lunch today

I had a good lunch at Ben's today. Good coffee. Good dessert. Good waiter.

The entire time I kept thinking, the owner had a carousel and synchronized swimming and errthing at his wedding. Oh well.

missing kota bharu

Sometimes when thinking about the next holiday, I keep forgetting about flying back to Kota Bharu. Soon, soon.

Some of my favorite places for Kelantanese food:

1. Gerai kueh in Kg Bharu. It's somewhere opposite Nasi Lemak Mak Wanjor.
2. Tuu Dok Ko (sp) in Taman Samudera, Gombak. Opposite Yu Vin mart. 
3. One of the gerai(s) in Taman Kinrara (opposite kedai mamak at BK 5)

44/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Emre: I didn't get the memo about the Tantrum Three phase.

Rumi: Ran 100 meters. Complained the entire 3 kilometers. ;p

no photos in my phone

Well this is odd. this week i barely took any photos except shots of my colleague in dresses for our jazz-themed annual dinner this month. and a boring shot of my mee goreng mamak (MGM) from WiP. ah yes, nothing beats an overpriced MGM at a fancy place! but it was really good. besides, where can i find awesome MGM these days?

Estilo @ Publika

So much for wanting to save money! But it was our sweet Maxine's birthday and since we've never been to Estilo before, so why the hell not. The tapas are great! And although I'm not a big fan of paella, their seafood paella was very well flavored and delicious.

Wish list

TGIF! Was looking for a gift for my sister but I just had to swing by Selberan. Always wanted to check out their songket collection and boom, I'M IN LVOE WITH THIS.
The locket retails at 3k++ and the chain is 1k++. Gah! Money y u no grow on trees?!?

Aaaaaaand Fossil just had to come up with robot&rocket collection arghhhhh *kicks self in the shin*.

Have a good weekend. 

Wednesday comfort

Wednesday comfort. We were all stressed out with the outcome of the department meeting today.

43/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Emre: Abang's faithful accomplice.

Rumi: The dark side. Heheh.

inari soft shell crab at sushi zanmai

The first thing I'll order when at Sushi Zanmai. 

dream list

Oh just sharing some stuff on my wish list.

Saw this in-flight to DPS.

Every girl has her own dream bag. This is mine, for the month. ;p

some meal I had

DV Ristorante Pizzeria @ Bukit Damansara is one of my favorite go-to places if I'm craving for some authentic Italian food. Besides, I think their set lunch is a bargain - at MYR25 you'll get main dish, soup of the day, ice lemon tea and dessert. A steal! 

But this chicken ugh, a disappointment. The chicken is not fresh at all and it was such a let-down. Sigh. 

42/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Rumi: He said "thank you my dear" when I agreed to make him Maggi.

Emre: Asks for permission when he wants to mess up his toys.

China Treasures

Ah yes, my inglorious days of eating out are numbered, ladies and gents.

The minute I get my new baby (of the 4 wheels kind) I'll be eating out of maggi cups just watch me!

So last Monday, we celebrate my colleague's belated birthday at one of our favorite dim sum place at Sime Darby Convention Centre. I let my colleagues do the ordering because as long there's chicken in my food I'm game. And boy did we eat! All-you-can-eat buffet is the mother of all evils. I kid you not.

On to the food photos.

Y'all see the salted egg yolk right thurr? Heaven.

Prawn inside. Yup. and yum.

My new found love: steamed buttered & salted egg yolk bamboo charcoal bun

Can't wait to go back for this. If only they don't cost so much!

Note: All photos were taken by my colleague, except for the last one. Happy Diwali!

Office folks

Finally bought miserable plants for my miserable view. Well my colleague picked them out for me because I was too lazy to go out last Friday.

Planning for a trip to the hair salon for my long-overdue hair treatment is as tedious as hitting the gym is as tedious as planning for a short break on my birthday next year is as tedious as updating my CV is as tedious as clearing out the kids' closet is as tedious as updating the iOS. Throw procrastination in the mix and boom! { s t a g n a n t l i f e }

Kenanga Boutique Hotel Ubud

Now, finding in Ubud was a problem for me because while I (thought) I knew Kuta at the back of my hand, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Ubud.

And here's a little confession: I am terrified of paddy fields. And most hotels in Ubud are surrounded by them.

I am trying to recall a movie, not sure whether it was a Malay or Indo movie, but I remember at the ending of the movie, the father was so angry at his kids that he 'threw' his kids upward into the sky. It was set in a paddy field and I'm sure it's not some figment of my imagination! I suspect it's that Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan movie but googling can only do so much and I couldn't find any reference to it. Perhaps I should try reading the book. But I'm not even sure if this is the movie or some B-grade indo movie damnit!

Watched a lot of movie hantu from Indonesia when I was a kid. My dad (bless his soul) has been an avid fan of Indo movies back then.

But I digress.

Best option to find a hotel? Tripadvisor it. So when I saw Kenanga Boutique Hotel ranked at Top 15 in Ubud, I'm sold. Time was running out anyway. Albeit the paddy field surrounding the hotel, I must say it was pretty cool to stay there. No noise, great food, free charter to Ubud (7 minutes away from the hotel) and despite my eternal loathing for the fields, we managed to go for a short run in the morning and the staff was nice. We couldn't check out late because the room that we stayed in was a tourist favorite but they were kind enough to provide a room for my marathon man to shower (he clocked in 5:47 for 42 km).

Room starts at MYR400++. Definitely coming back. Well, at least that's what my husband said to the receptionist. Heheh.

Mind run

My husband is right. Without proper training I might not survive the StanChart race this Sunday. I haven't been eating right, haven't been exercising... I don't even want to think about how much I weigh these days. 

In the meantime, this week I need to study study study. Industry exam on Saturday. I hate calculations!!! Die. 

40/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Emre: Says thank you to us everysingletime.

Rumi: Took center stage during his first school concert! I was so shocked! I mean his teacher said he's a shy boy and to see him on stage, full of confidence.. wow, just wow.

39/52

 "A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Emre: This is his Chucky face.

Rumi: Sensitive. Perhaps he should be a child actor. 

Cak cak cak

I've always wanted to see the kecak performance because it seems hypnotizing and I'm sure the performance would be out of this world. We thought we were going to watch the show in Uluwatu, judging by the massive volume of eager tourists flocking the place once the gate opens.

But ack, no, our driver Ngurah said he'll take us elsewhere (was it Batu Bulan?). I can't recall where we ended up, because the ride to the place was so nauseating. To avoid the traffic jam Ngurah took some crazy ass winding roads and for the first time in years I felt like throwing up in the van.

So yay, kecak! I was so excited to see the show. Halfway through, we started to realize that some of the dancers weren't really concentrating - hence taking our attention away from enjoying the 'hypnotic' dance. Even funnier was one of the dancers was busy poking the female lead (who looks like Fasha Sandha I swear to god) and she kept swatting his hand away kah kah kah. Humor aside, I was kind of disappointed because I came so far to watch a half-hearted dance! Sigh. 

Perhaps we should have gone for the one at Uluwatu instead. 

This guy seems like he's in pain though.

Spot the Fasha Sandha y'all.

Oh well, at least this is off my bucket list now.

Straits Food Company

Earlier today, at Straits Food Company. 

Lunched with my colleagues - collectively known as The Paydays because everyday is a pay day when we get together (re: happy) and we always have money for food. Hehe. 

The pai tee is not bad althought I think I prefer Aunty Nat's. 

With just only ten bucks you get to enjoy a set of white rice, chilli brinjal and I picked ayam goreng kunyit as the main dish (but of course). Despite my eternal bias towards chicken, my chicken was really tender and fresh. I also liked how the prawn sambal is not too spicy. 

Pullman Bali Legian Nirwana

I don't know how bloggers can still write about their wedding in detail, girls, you dah kahwin nak masuk 1 year kot? ;p But I guess for the sake of documentations, why the hell not eh? Sharing is caring, no? Sometimes when we write, we never meant to show-off, we just want to share with the world. As for me, writing about holidays is therapeutic, besides, I am absent-minded. Pffth.

So our flight was delayed because one of the aircraft's headlights gone kaput. Passengers were annoyed of course because we're not allowed to leave the plane. But the minute the captain said you are allowed to use your mobile devices, hah, senyap terus everyone! 

We earlier booked Mercure Kuta for one night because the second day we'll be off to Ubud already. I could have gone for a cheaper hotel in Kuta but Mercure, despite its small room (4-star hotel), I loved the infinity pool overlooking the sea and rindu the chocolate pancake! But I was nervous when the staff said "we're so sorry but agoda's system messed up and we have no rooms for tonight".

Gulp.

But imagine our surprise when we were told that we will be sent to a nearby hotel, the 5 star, 3 year old, Pullman Hotel! Woot woot! On top of that, they threw in free breakfast as well (didn't opt for breakfast at mercure) so, yeah, win! Terima kasih agoda! Wish it was for 2 nights!

  

Our room. Perfect for exhibitionists. 

Eh, also got infinity pool here leyyyy.

In luck because there were some art exhibition going on at the hotel.

Such a beauty.

Me likey. What?

Ground view.

By the way, internet in Bali is pretty good. The minute you step out of the arrival gate, a telco kiosk is already available outside. Cost about 200,000/250,000 rupiah, about RM60++ like that.

Me, annoying the shit out of my colleagues hehe.

That's it! Next up I'll talk about our boutique hotel in Ubud.