I'm a Grandma!

Sunday 28 June 2009

I'm so ecstatically happy that I'm a grandma to 2 gorgeously beautiful grandsons. Brandy delivered 2 healthy males last night 27 June 2009. Ivan's parents discovered one puppy when they came back at 10.20pm. At 10.30pm, another puppy made his debut into the world.

Visited them this afternoon. Brandy's such a lovely mummy. She's very trusting with us and didn't mind me touching her pups at all. Here she is feeding them.

Aren't they just adorable? We think they are our other cocker spaniel Roccoe's. Well, there's no other colours so couldn't be basset hound Duke's. Would be funny having a long cocker running around eh? They are only slightly older than 12 hours and quite strong too. Don't have to fight for Brandy's nipples since there's only 2 of them.

Don't be fooled by their peaceful looks. Quite active buggers. Must have inherited Roccoe's spirit. They'll only open their eyes after 10 - 14 days, bout 7 July.

Love their paws! So small, soft, pink & cute.

A canine's gestation period is 63 weeks. Brandy was 9 weeks pregnant when I took for the 9-hour hike up Bukit Kutu on 16 May in Kuala Kubu Bahru. She would have been 3 months pregnant if she was human. Feel so guilty now but thank God her pups are well & healthy.

Haven't decided on a name for them yet. My mum wants to keep one as our Spitz Jewel is getting old. Can only seperate them after 8 weeks, which is roughly 22 August. Not sure what will happen to the other one. Maybe Ivan's parents will keep him since Roccoe's getting older and at least they'll have a part of him left still.

Almost forgot the poor Daddy. Just realised I don't have many photos of him. He really hates taking photos unlike Brandy who's a cam whore :) Here's a mournful looking photo of 13-year (we're guessing his age - he's a rescued dog) old Roccoe.

Of Dyes & Thais

Saturday 27 June 2009

For the first time in my life, I hired a part-time maid to clean my place. Saw the ad in the lift. RM55 for 4 hours. Not a bad deal. Indonesian Intan was amazing! She came at 11.30am and left bout 4pm. Wiped, cleaned, swept, vacuum, mop, washed the toilet, even dismantled my fan to clean it! Damn pleased with her. Gave her RM60.

Oh, and I also decided to dye my hair black. Fucked it up a few times doing highlights at the salon so I went natural this time. A packet of black henna dye cost RM1.50 at Jasima, TTDI. I've never used powdered henna before so asked Intan for advice. She told me to mix it with a little bit of water till it becomes paste-like. Comb the dye into the hair from the roots until everything's finished. Wait to dry.

Adam Liew told me that it'll dry my hair so I left a hair mask on and it's soft as ever now! Cheapest RM1.50 hair job I ever did. Why didn't I discover this earlier???

Can't really see the change, but it's black!

Wasn't in town on Father's day so took my daddy out for a belated Father's Day dinner at June Thai, TTDI.

My daddy & I

Mum & Sis Edeleen. Raymond couldn't make it.

Ordered prawn salad, tau-fu, sesame chicken, kangkung belacan and tom yam. Food was quite tasty although a bit salty. Price is reasonable enough. They didn't have a wide variety of dessert choices so we ordered cendol & bubur cha cha.

Food wasn't bad too

Oh, & I just got a sms from Ivan's mum that I just became a grandma! Brandy just delivered 2 puppies. Not sure if she's done yet. Wooo hooooo!!!

Cocktales Revealed

Thursday 25 June 09

Deepak launched his blog today! For those who are not aware, Cocktales, by the Thirsty Blogger, is a blog that writes about anything and everything related to alcohol. THE dream job for him. You should check it out. It's creative, informative and totally hilarious.

A toast by the celebrity drinker (He was already drunk by then and it was only 8pm)

The Thirsty Blogger mixing killer drinks for the guest

Modesto's was kind enough to sponsor the venue @ TTDI Plaza, Tong Wah sponsored deadly Absinthes (thanks Michelle!) & Riche Monde, a crate of liquor. Tq Tq Tq.

Michelle showing Adian how the professionals prepare Absinthe

Quite a lot of people from the drinking industry (er..that's like half of M'sia?) graced the launch. Couldn't recognise Sniffer. He looks so clean! Hahha.

The boys (Khang, Sniffer & Deep) with some unidentified shots

Check out Eddy too!! All cleaned up! We were like, who's this cute Chinese dude? Then potong only when we realised it was Eddy.

Deep popped a champagne (or was it a few?) to my absolute delight. Hey, what can I say? Champagne will do it for me anytime :P Here we are toasting to his new beginnings. And don't my wife look lovely when she wants to?

Few of the girls having a bite. Who says girls don't eat?

Do support him and visit his blog. He's trying to get as much traffic as possible so that he can make this his full time job. Now who wouldn't want to drink for a living?

Tribute to the KING

Friday 26 June 2009

A very sad day indeed as the King of Pop made his journey into the other world. He passed on peacefully at 5am Malaysian time.

I blame the world, and every malicious idiots out there who lived on his misery. Why couldn't you just leave him alone? Why should he be denied happiness? Just because he chose to live a certain way doesn't mean you have the right to shit all over his name.

Maybe it was for the best. I don't think he's been happy - what with his possessions gone and people suing him left & right. Maybe he was smiling just before the end. "Take that fuckers. I'm leaving this world for you guys to fight over everything. Sue all you like now bastards!"

Michael, your contribution to the music world is irreplaceable. You will live on forever in our hearts.

Autobots...Roll Out!

Wednesday 24 June 2009

Woo hooo I'm gonna see Transformers today!! I'm not a die-hard fan but I grew up watching the cartoon. Can't say I remember much about the characters but I had a Transformer though - although I'm not sure which one...

Anyway, got 2 tix courtesy of Energizer for the show at Mid Valley at 8.30pm. Wanted to go there earlier cause I needed to find some round, flat batteries for my digital weighing scale and fix my crooked sunglasses which I nicely reshaped when I fell off Kimba.

Picked Farsha up at 7.15pm. Good. Enough time to run all my errands. Or so I thought. Took the Kerinchi Link and damn was it a mistake! It was a parking lot right after the toll! Why the hell did I pay RM1.50 for? Only to get stuck with the rest of KL??

Should I be a rude driver? "Well, we are in a hurry and we need to get there in time..not like all these other people who are just going home..." so said my lovely passenger. Any excuse is a good one right? Managed to get right to the front and cut smoothly into the lane. Sorry guys! But we have Transformers to catch!

Ended up stuck in the lane heading to Mid V when Farsh suddenly said "Hey! There's a lane that leads straight to parking there!" We were on the furthest left lane. Signaled to the right, cut through 2 lanes, made a rude ass of myself and ran over those soft floppy cones to get to the other side. We were in Mid V parking now.. homefree!! yea!!!

Transformers was worth all the hassle. There were action, stunts, explosions, CGIs, bumble bee, flying robots, land robots, weird robots, cute robots, combined robots, more robots, stupid humans, irritating parents and of course.. Megan Fox.

Plenty of robot action

ooo I want her ass.. so what if she's a man (??!!)

I ADORE Bumblebee. Would be cool to have him in my garage huh? Well, I need to get a garage first. He transited from an old, beat-up 1976 Chevy Camaro in the 2007 film into a gorgeous, sleek 2009 Chevy Camaro in the 2009 sequel. Check out that gleam!

Bumblebee as a 1976 Chevy Camaro & a 2009 Chevy Camaro

Ok ok. Enough of Bumblebee. The movie was more than 2 hours long and we finished bout 11pm. Farsh wanted to sit awhile to check the credit roll and because everyone had left the hall, we were able to exit through the front. Hmm.. we decided to break more laws today (well, since we are on a roll) and crash in on any movie.

Hall 4 was screening something so we snuck in (ooh forgot to mention we snuck in McDs & CarlsJr burgers in Farsh's big black bag). Turned out to be Drag Me to Hell. Although we only caught the last 20 mins or so of it, I thought that it was such a B-grade stupid movie. If Sam Raimi can direct blockbuster movies like the Spiderman trilogy, why in the world would he want to come up with such a crappy film? Oh well, maybe if I watched the whole show, my opinion might have changed. hahah at least we cheated GSC out of 20 mins!

Let's Communicate

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Woke up early for breakfast and it was a lucky thing too as I reached office early at bout 9.20am. Overheard Wey Wern talking about the basic communications workshop in the lift which I had TOTALLY forgotten about. Thankfully, there were still 2 manuals left so I joined the club.

The workshop was conducted by Ming from Leaderonomics (a subsidiary of Star), a consulting and learning services provider. It was pretty interesting and useful as we learnt about reading a person's body language and using match & mirror and a couple of other techniques to build rapport.

We learnt to determine if we are Lookers (Visual), Listeners (Auditory), Touchers (Kinesthetic) or Logical (Digital) and how we should communicate to these different groups of people. Ming thought us how to look out for these people by paying attention to where their eyes go when they think, their skin tone, lip size, breathing and blinking. He also thought us the importance and types of listening.

Will try and put some of my newly acquired skills to use so the workshop won't go to waste.

Riding 101

Sunday 21 June 2009

Can you believe I forgot to take my DSLR? I brought its charger but NOT the cam. It's sitting on my beanbag at home. And my compact cam ran out of battery. Luckily Ivan's new Samsung is able to take pics.

Had breakfast and was hoping to have a riding lesson in the morn so can make it back for Father's Day dinner. Daddy was at the golf course when I called. The schedule was fully booked and the earliest was at 3pm. Should I wait? Yes, I really wanted to improve on my trot so what the heck. Watched a bit of CSI and had lunch.

Meet Jazz Malone, the famous champion ex-racehorse

3pm came and I was all ready at the stables. Lara, a student from UK, was my instructor. She thought me the basics first in the dressage paddock where I had to guide Jazz Malone (he's a champion thoroughbred race horse by the way - won the first race in Singapore and there's even a cup named after him) from one specific point to another. I learnt about changing the reins.

Lara thought me bout changing the reins

Did some trotting in a circle on a lunge. Was quite difficult to balance and rise with Jazz' rhythm but I managed it! Lara said I did amazingly well for a beginner (double beam!!) as most won't be able to trot on their own during the first lesson. Had to learn to control from trot to walk to trot to walk. I'm definitely taking lessons after this. Worked up such a sweat. My thighs and ass will be so sore the next day.

Had tea & scones in the evening before we pushed off for home. Adopted a beanie baby which I naturally named Jazz Malone. Farewell Riders Lodge. It was an absolute pleasure. Reached DP at 11pm.

Beanie baby Jazz Malone :)

Just like home

Saturday 20 June 2009

Woke up nice and early for a good hearty breakfast of scramble eggs, toast & sausages. Awesome food they got here. Met the owner, Filipino Agnes who owns the place with her American hubby & Janet Yeo's family. Everyone's so friendly and casual here it felt just like our own home. Most of the staff (mainly hospitable Filipinos) have been there since they opened 10 years ago. They knew us by name as Riders Lodge only has 27 rooms.

Breakfast at the terrace

Our lovely room

I really thought the place was at least 50 years old - used during the Colonial days for some English estate manager's home. The front of the mansion resembled the ranch in the 1978 Dallas TV series while the veranda looked like something out of the Australian bush. Agnes said she wanted the place to look like it has been here for a while and 'lived-in'. Well, she succeeded in doing just that. The place is beautifully maintained.

The front of Riders Lodge

The main house from the back

They even had deck chairs for those who wanted to catch some sun and a jacuzzi for those after-riding sore muscles. Most of the guests were expats from Singapore and Chinese Singaporeans. We didn't meet any Malaysians during the 3 days we were there.

The stables

The place has 52 stables and more than 30 horses. It was really clean too! No smell at all. The horses' bedding are changed daily.

Saying hello to the horses

Went for a trail ride through the plantations. I was on Kimba while Ivan was on Chester. Chester was getting fidgety as the skies were gloomy and started acting up towards the end of the trail. Kimba was stressed and reacted by rearing on his hind legs at a hill which I totally wasn't expecting. His actions caused me to loose balance and I slipped off the horse.

I remembered my last lesson with Lorraine of Berjaya Hills Horse Trails who told me to let go of everything if you happen to fall off a horse. All I saw were long legs and hooves from below. I quickly rolled out of the way. Thank god Kimba didn't accidentally stomp on me. I was lucky - I came out of it with only a small bruise on my knee.

Riding through the plantations

It wasn't Kimba's fault at all. If any, it was mine for not paying attention. We walked the horses back for the remainder of the journey.

Kimba

Had a dip in the jacuzzi before having a delicious dinner of Salmon and roast lamb.

Off to Sedenak, Johor

Friday 19 June 09

Worked the whole day and only pushed off for Sedenak at about 6.30pm. The roads were so congested that we decided to have our dinner at TTDI first. I drove the first half till Ayer Keroh and Ivan took over the wheel next.

Panic after the Yong Peng exit cause we were totally low on fuel. Called PLUS and the guy (they are extremely helpful & nice by the way) said that the next petrol stop is in Machap, 10 clicks away. Phew. Made it there. Here's breathing a sigh of relief at the Machap pumps.


Sedenak is such an obscure town that we passed the turning and went straight to Kulai. Had to patah balik to find that small signboard that says The Legends Golf & Country Resort. Riders Lodge is situated in The Legends' grounds.

We had to turn into a narrow dirt road on the left but it was really worth it. Looming ahead was a beautiful lodge, similar to the one from the 1978 Dallas TV series. It looked like some colonial mansion that was built back in those days for the English plantation managers. Just gorgeous. A long row of stables backed the paddock and open fields.

We checked into the lodge. Time : 11.30pm.

Ivan wasted no time lighting up at our room's veranda

Cook In

Thursday 18 June 09

Farah was an absolute darling to invite a few of us over for dinner. Her cooking's fabulous except she got a few issues - with salt, sausages & budgeting. I came over straight after my pilates. Su was supposed to come for dins but she got caught up with her work so left me, Tyng & Farah with a feast for 6. What in the world were we to do? Called Ivan to come and luckily he could to help us out.

Menu of the day : Kurma chicken, siew pak choy & sausages

Ikan asam pedas (yum!) & telur sambal pedas (double yum!)

Ivan ate for 2 people and managed to finish most of it. Zadin came home later to finish the rest.

Tummy was happy with the good meal. Went back home to work. Burnt the midnight oil that night. :P

Dearly Departed

Wednesday 17 June 2009

I was a bit hesitant when I heard about the invite for the premier of Departures. No 1, I am NOT a Japanese film fan. No 2, I'm not too big on indie films either. But the media preview was to be held at GSC Signature @ The Gardens. I've never been there so curiousity got the better of me.

The cinema was nice! Very classy and sophisticated. They had 2 floors, the ground led to Gold Class and the upper floor, the signature halls. There are cafes and waiting lounges. Tickets are more expensive here too, cheapest being RM15 each.











A few pics of what it looks like. It's all couple seats with plenty of room and a side table where you can put your popcorn & stuff. The seats recline too! Invited my sis & brother along for the show.

The show is about a cellist who lost his job and moved back to his hometown. Desperate, he went for an interview which advertised that the person is required to work with departures. It was actually a misprint (most likely intended) for departed.

The story is about the struggles and stigma he faced, even from his own wife, for taking up the job. It's a very Yasmin Ahmad kind of film (she was in the house too!) where the director aims to portray a taboo topic in a new light. The message conveyed was that it was a very admirable job as the person brings peace to the family of the departed.

It's a touching drama. With comedy thrown in for laughs. Definately NOT for action & CGI junkies. Go watch it if you like a good story line. I know I, my sis & even my 19-year old brother did.

Terminated

Sunday 14 June 09

Did nothing much on a lazy Sunday except that I managed a swim in the morning! Brrr was the water cold. Went for a HUGE bak kut teh lunch at this place in Kelana Jaya (near the LRT station) that we chanced upon. So regretted it later. BKT was good but urgh, were we full. Spent the rest of the day writing my feng shui article.

Wanted to catch Terminator Salvation so went to Cineleisure but unfortunately, all the tickets were sold out by the time we got there. Headed to One U and managed to get the 11.30pm show. Played some games at the arcade before the show. Enjoyed this silly Japanese Bashi bashi (or sumthing like that) the most.

Terminator Salvation was not what I expected. It was just so-so only lo... had a few boring & confusing parts here & there. Thought Sam Worthington did a better job as Marcus Wright than Christian Bale as John Connor. Oh well, at least the special effects were good.

Next : Transformers.

Hard Rockin

Saturday 13 June 09

Had a good healthy day by the pool with Carolynn before heading to the Ipoh hor fun shop down the road with the boys. Khang said he'll paint me my birthday pressie so we headed to the art supply shop to get him a canvas and some paint. Quite a big canvas was bought so Khang (he's such a sweetie) would be pretty occupied soon.

Henry will be playing at Ol' Skool later in the night and I really wanted to go but Ivan wasn't too keen on heading there. Geoff & Diana asked us to go to Hard Rock to celebrate Ivan's belated birthday so we headed there instead. Geoff bought him a pair of luxuriously comfy Onitsuka Tiger that was designed for the Mini collection. Nice!

Funky Onitsuka Tiger

Hard Rock just renovated their premises. Was quite alright except I didn't quite agree with the dinner tables taking up the majority of the space. What a waste of dancing area and it's not very conducive for socialising. We parked ourselves and our Absolut at the bar nearer to the dance floor.

Our vodka bottle

As expected, the club was mainly filled with matsys (quite hunky but don think most were straight). Girls weren't that great. People quality has definitely dropped (maybe I'm one of them too? :P) There was this chinese girl that was doing some sotong moves on the dance floor. Why can't chinese people dance? That's what you get when you give a chinese girl too much to drink. At least it was entertaining.

Managed to have fun twirling and dancing the night away. Finished our bottle and headed back to DP for some maggie mee goreng. Avoided the road blocks. Traffic qi in effect hehe.

Ivan & I

Ivan, Diana & Geoff

Day of Launches

Friday 12 June 2009

I attended the ASUS Eee PC launch in the afternoon as I was interested in getting a sleek little netbook for myself. Was hoping for a Media discount of sorts. I'm hooked. Please, please come back to me with a good discount.

Did some exercise by walking all around Curve, Ikea & Ikano in search of a digital weighing scale. Did you know the scales cost bout RM150 or so??? I know the normal ones cost RM19.90 at Watsons so I didn't expect the digital version to cost so much! Found a nice one at Fitness Concept but decided to hold on to see if I could get one at a cheaper price.

Rushed off to Deep's house cause he said the Solution Vodka launch (Russian vodka) starts at 7pm. Was me, Deep, Max, Henry, Khang and Farah as the driver in her lovely spacious Toyota Rush.

Arrived at 7.30pm after enduring the friday jam to town. Venue was at Le Blanc at Heritage Row. Was deserted when we got there so we created our own party first. Drinks were on the house so no issues there.

They had Orange, Lemon, Original and Peppermint flavour. Lemon & orange are nice. Can't really taste the original but peppermint sucked. And that was the bottle they gave away. Vodka goes down smooth- like all Russian ones do.

Party was alright.. they had a hip hop show & all. Been a long time since I grooved to hip hop. We left the club early.. at midnight! cause we started early. Ben followed us back cause he got ditched by his colleague.

After party at Deep's where he treated us to his delicious maggie mee. Good quiet night with good friends without much drama.