Back to reality

I met Sonja this morning to go walking. But first we dropped her kids off at school with all their projects. We decided to go walking around the lake that is near FRIM for a change. We did one lap around the lake which took us about an hour. It was a really nice walk with great scenery.

From there we drove back into KLCC and had breakfast at Dome. We did a couple more things in the mall and then headed home. I spent the rest of the day on the computer doing bits and pieces. I also caught up on the washing.

Ross came home about 8 and I had made portobello mushroom burgers for dinner. They were really yummy especially with the Turkish bread that I found in the freezer section of Cold Storage. We watched some TV before heading to bed.

Last day in Port Dickson

This morning we slept late and then went to have breakfast. The guy at the desk told us that our friends were on the 4th floor so we walked up to the ballroom on the fourth floor but found no-one. We couldn't be bothered changing locations so we had breakfast upstairs. Julia, Lewis and Phil joined us a bit later.

After breakfast, we packed up our stuff and organized the bill before heading to the pool. Again, we lazed around and chatted. Before we knew it, it was 12.30 and Ross and I had to head off to the spa for our treatment. We said goodbye to the others and walked to the spa which was in a beautiful building built over the water.

We started our treatment with a steam and a milk bath - a relaxing way to start our three our couples treatment. Afterwards we had tea on the little balcony overlooking the water while the therapists changed the room. When we went back inside, we were ready for our hair treatment. They massaged jasmine oil into our heads for half an hour - incredibly relaxing. Next up was our body scrub. I am not too sure what they used but it did smell like cinnamon and other spices.

After the scrub, we showered then prepared for our hour long massage. It was amazing! The perfect balance between strong and relaxing. After the treatment we went back to the balcony for more tea before heading out of the spa. What a great way to end a fantastic long weekend.

We drove back to KL and surprisingly the traffic wasn't very bad at all. We drove straight to KLCC to have an early dinner at the new Irish bar, Malone's. The food was typical Irish food but really good.

Back at home, we dropped off all our stuff and then pretty much got into our PJs. I was in bed super early as I was exhausted after such a relaxing weekend!

A relaxing day

This morning we woke up reasonably early - about 8.30 - and headed to the restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we laid on the day bed in our room and read our books and magazines for a couple of hours.

Just before lunchtime, we headed to the adult pool and met up with the Millers and the Perrys. Again we spent the afternoon in the pool, getting some sun and chatting. I went back to the room and brought back some snacks to share.

Just like yesterday, we all staggered off to our rooms in the afternoon. While we were relaxing on the day bed, a massive storm came through which was very cool to watch for a couple of hours. We made plans to meet everyone up at the bar when the storm had eased off. Ross and I braved the rain with our umbrella and found ourselves ankle deep in water! By the time we got up to the bar, we were pretty soaked.

We played some "Shithead" while we waited for the others. The Perry's came with their Mahjong set and soon after the Miller's arrived. Ross played Mahjong with the Perry's while I played "Shithead" with the Miller's.

About 7, we decided to head down to dinner - another BBQ. We stayed chatting at the table for quite a while after dinner. We were going to head back down to the beach but there was a wedding going on so instead we sat by the pool. Sonja kept us entertained by asking questions from the Ladies Night Out game. It was certainly a discussion starter!

Again we headed to bed about midnight.

Off to Port Dickson with friends

This morning I woke up about 8.30 and started getting organized while Ross slept in for a bit longer. Once he was awake, we finished packing and then headed to Delicious to meet up with Phil, Julia, Lewis, Brian, Sonja, Emma, Maddie and Ian. We enjoyed breakfast together and then headed off our own separate ways to the Avillion Resort at Port Dickson.

The traffic was pretty busy. It seems that everyone wanted to leave the city for the Eid long weekend. Ross and I got to the resort first and by the time everyone arrived, we had sorted out the rooms.

We dropped all our stuff off in one of the rooms that was ready and then headed to the adults pool while the kids headed off to the kids pool. The rooms were really nice and were on stilts over the water. The bathroom had an open to the sky shower.

We spent the afternoon by the pool and gradually people drifted off to their own rooms. Ross and I relaxed, read and showered in our villa before Sonja and Brian came over for a drink. They left and Phil and Julia came over shortly after.

We all walked up to the restaurant together and had a seafood BBQ dinner. After dinner, the kids amused themselves while the adults walked down to the little beach with some booze and some music to while away the night chatting. Ian came down with us too and played a few tunes on his guitar.

We headed back to the room about 12 and fell asleep. A great first day to the long weekend.

Getting ready for the long weekend

This morning I slept in and then drove out to Ikano to do a couple of things. I went up to Strip to make a booking and had to wait a couple of hours for a slot. So I spent my time walking around the mall. I bought some underwear and socks for Ross at Debenhams and a pair of 3/4 denims for me at Espirit before stopping for some lunch at The Coffee Bean.

I walked across the road and stocked up on cat food and picked up some snack foods for the trip on the weekend. I dropped everything off in the car and then headed back up to Strip for a bit of maintenance.

I drove home and spent the afternoon not doing too much just waiting for Ross to get home. He was pretty late home from work so about 8 we drove over to KLCC and had dinner at the Thai restaurant. It was pretty good.

We drove home and pretty much went to bed.

Early Thanksgiving

This morning I headed to my last beading class for Level 2. I arrived at the same time as the other girls. We got busy with our "graduation piece", a Cleopatra style necklace. It was a hell of a lot of work! We started by weaving beads into a strand of 5 inverted V shapes. From there we added some headpins that we bent into V-shapes. We then wrapped more seed beads into the necklace and wove the choker before adding the crystal drops. It was a complicated piece. But I could imagine that it would be beautiful with the right beads.

I didn't leave there until 1.30pm. On my way home, I got pulled over by the police for talking on my mobile - bugger! I definitely should have known better. Sonja had got picked up the week before in exactly the same place. And it wasn't like I was talking about anything that couldn't wait until I got home. Ironically, I was talking to Sonja when I got pulled over. Anyway, I managed to convince the police man to give me a ticket rather than pay him a bribe. I'm sure this will cost me more in the long run but at least I wasn't supporting police corruption!

I got home about 2.30. I made myself some lunch and just chilled out until Ross got home about 6. We got changed and headed over to Sonja and Brian's for Thanksgiving dinner. It was really nice to be with them all again. Brian is looking so much better and we hadn't seen the kids for ages. Sonja had cooked a meal with all the trimmings and had even baked 6 pies for dessert!

After dinner we played some games and then sat around chatting for a while before heading home about 9.30. It had been a great night. So nice to spend time with good friends and take a moment to give thanks for good things in our lives!

Netball Xmas lunch

This morning I slept until I heard Daisy come in to clean at 9am. I took my time getting ready as I still felt pretty ordinary. I headed out of the house to KLCC at about 10.30 to buy a 20 ringgit gift for the netball Xmas lunch. I ended up with a small Christmas plate with a reindeer with sunglasses on. I had a bit of time to kill before going to the lunch so I had a coffee at Coffee Bean.

I drove out to Mont Kiara and walked into Meat Works where a lot of the girls were already waiting. There were about 11 of us in total. It was one of the last times we would be seeing our captain Sam before she heads off to Abu Dhabi in the next couple of weeks. Sharon gave her a gift on behalf of the team - an embroidered cap that says "KL Jumpers - Le Captainne".

It was a really nice lunch and we swapped our gifts just before leaving. I ended up with a beautiful candle from L'Occitane. From Mont Kiara, I drove home and relaxed in the afternoon. I found enough motivation to do a bit of beading - not much but some. I made some gifts for people.

Ross came home briefly just after 6 and headed out again for a work function just before 7. I made myself a salad for dinner trying to use up some stuff in the freezer. I had chicken, bacon, an egg, some cheese, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, flax seeds and pumpkin seeds in my salad and it was delicious!

I spent the rest of the night watching TV before heading to bed. I woke up about 1am and was wondering where Ross had got to so I got up to check the spare room. Sure enough he was asleep in there - I didn't even hear him come in!

Still feeling like crap!

This morning I had planned to get up and walk with Sonja. I woke up with Ross at 6.40am but just felt so awful that I text Sonja to say that I would not be going walking but would call her later. I read my book for a while before I fell back to sleep until 10.30.

I rang Sonja when I woke up and we made plans to meet and go for nails. I was going to walk over but just didn't feel up to it so I picked up Sonja downstairs and we drove to KLCC. We walked into the nail salon and got busy with pedis and manis. They did a pretty good job although I asked them to take off the polish from my fingers.

After nails, we went to the Vietnamese restaurant and had some Pho Bo for lunch. From there we grabbed a coffee at the Coffee Bean before picking up my drycleaning and alterations and heading home.

Back at home, I watched the Twilight movie which I had taped last night. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed the first book and it did pretty much match up. Let's see what the next movie is like.

Ross came home about 6.30 and we made a beef stirfry for dinner. Ross continued working and I watched some TV before heading to bed.

Today's photo is Black who found a warm spot on top of the TV cabinet behind the sound system.

Roast lunch and relaxation

We didn't do much at all today. I still felt crap so I spent the morning in bed reading. In the afternoon, we went to the Fabulous Fish 'n' Chip Shop for their Sunday roast. We chose the roast beef which was a great choice - complete with cauliflower cheese, roast veg and Yorkshire puddings.

On our way back home we picked up a Starbucks and spent the rest of the day on the couch watching the rest of the Californication series. Surprisingly, we got hungry again and made a pasta with left over Nando's chicken and some frozen veg. Not bad.

We both headed off to bed about 9.30.

Today's photo is of my WeightWatchers weight tracker chart. You can see my weight from January until today. When I started WW in June 2008 I weighed 75.1kg. Today I weight 66.7kg. I lost 10% of my body weight - not bad! I unsubscribed from WeightWatchers today - a good feeling! Hopefully my good habits are here to stay.

You can see the last drop in weight which was pretty dramatic and due to me cutting sugar out of my diet.

A wonderfully lazy Saturday

We both woke up reasonably late this morning and stayed in bed until about 10. We headed out to the Blue Cow for breakfast - bacon and eggs with hashbrowns and mushrooms - yum!

From there we drove to the Matrade Exhibition Center to have a look at Art Expo 09, a major art show where galleries from around SE Asia bring their work to show and sell. We wandered around the various galleries; there was some interesting stuff but nothing that really grabbed us (or fell in our price range!) but we did get some info on the location of galleries in KL.

We drove home and spent the afternoon vegging out. We watched the movie Se7en - I'd forgotten what a messed up movie that is! We ordered dinner from California Pizza Kitchen and I had an amazing grilled vegetable salad.

We didn't do too much else for the rest of the night. We watched the Liverpool game before heading to bed.

Leaving Singapore

Today we lazed about in the room until we had to check out. We dropped our bags downstairs and headed to the Coffee Connoisseur for some early lunch. We picked up a takeaway coffee, walked back to the hotel and got into the car ready for the drive home.

It took us just under 4 hours to get home. We went through intermittent rain (and heavy rain - see photo) on the way back and by the time we got home we were exhausted.

We dropped our bags and spent the afternoon laying on the bed watching TV before ordering Nando's delivery for an early dinner (which we also ate on the bed!).

In the evening, we watched Enemy Behind the Gates - a great show. Ross fell asleep before the end but I watched the entire movie before turning out the light and going to sleep.

Chinatown

This morning Ross headed off to the Singapore office for a few hours and I headed out for a walk. I thought I would go and try to find the beading stores in Chinatown. I walked up a couple of blocks until I got up to North Bridge road and then walked south until I crossed the river onto Sth Bridge Road.

Just over the bridge I found numerous beading stores. They were all quite good but more expensive than those in KL. They did have some different beads though so I bought some cloisenne beads and some Swarovski crystal beads as well as a few other bits and pieces.

By this time, the rain had started so I headed into a mall on Clarke Quay. I had lunch at a Japanese restaurant overlooking the river while the rain poured down. Luckily, the mall connected straight to the MRT system so I caught the train back towards the hotel. I walked through the Citylink mall and picked up a little black skirt before getting back to the hotel about 4.

Ross got back about 4.30 and we chilled out for a couple of hours before going out for dinner. We thought we would walk down to the Robertson Quay area for dinner. We ended up at Indochine - a cool Asian restaurant with Thai, Laos, Vietnamese and other types of SE Asian food. We shared a great salad and some noodles overlooking the river.

We walked back to the hotel via the Esplanade and I ducked in to Mango to pick up a couple of little cardigans I had had my eye on. We got back to the hotel about 9 and watched TV until we fell asleep about 11.

Today's photo is of the ceramic mosaic in Dhoby Gaut MRT station.

Facial day

Again this morning I woke up late. This time at 9. I watched TV in bed and got myself some yoghurt and berries which I also ate in bed before finally getting up at 11.

Around 12, I walked slowly down to Raffles City in time for my facial at SK-II Boutique Spa. I had been wanting to change my face care products for a while and I had heard good thing about SK-II so when I saw the spa, I though a facial would be a good way to see what the products are like.

The facial I chose was the 85 minute Senzational Facial. It included a 55-step face massage, eye treatments as well as hand and shoulder massage. It was pretty damn good! As I still felt like crap this morning when I woke up with a sore throat and sore sinuses, the facial was nice to relax and massage my face. The products seemed pretty good too so I asked them for some samples to try - which they gave me. The only bad bit about any facial is the extraction i.e. picking at and cleaning out all your pores and blackheads. It hurt and I was not really in the mood but she did manage to do most of my face but left my nose - the most painful bit. I walked out of there feeling relaxed and pampered.

I went down stairs and avoided the Soup Spoon today. I had lunch at the Hand Burger. It was delicious! I had the portabello mushroom burger which was basically a portabello mushroom stuffed with parmesan cheese, basil and other yummy stuff. It was impossible to pick up without it slopping all over the place so I ate my burger with a knife and fork - but it was worth it!

From there I started walking back to the hotel via the City Link mall and dropped into a pharmacy to pick up some drugs for my throat and sinuses. Back at the hotel, I spent the afternoon on the internet before getting my new book (the second in the Millennium trilogy - The Girl Who Played with Fire) and heading to the Coffee Bean.

I sat there for quite a while reading while having my decaf skim cappuccino. About 6, I decided to go on the hunt for some dinner. I really felt like spaghetti bolognaise so I settled for The Coffee Club which did a baked spag bog. It was pretty good but it came out completely covered in melted cheese so I scraped all that to the side and ate the pasta and sauce. I definitely satisfied my craving.

Back at the hotel, I watched some TV, took a nap and waited for Ross to arrive who was driving down from KL. He arrived about 10.30 and once he got up to the room we pretty much headed straight to bed.

A pretty lazy day

This morning I didn't wake up until 10 and didn't actually get out of bed until 11. The only reason I really got out of bed was that I had an appointment at 1.30. I watched some TV and took my time getting ready before walking down to Raffles City.

I went to Brow Haus to have my eyebrows threaded. They were super quick and although it was painful at least it was over in a hurry. They did a pretty good job. From there I went to The Soup Kitchen, again, for lunch. I just can't pass it up!

From there I wandered around more stores and slowly meandered my way back towards the hotel. I called into Zara and had a bit of a field day trying and buying winter clothes. I bought a beautiful black jacket and some light jumpers which will hopefully come in handy for our trip to Japan in February next year. I did feel a bit ridiculous trying on winter clothes when it was 32 degrees outside but it is best to get them while you see them.

I walked back to the hotel and had a coffee. I continued reading my book and it was hard to put down. Around 5 I started feeling really crappy. I had a major sore throat and was aching all over. So I decided to get room service for dinner as I didn't have the energy to go out.

I had a beautiful steak with some steamed veg and then got into my robe and laid on the bed watching TV for most of the night. Around 9 I got into bed and continued reading my book - this time I had to finish it so it was about midnight before I turned the light off.

If you get a chance, read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson - a great crime, thriller.

First day by myself in Singapore

Ross headed to the airport really early this morning. I stayed in bed until just before 8. I lazed about the room doing a few things online and having some breakfast. Before I knew it, it was midday. I walked down to Raffles City and had lunch at... wait for it... the Soup Spoon! It was getting a bit ridiculous now! From there I went up to the carpet shop to tell them where I was staying and when they could drop off our new rug. I had a look in a couple of shops before heading back outside.

I had looked up a few bead stores this morning so I went in hunt for one that I had read about. I found it and had a look around. It was a lot of the same stuff that I could buy in KL except they had quite a few different natural stones but they were quite expensive.

I walked back towards the hotel and had a coffee at the Coffee Bean while reading the new guide book on Tokyo that I had bought. I got back to the hotel and laid down for a couple of hours as my shoulders and back were sore from yesterday's workout - I think I over did it.

About 6.30, I decided I should go and find myself some dinner. I toyed with the idea of getting room service but it was just too expensive. I walked over to Marina Square and found the Food Loft food court. I bought some noodles with chicken for S$4.80 and a bottle of water for S$1.50 cheap as chips! I found a seat out on the balcony which had a beautiful view of the harbour.

After finishing my meal, I spent time walking around the mall. I bought some Luxe guides for some of the cities that I want to travel to next year and also bought one for Singapore. I had a coffee at Starbucks (which cost more than my dinner!) and read through a few of the guides before heading off again to look around the shops.

Once I had had enough of window shopping, I walked back to the hotel. I ran myself a bath and enjoyed a bit of quiet time reading my book in the bath before heading to bed.

A lovely Sunday in Singapore

We slept in this morning until 10 which was incredibly rare but not surprising considering tthe room had complete blockout curtains. We lazed around the room, had some breakfast and finally started to get organized to go out about 12.

We walked down to Raffles City and had a look around the stores. Again we had lunch at The Soup Spoon - it's just too good and easy! After looking around almost all the shops we wandered via the underground walkways to the Esplanade to go to the Cookie Museum which was shut yesterday because of the APEC summit.

We managed to get a seat at The Cookie Museum and ordered tea and a sampler plate of fruity cookies. They were really nice! Less sweet that normal cookies and much more natural flavours. The cookies also came with a side of fresh fruit. While we waited for our plate to arrive, a lady came over with a complete trolley full of mini cookies for us to try. We tried flavours like chocolate, orange and ginger, rose, lavender, nasi lamak, rum and raisin, and paw paw. We did get told off for taking photos inside the shop but by this time, I had already taken about 5 photos.

We walked back to the hotel in the open air rather than in the underground walkway. Back at the hotel, we rested for a little while before heading down to the gym. I tried the stepper/cross-trainer machine. It was tough but I worked hard on it for 20 minutes before doing some light weights. I then did some stretches which felt great. We were down there for about an hour.

Back upstairs we showered and got dressed and slowly walked back to Raffles City to have a drink at Brotzeit - a German restaurant and bar. Then we went next door to Double Bay, an Australian restaurant were we had amazing fish and chips, lightly battered barramundi (yum!) and a glass of savingnon blanc. We followed that with sticky date pudding. It was a great meal.

We slowly walked back along the road to the hotel. By this time, I was ready for bed so we read for a while before falling asleep.

A day in Singapore

This morning we took our time having breakfast in the apartment and looking at more hotels to stay in. But soon the noise was getting on our nerves so we headed out. We caught the MRT to Raffles City to find the rug store where I bought the rug from at the recent auction. Although I love the rug, being silk, the cats are going to destroy in no time flat and it is also a pretty small for our bedroom.

We found Eastern Carpets and I explained to the guy our situation. He said that he would be happy to exchange the carpet for us. We looked through a huge amount of rugs before picking two that we loved. One was just gorgeous but I knew it was too expensive for us. Such a shame because it was beautiful! But the other one we also loved and was much more realistic in price. So we arranged with the guy to have the new one dropped off and the old one picked up once we worked out where we were moving to.

We wandered around the mall and had some lunch again at The Soup Spoon. We caught the train back to the apartment and finally managed to find a great deal at the Pan Pacific hotel in the Raffles area. So Ross went to get our money back from the management and I packed up the bags ready for us to move out.

We jumped in a cab and headed to the hotel. They were a little surprised I guess because we had literally made the booking online 10 mins earlier but we were soon in our room - and it was so quiet! A great decision!

We relaxed in the room for a while and then about 4.30 we headed out for a drink and something to eat. We walked to the Raffles and had a Singapore Sling at the outside terrace bar before walking around the marina area ending up at Clarke Quay. It was too early for dinner but Ross and I were hungry so we had a bit of tapas at The Tapas Tree. We walked around the Clarke Quay area for a while before deciding to walk to the Esplanade Theatre area to try out The Coookie Museum - a place I have been wanting to go to for ages.

It took us forever to find out how to get to the Esplanade as all the roads were blocked due to the APEC summit. Even when we found a way in, the whole Esplanade was closed to the public - not happy! Just because Obama was coming in to town, the whole place was shut down.

So we started walking back to the hotel and ended up in Suntec City - another mall. We wandered around for ages deciding what to have for dessert. We stumbled across the Fountain of Wealth - the largest fountain in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. We were just in time for the multimedia show. It was pretty cool actually. They shined lasers on the fountain and showed a movie about Earth and the solar system. Not bad. It was over pretty quick and we moved on to find an icecream at Swensons before walking back to the hotel.

We had a nightcap in the lobby bar before heading upstairs to our room. We watched some TV then again I was exhausted and fell asleep.

Off to Singapore

This morning we woke up and got ready to go to the airport to catch our flight to Singapore. We had arranged a car to take us to the airport and we arrived a couple of hours early. We checked in at the computers and then dropped our bags and went through immigration to find Ross a book and to have some breakfast.

We had breakfast at Dome before taking the train back to the main terminal to go to our boarding gate. When we checked the board, we saw that the flight was delayed half an hour. We had a cup of tea at Harrods then finally managed to board our flight.

Once in Singapore, we headed to the Somerset apartments on Cairnhill Road. They had upgraded us to a premium 1-bedroom apartment which was nice. We went up to our room and sat down. It was so noisy! There was construction going on right outside the apartment and the windows and sliding doors did not seal properly. We weren't too happy. Ross went down to complain and see what they could do. They said that they had no other rooms but they would check with the other Somerset properties.

We had to get away from the noise so we walked around Orchard Road for a while and had a late lunch/ early dinner at the Soup Spoon - our favourite restaurant in Singapore! All of the Christmas decorations were out on the streets and also each shopping mall had been decorated in its own style. By the time we got down to ION, the lights were starting to be switched on - it was just beautiful! Singapore really know how to do Christmas!

We had a coffee at Starbucks and tried to use the internet to search for somewhere else to stay in Singapore but we had to pay for the wireless so we didn't bother. We walked back looking at all the lights - it was just gorgeous.

The APEC Summit was on in Singapore so the traffic was a bit nuts as they had closed off many of the roads for all the diplomats and leaders. We were hoping to run into Big Kev and Barack but no luck!

We walked back to the hotel and thank god the construction had stopped for the day. We watched some crap TV before heading to bed really early at 8. I was exhausted so I fell asleep soon after.

Poker-keno day

I went walking with Sonja at Lake Titiwangsa this morning. It was such a nice morning and it is a beautiful spot. We had a quick breakfast at Dome before I had to head home to do a hot turn in 20 minutes to walk out the door again to go to the chiropractor.

Today, Nick managed to crack my back really well and it felt much better. 15 minutes later I walked out and drove to Julia's place and pulled up at the same time she did. She raced in the door, got changed after her morning at Riding for the Disabled and we pretty much walked out the door again.

We drove out to Alison's place (a girl from netball) for a Poker-keno morning. We had breakfast and two glasses of champagne and orange before starting to play. We split into 3 groups of 9 with each person having a game card. The game is pretty much like bingo using playing cards - not exactly rocket science! They played it a little differently from what I was used to - basically the first one who got a line of cards won the round.

Alison had arranged 9 prizes per group. For the first round, whoever won got to pick a prize. On the second round, you got to steal everyone else's prizes if you won. I ended up with a metal Christmas wreath - not bad but definitely not worth the 150 ringgit it cost to play! The champagne was nice though.

We finished up about 1 and drove back to Julia's place. From there I headed back out to the Curve to exchange Ross' golf shirts then I drove straight home. I spent the afternoon doing nothing much before Ross got home just after 5.

We walked over to Pavilion and had dinner at Tony Roma's. I was craving a burger so we both had these massive burgers! Yum!!

We walked home and did some packing for our trip down to Singapore tomorrow before heading to bed.

Beading and Ross home!

This morning I got organized in time to head out to my second to last beading class. It was nice to see the other girls again and we spent 3 hours creating a wired pendant and some gypsy hoop earrings.

From beading, I drove out to IKEA again and had a look for some ideas to display my jewellery. I ended up buying some black frames and some off-cuts of fabric to cover the inside of the frame as well as some Christmas decoration hangers which I can use for displaying bracelets and necklaces. I also picked up a wire trash can which is an easy way to hang up my earrings for now.

I also dropped into the stationary store and found some plate stands, acrylic sign displays and a few other bits and pieces I thought would come in handy. The only thing I didn't find was a hot glue gun.

By this time it was 3.30 and I raced home to meet Ross who had just flown in from Vietnam. It was so good to see him again! He hadn't traveled for ages so having him gone for 6 days was actually quite long. We spent some time catching up on things before we had to head out to our golf lesson.

Out at golf, Eric worked with both of us on different parts of our swings. I was finally starting to get it now and hit some beautiful shots! Ross wasn't doing too bad either. Eric took me out on the putting green and showed me how to putt. This was the first time I had had anything other than a 7 iron in my hand since I started taking lessons. I was pretty proud when I got two balls straight in the hole!

We were pretty pumped after our lesson. We drove to KLCC and had a pizza at California Pizza Kitchen then headed home. We pretty much fell into bed. So nice to have Ross home again!

Discovering something new in KL

This morning started with me heading to the chiropractor for my usual appointment. I drove back into town after Nick cracked my back and walked over to KLCC to take a whole bunch of clothes to the tailor to have altered. A few things I had been meaning to take for ages and also a lot of things that are now too big. This was a nice feeling! I cannot believe how many of my clothes are now too loose or baggy. It really surprises me that I have lost so much weight that it has really affected my clothes. The down side to all this is that I no longer have boobs :-( and all my skin is flabby!

From the tailor, I walked over to Delicious to meet up with Julia where we had some lunch. After lunch we set off on our adventure. We walked to the Raja Chulan monorail station and took the monorail to Chow Kit. From there we stumbled around until we found the road that we wanted. We walked for ages in the rain, second guessing ourselves so we called into Starbucks for a coffee and asked them where we were. After finding out we were on the right road, we continued on.

We were trying to find fabric stores in Little India. We finally found them! We first had a look in a fabric department store - some beautiful fabrics and pretty reasonable prices. We walked on and looked in a few more stores and also a couple of stores that sold ribbons/ buttons etc. We were pretty exhausted by this stage and it was also time for Phil to pick up Julia so we walked back to the main intersection with Jalan Sultan Ismail and waited for Phil.

I walked back to another monorail station - Medan Tuanku - and got off at Bukit Bintang. I walked to Pavilion and had a very early dinner at YO! Sushi. I was exhausted from a day of walking in the heat but I managed to walk home where I promptly had a shower, put on my PJs and laid on the couch watching TV. It was 5.30! I fell asleep and woke up to the sound of my own snoring.

Once I woke up, I just watched TV for the rest of the night before heading to bed. But just as I was about to go to bed about 11, I saw that the cats had left me a big steaming present on the end of the bed! The cleaners had left the shower door closed where the cats litter trays are. So obviously they couldn't do their business! I cleaned up the mess but the smell was so bad that I had to sleep in the other room! Not a great end but otherwise an interesting day.

Today's photo is of Julia waiting for the monorail - the first time she has caught public transport in Malaysia!

More tooth sagas

This morning we walked FRIM a little bit later than usual because Claire, a new lady, was joining us. Claire is Andy's wife and Andy is Ross' boss. We walked FRIM a bit slower than normal and then headed to the Blue Cow for breakfast. It was nice to meet someone new and hopefully she joins us again.

From there, I dashed home and did a hot turn to get out the door again and walk to the dentist. Dr. Su was fixing my root canal with a temporary crown. It was actually quite an awful experience. My nose had been blocked so it was hard to breathe when Dr. Su took the moulds of my teeth. It was also quite gross when Dr. Su filed down my tooth to fit the crown - it smelled awful! Anyway, I put up with it and walked out an hour later with a temporary crown and another appointment for a couple of weeks. And then hopefully that will be the end of it! I had the first root canal in July - wow!

I came home after the dentist and didn't feel crash hot so I chilled out on the bed for the afternoon. In the evening, I did a bit more research for my jewellery and found some more new designs and some other ideas for displaying jewellery.

About 8, I was too hungry so I forced myself to cook dinner. I had bought a couple of giant tiger prawns yesterday from Cold Storage so I looked up a recipe for a pasta dish using the prawns. It was amazing! I simply peeled and fried the prawns for a minute in butter and olive oil then squeezed some lime juice and salt and pepper over the top. After taking them out of the pan, I fried up some chilli and garlic, added some white wine and cherry tomatoes. As this cooked down, I cooked some pasta and then added basil and the prawns back to the sauce and once the pasta was cooked I added the two together. So simple but so good! I will definitely have to remember that one.

I had dinner, watched some TV and then went to bed.

Getting serious about designs

This morning I got up reasonably early and did a few bits and pieces around the apartment. I finally fixed the curtains in our bedroom and also did a bit of "gardening" on the pots on the balcony. I rotated all the plants, cut off the dead leaves and pulled out the weeds as well as put some of the bigger pots on rollers so they could be moved around easily. About 9.30, I drove out to Great Eastern mall and did a bit of food shopping before heading home again.

I started doing some beading - trying to recreate a design I saw in Isetan. I managed to do it but it just wasn't sitting right so I left it and made myself a smoked salmon, Camembert and tomato pizza for lunch. After lunch, I got back to beading and spent some time researching new designs on the internet. I did some sketches and then tried out a few new designs. I spent hours fiddling and trying new things but I was happy with the results.

I made myself a smoked salmon and cream pasta for dinner (I had a lot of smoked salmon left after the morning tea!) and then did a bit more beading before heading to bed.

A good start to the weekend

This morning I woke up in time to go to the chiropractor. Nick adjusted my back and neck and they were much better than earlier in the week. From the chiropractor, I drove out to Ikano.

First stop was breakfast at Dome and then I walked over to the Curve and spent quite a while looking in the shops. I bought Ross a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts for golf. From there, I had a look in a few more stores including Tribeca - a Malaysian boutique that brings together a lot of Malaysian designers. They were having a moving out sale and I managed to snaggle a couple of maxi dresses for super cheap.

I also bought a polo shirt from Nike Women that was also on sale. I had a look in a little cookware store and ended up buying some loose leaf teas - apricot and gorgeous geisha. Next, I wandered around the market stalls that were set up in the walkway downstairs. I spent some time browsing a stall that sold wall stickers for your home. They had some pretty cool ideas and I started thinking about some ideas for our place. Maybe one day when the holes in the ceiling have been fixed and painted I will be able to do something new!

From the Curve, I walked back to Ikano and had a look in some stores there. I spent ages in the MPH bookstore and walked out with no books but a label maker, some laminating pouches, some cards, and a few other bits and pieces. I ducked into ACE Hardware and picked up some more containers for my beads before deciding to call it quits and head home. I had planned to look in IKEA but I just couldn't face it!

Back at home, I spent the afternoon organizing my beads in the new containers and playing with me label maker - yep, a big Saturday night! I text Sonja to see if she and Brian wanted to catch up for dinner and so we met up and drove to Pavilion where we had dinner at Al Amar - a great Lebanese restaurant! We sat outside on the balcony and when the rain came they pulled the shutters down - but my feet were still soaked.

We headed home about 9. I messed around with my beading stuff before heading to bed.

Today's photo is of one of the models in the Pavilion for Malaysian Fashion Week. Sonja, Brian and I thought that Ross would look good in the outfit :-)

New rug

This morning I headed out to pick Julia up for netball. As we were just about to leave her place, we got a text from Sam the captain to say that it was raining and therefore netball was canceled. However, we did meet up with a few of the girls at the Blue Cow for breakfast and coffee.

After dropping Julia home, I arrived at my place about 11 and headed to the gym downstairs. I thought since I was all done up in my netball stuff I might as well go do something active! I did half an hour on the elliptical trainer and then did half an hour of stretching. I thought I would give my arms and shoulders a rest seeing as they were still a little sore after earlier in the week.

I headed back upstairs, showered and then walked over to Pavilion. I got my Thomas Sabo bracelet polished and also got the bracelet that Sonja gave me replaced (I managed to undo it when I tried to make it smaller!). I also wandered around Tangs which was having a great sale. I picked up a cute dress, some knee length dressy shorts and a one shouldered white cotton top. Oh, and a couple of pairs of cheap sunglasses :-)

I wandered around a few more stores and then went to Dome for a late lunch before walking home. I had a bit of a cat nap on my bed before getting up in time to meet Sonja downstairs to walk over to Istana Hotel for the American Association of Malaysia's rug auction night. We walked around looking at the various rugs that were up for auction and then marked down our favourites. We had some food and waited for the auction to start. We ran into Debbie and Dan (Debbie had passed on the invitation) who were also looking at the carpets.

The auction began quite tentatively but soon it was in full swing. I had my eye on 3 rugs. The first one I missed out on but it wasn't my favourite so that was ok. The second one I bid on I almost had it and someone out bid me - I turned around and it was Dan! He gave up so I ended up getting the rug - a gorgeous silk rug from Afghanistan. The last rug on my list was well out of my price range :-( I also won a door prize of a tiny mini rug!

Sonja bought two rugs and did really well with the prices. At the end of the night we caught up with Debbie and Dan again as they were paying for their 4 rugs! They had bought two that I absolutely loved but didn't feel right about bidding that much without Ross being there.

Sonja rang Brian to come and pick us and our rugs up and took us home. As soon as I put the new rug on the bedroom floor - the cats were all over it. A brief fight ensued and as usual, Black staked his claim on the rug (as you can see from the photo!). By this time it was midnight so I headed to bed - happy with our new rug!

More beads (as if I don't have enough!)

This morning I slept in until 8.20 and then started my day by going to the chiropractor. I was still sore from earlier in the week and when Nick did the adjustment on my back it cracked like you wouldn't believe! I walked out feeling better.

From there, I drove to Chinatown and parked at the Central Market. I headed back to the store that sold semi-precious stones and bought some more beads including some amethyst, obsidian, pearls and all sorts of types of top drilled beads (shaped like tear drops). After blowing some cash there, I headed to the next beading store and picked up a variety of wire and tiger tail. Finally I went to my usual store and bought a whole lot of findings including charms, memory wire and more Chinese crystals to match with the existing colours I have.

I walked back past the florist street and picked up some orange lilies. I dumped all my stuff in the car and then went into the Central Market for lunch. As you can see from the photo, I had top hats - yum!

I drove home and spent the afternoon again on the bed with the cats. In the evening I made myself a goat's cheese salad and watched a lot of bad TV before heading to bed.

FRIM and fun in the sun

This morning started with FRIM then breakfast at the Blue Cow. From there, Sonja, Julia and I headed back to Julia's place to relax in the pool. We spent a couple of hours chatting and floating about before I started feeling a bit crook.

I drove home and spent the rest of the afternoon laying on my bed watching TV and napping. My throat was really sore and I wasn't feeling too good.

Ross came home just after 5 and we were supposed to go to our golf lesson together but I decided to stay home.

Today's photo is of the girls laying by Julia's pool - gorgeous!

Chiro and golf

This morning I went to the chiropractor. I saw Dr. Tammy today instead of Dr. Nick. I had been walking already this morning with Sonja and when we sat down to have breakfast, my back started to hurt. I told Dr. Tammy and she focused on the small muscles at the top of my glutes. She applied pressure to them as I slowly moved my leg left to right from the knee. It hurt a lot but I gradually began to feel the muscles relax. She said that if those muscles get tight, it can cause pain across the lower part of my back.

She did some adjustments and also found a spot on my neck that was incredibly sore. She asked me if I had been doing any overhead weights like tricep pull-downs and I told her that I had just started doing weights again this week. She said that I needed to be careful with the amount of weight I was lifting as I could easily hurt my neck. She said it is quite common in people with long necks. It can also cause the pain in the eye socket that I sometimes feel. She also had some electrotherapy on my back.

After the chiro, I headed to Solaris to buy some stuff at Cold Storage. Julia rang and said that she would come meet me for lunch. I ducked into a reflexology place for an hour foot massage and then went to Provodore to meet up with Julia. We had lunch and then she headed off while I went to do my shopping.

Back at home, I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing my new beads into containers and also working out what other things I need to buy. Ross came home just after 5 and we headed out to the driving range to do some practice. I was a bit sore from the chiro so I only hit half a bag while Ross got through his.

We drove back into town and had dinner at Delicious before heading home and pretty much straight into bed.

Today's photo is of my birthday dress. You couldn't see it too well in the other photos so I thought I would take one of it. I love it!

Bye, bye Bartons

This morning I was a little sluggish but I was still in the shower before 7am to get ready to take the Bartons to the train station. Ross had already left at 6.30am for a flight to Brunei.

I managed to pull myself together and we headed to the train station about 7.30am where we parked and I made sure that they were all set to go before saying goodbye. It had been great seeing them again, just bad luck that they weren't feeling great. Hopefully we will get to catch up with them again soon.

I drove back in the peak hour traffic and plonked myself on the couch. I made some scrambled eggs, watched Ellen and updated my blog before I could hardly keep my eyes open. About 11 I headed to bed and had a great 2 hour nap.

From the bed I moved back to the couch and didn't move for the rest of the day. About 5.30, I was starving so I cooked up a green chicken curry and planted myself on the couch again and waited for Ross to get home.

My 34th Birthday!

This morning I woke up and Ross gave me my birthday card. Inside the card, Ross wrote that I had 10 massages, 10 facials and a special treatment at Kanebo spa. Fun! We got up and headed down to the gym for a good workout for about an hour. I had some yoghurt and then showered to get ready for the champagne brunch.

Unfortunately, both Tara and JB were feeling really lousy with a stomach bug so they wouldn't be coming to the brunch. Just before 12, we opened a bottle of sparkling wine just in time for Julia to arrive. Sonja and Brian came over next and we finished the champagne before heading to the Westin for brunch. Brian drove us over and then he left to pick up Ian from his trip to Nepal.

So Julia, Sonja, Ross and I enjoyed our brunch, complete with balloon hats! The food was great and the free flowing champagne wasn't bad either. Sonja however may not think so as she disappeared for a while and when she came back we had to call Brian to come and pick her up.

Julia, Ross and I continued on. We merged with another group at the table next to us who were all teachers at Garden School where Julia's son Lewis goes. We were the last ones to leave the brunch and then we headed next door to Starhill Gallery where we went downstairs to the latern bar.

We had a couple of cocktails and Julia's husband Phil came in and met us straight off the plane from the UK. By about 7, Ross and I were about done. We walked back through the Pavillion and stopped at the German restaurant for some food before walking home.

Back at home, we couldn't get in the door. Eddie had locked it during the day and poor Tara had been trying to unlock it for half an hour to come and join us! We finally managed to unlock it :-)

We chatted to JB and Tara for quite a while before finally falling into bed just before 10. What a great birthday! Great times with great friends!

I did pretty well for presents for my birthday. Ross bought me a new digital camera, the spa package, my gorgeous dress that I wore today and a bracelet from Kenneth Cole. Julia bought me a great beach bag similar to the one she has that I loved and Sonja bought me a bracelet and two charms from Thomas Sabo. Tara and JB gave me a cute little bag made out of recycled plastic bags, a Anna Sui coin purse, and a necklace and earring set made out of recycled magazines.