Lemon Garden and the Chocolate Fountain

Yes, finally set foot in the Lemon Garden, Shangrila K.L. Have heard Merv and Wan Yee talk about this place like forever and yesterday was the first time I got to experience the good food that was layed out. We were there to celebrate Shahzima's birthday. Wan Yee picked up Zoe and came to get me after that.

Got there at 8pm and we headed for Lemon Garden as Rudy, Shahz and Kelvin were there arleady. It didn't take long before Chee Peng and Azuan. Merv arrived later because he had to oversee some repairs Now the spread was very impressive, and it's one of the best buffet spreads that I've seen. Started off with Oysters, mussels and roast beef. The next plate that I took had sashimi (tuna and salmon) and two pieces of tuna sushi. Walked over to the soup section, picked up a bowl of wild mushroom soup and next to it the cook recommended some Yabbies (crayfish or also known as Bray Bugs). Took a helping of that, and it was excellent! The last time I had the Yabbies was in Brisbane's Seafood Festival. Then I moved on to more roast beef, two pieces of lamb, some potatoes (which I overdid!) and some cherry tomatoes and brocolli because I felt guilty of the red meat.

It didn't take me to move on to desserts. Desserts is Stressed spelt backwards and all this job hunting has made me craved for many sweet stuff. Behold, the chocolate fountain! It was a work of art! Brilliant! I made my way to the fountain and I noticed this guy who took a helping of ice-cream. He got the idea of putting chocolate into his ice-cream and tried to guide it with a stick of wafer roll sort of like flowing water with a stick or something. Seemed like a brilliant idea until when he placed the wafer towards the chocolate fountain and before he knew it, the force of the chocolate fountain forced his wafer roll off the ice-cream and into the fountain! I couldn't help but rush back to my table laughing!

Back to the story the chocolate fountain was probably the best part of the whole dinner. Had a few helpings of strawberries, honey dew, puff pastries, marshmallows, grapes and some shortbread. All together it was 3 helpings at the chocolate fountain. Sinful!

But the final verdict is this place is a must go for buffet lovers! No doubt about that!

Another day with the car

Another new day, another day at the mechanic's. This time it was to claim that faulty shock absorber. While there, I thought I'd just get the front studs fixed as well. Apparently after fitting the new rims, the studs were a little too short to hold the nuts in. Sigh, more money needs to be spent.

It took them long enough to remove everything and get the studs out. The studs had to be pumped out one by one. That's eight altogether for the front. Problem was that the mechanic needed to send the studs out to another place to get it done. Waited there from 10am till 5pm. Talk about a long and hot day.

Tonight's tennis game was more exciting. At least it was not as humid as last week. We had problems playing cause we were getting so worn out by the humidity. Then it was off to our usual mamak session. Merv decided to call it an early night tonight. We'll be going for Constantine tomorrow night in 1 Utama.

Looks like all the problems with the car has been sorted out. Hopefully I don't have to spend any more on repairs for the time being.

Another day at the aircond shop and Klang

Woke up at 8.45am this morning and made my way to the aircond shop. Had dim sum with Merv for brunch while the A/C guy fixed the condenser. Yes, it seems that the aircond is acting up again. Hot air when the car is idling, they didn't get to the root of the problem last week.

Then it was off to Kam Seng's place, Merv's turn to have a leaky fuel tank. Looks like Azuan's car problems are spreading to Merv's. We dropped his car there and headed for Klang. It's my turn to pick up some new rubbers and new rims. Seems like dejavu!

From there came back to Bangsar and Ka Seong sms-ed in the evening to ask for yumcha. We ended up going for dinner, along with Rudy and Merv. We wanted to go to Hoi Kee, closed. Sin Kee Restaurant was next on the list, closed too. Then it was off to Wu Lan restaurant. Ahhh, opened! Had our dinner and off to Bangsar Village's Starbucks to meet up for coffee. Rudy called Shahz on the way, and we picked her up. Looks like the 16" rims and Falken rubbers are sitting well on my car. It's a lot more comfortable and no more scrapping. As Rudy puts it, it's more of a family car now. I've got the car, now where's the family?

After coffee, we headed for Merv's house. They played mahjong and since I was the 4th person, well... I came home. Sigh, I don't wanna be stuck there again till late night and not getting any mahjong action.

Scuba Lesson Two and Dinner with the ol' Foggies

Woke up early yesterday morning as we had to go for breakfast before our scuba diving lessons. Rudy picked us up at 10 am. Went to Lotus for Maggi Mee Goreng and we headed off to Wan Yee's place for a quick angpow raid. Wan Yee didn't join us because he had to go to work, chop chop kinda thing. He went to Subang, took a few photos and back to Bangsar.

Made our way to Rudy's office to pick up his cheque for Citibank, yeap, it's that time of the month again for him. Then it was off to Wisma Cosway to meet Choy, our instructor. Got into our wetsuits, this time I just wore the trunks. Yes, it was much more comfortable. He gave us a quick refresh course on last two week's lesson and how we assembled and disassemble our dive equipment. Then he taught us how to wear the gear with a dive buddy. This time, we did the proper decent into the water, he showed us two ways of diving in. I liked the splash technique, something called the octopus or something. Though I did hit my head on the cylinder. That was painful!

But we did a few more lessons on decending and accending. How we should position our hand and all. Borrowed Zoe's mask as Wan Yee used the one that I was using last time cause he wore contacts this time. We learnt the dreaded lesson today, the clearing of masks underwater. At first I didn't think it was possible, but heck it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Though I'd imagine it will sting worst in salt water if water got into the eyes!

Wan Yee and I ordered a set of boots and masks, a total of RM 210.00. Not too bad, as these items are the more essential ones. Though I was picking between the nicer looking mask, which was lighter and made of polycarb lenses instead of the bulky durable looking one. But in the end I took the uglier looking one as it came with a case. The lighter one didn't.

Finished our lesson at almost 2.30pm. Rudy made a pitstop at Citibank and we headed to Bangsar for the usual banana leaf rice. Proud of myself as I didn't take the serving of fried chicken. After that, straight home got my keys and headed for Wai Sum's open house. Though I was over 2 hours late, nevertheless I still got there. Better late than never, right?

We had our annual gambling session there, blackjack and Chor Dee. There was no mahjong table though. Dang, I remembered I saw one there the last time. Looks like the people who played it didn't come or have gone home. I did arrive late. Looks like luck wasn't favouring me yesterday. But it was an enjoyable time.

Then it was back home for a quick shower and off to Merv's place. Surprising turn of events when we our dinner plans with the guys turned out to be the dinner plans with the ol' Foggies. Yes, people from our dad's era! My dad didn't come, though Uncle Jack, Uncle Sam, Uncle Roger and Aunty Irene, and Uncle Chan Kong who's back from Canada. Dinner was in our usual duck fest place a.k.a. Sek Yuen Restaurant. There were 13 of us and we had 2 ducks, on top of a fish, some cooked oyster dish with fatt choy, a whole chicken, stir fried lettuce, venison, and yee sang. All I saw was duck, duck and more duck!

We adjourned to Merv's place after that for our tiling session. Wan Yee got his wish by playing against Khay Hoi and I. They both won money, though I didn't lose big. Managed to pull back in the end. All in all, I must add that it's not been a luck day in terms of gambling.

Can You Say Crustacean?

Had to wake up early yesterday morning as I needed to go purchase a new aircond unit for my sis's room. That sister of mine apparently doesn't know how to use the a/c unit and has busted her's. Considering that it's the newest unit in the house, (mine you, my unit's a second hand unit from me dad's old office); it should have lasted the longest! But she's managed to damage it beyond repair, and god knows only how she did it!

I got a call later in the afternoon from Pauline. Surprise, surprise... She arrived home the day before and asked to meet up. I must admit, it's been 4 years since I've seen her. Picked her up from her apartment and took her to The Curve. Walked around a bit, saw a few policemen there. Thought it might be a routine check or something. I will relate this to today's headlines. We were sitting in Coffee Bean when I saw a van of CID officers arriving on the scene with a forensics toolkit. Hmmm, I thought that something must be very wrong. An ambulance arrive a few minutes later. Then another Pajero carrying a high rank officer arrive as well. View the headline on the link below: -

The Star Online

We of course didn't see any body or anything amiss, but seeing so many police officers in the Curve meant either a very good thing or a very bad thing. We left there without knowing what really happened until I saw today's headlines. Very saddening news. I hope the bastard which did this rots in hell! Or suffer a worst fate!

After dropping Pauline off, I went off to Sierramas to visit So Bee and her family. It's been a while since I've met up with her parents, I somehow think it's quite an odd feeling to visit one's ex-gf's family. Anyhow, was there till about 7pm when I made my way back to Bangsar to meet up with Merv and Rudy for dinner.

Those fellas wanted to go Lobsterman. Hence, Homarus Americanus it was. The tagline, "Where Everyday's A Lobster Day..." still rings in my head. I ordered the surf and turf, a half 500g Thermidor lobster served with beef. Rudy ordered a plate of cheese baked oysters. A bit too creamy for my liking. Not a bad dinner, sinful... but delicious! It's been a while since I've had lobster, the last time were crayfish, in Australia's seafood festival. They look like mini lobsters.

Straight after dinner, we were on our way to Rudy's house to have a round of mahjong when Zoe called to invite us over to her place. Rounded up the gang who were around, I dropped Rudy off to his place to get his set and his wheels. I went to get Wan Yee and he called Khay Hoi later. Since we were one person short in the second table, I called Ducky a.k.a. Kelvin who came straight from Chin Hooi's house. Again, Rudy the Holy Hands/Datuk/Kayu/Woody has the luckiest hand throughout the night. He grossed RM80 from the night's game. He apparently up by close to RM200.00. Looks like he'll be treating us Homarus Americanus again! Hahahaha! Yes Rudy, this time I want you to buy me dinner! (Just kidding)

Want a Penis Name?

I stumbled across this site a few days back. Promised that I'd have the link up on the blog. There you go guys, my pecker's name is as below. Hehehe, try your's.

Your Penis Name is: El Presidente

Get your own Penis Name

Hot Aircond in my Ride... and new rims and rubbers on Merv's

I only got about 5 hours of sleep on Monday night. Woke up at 9.30am when Merv buzzed me. Luckily he managed to wake up. My alarm was set for 8.30am. Clearly I overslept! Rushed out of bed, showered, went to the bank and then back to Merv's place.

We dropped off my car at the aircond shop that he recommended to check what was wrong with the unit. Lately it's been getting hot during idle and cold again when I'm on the move. I was thinking it's the compressor, but it turned out that the cooling coil was busted and leaking. Managed to get it replaced for RM 260.00.

After dropping off my car, we went to tarpau KFC for Merv's Bodhi Tree and shop's staff. Made a quick stop over at Bodhi Tree before we made our way down to Klang. Merv eventually settled for a set of 15" Volk Racing TE37 replicas covered with Bridgestone Potenza GIII rubbers! That's the rim that I am looking for, hmmm, I think I'll wait for my shock absorbers to be changed before I lay in the new rubbers.

Initially he wanted the set of Lenso's, but because they didn't fit as his PCD was 114.5, he settled for the TE37s that I love so much! Now the Mazda looks really menacing!

We went back to KL to pick up a charger and some rechargable AA batteries for my walkie. After that, we headed to pick my car up from the aircond man. Got there, paid and picked up my car. The car was cold when I got it, drove back to Bangsar and it started to get a little stuffy. I called the shop up and brought it back there. The service I must add, isn't that good. They told me that the aircond was cold when they tested it. I'm still doubting whether they tested it at all! Brought it back to the shop, they released the old gas and filled up with some new ones. They didn't even explain to me what was wrong with it! Talk about dodgy service!

Anyway we had our tennis session that night and it was difficult to play. One of the more humid nights and we felt really tired. We ended the session early, one hour. That was it, and we headed for yumcha in Lucky Garden's Mahbub.

Lonely Heart's Club

Considering the way the weather's been, it was high time that I took the car in to have the airconditioning checked out. On Monday night, it was a Tiling Community Lonely Heart's club outing. The present members were Merv, Wan Yee, Rudy, Zoe and I. We extended out the invitation to Shahzima, who turned up to join us at Pizza Hut, Megamall. As it was raining heavily, we decided to go to Megamall. Initially it was supposed to be Lucky Gardens.

After dinner, we headed to our usual coffee haunt, Starbucks. We chilled there, did some catching up with Shahz, while waiting for Azuan to come. Wan Yee went off to make a quick stop at SY's place. And mind you, the whole time, we were testing out the Motorola walkie-talkie's that they guys brought back from their escapade to Singapore. The range was pretty impressive, Wan Yee managed to keep talking to us as he was turning into Federal Highway, while we were still sitting in Starbucks. Not bad for a toy under RM 90.00. The codenames that came up were, Wan Yee - Fish, Snake, Snake King, Sei Jai (Snake Boy in Canto) & Sei Wong (Snake King in Canto). Merv's are Mashi (as in Mashimaro) & BabyJack . Rudy's are Kayu (Wood in Malay), Datuk (as in the title), Holy Hands (P/S You don't wanna know how he got this nick...) and while we were chatting yesterday Wan Yee came up with Woody-Rudy. Go figure! I must admit, it rhymes well. Mine so far is P.I.M.P. Daddy & Kai Wong (Chicken King in Canto). Zoe's is Teddy and Manko (kindly refer to a Japanese to English translation dictionary...). Azuan's are Botak & Kojak. Andrew's so far is Fei Chai (Fat Boy)

We headed towards HQ after that. The guys played mahjong till 3.10am. I was the extra player, so just sat there the whole night. After the last session's hammering, I'm still considering what went wrong. Hehehe.

Ups and Downs

I've always imagined that I'd lose quite a bit in mahjong. Maybe it's because that I don't see myself having much luck in gambling throughout our sessions. It is a popular belief that luck affects how our game goes throughout the session. Even in a game of tennis I'd depend on luck to execute winning shots. It's not always I can aim a good ace on the serve.

Wan Yee called up at 3pm to announce that he was back in KL. Merv was away on a day trip to Ipoh, the dreaded place of heat with hot looking chiqs! Even he has admitted that he saw quite a lot of cute hot chiqqas there. But unfortunately they are only there for the holidays. Come working day, they'll all be back in KL. I've often reminded myself not to look for an Ipoh girl for a girlfriend or wife. All the years I've dreaded making the journey back there. Sigh, somehow I have a feeling this statement will come back to haunt me later in life.

Now, back to the game, Wan Yee called up to set up a session of mahjong gambling. He's been stuck on the island of Penang too long. I don't blame him, I was pretty bored in Ipoh, but thankfully for a session of mahjong there, I found it easy to pass time. Poor guy didn't even have a single gambling session there. He called up Azuan and told him to meet up at my place at 4.30pm. I did pretty well in that session, was up RM 107.40 at the end of it. Told them that I'd buy them and Merv dinner.

According to Azuan, the people who have bought their friends dinner didn't fare too well on the gambling table after. I don't know why, but it sorta affects the luck. Strange, I didn't really believe in that, but I guess I was bitten by the myth too. After a filling dinner in A&W, PJ, we headed back to Merv's for session 2. I sat through the whole night with very bad luck. After that session, I was down about close to RM 100.00. Mental note to self, no buying dinner until CNY is over!

But anyhow, I of course was quite tired as we were gambling a good half of the day away. The second session ended at about 2.30am! Crazy! My eyes were half open by 1.30am. Easy picking for them!

Hot, Hot Chinese New Year!

Woke up at 8.15am on Tuesday. I have left the car dirty over the weekend. Since it's Chinese New Year's eve, thought I'd just wash the car before I leave for Ipoh. After that, showered and took a light breakfast. We left KL at about 11.15am. My dad drove half the journey before he handed me the driving seat. I must admit I was a little sleepy but luckily I slept a little on the beginning of the journey. The drive was very pleasant. Sigh, too bad it was the Waja, overtaking was not what I enjoyed throughout the journey.

Reached Ipoh at about 1.10pm. I headed straight for my grandma's place in Pasir Pinji. Dammit, the thing about driving in Ipoh is that the small bikers are king of the road. I hate them! Imagine one biker, with a small bike hogging up one whole lane by himself! Ridiculous! If that rider were in KL, I'd give him a piece of my mind!

The moment I stepped out of the car, it was freaking hot! I couldn't stand it at all. The stay there isn't too pleasant either. Sleeping on the sofa isn't exactly the most comfortable space and the living room is like an oven! Took a lot of showers while I was there until I lost count!

Since we arrive around lunch time, met up with mum and we headed to Ipoh Garden for lunch. My sis stayed at home, so I went with my parents. Got to the restaurant, noticed a nice chiq sitting across our table. She was quite hot, but went about ordering my food. That chiq was looking at my table, and when she got up to leave, the lady, presumably her mum came over and greeted my mother! I was like, 'Ooooooh, am I going to have a chance to meet this chiq?'

My mum introduced me and the lady was my mum's ex-boss. Shit, strike one! The odds of me getting to know this chiq was starting to go down the drain. Shimatta! Then they left, and I didn't even get to know her name, strike two! Then after a while, the lady's husband arrive, also my mum's ex-employer. He invited us over to his house for the First Day of CNY. Hopes were starting to come back now. Then as their conversation began to flow, he said that his daughter was currently pursuing a PhD. in Genetics and is currently in Singapore. Strike Three! "You're out!"

Went back home, trying to forget my chances with her. Sigh, maybe it is out of my league. Anyhow, the situation at home didn't get any better. It was very hot! Drank as much water as I could to prevent from getting a sore throat or fever. Last thing I need is to fall sick on Chinese New Year. My cousin arrived from Singapore and we had our reunion dinner, very nice dishes, yumz!

After dinner, went over to my aunt's place in Menglembu. Drove there as my dad went out. Hehehe, I used to hate coming here as there was nothing to do. Now, it's time for mahjong! But alas, it wasn't a very good night for me. Ended up losing close to RM20.00. Not much by KL standards, but then again, this is Ipoh we're talking about. They play RM 0.10 per point. That is very cheap! Plus spent most of the time getting used to the house rules, and I must say, it's more enjoyable playing in KL.

End of day 1.

Had trouble sleeping on the first night. I was still trying hard to adapt to the weather there, and I wasn't doing such a good job. Tossed and turned on the sofa, but at least I still managed to get a few hours of sleep. Woke up at 9am, that's really early by my standards. Got up, showered and had a light breakfast. My grandma made some nice "Lin Gou", fried with eggs. Lingered around the house, went over to aunt's place where my parents ate vegetarian lunch. I just watched TV. They finished a.s.a.p. as they needed to go to my mum's ex-employer's open house. I was tempted to go and chat up the chiq, but my uncle from Australia just got to Ipoh and he was coming over to my grandma's place. Maybe this wasn't fated, sigh...

Came home, my uncle came and he was chatting with my grandma. I nearly fell asleep on the sofa! It was so hot and such a lazy afternoon! Was thinking about taking revenge for the losses on the previous night, but I didn't go. After all that chatting, dropped my uncle off at Jusco. Made my way back home, showered and got ready for dinner. Spent the night watching My Restaurant Rules, Enterprise and Smallville. Thank god I brought my notebook!

Slept at 3am, thought about the journey back to KL. Aircond...

It was nice to meet up with my grandma, that's probably the main reason why I go back each year.

The journey home wasn't that exciting. I drove halfway again, took over from my dad in Behrang. There was a gridlock on the opposite side of the highway. The cars were not moving from Sungkai to Tanjung Malim. Bad traffic. Fortunately for us, the drive back to KL was rather smooth. We left Ipoh at about 1.25pm and reached KL at 3.15pm. After we reached home, I put the bags in my room, drove my car out for petrol. Left the car half empty when I went to Ipoh. Was driving back from the petrol station when I decided to make a swing by Merv's place. True enough, there was a session going on. Played a while and made some cash. Left to go for dinner in my aunt's house in Pandan Indah. Yumz! Nice tasty curry chicken. Never missed a year, it's an annual ritual!

Came home, went over to Merv's place. Ended up the night with a positive side to my capital. We'll see how this luck holds throughout the CNY sessions.

Lou Sang... ushering in the new year!

First and foremost, Happy Chinese New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone!

Went back to Ipoh on Tuesday. Spent the whole of Monday vacuuming the house, cleaning the aquarium and packing my stuff. Went out to 'Lou Sang' with Azuan and Wan Yee at Brilliant Restaurant in Jalan Ipoh. We were supposed to head for 'Kou Lou', but he was closed. That bugger must've decided to make his way up North for the holidays. I don't blame him, all that stress that he has running that stall, I think he's earned a well deserved rest.

So we headed for Brilliant Restaurant. I wanted to order that pork rib, but Azuan was around. Even if I don't tell him that it's pork, that rib is rather long and it's rather obvious! Hehehe, we'd get away with a little bit of pork now and then, but the rib is like shining a bright beacon saying, "Warning! This is pork!" As Rudy would put it, "Trace Elements" are fine...

Ordered the Yee Sang, a dish of salad chicken (deep fried chicken with mayo), a veg dish and fried eggs with onions and prawns. When our Yee Sang came, there was a display of fireworks across the road. I must say, the government is doing a good job listing the banned items for what fireworks are safe, but that was pyrotechnics we saw. I would put it this way, 'It's was freaking illegal!'

Ended the night with a mahjong session at my place. When the guys left, went on to pack my clothes and got ready for bed.

Licky, licky... 


Woohooo, we were all shocked when we saw G-Man in this pose! I don't know if he intended to do that innocently or intentionally. Hmm, with Gary, I think it would be the latter. Well, the rating of this blog has just gone to Adult 18+. Hehehehe.

whisper, whisper... 


That look on Wan Yee's face tells us all that what Angela said is either a very good or bad thing for Gary. Hmmm... I wonder...

The group photo 


This was a nice picture than Wan Yee got of us. Notice the bottle in the centre of the pic? That's the horrible Toddy. Yucks! One whiff of it, and it put me off it. Though Ka Seong and Sylvia enjoyed the drink. I guess I was not used to it, smelt of rice left overnight in a rice cooker and it tasted somewhat sour.

The author of this blog doing some self-searching... 


Here's a pic of myself that Wan Yee got while I wasn't aware. Dammit, I hate these candit moments. Actually I was checking out a chiq who walked by towards the table on the outside of the restaurant. Luckily my hand was covering my mouth, otherwise that picture would've taken a silly grin and probably some drooling...

First Dive.. in a pool!

Woke up at 9.15am this morning. This time, I am very sure I set the clock on my cellphone back to Malaysian time! Got downstairs and made myself a cup of tea. Was reading the newspapers when Rudy sms-ed saying that he'll be leaving his place to pick Zoe up and E.T.A. 15 minutes. Got too carried away reading newspapers and forgotten that the time was almost 9.30am. Ran straight for the showers and when I was about to step in Wan Yee called to inform me that Rudy will be late. He had locked himself out of the car and is in search of his spare key. I said, "Again??" This isn't his first time searching for his spare key. The last time he did that was when he decided to take emergency leave from work and you guys guessed it, he didn't find it.

Wan Yee called to say that he'll be picking Zoe and I up instead. We went ahead with breakky and then proceeded to Rudy's place. Tried to pick the lock, but without my faithful tool, the long metal ruler, I wasn't successful. We left his car and headed for KL. Was affraid that there might be a traffic situation leading to Wisma Cosway, but fortunately for us traffic was light.

Got there and Zoe forgot which floor the pool was located. We tried 17, 18 and 19. She was certain that one of these had to be the pool. Fortunately for us, an old lady was in the lift with us and she told us that the pool is on the 16th floor! Went back down again and met up with Choy, our newly appointed instructor. Paid him the cash and we went to get ready for our pool session. Interestingly enough, I would have thought that the first day involved classroom and boring lectures. We dove straight into the water instead! Cool!

The first thing he had us do was to put on wetsuits. Small for me... OK... Dammit, it was freaking tight! Wan Yee and Rudy had XS. Hahhahahaaha. It was ok for Rudy but for Wan Yee, well you can imagine. I initially had a problem getting into that small suit, but after a little manuevering and sucking in that gut.. it was no problem. Just reminding myself that I should lose more weight. But with the Chinese New Year around the corner, I don't forsee that happening anytime soon.

We familiarized ourselves with the tank, the regulator and the BCD. According to Zoe, it's known as the Bouancy Control Device. Heck, it wasn't important that we didn't know the ancronyms, just that we learn to breath with the regulator. Man, what Zoe said is true, you'd get a little light headed after puffing compressed air. Sweet! We did a few exercises underwater, the hand signals, breathing, controlling our bouyancy, equalizing our ear pressure and learning to put on and kick with the fins. Man, I used to hate swimming when I was younger because whenever I got to the deep end, my ears starts to ache! Now I know that we have to freaking equalize our pressure and it hurt no more! Nuts! Wasted all the time when I hated diving deep into the deep end. Today, I loved swimming into the deep end and it was especially fun when I did not need to surface for air. I could've gone on and on just swimming underwater. I can't wait for our next lesson scheduled in two week's time!

After the lesson we showered and changed and Choy thought us how to disassemble the equipment and how to put them back. It is as easy as A-B-C. Hmm, not sure if I'll still remember everything in two weeks.

Just got back from Midvalley. Went there with Rudy to pick up Rizal's pressie. Getting in was tough, but then again there seems to be less cars than a usual busy shopping night. Maybe some people have left for their hometowns already. This just goes to show how many out-of-towners are living in KL! Go back home dammit! Stop clogging our roads! They should have special lanes for people born in KL. Yea, I bet that would lighten up traffic a little. In my dreams...

Oh well, this concludes the week. Was really looking forward for the scuba lessons and it's been a great first class. I'm starting to lose all the doubts that I had, but when we were given the dive table, I went, "Uh-oh..." It really looks complicated and we're supposed to calculate before we dive? I'm so going to be dead...

Seafood Night!

Waited all week for this weekend. Zoe actually planned this night for the ex-smbb class of '96. She sent out a mass email through our ex-smbb yahoo group about 3 weeks ago. No one except for those who are overseas bothered to answer the email. I'm beginning to wonder if these people from smbb '96 are really that busy with their lives that they can't even answer a simple yes or no in the email. Shimatta!

We decided to go on with the plans of going to Teluk Gong for dinner. I told them that the ex-smbb people can go screw themselves with their busy schedules! If they weren't going to come, then so be it! Zoe asked me to write an email to them to inform them that the seafood thing was cancelled for the ex-smbb people. Fortunately Merv, Gary and gf were kind enough to join us tonight. We had a compliment of 9 people, so all systems go. Will be uploading the pics for tonight once Wan Yee sends them to me.

All I can say is that dinner was excellent. We ordered butter crabs, sweet and sour crabs, buttered prawns, mantis prawns, fish, shellfish, fried noodles with clams and a vegetable plate. The guys decided to order Toddy, which is fermented coconut water. To be honest, it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. It was sour and had a funny smell. Ka Seong and Sylvia seemed to enjoy it. I had a cup of it and that was the end of it. Dinner was really good and since it's been a while since we've seen Ka Seong and his wife, we thought that we'd do somemore catching up. Headed for starbucks, the usual coffee place where there was airconditioning.

I know that we were supposed to do out scuba diving lessons on saturday, but due to the Tour De Langkawi in KL, most of the roads leading to the city was blocked. Called up the instructor yesterday to postpone the class to tomorrow. I am wondering if I'll truly like this new hobby...

Overslept...

Was supposed to meet up with Zoe this morning for breakfast. I woke up, looking at my phone and saw 9.54. Looked like I had 10 minutes to get ready. I looked up at the clock in my room and it showed that it was 10.54am. Hmm, maybe sometime in the night the battery in the clock may have died and started again. But that couldn't be...

Got up, opened the door and saw the clock in the hall also showed 10.54am. That would mean that my phone's time was off! Decided to check the phone and saw it was 9.54, but it was pm! Damn, I think must have been playing with the phone last night and accidently set the time to New York. Didn't realize that it set the time into that time zone. Bugger!

Called up Zoe immediately and she said she too slept in. I was supposed to call her at 10am, but apparently she thought I must've slept on. Apologized to her as I was supposed to follow her to fix her car number plate. Her bro followed her and I met up with them later on in Nam Chuan for early lunch. Had the Bakuteh... Yumz!

We later headed off to 1 Utama. I wanted to check out the Mambo store as American Express cardmembers get 20% off. But didn't see anything that I liked there, so was just more of browsing than shopping. Dropped Zoe off and went home.

Merv said dinner was at 7.15pm. Rudy was going to come get us. Waited till 8.05pm before Merv's car arrived at my place. Apparently Rudy was late. But he didn't gimme notice, so continued to suffer, feeling hungry... while waiting for him to arrive. We went for Tom Yam, nice Nasi Paprik Ayam and Telur Dadar. Man, that hit the spot!

Ended up the night at Bodhi Tree. Merv had the chef prepare some nice banana pizza dessert. It was delicious! Bunch of noisy girls were behind, but due the reception of my notebook, we had to move to the back portion of the restaurant. Strangely enough, that group of girls kept it down after we moved to the back.

Oh yea, Rudy learnt Hokkien today. Tua Liap! Drop it like it hottttt!

Scuba Diving lessons... all systems go!

My gosh, two days of starbucks in a row... my system is filled with coffee! But then again, there's really not much to do nowadays. After recovering my funds from the investment I guess my life is back to the old simple and boring, "What to do today?" routine.

Was supposed to go lunch with Zoe this afternoon. Wan Yee called and told me that he'll be heading to Merv's shop for lunch. I told him that Zoe and I were just there yesterday. Didn't feel like heading to town today after being stuck in yesterday's jam. Instead, told him to eat around Bangsar as Zoe was joining us. Called her up at 11.45am, but she didn't answer. Must be still sleeping. Wan Yee called back saying that he'll be in Megamall for a survey, so he told me to meet him there. Zoe called back saying that she might stay in the house today.

So I went to Megamall and met up with Wan Yee. We decided to try out the Oasis foodcourt to out it to the test. Is the food there really as bad as they say? I ordered stir fried eggplant with chicken while Wan Yee tried some mushroom stir fried chicken. His dish was so-so, not that good, but mine was alright. Wan Yee tried some of the eggplant and decided that he'll be ordering that in his next visit. Then again, we were saying... when will our next visit there be? Usually when we head to Megamall, it's always Chilli's. Yumz!

After lunch we were heading out from the foodcourt when we noticed some music coming from the centre court. Interesting, the chinese acrobatic troupe was scheduled to perform. What excellent timing! It was a very interesting display of stunts that kept the people around the place surrounded with excitement. Watched the show till the end, though Wan Yee had to leave at 1.45pm. He had to head off to Selayang.

When the performance was over, thought I'd head over to IT world to pick up a lock for my notebook. Don't know why, but I don't feel safe leaving my notebook at home nowadays. Seems like my sister has been eyeing it for quite sometime and has been hinting for me to get a new pc so that she can have my notebook. Fat chance girl! But then again, that offer from Merv saying that he might have a Toshiba unit that fell off a truck.. hmmm... if it is slimmer.. now.. that's a thought!

No! Must stick to budgeting. I can't be throwing money like that. These past few months have been rewarding in terms of cash flow but I still needed to watch my spending. I don't know when I will be getting a stable job, so I shouldn't be spending like I have stable income for months to come.

The plans for scuba diving lessons have started to take place. Was at starbucks when Zoe called her instructor scheduling the class for 12pm saturday. Our first lesson and this was going to be a pool lesson! I'm getting excited already! Wonder how long will the lessons take? Hmmm... This will be an interesting weekend!

Day of Shopping with Zoe

Last night's tennis game was good. I was early and I arrived at the court at 8.30pm. Saw Belinda playing tennis with Siew Ying, under Clifford's training. They guys were late as usual and Siew Ying asked if she could stroke while I was waiting for the rest to arrive. Had a few good runs before the rest arrived and we started playing a serious game. Surprising, Rudy's improved his strokes. Had a few surprising shots from him that caught Wan Yee and I off guard.

We skipped our usual teh tarik session as the guys wanted to sleep early. We were all going to watch the match later that night. And speaking of which, it was a great match that Man United won! Even with 10 men, we still trashed Arsenal for the bragging rights this season. Beat them in all the meets this year. Must admit it was well worth my time waking up in the wee hours of the morning.

Woke up at 1pm this afternoon. Was about to get ready to go out and tarpau something until Zoe sms-ed saying that her bro was not going with her to Times Square. Since I needed to go downtown in the afternoon to do some pickup, I called her up and asked her out to lunch. We went to Merv's shop and ran into Uncle Sam, Uncle Roger and Uncle Chan Kong. Had the stew rice, while Zoe had the Yin Yong Noodles.

After lunch, it was off to Times Square. Was stuck in the traffic jam and the Familia's aircond compressor decided not to cooperate. It got really hot after a while. I was cursing the jam silently...

We got there, went straight to Debenhams and Zoe was there to pick up her top and skirt. She asked for my opinion when we were there on Monday, and must say that she looked good in it. Stunning... not something that you would see her wear usually. I guess she is really taking this phase of being more "girly" seriously. After her manicure session on Sunday, I must say she may be wanting this more genuinely. Who could imagine? But I should be supporting her. Who wouldn't want a girl to be more girly?

Went to dinner in Checkers, had the pork tenderloin and sausage coupled with mashed potatoe and a salad. Interesting dinner, but I must admit, should've ordered what Merv had, the Porky's Best. Good rib and fatty meat. Hmmmm.. I think I will make a mental note to order it the next time I'm there. The place was small, smaller than what I remembered. But then again, it's been a very long time since I've been there, so that could explain why.

What to do tomorrow? It's a good thing to know that I'm more relaxed now because I've recovered all my funds from the investment. I see a few white hairs... signs of stress from worrying about the funds. Now that I've gotten the funds back, it's time to look at the next conquest. Scuba diving...