Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Wishes, Plans and Hopes

If wishes worked like magic
And plans walked the intent
If grants were immediately accorded
And hopes did not feather away

Heart would be fulfilled
Spirits would meander happily
Prayers would be answered
Life would be complete




Sebak dadaku
Retak hatiku
Luka jiwaku
Dihiris pilu

Beribu sesalanku.......

Sunday, June 26, 2011

To Flag Off

I am walking to the flag off area as I type this entry. The Dataran Merdeka area is packed with "green" people. Everyone looks so happy, and so "gung ho" too.

Nervous? Yes, a little bit. I feel I have not trained enough. Should have started training earlier and go to the gym to work out more often.

Duhhh....what if I tak larat later?? Malu je kan.....Tak pe lah - this is my first time. I'm gonna be running alone.....sob...sob. When I signed up, I checked if anyone else in the house wanted to come along. Unfortunately, no one was game. And ada juga yang doubt if I could ever get to the finish line.

It's ok, we shall see what happens later. Wish me luck ya :)

Almost there dah..I could see the flag off stage already. And I could feel my heart beating much faster now.

Mobile toilets and folks queuing for that morning ease

Flag off area...look towards the blue arch like balloons.

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It's THE Day

It's a very early start on Sunday for me. Woke up at 5am and was out of the house by 6. Am already in the lrt. Destination - Masjid Jamek stop. From there on, I'll have to walk a bit to the flag off area which is near the Tugu Negara.

Ohhh...yes, I am all set for this - the Standard Charted KL Marathon. Signed up for this event sometime back. I'll be taking part in the 5km Fun Run. Excited dah ni!!

More folks in green have boarded the train now. It was announced in the SCKLM website that 22,000 people have signed up for this event. Woootsssss.....and I'm one of them. Simply cool, isn't it?

The train is almost approaching KL Sentral station. One more stop and next will be Masjid Jamek. Gotta go now. Will try to post more stories later.

My outfit all color coordinated - shades of green :)

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

When I am Stressed....

I bake.....



I cook.....



I scrub the floor.....


Tumirah, for hire anyone???

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Father's Day...Almost


So yesterday was Father’s Day. Err…not quite for us. The father was away and so were the kids. He had to attend an important program organized by the office. No way I could compete with that lah kan……

The kids, well, one was busy helping a friend’s sister’s wedding and the other was so absorbed with his car – working round the clock to improve its performance. So, tinggal lah Mommy, Nissa and the cats. Poor us :(

Anyway, Mommy was in the mood to bake. The work related stress must have given the sudden urge to slog in the kitchen. It was ages since my last baking project. And with no maid, it felt like a real chore to get my hands and kitchen extra messy.

So there we were, the Mommy and dotter team – working on our “throw all in” carrot cupcakes concoction. It was tiring of course, having to prepare everything ourselves. No bibik to get the baking stuffs out and do the cleaning once we were done. However, contrary to how I felt earlier and very much to my surprise, the baking worked wonders to my all my stressed up system. Baked with loads of passion, and the result was super cool!!

Cuppies were gone in no time, and by the time the father came home later that evening adalah beberapa ketul left for him to savor. Guess it’s better late than no show and better beberapa ketul yang inggal than nampak kesan or tinggal hanya bau, betul tak??

Our cuppies turnout so gebu, moist and heavenly (err…puji diri sendiri lah pulak kannn…)

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Saturday, June 18, 2011

To the River

Never mind if you didn't speak each other's language; when there is a will, there will always be a way. During our recent trip to Guilin, my creative methods in communication was put to test to the max.

We had wanted to purchase boat tickets to a city located to the south of Guilin. From my research, it was highly recommended that one took the river way to this place called Yangshou. The five hour boat ride would feast the eyes to one of the most scenic nature look outs.

We stopped by at an agent who sold the river cruise tickets for our ticket purchase. Two very important tasks I had to execute in the most successful manner. One was to get the right river cruise (to choose from a menu of cruise options which was written in Mandarin!!!) and the other was to bargain for better price (ohhh yesss...price varies a lot from one agent to the other).

It was tough work communicating with the bubbly auntie. First she showed me a different cruise from the one I had in mind. And next, she didn't want to compromise the price. After many minutes of sign language to make known my intentions and punching numbers on the calculator for a good price, I finally managed to get tickets for the Li River Cruise at a price almost 50% less than the initial price she quoted me.

Fuhhh....what a challenge that was!!



At the boat peer, all ready to board the cruise. I paid CNY240 per person for the cruise. Others paid more...especially the Mat Salls. Don't ask me why.

It takes about 5 hours on the river to get to Yangshou. Folks buying snacks ammunition to keep themselves busy on board.


Since there were many, many boats, one had to really look for the right one to board. Pier was like one big Puduraya for boats.


Boat about to start cruising



83-km-long waterway from Guilin to Yangshuo is like an artist's masterpiece.


Small islet in the middle of the river



Awesome looks of the piked limestome mountains

Simply breath taking was the view



The landscape is decorated with rolling hills, steep cliffs, fantastic caves, leisurely boats and is lined with bamboo.


A poem described view in this manner..... "The river is a green silk ribbon, and the hills are jade hair-pins".


Fresh air on the upper deck

Small bamboo rafts are used by the locals in carrying out their daily routines.


Small towns by the river

Caves in the mountain


Kitchen is at the back of the boat. Place your order and lunch is served sizzling hot!!


This man tried his level best to sell food and little trinkets to the cruise boat passengers.


Very scenic indeed


Awesome kan??


Another breath taking view




Small villages along the river. The people have become entrepreneurial and started their own cruise business.


Free and easy at the river village


As we approaches our destination Yangshou


Cruise finally coming to a stop.

Long Way Still

Hiatus again, yes I am aware of that. There's so much still of our travel stories that I would like to share. But time, these days, I never seem to have much.


Work load is piling and so are the clothes to be ironed. Ever since the disappearance of the maid, yours truly Mrs Ma'am a.k.a Tumirah has not much choice but get herself comot at completing the house chores.

Exhausted yang tidak boleh nak di describe!!

It's less than two months to Ramadhan. I dread thinking about what will happen then.

Sigh......

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Kuatagh Chillex

When I told Nissa that we were heading to Kuantan last Sunday, she made funny faces at me. Cynically, she asked me, “Where is that?” Ohh…too much of cuti-cuti di luar Malaysia this girl!!

I shared with her why she may like the place, but she wasn’t very convinced. Before I ended our conversation, I told her that I once went to school there. Her reply was oh yeah..??

It was an easy drive to Kuantan. In slightly less than 3 hours, we were already exiting the highway at the Gambang toll and heading towards the town centre. Told Abe that I wanted to make a quick stop to get stuffs for Nissa’s fun in the sun. We headed to Berjaya Mega Mall and I made one quick dash into Parkson.

Kuantan - a town on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, about 200km northeast from Kuala Lumpur, is not at all an untrodden path. Was there for about a year in 1977 during my brief stint in MRSM Kuantan and have come back a couple of times on work assignments. When Abe informed that he was heading there for work, I was all hands up wanting to tag along.

Swiss Garden Resort near Pantai Balok where we stayed for the night. Most hotels in Kuantan and Cherating were fully booked!!

Sea was calm and beach was not too packed

Father & dotter beach bummers of the day

Saw many of these "intricate" patterns in the sand

Really tiny hideout

Occupant of the hideout...si ketam angin

Kelapa yang dah bertunas

The three beach bummers

Fun in the pool

Wished I had more time to visit the spa....

Keropok galore

Sata yang sangat sedappppp

from gerai Pak Soh...rupa tempat tiada lah sangat, but the sata & kepok were really, really yummy

Passed by my old college. Nissa was impressed to know that I once went to a boarding school.

The tennis court and girls hostel in the background. This place still looks the same!!

The dining hall

Time to go back KL, Nissa....


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