Stars, they make me wonder where you are

Feeling a little depressed with all the deaths that had happened recently, in this one year, I turned to Grace Potter & The Nocturnal's song, Stars. I got introduced to this song by Amanda Brown, a contestant on The Voice 2012. I can't stand any more deaths pleaseee, someone save me. I don't really know how to say this, but I do not want to attend any more funerals.

"I can't look at the stars, they make me wonder where you are"

I can't look at your favourite spots around home, they make me wonder where you are. Sometimes when I open the door, I hope I could find you and I could bring you back.

-- I really want to move on --

p/s: Did I tell you my favourites on The Voice 2012 is Melanie Martinez and Amanda Brown? And I also love love love Melanie's photography. I would love to experiment with photography like this!!!

XOXO

HuHot Mongolian Grill

Yo! Today is a holiday! But I am sick... To make up for the fun that I should have basking in the sun, I am blogging, yeah! Hahaha. Oh before that, Happy Deepavali to all my dear friends! I really miss the joyous mood and the food, back in hometown and back when we were in school when everyone could just gather without much considerations. Hahaha.

I was doing some iPhoto housekeeping recently (took me days) and guess what I found, pictures of one of my favourite restaurants when I was in the US, HuHot Mongolian Grill. :D

How brave a Mongolian warrior are you? Let's find out!

First, take all the noodles and meat you can eat.

Then, all the vegetables you can take.

Ultimate test here, how spicy can you go?

I just love mixing and matching the different sauces every time I visit. It's like, you don't have to be a chef to be able to create your own taste. They make it that simple! I always have one part of Peanut sauce as base, and I always top it of with one part Garlic Chilli sauce. That's my personal preference. :)

Then comes the most entertaining part....

Line your bowls and watch them do their acrobatic cooking, like a true Mongolian warrior!
Don't be surprised to see flames and balancing acts! Yeah!!

Lastly, of course, is to tip the brave warriors for cooking your noodles to perfection and for not confusing your carefully-thought-out-bowl-of-noodles with another person's bowl. ahhaha.

Waiting for HuHot to come to Malaysia.! Please, HuHot, can I be the first to know? Hhehehe.

Thailand: Trang, Krabi

Still could not get enough of the sun, water and sky; here are the best pictures, in my opinion. Enjoy!!

Thailand: Trang, Krabi

If you follow me on my Instagram which I recently created, yes I only recently created an Instagram account, you will see a picture of an island and beautiful clouds above it and you may wonder, in broken Malaysian English, "Wah Malaysia got such thing mehhh?", well that was taken in Thailand! #SorryToDisappoint Oh, back to Instagram, follow me - magicporridgepotblog. *Follow Me shampoo commercial playing*

This trip was decided in one night and one thing I love about my family, when they say LET'S GO, they mean GO. Hahhaha. We charted a minivan and off we went on a weekend! The funny thing was, no one really knew where we were going, except for my uncle who arranged the trip, not until the trip itself. All I know was I was going to Thailand. And poor Hui Ling, she was invited but no one could tell her precisely where we were going. Up till she got onto the minivan, she had no idea and her mum was worried that we would human-traffic her.

DAY ONE: TRANG
Malaysia - bumpy coach ride - Arrive - Le Khaokob Cave - Robinson's Trang - Trang Night Market

In my opinion, if they build smoother roads, Thailand would get a boost in tourism by 268%. Hhahaha. #OppaGangnamStyle #Horse-rideDance. #DressClassyDanceCheesy. Except that we weren't dancing, we were suffering, on bumpy roads, like riding mad horses, at the back of the coach.

From the look of the entrance, Le Khaokob Cave didn't feel very impressive. When the whole adventure was done though, it's probably the best cave adventure ever!

Me and cousins!

Taking the boat into the cave.

All the skillful boatmen.

So the first part of the cave adventure was to walk like a duck. hahahaha.
The walls of the cave were so low we literally had to duck!

Then came the most thrilling caventure ever! (for me)

We all had to lie down.
That is obviously my knee before I had to lie FLAT and point my toes like a gymnast.


Into the darkness...!
The walls of the cave were so low that at times they were just like 0.5 inches from our face!
My mum even took out her specs. hahaha. We all had to tuck in our bellies. LOL
And it was pitch dark!!
And the opening of the cave was so narrow that only one boat can use the passageway at one time.
Mind you, we screamed like crazy!!


Thankfully, the boatmen brought us all out safely, without anyone getting stuck in the cave forever.
You know I can't really describe that feeling.
When I was in there, it felt like we were going to get trapped in the cave, at anytime, and we all had to keep our body flat, at all times, to avoid bumping into stalagtite, stalagmite, cave, rock, whatever.
It was very exciting and thrilling at the same time very scary!
You have to experience it yourself!

Enough of scary-claustrophobic-yet-damn-fun cave adventure, our tour guide brought us to Robinson's @ Trang. By the look of the town, you wouldn't expect a Robinson's in Trang. Surprising!

While waiting for our mothers, heheh.
Did you spot it?
We coincidentally wore the same pair of iPanema sandals!!

I love how cute their toilet sign was.

Went for a stroll in the night market. The night market is a small one and due to the fact that we were all exhausted by the horse riding bumpy ride and cave boating scare, we went back to hotel early to rest.

DAY TWO: TRANG - KRABI

Trang - Emerald Cave - Island Hopping - Ao Nang Beach, Krabi

Good morning! Time to go out and play in the sun!

Mummy dearest and I can't wait to have fun in the sun!

I have learned that Kit Kat bars make good snacks when you're traveling!

First stop of the day was Emerald Cave. We all had to swim through a cave and at the other end is a beach. The experience swimming through a salt-water cave is already enough to make me happy, what with the emerald green water we can see in the cave. Ahhh, heaven on earth! 

See where the boat stops? That's where we started our swim into the cave.

At the other end of the cave, we were greeted with a sun-bathed, almost-private beach!
It's like an opening, in the middle of the island, blessed with fine sand and emerald green water, welcoming the world through the Emerald Cave.
Just too exotic!


This is another group making their way out of the beach.
Same way in, same way out - through the Emerald Cave. Heheh.


The gang!
What did I tell you about the emerald green water? :DDD

We all wished we could stay longer... But because there are other tour groups coming in already, and they cannot accommodate too many people. Note to self, next time, visit when it's low season. :)))

Next, island hopping and snorkelling! How I wish I had an underwater camera. The corals were of a myriad of summer colours - velvet, brilliant blue, emerald green, even orange! Some of the corals blanketed the sea floor and it's such a joy to watch the peaceful ocean life, where all different sea creatures give different colours and patterns to the underwater world.

So many fishes in the sea, out there for me~~!
I think this line is from some Katie Melua's song..


The most picturesque snorkelling background. Hahaha.
My dad was so smart to ask me to wait in the boat while he swam to this spot and composed his own picture. Hhaha.


It was here that I got stung by many many mini jelly fishes.
But they are not poisonous so it's ok. Hehe.

Then it was time to head back to the shore and continue our journey to Ao Nang, Krabi.

Alright, now I shall just show you the interesting crafts I saw in the streets of Ao Nang beach because after dinner upon our arrival at Ao Nang, we only went for a stroll along the beach.

How they make birds look so high fashion.

These are hand-crafted from bull's skin.

DAY THREE: KRABI
Buri Tara Resort - Crystal River - Tiger Cave - Bang Kram Hot Stream - Depart

We stayed in a nice resort during our one-night stay in Krabi - Buri Tara Resort. Unfortunately, WI-FI was not free. Haha. #CheapskateAlert #ButWiFiShouldBeFreeEverywhere

The view from our balcony.

My room, with cute elephants!

Maybe next time I will stay in one of these. Haha.

First stop of the day, crystal river. I swear I could die here stay here for hours, sitting by the river, maybe with a book in my hands. I have not see any river like that! Its clear, calm surface makes a perfect mirror, reflecting the beauty of its natural surroundings; sun rays, blue skies and not forgetting beautifully intertwined mangrove roots. And underneath that perfect mirror, you see the beauty of the river itself, glowing from beneath. It's like I was lost, in an enchanted forest, and I did not want to get out.

Seagrass in the water.


I could get lost just by looking at the fishes swimming so peacefully and soaking in the warmth of sun rays from above.
And the soft ripples of the water makes it beyond perfect.

Next, we went to Tiger Cave / Temple. It's a temple, built in a cave. Have you seen cave paintings? This is the place to see it. Hahahha.

As if the day could not get any hotter, our tour guide decided to bring us to a hot stream, or hot waterfall. As its name suggests, it is realllyy hot! The water is 40C hot. The cool thing about this hot stream is, the rocks form a natural tub so we had the real hot jacuzzi spa and massage because the running water gave us a good massage. Hahaa.

The entire waterfall is HOT!
Can you believe it? Believe it. #Ripley'sBelieveItOrNot

And, that was our last stop in Thailand. I still miss Thailand and I can't get the Thai accent outta my head!