Sleep disturbance...@#$%^

Talk about blissful sleeping when you get woken up by the bustling sounds of generators, constructions and huge lorries honking every single day at 9 am. Urghhhhh.. so annoying!!!! The past recent months, I've been severely deprived of sleep since the construction of The Rafflesia (bungalows for the uber-rich) began. Generally, it was from 9am - 6pm on weekdays and Saturdays. Good morning? Hell no!!

* The culprit *

* A jist of the never-ending constructions *

Care for a Bobalicious?

I came across this delectable smoothie kiosk, Bobalicious Smoothies (1st Floor, Tropicana City Mall) on my way to catch the movie - Percy Jackson, The Lightening Thief (modernized version movie based on ancient Greek mythology) at GSC cinema. Since we had time on hand, we decided to give it a try.

* CNY Special *

As we were queueing up, I noticed a promotional sign indicating a collaboration with GSC. GSC movie tickets holders are entitled to purchase either a smoothie at a promotional price of RM6 or 2 for RM 10. Not bad, ey? The original price was RM 7 or 8 for a standard flavour Bobalicious. Initial choice was to try out the Tiger special but it was not applicable for the current promotion (Promotion period til 18th March if not mistaken). Hence, I had the Soursop de Guava while ex-coll, Mr J, had Mango Passionfruit.

* Mango Passionfruit *

* Soursop de Guava *

A healthy indulgence, I reckon! You can have the choice of low fat milk or fresh milk, with/ without cream, boba (black pearls) or Nate de Coco. Basically, it's like the ever popular Taiwanese black pearl tea in smoothie form. Thumbs up!!

Btw, managed to grab some books from Borders - Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (can't wait to watch the movie).

* Buy 1 get 2nd book at 50%*

Made some pasta for dinner - Black Pepper Spaghetti. Stayed in for the night to catch up on my reading. So, that's how I spent my 1st official day of freedom..Whoopee doo!! Feeling - ecstatic and undeniably relaxed. Am kissing goodbye to the daunting tasks of reporting, sales targets, pigeon-brained managements and whacko dr's. Yippeee.... *does the jiggle*..

Alas! I'm free!!!

Woot~ .. My long awaited break has finally arrived!! Yesterday was my last day at work!! Yippeee.... *grins* ...

Had a farewell cum CNY lunch with fellow colleagues. As usual, we had Chinese cuisine with 'lou sang' and the food was merely mediocre.

However, the real celebratory party began at night, we (me, colleagues + rep frennies) headed over to one of my colleague's new crib @Kota Kemuning. We were welcomed with warm hospitality & yummy home-cooked food as she insisted on preparing us dinner, consisting of coconut milk rice, chicken 'rendang', fried chicken (non-spicy) and 'acar' (pickled vege - I got the recipe from her!! *winks*).

* Hungry people, indulging into our hostess's well-prepared & delectable dinner *

* I had 2 servings of this good stuff. Scrumptious dinner!! *

* Add on (supper) - Dominos pizza *

Oh! And not forgetting the delicious dessert, pumpkin & snow fungus (Was way too bz gambling till I forgot to take a pic of it ;P).

In conjuction with the Chinese New Year festive season, gambling sessions are a definite 'MUST HAVE'..*lolz* .. There were rounds of black-jack, thai poker, 'in between', chinese poker ('chor dai dee') and gin rummy. The only game amiss was 'mahjong' - my fav!!

* Win much? Woohoo!! 21 blackjack!!! ^.^ *

* Essentials *

* Gamblers in action *

* Gin Rummy *

So, good food, gambling sessions..Wait! Something missing, ey? Aha..alcohol, of course!!! We had champers and vodka cocktails (courtesy of Mr J). I do reckon we had good loads of fun, tonnes of earth-shaking laughter, tummy filled to the brim..and most of all, good company. What a night!!

ALDO SALLLEEEESSSS....

* Simonelli gladiator heels*

Hola!! Above is an evidence of my latest splurge *grins* , the uber-cool, edgy, gladiator heels from ALDO. It was on sales and I just couldn't resist the urge to leave empty-handed, right? (Psst!! Share you in on a secret. Actually, I drove all the way to 1 Utama just to check out the ALDO sales ;P).

It sure was a definite steal - Original price: rm590; 50% disc + additional 10% disc for OneCard members, hence, I paid rm253 ONLY!!! (Special thanks to the superDuper kind retail assistant at the 1 Utama Bargain Centre for loaning me his OneCard!!). Haw! Haw! Haw! I could just hug my heelies to sleep.. Finally, I've got my hands on them!!

* Do check out the ALDO sales at Bargain Centre, 1 Utama (19th feb - 28th feb '10). Btw, the ALDO retail outlet is also having sales on selected items (up to 70% disc).

Hmm...I reckon ALDO should hire me as their spokesperson for being such a huge, avid supporter. What do ya think? *laughs*

* Front view *

Short and/or Long..

Figured out ways to diversify my latest hair-do ... Check this out!

* Long *

* Short *

Hehe!!...macam Chipsmore, ey?

My new hairdo!!!

Woot!! I've decided out of the blue to get my hair done, FINALLYYY!!! Gave a call to my hairstylist on Monday regarding some stuff and she told me that they had a promotion going on. Quite worth it, actually! The current promotion going on at SNIPS (I usually go to The Curve, branch) was 'Hair-cut + perm + color + scalp treatment & additional hair-cut + color touch up - within a 3 months period'.

* Check this out! Alien-ish makeover! *

* End result *

Yes! Waves again, got a more volume curl this time since volume curls are basically the trend for 2010. Usually I don't request for any particular style or color, I just leave it all to my hairstylist to decide. Yeay!! New hairstyle for Chinese New Year this year!! *grins* And a hole in my pocket...>.<

Battle of the wantons...

Last week, it was 'pan mee' frenzy. This week, i succumbed to my 'wanton mee' urge. I do fancy this 'wanton mee' stall at Damansara Jaya (behind Atria, corner shop next to the parking lot).

Noodle texture - not too soft, not too hard, just right with a dash of bounciness in each bite (check!); pickled chilli - hot (check!); wanton - normal pork dumpling (not bad!); soup - not the flourish water plus MSG (not bad!); 'char xiu' (bbq pork) - not caramelized at the edges but is succulent enough for me (not bad!).

Btw, the fried rice stall opposite the 'wanton mee' stall is one of my fav's, mainly for the 'belacan' that goes with the fried rice. There's fried 'kuey teow' too but I still prefer the rice. MMmm...*stomach growling* upon looking at the pic.. aiks!!! The only downside is they are not really generous with their 'belacan' so you have to ask for more. Don't be shy!

Next, Nippy Noodle Restaurant located at Kuchai Entrepreneurs Business Centre. I came across this while watching the 8tv series 'Ho Chak!' yesterday. Thought it looks interesting because according to the hosts, the 'wanton' noodles were made using the traditional way - bamboo! Sounds interesting, huh? However, I left the restaurant disappointed. Why?

* The noodle-making process using the traditional, bamboo way displayed above the kitchen counter*

* Bbq pork + roast pork + wanton mee (pretty greedy,huh?) *

* Prawn + pork meat wanton soup *

Noodle texture - fine noodles with additional bounciness in each bite (nice!) BUT tastes a bit bland (minus points!!) ; pickled chilli - not hot (minus points!); wanton - combination of prawns, pork meat & waterchesnut (yummy!); soup - tasteless (bad!!!); 'char xiu' (bbq pork) - caramelized at the edges but its too fat for me ( so so!); roast pork - crispy edges (not bad!).

So, conclusion? Still in search for the best 'wanton mee' in town...

* p/s: - I still prefer the 'wanton mee' in HK ^_^

Pan mee @ changkat

* The place *

My housemate has been telling me numerous times about this "pan-mee" (egg noodles) that is super smooth at Changkat. So being a "pan mee" fanatic, I decided to meet up with my hometown frennie's for lunch since I was working around that area on Tuesday. Basically, it's located right behind HSBC bank at Jalan Beremi.

Hmm...my first disappointment was, the traditional type of "pan mee" whereby, which comprises of small pieces of dough, was not available. Fact is that I noticed that it is not entirely common here in KL. They prefer to serve the machine rolled thick/thin noodle type of "pan mee" here. Secondly, the broth/ soup-base was utterly bland. Thirdly and most importantly for a chilli-addict, the belacan served was not as hot as it seems. No doubt the texture of the noodles were super smooth but it was definitely a let-down. My vote still strongly goes to the "pan mee" shop, Restaurant Tai Siew in Kuchai Lama. My all-time-favourite "pan mee" place.

* The soup-based thick noodle "pan mee" *

* The dry thin-noodles "pan mee" *

* Pork-balls - additional costs incurred *

Despite some disappointments in the food department, I was pretty delighted with my purchase at the thrift shop next door. I bought 4 books for RM20 only, 2nd hand books. And the icing on the top was that all the proceedings goes to charity. Well, well!! I get my reads and I get to do some good deeds. Not bad at all!! A double whammy, I reckon!

* The KLBC thrift shop *

* 2nd- handed books: 4 for RM20 - cheap, huh? *

* My recent purchases from Borders *

* Hommie's books *

Nothing better than curling up on the couch or your bed, having a good read!! That's what I like best.. Perfect way to chill!! Can barely wait for my breakie, then I can do this full time!!!

Mid-20's crisis..yikes!

Relax, chilling and not having to worry 'bout a single thing is basically all I want to do at the moment. Pretty sick of reporting sales figures, analysis, chasing after targets etc.. *groans*.. Am through with it for sure!! I came across this article " Welcome to the mid-20's crisis!" published in CLEO mag (Dec '09 issue)..hmm.. Pretty interesting!

Well, we've always heard of mid-life crisis, with a perception that it usually hit those who're in their 30's/40's, right? Aye!Aye! Guess what? Mid-20's crisis (or better known as Quarterlife crisis) actually DOES exist and we certainly are not alone. I quote from the article: -

"Pulling your hair out because you haven't scored that OS job, inner-city pad, and dream guy by 25?"

Does that sound familiar? Or this (also quoted from CLEO mag - Dec '09 issue) ???.. :-

"When you're not happy at work, nothing excites or motivates you anymore; or in love, you feel pretty wretched. Hence, putting yourself under immense pressure and questioning where your life is going."

I must admit, upon reading this article, i felt immensely relieved. There was a point in time when I thought I was going psycho, plunging into deep depression. The question that kept lingering on my mind was 'Why is this happenning to me? Why am I feeling this way?'.. At least now, I see some light in my current situation.

(Quoted from the article "Welcome to Mid-20's crisis", CLEO mag - Dec '09 issue)

Important key points: -

• Unrealistic expectations
• All work, no life - Work hard, play hard.
• The tyranny of 'should' - Remove the 'shoulds' from your life and replace with 'I want to' or ' I choose to' .
• Operation "I'm OK" - Follow your dreams and aspirations. Don't let anything stop you - neither work nor men *winks*.
• Focus on the present - Focus on what's going to bring you joy now.
• Meaning vs money
• Compromise is an artform - Abby Wilner quoted 'Sacrifices in the short term can make you better off in the long run'.
• Remember to feel good.

Hope by sharing this, it helps to shed some light in any of your situations relevant to this as it did to mine. *winks*

* Here's some of the ways of how I chill - surfing the Net, a dose of alcohol, cooking, Vietnamese drip- coffee *

Beware! Super hotties ~

These super hot babies from Vietnam, are one hell of a killer. Totally perfect for those who have a knack for extremely hot chillies. And I, for one, can NOT live without chillies, belacan, spicy foods.. due to my background.

Many may not know this, the fact that I actually am from a Nyonya descendant. Basically, my grandma's (maternal side) mother is a pure Nyonya, which makes my granny a half, my mummy a quarter and me ..whatever that comes after a quarter. *LOLz* I remember growing up with plenty 'cili padi' trees growing at our gardens and granny's mini-orchard.

And boy! These hotties do last longer compared to our normal chillies; I brought them back on early Jan and till know, they're still crisp and fresh. Very much to my surprise! 'Coz our normal chillies wilt in about a week even after being kept in the fridge. Cheers to that!!

* Salted fish fried rice (to be eaten with the hotties) *

Magic boo~

Here's some quirky stuff I got from Magic Boo (www.magicboobeauty.com):-

* Hair grip - RM3 (super convenient) *

* Mini-portable hair-straightener (cute design, ey?) - RM50 *

Nice place to shop for vanity at wholesaler price!!! *laughs*

at the Ritz ~

Ritz hotel? Nah..its the Ritz Perdana, she recently bought and moved into a studio apartment here. Basically, it was just down the road from my place. My new neighbour!!

"Welcome!!! Wilkommen!! Selamat datang!!" ....

So, we did a teeny pre-housewarming at her pad on Saturday night.. Initial plan was for pizza and drinks. Howeverrr, thanks to the ever efficient tele-services of Dominos (which was actually located 5 mins away from our place), we were literally pissed off after being kept waiting for aeons and our calls were still unanswered. That's what you call 'Good' service , ey? *ppfffftttt* Hence, we opted for some streetfood, grabbed the car keys and off we were to Kota Damansara for some take-aways.

I must say, the night did turn out pretty well despite some hiccups in the food department earlier.

* Street food + vodka coke *

* A glimpse of D.P *