Wet and Cold days ahead

It's never felt so cold for a long time....

2 whole days of no sun...drizzly and raining all the time. Roads were constantly wet. Reminds me of gloomy England/Leeds in winter.

Doesn't seem like it's the season/time for Chinese New Year! :p

Hot coffee became warm only even before reaching my already cold cubicle.

hmmmm 2 days before I go onleave.

Boeing 737-800

On 18 Jan 2011, my KK-KL flight was onboard the new 737-800. On the outside, it looks like a normal 737, except that the distinction would be the new 'decals' (is that what its called even on a plane?) on the exterior of the plane. New 'lines' different from the usual MAS signature identification, but it still has the blue and red.

And on each seat, that's the individual entertainment console. Touch screen, loads of movies for all ages and background. Unfortunately it was a sub-3 hr flight, so no earphones were provided. Ended up watching a foreign movie, because it had English subtitles, but fell asleep in the middle of it ;p

Smelt brand new (and not of the MAS air freshener which I dislike) and seats were nice. Now lets hope I get on another 737-800 on my next trip.

Banana Spring Roll

I thought it was just plain spring rolls but it turned out to be banana spring roll. No, not the one closest, the one in the far end of the photo. It just looks like regular spring roll (popiah) but its got a strip of banana inside. ;p

One of the things available in Lahad Datu only ;p

World Wetlands Day

Did you know that 2nd Feb every year is World Wetlands Day (WWD)? It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.

Details of the Ramsar Convention can be found here.

WWD activities of all sizes and shapes, from lectures and seminars, nature walks, children’s art contests, sampan races, and community clean-up days, to radio and television interviews and letters to newspapers, to the launch of new wetland policies, new Ramsar sites, and new programmes at the national level.

I wonder what Malaysia has planned? Or perhaps everyone is busy planning a grand celebration for 'Hari Wilayah Persekutuan' (Federal Territories Day) on 1st Feb?

Halal BBQ Meat

The CNY season is here again!

Sometimes looking at some of the delicacies which I have previously enjoyed, I do feel that someone should come up with a halal version. Thank God I don't have that many of those food which I miss, because generally those waxed meat are not my favourite.

However, I do miss the ocassional floss and BBQ meat.

1-2 years' back, there was this outlet DQ Meat which sells halal BBQ meat and floss. Chicken, beef, lamb and some fish products. I was overjoyed. But then again, these don't come cheap. But because of the craving (once a year during CNY not enough, even before this), I will just buy a bit, enough for myself, because hubby doesn't fancy these.

And not too long ago, the DQ meat outlet in MidValley closed down. Kinda expected that to happen. Now I wonder if the stall in Pavillion is still in existance. And so there goes my only source of halal BBQ meat.

Yesterday, suddenly one of our suppliers gave us 2 boxes of halal BBQ meat and guess where they're from? Kyros Kebab! Yipee!! instantly I searched the web for more info, and I will go grab some this weekend! Can't wait. Check them out here.

I'm overjoyed!

BTW, I digress! Where do the chicken floss used in those bakeries which sell buns with floss come from? They're supposed to be halal, so where can I find them? Or IS IT actually halal?

Awesom-est phone call

AIR1 loves the phone. Give it to him and he'll pretend to be talking to someone. But give it to him when someone is on the other end and he will be silent. If he recognizes the person on the other end, he will smile when he's spoken to. Otherwise he will remain silent.

Today will be my 2nd time on this trip talking to him. The first time, he was silent, as usual. Today, after a while, he interacted with me. I was surprised. Hub has a photo ID of me on the phone, so putting me on microphone, AIR1 could see and hear me, thinking I could the same of him. (But no video call, so I only can hear him ;p)

Then all of a sudden during the conversation when I asked if he did any reading, he went and brought his fav book to daddy and started to want me to read with him. My first phone conversation with him and it felt awesome! Finally at 2. I asked if I could speak to his sister and he asked daddy to 'take me there'. Adorable.

AIR2 squealed in delight and smiled (says daddy) when she heard my voice, not knowing where it came from. When I was 'talking' to AIR2, AIR1 played the baby-toy which had music, danced to it and asked me to see. I could imagine him doing his 'dance'.

And when asked to say goodbye, he waved at me. Ohhhh can't wait to see them three soon!

Traditional Massage

Finally....my long awaited massage - only this time, it's in LAhad Datu.

I couldn't wait any longer. Wanted foot reflexology, but the reflexologist wasn't around and dunno when will be back, so my colleague and I settled for a traditional massage.

Price? RM75 for 1 hr. OK lah, considering the massuer came to the hotel.

My verdict - value for money lah. Enjoyed the back massage and wished it could've been longer. Included abit of foot reflex too but this lady wasn't too good with the feet.Didn't seem to hit the spots :)

Although hub & I have signed up for something back in KL, I just had to have this massage. And somehow the time was right too - I was having some neck/shoulder discomforts these 2 days. It's been months since my last pampering.

Work became sort-of-holiday :)

Rain, please stay away tomorrow morning...if possible, stay away the whole day and come by only at night!

Day 1 LDU

After much contemplation, I will be in Lahad Datu without AIR2.

Thanks Fong for the effort in helping find the nursery. Managed to go view it and though there were people there, I didn't stop to talk/chat/check with them. It's a proper nursery, I'd consider it when I'm back here again in a couple of weeks' time. But quite pricey too...

Without AIR2 I will have more flexibility in terms of time management and movement. Weather will not be a major concern. Oh yes, if it rains, traffic and time to go fetch her will have to be considered. Who said a small town like LDU does not have traffic jams?

I will also have less things to bring along.

But I will surely miss her laughs and baby talk every morning and night. And her brother's antics band daddy's too.

So far, its been relaxing. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Now let me wake up at 530am for a run tomorrow!

Here I go again!

After so much deliberation and contemplation, finally AIR2 is not going to Lahad Datu with me.

MAS is superbly expensive for baby fares (RM270 return). Found a sitter (an established nursery)there (also expensive in comparison. daily rates), but then since I'm travelling alone tomorrow, my colleagues have all gone yesterday, so it'll be abit difficult taking the car seat (no stroller) and all the other stuff, though most are going to be checked in.

If she did go, it'll not be my first time travelling with a baby. AIR1 first went on the plane with me alone at 7 months...erm slighly older by 2 weeks I suppose. Only tricky thing is that at that time AIR1 can already sit unaided. Unfortunately AIR2 still can't. She loves to sit and try to sit herself up, but she can't keep herself upright long enough.

Anyway, I digressed....

So my intention of not wanting to bother my mum to come and help, ended up I had to. My aunt will be away and hubby has an event, which he can bring AIR1 but a bit tricky with AIR2. So lo and behold, mum is to the rescue!

Thanks, Mummy! (though she won't be reading this ;p)

Artsy weekend

Because I missed my training, this was what we (AIR1 and I) did on Sunday!

Stamping which ended up erm...but he enjoyed it.

Hand printing was great and he refused to stop. Too bad I didn't prepare proper paper, or he would've have his feet stamped too!

The run that didn't happen

Arrrgh! No sweat no fun lah!

All fired up for a run but a disturbed sleep the night before made me lazy. AIR1 woke up and cried for no reason. Gave him milk but that was not what he wanted. He just kept on crying. Not because he was scared but it was a 'just-because' type of cry and he wanted attention. For no apparent reason he just cried.

And so when my alarm went off, I sms-ed Fong to tell her am not going. 30minutes later AIR1 wakes up asking for milk. And I realised it was only 715am. I can still go. AIR1 was happily entertaining AIR2 and playing with her.

Sat up, got AIR1 ready and when I was changing, I realised my knee stil had that nagging on-off tendon pain. When walking it would suddenly be aggravated and I'll be in sudden pain. Since I was ready, and I had errands to run, I took him out anyway. I decided no Bkt Jalil for me lah, though it was really tempting. (All this while I didn't realised Fong had sms to say she's still at home - haha).

Until I reached home, then I realised I could've just gone to BJ for a walk with AIR1 and Fong's family. Oh well....another time lah. And it was such a waste of nice weather today.

No adrenaline rush and I feel unmotivated the whole day! Dang!

Brick

don't ask why my weird expression

My first brick in dunno how long - again! haha...

One week after my first ride, I was fired up to go the distance. Planned with my 'sifu' to start at 730am and though I felt like cancelling, I dragged myself out of bed. AIR2 didn't sleep too well the night before.

I didn't realise my sifu had sent me a text message to say he wanted to postpone. I was reluctant to let the day go to waste so I thought I'd go for a run instead. AIR1 was awake and stuck to me when he sensed I was going to go out and leave him behind.

After some contemplation, I decided biking it will be as I will be running the next day with Fong. And so after some persuasion and crying, I left. Felt so bad I couldn't take him along.

I arrived with a horrible stomach ache but didn't want to waste time. HOped on the bike and left. After finishing, I decided to run. Goodness, it was a horrible transition. Never felt transition so bad before. Ran past Putrajaya Mosque, along the bridge and u-turn at the small roundabout. Saw a few cyclists. On the way back my legs felt better but my tummy was acting up.

Finished and as going back, I had to make an emergency pit stop. My tummy was not going to wait for me to reach home.SOS!!

Had a good ride, though I wished I could've gone further and ran more. But since it's just the begining, I'm contented.

Asrul is 2!

My lame attempt at making healthy and kid-friendly cuppies.

Still tastes ok, but I'm not good at the topping. Plus since for kiddies, I decided to hold off too much of choc or icing and the likes, so just plain writing ;p

The 'blanks' are just fillers so the tray would be full :)

Can't wait for his first birthday do at the nursery. Hope he'll have fun! He came home 4 days ago singing 'happy birthday' after one of his friend's had a birthday-do there. I guess he enjoyed himself.

Mummy & Daddy love you lots and hope you'll grow up to be a good, smart, obedient and be successful in life.

Back to normal

One day, all my blog lists were gone...the next day, thank goodness, after I logged in, waa-laaaa! it was all back to normal.

Hope this won't happen again! Jeez!

I am following....

CRAP! all the blogs I've been following has just been removed from my list!

How did that happen? arrrrrgh!

Homework for tonight - need to go look for them links again I suppose....


aaaaaaaargh!!

Putrajaya slow and easy

hmmm superbly small pics. Nevermind. That was where I was, roaming around on the 2-wheels of mine!

Finally my cateye clocked more than a miserable 10km ;p 25km slow and easy ride just to get the feel of things again. Nice gloomy weather, no drizzle and I managed to wriggle myself from AIR1. My 'maiden' ride in 3+ years (last was 2006 Desaru) and 1st in 2011!!

Bike handling? better than 1month ago

Shoes? Still not confident enough to ride with my clips....was in a 'market-going-mode' with my running shoes. Will 'upgrade' this weekend.

Helmet? think it's time to look for a replacement. This baby has cracked from my previous accident.

Outfit? Was wearing my 1st jersey. hahaha Shall not reveal how old that is!

Overall? Now I'm motivated to do more than 25 as the 25 left me asking for more! Due to time constraint and unknown body condition I stopped at 25. Let's head out again this weekend!

Price hike?

Has anyone experienced increase in price of food at eateries?

So far not for me. Or perhaps I've been eating at franchised outlets so these places have not increased their prices? Well, I hope there'll be no drastic changes.

For a start, I've not cooked a proper meal yet, since the start of 2011. Reason being I was supposed to be in Lahad Datu and since it has been delayed, everything also kinda topsy-turvy in my fridge. :) So it's been take-aways or the ocassional eating-out for now :) But the urge to cook is a-calling :)

Sleepy, cool, morning! zzzzzzz....how i wish!

1st Jan 2011

New Year's Day - 1Day Out Fun Walk at One Utama

The still-not-so-well me and the pretending-to-sleep-boy in the new jogger! :) (I thought he was asleep until I looked at this photo again and noticed his eyes were not completely shut. I wasn't too well yet but was determined to sweat it out. Hence the jacket (and I didn't really sweat either, funnily) but the shoes....haha running shoes in another car but went in a different one. Oh well, luckily I wore crocs, otherwise mampus-lah!

Lots of activities after that, but will only start at 11am. I was very tired after the 4.5km walk and wasn't in the mood to wait. It was only 9.30am then. And the fact that we had plans for later in the day made me want to just go home and rest the legs as they just felt extremely achy.


In the evening - beach-day! postponed from the day before because I was unwell. His first experience with sand castles etc on the beach. Bagan Lallang beach was so full of people we were surprised.

And the lil' girl who had to enjoy the beach from here instead.

Chasing after soap bubbles and enjoying himself! Luckily he didn't kick up a fuss when we asked him to go shower and go home. He was tired.

It was a good start to the new year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year folks!

Many things happened.

Stupid annoying cough just can’t leave me alone!

Woke up on the new year eve holiday feeling down as ever. Head pounding, dizzy and was feverish! Oh boy, there goes plans for the day. At least it was a holiday, no need for last MC of the year, I guess. Then it reminded me of 31st August 2010 when I was also down and out! What’s with these public holidays?

On 31 Dec, I woke up to a pestering lil’ boy who refused daddy’s offer to wash him (and his poo-poo) but insisted that I did. Sat him on my lap (I just couldn’t stand up) talked to him, explained to him and persuaded him to go with daddy. After a while, I plonked him on daddy’s lap and he was fine.

2 hours later I was no better, except I moved from the bed to the sofa. My on-off affair with the TV (dominated by playhouse Disney and the likes) with a slice of bread or two and I fell asleep again. Till lunch. After lunch, I felt slightly better, but 1 hr later, I was zonked out again. Woke up in the evening still no mood for anything. Still not 100% ok.

What a day!

Beach outing for the kids postponed to the nextday.Thought about the fun walk I was supposed to go with AIR1 on new year’s day. Dunno if am up to it. Slept well before new year! Missed all the fireworks which can be seen from the balcony.

And today, 3 Jan my eyes are super-tired, which I've never experienced before. It's literally got its mind of its own. I'm not sleepy, but my eyes are. Serious. And my photos for my other posts are not here so posts delayed ;p

Have a great year ahead!