So my parents have got this new chow chow, which is our family’s second dog ever since our cocker spaniel Steven passed away five years ago. It took awhile to get a new one, but i’ve never seen my parents so freaking DELIGHTED. When i go over to talk to my mum over lunch, i’m pretty sure her word count directed at the chow chow is more than what she says to me.
[Got pushed to take a picture with him. My mom never asks me to take a picture except with the dog now -_-]
Caeser is five months old and crazy spoilt! Months ago i followed my parents to IKEA cos they wanted to buy him a steel table to shower him on. A few days ago, i spotted a new wooden table sitting in the middle of the house.
“What’s that for?” *even tho i know it’s for the dog*
Mum: … Daddy bought it to groom Caesar on.
Me: Whatttt he already has a table to BATHE on.
The dog even has his own hairdryer. I couldn’t help asking my parents why they didn’t just take the hairdryer in my room (which i don’t stay in anymore) and they just shrugged -_- Can’t believe the dog has to have a brand new hairdryer!
That’s not the only thing, during my ENTIRE life, my family has only had a superold weighing scales in the house. Nobody really weighed themselves and it wasn’t a bother. So… GUESS WHO GOT BRAND NEW WEIGHING SCALES.
Caeser’s snacks are all organic imported stuff, more expensive than the pine nuts i buy for my salad -_-
Anddd the ultimate dog obsession? My mom rattled around some tiny objects in a container. I couldn’t even GUESS what it was. She had to tell me that… they’re keeping his BABY TEETH.
“Seriously! Do you even keep MY BABY TEETH?!” i demanded.
She asked my dad and they both had no idea = which means NO.
The dog’s baby teeth… i can’t believe it. My parents don’t even have my BIRTH CERTIFICATE! I discovered they LOST it when i wanted to know my exact birth time for some numerology reading.
BABY TEETH. -_- (i can’t stop i know)
Meanwhile on the other side of the world, Clem’s dad has rented a catamaran with his best bud and they’re sailing in the Caribbean’s for six months. To keep everyone in the family updated about what they’re up to (and that they’re alive), they started a blog.
They wrote about how they bought fishing rods to catch their own meals, and diligently recorded down all the fishes they caught. Fish #1 was really small, and they said they”ll just play with it. Fish #2 was a bit bigger, but a fisherman told them it might be toxic, so they said they’d play with it too.
And this is what they did.
…
…
…
You really can’t blame us for being the way we are. Just look at our parents.
Thanks to photographer Wan, Juice mag and Heineken for such a great shot of me 😀
My hula hoop is a present from Yishyene, and my dress was self-designed (sorry i only made one).
This is in a spread for Heineken as they’re throwing a series of parties called Heineken Festive, each celebrating a different party city – Ibiza, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Rio de Janeiro and New York City. Well, i already went to the Rio de Janeiro one but there are still three more parties you can go for! Click *here* for locations and dates.
For the most part of this year, i’ve been obsessing about a house with a garden. I just WANT a garden.
Well, also i really want my own swing.
And i like the idea of my future children having a garden to play in.
Realistically… it’s really expensive to own a house with a garden now. I even asked around for prices in Ara Damansara, and it’s so extortionate i gave up on that area.
When i had the tour of KEN Bangsar last June, I told Sam (from KEN Holdings) that i was interested in houses with GARDENS and he referred me to Legian Residences, saying it’d be ready soon. When i returned from Europe in August, i checked on the property and was drawn to the space and prices – it’s 1,800-2,200 sq. ft./house, and it costs RM560K – RM1.288M. I surfed iProperty and found a number of houses for sale at RM530K so i reckon you can too, at this moment in time.
Another big factor that pulled me, is that KEN Rimba is Malaysia’s first award-winning green township. The township consists of Legian Residences (328 sustainable terraced homes), Jimbaran Residences (ready soon), condominiums, and commercial centre. For now, only Legian Residences is ready for viewing and sale.
KEN embraces all the principles for truly green living. Mostly placed on the North-South axis for maximum cross ventilation (prevailing wind direction), the Legian Residences houses have natural light coming in through generous openings, breathable roofs to keep interiors cool, and rainwater harvests to water the lush gardens. Waste disposal is divided into general and recyclables, and special compost bins are provided (i think that’s so awesome)! KEN plants small but essential steps to going green, reshaping people’s habits so it will become part of their everyday lives.
So much so that KEN Rimba Legian alone has received two awards in 2010:
– BCA Green Mark Gold Award
– GBI Certified Award
[Other areas under the KEN Rimba township like Jimbaran Residences and their Commercial Centre have also reaped awards of their own.]
So you can see why this property was of great interest to me… and it was all the better when Sam set up a tour teamed with a food outing i couldn’t say no to… Klang bak kut teh! This man has got his priorities right. Green living and good food! Yeehah!
I tried ‘dried bak kut teh’ for the first time (so ashamed of myself!) but better late than never. Thanks Sam!
After filling our tummies, we took a drive around Legian Residences.
The whole neighborhood is a guarded community with 24/7 trained security and dog patrol.
Tried to be friendly with the alsatian but it started barking fiercely. At least i know it’s doing its job!
KEN Rimba encourages green energy and healthy living; so parks, bicycle tracks, and footpaths take priority in the planning. Residents even have access to dozens of bicycles which they can use to cycle around the KEN Rimba Township.
Bushes and trees are planted in abundance to separate houses, and to cover any unsightly metal barriers that are imperative for a safe environment.
There’s a playground, exercise equipment, pond, lawns, and basketball court. Sam mentioned that they really wanted to provide a place where it was safe for children to play on the streets, or walk to the playground like how WE used to as children, hence the security and guard dogs. I can’t imagine parents letting their kids do that just anywhere these days… it’s become a bit scary to be that liberal.
Below is a picture of just one of the streets in Legian Residences. There are 328 units of double storey terrace houses, each measuring approximately 1,800 sq. ft. to 2,200 sq. ft.
Streets are exceptionally wide, with big rain trees planted in the middle of the roundabouts – something KEN Holdings had to fight hard with the council for. The city council doesn’t favor trees as much as we would like, as their roots end up breaking drains and and their branches falling on houses. For trees that are closer in proximity to homes, sakura trees were planted for their smaller statue and beautiful pink blooms when in season.
Instead of grey concrete separating the rows of houses; grassy turfed mounds, shady trees, cooling ponds and walkways do the job. A sight much prettier for the eyes!
There are even fish in the ponds so breeding of mosquitoes are prevented.
All the foliage is maintained by KEN Rimba, and residents pay a total sum of RM100/month for its maintenance as well as neighborhood security. Which is not bad, cos i know in PJ/TTDI area, each house usually pays the same amount for a guard that never stops cars and sometimes falls asleep :/
As i mentioned earlier, most of the houses face the North-South direction so that there is constant air flow throughout the house, allowing wind factor without fans. Sam intentionally got us to visit the house at 1pm when it was blazing hot outside just so we could see for ourselves how cooling the interior is in comparison.
The gates are made from rice husk resin (recycled materials). For the driveway, you can see it’s spacious enough for two cars to park inside, and another two cars can park outside the gate without having the vehicles touch the road.
All corner lots in the neighborhood come with its own private swimming pool complete with filtration equipment. The pools have a reasonable maintenance fee of RM100/month. I always thought keeping a pool clean would cost more!
Even when i’m served the soup at a wedding or family dinner, i’ve just left it aside and not eaten it. It’s to a point i don’t care if it seems rude, i WANT people to know that i refuse to consume it and for good reason. If more and more people refuse shark’s fin soup at events/dinners, then eventually the organizing family may realize that it’s OFFENSIVE TO SERVE IT. I find it extremely offensive and i’m sorry to say this, but my opinion of someone who orders this DOES drop a few notches.
This is a vid from 2011 but don’t know how i managed to miss it… it’s horrifying and eye-opening. If you’re still someone who eats shark’s fin soup, please watch the whole vid below and THEN tell me if you still can bring yourself to eat it.
Remember how i went to Sacoor Brothers to get fitted for some clothes some time back? Read the *FULL POST HERE* so you can see my shopping adventures and more store + collection pictures. Well i went to the launch last night, which was definitely THE event of the night in KL!
Sacoor Brothers is a global fashion brand with 40 stores that span across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Created by four brothers from Lisbon in 1989 — the brand focuses on exquisite European style and produce collections that epitomize elegance of refinement, attention to detail, and the comfort of personalized fit. All the pieces i picked out at the store were made-to-measure (sides were taken in and sleeves were shortened) so that they fit me PERFECTLY.
I had the pleasure of meeting Moez Sacoor, the youngest of the four founding brothers. He told me how they’re planning to open more stores in Malaysia soon… and i told him it’s about time Malaysia has more brands like theirs here for everyone’s fashion sake.
