My Mom's Mom B'day

Backdated post

I went for my grandma's b'day pot luck party last Sunday. It was the annual gathering of my mom's families (a.k.a Wong Family). We have those gatherings once in a blue moon because it is very hard to gather all 9 siblings together at 1 place since all of them are scattered between KL, Selangor & Rawang area with some grand children working overseas (hence, they are not here) and some great grand children being so young *giggle*.

The youngest great grand children (daughter of my

cousin Yue Yen, Baby Ching Ching aka Summer)

However, we always have pot luck coz all my aunties are very good cook and it's always better to have food cooked out of LOVE *wink*. Here's a scrap I did for my mom's family photo with 2 grand children tagging along. The only one missing is my Tai Kaufu (big uncle) & my eldest aunt and also alot of food which are already in our stomachs *LOL*.

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Here are some group photo taken on that day :

My 2nd Aunt's family (the most extensive family coz
all my cousins are married & have their own children)

My own family (my Dear Dear & 2 bro missing in action)

Sei Yi (4th aunt) family

Chu Lui Yi family

Ling Yi (7th aunt) family

Moi Yee (8th aunt) family

Youngest Kaufu (uncle) family

Wouldn't you fall in love with pretty furniture

Don't you dream that you could own those beautiful furniture that you saw in those magazines of some celebrity or some datuk datin's house. It's always so tasteful, chic (or country) & look just right in place with the homey touch. I always cream of owning such a home that is designed with a chic yet elegant touch minus all the metals, of course (unless the designer managed to give me a nice 3D plan of the outlook and sell me the idea, which is very easy since I succumb to sweet talk). Well, if I can't afford to get an interior designer, I can always seach for nice furniture online (hey, this is the millenium) and I love this Century furniture poster bed (the oh so English look, awwww).

A little adventure

He he... I will be going to Genting today for Hacken Lee Concert (courtesy of my cousin BIL as present for my cousin sis) & this would be the 1st ever trip to Genting Highland with just my 2 cousin sis. A little adventure I would call it coz I will be taking bus & cable car to go up there. I hope it would not rain coz I hate wet & cold nights.

Since all of us are not working on Saturday, it would be a really early journey coz I relly have no idea how to get there by public transport (too use to drive up). Let's hope I won't get lost and enjoy the day in Genting Theme Park...

My share on market research

Has anyone taken part in a market research ? I have (thanks to Gerald's recommendation) taken part in 2 where I got paid as well (2 years back). I must say, it's quite fun coz I got to give opinion on the products they gave us to try but of course, I have to give my feedback to the products so they can develop a better one (new product ler...). Well, that's just 1 type of market research for example and they're a lot of type such as those young girls stopping me while I am busy gallivanting in shopping mall or those calls that I got for some surveys. So, I guess market research is very important step before a new product to be launch or a business to be set up.

Unexpecting finale for Harry Potter

Yes, I've just finished the last page of the Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows (manage to savor it for 5 days) & it's far better than what I feared (since the story had become so dark after the Goblet of Fire) for the ending. While I read the last 2 chapter, the images are so intense in my mind that I can really see it just like the movie & I do hope that when the final part of the movie is here, it will do them justice.

Here's my thought on the finale for Harry Potter:

• The ending couldn't be better but I still prefer less people died (those that I knew off).
• Dumbledore really out-do his character & at one point, I really couldn't believe what he did was true (coz it's so unlike him) but in the end, it's well explained (nearly felt the tears weld up, yeah I am very sentimental)
• Snape is really unbelievable for the truth only revealed in the last few pages ( I think no one would think that of him, myself included)

Well, that's what I can say without revealing the whole story & I am dying to discuss the story with someone (now only I understand why Beatrice is dying to discuss it). If you would like to share your thought on Harry Potter , do drop by a comment or 2 .....

Nurburgring F1 legend - Michael Schumacher

I can't believe I missed the race in Nurbrgring last Sunday even though the show time is at 10.30pm (I choose dreamland than race day *slap forehead*). I still can't forgive myself for missing the race and that particular race is the most exciting (coz it rains & lots of accident/car retired). So, what I can do were to read all the news I can from F1 official site and also BAT intranet (my office's news, we got a dedicated column for F1).

Since everyone will know by now that Alonso won that race, Massa 2nd & Webber 3rd while Kimi retired & Hamilton is 9th after he narrowly escaped injuries caused by the front tyre on Saturday's qualifying (Alonso is lucky to got away with it though), I shall talk about the legend of Nurburgring - Michael Schumacher (I am a big fan of his :p ). This bits of info is extracted from Formula 1 official site.

I am so happy that Michael has been honoured by the German circuit with a corner named after him, which is the Schumacher S (he won 5 races out of 11 races at the Nurburgring, & I think that is so awesome). So, here's the 5 races he won in the Schumacher racing history :

• 1995 European Grand Prix Qualifying: 3rd, Race: 1st
• 2000 European Grand Prix Qualifying: 2nd, Race: 1st
• 2001 European Grand Prix Qualifying: 1st, Race: 1st
• 2004 European Grand Prix Qualifying: 1st, Race: 1st
• 2006 European Grand Prix Qualifying: 2nd, Race: 1st (the last of his race, sad to say but he is the champion of F1)

If you want to know the result for the Europe race, you can click here

Photo courtesy from F1 official site & if you are interested on some nice photos, click here.

Harry Potter & the Deadly Hallows

Yes, I've gotten my 7th book of Harry Potter (bought on 23/7/07 by chance coz I passed by Tesco Puchong during my banking routine) and the best of all, it just cost me RM 69.90 (thanks to my hubby for talking me out to pre-order the book). Though I love Harry Potter but I find it too expensive for a book and I am sure there's some bargain during the Christmas season (that's where I have gotten the 6th book, Harry Potter & the Half Blood Price at just RM 50 & it's hard cover at bangsar Shopping Mall on Christmas Eve).

Although I am so eager to know the ending but this time, I will not speed read the book but will take my time, reading it (while bringing the character & scene to life it in my head) & enjoying the last bit of Harry Potter. So,for these few days, I will stop scrapping & blogging at home and just dedicate the time to read the book just like today. It feel so nice... warm & cozy to be wrapped in my duvet on a rainy night with the book in my hand....what's missing is a cup of hot chocolate *dreamy look* .... Gerald would be glad that I won't bug him to chat with me online for these few days ...

My expectation on this book

Beside just reading it, I am hoping that the story will unfold into a light hearted , happy ending instead a dark ending since it is a children story (hence you see me choosing the cover for children edition). From the 4th book onward, I find that the story has a dark twist with people/ wizard dying and the last in the 6th book is Albus Dumbledore.... so, let's see who will be killed in this last book of Harry Potter... and how the story ends ...

Transformer The Movie

Most of the people have watched it but I have not got the chance of getting my eye on this adrenalin packed movie until last Saturday (and that is me compromising the cinema, only I get to watch it earlier). I have tried in vain (3 weeks, can you believe it?) to booked the tickets online (no available seats) & ques up to buy the ticket in advance only to be disappointed in the end by no tickets available till .... So, I gave up hope and just wait ... until my brother bug me to watch at Leisure Mall.

So, I woke up on Saturday just in time to buy 2 tickets and sit in the not so comfortable chair (for me only coz I have weird posture) and empty stomach. I bought a large set popcorn with 2 drinks & a corn in cup for the movie but ended up not finishing the food. Why? That' because my eyes are glued on the screen from start till end. This is the only movie that give you full adrenalin on the start till the end of the movie.

It starts with Decepticon blasting at the USA military in Qatar dessert, (but it's not so real lar coz Gerald is in Qatar & where got so outdated for the people, they are richer ler) & later on, Autobots are so funny (coz they try to squeeze into the house trying to hide from Sam's parents *LOL*) but the ending is so 'kan cheong' whereby Optimus Prime fight with Megatron and also Starscream blasting the fighter jets & in the end, we see Starscream escaping (as usual)

Anyhow, I can't believe the character from one of my favourite childhood cartoon came alive in front of my eyes (who will foresee this in the 80s?). It's really great and I hope they will have sequel to it. I hope to see Optimus Prime in the new look as well but some Autobots got some face lift though & I wonder if they will show the dinosaur robots....

For those who would love to have a glimpse on the movie, click here.

PPP : Some facts on BP Whiting Refinery

This is a sponsored post

How well do we know about our petrol refinery and do we care about its impact to the environment? Well, in Malaysia, I don't think a lot of people are aware of the impact on the environment nor the safety carried out by the refinery. However, in The States, this is a big issue (maybe the people in USA are more aware of the environment than us). I am sure a lot of us recognize BP petrol and recently the Chicago Tribune ran an article about a BP Factory in Whiting, Indiana and misrepresented some important facts. We all know the importance of news & will take it seriously.

So, here's the actual fact about BP Whiting Refinery if you want to know the truth:

• Energy security and diversity - BP plans to spend more than $3 billion to modernize the Whiting Refinery to process additional heavy crude oil from Canada, a secure and reliable source.
• Only treated water into Lake Michigan - What is released from our refinery is treated water that is more than 99.9% water - not sludge. All sludge is treated separately, according to state and federal requirements, and never discharged into Lake Michigan.
• Well within legal limits - A new water discharge permit allows the refinery's average ammonia discharge to increase, but at levels that will still be less than half of those that federal environmental guidelines could allow.
• No harm to people or the environment - We follow state and federal laws, regulations, and guidelines that protect aquatic and human life.
• Continuous improvement - For the benefit of the environment, the Whiting Refinery voluntarily reduced total suspended solids in its water discharge by 40% in just the past four years.
• Modern technology - We operate a modern wastewater plant in Whiting today and plan to invest about $150 million to enhance the refinery's wastewater treatment capability.
• Collaborative, transparent approach - BP is working with federal, state and local elected officials, regulators, community and environmental organizations, and communities to develop comprehensive, environmentally sound plans.
• Fuel for the Midwest - The Whiting Refinery produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel people need for their daily lives.
• Jobs now and in the future - Today the refinery has about 1,700 employees and another 1,500 contract workers. The planned modernization will create new jobs for about 2,000 contract workers during peak construction, as well as an estimated 80 full-time BP employees when complete.
  

Well, I hope the above facts will help you understand clearly on BP Whiting Refinery. They really care about the Earth and are doing their part on preserving the environment and strive for the best for the community in Whiting. A lot of people will get a job and their standard of living will be better.

Collaboration software

If I tell you that there's a better & efficient way to enhance your business management (especially IT base management), would you be thrilled? Well, I am sure you wooulr be jumping with joy (ok, not the jumping part). With the ever advance IT technology, tasks has been made easier with a collaboration software (I know this is a must since I am in the same field). It really helps on the integration to backend systems , total manage hosted solution, website content management ( a tedious task to be done manually) & not to forget on business email solution. If you want to try it out, do pop in to the site coz they are giving away a 30 Day free trial of their software. All you need to so is contact them and they will set it up for you.

Multipurpose memory card

SD card - a multi functional memory card that I think the greatest invention of all time. The reason on why I branded it this way is because I can use just 1 SD card for several digital devices (palm T2, camera & as a memory card) that I happily gotten from Gerald. I love to use it as memory storage for songs, data, games & pictures for my palm. Beside that, it can be used for hand phone memory storage as well as digital camera. It used to be so expensive for just 256 MB but the price has dropped since last year to become so affordable that I can easily gotten myself a 1GB card.

3 houses & 2 homes

Yup, now I have 3 houses & 2 homes. It's a bit complicated but soon, it will only be 2 houses & 2 homes. Still quite complicated to understand why I can have that....People always confuse when I say my home coz I have 'abandoned' our love nest & move back to my parent's place since Gerald is in Doha. That explain the 2 houses & 2 homes .... The 3rd will be the new house yet to be furnished & called a home. I reluctantly chooses all the curtains for the bedrooms & living room but left my own bedroom to be decided later. So, my room is furniture-less (does this term exist?) & no lights. I want something different for the window as well, something like faux wood blinds or the Venetian blinds ... maybe I will get something pink *LOL* & as for the lights, it's wall lamp... dunno where to get a nice one though.... anyway, will decide it when the ends is near ...

Fun filled golf

Backdated post

I've wanted to talked about the Chinese New Year trip for so long but dunno where to start coz there's too many happy moments to tell. So happen that digital freebies gave away this kit, I shall talk about the fun fair in Kota Kinabalu. My 'tai so' Sis in law had some coupons given by her boss, so we went for it, 1 whole family, all in the Invader 4 wheel drive. We thought it's going to be lots of food to buy but it's more like lots of games to play & to win prizes. Out of so many games, I didn't expect they came up with golf. So, happily my hubby went to try it out but their equipment is not up to standard. Anyway, it's just a game but in the real golf, you really need to get a nice set of Golf Equipment. I know Gerald would love to get the Titleist set (vy expensive)

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PPP : My Daily Vegies

This is a sponsored post

How many people actually love to eat vegetables... I really wonder about this because I see a very good example in front of me everyday (my brother lar :P ) To persuade him to take 1 serving of daily vegetables will be like asking the cow to jump over the moon. We all know that vegetables is the main source of fibers , mutivitamines & mineral but do we eat the correct portion? I know for me & my hubby would be no problem because I love vegies especially salad (minus the mayo please, I only take vinegrate).

So, for those people that want to increase their health but find taking vege is a chore to them, why not try an alternative vegetable supplement that is organic and prepack for the busy people (or people on the go) and most important is, you can drinkit. Now, do I get your attention? Yes, you read me correctly, because I found out about Drink My Daily Veggies on the internet, Ain't that brilliant? Beside using it as supplement, you can include it into your camping food as well (no more worries on spoilt vegies & save alot of space). Now, I really must go find out where to get it and give to my brother & Gerald (very hard to get fresh & cheap vegies in Doha).

Gerald goes green

What do you think when you see the title above? He he he.... Green got lots of meaning such as green with envy which is not very positive. Greens also means vegetables which is my hubby's favourite (mine too). Greens means go if you have a car and on the road..... but the green here is not all the above....

Gerald goes green means ....

...

...

...

he's into golf... and it's such an expensive sports to take up. However, he found a very good way in trimming his way into golf..... He he... he buy used golf balls when he's just practising and I find it very practical (you will never know when your ball will falls into ponds, swamps or just dissapear *LOL*) . So, for those beginners, try not to spend too much on the golf balls until you perfet your swing ; )

Caught ...

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Our darling little niece, Ariel just turned 1 in January this year. The last time we saw her, she's just a baby and now, a very cute toddler. And on the 1st day of CNY this year, she wore this beautiful red dress (very CNY look), toddling around the house & I got too excited shouting at gerald to take her photos. Here's 1 interesting photo that we managed to get. I love the way she look at the camera for this photo.

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Tag : I'm infected by Blogitivis

This is a long overdue tag from Jazzmint. Well, since it take such a long time for me to do it... I think I am not seriously infected but just at stage 1.

Here's what the virus has done to me:

1. Scrapping - Yup, since I stumble upon digital scrapbooking, I can just sit here & scrap till my eyes too tired & my brain hit the artist block. I feel extremly satisfying when some one look at my beautiful scrap (especially my hubby)
2. Personal post on daily life is a must for me or at least I tried to keep an update since my hubby is so far away. This also affect my darling hubby coz now he have to read my blog every other day when he's free.
3. PPP - This I must thanks Jazz for introducing to me. With this, I can earn some side income for my spending. Infect I will stay up late to catch some PPP and this is incentive for me to chat with my hubby as well.
4. Increase my circle of virtual friends.
5. Chatting, talking, gossiping via email with mybst pal that blog coz we share the same topic now *LOL*

Hmm, I think that's all since I am only at stage 1.

Ok, now I have to pass the virus to 5 person but I can only think of 1 person that has not been infected yet.

Just Cheryl - you're being passed the blogitivis

A little picnic at FRIM

On last saturday (14 July 07), I had a little picnic with Jazzmint at FRIM. It's the best thing to do in a hot summer day. It's a simple picnic with just 1 main course which was the pasta salad that I blogged earlier on and plenty of H2O. This is totally the opposite of my picnic in Singapore. One thing for sure is the bubble session where Faythe reminded us since last night.

The picnic spot is non other than the mini waterfall up the hill (yeah, lots of climbing needed ... definately not what we think of) but once we get there, it's worth the climbing. The water is so clear and all the hot summer breeze were replaced by cool breeze thanks to the forest. I had a cooling session in the water (no, I didn't swim in it, just dip my feet in) & also busy trying out to capture the waterfall with my camera while having my yummy pasta salad (Faythe love it *LOL*) at the same time. After that, we went to lower ground to have the bubble session ( I manage to create a stream of bubbles) & lazing on the bamboo mat under a big tree. It's a Saturday to remember and I have plenty of photos to look back. Here's what I captured of myself at the waterfall area. A cooling scrap for a hot summer day. As for the bubble session's photo, will post it later whe I got time to scrap it.

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My hair, my crowning glory

There's a saying in Cantonese that sound like this 'You think too much, your hair will fall' and I am still pondering on this phrase. My hair falls alot & when I say alot, it's really terrifying *worried look* because when I just put my fingers to comb my hair, a few strand of hairs will follow my hand (as if they love my hand so much). And when Gerald say that I had a very sparse patch on my head... this got me worried more... coz I m stil very young & loosing hair like nobody's business.... Look is still very important to me & my hair is my crowning glory. Maybe I should try the hair transplant Florida because they will help me regain my crowning glory....

Pasta Salad

Here's another recipe to share with all my friends. It's something that my mother in law, sis in law & my hubby love or invented. I fall in love with this dish at first try 5 years ago & it has been our favourite food when we are bored with rice.

Ingredients

• 400g Macaroni/seashell macaroni
• 1 can Pineapple (diced / cubed)
• 1 can Corn kernel
• Raisins to your likings
• 1 whole roast black pepper chicken (shredded)
• 200 ml Lady's Choice mayonaise
• salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Cook macaroni with a little bit of salt for taste until tender soft (10 - 15 mins) in a big pot such as bernedes cookware.
2. Rinsed cooked macaroni in cold water & strain all the water off.
3. Mixed pineapple, corn, raisins & chicken with the mayonaise.
4. Add in the macaroni to the rest of the ingredient & mixed well.
5. Add salt & pepper to taste. Note: I used 1 tsp salt & sprinkle of pepper.
6. Finally, chilled in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

My hubby & I used to cook 500g of macaroni & portioned it out for 5 meals. We keep it in the plastic container, sealed it air tight & keep in the fridge.

My first experience with high speed shutter on my Sony Cybershot T10

I've got my pink Sony Cybershot T10 ( a gift from my hubby) for 5 months now and I never fully utilised all it's feature. The usual photo mode that I always use are the auto, landscape & high ISO. Today is my first experience with hig speed shutter mode & as you can see the difference between 2 photos that I captured this afternoon at FRIM (will blog in another post).

Auto mode (the water looks so milky and can't really see the water droplets)

High speed shutter mode ( here, I can see the water movement & clear water)

High speed shutter with flash

After the experiment done (thanks to Jazz coz her DSLR really makes me want to snap like hers using my digital cam), now I know how to use this mode (not to compare with a DSLR). I found out that it needs plenty of light in order to get a good shot. So, that's my little discovery with my Sony T10. A thumb up for outdoor photos.

A fan of sports shoes

Hmm, it only occured to me today that my family is quite a fan of sports shoes. We developped liking towards sports shoes because we love comfortable, durable & good support that we can get out of the shoes itself. However, we never compromise the sports shoes with just any brand but only the best. Myself, for instance, will prefer Nike over other brand (hence the shoe hunting took such a long time) while my youngest brother will have several pairs of basketball shoes from Nike, Reebok & Adidas. He has been a basketball player since secondary school & he played quite well also. Since he loves basketball, he's also a fan of Air Jordan as well (Who don't know about Jordan, even myself will have a liking to Jordan & the number 23 ). As for me, I will love any kind of shoes as long as it look nice on my feet & provide me comfort.

The secret of my diet

Alot of people don't believe that I was once very fat (63kg ++) few years back during mu uni life. Thanks to rich diet of fried calamari & malay food, I manage to put on 6 kgs in just 3 months, from size L to size XL. But I am proud to say that, the 'fat' chapter has been put away for good. How I did it? Well, first of all (like every other girl), I went on a diet but not those meal replacement diet. I took some pills for 2 months just to reduce my weight. After that, I just cut down on my food intake (vy small portion, but frequent meals) and that works for me. I am proud to say that my weight is between 51kg to 53kg for the last 5 years. For those who would like to try, maybe you can try ionamin to help you reduce your weight.

Friday the 13th story

Yes, today is Friday the 13th and trust me, it jinx...

Things does not go the way I wanted on this particular day & few years back, I got caught in a place that I am not familiar with & worst still, my car got very little petrol left, my handphone battery gave up on me & it rains cats & dogs till all the road flooded. As I am going to give up & just stuck in the jam & flood, I saw my uncle's car passing by. So, I quickly chase him & even went down to a coffee shop to rang him up. Pheww.... what an experience for me & I vowed that I will never go out on this particular day.

Anyway, today I went to Jazz place to sleep over and the jinx started again. I planned to go back at 5pm today but at the very last hour, I got lots of works to do. That's still ok. The worst part happened to Jazz. We paid the parking ticket and head to the exit. As usual, the ticket was put at the side of the door and when we reached the exit, we can't find the ticket. The que of cars were so long, we practically been honk so many times (trust me, it's not a situation you want to be in). We have looked high & low yet the ticket still does not float out. The last resort? Called the security & paid RM 20 for the lost of ticket... I don't know it's just coincidence or the jinx of Friday the 13th.

So, why Friday the 13th is such a bad day? Here's a clip of an article I found on the net about Fri 13th :

The Christian Tradition

The fear of Friday the 13th stems from two separate fears -- the fear of the number 13 and the fear of Fridays. Both fears have deep roots in Western culture, most notably in Christian theology.
Thirteen is significant to Christians because it is the number of people who were present at the Last Supper (Jesus and his 12 apostles). Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th member of the party to arrive.

Christians have traditionally been wary of Fridays because Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Additionally, some theologians hold that Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit on a Friday, and that the Great Flood began on a Friday. In the past, many Christians would never begin any new project or trip on a Friday, fearing they would be doomed from the start.

Sailors were particularly superstitious in this regard, often refusing to ship out on a Friday. According to unverified legend (very likely untrue), the British Navy commissioned a ship in the 1800s called H.M.S. Friday, in order to quell the superstition. The navy selected the crew on a Friday, launched the ship on a Friday and even selected a man named James Friday as the ship's captain. Then, one Friday morning, the ship set off on its maiden voyage... and disappeared forever. A similar, entirely factual story is the harrowing flight of Apollo 13.

Some historians suggest the Christian distrust of Fridays is actually linked to the early Catholic Church's overall suppression of pagan religions and women. In the Roman calendar, Friday was devoted to Venus, the goddess of love. When Norsemen adapted the calendar, they named the day after Frigg, or Freya, Norse goddesses connected to love and sex. Both of these strong female figures once posed a threat to male-dominated Christianity, the theory goes, so the Christian church vilified the day named after them.

This characterization may also have played a part in the fear of the number 13. It was said that Frigg would often join a coven of witches, normally a group of 12, bringing the total to 13. This idea may have originated with the Christian Church itself; it's impossible to verify the exact origins of most folklore. A similar Christian legend holds that 13 is unholy because it signifies the gathering of 12 witches and the devil.

The number 13 could also have been considered pagan because there are 13 months in the pagan lunar calendar. The lunar calendar also corresponds to the human menstrual cycle, connecting the number to femininity.

So, anyone of you experience the jinx of Fri 13th?

A thing for wood

For those who has been to my house, you will notice that most of my furniture are wood base, very little metal that you can find in my house. Maybe this has to do with my own element coz I am born Earth *LOL*. I have a thing for wood... you can say that. I find htat wood is lovely, very soothing to feel & see. But it's not cheap to get furniture made from wood especially teak outdoor furniture. My dream home will be having a small garden at my patio where I can sit there enjoy the evening with my hubby after work, in the weekend & especially during a night with clear sky. Soon, when he's back next year... we will have this dream come true.

The beauty of condo hotel

Looking at those beautiful condos at KLCC area, I really wished that I am the owner of it. It's maintenance free (of course you have to pay the maintenance fee)and you get to enjoy the high security as well. Condo Hotels are really a convenient way to live for businessman & homemaker that want everything minus the fuss. If I am flithy rich, I also would like to have one, in KLCC area. I can shop till I drop everyday & enjoy the night view.

A little financial tips

Have you ever dream of studying in those big university with big lush green field just like shown in those movies? I did dream about it during my schooling days but I have already choosen to study in local uni & it's very far off than what I see in the movies. Well, for those who still have the dream, maybe you can take up some study loans from our government & also from the bank. And for those who already taken up student loans & find it hard to keep track, why not try school loan consolidation. It can help you save money & managing ur loans is easy. If I knew about this earlier, I would have study in those beautiful university. Anyway, that's a past tense now. Maybe I can do it for my future children ....

Last day of my Singapore trip

*Backdated post*

After a tiring day of shopping, the last day was a much refreshing itinerary I ever had on any holidays. I wake up very early for a much anticipated picnic session suggested by Woan Jiun & seconded by me, Jazzmint & Hui Shi. The down point is, we gotta get up at 7am so that we won't get burned by the hot tropical sunshine (it's hard to do coz we slept around 2am - 3am, busy preparing our picnic basket).

I make my all time favourite sandwich filing - the egg & sausage, simple but yummy (agreed by all) while WJ busy artistically cut out ham & cheese (so that it looks good for photos) while Jazz cut the bread into bite size.

Here's the picnic basket:

Clockwise from top right : lychee, strawberries, fried chicken, apples, cold chicken salad, egg & sausage sandwich fillings, mini cheese sausages, ham & cheese & bread.

Here's the one & only photo taken with my face in it *LOL* coz I m busy snapping away on the food & the rest of the gals....

Click here for credits

After a scrumptious breakfast, we head to another spot for some fun meant for the 2 lil girls but I love it so much.... It's bubbles ... well, I m not chasing it but creating the bubbles with the bubble maker WJ bought for Cairo. While not playing with bubbles, I continue to snap away the surrounding landscape coz it's very serene & beautiful.

The picnic spot? Lower Seletar Reservoir which is a few minutes away from WJ's place. This is my favourite landscape photo of the place.

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That's my picnic in Singapore & after that, we head back and prepare to leave to Vivo City for last minute shopping (to kill time) coz our coach leave at 5.30pm.... Adios Singapore...

Ferrari's win back to back

It's good news for me for the Silverstone F1 race. Kimi manage to win the race (1st ever win in Silverstone) & Massa managed to climb up to 5th place after some problem during the start & needs to start from pit. This is not an easy fight for them as because :

• Kimi was 1st but managed to overtake by Hamilton , then by Alonso but finally managed to got back into 1st place during Alonso last pit stop (very 'kan cheong' here)
• Massa's car stalled during start, so he dropped from 4th place to start to last but because he's such a good driver, managed to climb back to 5th place

So, the championship standing for the top 5 is as below:

1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Felipe Massa
5. Nick Heidfeld

Photos from Yahoo & The Star

PPP : My Favorite online coupons

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I know that I have blogged about online coupons for many times but I couldn't help it. This is because that they really give very good deal & I would love to share the good news to everyone. Once my colleague says this "Sharing is Caring", hence, her i am, showing my care to everyone that visit my site the cool offer.

This is what I found out today : a new site that provide a better deal if you use their coupons or discount codes & they constantly update their site to provide the latest online offer (coupons or product deals) you could get.

Here's the deal that caught my interest : The Shutterfly coupon that give 20% off. Well, for those who don't know waht is that, you can click the shutterfly and it will lead you to the site. Basically, it's a photobook where you can arrange your photo the way you want it before sending them for printing. And it's not cheap. It easily cost RM 250 above, so, the 20% discount means alot to me. I have been eyeing to get 1 book done for all my trips with Gerald and also 1 for my wedding album.

CPR, First Aid & Real Human Skull

Today I touched a real human skull during my training provided by my company at Palace of the Golden Horses. After watching CSI, NCI & Bones, I would say that it's really cool to see one that close & touched it. Back to the CPR training, I must say, lucky I get to go because it opens up my eyes on the importance of it during emergency situation & I learned how to help choking people (yup, big, important stuff I got into my head today) & it's such a simple step that everyone should learned or shall I put it this way, it should be teached to every children in school. Well, for those who would love to know how, I will share with it after I completed my training tomorrow. Now, a little homework to do for tomorrow's lesson on first aid & also a test (arghhh, I dun like exams...)

Another Move

Finally, my dad decided to move out from our current apartment to our new house (bought long time ago but abandoned by us *LOL* )today. It's a partial move because we (my bro & I) protest on moving out so fast on the following ground:

1. since the procedure to sell the apartment has not completed
2. there's no internet in the new house
3. It's even further than my own home (no point staying with my parents now if I count by milelage)
4. With point 3, I have to wake up extra early to go work *frown*

What's left in the apartment are the furniture in my room, kitchen's essential, the old battered sofa (been used since 1991), TV set & my internet.

2nd day in Singapore

Backdated post on Sg Trip

After a tiring Friday that is full of sightseeing (Zoo & Night Safari), we had a shopping session on Saturday. Well, the plan is to get up in the morning & head to Orchard right away (no breakfast coz we plan on an early lunch @ Tony Romas).

Why Tony Romas? This is because they serves pork & their ribs are what they're famous for. Since we know that their serving is hugh, we ordered 1 starter (baked potato skin with bacon chips, cheese sticks & chicken wings), 1 Tony Romas rib sampler (12 ribs) & 1 Tony Romas baby ribs (12 ribs). Ther serving is really large & it's just nice for 4 of us since Faythe still sleeping on her stroller. As for dessert, we had the Chocolate Avalanche (Faythe wallop almost all & I love the way she eat it (^-^) . You can check it out at Jazz's site).

Click here for credit

What follow next is the Moonlight Hippo but we missed it coz the tour started at 6pm instead of 6.30pm (we rushed like mad to get from Orchard to Suntec City, so it's a big dissapointment). We are so tired , rested in front of the musical fountain in Suntec while thinking on what to eat.

Too lazy to go find the directory, so we decided to have the folowing for dinner:

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Yes, what you see is correct. Had soup ( clam chowder & mushroom soup), breads with vinegrate & salad for dinner. The servings of soups are very big while the breads are free flow and there're a few choices for the bread.

After we filled our stomach, we walk to Marina Square and I think God pitied us so he let us catch some fireworks while we're on our way to Marina Square before we called it a day ( Got to prepare for the next day's picnic some more).

Note : All photos were taken by Jazzmint coz my camera was left to charged

1st day of Singapore trip

*Backdated post*

It's been about 2 weeks after I came back from Singapore and only now I have the time to scrap & blog on my trip. On the 1st day, we went to the Singapore Zoo and we were there from 9am till 1.30pm.... (Yup, 4 hours there & we haven't really finished touring the zoo). Here's a brief touring of the zoo in photos ...

Click here for credits & layout

Our 1st show is the Polar Bear Feeding Show at 10am (just in time) as shown here.

Up close with girafe during the feeding session.

Probosis Monkey, the older the monkey, the longer the nose they have.

Ah, a group of penguins.. too bad we missed the show.

The white tiger, prowling in the water... maybe it's too hot & decide to cooldown in water

Please click here for credits & layout

We ended the zoo tour with kangaroo. The kangaroo area is an enclosed house where they can roam freely whilte we walked.

Okay, that's my zoo tour with some animal highlights... It's late now & I shall go to sleep soon (after chatting with Gerald)... I can say this is the most productive night since the trip because I manage to do 3 scrap on the singapore trip.

PPP : My diamond story

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Don't you love diamonds & especially it's from that "special someone". I still remember my very 1st diamond ring from my hubby. I didn't see it coming because he's not the romantic type of guy & I really loved that moment. As usual, he fetched me from my place after his work to hang out at his place. We don't go out much during the weekdays so, our normal dating time will be watching movies or tv or hang out with his nieces. All of a sudden, he asked me to go to his room and asked me to sit down at his bed with my eyes closed *whoa.... I am so excited at that moment*. There he is, giving me a stalk of 'rose' and asked me to open it & sitting there in the middle is the most beautiful oval diamond ring I ever got.

'Almost Instant' Rice

Would like to share this genius ( or you can call it lazy) recipe from my hubby in Doha. With little ingredients & very little cooking involved (just steaming & boiling), I can say that this is very suitable for working people that would love some home cook food after a long & tired day at work. Or, for a quick fix-me dinner when you're lazy.

Ingredients

rice, chicken shred/prawns/chinese sausage/normal sausage/anything that is available, veggie, oyster sauce & sesame oil / olive oil

Note : My hubby used Basmati rice in this cooking. Half cup of rice with 3/4 cup water for 1 serving

Method:

1. When the rice is half cook (little bit water left), put in the meat stuff.

2. When the rice all cooked, put in veggie for 5 minutes steaming. Lettuce was used because my hubby love to eat the vege raw. If Mix Veggie is used, put in together with the rest of the ingredients.

3. mix 1.5 table spoon of oyster sauce and 1 table spoon of sesame oil in a plate

4. Finally, dump the rice in and mix well... and then eat while it's still hot....

Ain't that easy to prepare? words of caution if you're using a normal saucepan or pot. You need to make sure you don't burn you rice :p.

Ferraris are back!!!

The race in Magny-Cours are great. This is because Ferrari won the race with 1-2 podium finish and it has been a long time that I ever see that. The race started with Kimi in 3rd position while Massa 9almost always) in 1st position and 2nd start position is Hamilton. This round, Hamilton didn't manage to get pass Massa & the best part (for Ferrari) is, Kimi managed to over take him at the start of the race. Maybe he did some mistake but that Ferrari 1-2 position stayed till the end of hte race (way to go, Ferrari!!) Kimi managed to get 1st place was because his car has got more fuel than Massa on the 1st pit stop, hence, he can stay in the run longer.

What happened to Alonso? He he.. he's way behind Heidfeld and stayed behind him for quite some time. This is because Heidfeld has some great defence move that is very hard to overtake... Great job Nick ;) You can check the results here.

Ok, enough of my point of view and if you want to know more of the French Race @ Magny-Cours, head over to the official F1 site. They have great photos as well ;)

Photos courtesy from Yahoo!

Strawberry Chicken Rice salad

What would you do if you have rice, chicken, cheese & dried strawberries and you're hungry (in the middle of the nite) but lazy to cook? He he... I managed to put all these ingredients together and make a cold dish out of it. It's very easy, just need some creativity & voila ... my own rice salad.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cooked chicken
• 1 slice of cheese
• 1 1/2 bowl of rice
• a few dried strawberries
• 4 tbs mayonaise
• a pinch of salt
• pepper to taste

Mix all the above ingredients in a big bowl and chilled it if it's not cold.

Note : You can substitute raisins for dried strawberries. I was going ot use raisins but ran out of stock, so, i just cut some strawberries that I got from Cameron trip.