My company had everyone in the office take part in a team-building session last Friday. It was hinted to be in the form of Amazing Race and we were all delegated to 10 teams. I was in Team 8 and we were supposed to name ourselves. We were a bit slow in that… by the time we decided on the name (Thursday?), two other teams had already designed a team logo (?!) and stuck flyers around the office. The flyers had ‘we are sparta’ images on it. Fierce and y’know, scary, manly, etc. I was so very tempted to print out My Little Pony pictures to stick all over their flyers but didn’t get to cos was busy with work.
In the end, my team was called yUM seng 😀 Guess who thought of that? Heh.
Fihzul was on my team yay! I’m wearing top from The Kiss Principle (Bangkok), shorts from Azorias, headband from Sereni & Shentel, accs from thirtyfour and Thomas Sabo.
We all got instructions at 10am, including a Sudoku puzzle to complete as our key to out the door. Our team was first in that! Yay! The whole race had to be completed on foot and LRT, with receipts required to prove that we did travel how we’re supposed to.
I thought the race was really well-planned. Mmm, considering my company hired an events company to organize the whole thing, it had better be! Everything was based on a point system: who finished first, bonus points for spotting things that were on route, getting a printed lunch receipt as close to RM63 as possible, and getting all the LRT receipts the entire day.
We were so semangat when we started the race that we RAN to the LRT station near our office. You should have seen us return 5 hours later… we were limping and walking real slow. I didn’t take many pictures while we were at all the pit stops – was just too tiring running around, looking for clues, and doing crazy things!
Our first pit stop was Taman Jaya. We walked around the park in the hot morning sun looking for some event person possibly hiding in a bush. Found them and got our first task where all my team members held up a rope tightly in a circle and i had to walk on the rope with one person holding my hand. Wow. My left shoulder ached for a day after that!
Second pit stop was in KL Sentral so we walked back to the Taman Jaya LRT station.
I quickly snapped a picture of our fail moment as a race team – taking the lift for ONE floor cos we were already too exhausted to climb stairs, hahaha!!
I didn’t care if people judged me for squatting in the LRT. Was too tired to care! Can you imagine… we just STARTED the race and were already feeling like this. I was thinking ‘MAN. It’s gonna be a LONG DAYYYYY’ It was really fun tho (as i’ll explain what else we did later) and if not for a reason like this, i wouldn’t see myself running around PJ and KL for 5 hours!
Thanks to Reebok who recently sponsored me these cool kicks. They didn’t even ask me to blog about it. Just threw it at me. Okay they didn’t throw it… passed it in a nice big box. These shoes are the LIGHTEST sneakers i own. And i own many-a pair.
When we reached KL Sentral we walked around the whole place looking for the 2nd pit stop. Dahlah we’re in the right place but still have to walk around looking for the event people… When we found them, they handed us lyrics, instruments and a clipboard. We had to busk in the middle of KL Sentral (within a particular area that was marked with masking tape on the floor) and get 30 signatures from strangers who liked our performance.
Oh. My. God.
I think we sang the Bruno Mars’ Marry Me song about 50 times. Seriously. At first it was easy enough getting signatures from people waiting around the area, but when we finished asking them (about 10) we had to wave and beckon at people passing by without us stepping out of the masked area. Some were really nice to come up, smile at our antics and sign. Others ran the other direction the moment they saw the clipboard, thinking we were going to sell them something.
After finishing the busking task, we got directions to find some temple in Brickfields. We walked from KL Sentral and luckily for us, Pushpa (in our team) knew where the temples were. Phew!!
On the way, Joyce Lee’s sharp eyes spotted a random bonus point sign we had to take pictures with.
As for me, i was like a tourist in Brickfields, taking pictures of birds and coconuts while catching up with the others.
I even took pictures of laundry hanging…
We found a booth set up outside the Hindu temple in Brickfields, which was laden with jasmine and string. An Indian lady sat there waiting to teach us all how to tie the delicate jasmine unto the string. When we arrived, there were three other teams painstakingly tying jasmine in the hot sun. There were only three tables so we had to wait… and decided to look for lunch to avoid wasting time.
Thanks to Pushpa’s expertise again, we found a banana leaf rice place nearby which provided printed receipts!
Every single person had 100 plus with our lunch. We just felt like we NEEDED it after drinking water and not even needing to pee cos we were sweating it all out! Eww.
Lunch really pumped me up… we went back to the jasmine booth in front of the temple and got down to tying the flowers. At first we were quite apprehensive cos a team that we saw before we had lunch WAS STILL THERE tying the flowers on! Mannnn…. I think we fared alright tho! Half the team had nimble fingers and got the hang of it fast, and taught the rest how to do the right way. Team effort yo! I’m glad to say that at least i know how to make this lest i become jobless in the future or something.
The second we got the green light for finishing the jasmine task, it started to storm… We had no choice but to run in the rain. WE RAN IN THE STORM ALL THE WAY FROM BRICKFIELDS TO KL SENTRAL.
I must say: it was super fun! I can’t remember the last time i ran i the rain! First of all, i used to love running. I don’t know what happened in my life because i stopped. Secondly, i love playing in the rain. So running in the rain was great! After a while, we got so soaked i just hoped we wouldn’t catch a cold.
Took the LRT from KL Sentral to Central Market (dude. I don’t think i’ve ever taken the LRT 4 times a day in my life!) where we had to draw a patriotic poster and sing our national anthem in public. It’s been a looooong time since i sang Negaraku. It’s still not an easy song to sing!
After that we were DONE. We just had to make our way back to the office asap! Like i said earlier… by the time we were on the last leg of our race, we could barely walk properly let alone run. We left the office at 10:30(?) am and got back at 3:33pm. We were the 2nd team to arrive, which was pretty damn good!
There was a prize for Best Dressed team and our team had no chance of winning that… all we did was wear a combination of blue and red whereas some crazyass teams came dressed in togas, cowboys, or ala NZ Blacks. I have to admit i was laughing in the rain when i imagined what the toga team looked like running in the rain dressed like that… They won the Best Dressed category in the end, giving a reason that they had embarrassed themselves enough all over KL and deserved the prize. I personally like the cowboys one best.
A colleague Jacinth said i didn’t look like i even did anything, cos my clothes and make up all looked intact. I was aghast, “What!? I ran in the storm okay! Tell them! *i turned to my team members* Tell them how we ran in the rain!” My gracious team leader JT replied for me, “Ran in the rain? She ran faster than the rain.”
I think i have to note down that my make up was awesome that day. I didn’t bother looking in the mirror when i got back and none of it was waterproof too! I used a bunch of brands – Chanel, Laura Mercier, Shu Uemura.
I digressed. Talking about race then went to make up, such a girl.
In the end we got 1st runner up! I thought we had a good chance of winning cos the team that arrived first didn’t get any bonus points and they didn’t sit down for lunch. But another team (the NZ Blacks one) got 1st place. It’s cool, i’m really proud that my team really worked with every person’s strength to get to 1st runner up! And we had a cool team cheer – yUMMMMM seng!
Nuffnang threw their 5th Anniversary bash at Neverland last night!
Sunday night is never an easy night for Clem and i to venture out. The most we’d do is go for dinner with my parents. But this… was something i couldn’t miss out on. Not after everything Nuffnang has done for me. It’s like if i didn’t go, it’d be like flaking on a best friend’s wedding.
I really love Nuffnang. And i owe a lot of what i have to their wonderful and ever-growing team. Last i heard they have a KL team of 45 people! What an achievement from 10(?) people when they first started!
So i really wanted to say THANK YOU and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nuffnang. You’ve changed my life and i hope to celebrate more birthdays with all our successes to come. *ok i stop being emo now*
The live band was pretty great actually. I would have danced if i hadn’t been out for 16 hours the day before!
Yee Hou has been with NN for as long as i can remember!
I wanted to take more pictures with Nuffies, especially Michelle cos she’s had my back since i joined Nuffnang but booo i couldn’t find her in the dark club. I HEART YOU MICHELLE TEH.
Once upon a time, i would state Indian as my favourite food type cos i just couldn’t get enough curry. I LOVE CURRY. It’s the one thing i crave-till-i-want-to-die-for after spending weeks in Europe. Now i know where i can satiate my curry cravings overseas, but they still can’t beat local curry. The level of spiciness overseas is like playing with a kitty cat.
Herukh and Kubhaer‘s family have opened a curry house in Bangsar… and it took me so long to get my ass there cos it was Christmas, then Chinese New Year, then i was away a lot. After reading tempting tweets about people going there i just HAD TO GO.
FINALLY MADE MY WAY THERE LAST SATURDAY!!!
I was told by others that the must-try dish is their mutton briyani which i excitedly ordered. It comes in a cute lil tin pot like this.
The flour on the side seals in the heat while cooking.
Kubz shows me how it’s done. So after you’ve got it off, you just chuck it and dig into the pot!
This is really bad. I’m saying this is really bad because now i’ve just got something else added to my Crave List. It’s one of those dishes you’ll CRAVE and can’t get anywhere else but THERE.
Besides mutton, there’s also a chicken briyani option. I heard you have to book the pots beforehand if you don’t want to arrive disappointed! The briyani recipe is from their family in Hyderabad, according to Kubz. He doesn’t work there but usually sits in the curry house to PR or look like he’s helping out. I heard Herukh does all the work. Tee hee.
I finished everything! And it was A LOT. I will dub you a MONSTER if you eat all that and say you’re still hungry…
Since we’re on the topic of curries, i’m gonna add in pictures of my favourite curries in TTDI that i never posted!
There’s this little food stall by the drain (i know it’s not very glamourous but the BEST fish head curry in my books!) off Jalan Datuk Sulaiman in TTDI. You know the row with Vinz on it? Directly behind that row on the other end is one stall run by a Malay couple. They’ve had that store since i moved to the neighborhood at twelve. Even the local police eat there.
Oh man i’m dying just looking at this picture. How do you food bloggers do this to yourself!? The fish curry doesn’t have a lot of bones, and there’s heaps of gravy to go around. Thing is you gotta get there around 11am-12pm to buy it. Sometimes they finish, or sometimes they don’t feel like cooking it. Driving there in anticipation is like gambling with the God of Food.
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Another curry i adore to BITS is this curry laksa that is on the same row as Jasema Enterprise and Restaurant OK, also in TTDI. In between the two aforementioned is a small coffee shop with one very grouchy Chinese auntie selling it. If you love fatty curry laksa with coconut milk and a slight kick to it, you’ll love this. It’s got long beans, fresh cockles and chicken; plus she’ll throw in 3 fishballs for an additional RM1. Price without fishballs is RM5.50.
This is the reason i still go there despite its curt owner. I always give her a small smile when i order, but she’s usually huffing away about something or other. She knows i can’t speak Chinese and has already asked me WHY 4 times last year. Her husband is really nice though, and usually tries to serve me cos i think he’s seen enough of my scared face.
However, this curry laksa is so good, i couldn’t stop thinking about it on cold winter days in France. I’ve even considered buying the recipe from her if i ever had to move to France. Thought i’d open a curry laksa shop. So that i have an excuse to have it every week (cos that’s how often i have it here. Sometimes even up to thrice a week.)
But then i thought about how willing she’d be to sell the recipe to me, and thought there might be a major fight for it, or she’ll charge me something like RM20,000. And then i got to thinking, how far would i go for a curry laksa recipe…
Damn i wrote a lot more about curries than i meant to! See this is what happens when i talk about food, just go on and on. LOVE FOOD. FOOD IS LIFE. CURRY IS EVEN BETTER.
Last week i got asked to attend an all-day meeting in Singapore by my office. I was to take a 7am Fireflyz flight and return the same day at night. On both flights i noticed lots of business men carrying black briefcases and laptop bags. I have to admit i was also carrying an ugly boring black laptop bag, which i hate so much but haven’t time to replace yet. And i caught myself thinking, “Wow. What am i doing here… I never thought i’d be in an airport acting all business-like and shit.”
Never say never!
At least i don’t resign myself to a business suit. This is as business as you can make me…
This metal rope necklace from Kyla Ruiz is divine. I met up with owner Steph for a personal shopping session and bought 4 pieces at once -_- Her pieces are also available at Maizen.
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dress; bought at banana republic when completely hammered one day…
necklace; this is a gorgeous red-sprayed metal piece i bought from Claudia. She’s planning to launch a jewelry website but she doesn’t even have a name for it yet… so… you should pray she gets it up soon!
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graphic print dress; it has come to a point i forget where i bought certain things…
necklace; bought from claudia
sunnies; henry holland x le specs via Actually SG
white weave shoes; absolute vintage from london
I couldn’t resist these shoes from Gallo, and picked them over the other two designs below. Was hoping they would be comfortable to walk in… and thankfully they are! Didn’t get a single blister tho i did scratch myself on my thigh when i crossed my legs while sitting down. The perils of fashion… these are proper metal bits i could use to defend myself!
The shoes at Gallo are around RM369 (if i remember correctly!)
This happened weeks ago but i wanted to post these pictures cos 1. Serena looks amazing, 2. it’s the first time i wore a cheongsam. In my life. I know right, i’m Chinese but i don’t have a cheongsam? The first traditional wear i bought was a sari. True Malaysian for you!
Since Matt and Serena’s tea ceremony was the weekend after CNY, she asked for everyone to wear Chinese outfits. I thought it’d be quite dope. We never take the effort to dress up like this unless it’s for an occasion as such! Matt’s parents flew down from France for it too!
Alex from The Met did a great elegant coiffure for Serena. She got the gorgeous sequined cheongsam from a shop in Plaza Damas.
As is customary for a tea ceremony, the groom has to gather a bunch of his best buddies to convoy from his house to the bride’s parents’ house – to ‘fetch’ her. Upon reaching the entrance, the boys would have to endure roughly an hour’s worth of torturous games conspired by the girls, to be able to get into the house. Not only do they HAVE to do all this, but the groom also has to give ang pow to appease us at the same time.
Clem thought i was joking when i hinted what he and all the other French boys would have to do that morning. They must’ve wondered WHAT crazy Chinese custom this is.
I was thinking whoever thought of this wayyyyy back then was absolute genius. It’s the only time in our lives we get to TORTURE the men, and GET PAID for it. Hahahaha!!!
They started off with choosing three reps to wear bras and grannie pants that had sweets sewn onto them. To enter the house, the remaining guys had to chew a sweet off their delicates.
Once they got into the house, they had to dip their hands in a bucket of ice + water to find 10 red beans amongst thousands of green ones.
Every time the boys cheated, someone got waxed.
Every time Matt answered a question about Serena wrong, someone got waxed.
Clem getting waxed
Matt had to apply make up on to an unfortunate friend following Serena’s look from a shoot. We were ooh-ing over how professional he seemed tho, blending with his fingers and carefully applying glue to the falsies. He said ‘of course! i put it on myself after watching her and she goes out.’
Clem and i.
He was very proud of his Chinese cap and faux braid hanging from it. My cheongsam is from 1 Utama. I randomly spotted it being sold in one of those shops on the concourse area during CNY and it happened to be the only non-ugly one that fit me perfectly then. I say then, cos it was damn tight a mere week after buying it -_- I blame all the scoffing done during CNY.
Tina, Cammy, me and Elicia!
That’s right Dylan. Money money money!
-_-
Cammy’s first time giving me ang pow since she’s now married hurrah! And because they JUST got married, they have to give everyone TWO ang pows during their first CNY, hurrah x 2!!! I think it’s a great custom how single people get money from married couples. I think the Chinese have lots of great customs full stop!
