Snapshot of the day

Picture taken by a friend - Christopher Harriot


--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint 

What's Up, Doc?

Few weeks ago, we were invited to a small group of Junior Violin Year End Recital (kind of like a little informal graduation performance) at the Petronas Philharmonic Hall. I could not resist snapping a few shots of the hall, as it is not a place where anyone who wish to go in to have a look, gets to do it.

One of my healthy breakfast for this week. I would not say it’s 100% healthy coz I can never resist my favorite SCS butter. It goes perfectly with my toast and it taste heavenly.. :-D

Below is a picture of Petronas Twin Tower on the night we went to see Nanta Cooking. Simply magnificent and breathtaking. If anyone of you has not seen it up close, you must make it a point to do so. It’s one of the most beautiful building in this world, especially at night, when it’s fully lit up this way. This amateur picture was taken from the park by yours truly. 


Trust me, the feeling you get when you're standing right below it is totally different from when you are looking at it in a picture. Go check it out tonight or tomorrow, if you're wondering what to do this weekend, and chill out at any of the coffee bistros there.

                                  (Click picture for a clearer view)

This picture was taken at the Sunway Pyramid roof top parking. It was packed that night, being a weekend, so we had to drive all the way up to the roof. This time, we parked at a new area which we don’t normally go to, and I discovered this beautiful scene. The pyramid itself was actually shimmering in millions of soft blinking lights, which couldn’t be captured on my simple and cheap digicam.

                                    (Click picture for a clearer view)

Blog name - carrot head and applemint

The Wonder of Power Nap

This is my furball - Timon @ The Sakai

On normal day, after working the whole morning, naturally my energy level would dip by afternoon, especially after lunch. That is the time when the body need some form of re-charge. What I would do now, is to take a short 15-20 minute power nap, a habit which I cultivated in the U.

When I was younger, whenever I felt tired or sleepy, and if I needed to take a rest, it will always have to be a 2-3 hour sleep. To me, at that time, anything less than that isn’t a rest. However, when I was in the U, where my syllabus, consist of 70% practical and only 30% exam, I didn’t have the luxury of time and sleep. At any one time, I could be rushing on 3-4 assignments, while my mind will be racing with a hundred and one thought, ie. planning to-do tasks, deciphering some of the theories that I read somewhere, composing an essay in my mind that I needed to submit asap, searching for ideas or inspiration for some of my creative papers, etc, etc.

Our body and mind could get so worked up, we just don’t know what to do because the urgency and  time constraint just doesn’t allow us to have the luxury of long and peaceful rest, especially in the day. Many a time, I tried to sleep but there were just too many activities going on in the mind.

There were occasions where I felt so overly exhausted, I would force myself to have a 15 min shut eye (that’s the only time I could afford), and once my alarm goes off, I would jump up and go about doing what I needed to do, and hey, what a surprise! I felt much more alert, especially when I had to do lots of thorough thinking for certain papers. Take a few power naps, if there is a need. There’s no right or wrong.

A power nap is a short sleep taken in the day time (advisably approx 20 mins), intended to quickly refresh and revitalize the subject.

It is generally terminated before the occurrence of deep sleep, so as not to leave the sleeper feeling drowsy.

Whether you're nodding off during the afternoon slump at the office, working a double or a night shift, or fighting drowsiness while driving, a power nap can make you more alert and productive.

8 Benefits of Power Napping

1.       Refreshes the mind and creates relaxation

2.       Increase alertness and productivity

3.       Improve memory and learning

4.       Increase cognitive functioning

5.       Boost your mood & creativity

6.       Gives you the energy to continue till the evening

7.       Get motivated to exercise

8.       Good for your heart

Give it a try, you’ll be surprise, just as I did. Anyway, when you’re totally mentally and physically exhausted, and still have tons to do and rush, what have you got to lose?

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Nanta Cooking

Went to see Nanta Cooking, a comedy mime performance by a Korean team of 5 at Planery Hall, KLCC. It’s a non verbal performance integrating Korean traditional “samulnori” music (a genre of traditional percussion music originating from Korea), with comic, drama and acrobat.

Expect to see flying knives, flying food and non stop laughs in a high energy performance. Totally invigorating and refreshing..!!!

Just like Gamarjobat, the whole play is visual, which means that an international audience without a common language would still be able to comprehend the entire story easily.

Blog name – carrot head and applemint

Comfy cafe with delicous food

Had lunch with Christine, and she took me to a Seed Cafe nearby her office, operated by Padini Holdings, in their office building. Love the atmosphere and environment there.

See the bunny's ear sticking out at the side? That's Christine's... +____+


This is the rascal.. :-D

Her lunch - Tomyam mee hoon, yuumm....!!!

My lunch - Club Sandwich

Our appetizer - Scripewine Wings

The dessert which she insisted that I wallop - Durian Ice-Cream, and wallop I did.. :-D

Surrounding area.. some of the pix below is taken from here.

Don't ask me where is the exact location. It's good enough that I managed to locate her office. After that she took me round and round within the Hicom Glenmarie Industrial Park area in Shah Alam until I also "kepala pusing". Check the map in the link provided above, if it helps at all.. :-D


Alternatively they have another outlet in Mid Valley, Ground Floor.


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Beautiful hand and nail

I've always had dry skin, hence, the cuticle area around my nails are always hard. Due to that, I developed a habit of peeling the hard and dead skin around it, causing it to bleed. And of course, I don't need to tell you how painful it could get.


One day I was browsing around a local pharmacy when I came across this product called Sally Hansen Nail & Cuticle Oil, which kind of like saved the day. 

Now I uses it like 3-4 time a week, to ensure my nails and cuticles are well hydrated. It keeps my cuticle supple and prevents my nails from breaking/chipping or tearing off easily. Great product, and it's easy to brush on. I truly love it!


Here are more pictures of natural and healthy looking nails. 

Don't you just adore them...?


--moon


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Weekend of feasting & exploring (P3)

On the same Saturday afternoon which we went to Edelweiss Cafe, on the way to the cafe, we walked past by 2 old Chinese temples. I couldn't post up the pix of 1st temple coz it keeps tilting to one side. Had to abandon that.

   (Click on pix for a much clearer view of the beautiful internal carvings)


The one above is called Hock Teik Cheng Sim Temple. Beautiful carvings and architecture.


#2 - Up-stairs

#3

#4 - On Sunday morning, after all the feasting on Penang food, I decided to go and hike up Penang Hill. It's no child's play, mind you.

#5 

               (This is a beautiful pix, click on it for a clearer view)

#6

#7 - The start of the hike up the hill.

#8

#9

#10

#11 - Breathtaking view, and we didn't even hike up all the way to the top. We just reached 2/3 of it and started heading downwards.

#12 - Heading down via the tar road. Extremely steep, at some point, we had to walk down backward, so as not to strain our feet & muscle.

On Sunday, while driving home, we stopped by Auto City on the mainland for my coffee fix. Love going in there, as the place look so European.


If you happen to be driving up to Penang, do drop by and check out the place. It can be accessed both way, ie. when you're about to reach Penang tol, you will pass by this place. It caters to all the industrial businesses surrounding the area. You can find Japanese food and Korean too.

All the coffee joint that I love could be found there. Coffee Bean, Starbucks, Segafredo, Winter Warmer, etc, etc.


Blog name - carrot head and applemint

Weekend of feasting & exploring (P2)

On Saturday afternoon, we drove out to town happily, to run errands for my in-laws. As usual, being afternoon, I needed my coffee fix before anything starts. We checked out a place that serves "rosti" (in Switzerland, it means potato cooked in their own unique way). ST came across this place called Edelweiss Cafe in Armenian Street, sometime back when he was reading a magazine, and wanted to check out the place.



#2 - The entire main section (this pix #2 is taken from their website)

# 3 - The Bar

#4 - Main area at the front

#5 - A center piece in the main area. Love this old giant clock.

#6 - A second section in the middle, that looks like a typical Baba Nyonya courtyard. But it has been highlighted by a friend before, that this center courtyard thingy is an influence from Holland.

#7 - Love this old single piece

#8 - Walkway to the toilet

#9 - At the end of the walkway to the toilet

#10 - To the left is the way to the toilet

#11 - But I was more curious about the guy sitting up on the cupboard, fishing in the toilet bowl.. ;-)

#12 - What the guy is saying, is stated on the plate below. 

If you look closely at pix # 10, there is a toilet rope hanging down from his right hand. That's the string that he asked us to pull. It seems something will happen if you pull it. Unfortunately, I didn't, but my cousin sis did but she refused to tell me what it is..  +____+


We tried their coffee and Edelweiss specialty dessert. Sorry, I was so excited about the food that I forgot to take pix of that 2. The coffee is good, the dessert is nothing great and very expensive. Can skip that actually.


Will try out their "rosti" in our next visit.


More to come in Part III...


Blog name - carrot head and applemint