Random...

The last day of 2006 and the eve of 2007, just want to put something down, even though its short. Have been a hectic 2 weeks coz of the holidays and am still looking forward to the new year's eve celebration later tonight.

Hello - husband here - my first blog - shot a one-under par this am (only 9 holes), but a good way to start to say goodbye to another year... Drinks and dinner tonight - and at last KLCC has seen sense and there will be fireworks.. :-)

The wife has had a hair cut this morning- couple of inches off... My beard growing nicely. An up and down year but looking forward to 2007... I love my wife even more than this time last year - and with luck and patience less than this time next year... ruve you cookie princess...

Chelsea for the league! Come on you blues.

Bye bye car

After having this baby for 18 months, Rich have finally managed to sell it and traded-in with something that is more sensible and practical.

Even though I have been encouraging him to change, I do feel a little sad that this baby was gone. After all, this is our official 'love mobile'... (for those of you who have not been able to attend our wedding, this car was all dressed up as per the rest of us).

I am sure this baby will find a new owner who will treat him as well as my husband had.

Festive Holidays

My festive holiday season has officially began today. We picked up Ann and Arthur (my in laws) from KLIA this afternoon and they will be staying with us for a month. It is real good to see them and I always enjoy the time spend with them. We have been spending xmas and new year together for the past 3 years, be it in the UK or KL.

We have been away for the past 2 years and it does feels kinda weird having a warm xmas this time round. Nonetheless, I am sure it will be just fine as we are with families and close friends. Still enjoy shopping for xmas presents, the wrapping and decorating, unwrapping gifts and all the get-togethers tremendously.

Hope the holidays wont be too hectic though as I really want to do nothing except relax and chill at the same time. Afterall, that's what holiday is all about...

Countdown to 2007!

We are coming to the tail end of 2006... How time flies and how scary it is that another year has just flew by right before our eyes. And this is also the time when we sit down and review the year that has past. What have we achieved and otherwise. What are the things that we should have, could have or would have done to make us feel better and etc...

I promise will share my new year resolutions with all this time. Don't normally have my new year resolutions drawn up before but will definitely try for year 2007. This way, I will know for sure how much or how little that I have managed to achieve what I initially set out for to do.

Frustration

Yes, I am frustrated right now, big time... especially when I am working with someone close to me and things are not going the way it should.

So, what is frustration? Why we feel frustrated and how to get over it?

Frustration is a human emotion that occurs in situations where one is blocked from reaching a personal and/or professional goal. The more important the goal, the greater the frustration.

Sources of frustration may be internal or external. My internal sources of frustration involve personal deficiencies such as lack of tolerance and extremely impatient - at least I know what my problems are... When comes to getting things done, I have it MY WAY 99% of the time and this does not work well at all sometimes, especially the person that I am dealing with has a mind of his own. However, thankfully, we are able to work things through, after a major argument, most of the time.

On the positive side of things, frustration should be regarded as a useful indicator of the problems in a person's personal and/or professional life, in order to regain balance, and when the individual is observed with open-mindedness and tolerance, his/her emotion may prove to represent problems faced and the steps needed to take in order to improve the situation.

There is no better way to deal with frustration, just bloody let it go and get over it...

Shop, shop and shop!

Rich is off to the A1 Race in Sepang today whilst I spent the whole afternoon with Sylvia in MidValley, not a bad trade off really.

We had a fabulous time, its just simply great to catch up and chit-chat, of course, not forgetting the retail therapy too. Love the expression 'shop till you drop' and I surely have had enough of it today... Sylvia left earlier and I was still going.

I know this does not sound good at all, but hey, I dont do this everyday, so please dont judge me... Shopping it good for you (trying hard to convince myself and others). There will be more coz Christmas is just round the corner.

Wine Tasting... Not Free Flow of Wine please!

Definition:

Wine tasting is the sensory evaluation of wine, encompassing more than taste, but also outhfeel, aroma, and colour. The main aims of wine tasting are to:
1) assess the wine's quality
2) determine the wine's maturity and suitability for aging or immediate drinking
3) detect the aromas and flavours of the wine
4) discover the many facets of wine, so as to better appreciate it

To assess a wine's quality, one must gauge its complexity of aroma and flavour, determine the intensity of the aroma and flavour, check that the flavours and structural elements — such as acid, tannin and alcoholic strength — are well balanced, and finally see how long the wine persists in the mouth after tasting.

Practiced wine tasters will gauge the wine's quality in other ways too. These include, whether the wine is of high quality with respect to other wines of its price, region or vintage; if it is typical of the region it is made in or diverges in style; if it uses certain wine making techniques, such as barrel fermentation or malolactic fermentation; or if it has any wine faults.

Many professional wine tasters, such as sommeliers or buyers for retailers, look for characteristics in the wine which are desirable to wine drinkers or which indicate that the wine is likely to sell or mature well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting

So, to those who have no idea how to behave... please don't hope to get drunk at a wine tasting event!

June's birthday @ RED

Celebrated June's birthday at RED, Medan Damansara this week. It was surely great to see everyone, especially Sylvia whom I last met in January this year. Looking forward to spend more time together before she moves to Singapore.

To June, Happy Birthday (again...) and love you to bits.

Finally... Pretty blue sky

The before and after. What a huge difference. Hope the clear blue sky lasts.

Happy 1st Anniversary

A year ago today, we had so much fun at Carcosa Sri Negara with families and friends celebrating our special day with us till the break of dawn...

We are very thankful, happy, content and a little emotional today. Guess we should get used to it, there are more to come (fingers crossed)!

Cheers!!

Hong Kong 28th Sep - 7 Oct 2006

Just got back from Hong Kong for a long 9 days stay. It has been a great trip I have to say, did a few things which we never thought of doing, all thanks to Aunty Barbara and Uncle Gron for being there with us at the same time. Rich and I are very pleased to be able to meet up and spent some time with them.

This is Aunty B's first trip to any part of Asia. She had tremendous fun, love the people, the weather, the service, the culture, the shops... Never thought Asia (in general) has so much to offer coz we are smack right in the middle of it all and don't realize how lucky we are sometimes.

Day 1, Thurs
- Flight from KLIA at 7pm and landed at HKIA closed to midnight.
- Check-in and went to bed straight away.

Day 2, Fri
- Rich went to work, spent the day by myself shopping.
- Purchases: 2 pairs of shoes and Rich's birthday present.
- Met up for drinks and dinner with Aunty B and Uncle G at an Italian restaurant located in Lan Kwai Fong.

Day 3, Sat
- The 4 of us went up to The Victoria Peak. The tram ride was pretty cool, even though we have done this a few times, it was still very pleasant.
- Took Aunty B to dinner at Beirut (our favourite Lebanese restaurant) for more drinking and eating.

Day 4, Sun
- Brunch at Amber, The Landmark Hotel. The food, ambiance and service were out of this world. Highly recommended to anyone who have a few hours to kill on a Sunday lunchtime.
- More shopping around Central.
- Stayed in and watched fireworks display from our hotel room.
- The fireworks display was held in conjunction with Hong Kong 57th National Day celebration. The spectacle lasted 23 minutes in total and it was simply amazing.



Day 5, Mon (public holiday)
- The 4 of us took a ferry to one of the islands surrounding Hong Kong, Lamma Island for a look-see.
- The trip was well worth it coz it gave us a chance to see more of Hong Kong, specially the outskirts. It is the total opposite of Hong Kong, away from the hassle and bustle of the big city. Life is much simpler and slower as you can imagine.
- Lamma Island is well known for its seafoods and we had a feast.

Day 6, Tue
- The men had gone to work.
- I was acting like a tour guide and took Aunty B across to Kowloon, Yau Ma Tei where the jade market is located.
- Spent 2 hours at the market, Aunty B almost bought half of them.
- We then had a fantastic afternoon tea at the famous Peninsular Hotel.

Day 7, Wed
- A break for Aunty B and myself. Stayed in during the day.
- The 4 of us went out for Rich's birthday dinner at Isola, IFC Mall. We enjoyed spending time with them tremendously.

Day 8, Thurs
- Shopping day again. We went out to Stanley Market which is new to me as well. It is located at the southeast part of Hong Kong island and the taxi ride took 45 minutes and cost HK$180 per trip.
- A very beautiful place with many outdoor restaurants and bars and a great view of the ocean to accompany you while you dine.
- We were able to get lots of local produces.

Day 9, Fri
- A quiet one for us. Drinks with Aunty B and Uncle Gron before we went off to join Marco and Natara for dinner at another Italian restaurant in Central. We celebrated Rich's birthday, again...

Day 10, Sat
- Home sweet home... Its really good to be back.

PS: Need to work doubly hard to shake off the pounds that I have put on during the past 9 days for eating too well and having too much fun...

MyOwn Gallery

My new hair colour...

What do you think?

Personality Test

Had just done a personality test online and the finding is quite interesting and pretty accurate as well, at least I think so...

Key areas of my personality:
My personality stands out from the average person's particularly in the areas of: High Curiosity Level
- That's very true, I am very curious especially when I was younger.

My interaction style:
I scored 35 in the area of extroversion/ introversion, which means that my energy is directed primarily inward, rather than outward. My mixed score in this trait creates an interesting and alluring combination of traits: I am social yet also very reflective and introspective. I like to be around people, but too much interaction drains my energy. I need to retreat every once in a while in order to recharge my batteries. Keep these needs in mind when choosing the ideal work situation for me, otherwise I won't feel happy.

Social patterns:
I am left-brained when it comes to recognizing emotions in other people. When I look at a person's face I focus on what I see on the right. This is a unique way of viewing the world. I am likely to be sensitive to 'micro-expressions' - the tiny movements of the muscles in the face that occur, for example, when someone is telling a lie. Hearing preferences are an interesting exception to this left-right crossover. For example, if two people were talking behind a closed door and I needed to put my ear on the door to hear, I would tend to use my left ear instead of my right.

That's more or less ME there...

Quote of the day

Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
by Victor Hugo (1802 - 1885), Les Miserable, 1862

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Also known as 'One-Legged King Pigeon Pose'. It is a deep backbend that puffs the chest, making a yogi resemble a pigeon... It might sounds easy but hell, after performing this pose on Sunday, I have been having this constant ache on my lower back. Not a serious one mind you, but still it bugs me a little. Therefore, I have gone on the internet to learn more about this 'King pigeon'.

The benefits of this pose:
- Stretches the thighs, groins and psoas, abdomen, chest and shoulders, and neck
- Stimulates the abdominal organs
- Opens the shoulders and chest
- Contraindications
- Sacroiliac injury
- Ankle injury
- Knee injury
- Tight hips or thighs

This is how we do it:
- Begin on all fours, with your knees directly below your hips, and your hands slightly ahead of your shoulders. Slide your right knee forward to the back of your right wrist; at the same time angle your right shin under your torso and bring your right foot to the front of your left knee.

- The outside of your right shin will now rest on the floor. Slowly slide your left leg back, straightening the knee and descending the front of the thigh to the floor. Lower the outside of your right buttock to the floor.

- Position the right heel just in front of the left hip. The right knee can angle slightly to the right, outside the line of the hip. Look back at your left leg. It should extend straight out of the hip (and not be angled off to the left), and rotated slightly inwardly, so its midline presses against the floor.

- Exhale and lay your torso down on the inner right thigh for a few breaths. Stretch your arms forward.

- Then slide your hands back toward the front shin and push your fingertips firmly to the floor. Lift your torso away from the thigh. Lengthen the lower back by pressing your tailbone down and forward; at the same time, and lift your pubis toward the navel. Roll your left hip point toward the right heel, and lengthen the left front groin.

- If you can maintain the upright position of your pelvis without the support of your hands on the floor, bring your hands to the top rim of your pelvis. Push heavily down. Against this pressure, lift the lower rim of your rib cage. The back ribs should lift a little faster than the front.

- Without shortening the back of your neck, drop your head back. To lift your chest, push the top of your sternum (at the manubrium) straight up toward the ceiling. Stay in this position for a minute.

- Then, with your hands back on the floor, carefully slide the left knee forward, then exhale and lift up and back into Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose). Take a few breaths, drop the knees to all-fours on another exhalations, and repeat with the legs reversed for the same length of time.

- For the full pose, first perform the preliminary leg position. Then with your hands braced on the floor, bend the back knee and bring the foot as close to the top of your head as possible.

- Inhale, stretch the right arm upward; then exhale, bend the elbow, and reach back and grasp the inside of the left foot. After a few breaths, reach back with the left hand and grasp the outside of the foot. Draw the sole of the foot as close as possible to the crown of your head. Hold this position for 30 seconds.

- Then release the foot, lower the leg, perform step 5 to change the position of the legs and repeat on the second side for the same length of time.

Alright, there you go. Give it a try, will ya?
Source: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses

How Malaysian are you??

Take the quiz on http://allmalaysia.info/merdeka49/quiz.asp and we shall find out...

My score : 31 out of 45
You’re there, but there’s plenty of room for improvement. To start off your journey to becoming a true red-yellow-and-blue Malaysian, make sure you don't forget those little Malaysian flags that purebreds stick on their cars on Merdeka day... (I doubt it, no way on earth those flags are going on my car)

Have a nice Merdaka Day.

Hen's night out idea, anyone?

Definition:
A hen party (or bachelorette party) is a party held for a woman who is about to be married. The term "hen party" is more common in the UK and Ireland, while the term "bachelorette party" is more common in the United States. It may also be referred to as a "hen's night" in other English-speaking countries. Those attending the party are usually all female, although gay male friends of the bride-to-be may also be included. Events such as the The Girlie Show in the UK add comedy to the male strip club. If held at home, it may be an occasion to hold a pamper party or compare products like lingerie or women's sex toys or to play games like "Truth or Dare" and "Pass the Balloon". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_party

Saturday, 2nd of September 06 is the big day for Cheng Mun and her soon-to-be husband Andrew. So, we are thinking of making it a special day to remember for Mun and friends...

The gals talked about a pampering day out, ie spa, massage, mani and pedicure and the whole lot (thought this is most sensible coz none of us are really party animals and we can beautify ourselves at the same time). However, I am thinking of something different instead of just spa, dinner and chit chat. Hence this blog and to pick everyone's brain...

Its Mun's last night of FREEDOM, so suggestions please anyone!


PS: Mun, please forward this blog to those who you want to be included in your hen's night.

Bali, May 2006

Aaahhh Bali... One of our favorite destinations of all time.

PS: Since I don't really have much to blog lately, thought of just going thru all the picture folders in my hard-drive and dig out some which taken during our trips recently and post them instead.

Bird's Eye View of Cape Town

The Fabulous Cape Town, March 2006

The Fabulous Cape Town (cont.)

The Care Bears

HBO was showing the animated Care Bears movie today and I happened to catch the second half of it. It brought back so much memories... I used to love The Care Bears to bits, never miss an episode (the cartoon was shown on one of the TV stations back in the 80's).

I am sure some of you must still remember The Care Bears, right? They lived in a magical kingdom called Care-A-Lot. The Care Bears family consists of Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear, Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Goodluck Bear, Tenderheart Bear, Wish Bear and big Grumpy Bear. Their secret weapon is the Care Bear Stare (wink, wink, wink), whose hypnotic focus melted the sadness out of the saddest child. They were simply awesome. I felt good every time after watching the cartoon. My all time favorite are Friend Bear and Goodluck Bear.

There were lots of Care Bears merchandise that I have collected over the years and wish that I still have them now, hoping that one day I can show to my kids the things that I grew up with... Alright now, enough of reminisce of the old times.

Kid Jokes

A policeman brought four boys before a judge. "They were causing an awful lot of commotion at the zoo, your Honor," he said.

"Boys," said the judge sternly, "I never like to hear reports of juvenile delinquency. Now I want each of you to tell me your name and what you were doing wrong."

"My name is George," said the first boy, "and I threw peanuts into the elephant pen."
"My name is Pete," said the second boy, "and I threw peanuts into the elephant pen."
"My name is Mike," said the third boy, "and I threw peanuts into the elephant pen."
"My name is Peanuts," said the fourth boy.

Source - http://www.ajokeaday.com

All Rusty

Went for my first yoga lesson after a gap of 10 months... Feeling good afterwards but not during the lesson though. I was all stiff throughout due to lack of practice and few of the poses which I used to perform effortlessly were really challenging.

However, I did managed a good workout and am definitely going back for more. Hey, no pain, no gain, that's what they say...

I Have Been Tagged

I was told by my best friend that when I was tagged, I am suppose to do this... Alright, here we go.

Awesome people I would want to meet:
1. Robbie Williams
2. Tiger Woods
3. Tom Ford
4. Leonardo Da Vinci (too bad that he is not alive anymore)

Awesome people who I have already met - my husband, my mother, my in laws and The Ho's.

Things I Can't Live Without:
1. My car (need to be mobile at all times and hate the thought of using public transport)
2. My vanity kit and facial products
3. My handbags
4. My laptop and mobile phone
5. My most comfortable bed and 10 hours sleep daily
6. My book (whatever that I am reading at the time)

I Wish I Could:
1. Write novel.
2. Paint.
3. Be discipline enough to keep to my exercise routine.
4. Consume whatever I want and don't have to worry later about the calories.
5. Be more religious.
6. Stop buying things for the house, we are running out of space (hope my husband is reading this).
7. Spend more time with my gal friends. I know, I know, everyone is very busy but should really make an effort to get together more often.

I Want:
1. To love and be loved forever by all those who are dearest to me.
2. To be happy and healthy.
3. To be able to fit into my pair of jeans which I have since I was 18 years old.
4. Holiday homes in the Mediterranean and Europe.
5. To learn more about wine.

Songs That I Think Are Awesome:
There are many of them, cant really think of any specifics at the moment.

How I See Myself In 10 Years:
1. Happily married and raising a family.
2. Running my own business (still deciding what it will be).
3. Traveling the world (I hope).
4. Still as vain.

Random Facts:
1. I love my mother to bits and for everything that she had done for our family, I thank her tremendously.
2. I put on weight really easily.
3. Don't like to wear makeup.
4. Devastated by the fact that I am now wearing size M instead of S.
5. I love spending time with myself.
6. Cant swim and don't think I ever will (paid for private lessons but still did not make any difference).
7. Love going to rock concert.

Misconceptions:
1. I am a cold and arrogant person, but in fact, I am very warm and accommodative. Prefer to go with the flow most of the time. Just needs a little time to warm up. When you are used to me, you will know what I mean.
2. I have a whole expensive designer wardrobe, actually I love shopping in Sungai Wang.
3. That I don't do house work at all. I do get my hands dirty from time to time and believe it!
4. That I spend loads on pedicure, manicure, facial and spa. I don't really do a lot of it. They are treats once in a while.
5. That I am a shopaholic.

Who I Want To Tag:
1. Richard
2. Mark Ho (I simply adore him but like his mommy have said, we just have to wait patiently till he is ready)
3. Sylvia
4. Angie Chow
5. Cheng Mun
6. Jean Wong

An Expensive 1st Anniversary

A year ago today, Richard and I were at the registry office in Shah Alam, signing on the dotted line, taking our vows as husband and wife, with June and Patrick as our witnesses...

There are so many occasions to celebrate, ie the day we started dating, Valentines day, birthdays, the registration day, the Chinese do and of course, the wedding reception at Carcosa Sri Negara in October. Therefore, we do not plan to celebrate and make a big fuss about today coz we wanted to go BIG on 8th October.

However, what do we say about unforeseen expenditure??!! Our beloved TV which had been with us for 5 years have given up. And my husband earlier of the day have turned up from work with a brand new Coach handbag gift-wrapped. I was pleasantly surprised, of course!

So, after a new Sony TV and a Coach handbag later, it is an expensive 1st anniversary to remember, indeed! Hey, I am not complaining...

African Art For Sale

The Zulu Warriors

We were in South Africa in March this year and managed to do a little shopping. We always make a point to check out the local art scene and always manage to buy something that we really like.

Having said that, we are now running out of wall space for paintings that we have purchased. This is one of them. It's really a shame that these beautiful pictures just sitting in our storeroom not doing much.

There are 3 oil paintings done by the same artist being stretched individually and mounted on a black board. Then, framed in black frame. The size of the painting is approximately 2 Ft x 3 Ft.

Do drop me a line if anyone is interested.

Absolute Brilliance!

COLDPLAY, TWISTED LOGIC TOUR, Singapore 10 July, 2006

A classy act. The best concert that we have been to so far, in Asia. The Singapore Indooor Stadium turned into a sea of hands when they came on stage. An hour and a half later... the lights came on to leave us with memories of yellow balls & sore shoulders whilst humming all the classics...

ps Singapore food is terrible!

First Attempt

Well, have been wanting to create my own blog for the longest time. Never get around doing it... for whatever reason.

Finally, here we are.