Category: Going Places

My travelogue.

Interview with Chester See

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Interview with Chester See

Chester See… I’m sure there are many fans out there. Frankly hehehe… I have no idea of this person until last Saturday where we got the chance to interview Chester See privately with only a few media people in the room. Not bad looking at all! What an eye candy! I had my photo taken with him and got him to sign my media pass but the photo isn’t with me.

Let’s see… For those of you not knowing who he is just like me, you can visit his YouTube channel (username is chestersee‎), that’s where he got famous anyway… The power of social media. He is sure a looker and can “kill” many girls *LOL*

From the interview, here’s some fun facts of Chester:

  • Chester is a big fan of bak kut teh and nasi lemak.
  • It was his second visit to Malaysia.
  • Likes song writing.
  • Enjoys telling story.
  • He will be creating company after company until he found one that can be successful if he is not who he is today. He’s an entrepreneur at heart for sure.
  • Likes music from 60’s.
  • Trying to be ahead of the curve.
  • Have family in 5-10 years. So… Is there any taker? I’m sure he has heaps lining up to be his other half, it’s just a matter of who he will ended up with.
  • “Chester Makes Love Songs” Album is coming soon. Stay tuned for it.

That’s all I got from the interview ;p There are more but I didn’t have pen and paper with me, so these are what I managed to type on my phone. Writing is faster. Besides, the rest of the stuff were just the normal stuff you get to read from any normal media.

To end the post, this is one song here which I like from him, Who Am I To Stand In Your Way. Yes… Who am I to stand in your way… Some day maybe…

I’ll have the video of the concert uploaded in the next post, simple compilation of his acts.

Entertainment Snippets, Going Places, KL/Selangor, Public Events, The West Side

Astro Launches New A-List Channel

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Astro Launches New A-List Channel

This is the event that we were supposed to go last Friday but we couldn’t attend due to the flight delay. Nevertheless, I’m still going to share with you what was it all about.

Are you ready to be on the A-List? Movie connoisseurs can look forward to a brand new and exciting experience with the launch of A-List, Astro’s latest HD channel to showcase the best award-winning and critically-acclaimed international and regional films. A-List will be available on Astro channel 456 from October 1st, 2013.


(Left to right) Astro launches new A-List channel; Agnes Rozario (VP of Content Management, Astro), Liew Swee Lin (CCO, Astro), Henry Tan (COO, Astro) & Teng Lee Yein (VP of Acquisition & Distribution, Astro)

The A-List channel will be available for Astro’s pay-TV customers in Malaysia and Brunei, and they are working on making it available to audiences regionally in the future via Astro On-The-Go and other TV platforms.


A-List models at the launch of Astro’s new HD channel, A-List

A-List titles will be presented in its original language with multi-language subtitle options available. Every month, A-List will premiere 8 critically-acclaimed titles from film international festivals such as the Busan International Film Festival, Berlinale Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival.

How Astro’s A-List titles are curated?
Award winning and nominated titles are carefully curated to be on A-List based on the following criteria:

  • Themes, relevance, whimsical and unique take on issues, ability to provoke thoughts and discussions
  • To showcase the works of new and exciting film makers
  • To premiere the most talk-about international titles in Malaysia and the region
  • Real life stories and relevant social-economic and political landscape of the world and the region.


In October, the A-List channel will premiere 8 contemporary films including films that are based on real life events such as “National Security” which is authentic and raw in its telling of the story of South Korea’s former minister, Kim Jong Tae’s arrest and interrogation over 22 days for his involvement in the democracy movement. It gives viewers a glimpse into South Korea’s modern history.

Other films include Berlin-7, which is still on the film festival circuit and tells the story of the struggle and survival of an Iranian man who moves his family from Iraq to Berlin to keep them safe after the US attacks Iraq. Also, not to be missed is the Academy Award winner for best foreign film, The Secret in Their Eyes set primarily in contemporary Argentina with intermittent flashbacks to the 1970s when the country was descending into a military dictatorship, the film is by turns a whodunit (and why), a romance and something of a love story.

On a lighter note, catch the South Korean romance comedy, How to Use Guys with Secret Tips, starring Lee Si Young and Oh Jung Se, which won awards at the 2013 Udine Far East Film Festival and at the 2013 FanTasia International Film Festival. For more light-hearted romance comedy, watch the Taiwanese film, When Wolf Falls in Love with Sheep that won numerous awards at the 2013 Asian Film Awards.

Two-times Oscar winner Sir Michael Caine will entertain you with this love story about a suicidal stubborn old man who finds love and life again, after meeting a young woman by accident in the comedy drama Mr Morgan’s Last Love, directed by multi award winning director, Sandra Nettlebeck.

Astro customers can expect more new and exciting contemporary titles to be added on the A-List channel in the coming months like Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Joss Whedon of The Avenger’s fame and which won the 13th Belfast Film Festival Audience Award and A Monkey on my shoulder, starring Juliette Binoche who won numerous awards. Customers can access the A-List channel via a monthly subscription of RM 15 for 8 titles for Astro Byond pay-TV subscribers in Malaysia and Brunei as well as ala carte purchase of titles at RM8 per title via Astro Byond VOD.

For more details on how to subscribe to A-List, please log on to http://www.astro.com.my/A-List or go to Channel 200 or contact 1300 82 3838.

Entertainment Snippets, Going Places, KL/Selangor, Public Events, The West Side

Paris and England Trip (20/6/2013-2/7/2013) – Part 17

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Paris and England Trip (20/6/2013-2/7/2013) – Part 17

2/7/2013, last day in London. Our flight was in the evening so we had morning and afternoon to go somewhere near.


Drove to Warner Bros. Studio Leavesden, I think Harry Potter’s fans are going to be thrilled if they are there. We just drove around the compound and left.


Left: Furry taxi we saw on the road. Not your usual car paint. It’s really furry. It sure caught our attention and the driver purposely drove in sync with us to let us take photo hahaha… So cute! At one point, we spotted a grassy taxi at the opposite direction hahaha… Means there’s grass instead of fur on the car body. Sure an attention grabber, good for publicity. Here’s a video (http://youtu.be/jVoyjeTqauA) of it, the exact same taxi this guy saw as we saw.

Right: To IKEA we went…




Bought some stuffs there and had our lunch there. Love the lemon cheesecake! However, rice and fish & chips were a let down. Others were not bad.

After lunch, we went back to pack and headed to the airport.


While waiting for our flight, we had one last meal in London at Wetherspoons located at Terminal 4 of the airport. Ordered Mixed Grill (£12.55) and 14oz Aberdeen Angus Rump Steak (£15.45). Hmm… The steak wasn’t as good as expected.

Anyway, that’s the end of our trip. Finally the post is completed after so many months! *LOL*

Driving All the Way - England, Food Porn, Going Places

Paris and England Trip (20/6/2013-2/7/2013) – Part 16

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1/7/2013, we drove to London, parked our car at the car park near the Underground station and took the Underground to the city. Not going to drive there, it’ll be a nightmare!


Left: Who doesn’t recognize this sign?

Right: I have no idea what’s this, some sort of memorial arch. There’s a lot in the area.


Left: The airspace in London is always busy and planes are flying low.

Right: A memorial of those who fought in the war during 1914-1919.


Another unknown structure *LOL*


When you see this, Victoria Memorial, you’re right opposite of Buckingham Palace.


People waiting for the parade.


This is the only photo I have for the parade, stood at the wrong place.


We then walked to the park while looking for the nearest Underground with the view of London Eye greeted us from afar.


View of I-don’t-know-what *LOL* Nevertheless, it was amazing.

We got off at St. James’s Park Station to have our lunch around the area.


We had our lunch at Nando’s, free flow of soft drink and frozen yoghurt. Funny how we never go to Nando’s in Malaysia but went to those in foreign countries (so far, let’s see… Singapore, Australia, and UK) hehehe…

After lunch, we took the bus to tour the city before alighted at Big Ben.

Left: Big Ben.

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower – Wikipedia

Right: River Thames.

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom, behind the River Severn. – Wikipedia


Left: Tower Bridge.

Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London which crosses the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name, and has become an iconic symbol of London. – Wikipedia

Right: The skyline with modern buildings of London. Can you recognize some of the buildings? Spot the The Gherkin?

After going to the major attractions in London, we went shopping! No more shoes or clothes or bags but skincare and beauty products for those who ordered from my shopping spree project.

The last destination of the day was checking in Travelodge at Heathrow Heston M4 Westbound. We had our dinner at the Burger King nearby.

That’s the end of our second last day in England.

The next day will be the last few hours before boarding the plane back to Kuching.

Driving All the Way - England, Food Porn, Going Places

Paris and England Trip (20/6/2013-2/7/2013) – Part 15

Posted on By sweet surrender 1 Comment on Paris and England Trip (20/6/2013-2/7/2013) – Part 15

30/6/2013, after checking out, we went straight to Bicester Village (50 Pingle Dr, Bicester OX26 6WD, United Kingdom)


I was extremely excited as I heard that things here are much cheaper than the market because it is an outlet shopping centre with luxury fashion shops, homeware boutiques & discounted designer stores. So many people and it’s one of the major tourist spots in the UK too.


Let the shopping begins! I have one aim here, to buy something branded here but no idea what. At the same time, also wanted to feel and see them. I know I can’t afford them but it’s interesting to see what’s the hooha all about with these branded stuff which you can’t really do with ease and feel awkward in their normal shops.

Managed to take some photos of myself with some well-known branded products.

Fendi, Michael Kors, and Coach. All way over my budget except Michael Kors. I ended up with a Michael Kors tote bag (about RM700, original price was almost RM1000, the one in the photo but not this colour, I know the photo is small, can’t see much hehehe… Will show you up close when I ran out of thing to blog hahaha…) ;p The most expensive accessory purchase in my entire life.

Frankly, I have no idea where to use it in Kuching or even Malaysia as I don’t like to carry a bag in Malaysia (troublesome and due to security issue), even if I have to, it won’t be the time when I can carry such expensive bag. At the same time, I also bought a bag from Scholl, blardy cheap! Only £9.99 after discount to replace my old bag.


Jimmy Choo (left and middle) and Salvatore Ferragamo, all in my size! Just can’t bring myself to spend so much on footwear. It’s all on sale but still cost a bomb! More expensive than my MK’s bag.

Just window shopping, it’s time for lunch. We split into 3 groups to get food.


We decided to try Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts. We had four types of the American-style hot dogs loaded with a variety of toppings. I wasn’t the one who bought them, so I have no idea the name and the price. I was queuing for Amorino.


Waffle with ice cream from Amorino. I forgot the price. Thick and creamy ice cream on hot waffle under the scorching sun. Heavenly!


We also tried crêpes from Crêperie Angélie, this is with chocolate and banana filling. Not really a fan of crêpes, it tasted as it should, nothing special.

After lunch, we continued shopping!

Bally and Prada (long queue that we had to take number to go in, the only one I managed to take photo with before getting told off ;p oppsss…). Do you notice my choice of bag? I love totes!

Our purchases, not just mine, there’s 5-6 bags all together, not really a lot actually. It’s scary to see the way some people shop -.-” Didn’t expect to spend 6 hours there! How crazy can that be? ;p It’s not a very big place but just too many to see and took a lot of time in making up mind on what to buy.



Off we went to our accommodation, Travelodge High Wycombe. Much cleaner and better than the one we checkout in the morning.


We walked to the Eden Shopping Centre not far from it for dinner. Shops were all closed except eateries.


Wagamama (Unit 4, Eden Shopping Centre, Denmark St, Eden, High Wycombe HP11 2HR, United Kingdom) it is. After seeing so many branches in UK, finally we got to try it out.


Left: Chicken katsu curry (£9.40), chicken breast deep-fried in panko breadcrumbs or grilled, served with a curry sauce and sticky white rice garnished with dressed mixed leaves and red pickles.

Right: Wagamama ramen (£9.50++, not sure of the exact price), noodles in a miso, ginger and chicken soup topped with grilled chicken, barbecued pork, prawns, mussels, a tea-stained egg, chikuwa and wakame garnished with menma and spring onions.


Left: Chicken tama rice (£8.45), grilled chicken breast stir-fried with courgettes, mushroom, red and spring onions in a oyster, ginger, garlic and wine sauce served on sticky white rice. We didn’t order this, it was sent wrongly to us so it’s on the house.

Right: Yasai cha han (£7.35), stir-fried rice with fried tofu, egg, mangetout, mushrooms, sweetcorn and spring onions served with a side portion of miso soup and pickles.

Really not up to our expectations and did not satisfy our taste buds even though we were stuffed! Can get better food elsewhere. I personally won’t go back anymore.

The dinner marked the end of our day. It’s time to drive to London the next day which means the trip was going to end in 2 days time.

Driving All the Way - England, Food Porn, Going Places