Goodbye 2010

By the time you're reading this, I am probably at Taipei 101, waiting for the New Year count down. Before I digress, Happy New Year everyone!May this new year brings more happiness!!


Whoa...can't believe 2010 has passed by so fast.Time does fly, doesn't it?

2010....hmmm....a year of ups and downs...as usual.

I didn't run as much as I would like to. So-called semi retiring. But of late, I have the inspiration to run again. But due to uncertain schedules, I will limit myself to join only max of one running event a month. I will still run on a regular basis of course (trying to make it DAILY) and maybe take up badminton? :P

I traveled to China, Melbourne and Taiwan this year as well as some Cuti-cuti Malaysia locations like KK, Sandakan and Melaka. China was memorable. A family trip. I managed to scale Mount Kinabalu and would very much want to do it again. And my first time to Australia on a business trip. Quite an eventful year of traveling.

Career wise, it's a start of a new journey. Taking baby steps now.Am expected to be up and running very soon. I guess I need to be prepared with arms and knees guard as it will be a very challenging journey with lots of trips and falls in the process. I miss the old place once a while. But it's time to look forward and move on.

I managed to bake and learn to cook some dishes....Yay!! Hope I will find more time to do that in 2011.

I spent more time with my family this year. My parents are not getting any younger and I will want to be with them as much as I can. We organised a big birthday bash for my dad recently and it went smoothly.

Things are going well in the boy-girl relationship dept.....hehehe....stop asking me when I'm getting married. You'll be notified if it happens.

Not much of a bookworm in 2010. It's a bit hard finding time to read when I need to focus on work and read documentations instead. I promised myself to spend less time in front of the computer and more time on reading.

I'm reading a book now entitled 'A Book of Tomorrow'. It's an interesting story about a girl who found a diary. This diary contains her thoughts and day to day events, just that those thoughts and events are yet to happen.

happen. Would you like to know ahead of time about your future? For me, I would like to experience my tomorrow as it comes.

SO am I ready for 2011? Bring it on!

Food Review:Yuzu, The Gardens

Good food coupled with great company....
Must try the wagyu beef. Sashimi platter is so fresh and sukiyaki is so yummy.....Kinda lazy to write anything more...Let the pictures do the talking

 Yuzu

 Squid

 Crispy prawns

 Soft shell crab with mango

 Sashimi platter

 Unagi temaki

My Wagyu don

 Sizzling wagyu

 Sukiyaki

Mushrooms...

Thanks Anna for the treat!

4 legged

One of my greatest fear is of spiders...or arachnophobia...Big or small, hairy or not, the sight of them makes me cringe...

Even this 4 legged spider in the bathroom gives me the creepssss....

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Feeling all Christmas-sy now.....

Merry Xmas to all.....

here fishy fishy....

A day before I flew to Melbourne, I had my first experience ...in a fish spa. I have this voucher for a free 30 mins fish spa at Kenko.


I walked into Kenko in Pavillion, feeling gungho, where else, my dear is a bit reluctant. We are brought to wash our feet first with some soap. We chose a good place to sit and I began to feel a bit scared. There were so many fishes there...as small as half of my pinky finger and as big as twice the size of my index finger.

I feel so ticklish when they started to nibble my feet. Somehow, I didn't manage to attract a lot of fishes compared to him. He said it might be the soap smell that attracts them but I think it's because he got more dead cells. The fishes were swarming towards him. It took a while for them to come to me. I couldn't stand when the bigger fishes nibble on me....

After about 20 minutes, we decided to switch to the bigger pond with BIGGER fishes. And bigger means really big fishes...bigger than the normal ikan kembung we see in the wet market. And these are a bunch of aggresive fish. No joking...(think piranha)...The moment your feet touches the water, all of them will be swarming towards them. I cannot even hold my feet down for 10 seconds as it was tooooooooo ticklish. I admire dear because he can stand the big fishes. We left Kenko with softer feet and it feels so light to walk.

Will I try it again? Hmmm....

Miss home

Fifth day in Melbourne. Enjoying the weather despite frequent showers. It's cold yesterday night when it rains.
Ate at an amazing pizzeria for dinner yesterday. The pizzas are just heavenly. Thin crust and crispy. Went grocery shopping twice and bought many snacks. Hope I don't get bigger when I go back.
Things here are generally a lot more expensive. A plate of normal fired rice plus 2 choices of meat/vege costs AUD7.50 which is equivalent to RM23.
Booked a day tour to the Great Ocean Road this Saturday. Heard that Mary Poppins musical is amazing. Hope I can find time to go next week else, it'll have to be the next trip. Cheapest ticket is about AUD80 but many said it's worth the price.
I might be back here mid Jan. It's going to be so hot then. Grand Slam is on during that period. Anyone interested? Ticket costs about AUD 120 onwards for the semis and finals. So damn expensive...Else, I might consider it too.
My colleagues are going to Tasmania this Friday. If I know earlier, I might have booked a ticket too.Sigh.
To be honest, I miss home. Another week to go. Till then...XOXO.
 
 
ps: oh oh and a mini cooper only costs about AUD 35k onwards ...cheap?

Food Review:Sage, The Gardens Residences

Sage is apprently the sister restaurant of the all famous Cilantro. I am not really a fan of fine dining, but since it's a team dinner (aka FOC), it's not an experience I would want to miss.

With the price of RM150 for a set dinner, I got to choose an appetizer, a main course and a dessert.

We started off with complimentary warm bread and pesto/olive dipping...and some scallop thingy.

White and red wine was served before our appetizer, which I ordered Carpaccio of Wagyu with Plum Infused Konbu Sauce. It's my first time tasting Wagyu beef....and i loveeee it....It melts in my mouth. 

 For the main, I was hesitating between the beef and duck breast. I went for the latter because of the Foie Gras. The foie gras was so tender and soft, it feels like eating 'tau fo fah' as one of my colleague puts it. Smoked Duck Breast with Foie Gras and Red Wine Sauce.

For dessert, nothing tempts me more than chocolate-Chocolate Fondant with Earl Grey Ice Cream. Rich, warm and melted chocolate filling, paired with the not so sweet ice cream is just heavenly.

Sage has the perfect ambience for a quiet dinner with a reasonable price.

Lunch (Mon-Fri): 12pm-2pm

Dinner (Mon-Sat): 6pm-10.30pm
Closed on Sunday

The Gardens Residences Level 6,
The Gardens, Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 603 2268 1328
Fax: 603 2287 2189
Email: sagekul@gardenshtlres.com

Carrie Underwood - I'll Stand By You

Carelessness

Sigh...
First I lost the parking ticket which costed a RM50 penalty.
Then, I left my car key in the office which resulted of taking a cab home from the LRT station.
And now, I realise I lost my stored valued LRT card.
Come on....how careless can I be?
Pissed off at myself...
*slaps self*

how can u resist them

Name:Patches (coz of the few grey patches on the body)

Name:Droopy (he got droopy eyes!)

Name:Twilight (the name just kinda pop in my head whenever i see this cutey-naughtiest of them all)



Name:Tigger (yellow stripes!)



Name: Sunny (suits him as he's one of the most playful)

Playful kitties and big miao mi (no not the mum but their big sister)

Similar colour?

It's so hard to capture them on picture as they kept moving around. Hyperactive I would say. They are learning to drink the milk that we gave and eating a bit of rice. I just love to watch them during their playtime. Really can't resist them!

it's important to eat breakfast

It was one early Saturday morning. Had to wake up early for a pre-employment medical check-up in KLCC. We parked our car at an open air parking near Ampang Park because it's cheaper. I was rather hungry as I had to fast the night before. Cracking our brains on what to eat, when I saw the place, I knew that I wanted a good, sumptious meal of nasi kandar for breakfast. I can't wait for the check up to finish (*hopes the doctor didn't hear my stomach growling*). Immediately after that, we walked towards Nasi Kandar Pelita. It was barely 10am but the place is already crowded. People from all races were enjoying a good old plate of nasi kandar with the variety of curry and meat. I really enjoyed mine. I still prefer nasi lemak anytime but I guess it's who you're eating with that matters. It was a wonderful morning with my dear and a plate of nasi kandar+ayam goreng+mutton curry+vege+ teh ais. *burppp*

tik tok tik tok

Tik tok tik tok....1 more hour to the weekend!!! I'm so sleepy........Yawn....

Have you noticed that it's hard to not focus at the mouth of a person that you are talking to face to face, especially if that person has a wide mouth with white pearly teeth and a big smile?


Well, which part do you focus most when talking with a person? The eye? The face in general? I find it hard to look directly in the eyes when talking to certain people...Not sure why though. Mayeb those people make me nervous.
These past 2 weeks have been interesting. Met a lot of interesting people that I still cannot remember their names. And got numerous comments about me not looking like a Chinese. I think I need to bleach myself fairer and change my facial features to be more Chinese - smaller, slanted eyes or maybe flatter nose...(no offense...:P)

I still find it hard to be outspoken. I am more of an observer. I can be chatty once you get to know me but I'm not someone who will initiate a conversation unless necessary. Need to practise more and more as communication is the only way that can help me improve my way of working. But of course not till the extend of being annoying and being perceived as trying to be my boss' pet.

Made with love

Pats myself on the back for actually spending time to make these:

Love my burger with lots of mustard and olive.....

Salmon pizza with loads of mozarella

Peach and orange cheesecake

And yes, I now they are all full of fat but as long as they are yummy......who cares!

Mischievous kitty

She's broken my mum's favourite vase, she's dragged my Mr Handsome (aka Mr Seal) underneath the bed and played with it until Mr. Handsome's whiskers came out, she's jumped up and down the tables and chairs most mornings, and she's left scratches on the walls. She's one helluva naughty kitty and when she's tired, she'll hijack our sofa and sleep. Like this:

We definitely cannot take care of 5 more kitties.

Going to put them up for adoption at SPCA. Till then, I better not get myself too attached to them as I know I will not be able to let them go when the time comes.

...

New job, new role, new challenge...
Excited, yet worried.
Will I be able to take up the challenge?
Am I willing to spend more time on work for more money?
Am I willing to sacrifice my leisure time?

Food Review:Twenty One Tables and Terrace, BSC

We saw a deal at MyDeal.com which we couldn't resist. 50% off on set lunch in Twenty One Tables and Terrace in BSC. The set lunch costs RM50+ on a normal day.
And so, one lovely Saturday, we headed towards Bangsar. We parked the car and went to look at the directory in search of Twenty One. After looking hi and lo, we realised that it is not in BV but in BSC. *slaps forehead*..LoL...
And off we go to BSC. And to our relief, the restaurant is in the directory this time. The entrance is a bit hidden and we have actualy walked passed it without noticing.
We were the only patrons at that time.
We places our order with the friendly staff. We were given a entree, a main and a dessert with choice of softdrinks. The starters came and soon after, followed by our meal.
For starters, we were served some oven-dried bread with olive butter and biscotti. This is my first time tasting olive butter and I love it.

Our entrees:
1) Deep fried potato salad with salmon : I'm a big fan of salmon and I must say that it tastes good pared with potato and fresh leafy veges.

 

 2) Salad of marinated tomato & mozzarella & basil coulis : Not my favorite as it didn't bring out the cheesy flavour.

 3) King prawn spring rolls with a sweet chili & tamarind dipping : Prawns...yummy...

Our mains:
1) Spaghetti aglio olio beef bacon, chili, coriander and olive oil : Spaghetti not cooked thoroughly and beef bacon lacks the taste....what a waste...

2) Chicken sandwich wrapped with tortilla : Doesn't look so tempting? But this is one of my favourite dish. The chicken meat is well marinated and the tortilla is just fantastic dipped with the mint sauce.

3) Prawn risotto with basil and tomato salsa : too watery. Missing something. Stil the best risotto is in Taman Segar.

Our desserts:
1) Dark chocolate ganache with dark chocolate cream, lemon curd & chocolate soil : What a mouthful. It's very chocolatey.

2) Passion fruit mousse with mixed berries & caramel ; A bit sourish but it's very refreshing.

3) Mango purée topped with white & dark chocolate foam : Very airy and light. Not bad at all.

Website:http://www.twentyone.com.my/

Office:+603 2287 0021

Location:t1 level 3 bangsar shopping centre (BSC)

Taken for granted

We take things for granted. We have much more than some people, yet we still complain that we don't have enough.
From the conversation with a 'kak' from my office, I was quite surprised to find out that her house doesn't have electricity. She's living in Dengkil, which I thought is quite developed, in a orang asli 'perkampungan'. Every morning, she comes to work before 7am and goes back at 6pm. Once home, she needs to do house chores using 'pelita'. She's just living with rare necessity yet, she didn't complain.
This makes me feel ashamed. Nevermind that I didn't appreciate the luxury I have, but I still feel dissatisfied. When there's blackout, I will be the first to call TNB. I will feel restless not being able to use my PC. I will twist and turn as the weather is too hot to sleep.

Sigh...
 
:(

Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Wrong choice of song for an evening jog?

But I'm still loving it....

It's all about timing

There's so much going on these past few weeks. And the most important factor to me these couple of weeks is timing. Some events/ decision is purely based on timing. I can plan and I can hope but if the timing is not right, it'll not work. I'm someone who will over-think on small matters. I will imagine the worst case scenario and this worry the shit of of me....Just hope and pray everything will go smoothly. Else, I'll be leaping in a deep hole, again.

Volunteering

Few weeks ago, I volunteered for a Pacemakers event. Despite a bad experience in my first time volunteering in a running event, I was lured to join this time by my friends.

However, this time, it turned out to be fun. Though I was stationed alone, with a red flag, I got many people  (aunties and uncles) approaching me and asking questions. The venue this time was at Metropolitan Park, Kepong.

I like the surrounding here but my sister said sometimes the place smells of rubbish as there's a dumpsite nearby.

And again, the day will not be complete without a hearty breakfast @ Ful Lai, Manjalara.