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?? :-)

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?? (^____^)

More Wedding Day Videos...

Got more wedding day videos here...

1. Church Ceremony

2. Wedding Night Banquet

I missed most of the banquet as I was busy helping out the registration table that night. Anyway, it was one of the dinners where the banquet started almost on time and didn't end too late. However, at the end of it all, I could only say... "PHEWWWW!!!!!"

Enjoy the videos.. ;-)

Happy Friday....

It's the end of the week.... FINALLY!!!

Anyway, I will try not to let stuff at work demotivate me....

Here's a great song - Somewhere Over The Rainbow sung by Israel Kamakawiwo Ole... (^___^)




Have a great weekend folks!

Artery Clogging Breakfast... It's Just That Good!!!

There are days when I just throw caution to the wind and fix myself a real yummy breakfast.


Did I wallow in guilt after that? Well...... Slightly.

We have one short life to live and so, it's not too bad if we just treat ourselves to a little guilty pleasure....

So, what accompanied my yummy crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes and toast? A nice big cup of coffee. (^________^)

Here's a tip about fixing up the perfect scrambled eggs. Cook your eggs under a low fire and keep stirring the eggs with a wooden spoon. If you like your eggs runny, you don't have to cook it for long.

Yes, it's all bad for ya, but when you've got some Aussie bacon (it's made of pork, not beef), you just can't resist it!! It brings back alot of fond memories when I was studying in Melbourne, fixing breakfast with my mates after staying up half the night studying or hanging out.

LOL!! OK OK.. I'll promise I'll hit the gym.... Sheeeshhh....

Wedded Bliss - Congratulations Dallas & Melina

I know that I've disappeared under the radar for the past few days....

Well, it has been a hectic week. After all, my little sis was getting married (http://www.mywedding.com/dallasmelina/)!!

Anyway, both my sis and I were sick the day before the wedding and after that, my body just decided to just give up. It has been a long while since I had some time to sleep in.

You're right. I did nothing but sleep.

After all, my body was craving for rest. I've been overworked at work. As a matter of fact, I've been stressed out completely. It's not so much of not enough work to do, but the mental torture of dealing with all the things around work which is just too much to handle.

Anyway, enough of the rants. I'll reserve that for another time... Or better still, turn that around to something more positive. ;-) No point grinding over the same points. I'd rather put my energy into positive thinking than negative ranting.

The wedding was beautiful. Dad was so nervous that on the morning of the wedding, he took the wrong suit and even ended up sitting in the wrong car! Duh! He was supposed to sit with my sis to bring her to the church.. Somehow, he ended up in one of my uncle's mini-van...... (o.O) I wasn't there. I was sent to pick up some family friends from the hotel nearby.



I didn't get to take much photos as I was helping out all day. So, I've got to rely on other people's cameras and of course, photos from the professionals (there were about three that day) for pics.




Congratulations Dallas & Melina.

Dallas, welcome to the family. I'm sure you're wondering from all the noise and celebration that night, you're wondering if the Tan family is like that all the time. LOL!! Well, most of the time, we're a fun bunch and we love each other lots! That's family for ya.... Welcome bro!

From left to right: Auntie Julie, Ian, Matthew, Joanne, Melina (bride), Cindy, Me, Wilson
(Missing cousins: Denise, Alvin, Shen, Marcus & Malcolm)

Dallas, I hope to play MGS4 on your PS3 soon.. We've got to test that game out!!! (^ ^)

Half Empty, Half Full?

With all the news around us today, it's a wonder if we can ever find an optimist amongst us.

LOL!! That's the pessimist in me "barking"....

I've been a bit down lately. Things buzzing around me has gotten me feeling the blues. My love for jazz music is not helping as some jazz music I listen to tend to be quite "blue" in nature, i.e. think Chet Baker or Miles Davis... You get what I mean. ;-)

The question I want to pose is... How do the optimists remain so optimistic?

I've been trying to turn my brain around from being a down right pessimist to a slightly more optimistic person. Strange that some friends have said that I'm a very bubbly person but of late, I'd guess I'm getting very jaded with life and it has gotten the best of me... drained me of my bubbliness.

One friend remarked that he thinks that the situation could get worse than what it is now. So, he is thankful for what he has.

Another friend said, don't fret about the small stuff. Take a deep breath and look around you. Be Happy.

I'd guess what I'm getting at is TO BE HAPPY.

If you read the Law of Attraction, you'll know that thinking negatively will only attract negative things to you. There's a saying that You Are What You Think. I believe that there is some truth to that.

I've been quite weary of the world and it's beginning to take its toll on my health. I'd guess it's time for me to retreat back into my "shell" for a little while to reflect the good I have and figure out how to get out of the rut. Or, I should just stop thinking altogether!! Maybe I'll have to get Snoopy & Rusty to give me some TLC session, i.e. FACE-LICKING.

One thing is for sure, I'm beyond the stage of whining over it. I'm just about fed up of pouring out my thoughts as although it does make me feel better for a little while, it's never a permanent solution. ;-)

So, how do you get yourself out of the blues?

Right now, I'm compiling a list of songs I'm going to upload to my MP3 player for my gym exercise. So, I'm picking all the fast-moving music as well as some motivational songs, i.e. Bon Jovi's "Keep The Faith" and Kanye West's "Stronger". After listening to such music, you sure want to pick yourself up and work harder. It does motivate...

Any thoughts?

I'm Expecting a Big Dividen from Petronas This Year...

I'm not joking when I decided to use that remark as my blog entry today.

This is because of the remarkable contribution by everyone tonight to get your tanks all filled up with petrol before the big deadline at midnight to get petrol at soon-to-be yesterday's price.

Let's join in the Petrol-Fill Up Fiesta!!!

How long did it take for you to get home today?

It roughly took me about 3 hours; although I did take a 30-minute breather at one of my favourite mamak stalls to rest my bad knee. I've got to ice, elevate and put a bandage to compress the knee now or else, I may not be able to walk for the next couple of days. :-(

After what I thought were shortcuts to get to the NPE (New-Pantai-Expressway) from Bangsar turned out to be free trips to the longest parking lot on a two-lane road in Old Town PJ. What normally took about 10-15minutes for me to get to the NPE turned out to be a very "comfortable" 2-hour wait in my car.

Boy, for 3 hours, I would have been able to watch LOTR in my car... If I had a DVD Player available then.

I was so bored in my car that I decided to take some photos. After all, I was stuck in the same spot for about 30 minutes...


I really pity some of the folks who really needed to fill up their empty tanks. Because they had to fight with the other folks who filled up their tanks so that they can escape the price increase. Some cars literally stalled on the roads because they just ran out. I saw a couple of folks carrying the petrol cans from the station to their car. There were a number of cars who got a free ride on the tow truck because the car just died without the much needed "blood".

Hmmm... Hope my colleague was able to fill up her tank before she went home.

We really had a triple whammy on the roads today.

1. Heavy rains which caused massive flash flooding in PJ (did SMART divert all the flood to PJ instead of the alloted containment areas?? LOL... Just kidding... We know how fantastic the PJ drainage system is.... *roll eyes*)

2. Heavy rains started at 4pm and didn't quite let up until 6pm...

3. Petrol price increase "rumour" which caused massive jams on EVERY ROAD LEADING TO A PETROL STATION.

So.... What comes next?

We'll start to complain, protest about the price increase again.

Traders will start to increase price of goods and services because the price of petrol has cut into their profit margin and has increased their operating costs.

The government will preach advise us to change our lifestyle - go for public transportation, travel less and perhaps be self-sufficient.



I love this video...

The Reveal....

LOL! Nothing fancy here... Just wanted to post a couple of pics of what my "new" toy was. (^____^)

This is the top view of the box of the toy. Yep, it pretty much says it!

Just a sort of "perspective" look of what the toy is. See if you can guess it? :-P

It is probably one of the best buys of 2008. It really is helping me manage my otherwise boring but yet busy life.

Have a great weekend folks!

Photos from My New Toy

I just managed to upload some photos from my "new" toy (I've had it for nearly 3 weeks now) but I've yet to reveal what my "new" toy is... (^____^)

So, to whet your appetite, I've put up some photos taken by my new toy. The quality isn't great as it's just a 3MP and I'm basically relying on software rather than equipment for my shots. I'm not used to it yet and so, most of my shots are still very jerky and unclear.

Anyway, I heard that there's a seminar or something to encourage more female photographers to pick up photography as a hobby? Can someone care to enlighten me on this?

Will be looking forward to National Geographic's series on The Genius Of Photography airing every Saturday for 6 weeks (yea!). Anyone interested in this hobby should watch it.

Have a great weekend folks!!

Service Center Without Any Service

I've yet to update my blog with pics of my latest "toy". I didn't transfer my photos out of my camera as it ran out of batt. So, got to wait for a couple of days before I have the time to get all the photos out, organize it, tweak it before I unleash my pictures to the world. LOL!!!

Anyway, this little incident happened a couple of weeks back... It's a bit of an oxymoron.. "Service Center" without any Service... (Conversation is not entirely real but the gist is there...)

EV: You-la!!! You never help me setup my new phone. Now, I can't download the MMS...
Me: Eh? I thought I sent to you.. a couple of times??
EV: Where got... **Shows me her mobile's SMS inbox**
Me: OK OK.. Let's go to that center to get it fixed.

**Looks around the place, plays with the sample phones**
Me: Eh, go and ask the salesperson-la...
EV: OK OK.. Wait wait...

Salesperson: Bla bla bla bla... Yes, this phone has this feature... bla bla bla...
Potential Customer: Ok, I'll think about it.

Salesperson: Yes, may I help you?
Existing Customer: Yes, I need help to check on my bla bla bla...

** This person goes into some length to ask something about a service or bill or something... **
Salesperson: Yes, we can help you do this.. bla bla bla..
Existing Customer: OK, can you do this for me now?

Salesperson: Sorry... We can't. Our system is down.
Existing Customer, EV, Me: -_-"

** Walk away from the Service Center**
Me: Wahh.. So celaka.. Service center konon but no service... LOL!!!
EV: See-la!! You ask me to change to this service.. But now...

Anyway, I do pity the salesperson because she has to turn away their customers/potential customers because the system was down. They could have done the Malaysian way of dealing with system failures... Paste a A4-sized piece of paper on the closed shutters of the shop with the message "SYSTEM DOWN" written/printed on it.

This is something which plagues the service industry. If your core system fails, you are basically done for the day. You can just close the shop and go home. In this service center, I saw the counter staff get off their butts to try to drive sales for the telco but then, when you can't even register a new customer to the service, it's just a waste of time?

Ah well, I went to this same telco's other service center and found that the staff there were enjoying the benefits of the new "toy" on display... despite there being a very large sign stated that it's for the customers... -__-"

Oh well... I will not go into this topic. Am sure that you've got your own funny stories to share about your encounters with various folks in the service industry.. ;-)

It's Friday... And... 2 All Beef Paaatttiieesss....

It's Friday again.. Yahooo!!!!

This one day of the week where we can really kick back and sort of relax. This week is a bit more "special" as there's was a public holiday on Monday. Hence, this week is a 4-day work week.



However, with all the stuff going on.. It felt like a 6-day working week. (T_T)

I was supposed to post this last week but work got in the way. However... Better late than never. ;-)

Enjoy the video from my colleagues at work.

Mobile Blogging

This entry is not about promoting the latest tool or VAS (Value Added Service) from the telco but my 1st attempt at blogging from my new "toy".

Its barely a week old and I'm putting the device thru its paces...

Anyway, I'll write more later as I'm pretty hungry after a reasonably good workout at the gym tonite.

Cheers!!

Friends, Food and Dogs

It has been a pretty hectic March/April for me....

I'm not sure where the time flew but I was very sure that it was divided between my friends, food, work, Facebook and my dogs.

I managed to catch up with friends and colleagues over meals which was great. I hadn't met up with my close mates for a very long time. So, when WPW decided to come home to KL for a vacation after spending about 1.5yrs in Melbourne, Aust., it was a time for celebration!!

We managed to hang out a few times and even had the chance to talk into the wee hours of the morning at Starbucks. Something we hadn't done since we got back from Australia. It certainly brought back a lot of memories of staying up late (or early) to catch the sunrise, and then heading to a nice place or someone's house for a good "brekky" (Aussie slang - breakfast). These are the stuff we do not do now, 10yrs after we graduated.

Gosh... was it so long ago??

Note to those who are studying - enjoy the time you have now. Sure, some of you don't have the $$$; neither did we. We didn't have Starbucks or Coffee Bean during those days. We just headed out to the highest hill on campus to catch the sunrise, and head down to our hostel cafeteria for cheap coffee/breakfast.

March was certainly the time for "makan-makan" (eating out). Our colleague from the UK office had to go back and so, we "celebrated" the event by heading to Pavilion. It was my first time visit and I was quite impressed by the Food Republic. Ironically, he's not in the photo above... hmmm...

LOL!!! There he is! If you want to know, he's the chap in the blue shirt. He has this love for spicy food and that night, he decided to have some Thai food.

The char koay teow was OK. The portion was large and it was placed on the betel-nut leaf (I think it is) like what they do in S'pore. In Malaysia, we use banana leaf to "hold" the char koay teow as it enhances the flavours.

The dogs have also some what taken over my life... ever since Rusty, the smaller PRT (Parson Russell Terrier) joined our family. Snoopy has been having a bit of a rough time trying to educate our young friend into the ways of being a good dog. Snoopy: Rusty is a naughty boy... He likes to steal my bones!! Wait.. That was me... I LIKE TO STEAL HIS BONES...

I do hope to spend more time on my blogs. I have another post coming up on the photo-taking session I had a couple of weeks back, playing with my antiquated Nikon P&S camera... The body is a bit cracked but the lens is still ok. p