Czuczu's blog

Obrałem Ziemniaka

2011-07-06T14:31:00.007+08:00

Yesterday my friend shared a video with me. It's a teaser for Melbourne International Film Festival that starts on 21st July (I wish I could go!!!).

It's so hilarious that I've decided to post it on my blog. It makes it even more funny for me, because my Canadian friend used to joke that Polish people always talk about potatoes... and now me and my Polish friend nickname each other 'ziemniak'. Actually I got the link from him.

Enjoy!

Our Trip to Bukit Broga!

2011-05-31T22:35:00.012+08:00

I've been a big fan of Bukit Gasing for almost a year now, but this time me and my friends decided to spice things up and go on a proper hiking trip! Destination: Bukit Broga!

It's maybe one hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. We managed to get there even without a GPS, but please don't ask me about the way ;P I only know that it's across the street from a rabbit farm...

The threat of storm didn't stop us. Having cloudy sky wasn't actually such a bad thing as Bukit Broga has grass and rocks only. No rainforest, no palm trees, no shadow. Moreover, there was a mild chilly wind which made the trip even better.

We all fell in love with the beautiful view! I strongly recommend Broga Hill if you're around KL and looking for a nice place to hike :)

Life in a Day - UK trailer

2011-04-23T21:16:00.004+08:00

Life in a Day

2011-04-17T13:12:00.011+08:00

Do you remember what you did on 24th July 2010? Do you know what will you do on 24th July this year?

Well, I have an idea for you.

Go to youtube channel and see a documentary called "Life in a Day".

It's a historic cinematic experiment that attempts to document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. People have captured a snapshot of their life on camera and Kevin Macdonald (director of The Last King of Scotland) has edited the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film. It was produced by Ridley Scott and will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. You will be able to see it on youtube on 24th July 2011.

Here's the trailer!

Proboscis Monkey

2011-02-21T03:22:00.001+08:00

Just came back from wknd in Borneo! I'm really glad I had a chance to see proboscis monkey from so close! It's so cute :)

Dirty Gold - California Sunrise

2011-02-17T23:49:00.001+08:00

I really like to watch these nostalgic music videos where they use old videos from summer holidays reminding me of all the summers I spent in my summer house. Wish I had videos from that times.
I have discovered Dirty Gold just last week and I really like their music. Similar in style are Kisses with their Bermuda song. And of course Beirut falls into nostalgic music video category as well with Postcards from Italy - one of my all time favorites. These songs are great to listen to during hot sunny days when you're on a terrace watching squirrels in the garden, wondering around the house feeling light breeze on your back, lying by the pool, reading a book and looking at palm trees. Ah.... just great :)

Kisses - Bermuda

2011-02-17T23:39:00.000+08:00

Beirut 'Postcards From Italy'

2011-02-17T23:38:00.000+08:00

Laos

2011-02-12T14:26:00.020+08:00

Chinese New Year (CNY) is the time of the year when you will find lots of tangerines on your desk at work, see lion dances everywhere and lots of red colored decorations, lanterns and flowers in shopping malls. If you're lucky you will get some ang pows too :) On 3rd of February 2011 the year of metal rabbit began. You can check the horoscope here;)
In Malaysia CNY means a lot of days off! First week of February had three public holidays and therefore I have decided to fly to Laos to meet up with my friend who was backpacking South East Asia.
I took AirAsia to Vientiane, capital of Laos. Basically in five days I managed to visit three places - Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang and Vientiane.
Vang Vieng full of wasted backpackers going tubing, doing flying fox and playing volleyball in the mud wasn't really for me. When we got to the river, my friend just said: Sodom and Gomorrah... hehe

Luang Prabang was definitely my favorite! Started sightseeing very early morning with watching how monks collect their daily food supply from people on the streets. No, actually, it started with tuk tuk driver trying to sell us ketamine before sunrise while police is still asleep. It was pretty funny :D

Luang Prabang is perfect to walk around on foot, see temples, French cafes and restaurants, views on Mekong river. The pace of life is very slow there and everyone lives in harmony. A really good place to relax and have some good food too.

Pictures from Wat Xieng Thong temple below

We also made some trips around Luang Prabang. First we took a boat trip with Mekong river to Pak Ou Caves, minivan to waterfalls and bear rescue centre. Bears were extremely lazy. Just lying in their hammocks and sleeping.

Water in the waterfalls had beautiful turquoise color!

Back to Vientiane. We walked around, saw some more temples, went to morning market, saw Patouxai (Vientiane’s Arc de Triomphe), had beerlao and it was time to head back to KL... I wish I could stay longer and I will definitely go back to see the southern part of Laos :)

St. Jerome's Laneway Fest in SG was rad!

2011-02-07T10:18:00.008+08:00

It has started off a bit innocent. Light rain. We took rain ponchos distributed by the staff. Just in case. As it showed later on we needed to use them too many times... Ended up getting second round of ponchos. Heh, but I won't be writing about weather here, cause the MUSIC was the most important.

We missed the first gig by Warpaint unfortunatelly. When we entered Fort Canning Park in Singapore Ladyhawke was playing. She was really good and I can't understand why they put her so early in the line up. Followed by much less energetic Beach House. People were gently rocking to Beach House's tracks such as Norway and Zebra.

Yea, that's a picture of Beach House's vocalist, Victoria Legrand.
Actually I wasn't able to take pictures of all the artists as it was raining almost all the time! Including some seriously heavy rain that got us all wet and even rain ponchos didn't help...

The gigs I liked the most was !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Yeasayer and Foals. !!!'s vocalist, Nic Offer, jumped on stage wearing shorts and t-shirt saying "I ♥ Singapore" looking like a backpacker and started dancing like crazy. There was so much energy in there and I loved it!
Yeasayer was just brilliant. Crowd got carried away to their music.

Now biggest surprise for me - Foals were better than Temper Trap! Listen to their song - Balloons. Foals were the best on Laneway SG and the pouring rain added more power to their songs. It was epic.

To summarize my post, Laneway Festival is awesome and I will go again if I have a chance. Next time hopefully in Melbourne!
Below mud slide picture :D

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival coming soon!

2011-01-26T13:40:00.000+08:00

This weekend I'm going for St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Singapore! I am so excited about this that I even decided to write about it. Shortly of course.

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival started in 2004 in Melbourne and spread all over Australia in a past few years. This year, 2011, it will be held in Singapore for the first time. I consider myself lucky, cause I probably wouldn't be able to afford a trip to Oz just for a music festival, but now that it is so close to Kuala Lumpur I can pay a visit ;) Artists that will perform in SG are The Temper Trap, Ladyhawke, Yeasayer, Beach House, Foals, Deerhunter, Holy F@#k, Warpaint and !!! (Chk Chk Chk). Temper Trap's video above. I'll write some more once I'm back! :)

Somebody To Love Me by Mark Ronson feat Boy George

2011-01-22T15:21:00.001+08:00

It's been a really long time since I loved a song that much! It's been on repeat for couple of days and will remain so for the weekend! or even longer!
press play.

crazy times!

2011-01-12T23:12:00.006+08:00

It might sound funny, but going back home for winter holiday was my best holiday ever! I've been away for so long that I have already forgotten how beautiful, magical and happening is my hometown - Kraków. I guess fresh cold air and snow played a significant role as well... Everyone who stays in tropical climate knows what I'm talking about ;P
There are couple of highlights of my trip that I would like to write about.
Crazy Guides Tour
We booked the Communism Deluxe tour. Basically the guide takes you with a trabant around communist district - Nowa Huta - and tells you the history of it. The best thing is riding in that car! So much fun and it brakes sometimes too. They have them in some crazy colors like bright green or red so it catches everyone's attention. We went to communist-era restaurant called Stylowa ;) Then we headed to Central Square and gates of steelworks Huta im.Sendzimira. Later to the unchanged genuine communist apartment to watch a propaganda movie, drink vodka shots and eat pickled cucumbers. Guys had the chance to drive trabant themselves! I chickened out... cause the road was icy and you change gears just next to the steering wheel. I mean how do you do that!??! Anyway, we had a really good time and I think it is obligatory to go for that communism tour for all visitors and Kraków habitants as well!

Next thing I have discovered with help of my friend. Otherwise it would be pretty hard to find it. I'm talking about a vintage shop hidden in Kazimierz district in one of the small and narrow streets, somewhere in an apartment up on the second floor. It's called Mulholland Drive and it's unique! They offer vintage clothing for both men and women as well as accessorize. I bought myself a cute watch :) so if you're in Kraków you should definitely pay a visit to that store. It's located on ul.sw.Katarzyny 4/9 off ul.Krakowska. Soon they will sell online too and ship to Malaysia hopefully :P You can find them on facebook.

MAP Fest 2010 - Ikko Suzuki's performance

2010-12-01T23:04:00.000+08:00

About Ikko Suzuki.

I've found my favorite place!

2010-12-01T20:36:00.008+08:00

It is called The Baboon House.

I can't believe it took me over a year to finally go down to see Malacca - the oldest city in Malaysia. Maybe because great majority of trips I made around focused on visiting islands. Some of them twice or even three times... like Perhentian ;) Anyway, the reason I went to Malacca was that there was Art & Performance Festival going on over the weekend. A bit bored of KL nightlife I've decided to check MAP Fest out. There were various performances going on around Paul's Hill. Mainly dancers from different countries - Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, etc. It was really nice to just hang out there and watch the artists perform. City centre is quite small so you can walk everywhere. Malacca has been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has charming Chinatown with narrow streets, number of little shops and restaurants. All buildings there have Peranakan architecture. Typical shophouse usually has the first hall, second hall, one or two courtyards or air wells, ancestral hall, bedrooms, bridal chamber and kitchen. It's absolutely amazing to see all these courtyards full of tropical plants. Like in The Baboon House. My favorite place.

The Baboon House is an art & craft shop with cafe attached. Their gourmet burgers are delicious! And even have dried seaweeds inside. Yummy!

Below pictures from art galleries in Chinatown.

Some of the performances.

SiJundai - Teater Tradisional RANDAI

2010-11-23T00:08:00.002+08:00

My friend, Gert, invited me to her show. She's one of the dancers in Randai show called Sijundai. Performance was prepared and performed by students of ASWARA - National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I really loved it!

Randai is a folk theater tradition of the Minangkabau ethnic group which incorporates music, singing, dance, drama and the silat martial art. It is performed as a theatre-in-the-round to achieve an equality and unity between audience members and the performers. Randai performances are a synthesis of alternating martial arts dances, songs, and acted scenes. Stories are delivered by both the acting and the singing and are mostly based upon Minangkabau legends and folktales. Randai originated early in the 20th century out of fusion of local martial arts, story-telling and other performance traditions. Men originally played both the male and female characters in the story, but since the 1960s women have also participated.
The Minangkabau ethnic group (also known as Minang or Padang) is indigenous to the highlands of West Sumatra, in Indonesia. Their culture is matrilineal, with property and land passing down from mother to daughter, while religious and political affairs are the province of men (although some women also play important roles in these areas). Today 4 million Minangs live in West Sumatra, while about 3 million more are scattered throughout many Indonesian and Malay peninsula cities and towns.

Source: wikipedia :)

Gert

Wakeboarding is rad!!!

2010-11-22T00:47:00.001+08:00

This weekend for the first time in my life I have tried wakeboarding and I loved it!!! We got a really good deal from GroupsMore. With four friends of mine we went to Mines Resort City. It's in Kuala Lumpur, but obviously we made couple of wrong turns on the way and finished running 45 minutes late! Malaysian time :P Our instructor Gary was really cool and gave a good training. After 3 hours on the lake I felt happier than ever :D But right now all my muscles are sore... There's me on the video above. I managed to wave, but wasn't able to keep balance anymore haha
If you ever have a chance to try wakeboarding then go for it!

we ♥ animals

2010-11-16T10:36:00.012+08:00

The longer I stay in Malaysia, the closer I get to the nature. Last weekend I went with my friends to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary in Pahang. It's only 1,5 hour away from Kuala Lumpur and it's perfect for a one day trip.

Agenda involves visiting aboriginal village, watching a movie that shows how wild elephants are captured and transported to Taman Negara, feeding the elephants, riding on an elephant and bathing with elephants in the river. Being with elephants in the water was the highlight of the trip! It's so much fun to stroke and splash 'small' elephants and then get splashed from their trunk in return :P

Would be cool to have your own elephant in the garden :D but for now two small fish in my living room must do.. Surprisingly they survived two months in the same water and I hope yesterday's change of water didn't kill them.My friend bought a pacman frog - it's tiny, green and unbelievably cute! You see I'm so sensitive to animal beauty nowadays. This Saturday I went to see a pony race :D I like horses too.

I love animals! Just like the Crookers.

south american horned frog

Bukit Gasing

2010-11-02T00:17:00.012+08:00

A new tradition has evolved. Every weekend, usually on Sunday, I go hiking with my friends to a nearby located hill called Bukit Gasing. Hiking track is only a 10 minute walk away from my place and somehow I wasn't aware of it for a year! Luckily now I know and every week I can get really tired and sweaty climbing up the hill. It's worth it! There's an Indian Temple at the top and panoramic view is just amazing. There's also a suspension bridge on another track, cause there are many. Obviously I love taking pictures of monkeys the most :D here's some for you!

I can make jewelry!!! :D

2010-10-26T23:37:00.008+08:00

Last week I attended a jewelry making class. To be honest I was a bit sceptic about the whole idea, but decided to join, cause my friend is organizing it. And guess what? I loved it! :) I spent three hours at a table full of beads, losing my patience ten times a minute, eventually rescued by my hungry flatmate who helped me to finish my bracelet so that we could finally go for dinner :P it was lot of fun and I guess I'll come back there to master my skills. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of my piece of art, but at least I have few pics from the event :) Enjoy.

Check out the Jewelery Class website.

Przerwa na piknik

2010-07-01T09:25:00.003+08:00

Larry has finally posted some pictures from our trip to Tioman (in March lol). Well, better late than never. His Picasa album shows that East Coast rules. There's no doubt about it!

Haven't had the time lately to make any new posts. There's been a lot going on.

In brief, I decided to stay in Malaysia for one more year. I will still be working for the same company, AIMS DC Sdn Bhd.

Since March I've done some more traveling. In April I've been to Koh Lipe (Thailand) to celebrate Hani's bday :) Roughly a month ago I went to a jungle near Kuala Lipis to visit our Polish friends who are working on a Malaysian movie - HANYUT. Hanging out on the film set is quite cool. Now I understand you have to have a lot patience to work on a movie. It takes ages!

Last week I came back from Vietnam. This place is so beautiful you wouldn't believe. No wonder Ha Long Bay is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites. Kayaking there is amazing. Ania and I were doing some crazy amateur motorbike riding in rice paddy fields and mountain villages near Sapa, in Lao Cai region. Awesomeness. And of course, Hanoi - where crossing the street is most exciting thing you'll experience there lol oh, and I loved the food!

Book your tickets and visit me in Malaysia!

Friends' visit

2010-03-12T09:08:00.016+08:00

Again, I have subscribed to last.fm and can listen to whatever I like. To gently wake myself up I chose my friend's library. I have to admit his music taste is excellent and soon I'll start calling him my music guru. And though he is in Krakow and I'm in Kuala Lumpur, I can still keep myself updated with his new music choices as well as old classics.

Some of my friends from Krakow are even closer now. They're actually visiting me for couple of weeks and the schedule is tight and full of activities. Well... though there is this big plan, we don't get much things done as it's damn hot in the city now and sightseeing turns out to be more tiring than usual.

We went to Central Market. Everyone was screaming and giggling in fish spa. Especially girls!

My friends have seen most of the typical landmarks in the city. We've spent like one hour taking pictures with Petronas Twin Towers ;P

We've managed to do something unusual as well. On Sunday we went to see the Zapin dance show in ASWARA (my friend's uni). It was amazing!!! Great music, colorfully dressed dancers, full house. The whole show got me into sort of trance. One and half hour passed very quickly. Later on we had 'big Italian family' style dinner in Jalan Alor with my friends from Krakow and from KL :)

When my friends went to see Singapore, another Polish friend came to visit. Only for two days. However, he managed to get himself in some trouble with underground casino... so you can imagine there was a thrill, brainstorming how to get out of this situation, watching stars and palm trees and sipping cherry vodka in my swimming pool once we've figured out the solution. He's now in Thailand enjoying rest of his holiday. His visit in Malaysia was short, but unforgettable.

This wknd we're going to enjoy one of the Malaysian islands - Tioman! :)

恭喜發財 - gōng xǐ fā cái!

2010-02-18T19:41:00.013+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! :) Today, in our company, we have celebrated beginning of the year of Tiger. We had lunch and watched the lion dance. Employees came with their families. The kids from the orphanage came as well (our company has adopted an orphanage couple of months back). At first lions were dancing in front of our office building - Menara Aik Hua. Here's a video of lions catching and throwing tangerines. Later on tigers moved inside and went through all our premises. Beginning from the data centre at the ground floor (click to see it), through GT offices at 6th floor, and finishing at top floor (where I work). Tigers were wandering around looking for tangerines on desks. Each time they saw one, they stopped and opened it. For good luck and fortune I guess. Of course, all of that was accompanied with drum, gong and cymbal. The music was so loud that some people covered their ears, but I liked it. Almost like in Zouk club ;)

Tiger at the reception desk ;)

Berkelah Waterfalls

2010-02-16T11:55:00.014+08:00

Recently I am traveling a lot. This week was public holiday - Chinese New Year (14th Feb - just like Valentine's Day). So the year of white metal tiger has begun. You can check your Chinese horoscope here lol.

Ok, public holiday means Monday and Tuesday off! Me and my friends decided to go to the jungle in Taman Negara (national park). However, camping there during public holiday is impossible as many school trips book the campsite 3 months in advance... We had to come up with plan B quickly and that is how the idea of camping at Berkelah Waterfalls was born.

We took two cars and four tents and drove to Kuantan. On our way we stopped at vintage second hand shop, where Carl bought himself a shirt. Shop was in the middle of a small village, so random.

Camping by the river was amazing. Swimming in crystal clear water, climbing up the river, watching big waterfall at the top. Views were beautiful! We even saw couple of komodo dragons!!! We spent nights by the fire, chatting and watching the stars (the sky was so clear that you could see all stars and milky way, wow, you never see this in KL). The trip was magical and I loved it :D

P.P.

2010-02-12T14:45:00.007+08:00

There are so many advantages of living in South East Asia. One of them is the easiness in traveling and great number of beautiful destinations in the region. My list is long.

Koh Phi Phi, Thaiand - checked :)

We went there with bunch of friends last wknd and had loads of fun playing (or at least trying) frisbee in the water, taking boat rides, doing snorkeling, sun bathing, visiting national park, lagoon and beach where The Beach was filmed. Btw I'd like to watch that movie again now that I know how the place looks like in real life :) Nights - crazy beach parties with alcohol buckets in our hands. On last day we managed to climb to three view points and it was worth it! Koh Phi Phi is full of backpackers, really PACKED. But still, it's worth to go and do what all the backpackers do - the jumping pictures ;P

Pantai Grand Casino Night

2010-01-24T15:41:00.009+08:00

Once in a while there comes a time when you decide to throw a house party. This one was my first in my flat in Malaysia. Reason for celebration was indeed very important. Namely, one of our flat mates, Gabi, is leaving Malaysia for good. Heading now to South America! Wow, that's going to be an awesome journey. Especially that the carnival is coming. Rio de Janeiroooooo! ooh I'm jealous... just a little bit ;)

Our casino opened its doors last night and filled out with gamblers ready to win it all! We played Texas Hold'em Poker, Black Jack and dices. It was actually really cool to spend a night with friends and play cards and drink instead of just drinking as it usually is ;) Hopefully everyone enjoyed it. Those who missed it - shame on you! However, now that we have all the cards and chips and pantai dollars, we might repeat it some time soon. I think I got addicted!

To sum it up, party was great. (Although it finished with the security guards kicking us out, so we had to go to good old Changkat ;)).

fish fish shark fish stingray

2010-01-17T13:11:00.005+08:00

What can you do in KL during wknd apart from partying? Yyyyyyy... go to aquaria KLCC? ok, there's more to see than that, but we chose to see it last week. It was ok, but it wasn't anything special. To be honest, I prefer doing snorkeling rather than watching fish in aquariums. However, it was fun and we saw some interesting creatures. Check it out on my flat mates picasa.

你好 - nǐhǎo!

2010-01-16T15:49:00.004+08:00

New Year. New resolutions. New challenges.

Couple of weeks ago I've joined YMCA and started conversational Mandarin language course. The objective is to learn how to speak Mandarin, writing Chinese characters is a different story... It takes six years to learn how to write. Therefore we use Pinyin which is a romanization system for Standard Mandarin and language seems more friendly in a way. The toughest part is tones. In Mandarin there are four tones and it's really hard to pronounce syllables correctly. You have to pronounce each syllable separately, even if you speak fast. Grammar is quite easy, so far. Main focus is on vocabulary.

Honestly I'm really excited about learning a new language. Two lessons a week are fun but at the same time exhausting - they fry my brain!

23.7% of Malaysia's population are Malaysians of Chinese descent and in my office they make around 75% of total employee number. My colleagues usually speak a mix of Cantonese and Mandarin. Last week I even tried to practice my freshly acquired language skills during lunch with Kah Chun and Doris. Was fun :) Now I'm even thinking of going to Beijing as AirAsia has a special offer for Chinese New Year. We'll see. I just booked my flight to Phuket, Thailand two days ago so now my mind is already on Koh Phi Phi, where I'll be following in Leonardo di Caprio's footsteps (movie The Beach)!

mowing my lawn

2010-01-02T14:29:00.013+08:00

On first of January 2010 I dreamt that I was mowing lawn at my summer house. According to one of the online dream-books (yea I use them from time to time, but don't tell anybody), it means I will meet very happy and joyful people. Which is totally true if you look at how I spent my NYE 09 and following Saturday. We went with friends to see The Bloody Beetroots (that weren't as bloody good as I expected) and Basement Jaxx who were BRILLIANT!!! You can see these guys are experienced and know exactly what good music is. Actually, they played The Bloody Beetroots' Warp as well :) Talking about good music, recently I started using Hype Machine which resulted in visiting number of music blogs. Currently I have two favorite ones - DISCODUST and ME AND ALL MY FRIENDS

Visit them, cause they're worth it!

The best spot to hang out with mutants and hussains in 2010 is Starbucks terrace on top floor of Bangsar Village 2. Perfect for watching sunsets, playing card games and drinking sbucks coffee of course.

HOT'n'Merry Xmas

2009-12-29T08:53:00.007+08:00

I have almost missed Christmas. It came so suddenly, out of nowhere. Who would expect Christmas in 30 C degree heat? All the xmas trees in shopping malls and reindeers outside look so absurd. Not to mention the artificial snow which snows in front of the main entrance to Pavilion. Honestly, I had lots of laugh when I saw a crowd by the entrance, amid big xmas trees, cheering and taking pictures of the falling snow. And I was wearing sun glasses.

However, the day before Christmas Eve it just hit me - it's Christmas and I'm alone far away from home. You can imagine how terribly homesick I felt. I was desperately longing to see all my family and friends back in Poland. But big girls don't cry. I made a Christmas dinner for my friends - couple of them were visiting me, and for my flat mate and his boss. Afterwards some more friends of mine came to have wine on our terrace and, to my amazement, this Christmas Eve was really great. The rest of Christmas I spent sunbathing and reading a book by the swimming pool which was even better haha. From time to time I may complain that it's Dec and there's no snow here, but all in all I really like this whole year long 24/7 summer!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

party animals

2009-11-12T23:55:00.007+08:00

- I'm going to Asia to find peace, contemplate about my life, find the meaning and purpose of it, meditate, listen to my inner voice... - Yea right, all I can hear now is electro & techno music in Barsonic :D my absolutely favorite club in KL! so here's an update on the KL nightlife. IT IS GREAT.

Mainly because I've found some really cool people to hang out with and thanks to them all the parties are awesome. Traditionally we go to mamak for roti canai, nasi lemak, teh tarik and basically whatever you crave for after going wild on the dancefloor for several hours. Long Island Mug gives you the kick :P

exploring KL

2009-09-23T21:15:00.006+08:00

Now that I finally have some orientation in this town, it is the time to explore it further. Yesterday me and Mari went to fish spa to spoil our feet a bit. It was so ticklish that I couldn't stop myself from laughing! :D Afterwards we headed towards Kampung Baru - a Malay enclave in the heart of KL. It's the oldest residential area where ethnic Malay lifestyle is preserved. Big contrast to KLCC skyline. One LRT station further we were having this nice walk through KLCC park, taking pictures with bunch of Malay kids :P Finished our sightseeing with a visit to Skybar. The best view ever!

Batu Caves

2009-09-21T22:01:00.022+08:00

Kuala Lumpur sightseeing continued. This time we have visited Batu Caves in Gombak (13km away from KL). "The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival ofThaipusam in Malaysia . The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old." (wikipedia) My 'Janan' Mari (flatmate) is leaving Malaysia in 4 weeks and therefore wants to visit and see all the places she hasn't been to yet or simply wanted to revisit. Batu Caves was on her list as the last time she visited it there was Thaipusam festival taking place. Huge crowd. This time peaceful and relaxing sightseeing which we all enjoyed (there was Stan with his friends from Krakow as well - Polish rockband lol).272 steps to climb and here we are - amazing caves, beautiful shrine, bunch of monkeys and mysterious old woman. Next we have couple of mosques on the list. I'm glad I can do my sightseeing with Mari :-))) Stay tuned, more relations coming!

more pics here

Fruit Stalls

2009-09-11T18:53:00.009+08:00

Fruit stalls are brilliant. Fruit always fresh and tasty, and juice always in a plastic bag haha YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY !!! !!! !!!

Traveling

2009-09-11T18:41:00.006+08:00

Recently I realized that traveling is THE BEST topic for small talks in Malaysia. After 'how are you?' comes 'great, I've been to Pinang this wknd' :D and a bright smile. Then all the opinions come in, long list of places worth visiting and plans for the nearest future. This is so natural, cause how can you live in Malaysia and not travel?!? impossible ;P There are so many places to visit in Southeast Asia that I'm already compiling my list and it gets longer every time I talk to somebody. I'll keep you guys posted. P.S. I loved Pinang! Especially Georgetown and Kek Lok Si Temple (on the pic).

4 weeks

2009-08-31T10:14:00.003+08:00

So it's been four weeks since I arrived in KL and I don't feel it at all. Time flies here! There are so many things happening, new people, new places, new responsibilities, Indian wedding and even guests from Poland :) Not to mention our funky backpackers trip to the most beautiful island I've ever been to - Perhentian. I wish I could spend every wknd there! However, wknds in town also have their advantages. We had lots of fun on Friday at Zouk (Barsonic) and on my bday dinner and AIESEC party at Palace of the Golden Horses on Sat. It's Mon and it's a day off, because of the National Day. Perfect time to do some sightseeing finally :)

where is the lake?!?

2009-08-17T23:59:00.006+08:00

This Saturday we decided to chill out a bit in Lake Gardens. First we drank some teh tarik accompanied by Hornbills (dzioborożce lol), did some photo sessions in the hibiscus garden (hibiscus is the national Malaysian flower). Here comes a video from the ride through the lake gardens. Click here n enjoy!

I've also decided to interview some random German tourists and realized that I haven't seen the lake yet. lol Where's the lake?!?

R O M A N C Z U K I E W I C Z @ AIMS :-)

2009-08-11T12:28:00.005+08:00

Here we have a video from monthly company briefing where I introduced myself and all of my colleagues learned how to pronounce my surname :-) It was written on the glass wall. Those who were late for the meeting had to read it out loud themselves without knowing how to properly pronounce it. It was fun!!! :D (FYI: Guy in the white t-shirt is my boss.)

Finally in Kuala Lumpur!

2009-08-01T10:59:00.003+08:00

Here's the view from my apartment in Pantai Hillpark :)))

Doha International Airport, Qatar

2009-07-31T17:52:00.007+08:00

First time so far away from home, but still half way to my new home ;) Doha, Qatar. 33 Celsius degrees at 5am in the morning when we got out of the plane. Beautiful moon landscape. Dusty. Next stop - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Połomia - ostatnia wizyta przed KL

2009-07-14T06:08:00.001+08:00

Ostatni przed wyjazdem do KL pobyt na wsi przebiegł jak wszystkie poprzednie. Długie spanie, jedzenie, wylegiwanie się to w słońcu to w cieniu, zacięte partie remika i pomiaukujące bezpańskie koty. Maliny jedynie jedzone garściami smakują przepysznie. Tata deklaruje pierwsze wino tego roku. Trzymam za słowo!