weekend project part 5

for a person who is konon2 beria nak kurus, diet, lose weight, inches and what not, this is what one should eat.

FRESH SALAD

but instead, that one person has little or no willpower when she was introduced to this by her lil brother who says it's so sedap, heavenly, creamy and yummy. so that person just HAVE to try, doesn't she?

just look at those gorgeous vanilla cream oozing out. who can resist?? not me! gosh apparently this has become my new addiction. i can resist those holey, round thingy but this, so far i have succumbed not once but thrice.

and to make matters worse, i made these on Saturday.

YET ANOTHER GENIUS INVENTION

THE INGREDIENTS

MIX IT ALL UP

BEFORE

AFTER

THE END PRODUCT

DUST LIGHTLY (OR GENEROUSLY) WITH ICING SUGAR AND ENJOY

thankfully i still have about 10 days left at the gym so i am gonna try to make full use of it. but it doesn't help that Beard Papa is located in the same building. tsk tsk. told ya life's a biatch.

the Saturday night that was

I am pretty sure almost everyone subscribe to Astro nowadays. Even houses in rural areas have Astro. What do you get when you subscribe to the only cable service available, which has no competition? You get really lousy, bad and f***ed up service. Hujan sikit, service unavailable. Wtf? Despite numerous complaints, nothing has been done by Astro to improve its services. Why? Because they have no competition. Look at telco service provider. Almost everyday they come up with new plans, gimmicks, promotions etc to attract customers. Simply because they have competition.

After numerous complaints (and warning?) Astro decided to change its smart card to a new, gold-colored smart card. I thought with this new so-called improved smart card, the service would be better. So I followed the instructions with the hope that everything would be updated on time for me to watch Konsert AF but the screen showed “Please insert smart card.” I tried a few times, inserted the new card, switched off the whole thing, switched it on again, took out the card, inserted it back in but still it appeared the same. Hmm. I have no choice but to call the Customer Support Centre. However, I find it absolutely annoying and a total waste of time when you call something and the operator would tell you to press 1 for something, press 2 for another thing, press 3 for yet another thing and the list goes on. I was put on hold forever and had to put up with the annoying voice of the operator telling me about its services, packages and what not, until finally someone answers the phone. Every minute that pass by, my boiling points raised one notch. Blame it on the hormones but too bad for the guy who answered my call. I told him I couldn’t get the service so he instructed me step by step as to what to do, which I did. Then he told me that after 10 minutes or so, service will resume. After 15 minutes, the screen showed that the decoder is being updated and it will take 10 minutes. I waited for another 10 minutes or so. Nothing happened. Half an hour later, I am sure that I’ve missed one if not two performances by the singer wannabes AF students. I dialed the 1-300 number again and again, I had to endure the annoying voice. Every now and then it would say to me, “Harap maaf. Talian kami sedang sibuk. Anda akan dilayan sebentar lagi.” (or some crap to that effect). Once, twice or thrice, I can accept but try six, seven, eight times! I feel like throwing my phone to the wall or smashing the decoder but that would be stupid. After almost 15 minutes later, somebody finally answered my call. Since I was put on hold for about 15 minutes, missed the concert, wasted my phone bill and have imbalanced hormones, I literally mengamuk to the poor guy. But seriously, I couldn’t care less. He apologized saying that a lot of people were calling. I said to him, “mesti ramai orang call sebab ada masalah, kan? Konon nak upgrade system, tapi lagi teruk ada!” To which he replied, “itu saya tak tau la kak” then I said, “aaaa kalau awak tak tau, ni saya bagitau. Kalau takde masalah, takkan semua orang call, complaint segala! Takkan dan dan ni semua orang call!” I suppose he checked the system and said that it was supposed to be ok. If it’s ok, I would’ve gotten the service and wouldn’t have called, would I? Finally he said to me that he will have to send me another smart card and send a technician over and it can only be done in 72 freakin’ hours. I was like, WTF? I said to him, “habis tu, tak dapat tengok lah ni? Bil bayar bulan bulan, tapi servis teruk. Ni kalau tak dapat tengok ni, bil jalan jugak kan? Kalau lambat bayar, itu jam korang potong. Kalau macam ni, patutnya tolak la dari bil saya!” He replied coolly, “kak, macam ni, nanti akak boleh call bagitau berapa lama tak dapat servis dan kita akan pro-rate bil akak.” Then I said, “OK, saya akan make sure bil saya ditolak. And suruh technician awak datang malam. Tapi make sure call saya dalam tempoh terdekat ni untuk arrange bila technician awak akan datang. Kalau tak, saya akan pergi ke office awak jumpa CEO awak sendiri. Nama awak siapa?” *evil laugh*

So I have ruined someone’s Saturday night. And my Saturday night. Damn it. Confirm that guy menyesal that he was the one who answered my call. Seriously, these people should be taught a lesson. Doesn’t anyone out there want to come up with a new cable TV service? Let’s give Astro a run for their money, shall we?

By the way, the technician came over last night.

nuts over numbers

i don't know about you but i don't think i like the idea of rounding up the cents to the nearest number. the tagline is "JIMAT DAN SENANG KIRA". the JIMAT part, i may agree but SENANG KIRA? i beg to differ. well you see, for a math bimbo someone who sucks at numbers, counting and anything to do with maths (by suck, i mean really suck-my bimbo-ness with numbers started even when i was little where i would always get the numbers 6 and 9 mixed up so i think it is justified that i suck really bad) like yours truly, i find it so bloody confusing. i always have this puzzled look on my face when the cashier returned my change. so embarrassing. i always have those copper coins in my purse so i have no problem paying things that costs say RM 8.24. but now no more. bye bye one cent coins. i think it is troublesome having to do some mental calculation to round up the figures. pfft.
that aside, what would you do if you have paid for something that costs RM 9.95 for example. you give the cashier RM 10. of course you would wait for your 5 cents, right? but most cashiers would tell you, "duit lima sen takde lah kak." how would you react? i mean, it is your money, although only 5 cents. would you just walk away? you might think, "takpelah, lima sen je." if you do, you're the loser here. imagine ten people walked away, that would add up to 50 cents already. but if you insisted on your 5 cents, would that make you a cheapskate? the cashier might give you one of those looks as if the word "CHEAPSKATE" is stamped on your forehead. as consumers, we have the right, don't we? imagine giving the cashier RM 9.90 for something that costs RM 9.95, would you be able to buy the item? no, right?
i honestly don't know what i'm crapping about here so i better stop but the point here is, i hate maths and numbers.

work it out

Some time last month, two people came to my office and promoted this RM30 for 30 days membership at True Fitness so I thought; I should give it a try. So the other day off I went with my officemates and we were greeted, attended to and treated very nicely. They even called me a few times confirming my attendance. We were each assigned a trainer and unfortunately I got a female trainer. How boring Anyway the trainer was friendly, a bit too friendly, which made me feel weird. First she said that I look like a twenty year-old. Right. Then she said I’m cute. Uh huh. And then when I was about to ride on one of those machines, she said, “ala cutenya cara u naik benda ni.” Hmmm. And when I was looking myself into the mirror, she said, “dah lawa dah.” Ok, that was it, I thought. It struck my mind, “is this girl lesbian?” Not that I’m anti-lesbo, mind you. I mean come on. How much can a girl compliment another girl, right? Of course I appreciate and was flattered with the compliments. Well, who doesn’t? But if a person compliments me a bit too much, I’ll start thinking that that person must have something fishy going on. Unless, of course, they are really sincere about it but I’ll never know, would I? Anyway I knew right from the start that it was just another tactic to make me feel appreciated and happy with their services that I would sign up for membership. Tough luck, guys. You ain’t foolin’ me easily. At least not with your sweet talk.

By the by, I didn’t know that the gym is full of hot cute trainers and customers. Hahaha. I told a friend about this and he said, “kalau nak pergi gym, niat kena betul. Ni dah lari niat ni.” Duuh. I said to him, “kalau ada trainers yang cute, lagila motivated I nak pergi gym, kan?” I’m sure I burned a few calories just by looking at them because my heart rate definitely goes up So my session with my trainer went well. She pushed me to the max. At the end of the session, it is the moment of truth. She gave me my evaluation. Apparently I am overweight, obese, in the red zone, have massive body fat, have no endurance, no strength and all things bad. Gaaaaah! I agree about being overweight, no endurance and no strength but obese? She showed me the figures and it is scary. If I am obese, I dread to think about those people who are bigger and fatter than I am. I seriously think that the figures are lying. It is probably one of their strategies, or ploys rather to get me to sign up. She suggested me to have a personal trainer for this whole month and guess how much it will cost? RM100 per hour per session, which she suggested me to take 8 bloody sessions!! That will be a whopping RM800 for one month. If I’m earning 5k per month, then that will not be a problem lah kan? They were very very persuasive but I managed to turn them down, much to their obvious disappointment. They tried very hard to sell us the package saying that with credit card, I get 0% installment yada yada yada. Somehow rather I am glad that I don’t have a credit card (yet). Yes, they were surprised upon learning that I don’t own a credit card. However I am pretty sure that I would have sign up if I have one. And this, my friends is one of the the reason why I am still contemplating refuse to apply for credit card.

And oh, as for my trainer, it was obvious that she was disappointed and perhaps angry that I did not sign up that finally she said to me, in a harsh tone and muka taik, “dah, sign sini!” I was like, wtf? So unprofessional. Pffft.

Now i better start thinking of another method of losing weight. Perhaps i should also cut down on the donut intake. tsk. Dunkin' session was done but i still have Big Apple to go. tsk. life's a biatch.

a tribute

This post is a tribute to the carb-filled, calorie-laden, yummylicious round holey dessert called donuts and to all donut fans out there. Ever since the Big Apple (hereinafter referred to as BA) donuts hit our shores, people have gone crazy and ditching the ol' skool Dunkin' Donuts (hereinafter referred to as DD). I don't know how long DD has been here but I remembered buying them during primary schools where each donut costs only eighty cents, if I’m not mistaken. it was the plain donut topped with chocolate glaze and at that time it tasted so good that every time the order came, we would ask permissions from our teachers to eat it in class there and then. Anyway BA was such a big hit until JCo (hereinafter referred to as JC) came. Again, people went crazy over JC that they almost forgot about BA, let alone DD. I love BA and I fell in love with it the moment I bit into its soft and fluffy dough. People started comparing BA and JC and most people said that JC is way better than BA. I personally think they are just about the same, in terms of softness and fluffiness but I must admit that they are both better than DD in terms of texture. However, before I met BA and JC, I met Krispy Kreme (hereinafter referred to as KK) in Hong Kong. This brand is so famous in the US and they have already made their appearances in Hong Kong and Jakarta but not Malaysia. i wonder when oh when are they coming here. anyway i know some of you are probably drooling by now so i'm not gonna be so kejam so as to let you drool without seeing the real thing so feast your eyes on these, ladies and gentleman.

Krispy Kreme in Hong Kong

No, i was not trying to be a Krispy Kreme model. i was just excited.

rambang mata

are you drooling already?


what would you do if you see both Krispy Kreme and JCo in one place?

you buy them both. that's what sis and I did in Jakarta.


we found Krispy Kreme and JCo in a shopping mall (Senayan City) and of course we couldn't resist so sis bought 1/2 dozen JCo and i bought 1/2 dozen Krispy Kreme and we had donuts galore that night.

Krispy Kreme donuts

JCo donuts

Speaking of donuts, a certain someone promised me a dunkin' session and i am looking forward to it real soon. and another person promised to buy me Big Apple donuts when i go to his area. mana la tak gomok

A seasoned traveler’s rant Part 2

The thing about cheap flights is that, they are cheap. Well, compared to other airlines of course. One may think that it is smart to travel the so-called no-frills flight especially to countries like Indonesia. But when you paid so little, does it mean that your comfort and time is compromised, if not jeopardized? What is it about Air Asia and delayed flights anyway? This was my first time flying Air Asia and I know that delays are expected. If you are flying say from Penang to KL and there’s delay for half an hour or so, then I think it is still acceptable because you are still in the same country and time zone. But imagine if you’re from Jakarta, which is 1 hour behind, on a Sunday night. And you have work on Monday.

That was what exactly happened to me two weekends ago. My flight to KL was supposed to be at 820pm but around 2pm in the afternoon, Air Asia sms-ed us informing that the flight was retimed to freaking 11pm. Three bloody hours. We have already checked out of our hotel and shopping can only be done until 5 as the shops close at 5pm. We were basically stranded at the hotel lobby. When we got to the airport, after checking in and whatnot, we waited in the departure lounge for more than an hour. Bloody hell. The flight wasn’t even there yet. They gave us free food as compensation. But who would want to eat it anyway as I’m sure most people would have taken their dinner earlier before checking in. The flight finally arrived from God-knows-where but we have to wait for the passengers to disembark, their luggage out, our luggage in, taxiing forever as if the runway is so damn big yada yada yada and finally we took off at 12am. That is 1am Malaysia time. The flight took 2hours and finally landed at the God-forsaken LCCT at 3am local time. By the time I reach home, it was 5-ish. And I had to go to work at 9. It does not help that it’s a Monday.

Note to self: If I ever travel by Air Asia again, I shall take the earlier flights so as not to be in the same predicament.

Note to others: If you have an urgent meeting/appointment and whatnot which require you to fly, try to take other flights. But if you have no choice but Air Asia, plan well. Take the earlier flight or better still, fly a day earlier. Don’t take chances. Seriously.

The only delayed flight.

The food they gave us

under the weather

I once read somewhere that either Capricornians or those born in January are resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Alhamdulillah I hardly fall sick but when I do, it’s really bad. The part where one is prone to colds is very true. I don’t think that I’m allergic to dust, fur or have asthma but when the flu bug bit me, it is really bad to the extent that I wish I could take off my nose and put it in a jar for it to recover (while preventing others from getting the virus too) and then attach it back when it’s well. I would have runny nose or blocked nose and I will not stop sneezing. And I hate it when I feel like sneezing but then tak jadi. It is so depressing. I guess the weather is to blame. One minute it’s hot, the next minute it rains cats and dogs. Today I feel feverish, have runny nose and the whole works. I just couldn’t stand it so I went to the clinic to get my mc. The stupid clinic that I always go to is so damn stupid. I went in and the stupid nurse/receptionist asked me, “Nak jumpa doctor ke?” I was like, duhhhhh! Why would one go to a clinic if not to see the doctor? I don’t know if she noticed the annoyed look on my face but I sure hoped she did as I said, “Iyelah.” Then she said, “Boleh datang lepas sembahyang Jumaat tak? Sekarang ni ramai orang tengah buat medical check-up.” I was like, wtf. The sun is blazing hot and my nose couldn’t stop running so naturally my boiling points (and temperature) raised not one but a few notches. I said, “Lepas sembahyang Jumaat?? Sorang je ke doctor? Takde doctor lain??” She replied, “A’ah.” Bloody hell. Like I have nothing better to do than wait until after sembahyang Jumaat. Who would want to hunt for another clinic in such a hot weather and in such rimas condition? But I have no choice so off I went while saying to her, “Tak reliable langsung clinic!” pffft. So I had to go to another clinic and there was no one at the clinic and I was attended to instantly. Now that’s what I call a first-class service.

As of now, I think I almost finished one box of tissue paper and my eyes sore from the ‘heat’ from Vicks.

weekend project part 4

Where was I last weekend? I was in a neighboring country, about 2hours flight away from KL. It was my first time ever taking the no-frills flight so I was quite excited. We reached Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at about 7pm Jakarta time (surprisingly no delay pulak) Since this is my second time to Jakarta and since it is solely a ‘shopping trip’, I did not take a lot of pictures like before. Fortunately our hotel is very near (read: 5 minutes walk) to the shopping haven called Mangga Dua. The purpose of the trip was to shop for wedding stuffs so I did not get to buy stuffs for myself that much. Now now don’t get excited there. It is not for my wedding, mind you. It is for the sister’s wedding. I tagged along to menyibuk help sis choose whatever stuffs that she needed. The last time I was in Mangga Dua complex, we ate at this really yummy bakso stall so Mum and I decided that we must find that stall again or else kempunan. So we walked and walked and got sesat here and there. It is very easy for one to lose his/her way in such humongous shopping complex with blocks and blocks and floors and floors of shops! If you have been to Mangga Dua or Tanah Abang, you’ll know what I mean.

The thing about going on a holiday is that you tend to eat and eat and eat. And what better way to eat than to try the street food, right? So on one of the nights we went to a place called Jalan Sabang where there were stalls by the roadside. At first we were kinda skeptical and worried to eat at such place due to its condition and what not but we thought what the heck. Barulah Lonely Planet. Hahaha. Luckily we didn’t end up with stomach ache except for sis who had a slight tummy ache the next day. We assumed that her tummy is not used to such foods anymore what being in the UK and eating bread most of the time. Mana tak terkejut perut makan bakso, nasi padang segala.

Anyway, as much as I love shopping in Jakarta because of its dirt cheap price, the things that I noticed are:

• Never trust those people. The minute they see that you’re a foreigner, that’s when they will lambung the prices sky-high and you know that it’s not the actual price because when you ask them they will hesitate a while before putting the price.
• Malaysia has the potential to be just like them in terms of driving where red lights were jumped; cars change lanes without giving signals, taxis stop in the middle of the road as and when they feel like it or the minute they see a potential passenger.
• There are people (kids and adult alike) begging for money especially at traffic lights. They will come to your car/cab and will beg for money. Luckily the taxi drivers always lock their doors. As much as we pity them, we did not give any as giving to one will only invite the rest to come to you. But if you don’t give, some will just walk away with sad faces (leaving us feeling guilty) while some would curse and sumpah seranah which only God knows what it means.
• When you eat at a Nasi Padang Restaurant, they will serve you most, if not all of the lauks available. But of course they will only charge the dishes that you eat. Unlike the Nasi Padang places here in KL (Kg. Baru to be precise) you get to choose the lauks that you want. I think it’s a clever (in a cheeky way) to serve all the lauks because you get tempted to taste whatever was laid out in front of you.

Despite it all, I will not hesitate going to Jakarta again. Things are cheap, foods are nice, halal and easily available, shopping is crazy. what more can I ask for?

a seasoned traveler’s rant

it is almost 4 in the morning and here i am blogging. i am sleepy yet i couldn't sleep. i can't sleep, unless and until i have finished packing my bag. i will be leaving for Jakarta (again) later at 440pm. that means i have approximately 12 hours. as much as i love to travel, i really hate the packing part. gosh. i've started packing since 130am yet it's still not done until now. the reasons being, one minute i'm folding the clothes, the next minute i would lie down and play with my phone. one minute i'm refilling my toiletries bottles, the next minute i would try on shirts, thinking which top to wear and whatnot. one minute i'm sorting out the undies, the next minute i would add apps on Facebook lie down on my bed (again) and layan the lovey dovey songs on lite n ez. you get the picture. how hard is it to pack for a 4days3nights trip, right? i wanted to travel as light as possible as i am very sure a lot of damages shopping will be done so i have to minimize the amount of clothes. besides, i will be flying the "no-frills flight" which limits the luggage weight at 15kgs (only?). just when i thought i've finished packing, that's when i remembered the knick knacks such as earrings, tissue papers, hand sanitizer, cotton buds, facial cotton and the list goes on.

now where the hell did i put those padlocks. and my passport. and which shoes should i wear? there will be a lot of walking so i need a good pair. perhaps i should bring along a slipper just in case it rains. damn it. who says traveling is fun?

not to forget, selamat menyambut Maulidur Rasul to all Muslims. selawat ke atas junjungan Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.

mark my word!

the sister is back and look what she bought for me. =D

even though the horn is ok now, i still want to put the sticker up. only thing is, it's a sticker. it's not the kind that can be peeled on and off or one of those squarish signs with a suction cup that you see on most cars. so how the heck am i supposed to put it up? i can laminate it and then what? how am i supposed to attach the suction cup? i really need want to put it up but i have no idea how. there's no way i'm gonna stick it on my bumper. if it rains, it'll be gone in a jiffy. why don't they make one of those squarish signs with these words instead of some spoilt-brat words like "princess on board" or "shopaholic on board". now that's what i call an attitude!