Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My excursion trip to Malacca. Woohoo!

Well, today's the day I'll be going on a college excursion trip to Malacca, and I'm actually quite excited about it... since this is my 1st time ever visiting a place like Malacca. haha
(This trip costs RM135, but in my opinion... it's quite worth it since it's for 3 days and 2 nights and that the fact I can get to see
Malacca... haha)

The hotel that the other college students and me will be staying in is 'Hotel Puri', and I really hope that this hotel is fairly decent and not that lousy. The method of transport to Malacca is by bus, so it will be definitely an hour's journey or more.

The places that're listed on the trip's 'To visit' list are:
  • -> Baba Nyonya Museum Heritage
  • -> Masjid Kampung Kling
  • -> Cheng Hoon Teng Temple
  • -> Sri Poyyatha Vinayagar Moorthi Temple
  • -> Red Building
  • -> Studhuys Building
  • -> Malacca Museum
  • -> The popular Kota A' Famosa
  • -> Portuguese settlement
I'll definitely take some photos of these mentioned places (if I've the chance) and I'll upload them here, once I've arrived back in KL by this coming Friday. I really hope that I can enjoy myself during this wonderful trip. ^^
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(UPDATE!!!)

Sorry for the lack of updating this particular topic, I've been really BUSY lately... Well, I'm back from such an amazing and wonderful trip to Malacca and I'd like to share my experience when I was in Malacca... hehe. Well here it goes!

[WEDNESDAY, 23/7/2008]
Went to college at 7 am, waited until 8:40 am-ish before the bus finally arrived. Sat on the bus, and as The Joker said: "And here we GO." hehe














> A pose of me and Andrew in the bus while the bus' on its way to Malacca. ^^

While the bus' still on its way, it took me and all the Foundation in Architecture students to the 'Mini Malaysia' place, which seems like a really popular place.


> The entrance to the 'Mini Malaysia'.

After the entrance, this place actually has 14 traditional Malay houses of each state, and those houses were definitely unique in their own way. And yes, I did go inside to some of the houses.


> This particular stair in this traditional Malay house is really STEEP, I tell you. ^^


> Me and my 2 friends, Idris and Andrew. Nice farmer hat you got there, Andrew! ^^


> Me and my friends - Hashim, Idris, Grace, Rashin, and Wakil . ^^


> Me and my friends - Andrew, Hashim, Idris, Rashin, and Mathen . ^^

Around 2 pm-ish , we're then treated to a wonderful cultural dance performance. The performances by the dancers were really quite amazing. The comedy act, which is also a part of the performance really made me and as the audience laugh, as it was so funny.


> One of the 3 dancers in the humorous comedy act of the performance. ^^

After the performances, the audience were given chances to take photographs. Imagine how many people would be in the photo? All the Foundation in Architecture students (senior and new) as well as the tourists... Boy, it's a big photoshoot!


> Architecture Group Big Photoshoot!!! hahaz ^^

After all that, we sat back on the bus and we continue the way to Malacca until we finally reached the Hotel Puri. Finally!!! This hotel is actually nice and amazing!!! My room-mates were Andrew, Matthew and See Hui.


> The interior of 'Hotel Puri' (The lobby).

Later at night, I went out with Andrew and Matthew + their friends and experience the night life of Malacca. We walked around and around till we decided to eat at a typical Malacca food court. Since Matthew recommended the fried oyster which actually tastes better here, I decided to give it a try... it wasn't that bad, quite good and tasty actually. =P

[THURSDAY, 24/7/2008]
After a quite comfortable sleep, I went down to have breakfast with friends. Actually, the places
that're listed on the trip's 'To visit' list, we've to go there by ourselves (oh well). Anyways, I decided to follow Andrew, Grace with her friend, Loh to some of the various popular places that Malacca has to offer - especially the famed Kota A' Famosa and others. We first visited the St. Paul's Church, and this building still looks remarkable until today.


> St. Paul's Church.


> St. Paul's Church (Interior Part 1).


> Grace taking a pic of me posing with Loh, while Andrew's taking a pic of her. haha
(St. Paul's Church, Interior Part 2).


> Andrew, Me and Grace in a memorable photo. Thanks Loh, for taking this wonderful pic! ^^
(St. Paul's Church, Interior Part 2).


> Me, Andrew, Grace and Loh in a memorable photo with 1 of the many massive grave tablets in the St. Paul's Church.

After checking the St. Paul's Church out, we then walked along until we've finally reached to the marvelous Kota A' Famosa! My 1st impression when I finally saw this historical landmark was "Woah!"


> The rear view of the Kota A' Famosa.


> Me, in front of the Kota A' Famosa. ^^ (Look how small I'm, compared to the entrance of this landmark.)


> A perspective view of the Kota A' Famosa.


> Another nice group photo of me and my friends - Andrew, Loh, Idris, Grace, Hashim, and Behnia.^^ (Clockwise: From Andrew to Behnia)

After checking this marvelous landmark out, we then went to the 'Dutch Square'. In the picture below, Malacca's 'Christ Church' can be seen on the right.


> A paronamic view of the atmosphere in Dutch Square. (When I was about to take this pic, I noticed a trishaw cyclist was going along this road. So I decided to snap a nice photo with him included and this photo turned out beautifully, as it manages to capture Malacca's modern lifestyle. ^^)

Then, I followed Grace and her friend Loh to another place called 'Cheng Hoon Teng Temple'. The only thing I can say about this place is that it's a fairly nice religious place.


-> The entrance to 'Cheng Hoon Teng Temple'. The level of detail on the various small Chinese figures that're on top of the roof is just amazing!

After a wonderful (and tired) day of sightseeing, since Grace recommended to me that the 'Durian cendol' here is a must-try, we then went to a local dessert shop which specializes in this popular dessert. After my very 1st bite of the durian cendol, wow, I've the "this dessert is very sweet" feeling. ^^ We then went walked back to the hotel and we took some rest, since we just went sightseeing.


> Durian cendol... Looks tempting, eh? ^^


> Bukit 'Durian cendol'. hahaz

Later at night, after my room-mate Andrew and me had enough rest we then met up with Grace, and then we walked around the peaceful yet lively Malacca town to find a food place which specializes in 'Lok Lok' ("Sate celup" in Malay). While we're on the way there, we stumbled upon a place named "Cheng Ho Tea House" which has an unusual entrance. We decided to enter it then we kept walking down a long but not-too-narrow pathway. Once we reached the end of that pathway, the interior of this particular place is actually wondrous as the interior of this place is secluded from the outside. We then tried the jasmine tea that they served here and it was really refreshing!


> Me, Andrew and Grace at the "Cheng Ho Tea House". ^^

After a really refreshing cup of jasmine tea, we then walked and walked until we finally reached the destination which specializes in 'Lok Lok'. In this restaurant, we can get to choose which skewered foods you want to dip in that sauce-filled pot, as you can see in the picture below. For me, tasting 'Lok Lok' is not really that bad actually... it's fairly decent. hehez



(Nothing interesting was noted on Friday because we went back home on Friday.)

Overall, the experience that I've had in Malacca with my college friends was definitely really a memorable one. Eventhough it was short (3 days 2 nights trip), but it was really worth it, as I managed to see many of Malacca's marvelous landmarks and that I found Malacca to be way much more peaceful than KL. That's all I've to say about this memorable trip, and I really hope that I can visit this place once more... ^^


> The beauty of Malacca at night.^^ (Thanks, Andrew for taking this nice pic. ^^)


> Andrew and me, in the middle of the road on 'Jonker Street' at night.^^ (Thanks, Grace for taking this nice pic. ^^)

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Models, Models, and Models...

As mentioned in the title above, currently I'm doing my final assignment for the 'Intro to Building Design Principles" subject and this is particularly a very long assignment... sigh

From my 1st Study Model to my 4th Study Model, I've been making various improvements to my models which I made... and I'm currently satisfied with the outcome of my 4th Study Model. ^^

On a side note, a few of my college friends told me that my model making skills have improved way better than before, and I just wanna say "Thanks, guys!!" for your positive feedback! =)

Below are some of the pics of the study models which I've made during the course of this subject's final assignment:-


-> My 2nd completed Study Model. (It kinda looks like a robot's face if you look at it from the top, don't you agree? =P)


-> My 4th Study Model in progress... Section A completed. ^^


-> My 4th Study Model in progress... Section B completed. ^^ (I've added a long ramp which kind of looks like a staircase in the middle of my model as well as the other parts.)


-> Voila!!! My 4th Study Model, finally completed!!! Took me lots of hours to do this, but I'm definitely quite happy with the outcome of it... and plus, it just looks great!!! (well, to me anyways... hahaz ^^)

That's all I've to say for now. I'll be updating my blog with more posts to come soon, so stay tuned, people!

.:-Kelvin Out-:.

Monday, July 21, 2008

My Intro. ^^

Hey, people!!!

I've finally decided to create a blog on this site... and since I've just started using this particular blog, I might as well as give a brief introduction about myself... lol

My full name's Khoo Kah Wei, and my nicknames are Kah Wei and Kelvin... both will do fine... hehe What else can I say, oh yeah... my birthdate's 2nd Feb, 1989 and my horoscope is 'Aquarius'.

If you wanna know more about me, please do feel free to view my profile, ok? Thanks!!! ^.^

.:-Kelvin Out-:.