Saturday, April 30, 2011

Kota Gelanggi

My mom told me, this ain't my first trip to the place called Kota Gelanggi, but I have to treat this trip as my first as I don't have any memory of previous journey. Perhaps it's due to the fact that, those journey were done way back during my early childhood..

Kota Gelangi is part of Jengka , which is the largest FELDA settlement in Malaysia. FELDA, being one of the biggest plantation operator in the world offers a re-settlement program for identified group of people in Malaysia to elleviate the rural poverty issues.

As we are heading for the wedding reception which usually gonna take place at noon, there fore we had to make an early move and it takes us, one and half hour from our home to Kg.Awah exit from east coast hiway. The traffic along the east-coast hiway  was quite heavy but it run smoothly despite some drivers whom failed to abide the road ethic by cruisng at slow speed on the fast lane..

To get to the house of my dad second cousin, of which the wedding will be held, it took us further 2 hours to get to Kota Gelanggi via Jengka.It is an interesting journey as all you can see throughout the whole stretch of road was rows of oil palms trees on both sides of the road, and not the typical country view, plus the main row was critically narrow in comparison to other state-road, so overtaking was most of the time-difficult.

petrol station deep inside the settlement

our tour guide

wedding tent - Jengka style!

Archway to the place

narrow road with oil palms on both sides of the road


The wedding was held in a typical country style where everybody gives a helping hand to ensure the reception went smoothly from the preparation of the food to the event. There's even a lucky draw among the participant -  a sporting way to bright-up the whole event. Of course, the event was held outdoor under the canopy shed, so under the typical heat and humidity  of Malaysia and having to wear 'baju kurung', having to spent an entire evening at such event is such 'adventure'! Not that I'm complaining from the point of being city folk but mainly it was all due to the heat!!

When my dad finally decided to leave later in the evening (of course we are all eagerly waiting for this moment - to run away from the scorching afternoon heat), the rain starts to pour in. Right timing mother nature!

On our way back, we stop by the road just before we get back to the hiway, to buy some local fish known as 'ikan patin' or also known as 'siamese shark' which is so famously known at this part of the country. It cost us RM14 per kilo, and as none of us were a fan of this fish with an exceptional of my dad, so we only had two of it - fresh from the catch!

Later, we also had another stop at Sg Dua for a 'durian break'. We had two-small size 'musang king' on the spot - heaven!! an exquisite desert to end the trip with.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

return to Klang Valley

It was all planned to be a very brief and short trip. SO early in the morning, I have to make a move back to Klang Valley as I need to be in the office for a meeting in the afternoon..

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

riding ETS again..

I’m heading for Ipoh tonight via ETS (Electronic Train Service). Was rushing home from work and the weather was bad which causing the traffic to be congestedly bad as well. Fetch the children from their daycare center and rush home for a quick shower before we embark to KL Sentral - right in the middle of KL city centre, which is roughly half an hour from our home. You see, I had to fetch my parents and bring over my brother's car and there's no other free time to do it, other than in the middle of the week.

My daughter is tagging along with the journey and the ticket for KL-Ipoh cost RM30 for adult and RM19 for each child. Given the fact that this would be the second ride, I have now keep an open eye for more details of the whole scene. I noticed that the luminaires provided over the lobby of Platform B, seems not to be sufficient enough as the whole ambience was quite dim rather than brightly lighted. And if it were not with the 'help' from all the retail kiosk nearby the whole ambience would be vividly dimmer. As I did my theorical study on lighting and its efficiency, I would dare say that the whole ambience need some rectification, so it'll be agood task for the electrical engineer to go back and do their maths - which is what they're are best at.

Upon embarking the train, it was being annouced that the journey was estimated to be 2hrs 13mins and if everything goes well, I shall reach Ipoh by 11pm. It didn't missed my attention that the uniform wear by cabin crew were a little bit out of corporate quality - a collared jersey to represent ETS corporate service attire, which I believe should be improved as it lacks in terms of presentation.

While on board, I’m testing my mobile broadband and so far the connection was doing okay at certain places and it goes off at certain other places, but overall I can still log on to my FB and also blog this out, superb.
Safety precautions that I’m applying here while travelling with little toddler is, everything is close intact with me – every important essential that is, so that when she had to go to the loo, I’m always ready to move.

The whole 2hrs journey seems fast, and as scheduled, provided the train stops at 9 stations altogether. We finally arrived in Ipoh after 2hrs 15mins!! And everything was smooth...

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Architectural Spot check

I’ve  been keeping a ‘low-profile’ this couple of weeks, so I think I should be doing some spot-check, so it’ll be a quick day-trip to Kuantan.

Morning journey was pleasant, the sun was quick to rise this time around of the year, and the traffic was smooth all the way to my destination. However, I was running out of my prepaid toll-ticket, and there aren’t any outlet that were available for me to buy the additional value at the wee morning..*doink*…so, I need to carry extra load of cash this time around..that’s very careless of me, for not checking the balance before the trip!

Anyway, morning temperature has abruptly shoot up to scorching heat of almost 33celcius and we are not even close to mid afternoon, and I have quite a spot to check on..At my current position, it is not going to be an easy task to complete the day with. I'll be all glad once I cover all those 'spot'!!

Friday, April 22, 2011

I'm down

I guess, it has been quite a week for me, the ricketing bed of the hospital, the east-coast heat and all..so, I finally feeling the blow!! Been laying low these couple of days...recuperating...

Monday, April 18, 2011

2 days in a row for Besut

It's my second day in a row in Besut. It was a tough morning to wake up to, given to the fact of such gruelling day yesterday. Rush to dress, so that I could have a peaceful time with my breakfast  ;)

Anyway, we missed the allocated time, so we need to rush to Besut from Kuala Terengganu, and the whole journey seems to take ages, well, I slept throughout the journey, anyway - lack of sleep, remember?! So, we make it to Besut in one and half hour and official inspection has started. We did most of it yesterday, so wea re quite confident that everything would work out smoothly. So, at the end of it, we received the official declaration that the whole project is a success and we should be polishinging it up for the official hand over of the project.

We are quite delighted that the contractor has been very cooperative, and even prepare a spread for us to feast for lunch. And it caught us by surprise that there are some VIPs dropping by to inspect the site even for a short while!

At 1, we leave the site and head back to Kuala Terengganu to catch the flight home..auww, I can't wait to reach home to my own pillows and bed, and family!

Leaving Terenganu..

I'm not sure where exactly we flying over either PD or Sepang Gold Coast


the glimpse of Main Fire Station which I was the one producing the drawings

and I thought KT would be another sleepy hollow at night..

I never thought Kuala Terengganu would have a 'live' after the clock strike 12, but a tour around the town (oops..it is now a city) at night revealed that there're still Terengganu denizen lingering around..at coffee shops by the beach, around and about the promenade..and I never thought, I would feel so exhausted due to our daytime gruelling task that I can't wait to get back to my hotel room and lie down and goes to zzzz.. in fact I have been awake since 4am on sunday and it is now passed midnite into a Monday morning!!

So, here I am..on the bed (I think my own bed feels much better..but what choice do I have?) and I'm about to log off..no 'night activities' seems alluring anough to get me out of the bed.... no more activities of proving that KT is no longer a sleepy hollow at night..

Anyway, I should be getting myself 'fit' again for tomorrow's official agenda..so goodnight all!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Interesting breakfast in Besut

I was early this morning, had to swap position with my mom for her to continue keeping an eye on my princess at the hospital. Anyway, despite grabbing quick breakfast, I still managed to reach Skypark at 5:50am. Flight was on schedule and I managed to reach Kuala Terengganu at 8am. The morning sun was blaring bright all the way through and it look like a start of another beautiful day.


THIS explains the boredom of having the aisle seat instead of usual window seat

no interesting view - enjoy the aisle!

I must all cranky with lack of sleep and having an aisle seat doesnt help!

FA on duty

Head for Besut and after an hour drive, we reach our destination in Kg. Raja. at 945am where I join others for morning break. Do you know that, you would not find a typical breakfast of toast and jam or roti canai in Besut, whereby they mostly serves 'barbeque fish or chicken alongside with white rice and curry gravy' for breakfast!!

to juggle to avoid struggle

I guess it is not easy to be a career-mom. You can't just be good at multi-tasking, you must be excellence at it. But sometimes multi-tasking also has its limitations, as what I'm facing now - I can't be in two places at the same time..so I guess, I NEED HELP!!

I'm flying off early in the morning, and I would be away from my princess for two consequitive days..I really hope everything would work out fine. I'm lucky to have my mom around that I can turn to whenever  I'm in need - LOVE you mom, from the bottom of my heart!

So, i'll be leaving my princess in a very good hands...

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Hospitality: Physical vs Emotion

Physically, hospitality could be derived from the terms hospital but seriously, grammar-wise it has nothing to do with each other. Where hospitality is about excellence service provided, hospital is physically a building to house series of service of taking care of sick or un-well human being.

So, if you had to be in a hospital moreover spending your night for few days, it may strain some emotion out of you. Physically, it may effect your body clock, it may interfere with you comfort zone etc. etc. but nothing beats to the fact that you are looking after your precious one even how strenuous the whole experience would be, at least you are still whole!

Anyway,  it took me more than 3 days to get done with this, it's not that I don't have free time in between 'princess nap time' but it just wasn't so fluidly smooth...

I deeply wish that my princess would be at her best of health, soon..

view from the lift lobby at 6th floor

view from room 288 when twilight sets in

another view from the room

Monday, April 11, 2011

A Mad Monday Rush

It seems to be a start to a very peaceful day, the dawn is making its way for more sun-rays emitting more light to brighten up the skies. I'm glad everything went smooth this morning, the traffic, everything..and I even have ample time to enjoy a cuppa of black coffee while waiting for my engineer to turn up. We are carpooling today for another visit to Benta.

Oh yeah, Benta revisiting -  and it better be good! Or else, I'm gonna make the life of whoever sets me to go there as miserable as mine gonna be later in the afternoon.

Anyway, as I anticipated, the whole inspection wasn't satisfactory. I can't believe some people would waste other people's time like this. Anyway, I've exceeded my own pre-allocated time, so due to that I have to make a rush back to KL.

Driving a little bit faster than the leisure drive this morning, I have less than 3hrs to make things happen for the 'birthday girl'. I have to make a mad rush back to deliver the CAKE to where it belong on April 11th. It was seriously mad drive - I know I should not be doing this but as of then, I don't have the choice. Anyway, I made in in time - and it was an honour to capture the moment 'princess being speechlees' ..he he

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Darling Princess Anne!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

roadrunner fulfilling weekend chores

This Sunday ain't gonna be a typical sunday, my itinerary of the day was full with series of chores,
gonna start the morning  with laundry, then late breakfast perhaps a brunch, at noon we'll head to nilai 3, looking for some day-bed, then we'll need to pick up the birthday cake (for princess's birthday tomorrow) at Bandar Bukit Mahkota and before that,some grocery shopping at Bandar Baru Nilai.

If you were to ask me why go as far as Nilai of we can get done with grocery at Shah Alam or Subang Jaya, the clue to everything today would be - the CAKE! What A day, and I'd need to end it with another round of laundry - that what seems to be the typical trait of sundays activities!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Getting to know Putra Heights

Today's itinerary would be a get-together session with a bunch of old colleagues at one of the selected residence in Putra Heights. It's a new developed residential area, haven't been there, so it would be an opportunity to see the overall development especially its design.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic of neoclassic architectural style of Southern United States. Happened to bugg into this term while being intrtoduce to 'Lady Antebellum', a pop-country group from the States. Take a listen to their hits which were release in Jan'2010   Need You Now


Barrington Hall, Roswell USA is one of the classic exampleof an antebellum home

Thursday, April 7, 2011

A superfast trip to Kuantan

6:50 am depart from home, the traffic was already building up while twilight dusk is shedding off, and at 9:30am I managed to arrived safely at my meeting place with 2 pit stops along the way (toll booths not counted). Went for pre-inspection from 10:00 to 11:00am, then the meeting start at 11:15am which later end roughly around 12:45 which followed with post-meeting discussion for half an hour and everybody adjourn for lunch break.

Lunch? nothing fancy just typical afternoon lunch for Malaysians consist of white rice, a serving of vegetable, and choices of fish or chicken.Anyway, it was a quick lunch as I was expected to cover other parts of the site for post-meeting inspection. So, I made it back to my car at 2:30 and drove off for a quick refuelling and hit the hiway at 2:50pm. Managed to reach the final exit of East-Coast Hiway at a record time of and immediately reach for DUKE and straight into NKVE, with main target to avoid the bulging congestion at NKVE when the clock strike 5, so I managed to reach Subang Jaya at 5:05pm. For that, I reward myself a rich mochiatta coffee..yummms!!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Worst example of ramp construction at PJD Tower, Jalan Tun Razak

I had an appointment at PJD Tower off Jalan Tun Razak in the afternoon. Visually you can access the tower once you follow the left most lane however it will only lead you either to Setapak or a u-turn. One thing for sure, there's no immediate access from Jalan Tun Razak if you are coming from Jalan Duta's direction, so you have to make a u-turn, and take a left-turn in front of UMNO Tower, then another left-turn in front of the Mall, before another left-turn at a traffic light ahead which would lead you to Jalan Ipoh, then anpther left-turn to Jalan Pekeliling (i think) before you come to the same traffic light that you had your first u-turn and stay on the right lane because you need to turn to immediate right to get to Jalan Tun Razak. Access to the PJD Tower would be the first left exit with immediate right to get into the tower's compound! Sounds chaotic right, well it figures!

Anyway, I found the most 'outstanding' carpark ramp in my entire life - the turning radius and the gradient was so steep that there're already some marks on the wall that people had already bang into it from difficulties to make an immediate u-turn from its entrance. Imagine if you were driving some big-cars like BMW 7-series and such - OMG!! I really wish that i could stop in the middle of the ramp and snap some photds just to proof it so but there're cars behind me so i have to make it quick, and with such ramp condition you can't get moving any faster than 5km/hr!!! Lot-10 carpark ramp is much better of design with clean swirl and smooth gradient all the way. Buckle up the so call designer!!

Owh, when my meeting was over around 530pm, the traffic at the opposite direction of  Jalan Tun Razak was already halted still, so I decided to take the main road and head to Jalan Ampang taking up AKLEH to exit at Jelatek intersection, go through slight congestion at Jalan Jelatek before entering DUKE at Setiawangsa interchange and direct exit to NKVE via Jalan Duta. Despite the drizzle, and some congestion here and there, I was faced with another crawl just before Duta exit..gosh, it took me almost 40minutes to get through the toll booth...and deep down, I feel blessed that I don't have to go through such congestion at everyday rate

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Barbecue session at Kota Kemuning

If you are having a barbecue party for more than 2 dozens adult and they are not heavy-eater, 150pieces of chicken wings would be too many!! Also it'd be the case if you are having lamb chop too. So, 2 kilos of mid-size prawns, and 2 kilos of calimari, grilled to perfection would be just nice (I almost bought 4kilos each)

Of course, since it's a potluck barbecue, so everybody else were bringing some other stuff to add to the menu, there are also soome plain salad, potato salad, melons, fried noodles and cakes. Of course, the kids would only binge on fries, sausages and nuggets (they are too young to realized what they're missing ..hehe)

So, it started at 3pm and when finally packed things up to leave other stuff to the host, the twilight almost sets in. Apparently, while we were the first third family to arrive, we were also the third family leaving away that evening...I think, everyone did have a good time, they should..I did!!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Wedding vs Lotus Roadshow in Putrajaya

Can you imagine - standing by roadside, under the steaming hot sun while cladd in your sequined-baju kurung (long flock dress), with heals and all those make up and your clutch bag, for the sake of trying to catch the glimpse of F1 car? Can you also imagine the male spectators whom clad in their batik-shirt rather that casual tees also standing by the roadside trying to catch the F1 machine? Can you imagine? THAT would only happen if you are happen to attend a wedding reception which happened to took place right in front of the Main Boulevard of Putrajaya while they are organising the Lotus F1 Roadshow.. that would be the reason!! Hehe...

F1 cars was fast, can't capture in on camera just managed to grab the bike show  ;)

Steel Mosque Putrajaya

Anyway, the wedding reception of our close-family friend went smooth, the bride and groom were dashingly cladd in their grand-turqoise wedding costumes... and the bonus part would be - the dishes was all so scrumptious!!

April - another beginning of hectic weeks

Well, don't let April fools you! it  came around un-noticed (unless you are really trying to play tricks on someone..) It was the case for me, I mean, I didn't realized that March was basically gone and it is now April, and it shocked me to realize that there're going to be lots of itenerary for this month starting, NOW! I mean, am going to have to attend a wedding of a close-family-fren tomorrow, which going to start early in the morning and later in the afternoon, there's going to be a reception party for the bride and groom. I bet, the bride and groom has already had everything well-planned for their very day tomorrow and yet, I had just finished my very task of getting my entire family's wardrobe for those events - ironed! Shouldn't I be doing that before - I had the whole week before me? Last week was filled with more time-consuming events that left me with no provision of time to blog! And guess what, I haven't started packing for the stay-over tomorrow! can I opt to do it tomorrow - seriously early in the morning??! I don't feel like going through another round of rummaging the closet, pile it up and pack things up at this hour.. goshhh..

Owh, did I mentioned that we gonna have a barbecue - gathering for the office people on Sunday? all the prep etc etc...and owh, did I mentioned that I need to go to Ipoh and fetch my parents (no more self-driving or public transport for my parents that is..) ..haha..what did I tell you, it's going to be another beginning of a hectic week... wish me luck!!