~ t w i s t e d ~ a n g e l ~

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Just upgraded my wordpress to v2.2.2. Ironically, repetitions of my favorite digit.

The upgrade normally took nothing more half an hour including backups. However this time it took me 48 freaking hours! Actually everything was fine after the upgrade, but there was a very slight glitch at the Write Post page - a couple of links were a bit jumbled up. The little Ms. Perfectionist in me decided to replace the interface file. Just transfer and replace through FTP right? Wrong. Replace more here and there. Got worse. Delete WordPress files and folders and re-upload. Not working. Googled the error but results returned nothing promising.

Anyway, after endless cursing, swearing and accidentally ruined my db, it’s all good now. Basically I deleted everything including my SimpleViewer, b2 <– grandfarfar of wordpress, which I used during my early days of blogging. Heh. Lesson of the day, clear everything before starting new. Find and Replace didn’t usually work. And no, I still wouldn’t settle for senget links.

If the Google search brought you here, you can find my solution in the WordPress upgrade forum. Good luck!

BEWARE! Picture heavy entry. Pardon me but I had problems picking out pictures from over 600 shots!!

I tried my best to remember everything as detailed as I could.

Day 1
We departed from LCCT around 6.30AM. Arrived at Macau around 10AM local time. The weather was quite chilling but I’d prefer that than warm. Initially we planned to take the Airport Express but coincidencely we met with a Malaysian who worked there and taught (and sent!) us to Macau Ferry Terminal using public bus. Much cheaper and I ALWAYS prefer to move about like the locals on my trip to anywhere.

Day 3
Next day we were brought to silk factory, traditional medicine factory (we were given free health consultation just by looking at our palms, eyes and tongue, interesting) and chinese tea shops (boring boring..).

Then off to Splendid China, this place was like the pathetic Taman Min* Malaysia in M*lacca but less pathetic, and it took about 4 hours to complete the designated route. I don’t remember how many village/house replicas were shown but there are a lot, mainly because China is a very large country with many cultures and heritages.In the evening, we were presented with a marvellous & colorful culture performance. I guessed that show brought me back on the right momentum because these culture/factory visits almost bored me to death.

Day 4
Disneyland Day!!
Woke up early and boarded the train back to Hong Kong. I wish we had more time in Shenzhen (for shopping, mind you). But well, there’s always next time. 10AM we were already in Disneyland HK.

My utmost pleasure. Please expect me again

Day 5
Packing and weighing. We normally brought our luggage weighing scales along and as a tip, I assure you this thing is useful if you’re kaki-shopping like me. Save you from all your worries. I almost hit overload point, my stuff ain’t that much (to my standard :P) but I bet all my fancy punches contributed major kilograms.We took cabs to Hong Kong Ferry Terminal, took the ferry and when we reached Macau, we realized we had 3 hours before check-in. I believed lady luck was on our side, we found out there was a shopping mall 3 minutes walk from the Macau Ferry Terminal (yeay!).

We walked there lugging our heavy suitcases (hahaa) and went shopping some more. It was quite tedious but the mall was quite spacious and sometimes we took turns to take care of the luggages. Found more good stuff, like cute stationeries and more Disney products. Done with the mall, had McD lunch and boarded the flight home.

Overall I enjoyed this trip although it was not how I wanted it to be. I kept reminding myself my parents were with me and I had to take everyone’s interest into account. And that fact that I have more money to spend for myself because accomodation/transport/meal bore by my parents. Give and take la kan.

Although shopping stuff are cheap, food and drinks are really expensive! And it’s not that easy to find halal and vege food in HK. Almost everything have pork in them. Small mineral water bottle costs RM6 and white bread (panjang punye) is RM8. Our ground package provided us meals but for yours truly who is on snacks galore 24-7, asyik lapar aje lah kan.

My sister Erin helped a lot especially during bargaining and asking directions. She’s very fluent in Mandarin (she finished her advanced level), speaking with that familiar accent which always made us gawking in awe.

I can’t help but to plan my iterineries on the next trip to HK. I swear I’m gonna spend more money next time at the 3 shopping streets again. I will not miss Temple Streets, Nathan Road, Stanley Market, Harbour City, Hum Hom, Sham Shui Po (gadgets!), visit Avenue of Stars, watch Symphony of Lights, tram & ferry rides and of course, the best place on earth, DISNEYLAND.

Makcik Guwen rocks my world. I was getting goosebumps throughout the concert. Three days later went to Tunku the Musical with *the Boyfriend* and my parents. What happened when you keep getting goosebumps within 3 days? Rasa nak demam.

Tony and Douglas really nailed it this time. This line stabs me deep.

“I hope someday we’ll all be blind, color blind..”

Tunku the Musical - KLPAC.

Thanks to Sara for the tickets. Love you babe.

An evening with makcik guwen.. can’t think of any better way to have fun on the eve of my birthday.

And as I watch you sleep in the dimlight
I close my eyes and pray
Another fluorescent night, yeah, you and I

Fluorescent - Gwen Stefani

“Whoever gossips to you, will gossip about you”

~Spanish proverb~

Owh how that’s so true.

I think I need to create a category called ‘Just-For-The-Sake-of-Updating’.

I owe you my Hong Kong, China and Bali v2.0 trip story. But enjoy something from our very own beach, Damai Laut, Lumut :P. The others will follow suit.

Another happy tenant. My partner in crime hehee.

I don’t really remember the first time my parents went away and I had to take care of the house alone. I think I was 17 maybe? If only me and my siblings, as far as I remember, I was 15 and taking PMR at that time. Only me and little my sisters, no maid. I guess, that’s the perk of being a first born, you get to be treated like an adult. I got to use the kitchen at age 7 (knives and stove y’all), i got to learn to drive a (manual) car at age 14 and my parents let me go to Singapore with school excursion when I was in Standard 3 and majority of students were from Standard 6. I was only 9 years old and I was allowed to be out of the country by myself. Hehee. Couldn’t be any better.

But this early morning, was the first time I felt really scared being independent and alone..

I always slept with my lights switched on (the whole family is like that). And these days, I slept with my cat, Zorro. Normally around 4-5am Zorro would wake me up to do his ‘business’. I would opened up my window and let him out. My room is upstairs facing the backyard and the windows are connected to a wide section of roof tiles covering the dining hall downstairs where I sometimes I went for a chill on the roof top.

So this early morning around 4, Zorro mews and mews so I woke up and draw the curtain a little bit. Right before I opened up the window, suddenly I saw a black figure moving about in my neighbour’s backyard, he was like, terhendap-hendap you see. I was figuring out what it was (I thought it was either a ghost or my neighbour Mr Lim) until that guy realized I was watching him and he slowly bent down. Until that point, I just realized he was a thief trying to break in! Mangkuk tak aku ni, boleh ingat menda tu hantu?

So quickly moved away from the window, squatted beside the bed, holding a screwdriver and called my mom in Kuantan. By the way, in my panic stress, I actually forgot what name I put for her in my handphone contacts. Was it ‘Ibu’ or ‘Mom’? It was actually ‘ICE’! (In Case of Emergency). I asked her to call Mr Lim but under her panics too (duhh!) she couldn’t find his number. She asked me to stay put. I told her I want to call the police.

I scrolled down my list of police station number and guess what, since moving to Bukit Antarabangsa I didn’t update nearby police station number (I used to keep Taman Setiawangsa police station). So I called Ibu Pejabat Polis Bukit Aman (04:04:26AM), considering it is an ‘ibu pejabat’ (main office) I suppose it has network to other police stations too.

Within a couple of rings, an officer picked up and I introduced myself and recounted what I saw to him. In that massive panic (again!) I forgot my house address. I was confused between e.g., No.9, Jalan Kayu 10 OR No.10, Jalan Kayu 9. Aku sampai mintak maaf kat the officer,

“Saya minta maaf encik, saya menggigil..”.

Skarang tengah cerita, rasa nak tergelak la kan, tapi masa jadi pagi tadi, I was shivering, literally. Now I understand when people said they almost “peed in their pants”. I always thought it was only just a figure of speech. I almost peed in my pants for real.

He said he’ll despatch some guys there. I put down the phone. Within a minute (04:05:44AM) an officer from Balai Polis Ulu Klang called to confirm my report. He said some guys already on their way there. He asked me whether I’m fine. I had my four limbs all finely attached to me but please somebody please take that crook away. Another call came in at 04:09:08AM from Balai Polis Bukit Aman to assure me help was on the way.

I was in dire need to pee and fortunately my toilet is in my bedroom (not outside and not sharing). I was too scared to go out from my room. So I did my ‘business’ quietly, with the toilet lights off and I didn’t dare to flush. I know this sounds gross but what else can you do when you’re trying not to make any noise? I didn’t want to scare the penyangak away so the police could nab him down.

Of course the only noise came from, Zorro. He mews non-stop and kept peeking at the window. I know Zorro was trying to show me the way out, but at one point I relieved Zorro was peeking at the same spot where I saw the thief. I hoped the thief would thought the one who saw him just now is just a cat. Not me.

About 5 minutes later I heard men talking. I assumed it was the police but I was too scared to look out. I alternated phone calls between Ibu and *the Boyfriend*. Around 4.45AM, I heard men were talking again and this time I peeked over and saw 2 police officers. I opened up my window and told them I was the one who called to report the incident.

Later at the front of my house I met other 4-5 officers. I learnt that the noise I heard was when the first two officers arrived at the scene (huyo, ’scene’) and they saw a man climbed out of my neighbour’s gate and ran away into thick bushes. They look for him for about 30 minutes before coming back again at the back of my house. Unfortunately they lost him.

I could’ve go and rant on how the officers lost him and *the Boyfriend* said they could’ve bring a German Shepherd along yada yada. But I have to thank them officers for arriving real fast, which means the patrol team were very near. I’ve heard numerous complaint on how these officers were lazy and did not perform as the public expected them to, but Alhamdulillah in my case, I was spared from the ordeal.

I could’ve wait there for hours and my neighbour’s family might get hurt and lost their valuables. I could’ve wait there for hours only to realize the penyangak changed his mind came back for me because he knew I saw him. But the police officers were fast. And for that, I have to thank them which I already did personally (BP Bukit Aman and BP Ulu Klang).

On lighter notes, I actually relieved the officers saw that penyangak. It justified that what I saw is not a ghost and it wasn’t my imagination.

If you’ve finished reading this, please take a little initiative to add the nearest police station number in your contacts. BP Ulu Klang is 03-4257 3322. Another number is Ibu Pejabat Polis Bukit Aman at 03-2262 6555. Take your handphone and save it NOW. Make sure everyone in your family have these numbers.

Some people, especially men (no offense) will normally give remarks like.. ‘Elleeh, perlu ke?’. Women would be accused for worrying too much and shits. These things could happened to everybody. Never think it will only happen to other people. Same chances, same probability for us all.

Now, have you saved the numbers?

Note: First entry after domain annual renewal.

I’ve been itching to write about my trip to Hong Kong & Shenzhen (China), but then it was time to go to Bali. I’ll call it Bali v2.0, for those who miss Bali v1.0, you can read it here.

One day after I arrived from Bali, I was sent on official trip to Damai Laut, Lumut. The place was awesome and I was appointed as one of the official photographer. As a committee, it was a great excuse to escape from ‘un-interesting’ activities like putting up performances. Hehee. But I had a great time kayaking and cycling around the resort sampai terkehel my wrist and ankle.

Although 2007 is a Visit Malaysia Year, I had my passport stamped quite often this year. In January I went to Phuket, May - Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong & China, June - Singapore again, July - Bali v2.0. Most probably another trip down south later during Christmas.

But as for now, in terms of fun, I enjoy Swiss Garden Damai Laut the most. Maybe because of the privacy and the splendid view. It’s located on private land and beach so it’s very clean, quiet and no uncivilized spoilt kids making noise and mess. I already succeeded pestering my parents to bring the whole family there. So, next universities semester break I’d be tanned again.

But but but.. as for shopping, I’d settle for Hong Kong!