Progress of the Bunny Ears

As I mentioned previously during the last LSD in January, Ms Phyllis of PACM did suggest we wear bunny ears for our LSD on February 13th. I decided to make my own after discovering that:

a) the bunny ears sold at Watson's were not worth the price of RM9.90 - the ears are oddly angled; and
b) the bunny ears sold for RM6.90 at Lovely Tales (I think they've changed names!) had smeared glue at the base of the ears so it looked really messy! (before CNY, I swear the price was RM5.90!).

So I decided that I'd make my own.

That was before I realised it was pretty hard work!

I was supposed to start off during the Chinese New Year break, but I ended up starting on another project (I have tons of unfinished projects! apparently they are known as WIP for "Work In Progress") - a lens pouch for my macro lens.

Anyway, the things you would need for this simple *cough* project:

1) paper - to draw the shape of your bunny ears;
2) felt or flannel - pink and white, preferably;
3) thread and needle - to sew them together, d'oh;
4) thin wires - to make sure that the ears are tied "up" to the hair band; and
5) a cheap plastic hair band.

oh, if you're crocheting, you'll need your instruction sheet! =)

PART A:

For FELT-

Draw out the shape of the ears on paper. Cut out. Trace outline of the ears on your pink and white felt, so you should end up with 2 pieces of pink and 2 pieces of white. sew them together along the sides. Ta-daa!

PART A:

For CROCHET-

I am a do-as-you-go person so I started on one ear (on the flight back from KK to KL) and when I finished it, only did I write down the instructions properly. It was a tedious task, but that's how silly I work sometimes!

I counted the rows and printed them out nicely so I could follow it for the 2nd ear.

You see that faint yellow thingy on the unfinished 2nd ear? That was a paper clip with a Post It (note to remind me that I stopped at Row 14.)

I used the ear to draw its shape on paper, then cut it out to trace it on the pink flannel. Trimmed it a bit, just too make sure the pink wasn't too big.

I sewed the crochet piece and pink flannel piece together with white thread. Leave a gap at the bottom of the ears to insert the wires.

I only used what I had so don't tell me that my wires were really too thin.=P

PART B:

Now, bend them gently and insert into your ears, leaving about 2 inches of the ends sticking out.

I looped the end of the wires around the hair band. With some yarn, I sewed the base of the ears tightly to the hair band, going round and round and hiding as much of the wire as I could. Not a pretty sight, but that was the most I could do.

The end product.

Bent ears to give a slightly more authentic look, don't you think?

Don't think I'd be able to sell them for a profit, eh? ;)

I asked a friend whether he would be putting on Shrek's ears during the run. He said to me, "You make, I wear."

I took that as a challenge. I scoured the Internet for crochet patterns and pictures. I stared hard at Shrek's ears and compared them to some of the patterns I could find but in the end I decided to design my own pattern.

This time, I wrote down the instructions as I went along.
Finished them in one day. =)

Found a green hair band at Sinma for RM2.90.

The guy ended up saying that he was JUST joking, and so he didn't wear them for the run. Neither did I, anyway! I only wore the ears after the run.

Yin Yin and I posing with our ears. The ears received a lot of attention, which was rather embarrassing. I sure hope it was good attention and not bad! (Thanks very much for the support, Yin!)

Nevertheless, it was a good feeling to know that I can actually crochet something from scratch. *grins happily* I am, after all, still a beginner at crochet!

~~

On the LSD run, I found it really hard. I had a tough time maintaining my pace, and I think it was due to the lack of sleep the night before. With only 4 hours of sleep (no thanks to coffee at 8pm!), I just couldn't carry on after the 18th km. I even got lost and took the wrong way and boy, was it hilly! We had to re-trace our steps to find our way back to Bukit Aman.

Random Runspiration Tips:

(I think I missed out on a few posts!)

#4 If you think you need to rehydrate along the way and PACM's 2 water stations are not enough, always bring a small bottle of water with you. Have you seen the smalll Spritzer POP fizzy water bottles? That size should be enough for you to bring along. You can also fill it with half portion of water and half of 100plus. Be sure to leave it out of the fridge the night before or you don't want to have problems holding on to a cold bottle during your run!

I was once told by a friend that rehydration is VERY important. You need to know your body well enough to endure long runs, so really, don't be shy if you need to bring a small bottle of water with you. =D

#5 Smile or wave or greet runners along the way. There was once, right after reading this article, I decided to be as thick skinned friendly as Raymond and greeted (almost) every runner on the road. I made count as far as I could (but gave up after 25) and only about 1/3 responded positively. Serious runners don't usually bother greeting you!

It did dishearten me for a while, because it made me feel silly for greeting them and not getting a response in return. But I guess THEY should be the ones who should be ashamed of themselves for not being friendly. I think. =D

Supposed to be Thai?

One of the hardest things to do when you're tired from work and you're absolutely hungry, is to choose your dinner venue carefully - especially when your first, second and third choices are packed and/or the wait is long.


We settled for a place called Rak Thai on the lower ground of Gardens, Mid Valley one tired evening last month.

We took a while to decide what to order, as the menu had various pictures of mouth watering food.


We eventually decided on the Mango Chicken with rice (RM15.90). YB was very disappointed with the portion but I said perhaps it was because it was glutinous rice, hence the portion looked small.


With my continuous attempts to watch my diet and choose the healthiest dish I could think of, I opted for the glass noodles (RM12.90) which came in a huge lump as the strands were all glued together.

It wasn't the most appetising dish to look at, seriously, but we gamely finished it, anyway.

*sigh*

I noticed man eating the Green Curry with rice and wondered whether it was any better than ours.

Don't the stools remind you of some form of aliens?


Other reviews:
The Gastronomic Diary
Bual Bual Kosong

Hopping about

Oh my goodness it's hard work!

Some of us are doing a LSD this Sunday and previously a PACM member (Phyllis?) mentioned that we should put on bunny ears or lovebug ears, in conjunction of the Year of the Rabbit or Valentine's Day.

I told Yin Yin and we both thought it would be silly in a funny way to don bunny ears. I saw some selling for RM6.90 but didn't really like the quality of it, although the furry ears are sooooo nice to touch. =D

So I decided to make my own, but as I was supposed to start during the CNY break and I procrastinated (I only began on my flight back to KL!) I'm way behind from completing it.

But it looks like it'll be ready in time!

But I may not wear it. Shy leh!!

Plan B with Dot

We met up for lunch on a Friday (14th January 2011), despite our busy schedules. I came across Plan B after reading its reviews on several food blogs and suggested to Dot whether her focus for lunch that day would be the desserts.

It was packed but we were lucky to get a table instead of waiting too long.

I'm not sure whether we ordered the 'right' dishes as both our choice failed to satiate our taste buds.

My Classic Caesar Salad was strangely empty. You know, after I cleaned up my plate, I waited a while to see what my taste buds would say: happy, satisfied, stuffed, disappointed.

They went,"that's it?"

Its presentation was quite similar to the one at DELIcious but I felt that the portion was probably 1/4 lesser than DELIcious'. *shrug*

Dot was equally disappointed with her Carbonara as it was very creamy but bland.

To be fair, I'm sure we had ordered dishes which were not on the recommended list. Many patrons could be seen enjoying their meals. Like the group of ladies behind us had Asian dishes (Nasi Bojari, perhaps) and the two men in front of us had a burger and pasta to share. Their burger was huge and looked so delectable that I wanted to reach out to ask them what exactly did they order whether it was good.

Then came for dessert.

We went to check out their display of savoury and sweet and I could not help but to be drawn to their huge muffins of Lamb Choriz & Gruyere Cheese and Tomato & Zucchini. They are priced at RM10 each and looked as big as my hand!

Eventually Dot and I decided to share the Caramel Bar (RM5) which we found to be a good choice for value for money. Topped with chocolate, the nuts were enveloped with caramel and rested on a hard chocolate base. We had to request for knives so we could saw the bar in pieces!

Definitely not a choice for first date meals! We both covered our mouths with our hands as weh took our time chewing.

Halfway through our portion, we both begun to be overwhelmed with its sweetness. Oops. Looks like you'll need four persons to share this bar!

I would like try other dishes on their menu the next time I'm there. Most definitely buying back a piece of scone (RM4) and a muffin soon!

Pre-CNY Run with DR

(My goodness! I honestly thought I would have blogged about this when I was back home in KK for the CNY break but I guess I was just too lazy to slouch over the keyboard and in front of the computer for fear of wasting too much time on the Internet!)

The Dutamas Runners met up for a short run on Saturday, January 29th. We were supposed to run an easy 14.3k towards the government complex and to Petronas station in Desa Sri Hartamas and then back home.

We stopped at Petronas to regroup before we continued with our run. We attempted some jump shots but failed miserably.

YB, Melvin, Captain, myself and YLoon did 15km instead as YB and I inadvertently took the long route back, so the 3 guys just followed suit.

We tried some more jump shots at the end of the run but failed miserably again.

It was a good laugh, though!

I let them try a small piece of my cereal bar (batch no. 2) and I guess it was just OK. I was bummed that this one seemed more of a failure compared to the first batch! hmmmfh.


We headed towards Bandar Menjalara for a breakfast of fish noodles. I must say that this was the first time for the runners to get to know each other much better and it was enlightening, in a sense that we were being 'friends' and not merely 'acquaintances from running'.

Our next meet up will be on February 13th where we hope to nick some water and isotonic drinks from the two Pacesetters' water stations which will be set up. *innocent smile* Yin and I hope to don bunny ears for the run, in conjunction of the Year of the Rabbit!

In fact, I'm frantically crocheting it now! I hope I can finish in time!

Why am I crocheting a pair of bunny ears, you ask? It's because I found a pair selling for RM5.90 but the quality was very poor, with glue smeared on the head band.

I'm not sure how well will my pair of bunny ears turn out, though. *cross fingers*

Random Food Pics!

I figured they have to go somewhere or my efforts will be wasted! Either that, I should stop taking food pictures. Someone told me my big boss commented to him, "You're taking pictures of food? Isn't that sad?"


When YB's parents were visiting in December, we took them to Kuchai Lama to try Fish Head Noodles at Win Soon Restaurant. Prices can vary from RM7.80 to RM10+, depending on your order.

Recently my colleague brought us there for lunch because he was craving for it. Both he and his girlfriend frequent the place during most weekends.

Dave's is our favourite restaurant in 1Utama. Where else can you be loaded with pork? Hehe. But speaking of pork, I think we were going to be sick by the time we finished our dinner - too much pork!

We had the Caesar's salad and their signature ham+mayo+pineapple pizza.

We also tried their Asparagus wrapped with bacon (RM5 per stick). It used to be enoki mushrooms wrapped with bacon!!!

When Yin Yin told me that there was a nearby place serving Lui Cha, I told YB we had to try it one fine day. And that day finally came. Hor Por Restaurant is just around the corner from here.

At RM10, they serve your Lui Cha as picture above. That's for two persons, by the way.

We also ordered their fried rice (something, I can't remember!) and Yam buttons (RM6). Mind you, as it was a restaurant serving Hakka dishes, we had to try something hakka!

YB was disappointed with the Yam buttons, saying that all he could taste was flour. I told him that didn't my mum say yam was costly these days?

As the shop was air-conditioned, it's no wonder that their prices are on the high side. RM10 for Lui Cha, seriously? Not too sure if we'll ever go back there again if I should ever have cravings for Lui Cha again!

Since we were not going to make it for our movie at GSC 1Utama, we headed to Uptown for dinner instead. I insisted we try Jojo Little Kitchen for pan mee, since we always ate at Face2Face. Try some place new!

They have set deals for the day at RM8.50, and so I opted for the herbal chicken pan mee (sweet and non-spicy). I don't like my herbs to be hard! I was sorely disappointed with my choice,. =S

YB was on a roll for his quest for Fish Head noodles, so he opted to try their pan mee, fish head noodle style. He was bummed as it wasn't great.

I teased him to say that we're at a pan mee shop, surely we should have stuck to their signature dry chilli pan mee or traditional pan mee instead of being fancy? Hahaha! We really didn't enjoy our dinner that night.

YB wanted me to try this place where his colleagues and he went for lunch. Ang Kee Restaurant in Cheow Yang, is famous for its Lala Meehoon.

We only had that and a plate of green vegetables for dinner.

I'm not sure what's all the fuss about the Lala Meehoon, but my colleague told me that they are also known for its ... I can't remember what dish, but there are loads to try, anyway!

We were in Uptown to have my car serviced and without knowing where to go or what to eat, we wandered around until we ended up back at Gou Lou Restaurant where we previously tried their fish head noodles.

This time, we tried their curry mee instead.

OK, honestly, if I stare hard at these pictures, I feel like swearing off curry mee. Look at the oil! *gag*

My colleague received a huge box of chocolates for her birthday and offered us to try. One for YB and one for me. I have to admit, the blue is kinda garish.

Soon Lei Restaurant

December 15th, 2010.

A friend took my colleague and I for lunch. I've tried to find reviews for this place but to no avail. Could it be "Shun Li " instead of "Soon Li"? (Friend has forwarded me this link.)

Anyway, the place serves "small dishes" to share for lunch.

I didn't know what I wanted to eat! There seemed to be loads to choose from.

The shop's name?

Anyway, we left it to our friend to choose the dishes for us.

First, the Fried Chinese Rice Cake, Hokkien Style reminded me of "Mi Hun Kerr", known as "Hokkien Flour Cake". With only one standard size to choose, it is RM6 per plate.

My verdict? Nah, no biggie.

The Fish Head Noodles has three sizes, priced at RM12, RM18 and RM22. We opted for the medium size.

I wasn't impressed with the fishy smell and taste. =S

Three sizes priced at Rm5.50, RM10 and RM14. Compared to the other 2 dishes, I would have to say I liked this one the most.

Except that I found it on the salty side. (What's wrong with me?! So fussy, eh?)

They said that this was no biggie, but I enjoyed this the most! RM12.

I would love to go back there again to try other dishes. My friend warned me not to arrive late or I'll have to wait a while for food to be served.

Note:
What's not in the picture: Bean curd + barley + soya milk. Apparently it's really good!
They are only open for lunch!