explosions in the sky at kl live.

i've been avoiding writing this, mostly because i should have had two concerts to talk about at the end of 2013 and i actually only have one. and that depresses me. i need to talk about why. 2013 was a good concert year for me. and by good, i don't mean i went to a lot of concerts and had a lot of fun. i mean i saw people i'd been waiting to see for ages. for AGES.

well, actually, it was good and bad.

i saw the backstreet boys, which made me ecstatic and nostalgic.

i saw explosions in the sky (who i'm talking about in this post), which made me ecstatic and nostalgic and made me tear up.

malaysia brought both of them to me for a small price compared to what it would cost to see them in the US. so that was good. i saw some other people in concert who i normally wouldn't see, but went because it was cheap to see them here, and that was good too. i found a new love in rita ora and her cheese dress and the way she handled her mic messing up with grace.

then the bad. not talking about the bad concerts. talking about the good concerts that never came. mainly, my girl ke$ha. i must have been living under a rock, but i found out the day before she was scheduled to perform here that she was scheduled to perform here. ecstatic, as usual, i went out and bought my tickets that night without checking any social media. that was a mistake. the next day, right before i started to get ready i said, "hm. ke$ha is so crazy. i really can't believe she's allowed to perform here [given that other female artists who are less vulgar have been denied performance]. i better check the internet." sure enough, there it was, right on ke$ha's facebook and twitter and the redtix page: girlfriend got canceled. the reason is undetermined. concert organizer blames the government, government says concert organizer never filed the papers properly. who knows. they refunded everyone but i was unable to get a refund because my bank is in the US. it's okay. i'll hold on to my warrior tour ticket forever and cry glitter tears.

so anyways. that bummed me. but, alas, just a few days after that, my beloved explosions in the sky were coming as part of the annual urbanscapes concert. they were performing at a satellite show with mew. this was perfect, because it was a walkable distance (whereas the actual urbanscapes show was quite a bit far out).

i've been waiting to see explosions in the sky since 2006, when i fell in love with them. unashamed to admit, like many others, i only noticed them when listening to the theme song for "friday night lights." i ended up downloading all of their albums soon after. their music is, admittedly, the soundtrack to my emo college years. i listened to them while studying, i listened to them while crying about boys, i listened to them to calm me down when anxious, i listened to them all the time. i still listen to them in all those scenarios. that might sound like their music is meant for sad times, but it's not. i fully intend to walk down the aisle to the string version of "your hand in mine."

so i was ecstatic. because they are instrumental, not many people i know listen to them. but i do. and that's why i was surprised to find the line at KL live totally out the door! i had no idea they'd be popular here. mew was performing first, so i didn't mind getting in late. one thing that the organizers didn't really make clear was that the giant line out the door? yeah, it was for people going to urbanscapes who purchased the full ticket (urbanscapes + satellite shows). there was a much shorter line for those of us who had only purchased for the satellite shows. i figured it out soon enough.



mew was fairly good. i've only heard their songs in passing, but they were energetic and fun to listen to. i was mostly impressed that their drummer's hair and shirt stayed seemingly dry throughout the set. does that man not sweat? (also, my pictures were pretty terrible because i took the camera that i can't figure out to use after 1+ year of having it.. oh well)







the crowd was fairly full. i still managed to get myself up to the very front, leaning against a guard rail for the whole show. my tally is 3 for 3 front row at concerts here.



i have to say, in between sets is where my love for eits solidified. maybe i am just an unexperienced concert-goer, but when they all came out to set up their own instruments, i was impressed. i've never seen an artist set up their own... set before. i loved them.




my angle didn't lend well to getting pictures of the whole group, but i'm happy with what i got. they performed for about a solid hour and a half. considering they don't really break between songs, but instead blend one seamlessly into the next, that's impressive. i just loved them. loved them. i couldn't tell you what songs they played since it was now almost three months ago, but they were perfect. you can see how emotionally invested they are in their songs. i'd see them again and again. and again.

my only negative came in from the crowd. the guys next to me trying to sing along with the music the entire time, which my camera picked up perfectly in the audio of my videos >:| and constant headbanging. i realize i maybe just look at the music different, but i don't see it as headbanging music. it's mellow to me. but whatevs. i still saw one of my favorite bands in concert. check that one off the list.

as i said, 2013 was a good year for concerts. 2014 is already promising for future music fest, so i'm excited!

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birthdaying in singapore!!

last weekend was my birthday, and luckily, malaysia day just so happens to be the day AFTER my birthday, so i'm always guaranteed a holiday around my birthday here! we had a three day weekend, so pin and i headed down to singapore on friday to just relax and get out of KL. but before i get into what we did down in singapore, i should probably mention one small thing:



i'm engaged!!!

i went home in early august for my cousin's wedding, and then over to california. and there, he popped the question. I AM SO EXCITED. but back to singapore.



we went all the way (by all the way, of course i mean a one-hour flight) to singapore, and our first stop to eat? quiznos. i haven't had quiznos in SO long and it was perfect. we were also tempted by cold stone, but ultimately maintained self-control.



that evening, we headed down to chinatown for a walking tour, done by the original singapore walks. our tour was the chinatown & geyland night tour, which showed us the history of prostitution (which is legal, in certain areas!) in singapore. it was very interesting and i'm still thinking about it a week later. our guide was excellent, even though our tour group was full of australians who were more concerned with talking to each other than listening to her at times. it was well worth the money. she also took us to a place that served turtle soup and crocodile. i passed on trying, obviously.



the next day we woke up and headed out for breakfast. were we in search of alice?




nope!! we passed the white rabbit on our way to PS cafe, which was totally adorable. the blueberry pancakes were a little dry, but still delicious.



by this time, we had done a lot of walking, and were in need of bandages. we found some plain ones in the drug store, but then i saw hello kitty!!!!!!!!! i exclaimed, "why would i want to get plain bandaids when i can get HELLO KITTY?" the man behind the counter said "oh hello kitty too expensive." PUHLEASE mister. i chuckled.



we headed on, bandaged up, back to chinatown to go through the chinatown heritage centre. for only 10 SGD, it was extremely well done. above is just a glimpse of it - it shows what the shophouse would have looked like back in the early days when it would have been filled with tiny rooms for 100s of people.



we ate dinner at clarke quay, at TCC. we were thoroughly unimpressed with our meal. we thought we'd be getting like a cheesy penne in tomato sauce, but it turned out to be a cheese sauce with penne and MUSHROOMS. terrible things. i ate around the mushrooms and it was ok. dessert was better.



we did the singapore river cruise which was tons of fun. we saw the singapore merlion in its glory.



the next morning was my BIRTHDAY!! and we did the very best thing ever. breakfast with the orangutans at the zoo!! it was only 31 SGD per person, and i would pay that alone just to hang out with the orangutans. the breakfast buffet was average - a combination of a western/english breakfast and local breakfast. they also had juice and tea/coffee. when the orangutans were out, we were allowed to line up for a photo (which was then like 20 SGD or something ridiculous to purchase... and of course i purchased it... it was my birthday after all). everyone also jumped up in front of the tables to take their own photos. and WELL. here is my single biggest gripe of the zoo: i waited until the masses had finished taking photos and it seemed like everyone was back into their meals to go up and take photos. no sooner had i taken TWO photos before one of the workers told me i needed to return to my seat because i had taken "quite a few photos already" and was "blocking the view of everyone." please. girl. you do not boss me. i told her i would return when i was ready to return, and she rolled her eyes at me. SO, singapore zoo, that girl needs an attitude check. OTHER THAN THAT, it was a perfect experience.



we also saw a kitty. and fed giraffes, for 5 SGD!



the zoo has an enclosed area with lots of animals running free - bats, lemurs, some two-toed things thing really creeped me out, and my least favorite DUCKS. can i just say, where that lemur is, we were standing in that exact spot no more than a minute before he ran up there? terrifying. more terrifying were the DUCKS. remember last year when we went to sunway lagoon and a duck ATTACKED me? yeah. one started running towards us and i screamed. i know. i know. animals only sense your fear and then they react to that, but MY OH MY i do not like ducks.



this guy was just a thinker.



as i usually do, i always need to sit on top of animal statues.



it then started pouring, and we needed to find shelter. it felt a little bit too jurassic park to me!



we ate dinner at the verve, where we had delicious pizza!! pin had the corleone pizza, while i had the franucci senza pizza. my pizza had a salad where the middle should be, and they claim it is less than 500 calories! it was extremely delicious, so i don't know that it was less than 500 calories!



we finished off with drinks at ku de ta on top of marina bay sands, and then some fun time in the casino. we won no money, but enjoyed the evening nonetheless!

that was all for singapore! i'm sure i'll be back again, because i definitely want to go to sentosa island and universal studios, but not for some time, since i have to plan a wedding now!

oh yeah, and i kept up my training for disney's glass slipper challenge while i was down there! i did two runs, one in the botanic gardens and one up orchard road. we totaled 84,429 steps while walking around (plus my two runs) in singapore! if you want to donate to my race, and help out the great charity give kids the world, you can donate here! i am also keeping track of my running progress on my other blog princess pigtails plays and runs.

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hazy kl and peter hoe and monsters.

last week was a rough one. KL, and all of peninsular malaysia and singapore, experienced the effects of crop-burning from indonesia. this is a yearly occurrence. there are a number of politics surrounding the issue, but basically, crops are burned in indonesia to clear the fields, the smoke makes its way across the strait to malaysia and singapore, we're stuck with haze. the air quality that comes with the haze is very close to everyday life in places like china or hong kong, and people live just fine up there. i believe they live just fine because their bodies adjust to it. it's not healthy, but they adjust. here, when we get it for a week or so, our bodies have no time to adjust and we're stuck with scratchy throats and watery eyes. it's just no good. this is what it looked on one of the worst days, last sunday:



there was a fear that since the haze came so soon this year, and in such a worse manner than previously (supposedly it hasn't been this bad since 2005), that this was going to linger on through the summer. fortunately, things cleared up toward the end of the week. on friday, it looked like this again. beautiful KL.



last sunday i went out in search of something for my friend that she had wanted when she was here, but wasn't settled on. unfortunately, it was out of stock by the time i made my way out there. still, i want to highlight the store, because everything in it is adorable. it's more expensive than what you'll find for some of the goods inside on average in KL, but the products are all unique to the store. and what store is it?


peter hoe!

peter hoe has two locations. the above is located between central market (you can see its blue exterior on the left of the photo) and the train station. it's smaller than the other location, but has more clothing and less housewares. it also only takes cards. how backwards is that? i learned this the hard way, as i only carry cash here, and so they had to write me up a receipt, which i then had to take the the other location, pay there, then take the confirmed payment receipt back to the original store to pick up my items. what a hassle! i'm sure they have their reasons for not accepting cash. i just don't know what they are. fortunately, the other location is just a block away. from the position the photo above was taken, you'll go to the right, turn right at the first intersection, and then stop at the chinese temple.




the chinese temple is on your left, and the old rubber building (a five-story building) is on your right. the second peter hoe store is located on the second floor of the building. the first time i went to it, i got really lost, because there are no indicators on the outside of the building for what's inside. i remembered it was five stories though, and just looked until i found a building that tall. luckily it was the only one!


excuse the photo quality, i only had my phone

inside it's filled with every kind of houseware you can think of: tablecloths, placemats, tablerunners, pot holders, pillowcases, votives, napkin rings, and on and on. the tablecloths/placemats get me the most: they change out the styles every so often, so if you see one you like, you shouldn't wait to get it. they've also got bags, jewelry, a minimal selection of clothing (at this store, as i said the other one has more), etc. the fabric is almost all done in batik style. there's also a cafe in this location, although i've never eaten at it. i love almost everything in the store, and it almost has an anthropologie vibe to it. if you're running around chinatown, i'd definitely recommend just stopping in to see what's available.



on a final note, monsters u opened up last weekend. along with it came tons of merchandise around the malls, my favorite of which are the t-shirts/pants/dresses found in giordano. i picked up a sulley shirt for my baby's brother's birthday in august. he's definitely monster-material! this is something else i love about living here: you'll get standard merchandise to go along with movies/tv-shows/whatever in america. here, we can find a little extra - like the disney line at uniqlo - and it's all great quality. it's just fun.

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laguna/bang tao

so, as previously mentioned, we moved from patong up to bang tao/laguna for the weekend, since that's where my race was. up there, we stayed at the amora phuket beach resort. it was interesting, to say the least. the room was clean, except for some mold in the bathroom. the wifi was only free in the lobby. it cost 600 baht/$20 for three days of wifi, but even then, the password was only good for one device. kind of annoying. the receptionists were okay, the tour lady and the taxi lady were extremely friendly (the taxi lady was our favorite), but the guest relations lady we dealt with was not great. there's a sign with different activities, and we asked if we could sign up for the market tour, and she kind of tried to convince us to not do it. it was very strange. we did it anyway. we also went during the off-season, so it was very quiet. just us and a bunch of russians. here's what we did there!



for a late lunch, i had some pineapple fried rice, and she had some pad thai (i think). i made the mistake i always make with pineapple fried rice. i always secretly hope if the title is JUST "pineapple fried rice" there will be no shrimp. but there is always. always. shrimp. and there was shrimp in that pineapple. the rice was delicious still. we had this at the hotel's restaurant on the beach after laying out for a while.


surprise!! we went to pick up my race packet and while walking to a taxi stand after doing so, we ran into a VERY baby elephant and her mahout. her name is candy. she kissed us and was adorable. the mahout didn't even want a tip, he just continued walking on his way. amazing.





we ate dinner at sugar cane, which was right next to the hotel. she had ginger cashew chicken, i had pad thai with chicken, we both had chicken satay, and for dessert we had fried bananas! it was all good. all of it.





the next day, we did a cooking class. we signed up for this one at the hotel, but i believe you can find it online too (it's on trip advisor). it started with a trip to the local market, just like the wet market! our guide/later cooking instructor went through and described all the unique spices/herbs/etc. he also showed us the eels and some turtles, which aren't for eating but rather for buddhists. to do what, i don't know. but they're not for eating.




we made a lot of things. we started with tom yum soup, then massamun curry, ginger cashew chicken, fried rice, and steamed banana cakes. because of my nervousness with meat, i asked for vegetarian options and they were happy to accommodate - down to even ensuring i had mushroom sauce versus oyster sauce. it was all so good, but my favorites were the ginger cashew chicken/tofu and the steamed banana cakes. the banana cakes were the perfect amount of sweet/salty/sour. i could eat them all day.


oh yeah, and it was located here, on siray beach. the cooking school is directly on the water, with a balcony over the beach so you can lay in the sun while digesting your goodies. it was relaxing and nice. perfect.




after cooking school, we laid in the sun some more at the resort, then walked for dinner at bliss beach club. it was our most expensive meal, but delicious. pizza, spring rolls, and for dessert, chocolate strawberry spring rolls. so good.


and eating on the beach meant we got to watch the beautiful sunset!

the next day was my race, which i wrote about here.

after the race, we went to the beach, got thai massages and a foot scrub on the beach, then sought out some drinks. i got a pina colada-esque drink in a pineapple, while my friend got a coconutty concoction in a coconut. they were perfect.


then it was time for our market tour. we ended up going out on the truck that takes the hotel workers around. we didn't know it was a self-guided tour, but it was. maybe in tourist season they do something more structured?


i was starving, and immediately found these delicious things. little pancakes rolled up with a green tea custard inside. they were so good.


interesting to see a tsunami evacuation route versus a hurricane evacuation route!


in malaysia we have the take-away bags, in phuket, they have a little handle that goes on your cup to make it a handle. neat.


we had our last dinner in phuket at sugar cane again, where i got pad thai again and so did my friend. for dessert this time we had the mango sticky rice. it was good. everything was good!

overall, phuket was fun. it was definitely different. i felt like everything was on top of each other though. and it was so mountainous, i felt like i was in west virginia with a beach! the food was so good though. and everything is cheap. my only big big problem was our airport arrival. we arrived after the currency exchange closed, so they did an unofficial exchange in which the girl took $100. i didn't notice until i was back at our hotel and sorting everything else, but really! next time i go, i'll know to exchange enough here to cover taxi fare and that's it. and on that, i set up our transportation through the hotel, for 1000 baht. if you can, do this, as it will be much safer than getting a taxi at the airport.

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