Mini-moon in KL

Since we decided on our wedding date back in January, I knew that I'll have tonnes of things to do within the month of December and I'll probably need to take the whole month off work. Very thankful that my bosses were considerate and helped to work things around so that I could marry-in-peace. =P Unlike others, even though we had one year to prepare for the wedding, there were a lot of things that we could only do when he gets here. The 2 main missions that we had to complete before the wedding was marriage registration and pre-wedding photoshoot. 

I'll do another blog post about the marriage registration procedures coz it's quite troublesome to marry a foreigner and we had to make a trip to KL before we could commence the actual marriage registration procedures in Penang. So instead of flying directly to Penang, Daniel booked his flight from US to KL while I flew down from Penang to meet him. Not knowing how long it would take for us to complete the procedures in KL, we gave ourselves one week in KL and also had our 'mini-moon' before flying back to Penang.  

2 Dec 2013 (Monday): After landing at LCCT, I had about 1.5 hours to spare before Daniel's flight lands in KLIA at 9.30am. I'm not a die-hard TVB fan but I knew that some TVB artists were in town over the weekend and should be flying back to HK that morning. Here come my 'paparazzi' skill. =P I had a quick look at the departure information for that morning and saw that there's a Cathay Pacific flight to HK at 10.30am so I knew that there's a possibility that I'll bump into them at the departure hall if my guess was correct. When I got to the departure counter for Cathay Pacific, I saw some fans and reporters waiting around so I was pretty certain that they will arrive soon and had my camera in video mode ready to be a 'paparazzi'. 

After waiting for about an hour, we finally saw them arriving and walked into the arrival hall. In fact, I was only interested to see Captain Cool coz I didn't know whoelse came to Malaysia...haha!! Chilam was the first to walk in and I just followed in front of him and took videos, like a paparazzi. =P He was nice enough to stop and stand there for 5 minutes for the fans to take picture with him. Since everyone was too busy helping their friends to take photos, I decided to take a selca with him...hahaha...cool right? I continued stalking him as he was checking-in while the others went to stalk other artists. As I was leaving, I managed to get a glimpse of some other artists. What an interesting start for my KL trip. =)

Done with my ad hoc paparazzi work, time to get back to my real work of greeting my VIP - the fiance who just arrived after traveling for more than 24 hours across the globe.  =P It's been a year since the proposal trip last December...happy to be reunited again. =D We were planning to go to the US Embassy to get his a single status affidavit but it was too late when he got out of the immigration so first day was a rest day to get over his jet lag. 

Western food for dinner at Souled Out.

3 Dec 2013 (Tues): Drove around all day to different offices. From the US Embassy, to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and National Registration Department in Putrajaya. Very successful day coz we managed to get everything done in a day. I was impressed by the efficiency of the government departments coz I thought all these procedures would take a week. Thanks for proving me wrong. =)

Korean food for dinner at Jal Dae Ji.

4 Dec 2013 (Wed): Chillax day coz we were done with our main task in KL. It's time for local food after feasting on international cuisines over the past 2 days.

Vietnamese food for dinner at Sao Nam.

5 Dec 2013 (Thurs): Met up with Joshua & Shalinni for lunch at 1U then shopped for Daniel's shirt and pant for the wedding...our 'annual' shopping date.

6 Dec 2013 (Fri): Since we didn't have time for honeymoon, we had our mini-moon in KL. Thanks to Marriott for the free night in JW Marriott KL. Also thanks to Ali for giving me the tips on getting this free stay. =P I mentioned briefly about our mini-moon when I made the booking online and the hotel surprised us with this complimentary cake and chocolates to celebrate our 'honeymoon', thank you JW Marriott. =) 

Pavilion was right across the street...extremely convenient.  

Chinese food for lunch at Din Tai Fung.

American food for dinner at TGIF. 

If you haven't noticed, we basically squashed 1 year's worth of dates into a week. =P 
"When you only have a limited amount of time with a person, you learn to appreciate and cherish every single moment you have with them."

7 Dec 2013 (Sat): Since we had some time to spare before boarding our flight back to Penang from Subang airport, I decided to try out the flight simulator for Boeing 737 at SimFlight KL. I successfully crashed on my first landing...hahaha!! In fact, the pilot beside me was the one controlling the plane coz I was just focused on trying to stay on the dot...lol!!

This was the Airbus 320 simulator, more expensive than Boeing and it looks nicer for photos. Good that they allowed us to take photos in it. =P

Mission accomplished in KL, time to fly back to Penang with my fiance! =P 

1314 一生一世

Happy New Year 2014!!! I've finally had time to take a breather after running around for the wedding all December. Time for a quick recap of the past year. Personally, I think that 2013 continued to ride on the 'Amazing' wave of 2012 to be a great year, no Amazing Race but extraordinary in a different way.

Jan: Kick-started my cuti-cuti-China year with a trip to Beijing for leisure with bro followed by Shanghai for work. 

Feb - May: First half of the year was all work and no play but it's all worth it to know that all the hard work is being appreciated. Good colleagues, good bosses, reasonable workload, work-life balance...whatelse can I ask for. =P

June: 2nd China trip of the year...a week-long trip to Nanning, Guilin, and Yangshuo with mom & dad.

July: 3rd China trip of the year...10-days trip to Yunnan province. Visited Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-la, and Kunming with mom & dad. 

Sept: 4th China trip of the year...week-long trip to Beijing for work followed by a family trip to Sabah. 

Oct: Traveled to Bangalore, India for work. 

 Nov: 5th China trip of the year...traveled to Suzhou for work. Very thankful for all the opportunities to travel overseas for work this year. =)

Dec: The BIG month...officially Mrs. Clements. =P Will share more about the wedding in the next few posts.

That's all for now. Lots of things for me to blog about the wedding...gonna take some time. Anyway, 2013 had been great and I'm looking forward to 2014 as I step into a new chapter of life (kinda). =P

Shanghai 6.0

Back to blog-sphere again after my 1-month hiatus. November had been a busy month at work coz I had a mission to complete, i.e. to finish all my work before I go on leave for the whole month of December. Mission is accomplished and I'm now chillin' in the hotel while working on wedding prep stuffs, still lots more to do but at least I've got this whole month off to work on it. =P Before I move on to blog about wedding prep stuffs, I shall blog about my last overseas work assignment for the year earlier this month. 

5th trip to China this year...2013 has definitely been my cuti-cuti China year. The 2-year China visa that I made for China Rush has been put into good use. 
Jan 2012: Shanghai
Feb 2012: Shanghai
April 2012: Shanghai, Yangcheng, Suifenhe, Yanji, Pinghu, Moganshan, Huangshan, Nanjing, Chengdu
Sept 2012: Shanghai
Jan 2013: Beijing, Shanghai
June 2013: Nanning, Guilin, Yangshuo 
July 2013: Dali, Mt Yulong, Lijiang, Shangri-la, Kunming
Sept 2013: Beijing
Nov 2013: Shanghai, Suzhou

7-9 November 2013: Suzhou Work Trip

Stayed in Renaissance Shanghai Zhongshan Park Hotel & Suzhou Marriott Hotel. Magnificent 'polluted' view of both cities...lol!!

Was too lazy to do any sightseeing so I spent most of my free time bumming in the hotel. =P

Took a direct airport shuttle from Suzhou to Pudong airport for only RMB 84...very convenient. 

As compared to the empty flight from KL to Shanghai, the flight back was totally full. It's a wrap for overseas traveling in 2013. =)

India 1st Experience...Bangalore

Counting down 2 more months before 2013 ends...how has your year been? As for me, even though 2013 hasn't been as extraordinary as 2012, it has been a pretty good year so far. I've had the chance to travel a pretty good bit for both work and leisure, especially in the second half of the year. I've been infected by the travel bug so as long as I get to travel somewhere new every year, I'm a happy kid. =P 

I know I've said this over and over again but I really do count my blessings for all the opportunities to travel overseas for work. I always blog about my trips not to show-off but for my own records and for me to remember the places that I've been to and the things that I've experienced. My blog is like my own encyclopedia, a good back-up for my Dory memory. 

23-29 October 2013: Bangalore Business Trip

My destination...Bangalore...first time stepping on Bollywood land. =)

Met up with Rachel during my transit in Changi to be 'postwoman' to Shanghai. Thanks Rae for the Singapore immigration stamp...lol! Travelled twice via Changi last year and dumb dumb me juz found out about this transit voucher thingy now. Better late than never. =P

4-hours flight from Singapore to Bangalore. Found out that Kingfisher is brewed in Bangalore. Not a good idea having it in the flight when I had to stay up 2.5 hours more due to time difference. First time realizing that there are actually places with .5 time difference, I always thought time difference is on the hour. Watched a documentary about Hallyuwood, and yes I've been swept by K-wave...lol! =P

Landed at Bangalore airport at 10pm (12.30am Malaysia time) and we were greeted by Leela's staff who then led us to the 5-series that brought us to the hotel. 

The Leela Palace. This hotel is so huge it took about 10 minutes for me to walk from the lobby through all these corridors to get to my room.

Niceeee room!! Absolutely what I needed after a long tiring journey. =)

This is how we travel to work everyday...Rolls-Royce & BMW. =P 

Hahaha...I wished!! This cute lil' thing is what we used to travel to work everyday. This auto-rickshaw is pretty cool right? Honestly, it's so much better to travel on these than a car with the horrible traffic there. It's so cheap and convenient! But depending on the driver's skill, it could turn into an exciting roller-coaster ride. That's why the company policy in India disallow its employees to travel by rickshaw. =P 

Our PW office in Bangalore.

First dinner in Bangalore...I guess this is the most 'Indian' meal that I had throughout the trip. We had Korean, Chinese, and Western for the other dinners. =P

Spent my weekend chillin' in the hotel instead of doing any sightseeing.  

Went for a swim...gotta fully utilize the facilities of a 5-star hotel. =)

My weekend workstation. Absolutely enjoyed the 5-star service and amenities in this 'palace'...feeling like a royalty...lol!!

That's it for my Bangalore trip...basically my impression of Bangalore consist of The Leela Palace, rickshaws, 100ft Road, and helpful clients. =) I'll save Taj Mahal for the future. =P

Langkawi Getaway

15-16 October 2013 (Tues-Wed) ~ Langkawi Family Getaway

It's been 2 years since our last family trip to Sabah. Seems like our family trip has become a biennial 'event'...wished we could do these more often though. =P Big bro was the one who planned this trip and our main purpose was actually to stock up on some wine for the wedding. It was good that all of us managed to take leave for this short getaway. =)

It's been more than 20 years since grandma & grandaunt last visited Langkawi! 

Lotsa things may have change over the last 20 years but the eagle is still there. Of course we've gotta take a family pic with this iconic eagle. =P

Sunset at Dataran Lang.

Thanks Sheng for booking this 5-rooms villa for all of us. =) 

Gotta have a meal at Red Tomato every time we visit Langkawi. =P

Krabi...Same Same But Different?

4-6 Oct 2013 (Fri-Sun) ~ "The Krabi Call" Annual Teambuilding Trip
It's the time of the year again for our firm's annual trip. This is already my 3rd annual trip with the firm, time really flies!! Our destination this time was Krabi...again. We were there 2 years ago and honestly, it didn't leave me with any good impression. For those who've been to Phuket & Krabi, you would have realized that these 2 places are pretty much the same and the only difference is that Phuket is much more happening. If given a choice, I'd rather go back to Redang instead. 

Unfortunately, this trip was handled by tour agents...again! =.= You know what my comment is about travel agents. Our trip 2 years ago was pretty much ruined by the annoying tour agent so it was another 'same-same' experience all over again. Apparently, all the organizers didn't get to experience the 'lulu' tour 2 years ago and decided to experience it for themselves this time around. Dear Gen-Y'ers...whY la engage in tour agents when we already know that 70% of the time they screw you up and you could have done a much better job yourselves?! The amount of money that the 2 tour agents earn could have been enough for all of us to stay in 5-star hotels...just sayin'. =P Anyway, my strategy this time was to stay away from the tour itinerary and spent most of my time chillaxing in the hotel. =)

Our hotel for 2 nights...Centara Anda Dhevi Resort & Spa. Since it was raining almost non-stop for the entire trip, I spent 80% of my time bumming in the hotel room. =)

Too bad we didn't get the pool view room but I hardly had any chance to sit at the balcony at all coz of the rain.

What 'great' timing for us to have this trip during the festive vegetarian season (a.k.a the rainy season). It was raining THE WHOLE TIME we were there...not exaggerating at all. Didn't even bother taking any nice pics with such gloomy weather. Worse still, we were stranded by the street one-freakin' hour standing and waiting for our bus in the rain to pick us up to the dinner place (which was half an hour away). It's not that I'm being judgmental about tour agents but they keep doing things to prove that they are lousy! =.=

After being stranded by the street the night before, I was more certain that I ain't gonna join the island hopping trip the next morning. So bro, SIL, and I ended up having a good time at the pool with our 2 new cute ang moh buddies before it started raining again. =) Thanks to the rain, I guess this was the first time ever that we didn't have any teambuilding activities in a 'teambuilding' trip...lol!! Good for me coz I couldn't afford to get tanned any more after being barbequed during my last Sabah trip. =P

Gotta have some good Thai food in Thailand...Pineapple Fried Rice & Tom Yummmmy!

Got these in an enveloped slipped through our hotel doors in the morning. Pretty impressed by the sub-committees' graphic design skills. I'm not even doing this much for my own wedding..."boh lui"...lol!! 

Goin' all RETRO for the annual dinner...Krabi Night Fever!! Night fever night fever...we know how to do it ~~~

Group pic to wrap up this trip!

Love this quote (I think I love the font more) but Mr. D doesn't quite agree in this statement. Buying property makes you richer also...haha!! My favorite quote for now is still "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." =)

Aight enough of venting. Busy months ahead for work and gotta plan for wedding. Will also be traveling for work end of this month so hopefully I'll get some time to blog about it. =P

We're the Champions!!

Here's a quick update of our inter-firm badminton competition 2 weeks ago. This is the 3rd year that I've been playing for the firm and unexpectedly, our team finally won the champion this year!! =) During my 1st year, we won 2nd and last year we lost in the first game. So this year's champion really came as a big surprise, not just for me but for everyone in the firm. 

I can't deny that lady luck was on our side this year. I was also very lucky this year coz our team cruised into the finals smoothly. Even though I was supposed to play women doubles and mixed doubles, I didn't have to play at all coz our team won 3-0 for the first 3 games so I only played in the finals...more exactly, the last 2 games in the finals. Absolutely nerve-wracking and stressful coz we lost the women doubles and the last deciding game was the mixed doubles. I admit...I'm only an amateur and our opponent was very good, and the points margin was very tight throughout the last game. It was even more stressful for me coz we got into the finals without me playing any games and I can't afford to lose the only 2 games that I played for this competition!! 

Anyway, it felt awesome to win the last game and it was great to see all the supporters coming together to cheer for us. =) Also thanks to my colleagues for taking all these pics.

Women doubles with Marianne. Haha...I looked kinda pro in the top right pic (slap)!! =P

Mixed doubles with Azhar. Since I'm not as good as the opponent's female player, our strategy was to give Azhar all the space he needed to play 'single' coz he's really good!! So basically, my job was to stay front and low...just like the bottom 2 pics...hahaha!! Ain't easy okay...my thighs and butt were sore for 3 days from all these squats...lol!! =P

It was pretty crazy the moment we won the game point coz all the supporters ran down to the court to celebrate...as if we won the Thomas cup...hahaha!! We've definitely got the best bunch of supporters on that day...this is what you call team spirit!!! =)

The awesome badminton players!! P.S. I look really tanned...how now brown cow??