Away

Currently attending this. Which means understanding the subject matter. On the up side, I have crossed out two things from the to-do-list this evening. 8 more to go. Bleah!

Flying Chillies

Tempura squid

Basil Chicken with steamed rice

Had dinner at Flying chillies at the Gardens. Nice and quiet on the weekday. No brawling kids. My favourite dish would be the basil chicken. Do you see the bits of chill padi ( green specks) with the chicken? The egg was overdone yesterday but I shan't complain because it was a lovely dinner.

Precious...

Lost between sunrise and sunset, sixty golden minutes

No reward is offered, for it is gone forever

These Happy Golden Years. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Monday :)

Hassle-free drive to work. I hope this sets the tone for the rest of the week. Happy working to everybody. Plan for today is not to lose my temper. Let's see how that works:)

Chicken licken at the dinner table and a very cute bear

The exact opposite of last Sunday's dinner, I had a lovely yummy satisfying meal this evening. On the menu was; fried yam roll,  four angled beans fried with dried prawns and chillies, tau fu with chinese wine in a clay pot, fried hor fun and SUCKLING pig. Yum!! It was our 4th visit to this restaurant and they have served consistently delicious food. Before the meal was served, little cheeky chicken licken found its way to the table and had a sniff at the acar on the plate.

Such a sweetie it deserves to be posted on the blog

Found! One bear at TIMEs bookstore. Too adorable for words so I clicked away. Wouldn't mind one for christmas! So those of you reading this, may want to spread the word.:)

Wakey wakey

picture taken from booksforkidsblog

Found on the net. Too cute to ignore so I decided to post it. That's me in denial. Happy Sunday I need my caffeine-fix before I can function.

Ward rounds etc

I'll be heading for ward rounds later this morning. Hope there're no nasty surprises waiting.

And this is the new obsession. Gone off facebook and egg-collecting and updating status every 3 minutes and poking other people senseless. THIS is just as addictive.

And I really must have a pedicure.....

What a pong

"The Green Leaves of Summer" has to be shelved. Indefinitely. Until I can come up with a way how to read it without the smell ( still figuring out what kind it is) getting up my nose. I've tired reading it from a bit further away than usual. Plus ( I must confess) the story line isn't as enticing as it promised to be. Although what possessed me to believe so firmly in the idea of it being a treasure I cannot say. A lapse in judgement. And now, I'm left with an old book which reeks of years of dirt and dust lying on the dining table waiting for its fate. I think I may be allergic to it. Eeek! 

This frustration led to "A funny thing about love" by Rebecca Farnworth. Picked up two days back. It smells of new-ness which is something I never thought I'ld admit to liking a little bit more than usual. And so for the next week, I think I deserve a pong-free-read. 

Outside the comfort zone

picture taken from haas-elsa.info

I've been out of my comfort zone for the last one week. What this has done ( apart from making me aware of my short-comings..which is never pleasant) is make me more efficient. Week one over. I have more grays....and less sleep....and more work piling up. But I'm not complaining just yet because the there's a little bit of me that's pleased I'm being pushed just that bit more. Happy Friday folks...and I'm looking forward to this evening...of unwinding with a nice meal and book. 
Plan for the weekend is to watch the last episode of korean drama Yu Hee the witch....possibly do some reading ( optional ) and a spot of shopping...( I needs new shoes) ....and buy a new hair clip. ( not a necessity *ahem*)In between all that, there's the obvious obligatory violin practise. ( bleah ) Results out in Oct....I've got a bad feeling about this. Fingers crossed. 

Book two....

Finished "Button Jugs"am now onto " The Green Leaves of Summer" by Oriel Malet published by Faber and Faber, 24 Russell Square London. Reading time limited by the self imposed rule of reading at the dining table only, lest the dirt and dust of many many years drop onto the bed and cause scabies.  Time to head to work. Happy Tuesday everybody

Funny ducks....

My favourite would be the duck lying on its back:)

Monday wasn't as bad as expected. .Picture of ducks taken ( illegally ) in a shop at Great Eastern Mall. Shortly after the horrible dinner we had. Don't you just LOVE them?

Penang Village

The dinner place.....where we suffered

Empty tables all around. Now we don't have to wonder too hard why

Half eaten paiti. 

Oh-terrible-oh-chien

The three stone-like chicken bits were tasteless

Decor was VERY nice:)

There was a write-up in the papers today. This led us to Great Eastern Mall and this restaurant. Ambience was nice. There were 8 other people in the restaurant. The first inkling that all was not right. Next bad omen was the list of branches....I spied a branch which we ate in before and the meal was terrible.  Paiti was the first to arrive with a CASHEW ( swoon ) nut in it. The paiti was lemau....and the only good thing about it was the chilli sauce. The nasi goreng petai was sweet and even the petai couldn't cheer me up. the keropok was crispy so no complains there.  The Oh Chien was OH-so-terrible. We also ordered fried kueh teow which was given a 7/10 and kueh teow sup which was brilliant.  Service was slow. Nobody greeted us at the door and getting someone to see my hand waving for the bill took some time. I won't be returning...EVER!

A treasure of books

The Junk Book Store

Two chairs, different height and make...but same function. Offering respite to the knees should you wish to use it

I have to thank"Going Places". As soon as I sat down at the begining of my 6 hour flight, I picked up  the magazine and found a write-up on second-hand-bookstores in Kuala Lumpur. For a short while, I was in book heaven as I greedily read the reviews and mentally ticked off the places I've been to ( feeling smug in the process) until I read about Junk Bookstore. We sped through the runway and the rest of the flight was spend snoozing. ( my sympathies to those of you who find it difficult to sleep inflight) Anyway, on the flight back home, I requainted self with the article and this time jotted down the address. 

This morning, after a slight detour and threading my way through the crowds and confusion,I found myself in front of Junk Bookstore. ( Two trains and a bit of walking in the sun )I travelled light, taking with me what I considered to be the bare essentials of life;purse, handphone, keys,camera and extra bag just in case I buy more than a few books. There were two ladies in the shop. One was more quiet and the other seemed rather more interactive and certainly very helpful. 

"What books are you looking for?" she asked. 

Hoovering Sucks!!

makingtime4you.co.uk

It's midnight. And I can afford to be smug. Rather than the usual plan of hoovering on a Saturday morning, I overcame this sluggish ( and lazy ) feeling and brought forward the dreaded hoovering to earlier this evening. And as a result, I now have clean floors, clean clothes ( hoovering and laundry go hand-in-hand although they don't really have to) and lovely sensation of having done something nice  BEFORE the weekend is here. I have plans to hunt for a second hand bookstore at Jalan Tun H S lee which is really in the city centre. " Wish me happy hunting...I hope to get some lovely secondhand books tomorrow morning

Look what I bought this evening...

Bought for a mere RM35+++ this lovely book on Agatha Christie, the inside cover shows a picture of her notebooks and her handwriting is seen too. It promises two previously unpublished Poirot stories so I'm looking forward to immersing myself in the life and writing of Agatha Christie.

The Vintage Caper

The story opens with Danny Roth, a very rich lawyer lacking in taste and eager for recognition. And so, he gets himself and his wine collection featured in a magazine. Shortly after that, the collection goes missing. Enter insurance company,in the shape of one Elena Morales. One thing leads to another ( boring bit so I'll skip that) and eventually we come to the main reason this book was written.The story is about how Sam Levitt comes to find these missing racks of wine. He takes a journey to France and for some weird reason ( a huge bit of luck) gets a whiff of something and ends up in Marseilles and with the help of a lovely french lady ( yes yes..) he gets his treasure. I'm still trying to decide how it ends. ( V weird ending) but I don't have to decide whether I like this book because I don't...at least not very much. The story line isn't the problem, the subject matter wasn't interesting enough for me. Description of the countryside fell short and become in parts like reading a brochure. So no, I won't recommend this Mayle book. But I will say this, please please buy yourself " A Year In Provence" by peter mayle. You won't regret this. As for Vintage Caper, you can give this a miss.

macro mode G10

Proving once again, that the G10's macro mode is brilliant

The yellow was brilliant, aided by the natural sunlight

Very light green just look at the shadows.

I dropped the G10 a few months ago...and AGAIN recently. Not intentionally!!! For a while now, I had a suspicion the zoom and clarity of the macro mode was affected by the shock and the impact on the floor. These shots prove otherwise. Yay!

RM10

I am going to enjoy using these very much. 36 yummie colours to choose from.

Fair and lovely

Found at Namdaemun shopping centre.( don't knock it till you've tried it) Two different face masks, one which will brightened your skin and the other promises to make your pores smaller. Who can resist? Rather than come in a boring clinical looking jar, these koreans really know how to jazz up their stuff. Here's a picture...just so you KNOW why I was attracted to the stuff. Happy Malaysia Day!!!! I rested and rested and rested. 

Malaysia day eve...

Day 27 , She's sick of being sick ,, originally uploaded by B a r ش a.

Tomorrow is a public holiday named "Malaysia Day". Our first ever. Now if I don't get better by tomorrow morning, this day-off-work would be wasted. WASTED!! So I'm really hoping the myalgia,lethargy and crabby mood goes away by morning. Happy Malaysia Day:)

Desperate to read

The sequel to Henrietta's War has been published in August this year. I NEED to get this. Found on this blog "I Prefer Reading" this morning. A quick research tells me Kinokuniya may have this book in their store. MPH does not. *bleah*

Smelling gorgeous:)

I've been feeling lately that I ought to make myself smell a little different. Not that there is anything wrong with the current smell I have now. There are floral pongs which sadly trigger a leak in the nose. But Marc Jacobs Biscotti is apparently not capable of this nasty deed. And for this ( plus the lovely lovely smell ) I am now a proud owner of this little number. Something a little more special than the usual perfumes. This..is bliss.

What I'm reading...err

Peter Mayle. Does the name seem familiar? A year in Provence, Toujours Provence, Acquired taste...?? My first introduction to Mayle's writing was via Marilyn (university friend who's taste differs from mine..and as a result her recommendations are occasionally ignored).  I remember how enchanted I was with his writing. I've read "a year in provence" many times since, and still keep coming back for more. The second mayle book which I enjoyed ( possibly more than the first) is "Acquired Taste". Divided into chapters, complete on its own, I was completely obsessed with it for a while. And so, I am now in posession of another Mayle book; " The Vintage Caper". 

If you're Malaysian...

Found at Mercato!

My favourite way to spend raya....in the company of good friends with loads of chatter and a continuous flow of good food and teh tarik. Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri:)

Bookfest rip-off

I paid RM2 to enter. Had a green-coloured paper band  as proof.

The selection of English books was disappointing

Books were piled like so

I nearly bought Sharon Owen's book. but I didn.t Promised self I wouldn't be swayed by the "discounted price"

I agree!

This shot is for YK and Mei Ching...hee hee

The crowd sucked every ounce of energy from me

This lecture by "uncle" was on how to get the sudoku right each and EVERY time:)

Bye bye bookfest. Hello Kinokuniya

Seoul 2010

Taken ( before the kind lady said NO photos please) at the Korea House,80-2 Pildong 2-ga, Jung-gu 100-272

Kwang jung market. We wanted to go to Namdemeun market. The cab driver  took us here instead. No regrets. I would like to think we got a chance to see a glimpse of Korea with locals doing what they usually do.

Seoul, the largest city in South Korea. View from the 10th floor Grand Hyatt Seoul

Hanboks for sale....in delightful eye-catching colours. Who can resist??

Korean pancakes cooked at the market. These guys look like they know they're in for a treat. Those green bottles have 14% alcohol in them.

Ginseng biscuits marketed like you've never seen before

I strongly recommend trying this little thingy if you get the chance

Our dinner in Seoul, seafood steamboat.( With brains I think)

These eeky beings weren't part of our meal.( I hope)

Namdaemun gate...taken late in the evening.

All these *wave hands* have reignited my obsession with Korean drama serials. Am now watching Yu hee the witch. ( yay to that) Now I want a hanbok too..and to eat bibimbap and kimchi.