BEGINING AND ENDING

If one is to begin the other has to end

But is the other's end at one's fault

What if both one and the other continue on

Will there be enough for both

Or will one be left with dashed hope

Maybe the other will also have a new beginning

At least the other can still smile in the end

And one is utterly content with the new beginning

SECRET SANTA

After the semi-successful November babies birthday celebration in Times Square, (I say semi-successful because we were kinda complaining towards the end.. Heh..) Kevin was in full organizer mode. So he proposed another get-together for the gang... SECRET SANTA!!

After much planning and changing dates and venue, he finally decided presents were to be exchanged on the 20th December at the KFC near Menara MBf at 9.30pm. Names of Santees were drawn four days before and I have to thank Ecah for drawing out my Santee because I was out of town for the ceremony. I was however a little pressed for time and only barely managed to get the present(s).. Hee~ Just one hour of shopping yo.. So apologies to my Santee if my gift(s) were short of your expectations.

Kevin had a last minute shadow at Axis, so we started the party without him. We pooled all the presents on two tables and then ordered food. Most of us just finished Zumba with (none other than) Uchop and were absolutely ravenous. I only got a tiny cute little chicken wing, corn on the cob, Twister and Oreo Krusher.. Suddenly that sounded like a lot, LOL.. And Sherli even brought candies for everyone.. Nice~

After Kevin came, there was a bit of photo session going on and not long after gift exchanging time..!! One by one names were called and each time everyone wanted who their Santa was. And surprise surprise yours truly got TWO presents. Haha.. My friends joked that the other was from a Secret(?) Admirer. As it were I would once again like to thank whoever it was that gave me the gifts. They are lovely.

It was a bit late by then and we were tired out from the workout and the fun. I was among the last to leave as I had another business about an unexpected, awesome and most probably life changing trip. Stay tuned for more..

NOVEMBER BABIES

Just got back from my fourth surprise birthday party this month. Haha. It just so happened that there were a lot November babies among us and we got addicted to throwing suprise birthday parties for some of them at the gym.

First up is dearest Ecah. Her birthday surprise clashed with a dinner I had at a nearby hotel, but I braved the drizzling rain and were there to sing "Happy Birthday" with the rest of the gang at Menara MBf. We smeared some cake on her and presented her with a birthday card. Then, they trooped into the studio for BodyJam and I took my leave for dinner. However, I did manage to catch the end of the celebration back at Avenue K, where the girls thoughtfully kept some cake for me. Thanks...

We had a surprise celebration for Uchop after his Drums Alive class in Mont Kiara. Tila and I rushed out as soon as the class finished and then we turned off the lights in the studio and came bearing cupcakes with candles lit. This was a smaller celebration and we brought the cupcakes out to the lounge for some munchies and keropok.

A few days after, Nik organized another celebration for Uchop in Avenue K. There were more people this time and we had a to-die-for cute cake and cupcakes made by our own Shireen. Nik brought out the cake after Uchop's cardio Dance class, which meant BodyJam that day started a bit late. And also that the cakes had to wait until class ends before being shared with everyone.

And then totally last minute, tonight we surprised Sherlin with a birthday cake after BodyJam at Mont Kiara. It was a belated celebration so we didn't manage to prepare a birthday card but I'm sure it's the thought that counts. We munched on the goodies and took pictures. All in all, fun night.

I enjoyed and had fun at each and every celebration. I especially LOVE their reaction when we present them with the cake; singing "Happy Birthday". Priceless I tell you. I certainly hope that made their birthday extra special. Hee~ OK, now gotta burn off all those cakes. Ciao~

FRIENDS FOREVER

28th November 2011 for some reason was celebrated with both old friends and also newfound ones. Err, family time will be reported in the near future.. LOL.. Here's hoping that the friendship forged will last a lifetime.

So I woke up quite early and inexplicably unable to go back to sleep after Subuh. Which meant I was ON TIME picking Illi up and also despite a brief detour was half an hour earlier than Ama's promised pick-up time. Not really a good thing for Ama because her nap time was cut short. Heh.. The get-together was agreed upon a while ago and by this time both soon-to-be mothers are showing significant baby bumps.

When we got to One Utama, Seoul Garden wasn't even open yet so we walked around a bit. Into a candy store, into Himalaya, into a collectibles store... But when we made the turn around back to Seoul Garden, there was already a long line at the counter. What the.. 0_o After confirming and paying for our order, we were shown our seats.. Right at the back.. Thanks..

I took the Coffee Chicken (it seriously tastes like coffee) and the beef. Ama can't really take chicken, so the beef was mostly gobbled up by her. The kimchi this time was surprisingly nice. Illi was the veggie freak as she came bearing one whole plate of greens to our table and Ama got busy with her mushrooms. As per usual, we spent more than an hour eating through the food, talking all the while. Seriuosly, not even one moment of quiet. Mostly we were updating each other of our stories. Ama and Illi exchanged pregnancy stories. I find it extremely cute that Illi is still undecided on what her baby will call her. Ibu? Ummi? Bonda? LOL.

In the end, we were unable to finish all the food we took. Tummy. Too. Full. So we upped and left. Ama suggested we walk around to let the food settle, so we looked at a few sports shoes and items. I NEED NEW SHOES!! It was raining when we got out of the parking lot. We stopped by Ayam Kampung to buy lunch for Ama's parents. After dropping her and Illi off, I headed straight to Berjaya Times Square.

Uchop was invited to do the Sh'bam launch at the Sports Toto Fitness Centre that evening. When I got there, everybody had already arrived. Since the theme for the class was red and blue I decided to dance in my jeans. Aah, the DIVA in me. Hee~ The class was absolutely fun, with all of us dancing to all kinds of music. I LOVE the studio. I could totally check myself out dancing with the full length mirror at the front and at the side. Nice~ However, due to the intensity of the workout I almost felt like all the food I had before was slowly making its way upwards.. Ugh..

When the class was over, there was the usual camwhoring session and then all of us trekked to the changing room. I must say, I also love the shower room here. It's much more spacious than at Fitness First. It took a while for the gurls to finish getting ready (makeup and all uolss..) we were at Johnys by 6.30ish where Kevin and Sean were waiting with a looong table. Nik brought a HUGE teddy bear for Uchop and a Cute one for Emmyl, the November babies. All of us ordered the rice/noodle set, which IMO was a bit of a waste because going to Johnys and not having steamboat is like going to Venice and not riding on a gondola.. Haha.. Sorry, couldn't find a more apt comparison.. Anyway, I had mee hoon tom yam and a sundae (even though it's a Monday LOL and I'm still suffering with a flu).

We finished eating at 8pm and had approximately 3++ hours to kill. The gurls headed to the bowling place for a couple of sets, Uchop and Nik went to find a massage place and Kevin went to look for new shoes. I sneaked out and went to Starbucks and Krispy Kreme with Fendy and Emmyl. Then we met up with the gurls and it was karaoke time. Tila and Fendy kicked off with "Dua Insan". I sang "This I Promise You" and had a duet with Tila ("Hati Kama"). Ecah and Shahnaz also had a turn with the mike. We had fun with "Stop" and the encore song was "Oops I Did It Again". Brilliant.

By this time we had almost an hour left, so we decided to just sit around listening to the music blaring from Kenny Rogers while the crew was cleaning up. Most of us were pretty much tired and sleepy by now and just about ready to collapse. So at 11.40pm we trudged into the cinema for "Breaking Dawn: Part 1". I must confess this is my first time watching a Twilight movie at the cinema. Heck, this is my first time seeing a Twilight movie. Not counting the snippets I caught of the first two movies so I was completely ready to fall asleep. Therefore it came as a pleasant surprise that the story moved with a realistic pace and I didn't really feel out of loop. It was however a shame that they cutout the delivery scene because we were left wondering what happened to Bella after she gave birth to Renesmee. The movie finished at 1.30am. We said our goodbyes and all headed home. Gotta work in a few hours..~ ~

FUTURE FUNK OF PARIS

I have mentioned it in a few posts before, but there was never an official post on my gymming activities. Since I had the awesomest nite I felt I just had to blog about it now. So, just for the record, I joined Fitness First on 19th February 2010. It was not so much to lose weight but the time felt right and Ama also joined just a week before I did.

Because I was a Platinum member, I have acess to all the FF clubs across Malaysia and also worldwide. Initially, me and Ama would frequent the club at Curve. We would do BodyJam (cardio workout by dancing) and EasyMove. Ama would also sometimes join EasyStep. There were also other group exercises like BodyAttack, BodyPump and BodyStep but those classes were not really to my liking. We would also go to the club at Menara Maxis (later relocated to Avenue K) where we discovered Line Dance Funk, which is only the awesomest class ever..!! Hee.. Now I mostly join BodyJam, LDF and also Cardio Dance. Only dance-based classes for me..!!

So, every three months there is a new release for the group exercises by LesMills and the launches are usually grand events. For the recent launch of BodyJam 58 Future Funk of Paris, instructors Uchop and Jason joined forces at the Menara MBf club and totally rocked the workout.

The theme for the class was red and blue, the official colour for Paris. It so happened me and my friends were together the day before and so we bought the same shirt to wear to the launch. That caused many eyes on us and also photo ops. We took pictures before jamming and lots more after. The release itself was awesome. The "Party Rock Anthem" was in the playlist, so all of us shuffled. As with all releases I love the recovery section. We were almost to the front of the studio, in front of the mirror which made it easier to check all the four of us out. Haha.. Then Britney took center stage with "Till The World Ends" and all of us took off to Paris.

After the jam, there was a brief QnA and prize throwing session. Then we took A LOT of pictures even though most of us were drenched, got hydrated, washed up (most of us) and went home.

WHAT I DID ON MY 28TH BIRTHDAY

I just realized that I didn't have this post last year.. Now I'm wondering what I did to celebrate.. Huu~ Gotta check the trusty ol' diary after this..

First of all, huge thanks, hugs and kisses to my family and friends for the birthday wishes.. Be it on facebook, SMS or even with just a simple call.. Those really made the day extra special and made me feel remembered and appreciated.. I heart all of you..

In terms of activities of the day, nothing really out of the ordinary. Went to work as usual, wore all-pink.. Totally unplanned BTW.. Since my inbox was overflowing with fb wellwishers, replying to them took some time.. Which meant I didn't really do much work that morning.. On a side note, the big bosses of my company signed the deal for the sale of our land on my birthday.. Not really sure whether that's an event to celebrate or not.. Heh.. But it literally means a whole lotta work for us in the future and... Possible relocation?? Gulp..

After work I went to the gym. We did a new song for Cardio Dance but Uchop taught us only for like 2.5 sets.. He still haven't finished choreographing.. Tsk tsk.. My gym buddies then asked me to join them for Bodyjam and I just couldn't refuse. It's been awhile since I jammed due to Ramadhan, so I was quite out of breath towards the end. And the fact that the studio was kinda hot didn't really help. 

Since we haven't had a decent meal for buka puasa, me and the gang headed to Subway where we got a bit carried away with giggling at every little thing. They were playing raya songs and we were choreographing each song.. LOL.. I tried the spicy Italian, it was nice but BMT is still my favourite.

I got home and washed up.. Wanted to watch "Princess Man" or "Best Love" but ended up sleeping in front of the TV..

RELAY FOR LIFE 2011 (KUALA LUMPUR)

For some odd reason, lots of people thought 16th July would be the perfect date to organize their event.. Merck had their treasure hunt, Fitness First had a Miracle event, AMAR had an open house, and it was also the day of RFL KL. Maybe because it's a few weeks shy of Ramadhan.. Anyway, Fitness First had their Miracle event for the entire day at Empire Subang. They set up tent outside the shopping complex where ShowOff performances and also classes took place. The staff and instructors have been hyping up the event, selling coupons and T-shirt to members, all in the name of charity. There are also a couple of classes going on in the gym itself; one of which was Line Dance Funk.. So it was a no-brainer that me and Ama headed there if only for Bernard's class. Woo!! We saw a few ShowOff performances and then had to take-off after I bought myself a grande Java Chip frap. Yum..

I would've stayed the whole day at the Empire Subang except for the fact that I had committed to volunteering for RFL KL with Aunty Darl (including Ama and hubby Yazid).. We got to UKM Stadium later than promised (even got slightly lost) and proceeded to report to Aunty as soon as we got there.. We found the surau, changed into our yellow T-shirt and walked around the stadium taking pictures.

The event proper started at 6pm, with cancer survivors (in purple) started the relay with much applause from the participants in yellow.. They carried banners and some even had on costumes.. Then, it was the yellow people's turn on the tracks and who do you think lead the way carrying NCSM banners? Why.. Us of course!! We screamed and laughed and had to slow down our walk because the others at the back couldn't catch up.. LOL..

I think by now I've bought my Mocha frap from the Starbucks vehicle parked at the F&B section. But not before we bought our Luminarias and did some decorating.. I dedicated mine to Mok Nab.. May her soul rest in peace.. Then, a few more rounds on the track.. We decided to buy our dinner (meatball with gravy and mashed potato for me!!) right before the Luminaria session but I only ate mine after the session has ended. There was a tribute to Liza, a former cancer survivor who lost her battle in May. Her two sons went up the stage and bravely gave a speech. After a video presentation all the luminarias were lit up and a slow procession started. One interesting fact is that the only time the track is allowed to be empty is during Luminaria.

Dini and Adma then dragged us to join one of the games. Although we just had dinner (and also my Mango Passion frap) we got in line. We formed a team of five and were briefed on the rules: blow the flour off and scoop up the candy.. And the group next to us is lead by none other than Adam.. Luckily for us, Dini went first and she blew hard enough to send the flour flying, revealing almost all the candies. It was funny when she and Adam were fighting over the same flour.. LOL.. We got second and was in high spirits by the end of the game..

Mama, Abah, Huda and Husna came a bit later to escort Tun Jeanne Abdullah in RFL KL. She got here later so she missed some of the earlier performances on stage. The line dances were fun (Achy Breaky Heart was pure FUN) and the traditional Malay dance got everybody swaying their hands. The Miss RFL was hilarious, people were screaming and shouting their favourite Miss (who for the uninitiated is NOT a Miss, rather a Mister..).. I danced with Ama when we heard LDF songs, like right in the middle of the field.. Awesome.. As it was nearing midnight I quickly got in line for my last frap of the day (Java Chip again..)..

Come 2am everything started to quiet down. Games were still going on and our shift officially began. I manned the merchandise counter while Ama and Yazid were at the information counter. Previously we went to Aunty's hotel room with Dini to freshen up. I asked Husna to keep me company.. Threaten actually since she preferred to hang out with her friends. And I asked her to buy some food when an uncle stopped by and said that the F&B were closing. She did leave me when Alya, Aunty's eldest came. By 4am there were no more customers and the morning air was very cold. People had started dozing off and when Aunty came by I asked for some nap time in my car (the hotel room was already full and we forgot to book tents). Me and Alya were just about to drift off when Husna knocked on the window and the three of us had a brief sleep until 7am.

After freshening up, I went back to the merchandise counter. Ama and Yazid got breakfast (Milo and Fitnesse cereal). We enjoyed the yoga and aerobic sessions.. Then it's working time again as we had to help with cleaning up and clearing the tent. I did a few laps around the track all by myself and finished just before the last relay at 10am. We stayed behind just long enough to burst the balloons and then cleaning that mess up before we bid adieu and went home. Can't wait for next years'!! Go NCSM!! Go RFL!!!