the reason for my deep sadness

what is there to do besides shopping?

I've only been in KL for 4-5 months and I'm already bored. Please tell me...

...what is there to do in KL for fun?

Shopping? Hmm...is there anything else to do but shop? I've been shopping in Pavillion, KLCC, Midvalley, Gardens & Bangsar Village/Bangsar so much so that shopping is getting a little old now (*GASP* shopping is starting to get boring? For me to say shopping is getting old should be the same as for me to say I'll stop eating...which is literally impossible). But seriously, sometimes shopping in KL does get a little stale. KL does not have some of my favorite stores from the US (Express, Victoria Secret, Urban Outfitters, A&F, Hollister) and some of the stores that ARE available here much more bloody expensive than in the US (Banana Republic, Gap, Forever21) because the sales here are kinda sad and import tax is a pain. There are no discount brand stores such as Feline's Basement or TJ Maxx in KL too where I found amazing deals on branded stuff (My Nine West and Kathy Van Zeelan bags only cost me around USD$30-40 each).

Some of the clothes here should not even be sold at full price because they are out of season already in the US. Remember this dress?

I blogged about wanting this dress from Armani Exchange in my old blog on June 06, 2007. This year in August/September (don't remember exactly when liao because memory fails you when you're old), I walked into the Armani Exchange store in Gardens and saw this EXACT dress selling at FULL PRICE.

Yeah, we get "hand-me-downs" from the US stores.

Paying full price for a dress that has been around for ONE YEAR is absolutely ridiculously stupid. Also, high-end brands in Malaysia are more expensive because there is import tax on these luxury items!

I think I've gone off on a tangent but my head's kinda spinning from watching too many reality TV shows online today so I'm going to stop here regardless of the cohesiveness and logic of this post. Ciao!

another end to the amazing race asia

I'm such a sucker for reality TV shows. One of the shows I've been diligently following is the Amazing Race Asia season 3 (which I didn't know is called TARA3). The quality has improved tremendously from the first season (I remember a lot of cringing and nose-screwing when I watched the first season which totally put me off till now) and I'd say it's almost compatible to the US edition in relative terms. The teams are much more interesting and has more funny/interesting/mean things to say...and the detour and road block challenges were a lot harder than it used to be.

The winners - Sam & Vince

The runner-ups - Geoff & Tish

The fun-loving ones - Ida & Tania

When the Hong Kong team won, I'm just happy that it's them and not Geoff & Tish. I sincerely wished that Ida & Tania would win (I was rooting for Henry & Bernie all the way till they got eliminated) because I'm Malaysian and because they were sincerely nice to each other all the time and had lots of fun so much so that it was a joy to watch them race! I got to say, they DID have ONE fallout when they were in Dubai but that was the ONLY time we've seen them bicker on TV. I dont' like Geoff & Tish because...they're not very likeable. Geoff is an ass sometimes to other people, even people not in the race and also to Tish. I don't like them because they caused Henry & Bernie's elimination (in a way).

It makes me wonder, whether if I run the race with mr. boyfriend, will we end up bickering and fighting like almost all couples did on the Amazing Race? I think we will but he doesn't think so. Also, would I have gotten the tattoo at the Fast Forward which Sam & Vince did (which earned them their lead for a few legs)? I think I would have, in the adrenaline rush of the race but would probably live to regret it if I didn't win. And, this is from Amazing Race US a few seasons ago, would I have shaved my head bald at the Fast Forward? Now, THIS, is a really really hard decision. Can you imagine me bald? Yuck!

London-Chicago

Here's my long-overdue thoughts on London compared to Chicago:

i) London is unpleasantly cold compared to Chicago.
I admit this is a very biased statement because I was not warmly dressed for the cold at all and therefore hated being outdoors in London. The temperature dipped when I was there and I only had cardigans, my suit jacket and a scarf. Back in Chicago, I would be typically wearing a wool coat and probably my lighter long-johns in that weather. Oh but the walk from the tube station to mr. boyfriend's place has got to be the longest walk ever in the cold! I didn't take any pictures with the infamous red telephone booths or the underground tube station signs because it was simply too cold and all I wanted to do was to get to somewhere warm.

ii) London's transportation system is painful compared to Chicago's.
OMG so London's tube system must HATE me so MUCH because when I was there, we ran into every imaginable problem with the tube system that its mind-boggling to me as to why my friends think London's tube system is great. Yes, it's waaaay better than what we have in Chicago and it's very frequent BUT every freaking day, either some station or some line is closed down so we'll have to take an alternate route. For instance, we planned to take the Central line and change to the Victoria line to get to Buckingham Palace to watch the Changing of the Guards on Saturday morning. We got to the station to find out that Victoria line was closed so we had to take a bus after getting off the Central line. The bus stop was so hard to find because there were 3-5 bus stops for different buses on the same freaking street...*sweat drop* and we definitely missed the Changing of the Guards. On Saturday night, after meeting Lynn for drinks (it was her birthday! happy birthday again!), we were going to take the Central line straight home. As we got to the station, we were informed that someone was stuck UNDER the train and they closed the line. The station master told us to take this alternate route so we went in anyways and waited for the train. After 30 minutes of waiting and no trains coming, the last train pulled into the station and it was not our train. Seriously wtf! The tube system closes by 12.45am and so we were left with no choice but to take the infamously expensive English taxis (which was not even easy to flag down). The ride home cost £45. See, in Chicago, yeah CTA is not frequent and not that great, but if the train/bus doesn't work, you hop onto a cab and it shouldn't cost more than USD25 for that same distance.

iii) London is more expensive than Chicago.
This is obviously a given. The best example would be the cab fare -- 45 pounds (=USD78) compared to 25 dollars? Dinner at Chinatown is about 30-40 pounds for 2 person compared to 30-40 dollars? Do you know it costs 15.50 pounds per person to get on the London Eye? Tube from the airport costs 4 pounds (it's USD2 for CTA!)?

iv) London is more "rowdy" compared to Chicago.
Walking in the streets of London is absolutely reminiscent of walking in the streets of New York, perhaps worse. People bump into you as they like and do not think anything about it so no apologies, no second glances. New York is similar, except that there's still some personal space before someone bumps you but in London, I'm constantly in contact with someone and I do not like that. Maybe the streets of London is smaller, maybe there's more people on the streets of London, I don't know what is it but I do not like rubbing shoulders with strangers. In Chicago, this almost never happens! There's always personal space, even during the busiest shopping times.

I've pretty much decided that I should never visit Europe even when it's remotely cold. It makes travel so miserable!