how am i doing?

Bored! Can't wait for the weekend to go downtown!
Seriously. It's like staying and working in Cyberjaya. No place to eat, no place to walk walk, well, at least not within walking distance.

The only consolation is the small lake that I can jog every evening.

The hotel provides good breakfast but aside from that, the other menu sucks. My only option now is to order delivery everyday.

Since I arrive, weather has been unusually hot for Mrach, according to my colleagues here. It's about 25-28 degrees everyday. Good weather to jog. Hopefully it last till this weekend. Planning my walk and shopping tour.

Flying can make you fat!

For me, at least.
See, if you travel on business, you got a variety of food offered at the lounge. Mind you, you'll be tempted even if you've just had your breakfast or lunhc or dinner.
Then on board, you are served non-stop with snacks, alcoholic drinks, fattening food like beef, lamb, etc. Then, you do nothing but eat, then sleep, then eat, then sleep during the entire flight.
So you say lor, fattening or not??
But then, you can resist all those devil voices in your head and just say no!
Easier said than done though!

Despicable Me - Minions on "The Biggest Loser"

Love them.....Since CY posted the ba na na n a song, i'll post this...
~buttt....

All things bacon!

This post is inspired by NDC.
He asked me to get him bacon muffin from the US. Then, bacon toothpaste followed by bacon perfume.
Out of curiosity, I googled those stuff. And to my surprise, bacon toothpaste does exist!

And a lot of bacon products too!!

See here.

Brushing your teeth with a strip of fried bacon is tricky. If it's too crisp it will break apart as you brush and if it's too limp you won't be able to remove any of the plaque. So when it's time to brush your teeth, leave the bacon strips for breakfast and try this Bacon Toothpaste. It's the perfect way to keep your teeth and gums healthy while coating your mouth with the delicious flavor of smoky meat! Each tube contains 2.5 oz of potent paste.

*disclaimer: Don't say I didnt warn you NDC. Don't use these products when you go dating! :P

hangat hangat tahi ayam

Dear readers,

Sorry for the hiatus. I've been a little busy, or rather, a little lazy to post anything. I guess that publishing a post a day is too much of a chore. I'll still try but I know sooner or later, I'll be too occupied with work and with personal stuff. Or I'll just be too plain lazy. Well, that's me. I started something with much gung ho, only to slack as time goes on. In Malay's idiom, hangat hangat tahi ayam.
I ran my first run for 2012 last Sunday. Only a 10km run. But this time, I really feel it's taking a toll on me. Running strong at first, I begin to lose focus after the 5km mark. Stopping occasionally to catch my breath, I clocked one of the worse time for all the 10km runs I've participated. I blame it on lack of training but deep down, I know my metabolism is slowing down (aka getting old). LoL...
I've thought of running a full marathon but it's quite a challenging task to do now. Should have done it couple of years ago.
Lately, I've succumbed to peer pressure as I'm a member of the running club in my office. With everyone running a 21km or full marathon, I feel left out. But I'm no athletic person and I know my limit.
And running last Sunday's run, I know that I don't have the fitness level nor the mentality to do a full marathon.
But who knows, maybe one day....one day.....(in the far future)....
And I need morale support!!
Anyway, enough of blaberring. Till my next post (hopefully tomorrow), take care and enjoy your day!

XoXo,
Keef

Happy International Women's Day!

Turndown service?

Do you know that many of the high end hotels have this service called 'turndown service'? Maybe I haven't stayed in enough 5-star hotels to notice this.
When we were at Venetian, we saw this placard by the bed side indicating that there is turndown service available. So what is turndown service?
(taken from here)

"Turn-down service is when the hotel staff come into your room in the evening to turn down the bedcovers. The conventional practice is to turn down a corner of the blankets to make the bed look inviting and that much more restful. They also either fold the bedcover nicely at the foot of the bed, or put it (and the day cushions) away in a discreet shelf in the wardrobe.



Some hotels have taken to folding the bedsheets in pretty ways and some even scatter rose petals. Chocolates on your pillow are also the norm.


Turn-down service is not just about the bed. At the Ritz-Carlton, staff doing turn-down service also tops up the ice box, draws the curtains, puts out your bedroom slippers, turns on the radio (usually to a classical music station) at an audible but soft volume, tidies up the room a little, tops up your toiletries, folds the end of the toilet paper roll into a little triangle, and sometimes changes your bathroom towels.


Also in Disneyland, every night greeted guests with a message from a different Disney character."

Hmmm...do we really need this kind of luxury?

Don'ts of a salesperson

Rule # 1 - Do not touch me. No, not a tap on the shoulder neither a pat on the arm. You will get a killing glare. *Touch me again and you shall suffer*
Rule # 2 - When I say no, I mean NO. Do not pester or follow me.
Rule # 3 - Do not talk back to me. When I said no money, do not say, "Wah, got money to buy Starbucks, no money to buy this?". How I use my money is none of your f**ing business.
Rule # 4 - Do not stand on the top of the escalator, or even worse, go up the escalator, to stand beside me and bug me non stop. Don't be such a desperado...
Rule # 5 - When I say NO to your colleague, it means NO to you as well. NO need to try your luck. Unless you look like Lee Hom la...

Lee Hom concert 2012

If there is another concert at Stadium Merdeka, I would consider twice before buying the tickets. I like everything about the concert (especially Lee Hom of course!) but the location sucks big time. I don't know about others but I prefer it to be in Putra or National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. Reasons:
1. There's no cover. If it rains, we are given rain coat but it's inconvenient to fully enjoy in the rain.

2. Plastic chairs are placed on the grass field. If it rains, imagine how muddy and dirty the field gets. Our shoes are all covered in mud. :(

3. I keep getting little crawlies (ants) crawling up my legs.....uurrrggghhh...

4. Getting out of the stadium is a chaos. Only so few exits and people are pushing to get out.

5. Limited parking. With the closure of one the open air car parks nearby, there are not many slots available. In the end, we parked at the roadside, paid the 'illegal' parking attendant and we got a summon when we got back. WTH....if you know that's there's an event, why can't the police give an exception?! It's not our fault that there's no proper and sufficient parking space....

6. Not a single traffic police was to be seen to direct traffic after the concert. We waited about 1.5 hrs just to get out of the area. Instead of so being so 'hardworking' issuing us summons, why not be there to control the traffic when we needed it most??

7. Our seating is so far away.With the same price, we get a way better view if it's in Putra Indoor Stadium.

Sigh....

This somehow, dampens the mood of the concert. Furthermore, I'm not feeling that well over the weekend. But then, Lee Hom's performance is still as good as always.  

the aftermath

posing with him, passing time while waiting for the jam to clear up...

Friday night

This is supposed to be last night's post but I was too tired because of my runny nose. WTH, I thought after getting a flu jab two weeks back, I won't be so easily sick...:(
Anyway, wanna know what I've been up to yesterday night? Sneak peek....

Can't take pics there so just curi curi take one...LOL...
People say, you know you found the right dress when you look at it. I know I did...(not the one I'm wearing in the pic la...)
Now, just need to work hard to shed of those weight. Any good tips to tone the arms?

Wandering mind

Doing some research on the next vacation and came across this....

Damn nice! I want to see sunrise at Borobudur and I don't care how early I need to wake up. :P
Take from http://manoharaborobudur.com/gallery/

What I love about Macau

1. The food (albeit its price)

2. Numerous old-ish background, perfect for photos...

3. The heritage buildings

4. Venetian and its neighbour - Galaxy

5. The quiet village of Coloane

6. Ancient temples

7. The weather (albeit the fog)

8. Road signs and tourists attraction signs eventhough they are difficult to pronounce

9. Pretty flowers on most of the lamp posts

10. Milk pudding!!!

but what I don't like is - the tourists...sad to say. Some can even spit on the carpet right in front of us. WTH...

Blur!!

Everyone has two sets of car keys right?
And each set should have the steering lock key as well.
Well, mine doesn't.
And today I took the pair without the steering lock key and I locked my steering in the morning after parking my car.
Imagine my disbelief when I want to go home! :O...
Something similar happened early last year where I left my key in the office and took the train to BTR only to find that I don't have my key.
How can I be so blur?? *slaps self*

Luckily, I am saved by my knight in shining armour..:P

If I were a boy

I would fall in love with Korean girls too!

Seriously.

I was in the US embassy this morning. A bunch of Korean girls (5 of them) were sitting in front of me. They are about mid 20's to early 30's I think.

All of them are so nicely dolled up. They have such fair and flawless looking skin. Well, they do wear make up but it's not the heavy type. Looks natural with long lashes and soft pinkish lips. They were elegantly attired, with dresses and blouses/skirts that are not over the top. Just casual enough for a normal day out with friends.

I were a boy, I'm sure I can't keep my eyes off them.

Not only that, they were so soft spoken and well-mannered. Each time, when one of their number is called, they will politely excuse themselves with a little bow and nod of head to the read. When they laugh, they will shyly covered their mouth. Sigh, such delicate creatures.

No wonder guys go ga ga over them.

**All photos are taken from the internet for illustration purposes.

Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts ft. Adam Levine [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Hello Macau

Well, not exactly there yet but looking forward to it! Short holiday with the family...
See ya next week people!

P/S: Anyone in US (Chicago) mid march- apr?

Food review:Levain Boulangerie Patisserie,Imbi

Perfect for a Sunday brunch with loved ones. I like the environment and love the mushroom soup and spaghetti. I'm not a big fan of bread, but the variety there makes my mouth water. Highly recommended for  weekend breakfast/brunch.

Mushroom soup

Chicken pizza

French toast

Crispy pizza

Cappuccino

Seafood Aglio Olio

Wild mushroom with hand made fettuccine

Signature turkey ham and egg

blablablabla

Have you met someone who is so talkative that even when you are not giving any respond, they still keep on talking and talking?
My usual facial consultant has left and now, she's being replaced by her colleague. I like my previous consultant because she is pleasant to talk to without being too talkative. Last week, witht he new consultant, I actually feel nausea during facial as she talks to much!
I tried to sleep but she keeps on talking until a point which I need to tell her that I need some rest. -_-"
It's exhausting. I'm not the talkative type so maybe I can't b**ch together with her. Well, anyway, maybe I can just try to turn on a deaf ear.

Shit Asian Girls Say

can I have your credit card, please??? *wink*wink*

LoLzzz

Surprised!

Haha...but then I rather he uses the money to buy me something useful. Nonetheless, thanks dear!!!

Olivia - Ready For Love (官方版MV)

I'm sure you've heard this over and over on the TV. If it doesn't annoy you enough, here's the full song. I like the catchy tune.

Something to share

From my colleague who was carjacked recently:

My name is *, wife to Mr Tan and mother to Jas. We are a simple family living at xx Jalan xx.

Moving into Bukit Prima fulfilled our life’s desire to live in a quiet, healthy and peaceful environment with a caring neighbourhood.

On the night of 9 February 2012, a horrific, life-threatening incident befell me which I know will impact my view of life for a long time to come. I want to share my experience with you, my fellow neighbours, to create awareness and hopefully give you enough reason to support our Bukit Prima Residents Committee in their tireless effort to improve the safety of our neighbourhood.

At 8.52 PM, as I turned into our main entrance road, having dropped off my daughter at her tuition centre, and cruised downslope to navigate across the road bump, I felt my car being bumped from behind.

Against my first instinct to just forget the incident, I looked into my rear mirror and saw the car behind me signaling to move to the side. My thoughts then shifted to that perhaps it’s one of residents as we were already within the neighbourhood and this is a closed road. With a mixture of slight annoyance, curiosity and acknowledging what I thought was a kind gesture on the part of the car driver to stop, I stopped and even came out of my car. THAT WAS THE MOST NAÏVE, STUPID, AND REGRETFUL ACTION I HAVE EVER MADE WHICH WILL STICK IN MY MEMORY FOR LIFE.

A burly Indian man emerged from their driver’s seat and moved towards me and another Indian man

put his head out of the co-driver’s seat, still politely but firmly telling his friend to ‘settle’. Before I could react in any way, the big man got into my car driver seat, a split second scuffle followed (my memory blurred out a bit here) and I found myself being shoved into the back seat as I screamed my lungs out.

I mustered all my strength to fight off the man, still screaming as the car screeched into moving gear. Very quickly I was overpowered, as my car was driven away, with me pinned down to the floor in the back seat, weakened both from the struggle and the effects of the taser gun the man used on me. I realized then that it was futile to fight back. I begged them to let me out and take the car.

My abduction lasted about 1 hour, during which time I was threatened with a parang to give them my ATM card, PIN Number and IC number. At one point, I was gagged and tied up, as they stopped at what appeared to be a meeting point. I heard many men shouting at each other, all in Tamil, I guessed about 4 to 6 men altogether. I was then dragged out of my car into another car. Having lost my glasses and weakened and terrified to my wits end, I simply submitted to all their demands. I was driven around again, being asked repeatedly for my ATM Pin and IC number with some sort of assurance that they would let me go after they get the money. My life hung on the balance for the next half hour (it felt like forever) as the parang was constantly in my face and I was warned of the consequences should the money failed to dispense from the ATM machine. Finally the phone call came, I was given back my purse with RM20 for taxi fare, and got pushed out into at the dark street.

Dazed but grateful for my life I finally got help from a kind, young Chinese man at nearby shop that I stumbled into. The rest is history.

Because I am fortunate enough to live to tell my story, I want to share my experience with the sincere hope that you will take away a couple of KEY MESSAGES.

1. THE POLICE TOLD ME THAT CARJACK CRIMES ARE INCREASING AT AN ALARMING RATE. THE ‘GANGS’ TEND TO TARGET SINGLE WOMEN OR OLDISH MEN DRIVING HIGH END CARS. TOYOTAS ARE ESPECIALLY POPULAR TOO. A BIG ‘KAJANG GANG’ OF 8 HAS JUST BEEN CAUGHT; MY CASE LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE SPLINTER GROUPS STILL OPERATING.

MESSAGE 1

IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, NEVER EVER STOP, LEAST OF ALL, GET OUT OF YOUR CAR, WHEN YOU ARE KNOCKED FROM BEHIND. JUST DRIVE AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION OR GUARDHOUSE OR ANYWHARE WHERE THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE. REMEMBER, NEVER GET OUT OF YOUR CAR.

2. SOMEONE CALLED YESTERDAY (10 Feb) TO LET US KNOW (MY DAUGHTER PICKED UP THE CALL) THAT A NEIGHBOUR’S MAID ACTUALLY HEARD MY SCREAMS AND SAW 2 INDIAN MEN, ONE HOLDING A PARANG. I WANT TO EXTEND MY THANKS TO THE NEIGHBOUR WHO GAVE ME THIS INFORMATION. UNFORTUNATELY, IT APPEARS THAT THE RESIDENTS WERE OUT AT THAT TIME AND THE MAID DID NOT KNOW WHAT DO.

MESSAGE 2

PLEASE IMPRESS ON YOUR FAMILY AND MAIDS, THAT, IF YOU WITNESS ANY SUSPICIOUS

ACTIVITY, PLEASE DO CALL 999 AND GIVE THEM THE LOCATION OF THE INCIDENT.

Food Review:Food Foundry, Section 17

Contradicting to my resolution to lose weight, I have another one that will definitely make me gain weight. The resolution is to explore at least one new food joint once a month. :P
So one fine day, we decided to go for Food Foundry, famous for it's Mille Crepe. Food I would rate it as below average but I will definitely go back for the crepe. It is quite pricey though. RM10 for a piece. 'Mille' means one thousand in French, btw.

Unique menu layout

Caesar salad (tasted better in other cafes)

Mushroom ravioli (plain)

Foundry burger (can't compare to what we had in NZ!)

Cordon bleu (not cheesy enough, Kaki Corner have better Cordon Bleu)

Mango crepe (yummy!)

Almond tiramisu (tad too sweet and not enough coffee/liquor)

Cute decor though....

Happy Valentine, not....

Taken from The Star:
----------------------------------------------------
PETALING JAYA: PAS has urged all quarters not to make Valentine's Day a “sinful sexual gratification” date.
Federal Territory PAS information chief Mohamad Suhaimi Abdul Aziz said Valentine's Day should not be promoted.
“It is sinful to promote Valentine's Day as it could lead to moral decadence, especially among youths,” he said.
The National Fatwa Council had in 2005 decreed that Muslims should not celebrate Valentine's Day as it had sinful elements forbidden in Islam.
“Free mixing of males and females has led to adultery, prostitution and other social menace including rape and baby dumping.
“Therefore, the media, restaurant operators, hotels and motels should not promote Valentine's Day or Lovers' day,” he said.
Previously, PAS Youth deputy chief Nik Abduh Nik Aziz had called on the Government to place advertisements on television ahead of Feb 14 to create awareness that it was against Islamic syariat to celebrate Valentine's Day.
PAS Youth will hand over a memorandum to Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim to prevent widespread promotion on the celebration at his office at 10am tomorrow .
Meanwhile, Malaysia Hindu Sangam has clarified that it is not against Valentine's Day.
Its president R.S. Mohan Shan said youths can celebrate Valentine's Day with their loved ones as long as they do not indulge in immoral activities.
“However, while we are not against it, we do not encourage the celebration either. This is because we should love each other every day and not just on that one day,” he said.
It was reported that the organisation had said it supported PAS Youth's call to disseminate anti-Valentine's Day messages on television.
Stressing that Valentine's Day was against the practices of Hinduism, itstreasurer G. Shanmuganathan said they supported initiatives to discourage such a celebration.
Mohan Shan said Malaysia Hindu Sangam did not support PAS Youth's efforts but upheld its own stand on the matter.

----------------------------------------------------

speechless and bangs head to the wall....why not ban all other races' celebrations as well?

heartwarming CGM

where else to be on Chap Goh Mei (aka Chinese's Valentine's day) other than at home with your loved ones? although the weather is freaking hot, it was a great lok lok session with the family...

 5th time and final time Lou Sang this CNY...

 big juicy prawns

crispy fu pei

 various balls and meats

 fave mushrooms

 mum's signature sour vege aka choy keok

The wise one says...

Today, we met an inspirational being, a true coffee maestro. With a humble looking shop, Mr. Lim Seng Peng runs the business of a homegrown coffee in Tanjung Sepat for more than 50 years. Not only is he passionate about coffee, Mr Lim is willing to share with us his 'theory of life'. 

From the mouth of the wise one, we must not only accept life with an open mind and heart, we must also work hard and not succumb to pressure. We can see that he lives humbly but happily, from the three ringgit shirt that he wears everyday, to the humble house he lives in. His 'factory/shop' does not have any modern equipment and every coffee bean/powder sold is the product of his hard work and labour.

I find this very inspirational but at the same time, find it hard to practice in our hectic daily lives. How can we not be pressured by the workload that we're thrown each day? How can we have an open mind when everything seems to go left when you want them to go right?

I have a long way to go to achieve the words of the wise one! But hopefully I will reach that state one day!

Empty

Staring at this empty page, I'm cracking my head on what to write here. Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, nothing comes up. Wanted to post some food pictures, but I feel bored with another food post. Wanted to post about a trip last year but I feel lazy. Sigh....Another one more day of holiday tomorrow and it's back to shit-ey work...I wish everyday is a holiday and I just work when I feel like it. Which is ...never. But reality bites. No work=no money=no travel and no good food and no entertainment. Sigh....sigh ...sigh...
Well, anyhooo.....Happy Chap Goh Meh!!!
May my friends who are looking for some lurrrvvveee, find their dreams coming true this year. Open eyes big big...LoL...