Luyee's Blogtravel info, food reviews, thoughts

I went to hike the Gunung Kledang last weekend, at Ipoh, Menglembu town. Together with few friends and the PAC members from Penang, we were guided by the Menglembu Kledang Joggers group.

Had quite a lot of good food around the town and ate a lot at Ipoh Garden. The famous hor fun, chee chung fun was good, dumplings, ice kacang (I still prefer Penang or Malacca ice kacang. hehe).

Initially, I thought the path was just the simple hike, just like trail to Penang Hill. Unexpectedly, the Menglembu Kledang Joggers group opened a new hiking trail on their own and guide us through the mountain trail.

It was fun, but I wasn’t well prepared! Thank God for their hospitality and help, I managed to reach the summit. In this trip, I learnt about leech prevention as well. To prevent from leech, we can apply the chlorophyll soap, known as soap 909 or soap 999 available at groceries shops. Mix the soap with some water, and apply it around our shoes and the leech will not come near us! Of course I didn’t get any bite leeches in this trip. I’m still a leech virgin! hohoho.

However, when we run with a mate, we encourage each other along the way, when we almost give up. Just like in life, when we had set backs, people along the way giving you words of encouragement and support, so you won’t fall and keep going. With a mate, we train together, have the same target, went through the tough training, the sweat, and finally on race day, the glory we shared.

Running has been giving me a sense of freedom all these while, or a sense of hope.. a target, an aim, that I want to reach. It may not be beyond my reach at the starting point, but in my mind, I know I will be there, just the matter of time. I simply love the squeeze of the hand as the gun goes off, the scenary along the race, and the sweaty embrace and pats at the finish. Runners, became a better runner after each race through the experience. May not be physically, but emotionally, definitely.

Running has taught me a lot about life. Running, is fastest when you are alone. Just like in our life, we move fastest in our career when we are single. Alone. We just move forward, put all our energy, our time and focus into it. Once we reached the finishing line, we felt a sense of accomplishment, that we have given our very best in this race. Each steps as you struggle along the race, spells determination. For some, it spells torture.

However, when we run with a mate, we encourage each other along the way when we almost give up. Just like in life, when we had set backs, people along the way giving you words of encouragement and support, so you won’t fall and keep going. Will your mate go ahead and leave you in the middle of the race if you are getting slower? Will you let your mate go ahead with an open heart if you can’t catch up? This is the point when a person has to make a decision. Just like in life, will you stay on, or want to go ahead to achieve your ambition when you know your mate is going to make it slower than you. Tough decision, huh. With a mate, we get to train together, have the same target, went through the tough training, the sweat, and finally on race day, the glory shared.

I personally enjoy both running alone and running with a mate, provided the mate shares the same view as me to go along the race together and enjoy the journey of the race as well as each other’s companionship.

I quoted the paragraphs below from UK Times Online from a woman who ran the marathon with her husband. This is just so touching :-

I can tell you what the most wonderful thing my husband has ever said to me. No, not “Will you marry me?” or “How wonderful, a fourth child”, or even “You look knockout in that bikini, darling”. Without doubt, the most sympathetic, generous and loving thing Mr Millard has ever said in 14 years of marriage is: “You go ahead! Don’t worry about me!”

This was at Mile 21 of the London Marathon this year. We were at that gruelling milestone where the runners turn wearily out of Poplar and head down towards Wapping. I came up alongside him and was looking more fresh than he was, to be honest. But instead of getting nasty about it, seven unprompted words gave me the go-ahead to achieve my ambition of finishing in less than four hours, a goal that I had been working towards for six tough months. I finished in 3.51. He suffered the agonies of hitting the wall, alone. Can you see why I love him?

In the middle of the run, when we get tired, do we keep the momentum? Do we give up running, and walk all the way? Or we give up totally and stop the run at that point. Most people will walk, rest, and continue running shortly after.

How we run, in a race, is just like how we manage our life. There are many people in the race. Some run faster than you, some slower. Running taught me not to be competitive (yeah I know it doesn’t sound right). What I meant by not competitive is, I  learn to run within my own ability, not getting worried about how others are doing better than me. I once joined a run which is called Yellow Ribbon Prison Run. It’s about giving the ex-offenders a second chance in life, and one of the banners hanging along the run wrote “Life is not about the race, is about giving each other some space“. I totally agree with this.  

Love Running, Hate Running, It may be a love-hate relationship for all the blisters and tough training. The ending, worth it or not, is for you to judge

I lost the football bet with Mr D, and have to treat him Japanese food. ARghhhhh~

We went to Sushi Zanmai at The Gardens, next to Mid Valley in KL. They have varieties of sushi there, and everything looks yummy! We ate quite a lot but I’m too busy eating instead of taking photos. hahah. The spider roll (photo below) is really good. It has soft shell crab in it and with mayonnaise.. hmm~ yummy. The cawanmushi is good as well! *drools*

According to Mr D, he said other outlets of zanmai doesn’t taste as good as the one in The Gardens.  Another friend of mine told me the same thing as well. So maybe you guys would like to try out the different outlets and let me know :p

I have to say the sushi are quite good, better than Sushi King or Sakae Sushi. Nice ambience, good service. Thumbs up! Highly recommended for sushi lovers.

You can get the address of the other outlets at their website, but here’s the address of the one we went to.

SUSHI ZANMAI, The Gardens
T-217, Third Floor, The Gardens,
Mid Valley City,
Lingkaran Syed Putra,
59200 KL.

Without an oven, there’s not many cakes you can make. I love this no-bake cheesecake or so called chilled cheesecake. No Oven required!!! Yeah, chilled cheesecake. Toppings, up to you. Flavors, up to you ^^ . For the chocolate toppings, I used the combination of chocolate morsels and cadbury chocolate. 60% morsels, 40% cadbury milk chocolate. As for the konyaku, I put in kiwi, peach and strawberry for the decoration.

I made (not bake, lol) this lemon cheesecake, one with chocolate toppings and another with fruits toppings + konyaku jelly. The thing is, I didn’t use philadelphia cream cheese as I can’t find it at the nearest supermarket. So I used some other cream cheese and end up the cheese melts easily when came out from the freezer. So.. don’t use cheepo cream cheese. haha… After noticing that the cheesecake cheese melts like 5 minutes after it’s out from the fridge, David helps me to rename it to “Ice Cream Cheesecake”. Wah sei… sounds so good. Anyway, you can see that I made the cakes in camping mess tin >”<

Scroll down for the recipe

Here’s the recipe for the no-bake cheesecake :-

• 1 package (8 ounces) of cream cheese, softenened
• 1 can (14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup of lemon/orange/lime juice (optional)
• 1 package of digestive biscuit
• 1 block of butter

Steps

1. Crush the digestive biscuits with a spoon few pieces at a time, and mix with butter gradually. This will be the base of the cheesecake.
2. Compact the digestive biscuits which has been mixed with butter to a deep tray or container. Make sure the base is not too thick, and have enough butter to make the base stay.
3. Put into freezer, let it freeze for a while to harden. Probably around 30 minutes.
4. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, gradually add in sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. Beat until the mixture is smooth.
5. Add in the lemon/lime/orange juice if you want to.
6. Pour the mixture onto the base or crust which you have refrigerated.
7. Freeze for another 2-3 hours or more, until the cheese is firm.

Toppings :

1. Melt chocolate morsels, or cadbury chocolate, or baking chocolate, or any chocolate based on personal preferences.
2. Pour the chocolate onto the cheesecake after the cheese has been frozen until firm.

Before I start with this post, I would like to thank my bf, David for being supportive and understanding. I really appreciate it. Here goes :-

One morning, as early as 7am, I received an sms from my ex bf that reads “My dad passed away”.

A gush of sadness brushed over me but I’m not shocked, as I know his dad has been diagnosed with diabetes for many years since we were in college. His dad has been struggling with diabetes for almost 10 years, and having blurred vision and slowly he became blind.

I was contemplating whether I should go to the wake or funeral, and I decided to just go to the wake. I hope I will not feel awkward seeing him and his family again. It has been really a long time since I met my ex, and I can’t believe that the next time we meet each other is actually on a wake/funeral.

On Sunday night, I attended the wake. I met his family, whom I have not met for years. I actually felt happy to see them again. Looking at the coffin, I recall a man who once healthy when I first saw him. Came back home from work like any other people, walking around, happily talking and a man who cares for his family. Slowly diabetes is eating him up in few years period to the point he needs to do dialysis.. that was all 2-3 years ago when I last saw him before my ex and I broke up..

That night, is the first time after we broke up we both actually sat down and talk like normal friends, updating each other. I saw his dad’s body in the coffin and I feel really sad.. he has grown old so much since the last time I saw him.

I’m glad I attended the wake to pay my last respect. For many people out there who are contemplating whether you should go to your ex’s family’s funeral or wake.. my advise is “Go”. We are there to pay our last respect to the deceased, and we do not mean anything else. I am sure your ex will be grateful that you came as well.

May the deceased rest in peace, as his suffering has ended.