Day trip to Kundasang & a night at Kasih Sayang Health Resort

This was a weekend away from home in June this year. Plenty of photos to do the talking.

We took a day trip to Kundasang in the morning, stopping by the town of Tamparuli for its famous mee as usual.  The coffee shop was not opened yet when we reached there before 9am, we waited for the shop to open at 9.30am just for the mee.  

Tamparuli mein with stuffed pork blood (bought from other shop)

We continued our trip to Kundasang after having our breakfast.  We had another stop at Pekan Nabalu, which is 67km from Kota Kinabalu city. Nabalu is a very small township with shops and stalls selling local fruits and produces, souvenirs, and a great view of Mt. Kinabalu on a clear sunny day.

souvenirs stalls at Pekan Nabalu

Local produces - ground nuts sold in many forms

Our famous Sabah Organic Tea, sold in sachet, powder or dried leaves form.  Also sold in major supermarkets nationwide.

Local produce Pure Honey

Tourist coaches stop by here for their tourists to buy souvenirs & local fruits and produces on their way back to the City.

Monkey soft toys, protected animal

Out of the many trips to the Kinabalu National Park, this is the first time we drove up to the climbing point of the Majestic Mount Kinabalu.  If you want to conquer the highest mountain in Malaysia, Pondok (shelter) Timpohon is the starting point (only climbers with pass are allowed to go through this check point).   After which there are 7 pondok (shelters) to stop by leading you all the way up to Laban Rata, situated at 3,272.7m above sea level.  Laban Rata is the resting point for the night before proceeding to the summit of Mount Kinabalu at dawn the next morning

We could find the squirrels come around looking for food on top of Pondok Timpohon, children are amazed seeing the squirrels coming near them.

This squirrel is so tamed 

expecting some more biscuits

The weather was very cloudy that day, I only managed to capture Mt Kinabalu on our way back in the afternoon.  We spent the night at Kasih Sayang Health Resort, Menggatal.  I finally utilised the complimentary stay at the resort, a lucky draw I got some 2 years ago.

Night view from the resort

we had our dinner at the resort's restaurant

the day view from the resort

plenty of green

the view of the Mount Kinabalu is visible from the resort too...

rabbits at the resort

breakfast provided in the morning

partial view of the resort

How much do you worry about aging?

Everyone wants to look at their best in front of others.  One can dress up as nice as they can be, put on as much as make up and accessories as they want to, but just how much can we cover up our real biological age? Will you consider doing surgery to restore the youthfulness??

As we start to age, the sign of aging start to appear on our skin, the most obvious ones are wrinkles and age spots.  Each time I look at myself in the mirror, it worries me.  I find myself with more wrinkles and age spots.  Besides worry, what else can I do to stop and reverse the sign of aging??  Invest on expensive skin care products?  No, can't afford.  Change to a more relax, work less and sleep early lifestyle ??  No, can't afford that too..work less means less income, sleep early means more work left undone, relax lifestyle means more leisure and spend more money, what will these result to.......no money more worries and lead to  premature aging, :(

I read about an article written by a member of Triond on Aging Isn't Wrinkle Free, this article gave us a realistic way of looking at aging, it has cleared some of my worries after reading it.  Since we can only do what is within our means to protect our "youthfulness", we can not do much about the process of aging really so why not let us age gracefully!! 

Interest in Beading crafts

Like mother like daughter, Crystal shares similar interest with me in many areas.  One of it is the beading works.  At one time, I was very into beading projects.  I invested in tools, beads, findings, books and time just to pursue my interests.  

I used to follow the patterns from the books to get bracelets done from night till dawn.  I have made myself many earrings and necklaces which I still use them when I am out and about.  I also gave many of my handmade necklaces, earrings and bracelets as presents for birthdays and Christmas.  It's fun but I have no time for beading projects ever since I started my full time job some 3 years ago.

But my tools, beads and findings have not gone to waste.  Crystal has been asking me to let her do some beading works when she was still small, I disallowed her because she couldn't handle the bits and pieces then.  Since she is bigger girl now, she can handle the beadings pretty well after giving her a few steps guide. I bought some glass beads in different colours and sizes for her to mix and match.

 Some of the beads, findings and tools 

 beads

 and findings

Now she would start her beading projects whenever she has got the mood in it.  She did 3 necklaces over the weekends.  I help her with the opening and finishing part of it, the rest is all up to her creativity.  She did a pretty good job in colour matching.  

she designed this necklace for me with faceted glass beads, I told her I need a longer necklace, this is what she came out with.  A design with tear drops beads.

faceted clear and blue glass beads necklace and rainbow glass beads necklaces (named by Crystal)

3 necklaces designed by Crystal.

She used this rainbow necklace to tuition today. 

the necklaces are stored in this organza jewelry bags  

Is this a Morning Glory flower??

Clet put this creeping plant around the pillar at the front car porch few weeks ago.  It has started flowering 2 weeks ago, it has 1 flower at first and followed by another and getting more, we are happy to see some flowers blooming, the house look more alive with flowers around especially with this purple flowers creeping high near to the ceiling.

We do not know what's the name of this flower, anyone have any idea?  It looks like Morning Glory to me but I am not sure. I noticed that this flower does not last long.  It has a full bloom in the morning and starts to wrinkle in the afternoon, some fell off on the ground at sunset.  The good thing is there are new fresh flowers coming out each morning.  

a closer look at the flower

Golf club memberships

After months of delay, we finally filled in the forms to register us, the three ladies as members under Clet's golf club membership.  Our girls can instantly enjoy the facilities in the club while I will have to wait for at least 2 weeks to get my membership approved.

The main reason lead us to register as members is the swimming pool and the gym facilities.  Our girls have been nagging their daddy to bring them to the swimming pool each time they go to the club while I really need some exercise.

Due to our busy working schedules, house chaos and their heavy school works, we really have to find a suitable time to exercise.  Hopefully being members now, I can allocate time to do some exercise in the club's  workout room and our girls can have fun and exercise at the swimming pool.  

 Pearl dipping herself in the children's pool

 Crystal is trying out at the adult pool

 They made new friends at the pool, their new friend, Hana, is dipping in the pool, she have a little swimming skills better than our girls.

 We were killing our time by having a glass of Kopi Kampung at the cafe just beside the pool

 Besides taking photos of our girls and watching other people have fun in the pool, I have nothing much to do, let just take a snapshot of my new shoes, bought on sale from Bata....

 Playing water in the pool burnt out very fast, Pearl appetite increases, she shouted hungry right after coming out from the pool.  Couldn't wait for mummy's cooking at home, so we had simple dinner at the club's restaurant. 

Since our girls love to play water at the pool so much, we are planning to let them have swimming lesson during this coming school holiday.  Who knows they can be the next Olympic swimmers or divers for our country!!! I believe many of us are motivated by the achievement of Pandelela Rinong!!! 

More Spicy food during Ramadhan month

We do not cook spicy food at home because our girls do not like any hot and spicy stuff.  During the month of Ramadhan, Clet and myself are having more spicy food than any other months in the year.  Recently we have been visiting the Bazaar Ramadhan stalls, and take away food for meals at home.   Since our girls do not take spicy food, I will have to cook something else for them. Just like this Amaranth / Red Spinach Soup which they like it very much.

While we are having hot & spicy food like Nasi Kerabu [which is something new to me], Nasi Kuning, soto and Nenas Paceri as side dish.  

Nasi Kuning with Beef Rendang, the beef is a bit tough

Nasi Kuning with fried fish

side dish Nenas Paceri, Clet's favourite

After having spicy food for a few days, I can feel a little ulcer in my mouth, probably because I am not used to having spicy food and I got "heated up" with the spices :D will have to find some cooling tea..

Crazy over Korean Dramas

Maaduu.com is a site with free Korea Dramas, one can watch series after series of Korean Dramas till they drop.  I was hooked on this site for the last couple of months, I have becoming more like an night owl then ever.  I soon realised that though I am a Korean Drama fan it is not healthy to hook on it too much...I am now taking a break from Maaduu.com to concentrate on my other work assignments at home.

Just to recap what Korean Dramas I have watched like crazy on Maaduu.com so far..You could click on the  Titles for the synopsis of the dramas:

1. MY LOVELY SAMSOON

2. DID WE REALLY LOVE?

3. SECRET AGENT MISS OH

4. THE LAWYERS

5. HELLO! MY LADY

6. LOVE AND LAW

7. BITTER SWEET LIFE

8. MATCHMAKER'S LOVE

9. WORLDS WITHIN

10. FULL HOUSE

Wow..altogether 10 dramas..You may asked which one do I recommend to the viewers, well...I like them all, when I watch a drama..my emotion went together with it,.tearful eyes are unavoidable.  If I were to give my comments, I find DID WE REALLY LOVE is a bit lengthy, could have made it shorter & sweet ending.  Not so happy to see the way it goes for BITTER SWEET LIFE, after knowing her husband has betrayed her, she found love with a younger man , seeks for a divorce and chooses to let go of her kids.  She still sticks by her lover though later she found out he is a murderer.. Other than that, the rest of the dramas are just wonderful and entertaining.  

Maaduu.com, I shall be back soon, with a slower pace this time!

Nasi Kerabu

After so many years of visiting the food stalls during Puasa months, this is the first time I came across Nasi Kerabu.

We went to Indah Permai stalls with SIL yesterday afternoon, as it was only about 3pm, most of the stalls are still not in business yet but we still managed to buy more than a handful of food, among them are soto, porridge, nasi ayam, jellies which are very common food found in any buka puasa stalls.  But it is the first time I see the Nasi Kerabu, the rice is blue in colour.  Kerabu is a type of flower, it is the main recipe  in making the rice blue.

 Fried fish 

Shredded coconut with salted egg 

 Stuffed chili

 A complete serving of Nasi Kerabu 

This is Nasi Kerabu that my SIL bought.  The colour of the rice in blue looks strange to my girls that they wouldn't want to try it.  I polished up the whole serving by myself at dinner. 

together with Bitter gourd, one of my favourite dish my the stall. 

Typhoon Soala landed on Taiwan

Images from chinapost.com.tw

Not knowing anything about Typhoon Soala has landed on Taiwan, I called up our Supplier in Taiwan yesterday morning to chase him on the information we have been asking from him on the product.  I was a bit curious on why my phone was not being picked up as quickly as it used to be.  Before the ring tone being cut off, finally my phone was answered after a long wait.  Being cautious about the cost of international call, I quickly asked him what I wanted but he told me that they were not able to reply to us because they would be no one working in the office.  Curiously I asked him what kind of occasion that they are celebrating for the public holiday in Taiwan.  He told me that they could not go to work due to Typhoon.  

Oh dear!! For a person whom never read newspaper, hardly watch TV news, I have become so ignorant of what is happening around the country and around the world. As the typhoon traveled from the Philippines,  we at the Borneo Island did experienced some strong winds, heavy rain and rough sea during this period,  we are glad that it did not affect us. Hope that the Typhoon is all over now. 

Gathering of Old time Friends

One can hardly see me joining any gathering or reunion of school mates, there were many of such occasions that I did not make any effort to join, but it was a different case when my childhood friend, Susan, came back from the U.S. last month.  I got to meet her before she goes off again.  We have not been seeing each other for more than 5 years since the last time she came back to KK.  We are close friend since primary school, her parents have been very consistently bringing me to church every Sunday when I was still a teenage girl. They were like God sent guardians to me.

Due to her busy schedule during the last 3 weeks in KK before she went off to Ipoh (much nearer to home this time), we managed to get together for yam cha on a Sunday afternoon, 8th July 2012, together with our old time friends, Vivien & Eliza.  I tagged along my 2 little princesses to meet the aunties. They got bored  and misbehaved a little while the mummy & aunties were busy chit chatting, catching up with each other on the past & present :DDD.

 From Left : Susan, Vivien, me, Eliza

It was a great get together, looking forward to our next gathering again during this coming Chinese New Year.    

All The Best Rosie

After near 5 years of working in the company, my colleague, Rosalind, has finally called it a quit and to start their family business. I guess she must have thought it over and over again before making a decision, it is not easy to come out from the comfort zone and go into the unknown, especially to venture into a new business. 

Rosalind, far right in black "love Malaysia" T-Shirt

We had a farewell dinner for her at Promenade hotel last Friday, it was heavy downpour that evening, we nearly postponed the dinner, glad that we carried on as planned. The weather in KK has been unpredictable, it hard to find a fine day for the occasion. The buffet dinner was superb that goes well with the company of our colleagues, it is our good gesture to wish Rosalind succeeds in her future endeavors.

Shop at Martin Margiela

The typical way of shopping for clothing, shoes and accessories is to pop into the shops whenever we feel like especially when the outfits on the models on display have attracted our eyes. 

Recently, buying from the online shopping malls has becoming popular, no doubts we can save time, away from the problem of traffic congestion, and enjoy shopping spree at the comfort of our home, I still find something amiss without the physical feel and touch of the products we are about to buy, more often than not, the quality of the products are not up to our expectation. Returning of the products and getting the money refunded would be a long process at times. Therefore, I still reckon that the most enjoyable way to shop is to patronize the boutique ourselves, to feel, touch and put the outfits on for a try. Buy when we are really satisfy with it. 

If price is not an issue or you have a high budget for clothes shopping, and would like to have an exclusive personal attention while you shop, I would recommend you to shop at Martin Margiela. They have got a wide range of latest fashion menswear, women wear, footwear, accessories in store for you, there are sizes and colours for you to choose from too. 

To indulge yourself with an exclusive shopping experience, you could make an appointment by sending an email to appointments@ln-cc.com or call them at 0203 174 0727 at their London Store. You could also visit their website at martinmargiela.ln-cc.com/ for the latest items and many of the other outfits. Shoud you find any of the items that you would like to have more information, you could just email your enquiry to enquiries@ln-cc.com.

At Martin Margiela, you can rest assure that the quality of their products is guaranteed.  So make your appointment now to have an exclusive shopping experience.

Mexican Cuisine at Mattitos

Most of the restaurants were crowded with people over the last weekend for the Father's Day celebration.  Many of you would agree with me that it was hard to find a cozy place to have a nice meal with our Father on this day because most of the restaurants have been fully booked well in advance and too crowded to have a comfortable meal..

I am the type of person who like to try varieties of food from the international cuisine.  We could easily cooked Chinese meals at home; Malay, Indonesian and Indian Food are in abundance here. There are many restaurants that serve Japanese, Korean, Thai, Philippines and Italian food in city. So far I have not come across any Mexican restaurant in town,  I have tried to google search but could not find any.  Some of the restaurants may serve bit and pieces of Mexican food but not the full-fledged and authentic Mexican cuisine. 

If you are in Texas area and prefer to have a nice Mexican meal at a cosy restaurant, I would recommend you to try the Mattitos.  At Mattitos, they serve one of its kind Mexican cuisine with very reasonable price.  They have got 5 restaurant outlets in Texas alone, one of them is the Mexican Food Frisco.

At Mattitos, meals are served throughout the day till dinner. I particularly like the idea of them providing kid's menu come with a reduced price.  Buffet is served for Sundry Brunch, the award winning Sunday brunch that no one could resist to have a try.  It is only $16.99 for adult and $6.99 for children under the age of 12.  The price is reasonably cheap.

Besides eating in, they also offer outside catering for all types of events, and hold special banquet for private functions like wedding receptions, corporation events, birthday parties.  So if you want to have the feel of the Mexican tradition way of celebration, it has to be at Mattitos.

Mattitos at Frisco, Texas