The Brew HouZe @ The Strand, Kota Damansara

The Signage

The Brew Houze is the upcoming coffee place in the neighbourhood of The Strand, Kota Damansara. It opened its door to the public in April 2014. The cafe is situated behind the row of CIMB, OCBC and Alliance Bank. To be more precisely, it is just opposite of Club 7.

I was looking for a new coffee place to hangout around my working area and decided to drop by here on a normal Friday evening. With more than an hour to spare from the horrific traffic jam (those who work here will understand the traffic condition along Persiaran Surian). Not many people at that time. Maybe the place is still new. Let us explore the cafe slowly.

Front view (Night)

The signage is quite visible to the crowd especially in the dark. They always adhere with the principle of making fantastic Coffee and great Food for People. (Coffee ~Food~People). Simple yellow lighting to brighten the surrounding. As I was aware, it is probably the only coffee cafe on this row. However, a few pubs and bars are just distance away. 

[Registration] Locks of Hope Charity Fun Run 2014

Block your date on  19th October 2014 (Sunday) for Locks of Hope Charity Fun Run 2014. The run was earlier scheduled for 22nd June 2014 had to be postponed due to some special arrangement by DBKL. The new date was submitted for DBKL approval and stay tune on the blog for latest update. The run is brought to you by MMIS Professional and supported by National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) and Amber Chia Academy.

The theme is Run With Wig Run For Cancer. Along with the Charity Run, Locks of Hope is running a hair donation campaign to provide a platform for Malaysian to donate hair for Cancer patients who are going through chemotherapy especially female and child patients.

Race details

• Location: Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur
• Starting time: 7.30am
• Distance:  7KM
• Registration Fees: RM25
• Participants Entitlement: Running Tee, Finisher Medals, Running Bib, Goodies Bag and many more

Medal design

Running Tee

How to Register?

[Racekit] NM Galaxy Road Run 2014 (2nd Series)

NM Galaxy Road Run 2014 - 2nd Series is going to be held at Padang Merbok on 18th May 2014 (Sunday).

Race pack collection was scheduled on 16th and 17th May 2014 at Wisma OCM.

For those who participated on the 1st Series Run will recall the disastrous experience in collecting the race pack at The Marathon Shop. Mostly queued up for more than an hour to collect the race pack under the hot sun. Not to forget, we were lining up on the road with moving vehicles all the time.

NM Galaxy Road Run 1st Series Collection Day

I expect thing to get better for the 2nd Series and the organiser will learn from their past lesson in managing the race pack collection. I collected numerous race pack from Wisma OCM and seldom encountered delay. Spacious space to allocate the runners for collection.

Gosh! Things only get worst! The organiser does not seem to learn anything from the past experience. I reached Wisma OCM about 11.30am. They split up few counters; three counters for individual collection less than 3 pax and one counter for bulk collection (more than 3 pax).

Runners who are queuing behind me are complaining about the slow moving staffs. They do not seem to know what they are doing. Certainly the number of staffs is insufficient to handle the crowd.

The Queue is getting longer and longer!!

The Staffs

Someone behind me who collecting for 4 pax came up with a great idea to queue up at the individual counter to collect the race packs. All he need to do is just to queue up 2 times. Guess what?! The brilliant guy managed to collect them within 15 minutes, whereas, the queue for bulk collection did not move at all.

I'm not trying to judge the organiser. Maybe some comments from Facebook can give you all some ideas of my frustration.

Top 5 Reasons to Register for a Running Event

My friend once told me if you want to run, just grab your sports shoes and start running. Yes, indeed he was right. But on second thought, not everyone is like him. Most people are not motivated to even start exercising. Everyone knows exercise is good for health but to do so, it requires lot of commitment and self discipline.

Is rather sad when you see people around working hard for money or future but neglecting their own health. I did not ask them to give up their work, but at least, spare some time for exercise or run. I believe running is the cheapest exercise you can ever do.

Let us get to work. If you cannot find a reason to even grab your shoes and run, my 1st advice for you is to register for a running event.

Why?!!

[Registration] IJM Land Run 2014

IJM Land Run is coming back this year on 21st September 2014 (Sunday). Last year, the run is only available for 10KM distance. This time, the distance is 12KM and 5KM. Runners can expect a new route running along the residential and commercial areas developed by IJM Land in Seremban 2 (a new marketing strategy to attract you to invest in Seremban 2).

One of the most memorable running event for last year due to two reasons. Firstly is the route, I won't forget the incredible far-stretched hilly slope. Hope the organiser will retain and include the hill run into the route. Is slightly suffer to run uphill but you will get rewarded with the amazing scenery of Seremban when you reach the peak.

Secondly, is the lucky draw moment. This year the organiser is having lucky draw prizes worth up to a total of RM20,000 to be won. You might stand a chance and be sure to stay to the end of the event.

[Registration] GuocoLand Run 2014

Apart from the renown developer such as IJM Land, GuocoLand has joined in the bandwagon to organiser a running event for the public. Most likely is a part of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programme.

GuocoLand Malaysia (a member of Hong Leong Group) is organising a run on 17th August 2014 (Sunday). Runners are expected to enjoy the run starting from a cozy housing area, followed by a mix of trail and road run. They will also run along the beach (good scenery)  

Beach scenery

[Registration] IMU Chariofare 2014

IMU Chariofare Charity Run supports the idea of running for a social cause. This year IMU Chariofare will be held on 20th September 2014 (Saturday) and will consist of a Charity Run and Carnival dedicated to raising funds for four beneficiaries:

• Pertubuhan Hospice Negeri Sembilan (formerly known as Hospice Seremban)
• Pusat Penjagaan Kanak-kanak Cacat Taman Megah (PPKKCTM)
• Dignity for Children Foundation
• IMU Cares Disaster Fund

[Budget] Barista & Latte Art Workshop

More and more hipster and coffee cafes are mushrooming in Klang Valley nowadays. The trend of enjoying a nice cup of coffee or getting a coffee fix has become a lifestyle to urban people.

Some might still prefer coffee from franchised coffee shop such as Starbucks or Coffee Bean. But mostly have shifted towards modern cafes for better aromatic coffee and cheaper pricing.

For true coffee lovers who want to learn in-dept about coffee can enroll into coffee class or workshop. The courses are not easily available and it does not come cheap as well. I came across a deal from Groupon and I think it might be suitable to some coffee lovers who want to expand their knowledge on this field.