A Day To Remember...

We were in Singapore this past X'Mas weekend, and while it was yet another nice, short break, it was made all the more meaningful for me as I got to see family members I've not seen in ages. My cousin Bernie who lives in Australia with hubby John and their kids David and Patrick, had contacted me sometime back to say they were coming back to Singapore this holiday season, so I just had to do whatever it took to see them.

Also living with Bernie is my aunt Doreen, my late mom's elder sister. FAVOURITE elder sister, I should add. They were really close. In fact, we were close with the whole family, Bernie's sister Vicky included. I had very happy memories with all of them in Singapore.

Their house was like my own second home. My late mom and I would always make the trip down south during every holiday and stayed with aunty Doreen and family for days. I would meet up with my other cousins there and there would always be something to do.

Aunty Doreen was always there for us. She's kind, funny and love her close family members immensely. I can't recall when was the last time I saw her, but through my emails with Bernie, I got to know that she now has Alzheimer's and needs a lot of tending to. Her short term memory is almost gone too.

And so before meeting up, Bernie told me that there might be a chance that she wouldn't remember me. I was fine with that actually, I was just excited to see everyone.

The whole family came by the hotel where we were staying so we could have lunch together. When I came up to aunty Doreen, everyone asked her: "Do you remember who this is?". And she said: "Joey Boy". I felt like tearing up. I was just happy to see her, and knowing that she remembers me made it even more special.

We all then had lunch at this place at Liang Court. I remarked that Bernie and Vicky still look like the way they did 20 years ago. : ) And I had a good conversation with Bernie's hubby, John. They actually live on a farm in Sydney and it was a blast listening to all their animal stories.

David and Patrick didn't speak much though, but I know from the bits and pieces of info that they're big on rugby (of course!) and are very "rajin" boys who help out around the farm as well as taking care of aunt Doreen.

The lunch lasted less than two hours, but it was one of the best days ever for me. It brought back all those childhood memories of mine and wifey remarked about how warm and loving they are. Aunt Doreen took a while to finish her food, but one thing she didn't lose was her sense of humour. She even made jokes in Malay!

The sad moment was at the end when she asked me about my mom and dad. When told that they had passed on, she was taken aback and I could see she was holding back tears. Cos even though she knew this, but due to her condition, the emotion she felt was like her hearing the news for the very first time.

Still, it was a day to remember for me. I just hope it won't take another decade or so to see everyone again...

More Scenes From Harry Fotografi

Shooting is still ongoing for the TV9 comedy series I conceptualised and co-wrote, Harry Fotografi. Paid another visit to the set a couple of days ago and things are shaping up nicely. The outdoor scenes are almost done and by next week, the indoor scenes will be shot.

Director Chunk also showed me some scenes and I can say that I'm more than happy with how the show looks. More like a film than a TV show. And the cast members are just damn funny. Can't wait to watch it myself!

Musang King: Or Is It?

Been craving for Durian even before our recent hols, but somehow never found the time to go roaming around looking for the spiky stuff. But last night, we saw some at the neighbourhood Giant, and decided to buy a few packs of the Musang King kind. (confession: I'm not really good at cracking open durians, God never gave me the skills).

Since they were closing the stall, the vendor gave me three packs for RM40 instead of just two. Chucked them at the back of the car, drove home like mad to prevent the smell from taking over and quickly savoured our loot...

They were good, BUT were they really Musang King? I wasn't so sure. I've had MK before, and I remembered being really wowed by it. This time around, I only liked it. I would say it was, at best, premium D24, but probably not MK.

But I guess the only way to know for sure is to buy more MK Durians elsewhere and do the comparison-o-doom test.  So, do watch this space : )

Visit Britain 2011: Winter Wonderland

And my final post on "Visit Britain" takes us to "Winter Wonderland"; London's Spectacular Christmas Destination at Hyde Park. Ironic though that we only visited it on the very last day of our trip despite it being a stone throw's away from where we we staying.

Anyway, we only heard great things about it when we got to London, although on one day, it was reportedly closed due to overcrowding. Yes, it's THAT popular.

We were from Covent Garden and took the tube to Hyde Park Corner. After just a short walk, voila! We were right smack in the middle of the sights, smell and sound of X'Mas at Winter Wonderland. Waaahhh, was all we could muster...

The vastness of Hyde Park was transformed into a wondrous land with food, drink and gift stalls, rides, an ice skating rink, a giant wheel, a circus and loads, loads more...

Having not booked in advance, we did not get to see the circus, but kiddo of course went crazy looking at all the rides. FYI, the rides averaged GBP2-4 per ride. And please note that accompanying adults need tokens as well. No free rides!

The joy was really endless, although we did get no joy from the weather. At zero degrees (the coldest it was during our entire trip), our teeth were clattering as it got deeper into the night. It didn't help that I lost one of my gloves earlier so my hand felt like, well, it didn't feel anything, actually.

But it was indeed a magical night, after which we got back to the hotel, had dinner with my brother-in-law and his mate, and took a taxi to Gatwick. Sob sob : /

2 Days In Paris

I was in Cannes last year for MIPCOM and managed to squeeze in a one-night stay in the City of Light, Paris. I had no doubt that the fam would enjoy it as well, and so, when the UK trip was confirmed, I made additional plans for us to cross the channel for a French getaway, within a getaway.

The plan was to take the Eurostar train one morning, stay the night and return to London the next evening. First off, I had to book the Eurostar tickets which was easily done in the comforts of my office in Bandar Utama. Here's a friendly tip: book early with definite dates and time and you'll get a pretty good price. I paid around Euro100 per person for the return trip.

The St. Pancras International Station was where we waited for the train, and after the normal immigration checks and screenings, we were already on board!

The seats were really comfortable and the journey was rather pleasant. Of course you'd know that the train goes under the English channel, but it didn't quite last as long as I expected it. Before we knew it, we were already in French territory...

 The journey took around 2hrs 20mins and arrival was at the Gare Du Nord in Paris.

And our hotel was literally across the street!

And it was quite a nice surprise that our room was pretty spacious.

Gare Du Nord seen from the hotel room

 Nearby too was a halal makan place, which was where we had our lunch.

I had checked on the weather before coming over, and it did say that it'd be raining in Paris for the two days we were gonna be there. And so it did! We took the hop on, hop off bus which was just around the corner, but our hopes of being on the upper deck to enjoy the city from a different perspective was dashed by the rain.

But we did get to see quite a bit of the city before we got down at our destination of choice...

Which was Champs Elysees... And immediately we felt the festive magic as the whole street was lit up beautifully.

Seriously, what an experience that was as we walked in freezing temperatures while being serenaded with beautiful French tunes and chomping down churros and chestnuts. Stuff money can't buy...

We did a bit of shopping before sitting down for dinner but then I committed a critical error; I didn't keep track of the time. By the time we hit the shops again, they were already closing down. So we were just left with photo opps.

We took a taxi back to the hotel before getting a good night's sleep. Then it was time to hit the road again. The weather was looking rather fine that morning, and so we got to be on the upper deck of the bus for quite a bit.

It eventually rained again, but things cleared up when we got to our destination: Musee du Louvre.

The queue outside was rather long as expected, but it was OK really, since the payoff would be great : ) We didn't really have much time there, but we did hit the obligatory exhibits including Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa (yeah, I did the same thing last year).

We then took the bus again and headed for the Eiffel Tower. It poured relentlessly when we arrived there which was quite a bummer. But the skies cleared up a bit after that. The fam being first timers were really awestruck by the magnificence of the structure.

We snapped away until it was time to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and to Gare Du Nord for the train back to London.

A great getaway, but really, there's still loads to see, which just means we have to come back again soon, doesn't it? :)