Working weekend

sigh... its the fifth weekend Ive spent working... four more weeks to go...

Some weekend.... Its time for Africa!

Football mania has landed around the world, and Kuala Lumpur is no different. Truly, this is the time when no club is full, when women dance by themselves left alone, and where you will find rows and rows and rows of men sitting silently at a mamak stall staring at a tv screen with their teh tariks next to them.

This time around, KL is truly trying to capitalize on the World Cup. So, question is, where should YOU be when that finals night comes by?

I have to say, I've only managed to see one game - last nights Brazil vs. Portugal game with some friends at Gaja bistro in Bangsar. They have a nice big screen both inside and outside, but the place is quite quiet. Its nice if youre there with your friends and you only want to hang out with your friends, but if where you want to be is a place filled with ambience, I would have to say this may not be the place for you. However, it is located next to Zinc art space, so perhaps you could ditch your artsy gf there if you wanted to sneak away for the game.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kuala-Lumpur-Malaysia/Gaja-Bistro-and-Cafe/247650951345

Behind it though, tucked away somewhere, are numerous mamak's with rows of chairs lined up facing the small tv screen. With a cheap menu of teh tariks and milo ice as well as being surrounded by fellow football fans, this place would deliver the atmosphere, but with a tv that small, you might miss seeing the ball, so remember when choosing a mamak, choose one with a big screen, or a semi-mamak, like Souled out, Sri Hartamas

http://souledout.com.my/

Of course, there was also the Teeq bar on top of Lot 10 that I mentioned in my previous post, where you can see the KL Tower rising behind the screen.

And finally, and my personal favorite, head over to Changkat Bukit Bintang for a street filled with bars, cafes and restaurants. There are screens in almost every establishment, so you know when the game is over, you can easily go out and be surrounded by fellow football fans. For me though, Bar Italia takes the cake. They've rented out the rooftop next door, creating additional space for them to project the game against the wall of the next building. They also decorated the space like a football turf with a giant screen depicting the game line-up. What takes the cake? Its then filled with bean bags and low tables so that you can just lie down on the 'turf' or chill out against the bean bags with your friends. It would feel just like college.... except with the KL scenery behind you and maybe 50 more people around you.

So come 12th July, you'll know where to find me =)





(I forgot!! If youre a Japan fan, head on over to Kampachi in Pavillion! If Japan wins, all food is on the house - though you still pay for drinks)

Weeks 18-21 : China and getting life back in order

Due to certain work circumstances, I was asked to take my holiday one weekend earlier. Not a problem I would say, except I was given the ok on Thursday and was supposed to leave that weekend. After much shuffling of schedules, everything worked out well and I had an amazing time in China. 10 days of travelling around Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai. I was lucky to have the most perfect weather the entire time I was there, and much fewer tourists than usual. The highlight of the trip, a 10 km hike on The Great Wall of China with perfect weather and the wall all to me me me! But of course, this blog isnt about travels to other countries, but travels around mine.

But that being said, the one great thing about Malaysia as well is that Air Asia is based here making it easy for us to travel to every port of their call.

As soon as I got back though its been back to work for me. The new project is far more intense making it harder for me to enjoy my weekends. I do apologize if the next few weeks will be filled with little activities as it is quite likely that I will be in the office most of the time.

For this weekend though, I managed to escape to watch Adam the Musical. I really really recommend going to watch it if you have'nt. Just 7 more shows left. Good singing, good acting and good story. Its located at The Actors Studio at the rooftop of Lot 10.


Go watch Adam the musical!! the most amazing song of the night - Lollipop

For nice affordable dinner, head on all the way down to their food court. Lots of options there, and whats amazing is their old school style as well as bringing in all the classic hawkers there.

Grab a meal at Lot 10's Hutong


Good food down here

As for what to do after the show, stay upstairs and grab a drink at Teeq. They have a giant screen for football right now. Its such a surreal experience to grab a drink and watch the world cup with the city skyline behind the screen.

Coffee view from Teeq


Perfect place to watch footie

Week 17: When girlfriends come over

To echo a comment mentioned previously, Weekend 17 of the year was spent with my girlfriends Silverwolf and Miss Prancy. They both flew in (one from Australia and one from Bangkok) for us to plan out our extensive two weeks getaway at the end of the year to Argentina.

Miss Silverwolf and I met by chance, or fate as you would like it. A mutual friend (god brother to one, ex-'bf' to another. Muahahahah) had linked us up. His explanation to me was simple in describing Miss Silverwolf "you guys are EXACTLY alike... you even have the same birthday!" yes, us Leo's tend to have pretty 'strong' personalities.

We met for the first time when we decided to climb Kinabalu together. This was at the end of 2006. We had agreed to meet at the airport, me in a red scarf, and she in a yellow one. (Perhaps the only time red and yellow were ever united). I guess we figured, if we didnt like each other, someone can always get shoved off the side. Muahahaha

It took us six hours to climb Kinabalu, and well well worth it. We started the day early from base camp (which you should take a cab from from the city center). I truly recommend NOT wearing Timberland boots. You may want to kill yourself after. Every one km or so, there is a rest stop for you to catch your breath. Which is needed when you stare at people coming by and realize the porters are carrying gas tanks or five bags piled on top of each other. You can indeed pay a porter to help you carry your items up, though the price varies year to year, so Im not sure what it is now, needless to say they charge by the km.

This is particularly useful for those who are not so fit. I once knew a Manager who's wife had sprained her ankle on the way down. They paid a porter to carry her on his back for ~RM500 back then I believe. And of course the porter still made it down faster than anyone else.

You will get to the Laban Rata base camp by ~3p.m. (if youre super slow like I am). Take a break and rest. Youre going to need it for the peak climb.

Unfortunately this is where my journey ended. I had chest pains and difficulty breathing once we hit Laban Rata. And even after I had rested the night away, I still couldnt find myself breathing easily. So the Wolf went on her own with out guide to the very peak.

To watch the sunrise, you should start climbing at ~3a.m. Maybe even slightly earlier. We were hampered by the rain. The view at the top, as most people will tell you, is breathtaking (though who am I to say)

When youre done with the many picture taking, make your way back down. Instead of stopping at Laban Rata for a day, youre about to descend the entire mountain in a day. Impossible? Nope. Its actually quite doable at a steady pace. Took us about six hourse total (from Wolf coming down the peak) all the way down to the bottom.

And then for the next week I could barely walk or sit down.

The trek is really quite friendly. Very well laid out with well defined steps to climb along the way. The only issue of course is sheer will power to get to the top.

I will most likely return to Kinabalu to try again. Nothing like being so close to the top but not actually getting to climb the peak to get your adrenaline running.

The end and moral of the story? Silverwolf and I cemented our friendship then and there. We also made a pact to meet up at least once a year for two weeks to travel together.

Year 0: Kinabalu, Malaysia

Year 1: All over Australia

Year 2: Madrid, Andalucia and Barcelona, Spain

Year 3: All over Egypt

And this year, we will be heading off to Argentina, this time together with Miss Prancy. So thanks to the girls for coming over, and I cant wait! for our Argentina trip

Week 16 : Bowling... bowling!

(Ampang Superbowl)

This Saturday my company had organized a trip with the children of the Good Samaritan Home in Klang. We brought them out for a fun time bowling at the Ampang Point Superbowl. I know its a little far for some, but it was the only place that would allow you to book lanes on a public holiday. For some of the orphans it was the first time they had gone bowling so it was nice that we could be part of this experience for them.

(Hot shoes)

(Awesome pose)

I do believe bowling has become quite a well known past time for Malaysians. Most malls tend to have it now so you can find it quite easily around the city. Places like Ampang Point, Berjaya Times Square, Sunway Pyramid have quite well known ones. Ive heard that if you would like a bit more privacy you can book bowling alleys at Flamingo hotel. Might be nice since its not connected to a mall and therefore would potentially have less human traffic.

(You can ask for the kiddy bumpers to be raised for children under 12, so that their bowling ball never enters the 'drain')

(Just one more!)

On a sidenote, as we were leaving, I saw a commercial plane flying really low across the city. It was quite scary to see this Boeing/ Airbus flying, and you can see the MAS logo on the plane. Apparently alerts were being raised at KLCC about potential terrorist attacks, and people were calling up MAS to see what was going on. It turns out though that it was MAS doing a charity event for some orpanages, bringing them out for a nice flight/ trip around KL.