And I start to run again

One of few new interests I developed since 2011 is participating in running events, though technically I did not run, I just walk, and I walk fast. This year I did not get to participate in any events. I would like to give work and study hecticness as a reason but even I don't buy that. I am a believer, if I want to make it happen I'll make time. If I don't get to do it, it's due to my poor time management and I should spare myself from giving excuses :). Just like how I kept on procrastinating in choosing a healthy lifestyle to loose weight. If there's a t-shirt that says " I start my diet tomorrow", I must have been wearing that t-shirt for 11 years. Talk about taking procrastination to another level. Well, that's another blog entry all together.

So, for 2013, I decided to start participating in running events again. I have been subscribing to this website called Hooha via this link http://www.hooha.asia/ for nearly 2 years which gives me updates on the latest running events organised all over Malaysia. Been ignoring their updates for almost a year, time to pay attention and really read their emails. Another website where I get my update is http://www.themarathonshop.com.my/. Easy reference for all consolidated running events.

I am happy to announce *chewah*, I have registered myself for one running event in March. Well, I know I wanna start immediately, but running events are no joke. You need to train otherwise you will be so prone to injury.  Of course, to build up the stamina so that you get to complete the race. And if you are ambitious and wants to win it, you need to train harder. Like me, I settled for a finisher medal. As much as I am a positive person and I know I can do anything if I put my mind to it, I don't plan to kill myself along the way.

Few running events I really want to be part of for 2013. One of them is KL Marathon yearly organise yearly by Standard Chartered. I registered for it in 2011 but did not get to participate due to work *whatelse*. This year I am determined I will be part of it. 

Another event would the Putrajaya Night Race. It's an open secret how I love Putrajaya. And I love Putrajaya more at night. So running in Putrajaya at night will be an ideal situation. Took part in 2011, ran 5km. So for 2013, I want to do 10km, Insyallah.

"Always aim for the Moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." On that quote, I aimed to take part is Penang Bridge Marathon. Of couse, I will do only the 10km. Not ready for 21km, maybe for 2014 once I survived the 10km. 

So, talk is cheap. I better be prepared for all this. Started my 45 minutes walking session this morning and need to sustain the momentum.

Hendak seribu daya, tak nak seribu dalih kan?

Signing off,

liza365.blospot.com

Liza Got Taste ~ @grills, Bangi

I dread to do this entry. Simply because I am on diet and this time I am determined I'll stick to it until I get to my ideal weight. So, evidently this was an overdue entry and in my attempt to blog consistently, I have compiled all the lists of items which I wanted to blog about so that I don't forget.

Our family love western food. However, the challenge is it's difficult to get a descent one which doesn't cost a bomb. There are few nice places but you can't have it that often as the price can burn a big hole on your pockets. So, when this new place opened in Bandar Baru Bangi, we were quite excited to give it a try.

The place is called @grills located behind Paparich, same row as Mohd Chan Restaurant in Bandar Baru Bangi. Full address No 50, Jalan Medan Pusat 2C, Persiaran Bangi, Bandar Baru Bangi. Not difficult to find, it's very near to PKNS Bangi. Parking for now is not an issue, not many shops with a lot of patrons open at the area.

Deco wise, oklah. Not too bad. I think they are supposed to open the top floor as well. For now, it is still not ready. In fact, you can see kitchen utensils from the display window. Not a good scene I must say. They have both indoor and outdoor seating for obvious reasons, separating smokers and non smokers. As you enter, there's dessert bar with cakes offerings. Not a sweet tooth person so not attracted. Kids and my better half however, love this.

How's the food. Well, we have been here 3 times, so not too bad. The prices are ok as well, not too pricey like other western food outlet. The selections are quite a spread. They even have lobsters for those who have high taste and high budget. What I love the most is their pasta selection. My kids love pasta like lasagna and mac and cheese. Normal steak house don't really have that. I love their lamb chop, very nicely cooked with delicious pumpkin puree and mashed potatoes.

Service was good on our first 2 trips, the last trip was not that ok. The food was served late and we even waited for more than 5 minutes before someone took our order. However, they have improved in terms of payment method. Previously only cash is accepted, now they have started to accept cards.

The last trip we had, we had this selection.

So, for those who want to try, you can refer to their FB fan page for more info.

My take, worth the try. They just need to maintain their good service level like the first time we came. 

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Liza On The Map ~ Legoland Yo!

One of my kids favourite thing is going to theme parks. So far, they have been to many theme parks in Malaysia, both indoor and outdoor, Universal Studios, theme parks in Gold Coast and the latest addition to this theme park craze is none other than Legoland. They have been wanting to go to Legoland since the day it opened in September. They were quite frustrated when they did not get to go for my company's excursion to Legoland as I have classes that weekend.

So, embracing the concept Janji Ditepati long before it became our Merdeka Day slogan, we took them them in November. Knowing this will not be the only time we will visit this place, we decided to take the Annual Pass, much more worth it. Collecting Annual Pass was already a challenge. The queue was long, under the hot sun despite arriving before 10am. After nearly an hour, we managed to get our Annual Pass ready and proceed to enter the park. 

Kids went straight ahead to rides they want to enjoy. While waiting for our turn to do the Annual Pass, they already identified which rides they want to explore first from the Legoland map. Me? I am just a happy bystander, not wanting to be in any rides, no matter how boring or exciting the rides maybe. I am happy to observe and snap photos.

Alhamdulilah, kids managed to enjoy almost all the rides that day. The weather was not too bad, it was not as hot as how many people who have been here told us. We were very lucky actually. It rained for a while, thank God we did not get the overpriced poncho. Imagine RM15 for one poncho which was nothing but a plastic bag, and for 5 of us, that will costs us RM75. It rained for less than 30 minutes, so, we're good.

I love the whole flow of Legoland. The surau was spacious for a theme park, there are toilets everywhere and the makan places were evenly spread. The food price is not too bad, much much cheaper than many many other theme parks we have been to. We had our late lunch at Pizza Mania. That's one of the trick going to theme parks. Don't have your lunch exactly during lunch hour. The makan places will be packed. And this is the best time for you to go for rides while others go for their makan :)

By 3pm, both my better half and I were already exhausted so we lepak at this cafe by the entrance and told the kids to go wherever they want to and meet us at the cafe at 5pm. And they are not allowed to be separated, must go together. They managed to enjoy second and third rounds of the rides they have tried earlier. 

All in all, we had so much fun! Legoland is defnitely a must go place. Go to www.legoland.com.my/ if you want more info on the prices and the rides available. But, if I may offer my opinion, the Annual Pass is definitely an awesome deal not to be missed!

So, which theme park kids will get to enjoy? Did I hear Paris Disneyland?? Watch this space for more update!

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Liza Goes To Movies ~ The Hobbit

Nota tapak kaki atas entry ~ This review is mainly based on my kids input since this movie is not my cup of tea.

I must confess, I am not into science fiction or ala Harry Potter kind of movie. Star Wars or Star Trek don't excite me either. Everytime my kids asked me to take them to this kind of movies, I will try my very best to dodge it. But, most of the time (or make it all the time), they will win and I will be in the loosing end. I will normally end up watching this kind of movies and most of the times feeling bored to death. However, I did enjoy the last Harry Potter edition Deathly Hollows I think. I was engaged and watched until the end of the movie without checking my blackberry.

So, when they insist I take them to watch The Hobbit, my first reaction was "The what?" and they were trying very hard to explain how it's related to Lord Of The Ring but I lost them at Mama, it's an edition of Lord of The bla bla bla. I can see lips moving but can't make out the words that came out of it. I gave in but put a condition that we will watch this at The Mines so that I can go to the Big Bad Wolf Sale after that. They agreed cause I know they wanna go to the same sale as well. 

Some what getting there was a big challenge, of course thanks to the BBW sale. And locating the cinema was another obstacle. I bought the tickets online so okaylah skit. Kids entered the cinema first while I queued for popcorn and waited for my better half to come in after looking for parking space. By the time we went in, the movie has started for less than 10 minutes. Kids did say we did not miss much.

My take ; oklah though I get to update my FB status and checked for other things online which shows that I was not highly engaged. But the kids love it. They love it! Why? They love the adventure, the sound effect and continuous excitement in the movie. 

Part they love the most:

Mira ~ The Gollum with split personality and was furious when he(or at times she) lost the ring. Mira kept on imitating the line "Precious".

Ilham ~ He loves the part where the stone giant fought each other. That was so exciting according to him. And another part he loves when the dwarves killed the large group of Orc clans as well as the hideous looking leader. 

Baby ~ Baby loves all the parts, siap cakap kalau suka skit2 rugi beli tiket. Iyerlah Baby...

As for me, I love the part where the movie ends and I can finally leave the cinema...LOL! And of course, I love the TGV Popcorn :) But, in the movie I love Galadriel dress. Cantik!!!!

So, how the kids rate the movie. 

7 out of 10 from Mira. 

8 out of 10 from Ilham

And Baby said, "I wanted to give it 10 out of 10 if not because I feel it's a scam for a movie to have no concrete ending just so that we watch the sequel. And because of that, they get 9 only"

Next, they want to watch Life of Pi!! Oh God, why I can't I just watch a bimbo movie where the ending is "And they live happily ever after"

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com

Liza On The Map - How Do You Plan For A Holiday

2012 is definitely a major milestone in my life. I have been wanting to go on Europe ala backpacking tour with my better half and I finally got to do it this year. But, to be honest, the planning started 2 years ahead. And one thing about holiday that I love is when I am planning for it.

When I came back from the tour, many asked me how do I plan for this in between other things I do in life. Actually, it's not that hard but you really need to enjoy doing it.

How To Get There?

First thing first, find the best way to arrive at your destination. Is it by flight, train, bus or driving on your own. If you are traveling with just adults, the choices are much more simpler and flexible. When it involves kids, that's when you need to choose the best way to travel. For the Europe tour, I start to hunt for cheap flight tickets as early as September 2011. I wanted to do it sooner but with flights, you can't plan too early. We ended up booking tickets in March during MATTA Fair. We scouted almost all airlines, MAS, Qatar, Emirates, Etijad and others. Since it's long haul flight, we were quite fussy in terms of halal food served on flight. Our experience with Singapore Airlines was not that pleasant when we were on our way to Sydney, they forgot our halal food. Kesian the kids....

We finally settled with Qatar, the cheapest rate of all. Another way to see cheapest flight rates is via http://www.cheapflights.com/. We used this website to get our connecting flights from London to Dublin, Dublin to Rome and Rome to Barcelona. It gives the best rates for all available airlines to your desired destination. As for ground travel, I surveyed based on recommendations from those who have been there, either among my circle of friends or via the net. We used various methods ; train, buses or cabs to travel. Our priority are safety and cost. All this bookings were done while we are still in Malaysia. It is much cheaper that way.

Where To Stay?

This is the part I love the most! Choosing where to stay. As much as we wanted to be adventurous and stay in hostels, we decided not to since it's difficult to pray. Hostels usually have very limited space and you have to share toilets with the rest. We ended up either staying in B&B or 3 star hotels. I went to various websites ; booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, Ratestogo, HotWire.Com and many more. This is how I made comparison. I also counterchecked against review in TripAdvisor to see comments from those who have stayed there. There will be time we arrived late at the city of destination due to choosing the cheapest flight, so we slept either at the airport or bus/trainstation. This is when I checked against TripAdvisor and http://www.sleepinginairports.net/ to see the conduciveness of sleeping at such places. Yes, I took the trouble to do all that and I enjoyed it! Apart from that, the accommodation we chose must be walking distance to places we plan to visit as well as accessibility to halal food. That way, we don't have to pay extra to get to where we wanna go.

Eat.Pray.Shop

Another aspect I paid much attention to is where to eat. This is made easy by doing research at zabiha.com. And I also downloaded this apps on my Android device in case I need to get direction to go to the makan place. We also stocked some instant noodles and 3-1 drinks if we are too tired to go out and hunt for food. Normally, before we go back to where we are spending the night, we will buy food for dinner. 

I also downloaded apps for prayers time as well as qiblat direction. Easy peasy lah. And in case if the location is a shopping heaven for certain stuff, this will also be included in the planning

I prepared a master spreadsheet to reflect all of the above 3 items. Planning is very important. When you plan, you can cut costs in many many items. Also, it will make your trip more effective. No need to worry about things since it has been pre-planned. You just need to enjoy the trip, with very minimal worry.

So, using the same method, I am now planning our 2013 holiday plans. Where to? Medan, UK, Paris, Lucerne, Korea, Bali and Hong Kong. And planning will still be one of the best part of the vacation!

Watch this space to see how Liza put her footprint on other countries on the map!

Signing off,

liza365.blogspot.com