.....times of refreshing.....

A simple dinner in Yong Peng....

2013-06-20T00:00:00.000+08:00

While on the way back from Seremban last Sunday for Father's Day celebration, my family and I decided to stop-by the Foochow rich town of Johor, Yong Peng, for a simple dinner. Initially, we wanted to go the well known corner lot coffee shop (before turning to the NE highway), Hock Swee Hin restaurant, but they are closing around 9pm. Thus, we settled at Old Street Restaurant, located near the interchange to the NE highway. It was just a simple meal to fill our stomach.

Pork ribs 'king' - Sour but appetising. The meat was crunchy!

A healthy vegetables

The famous 'foochow' soup. -- My favourite too, put some vinegar in it and it's real good!

Their famous tofu. It's soft and delicious.

We are on our way back to JB after a simple dinner.

Hot lunch!!

2013-06-18T00:00:00.000+08:00

It was a hazy Monday yesterday and the weather was humid and hot! Anyway, that doesn't deterred us from enjoying the famous Soon Huat bak kut teh at Taman Sentosa in JB. After fetching my little princess from kindie as well as sending my son off to school, we reached a crowded and hot coffee shop. It was really a queue there and getting a seat at the 'oven-hot' eatery was not easy. It was a long wait for the food and I was sweating profusely!! However, once the food was served, the wait was worth the while.

Claypot chicken with ginger and wine -- The chicken meat absorbed the wine and ginger gravy, which makes it so delicious.

The well--known Soon Huat claypot Bak Kut Teh.

Somehow I love the claypot chicken more than the BKT.... it was so 'fragrant' as the neat totally absorbed the wine and gravy! Kudos!

No monday blues la...

2013-06-17T07:00:00.001+08:00

Yes, I know it's Monday but the good news is I am on leave today. :) So, while the folks are waking up early to go to work, my weekend extended for another day. hehehe.... Not to be mean here, here's three of my favourite macro shots taken at the Gardens by the Bay to brightens up your day and lift up your blues!!

My all time favourite pink rose!

I simply love this one!

Did you see the face?

Happy Monday folks and have a joyful and blissful day!

Can I win something ?

2013-06-14T00:11:00.000+08:00

When I was in Zenxin Organic Park two weeks ago, I saw a poster on a photo contest where they will choose winners of pictures taken at the park. Since I brought my DSLR, I decided to give it a try and took as many photos as I can, so that I can pick a good one for the contest. After running through the pictures, somehow I decided to enter this picture for it. I felt it's very natural and relax, as well as contained the spontaneity of a little child. Thus, hopefully it can win me something, though the prizes are not that attractive compared to other photo contests but then, it's just for fun. What do you think? I have already submitted my entry.

Yearning........

2013-06-13T00:13:00.000+08:00

After I had a char kway teow last Saturday, I seems to yearn for another plate these few days. Well, maybe I was trying to be on diet and didn't had it till recently. The plate I had (below) was okay but it makes me drooled about the char kway teow I had in Kulai months ago, at a humble coffee shop.

oh...when I posted this pix, I really need a fix now! See how beautiful are the noodles!

Coffee with kaya toasts - always remains my favourite

Yeah, I also yearns for kaya toasts with good hainanese coffee. It's very hard to find these type of toasts in Singapore. I will have to go back to JB for it. Luckily, weekend is approaching..... phew!

food for mind (and body) ....

2013-06-12T00:04:00.000+08:00

I was feeling kinda mentally and physically tired today, with the latter due to two consecutive days of running and the former due to lack of sleep. Thus, I decided to skip workout tonight. I went straight to a Japanese Ramen restaurant at a shopping centre near my place and order a miso ramen, chawanmushi and a hot green tea. The meal was refreshing enough and I felt much alive after that. I wonder is it I am hungry or the ramen and chawanmushi were good ?

Anyway, I love ramen!

Miso tonkatsu ramen

Nice (delicious) things comes in small.....

2013-06-11T00:06:00.005+08:00

This is the first time I tried Old Town's tea sets though its been around for some time. I thought it's a good idea, to serve small portions of noodles during tea so that it's not so full but still enjoyed the food. Anyway, depending on the branches, I still find their coffee is one of the best around town.

Steamed toast with kaya & butter and coffee - My whole family love the fresh soft toasts with the kaya. It's was so delicious.

My wife had a curry laksa. The bowl was smaller compare to the usual size.

I had a bowl of Asam Laksa. It's also a small bowl and I long wanting for more... !!

Overall, quite a good idea! It came with a drink which I ordered coffee, of course. This refreshes us to continued to shop and run our errands.

I love macro photography.....

2013-06-07T01:11:00.000+08:00

I am not a good photographer but I must admit I love macro photography. While at Zenxin Organic Park last week in Kluang , I captured some of my favourite macro moments. I felt that it's not easy to capture insects sticking to petals as they will flew away when you are near them but voila...I managed it. I didn't really possessed a good macro lens but sometimes photography is not all about gears too, but rather the moment and timing. That's my opinion anyway, coming from an amateur. And, I simply love the pictures!

Two insects with a 'face' clinging on to a ...err... petal? Don't know what is that... hehe

Nice...it didn't fly away.... I guess this 'petal' must be delicious!

The last picture here are actually those morning glories growing on the fences and one look at it, there's nothing really special. However, when zoom closer to it, to me, they looked like papers origami in purple. When I posted this on picture on instagram, I titled it 'be humble and you look good'. Don't you agreed?

it's school holidays and lets get close to nature....

2013-06-04T01:02:00.000+08:00

I really thought it's a good idea to bring the kids closer to nature and Zenxin Organic Park in Kluang, which is kids' friendly, was a good choice! My kid was asking me to bring him there to join the short tour around the park and I thought why not, as I only needed to spend around RM5-8 for the tour for each person. It's so much cheaper compared to those theme parks. :P My little princess was given free access too. And, walking around under the sun and seeing the greens are way much better than seeing whatever on the ipad.

The kids really enjoyed themselves there as they got goodies bags,free ice-creams, running around without worried about vehicles, cycling, get themselves sweaty and dirty, beautiful scenery, free snacks as well as get to feed bunnies and fishes. As for adults, it's kinda relaxing getaway and we really got closer to nature. Though the weather was hot, I had a great time over there. I have been there for many times to shop but didn't really went inside the farm.

The entrance of the park

My little princess getting ready

Both bro and sis posing for me at the farm. Love the flowers on the left and right.

It's really a Happy Farm

She really enjoyed herself!

Caught this chameleon directly on my lens..hehehe

The dark mushroom house

Growing mushrooms here

My kid was amazed by the greenhouse!

while my little princess express herself ....

Now...the excitement ..... bunnies!

They really loved the furry cuties

She's not even afraid of them at the first sight...

Too busy feeding the 50-60 over bunnies at the farm. They are so cute!

She's real busy there

My favourite pic! :)

It's school holidays and back to Legoland......

2013-05-27T00:44:00.000+08:00

Since it was the school holidays, I fulfilled my promise to my kid to bring him and his sis to JB's two biggest kiddy friendly theme parks (again), Legoland and Little Big Club on last Friday and Saturday. Well, glad to see his happy and delighted face while leaving for the theme parks. I can't blame him cos he had a tough schooling and tuition period. Well, nowadays, the kids were really poor thing, unlike my time, where study or no study during primary school doesn't really matter....hahaha... It was quite tiring, as my wifey and I spent almost two full days walking around at the theme park. These were really lots of exercise for us!

Had a rendang nasi lemak first before leaving.... this lunch packs lots of energy and cholesterol and uric acid....etc.. :P

Reach Little Big Club in Nusajaya and pose with Chicken barn at Lat's gallery

One of the rides at Little Big Club ..my little princess's favourite! As for me, I am lucky I don't need Panadol to counter the 'dizziness'

Reminds me of my childhood....

Watched Barney and friends live....

Playing pingu sliding game

It was a crowded Legoland the next day compare to the Little Big Club where there were almost no queues for all the rides. We even repeat our rides at Little Big Club but it was a different story at Legoland. There were lots of tourists of different nationalities and it was long queue everywhere. I still prefers going on a normal weekend unlike the school holidays.

His favourite ride!

Miniland ..... up and below

The just 'completed' Menara Maybank...

Posing with a Lego-man...

With an annual pass, my kid will be going again with his mom while I at work next week. And, I guess he can enjoy more rides with lesser folks as Singapore is not on school holidays yet. :)

Relaxing Saturday....

2013-05-19T17:49:00.001+08:00

Once a while, I do enjoy short trips to smaller towns to unwind and getaway from the bustling city. I find the quietness and simple lifestyles of small places helps me to stay calm and relax. Last year, I visited Sg. Lembing town and the quietness of that place really melts away all the stress in me. I drove to nearby Kluang yesterday and though it's not a small place, it's still nice to getaway from the usual routines. However, Kluang was quite jammed during the weekends, probably due to city folks who went back.

After going around, I decided to stop by for coffee at Railway Coffee station. However, my sis in law's friend recommended Kluang Coffee to us, as she said this one was much better than Railway. Ok, we decided to give it a try.

Nice, nostalgic feeling...

The back of the shop...

Mee Rebus

Kopi kao

The gravy of the mee rebus was thick and it's a bit different to have indian 'papadum' added to it, all served in a bowl. The kopi was good, I think they use the famous local 'tv' brand.

My kid enjoying his milo

Then, we moved on to Zenxin Organic Park, which was nearby the Air Hitam toll interchange and located besides the trunk road to Kluang. It was quite late and most of the activities at the park was closed. Thus, we only walked around and did some shopping. The park was quiet with only a couple of folks having their early dinner there but again, I love the serenity there, surrounded by green vegetation, chirping birds and pond of fishes. It was blissful!

My kids enjoying feeding the koi at the park

I drove to Johor Premium Outlet after that for a short walk and dinner at Kulai town.

Bak kut teh at East coast park....

2013-05-15T08:00:00.000+08:00

Well known Han Jia Bak Kut Teh in ECP

My colleagues felt like having BKT on a rainy day and thought the famous BKT at the east coast park (ECP) food court was a good idea. After all, it's early when we reached there and there was not much of a crowd, unlike the peak hours where you have to queue for quite a while. This stall is famous for its BKT of course, well as braised pork knuckles.

Braised pork knuckles

braised egg and fried tofu

'mei chai'

Boiled peanuts

BKT

I had BKT since I don't really like pork knuckles. The BKT was great, I guess of the better ones around Singapore. The soup was really good and it was more delicious on a rainy, windy day.:)

Nice peaceful scenery at ECP food court

Meeting his teacher...

2013-05-12T18:34:00.001+08:00

Woke up early on Saturday to attend my kid's school open house, where we will be meeting his form teacher to discuss about his performance at school. This was actually my first time stepping inside his school as my wife used to bring him in when he was in standard one. After that, parents and outsiders were not allowed to go in.There were lots of stuffs to sell on that day in the school hall and my kids were having fun checking out books and stationery there. I was surprise to see his teacher who was quite young, gentle and pretty as most of the teachers I saw in his school were either aunties or uncles...hahaha. Well, I guess I am a lucky father cos both my kids' teachers were gorgeous, including my little princess' kindergarten teacher. :) Too bad there was nothing much to report about my kid, well, he's ok and well behaved though he's kinda quiet in class and not active enough in class activities. Thus, it was just a short meeting...sigh....cannot see the teacher longer! *sob*

After the open house, we went for lunch at Niniq Bistro in Taman Pelangi. It's been a while since I dined there and it's great to be back. Anyway, I didn't go for their well known Indonesian cuisines this time but instead opted for a beef braised noodles.

Taiwanese beef noodles - The soup was slightly spicy but I love the beef...it was soft and delicious, especially when dipped into the chilli.

chilly for the beef noodles

My wife ordered a mushroom soup with toast and pasta to share with my my kids.These seems enough for them as they can't even finished it as the portion was really big, though it don't look a lot in the pixs! I got a cup of flat white later to wind down after the lunch.

Mushroom soup with garlic toast

Chicken bolognaise pasta

After that, I can't wait to go home for a shower and a nap as I was too sleepy waiting up early. I will be celebrating mother's day for my sis in law and wifey later in the evening, thus a nap might keep me alive in the evening.

Simple good food makes a good day......

2013-05-07T00:26:00.002+08:00

Since most of the folks in Singapore went back home to vote over the weekend, I thought it's better I leave JB for Singapore earlier last Sunday than usual in order to avoid the jam. After all, I heard that there were really lots of folks went back to vote and the situation was almost like CNY. I definitely hate to queue with lots of people at the CIQ, where you can't even find the queue line. The line was like a 'W' where it started at the right top of the alphabet, not to mentioned the jam at the causeway and another long queue at Singapore's end. However, to my surprise, and really surprise.... there was hardly a crowd at 7pm in both the CIQ. It was a smooth journey! Well, I guess most of the folks took a day off or more.

I usually had a simple dinner on a Sunday night with my family and in-laws before I go back to Singapore for another working week. This time round, we stopped by Pekin restaurant at Taman Tebrau. We just order something light, simple but delicious and of course, a nice pot of chinese tea. I love having a good dinner before going back.

Ostrich meat fried with ginger ... the meat was really tender

Pekin's famous spinach tofu...one of my favourite

Vegetables....can't remember the name...hahha

fried ''mantou' (bun)...my kids simply love it!

'Four heavenly king' - a mixed of four types of vegetables... my wife's favourite

Fried chicken ..... a must have whenever I came here. The chicken skin was so crispy and the meat was so nice when dipped onto the yellow coarse salt.

After a full stomach with cups of refreshing pu'er tea, I began my journey back to SG for another challenging week! Have a good week, folks! Looking forward to Friday again!

Look east ...for food....

2013-04-28T01:20:00.000+08:00

It's almost all day Japanese food for me. I had hot pepper meal's steak for lunch which was almost Japanese style. The steak was marinated and left to cook for itself onto the hot plate, together with an egg and vegetables. It also came with a miso soup. So, it's really sounded Japanese, right?

Hot pepper steak

I tossed and turned the steak to let it cook for a while before munching it. Loved it!

Then, when back in JB, my family felt like having Japanese food for dinner and as well as there's a 30% discount for sushi at a restaurant nearby. Thus, after waiting for my kid to return back from school for a replacement class on Saturday, we headed to the restaurant before running our errands at a shopping mall.

Oden set

Loves the radish and tofu in slightly sweet miso soup

I ordered an healthy vegetarian Oden set which consisted of tofu, radish and egg in miso soup. Haven't really tried this before but as a soup lover, I always wanted to try it.

My wifey shared a miso ramen with the kids while we ordered some sushi to go along.

Salmon temaki

salmon maki

Salmon yuzu maki

We also ordered an assorted sushis but the pix that I took was not very well taken thus I didn't put it up here. Altogether this costs us RM80+. I think it's still allright as a Japanese bento set in SG already cost $20!
While waiting for the food to be served, as usual, I snapped pixs of my family.

My little princess having fun ....

Yours truly and son...

My precious three...!

enjoying salmon sushi...

It's a short weekend for me as I needed to rush back to SG tomorrow for a working Sunday. Glad I still managed to spend some quality time with my family.

Have a good week, folks!

Child care leave....

2013-04-25T00:00:00.000+08:00

I think I passed the flu virus to my missus and she was down over the weekend, just after we got back from our shopping last Saturday. So, I took a day off on Monday to take care of them, as well as teleworking from home. It's rather tough working from home but then, the good thing is it gives me the convenient of juggling between family and work. Anyway, it's also great to spend a longer weekend with my family at home, though I didn't accomplished much.

It's consider lots of work sending the kids to and from schools, as well as bathing them, and buying food for them, while replying work emails. I really salute the single moms who did quite well and endured these daily. It's really not easy juggling between work and family. Anyway, glad my wife recovered well and I can passed back the baton to her. LOL....

cam-whoring with my little princess...

My little princess passed this to me when fetching her back

Have a good mid-week!

Everyone seems campaigning now....

2013-04-22T19:10:00.000+08:00

I always love Fridays more than anybody else! Usually, I tried to work late during weekdays but I always tried to make it a point to leave early on Fridays as I needed to cross that dreaded jammed causeway on Friday evenings and I tried to avoid the peak hours. Most of the time, I will work at other locations on Friday afternoons like my companies' branches or cafes, in order to clear some emails before the day ends. I still feels that I can accomplished more in the office but then, it's real convenient to be able to work anywhere and leave early.

Enjoying a nice cuppa of freshly brewed coffee at Starbucks while working

Looking forward to the new Iron Man 3, where miniatures were paraded in Bugis Junction

Well, at every corners of Malaysia, no doubt everyone knew elections is around the corner. I love to read news about the event, whether on the opposition or National front. Anyway, received a SMS from a friend of mine in Ipoh asking me passionately to vote for a certain party. I am quite a supporter of a this party but then, I was sort of irritated with this SMS. Afterall, voting is a personal decision. So, I jokingly countered him that I am voting for the other party! He was so disturbed by it that he started listing down the facts and so on. I countered him back by listing facts of supporting the other party. He seems got irritated this time and said something quite personal! I was kinda startled... this is one hard core supporter and he was not even a member of any parties. LOL.. I make peace with him later.

I usually dined alone on Friday nights before leaving for home. I had a relaxing time at City Square with a simple prawn pasta and tea. Having the tea after crossing the jammed causeway was welcoming and refreshing, under the cold air-cond. in the mall.

calming cup of tea

healthy prawn pasta...hehehe..

Have a good week, folks!

arhh...flu...

2013-04-14T14:15:00.002+08:00

Not a good week for me as I was down with a flu and only recovering now. Sometimes I am wondering whether docs who prescribed weak medicines are exercising caution as they doesn't know the condition of their patients yet or just want to play safe. I took medicines foir almost three days and have yet to recover and gotta see another doc who eventually told me the meds that I took are not strong enough. I felt so much better the next day after taking this doc's meds. sigh...

Anyway, since I am not well I gotta eat light food. So I order a soupy Shanghai noodles with pork meat and salty vegetables. And, not forgetting a cup of hot ginger coke. That's very refreshing indeed, at KimGary in Tebrau City. And that place is always crowded!

Hot ginger coke

Shanghai noodle

Went to shop for a sports shoes as my old but comfy skecther finally calls it a day with an open sole at the bottom. Thus, I decided to go back to Skecther since I like their shoes. Manage to get this one and I hope it will motivates me to run more and longer! :P

My new Skecther shoes!

They gave me a RM50 voucher for a purchase of RM300 above and thought it's a good idea to get a pair for my wifey too. She choose this one...

OK, will be recovering soon and back to work tomorrow...sigh... Have a good week, folks!

Fear of dentist....

2013-03-31T19:00:00.001+08:00

It was quite a tough week leading up to Easter today. Last Saturday, while eating, one of my molar tooth chipped. Though there was no pain, that really gave me a hard time and lots of frustration and anxieties as well. Morever, I gotta be on training for the following week and if I go for an extraction, I was not sure if I can recovered on time. And, it was Sunday the next day too and there won't be many dentists around. Thus, I decided to 'tahan' the tooth for the entire week leading to my appointment on last Friday. It was a tough week, as I needed to be on course and sat for an exam on the third day. With that, I needed to study at night. Then, my company been calling me on and off while I was on course and the little fear in me of going to the dentist doesn't help. I was wondering would it be an extraction, filling or the big thing, root canal. Filling will be unlikely though this is the best option for me and I guess it will likely be an extraction as the tooth has chipped. A portion of the tooth actually came out. If it's an extraction, I was wondering would the dentist needed an operation, as this is a huge molar tooth!! Aiyo... all these thoughts kept on lingering in my mind, while I preparing for exam.

I was actually 'trained' not to fear the dentist since young as yearly, the clinic at my school will always summon us for extraction, filling or scaling. With all these years of 'training', I was not really that fearful of dentist and even bravely went for my wisdom tooth extraction in my younger teens. However, five years ago, I had a cavity where it bled profusely after the extraction and also, I went in and out the dentist's clinic for almost 5 times for a bridging and crowing works, in order to 'implant' back the missing tooth. After all these are done, I began avoiding the dentist ...... till last Friday.

I was quite anxious leading up to the appointment but once I am in the clinic, which are those modern type, I began to feel better. There was no sound of drilling, no smell and the dentist was very friendly. The environment was clean and wifi was available too! Then, it was the procedure. The dentist seems to be quite humourous and also take time to explain my tooth's problems on a LCD screen and he recommended filling. Voila..... I felt so relief. The procedure lasted 30 minutes and I never felt so better after that. I was asked to come back for scaling and polishing three weeks later. It seems like I am back to my old self. The procedure cost me RM250.

I guess choosing a good dentist with modern equipments helps a lot compared to those old school clinics. And, over the weekend, I had some good food. :)

Chocolate Sundae for my kid

Strawberry Sundae for my little princess

Lovely ham and cheese toast

My favourite coffee with milk

Enjoying!

yummy!

Cheese baked rice ....

Curry Laksa

Fried chicken

I guess we have face all fears sometimes and some of the best way to cope was to tell ourselves we can cope with it and try to relax. Another thing is, better to solve a problem faster so that we don't have to endure the problem for too long and get over it. :D

Btw, I went to Raffles Dental at Taman Molek, JB. Have a good week!

Back to Legoland....

2013-03-24T19:56:00.000+08:00

My kid already pestered me to bring him to Legoland again for weeks. He had been there for 5 times while I was there for 3 times. So, plus one more and it's 6 and 4. LOL... Since it's the start of school holidays in Malaysia while its the end for Singapore, I thought it's a great idea too as there will less crowded on a Saturday. Well, how true am I. The queue for the rides were shorter compared to our last visit in December. And, the rain also just stopped, making it a cooling day. Both my kid and I had a great time, while the mom and sis went shopping elsewhere.

Panoramic view from miniland

Getting ready for his rides

Horse ride ... his favourite!

Lego Dino!

He don't mind posing for me this time round which he usually shy away nowadays

Dino Island.... this one I don't dare to play, the boat just fell all the way down at high speed :P

Calling mom .....

Your truly with kid... lookalike hor?

His other favourite game, Lego City driving school

Aquazone wave racers...This one is good. I like it!

It was coming to 8pm and nearby Medini Mall was celebrating Earth Hour. How nice!!

Well, since it's so near to my home, maybe we go again next weekend :)

Bonding with board games....

2013-03-22T00:46:00.001+08:00

With a fast internet connection, smart phones and tablet at home, I realised the interaction between myself and my kids have became lesser. Though my kids are very young, they were so addicted to these devices and most of time, they spent their time the watching Youtube, playing educational software and of course, games. The educational apps were good and it did help my little princess a lot in English. Anyway, not just them, even myself was glued to the internet most of the time and I guess it's time to 'fast' a little bit from the cyberworld. I thought it's time to break away and have more bonding with my kids.

One of the idea that I thought of was to introduce board games to them. That should be exciting enough as it's something new to them and appealing. Besides the popular games like monopoly, risk, snake and ladder, chess and etc, their daddy, yours truly, been playing certain board games for years. I realized board games actually helps developed our thinking, like planning a strategy to score victory points. I have been playing many board games over the years with my colleagues during happy hours, though I am a lousy player.:P

London - A game about rebuilding London after the Great Fire destroy the city in 1666

I just bought a new game called London recently and it's really a good strategy game. Anyway, I have only played it once and still not too familiar with it. Usually, board games came with cards, dices and of course the big board with a booklet of instruction. The learning curve is usually steep but it depends on the game. It can be usually played with 2-4 players.

My ever favourite game - Acquire. A game about acquiring the most stocks in the property market.

So far, I have a collection of four games and that includes the board game version of Warcraft. Probably, I can try introduce simpler games to my kids, which will also take their minds off the mobile devices for a while as well as create more bonding with them.

There are also board games cafes which offers a massive collection of games for you to choose. Have a good weekend folks and lets spend more time with our kids during this school holiday period. :)

Being a housewife ....

2013-03-18T00:46:00.001+08:00

While I was talking to an old friend which I met again after 23 years (my previous posts), she was telling me that her hubby dislikes or rather lazy to help out in housework. That strikes me as I was too, kinda lazy helping out with housework. :P Anyway, I shared my experiences with her that after a long week of stressful work, we guys really wanted to rest at home and relax, with good food and nice coffee. However, after that, I thought to myself that I should at least try to help out with some housework over the weekends. Afterall, it's not easy for my wifey as an housewife who worried about the kids day to day well-being as well as handling these little monsters' tantrums. I admit, being an housewife is not easy, moreover with no maid to help out. Well, time to do more, though I did some too in the past. :)

On the other hand, just when the weekend started on last friday night, I had Vietnamese food with my colleague near Comcentre at Somerset. The food was not too bad though I had tried better ones before. Anyway, the portion was huge!

Beef noodles

taugeh and chilli to go with the noodles

Beef salad

The beef salad was quite special and nice and it was the first time I tried it as usually I will go for the mango salad. Well, it's been a while I had Vietnamese food and this was refreshing! Have a good week folks!

'Friends' but not yet friends....

2013-03-10T20:11:00.001+08:00

Sometimes it's kinda awkward or even funny when your facebook friends treated you as strangers when met physically, even though you guys were 'friends' on facebook. I guess this is not uncommon as most of the folks usually just add someone on facebook or anyhow sent invites to those folks that they met before, but not really 'friends' yet. I remember this particular incident when some of my little princess classmates' parents added me as their friend on FB. Then, during their graduation ceremony, there was this pretty mom who added me on Fb but when I smiled at her, she just shy away. I glanced at her for a few more times (since she's gorgeous...:P) but she somehow just ignored. OK, not just ladies, even some dads also pretend they don't know me...hahaha...

However, on the other hand, some of my Form Five schoolmates started a fb page and though some of the folks I don't know really well, these fellas talked as if we known each other very well. Well, maybe it's the fact that we came from the same school and been schoolmates for 5 years and finally, we guys met again. LOL

I had pastamania last night as I didn't really know what to eat but really found it nice with lots of cheese. I ordered an aglio olio bacon, with linguine and mushroom soup.

My yummy aglio olio

Well, perhaps it's good to only add folks I really know and start the 'spring cleaning' now. Well, let me try one more time smiling at the pretty mom as well as the dads in the next ceremony. :P

When will we meet again....

2013-03-06T07:17:00.000+08:00

I have known her since 1986 through some radio's song requesting program and I was kinda smitten by her then. Then, in 1991 I visited her on the third day of CNY. She was then fair, had long straight black hair, slim and pretty. I remember I felt quite nervous in her home then with her entire family around but it was a great feeling. After the visit, where her home was quite far from mine in Perak, I called her and asked her wonder when can we meet again ? She was studying in KL then and I was in Ipoh doing my polytechnic course.

We lost contact one or two years where I went for my further studies in the university and she started working. Mobile phones, which were as big as water bottles then, were expensive and not popular.

And, after 23 long years, both of us didn't thought we can meet again. It was of recent that I managed to get her contact via facebook from her school's page . She was in Singapore currently with her family but will be leaving very soon to a place far away for good. It was great seeing her again and we had a good time chatting for 2 hours long during lunch. When biding farewell to each other after the lunch, I felt deja-wu when she asked me when can we meet again ? This was what I asked her 23 years ago before this meeting!

I wish her and family all the best, and hopefully we can meet again. :)

Stressful weeks....

2013-03-03T19:02:00.000+08:00

The past three weeks starting from before CNY and after CNY have been quite stressful for me. There were lots of works, some of them were quite pressurized, which came one after another. I needed to gave a presentation to my CEO for a tender, then as a part of the organizing committee for my company's staff forum, where I controlled the slides with my colleague for almost 1000 plus audiences, getting ready for ISO audit and another presentation to a group of people for my tender. Anyway, all these will end by next Tuesday and I am looking forward to the next weekend. I prayed to the Lord and thank God He sustained me during these periods.

Meanwhile, its been a while since I had steamboats and glad there's a Ho Ho steamboat in JB. I like Ho Ho steamboat, be it in KL or JB. Their ingredients were very fresh, the chilly sauce was appetizing, the 'lala' (cockerels) vermicelli was delicious and their soup was simply great.( though I need to drink lots of water after that :P)

The fresh seafood and ingredients

Noodles and vermicelli as fillers

eating the noodles like 'mamee'.... @_@

He loves to cook (or play...)

Ingredients in..... time to steam

ready to eat...yummy...

We ordered two broths, one clear soup and the other tom yum and I preferred the latter. Not sure if other branches had tom yum as I usually had the clear soup in Puchong's BB Ho steamboat. The first serving was always the best, once cooked, dipped in the special chilly and it's heaven! :)