Omg! I can't believe I'm 25! =O I don't feel 25.. I remember when I used to see 25 year old women when I was younger, they didnt jump around, they were mature, they werent lost, they were successful business women in suits.. Or at least, that's what it looked like to me..

A quarter of a century.. Have I lived for that long? What have I done? Not as much as I thought I would've, let me tell you. There's still so much to be done, so much I havent seen or achieved.. At 25 I should be well on my way, not just starting to pave another path, as I am now..

Omg, I'm getting old it seems.. Since when does a birthday make me think? About things other than presents and food of course.. ;p *shakes head vigorously* No! I'm not old yet! I'm only 25, and I'm gonna enjoy it! So enough with the rambling, this is how I spent my 25th birthday (like a kid!) ;p

Introducing The Three! Yes, that is what I am going to call us, The Three.Adrian: Best friend and minion. Nyahaha!
Oliver: Brother and pain in the you-know-what. ;p
Me! Also known as Calista. LOL. The birthday girl!! Whee..!! This means I got my way in (almost) everything that day. Haha! =D

We woke up crazy-early to join the endless line we knew was waiting for us to go up to the KLCC Skybridge.. Never been up there before and it was on my must-see list for KL, so why not on my birthday right? =)The ticket counter opens at 8.30am, so we reached just before 9am.. Cz we all had a late night the night before..
Zzz..
Anyhoo.
I still think we were pretty early.. But when we finally got to the counter, we were told to pick a time slot:And this is all that was left! =O
The 12pm slot was only available for 2 more people, so we took 12.15am..
...
...
...
What were we supposed to do in KL at 9am for 3 hours??? Sigh..
Since parking in KLCC is quite expensive, we decided to drive out and see if there was anywhere else to park. We also wanted to claim some frozen yoghurt that Oliver had bought via Groupon, at a shop called 9 Berries, which is in KL City Walk, a new place I just found out existed.. Lol.. According to their facebook page, it's Malaysia's first ever pedestrian strip mall and stretches approximately half a kilometre. It's actually quite a nice place, but since we were way too early, and there isnt anywhere to park around there, we couldnt enjoy it's potential.. Lol.. I know.. Sounds weird.. But true! =) There are boutiques there, cafes, bistros etc already there, and as they're located on Jalan P.Ramlee, right in front of Jalan Pinang and near KLCC + Pavilion, it looks like it could be the next hip and happening hangout!

With the Groupon voucher, we were entitled to 4 cups of FroYo plus toppings. Can't remember how much it was, but it was crazy cheap! And with Adrian waiting with the car out front, we couldnt stop long to take photos of the pretty yoghurt.. =( I can tell you though that there were 4 flavours: original, mango, strawberry and blueberry, all topped with fresh fruit. 9 Berries is owned by a Korean lady, who also sells cute Korean accessoriesThe earrings are only RM5 a pair!
gifts and original K-pop albums and souvenirs! I definitely do recommend you go and check it out if you love all things Korean! =)

After enjoying the yoghurt in the car, we decided to park at Fahrenheit and walk through Pavilion to KLCC. It was nearly time to go up, and we had to be there 15 minutes before to check in.We were greeted by a hologram video at the entrance
It felt so cool to walk through this.. Lol..

Then taken straight up to Level 41 - the skybridge.The BridgeThe View. On the other side, Batu Caves is also visible in the distance. Just Hangin'And Squattin'Adrian and Oli with their yellow visitors' passes (they use this to call you when they need you to regroup. As in "all yellow passes get yo asses back here NOW!" ;p)

The 41st floor is for visitors, and the 42nd floor is for staff. It's 170m from street level and is 58.4m long. The actual height of the Petronas Twin Towers is 451.9m, and is 88 stories high (trivia for the day!).
After being allowed around 15 minutes on the bridge (which unfortunately did not sway that day as there wasnt any strong winds), we were then ushered back to the elevator Look at all the buttons in the lift!

and taken up to the 83rd floor, where we then changed to a smaller lift, which took us up to the observation deck on the 86th floor.

Obviously the view from up here was even more spectacular! The tallest building you see in the photo? That's The Intermark.
You can see the opposite tower out the window! And when I say window, I mean these!I spy with my little eye...

We were only allowed in Tower 1 as Tower 2 is all offices.Apparently there is also a small exhibition room where you can sit in a chair that simulates the swaying of the building and also what happens if lightning strikes the building. We were not taken here. WHY??!! *alternate sad and angry face*

We didnt go outside to the KLCC gardens this time to take photos. Guess we took it for granted. But I did want to put up a photo of the towers from the outside, so here's one I took a few years back, during my first trip to KL:After we finished our tour, we were taken straight to the souvenir shop.. Things were a bit pricey so we didnt buy anything there. We went straight out to the mall, and straight up to the food court. We were starving by then! We had this incredibly yummy Teppanyaki beef rice.. I definitely recommend it if you're ever in Suria KLCC.. It's in the food court on the 2nd floor, and is 2 doors down from McDonald's. It's simply called Teppanyaki, and it's really nice, and they give quite a big portion. Not very expensive either, compared to the rest of the food available. Dont expect much from the service though. Lol.. Oh, and sorry again.. I didnt take a photo cz I was too busy stuffing my face.. =/

By the time we finished lunch and had a little walk-around, it was around 4pm, so we set off to get the car and go back to the other side of town - which I'll tell you about in Part 2 (I promise I'll be fast! ;p)
xxxxx

For my 25th birthday, I really wanted to do something different. I'd heard of zorbing (orbing) and it sounded like something I'd really be able to enjoy, so I looked it up online, and found one company who does it in Malaysia. Their website looked promising, so Adrian, Oliver and I started to get excited. We decided we'd do water orbing and orbing downhill.

I tried to call their office number a few times, but it went into fax. Nevermind, I thought. On their website it says walk-ins only have to pay RM5 extra, so I guess we'll do that.We set out at noon on Saturday, a day after my birthday, as it was stated that the activities were only available on the weekends. From Kelana Jaya, we made our way to Serdang, where the stupid Nokia GPS took us in circles while in search for Hospital Serdang, which is supposed to be beside MAEPS. We ended up at UPM, where the guard gave us directions. And we finally found it.

MAEPS is a big place, so we couldnt find the GAC Adventure site. After asking about 5 different people (4 who were security guards), it was determined that NO one knew where this place was! So Oli suggested trying to call the office again.

To our surprise, we got an answer! Lol.. Unfortunately, this seemingly good news dashed our hopes within seconds, as we were told that the orbing is only available for advance booking, and their staff were all out of the premises. He could however, slot us in for some time after February. Great. I drove around in the hot sun for over 2 hours, and you're telling me that you havent changed your website, so I'm here for nothing? A second phone call also determined that GAC was no longer available at Titiwangsa either.
Obviously we were upset. I wasnt rude, but I'm sure he heard that I was extremely unhappy on the phone. The company's saving grace is only the fact that the guy who answered, a Mr CJ I think, was amazingly polite, and tried to be helpful. Unfortunately, his help was not of any help to us as I am now back in KK, and unlikely to ever try to go to GAC again. It kinda ruined my whole birthday, as I planned everything around the orbing.

So anyway. It's just a little complaint that I felt I had to write about to release my upset. Looking back at the website, maybe I should've noticed that there was also a mobile number I could've called, but still.

I suggest:

1. Any companies that have websites, please update it as often as you have any changes to your company policies. Misleading websites are annoying and inconvenient. They also render your website quite useless.

2. Please get an office phone, and an office fax. You waste a customer's time and money by having a number that goes into fax if your staff do not answer on the 3rd/5th (etc) ring. This will also cause you to lose potential customers. Having an office phone+fax plus an extra fax number doesnt make any sense to me either.

3. Have proper signboards to your location. When the security guards of MAEPS dont even know where your company (which is supposed to be on the grounds) is, there's something wrong. We spent about half an hour driving up and down looking for the place, and I still dont know where it is.

4. Employ staff like the aforementioned CJ. Polite and helpful staff may save your company from being ripped to pieces by unhappy customers. I cant imagine what I would've done if someone rude had come on the phone. Hot+disappointed=angry+irrartional. Lol!

So that's all I've got to say. Anyone else had good/bad experiences with this company? Or has anyone else been zorbing anywhere else before? Do let me know!
xxxxx

PS: Will be uploading a post of the HAPPY parts of my birthday next! Whee..!!

And before I forget, Happy Chinese New Year everyone! May the Year of the Dragon be a prosperous one! =D

In anticipation of not receiving any presents on my birthday (until I get home and make mommy buy some, that is!), I decided to cheer myself up with a blog post of the wonderful Christmas I had, just 3 weeks ago! =)

Oliver and i woke up to our stockings, as we do every year. But this year, as (obviously) we dont have a fireplace, nor bed posts to hang them on, they were very nicely hung on...My wardrobe doors! Haha..Sneak a peek...Ta-daaaa...!! =)

Then, fast as lightning, we woke dad up and turned our attention to...
The pile of presents just waiting to be ripped in to! =DNo tree this year, so my bedside cabinet had to do.. ;p No space for a tree in my room in KL!

I was very happy with my pressies this year! I felt so spoilt! =D Wanna know what I got? Come on, you know you want to! =)

From mommy and daddy
Yay..!! Been wanting this for almost a year! =D Was recommended by.. Wait for it.. The girl at the SK II counter! Lol.. It must be good! ;p
As I couldnt take a nice picture of this mascara, here's the print ad for you to check out! =)
A Korean cardigan bought from KK.. =)

From Oliver, cz he knows just what I want! Woohoo!! =DFrom Adrian, who as usual felt the need to prolong the process and insert the element of surprise.. Lol! ;p
Eau de Parfum! =D

From Jovanni, who also came over for Christmas dinner! =DAnd last but not least, from S'mal! My first designer piece! =DGroup shot! ;p Thank you so much everyone! And I hope you liked your presents too! =D

All the excitement sure got our tummies growling, so while all this photography was going on, mom was in the kitchen whipping up a traditional Christmas breakfast! Yum!Bacon, cocktail sausages, fried eggs, bread, baked beans and tomatoes.. Ahhh.. Yes, dad was really hungry! ;p

After a little rest *burp*, it was time to get ready for dinner! Yes, festivities are all about food right? ;p So we went out to collect the turkey (which we bought on Groupon). The turkey was great, but the sides were barely enough for 2 people, let alone the 5 that was promised.. Hmm.. Luckily, Adrian had an oven, so mom also made some roast pork, and (omg yay!) ROAST POTATOES!!!! =D Yum yum yum yum yummy!! Jovanni and Adrian supplied the drinks (Calista wine = sparking grape juice ;p) It was the first time I actually really celebrated Christmas with Jov or Adrian, so it was great! =)

How was your Christmas? Filled with joy and love I hope? Do tell some stories! =)
xxxxx

First partay of 2012! And all courtesy to the Chan family! (Shoutout to Heidi, Mandy, Chloe and Adrian Chan - woohoo..!! ;p)

A by-invite-only launch party, the 3 sisters won tickets and were nice enough to let me in on the action by sparing me one! =D They registered at the Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilege Collection NYX Concept Space which was at the East Atrium Entrance of Mid Valley Megamall, where they collected their goodie bags which were limited edition bottles of the new Hennessey! The bottles are so pretty! They come in platinum and ultra-violet, and give you a surprise under black light! ;p

We were all given white gloves which were our "entry pass" into the "secret location". Space-age dressed ushers were positioned every few metre away to point us in the direction of the club, which turned out to be Bianco @ Vertigo Club, The Gardens!Upon arriving at the entrance, we were asked to take a group photo.It was suggested that we were white, as the club would be equipped with UV lights, so that's what most of us did!

The first thing to greet us as we entered the club, were glow-in-the-dark tattoo booths, where we all got "tattoos" in different places:
As we were in the middle of the club near the bar, we didnt get to see the start of the launch.. =( It was jam-packed! Plus, I cant exactly see over anyone's head, can i? ;p
We did get to see the models on the podium beside us though, so that was good!
Unfortunately, I still dont know who the emcee was that night, but she was pretty good!The DJ however.. Well.. Who doesnt know of DJ Blink? He's only one of the top DJs in Malaysia! And I can see (or rather hear) why! =DAnother good thing about our position at the bar was.. Camwhoring! Haha.. We got to take loadsa pix with the huge pretty bottle! =)I swear, it's bigger than my head!! I have to say, the drinks were really good! Even for a non-drinker like myself, I could taste how smooth the liquor was! There wasnt an overpowering alcohol taste to it either, and the cranberry ones were yum! As it was free flow from 8.30 - 10.30pm, someone had (more than) one too many! Not saying who, but.. Nyahahaha..!! Call this my revenge! ;pCheers everyone!

So that was my 5th day of the new year, how's yours so far? =)
xxxxx