Birthday wishes

It was my birthday yesterday!!! How old? Heh.. I will let you guess on this one. I received a lot of birthday wishes via sms on facebook and even in my blog...and I was touched that so many of you remembered! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Just to share with you...among many of them:

"Tried to call u, wanted to wished u happy birthday or is it belated? I'm sorry i got the dates mixed up."

"I'm at the airport now, waiting to board. Happy Birthday to you. Sorry late wish"

"Just came back from work, it has been a very long day! Just wanted to wish you a wonderful birthday! I hope you treated yourself for today!"

"I might be a bit late. Happy Birthday to you. May all your wishes come true"

"Hihi, happy birthday to you. Wish you n ur family good health, joy and fruitful future. Next time when i come back then we meet up again yam cha. Happy Birthday!"

'Happy Birthday! =)" - a few of this simple but meaning full ones.

"Happy Birthday!!!!!!!! Wish u r having a nice day."

"A very happy birthday to you! You truly are a special friend and I do miss you. Un abbraccio."

"Many Happy rtns"

" c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c "

The last one made me laugh.. I'm sure it must be a bday wish of some sort in Chinese characters, but unfortunately my mobile can't read them. I had a good day yesterday since it was a public holiday for where my work place is located. Hence I got a day off without the need to apply for leave (I was planning to have a day off anyway), my hubby took a day off to just spend time with me.. hee.. we actually had a hectic day, woke up around 7.30am! Went out most of the day to have lunch, walk around, visit orphanage on behalf of my parents in law, bought bday presents for other people, then got home around 6.30pm (just like normal working day.. almost, normally we would have woken up at 5am). Had dinner, had bday cake (cake on TTB's blog) and then slept at 11pm. Quite an ordinary bday.. but ordinary is good.

WAIT A MINUTE!! No.. something did happened yesterday, we were in a minor car accident!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have nearly forgotten about this. We were happily driving (luckily quite slow because in preparation to take a left turn soon), then the car right in front of just did an emergency break!!! Because of the stupid car in front of him that is doing some reckless maneuvering stunt. Hence there was not enough space for us to emergency stopped in time. But luckily no car within close range at our back. We bump the car in front lightly at the back bumper. Luckily it was a very light car (Kancil) hence we pushed the car to the front for a distance. That have absorb some of the shock and also energy of the bump.. so no major harm to both cars or the people inside. If it was a stronger/heavier car, we would have dented his bumper or ours!!! We stopped quickly at the road side, both drivers went down and inspect their cars respectively, had a good laugh of the experience since no dent or anything, curse the reckless car who has caused all these but drove off, then both drivers went back to their cars and drove off. It was really a minor thing, hence I actually have totally forgotten about it. But what a thing to happen on your birthday! Hee.. I take it as a good sign because bad things happen (I believe) to help you reduce your bad karma. Must remember to do more charity to earn some good karma.

The real Japanese food

WARNING: This blog entry will seriously make you run to the nearest Japanese sushi restaurant, unless you hate Japanese food =p


These pictures were taken during my trip to Japan (Shibuya, Tokyo) in March this year. Hee.. didn't have time to sort them out till now. If you love Japanese food, I urge you strongly to take a trip to Japan. Once you try the food there especially sushi, there is no turning back! It is just so so so so so so good. When people said that the fish is so fresh that you can taste the sea, it is no joke. I can relate to that although I can't describe to you exactly what that taste is. Unfortunately I didn't get to try more of their noodles, gyoza and other type of local cuisine. Looks like another trip to Japan is a good idea. Hee.. but it is really expensive there. I am lucky that this was a business trip and a lot of the company's partners actually spent us the meal. If not I will not be able to afford most of these really delicious sushi!

Enjoy the pics!

Dessert (not exactly sure what they are, some mochi and red bean thing)

From the top: Salmon roe, egg, fresh raw prawn, sea urchin and raw crab leg.

From left: Unagi (eel) in terriyaki sauce & mince tuna temaki (handroll)

From left: Grilled chicken & grilled scallops (i love their marinades, but not sure what)

Tempura prawn udon

Sashimi (can't remember what type of fish for the most left side, middle red one is tuna and then the most right is scallop)

Bamboo shoot steam rice with pickles and miso soup (this is served last in the 9 course meal we were treated to, felt like Queen being served very well ^_^)

From left: Cawanmushi (steam egg) and brown meat crab dressing salad (very delicious!)

Sushi Platter (mixture of raw fish and scallop)

Moody

Well... Monday always makes me moody. This is no difference.. can't wait till 6pm on Tuesday since Wed is holiday for me. HA HA HA HA....

I love Kinokuniya

Met up with an old friend for dinner today. We actually planned to do some serious shopping in the afternoon and this was why I took half day leave today. But.. she has been studying the whole night and hence needed the afternoon to catch up with sleep, which worked quite well for me too since I think taking a nap is an excellent idea. Hence, I actually went home to sleep. I love taking naps in the afternoon.. for some unknown reasons it is just the best time to sleep (well, i am sure someone out there probably have a theory of two regarding this =p). Anyway, we went for Sake Sushi today and the sushi selection is much better than other conveyor belt type sushi restaurant. I think we will go back to try more varieties. After dinner we went to shop around but we mainly stayed in Kinokyniya bookshop. I just absolutely love that bookshop. It has such a wide selection of books and I always have so many that I want to buy.. Borders is not bad too but there are books that just not at borders shelves. As for MPH.. well... you will find those really famous ones only. You see, I am those type of customer that like to browse and buy. Even if i know the author or the book I want.. I will probably ordered it from Amazon if I can't get it off the shelf.

Other than these big/main chain bookshops, there are some such as the Times in Pavillion that has some surprisingly good selection. Found Book 4 (the last book) of the series that TTB is reading at the moment. Well, regardless... Kinokyniya is still my favourite ^_^

Oh, Kinokuniya has some good deals too.. there are quite a few selection of books are on 20% off when you buy another item at full price... the best thing is, this full price item can be a pen for 80cents. I seriously think this is a good bargain!

Hotel Flora, Gottenburg, Sweden

Stayed one night at this hotel when a colleague and I went to Gottenburg, Sweden. Although the hotel is smallish size, it is very clean and the receptionists plus other staff there are very very helpful. They even allow us to check out 2 hours later without any charges. But unfortunately couldn't make it back in time from my meeting and they are so kind to remove our luggage and keep it save (luckily we have packed everything!).



Not only just the service, I am also impressed by the cleanliness and wow.. very Ikea feel to the room and everything around. But then again, I shouldn't be too surprise since Ikea is a Swedish brand. The cost? Erm.. for a night in a room with twin double beds the cost is around RM600++ incl. breakfast for 2. Not that bad actually.

Photos for you to enjoy... ^_^

The corridor

Outside balcony at 1st floor.

The bar and also breakfast area.

The shower

the following are all pics of the room

I survived!

Ouch ouch ouch!!!!!

This is how I felt constantly throughout body pump gym class yesterday at FF LM. Went for this class with TTB and just because Peter C was replacing the original instructor (DC I think.. not sure). Have always enjoyed his class (especially steps and pump, but haven't done step for a while). He was quite stern and always pushes everyone to work harder. Very different style from Hobbes.. love both instructors. I can't remember which track is what.. whenever we were changing tracks I basically asked TTB.. which one is this? She will then "act out" the movement for me so I know what is coming and how much weight shall I take. Well.. warm up track I was taking 2 kgs on each side of my bar.. squat was 2.5kg each side.. all other upper arms was only 1kg each side.. yes.. very light.. but it was sufficient to nearly kill me!!!!!!!!! Hee.. at one point when TTB and I went to pump class every week, my weights was leveled up to quite high.. but.. heh.. one month of skipping class do degrade the levels. Well.. better start to plan weekly pump schedule in my gym routine.. especially since now there is no more regular travelling. heh heh...

Nevertheless, I am congratulating myself for surviving the class yesterday! MWAH HA HA HA

Weekend...

This weekend has passed by too quickly. Been busy but quite fruitful. Watched 2 movies (The Dark Knight and Red Cliff), both good and money worth spent. However, The Dark Knight is a bit disturbing.. very dark and the movie has a lot of depth. My advice is not to dwell too much into the thinking.. it will probably drive you crazy. Nonetheless, I think the movie is very well cast and the gadgets are really cool. Worth the money. Red Cliff is not bad too.. quite a funny movie actually. Unfortunately have to wait for Part II now. GRR...

Met up with my best friend who is back from UK for a short holiday. It is always good to catch up with her. Plus meeting up with 2 ex-colleagues during this weekend too. Although only for a short time but I rather spend lot of short gathering than wait for a really long one.

As usual, having pre-Monday blues now.. also starting to feel stress on the amount of work and deadlines I have next week. I always feel guilty for not doing much work during the weekend, but never regret for spending time relaxing and with the love ones. This argument has no winner really. However, I have not given up of taking work home on Friday, I think it is a "less guilty factor" by just having those documents with me.

Well, another new week is starting soon and hopefully this week is better than last. Next is better than this.. etc etc.

Wishing you all a good week ahead! Keep smiling to fight Monday blues!

The object of our affection

This is the object of our affection.. isn't she cute?

When she was just a few weeks old... in year 2004... gosh.. it has been so many years ago?!

Cute and small.... 4 years ago..

A year on...

Now!

Taste and presentation...

I am sure many of us have walked into new restaurant to be adventurous and try new things. Whether it is when we are on holiday or just because it is a new restaurant that has just opened around the corner. Regardless of the reasons, it is always exciting to try new things especially when it concerns food. I am always amazed and attracted to the presentation of food (we are not talking about hawker stall or street side food here but more towards fine dining or semi-fine dining). The plates, bowls, spoons ...etc that the restaurant has used and served their food with have always fascinated me. I do believe that how the food is presented do affect the taste.. to a certain degree. Of course there are also other factors that relates to the ambient of the dining hall and the actual taste of the food.

Well, during my last trip to Amsterdam, I was staying in Holiday Inn and one of the nights we were too tired to travel into town for dinner and hence we had it in the hotel restaurant. No doubt that it costed us an arm and a leg.. but the food was excellent and I especially like the dessert.. the presentation does not really have the "WOW" factor.. but just that there were more than one type of dessert on the one plate ...that is the novelty. Small portion but there are choices.. these days people do prefer choices... more accurately, I should say I do.. ... do you?

From the left: Fruits, raspberry ice cream and something that i can't remember what it is now. heh...


From left: apple raisins pie, vanilla ice cream and double cream with passion fruit.

From left: Fruits, something that i can't remember what it is, Rum and Raisins ice cream & Creme Brulee

Confirmed!!!

I got my confirmation!!!!


Well, had my confirmation interview with my boss yesterday and it went smoothly. Hee hee...
Other than this...Monday has passed by without much incidents... if all Mondays are like yesterday then there won't be any Monday blues. Oh.. and most recently I learnt that Monday Blues has another name.. it is called Mondaygitis (sounds like a desease now.. ha ha ha).

Not enough time...

I will always plan to do a lot during the weekend, whether it is for work or not... the end results? Heh.. I will always ended up not doing what I have planned. Just take the weekend that had just passed... I planned to finish a presentation slides preparation and a follow up report. But I did neither. I think I should really give up planning to do work in the weekend. There is just not enough time...

So, what have I done? Well.. chill mainly. We all needed rest and my boss always emphasis that we should not burn ourselves up for work, we should learn to time manage and take time to rest. Oh.. I really do agree with him! So during this weekend, I went to watch 2 movies: HellBoyII and Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Both equally good but with Journey to the Centre of the Earth a bit more entertaining. I think this will be great in 3D. We chose to watch it in 2D because the cinema closest to us have no 3D option.. hee.. plus i was worried that I will get motion sickness throughout the movie. Nevertheless, after watching this, I think I will want to see it again in 3D. It will be really cool and thrilling!

Other than catching up with movies, I also went for swimming on Sat, this is a family weekly event. Really enjoyed the exercise and also swimming also has an element of fun and relaxation. Try it if you haven't ^_^
Oh!! I also attended a candy moulding class with TTB. This is part of my bday present from TTB. At first I was imagining candy moulding as those rock candies.. or boiled candies.. but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the candy the class is referring to is chocolates! Great isn't it? I have learnt a lot. Will I apply what I have learnt? Heh.. I am not sure.. mainly I think I will be too lazy to melt the chocolate.. until TTB gets a microwave. ha ha ha...

Well, other than the above, nothing much.. did some serious window shopping on Sunday. Chilled out at Starbucks with TTB and hubby... oh.. bought another new pair of shoes (should stop spending money on shoes!!!)... had family dinner on Sunday which was enjoyable but ate too much. So this week's resolution is to LOOSE WEIGHT.. work hard at gym...work hard at work.. and play hard after work. Not a bad plan at all right?

Have a good week ahead everyone!

We are off on a holiday soon!

Just booked MAS tickets for the entired family yesterday to Hong Kong in Jan09. Am going to attend my best friend's wedding but will be spending holiday with family also, hence this is like a 2 purposes trip. Cool right? Can't wait to go.. it has been a long time since we have a family trip like this.

^_^

It has been a while since...

Yesterday TTB reminded me that it has been a while since my last post in my blog. Hee.. well.. the usual excuse/reason.. too busy. My last entry was just before I left for Singapore.. my last business trip this year. Since I have been back, I am enjoying having normal routine in my life. Perhaps you might think that it is somehow boring to have the same thing every day, but to me it is a blessing. Well, it was only Singapore, but strangely when I landed back home, I felt like I have jet lag. My theory ?... It is caused by brain drain during the conference.

So, what have happened since then? Erm.. honestly nothing much. Been rushing for reports, sorting out paperwork, meetings after meetings. This week I actually have half a day meeting every day. Yesterday was worse, I was in 3 meetings! One good thing came out of yesterday's meetings was that time flies and without realising it, it was time to go home.. hee.. I think this week will probably be like this.

Anyway....Till next post entry.. take care everyone!