More Japanese Gastronomic Adventure?

We really need to pace ourselves with all these Japanese food that we seemed to be eating lately, be it at some restaurants or at home. I even cooked grilled sanma fish last week!

It was dinner for two on Monday evening at the newly opened Nippon-Tei in Alamanda, Putrajaya. They're having some opening specials offered. Zaini had teppanyaki set set at RM18 and I had gyudon with kimchi for RM16.80.

I like gyudon. I adore kimchi. But the two of them together, not really a hit with me. huhuhu

The ones we had are nothing to shout about but hey, they are cheap and affordable!!!!

Then, it was shabu-shabu/sukiyaki time at Sukiya on Saturday! Whoooo.... all the meat we can eat for just RM29.80++ for adults and 1/2 price for kids. Eat meat we sure did.

Lamb, beef or chicken for you? We had beef and lamb and refilled four times, if I'm not mistaken. We really, really enjoyed stuffing our face with meat that day. The healthy bar where you can take veges and frozen stuff like fish balls etc? Not so much. Didn't want to fill up our tummy with non-essentials. LOL

Or if those aren't good enough, maybe an order of some wagyu beef a-la carte. For us, we were perfectly OK with the all-you-can-eat servings.

What dipping for your sukiyaki/shabu-shabu meal? Miso paste, ponzu, sesame or raw egg?

Beef... yummy especially when dipped in raw egg

and the last piece of sliced meat for the sitting. Burp! We opted for a sukiyaki and kimchi soup base.

and to close off a nice meat-filled lunch, some ice cream!

and today, I'm having lunch at Hokkaido Ichiba. Oh, the indulgence. Bummer the ever expanding waistline. *^-^*

A Weekend Of Japan-Themed Activities?

We went out bright and early today and headed off to Jalan Sultan Ismail and made a stop to a travel agent office to buy our JR Pass which we will be using in Japan.

Spent almost an hour there for the staff to process the purchase and listened amusedly at the only customer in the office conversing with a very patient staff.

The Japanese guy wanted to buy some AirAsia tickets to Haneda. You know customer service in Japan is awesome, right? That's because Japanese customers aren't exactly the easiest to handle, to tell you the truth.

They may not be outright rude to you even when they're annoyed, but man - a simple transaction can be a headache with Japanese! Sorry Japanese folks - that's how I felt.

Then, it was time for some shopping!

I needed a few items for the upcoming trip. The earlier idea was that I'd wait until we get to Japan to buy the stuff I needed - heattech wear, fleece jacket, that kind of stuff but I found that those item are sold here at Uniqlo KL at almost the same price as those sold in Yen.  A 1,990yen jacket at Uniqlo Japan sold at RM79.90. That's a good deal! No, make it a great deal! And I don't need to use my Yen yet. I like. I like. hihihi

Then, time to hit Pavillion and Tokyo Street. You can really fool yourself and think that you are somewhere in Japan while walking around Tokyo Street on the Level 6 of Pavillion. Not a street in Japan though but rather at the food area of a shopping mall, usually on the top level of the mall. xD

When it's time for lunch - to complete the somewhat all things Japanese related activities we had done so far, we had a shabu-shabu lunch at Sukiya. All the meat we can eat. Yummmz.

And before heading home, we found Ultraman Mebius too! So kids, if you want to touch Ultraman Mebius (or rather his statue) go Pavillion and meet Mebius. ;)

By The Lake, At Night

I've posted some photos of Putrajaya's Lake taken at Presint 3 earlier. The lake is pretty spectacular to view at night too and Zaini took the opportunity to snap some photos while waiting for me to finish my 10K run in the Putrajaya Night Marathon.

Raimie had a ball playing and running around too, that night. He even accompanied and ran with me while I was doing my warm-up before my run. 

The Seri Wawasan Bridge illuminated at night makes lovely nightscape.

Wouldn't you want to visit the place someday? You might not be able to climb all the way up to that "erection" (as SK would say) of a tower, but walking at the base is nice too. You can learn a bit about the history of the formation of Tanah Melayu and Malaysia thereafter at the monument.

Also, wishing a Happy Deepavali to all Hindus, all around the world. Rejoice in the victory of light over darkness. The victory of good against evil.

Once A Month, That's The Agreement And It's Starting To Suck Eggs

That's the limit of races I can enter in one month. Just one, per month. When I first signed up for my first race, I thought sure... once a month shouldn't be a problem. Heck, it sounds a lot too! Why would I enter so many races, right? And I know better to register for anything that would be too far and even Klang would be out of the question if I want Zaini to tag along (and drive me there!). I wonder too why all those blogging friends who run, do so with much enthusiasm; entering race after race.

I know I'm like a broken record here, writing about this over and over but bear with me. Like Kak June commented to me, I'm currently in my enthusiastic (over-enthusiastic more like) phase.

So, the first race I registered was for October and that was for the Putrajaya Night Marathon. A 10K race. But after registering for the race, I got a panic attack of sorts since Putrajaya Night Marathon is a rather big event. So in a panicky mood I registered myself to a smaller race; the Pudu Charity Run which was held a day after Zaini's birthday on September 24th.

But I found another race which had a more favourable date in September and so I registered and ran in the KLIUC Unity Run. Women Open, 10K. It was my first road race ever and the experience, despite not knowing anyone there and having no friends to camwhore with, before or after the race; was awesome! Since I already ran in the KLIUC Unity Run, Pudu Charity Run was a no go. I thought it was no big deal, but came the day, I was sort of wishing I was running in it. But instead, I was in the hotel gym sweating it out that day. huhuhu

I am writing this because I sort of wish I can enter the PJ Half Marathon this end of month but I have to honour my agreement with my hubby. I wouldn't have thought this would happen, but I think entering road races is becoming addictive to me and I just wish I can run in them more now! Waiting for one whole month for the next race now seems too far apart! Imagine that! @.@

No go for a race I badly wanted to enter in November too, as it is going to be too near to our vacation date but boy! do I wish I can run in the Nike We Run KL 10K 2011. So for November, I make do with IOI Community Run while most blogging/runners friends I know online will be running in  Penang for the Penang Bridge International Marathon on the same date. IOI Community Run will see me run for 7.7K in Women Veteran category. I'd better make it to top 50! Otherwise, no medal and much shame for me. Ahahaha

December month is still blank for me and January has MPIB Run 2012 slotted, 12K in Women Veteran category no less (nothing says you're old than being qualified to enter the veteran category. hihi) 

Next year, I really need to plan my races so that I won't miss out on the races that I really want to enter. I sure hope they don't all clash and be scheduled in the same month. That would suck. Bad.

I should have heeded the advice of the more seasoned runners and not be sucked into this. LOL Once  you enter a race, it sure is inevitable you'll be running the second, the third, the 150th! Heck! I am actually considering the need to train and run in half marathon at least, by next year! Never mind how many hours it'll take me to finish it. I better save up some $$$ to put Zaini in a nice hotel while waiting for me finish, as a bribe. yahaha

To those who will be running in the PJ Half Marathon and Penang Bridge International Marathon - good luck and have fun running!

p.s I was actually drooling over Brooks' PureConnect shoes while visiting the Brooks booth at Putrajaya Night Marathon. Should I get one? ^^ *check wallet*

By The Lake

Lately, once or twice a month either on a Saturday or Sunday, Zaini and I would head to Presint 3 in Putrajaya in the morning.

By the lake, with the Seri Saujana Bridge in the background. If you like bridges, Putrajaya is definitely the place to visit. The place sure have loads of bridges. And I ran on the Seri Gemilang Bridge on Saturday during the Putrajaya Night Marathon! :)

Suspension bridge that leads to nowhere. Makes good photo though.

The Seri Wawasan Bridge and the Monumen Alaf Baru (Millennium Monument) in the background. Although one can't help to be drawn by the phallic shape of the tower, the monument is actually designed based on Malaysia's national flower, Hibiscus. The base of the monuments are actually petals.

There was a boat race of some sort going on when we were there, it's the "varsity boat race" if I'm not mistaken. Fun to watch the rowers while I was pounding the pavement.

Apart from the lovely view, the nice breeze and shady pavements along the lake, what I like about running here is the fact that there's free public toilets abound. And they are pretty well maintained too. 

Let's hope the nice environment will continue to be nice. 

I can't help but to be disappointed by some irresponsible visitors to the lakeside. There were fast food wrappers and boxes strewn around and crows were making a field day jabbing at them for food. Is it so hard to go and throw rubbish in the rubbish bin? Do these people really want the cleaners to have some work to do so that's why they can't be civic minded and keep the place clean? Why does one need to litter?
:(

Whiny Friday Post

 Battered right leg

Pristine, blemish free left leg

Just look at the state of my poor, splotchy red, blue & green right leg and compare it to my bruise free left leg!

Well, I have to take it easy and give both legs some tender loving care and not "abuse" them so much since I can't run without them! Better rest for a couple of days than having to stop for a month, right?

But oh the pain of not going out for a run and not getting sweaty. It sure sucks when the weather is nice and breezy and yet I'm indoors. I know, I know. I can always do something else to keep fit. But.... I don't really like taking a swim at the crowded apartment's pool or using the stationary bike (or any bicycle for that matter). Core exercises is a chore for me. Just walking may be nice but I need company to go out for a walk.

Then, to make the week more interesting, I caught the flu bug and had to sport this "hospital" fashion at the office to avoid sneezing non-stop. Runny nose is so not fun!

And it rained almost every night making a night run out of the question, even if I want to. Booohooo!!!

I sure whine a lot, don't I? Hahaha

Happy Friday folks. What's your plan for the weekend? Hope you'll have a blast!

Nabe Time!

More Japanese food "makan" session for us!

We were undecided on where to eat last Friday and not really wanting to opt for fast food which was Raimie's first suggestion, we opted to heed his other suggestion. He wanted to eat sushi, AGAIN.

I had a bit of problem with my tummy rumbling disagreeably, as a side effect of taking an anti-inflammatory medicine so I wanted to eat something warm, soupy and not spicy.

The best choice for me - nabe! Minced chicken, tofu, egg, veges and a bowl of rice for just RM15.90 at Sushi Zen. For those wanting to know more about "nabe", hop over to Dru's blog. He has written a pretty detailed explanation about it.

Raimie and his unagi roll, aptly named the "Stamina Roll".

And Zaini had kakiage-don

After all these Japanese food that we've been consuming, I start to have a hankering for Korean food. Maybe we should eat Korean food this Friday. Bibimbap, anyone?

Fat People Can Run

And this fat auntie did, last night at Putrajaya Night Marathon. *^-^*

Despite my initial misgiving about the crowd (I don't usually like crowds and a 10K number of runners congregated in one place is a big crowd! @.@), it was good fun running the Putrajaya Night Marathon. Easy parking, big open spaces and generally easy going crowd.

Since I haven't been running much this past weeks; what with nursing an injured right leg and then the same leg decided to slip and enter a drain - I wasn't expecting to run fast and setting a good personal record anyway. With that in mind, I ran with my compact camera so that I can take some photos running the route. But I think photo taking while running is much easier done during the day than at night, especially with a point & shoot camera.

"Bekal" for the boys to eat for dinner, before the start of the race. Onigiri (rice balls) covered with tamago (egg) furikake and with sardine filling, korean toasted seaweed and some bananas.

 The start/finish lane for 10K and 5K runners

 and the start/finish lane for half marathoners and full marathoners

 before entering the "kandang"/pen

 the half marathoners "whoosh"ing by. Gosh, they are fast!

 10K runners ready to start

 approaching KM2, going up the Seri Gemilang Bridge

this is what you get if you don't stand still long enough to take a photo at night. All the cheers; from the crew, the kompang boys, the brass band; they made my day and made me run faster. Thanks you guys! Not to forget the people at the water stations too.

What is that car doing at a closed up road during a race? Got lost, I suppose. Taken between KM3 & KM4, after the first water station.

going downhill. Wheeee! Kids in passing cars shouted encouragement to us runners. I bet their parents are runners too. ^^ I actually encouraged Raimie to shout "Good Luck" to all runners walking past us when we were mingling with the crowd before the start of the race.

Doubling back, this time we were already doing 7K, I think. Run Gadget Run! The guy with the hailer reminding us that we are in a running race (this is after all called the Putrajaya night marathon) and not a walking event got most of us who were walking, running again.

I don't know whether this is normal but this is the second time (after KLIUC Unity Run) a guy asked me for the time while running. Wha? And he actually waited for me to twiddle my Nike+ Sportband to look at the time. Got people running without their watches but still need to know the time, kah? o.O

Can you spot me? I forgot that Zaini told me to stick to the left hand side so that he can take photos of me approaching the finishing line. I was stoked I guess and was sprinting towards the finish! Getting hi-fives from the Orange Man himself must be the booster that night. *^-^*

Got my medal. Got my snack. Then it was time to go and hit the Milo van! I heart you, Milo van! LOL

See you in next year's Putrajaya Night Marathon! I'm definitely doing this again!

Crunch Time!

Raimie's sitting for his year-end exam next week so he needs to do a bit more revision to prepare. It sure is hard to get that boy of mine to buckle down and study. I guess he is lucky that despitehis "laziness" he has a good head and can absorb his lessons easily but he tends to make careless mistakes when doing his school work/revision/exams.

Good luck Son and do your best in your exam.

Two Types Of Pain

A spot of reflexology massage by a blind masseur for me. It can be painful, but it's a good kind of pain. A 30 minutes pain and I walk feeling light as air after the session.

Then, I got another spot of pain in my leg. I slipped and fell into a drain while trying to step over it. A pretty nice swelling developed shortly after but it got better after putting ice pack on it and taking myoflex, celebrex and papain tablets helps manage the pain. Got a jab too, at the clinic for that itsy bitsy scratch on my right leg. ^^!

Good thing is wasn't anything serious but I guess no running for me these few days. Shoot.

Another First!

Another birthday celebration, this time it's from Zaini's side of the family. Another niece celebrated her first birthday.

And just like my sister and her daughter's birthday celebration last month, this birthday was celebrated at home too.

The birthday girl in purple with her cousin, who celebrated her birthday earlier in May.

And just like her cousin, the birthday girl got a Barbie birthday cake.

A groggy birthday girl who just woke up with her grandpa. The cake cutting was delayed because she was sleepy. So it was nap time first for her before everyone gets to sing song and eat her birthday cake. We don't want temper tantrums because of lack of sleep, do we? ^^

and when she was all ready and happy, it was time to blow the candle. Happy birthday little Laila!

Raimie played big brother that weekend and even had a sleepover there while Mommy and Daddy went back home. Good to see Raimie not minding "babysitting" his cousins and playing with them.