Been thinking about getting a polaroid camera recently.

Digital cameras are awesome, don’t get me wrong; and i own a pretty decent one too.

But there’s still something magical about instantly captured moments, reproduced in the form of hard copies. The simplicity of a white frame where you can scribble notes over. Limited films. No delete button, no do-overs. And the ‘imperfect’ photo quality. I mean to say, a polaroid photographer can’t manipulate the images in Photoshop, therefore retaining its charm and purity.


What you see is what you get - the real moment captured.

Now that’s the bit of magic that the digicam can’t reproduce.



@Heineken Green Space pres. CCH, @Nike x Leftblock


But then i think about the price - the camera itself AND the film…… GAH.

I’ll just put that on my Expensive-Things-I-Lust-For-But-Dont-Really-Need-Right-Now List.

My my, what an ever-growing list that’s turning out to be -_-”

But for now, we’ll just have to make do with my digitally-captured-and-maybe-enhanced pictures, won’t we? :)

My new favourite quote, is this. “Too Little Too Late, or Better Late Than Never?”

This applies to alot of things in life. But today, I’ll relate it to my many (many) backlogged posts that i intended to blog, but didn’t have the time to. :p

So i’ll look at the glass half-full and say it’s Better Late Than Never


Bali (part 3)

[Read Part 1 and Part 2 first]

Glitterbug chilling in our hotel ‘backyard’!

David called me over to see this pretty but strange (pretty strange) looking creature stuck on our glass sliding door one morning. I was convinced that it was just a sticker - i mean, it’s glittery and shiny and has a rounded clear surface and all!

He dared me to go touch it then, and i promptly said “ERR No Thanks.”


As mentioned earlier, common sense will tell you that touristy spots like Kuta will sell very expensive souvenirs.

So we headed to the markets in search of cheaper treasures and boy, did we hit jackpot.

David wanted to buy some paintings for his apartment,

So I hovered nearby and listened in on their haggling conversation,
because, lord only knows, David can’t haggle for nuts (but i still love you hun!!)


The first time i saw him haggle for something, at a place where my gut feeling tells me that the price can be lowered to HALF PRICE, (and my gut feeling is always right)
the seller initiated the haggle with only a few bucks off, and David went, “WOAH so cheap!”

hooo boy.

So I hovered closely for this painting purchase, he did manage to get a okay-ish price, but I felt like the price could go lower. So I stepped in.

A few strategically placed haggling moves later, which might include some smiles and eyelash-batting, the price did get lowered. By a lot.
And I could feel David’s stare at me in awe. Ok la maybe not in awe, more like in shock wtf

“Omg, you were merciless. Poor fella, I don’t think he even knew what hit him! My goodness la, you crazy Chinese people with your haggling……” *shakes head*


He might have meant it as an insult to tease me, but I took it as a compliment. *beams*

Stick with me, and you might learn a thing or two, heh heh.



Market ladies. I find these pictures very melancholic.





Quite a number of times, I saw the shopkeepers sprinkling water onto their merchandise (like above) with some offerings in hand, while saying a chant or prayer.

I finally asked one of the market ladies why they do this, and she said it’s sort of to bless the shop. Praying for prosperity, good business, thanking the gods for good business, etc.

















We did some more touristy stuff, one of which was to watch the kecak dance @ Uluwatu.

And so i was expecting some traditional dance of ancient Balinese warriors or something, not unlike our own Malaysian traditional dances. But this was really something else.


I still don’t know what i think of it, it’s a funny mixture of strange + fascinating + trippy as hell + impressive.
At the very least, im very impressed that not a single musical instrument was used, the “sounds” were created by the performers themselves throughout the entire 45-minute show!

Here’s quick video i took:



Triptastic.



Ended with the white monkey kicking around balls of fire. Madness!


Had seafood dinner at Jimbaran on the beach. Quite a great ending to a great trip

Oh, and the waiters kept asking if we were on our honeymoon. We kept saying no. We figured that’s what they ask all couples for the sake of conversation - but they still gave us free glasses of wine complementary for honeymooners. Aiyo :)

xx




Related posts:
Bali (part 1) - Bali Beautiful!
Bali (part 2) - Bali Nights!


Currently listening to: Keane - My Shadow ♫
(♫ genre: alternative, slow sunday)

You’ll have to excuse my inconsistent blog entries these days. *checks dates*
Ok, make that close to a month.

Besides the obvious work, recent affairs with real estate agents, and pretty much just my same ol’ shenanigans,

I’ve also finally organized my thoughts, and figured out the reason behind my quickly-diminishing blogging habits!

All will be explained in due time. This epiphany of mine only happened quite recently, so i’ll make a decision on my action plans soon. Instead of venting and whining aimlessly to readers now :)

xx


On a lighter, less ambiguous note,

Just like what i did with my previous short hiatus, here’s another quick list on what’s new with me! Or more accurately, my current craves & addictions.

• Secret Diary of a Call Girl [series] - The title says it all: She’s a London high class hooker/call girl/prostitute/whore, and damn proud of it. (Played by Billie Piper - yes the ex pop singer). It’s a British tv series, i reckon slightly indie and low-budget, so it’s not surprising that not many people know about this one. But after i watched it - and i finished all 3 seasons in 2 days, fyi - i find it VERY SURPRISING that not many people know about this one! I even spoke to Shervin and even she doesn’t know about it, and she LIVES in London! Anyway, it’s smart, sexy, witty, and i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: Thank god for British humour, otherwise my life would be so incomplete. In a nutshell, people who liked Sex and the City (which is pretty much everybody) will enjoy this one.




• Cracked.com [humour website] - There’s probably a lot of these around, like the famous fail blog etc, but i recently found Cracked, and well, literally could not stop cracking up. Been hooked ever since! Their comedy articles are full of witty dark humour and in-your-face sarcasm, which sent me howling with laughter every time. Another type of humour without which, my life would also be incomplete.
  Current fav lol-articles so far are “5 Shockingly Powerful Kids Who Make You Look Like a Coward”, “The 7 Most Disastrous Typos Of All Time”, “15 Unintentionally Perverted Toys for Children”, and most definitely, “35 Most Insane Halloween Costumes from Around the World”.
  But really, once you get in there and find the lists of other equally awesome headlines, it’s hard to stop.

In case you haven’t seen me around in a month, this is what i look like now.

Do i look different!
Well. Here’s a hint: This perm cost me a fortune so you better tell me i look fcuking nice.




Currently listening to: Florence + The Machine - Dog Days Are Over ♫
(♫ genre: electro-pop)

So the nightlife street would be on Kuta, or Legian.

Similar to our Changkat Bukit Bintang, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs lined the streets.

On our first night there, we decided to visit the nightlife, and chanced upon a 3-storey bar/club called Sky Garden.






“Brought to you by Bintang Beer” NO LAH ONLY JOKING

Tourists and their rented bikes are not uncommon in Bali!

Ok here i must also tell you about, literally,
one of my very favourite hotels ive ever lived in.


The price - reasonable to cheap. About RM200 per night.
The service - excellent. I am in love with the hotel receptionist (Pipit), she’s so polite, friendly and helpful. And cute too! Memang macam burung pipit.

And the room - IS. SO. NAIIIICE.

It’s white, and spacious, and miminal, and so cozy. AND GORGEOUS.

Not quite like your standard typical hotel rooms, ya know?? ok i just show you the pictures, my excited rambling words cannot do justice.







Flat screen TV, whee!


And just when i jumped into bed and dubbed it my favourite part of the room,

I look around and see THE BATHROOM SINK.




*cue angel chorus HAAALELUJAH*


OMG FORGET THE BED, now *THIS* is my favourite part of the room. *big wet eyes*

And i love how the bathroom is separated by a white, sliding wooden door :) SO PRETTY!

But i never thought a BATHROOM SINK would catch my eye. But HOMAIGOD LA WOULDJA LOOK AT THAT.




PRETTY BATHROBES TOO, TEEHEE. WHY AM I SPEAKING IN CAPITAL LETTERS.


I quickly unpacked my toiletries bag and placed my bottles of cleanser, toner, moisturizer, perfume, and everything on the sink - all in one tidy little row <3

It really felt like my dream home right there <3 <3 <3 (bathroom at least)

And after i super layan diri in my new dream bathroom, i whipped around and checked out the balcony view.

I WANT TO MOVE IN RIGHT NOWWWWW <3 <3 <3

Our room was on the 2nd floor, but we thought Hey if we were on the ground floor, our balcony door would open right out to the swimming pool. And how awesome would that be!
Waking up and jumping into the swimming pool “in our backyard”

So the next day, we requested if our room could be switched to one on the ground floor,
and hey presto, request accepted :)



Later that night, it started to rain! Really heavily!
Dampening whatever plans we had for that night.
So we decided to stay indoors in our white, very cozy, sanctuary of a hotelroom. :)

AND HAVE ROOM SERVICE DINNER, FOR THE FIRST TIME OF MY LIFE.

*jakun moment*


I’ve never had room service dinner before!
Because obviously hotel food can be super expensive
Well, our hotel is quite new, so they didn’t have an in-house kitchen,
but they had a menu of a neighbouring restaurant that does delivery.
So we placed our orders with the hotel receptionist, (Pipit!)
and about an hour later the food arrived at our doorstep, nice and piping hot :)

And i tell you.

Munching on crabs with your fingers, and sucking ‘em bone dry,
while lying in your lush white bed,
watching TV,
taking all the time you want, no restless waiters waiting for you to be done,

IS DIVINE.

BEST. PAMPERED. GLUTTON. FEELING. EVAAAR.


But you can imagine i was being quite anal with the white bed sheets la.
Thwacking David whenever he spilled sauce on the sheets,
and then wailing in terror whenever *i* spilled sauce of the sheets T___T

Im not even sure if im ready to say the name of the hotel yet,
‘Cause i dont want everybody to go there yet. *selfish*
MY SANCTUARY!
But if you’re my friend and you ask, i’ll tell you la :)
Aiya who am i kidding, if people ask of course i’ll tell.
…some day. :D


But then to be fair, i was told there’s really a lot of nice hotels all around Bali for cheap prices.

So. Maybe the next time i go to Bali again i might end up raving about another hotel like a deranged madwoman,
and dub it BEST HOTEL EVAAAR too!

Part 3 coming soon lah!




Related posts:
Bali (part 1) - Bali Beautiful!
Bali (part 3) - Bali Markets & Kecakcakcak!


Currently listening to: Keane - Somewhere Only We Know ♫ (no pun intended)
(♫ genre: alternative, slow sunday)

FINALLYYY.

Wow, that was one of the craziest weekends I’ve had in a reaaaalllyy long time.
Now usually “crazy weekend” means mad parties and chockful of events,
but in my case, it’s mad deadlines and chockful of WORK, is what it means!

Not sure if many people know this, but besides AOF, im doing a bit of writing on the side.

And so on this auspicious weekend, all (and i mean ALL) deadlines happen to fall here.
And the auspiciousness only grew when my body decided to fall sick at the same time thus rendering me useless less productive -_-


Oh well. Not that im complaining though.
Can’t say i don’t thrive on stress even just a little bit.

But nevermind, now that’s all done and out of the way, i wanna de-stress and sift through happy Bali pictures :)

So instead of 1 giant long-ass post, ive planned this to be a 3-part miniseries

Because im merrily editing pictures and reliving happy Bali moments and then i realize,
Homaigod i have SO many pictures! and soooooo so many stories to tell you.

Not necessarily in chronological order, alright. Just, stories. :)



2 big luggage, 2 laptop bags, and a beach bag. :D
Neither of us could bear to leave our laptops at home. Hopeless workaholics, we are.


Back home in KL city, you know when you see a really nice woodeny home and you say, “what a nice Balinese house”
or a cozy wood-adorned restaurant and you say, “what a nice Balinese restaurant”


Well, in Bali, you don’t say that anymore because EVERYTHING is super nice and well, for lack of better words, Balinese!

Everywhere, and every place is decked up in wooden, earthy decor, traditional carved out timber, plants and greenery. Every corner of Bali is so picturesque.

As this was our first time in Bali, we were given quite a bit of recommended places to visit, including restaurants.
But now that i’ve seen the place, i think you can’t really go wrong with any of them. Just throw a rock, you’re bound to find a decent place to eat at, with charming art & decor.



Lunch @ Delicious Onion, Seminyak

My spicy seafood salad, yum!

Random stalled truck passing by, oh no!


Next up, we went to Kuta to shop around look at the shops.

Your quintessential touristy spot. Long streets with bars, restaurants, massage spas and even tattoo parlours. And of course, shops selling everything from clothes & souvenirs to tour packages!

I refrained myself from buying too much from here. Extensive shopping experience and common sense has taught me that tourist spots = expensive.

But it was nice walking around amongst the hustle and bustle!





There sure were a lot of cars, but i think there were way more motorcycles than anything else.
Motorbike rental seems very popular amongst tourists, because it’s so easy to maneuver around trafficjams. Plus, cabs are pretty expensive!
We spent a fortune on cabs during our 5d4n stay in Bali. Will definitely consider renting a bike there next time.






Didgeridu’s!
This musical instrument shop was damn cool, i think everything in it was hand made.

Had to take a break halfway - weather was super hot!











We passed by this one shop and I started laughing like a mad woman.

“HAHAHAHAAH OH MY GOD I HAVE TO SHOW THIS TO DEBBIE”



DOES THIS SEEM FAMILIAR TO YOU. YOU BETTER SAY YES.


I ran across the road and scoured the shop for that Bikini T-shirt (ie. Robin Scherbatsky’s bridesmaid dress) in How I Met Your Mother. *click!*

And walked out in a huff after seeing the price tag.
“270,000 rupiah for a shirt, a bit mad right!” (about RM100)


We walked and walked, and politely said no to every peddler trying to sell us all sorts of gizmos, manicures and tattoos. Eventually we ended up on Kuta Beach.


Everyone told us not to bother going there. But we figured, well since we were here, and it’s out VERY first time in Bali, we should try out every place, even the mainstream tourist spots. Who knows, maybe we’ll like it there!

So after my first time at Kuta Beach, I can proudly say - I WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN.

Super packed with people, peddlers, surfers and tourists, and the beach was quite dirty. Just wanted to sit on the (dirty) sand and stare at the waves also cannot, 2 peddler ladies came up and tried to sell me damn expensive manicures. And they kept touching my hair too, wanting to braid my hair GAAAAH STOP INVADING MY PERSONAL SPACE.

We spent like 7 minutes on Kuta Beach, and then we left beh tahan man.

I’m looking through my pictures and didn’t find any of Kuta Beach. Yeah, ’cause it was just that uninteresting.

Ok besides the pushy peddlers,
really, everyone there was super nice Tourists are funny, and the locals are super polite and helpful!

We wanted to spend a full day at the beach, and couldn’t decide between Sanur and Dreamland.
We spoke to a couple of taxi drivers, and of course our hotel receptionist. Both beaches are supposed to be great but the verdict landed on Dreamland it is!

I was praying a million times hoping it wouldn’t turn out like Kuta. Because Dreamland was about an hour away from Kuta and Seminyak, which was where out hotel was.
(will talk about our hotel in Part 2 - IT DESERVES A WHOLE POST TO ITSELF)



DREAMLAAAAAAAAAND! <3

Homaigod it’s so bluuuueee. And green. And purdyyyy. And the waves there are MAD!

David and i raced to the water like 2 children would, and already the FIRST wave knocked us back!
And my bikini bottom flew down to my knees

“Waaaah babes evil waters, im getting out!” *yanks my bikini bottom up*









Sigh :)

Brought 2 books with me this trip - How To Walk In High Heels, and The Memory Keeper’s Daughter.

The first is clearly the light, fun, frivolous one. So then once i think i’ve had enough bimbo and airhead-ness in me, i’ll switch to the sad, serious novel! And then if that depresses me too much, i’ll just switch back! :D



Found a stray doggy chilling under my deckchair :)


Went exploring and taking pictures with David after that.

Camera in one hand, and a Bintang beer in the other!



Waves are damn strong!

The waves made pretty swirly patterns in the sand <3

When in another country, must try their local food. :)








And tapao back to eat in our hotel room. MMM MMMN.

Best. :)




Related posts:
Bali (part 2) - Bali Nights!
Bali (part 3) - Bali Markets & Kecakcakcak!


Currently listening to: Evenstarr - LIES ♫ (via cravecharts.com)
(♫ genre: local, slow sunday)

One day,
We’ll get out of this shitty apartment
One day,
Is all it takes for things to turn around
All I know,
Is i got you and you got me babe


I went dipping into one of my old iTunes playlist and found this :)
It’s one of my all-time favourite songs. I totally forgot about this one.
And when the first guitar chords strummed, i immediately smiled - inward and out.



And when that morning comes,
I’ll make coffee and you’ll read the papers
We’ll talk about our plans, and I’ll keep saying how lucky we are






xx

Hmm. What was i doing before this again?
Oh ya. Back to work. -_-

Alternative between AOF and editing Bali pictures, hee!
and you can expect an update on AOF very very soon. :)


One day,
We’ll turn on the tv and won’t see nothin ’bout war…

And when that morning comes,
I’ll make coffee and you’ll read the papers
We’ll talk about our plans, and I’ll keep saying how lucky we are




Currently listening to: Meiko - How Lucky We Are ♫
(♫ genre: slow sunday)

If you came in here confused for a moment, thinking you’ve entered the wrong website,

worry not, you’re still at Thatgirlcynthia.com :)

The layout’s currently under construction, needing a much-needed facelift

So don’t mind the virtual dust!

xx


Ok done.

And by done, i mean i don’t know what to tweak anymore
i keep adding things and removing it and tweak this and tune that,
and in the end coming back to square one. -_-

What can i say, i like things plain and simple.

Everything’s hand drawn, of course. As roughly as possible.

It’s all very reminiscent of my old brown exercise books (aka. Buku Conteng) i used to keep back in highschool. If you knew me back then, they were all titled “The Book of Life” (don’t ask)

I’d doodle boy-crushes’ names in hearts and arrows, draw cartoons, and occasionally note down homework assignments in wooden plank frames.

Because clouds are abit boring, innit?

xx

Well if you have any suggestions on how to improve the layout, i’m all ears :)




Currently listening to: Parachute - She is Love ♫
(♫ genre: slow sunday)