My Deepavali Holiday | Eric Chou's Concert, Cafe Hopping & Movies with Friends | 13 Oct 2017 - 22 Oct 2017

13 October 2017 (Friday)

Grabbed an Uber from mah institute to Hair Story Air Itam for a haircut and a hair treatment session. Sze Chyi was already there halfway through her Nakano treatment and curling session. I decided to go for shoulder length and also have the Scalp Treatment as opposed to Nakano. If it wasn't for the TESL Night annual dinner at Eastern & Oriental on 27 October, I would have gone for a shorter haircut because I am sick of maintaining my long hair. They always seems to fall EVERYWHERE and I can feel that the roots and ends of my hair are not great AT ALL (yeah yeah, it's because you don't maintain your hair idiot, blame lah, blame your long hair some more) 

As usual, the Scalp treatment was great as the massaging and scent really helped me relax after a hectic week of planning for TESL night. And then, it was time for my haircut! My hairdresser was surprised at the length of hair I wanted to chop off but I knew it was for the best as I really needed a break from long hair. She cut them off and used a hair straightener to straighten the roots and curl the ends of my hair inwards to create that natural Korean radiant and healthy hair kinda look. I actually wanted to buy the straightener as my hair always looks unkept and crazy because of my naturally curly hair but the price put me off. Anyway, if you're wondering, I paid a total of RM180 for the treatment and haircut. I think my ends needed some love as well, but Nakano treatment was like RM280 and I think I can do it the next time HAHA For those of you who wanted to curl your hair permanently like my bestie Sze Chyi did, the price is around RM220 but it's best for you to consult with the hairstylist. 

After leaving Hair Story, we planned to catch a bus home but then, we saw all the food stalls in front of Chung Ling private and we were like: Let's get them! And so we did. 

Muarchi & burger with CHEESEEE

14 October 2017 (Saturday)
Everything was quite impromptu. My dad got the whole family tickets for Eric Chou's concert at S.P.I.C.E. arena and he had one extra, so I asked Sze Chyi yesterday if she wanted to tag along with us and SHE SAID YESSS. Honestly, I'm not a super huge fan of Eric Chou, but I love some of his love songs too like 爱在声边 and.. a few more *awkward laugh* But he has a good voice, he looks good and he's just 22 (who knows, we might have a chance right xD), so I was pretty pumped to go to his concert. Plus, I have never been to a concert before. I do have a list of celebrities' concerts whom I wanna go to: Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Jay Chou and Big Bang so the idea of actually going to a concert never fails to excite me!

It's sooo freaking beautiful I wanna cry TT

I've got to say that Eric Chou's concert is truly amazing! Before his performance began, Ribbon Ooi and Jie Han actually performed. I really like Ribbon Ooi as she has some good songs that I love as well. Then.. the main character appeared! Eric Chou looked very smart in his sweater top, with his hair combed to the back. He sang a lot of his songs like 你好不好, 明明 and of course 爱在声边. I feel honoured to be able to see him playing piano and singing LIVE! Besides, he also invited A-Lin to be his guest, which totally stirred up the situation there because a lot of people were looking forward to see A-Lin in person! They performed 2 songs together: 幸福太短 and 无人知晓的我, which the tunes for both of the songs are written by Eric Chou. Someone actually uploaded their live performance to YouTube so you can search for them or just click on the the song names above (I've inserted the URL link, you're welcomed). He also sang a few English pop songs like Money on My Mind by Sam Smith, Love Yourself by Justin Bieber and Closer by Chainsmokers which all I loveeee. 

All in all, I think it was a great concert. I love the theme "This Is Love", how everybody is given a love-shaped balloon and how everyone waved their glowing balloon with light radiated from the torches on their smartphones. I also love how he casually chatted and shared his journey in pursuing music as his career with his fans and also some of the stories or inspirations for his songs. I think he is a really inspiring young man and I hope that he will strive in his career in many more years to come! I also feel lucky and blessed that I get to go to my first concert ever with my family and my bestie. What more could I ask for, really?

14 October 2017 (Sunday)
Outing day with fam. We had our lunch at a Japanese restaurant at the Air Itam area called Tokkuri Tei.

My lunch!

I'm sorry for not labeling the prices cause I lost all the receipts (this is what happens when you procrastinate on your blog posts sigh~) I would say that the food there are pretty delicious, but the for me the price is definitely on the higher side. I wouldn't say that the food are exceptionally good, so might not be returning to this restaurant in anytime soon. The customer service were so-so as I remembered they don't really have that kind of smiley and warm faces but they do attend to your request and questions promptly. Overall, I would give this restaurant a 3.5/5 because the food and the ambient are very good but their price is slightly high and their customer service is not that good. If you just want good food and good ambient, I would suggest you to go for this Japanese restaurant.

Later on, we went to Queensbay to hunt for clothes for upcoming TESL night. After dinner, we went to The Grass. The Grass is probably one of my favourite place to fix my sweet tooth because their signature D1 is so bomb! The thing I love about their signature D1 is their scented shaved ice (grass, brown sugar...) The topping that I love the most is the coffee cubes, although most of my friends do not like it because the taste is too overpowering. If you haven't tried anything from The Grass before, I strongly suggest you to order their signature D1 with toppings (you can choose 3 toppings). Taro balls, pearls and aloe jelly is a nice choice!

This drink from Taiwan is raved so much on Instagram about a few months back so we decided to try its latte and it was good!

15 Oct 2017 (Monday)
Hang out day with Sze Chyi, KY, Zheng Wei and Yong Chang to Gurney. We decided to watch The Foreigner, which is a movie starring Jackie Chan! Also, I recently found out that the girl who acted as Jackie Chan's daughter in this movie (although she was killed after like 5 mins?) is Cho from Harry Potter! This movie is about a Chinese man (Jackie Chan) who lost his daughter (his only family member left) and seeks for vendetta from the Irish government. The movie feels okay-ish but I think the plot is not really my type because it focuses on politics. 
 

Source: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=the+foreigmer&fr=mcafee&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fteaser-trailer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FThe-Foreigner-Film-poster.jpg%3Fssl%3D1#id=2&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi1.wp.com%2Fteaser-trailer.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2FThe-Foreigner-Film-poster.jpg%3Fssl%3D1&action=click

RM12 for this popcorn + a soft drink. 

Source: http://www.gsc.com.my/html/promotion_details.aspx?ID=39&PID=74&NID=665

For the Shake Shake Popcorn, it's a little expensive compared to the normal popcorns we have. Basically, they give us a bag (more like half bag zz) of popcorns and a sachet of seasoning powder and we have to mix them up by shaking em'. Overall, I don't really like it as it tastes really artificial and funny. Also, for the price, I think I can just get a regular one and buy char kuey teow with the remaining money lol. Though can we talk about the movie in the background Coco? I'm so pumped to watch this movie as it as about the living world and the dead world and I feel like sometimes it's hard to explain the concept of death, or we just simply doesn't acknowledge death enough to kids. So I think this Disney cartoon will be pretty interesting and I certainly hope it doesn't dissapoint. 

17 Oct 2017 (Wednesday)
Yesterday was a pretty chilled day, nothing much happened. The only thing my family and I were doing was binge-watching a Chinese drama called 因为遇见你 until like 2am? It was pretty insane because I think the plot is sometimes rubbish but at the same time it was so engrossing and entertaining that we kept wanting more! Completely fell in love with 邓伦 because he is totally my type! Monolid, high nose bridge, tall and most importantly he is the kind of very 腹黑 person and very protective of 果果. Attractive!

Okay, moving on from the drama, my family and I actually went to Desaku, Kulim to look that the pretty lights and decorations and of course take photos! 

Drive through to get the Thai burger I was obsessed with that time! Not a fan our the sauce but the crispy fish is really good. Documented the process because we don't always go for drive through heh*

This is the wrong angle to take good selfies you idiot --

Well, if you can't afford to go to Paris just like me, you know where to find Eiffel Tower in Malaysia now! xD

18 Oct 2017 (Thursday)

Cafe hopping day with mah girl Sze Chyi. Important update: She actually bought iPhone 7! Thanks to her we have some really pretty and high res photos.

FIRST CAFE : The Twelve Cups Eatery Cafe

Address:

12, The WhiteAways Arcade, Beach Street

George Town, Malaysia

Phone number: 

04-262 6812

Business hour:

-

WEEKDAYS: 10am - 11pm

WEEKENDS: 9am - 12am 

We have been to this cafe.. I think 2 or 3 years ago before its renovation so we actually planned to go back there for their refurbished version of interior, concept and food. 

Shakeratto (RM10) . Hokkaido Milk (RM12)

Sweet & Spicy Marinated Chicken with Rice (RM16.90)

Fried Chicken in Sweet Soy Sauce with Rice (RM17.90)

Entering its third year of operations, the new Twelve Cups has gone through a facelift in look and feel and now even has a kitchen to boot! Besides our coffee and other drinks, we now have a variety of food, ranging from breakfast, brunch, pasta, to desserts. Everyone is bound to find something that suits his or her palate here at The Twelve Cups. (Source: Facebook page)

As compared to a few years ago, I do think that their facelift brings a huge difference to this cafe! The ambience was really nice, spacious and comfy as the colour scheme was cream/vanilla and wooden colours. Their customer service was pretty good as well as they are very polite and helpful. Menu-wise, they have offered so much more main dishes as compared to before where their speciality was just their crepe cakes. They have breakfast menu, which I think the coffee is in collaboration with ARANG coffee because I saw the logo at the top of the menu. Although they still serve crepe cakes now and crepe cakes are still one of their main selling point, I do feel like the mains (our mains are from Nasi Series Part 2) are soooo good and I would definitely go back for their mains! We ordered Shakerato thinking that the name was so special, so why not? When I tasted it, I thought it was so similar to Americano, and it's definitely not something up my league cause I don't like coffee that tastes too bitter. I would prefer something along latte and mocha tbh. When I looked up on the internet, it's worse. Shakerato is an espresso + ice cubes caffeeinated drink, that's a definite no no to me!

Source: https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=C111US714D20150331&p=shakeratto+

 

Although, I must say that their Hokkaido Milk crepe cake is sooo good! Plus the two popcorns coated in caramel, I knew it would be something that I love before I even tasted it because milk + caramel just has all the sweetness goodness! I love everything that taste sweet anyway HAHA The texture of the cake was acceptable as well as crepe cakes are made layers by layers. Onto our main dishes, I think both of our main dishes are really bomb! I wouldn't walk into a cafe thinking that I'd be eating their main dish and feel that way because normally their forte are coffees and desserts, but boy, I was wrong! Their mains are just as good as their crepe cakes, if not better! 

Hope this description gives you a rough idea how our food tasted like!

If I really have to pick a favourite out of our main dishes, I think Fried Chicken in Sweet Soy Sauce with Rice would be the winner because the sauce really elevated the food up to another level. Having said that, I think Sweet & Spicy Marinated Chicken with Rice tastes delicious too - the texture of Japanese White Rice plus onion omelette, cabbage and chicken cubes is just hard to beat the heat. Overall, I would give a 5/5 for this cafe as it really exceeded my expectation and is really immaculate in terms of their ambience, service, food and price! The price is reasonable and is slightly lower than other cafes I've been to and I really appreciate the fact that their menu has a fusion of western and local food charged at a decent price for a decent portion. Highly satisfied and would definitely come back again!

Overall rating:

 SECOND CAFE : Dān 单

Address:

38/1 Lebuh Farquhar

George Town, Malaysia

Phone number: 

04-251 9415

Business hour 

-

MONDAY - SATURDAY: 1pm - 10pm

SUNDAY: Closed

Matcha Affogato (RM15)

Oolong Tea from Taiwan (RM20)

Dan ~ An oasis of serenity amidst the urban city. Simple, Pure & Unique, that's what we try to encapsulate here in Dan. Here, we provide you a peaceful place where you can just savour and enjoy. (Facebook page)

After making some research online, I found out that Dan was previously called Lunabar. I think the concept of Lunabar and Dan are pretty similar from the blog posts I've read so I think they just changed the name but not the concept. First of all, can I just say that that I really love the collaboration between this cafe and Moonshop? Moonshop is essentially a design lab specialising in Tropical ornamental plants, terrariums, botanical gifts for event/exhibition and provide indoor and outdoor landscape design consultancy (Facebook page). There are two parts of the cafe though, one on your left and one on your right. The left side is for you to place your order while the right side is for you to just lounge around and chit chat with your friends, but there are seats on both sides so you can choose anywhere you wanna sit. 

The ambience of the cafe is really relaxing, refreshing and rejuvenating because of the lushness of the plants, the white walls and wooden furnitures. I literally felt like sitting amidst an encapsulated mini jungle there, surrounded by green plants, terrariums, slowing sipping away on my Oolong Tea. As the environment was really quiet as well, the tranquil atmosphere makes Dan one of the slow-paced cafes where you can recharge yourself and take a breather - just chill and enjoy the greens and food. As for their service, I think that it's quite good and friendly.

Moving on to the food, it was really a letdown because the Matcha Lava Cake that's being raved about on Instagram was sold out that day! So we decided to go for Matcha Affogato and Oolong Tea instead. I think that the Matcha Affogato is good because it's not too sweetening and the Oolong Tea is good albeit a little pricy. Generally, I think that they serve a lot of matcha-infused food there and if you are a matcha lover, definitely go there to have a try! I think that their matcha tastes really authentic and not too sweetening. However, I feel like the price are a bit too high. Overall, if you just want to take some time to chill and bask yourself in a modern concept nature space, take super instagrammable photos and enjoy some Matcha goodness, definitely stop by Dan sometime. This is a heaven for nature and Matcha lovers! Would definitely be back for their Matcha Lava Cake in the future. 

Overall rating:

20 Oct 2017 (Saturday)
It was unexpected and last minute date with QZY, MQ and KY! We decided to watch Flatliners at Gurney. Was very excited to meet MQ because we haven't see each other for over a year! Can you believe it? I must admit that it was a slightly weird grouping... but oh well we did have a blast that day (not too sure about the guys though haha). MQ just had her braces tightened, so we went to McD's so that she can have congee (bubur). QZY and me snacked away on the Mix & Match set while KY didn't eat anything because he's got two ulcers on his lips. He got knocked when he was playing the basketball. Funny enough when I ordered the drink with LESS ICE, I was given the drink with NO ICE; On the other hand, QZY ordered the drink with NO ICE, but he was given the drink with LESS ICE and we were both like whut on Earth... @@

Anyway, after we got our lunch fixed, we went for the movie! It was actually a movie that the four of us HIGHLY ANTICIPATED and I've gotta say it lived up to our expectations. The only thing that the four of us didn't expect was how eerie and scary some scenes were (kinda ventured into the horror genre) but I think oveall, would still consider this a Sci-Fi + thriller movie. Flatliners is actually a remake of a 1990 movie, where a bunch of medical school students secretly make a research using their school's abandoned property to find out about what happens to human in the afterlife. After our heart stops, our brain does not immediately die - it still has activity for 4 minutes and what they want to find out is what happens during that 4 minutes interval. So they go into the state of "flatline" (which literally means "die") and then resuscitate at the nick of time before they use up the 4 minutes and with each person, they elongate the time more and more. Little did they know, there's a price to pay when they have awakened something they shouldn't tempt with in the afterlife. Overall, I would give a 4/5 for this movie. Kudos for scaring the four of us to the brink of our flatline! MQ and I were literally scared to hell lol. 

Source: Yahoo

After Flatliners, we wondered around and went to Sushi Zenmai at Gurney Paragon to EATT. Ordered a kani maki cause I wanna dine with my family later on (they come later). I was so clumsy cause I accidentally spilled the Japanese tea all over the table. We changed to another table later and feast our Japanese food! Then, we went to Sephora. MQ and I stayed there for about half an hour to one to find the perfect nude shade for her lips. At one point, I was on the phone with my brother and told him I will give him a call when I walk back to Gurney from Paragon and QZY was like: Your sister is too busy now laaa *sarcasm noted lol* We got out from Sephora after what felt like a century and the guys were practically bored to death, standing out there waiting for us so long that I think they could potentially have fossilized xD

Aftermath of entering Sephora...

Walked back to Gurney and I gathered with mi and Jie and said byeeee to QZY, MQ and KY. We went to Marks & Spencer to buy some fooooddddd. I really love shopping for food at Marks & Spencer as they sell really good snacks. Also, only buy when it's on sale, if not it's super expensive. Sometimes even when they don't have sales, I love to just go and window shop there. How awesome it is to see all the tasty food in beautiful packaging! It's my type of therapeutic activity, please don't mind my weirdness HAHA I brought mi and Jie to Sushi Kitchen to have our dinner. I really love the concept of Sushi Kitchen as it is a vegetarian restaurant that serves Japanese food. 

I come from a family where good food is more important than healthy food, so my mum and brother doesn't really buy my idea as they don't like the taste of food there and they say they are never returning (but I love the food there personally)! Being a college student, I have mingled with friends who are more conscious and cautious of their daily food intake, hence I have a higher awareness on food and I do believe that eating healthy can really improve our overall health and well-being. If you guys have any suggestions of places to eat healthy and yummy food, please do comment below and tell me so that I can convince and bring my family there to dine next time!

21 Oct 2017 (Sunday)

One day till school reopens and this feeling sucks to the core. Woke up super early to go to Occupy Beach Street to sell stuff to raise funds for our TESL night. Mum made some yummy jelly in Lychee and Rose flavour for us to sell (thanks mi, love ya). Dad drove my all the way to town, fetched my friends from IPG and all the stuff that we planned to sell. Reached Beach Street around 7am and located our stall and start arranging things.

We sold secondhand books, handmade bookmarks (thanks An Qi), jellies, cupcakes (thanks Aina) and health drink (thanks Madam Mariah) and a couple stuff donated by our seniors to help boost our sales. I would say that it was a really fun experience as we get to sell stuff that we made by oursevles and earn each and every cents with our own effort! Later on, we took the remaining secondhand books that we couldn't sell at OBS to Chowrasta Secondhand Bookstore and sold them off. We successfully raised RM154.50 from OBS booksale that day and it was a very fulfilling feeling - all of us working so hard just to achieve the same goal. Would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fund raising activities and supported us along the way! Couldn't have make TESL night such a successful event if it wasn't for all the kind and diligent people who worked so hard to make it a success! I hope we can achieve more amazing things together and to many more years of friendship to come xoxo

Love, J.