2012 is coming to an end…and as usual the starting/ending of a year means hearing news about the passing of people in my life. I get in my emo mode whenever I hear about the passing of someone I used know. It just put things back into perspective for me…my life, the people I know, the ones I love. I question my priorities in life when I hear news like that and I never will know how to react appropriately to those news.

2012 is a year of crazy ups and downs, life is really a bitch like what they say. It has its sweet and loving moments but there were times where I got into the worst situations only to be faced with a “Bitch please, you think that’s all you’re gonna get? Wait till you see what’s next” slapped in my face. I’ve learnt so much this year in all areas and I’m bringing all that I’ve learnt in my transition to adulthood.

I’ve always believed that I am where I am to make a difference and with that in mind, I would as much as I can to make that difference significant in all I do, wherever I do it.

Had to take a crash course to survive – discouragement, disappointment, frustration, depression, loneliness – these few guys were living rent free in my head for months for longer than expected. During the troubled times, I was tested, many times and it was tough. My cake batter foamed and fluffed but sunk very quickly, yet I had no choice but to buck up and finish baking the cake. I  I learnt things I never did about the people around me – most things encouraging even though there were some things that I was disappointed to know. I’m very thankful I have God to count on especially in those crazy moments, I know what I went through has helped shape me to become a stronger person.

Flashback of some tips in life I’ve picked up in the past few months (just for the sake of keeping track of my life)

*Flash* It is necessary to stand up and fight for yourself because you’re the only one who could and would do that.

*Flash* Being nice may sometimes be seen as being weak and so it’s important to follow the rules, play by the book and accept what comes your way.

*Flash* Being loud(er) doesn’t mean you’re right and hearing nothing doesn’t mean your wrongs are not echoing all over the room.

*Flash* Self pity is absolutely irritating and should be avoided/ignored at all cause.

*Flash* Being focused on what matters most is more important – filter and roll, rinse and repeat.

*Flash* Snakes are on the plane, in your garden, on the loose. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

*Flash* Set goals that are achievable not just to achieve them but to surpass them.

*Flash* Be neutral = mediocre, be extreme = surprise yourself, blow your mind.

*Flash* Not one person is truly replaceable, every single person brings different values to an experience. Never take anyone in your life for granted.

*Flash* Fixing starts from within. Before all things, love and work on yourself first.

This is something I saw from Rihanna’s Instagram that I wholeheartedly agree. I may not agree with her image as a personality but this line got me writing pass my 3rd sentence in this blog post.

http://instagram.com/p/QPnx_mBM2X/

In all its good and horrible times, I’m thankful for 2012. I really am. I’m happy I’m alive, I have a great family, an amazing guy who loves me for who I am, really awesome friends and a lot to look forward to in life.

Day 2

Our original plan of Island hopping got cancelled because of the heavy morning rain. Had breakfast in the hotel, which I forgot to snap pictures of and we quickly made some last minute arrangements to go for a different tour. So instead of Island hopping, we decided to check out the famous Emerald Pool, Hot Springs and go elephant trekking.

The van of our tour agency picked us up from our hotel and we took an almost 40 minutes ride to the Hot Springs!

Upon arrival, we found the Hot Spring closed because of heavy rain the night before and that morning.  So we made a small detour to visit the Emerald Pool first…we had to walk about 1KM to reach said pool.

Along the way

Reaching soon!

Welcoming elephant

And in we go!

But not without a shot of ourselves first. The ground that we were standing on was really slippery as it’s covered with algae.

there you have it, the famous and beautiful Emerald Pool. The pool was absolutely gorgeous and I wished I could access a pool like that whenever I’m stressed out with work.

It started to rain again once we got in the pool so we had to get out for shelter before we continued swimming and snapping pictures.

Our tour guide helped snap some pictures of us! We look really happy in the pictures and I love it!

This particular part of the pool served as our back massager for a few minutes.

Weee!

Next up is hotsprings and elephant trekking. <3

For the longest time, we’ve been talking about going somewhere together, spend some quality time away from the crazy city of KL and just r.e.l.a.x. Months after we secured a decent deal from AirAsia’s sale and Agoda, we  finally planned a trip up to Krabi last week. It took us forever to just sit down and tried to work out a plan with work clogging every waking moment of our past few months.

Krabi was just going into a rainy season as we arrive, so it was pretty much a very wet trip.

We arrived at the airport to be greeted by a sign that says, Mr. Michelle. heh.

How thoughtful of them to prepare a sign just for him

We spent 5 days 4 nights at Krabi and here’s our original itinerary of this trip

Day 1 – Arrive, Book tours, Snoop around Aonang

Day 2 – Island hopping

Day 3 – Kayaking, Elephant trekking, Visit the Emerald Pool, Hot Springs, Krabi Night Market after that

Day 4 – Snooze and enjoy the hotel

Day 5 – Suffer post holiday syndrome

Day 1

Checked into Aonang Cliff Beach, I love this hotel so much for it’s value for money. Also helps that it’s strategically located in Aonang, you get easy access to restaurants, tour agencies, drug stores, clinics and places to splurge money at.

We stuck to our schedule on Day 1, braved the heavy rain and went around Aonang to explore the very wet place. Clumsy Nicgan had one side of his flip flop slide off and floated away in the heavy rain underneath the vans parked by the road and we had to chase for it. LOL.

Wendy recommended for us to try to Banana Nutella pancake on Twitter earlier the day so we ordered one from the stall by the street despite the heavy rain. It was an interesting dish and I didn’t mind spending some calories on it. However, I think it could be less oily.

Samurai Pork Burger from McD’s – this was on Nicgan’s must try list of food.

It was only average for me as I’ve had better pork burgers like from places like Ninja Joe’s, Wallop Burger and Kissaten.

Look at Nicgan, splurging his calories on this Samurai.

We came across this unique little coffee place right opposite our hotel, it’s called Coffee Arthit and they serve ALL DAY BREAKFAST. I am a sucker for places that serve breakfast all day. There is no excuse why every other cafe refuses to do that! Who set the rules of what kind of food one should have for breakfast, lunch or dinner?

By the looks of the interior, you know you’re in for some goood food dining here. We checked out some tour packages in the restaurant (because he was an agent for some tour companies too)  for the rest of our days and compared prices because we’re Asian (Malaysian….Chinese) like that.

The owner was so helpful to call for rates every time we asked him about a package so we felt bad and decided to order something from the place. We picked the Mango Sticky Rice dessert that was on his Specials board.

It was the most tastefully plated Mango Sticky Rice I’ve had. I also love the fact that he heated up the sticky rice before serving. Absolutely yummy.

We walked around a bit more after that to check out the F&B outlets around. The restaurant stretch opposite our hotel serves all sorts of food you can think of, but I’ll always want to go for street food and not pretentious Thai food from a restaurant. We found this noodle shop hiding in a corner of one of the alleys and decided to try a bowl of beef ball noodles.

Now this is the kind of food I love having in Thailand.

Ended the night with a food massage that eventually caused bruises to my shin the next day.

I’ll tryyyyy to blog about the next few days in Krabi.

If you were given a chance, what animal/living being superpowers would you want to get?

While eternal beauty has always been high on the priority list, I sometimes think having the license to eliminate scum bags of the world would do good for my sanity (and the world).

Road bullies, they annoy me and rape me of my luxury of having a peaceful journey back home yesterday, the day before yesterday, EVERY DAY.

Allow me to illustrate the vicious cycle of the not doing anything about the scumbags on the road.

Before : The Horror

After : The calm

So how bout that, keeper of all supernatural powers? Will you grant me that power?

We celebrated Valentine’s Day last night. It was a simple dinner we had and the day didn’t seem any much special to me, but it’s only because everyday feels like Valentine’s day to us. Watami serves pretty awesome and affordable Japanese food by the way. Will definitely be back for more.

Anyway, I’m up at this hour trying my luck logging into Air Asia’s crazy site and proceed to that next step of planning our getaway. We’ve been talking about it and finally decided (somewhat) on where and when to go. *fingers crossed*

—

On Whitney’s passing. I was really hoping the news of her passing was a hoax when i first found out about it on Twitter. I was in my bed, just about to start my Sunday when I saw tweets flooding in about the news.

I’ve always loved Whitney’s songs and admired her for having one of the best voices in the world.  I knew instinctively the lyrics to a number of her songs because I used to loop them. I thought I could sing damn well whenever I sang along to her songs (I bet I’m not the only one who thought that, it’s just like how we people think they can Wing Chun after watching Ip Man) I even have an illegally downloaded Techno remix of “I Will Always Love You” that I used to loop when working on assignments. I felt the same heaviness in my heart the time I found out about Michael Jackson’s death, I guess I felt that a part of my childhood left me with them leaving this world. I hope they rest in peace.

Speaking of childhood memories, I had the chance to catch a 3D version of Beauty and the Beast from Churp Churp. It brought back so much faint memories of my childhood. One particular memory I had was getting a spelling lesson from my parents and differentiating “H’s” and “A’s”. Believe it or not, I had problems writing the capital letter A when I was a kid, I just couldn’t close that gap between the 2 vertical strokes and my A’s looked like H’s. I strongly urge any 80’s baby to please rewatch the movie in 3D. The 3D effects made the story even more magical than it already is. I was squealing in the hall, bobbing my head throughout the movie and had a huge grin as I exit the hall, I kid you not.

Picture to end the post?

How about this? Since love is in season.

I wish I could send my brain waves straight into my sd card to pick up the images I’d want to blog about, and to photoshop to edit those photos and then right to the wordpress admin to blog about them.

A fraction of the snapshots from Gold Coast that I have yet to blog about ( or even post on Facebook).

The acts they bring in each year never fail to get me excited because I never thought I’d have the chance to catch them live in Malaysia, ever! Last year there was Sean Kingston, Mizz Nina…and this year, the awesome Taio Cruz will be performing alongside the chosen local music sensations Prema Yin and Dragon Red!

To be honest, I’m equally excited for Prema Yin’s and Taio Cruz’s performance that night. I’ve only seem and heard 1 of Prema Yin’s songs so far so it would be great to watch her perform her other songs live! I wanna see her dance! Woohoo!

When is the fun taking place?

Date: 23 September 2011 (Friday)
Time: 7 pm onwards
Venue: Speed City KL, Selangor Turf Club

Woohoo! I got my Black Chic Party Outfit on and I can’t wait to party!!

If you remember, I had a lot of fun last year at Arthur’s Day!

http://michellezyenn.com/2010/09/27/arthurs-day/

Please remind me to stay away from cameras this year..

Will you be joining me there this year? Please do but just point your camera towards the stage ogayyyy? ;P

Visit Guinness Malaysia’s Facebook Pags for more info on Arthur’s Day!

http://www.facebook.com/guinnessmalaysia

Been having long brown flat hair for over a year and I can’t stand the flatness of it!

So i finally decided to get it permed last week (right before my birthday!) I’ve been so caught up with work I forgot to be vain for the longest time.

I got a voucher from a group buying site and did my hair for quite a good deal! The only downside is I doubt I could go back to get my curls fixed cos some parts of my hair are too stubborn to go curly.

My hair looks more wavy than curly now and the only thing I could do besides loading up on sculpting lotion to try and make my curls stick…is to sleep in curlers to get well defined curls.

Love it and wish I have the time to do this at least once a week!

Do you remember how excited i was about the last MTV world stage??!?

This year around it’s going to be crazier and *cough* I’ll be going for it again! We had awesome Katy Perry & Wondergirls the last time around that got my and my brother really excited!

Here is why MTV World Stage 2011 is going to be FAB! The lineup speaks for itself.

30 SECONDS TO MARS
Are you serious? I can’t beleve these dudes are actually going to be performing here LIVE! The first time I got excited about 30Seconds to Mars was when Jared Leto hosted MTV Asia Awards! Jared is definitely in most girl’s book of celebrity crushes.

It’s like this.

1. Movie Star crush (Matured Men) – Johnny Depp

2. Young Movie Star crush (Boy becoming Man) – Ryan Reynolds

3. Rock Star – Adam Levine

4. Rock Star (eccentric (eyeliner) (omg i just did a bracket in a bracket *INCEPTION*)) – JARED LETO

5. Pop Artist – Justin Bieber (I did not state that this was my book!…(Well, it kinda is up point 5) Another bracket in a bracket *INCEPTION*))

30 seconds of Mars has always been one of my Must-Listen-To- Bands-When-Working because their music just pumps my adrenaline up a few notches. Did I mention how sexy it is when Jared starts to scream?

This is one of my favs from them – The Kill (Bury Me),quite an old song from them but my all time fav angsty song! I hope they’ll play it even thought it may not be their latest songs.

Check out the acoustic version here, not to be missed okay.

I know..I know..you want him now ladies but keep it together till their show!

NEON TREES

Oh Oh What are you waiting forrrrrrrr~ This is one those tunes that gets stuck in your head forever and it also blends well in your daily dramas of life. You know how there’s always background music to certain scenes in our favourite movies. THIS is THE song that plays in the background most of the time in my daily life.

Just imagine.

Happy times – You’re having an awesome day, you’re sipping awesome coffee…* Animal (The song) starts playing* You could instantly wrap yourself around the cheerful beat of the song. Happiness level increases. Nice.

Times of disappointment - You’re emotional, so emotional. You roll in bed till 12noon on a Saturday..then you look out the window. The rain is pouring. You look a little further and you see someone running towards a taxi. *Song starts to play* BOOM! You’re hit with a dose of encouragement to bring out the animal in you. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?~ At this point, you will be so encouraged you’re spring outta bed and head out to meet your friends, so what if it’s raining. Nice.

I love this song and look forward to more of Neon Trees’ performances!

POP SHUVIT

Must I remind you how frigging awesome Marabahaya is? Malaysians, shame on you if you don’t know this song!

This local flavour has been around longer that I can remember. I’m glad they are still coming up with new albums to make Malaysians proud! I heard they are doing really well overseas too, especially in Japan. Now sure from whom I heard that from but hey, I’m always supportive of local music!

BEAST

I’ve never heard of BEAST before this but I know from my K-POP freak of a brother that they are really big not just in Korea but all over the world! I can totally see why looking at their dance moves and catchy tunes, looking forward to be dancing to their songs at the show. It’s a good thing MTV decided to bring a Korean boy band instead of a girl cos there’s more eye candy for us ladies! (Without having to feel so insecure watching purrfect Korean female artists perform)

Just writing this entry is getting me all excited. If you’re interested to get some ticket to THE show of the second half of 2011, do head over to www.channelx.com.my to see if you still stand a chance! Tickets are not for sale so listen to me and start downloading those awesome content from the site to see if you win your tickets too!

Let me just give you a break down of the games so you’ll know just how easy it is to score yourself some tickets.

1. Say what? You want to game your way to MTV World Stage?

Download any one of these awesome exclusive music themed games at 50% discount – Guitar Rock Tour 2 (GRT2) , DJ Mix Tour (DJMT), Rock n Blocks (RNB) from 24th June to 13th July and you stand yourself a chance to win 2 passes to the MTV World Stage Live in KL i-City!

To download, type <SMS Keyword> & send to 22163

2. You want the BEST of the BEAST?

Download their caller ringtone packages to win some of BEAST’s exclusive merchandize on top of the World Stage passes! Even the song “Beautiful” is bundled into one of the packages.

PACKAGE TITLE	SONG LIST	CALL ME TONES CODE
Beast Fiction or Fact Package	Fiction	122549
	The Fact
	Back To You
Beast Sum Fiction Package	Fiction	122550
	Beautiful
	Sum
Beast Shockingly Beautiful Package	Shock	122551
	Beautiful
	Fiction

3. Join KBOMM

If you’re infected with the ))K((, here’s something special you could do. Send 5 KBOMM daily in Kolony to be eligible for the selection of their daily winner!

Just send KBOMM <message> to 25333

10 KOINZ/ KBOMM

Alternatively, you may reload your Xpax, U.O.X. and S.O.X. and stand a chance to win 2 passes! Just make sure you follow these instructions when you reload to be eligible to win.

1. Register by sending MTV to 28881
2. Wait for confirmation SMS of successful registration
3. Reload RM50 (cumulative)
4. Receive a mobile voucher for redemption of 2 FREE passes to MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2011™

For more details on all these fancy promotions!! Please head on to http://xpax.com.my/promo_mtv.html!

For Facebookaholics, YES there is also a Facebook contest that you can try your luck at. *winks* Just head on to http://www.facebook.com/xpaxfb and take part in the Facebook Contest. Pick an act you’d like to see most, tell Xpax Why you love to see them most and get your friends to support you by “Liking” your post! The top 5 most Liked posts will be awarded with 2 X Zone passes to the show, Hello! That means you get to be AT THE FRONT ROW! It’s as simple as that!

So guys, are you joining me at the MTV World Stage 2011? I highly suggest carpooling if you are to avoid to try ease the traffic flow. OMG i-City is going to be so beautiful that night. MTV World Stage 2011 is happening on the 24th July (Sunday) at I-City Shah Alam, Door opens at 4:30 but I’ll be kiasu and have BKT for lunch and head there straight! See ya party people! For more info : MTV World Stage Website

Be good!

I meant that title as a genuine question, do let me know when there is an answer.

***

Was exploring town the other day and found this interesting little cafe, Meeples.

They are a boardgame cafe, bringing gaming back to its old school ways.

This is how the cafe looks like from a 5 megapixel camera.

Check out their extensive game collection! Most of the game here are European games and not all of them could be found at Toys r Us.

i felt a lil ashamed of myself for i think I only know like 15 boardgames in my life!

Went on a tour around that place and was brought upstairs to find MORE games! The games upstairs are for sale and most of them are pretty reasonably priced, a little above 100 bucks.

Some of these boardgames are really interesting!

And check this, the offline version of Starcraft!

How cool is that?

Boardgame inventors are geniuses! I just hope I’m able to properly play these awesome games. The only game I recognize from the many games displayed is this – Apples to Apples! The nuffies had a lot of fun playing this on the cruise and during our Christmas pot luck!

Game charges are at RM5 per hour for non members and of course there are awesomer deals if you become their member. For more info do check their social media platforms.

Anybody wants to go play with meeee?

i’ll buy your first hour! (Depending on who you are)

Xoxo

Be Good!