Sausage place

S found a sausage place at Dataran Ara Damansara, DG31, Jln PJU 1A/20B called German Deli Imbiss. It is like a fastfood-like place except that you get to order from the table and get served. We tried all three meat variations - chicken, beef and lamb. Not bad.


Halfway through our meal, I told S that the sausage casing was made from intestine and he couldn't believe it. He claimed it ruined his appetite but I didn't think so. *Grin*

Self-control

Lately, I seem not to be in control of my emotions. I get irritated easily. I get mad easily. Sometimes I find it hard to breathe. I feel helpless to improve the situation. I need space on my own. It's equally stressful to move to the greener grass I now see. Being extra careful not to regret in the future the way I act today.

-Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...

Anticipation

Finally I am filled with anticipation for the big day. There's still lots more things to do. Furnish the condo. Pack. Move. Compile songs. Prepare speech. Finalise RSVPs. Our Korea trip probably won't kick off on 4th Jan as planned. The travel agency doesn't have enough people. So our alternative plan at the moment is to join another agency departing on 31st Dec but we have to be in the airport on 30th night. The problem is we are having our photoshoot on 30th itself. Rush to the airport that night? I think I am filled with the adrenalin rush to go, go, go but S thinks it would be too hectic. So, yes or no?

Animation to humanation

Say hi to Asimo.

Although my favourite cartoon character is Eeyore, Asimo sounds cuter real life. I wouldn't mind a soft toy version if there is one out there. With the invention of ASIMO, could Wall-E be real one day? Probably not in my lifetime. Bye Asimo...

The year is running out

The year is coming to an end and I do not think I have accomplished half the things I wanted to do this year. It has been quite a quiet year for me but a quick one. It scares me that the years are just passing me by. But no matter what, I am reminded...

1. Relationship is better than achievement
2. Health is better than wealth
3. Never go to sleep angry
4. I am not defined by my job
5. Giving is better than receiving
6. I do not have to compare to be contented
7. My future is not secured in the things of this world
8. I will not run the rat race or get caught up in it
9. It does not help to gossip
10. Harsh words can kill

Deep or shallow

If I were to say a river is deep or shallow you would instantly know what I mean. But, if I were to say a person is deep or shallow, it seems abstract. Is it fair to say that a deep person would probably try to know you "deeper" than usual? Seeking to understand how you operate inside? Picking up clues? Sensitive to your needs? You can know a person for the longest time and still now know what is in a person’s heart or mind. And that is why communication is so crucial. But what happens when you get tired of talking because you’ll be back to square one after time. I guess women are by nature sensitive. Sensitive to words and actions. And also, to words not spoken and actions not made. Our yes is no and our no is yes. So to avoid confrontations, I ask myself this question taught by one of our pastors from church, “Would it matter in a thousand years?” If it’s not, it’s best putting it aside or overcoming it. I have two perspectives here. If I were to think myself as a thousand and twenty-five years old then yes, it would not matter because I would be really old and de-energized by then. But, if I were to think myself as still being twenty-five years of age I would think even in a thousand years it would matter. Every little thing does, doesn’t it? I know it would be cliché to say that this is the time to seek God first but it really is. I am waiting on Him not to change others but myself.

Ancient vs. modern times

The water supply at my housing area was cut-off this morning. I had washed my hair last night not wanting to do it in cold water today. Lucky enough, I woke up this morning in time for a shower before the water went off. If not, I might have went to work without taking a bath. I can't remember the last time I had a cold shower. Even when I go swimming, I will always dip in the almost hot jacuzzi tub before jumping into the pool. I wonder how people survived without water heaters during those times.

Another thing, last night I went to have my eyes checked. Thankfully both my eyes increased slightly. At my current power, I can be deemed as almost blind. I am reaching the maximum power available for contact lenses. If I had lived during those ancient times where spectacles haven't been invented, I would have been classified as a disabled. Seriously. But, hopefully my power stabilises as I grow older and no more computer games for me. Ok. Maybe occassional computer games would be fine. I guess I still have not learnt my lesson. Help!

My family's favourite dining place

My dad loves spicy food. My mom loves nyonya food. My bro eats everything. I love anywhere that serves green tea.

I love weddings

Yesterday I went for my first wedding of the year. Yes the year is coming to an end and I finally get to attend at least one wedding before mine. One thing I remembered from this wedding was that the couple wanted everyone to have a good time and I did. It is one place where you can have a good shout without having to drive up a cliff or worrying about passer-bys. Yam seng!

Carbonated Drink

I found a carbonated drink better than my usual 100 plus. It's this drink called Honest To Goodness. I had it at Pizza Uno for the second time.
The name of the drink do es live up to its name. It has less calories than 100 plus, containing 60% pure fruit juice and 40% carbonated spring water. Worth the RM9.

Red Bean Bun

I just had dinner at Canton-i 1 Utama and I found this red bean bun very cute. I did not order it as I could not put it into my mouth and chew on it.

So, is this bun halal?

Char Koay Teow

I used to frequent Little Penang Cafe and returned yesterday night to have some char koay teow...

To my surprise, the price has gone up 8.9%. It now costs RM9.80 for a plate of char koay teow. With my current salary rising at half that rate, will I have to settle for coffee shop char koay teow soon? Just kidding. Thanks to S and dad who sponsor all my meals (except the ones I have in the office).

But really, the price increase was not worth the quality decrease. The crab meat over the top was filled with shells and tasted crabby (like raw crab?). On the menu, it stated a wait of 20 minutes for the char koay teow. But it arrived in less than 1o minutes, faster than my dad's curry mee. Bravo to the timing but boo to the taste. It could've used a little more frying.

This is somewhere I would pay for char koay teow. Lim Mee Yoke Coffeeshop at 157, Jalan SS2/7, 47300 Petaling Jaya. And if my mom agrees, there's no wrong to it!

Before we say "I do"

Finally, we've completed our pre-marital counselling and passed. After a year with our counsellors working through Before You Say " I Do" by H. Norman Wright & Wes Roberts, we are excited to apply theory to practice come Dec 27. I would highly recommend couples planning to get married to get some form of counselling. We're all in for the long haul and we've got nothing to lose to set the foundation right. The book touches on important aspects of marriage and gives a glimpse of what could be. The discussions arising from the topics can go as deep as the couple would want it to. Personally, I have moved a step into maturity.

Times

Last Saturday after children's church, S had to go for an emergency site meeting in Sri Hartamas area. So I asked him to drop me at a shopping centre nearby which we didn't know the name then - Plaza Damas. I strolled all the floors from corner to corner and I found this shop...

After an hour and 15 minutes, S came to get me. In the car...

S: What did you drink?

J: Nothing.

S: What did you eat?

J: Nothing. (I showed him the picture above). So guessed where I went?

S: The watch shop?

J: No.

S: The lingerie shop?

J: No. (What was he thinking?)

S: The clothes shop?

J: No. (Is there a clothes shop called Times?) Give you a clue. I didn't spend any money spending an hour in the shop.

S: Oh, it's a bookshop!

J: Yes

Love checklist

In times of trials, I check myself with what the Bible has to say about love. Grey indicates I am not quite there yet. Blue indicates I'm still in the journey with the finish line ahead. And, black indicates...I think I do not have problems with them, or do I? Out of 14 (excluding no.15) I score 50%. The question is - Is there really such a thing as unconditional love in the human heart? I suppose if you score 100% (including no.15) you're there. I can only think of one person who scored perfectly - the author of the Word itself.

1. Love is patient

2. Love is kind

3. It does not envy

4. It does not boast

5. It is not proud

6. It is not rude

7. It is not self-seeking

8. It is not easily angered

9. It keeps no record of wrongs

10. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth

11. It always protects

12. Always trusts

13. Always hopes

14. Always perseveres

15. Love never fails

120/80 is not normal

Today I visited my company's clinic to have my blood pressure checked.

J: Hi Doctor.
Dr: Hi have a seat, what's wrong with you?
J: I wanted to check my blood pressure as it read 130/90 last week during my visit to another clinic.
Dr: Your last record with us was May 2007 - 110/70. Good. Does your family have history of high blood pressure?
J: Yes, my mom.
Dr: Okay, let me check...It reads 120/80. Normal. Let me check again. 120/80. Looks okay.
J: Okay thanks doctor.
Dr: Don't be fat.
J: Okay.

Being curious, I googled "high blood pressure 120/80" and found this. US guidelines say blood pressure of 120/80 mm Hg is not "normal". Oh no. I now have pre-hypertension. I hope I do not contribute to the country's statistics of some 43% of Malaysians aged over 30 years who have high blood pressure (hypertension).

According to the article, I should now...

No.1 Lose weight
My BMI is 18 which is classified underweight.

2. Exercise
I do exercise a few times a week.

3. Drink less alcohol
I don't drink.

4. Reduce sodium intake
Ok I admit, I like salt.

5. Change my diet - high in fruits and veggies.
I think I eat these quite alot.

By the way, I do have high cholesterol and during my childhood days, I had chicken pox and pneumonia. Do people get sick of getting sick? I do.

My first stand-up comedy

Last night I followed S's family to watch Comedy Court starring Allan Pereira and Indi Nadarajah. It's my first time to a stand-up comedy and obviously the first time hearing about the stars. I was trying hard to catch some of the jokes but I had a few quacks here and there.

Foodfilling day

Last Satuday, I accompanied mom to the specialist centre near my house to do some check-ups. She's fine. In the afternoon we went to try the dim sum at the Golden Phoenix Restaurant in Equatorial Hotel. It was one of the best dim sum I've ever eaten. My mom has been there once and was wanting to take me there for a few months now.

However, the egg tarts were not as good as Duck King...

Cheers to a good dim sum session...

We spend the afternoon in the Pavilion while waiting for S to come. We headed off to Chuan Kee Hakka Restaurant for dinner. I love this place as you get to eat yong tau foo with your normal dinner dishes. We had steamed ginger fish with garlic, five spice stewed pork with yam, long beans with dried prawns and fried dried beancurd sticks "foo chuk", amounting to RM45. Decent price. We actually came here the last weekend and it was closed. So we tried a restaurant a few shops away which I can't remember the name - it wasn't a bad alternative.

For your info:
Chuan Kee Hakka Restaurant: Rest Day - Every 3rd Friday & Saturday of the Month (Rest for 2 days)
Opening Hours: 11.30am - 3.00pm, 6.00pm - 9.30pm
14, Jalan Pudu Ulu, Batu 3, Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur

Yummy breakfast

On Wednesday and Thursday this week I went to try the all-day breakfast set at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with mom. We tried the outlet at 1 Utama new wing. On Wednesday we tried the Break 'O' Day and it was good. So good we went back for another round on Thursday to try the Egg Club Sandwich. We wanted to try the Egg's Ben but it was out. The Egg Club Sandwich was more tummy-filling than the Break 'O' Day I suppose due to the larger amount of bread. All sets with complimentary coffee or tea with free refills until 11 o'clock in the morning.

I have a picture here of the Egg Club Sandwich...

The salad crisp with nuts and cranberries and a mouth-watering sandwich cut in half, each with an egg in it. Splendid.

After the wonderful meal...

Dim Sum on a Sunday afternoon

S has been promoting Duck King for quite some time that we decided to try it yesterday. It was packed and we had to settle for the open-air tables.
This is what we tried...

Let me give a quick review on each of the above (clock-wise from top left).

Lo Mai Kai - The rice was dry. I prefer it wet. Wasn't so tasty and the chicken and char siew was not so great according to S. The mushroom being mushroom is always nice as I'm a mushroom lover.

Siew Mai - I don't like my siew mai with big chunky prawns in them.

Golden Sand Bun - We asked the waitress for Red Bean Bun and she said this one. It tasted more like lotus/egg bun. When you bite into it, the juice gushes out. I didn't really like the filling but the bun was okay.

Chee Cheong Fun Char Siew - The filling was alot - unlike dim sum coffee shops who diced their char siew to tiny pieces. The chili oil was great - crispy - like the one in Oriental Pavilion @ Jaya 33.

Egg Tart - I have to say this was the best of all. It reminded me of the egg tarts I frequently savoured from Dragonboat Restaurant in Chinatown Melbourne. If I'd go back to this restaurant it would be for the egg tarts!

Roasted Duck and Pork - The skin was crispy and meat tender. Not too salty. Just nice.

We would probably come back here for the egg tarts or could we just take-them-away?

Ribs and shrimps

Last Friday, we went to Bubba Gump Shrimps Co for dinner. I had a craving to try it for quite some time. Every time I finish dining with my parents at Waroeng Penyet on some Sundays, we always walk by and notice a lot of people eating there. You can check it out at their website.

Something different was this, if you didn't need the waiter's attention...

And this, if you needed the waiter's attention...

I must say the staff were very attentive to these boards. Service was prompt and they were very friendly. They asked us a few times if everything was okay and they even quizzed us about the Forest Gump Movie - although no prizes if you guessed the right answer.

I wonder if the staff were to see these signboards somewhere else, would they like...react to it?

We tried the Dixie Style Baby Back Ribs and the Cajun Shrimp. We always remember to take pictures after we're half way through so I decided not to put it here as it not so eye-soothing. The portion was just nice for two. The ribs in my opinion was better than SanFranciso Steakhouse. It could do better if it was a little bit more juicy. The shrimps still could not make me overcome the taste of Kickin' Shrimp at Tony Roma's. We'll definitely go back to try the rest of the menu.

Jam

Yesterday S and I were stuck in a traffic jam at the sprint highway toll near Eastin Hotel. This is the first time I got stuck in a jam after I changed company more than a year ago - lucky me. It was still jammed after nine at night due to the heavy downpour that just stopped. It took us almost an hour to get to my house instead of the usual 10 minutes. I was so impatient in the car that I kept saying to S "Are we there yet?", "Are we there yet?"...

Why is it always so jammed when it rains. What are the tolls people are paying for. The number of cars on the road are just sky-rocketing. Why not we follow our neighbour and put some restrain on cars getting registered each month. But then again, they have a superb public tranportation service while ours is way behind. Who's fault is this. I leave the answer to you.

White spot

I have a huge white spot at the back of my mouth. It is in between my lower and upper back teeth. I can't chew my food properly as each time I chew I am like squashing the white spot. So I just chew abit and swallow the rest. I get this quite often and it hurts. I refuse to use any medication as I'm quite phobia of having stuff stay in my mouth. I will have a tendency to lick it off and swallow it. And I haven't turn to salt either as I am afraid it will cause a bigger hole in the spot. Argh, I can't wait to go home!

The precious things in life are given

I tend to appreciate the things given to me more than if I have acquired it myself. This morning my dad gave me a hundred dollar note. He usually gives me some pocket money when he's going out of town. Today was no different. I can be quite spendrift with my money (depending on my mood) but unless it was given to me, I tend to make full use of it. When my dad gave me the note he said "Buy some fruit juice to drink". I took it, smile and said okay.

Lately I fear of losing my loved ones. Could be because my parents are getting old, especially my dad. And they are precious to me because they were given by God to me.

Uh why is receiving gifts not first

I remembered taking the Five Love Languages quiz a few months back and I got this.

My Primary Love Language is Receiving Gifts

My Detailed Results:
Receiving Gifts:	10
Quality Time:	9
Acts of Service:	8
Words of Affirmation:	2
Physical Touch:	1

But now I got this.

My Primary Love Language is Acts of Service

My Detailed Results:
Acts of Service:	9
Quality Time:	8
Receiving Gifts:	8
Words of Affirmation:	3
Physical Touch:	2

I'll try it again in a few months after I get married. Maybe lately I've been getting lots of gifts in preparation of the big day. So far, a king-sized bed for our room, a queen-sized bed for the guest room, a dining table and a honeymoon package to Korea. Although it's meant for us, I consider them gifts because I didn't have to pay a cent for it. All compliments from S.

Or could it be S has been showering me with service lately i.e. washing dishes, sending me to and from work, delivering bubble milk tea to my house.

But nevertheless, the top three are still the same. All are important to me.

S is the opposite of me. As you can see...

His Primary Love Language is Physical Touch

My Detailed Results:
Physical Touch:	9
Words of Affirmation:	8
Acts of Service:	7
Quality Time:	5
Receiving Gifts:	1

I have recently read the book and it finally showed me why I always say to S, "Why can't you love me more?" or sometimes "Why don't you love me?", and S goes "Huh, what do you mean?". Obviously we had and still have very different love languages. But we're getting there. Hopefully.

About this quiz

Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. It can be helpful to know what language you speak and what language those around you speak.

Take the Quiz!
Check out the Book

It's a bird, it's a plane

No, it's a kite! Me and S found something to do today. Yes, flying kite. On our way to Kepong, it was raining heavily but it stopped when we reached a petrol kiosk near the kite-flying site. So we stopped and got ourselves a kite. It was a cute Mickey and Minnie Mouse kite with a string roller for RM20. We happily brought our kite to the field and it started to drizzle. And then, it started to rain a little. After a few attempts by S, he managed to get it up in the air and I was watching by with an umbrella. Mission accomplished.

There it is! Our kite...

Here's another kite which I thought was cute..

Can you see it? It's a bumble bee. I tried flying our kite too. Got my feet wet but it was worth it. Reminded me there is still a child in me.

It's an...

...irony how the people who love you most, hurt you most.

As the day draws closer

Love is a choice, one that we should make for life no matter what the cause.

This is a symbol when love is still in the air...

This is a symbol that reminds us of the choice we made...

May God be with us now and forevermore...

Keeping fit or trying to keep fit

I've decided to start keeping fit for the wedding. I've started to jog (in a really slow pace) once every few days for about thirty minutes with my fiance at Bukit Kiara, T.T.D.I. Last Saturday, we decided to go down this trail on the right when we reached the T-junction. I thought it would have come back to the T-junction again somehow. But no! We reached this place called Bukit Kiara Club I think. And there's a horse riding place right there. Would love to check this out sometime soon. It's been a long time since I've sat on one. We had to go back the same way and it was uphill all the way. My fiance piggy-bagged me up the hill and I felt so bad because the back of his foot was bleeding after he walked for about 1km? But I smiled when he asked me, 'How was your own personal horse ride?'. Hehe.

On My Way Here

I took my first step
On that black and white kitchen floor
I sometimes wonder if that house
Is even there, anymore
I had my first glimpse of love
When I was five
I watched two people split apart
But still the three of us survived

I've seen the best
I've seen the worst
I wouldn't change what I've been through
I've touched the sky
I've hit the wall
But I did what I had to

On my way here
Where I am now
I've learned to fly
I have to want to leave the ground
I've fallen hard
But I've been loved
And in the end it all works out
My faith has conquered fear
On my way here.

My address has changed
Almost every year
I've found that standing still
Can quickly make a lifetime disappear
I'd rather try and fail
A thousand times denied
And this, whenever you feel pain
It lets you know that you're alive

I've been a fool
I've been afraid
Yeah, I've been loved
I've been lied to
I've been wrong
And I've been right
I stood up when I had to

On my way here
Where I am now
I've learned to fly
I have to want to leave the ground
I've fallen hard
But I've been loved
And in the end it all works out
My faith has conquered fear
On my way here.

No guarantees
I believed that I would find
An open door or a light
To lead me to the other side
I guess that is why

On my way here
Where I am now
I've learned to fly
I have to want to leave the ground
I've fallen hard
But I've been loved
And in the end it all works out
My faith has conquered fear
On my way here

Spot Me

It's always refreshing to be in God's presence...

Hmm...

There are a lot of things toying around in my mind. I can say I'm not the same person I used to be five years ago. Can anyone say they are? Purpose changes. Directions change. Do we actually realize the crossroads we've crossed? Even if I did, I didn't think much would change.