Chompa

Wow, already a week since I've had anything to say on this page?

Life's been a spin of many new things this week. My skin is dotted with ugly red marks, to start off. One doctor said it was "nothing much" and another claimed it to be allergies. I've never been allergic to anything of this world for the whole of my life, so I'm not sure he struck it right, but his medicine seems to be working, ergo my complains are contained. I'd post a picture here, but I'm kind and sweet and will save you the nightmare of keying the sickening image into your memories, but if you're still keen, here.

Along with that, I also gained a painful kilogram and a half from not being very active and consuming a whole lot of unnecessary, unhealthy food like pizza, fries, burger, onion rings, you name it. I was also blessed with an invitation from Rebecca to do a food review for Concorde hotel. So, gosh, just...food everywhere. I'll bombard you with a page full of food pictures soon. Watch for it.

Furthermore, I made a friend called Paul who've been such a sweetheart in taking care of me when I was ill and couldn't stand straight, accompanying me to the doctor's, and giving me his crazy thick pullover, or chompa as he called it, when my weak cardigan couldn't do the job of warming me up.

But overall, all is well and all is fine.
Hoping with all my might that I'd completely heal soon.

Food and adventure posts, coming right up!
Love, AngelKein

Not Favoring Farewells

You know what's awful?

  Good-byes.

I don't mean those cute little ttyl's after a lunch date with your colleagues, or see-you's to friends after school- those farewells are easy; just preludes to a near-future hello. What I mean are goodbyes said without knowing whether there'll ever be another hey in the future. Those suck. 

With the many byes I've had to say lately, I've learned to cope better with it. The act no longer pinch as painfully as it used to, but it's still not easy, especially during the first 24 hours following. Perhaps the difficulty from parting with these people is a good thing, an indication which speaks that hmm, I've met some pretty great people- the more amazing they are, the tougher the goodbyes, right? The core reason for the sadness lies in the uncertainty on whether the paths of these people and mine will ever cross again. This is where a huge appreciation is given to Mark Zuckerberg. At least I'll still be able to be in contact.

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Matt came back to KL a few days ago. It wasn't a long stay, but we had fun nonetheless. Eating under train rail in the drizzling rain, swimming in an unlit pool at 2am, tasting durian popcorn and unreasonably priced cream puffs, conversations until the very early a.m.,  breakfast with my family at the mamak...big shame he couldn't stay longer, sad face.

Oh, wind, you are ever so filled with surprises; who knows where you'll take us next.  

I will sit on the steps for you, you, and you.

Love, AngelKein

Backyard Beauties

Guys, I am restless. It's been almost a week since I've done anything remotely life-threatening in lush greenery lol. My sleeping pattern has changed. I now sleep and wake up early like times when I had to for hiking or climbing or some sort of activity. Some days, when I rise before the sun does, I would lay in bed and wait for the rays to stream through my purple curtains. Other times, like yesterday, I get up, pick up my camera, and search for things to capture.

It was technically not the same as being in nature, but hey, living with a dense forest as my backyard, it was..close enough. Wandering around in sleep clothes, crouching on the grass, picking up dead leaves, searching for creepy crawlies, meowing at stray cats- quite therapeutic, really. I wonder what went through the minds of the neighbours, guards, and sweepers when they beheld the sight, haha.








Macro photographer, Teresa Franco, was the inspiration for the dirtying of my pants and knees, looking for little creatures. This lady is amaaazing- triple A's worth of amazement. All her shots are taken with her iPhone! A living example to prove the quote not what you use, but how you use it. Check her out!

Love, AngelKein

A Tourist In My Own Country

Here's a conversation I had with my friend Justine recently. The green her and the pink me.

Help me out please. Need to tour a French intern this month. *sends link to 101 things to do in KL*

I was just on that site a few days ago, lol!

Where should I take her and what should I do, besides shopping? I'm like a bloody tourist in my own country.

HAHA, same here.

Damn embarrassing, only had Ramly once in my life.

Travellers I've met recently asked me about Malaysia and I'm like..what. 

Babe, we're so foreign to our own country.

Yeah, we are.

Alright, alright. Spare me the judgements. I know, it's quite humiliating to know so little of my own country, and that the fact that I grew up in a school that taught U.S. History instead of Malaysian sejarah is no excuse for such ignorance, but eekkk I've never really found the need to know more. This is where the whole take-fore-granted-what-you-have thing comes into place. But! recently I've started to do more research on Malaysia.....more towards the whereabouts of local Malaysian delicacies than anything (lol, Malaysians and food are inseparable, right?) , but I'm gradually getting towards the history, places, people, animals, etc.. Better late than never, I say!

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Sabrina was a dear again last Sunday, picking me up for church and later out for some long-craved tom yam noodles with three lovely, hilarious ladies of whom I'm very happy to be newly acquainted with. We spoke about le Paris and flying to Hong Kong for breakfast and back, and laughed about honeymoons in silent caves. Lunch was an unexpected fun. Then I hopped on a train into the city and met up with Isaac- a foreigner- who showed me -a local- around the city. Quite pathetic, really, and rather funny. I was a tourist in my own country.

Set foot on Dataran Merdeka for the first time ever in the whole nineteen years of living in Malaysia; dressed in a purple robe and walked uncomfortably into the National Mosque that I didn't know was opened to public; and laid under a tree in a charming little botanical garden that I wasn't even aware existed. There were cute little ducks practising their synchronized swimming in the pond, a family of birds having dinner in their nest, and ants rushing back to feed their clan. The garden might just be my new favourite place in the city.

I saw, in a day, more of Kuala Lumpur than I have in most my years living here, haha! Thanks, Isaac! 

Love, AngelKein

Into The Jungle of Taman Negara

The sun is high and bright today, sharing its lovely rays with us. It's during times like this where I'm truly thankful to be living beside a lush, peaceful, cool forest and away from the blazing heat of the crowded, suffocating city. I love the sun and would be an absolute sore to anyone if I'm deprived of it, but I'd like to love it from afar, where I can see it and adore it but not feel its temperature on my skin..get what I mean? At this moment, I'm cross-legged on my green-cushioned rattan chair, under the fan, facing the laptop with a cool cup of milo on my left and a sleeping puppy by my right foot; in other words, I'm home. It was just a few days ago at this time that I was sitting on a floating restaurant by a rushing river with two great people, Nadia and Isaac, eating honey pancakes and fried rice, slurping down chill, refreshing juices and having an adorable local girl stick sticky labels on us. Ah, the reminiscing is rumbling. 

A week before, while resting on our hike, on top of a mountain, Nadia and I spoke about going for more adventures, and a few days later, after very little planning over facebook messenger, we were off to the green, sensational natural beauty that is Taman Negara. We didn't know how long we were going to stay, where we were going to stay, nor what we were going to do during the stay, but we went along anyway. It was an agreement between us both to travel as cheaply as possible, so we crossed our fingers, with no reservations made (because those cost more) and hoped that the earliest bus we needed to get on would have seats available. And it did, with plenty of spaces in the bus to spare too. 

We introduced ourselves to a man called Matthew on one of the stops, chatted with him for a few minutes, found out he was going the same way, and invited him to join us for lunch and later for the trip. Matt ended up staying with us for a couple of days and in that time we've managed to bond over many sarcastic remarks and half-drunken lies of being thieves and killers planning to get each other, but in a funny, not-very-serious, amusing way. I must admit, I think I might be a great actress, because I managed to fool him repeatedly. Either that or he's just gullible. Ha! We met other travellers on trip as well. There was a man called Sebastian who was tall, muscular, and has a great sense of humour; two French girls, one with a nifty side hair cut and another with pretty Brandeis blue eyes; and a German who've caught the Australian accent after living there for over two years.

The days in Taman Negara were spent dipping in the flowing river; walking long distances on wooden planks; balancing on canopy walks; uttering ooohs at gigantic strange insects and ahhhs at beautiful animals;  hiking 16km into forests crawling with zombie leeches; and feasting by the river on floating eating houses. The nights were more relaxed with great stories and conversations told and exchanged over food and drinks; long walks through houses, hotels, chalets, and restaurants; and laying on the ground, looking towards the sky, and contemplating on life lol. 

Besides the scars and bites from insects and leeches, the whole getaway was amazing. The people, more than anything, made it great. 

Love, AngelKein.