Old!!

Old!!, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I feel old. Being old to me means taking a while to bounce back to health from a weeny food poisoning episode. Today is day 6 and I've just vomitted my dinner out. I don't remember being sick for long last time. And certainly a bout of diarrhea and vomitting would last all of 1-3 days max. So this is twice as long to go away. Time to start thinking of taking some antibiotics I guess. It'll be foolish to go on like this surely:)

*picture taken at Publika at one of the interesting shops on the first floor above Ben's

Picking flowers

Picking flowers, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This picture was taken during the christmas break. The main subject i.e. the niece can be seen marching through the garden in search of colorful and rare flowers. ( She had been given carte blanche earlier by the doting grannie )

She is dressed in bright fluorescent pink jeans which were the only ones which fitted her frame. During jean-shopping, and after trying at least 3 different jeans, she then piped out loudly " I want slim jeans"....is that baby talk for skinny jeans?

* garden is in Pahang. the dry part. Unlike Kuantan we were spared the torrential relentless rain. And the dry weather dominated the 2 week break

The start of the new year

The start of the new year, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Loads of activity in Midvalley this evening. CNY shopping has seamlessly continued from the Christmas shopping. Where is the recession I ask you? I'm looking forward to CNY only because it's an excuse to rest. I seriously think the food poisoning has sapped more than just my usual energy

Jigsaw addiction

Jigsaw addiction, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I was down with bad ( am not exaggerating) diarrhea courtesy of some food poisoning the day before 2014. And on the first day of the year, I was mostly horizontal with some visits to the loo. I was also  as limp as a rag and in a foul mood being stuck indoors on what was meant to be a break from work and a reason to head out.

Fully recovered today….( and about time too). And I'm thinking of places I can buy jigsaw puzzles. I want to do another one during the CNY break. Any ideas? This current one was bought in Barcelona.

The christmas break 2013

Candy crush addiction, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

It was absolutely gorgeous not doing anything during the break. Not only that, we were blessed with an invite for christmas barbecue and here is the cake we had that evening. Cute yes? I'm currently making slow progress on candy crush. All moves end in failure. Whoever had this idea for this cake is a genius . Don't you like it too?

Flat Tire

Flat Tire Drama on the 403, originally uploaded by The Bees.

I had a flat tire this afternoon. Just as I made it through the heavy rain and traffic and parked in Midvalley…I exited car only to find the front right tire was sadly devoid of air. The shopping and lunch was put on hold whilst I drove to the nearest petrol station to get some air in. The nearest being Bangsar's Shell station. It was pouring and this current car has no umbrella in it. As I successfully parked and set the correct pressure and pumped air…one very kind attendant went into the shop and came out with an umbrella for me and eventually pumped the tire for me. Wasn't that sweet?

He asked what the problem was. I then drove to Tom's workshop right smack next to Shell and got the problem investigated; turns out it was a faulty valve which can be changed. The car alarm went off ( yawn yes it's a wonky system only we in the family know how to stop) but the folks there were all smiley and friendly. After paying and as I started to drive off, the worker as he waved me off said " All your tires are kinda old ". *laugh* yes yes I really should get them sorted out before CNY.

The flat tire was a hiccup but it brought me in contact with some nice decent and helpful people. Happy New Year 2014

Laman Pesona

The pool, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Imagine driving pass some small shop houses and making a turn to the right to find a lovely "resort" ...something amazingly posh by Raub standards. It's 16 KM from town. The resort consists of a buggy ride ( the niece enjoyed it and we returned 3 times in a space of 2 weeks for dinner here) a tomyam barbecue place at the bottom of the hill, a jogging trek and barbecue spots to the left and facing you as you walk thru the entrance you see little chalets built on a hillside and a bigger building to the left with quite a bit of glass which houses the main chinese restaurant. The pool ( pictures above) is secluded, smallish but nice. ( 4 foot indeed..hehe spot the grammar booboo)

The food we were told was mediocre. And this was wrong. I enjoyed all the three meals we had. Consistently good. Service was good too. ( The last wedding dinner my parents attended here ....was slow so I'm guessing they've picked up their pace a whole lot since) The place was packed on a weekday. And I met my old chemistry teacher and his wife there.

You may click here for the link to their website

Laman Pesona Resort & Spa
Lot 3 & 4, Seksyen 4,
Kampung Baru Cheroh,
27620 Raub, 
Pahang Darul Makmur
Email: admin@lamanpesona.com.my 

Back to work

Back to work, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Hello and a belated Merry Christmas. Am back to work (yesterday). It was lovely to do nothing for 2 weeks. We had a lovely time at home. Despite the continuous rain in KL and the reported ( scary) flooding in Kuantan, we had a dry Christmas break. It only started to rain the last 2 days. AS a result, we enjoyed the garden and managed to squeeze in the obligatory badminton sessions, walk in town, drive to Lata Jarum ( it was closed AGAIN this year) and we found this new "resort" in Cheroh called Laman Persona.( separate post for it)

Here are my bags travelling back to KL with me. I was more disciplined this time around ...and practiced my scales and chromatics and pieces almost every day. And you can just about make out the 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle we completed in less than 24 hours at the bottom left of this picture. Next scheduled break: Chinese New Year at the end of January 2014.

Secret Recipe!

This is a cafe selling cakes and food. It made its debut in 1997. There are many shops in KL. They vary in size and sadly in their quality of food/cakes and service. I had dinner at one of the cafes and the dory in lobster sauce was overdone. The edges were tough and the sauce slightly watery. The chips on the side were cold when served. The cake we had after dinner was half the size and it tasted a little off.  We left for some decent coffee to drown the disappointment of dinner.

So secret recipe , if you're reading this, please maintain your standards.

Kathleen MacMahon

She is Irish. She writes well. "This is how it ends" should be on everyone's bookshelf because it is good. It is a love story which is so touching you find yourself  cheering the the couple on and towards the end you find yourself wishing hard for things to turn around.

This is a story about Addie and Bruno. How they met and fell in love. In the background is Hugh ( Addie's father who is easy to hate but MacMahon makes him vulnerable too so he's not a typical villain but a believable one) , Addie's sister Della, Della's husband Simon and Addie's dog Lola. The story starts at a nice pace and remains at that gentle cantle throughout making it a addictive read. The climax is at the end of the book and as you read the last sentence you can't help but want more from the author. For me, this is a sign of a very good book

Kanga, Lady Tyron, Who is she?

Taken from the Daily Mail

Prince Charles had numerous girlfriends when he was younger and he had two ladies whom he was"close" to. One of whom he has since married; Camilla Parker Bowles. The other was Dale Harper who perhaps is better known as "Kanga". So who was Kanga? She was an Australian, daughter of  rich businessman who was shipped to London by her mother.

In London she met Lord Tyron and as his fiancee she was brought to Buckingham palace and met Prince Charles. Dale was known a a vivacious lively young lady. I imagine this captivated Prince Charles and they became and remain close for many years.

During this period, Charles remained close to Camilla and some believe he shuttled between the two women. Both got married, Camilla to Andrew Parker Bowles and later Dale to Lord Tyron. I believe the tabloids made them out to be enemies both vying for Prince Charles' affection. Camilla made Prince Charles godfather to her son Tom Parker Bowles. Dale did the same thing and Charles became godfather to Charles Tyron.

There is a rather tragic ending to Dale Lady Tyron. She used the media and would slip little nuggets of information which made her unsafe to the royal family. In stark contrast, Camilla remain silent. Desperate to remain important, she later became rather erratic in her behavior and had a mysterious fall from an open window which left her crippled an wheel-chair bound.

Lord Tyron divorced her later and she eventually died from septicemia. She is survived by her 4 children. Prince Charles did not attend the funeral.

klcc park

klcc park, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We headed to KLCC on Sunday. Not our usual destination and THIS is the reason just why we should shy away from this place. It was swarming with people. We sat outside to enjoy the water fountain. ( SO did most other people) The weather was nice….just mildly warm and there was a slight breeze