Wishing my Readers Hari Raya Puasa

I wish all my readers a happy Hari Raya Puasa.

What a Feeling

I have been riding bike for exercise. The feeling was fantastic even those my butts are sore and aching. Sweating profusely and feeling sticky all over is quite uncomfortable yet the sense of well being and euphoria is strongly present. It must be the endorphin kicking in. It is addictive. I will continue to ride to exercise.

Amazing F1 Race

The Champion came up from 15th position to become number 1. I am totally amazed in a race that is so close. Ferrari is out-of-luck with both cars damaged in the race. The first F1 night race is a huge success. Congratulations to all the drivers and congratulations to Singapore!

B3 and I was at Anchorage today

Anchorage is a mall cum condominium. The mall consist of two levels, B1 and Level One. It is really tiny. However, there are plenty of resturants and IKEA is just directly opposite. Times is having 20% today in this mall. B3 wanted a book "You can DRAW". There are 8 books in one. It is one big colorful file folder. The instructions for drawings different animals, pets, sea creatures, people at work, insects and people at work as well as cartoon characters. This is quite interesting and B3 love to draw. At 20% I think it is a good deal and I bought this book for him. He is very happy and grateful to his daddy, me!

Home-made Sex Movies

This is like a nightmare for naive women that repeats itself over and over again. In the New Paper, this girl's pictures are splashed in many pages. "Sun Tan" had many nude pictures and home-made sex video with her boy friend. They even have a blog and she thought the blog is just for the two of them. Now, she and her boyfriend breaks up. Guess what. It is all over the internet. She files a police report. The damage is done. When will a girl learn? Maybe she wants to be famous? Er, I mean infamous!

Ensaimada

Ensaimada is a Philippines "national" bread. It is a soft roll with sugared cream on top sprinkled with cheese. I like this bun. There are many versions by different resturants and cafe chains. I like the Red Ribbon's and Goldilock's. The advantage of travelling is getting exposed to the different cultures. Food is an important part of culture. I enjoys Manila and what the city offers. Only incovenience is there are checks everywhere in the malls. The good thing about going to Manila is the airport is only 30mins to the hotel. Really short and sweet.

Seven Notes For Employees

I saw an interesting notice in a conference room of a Customer. It is titled Seven Notes for Employees.
1. Ask yourself always "Is there any room for improvement?"
2. Consider other people's situation as well as your own.
3. Be responsible for what you speak.
4. Act and show to others what you mean to say.
5. Share your pleasure as well as pain to attain mutual goal.
6. Volunteer to report good and bad information to your superior.
7. Always be conscious of Cost and Profit.

This reminds me of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. This company is extremely successful.

Sabrina

I am watching the show again. The modern version by Harrison Ford. It is very enjoyable and touching. My tears drops like rain...(well almost, a little exaggeration is fun) It was a happy ending. I love the intrigue at the ending. Linus, the protangist makes the chauffeur's daughter fall in love with him and break her heart at the same time. He fall in love in the process and felt guilty for what he has done. In trying to atone, he try to send his brother whom Sabrina always loved. David, his brother turned the table on Linus and he sends Linus off in a Concorde to meet Sabrina after she lands.
Hmm! Money is not everything. It does helps! Concorde ride ain't cheap.

Cycling - the latest fad

There are a lot more bicycles on the road today and everyday. Cycling is a recent phenomenon. Most common cyclists are foreign workers and weekend cyclists are other foreign workers or expatriates with their fancy speed bikes and skin-tight sport wears complimented with helmet. The weekend cyclists are serious enthusiats cycling in large groups.
Nowaday, there are many cyclists on the road and it is good that more and more people are getting into the environmentally-friendly bandwagon.
I am cycling for fun and exercise. It is a wonderful way to keep fit and reduce weight...er I mean prevent weight from creeping up.

Modesto's

Great Italian food, deliciously yummy and filling. I added two kg just during this dinner alone. Of course, two glasses of water and two fruit juices is worth a kg alone. I had dinner with a colleague from India. He is vegetarian and ordered a pizza. I had seafood linguine, the signature dish. The seafood was fresh and the sauce was tangy. I eat up every morsel and finished with tiramisu. I will need to exercise a lot more tomorrow. For now I am happily satiated.

Ipoh Girls

Last night, in the resturant at Pavilion on the sixth floor, the table next to me was girls talk loudly that I heard everything they says. It is interesting to hear them talk. "How many years ago did we last meet?" "I think it is 1976 when we were in form 5". Whoa! I calculated... it is 32 years!! Then I guess how old they are. By now you know they are "old" girls. What is amazing is they are keeping in touch. I felt left out. Right in front of me is a live example of people staying keeping in touch after so many years. I hear who is now living in US, another living in Auckland after marrying a Kiwi and divorcing, a couple who are now teachers teaching in Singapore... Then they continue with their fond memories of their favorite teachers. I kind of wonder about Ipoh. Seems like all the kids grew up and leave town. So will be left. It is a small and right beside me a whole class has grown up and seem to have left Ipoh. There should be no one left. I really wonder???
I need to understand how come there are still people living in Ipoh from an Ipoh girl in our office.

Eating like No Tomorrow

I know why now. I have been skipping lunch yesterday and today. Now that my training is over, I swim for 10 mins and eats a full dinner, then adjorned to teh-C in Toastbox accompanied with you tiao and sesame ball with peanut fillings. When I am done with two meals in one, I walked over to the supermart and bought nuts and cookies to bring back to the room.
With a weak will, it is a big waistline and heavier body.
I must start to work on discipline in making sure my calorie intake is more consistent. Sigh! So far My Spirit is willing but My Flesh is weak!

Morning Walk around The Westin

Was up early. Thought of swimming but pool only opens at 7am. Gym is opened 24 hours. So I went down to check it out. There were plenty of treadmills and stationary bicycles, some gym mats and weight lifting equipment. Nay! I go for a walk instead. Downtown KL is quite deserted. There were one or two staff in resturants setting up and cleaning getting ready to open shop. Many luxury brands in the upmarket malls. It is nice to explore the place in the morning where everything is still closed. I can take the time to drink in the experience. Yes, the contract of the old and new as well. The back alleys of Bintang Walk are shophouses that probably date back to pre-war. However many more new buildings are coming up. I guess over time everything will change. It is hard to resist the almight ringitt when the land on which the shophouse sits is so valuable.

Bukit Bintang in KL

It is interesting to stay in downtown KL. Sungei Wang is a huge shopping mall and I get lost there. It is quite old however and have plenty of toy and pewter stores. It seems like every twenty steps is a Starbucks. It must be a hip place because all the big coffee chains are represented including Coffee Beans and Tea Leaves, Gloria Jean, etc. A mix of old and new. The glitzy street for the tourists and the backlanes where traditional shops and resturants who has been there for generations. Some more than 60years. A real taste of nostalgic KL.
My colleagues and I ate at Sakura, a local Malaysia joint that offers malaysian cuisine and western food. I had nasi lemak and it is excellent. There is curry chicken, ikan bilis in sambal, half a hard boiled egg and a floss of some sort. Yummy is my verdict.

Wedding Dinner

This is the 2nd wedding dinner I attended this year. It is in Jurong East Central near the Science Center. The place is full of people. It reminds me of my childhood days growing up. I have not seen makeshift in this kind of setup and the merchandise. I guess we are so used to shopping mall that the neighbourhood stores is something we do not frequent anymore....

Step Up

Interesting show. The storyline is typical American - rebellious, out-of-control boy meets girl with passion for dancing. Boy turns new leaf, girl breakup with boyfriend, the two get together and their dance sizzles. The subplot about the younger brother killed for stealing a truck is quite touching. The pace is quite slow throughout movie but the storyline develops well and will keep you on the seat the whole time. The grand finale is the awesome well-choreograph dance. Boy gets admitted to the fine school of Arts and it is happily ever after. Maybe not. Because Step Up II is now available to own.

Sunway Lagoon

Sunway Lagoon is a nice hotel. It is bright and smells clean. The people are friendly. Sunway Pyramid is a big mall and the extension has makes it even nicer. There are more food outlets and variety has increased. I enjoyed mall crawling and there is a hawker center just 3 mins walk away. Short trip is tiring. Up early and finished late. Home to my own bed. Ah, warm and sweet.

Latest Exercise Fad

Now I am onto cycling. I bought myself and youngest boy a bicycle each. We learn to cycle together. A 7 year old learn to cycle like putting a fish in the water. He take only a few minutes and off he go. Ok! Maybe 30 minutes. Now he can cycle with one hand and do tight turns. Me, I am still a clumsy cyclist and prone to accidents and falls. Still this is better than roller blading. Injury is not as severe. Actually, I do get cuts and abrasions. My wrists hurts when I flipped over. However, the roller blades falls are extremely painful and take a long time to recover. My left wrist still hurts. So onwards and forward. My new exercise regime is cycling.

Usual Morning

The morning after plenty of lightning is normal. We start the day in a rush with our daily activities. So quickly I forget my fear and wonder about the weather pattern changing. Kids to school. Work pressure, day-to-day grind. Hmmm! No wonder global warming is an abstract subject. We need to earn to live...

Lightning Galore!

It is like huge group of photographers who keep using their flash. Lightning flashing continously lighting up the sky. Some time there are thunders. Most time it is just lightning with no thunder. I have been looking out of my French door for the last four years. I do not remember seeing so many lightning when I first moved in.
Ok! as I type, the rain starts to pour. The sky is purplish pink. Looks like we will have good sleep tonight...zzzzZZZZzzzzZZZZ

Traditional Mooncake

There are many types of mooncakes. New and exotic flavours like chocolate, durian, custard... It is flavour extension just like brand extension... the new and improved! My personal preference is still the traditional style mooncake. Actually the Teochew style which has multilayered flaky pasty with lotus paste. I bought one from a bread shop in HDB. Mmm, it is so good I ate up the whole piece by myself. Eating it bring nostalgia of growing up in a HDB provision shop. We sold it in the shop and we always get to taste the different maker's. Sweet memories indeed.

Poolside Party

We have a potluck party to celebrate the Mooncake festival. The kids all have a wonderful time with lanterns, sparkles and neon lights. The adults just eat and eat. Hence, the weight issues for most of us. The new comer to our estate is a French family and they are very friendly as compared to the other French family we have. We will get tips from them on where to visit in Paris if we go there.

Offering My Prayers

This afternoon I visited Kuan Yin Temple in Queen Street to offer my prayers and regular donation. I also try my hands on the "Chiam See" or drawing of the lots. This time I get a mix with not so good lots on my next year's target. I have to pray more and harder....

Rat Race on a Endless Treadmill

Was having a late lunch when a call came in target for next year has been increased. This happens every year. It is becoming a regular event. It is a neverending race trying to match up to higher and higher expectations made worse by other departments dipping into my kitty. Well such is life working in a big corporation.

Ridiculous ERP!

It now cost $3 to enter into the city in the evening. We went to Sim Lim Square to buy computer accessories. We have our dinner after. Then on the way back, it cost $1.50 on CTE. In the National Day rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong put up a chart that show government is actually collecting less with the road tax decrease. This is really incredile. $4.50 just for my car to be on the road in the evening. There are many cars. So LTA is getting rich, very rich. It is good to be in a monopoly business. Come up with a good reason like we are controlling the flow of traffic. Sit back, relax and watch your wealth grow!
Fantastic wealth formula.

Sunway Lagoon and Pyramid

Sunway Lagoon hotel has upgraded and the rooms now are new. Pyramid, the shopping mall has a new wing. The mall is lively and huge. However the MPH in Pyramid is quite small and book selection is quite pathetic. I did not have a chance to visit Popular as I am there for one night only. I loved walking around shopping malls. It is my favorite pastime. I just like window shopping and looking at snacks and tasting the delights of junk food. I am a glutton. No wonder I have weight issue.
I am glad to catch up with my friends in the office. It is a productive and effective day for me. I am satisfied.