Thursday, January 28, 2016

January Half Marathon Run - Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon 2016

Last Sunday, I completed my first half marathon for 2016 - Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon.  I finished 2:43:50, slower by 20s from my November run.  Still a strong finish, but can surely be better.  Next scheduled run is on March 6 for the Malaysia Women's Run at Selangor, KL.

1st half marathon of the year!
Resting on the sidewalk with my finisher tee and medal.

Took a short Airasia flight to KLIA2 airport, then the KLIA express train to Putrajaya station before getting a cab to Citadines D'Pulze hotel.  The hotel is conveniently located above the D'Pulze Mall and a short walk to the run's starting point.  I bought my supplies from the mall's grocery (banana, dried apricot, orange juice, chocolates, sports drink and water), had a reflexology massage and a carbo-loaded dinner before sleeping early.
Nearing KL's airport
Used KL Express Train for the first time.
Citadines Apart-hotel at D'Pulze Cyberjaya
Studio room for the night
Clockwise from top: Nice pool atop the hotel, room number, selfie before checking out, corridor.
My race bib and running essentials - watch, earphones, power gel and power snacks (dried apricots+chocolate not in picture), blue wrist band and Level flipbelt (for storing my room card, phone, energy food)


Thursday, January 21, 2016

Sarah's 5th birthday - a Jumpstreet party!

Jumsptreet, Malaysia's first indoor trampoline park, is a party playground for kids and adults alike. It was perfect for Sarah's birthday party, a unique and unforgettable celebration.

The early jumpers - Kritigha, Reena, Raine, Denise, Jovan, Sarah, Sanju and Ram.
 Four boys arrived late - Bamboo, Jacob, Saif and Sahil.
They have an online booking system for hassle-free parties (or school activity or teambuilding).  We just showed up 30 minutes before our 4:00 - 5:30pm slot.  Everything was all ready and prepared. Two party rooms were adjoined for a bigger space.  All the party items - birthday banner, plates and cutlery, balloons, door gifts, jumpstreet grip socks, wrist tags and vests were prepared in advance and ready for the little jumpers.

One side of the two rooms, with a simple setup.  Food was served later after jumping session.
The two lady referee jumpers were very enthusiastic and lively.  The front desk staff was efficient and fast, and the kitchen staff served the food and drinks on time.  The air-conditioned rooms got a bit stuffy when all the sweaty kids came back for the food.  I left a suggestion to add in some stand fans to cool the rooms down.  Other than that, everything was perfect!

The hour-long jumping session was broken down into five stations - The Main Court, Foam Pit, Battle Team, Dodge Ball and Slam Dunk.  All the kids had a blast, jumping and playing around, while the parents were busy taking pictures and videos of their own kids!

Stretching time
Warm up exercises.
Huddle time to remind the kids of the basic rules and safety points.
Jumping at the Main Court
Lining up for the Foam Pit
Foam Pit jump
Happy birthday girl
Sarah and Raine, besties since toddlers =)
Slam Dunk!
Cool that the Slam Dunk area have three heights for the basketball rings. 
At the Dodge Ball station
Battle Team fun!
Chicken sausages, baked chicken drumsticks, french fries, nuggets, aglio olio mushroom pasta and fruits were served after the jumping session ended.  The hungry jumpers helped and stuffed themselves.  It was fun to see them eat and talk at the same time :)

We sang the birthday song for Sarah and she blew out candles on her My Little Pony themed chocolate cake.  I instructed the kids to dip and lick the icing with their fingers.  Most of them were initially hesitant but I told them to just go right ahead. Once one little hand started dipping in the icing, everybody became crazy doing the same!  It's just more fun to eat the icing that way =)   The ice cream was served after everyone had a slice of cake.   By 6:15pm, families started saying good byes. The party actually ended around 6:30pm, even if the party's end time is 5:40pm.  The staff was cool about the extension, they never rushed us out.

Sarah's Jumpstreet birthday party was a blast, everyone had a really great time.  High five Sarah!

My Little Pony chocolate cake with cream icing.  Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were Sarah's toys that we put on top for decoration.
About to sing the birthday song
Lighting up the candles
Start of the icing attack!
Loved the kids' reactions!
No more clouds and rainbow icing heehee
Left to right: Sahil, Reshma, Ravi's friend, Palani, Ravi, Palani's wife and Saif
Left to right (seated):  Randy with Janno, Nancy, Catherine and her husband, Lhet, Daphne (not looking) and Donald.  Standing behind are Tina and her husband.
Seated from left to right: Denise, Malou and Jacob, Bamboo, Nancy and Ram.
Left to right: Sarah, Raine, Sanju, Jovan, Kritigha and Reena.




Wednesday, January 13, 2016

2015 Taal Vista Christmas staycation

The iconic Tudor style architecture of Taal Vista Hotel
This was our second Christmas staycation at Taal Vista Hotel at Tagaytay.  Love the cool, nippy weather during the holiday season.  Booked two adjoining rooms at the Mountain Wing, with each room having a queen bed and a single bed.

After check in, we went out to buy take out dinner (two large pizzas and Charlie Chan pasta) at Yellow Cab then dropped by Robinson's Supermart to get some water and snacks.  The evening was spent wandering around the hotel premises - lobby, ballroom area, lakeside wing and the children's playroom where the kids had a blast.

The breakfast buffet was held at one of the ballrooms.  Last year's breakfast was at the patio side of the restaurant which was a bit cramped.  The ballroom venue for breakfast was definite imrpovement.  We loved the breakfast!  I stuffed myself with danggit (local dried fish), champorado (chocolate porridge) with dilis, and longganisa (Filipino pork sausages)!

Until next Christmas Taal Vista!

Main lobby
Cramped in one room while waiting for the other room to be ready.
Adjacent rooms were provided as requested.
The Mountain Wing rooms are a bit dated but very clean.
Take out pizza and pasta from Yellow Cab.  Lots of Intel memories at this place.
Exploring at night with these two Doras :)
They had a mighty fun time together.
My 'gifts' under the tree.
Playing with the LED-type candles.
They owned this play place!
Model poses =)
Sofi enjoyed the tub that night.
It was a cheerful and bright morning.
They now have this signage for photo op purposes!  Check out the small Taal Volcano, just above the hashtag signage.
Breakfast at the ballroom.  Loved the Filipino breakfast fare - champorado, danggit and longganisa!
Siblings Jing, Rap and Abet with Sofi and Sarah.
My original baby - Mr. Egg, Rafael.
Family photo by the tree.
We love Taal Vista hotel!