.....times of refreshing.....

My new pair of Asics

A salad for us

Some fried chicken that taste like popcorn. It was delicious!

And, a marinated fried chicken, probably more like per-peri. It was nice also.

I don't mind coming back to try other chicken stuffs here. The chicken are so nice that I forgot what so good about that fingers licking fast food... if you know what I mean... *slurp* Have a good long weekend!!

I seldom shop online and I can count with my fingers on how many times I bought stuffs online in a year. Usually, I will just go to Singapore's Xioami website, which is local,  to buy powerbank and accessories.  Somehow I felt that I don't really have the time to browse through the online catalogue (don't mentioned comparing the prices with other popular online sites) like some of my friends did.

Anyway, all of a sudden, I ordered something from Germany which was sold in Euro some more. I remember I only purchased from local sites like Lazada or Qq10 but this time, I ordered directly from the retail website. My kid loves this product so much, which he found it online and since he did well in his recent exam, I thought maybe I get this stuff for him as a reward. Well, the shipping fee is more expensive than the product itself but it was efficient. I ordered the product on last Tuesday evening and it arrived from Germany via Shenzhen and Shah Alam to JB on last Thursday, delivered by UPS.

The parcel that came all the way from Germany

Even got the 'Export from Germany' sticker

 And, this was the stuffs I got for him - shoes laces but without laces... LOL . Somehow this is some innovative product from Germany, which is a country well-known for innovation.

The box of 'Hickies' laces out product

The back of the box

 It contained 14 ..err.. I call it straps but it's really made of good quality rubber. My kid always complaint of his shoe laces loosening during his badminton training and I thought it's a good idea to put it on his badminton shoes. Anyway, I tested it out on his Asics running shoes. Putting all the straps in seems too tight and I gotta remove two out.

Straps in and laces out

And, done but clicking the straps together.

 He just wore the shoes without removing the straps (or shoes' laces in the past) and just put in his feet into the shoes.  It was really nice and convenient! And, I got a happy kid over the last weekend! LOL...

Btw, had lunch at The Sugar Pantry in Taman Molek last Sunday after sending my little princess to school. This place was like Lavender Bistro, where they sell pastries and operates a restaurant.

Earl Grey Tea for my wife ... Very Japanese style!

A Flat White for me

A salmon baguette with chips , shared with my wife and kid

My kid ordered this mushroom pasta, which in the end, we also shared it.

The food was nice and delicious but I feel it will be great if the menu has more food to offer. However, I love the ambiance there! It was quiet and peaceful!

The Sugar Pantry is located at - 47, Jalan Molek 1/9, Taman Molek, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

I seldom drive down to downtown JB but since my wifey needed to send her sister to UTC Kotaraya, we decided to have lunch around JB old town centre. As usual, it was congested with traffic and with the hot weather, we decided to go to somewhere with air-cond. My kid introduced us this cafe called Ehhe Art Cafe where he got to know from an older friend in his badminton class. It looks like another old shophouse from outside but I love the nostalgic feeling inside, and with air-cond.

The side of the cafe and I love the mural paintings.

The sign-board at the entrance

Inside the cafe, it was crowded!

Another view, it looks like we are dining at an old dilapidated house.

There's really a crowd there!

You may noticing what is this horse-head! Well, it's a table where the 'body' of the rattan horse helps holds the glass table.

I thought of having Hainanese Chicken chop at nearby Hua Mui Restaurant but it was really a hot day and there's no air-cond there, thus I settled for the chicken chop here , with an ice coffee. Both are not bad.

My Hainanese Chicken chop ... quite yummy! :)

And my ice coffee, kinda bitter though it looks milky.

Seated facing me, my kid nowadays really know how to enjoy life and good food!

After our lunch, we just strolled around nearby the cafe. I always like the idea that the JB authorities are refurbishing this place into cafes, tourism attractions and museum.

Another cafe next to it.

More kopitiams and hawker food opposite

Hot JB!

The red house - famous for nyonya kuih but I didn't get it this time round. Maybe next time.

So, that's a short walk down memory lane but with refurbishing buildings! Ehhe Art Cafe is located at - Address: 145, Jalan Trus, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

Meatball Pasta

Have a good weekend!!

While some of my runners' friends as well some bloggers' that I known in KL were doing the Nike We Run Half-Marathon on 10 April, I was back to participate in another half-marathon, which is the NTUC Income 350 Run. This was quite a popular run in Singapore and is one of the top running events here. I missed the 10KM run last year due to family commitments but I was glad I make it for the run this year. However, it was not an easy run for me as I was 'injured' with slight pains at both of my heels before the run. It could be due to one of the shoes or sandals that I wore and without resting my feet well, the aches seems didn't go away for 2 weeks. And I thought I can sustained the run with these minor pain.


It was also kinda sacrifice for me as I didn't go back to JB last weekend, as well as slept early at 8pm on a Saturday evening and woke up at 2.30am on a Sunday morning to catch the shuttle bus, which ferried us to the F1 Building where the run was held there. There was another disappointment, besides my aching heels as the shuttle bus was full and latecomers like me gotta stand. Luckily, it was just a 30 mins ride. I was early when I reached there and together with my fellow runner, we decided to 'chop' the first pen or wave one where we can start first.  There were lots of serious runners in  this wave it seems!! Looks scary !! LOL

Walking to the F1 Building after alighting from the bus

The early birds doing their warm up at 4am

Getting ready to go into the start line in order to start first. It was opened at 4.30am.

The route for the half-marathon

The starting was not too bad as I ran comfortably till the 3km-4km mark where there was a steep climb to the Nicoll Highway and Mountbatten Road. Other than that, it was a good run as the route was flat, though I dislike the narrow path near Tanjung Rhu, as well mixing with other public joggers and cyclist later on. I thought the organizer should close off the route from the public.

At East Coast Park and running to Marina Barrage and Gardens By The Bay

Overall, it was a well organised event as hydration points were available almost every 2-3 KMs and bananas were available too. However, after running for about 10KM, my heels started to feel very painful and I gotta stop and asked for heat rub from the volunteers. The heat rubs works for a while but the pain was really irritating. Initially, I was feeling good for this run and could have got a better timing but at times, I gotta stop to walk and do some stretching of my feet. I resorted to run and walk.

I am always happy to see the 15KM mark which is a milestone to me.

It was a beautiful though warm and humid morning.

Nice to see the 20KM mark... somehow I felt their distance to be much longer... my GPS watch already showing 21KM+ now.. LOL

I was glad to complete the race despite running with pain. It was really terrible after I completed the run and I gotta seek medical attention after I got home.

This is my first finisher tee ... how sweet!

It was a nice black Mizuno dry-fit t-shirt!

Proud of the finisher tee and the medal.

It was a good run overall but I am still disappointed I didn't finish the race below the 3 hour mark. Probably the heels pain also slow me down but I still need to work on my endurance. However, I guess I have improved in this run.

My next run would be the Sundown Marathon on 28 May and I will start training for it next week, after my heels are healed. For this week, I will just workout at the gym and relax, and maybe shop for a new pair of shoes. Btw, I rewarded myself with the below at the French table later of the day. :)

Winding down with a pot of Earl Grey Tea

Pasta with fried chicken

Have a good week!

What would you do if you are having a day off but cannot go anywhere far, for example, you have kids at school and your spouse is working ? You have to fetch them from school and work at a later time but you still have the day to yourself? I guess most of us will sleep late on the day before and wake up late on that off day, then turn on the tv or surf net , play candy crush or some other games to pass time, probably get some fast food for brunch ? This seems sounds good.

However, I guess the best is to wake up early, run or workout and have a great breakfast after that. After a nice shower, do something that we wanted to do all the while , or even catch up a movie which we have missed at the small or silver screen. Finished all our personal work that we have been neglecting like writing a post for a blog, budgeting, working on our part-time income (if we have any) , update our CV (maybe that may land us in a better job), house cleaning, read a book and etc.

Oh...you may wonder why I write this ? Cause I did the former over the last weekend and somehow I felt lazy especially waking up late as it can make us a little less sharper and grodgy. So I thought, let's wake up early and do something useful if I cannot go anywhere far. Agreed?

Oh.. I was back at Niniq Bistro in JB  and had something light.

A ice-blended coffee for a hot day

Ham and cheddar cheese sandwich

Have a good and fulfilled weekend!! :)

I was on leave last Monday to accompany my wifey back to her hometown for the 'sweeping graveyard' or Ching Ming festival at the Nilai Memorial Park. Thus, it was a long weekend for me but then, the weather was really hot and humid in the mainlands. Oh I mentioned mainlands here was because I stayed in SG and JB, which was not too affected by the humidity due to the proximity to sea where we can still enjoyed breezy days, most of the time. Anyway, we survived the heat wave though we had the event in the hot afternoon, in order to make it convenient for everyone.

My kid trying to be a professional photographer, and being manja by his cousin sis and flanked by his little sister on the left.

I drove back from Seremban the day after, and it's been a while since we had Fuzhou dishes in Yong Peng. Thus, we are back to our favourite restaurant in Yong Peng at Hock Swee Hin Restaurant.

My favourite ... is it called 'Cangkuk Manis' ? Need that Sibu food mayor to help ... muuahahaha... In Cantonese, it is called 'Shi Chai Choy'

Fuzhou Noodles ... put some vinegar onto it and it's delicious!

Chicken in red wine... another favourite food of mine! It's very fragrant!

And, the Fuzhou soup. Somehow, maybe I had better Fuzhou soup in JB where they put crab meat onto it and I felt this one is so-so only.

Hock Swee Hin restaurant is located at 1953, Jalan Besar, 83700 Yong Peng, Johor, Malaysia.