Sungkai-ed out

My gals and I started a blog just for us. I wont even bother to link it cos no one can access it but us. I've been giving them food reviews on all the sungkai's I've been to so although raya is about a week away, maybe I should do it here too...

I started off with Villa Mauri with the 3 other lawyer ladies I regularly hang out with. I didnt know what to expect for $20.00 but when we saw the menu, we decided to have the All U Can Eat anyways. Its essentially a 4 course meal and u choose one of each course to have but u have to finish one course before u can move on to the next. There being 4 of us, Maurizio made us a mixed platter of all 3 starters then the 3 pastas (love the Marinara + ordered an additional plate), 2 little pizza's with a mixture of the 3 offered, 3 main course (lamb, fish and beef of which we were given a slice each) and were totally full by this point but could not deny ourselves dessert especially when it was tiramisu!! We also had the fresh fruits and ice cream. We were TOTALLY sated and definitely got our money's worth. Thanks G!

Then on to Ridzqun the next day whose buffet I enjoyed very much last year with the GHK crowd. Lots of variety but of course mostly Malay food. However, it wasnt the main course that I enjoyed the most but the stuff from the stalls outside like the kambing bakar, fresh murtabak, fresh ambuyat (ok so I din eat this but H loves it), curry fish head, fresh teh tarik, etc. I think it was worth $21.00 compared to some of the other stuff out there though I wasted la with H's mum cos she mainly ate satay and beef rendang only...keke.

Next up was Takara. I'd read some good reviews so H, his mum and I went. We started eating at 6pm (this was not a problem as there was only like one Malay table and the rest were all Chinese!). T came in and told us to start eating anyway so we headed off. The sushi wasnt out when I was examining the table (and mistook the dessert for starters) but I got my fill later on together with the gyoza, fried udon, fish furai, fried rice, soba noodles, salmon sashimi (thanks T!!), prawn tempura which came with HOT soya sauce (for those not in the know, please see here for the idiot's guide) and various desserts. Seeing as it was quite a hefty buffet, I was ok having only water and rose syrup to choose from. Definitely very worth the $12.80 we paid cos if u think about it, u definitely would order more if you had ala carte and its Takara!

The next day I was at Airport Restaurant for a lawyers informal do. Lots of variety as usual but cos my benchmark was Ridzqun/OGH for these kind of very "Melayu" buffets. It was rather disappointing. It won points with my on having roti jala but lost when they didnt have sliced almonds as topping for the ice cream. WRONG!! Main course, ok ok only la...they had chilli crab but other than that, nothing any more special than their normal buffet. And its $25.00!! Not worth leh...oh not to mention u have to pay for parking lagi tu.

On my 3rd day in a row of sungkai (I dunno how people do this), I tried the Millenium buffet. That was this year's GHK gathering and the curries were nice. For a change I preferred the main courses to the measely starter and dessert spread though the ambuyat was too watery. It was not a bad buffet and certainly filled me up but I'm not sure its worth $16.80....or maybe its just me...but then I think the I Lotus one is definitely not worth it whereas many seem to think otherwise.

Tonight I will be heading to TT Blues and next Monday, Nasi Kandar Penang...we'll see how those go...

Feeling like cupcakes

Yes again...this time I'm going to make it. Already located some cupcake trays and the 'paper cups'. I've been too lazy this week...time to get off my fat arse and do something...

Small rant

I don’t like people who don’t work cos they think a job is beneath them and yet chose to spend the money of others just cos they are too ‘proud’ to work. When its crunch time, you need to recognise ur responsibilities and face up to them. I may be a lawyer but that doesn’t deter me from helping the family sell shoes in the shop nor serve food at the restaurant. Sometimes people just have to face reality and bite the bullet….seriously…

From Big Temple to Little Temple

We had chosen the dates, picked the hotels, decided on our route and game plan so next came the most important thing of all...no it wasnt out leave....it was PARENTS!! Dr A's parents did not approve of 2 gals wandering around Cambodia on their own so yet again my dreams of visiting Angkor Wat were dashed. I was supposed to join this group but it was not to be. Sigh.

Not to be deterred, Dr A and I considered the alternatives...We decided to stick to Asia as I had just returned from Europe and Dr A is making her big plans for Oz next year so...where do we go? Manila just didnt sound exciting enough for me cos all we knew about was the shopping...if Cambodia was out then Laos and Myanmar were too and we were not allowed to go to Thailand with all the politics happening there now.

Then I remembered EL had been hankering for me and H to visit him in Jakarta for a while and conveniently he was in town so I could ask him what there was to do there. When he suggested Yogjakarta, I was sold! Borobudur!! Finally, what was in my history books (again) will be alive in my eyes!! Going to Jakarta also meant that I could possibly try and buy some of that French lace that I'm planning to have for my cheongsam (but that's in another post). Just to be safe, Dr A and I decided on Hong Kong for our fallback plan incase her parents disapproved. Well, I have family there and there is Disneyland should be ok.

We waited with bated breath for Dr A's parents to say yes (My mum was no problem as it is one of the places that she wants to visit too but she cant go cos my sibs have exams). Dr A's parents are delicate creatures so they needed a bit of time to absorb the information (mind you, their first reaction was that there were stampedes in Indon). A few days ago, while shopping I got the following message from Dr A...

"Green light!! GREEN!!"

We were good to go!! (dance dance)





This 9th century Buddhist monument is found in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia and is Indonesia's single most visited attraction. The monument is both a shrine to Lord Buddha and a place for Buddhist pilgrimage. More can be read about it here.

Before Dr A's parents could change their minds, we booked both our tickets to Jakarta and our internal tickets to Yogja yesterday. There was a slight hitch when Dr A was adamant she rather take a 7 hour train journey than travel on Garuda owing to the latest 'scares' but we found a compromise...hurrah for Airasia for flying the Jakarta-Yogja route!



I'm a happy bunny :D

(Now all I need is for H to renew his passport so we can get our tickets to KL in Dec! Grr!!)

*oink oink*

Well, I finally scrapped but I dunno what it is...I dont like what I've produced. I made this LO some time last week...I knew I wanted to scrap the pics as soon as I had taken them and the last SOMO kit was just full of cute girliness that warranted these pics....(featuring Shania)


The Brunei Scrappers Forum also held an online crop today introducing just a few techniques to incorporate into our LO's to kick start us...

Here is my take for using tearing and having a photo in a corner of the LO:-


And for an LO incorporating stamping and using a B&W photo:-


Oh an update on my eyes....they're doing very well...not even as dry as they intially were. I had my 1 week checkup last Saturday and the Dr was impressed at the recovery process so I'm a happy bunny!

Now when I was in KL, I got to visit my sister's friend's house as I didnt really want to bother anyone to entertain the invalid that I possibly was if my eyes took a bit longer to recover. So I tagged along to the Oxford University Malaysian Society's Freshers Intro...yeah I always seem to be at their BBQ/food do's...so anyway...a brother of my sister's mate had just got a new gf and she was supposed to be super gorgeous. She happened to be in town for a few days so I got to see her there but I didnt really talk to her. Later on, we found out that she was a rather famous Mediacorp artist from Singapore. Doh! I was in close proximity with a celebrity and all I could think at the time was...Hmm she's not bad looking! LOL! Anyone recognise Fiona Xie?



On to food...I came back from KL deciding that I really had to lose weight to fit into some of the bridal gowns that I tried on (eventhough admittedly some of them had been altered to fit smaller sized women) BUT...
well, apparently that isnt going to happen considering my current schedule for pigging out sessions this month! Firstly, both me and H have been invited to a wedding every week this month and last night, another wedding dinner had been added for next month so that's 5 in a row!! The rest of my nights are filled with sungkai meet ups with various people or dinners for various functions. In fact, every day this week, I have something scheduled and at least half of next week as well! Maybe I should start fasting during the day too :p

Money Not Enough 2

I said I wouldnt, I thought I wouldnt and I tried and I tried but I did shed a few tears watching this movie. Darn it! It brought back memories of the time when dad was ill and there were a few moments of who would look after him but I'm glad to say that there was always someone to volunteer their services though I'm ashamed to say, not always me.

We met the newly engaged couple J&J at the cinema last night. H joked that alot of gals are very sad now that Mr J is taken haha....We had a blast celebrating with them last Tuesday 998. Congratulations to them again!

Drastic changes happening to me this month beginning with my Lasik. So relieved to finally get THE CALL. Phew! Thankfully I will manage to fit in some chill time before the madness of next year starts.

I have way too many sungkai buffets lined up for my liking...its fit into the 2 weeks after people start tightening their purses and before they get filled again so hopefully the crowds wont be too bad. So much for my diet....argh!!

I'm in the midst of planning my next holiday (yes already!!). I was supposed to join the fun crew to Cambodia this month but timing just wasnt right so Dr A and I plan to rough it out ourselves armed with their tips in early Nov. Hoping NL can join us too. Thankfully I dont have the glasses/contact lens situation to deal with anymore during my travels. Wohoo! H is also supposed to confirm with me whether we can go to KL again in Dec. Well, I have to and he better!! Grr~!

Soooo on the scrapping front? Erm, I've done lots of shopping! But still no LO's yet....only little things...and I'm going to make little tags for raya....think I will get started on it tonight....toodles!

I'm sorry...

...that I may not have had time to post up the wonderful awards some of you have given me or leave lovely comments and visit all the blogs I would like to. Lots of work piling up here in the office. Rest assured I do totally appreciate all your comments and they always always make me smile especially those congratulatory ones *wink*

I was a bit mad and took some stuff to scrap while I was in KL...see my little bits n bobs...

Some of you will be receiving these soon...hope u like em :)

My 2nd surgery (Warning: Long post)

04.09.08
Last Thursday night, H dropped me off at the airport to catch my flight to KL. Thankfully it wasnt delayed but I had to endure a scared crying baby girl throughout the whole flight. The poor mummy was also a few months preggers so she couldnt do much about controlling her baby girl. Thankfully I managed to get some sleep while the kid was pacing up and down the plane. Luggage took ages to come out for some reason and taxi ride seemed to take forever (I'm scared of all the stories I hear abt KL cabs) but I finally reached the hotel at 12ish am. Sis had been waiting for me since 10.30pm and after showers and catching up, we both slept a sound sleep.

05.09.08
Rudely awakened by our alarm at 7am...obviously it went on snooze a few times before we kicked ourselves out of bed to ensure we had a nice brekkie before heading to Optimax. Hadnt booked to have breakfast included in the hotel package so we asked the reception if any eateries nearby were open and the guy said there werent so we paid to have the hotel buffet breakfast. (We later found out that night the guy lied or was a gong gong cos Paddington House of Pancakes was open at 8am!!)

After finishing breakfast, we got the hotel to call a cab to bring us to Optimax for my full eye test and consultation. By 11am I was certified to be a good candidate for Intralasik and my procedure was to start at 2pm but I had to be back by 1.30pm. Following the recommendation of the optometrist that tested me, Mr Chen, we went to June Thai for some lovely and very spicy Thai food. Sis was still full so she just had sticky mango rice. We shopped around a bit in the little shops that we could find to kill time till 1.30pm.

I went back to Optimax at 1.25pm and was called in to get ready for the procedure. After being bundled up in a surgery robe, shower cap n booties, the after care procedure was explained to me. Dr Azlina remembered me from the KB seminar and performed the final eye tests before my eyes were cleaned and preped for Intralasik. I was all fine until I was brought into the room and lay on the operating table and told to look at the green light. Suddenly my heart started beating faster and I started getting apprehensive about the surgery. Thankfully the hardest part (the cutting of the cornea) was the easiest part for me as the light was relatively easy to focus on after they had taped my eyelids open and put some suction on the eye ball as the eye was just placed in this dark void and all I could hear was the technician counting down. The cutting of the cornea took mere seconds and I was asked to proceed to the next room for the eye correction.

As I lay on the 2nd OT bed, I was asked to look at some much brighter lights. I asked for it to be dimmed but there wasnt much they could do as the Dr needed to look into my eyes. The whole taping and clamping process went on and I tried very hard to keep my eyes open (eventho they were taped open) as I watched a series of bright flashes of light and smelt the burning of my cornea happening (they used the hot laser). It seemed more difficult to keep my eyes open for my left eye (they did my right eye first) after that but it went ok and I was ready to walk out after that.

I could see much clearer than before the operation but everything had a blurry halo around it. I later found out that was because my pupils were still very dilated. The lady from Optimax who guided us to the cab stand told us she had just done the procedure next week and asked me to prepare for lots of tears n some pain when the anaesthetic wore off. I hoped to get to the hotel and into bed before that happened. I went back to the hotel, got changed, dropped in the antibiotics and tears drops, stuck on the plastic eye pads and settled to sleep. Sis went out shopping. I woke up 2 hrs later to realise that I had not gone through the painful tears and stinging process. Sis came back at 6ish, turned on the lights and tv and woke me up to get ready to go out to dinner. Eyes still blurry due to dilated pupils but I knew I could see better. Luckily the eateries were just behind the hotel.

After walking a bit, we found Bavarian Bierhouse. I was elated!! H and I love the food and beer here!! We quickly settled down and I realised I couldnt see the menu very well but we decided on a platter of mixed sausages and I ordered a big mug of beer. I called H to happily tell him where we were and he was like...."but can you drink?".OPPS!!! Aiyah my beer was already here la! Well, I finished most of it anyway and the sausages and we walked around for a bit. I visited Papier and I was very good. Only bought 2 PP, a stamp set and 2 ribbon reels. We then went to Paddington House of Pancakes for dessert (call me a glutton but there is ALWAYS room for dessert) then I was tired so we went back to the hotel. My vision cleared up by about 11pm that night and all was clear!

06.08.09
Woke up early-ish to head to Optimax for my 1st day eye test. Dr said I was doing very well (better than most ppl for the day after tests) and informed me that I would need to check my eyes again the week after and a month after the procedure. I told her I would do it in Brunei. She advised that I go back to KL for the 3 month check up incase enhancement was needed (which is free). That works out great for me cos H and I plan to go wedding studio shopping sometime in Dec. Optimax called us a cab and we headed to KLCC to meet Mich after having some grub. As we only finished at 11am and were meeting WS at noon, I told Mich that it was better to just meet her after lunch. While waiting for WS, I contributed my 2 cents worth to the Msian economy by just visiting 3 shops!! Just when we were finishing up in G2000 (which is super expensive now *.*), WS called and said she was waiting for Chilli's. We had a disgustingly huge lunch (*hint* never order the cheese n brocolli soup there) and Mich told us she would pick us up at 12.15pm. We decided to go to Isetan and get KK's luggage then (good for hiding my shopping evidence) and said our goodbyes to WS and hurried to meet Mich.

I was greeted by this totally cool, bubbly lady in her black number who volunteered to be my driver wherever I wanted to go. I decided against more shopping and shopped for bridal studios instead. We found one at Jln Ipoh after failing at Jln Imbi and checked out their packages, photo shoots and most important of all their dresses. After picking a few, I paraded them for sis and Mich and felt fat in some as Msian women are so skinny. I'm happy that Mich persuaded me to try them on though as we now know what styles and colours suit me. Shame we couldnt take any pics. We were quasi satisfied with the dresses and alot of them were out as it was wedding season then Mich suggested I try the designer gowns. Wow! What a difference! We fell in love with 3 (and I know Mich is still rooting for those 3). When it was time to talk about pricing, I was happy to learn that the packages were within my price range and negotiable. The lady was rather disappointed that I didnt sign up there and then but I do need to consult with H first.

Now at least we know that off shoulder or halter neck dresses suit me cos of my broad shoulders. Red and light green are definitely 'my colours'. My fav photo shoots are on the beach, anything near water and with trees background. No abstract arty shots for me. Simplcity and lighting are the key. They focus more on the couple :). H has agreed to accompany me back to KL in Dec for my eye check and studio shopping. Mich (my dear angel of a friend) said she would help me scour for wedding studios in SS2 and Jln Loke Yew in the meantime.

We had to make our way back to KLCC after that to catch a cab back to KK's friend's residence for the OUMC Freshers Intro party which was to last the whole night. Those kids make me feel sooo old but I more or less left them to it and spoke to a few of them...come on la....1st class Oxford kids....feel so outclassed! Oh and KK's friends house....sooo nice....like straight out of a mag!! Former OUMC President sent us back to the hotel and we packed our stuff, ready for check out the next morning, had our showers and fell into bed.

07.08.09
Woke up at 11am...opps!! No spa for KK and salon hair care for me. Ric was coming to pick us up at noon and we had to check out by then so we got to reception at 11.55am (LOL), left out luggage and waited for Ric. We were taken to S17 in PJ for laksa, har meen, kway teow, cheong fun and fried cempedak then dropped back at The Curve for some last min shopping before dad's friends picked us up for yum cha (yes more eating) and sent me to the airport.

Met EK at departures and we chatted all through the flight. Its always nice catching up with old friends. H and his mum picked me up (luggage came out surprisingly fast for a change) and we had some Indon food for dinner.

Things are back to normal now....other than I keep thinking I left my contacts in...haha. So congrats for getting through this post if u've come this far and I will update with the few pics that I took while in KL later :)

Love is...

Its time to pop over to SIC for yet another challenge and this time its a super easy one called "Embelies Galore!" You may all note that I'm a little late in my submission this month due to an event in my previous post and all the power cuts due to the typhoon storms. Our SIC DT's have outdone themselves again using their fav embelishments. As u can see here, I have my fav ribbons, bling, PP and cut outs. Love the OA paper...was trying to use all of it on my LO...and yes its based on Viv's sketch from last month cos I absolutely love it!