All set for the big event!

My hubby is taking part in the KL Marathon this year, and last night, 25th June, we decided to take a walk around Dataran Merdeka to see how the preparations are coming along.

It being a yearly event, and an international one at that, it is a big event in the Klang valley, more so for those who are marathon freaks, like my hubby. *grin*

With all the canopies up, the lanes all demarcated, plus, having the Sultan Abdul Samad building for a backdrop gives the you the feeling of awe at how beautiful the city of Kuala Lumpur is at night.

Even the mobile toilets in bright blue and red looks awesome when lined up neatly! LOL! *wink*

After spending about 20 minutes at the Dataran, we decided (I, actually. My hubby wanted to walk back to AnCasa *grin*) to take the LRT back to our original destination.

The LRT Station at Masjid Jamek is almost nearing completion, and it makes me feel like I am back in the US during my student days and staying in Chicago where we would take this mode of transport to the University campus each day.

Along the way, we took in the sights of Kuala Lumpur at night around this area.

The stalls along the path from the LRT Station at Plaza Rakyat to AnCasa.

The Puduraya Bus Station which is newly renovated.

I remember this station being very grungy during my school days in Tunku Kurshiah College as I take the bus back to Seremban each time I come back for the weekend. But, look at it now!

The view from the 11th floor of AnCasa.

I wish my hubby all the best for his run. I hope he comes back with a medal. *smile*

Me got me-self a new toy!

Yup! I went out and got a Samsung Galaxy Tab as a birthday present for myself last Sunday, 13th June. *grin*

I have been doing a lot of research on the Tab and the iPad recently and though as much as I just love the look and feel of the iPad, it just could not fulfil all that I would want in a mobile device, the most important being that the iPad does not support most of the microsoft softwares that I use to do my work on in the office.

I want a mobile device that can be easily interfaced between my office, home and work on the go.

I am still trying to get to know Sam (yup! I have named my samsung galaxy tab, Sam *grin*), but, so far, he's great!

I think I made the right choice in choosing the Tab because I could access my office email, whereas the iPad could not as it is not compatible with windows based softwares. Or, rather, no one could give me a straightforward answer as to whether I would be able to access my office email from the iPad. Samsung Tab's email apps is great! Even the attachments opens up without problems.

I was told that with the iPad, whoever wants to send me with a microsoft word doc, or, if I want to open up my word document which I did on my office PC or laptop, I would have to convert the Microsoft Word Doc into pdf first, email it to myself, only then can I open up the document on the iPad.

I could access all my emails (Yahoo!, Gmail, and Office email) from the front page.

Because of the size of the Tab, it makes reading an eBook an experience like reading a real book. But, I have yet to download any ebooks. I could not find a site that has books that I want to read. But, I have tried reading the book that is already preloaded in the Tab. The application is awesome!

My only problem initially was that sometimes I get a bit frustrated as I have difficulty editing when I want to send an email or type a document as I can't seem to figure out how to delete a whole line, like highlighting a certain text. I kept selecting the whole paragraph.

However, after Jo told me about the swype keyboard, it has made working on a document so much easier, if not, almost a breeze. Thanks for the tips, Jo!

I still have a lot more of getting to know Sam, but the one thing I like about Sam is that when it synced with my office email, I also got the calendar which really looks good.

However, I can't seem to sync my address book for my office email though. I don't know why I can't get it to work. So for now, I am inputting my office contacts manually.

I haven't travelled anywhere yet (I have since travelled to Penang when I wrote this posting) since I had Sam since I had bought Sam only last Sunday, 13th of June, but I would think that Sam would be a good travelling companion when I travel for a one day trip.

However, I still plan on bringing Pinky, my pink Dell laptop, for trips that takes longer than 2 nights as I work faster on Pinky.

Just the other day, Sam went with me to spend the night at my MIL"s house when my hubby was outstation last week. I smsed hubby to tell him that I have Sam, but left Pinky at home. I told him that I hope Pinky won't get upset because it is usually her that I bring on my travels or when I spend the night at my in-laws.

My hubby went like, "huh?" LOL!

He knows I give names to my "things" but he forgot that I recently got Sam though it was he who suggested that I call my Tab, Sam! LOL!

Another good thing that I discovered about Sam was that I could even use it as a mobile modem and have my laptop connect to it via wi-fi!

That's exactly what I did when I took both Pinky and Sam with me for a one night stay in a hotel in town, but, found out upon arrival that I had accidentally left the thumbdrive needed to connect my mobile broadband to my laptop as I needed to upload some photos from my camera to the laptop and then upload them onto my blog.

Now isn't that cool? *grin*

I still have lots of getting to know Sam, but I get excited with each new discovery that I make.

I am sure you will be reading plenty more about Sam in future postings! LOL! *wink*

A year older! A lot wiser? *wink*

It was my birthday on the 8th of June. Don't ask how old I am. *grin* Just know that I am still young at heart. LOL! *wink*

I had to travel for work that day and so could not spend it with my son and hubby. But, as it turned out, I had to travel to Kota Bharu, and so, I got to spend my birthday with my mum and baby brother (not so baby any more actually when one is already 27 years old, right? LOL!).

I arrived in Kota Bharu at 7.30pm, just in time to sit down for dinner with my mum and brother, Azan

My mum had prepared my favourite dish of jeruk mame', budu, blanched vegetables and daging panggang. Yum!

It was a simple dinner, yet it was delicious! Thanks, Ma!

The next day, before I was to take my flight back to Kuala Lumpur, I had an early dinner of Nasi Kerabu prepared by my mum which I ate with my brother as my mum had some activities with some of her girlfriends.

I came home from Kota Bharu on Friday night and my hubby took my son and I out to dinner at San Francesco Steak House in Subang Jaya, Section 15.

When I saw that they have ribs, definitely that was what I had! LOL! *grin*

My hubby had the steak and my son had the barbecue chicken.

We also shared between us a serving of nachos.

Really love their nachos!

It was a great dinner! Thanks, Dia!

A week after my birthday, on the 16th of June, my staff surprised me with a birthday cake!

I was chairing a staff meeting and was wrapping it up when some of my staff started acting kind of strange and one or two of them started leaving the room. I thought that they had gone to the toilet.

Then, as I was packing up my things, in came a trolley with a cake all ready with lighted candles!

They were sweet to only put 4 candles on the cake! LOL! I felt so young! LOL!

Unfortunately I have no photos to show. I was too stunned by the surprise cake that I forgot to snap a photo of the lovely and delicious cake. :(

This year, besides the birthday dinner, my hubby also gave me a birthday present in the form of 2 cook books - one on bread and the other on cupcakes, knowing how crazy I am of late, making breads and cupcakes.

There were a couple of times that my bread has either turned out soggy, hard or undercooked. The book was probably a hint for me to start baking good bread. LOL! *grin*

Thanks for the books, Dia! I promise that my next batch of bread will turn out better....err...hopefully! *grin*

This birthday, and in the years to come, I hope that all my wishes will come true, and that I will succeed in everything that I do. May Allah bless me with lots of happiness, good health and great wealth, and may I live long enough to see my son succeed in life and may my hubby too have a long life so that he will be with me to see see Aiman succeed in life, insyaAllah. Amin.

To everyone who has sent me birthday wishes, thank you so much! Hugs, everyone!