9th JULY 2011 - Freedom Day

The following post is strictly WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

I have no intention of getting myself into trouble by writing about what is going on with my country. My blog is usually about the on goings of my own life and what I have encountered - to cure the curiosity of my ardent readers. And today it is no different.

I am sure most you out there would know what is BERSIH 2.0 (and I am assuming you do as it has already gotten worldwide media coverage). I am personally against rallies. I see those in other neighbouring countries doing so, and I thought, why would anyone want to waste their time walking on the street with banners, protesting against someone or somethings, wearing colored shirts, yelling, causing massive traffic, causing panic, creating chances for the arm forces to fight amongst its people instead of protecting them...

The weeks and days leading to the BERSIH 2.0 rally on 9th July 2011 still made me feel the same. I was against it. I could not be bothered. I just want to get to work and go home. But on 9th July 2011 my feelings took a 360 degrees u-turn.  I finally understood.

When I saw the videos and pictures, tweets and facebook shoutouts on this rally, I understood and could not help but agree with the objectives of BERSIH 2.0. It is all about FREEDOM, FAIRNESS and UNITY for all Malaysians. Who would not want it? The fact that I travel so much to Singapore lately, I cannot help but to compare between these 2 countries. How I hope that one day Malaysia could be like Singapore. Clean, orgainzed and most importantly I feel safe in that country. But I am still a Malaysian and I am proud to be one. I love my country still.

I am amazed with Bersih 2.0 as the voice of the cause has spread throughout the world, with all Malaysians gathered together on 9th July 2011 across the globe from Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, HK, Europe and other continents! I was kinda overwhelmed with the unity shown by all Malaysians wherever they are on this day. Will this day be marked in our history book?

I came across this video, a theme song for Bersih 2.0 and I must say, it is pretty good.







Note: Again, yours truly here emphasized that the above post is strictly without prejudice and it is purely on the writer's feelings as a true Malaysian. On this day, 9th July 2011, she did not participate in any rallies but was sitting at home, spending quality time with her family, unaware of the actual ongoings in down town KL until later on...from reading The Star portal, Facebook and Twitter page.

Crazy RoadBlock!

2310hrs. 8th July 2011. All roads leading into KL are blocked and the radio has just announced that by midnight, the roads will be closed. C.L.O.S.E.D! And that's like 50minutes to go!

We drove out of Singapore since 1708hrs and we are still on the road (here in Sg Besi) and the minutes will turn into hours..when will we ever reach back home? I wonder...

Rallies, demonstrations, are these really necessary? I just want to get home. I just want to get back to my baby boy whom is fast asleep unaware that his mummy is still stuck on the road at this time of the night...

As I type here, my driver (a.k.a boss) got out of the car and posed for our camera in front of the rows of non-moving automobiles! What a hillarious move! You can imagine how bad the traffic is as we barely move an inch.

I wonder time will we get home. Anyone want to take a guess?

p/s- I got home at 5 minutes past midnight... (which means I was on the road for 7 hours!)

The Grove

Attending a property launch and subsequently bull dozing your way in getting the unit that you set your eyes upon can be really exciting! Imagine being in a bidding arena or simply, in a night market!

Couple of days ago, I, on behalf of my company was invited to attend the launch of YTL's new development site - The Grove at Lakefields (Sg Besi). The night before, I did some research, went through the site plan, planned ahead and strategize which unit to grab as I was number 25 in que (we had arranged our men to que overnight at the site and they had been queeing since in the afternoon the day before the launch! Yet there were still 24 people ahead of us!).

Friday, 24th June 2011. At 7.45am, dressed down in jeans and a comfortable peach colored blouse, I head over to Lakefields and took over the que. I sat firm at no.25 awaiting for the actual registration to begin. I was in deep thoughts, secretly hoping that the 24 people in front of me would not select the unit that I want (I aimed for any one of the units that faces east and is away from the water tank! And there were only a handful of them).

At 9.00am, the organizers gave us the cue. The excitement began....



The "buyers" rooted at their respective chairs...labeled with self-made que numbers
(pretty well organized at this point)

My lucky number





The first batch went in
I stood outside looking in...turning on my eagle eye



The SemiD house model







A vision of how the entrance would look like when its completed









The Grove, a YTL development at Lakefields, Sg Besi





We only have 1 minute to choose the unit we want!
The way we were behaving,
it felt like we were in a "pasar malam" (night market)!








In less than 1 hour, only 4 units left...a clear sell out!



Well, did I manage to achieve my goals? Sure I did! It was an amazing experience! I can't wait to see how it would look like in a few years time when its fully developed, with the beautiful lake next to it...!

Love it! Want it! Invest in it!

Watch this space!

Singapore!

Here I am sitting in my apartment blogging for the first time right here in Singapore. Its the final day of my biz trip and am counting the hours before my lunch appointment with a client.

Singapore is a great country. If I am being brutally honest, this country is way more organize than my dear home country and not to mention, I feel alot more safer here too. Oh, the Great Singapore Sale is on too! I have already contributed a significant amount of money to the economy as I have dwelled into the shopping frenzy here (RM1K in the space of 2 hours! I have gone utterly mad I must say)!

I was at Fullerton for dinner last night and the view of Marina Bay Sands was spectacular. The laser beam show accross the river bank made me in awe as I chew away the racks of lamb and sip my glass of Heineken. I have been to this great country many times and I used to have my reservations. But for the first time yesterday, I began to have a soft spot for this nation.

Last night, my Chairman asked me, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years? I looked at him and thought for a while. He gave me his answer about what he thought of me and his plans for me in the next 5 years. What more can I say? It is an answer that I wanted to answer....

Got to go now. Till then....see you all back in KL!

The Heat and the Holiday

2335hours. I confined myself in my bedroom for the want of the chill cool air blowing out from my Daikin aircond. I am even contemplating to stripping down to my birthday suit as this hot weather is about to kill me any moment now. I am thinking of snow...ice....winter wonderland...or just RAIN! Why is Kuala Lumpur so terribly extremely hot these days? I think with 3 airconds blowing to my face would not even reduce the heat that I am feeling right now! Okay...Cindy is exaggerating again...but its true I tell ya! Its freaking hot here in KL!

The heat had probably fried my brain up just as much as Hubby's. We both decided to head to a far away land for our first winter holiday. Tickets purchased and visa approved! Hooray! I am going to start shopping for winter clothings for our little Hayden in preparation for the holiday in few months time! :D

There is only 1 thing I am worried about - Will Hayden be all right travelling this long distance on a flight? He definitely loves travelling by car, but by plane...I am not too sure as we had a nightmare when we brought Hayden with us to Brunei few months back and he cried (scream to be precise) in the plane throughout the journey. Well, lets bring on the milk and the pacifier and toys and his baby BLANKET! Mummy and Daddy will work together as a team to make little Hayden be as comfortable as posible. Fingers crossed...




Hayden seems fascinated with the water fountain
Hope he is just as fascinated with the clouds and the blue sky

The Pirates Sailed into MidValley Shore...!

Have you watched the Pirates of the Caribbean? If you have, then have you been to Mid Valley recently? I was in total awe when I saw this ...

A replica of the ship from the POTC constructed in the middle of the concourse! Who ever that did this surely would do Captain Jack Sparrow (and the movie producers) proud! To Mid Valley, the Management and the architect/ contractor/ designer and whoever that matters, WELL DONE! It looks absolutely, amazingly, unbelievably real!

30 is the New 20!

In continuation of my earlier post, as I am celebrating (still am!) my third decade of life, firstly, I thank God for the years and the life that he has bestowed upon me. We all should be thankful for making through year after year of our birthdays as life journey can be unpredicatable. We just got to brave ourselves for the tide that may come once in a while and live appreciatively for the things that God has blessed us with.

I woke up this morning at 8am in a daze. I wanted to continue my precious sleep (as I got home at 2am!) but how could I resist the temptation of kissing my 2 sweethearts when hubby brought our son into my arms and gave me a sweet birthday kiss (Hayden kissed me too! Though kinda sloppy but I love it)!

Hubby and I made our way to the Gardens for a movie marathon in the afternoon. Pirates of the Caribbean and Priest. We ended up watching POTC only and ditched Priest as we wanted to go home to spend some time with our son before heading to our twosome candle-lit dinner downtown.

By 7pm, we dressed to our best and headed to Cafe Cafe, a romantic french fine-dining restaurant located along Jalan Maharajalela (next to Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka). This restaurant has won many awards and is popular with its small but cozy, dimly lit set up and its glorious food. I must say, they got it absolutely right! It is beautiful.

Cafe Cafe, KL

First course: Pan seared Foie Gras
Love it! Its really really good!

2nd course: Clams with wine
Very generous with the amount of clams given.

Main course: Racks of lamb
Lamb cooked to its perfection. Absolutely delicious!

Dessert: Original chocolate cake (one of their signature dessert)
As you cut it down in the middle of the cake, hot and creamy chocolate oozes out from within. Gorgeous!

Thank you hubby for taking me to this beautiful restaurant! I'm very happy!
30 is indeed the new 20. I feel fresh and young and womanly sexy!