Glad I didn't buy a DSLR camera.  I don't think I'd know how to frame any subjects. Thus begins my adventure with GoPro.

 I am quite delighted with this shot of Amber.  The frozen water droplets are wow amazing.  A single snap with the HD GoPro made this.  Of course the hand blurring the lower left portion of the picture is a bummer but the water effect? I like.

Aah... so called selfie pic. underwater snap.  not photogenic at-tall. 

Another selfie.  (who created this term selfie anyway?) An experiment in picture editing.  Simply picasa.

Oh. This one skodeng from EDY's instagram pic.  Yea.. Merdeka Parade in Likas.  I decided to try my newly acquired chest-strap for my GoPro.  On restrospect, putting GoPro on my chest wasn't a good idea.  Putting GoPro(henceforth to be named GP) on my chest didn't give a satisfactory angle.  Watching myself maneuver the bicycle handlebar was quite distracting. Next time I should try putting GP on top my helmet.
Oh.  This Lintas hormat for bicycle was under the Dewan Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu's Bicycle Club.

Cheat Day

Went to PJ initially to get some tofus. Tofus only.  My mistake was going there with a grumbling stomach.  The smell of roasted meats and fish was still strong in the air.  Iftar was less than an hours time then.  Had I been fasting i might not have been tempted so much by the smell.  But i wasn't.  So, four blocks of tofu were soon in company of a slab of roasted ikan pari, a container of white rice, a tiny portion of rebung masak lemak, and a side order of kerabu brinjal. Cheat day my toochus.
   But never de mind, I didn't wallop abis the rice, finished the pari panggang and rebung though.  Tomorrow back to my oatmeal breakfast, some mihun soup for lunch, and broiled greens salad for dinner.  Lost about ..hmm... let's see.. 4kg since I began my much diminished calorie and hopefully cholesterol intake of diet, 6 weeks ago.  6 more weeks to go before I do another blood test.  I haven't touched a single udang and ketam since then.  My intake of red meat has also been greatly lessened.  Not much oil and goreng-goreng stuff either.
   Let's see if I can manage to lower my cholesterol level.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Freddie A.J.

It was an interesting experience being co-emcee for a singing competition.  The committee had tried to a few famous local celebs to do the hosting but because of financial  constraints, the plan was scrapped.  So, I guess I should feel honored being chosen to be a host.
   I had no idea what to wear but I immediately knew I wanted to wear a hairpiece.  I went window shopping for something to wear and formulated ideas in my head as I passed by mannequins after mannequins on display. And I also decided I wasn't going to feel unnecessary stress going on stage. I decided I was going to enjoy being the center, well..almost center, of attention.

So, on the second half of the competition (which was divided into solo and duet), I donned a pink wig.  My get up was kind of drab so I thought a little color would liven up the atmosphere.
It did. And I enjoyed my 1 night of fame.  And the subsequent few days (can't be patting myself on the back too much, I'd wrench my arms out of their socket if I did) of compliments and admiration for my spunk.  Oh well.

A brief snap of the great SM Mall in Clark.  After getting off from the airport cab, we got on to  the Suzuki Highlander belonging to Regore's Travel. Off to busy Manila! 

Couldn't resist. A Roxy boutique, all on her own.  Bought a few shirts of course. Didn't have enough moolah and time to drop by Quiksilver + Roxy store, which was only a few doors down.

Tidak sah go to Manila if I didn't try the balut. Ate two.  Taste-wise, it was not bad
if you can disregard the look of it.

My Christmas give-away to cousins .  Girl cousins only.  I quite forgot about the males when
I went shopping mad in Manila.  

Birthday and new year gift for myself.

Right. Forgot to realign the position this pic.  Birthday present from good friend Mona and Cody. 

2012 passed by so fast, blinking seemed like a walk in the park.

Going to be a hectic 2013.  Just hope I can keep my head above water.

The Bicycle Story

At Spring Trading, Kg. Air was where I bought my second set of wheels.  Not another car, but a bicycle.  Who'd've thunk?

Now I'm not the best of cyclist..yet (yet.. mayhaps I'd grow to be a more competent cyclist).  I am not too confident of my motor balance.  I don't have any problem getting on one and pedalling off.. however, i have this fear that  I would embarrass myself in falling off a bike while applying the brakes to slow down or to stop.  Not enough hours put in the cycling process maybe..no practice..therefore no perfecto..

So far I have joined my friend Freddie on two road cycling outings. I decided to venture out on my own and cycled in the vicinity of my neighborhood.

With XDS aluminium frame, Fork : Rock shox, Cassete : Shimano Deure, 10-speed. I'll try not to let this baby sit like a furniture in my house.

Funny how sometimes opportunity pops into your door.  Danum Valley is one of THE place that I fancied visiting.  It is in my list of must-go.  I was offered a place in a limited Environmental Education Course participation from the 11th-14th this month.   Actually I was called in to replace a friend who couldn't attend.  

My luck.  

The planned activities were interesting, on paper.  However, due to unforeseen circumstances, most of the activities were not carried out.  There was early morning bird-watching session.  And oh.. the 3.2km hike to Tembaling Waterfalls.  

With Japora inside the hostel

At Tembaling Falls

(picture courtesy of Mona and her amazing Canon camera)

***************

The Annual Staff Dinner was held in Grand Borneo 1B on the 2nd November.  I did my best scouting for a red dress to wear during the dinner since the theme for this year is Glamorous in Red.  Hah.. mine is color closer to orange.  This was the only 'safe' design I could find that fit my size.. (cuz dang.. I put on some unwanted pounds)

I had decided to go to Ramlah's for the make-up and hair.  Just felt like looking different that night.  And I did look different.  With the fake eyelashes and the curled hair, I felt like a retro HongKong artist. :)

There was lucky draw that night (which I think shouldn't be dubbed so, as all who attended went home with a gift).  The only lucky element in the lucky draw was the kind of gift that you won.  Some went home with tupperware containers, some with stainless steel cooking pans, hampers (foodstuff) and the most expensive was a night's stay at Berjaya Palace.  I went home with a hamper.

Oh well...

Moshi moshi

I was really holding on tightly to my purse just now..lest I make purchases of wants rather than needs.. I went into the Nike store and my resolve was almost immediately thrown out the tiny window of wants by this pair of b-e-a-yutiful fuchsia running sneakers. 

"You just bought Ms. Boombastic Blue last month!" I scolded myself, or so I thought..because it sounded more of a consoling tone rather than a reprimand.  Smiling at Ms Fun Fuchsia, I left her at her pedestal and went round the store, browsing at other probable items. My purse safely untouched, my feet automatically brought me to Roxy Quiksilver next door. 

"Hallo miss. This one here buy two free 1.  This one buy 2 1 hundred." said the passable good looking lad with the slightly crooked front teeth as he quickly spread his left and right hands by way of pointing over the shirts.  He was quite stingy with the smiles.  Do I unnerve him with my guise? I was wearing an orange Roxy top, black knee-length pants, my Roxy flip-flops and a red hat. With my handbag slung sideways over one shoulder with the bag sitting snugly on my behind, I knew many would think me as either a Japanese or Korean tourist.  I knew he thought so too, which could be the reason why he spoke to me in that version he imagines to be Orang Puteh talk.

"Oh yea?" was just my response to him.  I wanted some.  By golly I wanted all but of course one can't have the wants over needs all the time. I was smiling slightly, just to show him I meant no linguistic harm, as I let my fingers do the talking, perusing through the multi-colored shirts. 

A few minutes later I held out two Roxy Girl shirts (an info which gnawed on my conscience.  Girl? I am hardly that)- a white shirt with a whimsy Roxy emblem on the front, and an orange shirt with a couple of Roxy lettering on the front.  I thought of just buying these without trying when Mr. Salesboy said," Want to tried?" 

A bane or a boon? A boon, being in the profession of  language teaching, being able to distinguish sounds and having to correct them when spoken incorrectly - in class.  A bane, having this ability, and having to hear mangled sentences then in that store, and not able to correct it.  Mind you, I am not a stuck-up, high and mighty, oh I am the greatest in the universe English speaker.  It's just a habit I guess, making correction.  I am not so silly as to make grammar correction to everyone who mangles and strangles the Queen's English.  And I did understand what Mr. Salesboy meant.  So I said, "Ok".

Long story shortened, I didn't get to the counter to make any payments, thank goodness.  Guess I overcame my impulses today.  Arigatogozaimasu.

Sporty Saturday

75 year old uncle throwing the javelin

Yupp..nearly 6pm and prize-giving ceremony was still not done.

Saturday was the date for the 2nd Sabah Masters Athletic Championship.  It was an open event where anybody over the age of 35 (35 is now considered a veteran oledi..) could participate and

• show off how even after the age of 35 you have managed to maintain your physical prowess
• model your sports attire
• defend your title (last year's event)
• win some medals in your age category ..so plenty of them 
• just have fun (which was what I did)

Each participant can join up to 4 events and to register, you'd have to pay RM10 per event.  I decided to just take part in the javelin and shot put.  I had no ambition to win any medals initially since practice pun teda.. I just had two javelin practices before Saturday, and none for shot put.  However, after looking at the list of participants in my age group, I thought, ah-ha.. there's a possibility.

So, anyways, for both events, I managed to win the silver.  I am loathe to mention the throw distance since they were so pitiful.  But boy did I have fun. Even though we were only given 1 try and 3  throws, thus making the competition less than a half hour event, I enjoyed myself (cuz I wasn't in any pressure to outdo the others).  I enjoyed watching and cheering my other teammates running and throwing and jumping.  I didn't even mind the sunburn (which is odd cuz I don't sunburn easily).

I think I'll take part next year and this time, I'll come prepared.

To better jog with

What was I thinking when I bought this pair of Lunarglide? That they looked dang hot on my feet and that I needed to replace the Adidas pair which was ruined during my trek down Gunung Tapis. Haven't ventured outdoors with these bluesis.. indoor jumps and Zumbas only..

The Mamutik Episode

I got my Open Water Diver license in 2005. The underwater world fascinates me so but somehow through lack of planning and perseverance, I've only managed to dive only twice since then.
So, in an effort to revive this interest, I've decided to go to Mamutik Island for a fun dive, tomorrow.
I am almost ashamed of myself. A self-confessed water-baby and I don't make the effort to do justice to this title?
Oooo.. tomorrow's going to be interesting!

This is a copied image from the net. Mamutik Island, smallest of all 5 Tunku Abdul Rahman Park Islands, and the nearest to the mainland as well.