Slam Dunk 2012: A Birthday Special

It's definitely been awhile. So what am I up to? What's with the silent treatment? Nothing much actually except I bought myself some Photobooks. Again. And am busy at work. Again. 

The funny thing is sometimes I get all worked up and motivated over the entire process. Picking photos, arranging them, putting words into them, etc. And then suddenly in the middle of it all, I just feel what a self-indulgence this is. I mean it's actually nothing more than syok sendiri. Yes, they're going to be awesome memory books and all, so what? 

It's funny how you can get from one emotion to another so quick.

Like how this suppose-post about my birthday spontaneously ended up 

being a post about my conflicting self. O_O

Alright. Back to the topic, shall we?

This year I decided to tune it up. Literally. Like let's just not eat to celebrate. Let's eat... and sing to celebrate! Oh dear, me singing? When Cik Datang found out about it she cynically asked if it rained. Cis! But yeah, it was different and because of that, we have a different set of photo memories to cherish this year.

But the best shot of the night has to be this!

Papa singing/trying to be Aerosmith. 

Yup, my papa is awesome. *hearts*

Well, karaoke happened few days before my actual birthday 

just so we can celebrate with little sis while she's home. 

On the actual birthday itself, well, I have to go to work. Boo.

But I received this at work. Yay!

A gift from Cik Datang. Eco(nomical)-friendly wrapped in a printed recycled paper 

with ribbon drawn on top. As expected from an Art Director.

Well, inside this gift bag was...

... a little bag! 

And inside this little bag...

... was a big bag!

Talk about a bag of surprises. :)

As a "Ohayo-Arigatou-Hai" Japanese-influenced lady that I am 

(though recently I've been splashed by the Korean wave), 

my other fellow colleagues generously treated me out to...

Duh. A Japanese lunch.

Where strangely has *ahem* an interesting selection of magazines.

Anyhow, I enjoyed my big bowl of Muscle Noodle, I mean Mussel Ramen.

And managed to shoot a Samsung Galaxy S2 ad at the same time.  

Group shot! Thank you guys!

As if muscle-filled lunch was not yummy enough...

...in came a precious box of sweeeeet memories!

A gift from dearest Cubbie who is one of the few who know about my longstanding love for Slam Dunk. She was worried that it was a bit old school but to me, that just show we go way back. (Though still not long enough if you ask me) Let's go for another 10, 20, 30 years and beyond, eh Cubbie? *hearts*

To end this special day with a special cake.

It's really special in that papa even made an effort to order it the day before. Haha. Sure it's no secret recipe but I am still very much touched by the effort especially since we usually buy a cake off the shelve every year. I told papa that I don't need an expensive dinner treat or anything but just a good cake. I love cakes! Like LOVE. And this Blueberry Cake (though very unexpected in choice... haha) was very very deliciousssss! Thank you papa, and mummy, too of course. Which reminds me, where's my sister in all these? Cis cis!

My nine precious cupcakes was kept in the fridge until the weekend when I finally had the time to give them the attention they deserve. Took a good amount of photos of each of them to store in my great memory bank. :)

And for that, here's the last shot for this year's oh-my-gawd-i'm-getting-older occasion.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy 29 February 2012!!

So dad might have attempted to pour some cold water over the day by making fun
on the fact that I'm working for free today but...

it's alright with me!

Because I have been hen-picked to be
Nando's Weekly Business Card Lucky Draw Winner!

Except I kinda dropped my card in the bowl many many many mooooons ago.

*sweats*

But who cares!

That just means it is meant to be!

29 February 2012 is an awesome day.
Can't wait for the next one to happen... umm... in four years. Dang!

They Rise to Take Over the World

Woke up this morning to a Facebook wall filled with standing eggs. 

Apparently, this phenomenon marks the start of the spring equinox. 

Here's an extract from an article from New Straits Times,

"When the sun crosses the equator, making night and day equal on all parts of the earth, 

an egg can stand due to gravitational forces of the sun being aligned with the earth. 

Auspicious to the Chinese, Feb 4 is also known as Lup Chun day which marks 

the beginning of spring. A standing egg is seen as the symbol of spring and a sign that 

all of nature is balanced and in harmony." - Read more here.

Well, I'm not too sure about being in harmony.

They look like an army of eggs ready to seek revenge 

for all the eggs we have eaten. 

*shudders*

It is indeed a little freaky don't you think? Or is it just me and my crazy mind? 

I mean it sort of feels like it is something against nature yet it is in fact, 

occurring because of nature. Hmmm.

That aside, among the many photos I've seen on my Facebook wall, I had to say 

the above taken by Yen-san is my favourite one among all. I knew I had to 'stole' it 

with permission of course because I didn't managed to get a shot at this little 

phenomenon myself. 

Well there's always next year...

[L.E.P.A.K series: Paris] Chap 15: Up, up and away Eiffel

We're finally at our most exciting part of our one day trip in Paris. Oh boy, oh boy! First, we rode the metro from Charles de Gaulle-Etoile, located right under Arc de Triomphe to Bir-Hakeim, which was one of the two nearest stops to Eiffel Tower. That shot up there, right on top of this post is a shot that Cik Anai took from the train we were in. 

 From Bir-Hakeim, we took a scenic walk along the Seine River and passed by many 'illegal' roadside peddlers selling all things Eiffel. From key chains to small, medium, big displays of the tower, this is the best spot to buy your souvenirs. We were pretty happy when we found the stalls here were selling the key chains at a better price than those at the underground pathway of Arc de Triomphe. With that we bought them from a stall without much hesitation only to find the stalls far down offered an even more better deal. Dang. So the moral of the story is to never buy from the first nor second nor third stall. Hahaha. Go waaaaay down down down and you will get waaaay low low low price. :P

And finally we're here! Time for a smile and say 

"Hey! I'm in front of the Eiffel Tower." :D 

 After a lot of look-see look-see around we finally joined the extremely long queue at 

the ticketing counter. :( What a bummer to spend most of the afternoon waiting in line. 

First you line up for your tickets, then you have to line up for the lift that takes you up to 

the first level and, and! If you're heading up to the very top, that's another snake around 

the lift area. Boo. No fun. 

 But wait we have to, and wait we did.

We were then squeezed into a little lift that takes us up, up and away!

"Hello, people down there. It's cold up here and I'm only half way there."

The view at this level was total unobstructed. So you can marvel away at the 360º view of Paris. However it of course did not stretch out as far as what you will get at the very top.

Another 45 minutes of waiting later, we were finally at the very top of Eiffel. Sadly, it's dangerous to be that high and windy without any safety precaution. Thus the ugly wire mesh all around. :( The view here though was amazing!

To the extend that if you zoom in close enough, you will the Arc de Triomphe right there.

Who says all roads lead to Rome? The way I see it, they're all heading towards Paris. :P

 Now the top level is not very big, duh. So we managed to round the place for about twice, taking some photos with Paris behind us when we decided to split up. How bad can it be right? It's just a little space. No way to get lost here right? So here I am at one side of the tower and Cik Anai at the other when I heard a little commotion going on. What? What? Before I had any idea what was going on, I was ushered down to the lift area by a security guard telling us that we need to leave immediately. 

 WHAT? 

 WAIT!!! 

 I'm missing my partner! I quickly explained that I had a friend up there but the guard insisted that I need to go and the others will come down real soon. 

 Umm... okay... 

 *worried* 

 And Cik Anai appeared! Hooray. Except we did not have any time to say our 'hoorays' when we were once again told to line up and leave. Now that we're together again, our thoughts head off to other more 'interesting' stuff. 

 Like why are we leaving? 

 I paid 13 euros to be here and now you're asking me to leave after an hour and a half of waiting and barely 30 minutes of sightseeing? How can? How can? Are they just trying to get rid of us so that other people can have their turn at the top of the tower? 

 Umm... wait... the staff and guards are looking worried and they're staring everywhere. 

 OMG! 

 Is there a bomb?!?!!

Gotta go! Gotta go! Everyone move.

 And finally when we were at the bottom, look at what was awaiting us.

Look at all that police cars!!

And look at us still thinking about taking a photo. :P If we're going to die *choi choi choi*, we might as well remember every second of it. Now leaving the tower wasn't enough, we were told to leave the entire vicinity. What's more, the enforcement people blocked the roads all around, including the way we came from Bir-Hakeim. Noooo... we had no choice but to divert from the plan. Ahhh!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!! 

 Alright. I think I have made my point clear.

With that, we found ourselves at Trocadéro Gardens instead. No plans, no pre-planned guide on what train to sit, no idea where the metro was even. All because of a bomb scare. It can't get more excited than this. Well, I guess we just have to make do with what we can do.

Regardless of the situation, we shouldn't let a good shot go to waste, right? 

 Luckily, my months of research had somehow managed to prepare me for this. Muahahaha. Crazy obsessive planning for the win! You see, although the map in our 32-page itinerary cuts off at the Seine River, I was the one who cropped it. So I sort of knew what was at across the river. Thus, I can agak-agak assure Cik Anai that I agak-agak know where we were at.
"Don't worry. Stay calm. We can do this." 

Except when we finally found the entrance to the Metro,
it was closed for construction!! 

 *sigh* 

 Why lah? WHY? :( 

 Luckily the other entrance down to the Metro is within eye-shot. Before we took off to our next destination, we decided to slow down our pace, stop and appreciate some street art.

Mr Scuffy Man at work. 

 Can you see me in the picture, taking another picture of Mr Scuffy Man. Hehe.

And here’s the picture from my angle. :) 

Can you see Cik Anai in this photo, taking the above picture from her angle.

Hahaha.  

 Next up: More art coming your way... meeting Mona Lisa. :)

The Impromptu Holiday Series: Dinner with Bobby Chinn (Also Known as the Woot? Woot? Special)

Two Sundays ago, I came across an article on Bobby Chinn's upcoming World Cafe Asia series featuring the Middle East. At the end of the article was a simple contest which requires me to answer 2 questions and complete a slogan. Easy peasy right? And all you have to do is email your entry over. Ergo, no cost!

The Prize?
A free dinner for two with Bobby Chinn at JW Marriott.

The Catch?
Middle Eastern cuisine.

Duh. Not that I mind, I'm for one is up for anything when it comes to food. I mean, my colleagues don't call me "tamchiak girl" for nothing. That, and of course, the fact that I go hungry very fast.

Wait! Where was I?

Oh yes. So I joined the contest. Come on lah, it's dinner with Bobby Chinn! There's only one other person I might give a pass on Bobby to dine with, Anthony Bourdain. Hahaha.. but Bourdain's American charm doesn't strike my mom's fancy. So if there's really such a decision to be made, Bobby gets my mom's support, plus he kinda do hit closer to home.

Now, remember The Catch I mentioned earlier that it being Middle East cuisine? While, that's not half as bad since I appreciate food no matter how essentric they may get. The Problem however, was that the closing date for the competition was on the 15th, that's a Friday. The dinner is on the 20th. Minus the weekend and all that's left is a 3-day lead time for whatever plans you need should you win the prize.

And let's not forget the fact that I'm from Penang.

So I got a call on Monday saying that I won the competition. Freaked out a little, panicked a little and then decided "I want to going!" So I went in and see the boss.

Me: "Umm... boss, do you know who Bobby Chinn is?"

Boss: "No."

-__-

Well, that was expected. If I were to ask "Do you know there's a TLC channel on Astro?" I'll probably get a "No." as well. Totally salah channel lah.
Luckily Mrs Boss was around.

Mrs Boss: "Oh, he's that chef host is it?"

Me: "Yaya. Well, I sorta won a dinner with him this Wednesday... it's pretty last minute."

Mrs Boss: "Oh then you must go!"

Yay! Got support!

So after making sure my work schedule permits me to go MIA, I was let off for the rest of the week. And so it began. My Impromptu Holiday!

Sweet Home Alabama

I'm a smiley today. Thanks to Mr Clean Hands.

HUH? Where did they come from?

139

Fortune number of the day!

*shock 100%*

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
139 visitors totally pawned the day I post my entry on Innit.

What's です？

Still in the state of confusion. So confuse that I have to delay my bedtime to immediate post this. This is a BIG deal for someone who procastinate in her updates. I demand a recount! Yeah right, as if. =P

Who are you people? Show yourself!

Come to think of it... I'm kinda scared.

*in a tiny voice* Really, who are you people?

*in an even tinier voice* Please come visit again. XD