Panda Eyes...

Hi there,

I've been having trouble sleeping for the past few weeks and I'm not sure why. Every night I would lie awake until 2am or 3am and fall asleep and then I have to get up for work by 6am. Argh!


I feel so tired and lethargic. I can't focus at work and my vision gets blurry. It's so frustrating to feel unbelievably tired yet cannot sleep. I need help.


I have to admit that there are two things that is contributing to this but I can't talk about it here. No, actually I can talk about one of the factors, just not yet.. Huhu...


Worst of all due to all this insomnia, I have developed spectacular Panda Eyes. No, I'm not going to post pics of them here. Thank God for concealers!

This is how I look like slumped over the COPS counter...

I joke, I joke.. Hehe..

TTFN.

Good night....

I mean, good morning...

D*mn...

A Lesson On Indulgence..

Hi y'all...


As I had expected me and boo went to Pizza Hut to try out the 6 Cheese Extreme Pizza (is that the exact name or did I just said it wrong?) and it was sinfully delish! I picked out the topping (which I forgot the name of) and we took the set for two.. Very, very filling. We were supposed to eat 3 slices per person but even after forcing myself, I couldn’t take the 3rd slice so I bagged it and boo bought it home.

Uwaaaa.... Sedap oh...

 

As for my Starbucks Hot Hazel Chocolate, I did get it but I kind of regretted it. Here’s why:


I’m sure you all know that I’m trying my best to change my lifestyle for the better and that includes trying to establish better eating habits. Three people inspire me when it comes to weight loss and among them is fellow blogger Aidalina of aidathepinkgoddess.blogspot.com. She lost 20KGs okay.


So recently she said in her blog that she drinks her Starbucks Iced Hazel Chocolate drink with low fat milk, less sweet, no whipped cream and less ice with generous sprinkles of cinnamon powder. Since I had been dreaming of Starbucks Hot Hazel Chocolate drink I thought that I would give her specifications a try. Unfortunately it didn’t taste anything at all like the Hazel Hot Chocolate that I love. The difference is like day and night.

The HHC that did not satisfy.. Huhu..

Before I go any further, I am on no account putting any blame on Aida for my dissatisfaction over my Hot Chocolate drink yesterday. Nobody asked me to follow her way of drinking it, I did it voluntarily. So here is what I learned from the experience:


If it’s a craving like Aida’s where she simply must drink it everyday, then one should make the changes that she did because to drink the original Hazel Hot Chocolate, even a tall one, would make you gain weight significantly and very quickly too.


On the other hand if it’s an indulgence, meaning it’s a one off thing or something that you would do once a forth night or so, it’s better to go all out and get the works that won’t compromise on the taste. For example in my case, I should have ordered the original Hazel Hot Chocolate but without the whipped cream and in size Tall which is the smallest size.

By doing that, I still get the full bodied flavor of the drink with less calories and fat. If you compromise on the taste, you’d only end up dissatisfied and resentful because not only do you only have it once in a while, you don’t get to really enjoy it. Worse still you might throw in the towel and ditch your attempts to lead a healthier lifestyle.


That's all for now. Cheers!

October Pay Day..

Hi all,
Today is Pay Day for government servants so today is the day that ATMs are overworked to death and deposit machines get to ‘eat’ all day long. Taking money out of an ATM just to put it into the deposit machine next to it to pay one’s bills, that’s the life of a working person... Aside from paying bills though, pay day is also a day to indulge a bit.


Parents would take their kiddies to fast food outlets for a treat, women would buy makeup and clothes for themselves and men would go to car accessory shops to add on something to their rides. For me and my boo, we would normally go eat at fast food restaurants or somewhere like Upperstar or Tanjung Aru Beach on pay day.


Yesterday kami sudah nampak dalam newspaper that there is a new Pizza at Pizza Hut that has 6 types of cheese in it. With my boo being a cheese lover, I foresee that maybe today there is a big chance that we might go to Pizza Hut for dinner. Hehehe.. I myself have been waiting to have Starbuck’s Hazelnut Hot Choc drink. Waduh, habis diet out the window. Kahkahkah…


Because of that, today I’m attempting to save my calorie count for those two sinful things. Sengaja sy jalan jauh-jauh pigi Milimewa today at lunch to get some exercise. My usual lunch of soto ayam and a slice of honeydew got replaced with Jacob’s low Salt High Fiber crackers and Strawberry yogurt. Kalo tidak pun jadi pigi makan pizza at least I’ve eaten less calories than usual today kan.. Hehehe..


So what's YOUR indulgence? Whatever it is you choose to do with you pay packet, I hope you have a great time enjoying the fruits of your hard labor. Gee, I can’t believe that I’ve been a working woman for almost 2 years already. Time does fly doesn’t it?

My RM12 Saviour...

Hello…
What kind of shoes are you into? Do you like flats, sneakers or heels? I love comfort and convenience and because of that, I always choose flats over heels. With that being said it doesn’t mean that I don’t own a pair of heels. I do.. Several actually. This year it occumulated significantly and while I do wear them occasionally, I don’t use them for sight seeing and shopping.

Two days ago I’ve made plans in KK and was to meet my boo after work at his working place there which was quite a distance from the Wawasan Plaza bus stop. For some reason I totally forgot that on that morning as I was getting ready for work and put on a pair of sandal with heels.

Pretty but Evil sandals...

The heel were not high at all but it’s small (kurus) which made walking slightly challenging and this particular pair always, always give me blisters no matter how many times I’ve worn them. The only reason why I haven’t thrown them in the bin is because they’re cute and quite harmless to my feet as long as I only use them to walk short distances like just in the office.

As it turns out I totally didn’t have time to change my sandals after work and went directly to KK after work via bus. It’ was only during my walk to the Tuaran bus terminal did I realize the foolhardiness in my choice of footwear on that particular day. My feet were already starting to hurt.

When I arrived in KK and started to walk the distance to my boo’s office.. Mula2 okay lagi tau, sekali half way mula kengkang sudah sy berjalan. Urang pun tengo sy lain-lain ni sebab sy jalan cepat betul tapi memang nampak saya nda selesa ni. By the time I arrived at my destination trus sy pi kedai kasut yang dekat Bodyshop. Selalu sy nampak kasut2 belas-belas ringgit jak.

My RM12 saviour

Thank goodness I found a decent pair of flat sandals that I could change into. My feet were klling me! Literally.. Blisters all over sudah ni. The best part is the sandals only costs RM12.. I must say I could have used that money for something else if only I hadn't worn those heeled sandals. I certainly didn't need another pair of sandals. Grr... I'm soooo keeping a decent pair of flip flops handy in my handbag whenever I wear heels from now on just in case this happens again... Oh well...

Violence, Violence Everywhere

I’ve always been the type of person who’s a bit (okay, very) ignorant about current affairs. I admit that I am guilty of watching something (anything really) than the news and I don’t read newspapers despite being a bookworm. So all in all, I was pretty much ignorant about what goes on in and out of the country and I was content being blissfully unaware.

It was only recently that, for some reason I could not phantom, I’ve started to read the paper and I’m simply horrified at the violence that’s happening in the country. It comes in so many forms; from abduct-rape-murder combos, beating people up for insignificant reasons, etc.

Today I read a story on the front page of Metro about an 18 year old girl who experience bouts of hysteria because she didn’t fulfill her end of a deal with evil spirit(s). She was practicing black magic to make a man her ‘puppet’ and have him buy her branded things. This disturbs me on so many levels because it unites modern evil (materialism and thirst for branded goods) and ancient evil (black magic).

Nau’dzubillah.. Its one thing to use your beauty or charm to bag a sugar daddy who can grant every one of your materialistic wishes but this just puts it on a whole new level. The poor girl didn’t sell her body, she practically sold her soul. I’m trying so hard not to judge. I know just how easy it is to succumb to the call of the materialistic world we live in today. Being 18 and all, I guess she’s too young to put things in perspective. I really hope she gets well soon.

Then there’s a 44 year old man who was beaten by two men in their 30’s just because the former gave them a reprimanding stare for being noisy as they were working. The victim managed to escape after being beaten for half an hour and ran for cover into his home. Not being able to get to him, the two burned the victim’s motorcycle. I’m sure if the victim didn’t manage to escape, he may be dead by now. Just for a reprimanding glare.. Can you imagine that?

Then again there are so-called ‘avenging angels’ who asked (read: used) primary students between the age of 10 to 12 from a SAR to take part in an illegal demonstration against the month-long Fun Fair that was going to visit (or is it already visiting?) the neighboring village.

C’mon la people, got brain or not? If you don’t agree with the Fun Fair thingy for whatever reason, then write a letter or make a petition to the Board that’s responsible for the approval of said Fun Fair. Why do an illegal demonstration involving kids? Is that what you want to teach your kids to do each time they want something?
 
I keep asking myself why is this happening and where is all this violence coming from? Is it because we have disconnected spiritually from God that we don’t know which is Jihad and which is just plain extreme?

Is it because we are placing way too much importance on material things until we no longer care who we hurt, even if it’s ourselves, to acquire it ? Is it because we are so used to everything being instant and convenient that we don’t know how to be patient anymore? Or is it a simple case of too much violence on tv, video games and the Internet?

Whenever I see a baby or a small child I wonder how is he or she going to survive in the world we’re living in. During my time as a teen all we had to worry about were surviving peer pressure, bullying and the embarrassment of being the first or the last one to hit puberty and everything that comes with it (Remember the zits?).

Now on top of all that, today’s teens have to face and handle widely (and I mean widely) available porn (hence the increasing pressure to have sex resulting in unwanted pregnancy and baby dumping), online bullying and blackmail and the ever increasing violence of all shapes and sizes in the cyber world and the real world. Oh, and did I mention that the environment is terribly polluted and resources are getting more and more limited by the day?

Oh God, I think I just made myself depressed.



 
 

Working Getaway...

Hello all....

I was selected to go for a course again last week. Actually, I had to fill in for someone. The course this time was relevant to my post but barely so to my scope of work. I jumped at the opportunity anyway because it was held at Beverly Hotel in KK. I get to stay at a 4 star hotel for free! Hahaha…

As it turns out my roommate (who is a woman this time, thank GOD!) couldn’t stay with me at the hotel for personal reasons so it was just me, myself and I. In a way I was ecstatic to have more privacy but was also a bit paranoid in terms of my personal safety. I guess that’s what I get from watching too much Criminal Minds, CSIs and Bones.

My room..

I wanted to make the course my ‘working getaway’ so the first thing I did was to explore the facilities there. I went to see the pool, which is quite small and nowhere near how big it looks in the website. It does have a sundeck though where you can lounge and enjoy the view of the BSN building and grossly littered water way. 

 

Hehehe...

I also peeked into the gym which was substantial in size and looked to be well-equipped. I was told by the reception staff that there was a spa on the same floor as the pool and the gym but for the life of me I couldn’t find it. Turns out said ‘spa’ was the sauna room which is called the Bamboo Room. It’s free for residential guest and for non-residents a fee of RM20 will be charged.

The pool...

 

The sundeck..

 

The view..

 

I also saw through the posters in the lobby that there were singing performances by a trio of singers. I imagined myself sitting at the lobby after night class, listening to the singers, ordering a mocktail and just enjoying the atmosphere. Mau order room service lagi kunu for the in-house special chocolate cake. Chewah! Betul, macam tourist la bah kunu ni…

The first night we had a briefing which was not so brief after all. We finished at 10pm and I went up to my room to change and play tourist at the lobby.. However, when I arrived at my room, a wave of tiredness and sleepiness (read:laziness) came over me.

I didn’t want to touch up on my makeup and I didn’t want to change into too many clothes because that would be a ton of laundry for me to do when I get back home so I decided to just call it a night and curled into my comforter and slept.

 My doomed-to-be-cold-in-5-minutes-bath

The next morning I woke up early, at 5.47am to be exact and ran the bath to soak myself in. Unfortunately, there was only shower gel so I couldn’t soak in luxurious bubbles and the heater was not working properly so instead of a warm bath I had to settle for a tepid one which quickly became cold from the morning air.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were buffet style and as usual we were also provided with morning and afternoon tea. Can you imagine the impact it has on my waistline? Thank God this course only lasted for 3 days and 2 nights. If it had lasted for a week…*shudder*

Anyways, something happened that made me unable to complete the 2^nd half of morning classes and all thoughts of going to the gym and the sauna flew out the window right then and there. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and die. Fortunately I felt better enough to attend afternoon class when I got the good news that night class was pushed up to the evening so we were free to do what we wanted that night. Yippee!

My boo picked me up that night and took me to a candle-lit dinner at Tg Aru Beach. The atmosphere was lovely and we had a beautiful view of the beach. The service was okay, teeny tiny bit slow but it was okay by us because we were chatting away anyway. 

 Hihi.. Thank you boo...

Candle-lit dinner with beach view... Bliss...

The scene..

Grainy pic... Hahaha..

After dinner I went back to the hotel and made good use of the wifi, which was by the way only available at the lobby and not the whole hotel as it claims in the hotel’s brochure and website. It’s a temporary measure thought because they were doing some upgrading job on the wifi service. Then again, the notice they gave was since September 2010. Lama juga mau upgrade kan.. Oh well…

Since I was surfing at the lobby I was able to enjoy the singing trio from the Tapai Lounge. However, I do feel kind of bad for them because the lounge itself was empty. They were singing to empty tables and chairs. It’s not as if they sang badly. On the contrary they were quite good. Kesian kan? I’d feel really down if I was in that situation. Maybe they’re used to it.

As for my plans to make those three days a working getaway, I must say things didn’t really go according to plan. I didn’t get to immerse myself in a warm bath full of silky bubbles, laze on the sun deck with a good book. Nor did I order the chocolate cake via room service or enjoyed the taste of a Pink Panther mocktail. 

 During class.. Tekun kunu suma...

 

Thing is, I don’t really mind. I got to meet new people and learned some things that I never knew before (which would be totally lost on me in a few days due to lack of daily use and practice). I also got to have dinner at the beach with my boo and I’m content with that. There’s always a next time and who knows, it might be at a 5 star hotel. Woohoo! One can always hope… *fingers crossed*

Cheers!

Dancing Shoes..

Hi Y'all...
Recently I have been thinking of putting on my dancing shoes again. It's been so long since I've danced and I really miss it. Badan pun super keras sudah ni..

I started dancing in kindergarten. Although my participation in performance and competitions were far between, there was a time when dancing was my life. I miss listening to the music and feeling it flow through my body, making me want to move to the beat.

The reason why I want to start dancing again is because aside from missing it, when I look at my list of interest nowadays in my profiles I don't see a single thing that involves me getting myself off my butt and moving. Last time dancing used to be at the top of the list.

Another thing is because I want my body to be supple and coordinated again. Losing a few KGs wouldn't hurt either. Hehehe.. I'm not an absolute fan of exercise. I have my moments but I get bored easily so at least dancing will make things fun.

I only know how to do cultural dancing though... So this time around when I start dancing again, I want to learn something new, something that I've never tried before, something out of character... Hip hop maybe? Or stomping?

Does anyone know a dance studio or something in KK that teaches this dances? If you do, do inform me. So far I think maybe only the gym at 1Borneo has dance classes but that would maybe cost a bomb...

By the way, this is my inspiration... Shamimi from One Nation Emcee

She was in the same campus as I was.. I just had to mention that.. Hehehe... I've always known that she can sing but I had no idea she could dance! Sheesh! She's dynamite. love her performances.. Who knows, I might be able to dance like that one day.. :)

Eat, Pray, Love... My Fave Movie Ever...

Hi everyone..

I had wanted to read this book ever since I saw Elizabeth Gilbert, the author, was on the Oprah Show. Known as Liz, she said that this book was about her journey in finding herself, finding God and inner peace. When I heard that her book was to be made into a movie I was quite excited but I wanted to read the book first before watching the movie because let's face it, whenever a book is made into a movie it almost always doesn't do the book any justice. I didn’t manage to but so far I have no regrets of watching the movie first in this case.

The book...

Anyway…

As I had mentioned above, this book is about Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey and the things she learned along the way. You see, on the outside she seems to have it all. She has a career, a marriage, a house and a car, basically everything that people would say a woman should have to be complete. However, Liz doesn’t feel complete on the inside. She doesn’t want to be in her marriage any longer, she’s not happy in her own home, etc.

This made her feel guilty because she knows that there are so many women out there who would love to have the life she had. The guilt was such that one day she couldn’t stand it anymore that she started to pray for the first time in her life. It was only after that that she was able to have the strength and asked for a divorce. 

Elizabeth Gilbert

She decided to take a year off and planned to travel starting at Italy to learn the Italian language, followed by going to India to learn meditation at an ashram and ending the journey in Bali to see a medicine man named Ketut whom she had met a few months before her divorce (her ever meeting Ketut before her divorce is based on the movie, I’m not sure if that really happened).

‘Eat’ represented her travels in Italy where she ate so much that she gained a lot of weight (If I’m not mistaken she gained 30 pounds), ‘Pray’ represented her learning meditation in India and ‘Love’ represented her finding love in Bali.

I cried so many times during the movie, not because it was a soppy love story or because someone died. I cried because I can really feel Liz’s struggle in trying to find her way, trying to find peace, trying to run away from the guilt that she felt. All that she experienced was so raw and really relatable.

For example, during her time in India she expected to be able to learn meditating right off the bat and that by doing so she would be able to automatically feel peace. Her expectations of a quick fix were normal, like what any normal person trying to get away from emotional burden would have. But it didn’t turn out to be that easy, and she had to work out her personal issues.

Not only did she have to fight her personal demons along the way, she also had to face the views of women from various societies on women and marriage. The elder women she met during her journey (her Italian tutor’s mother and Ketut’s assistant) was incredulous over the fact that she was divorced and couldn’t really comprehend her lack of desire to be married. Her young Indian friend that she met at the ashram had to go through an arranged marriage even though she was reluctant and had big dreams because society expects her to get married at her age.

During her time at the ashram she met her soul mate, a man named Richard. Now, this is interesting because whenever we hear the word ‘soul mate’ we automatically think that it is someone that we are romantically involved with right? But instead, Liz used the word soul mate to describe Richard not because he was the love of her life but because he is a friend whom she connected with on so many levels. He was quite mean to her at first though, and called her ‘Groceries’ because she ate so much. Hehe...

The movie also made me laugh till my sides hurt, especially during the time when she was in Italy. One of my favorite scenes were her initial conversation with her Italian landlady about bathwater and the landlady’s theory on what American women want when they’re in Italy which are spaghetti and sausage (believe me, it’s a sausage of a different kind *wink*).

Another favorite of mine is when an Italian barber told her that she won’t be able to learn Italian if she just learnt the words, she needs to learn the gestures as well. So they went to the streets and mimicked the various gestures that Italian people make and it went in slow motion with explainations on what they meant.

The medicine man in Bali, Ketut, was also funny. His favorite saying was “See you later Alligator”. Liz met her husband-to-be in Bali. They met when he almost ran her over with his truck. Luckily, she only ended in a ditch and not under his truck. She was wary of him at first even when he was very nice to her (well, he did almost ran her over right..) but eventually they became friends and their friendship evolved to become a wonderful relationship. She almost broke up with him though because she felt that with him she couldn’t achieve balance in her life, something that had taken her so long to achieve.

Thankfully, Ketut told her something that goes like this: when something good makes our life unbalanced, it is then that our life is balanced… Or something like that.. God I think I totally botched that one up.. Hahaha… Anyway, that’s what got Liz back together with her guy.

So there you have it, why I’m so in love with the movie Eat, Pray, Love. I’m almost afraid to read the book now. I’m afraid that I would be disappointed if it doesn’t live up to the movie and if it was the other way around I’m afraid that I would be crying buckets of tears throughout the book.

All in all it’s a very inspirational story that relates to everyone, especially women, regardless of whether you’re single, married, working, housewife, young or old. I congratulate the director of this movie and above all, Julia Roberts for playing the character so well. 

Julia Roberts as Liz in the movie...

I’ve never really watched her movies and I’ve never had an opinion on her acting before but after seeing her in this movie, I’m a fan. Maybe one day I’ll watch her playing Erin Brocavitch. Gee, come to think of it she has acted in two movies that are based on true story.. She’s THAT good. Julia, I love you! Hehehe..

That’s all for now friends. I hope you guys will go out and watch the movie. It’s really worth the money. Cheers!

The Yogitree Experience..

I’ve mentioned in my earlier post about my trip to KL that my sister and I went to Mid Valley and decided to dine at the Yogitree Restaurant at The Gardens. The foods were all made from organic produce and I must say that the prices were quite high.

We decided to try it out anyway because the portions of the dishes in the menu looked big. We ordered a steak sandwich because it looked so gooooood with layers upon layers of juicy slices of beef. It costs RM27. Afraid that we might not be able to finish it if we ordered two, we chose to share it and also ordered a molten chocolate cake and green tea to go with it.

After about a 10 – 15 minute wait our sandwich arrived and our jaws dropped, not out of awe but because of shock. Look, we are rational young women okay. We don’t expect the sandwich to be exactly a 100% like it does in the picture. I know when foods are served it can look slightly different but in this case it was like a different sandwich altogether.

 It looked nothing, absolutely NOTHING like the picture in the menu. There was only one layer of beef and tons of watercress (which my sister and I are not into). It looked like they only gave us 1/3 of the sandwich. It was simply too outrageous especially at the cost of RM27.  

Although we were feeling cheated and short-changed, we tried to calm down and assumed that maybe this thin, water cress stuffed thingy wasn’t ours. Surely there was a mix-up right? So we called the waitress who served us and asked her if it really was the steak sandwich that we had ordered and she affirmed that it was. My sister became livid and complained.

The waitress gave some half wit excuse that it looked different because of the way it was cut. In the menu it was not cut into triangles but our sandwich was. I gaped at her and said that a 2 year old can see that the way the sandwich was cut has absolutely nothing to do with it and everything to do with the total lacking of their organic beef (read with dripping sarcasm).

She offered to take it back to the kitchen and bring us an uncut version but we decided to just cancel the order. It simply wasn’t worth the effort and wait especially since the only difference would be it not being cut into triangles..

Our molten chocolate cake and green tea arrived minutes later. The cake was so, so small and not even remotely worth the RM12 it costs. As for the green tea, it was served in a small (read: tiny) brown clay teapot with two itsy bitsy Chinese teacups that only little girls under 5 years old can use to play tea party with.

I had thought that the green tea was free, like at Sushi King (my bad) so I just sipped delicately on my tea, made a face at the bitter taste and pushed my teeny tiny cup away from me. However, when I saw the bill my eyes almost popped out of my head and ran (not roll) out the door. The green tea was RM7! I immediately downed the remaining tea in my cup and poured another shot.

I no longer cared about the bitter taste I just wanted to get my money’s worth. The both of us managed to get 2.5 tiny cups of tea between us before not a drop more came out of the spout.  Both my sister and I looked at each other, still grimacing from the bitter taste and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the ludicrousness of it all.

With that experience I personally declare that the Yogitree sucks! is not a place that I will ever set foot in again. Okay, so we knew it was pricey but we were mislead to believe that the portions were like any other expensive restaurants and not like it was made for a person who had done gastric bypass. I’d rather have a Subway sandwich, a chocolate cake from Secret Recipe and Sushi King’s green tea (not just because it’s free but because it doesn’t taste bitter enough to kill).

I wish that I had taken a picture of the steak sandwich served to us and the one in the menu so that you can see what I meant but I was too pissed off. Looking back at the experience, I STILL don't know whether to laugh or pissed off. 

Anyway, cheers people, and beware of the Yogitree (like you'd beware of the Bogeyman)...

    

KL Trip (Part 2)

27 September 2010 – 30 September 2010

Our classes start at 8.30am and ends at 4.30pm with the typical morning tea and lunch break at 10.30am and 1.00pm respectively. We don’t have PE in morning and evening for which I’m grateful. Not that I hate exercise, I’m just not a morning person. The idea of waking up at 5.30am to run around and being yelled in my face doesn’t appeal to me. 

On Monday morning all of us had to find the classroom somewhere within the labyrinth of buildings that were totally foreign to us. What makes it even more confusing was that the buildings were built on a slope and are all connected with a corridor so while you may be on the first floor on one block when you cross over to the other block you’d be on the 2^nd and 3rd floor. The best part is? There was nobody there to guide us. We had to navigate all by ourselves. Such a waste of time.

We had our closing ceremony on Thursday which ended at 2pm and since I’ve booked for a taxi to pick me up, I had to lug all 20KG of my stuff down thousands (okay, hundreds) of steps to the main gate because the facility doesn’t allow taxis to enter the premises. I was just grateful that I was going down instead of going up and that I had become familiar enough with the ‘labyrinth’ to take the shortest route.

I went to my sister’s office which is a stone throw away from KLCC to put my stuff in her car.. I had about 2 more hours to kill so I decided to go to KLCC for a session of window shopping. At least that’s what I told myself and I was doing okay until I caught sight of a MAC store. Being a MAC fan(atic) I felt that it would be a sin not to take an innocent look at what they have to offer.

As expected, my window shopping no longer became window shopping. Hehehe... I can see the guys rolling their eyes and saying " Hmpft... Women!" I had been looking forward to their Venomous Villains Collection which features 4 of Disney’s Villains so of course I couldn't resist. More on this collection on my beauty blog, phoebe-loves-makeup.blogspot.com.

01 October 2010

I went to 1 Utama to check out Pink Evil’s Fashion Supermarket (from henceforth will be referred to as PEFS) because Cleo Magazine’s October Issue featured some really cute and affordable outfits from them. Unfortunately, none of the outfits I was looking for were there but I will say this about PEFS.

If you take an outfit off the racks with the intention of trying them on later, a Sales Assistant (SA) will take it from you and put it in one of the fitting cubicles. By doing that not only will you hands be free while you browse further, you’ll also have a fitting cubicle ready for you so you won’t need to queue up. I’m not so sure that you’ll get that same treatment during a Sale though. :)

Each cubicle is provided with a pair of basic black heels to try your outfits. Not to bring back home with you but for your convenience in case you’re wearing flats and you want to see how the outfit looks like with heels.  Cool huh?

I also went to Nichii, my favorite clothing store ever (so far) and bought a few stuff which I am just so ecstatic about. That night a few friends and I went to Ikea to have Swedish meatballs for dinner. OMG! It was fantastic.. I’ve totally forgotten how good it tastes until I sank my teeth into one.

02 October 2010

My sister and I made our way to Midvalley at noon and thought that we’d try out a restaurant called The Yogi Tree. That was like the biggest mistake both of us had ever made. I don’t think that we would ever step in there to eat again. I’ll tell you guys in more detail about this incident in another post.

Night came and I went to Tropicana with one of my dearest friend and caught a late night show for ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. OMG! I love the movie. I love it so much that I think it deserves its own post so I’ll be going into detail about it in a future post. To everyone reading this, GO WATCH THE MOVIE. Seriously.. 

03 October 2010

I packed my things and had planned to go to KLIA via KLIA Transit but I had to carry 4 bags and all of them were heavy so my sister offered to send me to the airport. We managed to squeeze some time to go to The Street at the Curve (Hmft.. Women!) which is kind of like a high-end street market (if that makes any sense to you) and had lunch at The Chocolate Lounge.

If you ever get the chance to stop by at The Chocolate Lounge I recommend getting Miss Coco which is a decadent hot chocolate drink. I’ve never, ever, ever tasted a hot chocolate as good as this elsewhere. They have branches (or do you call it franchises?) at 1 Utama, The Curve and the LCCT Terminal and other places too I’m sure. Trust me, Miss Coco is worth her weight in gold.

I was so excited to go to Kuala Lumpur to soak up the scene there after being away from it for so long. To be honest there were times when I wished I had just stayed working in Putrajaya instead of coming back here to The Land Below The Wind. Those times were far in between and only happen on days that were especially crappy and everything seem to be determined to go wrong.

However after spending 9 days there I began to realize that the longing in me to be in KL again after being away for the past few months is kind of like a breakup. You only remember the good and have no memory of the bad. I begin to see clearly again and realize that my decision to come back to Sabah was the best thing I’ve ever done. Sure, KL is glamorous and exciting but personally, I think that it’s a great place to visit but not my kind of place to live.

As for other Sabahans who has gone there to work in KL and love it there (my sister included), there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not as if you’re disloyal to your state, it’s just a matter of personal taste and preference. Just don’t forget where you come from or your roots and don’t diss your own people.

That's all from me for now my dear readers.. Cheers! 

KL Trip Part 1

Hi everyone!

OMG I’ve missed blogging so much! Sorry for being MIA for the past few weeks but I’ve been quite busy and had no time to just sit down and gather my thoughts to actually write. So much had happened recently and so I’ll just put it down diary style. There will be no pics though.. I don't know why but I didn't feel any desire to take any photos during the duration of my trip but I hope you'll enjoy this post anyway.

24th September 2010

I was on my way to work when a colleague of mine called and told me that I was selected to go on a work-related course in Cheras. We were to check into the facility on the 26th (Sunday) and and the course would start from Monday until Wednesday.

The fax we received on the matter was very vague so we called up the facility after lunch and found out that the course would actually end on Thursday and not on Wednesday after all. Since we were informed at the last minute, it turns out that all flights were fully booked on Sunday so we had to go on the 1915 flight on Saturday.

25th September 2010

I went to the airport in the afternoon and tried to get an earlier flight to KL. I had wanted to get on the 1615 flight so I was on the waiting list for that flight... Or so I thought. The staff at the MAS counter told me that I was to go to counter 16 (Or is it counter 12? Anyway..) at 1530 to see if I got a place for that flight.

When I did so the lady told me that my name wasn’t on the list. The MAS staff failed to tell me that I was supposed to manually write down my name at counter 16 FIRST before coming back at 1530. Sheesh!

Everything happened for a reason though. I managed to bag a seat on the 1730 flight and it was an airbus. Not only that, my seat was strategically on the 1st row so I got enough leg room for even Yao Ming to sit comfortably, near the loo (No need to catwalk.. Hehe..) and best of all, near the exit..

I must say thought that I was a bit disappointed with the food. The option was between chicken with fried rice and fish with steamed rice. C’mon, shouldn’t the fish be paired with fried rice to make it more palatable? I guess they wanted to have a healthy (read: tasteless) option. Oh well..

I arrived in KLIA at about 2015HRS and had a bit of trouble locating the rotating belt to collect my luggage. Waiting for my luggage is my least favorite part of traveling. I would have visions of other passengers happily collecting their luggage until I’ll be waiting alone with only a battered umbrella that’s not even mine left on the rotating belt and finding out that my luggage(s) had somehow been mistakenly taken on the flight to Antigua or some other place far, far away..

Anyway...

I found my luggage eventually and took the KLIA Transit to KL Central where my sister picked me up. I stayed over at her place in Damansara for the night and wondered what the next day would bring..

26th September 2010

I checked into the hostel in Cheras and I saw a guy’s name listed as my roommate. I thought that maybe it’s just a girl that has been unfortunately christened with a guy’s name and didn’t think too much about it. I mean, surely the admin can differentiate a guy from a girl right?

My ‘roomie’ arrived that night with short hair, trousers, a shirt and a necktie. No, it’s not because said roommate was emulating Avril Lavigne’s way of dressing during the early days of her career, it’s because my ‘roomie’ is a guy. He was heaving and sweating because we had the good fortune of getting a room at the 3rd floor.

So did I had to share a room with him? Naw.. I’d have sued the Institution if I did. Luckily my neighbour is also my colleague so I moved in to her room. I had to sleep on the floor though (with a mattress of course, I’m no Cinderella) because each room houses only 2 occupants. Fortunately the rooms were nice and comfortable with a working air conditioning system. Pity about the incompetent admin staff.

To be continued...