This is how slow I am in posting – my guest have packed up and left about two weeks ago and I am still blogging! Really, it’s not my fault, blame it on the Twilight saga – I have been too busy reading up on all four books of the series AND watching and rewatching the dvd. Lame-o, I know.

Anyway, as you can probably tell, in the beginning of May we had a guest over from Malaysia, contributing to the endless eating out expeditions. We did not only feed (and ply her with drinks!) Mandy, we did some good ole traditional Yorkshire site seeing as well

On one her weekends here, we headed up towards the North Yorkshire Moors. No hiking involved – wind chill factor made it subzero temperatures up at the moors.

It always amuses me to see random signs like the above. It was only later that we realised there were signs before it saying PLEASE, DO NOT and STEP ON.

The whalebones at Whitby overlooking the Whitby Abbey…I love Whitby, one of my most favourite place in the UK. Actually, I love the sea in general so this is not suprising.

Lunch at the famous Magpie Cafe – takeaway of course, can’t be arsed lining up – just look at the queue! Crispy battered cod with a serving of chips – it doesn’t get more british seaside than this. Had to fight with the crazy amount of seagulls though..I don’t remember the last time I want to shoot down a bird. Oh yeah I do, hugeass piegons fly into Leeds Bus Station whilst I wait for my bus on a near-daily basis…all I can think of is yum yum deep fried piegon. How sick am I?

Seas in the UK are slightly different from what I’m used to….toe-curling chills in the North Sea! Probably the only place you’ll see me in jeans for a day out in the seaside. The water was suprisingly hovering around 10degrees, I was expecting much, much colder waters

Ahh. The traditional day-out by the sea, complete with moody grey skies, lighthouses and the promenade.

Whitby abbey from afar – £4 for entrance, we didn’t think it was worth it. Yeah, call me a cheapskate, but I needed to cap my day off with my favourite lemon-top sundae!

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Continuing on our ‘Visit Yorkshire’ theme, I thought it might be time to do something traditional over the weekend. So off we went to the Theakston’s Brewery, which is in Masham, about 1hr 15 mins away from Leeds. Masham boasts not just one, but two breweries, both making real ales (a.k.a dark beer) in the traditional way. We’ve been to the black sheep before, but didn’t take actually took the time to go around the brewrey.

At £5.50, both breweries offers a tour around the brewery on weekends and also on weekdays when brewing occurs. The price comes with a free pint, which you can divvy up to two half-pints at Theakstons. They would also very kindly give you 100ml taster of any of their ales. Bacon insisted on going around Theakston’s – not-so-secretly I kept announcing that I hate Theakstons’ … the only ale I’ve tasted from Theakstons is the Old Peculier…which is very peculier indeed, and fairly disgusting. I think it’s abit like marmite – hate it or love it. T&R Theakston Ltd. was founded in 1827 by Robert Theakston and John Wood who ran The Black Bull pub in Masham. The original building is still intact, but it is now the village post office instead of the local piss-up.

me grabbing my 1/2 pint double quick with hand shadow action

It is a short walk from the village car park to the Theakstons Visitor centre. The short alleyway had creeping hops growing on it, making for a very atmospheric walk.I did not take many pictures as the heavens opened up as we arrived; and the camera was more important. After paying our £5.50, we sat at the bar for our first 1/2 pint – between us we had Theakstons XB, Old Peculier and Coopers Ale. I went for Coopers Ale Bottom – the tap featured a fat man with his pants hanging out…only I will pick beer by that! It was way better than the Old Peculier, light with a slight bitterness, I think this is more of a spring ale – they have seasonal ales and Coopers Ale Bottom was what was available on taps that day.

I have not been around a brewery before….even though no pictures were taken, this was what I learnt:

Cask Ales are ‘alive’ and is still reacting – they do not last very long and therefore do not travel well. It needs to be kept at cellar temperature of about 10 degrees for optimum freshness. Once opened,it only lasts a couple of days before going off. So it is available in a variety of sizes, with the smallest being 9 gallons, apparently perfect for a weekend of sales in a pub.

This is why ales are known to be so regional..what you get up in Yorkshire may not be available in London and vice versa. For example, one of my fave ales is London Pride – I have only had it once out of London.

Theakstons is an independent brewery; currently run by Simon Theakston, 5th generation

They sold out to Scottish & Newcastle ( currently part of the heineken group) in the late 80s, but have since been purchased back by the family.

The family (not sure if they’re actually on speaking terms) also consists of Paul Theakston – who founded the Black Sheep Brewery.

The only pasteurised bottled beers they do are Old Peculier & XB

XB, their most famous and popular ale, is actually outsourced to John Smiths’ in Tadcaster.

Do you know hops look lovely suspended in soap??!!

After the 45 minute tour in which we were taken around the brewery, we were heralded back to the bar, where the fun begins. She was happy to let us have taster-size of the ales, but most people chose to just go for a full pint of something – I guess most of them were already fans of Theakstons ale. I eventually found a brew I like – the Traditional Mild tastes excitingly like coffee, even have the same dark look! Being an addicted caffine slugger, I was delighted and giddy with joy – at last, alcohol that tastes like breakfast!

Seeing that it was already 1.30pm, we decided to cap off the Yorkshire experience with lunch at the local pub. We were recommended to head towards the White Bear, a Theakstons owned pub that is located next to the Black Sheep. Hmm.

I love it how menus are on a blackboard instead of a book..I always knew there was a lil bit of country in me! I think the food is slightly expensive, and was initially apprehensive about spending £10 on my Sunday roast dinner (yes, I am a cheapskate, so shoot me) . However, we were hungry and really couldnt be bothered to go anywhere else, so we sat down and ordered our grub. It was a choice of roast pork, lamb or beef – or all three.

I had the lamb, which came with startlingly fresh mint sauce. It was so fresh it tasted like toothpaste! The lamb was not pink, the way I like it, but I like how it was not fatty either. Most roast lambs here are very fatty, I think they must’ve used the shoulder for this one. Comes with yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and lashings of gravy.

Sunday dinners traditionally comes with servings of veg, and I love their veg. Swede & carrot mash, with baby potatoes, brocolli and the best ever red cabbage. I make my own festive red cabbage, but this one is so much nicer than mine! I reckon its the crunch in the cabbage. Yummz. Portions were perfect as well – we had been overstuffing ourselves silly over the past few days and this was just the perfect size for our appetite.

My favourite pix of the day..I love the look of hand-pulled taps. According to bacon (who had worked as a bartender; one of his many reincarnations) one pull is supposed to fill 1/2 pint. This don’t happen in most pubs due to their clogged pipes – reckon they need some prunes .

Theakstons’ Brewery
Masham, Ripon
HG4 4YD
Tel: 01765 680000
E-mail: info@theakstons.co.uk

The White Bear Hotel & Pub
Wellgarth Masham, Ripon HG4 4EN
Tel: 01765 689319
E-mail: sue@whitebearmasham.co.uk

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Part 1 – remainder of the night

After we polished out the food, it was dessert time. I had the foresight of grabbing some ‘jeli buah buahan’ – basically jello in a small cone container. This was a staple children’s party food in the 80s, before Ronald McDonalds and A&W bear hijacked the children’s parties genre. You would not be a Malaysian if you did not recognize these!

We also sliced up some bananas and popped them in a foil packaged. Leaving it on the bbq makes them go all soft and mushy…yummers. It’ll be much nicer if we had some ice cream to go with it, the hot bananas just contrasts so well with the cold creamy ice cream.

After desserts, we spent about 10 minutes looking at each other – and then the casino began. CW showed off his gangster skills in demanding that everyone played along in his game of blackjack. As an antisocial I refused to play, choosing instead to play with elv’s ipod touch..heehee. And I was playing mahjong as well – wished I had the foresight to bring my mahjong set with me. Fret not, I have brought it back with me to the UK!

We went to sleep pretty early at around 1am, to the gushing sounds of the stream underneath and the variety of creepy crawlies in jungle outside. We couldn’t shut the windows as that would literally cut out our circulation, and honestly, it was really hard trying to fall asleep with nature’s ruckus! At 7am in the morning, I felt bacon rolling out of bed, and promptly spread my arms and legs to his side of the bed…ahhh, space.When I felt him just walking around the bed instead of heading towards to the toilet, I opened my eyes.

bacon: OK, get out of bed…slowly now.I will hold up the mosquito net for you.
me: Huh?? Why??
bacon: Stay calm, just come out
me: OMG OMG (thinking that there is a scorpion or snake in bed with me) ok.
bacon: Look. (pointing at a huge wasp buzzing around inside the net)
me: HUh? So what we gonna do now?
bacon: Well, I think I need to kill it
me: How???
bacon: I donno

After which I just headed downstairs to try to crash out on the sofa. 10 minutes later and bacon was still thinking, so I suggested that we should use two tissue boxes to crush the wasps. After banging around upstairs and moanings of protests coming from the beds of the other city campers, he crept down and told me that the deed have been done…ahh, sleep beckons again.

Part 2- In the morn

When we eventually woke up again just past 9, our lovely packages in banana leaf was waiting for us. It was one of the yummiest nasi lemak that I’ve tasted – nicely separated rice infused with the creaminess of the coconut milk, spicy sambal sauce and topped with a boiled egg and french beans. It did cost RM2 each – they should really just provide breakfast as well, it would just be polite seeing that they’re charging so much for the shed.

After breakfast, we started clearing up our stuff as we were asked to be out there by noon. So I leave you here, with a couple more pictures

View of the bubbling creek from the verandah

Elv using the Jack Daniels’ bottle as a tripod

View up the stairs

Elv clicking away in the jungle

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PART 1 – the Plan

“Bring your own towels, but everything else will be provided, including a microwave, stove, kettle and fridge….mosquito coils & nets

………..It is slightly better than camping”

“WHAT??? SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN CAMPING?? We are paying RM450 (£90) for something that is only slightly better than camping?”

Suffice to say they did not have the best PR person in town, to describle a magnificent glass structure in the middle of the rainforest as ‘slightly better than camping’. I mean, what was she thinking?? RM450 per night is not cheap, and to describe it as just slightly better than camping is outrageous.

We wanted to go on a holiday. Somewhere different, somewhere new….kinda like the road trips to Gilroy that we used to go on. Due to ‘someone’ not being able to go away during weekends nor take more than a couple of days off work, somewhere near was our port of call. So Ms Chong came up with the brilliant idea of ‘going camping’ – her style of course, not mine.

The initial plan was to set off at 9.30am….me & Elvin were dubious about the traffic, and asked for a later start. So Drey changed it to 11am instead, setting off from her place. At 10.15am on the phone:

drey: Eh, can you get mineral water, like 6 large bottles?
me: SIX?? Is that not alot? Are you sure we can finish it?
drey: Err…I drink a lot of water
me: ( Calculating what is 5 liters times six) Uh…ok then. Ooo, gotta run, Elvin’s here.
drey: WHAT?! So early? (it takes about 30 mins to get to her house) I’m not ready,I’ve not showered! Why so early!?
(mind that we were going to set off at 9.30am!)
me: Ok, ok, I’ll go get the water then head over to yours, u faster k.

What she meant was 6 bottles of the 1.5 l bottles, not the large cooking-oil containers of 5.5 liters. I ended up buying the 1.5 liters anyway, as I thought it was just crazy talk that we were each going to glug down more than 5 liters of water in the 20 hours that we were there. Arriving at her house around 11, Ms Drey was still showering….can’t blame her, she and cw were up till 1.30am chopping garlic and prepping all the food that we made her buy for our dinner that night. We eventually left her place at about 12, only to head immediately to a restaurant near her place for nasi lemak. I think we must have set out on the road at around 1pm, about 3.5 hours after our initial planned departure!

Part 2 – The Journey

With drey & cw in one car and me,bacon & elvin following in another, we made it to the Rawang toll exit in record time. Leaving the toll though, was a different story altogether.We were stuck in a traffic jam in Rawang (of all places, a small town about 30km north of KL) for 30 minutes, Staring into space, we eventually got out of there…and headed out of the town centre. No idea where we were heading, as drey & cw were navigating with their GARMIN.

We were soon in what ‘feels’ like the jungle…but in fact I think it’s the orang asli (aborgines) village heading towards Sekeping Serendah (translated as A Piece of Serendah). Best moment in the journey for me was when cw braked abruptly…trailing in the car behind, we thought he was mad, but it was actually a free-range chicken crossing the road . And no, when we asked it why is it crossing the road, it did not answer.

After another wrong turn (I think we landed in what looks like a gated village) we made it at last….greeted by leaves clawing on the mud wall that forms part of the ‘car park’

Part 3 – The place

We were directed to our ‘shed’ by the caretaker that met us at the gates, which about 20 steps into the jungle, across a stream, and up a flight of stairs. Our first instinct were, “WHERE ARE THE ROOM KEYS?” Of course there were none. Ohshit, that’s where we’re staying, that wide open thingy! Everything about that glass ‘shed’ was wide open, windows, doors…considering that the 3/4 of the walls were essentially glass windows, that was ALOT of open air. I was slightly disturbed by it….how can someone build something that is so…open??Just goes to show how jaded these city dwellers were. Tsk tsk….you could really spot us from a mile away by the smell of fear emating from our pores.

I love, LOVE verandahs and balconies, and this place has one of the best ever. Suspended above the forest floor, it gives you a view underneath of the foilage and a clear and undisturbed view of the rainforest. Undisturbed by any other nearby structures, this was really breathtaking….renewing my love for verandahs. I swear my next house is going to have a verandah – or I’ll make one myself! I love the idea of inside/outside space and room all mixing into one.

The open living/kitchen was not bad as well. Extremely well equiped, it even came with a huge comb of bananas and sachets of coffees & teas. A full set of cutleries including mugs and plates, the only thing it sorely needed were pans and bowls. Working microwave, fridge, outdoor sink(it was attached on the outside of the windows) and kettle too.The sofas were made out of what looks like chicken wires…and the table out of a piece of rusted metal with wheels underneath. Whoever that said this was ‘slightly better than camping’ have obviously never been here or been camping. This was an architectural gem. Well, other than the smell of mosquito coils (which reminded me & cw of our grandmothers’ home), this place was straight out of the pages of Beautiful Homes and the like.

Elvin: Where are the rooms?
Drey: Err…we are IN the room
Elvin: Huh, only this one?
Drey: Yah, we’re sleeping together…all in one room

Like the downstairs, the bedroom comprises of 3/4 glass windows. Unlike the windows in the UK, you can actually open each and every pane of glass, letting in the smell of the rainforest mingled in with some creepy crawlies. It sleeps a maximum of 6 pax, two double beds and two mattresses which you can lay on the floor. The beds comes complete with mosquito netting to keep the creepy crawlies out…but we’d soon find out it was more for fashion than function; at 7am the next morning, bacon woke me up as there was a WASP buzzing around INSIDE, yes, INSIDE my mosquito net!!!

We sat in the living room for about 5 minutes, looking at each other. The only sentence uttered was, “So, what do we do now?” So much for enjoying each other’s company! We set off for a nearby waterfall, but before leaving we made sure to bring all our valuables. So cameras, wallets…they all went with us…the idea of leaving valuables in a wide open structure is beyond our comprehension. Even car keys went…the city campers were paranoid to say the least!

At last!!

next up: The pool, dinner and more of the same..

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A giant candy

On the London Eye flight – my second time. I forsee this to be another KL Towers trip – where I had been about 10 times due to visitors ect. I must say, how perfect was it for a London Eye trip with the fluffy white clouds. Unlike my freezing, cloudy and depressing trip in 2005

At the river Thames – I love just hanging out by the river and people watch. No, I wasn’t trying to pose, the wind keeps blowing my hair on my face. |My tshirt says Vegetarians Tastes Better. Hehe

Another one to add to my London Underground collection. I love love it…wished I could just close a station down one day and just take pictures in it….its just so…as the chinese love songs would put it, very feel ah

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Rows and rows of sweetheart cabbage

That’s how it looks like. Don’t know what’s the diff with normal cabbage except the size -will let you know soon as I ‘borrowed’ a cabbage from the farm

Savoy cabbage. A constant companion on the english sunday roast platter;usually sweated and drenched with gravy.

Can you see my house?Bacon using the 200mm telescopic

Would you believe that this is the first time that I had ever been to a cabbage/veggie farm?

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I am, I am!

How come mommy’s friends don’t like me?They keep asking her to get a dog…I think it is racist and sooooo unpolitically correct myself.

Whether you like it or if my mommy convulse in short breaths whenever she is near me,I am here to stay!

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woo!!!

yes,bacon baked and iced me a car – influenced by the skoda advert

and oh,please welcome EOS400D to the family!I’ve missed you canon!

Sorry for the spotted quality – taken on the toilet mirror.heh.

Just got it 2 hrs ago,so you will see more of my EOS400D in action soon!

so happy birthday to meeeeeeeeeeee!!

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I have seen many a pretty sunsets in my life – you would have more than noticed it if you had been following my blog for more than a few months. Even my wedding march was done to the tune of a purply red pretty sunset – or so I noticed after the event as I was too stressed out being mad at the photographer and everyone else.

Anyway. Ibiza is blessed with clear skies in the day, and long lingering colors of sunsets from 8pm onwards. The prettiness of sunset only dissapear around 10pm – whilst in Malaysia it would start at around 7.15pm and pitch black by 8pm.Not much of time for you to enjoy the calming effect. All around the island,there are outposts and cool chillout bars for you to sit out and enjoy the remnants of a beautiful sunny day, in calm relaxing surroundings – no, not piano lounge.It is truly la isla bonita.

The San Antonio Bay sunset

And again

Boats boats, take me away..

Reflecting on an angry sun

Sunset from my hotel

The super-famed Café Del Mar is located on what is called the Sunset strip, which should give you some clue of why is it included in this post.It is currently a shithole of a place – renovations are intensive in that area as they are building a broadwalk so that people can walk on it safely instead of on the rocky beach that has been part of its charm since the early 80s with Jose Padilla manning the decks.Incidentally, Jose Padilla has apparently moved on to Café Mambo, which is right next door,thereby their direct competitor.

Watch this – the café del mar sunset. All taken in bursts of 1 minute.:

The end

Blurred

Putting your feet up

The beer after.

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Admist the modern amenities and the endless building around Leeds is the very special Kirkstall Abbey. Looking dark and formidable next to a busy main road into town, I had always wanted to do a photoshoot there…and the suprise of a sunny day made the opportunity too hard to pass up.

Introduction
————————————————————————-

Kirkstall Abbey is one of the most important buildings historically in Leeds. Built between 1152 and 1182 on the northern bank of the River Aire, the Abbey was home to a community of Cistercian monks and lay brothers. One of Britain’s best preserved abbeys, it has been through many changes in the nearly 1000 years of existence ; a cafe and as part of a main road (!!) is some of the stranger ones .A quick and inept history on the Cistercian monks; they follow the teaching of Jesus Christ but prefer a monastic existence. They are only allowed to speak in certain areas of the abbey. A typical day’s in a monk’s life would start with prayers from 1am – more prayers – transcribing manuscripts -eat- prayers – bedtime at 8.30pm.

By the sixteen hundreds the spiritual fervour that had gripped the middle ages had started to fade, the monastic way of life fell under suspicion by a king whose need for spiritual freedom (and financial expansion) forced the demise of an increasingly unpopular way of life. With the publication of the Valor Ecclesiasticus in 1535, all monasteries valued under £200 per annum were suppressed and their occupants either pensioned off or moved to larger sites. By 1540 the “voluntary” surrender of all the religious houses in England and Wales had been obtained, their estates and sites granted, rented or sold and their inhabitants pensioned off.

After its dissolution in 1539 the abbey’s windows, roofs and much of the stonework were steadily removed for use in local building projects and this helps explain its current partially-ruined appearance. Nevertheless, Kirkstall is still preferred by many historians to other Cistercian abbeys such as those found at Fountains and Rievaulx.

entrance to heaven

the infirmiry

The Church:
Beginning at the west end, the view along the church’s entire 200 foot length is unbroken, with 8 huge columned arches. At services, there was a strict order from back to front. Closest to the west door is the Nave, where lay brothers and lay visitors sat. Closer to the front were aged and infirm monks, then monks and novices in the choir.

The Main church. Believe it or not, it used the be the main route into Leeds during the Victorian era until conservationist moved in on it. How crazy was that? There were even properly carved initials of Victorians into the columns.

Arches

Inside the side arches.

Altar looking up

The Transept:
On either side of the tower providing the important crucifix shape to the church. The North Transept doorway gave access to the cemetery after funeral services. A fascinating feature of the South Transept is the ‘night stairs’ used by monks to reach the choir from their dormitory for night vigils.

Upview at the middle of the Transept.

The Cloisters and Chapter House:
The Cloisters form one of the most tranquil corners of Leeds, a square with covered walkways where monks would sit reading and writing. The Chapter House has many carved arches and pillars and some old stone coffins.A little piece of trivia; coffins were also stuffed into the walls, for some strange reason. Probably to reinforce the walls ; coffins were made out of stone in the Middle Ages.

Inside the cloisters & chapter house

Courtyard

Out and around:

Gateway to the shining light

Side view

Holy swan!

quack?

bloomin’ river

sepia-toned glory

view the rest of my pictures in my Flickr account here. Bear in mind that they have been kept private, if you would like to view it, please let me know and I will add you!

information/facts stole off Kirkstall Abbey’s website . Photos are all mine.

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