Makan activity at Cafe Barbera

I have never liked going to Sunway Pyramid (masa dating-dating dulu lain because there was no place else near shah alam) only because it is so packed nowadays and it is so hard to find parking. So sometimes, we'll just have dinner at the restos located on the outside so that we can use the jockey parking service (more like park sendiri and pay RM10 for the first 5 hours).


Anyhow, this is about the makan place we went to last Sunday..Yeap, makanla apelagi :) I was first introduced to Cafe Barbera by a colleague.  The one she brought me to was the one in Bangsar..ambience wise, the outlet in Bangsar is much nicer.


We searched high and low for CB in Sunway Pyramid..jalan punya jalan..we located the place (thanks to google and no thanks to the location map/info board at SP) which is located at the Ground Floor, outside of Parkson. I don't know how to describe it..basically if you find the perfume counters in Parkson, searched for the entrance (entrance into Sunway Pyramid via Parkson) and you will find CB.


CB in a nutshell serves Italian style food.. you can google for more info. Love the coffee..cuma the SP outlet tak pandai buat air, too sweet for my liking. My fave food would be the cheesy prawn dip served with toasted baguette. Hubs ordered salmon oglio..they grilled the salmon first i think and served the spaghetti with olive oil, chilli and capers..for a person who does not like salmon, i give this dish a thumbs up. Love the capers! :)


Didn't order any desserts because we were full..i tasted one of their desserts before (banana something) and it was super delish. Last time I had beef pepperoni pizza..memang sedap!


Price wise - hmmm...a bit on the expensive side. 2 drinks, 2 main course, 1 appetizer (the cheesy prawn dip) cost us RM97. Can go eat once in a while..selalu -selalu nanti kurus wallet/purse :)

Salmon oglio and cheesy prawn dip. Yums!

Women & clothes

Finally got myself to sort our clothes out. I don't have a cupboard..we hang our office and outing attires on these racks and place them in the spare room.  The room is considered as our walk-in wardrobe.. :)
Actually I need more of these racks because I think they might collapse any time now.. 


Women.. we can never have too many clothes now can we? We just love to buy clothes right? As for me, I love to collect baju kurung. Don't know why though..It's not as if I have to attend a wedding ceremony every weekend. I have so many kurungs..I have kurungs for work (read: less bling a.k.a less sequins and glittery stuff)..I have kurungs for weddings/kenduris (read: as many blings as I like!). I also have many dresses which I'm wearing lesser and lesser by the day. Maybe I need to pack them up and send them somewhere.


I need to google for tips on how to organise stuff. I can do it, but not exactly as nice I would like it to be.
Okay, till then..toodles!

Super disorganised! His & Hers wardrobe.

Whack them onto the bed.  More like exercising my arms..penat!

Finally! Phew! Hasil of my hard work. Now they are colour co-ordinated. For now! Let's see how  long this can last. lol...

Touch 'n' Go rebate..bate..bate..bate..

Why o why didn't I redeem the Touch 'n' Go points all this while??? You see, I have been working in KL for a good 7 years now. So every single day I will have to travel from Shah Alam-KL-Shah Alam. Besides the RM1.10 toll at Batu Tiga, I use NPE on a daily basis as well because I hate the traffic at Federal Highway. So in a month I normally top up the card between RM270 to RM300. More now because I have the RM1.40 Guthrie toll to go in and out of my housing area.. nak ke Shah Alam area lama pun kena bayar toll.


And only yesterday, did I merajinkan diri to claim the toll rebate. You just need to go to the nearest pejabat tol (what do they call it actually?) and go to the designated counter, bagi card to the person. The person will check the rebate amount and if you agree to claim that round, she/he will include the amount immediately into your touch 'n' go card. Voila! Easy peasy! 
I was surprised to see that I have RM155 worth of rebate. They do have a maximum period of months for claiming..if tak claim within 6 months (someone told me, too lazy to google and find out) the redemption points will be burned to ashes. Ah! So I have lost so many ka-ching all this while! 

Mental note : rajin-rajinla claim rebate toll.. kalau tak diri sendiri yang rugi :p

When you have a car...

you will need to spend on a whole lot of stuff. Put aside the routine service that's required from time to time, depending on what car you have, on average we have to spend about RM200 to 400 per service (when there are no major changes needed).

So an on annual basis, I know I have to fork out the ka-ching for these three important things:

1. Renewing my driving licence = RM 60 for 2 years + (RM 15 because the next renewal date is made on my birthday) = RM75

2. Renewal of auto insurance. This time I went with Etiqa as it was the nearest branch available. I did go through MyEg but the system was giving me all sorts of problems that I decided to heck with it, baik pergi over the counter terus. = RM 572.44
3. Renewal of roadtax = RM 70 + RM 2 (service charge or something) = RM 72

Number 1 and 3 were done at the local post office. I just can't do it through MyEg..can't take the system that was always trying to test my patience. Sepuluh juta kali masuk info for my auto insurance tak boleh jugak. So to be safe, I opted for OTC service for all 3.

In total, just this month alone I spent RM720 on those 3 things. It's a known fact for all car owners out there, nak drive sana sini mesti ready-readykan the moolahs every year :) I'm glad I drive a small local car. Can't afford a beemer yet. Lol. I would faint at how much I would have to spend if I have one. :)  

Wonder how much you guys spend on yours? An annual exercise that does not make me slim, but makes my purse slim(mer) instead. 

Toodles!

Yeay! Completed my first hurdle of the year :)

Women & hair

There is no doubt that women are vain beings. Kalau tak banyak pun, sikit mesti ada. Tipula kalau lalu shopping mall ke, when you go inside a lift and see the mirror that you never check yourself out. I do that..nampak cermin automatic kena tengok. On my part, I would say that I want to make sure that everything is where it should be..no wardrobe malfunctions. Hehe..


Well, hair and I...hmm.. Sometimes my hair is my own enemy. Don't know when I can stop going for treatments. I envy those with straight or less problematic hair :p
I have to do some touch up on my rebond hair twice a year. Yes, I am blessed with frizzy and degil hair..got it from my dad's genes. Sungguhlah time and money and energy consuming. Tapi kalau tak buat..this hair of mine, will be poofy and so hard to care for.


For some women, they go for the routine visit to the stylist either for some hair treatment, the usual wash + cut + blow, perming, colouring etc. We just want to look good..for our own self and/or our partners (read boyfriend or husband) hence it's a norm to be spending just a little bit on our crowning glory.  It depends on the needs and wants of each person. For me, dah bukan wants dah..memang its a need to go through this grueling session twice a year. 
Here is what I have to go through each and every single time. Dah tak heran dah..siap boleh discuss dengan stylist how best we could get through the session. hehe.. Roughly the whole process will take about 4 to 4.5 hours.


1. wash
2. the stylist will put some cream on the hair. leave it for 10 minutes
3. wash again
4. the stylist (sometimes 2 stylists will do my hair at the same time..rambut tebal!) will use the hot iron to straighten my hair. This takes the LONGEST time. 30 minutes macam tu.
5. apply the cream that neutralises the first cream. 
6. Under the hair steamer for 15 minutes
7. wash AGAIN
8. Blowdry
9. Iron one last time. Tapi the recent one that I went to skipped this part sebab ramai customer. Geram betul. So if lepas cuci in a few days tak straight I will go back to them to redo. 


So here is a few pictures of step 5 to 8. Didn't take the ironing part because I was shy..nak snap sana sini, segan. :)

After the ironing. Boleh casting horror flick ni. 

Erykah Badu lookalike? 

They put on some treatment cream before...

....steaming my hair. I like this part. So soothing :)


AND Voila! The 4 hours torture's done. And no, I was too lazy to snap the end result piccie. Straight hair je, nothing  extravagant :)

Women & handbags

Or should I say, Diana and handbags.  One of my weakness is seeing those lovely handbags loitering about. Adeke handbags loiter about? D-uh. Anyhoo, I just love handbags..and I love them big ones because I keep a lot of stuff.  There wasn't any yummy handbags at JPO (yummy and affordable..kalau nak suruh beli Michael Kors ke Burberry tu, memang takla).  I used to be able to afford buying Coach (way back when I was working overseas and didn't have to pay for the house yet)..and I didn't buy them online. Maybe because I have never had the courage to do so. Wonder if there is any 100% trusted online sellers out there? I mean, I'd buy through recommendation, tapi nak surf cari online seller sendiri tu might be a bit hard.


So anyway, I wanted to try online buying for the first time when I saw these. I LOVE them..especially the first one, the CK. Tapi boleh cepat sangat habis..darn it! And she won't be restocking..aah, what luck. Probably my purse said , 'this is my lucky day, tak keluar ka-ching I harini.'

The normal bag style that I'd go for. I can imagine myself fitting a lot of  stuff trash in here..pun habis stock. What luck!

The design that I have waited so long for..sob sob sob..someone was way faster than me in getting this. 

Liking things and wanting to have them (or any other unimportant stuff..I mean, how many bags should a girl has right?) is all right..As long as we have the money to do the purchase. Membeli secara berhemah. I always try to abstain from using my credit card. Will use the CC if let's say I can pay the full amount in the next few days after the purchase. Tapi kadang-kadang ada jugak terbabas..then the next month tu bayar jelah lebih sikit to make amends for overspending. Note to self: Money does not grow on trees Diana!


So there, that's the end of my bimbo-ish entry for today. Yeah, if I keep doing this much longer, my hair would probably turn blonde. :) Till next time. Toodles!

Women & Shoes

Gibberish (read: bimbo-ish) post alert.  I have nothing else better to do than snapping a picture of a few of my shoes. (I know a friend who follows in Imelda Marcos' footstep.banyak betul kasut dia sampai berpinar mata tengok..whoaaa).
Anyhow, I like shoes. BUT, I am very choosy..maybe because I cannot wear heels nowadays after I had that plantar fascitiis phase. Thank goodness it is gone now (but let's hope it will be gone for good, sebab googled that it might come back). Tapi I still do not like to wear heels.


That pair of black sneakers, I bought them when Syamsul was still working at Carrefour Cheras at a shop called Club 21. Masa pakai terus fell in love..love the designs on the shoes actually. 
I only have 1 pair of office shoes..and that's the scholl shoes. If anyone knows how i can get rid of smelly shoes, please tell me. I just have this (yes gross) problem of smelly feet = smelly shoes, especially court shoes (kasut fully bertutup) because my feet berpeluh selalu. Memang problem dari dulu..siap cuci kaki dengan limau nipis lagi ok. 


Rest of them are my jalan-jalan shoes. I have a few pairs here and there which is not in the picture..in the car..and I think I have another pair of that Elle sandals in purple..think they are at my in-laws place. I normally do not like sandals that I need to hook when wearing, tapi sandals at Charles and Keith JPO were just calling my name. Hence, I bought 2 of them. Love the bling.

I am looking to buy another pair of that Vincci black pair of wedges but in cream. It's so comfy that I can go shopping wearing 'em. You can't blame a girl for liking shoes..(and bags and clothes....and accessories..).  Heck, my hubs is lucky that I do not like gadgets. All the apple stuff and whatnot..I don't have any feeling towards them. 


So there, the end of my bimbo-ish entry for today. Lol. 

These shoes are made for walkin'...
First time I ever had an animal print pair of sandals.Lol.  Shoes, shoes, shoes :)

The lost (and found) memory

I thought I lost them for good. I could not even find the negatives (yes, back then we received the negatives) so I knew I could not reprint the pictures.  One fine day, as I was going through my personal box (1 out of dozens of boxes..haha..bila nak re-organise pun tak tau la), I found my graduation pictures! Finally!

I feel so attached to the pictures because it's proof that, while you may not do good in school, a person may be able to bloom during the Uni years or even during the career period.

To reflect back, I had a tough time in school. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was in one of the best boarding schools (sekolah berasrama penuh) known as Sekolah Seri Puteri, SSP for short. Tapi during my years there..I didn't really feel the connection with the school and you know, how things worked. I hated schedules. I disliked the preparatory classes (every afternoon from 3-4.30pm and from 8pm to 10.30pm). The prep class was supposed to be the time and place for us students to complete our homework and do revisions you see. I didnt like it.


I became such a pemalas. I don't know why. Every year I asked my mum to changed schools and go back to Shah Alam..tapi mum being mum, tak bagilah. PMR trial result was disastrous. Actual result - a shocker. Ingat tak lepas. 7As 1B. Memang tak jangka because I was not a good student back then. English je ok because I loved the subject.


SPM. Trial result telah membuatkan I dipanggil masuk bilik meeting. Face to face with the teachers alongside other students yang 'performed' like me. Kena sound dengan cikgu-cikgu yang were disappointed with us. Not too sure if I was like a lost cause back then. At an SBP..you are expected to perform, that's why you were selected to be there in the first place. Tu yang made me felt so pressured.


Result day - The discipline teacher (who was famous for looking garang and was very stern) came to me and said this sentence that I remember till today ' Tunku, you are a miracle.' Then she walked away. :) From Sijil Am Pelajaran (SAP) aggregate 26 to Grade 1 Aggregate 11..siapa sangka? I really pushed myself the last 3 weeks towards SPM. And I walked away happy and selamat dari kena kejar mummy dengan penyapu.. :) 

In University..I guess learning add maths in English and other subjects made it easier for me to comprehend. Gambar ni is very very precious to me because I know I can do wonders. Only 3 of us walked away with the sash on that day.  Simpan ni..boleh jadi contoh dekat future children. InsyaAllah. :)

Moral of the story - if you don't do well in school, there will always be a chance to redeem yourself either in Uni or during your working/career period. Don't lose faith. 'Forget about the consequences of failure. Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success.' -Denis Waitley-

I wished they had let us keep the sash. Would have paid for it :)  6 semesters of Dean's List and finally Anugerah Naib Canselor (what is it in English..not too sure). This was not without a lot of stressful times, sweat, determination and prayers.

Johor Premium Outlet Trip and Review

We took a picture here to show the queue at Coach sebenarnya. When we arrived in the morning tak ada Q pun..kekeke..

Hubs in front of the Xmas tree made of plastic bottles at the hotel.

In the car, with not much to do..ambik gambar la apelagi. Mum can't be seen :p

With all the buzz around the new hip and happening place called JPO..we decided to check it out and made it a  2 days 1 night family trip.

Because of our kiasuness..we made a move from Shah Alam..(my sisters and mum bunked in our house so that it is easier to jalan pagi) by 6.30am.  We made many (I tell you, MANY) pit-stops along the way. What do you expect when you have 4 ladies in the car. But Hubs was all right with this. Love ya B.

We had breakfast in Seremban..and then after about 4 hours or so, we reached JPO. I think it was about 10.40am. Sampai-sampai terus semua pergi restroom. Mum, well, she saw the foodcourt and decided that she will just stay there for the whole few hours.

So what is there at JPO? Besides Coach yang memang I think ramai orang tunggu-tunggu..there are many many shops available. My sisters and I went in and out of nearly every shop (except for Michael Kors, Coach, Burberry and the likes)..for Guess, they had many handbags cuma tak ada menarik hati. Tapi bila fikir balik (or actually when I compared with Subang Parade)..harga lebih kurang je, takla murah sangat pun.
Nevertheless, Hubs and Kak Ita both bought watches from Guess. Me, I was a good girl. I didn;t buy anything.

For Charles and Keith, this was my fave spot..The bags tak banyak choice maybe sebab dah ramai orang beli yang best-best..tapi the shoes..ooh la la! too die for.. we bought like 6 pairs i think of sandals from there coz they were freaking cheap! One of mine retailed at RM150++ but was RM44.50 when I bought it.. memangla berbaloi.

so we went a bit crazy in Charles & Keith, but other than that..tak berapa sangat. Fossil were selling watches at an affordable price..memang rasa nak beli, tapi sebab ramai sangat orang and that the watches available were similar to what I already have, so tak beli pun.

There were a few shops that I felt like 'kenapa la bukak kedai tapi takde barang menarik ni?membazir space betul'. In a nutshell, you can go there just to see what it is all about..tapi jangan expect too much. I guess also because they are just starting..so a lot of improvement is needed.

Facility wise - silalah tambah restrooms ok. I didnt get a chance to go the second time because towards the afternoon there were TOO MANY PEOPLE! Could not even go into the restroom at all. And also, JPO had this serious case of FLIES when we were there.. my friend said sebab ada kawasan bela ayam somewhere around there, so perhaps all the flies decided to seek (SHOP?) solace at JPO. Nasib baik tak masuk mulut bila menguap.

Anyhoo, also pitied my mum for waiting for us for so long..sorry morry. Your daughters jadi cuckoo bila dilepaskan shopping..mwhahaha..

Around 2, we checked into Le Grandeur Palm Resort Johor which is about 10 minutes from JPO. RM188 per room with no brekkie. It's okay..we had a good hearty breakfast at Mcd (near the Senai Airport) before we left for KL.

All in all.. JPO is so-so.. but the trip with the family was fun, fun ,fun! :)

Gabba Gabba

Ignore the title..It's just one of those days where it is almost impossible to figure out a smashing-out-of-this-world title for today's post.


It's not news..I've been ignoring the blog for a looooong time now. No reason. Just pure laziness.


So it is 2012 already. And no, I don't have any long or short list of new year's resolutions or any carried forward resolutions from last year's. I just go with the flow. I don't want to stress myself if I don't achieve any of the resolutions..


Anyhoo..food is still my greatest frenemy. I love to eat but all those yummy goodnesss always end up at the wrong places. Boo hoo! Anyway, I think I have ran out of good joints around Shah Alam. Just last night we ate at this place named Ban-J. First - look at the crowd. If there is close to zero crowd then don't eat there. But I ignored this number 1 rule. Then look at the menu - if the menu is like from only 1 to 10..and many cancellations in between..maknanya ada possibility memang tak sedap tempat ni.

I ordered mihun sup while Hubs ordered kuey teow goreng special (la konon!).  His tasted like the kuey teow got burnt before it was served.. while mine..let's just say it was inedible. Even Hubs ate a spoonful and decided that it was a no go. So memang la tak sedap langsung.

Verdict - Mental note : tak payahla makan kat Ban-J ni lagi..Memang tak sodap langsung. Air teh ais pun boleh fail.