Home it is!

It's nice to be back home! Now I need to catch up on some sleep...

And I miss being able to drive around!!!

Vertu @ Dubai Duty Free

Honestly, other than Paris freakin Hilton, I don't know anyone who is sane enough to max out their credit card just for a... I quote... "Platinum Polished Vertu" phone. Retailing at Dhs 118,700 (yes, count the digits!!!). It's one-2-one, so it's basically RM118k.

It's almost like pocketing a Honda Civic which radiates malignant cancerous waves - giving your left ball a warm and fuzzy feeling. OoooOOo, that tingles! Muahaha.

The Burj Al Arab

Finally got a taste of the world's only 7 star hotel. Entrance wasn't granted though, unless of course you pay USD50 per pax. Give me a break. ShangriLa allows me to pee in their hotel for free after I cleared the monsterous jam along Jln Sultan Ismail. Why can't you?, cheapos!

A Rolls-Royce tailing my back. What does this tell you? Only for the rich and the famous...
Here's the hotel which is designed to resemble a wave.

I want the World!

First impressions at the entrance was already jaw-locking.

Just a simplistic overview of the financial status of their client base :) ...
This is one of three "Palms" along the coast line of Dubai. In essence, the land is reclaimed to resemble the shape of a Palm. Along each branch lies a number of villas owned by VVIPs of the world. Of course, some serious background check is required before purchasing any property. Did I mention that it's only by invitation? Hehe. Very interesting concept...
But I thought this is way better. Similarly, properties on islands which are reclaimed to resemble the World. Who ever said you can't own the World? Tsktsk.

Dubai City Tour...

Jus a lil' on Dubai's skyline. Such reminiscence of Kuala Lumpur, only slightly more futuristic. The tall reflective building there is the National Bank of Dubai. It's interesting how the windows slant in sucha way that it fully reflects the riverside. The architect surely was paid big bucks for it. Gahhhhhhh!

Next stop, the Dubai Museum. Not my cuppa tea. It was almost like attending a freak show. Always look ahead, not back! Haha. So I kinda cleared the museum in less than 30mins. What's next???
Then there was a boat ride across the river of 50cents. I felt that I was in Cambodia, really.

Visit to the Gold Souk

This is basically a street to consists of many many many Gold shops, but of course, much higher class than our national Poh Kong chain store. Definitely a breakaway from the convention. However, I must comment on the effluvious smell of rotten cabbage and human poo. Eeeky!

And we all know that Dubai is a rich country, so I suppose we need a pimped-up turbocharged Beemer to perform police chases on AliBaBa gold thiefs in Lambo's and Ferrari's. Btw, you won't be able to count the number of Escalades and Brabus'es on the road with ur pair of hands. I'm not exagerrating!

Dubai Retail Therapeutics

Brand globalisation. Translations included. Just incase you're still a lil fogged out, it's Ikea and Starbucks.

We did nothing but shopping. Also, we almost starved to death, since it was Ramadhan month and there wasn't a single food outlet open except McD's and KFC. All civilians who are caught eating or drinking in public will also be shot dead. Alternatively, you may be stepped to death by the locals. Sucha bizarrely inane culture. The only viable solution was to darpau KFC, eat in the hotel room, and return to the mall after that. I'm so proud of Malaysia (and i ain't throwing sarcasms).Mostly UK brands, so I was wondering if the trip was worthwhile - but it was with a more affordable pricetag. So just shop only ler!

Destination Dubai!

Last glimpse of London. The presence of some sunshine has left me with a really good impression of gloomy London for the last time that I'm gonna be there for a while. Blue skies in Dubai upon arrival - already something to kickstart the day! 35 degrees, still can tahan abit la.
And I could stay in the Dubai Duty Free forever! All I need is a Platinum card with a non-existent credit limit and a good balance transfer facility. Remarkably, you do discover models which doesn't exist in most parts of the world. Take for instance a Gold-Plated Tag Heuer. Very AhBeng indeed but such an eye opener!
Night was here and we were so farkin' lost. It was one of those situations you are stuck in, whereby ... if someone robs you off your belongings along some alley, you would have no idea which culprit to chase after becos everyone just looks the same. Fark man. I'm scared haha. But we managed to find a descent restaurant to have kebabs. Wasn't exactly cheap either.

Reunion @ No. 43 South Molten Street

I was officially knackered and lack lustre from the entire ceremony, mostly attributed by jetlag problems. The stopover in Dubai totally wrecked my biological clock! But thank God that IkJin was willing to pick me and Candice up from my hotel room. A big hand for him! This was the first time I rode in his car, and I am now in love with it, and now I want it!

It took us at least 45mins to arrive at the destination, courtesy of the driver himself. Tour de London on my final day in UK, wasn't exactly cataclysmic. I can now proudly say that I know every single corner of London! Nice bar it was... Jon, thanks for organising it! He sounded so PIMPster-like when he told me to say "I'm on Jon's guest list" at the door.
Me & Denise. Crazily, this is one of the most decent pics of us. The rest have been all scary candid snapshots via her webcam. Haha. Those memorable maniacal days! ~~
Me, JerYiing, YuFeng & Jon...
The dude in blue, Desmond, apparently is my long lost twin. I remembered I lost my swipe card in BMS once, and the cashier approached Des, then confidently "returning the card" to the rightful owner. Gahhh!
That's WenWei, Darwin and me. Where da fark was I looking at?!?!
Then there's me, Gavin, KS, YuFeng, Des and Spencer.
Damn you Jon. Damn you. This is actually not the first time he added a couple of acne on my face. God knows where his hands have been :p After this shot, I promised him that I will seek revenge - thee shall get an incriminating picture of him. Grrrrr!
And here it is... muahaha. Brudder, you suck! Look at his ultimate miang Cindy-Look.at.my.Omega.watch-Crawford pose. That's ChangHaur acting goofy again.
Wrong direction vs. Right direction. It does make a difference after all. *Must practise posing for future TIME: Man of the Year event* Muahahahhaa. Muka Tembok reaching its threshold.
BoBo and PickWan, the alcoholics. Pickwan looked GooD that night, the only time I saw her in something seductive (?) thruout my four years in uni. Signs of maturity I'm guessing. R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
KuanSeong needed a "helping hand" indefinitely.

After Graduation Party @ the Marque

I think I had at least 50 of these tapas. La Boudega without a pricetag!

This picture is specially taken for those ppl who missed out on the after party - ppl who religiously lined up like boyscouts, waiting for their potraits taken at Royal Albert Hall. Muahaha. Tricia, no worries, I consumed them on your behalf!

Graduation Ceremony!

Graduation day finally. It has been a long four years filled with hardwork, occassional stress and long-lasting friendship. I am really glad that this day has arrived - I could finally close this chapter of my life and move on to the corporate world which has always been something that excited me, much more than academia life. They call me weird... hmm, I couldn't agree more.

Bluddy tickets cost GBP26 each, and I thought I saw an end to me being conned by Imperial - yes, GBP15k annual fees. The existence of this university will never be latent in the knowledge of my decendants cos daddy needs to buy his Mercedes S350 and pay his chauffer. I'm deeply sorry!

I see that there was a digression from the main topic, yes, GBP26... well, it wasn't too bad since it was held in the Royal Albert Hall. Standard in the venue was a boisterous choir and very proud parents, seated on the top tiers. As usual, the chronic bilibala by the Rector, followed by the graduation-5secs.of.fame- ceremony. It was nevertheless a great blast for all of us!
More story-telling. Apologies for the advanced boredom (but you can scroll down if u wish). That's Tricia, the all time favourite charboh *-*V Haha. We have came a long way actually. We boarded the same flight to London, and I clearly remembered her defamatory comment on my highlighted hair. And soon, we saw each other in the same department, realised we had the same personal tutor, sat next to her in every exam, took turns to collect notes from skived lectures and... even lived under the same roof during our 4th year. And here we are, ending our academic life 5secs apart on stage. Marvellous years it has been! (and that's not me doing the V with my fingers!...stupid CHaur!)
Ahh, Meiyin, 2nd from the left - smart, dressy Ms. Posh (im saying this to collect merits..haha jk). My housemate since 2nd year, and it has been a gratifying and very laughable 6 years since I knew her since A'Levels. The mad things we do and yack about, countless! And I even have pictures to back it up. What I'm grateful is... the fun still continues, and I'm still waiting for her to drive me around :p
Ooh, that's Mr. IkJin, Tricia's other half. Hehe. Also known as the refugee in our apartment, but he soon became family. Now, I want your Mazda 3. *big smile* . Moving on, Pickwan - we kinda registered to the same mental hospital, so I'll be seeing alot of her there. My favourite pundek! (Shitt, that didn't sound right). Kapit Princess, glory to her majesty *cough*, but hey, thanks so much for being there, it was really fun (and disastarous) getting courseworks done (and exchanged) with you. Am gonna miss those Banana Crumbles!!! You jump, I jump ok!
The one with the big smile, CPSok - the ultimate S'pore Tai Kar Cheh. The Tamil CD you gave me was marvellous - did wonders to my wellbeing. Haha. Private joke ppl. She claims she's the pillar of support... oklar... agreeable... the occasional 911. We have been pretty scandalous in many weird and wrong ways haha. Long story cut short, this crossborder friendship is a keeper. I have promised - if I were to develop a township in KL, it will be named after her - Le C.P. *with a french touch..goosebumps*

The rest of the civeng and Msian clan! It has been a spankin, sterling (no further words can describe) morning!

EJ, I might have to run the South Ken tube station la, dammit!
Seeya soon ppl!

Pattiserie Valarie @ Knightsbridge

Dinner is now served. It has to be... after almost 8 hrs of continuous damage shopping and walking. I could have swore that my sneakers were smoking. And...I can't feel my feet! Arghh!

So, why this cafe in particular? Good memories, great food, best pastries in London, period. And also for the fact that my so-called frens believe that this place is Godsent.. *rolling eyes*
Ahh, the cake that deserves a full-blown picture on my blog. Fruuuuitcake baybee!

Technology?!

Something which I found in Pattiserie Valerie's toilet - plastic wrapped around the toilet seat. Pretty interesting I would say, since it would probably save me the misery of lining the entire seat with tissue paper, while holding myself back from exploding in my pants.

With one touch of a button, "deehh deehh deehh", fresh wrappings for my baby-smooth buttocks. Woot! 11/10

Soho --> Chinatown

We had to make a stop at Chinatown since Yie wanted to stock up on Brahim spices. Sucha P-I-G (*@*)!

And here's the Happy Yie with her purchases of the day. What's the moto? Buy like there's no tomoro.
Umm.. I must confess that one of the Zara bags belong to me*cough*

Yauatchaaaa!

The famous tea and dessert cafe on the streets of red-light district, Soho! An addition to the retail therapy gang, Janie, all the way from Bath. Frens who come all the way from the north and west to attend your convocation (assumingly one of the biggest days of ur lives) - Priceless!

The cafe had a "no pictures" policy in the restaurant, which was a pity cos the desserts we had deserved a pimpin-award for its aesthetics. But no one said we couldn't take pics outside. So sue us!Candice and I took this picture for the 3rd time - it finally turned out almost right!

Another shoppin frenzy~

I wud never have guessed that I wud end up along Oxford St. again.

Needless to say that it wasn't my idea. Two of my bestest buds wanted retail therapy. Seeing this coming, I was dressed formally (to command better service :p) and had my Lime Green/Blue Adidas sneakers on. Walking fashion statement?! I'm just doing it ala HK style - "Mismatch as much as possible".
And that's Selfridges on the left hand corner. It's the UK equivalent of Avenue K and Suria KLCC. In other words, posh boutiques, and I mean very very posh boutiques. To return 20 years later... *A deep sigh*

Dimsum @ Royal China

Had dimsum with my parents, Yie and Candice. Again, bummed into Meiyin and her family. I found myself a stalker... finally.

The closest I cud get to Hong Kong dimsum. I freakin looked like some "i aint chinese" dude when I pointed the camera at every dish that came along. Clearly, one of the dangers of blogging. I was this close to being offered a pair of fork and spoon.

Oxford Street shoppin frenzy

Major shopping adjourned after a filling lunch, how sinful...

And to all my malaysian fans (?), GAP is not a product of the Factory Outlet Store. It's a brand that produces low quality products coupled, exploits cheap overseas labour etc. etc. etc. The point is, dun walk in there unless there's some cheapo sales. I'm trying not to be hypocritical here, haha. Btw, it's a freakin shop that exists every 500m on a London walkway.

This might actually be the biggest Apple store in the world?! Well, I took a pic of it cos it looks good la... and I need a sponsor for my Ipod Nano. I ain't greedy but a 2Gb one shud do. Must be Black.