Up, up and away!

Given that I have the propensity to write about an event right after it happens, I thought I would give you a heads up on where I am planning the weekend of March 18-21.

Its the second Putrajaya International hot air balloon festival!

I probably wont spend the entire weekend there, but will head down on one of the days for a day of 'shooting'.

Go ahead and check it out at

http://www.myballoonfiesta.com/balloons.php

(Pics all taken from the official website)

Under the participating balloon tab, you'll find some very cute French and Belgian balloons I look forward to seeing.

See you then!

As for this weekend, Ill be heading back East to Kuching! Will update when I get back

Week 4 : Lazy day out

It is Week 4 of the new year, and success!!! I have managed to hold on to my resolve and only purchased a ring for the month of January. However, Ive spent far too much on incidenciaries, and thus have managed to blow the January budget. Ah well, February will be a pretty short month, so hopefully things work out better now that most major renewals are paid for.

It was the long weekend this time around. Celebrations of Thaipusam and Federal Territory day. Since it was a long weekend, I went back to my old house with my mom and helped her clear it up a bit. Not my idea of an ideal weekend, trust me. So Friday was spent moving some 40 bags of trash and packing some 20 bags of clothes over the duration of six hours.

Saturday was spent recuperating (the only way I wouldve agree to help my mom out). Went for a nice quiet brunch with my friends at Bijou in Mont Kiara. For those of you who havent been yet, do please try the yummy Big breakfast. Comes with amazing beef bacon, really, pretty close to the real thing. Its really nice and quiet and slow there, a perfect Sunday morning brunch kind of feel trust me.

http://www.bijou.com.my/

Then I was off to Amante Mont Kiara for a nice massage and a pedicure. The massage was simply amazing. Ask for Fauziah the next time you go. She has a really good feel on how to massage, and managed to work out the kinks in my back from all that moving.

Saturday evening plans was to go and check out the photography exhibit at KLCC. Unfortunately its not up yet =( Will head back some other time.

Sunday was spent getting my hair done, waxing and cleaning the car and general walking around and fighting the urge to shop. I lost the battle a few times =((((

Note to self, cutting self off completely from shopping is like trying to buy dinner while fasting all day. As my mother advices "you never go shopping for food while youre hungry"

As for Thaipusam, a word of caution. The Boyfriend and I thought we would catch the procession as it was coming from KL. Turns out, the procession started two to three days before Thaipusam and they no longer travel with Kavadi's from KL. Generally they bring milk containers and chariots all the way from KL to Batu Caves. If you do want to try and find this next year, aim for the temple thats close to the entrance of Petaling Street, closer to Central Market. For everyone else, my advice, head over to Batu Caves if you want to see everything. Head over a day or two before if you want to avoid the crowd (though this also means you will miss the kavadi procession). Three years in a row Ive managed to miss this, next year Im just going to head on over to Batu Caves

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.

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