tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65065632024-02-20T15:08:58.999+08:00and I say...blogga wogga and surviving leukemia. a story that is told as it grows.nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comBlogger838125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-9982686852943002632011-05-02T23:39:00.000+08:002011-05-03T05:42:33.103+08:00Antwerp, and Bruges Part 1I left Amsterdam late yesterday morning and took a 2 hour train to Antwerp. I immediately didn't like the place, I don't know why. I checked into my hotel, Hotel Rubenshof, about 2.5 km away from the city centre. The hotel was great, very clean and had high speed Internet (very important to me hehe).<br /><br />As soon as I put my stuff down, my brother called me to check my whereabouts. Turns out they decided to drive from their friend's house in Lommel to Antwerp, so yay! I met up with them, spent a few hours walking around until it was time for them to get back to Lommel. I went back to the hotel after that, but I couldn't still so I went back out. It was already night time, and there didn't seem to be anyone around in my part of the city, so I decided to take the tram to the station. There were people, but I didn't feel safe, so after wandering about for a half hour, I decided to head back to my hotel.<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5602236561906620434'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkW0Ra3xWRBBY3avpOmnWlr6W2lNEfU6oyeRReZwtgXSqpwUt1D7HIxushLkjnfDgKUaiQBMHNyKcH2CHGr27N0Y1Ga0uR21_IxBMCaHEFpIQjUszfA7NnCQpgZgzJ8HOlgzUGA/s288/5.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5602236575585870338'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMRy1Lu3hkpbsv9CTAo32qTwDvEGeAT4F_Kzv7LNc3jaTcZbu-EBkcL2tWOhUUtwaYaQDILUwxQmZy17JyGXU2hpEs5S30PUA1AQg3htbdk6TVxVduVipXoUQAobnKLsu_JeDRA/s288/7.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br />pics above are the interior of Antwerp Central Station. Grand, eh?<br /><br />Since I didn't do much yesterday, I thought i'd wake up earlier today and take a couple of hours walking around the city. After 30 minutes of walking with my gps seeming to lie to me at every corner, I thought, screw it, I'm just going to go take the train to Bruges as soon as possible.<br /><br />So that was my time in Antwerp. Maybe I ought to give it more time, but I am just too lazy today.<br /><br />So I'm now in Bruges. Spent the day with my brother, took a horse carriage ride, climbed the 366 steps clock tower, ate some delicious waffles and ogled at the numerous chocolate shops. They went back to London around 4.30pm, I went back to the train station to get my luggage and checked into my hostel, the Lybeers Travellers Hostel. (I also managed to lose my locker ticket and had to pay a €12.50 penalty to have them open the locker hehe)<br /><br />I went back out and wandered the streets until I got tired, had a whole pizza to myself and now i'm up in my room typing this out. Bruges is so darn pretty, I decided to skip the last night in Brussels and stay here instead.<br /><br />Pictures below are taken in Bruges (first the view from the clock tower, second picture taken at one of the canals)<br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5602236588327048114'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTlVYDaWRuKh8pb12206vRHO2LP2rPkxAbVKEWPjgYbJnJa5BoPIUR1MIf8BR_vFm5qkD2QeUR351M-LfTQLZikh30_VtND14ZCJ0Zwy6N6aZ_AIYea3EkuAVOOUlhrITxZWE28Q/s288/8.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><center><a href='https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5602236596761756802'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioFUivMpXqxieqKpRft86v3V-u29pDbIZYjQLabbrGW6lHRBuKAJWAYrNq2-FslCjab6cf2K3N5kr01eOfCuotG_LaVNAeGCS8kgcIqdsimMlp3fmZJbKqZsmwy9R-lRswtJr9qQ/s288/9.jpg' border='0' width='281' height='210' style='margin:5px'></a></center><br /><br /><p class='blogpress_location'>Location:<a href='http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Antwerp,%20Bruges&z=10'>Antwerp, Bruges</a></p>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-7754457875951233802011-04-30T07:33:00.000+08:002011-05-03T04:23:01.364+08:00Amsterdam 2011<b>Day 1</b><br />My flight landed at Schiphol at around 5.30am, so i lingered around Schiphol Plaza for about half an hour before taking the train to Amsterdam Centraal Station (€4.20). The sun was already out, and I felt quite energized as I slept for a good 9 hours on the plane. It was a short ride into Amsterdam, about 20 minutes or so, the train was just as dingy as the one I took 5 years ago.<br /><br />When i got to the central station, i scrambled around for a few minutes to look for a place where i could get the city transport tickets. I found the GVB office opposite the train station that sold day passes for €7. In hindsight, i didn't really need the pass, since in Amsterdam you could easily walk everywhere. Plus it was easier finding my way around by walking with the help of my trusty GPS than trying to figure out the tram routes.<br /><br />Amsterdam is really nice in the morning when it's quiet and there's only a few joggers running around. I checked into my hotel, Hotel Prinsenhof on the eastern canal belt. The lady was very nice to let me put my things in the room despite the check-in time being 2pm (it was 8.30am when i arrived!) The room was really clean and nice, but with a shared bathroom on the lower floor. It cost me €45 a night, and it was a steal considering that it was a really busy weekend for Amsterdam. A point to note is, if you're in Amsterdam and not staying at a hotel with elevators, forget about bringing the large suitcase. The steep staircases are tortorous! Luckily i only had a cabin size suitcase with me, but even with only the 9kg i had, every step i took to get to my room i questioned the need for everything that was in the bag; like do i really need 4 t-shirts and 2 pairs of trousers in there? Do i really need shampoo, shower gel, etc etc?<br /><br />Anyway, enough about my room and hotel, after i settled in my room i set out for the day. First things first, i went to find a place where i could take a canal cruise. I found one along one of the canals, and bought a combi-ticket for the Van Gogh museum. The canal cruise was great, except i chose to sit outside so i can take pictures, so i didn't hear a single thing that was said by the tour guide. I took a lot of pictures, but don't ask me what those places or things were! :-)<br /><br />After the canal cruise, i went to look for the Van Gogh museum. Now, if you're in Amsterdam, be honest with yourself; are you into art? Do you spend your free time at home googling paintings? Do you like museums with huge crowds? If your answer is No to all three questions, then don't bother. I spent 30 minutes in there trying to see and appreciate the paintings before deciding that my time is better spent somewhere else.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5601879427015412082"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZSv3tkH1Q98txuN6wl-UcEP5oi74rrw5KXGzpMxefheqV2xmcW8TpxoFDo7WoPMEIXTq5b96pgsp6x5Ao_bBRb2V_nbqjqjVXC32FDQx0g6iBg6k8yAr8avbQm1LWvloCn7pxag/s288/5.jpg" border="0" width="281" height="210" style="margin:5px" /></a></center><br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5601879438487143330"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOgFDQf3rf-Nhu5Shd75YLySQO1FlRmMt2izjzERayf7a1dZfnai2YWR1wEWwsXBvJ_sQAmh4bzrZS5Al-L1zMiTZLly18IV8wgZsEyBN9SBt8O6GNio1m3OAqWy1f-8i2GOQcKw/s288/4.jpg" border="0" width="281" height="210" style="margin:5px" /></a></center><br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5601879456237662978"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEi0Y18Y-eXzUznWn1qi1ZwJREN5qxaBhafrrDfA0CjV0oO0JbyUjdaJ92xZa0qnBPaPNvr2CbtRB6UTiLMmd_QzAjOr7ezjApx30m9JXfHQJVgpbmsO6CGTyY4_ot1YSIWFFInA/s288/6.jpg" border="0" width="210" height="281" style="margin:5px" /></a></center><br />After the short stint at Van Gogh, i decided to go to Dam Square because i have some memory of it from 5 years ago. Dam square on that day has turned into a fun fair, complete with a ferris wheel and thrill rides. I stood around there for a few minutes, walked in and out of the shops in the back streets and decided to go look for the pancake shop i went to on my last visit. This city really gave me the munchies although i didn't smoke any pot or ingest any magic brownies! Mind you, before the pancake, i already had a brie and tomato sandwich and then some french fries. The pancake house is called Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs, and yes, it's called that because of the crazy steep stairs you have to take to get some god awesome pancakes! Picture below is the lemon sugar pancake i ordered.<br /><br /><center><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/nadia.asari/BloggerPictures?authkey=Gv1sRgCKH-soCSn5fNmAE#5601879468268140674"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghyCmgZK-dKv01iCEuZe_xHr_Sr91Jm8XekthO9bISxBlZzv1OWHUNXkfdEQXFpVgCsVHzZ4iParV8SQ8LGpapFqorU70ZSIv43j0-VAdoFNynDbmqMxuLkHWjIrcl4nQay-8hA/s288/0.jpg" border="0" width="281" height="210" style="margin:5px" /></a></center><br /><br />Next, i went to the foto museum, which was more within my area of interest, then i went to visit the Anne Frank House Museum which was interesting and sad at the same time. Must pick up her book when i get home from this trip.<br /><br />By the time i got back to my hotel it was almost 9pm, and the bars outside my room were already partying like it's 2012. It all became background noise to me and i fell asleep as soon as the internet at the hotel suddenly stopped working.<br /><br />All in all, i had a good first day in Amsterdam, and covered quite a lot of ground in 1 day thanks to my short attention span.<br /><br />Day 2 sambung kemudian hari....<br /><p class="blogpress_location">Location:<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Amsterdam,%20Netherlands%4051.206546%2C4.395910&z=10">Amsterdam, Netherlands</a></p>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-76271471740220978432011-04-28T18:52:00.003+08:002011-04-28T19:05:58.033+08:00So begins another journey<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBbGebeJIUKbTwXcNNCPT4Ahdd66y1fbC62Uscv64GVyKicSubmxlHMMJn572QLPpiiBmBh0JHGVqnIassgdP9C9nyqVCnhmgUu3yAi5NszoZlgh8X9Vo6610oAWLDZS1KwzQ/s1600/141.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBbGebeJIUKbTwXcNNCPT4Ahdd66y1fbC62Uscv64GVyKicSubmxlHMMJn572QLPpiiBmBh0JHGVqnIassgdP9C9nyqVCnhmgUu3yAi5NszoZlgh8X9Vo6610oAWLDZS1KwzQ/s320/141.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5600586904852610754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Amsterdam, 2006</span><br /><br />Ah, the day is finally here. yay! Picture above was taken on my one night trip to amsterdam with my friends Lan and Phil. All i remember from the trip was that we had loads of fun roaming the streets of amsterdam and that we had some awesome pancake at some pancake place. The rest of the trip was a blur to me, not that i was too high on anything!<br /><br />Well, here's to making new memories (sans SLR, so i'm hoping pictures will still turn out great hehe)nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-8954145320027761862011-04-10T11:47:00.003+08:002011-04-10T12:02:43.211+08:00shiats, it's already april!ya ya, so much for doing a run journal and what not.<br /><br />on 29th January I did a 11k loop around Putrajaya, took me two hours, and took about 2 months to recover. every thing became an excuse, too much work, too hot, too wet etc etc. Bottom line is, i got lazy.<br /><br />Next week is the Energizer Night Marathon, i'm going for 11k, and all i've got to show for it is an 8k practice yesterday and about a 6k tryout last weekend. Whatever lah<br /><br />So anyway, based on my sucky performance, i target to finish this Energizer 11K below 110 minutes. This goal will require me to run 25% of the time and walk the rest.<br /><br />i want to get this thing over with, and take my vacation. This time i'm off to Amsterdam, then off to do some city-hopping in Belgium before taking the train from Brussels to London. I've already sent a big empty bag to my brother in London. That way, at the end of my break, i will still have space to bring home goodies, and not have to drag it around Amsterdam and Belgium.<br /><br />i'm nervous, as i always am before any solo trip, but i can't wait!nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-24175293639663190542011-01-24T16:25:00.001+08:002011-01-24T16:25:57.880+08:00Happy Monday and the week's run planI can't wait for the my week-long break next week. Monday checkup, Tues and Wed cuti, then Thurs and Fri CNY. awesome.<br><br>I'm supposed to do a 5K test run last Sunday, but I ended up walking all the way. My whole body was aching (still is) from the session with my aunts on Saturday morning. For a total of 3 hours, we did a variation of crunches, squats, weights and finally some HIITs (High Intensity Interval Training). Felt OK the whole day after, but woke up on Sunday morning feeling stiff all over especially on the shoulders and upper leg area. So on Sunday I decided to take it easy and just walk to get the blood flowing.<br> <br>The plan for this week:<br><br>Mon - REST<br>Tue - 5k easy<br>Wed - 7 x 400m intervals<br>Thu - 5k easy<br>Fri - REST<br>Sat - Join aunts or 6.4k fast<br>Sun - 10k easy<br> nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-25840914123825300862011-01-20T17:31:00.000+08:002011-01-20T17:29:13.148+08:00Happy ThaipusamDay spent lazing around the TV playing Need for Speed. Awesome.<p>So, last Sunday's 10km didn't happen. I didn't wake up in the morning, and the whole afternoon was filled with family related activity. Ah well, c'est la vie.<p>Tues : 5km + 30 push ups, 30 sit ups, 30 squats - Done. In fact, i ran the 5k in 45 minutes, thanks to an awesome podcast i was listening to during the run which powered me through. Can't remember what it's called now..will get the name later.<p>Supposed to do another 5k today. But it's too hot outside...!nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-8441279093597694162011-01-15T19:49:00.003+08:002011-01-15T19:53:14.834+08:006.4km doneRighto.<br /><br />Up until 4.30pm, i was psyched to run the 6.4km.<br /><br />Then Junior Masterchef came on TV. dangit. anyway, after the first episode i just put on my gear, got out before the next one started.<br /><br />Took me an hour, but i made it.<br /><br />Need to do something about the mozzie bites though. Itching all over now. urgh.nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-80324426377333131972011-01-14T20:49:00.002+08:002011-01-15T19:55:54.386+08:00Blog setahun sekaliI find myself lazy to post entries because:<br /><ol><li>who needs a blog when u have facebook? With facebook, it's so much easier to flood your friends with every menial activity you are up to. I'm cooking this, i'm here, there, i'm having dinner with so and so, please come visit my new shop....honestly, who gives a crap?</li><li>I've ran out of things to write about - visits to the doctors have become less frequent</li><li>I want to write about my runs, but after my runs i am usually just too tired to bother.</li></ol><p>Maybe i'll start again by recording my thoughts about my runs.</p><p>I'm running the Energizer Night Race in April. 11km. I'm hoping to be able to run it in 1 hour 40 minutes. Slow, you think? I'm just being realistic with my goals. My run results so far:<br />- 2010 Penang Bridge 10K - 1:36:34 (my watch recorded 1:30:00)<br />- Nike City Run 5K - 55:29</p><p>I attended a bootcamp session last saturday. My whole body ached for 3 days. There's another one tomorrow, but i decided to skip it and train on my own. Too much work to have to wake up at 6am lah.</p><p>Anyway, the plan from now to mid-feb is to build up my 5k endurance level, then i will start adding the mileage until the race day.</p><p>I'm nearing the end of my 3rd week of the 5K build up, so far i have given too much leeway to myself, skipping runs at any plausible excuse, e.g. Rain, weather too hot, dinner plans, broken computer, and a thousand and one other excuses.</p><p>So the plan for tomorrow is to cover 6.4km, and Sunday 10km. We'll see.</p>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-78390601387463672782010-03-20T13:58:00.004+08:002010-03-20T14:07:57.482+08:00Finally, finally, finally!It was my birthday last week, and i couldn't have wished for anything more.<br /><br />I'm alive, i'm healthy, i have enough time to do the things i like, and i love my job. but best of all, i finally completed my MBA! 6 birthdays ago, i wished for a completed MBA thesis to fall from the sky. Well, it didn't. I had to (somewhat) work my ass off on it, but late last year, the damned thing finally went to the printers and binders. Then on my birthday, i received a letter from the school.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7cphu0SZdYcCuaw9zNLf9oaiXofmdIY-dHJuo58h2TTPfxKAbSWp3f8Uv4atJlGHdUS98SIE5YxiNxCZegcHEidQ1qal50Ve-JRHdaD_7WBXzcu6ttoIc7ft463IwalGxPqQ/s1600-h/award.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 468px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7cphu0SZdYcCuaw9zNLf9oaiXofmdIY-dHJuo58h2TTPfxKAbSWp3f8Uv4atJlGHdUS98SIE5YxiNxCZegcHEidQ1qal50Ve-JRHdaD_7WBXzcu6ttoIc7ft463IwalGxPqQ/s400/award.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450593328731809858" border="0" /></a><br /><br />how's that for a birthday, eh?nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-37061898097832929312010-02-23T23:06:00.001+08:002010-02-23T23:10:13.195+08:00Spot the error!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpK-2IFxOBJrIXuYhi5BgrE8RlnQ0cAw3574pTNV-QEIC1Ie4Q0hV4aCIINLZXKNhqDeSt9-qimKgtgDIBFB3iUCxezkDOKRpaMkDrRNntojogEkc5ykMroZ4I1gNIS5-xtCd/s1600-h/ScreenShot001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpK-2IFxOBJrIXuYhi5BgrE8RlnQ0cAw3574pTNV-QEIC1Ie4Q0hV4aCIINLZXKNhqDeSt9-qimKgtgDIBFB3iUCxezkDOKRpaMkDrRNntojogEkc5ykMroZ4I1gNIS5-xtCd/s400/ScreenShot001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441456416800514738" border="0" /></a>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-25375442621336142122010-02-17T23:51:00.002+08:002010-02-17T23:56:45.592+08:00Funi @ Adelaide Zoo<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/4364862389/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4364862389_cd920a29e8.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/4364862389/">Funi @ Adelaide Zoo</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nadio/">nadi0</a>.</span></div><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/4365616376/" title="Funi @ Adelaide Zoo by nadi0, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2754/4365616376_7f495bd478.jpg" width="332" height="500" alt="Funi @ Adelaide Zoo" /></a><br /><p class="flickr-yourcomment"> truly the highlight of my day.</p>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-82192707111478828842010-02-14T21:04:00.002+08:002010-02-14T21:35:28.452+08:00Adelaide: 4 days onIkea and Harbour Town (the factory outlets) day went well. We even went to Glenelg Beach first to have lunch, and then turned back to do our shopping, all on public transport, dragging the trolley bag around (well deli did). Things I'd never do at home - go to Ikea on public transport although it's quite convenient. hahaha.<div><br /></div><div>The factory outlet was awesome, though I only had two hours to look around. I'll go again this week if i get the chance...Levi's had an offer for buy 2 and get the third one free. I bought 1 pair for $19.90. couldn't think of a reason why i'd need 3 more jeans. hehehe</div><div><br /></div><div>We stayed in a hotel for the first two nights...since i've booked the room and fully paid for it anyway. The hotel sucked because the wi-fi doesn't reach the room they gave us the the very end of the hall on 3rd floor. The two beds where on wheels and they moved around the wood-floored room like nobody's business. I initially thought that it was an awesome value for $95 a night, but considering the option of staying in my brother's hostel for free, it wasn't. Well, to be fair, it WAS right smack in the middle of the city, 5 minutes walk to almost all the interesting places in the city. I would never stay there again though.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, on Saturday we chilled out and looked for mobile plans, then went to the Central Market and Chinatown to see what Asian stuff we can find there, should my brother have cravings for Malay food in the near future. Central Market is awesome, with the cheeses, fresh looking fruits and veggies - one stall even had coffee from all over the world and it smelled delicious! After doing all that we went back to the hostel for a rest, and i went for a jog around the neighborhood. Jogging here isn't as tiring, the sun was shining so bright, but the wind cooled the sweat off..so that was nice.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today is the last day before my brother starts his orientation at uni. We went back to ikea for more stuff, and dragged the stuff along with us to Glenelg Beach for the day. Chilling down by the beach was really nice, but it got windy so we decided to head back up to have a look around. Ended up in this really nice chocolate shop for some frappes, rushed to watch the sunset, but we missed it slightly...not that there was anything special with the sunset anyway, since there's nothing interesting on the horizon. I'm getting really lazy with lugging this D300 around lah. I think i will go back home and get me a smaller dslr body for my next holiday.</div><div><br /></div><div>After the sunset we went to this <a href="http://www.goodlifepizza.com/">Good Life Pizza</a> as recommended by the Lonely Planet. We had the Spencer Gulf Monster Prawns pizza, which was really really good! It was the most expensive dinner we had so far for 38 bucks, but ok-lah, i thought i'd buy my brother a nice meal since he let me bunk in his room for the week.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm still not getting the bus fares in this city. I've been riding the bus and tram all weekend for $2.20 a pop, and suddenly tonight, the tram ticket man asked if we wanted normal tickets or student fares, i had to pay $4.20 for mine and my brother $2.20. I guess they just assumed i am a student all this time (woohoo!) But, serious tak paham.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ok lah, I'm feeling tired from lazing on the beach today. hehe..i'm off.</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-5563710679231639092010-02-12T11:58:00.000+08:002010-02-12T11:58:00.350+08:00Tired in AdelaideMan it's been one hell of a day yesterday. We arrived at 7.15 AM, and took us about an hour to get out of customs. As usual, Malaysian student off to study in foreign country, 1 bag full of clothes that you'll probably not even wear in the next year, and the other bag full of food that you probably won't eat until they're about to expire.<div><br /></div><div>The flight was a short one, 6 hours and 30 minutes departing KLIA at 9.45pm. Of course i couldn't get enough sleep! first 2 hours spent watching the movies, then another 30 minutes eating, an hour of sleep and then they start serving more food and the hustle and bustle of landing started already.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was tiring but i thought the whole morning was overall lucky for me. The driver who picks up first time students in Adelaide let me hitch a ride with my brother (they initially said that that's not allowed - guardians or travelling partners must travel separately). Then the guy at bro's hostel said i could bunk in with my brother for the length of my stay, if my brother is ok with it. Not having a proper plan pays off in the end. hahaha.</div><div><br /></div><div>We spent the day doing all the necessary stuff, bank accounts, getting homewares etc. Adelaide city is a pretty small place, you could walk everywhere if you wanted to, which was what we ended up doing, since we only know the buses that go from the hostel into the city. hehee...by 12noon i started having a headache from the lack of sleep. but we pushed on to finish all those things. the sooner i get those things done, the sooner i get to start my holiday!</div><div><br /></div><div>so far i haven't taken any pictures, gone for any trail walks or anything. and i can't wait! there seems to be a lot of things you could do here...one of which is swimming with dolphins, which i'm contemplating!</div><div><br /></div><div>anyway, today we're off to the factory outlets and ikea. didn't get to finish shopping for stuff yesterday because shops here close at 5...ni yang boring kan negara2 macam ni. hehe. adios.</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-35731323234360215532010-01-09T21:42:00.003+08:002010-01-09T21:53:43.857+08:00Week 9 Day 3<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPMqL4VjA1v2VXxo5kVA9fQJFfR9U8g6EljAGfcYLK8XKRxRWURXPrz3_J49tqgPzzsEcGtgbUPjXXz5rHfT54GGDsVR3htn3rnBlL8Dwj30roOwcVnnLoW2hlWpfbAbxie0L/s1600-h/ScreenShot048.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 510px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPMqL4VjA1v2VXxo5kVA9fQJFfR9U8g6EljAGfcYLK8XKRxRWURXPrz3_J49tqgPzzsEcGtgbUPjXXz5rHfT54GGDsVR3htn3rnBlL8Dwj30roOwcVnnLoW2hlWpfbAbxie0L/s400/ScreenShot048.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424736401981423362" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I did it! Took me 10 weeks instead of 9, never thought i'd get here, but here i am. Still not fully covering 5km in 30 minutes, however, it's a hell lot better than sitting on my lazy ass throughout the most of last year. :-)<br /><br />yay!nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-78762075537685842472009-12-11T19:30:00.002+08:002009-12-11T19:40:18.117+08:00Couch to 5K: Week 5 Day 3Holy moly, i never thought i would get this far. I made it to the third run of Week 5, where i have to jog non-stop for 20 minutes. Only a couple of weeks ago, i hit a major wall trying to run for 5 minutes non-stop. To overcome that wall, i had to get off the treadmill and run at the park so i can make the minor adjustments to my pace. I also had to get a mate to run me through the 5 minutes. Then i started making adjustments to my food intake on my running days...hehe..over tak.<br /><br />So anyway, today, in woman vs week 5 day 3, woman won! (sorry, i've been watching too much of Man vs. Food lately kekeke.)nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-92063284237486839082009-12-03T15:53:00.001+08:002009-12-03T15:53:03.501+08:00Al-Fatihah for Harris...<style type="text/css">.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }</style><div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/959889791/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1391/959889791_f08d9f0512.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /> <span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/959889791/">boner</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nadio/">nadi0</a>.</span></div> <p class="flickr-yourcomment"> ...who passed away this morning from a heart attack.</p>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-82443395807192420852009-11-23T23:26:00.000+08:002009-11-24T01:57:09.000+08:00perbalahanku dengan pihak berkuasa - season finaleafter over a year, 4 days of wasted annual leave, 4 afternoons spent at the PJ Magistrate Court and several trips to the PJ Traffic Police HQ, my case is finally over today. It was about a traffic offense that became an arrest warrant that I supposedly committed back in August 2007. So today, the police attorney decided to cancel the ticket and warrant, due to the fact that they could not find the ticket in their archives, and also the 2nd police witness was not contactable (or not contacted at all, who cares).<div><br /></div><div>what an absolutely fruitful way to waste time. muahaha.</div><div><br /></div><div>i haven't been on the treadmill for 3 days now. went for a walk and run at the KJ park yesterday, and only lasted 1km before it started drizzling (the running bit was where i had to run back to the car to avoid getting soaked. hehe..) i'm in week 4 now, i had my 1st day of week 4 sometime mid last week, the drill was to Walk 5 minutes, 2 sets of (jog 3 mins, walk 1.5 min, jog 5 mins, walk 2.5 mins). I set the treadmill incline to 0.5, and cheated the last 5 minute run because it was too hard. I'll have to do it over, maybe slow down the pace so I can finish the whole thing. Feeling quite good since I started exercising regularly again. My usually low blood pressure went into the normal range (~95/70 to 112/72), and my usually high resting heart rate went down from 90 to 74. I'm quite happy about this particular achievement. I haven't lost any weight though, but I guess as long as I feel energetic and well, it doesn't really matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>ciao.</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-14834506775840108152009-11-07T02:17:00.002+08:002009-11-07T02:35:04.165+08:00disorientedafter what i thought was the record breaking finishing work at 11pm on wednesday night, i broke another one by leaving at 4.30am on friday morning. lucky for me, my house is just a few minutes drive away. everytime i feel like complaining, i think about how lucky i've been, that i very rarely have to pull all-nighters for work purposes - although i probably spend 120 nights a year pulling all nighters for my own personal purposes, e.g. edit gambar, watching tv shows, etc etc. hehe.<div><br /></div><div>i came back at 11 am to help them make some last minute changes, printed out the stuff and went home. then i slept. and now i'm wide awake, window shopping on walmart.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>got a party photoshoot on a putrajaya cruise tomorrow night. should be interesting! just a bit worried that my photos will all be shakey from the boat movement. hmm.</div><div><br /></div><div>nite</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-82947079461362575732009-11-04T23:59:00.000+08:002009-11-05T02:34:48.267+08:008 weeks to 2010dang, the older i get, the faster i feel time flies. scary shit.<div><br /></div><div>i need another holiday, pronto. but can't do much with 0.5 day left from my annual leave. can't wait for the long weekends we'll get end of november up to end of the year. Raya Haji, Sultan Selangor's birthday, awal muharram, christmas and new year (awesome, eh?)</div><div><br /></div><div>been staying late at work these days. tonight was the record, 11pm. and there were still people trying to finish up when i left. kasihan mereka. i want to say i'd like to break the record of coming early for once, but i think i broke that already one day when i arrived at 7.45am (because i didn't sleep the whole night). heheh.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've also started going on the treadmill again. 3rd attempt at <a href="http://www.c25k.com/">Couch to 5K</a> in a year. My first attempt was late last year, which was interrupted by the Phi Phi island trip. hehe. Then it was interrupted by my apartment terbakar-europe trip-finishing mba paper hoo ha. I started again a couple of weeks ago, in a fitness paranoia streak. I went out and bought that Nike+ sport kit thing, hooked up the sensor on my shoe lace and started running. For some reason that little thing on my shoe is driving my motivation now, although not surprising since I'm a creature of <a href="http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_MY/plus/#//runs/history/1477073240/">graphs and data</a>. I'm pretty sure that the sensor is clocking more mileage than what i actually cover, since the numbers were pretty off compared to the treadmill. But who cares, i'm just competing against myself, and if that illusion makes me want to do more, more power to me! hehehe..I'm now on week 2, so we'll see if i make it to week 9 this time round.</div><div><br /></div><div>wokeys, need to try and sleep now for another long day tomorrow.</div><div><br /></div><div>adios.</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-26062853961898172962009-10-12T03:00:00.004+08:002009-10-12T03:13:09.470+08:00Geek Modehuiyo...3 months has passed by? I think there was a Miss M who dropped a comment a while ago asking why no updates. Busy lah. With work mostly. And sleeping in on the weekend, hence didn't do anything interesting which contributed to the lack of blog updates.<br /><br />Anyway, today i bought myself a new monitor to replace the 4 year old 19-inch. After 3 hours of meddling around, i finally got the dvi display to work, and hooked up my lcd tv in extended display mode.<br /><br />tada! now i can watch movies while doing work.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lAuYdZ9ounWBvdJlwqQ0ZosNYI45401G1gfboYWpI1hMH2RX1JQpOJrLI7jvRJeiqkaZz60v_MB2x7J4K3IF9Sd4S3288ilCUqFgztL8JV0DI4DDRl9FnboYV45WGuSIfp1-/s1600-h/desktop.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 531px; height: 219px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lAuYdZ9ounWBvdJlwqQ0ZosNYI45401G1gfboYWpI1hMH2RX1JQpOJrLI7jvRJeiqkaZz60v_MB2x7J4K3IF9Sd4S3288ilCUqFgztL8JV0DI4DDRl9FnboYV45WGuSIfp1-/s400/desktop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391421996320888930" border="0" /></a>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-63385892117224615462009-07-12T23:31:00.002+08:002009-07-12T23:34:06.672+08:00Happy 4thIt was my 4th stem cell transplant anniversary yesterday. Alhamdulillah. I didn't do anything special, just finished some work in the office, and then went to hang out with friends for coffee later that night.<div><br /></div><div>Recent bone marrow test results were good, and blood counts were excellent.</div><div><br /></div><div>One more hurdle, and hopefully i'll be all set.</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-25824526526361481932009-05-30T02:22:00.005+08:002009-05-30T02:50:15.143+08:00missing skopelos<div class="flickr-frame"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/3576711446/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3619/3576711446_d4e80a48a8.jpg" class="flickr-photo" alt="" /></a><br /><span class="flickr-caption"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/3576711446/">DSC_6339</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/nadio/">nadi0</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">i finally got around to looking at my recent travel photos. i have been trying to delay this part where i go through the pictures, delete the really horrible ones, edit the nice ones, etc etc. Partly because work has consumed most of my after-trip life that my nights were mostly spent in a catatonic state in front of the TV, partly because i did not want to get into a state of post-holiday depression looking back at the photos.<br /><br />i can't wait to get to do this again next year, god willing. with friends, i hope, but alone would also be OK. traveling alone is fun because you could really do whatever you like, arrange and rearrange your plans to your own liking. Of course, you get lonely once in a while, but that's why it's useful to have a friend in the form of a Wi-fi enabled gadget! :-P</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadio/3576751140/" title="IMG_0868 by nadi0, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3576751140_dec8d73a60.jpg" alt="IMG_0868" width="500" height="333" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">One Geek Salad for me please! hahahah<br /><br />I'm not sure what i really miss about Skopelos actually. Skopelos is undoubtedly beautiful. But I think it was mostly the tranquility, the week-long opportunity to behave like a lost soul with about 3 pairs of clothes and a camera, and only worry about what to eat and what to do, in addition to worrying about not falling off the cliffs.</span><br /></span></div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-71576496608527541342009-05-21T00:43:00.002+08:002009-05-21T00:50:25.740+08:00wictor wictorStar Trek was awesome!!<br /><br />among other pronunciations that made me think twice today:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">in a conversation with a bank customer service agent:<br /><br /></span>Agent<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">: </span></span>can you tell me what 'kaunt-i' you use your card in?<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Me: kaunt what?<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">in a radio ad:<br /><br /></span></span>something about the narrator's sister being so feminine, perhaps because she uses 'audipafum Secret' cheh. Maybe that's bahasa baku for Eau de Parfum.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-74238541043535410772009-05-18T00:49:00.005+08:002009-05-18T00:58:17.693+08:00i am homeam home, after the stress of packing and unpacking in London to meet the baggage weight regulations, after the mix up at the check-in counter when i was checked in under a Mr Nadarajan and only realized the mistake at the gate (i got through security and immigration in Heathrow with the wrong boarding pass, mind you), after the 12 hours of darkness in the plane, out to the hot sticky weather of home sweet home.<br /><br />back to reality.nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6506563.post-87638197833532492482009-05-12T03:09:00.000+08:002009-05-12T10:14:20.916+08:00Back in London<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFNuJPhy1KPfSaBoJrCr-UbcRK9ouaTWVxShfLBO7dYvnbdA1vPjEBN3EMTWmi1EXA37CrbhPpQDbsKR1M5doOaVQwr-JK-jglfTcKztKB8Cp7s5E44RczqETk0neg7dy0dsC/s1600-h/10mbps.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 387px; height: 60px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifFNuJPhy1KPfSaBoJrCr-UbcRK9ouaTWVxShfLBO7dYvnbdA1vPjEBN3EMTWmi1EXA37CrbhPpQDbsKR1M5doOaVQwr-JK-jglfTcKztKB8Cp7s5E44RczqETk0neg7dy0dsC/s400/10mbps.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334753907501807522" /></a><br />After what felt like forever on the non-reclining seats of EasyJet, i finally arrived at my brother's place. It's nice and chilly, just the kind of weather i like.<div><br /></div><div>And the speed of the Internet. Greece was fast, but not this fast. The song <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">'ooh baby do you know what that's worth..ooh heaven is a place on earth'</span> is playing in my head right now. hehe.</div><div><br /></div><div>speedwise, so far Malaysia is still the sayurest of them all.</div><div><br /></div><div>nite nite!</div>nadiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03637926792433529707noreply@blogger.com