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TheJessicat - Extractions of a Disoriented Mind
  • Entertainment
    • Film & Movies
    • International Artists
    • Live Concerts & Gigs
    • Local Artists
    • Music Festivals/Rave Parties
    • Nightlife/Parties
  • Food
    • American
    • Asian
    • Coffee joints/Cafe hopping
    • French
    • Fusion
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • My Cookbook
    • Others/Fusion
  • Fashion
    • Body Art
    • Cosplay
    • Fashion Shows
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Makeup/Skincare
  • Travels
    • Thailand
    • The Australian Diaries
  • Health & Fitness
    • EatFitSlam: Clean Eating
    • GymJamSlam: Gym/Workouts
    • Sports
  • Current Affairs

Aussie Aussie OI OI OI! Happy Australia Day 2015 to all my Straya mates from Down Under!

January 26, 2015 by thejessicat

 

Today is Australia Day and here I am sitting at my desk thinking about my one-year stint in Aussieland back in 2011.

Oh how I miss it. Those were the days where I could be a carefree student x wild child without a worry in the world – except for academic stress of course, but then again, that has never been an issue for me. *dusts shoulders 😛 😛 😛

 

How I wish I was sitting right on this very sunny lawn in university right now

instead of being here at this cold, freezing office 😛

 

I love doing throwback posts & flashbacks. I was meaning to write a post about Australia some time back but I never saw a connection or a proper timing for it. So… what better day to churn out this blog post about Aussie on Aussie Day itself, eh?

Let’s travel back in time in 2011 to the land Down Under! Big Smile

 

 

 

On my 4th week in Melbourne, Australia, Monash University decided to take us all to Luna Park in St. Kilda Beach as part of their orientation program for the exchange students & freshman year students.

 

Waiting for our bus!

Just a few of my observation whilst in Australia – Aussies love sitting on the grass.

I hardly see that here in Malaysia!

 

 

 

En route to Luna Park. Woohoo!!

 

For some reason, I didn’t have many (East) Asian friends whilst I was there.

Laura & Vanessa were among my favorite girlfriends who were fellow Asians too.

 

Lauz & I

 

 

Van & I – take one!

 

Van & I – take two!

 

Can’t remember how long the bus ride took, but we arrived before we knew it 🙂

 

HELLO FROM LUNA PARK!

Admittedly, the entrance gives me the creeps.

 

See what I mean? 😛

 

We arrived really early in the morning just before the doors open.

LUNA PARK ALL TO OURSELVES!?

That can only mean…

Yup. Gonna be ridin’ all day, yo. 😉

 

Ferris Wheel!

At the carousel! Time for a merry-go-round!

 

With the RAs (Residential Advisors) Alia & Laura.

 

Playing with mirrors at Luna Park

Don’t we look short & stout here? HAHA

 

Everything was so merry and filled with people!

 

3 of my beautiful housemates!

 

Everything is still vividly in my mind. We were the girls of West 9.

That’s Elizabeth, Narelle and Camille. Camille used to leave me little cute notes on my door addressed to Jessicat, whenever I wasn’t home for days. Thanks for making my West 9 days a memorable one, ladies!

 

And my girlfriends from the house next door. Were you girls in West 8?

Not sure what we were doing at this point, waiting in line for a ride, I reckon.

 

Rollercoaster rides! Truth be told, I’m no daredevil.

Although I’m terrified of it, I’ll shut my eyes, scream my head off and enjoy the ride.

 

Likewise, for the Ghost Train, I’m pretty frightened of it as well but I don’t chicken out.

I endure the entire ride with my ears closed and eyes half-shut.

Here we are on some 3D ride thingamajiggy.

Fire-twirling demonstration!

Lining up for the rides with Mossy & Jade

Laura joined us soon enough!

And around the world we go!

One for the road with Lauz before we left!

 


Wildchild quirks of 21 year olds.

 

So dear Australia, on Australia Day today, let me take a moment in retrospect and reminiscence to say a few words.

Thank you for..

Being the drop-bear on my road and the chill to my coat

The Gold to my Coast and the vegemite on my toast

The sea to the sand and the VB in my hand

The Kanga to my roo and the barbie on my que

The Harbour to my bridge and the lamingtons in my fridge

The grog in the trams and the TimTams to my slams.

The surfer boys to my beach and the Uggs to my feet.

 

 

You can check out my other tales & chronicles during my one-year stint in Aussie, tagged under The Australian Diaries in this blog.

I’ll always be eternally grateful to such an enriching and fulfilling experience. And to all my bestest Melbie & Gippy friends, thank you for making me feel like home – you know who you all are. If given the chance, I would do it all over again.

HAPPY STRAYA DAY, TO ALL MY MATES, C*NTS & YES EVEN THE COUNTRY BOGANS WHO THREW TRASH AT ME FOR BEING ASIAN.

 

 

 

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Our little weekend escape to the mountains of Cameron Highlands!

December 26, 2014 by thejessicat

 

We’re all almost at the finishing line of 2014, and if I allow the year to end without at least travelling somewhere for a holiday, I’d say my year would feel awfully incomplete.

Well, I did travel all the way to Borneo a few months ago, albeit being for work-related reasons. That doesn’t exactly count as a holiday, does it? Also travelled to the usual Penang & Ipoh for short retreats with the family but then again, neither would I consider going back to both my hometowns a ‘holiday’ per se, either.

 

 

Moo and I are most probably heading to the Philippines next year (for our 1st anniversary!) but we figured hey, why let this year pass without a holiday too? Laughing

So here we are, ending our year with a roadtrip up to the hills of Cameron Highlands!

 

 

Evidently all pumped up for our journey: Fuel? Check. Snacks? Check. Rave playlist? Check. Sunnies? Check and check!

We hit the road just before 11AM from Kuala Lumpur. Ha Ha

 

 

Sunny skies and pretty clouds ahead! Big Smile

The weather was absolutely perfect and inviting; almost as if today was destined for a roadtrip!

 

 

Traffic was pretty heavy on the North-South highway, considering that it was already the school holidays. (Not in the picture above… the gridlock started an hour after this picture was taken)

Before we knew it, our bright & sunny journey turned into a gloomy thunderstorm. Frown

 

 

It certainly did not help as the temperature heading up to the highlands began to drop rather quickly. Brr!!

My parents were horrified upon learning that we took the Tapah exit route up as it was known for its narrow and winding road up the cliffs. Yell Moo was extra cautious with his driving and he did a swell job at maneuvering up the slippery terrains!

 

 

I too, was a little worried when I saw several landslide areas, fallen trees & branches as well as flooded sections on our road. One wrong move and anyone would plunge into the ravine. Certainly a very dangerous route!

No photos because our eyes were fixated to focus on the road but it looked a little like this:

 

 Imagine this + thunderstorm + foggy windows + slippery muddy ground

 

Pro-tip: To anyone heading up to Cameron Highlands, please do yourselves a favour and avoid the Tapah exit route up at all costs.

Use the Simpang Pulai exit instead! Wink (We used the latter on our way down)

 

 

After 4 hours (Geez! I didn’t know it would take THIS long! Must’ve been the storm + heavy traffic!), we arrived safely at the first township called Ringlet. It looked like a little ordinary, small town, with banks, markets, retail shophouses and the like.

 

 

Looking for Heritage Hotel was an uphill task (haha! Geddit, geddit?) as neither of us were familiar with Cameron Highlands and I didn’t have reception to get directions on Waze. Cry

 

 

A quick call to hotel got us there in no time. Oh Really?

We proceeded straight up to another town called Tanah Rata, which was about another 10KM up another inclined route.

 

 

The Tudor-revival architectural style of Heritage Hotel made it a breeze to spot the moment we arrived Tanah Rata. Laughing

It was so Christmas-themed already! Love it.

 

Merry early Christmas!

 

Glancing up to the ceiling gave me a fuzzy, familiar feeling of Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station.

 

Checking in was a breeze and the hotel staff were friendly and accommodating.

The bellboy ushered us to our deluxe room on the 5th floor too.

 

We were happy with our room – it was clean, spacious and well-equipped! Smile

 

 

So what’s the first thing you do upon entering a hotel room?

Check out le springy bed! Haha. I’ve done this on every holiday this since I was a kid capable of jumping.

 

Dec 7, 2014 | When on #holiday, what’s the first thing YOU do when you reach your #hotel room? #silly by imthejessicat on Keek.com

 

 

After settling down, we took a moment to enjoy the tranquillity of our surroundings from all the way up here.

The breeze and the misty, still air amidst the lush greenery of hills, mountains and nature were what we sought after on this trip after all.

 

 

 

After settling down, freshening up and watching PIXAR’s A Bug’s Life on FOX movies (moo hasn’t watched it before and I insisted he did because it was one of my favorites as a kid! I was so glad he enjoyed the movie too), we headed downtown to see what Tanah Rata has to offer. Smile

Just as we were about to adjourn, I took a nostalgic reflection of my surroundings.

 

The moderately chilly climate with a wind so mild yet cool and comforting.

The trees. The gloomy weather that never seems to see the light of day. 

It made me smile in recollection of my stint in Melbourne.

Oh, how I miss thee. Cry

 Off to town! We wound down the windows and switched off the air-conditioning.

Who needs the A/C when you have the natural, cool air all around you? Haha.

 

 

Arrived Tanah Rata township!

 

 

Oh there’s a Starbucks here too!

 

So… what’s for lunch/tea/dinner? Laughing

I excitedly led us to Lord’s Cafe for their scones and chicken pies.

 

 

After perusing the menu, moo didn’t exactly consider pies and scoes a ‘proper’ heavy meal… especially since we haven’t had our breakfast nor lunch yet. It was already 5PM! 🙁

 

 

So we had to awkwardly shift ourselves out the door and told them we would come back later for dessert or a snack. (More of this later and why I got extremely upset)

 

We walked a few doors down to another cafe – My Cake House.

 

As I’ve always been a fan of al-fresco dining, I especially loved the ambiance surrounding Tanah Rata’s restaurants. It was breezy, open-aired and overlooking the roads below.

 

 

Here’s what we ordered. Don’t judge. Hit with Brick

We were starving.

 

 Some starchy mains… oh god why.

So guilty! Yell

 

 Oh hello beautiful flower sitting right beside me!

No, you do not make me feel better.

 

Who goes to a cake cafe without eating… of course… cakes?

Being chocolate fanatics, moo and I ordered the chocolate cakes variants. Cool

 

 Chocolate Cake

 

 Coffee flavoured cheesecake

 

 

Compared to everything we’ve ordered, the brownie with ice-cream takes the cake!

Oh and btw, it doesn’t come with ice-cream. Moo had to request with additional charges.

 

After a heavy meal, chilling out and much chitter-chatter, we were *still* too full to eat at Lord’s Cafe.

Decided to go for a foot massage (reflexology) instead.

 

 

It was a rather enlightening session as my masseuse was very friendly, intelligent and speaks fluent English & Chinese.

That dude in blue in the picture above was moo’s masseur. Tongue Out Quite a grumpy fellow but he sure knows his technique! 

 

Apparently, there are many massage parlours in town with illegal immigrants/foreign workers without permits that offers dodgy, and ‘extra services’ for a fee. Well, I’m glad that Palace Reflexology Centre is a legit and decent one!

 

The massages were of skillful techniques, very hygienic and professionally done.

We’d definitely vouch for it.

 

Even after all that, we were still full to the brim and didn’t feel like stuffing in any more food for the night. I guess we’ll save Lord’s Cafe for the next morning then. (Got upset again for having to postpone it! Yell)

 

A little bit of gallivanting around town later saw us shopping at the night markets too.

 

 

We bought an adorable fluffy husky snowhat (for me obviously!) and a berry-flavoured cigar, before deciding to head back to the hotel.

 

We were greeted to a magnificent view when we pulled up on the driveway of Heritage Hotel. Gee, doesn’t it look beautiful by night!? Surprised

 

 

It was all lit up and driving into the private, open carpark made it feel really surreal.

Pictures do it no justice I swear. Undecided

 

 

Cosy little lounge of the hotel – with a fireplace!

 

 

Made myself feel right at home.

 

We were also amused with the school of the huge Japanese koi fishes in the pond. Feeling Good

There were so many of them! Not sure why they all decided to dart away to the other side of the pond when I took pictures. Bleh. Maybe they’re camera-shy HAHA

 

 

Seeing that they had a snooker table, a foosball aka table football table in their games room, we were really up for a challenge!

 We’ve been talking about challenging each other in this for quite a while now – I guess here’s our chance!

 

 

 

Unfortunately, they didn’t allow us to… as guests were only allowed to play during the day.

 

 

Heritage Hotel also had a mini indoor playground for children and a convenience store/mini mart but what really intrigued me was their library.

 

 

Oh my goodness.

There were so many books, novels & magazines to read! Oh Really?

 

 

So much so that I felt like Belle from Beauty and the Beast

 

 

If that didn’t impress me enough, all the trees in the hotel were draped beautifully with Christmas fairy lights and oh my, did it really set the mood for evening. Wink

 

 

Back at the hotel, we got the hot tub ready for a nice warm bath but ended up falling asleep while watching ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ on FOX movies.

Personally, I think the Cable TV channels that Heritage Hotel has in line for us was just about right! News channels, movie channels, info-tainment channels and more. Laughing Perfect for a lazy night in.

 

 

***

 

The very next morning, we arose at about 9am and were all ready to see what Cameron Highlands had to offer.

 

 First up: the view outside our balcony!

So breathtaking. I spent about half an hour just admiring it while he was fast asleep.

 

 

We roughly planned our itinerary for the day the night before – lots of strawberries, bees, tea plantations, cactus, scone-hunting and more!

 

But first… BREAKFAST! Big Smile

The breakfast buffet was a fulfilling one, with local and Western delights to appease our morning appetite.

 

This chef makes superb eggs!

 

We excitedly chose the balcony seats as we were both very fond of the breezy, cool weather and the stupendous view of nature. Laughing

 

 

Good morning!

 

 And good morning to you too, morning glory.

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, we bid goodbye to Heritage Hotel.

But not before we took lotsa selfies and goofed around the hotel vicinity! Laughing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Heritage Hotel, for the memorable stay and the wonderful service! Big Smile

 

 

Adjourning uphill to Brinchang was such a fun ride. It was not only extremely breezy, but the strong winds had a chill to it too.

 

 

We first made a pit-stop at Lord’s Cafe (finally, yay!) but IT WAS CLOSED ON SUNDAY.

ROAAAARRR!!! Ahh!Doubt it!What?! And I never got to go there in the end… that’s why I was so disgruntled about the entire issue. LOL.

 

 

Arriving Brinchang felt very familiar. It gave me a vibe I could remember on my first trip here as a teenager. It was a small, quaint yet extremely busy township.

Personally, the hustle & bustle of the tiny town felt a little too congested for its own good.

 

 Our first stop was the Central Market!

 

I fell in love with the strawberry plushies and the strawberry ear muffs there.

They were oh-so-adorable and cuddly! Adore

 

 

There was a huge array of cactus, vegetables, fruits and colourful roses too. I was so fascinated by all these pretty and happy sights!

 

 

They were really a fresh look away from the computer and gadget screens I stare at working all day. I’d love have a beautiful mini-garden on my terrace when I move into my new home! Laughing

 

 

 

I bought a lil cactus to place onto my desk at work too.

Hey it was only RM2 so why not? 😀

 

 You can tell that I was intrigued by the cotton candy too.

Didn’t have any for obvious reasons LOL.

 

 

En route to the next stop! Big Boss

 

 

We continued with our journey up the hill and stopped at Raaju’s Strawberry Farm.

Apparently, they serve the “best strawberry milkshakes” according to some reviews but unfortunately, moo and I beg to differ. Frown

 

 It does look pretty gorgeous though!

 

We make our own strawberry milkshakes at home all the time so you could possibly imagine how much we were anticipating our first sip! 🙁

Don’t get us wrong, their strawberries were delicious as it is on its own (especially with whipped cream!) but I guess the way they made the strawberry milkshakes wasn’t exactly our cup of tea.

It felt very… rough, tasteless and chunky instead of the creamy, milky thick shakes that we’re all used to making from scratch and drinking from restaurants. Cry

 

Their homemade scones were delicious and it was served with freshly made strawberry jam! It was warm, fluffy and had just the right texture. 

 

 

Cakes on display.

 

And now comes the best part – picking our own strawberries for ourselves! 😀 😀

 

Couldn’t help sneaking in a bite!

 

 

The farm gates open at about 2pm so it’s best if you arrive on time.

The farm worker guided us around the strawberry plantations and we were given a basket and a pair of scissors each.

 

 Snip snip!

There were plenty of huge, red and ripe strawberries!

Pro-tip: Walk further into the farm to get the bigger ones.

 

 

It costs RM30 for 1KG and the farm worker (a very pleasant and helpful Bangladeshi worker!) showed us approximately how many strawberries would amount up to 1KG as we didn’t exactly have any indication on the number of strawberries to pick. Thank you!

 

 

The creative farm worker also snapped this picture for us!

Loved how he played with perspective.

 

Moving on, we stopped at at the Bee Farm.

We only got to witness the bees from afar lest they might sting us! Ahh!

 

 

Along the way, I had my eye on a strawberry plushie at almost all the markets and stalls we zoomed past. A girl can never get her eyes off cute or adorable things – at least I can’t!

 

But moo said I had way too many soft toys at home and the idea of getting a strawberry pillow was frowned upon. CryShops after shops later, I was still being an incredible sulk LOL.

In the end, he relented since I “liked it so much”. YAY! Ha Ha

 

 

Whilst on our way up to the tea plantation, we drove past the lavender farm.

It was a beautiful sight of purple, red and yellow blossoms all in a row. The entrance fee was only RM5 but we had other plans ahead of us – no time to waste!

 

 

We were extremely excited upon arriving Bharat Tea Plantation in Kuala Terla.

My parents were being very paranoid and kept warning us against driving up to the BOH Tea Plantation near Gunung Brinchang as it was apparently very steep, slippery and winding – let alone with the rain! Oops

 

So we settled for the former and we were happy regardless.

 

 

We took in the magnificent sight of lush tea leaves and bright green hills of our surroundings.

 

 

Its neatly terraced rows fascinated us too!

 

 

The hills are alive! With the sound of music….

Indeed, I felt like Fraulein Maria sans Captain Von Trapp’s 7 children LOL.

 

 

Living in the big city surrounded by concrete jungle does that to you, really. Canny

 

 

So after frolicking in the meadows like the silly peeps we are, we took our much deserved rest in the cafe overlooking the same enchanting view that we’ll never get tired of.

It’s definitely a sight to behold! Yes, we’re nature-loving people like that.

 

 

 

Had we paid BOH Tea Plantation a visit instead, we would have been spoiled for choice with the lavender puffs, strawberry tarts, scones and other freshly baked pastries. Oh well. Maybe next time! Wink

Anyway, our orders were placed and within minutes, a pot of rose tea, milk tea and a chicken & mushroom pie was served. Laughing

 

 

 

We adjourned back to KL soon after. On our way down, we spotted a brand spanking new mall! 

Didn’t even get to pay a visit. Crying

 

We also spotted lotsa natives selling raw honey, fruits & vegetables in dilapidated wooden sheds under the rain. That kinda broke my heart. Sitting there for an entire day just hoping someone would stop and buy their harvest.

How much money are they even able to make from doing that? Frown

Do they really think people would stop on a dangerous slope in the middle of the road whilst driving down (or up) and obstruct traffic? Cry

 

Sorry for digressing.

Anyway, that concluded our weekend getaway up on the highlands!

 

 

Should’ve stayed for another day – making it a 3Day 2Night stay instead. Angry

I was given the impression that Cameron Highlands was a really boring sleepy town with nothing to do, but it guess what? It turns out that 2Days 1Night wasn’t enough for us at all; especially if we were to explore everything we had initially planned but didn’t get the chance to.

‘Till next time, Cameron! Experiencing a splendid and enjoyable weekend up there is enough an incentive to return!

 

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[Part 1] Journey to the Sound – Mysterious World (Borneo) 2014 by Mysterious Asia

September 7, 2014 by thejessicat

 

Good morning!! Actually, no… it’s not morning but it sure feels extremely slow after an insanely hectic mayhem that brewed last night.

Everything is in slow motion as I type this in the cafe joint that I’m at right now – TommyBoy in Boulevard Mall, Kuching.
With my cuppa coffee and lots of hot green tea at Sushi King this morning, I guess this walking zombie is somewhat ready to blog a little bit of her journey to the sound – Mysterious World In Kuching, Sarawak.

 

All aboard the Kuching tales!

 

Thanks to Mysterious Asia for inviting me onto their media voyage to Borneo to be part of the second instalment of Mysterious Festival (first instalment in Platinum 21 KL – here), I made my way to KLIA2 in the wee hours of the morning to catch the early flight on a whole plane they chartered.
I dragged my long-time childhood buddy along with me. We go all the way back to when we were little kids in Penang! Laughing
Thank you so much for always being my blogging partner all these years!

 

Fab person to tag along with me on this media trip because after so many blog-related events working with me as my plus one, he doubles as my bodyguard, an awesome guardian angel (yes I can be quite absent-minded and aloof when I travel alone), and knows exactly what I want in stuff he assists me with.

 

Styleshot // Jessicat wears Forever 21 x H&M x Doc Martens x Pierre Cardin

 

Arrived at KLIA2 in approximately 33 minutes! Not bad at all.

 

Heading off to the terminal. Prepare for take off!

 

I must say that KLIA2 really made an impression on me.Big Smile
It was humongous, tastefully designed and had all the retail, food & beverage as well as service outlets anyone could ask for in an airport.
Definitely better than LCCT, for obvious reasons.
Checking my flight details!

 

The check-in counters

 

As I didn’t have much sleep at all (I was up for two nights making sure all my work has been dealt with before my departure and all is in order in my absence), I drifted off to sleep automatically each time I could. It was a tad embarrassing because apparently, I was told that I sleep-talk.
Geez, in public? I must be really exhausted then. Hit with Brick

 

This includes the 35 minute train ride and the two-hour flight!

 

I managed to snap a few shots in the plane – how could I not? The sight was too beautiful.
Soon after, I went back to snoozeland until we touched down.

 

The calm azure sky in the early morning.

 

Fluffly clouds and a wee bit of sunshine midway.

 

Oh Hi. Yeah, caught in action! Haha.

 

Arrived at Kuching International Airport and was greeted by the huge Mysterious World banner.
Sure feels good to stretch after a long flight! Surprised

 

Without wasting any time, we adjourned to our hotel, Hotel Imperial Kuching, via the media shuttle van. The hotel was really close by! We arrived at say, 15 minutes tops?
Here’s how my hotel looks. It’s really pretty and the service was close to excellent!
The staff were all very nice and accommodating too.

 

Part of the lobby – just in front of the hotel cafeteria.

 

The lobby lounge – for those who fancy dessert, light meals and a drink or two.

 

The main lobby – comfy couches for guests to lounge around or wait for their check-in time!

 

Thanks to Mysterious Asia’s efficient management, everything ran smoothly.
I got my room keys in a jiffy!

 

Check out some quick shots of my huge and comfy room.

 

Two double beds and in a full serviced room with a fridge, safety vault, cable TV and more!

 

Little couch beside my bed!
This was where I sat editing the event photos and preparing blog posts.

 

A little bit of the cosy furnishing and warm, incandescent lighting.

 

As we were scheduled to head to the event in the afternoon, Mysterious Asia management had us order anything we wanted from the in-room dining menu for lunch!
Here’s what we were served. 

 

Lamb Shank in Black Pepper. Pretty decent; the meat was really flavourful and tender.

 

Spaghetti Bolognese.
Also standard pasta fare; with a generous amount of chunky of minced beef!

 

Soon after we were fed with delicious lunch, we got ready to head off to Sarawak Cultural Village in Gunung Santubong where Mysterious World was about to unfold.
The journey was quite a distance; we took almost an hour to get there! Dribble

 

Arriving after a long bumpy ride (and a good solid hour of sleep!)

 

Registering with the rest of the media! Hello Sarawak!
I’m ready to be amazed at what you have to offer.

 

Up up and away!
Riding one of the metal cat constructs they have in the village. This is Kuching, after all.
For my non-Malaysian readers, Kuching translates to ‘cat’ in Bahasa Malaysia.

 

As the event was only going to kick-start at dusk, I decided to recce the entire area to familiarise myself with the rainforest lest I get lost in my own world tripping by nightfall. Always good to get your bearings adjusted in advance! Big Smile

 

Oh hello, beautiful rainforest.

 

My little exploration found me some pretty interesting
traditional items which are now used for decorative purposes.

 

On the right is something used to catch fish back in the day while the thing on the left is supposedly to catch wandering spirits.

 

Our main hub!

 

Yep, that’s the media centre tucked away at a quieter location, with excellent WiFi connection, food and drinks to ensure that we were well fed with all our basic needs.
Yes, when you’re in this industry, INTERNET IS A BASIC NEED.
How else am I supposed to feed you with information, pictures, videos and report live from the scene? 😀
I was pretty intrigued by all the ‘angklungs’ hanging in the room. Such nostalgia!
We were taught how to play this as little children in junior school! It’s a traditional musical instrument made of wood.

 

This is the cafeteria where Mysterious Asia fed us with all day buffet and free-flow of drinks.
They kept us happy and our tummies full throughout the duration of the event!

 

Table decoration representing olden Sarawakian locals.

 

 

This recce turned into a very eye-opening experience as I not only managed to get my bearings in order for the rave event later, but this jungle exploration enlightened me so much about how the local Sarawakian folks lived back in the day.

 

 

I was exposed to their homes and activities… and was undoubtably, in awe learning about their tradition, culture and way of life.

 

Crossed the bamboo bridge too! This is actually just a demo.
The real one is suspended across a river! Yikes.

 

Yes, I must admit that I am a very curious cat and a lover of nature and culture at heart.
Ergo, such an experience fascinated me thoroughly!

 

That wraps up Part 1 of my MysteriousWorld journey so far.

 

I promise I’ll continue with what went down during the rave party last night when I blog about Part 2 the soonest I can! I even got to meet and interview a few of the main acts who performed. Do stay tuned!
Thank you, Sarawak for an interesting experience so far.
This is just the beginning!

 

In the mean time, you can stay with me on Instagram at @imthejessicat and my Facebook page Facebook.com/thejessicatdotcom for yesterday’s live updates and today’s ones when get to the rave zone!
Also, before I go, I’d like to say how pleased I was with such attentive and good care taken of us by Mysterious Asia’s management and representatives. Thanks so much! 
They treated us media amazingly well and made sure we’ve got everything we needed. Kudos, thumbs up for a job well done so far!

 

Alright, I’ve got to run now. Bye! Will be back to continue real soon!

 

The first act I want to catch today are the Canadian big room/progressive house stars, DVBBS. Gotta make sure I’m fully ready for another night of mayhem and for my interview questions to be prepared.
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Nostalgic throwback to the land Down Under: Random bites of my Australia days!

June 9, 2014 by thejessicat

 

Considering that this blog post has over 60 photos in total, make sure you grab yourself a cuppa before you proceed.

Caution: very photo-heavy! I did spend almost a year there, after all.

 

Happened to look through old photos during my Aussie days and noticed that some pictures were still in my pending list which never got to be shared nor published! So here they are.

 

With my girls Bardha, Laura and Verity on our impromptu sushi night

 

Erin and Verity helping me bake a delicious chocolate cake!

 

Why the sudden nostalgic throwback, you ask? Cry

No particular reason, apart from the fact that my family is on a 2 week holiday in Australia now – albeit without me.

 

I was supposed to go with them, but they made a reasonable point that since I had already spent/experienced a year there, why spend that chunk of money to go back to the same place when I can use it for other purposes or travel to a country I’ve yet to explore?

Made perfect sense, right? Wrong. Furious

Australia wasn’t just another continent I explored to lay my footprints onto.

It wasn’t just another country existing to quench my wanderlust.

It wasn’t just another stamp on my passport. And it certainly isn’t just another spot on the world map where I’d say,”I’ve been there, how about you?”

 

The intricately spun spider web right outside my residence at uni

A closer shot.

 

Australia was home. My friends became family to me.

The multi-faceted culture of Melbourne city and the laidback lifestyle back in countryside Gippsland seeped into my veins like duck to water. In that year alone, my far-flung relatives whom I’ve not seen for half a decade became closer to me than ever.

The ever evolving four seasons in a day rendered me so ever-prepared for whatever the weather ambushed me with. They say when in Rome, do as the Romans do. And adapting to Australia was like second nature to me.

I still fancy an arvo with my mates, having a sausage on a barbie with some vegemite on it 😛

But despite my sentiments, I didn’t end up going due to work commitments. 

 

A silent winter night.

(FYI It isn’t creepy at the residence but this photo is really horror movie material though!)

Meet Antonio, our favorite uni security guard. We still keep in touch via Facebook.

He lost an epic amount of weight since – it was what, 30KG if I’m not mistaken. Good job!

The beautiful red gerberas that my then-boyfriend surprised me with.

I love them!

 

Having my family right there in Australia as we speak made me feel a little nostalgic, especially browsing through the photos of their having a jolly good time there.

Ergo, the nostalgia led to this flashback post.

I realized I didn’t quite complete the pages of my ‘The Australian Diaries‘ life log. I have two more chapters, but here’s one today before the final one.

 

The living room is where I usually sit – I hate being all cooped up in my room.

I’m still like that till this very day. I’m hardly ever in my room!

 

My tiny little room in the student residence!

Excuse the horrid mess. I was crafting an anniversary present for my then-boyfriend.

Seeing that surprised smile on his face was super worth it! 😀

 

Oh and when in Australia, the vehicle plates intrigued me. Oops

Here, we don’t get to choose our registration number on our cars, the Road Transport Department does. (That’s RTA for you Aussies!) Car registration plates follow a strict, standardized algorithm.

Even if we do get to choose, it’s a pretty limited choice from the rare selection of vanity plates like SUKOM, G1M, BAMBee as they are only launched during special events held in Malaysia and you’ll have to spend thousands of Ringgit on it.

The only cool ones I’ve seen here are WWW, WTF, PEN, DAD or the numbers 8055 which looks like BOSS, KI55 which looks like KISS, MAF14 which looks like MAFIA, PAR15 which looks like PARIS and pardon me for this but.. PEN15 which looks like..

I’ll leave that for you to decipher 😉

Pretty lame, I know. But that’s the way things work here.

 

But look at some of the cool personalized ones I spotted when in Australia!

 

IMK1NG? I know you are King.

YUUUUU. Me?

OBAMA 1? Hello Mr. President!

You’re tasty? I’m Juicy. Nice to meet you.

 

Looking at all my old Aussie photos made me realize that I finally have the answer to the one question that I keep getting asked all the freakin’ time:

 

‘Where did you learn how to cook so well?”

I cook well? Really? I don’t think so… my expertise is only in clean meals/healthy food now; only I cook those by instinct. I don’t think I know how to cook anything else by instinct, unfortunately. Undecided

I mean, sure, I CAN cook sinful, unhealthy food but only if I follow a recipe book perhaps?

 

Coming from a person who knew nothing about cooking when I was growing up, I’m surprised I ended up a fairly good cook. Can you believe I never touched neither a frying pan, an oven (or basically any crockery) nor raw food until I was 20 or 21? Surprised

But anyway, the answer to the question is – Australia did this to me.

Everything was so expensive in Australia (no thanks, conversion rates!) and I would end up paying 3X the amount there than I would back home.

For example, a packet of Nasi Lemak would cost RM45. Ugh!

So I did as any human being would when left with no choice. I adapted.

 

Thus begins my foray of experimenting in the kitchen.

 

Trust me, it was a lot of trial and error. I cook really random sh*t that comes to mind.

Even till now, I have never used a recipe book in my life!

So when you guys ask me for recipes for the clean meals I post on Instagram, I really only have one answer – there was no recipe to begin with! Unless I create one…hmmm.

 

Whole roasted chicken with baked veggies on the side.

 

Back to the story.

So yes, in 2011, for the very first time in my life, I cooked.

Yes, I cooked and I cooked. Sure, I might suck at it being a first-timer, but I still cooked. AND COOKED. A lot. Practice makes perfect. Laughing

 

Here are some of the meals I made when in Australia! Be forewarned that some of it tasted less than desirable. Yell

Excuse the newbie chef. These were all cooked 3 years ago!

 

Pizza with a lot of nonsense as toppings.

What’s with this picture? I don’t know either.

I think it was just another one of my cooking candids.

Spaghetti bolognaise on study nights.

Erin and I making dinner!

Baked chicken on lazy nights.

Vegetable stew.

Sushi roll nights with Bardha.

Beef tacos!

Vegetable penne bake!

I don’t know what this is. Some kind of chicken wrapped in lettuce I randomly made.

But we sure enjoyed it. At least I know Verity liked it!

Shepard’s Pie. Don’t chide me for how it looks; I don’t even know how to make it!

Here’s the making of it. I just felt like eating Shepard’s Pie so I just attempted one LOL

Pasta bake! Yum yum.

Credits go to buddyTodd for teaching me to make my first pasta bake!

Well actually he told me he wanted to make it and I said, “OMG let me help!”

And the rest was history.

Behind the scenes.

We made the entire thing from scratch;

all the way from Woolworths to the kitchen and onto everyone’s plates!

So happy it turned out fantastic!

Another dish I’d like to give credit to. A popular Greek dish, the Melitzanes Papoutsakia.

I’m really good at making this now, all thanks to my then-boyfie!

And one time when he was in class, I surprised him by making it all on my own! 😀

Here’s another version that we made together on another night.

Verity and I cooking dinner one night!

To my best memory, I think it was beef stir-fry with white wine!

Lemon spring chicken with noodles.

(What kind of odd combination is this LOL)

Herbal chicken ramen soup I made when the exboyfie was sick.

Baked rice with tuna & vegetables!

Simple breakfast toast with scrambled eggs and beans.

 

And there will be times where I would miss Malaysian food so much that I’d end up miserably attempting to cook it.

Don’t expect Nasi Lemak or Laksa. Haha! That’s apparently very hard to make… and I’ve never tried! Foot in Mouth

 

Maggi Goreng!! My first attempt. I loved it so much that I made another plate.

The Malaysian in me reveled in delight and went to heaven LOL.

 

 Nasi Goreng Ayam Kampung! Not bad right!?

I made it look triangular too.

 

Apart from cooking, I baked a lot. A whole lot. Big Smile

I baked so much that my friends and I ended up getting baked by baking a bake-inducing kind of brownie too. For the uninitiated, they are called space brownies, that’s right.

Hey if it’s legal in Amsterdam, it should be legal everywhere in the world too muahahahaha. 

 

Baking my favorite Oreo Cheesecake!

 

Fresh off the oven! Putting it into the fridge to let it cool overnight.

 

 It was so delicious and all of us finished it in less than a day!

Damn. Looking at these photos makes me wanna bake this exact one again.

 

I bake cookies too! Excuse the oddly shaped ones as I took them outta the oven too soon.

These were the first batch.

 

Chocolate-Vanilla cake!

 

Made a chocolate fudge cake with walnuts.

 

The making of it was super duper fun too!

 

It was so fun that our housemate random wanted to join in.

He’s from China by the way! (I forgot your name sorry but I think I have you on Facebook?)

 

 Due to past experience, I fear my hungry buddies whenever I leave something delicious to cool on the kitchen counter. Hence the warning note LOL

 

 All done! It looks so delicious and chocolatey I feel like making this one again too.

 

My buddies and I cooked a lot more but I reckon they’ve already found their way into individual blog posts in The Australian Diaries.

Oh and apart from cooking, here are some of the restaurants that I didn’t end up blogging about too.

 

 Sergio’s Cake Shop in Sydney!

CouzzieKristy used to work here part-time while she was still a student.

 

A popular Mediterranean restaurant in Melbourne – Stalactites – along Lonsdale Street.

The interior decor of stalactites filled with, obviously, stalactites!

 

 Lamb Giros Souvlaki and the Mixed Dip (tarama, melitzanosalata, tzatziki & hommus) with Pita.

I don’t remember what the dessert was.

 

 A beautiful restaurant in our guesthouse atop Mount Buller in winter!

Full blog post on our winter trip: here

 

 I absolutely loved my stay at Pension Grimus on the Victorian Alps.

 

And last but NEVER the least, if it’s anything I miss about Australia the most…

 

It’s the KFC Double Down.

 

And that, dearest readers, carries enough weight to abruptly end this post LOL.

Take it from me (and all the Australians!) the Double Down IS GODLIKE. Hit with Ball

Actually despite how yummy it was, that was just an excuse. I’m signing off only because I desperately need to hit the sack and that annoying chiming notification telling me my laptop is low on battery.

Goodnight! 😀

 

 

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Throwback: Thailand holiweek! My shopping haul in Bangkok… rescued by my credit card!

June 29, 2013 by thejessicat

Exactly last year today, Konzy and I were in Thailand for a week-long holiday.

We covered two places – Phuket and Bangkok. As far as I can remember, it was perfect yet relatively agonizing towards the end. You shall see why in a bit!

I was re-organizing my photo albums in my computer just yesterday and found that I haven’t blogged anything about our Thailand trip. 

There were so many things we did, but here are the five things we did in Thailand as a start!

1. Phang Nga Bay

We went kayaking at the famed Phang Nga Bay included in our island-hopping tour,

did some cave canoeing and swam in the Andaman Sea.

Got to see James Bond island in Phuket with our very own eyes there!

2. Phuket Safari Tour

We got driven on a ox cart around the villages, checked out rice farming, rode buffalos,

watched monkeys perform for us and also rode on top of elephants!

3. Baiyoke Tower

We had drinks at the skybar of Baiyoke Skybar, atop Thailand’s tallest, most scenic hotel in Bangkok!

I couldn’t stop enthusing over the marvellous view of the city at night.

4. Wat Saket

We hiked more than 318 steps up the Golden Mountain Temple to the rooftop of Wat Saket!

And of course, we also headed to the very, very popular Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Recognized as the world’s largest weekend market, I made sure we didn’t give this a miss! wink

5. Chatuchak Weekend Market

Getting there was difficult as there were hoards and hoards of people; even spilling out to the main roads!

Speaking of shopping at Chatchak Weekend Market, here’s an agonizing story I’d like to share.

surpriseKonzy and I completely ran out of cash on our final two days in Bangkoksurprise

Why? Here’s the problem. We didn’t want to over-exchange our money neither did we want to under-exchange so we exchanged what we estimated would be enough for a week in Thailand for the both of us.

Evidently, we were wrong.. as we didn’t change enough local currency!crying

Silly us didn’t think of bringing extra Ringgits along and neither did we bring our ATM cards.

We just went with all the Thai baht we thought would suffice – well it did, until our last two days. Bah.

Blame it on the innumerable massages we went for per day, everyday!

Our last two days in Bangkok were so tough! cryingcrying

Not only were we limited in our options on what to do and where to go, as most of the activities we wanted to do only accepted cash, we were strapped for cash in hand and lived like a pauper with the meagre Thai Baht we had remaining.

Chatuchak Weekend Market obviously, only accepted cash!

On the final day, I could no longer take not enjoying our holiday the way we should, so I did what I had to do to enjoy our last day to the maximum.

I used to my credit card to cash out Thai baht from my hotel.

That was the only way we could have access to any Thai baht! Thank goodness for credit cards.

WIth the help of my credit card, I was able to *finally* have the local currency that we needed so badly. Needless to say, we had a fantastic time in Chatuchak street-marketplace. laugh

I got to buy a lot of bikinis!

I got to have my favorite homemade, coconut ice cream!

I was a happy girl that afternoon. Yum!

Some gadgets that Konzy got to buy!

I got myself a manicure!

I think we bought something from this cowboy-inspired store. A hat, perhaps?

He played a song for us! With cash-in-hand now, we managed to spare him some loose change as a tip too!

I got to buy some cute souvenirs for my buddies back home (and one for myself!).

I got to eat street food just before we left to the airport!

Watching as he makes my Siamese egg-pancake delicacy.

It was cool how he cooked and rolled them all so swiftly!

What’s Asia without its street food, eh? laugh

Clearly, having a credit card was so useful in our sticky situation and I was thankful that I owned a one. I had no idea my credit card would be used to “rescue” me in emergencies like this! yes

On other days and non-emergency situations, like using my credit card for my daily expenditure, I even get rewards, cashback and privileges by spending with my credit card! Such a bang for a buck, no?

At least, you’re getting lots of things out of it when you swipe or spend with your credit card.

Though I’m not much of a fan of credit cards, with the right discipline in money matters, owning a credit card gave me all the convenience I needed. 

Half of my shopping haul from Thailand! And I paid all of them by cash on the last day. Phew!

The golden question. Now, which credit card suits your lifestyle best?

Trust me, there are gazillions out there offering so many different perks! I used to be spoilt for choice wondering which credit card would benefit me the most and at times when I didn’t want to resort to asking annoying credit card salesmen for opinions, I had about ten different tabs open on my internet browser trying to compare the credit cards offered by different banks.

Thankfully, I was recently introduced to a really useful site to help me find out the answers I need!

Enter: www.iMoney.my

Use iMoney to find out which credit card best befits the nature of your spending and lifestyle, expenditure-wise.

It gathers information across the web which then allows you to know your options and compare them before you spend your money.

Ergo, you get to see things from a broader perspective! With iMoney, you get to compare and contrast all credit cards so you are much wiser in picking the best one for yourself.

This way, you will know exactly what you will be in for when you apply for a credit card.

iMoney does all the work in giving you a wide overview on what’s available and presents an objective comparison between all your plausible options.

Why didn’t anybody tell me this earlier? angryangry

Hope it helps you just as much as it did me. wink

Before I go, always remember to spend less, save more, and don’t get ripped off!

Will continue blogging about my Thailand holiweek trip soon! heart

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For more $$$ information $$$ on iMoney.my, you can:

Log on to their official website at: www.iMoney.my

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Hi! Welcome to TheJessicat.com - an urban lifestyle blog established since 2005, written from the perspective of a Malaysian blogger. Discover the latest and all that the city has to offer! Do bear with her occasional rants & musings though. Happy reading! ❤

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