Life, In My Own Backyard

Picnic Time With The Family

2012-01-27T00:04:00.005+08:00

What's great about having a picnic and a get-together with the family? A BBQ of course!

It's just meat, meat, meat for us. Good thing Mom wasn't around. Yeah, my Mom doesn't eat animal except those that swim. The kids are however, all unapologetic meat eaters. xD

For our vege/fruit intake - we got these mound of local fruits. Dokong, rambutans, mangosteens and durians we picked up earlier at the "dusun". But they ended up untouched until we got back to our parents' home.

We celebrated one of my sis' birthday too! Happy birthday Sis!

And after a while our family was joined by one of our aunts' family too. Big, happy family picnic and sharing food. :)

At The Orchard

2012-01-25T11:45:00.000+08:00

While almost everyone I know online was updating about rain on the first day of Chinese New Year, we had a sunny day in Raub, which was great because we spent the day by being outdoors.

The plan that day was to visit a fruit orchard at 10.00am before going for a dip at a nearby waterfall and have a picnic afterwards. Since we run pretty much on Malaysian time, all four cars (Dad's, ours and brother's and sis') only made our way at 11.00am! Well, just one hour later than scheduled. (^O^)

City folks, how many of you have seen local fruits still on their trees and not at a stall or supermarket shelves? (^。^)

Dokong tree. Click here for more info about the fruit.

An unripe mangosteen

Here's Raimie with a ripe one. Mangosteen turn purple when it's ripe

Just look at the white flesh ensconced in that purple cocoon. Yummy, yummy mangosteen. But make sure your clothes aren't stained by it! (*^0^*)

Rambutan tree with red rambutans. There's the yellow variety too, called the "Rambutan Gading"

Rambutan collected and safely stashed in a plastic bag. Picking rambutans can be rather a "painful" affair. See that one "kerengga" or weaver ant on the plastic bag handle? They make their nests on trees especially fruit trees like rambutan trees and if you dare to come near the tree, the ants will attack and those tiny creatures sure can bite! Weaver ants aren't exactly unwelcomed though, as they act as a natural protector to fruit trees.

How do you pick fruits here?

By using a "galah" or pole, usually made with bamboo.

or just simply by climbing the trees and throwing down the fruit to the people waiting below.

Both instances are of course not applicable when it comes to durians. Imagine the head injury one might get waiting below for the fruit to fall down!

To enjoy durians, we just wait for the fruit to fall to the ground and pick it. Wear a helmet for protection, just in case.

Half of our bounty that day. My Dad told us while we were scattered around the orchard looking for fallen durian fruits that there were signs of a tiger visiting, judging by some eaten durians he saw there. Yes folks, tigers eat durians too. Bears like them too. Don't worry though, they aren't usually seen during the day. They come visiting at night. Lots of other "things" come at night too. Ever heard of "hantu durian"? Heh heh

Small sized durian does not mean it isn't good. This one was very, very sweet.Yummy!

Of course, while traipsing around a fruit orchard near a forest, we'd encountered plenty of bloodsuckers. Mosquitoes are pretty normal. How about "pacat" or leech? That fella on my foot was a small one, it didn't have time to get fat sucking my blood yet. It'll grow bigger as it suck your blood!

While it isn't painful to have pacat suck on you, it sure isn't a nice sight seeing blood like this afterwards!

After getting all sweaty and clammy collecting lots and lots of fruits, we drove off for a dip at a nearby waterfall!

Anyway, on the second day of CNY; a villager came looking for my Dad. A deer was caught in a trap and my Dad is usually called by both villagers and Orang Asli to help slaughter the wild animals and also sell them. This time, since we are all at home - all of us got "kijang" meat/venison to bring back home.

A "Kijang"/venison lunch - a simply fried venison with tumeric, a "masak merah" dish and sup tulang (bone soup?). The meat literally melt in our mouth. Om nom nom

My Sis cook the meat differently. Sis no 3 cook it "masak kicap". Sis no 5 cooked "rendang". Black pepper style would be nice too. ^^

Yummy Food In Japan! Part II

2012-01-24T00:04:00.000+08:00

A continuation of an onslaught of photos of what we ate while vacationing in Japan. Have you seen the photos of my earlier post? ^^

Kani meshi (rice topped with shredded crab meat), eaten in Hakodate.

In Hakodate, Hokkaido Zaini had a salmon+kani+roe dish. Actually, if you are in Hakodate, you should try their ika (squid) I'm told. After all, squid is Hakodate's pride. xD

Hakodate's ekiben consisted of salmon roe,sea urchin, scallop, salmon and I forgot what that white, taste like fish roe was called.

Another Hakodate's ekiben

Udon & chopped raw tuna on rice (heck if I can remember what all these dishes are called!) for brunch.

A bowl of food court udon. Not as good as Sanuki udon of course, but hey! It's edible not to mention cheap.

Shima hokke (grilled horse mackerel) set which I love, love,love. A bargain, at a mere 600yen per set. Unlimited rice refill, free water & hot tea too.

Udon + tuna set for lunch

Fried oyster! Yummmz

A good udon place, found in Ogawamachi in Tokyo. Great udon, great price too. No wonder the queue was long there.

I guess now that we are back home, we'll probably take a few months break from eating Japanese food. *^-^*

On The Road!

2012-01-22T00:01:00.003+08:00

We'll make a move to my hometown later today (instead of on Saturday) and hopefully traffic will be better than yesterday at Karak Highway! Not relishing doubling or tripling the travel time back to Raub!@.@

Raimie is pretty excited to meet his aunts, uncles and cousins. Zaini, of course not really happy at the thought of driving hours and hours.

To those who will also be travelling today, have a safe journey!

On Monday, we are planning to go for a picnic at one of the numerous waterfalls dotted in Raub, weather permitting that is. ^^

Happy Chinese New Year and have a great holiday everyone!

Long Weekend Ahead!

2012-01-20T21:44:00.000+08:00

Yippee!!!!

And oh yes, Happy Chinese New Year! To all Chinese, around the world : Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year! May the year of Dragon bring you good fortune, health and happiness.

To the rest of us; Happy holiday and enjoy the long weekend!

What's your plan during this nice long holiday? :)

And what's a festive season without a touching Petronas ad?

And where there's a touching ad out there, there's this too.

I'm going back to my hometown tomorrow, after I finished my 11K weekend run! *^-^*

To those who has the same plan, drive safely.

Two Towers

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000+08:00

Last time, I posted about two rivers in two different cities & in two different countries. Now, it's time to look at their towers. ^^

And to be fair (and avoid "kena kutuk" by SK), both towers photos were taken with the same camera and by the same photographer i.e my hubby. Can't get any fairer than that, right?

First up - Tokyo Sky Tree

and our very own, KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur)

The Odd One Out

2012-01-17T00:02:00.014+08:00

SK posted his old school photo last time, and I decided that I should *copycat* him and post one myself too. LOL

Mind you, not that I haven't got anything to post. I got few posts lined up already but after seeing this photo while going through my photo archive, I just couldn't resist. (^_-)-☆

Unlike cleancut, schoolboy SK; I looked like I just rolled out of bed and got this homeroom photo taken. huhuhu (Ｔ▽Ｔ) I look better in my "Renjer Puteri" photo. ;p

When I showed this photo to my officemates, they could immediately spot me because - I am always the odd one out, even now. Even if you have no idea how I look like, it's pretty easy to spot the odd girl in the photo, right?

p.s. the ancient photo was taken 20 years ago. Oh gosh, I feel so old!

A Late Birthday Post

2012-01-16T00:02:00.003+08:00

Visited my Sis' place one weekend a few weeks ago, to pass over their Japan souvenirs I bought during our vacation to Japan last year and surprise! They had a birthday cake ready for Raimie to celebrate his birthday, which was on Dec 2nd.

The birthday cake

The birthday cake and the birthday boy

My Dad had asked us to come back during the Christmas weekend because there were plenty of durians at home but we were unable to do so. Didn't miss the opportunity to eat "kampung" durian though, as the durians made its way to our home - courtesy of my Sis. Her car probably smelled of durians for weeks, after transporting a car boot full of them from our hometown to KL! xD

Raimie sure blew a lot of candles and ate a lot of birthday cakes for his 9th birthday. *^-^*

Anyway, some random photo of yesterday's dinner. It looked totally ugly but it taste good. I promise! ;)

Raimie specifically asked me to cook salmon with garlic and cheese (yup, he dictated the ingredients) so I decided that a foil-baked salmon would be best. I didn't have lemon so I decided to use one item that is in abundance at the moment - I used mandarin orange juice instead! Olive oil was substituted with sesame oil. kakaka

Well, the salmon tasted just fine and the boys (that's hubby and son, if you are wondering) ate everything that can be eaten. >^_^<

And what did I serve the salmon with? With Nasi Goreng (fried rice). Fusion, eh? (^O^)

Weekend Cooking

2012-01-14T00:42:00.001+08:00

Been cooking "normal" food lately, instead of the Korean food that we enjoyed for most weekends in 2011. Raimie has been requesting for me to cook certain recipes too and because he eats well when I obliged, I was happy to cook whatever he requested.

Maybe I should make cooking Malay food my new year resolution this year. I have been guilty of not cooking them much last year!

Daging masak kicap - beef cooked in dark soy sauce. Eaten simply with a plate of hot, steaming rice. Yummy!

A simple meal of grilled fish with budu and blanched lady's fingers (okra) is nice and healthy, I think. ^^

Sambal udang (prawns cooked in spicy chilli gravy or something) is nice, but oh the time spent trimming the legs and tails of those prawn! @.@

Even nicer than just "plain" sambal udang - put in lots of petai! I love my petai. Anything and everything taste good with petai for me. And I don't care if my mouth stink for a week afterwards! LOL

Masak lemak cili padi is another personal favourite but Raimie always had problem eating this. I always cook my masak lemak way too hot for his taste. xD

Ayam masak kurma - I'm not too keen of this dish but Raimie had been asking for it for the past week so... this is actually my first Kurma dish ever. I don't cook what I don't like to eat as a rule but I guess a Mommy would have a hard time saying no to her child(ren) when they requested it ever so nicely. ^^

And nowadays, Raimie has been very good in helping me out in the kitchen. No cooking just yet, I only let him cut veges, onions and the like for the time being. He is quite eager and maybe soon, I have a little chef of my own! ;)

I wonder what I'll be cooking this weekend?

Two Different Rivers

2012-01-13T00:01:00.001+08:00

in two different cities.

Sumida River in Tokyo

and our beloved Klang River

Well, Kuala Lumpur needs to live up to her namesake - muddy river. Heh heh

The Benefit Of Being Tardy

2012-01-11T00:02:00.000+08:00

Well, for starters it is not good to be late. Always, always try to be on time and punctual, kids!

But sometimes, being tardy has its benefits too.

Remember I mentioned in my previous post that I started my run 5 minutes after the Women categories were flagged off? Being late meant that I wasn't running in a pack. I wouldn't ever be in the first pack of runners but I guess being the last one is easier! LOL

And what did I get for being late?

A solo photo of myself at the Multi-Purpose Insurans Run 2012! Wooohooo!!! Nothing beats seeing a photographer in the distance, they'll make me turn my walk into a run; my almost dying, panting self to a smiling, happy one! Thanks KahWai for the photo! :) Click on his name to see more photos at the MPIB Run 2012. ^^

And this one, yeah - the face "senget" from trying to look like I'm running instead of walking up an incline. Muahaha

Credit goes to Runner Footprints for the pic. ^^

p.s. such a narcissistic post, eh? I didn't even do well during the run! huhuhu

Running Insured

2012-01-08T11:41:00.006+08:00

Well, you should have insurance, especially if you running the Multi Purpose Insurans Run 2012! Kakaka

Seriously, if you do any running on normal roads in Malaysia, you should have insurance what with the crazy drivers abound in this country. Also, buy insurance regardless. Insurance is important. (Do I sound like an insurance agent? hihi)

The Multi Purpose Insurance Bhd Run (MPIB) is my first race for 2012 and with a nice 12K distance too. Not too short and not too long for a noob and slowpoke like me! ^^

I got my race kit collected with the help of the office's despatch so as to save me & hubby a trip to Wisma OCM during the weekend.

For RM43 registration fee, nice goodie bag, right? That box of cereal is already more than RM10 sold at supermarkets. xD Nice red T-shirt too.

All the t-shirts I got from entering road races will eventually be worn by Zaini. I don't wear them at all. Well, except the nice, soft & very comfy cotton T-shirt I got from KLIUC Unity Run which is so comfy I wear it to sleep.

I woke up at 4.30am but only woke the boys up at 5.40am. Zaini told me to wake him up at 5.30m but I gave him an extra 10 minutes to sleep. ^^

Spending way more time than we should looking for a parking space, we only made it to Padang Merbuk minutes before the flag-off for female 12K runners and I needed to pee! So, just like the Larian Kitar Semula last month; my category was flagged-off while I was still in the port-a-loo! When I made it to the starting line, all the male runners were ready to be flagged-off. 5 minutes before the male categories started, there was one late starting female runner starting her race alone. hu~

There was an incline immediately upon starting so I tried to keep a conservative pace but I think I started too strong with the first 1K at 6.33 pace, 2K at 5.51 and 3K at 6.38. I have never run this route before and didn't even recce it before the race. Three inclines later at KM3, I decided to conserve energy and walk & run alternately, which I think was sensible. It was inclines, inclines and more inclines on this route. @.@ OK, so there were downhills but man, there are more going up than going down, that's how I feel.

Remember I mentioned I started late? I was pretty much running alone for 5 minutes (without another female in sight - that's how late I was) before the first pack of male runners started to overtake me. Fast runners wooshing past by did make me nervous and while I tried to keep to the left and giving them way, they were overtaking me left and right. Why do we females have to start before the male runners, ah?

Anyways, I love the camaraderie of the male runners. A guy fell down somewhere between KM3 & 4, and more than a few runners stopped to check whether he was OK or not and gave him encouragement when he started running again after dusting himself up. There were also a few guys who gave encouragements and makes jokes while passing /overtaking us slower ones.

Anyhoo, a slow 1hour and 30minutes later I made my way to the finish line. I told Zaini that I looked like I wasn't running and was walking in that photo and you know what he replied? "Yeah, if you had been running, you'd arrive to the finish line faster. You were definitely walking" *ouch* And it was abit of an "ouch" run for me. I have been experiencing a stabbing pain in my right foot arch since the Christmas weekend and it acted up again when I took walking breaks during this run. *double ouch* Though I have to say, I ran just fine but when I walk, I limped. xD

Distance markers were prominently displayed and marked every 1KM. There were 3 water stations and boy, was I glad to see them. They were maybe a little bit under-manned but no issues. I just poured the 100-Plus myself and drink it. I'm not exactly that much in a hurry. xD

I am so used to running under the direct sun at Putrajaya so running this hilly route was a nice change for me. It's green, it's shady and at 8.30am the route still feels cool. Try running at Presint 2 at 8.00am and you'll be roasted!

The lines after the finish line - to collect medals, goodie bags, certificates (for 6K runners) and such. Can you spot me in this photo? I stopped for a while and introduced myself to Jamie. I know he was busy but I just didn't want to miss the chance to shake his hands. ^^ You guys did a great job with MPIB, Jamie!

There were a lot of food and drinks there but I only drank 100-Plus. The queue for the cereals and whatnot were way too long. Anyways, Raimie already had his fill earlier and was keen to make a move home.

I guess it was good that we didn't linger too long there. The traffic police was having a field day issuing summons to those who parked by the roadside at Lake Gardens! We just missed them by a few minutes, thanks to the warning of other runners. Otherwise, I sure "kena" pay the summons! o.O

Overall, a good, fun run even though I walked more than I should be running. Heh. First medal for 2012. Now, the next race please!

Taste Like Real Banana!

2012-01-07T23:05:00.000+08:00

I figured now that I'm aiming to do a half marathon run in the second half of 2012 (Zaini told me to just take the LRT instead of him sending me if I do the SCMKL in 2012 uhuhu), I need to do plenty of LSD (long slow distance) runs to get used to the distance. I do actually enjoy my slow runs I do on weekends, much more than the shorter (and more draining) speedwork and tempo runs.

I'm slowly increasing the distance that I run. I'd love to spend hours pounding the tarmac, but more often than not, I don't have the luxury of time. I can't abandon my family just so I can indulge in running!

Anyway, with the aim of a half-marathon and trying to run more and farther distance, I've started looking at my hydration and fueling needs. I've been reading a lot about GUs, gels, gummies, etc and finally tried a few, with the help of the friendly people over at Lafuma, Bangsar.

I am still experimenting and reading more on this but so far so good. I've also been taking ORS before my long runs for the minerals I'll be losing during those runs. *^-^*

What's your take on this? What's your choice for fueling your body?

BTW, the Banana flavoured gel I bought tasted like real bananas! Sweet, mashed up bananas. Yumm! I like the real banana too, but eating a large banana will make me head to the toilet a few hours after eating them!

But personally, the chewy tablets is my favourite. I pop them in my mouth and slowly chew them. It helped me go through under the intense 9.00am morning sun on a few occasions already.

Anyway, Zaini told me that I'm a bit "poyo" about this? Is he right? Maybe I am a tad "poyo". Huhuhu

Anyways, in a few hours time I'll be joining the crowd at Padang Merbuk and run 12K at the MPIB Run. See you there! ^^

Yummy Food In Japan! Part I

2012-01-06T00:03:00.001+08:00

It's the havoc of starting a new year. School's started too. No more leisurely time like I had during the school holiday.

So, just posting up some photos and this time, it's on food. *drool* over what we ate over in Japan.

Lunch at Tenya. A tempura place. Tenya is quite foreign tourist friendly. If you are in Asakusa, there's one nearby Sensoji.

Ekiben (bento bought at train stations) from Shin-Osaka Station. Which one do you think is Raimie's? ^^

A cheap bento bought at Lawson (convenience store or konbini). A godsend, these konbini. Pretty decent selection of bento can be found at konbinis. Cheap too!

A "normal" breakfast for us when in Japan. Rice, onigiri (rice balls), some side dishes and miso soup. They have bread too over there, in case you're wondering. So, don'tcomplain. heh

Another bento bought at konbini

Sanuki udon, eaten of course in Kagawa Prefecture! Yummmz!!!

Ekiben bought at Okayama Station. Don't you just love the bento box shaped like a momo (peach 桃)?

and this, tanuki udon

It's not over yet. Be prepared for Part II. ^^

Just Food Photo?

2012-01-04T08:44:00.000+08:00

And that's exactly what happened during my lunch with the good Mr SK and Mr Panda a.k.a Foong on Tuesday at Spaghetti Grill. They were meeting each other and had kindly included me.

It was talk, order food, food arrives, take photos of food, eat, talk and somehow forgot to get photos of the people I was lunching with. Aiyah, I need to rectify this someday.

Anyways, we spent almost 2 hours chattering away and I probably bore those two guys to death! LOL

But it was good meeting up with fellow bloggers. ^^

Anyways, the photos that I did take during that lunch were our set lunch that we ordered. For RM9.95++; they weren't too bad lah.

Foong had this

I had this

and SK enjoyed this.

A New School Year Begins!

2012-01-02T12:05:00.001+08:00

In two days, school will open. Parents and children will begin the daily routine again and mornings would mean facing the traffic jam again. School holiday is great because traffic jam wasn't so bad.

Raimie is in Standard Four this year. My boy is already 10! My oh my. How time flies.

All prepared for school to open on Wednesday? ^^

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T14:21:00.000+08:00

So how's the first day of 2012 going for you so far? It's great for me! Here's my first photo in 2012. Just finished a 12K run under the sweltering heat and feeling completely happy.

Looking forward to more great days in 2012.

And for those who made it back in one piece after the Newton Challenge, great job!

I Don't Need Flowers

2011-12-31T10:35:00.000+08:00

nor do I need diamonds or lavish gifts from my husband.

because despite those, I know that he is always there for me.

He'll be patiently cycling with me, accompanying me when I schedule my weekend long runs - and made feel stronger during my runs, not to mention safe too.

Keeping me company always. Supporting me with whatever hare-brained scheme I hatched up and never failing to ensure that I don't do anything that would be detrimental to me. He's not afraid to whack my head (figuratively) if I start doing something that's foolish too.

For that, I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world! True, sometimes he annoys me to no end as do I him but yes, I do just swell with him by my side.

And with that, my wish for 2012 is that he'll still accompany me and support me as I will for him. <3 <3 <3

By the way Hubby, I know you said that you wouldn't wait for me if I do a 4-hour race next year, but deep down I know you'll be there cheering me on. *^-^*

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

When In Haste....

2011-12-28T15:33:00.000+08:00

I really am bad with shopping, both at physical shops and online. And sometimes, when excitement takes over and I made a hasty decision on a certain purchase thinking it was a good deal, I made the wrong purchase and buy something that doesn't really suit me.

So, I received an e-mail about a Timex promotion, I jumped at it because my Nike+ Sportband is acting up on me and can't be recharged. I had been mulling over getting a new running watch for sometime now so when I got that e-mail I was pretty excited. Too excited perhaps that I didn't read and do proper research on the watches being offered.

Got my new watch delivered to me 4 days after ordering and after twiddling at it, I realised this watch has no distance calculation. It has pretty nifty features such as target time pacer that I like but without knowing how far I've run it would be difficult for me to gauge my distance. Oh dear.

I call up the shop over at Menara Keck Seng and asked whether I can pay the difference for a more expensive model that would suit me better (i.e. with pedometer and stuff) and unfortunately they said I can't. Boohoo. There goes my RM268.00. I know it's not much to you guys with a GPS-enabled running watches out there but I can't afford such watches just yet!

Moral of the story - it's bad for me to shop online. It's just so easy to click on the wrong stuff while not making an informed decision about it and spend money.

The watch itself isn't all bad though, that I have to say. It's just that it's a bummer that I may need to buy another running watch or get myself a gadget to calculate my running distance.

Now, if I have an iPhone I wouldn't have this issue right? Since iPhone have Runmeter apps. heh heh

Wait! Let Me Take Photos First!

2011-12-27T14:05:00.000+08:00

Long suffering family members, friends and colleagues have at some point or other heard this whenever they go out for a meal with me, regardless the place. Especially if it's the my first time visiting that particular eatery be it at a posh restaurant or a mobile seller selling rojak.

Had a Christmas lunch & secret Santa/gift exchange with my "makan kaki" (or eating gang, if you may) on the Friday before Christmas and I literally stopped people from eating just because I wanted to take photos! No camera? No problem. Low quality handphone camera would do just fine. I'm a nutcase, I'm told. Heh heh

We had our lunch at Pastis, which is located just beside the building I work in. Can you believe it? I walk past this place every s.i.n.g.l.e working day and had never eaten a meal there.

Set lunch for less than RM20.00 and we got a main dish, a drink and a choice of cut fruit or a scoop of ice-cream. OK, but we were still peckish after the lunch so one of the main "kaki" bought an whole ice-cream from Baskin Robbins for us to enjoy. I was so full after two big slices of ice-cream cake!

The Season Of Giving

2011-12-25T14:05:00.000+08:00

to those who celebrate the holiday! I'm just stoked that it means an extra day off and that means an extra day to do long runs. Wooohooo!

Since I'm very much sharing the holiday mood, not gonna ramble much but instead I'm just posting some random Xmas illumination/decoration photos (they are not too good, but well...) we took during our vacation. Didn't have time to go around town in KL to check the Xmas decorations at malls this year. ^^

Happy holidays! And a happy new year too!

The Year-End

2011-12-23T14:05:00.001+08:00

and just a week or two till the new year begins. It's gonna be a new year soon and time for us to do some last-minute school shopping for Raimie!

Needed to buy a purple colour school shirt instead of the white ones for next year. And oh, a few pairs of black shoes too.

For his Sekolah Agama (SRA/Religious School), we need to buy a purple sampin for his Baju Melayu (another purple?). Raimie can't use the usual red one next year.

Then there's his school bags, stationeries, socks, extra workbooks (to study at home since he doesn't go to tuition) and other miscellaneous stuff that needed buying. School is sure not cheap!

I wonder how my parents cope with 7 of us going to school last time? @.@

I Need To Finish This

2011-12-20T14:08:00.000+08:00

It is not my habit to let a book left unfinished for too long but here I am only 3/4 through the book I bought earlier and had mentioned I'd finish on our flight over to Japan. Didn't manage to finish or concentrate reading because Raimie was happily chattering and I can't just ignore him! ^^

I did read a few pages while traveling in the numerous train rides we took all over Japan but more often than not, I'd rather look out and enjoy the scenery than read a book that I can read anywhere.

Remember my post about being invited over for dinner at a Japanese blogger acquaintance, Minoru?

So apart from the book, Born To Run; which by the way, I enjoyed immensely reading but just doesn't have the time to finish reading it yet - I have another book to read. Minoru had not only treated us dinner, he also gave us a book titled Botchan. I can't wait to start reading it. Soon I hope. ^^

Recycle And Run!

2011-12-19T00:04:00.070+08:00

Just a few days after returning home from our two-weeks vacation, we joined a race in Putrajaya. The entry fees weren't in cash term but we sent in recyclable items as our entry fees so it's almost a free race.

Raimie wanted to enter a running race and be like Mommy and this particular race had children category with a not-too-intimidating route. The Desa Park City Run would've been great as his first entry to a race but hey, can't bang my head if we were too late to enter it. Just get on with our lives and find other races to join.

So this is a special event for us. Raimie's first running race outside of school. Yeay Raimie! I registered the whole family because well, it's a free race. Zaini however decided to accompany Raimie doing his run and so didn't run the 7K. Everyone has matching t-shirts that we can wear now though. hehehe

It was a rather havoc run for me. Runners were still registering and collecting t-shirts & bib numbers when the race was flagged off. I had just came out from the loo that time so I started way back at the end. And not being totally ready, I ran with a parched throat. Thirsty! With all the "huru-hara" (definitely not good to collect bib numbers on race day for me); I forgot to drink before starting my race.

Thank goodness there was a water station at KM2.5 but that was the only water station! I should've brought along my own bottle. My itchy and swollen throat condition wasn't helping either.

I was wearing the same get-up I wore while running in Japan. Bright idea. NOT! Got completely overheated halfway through the race. To make matter worse, my tummy was rumbling. I was running on an almost empty stomach. Seeing a lot of runners nonchalantly cutting short their route (those who are in E & F category : Men & Women 19-40 years old. You guys were wearing the www.sisa.gov.my shirts too, for goodness sake!) choosing to make their route a 3K instead of the full 7K was so dampening for me. Any thoughts of getting the limited medal was quickly brushed aside so I just ran and walked my way to the finish line. It turned to be a "couldn't be arsed" run for me, yesterday.

Raimie however did good. He ran and walked the whole 3K and made it through the finish line. Good for him! I am so proud of my boy.

Despite the havoc and "huru-hara" of the race, I have to commend the people manning the registration, collection & t-shirt distribution counter. They were efficient and did things fast so we didn't have to queue long. And they were quite nice people too. :)

They even distributed goodie bags after the race. Plenty of mineral water handed out freely too. No Milo van though. huhuhu

Pretty festive atmosphere at the run, with lots of events slotted. Saw plenty of buses with "rombongan" coming in too, and they came complete with picnic baskets. What a nice way to spend the Sunday morning.

But I hope race organisers, if they are doing this again next year (I sincerely hope they do!), to ensure proper starting of the race. 7K runners were supposed to start first followed by the 3K participants but from the starting line, I saw few runners in the boys category running too. That gave them like a 15 minutes advantage from the boys/girls runners that waited properly for their category to be flagged off.

Also, I do sincerely hope that we runners not "cheat" our way through the run. The joy of running is to run the distance and make it to the finish line. Not by doing your own shorter route. What is the value of your medal when you know that you didn't do it properly?

But then again, I suppose most of the participants running were doing it for fun, so why am I being so righteous about it, eh? xD

Anyway, happy to say that the limited medal of the Larian Jom! Kitar Semula is added to my collection. ^^

Head Not Screwed Right, Last Run (On Vacation, I mean)

2011-12-17T15:39:00.000+08:00

My last run during the vacation was by the Sumida River. Since we are in no rush to go anywhere, I had the luxury of starting my run a bit later, at 7.00am and return by 8.30am. The sun was already up and sunny at that time so it was great to run under the clear blue sky. With the crisp cold air, it was really nice to have a run in the cold season in Tokyo.

Along the river, golden leaves lay scattered on the pavements. I tried out my new Asics compression tights on this run and made a zooming (well, zooming for me at least) run that day.

Nice view all through the run, watching boats cruised by, cars and lorries crossing the many bridges across the river, salarymen and office ladies off to work, students off to school. Nobody tried to run over anybody and even when I got on the pavement heading back to our hotel room, I could just run and have a secure feeling that vehicles do stop at pedestrian crossing instead of the other way round. Of course, I make sure to stop at red lights and run when it's green when there are traffic lights!

I am gonna miss running in Japan where you can run in crowded area and not risk stumbling/crashing into somebody or some vehicle.

In total, I had 5 runs in Japan. A lot less than what I set out to do. But I cannot control the weather (cold rainy mornings are definitely not an ideal condition to run) and I skip them when I'm in need of more rest. But overall, I had fun. I experienced running in Kyushu (Yufuin), in Shikoku (Takamatsu) and Honshu (Sumida River, Tokyo) and the experience was priceless! Running should be fun.

And those runs I had sure were fun! Run happy, folks despite any setbacks we encountered like that cute little blister I had. :)

Head Not Screwed Right, Part III

2011-12-14T14:05:00.000+08:00

Day 5 was in Takamatsu which is on the island of Shikoku. The first day we were there; I took the opportunity to enjoy the seaside view and had a run alongside the port area.

Running while watching the sun rises over the sea was absolutely an awesome experience. I just can't help it to stop occasionally to enjoy the view and also to snap some photos.

Started while it was still dark and I ended my run when the day is already bright and lively.

After running by the port area the day before; I decided that it was too cold to do any running at the same place on Day 6 of our vacation.

So instead, I chose to run by a castle park - the Tamamo-Koen park nearby. At first I had the intention of doing a longer run so I woke up earlier and hit the pavement at 6.00am but after a bit of running, the blister on my left heel started to bother me. Started out with a plan to do a 10K run but only managed to do 6K. huhuhu

Can you see a couple running way in front of me? I wasn't the only crazy one to do this, you know. LOL

Since the blister bothered me a bit, I had to do this while travelling in trains, to relieve both leg fatigue (from continuous walking not so much the running) and to avoid the blister being compressed. My feet doesn't smell, I promise!

Generous People

2011-12-12T14:30:00.001+08:00

During this vacation of ours, we have had a lot of invitation to meet up, but because of the little time we have and conflicting schedule with most of them; we were only able to meet up with a couple of them.

Firstly, thank you to Hanny in Kitakyushu, who had been kind enough to accomodate us coming to meet despite the last minute arrangement not to mention late night meet-up. We were finally able to meet with her two lovely sons. ^^

In Tokyo, a blogging friend; Minoru had kindly invited us over to his home for dinner and Raimie had a ball of time there.

Raimie learning to play ping-pong. Then, it was time for Daddy to have a friendly game with Minoru.

After a bit of exercise; then it was time to do some "brain exercise", playing Othello board game.

and learning to make paper cranes with Minoru's lovely wife. Afterwards, Raimie spent till midnight trying to make paper cranes on his own in our hotel room.

It was a lovely evening and before we knew it; it was time to head back to our hotel room. To both Hanny and Minoru & wife, thank you very much for your kind hospitality.

New Toys

2011-12-10T14:03:00.000+08:00

Raimie has been a pretty happy boy this vacation. This is the one time he's allowed to use the money allocated to him to buy anything that he wants, provided that it doesn't exceed the set limit. It's not free money though, it's his own savings for the year that we allow him to use once a year to splurge on toys and games. And what did he get so far? A Nintendo 3DS and a few games to go with it. By the way, it cost 15,000yen in Japan; which is about RM600.00 and if bought in Malaysia, we need to pay RM1,139.00 for the same game! Good savings, eh?

Having the games allows him to not get too bored when we take a long train journey while zipping through the length and breadth of Japan. And most probably would help to pass time on the Air Asia flight back home in a few days too.

Head Not Screwed Right, Part II

2011-12-07T22:10:00.000+08:00

This time, I went out for a run at a more sensible hour; at 9.00am. Despite the good intention to wake up at 5.00am, I overslept till 7.00am. Had nice hot spring bath to warm up my cold muscles and then both me and hubby went out for a walk at the nearby lake, marveling at the beautiful autumn colours.

After an hour of walking around, Zaini headed back to our hotel to have more soaking in the hot spring while I spent about half an hour running along the river that leads towards the Lake Kirinko.

That's my game plan (or rather running plan) during this vacation. Stick to a run near a river or by the seaside; to ensure I don't get lost and don't know my way back to the hotel.

If you've watched Japanese movie/drame/anime, you'd notice that there are plenty of walkway by the river in Japan. Right? ^^

His 9th Birthday

2011-12-05T15:07:00.001+08:00

was on Dec 2nd. My oh my... Time sure flies. One moment he was a baby cradled in my arm and then now, he's already such a big boy already!

A low key celebration with just the three of us and a small cake on the big day.

and the day after, we went to get/give him his birthday present. A visit to Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki Prefecture and having fun with One Piece attraction. That's him in front of a life-size "Thousand Sunny" ship before getting onboard it and sailed off for a while.

It was a great day. He even got to eat a cake made by Auntie Hanny later in the evening and meeting up with her sons.

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY SON!

Head Not Screwed Right, Part I

2011-12-03T15:09:00.002+08:00

OK, this is gonna be some updates on my running endeavours while on vacation. If someone willing to get up at some odd hours and instead of enjoying some leisurely time, she/he instead choose to get up and huff & puff running around at some unfamiliar places, her/his head must not be screwed on properly, right? LOL

Woke up at 5.00am and hubby accompanied me to a nearby park & stadium a few hundred metres away from our hotel. Since I'm already up and about, despite the drizzle and freezing cold; I went ahead and did a couple of loops there. Zaini on the other hand, after deciding the place was safe to leave me alone to run, decided to head back to the comfort of our warm hotel room.

Running in the cold weather is such a different sensation for me. It was really nice and without the feeling of overheating much.

As I only allocated 30 minutes for my run, I only managed to do a 5K run but it's a run with lots of stops to take photos. Who cares about pace, mileage or timing when running on vacation. I just want to enjoy myself and enjoy myself I sure did!

By the way, for tohose running races this weekend, all the best and have fun! *^-^*

Will You Stop Looking At The New Arrivals?

2011-11-29T14:05:00.003+08:00

That's what my poor long, suffering hubby would say everytime we hit the sports store and I go, look and touch a new pair of shoes on display. It's automatic. I don't know whether it's the way the shoes are displayed but even if the shoes aren't on my eye-level, my attention would go to the newest, most striking and mostly most expensive pair of shoes there.

I was looking a pair of trail shoes and of course the ones I like are the ones with the most "blinding" colour - think bright purple with dash of lime green or pink; and it's equally "blinding" price tag too. LOL

Anyway, after trawling more than a dozen sports stores, and the fact that I might not need the trail shoes that bad yet, I got myself this pair of Nike running shoes instead. It is imperative for me to have one pair of running shoes that isn't so obviously "running shoes" i.e. white. That said, I was enthralled with a pair of Newton shoes that I tried at Key Sports. But at RM599, I'll take a rain check. ^^!

It's a marked-down priced shoes (horror! kakaka) and for the time being I'll use it mainly as a walking shoe during my vacation. Though I hope to throw in a couple of runs in the next two weeks too. ^^

And for Raimie; who told me after the IOI Community Run that he wishes to join running races too, we got him this pair of shoes.

I wish I had registered both of us to the Desa Park City Run. The next race that allows children participation which Raimie can enter will be the Larian Jom Kitar Semula 2011 on Dec 18th, a few days we come back from our vacation. I wanted to enter, but Zaini's been keeping quiet about it so I don't know whether he agrees for Raimie to join the Run too. Fingers (and toes) crossed! xD

Food "Loading"

2011-11-27T14:37:00.000+08:00

People talk about carbo-loading before a marathon and here I am, loading myself with Malaysian food before our vacation.

Had Nasi Lemak for breakfast five days in a row in place of my usual muesli (and managed to gain 1kg because of it) huh!

Dinners for the week had been either tomyum, curry or masak lemak. Lots of curries. I love my curries but I can't indulge in them much, especially if I plan to do an evening run that day.

We had Pan Mee last night. Raimie and I had the dry ones and Zaini had the soup ones. It had been so long since we last ate pan mee and it taste sooooooo good especially with the sauce. Oh gosh! I'm making myself hungry again! LOL

I may be eating a lot of non-Malaysian fare while I'm in Malaysia but you know, I'll start having a hankering for sambal belacan once I'm out of this country! *^-^*

I'm Always Hungry!

2011-11-26T00:01:00.000+08:00

Lately, I'm always hungry and if I'm not careful; despite the mileage I put on each week with my running shoes, I'll end up being heavier than before I started running.

I used to be have problem finishing this burger and nowadays, I finish them off without any help from my hubby.

So to keep the hunger pangs at bay, I'm choosing (or trying to choose) healthier food and not just any random, fat-bursting, cheap food options.

No more nasi lemak for breakfasts (except maybe once or twice a month) and the same goes for roti canai too. More muesli, oats and fruits.

For lunch, I choose more vegetables too. Been taking a lot of tempe for my protein intake too lately.

Dinners meant something lighter but I am guilty of not being able to stay away from my usual Mamak curry. Hey! I just run more after those curry indulgence (and suffer heartburn doing it) LOL

and this... some random photo of a pasta dish I cooked after my IOI Community Run last week. Pasta with tomato sauce and canned sardines. I devoured this within minutes. HUNGRY!!!!

Reduce To Clear

2011-11-24T14:05:00.000+08:00

The scrooge in me simply love digging through the "reduce to clear" pile at Cold Storage and get stuff for less price than it originally cost. Yes, the fruits are slightly bruised but most of them are perfectly fine to eat. Same goes for the vegetables too.

But I find that the clearance pile at other supermarkets do not have the same "quality" as the ones at Cold Storage. I mean, if the produce sold at 50% are already decomposing, they shouldn't be selling them at all, right? They should just throw them away. Or sell them at a more reasonable price in the first place so that people can actually afford to buy them.

Books For A Treat

2011-11-22T14:05:00.002+08:00

I've been guilty of not buying or reading any books lately. It seems like I had too much on my plate that I can't sit still and enjoy a good book. :(

Anyhoo, as a treat for Raimie's good results at school, he asked for me to buy him some books and of course, I happily obliged. ^^

One book was about drawing (which by the way, he loves to do) and the other was a Malay book. If you read my earlier post, you'd know that he needs to be better in his Malay language!

And I can't resist picking up a book for myself too. I haven't started reading it proper yet, just a few pages. I'm pacing myself (heh!) because I plan to read it all while we are flying for 6-7 hours to Tokyo! *^-^*

It's Not PBIM But I'll Live...

2011-11-20T14:35:00.005+08:00

* PBIM - Penang Bridge International Marathon

There'll sure be a deluge of race reports posted for those who participated in the PBIM and I'll have loads of fun reading them soon, I bet! :) And congrats to all those running and finishing PBIM! You guys did great!!!!

For me, no PBIM yet. Instead, on the same day the PBIM, I joined the IOI Community Run and did 7.7K. My last race for the year. I would love to join some of the races scheduled in December but we'll be away and I value my vacation more than running a race! xD

The day prior to the Run was ominous for me.

On Saturday, we endured traffic jam from Seri Kembangan all the way to IOI Mall in Puchong, because I needed to pick up my race kit. Arriving there, and going in the mall, I realised that I somehow lost the parking ticket that Zaini passed to me moments earlier. After searching for it in futile, I told the now already pissed-off Zaini to let it go because I'll just pay for the lost ticket. What for frowning and fretting over split milk, right? Especially if it's me who had done the spilling! xD

I woke up at 4.00am on race day to get ready (which includes a whole load of stretching) and at 5.30ish, the rain decided to pour. Zaini already *complained* about the ungodly hours I wanted us to be at Bandar Puteri (6.30am, by the way) and the jam, the lost parking ticket and now the rain, I was ready to DNS (did not show) the race! But of course, Zaini drove me there without much prodding despite me telling him that it's OK if I don't run today. Ah, all the drama! Kakaka

Arriving the race venue, the first order of business was making a pit-stop. I had my first toilet break at the market nearby, the Puteri Mart. Of course plenty of other runners making a stop there too. *^-^*

The stage area. The warm-up session and kickboxing session were held here later, by Fitness First Instructors.

My own warm-up session. Raimie sportingly accompanied me while I was warming up. There sure were plenty of runners putting on their game face, doing their warm-up sessions. Hmmm... I thought all hardcore runners had gone to Penang.

Then another pit-stop at the portable toilet. Loooong queues there.

and then, the warm-up session by Fitness First. Can't really see the stage area and didn't really understand the lady who were giving instruction. I thought she said "break" when she meant "breathe". Adoila... make sure your pronunciation correct or people like me cannot understand what you were saying. huhuhu

At the start of the Run. Can't really run any faster since the human traffic was bad. xD It took an effort to swerve amongst the runners and it sure didn't help when after 150-200m from the starting line, there was already an incline runners had to face. Plenty of runners decided to stop and walk. I know I'm not fast but in my mind, I was like - "Keep to the left, keep to the left folks" to the walkers just to avoid colliding into them especially those who sprinted as suddenly as they stop in the middle of the lane. ;p

I was running blind in this race, that is to say; I have no idea how the route was beforehand. And for some reason, my Nike+ started to register my mileage in miles instead of KM and I really don't know how to translate my pace in miles! @.@

I decided to run at a conservative pace and checking on how far I ran only occasionally because I had to mentally convert the miles I clocked in back to KM. Maths so early in the morning! Ugh, my head hurts! Kakaka

Three inclines later, I arrived at the water station. I was hoping for a Gatorade drink (after all, Gatorade supported this Run) but only gotten lukewarm plain water. I should've brought my own bottle. :(

As with my trainings, I realised that I am now becoming quite lazy in pushing myself. I mean, you won't see me running at a pace that made me wanna puke anymore these days. Also, I only can pick up my pace later in the run, usually in KM3-4 despite doing all the warm ups earlier. I wonder how I can rectify this and yet not make me hit the wall way before the finish line?

One of the early arrivals, puking. I think Zaini told me that he was in top 5 or something.

A few more metres towards the finish line! Wooohooo!

Barely managed to get one of the limited medals given out. 200 medals for Men Open and just 100 medals for Women Open. Raimie told me that I am great and that's all I need! ^^

I think I only saw two group of runners in costumes. One guy (whom I think I saw at PNM too), running in a white work shirt and holding an Astro boy figure and this family here. Cute, aren't they?

There were clowns at the Run

and few carnival games too. The Oligo stand had a looooong queue so I skipped that, queued for my goodie bag instead (another looooooong queue) while Zaini went and pick up a few cups of lukewarm Gatorade for me.

There were plenty of traffic drama during the race. In between the route and at intersections, we could hear vehicles honking and drivers complaining to traffic police about the hold-up. I heard one traffic police saying "Keep on honking" to those irate drivers. LOL

Then, at the start/finish line where all the runners are now milling around, a car decided that it had to pass through that road and were honking aggressively. Even if all these runners gave way to him, he definitely couldn't pass through because of the medal and certificates table were blocking/closing the road. And runners were still arriving to the finish line! The driver was booed loudly but I think that he felt that we runners somehow did him wrong because he actually stepped out from his car to pick a fight. Like, for real? What makes him and his one, single car so special against 4,000 runners, anyway? We runners pay our road tax for our vehicles too, you know. Unless of course, he owned the road lah...

We didn't wait for the lucky draw and decided to head back early and had our breakfast at Bandar Puchong's McD. Breakfast for me was hotcakes because I needed my sugar boost!

Raimie was stoked and had actually said that he wanted to enter a race in future. OK, so now Mommy just needs to find a fun run to run with her son! :)

Report Card Day And Going On Stage For A Prize

2011-11-19T14:05:00.001+08:00

School holiday is here!

And before the school ended for the year, we parents had to go to school for the school's open day and sign our children's report card. Needed to go to school to collect the RM100 given by the "esteemed" government for each student too.

Raimie's report card was signed two weeks ago. Not much issue with him and while we do wish he can finally wrestle the top spot from his fellow classmate's iron-grip, he maintained a no. 2 spot (yet again) this year. The only issue his class teacher had was the fact that Raimie is a quiet boy. But since his Mommy and Daddy are pretty quiet themselves too (in front of teachers, anyway), we weren't too fussed about that. Try listening to him at home and you'll probably want him to shut up! LOL

The day after UPSR results was announced, his school held the "Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan".

Raimie's is entering Standard Four next year. My, how the time flies.

An Inspiration

2011-11-17T14:05:00.002+08:00

A totally inspirational video and made me want to strive more.

Don't tell me you aren't moved at all seeing this.

"If you want to do it, all you have to do is do it". That's so very true.

It's Been A While

2011-11-15T14:05:00.000+08:00

since we last made ourselves comfortable at a bookshop and browse/read or even buy books.

Mommy's been crazy about running. Daddy loves his foldie bike. Raimie is busy with his netbook and games.

So it was really nice to do this once in a while. Spending hours at a bookshop (since libraries are rather hard for us to visit) and make a few purchases afterwards.

Raimie's Mommy has a new genre that she likes to read now - she reads anything and everything about.... what else? Running, of course!

Anyway, both Zaini and I need to buy Raimie more Malay books. He would've gotten straight As in his year-end exam but for one paper. A "C" for Bahasa Melayu Penulisan! Imagine that! Please do better next time, OK Son?

It's The Carpark For Me

2011-11-14T14:05:00.003+08:00

Do you have a special place where you do your runs?

For me, on weekday nights; it's the parking area around my apartment block. I run around the two block's uncovered parking area and go through the basement of the covered parking area to complete a 1KM loop. Five loops would usually equal to 5.5KM which is what I usually do on a weekday night run.

The area I live in is not flat, and "blessed" with many inclines so when I first started running, the little inclines that I needed to face served as my early, pre-hill training runs. *^-^*

I was so self-conscious running around the apartment blocks at first but the fact that my neighbours can see me served as a motivation for me. I pushed on and not stop and walk because I would ashamed my neighbours would see me wimp out, especially when some of those neighbours are my colleagues too. Being vain does serve a purpose, sometimes! LOL

My neighbours and the security guards are so used to seeing me doing my nightly runs by now. The guards were looking somewhat interestedly each time I make a loop when I first started out; 6 months ago but nowadays they don't even bat an eye at me even if I do a midnight run!

I guess if I live in a terrace house, it'll be harder for me to do a night run so I consider myself lucky to have an area that I can train relatively safe. But even if I don't, I think I'll find a way to train safely. Where there's a will, there's surely a way.

And come to think of it, my treadmill motor breaking down was the best thing that ever happened to me, running wise. It made me go out and find other alternative. And being out and seeing other joggers/runners made me want to run more and better. I find it hard to imagine pounding the treadmill for two hours and not be bored to death.

Weekend Food Post

2011-11-12T18:20:00.006+08:00

and it's another Korean food post after last week's Korean food cooking. This time though, we ate out at our most favourite Korean place : Ko Hyang (which, by the way is hometown in Korean) at Gardens Mall.

Bibimbap for me and Zaini. I usually either have this or rice with Soon Do Bu Jigae (soft tofu stew). Whole lot of veges in the bibimbap! A sizzling Dolsot (stone pot) Bibimbap is nice too.

Raimie wanted Tuk Guk (rice cake) soup which ultimately he can't finish. Not that it wasn't nice but that boy is a picky eater and doesn't each much anyway. For me personally though, I like rice cakes served like the ones below:

Tuk Bokki that I insisted to have. Spicy! There's Garaetuk (chewy cylindrical shaped rice cake), a bit of fish cake and some slices of cabbage and carrots in there. This makes a great snack.

Another favourite, a hit with Zaini and Raimie is this Ojingeo Bokkuem (spicy stir fried squid with vegetables) and it comes with a bowl of rice.

The complimentary banchan (side dish) here are nice too, and I love their kimchii and the Myeolchi Bokkeum (stir-fried dried anchovies) but they are becoming stingy with it. Ko Hyang used to give refills of them but no more. (Or maybe they'll give it if we ask nicely? Hihi)

and at home, we simply had Beef Masak Lemak Cili Api. Why this dish s photo warrants to be posted up here? Simply because it's been ages since I last cook this.

We'll be healthy and eat a simply grilled fish with budu (fermented anchovy sauce) for tomorrow's lunch. *^-^*

Anyway, after all this indulging, I'm planning to burn off the calories tomorrow by doing a 15K run. Wish me luck! xD

Do We Need More?

2011-11-11T14:05:00.000+08:00

of these?

a cardboard box full of Kamen Riders, Ultraman, Kaijus and Seijin figures; mostly bought in Japan but nowadays the Daddy has been ordering them online too.

I lost track how much those two had spent on them.

We can donate other toys that Raimie owned, but don't ever suggest to him to donate any of these! They are his precious, precious toys, even though he doesn't play with them as much already.

Another bounty like this, after our vacation?

I think he'll be at the stage that all these will be for a collection instead of toys to be played with. My boy has grown. *sob sob*

High Fibre And Clear Colon

2011-11-09T14:05:00.002+08:00

and no more nasi lemak breakfast for me! Well, I still indulge in them (and roti canai too) once in a while but nowadays, for 5 days a week; it's muesli breakfast for me. My favourite mixture? The ones with a lot of seeds and nuts. I find myself not really liking those with too sweet a mixture so dried fruits are out.

A banana right after I wake up and then a bowl of muesli and I sure have a clear and healthy colon afterward! I tell you, it really can clear up with these two food! heh heh

The Sign The Year Is Ending

2011-11-07T15:12:00.001+08:00

And school holiday is near : the year-end exam!

Raimie already sat for his year-end exam, the papers marked and returned and next week, it's time for us to go to school to collect his report card. We'll be meeting with his class teacher for his report card on Friday and on Saturday attending the "Hari Anugerah Kecemerlangan"/prize giving ceremony (or whatever you call it).

For us as parents, nothing says the end of year is looming than this!

And with the school holiday nearing, it means that our 2-weeks vacation is near too! Yeay!

Kimchii Time!

2011-11-06T00:05:00.000+08:00

After all those Japanese food that we ate, I'm sort of starting to develop a hankering for some kimchi. And what's our favourite with our kimchi. Meat! Red meat! The week before we had a fish weekend; I grilled some sanma fish and steamed siakap fish so it's nice to have meat the week after that.

So its' grilled beef Korean style for us last Sunday.

Tofu with stir-fried kimchi & enoki mushroom. No photo of the grilled beef because I accidentally deleted them. huhuhu and the dish was too oily; I put a bit too much sesame oil in the wok.

Lettuce for lettuce wrap with the grilled beef, kimchi stew, stir-fried kimchi with tofu with a bowl of Japanese rice. Well, I don't have any Korean rice in stock. Though I do have a tendency to add other grains in my rice when I cook Korean like barley, nuts and stuff. xD

I wonder what's we'll have this weekend? Nothing heavy even though it's Raya Haji on Sunday. xD

A 3-Day Weekend Ahead

2011-11-04T14:02:00.001+08:00

TGIF! Wooohoooo!

And double woohooo because it's Hari Raya Aidil Adha (a.k.a. Hari Raya Haji) on Sunday and we get Monday off!

Of course, we are excited to celebrate the Hari Raya Haji and we'll most likely spend it over at my father-in-law's house instead of going back to my hometown. My siblings are planning to go to Cameron Highlands after the qurban and Zaini isn't keen going back there and spent the weekend in an empty house.

Other than the Sunday, we don't have anything planned out for the weekend but I've already lined up my "training" schedule and passed it over to Zaini. Funny how I changed the terms of my workout from jogging to running to training now. Am I being a tad pretentious?

Saturday would see me (and Zaini on his foldie) at Presint 3 Putrajaya. I'm hoping to do a minimum of 13K tomorrow (and move on to 15K next Sunday).

For Sunday; on the Raya morning, I plan to do just 5-6K slow run before we set off to my FIL's home. Anyway, you know I managed to do a 12K run on Raya Puasa morning?

And Monday, I'm hoping to do a tempo run to prepare myself for the upcoming 7.7K IOI Community Run.

Let's hope the weather co-operates with my plan! Not to mention other runners' plan too! LOL

p.s. funny how everything I plan and think now would inevitably lead me to me and my running shoes.

SELAMAT HARY RAYA AIDILADHA.

p.s. I did my 13K run today, as planned. Very happy that despite the rain, Zaini still drove me over to Putrajaya at 6.00am and rain decided to stop by 6.30am. Great weather this morning! And equally great that Zaini accompanied me (riding on his foldie) all through the run.

The Perils Of Running

2011-11-02T13:05:00.006+08:00

Yes, apart from the obvious health benefit of being fit, there are side effects one can get from running. For me that would be :

Having two toned skin. You read it right. Not a too toned body, but I'm now sporting a darker set of arms (and neck and face too) than the other parts of my body.

Oh! The pigmentation! With the hot sunny days ahead and the sun coming up scorching us as early as 7.00am, I'll just get darker and darker.

Willingness to go out for a run at extremely odd hours. Good thing I live in an apartment, and with the guards stationed strategically, I feel safe making a late night run around my apartment. Yeah, sometimes I'd do an 11.00pm run! No, I don't do this out of the gate of my apartment so late at night. That's just crazy! o.O

I wouldn't dream of waking up at 4.00 or 5.00am on weekends before, but that's what I do come Saturday and Sunday now! Waking up so early just so I can enjoy a cool, breezy and sloooooow run early in the morning. (Then, get totally roasted by the sun at 7.30am! @.@)

Then, it's the depleting bank balance and cash in wallet. I seem to never tire of buying stuff at the sports store nowadays. Recent purchase include a handheld water bottle last Sunday and two days, ago, a new pair of running pants.

Hubby opined that the amount that I've spent on running gears these past few months can actually buy me a good mountain bike already and he's totally right! Who says running is a cheap sport? Well, it's cheap if you are not obsessing about the latest gear and whatnot. What's wrong with running and holding a Gatorade bottle that I had to buy that RM45 Nike bottle? Nothing, actually. Or a RM69 pair of Thorlo sock instead of a much cheaper RM8 sock? I convinced myself that it's for the good of my feet. ^^

There's another side-effect that is now seriously causing a dent in my pocket. Shrinking waistline. With all my pants becoming loose, I need to overhaul my wardrobe soon!

With all these obsessing over stuff, do I run fast? Or that far? Well, I'm still a slow poke. And I'm still a long way from doing a half marathon. But I like to flatter myself that I'm a slow poke that look good! Hahaha Yeah, you can go and puke now. (^o^)

But seriously, I have to consider my safety while out running as I don't have the luxury of running in a park everyday. For one, it's the traffic. Always, always be aware of traffic from behind and in front.

Another thing I had to deal with - dogs. OK, so I'm terrified of big dogs. It's because it's ingrained in my DNA to avoid dogs, I guess. And the dogs being let loose in my neighborhood are not cute ones like Nick's dog Pebbles. Some of them are quite territorial too; in public spaces! There is this one dog that will chase anything that move, people, cars, bikes.... @.@

So far I don't have problems with strays as strays tend to stay away from being too near humans. It's just those pet dogs that were let loose outside that I have to be careful of. :(

More Japanese Gastronomic Adventure?

2011-10-31T13:05:00.000+08:00

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?

2011-10-29T17:28:00.000+08:00

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

2011-10-26T13:05:00.001+08:00

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

2011-10-24T13:05:00.013+08:00

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

2011-10-22T13:05:00.000+08:00

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

2011-10-21T13:05:00.040+08:00

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!

2011-10-19T13:05:00.001+08:00

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

2011-10-16T13:05:00.049+08:00

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!

2011-10-15T13:05:00.001+08:00

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

2011-10-13T13:05:00.024+08:00

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!

2011-10-11T13:05:00.007+08:00

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.

First Visit To Miyagi Japanese Restaurant

2011-10-09T13:05:00.002+08:00

We seem to be eating lots of Japanese food lately, don't you think? Maybe it's our bodies' way asking us to adjust our palate and train it to eat Japanese food for two weeks in two months' time! LOL

You know, whenever we are overseas, I think it only took me a week to start missing spicy Malaysian food. And we never fail to hit the Mamak first thing when we arrived home after a long vacation. Nothing hit the spot like a plate of curry and maybe some roti canai too. Haha

Anyhoo, we passed by this restaurant a few time when we are around Bandar Baru Bangi but it never seem to be open. Well, it has limited opening hours. For lunch it's from 11.30am - 2.30pm and dinner hours are from 5.30pm - 9.30pm. Not for someone who wants to eat a late lunch or dinner here!

Happy to be eating Japanese food again!

Writings on the wall. It's the menu. Worry not though, they do have English menu. Lots of them. xD

Jellyfish on the ceiling? Nice lighting. Makes for a romantic mood in the place. That coupled with soft, soothing Japanese song makes for a mellow atmosphere in the restaurant. Good place for a quiet lunch/dinner.

More photos of the interior. Nice place, isn't it? And nice food too.

Raimie as always wanted to eat sushi so we ordered the sushi/udon set - total bargain at RM30.00

I went for the teppan set. I still crave for some protein and I want to eat meat. Absolutely generous portion although the beef was a bit hard and dry. But I ate every single thing there! Mine was priced RM30.00

Zaini went for the set lunch too and ordered the yakiniku jyu set. RM28.00 for a complete meal. A set lunch got us a main course, miso soup, pickles, chawan mushi, fruits and desserts. If that's not a bargain, I don't know what is.

Raimie enjoying his chawan mushi.

and to close off a particularly nice meal, two balls of mochi were served. Nice...

Green tea wasn't on the drinks menu here because well, it's FOC. Just ask for it and they'll serve it to you. Total bill came to RM96.80. No government tax charge so diners save 6% of that eating here. ^^

I'd return again to this place for a meal if I'm in the vicinity.

Ready To Roll?

2011-10-07T13:05:00.002+08:00

Received my Putrajaya Night Marathon race kit yesterday courtesy of the courier service. I had erroneously thought that it would be sent over to my office address and after checking my e-mail, I only noticed that I put in my FIL's house address instead. Aiyah! And here I was waiting for the race kit to arrive the office. o.O

The race is scheduled on Saturday, Oct 15 and I'm slightly nervous about it. Not about running itself, but the crowd that will be running that night. Me and crowd usually don't go well together. ahahaha Looking at last year's race and the sheer amount of runners congregating there is simply mind boggling for me. (Would there be long queues at the loo for one?)

Running wise - well, I can always walk, limp, hobble, etc to get to the finish line that night seeing that I haven't been running much and had been putting my legs up this past week, nursing a very painful calf.

Good luck to all running that night and have fun training for the big night!

I'll be the middle age auntie, either in my bright orange or striking pink running vest and sporting a pigtail, if anyone cares to look for me! LOL

After the Putrajaya Night Marathon, I'm set for the IOI Community Run which will be held on Nov 20th. I've also signed up for the Multi-Purpose Insurans Run to be held on Jan 8th 2012.

One race a month, that's the amount of race Zaini would be willing to go and send me to. More than that, I have to find my own means of transport. Huhuhu

I don't have anything registered in Dec yet but that's just because the two races that I probably can enter; the Multimedia University RakanMuda Run on Dec 17th and the Malakoff Run on Dec 18th is just a few days after our return from a fortnight vacation. I'd be so out of shape, I think. That and the penchant to get myself injured on the last day of our vacation.

Dinner For Three

2011-10-05T13:05:00.002+08:00

More food photos!

Dinner for three, in the comfort of our room when we checked-in to a nearby hotel to celebrate our birthdays last month.

Raimie's dinner. I ended up eating this. It had scallop in it. I like scallops, A LOT but somehow the scallops in this dish weren't tempting enough for me.

I ordered the Tee Club and Caesar Salad with Home Cured Salmon. Only the sandwich arrived and not a salad in sight. I asked the waiter about it and know what's his answer? Salad wasn't in the menu! Reaaallllly?

When we pressed on about my order, he just mumbled about checking it again and not a peep from him or anyone else about my order until we checked out the next day. Well, at least I wasn't billed for it. Raimie ended up eating the sandwich as it turned out he didn't fancy his plate of spaghetti much.

Zaini had his usual - BBQ burger.

A nice dinner a bit marred with the absence of the salad that I was soooo looking forward to eating. When I mentioned about the waiter whom we hadn't heard since, Zaini just said - there are 3 categories of people in the service industry - the friendly obliging one who are willing to be helpful, the "I'm just doing my job" type that shows no initiative and lastly those who will curry favour in order to look good.

We always stay at this particular hotel because there are plenty of staff that fit the 1st category and I hope the 2nd type won't be a norm for guest to meet here. Good, friendly people are what kept us coming and we do want to keep coming. Don't care much about the 3rd type but getting on their good side can have some advantage.

I didn't let it spoil my mood much though. And after a good dinner, later that night we went down and treated ourselves to some sweating - enjoying the steambath, sauna and jacuzzi. Such blissful way to spend an evening. *^-^*

Hari Keusahawanan

2011-10-03T13:05:00.004+08:00

When I was in primary school, "Hari Keusahawanan" was simply called "Hari Kantin" or Canteen day. Name got upgraded to sound better nowadays, eh? ^^

First order of business upon arriving, pay for the coupons. We bought RM50 worth and it was sure well spent by our Son. We initially gave him a set of RM10 worth, and he kept asking for more soon after! But as this is for the school's funds, we didn't mind. Who else to help with the school's funds if not the parents? Do you know that the allocation given by the Ministry of Education is fixed per student and is given as per number students in each school? Unless of course, you are in a Bistari school or something like that, where the allocation would be more.

When parents want school to arrange activities and provide better facilities, the need to raise more funds arises hence the need for donation drive and this "Hari Keusahawanan" and whatever "thon" - bacathon, aerobikthon, walkathon; donation drive the school might do. We as parents, I believe should chip in whenever we can and with whatever we can afford to, to make our children's schooling environment better.

Be proactive in our children's schooling and quit just bitching about the state of education in this country. Do something about it. Help the teachers. Help the students. Create support parents support group if you want to.We are as responsible (if not more) about our children education as the teachers are.

(Sorry if I sound preachy here. It's just that I do get tired of hearing parents complaining about a LOT of things but how many did go and see & talk to the teachers about whatever issues they have?)

Before the start of the "Hari Keusahawanan", the teachers and PIBG committee waited for the VIP arrival.

Senator Dato' Raja Nong Chik, the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being officiated the event. Here he was with the school's Headmaster, "Cikgu" Ong and the YDP PIGB (PTA chairman) Mr. M Vengadeson.

Doing the walk-about after officiating the event. Parents, teacher and students alike took the chance to shake hands with the Minister. He also donated and bought coupons to be distributed to each students in the school. Each student received RM10 worth of coupons to spend that day. Pssttt... election time coming soon, right? (^o^)

Food stalls manned by the teachers and PIBG committee members at the school, selling stuff donated by students/parents. Each student in Raimie's year needed to bring in two packs of sausages. Last year he brought nuggets. *^-^*

and at the drinks stall. There are 1Malaysia bottled drink now too? Sold at the 1Malaysia shops, I suppose?

A ghoul promoting the haunted house, located on the 1st floor. We went up to check it, and boy there sure was a long queue for the haunted house!

Raimie after finding his friends left us and only look for us when he was out of "funds". I think he spent the bulk of his coupons on game stalls and not so much on food or toys. We were hoping there might be a stall for books like during Sports Day but none this time. We were actually thinking it would be a great idea to buy more coupons and buy plenty of books for Raimie that day!

It was a great day both for our son and for us. We will definitely support any donation drive by the school in any way we can and it's a bonus to have fun while doing so. :)

Dinner For Two At Kampachi

2011-10-01T15:05:00.000+08:00

We actually had no intention of eating out on Zaini's birthday and had planned to eat in the comfort of our room, like we always do when we checked-in to a hotel. But then, we decided to go down and since Kampachi was open, decided too have dinner there. Raimie wasn't around because he was staying overnight over at his Grandad's house.

A quiet dinner for two was really nice.

Ready to order?

The restaurant's interior. It was a rather quiet evening there. Friendly, attentive waitress waited on us. I must have gotten my green tea replenished a gazillion time by them!

Instead of choosing the more expensive stuff in the menu, we went all prudent and choose the teshoku (set menu) instead. Zaini had salt grilled cod set and

I had kaki tama don. My palate sure has changed lately. I love oysters and all that but I can't finish the oysters in the bowl. Lately, I'm not particularly fond of deep-fried stuff. My tummy must've decided to go all healthy on me! @.@

All finished! Zaini helped finish off mine, as always. I can't fault him putting on weight now, can I? With all the food he had to eat, leftovers from both me and Raimie!

and we finish off the meal with some fruits.

It sure was a nice evening. I guess sometimes having a couple time, just me & hubby without son is good. Raimie got to do some bonding time with grandad & uncles, and we had the night for ourselves. *^-^*

Too Much Too Soon?

2011-09-30T13:05:00.004+08:00

So how much training is too much? And how much is too much for someone who isn't even really training to be competitive in a race?

I like running lately as one can glean by reading the intermittent posts about me jogging or running or something in between here. I think I'm borderline crazy about it even. I can spend the day thinking about running routes I'd do once I go off from work.

I was lucky that I didn't have any injuries for the past 5 months I've been doing this but I somehow got some shin splint injuries earlier and the pain has yet subsided. That got Zaini commenting about my overzealous enthusiasm. He's been basically telling me I've been overdoing it for such a novice.

I've been reading a lot and I tried to do my workouts properly; well, as proper as someone doing it completely alone can. I do admit I have a hard time sifting through all the info I've been reading online about running.

Before I got my Nike Sportband (which I bought in mid-July), I just gauge my distance by the loops I ran around my apartment or at the park. 1 loop = 1km so I started with a couple of loops of walk/run workouts; then gradually make it to running 2 loops non-stop, and increased it week by week. Basically I try to adhere to adhere to the 10% increase each week.

Zaini's been telling me that my total mileage of 290+K for my 9 weeks of running wearing the Nike Sportband is too much for me and my body will feel the toll soon. Will it? Or has it? He admonished me for comparing my mileage with more seasoned runners who logged in at Daily Miles too. I know I totally shouldn't compare myself to guys like Nick, Jamie, Neoh or Kah Yen. Doc Julin would also totally leave me in the dust! They do sick miles with totally sick timing too!

I can be quite hard-headed when it comes to listening to my husband's advice especially when it comes to something I love doing even though I know that he is perfectly right about it and yet I loath to agree with him.

The problem is, even when I did that "measly" 14K run, it didn't feel like I was pushing myself too much. I always kept my pace real slow and manageable and I think I don't really push myself too hard even. I'm a wuss. I never let myself be too out of breath or push myself that hard when I run. I don't want to keel over and faint, you know. Especially since I almost always run alone.

So how does one know when it is too much? I'm still having fun doing it now. I'm still able to do chores after my workout on weekends. So, am I pushing myself too hard? I don't think I am but maybe I was.

I tried to lessen the mileage I do these past couple of weeks so as not to overstressed my body but not going out for a workout is sure no fun for me! Cross training just got me itching to put on my running shoes.

But how does one know if one is doing too much? Will all these running shenanigans be bad for me in the long run?

Niece's 1st Birthday & A Raya Makan

2011-09-28T13:05:00.004+08:00

It's always a big occasion for parents to celebrate their children 1st birthday, right? And my younger sis celebrated her daughter's first birthday recently. Combining it with a kind of "Raya" open house, her house was full of visitors that day!

What birthday can be without a birthday cake, right?

The birthday girl in pink. My nephew celebrated his birthday a few weeks earlier. Raimie was there on my behalf. ^^

Food!

While the adults were busy eating and chatting, the children were busy too...

playing with the colourful balloons. *^-^*

A great celebration with the family, it sure was.

And to all September babies, Happy Birthday!

Sleepyheads...

2011-09-26T13:05:00.004+08:00

The first day of Raya was a sunny day. After such a hot and tiring day visiting relatives and neighbours, it sure is nice to take a bit of nap and rest for a while.

We wouldn't want a cranky baby, would we?

a totally pooped-out boy after a great party

Must be nice to zzzzzzz away without a care. ^^

I sure envy the kitties napping away.Taken while going back from doing some "Raya" open house. ^^

It's His Birthday!

2011-09-23T00:00:00.004+08:00

Happy birthday to dear hubby. Be healthy always. Both me and son will always be here for you. And you bet I'll stay by your side till we are both old and infirm. *^-^*

Can We Eat Sushi, Please?

2011-09-21T13:05:00.000+08:00

Raimie's been hankering for some sushi and what can we say? As long as he eats (and eats a lot), we are just happy to humour the boy once in a while.

Thought of going to Yuzu at Gardens Mall but then decided to head off to a somewhat cheaper option and we went to have dinner at Sushi Zen instead.

Raimie and his plate of sushi.

I chose to eat the set of the day (or month) - the tempura set. Nothing to shout about. Well, it's cheap.

And Zaini had ebidon.

All finished!

I wonder when are we having our next Japanese meal? I am certainly looking forward to eating Japanese food in Japan soon! *^-^*

A Virgin On The Run

2011-09-19T13:05:00.004+08:00

A race virgin that is. ^^

So, I went and entered myself to KLIUC Unity Run and ran 10K last Sunday. It's my preparation before running in the way bigger race of the Putrajaya Night Marathon in October. I figured I'd do well by getting a taste of road races by joining smaller ones first before going head first into big ones. This race was actually the third race I signed up this year. The first one being the Putrajaya Night Marathon on Oct 15 and the second one was the Pudu Charity Run on Sep 25.

I relinquished photography duties today and handed it over to Zaini and he as always did a great job capturing the moments!

Starting line for Men & Women Open

Before the start of the race. Still got time to clown around. Gosh! My "perut buncit" is so obvious here. ^^!

and the mayhem begins!

I tried to keep my pace steady and tried not to run too fast too quickly seeing that this was my first race. I mean, I'm not aiming for a personal best just yet. The aim for me joining this run today was to get a feel of a race and I got that, getting elbowed and all by those too excited at the starting line. Anyhoo, whatever time I did today will already be my personal best in a race for the time being. xD

My observation for this race, cars were still speeding past us runners and there were runners who seem to have nary a care about traffic when they tried to overtake other runners. Imagine how unsafe it was to run in the outermost lane which was open to traffic and have a speeding car coming behind you. @.@

It was a bit getting used to having to maneuver my way around runners who like to sprint as suddenly as they stopped, right dead in front of me seeing that I always run alone and at places that are not crowded with runners before.

I also observed around KM4 or 5 a few lady runners "cutting short" their route by a few kilometres by just jumping lanes instead of running the loop. Nice going, ladies! NOT!

Zaini told me that there were a few "girls" who ran in the Women Open category who arrived amongst the Top 5 whom didn't seem like they did any running at all too. Was it the case? Or were they just too bummed out to run the distance? They were walking around with their medals so I supposed organizers acknowledged them finishing the race.

Me, at the last couple of kilometres and going uphill, yet again. The route was sure an undulating one, and I am appreciating the Mines inclines I faced each weekend running around the neighborhood. Between KM6-7, that "abang" wearing track pants (the one in the left) were pacing with me and we ran side by side for almost 3K.One would've thought we were in the race together seeing that we even matched our stride. Kakaka

Something funny happened when I overtook one "uncle" towards the end of the race. Once I overtook him who was walking; he started sprinting in front of me. He didn't run fast for long because I'd overtake him again and there he went, sprinting off again. I guess he "used" me as a tool to boost up his stamina. Cannot lose to this chubby woman, right? wakaka

Fuh! Fuh! I picked up my pace thinking that the finish line was just a few hundred metres away but it turned out we had to make another KM round the bend or something before getting to the finish line. The sun was too hot by now!

Medal collection time. I didn't realised that my Nike+ Sportband was still counting my mileage and timing when I was at this table! Too excited finishing to press stop, I guess. LOL The "pakcik technical" was remarking - "alahai, lenggang lengguk jalan ambik medal". Yahaha

My first medal in almost 20 years! And my first ever medal in my first ever road race. Best part of this race, while top 50 finishers receive medals with placing, all runners do get a finisher medal. Love these small races.

Maybe I would've fared better in placing if I entered the Women Veteran seeing that the age for Women Veteran was 36 and above. Heh heh

The First Time Is Always Nerve Wrecking

2011-09-18T01:05:00.003+08:00

First love, first job, first sex.... and for me; at the age of 36 - first running race. Yup, I'm a race virgin.

I'm entering my first race ever in my life (cross-country during school years don't count - I suck at them big time in school anyway) and I'm doing it alone. No running "kaki"/buddy with me.

I decided that after 5 months of running around the hood, I should try and join in the fun. Reading up runners' blogs about their races are sure making me itch to join them! I blame you, Nick!

Nobody I know is going for the run but to wait for someone running and accompanying me would mean that I probably would have never gotten into running at all. Sometimes, you just gotta dive headlong into something and make good out of it & have fun while doing it.

Nice soft t-shirt for the run. Won't be wearing them though. I don't like baggy stuff. xD

Registered myself to KLIUC Unity Run rather at last minute on Friday and will be heading off to KLIUC in a few hours (6 more hours by the time this post is up) or so for my inaugural race. And it's a 10K race too! Zaini drove me around to recce the route after registration two days ago. Boy, it sure has some inclines for runners to deal with.

Wish me luck coming back safely and still able to walk! I sure hope I won't finish the race last too.*^-^*

I let you know how I fared if I make it safely back! LOL

A New Toy For Son

2011-09-15T13:19:00.000+08:00

We sure have spending money like there's no tomorrow lately. I forked out RM350 a few days ago for a new pair of shoes and last Friday, both Zaini and I decided to buy Raimie a netbook to replace the old notebook he had been using.

Nothing too fancy for our 9 year old, just something for his use for his gaming and whatever online needs without him badgering us and asking to borrow ours. xD

At a total cost of RM999 that includes extra warranties, I guess it's not too bad, right? And instead of lugging bigger notebooks while on vacation, I'm thinking of bringing this netbook around to keep us connected and online even when we are overseas. It's small and it's light. (And no, no Ipad for us. Thanks. ^^)

Raimie got another nice surprise from his Dad too. A Kamen Rider Ooo Burakawani action figure, ordered online and sent all the way from Japan.

Saturday Kem Solat

2011-09-14T11:55:00.001+08:00

Last week was the last session for Raimie to attend his school's "Kem Solat" (literally means prayer camp) for the year. It is a compulsory activity for Standard 1 - 3 Muslim pupils arranged by the Ministry of Education for all national primary schools in Malaysia.

Colourful baju melayu and baju kurung worn by the students attending the Saturday camp. Sure looks festive. :)

While waiting for Raimie to finish his 4 hours' camp, Mommy had a run around Lake Garden, bought a new pair of running shoes and had brunch at Starbucks. A hot mug of hazelnut hot chocolate and a chicken pie bought from Hiestand Swiss Bakery. I looooove their pies. And bagels. And pasties. ;) Daddy had his usual green tea latte. Though it's a bummer that I can't enjoy a free drink anymore nowadays. The Amex complimentary drinks promotion at Starbucks on weekends are already fully redeemed. Sucks.:(

Raimie on the other hand, enjoyed his early lunch after the "kem" provided by the school. A simple meal of bean sprouts and chicken.

Raimie enjoying his lunch.

Standard 6 pupils are having their UPSR exam this week. Good luck to them. For those in "Tahap 1" - students in Standard 1 to 3, that means no school for them for a few days. Raimie is sure happy to have a 4 day break this week.

This Is What I Call Customer Service!

2011-09-12T11:13:00.003+08:00

I wanted to buy a new running shoes to replace my current Adidas shoes. I had been procrastinating in buying one because of the hassle of going in search for the shoes and of course, I do need consultation before I buy one. Knowledgeable consultants for shoes are sure hard to be found though!

I finally met up with Joshua of Brooks Malaysia on Saturday morning after sending Raimie to school for his "kem Solat"/ prayer camp(?) last week.

I told Joshua earlier that I would be at Lake Gardens on Saturday and he was OK meeting me there so we arranged a rendezvous at the Bukit Aman car park before my run that morning.

He brought along a car boot full of shoes but before trying any on, he proceeded to check my foot type first. Then, he proceeded to explain at length on the types of shoes and the support each shoes give for each foot type. I learnt a lot about shoes, right there at the car park. ^^

Joshua explaining Zaini's foot type and pronation after watching him walk back and forth and his standing posture.

and here's Joshua explaining the range of shoes available by Brooks while I was happily testing a few shoes by walking and jogging around the car park area. Even with the wet condition, Joshua let me run around the car park with those new shoes and "soil" the shoes a bit.

I even got to try out the Green Silence shoes because I was curious about it.

It was either Ghost 4 or Glycerin 9 for me. Ghost 4 was nice but somehow Glycerin 9 won me over.

I didn't use it for my run that Saturday morning because it was drizzling with intermittent spell of heavier drops and I didn't want to make my "maiden" run in my new shoes in that et condition just yet! I'll know whether I'm loving this shoes after a few runs.

Anyhoo, for those wanting a personalised service and you are somewhere in Klang Valley; I think Joshua would be more than happy to meet up and bring over some shoes for you to choose. Right, Joshua? ^^

Or you can order it online too and avoid all the hassle of going to a physical shop. Check this link for more information. Of course, I do think this is only good if you already have a specific model you want in mind.

Maybe next time, I'll buy a pair of shoes for Zaini and Raimie from Joshua. The only downside about buying this way is, it's COD and I do actually love to make purchases with my credit cards rather than cash! LOL

I took the shoes out for a run on Sunday morning while Zaini got on his bike.

Zaini met up with a group of cyclists using this foldable bikes called the Putrajaya Urban Riders and decided to tag along with the group while I did my run.

Did an 11K run from Palace of Justice to PICC and back, then up the Seri Wawasan bridge. After stretching, did a bit of bodyweight workouts (well, mainly push ups and dips with a spot of lunges and stuff) I decided to head off for a walk and did 5K walk seeing that Zaini wasn't back yet.

My left foot (the one with a black toe) was fine with the new Glycerin shoes but right foot seems to need a little bit more adjustments. Felt pain in my right foot arch and right knee also protested. ^^! We'll try a few more time and see how it goes with the shoes, eh? Or would I need to get a support insert for my right foot? We'll see how it goes.

The School Holiday And Festival Break

2011-09-10T13:05:00.000+08:00

So Raimie got a week off from school during the Raya break last week. Enjoyed it, he certainly did!

We went back to my hometown to celebrate Raya. He does enjoy his time there, and seeing his aunts, uncles and cousins who also were back for the festivities.

He received a lot of duit raya from generous relatives and neighbours.

His Dad took him to Desa Water Park on Friday while Mommy was at the office. By the tanned face he and his Dad sported that day, it looks like they really had a blast there.

He even gets to watch a movie. It was either Smurf or Cars 2 but Mommy vetoed for Cars 2. Mommy just cannot stand Smurfs. LOL

Ate fast food three times in the Raya week. Pizza on Monday, MarryBrown on Wednesday and KFC on Friday. Talk about indulgence!

And on Saturday, he got to enjoy dinner at TGIF.

How was your Raya vacation? I bet it was good (and maybe quite fattening too)! I managed to somehow gained back the kgs I lost during the fasting month in just two days of Raya. All that bingeing on Raya goodies. Not running much after Raya sure isn;t helping with getting the weight off either. @.@

I hope the haze will clear soon. As it is, I'm getting runny nose and itchy throat because of the weather. :(

Dinner At Friday's On A Saturday

2011-09-08T13:05:00.002+08:00

We went to Alamanda last Saturday and decided to have a one day earlier anniversary dinner at Friday's. A more intimate celebration will be later, together with both our birthday on Sep 21 & 23rd. ^^

A quiet Friday's when we got there for dinner. Must be because everyone are still enjoying their Raya feast and not eating out much yet.

Raimie clowning around while waiting for his food to arrive. There was Spongebob shown on the TV monitors so he got pre-occupied watching it for a while.

Good thing the food arrive not too long after our order made because otherwise, Raimie would certainly gotten restless!

and he got busy eating once it arrived. Spaghetti marinara (the free kid's meal) for him. I do think Tony Roma's free kids meal is a better deal than Friday's. Don't you think so too?

Mommy ordered Friday's Three for All for appetizer to share with Daddy and Raimie. Mommy "chop" the celery sticks and ate most of the fried mozzarella too. Daddy and Raimie scoffed down the buffalo wings. Well, Daddy did anyway.

forgetting how big a portion food here can be, Mommy ordered Chicken and Shrimp Diablo too. Big, juicy shrimps but Mommy didn't care much about the chicken strips in there.

Daddy had Tennessee Burger and even Daddy had problem finishing his burger because he had to eat most of the chicken wings served on the Three-for-all platter.

A nice dinner and we got a bit of shopping done afterwards. Well, Mommy did. She bought yet another running vest to add to her collection of running attire.

Take A Spin, Repeat Cycle And Rinse

2011-09-06T13:05:00.003+08:00

I take a spin around my neighbourhood by running most days. Some days I felt good and can go on and on if not for the time constraint and the fact that there are people who are waiting for me at home. Other days, I had to drag myself and start off thinking I'd probably do a short run and yet, I always end up doing more than I think I could. I like to sweat. Crazy? Maybe. ;)

There's this tiny hill beside my apartment that is a favourite for people to jog/walk up. It is steep and can be a challenge, especially for someone like me; and halfway up my Nike+ Sportband will always fail to register the distance. When I go up, I would feel like I'm so gonna be sooooo flat, then I ran down and feel like I can do another round. This will be repeated along with my usual runs. I would start to think I can't do anymore, then I recover sufficiently and I repeat the process again and again. Though of course, with a wonky knee like mine, I only go up the hill once a week now.

"Gosh! Your toe is ugly!" That's what Zaini remarked to me a few weeks ago upon noticing my black toe. I need to buy a new shoes, I know. But the stress I had buying the current pair I have put me off shoes shopping for the time being. Zaini isn't keen to drive me around town looking for that pair either. I wanted to check out the Running Lab at Tropicana Mall but as Zaini said, there is no guarantee I will come away with a purchase there, after all the trouble of going!

But if I do eventually make an effort to buy a new pair, I'll have a hard time choosing a model. Which brand? Which model? I have no idea. Brooks provides home service and shoe consultancy and can come over to any place I choose. Maybe I should just try their service and avoid all the hassle of going to a physical shop?

Anyway, back to this running fever I currently contracted - after all that hard work and sweat; I do sweat buckets; it is just so nice to have a nice, really cold shower to rinse the fatigue away. A cold shower is just the thing to make me feel cool throughout the day and a cold shower at night makes me sleep well too. ^^

The end of August marks my 5th month I put on my running shoes regularly and doing my running away from treadmills and making an effort to go further and faster each week. From being happy to just be able to accomplish a mere 3K without fainting, I now almost made it to 15K in one go! Yeay me!

Found You 찾았다

2011-09-04T12:51:00.005+08:00

Honestly, at first I didn’t know,

though it was an accidental encounter

Till now,

I’ve learned more about sorrow than happiness

Though I was full of tears,

I will bring you only laughter

I must have finally found my other half

My heart is racing like this

Found you my love,

The person I’ve been searching for

I want to share a heated embrace with you

Stay still and close your eyes

So I can kiss you on the lips

I love you, it’s you who I love

Found you

The one person I’ll keep by my side

Though I had kept my heart closed,

I’ll give my heart to you

I must have finally found my other half

My heart is racing like this

Found you my love,

The person I’ve been searching for

I want to share a heated embrace with you

Stay still and close your eyes

So I can kiss you on the lips

I love you, it’s you who I love

Found you

The one person I’ll keep by my side

The person who embraced all the painful wounds on my closed heart

I want to love you more and more, for eternity

Found you my love,

The person I’ve been searching for

I want to share a heated embrace with you

Stay still and close your eyes

So I can kiss you on the lips

Stay still and close your eyes

So I can kiss you on the lips

I love you, it’s you who I love

Found you

The one person I’ll keep by my side

Thank you

For coming to my side

credit for translation : Princess.of.tea. corner

Dedicated to my dearest hubby, whose been through thick and thin with me and has been my loyal supporter in all that I endeavour. I'm so lucky to have found him. Chajatta <3 <3 <3

Thank you for being by my side for 12 years. Happy 12th anniversary to us.

Oh gosh! I'm such a sap.

On The First Day of Raya

2011-09-01T13:05:00.002+08:00

On the first day of Raya (Eid); we wake up early, there might be visit to the nearby mosque for "solat Raya", don our new clothes, ask for forgiveness with our family members and visit relatives and neighbours and a visit to the graves of our loved ones on this joyous day.

We didn't do anything special at home this year as we would be going to both our parents home on the first and second day of Raya.

The family photo for this year's Raya. Raimie wanted to wear purple baju Raya so our colour theme this year is purple. ^^

With Zaini's side. Everyone made it this year. :)

What's more fun for children than collecting green packet/"Duit Raya"? Of course, in order to get those "duit raya", they have to "salam" the relatives first! ^^

Raimie's Raya bounty. All "proceeds" will go straight to his savings account. xD

And this is the day that any calorie count went heedless and we enjoy the rendang, ketupat, lemang and all sorts of Raya cookies. It's been non-stop eating for me these past couple of days. I'm scared of going on the scale. I bet I added a few kgs already! @.@

We spent the morning of the first day of Raya with Zaini's family before going off to visit his father's neighbours. Then it was time for us to head back to my hometown in Raub which is just 2 hours away from KL.

The road was as always during the festivals season, refreshingly clear.

It's not too late to wish all Muslims all around the world an Eid Mubarak or Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri. Maaf zahir dan batin.

How was your Raya holiday?

On The Last Day Of Fasting...

2011-08-31T13:05:00.002+08:00

We decided it'll be nice to eat pizza! I guess after the gastronomic selection of Malay food we ate and what was being sold at Pasar Ramadhan; it's nice to just eat fast food sometimes.

That and the fact that we had a pizza voucher that's expiring by end of August. ;)

Pizza and spaghetti. Dunno why, I've been craving for some lately. Need my dose of carbs, I guess.

Selamat hari Raya Aidilfitri! Maaf zahir dan batin.

To all Malaysians, wherever you are, no matter what political ideologies and belief; wishing us Selamat menyambut hari kemerdekaan! Happy 54th Merdeka Day to Malaysia!

Babies

2011-08-28T13:05:00.001+08:00

I got nothing to yak about, so.... I thought I 'll just put up a few photos of my nephew and nieces here to make me smile. *^-^*

I need to prepare a lot of "duit raya" this year, that's for sure!

Don't Cut In Front Of Me!

2011-08-26T13:05:00.006+08:00

Gawd! I don't care if I'm supposed to be serene, forgiving or patient when I'm fasting; cut in front of me when I'm queuing and you'll get told off - loudly, if I might add. I don't care if you have 10 items or just 1 item, queue up properly or get risked getting sarcastic remark from me.

Calm down Lina, calm down...

Good thing the Bangladeshi staff at the weighing counter didn't entertain that queue jumper yesterday while I was waiting to weigh my stock of bananas. And the person in front of me refused to let her cut queue. I can't resist telling her off because she stubbornly stood there with her stuff. Can you imagine she still had the cheek to scold the staff. I mean, the staff was just doing his job and doing it well, I have to say. Most staff just allow queue jumpers to avoid confrontation.

But if they do it with me in the line, I'll have a confrontation with them. I just can't fathom why some people will just meekly stand aside and let these selfish people have their way. Wuss!

And to wannabe queue jumpers, don't ever use "but this is fasting month, I'm fasting" nonsense with me. Hell! I fast too. My 9 y.o. fast too, and he wouldn't dream of doing it.

Balik Kampung Soon?

2011-08-24T13:08:00.004+08:00

Half of the staff in my department will be on leave starting this Friday. Most of them are taking Monday and Friday off to, taking advantage of the three days public holiday starting on Tuesday - Thursday.

I bet there'll be massive jam as people start to "balik kampung" or return to their hometowns for the long holiday.

You guys going "balik kampung"? Or going a trip? Either way, have a safe journey! Don't forget to come back to work after the holiday! LOL

We'll be spending the first day of Raya in KL, celebrating it with Zaini's family first before heading off to my hometown in the afternoon. I sure hope Karak Highway will be clear and we'll have a smooth and jam-free journey.

Isn't It Better If We Eat Together?

2011-08-22T13:06:00.001+08:00

So last Friday, the three of us head off to a nice hotel to enjoy a free "Buka Puasa" buffet. As I mentioned before, I wouldn't dream of paying close to RM100 just to break fast! No. No. No.

Since this is Malaysia and we are multi-ethnic and multi-religion; there are Muslims as well as non-Muslims going to the "Buka Puasa" thingy, everywhere.

Nothing special about that, but I can't help but feel some people are quite insensitive towards their fellow table-mates who are fasting. And I find it totally insensitive when people order alcoholic beverages at these "Buka Puasa" buffets.

I mean, you go to a "Buka Puasa" thing. You know the majority going there are fasting and have to wait till break fast time to eat. There are your fellow colleagues or friends sitting with you at your table who are fasting. Can't you wait just a little bit and enjoy your food together with the rest of us who are fasting instead of stuffing your face in full view of others? I mean, didn't you eat lunch that you are so famished to have the courtesy to wait?

I wouldn't dream of complaining if it's a normal restaurant of a fast-food place where you do eat all day long but at a buffet that has either a "Ramadhan" or "Buka Puasa" promotion?

Am I being too sensitive? Is it too much to ask for, being considerate? Or am I too intolerant?

Maybe I am. The thing is, I have to contend seeing (and smelling) a junior colleague who thinks nothing of enjoying his breakfast and lunch at his desk which is right across my desk too, despite being asked to eat them at the break-room. :(

I Didn't Slow Down This Month

2011-08-20T13:06:00.013+08:00

I'm quite proud of myself. I was apprehensive about keeping up with my workout and my running/jogging this month of Ramadhan but I have to say, I managed to do it without much problem.

4 weeks running analytics from Dailymile

I tried to limit my running to just 25 minutes a day, but after two weeks; I really wanted to cover more distance so that 25 minutes on weekdays somehow stretched to a 50 minutes workout. It is always so nice to be able to sweat it out after a long day.

I wonder how I will fare once the fasting month is over?

I know I'm gonna miss the pre-dawn, pre-sahur runs like what I do now during the Ramadhan month!

A totally sweaty, smelly me; after an hour covering the neighborhood. An hour of sweat then it was time for a McD sahur at 5.00am this morning. *^-^* How much was the calorie of my cheeseburger, again? ;)

I'm Such A Hypocrite!

2011-08-18T13:05:00.003+08:00

I always lamented over the over-priced Ramadhan/buka puasa buffets that restaurants and hotels offer come this fasting month. I don't know about you, but paying more than RM100 to eat? Simply outrageous!

Outrageous if I have to pay for them myself that is.

I guess I'm not above going to that buffet if somebody else is paying for me (and my family). ^^ Thank goodness for corporate sponsors.

Don't Tell Me I Lost Weight

2011-08-16T13:05:00.003+08:00

I don't know about you, but when random people suddenly remarked about how I looked like I lost weight, they won't exactly get a warm reply from me or a smile.

As a matter of fact, I do take offense when somebody/anybody mentioned it to me, especially when that somebody is particularly on the heavy side themselves.

Here I was minding my own business going to the apartment's gym when suddenly a guy that was doing some weights remarked that I lost a lot of weight. I was like, Hello! Was I that fat to begin with?

I told Zaini about it and he remarked "Were you fat?" Exactly!

Tell me I look fitter or I'm stronger or I run faster/longer but please, do not ever tell me I lost weight. I just don't appreciate it. So there!

More Blooms

2011-08-14T13:08:00.005+08:00

More blooms to perk up the weekend. How's it going so far? Hope you are having a blast, since tomorrow is already Monday!

It's been raining in the evening the past few days. I generally won't complain, but the jam we have to experience after work rushing home each day after/during a heavy rain.

And I do wish it would stop raining when I reach home so that I can do my daily runs. I can't run in the rain and I can't hit the treadmill either, now that my treadmill decided to croak on me. Huhuhu

p.s this time, all flowers photos were taken in Malaysia. *^-^*

Flowers, They Cheer Up The Day

2011-08-12T13:05:00.006+08:00

When looking at lovely blooms, they perk you up and at the same time calm you down. Don't you think so? They can be wild and scraggly, but flowers are always nice to see.

What's your favourite blooms?

Pressed For Time, But I'll Do It!

2011-08-10T13:05:00.005+08:00

A mere 25 minutes. That’s all the time I have for jogging on weekdays during this fasting month.

I initially thought of running in the morning, after I finished cooking in the morning and before eating my “sahur”. I did wake up at 4.00am a couple of times to do just that. But then, it is much more eerily quiet at 4.45am than at 10.00pm. There are still cars coming in and out and people returning home even at 11.00pm but not many are up and about at 4.00am!

My friends asked me why I still insist on running during the fasting month. Because... knowing me, if I stop for a month; it’ll be soooooo hard for me to start again once fasting month is over. Heck! There is a chance I won’t start again. I sure don’t want that to happen. o.O Also, I get antsy when I don’t put on my running shoes. All that excess energy. ^^!

I am such a slow poke when it comes to running so I am happy if by the end of this month I can do 4K in 25 minutes. Anyway, 25 minutes of running, 4 times a week is better than nothing. Right? Maybe someday in the not so distant future, I can improve on my pace, up my stamina and finish 5K in that amount of time without fainting. Someday. *^^* I like having goals, but I am realistic in setting them too. ;p

I did however woke up really early on weekends and do morning rounds. I was really touched that Zaini was willing to drive me all the way to Putrajaya and waited for me for an hour to finish my run so early in the morning last Saturday. I feel safer running alone in Putrajaya than around my own neighborhood. And for my husband - what he was willing to do for me, even though he is not interested to join me - if that's not love, I don't know what is. *^-^*

Craving For Thai Food

2011-08-08T13:05:00.003+08:00

Reading about food while blog-hopping sure isn't good. I don't know whose blog I read but there was a post about his/her excursion for some Thai food and I had been craving for some mango salad ever since!

Zaini was nice enough to agree on treating us for some Thai food and I chose Flying Chillies for our "buka puasa" last Friday. Mango salad, here I come! Heh heh

Crispy catfish with green mango salad. Yummy. Not the best that I've had, but it managed to satiate my craving. Actually, I think the one at Chicken Rice shop is better (and cheaper). ;p

Special fire pot. Even the normal spicy option, it was really spicy! Hot! Hot! Hot! But totally addictive.

Green curry chicken that I ordered because I thought Raimie can tolerate its spiciness. Turned out he couldn't. He complained it was too spicy! My son and his "non-malay" tastebud. That boy sure cannot "tahan" spicy food.

Vege dish - asparagus with shrimp.

Just four dishes with rice, and we were totally stuffed! Not exactly cheap, with RM89 (after 15% discount) but not too expensive either. Service was good and fast but I was a tad annoyed that when paying, I had to remind the staff to refund back my RM50 deposit I made when reserving our table and was made to wait for it. Hello! Cannot lah customers have to remind you peeps about the money you took earlier, right? You should return the deposit without us asking for it. If customers forgot, then how? Easy RM50 profit, owh!

OK, now that I got Thai food out of my system, what food will crave next? ^^

I'm proud to say that Raimie had no problem fasting this year. So, maybe this Friday we should take him somewhere he want s to eat as a treat. I hope he doesn't ask for KFC! o.O

After 12 Long Years....

2011-08-06T13:05:00.003+08:00

After 12 years of marriage, this purchase was the first I ever made for a rice cooker. You see, the old rice cooker I used all these years was a wedding gift.

With the Ramadhan month here and I wasn't looking forward to waking up really, really early in the morning to cook; a rice cooker with a timer seems to be a much needed item. My old rice cooker was a simple on/off /keep warm type of rice cooker. *^^*

If it's just me, I would have just eat a banana, some kurma (dates) and drink water for my sahur during this Ramadhan month and last till sundown for break fast but Raimie is starting to fast this year. He tried last year but didn't manage to complete it. He wants to try this year. He needs to, he is a big boy, after all!

This week, it's all porridge for us with the new rice cooker! It's nice to wake up at 5.00am and see my porridge all done. :)

My old rice cooker? Worry not. I'm not the type to forget faithful helper. It's still here in the kitchen. ^^

Local Fruit Fest

2011-08-04T13:05:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday,the day before fasting month started, we went to Taman Warisan Pertanian in Putrajaya to check out local fruit on sale at the "Jom Makan Buah" fest held there annually. We would have missed the fest because there was virtually no promotion about it outside of Putrajaya if not for my Sis. Glad I read about her commenting it on FB on Friday. ^^

Before eating all those yummy local fruits, it was time for lunch! Sup Tulang (bone soup?) and Nasi Ayam (chicken rice) for us. Raimie was looking mighty grumpy because he was annoyed with me forever taking photos of everything! ^^! Mommy, once in a while, stop taking photos and eat like normal people lah! Wakaka

Then, time to buy some fruits! Of course durians stall is a must! There was a buffet option for all you-can-eat durian klon at RM18 for adults and RM10 for children. We opted to buy a few of them instead of binging on durians that day.

More local fruits on sale - cempedak, rambutan, mata kucing, langsat, manggis, jambu madu....

Our next purchase - some buah Salak (snake fruit) from Kelantan. This is one of our favourite fruit.

and then it was time to eat some durians..... we bought a "kampung" durian from Pahang and a durian klon. Just two durians shared between the three of us and I was still burping durian 8 hours later. Buuuurrrrpppppp....

A Weekend Rendesvous

2011-08-02T13:05:00.023+08:00

On a whim, Zaini and I decided to spend a night at a hotel the weekend before the fasting month starts. (For the uninitiated, Ramadhan which is the fasting month for Muslims all around the world started on Aug 1 this year).

The Hotel wasn't able to accommodate our request for an early check-in at 12pm... oh well.... and my request to change room would have meant getting a normal room rather than the upgrade they provided us...Why did I ask for a change in room? Because I saw that initially we were provided with a room on the upper floor. I asked the reason for the change and was told it was because the room on the upper floor was a smoking floor. I don't mind a smoking room, actually. :(

but all was well with this fruit basket. Yahaha!!!! I am such a sucker for fruit baskets. Sure was nice to get them instead of a few pieces of fruits on a plate. Right? And being recognised by sight at the reception counter is always such an ego booster.

The view from the balcony wasn't that great this time, what with the possibility of "neighbours" being able to see us just like we can see them, if we were not careful.

We called room service, like we always did when we checked-in, and had a nice dinner of Caesar salad and BBQ burger. Nothing fancy but it is always nice to have a quiet dinner in the comfort of our room. ^^

We had a nice relaxing time by the pool and of course a nice soak in the bath tub. All was well until nighttime...

Note to self - check with the hotel first when booking whether there are any wedding party, delegation or a big group checking in on the same day. The MIC delegation seemed to have booked half the hotel rooms, and almost the whole of 6th floor, the floor we were on. The din these delegation made the whole night - ugh! We switched the TV on the whole night just to drown their voices. Imagine opening the door to check out the commotion outside my room and seeing men clad only in towels standing in the corridor chatting. Not a good sight to see. @.@

I told the guys off, after all - if they want to chat (naked for all I care) do it in front of their room! Then I complained to the duty manager. The noise did lessen a bit afterwards but just for a while. By this time I took it that it was pretty much useless to complain since I am just one guest against a whole entourage of MIC members staying there. The hotel can afford to lose my measly business but definitely not the prospect of a business from a big political party, right? I'm not blaming the hotel, no. It makes business sense to accommodate those noisy guests more, rather than one individual.

Noisy guests at night and early in the morning aside, it was nice to be able to spend a night there sleeping on a nice big bed with fluffy sheets and soft, down pillow. I just hope that when we go there for our birthdays in September, there won't any big, noisy group staying there. I want a nice quiet stay with my husband! If I want noise, I might just as well stay at home and listen my son's chatter all night long. It'll be much much more entertaining.

Stocking Up!

2011-07-31T13:05:00.002+08:00

At the rate we are eating kimchi, you might have thought we are Korean! LOL

Anyway, this particular brand that I used for cooking is getting more expensive these days so whenever we found an outlet that sell it at a cheaper price, we stock up on them. Got these tubs for just RM27.90. As a comparison, it is sold at Jusco, Cold Storage and Village Grocer for RM38.90! @.@

I think one day I might just have to make my own kimchi!

I Like Them Big

2011-07-29T13:05:00.002+08:00

Dole banana, Cavendish banana and Mas banana (pisang mas). Which would be your pick? Pisang mas is too small for me. I'd need a lot of them to be satisfied. Cavendish banana is OK but my favourite is the Dole banana. They are much more expensive than other bananas such as Berangan, Montel or the Phillipine's premium banana but I buy them regardless.

Now, when I was talking about my bananas preferences to my colleagues, why are they snickering? Heh heh

Your Ideal Breakfast

2011-07-27T13:05:00.005+08:00

What's your ideal breakfast?

A bowl of cereal and some juice?

Or something heavier but healthy?

Or something totally sinful and calorie laden like these?

For me, I can't last long with eating just cereal for breakfast (and I can't take milk so early in the morning either). I need something more substantial but at the moment I just stick with a banana or two and a boiled egg for breakfast, washed down with a cup of Neslo and a cup of plain warm water.

One Week Left!

2011-07-25T13:05:00.031+08:00

Just one week for the Ramadhan month to arrive! Ramadhan - a time to reflect and build spiritual strength. The time for us to renew our commitment and re-establish our devotion to Allah.

On a totally superficial point of view - the fasting month can also mean binging in on food whether at hotels' buffet or at the pasar ramadhan. No, I don't lose much weight during fasting month. You?

It's not that I make a point to eat more for buka puasa during the fasting month, how often do I get to eat a lot of local treats otherwise? Pasar ramadhan totally rocks! And come Ramadhan, I can just let my kitchen stove take a rest for a month if not for the fact that I have to cook for our sahur! ^^

Good luck to me on waking up before 5am! o.O

Saturday's Here!

2011-07-23T13:10:00.005+08:00

So how is your weekend so far? ^^ Hope it's going great!

This is the last weekend (second last actually if puasa starts on Monday) before the Ramadhan month and will be the last time that I can jog in the morning. I sure can't jog in the morning during the fasting month because how would I keep myself hydrated when I'm fasting? But I won't stop, I just have to run at night instead of mornings for a month.

Remember that I bought a Nike+ Sportband earlier? Having it while doing my rounds, I noticed I am running more lately. Not that much, but I "forced" myself to do at least 5K on weekdays and this morning, 10K. Just a bit of grouch about the sportband though. It didn't register the distance I made while going up a steep hill and that's like 1km undetected. I tried to press my heel harder but I still cannot get a reading. Oh well...

My running distance for 4 runs I did this week. I should round up and make it to 40K total tomorrow, eh? ^^

Busy day today anyway. After all my huffing and puffing, it's time to make breakfast for the two famished boys in the house. Then, another round of sweating - doing house cleaning.

We always do a thorough clean-up of the house every two months (I'm lazy, I know. Should've done it more often but well... we are not messy people) because it's pest control time. We like to make sure the house is really clean before it got sprayed with chemicals to keep away those nasty bugs. I sure am not holistic in my approach towards bugs! I just want them annihilated!

Pest control guy busy at work

And then, a bit of revision! It's going to be just 4 more months before our trip to Japan, so I need to brush up on my Japanese again. Mommy has to study too, just like Son these days.

Now, if you excuse me. Gotta do some cooking. Korean again today. :)