Cant link Flick pics onto blogspot

Sorry for the long silence. I've been disheartened. I can no longer link my flick pictures to this blog easily. Youtube tells me there is a way. But it must be a glitch because despite following instructions, there is no embedded code to copy and paste.

While I sort this problem out with more trials....allow me to introduce you to my new blog on wordpress started last night. On Food.  here is the link. Hungry Hungry Hippo

It's also on the sidebar.

Is it sept already?

You may wonder why the long silence. There is a problem with Flick, well my account at least. I cannot link any of my pictures to this blog despite changing the privacy settings. Without pictures, I am forced to write more. And I am lazy that way. We're in the month of Sept already. I have many things planned for the year end truthfully they should have been done earlier in the year. Ever heard of the word procrastination? Lovely news! Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is pregnant with her second child. If you haven't seen pictures of videos of Princess Estelle , her first born and future Queen of Sweden, please google. It is worth it. Estelle is adorable. And the videos posted on the net show her playful personality.

sorry I've been lazy:)

SPF50 from Holika Holika.( Bought in Seoul)

If you've ever had the chance to visit Seoul, you will find yourself in the company of a lot of people with good clear skin. Glowing in fact. And when you head to the shops, with the idea of buying clothes and T-shirts, you will find yourself gravitating to the many facial product shops ( and there are many) to buy something in the hope of becoming gorgeous. This is what happened to me. True story.

During our last trip to Seoul ( thankfully before the MERS scare) we stayed in a hotel just beside Myeong Dong shopping area. ( Swoon so exciting I found myself energized for long walks just to look at things and ooh and aah over what they had in store) Anyway this long introduction leads to wearing SPF50 ( ladies are you reading this?) to remain freckle and pigmentation-free. Very important that. And if you already have one or two possible marks, save up for laser therapy which is the effective method of getting rid of it. Laser is costly so I recommend SPF50 as prevention. Cheaper in the long run.

Pictured above is a gem I found in seoul. Water-proof SPF50 from this Korean brand called Holika Holika ( So good you have to say it twice....I'm kidding)

myeong dong catheral

And I had the opportunity to attend sunset mass at Myeongdong Cathedral which is the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in Seoul. The cathedral is located at the end of one of the shopping streets and is up a hill. ( Picture was taken from the level of the road) The women is Korean are still pious. Quite a number of them wore veils upon entering the cathedral. Young and old. No age limit to veils. What was also impressive was the lovely singing. Voices like angels ( imagine Korean angels in Heaven) Due to the limited time in Seoul, I had to attend the sunset mass ( in Korean) on Saturday. Was flying out on Sunday back to Malaysia.

Updates!

Found at Kalaeidoscope at Publika

 This week has been sombre. Holy week which leads starts with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Saturday Vigil, and Easter Sunday mass. For me, April also sees us losing a very dear member of our team. Early retirement plans. While we wish our colleague ( and mentor) the very best, i cannot help feel sad. And so, this picture above, is a reminder that we have to soldier on regardless and make the best of what we currently have.

Other things which have been happening is the initiation of the site for the new clinical trial. Which means something exciting and busy. Finding a suitable patient for a trial is always a challenge, what more so when it means recruiting a patient from in-patient for a new antibiotic.

I made a quick trip to Singapore last month. ( Pictures and post separately soon)

Almost forgot. it's my dad's birthday today and we had nice carrot-walnut cake and I gave him this lovely sardine chocolate tin set ( which looks so sardine-like you would be hard pressed to be persuaded otherwise).

* It looks like I have seen silent for the entire month of March ( yikes!)

Back to work

I was caught in a 4 hour jam yesterday afternoon. This saw me arriving back in KL slightly after 8pm. Now the slow crawl was expected but the sudden heavy rain on the outskirts of KL just before the toll was not. What started as a dry and warm drive suddenly became a tough drive with minimal visibility. The reflector i.e. divider was one of the two markers I used to drive, the other being the lights of the car ahead. Everyone oddly enough wasn't going very slowly despite there being water leveling up to about 2-3 inches at most. It was a scary drive. Am glad to be back safely. And now, back to work. But first, morning mass because this is Lent.

Have you read James Herriot?

Picture taken from the Daily Mail

I was introduced to James Herriot by Aunty Pat, a very close family friend whom we spent many holidays visiting en route to Singapore. We would break our journey in Port Dickson ( Where Aunty P and Uncle C lived) and spend the night there before continuing on. During on the these trips, after dinner, Aunty P opened her secret wall and revealed books neatly lined up. They were very neat people with clean lines and open spaces being the theme in their home. I got my James Herriot that evening.

It was slow going initially. I must have been less than 10 and perhaps unable to appreciate tales on Veterinary medicine even when written elegantly and simply. But a few years on, i re-read the book and went on to buy all his books, reading it greedily and absorbing the lovely quirky tales of country life.

I am currently reading " The Real James Herriot" a biography written by his son. ( I've come almost full circle) Someone ( it could have been me but I'm not sure) bought this book at a discounted price at one of the many booksellers. It's priced at a mere RM19.90. That's how I know it was bought at a sale.

Marian Keyes' latest book: a winner !!!

I bought this book before Christmas. I think. These days I don't write the date I buy the book inside the book. Maybe it's something worth reconsidering. Anyway, this book has been on the shelf and subsequently on my dining table for weeks before I decided to read it. Slow going. I brought this book back for the CNY break. ( Last time I did this, the book was left in the bag untouched different book, different holiday)

This year, I decided to be organized. Upon arriving home, I brought my bags and violin  down from the car straight away. And unpacked the violin and violin stand, putting the music scores in order as well as taking out my paperwork.( Paperwork still untouched...we're not perfect yet. Getting there getting there) And I also unpacked two of my storybooks ( One I was 80% through and this book by Marian keyes untouched)

The first few pages was slow going but after the third chapter it hooked me in. I was still reading it intermittently until yesterday when the story got interesting and have whizzed through it finishing it just before 12:30am today.

Here are the main characters: ( Let me see whether I can remember them)
Stella ( the main character whose life we follow through the entire book)
Mannix( the second main character, a close fight with Ryan, Betsy and Jeffrey because they all feature in almost every page)
Gilda ( I can't hate her really, only maybe a bit)
Karen: Stella's sister
Enda: ( Karen's husband who is a Gardai and is depicted as a boring person but turns out he is human too at the end of the chapter, he gets a whole paragraph about him)
Stella's mum and dad ( who don't really have names, Mannix's mum and dad ( who have names but I can't remember them)
Roland; Mannix's older brother,
Hero and Rosa: Mannix's twin sisters and their husbands and their children.

Happy Year of the Goat!( Reunion dinner picture)

Ta Daaah

Most of my favourite food are here. Not all mind, because we have small stomachs ( you wouldn't think, looking at this picture) Let's just list them out: Yam basket with chicken (minus the sotong which can sometimes be too chewy for my liking), sweet and sour pork ( yay),Yee Sang ( yay yay) Fried mini prawns ( with Kampung Koh Chillie sauce), Chicken lined with fish ( I think it's fish...which tastes very nice with some sauce) Pig's stomach soup ( for my dad not me) and fried fish with some sour and spicy sauce ( no yay for this cos I don't like fish).

Missing from this are two of my other favourite dishes:

1. Jiu Hu Char (shredded cuttlefish with vegetables) Nobody does it as nicely as mum. ( I bet all daughters say this!

2. Another dish called charr su-wee ( pronounced this way. Not sure whether it is actually as well known a dish as number 1, but my paternal grandmother used to cook this, and now mum cooks this for us)

Happy Year of the Wooden Goat!!! I shall end with a baba CNY greeting ( I received from an old family friend) 

Boleh Panjang2 umur, sihat2 dan happy selalu,peng ann in family & murah rezeki:)

Will there be a jam?

Very nice type of Jam!

I've taken a day off work and will be traveling back tomorrow morning. All things being well, I hope to wake up,brush teeth, shower, have coffee and lug all my things to the car boot and be in the car by 0530.Do keep your fingers crossed that I shan't be caught in a jam.( On the side, crabtree and evelyn has very nice tasty jam....buy one and try)

Little goat

That's right. Tomorrow is the eve of the Chinese new year. It is also coincidentally Ash Wednesday which is the start of Lent for catholics. Thankfully we have been given special dispensation to fast and abstain on another day. ( I did mine today!) Chinese new year is observed as a public holiday in Malaysia and most countries surrounding us I believe. And so, we have Thursday and Friday off. Which naturally leads of an expected eflux of folks traveling out from KL to various other states.

Tomorrow everyone celebrating CNY will be on the road to end the day with the reunion dinner. Which is very important and a nice thing I think. The essentials are fish ( for brains...kidding it's actually for abundant year), lettuce ( for vigorous something...life I think) and shallots for wisdom and onions or is it celery I forget now. I'm pretty sure we're not having fish. I checked with my last weekend and unless I miss something, there will be no fish this year.

Longchamp sale

Look, they're almost sold out!

LF and I went crazy at Isetan when we realized there are Longchamps for sale and they were in a different design from the usual La Pliage. If you can just about make it out in the picture, the main difference is in the color of the weather. No longer in the usual brown, you have a choice of white or black and this makes the contrast quite different. The original lady who served us was very cautious and refused us permission to take any pictures The second lady who served us allowed us all the picture taking we wanted.

In celebration of Longchamp's 20th anniversary, they got Sarah Morrison to redesign the La Pliage collection. The La pliage is a staple bag for most women, certainly true for me. It was first introduced to women in 1993.

Morrison the artist has created three different lines for Longchamp.  Of the three, i have one from the Le Pliage Sarah Morris Palette collection.

This collection comes in eight shades ( the handles may be either white or black); robin's egg blue, banana, pink, light grey, kelly green , red blue and classic black.
This version features eight bespoke shades in either white or black handles. 

Kelly Green

Here is the Kelly Green and no I didn't get this one. The size and handle was a little odd for my liking.

Bengkel last Wednesday

It's been a while since we attended any bengkels. This is my first for 2015. It's on history-taking for the year one medical students. And my first class with them will be the week after Chinese new year. I've actually done the topsy-turvy thing and taken a group for the clinical skills session without attending this bengkel lady year. So this year, I'm doing it the right way around. Bengal first....and then teaching session.

The preclinical building is up and functioning. This means we don't have to travel to the KL campus for these sessions. Saving a lot of time. And making it possible to still head back to the wards to do rounds ( if needed) once these sessions are over.

I'll put up a picture of the new building later. It's on the other phone which isn't linked directly to Flickr.( I need to sort this out too)

Interesting things from the Phillipines

Forms to fil

At KLIA after getting through the gates, we were given these forms to fill. So tip number number for travelling, please keep a functioning pen in your handbag. Otherwise you will be forced to either wait until you board the plane and ask the stewardess for a pen or make some new friends at the boarding gate and get a loan of a pen. I prefer having my own pen.

So true

When we collected our luggage I saw this sign. Hilarious. I always thought it's dangerous how so many bags look alike. And I have seen some people lugging the bags off only to realise its not theirs and having to return it to the moving belt disappointed.  My bag is an old bag in dirty green. Easily recognisable.

Posters welcoming Pope Francis

It's amazing to see posters welcoming the Pope.You can  feel  just how holy these Filipinos are. Here's just one I caught en route to the hotel. We took some time to wade through traffic. It took us twenty minutes before we lost sight of the airport.  That should show you how slow we were driving.

Our room for the night in Manila

We then got a taste of the good life in Manila. We arrived at Edsa Shangrila to find ourselves greeted by very pretty ladies at the door, we were ushered to the lobby seated and served some delicious drink. Here is our room, nice and spacious with very comfy pillows to dig your head in should you wish. More pictures in another post. Time for  break for today

Tagatay, Phillipines Jan 2015

You can see the volcano crater in the middle of the lake

We flew to the Phillipines at the end of January. My first overseas trip for 2015. And an exciting one because it was my first trip to this country. I missed the Pope's visit by a week. (Darn!) We spent the first night in Manila before heading to Tagatay the following morning.

And so here is Tagatay at its best. Tagatay is pretty near Manila a mere 55km away so with minimal traffic you can get there in 1.5 hours. There is a highway leading out of Manila to Tagatay but once off the highway, the roads become narrow and a single-lane up and single-lane down from the highland area. The scenery is lovely as we drove up. And the best thing of course if the cooler climate. We saw a lot of corn being sold along the way, some furniture shop and tart shops.

We drove back to Manila on Saturday evening. And oh boy, we saw the long line of cars heading uphill enroute to Tagatay. Definitely a popular getaway from traffic laden Manila.

In 1729, the Taal volcano destroyed the entire place. There have been signs of unrest as recent as 1991 but I'm glad to report, we had no worries during our short working trip.  On arrival, all of us went crazy admiring the beautiful scenery and enjoying the weather, we walked and stared and breathed in the fresh air.

In the evening we headed out and found a starbucks nearby and sat outside drinking coffee. Lemme just say, with the wind blowing it was freezing. Almost felt like winter. That was a very nice experience.

Happy Valentine's Day 2015

Anya Hindmarch's lovely "eye" bag

I had a shopping outing with LF two weekends back. We went to Anya Hindmarch's shop at KLCC. LF bought this bag. And she had it monogrammed too. ( Woohoo!) I took loads of pictures and went home obsessing over the same bag and more. I think I'm now almost ready to own such a bag. The Anya Hindmarch bags that I knew was the " I'm not a plastic bag" and bags with photos on them (The duchess of York had one of her daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie) which I never really took to. But this season's " back to school" bags is very nice. The sticker collection is super. I dare you not to lust over at leastg one of them. I like the egg-oh one especially.

Stickers can be seen here

Korean lunch for Valentine's day

Barbacue meat and Banchan dishes around the pit

Long hiatus.( personal reasons but I think blogging is therapeutic so I'm back in business) Happy Valentine's day everyone. We had a very nice korean barbecue lunch this afternoon at the korean village opposite Ampang Point. The place has had some minor ( but significant changes) since I last came in in broad daylight. There are now two Iranian restaurants at the start of the block before you see the korean restaurants. I'm thinking, perhaps the koreans enjoy Iranian food. After all, the place is where koreans dine frequently. It is their version of "chinatown".

So let's get back to the business of review of lunch. I know some people dislike it ( from the comments on foursquare) but I like the canteen feel to this restaurant. You cant eat korean in a posh set-up it feels too hotel-lish. I had googled and read some blogs. And I think somebody mentioned this blog but when we chose this restaurant I wasn't too sure whether it was the same one. I didn't take down the name of the restaurant.

It has been almost 5 years since I ate in some of the restaurants along this row. The main change is the workers. We were served by Bangladeshi workers. Even the cooking of the meat was done by them. I thought the pork wasn't so nice. I remember having some very nicely marinated pork the last time. It was too die for. Today's version was okay but way below the standard of the last one.

Still, the banchan dishes made up for it. We had a nice selection all of which I enjoyed nibbling and poking through. We had the mandatory Kimchi soup which was very nice. They served us miso soup too I think. Due to the get-fit-motto for 2015, we hardly touched the rice. Yes evil carbs are something we no longer wan to enjoy to the max.

I'm giving lunch an overall 7.5/10. Am docking off marks for the tastiness of the barbecued meat. We will be returning but perhaps not to the same restaurant. Thanks WT for a lovely lunch!!

The year of the wooden sheep

A very feminine looking goat

We celebrate chinese new year in Feb this year. The shopping malls have put them the CNY decorations in stages. This is BIG's take on the year of the goat. ( Or wooden sheep, depending on which website you choose to follow)

Just as a recap ( for me, for me) there are 12 chinese zodiac signs. And they are;rat, cow, tiger, rabbit,dragon, snake, horse,sheep, monkey, chicken, dog and pig. What animal you are, depends on the year you were born. But here's the catch, when is the start of the chinese new year? All this while I thought it starts on the first say of CNY every year. Beep! Wrong, the Chinese astrological year starts on the first day of the tiger month, which is around the Feb 4th every year.( Which is the start of Spring) According to mr Internet, the easiest way to find out what animal you are, is to consult the chinese astrological chart, all you need is the year and time you were born. There!! You ( and I ) have learnt something new today.

Wantan Noodles, Taman Batu

Wanton, noodles

We had this for breakfast after mass this morning. I did some quick googling and found out that wanton noodles differ within different states in Malaysia. I've always wondered why they serve it with the spoon tucked under the noodles. This one didn't come like so. ( I placed it there for the picture taking session)

My version of wanton noodles this morning was with char siu and leafy veg served together with the noodles. And the soup came with the meatballs. We were given a selection of chilli; green chillies ( to me the perfect choice), chillie padi, Sambal ( yuck!) and some preserved onions which took some getting used to.

Condiments

My Birthday

Cake and gifts! Dare I ask for more?

I had a great week. My birthday was on Tuesday the 20th of Jan. The celebration started on Thursday the week before, where KN gave me bottles of crush juice as a birthday gift. Absolutely delicious and I now crave for it daily. I shall buy loads when I next see it. The weekend saw the parents eating Italian ( my choice because it was a birthday treat) at Publika. We had pizza, olio, chicken wings and caesar salad. When written like so, it sounds boring but let me tell you, the restaurant is worth going to. Recommended by KN. ( She's brilliant and many thanks!) It was so tasty, the parents even said they would return on a non-birthday treat meal. ( These are the same people who only are happy eating Asian food. Malaysian food to be exact. Noses wrinkled when we ate Korean a few birthdays back)

On Tuesday, WNN gave me a gift and card in the morning before scope. And Prof RAM gave me a present during our vetting session. Amazing that she remembered my birthday. Isn't that a sweet thing? And then on Thursday, Sopian and the gang of MOs ambushed the clinic and brought cake with them.

Sopian does a cheeky thing and made me celebrate my 21st birthday ALL OVER again:) Older and wiser and more comfortable with my skin. I love where I am now in life. Many thanks to each and everyone of you, who helped me celebrate my birthday week.

Rock/wall climbing in One Utama

Here i am wall-climbing

In a fit of fit-ness.( hehe) I called up Climb 5 ( after googling the places in KL where one can rock climb- this led to to a few blogs...with wonderful pictures to ooh and aah-over) to find out the price, and book a time. I called at 11:20am, and the only available slot was 1-2pm.  The package is for a beginner. Entry fee was RM48 for one hour. And then you pay RM2 for a locker.( Free if you bring a free padlock) And you have to bring your own socks. As you can see, I wore my jogging gear. And my sleeping t-shirt. ( Comfy clothes they said)

It's best to park your car on the rooftop. At level 5. Which is where the rock climbing place is. Its a short walk from the carpark depending on where you park. Today being Saturday, we parked a fait bit away. The picture above is the second wall we were given to climb. I'll show you the first after this.

The folks in red were our marshals.At least I think they're called that. They were both lovely. Giving us encouragement and yelling which colored stones to either hop on or grip on. And more importantly they had enough enthusiasm for all of us.

This is at the entrance of Camp 5.

We had to sign a disclosure in a form, which included who to call should anything happen to you. And you have ( the expected) declaration that you do NOT have medical diseases, there were at least 20 to tick as you go along.

My rented shoes.

Here are my shoes. The marshal said it must be super tight otherwise climbing would be difficult. So these were super-duper tight. My toes were a little curled up inside. And I felt like the width of my feet was slowly being morphed into a size 2 cm smaller. But that feeling was only at the beginning, once we started our exercises, the shoe felt just nice.

Baby walls to start with

We started here; you can see the floor is padded. Which made walking hard. And the walls aren't that high. During this climb ( our first) we didn't wear harness. So we were told how to fall. ( Very encouraging.Not!) I climbed twice once on the easier side and the second time on a harder stretch. I scratched my right forearm a bit on the sides as I attempted to hurl myself over the yellow barricade.

This is me, at the baby wall

I had a brilliant time. My only regret is not being able to climb right to the top on our last ( and steepest) wall. My limbs were a little less useful and I got stuck slightly more than halfway up and had to climb down. Am definitely returning for my second climb. And am considering joining as a member.

Sunny weather...finally

Sunny day at the pool

We had good weather on Saturday morning. Just look at the glorious sun that morning. I captured this at the pool just before my morning swim. This week's swim was nice. Unlike the previous one where I felt cold and miserable for 80% of the time I was in the water. And more importantly, I got to use my new fins and mits for the second time.

Swimming burns calories. I am sure. But I think you have to swim at a decent pace and not lol about like a baby whale...floating like a porpoise. That would burn all of the 4 calories only.

Coffee and cheese tarts

Anyone had any coffee from Plan B Roasters at Publika? They had some minor refurbishment. And one of the changes is a wall of tiles. I don't like that. It reminds me of being in my old chemistry lab.  Chemistry wasn't very nice because the class would be on a Friday afternoon. And I was nearly always in a mad rush to head home. The other new ( but not so good) thing is they've scrap the loyalty card. Buy ten get one free coffee. It was a good deal. I had two free cups of coffee before this deal ended. Which means I have had 20 cups of coffee there. ( Woo! Never thought of it that way before)

I had this brought to the clinic on MOnday morning. A friend gave me this for seeing her dad in clinic. How sweet is that? As a rule, I don't like sweet tarts but this here yellow cuties were mighty tasty. And I enjoyed mine very much. I also shared them with my mos and staff.

Here is new semi-obsession. Crepe cake. Do you think I have the skill to make thin tasty crepes? And do you think I have the patience to make 20 layers of crepe cake? It's close. I may depending on my mood. In the meantime, I'm trying to decide whether I should buy this ( very nice) crepe cake book I saw at the local bookstore. I saw it in mid 2014 already. Nobody has bought it. Which makes me think, maybe it's not that good. But the recipes sound very do-able. And they explain it in clear language for a novice like me

The picture above is banana crepe cake from Coffee Stain at Fahrenheit.  Look at how neat the layers are. And if you're curious you may actually count the number of layers there are.

iphone-6-plus

Old and new phone side by side

This was meant to be a christmas present. From parents to me. Would you believe there wasn't a single iphone-6-plus 64G available before the christmas break? ( The shops I went to anyway which were the ones in the main shopping centres around klang valley) And in January of this year...this zero-stock status persisted.

Here are the shops I went to:
1. Machines ( The gardens ) They put up a poster at the entrance which you can see from a distance.
2. Machines ( Midvalley) Same status. They didnt put up a poster tho
3. I-store (Publika) No stock boo!
4. Loop ( Plaza Damas) No stock
5. Apple store at the shopping centre near the curve....they had a Gold iphone 6-plus. ( Gold is hard to love so I hesitated )

These are the shops I called:
1. Machines (KLCC) No stock
2. Epicentre (Pavillion) No stock

With such a bleak outlook, I'd almost given up hope of owning one in January. Lo and behold, I remembered epicentre at Fahrenheit as a shop tucked in a corner on the ground floor. Generally, Fahrenheit is less well known. Although it is in the Golden triangle of shopping tucked between Lot 10 and the other posh shopping place the name of which has totally slipped my mind now. ( It''ll come to me soon enough)

Ring Ring ( And yes they had stock of Iphone 6-plus in Silver)
And so I now have my very own.

Nandos: Love it ...hate it?

Quiet but a tad chilly

 My second visit. And it may well be my last. I had a yearning for nandos only after some research last night on food with little carbs led me to the nandos website. Only because I remembered in time, that there was on at Publika which is tucked in a corner away from the crowd. Not that there is much of a crowd there on weekdays. ( Which is a major plus point for dropping by on the way home for coffee and a meal). Let me clarify this is my second visit to the Nandos at Publika, I have also been to the branch at Jusco Maluri. Again, because its close to work. We've been there for lunch on a quiet working day at least once before I believe.

1/4 chicken with some "posh" salad

 So this is what I had this evening. If you think it looks small, you've spot on. Hardly a decent meal for a starving working person who had to sit through a rather lengthy meeting and traverse through traffic in town to get here. So no, this is not my idea of a good meal to end the day. The chicken was nice and tender. And tasted good. Pity it wasn't meatier. the salad I would avoid at all cost. It tasted cold ( salad..yes yes I know) and the beans were a tad hard ( undercook is another word which comes to mind) and it tasted vinegar-ish. )Each mouthful was a bit of a job swallowing.

Sauces arranged neatly by an OCD person surely

 The ambience is nice though. I love the lighting, the seating arrangement and the wooden floors and walls. It makes it inviting and cosy.

Interesting wash basin...tap and soap dispenser

And I especially like the delightfully inventive wash basin tucked at the end of the premise inside the shop. Just so, you may practice good hand hygiene.

The mean machine

30 minutes and you will feel THE pain

I used this machine for the first time ever in my history of visiting gyms. ( Haven't been to many truthfully) This was because the treadmills were all used and the bicycle was also utilised. Turns out....this here machine can cause you some pain. And i worked out quite a sweat just by pedalling away under the program " cardio". the heart rate went up a bit and I walked funny a few minutes after this.

At the end ( after a round of weights ) I returned to the treadmill ( this one...it was unoccupied) and did 10 minutes of running. That felt like a breeze. In comparison to this cycle. Woohoo. Perhaps my stamina has increased. Still no sign of loss of weight.

Midweek already?

2015, I have a request for you. Can you not gallop your way through this year? I have plans to enjoy the days and weeks,savouring the different days and I also plan to enjoy the nice sunny weather we appear to be  blessed with currently. A small request. Thank you.

On a different note, my shoe fetish will have to take a back seat. After bombing out slightly over a thousand at French Sole plus the unlikely event they should have another 50%-store-wide-sale so soon.....it looks very much like I shall be left to enjoy my purchases in peace. With little distraction of buying more shoes.  I read somewhere that shoe-shopping is a favourtie for most because despite gaining weight ( pregnancy odema being the exception to this rule) you always get to fit the same shoe size....making the feel-good-factor right up there, just slightly below winning a lottery.

Happy Wednesday everybody. And 2015....please remember my request.

Swimming Fins...finally

Flippers

Have you ever talked a thing to death? And when you finally get around to the actual topic or actual experience....the whole thing seems flat? Well my flipper experience was anything BUT this. Let me tell you the swim this morning before work was brilliant. Putting them on felt a little daft. I wasn't the only person at the pool. There were two other ladies who thankfully seemed more absorbed with their actual swimming ( one was teaching the other to swim) than to what I was doing.

Once in the water it's best not to try and walk. Otherwise you will soon realise there is little friction and the slippery feeling isn't pleasant. I suggest you start swimming straight away. It felt heavy at first and my first 5-6 kicks weren't great. It felt like a drag and initially I didn't move fast and my limbs felt a bit heavier than usual. But very soon after, I felt the gliding movement and it felt absolutely brilliant.

I also bought mits and after 3 laps or so felt brave enough to put them on. Once I made sure those ladies were still absorbed with each other that is. Together the mits and flippers made the swim a good good good one.

*note this isn't a long-blade fin. So it's not a cheating fin. heheh

makan apa?

This is what you may hear from anyone near any meal time. Since the middle of last week, I've had this urge to have mee siam from Nyonya Colours. I got  my wish on Sunday evening. Persuaded the parents to eat at Nyonya Colours at the Gardens. We were lucky, we got a parking spot almost immediately, we also got a good place to sit and the queue wasn't long.

Mee Siam is a nyonya dish. the real deal has some gravy with it and tastes sour from lime.  It is definitely inspired by some dish from Thailand. Even the name is a dead giveaway to where the inspiration comes from. This version is dry....and the taste is just sour enough to make me happy.

Monday

Happy times

The second day of the week. ( That's right because the week starts with Sunday and not Monday as what most people may think) I spent the saturday being in a temper and got some flowers as a result of this. So here's the thing, it's best not to lose ones temper and if you do, try and reign it in as soon as you can.

Sunday was way better. And Monday has been peaceful with the smooth traffic because the school holidays have been extended by a week. ( The flood victims up north have some extra time although I think 1 week is barely enough to get over the shock. The shock of losing ones house for some, the sorrow of losing a loved one, be it family or friend.) My prayers are with the families who have to rebuilt their homes and their lives as they usher in the new year.

2014 has been a sad year for Malaysia. We have suffered tragedy and bad publicity from three air flight accidents, two our of the 3 plans remain missing and the third more recent one flight accident just days before the start of 2015 served as a reminder of the two previous accidents.

Closer home, we had he flood in Kelantan in particular and many parts of the East Coast.It is not uncommon for floods in Kelantan. However, this year, the floods affected many many many more areas with higher water levels and lives and houses lost.

We bid farewell to 2014, and we welcome 2015 with hearts filled with hope for a peaceful country and closure for the family members of the flight accidents, enough resources for the families affected by the flood and finally a less bumpy road for our country and its citizens.

Doing something to lose weight

The gym at my new condo

 Righto.  This is a post on my first visit to the gym at the new condo.  Very airy. And the view is of Segambut as you jog your kilos away. And there is a ping pong table to the right as you enter. Two guys were playing ( for ages!) And there were three people on the treadmill. Leaving me no choice but to get on the elliptical machine. My first time I persevered long snuff on that machine. I did ten minutes of cardio...followed by 10 minutes of treadmill and 10 minutes of the elliptical again. And then a feeble attempt at some weights. That didn't go so well because I only half remember some steps. I suspect I'll have uneven bicep size if I am not careful.

Flipper and watermelom

And to continue on with the exercise mode, I've finally after nearly 1.5 years of talking about it on Facebook and real life, bought a set of flippers. Egged on by my dad who claimed 40 years ago he too had some flippers. He described it with hand gestures. Technology back then must have been archaic cos they appeared to be some BIG WHOPPING flippers.

And I also got around to having my toenails painted. Watermelon but slightly more pink than usual. It turned out okay. Creative nail boutique at Hartamas really does a good pedicure. And their colors last and does not stain the nails. I wouldn't recommend Nail Parlour at Publika. Not good service. It felt rushed. And the place was too brightly lit. And the girls talked TO each other as they did the nails without paying much attention to detail.

Happy New Year I miss home cooked food

Bowls

This was taken during my christmas break at home. Here are the bowls waiting to be drenched in yam-and chicken broth. Home-made. Just the way I like them. I miss home-cooked food. A report on the weight. I have succeeded in becoming tubbier. Middle-age spread. They don't call it that for nothing. And so here I am in 2015 January trying to get my exercise mode in full gear.

So far, I've gone to the gym 3 times. And apart from aching limbs I don't feel any lighter. I shall persevere just so I'll be able to get into my cheong sam this chinese new year. Wish me....a lighter new year.