New Discovery @ Starbucks

I discovered a new dish that i love @ Starbucks ....found this out while i was at LCCT a few weeks earlier ...

Chef's Tuna in Pitta Bread ....super super yummy ....the pitta bread was lightly toasted ...the tuna filling was well seasoned ...served with fresh lectucce and tomatoes ...in yummy dressing ....not sure what dressing it was as the dressing were different the second time I ordered this ....I also had Snapple to go with it ....the raspberry and  cranberry flavours ...

a good combination for a quick lunch! It costs about RM 27++ but you can sit as long as you want in the shop while waiting for your flight! LOL

The grass is also greener on your own lawn! Be thankful ...

Just came across these pictures ...taken last year (i think) when we were doing a research in Sabah ....we were interviewing respondents (all girl gang) at one of the cafes ...research related to social ills and social problems ....They are a group of girls from the nearby setinggan ...most of them from breakup families, in dire poverty and all that ...and some of the girls were as young as 11 years old ...had dropped out of schools and so on

Haslina (in red t-shirt), Dr M, Caroline (extreme right - our Research Assistant) and myself with the girls

me and Dr M

looking back, i know how lucky I am to be what I am today, and to have what I have today ...coz there are always the time when I always thought how can people be so rich and I have so little ....how can people afford to buy a new car, while i am still using my Wira ...how can people be going for holiday overseas twice a year etc etc ...like the grass is always greener on someone else's pasture .... this is the time when I realised that my grass is also greener than others ...they are people who are less fortunate than me ...but we often did not see the world that way ....so, what I am trying to say is ...be grateful for what you have ...always bersyukur ...God can give us what we have now, and God can also take it all back ...a note to myself: be thankful for what you have ...ALWAYS!

Bon Voyage to Kiky & Tijot

A special posting to say farewell and all the best to my two friends ...whom I first met as first year students in my class way back when I first started lecturing at the uni ...Kiky and Tijot ....

They are going to further their studies in UKM ...leaving Kuching this coming Sunday ...all the best for your future undertaking, enjoy the experience, explore all possibilities and come back with greater insights, fresh ideas and, of course, your Masters' scroll :-) All the best ...

Yoga - a new hobby

Yes, this exercise-shy, food-loving person is currently trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle ...Elena introduces me to this yoga studio (Maha Yoga @ Jalan Song) ...she said it is not taxing, but a great form of exercise ...i went for a trial session a couple of weeks ago ...and found that i quite like it ....but still I was dilly-dallying a bit till Liz said i need to wrap up my bum (ouch - that still hurts my feeling!), and i made up my mind to join this yoga group on a more regular basis ....

There are a few packages on offer ...i took the RM75 for 8 sessions a month ...meaning, I should be going twice a week ...right? hahahaha ...i missed the first week and a half as i was away in Melaka (enjoying great food which are high in calories - I just had to add that!) ...and now am trying to catch up the lost time by going 3 times a week ...thus far, I managed to do it ...

I kind of like it now ...firstly as it does not involve any running around and jumping or other forms of running ...and secondly, it is a bit flexible ....involve mainly breathing techniques, calming yourself ...and stretches (lots and lots and lots of stretches!) ....i felt great afterward ..and i have decided that I will try to do this at least once a week!

Just a brief insight of what i did in these sessions ....yesterday, we did that half head stand ...hahaha ...fun! trying to stand on your hear while your legs is on the wall ...i find that pose as really challenging LOL

the easy ones are ....

(for illustration purpose only)

(for illustration only)

(for illustration purpose only)

for illustration only

They all look easy ...but trying to stay in position for a period of time is tough ...towel is needed to wipe your sweat! I hate to sweat ...but sweating while doing yoga is refreshing coz I know I am burning my excess fat! hahahaha ....

SCR Jalan Song Outlet - still my prefered choice!

It has become our routine - when we were not busy - to have our lunch off campus ...one of our fav place is at Singapore Chicken Rice @ Jalan Song ...despite its distance, we still prefer this SCR outlet than any other outlet ...there is one SCR outlet in Samarahan but I felt that (i) the food does not taste the same, and (ii) the menu is also different!

and, by the way, we have a new gang-member now ...LOL ...meet Mr Chris ..hehehehe ...my former student, who is now a tutor at the faculty ...

and as always, I had mushroom and chicken noodles for lunch ...yumm yumm ...

but this one also looks tempting ...Haslina's order of fried kuey teow ...and i think the portion is also reasonable ...perhaps when I am bored with my noodles I can try this dish :-)

and these are my lunch buddies ....Bemen, Chris and Haslina ....we are looking forward to these lunches but, during term time in particular, we seldom had lunches together ...most of us had to just grab a quick lunch from the uni's canteen ...so, we are enjoying this brief student-free period ....emmm am wondering where we will be going for our lunch tomorrow ...especially since tomorrow is Friday - with its extra long lunch hour LOL .....

First Christmas ...

I am being nostalgic today ...well, you can't blame me ...it is a very common characteristic of people born in September (that's what I was told!) ...we Virgos are melancholic bunch ...a tad too sensitive ..and nostalgic! Hahahaha ....

when i wrote the previous blog posting about Xmas decoration, i was thinking that this year will be the 3rd time we celebrated Xmas in my humble abode ....and it is also Alistair's third Xmas :-) Yup, i bought the house the year Alistair was born ..in fact my loan was approved on his birthday!

 (Al and nenek - after coming back from the Christmas service)

Al's first Christmas was a great one ....i think 95% of the presents under our tree that year were gifts for him! Well, he was the first nephew ....the first son ...the first grandchild ...it was a special occasion, and all of us managed to be under the same roof to celebrate together! 

 Al with his very chubby cheeks! He was 5 months old at the time this photo was taken 

This Christmas will be celebrated at our cottage ...dad's rural hideaway (his pride and joy!) ...and my sister will be the only one missing this year - she had just started at her new job and couldnt get extra day leaves ...but Matun, fear not - we will email and mms our photos of Adik and Abang to you ...

December it here already!

How time flies! It is already mid-way through December ...and about 16 days before we usher in 2011 ...and 10 days to Christmas!!! As I have been very busy lately, i am very disorganised ...my Christmas cards are yet to be sent (ouchhhh - my dear friends will surely receive their cards after Christmas!), haven't done most of my Xmas gifts, and yet to think about the Xmas menu (which is my mom's task actually, but most of us tend to chip in with our own ideas)

I guess I am not feeling all that xmas spirits as i have not been going out to the malls ....where, i bet!, the decorations are all set up wonderfully and most shops are playing Xmas songs ....this is when I really miss Newcastle ...the Xmas shopping atmosphere ...the late night shopping ....the non-stop xmas party invitations, pre-xmas gathering ...and of course, the wintery scenes ..with its absolutely freezing weather ...aaahhhh, i miss those moments!!!!

(10-foot hight snowman made of re-cycled plastic bottles - in one of Melaka's shopping mall)

Last week when I was in Melaka, i did snap a few photos of the xmas decoration - around the hotel which I stayed in ...it does, to some extend, brings back lots of my childhood memories of Xmas ....and the xmas movies, songs and scenes ....

reindeer and a snowman @ Equatorial Hotel ...but my foster dad was saying that it was the first time he saw a snowman with a carrot's pointy end sticking into the snowman ...according to Cam, it should be the other way round hehehe ....well, what can I say ...maybe it's the style of an Asian snowman LOL ...

and a really nice fake fireplace at the entrance to the hotel's coffeehouse ....reminded me of my winter holiday in Scotland with my parents a couple of years ago!

So far i have yet to venture into the malls in Kuching ....am thinking of going this weekend with my nephews ...to soak in the atmosphere and start thinking about the gifts for the boys and for my parents :-)