No Plastic Bazaar on Merdeka Day

Details of the No Plastic Bag Bazaar (scammed from Michelle)

Have you ever heard of the No Plastic Bag Bazaar? If you like the idea of environmentally-friendly shopping, then head over to Noble Banquet along Jalan Bukit Bintang this 31st August for a first-hand experience.

There’ll be plenty of pre-loved fashion items for sale and celebrities have even put up some of their own pieces for auction. Plus you can adopt a pet right there at the event! Now how’s that for a fun family day out? :)

My friend Michelle will be selling her soaps there - guaranteed good stuff & all natural. No funny smelling stuff that's bad for your skin!

Directions there as follows:


Celebrate Merdeka by being environmentally friendly... see you there! :)

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

May 2009 bring you lots of joy, peace and abundance of everything!

(pic grabbed from Bantus Japan webpage cause it's just too darn cute)

Happy (Belated) New Year to y'all!

Wow. It's been a good 1 month and 14 days since my last blog. Oompah!

It's funny how things have progressed (or not at all). I have big plans for this year and am hoping that it'll work out- provided my finances hold up and there's BONUS this year...

(touching wood, crossing fingers, throwing salt over shoulder, praying.. whatever it takes!)

... cause, boys and girls, it's freakin' time to buy a house. Or an apartment. Or whatever.
(no details at this point in time, so... yeah... it's just plans at this point) Time to exert my independence... and flee the nest! :)

My company is aiming to beat our closest competitor to be No. 1 in the industry, AND, if it that happens, well, then we'll all be very happy people. However, the doom and gloom on 2009's economic situation doesn't make things sound easy at all.

Aiseyman. Tak shiok-lah macam tu!

Anyway, here's to a fabulous 2009 to all... wishes from me and (one out of three of) my dog Basil's pups, Nanuk (variation of Nanook, an Inuit or Eskimo myth name for the 'master of bears', meaning 'polar bear' in Inuktitut).


Cuteness overload!

A sense of hopelessness envelopes me

I didn’t make it to the summit of Mount Kinabalu. To make things worse, I was only about 1km from the top. I totally stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t move because I couldn’t breathe (which led to many other things like rapid heartbeat, nausea, dizziness & exhaustion) And contrary to popular belief, it has nothing to do with one’s fitness level. (See Altitude Sickness)

I’m frustrated.

Maybe I could’ve done it if someone dragged me up? Maybe I could’ve made it if I wasn’t left to walk by myself in the cold? Did I give up too fast? Am I just making excuses? Was I not pushing myself hard enough?

Sigh.

We did have a good time though. The food was mostly good (except that nasty sambal paku pakis!). White water rafting down Padas River was excellent (the rodeo ride was cool) and island hopping was fun.

But it’s all spoiled by the fact I didn’t make it up to the top, damn it! I feel so unaccomplished! Arghhhhh.

Anyway, here are some of my favourite shots. Enjoy!


Silhouette shot at Pulau Sapi. I especially like the fact that I managed to catch the guy jumping in mid-air to catch a frisbee :)


Shot of Sophie on Pulau Mamutik beach.


All fresh before the climb.


View on the way up on the Mesilau Trail (which was longer but more scenic)


My sad, solo shot :P


Good hiking shoes are essential...


Behold! It is the highest phone booth in Malaysia!


Tree shot.

Steep climb down using ropes. Can you imagine having to do this in the middle of the night??

I like the lens flare effect here.

On the way down with Jeanette & Sophie.

Conquering Mount Kinabalu

Will be off to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow til next Monday to accomplish one item on my "Things To Do Before I Die" list.

Climbing Mount Kinabalu.

Wooohooo I can't wait! Wish me & my knees luck guys! :)

That heat!

I don't know about you, but the weather's been freaking HOT.

Urgh.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay

The Beijing Olympic Torch arrived in Kuala Lumpur early this morning from Bangkok, Thailand and will make its way through the Kuala Lumpur city centre before heading off to Jakarta, Indonesia.

"The first stage will involve a seven kilometre route consisting of Dataran Merdeka, Jalan Tun Perak, Jalan Parlimen, Jalan Mahameru, Jalan Damansara, Bulatan Hishamuddin, Jalan Sulaiman, Jalan Syed Putra, Bulatan Sultan Mohamad, Jalan Stadium and Stadium Merdeka.

The second stage will involve a six-kilometre route consisting of Stadium Merdeka, Jalan Changkat Stadium, Jalan Hang Jebat, Jalan Hang Tuah, Jalan Imbi, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Raja Chulan, Jalan P. Ramlee and Menara Kuala Lumpur.

The third stage will involve a four-kilometre route consisting of Menara Kuala Lumpur, Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Pinang, Persiaran KLCC and KLCC."

The last runner is expected to reach KLCC at 7pm, so please make your way there (or anywhere along the route) and support our runners during the relay.

109 days to go to the 26th Olympic Games. How exciting!! :)

More news here:
Olympics: Tunku Imran to kick off torch relay at Dataran Merdeka
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Official Website
Official Website of the Olympic Movement

Rejuvenating

Pulau Tenggol (2 hours by ferry from Dungun, Terengganu) is perhaps one of the lesser known island destinations in Malaysia. Lesser known is good, cause it meant that the island was less popular with travellers and thus, less polluted. Marine life was abundant and the atmosphere was generally quiet and peaceful (minus the noise from electric generators).

It was a most rejuvenating weekend getaway indeed. I'll definitely be back to Pulau Tenggol in the future... armed with my diving license for sure! :)


Aaahh... relaxing!


Me!


I saw sharks on my snorkeling trip. 30 of them!!!!


Nudibranch or sea slugs. The colours are amazing!


Clownfish... or better known as Nemo! Don't they have the most interesting expressions?


Trying out some stunts on a rock.


It's obvious I like my name very much. Haha. And no, it's not chicken bones!


3/4 kumpulan geng senget yang menjejah Pulau Tenggol.


This sums up the whole trip. Beautiful, relaxing and glorious fun with crazy friends :)

Photos courtesy of Desriel and Uncle Bob... cos blur me left my camera in the office. B.O.D.O!

Voting 101

Ok people. I will not be voting this year. Not because I can't. It's more cause I didn't register to do it in the first place (and in time either).

Why you ask?

No time. Lazy. Not important. Uninformed. Didn't care. Ignorant. Selfish. Tired.

It's a happy combination of the above. Hey, at least I don't go around talking politics and pretending to know any better.

Have fun this Saturday people! :)

*******

In the meantime, check out Malaysiakini's website cause it's free for everyone from now til after the elections. Be informed!

Bantus Capoeira Malaysia's 4th Annual Festival

Hey ho peeps... It's that time of year again!



Fellow readers, you are cordially invited to Bantus Capoeira Malaysia's 4th Annual Festival this year! There'll be loads of performances including a performance by our own samba band!! (Note: NOT TO BE MISSED!)

Details of festivities follows:

Workshops
Tuesday - Friday, 2-5 Oct 2007, 8pm-1030pm, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail Community Hall

Capoeira street performance
Friday, 5 Oct 2007, 930pm-11pm - outside Maybank, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur

Batizado / Grading ceremony & performance
Sunday, 7 Oct 2007, 10am-12pm - outside Laundry, The Curve

Noite Brasileira (Brasilian Night Party)
Sunday, 7 Oct 2007, 7pm onwards - outside Laundry, The Curve ~ there will be drinks, music and performance by us & our international guests!

I highly encourage you to check out the grading ceremony and party... bring your better halves / families / kids (if any).

Before I end this post, let me reiterate this point in true Malaysian style:

Come lar!!

(For more info, please check out Bantus Capoeira Malaysia website)

Support local tourism!

Will be climbing Mount Kinabalu in June 2008 with partners-in-crime, Emily & Sophie (and maybe 10 other people?).

How exciting!!! :D Can't wait can't wait.

For more information on Mount Kinabalu, check Tourism Malaysia.

50 years & counting...

As evident from my last post, last week was a really stressful one for me at work. This week however, was (mercifully) slower paced. This situation, however, allowed for more "thinking" time on my part... and essentially made me a little depressed.

The thought of me not being able to cope and not being able to perform well enough depressed me. How things can go wrong at the last minute (and having people trying to heap the responsibility onto you) made me depressed. The fact that I was not knowleageble enough in certain matters made me depressed.

I feel like blaming my hormones for this!

Anyway. On a lighter note...

Bantus' 4th Capoeira Festival & Batizado is coming up... hoping there's good news in store for me... *cross fingers*

Despite the angst amongst many political parties, pot holes and butt ugly statues at roundabouts, I'd like say (despite all the crap we face)...

Happy Merdeka people! Have a good 50th! :)

Etiquette training anyone?

Two posts in a day. Amazing! :P

Anyway, I was in a bit of a bad mood this morning (partly from a mouth ulcer, mostly because of inconsiderate LRT passengers & the Rapid KL management)

Yes, inconsiderate & rude. All of them!!

If you travel on an LRT during peak hours, you'd know that unless you get on the train at the first stop, there's relatively no chance of you getting a seat. This isn't a problem, as long as you have something to hold on to during the journey to avoid falling over on the jerky ride.

I get frustrated sometimes, when passengers, instead of holding on to the railings / bars, they lean on it!

What made it worse this morning was the fact that this guy not only leaned on the railing, he practically squashed my hands doing so many times! (Even the other lady holding on was not spared) He continued to lean (even after I roughly pulled my hands out) when he decided to reach out to grab the railings with both his hands (in the process leaning on me with his massive frame, again) when I already had no space to move.

Next was the fact that having a Touch&Go card sucks. They suck because half the time, there's no point in having one. Either the card reader doesn't work / you can't see what's on the blur screen or there's only one freakin' T&G lane at busy places like KLCC!

What's the point of having a supposedly "faster" lane, when there's only ONE lane??

The personnel there didn't even want to check my card when it didn't let me through. The lady had a scowl on her face & told me to just go through the manual ticket lane.

In the end, I think I managed to travel for free for 2 days.

Grrr. Snort. Gaarrrrrr. Baahhhh. Growl.

Taller buildings. Cleaner toilets. Better roads. And sub-standard social etiquette.

Malaysia Boleh konon!