its COOK-ed

I am not such a huge fan of the American idol show. I do enjoy the auditions where i can laugh at all the eccentric people and egotistical ones who seem to think they are singers!!! Geez, frogs can croak better and even my dog Storm can howl a tune that's more pleasant to the ears!

This year tho, the talents improved and the finalists were pretty incredible. A whole range of different personalities which provided ample assortment of entertainment. But after the first 2 rounds, many seemed to get stagnant and didn't show improvement. In fact some started to get worse!!!! it was clear from then on that the 2 Davids would end up as the contenders for the most coveted title.

I have to admit that from the very start i rooted for the younger David! And then as the show progressed , he got boring. He only sings those slow ballads that after awhile your ear drums tend to beg for something different! He is young and lacks a lot of experience, he lacks charisma and personality too.

The older David tho is different. I didn't like the scruffy look at first. I thought he had a weird hair style which verged on baldness HAHAHAHA! But later on i warmed up to him. He is such a versatile singer, with a warm personality and a cute smile. Simon didn't like him in the beginning too. Words like "pompous" and "arrogant" seemed to spill out of Simon's mouth! Its probably cuz David C looks confident when he sings, he has the image of a rocker and before long i started to like him too. Gaya, lah!

When the finals came tho, his performances seemed to be shot down by the judges and he was out-shone by the younger David. He chose songs that were not too popular , so we couldn't really connect! I have to admit i was more impressed with the younger David that night!! And then Simon had to publicly announce that the young David stole the show away with every performance! oh dear, my heart sank!

When the results day came, i was hoping that Simon was playing reverse psychology and thus making all David C's fans vote for him even more. And the young David's fans probably would get over confident and vote just once! :) that was my silent prayer for Cook lah!

We even discussed and suspected that the show was rigged , since it was once rumored that it was so, esp. after Paula's little mess up! We said that maybe the better David ( hehehehe) was asked to make way for the weaker one and in doing so maybe he would be offered many more benefits like recording contracts and road shows etc! yeah , we got imaginative in our desperation! We recorded the live results show as we weren't home to watch it at the hour! And we got disappointed when the disc ran out of space and we didn't get to watch the results later that day ,sigh sigh sigh! But that added more spice into the suspense!!

Later in the night we got to watch the results and i gasped in excitement and happiness that my David had won!!!! Yayyyyy! For the 1st time in American idol history, my fave contestant won! Yayyyy! David COOK rocks!!!

E- cstatic

TGIF and TGIO!!!

TGIF = thank God it's Friday and thank God it's over!
I found myself waiting in line at the hospital this morning. I was at the Imaging dept to be precise. My mammogram and ultrasound are way over due. That's controversial actually, some say a mammogram should be done annually and some say once in 2 yrs. And me being the usual procrastinator, i waited 2 yrs.
Its not a fun procedure! I'd much rather be poked with 10 needles than succumb myself to being squashed by cold plates ~ twice on each side! ARRRGGH!!!! HELP!
Some cartoonists likened that medical procedure to slamming your breasts on the fridge door , and i agree with her! Others show the after effects !!! But they are all in good humour, its not all that bad!!!

This time around the left side seems to hurt more than the right , and it happened twice. I was starting to worry that maybe there must be some growth lurking on the left that caused the pain. And as i lay waiting to bare my breasts again to the doctor ( a male) for the ultra sound i was saying a silent prayer that he finds nothing.
He was the same doctor i saw 2 yrs ago. Of course he cant remember me, but i can recognise him. And he makes it all seem quite pleasant. And by pleasant i mean NOT awkward!! God forbid i didn't mean pleasant = pleasure !!! He said that all looks ok , PHEW.... big big PHEW! And he let me go home with x rays in hand!
I am glad its over, i am relieved the results are ok...... now lets get back to enjoying life! And a reminder to all ladies, do go for your check up regularly! And here is one way to prepare for the mammogram! Hahahaha! No, lah , not that bad! Hee hee! They squash and flatten whatever piece of flesh u have on your chest! But its worth the effort for your piece of mind! So, don't wait till its too late, dear ladies!

Early detection saves lives!

Another proud moment ....

My nephew, looking dapper in his graduation togs with his proud family. Is every graduate given a "Graduation bear?"






Two brothers. Which one better looking leh?



June looks ready to wring Bear's neck!

' utang keling

I owe P Rp75,000. I owe M HKD 798.00.

S owe me RM 150.00. E owe me RM 225.00. P owe me RM 75.00.

S owe M HKD 798.00.

But E is going to change money for us to pay M, so S and I owe E RM in equivalent of HKD 1600.00.

So at the end who owe who more? One thing is very obvious.... M as usual, no owe nobody.

F

sigh.......bad news

helllooooo..... wah... E n F betul betul enjoyed themselves in Bandung, shopping, eating, shopping and more shopping. Way to go... fems !!

I just recovered from food poisoning last 2 weeks. Dont know what i ate but the germs was inside my system for almost 2 weeks. I was stubborn lah.. dont want to go for medical lah... i thot my 100+ can cure my purging... (Dr tipu - no cert wan). Finally, after two weeks of continuance purging, I went for medical on May 1st. Wah.... Dr says like infection in my system. No wonder lah..purging non stop. In a way, good lah.... No need to go for slimming course cos this is auto slimming. hehehe..... Sure lah.. purging and no appetite to eat, see food like want to vomit liao. Somemore, like my throat was stuck half way and stomach is always... noisy..... but no appetite. I had two different types of antibiotic, stomach wind and of course,,,, the purging pills lah.

Well today ,,,, I also dont have good news to share this time round. I just came back from the clinic and news aint good. The matter of fact is, doctor says my BP is abnormal 140 / 100. The same result appears on three different ocassion, 1st on May 1st, 2nd May 5 and 3rd - today - this morning. The 1st reading was 140 / 90 which was also classified under abnormal. So, I was requested back from 2nd follow-up which I did in the evening on Monday, 5 May about 8 pm and the BP was 140/100. Dr says.. erm... not good ler. Aiyoo,yo.... so, i said, maybe its the work pressure..hahaha.... OK.. come back in the morning, about 3 - 4 days later but before you start work. Actually, I was in office earlier but the madness have not yet begin lah. Tension while waiting for my turn. I wonder if my BP would go down today boh... Aiya..bad news.. still 140 / 100 on both arms.. (hehehe... dr cant believe it so decided to change from my right to left just in case he salah tenguk or maybe my left arm is more relaxed then my right, ??) He shook his head... same lah.... Aiyah.. so how ? I asked him. Have to go for medication liao... long time.... shit !! Well according to him, may genetic ler, cos my dad got hypertension since ages ago..... so, i oso ikut lah.. hahaha..... Well from today, i will be on medication and hopefully by 14 days (my next visit), BP will be back to normal. He also advise me to do blood test cos if my BP is abnormal, other 3 (empat sekawan) may also join in the fun inside my body, ie diabetics, the other two..... i didnt hear laioooooooo.... Maybe E can help to fill in the balance two.....

Well, life still goes on... dont worry..... as long as we are happy, and stays happy.... Que sera sera.. whatever will be will be........ Given the choice, I will still carry on makaning.........

See you gals.......

From S (sickly)

Bandung too

Much as I’d like to give myself a pat on the back for an extremely well planned trip to Bandung, I would especially like to give the committee members a big hand for their tremendous help. To the rest of the group, we really appreciate their cooperation and contributions for making this trip such a fun filled, enjoyable and successful trip. They were punctual to the point of being early, very cincai, easy to get along with, very accommodating and open to suggestions. All in all, I must say that this trip was certainly fulfilling in all respects.

There were many anxious moments during the planning stages. E and I really put in a lot of effort, especially in the choice of hotel. Choosing a hotel not only meant right price, good location, clean but none of those converted from shop-lots kind. It included picking the correct website or source to make your reservation, because not every website offers the same rates for the same hotel. Some bloggers had shared in their postings that even though reservations were made and confirmed prior to their arrival in Bandung, there were many instances when rooms were not available upon arrival. This was very worrying … Of course we could always find another hotel if the rooms we had booked were not available but that would have been time consuming… and time was something we did not have enough. This was an extremely short trip meant for shopping, shopping and more shopping and NOT to be wasted on looking for a replacement hotel. Anyhow, we did the best we could, took a lot of advises from sites like virtual tourists etc and left the rest to fate.

Thankfully, as E said, the travel company we hooked up with gave us 1st class services. Jack from Total Transport booked the hotel as well as provided us with transport during our visit. He even recommended us where to eat and every suggestion came with an estimate on how much the food would cost. Food was surprising cheap but tasted good even though the places we went for dinner looked pretty exclusive… I have never been adventurous where food is concerned but Bandung’s suited me fine.

E’s friends were all housewives, slightly older than us and I was wondering if we could get along. They turned out to be pretty nice and right from start, we managed to hit it off. Pauline was appointed treasurer and did an excellent job. (clap clap!!) We did a costing and believe it all not, airfare/accommodation/food & transport came up to just below RM500.00! (clap ..clap.. can go again!)

Since E did such a good job telling us about the trip, no point for me to repeat la. I’d like to thank E for her help though. I went with a noble intention to get clothes for the nephews and nieces but what do I know about teenage fashions or brands, for that matter? (The clothes I wear all hand-me-downs or bought from Thailand-mah!) I would have ended up buying those loose fitting male type T-shirts for both nephews and nieces alike but fortunately E gave me lots of tips on what attires young girls would like. I believe my nieces are very happy - got new clothes to wear wo, somemore branded stuffs wo, and the best part, no need to pay one-leh.

Pauline was a great help too. She helped me figure out what size T-shirts to buy for Mei Cheng. (Hers should be 1 size bigger than Pauline.) She helped with my selection for men’s wear ie. whether the quality was good etc… as well as clothing for tiny tots. She would tell me that Baby Gap is considered “branded” along with 1 brand that sounded like “Omigosh”. Hmm... even as she was the one preventing E from overbuying, she also stopped me from buying a windbreaker.... Aiyo,,, regret I didnt buy-lah.

Anyway ... Thank you .. thank you. Everyone contributed in making this 1 hell of a fun trip... and we can’t wait for Air Asia’s next offer….

P/S.. I think I deserve the steamboat treat.... everything went so smoothly...

F

Power-shopping in Bandung! Good Retail therapy for ladies!

Our Bandung trip started on the 24th April 2008 !

All the ladies arrived at my house as early as 8am and we started the journey to LCCT , arriving there on time for check in. After that was all done, we had breakfast at mcD with our free sausage MCmuffin vouchers which were replaced with Fillet-O-fish ! ( lagi best!)

Our flight was delayed but only for 15 min or so , phew phew!!! Arriving at Bandung, our driver took us to a restaurant for lunch. It was a Sudanese one and we were being extra careful not to overspend !! The dishes that came were extremely small but we were so hungry we didn't complain ~ gobbled everything down in seconds!!! They have a free flow of salad at the salad bar but i was extra careful about that cuz my last trip to Bandung last year left me purging for days!!!

We checked into the Grand Serela Hotel after that , and met handsome Jack who was nice and friendly. He is the owner of the transport company we hired the driver from. And he was also kind enough to book the hotel of our choice for us.

Our first shopping destination was the Pasar baru which was not that "baru" at all !! But ok la, we managed to get some really cheap deals there. Some of us bought sarongs ( not my thing!) , some bought tons of colourful socks ( a dozen for me!) , T shirts, costume jewellery and slippers.

From there we went on to more classier stuff ~ the branded goods in factory outlets! Rumah Mode was the first. And they went crazy buying stuff there . I had been there b4 so i was more sane ( hee hee) I only bought 4 pieces of attire there. Pauline went nuts and crooned over the Armani and Pierre Cardin jeans there!!! Ping spent almost all of her cash there!!! ( faint ! Faint) I think they went crazy over the men's Nike Dri-fit T Shirts!!

The next outlet was Episode ~ and this time i went crazy! This one has more casual teen wear so i went berserk buying stuff for my girls. Abercrombie & Fitch , Club Monaco, Bebe, Esprit, Roxy.... u name it , they have it!!! we shopped till the shop closed and by then Ping had to start signing her credit card ~ she had spent all of her 1K in RM!

Dinner was late but we did have snacks at Rumah Mode's little bakery cafe'. Actually i was the one who bugged them to eat~ my metabolic rate amazes me! Anyway, dinner was on top of some highland ( Dago Atas) and it was cold up there. It must have been 15 degrees up there or lower. And i wore my new Bebe jacket :) the classy new restaurant is called Neo Calista.

And they serve western as well as local fare. The food was good and the money spent was well worth it. The bill came to about 120RM for 7 people ~ we invited the driver Pak Cik to join us too.

Back at the hotel that night, we were tired but stayed up till 2am , just yakking and settling in! I fell asleep even b4 the yaks ended! F and P were still making noises when i closed my eyes and drifted into dream land !

Morning breakfast was the hotel's buffet and it was nice :)

My lady friends got excited over the passion fruits which they thought were pomegranates!! They were constipated and needed fibre so they downed all the fruits! Hahahahaha!!!

We had asked the driver to come later to pick us up as we wanted to venture on our own for the 1st few hrs of the day. Our hotel is situated right smack in outlet haven so we went to Heritage and Smart. Once again we went crazy with the goods on sale ~ buy 4 get 1 free!!!

We walked back to the hotel and jumped into the Avanza driven by pak Cik! And from there it was more outlets, more crazy shopping, but not b4 we made a serious stop at the money changer to get more Rupiahs! Ping gave me a heart attack when she told me that i did not hand her the 1k i was suppose to loan her! Faint! Faint! Thank goodness i had Helen count the money again b4 i handed it to her at the breakfast table! phew!! Its always good to have a witness! Ayuh, blur blur ping!

Our lunch was at a nasi kandar restaurant and it was the same one i went to on my first Bandung trip. The food was good with lots of choices. Every one's favourite was the beef rendang or at least F and P loved it! I liked the Telor Berlado! For me anything with eggs is yummy! it was back to power shopping after that again and by then i was almost all done cuz i was down to my last 200rm ! I was also worried about baggage space, airplane weight limit etc. And i had my sis in law bugging me with her "enough liow!!!" and " stop buying now!" and "what do u mean one more!???"

We made a stop at the brownies place called Amanda! And we sat and tried the Tiramisu covered brownies with ice cream.I still preferred the simple steamed brownies . We all bought boxes and boxes to take home.

When darkness fell, we made our way for another meal. But it was still a bit too early for our tummies so we asked pak Cik to drive by Cihampelas Street which is famous for its shoes! These rows of shops have very nice ads that are actually huge statues of famous heroes !! They have Rambo, Spiderman, batman and any other kind of muscular hero u have in Hollywood! We stopped to buy sandals and went berserk again! I ONLY bought 9 in all ! :P

Dinner time came and we went up to another highland but he said it was not Dago Atas. It sure looked like the same place tho. The road uphill was narrow and steep , and on both sides of the road we could see small stalls with tons of flowering plants! It reminded me of Sungai Buloh with all its nurseries. i am sure it would have been a beautiful sight in the day :)

We arrived at the dinner place and its called kampung daun. Its in the middle of the "jungle" filled with wild trees and insects i am sure!! The weather was cold and we gathered around a bonfire to warm our hands !!! We looked like scavengers! The setting was beautiful tho. We made our way up winding steps , it was so much like jungle trekking. Each table is set up in a little shack , and we had to remove our footwear and sit on long mattresses as seats. They had pillows to lean on and its a lot like those wooden shacks u sit in to do bird watching :) Very cool indeed! The food was delicious too and we ordered the same fusion of western and local fare :) the price was really reasonable too. It was our last night there and we were all getting very accustomed to everyone and the noise we made while we ate would have made the wild animals wonder who the wild and undomesticated beings really are!!!

It was back to the hotel after that and the nervousness of packing all our stuff into our bags! but Heyyy no problem la ! They all fit in perfectly :) even tho i had to toss out my older clothes and toiletries !!! It was another tiring day so as P and F watched TV, i drifted off again ...ZZZZZ!

The next morning we were up at 7am and went for our buffet breakfast, then checked out of the hotel, and checked into the airport. Jack came to say good bye and we thanked him for his perfect services.

The last 2 hrs we spent together in Bandung was as memorable as the whole trip cuz we started to play cards.... we taught the newbies how to play "NGAU" and then we played Chiapkoot after that . yeah all this was in the waiting lounge! On the plane we ate the famous Airasia nasi lemak , and before we knew it , we were back in Klang bidding each other good bye but making plans to meet again to give our "tour leader" a steamboat treat! :)

E-cstatic shopper