.:Simply Funtasy:.

This happened few weekends ago. I joined the 'almost' same event last year , and this time, Siew Ching cancelled the Women's Double and decided on the Mixed Double category instead. When I got the news, I asked around for a partner until Faiq, a buddy whom I played badminton with in Kuala Perlis asked if I'm interested to partner up. Of course I am!! ^^ The tournament was on Sunday, and I started to feel some tingling pain on my right elbow, my dominant hand, during a badminton session on Wed. I suspect it was a 'Tennis Elbow' injury that I got from intensive training (which is not so intensive anyway) - which turns out it was probably from the heavy lifting on Tues in the gym, I lifted heavier than I usually did that day and my forearm swayed. I went to UniMAP clinic to get the letter for physiotherapy session, received some treatment along with a hotpack and rested since then. The tournament started at 1pm. It was a lot more fun as compared to last...

After a (two if you read the Mandarin version too) solemn post, I'll refresh this blog with something else to lighten the mood a little. My birthday was on two weekends ago. It was a rather quiet birthday this year, a very simple celebration with the one I love :) Started the day early with a badminton friendly match with UTAR.  I think I might have a stage fright, or maybe in this case, match fright because I performed miserably =.= Must be because hardly been in competition these days. Us girls only compete in Women Double and Mixed Double, so after our games, the UTAR girls requested for another game for fun, and I played so much better haha! Even when I played with a bet in hand also OK ar *chet* Hon making a spontaneous trip to the North for me, and we spent two days in Alor Setar, which I finally had the chance to explore the place in depth. We stayed at a Rainbow Hotel near Alor Setar Mall, had a coffee at a café near town, visited the newly opened Aman Centra...

Ah-Ma as in ‘grandmother’, Batnar as in a place’s name – where she’s from. Ah-Ma Batnar aka my paternal grandmother passed away on 19 th Aug, Wednesday, aged 95. That day, I was busy preparing for the 8.30am badminton tournament in UUM that I missed my mom’s call at 6.30am.  The boys who are long-time tournament participants advised us to switch off our phone to avoid distraction. I didn’t read any messages until after I finished my miserable first single game.  After losing the first single game, I finally had the time to look at my phone and the first thing that came to my mind after I saw the message dad sent was:”Yikes~ What about the next game?” At that moment, I wasn’t feeling sad or anything, instead, I felt troubled that I might not be able to play on the next game which was on Friday. After settling everything, I went back home that night. I still wasn’t feeling sad or anything even when I saw her in the coffin, but Wee Shirlyn creep the heck ...

...我婆婆/祖母的称呼。 Ah-Ma 就婆婆的意思，Batnar是地方名，她的老家。 我们家（爸爸那side）都是这样，以地方名叫人的 ，因为亲戚都住不同地方。 每当我跟人家说我的祖母是住甘榜里的时候，重点通常都会放在‘祖母’这个称呼上，他们都会说：“你不是在说你的婆婆吗？怎么说起你的Ah-joh （曾祖，婆婆的父母亲）呢？” ... ... ...好多人对亲戚关系称谓都欠佳呀~~ *****     *****     *****     *****     ***** 话说回来，Ama在阳历八月十九日去世，享年95 岁。 那天，我正准备八点半早上的羽毛球赛。一整个早上冲凉吃早餐什么的，看到娘亲六点半的 misscall 有点奇怪可是没时间回电，连信息也没看到。 ( 比赛前他们男生叫我们先把电话关掉以免影响情绪，他们都出赛出习惯了所以我很乖很听话 ) 结束了那场惨不忍睹乱七八糟的单人赛后，我才有时间看电话。 看到信息的那一瞬间，我当下第一个反应是：“啊 ~ 那接下来的比赛怎么办 … ” 算我不孝吧，当下心里除了一丝丝的伤感，有着更大的释怀 – 她终于解脱了。 星期五出殡，接下来的比赛也没得比了，一切事情交代就绪，当晚就回家了。 因为 Ah-Ma 在家去世，照老人家的意思，灵堂摆在家。 感觉真的很不孝很奇怪，看到 Ah-Ma 遗容我也没有太大的感伤，反而是黄智菱的反应倒是让我们吓一跳。

Route: Klang - FGS Dong Zen 佛光山东禅寺 - Lover's Bridge Tanjong Sepat - Pantai Kelanang - Bukit Jugra - dinner at Pulau Carey My parents and Shirlyn were in town on Raya. Chen proposed a day trip (to tire them off haha) and up until the last minute, we decided on South Klang - with Hon made an awesome layout plan. They came to Klang for a Bak Kut Teh brunch, then our first stop was FGS Dong Zen in Jenjarom. Then all the way to Tanjung Sepat ...

Two weekends ago (12th July), I joined the Laneige 21st Anniversary Kbeauty Workshop at AEON Queensbay Mall with Theresa and Jynn. It's easy enough to join: just purchase a RM50 fully redeemable Laneige voucher - but limited to first 50 customers only so you have to be quick! They said participants will get a Party Pack worth RM240, we'll see about that. Two weekends before the workshop, I was in KL when Jynn left a lengthy voice WhatsApp messages. Theresa informed her about the workshop and she forwarded the message to me. While waiting in a line at Sushi Mentai Taipan, I said yes and three of us were on! Good thing they built a very close relationship with Ann, the sales person at Queensbay, so she reserved three vouchers for us (which Theresa quickly went to redeem the next day). There are two sessions for the workshop, the morning and the evening session. We joined the morning session which started around 11AM. Participants are entitled to a tarot card reading sess...

As per title... The promoting was pretty aggressive, but the price of RM35 did scare me off a little, until one weekend the price was dropped down to RM10 - which was literally free anyway as we get a RM10 Watsons voucher and the shirt was literally free! We went on Saturday for girls' day out aka shopping. Carbo-loading the day before  As on the ticket (and certificate we received during registration), the time stated was 6am and the registration started at the ungodly 5.30am. Yikes I love fitness but I don't love the morning events.

It's been two years since I went to Sadao or Danok, so when Johnson talked us into going to the border, I was excited! It was the first trial so the trip itinerary was very simple - Sadao's Tesco Lotus, and Danok's Mookata/steamboat buffet. Five of us went: me, Hon (who came up north to surprise me, again), Hoon, Johnson and Shasha. The good thing is Shasha is a Thai, so it made things a lot easier in terms of communicating hehe, rather than Johnson's "Chan mai kao jai" (I don't understand) all the time hahaha! I was down into confusion again because during my last visit , Sadao and Danok are a same place with two different names; and this time, I was told they were literally two different places afterall (that's what I thought too all the time)! Argh! So I was right all along then!

The event was so fun it deserves an insta-post LOL! I joined Fit Malaysia Perlis yesterday (13th June 2015) in UiTM, Arau - the 10km cycling event and Zumba in the evening as assistant. 5 of us friends joined the morning event, I was the only one cycling. Jabatan Belia dan Sukan (JBS) Perlis co-organized the event with Fit Malaysia. I first knew about this Fit Malaysia Perlis event was during the Perlis Marathon where they set a booth there. The 'FREE registration' attracted me, and they have cycling event (!!), so I signed up for the 10km FM (Fit Malaysia) Ride. Free mah, not going also tak rugi LOL. The event started at 7.30am. The bad news was I couldn't sleep on the previous night, perhaps because too excited or simply anxiety or whatnot, I slept only at about 2.30am and I had to get up at 6am. FML. It was foldie's first not-really-competition event and I was excited!! The previous visit to the bike shop fixed the tight mid-body folding hinge so I could eas...

I joined Perlis Marathon last Sunday, 10km category. It was my first running event (OK I joined school's merentas desa "cross outskirt" in secondary school some 14 years ago) and OMG damn nervous!! There's few categories in this marathon: 5km, 10km and 21km. Since it's the "first" (some said second), they played safe and started with half marathon this year. Next year they will put in full marathon. However, they managed to pull in luxurious sponsorship too, RM11,000 for 21km winner, RM8,000 for 10km winner, and the lucky draw grand prize a Kia Cerato KX 1.6!!! (won by a politeknik lecturer who joined the 5km run) As a beginner in running event (and I'm not really a running person), 5km was a safer option, but too bad the starting time was 10am!! We would die of heatstroke before we reach the first water station I suppose under Perlis sun. So all of us (me, Johnson and FH) decided on 10km which started at 9am. We quickly Early-Bird registered...

Link to Part 2: Wang Lang Market I went to Bangkok recently (the Labor Day + Wesak long holidays combo). I am currently busy with work so the blog post about this trip will be updated very slowly. Four of us went: Me, Hon, FC and YS. Two guys two gals combo, the other two are not couple. ***   ***   *** Itinerary: Day half: - flight and checked in Marriott Vacation Club at The Empire Place Day 1: - Wang Lang Market - Silom Market Day 2: - Union Mall - Or Tor Kor Market Day 3: - Talaat Nang Loeng Market - Bobae Market Day 4: - day trip to Mahacai + Maeklong Railway Market + Amphawa Floating Market Day 5: - Chatcucak Weekend Market - Central World - Platinum Mall etc - Khao San Road Day 6: - Klong Toei Market - Emporium, EM Quatier - dinner at Cabbage & Condom Day 7: - Balik Back Home 回家~~~ Expenses: Overall 19,000Baht for 2 person + 40USD per pax for the accommodation inclusive of 2,400Baht in public expenses f...

Silver Lining#1: I have a couple of dearest friends :) I was in Bangkok when I was told via FB messages my house flooded again, and this time around it was the worst as the whole (upstairs) house was in water and downstairs house also kena . Quickly asked few friends (Johnson, WJ and FH) to help me check it out and elevate anything that were on the floors, especially the mattresses. Then it happened again few days later, downstairs friends BY and Voon checked my roof and found puddles of rainwater due to stuck pipe. They helped clear the rubbish, even contacted owner to do something about it. All these done while I was 1000km away. Silver Lining #2: I have the best boyfriend in the world :) Hon makes the Bangkok trip a pleasant one despite some slight (or should I say "very" -_-) unpleasant scenario happened. Silver Lining #3: I have the best labmate ever :) Came back to step on the sticky floor, spent whole day mopping cleaning and sweating, came in the lab to find a lov...

Just got back from conference in Penang last Tuesday. Hon surprised me again by driving all the way to Penang after his 扫墓 in the Sunday evening heheee and he sent me back. Wanted to sweep and mop the floor on Wed morning, aka April Fool Day, but since Hon ushered me to go to lab instead, I postponed it. When I got back that night after badminton, the horror -_____- (All pictures taken in the next morning) That reflection is not because of shiny floor, it's all water :( I stepped into the staircase up to my house and there's a small pool. I switched on the lights and all the stairs were wet. How is this possible!?

This happened way before CNY, in the early of the year. I went out for a relaxing ride on that Sunday, which so happened to bump into a pakcik  who plays badminton on the same session as I do. We exchanged Hi's and he was surprised to see (and eventually recognize) me LOL. The rainy season is over, and here comes the spring season where sun begins to get very big, hot and sunny, and it's the post harvest season. It isn't a great time to cycle during this post-harvest season as the color is not attractive at all. Its either dull yellow (dead crops), brown (dried plots) and/or, worst, black (burnt fields). Plus the bad air!! The fastest way to get rid of all the unwanted crops and prepare the field for a new planting season is to burn the field, acres and acres of them. It is one of the disastrous season to come by with but too bad, so far there's no any other 'economical' way of solving this problems. Agricultural and environmental folks, good luck!! ...

时间过得真快，都已经正月十九了呀！！ 今年的农历新年我过得朴素简单又宁静。 在马六甲度过了两天一夜甜蜜情人节，也不算宁静因为人山人海到处都是人，该吃的都有吃就对了。 正月初一到婆婆家拜年，也在这里过了一夜。事隔多年哪~~最后一次在这里过夜少说都有十年了。 在树林里祖屋过夜是一大享受。前一晚我们仨卧在一起看Gone Girl，清晨起来都是晨风吹袭，很是舒服。 既然都在这里了，当然要去河边走走咯。十二月大水灾，这里也不例外。以下两张照片，那个时候都是满满的水。。。 你看，水淹到这么高啊~~ 而且屋子离河水有500米之距离呀~~ 至少三寸的干泥巴等待着被清理 接着都是简单的探望亲戚。大多数家里都遭水灾侵袭，脚下踏着的都是细细松松的细小泥沙，话说被水灾淹过的屋子，最难清除掉的就是这些泥啊，它们真是无孔不入 =( 新年，当然就是见朋友喝茶吃饭叙旧咯！ 新年前第一轮见面： 少不了车上wefie 到新开的The Bold Lab喝晚餐前茶 晚餐在Chiang Mai, Wakaf Bharu!! 超赞！ Wau Kopitiam Ozarra  可看到的，有一班人马都是重复出现的，你现在知道我的朋友圈子多大了吧哈哈！ 每一年都可以在敏欣那里吃到好料。她俩公婆煮了个丰盛晚餐，好有口福！ 正月初五，宝贝宏到KB来 day trip。和倩仪到河边的Bike Station喝茶聊天，敏欣家也做了好料！ Sardin puff yum yum!  基本上，这个新年和往年新年都没什么两样，我要的也就这样，我高兴就好！！ =)

NOT exactly. We went to Botanical Garden (new name) aka Lake Garden aka Taman Tasik Perdana nearby the Parlimen for a breakfast picnic. Wanted to go picnic by a stream or waterfall but I scared it triggered the flu again so we cancelled that plan. It's been awhile since I last visited this park. Last time I remembered I was there because of work - setting up booth for a running event. The park is really big and nice, I wish I could bring my foldie for a ride here. The park is well-maintained, a lot of picnic benches and tables, you can even bring along a mat and sit on the grass. A great place to paktoh, as long as it doesn't rain. Hon caught up with his game so I strolled alone checking out the scenic view and taking pictures. Some big bird, Hon called it 'the big fat hen' when he saw it flew across the stream  We did some random activities like put a peanut and rice on the ground and observe how the ants move them. Moving the peanut, pretty awes...

Attended the Score Fitmob Zumba Fitness Party last Sunday and it was full of FUN!! Yeehaw~!! No to the early rising though, that one sucked max -_- I was first informed about this event on June. The initial date was on 2nd Nov and it was supposed to take place at Dataran Merdeka. There's a lower rate for group registration - RM70 instead of 75, so I joined Chen's group since no one in Perlis was interested that time. Around October, an email from SCORE saying the event has got bigger and " better ", they marked a new date on 18th Jan and shifted the venue to Stadium Merdeka. The word better always has to have the quotation mark on and di- Italic -kan, especially events as such when they make it "bigger". Even smaller events sometimes don't do well, let alone bigger ones. I just hoped it went OK-ish... And, WOW, SCORE does not disappoint! In fact, it was an event with almost 6000 participants, and I did not have any complaint or rumbling or diss...

Finally, a weekend when the weather was good and I'm around - it means cycling spree :) WH had a bad knee so I went alone.  I thought of doing a mini duathlon - cycling + running - but I have a premenstrual breast tenderness and swelling (In short, sucker-PMS-stuff), and because I don't like running that much anyway, so it was off the list. These days, Perlis' morning is gloomy and dark, and it gets bright pretty late - about 8ish O' clock, so that kinda discouraging me to get up. I gathered all my motivation and dragged my sorry ass off the bed because I really need that ride!! Instead of the usual route, I tried something different today, and it was so nice!!

Last weekend, several states in Malaysia were hit by the worst flood in decades, including my hometown Kelantan (Kota Bharu town, to be exact). My house was fortunately spared from the flood but a lot of my relatives' houses and shops were badly damaged. On the first few days, I was very anxious and nervous while reading and looking the FB feeds, every Refresh or F5 came a new update on the water level, new pictures of affected places, even places I(we) never thought the water would go ever. At the same time, it was Christmas and the feeds were very much contradicting to each other as it was a mix between the flood and Christmas celebration. When the flooding went from bad to worse, I asked my sis "is the flood this time worse than the '04?" She said yes, and I shuddered.