Corgi & The Gang Pet Cafe at Mount Erskine

    I have heard about Corgi & The Gang Pet Cafe. It is so far the only cafe that allows pet dogs (to enter) that I have known of. I had decided to experience the atmosphere by bringing my pet toy poodle.

    At first, when I entered the cafe, there was a glass door followed by a low gate, and a few friendly dogs welcoming me. I picked a seat nearby the entrance and allow my pet toy poodle to wander around. To my surprise, when one of the dogs came to greet her, she was so terrified that she jumped on the seat. A waiter there played a huge role comforting her. After some comforting and coaxing, she was finally able to relax, but not completely, at least she was able to chase around with other dogs. There was a "dog hotel" at the far end of the cafe, and as expected from a cafe that allows pet dogs to enter, the cafe sells dog food as well. As a cafe, it had a limited choices of food, but the foods were not filling. On the left of the entrance was the dog grooming room, but no one was using it at the moment.

    It was a pleasure to see her having fun with other dogs, and seems like she made a friend–– a dog in pampers kept following her around. I had expected that this cafe would have a good business since pets are allowed, in which most restaurant forbid, however there were not many customers, perhaps at the moment.

Fettes Park Sin Nam Huat Chicken Rice

I love chicken rice and it is the steamed chicken that I loved the most—the taste of smooth chicken skin against the tongue along with the taste of sweet-and-salty [butter] rice always gives me a pleasant feeling. However, not all chicken rice shops provide that combination.

In the case of Fettes Park Sin Nam Huat Chicken Rice, even though they don't have steamed chicken, its butter rice is the best amongst the nearby rivals. Fettes Park Sin Nam Huat Chicken Rice's roasted chicken accomodates the taste of steam chicken, with its smooth and delicious meat underneath the semi-rough skin. I am a frequent customer of this chicken rice shop myself and I never feel tired of eating in this shop. Thus, my dear fellow readers, I highly recommend you to have a try at Fettes Park Sin Nam Huat Chicken Rice.

Thai Odyssey

I've heard about That Odyssey through banners and this was the first time I've been there. 

First, the massage therapist washed my feet with sand, I assume, and soap on a medium-sized basin with large black pebbles. There was a small switch beside her. Next, she invited me to enter the massage room and after I lay down, she offered me a cup of tea. Third, she handed me a one-foot ice pouch. The coldness of the ice pouch felt cooling and relaxing against my eyes. My head was uncomfortable with the pillow she asked me to rest my neck. However, after quite some time, the uneasy feeling become comfortable as she massaged my feet. The massage therapist massaged every inch of my feet.  It was the same way as how my father massage my ankle— she gives painful "shocks" (as my father would call it). According to my father, the shocks are done in order for good blood circulation. "Shocks" occur when joints are frequently being rubbed against. Fourth, when the massage therapist massaged my toes, she pulled them to give snapping sounds; just like how people "crack their knuckles". Fifth, she massaged my calves and then she moved on to my shoulders.

When massaging my shoulders, the massage therapist bent my hand over the back of my head and gently kneed my back in order to massage the back shoulders. It gave a painful but a pleasant feeling of muscle relaxation. 

The treatment was a pleasant experience. Sometimes I'm glad I injured my ankle before, and so I was used to the "shocks" made by the massage therapist. Thai Odyssey gave a good service as advertised, I recommend audiences to go Thai Odyssey for a massage as well.

Travelling in Sydney

I have been in Sydney for a week now. There are so many new experiences such as the courtesy of the drivers; they immediately allow pedestrians to cross even when there is no pedestrians' traffic light.

Next is the train. I tap off at a  post for the train fee with my Opal Card, but when I tap off at my destined station, no fee was deducted since I had boarded the bus 8 times.

Third is the free water service. The restaurants I have went so far all provide self-service for drinking water. This, I should say, is the most unique service of one of a kind.

After dinner, I was on my way home when a public show caught my attention. I became one of the audiences there, but soon enough after their warm-ups, they began picking out a few audiences. One of the performers squeezed in and stood behind me. He then shoved me out of the crowd. I became the center of attention. I watched in amusement as the participants before me danced along with the performers. 

"Where are you from?"

"Malaysia,"

"Alright! Let's cheer for Malaysia!" The crowd cheered and clapped.

"I'm from China and you're from Malaysia, but we won't do Gangnam Style," he laughed. "So just copy him."

I signaled him to wait for me to keep my essentials possessions in my bag. My face turned redder with each possession he exclaimed. As I imitated him, he kept on kindly reminded me to relax, and the crowd laughed everytime.

The performers gathered us participants together to perform one last move before we leave. He sent his partners around to collect money; a few gave $20 and he also demanded from us. A new participant gave $10. When he turned to me, I showed them my pocket, "I have no money." One of them brought me my bag and waited. I fished out 1-dollar coin and they waved it off. I was placed at the most risky position as a result. "Since you wanted to give 1-dollar, I place you here. If he didn't make it, you might die," he smirked. But the performer did, and I left with a huge smile on my face.

My Driving Course

Yesterday, I turn full 17 and it is time for me to start learning driving today.

    I waited in front of the Cathay Driving School at 9:20 and a man with a red shirt parked his Perodua car behind of a big black car. I thought he was just parking his car there, then I realised he was the person that will drive me and another three students to the driving school. They were 2 Chinese and a Malay, who rode the car with me to a carpark in Georgetown, Bayan Lepas. Then he switched his shift with a lady. The lady drove us to a JPJ building, somewhat like a local school entrance. We entered the building, scanned our ICs and got our materials for the course. The class was meant to start at 9:30, since the driving course teacher had not arrived yet, so we waited till 10 am. The driving course teacher was an entertaining Malay teacher, (who wore a striped, white long sleeve collar shirt, with a striped light blue tie) but it was all Greek to me, because I stopped learning Malay since last year.

   I took the theory test after returning from my journey. I was surprised to meet one of my former school friends there. Before entering the exam room, the invigilator took a photo of each of us through her webcam camera. I entered the exam room and took the test. The test had three sections and I double-checked all my answers from each section. Soon after I finished my exam, I was given the report, showing that I passed the test.

    I was taught to drive by an instructor and I took the practical driving test 10 sessions later. I failed the first practical test when I failed to park correctly. The examiners were correcting me, but sadly, it was all Greek to me and I did not understand what I did wrong. I retook the test on Thursday (it does not matter if I skipped the whole day of school, since the day is mostly study periods) and finally passed the test. 3 days later, I went back to Cathay Driving School to collect my license. Alas! I could finally drive a car on the road! Of course, my mother had to supervise me while I drive, since I am just a beginner.

A Great Residential Trip to Indonesia

Experience learning trip

    It is my first time traveling in a plane with my friends to a country with a different time zone. The time zone in Indonesia is 1 hour behind. I spent my first meal on McDonald's, which only costed RM11.50. The filet o'fish meal was tasty as usual. A set meal I bought; with Hash browns and a bottled water. I decided to pass my time on the one-hour flight by start writing a travel diary for leisure. I hope this diary could be useful in my future schoolwork, if any.

    Anyway, I realized I messed up my intention by buying my first bottled water before entering the waiting lounge. Before entering the waiting lounge, I had to pass through the security check, which made me finish the bottle of water immediately. During the flight, I bought another bottled water, which costed RM3 for very small bottle. I wondered whether they allowed a refill.

    On the way to the hostel in the hazy day, the bus passed through the suburban road, and I saw motorcyclists not wearing helmets, most roadside sellers not wearing mask as well as railroad tracks beside the road. There were huge satellite dishes connected to small village homes. Some satellite dishes had antennas that were supported by one or two drinking bottles filled with dark sand. What a brilliant piece of architecture! We checked into the hostel in the evening. In the hostel, insects such as cockroaches and moths invaded, constantly sparking the shouts from my friends. We met a playful dog in the haze of 400 API. One of the dog's eyes had turned blue and I suspected it could only see with the other eye. I wonder whether the dog was lucky that the eye turned blue. On the other hand, I felt pity for the dog that it could only use one eye.

    In the next morning, the haze worsen to about 600 API, and curious monkeys sneaked into rooms and surprised some of my friends. I saw a man with a stick in his hand that looked like a baton. He was protecting the rooms against the sneaky monkeys from pinching travelers' possessions. Next, we settled into a nice hotel. I had a stroke of luck–– I was given a room all for myself. Unfortunately, I could only stay for a night. My friends and I visited the Japanese tunnel. Its architecture was simply astonishing that the cave had not collapsed after being preserved for ages. The tunnel felt like the trench in the Vietnamese Trench Warfare during Vietnam Civil War between democratic and communist parties.
    We settled into a comfortable hotel at Bukit Tinggi. During dinner, Mr. North announced that with the haze growing worse to about 800 API, we had to shorten our trip duration and return to Padang the next day, to catch the next available flight back to Penang. At night, I shuddered at sight of the number of moths attracted to a large head lamp from the high wall of the hotel. They seemed like bees swarming around a bee-hive. I attempted to capture the sight with my phone, but was warned by Mr. North.

    The next day, the haze was still bad. I stood in front of the window and I could not see the view 50 meters away. One of my friends pointed out that there was a large moth about the size of my hand hanging from a red table cloth. It was the biggest moth I had ever seen compared to the swarm I saw the previous night. The swarm of moth previous night had disappeared. They were dead either stuck on the window or on the floor. The lives of moths were so short, that they died overnight. I saw no point of fighting over the need of light. After breakfast, my friends and I had to wait for some time because a few friends overslept and we dragged on. We had to leave this place as soon as possible to Padang before we suffer from the haze. On the way, I was astonished by the old railway tracks beside the road. Several years, railway must have been an important transportation for the people here. An hour later, we arrived at a three star Ibis Hotel, which I considered it as five-star. In there, we would be spending our last two days of the trip.
    The small bathroom in the guest room had a curved and unique door, which could not be locked. The lock and the gap was incongruous which the staffs were probably unaware of and had not fixed it. However, the toilet had two huge and beautiful grey flush buttons. The hand shower was a long, thick grey stick with a tail connected to the wall. The floor of the shower room was not elevated enough to prevent the leaking of water. It felt like having leisure in Star Cruise. The dining hall was huge with a keyboard-piano at one corner. The dinner at Ibis Hotel was delicious. I had chicken drumstick and rice for dinner. It was the best meal I had so far. Settling in this hotel on Tuesday was not part of our trip plan; we were meant to stay in this hotel on Wednesday, but because of the haze, all of the outdoor activities we planned to perform at the stay in Echo Hotel, such as water rafting, was cancelled, and the duration of the trip would be shortened by a day.

    My friends and I went to the basement to await for the arrival of the doctor. I had two huge glass of delicious strawberry milkshake. I bought a big bag of bread, mistakenly thought it as a bag with separate packets, and two bottles of pop; a coke and Sprite soda at a shop nearby.
  The doctor checked by measuring blood pressure and gave suitable medication to those who suffered from the haze. During my friends' check-up with the doctor, I joked with one of them that if I gave the patient a shock, his blood pressure would increase.

    I was given the permission to play the keyboard-piano, encouraged by my Dutch friend Felipe to play louder. I played on behalf of my classmates, hoping to impress other hotel guests. Although there was not many activities to perform, I wanted this trip with the stay at this perfect hotel to last forever. It was the best hotel I had stayed among all the residences in the trip.

    Whether the haze was getting better or worse, I felt the urge to fly away from this country as soon as possible to return to my blue-skied county-town. However, there was a delay when the bus fell sick, and we had to be exposed to the haze for a few more minutes. The bus might have caught a cold during the night. Thankfully, the haze was not as bad as before, so being exposed to the haze was not all to say dangerous.
   The restaurant must be having a good business, that one of my friends reported because he ordered the food first but late incoming customers got their food first.

A funny misunderstanding

    One day, my mom and I went to Gurney Plaza to watch a movie. No sooner after we entered the mall when she noticed that she forgot to take her jacket from the car, and asked me to retrieve it for her. So I headed back towards the car and a driver pulled up, thinking that I was leaving the parking spot since I was heading towards the right side of my car. In here, the driving position is on the right. When I returned to the mall, after obtaining the jacket from the car, the driver must be thinking, "Ceh, he is only taking a jacket from the car, not intending to leave the parking spot." It was a funny misunderstanding that I could not forget, because she mistaken me as an adult.