LET'S GO TO LONDON!!!!!! CHAPTER 2

23-11-2008, Sunday
After checking in into the hotel (Sheraton Park Lane), I dumped all my stuffs in the room and headed to the hotel's cafe ;Bracewells Restaurant. Wot a day to start breakfast with ha ha ha the 'BELGIAN WAFFLES!'
I practically devoured the whole thang. I wasn't that hungry...just being a real schmuck over indulging prick when it comes to eating.

Well, amongst the delegates, I must say I was impressed with our youngest participant; 3 months old. She was the best behaved one. Sitting quietly on her uncle's lap. Enjoying the ambiance of Sunday morning;

Sunday eh...We planned to go do the sunday shopping thingy so we hired a small bus.
Destination: Bicester Village. Bicester is about 45minutes away from London. It was raining pretty heavily. Well, it was snowing earlier on in the morning when I arrived, then it rained...weird..well i guess thats London for ya...

Hmmm very very sloshy huh

Before we reached Bicester, we stopped by Oxford...The 'Student' town I guess. I felt like I was back in my Uni in Canada once upon a time (gosh..its been too long). I saw places that reminded me of the crazy times when I was in school back then. The buildings mainly pretty classic looking...duh why am I looking at the buildings..no... can't help it...I'm in the maintenance industry..I was even commenting on the condition if the elevators in the hotel...(ish....typical).

Yep, I felt like I was in the vicinity of Uni of Toronto...but this is OXFORD man!!!!!Lotsa brain accident smart ass people came from this Uni (ooops pardon my English LOL)....

Some of the delegates did some shopping there...I didn't have the urge at all! Whoah...my lucky pocket that day.

We then moved to Bicester Village for some serious shopping there. The traffic started to pile up. We were quite lucky to be taking that small bus coz the driver didn't have any problem with parking. He had this huge parking there. We started to explore Bicester....
We saw the people over there were better dressed there...sorry..other places...this was just my one day observation....
The Sales on the 'branded' stuffs there were awesome. Some people were crazy buying Tod bags and Gucci shoes..I got myself this nice suit from Charles Tyrwhitt. They were reeeely nice. My colleague was buying shirts for work. Before we know it...our hands were full with shopping bags.

I think we did tremendous amount of walking. I could feel my feet were hurting. It was getting cold too. I wasn't sure what was the plan for food. So my colleague and I stopped by Pret to get some bite to eat. Gawd there were millions of people in there ha ha.

I got meself some seafood salad and some cwoffee. They were good. I was feeling a little chilly and the cwoffee helped. There we bumped into some other Malaysians. what a bizzarre coincidence but apparently they were from Paris and stopped by London before shooting off to Malaysia.
We continued our shopping mission until we realised that it's winter and it gets darker earlier than what we spoil Malaysians are used to. Our tummy started grumbling and we moved on to get something to eat. The real meal. We hopped into the bus and we went to near Woodstock to this nice restaurant; The Trout. Very 'personal' place. I love the ambiance. Love and love the menu. Love and love the food.

Naturally...belly was full and we were all ready to retire. So, made our way back to the hotel. I fell asleep in the bus (yeah..this is what you get from eating too much ha ha). I must say a day well SPENT...
(To be continued...)

LET'S GO TO LONDON!!!!! CHAPTER 1

I had never been to this country before. Well, almost, I stopped by Heathrow once upon time before...transit didn't count ha ha. I was given the task to organise the trip for some of my clients and my colleagues. It was pretty challenging when you were given insufficient time and when some restrictions apply....to cut the effing story short, my flight was at night, so on that same day, i went out shopping for warm clothes (i hadn't been to a cold country in a while so all my winter stuffs vanished he he). I had very little time to pack. I managed to'zip' my bag up 20 minutes before the taxi arrive for the airport...

I was the last one to fly. The rest left a day before me. So, practically I was traveling by myself. 13 hours! Bloody bloody! I got tired just thinking about it.

At the airport while waiting, I got a bite to eat...at 11pm I felt really alone....
The flight was full. I was already exhausted...so I passed out....

When I woke up...I heard..."Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, kita akan mendarat sebentar lagi" (ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing shortly...). Wow, I slept through!!!!

I looked over.....it was around 5:15am. Wow! look at the city of London! all lit up! (Like jakun only...)

I was still groggy but I hoped the trip would be OK. Oh, I hope I wasn't stopped at the immigration and asked like 10 million questions ;-) why I went to London. Nah I was afraid that I might answer,"It's none of your f***ing business!" or something like that considering how stressful I was organizing this short and short noticed trip...

I reached the immigration, they asked,"What's the purpose of your visit?" I answered politely,"For a seminar in central london. I will be staying in Sheraton". She looked at me and stamped my passport. Well, that was quick.

After retrieving my luggage, I walked out looking for my ride. There was this little miserable sign saying my company name, I missed that the first time.

I had a little chat with the driver...he was pleasant and he said he would visit Malaysia in a very near future.

I reached the hotel. Oh yes, it was effing cold! -2 degree Celsius! Yah my a** froze LOL.

I saw my colleague Iza waiting for me at the lobby. It was probably around 6-ish early in the morning and she said I could go straight for breakfast.

(to be continued...)

ALFATIHAH

What a day today....I went to the HR department to have a chat about some issues on 'Malaysian Labor Laws'. The chat was pleasant and it was a great pleasure to share with my colleagues some great experience of mine on these issues. However, a few hours later one of them sobbed..another colleague gave me a brief of what happened and I rushed to her...she was sobbing...I slowly asked her even when I got a rough idea of what happened...,"Zila, what happened?" While sobbing she replied,"My dad...coming back..from work..on a bike..this afternoon...and hit by a lorry...he died on the spot". In time like this...honestly...I didn't know what to say..I gulped but I think I managed to say,"Be strong, god loves him...all we can do now is pray for him". I tried to offer what I could do to make things a little easier for her. She explained that her husband is already on his way to pick her up to go to the hospital which is 3 hours away. My heart goes out to her. Then one of the bosses came into the room and said the same thing, that God loves him...I waited with her for a little while until her husband arrived. A whole bunch of us walked with her to the car. I told her husband to drive carefully...

Another tragic accident. By a lorry driver...I couldn't help but thinking when I was going back for a holiday a few weeks ago, I came across some crazy lorry drivers on the highway..really..some of them were not even 'human' when they were on the road. They overtook other lorries as they please..they sped as they please...they high beamed and scared people off without any regards for LIFE. Today one of them took a fine father's life who left 6 children and a wife behind...I paused and stared on an empty space and I almost cried...

The whole office prayed for her and her family.

I beg people who have access to lorry owners/drivers to tell them (I doubt the drivers/owners ever read this blog, but if they ever do...ughhhh..), please have regards for human life. Why do I have this feeling that they don't give a s***?

O dear...now I am sobbing...

NUTS ABOUT DONUTS

What is it about these things called donuts that drive me nuts? They are very high in cholesterol, very sweet, nowadays they are even more expensive than when I was a student where donuts were the staple diet for those who were on the run and had limited cash in the pocket. When I was in pre-uni, the donuts that first came to Malaysia was Dunkin' Donuts. I wasn't a fan back then. When I was in Uni in Toronto, the best donuts were from Tim Hortons. At the time, it was almost daily ritual to start my day witha fresh cup of Timmy's coffee and Boston Cream Donuts. When I came back to Malaysia, I went back to Dunkin' just to satisfy my cravings for donuts..especially "Boston Cream". Years after, I think Malaysians started to develop the taste for donuts. Perhaps over watching too much of police stories from the US where the police would have donuts during stake outs, etc.

Today in Kuala Lumpur, there are a few donuts provider that made me queue up in that long lines just to get a couple (a couple? nah more like a dozen ha ha) of donuts and a cup of coffee. I don't have to remind myself about the calories and cholesterol that come with every donuts but I still indulge myself in those sinful round things...Bif Apple Donuts and JCO are the two main culprits LOL.

Still, I must learn how to resist.. but look! They are simply irresistible now aren't they?

If you ever in New York...check this place out:

The Donut Pub
Desserts & Bakeries, Sandwiches
203 W 14th St, New York 10011
At 7th Ave

Phone: 212-929-0126
They have wicked donuts! and check out this guy's blog ----> Vanishing NY, The Donut Pub

HAPPY DONUTS EATING :-)

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

To all my Hindu friends; HAPPY DEEPAVALI!
As for the rest....HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

SOME THOUGHTS

A friend emailed this today. Perhaps it is good to share good things with people all over the world ;-) Life is too short as it is...these were from some yoga guru...

1. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
3. Sleep for 7 hours.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Play more games.
6. Read more books than you did last year.
7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11. Drink plenty of water.
12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
18. Smile and laugh more.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Forgive everyone for everything.
26.. What other people think of you is none of your business.
27. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
28. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
29. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
30. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
31. The best is yet to come.
32. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
33. Do the right thing!
34. Call your family often.
35. Your inner most is always happy. So be happy.
36. Each day give something good to others.
37. Don't over do. Keep your limits.

HAVE A PLEASANT DAY EVERYONE

SRI AYUTTHAYA

Thursday, 25.09.2008

As I was struggling organizing meetings with clients who were more enthusiastic about 'Hari Raya' celebration and the upcoming holidays, I was reminded to go to an event later on by my boss's partner at Sri Ayutthaya. I had been to this place numerous time over the years. I was not a fan. However, I always keep an open mind when it comes to food (err...nothing new about that..). It was a sit down dinner. When Ayutthaya first started, they were THE Thai restaurant. I guess over the years they started to deteriorate when it comes to service. I had some of my clients turned up for this event. I was worried. True enough, they screwed up the orders and my clients had to wait a long time for their meals.
Having said that, I guess we were a bunch of happy campers...cigarettes after another..the orders came in and the food wasn't so bad.
I am a big fan of seafood but this one was pretty average. I realized..if I ever make my way down here, I should settle for steamed fish instead of the deep fried one. Too bad we didn't organize this event.
Nevertheless, we gotta eat...the final days of the fasting month, some were alredy heading to their hometowns, we were stuck with pretty average food down in Kuala Lumpur..sad....

The TomYam was not that impressive..looked good but certainly not impressive:


ughh...but then...there were some above average food. The sweet and sour chicken was not a disappointment.

As a big fan of scallop..they didn't do justice to this one. The mayonnaise were too sweet and it killed the great taste of scallop.

I was eager to go back home after a tiring day. The host asked me to stay and said that the dessert was on its way soon. I thought, what the heck...just wait a little bit longer...
To be honest...only the plain rice was 'aromatic' enough to make up for the 'average' dishes..

Then came the dessert; water chestnut in sweet coconut syrup...well...look can be deceiving and here's the proof;

Not much to look at but sure it was worth my wait. I never thought I would say this...but if Ayutthaya don't do something about their service and quality of food..I doubt to return..probably for the water chestnut dessert.....