Two Honest Thoughts.

The first thought is pretty light but if you want the heavy stuffs, skip to the second one. That one might make some people aka people who might have came from my list of Facebook friends feel offended/insulted/get hit right in ignorance but oh well.


First thought:

The whole Twilight hating is not that big over here in Malaysia, where the ones that hate it are men. I find myself a very very small minority when I scoffed at the topic of the release of Breaking Dawn tomorrow. Fine, I've read it which is only possible because I read it before it became a big thing. By the time I finished, I watched the first movie and cringed at it. The bad bad bad storyline is made more obvious and I then joined the party of Twilight snubbing.

I find myself more excited for the Life of Pi, and Dad seemed interested when he saw the making of feature on tv last weekend. So, this might be a movie the family will be watching together. I read the book when I was .. 16 or so and it was a nice book. And yes, the whole Twilight series is a joke and a shame upon vampire related books.


Second thought:

There was this post on Facebook going around about how Hitler talked to this religious Muslim guy or something and found out that in Islam, Jews are considered as evil, which led to him rounding them up, and you know what happened. This post is popular because it said that Hitler let some Jews live so he can show the world why did he kill so many of them. I have no idea of its accuracy. But oh, the people who grabbed upon that fact.


To be honest, anyone who tries to justify Hitler's actions should frankly get out of my sight, get off my blog and perhaps try to educate themself.

I know, there's a long history of Jews and what they did in the history of Islam but that is it. Do not freaking go all:

"Jews are evil! "

When you get pissed off when people say Islam is a violent religion or that Muslims are terrorists.

Hypocrites. Fuck all of you.

To the person who tried telling me that Hitler left some blah blah blah, I know that somewhere deep in that brain of yours, is a stupid place. You rarely read. Your general knowledge sucks. And god, you dare to make Hitler look good?

You're someone who believes readily in those theories posts on Facebook, whether its about eating tinned sardines can cause cancer, or that the Smurfs is about some religion thing. I'm glad you didn't watch the Olympic opening ceremony or you would have said that Voldemort figure is actually the Illuminati dissing Musa aka Moses.

Next time you pick your phone up to browse through Facebook, go to Wikipedia and read up Josef Mengele for a start. Move on to what they did in the concentration camps. And then slap yourself with your phone when you realise how ignorant you are.

 My lil brother is more informed than you.

And to all those Muslims out there who goes on about how Jews/gays/practically everyone else is going to hell, why don't you go and better yourself? That will make your chance of getting into Jannah(heaven) increase rather than pointing out those people who's going to hell. Are you sure you're not going to be neighbours with them?

I'm a Muslim and I don't say who's going to hell or heaven. Only Allah can do that.

I Don't Get it: Make Up.

There's two types of women. One that wears make up as if its as essential as wearing clothes to leave the house, and one who wears make up for special occasions.

The former one might look all polished and pretty but you know, when you do get to see them without those war paints on, there's a big chance that you'll think:

"No wonder she puts on make up."

Its a bad effect. If you wear make up so often, you risk making your au natural look look all blergh, when in reality its just like normal girls around you.

The latter one, seems oh so pretty during those special occasions  My only beef is that, why does it look awkward on me?

Is it the colours, or that I don't have smooth skin? Or am I just not made for make up?

Tuesday Thoughts.

In my opinion: 

Coffee.

(n.) a kiss in a mug.

Shameless Promoting.

Oh take a look to your right.

Is it a bird?

Is it a plane?

Or is it a bowl of ice cream?

Noooo.

Its this blog's own Facebook page!

Please like it. So I'll become superduperfamousandgetmyownwikipage one day.

Confession No. 42

Your laziness, 

Your abysmal work, 

Your inability to see what is important,

 Sickens me.

Your looks shall fade one day.

USS Trip: End.

While looking for pictures for this last post on the USS trip, I realised that we didn't take that much trip after the whole Shrek thing. So this post would have a random bunch of pictures.

 We went to Madagascar ... which was kinda on the same level of Jurassic Park in terms of excitement. Lil bro bought a bag of chips and it started to rain. We then found ourselves back in Hollywood (yes, its not that big of a place) so we took a slower walk. We stopped to pray at the place provided and found ourselves back in Egypt. Where:

We got on this slow jeep kind of ride and Dad made me take a picture of us and what do you see? My multiple chins. 

Dad wanted a picture beside the Autobots' logo and he took another one beside a car version of Bumblebee. I think he did that one mostly for the car and wanted to brag about it. Yes, so cute.

We then went to watch this musical show where there's monsters singing popular songs. I developed a mighty crush on the only non monster cast member. This hot blond guy . Yes. Just my type, Mokesart.

We then went to eat at this diner style place where the fries are amaaaayyzing and then just walked around the shops till it was closing time at 7pm. Which posed a problem. The bus was scheduled to come at 9. 2 hours of staring outside the park at the fancy fancy stores.

I went straight to the chocolate shop and stocked up on Reese's since its pretty much super hard to get over here in Malaysia. What does a Reese taste like? Pretty freaking amazing. It has that chocolate taste with the saltiness of peanut butter. After that? We sat and enjoyed the night air.

This is the decoration outside the candy shop. Yes, there's a chocolate shop and a candy shop. Mama wouldn't let me go inside cause she knows I'll be wanting something even when I don't really like sweet that much.

Bored+ camera in hand. Yes, those are my legs. Short. But mine.

The bus came at 9 and I fell asleep till we got to the Singapore customs and did the whole customs thingie, twice cause Malaysia customs is only 3 minutes away. We arrived at the hotel around 11pm and what did we do? Get a late dinner from a stall beside the hotel. I decided to indulge myself in Mushroom Fried Rice while Dad had Chicken Fried Rice, Lil Bro had Seafood Fried Rice and Mama had noodles.

By the time we got back to our hotel room, I was ready for a long cold shower just because it was icky after a long day. By half past midnight, Lil Bro was snoring with the remote underneath his tummy and I had to poke him for it.

Mama sneaked into the room at 7 to get a Reese and after rolling around, we had breakfast at the buffet and the scones + clotted cream+ jam wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I really need to try some great ones. Went back to the room, rolled around and packed our bags before checking out.

BUT, we then stopped at Johor Premium Outlet which are filled with ... elite aka super expensive stores that have discounted items. Discounted my ass.

700 ringgit for a purse? Well, from Michael Kors. But maybe it is cheap. For people who are used to these kinda shops. I only went into two other shops which I know the price range are. And hey, they were cheap-ish. Vincci and Body Shop. I bought a bottle of vanilla lotion from the latter and Mama got a lipstick.

Look at my face. I was trying to convince Mama to buy me something to drink from Starbucks. She said no.

Conclusion of the trip.

Well, if you have never ever ever been to a Universal Studios theme park, make Singapore your first one. If you've been to the one in Orlando (like we did way back in 97), it would be a bit of a disappointing experience in terms of the number of attractions. You'll probably sound spoiled when you go:

Oh, just this?

Unless you want to ride the Cylon a dozen times. I think the Battlestar Galatica rollercoaster, the Transformer 3D ride and the cute guy in the musical makes it fun.

Go on a non holiday weekday and you won't have to line up 2 hours for a single ride. Check the weather. Do not convert the price to your own currency because you'll end up not wanting to buy. Go in the morning so you can have ample time to try the rides and watch the shows.

Now, to cross off USS from my list of theme parks to go to.

Tuesday Thoughts.

USS Trip: Shrek and Fiona.

Egypt is a part of Universal Studios that got a restaurant, gift shop, an indoor roller coaster and this ... kid's ride of a Jeep. So, hungry and giddy, I dragged my family to the restaurant there.

Lil bro and I in front of said restaurant.

Look at what greeted us in the entrance. See that big bag I'm carrying? I don't even know why we brought that along.

I wish we took pictures of the food or more of the restaurant's interior but we were really really hungry. There were few sets to choose from, mostly rice with a protein dish and a vegetable dish. Seeing as the portions was kinda big, we bought two sets where one had briyanni rice, lamb masalla and brinjal curry while the other had roasted chicken and mix veges. And there were the desserts . All I know its some kind of pudding that's yellow and according to Mama, smell like henna.

So, nope, we skipped dessert.

The parents after the meal. Dad's a bit tummy upset after the Cylon while Mama seems pretty eager to get going. Look behind them, pretty interesting wall deco, right?

One last picture of the restaurant's entrance. It was pretty empty but I can imagine the crowd if we went on the weekends or school holidays.

This is the indoor roller coaster. Around the time this picture was taken, the waiting time is 45 minutes so I just shrugged and told my parents perhaps later. I went on the ride 3 hours later where walking from the entrance to the ride is longer than how long I waited.  Its super dark, with some scary effects. Very fast, kinda like the Human but since its dark, I didn't really feel as if I'm in danger of being blast off from my seat.

In front of the ride. Practically forced Dad to take this p;icture.

I remember watching Jurassic Park as a kid and god, I was really scared by the kitchen scene.  I apologise for the lack of pictures in this part but honestly? This is perhaps the most boring part ever. They had this water raft ride which is .. tame-ish for me. They had this slow rollercoaster thingie meant to enjoy the view. And ... that is all I think. 

But! This is one of the pretty features there. 

We then moved on to Far Far Away Land. Which is the cutest ever. The shops were all in character and for me, this section is the one where its most consistent with the features. They have this small rollercoaster which I rode, it was .. 20 seconds. 

But, the main attraction is the 4D adventure where you sit in the movie theater with your 3D glasses on as you watch Fiona get kidnapped on her honeymoon. It was very enjoyable. The chairs shook as Shrek galloped on a horse. Donkey sneezed and you feel water on your face. A spider gets dropped, followed by his whole family, you'll feel things crawling on your legs. Pretty epic but only if you sit in the front rows. Which of course, we did.

Dad was pretty excited to get his picture taken with these two. There was a long line and he dragged me with him. Isn't that cute?

One last view of the castle before we head on, all tired to the last section.

I know, late post but this week has been super busy. Super super. The next post will be the conclusion of this trip.

Tuesday Thoughts.

Confession No.41

Right now, I feel like curling up and crying.

All the "Should have" running through my mind.

Deep breath Hanis.

USS Trip: First Half of the Day.

On the second day, Dad woke us up at 6-ish so we can go to breakfast at 7 am and even though I was yawning while looking at the buffet spread, I managed to chow down some of the delicious food. The bus was scheduled to arrive at 9 am and we were done with breakfast 90 minutes before that. So, off to a short nap and rolling around in bed before waiting at the lobby.

The bus took us to the bridge, first stopping at the Malaysia customs, got our passport checked before going back into the bus. Then it was to the Singapore customs, got our passport stamped and it was back to the bus. Pretty hectic routine there.

From there, it was 40 minutes till we got to Sentosa Island where the bus dropped us off in this basement parking. There were few escalators leading upwards and from there, I heard the music playing.  The good thing is that we went on a non holiday weekday, which cuts down on all the time spent in queues.

Yes, that is me and my lil bro standing in front of the Universal Studios globe thingie. I fully suspect that they have a thing for mist/fog because they kept using it in its rides. Look at my overly excited face.

The theme park is divided into few sections : Hollywood, New York, Sci Fi, Egypt, Lost World Of Jurassic Park, Madagascar and Far Far Away. You just go around in a circle to see them all. 

Being us, the family who rarely take pictures, I just realised that we didn't take that many pictures. >.> But oh well.

This is a prop in New York, I'm not sure if it signifies anything but I remember thinking "Oh lookie. A helicopter."

This is the first attraction we went to: Lights, Camera, Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg. It is basically a room where you can see how an empty sound stage be set to be a major hurricane in New York, right in front of your eyes.

I know, I was thinking "God, how ironic is it that I'm watching this when Sandy is going cray cray in New York."

That aside, it was a pretty cool attraction and we were in the front row, watching the water build up, the lightning, the fire, the wind and yes, the prop falling into the water and splashing us. BOOM. Right at Mama and lil bro.

This is me and Mama outside the attraction, in front of some quaint looking shop, which is only a window display. If its up to me, we would have taken pictures every five feet.

They decided to make a mini mini version of New York public library and later that day, they had Sesame Street characters performing on the steps and I missed out watching that. But I did sit on the steps while watching some dancing.

This is from Transformers The Ride: Ultimate 3D Battle. 40 minutes queue, thankfully indoors. Its very very awesome. Yes, we got the first row again. There's 12 people per ride, in this car thingie which is actually an Autobot named Evac (new character apparently and I got a crush on his voice) with 4 people in 3 rows. It takes us on this wild wild ride and with those 3D glasses on, we were screaming as we were dragged by Megatron, fell off a skyscraper, get shot at and well, its worth the wait.

And this is the best thing in the whole theme park for me. Its Battlestar Galactica and as you can see, there's two tracks: Blue and Red. The Blue one is Cylon and the  Red one is Human. I was advised to ride the Human first and I dragged Dad and lil bro to both tracks. Again, it was only a mere 5 minutes queue and I took my shoes off, in fear of them flying off.

The Human is like a regular roller coaster, but going up to 90 km per hour, with plenty of zero gravity moments where you feel as if you're falling with your butt rising from your seat.

The Cylon is the one that I love. You're basically hanging there, with your feet dangling about. 360 degree turns, tons of turning and just plain awesomeness. Halfway through, I was laughing at every turn and clapping my hands at the end of the ride.

But, to make sure you guys really get what I'm saying, watch this video. You HAVE TO. And yes, the two roller coasters are launched at the same time, hence making you feel at moments, that you will collide with the other. And I think the person slowed down the video a bit because it was sure a hell lot faster in reality.

Look at lil bro's face, he didn't enjoy Cylon as much as I did. He screamed at me everytime I laughed on it. And look at my face, adrenaline still coursing in my blood because I was giddy for a while. 

We then consulted our map for any Halal restaurants and the nearest one is in Egypt. So we went off, it was getting very sunny and we were hungry, and I was giddy.

The entrance to Egypt. 

Next post will be about how the rest of the day went. With more pictures.

USS Trip : Hotel.

Early October, the parents decided to take us over the bridge (literally) to Singapore and spend a day at the Universal Studios there. So the process started with me looking for hotel packages that include the tickets plus transportation from the hotel to Sentosa Island where the theme park is located.

We hmm-ed and haww-ed while Dad got the passport renewal forms for us. He then got us booked for a package that included 3 days 2 nights at a hotel, breakfast, transport from the hotel to the park and back and the tickets. It was pretty cheap, around 350 Ringgit per person which is about 115 USD. 

So, we took off from home on Monday morning, arrived at the hotel around 2 pm and checked in. The parents had a room with a queen sized bed and it had a connecting door to our room which had two single beds.

This is the view from our room. A bit to the left is the bridge that connects Malaysia to Singapore and I remember joking to my brother that land over there is Singapore and hey, I was right.

Excuse the mess. I forgot to take a picture before the Lil Bro decided to throw things around the room and make it more like home. Of course, the beds were so comfy and bounce-able that I cuddled up to a book under the covers.

Sorry, but I just couldn't resist taking pictures of what was waiting for us in the bathroom. The lotion is one of the best I have ever had. The hotel has this kind of new trendy vibe to it and it was a pretty nice stay.

A unique thing about this hotel was the way it was shaped like a triangle. This is what greeted us when we got out of the room. Yes, its dizzying and we were on the 12th floor. If one look down, they'll see the lounge where for the two nights we were there, there was performances going on.

The view from my parents' room.

The next post will be about the day spent in Universal Studios. Expect pictures of me looking sweaty, super tanned and just excited.

Here's a Cat Picture.

Hellllo.

I just got back from my trip down south of Malaysia. Not down under, though that will be one day in the future.

Where did I go?

Universal Studios Singapore.

I took some pictures, thank you Dad for buying a camera to replace our old school camera.

But since I'm too lazy, here is a picture of Tommy the spoiled cat to tide you guys over until I blog about my trip. I'm sure he was Mufasa in his past life. Or Scar more like it.

Tuesday Thoughts.

Is This Weakness?

This is the last time I'm asking you this,

Put my name on the top of your list.

Today, I talked to a guy who comes to my mind when I listen to this song. I haven't talked to him for a while and I thought those feelings I had for him is dead. But nope. Every time I talk to him, this is how I feel.

I keep telling him that one day, I'll catch a plane to where he is.

He keep telling me that will be the first step to us being together.

This is the last time I'm asking you why,

You break my heart in the blink of an eye.