Painting by numbers

Painting by numbers, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I bought another set of these. It's additive nd therapeutic at the same time. I'll start on this project in Mid Sept:)

Clogs

Clogs by night, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

These look lovely and they're uncomfortable to wear generally. I used to have two wooden clogs with leather band across pretty much like the ones in the picture. Walking in them was a bit hard unless the leather is soft you will feel it cutting into your poor feet.

I wear them now when I clean the bathroom with chlorox....to protect my feet:)

Time for work

Pencils in a plastic container, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The sky looks gloomy this morning. I hope the haze isn't back with us. Today is clinic day where my patience is usually tested to the maximum. Wish me luck:)

Family portrait like it or hate it

I'll deviate from my collection of pictures from Melaka for this picture. Loads of criticism on the net when it first came out. I'm not sure how true this is but Michael Middleton is meant to have taken this picture. I wonder how he must have felt reading those rather nasty comments dissecting this picture to death, talking about the composition, lack of proper lighting etc. But perhaps, he should have known better, when you attempt ( and fail)at  trying to be different from the norm, sparks will fly. This is no ordinary baby. He is the future King of England.His parents are also the future monarchs of England. His grandmother is perhaps the most well known monarch in the World.

Now wilth all this at stake, perhaps it was a little foolish to release this picture. You cannot pretend to be middle class. This will anger the real poor. Do not pretend to be something you are not. You are royal, you live in palaces, you ride in carriages for some occasions ( like your wedding for instance) and more importantly you need NEVER worry about money or getting tickets to Wimbledon, Olympics, Ascot, Derby. And you don't have or need a passport. You're special, accept it and work for your people. Otherwise, the monarchy might well end before you get a chance to be called King. I blame William for coming up with this half baked idea.

Philea Resort and Spa, Melaka

Philea, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Philea Resort, prides itself on their authentic log cabins. ( Shown in picture) The path leading to these cabins are pretty uneven and small. A buggy will take you there. Through the tiny path ( and bumpy ride) you get to view lovely cabins to your right and below you to your left. There are a lot of trees shading this ride so you won't feel the heat. It's lovely in the night because only then do you feel rather cold and chilly.

It's better to get the rooms on the top floor. More privacy as there's less risk of people peeping into the window and more importantly the ceiling is high. That's a nice view. The steps leading up can be a challenge for wonky knees ( like mine). Switch the air condition on pronto and leave it on. The horsepower of the aircon must be weeny cos it takes some minutes before the room cools down. I found the bathroom cooler than the room. LIghting is romantic. i.e. very low lights. They provide slippers to dampen the vibration of the wooden floor so your neighbours will still be friendly the next morning.

Address: Lot 2940, Jalan Ayer Keroh, Off Jalan Plaza Tol, 75450 Malacca, Malaysia

Phone:+60 6-233 3399

Painful right knee

Photographing Pain, originally uploaded by Professional Recreationalist.

I have no choice. I will not run today, nor tomorrow nor the day after.....not until my right knee sorts itself out. Today the knee was swollen and I felt a tightness from the knee down. The ankle also looks suspiciously thicker. And I generally feel a little bit miserable. Oh yes, there's an occasional ( but annoying) shooting pain in the right knee join. NO obvious triggers except maybe certain positions and when it happens, I walk like an OLD lady.

ps the odd thing is, the LEFT knee is the one which looks swollen but tis the right which hurts like hell

The HUGE crowd

The HUGE crowd, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This is the Jonker Street night market. It starts at 6pm and goes on well into Midnight. We arrived around 9pm and this is what greeted us. As you can see, it was impossible to shop in peace. And due to the humidity there is a high chance of brushing against a sweaty arm or two. ( I had a cold swety elbow brush against my arm TWICE. It was awful.

There's a bit of pushing and the warm weather can get to you. I wouldn't recommend this if your intention is to shop. Do that during the day when the stuff are in the shops. The extra things sold at the market aren't all wonderful. Although I did spy a chinese stamp stall which was interesting.

This was taken at the near the Geographical Cafe and Christina Ee tart shop. We turned around here and walked back to Jonker Street near Hard Rock Cafe and drove home. My iphone died shortly after which meant we took at least 2 wrong turnings both of which led us through quite a bit of traffic before we eventually hit the highway.

A happy shopping lady

A happy shopping lady, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I bought this in Melaka. Nice happy steel gnome for the garden. And the pose shows a happy bubbly person dying to buzz into the start of a whole new day:) Estimated cost RM28.

The long line for chicken rice

The long line for chicken rice, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

A different view of the long line of humans standing in line for the infamous chicken rice ball.  I've seen a documentary on TV which showed the actual making of these chicken rice balls. It looked easy enough. I think I may be able to wing it. They are pretty pricey but you can't eat too many balls. It's filling. I am sure this place has been advertised to death. The actual building is nothing to shout about. The signs are no different from the other shops....in fact, less than 200 metres from here is another shop which looked better but there wasn't a huge crowd outside. So here is proof, that if you're famous and have been featured in the right magazines you have good business.

NO! We didn't eat here. We were rather short of time as we had to get back to Philea resort for the talk at 2pm. Again...a drawback staying so far from town. It meant having to factor in one whole hour for traffic.

An interesting scene at the balcony

An interesting scene at the balcony, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Is that petai being sunned? It certainly looks it from this distance. This was taken on a scorching Saturday afternoon from the shop selling durian cendol and garden gnomes. I zoomed using the G12 and got a good view.

This was very near Hard Rock Cafe Melaka and the start of Jonker Street.

Things to do in Melaka

batik, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Well, the obvious thing is shopping and this I do pretty well. My 3rd visit in 6 months and I can still find interesting things to buy. This visit was an overnight stay at Philea resort ( pictures later) which is just off the Ayer Keroh toll. The resort itself was nice. Logpine from the internet and yes when we arrived we were suitably impressed with the ambience. A big negative was the distance from town. Tro and fro ...cost me quite a lot of petrol. And the traffic required some patience on my part.

This is a picture of a collection of colorful batiks in the shop where I bought two kebayas. The shop is located just before you reach the "red" buildings in town. This wasn't the usual shop.
"Mana Kak X?" I asked.
" Dia tak bukak lagi...dia masak dulu. Saya makan kat luar " answered the lady I bought the kebaya from. As I was her first customer for the day, she gave me a 5 ringgit discount.

The kebayas vary in size slightly. Different people cutting the pattern means different sizes. So two size "SS" may be slightly different in length and width. The kebaya was for mum. I'm still a little thick around the waist for my ole kebaya and I refuse to upgrade a size.

I wore a Cheong Sam for the day. Factoring the journey from town to resort, I'd decided early on that I may not have enough time to change before the talk. So I walked about Jonker street in a cheong sam and slippers. I've not been so well dressed before:) Never again.

Currently reading

Macarons...I still WANT them!

Vanilla bean Kahlua macarons, originally uploaded by honey drizzle.

I'm still obsessing over macarons. I've decided that vanilla would be the ideal taste for me. And now to find the time to head to TWG Pavillion. Yes, I've also decided I'll be sampling the macarons there with some delightful tea. It would be a great end to a day and something to look forward to. Laduree macarons will have to wait for now. Unless they have it at the airport. Do they??

Colourful bread

Untitled, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This bread can be found at Mori Bakery Solaris Dutamas. It's just beside Chawan at the entrance to Publika. Not bad. It's a little bit sweet. So you need to team it up something salty like ham to enjoy it properly. ( Which is what I did).

Kluang Station

Untitled, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We ate in Kluang Station at Tropicana Mall. They serve very tasty chicken chop a fraction of the price you would pay at Swine. And if you're a curry puff person....you may be interested in trying theirs.

shoes for big people

shoes for big people, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Yay for Tropicana City Mall. I finally made it to the Dr Kong Shoe shop after nearly a year from first learning about it. Bought my first pair in Hong Kong. The girl was patient and used many different combination of insoles to get the right fit. I could only one one shoe to fit. The rest were too big.

I got my second pair on Sunday:) Nice patent leather black shoes with light brown trimming giving it a bit of style. A thicker insole made it snug. I work it the entire day Monday with no pain. No need to "break it in".

L1-43A, First Floor, Tropicana City Mall, No 3, Jalan SS20/27,, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
+603 7729 2889 pr +603 7729 2889/ +603 2110 1660

Running Lab

Untitled, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I visited Tropicana City Mall for the first time yesterday evening. It poured with rain. And Waze miscalculated leading me to a housing area where I took some time to get out of. Found the running lab at last. Although the real reason for coming here was to get the keys sorted. Did you know if you lose your car keys you can get one made? And that not every shop can do every key....which is the reason why we were there.

I bought my first pair of Brooks ( adrenaline stability) yesterday and had my first run this morning. Pretty heavy shoe because I bought the one with maximum support to avoid more knee ache.

G-29, Ground Floor, Tropicana City Mall, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Tel number:03-77278555

Moon Embrace Sun

I know this sounds like a silly title. And the picture on the box set wasn't enticing. If it weren't for the lady selling the DVDs insisting this was a nice drama and that I would LOVE it, I certainly wouldn't have bothered buying this. I finished this yesterday evening and felt a bit sad the ending didn't show us more of what happened. I'm sure you've been in this situation before.

The picture above is of the 3 little girls who were chosen amongst the many thousand eligible girls in the land to be princess consort. Do they not look adorable in their hanboks? The first DVD was played by little children playing the part of the heir to the throne, the little maid, the two little girls who came to live in the palace. They acted well. The girl to the right in the green and pink hanbok ( who grows up to be the heroine in the show) acted spunky and intelligent. Her adult character was a docile boring person in comparison.

4 more days

macaron, originally uploaded by mellow_stuff.

4 more days to the weekend. What lies between me and the glorious weekend is work. Happy Monday folks...it looks like a quiet week ahead hopefully

Full blast aircon

Untitled, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The air condition at work has been rather cold in the last month. As a result, I wear knee length socks when I'm at the desk and I think a wrap would also be helpful.

This is a wrap from British India. HUmongously overpriced! The new shipment of clothes have arrived and we had a lovely time browsing last Sunday. There are at least 2 blouses which I want.

Macaron and not waffle

Untitled, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

It's the first working day after a long 4 day break for the Raya celebration. The roads were gloriously empty. I took 15 minutes to get from carpark at home to carpark at work. Amazing!!! The workplace was quiet.The drive back from work was also super fast. I managed to squeeze in a 5 km jog after work. The haze wasn't too bad so I braved my lungs and completed the jog. No wheeze...yet.

Selamat Hari Raya

Flower, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Time flies! And today we celebrate the 1st of Syawal, Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to everyone out there. We have a glorious 4 days of holiday and most people are out of the city and back at their home towns. I 'm looking forward to meeting old friends and sitting down to eat good food and exchanging goss.

* picture taken by my sister-in-law I found it in my iphoto and uploaded it.

Sesame bagel

Sesame bagel, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Since I've exceeded my picture quota I'm only able to upload pictures via flickr and I can't seem to add more than 1 picture per post. So here is a separate post with a picture of that sesame bagel from Tedboy cafe. It was delicious. And the sesame bits didn't drop off all over the place as I thought it might.

Waiting patiently

Waiting patiently, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

My main agenda was to get a cake. Tedboy was sadly lacking in choices. So after breakfast and ( ahem!a after a quick stroll in BV2) I walked out and entered Tous les Jours which is just around the corner from Tedboy. Tous les jours is a French-Asian bakery.

More people here. And the service was less personal. I stood for a while at the counter before I got served. The lady didn't appear to understand that I wanted a whole cake. She gave me a slice instead. I eventually got the cake and the lady who served me (she wore a chef's hat) asked what I wanted to be written on the cake. She was nice. The other lady at the counter was a little less friendly. No smiles...but no actual sulks either. I guess she was tired maybe.

I sat at a small table near the door and waited for the cake to be sorted. (Picture above) Oh yes...you can see my orange La pliage Longchamp, the ole red purse and my smurf village after harvesting

Tedboy cafe

The seating area, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

MU told me about this cafe via whassap yesterday evening. The conversation centered around cakes, food and korean dvds. One thing led to another and this came up. I googled and found some nice reviews on the net. And so here is my review after driving here for breakfast. The original idea was to get a cake from this bakery. But the cakes were limited so I had breakfast instead.

The service was good. The two young men and one young lady who were serving were efficient. They moved fast, worked well together and were alert to their customers queries and wants.

The seating area is slightly limited but arranged to have some variability which is nice. The pastries looked very good too but I thought I should limit self because my bajus look suspiciously snug.
I had the sesame bagel and latte. It was lovely and I had a pleasant breakfast at Tedboy cafe.

It's very easy to find. Directly opposite Delicious at Bangsar Village 2. I used waze and parked outside which was so cheap. RM0.90


Tedboy Bakery,
10, Jalan Telawi 4, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2202-1312
Open 8am through at least 9pm daily

Review: I'm going to give it an 8/10. Docking two points because they didn't have crepe cake and the coffee could have been a little bit warmer:)

Rabbit Rabbit

Kawahata Fumiaki. Rabbit., originally uploaded by kastudio.

Aaargh...I forgot to say "Rabbit Rabbit" this morning. And I did so want loads of luck this month. Better key it in my iphone to buzz the morning alarum as "rabbit rabbit"

Illy coffee

Illy coffee, originally uploaded by cmozz.

I went through at least 8 days of drinking coffee with bits and now have deviced a method involving a sieve and some kitchen towels. Innovation courtesy of mum's brains. It's working out well....except I take longer in the kitchen most mornings which eats into my "me" time:)