Friday 23 May 2008

med.hols

¡Hola! ¿Como Estas?

I think it is so cool to type the quotation marks upside down.

Anyways...

It is finally here!

In dos dias, I will be away to Espana for our much awaited holidays together. We will be away on el domingo for oche dias y siete noche.

I’m looking forward to eating authentic tapas: calamares, jamon, queso, anchoas y olivas; having café, te y churros for desayuno; drinking refreshco zumo de naranja; lying under the sun and just exploring Andalucia and Gibraltar.

It will definitely be good since it will be my first trip to Spain and a much awaited and a-needed holidays, as well as just being together with TOH.

Alas! The Southeast part of Spain is populated with English speaking expats/ community.

Oh well... Still, I'm sure it will be great!

I'll see you soon! Adios.

Thursday 22 May 2008

see.see

You know you’ve been with a Malaysian long enough when...

...You greet someone on MSN with ‘Larrr’ instead of ‘Hello’ -- TS.

...You speak like one.

Earlier on email...

ennazus: Apparently there is a Nike factory in Malaga! Ooooh... New trainers I see...
TOH: Do they do guided tours?
ennzaus: Guided tours?? Where to?
TOH: I was thinking of the Nike factory, you never know bit of good publicity. Then afterwards, come see see our in - factory discount store, hehe...

O.o!!

Wednesday 21 May 2008

2.restaurants.1.hairdresser

Yesterday was treat-myself day. Sort of. Kinda unplanned. In a way.

Treat One: Lunch at Killermont Polo Club, Maryhill Road

Last minute lunch decision was more than likely to celebrate one of the Commercial Lead’s last working day as a bachelor.

The choice - Killermont Polo Club.

Located just off Maryhill Road within a lush compound was the club house.

Since I’ve never been to this place, I didn’t expect the Polo Club to serve Indian cuisine. The aroma of curry when you first step into the premise throws me off whatever I was expecting.

Nonetheless, I was awed and taken away by the polo related décor, tastefully done thus making this place full of character.

The gang was a bit disappointed that the Polo Club did not serve buffet lunch on a Tuesday, instead in place, a three course set lunch.

I had the Chicken Tikka Orange for starters, followed by the South Indian Garlic Chilli Prawns served with boiled rice and finished off with Ice Cream and Gulab Jamun. We also ordered a few naan breads to share.

I was actually torn between the Chicken Tikka Orange and choice of Prawn or Mushroom Poori. Typically, you will want what you didn’t get. The starter portion was larger than expected and tastes really good.

My favourite was the main meal. There was a choice between prawns and king prawns, but I went for the prawns instead. I actually prepared myself to a dish with lots of small prawns but was pleasantly surprised with the generous good sized prawns. The curry was just to my liking, full of flavour and spicy enough but not too overpowering.

Dessert was simple, good portion and equally tasty Ice Cream with Gulab Jamun. I also had a refreshing mango lassi which you can taste and know that it was homemade.

For three courses inclusive of drinks and tips at £12, it was definitely value for money - so much so their ‘customer satisfaction’ bell deserved a ring.

Treat Two: Haircut at Barry Pollock’s Hairdressing (unisex), West George Street.

Since I’m going away on holiday and my hair was in need of a hair cut, I decided to head to Barry’s.

I must admit that the sign outside of the premise informing that customers do not always necessary require an appointment lures me there. Plus, I hardly know Glasgow or any other hairdresser for that matter.

The basement outlet was bigger than expected when seen outside. My arrival there was greeted warmly by the owner Barry.

We discussed what I wanted and he gave his professional suggestion, and off I go to get my hair shampooed and then back on the styling chair.

I’m a little envious of those who interact greatly with their hairstylist and every staff for that matter, but at Barry’s although the conversation wasn’t as fast paced or continuous, it was good enough to leave me with a very positive impression. After all, I don’t normally interact much with my stylist either.

Before I knew it, Barry was sweeping away a big pile of my hair, some easy styling and I was done.

Overall, the staff at Barry’s are very friendly and you feel very welcomed even though it was my first time there. I liked how Barry does not hold back on advices and shared his opinion from what style to cut to how to style your hair.

I think the price for cut and wash was reasonable as well at £35 for a smack in the city centre location. I will definitely go back there again.

I like my shorter hair now, just have to get use to having a fringe in my face.

However, the ultimate challage, I must say, is the hairwash after the cut. We shall wait and see.

I was given a ‘recommend a friend card’ where the friend and person who recommends the friend will both get a 25% discount for colour, cut, and wash.

Anyone interested? Drop me a line so I can pass it to you.

This nine month old business also has a nail bar, so you can have a beauty day out if you want.

Treat Three: Dinner at Nanakusa, Sauchiehall Street.

Sabrina and I finally made it to Nanakusa after initially planning to go there in February.

Nanakusa serves, as you can guess it, Japanese food. However, I must admit that going there after an unexpected heavy-ish lunch wasn’t really helpful.

Now, typically Japanese food is often associated with raw fish. However, that preconception is wrong. After all, native Japanese don’t eat sushi every day!

It took me a long time to decide what I wanted as I was lost for choice. Given the chance, I wanted to order everything on the menu!!

Nanakusa serves a good variety of reasonably priced starters, a big selection of noodles, soup and teppan - soba, ramen and udon, rice dishes, bento boxes and sushi.

Nonetheless, I had the Una Don - Unagi (eel) and fried egg with rice in a huge bowl, whilst Sabrina had the Ten Don - Assorted Tempura and fried egg with rice. We shared a portion of California Maki and Soft Shell Crab Maki.

The food was very tasty and filling, not sure if the huge rice bowl played a psychological role or not.

The décor of Nanakusa was an eclectic one. You get the original Victorian decorated ceiling with skylights, club like multi-coloured panels and simple contemporary Japanese styled tables and benches.

Since we haven’t seen each other for months, the catch up and gossip was the highlight of course. We stayed until the green tea stop coming, a sign that they prolly had enough of us there.

Dinner at £28 inclusive of tips and good banter was indeed a good treat.

Both of us long to pile up the colourful plates at Sushi King when we return to Malaysia. Luckily for Sabrina, she will be doing that before I do.

Tuesday 20 May 2008

life.emotion

Guilt trips. It is easier to blame others for things that (1) don’t go our way, (2) are of our own wrong doing, (3) we can’t explain, and/or (4) we can’t or don’t know what to do about.

Alone. Everyone has something to do or someone to rely on and we don’t, at least seem that we don’t have that something or someone.

Dejected. When we give our all but others don’t seem to give back as much as we expected because we gave that much in the past.

Misunderstanding. Believing that others are living the better life just because we are not.

Crisis. A problem to others but a crisis to us, because it’s ours.

Reality. We overanalyse everything.

Acceptance. Knowing that what doesn’t kill only makes us stronger.


Growing up is not an absence of dreaming
It's being able to understand the difference between the ones you can hold
And the ones that you've been sold
Dreaming is a good thing
Cause it brings new things to life
But pretending is an ending that
Perpetuates a lie
Forgetting what you are seeing
For what you've been told

Truth is stranger than fiction
This is my chance to get it right
Life is much better without all those pretty lies

So Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
You can keep your yellow brick road
There is a difference between dreaming and pretending
These are not tears in my eyes
They are only a reflection of my lonely mind finding
They are only a reflection of my lonely mind finding
I've found what's missing in my life

~ Jewel

Monday 19 May 2008

caught.out

I received an email last week informing me that my BT telephone bill was available for viewing online.

I was shocked to see that I had to pay for my phone calls.

You see all this while I had the joys of having free evening and weekend calls. This suits TOH and I so well as we spent at least an hour on the phone every night.

Further checks revealed that my call option now only includes Free Weekend calls!

What’s the point when we see each other during the weekend?! O.o??

This morning, I went through the physical bill that came in the post and also check online on the changes.

Much to my annoyance, on BT’s website, apparently they have sent out letters informing customers of the changes in February. So I can’t challenge them for a refund.

Damn!!

Although the charges wasn’t much but at the end of the day there was still a charge.

Still, I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on that. Just so hate being caught out. Now I think all three of our phones inclusive of GB’s must have increased.

Great. Great. GREAT.

Basic line rental is now £11.75 from £11. If you continue to pay by direct debit and go for paperless bill, basic line rental will continue to be £10.50 a month.

The only way to get free evening and weekend calls now is to sign up for a 12 month renewable contract. And if you pay by direct debit and opt for paperless bills, there is no change in charges.

Otherwise, by not going for a contract and not opting direct debit and/or paperless billing, the costs will be up.

Sigh.

Since I’m on direct debit already, I think I shall consider going paperless. But I still like to receive my bills in the post and don’t want to spend on printing. However, I must admit that I have been laxing on my filing.

Thankfully, I don’t think I need to change my contract as I can still get free evening and weekend calls as long as I call from my Broadband phone.

Last Friday whilst on the bus into town, I saw a notice on the bus informing fare increase from Sunday 18th May. Great.

So that’s at least another 10p increase in bus fares. Day passes are now £3.20 instead of £3.


Today, I found out that the train fare has increased as well. My typical return train fare has now hiked from £2.15 to £2.25. Lovely.

Talk about timing. -___-"


I think I will need to carry out an updated experiment.

Sunday 18 May 2008

skinnamarink



Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do
I love you

Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do
I love you

I love you in the morning
and in the afternoon
I Love you in the evening
and underneath the moon!

Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do
I love you

{Sharon} I love your singing -- I Love you
{Lois} You're all terrific! -- I love you!
{Bram} We'll see you next time! -- I LOVE YOU!

TOO, BOO, BOO BE DO!" {blow a kiss.}


Now that you know what the lyrics are, try singing the song and more importantly do the actions!



The Elephant Show.

Thursday 15 May 2008

shame.worth

What a shame.

Guess by now everyone know that Rangers lost 2-0 to Zenit.

That's sad.

But what's even sadder is that one of the big screens in Picadilly Gardens did not work.

Sad. No?

Honestly, what's really sad is that riots broke out.

Blood shed.


Prior to the match, Zenit fans has been warned not to cause any racial riots/tension, and I think they did well.

However, the riots broke out from Rangers fans. Prolly because one of the big screen didn't work.

All the way there for the atmosphere and big screen because didn't manage to get a ticket for the match, and be disappointed that these people got a bad location. How unlucky.

Such a shame because prior to the game, I must admit that there was this party like atmosphere in Manchester and all around Glasgow.

Whether or not Rangers won, there was supposed to be a team (and prolly fans) welcoming home to Glasgow. Sadly, a former Celtic manager's passing scrapped the welcoming home.

Perhaps it was really worth their while.

Wednesday 14 May 2008

yooueeeefa

Zenit St Petersburg v Rangers tonight in the UEFA finals at Manchester City Stadium.

I know I won’t be watching it.

Saw on the news last night and it was reported that the weather will be really nice and warm there: 20°c!

The report also highlighted a father and daughter Rangers fans.

Now, I know it is not my place to pass comment because I’m not a football fan, but the daughter is skipping school AND her exams to be in Manchester to watch the clash.

I just hope it is really worth it.

Elsewhere, police has been confiscating alcohol from passengers who want to consume them on the train.

Who is desperate enough to raid the skip?

Let’s just hope it is a good and fair game with no riots.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

weird

Today has been a rather weird day.

It was really quiet as I walked to the train station to go to work.

Then the train seemed really quiet.

While crossing the usually busy road to my office, the road was unusually quiet.

Hmmm...

Guess everyone's away to Manchester for the UEFA finals.

Sunday 11 May 2008

wishes



To my mom... Happy Mother's Day
To Su-Anne... Happy Birthday


Friday 9 May 2008

stubborn

I'm having a really stubborn day today.

Just so fed up because no one is listening to my reasons. And I'm not budging with my stand.

Just so damnblardie pissed off.

Breathe. Just take deep breaths.

And count to ten.

Tuesday 6 May 2008

grand designs live


The whole of this week, Channel 4 is showing Grand Designs Live: A Week of Live Shows.

Grand Designs is one of my favourite programmes. Hosted by Kevin McCloud, its format is simple and structured. The programme showcase various building, mainly new build and occasionally some conversions; all its glitches and successes as well.

The nightly Grand Designs Live runs as part of the GD Live exhibition in London. The Grand Design Home of the Year Awards is also part of this year’s GD Live exhibition. This time round, Kevin and the GD team will also design and build a sustainable house in the span of a week.

I missed Sunday’s opening episode of GD Live and haven’t been able to catch up on it yet. However, I caught last night’s episode.

For a person who have always held a great fascination on sustainability and eco design, I must say so far I’m not too impressed with the programme. With all the advertising that Channel 4 has been airing, I had high hopes and expectations. However, I think the programme just wasn’t as captivating. Perhaps I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to it.

I do like the experiments that they carried out on the building materials though. Last night they tested treated and untreated tatched roof and tempered glass.

Anyways, I’ll just have to be patient and see how it all goes on then.

Monday 5 May 2008

may bank holiday 2008

It is definitely too nice a day to be working.

The weather is beautiful out there and the temperature is becoming warmer. Finally!

The office is very quiet today as most people have taken the day off.

So what'a a muppet like me in the office working?

I long to go and lie on the grass under the sun doing nothing.

How nice it would be to have a nice picnic or even a BBQ out in the sun?

Kicking about the ball. Tossing the frisbee to and fro.

Running around the park chasing dogs(?)


It will definitely worth the sacrifice.

I do honestly hope.

Another day at work means another day extra for my hols at the end of the month.

Andalusia: twenty days more to go!!!

Thursday 1 May 2008

damnblardie annoyed

Everything has to be perfect
Because I can't cope with mistakes