70's roller disco weekend

Have you guys seen the movie Whip it? starring Drew Barrymore. Well I watched it once and was enthralled. I thought it would be great to join a roller derby, smack some people around, come up with a cool roller derby name. And then I thought, where the hell can you do something like that??

Enter The Wheels

(The Wheels roller skating rink)

It reminds me of a 70's era roller disco party. The place is quite huge (think about 4 - 5 shoplots huge) and located on the top floor of Suband Avenue; located close to Subang Parade. For RM20 you get to skate around for about 3 hours, or you could pay RM25 and skate the whole day. The cost is inclusive of the shoe rental.

(The skates light up as you roll on by)

Speaking of which... you get a choice of either skating around on old school four wheel roller skates, or blazing on roller blades. The roller blades give you better control, but the roller skates give you more balance (larger distribution of weight). Both types only have brakes at the front of the shoe, so learn to break ala Michael Jackson. The fun part if that they all come with LED lights as you skate along.

(My friend showing how to brake)

The arena is also done up with cute LED lights all along the way, and to lend more old school vibe, there is even a DJ booth on the side where you can request your choice of music. For those far more adventurous, they have ramps down the middle and even a stage for you to jump up and dance.

(Rolling along in the arena)

I decided to hold my birthday party here one weekend. Since it was a roller disco kind of place, I thought it would be apt to have a 70's style roller disco party. Was great fun to have all my friends show up in their 70's best. The best part of the whole night? as it was still the fasting month, the whole place was empty (I held it right after break of fast). My whole group had the entire place to ourselves, so we rocked it out to the old classics of YMCA and my personal fav, ABBA's dancing queen.

(Doing stunts on the dance floor)

I think you should all try it at least once, for something a little different. And for those looking for a unique date experience, this would deff be it.

You can also see the video and post my sister had done on it here : Fie-nuts

The art of doing nothing

I read an article on Lonely Planet a few days ago on the art of doing nothing (I cant seem to find it, its buried somewhere on my Ipad). It talked about the discipline needed to sit still and to silence yourself from being distracted by other things.

We live in a world today where time is of the essence, when time off is considered a luxury and is typically piled in with as many activities as you can muster. You take a 'vacation' go somewhere and then travel throughout the day, checking out 2,3 sites within a few hours. Otherwise somehow, you worry that your time off would have been wasted. God forbid you only saw ONE interesting site that day.

I haven't had a vacation - a true vacation in that style, in a long time now. Since the beginning of the year Ive spent my holidays celebrating Eid (NOT even close to a vacation I can tell you that), or heading off to Bangkok to meet Miss N (again, a lot of fun, but still tiring).

So this weekend with it being the long weekend, I decided to head off to Pangkor island for a much needed beach vacation. I had actually never been to Pangkor, so it was a really nice surprise to get here and see how great things are.

I decided to stay at the Sandy Beach resort, Pangkor after reading up numerous feedback on TripAdvisor (very positive). Got myself a beachfront chalet (where I am now parked out front on the porch). The beach literally 30 steps in front of me.

Its not the quietest part of town, but I do like it quite a lot. The chalet is off on its own, so you dont have people bothering you or thin walls to contend with. The Sandy spoon cafe is 15 steps to my left and does serve pretty good meals. I recommend the Pangkor grilled fish. Though if some people may be bothered by the price, to the left of the resort is a whole road filled with roadside stalls selling waffles, burgers, and other local snacks as well as restaurants a plenty.

This area is also home to numerous water sports activities, which means that it can get a bit noisy (and the hotel next door tends to blast out techno music first thing in the morning, do not ask me why). But at the same time, there are sufficient activities for those who dont want to just sit around and do nothing.

For those, like me, who look forward to doing nothing, all you have to do is walk down the beach a little bit (Maybe another 50 steps or so?) and you would suddenly find yourself on a secluded part of the beach. It was perfect. Quiet, the clear blue sky, perfect water temperature and a clean sandy beach.

Pangkor island mostly caters to locals, so dont be shocked if you end up being the only person there in a bikini. But that being said, everyone is very nice and polite and nobody bothers you (nudity of course still strictly prohibited)

To paraphrase the Lonely Planet article a little bit - the art of doing nothing

If you have to venture more than 200 ft away for food - you have failed
If you ask yourself what else is there to do - you have failed
If you realized you were late for dinner - you have failed
If you ask "oh whats that over there" - you have failed

Hope you enjoy your REAL vacation!

***
Drive from KL - Lumut jetty: 3 hours and 15 minutes (with traffic) on the North South Highway. Exit at Bidor and then just follow the signs to Pangkor or Lumut.
Ferry from Lumut - Pangkor: ~30 minutes trip. They sometimes wait until the boat is full before moving so timing isnt exact, but seems quite frequent
Pangkor - hotel: RM10 for a taxi ride. From what I understand, its pretty standard to most places (if further away expect to be charged more). Theyre all pink vans and the charge is per trip, so maybe to optimize cost you can share with a few people going your way.

The secret life of Nora

After my review of Dreamgirls the musical, I've been quite excited about heading to another musical. In between I had watched a showing of Farewell my concubine at The actors studio. They decided on an all male cast with a full mix of dance and wushu. Interesting combination, but did take a lot to remain focused on the show at hand.

Post that show though, i have really been anticipating The Secret Life of Nora - a musical set in the 1960s about a woman who becomes a spy by accident. I am still holding my breathe on the quality of the show. Tiara is a good actress, but not the best singer, so hopefully some vocal classes had been done.

It's showing between 29 Sept to 16 October at Istana Budaya. For further information, check out the show brief

Kenko fish spa

To those looking for a 'unique' experience, look no further than having a fish spa right in the middle of the city!

Some of you may think of your loved cat or dog, being sent off for a grooming and pampering… but what the hell do you do with a fish???

Well, actually the spa is for you, the fish… the enablers. Rather than a sweet lady plying you with oils and massaging it into your back, you get hundreds of fish swarming around your feet nibbling on the dead skin cells.

Head over to Kenko fish spa in Pavillion (a shopping mall in KL) if you wanted a good clean, professional experience. It'll cost you ~RM38 for 30 minutes in the pond (prices may differ by location). You head in, wash your feet in the designated area, then head over to the pool area, and dip your feet in.

(Step 1: Get yourself a corner to sit down in)

(Step 2 : Build the courage to immerse your legs in)

Then watch as the fish come swarming right around your legs and start nibbling you. Tip: the smaller ones are a lot less weird feeling then the bigger ones. The bigger one makes you feel like you're being sucker kissed.

(Step 3 : Slowly lower feet into the pool)

It may take a while to get used to, or as in the case of my friend – never.

I know it might be a weird concept, and I have heard that some countries try to ban it due to 'animal cruelty', but the fish here are also fed other (more normal fish food) at night.

(Step 4 : TRY to relax as all the fish swarm your legs)

I always get my overseas friends to try this out (well, this and the durian) because I must say, it's a lot of fun to hear the squeals of disbelief and ticklishness!

Kenko Fish spa

Melaka revisited

After three years I decided it was time again to drop by Melaka. Well, that and the fact that my old college friends were in town for a few days and I thought it would be nice to do a quick day trip over the weekend

A.m : Total driving time – ~1.5 – 2 hours in my slow and steady pace

We arrived by mid-morning given we had taken our time leaving the city. Looking back, it wasn't the biggest issue especially if you don't have as much issue with driving back at night (I have some issues with driving in the dark). So as soon as we got there and parked our car on Jonker street (I would recommend parking your car at the car parks right at the beginning of the historical area, it's a small road with dark red / rust colored buildings behind it, doubt you can miss it – more on this later).

(Famous Chicken rice balls)

We started with a lunch of chicken rice balls given it is what Melaka is known for. Well that, and cendol (shaved ice with coconut milk and rice flour). Its essentially your typical chicken rice fare, but with the rice made into small balls (chicken served on the side). Its one of my favorite dishes if for nothing else because of their delicious sweet spicy chilli (I am drooling revisiting this). You can find chicken rice ball restaurants pretty much in a few different locations in Melaka, but I liked this one for its authentic and historical ambience as well. Best to sit outside to enjoy the view of people walking by.

(Epitaphs inside St. Paul's church)

(Along the Stadthuys)

After that, we walked around a bit and headed to St. Paul's church and A'Famosa fort. Malaysia doesn't have a lot of historical buildings left, so these ones are very much cherished and protected and even more so after Melaka got its UNESCO heritage status. We headed out of Jonker towards Christ Church. You cant miss it with all the rickshaws parked here and the red buildings and all the stalls. Right behind it is the way up to St. Paul's church which is perched on top of the hill. If you walk through the church area, its not as taxing a climb as it would be if you had walked from the front (A'Famosa entrance). The church itself is really pretty, and I love the old epitaphs that you can find there. Unfortunately the street vendors have started infiltrating the inside and have set out mats of their wares. It was ok when it was just on the outside, but ruining the feel of the church by selling inside… I do hope the Melaka council will take some action on this.

(Rickshaw riding in front of A'famosa)

We then headed down to A'Famosa fort and hailed a rickshaw to bring us around the old part of town. The prices are regulated here, but you really need to watch out for the exact timing. Agree beforehand on what time it is, and what time the tour should end (typically RM40 for an hour). My trip was definitely shorter than the 30 minutes he had claimed, but as it was the fasting month and they were fasting I didn't argue much.

(Along Jonker street)

Back in the Jonker area we took a nice slow stroll along the different rows of shoplots. Visited the Peranakan house (of the Baba Nyonya ethnic group – denoting Chinese migrants who emigrated and adopted the Malay culture and way of living back in the 18th century). The house is gorgeous and huge, built usually to fit ~5 full families. Typically it has the entrance area, followed by an indoor courtyard, the middle area followed by a second!! courtyard. Absolutely gorgeous. You can still find Peranakan style buildings in KL, but unfortunately not much, and they're mostly in poor conditions. We also checked out the Geographer's cafe, nicely located in the middle of busy Jonker.

(Harmony street - Indian temple, Muslim mosque and Chinese temple all on one street)

We walked around and into the Orang Utan house – shop selling local t-shirts and struck up a conversation with the manager there who informed us that if we had parked our car on Jonker we better move it soon since the streets start closing up at around 6:00 p.m. for the night market. The sellers take up the parking spots and if your car is there, you may not be able to get out until the market is over at around midnight. So, we quickly moved our car away to another parking spot and walked back along Ironsmith street (Jalan Tokong Besi), or also known as Harmony street. Its much quieter here and known as Harmony street due to the fact that there are three religious sites located along this street, an Indian temple, a Muslim mosque, and a Chinese temple.

(The start of the food market)

(Selling fresh sugar cane juice)

We then headed along the night market (6-midnight on Friday, Sat and Sun) and my friends had a ball checking out all the different foodstuff for sale, including a 16 inch potato tornado and otak otak (literally means brains–brains but actually made out of grounded fish. No brains here)

(The variety of food you can find along Jonker's night market)

(Night market along Jonker)

After our gastronomical feast and slight exercise, we headed back into the city for our next brand new day.

Melaka drive – very easy, all you have to do is get on the North-South highway heading towards Johor and you should see signs for Melaka; its located ~150km outside of KL. Essentially it is ONE straight road the entire way, even after you exit to Melaka (exit at Ayer Keroh) its pretty much one main street right into the town.