Week 3 : Guts and glory

Plans for Week 3 :
Saturday - dessert at Royal Selangor, picnic at Taman Metropolitan Kepong (Kite Park), watched Irish footie live, watched an Indie film
Sunday - short visit to The Curve, threading in Bangsar, walking around and getting hair done with mom


(The lake at Taman Metropolitan Kepong, you can also find the posting on this park under Kite Park in my archives)


(Enjoying a good read)

So what was new this weekend? Well shopping with my mother has NEVER been good for my resolve. She loves pretty little things and has no qualms with me shopping. Which resulted in me giving in and buying my first item that will fall in the 'shopping' category for the year, a pink and white crystal ring. Sigh. Luckily right after that she hopped back into Mom mode and refused to let me buy anything else even though the floodgates were open to me. As a result, I still managed to hold on to my wallet and savings and got to buy something nice for myself which still falls within my budget. Phew.

Apart from that, The Boyfriend decided to join a group of people playing Irish football. You can see the advertisement in Time Out KL in a small blurb that advertises Orang Eire (which means Irish people in Malay) football. They meet once a week, this time around was at Padang Merbuk near Bank Negara. The game is a mix of rugby, volleyball, netball, ultimate frisbee (at times) and of course football.

The way to play the game? Well, I dont know all the rules, but essentially you have two teams. And the aim of the game is similar to football, which is, get the ball into the goal which is guarded by a goalie. You pass the ball to each other by serving (volleyball style) the ball to each other (I think you can actually kick it too). Once you catch a ball that has been sent your way, you can only run/ walk with it for a total of four steps (netball infusion) before you either have to hit it or kick it back to yourself (and thus allowing four more steps). Whilst all this is happening, you could possibly get tackled by a member of the other team (rugby) but only while the ball is in the air and coming your way/ you are trying to catch it. But opponents arent allowed to tackle you if you are walking backwards away from your goal (go figure).


(The guys warming up and training)


(Playing the game)


(Ouch! a tackle!)

Anyways, all in all, a very intersting sport to watch, albeit a little painful to see your Boyfriend get tackled down in the mud by seriously huge Irish guys. The guys are very friendly and friendly in welcoming new members to join them. Though I warn you, they do take the sport very seriously.

Apart from that, we went back to Royal Selangor for the amazing Lemon Cheesecake mMmMMm.. and I have a few more better pics to share this time from our lunch there and little picnic by the park. Ill dedicate a full weekend to seeing the whole Royal Selangor properly in the future.


(The iconic teapot at Royal Selangor)


(The cafe at Royal Selangor with the AMAZING lemon cheesecake)

Orang Eire Gaelic Football :
Padang Merbuk, Jalan Parlimen,
012-798-8532 or www.malaysiagaa.com
(they also have a team for females)

Week 2, 2010 : Going back to nature

The plan for this second week of 'no, do not bring me into a mall' was to hike up a hill on Saturday, go on a movie date with The Boyfriend, wedding of a colleague at night followed by brunch with me me me! on Sunday, checking out a place I want to buy then a nice read at the park in the evening with a great book.

Well, I checked off everything except the little park picnic since it rained. Oh well, you can always plan but never know what fate might bring to you.


(The path I chose for a Saturday morning)

So on Saturday a friend of mine had invited a group of people for a sunrise hike. In typical style everyone was quite interested until they found out sunrise would mean getting up at 4:00 a.m. to meet.

Broga Hill is located in Broga, Semenyih. Its actually not that difficult to get to from KL, just take the North South highway all the way down to the Kajang exit. Keep left and head towards Semenyih. Keep on following all the signs until the highway exits to a T junction, follow the signs for Semenyih (Route 1) which means turning right at the junction. Keep on heading straight and you'll see a road sign on your left saying Broga junction 500m. At the next traffic light, turn left (even if its not really 500m in). Keep on driving straight until you pass Notthingham University on your left. Keep on going straight on that road until the highway lights end. Right at the end of the lights is a palm oil plantation on the left hand side. Park here. This is the entrance to Broga Hill. Want to be supr sure? on your right hand side will be a giant sign for Rabbit Fun Land.



Park in the plantation and there will be an entrance towards the back. The path itself is quite well defined and pretty easy to follow. There are a few points where the path will diverge. At the first point you will have two options, one that is very rocky and another thats just sandy. Follow the rocky path. Further up the path diverges again. Both paths lead to the top of the hill (I cant tell which is easier =))


(Sunrise on the peak)

The hike isnt that long, about 30-45 minutes or so. Of course, this depends on your level of fitness. Along the way, we noticed that a few people had thrown up. The thing is, the hike itself is not that difficult since its pretty well defined. However, it is very steep. My advice is to not rush going up. Really take it at your own pace and you should be ok. Try to rush it and yes, you will end up hurling your guts by the side of the hill.


(Sunrise from the peak)

I like the hike as the journey to the peak itself is pretty impressive. Youre not stuck in a forest with very little visibility like you would be on any other tropical hike. This hike has a lot of open air and a great view even as you make your way to the top. Once you reach the top, take in the great view. There may be ~40-50 people enjoying it with you.


(Number of people on Peak 1)

If you would like, you can keep on heading to other peaks. There are four hills in total. Getting to each one takes slighty more hiking. Between peak 1 and 2 its actually very very pleasant. Between peak 2 and 3 its a bit more challenging and between peak 3 and 4 I believe its even more challenging (though I wasnt able to see that path).


(Peak 3)


(Your view on the hike down)

In all, deff an enjoyable hike, and would be a lot of fun to do again =)


(View off Broga Hill 1)

Outfit recommendation : sneakers or regular shoes but with good traction. I just wore a pair of Nike mary-janes and did ok. Long pants, since the grass is quite long. Torchlight if you are planning on doing a sunrise hike. And water of course. Other than that, I guess common sense stuff. There werent any mosquitoes when I went but can spray yourself just in case, similarly bring a towel if you would like.

Comment box

Ive been informed that for some odd reason people arent able to comment on this site. (Ah and here I was thinking I simply was not loved)

Ive updated the comment box and should be accessible to everyone

Cheers

Welcome to 2010

Welcome to the new year. What new years resolution have you? At the end of 2009 I travelled to Egypt, Lopburi (Thailand), and back to USA with a layover in Korea. I do love travelling and it was a great way to celebrate the end of the year.

As for the new years, what new plans do I have? Well lets see. My resolution this year is to control my spending habits a bit better, which means hitting the malls a lot less. Which means either locking myself at home or going out and trying a few different things.

Locking myself up at home every weekend doesnt seem as appealing, so Im going to try out for even more weekend trips. Anyone who has any suggestions, please let me know. Ill try and venture more around KL and do more non-shopping activities =)

To guide me on my way, I am going to rely on good 'ol information from friends, my guidance books of Time Out KL and KLue and just good 'ol fashion walking around or driving around till I get lost.

To celebrate this first weekend (I just got back from the US last weekend). I headed over to watch a ballet at Istana Budaya. Ballets are few and far between for KL let alone Malaysia, so I jumped at the chance to watch this. Though I was informed by the ticket lady that I was a freak for watching a show by myself, I decided to ignore her and just entertain myself. And entertain it did. A good show indeed, I hope they bring more true ballet shows to KL.



And to those who are interested, Men in Tutus is back in KL (One of my first few posts). Check out http://www.klpac.org/ for more details

As for today, I decided to have a super lazy Sunday. Headed over to Solaris Mont Kiara to have breakfast at The Departure Lounge, which Ive heard so much about. Then went across the street to have a pedicure at Amante (which was incredible by the way. So incredible I bought a package). Then headed over to Schokolart for a cup of latte with the amazing view of KL and Mont Kiara. Sorry no pictures and not much detail this time. But rest assured I will deff be heading back to that area, so will have more pictures up then!


(A few things for me to check out on weekends)

Cheers and Happy 2010

The long hiatus

Apologies for the long hiatus. Many things came up which resulted in it being difficult to post things up. I did still manage to head out for the weekends though, so a few excerpts from the end of the year

Reggae bar search and the new Actors Studio

The Boyfriend and I searched around for this elusive but pretty well known reggae bar. It brought us through the old part of KL which for some odd reason no one goes to anymore. Ah! what can you do when the shopping malls come creeping up and The Golden Triangle steals away all the people.


(Parts of Old KL)

But the character of old KL remains, and after searching around ih the heart of old KL, we found it!



The bar itself is located in a small shop house making it quite difficult to spot immediately. Truly, it does remind me a bit of a hash lounge. The inside is spacious with a big bar and lots of seats. There's also a dj box meaning at night the tables get cleared out and ta-da! a nice big dance space. Upstairs is the budget accommodation for those of you visiting. I didnt get to see it, but if its as full of character as the bar, you might be in for a fun ride.





Funnily enough, the opposite block has The Beatles Bar. If its anything as true to its character as the reggae bar is... look out all u hippies!

For those who dont want to traverse into this part of KL, they just opened up The Reggae Bar II on Changkat Bukit Bintang (yes, they gave in to the corporatization and chain store temptation)

As for The Actors Studio. YTL recently launched the rooftop of Lot 10, located on Bukit Bintang. This upstairs space is REALLY well done. The concept is essentially a garden in the city and theyve managed to adhere to this pretty well. The space in Actors Studio is really good, though they might want to consider soundproofing the place more. Loud music from outside and nearby Teeq and Rootz clubs can actually make it through, ruining a little the ending of the symphony I was there to watch.


(Outside The Actors Studio, Lot 10)

http://www.theactorsstudio.com.my/