8 LIEBSTER Award from Cindyrina

Thank you, Cindyrina, for nominating me for this lovely award.

The Liebster award is a cool way for bloggers to connect with each other and increase 'follower' numbers. It's a virtual thing that is passed forward. To accept the award, just complete the requirements and nominate someone else. There are no judges. It's not compulsory, so accept it only if you want to.

Lorraine (Wording Well) has a good write-up on what the award is all about.


The rules are simple:
1. Thank the person who has nominated you and post a link to their blog.
2. Display the Liebster Award on your blog.
3. Answer 11 questions about yourself given by the blogger who has nominated you.
4. Provide 10 random facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 8 - 10 blogs with less than 300 followers that you feel deserve the Liebster Award.
6. Create a new set of questions for your nominees to answer. At least 10 questions.
7. Post the rules on your blog
8. Tag your nominees so they know that they are receiving the award from you

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Cindyrina's questions.

1. Describe yourself in 3 words?
Imaginative. Positive. Easygoing.

2. If you could have one wish granted, what would you wish for? Why?
I guess, for every person to be born with 'happy' genes that will give them a lifetime of happy feelings and allow them to battle tough moments with a smile.

3. When is the happiest moment in your life?
It's hard for me to choose one. I've a lot of great memories. Whenever I'm with good friends and family, things I did with my grandmother, when I travel, when I conquer a difficult dish, even when I'm alone with just the sunset before me - happiest moments of my life.

4. List 3 things you wanna achieve before you leave this world?
Write a will ..hahaha. Complete my bucket list. To do a lot of good.

5. What is your favourite food?
Cakoi with kaya. Chocolate chip cookies - the decadent kind.

6. What is your favourite color?
Depends. My favourite colour for mobile phones is white. I love white, but don't fancy it on walls. I'm consistent with calm yellow and deep orange ..but I also like sky blue, apple green, red for Chinese New Year and pink. Am I confusing anybody yet? 

7. 3 things you must bring with you when you're out from home?
Mobile phone, wallet and lip balm.

8. If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
To crochet and make my own furniture.

9. List 3 things you like when you visit my blog?
That you put 'you' out there. It's lively. That you update regularly.

10. What is your perception about my personality when you read my blog?
I think you're a cheerful person.


10 random facts about me:
1. There is only one show I catch regularly. That's Naruto Shipudden.
2. I attempted to write a fantasy novel when I was in my teens.
3. Before I moved to the city, I lived near the beach - it was here that grandma taught me how to catch seafood like clams and sea cucumbers.
4. I crocheted a baby boy outfit and gave it away as a gift, once.
5. I was the only student (in an all girls school) who didn't sign up for cooking and sewing classes.
6. Gardening is my new hobby. My husband thinks I should give watering plants a break.
7. I do my shopping on week days when it's less crowded.
8. I enjoy writing slogans and joining online competitions.
9. I smile when I blog, most times.
10. I'm right-handed.

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Okay, I'm supposed to nominate 8 to 10 bloggers with less than 300 followers for this award, but have decided to break the rules. 'Followers' for me mean a lot of things - Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.

I'm opening this for anyone who's keen to join the fun. Just leave a comment below and I'll update this post with a link to your blog.

My questions:
1. What do you love most about blogging?
2. What do you love most about yourself?
3. Describe your mornings - dreadful until coffee or ..?
4. What was your best memory of helping someone?
5. How do you keep yourself motivated throughout the day?

Yep. 5 questions, but don't forget to include 10 random facts about yourself.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed answering Cindyrina's questions ;)

8 Guardian Walkathon 2014

It looks like it's about to rain again. But I don't see dark clouds, not through this haze that's engulfed our city for as long as ..  I don't remember the last time I saw blue skies out of my dust-stained glass door. The rumbling noise from above signals that we're in for some wet weather. It's a nice time to blog.

Another Sunday has passed. Another one is around the corner. I had a pretty good week. I caught up with an ex-colleague, helped my animal-loving friend who needed to send a pair of cats, which she had gathered from her neighbourhood, for spaying and explored several recipes in the kitchen. A girlfriend stayed over for the weekend. That resulted in three days of mad girl-talk and window shopping, with a walkathon thrown in.

Yep. A walkathon. We signed up more than a month ago, enticed by a poster pinned on the wall just outside of Guardian Pharmacy. Charity. 3KM. Bah, we can handle this!

Time flew and here we are at the event. There was a huge turnout. The walk was held in Wetlands, Putrajaya this year.

The crowd!

The first thing we did when we arrived was drop the lucky draw forms off at the counter. I kept my fingers crossed but we left just as soon as we had finished the walk, before the draw even took place. I was famished, you see.

Lucky Draw

This is a photo of the warm-up session. The sun had just risen. I started scratching my leg. Ugh!! First to be bitten by a mosquito amongst our group. I was so happy to see Tiger Balm giving out mosquito repellant patches to everyone. I stuck one on my shirt and another on my shorts. It worked brilliantly.  

Guardian Walkathoners - Warming Up!

The mosquito patch wasn't the only freebie available - the organiser had arranged goodie bags for everyone. Wall's sponsored ice cream. It was a great event. The MC kept the crowd entertained with lots of fun activities.

And then I saw him, in red, white and blue - Captain America! I'm such a sucker for costumed peeps and mascots. Before I had even handed my camera phone to my friend ..

" Excuse me, my wife would like a photo with you, if you don't mind ", grinned the husband as he posed in position for a shot. I rolled my eyes.

There were several other costumed participants. These guys were geared to win hampers and vouchers for walking in the Most Outstanding Costume.

Fun at Guardian Walkathon 2014

We took part in the 3KM route. These are some of the photos I took of the walk and also a video of the flag-off. I loved that that had us waving our hands in the air to a couple of songs at the starting line.

Guardian Walkathon 2014 - Flagging off!

Guardian Walkathon 2014 - Heading to the starting point

Guardian Walkathon 2014 - Waving to the YMCA song

Guardian Walkathon - 3 KM route

At the finishing line, we were treated to a refreshing drink of 100plus and given a certificate of accomplishment. One of my best Sundays ♥

16 Escape Room at e@Curve ~ We Never Got Out!

Mari and I each had a pair of tickets to the Escape Room.  

It was won from a Facebook contest organised by KL Lifestyle Magazine. "Like" their page because there's always goodies to be won. I love their chirpy updates too!

Escape Room at e@Curve

Have you heard of this game or played it before? There is only one goal, and that is to escape from the room you're locked in. The only way out is to hunt for clues and solve the mystery. It ultimately leads to a key which will open the door to freedom. Did we make it? Mmm.. .. what do you think? The answer is in the title of this post. Hah!

I can't reveal the details of the game because that would be spoiling the fun for those who haven't tried it, but I can share a snippet of our adventure.

"It was dark. We swept our flashlights around the room. A booby trap!  Red laser beams crisscrossed the path before us. Oh boy, getting to the other side wasn't going to be easy..."

Game Over for us! Two of us pretended to be sad ;)

About the whole experience and the place: Escape Room offers several game themes. There's Prison Break, Pirate Ship, Slaughter House and many more. You can choose to imagine yourself as a  swashbuckling hero on a great adventure or someone trying to break out of jail. 

Making reservations online was easy. Took me just a couple of minutes. The rates are cheaper for non-peak hours.

We arrived 15 minutes before our time slot, registered and left our belongings inside a locker. The walls were lined with polaroid pictures of people who had taken the Escape Room challenge. I thought it was a brilliant way to decorate the walls - a personal touch.

Several props were arranged on the table. Handcuffs and a blindfold? I heard screams of terror from some of the other rooms and gulped down a "Lord, no. That had better not be us too! "

We were led into a dark corridor, brought into the room and briefed on the mission. Then, we were locked in for 45 minutes.

How did we fare? Great. I'm not saying that we won, but that we had a winning attitude about things. We left quite pleased with our silly selves!

Before we left, they grouped us together for a photo and gave us one to take home as souvenir.

Overall experience? Riveting!

Have I tempted you enough to give this activity a try? I'm making reservations for another room this November ;)

Photo credit: Some of these photos belong to Mari. I have her permission to use them.
 

22 Snacking ... Tip?

It's housecleaning day and I've completed my chores already. Sometimes I go "ugh" but today I'm feeling really pleased about it. That largely has to do with the weather. Sun and wind is my pick-me-up. Today, it's just glorious outside ..and inside. My heart says let's hug the furniture and polish the plates. I know how silly that sounds.  

This morning, I smiled while mopping the floor, hummed while scrubbing the bathroom and imagined I was in Hawaii while tending to my garden in the balcony. The opening song from the TV series Hawaii Five-0 kept playing over and over in my mind.

After that, I caught up with a segment on Oprah's Super Soul Sunday.

"It's what I call the haute couture, high-end version of fear... perfectionism.
Perfectionism is just fear in really good shoes." ~ Elizabeth Gilbert. Eat, Pray, Love.

Wanting to appear perfect to others stops us from doing the things we really want in life. Waiting for the perfect condition keeps us from going forward. We should 'dance in the rain', right? This is what I'm taking away with me - it's alright not to be perfect and I don't have to wait for things to be perfect to do the things I want to do.

Now that I'm done with all that, I'm here! Blogging ..and snacking.

So, here's a secret. I do this only when I'm all alone ..because I want to appear 'perfect-ly' normal in front of my friends. I'm kidding. I wouldn't be sharing this to everyone if that were the case.

The not-a-secret ~ I like using ice tongs to eat my snacks. By snacks, I mean chips, corn curls and the sort. It's how I keep my fingers clean so that I can continue typing away on the keyboard or watch a movie without interruption. Yes, I don't want to have to wash my hands every time I feel like having a bite. It also helps me reach far enough into the bag. That means no seasoning sticking onto my hand.

I keep my hands clean by using ice tongs to snack

Convenient.