Maximillian and us

ANNOUNCEMENT: We're Moving!

2006-12-25T13:42:00.000+08:00

We have decided to get our very own website and enhance the blog! Will tell more in our new website @ www.maximillianandus.com. Note: the new website is still being design thus its not looking that 'nice' yet. Will take us a few weeks to put our personal touch to it.

So this will be our last post on blogger.com. We wld like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been reading and hope we'll continue to get your support. So head on to the new website for updated info on our journey through life with Max!

Signing off.
Dav, Steph & Max

Another surprise!!

2006-12-24T00:51:00.000+08:00

Not sure what has gotten into Dav... maybe he loves me too much. He gave me another surprised gift! This time it is a Swarovski Crystal Mini Butterfly Pendant. He bought it when he was in HK.

According to him, he was in a shopping frenzy when it was time to fly home. So he went ard the airport and started looking for stuff to buy. Since I am kinda crazy abt butterfly, he thought it wld be nice to get me another one. He also bought my parents tea leaves and chinese biscuits.

Thanks babe! *muak*

Jumbo Sushi!

2006-12-21T23:48:00.000+08:00

Went out dinner with some friends at Rakuzen, Plaza Damas. One of my friend ordered Jumbo sushi for starters.. check out the size!! The waiter 'warned' us about the size but we thought we could finished it. And thus we each ordered our very own bento set.

Check it out! Its as big as my palm! We couldnt finish everything. Tapau home abt 4 sushi I think. One will make u very very full!

We tried something new for dessert. Instead of the normal green tea / black sesame ice-cream. We had peach ice cream wrapped in rice skin. Very very nice indeed. Not too sweet, with just a hint of peach after taste. 2 thumbs up!

Double blow

2006-12-21T17:38:00.000+08:00

Quite upset.
Dav cant get tickets to Santiago, Chile.
We're not going to Cameron Highlands for short holidays.
What can be worse than not being able to spent quality time together. Just have to make do with the time we have now.

Black toe nails

2006-12-21T17:32:00.000+08:00

This is Dav's toe nails. Not it's not painted with black nail polish. Our hero wore wrong shoes to jungle track & hiking. This is the end results.

He says the toe nails are dead. So he's waiting for it to fall off. I told him, it's just gonna get infected. I think deep down he's afraid to go see the doc!

Hey Cat, what do you think he should do abt it?

Btw, his toes are making the peace sign! hahahahaha He said this is a double peace sign!

Nigella Lawson

2006-12-20T22:33:00.000+08:00

This has been bugging me the whole day! Dav & I were watching Nigella cooking show on Channel 11 - Travel & Living yesterday afternoon. I casually asked him if he thinks she is sexy. And he answered me, 'I think she's a sexy chef'.

Personally I dont really like her... (maybe cos Dav thinks she's a hottie!). But Dav said all guys thinks that a lady who can cook is sexy. Then I started calling a few guy friends of mine (3 to be exact). The response was:

Who is Nigella?
She's ok. Quite sexy
She's ok. Two thumbs up if she loss abit of weight

Obviously there's some mix response. So, I've decided to do a poll on this. Please vote and see what the majority thinks (see sidebar).

What to do...

2006-12-20T16:49:00.000+08:00

Cant believe I feel bored. Havent been doing much except eat & sleep... dav commented that I sleep alot. In view that I'm nursing myself to good health... sleep is good!

Dav has been busy as ever... only got time for me during dinner & wkends. Sigh.. looks like our trip away might not happen after all.

To occupy my time, I've been going to facial, spa, looking for a place to sell old books. It's funny how I cant find a single place who buy second-hand/ old books. Anyone who knows please tell me! I dont want to throw away my books. Dav suggested that donating the books to library. Well, I wanna see if I can sell it for some cash. Donation will be the last resort.

Went to see a doc yesterday morning. Had a 'bump' on my right index finger since I got back from Australia (thats like more than 1 month ago). It was starting to hurt and irritates me! So spent 45 mins waiting for my turn at bloody 830am!!! The doc took 5 mins examining the 'bump'. Then he asked me to go to the next room for further examination. Then he put my finger under a big magnifying glass and started taking out his 'tools'. He didnt even tell me wat the hell he awas gonna do. Next thing I know, he took out a needle, swap some alcohol on the finger and started poking the 'bump'. After a few poke, he showed me the needle, which contain some foreign item. It's actually a splinter!! Imagine I had a splinter in my finger for SOOOO long.. sigh.. anyway, all is good with my finger now.

Since I am so free, after the doc visit, I decided to cook lunch for Dav. Off I went to Giant to do some grocery shopping. The weather was abit funny these few days. It has been grey and rainy. Report came out today that there's been floods in Johor & Malacca (Cat, hope ur family is ok).

Off I went shopping for groceries and snacks for Dav. Before I knew it, I took quite alot of items. I cooked meatball pasta with angel hair spaghetti (my fav!). Fortunately he liked it.

For dinner, it was ham sandwich with french bread, Dav's fav. I added an extra ingredients to his normal sandwich, hard-boil egg. It looks abit messy, but sure is tasty.

I'll let the pictures tell the story now.

Rainy days.

My own masterpiece

Yummy!

A sign that he enjoyed the food! hehehehe

Book Store

2006-12-18T10:51:00.000+08:00

Went to Borders yesterday with Dav and we spent a good one hour in there reading... it's quite funny how we would enter the bookstore and automatically head to which ever section we want to without even telling each other where we're going. After a certain period of time, whoever is done first will start lookin for the other person.

How did I spent the one hour? First section was spent looking for a novel. Didnt find any 'attractive' book (I judge the book by its cover-hahaha). Then I saw Cat's fav author - Maeve Binchy. She has two new books! I remember my first Maeve's book was on loan from Cat while we were still housemates in Adelaide. Alrighty, one potential book to get!

Next, cooking section. There seems to THOUSANDS & THOUSANDS of recipe book. Unfortunately Cat, there's only one Nigella's cookbook- the one on dessert. Since i've not even master the art of cooking mains, dont think it's a good idea to go into dessert yet. Fine.. then found lots of Jamie's book. I gave up looking for one after like 10mins. I've decided to resort to the free, easily available internet to look for recipe! Yes, I'm cheapsake! hahahahah

After these two sections, I found myself surrounded by travelling books. Good! Perhaps a book on Chile to prepare myself. So I sat down and read Lonely Planet and another traveller's guide.

Seems like Chile is a must safer place than the rest of the Latin American countries. Virtually no corruption and the MOST interesting fact about this country is that, its current president is a FEMALE!

Wow! what a shocker... especially in a male dominated culture country... it's very interesting indeed. Unfortuatntely all guides seem to point out a fact that there's nothing much to do in the capital Santiago (which is where I'll be stationed for 3 wks). If I wan to have a look at the country, I'll hv to travel out of the capital. hmm.. tempted but no time. I know I shld take time off after the 3 wks to travel ard, but unfortunately I have to head home to process my Japan visa for the CNY family holiday! sigh.. so much choices but limited time. Will just hv to make do with the time I have while i'm there.

So, it's very much just Santiago and around!

Sammy not coming to town

2006-12-17T23:14:00.000+08:00

Sammy who is due to arrive in KL on Friday nite has cancelled her trip. This will be her first year not coming to town to do her annual Christmas shopping after 2 years. I was hoping we can catch up and gossips until the wee hours of the nite... since I'm already on leave.

Anyway, she was not able to get a bus ticket to suit her busy schedule. But we had a talk on the phone. Was good to know she's doing very well now and waiting to go on holidays with her love ones.

Flu bug - Bugging me!

2006-12-16T23:11:00.000+08:00

This is getting out of hand! I'm still down with the FLU!!!!!

I think I spoke too fast when I told my friends that this year has been a good year to me cos I've not been down with a major flu as frequent as previous year. Then I thought maybe it's due to the flu jab that I took in Jan/Feb. I SPOKE TOO SOON!

I've been sick for 3 weeks liao! I'm soooooo frustrated!

Doctors reader out there.. can you please tell me what to do??? I've tried the following:

sleep (3 times a day)
vitamin c (i take redoxon every morning)

I'm trying to avoid taking antihistamine.... thinking the natural way will make me recover faster... but I'm sadly been proven wrong again. I might just head to the pharmacy tmrw to get some medicine....

Exercise

Today, Dav & I finally went for a walk/ hike up Kiara Hill. Yes even though my nose still has water flowing down uncontrollably. Total distance of the walk is abt 4km. I think it took us about 45 mins to complete the walk. Mind you, its just not walking on flat ground. The walk consists of numerous 'hills' (ie uphill & downhill).

I used to frequent Kiara Hills quite abit few years ago, with a buddy of mine. While we were walking up, it occured to me that, I used to be quite active. Whether it was playing badminton, going to Gasing Hills or Kiara Hills. Then out of a sudden, I just became lazy.

And of course with the travelling, its kinda hard to maintain a stable routine. And due to this, I've put on quite abit of weight!! I think it's time to seriously think about getting back in shape!

It's Official!

2006-12-15T23:33:00.000+08:00

No.. i'm not getting married.. hahahahah
My holiday starts today!

Been thinkin what I should do for the next 2 weeks. All ideas are welcomed!
Currently have the following in mind:

SLEEP! this is very important, as i need plenty of sleep to recover from my flu/ sinus
Organise wkend away with Dav
Help Dav get his Chile tickets
Read
Get new cook book (Cat, will let you know soon on the title. I'll also check out Nigella & Jamie's books if they have it here)
Help my sis sell her un-wanted books (I might add mine to the pile)
Work on this blog's template. (It kinda sucks at the moment - DULL!)
Catch up with friends
Help my elder sis move house

That's about it I think...

Face Lift

2006-12-15T21:15:00.000+08:00

Finally, we have upgraded our blog. But it screwed up thic pics we used to put up.. Dav is currently very busy with work & studies. And I'm not technically skilled enough to 'fix' it. So, we'll just have to leave with this template for a while.

I'm having problems with the side bar. Although the template settings allow me to put in the blog's owners' profile. It doesnt seem to show... anyone knows how to fix this? hahahahah

So, got a new toy. Check out the pics...

The box Apple box. Nicely 'protected'. When dav asked me to closed my eyes and guess by touching, I thought it was a watch! Cos the box very similar to watches box.

Quite a wrong guess!

Check out the size of this ipod shuffle!!! Btw, that's Dav's palm. He's my model for this post. heheheh It takes about 4 hours to fully charge this little bugger. Some info on the specs :

Capacity - 1Gb Holds up to approx 240 songs
Comes with a docking station
Charges through USB (need to buy AC adaptor)
Costs approx RM 300 (converted from HKD)

He shocked me alrite! When asked why a gift? He said he liked it and want to see how it works... so he bought it for me. Also, he said since I travel so much, it's more convenient to carry a smaller player compared to my 'dinasour' ipod.

Very sweet of him!

Look at the remaining photos and tell me if you disagree that its a BLOODY SMALL player! :P

New toy, new toy!!!

2006-12-13T23:36:00.000+08:00

I've got a new toy! Dav just got back from HK and bought me a new toy! He surprised me with the 'world's smallest digital music player'! It the brand new Ipod Shuffle!

Ok.. haven't got the time to 'play' around with it... will tell more some other day.

Yipee!!!

p/s: Its sooo small, its like a money clip!

Odd

2006-12-11T22:56:00.000+08:00

It feels odd that Dav is away on business trip and I'm back at home. Suddenly I have quite abit of time on my hand. So the cooking stopped for the wkend as Dav is not around. Was browsing Jamie's cookbook then realised alot of his recipe requires an oven to cook... and that's the ONE thing I dont hv in my parent's house! sigh... looks like I might need to look for an alternative cookbook.. wanted to try the desserts.. but that seems to require alot of effort.. perhaps its better to wait for Dav... (heheheheh this means lazy!)

Didnt do much over the wkend. The only highlight is I cleaned my room! This time the cleaning took much less effort, cos I've already (a) cleared by cupboard of old, un-wearable old clothes, (b) organised all my junk, (c) did last cleaning abt 1 month ago, since i'm hardly in, there's less dusts.

There's another highlight... I played mahjong on a sunday nite until 1am !! And loss about RM 40. sigh.. my friends consoled me by telling me to treat it as tuition fees as I do not how to play it well enough compared to my competitors! But we had great fun... :)

ps: Just found out a friend got engaged! Congrats Eric & Minnie...

Its the weekend

2006-12-09T21:59:00.000+08:00

Its the weekend! yipee... but its already the end of Saturday.

Took my colleagues out to Shangri-la Lemon Garden for dinner yesterday and guess what.. of all the days, I choose the day EY have their AD&D... like the tradition for the past 3 yrs, they have theirs AGAIN this year in Shang. So not only I put myself into the risk of running into my ex-boss(s), ppl might think that I did it purposely.

Anyway, alot of my friends have left EY since last year. So when I drop by to say hi to those who still remains, I found out there's actully ALOT more newbies. That is the natural 3-yr cycle of working in an audit firm and obtained your professinal qualification. If you're wondering, I did not say hi to my ex-boss(s).

On the happier note, dinner was GREAT! My colleagues have been to Lemon Garden before and they told me that there is actually a chocolate fountain in the cafe... so that's when I told them they hv to absoloutely take me there! If you dont know, the cost of the buffet is quite EX! Thus we waited until we have a team dinner so that everyone get to hv good food! hahahahah

Check out the fountain! 5 stories high man... you have a selection of marshmallow, strawberries, grapes, etc to dip into the chocolate fountain. I had a few marshmallows & strawberries... ABSOLUTELY HEAVEN!

We had alot of fun joking with each other... and we cant seem to stop ourselves from using Borat's fav line - 'Wa Wa Wee Wa! It's very nice!' .... we used it at every opportunity we can.. even when we had conference call with our boss! hahahahah This is one of the fun audit to be in. Esp when you hv a russian auditor who can tell a joke with a straight face!

Sammy coming to town!

2006-12-07T22:15:00.000+08:00

Its the time of the year again... Sam is coming to KL next wkend for her annual visit / shopping! This Singapore-KL trip has become her annual activity since 2 years ago. It felt like she was just last here, stayin with me few months ago. So this is like a reality check to tell me 'Steph! Wake up! Its been one year!' hahahahaha

Anyway, this will not be our first meeting this year. I've seen her twice this year in Spore (from my business trip). But it will be better this time cos I'll be on leave when she's here! That means, no work, no stress, just hang out!

On another note, Dav will be heading to HK on business trip this Sunday for a few days. Both of us have definitely been travelling quite abit this year for work. Not sure whether it's a good thing or not. But definitely it gave us alot of opportunity. I'm sure Dav would agree with me.

Come to think abt it, you would think that from all these travelling for work, I would want to stay at home when I get the opportunity. But no.... finally next year I'll be able to join my family again for the annual Chinese New Year family holiday! This time we'll be heading to Hokkaido, Japan! What initially planned as a whole family trip (that means elder sis, bro-in-law & even Jas who's based in Liverpool now) has now turned into just 5 of us cos my elder sis is expecting. I wonder when will be ever have the opportunity to go on holiday as a WHOLE... perhaps another time.

Although I'm already an adult, I'm always looking forward going on holiday with my parents. Some ppl would think that it's restricting, not fun, boring, etc. To me, its always a fun trip. Dunno why, but I dont feel the restrictions. On top of that, we've been doing this ever since I was 13! I believe I'm not the only one who feels like this, if not Jas wont travel all the way home just to join us. Its perhaps my parents still treat us like little kids... ie buy us wat we want, go where we want. I just cant describe 'that' feeling. hahahahah

I just feel very fortunate that I've got the best parents anyone ever could wish for!

Looking forward to holidays

2006-12-06T21:09:00.000+08:00

Thought these period of the year would be quite free and easy... how wrong I am!!
I'm still sick.... dunno why the fly bug keeps coming back for more.... I'm sick until my own team members have to kicked me out of the office and send me home to rest. I think Ijust need more rest & sleep. That's why cant wait for my 2 wks break after next week. Plus a friend from Spore will be visiting for the wkend!

So last wkend, Dav & I cooked the egg salad and salmon fillet. It didnt turn out as nice as Cat's. Actually it didnt turn out good at all. Althought it was still edible, it's not really up to standard. Well its mainly my fault cos I didnt read the instructions properly. Didnt know I need an oven to cook the salmon (I dont hv oven at home). Then I dont hv a non-stick pan (my salmon skin was all burnt and stuck to the pan). Lastly I didnt hv proper rosemary.. I opted to get those bottled ones.

So the outcome was quite disasterous... Dav would disagree. He actually love the half cooked salmon. My sis didnt like it at all.. it was too 'fishy'. However, the egg was good. Bought bacon strips to serve with the egg salad. So that was an instant hit. You can never go wrong with bacon. :)

That was last week's attempt at cooking. Dav thought that I will never continue on trying.. but I'll prove him wrong! hehehehe

I got good news! I've been sent to Chile to do some work in Jan 2o07. Will be there for abt 3 wks. And wats great abt this trip is that Dav have decided to tag along too! It will be the first time both of us step on South America soil! Cant wait!

Romantic dinner - In the car

2006-11-30T14:11:00.000+08:00

Dav promised to make me chicken ham sandwich for dinner yesterday. So we went off to Giant together to get the ingredients after work and on the way back to his house, it started raining!

Not only did it rain... it became a STORM, together with wind, thunder and lighting!!! So, u can imagine the amout of water pouring down... n we didnt have umbrella in the car. We drove home anyway and sat in the car, hoping it is a passing rain. After 10 mins, we realised it will take a while before the rain subside.

So we're stuck in the car, and HUNGRY. Cant get out.. will be too wet. Not ideal especially I'm trying to recover from my flu & cough. Then Dav came out with a brilliant idea!

He suggested that we make our sandwich in the car and eat. And that's wat we did! Hahahahah Good lighting, nice atmohsphere... good food. So we spent abt 30 mins in the car eating after which the rain was not as heavy anymore.

There's always a first for everything!

New receipe

2006-11-28T23:52:00.000+08:00

After last week's attempt, I've started browsing the cook book again. This time I've selected the following to try:

1. Return of the egg salad with bacon (pg 35)
2. Pan-roasted salmon with purple sprouting brocolli and anchovy-rosemary sause (pg 212)

Reason for choosing these to cook is because
a. My younger sis loves egg salad and she has requested for the egg salad
b. Dav love to eat fish

So Cat, will be waitin for your review!

Seawind

2006-11-28T23:09:00.000+08:00

Sometimes it's quite amazing to find out that your company actually owns a BOAT! When I first joined internal audit, I found out from my Sporean colleague that BAT Singapore (BATS) owns a boat. Every employee is entitled to book the boat for private functions! How cool is that?!?

If you're wondering if BAT Malaysia has one... the answer is NO!

So, BATS has a boat... and they are NOT the only BAT company who owns a boat. BAT Australia also owns a boat!!!!!! So imgaine how excited I was when I was told that the audit team has been invited to take a sunset harbour cruise on the company boat, with dinner served on board! The name of the Aussie boat is 'Seawind'. By now, I'm already SOOOO impressed with the company! hahahahahah

The boat can sit ard 15 - 20 ppl. Its not a very big boat.. but the size is kinda good. Not too small or too big. There's actually a permanent skipper who manage the boat. Whoever books the boat can also request for catering (like us, we had dinner on board) and we get unlimited supply of drinks. The cruise takes about 3 - 4 hrs depending on the weather condition. It rained half way through our cruise, so everyone had to cramp under the shed or in the bunker. Overall it was a fun outing!

See the pics....

Heading out to the harbour, enjoyin the breeze.

Say Cheese!

Inside of the boat.

Germs transformation

2006-11-27T10:33:00.000+08:00

This is me for the past 3 days. Been coughing non-stop. From a cold, now it turns into a major cough with phlegm! Can harly breath properly. Reminds me of my asthma days when I was younger. Woke up in the middle of my sleep last nite grasping for air... yes it was that bad. Had to search for my asthma inhaler to get some relief.

Went to see doc this morning, gave me some drowsy medicine, now feels like sleeping. But cant go home cos got work to do!! sigh...

The Food Critic

2006-11-26T23:08:00.000+08:00

I'm proud to say that I've managed to cook Jamie Oliver's 'Proper tomato salad' and 'Real quick mussels spaghetti in white wine sand basil oil broth' !!!!

This is the end result of the pasta. Didnt take pic of the salad. I had my family ard to test the food. The following are some comments I got:

- Salad is taste great! Pasta is ok.
- Pasta taste 70% like Jamie O.
- Paste abit sour, not salty enough.

I think overall it was a good outcome. Thanks to Dav who helped me cooked the pasta and toss the salad.

We had to modified the recipe abit cos we couldnt get the exact ingredients as prescribed in the cook book. For example we could only get frozen mussels and no Sauvignon Blanc for the pasta. We opted for a cheap French Wine.. which makes the pasta abit too sour... hehehehe

I would say this is a good first attempt. Already my sis n her husband requesting for me to cook in their place, selecting a few dishes from the cook book! Time to browse through the book and decide on the next dish to try.

Cat, I'm thinking egg salad and maybe a fish. Dav love fish!

Jamie O Cooking Club

2006-11-25T22:11:00.000+08:00

Those who knows me very well will be quite shock with this fact... I've finally decided to start learning how to cook! Yes, you're reading rite!!!! hahahahahah

I came across Jamie Oliver's latest cook book recently while I was browsing for a new book to read in Angus and Robertson Bookstore in Cairns. I thought the cover of the book looks good (steph's guide to buying new book - look for an attractive cover!) So, I picked it up and have a read. The book is meant to teach the reader how to cook!! And I thought, PERFECT for me! Someone who never really thought much abt cooking.. (ie no passion). So, I was thinking to myself, the book looks good, its ideal for first timer who wished to learn... why not get it! And I did!!

My gf, Cat (my ex-hse mate in uni) who is a superb cook and avid fan of Jamie O have also gotten this book and we have decided to start our very own Jamie O Cooking Club. The idea is to share our experiences while trying out the recipes in the book. Of course I"m not anywhere as good as Cat in the cooking department, but seems like a good idea. Even Dav have offered to help me!! I think it would be a good couple activity!!

So the first recipe Cat has choosen (or rather she has tried) is "Real Quick Mussels Spaghetti in White Wine & Basil Broth". Initially I was excited and said 'Yes! sounds good!'. Then when Dav asked me what's the recipe I have choosen he casually asked me 'where are we gonna get mussels?' .... hmmm good question! We're not exactly stayin in Melbourne/ Sydney where we can hop over to the nearest seafood grocer to buy fresh mussels (unlike Cat!) hahahahah Next thing I think we need is white wine... it aint that cheap over here!!!!!

Ok.. so, we've already stumbled upon 2 obstacles which we have yet to resolved. Nevermind, I told myself I'm gonna try my best to get the ingredients... worse come to worse, just change recipe.. hehehehe

Oh Cat, I'm also planning to add in a tomatoe salad into my meal! Wish me luck!

p/s: me tryin out recipe for tmrw nite's dinner! at least then it gives me more time to shop!

Krispy Kreme

2006-11-24T17:28:00.000+08:00

This could be arguably the BEST donuts you can get in the world... although I say its the BEST, its also the SWEETEST! hehehhehe

why its so nice? cos the texture is crispy while the inside its soft.

My sis asked me to get her some when I was in London n bring it to Liverpool... but I didnt cos I was carrying way TOO MANY items for her.

So this round when I was heading home from Sydney, I've decided to buy some home. U can actually get it frm the Sydney Airport. And you know how many I bought?? 24 donuts!!!! 12 of the original glaze, 12 of the assorted donuts. Luckily I was sitting in business class, can get them to store it properly.

Sorry ah, Jas! Next time I buy more for u.

p/s: Pictures taken courtesy of Krispy Kreme homepage

What a feeling

2006-11-23T13:41:00.000+08:00

I'm soooo sick. What started as a common cold yesterday has now been transformed into a major FLU! Cant seem to stop sneezing even after taking medication. My throat is itchy and dry... lozanges also didnt help. Been drinking alot of water. Thus the toilet has been my fav place to go this morning!!

I need more rest & plenty of tender loving care...... ZzzZZzzzZZz

Feels good to be home

2006-11-22T10:36:00.000+08:00

Finally home! 5 weeks is definitely a loooonnngggg time.. but then hor, it passes quite fast too :)
I have definitely enjoyed my Sydney trip. Managed to go to places where i've never been to before and also wine & dine in places which I couldnt afford when I was studying/ on holiday on my own. Let's start off with the food..

Steph's Restaurant/ Bar Guide

1. Wildfire - http://www.wildfiresydney.com

This restaurant is located within the Overseas Passenger Terminal in The Rocks, directly opposite Opera House. So you can imagine the view la. I had farewell lunch there, invited by the local Australian Audit Team. We had Churrasco (originate from Brazil), which serves unlimited marinated meats. As for wine, you cant go wrong with New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc, Cloudy Bay (the departing colleague's fav).

2. Cruise Bar & Lounge - http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/booking/select_rest.asp?id=542

This bar is located in the same building as Wildfire but on the ground floor. This bar is good to go to for a chillout session by the harbour. Imagine u can hv a glass of cocktail overlookin the Opera House. This is what I did with Rowena, while we worked on my draft report on a Friday evening! What a good time we had...

3. Opera Bar - http://www.operabar.com.au
As you have seen the pic from my previous post, this is one bar you shld really try at least once! Highly recommended.. maybe not for the crowd, but for the view!

4. Doyles on the Beach - http://www.doyles.com.au

This is a very famous seafood restaurant in Sydney. There are a few branches in Sydney, but I went to the original branch, in Watsons Bay. It has a fabulous view of the city, day or night.

This picture was taken when I went for a walk at Watsons Bay - The Gap. Apparently alot of ppl comes here to commit suicide. So I just had to come n hv a look for myself. This is the city view I had while dining at Doyles. Although this was taken at day time, u can imagine at nite.. the view is just simply breath-taking!

5. King street wharf - http://www.ksw.com.au

This is a new place, a row of bars & restaurants by the Darling Harbour. Went to this particular restaurant, cant remember its name. It has very nice aussie beer. I think its call James Square. But cant find it in the directory.

This pic was taken outside the restaurant. This is the international auditor I was working with.

6. Yipiyiyo Restaurant - http://www.yipiyiyo.com.au

This restaurant is definitely one of its kind in Sydney. The audit team was brought here by the Marketing management. Everyone was very secretive about the location and the name of the restaurant. All they would say is that its a surprise. We were definitely surprised when we found out. No its not a strip joint! The restaurant is located at the corner of Oxford Street. Its actually a place which has live drag queen cabaret show!!! We were truly entertained especially when one male member from our team was selected to dressed like a drag queen and join the singing group. We had alot of laugh when he came out singing....

7. Fish Market - http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/

If you're a seafood lover like me, this is absolutely a heaven for u! If you get there early enough, you'll be able to enjoy fresh seafood at a reasonable price. You can also bring along a bottle of wine (or some beers) and enjoy ur food at the verandah. But be warned that you must be careful to guard your food against the notorious seagull!!! We were 'attacked' a few times while eating!

Look at the amount of salmon sashimi we had! This portion was shared among 2 ppl! hahahaha

Well that's my restaurant / bar guide for Sydney. Will continue on my adventure in australia some other day.

Too long

2006-11-15T12:47:00.000+08:00

If you're wondering why there has been no comments published, thats becos I do not have internet access for the past 3 weeks, thus unable to get into my gmail to release the comments. Sorry guys, I will do it once I get home. But please continue giving us your comments.

Yesterday while I was in shower, it suddenly hit me that I've been in Aus for quite a long time. The indicator is when you run out of
1. shampoo
2. hair leave-in conditioner
3. toothpaste
4. facial wash
5. australian dollar

Cant wait to get home this Friday nite!! Yipee!

Re: New experiences

2006-11-07T13:06:00.000+08:00

To Steph: My oh my, the marshmallow sure looks good. I wish I'm there myself. Doesn't look like work at all!

On a separate note, I'm going into the fourth week of my studies! I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it. It has been intensive but very rewarding. I'm beginning to see a change in me, looking up each and every word that I do not understand and reading up to verify informations.

One of the key item in managing time as I have discovered, as obvious as it is was setting timeline to each tasks. The will to move on when you have reached the end of a timeline is really important to ensure that the rest of the items receive proper attention. My daily tasks has always been a todo list for the day with no timeline, changing my approach has helped improve my time management.

I would love to know how everyone else does it? Anyone?

New experiences

2006-11-06T13:08:00.000+08:00

I've been quite busy in Australia... no.. that's not true. I dont have internet access back in the hotel, so I cant blog.. and that's the truth!

Anyway, been in Sydney for 3 wks already. This place has never been my favourite, even though I studied here before (yonks ago). But I'm starting to enjoy this round of my visit. Why? Alot of reasons.

Firstly, I've got a car. So I have the freedom to go anywhere I wan. The only setback is that the car is too bloody big. But I'm getting used to it. Even drove all the way to Homebush (where the Olympic Park is situated) to go to the Direct Factory Outlet for shopping. Went there by myself and spent about 3 hrs shopping! So u can imagine the amt of money I've spent....

Secondly, I've gotten to know one of my aussie colleague quite well. She's been very kind to take me around to places I've never been before. Quite sad that she's leaving the company, but I'm happy that i've gotten to know her so well.

Thirdly, the company is paying for the team to head to Cairns for the wkend!! Yipee! I've never been to Queensland before, so this trip will add another tick to my 'Places to go' list.

Also, i've managed to catch up with some uni mates. Everyone has grown up now, worrying abt their career, family life, etc. Talking about investments, tax return, cars... everyone is the same but different. Grown ups talk... miss those old days where we talk rubbish... hahahaha

ok some pics to show the 'fun' i have been having...

Sipping champagne at Opera Bar by the Opera House, with the sunset view of the Harbour Bridge. A must to go!

Having marshmallow dipped in chocolate fondue in Hunter Valley.. yummy!

This was taken at a place called 'The Gap'. Its just besides Watson's Bay. This place is where alot of locals come to commit suicide by jumping into the sea!!

Company Car

2006-10-23T18:59:00.000+08:00

Was told I'll get to drive the company car during the international audit. But since the audit has not started, I didnt bother checking if I can have it earlier until i asked the secretary. And viola! today the secretary called me up and told me I can have the car. Was kinda excited, but the excitement died down when I saw wat kind of car it was... a FORD FALCON XR6! Its like a half sport car, half sedan. Damn huge! Gonna hv a hard time navigating it, esp in Sydney city.

Pray that I wont have 'incidents' for the next 4 wks.

Crazy about scheduling

2006-10-22T13:43:00.000+08:00

I've been going head over heels over juggling multiple priorities from work, family and education. Yes I am continuing my lifelong dream in pursuing Master certification. It has been a roller coaster journey for me, starting up this plan and getting this funded.

Now that I am doing it, I feel that I do not have enough time for anything else. My schedule is packed with work, and studies to a point that I'm neglecting my families and my relationship.

Yes, everyone should have a goal. But to reach it, does it mean that it is ok to neglect other things? How do you find a balance?

Barrys Farm - Monster Laptop Sleeve

2006-10-19T21:24:00.000+08:00

A friend showed this to me.. its a hand made laptop sleeve.. made to fit your laptop accurately. So cute!! Comes in a variety of design and colours too. Check it out on their website.

Sydney GOod Food Month

2006-10-19T20:31:00.000+08:00

This month is Sydney's Good Food Month, thus there is alot of food activities being held in the city. For example, there is the Noodle Nite Market which is currently being held in Hyde Park. If you dont know, I'm staying in Sheraton which is just beside the park!!

Ok, so me took the opportunity to check out the stalls few nights ago. Thinking that I'll find some interesting food to eat. Dont hv to worry about food. On a whole, it was a disappointment to say the least... why? Cos all you can find is Thai, Jap & Chinese food!! Its fine if the quality of the food was good, but imagine paying at least AUD 8 for westernised asian food. And they dare to advertise that its 'the best in Asian and Asian-inspired food'!!

I got myself a plate of chinese noodle (which was too dry! Can choke on it!). The noodles came with (tasteless) fried squid. Then on top of that I got a fried chicken wing (malay style, bought from a muslim store). To make myself feel better after having low quality asian food (and paying a total of AUD 16) for it, I got myself a scoop of au natural ice-cream...(which was quite nice).

I'll never go there again for sure... although there was this odd store which sells Danish pancakes covered with different types of toppings. Looks tempting... but will see.

Today for some strange reason I decided to head to the gym, was on the treadmill for 25 mins and the walker for 15 mins before cooling down on the balancing ball. Then head to the sauna for another few mins before taking a shower. When I came out my whole body was RED! It was a good exercise. But I think the effort went to waste as I decided to go for the hotel's dessert buffet! (part of the good food month festival). Although it's called a buffet, there wasnt much selection to begin with... but I do want to mention this, the Creme Brulee was EXCEPTIONAL!

Am looking forward to the weekend already.. a colleague (soon to be friend) has graciously offered to bring me to Hunter Valley (famous wine vinyard in NSW). Although I've been told Barossa Valley is much better, no harm going there to have a look since i've never been. We'll be sharing the responsibilities on driving as it's quite a distance up north (abt 2.5 hrs drive one way).

We were looking at going up north to Port Stephens as well. But that will have to be a weekend away trip, with one night stay along the way. Need to do more research on that.. but havent got the time. That's all the update for now.

For all my friends in Sydney... make sure we catch up soon... :)

Thousand apologies!

2006-10-18T00:41:00.000+08:00

Couple of files for this blog that determines the look and feel resides in my paid hosting site. The hosting provider is moving server at the moment and it seems to have affected the blog. Hopefully, this will be fixed by tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we'll be using the standard templates within Blogger.

In another note, I'd like to add in a few comments about Steph's previous post on the ride in the funfair, Fun Park. Although the ride 'Top Gun' was exhilarating, there's another crazier ride called the Vortex.. can someone please try the ride out and let me know how that feels like?

Did I bring the rain??

2006-10-16T19:41:00.000+08:00

This is Sydney's forecast for this week:

Forecast for Tuesday Mild.
Cloudy periods with a shower or two.
Freshening N/NE winds.
Precis: Cloudy. Shower or two. N/NE winds.
City: Min: 15 Max: 22 Parramatta: Min: 13 Max: 23
Terrey Hills: Min: 15 Max: 20 Penrith: Min: 13 Max: 24
Liverpool: Min: 12 Max: 23 Richmond: Min: 12 Max: 23
UV Index: 8 [Very High]

Wednesday Chance afternoon shower/storm.
City: Min: 18 Max: 30 West: Min: 15 Max: 34

Thursday Chance afternoon shower/storm.
City: Min: 19 Max: 27 West: Min: 14 Max: 31

Friday Few showers developing.
City: Min: 18 Max: 28 West: Min: 14 Max: 30

Saturday Few showers.
City: Min: 15 Max: 21 West: Min: 12 Max: 21

Sunday Shower or two.
City: Min: 15 Max: 21 West: Min: 10 Max: 21

Monday Possible shower
City: Min: 15 Max: 22 West: Min: 9 Max: 23

New home for the next 5 weeks

2006-10-15T19:29:00.000+08:00

Yes, the travelling has started again. This time I'm in Sydney and will be here for a good 5 weeks. Touched down about an hour ago, checked into Sheraton on Eliz Str and currently having a light dinner in the hotel (the caesar salad is quite yummy!).

Hv not been blogging ever since our Cambodian trip because
a) dav busy with bro's wedding which was held yesterday
b) i've been helping out in the wedding :)

Some updates. As I was getting ready for this trip, dav have been busy helping his bro with the wedding preparation and also with moving the hse. Yes, they are moving much further away from PJ. I've also just got my brand new blackberry. Still learning how to use it.

Besides all these excitement, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Euro Fun Park (ie fun fair) which is currently held just beside 1 Utama. This is definitely a trip worth mentioning in the blog!

We got free/ complimentary free rides for the Fun Park cos 1U was having this promotion where you'll get 5 free rides if you spent above RM50. Since we spent quite abit (clothes for the wedding), we got quite abit of coupons. In which majority of them was given to my younger sis.

So I only had the intention of going on the Ferris Wheel. Dont ask me why, but I always have a 'thing' for the ferris wheel. Plus, this one is HUGE!! Its like the highest ride in the whole park. So that was the first ride we went on. The ride was pretty long.. until Dav was bored. Then he saw the 'more' exciting rides and started making plans to see which one to go on next.

Being an 'older' me, I've already lost the desire to seek thrill and adventure in theme park rides (aka its looking much scarier now!) Therefore, I only wanted to go on less 'adventurous' rides. But somehow, yet again, dav managed to pursued me and we went on this ride called 'Top Gun'. This ride would be much better if it hadnt take like 5 minutes to complete. Imagine being thrown around 360 degree for 5 mins! I even lost the energy and voice to scream after like 3 mins. The whole time I was hoping it would stop soon.

Both of us felt quite sick after that... luckily I didnt eat anything before that. So even when I felt like vomitting, I cant. That kinda save some energy. It was really bad...

Before the ride, Dav told me that he likes these rides because it makes him feel 'ALIVE' .... at that time, it kinda make sense. Most of the time ppl take things for granted. So when you're put in a dangerous situation and live through it, then you'll appreciate life better. But honestly when you're up there ... its not the best feelings in the world!

Shites! The image upload is not working. I have uploaded the pics on Flickr. Have a look there.

Canon Digital Ixus i-zoom camera accesories

2006-10-09T17:50:00.000+08:00

u know how my camera was stolen? well, they only took the camera.. LITERALLY..

so, I have a whole bunch of accesories which I dont use anymore. Tryin to sell / give it away.

Everything u see in the picture is available except for the camera, landyard and CD. Let me know....

Siem Reap & Phnom Penh photos!

2006-10-07T07:51:00.000+08:00

This trip was really an eye opener to me. As we sit in a bar sipping cold beer - away from the scorching heat, there are people loosing their limbs/lives, kids begging on the street, and corruption in every places.

Yet, I see people with genuine smiles, beautiful countryside, and an amazing but gruesome history. I would have thought I'd see people with blank steely eyes and with very little to live for, yet they are so full of life. I can't help but be inspired by all of this.

Be thankful with what you have. No matter how hard life is and how little you get out of it, there are people out there that have been through worst.

Click on the photo below to view the photo album.

It works!

2006-10-05T17:25:00.000+08:00

ok.. so, me gonna continue on the story of cambodia. Hmm.. not sure how i shld document it... shld it be just a summary of the experiences we had or shld it be more like a guide to all others out there who would like some pointers if they wan to go to cambodia??!!??!! *tick*tock*tick*tock

Dav says it shld be based on our experiences. Good... so here goes.

We booked our Air Asia tickets yonks ago (almost one yr ago), when they were giving out 2 millions free tickets. A friend took the opportunity and book all of us (3 ppl) onto the flight to Siem Reap. Although it's free tickets, we still had to pay about RM 140 each for surcharges. So it wasnt really free was it? DAMN!

Anyway, nothing was done in terms of planning until the nite before we flew ... usual lor... I was away until the weekend before we flew and Dav & the other friend was busy with work. Then suddenly our friend couldnt make it for the trip due to work commitment. So it's down to 2 ppl. As david works towards the late nite (the day before our flight), I have to read the lonely planet and list out the places to see / things to do.

Before we even started on the trip I have a feeling we both may have different 'views' on where to stay, how to go about the places and where to eat. It's down to the $$$ and the compromise. We came out with a 'rough' itinerary which looks like this:

Day 1 - arrive in siem reap (sp), walk ard town, visit local markets
Day 2 - full day tour of angkor kingdom
Day 3 - visit ~~tonle sap lake & waterfall~~ artisan d'angkor silk farm & workshop, more temples, chill out at a bar
Day 4 - take ~~boat~~ bus to phnom penh (pp) & visit local night club called Spark
Day 5 - visit royal palace, ~~genocide museum, russian market~~ central market, national museum
Day 6 - visit ~~killing fields, old market~~ russian market, genocide museum, independent monument, chilled out at bar
Day 7 - take bus back to siem reap
Day 8 - depart back to kl
(Additional places that we went to are captured in red bold fonts and those we didnt go/do is ~~strike out)~~

In siem reap, we mainly move around in tuk-tuk (looks like a trishaw but pulled by a motorbike), while in pp, we mainly walked. you can imagine la.. my skin is quite tan now.. even both my legs got a tan line! (cos me wear quarter length pants).

We walked damn alot (by my standard la...). We covered almost 6km in 2 days in pp. Let me show u:

Those in red is the roads we walked. Those circled in blue are the places of interest we visited. It was a very relaxing trip cos we did wat we wanted and dont hv to follow any strict schedule... most of the days are ended with having a beer in the bar cos its very cheap to drink (average RM 1 per mug).

Ppl are generally quite nice except that we are constantly being 'disturbed' by beggars and tuk-tuk drivers. We have to constantly say 'No thank you' all the time! The worse was when we arrived at pp, a whole bunch of them was already waiting for us even before we get out of the bus. Then we were back in Siem Reap, we were sort of being cheated as well cos normally a ride back to town wld costs USD1. But they were offering 100 riel per ride. Then when we arrived, they asked to become our driver the next day to bring us ard. We were already leaving the next day.. so no chance to become our driver. Then the driver told us to pay USD 1!!! What a scam! Anyway being a tourist we know that they are just looking for money to survive. Already its such a poor country.. no point arguing or debating. Just pay.

In terms of accomodation, it quite funny how we started off stayin in quite a comfortable hotel which costs USD 25 per nite then as we travelled to pp, we decided to stay in guesthouse, which cost USD 10 per nite that is situated on top of a 'dodgy' bar (with no air-cond). By the time we were back in Siem Reap for one nite, we also stayed in guesthouse but this time we have chosen a place which cost only USD 8! I guess by the end of the trip we were tryin to save as must money as possible in view that the food n transportation has already costs us a bomb (everything is in USD)!

Please be patience with the photos. Will announce and post it in Flickr once its done.

Bored.. so I'm blog abt cambodia

2006-10-05T17:18:00.000+08:00

Dav just told me I can actually post something to the blog by sending email to blogger. So me trying it out now.

Test?

Cambodia was great fun

2006-10-05T14:48:00.000+08:00

we're back.. and dav has already dive back into his work, while I still have 4 more days to lepak.

we have been away for 8 days, with no access to internet (except for a 30 minute access which dav had to use to check some important stuff). this was meant to be a budget holiday with all the intention to keep the costs to the lowest minimal amount... ie to a level in which we're not that comfortable anymore!

Let me put some pics up... too lazy to write more at this point.

Note: These pics are taken by dav.. but treated using Photoshop

Angkor Wat

Off to a holiday with Dav!

2006-09-27T01:41:00.000+08:00

Early tmrw morning, we're off to LCCT to take our free flight to Siem Reap on Air Asia. It's been a long time since we took a holiday together.

We both needed this long break indeed.

Imagine... 7 days trip with only the hotel in siem reap booked for 3 nites.. the rest, we'll take care of it when we get there.

This is the least organised trip I've ever taken. But we're tryin to make it as spontaneious as possible. Just listing out the main place we wan to get to and the rest just let it flow.... Btw, its a budget trip as well... so, everything will have to be cheap cheap... hahahaha

Will update once we get back! BYEBYE

As promised

2006-09-24T23:04:00.000+08:00

some pics.. esp the one with jas cooking me breakfast .. ehehehe

My team mates from all around the world!

Jas preparing breakfast

yummy!

The Natural History Museum

Hang over

2006-09-23T21:46:00.000+08:00

feel like shit!

had a nite out drinking wth ex-ey ppl.

spilled 3 glasses of wine.

woke up wth headache which is stIll ard.

puke in the Natural History Museum toilet.

now resting in a café waiting to pass time before headin to airport.

gonna feel even shittier in the plane tonite.

F#%K!!!!

sorry.. today not my day. luckily still can check email n surf

Being a messenger

2006-09-22T22:05:00.000+08:00

that's how I feel ... esp when I'm bound to travel to London. Lets take this trip for example, the request/ orders I have been given to fulfilled:

To bring over (of course for my sis):

Mini rice cooker
Chinese cough medicine
2 long network cable
a love letter
a box of moon cake
ankle guard

To bring home:

3 huge bottles of body shampoo (mummy's fav)
one computer science textbook (for dav)
DVDs (to be returned to the shop)
a present
a belated birthday card for mum
few boxes of chocolates (mummy's fav too)
2 bottle of garnier spot cream (for joyce)
3 vanilla flavoured car air freshener

and I thought my bag would be lighter when i leave this city....

NOTE:

Tmrw is my mummy's birthday. A quick shout out to her (cos I wont arrive till Sun)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!

Vanilla Flavoured Car Air Freshener

2006-09-22T21:49:00.000+08:00

Dav has been quite crazy over his vanilla flavoured car air freshener which he bought from Houston. According to him, you cant get vanilla flavour in the Msian market.... really?!?

Anyway, his, is running out and he has asked me to get some for him in London. And so my adventure begun with finding the right store to go to... It all started by going to the local supermarket like Sainsbury.. but they only sell groceries. Even went to the big ones to see if they have car air freshener.. but NO.

Ok, find... I then move on to Boots (famous pharmachy store in UK, like our guardian). Since its a pharmacy, of course they mainly sell drugs and cosmetics product. I asked the assistance in the store and he said I might find it in a bigger Boots store...

Then I asked myself... why issit so hard to find a bloody car air freshener??

Find find... emailed dav, told him that i cant find any... and he gave me some 'advise'. He managed to locate a car shop which sell car air freshener. The shop website was quite impressive. It has a store locator function and even a map. Ok.. looking good. Located the nearest store and printed out the map. I'm ready to go after work... its even in the same tube line as my office tube station. Brilliant!

On my way there.. (it takes about 20 mins tube ride, yes. its that far.. its in zone 2)... in the tube, halfway through the journey suddenly the tube stopped. For a good 30 seconds!!! My god.. normally I have no issue with space ... the fact that we're underground (ie all dark), I started thinking abt the london bombs which happened last year (or was it this yr?) and I started panicking... what is happening?? ok.. maybe abit too dramatic.. but seriously i was thinking abt all the things that could go wrong in the underground tube... save to say, I survived.. hahahaha cos the tube started moving after that... then its all back to normal.

I have to say though I went all the way to some remote town just to get the car air freshener alone. The things I would do for other ppl.... just amazes me... hahahaha (so perasan!)

blackberry

2006-09-20T22:36:00.000+08:00

finally i may be getting one! we had a global meeting and everyone was asking for better 'tool' to manage our communications.. (ie give us pda phone or blackberry). as blackberry is being rolled-out in the HQ, my new boss has kindly agreed to give each team member one. Yipee!

however, the downfall to this is i wont be able to use it as a phone... that means i'll hv to carry 2 DEVICES everywhere i go... dont ask why... corporate policy.. need to apply for a company phone then only can get it... long long story.

so anyway, the model my company is using now is 7290 (see pic). I think this is quite an old model. tryin to find out if they are going to upgrade or not. boss has warn not to get one if there is going to be an upgrade.. might as well wait for the new model to be rolled out.

lets wait and see how long will the process takes... maybe wont even get one... since different country got different policy....

back in london town

2006-09-18T17:26:00.000+08:00

one wk has come and gone! arrived in london last mon for meeting (lasted for a wk) and will be starting an audit this wk.

weather's been great! not too hot and not too cold. surprisingly i was taken to various new places in london for dinner (part of the meeting) and even went on a wine tasting tour in the city by the river thames.

then on friday nite, i took the train up to liverpool and spent the weekend with my younger sis (jas), who's working there now. it just occured to me we have been living apart since I went to oz for studies. That's like 9 yrs ago! Initially I only see her once a year (when I was studying in Oz) and that suddenly it changed when she started coming home twice a year (from UK) and when I joined BAT (this is my third trip to london this yr!).

Jas is living alone in a one bedroom apartment in the city centre (literally, 10 mins walk to town centre) AND she has a car. She seldom uses it cos she walks to work. Her new apartment is very comfy and nice except that it has ALOT of things. Literally ALOT. Even her store room is full! Imagine this:

there is no space to put my toiletries in the bathroom. Jas has conquer the bathroom with 3 types of shampoo, 2 types of body wash, various face cleanser and various toothbrushes.
there is no space to keep her own clothes. her wardrobe is tooo small. so she has clothes kept in several boxes which is currently stored in her bedroom AND her living room.
there is no space to keep her shoes. she has a shoe rack the height of about 2 1/2 ft in the store room which is already fully stored with her shoeS. Thus, some shoes are kept on the floor by the main door.
half the floor of her bedroom is occupied by soft toys.

The question is, how can one person accumulate so MUCH things? AMAZING.. hahahaha

So I arrived on Friday nite, 9pm and my sis is already TIRED. she has only started work in July. For those who knows my family, can u imagine, Jas being tired on a friday nite at 9pm?!? she complains that her work is very tiring and needs alot of concentration (okla, i agree. she dispenses med to ppl, of course she has to concentrate. i wouldnt want to receive wrong prescribtion!). When she's at home (in Msia), she normally would be out till 4am!!! What a change.. hahahah Anyway, we went to Chinatown (very quiet place) and had 'not-so-nice' porridge and fried udon and called it a day by watching 24 and s2 desperate housewives at home. Yes, she has the whole collection! and yes, I managed to finish watchin desperate housewives by sunday afternoon.. hahaha

Sat morning, woke up and JAS MAKES ME BREAKFAST! I even took pictures to proof it. What's the breakfast?

Egg
Bacon
Sausages
Beans
Potato cake
Orange juice

Ahh... what a nice sister.... i mean come one.. this is the first time I tasted my sis own cooking! hahahaha I was amazed how determined she was at cooking. I didnt even asked her. I assume we would go out get Macca's breakfast (which we always do when she comes to London). I will post the pic once I get my bum ard to attaching the wires from my camera to my laptop. And the best thing was I didnt even have to clean up after.... hahahaa (DOUBLE BONUS). I offered to clean up, but she claims that she likes to clean things up her way... so I hv cleaned up she wont be satisfied with my cleaning... fair enough... Its nice to be treated like a guest eventhough I'm family! hahahaha

So after a HUGE breakfast, we just laze ard the apartment until it was time to drive to manchester to meet up with her friends for lunch. her friends like herself are pharmacists. So conversation topic revolves around work, work and more work. Then after lunch we went apartment hunting by visiting show room. Her friend wanted to buy a place of her own, and of course my sis is thinking about it too... I have to say the apartment size is generally quite small for a hefty price. but apparently its normal according to my sis.

Next destination was Trafford Centre. A huge shopping complex in Manchester, the size of mid valley but with one floor only and much longer in length. only bought a sweater from MNG. then it was back to liverpool where we had take-away macca and i cooked instant noodle. Funny how i crave for instant noodle. and the nite ended with more desperate housewives DVDs...

Sunday morning.. breakfast was egg tart bought from Manchester Chinatown on Sat. Then we got ready to visit Liverpool Museum... which is 'not very good' compare to British Museum in London. But it was still very educational for the kids. Jas & I was quite impressed with the BUGS exhibition as they were very creative in displaying and educating the visitors. You'll have to see it yourself to understand. Then we were off to hv lunch after which it was time to head back to London. The train ride was JAM PACKED. Luckily jas managed to reserve a seat for me, if not I'll hv to stand for 4 1/2 hrs!

All in all, I had a great time (minus the train ride). Was good to see Jas and her new place.

Off and on

2006-09-10T18:10:00.000+08:00

my timetable for the next 2 months are CRAZY!!!

anyway took some nice pics and wanted to share...

This is annie.. dav's dog. She's a funny one. Dont like dog food.. prefers human food and she's always tryin to get into the hse and sleep ard at the most inconvenient place! she's quite cute

Sunset outside Dav's hse. We were on our way to Tanjung Harapan for seafood dinner when I took this pic. Quite a nice pic considering I dont know how to twick the camera settings. :)

Grand Hyatt Singapore. The room comes with a LG flat screen tv and dvd player.. Kinda nice settings, but the room does not hv a warm feelings

The BIG shower head in Grand Hyatt. Never seen such a big shower head!!! Quite nice to bath in though... heheheh

Corporate World

2006-08-29T13:15:00.000+08:00

While my friends are voicing out their dis-pleasure from having to endure racists remarks cos they are living in a so-called 'developed' country and we're from a 'developing' country, I am facing my own kind of challenges. The CORPORATE WORLD...

Before, life in EY was quite fun... growing up with your peers, going to parties, drinking ever so frequently, bitching & complaining about our managers, studying for professional papers, etc. Now as I've moved on to join the so-called 'commercial' industry, my outlook has definitely changed.

For a start, there's so much politics in the organisation. Everyone is looking after their own backside. Makes auditor life so much harder... its like survival of the fittest !!!! Seriously, no kidding.

I'm currently having a flu, with my eyes swollen and nose red with mucus flowing down non-stop trying to complete my review while waiting for my boss, sitting in UK to call me... What a life!

Anyway, its Dav's birthday tmrw... looking forward to a good celebration. A colleagues suggested champagne with strawberries and cream... hehehehe

Dating

2006-08-25T14:20:00.000+08:00

Dav and I went to Ikea 2 nites ago cos he wanted to get some filling stationeries. On the way there I realised that its our first outing since we both came back (exclude all the hse visits la).. so I told him 'Hey its our first date since we came back!'. Then he turn around and said 'We still date meh???'

OMG!!! So you're saying we dont date anymore???? Why after being together for more than 2 yrs, there's no more dating?? Then how would u classify the times we go movies, shopping, dinner, meeting up with friends, etc... So those are just considered 'OUTINGS' ?

It didnt really register well with me... surely there must be some kind of definition for these rites? Lets examine the relationship cycle:

Get to know each other stage (become friends first)
Dating stage (relationship with each other abit blur now - friends / more than friends)
Confirm feelings for each other (start seeing each other exclusively)
Further enhance on relationship (ie spend more time wth each other! - same as dating?)
Assess whether partner is marriage potential (at this point, for those who cannot commit, pls jump back to #1)
If everything goes as planned, get married and have kids.
Work your life off for the sake of the kids life and education! hahahahahah

Quite a sad cycle, but thats the truth....

I would like to think that every outing with your loved one is a date. Then everyone wld be expected to behave in their best behaviour, showing off their best side... hahahaha not to say there is a bad side to hide, but to make it a good experience, everyone will give-in to each other...

Wats your view?

Long time no see

2006-08-23T23:36:00.000+08:00

Past few weeks hv been quite hectic.. with all the travelling, tryin to meet up with friends in Spore, having some quality time with Dav and worse of all WORK is pilling up!

Was downloading the pics from my new camera and realise I totally failed in taking pics while I was in Spore!!! Only managed to capture some pics in Sentosa.. nothing interesting to put up.

Am really glad that Dav is back... and looking forward to our trip to Cambodia in Sept. But before that can happen, I've got some major travelling to do ... the usual, fly here fly there. But I think the worse is yet to come. Just realise I might spent 5 wks in Sydney!

Dav is back from Houston, so its kinda nice that both of us are in the same place at the same time. He also spent some time with me last week in Spore...

Nothing significant is happening. Besides the usual stress. Been reading a few of my friends' blog. Seems like everyone is so much better at writing... me just dunno wat to blog abt these days. Life is kinda mundane. Feeling tired now.. gonna sleep. ZZzzzzZZzz....

Passing of an aunt

2006-08-13T21:17:00.000+08:00

This seems to happened when I'm overseas.

My aunt (dad's side) passed away this morning in Spore. Currently waiting for my dad to arrive in Spore to join them in the funeral ceremony. He & my other uncle drove down this morning.

New Alarm System

2006-08-04T22:58:00.000+08:00

we had an alarm installed into our house today. took a whole day for one person to install it. drilled holes everywhere... its kinda funny to see what a clean freak my mummy is... with this kinda of 'activities' going on, a normal person would wait for everything to complete before starting on the cleaning process... but NO, my mummy, have to vacuum and mop the whole house everytime the guy walk pass.... I actually observed her after i came back from work. She actually did the vacuuming & mopping at least 4 times in the period of 20 mins!!! seriously i think she has OCD!!! hahahahha

anyway, so after all the installation done, the hard part has arrived... teaching my parents how to operate it.... its another funny story. let just say i need to repeat the steps a few times before they got the hang of it. this alarm system quite 'canggih' one... can call the mobile phone and switch off the alarm using the mobile phone.

I think my mummy abit anxious about activating the alarm cos both my dad & I will be travelling this wkend. I'm away longer than my dad, but still the initial feeling of using something unfamiliar is quite scarry. I think my dad is more worried than my mummy.... hahaha we'll see if there is any drama in the next few days.

Am off to Spore this sunday! Cant wait to meet all my friends there... gonna get a new digital camera tmrw and bring it over with me. Will keep everyone posted!

happiness

2006-08-04T14:27:00.000+08:00

How do u measure happiness?
Based on your mood? Life achievement?
Issit something more tangible, like being able to obtain something
Or issit just something more intangiable? like you're feeling happy today

some even consider being healthy contributes to happiness

have u ever asked yourself if you're happy?
how would you interpret or define being happy?
can money buy happiness? maybe... maybe not
is being happy tied to being materialistic? sometimes
does the ability to obtain material objects allows the person to be happy?
some say yes, some say no

is there long term and short term happiness?
why do people want to be happy? what's the purpose of being happy?
has anyone thought abt that?

Wake up Steph!

2006-08-02T12:39:00.001+08:00

was reading Cat's blog (she wrote abt the war in Lebanon) and suddently realised I've been so engrossed in MY own life... non-stop complain abt MY loss, MY suffering, MY pain...

its time to expand my horizon and thank god for all the things I have...

Thanks Cat for indirectly make me realise there's more to life than all that I've complained abt!

obstacles

2006-08-02T11:45:00.000+08:00

been trying to recover as much as i can after the thief took majority of my gadgets!! when i say recovery, i mean try and find a replacement. Definitely no money to buy another watch AND a camera.. luckily the laptop is insured.

One thing i really dont understand is the thief's mentally... how can u steal my 02 charger & data transfer usb cable and not take the ipod with its mini speaker?!?! n it was sooo obviously convenient.. i'm sure the ipod will bring in more money than the charger. So i had to go n get a new charger and usb cable. Initially found one which only cost RM50.. so damn happy.. then only to be let down by the fact that the adapter doesnt work for O2 Atom! sigh.... so no choice but have to buy the original one.. which costs RM160!!!

Ok, thats settled. Second bit, camera & SD card. I was kinda proud that I finally have some money to buy my own camera, and now its gone. The stupid thief didnt even take the charger, battery & usb cable! I'm left with all these accesories which I dont know what to do with it. Being a lucky girl, my dad has graciously offered to buy me a new one! So now the dilemma is whether to buy the same one or get another model. If I get the same one, then I"ll have an extra set of accesories. If I get a new one.. I can opt to get a 'better' one.. hehehehe

My watch.. the only one I've worn since uni days. Imagine I have not worn a watch for the past 4 years. Then now.. its back to not wearing one. And to think that I spent so much effort looking for a particular design... sigh. Anyone wanna offer to buy me a dual time watch???

My heart is aching....

On top of all these, I have to 'endured' my non-direct reporting manager, who keeps complaining abt how slow everything works here (the manager is from Spore, go figure). Ranging from how slow it is to get me a brand new replacement laptop, how slow it takes IT to configure my new laptop to why HR sent my confirmation letter to my Singapore when I"m a Malaysia staff... sigh.. I also cant answer her.. imagine I'm an IT auditor some more... how like that?? give IT a 'Requires Attention' opinion issit.. sigh

my ranting not ending yet.... so i've just been confirmed. It was due in June.. but as my boss is so damn far away, it was delayed. Good news is I've been confirmed and my salary was revised. Bad news is I've just realised I may not be a very good auditor. In my evaluation, under weaknesses, my boss say I have not raised alot of audit points! I actually agree with him... have not been able to perform since I left EY. I realise my strength is in organising and planning. Am thinking of venturing into project management... anyone know who is hiring?!?!?

thats it all.. dowan to complain anymore..

When disaster strikes

2006-07-27T19:16:00.000+08:00

How does it feel like to suddenly lost majority of ur new gadgets?? By new, I mean things you have just bought for less than 6 months..... FRUSTRATED? ANGRY? FEEL LIKE KILLING SOMEONE?

Well... I was more afraid... then those feelings only came about later...

You must be wondering what happened.... someone broke into my house when nobody was in....

Quite alot of my stuff was stolen... so enuf said... when I feel like it, i'll write more about the situation.

Bottom line, please be very careful. Times are not good these days.. even your neighbour cannot be relied upon. Take good care and be safe!

One yr older but not wiser...

2006-07-17T13:13:00.000+08:00

I celebrated my birthday in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Spent the day enjoying a 3 hr spa and then off to a roof top bar to have some beers and then my colleagues took me out to have seafood dinner. Generally it was a nice day.

Received a few surprising presents. Firstly the hotel send a chocolate cake & a cake to my room! As you can see, they spelt my name wrongly...

Then my colleagues gave me a bottle of russian vodka, a bottle of cinamon whiskey and a suede bag. Very nice indeed. And then when I got home, my dear sammy send me a heart shape soft pillow all the way from Spore! Thanks Sam!! Really love it. Esp when its the kind i like.. u know those pillows stuffed with small beans with nice surface.

Will put up some pics I took in Vietnam on Flickr soon. Below are some pics of the presents I got.

My new pda phone

2006-07-12T18:13:00.000+08:00

Hey Cat, below is the specs of my phone.

Model: O2 Xda Atom
Price: RM 2,588 (bought from Low Yat)
Package:

Warranty - Local warranty, but lifetime software support (that means can go back and upgrade and get new software for free)
1GB memory card
Screen protector
Leather case

My sis and I actually walked ard Low Yat searching for the lowest price and/or give the more things... this price is quite good considering the shop offered me the same price with the same package for the newly launched HP IPAQ rw6828.

Visit the O2 site for more info --> http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaAtom/template/Product.vm

Birthday is around the corner

2006-07-10T17:02:00.000+08:00

yes... its the time of the year.. and this time I may not be in KL to celebrate it.

am currently in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for an audit. Not sure when I'll be home. The initial plan was to go back to KL on 22 July. But may go home earlier as I may not need such a long time to finish my audit. anyway, will update more with pics on my time spent in vietnam... been quite hectic working here as i came over right after my korea trip.

oh, for my birthday my dad has bought me a O2 Atom!! heeheh quite exciting! if u dunno what it is.... pls google and find out... :P

gtg now.. lots of things to complete.. will update when i get more time & fast internet access

Katy, Houston

2006-07-04T11:36:00.000+08:00

(1) This is the first Malaysian restaurant that I've tried out here. I tried Nasi Lemak while my colleague has Hainanese Chicken Rice. It tasted slightly different from home.. man, I miss malaysian food

(2 & 3)Drove to one of our client's place (Brookwood) to take pictures of their store today, amazing place. Fyi, Brookwood is a place of hope for the mentally disabled. They were taught to be independent. All of the products that you see in the pictures above are all made by them! Click on the photos to see the larger version.

(4)The vast complex freeway

(5)Katy's landmark, the rice mill. They have paddy fields here.

Katty Copperheads Cheerleaderzz

2006-06-30T10:11:00.000+08:00

Cheerleaders in action..

Katy Copperhead Vs PalmBeach

2006-06-30T09:48:00.000+08:00

Went to a football game last weekend in a high school gymnasium. Katy Copperhead is a professional football team, one of our clients and they have graciously given us the box seats for the whole season!

Anyway, I have never been to an American football game in my entire life so this is very new to me. It turned out to be an exciting game where the Copperheads killed the other team, 132 to 3! We're practically standing beside the barrier that separates the box seats from the field. Pretty intense stuff, I tell ya.

Another local delicacies - Rice cakes!

2006-06-26T20:03:00.000+08:00

A Korean colleague got married recently and apparently its Korean tradition to give out rice cakes as souvenir. Besides wedding, babies one yr birthday also they give out rice cakes. Quite nice cos its not too sweet. As u can see I've already finish half of them... hehehehe

Crazy with Yogurt

2006-06-26T12:45:00.000+08:00

Seriously am addicted to yogurt! Had yogurt after lunch in this small cafe nearby the office. Check out the pic man... so delicously!

Pics from Seoul

2006-06-25T18:41:00.000+08:00

As promised, I hv uploaded the pics taken here to Flickr for your viewing pleasure. I couldnt upload all the pics due to limitation to size... will put up the rest next month. :)

I couldnt resists loading this picture taken this afternoon after the room was being cleaned up housekeeping.

Max looks quite happy... hehehehe

Observation from Seoul, South Korea

2006-06-25T13:48:00.000+08:00

Its already Sunday, was supposed to check out the palaces but when I find out that its CSI day on one of the tv station, being a CSI fan, I couldnt resists stayin in. But I did went out and hv my brunch...

I hv been here for a wk now. Honestly I dont think this place is that nice. Its just like any other city. I think the reason why I dont enjoy the sight seeing is bcos of the communication challenges. Although most things have english words on them (except for food menu), most koreans cant speak ENGLISH!! (except for those in the hotel) This is a major problem for me, that kinda puts me off from going out.

I did spent 8 hrs walking ard the shopping area (Namdaemun Market, Myeong-dong, Dongdaemun Market), found 2 of those olden korean gates and went up to Mt Namsan by cable car to check out Namsan Seoul Tower.

Something I find interesting is the Korean ppl. Firstly, I hv never seen sooo many skinny girls in a city before (except maybe for HK & Spore)! They are fair skin, face is absolutely smooth with no scar, acne or huge pore... Even my ex-boss, transferred to work in BAT Korea said the girls here are anorexic! I wonder what's the secret....

Second observation, yogurt seem to be a korean fav food (besides kimchi).. I think cos summer is just ard the corner, cold yogurt is very attractive. Tried sundae yogurt this afternoon in this cafe called The Cafe Ice Berry, 5 mins walk away from the hotel. They serve a variety kind of ice cream and yogurt.. very tempting especially when its hot outside. Besides, they serve it with alot of fruits which kinda makes it healthy in a way. This is what I had...

Very nicely decorated with 4 different kind of fruits. But mine did not have strawberries in it... it was replaced with watermelon. Both also my favs, so I didnt mind.

This cafe does not have an english menu, so I had to point and ask several times before they got my orders. This place is highly recommended if you're into ice-creams and fruits. Ohh... also the yogurt does not taste sweet, abit sour but refreshing!

Besides finding fruits on yogurt, I found Korean girls are very into cosmetics and skin care. If you dont already know, recently a Korean skin product company, The Face Shop opened a branch in Mid Valley. I bought their face fruit mask face to tried it out. Its actually quite nice. Its cheaper to get the product here too. Besides The Face Shop, there are alot more cosmestics shop which is constantly full of ladies (e.g. The Skin Food). Maybe its the wkend. Ohh, one of their tactics to get ppl to go into their shops are by giving out samples. Why does Korean likes to use food to nourish the skins? but it does makes the products smell good... :)

Will put up some pics I took when I get my ass off the bed and my eyes off CSIs.. hahahaha hv a gd wkend!

Korea losses!

2006-06-24T21:43:00.000+08:00

so sad... woke up to the news that Korea losses the last match!! sigh... better luck in 4 yrs time hopefully.

Annyong haseyo

2006-06-18T20:06:00.000+08:00

Greetings from the land of Seoul, South Korea. Arrived this morning at 0840... took the 0100 flight... damn tiring! couldnt sleep well in the plane, so dozed off in the 1 hr trip to the hotel (didt check out the surrounding view) and also dozed off the whole afternoon after checking-in.

Initially wanted to take the opportunity to check out the city, visit one of the major shopping places but was just too tired. Stayed in the hotel the whole day. Got abit too excited to find out I've got free wireless internet access!! Imagine that... so first thing I did when i got to the room was to on my laptop and hope that Dav was still online... we chatted for abt an hr on skype. Then chatted with another friend from Melbourne for another hr... its fun! haaahahaha

Hopefully next wkend will be a more productive sigh-seeing days...

Life is Fair

2006-06-16T08:37:00.000+08:00

When I was stressed having to go through a 3 day training course and sit for an exam... Dav is enjoying his LA lifesytle, brushing shoulders with superstar in LA!

First bumped into Sandra Bullock and her husband Jesse James in Starbucks while buying coffee across the hotel...

Then it was SUPER hot & sexy Jordan with her husband Peter Andre. Isnt it nice to have a famous client and working in a city full of super star...

Longest Time Apart

2006-06-12T19:57:00.000+08:00

Dav flew off this morning... he will be in US for about 2 months. During these 2 months, I have my own trip organised... Korea for 2 weeks, then off to Vietnam for 3 weeks. This will be the longest time we're apart since we got together. On top of that, he wont be able to celebrate my birthday with me...

Since he wont be around to celebrate my birthday with me, he promised to spend one whole day shopping with me and I get to choose what I want (of course not ANYTHING... within the limits la). So off we went shopping last Saturday... we were out from 10am until 12 midnite! Besides shopping for a birthday gift, he had to run some errands for his trip as well... and we watched Cars. It was a very funny animation. Pixar never dissapoints.

Presents from Dav... 2 lovely boxes... which contains...
1. Butterfly pendant
2. Bracelet

Also managed to get a dual analog time watch from GUESS ... couple's set some more!

Final Day of Detox

2006-06-11T00:49:00.000+08:00

Energy level - normal
Side effects - none
Mood - normal

so fast its the final day of detox... any improvement? I dont think so... weight myself at nite and realise i'm still at the same weight!! haaahaha oh well... hopefully managed to discharged all necessary toxins from my body. Might as my sis to get me another package when she goes back...

Fourth Detox Day

2006-06-09T16:07:00.000+08:00

Energy level - normal
Side effects - constipation
Mood - normal

dunno why feeling abit constipated... maybe dont eat enuf food.. but am consuming same amt of food... anyway, spoil my diet liao... had supper yesterday nite cos someone hungry!

Third Day of Detox

2006-06-08T09:48:00.000+08:00

Energy level - medium to high
Side effects - Diarrhea
Mood - happy & sad

i think the detox supplements is working... in terms of getting rid of wastes... haahaha had stomache right after lunch! am happy cos got special date with that special someone this saturday... sad cos that special someone will be away for 2 months! actually i will also be away during this period... heehehe cannot imagine how we're gonna communicate, each at one end of the world.

both of us are definitely experiencing more things this year... although not together. am happy for him too... :)

Second Day of Detox

2006-06-07T11:21:00.000+08:00

Energy level - low. feeling very tired
Side effects - none
Mood - ok

i kinda spoil my diet abit on this day.. had a double cheeseburger & fries for lunch! Felt abit guilty, so did one hour of yoga and only ate mushroom soup for dinner. :P Now my body abit aching cos haven been stretching for a while.

First day of Detox

2006-06-05T23:19:00.000+08:00

Didnt eat much during each meals and drank ALOT of water... however I think I failed just now.. had some Oreos cookies.. cannot tahan not taking any sweet food. Hopefully tomorrow can tahan more.

Energy level - no difference
Side effects - mild headache (could be cos by the heat)
Mood - happy

Detox Time!

2006-06-03T18:40:00.000+08:00

Got my sis to buy this Boots 5 day Detox Plan for me. Saw it when I was in Jakarta. I seriously think that I need to detox my body. Has not been taking care of my diet at all... which resulted in weight gain. Defintiely need to be more health concious.

Starting the detox on Mon. Does not necessarity have to go on diet during the 5 day, but its recommended that I eat more healthy food and stay away from processed food, caffeine, alcohol, sweets, chocolate, etc... Let see if there is any side effects... :P

Surprised!

2006-06-03T14:34:00.000+08:00

Its Spring Cleaning time!! Could feel the amount of dust building in my room... maybe that's why I've been sneazing non-stop. Anyway, decided to go through ALL my stuff and re-arrange them while I vacuum & wipe the dust away...

Neatly arranged my stuff into the cupboard...

Threw away old magazines... collected quite abit of Manchester United magazine back in 1999.

Then when I looked through a souvenir book from my uni days I realised I actually met Kenny Sia before!! I even had his signature! I dunno why he says he will not forget the way I smile and walk... funny. Let me drop him a note on his website and see if its really him... I dont think there is that many Kenny Sia... Let's see if he remembers me... :P

If you dunno who is Kenny Sia, from my impression, he is quite a famous blogger in the region. His blog is quite funny.. and he's quite brave to discuss about the person and sensitive issue. The funniest is when he was considering whether he wants to have a circumcision performed.

Memories

2006-05-28T17:09:00.000+08:00

When I moved back to KL from Australia, I remember bringing back a few small boxes containing Ozzie memories and experiences. Then over the years, I have added more boxes. I call them 'Memories Boxes'.

Being the neat freak that I am, I took them out and started re-organising my stuff again. Then I realised I collected alot of things over the years:

1. Cards & letters. Majority of which was contributed by my good friends, Joyce & Eric.

2. Bookmarks

3. Lapel pins

Trying to find out how to display my lapel pins collection instead of putting them onto a peice of cloth and hang. Ideas will be welcomed. :)

Freelancing

2006-05-22T17:34:00.000+08:00

Looking at how bad the economic situation is (for me), everyday have to cook maggi mee for lunch, drinking coke instead of warm-as-piss beer, wearing hand-me-down undies, I have decided to venture out and do some freelancing.

checkout my new business card, anyone have any jobbies, gimme a call lah.. (click on the pic to enlarge)

Request from Julie

2006-05-20T21:14:00.000+08:00

A reader has asked for the directions to Bagan Lalang and also where I took Mandarin class. Abit hard to explain the way to go to Bagan Lalang but will try my best...

Bagan Lalang

Take the highway to KLIA
After the KLIA toll, head towards the Sepang F1 track, i.e. turn left from the highway.
You will reach a roundabout, take 12 o'clock and go straight.
Come to traffic light, turn left (Checkpoint: there's a Petronas station just after the traffic light)
You'll see entrance to the Sepang F1 track on your right, go straight.
You will reach another set of traffic light, turn right.
Go straight and look out for the sign that says Bagan Lalang, and follow signs direction cos I'm not too sure how to get there from here onwards. We usually follow the signs from here onwards.

Hope my instructions are clear enough. Happy searching!

As for mandarin class, my teacher is from Beijing. You can choose to go to her hse or for her to come to your hse. But she charge more if you require her to travel to your place. She is currently staying in Section 14. But she's moving to Bkt Kiara soon. If you're really interested, leave me your email add and I'll send you her contact details.

Takeshi Yasutoko

2006-05-16T23:41:00.000+08:00

Little brother of Eito. 2004 winner in the same competition.

Ayumi in Action

2006-05-16T23:40:00.000+08:00

She's the only female inline skater in the competition and she's one of the top few who can skate very well.

Moto X Crazy Act

2006-05-16T23:37:00.000+08:00

Look at that man... nanti body terpatah how?

Moto X Back Flip

2006-05-16T23:31:00.000+08:00

Driver's name - Chuck Norris. Cant remember what's his real name but ppl call him Chuck Norris! haahahaa He's the only one who performs a 360 back flip on bike!

2006 Asian X Games

2006-05-16T22:34:00.000+08:00

This was the highlight last weekend. 3 day event, starting Friday. Held in Sunway Lagoon Theme Park. Got the free passes from Joyce (thanks!). When we arrived, Sunway Lagoon took the opportunity to increase their sales that day by giving the X Games visitor a chance to enjoy a 'All Park Access' for just RM 10. Since Dav had never been to the theme park and also he wanted to experience 'Malaysia's First and Only 360 degree rotating pirate ship - PIRATE'S REVENGE!'

When I was young, I used to loved to go on theme park rides.. but my fear increase as I age... Was really afraid to go on it cos it turns ard! In the middle of the ride, it even stops in the air! Imagine get tangled upside down for a few seconds...

So instead of heading straight to catch the X games competition, we detoured to take a ride in Pirate's Revenge. How was it?? It was pretty SCARRY!!!!!

Back to the Asian X Games... it used to be held in Bkt Jalil from 2002 - 2004. Went in 2004 with Joyce & Penny. It was quite fun... esp when u get to check out the cute skaters and getting autographs. On top of that its free! So this time round, Joyce has informed me few months back and make sure I block out my calendar to go with her. Unfortunately, she had to work (which is more important la, earning money mah) so I ended up going with Dav.

Events that we saw that day:
1. Moto X demo (5 aussie drivers doing stunts in the air)
2. Skateboard Vert finals
3. Aggresive Inline Skate Park finals
4. Aggresive Inline Vert prelims (my fav!)

Highlights:
- 10 years old Jap boy skating on huge vert and doing backflip! Remember Joyce the 8 yr old boy 2 yrs ago who fell and starting cryin in the vert and then consoled by the Yasutoko bros? The same boy is back in the games! He has improved ALOT!

- Discover Gerhana Ska Cinta, a malay band which sings quite unique type of music but nice different.

Promised Joyce I would put up some cool pics we took. See what you missed...

A much smaller skate park compared to the one they had in Bkt Jalil 2 yrs back.

Skate board vert action... Japanese skaters

Moto X drivers

Eito Yasutoko, winner of this year's Aggresive Inline Vert

Dual Time Watch

2006-05-10T17:56:00.000+08:00

I am currently looking for a dual time watch.... ie a watch which can tell 2 different time (see pic). Bear in mind cost is of concern.... the budget should be nothing more than 1k.

Would appreciate/ welcome information on what brand and where I can get them...

Discover Lan Kwai Fong instead...

2006-05-08T23:19:00.000+08:00

I kind of expected this... initially GKT planned to take me to TST to have dinner and drinks... we ended up drinking in Lan Kwai Fong the whole nite with his German friends, whom one of them was leaving HK that nite... So, we drank until around 11pm before we had our dinner in one of the char chan tang as the nice food shops were closed already.....

Some pics taken in HK:

Max gets treated very well in Marriott

Sky Bar @ Sirocco, State Tower, Bangkok

2006-05-08T23:11:00.000+08:00

Cheryl, instead of taking all those tequila, I think I had it better by having drinks on top of a building with a city view... I dont think I miss much.

Went to Sky Bar last Friday with my colleagues after dinner. Its really amazing... a must to visit when you go to Bangkok. Find out more from the link above.

Description of Sky Bar:

Perched atop Bangkok's second-highest tower, the neon-lit open-air Sky Bar juts 820 feet above this urban sprawl, making it the ideal watering hole for those who like to live on the edge. While vertiginous vacationers should stay away, even daring types who take the elevator up 64 flights of the State Tower Building, located along the Chao Phraya, may be rendered speechless: Lenient building safety codes allowed the architects to wrap the roof with only a low, transparent railing, so the performer belting out jazz may seem only a breath away from an untimely finale.

Sad day

2006-05-07T23:30:00.000+08:00

My uncle passed away yesterday morning, while I was still in Bangkok.
It was an unexpected event as he was recovering well from his slip disc operation.
Took the first flight out of Bangkok to be with my family.
My sis and I were quite close with this uncle's family. We used to visit them every weekend when we were younger... but as we grew older, we grew apart.

Lesson learnt - Dont take things for granted in life...

Kuantan

2006-05-02T15:00:00.000+08:00

I'll update this post with more description on the whole trip. But for now here's some pictures that I took from Kuantan.

Teluk Chempedak

View of the cove (teluk?) at sunrise.

3 flag poles on the beach.

Small stream leading to the sea, I suspect it's sewage water (phew!)

Mini bike race. Here's how small it is.

The race looks really funny with kids and adults in full gear. Looks like midgets on bike.

Ladies and gentleman, start your engine..

Discover Hong Kong

2006-05-02T08:44:00.000+08:00

Arrived Monday afternoon. Staying in JW Marriott, in Hong Kong island, just above Admiralty MTR station. After checking-in took a trip to Yau Ma Tei & Mong Kok. There's where the Ladies Market is... damn alot of ppl and damn hot. Was expecting a nice chilling weather.. but it turn out to be the same as back in KL! Didnt buy anything except for Eason Chan latest Concert Live Recoring album.. been told its a great album.

After our first day meeting, we were taken to The Peak for a nice view and romantic dinner... unfortunately it started raining after we finish our starter. So we had to move into the restaurant. The Hong Kong city view was absolutely FABULOUS! Unfortunately there's something wrong wth my newly acquired digital camera's battery.. been having problem with it for a while now. The battery keeps running out even though I didnt use it after charing... so frustrating!

Tonite an ex-colleague (for those from EY, thats GKT) will be taking me out to Tsim Tsa Tsui for 'Good food and drinks!' haaha lets see if he can achieve that objectives....

Home sweet home

2006-04-29T22:29:00.000+08:00

back home for the wkend... finally get to sleep on my nice bed... hug my furry friends who bunks with me and also see the loved ones.

There has been a revamp on this site if you hv not noticed... Dav changed the pics on top of the blog.. didnt even know he was embarking on this changes... it looks good actually.. nice pic. The pic was taken some time ago when we used to drive aimlessly ard town.. those were good old days. And of course I look fatter now...

Dav has taken another self discovery journey to Kuantan. Maybe self discovery is not the right word to use as he didnt go alone. He went with one of his buddy.. maybe its more like a brotherhood bonding journey... They left this morning and only back tmrw nite.

As for me, I'm enjoying my time at home before I head on to my next destination on Monday. This time its HK for 3 days and then straight to Bangkok for 4 days... wont say that its for work cos will be attending meetings and workshop.. not much work involved except I have to give a presentation on our electronic audit working paper software...

Ok... more admin work to do at home... got to finish them before I leave...

Obsession

2006-04-25T18:42:00.000+08:00

Worried my hand will become like this one day....

So I went and bought L'OCCITANE Softening Hand Scrub. Been abit worried that my hand is going to age badly!!! so better slow the process by applying more cream... esp when my hand is very prone to dryness.

Reverse Bungee Jump at KL Tower

2006-04-25T09:04:00.000+08:00

It was quite a nice experience, to be dangling upside down 30-40metres up on the air. It is less scarier compared to the roller coaster in Berjaya Times Square. I'd still recommend everyone to try it at least once.

ps: Seems that everytime I write a comment after the photos it will all be aligned to the left of the first pic, what am I missing here? Anyone knows whats the solution? I don't want to get into the html code and edit everytime..

QuickSilver Promo in Sunway Lagoon

2006-04-23T22:03:00.000+08:00

Babe, here's some pics that I took when I was there. Btw the band that was supposed to be performing on that night was The Click Five

Big ramp with some semi-fat aussie crew on the top takin pics on the skater doin some 'cucuk bulan' (i don't know whats it called, so please correct me)

Another view of the skater going on the big ramp.

Skater grabbin his board..

Buncha college guys and gals ooglin the aussie skater on the mini ramp.

There were some surfers doin some surfin over the huge waves. Kinda cool but I didn't have the right camera to take the shot, too far away..

Too much or just nice?

2006-04-19T17:09:00.000+08:00

Imagine 2 person having the following for dinner:

2 black pepper crabs

3 garlic prawns

3 grilled prawns

1 fried fish

1 plate of sambal kangkung

rice

Is that alot or not?

Jakarta

2006-04-12T16:58:00.000+08:00

I know some of you might be wondering whether I'm here for work or holiday after reading this. But I dont really care.... I'm here for both! haahahahaha

Some of the things I've been doing ever since I arrive on Mon nite...

Yesterday for lunch, we had supernice Shanghai food in the famous 'Din Tai Fong' for lunch. They are Taiwan's best dumpling restaurant specialises in 'Xiao Long Bao'. Was quite surprised they have a branch here... I tried it once when I was seconded to work in Taipei, Yee Ming was nice enough to bring me there for dinner.

On the same day, after work we went for local Indonesia massage in the famous non-dodgy massage parlour, 'Bersih Sehat'. Its a very famous massage parlour in Indonesia. It has several branches throughout the country. Its one of those that wont offer you 'extra' services.. haahahaha. The massage session was great. But the massage room is too communal. Imagine you're separated from other guests with just a piece of cloth. Feels like you're lying down on a the hospital emergency bed. You can hear ppl walking in & out and also sometimes ppl talking throughout the session. I also found out the owner of Bersih Sehat was one of the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2004 Finalist!!! Thats how successful the business is.

Tried the most famous drink in Indonesia - Teh botol. I didnt even know this drink exists until Dav asked me check it out. Bought a packet to try and let me tell you, it taste funny for tea. Dunno how to explain but its definitely not my fav. Been requested to bring home some. Anyone else wanna try? Let me know....

Things yet to try --> Bintang Beer!

:P

3rd Assignment

2006-04-10T08:43:00.000+08:00

Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Duration: 3 weeks
Hotel: Hilton Jakarta

Flyin off this afternoon. This time, going abit extreme. Am bringing a 3 person mahjong set along with me.. haahahahaahaha (*abit gila!) My colleagues and I discussed abt playing mahjong when we were in Cambodia, so I volunteer to bring one for this trip. Luckily Jeanne was kind enuf to lend me her set (Thanks Jeanne!). So lets see if we manage to play at all....

Last week when I asked my colleagues if they still wan me to bring the set or not, one senior collegue asked me what time I plan to sleep... heehehehe We shall see! :P