The Jessicat

We be dubstepping rooftop high with Skream & Benga LIVE in Malaysia! NSFW Tracksuit Party @ Vertigo, The Gardens

thejessicat — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:29:26 +0000

As a regular at rave parties and the like, it never occurred to me that I’ve never attended a dubstep party before.

All the raves I’ve been to revolved around trance, techno, electro, house, hardstyle or a medley of them all.

But not dubstep.

Until tonight.

Part of ze clan and I

It was the night of 2 prominent Dubstep pioneers-cum-producers

Their time to shine…hailing all the way from United Kingdom :

None other than Skream and Benga themselves!

Tonight’s gonna be a good, good night indeed.

We be raving to the most anticipated Dubstep party and…

…the other half finally landed in Malaysia!

The boys from Budculture and Cee X H3 soundsystem opened with a bass-dropping set!

They drove the crowd wild – yours truly & the clan included!

Tonight was the first time we ever raved in a different way.

Heaps of popping, locking, dropping, shuffling, stomping and tectonic moves as well!

This calls for more, are you with me?

We gurls be rippin’ the dance floor!

Keep it going boys! Wub wub wub wub wubbbbbbb

Ze clan and I had a smashing time.

Pictures are self-explanatory

Buddy Pam and I

Raving to towards a whole new dimension!

And it just never stops

OBEY… CEE! Such heavy dubstep warps the night into a Transformers battle

Autobots & Decepticons… major pwnage!

Sure, Fry. Sure.

The boyfie and I – our first time raving together IN MALAYSIA!

Imma show you how we Malaysians party… till the morning light!

And when the night strikes 1AM, Skream and Benga steals the limelight.

Make way for these legends!

They shot the party to the skies the very moment they hit the decks

I’ve never, ever heard dubstep of all variants being performed right in fronta of my very eyes before.

Yup, I still had to digest the fact that Skream & Benga are here.. right here on our Malaysian soil.

Sucha durrrty durrrty set!

Jump, jump, jump!

You are my cinema.. a Hollywood treasure

After what felt like hours of non-stop tectonic, crumping, popping, locking and dropping to the heavy bass, synths and snares, Skream proceeded to escalate the party.

Quite literally, in fact.

Yup, he rose and stood on top of the DJ table while dubbing!

It was so wicked you have no idea!

We were closing our eyes, headbanging, gritting our teeth and let the insane beats take control

Before we knew it, something else happened outta the ordinary

Benga began to stage-dive & crowd-surfed all over the dance floor

And many others followed suit (like this guy above)

WHEN I SAY SKREAM

YOU SAY BENGA

SKREAM!!!

BENGA!

SKREEEAM….!!

BENGAAA!!!!!

SKREEEAM….!!

BENGAAA!!!!!

I had a fan-dubstep-tic time.. it goes without saying!

Raising the bar of Dubstep music even higher.

Give it up for Skream and Benga!

I’m sure all the other revellers of the night can agree with me

My first time raving to Dubstep proved to be a helluva epic night.

ENCORE!!!

Speaking of which, ze clan and I are gonna be heading to OMFG Saturday @ Barsonic tonight.

Bring it on Mr. Nasty, GanjaGuru and the rest of the bass agents!

Girl, you got Skrillex hair! I know. NEW HAIRDO : The side-shaven buzzcut!

thejessicat — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:26:49 +0000

As many of you would know, I am generally known as that red-head blogger girl.

I wouldn't expect anything else, considering the fact that I have donned red hair since 2006.

Including having a blog category of 'Hair Escapades' which documents bits & pieces of all things hair-related.
Anyway….new year, new look!

Imma be sporting a side-shaven buzzcut now!

Byebye to an entire chunk of long red hair

Still debating whether or not I should do it at that time

But hey, why not take the plunge?

Apart from that, I'm still that same ol' redhead that you know me as.

How can I not be? Not gonna change my signature look/colour for the world! :D

To be honest, I have yet to get used to this hipster hairstyle.

Prior to this, I would always just smile & love the camera at any angle thrown at me.

But after having this hairdo, I couldn't help but to fidget irritably at the way it swept sometimes wrongly to the side, or ruffled in an awkward position.

Hence I wouldn't stop taking test-photos to determine which angle suits this hairdo best

Even my mom and the boyfie noticed. They asked me why I seem to be camwhoring so much more now.

Truth is, I wasn't exactly camwhoring for fun; more of trying miserably to identify what works with the new cut.

Sigh. Just Paranoid Parrot getting the better of me

Less buzzcut showing

More buzzcut showing

These photos today are some of the angles or expressions that *actually* work.

I realized that other angles really made me look like a boy or a dyke

So I guess it's this angle for now until my undercut grows back

To my surprise, when I tweeted and Facebook-ed the photo of my new hairstyle, so many people commented how awesome it looks, how it really suits me and my character as well as my having this hairdo was "just so very you Jess!".

Wow, I'm so relieved Thanks so much everyone!!

It really made me feel better. Perhaps I'm just not used to actually walking around with it for the 1st time

Diagonal side view

Candid bottom view

Oh and speaking of which, the other half had an undercut done too

Here's a real close-up and side view of how it really looks like

Who's this new Skrillette in the block?

If you're wondering who inspired my hairstyle, it's none other than Dubstep artiste SKRILLEX!

Skrillex aka Sonny Moore

After having my Skrillex-haircut, I googled up to see which other celebrity has had the same do done.

I found heaps!

British singer Cher Lloyd

Progressive House & Trance vocalist Emma Hewitt

Even pop singer Ke$ha has it

Gradually, taking heaps of photos and eventually finding my best angle that complements my new haircut made me fall in love with my new side-shaven undercut buzz even more and more.

Also, throughout the past few days when I was back in Penang for Chinese New Year, I was somewhat pleased to have random people stopping me in the mall or in the streets telling me things along the lines of :

To which I replied…

I know, right?

… and loving it by the day!

ZoukOut 2011 featuring DJ Chuckie, Avicii + Armin Van Buuren! Siloso Beach @ Sentosa Island, Singapore

thejessicat — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:51:09 +0000

I know this is probably a month late but I kept having more and more things to blog about that Zouk Out completely slipped my mind! Pardon me… teehee!

So yeah, as expected, ZoukOut 2011 was an absolute wicked one.

Probably just as good as last year celebration of 10 years of ZoukOut, aka Zouk10ut if not better!

My gurls and I

So before we entered the main Siloso Beach of where ZoukOut '11 was to be held, the whole lot of us decided to dive straight into our own party. Pre-drinks at the adjacent beach.

Don't know what beach it is but it sure worked for us

Chilling at the bench during pre-drinks

I miss my Aussieguest Carly

Come back to Malaysia soon!

Venessa and I

ZoukOut once more hey? ;)

Take two!

We finished the bottle in a jiffy

We made friends with ol' McDonald from Detroit, USA!

Chugged my last glass in the water

Alright, that's a wrap!

Now that we're all pumped up, hyper and tipsy, it's time to adjourn for ZoukOut

Where the party began 4 hours ago!

Just three enthusiastic partylovers amongst hordes of many others!

Correction: FOUR!

Correction: FIVE!

Correction: SEVEN!

And the number just kept growing

Once we entered, we started running helter skelter, exploring what this year's Zouk Out has to offer

Mostly the same good food, good things on sale and heaps of freebies up for grabs!

Went to the Havaianas outlet

Played with the giant inflatable flip-flop!

Bumped into an old friend, Adelyn

And a few others too -- Danny and Charlene

See, we Penangites came all the way from the north for this yo

After all the exploring and fun, we escaped to grab a bite of the nearest yummy food possible

Headed off to Mcdonalds!

Where I impulsively bought a slurpee cup with a red bikini on it :O

DOESN'T MATTER, HAD FOOD!

With our satiated tummies, we marched back to where the party's at, ZoukOut '11 awaits us

I've made a video compilation of my ZoukOut 2011 experience, watch out for it at the end of this post!

Got to the main stage pretty early to secure our spots

DJ Simon Dunmore was playing at that time

Raving with my buddies! Ze clan and I

Party vibe is building slowly!

Squeeeeee! Carly piggybacked me

Bumped into another Penangite, my old friend Sabrina

At last year's ZoukOut, I came to watch my 3 fave stars in 2010's line-up: Tiesto, David Guetta and Afrojack

This year, I came fully anticipating DJ Chuckie, Avicii and Armin Van Buuren

and……. DJ CHUCKIE IS UP!

WHO IS READY TO JUMP?

There were fireworks blasting across the sky as we partied!

DJ Chuckie kickstarted his set with a remix of Daft Punk's 'Around the World' and was playing various EDM tracks of his own including remixing those by David Guetta, Rihanna, Swedish House Mafia, Benny Benassi and more.

There were beer showers everywhere too!

His 2 hour set was pretty radical, I must say. I enjoyed watching DJ Chuckie's facial expressions too; they were so animated and at some parts comical! He also really knew how to work the crowd.

And then… it rained not confetti, not streamers… BUT GLITTER (Blimey, I actually thought it was sand!)

NEXT UP, GUESS WHO'S CRUNKING UP THE LEVELS AT 3AM?

Nobody else comes close to these nasty levels… IT'S AVICII!

Got up to Level Two so fast that I had to blink twice before confirming that it was indeed 2 white girls

holding up the Malaysian flag while screaming AAAAAAAAAVIIIIIIIICIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!

So proud of my country's flag but then again, wait.. what? Malaysian flag? White girls? Avicii?

Am I missing something here?

Avicii's 2 hour set was stellar, just as I had imagined it to be

DJ SPIN THAT SH!T!

He shot the party to the skies the moment he appeared on the decks with 'Fade into Darkness' as his opening song before proceeding to his other popular tracks like 'Sunshine', 'Swede Dreams', 'Hello Miami', 'Freedom' and more.

The young Swede and rising starlet Avicii (aka Tim Berg) also remixed popular favorites like David Guetta's 'Titatium', Diddy's 'Coming Home', Nadia Ali & Alex Kenji's 'Pressure', Tiesto's 'Escape Me', Coldplay's 'Waterfall' and others.

While raving, the gigantic, transparent beach ball landed on our heads!

Ohhhhh~ Sometimes, I gotta good feeling

YEEEEEAH~

The feeling was surreal when Avicii played his debut 'Levels' right there and then.

To see 'Levels' playing LIVE RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES BY AVICII HIMSELF was unlike any other.

Everyone else in the crowd could relate; they were just as euphoric as I was!

Major love fo my gurls for the awesome company!

Sex dolls were flying everywhere.

Heck well, naked blow-up dolls, more of. They sure looked like sex dolls to me LOLOL

At 5am sharp, something bigger was coming our way.

Already almost at the crack of dawn, there was no sign of stopping us ravers from welcoming the World #1 trance legend for several years in a row, ARMIN VAN BUUREN!

It started off with a big bang

He greeted his fans and loyal revellers with arms wide open!

Nothing could bring me down.

T'was amazing to finally rave to Armin Van Buuren LIVE and seeing him in the flesh after following his 'A State of Trance' (ASOT) episodes and yearmixes. *swoons*

OHMY. YES IT IS ARMIN. 3 METRES IN FRONTA ME

Ohmylord. Armin was so charming that night.. not to mention unbelievably talented too

When he spun Cosmic Gate feat. Emma Hewit's 'Be Your Sound', the crowd shut their eyes, jumped and traversed into an uplifting state of trance.

It was absolutely food for the soul

Bursts of confetti (and glitter!) were everywhere

More fireworks came in abundance too!

I recognized the songs from his yearmixes.. nothing beats hearing it LIVE.

The beach ball kept bouncing up and down amongst the crowd!

Rave it up, rave it good till the morning light!

He played till the sun came up

Now, here's my video montage of ZoukOut 2011 through my eyes

Experience it visually, embrace it and make sure I see you at this year's rave beach party of the year

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmmI8dTIwxU

ENJOY!

Only a true rave begins outdoors with thousands of people, rising its temperature with triple the amount of people and ends waaaaayy past the sunrise

Every year, ZoukOut is a true pinacle of a rave party. ZoukOut 2012, we shall meet again

A new Greek tattoo on my ribcage! A story of my tattoo journey and I throughout the years

thejessicat — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:47:11 +0000

Okay this is it.

Some of you have been requesting to see my tattoos (since 2 years ago – so sorry!) but I somehow didn't quite feel like sharing it in a blogpost.

But finally, I relented. Here's an entire post about my tattoos. Random decision, but here goes!

For those of you in the know, my most recent body art is a Greek tattoo on my ribcage; got it done last month in Singapore.

Greek scriptures and an original quote written by me

Just before I made my final decision to have it imprinted on my body forever

Just like all my previous tattoos, my design was printed out and carbon-copied onto my ribcage for positioning and preference purposes.

So far so good!

I took an immediate liking to it and gave my inkmaster the green light

On the tattoo bench. Yup, I'm all set and ready to begin!

What did I get myself into?

Bring on 5 hours of intense and gruelling pain.

With each and every time I endure hours & hours of yet another hellish tattoo session,

I ask myself one question :

But oddly enough, I never fail to keep coming back every year and mark myself with another body art

Simply 'cos I adore tattoos, its intricacy on human flesh & how it is a new experience for me

They say pain is addictive. What say you?

I daresay that my ribcage tattoo was the worst, most excruciating experience I've ever had amongst all my other tattoos.

Funny thing was, I've always known the ribcage tattoo to be the most painful spot to ink on.

So intense that my inkmaster gave me some Tequila shots to down

Felt better after 2-3 shots. It helped to numb my senses

Alright. Breaktime over, continue the buzzing of the needle!

I've always wanted a tattoo in a foreign language, but never knew what language.

Chinese? Nah, I have Chinese heritage.

French? Nah. Too mainstream.

Latin? Nah. Sexy… but *still* quite mainstream.

Thai? Sanskrit? Arabic? Japanese?

Then it struck me

A Greek tattoo came vaguely to mind since my high school days.

Unfortunately, I hadn't a single grasp nor knowledge whatsoever about the language and I didn't wanna trust Google Translate – of all things!

But guess what?

This year proves to be the best & most coincidental time for me to finally get started on my Greek tattoo because my Greek boyfriend and his father so kindly helped me translate the quotes I had in mind and pen out the sentences in perfect grammar for me.

For that, I wholeheartedly thank the both of you, Σας ευχαριστούμε Κωνσταντίνος και Γεώργιος!

SEMI FRONTAL VIEW

After 5 hours into the procedure : and it's done!

So that was it. My latest (5th and counting!) tattoo – the ribcage tattoo in Greek.

What's next? Okay so… I know I owe you stories of my past 4 tattoos in the past.

So hit the button and let's begin!

It was my freshman year of college back in 2007.

So young and innocent… yet wild, bold and raring to go!

2007 : 1st ink

The tribal heart lower back tattoo

It was done at a friend's house by a tattoo artist from Singapore who was touring Malaysia at that time.

Oh guess what? I found something quite interesting. My blogpost about this very first tattoo!

My reaction after reading that blogpost written by my 18 year old self :

Oh geez. Seriously, 18 year old Jess, seriously?

Exactly a year later….

2008 : 2nd ink

The tribal cat outline left shoulder blade tattoo

Trivia time!

I deliberately requested one of my kitty's right eye to be blacked out.

Bet you didn't know, my own right eye is semi-blacked out as well. My right vision is terribly impaired.

Felt somewhat proud yet nervous at the same time.

Someone was interviewing & filming me throughout the process!

DONE DONE DONE!

Had it done in Mandala Tattoo parlour

Candid shot displaying my 1st two tattoos

Expecting another tattoo a year later? Well no, not in 2009.

Skipped a year of tattooing; that year put me through something more painful than that.

What can I say? The emotional pain that lingered outweighed physical pain any day.

But once that was over and dealt with…….

MADE A COMEBACK

2010 : 3rd ink

The Egyptian Eye of Horus wrist tattoo

If you haven't read it, I found my blogpost that I wrote about this wrist tattoo written back then!

Since I've skipped out on a year, I had TWO tattoos done in that year to make up for it.

So here's the second tattoo done in 2010 :

2010 : 4th ink

A winged camera + film neck (nape) tattoo

Inking session in motion – outlines first!

Keep on going!

My not-so-enthusiastic-but-holding-in-the-pain face

Had both my tattoos of 2010 in Singapore by this Phillipino tattoo artist who owns a shop in Orchard Road

Filling it in….

Done before you know it!

I absolutely love how it peeks outta my back collar like that

I hope you've enjoyed the short history trip back into time.

And now…… as mentioned in the beginning of this post.

2011 : 5th ink

A Greek scripture ribcage tattoo

So there you have it, an entire post which encapsulates my entire journey of tattoo thus far.

Don't ask me why I do this, why I inflict myself with pain on the surface of my skin is honestly beyond me

Perhaps, I find it an incredible journey of self discovery, personalization.

Truth be told, it does not, in any way alter my personality even one tiny bit

I know will look back with nostalgia and reminisce my younger days of what was significant to my youth.

My body is a canvas and body art leaves an indelible mark I will hold close & personal to me for life.

Bear them to my grave, I shall.

Simple Plan speaks! Press Conference : ‘Get Your Heart On!’ Malaysia tour

thejessicat — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 11:08:22 +0000

In conjunction with the release of their 4th and latest album 'Get Your Heart On!', we were lucky enough to have Simple Plan right here at our Malaysian soil as one of their stops for their tour just yesterday afternoon.

Yup, you read right.

The band rocked Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 8pm in KL Live last night!

I arrived at 2.30pm to attend the press conference with my assistant of the day, Pamela

Thanks for all the help & company!

Wow. Talk about dedicated fans.

There was already a queue as early as 6 hours before Simple Plan's concert!

CEO of Tune Talk Mobile Prepaid, Jason Lo, welcomed us and spoke extensively regarding the concert and what to expect for the night.

"This is the first of many to come! Our next acts will be Avril Lavigne, Jessie J and more,"

Jason Lo shares

I bet all Malaysian Simple Plan fans were ecstatic being able to catch their favorite punk rock band perform right in front of their eyes.

Well, guess what? This is just the beginning.

Jason Lo speaking

Simple Plan was brought down to Malaysia thanks to Tune Talk – in collaboration with JS Concert Productions and Fat Boys – as part of their 'No Big Deal lah' series of concerts.

Next was local band 'The Revellers', winner of the band search competition to open for Simple Plan's gig

They were personally handpicked by Simple Plan

When asked why they were chosen, Simple Plan said that it was "all about the music…"

Good on yall, guys! Make Malaysia proud hey?

Simple Plan being welcomed by the MC

During the interview, I managed to ask them a couple of questions.

Jessicat: What is your favorite song from your latest album 'Get Your Heart On!' and why?

Pierre: "I would say 'Can't Keep My Hands Off You'. It talks about getting down, know what I'm saying, gurl?"

Nice one! Oh I definitely know what you're sayin' Pierre. *winkwink*

Next question:

Jessicat: Where's your next stop after Malaysia and what are the future plans?

Pierre: Singapore is the next stop.. then Indonesia, Japan. We'll be doing a Canadian tour, a European tour, Australia… all over the world.

Cool beans. Looks like there's no stopping the band after 10 years! Amazing

They were part of my teenage years, my friends' and I's all-time favorite punk rock band ever.

I'm sure many can relate!

Members of Simple Plan sharing a light banter with the MC

When asked, they mentioned that they loved the Malaysian heat!

Chuck Comeau (drums & percussions) speaking:

"It's -15 degrees in Canada, a snow storm at home right now.

We're very happy to be here, wearing shorts & Tshirts, it's awesome!"

Bumped into Jason (and his adorable son)

(his head happens to be at the bottom of the photo LOL!)

He asked me, "Are you ready for tonight? You better be!"

Is that even a question? Hell to the yeah I am!

Their concert was amazing. Take it from me, a true Simple Plan fan since their old skool days of 2002.

As a teenager, I used to have posters of them back then, compiled all my favorite songs of Simple Plan's albums and blast them in my room, rocking out all by myself while jumping on the bed playing an air guitar

Stay tuned for the coverage of Simple Plan's concert last night.

Heaps of photos + videos coming your way!

FREEZE spellbounds us upon the stage of ice, magic and entertainment @ Genting International Showroom!

thejessicat — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

Just before we ushered in the new year, I was invited by Resorts World Genting to witness their new resident show: a multi-million ringgit production of Ice, Magic & Entertainment aptly named 'FREEZE'.

I haven't been to Genting Highlands in over a year so I thought, hey, why not?

The journey up to the 'Fun City Above the Clouds' was a winding one.

T'was cold when I arrived (to my surprise!) and a hot cuppa from Starbucks was all I needed

I brought my buddy & housie Pamela to the show with me as well

As soon as we got up there, we started dolling up for the show

As I was booked into First World Hotel, it was quite a fair bit of a walk for us. But no matter!

'FREEZE' was to be held at Genting International Showroom, in the same building as Resort Hotel.

YAY Finally arrived the showroom!

But first, we decided to dine before the show to avoid being cold & hungry in there!

So we went for the buffet dinner at Coffee Terrace Genting courtesy of Resorts World Genting! Thank you

At the entrance of Coffee Terrace Genting

Inside

There was a plethora of food available during the buffet. We were delighted to find a host of both international and local delights.

Alright, dinner beckons us!

Here, lemme show you some of what we had

Watching Chinese people cook really, really intrigue me.

Just look at those oppressive flames amongst the food -

Frying food with gigantic flames inside the wok for so long without burning the meals!

Cooking level : ASIAN

We were spoilt for choice looking at all those food and more!

Here's something that got me ticking :

Not just an ordinary chocolate fondue fountain… it's a

A WHITE CHOCOLATE FONDUE FOUNTAIN!

Here were some of the choices we recommend from Coffee Terrace Genting :

Roast Turkey ham slices

New York Cheesecakes

And from our plates:

Butter Fish, Grilled Dory, Chicken & Beef Teriyaki, Seafood Aglio Olio, Tempura, Fried Soft Shell Crab

Tiramisu, Sushi & Maki, Chicken Sausage, Bread & Butter Pudding

Fresh Garden Pasta, Black Pepper Roast Beef

Other food worthy of not (which we didn't snap photos of) were :

Carrot Soup, Nyonya Chicken, Teochew Siakap & Century Egg Broth, Baby Prawn & Red Snapper, Lamb Kurma, Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with White Chocolate Sauce, Thai Green Curry & Beef Rendang.

A definite must-try!

We adjourned to Genting International Showroom at sharp 9PM

Ready?

Too excited to be spellbounded by world-class performers!

Behold, the never-been-staged-before production is about to begin

The showroom has turned into one of the largest ice entertainment venue in Malaysia

This million-pound ice-rink was specially constructed for 'FREEZE', operating at a permanent -8°C

We were entertained with a vast array of magic, entertainment and acrobatic stunts all on ice!

It was stupendous, to say the least

Apart from stunts and whatnot, there was a musically inclined performance

on the violin and graceful dances from a fusion of performers from Ukraine, Europe & Asia

Introducing the enchanting illusionist Anastasiia Birch from Ukraine!

She appears through an empty crystal box

Captivating us with her brand of illusion

We were wow-ed by many of her talents

Anastasiia performing her double levitation act

Anastasiia performing the World's Largest Turbine Illusion

So dangerous my heart sank when I saw her disappear into the turbine and emerge from the other side!

To think that it has sank enough, I was so very wrong.

I literally gritted my teeth and had my fists in a gridlocked clench the moment I saw this -

Anastasiia performing the World's Largest Drill Illusion

ohmy.

Loved it when everything was set in flames

The Huachen Acrobatic Group from China induced a jaw-dropping and eyebrow-raising reaction from me

These flexible and limber daredevils blew me over with their agility, energy and nimble movements!!

They spun so fast and in so many degrees and angles I was seeing stars after they were done

Don't know how yall do it but, bravo!

They have most definitely set the bar as they fluidly contort, perform aerial trapeze acts, silk aerial acts and high-flying acts.

Wish I could've shown you more pictures but my eyes were really concentrating on their insane, rapid movements

The cast

It was such an amazing 75 minute production, it left us not only starstruck and beyond impressed.

'FREEZE' is one I'd truly recommend.

The photos and the experience I've just shared simply cannot do it justice!

If you wanna watch it for yourselves, details are as below:

It's often a full-house show, so log-on to www.rwgenting.com or call

for availability and booking to avoid disappointment

And if you wanna indulge in the buffet just like ours, look here :

That's all for now. An amazing experience, no doubt.

My housies and I had so much fun at the themeparks and the casino thereafter.

'FREEZE' You heard it from me!

Don't miss any of those never-seen-before acts!

Let the climb begin! Up n’ down Batu Caves : a popular hill-top Indian worship temple

thejessicat — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 07:42:18 +0000

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*

Pitbull Asia Tour 2011 was awesome! Mr. Worldwide LIVE in Malaysia @ Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach

thejessicat — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:35:08 +0000

T'was a stormy night – so much so that it flooded the front of Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach and its vicinity

Pitbull took to the Malaysian stage yet again for his Asia Tour 2011. This marks the 2nd time I've attended his gig; watching him live in concert! He's such a performer, in every sense of the word!

The 1st time I've watched him was at his 12hour LIVE with Chivalry gig held early last year.

And this time, Pitbull is back again hurrah!

I arrived there slightly late due to some complications but fortunately, I was just in time for Pitbull's gig

The moment I entered the surf beach, I could hear "HELLLLLOOOO MALAYSIAAAAA!!"

He was just as sharply dressed as I'd imagine him to be again

Mr. Worldwide blasted the crowd to Planet Pit alright!

His stage performance was so energetic!

Pitbull was interacting non-stop with his guitarist, drummer, bassist, DJs

And the crowd, most definitely

The stage setup was stellar! 3D visuals, laser lightings and whatnot were being projected onto the backdrop which ensured a very smooth synchronization with the live music booming from the speakers.

The visuals kept changing ever so often, but the spotlight remained on our star of the night, Pitbull

His suave nature on-stage and heavy Spanish accent kept his female fans swooning the night away

it's International Love, baby!

Pitbull really knew how to get his screaming fans in a frenzy.

He belted out his latest singles like 'International Love', 'Give me Everything', 'Rain over Me' and 'Hey Baby (Drop it to the Floor) from Planet Pit as well as popular favorites from Rebelution like 'Shut it Down', 'I Know You Want Me', 'Hotel Room Service' and 'Krazy'.

I started jumping and letting my hair down when he made us JUMP UP, LET'S GET KRAZY!

MOVE MOVE, SHAKE SHAKE, NOW DROP!

But that's not all, this talented Cuban-American rapper-singer-songwriter-producer injected the crowd with some Latino magic! I could remember him serenading us with his songs sung in Spanish and boogeying it down at his previous concert as well.

I could tell he really stays true to his roots and enjoys sharing a bit of his culture to us

Pitbull hitting up some salsa, cha-cha-ca, Miami bass and merengue Latin American dance!

He then took his coat off – I couldn't quite imagine how he was relentlessly performing whilst sweating buckets underneath thick layers of clothing!

The crowd (myself included) was perspiring by the minute despite being in an open-aired area, let alone Pitbull in that heatwave of a stage.

Sweat towel needed after all that dancing and entertaining!

Keep singing with the towel slung around his shoulder!

I'll carry my trusty sweat towel all around stage with me!

For the show must go on!

The previous concert saw Pitbull stripping down to only his white singlet and silvery-grey pair of slacks.

But this time round, he only removed his coat and unbuttoned his black shirt.

All eyes on you, Pitbull!

His 2 hour set ended pretty quickly though

When he thanked us for having him and performed his last song, I was like, "ALREADY?"

A true performer makes you breeze through his performance yearning for more all through till the end of the gig.

Pitbull, has undeniably proven his worth to us again as he came back up on stage after a bellowing encore from us!

Now, that's satisfaction brought to you by Pitbull, the man himself

Thank you for an amazing show and for making Malaysia one of your stops during this Asia Tour 2011!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012! Encapsulating the very best of 2011 on TheJessicat.com

thejessicat — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:09:19 +0000

No, I cannot believe it. 2011 has now come to an end -- just like that?

It ain't no cliche but the start of 2011 felt like it was just yesterday.

Okay fine, lets be more realistic; maybe it felt like it was only last month LOL

Anyway, imma take a look at last year in retrospect : my most memorable, favorite blogposts I've written in 2011! For loyal/long-time readers, have a blast re-reading them & for newcomers, welcome! I hope you enjoy them & do keep reading!

JANUARY

Attended a fancy masquerade ball in Le Meridian hotel. Went to Bali for the 1st time.

Got mistaken for a terrorist in JW Marriott hotel.

FEBUARY

Celebrated Chinese New Year with thefockers and thehomies.

Arrived in Melbourne, Australia - 1st time being so far away from home!

Went clubbing in Melbourne for the 1st time

MARCH

Spent my 1st St. Patricks Day celebration abroad.

Brought Facebook to real life with my Aussiemates.

Embraced nature & the laidback lifestyle in countryside Gippsland

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9VaL61NIrE

APRIL

Shot the full moon in the middle of the night. Experienced the worst moment in Sydney airport.

Spent Easter Day with my Sydney relatives.

Dedicated a birthday VLOG to my best friend in UK. Went to a strip club for the 1st time

MAY

Had my 1st taste of Greek cuisine in Melbourne.

Earned a High Distinction (HD) for my fiction writing unit.

Spent a beautiful summer & autumn with my Aussiemates.

Tried acrylic painting on canvas for the 1st time -- and painted a cat! LOL

JUNE

Visited the Sydney Opera House & Harbour Bridge! Got stuck in extremely thick mud with my Aussiemates

Was stalked in Melbourne for 7 hours. "Victimized" to Asian stereotypes whilst in Australia

JULY

Ate kangaroos, rabbits & camels for the 1st time.

Had the most amazing birthday-farewell with my Aussiemates.

Got forced to eat Vegemite - a signature Aussie thing. Attended King Tutankhamun's Rise of the Pharaohs

AUGUST

Got another body mod: the Industrial Piercing.

Tried fire-twirling in a abandoned coal mine. Interviewed a DJ from USA.

SEPTEMBER

Returned to Melbourne for le boyfie & my Aussiemates

Had my 1st snow experience up on the mountains -- EVER.

Attended Johnnie Walker's Black Circuit Label party

OCTOBER

Experienced my 1st time in Newcastle. Landed back in Malaysia

Attended legendary Trance DJ Paul Van Dyk's gig & electro-house maestro Laidback Luke's gig.

NOVEMBER

Bore myself a son. Went crazy over Nike & Adidas kicks.

Had my 1st time aboard the world-famous Norwegian historic sailing vessel

DECEMBER

Attended an insane post-Halloween party as a zombie.

Experienced my 1st time playing host to Australian guests to Malaysia

Became Kronenbourg 1664's Official Blogger. Experienced a glamorous French affair

Other amazing things which happened throughout the year includes -

Getting a tattoo on my ribcage, attended Pitbull and Ferry Corsten's gig, got myself a new touch screen Blackberry, attended the FREEZE show of ice, magic and excitement up in Genting Highlands, moved to a spanking new crib with amazing housies & attended the annual Zouk Out beach rave party in Singapore……

of which I haven't blogged about yet

New Year Resolutions anyone?

Not really a fan but here's a few of mine that I intend to *actually* achieve:

1. Blog more frequently

2. Re-adopt my reading habits

3. Gym religiously

4. Be more prudent in expenditure $$

5. Re-acquire my shutterbug habits

That being said, I wish you an amazing 366 days ahead of ya'll.

Had a fab countdown last night? I sure did If 2011 didn't kick ass, make sure it does this year, aight?

Take a deep breath, embrace 2012's splendours -- and challenges -- with a bold smile. Happy new year folks!

With love,

TheJessicat

Tales of my Aussieguest and I : all things Malaysian… LAH!

thejessicat — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 05:48:16 +0000

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