After lunch at Aquaria - 31 October 2008

This trip to Aquaria came totally by surprise - Fred had tickets, which were expiring that very day, and didn't want them to go to waste. So, since I've never been to Aquaria, he suggested we have a quick lunch and go there after. Cool!

I didn't have my camera with me that day and it totally slipped my mind to borrow the department camera.. Aiyo! So, I had to make do with the camera on my handphone. Bad pix, plus I really don't know my fishes - this is gonna be one helluva entry!

Other than fishes and other marine life, Aquaria also houses some amphibians, reptiles, creepy crawlies like tarantulas, giant milipedes, etc. and a couple of marmosets. With the limited use of my phone camera and the dim lighting at some areas, I just had to take pix of what I could...

Some sleeping frogs.. very cute..

This fella's my favourite.. it was up close to the glass earlier and showed a lot of personality!


These fish were in a turbular aquarium and were just swimming round & round it. It's just one endless F1 race for these guys I guess! Haha.. And, I could've sworn I heard strains of Dead or Alive's "You spin me round & round"..


These fish just creep me out! Yeah, sharks and the likes are big, but it's expected.. these guys just look so unnaturally huge.. like mutants!

These were taken at some shallow pools..

These were taken just before entering the underwater tunnel.. There was a huge mantaray that had just passed by before I took my shots.. waited a while hoping to get it but it didn't come by..

Fred at the underwater tunnel..

Next, pix of whatever I could photograph (and turned out well enough) from the underwater tunnel..

Taken near the exit of the tunnel.. So cantik!

All these were taken just before the main exit..

Since time and the camera were so limited, I didn't get to see, read and take pix of as much as I would have liked to.. A return visit perhaps??

14 October 2008 - Boss Buys Lunch!

Our 2-month new boss had meant to take the whole department (there's only 8 of us including himself!) out for dinner to break fast during the Ramadan month but... alas, that was not meant to be. So, when we got back from our Hari Raya break, he suggested lunch instead.

That too was tough with all the conflicting schedules and appointments and we had limited time too since Shamini and Rafidah were ue to fly off for their conference on 15 October. Somehow, we managed to do lunch on 14 October at Kiku Zakuro (yes, Japanese).

That's the whole department..
(From L - R) Rozmah, Rafidah, Indra, Yazrine (aka boss man!) moi, Fred, Jasmin & Shamini

Jasmin & I eagerly awaiting our food..

Indra fell asleep waiting for his food.. kidding! Rozmah, looking very pleased with hers..

Rafidah, all set to dig into hers..

Jasmin, very happy that her food.. Who wasn't - we were all starving!

Indra & Yazrine, having a good go at their food.. oblivious to the camera

Jasmine, with an equally happy Shamini in the background..

I seem to have lost my pix of Fred and his food..

I had a simple meal of zaru soba & grilled shioyaki squid as opposed to everyone else who had some kind of bento set.. Yummy!

After our meal, we adjourned to Dome Cafe for coffee and dessert. Then..., as much as most of us really didn't want to, it was back to work! Thanks for a great lunch Yazrine!

13 October 2008 - 2 Hari Raya Gatherings in 1 Day!

A week after we got back from our long Hari Raya break, we had our office Hari Raya gathering cum staff birthday celebration.

The celebrations started off bright and early, at 10.00am! All of us came in our Malay attire and I reckon the big hit was really Fred! It is very common to see non-Malay women dressed in baju kurung or kebaya, but you can hardly find non-Malay men walking around in full baju Melayu.. hey, it's not even normal to see Malay men in full baju Melayu! At most they would just be wearing the top but it calls for a special occasion to be in full regalia.

Fred, Shamini, Rafidah & moi..

Fred & Shamini were asked to be 1 of the 2 pairs of hosts for the event and they did a great job! There were a couple of "performances" and the celebration of birthdays for people born in August (too busy to ceelebrate), September (fasting month) and October. So, there were 2 huge cakes and half of the company up front! And then, there was the announcement for the 3 Best Dressed Male & Female staff.. Then, came the good bit - MAKAN!


The birthday cakes.. no prizes for guessing which was the crowd favourite!

There was lots of food..

For me, it was assam laksa first, man.. Yum!

There was satay, lontong, sambal prawns, chicken curry, etc. etc. etc...

Department Photo

Another department photo.. The Boss men - Fred, my boss & Yazrine, our department boss

After all the merriment, we adjourned back to the office to catch up on whatever work we could do, take a break, digest our food and get ready for another Hari Raya gathering in the afternoon!

The afternoon's Hari Raya gathering was hosted by the Education Division and was held at (I think) Kampung Pengantin, which means bride's and/or groom's village and I reckon this is a place that people hire to hold (Malay) weddings.

Fred, Jasmin & me.. still stuffed from lunch!

Again, there was lots of food! Check it out..

As stuffed as I was, I couldn't resist the roast lamb..

Here, again, there were prizes for the top 3 Best Dressed Male & Female and our very own Jasmin won 3rd place! She was taken totally by surprise and was happily half way through eating her cendol!

A quick glimse of the venue..

It's a nice place, with pretty little details but the only gripe is that on a hot day (it really hot that day!), it can quite unbearable unless more fans or, even better, mist fans wer brought in..

One for the road.. A photo with our CEO (seated in the centre with the red shawl)