Bored....

It's that time of day...

Yep... A picture says a "single" word.... B O R E D

Actually, there was nothing much to be bored about but we were waiting for our food to come. So, I snapped this photo...

Picture taken with HTC TyTn II...

Speedy Dogs...

Both Snoopy and Rusty are Jack Russell Terriers, i.e. small dogs with "big-dog-mentality". They both certainly amaze me as they constantly do things that defy their small/tiny physique. So, it's no big surprise that they're both my inspiration in everything that I do.

Their "can-do" attitude often translate into pure energy. Now, it's not easy to photograph these rascals. They are often on the move. Even if I do issue a "sit-stay" command, they can only sit for about 10 seconds before they go off again.

Both Rusty and Snoopy like to play with each other. Often, Rusty is the instigator....

When Snoopy gets all excited about something, she sure can move fast!!!

Recently, I decided to play a little game with the dogs around an overturned pot. I would place some food there to entice to see who would reach the pot first. Snoopy got there, took a few bites, turned around to look for Rusty before zipping off! I like this shot as my focus is not on Snoopy but on the pot and so, it has a nice "speedy" effect. Zoom in for a better look!

Eventually, both of them will run out of energy at some point. Snoopy likes to relax on this chair while her brother tries to squeeze his way to get the lion's portion of the couch...

Phew!!!! Now, I want to take a break...

Feels Good To Be Back At The Gym...

I've been sick for the last couple of weeks and that has wreaked havoc with my exercise routine...

So, on an advice of a new friend, she asked me to keep a journal of my exercise to keep me motivated with my weight loss and health program.

I joined the gym in July last year because my sis was getting married. So, I was quite excited when I started my sessions with my PT (Personal Trainer), who was pursuing her degree in Sports Science or Medicine at a local uni here. She was a state runner and was in peak condition. With her help, I managed to shed a few kilos and also discover that my right knee was problematic. :-P

All in all, I love the gym! I'm finding that I can do longer cardio sessions and am about to hit that golden number of 40 minutes of pure cardio.. :-P Of course, whenever I get the flu and my lungs get all so congested, I can't run on the cross trainer for more than 5 minutes........ (T.T) WHICH IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME ON TUESDAY!!!!!

Besides that, I love the weight training sessions as it's a chance for me to turn my oodles of fat into muscles. Kekeke.. It's a slow process but I just love it whenever I can slowly increase the weight on the triceps push-down so that I can feel the burn with each repetition. There's a certain sense of accomplishment whenever you can complete a set with a new weights on the machines..( ~.^)

There's also an added advantage. While working on my core and back muscles, I found out that while losing the fat, I didn't experience so much pain with my back anymore!! Of course, you must do these exercises in moderation...

Contrary to what people say, we gals will NOT grow big muscles like guys do because we don't have a high amount of testosterone in our bodies. So, what we'll get is well-toned, lean bodies. Think Jessica Biel in Blade:Trinity... >:)

So, what keeps me going?

Besides the sado-maso tendencies of "torturing" myself but funnily though, the more I work out, the more relaxed, happier and addicted I get! I used to be a sports junkie back in Uni, playing basketball with my mates about 3 times a week. Although I never got to become as good as Sakuragi Hanamichi (Slam Dunk), I loved the game.

Of late, I've also started to compile gym music to keep me going too. The concept is pretty much a cheap version of the Nike+ where you can wirelessly connect your ipod to this device in your Nike+ running shoe to play music, keep track of running stats while you exercise, i.e. walk. I got very close to getting it... So, instead of having an ipod, I got a Sony MP3 player and it's got all my favourite workout songs.

On my gym music list, my favourite songs so far in my large list of songs...

• 4 minutes - Madonna + Justin Timberlake
• Fergalicious - Fergie
• Stronger - Kanye West
• Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
• Can't Stop - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Don't know why but whenever I hear any of these songs, I try to push myself to work harder... In time, this list WILL continue to grow.. :-)

As a closing thought, I was browsing through Nike's website and came across some cool training videos of some athletes training. Some of the exercises I've done before with my PT and it certainly breaks the mundane run-on-the-threadmill and lift-weights-until-muscles-sore routines. Have a look.. --> http://www.niketraining.com.my

Yes.. Maria Sharapova's training videos are there.... *roll eyes*

Feed The Fishes....

Last Friday happened to be the last day for my colleague and we decided to have a good round of makan and fun before she starts off with her new job.

However, everyone happened to be bored with the usual fare and so, she suggested that we try out the Kenko Fish Spa at Pavillion after dinner that night.

Now, my friend Deborah has gone to the Fish Spa before at Midvalley and she thoroughly enjoyed herself there, although it was a bit ticklish.

So, after we fed ourselves really well at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng, we decided to feed the fishes... our feet's dead skin cells!!!!

The plaque is multi-lingual so that visitors from foreign lands who do not understand English may drop by the spa... Funny that Mandarin is not on the plaque but they have Arabic, Japanese and Korean.... ????

Here we all are... Victims err Customers waiting for our turn to go up to area where all the fish were waiting eagerly for our feet... (Why does the theme song of Jaws keep playing in my head???)

I nearly did not get a chance to try out the actions of Dr. Fish as I didn't feel like going for it since I've promised EV that we'll both try together. Of course, EV said a few times that she hesitated to go as she thinks that her feet stench might kill the fish first. (^_____^)

Not to worry! The spa has an area where you can clean you feet before and after your treatment. So, all of us took off our shoes and socks to have a good rinse before we soaked our feet in the pool.

This picture isn't very clear as my colleague and I were splashing around the pool to discourage the fish from "locking on" our feet. However, those efforts were futile as their sense of smell locked on to our feet like homing missiles!!

How did it feel? It was certainly ticklish. Very.. in fact. I kept laughing and giggling throughout my session. I nearly got my head bashed in when I lifted my feet off the water and my colleagues beside me kept yelling "Put your feet down!!!!!"

Every time I lifted my feet, the little fishes will quickly swim off to the nearest feet to feed. So much for the theory that fish do not feed at night...

Here's a pic of my colleague's feet as she fed the larger fish situated in the other pond of the spa. Since the fish were bigger, whenever it nibbled on the feet, it felt a little bit painful. I tried both sizes of fish and it certainly felt better in the pond where the fish were smaller.

As you can see, the deco around the pond is very soothing. In fact, despite the ticklish nibbling, the experience was a very relaxing one.

In the end, my feet did feel a lot smoother and surprisingly lighter! No idea why I felt that way but that was what this other colleague felt when he tried it out for the first time too!!

How much was it? We had a group discount since there were 12 of us, and so, each person forked out RM31 for 30 minutes each.

I can remember that one of my colleagues felt it was such a torture that she kept looking at the screen to see if her number was called. LOL!!!

So, will I try it again. YES! Just to watch EV squirm about .... HAHAHAHAHAHAA

My Blog Not On Strike-ar...

Despite what is going on in the media about bloggers going on strike... My blog is not on strike.....

I'm just busy with work... (^____________^)

Will get back to writing my blog sometime this weekend when I've downloaded some pics from my camera. :-)

Artery Clogging Dinner... Yeah!! It's REALLY That Good!!

OK OK.. For the last couple of posts, I've been putting up pictures of sinful food. I can't help myself.. LOL...

I just can't help myself...

Anyway, my Nikon 5900 is starting to act "funky". I've been messing a lot with the focus mechanism so much so that it doesn't focus the shot properly now.. :-(

I came back home from another grueling day at work. It is grueling when your boss sends you mixed signals about work. It's soooo frustrating but I'll rant about that another day... Or maybe, not at all!!

My aunt, i.e. my mom's brother's wife from Perth who recently came down from Perth bearing meaty gifts. The lovely pork bacon and now, the seriously delicious scotch fillet beef (a.k.a. rib eye) were from here. My mom had a reminder SMS from her to cook the beef and so, she decided to grill it for us.

Grilling is so much easier now that we got ourselves the grill pan from my mom's last trip to Thailand. We grill fish and meat on it and it has that nice BBQ grill marks without the hassle of the messy BBQ.

I'm a carnivore... It's in my birth signs.. i.e. DRAGON + LION = Ultimate Carnivore. (^____^)

So, I told my mom that I would like my meat... ahem... MEDIUM WELL. Yes, that means... a bit of blood still left in the meat. This means that my meat will be really tender when it's cooked.

Me: Is it done yet? I like my meat medium well.. *slurp*
Mom: No.. not done yet, I just put it on the grill. It'll need about 5-10 minutes to cook.

Me: Wahhh.. So long. I don't want well done-le. It'll be like eating stone. Besides, well done meat is hard for me to digest.
Mom: Don't want to eat blood-le... Eeeee...

Me: Hehehe... 5 minutes on each side enough or not?
Mom: Nooo.... LONGER!!!

Chinese food is rarely eaten raw or semi-raw. We just have this aversion to seeing a lot of blood in our dishes... I may be wrong but this is the impression I get from the older generation.

For some of us who are lucky enough to explore the many types of food out there, we may like raw food like sashimi or the Italian style carpaccio (raw beef), we would certainly relish the freshness of the meat eating raw or semi-raw.

My bro-in-law commented that in places like Canada, they prefer to eat their beef either Rare or Medium-Well as they find that if the meat is well-done, the beef is just too difficult to digest and cause you to feel very bloated after a meal. I do agree with him after seeing a friend struggle with a Porterhouse steak which was 21ounces in weight!!!

After learning to eat my meat cooked at Medium Well, I find that I don't get that bloated feeling after a good steak meal. Of course, eating meat cooked at Medium Well means that you're running the risk of getting worms or food poisoning.. ewww.. However, if the outside of the meat is cooked well, you shouldn't have such issues. :-)

Anyway, here's a parting shot of the meat after I cut it with a semi-blunt knife.. Notice that I've used the word "semi" several times here? LOL!!!!!

OK.. Aside from the red meat, I had my portion of vegetables, i.e. double the portion of the meat serving. So, it's a healthy meal after all.. I'd guess?? (^____^)