Weekends Are For Relaxing

It is obvious that we work for the weekends, i.e. we spend all our waking time to make a living for ourselves. Of course, we also "work" for the weekends.

Unlike my dogs who take time out to relax everyday, I can only relax during the weekends. I wished that there were more days in a week where we can just relax. Somehow, I'm thinking about France and how those folks work about 3-4 days per week.

Anyway, in Malaysia, most companies will enforce a 5 day work-week. However, some unfortunate modern slaves (to coin's zewt's favourite description of modern-day office workers), have to put in 5.5days per week. :-(

So, in this 2 or 1.5 days of bliss, how do we Malaysians spend our time? Most will just stay home to catch up on chores as well as spend quality time with family. Others have a jam-packed schedule of shopping, yumcha/makan with friends as well as those gym fanatics; who will put in 2-3hrs at the gym in sweaty heaven. (^__^)

My latest weekend activity is just to go out and snap as many interesting photos as I can.

Since EV's favourite past time is to go "jalan-jalan cari makan" or walkabout looking for nice eats; these days, I tend to take more photos of food... Hmmm...

This weekend happened to be the start of the Malaysian school holidays. So, you would expect most malls around PJ and KL to be jammed packed with window-shoppers and their kids. Yep, it's like a zoo out there.

Honda's ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovation MObility) robot happened to be in town this weekend and me, being the ultrageek, managed to squeeze some time to see ASIMO in action! **claps hand with glee**

Before that, I had to do something for EV. She needed a lift to KL Sentral as she had a flight to Miri for work, and so, I obliged to give her a lift - provided she chia me breakfast. (^___^)

We went to this restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail which is famous for their Ipoh Hor Fun. It used to be situated at the shop lots where Pizza Hut was but they have relocated to the row of shoplots next to the DBKL office in TTDI.

We had the Ipoh Hor Fun soup, with Steamed Breansprouts and Chicken. It was heavenly. If you are not watching your cholesterol points, you may just try the steamed chicken skin which is like a piece of silk just sliding down your throat. *slurp*

Breakfast came to RM23, which included drinks. Why it was so pricey, well, we ordered the steamed chicken drumstick + thigh combination... KEKEKEKEE

After dropping EV off, I "rushed" over to 1Utama to see if I could see ASIMO in action. When I got there, a sizeable crowd gathered in front of the stage and I was very lucky to be able to grab a spot at the right-side of the stage. The show started at 11:30 and I was there at around 11:55am. Talk about luck...

The doors opened, and ASIMO steps out to greet the crowd!!

I thought ASIMO would have been a lot bigger but it was no larger than a 10-year-old kid.

ASIMO in action, more pictures here.

ASIMO is a technological marvel in robotics as it moves in a very human-like manner. Now, you're wondering why a car manufacturer is pouring money into research for a robot but this robot has many uses in manufacturing as well as for other medical-related uses.

Research into ASIMO's mobility is helping scientist understand better the mechanics of movement, things we take for granted each day. By developing a robot which can move freely on its own, in future, perhaps quardipelgics or amputees may make use of robotics to gain the ability to move freely again.

Anyway, more information about ASIMO can be found here --> http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/.

The geek in me was very happy to see this in action. However, I was quite sad that I couldn't get any merchanise. Would have been nice to have a little ASIMO on my work desk.

Can People Change?

Snoopy has changed from being "goody-four-paws" to being a naughty dog. She's not supposed to be sitting on the couch...

This is an update to my previous post - "Nightmare Colleagues?" ....

Now, I'm not sure if anyone has tried to advise or understand these people but what happens if this type of person has decided to change?

In addition to this person's cockiness and brutish ways (He likes to burp after every meal and never excuses himself for it... ewwwww), The Village Idiot is also quite tight with his purse strings.

A couple of days back, someone told me that he actually took some orders for Roti Boy (a popular Mexican bun from a local Malaysian bakery) from some team members and went down to buy it. Now, previously, whenever he was hungry, he would just make a loud announcement and just grab some snacks for himself. Hmmm...

Stranger still, he came back with all the Roti Boy and REFUSED to accept money from the team members who ordered them! *jaw drops*

Immediately after that, it started to rain quite heavily... *KAKAKA* (Unrelated matter)

The BIG question is, can people change? If so, should we be cautious or hope that it will persist?

Nightmare Colleagues?

If you have noticed from my blog, I'm a big geek. The reason why I am so, is not because of the thick glasses (made slim by a wonderful technology called High-Index Plastic); but because of my job scope.

I'm currently a team lead working in some IT company in KL, supposed to be working on some mid-level management stuff (without the title); but deep down, I'm still a techie developer at heart.

I've seen many young developers come and go; worked with many seniors within the technical scope and have seen my fair bit of personalities while at a job or project.

This article about When Good Developers Go Bad, certainly sparked something in me to write this article.

Now, a common assumption or "mis-assumption" of folks about IT workers in general is that, we all tend to be loners, unfriendly, introverted, and some what know-it-all cocky geeks but not all are like that. In fact, just like people in all other industries, our career choice does not govern our personality traits; nor does the personality trait govern what type of jobs we do.

Ironically, I've met folks in the IT industry who are the complete opposite stereotype of what people perceive an IT worker is.

Anyway, I digress.. as usual. (^___^)

So, you're working in a large IT corporation. You will bound to meet someone who has the following traits:

• Cocky/Arrogant
• Show-Off
• Unhelpful
• Highly Critical
• Highly Argumentative
• Illogical - strange but true...

This type of individual likes to boast about how great their code is, how lousy everyone else's code is, and how; if management were to just see his wonderful-ness, he would change the very way we work, i.e. be a complete jerk and hire other jerks like himself to run the show.

I have this colleague, whom I coin as the "The Village Idiot" as he's someone who loves to challenge weaker members of the team and then; put them down by saying that they're lousy and should just go and die. Whenever he gets a little bit of praise, he'll shout to the heavens (and hell) about his awesome greatness.... *rolls eyes*

Now, whenever a significant challenging task which he has to pick up DOES APPEAR, we often like to shove the "crap" to him with the remark such as "You're so smart-mah, you go and solve the issue-lah...". To which, if he sees that he can't handle it, he'll scoff and say, "This one is not my level.. I don't deal with such problem one..." **rolls eyes more**

In terms of reporting to him, I have been so unlucky not to experience that. However, one of my junior team mates has and it was a nightmare. His brilliance was so overpowering that he kept changing his designs on the fly; confusing the junior member to the point that he nearly wanted to "take out" his supervisor. Due to the constant change, the junior member couldn't deliver his work on time; causing "The Village Idiot" to make remarks such as, "You are so lousy. So simple thing you cannot deliver-ar?"

I couldn't intervene then as it was just out of my scope but ultimately, decided that his leadership skills were not up to par and so, minimized his contact with the other junior members of the team. I feared that should he work with more junior members, he will demotivate more than motivate them to do better.

So, I'm trying out a workaround as suggested by the book "No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't"; i.e. minimize his contact and give him assignments only he himself can complete.

Do you have any nightmare colleague stories to share?

Ohhh... In addition to his cockiness, "The Village Idiot" in my team thinks that he speaks the Queen's English after spending 1 year in the UK. His latest Facebook status states that "Economy very bad, have to tighten bell..." (^___^)

Can You Get Into The Spirit of Christmas Now?

You know its close to the end of the year when you start seeing Christmas decorations spring up in the beginning of November...

This is odd because usually, the hint that Christmas is coming in the US comes around mid-November when Thanksgiving is celebrated there.

Anyway, since Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Deepavali festivities are over, retail outlets here in KL have turned their attention towards Christmas.

I just happened to pass by some interior decoration shop at Bangsar Village 2 after my workout last night and noticed that the shop has started to sell Christmas decorations. Besides that, the shop has put up the usual secular message of "Seasons Greetings" at their storefront. The customary Christmas tree with lovely red, gold and white coloured ornaments adorned the Christmas tree.

Yep, Christmas will be coming here in 46 days, 23hours and 38 minutes... at the time of writing this blog entry. (^_^)

This year will be especially hard for everyone as the global recession makes its way around. Parents will have to explain to their kids about cutting back on holiday reverie, employers have to tell employees not to expect a big bonus at the end of the year, and lots of people will be struggling to make ends meet.

A depressing picture, when you think about it, huh?

However, the retail outlets will be EXPECTING consumers to pick up on spending for the holiday season. A tough message to sell when people are losing their jobs and homes now.

When I think about it, I'm also starting to feel a bit depressed because it will be a gloomy Christmas for a lot of folks out there. But Christmas is NOT about the material things, it's also about family, friends and above all God; how He loved us so much to give His only son to save us.

Officially, the church is winding down the liturgical year and soon, we'll be entering the season of Advent. A time to get close to God as He gives us His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Well, at the end of it all, despite the doom and gloom of what is going on in the financial markets; perhaps we should take time to lift our heads up and march towards a brighter future. Let God lead us, like how He led the shepherds that night with the light of the star towards Christ.

I hope to get into the spirit of Christmas. For me, the season will be a time for me to reconnect with friends and family after going through such a busy year.

So, What's Next?

Mama Cat - She's wondering what is going to happen next...

It's another political tsunami... But then again, we all saw it coming. (^__^)

The next question is, what can the 44th President do within the first 100 days in office? The Democrats have taken back both the Senate and House of Representatives, which means they have the bigger say in the US government.

Anyway, interesting times ahead. Mr. President, let's hope you set out to do all what you have promised to do for your nation, and in consequence the world. All eyes are on you now.

I wonder... would this be a catalyst for us in Malaysia?

Chillis Can Fly?

EV: Do you know that chillis can fly?

Me: Chillis fly??? You mean like fire coming out of your butt when you eat too much chilli padi? (^___^)
EV: What rubbish you talking about??

Kekeke.. This conversation never happened of course. It was entirely fictional. It just happened that we were @ Gardens, MidValley on Sunday to see if we can catch a movie and grab some lunch as well.

We both don't get out too often these days. For me, I've been staying home; following the Canto drama on DVD - Moonlight Resonance like crazy over the weekend. :-P EV, on the other hand has been stuck with work. She's one of those modern slaves where she will take 1 day out of her precious weekend off to go back to the office to just do some menial job like replying e-mails or completing her time sheet.

So, after a lot of persuasion, she decided to go out.

We ended up at Flying Chillies, one of the many Thai food outlets opened by Sea Cuisine Sdn. Bhd.

We started our meal, by calling a starter - Fried Sesame Seed Chicken Toast, accompanied with a Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (RM10+)

Close up of the starter...

Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables (RM15)

I persuaded EV to order the Thai Green Curry Chicken instead of going alacarte individually. She thought that since we both wanted to taste the green curry, we should order vegetables with white rice.

Thai Green Curry Chicken (RM15 - chicken, RM18 - beef)

The green curry was much more spicier than expected! Don't be fooled by the single "chilli" icon at the side of the menu item. This curry is hot!! The curry had green aubergines (brinjals) but it wasn't the small variety. Anyway, the balance between the sweet palm sugar and salty green curry paste suited my palate.

Infamous Thab Thim Grob (Red Ruby)

We were both so full after our lunch but still managed to scrounge some space in our bloated bellies to take dessert. :-P We both also ordered the Thai Iced Tea which was RM10+ each.

I can't really recall the price of the dessert as I didn't pay for the meal...... Haha!!!

Oh well, do try this place out. The food is quite good although pricey but that's to be expected for this type of cuisine.

Which Is More Irritating... A Boss Who Never Listens or A Boss Who Always Talks?

I just got a very misleading e-mail from my boss.

My e-mail had just asked one item - "Are you available for this meeting?"

His answer was "Please include bla bla in the conc (conference) call"...

(-_____-)

What the heck?? A meeting may not necessarily mean a conference call.

Besides that, the attached e-mails clearly stated a request for people to ATTEND a meeting AT A CLIENT'S OFFICE.

Now, IF I wanted to inform him about a conference call, I would have worded my e-mail differently, like so,

"Are you available to join in this conference call?"

I don't like to confuse people. Some call me long-winded but I will NEVER confuse people. A meeting and a conference call are two different items, i.e. apples vs oranges.

Now, this is not the first time that such a thing has happened. There were clearly times when he asked me to clarify a situation and once I got to the office and started to explain. He just interrupted and made his assumptions; proceeded to take action without considering the consequences.

He never gave me any chance to speak up and clearly explain things.

And after that, he will ask me, "Why did this happen?". I can't simply tell him, "It's your fault dumb@$$...", right?

So, which is more irritating. A boss who never listens or a boss who can't stop talking?

He clearly has violated one of the most important rule of being a leader - TO LISTEN RATHER THAN TO BE HEARD.

Clearly, if someone does not take the time to listen to you, he is not showing you any respect.

An Old Faithful - Jaya Noodle House

I'm not sure if many folks still remember the old noodle shop in Jaya Supermarket @ SS14, PJ... But, that shop has moved to Jaya One ever since Jaya Supermarket has closed down.

On Saturday night, EV and I decided to try the food out at this old place.

Anyway, I remember the place being kind of old and dingy, tucked away at the corner past the jewelery store in Jaya Supermarket. Things have changed now that they have moved to Jaya One. The place is clean and isn't as dingy as before as the kitchen fumes didn't flow back to the dining area. Those were the memories of my childhood. :P

I went with an old classic - Char Siew Wantan Noodles (dry). The char siew meat was lean and a tad bit dry but the noodles was springy to the bite. The vegetables was poached to perfection, neither under nor over cooked.

The wantans were ok. Nothing fantastic and it didn't have too much fat. It could have used with a little bit more prawns in the filling.

EV went with her rice accompanied with fried sliced fish and ginger. I didn't take a photo of that as she was terribly hungry. We ordered a boiled soup - Watercress with pork. The shot I took wasn't so good as the ceiling lights got reflected off theh surface of the soup. -_-

I've been having a lot of meat lately. So, a plate of Fried Kai Lan with garlic went well with whatever I was having.

Now, I can remember the individual price of each item but the dishes were under RM10 each, but the total bill came up to RM50; which includes a bowl of Peanut Cream or (花生糊), coconut and ice lemon tea.

I think I'll come back again for their other specialties. :-)

Clouds...

I looked up this morning and found the cloud formation to be really interesting...

Have a look at this series of shots.

The two antennas are not exactly working now. One of it is the regular television antenna, while the other one used to be the antenna used to receive the now defunct Metrovision; which has now been revived as 8TV.

These photos were taken before 8:00am...

I only managed to take these photos because:

1. Rusty the JRT woke me up at 6:00am so that he can go play/pee... (-__-)
2. I was on the late shift.
3. It has been dry for the past few days.

Anyway, I've still got a looonggg way to go to improve my skills...

Here's to a cool blue-sky weekend folks!! :-)

Bubbles...

It has been nearly a month since I've started my journey into photography with my DSLR.

Well, I've just done a bit of comparison between my Nikon 5900 and the DSLR. Now, it's an unfair comparison since the DSLR can do a little bit more than a little point-n-shoot. However, my little 'old PnS was one level below the pro-sumer range of Nikon cameras some years back. ;-)

Macro shot of some bubbles...

Another shot of the bubbles...

Both pictures have been taken at a slightly different angle and from the colours, I've adjusted the white-balance of the photo before I took the shot.

Can you guess which one was taken with the DSLR and which one with the Nikon 5900? (^___^)

You can try to enquire the EXIF data but I believe that has been wiped off when I edited the photo to put in my usual "trademarks".

Anyway, another question; which one do you like more? :-P

Light Overcame Darkness...

Happy Festival of Lights

It's festival time in Malaysia again and this time, its Diwali or Deepavali!!

To all Hindu friends and readers, I wish you Happy Deepavali!!

May you enjoy the company of friends and family during this wonderful Festival of Lights!

To everyone else, have a great rest during this long holiday weekend.

Trying Out The Lawn by Marmalade @ KLCC

This little cafe has been around KLCC for a while now and I've visited this spot a few times whenever I'm "stranded" at work.

For the past few weeks, rain has been wetting parts of KL and causing some flash floods (despite having SMART; which isn't so SMART after all...) and so, I've been stuck at work. Not wanting to spend more intimate time getting to know my car more (as I've got a bad right knee); I've decided to camp stay back at work.

During such times, I have to pick out a location to eat and have been at The Lawn a few times.

I've tried Marmalade once and found the food to be a tad bit tasteless but healthy "tasteless". I love the cupcakes though...

This time, I decided to go healthy and try out a sandwich & fruit juice.

I've forgotten the name of the drink but it's a mixture of green apple, celery, mint and ginger. It's very refreshing.

As for the sandwich, I went for the pesto roasted chicken avocado on foccaccia. There was some home-made aioili which went nicely with the creaminess of the avocado. The chicken wasn't that dry even though the part used was breast meat. I love the freshness of the pesto and wished that there was more spread between the sandwich.

Close-up view of the sandwich.

After my sandwich, I felt I needed to indulge my sweet tooth. Since I was nuts about their cupcakes, I decided to try their carrot cupcake.

The cream cheese icing complemented the carrot cupcake. The size of the cupcake was just nice for me.

Quite a satisfying dinner. I didn't feel all that guilty after eating at The Lawn... Hehehehehe

Of course, the next day, I hit the gym and had a great workout. LOL!!! (^____^)

One of Those Days...

Rusty relaxing after MRDO 2008

It's just one of those dog-gone days where you wish you could just lie in bed the entire day...

Yes, I'm demotivated again after going through a stack of documents and application screen shots which the client insists that we change. The client is expecting that the change be done FOC (Free of Charge).

Tough shit!!!! (~___~)

This is because the changes requested are not that simple. It's not a question of changing a text label here or move a field there, it's adding/removing functionality, putting up a listing of data where you cannot manage the actual data itself (think of it as "ghost view") and stuff like logic change.

The biggest ick factor of this project I'm working on right now is the fact that the "common" application had undergone some major changes and they FAILED to inform us about the change.

So, when it came time for UAT (User Acceptance Testing), of course the test(s) failed.

We had asked previously about any documentation or contact to liaise with in regards to their "common" application but we were greeted with blank stares or just "no, no, no, no..."

My question is, if you do not share information or knowledge; how will the other party know what is right or wrong?

I am not God. Though, at times I wished I could be. (^___^)

*sigh*... It's only Tuesday??? @#$@#!!@##!#!@#

Feel Good Friday - Loco Roco 2!!!

One of my favourite PSP games will be released soon!! Loco Roco 2!!!

The game is addictive and is quite innovative as you move the "blob" using the L1 and L2 controls on the PSP.

I played this game non-stop for a few days just to get through the levels to see the end. The music was great too. It reminded me of another few great games from Namco - Katamari series (Katamari Damacy, We love Katamari, Me and My Katamari).

So, I'm patiently waiting for this game to be announced... (^__________^)

Have a great weekend folks!

How Many Times You Pee/Poo Per Day?

This piece of news is just a "flush of genius"... - ‘Pay for water waste’ plan on the cards (The Star)

Yes, we have to pay for our water here. It is a shock to some folks from other countries that we have to pay for clean water while some countries are getting it for free, i.e. treated and clean. While, over here, we have to pay for our own water to be treated AND yet it is still not clean enough to be drunk straight from the tap.

Now, we have to watch what we eat/drink because, we will need to pay each time we pay homage to our Royal Throne at home or work or play.

Energy, Water and Commu­nications Minister Datuk Shaz­iman Abu Mansor said that his ministry was at the early stages of looking into a “Green Tariff” which would require consumers to pay for wastage they incur.

“The Green Tariff is a volumetric-based tariff that combines the tariff for water and waste water into a single holistic tariff.

“Whatever water is used, it almost entirely ends up as waste as well. It’s still at a very early stage. We are still studying the issue,” he told the press after launching the Fifth National Utilities Summit here yesterday.

Gawsh, first of all, I'm wondering how much will it cost me, the poor taxpayer how much $$ it will take for the ministry to conduct the study. Second of all, when will this be implemented? I need to know so that I can also plan my exit.

“We are looking to see what would be a fair way of charging consumers, meaning you pay for what you use.

“It will not be a flat rate system,” he said.

OMG!! That means that if my entire family has diarrhea a particular week and assuming that we have to visit the bathroom > 10 times per pax.... I will be screwed for that month's bill...

BTW, aren't we all paying $$$ to Indah Water already? Why another tariff?

I have a strange feeling that some genius out there will start another "night service" like those in the good 'ol days of people collecting your waste at night. So, you might hear lorries with people yelling "URINE LAMA, KENCING LAMA.."

LOL!!! Gosh, I usually write nonsense stuff on Fridays... I'm two days early. ;-)

Crappy Shots from a DSLR Newbie

I finally took the plunge... Went Canon instead of Nikon. *MUAHAHAAHHA*

Noooo.. You didn't??

Well, it made sense 'coz most of the "sifus" (experts) in the office were Canon DSLR users. So, that means learning about the camera and trying out equipment so much easier. Sometimes, it is hard to be that lone voice in the wilderness.

So, am I saying goodbye to my 'ol Reliable? HELL NO!! It's a great camera and although the MPs were not high, it had a lot of features I could play with which is important in my DSLR adventures ahead.

Anyway, here are some shots. I've saved the EXIF info as well. After so many years of editing my shots, I realized that the EXIF* data was loss!!

*EXIF - EXchangeable Image Format

Tried to get as close as possible without being stung...

For now, I'm trying to learn to play around with the different settings and my garden is my photo "studio" for now. Of course, I have 2 willing camwhore victims to play as LIVE subjects too. But, it's hard telling two Jack Russells to sit still while I fiddle with my settings.

I'm learning to compose my pictures as well. This is a skill which needs to be honed. It helps to have some inspiration and drooling over looking at other brilliant photographers' works is making me "work" harder at my skills.

I've decided to learn a little bit on *HDR techniques to my photos too. Somehow, the slippers here look a bit eerie after I've darken some tones. Yep, these days, besides being able to take a good photo, you need to know some post-processing techniques as well.

*HDR - High Dynamic Range

Anyway, will be posting some other photos up whenever I have the time. ;-)

Oh Mamma Mia!!!!

=====Dedicated to all readers who were alive during the 70's... Oh Gawd... I'm such an old fart!!!=====

Mention the name "ABBA" to any adult aged late 20-something and above and you'll get a reaction of sorts. Either they start jiving to "Dancing Queen"; burst into song, singing "Thank You For the Music" or just shake their head to think that they lived through the Disco age somehow. Perhaps for some of us, we couldn't believe that we have been wowed by these people who wore clothes with so much sequins that it literally blinded us.. back then.

I FINALLY caught Mamma Mia! yesterday with my parents who are big ABBA fans. We never went on a road trip without our ABBA tapes. My sister and I would try to sing to "Honey, Honey" or "I Have A Dream". Yes, ABBA was drummed into us at an early age.

The movie was fantastic! It was what I really needed to feel happy after going through such a crappy week. Nothing is more uplifting than jiving to the song of "Dancing Queen" - a song about having the "time of your life". The last ABBA-related movie I watched was Muriel's Wedding and that was a pretty good movie with some ABBA songs in it.

Sure, some of us would like to make fun of ABBA music but deep down, I'm sure some of us can't help tapping our feet to the music or humming their songs. In fact, the Swedes have this joke about their country's biggest exports were Volvos, IKEA and ABBA... (^___^)

The best part I liked about ABBA's music was that their lyrics were simple, and so easy to sing to. They had a variety in their music too, where they didn't just stick to a particular tempo. Perhaps that was what is so appealing about them.

Anyway, for an inspiring song, try "I Have A Dream"... Listen to the lyrics carefully.

Now, I can't wait for the musical to come down to KL!!!

And yes... I have a feeling that I'll be singing more ABBA songs at the Christmas Karaoke this year... LOL!!!

Fish Food... Comfort Food...

The Raya break is coming to an end... *sigh*

wished that I could have taken a longer break to recuperate back home. I'm wondering if I should take advantage of the next holiday towards the end of this month to take a long break.

Anyway, it has been 3 months since I last fed the fishes and this time, EV decided that she was brave enough to go try the Fish Spa treatment... Provided, I would be there to help distribute the "feed".

EV found a nice fish spa called Garrafura Fish Spa in Bangsar @ Jalan Telawi, just next to the Al-Radjh Bank. She read about it in the papers and told me that the fish there were slightly different from the ones at Kenko Fish Spa. Hmmmm...

Well, since we had the time and wanted to try something different than hang out at the shopping mall; we went to Bangsar. Besides, I DID promise her that I would go try out the fish spa some moons back. I happened to break my promise when I joined a group of colleagues after a farewell gathering at Pavillion.

I brought my camera along to document the expression on EV's face the moment when she feels the first bite... **MUAHAHAHAHAA**

Our feet after EV has gotten used to the ticklish nibbling of the fish

To my surprise, EV felt right at home here!! She did not squirm or tried to kill me when more fish started to nibble at her feet. Then... I remembered, EV is quite immune to tickles... *sigh*

The fish here are a bit more gentle since it was the smaller variety and although a lot of fish were at my feet, it felt pretty relaxing. It kind of reminds me of having a foot massage with tiny massagers all around my feet. The difference is that fish are eating your dead skin cells.

There are two ponds at this place and I suspected that the smaller pond had a different species or larger fish.

Lovely deco..

Wash your feet before and after the spa treatment!

The deco here is soothing and the spa played some relaxing oldies from The Carpenters. I found myself humming or singing to the song "Top of the World" to keep myself from giggling too much.

My last blog entry didn't have a good shot of the fish as I went to the spa at night. This time round, I managed to get a good close-up of the tiny workers who were so busy at my feet!

Whoa, now that is a big fish!

The fishes are getting very personal with me...

After a while, EV was curious with the fishes at the other pond. I suggested to her that if she wants to have a more intense sensation, she should try the other pond.

EV videos the fishes in action

She was quite scared at first because the fishes at the other pond were bigger!! The nibbling sensation was stronger as bigger fish had bigger teeth after all.

I couldn't see the fish very well as the pool used darker stones but I noticed that the fish were dark brown/green - indicating a different variety? For my second time, this experience was certainly a tame one. I think I might want to try Kenko again just so that I can try the bigger fish there! :-)

We used up our 30 minutes and I asked EV how she felt. She said, "It's normal-la!". I asked her if she felt that her feet was lighter or smoother or whiter... She said she felt it was normal. Later that night, I got an SMS from her that she felt that the skin on her feet was really smooth and soft! Wow, so our RM38 was really worth it after all!

We walked back to Bangsar Village to see if there was any place to have some tid bits when EV noticed signs about the newly opened Theobroma Chocolate Lounge. Being a confirmed chocoholic, she said she must try the chocs there.

I ordered an ice-blended drink - Snow White Frappe while EV had some tea. Since she was hungry, she had a quiche first.

The frappe had a very strong milk taste and was not all too creamy. It did have a hint of white chocolate which I love and the dark chocolate shavings balanced out the sweetness of the drink.

For dessert, EV ordered the Ice Cream Crepe with Caramel and it looked amazing!

Reminds me of a Paper Thosai

Oozing Milk chocolate sauce... Slurp!!

I was glad that we didn't order the fondue or Mud Pie as the crepe was quite large. Within the crepe, there were chopped nuts and sultanas. Quite a nice treat but when you're at the Chocolate lounge, shouldn't we go for dessert with more chocolate?

I think I will be returning to the Lounge soon with some other chocoholics.

Sigh.. When is the next long weekend again?

What I Did During Raya - KL Bird Park

I had too many photos to show in my last blog that I had to break it up into two posts.

After spending a few hours at the Butterfly park, we headed down to the Bird Park. We were shocked to find a lot of people were visiting the place. Then again, it's the school holidays as well. So, many families were making a day trip with their kids there.

We purchased our tickets for RM15 per pax. For foreign visitors, the ticket costs RM39 for adults. It's not a bad deal considering that the park was rather huge. We hoped that the price of the tickets were worth it...

As soon as we passed the entrance, a peacock somehow had flown up on to the canopy and decided to spread its feathers. This is a sight to behold! Of course, the next thing which occurred to me was, could I manage to avoid its poop... Hmmmm...

The park had an artificial waterfall and from the looks of it, was very well maintained. It seems that the artificial waterfall was just newly constructed.

Dude, I told you that you needed deodorant...

Although the park is a walk-in aviary, there were some cages to house other birds which were rare. Some of these birds took advantage of the tall cages to make some sort of a nesting ground. Now, birds of a feather, DO flock together.

Monkeys!!! Yes, Yes... They are relatives to certain high ranking officials... (^_^)

Another surprise in the park were monkeys. There was a troop of monkeys looking for food in the park. Monkeys love fruits and there are plenty of feeding stations around the park for the monkeys to "steal" food from. When we drove around Bukit Aman, we spotted a section near the Tun Abdul Razak Memorial which had fruits and nuts placed there for the monkeys living around the hill.

There were plenty of peacocks around. I wasn't lucky enough to catch them spreading their tail feathers but they were making a loud crowing noise to indicate their locations. Yes, when the birds are up in the trees, I tend to look up to avoid... the "surprise"...

Chick: Ma, why we walk like that? Mother: So that the human can take a cute photo of us-loh!

This picture of a pea hen and its chick is quite cute. It's as though the pea hen and chick were walking towards somewhere.

Contrary to what everybody thinks.. Flamingos are actually white in colour. The reason why some flamingos turn pink is due to the food it takes. The flamingos doesn't fly around the park. They mainly stick around this pond.

We finally found the Rhinoceros Hornbill, which happens to be the mascot for the park as well as being Sarawak's state bird. This bird was found in another part of the park - where the exotic and endangered birds are kept. EV was quite excited to see this bird since she's from Sarawak and is very proud of this bird.

Sadly, these birds are also endangered in the wild - due to loss of its natural habitat.

EV and I stayed on to watch the Bird Show and was very impressed with the way the birds were trained to perform tricks.

I was quite surprised with the cleanliness of the park. You won't find a lot of bird droppings left unattended and the grounds were kept quite clean from the mess. The only part which I didn't like about the park was the area where the monkeys were. The monkeys have left their excrement in certain places after stealing the birds' food and somehow, that portion of the park wasn't well maintained.

It is worthwhile to visit this park as it offers a unique experience of being around nature in a closed setting. While at the park, you feel as though you're in a different part of the city, despite the park being located near one of the busiest part of KL.