Chasing Tails

Will Be Quiet For a Wee Bit...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Hi all!

My little blog will be quiet for a while until I sort out some issues with my laptop's HDD (hard disk drive). It's currently making some funky "knocking" noises after a certain amount of time and so, am doing the necessary backup just in case something happens. Aside from that, I'll be upgrading the HDD from 120GB to 500GB... since I may need to replace the HDD.

So, while that takes place, I'll be looking at upgrading my laptop's RAM as well from 1GB to 2GB. It isn't much but that's all my little Dell Inspiron 6000 can take.

The estimated amount of $$ I may need to fork out is RM400 for the parts. Labour cost is RM0 as I'll be doing the upgrade myself.

I am tempted to upgrade to Windows 7 but I don't want to fork out the additional $$ for the software.. I've been playing around with the idea of a mini portable (Mac, Windows, Linux???)

Anyway, I'm wondering if I can wait until PC Fair hits KL in order to get the hardware... Hmmm...

Sleep Troubles... Again!!

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:05:00 +0000

Snoopy doesn't like it when I disturb her "beauty sleep"

Of late I've been having difficulty sleeping...

It is frustrating as I've been experiencing great sleep at night for the last couple of weeks after I got out from the hospital. I'm not sure if it is due to the fact that I've started to go back to work since last week and that the stress is coming back, or it's due to the medication I'm taking.

Anyway, I've been trying to apply the correct sleeping habits as follows:

No caffeine/food 2 hours before bed-time
No exercise 3 hours before bed-time
No TV/laptop activities while in bed or before bed-time
Going to bed as soon as you feel sleepy...

However, it does not work. I tend to wake up at 4 or 5am feeling quite alert! Whenever I try to go back to sleep, it is not restful and I wake up feeling more exhausted at 7am.

Grrrrr... Also, I find that when I accidentally fall asleep by 10:30pm and not go to bed soon after, I'm wide awake until 12 or 1am!!!

Sleep is very important and we should try to get at least 7-8hrs per day to stay healthy. If we have not enough sleep, we can put on weight easily and also tend to crave unhealthy foods! My insomnia for the last 3-6mths also played a big factor in my being sick too... So, I'm worried about my sleeping patterns now...

Any suggestions??

Chicken Rice @ Restoran Satellite, Petaling Jaya

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:29:00 +0000

I can't believe that I did not blog about this particular chicken rice place despite having taken photos (and edited it) 3 months back!!!

Anyway, this chicken rice place has been at this location in PJ ever since I could remember. My family has been going to this shop for our chicken rice fix for many many many many years... Yes, ever since I could remember...

The restaurant's name is called "Satellite" and it is situated in PJ, near the KWSP building. It is the last corner coffee shop next to the road junction. If you are familiar with PJ, the shop is located opposite the AOG (Assembly of God) church at Jalan Gasing, PJ.

I love the bean sprouts served at this restaurant. The bean sprouts variety is fat and short, much like the ones they serve in Ipoh. It tends to be sweeter and has more of the bean sprouts taste.

In recent years, my Dad always like to order to minced pork meatballs which the restaurant serves in a soup. The meatballs are pretty large and I think they make it at the premises.

Finally, the "star" of the restaurant; the steamed chicken. The chicken is pretty sweet and fresh always. The sauce they drench the chicken in always seem to be so delicious, despite it being quite oily.

Of course, no chicken rice is complete without the "yellow" rice (rice cooked in chicken stock and other spices/herbs) and chilli sauce. For some of us, the chicken skin is the best part of all!! However, due to cholesterol concerns, we all don't eat the skin now.

Strange enough, when I spoke with my dietitian, she did say that I can still take chicken rice but remove the skin and not take too much of the sauce and avoid the "yellow rice". Besides that, portion control is important when it comes to how much protein and carbohydrates to take in this meal.

This restaurant also serves the "Hor Fun" or flat rice noodles cooked in soup or dry sauce, i.e. soya and oyster sauce which also goes very well with the chicken. ;-)

Just looking at these photos makes me drool.. Hehehe

Healthy Pasta Recipe - Chunky Tuna

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:11:00 +0000

Here's another healthy recipe idea... This time, I happened to have some fettuccine and tuna left over and decided to have a quick pasta dish.

Ingredients for 1 person's portion:

Fettuccine - 1 portion
Garlic (sliced) - 2 cloves
Onions (sliced) - 4 small onions
French Beans (sliced) - 1 portion
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Tuna chunks (in water or olive oil) - 1 portion
Salt and Pepper - to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Mix some sliced onions with the tuna chunks. If the tuna chunks was in water, drain the water first and mix in a bit of olive oil to moisten the mixture. If you like the tuna to be a bit sour, add some squeezed lemon juice.

2. Cook the pasta as per instruction on the packet.

3. Heat the pan with the extra virgin olive oil.

4. Cook the onions and garlic until it is soft. Becareful not to burn the garlic. I find that by cooking the onions first and then adding the garlic, I tend to not burn the garlic.

5. Add the tuna chunk mixture and stir well.

6. Add the cooked pasta and if possible, add in a bit of liquid used to cook the pasta.

7. Add in the sliced french beans. The french beans may be steamed first if you prefer them to be soft; otherwise, the crunchy french beans add a lot of texture to the dish.

8. Season the pasta with salt and pepper to taste. This step is optional if you intend to keep it low sodium.

9. Add some extra virgin olive oil to finish the dish.

This is definitely a very quick dish to make especially when you don't have the time when you're back home from work or school.

Hope you like it!

World Diabetes Day

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:46:00 +0000

14th November is World Diabetes Day.

The reason why I'm blogging about this is because my mother's sister suffers from Type 2 Diabetes. We don't have any substantial medical history if my mother's parents or other relatives suffers from the disease previously. So, when we heard that she had it, we were shocked.

A lot of folks do not realize the dangers of consuming too much refined sugars in our diet.

There are also alot of myths surrounding getting the disease such as "I'm thin, I won't get the disease" or "None of my family members had the disease and so, I won't get it."

Based on what I've read, it seems that researchers cannot pinpoint exactly why some adults will develop the disease despite being perfectly healthy and active. Of course, being overweight and not having a healthy lifestyle makes us more susceptible to developing the disease.

Some years back, my family discovered a book on the dangers of sugar and we started to cut back on our intake of processed foods. However, I've learned now that cutting back sugars is only 1 small part of the puzzle. The major part of the staying healthy is to be active, i.e. exercising.

My recent health scare has prompted me to take a more serious action on this as diabetes can cause many problems such as heart disease and kidney problems. Diabetes can also destroy nerves which leads to limb amputation and blindness. I learned that my blood sugar was a bit high and so, decided to learn more about this disease.

However, if you get diabetes, it does not mean that you'll need to have insulin injections. There is oral medication if you are found to be insulin resistant. That's why it is important to have a full medical check-up as the doctor would be able to prescribe the right therapy for you.

Besides that, getting diabetes also does not mean that your diet must be entirely sugar free. Diet changes should be to cut back on all foods with refined sugars such as white bread, sugar (obviously), soda drinks, anything which contains "corn syrup or high fructose syrup". Diabetics can still take sugars but in very very small amounts and less frequent as possible. Our bodies still need sugars as fuel.

Get your blood sugar checked. Prevention is better than cure...

Life Is Precious

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:00:00 +0000

I don't think most of us know how precious life is until something happens to us.

Anyway, as a quick update as I'm sure lots of folks are concerned about how I'm doing lately.

When I left the hospital I had lost 4kg. The nurses were quite shocked when I kept losing weight when they weigh me in the mornings when I was at the hospital. This is all water weight as I was taking some medication to get rid of water.

I had been given some medical leave by the cardiologist and I badly needed it. My BP (blood pressure) had dropped to almost normal and because of that new BP, I was feeling dizzy whenever I stood up. In fact, there were times when I experienced black outs and nearly fainted. So, I had to rest more in order to get used to that new range of BP.

For the last couple of weeks I've been closely monitored by my doctors and from the last visit, one of them decided to increase some medication, while the other has planned another echo-cardiogram scan next month.

The good news is that I'm allowed (and encouraged) by the cardiologist to start exercising, i.e. to concentrate on cardio more. I could do some resistance training to strengthen my muscles but not heavy lifting. So, until the doctor gives the OK, can I start to do vigorous exercising again. So, I'm limited to walking for cardio but not running on the elliptical trainer, which was what I like to do.

Besides that, no heavy lifting means that I can't really go running around with my laptop strapped to my back; which is what a lot of folks at the office see me do as I move around floors and between the two client sites.

I'm grateful for this new lease of life. To a lot of folks who knew me, I've already started my journey towards good health last year when I joined the gym and got educated on how to exercise and eat right.

All I can say is that, the cause of a lot of health problems was stress. I was stressed out. When I got stressed, I didn't sleep well, eat well or even found time to rest. When stress levels are high, we are drawn to unhealthy habits which would eventually lead us down a dangerous path.

So, from this scare, I'm grateful that God has led me down that path; and with His help and love, I can only get better in time.

The Twins Have Grown... A Lot!

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:00 +0000

The twins celebrated their full moon on 3rd October but I did not have the time (and energy) to organize my full moon photos... :P

Now that they are just past their 2nd month, I'm sure lots of people are curious as to how big my nieces, Charlotte and Olivia has grown.

I can tell you that they are doing very well and I noticed how big they've grown after 4 days in the hospital. It was as though they sprouted overnight.

Give me a "T"!!!

I took this photo at the end of last month when I was resting at home. Both twins had just woken up for their feed and we were waiting for the hot water to be ready to give them their morning bath. As you can see, baby Charlotte (in the foreground) has grown taller. Her face has gotten a bit rounder.

Give me an "L" (reversed...)

Here's a picture of baby Olivia. As you can see, she is almost bursting from her clothes... Yes, she is a bit heavier than her older sister, Charlotte.

According to my sister, both twins are slightly overweight. However, it is not too bad at this stage as they seem to be self-regulating the amount of milk they want to drink. They will stop feeding when they are full and no matter how hard we try to get them to complete their milk, they will refuse to drink.

Anyway, as long as both kids are healthy, that is all we care about at this point. :-)

Korean Food @ Kimchi Restaurant, Tropicana City

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:30:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, EV had the craving for Korean food. She was shopping at Tropicana City and I dropped by to accompany her for lunch.

I did not have any lunch but decided to take photos of the food she had. I did share a side dish and it was pretty good. :P

For Korean food, side dishes often accompany a main dish and this restaurant had provided a variety of type of dishes which has a taste ranging from sweet to sour to spicy. Aside from the traditional Korean spicy kim chi (top right), the side dishes we got was (from top right to left): sweet omelet slices, cold spinach, (from bottom right to left): sweet and sour tofu pieces, cold bean sprouts and sweet sliced fish cakes.

I'm not sure if the side dishes are refillable but we both could not finish all the side dishes.

I already had my dim sum lunch and so, just ordered a simple Mango smoothie (without milk). It was a bit too sweet for my taste but very refreshing. However, Tropicana City air-conditioning was running at optimum level and so, I was shivering when we left the restaurant.

EV ordered some grilled chicken. It had a hint of kim chi which made it a bit spicy but it was quite good. It certainly will be a good appetite inducer and will warm the tummy for a cold day... at Tropicana City.

EV also ordered some potato pancakes. These pan cakes were just lightly pan fried. There isn't much taste except for potatoes and so, can be eaten as replacement for rice... If you're bored with it. After eating this, I believe my potato-loving friend might enjoy this dish a lot.

As for price, I can't really recall how much everything came up to as EV paid for it. I do recall that the grilled chicken was around RM18+

There are other more interesting places at Tropicana City which both EV and I are curious about. I know with my strict diet I can't eat them all but at least photograph the yummy food...

Healthy Pasta Recipe - Tomato Based

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:10:00 +0000

Due to my food restrictions, I've been looking out for some healthy pasta recipes which I can cook.

I managed to find my whole wheat pasta and low-salt tomato pasta sauces from Cold Storage. I bought Preggo's Heart Smart Pasta Sauce which is made up of tomatoes, onions and garlic. It has low salt and has been approved by the US Heart Association. The sauce was a little pricey RM12 for a large bottle but I was lucky as I got the whole wheat pasta free together with the bottle!

Anyway, my recipe does not have any added salt or sugar as the sauce would have adequate seasoning.

Ingredients for 1 person's portion:

Whole Wheat Spaghetti (I got San Remo) - 1 portion
Garlic - 2 cloves
Onions - 2 small red onions or as many as you like
Cherry Tomatoes - 3
Heart Smart Onion and Garlic Pasta Sauce - 5 tablespoons
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
Parsley Flakes
(optional) - Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil the spaghetti in hot water. The pasta will take around 8-10 minutes to cook since it is whole wheat. If you have specific diet restrictions, cook the pasta until aldente, i.e. still chewy and not too soft. Drain most of the water from the pasta.

2. Heat the pan with extra virgin olive oil.

3. Cook the onions and then add the garlic. Garlic tends to burn easily and so, do watch the heat of the pan.

4. Once the onions and garlic look soft, add the pasta sauce and keep the pan to medium heat.

5. Add the cooked pasta and some of the pasta water to make the sauce. Mix well. (Optional - You can add salt and pepper for taste at this point)

6. Add the cherry tomatoes and turn off the heat when the sauce and pasta has mixed well.

7. Sprinkle the parsley flakes.

8. Eat and enjoy. ;-)

There is also an optional step to this recipe which is to add a bit of skimmed or low fat milk to make the sauce creamy. Also, since this is a vegetarian dish, you can also add meat to the sauce too. The important step is to brown your meat first and then cook your sauce in the same pan.

Also, if you want to add more interesting flavours, here are my suggestions:

Toasted pine nuts
Fresh parsley instead of dried parsley flakes
Fresh basil

Finally.. Here is the result of my quick recipe...

Looks good, right? ;-)

Dim Sum @ Taman Desa

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:16:00 +0000

One of the favourite things which I will miss is having dim sum... Not that I have it very often but just that being on a strict diet (and exercise regime), I don't think I'll be having dim sum so soon.

Anyway, after this dim sum lunch last month, my parents and I agreed that we can't have it too often as the stuff we order makes us feel too bloated after eating it.

We ordered all the usual stuff and we typically like the steamed stuff more than the fried stuff. We even ordered the pork and century egg porridge to share amongst us.

Dim sum is great to be shared with 3 people as the dishes come in threes which is just right.

The "Loh Mai Gai" was pretty ok. It wasn't too oily and I like that there was enough meat and mushroom filling proportionate to the amount of glutinous rice.

BBQ Pork Buns are my favourite. Since there were three served, each pork bun is not too large and just great for a taste. However, since we were already quite stuffed by then, we struggled to finish the buns.

One of my favourite dishes is the Har Gao or steamed prawn dumplings. For me, this is the epitome of a good dim sum. The skin of the dumpling should not be too thick or thin so that the prawns would not be too dry when eaten. Besides that, the prawns must be fresh too or else, the dish will be bland and tasteless.

I love steamed fish balls. This fish ball was quite good as it wasn't too hard and the texture was just right.

For me, no dim sum is complete without the Hong Kong styled Chee Cheong Fun. My parents wanted to try the BBQ pork and so, we had the pork variety instead of the prawn.

By the time we finished our meal, we were really full. Thank goodness we decided to have some hot Chinese tea to wash away all the fat and oil, though, the food was not all that oily.

I can't really remember the name of the restaurant but it is in Taman Desa, near the field where the dogs are being trained.

It will be a very very long time before I can head back to this restaurant again. Aside from dim sum, the shop does sell some noodles too.

My Health Scare

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:45:00 +0000

I'm finally well enough to touch the laptop. I don't miss it much for the past few weeks as I had to rest and it was a welcomed relief.

My silence is evident that I definitely needed to get away from the laptop and work. And I did.

It has been a couple of weeks since I had my health scare.

On 21st October, I went to SDMC (formerly SJMC) to see a doctor based on the recommendation of the family GP (General Practitioner) the night before as I had extremely high blood pressure. I went to see the family GP as I had been coughing very badly and found it hard to breathe.

When I visited the doc at the hospital, he was concerned about my BP and ordered some tests. I went for my chest x-ray and ultrasound scans first. I even had my blood drawn too. When the x-ray results came back, I had to be referred to the cardiologist.

That was the first scare but I was staying calm.

The cardiologist saw me, had my BP checked again and immediately asked me to stop all movement and ordered that I be admitted for full bed rest as my BP got very high and my heart was not doing so well. He had me go for an echo-cardiogram test.

I did not expect to be admitted but to be sent home with medication and perhaps a couple of days of MC.

Instead, the doctor ordered me to be admitted and have full bed rest. That meant that wherever I go, I have to be pushed in a wheelchair.

For that 1st night, my BP had a lot of difficulty being stabilized, so much so that I had to be given medication under the tongue to get the blood pressure to go down. My systolic BP hovered around the 200 region which was major cause for concern.

The blood pressure eventually did drop after I did some relaxing breathing exercises and bed rest. I ignored all phone calls except for those from my family. Some folks from work did come to visit but not my PM. She kept calling and probably wanted to ask about work or when I would be back. Not once did she visit me while I was at the hospital.

By Thursday, my BP was nearly back to normal and the doctor ordered a CT scan of my kidneys. Even then, my other PM called me just minutes before I went in to ask about work when I've e-mailed everyone about the status the day before I was admitted into the hospital.

Anyway, the CT scan was quite interesting where I ended up having an itchy allergic reaction to the dye. I had to take an anti-histamine which made me sleep. However, I did not realize that the nurses had twisted my IV needle in the back of my hand too tightly that I was bleeding for a bit. By the time I was ready to head back to my room, there was a small pool of blood on the floor and a slight pain in my hand.

Then, I had a call from the hospital telling me that they need to draw more blood from me as they did not have enough for a test. They wanted me to come in but I told that I'm already admitted in the hospital. Hmmm... Nevertheless, I gave them my room number so that they can come the following morning to get my blood.

I had a lot of visitors and was shocked that the customer came to visit too. My best friends dropped by, and one even sat down for 1 hour to give me a scolding. She had the biggest scare of her life as she said that she never expected to visit me at the cardiology ward.

I finally got discharged that Saturday and the doctor gave me 1 week to rest at home. I had an appointment to see the doctor again the following week. The doctor even assigned me a nutritionist to help me educate me about managing my conditions. Aside from the mandatory diet control, I've got to slowly get back to my exercise regime which cannot be too vigorous.

As of today, I will have a few more appointments with the doctors for the next few months before I return to the family GP for follow-up consultations.

I'm currently still resting as the doctor has given me another week off after I complained about feeling dizzy and being prone to black-outs due to my blood pressure falling very low.

However, I'm finding it hard to rest properly as I've to help out with the twins who are really a handful now. They cry constantly, cannot decide if they want to eat or sleep or burp or cry. They cry even when they are feeding!!

The biggest lesson learned is that I've not been taking good care of myself. Not enough "me-time" and too much "work-time". I'll always remember the look my family GP gave me about my attitude towards work. He said, "It can wait. Your health can't."

Hope that most of you know about your "numbers". No, this is not how much $$ you have in your bank a/c, your stock portfolio, # of skills/work experience you have but the following:

What is your waist-line, BMI (Body Mass Index), % of fat?
What is your blood pressure (during rest)?
What is your heart rate (during rest)?
What is your cholesterol levels?
What is your fasting glucose level?

These are just 5 basic "numbers". If you have not done your annual health check-up, please do so.. especially when you are approaching 30 or above it.

After my scare, most of my friends are planning to do their annual check-ups and some will be doing their blood test for the 1st time.

To my friends, and colleagues who prayed and visited, I thank you guys for keeping me in your thoughts. I'm feeling much better now and am getting on track to being active again.

I've got to learn to manage my stress levels better as any stress will cause 3 things to happen: 1) increased heart rate (which is bad), 2) increased blood pressure (which is very bad) and 3) increased blood sugar (which is very very bad and may cause my kidneys to tapao if not managed well).

Take care all!

Happy Festival of Lights!!

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:16:00 +0000

Wishing everyone and their families a Happy Deepavali or Diwali!!!!!

Sorry-la... No photos this year as I didn't manage to go out to take photos of those beautiful kolums...

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Trois (Three)

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:49:00 +0000

This is my last post about Bukit Tinggi... I think 3 posts is enough to talk about a single place, right?

Anyway, I've been gone for the past few days as I've just been swamped with work. I've been running around in between meetings and also picking up some work as a colleague has gone off for her break for about a week.

I just realized that my little camera has just about turned 1-year old. Hence, my journey into amateur photography has just reached its 1st year anniversary!

I've definitely learned quite a bit during my 1st year but I have a long way to go to perfect my craft. Being the perfectionist, this is going to be a tough journey. So, most of the time, you'll hear me curse and swear when a picture is just not taken correctly in-frame. I believe that the better that you know your camera, the less time you'll spend in front of the PC correcting the photos. ;-)

When evening came around, the courtyard was quiet and still. However, we found out that it's because everyone had swamped the restaurants for dinner. We went down for dinner quite late as we were exhausted after spending some time at the Japanese Village earlier.

We had to wait almost an hour for a table and by the time we wanted to order our food, the selection was quite limited.

The next morning, we had to queue up for a long time for the buffet breakfast. It was pretty good. I was happy to have my scrambled eggs and some beef bacon. (Of course, I would love pork bacon with my scrambled eggs)

After breakfast, we spent some time around the courtyard before we had to check-out and take the 12pm bus back to KL.

The courtyard was quite empty as it happened to be the last day of the Hari Raya public holidays. With the day trippers gone, it was pleasant to walk around the compound as we would not be bumping into anyone.

There were a few swans in the small ponds just near the car park. I was lucky to catch them during the morning feed and they approached us.

It's strange to see one of the black swans sleeping with one leg up...

Before we left, we had a quick stop at the French coffee cafe and I managed to take some pics of the lovely pastries there...

Although the pastries looked fantastic, I couldn't bring myself to spend RM5 for a danish...

The trip was pretty good and I was completely exhausted by the time I got home. I would have loved to have used a few filters as most of the pictures taken were during bright daylight which caused a lot of photos to be "white-washed" or a little over-exposed.

Be prepared to spend a little bit more when you're planning to spend the night at Bukit Tinggi. Also, do bring your supplies of water or snacks as there are no convenience stores open at the resort.

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Deux (Two)

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:06:00 +0000

A continuation of my trip...

After a hearty lunch, we could not get into our room as housekeeping didn't have it ready yet. So, we decided to visit some of the attractions around Bukit Tinggi.

There are a few ways to get around the attractions, you either drive or take the shuttle or.... if you're really really up to it.. walk. We both decided to wait for the shuttle.

Being the school/public holidays, the resort was just filled to capacity with day trippers. There were not enough shuttles to go around and we had to wait 20-30 minutes before we can get on board one. AND... as usual, with typical Malaysian KIASU gusto, you will see throngs of people rushing to the shuttles to get on board with total disregard for safety... (imagine, seeing people jump up into the shuttle when the shuttle has not stopped properly...)

We took the shuttle to the Japanese garden and really looked forward enjoying the scenery there.

When we reached the signboard, I noticed something very interesting...

Me: *sniff sniff*... Uggghhh.. What is that smell?
EV: Toilet-la...
Me: o_0

Yes, there were so many people that you can smell the toilet as you walk towards the Botanical Garden as you pass the souvenir shop. Ugghh..

Within the Botanical Garden, lies a small Japanese restaurant. I looked at the prices and it is pricey to eat Japanese food in the "mountains". However, due to the big crowds, the restaurant was pretty packed with some patrons enjoying a late lunch or some dessert.

It was a relief to walk around the garden as it had been quite hot and humid after the showers which came down during lunch.

I did not go down the hill due to my knee problems and so, stopped halfway to enjoy the cool breeze and scenery around.

Besides the Botanical garden, there was a small Japanese garden at the other side of this "village".

The Japanese garden is designed in the manner of the Japanese style, using a lot of natural elements of water, wood, stone and earth in order to beautify the surroundings. The feeling you get as you walk around the garden with the tea house is one of being "united with nature".

I wanted to take a photo where I could "freeze" the movement of water and was glad that I experimented with the shutter speed settings of my camera. It is still not quite perfect but I understand the concept of using the shutter speeds to capture movement.

It is a joy to photograph in these gardens and I did wish that I had some macro lens or a superzoom to capture some of the more detailed elements. Oh well...

We left the Japanese village at around 5:30pm as we wanted to catch the last few shuttles back to the resort to rest in our room. Again, we had to face the mayhem of getting a seat on the shuttle when it came...

Now... what was there to do at night in Bukit Tinggi...

Trip to Bukit Tinggi Part Un (One)

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:38:00 +0000

During the recent Raya break, I took an overnight trip up to Bukit Tinggi for a short R&R. Well... It turned out to be less R(rest) and more A(activity).

We decided not to drive up as I wasn't familiar with the roads and also, thinking that there would be a traffic jam due to the public and school holidays. Boy, was I glad about that decision. Sure, it was costly to pay RM40 for the 2-way trip (up and down) but it really did save me from the stress and anxiety of finding parking and etc because the "hill" was packed to capacity!!

Colmar Tropicale was a lot smaller than I anticipated but that's because the entire place is just a hotel/resort for the guests to stay before they venture out to indulge in other activities.

This isn't a photographer's heaven but it certainly is a great place to practice my art. I've not done a lot of architecture photography and so, this was a chance for me to try it out.

Both sides of the court yard were lined with small stalls as well as hotel restaurants - Italian (pasta/pizza), a rotisserie, buffet restaurant, French fine dining and Thai/Vietnamese. Limited choice with limited seating. The crowds were so packed on the first day we arrived that we had to wait 30 minutes for a seat at a restaurant and another 30 minutes for lunch/dinner.

I took the view of the entire court yard from the observation tower, which lucky for me, had a lift!! Hehehe... After all, I was lugging my heavy equipment around and so, the lift was a relief!

Some shots taken here are great candidates for my fake miniatures and I can't wait to play around with that. Kekeke...

Food-wise, we were quite limited to the 5 restaurants around the resort, unless we were game enough to venture out to the Japanese garden, where they have a restaurant but the prices were just crazy... So, for lunch, we decided to have the Italian food as reviews said that the food was pretty good.

Portions were quite reasonable for the price we paid. Taste-wise, it was pretty good.

This "blob" is actually beef lasagna. Plenty of cheese and meat although there were not many layers but pretty tasty with just the right amount of tomato.

After lunch, we hung around the court yard for a little while as there was a looooong queue for the rest rooms. Our room was not ready yet and so, we just had to wait until housekeeping could get it ready.

Meanwhile, we planned to head to the Japanese garden and so, there was another loooong wait for the shuttle to arrive to take us there.

Well, good to stop here. I will continue with Part Deux (two) of this little trip... ;-)

You Need To Be More Sick To Get Well Faster...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Geez... This year has been pretty bad for me... Health-wise that is.

I've already fallen sick at least 3 times within the last 6 months!! And each time I got sick, I seem to be taking longer to recuperate. :-(

This time is no exception. I went to see the doctor twice to complain about the medication. Because of my throat infection, he prescribed some antibiotics which I dutifully complete the entire dosage long after my sore throat is gone.

However, this time round, I developed a "side-effect". I started to have diarrhea because of the antibiotics... So, I went back to see the doctor.

Doc: So, what's wrong?
Me: I feel much better, can breathe with less wheezing but I'm having diarrhea. Is it because of the medication?
Doc: Have you been eating out?
Me: No (*thinking* - I thought the doc told me to eat soft, non-oily foods the last time round... )
Doc: Then, it must be the antibiotics. 1 out of 3 people will develop this side-effect
Me: O_O

The doctor prescribed a round of medicine to stop my diarrhea. I still have to complete my antibiotics but will have to treat the side-effect in order to get well.

That's the funny bit about this time's bout with the bug. Am sure my immune system must have had a laugh.

However, on a more serious note, I did complain to the doctor about my breathing difficulties which caused me to feel like shit. He heard that I was wheezing and was afraid that I would start to develop asthma. Genetics may make me pre-disposed to asthma and allergies but I'd guess it had to be due to something else. The doctor also suspected stress which can bring this out. Regardless, I will need to see another doctor for a second opinion.

I have been feeling particularly stressed out and finding it hard to de-stress (i.e. gym) due to work/home issues. Just that when you see the doctor and he mentions a disease which can stick with you for life, or can be life-threatening at any moment; it is a wake-up call.

With the advancement of technology, we're expected to live longer than our parents/grandparents; but if stress is a major factor of daily life, I think many of us are just ticking time bombs where health issues explode out of stress. The sad part is, it's lifestyle-related.

Hmmmm... I need to sleep. Enough talk, I'm feeling breathless...

50mm Fun @ Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafe

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Hope that everyone had a great break over the long weekend.

I still have loads of photos to process as I took a short trip up to Bukit Tinggi...

I had some 50mm fun some weeks back when I met up with EV to discuss about the Raya holiday break. I brought my camera and laptop to do our research.

My 50mm which is a prime lens has a very lovely "bokeh" despite having a f-stop of only f/1.8 but it was a steal at RM350 from Canon!

I've been to this cafe previously but never had the chance to try out the desserts. So, this time round, EV and I decided to have a late lunch together with some cakes...

I believe this is the cappuccino mousse cake which was a tad bit dry but quite good. I may be wrong as I can't recall if we ordered tiramisu or the mousse cake.. Hmmm...

The green tea cake was quite good. It came with the red bean paste or azuki bean paste which is slightly sweet to complement the slight bitterness of the green tea flavour.

Before our desserts, we had a small lunch, where I ordered the Black Pepper Chicken Chop which was pretty good. The portion is a bit small for guys but for gals, it is just nice. ;-)

I had some potato craving... (aii.. carbs.. my nemesis) and so, had to order the side-order of potato salad.

I didn't quite like it as it had too much mayonnaise and not enough chives. The various garden greens is a great complement as it took up most of the mayonnaise. EV liked it though.

All of these photos were taken with my 50mm lens. This means that in order to take these photos, I had to maneuver the items as well as my position in order to take the photo. This certainly is teaching me how best to compose my photos.

Anyway, practice makes perfect... My previous post was done with my 50mm lens as well... ;-)

I would recommend those who are starting out with photography to have in your "arsenal" a good prime lens, and the 50mm is a good buy.

I'm still targeting either the 60mm or 100mm macro lens but both lens require significant amount of investment...

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:44:00 +0000

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri...

To everyone who is traveling these Hari Raya Holidays, have a safe "balik kampung" with your friends and family.

12 Days Old...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:29:00 +0000

The twins have been home for the past 10 days.

They both seem to have settled into the regular routine of eat, sleep, poo, pee, and eat again.

Yep, both parents are having some sleepness nights. ;-)

Anyway, they are not too difficult to care for at this stage as they are not very mobile but just very delicate. So, we have to be a bit more careful when we pick them up as their necks are still a wee bit fragile.

My sister is breastfeeding them and I learned that they will poo more when they take breast milk. However, mother's milk is still the best!

Snoopy and Rusty have gotten used to them, however Rusty is more excited than usual because he thinks both of the small humans can play with him now. I think he will be their best friend in the next few years when they are old enough to run and play with him. Snoopy, on the other hand, is more docile and very protective. She sits near by to watch over them like a security guard.

Charlotte is still feeding on demand as she is the smaller of the two. She, being the big sister is often more calm and collected. She seems pensive but quite cheerful and has the sweetest smiles.

Olivia is just precious. She loves to sleep alot and is somewhat of a joker... We noticed that she makes a lot of "cat-mewing" type noises when she sleeps. Kind of reminds me of my Mom when she sleeps because my Mom tends to "talk" in her sleep. No doubt, Olivia might be the more talkative of the two...

Both are a joy to photograph with my 50mm lens. I'm glad I bought it, though I was targeting the 60mm Macro lens in the 1st place.

No flash photography yet as both are still delicate. Later on, I'll experiment with my flash as I might setup a mini studio to take photos of them when they are older.

Torturous Days Ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:14:00 +0000

My blog has been very quiet lately as I've been busy with a couple of things...

Work
More Work

The best part is... There has been talk about moving the project up by a three months last week but as of today, what has been just "talk" will become reality, making the project delivery to be completed by January 2010.

What does that mean?

More work...

More stress...

More teamwork... (yeah, right..)

Less appreciation... (for the person who does the most work..)

Thank you...

The Last Day @ Meng Kee, Jalan Tengkat Tongshin

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Talk about "The Last Supper"...

Just last week, I went with a group of friends to have brunch at one of KL's old eateries.. Meng Kee @ Jalan Tengkat Tongshin.

This place has been an institution of food in the Bukit Bintang area for a great many years.

It just so happens that the day we all decided to meet up at Meng Kee was to be the last day the shop would be opened at its current location at Jalan Tengkat Tongshin. When the shop finishes its business at around 3pm, it would be closed for good.

However, it won't be closed for long as the stall would relocate to Jalan Alor, which is just behind its current location. The shop would reopen in about 1-2 weeks time.

We chatted with one of the aunties and she mentioned that the stall did not want to pay the exorbitant rentals which has kept increasing year upon year. It seems that the rental of the shop was RM20,000 per month!

Being in a nice location with some pretty interesting decorative architecture, this shoplot would soon be converted into something trendy like some of the restaurants down the road, i.e. Changkat Bukit Bintang.

Now, time for the food... :-)

Yes, we had to have some vegetables... Although it was supposed to be a day of celebration for some of us carnivores but the balanced omnivores wanted some greens/fibre...

The steamed chicken was yummy. I think it was kampung chicken or free-range, as the fat was quite yellow and the meat especially sweet. The farm-reared chicken tends to taste a bit bland, which means that when steamed, the meat is not as sweet.

Meng Kee has some really delicious char siew or honey BBQ pork which just melts in your mouth. The pork is BBQ to perfection where the dark bits are sticky and sweet, without leaving the meat hard and dry. In short, each mouthful tastes succulent and moist!

As usual, there are no photos of my friends pigging out as they are shy to be in front of the camera.

I think I will pay Meng Kee a visit at their new location (near Nova Hotel at Jalan Alor) when they reopen in about a week's time.

Introducing Charlotte & Olivia

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:54:00 +0000

Finally... Both of them are here!

My sis safely delivered both Charlotte and Olivia just past 10:30am with both twins a minute apart. She underwent a C-section as her pelvis was too small to deliver both babies.

In my last post, I mentioned that they were identical but turns out that I had the wrong info from my Dad.

They both have their own amniotic sacs, hence making them both fraternal twins. However, time will tell if both of them would look similar or not.

Well.. Here they are...

Charlotte Wong - COW I

Olivia Wong - COW II

They are barely one day old and their father has already given them nicknames...

Anyway, Charlotte looks more like her father, while Olivia looks more like her mom. Seems only fair... Kekeke... I just hope that the kids won't be as bratty as her Mom... Kekeke

Congrats Melina and Dallas!!!!

Update: Countdown to The Arrival of the COWs

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:10:00 +0000

Latest Update...

Thank God that both the twins were delivered safely this morning.

Seems that Olivia is bigger than her sister, Charlotte by 0.4kg... I'm not sure about the weight of both girls.

Yes, the twins are identical. I wonder which one will be right-handed, and the other left-handed... As the mirroring of the dexterity happens in identical twins...

Both twins and mother are doing fine.

Countdown to The Arrival of the COWs...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:38:00 +0000

In about 10-12 hours time, we will be expecting the new arrivals of the twins Charlotte and Olivia Wong.

My sister has checked into the hospital at around 10pm last night and my bro-in-law has opted to spend the night there with her. The cesarean operation will take place late in the morning...

STAY TUNED!!

Musical Nights...

noreply@blogger.com (Angie Tan) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:23:00 +0000

I know... I know... I've neglected my blog some what.

Well, between work and recovering from my bouts with the cough, cold, flu (errr... no H1N1...), I've had enough material to blog about for the next 5 posts!! Hehehe...

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a couple of musical performances with friends and family.

The first one was with my family, to attend the famous Lisbon Chamber Choir concert held in my church in Subang Jaya. The performance was to raise funds for the church building fund. We've already attended the special screening of the movie "Man for All Seasons" previously and this time, with a famous international choir in town, we could not pass up the chance to miss it!

We were entertained by the KL Children's Choir and they sang beautifully for their young age. I especially loved their rendition of "Chan Mali Chan", a traditional song.

There was also some cultural performances by youth from a nearby church too. They danced to the song "We Are One Body", which was pretty good.

Finally, we had the Lisbon Chamber Choir perform some music for us. It is just amazing how the human voice can convey such angelic tunes without any accompaniment of a musical instrument. I was blown away by the range of sounds from the deep baritones to the high pitch sopranos.

We also had a church member to perform that night as well. She came back from the US to sing for us. I can't recall her name, unfortunately, but felt that her voice was suited to classical music. She sang two songs, 1 classical and the other a more contemporary song.

The choir was so fantastic that the crowd held out for encores and the choir performed a few more songs which included a song in Chinese. I definitely enjoyed myself that night.

Then, a couple of weeks later, I joined a group of friends to attend a Jazz performance at the Dewan Philharmonik Petronas KLCC. My friends had always suggested that we attend a concert together and after looking at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra season, we found out that Jazz band from New Orleans would be in town.

Being a lover of Jazz, especially being a great fan of Louis Armstrong, we could not miss this performance from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band or PHJB.

Although we sat right at the back of the hall, the acoustics was so fantastic that we could hear every single note clearly. The music was so lively, you could not help but to dance in your seat. We tapped our feet, clapped our hands, whistled and howled when the music got going.

The best part of it all, my friends and I joined in the Second Line for the last song of the night, the evergreen classic, "When The Saints Come Marching In". We ended up being on the stage of the hall, dancing away until the band left the hall to end the performance for the night.

It was AWESOME!!!

It certainly has fueled my determination to visit New Orleans in the future. To visit the historic French Quarter, Bourbon Street and yes... Even to go down to see PHJB again.

P/S: The videos posted of PHJB showcased some of the songs I heard that night.