Bark, Bark, Bark

This morning as I was about to leave for work, I heard a lot of barking noises. I thought all the dogs around my neighbourhood must be having a barking party. When I took a peek outside through the window, I saw a KK City Hall vehicle and some officers trying to catch dogs.

I hope the officers will be successful in catching some because the neighbours who live two doors down like to rear dogs and they are pests. The dogs litter everywhere, prey on kids & adults alike and like to come inside the compound probably wanting to cause havoc to the frontyard.

On a different note: Yes people I can hear you loud and clear. I know I am way behind in updating my blog. To be precise, exactly one month. It is not fun at all playing catch up. I will try my best to be update before this month ends.

Overwhelmed with Work

I was on leave for only one day last week but when I went back to work this morning, I had so many things beckoned me to finish.

Meeting deadlines is definitely not fun at all.

Post Deepavali

Woke up around 7.30a.m. and left Tracy’s house about 9a.m. to go to a coffee shop in Puchong Jaya, the same area where Bethel Centre is located for brekky.

Tracy ordered ‘Ngau Lam’ while I ordered Ipoh ‘Sar Ho Fun’. Tracy said her noodles were not as good as compared to the ones she had before at the same place. I had no complaints about mine. Everything tasted nice and fresh.

Today at Bethel Centre they had their own member Dr. Peter Yee preaching. He is a lecturer in one of the institutes of higher learning. Before he preached his sermon on the prophet Jeremiah, he shared a bit about the parting of the Red Sea as a fact and not a myth as some people think.

After church we went to Tesco Puchong Jaya and I bought some tit-bits to bring home.

On the way to PJ to meet Adrian Ooi for lunch, we stopped by outside The Summit to wait for Tracy’s aunt from Sandakan to pass her some things she brought over for her.

We met Adrian at a coffee shop called Appollo with the intention of having Prawn Mee. We did not even realise the stall was closed until Adrian arrived and told us. Instead of going somewhere else, we stayed put and had the following. Thank you Adrian for the lunch.

We left before 3p.m. Adrian went back to work while Tracy drove me to Sentral. There was traffic congestion even on a Sunday. We arrived Sentral after 3.30p.m.

Thank you Tracy for your hospitality.

This time I did not take the Skybus but took the Aerobus which was RM1 less. The driver did not wait until the bus was full and then started the journey. In fact while I was still walking to the bus stop, the bus had already started to move but when one of the workers saw me coming from a afar, I made the stop sign and he signalled his colleague to tell the bus driver to stop and waited for me.

The journey to LCCT took about an hour and I occupied my time by listening to the radio. I tried to get some sleep but could not.

I think this was the first time I arrived at LCCT with one and a half hours to spare before departure time. My combined checked in baggages were only 10kg.

Went to Old Town White Coffee for late afternoon tea. Ordered ‘Asam Laksa’ and the files were swarming around me wanting a share in the food as well. The taste was still not as yummy as the one available at Taman Megah, PJ. The bill took a long time to arrive. I was thinking of walking out without paying as it was time to go into the departure hall.

Went straight to the departure lounge and after coming out from the loo, passengers on the same flight as I was were queuing up. I waited until the door to go out opened before I joined the queue.

I was supposed to have the whole row to myself and my thought of putting my whole body except the legs on the seat was crushed when one Malay lady came and asked me whether she could sit on the aisle seat. An old lady took her seat. How could I say no?

I took some photos before continued reading the book and I finished reading the book during the flight.

The flight touched down five minutes later than scheduled. The baggages came out quite fast and CTY fetched me from T2. Thank you for fetching me.

He drove me to Gaya Street and I had nasi lemak for dinner.

Upon arriving home, I quickly unpacked and remembered to take out my driver’s licence from the locked drawer to put inside my wallet.

Deepavali 2009

Woke up after 8a.m. and left Tracy’s house after 9a.m. to go for brekky. The first shop we went to around her neighbourhood was not ready to serve cooked food except ‘pau’ so we went somewhere else.

We ended up here.

We ordered ‘Pan Mee’. Tracy's wih soup and mine without. Tracy said she could count how many droplets of mince meat inside her bowl while I can count the amount of veges. Veges must be getting expensive over there. But the mixture of the sauce for the noodles was quite fragrant and yummy.

On her way to her tuition class, Tracy dropped me across the road from Mid Valley Megamall. I found the right entrance eventually and walked across the bridge connecting to the mall.

I went to Jaya Jusco but did not find anything I wanted to buy.

I walked straight to The Gardens since the last time I went to this place, most of the shops were not opened yet. Plus I only had about three hours to shop before Tracy came to fetch me to go for Open House.

I went straight to the basement to look at all the eateries. When I passed through Canton-I Restaurant, I had a peek at their menu. I was looking for their famous ‘Xiao Loong Bao’ but could not find it in the menu. Too bad I still felt full. Otherwise I would have gone inside to try something, eventhough it may just be one or two dim sum.

Next to the restaurant was a fruit market. I managed to buy 8 persimmons for RM20 for mum. She loves this fruit. I left the fruits at the fruit market and told the salesgirl I would come back to collect them later. I did not want to carry them everywhere I went.

When I went into Cold Storage, I saw some live crabs and when I wanted to take a photo, an Indian lady manning one of the food counters tried to stop me but her colleague told her it was no big deal. Anyhow, I still took the photo.

Then I went back up to the Ground Floor and went inside Isetan. Isetan was having sales as well. I found another Hush Puppies t-shirt selling at 70% discount. When I went up another floor, Triumph was on sale. That was a rarity. This must be the second time this brand had been on sale in as many times I had touched foot in KL. I tried on and bought some items at discounted price.

I walked around The Gardens for a while including going inside Robinsons to take a peek before going back to check Canton-I. By now, people were waiting outside the restaurant for tables to be available. I had to abandon the idea of having a quick bite and went back to the fruit market to collect the persimmons.

I went back to Mid Valley Megamall and take some photos of the mall.

I sat down for a while to observe the people around me before receiving a call from Tracy saying that she was on the way to fetch me.

We lost our way on the way to the Open House of one of the book sellers in her school.

Tracy had to ask for direction a couple of times. The map given to her was unclear.

This time were served two types of laksa with a few of other dishes. We stayed for more than half an hour before excusing ourself.

Tracy drove to the train station and parked the car at the station. We were meeting one of her Vice-Principals (Puan Chua) to take the train together to her former Vice-Principal’s house at Jalan Kastam, which is one station before Klang. We chatted while waiting for the train for 40mins.

At first Tracy and I allowed Puan Chua to sit down. After that the two passengers sitting next to her alighted at the same time and Tracy sat in the middle between us. While they were talking, I continued reading the book and when sleepiness overcame me, I had a snooze on the train. My head kept on going fishing and I enjoyed my nap inside the air-conditioned train.

I was absent at the Muniady’s house last year but was there during Deepavali 2006 and 2007. I always love to go their house. The whole family are very friendly people.

This time I met their daughter for the first time. We chit-chatted with Mr. Muniady for more than an hour while waiting for Tracy’s another Vice-Principal (Puan Anita) to come and join us.

Mrs. Muniady cooked two curries and one veges with thosai.

When we were about to leave, Mrs. Muniady gave each of us a bag of Muruku to take home. Yums.

I fell asleep on the train on the way home.

We had an early night to prepare ourself for church tomorrow morning.

Pre Deepavali 2009

Tracy left for work after 7a.m. while I continued to sleep until after 10a.m. it was so good to sleep in while the rest of the people in this country are working. I seldom do this.

When I woke up, I continued reading the book. I also took out the white hairs from my head. There were so many of them. Argh!

I texted Tracy to tell her I was still at home so that she could come to fetch me after she finished her work at school. We went to Sunway Pyramid and the lights above the parking lots were malfunctioning.

I suggested to Tracy we went to Subway for lunch since I had never tried the food in this chain previously.

At first we went to the counter to see what we wanted to eat. Tracy took the brochure and we went to find a table to sit down and decide what we wanted to order.

I ordered Italian B.M.T. which consisted of Pepperoni, Salami & Turkey Ham on a 6-inch long Parmesan Oregano bread with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes and Mayonnaise & Thousand Island sauces. Tracy has Subway Club with Turkey Breast, Turkey Ham and Roast Beef with pepper and tomatoes and Mayonnaise & Thousand Island sauces. The whole thing was very fresh. The bread was not too hard or too soft.

Italian B.M.T.

Subway Club

We finished brunch about 2p.m. and went to Jaya Jusco Departmental Store for shopping.

I was happy to find some clothes selling up to 70% off. I managed to find two Hush Puppies T-shirts selling at RM20 each and an Applemints T-shirt at less than RM20.

When we were passing by Pasta Zanmai, the display of the oyster caught my eyes. We then went into a shoes shop and I saw a pair of children’s size B.U.M. Equipment Denim sport shoes and fell in love with them. I told the salesgirl to find for me. When she returned with the pair of shoes, she was surprised to see I tried them on. She said she thought I was buying them for my child. When I showed her my leg, she was shocked to see them so small.

After leaving the shoes shop, I told Tracy I was hungry eventhough it was only two hours after we had brunch. We walked back to Pasta Zanmai.

All the food tasted fresh and delicious. My only wish was that the size of the oysters could be bigger.

While we were still chatting at Pasta Zanmai, I had a stomach ache and straight away paid the bill. I was so relief after spending some time at the ladies. Yucks!

We went into a few shoes shop since Tracy is looking for a pair of shoes but she could find anything.

We went to Parkson Grand and after walking around, I could not find a single piece of clothing which suited me. I bought a chain at 20% discount.

Before we left Sunway Pyramid, we went to Giant Supermarket. I found some vegetables I had never seen before.

I managed to buy some asparagus (one of my favourite veges).

Tracy saw some Vochelle Chocolate on sale – buy one and get the second one at half the price. We selected two so that we can bring to her Ex Vice Principal tomorrow. At the cashier, after the 3 items had been totalled up, Tracy mentioned to the cashier that the chocolates were promotional items. The salesgirl looked blank. I made a mental calculation and told Tracy that the bill was correct. The salesgirl summoned her supervisor and a Malay guy came with paper, pen and calculator. After calculating the amount, the salesgirl put the amount into the computer and I paid for the four items.

As we walked out from the supermarket, I told Tracy that they had calculated more discount than we were entitled to. We were charged at 50% instead of 150% for the chocolates. We were walking away from the supermarket but decided to go back to pay back what we owed. We went to the cashier nearest to us and Tracy told the cashier what had happened. The cashier at first thought the supermarket owed us $ but when we told her the opposite was true, she told us not to bother with it.

We went to the apartment where Tracy used to stay at and parked the car outside. We bought some rambutans to give the hostess for the Hari Raya Open House.

There were mainly women with their kids who came to the Open House.

The funny thing was only two dishes were offered to us to eat ie. Soto Ayam and Fettucine Bolognese.

The apartment is not big. Therefore guests normally do not stay for long and left as soon as they finished eating. We may have stayed the longest, almost an hour. Tracy was talking to a lady who had lost 30kg and her neighbours could not believe themselves how much different she looks. She is also recovering from cancer relapse as well.