Diary of a sport-freak

Ever since I embarked into a sports-filled lifestyle... this is what happened!

Sprained my ankle from dance rehearsal and bootcamp session.

What makes it harder to heal is that I had to continue rehearsing for the performance.

Spinning, flying, jumping, I did it all.

It was one crazy night as we had to change 3 costumes in a less-than-5-minutes-performance!

We gave our best shot and I couldn't have bothered about my ankle.

The injury never heal and I was then preparing myself for holiday at Vietnam with the Mountain Divers.

So I opt for another treatment before I go.

Ta-daa! I went to Vietnam with these.

Vietnam trip involves alot of walking, and to one extend crawling at the Cu Chi tunnel.

It worsen the injury and I went for another treatment right after I came back.

Got my leg wrapped with herbal treatment and was already worried about Redang trip.

How could I fin when my ankle hurts whenever I move it?

Live up to Nike's motto - and I "JUST DO IT!"

What's good about diving is that we have appointed buddies to watch our back.

Glad that it all went well and I truly enjoyed myself.

Few later I was resting for the ankle to recover.

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Then few weeks back I went for my very first 12km marathon.

With a VERY SORE CALF, I should be resting.

Instead, I was only resting for 3 days before getting into zumba and bootcamp back to back!

As if the pain wasn't bad enough, I went for badminton the day after.

I couldn't walk after that and so it's a wrappy time again!

And this time, it involved the entire calf!

Somehow made me looked like I was seriously injured from a freak accident! *choi!*

After wrapping for one day, one day of rest, I went for my next marathon of 11.5km.

I think I am one crazy woman to be torturing my body for the name of sports.

I've decided to rest for the entire week.

Missing bootcamp classes and skipping activities with friends.

Feeling alot better, I went for a jog yesterday.

Three rounds at the Dog Park.

Dang! The calf hurts again!

The same damn place!

And DANG! My entire week after-work-activities had been planned out!

Tuesday : Jogging

Wednesday : Zumba

Thursday : A 5-km training for KL Rat Race 2014

Friday : Badminton

Saturday : Bootcamp

Sunday : ATV (just a fun-filled sports.. as long as it's a sport)

What's gonna happen after this?

Another wrappy wrappy session???

I had to keep going.... 

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Overnight Oats : Mangola Vanilla

Feeling satisfied with my BANANA O-BERRIES overnight oats, 

I attempted another recipe as mum has just plucked a homegrown mango right infront of our house.

MANGOLA VANILLA RECIPE

1/3 cup of rolled oats (not to mistaken it with instant or normal oats)

1/2 cup organic vanilla low fat milk

1 cup of greek yogurt

1 mango (1/2 chopped to be mixed with oats, 1/2 as topping)

1/4 tsp chia seed 

1 spoonful of chopped raw nuts (unsalted)

DIRECTIONS

Put oats, milk, yogurt, chopped mango, chia seeds and nuts into a jar.

I tried to be more creative by putting everything by layers.

But the chopped mango sunk into the yogurt.

Place in fridge overnight.

In the morning top with freshly cut mango and chopped nuts. 

Voila! 

I really enjoy the taste of sweet mango with hint of vanilla flavor!

I could have this everyday!

yummylicious!

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Overnight Oats : Banana O-Berries

This is my first attempt of preparing an overnight oats.

As I was unprepared and have not bought any milk, I used my protein shake as substitute.

BANANA O-BERRIES RECIPE

1/3 cup of rolled oats (not to mistaken it with instant or normal oats)

1/2 cup protein shake berries flavour

1 cup of mixed berries yogurt

1 spoonful of crunchy peanut butter 

(I've added another spoonful in the morning as I love its creamy texture)

1 whole banana

Raisins

Walnuts

METHOD

Put all the above mentioned ingredients in a bowl or jar 

(covered or not covered)

Keep it refrigerated 

(to be eaten the next day, or it can last another day but the fruits may not be fresh)

LESSON LEARNT

Banana turned darker the next day - Advisable to cut it fresh and mix with 

the overnight oat before eating the next day.

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I personally prefer using flavored milk or yogurt to enhance the taste of my oats.

But one can always opt to have plain milk and yogurt as well.

This bowl of overnight oats kept me full till my lunch at 2pm.

And it gave me a very good and "smooth" time when I went to the toilet that morning!

yummylicious!

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Overnight Oats

Sorry I've not been blogging that often lately. In fact, not at all since April 2014.

The main reason of me getting back to my blog is to post about my recent craze on oatmeal.

Mind you, not any ordinary oatmeal, but one that is healthy, delicious and attractive looking.

Overnight oat it is!!!

Individuals photos obtained online

Now this is the recipe that I get to be a chef without firing up a stove!

Or burning down mum's kitchen!

I'm quite new at this and the info I am sharing may not be too in-depth or accurate.

So please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

What is overnight oats?

Overnight oats is basically oats that are soaked overnight with liquid that

is more commonly water, milk, yogurt, protein shake etc.

No cooking needed. 
Just put the oats with liquid into the refrigerator.

Most interesting part about overnight oats is the toppings!

Fruits, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, honey, raisins, imagine what you can do with these!

These toppings can be mixed together with the oats and liquid, 
or to be inserted the next day before consumption.

And if one stray from a healthier choice, 

some chocolates or ice-creams can be added into the overnight oats too!

I'm soooo gonna try that out one day! But it's gonna hurt my diet!

Will be working out on my overnight posting.. stay tuned!

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Kali Little Garden (加利小食園) @ Pandamaran, Klang

Crab lovers!

BEE-DOO BEE-DOO BEE-DOO! 

(alarm blasting like crazy!)

If you have not try out this place, 

you're missing one of the best seafood goodness!

I never knew the existence of this place which is only 20-minutes away

from my house until my cousin from P.J introduced it to me! (ironically)

I have been there for numerous occasions and had tried different dishes.

Verdict as below... 

Kali Little is well-known for their "pok chim" - grilled crabs.

And why is it popular?

Imagine crab's pincers as big as your palm! 

Not only the size awe you, but the full firm succulent juicy flesh inside!

The way they grilled the crab helps to preserve the aroma,

and is enhanced with little seasoning, and a little too much of salt.

When you are there, try to ask them to be gentle on the salt will ya?

A little pricey, but every penny is worth paying for! 

One big and definitely satisfying grilled crab pincer! 

Steam fish is one of the must-have dish at this restaurant.

The fish served here is fresh and steamed in a simple home-made recipe,

is enough to keep us smiling away.

I have tried sizzling prawns and "siong tong prawns", 

and I would say that the sizzling one is whole lot better!

Fear not as it wasn't the freshness that turns me off, but it's the

soup that is filled with prawns taste that I'm not fond of. Taste a little "fishy".

The sizzling one on the other hand, is sweet and a little spicy.

Just nice to go with white rice.

Although this "siong tong fish" is recommended as 

one of the popular dish, I didn't like it that much. 

Big pieces of eel is cooked in a salty soup base, that tasted nice and appetizing at first, 

but to have a few more spoonful of it give me the "jelak" feeling.

Furthermore, there are 4 or 5 big pieces of eel to finish - that's alot!

You may try this dish, but try to pick other fish as eel may not go very well here.

The next dish is what made me excited everytime I dine here!

"Siong tong lala" is hot, spicy, flavorful, and every lala is big and juicy!

Made us sweat but definitely wanting more! 

Fried pork with "fu yu" sauce.

Simple dish which is aromatic, but I think I would want to stick to the seafood line.

Claypot tofu with egg. A dish that we can get anywhere else, 

but I love the amount of egg in this plate, topped with minced meat, 

I finished my bowl of rice!

Remember your vegetables!

This restaurant can't go wrong with a simple plate of garlic stir potato leaves.

Yuhmieee... 

"Lexie was here"

This place is a must-visit for seafood lovers!

Address :

89, Jalan 2, Pandamaran Jaya, 42000 Port Klang

GPS Coordinate :

N3.010841, E101.424494

Contact number :

012-271 4444

Business hours :

From 6.00pm to 1.00am daily (closed on Monday)

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Si-beh long liao...

Been ages since I updated my blog!!!

Best part about moving on is when you realized what you felt, said, did, and wrote, sounds like a complete embarrassment to yourself. 

So yes, I've deleted some blogpost, and I am glad I would not want to see it anymore. 

Been busy with dance rehearsal, my mission to save a stray cat I call Boboi, coping with my never-ending workloads, and my obsession with sports, marathon and recently, bootcamp with Coach Esvaran at CosmicFit! 

Dance performance is in two days time, I'll be posting some photos for sure!

Wanted to post recent photo of myself, and then I realized I have not been taking selfie for a long time. Scroll thru old photos in Camera Gallery and saw some selfie of me looked retarded, vain, emo, fake, and mostly, si-beh-hiau ones.

"SWT" alot while doing this selfie compilation.

This is the most DECENT photo taken of me - no selfie, no hiau.

Till the next blog (... I have alot of unfinished food-blog to be written!), goodnite ya'all!

XOXO!

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Mid life crisis

I've heard people complain that when they reach certain age, their weight hike up like nobody business!

Being 31 this year, I never expected that it would happen to me.

I can't find enough courage to step on the weighing scale, but the weight gain is pretty obvious from photos taken of me, and how certain clothing doesn't fit nicely anymore, and yeah, when people hit me with real honest comments like "Eh.. u gain weight ady leh...!!!".

Being a petite lady with not more than 45kg of body weight all my life, I can't imagine myself being FAT! It would be like a disaster... end of the world!

I woke up from my nap after having nightmares being at 54kg, and I rushed to my wardrobe looking for my dive suit, thinking, worrying "WILL THIS STILL FIT ME?!!" Ahhh.... f*ck if it wouldn't.

Resolution is out, but why is it so darn hard to lose an inch?!!

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Memphis Bistro @ Ara Damansara

Memphis Bistro, I was introduced to this place by Sunny boy.

Was told that this bistro is a cozy little family restaurant,

and yet they serves good Western food.

This place used to operate during lunch and dinner time, but now it is opened only for dinner. 

No more lunch nom-nomming at Memphis for me...

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Escargots (RM 19.50 for half dozen) is pretty good, baked with butter and garlic.

And served with garlic bread. I am a little picky when it comes to garlic dishes,

will get the kitchen to tone down a little on the garlic in my next visit.

Seafood Chowder (RM 10.50) is good, 

but could be better if there is more seafood in it.

Classic Caesar Salad (RM 9.00) is pretty simple.

It has all the ingredients that a Caesar Salad should have,

nothing more, nothing less, and I would reckon them to improve with some bacon bits. 

Cajun Chicken Thigh (RM 18.00) is not to my preference.

The chicken thigh is dry, and doesn't jive well with the BBQ sauce.

Hot Chocolate Lava Cake (RM 10.50) is a satisfying dessert for

the sweet tooth me. Love how the chocolate melt and spill onto the plate... 

This is a good place for a decent meal. 

Remember to call for reservation as this tiny bistro is packed most of the days!

Details for Memphis Bistro :-

Address : Jalan PJU 1A/46, Lembah Subang, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor DE.

Contact no : 03-7843 6818

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Umai-ya Japanese Buffet @ Damansara Uptown

How to satisfy my constant craving for Japanese food?

Eric would say "Go for buffet la... you can eat as much as you want!"

And so he recommended his favourite Japanese buffet outlet - Umai-ya.

He said they serve the best buffet and wanted me to try it out.

There are currently THREE outlets : IOI Boulevard, Damansara Uptown & KLCC.

We went to the nearest - at Damansara Uptown (which I like for the envinronment too).

They charge RM58++ per pax for buffet lunch from 11.30am till 2.30pm.

First in line, Tempura Mori comprises of fried prawns and vegetables.

I wish I could only order Ebi Tempura coz I'm a fan of prawns but not fried vegetables.

Simplicity is the best. A simple lady's finger can be grilled for the aroma

and yet still preserve the natural sweetness and softness of the vegetable.

Okura is one new dish to be explored here!

One of the must-try dish is the soft shell crab and egg omelette sushi

called Kani Tama Maki (the word Kani always amuses me). 

I love the big chunk of soft shell crab and thick egg omelette wrapped

with moderate amount of rice and seaweed. Yuhmzzzz... 

Sashimi! It comes in pairs... and we get to order as many as we want!
There are salmon, butter fish, tuna, octopus, cuttlefish and seabass.
I always wondered why is the tuna here is brownish compared to
ones I used to have which is reddish in color?
Nevertheless, the sashimi served here are fresh... 

My favourite... Sukiyaki Beef!
As Eric do not take beef, the big pot of sukiyaki is entirely mine to finish.
The beef slices are purrr-fect and is one of the best I had!
The raw egg is not to be poured into the hotpot (this ain't a steamboat),
but is for the beef slices to be dipped for extra softness and aroma. 

Under the grilled section in the menu, you may find this small tiny fish

called Sishamo, which is a copelin fish. It is filled with tiny eggs in it 

with not much flesh to be found. So you could eat the whole fish, yes, the head,

tail, and whatnot. 

Next in line is the Saba Shioyaki which is a grilled mackerel fish.
This isn't one of the best dish we had that day, probably it is way too dry.

We too had some tofu - Agedashi Tofu.
These fried beancurd in some light soysauce topped with minced meat
and spring onions is a simple dish, but it is truly satisfying. 

Before I was convinced to try out Umai-ya, I did some research about this place.

And was told that the Unagi Tempura is one of the popular dish.

Sadly, this dish couldn't be found in the buffet menu.

So we ordered this from the ala-carte menu.

It was a well-worthy order as we were served thick slices of deep fried unagi!

One comment to improve this dish is probably the dressing. 

It somehow tasted like dark soy sauce. It would be perfect if the dressing is improved!

A fan of Umai-ya....

Ze World Best Instructor.. Baba Liow! :P

Although my preference for buffet would eventually makes me
end up in Tao @ Sunway Giza because they serve far more varieties,
still, I would come back to Umai-ya again for their innovations.

From the conventional twist of Agedashi tofu, to Okura, and something like Unagi Tempura,
I'm ready for Umai-ya to blow me away with their new creations soon!


Details for interested foodies.... 

UMAI-YA (IOI Puchong)

Block A, IOI Boulevard, 

Jalan Kenari 5, 

Bandar Puchong Jaya, Puchong.

Tel: 03 8075 1113

UMAI-YA (Damansara Uptown)

49A, Jalan SS21/37, 

Damansara Utama, PJ. 

Tel: 03 7726 4410

UMAI-YA (Suria KLCC)

Lot No. 428, Level 4, Suria KLCC

Jalan Ampang,Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03 2161 3939

yummylicious!!! 

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Revisiting Tao @ Sunway Giza

One of my requirement of a good buffet is when we get to order from the menu!

That means, we get to eat anything without having to queue for it.

Furthermore, it will be fresh and hot when served to our table!

I have been to Tao twice, and was glad to have better experience 

on the second visit than the first. Means improvement, eh?

This time, I was determined to get together few of my close friends

in the mission to try out as many dish as possible at this outlet.

And it was the best deal ever when we were there on a weekday! 

We paid RM48++ per pax for lunch buffet from 11.30am to 2.30pm.

Now tell me that it's a good bargain! 

Edamame, even more delicious when served with salt - a simple but must-have starter!

Abalone slices. Simply delicious! We had three plates of these. 

Sashimi lovers would be impressed by the variety of raw seafood
offered at Tao. We had salmon, tuna, octopus and prawns which are undoubtedly fresh!
I don't quite enjoy the octopus as it's a little chewy - very gum challenging!

We too had some Adegashi Tofu which I find simple but very tasty.

I love how the slightly fried tofu is still soft inside, and simple ingredients

like ginger, shallots and seaweed could make the dish so satisfying.

One of our regrettable order is the huge plate of Cheese Baked Scallops.
It do sound very tempting, and the look of it may have you blown away,
but the fresh scallops are covered by thick mayonnaise and the taste of scallops are barely there.

Fried Softshell Crabs and Tempura Moriawase are the two fried

dishes that one would bound to order in a Japanese restaurant.

Although these dishes may be quite on par with other outlets,

I find Tao's a tad too oily. 

If there is one dish that would makes me very happy,

that would be the Unagi - yes, Unagi, without the Don.

With their new extensive menu, I can now enjoy a wholesome dish of grilled unagi itself!

Steamed Cod Fish from the buffet line is one of the fastest to finish!

The aroma and natural sweetness is enhanced 

with slight garnishing of spring onions and ginger.

We had so many fish dishes and it all have been very satisfying except
for this one here. I forgotten the name of it, but it's some grilled fish,
and it wasn't very memorable.

Grilled prawns! My favourite! There are plenty of fresh seafood displayed 

on the buffet line. Fish (please please please don't forget the salmon), 

scallops (oh-my gawd), mussels (yuhmmm), prawns (slurrrpppp),

beef (nom nom nom...) just to mention a few!

Some are for teppanyaki and some to be grilled on the spot!

We had a plate of what I mentioned above, and I finished it before snapping a photo.

We were also tempted to order a dish comprising of some shell thingy.
Couldn't remember the name, cause it kind of disappoint us at the end.

Sushi is available from both the menu and buffet line.
One of our menu-ordered-sushi is topped with smoked salmon.
It's actually not bad, but I guess we were way to full to enjoy it fully.

Another sushi we ordered is tasted good.

Ebi tempura sushi topped with mango and avocado.

A refreshing twist! 

And irregardless of how full we are, there is ample of space

for free-flow ice-cream with various toppings!

..... not forgetting, chocolate toppings too!!! 

Verdict : One of the best buffet I've tasted. In terms of variety and quality,
Tao has improved alot over the years. I'd love to go there again soon!

Satisfied guests of the day : Vince, Rachel, Heeyang, Eric, CC and myself

Details for Tao @ Sunway Giza, Kota Damansara

Address : Jalan PJU 5/14, Kota Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Contact No. : 03-6248 2826

Website : http://tao-cuisine.com/ 

yummylicious!

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