self health check

today i got my free visual cholesterol test for self testing from tesco+flora pro-activ

compare the colour to check ur cholesterol levels..

the mini kit and instruments.. as u can see the lancet is at the bottom waiting to prick me..

self-inflicted injury.. feels weird to purposely prick myself but it's quick and painless, i got it everytime i went for blood donation anyways..

have to squeeze ur blood in that little box.. here goes nothing..

comparing the colour of the little dot on top to the rest.. i THINk i healthy kua.. but the test did say u need to compare right after 40seconds.. and u r only given 25seconds to check cause after that it gets lighter..

i still think i am within the healthy range regardless! at least while i am in UK having cereal with skimmed milk and cooking my own meals.. once back in Malaysia having nasi lemak, char koay tiaw, roti canai with curry.. i dunno man..

BUT somehow, after discussions with several galpals.. its been concluded that u gain weight SO Much FAsteR in UK than Malaysia!! here i can be having tasteless healthy muesli with skimmed milk for breakfast, 2 toasts with peanut butter & jam for lunch and abit of rice with grilled chicken for dinner and stillll gain weight.. but back at home i have laksa for breakfast, chicken rice with teh c peng for Lunch and 2 bowls of rice with sweet and sour pork and kangkung belacan (which is also so oily) and oyster omelette, add one ABC for dessert.. and i dont gain!!

basically, if i bring all my msian food and eat them in UK, i would be at least 100kgs by now..

how come a healthy diet in UK gains more weight than an unhealthy one in Malaysia?

the irony.. no wonder Westerners all obese/overweight.. the weather makes u store fat for winter!!! yes, it sucks to gain so easily and that makes my weight so vulnerable, pushing me to weird yo-yo or crash diets (no more no more!)

but at least i am not alone, i know at least 5 other girls victims who have gained as well! *high 5* haha..

My Mediterranean Cruise 3- Rhodes, Greece & Dubrovnik, Croatia

Rhodes, a World Heritage City, voted Top Destination in Europe, 5th in the world.. really? wow! the old city looks ancient from the ship as u can see the whole city has tall brick walls around them.. of coz Rhodes has a new city too that looks like any other city. seems that most cities have their 'old city' and 'new city', and Rhodes is in the top 10 list.

out and about the ancient city.. it actually is very similar to the next city i am heading to..

had some good lunch..

then sunbathing and exploring the Costa Fortuna again..

before we had a nice italian dinner..

little did we know they had a crazy time planned for us, our favourite waiter suddenly danced with most of us, as u can see here, he is dancing with my dad, my mum and our fellow dinner-friend! they were singing and dancing on the balcony as well!

did i mention that though the cruise is italian, 60% of the staff were from the Phillipines? and like 25% from Indonesian? the rest were from India and Italy.. (remember that theres more than 1000 crew members on board)

of coz they thought i was Korean, Japanese or Chinese, talking to me in so many different languages and i just smiled, i think i have said "No, i am not japanese/korean, i am Malaysian" like a million times and when they heard that they went "MALAYSIA??"

my parents and i were the only Malaysians on the whole cruise of 2500+guests and 1000+ crew... fancy that. which malaysians would take a cruise from venice to greece?? wrong side of the world.

and i must say, the phillipinos and indonesian guys are super friendly after that.. :D :D :D *wink*

we went to the casino that night.. we werent as lucky as we hoped!

the next day was spent on the cruise as after island hopping in Katakolon, Santorini, Mykonos & Rhodes in Greece, we head back west to our port in Venice, dropping by Dubrovnik on the following day only. so i spent an entire day trying to maximize the facilities.. except the gym and the jogging tracks.. hmm..

that night was the Farewell Gala Dinner, the 2nd formal dinner

that night the whole top crew (like captain and his team of 10++ ) walked around the restaurant and we all stood up and clapped.. cheers, captain!

on the second last day we stopped by Dubrovnik, Croatia for the whole day (so we got off, sight-see, got back on board for lunch, got off again to stroll abit then hop back on for afternoon tea..) my geography was really bad, i didnt know this country also borders Serbia & Bosnia and Herzegovina. anyway it has an ancient city as well, like Rhodes.

since it was the final 24hours on board, i was maximizing my tummy.. what an abuse! seafood, desserts, hotdogs, paella.. all stuffed into my poor tummy...

our final dinner that night.. and a picture with the drinks waiter.. i ordered vegetarian and the waiter didnt recommend it, so i ordered fish instead. in the end he brought me both to show me how the vegetarian dish was it.. urghh! i cant remember the name, it starts with P and is made of some flour, similar to the italian gnocchi, tasteless! but ya, i had two mains. 7 courses x 7 nights + 1 extra = 50 dishes..

the last views of venice from the window as the cruise sails into the final destination.. and, my final paid-for meal in this whole trip, sandwich with chocolates and tea on the British Airways flight back.. sooo simple! where's the unlimited seafood buffet with desserts and all.. urgh.. thats how its like being pampered, i remember feeling fascinated with bacon & egg sandwich & tea on the plane when i was on the plane To Go to venice, here i am complaining when i Left venice..

wait.. what this thing i see on my chocolate bar? 99 calories? sounds familiar.. what's that? hmmm..

another food-filled weekend

it was fatiha's birthday on friday night, so we went to Satay House (finally! been meaning to go to our favourite Malaysian Restaurant for ages!) for dinner that night.

she was pretty lucky cause we all just had our much-needed allowance boost with additional bonuses as well, so we could indulge in a 'little bit' more this weekend...

nasi lemak at Satay House.. love the big 4 shrimps in the sambal, didnt seem very spicy but got my tummy all funny..

at night we cut her chocolate cheesecake made by chef ash..

we asked her what we were gonna do during the weekends as our weekend belonged to her.. many ideas came up and we discussed and discussed andddd discussseedddd.. finally ended up in..

Bicester Village on a Saturday morning (woke up earlier during weekends than weekdays!)
the birthday gal had a good shopping spree!

once back in London, we tried the New York cheesecake with vanilla ice cream at Ed's, an american very-70s-Grease-style place at Piccadilly.. rich and delicious!

then we introduced the birthday gal to the world of dimsum at New World, Chinatown, cause they have dimsum on carts.. we had prawns cheung fan, prawns dumpling , deep fried prawns papers and deep fried custard buns.. prawn overdose..

off for some bubble tea (another first time for the birthday gal) then she bought some steamboat ingredients for the night as a treat for us for spending fri night+whole saturday with her! thanks alot fatiha, and u r welcome for the food-filled 24 28hours..

when it comes to birthdays, we dont wana worry about calories or money, as long as we (especially the birthday gal/boy) are having a good time!

thank goodness i dont have 52 friends for every weekend! >_<"

scary world

just had a loooooong discussion after dinner about rapists (or rape + murder after that! typical Malaysian style..and by jerks people you know, or even worse, could possibly be related, ewwwwwwww) , muggers, thieves and even Ghosts!!

what if u r raped by someone u r related to.. would u tell anyone? or ur own daughter is raped by a relative? dignity vs society's negative perception.. dose that mean relatives have the 'permit' to rape their own flesh & blood since he's less likely to be reported as compared to a stranger?

what if u wake up with a face staring down at u.. is it a thief who broke in? or a rapist? or a ghost? do u scream? or freeze and hope its a ghost that goes away? or do u run?

it seemed so easy to say "make sure u arent alone, get someone to accompany u. let someone know where u are going." but is it really that easy/practical? maybe those married/attached girls have their partners to take care of them 24/7, but the rest of the female singletons? dont tell me every girl has to drag any guy they know to wherever they wana go to? to get home from work every single night? or everytime even if you go out just for grocery-shopping? how inconvenient..

a reminder of how horrible and scary this world is.. so once again, be careful, gals. all those forwarded emails and stories of rapists in back seats, or at petrol stations, shopping mall carparks, quiet toilets and alleys, spiked drinks etc.. must mean something..

let's look out for each other, ya?

don't get me wrong

"oh, helen's on diet."

correction. wrong choice of word. i am not on diet. to me, dieting is a suffering, rushing to meet a certain weight within a short time, like losing 2kgs in 1week, having cabbage soup or apples only, going to the gym everyday, that sort of stuff.

i am watching my weight. that's how i like to call it. it might go down, which i am hoping it would; it might maintain; or it might increase, which it usually does.. but i am still watching it all the same.

i like to call it living a healthy lifestyle. still have a normal breakfast, lunch, and a proper dinner with rice, meat & veges. i get to eat what i am as long as its within the recommended calories, so occasional, i repeat, occasional treats of cakes, eat-outs etc are still acceptable, unlike diets where its a absolute no-no. and of coz, add some jogging & gym in, in due time.

i dont want to live a life of eating a chocolate chip cookie and being miserable after. yes, life is too short for that.

My Mediterranean Cruise 2- Katakolon, Santorini & Mykonos Islands, Greece

the itinery of the cruise.. next stop: Day 3 & Day 4

our breakfast buffet.. not like we need all the energy we can get for the Flora London Marathon this Sunday or something..

we went on an excursion to Olympia from the port at Katakolon.. this is where the First Olympic Games were held in 776 AD.. now its just some columns and stones. this is where the temple of Zues, which housed a huge gold & ivory statue, one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, was.. but its not there anymore, just the remains (oh well, fair enough, its is a longggggg time ago and got destroyed by many ppl including Christians who called it pagan worshipping.. its like the bible stories coming to live) .. its more like the tour guide asked us to imagine it.. ish, not seeing it macam kena tipu..

the little city of Katakolon.. i bet its main income is tourism due to Olympia (about 40mins drive away).. we tried some local cuisine like the cheese (i love the deep fried version on bottom right) olives, grilled octopus and meatballs.. watch some local Greek dances too..

then its afternoon tea.. there is like 8 types of tea with little buns & cakes, no scones, oh right.. its an italian ship, not british..

that night we had our first formal dinner, the Welcome Gala Dinner.. notice that even the butter plate has a cup of caviar with mashed peas.. yummsss.. introducing a lovely mother & daughter pair who were very friendly (& pretty too) ! they were our dinner-mates for the 7 nights.

our lovely dinner that night.. i had the orange duck (biggest pic there) superbs! love the shrimp starters too!

following morning was early at 7am.. its off to Santorini, which made of a few islands actually (map in next pic). we went to Oia Village, north of Santorini (where my dad is pointing in the next pic) where its famous for the blue domes and white buildings. its a very nice picture-taking place as well..

the reasons why the buildings are mostly blue and white is coz they weren't allowed to wave their Greek flags (blue & white colours) so they painted their buildings blue & white instead to show their patriotism (reason why? need to recall Greece's history..) and the place only gets rains half the year so its possible to be so white & clean!!

Santorini is made from volcanic eruptions.. so due to constant seismic movements in the ground, the buildings cant be more than 2 stories high and its often dome-y or roundish shapes.. interesting isn't it? an island filled with little blue & white buildings due to many many reasons..

the port of Thera where our ship embarked, its in the middle of the island and is famous for the cable car Or donkeys bringing u down the 600 steps from the city to the jetty.. at most of the ports our huge ship cant reach the jetty so its always anchored some 15mins-boat-ride away and we had to ride little boats or even the cruise's own Lifeboats to get to shore.. how self-sustaining.. the little lifeboats are like little babies of the mama cruise to take turns to get us all to shore..

the 2nd stop on the 4th day, Mykonos.. its has the same concept of blue and white buildings but its mostly squarish and very nice, quiet and compact with stoney pathways! its very pretty in its own ways.. makes me wonder why Santorini is more publicized than Mykonos, mayb not as many white+blue dome-y buildings..

more on Mykonos.. thats the sunset from the windmills on a little hilltop..

our dinner that nite.. the beef steak is good, and love the coffee profiteroles..

and i stayed up for supper that night.. wow, it was fabulous! i try to eat more fruits than cakes since its 12.30am!!

alright, next stop, Rhodes in Greece & Dubronik, Croatia!
Gotta run now!

My Mediterranean Cruise 1- Venice & Bari, Italy

let me introduce you to my italian cruise shop, Costa Fortuna.
she's mega-huge.

it has 17 decks (so imagine a 17 floor building cruising around, even its theater spans 3 floors) with like 2500+ guests and 1000+ crew. its humongousness never ceases to amaze me till this day.

we flew from london to venice which was where the port was.. although only having a few hours in venice, we made full use of it to travel around venice. the centre pic is St Mark's Sq.

the casino.. and one of the many restaurants.. and some glass lifts.. there loads of restaurants and bars and even its own club with dance floor.. the ship could feed 2500 guests at one time and although its packed with ppl everywhere, i never fail to find a table or wait too long at the buffet line during my 8daysx5meals (there serve afternoon teas 4-5pm and suppers at 12am as well).
imagine that.

outside are the pools (i think there's 3) and that crazy yellow slide.. and chairs on sundeck.. gotta love this place on a sunny day, they have free-flowing 7am-12am buffets and dance classes, aerobics lessons or parties, all foc.

the gym, sauna, 3floor-theater and beauty parlour. there's also steam rooms, jacuzzi, massage rooms, basketball court, tennis court, jogging tracks, arcade, futsball tables, kids room, kids playground, kids pools, shops, library, photoroom, info desk, offices, internet cafe, chapel.. its funny that the facility i maximize most is.. the buffet line >_<"

and finally, my cabin. we chose to be orang kaya sarawak and stayed in a cabin with balcony that increased the cost by a third at least (if we get a suite its doubled!!) .. we were on the 8th floor up out of 11.. in the world of cruise ships, the lower it gets, the more not-so-best.. the last few floors have 1mx1m windows that can't be opened, and other rooms have no windows at all...
gosh its 8 days! we need our fresh air!!

our 1st stop on day2: Bari, Italy

that evening i went to watch the foc performances at the theater (yes they have different ones every evening) and it was an acrobatic show.

man juggling to balance on many wheels..

at first i thought he's just a guy who can balance.. little did i know that they have 6packs..

i dint know the significance of 6pack abdomens till that evening.. why, u ask?

this is just Half the performance as he carried him like that and bent downwards.. and then back upwards.. the crowd was cheering madly while i stared with my jaws dropped.. wow those muscles Really can work!!!

so guys, if u need an idol for 6pack, he's It.. even i want to be as fit!

my 7 course dinner on day2

next stop, the 4 Greek Islands~

terminal tiga

nope.. i am not refering to the form4 Othman Puteh malay literature book that i had to study for SPM.

heathrow terminal 3 is an emotional place for me, both departures and arrivals, depending on who's getting on the plane. just 2 weeks ago i was over the moon in this terminal, and now its a different story altogether.

my room seemed alot emptier as i dont have to jump over sleeping bags & pillows or squeeze between luggages.. and there's this eerie silence.. was it always like this before???

its weird cause i'm perfectly fine 3 weeks ago in the exact same condition, but now i have to readapt to being alone and independent after 2 weeks of daughter-pampering/manja, having plans everyday of what to do or what to eat, taking care of and being taken care of, even simple things like having all my fruits washed and sliced nicely into pieces for me..

who's gonna peel my oranges & kiwis and slice my apples now?? how have i been surviving eat apples as a whole?!?!

oh well.. back to independent life. not that i am complaining.

mum and dad looking cool on the island of Santorini, Greece..
i wonder if they are trying to look anonymous with those shades because of having me with them! >_<
miss u both all the same, mummy & daddy :(

its so Nic€ to be Ri€h, for a while..

Looking at my 2Gb of photos.. i just dont know where to start blogging. feels like those stacks of assignments that were left untouched and have now grown into a massive pile. i would have blogged on the cruise but with internet on the sea at the rate of €0.50 per 30 Seconds.. nooo wayyyyy.. i confessed i actually went online for 3 whole minutes and paid €3.00, yes i know, crazy me, but just needed to scratch that itch..)

i have not even touched on my 3days amsterdam trip and i've got a 8days cruise to blog about, and there is ALOT to talk about, 40% just about the cruise, and 60% about the 7 cities we visited during the cruise. this is gonna take me a week to blog about.

First of all, i have learnt a great deal from the luxurious cruise.. how it feels like to be Ri€h Ri€h Ri€h for a w€€k..

getting to heathrow via the underground train was just another day for me.. but the turning point was when a man in a suit came up to us once we arrived at terminal 5 and helped us check in on the spot with those fast-check-in-kiosks. i didn't realize we were travelling with British Airways, i call it the MAS of Malaysia, not the budget flights of Easyjet and Ryanair like Airasia.

Just strolling at Terminal 5 was already a good sign of wealth with Harrods, Cartier, Tiffany&Co shops and for food, Gordon Ramsay Plane Food Cafe. and people boarding the plane with more than 1 hand luggage?? and we are allocated seats? provided with newspapers to read? and food & drinks on board??? i never travelled on local flights in this part of the world with such luxury..

and luxury it was for the rest of the 8days.. (as u can see thats limo service to fetch us from the airport to our destination. seriously, LImo? we hardly even take Taxi!!)

Lets start with my favourite topic:
Food.

On a huge cruise with bountiful food buffets from 7am-1230am.. and if that isnt bad enough, we even had breakfast in the cabin every morning as well! boy, were we pampered..

my first breakfast-in-bed service! so sam-pa-lou, even had to take photo of this.. i was practically jumping up and down being so excited during the 1st 24hours of the cruise ship and i was running around take pictures everywhere like some crazy nut.. mind u, it has 12 floors and that doesnt include the sundecks etc yet..

our 1st breakfast.. bacon, eggs, smoked salmon too..

our 1st lunch.. seafood, pizza, burgers, anything under the sun..

our 1st dinner. we had fine dining dinners of 7 courses for 7 nights (appetizers, soups, pasta, mains, salad, cheese and desserts.. not including the bread basket & drinks, the menus change everyday for both lunch and dinners ) with waiters in smart suits serving u..

and this is just Day ONE.. multiply everything by 8 = 4kgs..

yes, the luxury.. can u blame me for just eating mindlessly, sunbathing on the sun deck, relaxing in the sauna or jacuzzi or spa or steam room, reading a book at the balcony overlooking the 7 different cities, without a worry in the world!! even i have to accept my 4kgs gain with dignity.

it feels so nice to be pampered.. BUT sorry, parents, for accidentally booking a trip that i thought was relatively reasonable till all the hidden charges+services+excursions+
extras+extras+extras+unnecessary stuff that everything actually doubled to more than €1k perperson.. i felt the pain but already in the boat, so i keep consoling myself 'hey, its a combined mother's day + father's day + my daddy's birthday trip (it was my dad's birthday during day4 of the trip!).. so its ok la, once a lifetime..' to which my dad would say 'after this trip, back to working hard again to pay all these!!' *gulps*

somehow, however nice it is to be rich, 8days is about long enough.. even doing nothing but lazing around and eating nonstop is pretty boring too, surprisingly..