Element Gym

My workouts have always been in the evening but since today is a jolly good Friday, I decided to switch routine and woke up as early as 545am headed to the gym. The biggest battle was dragging myself out of bed. Felt awesome after great workout.

I think I should do this more often!

 

 

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September

everytime when I've lost the mojo to update my blog here's what I'd normally do: a facelift! do you know where this place is? yes, Santorini it is. if you've already been there... lucky you! I'd give myself any excuse to be there and i believe someday i will! it's in my top bucket list to see how spectacular the world's most famous sunset at Oia would look like.

life has been treating me pretty well. in fact it's been so well that I'm beginning to prosper sideways... sigh!!! no thanks to rainy season i haven’t done any running in a while. and i supposed it’s probably also the side effect of happiness?! whatever it is, fat slob has made its presence longer than it deserves, now it's time to buck up again, hook or by crook missy must must must get herself back in shape by Christmas. wish me luck, hope I can persevere! 

speaking of christmas, can you believe it’s only 3 months away???!

 

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Bobbi Pole

Pole Dancing for Fitness is a hot trend in Australia and in the US but it’s still a very new sport for women in Asia. I love to watch pole dancing competitions cos it always amazes me how strong the core of these superwomen are and yet, they possess such a feminine and curvy body. Honestly I was quite shy to admit my interests in this so I’ve always kept it under the carpet.

Until recently.

Dragged Vonsie along for our very first pole trial class last weekend simply for the fun of it… boy we had tons of fun trying to pole but most of the time wriggling our butts to the music while laughing away. I had bruises around my knees but the instructor said blue blacks are actually sign of strength. I went for a second lesson earlier this week and my interest for pole dancing grows...      

Check this vid out. Maple Loo is the instructor and owner of Bobbi Pole Studio in Malaysia. I have to say she’s really hot and has a great body to die for. She’s also the judge for Showdown2011 on 8TV. Not only that, she also owns the Samadhi Group which consists of a few fine dining restaurants like Tamarind Spring, Neo, Hill, Mandi Mandi and etc, she also owns the exclusive boutique resort JalaPama in Tioman. A very inspirational and iconic figure. You can check out her blog here: http://mapleloo.blogspot.com/

Hen Night in Ipoh

My good friend is getting hitched next month. As part of the wedding ritual, me and some girlfriends threw her a hen night party in Ipoh last weekend.

 

L got her the frenchmaid costume from Bangkok; I got her the beautiful veil from Lovely Lace (RM60); Tiara for the girls (RM2.50 each); some generic games like Truth or Dare, I’ve Never and viola! With 15 sporting hens and a drunken bridezilla in tow, the party turned out to be a blast.

  

I won’t elaborate how to organize a hen night this time since I’ve written two entries on the same topic 2.5 years ago. Feel free to check it out here and here.

 

Just to give a little perspective how long we’ve been friends since :)

This was my first night out since daddy has passed on. It was also my first weekend back to Ipoh since the funeral. It has been a weird emotional roller coaster going loops and now slowing down to a halt. It’s never the same again and no amount of comforting thoughts will change the fact or bring him back alive; but we are coping with the difference/ absence/ loss for the lack of a better word. It’s not easy but somehow, we gradually learn to live with it.

Blasts in April

it was an eventful month.

 

  Usually I would take my birthday off work and visit the spa or something but this year I decided to go to work and pray no-one will boss me around. :P In order to do this, I bribed my colleagues with 2 dozens of these the next day.

:D

If you can’t be slim… then make all your friends fat! *evil grin*

Family and I had a little celebration at Ben’s Restaurant. A new food chain from the ex-owner of Delicious Group, they have newly opened outlets at Pavilion and KLCC.

   

We ordered spicy crabmeat linguine, fish and chips and pandan chicken. I felt safe and adventurous enough to order my very first lamb chop. I REGRETTED.

 

N O T     G R E A T   A T    A L L.

The pungent lamb smell was so overwhelming that I couldn’t continue eating anymore. It was so different from during the numerous times where I nicked a few bites from my friends’ main dish… this is probably gonna be my last attempt at eating lamb.

Besides, do you know that all these lamb dishes that you chompchomp and nomnom are made from infant lambs killed when they were less than 12 months old? 

The berry sundae was the only highlight of the night.

Then I was sent off to Penang for work immediately… didn’t even have time to nurse a jetlag. 

my boss said, let’s go Hard Rock Cafe and celebrate Stephannie’s Birthday. How sweet of him. 

Chicken Fajitas

 

birthday bouquet

and 10 days later… my father bid farewell to us. This was sis and I writing thank you notes to our relatives after everything was settled. I miss my dad so so dearly… 

Leonardo’s Dining Room

Exactly one month ago, I have just turned 21. I wish! 

Anyway the point is I had a good celebration with some good friends at Leonardo, one of my favourite restaurants in KL. Located on the quieter area of Bangsar on Jalan Bangkung, with its inviting interior and ambience, dimly lit and sometimes can be a little chilly (so don’t wear too skimpy),  this restaurant offers a good selection of reasonably priced wine not to mention their fusion twist menu have always lived up to expectation.   

Still remember birthday girl was the first to reach the restaurant… the rest subsequently arrived only half an hour later. On a rainy Friday evening, it’s almost impossible to escape the atrocious KL traffic jam.

 

The evening began with quite a number of starters to share. Among which I find their pork knuckle platter being the champ. It’s their signature dish so I would highly recommend it. They also have an acquired dish called Kentucky Fried Frogs, which I have adventurously ordered but didn’t have the chance to eat! That dish was gone in seconds. O_o 

 

Everyone ordered our own main and me being a  seafood lover, I picked Thai Style Vongole. Fresh and delightful, and spicy too! However I would prefer to swap spaghetti to angel hair.

It wasn’t just a birthday celebration but also a chance for us to catch up, for I haven’t seen some of these folks since last year! One of my gfs was in Tokyo when the recent catastrophic tsunami hit Sendai. I said she lived to tell a tale don’t you think! Uncle Blung also moved to SG for good recently. So it was really good to see everyone together that night.      

 

Leonardo’s also has a few local food dishes on the menu such as Bak Kut Teh and Porridges. Oh, they also bought me Choc Cheese from Just Heavenly too… my fav fav cake! :)

 

 

It was an evening made so special and memorable because of your presence. Special thanks to LB who organized the party and being so honest, who insisted it wasn’t going to be a surprise so please dress up we are going out for your special dinner. I was anticipating a party of 2 or 4, so it did surprise me to see all my favourite people there. love you all and also the tweets from the few daddies who couldn’t make it bec of babysitting duties.

Leonardo's Dining Room and Wine Loft
61-1 and 61-2
Jalan Bangkung
Bukit Bandaraya
Bangsar
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2096 2226
(non-halal. open for dinner only)

Christmas Pot Luck

1 month ago…

Vonsie: The host will cook roast chicken + vegetables

Me: Ok Stephannie will try to cook this time too! 2 dishes!

Lorraine: no Lorraine will try not to poison her friends. She will bring dessert + wine

John Heng: John has no kitchen at home. He will bring satay

  

There you go, second week into December we had a lovely Christmas Pot Luck party at Vonsie and Alan’s cosy residence.

Vonsie’s healthy Roast Chicken and vegetables.

Remember this? This is my second attempt with Mushroom Risotto. Practice makes perfect :)

  

Greek Salad improvised by yours truly. It has feta cheese, pomelo bits, olives, rocket leaves, mixed salad leaves, raw onions with a tinge of balsamic vinegar + olive oil

A selection of yummy cakes from Just Heavenly (JH has the best cakes in town)

It was a wonderful night catching up with my friends with great food and wine. Actually, after that night I had a new resolution for 2011: Find time to cook and bake more at home. :)

Broga Hill

I've seen some nice pictures of Broga Hill all over fb but the thought of having to wake up at 4am just didn't sound too appealing.

  

Finally, I decided to make an effort to see the real Broga Hill myself on Sunday. Thanks to John Heng who invited me along for this outing.

Broga Hill is located somewhere off Kajang in Seminyih. For those who are not familiar with Klang Valley, it’s strongly advisable to rely on a GPS.

There are 4 mini peaks to conquer. It wasn’t so bad a climb but descending was definitely much tougher. Check out the view… it’s really beautiful isn’t it?

That’s the reward we get for waking up at 4am :) Can you see those little ants from afar?

 

But the place is super crowded and packed with curiousity birds like us.

It was like a wet market!

Bouldering at the last part of the peak

Finally reaching the peak after 1.5 hours!

Great Sunday workout and I made some new friends that morning too!

World Cup 2010

WorldCup 2010 is all about the odds and underdog surprises this time.

As an England supporter, I know they didn’t deserve to win.

A disjointed team to start off with and they were disappointingly losing steam in every match.

But  it was flabbergasting to watch Brazil the Argies defeated by Germany 4-0. Big Ouch… 

Who do you think will be the World Cup Champion this year then?

I've been watching football with my mates at ECOBA during this worldcup season.

In a way, I’m feeling sad coz worldcup fever is going to be over soon!