the stage!

He was just as electrifiying as the previous DJ if not better  Summernight Confessions was cosmic!

 

GOGOGOGOGOGO Leon Bolier! 

 

Neon, colorful laser lights were bounding all around the walls in sync with his wicked beat drops

 

RAWWRRRRR!!! 

 

Another one of my rave kakis Reze!

 

My entire party entourage of the night, altogether in one group photo! 

Major loves and scares!

 

Thank you, once again, FREEDOM, for bringing down kick-ass electronica DJs and for an amzing party experience!

 

I got home just as bruised, battered and bleeding as I was when I first stepped into the party!

 

Alls well, end's well.

It's never too late for a spooky thrill!

 

Like many of my fellow girls, I love my high heels.

Sky high, if I may add. The sexier, the higher, the better.

 

However, as I am blessed to stand at a height of 1.70m, (5 feet 7 inches), I don't usually wear high heels as I despise sticking out like a sore thumb amongst my Asian friends.

If you didn't already know, Asians, in general, aren't really known for their height or stature.

 

For Asian guys, if you manage to hit 1.75m, you are already considered lucky to be "tall"

For Asian girls, if you hit 1.65m, you are considered "tall" as well.

 

So more often than not, my high heel collection are put aside just to sit there and look pretty.

Which is why I need my pumped-up kicks for all occasions.

 

Now, who's got some sexy pair of kicks on yo?

 

My gurls and I were at the Royal Sporting House mega sale just the other day and we sure know how to rock ourselves some wicked pair of kicks.

And I meant that in plural form; we left with 9 pairs altogether – which you shall be seeing soon.

 

Us girls with our matching neon pink kicks! 

 

Best part is, check out the rainbow-neaths!

You don't see everyday sneakers like these hey 

 

Slap on more neon stuff and let's get ready to rock Barsonic babeh!

 

Okay last photo of the same variant, I promise haha!  

 

Pam & I 

She bought 4 sneakers while I bought 3 sneakers + 2 trucker caps

 

WANNA SEE OUR STASH AT HOME??

Get ready…

 

 

Wait for it……….

 

Ta-daa! We'd be rockin' the awesome kicks, you bet! 

 

Okay, lemme show you a close up of each of the ones that belong to me

 

Firstly, here's my stash

 

1. Puma cap in neon yellow

……and my babyChivas sitting prettily

 

2. Adidas trucker cap in neon green

(try to ignore those awesome blue kicks first!)

 

2

3. Adidas mesh sneakers in neon yellow-green

I wear this to gym everyday!

 

4. Ermmm………….. excuse me, kitteh

 

I know it's too striking that even my cat can't get enough of it

 

4. My favorite pair of Nike kicks in neon pink with rainbow-neaths

 

Yup, kick-ass without a doubt

 

5. Nike ghetto kicks in blue

TBH, I was never a fan of blue. Don't know what got into me. I guess this pair was too irresistible too!

 

This girl loves her new pairs of kicks! 

Well, today marks another extra 3 to add to the collection of my sneaker-family 

 

Apart from us girls, housie Darryl also bought himself a new pair of footwear!

It's this durable, ironman, boots of steel LOL

 

His new pair of CAT…. with my cat beside it.

 

So…. would the REAL cat please stand up?

 

For casual Sundays or during weekday blues, you'd see me kicking back with these sneakers.

I demand a rest from my skyhigh heels! 

 

After all, a girl could always do with her fave pair of pumped up kicks