Dragon flies from Hanoi

26 JUL 2010: Last year when my colleague went for a trip to Hanoi, she bought me a little souvenir. And another friend went to the same place last month, and I’ve got the same souvenir again; different in color and size. Makes me wonder what’s so special about this thing; any meaning behind? Anyhow, I like the bling2 effect though.



This is probably not something new that Putrajaya had organized a flora festival few weeks back; and I went over with a friend to look around and take some photos. I was disappointed that I didn’t see my favorite species of “bird of paradise”.

Fly to the Land Below the Wind

9 – 11 JULY 2010: Just 3 days after my HK relatives went back that I’ve yet recovered from my tiredness; I’ve to pack for my 3D2N trip to our land below the wind. I’ve been to Kota Kinabalu twice over the last 10 years for hiking and island hoping; and this time around was Sandakan.

It was a planned trip that we booked the flight early of the year. A friend of mine was origin from there; who suggested us to follow him back to his lovely hometown for a short weekend trip. An early morning flight it was (720am) where we reached Sandakan 3 hours after that. A lovely and peaceful town it is; with no traffic at all, friendly local people (and they speak hakka too), very fresh seafood and beautiful landscapes it has.

To summarize what I’ve done within these 3 days.

Food:


Temples/Church:


Local attractions:


Don’t know why, I really love Sabah a lot. I could feel myself at home being there, probably because the local Chinese speaks hakka. Do you have any local state or city/town of your interest?

HK / MY / PG / CH / KL

1 JULY 2010: 1st day of July, which means we’ve entered 2nd half of year 2010. Some people might tend to look back on what they’ve done over the past 6 months; somehow I would rather look forward for things that I’ll do for the next 6 months. Which category are you in?



I’m actually blogging from my sister’s room. Reason being is that my relatives from HK are here in KL, and I have to spare my guest room for them. It’s going to be a fully-packed week with following itinerary:

1 Jul: Sunway Lagoon/Pyramid.
2-3 Jul: Penang.
3-4 Jul: Cameron Highland.
5 Jul: KL/Petaling Street/KLCC etc.

Penang punye kawan2 sekalian, here I come!! Cameron punye bunga2 sekalian, here I come again!! Might need to call Grandma or TZ for food directory around the island. Definitely won’t drive around Komtar again.

I Love Burger

29 JUNE 2010: I’m always a burger lover. During schooling and Uni time, I could only afford those Ramly burger that I still like it until now, especially the burger special with extra mayonnaise..simply yummy. Can hardly find a nice Ramly stall nearby my house now.

A friend of mine, Mr. P has recommended this restaurant in Bangsar Village but I never thought of paying a visit. According to him, the restaurant (Daily Grind) serves the best burger in town. Therefore, we went for it during one of these Sunday. Met with him at Starbucks when he was playing around with his new DSLR. Am I a talented model? Walked down to the restaurant after an hour of chat, and I was surprise that I wasn’t aware of the place despite hundred times of visiting to this mall.



Ordered a beef burger recommended by the waiter. The food portion was just nice and the burger tasted great. A comfortable atmosphere with lovely music, and good food; I love it.

Are you a burger lover? What is your recommendation for my next visit?

Hong Kong (2007 vs 2010)

15 - 21 JAN 2010: Went to HK for 7D6N trip with family. Took quite a lot of photos over the week even though I was there 3 years back. Went to some of those same places again as my 2nd sister and nephew were along this time around (They didn't go 3 years back). The weather was lovely (13-18C). Anyhow, not much of shopping this time around as those outlets were selling mostly winter clothes.

Coincidencely, took some photos at the same places as 3 years back. Therefore, I tried to put those together to see my changes over the past 3 years. Guess nothing much changed apart from being an older me now.

These are the selected shots of my nephew over the trip. Such a naughty but photogenic little boy he is.

Well, when and where will be my next trip?

Christmas Weekend

24 DEC 2009: It was a Christmas Eve and an off day for me; therefore I brought my nephew for a walk and picnic at a park in Cyberjaya. It’s a very nice park that I used to jog here pretty often before I joined gym. Packed some snacks and drinks along as I knew my nephew would be tired running around as there’s a huge playground within the park.

Sitting at a corner while watched him running around the playground, realized that he has grown up a lot. A much taller and heavier him now that I could hardly carry him around anymore; means an older me nowadays too. We spent about 2 hours within the park, and of course cam whored a little. Think my nephew has the potential on cam whoring, what do you think?



25 DEC 2009: Friends invited me to stay-over in Genting on the night of Christmas Eve, where we had a little party with gift-exchanged. I bought a gift and wrapped it nicely. Think the wrapping is comparative with Danny’s wrapping lo, hehe. And during the trip only I realized that Genting has strawberry farm too.

Among all those gifts below, which do you think is mine?

Melbourne Trip 2009

Day 1: Touched down Melbourne Airport at 12:30am and quickly went over to friend’s house to unpack our stuff and rest. Woke up early the next morning to visit some wineries and a historical town nearby Melbourne named Bendigo. Felt a little tipsy after few rounds of wine tasting and it was definitely a good experience. We ended up bought 2 bottles of red wine that cost us AUD20 each.



Day 2: Woke up early as it would be a long day tour to the Great Ocean Road. It is Victoria’s most spectacular route and is recognized as one of the world’s most scenic coastal drive. No doubt that it was a wonderful driving experience with magnificent scenery along the way. And the famous Twelve Apostles are one of the largest limestone rock stacks in the world. It was a cold and windy day but luckily all of us wore enough clothes. Dropped by at the nearby town called Warnambool for dinner before drove all the way back Melbourne.



Day 3: A day tour to Melbourne Zoo. Met up with friends at Victoria Market for breakfast and took a tram to Zoo. Bought a daily tram ticket cost AUD6++ with unlimited ride throughout a day. The zoo was quite packed with families on weekend, and it’s very well designed and maintained. It was my first time experience seeing Kangaroo and Koala bear.



Day 4-6: Planned to visit Philip Island initially, but we cancelled the trip due to some circumstances. Therefore, we took our own sweet time with city and shopping tour for the next 3 days. Nothing much in Melbourne city itself apart from some gorgeous cathedrals, art center/theatre, Federation Square, Library, Town Hall etc. Had a day shopping at Victoria’s Market though I didn’t buy much due to the high exchange rate of Aussie dollar.



Nothing much to shout about the Melbourne city itself apart from the magnificent Great Ocean Road. Anyhow, what matter most was the great company I had along the trip. I believe we had gone through enough along the whole trip that had definitely strengthened our friendship.

Annyeong haseyo

1 OCT 2009: Went for Korean dinner with friends few days back at Seoul Garden in Kuchai Lama. Ordered some BBQ stuff and some Korean famous dishes as usual, and the food was pretty OK la. However, the restaurant was empty most of the time except us and 2 more tables for the whole night. I couldn’t help but wondered how could they survive with such a bad business. Perhaps it was weekday though.

Anyway, the weirdo me isn’t a big fan of Korean food. But what I like most are those small and colourful side dishes. Love the kim chi, pan cake and anchovies.

How much do you like Korean food? And what do you like most?



And today is my niece’s 2nd birthday. I’m thinking to put on a small celebration for her. Perhaps a simple KFC meal with a ladybird cake from Secret Recipe.

My BIG Day

28 SEP 2009: It’s my birthday today, but I chose to work instead of staying at home. A quite day with gloomy weather that allow me to flash back some of the memory for the past 30 years. It was 20 years back since my mum left us, 9 years since I graduated from Degree and all the things that I’ve done and gone through throughout these years. I remember a conversation over a radio last few days about what age is considered old for guy/lady. And one of DJ said we’re old when we start to flash/talk back about our old time. Ouch….is it what I’m doing now? Time really flies I would say.

I’m always glad that I have a great and supportive family/relatives and friends being around me, where they had organized some birthday celebrations for me over the weekend.

1. Lunar birthday celebration with family and relatives. Lovely dinner and had a great time with all of them, always.

2. Went for short hike with friends at Cheras, and they threw me a little surprise celebration.

3. Monthly birthday celebration with close friends. 4 September babies celebrated our birthday together. Nothing is better than sharing the happiness with a group of close friends.

4. Celebration with buddies and gym mates at Karaoke. They had a great time with the singing where I was just being an audience.

Those celebrations were fantastic and this would definitely be a memorable year for me. Thanks everyone for always being there for me.

The Search for Charcoal Moon Cake

22 Sep 2009: Received an early call (8:30am) from a friend for breakfast. The sleepy me drove over to Bandar Kinrara to meet with them and went to Bandar Puteri for Dim Sum breakfast. Forgotten the name of the restaurant but the dim sum was quite nice.

Went to Digital Mall to look for mp3 player since we have nothing to do for rest of the day. They have all sort of varieties with wide range of prices dependent on the brand and capacity. You can even get a 2GB mp3 player at the price of RM69 with 1 year warranty, provided you are not brand conscious la.

So we walked over to nearby Baker’s Cottage as my friend wanted to buy the charcoal moon cake. It’s a latest product and my friends said charcoal is good for our body though I have no idea how good it is. Can’t imagine eating charcoal though. Surprisingly it was sold out, and what make it worse is that the so called charcoal moon cake is no more under production. What!!! It was 11 days to go before the festive and it’s already sold out?

Anyone tried this moon cake? Mind to share your thought on it?

My Little Guardian Angel

26 AUGUST 2009: Sometimes, a gift from someone that doesn’t cost much monetary wise but could really touch our heart deeply. A good friend of mine came back from Singapore and made this little gift for me; a little angel made from crystals. I saw such thing before at those shops but I felt nothing towards such fancy accessories. However, when my friend told me that it was hand-made; It was kind of touched me suddenly. Therefore, I hang it in my car where looking at it every day reminds of this precious friend of mine.

What is the cheapest gift you have received that meant a lot for you?



As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been extremely busy lately with works that takes away all my time from blogging and checking out all your blogs (You know who you are). I felt good last weekend when I finally had time to catch up a movie and some drinks at KL. Hope all of you are doing well too.

Selamat berpuasa to everyone.

Sg Gabai day trip & Adidas KOTR Goodies Collection

26 JULY 2009: My 2nd trip to Sg Gabai for these 2 months (Went there last month with a group of friends) but this time around was with family and relatives. Slept at 3am the night before due to clubbing, but woke up at 8am to prepare myself as a driver.

It took around an hour of drive from Serdang to Sg Gabai. A lot of fruit stalls along the way selling mostly durian, mangosteen and cempedak. Reached the destination and they charged us RM1 per person for the carpark/entry. Just paid it since we’ve already there, and then we have to walk up hundreds of staircases to the best picnic spot (carrying food and drinks). The waterfall was nice but I think they need to put more effort to maintain the facilities i.e. toilet. Had our picnic and spent few hours there before we drove back to Serdang. We dropped by at the Hot Spring on the way back, where the place was packed with aunties and uncles. Some of them even brushed their teeth there…so funny.



29 JULY 2009: Adidas KOTR run will be held on 2nd of August at Shah Alam. My friends and I drove over to Stadium Shah Alam to collect the goodies bag. The line was quite long when we reached, but we still patiently queue for it. Anyhow, we were still standing at the same spot after 10 minutes and we started to loss our patience. Even the pakcik who stood in front of us also complained about it. Anyhow, nothing much inside the goodies bag apart from a running shirt, bib and RM50 Adidas voucher. But I do really like the shirt given this year, which it's very well designed and sharp in colour (Orange + blue stripes).

Note: I took the M size and it’s so damn tight. Think I have to diet for whole week to fit into the shirt on this Sunday.

Dinner at Ozeki Japanese Restaurant

4 JULY 2009: Was invited by a close gal friend for dinner at Ozeki Japanese Restaurant in Menara TA. I’ve never heard about this restaurant before, where I drove there with another friend of mine. Found the building itself and simply park my car at the roadside. And there was an Indian buddy requested for RM25 as he claimed it was jockey parking. Fine, I drove my car again to a proper carpark that cost me rm15. Damn, since when the parking in KL become so expensive? The last time I came around the area for clubbing, it fee was rm10.

Reached the restaurant at 9pm and some friends were already there, having the peach salad. Quickly grab some salad as I was very hungry. Then, we ordered some foods recommended and a bottle of red wine. The food served was great in taste comparing to other Japanese restaurants. I love the peach salad and chicken wings very much. Another bottle of red wine after finished the 1st bottle, and we called the night off at 11pm. The damage on wallet for the night, RM600 for 4 pax. I’m so gonna eat bread/biscuit for the rest of month.



Anyone of you been to this restaurant before? How was the damage on your wallet then?

Weekend Makan-Makan + BodyPump

22 JUNE 2009: I had been rushing to complete a document for a whole past week, with lots of night conference calls with U.S. for discussions. It supposed to be a father’s day weekend, but my dad left me alone to Bali for his vacation with siblings. Therefore, the lonely me had decided to retreat myself by joining my gym mates for dinner at Gu Yue Tien Chinese Cuisine located at Chulan Square KL.



I parked my car nearby Pavilion and walked over to Chulan Square, which took me around 10 minutes of walk with chit chat along the way. There was a nice swivel staircase upon entering the main entrance that leads to 1st floor. The restaurant was nicely designed but the space is kind of limited. We ordered a father’s day dinner set that cost RM298 for 4 pax excluded additonal charges. It was a 6 courses dinner with a seafood cold dish (crab, prawn and oyster), shark’s fin soup, scallop, duck leg, noodle and Suet Yi dessert (A free bottle of red wine). The food served was nice in an acceptable portion. Even though it was a bit pricey (for me la), but the lovely decorated environment and great services provided paid it off.

After a heavy makan session over the weekend, I finally joined the Body Pump class at CF today. As a 1st timer, I need to test the water and didn’t put too much weight. I was sort of loss in between that I think the instructor didn’t provide enough explanation for a beginner like me. I warmed up with the weight of 3.5kg (each side) and the maximum weight used was 5kg (each side) during squat. I was still standing after an hour class that my friend said I didn’t use enough weight. Anyhow, it was a great workout and I’ll definitely do it better next time. Next target of mine is cycling class on Wednesday.

While waiting for another conference call here at 12:45am, flashing back what have I done for the past 1 month within the quiet and peaceful night. Obviously, my work load is higher comparing few months back; I've joined gym that I think I'm improving slowly in term of my physical appearance and social life and I've got to know some great friends at gym. However, I think I've loosen up a bit in term of my contact with some close friends of mine like Meg, David, CicakFong, Pontivan, BabiMummy, Anton and etc. Kinda miss them suddenly and will definitely try my best to catch up with them soon....I promise...

Company Annual Dinner

13 June 2009: Went for my company annual dinner at Crowne Plaza hotel, located beside Wisma Genting. The theme of the dinner was “Occupation Night” where I supposed everyone should dress in their dream occupation. But surprisingly only 10 of them reeally put effort to dress up. As I’m damn busy lately managing and running few projects on my hand, I just simply dressed like an office boy. Well, I thought of being a fisherman though but I didn’t have time to prepare those clothes and tools.

The ballroom was located at 30th floor, which is quite with a lovely view of KL. The dinner was scheduled to start at 6:30pm but lots of typical Malaysian colleagues were late. So the dinner ended up started at 7:30pm. It was a buffet style dinner where the food served was fine with acceptable varieties. As far as I’m concerned, I ate quite a lot of salmon and mutton that made me feel guilty until today. But luckily I did go to gym these 2 days to burn those excessive calories taken.

Talking about gym, I purposely went to CF earlier today to join the cycling class. But the class was full, with 5-6 names on waiting list. So I ended up did my routine workout of running plus weight training. Will definitely try out the cycling and bodypump classes someday.



Oh yea, almost forgotten about the lucky draw session. The "lucky" me have got a voucher for a night stay at Cyberview Lodge with 2 breakfast. Why on earth I need to stay there as my house is just 10 minutes away? So I traded it with my colleague for a Nike bag. Not a bad deal huh, at least I can use the Nike bag for gym.

KY as Lara Croft

26 MAY 2009: Went to karaoke with a group of close friends last Saturday. One of them brought along her DSLR camera and requested us to become her model for the photo shoot. We took hundreds of photos within that small karaoke room with a lot of poses for sure. I was quite satisfied with the outcome. However, they said a photo of mine mimic the pose of Angeline Jolie in the Lara Croft movie.

To be fair for myself, I’ve posted the photo here with side-by-side comparison of Angie and let you all to judge it. Let me know what do you think of this ya. :)

Hate to say Good Bye

22 MAY 2009: I’m a person who hates to say Goodbye, but of course only to those person whom I like to be with. Anyhow, separation is unavoidable. Today is the last working day for 3 colleagues of mine in my current company. I’m kind of close with 2 of them where we always went out for lunch and do a little bit of gossip together.

Therefore, I joined their team for farewell lunch yesterday at Italian restaurant nearby. It was a quick bite where they ordered quite a lot of pasta and pizza. I took a light portion as I’m still on diet plan (Yaya, I know it doesn’t work out so well).

Wish them luck on their next career and I’ll definitely catch them up for dinner and drinks someday.



How good are you in saying Goodbye? With tear perhaps?

Family Sport Day

10 MAY 2009: Over the past week, my nephew has been telling a lot about this sport day and keeps asking me go for support. I didn’t give him an answer but I’m very sure in my heart that I will definitely go; just to give him a surprise since this is his very 1st sport day.

On the day itself, my sister and bro-in-law had to be there earlier for the registration. I reached a bit later at 10am, walked quietly towards him and hugged him. He was very surprised to see me and gave me a big hug and kiss. He is such a lovely boy. He participated in 2 team games, and won gold and bronze medals respectively. BRAVO my kid!!!!



He’ll always have my support on such an event in the future.

The Power of Mini Abacus

2 MAY 2009: Went to Thean Hou Temple with family and relatives. My dad always wanted to pay a visit there during Chinese New Year but we weren’t able to do so due to some reasons. Finally, we went there because my relatives wanted to buy a mini abacus (it’s actually a key chain). An uncle of mine said the abacus helps to improve his company’s business (Maybe it’s a feng shui thingy that I shall verify this with granny Twilight). Hearing this, all my relatives were so tempted to get one in order to have the same luck.

Anyhow, I was just a driver on the day itself that I was so blur and sleepy, as I slept at 4am the night before due to clubbing. Anyhow, I was still able to camwhore a bit just to show my sleepy face. :)

Income vs. Expenses

20 APR 2009: I’ve been doing income taxing for the past years and I’m always wondering why I have to pay extra almost every year, whereas I’ve been hearing from friends that they didn’t need so.

Am I really that highly paid? I bet NOPE.

Have I spent too little? I bet NOPE as well since I don’t see any significant changes in my banking account.

This leads me nowhere but to compare my monthly expenses with income that I’ve got. The conclusion is perhaps I’ve been spending too much on entertainment, booze, shopping and travelling where all these couldn’t be calculated in taxing, though I did buy some books and sport equipments last year. :)

Well, I have to better manage my expenses this year!! This would be one of my resolutions for this year.

Despite the bad economy, Proton had released its new MPV named Exora. The busybody me and my brother went for a test drive last Sunday. The showroom was kind of packed and we waited 30 minutes for our turn to play around with the new toy. Drove for few rounds and filled up the comment form. Following is what I’ve written:

- Exterior and design: Boleh tahan lo.
- Engine: Acceptable power but the engine was a bit too noisy for me.
- Interior: Quite spacious with good head and leg’s room. However, the material is a bit plastic lo.
- Overall comment: Quite a good buy for the price tag of RM69k – RM75k if you really need a MPV.

Did you go for a test drive? And what do you think of this car?