What I Did During Raya - KL Butterfly Park

It has been a long time since we had some holidays and so, I took the opportunity to go to some of the sights around KL. Actually, I was cajoled by EV as she complained that she was bored with the usual activities of going to shopping malls or just jalan-jalan to cari makan.

I decided to bring her to the sights around the National Mosque or Bukit Aman to visit the Butterfly and Bird Parks. She didn't know the area and so, I asked her to drive. Hehehe...

Anyway, going to the parks would give me an opportunity to practice my photography skills. I wished I got the DSLR first but then, skills are more important. Without the skills, any photos taken even with the best camera can turn out to be crap.

EV needed to be fed and so, on such a rare occassion where she didn't needed to feast on blood, we went to the local Mackers (McDonald's) for some brekky...

I like to sprinkle lots of pepper on my eggs. No salt, it is salty enough.

Mackers didn't have any strawberry jam but they had grape jelly; which tasted sweet with a hint of artificial grape flavouring... Might as well have used sugar on those muffins.

We made our way to KL and EV realized that the park was quite near her office! When we got down, I decided to test my camera settings first since the sky is a bit overcast with enough sunlight that morning.

The view of the city from Bukit Aman. You can see two landmarks - KL Tower and KLCC. Hidden behind the tree is the large flagpole at Merdeka Square.

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, 4 other cars loaded with passengers went to visit the park as well. It was the school holidays and so, many families brought their kids to visit these places.

I started snapping away as soon as I got there. I've decided to post the following photos which I deemed were the best of the lot.

Paku Pakis Unfurls

Hanging orchids - I had to wait until the wind died down so that I can take this shot of the orchids hanging from an arch.

This was my second dragonfly shot for the day. The first one was quite blurry. EV was trying to hurry me to take a look at some yellow-coloured butterfly. I'm glad I ignored her.

I also managed to take a few good butterfly shots too. Of course, it would have been better if I had a DSLR with zoom lens but my little compact camera did well too.

We spent a long time at the park as I wanted to take some photos with varying degrees of light. I converted this photo using some photo-editing software. It's quite hard to find a good black and white shot while at the park.

The park costs RM8 per entry for Malaysians with an additional RM1 for your camera. I found it weird that the park should charge people for bringing their camera. Hmmmm.. Probably a policy they had since it first opened.

Needless to say, it was a good learning experience. I didn't manage to learn a single butterfly name but I learned to take some good shots. :-)

Weekend Makan-Makan

I spent last Saturday going around town trying to find some stuff to eat. I've not participated in such an activity for a very long time now. (^__^)

After trying to look for the Little Dim Sum Place around Sri Hartamas (apparently it has closed down or moved out), I ended up at Jarrod and Rawlins for a very late lunch, i.e. 3pm.

I fooled around with EV's mobile phone camera since it was one of those Cybershot ones. She didn't quite understand how to take macro shots and so, I decided to give her a few pointers.

I like this photo because of the sugar packets had that unique design. Kind of reminds me of the Wonder Bread plastic bag design... All retro-like.

I was captivated with the different kinds of wine served at the restaurant. It kind of reminded me to also check my home's stockpile. Hmmmm... Well, Christmas is about 2 months away...

Due to my diet, I've basically sworn off coffee and because I was still quite sleepy, and so decided to order a latte. This cuppa really had the balance of milk and coffee - just the way I like it. :-)

When it came to food, I couldn't decide if I wanted bangers (sausages) or a sandwich. In the end, I opted for the Black Pepper Steak pie which came with some mash (mashed potatoes) and some condiments - Brown Gravy with Onion and Yellow Mustard.

Not to worry, EV balanced out the meal by ordering an Avocado Mango Salad. The picture was too blurry to post since I was using my PDA phone camera.

Now, after all that food, we just had to walk it off. We walked a bit around Sri Hartamas and noticed that quite a lot of Korean restaurants have moved in the neighbourhood. Well, it has been nearly 4 years since I last worked there. Anyway, I'm curious about some of the Korean restaurants there and would certainly return there to try it out next time.

EV said that she needed to get some stuff from IKEA and off we went to The Curve/Ikano. I was a bit apprehensive as it was the weekend before Raya and so, we'll definitely meet a lot of shoppers there. We did our shopping - me, buying stuff for the dogs and she, buying stuff for her Dad's condos.

I even managed to sneak a peek at my prospective camera - Canon 450D... I drooled all over it. (So much so that when I returned to the shop yesterday, the salesman remembered me....)

After all that walking around; we decided to give the new US franchise Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Since it was still Ramadhan, we had to wait - for about 1 hour!!! We were both not hungry and decided to hang out at The Curve while waiting for the call from the restaurant. In case you can't recall, this restaurant is setup after the movie Forrest Gump which won some Academy Awards way back in the mid 90's...

This restaurant has a unique way to get the attention of the waiters. Here is how it goes...

There are two "license" plates placed on the table where, one is Blue with the words "Run Forrest Run"...

This license plates indicates that you still require service from the waiters, who will pop by to ask if you require anything - food, drink, napkin... Forrest Gump related trivia...

And, the second plate, is Red in colour with the words "Stop Forrest Stop"...

This license plate indicates to the waiter that you wish to stop eating/drinking and would like to get the bill.

Certainly quite unique and we both tried it. It was a busy night and the room was dark; hence the waiter didn't quite notice when we put up the "Stop" sign...

What did we order? Since we were both full, we decided to go for an appetizer and salad... (Yes, I'm trying to eat healthy... sheesh!!)

Tossed Chicken Cobb - RM 24.90

The salad was pretty ok, though both EV and I would have loved to eat more avocado... The vinaigrette dressing was quite sharp and tangy - perfect with the creamy avocado.

Cajun Shrimp - RM20.90

The cajun shrimp came in a dish with cajun spices in melted butter. This tended to be a quite salty dish because of the butter and spices. The lemon does cut the salt and it went well with the garlic bread. Though, I thought the garlic bread should have had more garlic on it.

The portions served at Bubba Gump is quite large and can be shared with a few folks. There are quite a number of good deals to be shared such as Shrimpers Heaven, where the shrimp served are cooked in a variety of ways - deep fried, deep fried in tempura batter or coconut...

For those who love shrimp or prawns as we call it here in Malaysia, go ahead and try out Bubba Gump; no matter how "franchisy" this restaurant is.

*Whew*!!!! After all that eating, I certainly feel guilty and would be hitting the gym after I've rested my sore knee. I'd guess the key to all this is to eat in moderation and certainly, quantity sometimes does not equal quality. ;-)

Dogs And Grass

Not really in the mood to write anything longish in my blog today.

Just a picture of my dogs enjoying their time in the sun.

My dogs sure know how to enjoy themselves.

Take time out to enjoy the sun during the short break folks!!

To all Muslims - SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI!!!!!! To the rest, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Losing My Mojo....

Hmmm.. What do you do, when you feel that you're losing your "mojo"?

Be it something that you do at work or just a feeling that you're not achieving your very best; what do you do to get back on the horse and get it back? ;-)

Worse still... What happens if someone keeps criticizing you despite your very best? :-(

Gosh... I wish that getting my "mojo" back is as easy as how Austin Powers got his back. (^___^)

I try not to be too serious with myself. I'm sure that it'll come back. I just got to figure out how...

Boom De Ah Dahh!!!! - The World Is Awesome!

Desipte all the crap going around... The world is a pretty awesome place...



Stay happy, ok?

By the way, those of you folks who have subscribed to Discovery Channel on Astro, you might see this ad going around. The song is pretty catchy and you can even download the MP3 here.

Happy Mid-Autumn (Mooncake) Festival

This year, the mid-autumn or mooncake festival will fall on a Sunday. A perfect chance for people to go home to their hometowns to celebrate the festival with their families.

This probably explains why the city looked quiet today. Besides that, last week, there was a rush for mooncakes and etc.

I was supposed to blog about some photos this week but work caught up with me again. GRRRRRR...

Last Sunday, EV and I were on the food hunt - looking for an Elephant, but ended up in the Food Foundry. (^ ^)

Had a late lunch and decided to indulge on some dessert - mille crêpe, to be exact.

Wished sometimes that things were as clear as "chocolate" and "white"...

I ordered a vanilla flavoured mille crêpe, while EV, being a big fan of chocolate, went for her favourite flavour.

Mille crêpe up close... Look at all that cream and crêpe layers!!!

What is a mille crêpe ? It's just a French cake made up of many layers of crêpe. Unlike the Indonesian layer cake - which is layers of baked cake, this mille crêpe is a pastry which is made up of many layers of thin crêpe sandwiched with flavoured cream. Yummmm... Best to finish this when it's nice and cold.

These dragons don't breathe fire...

EV and I ended up at The Curve. The place was decorated for both the Mid-Autumn and Ramadhan festivities. I espied my chinese zodiac "floating" around... These paper lanterns are quite hard to find these days. More so when people prefer the plastic battery-operated lanterns which also plays some irritating music.

I miss the simple days when my Kong-Kong will buy for my sis and I, goldfish paper lanterns. He would proclaim that he made it for us. Guilible kids that we were, we were amazed with our grandfather. After all, he used to make paper toys for us from gold paper found in cigarette boxes.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!

Enjoy those mooncakes but don't take too much of it as you'll know those cakes will go straight to your bum!!!!

What Makes You Happy?

I've been going through a few blogs here and there and found that people are either very stressed out, suffering from anxiety attacks or just depressed.

Hmmmm... Times are getting tough but I know we'll pull through if we keep our chin up. (^ ^)

At the end of a very long working day (I know, some people work > 12 hours per day and yet, go home and take care of the family), what makes you happy?

What brings a smile to your face the very moment you step into your house?

A yummy meal? (Of course, this picture I took of the "Dragon Roll" from Sushi Zanmai.. Slurrrppp)

Your fur "kids"... or pets - who always give unconditional love.... AWWWW... this picture really melts my heart...

Your supportive family. Folks whom you can spend time to talk to about problems, hopes and dreams.

Of course, ultimately in the end, the secret to happiness is yourself. If you have everything that lie can offer - good looks, $$$, great job and loving partner/family but still feel unhappy; then, you may have to examine yourself to see why you are unhappy.

Like I mentioned in one of my old posts, happiness is about how well-adjusted you are. Of course, everyone has problems and wish that they can run away from it. But the truth of the matter is that, we can't run away from our problems forever.

Problems will always be there and we have to face them - no matter how much we hate it. I'd guess, let's not sweat the small stuff and learn to be content with whatever we have?

Anyway, I'm facing a lot of issues now at work but when I go home, I leave it behind. It's the only way I can keep sane.

To everyone out there.... Hope that you can find a bit of happiness somewhere....

Anger Management and Merdeka Wishes

From my last post, you may think that I was really taking it too far.

Yeah, I nearly lost my head because I was stressed out over some massive jam. The truth of the matter was that I've been stressed out for a very long time now.

Ever since an announcement from the HQ that each profit center was to hit 80% utilization, I have been stressed out every week to try to hit those numbers. Sure, revenue collection is not part of my KPI (Key Performance Indicator) but cost recovery from utilization rate of each member in the team; including myself.

I know that I shouldn't let stuff like this get to me, but the pressure is just getting too much. Every week, we're been asked by the boss - "Do you know what happened last week?", i.e. do you know why your numbers are so fxxked up last week? Sometimes, out of anger, I would like to answer back - "Sure, YOU fxxked up the numbers because YOU didn't bring in the sales!". However, I keep this all repressed inside, waiting for the moment when I'm excused from the meeting.

I'm a technical team lead - which means, I lead my team in technical aspects of a project. Somehow, the term is being abused by management because we have the responsibilities as a manager but yet - not really having the title. In fact, I feel like a pseudo-manager all the time now.

Anyway, enough of that.

I had a small revelation while at church yesterday. It happened when I was listening to the church's 50th Golden Jubilee song. A sort of calm and peace came over me as I concentrated on the lyrics of the song. That the greatest celebration was The Word - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1)

It was as though I had been touched by God's finger, i.e. like being poked (not Superpoked! like in Facebook), nudged to return my focus to Him. Sure, the world could be really screwed up at times and it can take it's toll on us; but there is so much more to life, than just work.

With that, I have a renewed sense of self this Merdeka. Yep, that means I've got to take whole of my anger and turn it inside out. Laugh a bit more, learn to breathe more deeply - to calm the mind and also to eat right!!

I'm getting the exercise thing down - by trying to hit the gym at least twice a week - up to 2 hours per session; but food is my biggest downfall and brick wall. Well, right now I'm having my low-fat yogurt and apple and I am resolved to get the food part of my diet right. It's so hard when Malaysian food is soooo delicious and you need a lot of will power to resist the lovely char koay teow or that fatty piece of bak kut in the bak kut teh.

However, thinking of all the saturated oils just gives me the heebie jeebies now. Yeck!!

Snoopy celebrated her 5th birthday yesterday as well as our nation celebrated 51 years of independence. Both numbers are significant although one is larger than the other.

Just like Snoopy wishes for good things to come to her, I also wish for great things to come to our nation. Despite all the things which are happening now, we all wish and strive to make Malaysia the best she can be.

I pray that our leaders will wake up and remember that the job they took was provided by the rakyat. So, the rakyat is the boss.

I pray that our leaders will be granted the wisdom to lead the people and not lead their pockets.

I pray for continued peace amongst everyone.

I pray for the people of Sichuan, China who suffered another earthquake on Aug 31st.

That is my Merdeka wish. Happy Merdeka everyone!

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?? :-)

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*