Gardens are funny things. Not having a garden, I couldn't quite understand the frenzy my mum got into a few months back when hers was judged for some competition. At this stage, there's something you should know, hers is a garden without any water feature. Now everyone knows, to win a competition, one must first know the rules. She had suffered the humilliation of not winning last year. ( I am absolutely sure it was solely the lack of water feature which dun her in so to speak. )

This year, she stuck a windmill in the garden instead. She dug her heels deep in when I delicately suggested adding some form of moving water in the garden. So we were judged minus a water feature...and plus one rather weird looking windmill.

She came in "Naib Johan"....and we can all heave a sigh of relief. The windmill has grown on us somewhat so I guess we're keeping it just that bit longer.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly this evening. Sometimes when you look forward to an event, it fails to deliver. Well, it wasn't so today. For starters, I managed to spend money within 10 minutes of arrival at KLCC. ( Did I not say shopping is therapeutic??) I'm now a proud owner of three books, a psychedalic head scarf ( to be worn strictly in the presence of strangers and CLOSE friends ) and a copy of Woman's Day.

We watched "Gol Dan Gincu". I mentally patted myself on the shoulder in the first half of the movie for having cleverly spotted that actress from Sepet...oh yes and there was that 3R girl in it as well. :)

We had dinner at Chilis. Once again, eggs-cellent timing. We were shown to our seats almost immediately. We snaffed seats beside the window....thus ensuring an adequate view of the fountain and little ant-like people going about their business of loitering. The food took its time coming....but oh boy it was worth the wait. There was a momentary quietness ...which fell upon us as we paid respect to the sumptous feast before us. I salivated and took three sips of guava juice before doing justice to the meal.

Happy Independence Day Malaysia!!

I have an obssessive nature. For the last two months, every trip to KLCC has nearly always featured a trip to DOME for a spot of coffee and spicy olio. For those of you out there who haven't had the chance to savour this, please do. And NO, DOME hasn't promised any free meals for this blog....( not yet that is )

Food is important. Good food is essential to make you smile. This evening, we ventured to the unknown ie Plaza Damas or thereabouts. I can't remember the name of the restaurant now, which is just as well because that's not important. What I want to talk about is the atmosphere. Very nice. Everyone gave us a smile. The table beside us had a little girl celebrating what looked like her 4th birthday. There was only one candle on her cake but she looked as tall as a 4 year old should be. Then again, I'm not very good with kids, so she could be anywhere from 3 to 5. She earned 5 brownie points from me from not throwing a tantrum.

KLCC my second home

Shopping is therapeutic. There I said it. Funny it was easier than I thought. There's something to be said about the lift in my mood, when I zoom up the escalator and have the air condition sweep over me.
I haven't been to KLCC in like 5 days. When I'm not there, I imagine myself to be there. I love it especially when there aren't throngs of people. The PC Fair two weeks back was a fine example of overcrowding. Standing at 5 feet nothing in my stockinged feet, I had to make do with recycled air.
We were as jammed pack as sardines in a tin. ( cap ayam brand nothing less dare I add ) I came out of it with a roaring migranous headache, tired feet and a suspicion that I had inhaled enough bad air to shorten my life span by 2 years. Not a good experience. I'm voting for the next PC fair to be held at PWTC. More spacious.
Oh oh and I bought a blue-tooth ear piece which seems to be the fad these days. The following two evenings were spent fiddling with it. I must confess to having some difficulty sticking it into the ear. I even had to dig out the box and compare the picture and myself. I must have special ears, because the blasted thing refuses to fit properly.

Malaysian Idol Wannabee

We can now enjoy the weekends like every other 5 day working week folks. Many thanks for the lovely chap who rooted for a 5 day week in government service.
There's nothing quite like a healthy exchange of information to cheer me up. Last Saturday saw my friends and I having a meal at Soul'ed Out Sri Hartamas. I believe it to be my responsibility to introduce friends to my fave haunts.
We spotted Xerra ( there's something to be said about having red hair ) as we sat down. She cheerfully agreed to be wrestled into taking a photo with us. Without allowing Xerra time to change her mind, I'm afraid we clamoured out of my seats in two seconds and were all over her like a bad rash.
To do her justice, she was sweet. And I must say MUCH better looking in real life compared to the awful shots on TV. I must admit it quite made our evening. We envisioned ourselves bragging about this meeting for many moons to come. I had very selfish reasons for wanting Xerra to stay on in the competition.

What started off as a trip to the hairdressers ....ended up quite differently. Quite out of character ( for me ) I signed up for 40 lessons of yoga. Me!! A person who cant touch her toes since 1984. ( ie Mary Lou Retton inspired me that year....but she became fat and retired and so did I )
Lesson one was entitled HOTyoga. They bunged the temp up to a warm 37 degrees. One hour later,my head was as drenched as if I had a shower....I successfully completed my first ever yoga class. Note to self....bring a bottle of water the next lesson and possibly a face towel as well.
Lesson two was called "elements" Much better. Decidedly less warm than lesson one and I managed to twist the body and admire self in mirror for at least three poses before collapsing in a heap. People who take yoga are of the svelte variety. As I watched each trim body walk pass me into the studio....my heart started beating faster as I envision self as the worst in the class.

It's rather embarassing to have to admit to NEVER having been to Cameron Highlands. I can now hold my head up high. The weather was gorgeous. Rather like Ireland minus the gale force wind and the irritating fine rain drops that would come from all directions. Our trip there was delayed, thanks to wrong directions and having to wait for folks. I was never very good at this waiting game but the glowing reality of finally making a trip to Cameron Highlands turned me into a patient soul.

Annuar Zain sang to us part of the way. I sang along with Annuar despite groans from the rest of the folks in the car. And when I wasn't singing, I slept. Lunch was a prolonged affair at one of the stops ( I forget the name )and when we resumed our journey, I continued sleeping. I suspect the others were nursing a secret wish for my slumber to continue until journeys end. ( I'm rather tone deaf you see )

I awoke to find the weather nice and cool. The winding road was reminiscent of trips back to Raub. I must confess to feeling a little nauseaus. To occupy my mind, I sang even louder. This time around, the girls made their feelings very clear so I was forced to clam up or be booted out of the car. I chose the former.

The apartment was lovely. I showered in icy cold water and felt rejuvenated and perky once more. Dinner was a warm steam-boat session. During which we sat ourselves with two other people and were forced to make conversation.

On the last day, we managed to oil ourselves out of the obligatory talks and ventured out of the vicinity of the hotel. Strawberry picking was not to be. Apparently everybody else picked the strawberries leaving us with nothing much else left to do. And so we bought flowers instead. And I bought 8 little pots of cactus.
One of which was squished on the way home. It's now tilted at 48 degrees but surviving nonetheless.

Now, usually I'm partial to durians. The pong irritates me. The after effects of durian gorging almost always leaves me wondering why I don't have better self control. And so, it was with some trepidation that I accepted this invitation to a durian feast.

We set ourselves off in good time. The drive was uneventful save for the sudden 90 degree turn I did to save ourselves the bother of having to loop around further on. A lucky save I should think. We arrived in good time. The crowd was already gathering and the festive mood infected me quite a bit.

I negotiated my car and parked it under the tree. A kind soul persuaded me to move. 20 minutes later, we heard a large plopping sound. And there sat a durian, at the very spot where my car was parked earlier. I wonder whether insurance would have covered the large dent had the durian succeeded in leaving its mark on my car.

We ate for 15 people. It was only after our tummies felt full and we had reached that comfortable complacent state that we began to look around a bit. Nothing like sharing durians to forge a bond.