Surprise 29th Birthday Dinner at Carcosa Seri Negara

Oh Em Gee, I have finally turned 29!

And, to make turning 29 even sweeter, (apart from completing a 10km run,) Hubby organized the most special and thoughtful birthday dinner surprise ever. Right after the run, Hubby reminded me that we were going for dinner and then he went straight to bed. Letih giler kan! But instead of doing the same, I made red velvet cake instead. (What is it with me and baking after every run??!!) The red velvet cake was going to be my own birthday cake for a BBQ makan makan I was organizing the following day. And unfortunately the first cake didn't turn out perfectly round since I lined the baking tins with baking sheets and I was determined to make my cake perfect so I actually made another. Yes, two red velvet cakes in one day. I should probably open a bakery! *yeah right*

Enough about the cake - that and the BBQ deserves a post on its own. Anyway, 7pm arrived and Hubby came down the stairs (after his beauty sleep) and told me to go get ready. I didn't know where we were going nor know what I was going to wear. The only thing he told me was that he was going to be wearing a blazer. Oooookayyyyy... that's helpful! If only he had told me that we were going to be dressing up, a day or two earlier, I would have made sure that I had something decent to wear!

So we got into the car and he started driving towards the Nike Run finish line, and I remember asking him whether he wanted another run that night. And suddenly he turned into Carcosa Seri Negara. Yes, Carcosa. And funnily, the first thing that came to my mind was: "Oh crap, I don't have enough battery in my phone for pictures!" Apologies for the grainy pictures - should have brought the SLR instead (provided I was given a day heads up). And thank you to my stepsister who came to the rescue by sending us her portable iPhone charger so that we could at least document how perfect our dinner was that night.

And the dinner was simply perfect. The ambience, the colonial-style architecture setting, the scrumptious food, the immaculate service, and of course - my better half.

The brilliant mastermind. I love you Hubby!

I was in awe when the server brought us to the table. They had thoughtfully seated us in a private corner, with rose petals on the table! Romantic!!

There was only one other family in the room. (So we had to behave while they were around *grin*)

Hubby studying the menu.

Even though the selection was somehow limited, I was still unsure of what to order. Everything on the menu looked nyummmmmy to my taste buds!

Our starter - Tuna something something. Essentially pan fried tuna with local spices. It was really good - especially the combination of the tuna with the pumpkin curry sauce on the side.

My main course. I decided to have the Halibut with white asparagus, morel mushroom and shellfish sauce. Halibut is my favourite fish after Cod. And it was done brilliantly well - the first bite I took was absolutely bursting with interesting flavours.

Hubby's main course - the Roasted Lamb Rack with crusty fresh herbs and mint croquettes. We have had the opportunity to try a wide range of lamb racks in other restaurants, but somehow this lamb rack was not the same as the others we've previously sampled. Unique taste, I simply couldn't pinpoint what it was. The lamb was tender and moist, the sauce incredibly tasty.

I had declined dessert (because I knew a cake would be coming - come on, how can someone celebrate a birthday without cake??) and finally they brought the cake over. They even laid out a knife by my side just in case I wanted to cut the cake in grandeur and all!

Hubby confided in my at that point that he had arranged for the pianist to play the birthday song when they brought it the cake, but at the very last minute they informed him that the pianist wasn't on duty that night. Then he agreed for them to play 'our' song over the PA system. But unfortunately they didn't live up to the arrangement. Regardless, I was touched. A simple Happy Birthday wish trumps those hyped up gestures anyday.

Thank you Sayang. I was truly, pleasantly, surprised.

"Happy 29th Birthday"

"My Lovely Wife"

And then the true surprise arrived. A big bouquet of roses. This time, I was absolutely surprised. No kidding!

I wonder how you are going to top this next year, dear Hubby!

Probably one of the richest chocolate cakes I had ever tasted in my 29years of life!

Hubby had freshly brewed coffee and immersed himself in the lush settings.

Our private corner!

And suddenly the other family left and we had the whole room to ourselves.

The other side of the dining room. It definitely had an understated elegance.

I am actually 29! Next year there will be no celebration. I swear I am going to take the day off and berkabung bawah selimut.

Carcosa also has an elegant staircase leading up to their luxury 5-star deluxe boutique hotel rooms. I saw a couple going up to their room - on a honeymoon or something. Makes me want to book a room there too!

Hubby and his bouquet of flowers.

That's one historic piece of picture behind us - partly obscured by the christmas tree.

One last pose before we stepped out.

Rich in history and culture, Carcosa Seri Negara is certainly the hallmark of Malaysia's national heritage.

Awwww Hubby... *melts*

Walking out. I really didn't want the night to end!

Love this historical heritage mansion. Definitely making this one of my favourite places in KL.

Thank you Hubby, you really did well this year *grin*

Nike We Run KL 2011

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been away for so long. I have been either running or baking - my two passions for now. I have been dying to upload photos of my latest baking goodies but I shall refrain myself from doing so! How about photos of my first competitive run, and also my first outdoor 10km run?

We were actually quite lucky that we managed to sign up for the Nike Run. Back then I didn't know that Hubby wanted to start running so I didn't bother signing up online for the run when they launched it during the weekend. Come Monday, Hubby emailed me at the office asking me whether I wanted to join the run. Unfortunately the online sign up was closed, but I found out that they were doing manual sign ups at Nike stores. Hubby walked over to the Pavilion outlet but they were out of forms while I called the MidValley outlet and used my best 'damsel in distress' voice to beg the guy over the phone to save two forms for me. Alhamdulillah, he kept to his word and I rushed over after work to make the payments.

Signing up for the Nike Run was a really good motivation for Hubby and I to keep running. But seriously, I only managed to complete a 10km on the treadmill exactly 5 days before the real run. And I was absolutely freaking out - will I finish? Will I even make it within the qualifying time?

Since the gun off time was sharp at 7am, we decided to set the alarm for 5am and then leave the house by 530am. I insisted that we laid out our attire and pack anything we needed for the run before we went to bed. And it was a good thing that we did. Our alarm clocks didn't work!!! I woke up at 540am and literally jumped out of bed. I'm not kidding. I jumped! Hubby jumped a few minutes afterwards (with some screaming encouragement from yours truly). Got ready in record time and left the house at 6am, armed with our breakfast bars.

And we made it! Butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach, I was so excited to run but scared I couldn't do it at the same time.

Easily 10,000 runners, not counting the 'bandit' runners who ran without the official Nike t-shirt.

Run buddy, run!

Nike certainly went all out for this. They had banners everywhere, even a mini stage with JJ from Hitz.FM as the emcee and loud music to get everyone into the mood.

Thank god he received doctor's clearance to run just two days before the run. If not, I would probably have to lock him up in the master bedroom toilet to make sure that he does not sneak out to the run.

Walking over to the start line. Since we were not one of the Nike Plus priority members, we had to wait with the rest of the runners behind a separate barricade.

They had a countdown to gun off, in which everyone joined, and sharp at 7am, all hell broke loose (in a good way, of course). Everyone just started running enthusiastically. Maya had warned me that I would probably face the same problem at the start of the run as during the Terry Fox, weaving through people as I ran. But surprisingly, I did not face the same problem. I believe everyone was so pumped up that they ran their heart out and the road was big enough to accommodate us so there was plenty of space to run without having to stop because someone in front was a tad slower than you.

It was also very thoughtful of Nike to mark each and every kilometer. It certainly pushed me ahead as I saw the first 3kms past by pretty easily. Mind you, it was my first competitive run so I was relieved when I realised that the further I ran, slowly but surely I felt like I could finish. I stopped at every single drinking station they provided (after each ~2.5km). Nike even provided entertainment in the form of traditional Indian & Chinese drums and Malay kompangs near the Brickfields and old KTM station respectively - which were way more motivating than listening to my one and only running song - Fallout Boy's Thanks for the Memories, which played on repeat for the whole 10 kilometers. (Hey, it keeps my pace!)

At the 9km mark.

Nike even provided markers at the last kilometer, namely 800m, 600m up to the last 200m. Definitely boosted me to sprint all the way to the finish line. At 200m I felt like I was running on air and actually potong quite a few people who were taking their own sweet time to the finishing line.

And I did it! The official clock at the finish line showed 1hour 26minutes. After grabbing a piece of banana, bottled water and the finisher gift, I looked for Hubby. Hubby's first reaction when we found each other? He hugged me!!! I was like, eeeewwwww, seriously? All yucky and sweaty? But honestly, it was really sweet of him. I just didn't appreciate the sweat at that point in time! *grin*

Meanwhile, others were still running to complete the race. (I can't believe I finished the run faster than all of you!) *cheeky grin*

The finish line - picture taken about ten minutes after I finished.

The pros of having a heart condition. Your heart pumps faster than anyone else which means you burn more calories (and lose weight faster) than your wife. I had to run 10km to burn 658 calories but Hubby burned an extra thousand (1633 calories) with the same distance. Don't even ask me how much weight he has lost so far!!!

Our running shoes with our finisher gift. Inside the box is a cute little keychain model of the Nike LunarGlide 3 which is also a 1GB thumb drive. Very creative!

Nike, you rock!

We did it Hubby!

Aaaaahhh, I finished my first competitive 10km run! Aaaaahhhh *drama queen mode*

Well done Nike. The event was certainly organized very well.

So when is the next race?

The race route map. Again, the hills of Jalan Parlimen very nearly killed me.

There were also performances by Joe Flizzow and Mizz Nina to close the event.

And guess what? We brought home a memento from the run and hung it proudly in our garden. Let's see how long it lasts in the rain and shine!

Finally, yesterday Nike Running Malaysia published the official results from the run and I was pleasantly surprised that my official time is actually 1hour 24minutes and ranked #518 in the above 25 women category. Definitely a great motivation for me to run faster next time.

Till the Nike Run KL 2012!

Terry Fox Run 2011

Since I found solace in running a few months ago, I have continued running whenever I could, enjoying the peace and quiet it gives me. And fortunately, Hubby has joined me in this newly found passion of mine. I have to say, I have created quite a monster with this one. Not only is he super gungho about running everyday after work, he even pushes himself harder to beat my total kilometers ran on my Nike+GPS iphone app (which tracks all my runs since I started in June) and has even resorted to counting calories! He declines dinner and makes me think twice about having dinner too, and in the end we'll both just settle for roti kapit telur - which I can barely even swallow after having that for one week straight. Sad I tell you. Extremely sad!

And did I tell you that he was super happy with my birthday present to him this year? Yes, I got him a heart rate monitor. Super romantic... not!!!

Back to the story. So after spending our nights running at the gym, I decided that we were ready for our first outdoor run. The Terry Fox run came at just the right time:

The Dutch Oil Company was sponsoring their employees for the run - which means we ran for free!

It was just the right distance of ~5km (to prepare ourselves for the upcoming 10km run we signed up for).

Best of all it was not a competitive run. In fact, it was a charity run for cancer, so no pressure right?

Right! We woke up that morning with such an adrenaline rush, had breakfast (roti kapit telur lah, what else!) and as we were driving to the flag off point, we saw many other people driving on that Sunday morning wearing the same t-shirt as we were. We were so pumped up! In fact, we even made mental notes for our future run, because on the way, Hubby noticed that he wasn't wearing his running glasses, we had forgotten a towel and we didn't have a bottle of water nor a spare change of t-shirt for after the run. All good lessons learnt for the next run! And to prove the point that this run is not a competitive run, when we made a short pit stop for fuel, I saw a family all donned up in the grey Terry Fox t-shirt but carrying a box full of Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. It was so ironic!

Terry Fox Run 2011 for cancer research. I ran for my Mum who passed away from lung cancer. Al-Fatihah :)

So who's Terry Fox you ask? Here's an excerpt from their FB page:

Terry Fox was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) in his right leg in 1977 and had his leg amputated 15 cm (six inches) above the knee. While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He called his journey the Marathon of Hope. Terry's Marathon of Hope took place in 1980 with the simple objective of informing Canadians of the importance of finding a cure for cancer. With fierce determination, he ran an average of 42 kilometres (26 miles) every day for 143 days. Terry was forced to end his run on September 1, 1980 when the cancer spread to his lungs.

We ran as part of Team Shell.

Can you see the Shell flag in the background?

Petronas had a really big turn-up, they even had a tent of their own to distribute the t-shirts! The organizers were still selling t-shirts before the run so we grabbed the chance to buy a similar t-shirt for Aiden in his size. Which hubby used as a towel during the race! They had a short warm up session - in which Maya and I agreed was really a warm up of the arms instead of the legs, and just a few minutes after 9am, we were flagged off. There were families running together, parents pushing children in strollers, kids in rollerblades, even a woman running with an LV handbag on her shoulder! Yes, I am not kidding you. Maya and I just looked in disbelief at the lady. Talk about taking a leisure run!

It took us quite a while to get out of the throng of walkers at the start of the run. I mean, I can't really ask this people to move faster right, since this is not a competitive run. But seriously, if you're planning to walk, I suggest you keep to your left. So the amount of time I took to navigate my way out really spoiled my pace.

Check out the number of people at the start line.

The small road out of Padang Merbok was simply just not suitable to handle the amount of people heading out. Maybe they should have flagged off the participants of the extended run first, then the family run? Just a thought!

Needless to say, I ran non-stop for the first 3kms and just after the split between the family route (3.6km) and the extended route (4.8km), the hills of Jalan Parlimen finally got me. They were a real killer! I ended up walking up the hill slowly (while tweens from the Alice Smith School were running past me left, right and center!) and then running down the hill to make up for lost time. So bad for my knees! But I finished the run 15minutes before a fellow colleague who had sworn earlier in the office that he was going to outrun me - so yeah, I'm happy! *grin*

Hurrah for our first outdoor run together!

Hubby and I could not stop talking about our achievement in the car all the way home. It was nice, sharing something we both enjoyed together, and accomplishing it together. Back home, I was feeling dead tired but after a long hot shower, instead of crawling into bed, I made tiramisu instead. Why? Because I was hosting a small makan makan with a couple of neighbours of mine.

These girls are the closest girls I have to sisters in the community. Although not in the picture is one more neighbour plus myself, of course.

It was definitely a good makan makan. We had fun talking, eating, gossiping, laughing. One of the girls even brought over dough and cranberry with cream cheese and we had a mini cooking class, making cranberry cheese buns.

Essential ingredients for cranberry cheese buns.

While we gossiped, we rolled buns. And these were probably one of the best buns I have ever had. Goodbye The Loaf, hello homemade hot buns!

Running, baking, good friends in Wisteria Lane - what more can a girl ask for? I am definitely blessed! *smile*