Vantage Point

Bee n i went for movie last nite. Here's the plot.

Vantage Point is the story of eight strangers with eight different points of view each trying to piece together the truth behind an assassination attempt on the President of the United States. These eight people include Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox), Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Ashton (William Hurt) at an anti-terrorism summit in Salamanca, Spain. Also involved are Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), an American tourist who thinks he’s captured the shooter on his camcorder while videotaping the event for his family back home, Enrique, a mysterious Spanish cop who is considered a major suspect in the assassination, and TV news producer Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver), relaying the historic event to millions of TV viewers across the globe. When a double of President Ashton is shot moments after stepping to the podium, chaos ensues. Terrorists attack the podium and the actual location of the President - who had earlier been moved to a safe location after his aides learn of a definite threat against the summit. Barnes must uncover the truth while facing his memories of a previous assassination attempt as well as betrayal from within the security detail. As they and others reveal their stories, the pieces of the puzzle fall into places.

Our review : hmm...okey kot. Out of 10, i think, we'll give a 5 only. Good action but lack of story-line...weak in delivering more umpphh! We do not like the concept of retelling of the story...a bit boring lor and stale lor. But then again, its my opinion. Different people might liked the movie...

Lunch at The Garden Terrace

This morning we had our department meeting. So much projects to handle and so many issues to resolved. We're supposed to have 'lunch-in' and so i ordered Pizza. I placed my order just 5 minutes before 11am. The operator assured me that they will send the Pizza by 11:30am or so. We were in the meeting room, discussing matters, 12noon, still no sign of pizza. I make a call at 12:30pm and follow-up with 3 more calls but no pizza!! They promised that a restaurant manager supposed to return my call but no calls. Wah!! I'm so mad. I told them that if the pizza arrived, we're not going to pay a single cent!! And i mean it!! The operator said its 'on the way'.....we patiently waited, its 1:15pm and no pizza. This is the first time we encountered this problem. Ah boss calls the shot and said we have to go out and eat cos everybody is already shiverring....hungry!!




Ah boss took us to The Garden Terrace at Glenmarie Golf Club. Its our second time there, we had ala-carte. There were I had Char Kuew Teow, M n L had Nasi Goreng Cina and Nasi Goreng Kampung respectively, S and M ate Cantonese Noodle, Ah boss ordered Fish Head Mihun and Rojak buah for starters. The food is tasty and its a generous portion. I liked the environment and the scenery, greens.








As we finished placing our order, Pizza Hut called! They apologized and said that their computer broke-down, (yeah rite!). So they said the will send the 1 large and 1 regular pizza that we ordered earlier for free. I told them that i've also ordered side dishes, eg, chicken wings, garlic bread, 7up, coleslaw and 1 pan vegetarian pizza. They said i have to pay for the extra's but the pizza is free. So i told them to fly kites. As we're feeding ourselves, another call came in from pizza hut. They said they'll send my orders FOC!!! YES!! Everybody's happy.


We had our cold pizza for tea-time......ah boss is amazed that his girls can really eat!!

Reading

I try to make sure that i read at least 2-3 books a year. Actually bee said not enough, he said must read more books. He reads at least 7-8 books a year!! Not enough of that he reads, National Geographic n Reader's Digest. Gosh!! But we'll also try to read comic for humour, mostly 'Fox Trot' by Bill Amend collection or 'Closer to Home' by McPhearson's . We have a few collection of those lar. Bee has all collection of Tin-Tin and he still reads it for his toilet-time, hehe... I just wish our house is big enough so that we can have our own private library, there's not enough space to put all our books!!

Last year I managed to finished reading 3 books. One is from the author Lydia Teh's 'Honk if you're a Malaysian'....good stuff. In Lydia's collection of anecdotes, she brings on more observations that capture the textures, humour and nuances of Malaysian life. She presents the Malaysian panorama in her own special style, characterized by frankness, vitality and humour. Her book spans enormous range of topics from the etiquette of public kissing and how to decimate the lizard population to decorating tips for your car interior and how to make records of the biggest, longest variety. If you''re Malaysian, you will be delighted to recognize yourself within the pages. If you''re not, you''ll be well on your way to becoming one after reading it.

Another that i finished last year was 'The Secret' by Rhonda Byrne. In this book, you'll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life - money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. "They said" uou'll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that's within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life. The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers - men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible. In my opinion lah......nah......i didn't really finished reading it cos after awhile, it gets no where. Depends of your own spiritual belief lar. But it think its crap!. Read it, you'll know what i mean.

Huby bought me a book, so the last book that i read last year was about a women that has been abducted during Saddam Hussein's ruling. Its about the torture she has to endure and also the jail time that she served. I can't remember the title but it was quite touching and moving. After reading, I borrowed it to my sister-inlaw hence forgotten the title.

Yesterday, i'm so happy to be able to finish reading 'Once Removed' by Andrew Leci. Its about an expatriate life who. The scene is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the year is 1997. Looking for love and enlightenment in all the wrong places, Graham Wallace (quantity surveyor, part-time footballer, full-time fibber, some-time lover, no-time fighter) gets used and abused, flattered and deceived, jostled and jilted, a wave of self-delusion carrying him through the seas of adventure that comprise his life. Once Removed is funny, shocking, sexy, provocative and evocative, and will have the reader looking at expatriates and Malaysians in a completely different light... or maybe not. It a good read tho'.

I've yet to scout for my next book. I hope to get it soon....haven't decide whether its gonna be an autobiography or general fiction....see my mood....hehehe... I heard MPH is having their sale now. 50% discount, checkout their website : mphonline.com.

Incentif Trip

The company did well last year, so early tis yr, the company announced that the support staff will be going 4 incentif trip. They sent us a survey first to c which country we all wana go. We simply have to grade from 1 to 4 of places, ie. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bali & Vietnam. After the survey the committee found out the vote for Shanghai and Hong Kong trip were equally same. Finally the committee decided to give us 2 choices. I can tell u, its so hard for us to choose. Of course there were mixed feelings and all.

I thot i'd wait for the itinerary before i decide. But my initial respond was Shanghai cos of the nice scenery places. Later on when the itinerary arrived, i instantly chose Hong Kong!! Instantly, i thot, yes, i wanna go 'shopping'!! And the trip also include Shenzhen, China. So i get to see sum part of China! Then i went back home and discussed with hubby. He also said go ahead with Hong Kong if my intention is to do shopping. Furtheremore, he said he would not want to go there. He said wat a better way then to go there with my girlfrens from office...awww...he's so thotful!!. He said maybe in future we don't mind going to Shanghai together but he would never have Hong Kong in his itinerary. He also said better go and see Disneyland cos he knows i've got a kid in me. Altho he said it would not be as great at Disney in LA (he's been there) but at least i get to see Mickey n Minnie...hehehe..

We'll be going in Mid March, not long, just 5days 4nites. We'll have 2 nites in Shenzhen and another 2 in Hong Kong. In Shenzhen, we'll get to go to "Window of the World" in a miniature. We get to c a mini Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal or the Pyramids in mini-sizes. They also have 'Splendid of China" where its the largest miniature park of Chinese ancient buildings ie. Great Wall of China, Imperial Palaca, etc. A must in Hong Kong is of course the Victoria's peak, Ladies' market, Lantau island and Disneyland. Its going to be cold there so we have to pack some sweaters to prepare for the cool wind.

Shanghai trip will consist of Hangzhou. They will visit The Bund, the lively riverside promenade, and Oriental Pearl TV Tower - the tallest structure in Asia. They get to visit Pagoda of Six Harmonies, the biggest wood tower in China and Ling Yin Temple, the most ancient monastery in Hangzhou. Wu Zhen Water Village, a water town with 1000 years of history. Jade Buddha Temple and Huangpu Night River Cruise, one of the best way to see both old and new Shanghai. Visit to Yu Garden, Long Jing Tea Farm and Silk Factory. So you see, i didn't opt for this trip cos there will be a lot of travelling (the long journey) plus a lot of sight seeing.....me want shopping!!

There will be about 90 pax going for the Shanghai trip while Hong Kong will consists of about 35 people....better still!! I prefer lesser crowd, hehehe. All SOD girls going for HK except for 'S', she's been there before hence she chose Shanghai.

For the Sales Force Team, Marketing Department and Medical Department, they all get to choose to go to 3 other destinations, ie. Hokkaido, Japan, Central Europe and Eastern Europe....wah lagi best woo!! Watever it is, we all are greatful of this good fortune.

My nice Sunday

I'm so looking forward to go to Pavillion last Sunday. 1st intention is because i told bee that i really need to try the J.Co Donuts. I haven't be able to taste it cos everytime i wanna buy, the queue is too long and i have no patience. My 2nd intention is i'm looking for a sling bag and i haven't found the right one just yet. I need a new sling bag cos my old ones is giving away.....not!! Its just a reason actually for me to get a new one for my incentive trip to Hong Kong next month. I'm also looking for a good shoe and so far the ladies Nike shoe looks promising n comfy. I've checked-out Sketchers range and Marc Ecko but not my taste lah, hehehe.

As soon as we reached Pavillion around 11am, i quickly make a quik dash to J.Co and ordered half a dozen (only bee n me only mah) and keep it in the car back. Later went and jalan-jalan Parkson and Tangs. Alas, i found my dream sling bag, Braun Buffel. Initially I wanted a Balenciaga at Parkson but bee said not nice. After all 'somebody' paid for the belated Valentines gift hehe.

Later got a call from a couple fren, A&S. They wanted to meet us for dinner. We agreed to meet up at 8.30pm. Last minutely we agreed to meet up at Cozy Corner. Its bee n my 5th time having dinner there. We still enjoy the food there. Tup-tup, A&S treat us dinner, tak sangka pulak. We don't mind 'going-dutch' but i guess its 'rezeki'.

Then we adjourned to Oldtown Kopitiam at Seksyen 17. I've never been there before and i can tell you, we're gonna frequent that place. A nice place to hang-out and lepak for coffee. We ordered 'roti-bakar' and coffee. The last time we met was during the fasting month, thats about 3-4 months ago, there's so many stories to exchange. I asked them for some tips about Hong Kong and we part ways exactly past midnite.

Oya in the evening, i get to sample my first J.Co Donut......memang out of this world!! My personal opinion (and huby agreed!), its better that the other 2 famous donuts. J.Co rocks!! Sedap giler. Memang sedap!! I definately want a dose of it this coming weekend....sedappppp.....Each of us get to sample 3 each...and all flavours are just so sedap!!

CJ7 & Hong Kong Delights

Happy Valentines Day!! I took leave today, need the break especially after the conference last month. Went to OU and get ourselves tickets to watch CJ7 since both of us are fan of Stephen Chow. Its about Stephen Chow who plays a poor father who can't afford to buy toys for his son. He then decided to pick one out from the garbage. It turns out to be a magical toy from outer space. From there, the adventure begins.

I think we put our hopes too high. Of course 'Kungfu Hustle' is great but emm...yeah there were a few laffable moments but not enough punch. There scenes were enought to make us forget after the movie. Probably cos we're too busy looking at the sub-titles. But the movie is so-so lar.

After movie, we planned to have lunch at the food-court, Arena. There is a new stall, Hong Kong Delight that offers dim-sum. My bro-inlaw recommended the place and said the dim-sum is good so we thot we'd try out. We ordered prawn cheong-fun, siew mai, century egg porridge, steam beancurd roll and fried cheese stick. There were delicious!! It is the same quality that we get if we eat dim-sum at a hotel. I think we'll definately to there again if we have dim-sum fever! Too bad the restaurant at Giant Kelana Jaya, named 'Chi' has closed down. If we have the cravings, we'd usually go there. But since we have Hong Kong Delights, we might drop by when the cravings comes, hehehe.

Auntie M's Birthday

Went to Windmill Subang Jaya to celebrate Auntie M's birthday. We asked her what she wanted to eat, she said she wanna eat steak....huby mentioned Victoria Station but since i wanna eat oriental food, we thot Eden would be a fair choice cos they also served western n local cuisine. As we're about to make a turning at Subang Jaya, last minutely bee said, lets go to Windmill!

Its been a long time since bee n me last been there. We usually ate at the branch at One Utama but unfortunately the branch has closed down. Coincidently, cuzin F has never been there before, so its just nice. Furthemore auntie M don't mind.

That particular nite, they did not serve local food because of some promotion going on. Aunty M changed her mind, she had seafood platter instead, bee had it too, 'cute cuzin' had black pepper chicken and i had chicken maryland. Food oklar....can do lar.... We're too full to have dessert.

After diner, we go tokmak's house for coffee. And auntie M opened her pressies....she lurves all her pressies from us.

on.

Malacca Excursion

My trip to Malacca was so-so...mediocre. Nothing great! Probably cos i wasn't that keen. We left KL on the 1st day of CNY around 10am and reached Malacca town around noon. There was quite a jam before Nilai and Seremban highway. As expected, Malacca is full of tourist mostly Singaporeans and locals. Had lunch at Restoran Asam Pedas. Papa said we were lucky that day cos we managed to get a table for 6 and the place is packed with people. Papa said this place is famous for its asam pedas. For me, 'biasa jer'. Later checked in at Mahkota hotel n apartment.

Nite time, went to Umbai for dinner. Boy! Its not worth eating there. Its our second time there, the first time was not good and the second too. The food sucks, its expenstive (cos its festive holiday) and the service sucked too. After diner, we all went to town to see the ferris wheel. Didn't get the chance to go cos there were a long queue.

1st day, after breakfast, we all decided to tryout the hotel's recreational activities. Bro and SIL played pingpong while my parents and us played a game of carrom....and we let our parents win, hehe. Later papa played pingpong with huby, bro and SIL while mama n me played congkak. After the guys sweat out we went up to the room, take a breather n refreshens.

Later the guys went for Friday prayers and went to lunch to the same place we had yesterday. Then went to Malacca parade and Dataran Pahlawan. Late evening we all went for the 'Malacca River Cruise'. I think it the highlight of this trip. Altho we had to queue for nearly 45 minutes, the cruise journey was wonderful. We should be proud of the history in Malacca. If you have the chance, do take the 45minutes cruise.

For diner we're suppose to go to this place which papa said the 'asam pedas is power' but unfortunately they're closed. We end up having dinner at a food-court just next to Malacca parade before we settled back to our apartment.

2nd day, after breakfast at the hotel, all of us went back to the apartment, packed and checked out at around noon. This time huby, bro, SIL and me could not take any more of asam pedas and so we persuaded our parents if we can have 'Burger King' for lunch instead and they agreed reluctantly, hehe. After that we jalan-jalan and left Malacca at precisely 5pm. Reached Kelana Jaya around 7pm, went diner at Nasi Lemak Cikgu before settling back to home-sweet-home.

Next year's resolution during Chinese New Year, probably stay around KL???

Happy Chinese New Year

To all my frens celebrating the year of the rat, Gong Xi Fa Chai and to others, have a great long holiday.

I'm going for a road-trip with my parents, bro n SIL to Malacca. I don't really fancy cos i don't fancy masak asam pedas. Especially this time the place is gona be jam-packed with people and tourists. But papa is pestering us to have our holidays there cos he just lurve the masak asam pedas ikan pari and he wanted to introduce us to the place. So there will be a lot of makan-makan this holiday and that means i'm gonna bloat with food and stuff. The only thing that i look forward going to Malacca is the break and their cendul (their gula melaka is original!!). I told papa to do up an itinerary and this time i get bro and SIL to arrange food. I just helped out on the accommodation. All hotels and apartments are fully booked and the price has gone up, they said its super-peak time....wat a way to make money!!

GONG XI FA CHAI. Many good fortune and increase of health and wealth for everybody in Malaysia!

Saloon Visit

Last week M said she wanted to do digital perm and colour her hair. She asked me whether i'm interested to go to the saloon. Of course i said yes cos i cannot tahan having curls!!! Yeah, u heard that rite!! I know, i just had the curl last year November but now I have low tolerence in getting my hair to 'towel-dry' and then apply lotion for the hair to maintain the curls and what not. I'm so used to straight and stress-free hair. I just needed the hair to dry off by itself and apply a crystalised aqua-gel and i'm done and sometimes i don't even have to comb it!!

Last saturday we went to APT Professional Hair Salon in Puchong, the saloon has a few branches everywhere in Klang Valley. Its our first time there. Nice place! For those who's waiting or accompanying their girlfren/wife, they can surf the internet or read mags at a very comfy lobby.



View from inside the room

At first we sat at their normal area but then since both of us wanted to do manicure and pedicure, they asked us to sit at a VIP room. Then another fren S, who went to IOI mall in puchong decided to give us a visit, just to sibuk-sibuk, hehehe.




S pretending to be shampoo girl, clowning around wif M.





Before curl...................................after curl




Before cut & rebonding



After cut & straightening


I cut my hair shoulder length and get it rebond. Its my first time trying-out their ice-rebonding technique. They said its supposed to be better then the normal rebonding. Cost arnd RM400 plus meni & pedi. I'm quite happy with the results. M did her colouring and digital perm and it turned out nicely. Visit their website at www.apt.com.my.

Kelana Seafood Restaurant

My family, my inlaws, other relatives, bee n me enjoys the food at Kelana Seafood. Its is so famous, i'm sure many people are aware of this place. To me, its the only restaurant that served Halal Chinese food with reasonable price. We tried to eat there as regularly as possible especially nowadays cos we heard that its going to close-down to make way for new buildings.

Two weeks ago, the two of us went for early dinner during weekday. We had their famous crispy honey squid, kangkung belacan and lemon chicken. Bee had sharksfin soup, i sort of forced him to have it cos i always eat it with office people. The food is still yummy.

Last week, we took our parents, bro and SIL pulak. We had fried siakap with sambal sauce, vegetable soup, chicken with chilli & cashew nut, taufu with crabmeat, crispy squid and butter prawns. Later Ms. Leong (the supervisor) gave us fruits as complimentary.

None of their staff knows the exact time they're closing down but we hoped that they will open in some another building. It will be a waste if they didn't want to continue their prosperous business.