Meeting the Applegal

I've heard about Applegal aka Alicia of Applegal's Diary in her Cubbyhole fame, from my early days of blogging and have been following her exploits throughout most of her posts. What facinated me was that she hailed from Kota Kinabalu (KK) and is now pursuing a law degree at University Malaya (UM), thus it's a nice experience being able to compare notes on how things are going about at these two different locales separated by the South China Sea. There's only so many KK bloggers here to meet.

I've been meaning to meet up with her for a while, always it seemed so convenient as she returns to KK for her term break but something always crop up to prevent a meet up. Well this time I'm resolute to meet this gal face to face before she heads back to Kuala Lumpur. Thus it started with an email asking if she could spare the time for a drink or maybe lunch, she replying that it would be fun and both of us stuck here and missing out on the PPS 2nd anniverary bash in Kl, would be a nice meeting.

So it was set, the place Coffeebean at Wisma Merdeka at 11.30 a.m. on Sunday. Was worried that she could not make it or didn't have the time since she just finished her law stint for the holiday and is planning a hike up Mt Kinabalu with her family.

Got on a public van and was there half an hour early. At the last moment was a bit in doubt if I got the right Coffeebean, remembering at that time that there were a few others at Damai and even behind Centerpoint, but a message from her dispel that notion and assured me I was at the right venue. I confess that I was a bit nervous, being my first real life meetup with a counterpart blogger. Would I make a fool of myself, bore her to death or just mess things up to the point that I would never show my face online again. In the end made up my mind to just act natural and go about it like meeting a friend.

I waited near the entrance and was just sending a SMS to tell her I'd already arrived when I looked up along the corridor of the mall and there she was, clearly recognisable from the pictures she posted online. She was sporting a blue top and dragging along a green bag and on her neck the nice beadwork necklace and shell pendant she got sometime ago. Still doubt whether she'd recognise me though but in the end she was the first one out with the greetings. What a relief (I did drop a hint the night before that I'd be wearing an orangutan T for the meet).

Me looking blur as usual. Why people always catch me during moments with mata sepet?

Ordered a couple of drinks and sat down to talk. Mostly catching up on the latest happenings. I enquired her about her stint at the lawyer's office and she said she enjoyed the working experience, at least it meant not lounging about and getting bored to death at home. Also mentioned was her upcoming climb to the summit of Mt. Kinabalu, this being her first time though she is Sabahan born, up there. People jogging at the Tun Fuad Stephenson Park might have caught a glimpse of her and her dad training. She related about campus life and the antics which they all had, mostly about how bad the monkeys at UM were and enlightened me about the daily cycle of the so called UM law facualty students and exchanging notes about our respective universities.

She looked great with her recently pierced ears as well as the new handbag she got. Talking on, she said that there was a lot of misconception that she was a party animal even from her friends at UM, stating plainly that she'd rather stay at home most of the time unless invited out but she does enjoy the occasional night out at town and also shopping! She mentioned too that she is going to get a digital camera soon (she finally settled for a Cannon Ixus50). We ventured into more casual talk, mostly about the driving habits of fellow Kota Kinabaluans as well as those in Kuala Lumpur, to matters concerning how she got all the way to UM, her school life in KK and also the fact that her sis will be joining her in Kl as she is going to Monash.

Alicia was on an earing buying rampage! (Ok so it was not so bad, but she did want a new pair to celebrate her new second piercings). Here she is with one of the more outlandish choices at one of the stores.

We talked a fair bit during that few hours we had together, getting out of the shop once we finished our drinks and decided to walk a bit though we both agreed that there wasn't much to see at malls in Kk. But she was keen to stop at every shop that was showcasing earrings. She finally got one that she liked at quite a bargain and recently replied that she love them.

Say cheese!

But soon it was time to head off for me as I already had a prior appointment with a collegue to cook for her birthday party. All in all it was a great day, I truly enjoyed the meeting and hope she did too. Didn't take as much photos as I'd hoped for since we were too busy chatting and also it's kind of difficult when you are the only two there and thus without a photographer. Well here's the only shot that was taken with both of us in the pic, don't laugh it's hard to estimate where your view finder is when you are holding your camera at arms length facing you. She really is a nice lady to meet, fun, easy going, great conversationalist and general hip gal. So ends my first blogger meet, in future hope to meet more if I ever do get the chance. Cheers!