Coffee coffee anyone?

Coffee coffee anyone?, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

The "keep calm and carry on" logo seems to be on most things;mugs, T-shirts, Fridge magnets,notepads, posters and now coffee cans. It was a logo to boost morale just before the start of world war 2. And the poster was produced by the ministry of information in the UK. Fancy it being resurrected and used today. Goes to show...the phrase can boost morale even now when we're not in the midst of war.

Antique Chairs

posh chairs....will get one!, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

We found a shop at Solaris selling antique furniture. Walking into it, was like walking into Mozart's house. Nice delicate chairs with lovely embroidery. I spied two footstools and an ottoman which would look good in my apartment. ( Once I chuck some junk out). The owner ( she served us) was a lovely lady who told us a bit about each piece of furniture which caught our eye. There was also a delighful dining table for RM 5000. Worth the money. But no place to put it.

Hundreds and thousands

image, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Hundreds and thousands. What do these words mean to you? Agatha Christie used this word in one of her Miss Marple murder stories. Together with the word"Banting". The banting bit was easy enough to figure out. Some old fashion means of dieting. But the hundreds and thousands bugged me for a while. This was before the era of wikipedia. I found out some years later. And on Sunday I found this at BIG at Solaris. Sprinkles is another name for it.

A separate note on "Banting" nothing to do with the man who co-discovered Insulin and won the novel prize together with Best in 1923. This "Banting" in the Miss Marple series is William Banting an obese undertaker who was the first to popularise the low carbohydrate diet around 1863. Fancy that!

NUI Galway Reunion

Galway Reunion, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This was held two weeks ago at Le Meridien. Reunions make you nostalgic for what has passed. It's been more than 10 years since I've seen some and the bulk of the folks were many many years our junior. The College President gave a speech as well as a virtual tour of UCG as it is now. Definitely progressed a fair bit since I left in 1997. Good memories in Galway I'm more determined than ever to return for a visit

Kinokuniya KLCC

books galore, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I've been to three different branches, Singapore, Sydney and KL.Ours is the best. Love the wooden flooring and that its in KLCC so you can head out to more shopping ie coffee or tea once you've bought your books. Sydney's is big but didn't feel as cosy. I took a bus there and found it after a feel foiled attempts. Not a good map reader you see.

I nearly always get some books which can't be found elsewhere. And which make good reading.

ALK talk at PJ Hilton

sushi from PJ Hilton, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

PJ HIlton 's drive down to the basement carpark is murderous. But the parking itself once you( safely) reach the bottom is okay. There is a cosy feeling in the lobby. Something which sadly KL Hilton lacks. Maybe its the space, PJ Hilton has nooks and crannies. And there's a place to the right where it levels off slightly to a row of shops. There was a huge crowd yesterday afternoon. A bunch of school teachers and new students were having a pre-post registration lunch. I was there for an interesting talk on testing for the ALK mutation as a marker for lung cancer. When they said small group discussion...they weren't exaggerating...there were 7 of us in total excluding the speaker and reps. Small! we had a room with large glass panels so I saw the thunder and rain and the sunshine after...from the safety of the room. Lunch was a bento set. Again, a reminder that PJ Hilton serves better food than KL HIlton.

chic lit

chic lit, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Have you read any book by Rebecca Shaw? She writes about the "village" and there is a separate series on vets. I found this gorgeous book at Kinokuniya on Saturday. Her latest in the series so you can well imagine how pleased I was finding it. I've given up my promise not to buy any books. It lasted almost 8 months before I caved in. And so now...I have three piles of books waist high messing my place up.

Mornings!

t shirt, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

No posts recently due to lack of time...plus tiredness. Middle-age. It's not a joke. You no longer plan 3-4 things to do after work. Instead, you think about lying down in bed as a huge reward for surviving the day intact. Mornings are still my favouriite time of the day except the last few weeks....I blame Barcelona for messing with my internal alarum clock causing a reset ( iike daylight savings") to my mornings starting much later in the day. Am working on resetting the body but it takes time.

uitm medical campus sg buloh

uitm medical campus sg buloh, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I was here on Tuesday morning to give a talk. The drive there was smooth until after the last tol where I hit a mini jam. I used "waze" and I'm going to give Waze an 8/10 for accuracy. It led me to Hospital Sg Buloh which was the destination I set. For an odd reason I cannot explain, I was convinced the campus was linked literally to Hospital Sg Buloh. I drove into the carpark and drove about and around it looking in vain for any sign of the UITM campus  before heading out...only to drive on and enter a hotel directly after that. So I asked the guard at the hostel...who told me the campus was way beyond.

He was right...you cannot miss it. The buildings are positioned nicely and you can see it to your right as you drive. Parking was LOVELY. I got a spot right in front of the auditorium. No where else can you get such a good parking spot.

The talk itself was okay and I got back in time to do some real work for the rest of the day.

nasi dagang pohon cherry

nasi dagang pohon cherry, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

AO brought me to the best nasi dagang stall in the whole of Kota Baru. No actual signboard but when asked ( and I found the foursquare name for it)I found it's name to be "bawah pohon cherry". What an cute name.

We ate nasi dagang for breakfast. Bit different from the nasi dagang from Kuala Trengganu which has fish as its main protein part. I must confess...we also had nasi tumpang and another rice delicacy which was sweet for breakfast. Filling and satisfying!

It was tasty right down to the last grain of rice. Nasi dagang is not something we eat often in Kuala Lumpur. And the ones I've bought and tasted haven't been as nice as this. So I'm now pretty determine to go nasi dagang hunting on Saturday morning.

Taken with the S4

pasar, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Another picture of Siti Khatijah Market. I couldn't resist showing off this taken with the S4. Samsung is certainly doing something right. Their quality of pictures are so much better han the iphone ....that I worry the iphone will die off in a few years.

pasar siti khatijah kota baru

pasar siti khatijah kota baru, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I was in KB last weekend. A fleeting visit to give a talk. I did however( being in a company of a lovely hostess) manage a spot of shopping at Pasar Siti Khadijah. This was my 4th visit but my first in the morning and I caught this picture from the top floor. Isn't it lovely? Here are the ladies all settled down and ready to do business. The Kelantanese are gracious and friendly and they support each other. The turn out for the talk was an astounding 75 people including non-respiratory specialist attending to support their colleague. I had an absolutely fabulous morning before my flight back to KL. Flew into Subang airport....

flight to Kota Baru

flight to Kota Baru, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Flew into Kota Baru this afternoon. The plane was late from Langkawi and we were behind by 10 minutes.  As I was running at a tight schedule to arrive in time for my talk...I had a bit of a panic moment  during that ten minutes with vision of flight being even more delayed than the promised ten minutes.  BUT, got  into KB in good time

The flight itself was quite empty. This picture shows rows of empty seats:) Despite the turbulence at the begining of the flight....I slept like a baby and woke up in time for the landing.NO swollen ankles:)

Batik shoes

Batik shoes, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Just to deviate from Spanish Barcelona posts, here's a picture of my newest show bought at a mall in Jakarta. It was a fleeting visit...flew in friday night and flew out Saturday night. Purpose of the meeting a talk on the Pathos paper. I squeezed a quick walk to the nearest mall. We stayed at J W Marriott which makes the nearest mall 15 min walk away.

I found this lovely set of shoes in a little shop. Again size was a problem. I bought the Batik Mary Janes:) Wore them on Tues:)

Roman Wall

Roman Wall, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

Again...because I didn't do my research before doing a walkie walk around the Ghotic quarter I don't have a decent picture of the remains of the Roman wall. After browsing through my pictures...I believe this is it. Taken just beside the Catedral de Barcelona....the wall behind this group of people dates back to medieval times. Barcelona was part of the Roman Empire for 400 years. So you can understand the smattering of artifacts and bits of landmarks still present today.

These Romans...they certainly knew how to built walls!

Castanets

Castanets, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

No Castanets at the wells. Have you ever read that book? It's written by Lorna Hill. The "Wells" series is one based on ballet dancing and the trials different dancers go through. The books are interconnected. And the background is on Sebastian and Veronica...and her cousins. I enjoyed reading them very much. Still do sometimes actually!! I wonder why they've never made a comeback.

Flamenco dancers

Flamenco dancers, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

I saw this market at the street about 1.5 minutes away from Hard Rock Cafe. They were selling such gorgeous things that despite my usual motto of not buying any porcelain( heavy and fragile requiring quite a bit of care...ie had luggage) I bought a few things.

Flamenco dancers ....I didn't get a chance to see the real thing. I did watch a Spanish dance troupe at the KLCC Philharmonic a few years back.

Bye bye swollen feet

Shoes, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

There is another long haul flight at the end of this month. Fingers crossed!!! For the moment, I'm glad to report they are back to normality and I can now wear ALL my shoes comfortably.

Potential things to do to avoid a repeat episode
1. Be one of those ANNoying people who walk UP and DOwn the aisle for numerous toilet visits in flight
2. Do vigorous leg exercises intermittently on flight. ( Which like number 1...means less sleeping boohoo)
3. Admit to a serious problem and buy and WEAR compression stockings.

Picture is taken in a lovely shoe shop in Barcelona. They didn't have my size. I'm a 35.

Moleskin

Moleskin, originally uploaded by heartsacks.

I was this close to buying the weekly planner by moleskin. Loads of them positioned deliciously on the shelves at Borders. ( They have a dedicated corner just for moleskin to the right of the shop pass the magazine corner. I have the exact shade of fiery red in ( no surprise) square lines for lovely work notes. And am currently in the process of transferring my data over from old notebook to new moleskin notebook. It's tedious because I am taking great pains to write and spell correctly.

I'm thinking....the job will take at least 1 month at this rate.

Midweek...(tick done)

chocolate for everyone, originally uploaded by andreaban2009.

This was taken at a chocolate shop in the Gothic area in Barcelona. We walked away from the opera house and Palau Guell and followed our inner GPS. LF had a compass with her. We found out much later ( a whole day later ) that the compass was wonky. It's true what the tripadvisor tells you...perhaps not for everything but at least the description of what to expect in the Gothic area is faily accurate. It's a bit like stepping back into a movie scene from the past. The roads look smaller, the lanes that much narrower and the roads are cobbletone. Hard to walk. I wonder whether this contributed to my swollen feet.

This shop was so colorful we were lured in by that alone. And then of course the choices are amazing. The packaging was different and they had ( observe the top of the picture) tin boxes you can buy to put your chocolates/biscuits/marzipans in. If I'd brought a bigger bag...I would have bought one small tin and a big tin.

Wednesday is almost over. It's been a busy week. My feet are behaving and I've worn two new pairs of shoes. Oh boy! Nice to have small feet again.