Massive Jams Because of Merdeka Rehearsal??

Wow...

For the last couple of days, I've been stunned as to see how congested our "arterial" road system is in KL. Due to a road closure of Jalan Raja, the entire city was nearly brought to a standstill with jams stretching back to as far as PJ via Federal Highway, KL-Seremban Highway and Damansara/Subang via Sprint and NKVE.. =____=""

Massive jam @ Jln Duta after Duta Toll

So, you can imagine, how tulan I felt.

As usual, during the massive jam, you'll see people at their best or worst.

For example, when you hear the siren of an ambulance far away, people automatically move aside to let the ambulance through. Now, we're not sure if it's a real emergency or not, but best to move aside - it's only the right thing to do.

The worst side of people. Rich (I assume that they're rich because they drive big cars such as Merc, BMW, Harrier, Rexton, Storm...) people squeezing in between lanes WITHOUT INDICATING THEIR DIRECTION in front of smaller cars - Protons (exclude Perdana), Kancils, Kelisas, MyVIs, etc... Mind you, whether if the big car was driven by a drebar or some fella in a suit or tie, underneath that exterior is just a lowlife samseng. Hmmmm.. Come to think of it, maybe they are real-life samseng too.. Kekeke.. You'll never know.

I got bullied by such a fxxker driving a black Honda City license plate WQK 6488. That fxxker had the nerve to drive up and just cut in front of me, out of nowhere at Jalan Parliment heading towards KL. I refuse, because he could have easily cut in BEHIND me. The fxxker lowered his window and shouted to indicate that he wanted to cut into the other lane leading to Jln Mahameru/Jln Duta.

I didn't wind down my window.

I let him pass.

The fxxker cut in front of a Citilink truck and proceeded to inch his fxxking car towards the junction to turn off to Jln Duta/Mahameru highway.

What a fxxker.

He was wearing a blue-shirt and yellow tie. He hung a black jacket on a hook at the back. I assume he was fxxking late for some fxxking meeting.

So what.

Everyone is stuck in the fxxking jam.

Everyone is late.

You wait for fxxking turn.

I just want to let you know that the driver of this car - WQK 6488 likes to bully people. Especially women.

It'll be the same tomorrow. So, better to wake up earlier and get to work early before the police close the roads.

*Sigh*...

Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony... WT*.....

Ehhhh... What can I say...

Was I expecting too much?? After the mind blowing opening ceremony, I would expect that the closing would be just as fantastic.... I was wrong... -___-"

All I can say was that the Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony was a tad bit too tacky for me. I was quite amazed with the suspended drums but when the entertainment part of the ceremony started, it felt all too tacky - it was just a bit too much.

Too many singers on stage. Too much lip syncing... (or was that Astro's "live" broadcast feed issue?)

Oh yea, too many ads as well. Every 15 minutes there was an ad. Ridiculous.

I believe that Zhang Zhi Mou didn't have a hand in organizing the closing ceremony, right? Oh well, traditionally, the closing ceremony is a time for the athletes and other participants mingle and have fun, hence the festivities shouldn't be very long.

Anyway, the handover ceremony to London 2012 was also a bit tacky for my taste. A double-decker bus with "London-Beijing-London"... and David Beckham kicked some ball into the crowd?? Kekeke, well... He is one of the UK's greatest import - after fish and chips. :-P

The only thing I liked about the closing - the amazing fireworks.

Besides that, with all the world records and athletes' stories about winning and losing at the XXIX (29th) Olympiad, it was certainly another one to remember for some time to come. (^___^)

Morning Views

I took these photos some time back but never found the time to do my post-processing and of course, putting up in the blog. ;-)

Anyway, it's scenes from the early morning when the sun was just rising from it's rest.

Snoopy can barely keep her eyes open.

She spent half the night up barking at some noise that some creatures made on the roof... Possibly rats, squirrels or cats??

I love the way the leaves of the tree in the garden cast a shadow on the wall.

Rusty taking the time to smell the grass. "Did something pass by here?"

Finally, miss Snoopy was able to drag her butt off the couch to go sit in the porch, waiting for the sun to rise fully so that she can do her "sun-worshiping", i.e. morning sun bathe

Morning dew...

Found that there was a small ladybird perched in the lily.

Fly meets ladybird

I got as close as possible to the stamen of the lily to take a shot of the ladybird...

The pictures aren't so great but I was learning to take some shots in a slightly low-light condition. Just have to take a deep breath, keep very still and then, take the picture - hope for the best!

Note that these pictures were taken with a digital camera and I've not gotten to the DSLR level yet! :-)

So much to learn....

Long Awaited B'day Celebration...

I've been waiting to celebrate my b'day with my very close friends for a long time now. My b'day is actually close to the end of July but usually, my mates are soooo busy that we have to postpone until some time in mid-August. :-(

At one time, we had to postpone my b'day until September!!!!

Anyway, better late than never.. ^__^

This time round, my request was simple - to satisfy my carnivorous cravings... *heeheheh*

So, we ended up going to Bruno's Restaurant and Bar @ Jaya33 - after reading KY's review about it.

Two bottles of water... Not free... :-P

It has been some time since I've met up with my friends especially with those who are married with kids. The best part is, their husbands understand that their wives need time to be with the girls and so, offer to take care of the kids for the few hours with us... Awwww.. :-)

My attempt to "camwhore"... Someone's hand is blocking....

Bruno's menu is quite extensive and so, we took a loooonnnng time to put our order. Now, they serve Iberian pork which is supposed to be a very high quality pork from the Black Iberian pig, i.e. from Spain and so, I was definitely looking forward to that. The waiters/waitresses didn't seem to mind that we took our time - it was a slow Sunday afternoon and we were just about the only patrons there.

We ended up ordering some appetizers, a salad (my friend says we need vegetables to balance out the meat!!) and a couple of main courses, while the others decided to order their own meals - pasta and sandwich.

Asparagus wrapped in Iberian pork proscuitto with thyme

The starter was especially yummy! It reminded me of Jamie Oliver's recipe where he wrapped proscuitto around a few stalks of asparagus. The bacon melted in our mouth and the asparagus was cooked well through.

A very blurry picture of an Iced Latte. Wonder where my camera was focussing... -_-"

I didn't take a photo of the duck salad since it was quickly devoured by some 4 hungry people. All I can say that the salad consisted of some mixed greens with a very light citrous dressing. Delicious!

A very large chicken sandwich...

My friend's chicken sandwich came and we were quite shocked! The portion was huge!! It was certainly large enough to be shared with another person... Based on my friend's opinion - it was very scrumptious! The chips are nice. These are the type of chips I like - fat and thick, unlike the skinny ones you get at Mackers (McD) or Burger King.

Seafood Paella!!!

I love seafood paella. The first time I had it was at this Mediterranean restaurant at Sri Hartamas which has long since closed down. :-( The paella there was dry and had not much seafood. Bruno's seafood paella was moist and very flavourful. At times, I felt that the seafood taste was overpowering. However, the rice used to make this dish is quite authentic - short grained rice.

The main event - Pork Ribs!!!!

Finally, the dish I was waiting for arrived - the Iberian pork ribs. **SLLLUUURRRPP** I couldn't take the entire length of the ribs as that would not allow me to show the close-up view of how moist and tender the meat is, even after being barbequed!

Now, don't be shocked at the size of the serving, this serving is for two people and it comes with a nice side of vegetables and baby potatoes. The cost? RM120 for two people. Pricey but worth every single sen!!!!

After all the meat, we felt we still had some space to spare, and so, ordered a desert.

Chocolate Lava Cake... to be shared by 6 people!!!

We went with the chocolate lava cake and my friends - expecting a very large cake, was surprised to find that a small cake the size of a chinese tea cup was served. The dessert was good but then, it still can't compare to Delicious' Classic Chocolate Cake...

In the end, the lunch was very satisfying and I've certainly fed my inner "lion" for the time being. ^__^ Did I feel guilty about this? Well... slightly, after all I did do a pretty grueling workout the day before. And after that meal, I went for another session again a few days later. LOL!!!

Thanks to everyone - Di, MY, DB, YC and CPP for organizing my b'day this round. Yes... I'm glad to have celebrated my "23"rd b'day... (^__^)

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony - OMG... Mind Blowing!!!

I'm a sucker for Olympics Opening ceremonies.. Kekeke..

You can't help but see that the trend of the opening ceremonies is that each city/country hosting the games will go all out to "wow" the spectators and participating nations; topping off what the last city did.

Nevertheless, this time, the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony certainly unfurled like an epic story - which is fantastic as it explored and explained China's contributions to history - 4 greatest inventions (paper making, movable type printing, gun powder and compass) . Cheh wah... For once, I felt so damn proud of my Chinese heritage. However, I'm more proud to be Malaysian. ;-)

Anyway, the scale of the ceremony was just mind blowing. From the synchronized acts of the many participants counting down the start of the ceremony; to the endless array of beautiful girls in various costumes (native, modern, or cultural) - it certainly felt as though I've sat through an epic movie lasting 4 hours. Why not? The whole thing was supposedly directed by Zhang YiMou.

I've got take my hat off to the organizers. It was certainly a fantastic feat they pulled off! Congratulations Beijing!! It was certainly a night to remember... All those fireworks... WOW!!!!

At least for the next 16 days, it is time to put aside differences between race, nationalities, political affliations and religion to concentrate on the biggest sporting/human event in 4 years... The spirit of the Olympic games.

Tea @ Zang Toi

Some of us are familiar with this designer, Zang Toi.... Well, I'm not much of a fashion buff but I do know that he is 1) a "fehmes" (famous) Malaysian and 2) a fashion designer. (^ ^)

A few of us got together for Rakuzen Japanese Buffet lunch at Chulan Square last weekend and after a few hours of gorging on lovely salmon sashimi and etc., we needed to burn off those calories by walking around Pavillion.

Now, all that window-shopping certainly got us feeling thirsty and one of my friends suggested that we try this Fruity Ice-Tea at Zang Toi's cafe. According to her, they also serve a fantastic Tea Lime cake.

Hmmmm...

I'm not typically a food blogger of sorts but took the opportunity to snap a few photos of some food... and surroundings... These were taken with my HTC TyTn II...

Lovely surroundings... The decorative mirror is on sale. Costs about RM1,900. Hmmmm... It's a bit too decorative for my taste. :-)

The refreshing Fruity Ice-Tea. I tasted a hint of lemongrass and the drink had lots of diced lemon and orange peels to enhance the flavour.

The Tea-Lime cake as recommended by my friend. The lime sauce is poured all over the cake, making it sweet and sour. The cake's texture reminded me of sugee cake.

We decided to be adventurous and ordered another cake as well. This is the Pandan and Banana Cream Cheese Cake. I'm sure you're wondering.. Does pandan and banana go well together???? Surprisingly it does! The cream cheese was savoury, giving this cake a very good balance in taste.

Well, I certainly enjoyed the desserts there. I'm not sure if the main courses are good but it sure is fun to sit in a cafe situation within Parkson's premises - having shoppers give you a funny look as they browse amongst the clothes rack.

Nikon or Canon???

I've been contemplating for a while (actually ages!!!!) to see which camera I should go for in my pursuit of my hobby.

I've been using my old workhorse the Nikon 5900 for a very long time and so far it has served me well.

However, with a huge crack on the body of the camera and the battery cover hinge broken, I'm wondering if it is worthwhile for me to get a new camera or have it fixed!

Anyway, after looking and drooling for ages around both Canon and Nikon sites, I've discovered that Nikon has a cool tutorial site for new owners.

Here's the link --> Nikon Digitutor (http://www.nikondigitutor.com/index_eng.html)

So, can anyone tell me which camera I should go for?? :-)