Keep in touch..: October 2007

7th October.. Happy 19th Birthday Xinru..

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Well.. we had a surprise birthday celebration with cake for Xinru.. we did it at 12 midnight.. so hard to make it a surprise coz Xinru was like not going to sleep.. it was so hard to get her to settle down n sleep.. well.. the plan was like this.. we plan to make Xinru go sleep by 12 midnight.. then at 12 midnight everyone go sneak in n surprise her before she really fall asleep.. but see see, she wanna go bathe la then dunno do what la.. so hard to make her go sleep.. then in the end, she knew it.. was not really a surprise ady.. haiz.. Xinru Xinru.. why la why la.. spoil our plan.. haha.. but anyway, it’s was fun.. Xinru, how do you feel? Happy anot.. haha..

Xinru n her cake :)

Xinru's birthday cake

HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY, XINRU !!

Dinner at Sportivenaya Hostel..

on Saturday night, 6^th October, went Sportivenaya Hostel for dinner.. Xinru’s good friend’s elder sister, Kah Hooi n her friends cook.. it’s was basically a pot luck thing.. by the way, Xinru is my unit mate.. each unit has 2 rooms.. 1 room for 2 people n another room for 3 people.. Xinru is rooming with Jacinta in the 2 bed one.. while me, Farah n Valynne are in the 3 bed one.. hehe.. okay, the food was great.. delicious.. well, it’s really really very delicious.. it made me miss my home food so so much.. we had soup.. very nice soup.. then, there was squid, veggie, ginger chicken, fish curry and banana split for desert.. yummy yummy yummy.. seriously, that meal was the most satisfying meal ever since I came to Moscow.. haha.. that shows how much I miss my food back home.. lol.. sorry, didn’t take any photos.. haha.. was too hungry.. seriously, I was memang really very hungry.. coz before that me n Valynne couldn’t find the hostel and the seniors had to come get us.. we were standing by the roadside feeling really hungry.. stomach growling.. haha.. went there to online also.. to update blog.. to check friendster n emails.. we all were like playing internet like as if ages haven’t got access to it.. haha.. eat while online that was what we were doing.. but still enjoy la the food.. haha.. oh ya, Sportivenaya Hostel is seriously very very nice.. not kidding.. when I entered Kah Hooi’s room, I was like, whoa, so so nice.. I also wanna stay there laa.. haha.. but have to wait for maybe second year only can go there.. well, each unit have their own personal kitchen.. each unit super nice n big.. went to Tjien Jhung’s room also.. his room also super nice.. so cosy.. aarrhh.. I wanna stay there more n more.. haha.. then, met Li Jie there also.. Li Jie is my senior when I was in MGS.. but she was very senior and I was very junior so I didn’t really know her n she didn’t know me.. I just know her by name only.. so that’s the reason why she couldn’t remember me when Tjen Jhung brought her to see me.. hehe.. but anyway, talked with them.. really nice people.. thanks a lot for all your help..

Grocery shopping at Arshan

went to Arshan on Thursay.. Sam was our tour guide n brought us there.. took a bus, then metro then free shuttle bus.. it was raining.. with wind blowing also.. can consider it cold.. well, temperature here has been dropping n some more it has been raining quite frequently.. well.. Arshan is a place where you can get groceries at the cheapest price.. we were all so happy to see cheaper groceries.. all of us got whatever groceries we needed.. shared trolleys n the trolleys were stacked up with all our groceries.. haha.. bought rice, noodle, pasta, instant noodle, spaghetti sauce, sugar, bread, donuts, sausages, non-stick pan for cooking, containers to put stuff, chopping board, n the list goes on.. haha.. we really needed to cook coz food here in restaurants are not cheap at all.. haha.. check out the stuff..

chocolates :)

donuts

my favourite orange juice

bread..

well, the bread here can last very long.. for 2 months.. apparently, they put a little alcohol in the bread.. hehe..

russian instant noodle.. it's nice..

next, going back, was a disaster.. so many people wanted to fit into the free shuttle bus.. n it’s was still raining I was kinda flatten.. people kept forcing their way into the bus.. my back hurt.. poor Vaughn.. he was squash till cannot breathe.. well.. temperature is dropping here.. it has been raining.. getting colder day by day ady.. probably by middle of October the temperature might reach 0°C.. soon it’ll be winter.. cold.. very very cold.. I really can’t imagine how cold it’ll be.. but, I’ll conquer it.. haha..

My first rice meal in Moscow..

Went to Sam’s room to online one day with Valynne.. talked through Skype with our parents n also check our emails n friendster n all.. n later, when Sam came back after class, we were hungry.. so Sam made us fried rice from leftover rice last night.. nice wehh.. really really nice.. Sam is indeed a good cook.. then later, he made curry chicken with ladies finger… wahhh.. delicious.. really made me miss home food.. aarrgghh.. how I wish I could cook that well.. haha.. hopefully, my cooking will improve by the time I go back for summer holidays coz I’m going to be cooking most of the time here.. hehe.. eating out really expensive la.. food court also expensive ady..

the rice.. yummy..

the curry.. nice :)

Sunday.. Moscow River..

Sunday.. went church.. it’s an international church where most of the Malaysian students attend worship service.. it’s called ‘International Christian Assembly’.. the church is near Sportivenaya metro station.. followed some seniors there.. after church, went walking around Moscow river area.. seniors brought us.. B.C., Jien Wey n friends brought us.. first, we walked around the walkway of a bridge.. from there we could see the Moscow river and the surrounding buildings including Moscow’s famous chocolate factory..

Moscow river

on the bridge

Jacinta, Xinru, Archie, Valynne n me

then walked around a park.. I love the scenery.. the leaves turning yellow n red.. I just love autumn.. just outside the park there were many statues.. took lotsa photos also.. everyone was like busy taking photos and posing with the statues.. haha..

James, Kent, Alan, Valynne, me, Archie, Marcus, Tang, Jacinta

me n Valynne..

Jacinta, me, Xinru, B.C n Valynne

Valynne n me.. it's autumn..

me :)

then, came out from the park and walked along Moscow river.. well, this round, we didn’t manage to cruise along Moscow river but I hope we’ll get the chance to next time.. hehe.. well.. there was this really huge n tall statue situated on Moscow river.. they say it’s Peter The Great.. hehe.. nice!!

the statue of 'Peter The Great'

the bridge

Kent, Archie, Vaughn n me

Kent, Archie, Marcus, me, Vaughn n Valynne

There were ducks in the river also.. but they’re not the white ordinary ducks we see in Malaysia.. these are the nice ones with colourful feathers.. you can say it’s rare in Malaysia.. hehe..

okay.. walked n walked till we came to some buildings.. wanted to get something to eat n drink but everything was so expensive so in the end, we just rested by a little fountain.. there, we spotted another very dirty car.. I dunno why but it seems like people here don’t wash their cars.. they’re like super dusty.. I really dunno how they tahan.. even the expensive cars also they don’t wash.. haha.. check it out..

super dirty

Front: James, Marcus, Kent, Tang

Back: Archie, Vaughn, me, Valynne

with our seniors n tour guides.. a BIG thank you to them..

After all that walking, we headed back.. at the metro station, saw another money changer.. well.. the US currency has been dropping a lot.. and we here wanna change money from USD to Rubles but seeing the currency very low, we were all like…. Okay… u get it.. haha.. seriously, it has been dropping.. everyday, we watch it drop n drop n drop.. let’s see how low it’ll get to..

Arbat..

On the fourth day, seniors took us to Arbat, another tourist spot.. Jien Wey, B.C., Kooi Hiang n Richelle took us.. again, we took a bus n metro there.. the public transport here is super cekap.. at Arbat, there are two parts.. the old part n the new part.. the old part consist of the older buildings n more of the historical ones.. the new part is more of the casinos n new shops.. we explored the old part first.. saw lotsa buildings.. love the design.. took lotsa photos.. haha.. and I ate ice-cream also.. it’s a vanilla with nuts ice-cream.. that was my first ice-cream in Moscow.. haha.. well.. it was nice.. but actually nothing really that special just that it was ages since I ate ice-cream due to my cold.. haha.. okay, check out the photos..

the buildings..

my first ice-cream in Moscow..

the cow's the celebrity..

the surroundings..

Okay.. this is a statue of Pushkin and his wife.. Pushkin is a famous poet in Russia..

On the ground, they have all this pavement with decoration.. check it out..

they have these dolls too.. but if you wanna take a photo with the dolls you need to pay.. haha.. check them out..

Shrek!!

Okay.. now we come to the new side of Arbat.. here, it’s more of the casinos and new shops.. spotted a particularly attracting casino.. hehe.. check it out..

outside a casino..

Next, we went to a park like.. I dunno exactly what place it is neither do any of my friends here.. haha.. well, when I know I’ll tell.. okay.. check this place out.. it’s a nice place.. got a lot of Russians there also..

There’s this clock there.. the clock works k.. not fake one.. they use flower plants to make the numbers n all.. hehe.. creative..

They have this really big and wide fountain.. nice flowers there also.. hehe.. I love the place.. check out the photos.. sorry.. I lazy to describe so much.. hehe..

some statue thing..

the fountain..

some building..

Alan, Kent, me, Valynne, Marcus, Tang n Yow

we're born in 1942.. haha.. no la.. just kidding..

me n Valynne

Valynne n me.. the flowers..

After the park, Tjen Jhung took us to a mall to have dinner and buy some emergency groceries.. it’s called Kievskaya Mall.. went to the food court.. again, lotsa food.. haha.. looks nice but then of course price also nice.. Moscow here everything is really expensive.. cannot compare to Malaysia, if not you won’t eat.. haha.. Tjen Jhung, suggested we try some kind of spaghetti.. it’s the kind where you pick how much meat and vegetables u want and they’ll cook it for you with the noodle.. haha.. so, we being Malaysians, all wanna take more n more n make mountains of meat n vegetables n take as much as we can.. haha.. u know, it’s call ‘kia su’.. lol.. so we took as much as we could.. haha.. the guys, especially took more.. but in the end, after they cook it, it turn out to be a lot.. a BIG plate.. n the guys had problem finishing it.. haha.. Marcus n Kent were the ones who couldn’t finish but in the end they force themselves to finish cause food is precious.. cannot waste.. haha.. but me n Valynne could finish coz we memang pakat to share.. haha.. I was laughing like crazy watching Marcus n Kent struggling to finish their food.. haha.. really funny.. the way they pick up the noodle n meat n veggie trying to finish it.. haha.. check out the photos.. funniest dinner in Moscow..