Dang..

Once upon a time, back in October, a few people commented that I looked like I've lost 'a lot' of weight.  So..I became somewhat conscious.  While I liked to take the comments as a compliment..I was kind of worried too.  I started trying on smaller sized tops and shorts that was tight some time back, la la la..it sure felt good when I could fit in..and even felt loose :D

But at the same time I didn't wanna lose too much weight.  I work out for health and fitness not to be thin.  Coming from a family with history of cancer..losing too much weight means trouble.  I stepped on the weighing machine to check and saw that I was indeed lighter at 54kg.

So I started eating more.  A lot more.

In the last two week, I noticed the tummy building up...and waistline getting tighter :D

Dang..!


And at this time  ..the sinseh had to ask what kind of exercises I do actually...cos the legs are not healing as properly as he expected.  So.. I had to (reluctantly) tell him..what I actually do in the gym : P

As expected...he advised to cut down all those kicking actions .... dang.


BUT.. I've gained weight.!  I weighed 56kg today. wth!


The legs are definitely better compared to before but.there's just this stubborn 20-30%  that won't go away e.g it hurts when I sit cross legged and when I move the thighs closer to the body.  He still thinks it's the groin..some where in the groin there's a twisted vein he said.  The last treatment was really painful.  I lost count how many times he went to and fro deep in the groin and the inner thighs..and how many times I wanted to sit up and leave.  

I don't look forward to the next visit.. I think I'm better... no need to go back?


Did a google check on the net about groin injury..found this ..he may be right after all:

http://www.myofascialtherapy.org/symptom-checker/

(click HERE) for more information.

RIP Professor Ngiam

Once upon a time, a wise man said this to me:

"you will be cured. do not accept that you will have to live with these problems for life. when you are cured..you will find the passion and energy to do lots of other things in life .."


I can't remember when was the first time I met him ..must be sometime before 2008.

Before I met this man, I was always lethargic with muscle stiffness and multiple types of body aches.  Neurologists said that its side effects due to scarred spinal tissues post transverse myelitis.  Basically, it means..I'd have to live wiht the side effects and they are permanent and  I should be thankful that they are minor.

So..I never thought nor did I have confident to go back to physically demanding activities.  I daren't even take up the challenge to concur the Mount Kinabalu with my colleagues then.  I'd joined the gym for years but I only went for yoga classes, occasionally. Subsequently..I thought I'd just grow old learning tai chi :D

Until I met this sinseh.. he told me..that he will treat me back to good health.

He told me..he was terminally ill when he was a very young man, doctors told him he will not live longer than a few months.  He learnt up traditional chinese medicine and slowly fought off his illness day by day, year by year.

He treated me with his pendulum accupuncture technique accompanied with some medication.  Initially it was a weekly visit and as I feel better I tend to go less and less. In recent years I only visit him once in a few months or as and when I feel the need for maintenance.

I strongly believe that it is because of him..that I'm able to go back to be physically active as I am now.

He hasn't been well in the recent years. My last visit to him was early this year, he was recovering from a second or third stroke. I told him that other doctors in the centre were not as effective as him..he said:

All of you say the same thing, when I'm not around anymore..how?


It's as if he was preparing us for his passing.  

Strange enough..I didn't feel the need to see him again after that. Well..I did think about going in for "maintenance" but I've been going for that vein pushing treatment for the legs..I didn't want to spend more money on accupuncture..which I don't feel any urgent need for..


We've heard that he has been very sick recently.  His old friend - cancer - has visited him again.  Unfortunately, this time he's too old to fight off those nasty cells.

Just heard that he had passed on.


RIP.

And..Thank you.

Two Reasons Why I'm Still Awake (Again)

1.

2.

Yes..lesson not learnt.

3.54AM..



No wonder they called it Coffee In the Dark.

Beware of Water Filter Scam

Location: Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Some young chap in tshirt and jeans calling me AUNTY came by the house and started the conversation by  'warning' about unsafe water 'due to recent cleaning by the authorities'.

He used sentences like

.."please don't boil and drink water from the pipe in the next two days"
.."are you like aunties and uncles from the row of houses behind you, who boil and drink water from the pipe"
.."like them,,can you bring me a glass of drinking water, so that I can test for you"


I walked away.

1. Very obvious it's a scam..
2. He called me AUNTY..(repeatedly!)



Googled and found many write-ups about similar scams in the overseas..

Click HERE to see one of the many

So Nice

Source: ayearoffhe.blogspot.com via Jeanne on Pinterest

I had a Nice day.

Everyone that I met today was Nice.

The security guards at the guard house was Nice.

The people at the reception was Nice.

The interviewee was Nice.

Source: austinkleon.com via Jesse on Pinterest

What you pay for..

Yesterday I met someone for a work meeting at a bistro at a hotel lobby. Guess how much was the latte / cappucino ?  Yes..it was a fairly big glass  / cup and we sat there from 4 till 7pm.

But still... each drink was RM25! wth.

If I knew earlier..I would have suggested to cross the road to Pacific Coffee at Farenheit ..each of us can have many many cups for RM25!

Not that I picked up the bill la..but still.



So..ya....I just wanna say..that price doesn't come with quality all the time.


As you may have read in the recent posts..I was going hoo haa about LewisGene...a new humble outlet at Solaris Dutamas.

RM13.90 with pancake

Well..not a posh environment..but..its cosy and comfortable. Why not?!  For RM13.90..you get really good coffee and snacks.  Go figure.




And then..there's my all time favourite, Espressolab at an open corner at Garden's Mall.  Limited seating..not exactly air conditioned. Pretty open setup as seats are located along the first floor link walkway of Gardens - Mid Valley.

RM10

But it's really really good coffee for RM10.  And..it's really kind of nice sitting in the midst of the the hustle bustle..especially when the weather is cooling.



This was from Jin Yi by Cofffee Ritual, when they first started in D'sara Uptown.  Looking awesomely good at RM7.50.

RM7.50

And this.......

I don't even know what to say about this.  It was from some posh bistro and cafe.
Some biggie with several outlets across town...

And no.. the pic was taken before I took any sip..it looks exactly like this when it arrived.  LEt's not even talk about taste...


And guess how much it was?  I can't remember the exact price..but it's definitely double digit..RM12..13 may be.

Paying for the environment so to speak..
 

Ouch 2

Don't ask..I wonder why too :D

This time even the left foot got it.

..it doesn't hurt as much as it looks actually.

Well, it did .. for a while, in the beginning...even those right toes felt it.  It was green blue in the beginning :P

I think the skin and arteries will get use to the blows eventually..and won't bruise so easily.

O rather..eventually, I'll learn to kick using the right spots...

Coffee in the Dark

Coffee Societe FB page

It's 4am, I'm wide awake.

I knew it..one cup is my max..hence I didn't go for the free flow option.

But the coffee tasted damn good..and my friends kept ordering one after another.

Iced latte - Latte - another Latte
Latte - Flat White
Iced Latte - Flavoured Cappucinno - Cappucinno


I couldn't just sit there and be satisfied with one cup..


Jenny offered me a quarter of her flavoured cappucinno...

We asked for only half to one shot..as mild as they can make it..it tasted mild..so I forgot all about the danger of imsomnia.


When Jenny couldn't finsh her third cup..I gulped down almost half of it.



Now I'm paying the price.




4.05am .... no sign of sleepiness.

Dilemma at myBurgerLab

So..I first tried the Beautiful Mess

Then it was the Seattle ..

and then I was completely awed by Jam with Elvis

Followed by a Kick in the Ass

Without fail, each visit is a dilemma for me when deciding what to eat.  How I wish I could be as loyal as Jenny who would always go for the best selling Beautiful Mess and nothing else.

Yupe..I've 'flower hearts' directly translated from the Cantonese proverb, it simply means..many hearts..someone with many hearts cannot stay with one lover. LOL.

But then..I'm a blogger and a foodspotter...if I always stick to one kind of food on the menu..I'll have nothing to report!

Yay..so..each time I'd make sure I try something new ..no matter how much I'd wanna have a mess with the favourites ...Beautiful Mess and my personal favourite Jam with Elvis.




This time I had the Chicken and Egg Dilemma.
As much as I prefered beef..I made it a point to have chicken this time..and this was recommended.

Chicken and Egg Dilemma

Verdict...?


Oh well...I miss the Beautiful Mess...and Elvis.



Next visit? It will be between Beautiful Mess and Elvis.

Dilemma again ..haii...

Among the Great Apes with Michelle Yeoh

I really enjoyed this. CLosed to 50 mins long..but definitely worth watching.  Not sure if they've shown on on NatGeo yet..and I probably don't watch idiot box often enough to have noticed it while it was being aired.

If you have not seen it..enjoy!



By the way, the orang utans were cute but Datuk Michelle Yeoh's even cuter speaking Malay :P

When you don't feel pain..

Ouch..not that I felt the pain.  A gym mate asked me to 'practice' kicking (the punching bag) with him. So I kicked..and kicked.  Left foot was not as strong and it was painful..the punching bag's really hard you see.

I'm much more stronger on the right side..and I can kick really well on the right, and I don't feel pain on the right leg (side effects from TM). So..I didn't know I was kicking too hard, lol.

That's just one of the three bruises spotted.  Foot feels slightly sore now. 

Hope it's nothing serious :P

2012 M.A.D.E Charity : Conclusion

It's done!

The music event on Sunday was a huge success.  Friends, family, regular customers of Mandolin and many others came and donated generously.  It was unbelievable.

Music Madness Event : RM14,500
Charity Book sale collection: RM 7,300
Total collected as of 5 Nov: RM21,800 (with donations still pouring in). 

THANK YOU, on behalf of Sr Dorothy, the children and the community of Paitan to all who helped in different ways.

LewisGene | espresso, tea & machines

Here I go again..

Always happy and excited to discover good cafe...

Simply love this one.

LewisGene | espresso, tea & machines
Open daily from 8.30am till 12am
Solaris Mont Kiara above Chilla Cup

Discovered this place last Thursday.

I went back on Friday, we were there from 9pm till past midnight.  This place comes alive at night!  It was buzzling when we left eventhough it was so late.

Simply love the environment. Nice music to chill and relax.  Staff are nice and friendly.  Coffee was good of course.

Was there again yesterday evening..it was very quiet..hardly any customers, but it felt so cosy and comfortable....love it love it.

Cappuccino and pancake

They have this great promo between 2-7pm (not sure until when) : Any coffee with snacks choices like pancake, waffle (with ice cream!), frech toast or muffin for only RM11.90.

It's RM16.90 with a slice of cake.

Latte and French toast

Great value for money isn't it?!

Wondering which are my favourite coffee now?


In order of preference:

• Espressolab at Gardens or Publika
• LewisGene
• Coffee Societe

Live Great Run was Great

It was Great.

May be because it's a new route that we've never ran before or the pleasant weather.  It was cooling, traffic was very light, air was fresh...so fresh that I swallowed a tiny leaf that flew into my mouth !

Congratulations and Well Done - Great Eastern Malaysia.  Everything was perfect. Well organised to perfection, in my opinion, despite this being their first running do in Malaysia, and not even being a 'sporty brand' like err... 'you know who'.

The venue was good too. Spacious, clean and bright.  Parking arrangement / signages can be improved though.

Oh..I was so into running..I totally forgot to snap pictures of the barricades.  What a shame :-/

Matrade - Jalan Duta - Jana Kuching - Solaris Dutamas - Hartamas - back to Martrade

It was a refreshing and pleasant run despite the many slopes and hills...

According to Runkeeper, it's a record climb for me :D



Overall I felt quite good..the best I've felt for a long time.  May be, the vein pushing guy really knows his stuff!


Official timing and pace according to the official D-tag.  Don't see any improvement in terms of speed nor pace though.

Ranked 389 out of 852 in the Women's Open category.

Here's a quick comparison by Sportypal. Unfortunately, I don't use Sportypal often, so I couldn't find any other 12km race to compare with.  

This one's with 10km KOTR in September along the NPE highway which I didn't enjoy that much because of the heat, pollution and climbs.  

But..you'll see below..I ran faster in KOTR cos the climb was just half as tough.  Yea..contradictory findings ..lol!

via Sportypal : blue for 12km Live Great Run vs. green for 10km KOTR

Right..so this probably wraps up 2012 runs.

Cheers...

CoffeeSociété

Yes, I keep changing my preference, which is healthy sign isn't it?  It just shows there are healthy competition and everyone's (providers and consumers) raising the bar higher and higher.  Erm..for those who are stagnant ....sorry lar. 

Currently ranked first in my preferred coffee joints list.

I never liked Red Velvet until I came here 

CoffeeSociété

Solaris Dutamas @ Publika

Block D4, Level G3, Unit 3A