Life Served Sunny Side Up & Rainy Days Down

Step-by-Step Egg Sandwich

2011-09-07T23:08:00.001+08:00

Specially dedicated to the budak!!

Extremely specific instructions for an egg sandwich.

Ingredients:
2 medium sized egg
1 generous spoon of salted butter
a dash or two of pepper

Method:
1. Place the eggs into a pot and fill it with water until it covers the eggs.
2. Bring it to boil with the lid close and turn off the heat immediately.
3. Leave it in the covered pot for 6 minutes. Don't leave it longer than that or the yolks will turn powdery.
4. Peel the shells off the eggs while it is still hot.
5. Dollop the butter in and mash it all up.
6. Add the pepper and you are done!!!
7. Slap it between 2 slices of toast and ENJOY!!!

The egg yolks is just cooked and still creamy in texture.

Add more butter if you cant get the creamy mash

Add as much pepper as you like!!

Tadaa!! Perfect home-style eggs

Add ham to the sandwich as well by all means.. I did! Hehe!

So there you go... I don't think you can fail with this recipe. But then again... you killed raw butterhead... I shouldn't under estimate you... LoL!

Excited!!

2011-08-26T14:50:00.000+08:00

I am excited... hee hee!!! Looking forward to the weekend and coming holidays next week... Me is heading to SINGAPORE!!!*clap hands*

Got a list of activies lined up... guess what they are??!!!

Fun yah? ;)

Baking et al

2011-08-13T23:52:00.002+08:00

So... what do you need to start baking?

Everything in the picture below.. :) It makes a unique house warming gift eh?

Tabur Revisited again...

2011-08-13T23:45:00.002+08:00

My Favourite hike... It always takes me to a different world... :)

Not so great!

2011-08-10T01:36:00.001+08:00

Today is a not so good day... Many thoughts playing on my mind...

Got to make some boxes to get me to my "zen" place... Ommmmm...

Who's reading??

2011-07-26T23:07:00.001+08:00

Hmmm... I wonder whether is there anyone who actually reads my blog.. Especially since I had such a long hiatus...

So, just to poll... If u are reading this, why don't u say hi in the comment box of this posting... :D

Focus Ai Chin!! Focus!!

2011-07-17T23:39:00.001+08:00

Okay... I have been sitting in front of my textbook for more than an hour now and I have yet to flip the page... I just can't seem to get my mindset into the game... :(

Exam is tomorrow!!! Come on.. Buck up!!

Someone help me!!! I need some motivation... :(

Shell Eco Marathon Asia 2011

2011-07-11T01:55:00.001+08:00

I signed up to be a volunteer at the Shell Eco Marathon 2011 Asian leg recently... It was hosted in Malaysia from 6-9th July 2011... We saw 13 countries participating and 94 vehicles in total. I have not had such a fun and tiring week in a long time... Had to wake up at 6am everyday just to make sure we were at the tracks by 7.30am.

I met a lot of new Shell colleagues from other countries and offices... :) Also got the chance to meet many students from around Asia... It impresses me so much to see them put so much efforts into building their vehicles... The trials and tribulations they have gone through in just this 4 days... Some teams managed to pass the scrutineering process quickly and get themselves on the track... other tried day after day to pass the technical inspections... but none of them every gave up... Even til the last day and hour we still saw students going through the inspections in hope of getting the all important safety and technical inspection stickers so that they can compete...

It was heartbreaking to see some teams unable to pass, even worse for teams who managed to pass but were too last to compete... There were even teams who went against all odds and succeeded... They were marked from the beginning as the team which had too many technical issues to even pass through the technical inspection but day by day they made the changes required and on the final day they got their approvals and got to the track... That was truly pure determination. I salute them for the efforts and them being a Malaysian team, I am even more proud of them.

Random photos from the 4 days....

All the vehicles and students line up for an official photo...

Lollipop girls? haha!

Event crew...

Mike! He developes the fuel for Ferrari F1... cool huh?

The infamous SIC umbrella... and Coco...

Riding a buggy on the circuit...

Just me and the circuit....

Moses Chan anyone? He is the Shell Fuelsave Ambassador for Hong Kong..

and the race begins...

New friends...

Steve is literally head and shoulders above me... ;)

Each country is represented at the opening ceremony...

Bali - 4th to 10th May 2011 - Part 2

2011-07-11T01:03:00.000+08:00

Last day in Ubud before we head to Tanjung Benoa..... So we just walked around Ubud town and for the first time during this trip I bought quite a few items for myself... =) Last stop before leaving is for lunch... We went to another recommended place; Ryoshi... yeaps.. a Japanese restaurant... haha!! In Bali... Food was surprisingly quite good.. We has just a simple cold noodle and rice bowl with a couple of added side dish... It was simple and light yet well prepared...

Cold soba with tempura bits...

Fried Katsu

Fried Fish cakes

Sukiyaki rice bowl....

Now that our tummies are full, time to head to Tanah Lot.. Can't go Bali and miss Tanah Lot right? So we are off to catch the sunset... Or so we thought. In the end it was just gradual darkness so we didn't bother to stay longer... but it was beautiful nevertheless...

No, am not committing suicide... just like sitting by the ledge...

It just me and the sea...

Now we are off for dinner at Jimbaran... our guide was nice enough to take us to a cheaper outlet which served smaller portions so that we could just experience the beachside setting... Wasnt too pleasant an experience since it was so dark I could hardly see what I ate... haha!

Tables we set with by the beach with candlelights...

My mini set of seafood...

Aili's without the crab...

Time to check in to the hotel... This time I booked Oasis at Tanjung Benoa... a big disappointment since this hotel cost the most but it was also had the lousiest room and lousiest exchange rates.. I am beginning to think that Bookings.com should not sell rooms in USD if the hotels cant charge is USD. They keep having to convert it to Rupiah but with ridiculous exchange rates.. I just felt so cheated.

This was it... Ewww...

I got conned by this picture not knowing that this is the only nice thing about the hotel... Uurgghhh...!

Last day in Bali... managed to persuade Ai Li to attend a surfing lesson with me... heheh!!! It was fun fun fun!! But extremely tiring... I can see why surfers are so fit... getting out to see with the board itself requires so much effort... The waves we just relentless... I kept thinking I was taking 10 steps forward and 20 steps backwards...

Lets start with some basic briefing...

Some beach side practice...

Warm up next...

Now into the sea we go... Paddle paddle paddle...

Time to get up....

and I fell as expected..

and again...

maybe?

nopes...

No again...

and again...

Finally... Tadaa!!!!

After such vigorous exercise, it's definitely time for a spa session.... Mmm.... quite cool... it's a room for 2 with a private tub and all...


Would have been better with some air conditioning though....

Final night in Bali and final meal as well... Made reservations at the famous Bumbu Bali... It definitely did not disappoint...

Open kitchen where we can see all the action...

We ordered the Rijstaffel which is actually a set meal where they served a bit of everything on a big platter... the portions were ridiculous... we order a 1 person set and this was what we got....

Appetizers... + an additional cold chicken salad...

Mains...

Desserts....

It was definitely a good ending to our week in Bali... Would I go back? Maybe yes, maybe no. Didn't like the sweaty sticky feeling throughout the entire trip.... we shall see... so far I have not repeated my travel destinations yet so this might not be the first choice for repeats...

Bali - 4th to 10th May 2011 - Part 1

2011-05-21T00:10:00.001+08:00

Landed in Bali at 6.30pm and I got conned 5 minutes later... Great way to start the holiday huh? How I got conned? Well I bought the coupon for taxi and these 2 guys started pulling our bags towards the parking area.. got a worried a bit as we followed until we spotted a slew of taxis and we were relieved but after the bags got loaded in the trunk, the 2 guys who pulled our bags asked us for a tip... TIP!!! for pulling my bag 20 meters. I could do that myself thank you... Isk!! I felt so conned... but I relented and gave the fella Rp5000 and guess what... He looked at me and said "This is half dollar" and I just said "and?" and dismissed him... Jeez... even I don't earn half a dollar pulling a bag for 20 meters... Jeez... It is still RM1.75!!! I blame all those Gwailou tourist who goes around saying "Cheap cheap"!

Anyway... we checked into our hotel called the J Boutique Hotel in Kuta which was surprisingly quite nice..small and basic but quite nice... not extremely cheap though since we paid USD70 per room.

Quite nice right? All black and white and I love the tattoo design you find all over the hotel walls...

Then we walked down the street for dinner... Ordered some Indonesian fair to start the night off... Had some otak-otak, fried calamari, grilled chicken, and eggplant balado.

We walked a long long way from our hotel to Kuta Square (about 1.5km away) just to find a Hard Rock shop and bought a t-shirt for Ai May... Ai Li was swearing at me by the time we were back at our hotel.. She was at the verge of being like the Donkey in Shrek.. "are we there yet?" hehe!

Next day and we are off to Ubud... but we took a day tour of Arts and Volcano... We start driving through the arts town; Celuk of Bali where artisans specialising is batik, silver smithing, gold smithing, wood carving, stone carving, kite making and all sort of other traditional crafts were located... We made a few stops but the one that I was most impressed with was the silver smithing.... maybe coz I have a soft spot for accessories... the intricate works really called towards me and my wallet... haha!

From pure silver ingots, they add copper to it for strengthening then form them into wires and then into little silver balls/beads

Forming the wires for intricate designs...

A combination of wire works and beads attachment forms this brooch design.

We then went on up to Kintamani to have lunch while overlooking Mount Batur which is still a live volcano... There is an alternate tour to hike up the mountain but Ai Li refused so Ai Chin no go... :( Next time la... Cross fingers... :)

Food was buffet and not great... the only reason please come here to eat is for the view below...

The view is quite breathtaking if you are lucky... If not then it will be covered by clouds.... There is a small village situated at the other side of the lake at the base of the volcano. It is said that this village's main profession is to beg... They are a village of beggars but what is more interesting than that is how they bury their dead... They dont... they just leave the bodies of the dead on the ground. There is some kind of ointment of sorts which is used to eradicate the stench which comes with a rotting corpse.. interesting huh?

A panoramic view of the Volcano and a lake below it to the right

Just the volcano is full view...

After lunch we stopped by a local farm which grows coffee/cocoa and vanilla... they also have the all famous luak coffee which are coffee beans eaten/digested by civet cats which are then pooped out again.. and we humans roast those beans and make coffee out of it... We are such creative human beings huh? Uuurgghhh... I could not bring myself to even try it...

Cocoa fruits

Coffee beans

This was an interesting finding... I didnt know this was how vanilla looked like... I only ever saw the shriveled dried ones..

Ai Chin the coffee roaster... =D

We then headed towards 2 temples... Pura Tirtha Empul and Goa Gajah....

One of the doorway into Pura Tirtha Empul

Holy water... Locals pray and take bath here to cleanse themselves...

Me in my sarong

Goa Gajah

We are done for the day now... we head on to our hotel in Ubud... Alam Jiwa... This is my favourite hotel through my whole stay here... the service was fantastic.. they greeted you every time they see you coming and going... they served breakfast and tea directly to the room.. the room was rustic but comfortable... They have a shuttle service to Ubud town that will send and pick you up when you call for them..It only serves the 10 rooms in Alam Jiwa and do not run on a schedule... It's as and when you want it... Fantastic isn't it? I highly recommend this hotel...

Entrance to the room... it was lock with just a padlock.. no such thing as key card...

Stairways leading to the room

The room had 2 queen size beds.. Nice!!

Fancy soaking in the tub while overlooking the paddy field? Couldn't find the drain plug though... :(

Garden View from the balcony

Paddy Field view from the balcony..we had the lower floor so the paddy field isn't so visible.

The pool

Breakfast in bed (or on balcony)

Sumptuous breakfast.

My favourite breakfast.. It's a really nice toasted sandwich with egg, tomatoes, avocado and cheese.

Grounds around the hotel/resort

More grounds...

Next day it was just us walking around Ubud town... trying out the infamous Babi Guling at a stall called Warung Ibu Oka which is supposed to be the most famous shop in Ubud serving this dish... It isn't exactly my favourite dish... just found it a tad to porky but it was something worth trying I suppose just for the novelty of it...

The Babi Guling set

It comes with pork meat, crispy pork skin, some stuffed intestines, some fried dunnowhat and vege..

Do I look like I am enjoying the meal? Good acting huh? haha!

In the evening we attended a cooking lesson to learn some recipes for authentic Balinese food...

Ingredients...

Spices...

How I wish my kitchen looks like this....

Ai Chin the Chef? I am so pretending.. I was even slower at prep work than the guy who attended the class.. :(

Our meal completed.. Yes we did prepare this meal.. Didn't do the actual cooking except some frying but we did all the prep work.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Prawn Cakes

Fried Chicken with Sambal Galado

Stir Fried watercress

Steam/boiled banana

That ends day 3 of our trip... Now day 4 proves to be an extremely tiring day... Guess what we did? We went cycling!!! Yeaps.. cyling through the hills of the Jatiluwih rice terraces... just like in the movies... =) This is after all a Unesco appointed heritage site.. the view was breathtaking and spectacular but the journey was hell... :( So many uphills that I gave up at the last stretch... just the last 1.5km but it was a bad 1.5km...all uphill without a single stretch of flat land to recuperate... my thighs were so aching...

All set to go!!

It's just me, my bike and the hills...

Ai Li gave up on the uphill ride... and after 1/3 of the way she totally gave up and climbed onto the van...

Miles and miles of rice terraces...

Peek-a-boo!!

Panoramic view

Taking a break for some chilled watermelon... So refreshing...

Lunch was again a lousy buffet... so nothing to show... but for dinner we went to the infamous Dirty Duck to try out the Bebek Bengil... (Elaine's recommendation). Well, I found it to be so so... the little hairs stuck at the pores kinda put me off and the meat was a tad dry but it still had good seasoning and flavours...

Bebek Bengil

Fried calamari

Steam fish wrapped in Banana leaf.. (not so great either)

Black Russian dessert.. It has Kahlua and some other liquer... strong.. powderful!! haha!

That wraps up day 4... Think this posting is long enough... Shall end this as Part 1... watch out for Part 2 for the rest of my trip's details... =)

Singapore; enroute to Bali

2011-05-14T13:55:00.002+08:00

Finally, after a long hiatus I have something to blog about.. haha!! Life is sad these few months eh? But not anymore!!! Me is going for a holiday!!! Woohoo!!!! Bali here I come....

But first... we need to stop by Singapore... coz my flight to Bali was from Singapore... It was cheaper... :) Much cheaper so we dropped by to visit mum and sister plus baby Chloe... Mother's day is coming up as well so we should celebrate... :)

First order of the day before we arrived... we told Ai May " May May we want to eat Durian Puffs!!"
and and we arrived.... Waalah!!!!

You cannot get any better than this...20 pieces of fresh and absolutely durian filled puffs.... Oh Yum.... I highly recommend this to anyone who likes durian... :)

The next day we decided to go to Candylicious which was at Sentosa Island... It was like being in candy wonderland... I wanted to buy everything.. haha!! First, the outside of the shop already lured you in with the big naked trees with candies as ornaments...

Let me try and pick one from the tree...hehe!!

How it looks from the inside... feast your eyes... needless to say I left a happy camper albeit a poor one... :D

What's next? Dinner at Garibaldi Italian Restaurant and Bar to celebrate mother's day... Food here was with mixed reviews... Ai Li and I loved it but everyone else thought it was okay la... I loved what the meal began with the sun dried tomato bread and a tomato gazpacho as the amuse bouche.. Followed by a layered baked eggplant and prosciutto with fried dough...

Then for the mains... I had they pasta of the day which was Fettuccine with Duck Ragout... It was quite good.. the pasta texture was just nice with a slight firmness and chewy bite to it and the ragout didnt have the heavy duck flavour...

Then Ai Li has the Ravioli stuffed with Veal and Porchini Mushroom... This is one of the only places I have been who were so generous with their raviolis.. there served at least 10 raviolis on the platter.. and it was GOOD.... :)

Mum unfortunately didnt have much to choose from coz she only likes tomato based pasta and she didnt like seafood so the only option left was a vegetarian fettuccine option.. The tomato based sauce was really good but I suppose the lack of meat or something was a tad disappointing...

Then Ai May and Teng Chau both has fish... One had Barramundi and the other had Cod.. both fishes were fresh but portions were a tad small...

We ended the meal with one order of Molten Lava Chocolate Cake.. for me... hehe! No one else wanted!!! Not my fault... but this was good.. the gooey center of the chocolate cake and hazelnut gelato just made me smile.. yummies...

As you can... it was a good family outing... Baby Chloe just had to make a funny face to make us all laugh at the photo... :D

Last day in Singapore before we head off to Bali... decided to bring mummy to have lunch at Barossa.. supposedly an Australian restaurant but the menu was just a mix of all sorts of cuisine which was fine by me... At least mummy would have some non vegetarian meal... felt bad bout the night before...

We started off with Fried Calamari which was fried just perfect.. I liked it coz it was so soft and juicy... It wasnt overcooked in one bit unlike most places...

Then we order 3 different mains.. Aglio Olio with Wild Mushroom and Bacon... Anything with bacon cannot go wrong... haha!!

Pizza with prosciutto and cheese... This was not what we expected... the prosciutto and cheese was layered between 2 thin crust pizza... Althought there wasnt a sauce base, it was still pretty good which was definitely surprising...

and finally we ended with pressure cooked Korobuta pork belly... This was absolutely delicious... The meat was melt in your mouth tender and although the fat layers were quite substantial it still tasted so good when eaten all togother... Thumbs up for this dish definitely!!! You know it is when I didnt scrape the fat away and just gobbled it all down...

So with our tummies all filled.... we head to Bali.. for more food...

No Plastic Bag Saturday? Or Not?

2011-02-27T02:33:00.002+08:00

Today I came across something really ironic... It's Saturday and I was grocery shopping in Jusco... As usual, every Saturday is a "No Plastic Bag" day which was meant to promote a more environmentally conscious society and promote the use of recycle-able bags for your shopping.

What I saw at the checking counter was just ridiculous... There was this family who was paying for a cartload of groceries and guess what they used to carry those groceries??!!!

New store bought plastic bags which they brought along with them as they knew that plastic bags were not going to be given out on Saturdays. May I repeat myself! NEW PLASTIC BAGS!! Those you go to sundry shops and buy in packs of 50s. Wow!! How else can you defeat the purpose or intent of the day so thoroughly than by buying your own plastic bag to carry your groceries?

If you were to bring along used plastic bags you recycled from previous purchases, I would understand.

If you were to pay the RM0.20 per bag from the supermarket because you forgot to bring a bag, I could also understand.

But bringing NEW plastic bags??!!! It's truly beyond me....

Are these people for real? Are they that stupid? Do they think the ruling was put in place to inconvenience them? and solely for that purpose? *roll eyes*

All I can say is that it will be a long long time more before Malaysians start being environmentally conscious and actual practice the 3 Rs - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. If a simple "No Plastic Bag" rule can be construed as such, what else can you expect?

Compliment and still get slapped!

2011-02-17T21:51:00.001+08:00

If u want to pay a compliment to a lady and still get slapped then use this word:

Pulchritude!

Haha! Sounds obscene right? Tell her you have great pulchritude and see what she reacts.. :)

Everyday I learn something new..

2011-01-13T23:56:00.001+08:00

I learnt 3 new words today:

Perspicacious = quick minded
Obdurate = obstinate
Garrulous = talkative

Although it would be real rare occasions where I can actually use these words and have people understand but it's just so cool. I like it! I even called Elaine to announce that I learnt 3 new words. Haha! She knew 2/3 of the words. Elaine is smarter than this budak obviously. ;)

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-08T00:12:00.001+08:00

I know it's a tad late but I would still like to wish everyone happy new year!

Hopefully 2011 will be a more eventful year then I can have more things to blog about! :)

First bit of news for the year, I started my taekwondo training back again!! :D let's see how long I can keep it up!! If I am consistent enough, who knows I might be able to get my 4th Dan. Now that would be nice. ;)

Cross fingers then...

Hidden Treasure...

2010-12-23T14:11:00.004+08:00

Tucked in the corner of Jalan (more like a lorong) Hang Kasturi along Jonker street in Malacca lies an unassuming little teow chew restaurant called Teo Soon Long Chan.... From the outside, you would think it no different from a normal hawker coffee shop... but step inside and you are welcomed into this cosy little air conditioned restaurants lines with liquor bottles all around... There was only 7 tables in the room, which is why reservation is highly recommended...

To one side is a display of the fresh ingredients/seafood for the day... This uncle here takes your orders and when we asked what is their Signature Dish? His answer was simple "No signature dish, all is good. No need to ask where the source of the ingredients are from, as long as it taste good, that should be good enough!!" ..... and he was right.

On the other side was a counter and the liquor cabinet lining the walls.... That guy on the phone, is no ordinary guy. He got skills... you will know what I mean further down this post.... :)

To start of the dinner... let me introduce you to the sauces... haha!! This is a traditional teowchew tauchu with chilli sauce which is best eaten with the steam fish...

Next up is the sambal..and this is no ordinary sambal which you get at other regular restaurants... This has ikan bilis in them... plenty... It was Yum....!!!

Okay... to start the night off we had the Oyster Noodles which was highly recommended and every table seems to have ordered one... it was just yellow noodles fried hokkien style but with Oysters in them... Unless you are an oyster fan, this is nothing to shout about... Too oyster-ish for my taste....

Next we had the steam fish teowchew style... what other style can you order in a teowchew restaurant right? haha!! This was definitely the highlight for me... It was steamed just right... not over nor under done and the fish was fresh... the broth has just the right level of saltiness that made the whole dish work... It was so good I ordered another one at the end of our meal...

Oh ya... remember the guy at the counter... well he is highly skilled at cutting the fish up... he cuts and debones the entire fish in 22 precise cuts... Cool huh?

Another dish which was recommended by fellow bloggers was the fried soft shell crab... Although not a traditional teowchew dish but this was really well done... the batter was crunchy and the sweet sauce which accompanied the dish just complimented the taste of the crabs...

We were recommended the Bitter Gourd and Pork Ribs stew by the uncle and we gladly agreed... This was an extremely small dish but it tasted really good..the bitter gourd has just a slight twang of bitterness to it and it was soft to the bite... The pork ribs were small little succulent pieces of meat and the sauce was heavenly... Best eaten mixed with rice (which my eldest sis refused to the dismay of the owner)... It was thickened with yam instead of starch so it has a slight hint of yam in the aftertaste...

Next up was the fried mince pork balls.. This was pretty good... It was not spectacular but it was pretty good for pork balls... :)

Now, the final and apparently most popular dish which the uncle insisted we should end our meal with... Ohnee! Or better known as yam paste served with ginko and pumpkin... I need to say upfront that I am not a chinese dessert kinda person (especially when they are pasty) but I gave it a try since it was highly recommended...

I am now a convert... This ohnee was soooo good.. the texture was smooth and taken with the pumpkin it gave just the right balance of yammy gooey-ness and sweetness from the pumpkin... Really good.. no wonder this was their one and only dish which has been commercialised.

Look at the consistency of the yam... beautiful....

This is definitely one restaurant I would highly recommend if you are heading to Malacca... I am a malaccan and I only knew of this place recently.. How embarassing... :( Forget about the satay celup or the chicken rice balls... those are just hyped up food.. This is the real deal... just simple delicious teowchew dishes done very well...

Teo Soon Loong Chan Restaurant
55, Jalan Hang Kasturi

75200 Melaka, Malaysia

Tel: 06-2822353

Malakoff 2010

2010-12-20T15:31:00.002+08:00

Just went for a 7km run yesterday... The irony of it was that from the day I registered for the run two months ago (after an invite from a fren) til yesterday, I did not go for a single jog... haha!! Lazy me...

The route, was treacherous.... There was too many hills to count but there were 2 which were distinctively steep and long... gosh! I wonder who picked this route... It was really killing me.. yeah there were downhill moments as well but the uphills were really bad... some I even needed to lean forward to balance myself...

Safe to say I walked up all the hills.. not run. haha!! :D

But hey, I still managed it in 56 mins considering my super unfit condition... I just told myself that I needed to get it done in less than an hour!!! Dont embarass yourself Aichin. ;)

How times have changed.

2010-12-13T16:14:00.001+08:00

Do you remember during the good old days where many little Chinese kopitiam still existed? Then you would see many old uncles and grandpas just sit along the outside of the kopitiam with their backs facing the kopitiam?

They would stare out to the streets and chat amongst themselves.. I always wondered what were they looking at??!! Cars passing by? Or ppl walking by?

Well today I witnessed it again but under a very different circumstance. I am now sitting in Starbucks. An indoor Starbucks I must add and right in front of me sitting outside of the shop is 2 uncles sitting on either sides of the table with their backs against Starbucks looking outwards and having a chat. How times have changed from a mere streetside kopitiam to a shopping mall Starbucks but what hasn't change is the good old tradition of meeting up with your friends over a cuppa.

Think it didn't matter to them what the view was.. What's important is the companionship of a few good friends.

Looking at them gives a warm fuzzy feeling and it puts a smile of my face. I hope when I grow old I would be able to have such a ritual. Then I must have lived a blessed life filled with wonderful friends.

Tiramisu + family = One great night!

2010-11-28T23:35:00.005+08:00

Was invited to a big family pot luck get together and since mum was not around, sis and I had to conjure up something to bring... so we decided to be vague about it (in case what I have planned didnt turn out right) and tell them we will be bringing dessers... better to keep it open ended.. :D haha!

Have always wanted to try my hand at making tiramisu so this was perfect timing! I have a large enough group to consume whatever I made (provided it was successful).. So after looking through the internet for a decent recipe and some added modifications to the recipe after the trial batch I did last week, we were good to go... the results?

Looks right....
With the cocoa dusted, it looks perfect! hehehe! If I may say so myself...

Verdict from the family? It was all nods and thumbs up!!! Yaaay!! It was a success... I am so happy... :D Even got 2 request for recipe...

The family gathering was really great... didnt expect to have such a big group of ppl... all 6 uncles and 3 aunties were there with their families and in-laws... even my cousin who was in New Zealand came back... It was really fun catching up with everyone... It is nice to know that eventhough we were all very different ppl with different personalities and views, but because we were cousins, we still always have a great time chatting and just catching up with what's the latest news with each other.. from a cousin getting a really hot girlfriend to another cousin waiting for her PMR results...

It was definitely good times....

My little Skytrex adventure...

2010-11-28T14:36:00.009+08:00

After a botched up ATV plans I decided to go for a Skytrex instead... Managed to get one friend to go with me since everyone else were not too keen... So off we went...

In the feeder bus to the Skytrex base... I am excited.. Can you tell?
All geared up!!!

After the first flying fox landing... I am still pumped.. The first jump was pretty scary considering it was really high up (approx 60ft up in the sky...)

Up another stair ladder.. those were the worst in my view.. way more tiring than the rest of the challenges... and there was 3!!!! :(

Wheeee!!!! I am flying!!! :D Walking across a series of upright pipes strung across 2 trees...

All the challenges were pretty moderate until it came to this one... "monkey bars"!! Way up in the sky... I have not played monkey bars for years now... haha! I am not sure my arms could take my weight!!! After a few deep breaths I attempted and...

YAAAYYY!! I made it.. hahaha!! I could actually swing myself across the entire stretch!! I didnt give up... *beams with pride* too bad no pics of me on the bars.. :(

Ackson obviously made it across as well... Unlike the guy behind him who gave up after the first rung and just pulley-ed himself across.. so embarassing...

More stairs... :( dont be fooled by the smile.. I hated them...

Look ma!! No hands, no hands!!! :D haha!! Walking on a tightrope...

A transversed stair ladder... pretty easy stuff.. :D

We are almost done... climbing down now...

Check the second last challenge... This one looks fun!! We had to swing on the ropes from one plank to the other making sure we catch the next rope when we landed...

After I got the hang of it, it was fun but I did fail during my first attempt.. lucky me I had the harness... *phew*

Final obstacle before we were done...

Okay... end of route... back to the base...

At the end of our little adventure... It was ALL Good..!!! :D

Hmmm... Definitely something I would go for again... any takers? :D hehe!!

For those who want to know more, check out http://www.skytrex-adventure.com/ for more details of the different routes available.. I went for the extreme at RM45 a pop.. not too bad a price I think considering it was a 2 hours trail...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2010-11-26T17:14:00.001+08:00

Nope, I dont celebrate it... just felt like wishing...

Wouldnt mind having a chance to experience a real thanksgiving though... Anyone wants to invite me? :D hehe!

To what extent?

2010-11-22T17:02:00.002+08:00

Wow! I was just delivered a shocker and am left pondering the question of "to what extent does one go to move on..?"

Is there truly a need to delete the past to move forward with someone new? I have always believed not but evidently not everyone concurs.. So how do you make out having a friendship with your ex being okay but when u get married then the ex must be axed our of your life as well? Delete fb fren, delete phone number, block all contact possible??!!!

Hmm.. As much as I would like to believe that I would know the person I used to date pretty well but I am beginning to think maybe not coz the person I knew treasured all forms of friendship.. But this person is now throwing away an 11 year friendship..

Of course I could look at it from a real negative point and say the wife did all that without his knowledge but is that really possible? Would someone be so oblivious to all the deletion and extermination of contact? I don't know.

All I can say is that I am feeling disturbed. Disturbed and disgusted actually. Where is the person I once knew? Or did that person ever exist in the first place..??

Chilling out!

2010-11-17T23:50:00.004+08:00

Chilling out at the rooftop of the verve suites.. Great view, cushy seats, pool by the edge and me... This is the life..

Wish it was really mine.. :(

A handsome couple...

2010-11-14T22:06:00.003+08:00

My uncle passed us some old photos today... They were found when they were cleaning up my grandma's place in malacca.. One of the photos found was an engagement photo of my mum and dad...

My dad was pretty good looking (albeit a tad girlish.. hehe)... and my mum was gorgeous too... Just couldnt help posting this photo up... It's a great picture! :D

Wanton noodles and good memories....

2010-11-12T10:08:00.004+08:00

Yesterday night I completed a telecon at 10pm and I was famished by the end of it.. It doesnt help that I was working from KLCC and I did not have the access pass to the office yet.. I cant go out and grab a bite before the 8pm call coz I didnt have the reception is buzz me in... So waited I did...

By the time I got out of the office all the shops in KLCC were closing so no food there.. :( Hopped into my car, fren asked me to drive to Subang and meet him up... Was contemplating it at first until my stomach started growling.. It was protesting against the long wait so as I was driving along Sg Besi I spotted the Wanton Noodle shop which was always jam packed with people... Always wondered why but I have never tried it prior to yesterday... So I decided, what the heck! let's stop and try then....

I ordered the standard Char Siew Wanton Noodles and waited a mere 5 mins for it to be served... Took my first bite and it brought back memories...

I started reminiscing about the good old days when I was still a small kuchirat... Our family used to drive down to Singapore every Chinese New Year and Christmas and it was a ritual to always stop at Ayer Hitam on our way down and have a plate of Char Siew Wanton Noodles... those were the good old days when we still had to use the trunk road to get to Singapore so it was a 7 hours drive. After a 4.5 hours drive the stop over was very much welcomed for us to stretch our legs and fill our tummies... the noodles were springy and had a very nice texture to it.... It just tasted really good.. and there would be aunties holding a wooden cross-like looking holder which they use to hang little bags of Okra and french beans for sale... The whole experience was very rustic... :)

As all good things, the ritual came to an end when PLUS highway was built and although sometimes we still drive into Ayer Hitam as a stopover, the Wanton noodle shop was never there anymore... They probably could not sustain with the drop in traffic since the highway started operations... What a waste... :( and I never found another wanton noodle shop that served that same kind of noodles...Until yesterday...

Yes, back to present... this wanton noodles was as close as possible to the one I had back in Ayer Hitam...

or maybe I was just really hungry....

All gone....

Terry Fox Run 2010

2010-11-08T21:16:00.002+08:00

I went for the Terry Fox Run 2010 under "Team Shell" last Sunday at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa... Waaaah... the throngs of ppl we saw before we even arrived at the lake was ridiculous!! haha!! Parking was all the way to Istana Budaya...

When we arrive at the actual start point we saw a sea of ppl...plus a large group of Red caps (Shell) and another large group of Green cap (Petronas) and many other O&G companies... you would think the Terry Fox Run was for O&G and not cancer...haha!!

and then we were off!! Check out the amount off ppl running... It was literally impossible to run... Had to walk...

There was one team which caught my eye... The Baristas from Starbucks came in their uniform with apron..it was really cool to look at.... :) They were frenly too! Posed for the photo...haha!!

This picture is a bit dark but you should be able to make out the ppl across the lake.. yeah.. I was standing on this side and the front of the crowd was already on the other side... shows how many ppl participated huh?

Another interesting character was this guy from ntv7 advertising their up and coming run...I thought that was kinda funny...

More ppl...

The human barricade diverting the crowd to the right direction...

and we were done... Yaay!! Finish line... :D

Had muffins and water sponsored by Hilton after the run... :D Had to miss the Milo coz the line way across the whole field... :(

Shell Ecorace (long overdued)

2010-11-02T17:21:00.001+08:00

In a last minute decision I decided to join a group of colleagues whom I was not acquainted with yet to participate in a race organised by Shell which they called Ecorace held on 2 Oct... (yes, this post is a month la... )

The race was a 4 part race which started off with a series of mini challenges like making roti canai, shifting fruits without our hands (watermelon was most difficult) etc...

So here we are in the beginning...

Then the second part was for us to scour the grounds of Batu Caves and find the actual matches to a bunch of photos we were given... Of course the photos led all the way up the stairs of Batu Caves... it wasnt as bad as I expected..haha! I have never been up but it was pretty easy...

Then we had to drive to the next location (while driving we had a mini treasure hunt) to go jungle trekking/hiking.... We went to Gua Damai which was located behind Batu Caves... surprisingly the trek was quite challenging due to the wet soil... After some time, the whole bottom of our shoes were filled with mud and could no longer grip the the ground and I slipped quite a number of times... The lucky thing was that we were kinda late in the treasure hunting so we arrived later than the main group of ppl...Blessing in disguise because we took the correct route while that group went the wrong way so we manage to finish the trekking in just over an hour....

You wouldnt believe what was the 4th challenge...after the really really tiring one-hour hike, we had to rock climb... and I mean real rock climb..not the studio walls but the actual surface of the cave.... The route I had to take was a 6A in terms of difficulty...Dont know how to explain but tough la... haha!!

Here is me getting ready to climb...

Hmm... where can I place my foot?

Wah...!! Target in sight! A bit more only... But how do I get there? no place to hold!!!

Finally I am just a few feet away....

Bit more bit more....

Yaaaayyy!!! I am there!! let me down...let me down!!! My arms were aching... Yes yes, professional rock climbers use their leg strength not arm... but I am not a professional.. so arms it is... :D (thank you Mr. Belayer, I knew you were kinda pulling me as well..hehe!)

And so that was the end of the race... by then our arms and legs were aching...I had so many bruises from the falls during the trekking... it was not a pretty sight...

But... guess what??!!! Hehehe!! My team came in 2nd place!!! Hurray for the underdogs.. All the other teams were formed way in advance but we managed to pull through... I must give credit to my teammates..they were fantastic!!! :D Real troopers!!!

We did good for amateurs....

Romantic birthday...

2010-10-29T16:38:00.003+08:00

Had another birthday celebration with a friend... This time the venue was suprisingly romantic.. haha! I didnt know that Tamarind Hills shifted from Ampang to KL and somehow they still manage to make it look so secluded when it is smack dab in the middle of the city...

The staircase leading to the restaurant... It is just right behind my alma mater; St. Mary...

The inside looks quite tranquil as well with a very inviting wall of tealights.. didnt sit too near it though..it is most probably too warm... :)

Dinner was Thai and Burmese food.. it was actually quite good.. the flavours were slightly less pungent as compared to the really authentic Thai food.. which was to my preference so I liked the food.. Portions were huge though.. we ordered 3 dishes and couldnt even finish it so dessert never came... :(

It was all in all a really nice birthday dinner... :D Thank you, you...

and now I am 3...

2010-10-25T11:49:00.003+08:00

Had another birthday cake over the weekend so now I am 3... hehehe!!

Ching Yee bought me a cake from Pastry Culture in Tropicana City mall.... Have to show u the box..hehe!! The cake was 5 layers of something something with the last layer being rice crispies... and it was decked with nuts... The nuts were really nice, so was the cake but the layer of rice crispies were no longer crispy... :( But all it all it was a good cake!! :)

Thank you Ching Yee, Jae and Ching Yee's mum!!! :D

Turning 29...

2010-10-22T19:06:00.012+08:00

*Update*

Erm... just got a call from my fren BP, and the complimentary wine was not exactly complimentary... It was compliments from him... the restaurant botched up the order along with a cake which was suppose to appear. Apparently they decided to just use the cake my sis bought... Hmm... no wonder the service was so good... hahaha!! Now I got to re-think my re-visit.

Anyway, thank you BP!!! It was a really nice gesture eventhough it kinda got lost in transition... :)

******

Yups... I turned 29 yesterday.... my last year in my twenties... I am officially aging...hahah!! Luckily there are still ppl who mistaken me for being younger than I really am... :)

This year my family decided to go to Favola in Le Meridien Hotel to celebrate my birthday... The place looks more like a Jester's court than an italian restaurant but oh well...
Upon taking our seats the waitress asked whether we would like to have wine as it was complimentary. We could not believe our ears and asked again... Complimentary? and she said yes! How odd, it rarely happens in Malaysia... but anyhow we decided to pass on it...

Now here begins the food... Of course we had the customary bread... bread was quite good...the dip was not as good as the spread in Prime but not too bad either.. :) Then came the starters... We ordered Garlic and Thyme Roasted Portobello served with Spinach and Lombardi Tellegio Cheese... When it came it looked like oysters to me... doesnt it? and the taste was nowhere near a mushroom...the pile of spinach and cheese on it overpowered the mushroom totally... I was not a happy camper... Come on... I like my mushrooms, mushroomy!! Luckily they redeemed themselves with the next appetizer. Fritto Mistro de Mare which was basically deepfried seafood with a spicy tomato dip... This was good..the sauce tasted really good and they had a combination of calamari, prawns, fish and scallops.. Next my sis wanted the Zuppa de Pesce ala Marinara which was a seafood with saffrom soup... Urrrgghhh... I did not like it..it was waaaay too clamy tasting for me but my sis liked it so oh well.. to each its own... :) Then came our mains...First up was Bianco Pizza which was sauteed beef strips with wild mushroom and this was pretty good I must say... my mum liked this dish the most... It had good flavours... We also ordered the Risotto ai Funghi Selvatici e Parmigianno which is risotto with wild mushroom and permesan cheese... This was quite good too.. texture of the risotto was spot on but they were a tad too heavy handed with the cheese in my opinion.... Last main of the nite was the Manzo e Patate Ravioli which was essentially braised beef and potato ravioli served with smoked black truffle butter sauce... I liked this dish... I thought the texture of the pasta was good and the filling was nice albeit the potato was a bit too crunchy for potatoes... and lastly we ordered the famous Illy Coffee Tiramisu... this was the ultimate disappointment... It was really not good... It just made me miss the tiramisu in Neroteca... :( they really should not say it is their speciality when it doesnt taste all too great... I need to tell you this story before I proceed... somewhere towards the end of the meal the waitress came up to us again and said... "would you like me to pack the wine to go? We can put it in a bag for you to take home" and we were like thinking .... Wow! they are really desperate to let us have the wine... It was virtually like forcing it down our throats... They must have never had anyone said no to a complimentary wine...hahahaha!! So we said yes... Just an additional bottle for us to bring for house warming parties then... :D

So back to my birthday celebration.. when the tiramisu came we were stuffed... we had actually decided not to cut the cake and just bring it home but lo behold while we were having our tiramisu the manager and a few of the staff came over with the cake and sang me a birthday song..that was really nice and unexpected... Top marks for service definitely!! :D Thoughout the nite they were pretty attentive but this was one step up from just be attentive.. They were proactive... :D For that itself, I might just come back and try the other things on the menu... Since the dinner had some hits and some misses..

So here is me and my cake... Red Velvet from Just Heavenly... Me is 1 year old this year according to the candle.. :D hee hee hee!! Red cake... haha!! didnt taste as heavenly as it should though... I actually had the same cake the nite before at Jarrod and Rawlins (a fren celebrated my birthday for me) and the cake there tasted much better... It was much redder as well... haha! So when u add both candles together..it makes me 2 years old... :D Well that was my birthday for 2010.... Nice and simple... Thank you too all of you for the calls, smses and facebook wishes... It is nice to be remembered... :D *big huggies to all*

Chloe Leong Shu Ying...

2010-09-29T13:55:00.001+08:00

Annoucing the arrival of Chloe Leong Shu Ying, my one and only niece... :) She was born 29 August 2010 and today marks her one month anniversary... :D

Aint she a doll..so cute...and so small...heheh!!!

Her many faces.... this one is sleepy...

Grumpy....

Wide awake...

Shall post more when I see her next... :)

Lights, Camera and Action

2010-09-27T11:53:00.007+08:00

I attended my first ever Shell annual dinner yesterday... The theme was "Lights, Camera and Action" and there was plenty to see and do... We were very well entertained throughout the night by our emcee and entertainer Donna Daniels and the entire event crew... It was fantastic...

But you cant forget that the major attraction was the movie stars on site...heheh!!

We had Tom Cruise from Topgun here... with me as G.I. Jane.....
This is Rozita my highschool mate whom I met again after joining Shell.. She did dress up. :(

Our whole team and a few extras....

We got Handy Mandy here.. she even has a tool box but we didnt get a shot of it...

Aaaah... here comes our Roman Gladiator....

and Wonder Woman...

Dun forget the Mad Hatter...we had 3 in the room...

Now this was the highlight... We had Joker and he really went all out!! The makeup was owesome!!! So authentic... Holy Cow!! and we had Jem (from the cartoon way back when).....

Another Mad Hatter with Chun Li...

Here we have Aphrodite and Helen of Troy....

Here we got the girl from Resident Evil... sorry, dun know her name...:D

Man in Black??!!

Aaaah... Elvis still lives... along with Cleopatra...

We even had a lost Scuba Diver... hahah!

The reaper came long to ensure everyone went back to the realms they came from...

You cant forget Anakin Skywalker and his lightsaber... cool right? it actually glows... It was a collector's memorabilia... coolies...

Ladies and gentlemen, on the left we have the gladiator and on the right G.I. Jane... once and for all we will find out who is more superior... muahahaha!!! One final pix just to show it's Shell... :)

Definitely a fun nite out!! :D

"Reunion" Dim Sum

2010-09-17T15:30:00.004+08:00

Yesterday was Malaysia Day (another public holiday!!!) and I was about to have brunch with Ching Yee since we just finished being Chee Muis for Vivien... Suggested we have dim sum at Reunion; Bangsar Village II. It was highly recommended by many and I soon learnt why... :)

We started off with some "Siu Loong Pao" and "Char Siew Pao" which as usual, I forgot to take picture off... hahah!! But the Siu Loong Pao was really well done... the skin was just right to hold the juice in but still thin enough to not be flourey... :) The char siew pao was really fluffy... nice!!! :D

So now with the pictures... There is the standard "Siu Mai" and "Har Kow" which was good for sui mais and har kows standards but they are afterall just standard items...

Then we had egg tarts which were really nice... Not too sweet and the crust was thin and flaky...

Next was the "Char Siew Sou" which was also really good.. what I really liked bout all the dim sum is the amount of filling..the skins were always thin making room for plenty of fillings...

Next up was "Wu Kok"... Jae likes it but me not so much..felt the yam skin was not well done and the filling was not so great as well. Oh well, to each its own....

We also ordered some fried carrot cake.... It was definitely tasty...liked it that it was a bit spicy.... :)

Another sweet offering.... "Ma Lai Kou"... direct translation would be Malay Cake but then it isnt malay at all.... haha!! This one was a bit of disappointment... The taste was there but the texture I felt was not fluffy enough... Definitely not as good as the restaurant in Bangsar Shopping Centre..

Oh and we had some barbeque meat... Yum yum!!! the "Char Siew" was melt-in-your-mouth good.. texture and taste... :)

We also had "Siu Yok" which I felt wasnt crispy enough on the skin... :( but once again Jae liked it...hahah!!

All it all it was a really really good... It does live up to its recommendations... This same restaurant actually has a great menu for normal chinese dining as well... Highly recommended except that this place is a tad pricey...

Happy Birthday Ai Li!!!!

2010-09-17T10:27:00.005+08:00

Celebrated my sister's birthday 15th Sept 2010!!!

I was a nice sister this year... Got her a birthday card which cost me RM30... Then I ordered a Durian Mousse cake to be sent to her office to surprise her... :) No pictures though coz it was eaten up by her colleagues... Haih...damn expensive cake.. :( But I got a slice and I could taste why it was so costly.. It was no mousse my fren... It was Durian... literally... durian just slathered between layers of vanilla cake... yum yum!! :D

So for dinner we initially wanted to try this place which says Korean Fine Dining which we came across at Pavillion... see see when we went in and opened the menu. It was the same (or maybe with less variety) as any other korean restaurant in town..and probably less authentic... So what is so fine dining bout that? Cheh! So we walked out back... hahah!!

Decided to try out Angus House - Japanese Charcoal Steak instead. It was definitely a good choice.

Initially the menu didnt give us much confidence and it was sparse... All you get to choose was which part of the cow u wanted and whether you wanted the full course or ala carte. So we went for the course and this was what we got....

For starters it was a fish with potato thingy... tasted not too bad...

Then came the soup, it was pumpkin soup that day.... not too shabby as well...

Then came the salad... forgot to take picture so I let u see the empty plate.. Obviously the japanese dressing was really good or else u would not see my salad plate so empty...haha!!

Then came the main course... jeng jeng jeng!! This is my sister's 250gms tenderloin in japanese sauce... It was pretty good...

But nothing compared to my 250gms sirloin which was cooked to perfection... still juicy but not bloody and it was really tender and tasty... Mmmmm.... nice!!! As u can see from the picture, I dugged in before I could take the picture...hehe!!

Look at that...doesnt it look yummy?
So after that cam dessert which I (oops) forgot to take a photo of... but it was just an okay cake... so nothing to shout about compared to the Durian Mousse... Each course was about Rm150 so it wasnt too bad.... but since I have to foot the whole bill... "Ouch!!!"

My sis had better appreciate the amount of money I spent for her birthday!! Dunno why I was so generous this year...haih...and I still need to fork out money for her Samsung Galaxy.... isk.... :(

Yummy Volcano...

2010-08-30T12:56:00.003+08:00

Okay, this posting is a bit on the late side but better late than never...

Wanted to share this super unique maki that I had at Yuzu, The Gardens the other day. It supposedly has crab and unagi in it an it is stacked in twos like towers and drenched with some special sauce... Mmmm... yummmeeeee!!! Now you see it...

Now you dont!! :D

Definitely worth trying... it was delish!!!

In a nut(Shell)...

2010-08-03T16:36:00.004+08:00

It's been exactly 8 days in Shell now...

I have went through 8 conference call trainings, uncountable on-line trainings and much stress over my access and smart card... Other than that, I am good... hahah!! Oh not forgetting an away trip to PD to get to know the rest of the team under the same function group... :D

A few interesting facts on Shell:

1. You will get fired if you dont wear your seatbelt while driving...
2. You will also get fired if you talk on the phone (regardless of a handsfree) while you are driving...
3. You will also get fired if you drive faster than 15km/hr within the compounds...
4. You will be investigated if you fall down the stairs.... (or have any other minor accidents)

Of course there is also the fun stuff available here...

1. An in house gym with scheduled classes
2. A games room with pool, table tennis, foosball and board games
3. A seriously active sports and recreational club
4. Many other clubs and activities

My favourite part bout Shell right now is the flexi hours... No more counting minutes just to prevent having to go to my boss with the lateness summary sheet!! Yaaay!!! *clap hands* hehe!!

So that's it for now... will see what else I can update as the days goes by...hehe!!

Funny little note....

2010-07-28T18:47:00.003+08:00

Elaine found this funny and told me to take a look....

This was the note stuck on our new Japanese boss's table when he went out house hunting... cute huh?

Puffing away...

2010-07-27T12:15:00.003+08:00

I decided to make curry puffs over the weekend... well actually I planned it the week before but since I only made the puff pastry there was nothing much to show... So this weekend I made the filling...

First I had to wake up at a god awful time of 7.15am on a Sunday morning just to do to the morning market... :( The things I do for my little projects...

First off!! Dicing... god... so much to dice... hand also pain... :(

Chicken....
Potatoes...

Onions and garlic and we are ready...

All fried up...

Pastry ready?

Time to get to work...

Now ready for the oven....

Bake bake bake!!! Tadaa!!!

Yum yum... but unfortunately it's not very fluffy... mummy said I was to hardworking at flattening the pastry dough that I flattened the fluff away... sniff sniff...

Well, we can always try again... :) It still tasted good...

Ai Chin the "Oracle"

2010-07-12T18:37:00.005+08:00

It was a very non-eventful weekend this time round... :( Next weekend might be interesting if I am hardworking enough; so try and keep me motivated...

So anyway... I didnt do much this weekend except challenge "Paul the Octopus" and "Mani the Parakeet" for the results of the world cup finals results...

I predicted Spain to win but with a tie at 90 mins... and lo behold... that was the exact results... the score was 0-0 until spain scored in the extra time... Me is good...*beams with pride* hahah!!

Before you say that I am bluffing, here is a picture of my Whatsapp which I was msg-ing my friend... Notice the time stamp at 7.32PM on July 10th...

It is my fate to be able to predict for others to bet but not myself... haih... So far my predictions have ran true except for the 2 games of which I betted with my own money (albeit only RM5) and my predictions went down the drain... So it is proven, I cannot use my predictions for my own gains no matter how small the winnings are... I will just lose... but if I predict for others, then I might win...

So does that make me more accurate than the Octopus and the Parakeet? I dont just predict the winner, I predict how they will win as well... muahahaha!! Or maybe it's a fluke...no ones knows for sure...

My little pasta adventure....

2010-07-05T09:04:00.007+08:00

Over the weekend I was feeling hardworking.... hhehe!! actually over the past week I was feeling hardworking so I started to plan for a weekend pasta making session... Yups... my very own pasta... so lets see how it goes...

First we start of with the basic flour well and pop 3 eggs in.... mix slowly until all the egg and flour combined... then you knead the dough until it is smooth.... Then you roll out the dough into a flat sheet and cut out rectangular pieces... I was attempting to make lasagna hence the rectangular size... :)
Here they are... all nicely cut but not in exact shapes...haha!!

Now we need to lay em up... no pictures of the sauce making coz that was my sister's job...haha!! she is the cook in the family.... :) So my hands were occupied with the dough while she was cooking... then I accidently forgot to take pictures of the lay-up process.... but it goes like this: Sauce, pasta, sauce, grated mozarella, pasta, sauce, grated mozarella etc... go on and finish up with the last pasta then sauce and a layer of parmesan cheese.... unfortunately my sis underestimated her portions so instead of the 6 layers which I intended to do, we only got 4 and the top layer didnt have sauce.. :( so it was pasta then cheese.... and the outcome is?

Looks pretty decent I suppose except for the fact that the sheet has turn crispy since the pasta and cheese had dried out and hardened... :( here's a closer view...

Now let's see em layers.... tadaa!!! :D

Looks not too bad.... appetising? :) Here's my slice... yum yum!! but not so many layers huh? Well as long as it taste good... Intially after boiling the pasta (my sis did it) she insisted my pasta was not good coz it was too chewy... I was so sad... :( But after it went into the oven and came out... It was the perfect consistency... yaay!! Just the right bite in them.... hehe!! Yippee!!!

Now what do I do with my additional 2 layers which did not make it into the pan?

We make it into fettucini of course... haha!! We shall have that for dinner... just eat em with some ikan bilis sambal... Mmmm..... Looks authentic rite?

At the same time while the lasagna was baking, I also had a go at making my very own cream of mushroom soup... just bought my handheld blender... those that looks like the ones on the AFC channel which they stick into the pot and blend... ya ya... :D So first off is the fry the mushrooms with butter and onion until brown then pour in the stock and bring to boil... then let it simmer for 20 mins then blend... after blending we add in the creme fraiche and stir well.... I skipped the tarragon eventhough I bought it coz while I was chopping it up it just smelt uuurggghh... so lets not... haha!!

Oops... missed blending one... hmm... how did that happen? Nvm, just pick it out and eat it up...hehe!!

The final outcome was surprisingly good... hehe!! though I might have been a bit too generous with the creme so it had a slight tang of sourness but all in all it was quite good for a first try... Elaine can vouch for it... hehe!! Can semi-rival the ones in the restaurant... muahaha!!

My bowl of soup....

But you wouldnt believe how much this whole meal cost... The soup itself was RM60 for the entire pot (serves 7) and the lasagna was another RM60 for the whole pan (serves 8)... This was one costly meals... such ingredients are so expensive in Malaysia... :(

Anyway... since it doesnt happen so often it is okay I suppose... :)

P/S: That nite my mum boiled the fettucini and said it was the perfect dough... very well made.. it was my not so smart sister who under boiled it so it became chewy...sheesh! should never trust her...haha!!

Royal Selangor - School of Hard Knocks!!

2010-06-30T10:15:00.007+08:00

Time for some non european postings... :) This one is very Malaysian...

I managed to persuade Elaine to go with me to the Royal Selangor - School of Hard Knocks last weekend.... So we headed off bright and early Sunday morning and went to the Royal Selangor visitor centre...

Outside was a display of the world largest pewter tankard made by them commemorating 100 years of the business...

We were brought around the museum to see the various usage and designs of pewter and it's history.... then after that we were brought to the factory to see how they actually craft the pewter...

Did you know that pewter was made of Tin, Antimony and Copper? hehe!!

This is Elaine holding up a freshly casted money tree... See! money does grow on trees... :)

Why there is no aichin in the pictures is because aichin is the better photographer...muahaha!! So this is Elaine trying very hard (look at the determination on her face) to knock the cylinder with one straight line of hammer markings....

Yes... the cylinder in the picture is fully completed... with beautifully hammered marking... but No, it was not done by Elaine... she pretend only... ;)

Next up...we went for a session in the School of Hard Knocks! for us to make our very own pewter bowl... first, u put on your aprons...

See, we are all set to go.... apron on and mallet in hand...

First we had to etch our names onto the back of the pewter plate... This is Elaine's... similar to Elaine, it's not very straight...tee hee hee!

Now the knock starts... we had to knock in 2 stages... one to form a shallow platter and then next to form it fully into a bowl....

Now that is mine... See... it says "Aichin's bowl"... heheh!! Nice and round after 20 mins of hard knocking...

This is what it looks like up front....

Once done, we are given a box to pack it in and a bag to take it home with us... Not forgetting a certificate to certify our craftmanship... haha!! all for the price of RM50. :) It was a fun day out.... hehe!! Wonder whether I will have anything to do this coming weekend.... :)

Day 11 to 15.... The end

2010-06-29T16:10:00.015+08:00

Okay, it's not that I am getting lazy... but the last week in London was a mix of shopping and sight seeing hence the compilation...

After my overnighter on the ferry, we checked ourselves in to the hotel and went to Hampton Court which is just outside of London town... This was where King Henry XIII resided... It was his tudor inspired mansion...

The coolest thing bout this place is everyone who works there is dressed in period clothes... so cute... it was all role playing from the guards to the maids.... :)

Just so happen that on the day we went they were re-enacting the wedding of Katherine Parr to King Henry... which makes it his 6th and last marriage... so every hour had a different part of the wedding preparation being acted out... it was quite entertaining.... :)

After a couple of hours we decided to have lunch in their kitchen... They were serving meatball stew... yum yum...

This is me pretending to make pie... heheh!!

The gardens outside the mansion... i wonder who is the poor gardener who has to trim the trees...

Then I went exploring the maze while my mum and sis had tea.... Not too difficult... I was successful in getting to the centre and out again... :D

After the whole day being spent in Hampton we went back to London and had dinner at the famous Chinese Restaurant which at this moment I cant remember the name... Ya ya, it is because I took so long to blog... I am sorry... :( Anyway...the roasted goose was the main attraction and it did not disappoint... It was sooooo yummy.... :)

The next day we bought tickets to the Big Bus Tour which was a hop on and off buss around london.. Just to maximise our visit since we wanted spare time to shop... :) So this is Trafalgar Square seen from the bus...

Big Ben....

Big Ben a little bit closer...

The London Eye.... which I went on later in the day....

St Paul Cathedral... nothing special from the outside but the inside was as grand as the Notre Dame... pity all the cathedrals did not allow us to snap any photos on the inside...

Now lunch time... This was the one thing I told everyone I must try when I am in London...all because I did an MBA assignment on this company... Pret A Manger.... hehe!! I just had to try them out... Not too bad.... The Wrap I had was delicious....

Next up... The Tower of London which was the place where many executions took place.... Even King Henry's 5th wife was executed here...

Inside the Tower were guards who are called Beefeaters... Yeah..like the liquor... they were the guides around the place... Really funny and entertaining... U should never walk around yourself if you can catch them giving the tour...

Right next to the Tower was the Tower Bridge...

Next stop... the London Eye...as you can see this was a very rushed day... we bought the London Pass so we had to squeeze in as many attractions as possible to make it worth it... haha!! One of the pods..

View from up above....

We ended the bus tour at Harrod which can be summed in 1 word... "Expensive"!!! So that was the end of my 2nd day in London... Next morning we headed out to the the Burberry outlet to shop... stuff was cheap but you wouldnt imagine the number of China ppl there buying...you would think it was free.... The rest of the day was also just shopping here and there.. the shops all close by 8 pm so there wasnt much time to shop....

Next morning I decided to go to Buckingham Palace while Ai Li went to the British Museum... saw the change of guards... It was quite boring but the band was really good.. so I enjoy the music more than the ceremony... :) I was squished in the same place for an hour... tired...

Some ppl just cant take photos properly huh? That is the problem when u go places urself and u need to ask strangers to help you snap a pic...u get pictures like this.... Urrgh...

That nite we had a musical to attend so we decided to have dinner at the pub nearby... u gotta try the English pub food rite? The funny story was I thought our show was at 7.30 so we sat down and ordered at 6.30 but when I recheck the tickets it was 7.00 sharp... holy cow... had to rush the waitress to pack our dinners and run over to the theater...so there we sat hungry and smelling the aroma of our food... :( Went we got back to the hotel and ate our dinner... Surprisingly it tasted good even though it was soggy... Imagine if it was just out of the kitchen... MMMmmmm.... :)

We went to the Apollo theater to watch Wicked.... I liked it... quite a interesting story line... We called it a nite after that... next day was full shopping and the following day we took the Eurostar back to Paris... Decided to go to an outlet mall outside of Paris...Was not too impressed by it but I was impressed by this ice-cream... haha!! They actually managed to shape it as a rose.. cool huh?

After the outlet shopping we had to make one last stop in Paris... we cant exactly go to Paris and not go there... Galeria Lafayette.... yeah... you go there just to see the Dome and architecture... The rest you cant afford... haha!!

So that was the end of my 15 days in Europe... everything went by so fast... Was rushing for most of the trip just to make the best out of it... I really wonder how those ppl tour 7 countries in 8 days? They just sit in the bus huh? haha!! If I have another chance to go Europe I would plan a more leisurely trip definitely.... All in all it was still a good trip... got to see, do and eat many things...

One final thing I found at the Paris airport which I could not resist taking pictures off... Obviously our government is spending some of the taxpayer's money properly... :D

Lazy Day 8 and flowery day 9...

2010-06-29T11:00:00.011+08:00

Day 2 in Amsterdam is a no plans day... yeah... we had to stay so long to catch Keukenhof's flower parade (which ended to be such a disappointment)....

So we decided to spend our day leisurely waking up late and walking over to the Heineken brewery which was just within walking distance of our hotel... We decided to go for the Heineken Experience Tour... :)

The ingredients to a good beer... Water, barley, hops and the all important yeast A!

Barley and hops...

Cooked barley... Doesnt have much taste...hmmm...

After the long tour...we get to have a taste of the freshly brewed beer... you cant get any fresher than this...

A little tip from the bartender...if you glass is really clean you can judge the drinker's drinking abilities by just looking at his glass.... Every mouthful that is taken will leave a ring of foam... The fewer rings the better the drinker... My sis is so the lousy drinker..haha!!

This is quite cool... looks like little tanning booths but they are actually pods which you can view all the past Heineken advertisements...

After the whole tour is completed we get another 2 glasses of beer... so this time I tried the Heineken super cold 0 degree...:) Could not stomach the 3rd glass at noon so I just left without...

The rest of the day was just spent walking about shopping malls.... And of course we had to have the infamous rijtaffel which is an indonesian set meal popular in Amsterdam... That is all for 2 person only...

Now the next day was Keukenhof day... we had to take the bus out of town and look at the line...

Finally after 2 hours we reached Keukenhof...there were throngs of ppl... oh my God!! Is half of Netherlands all here? But when you actually get there... your jaw drops..and the first thing that crosses your mind is... "are these flowers fake?" then you reach out to touch them and they are real.... Whoa....

Cute upside down flower... :)

Now after a day of flowers and plants... time to get my weed fix... hahah!! I just had to... how can I go to Amsterdam and not have a slice of the well talked about Space Cake? (I was told to try mushrooms as well but I think I shall draw the line at the cake...) Looks pretty normal to me...

The shop told me that since it was my first time...just eat half and after 30 mins I should feel something... So I ate half and waited... tick tock tick tock.. after 45 mins..nothing wan? So I decided to eat the other half.. hey!! dont waste.. It's Euro5 per slice... then tick tock tick tock... bout 40 mins later when I was sooooo sleepy and about to doze off the feeling hit me.. Everything just became less sharp and more difficult to focus... hmm... what good timing...i was too sleepy to get into the feel of it..so I just went to sleep..ZZZZzzz... hahah!! next morning I woke up with a bit of a daze..still not as focused as compared to normal... felt queasy but I was quite conscious... Perhaps I am not suited to get high... haha!!

The next day was another wake up late... have lunch and head out to the harbour to catch our ferry day... We took and overnighter ferry to London... :)

Day half and 7...

2010-06-08T14:44:00.009+08:00

Okay time for my next update... yes yes..it is extremely late... :( stop counting the days....

I arrived in Amsterdam from Brugge in the afternoon so there wasnt much time left to see or do much... So we just headed to the Red Light District... :) Unfortunately no photos allowed.... went window shopping...so were so so some were not so appealing and some were erm... why would anybody...hahah!

So after some window shopping we decided to pop in this place called Casa Rosso which was the supposedly more decent establishment to watch a Sex Show... :) It was damn cold outside so we gladly went in... Cost a bomb though since we paid Euro30 for the show.... It was pretty interesting with plenty of acrobatics going on...haha!! Ai Li insisted we get our money's worth so we watched til it repeated couples which was only 3 rounds... oh well... then we called it a nite...

Next day was set to be exciting...we were going to Zaanse Schans which was a little mini town with windmills and everything else unique to the Netherlands....
First up, clog making... hehe!! Here is me sitting in a giant blog which greeted us outside... inside they has a demonstration of the process which is now all using machinery so nothing great... cheh!!

Now this I found really intricate...apparently these were the type of clogs worn by brides on their wedding... the carving is really very fine...

Surrouding the place was 7 windmills which I cannot seem to get all in one shot so you shall be seeing random windmills here and there...

There was also a cheesemaking demonstration which also sold a huge variety of cheeses.... yum yum....Me likey goatcheese...:D heheh!!!

More windmills...

Some hot choco? Cute sign huh? :)

This is a cute wind thingy... when it catches the wind the little man will look like he is turning a wheel which turns the fan blades...

Cute car...there was a convoy of these cars passing by while we waiting for the bus to take us home... not too sure what models these are but they are cute....hehe!! one even looked like a bug...

So by the time we got back it was time for dinner before we went for a nite canal cruise... Did i tell you that the sun only sets at about 9pm? odd huh? So anyway, we decided to have some asian food after we found out that Hard Rock Cafe was full so we went over to this noodle shop called Wagamama.... Surprisingly the food was pretty good...expensive but good... :)

This is what I ordered.... stir fried soba with beef steak...

This was my plate after... it's obvious that it is yummy huh? hehe!!

Tori Karaage -Fried chicken... yummy too!!!

Next stop...the canal cruise.... when water is Euro 3.50 and the wine is Euro4, you order the wine...hahah!!

The guide was really fun and very knowledgable about the canals and all the structures surrounding it from history info to quirky bits on the habits of the ppl who stay on the canal...

Slowly but surely, sunset came by..... managed to get some nice shots I think... :)

It was all dark by the end of our cruise and we were beat... time to go to bed... :)

Day 5 and a half - Brugge

2010-05-18T19:33:00.006+08:00

After Amsterdam we went to the town called Brugge which is located on the western side of Belgium... It is touted to be the most tourist visited area and I can see why... The place was just quaint.... It's like an old town which never got around to modernisation... The roads were all cobblestones...the architecture was old... it was just cosy... :)

First stop was the supposedly most scenic or most photographed spot in Brugge... Dont seem to be that unique but if they say so who am I to argue rite?

Next up was the market place... which is the central court of which the whole town surrounds... even comes with horse carriage rides but I didnt manage that... :(

Found this cute little chocolate shop which was so tiny you had to bend down to get in the front door.. It looks like it was initially there alone and the buildings next to it was build after just around it.... Choco was good and comparatively cheap... :)

Next I decided to go for a beer making tour... Mum and sis decided not to go but it was said to be one of the experiences you shouldnt miss so I didnt... hehe!! This is the beer being brewed.... This is our tour guide explaining the old bottling process.... which was hazardous to say the least... :)

How we get different variations of beer... It's all in the roasting of the barley... The darker the roast the darker the beer....

They had a huge collection of beer cans from all around the world... cool...

Then we went up to the rooftop and it gave us a great view of the town itself... Better than climbing the bell tower which was closed during the time I went there... :)

At the end of the tour the guide explained about a certain famous mask which initially was worn by the tank cleaners because of the sulphur which was being used... can you spot the mask?

Aaah.... after the tour... what else? Let's sit down and enjoy the beer which was brewed... It was actually quite good... award winning as well.. :)

The rest of the nite was just having a quick dinner and lazing in the room.... The next morning we went to the market place for their morning market... It was so much fun... their market is so much cleaner than ours... All the wet produce were on trucks which have display cabinets like those in the supermarket... nice!!! Not forgetting the blooms on sale... beautiful!!! :D

Well after that we were off to Amsterdam... see ya there!!! :D

Brussels - Day 3 & 4

2010-05-10T14:14:00.009+08:00

No I am not getting lazier just that there is less to show and tell so I combined the 2 days...

I left Paris in the morning and boarded the Thalys the high speed train to Brussels... It was good thinking on my part not to fly everywhere I went since I would have been stranded in the Paris then due to the ask cloud..... Cute self check in machine... It verifies your tickets before you board the train... A lot of trust factor involved though...What is a person just boards?

Upon landing I needed a toilet break ASAP and found a nifty way of flushing... this should definitely be implemented in Malaysia to avoid everyone from stepping on the handle as long as it is below waist height... Inconsiderate ppl.... sheeh!!

Out from the Brussels Midi station and there was a morning market... It was such a nice market... everything looked so fresh!! yum yum!! Plus the best belgian waffle I had was here too but it smelt so good that we whallop it all down before we could take a picture... whoopsies...

Guess what, I bought 2kgs of strawberries for Euro4 only!! It was a steal...hehe!! Waaah...this is literally a crate-full of apples....

Now this took us so long find find... we were walking from one end of the market to the other... kept seeing ppl carrying fresh flowers but we couldnt find the stall... why? how come? then we found out...the market stretched to the other side of the station as well and the flowers were there... so pretty.... wish i could buy some back home.. :( but they would die within a day in Malaysian heat...

Finally after walking for so long.... the reason why we walked was because our apartment was not ready to be checked in yet...haha!! There one common thing in brussels though, they seem to think that a few kilometres walk is near...we went to the rental office to get our key and we were directed to the apartment... The lady says it's just a 15 mins walk from the place but since my mum's knee was not too well we insisted on calling a cab... wheen the cab came and we gave him the address again he say that is not far... so we said we were told... So he drove... and it was damn far... even by car it took 10 mins... what more by foot right? that happened with all the taxis we took... "But that is not far!!!" Jeez I am giving business and they are asking why am I not walking... haiz... Anyway... the apartment was the best lodging we had throughout our stay... Nice and big...spacious with full kitchen facilities although it was not easy working the electric stove..haha!! It came with 2 bedrooms, 1 toilet and 1 bath...

Then again mum was tired so we left her at the apartment and went to the Le Grande Place to look see look see... I can see why they call it so...it was really grand.... fuh!!!

Because mum was not around we thought it would be fun to rent some bicycle and ride around instead of walking and taking the subway... boy did we regret... most of the roads were actually cobble roads that look like this!! and we were riding like some drunken ppl... haha!! When you have not rode a bike for as long as we have, add the cobble stone to it... it's the recipe for disaster...haha!!
But we did manage to cycle and see the Little Minneskin Pis before we gave up on our bikes...haha!!! All the fame for just for a peeing statue...wonder why?

We decided to call it a day and went to grab some "Quick" which is their McD over there and had that for dinner.... One thing we noticed is that at places you least expect it there will be such paintings of cartoons all over town....

So the next day came and we woke up late since there was nothing to do.... hahha!! Headed over to the shopping street coz Whadaya know... Kipling was from Belgium and it was on 30% discount...haha!! So after our purchases we dropped by at Chez Leon which is supposedly famous for their mussel and we tried... We were told by all the websites and books that you cannot go to brussels or belgium without having some mussels and fries... Of course not forgetting the beer... They are the one country that doesnt serve Free Water... haha!! and the beer cost the same as water so what do you drink? BEER!!! We had beer every day and a different one every day... :) Alll I can say about the mussels was Yuck!! I dont know whether it's coz I dont like mussels to start off with or I choose the wrong shop... but it was not appetising at all...Eww....

Dont be fooled by the happy face...That was taken just before I took my first bite...

So what do we do after lunch...? We went to buy chocolate of course... We were recommended to go Pierre Marcolini.... "The best chocolate in belgium" says our taxi driver.. so we bought some..forgot to take pictures again.. whoopsies..haha!! Not forgetting the common Godiva and others.... Then we stopped by for tea at Wittamer which was also touted to be the best pastries shop in brussels... Okay so their cakes are pretty good... haha!!So this one is worth a try... :D

That night we decided to cook our own dinner since we had a kitchen...guess what we cooked? Maggi mee la...hahaha!! But it was Tesco Chicken Flavoured noodles which left us wanting for the real thing... Haiz.... :(

Paris - Day 2

2010-05-06T11:53:00.010+08:00

Started my second day bright and early... :) Took the train into town... left mummy in the hotel coz all the subway staircases took a toll on her... Passed a scenic bridge with a clear view of the Eiffel Tower...

This is an extremely weird sign I came about... and there were many of the same sign everywhere... what does it mean? ' Men are not allowed to hold little girls' hands??' It just didnt make much sense... maybe someone who knows can tell me... haha!!

Got ourselves to Saint Chappelle which is the church smack dab in the middle of Paris.... Famous for it's stain glass windows...wait til you see the pictures...

This was the lower hall.... A common factor for all the buildings I have visited : Gold!!! In abundance... Seriously...

Went upstairs and what I saw took my breath away.... This is called the Rose glass because of the design...each pane has a different picture depicting some moment in time way back when....

The handwork was so intricate... every section was handpainted and there were 6 of these on each side... each telling a time which is told in the bible from Adam and Eve....

The stairwell going up on in this case me going down.... spirally...

Then we walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral.... the one and only church which photos I could take but because flash was not allowed it does look a tad dark....

The organ which is still fully functional... Wow... how do you play such a thing?

Looking up you can see that the ceiling of the cathedral is actually bricks which were laid to shape a dome... now that is what I call skills....

After that Ai Li left me to climb the Tower all by myself... :( Coz it was 387 steps up and we have to pay to climb... talk about paying to be tortured...haha!! Worst thing was that everyone seemed so fit... because it was also a spiral staircase which can only fit one person so everyone was climbing in single file and even the old grandmas and grandpas didnt seem to need to stop and take a breather so poor aichin had to drag herself up non stop also although I was feeling a bit winded nearing the top... hahah!! But the view of the entire Paris was really really nice.... Not forgetting the famous gargoyles... This one looks bored...

This is what the gargoyles look at on a daily basis... Dont know why he is so bored... The view was fantastic.....

I found the gargoyles really interesting because I could not find 2 of the same one... they were all different doing different things... sticking their tongue out, staring, eating, perching etc.... and some had wings, some looked like panthers....

After Notre Dame we had to rush back to the hotel and collect my mum to be to the louvre... not because he was desperate to see it but coz we already got the tickets... haha!!

This is the below one of the pyramids... It reflects the pyramid at the top and there is a tiny one at the bottom as well...

We didnt have much time to go about but there were many paintings, statues and artifacts... but of course the main reason why you go is for this... The Mona Lisa.... After looking at it I thought... "What is so great? Painting nia ma...." haha!! I think I am not cultured enough..... Now this I found super fascinating... who would have thought to sculpt this? haha!!

We actually got in through the side entrance coz everyone told us the main one would have a long line....but you cant leave the Lourve without seeing it from the outside right?

So I decided to pick it up along with me... haha!!!

Then off we went to Champ Elysee and visited Louis Vuitton... So not worth it..You are treated so bad...no one would bother with you and you had to line up to get in...jeez!!!

So we walked out and went to see Arc De Triomphe which again I ask "So what is do great?" haha!! I am so not getting why we need to see such monuments... I mean I know it is symbolic but still....

So that was it for Day 2.... mum was so irked by the LV ppl we decided to go back to the hotel early.... Next morning we are off to another country... :)

Paris - Day 1

2010-05-04T15:34:00.010+08:00

Just came back from my ash dusted holiday to Europe.... My longest holiday to date... 16 dates trotting from Paris to Brussels then Brugge then Amsterdam then London and back to Paris....

I am considered damn lucky because I flew in a day before the Iceland Volcano decided to erupt and after that all planes were grounded for almost a week... :) *thank god!!*

So let me try going day by day.... *Warning! pictures might get less along the way and postings might get far and apart as I get lazier* hehe!!

So on my first day in Paris I took the RER out of paris and headed to Palace of Versailles to check out the Chateau of King Louis (a few of them, god knows why they like to name themselves with the same name and have prefixes) ..... First stop, Porte De Clichy my nearest station.... Oooh... fast train... hehe!!

It was a cold day... colder than expected.... brrrr.....

The chapel in all its restored glory....

The glorious but back aching to look at paintings on the ceiling... It was everywhere!!! and I mean everywhere....

The hall of mirrors..... One side of the walls were lined with mirrors and the other side were windows overseeing the garden.... one word comes to mind... opulent.... and gaudy... haha!!

My first statue of a naked man in Paris... haha!! Just had to....

This is another hall which are lined left right and centre with paintings depicting many a glorious moments in history from war to coronations etc....

This guy according to my sis is the best looking head we have seen so far in the chateau and there were plenty....

Out to the gardens next.... the grounds of Versailles is enormous.... Apparently it used to be the entire Paris and now this is all that is left...and it is still huge... This is the view of the chateau from the outside...

and this is the view overlooking the gardens and grounds.... at the end of it is a pond/pool....

Aiyo... my sweep panoramic pictures are turning out tiny!!! Why??? but this is a sweeping view of the gardens... it was beautiful....

Because it was too far to walk we took a tram down to Marie Antoinette's house and grounds.... which is supposed to be the most feminine part of Versailles... Oooh...before that....freshly baked potatos.... a moving oven...how quaint.... :D

More pictures of the grounds surrounding Marie Antoinette's house....

After spending a good 4 hours at Versailles we really needed to go... if not how to see everything in 3 days? So off to Montmartre to see the Basilica of Sacre Couer but not before taking the fornicular up the hill and viewing this view... :) I heard that the sunset was suppose to be stunning from up there and the nite view fantastic but when the sky only grew dark around 9pm it was a bit difficult to stay up there and freeze ourselves so we came down after a walk around....

The Basilica from the outside... pictures from the inside are not allowed but it was really grand... huge.... A church should always look like this... always....

Then at nite... mum was tired... her legs were not what they used to be after the surgery so we dropped her off at the hotel and we headed to the Eiffel Tower to get a lit up view.... It was quite breathtaking considering it is a huge chunk of metal.... and we also went up and kinda regretted... Very cold!!!!!! hahaha!!

So that was the end of Day 1.... tune in (or in MW's case dont tune in so often) for Day 2... :)

My First Bento Attempt!!

2010-04-01T09:08:00.006+08:00

Me was hardworking today.... :D

I woke up at 0630hrs to start on my bento. So here is my journey...

Prepared everything last nite... Fried rice, fried sausages and omelette cut out into various shapes... :) today is only assembly.

First step: Line all my bento containers up. Yup! I am ambitious... making 4 at one go... hehe!!

Second step: Disassemble the containers and line them up for filling. Fill up main compartment with fried rice.

Third step: Skewer the fried sausages so they look cute!! Bento is meant to look cute not practical. Hehe!!

Fourth step: Place in the cut omelette so that the shapes can be seen.

Fifth step: Assemble back all the bento sets...

Sixth step: Strap them up coz they are going for a ride!!! :D Just so they dont fall apart along the way...

Seventh step: Apa lagi? Eat la... hehe!!

Here is me unwrapping my bento... :)

It still has a long way to go before it looks like a professional bento but kudos to me for attempting right? I actually bought all my bento stuff last year but never got around to doing it.... so *pats on my back* me proud of meself... hehe!!

Dear Meng Wei,

2010-03-31T14:49:00.001+08:00

This is a blog entry...

:P

Tune in later for the next update... hehe!! ;)

Melting away in Siem Reap (4-6 March 2010)

2010-03-22T19:08:00.005+08:00

I just came back (okay, not just just but not too long ago...) from Siem Reap after attending our company dealer conference... It was a half day meeting and sightseeing for the rest of the 3 days trip... :)

First stop... floating village... we were brought to this area called Tonle Sap where the entire village was afloat... there were houses, churches, schools, workshops and even a basketball court... there were even pig farms... Quite quaint... when you dont like your neighbours, just float away to a different location!! haha!! On the downside, life in this village is really poor... everyone seems to be begging for money... from the kids to the women while the men are out for work... Apparently USD50 per months is the average salary of people in Cambodia.

Makeshift boat out of a very big wok/pot...

We then proceeded to Bakheng Hill to catch the sunset... the stairs were as steep as what was described...Quite a good exercise... haha!! was sweating all the way... had a little race with Andrew downhill but he gave up halfway... isk...

Me climbing... :)
Taking a breather...

Admiring the sunset....

View from another spot..

Next, it's Day 2 of our trip... by the way...did I tell you the temperature in Siem Reap? it was 39 Degrees Celcius!!!!! Crazy heat... I was about to fall sick from heatstroke... All you need to do to break into a sweat is step out of the hotel room... even walking the corridors of thee hotel makes you sweat... urrrgh!!! Yucks... Hate the feeling...

But then, of course we have to make ourselves more miserable by visiting where else? Of course Angkor Wat!!! In the sweltering heat with no shade whatsoever.... OMG!!! I was going to melt to nothing-ness... the view may be gorgeous... the stories may be interesting.... the architecture may be breathtaking but all you can think of is "OMG it's so hot!!!" So here are so pics taken while I was melting away....

Next we went to Bayon the place famous for the Tomb Raider scene with Angelina Jolie... the overgrown trees towering over the temples and breaking the walls down....

A group photo op...

and right before we left the place... we re-enacted mortal combat... muahaha!! The stage was too inviting... :D

Final nite and we had dinner at Hotel De La Paix (hmm... maybe got the spelling wrong)... if you ever have RM1000 to spend a nite then you should stay here... the hotel is gorgeous.... and the food was also good (but I only took one photo...gobbled the rest down too quickly...hehe!)

So that was my trip... I came back lighter than I went eventhough we had 5 meals a day... u can imagine how much sweating was involved... uuurrrgghhh!!! Just thinking of it makes me sweat... yucks!! Definitely not a holiday destination if you plan to relax....

It just gets dimmer!!!

2010-02-03T18:32:00.003+08:00

Today I was amazed... Elaine has just up the ante on her dimness... hahaa!!

She told me at 1810hrs today... "Bye, I wanna go home liao"... So I told her lets go together since I have something large in my car to transfer to hers.... plus Curien another colleague had something to transfer along... so all 3 of us when down to the basement to transfer stuff and leave...

We got all the way down to B2, unlock my car door to take the item before Elaine exclaimed "Eh!! I cant go home now..."

Guess why? Guess again... Nah... u would never have guessed it...

"I got no car to go home... I have to wait for my ride to come... I totally forgot I drove the truck to work today...!!! " and she grins sheepishly....

Both me and Curien rolled our eyes and because of the things in my car... all three of us came back up to the office and walked in , in a row... Happily looking like we just came to work with our bags and all... It was truly a '3 stooges' moment.... haha!!

Elaine Elaine... she always succeed to make my life more interesting... haha!!

How boring my life would be without her... :D

The Soju myth...

2010-01-29T10:16:00.002+08:00

If you are a fan of korean movies or have just seen one passingly I am sure you would have noticed a scene where they ate and drank Soju (usually followed by a drunk scene). They would pour a pec of soju into a small glass and down it as a shot... then they would crinkle their face and let out a sorta sigh... One would imagine that must be some potent stuff right?

So I got curious.... I decided that since I was having some Korean a few nites back, I might as well re-enact the infamous scene... haha!! I even convinced my fren to down the shot like in the movies... So Kan Pai!!!!
The outcome of it was unfortunately quite disappointing... It wasnt potent at all... I mean the achohol level was 19.5% so it wasnt really high... but there was no sharp piercing feeling when you down it at one shot!! None at all!!! Even a normal vodka, tequila or whisky was a better kick... this just went smoothly down... So now I know what those actors were doing in the movies.. "Acting lor".... Haha!! I got conned... but I would recommend this drink to anyone who wants to have a go...It's quite nice to drink... :)

Precious find...

2010-01-29T09:45:00.007+08:00

So... I meant to blog this much earlier on but never got myself to do it... I am such a procrastinator... haha!! Anyway... I wanted to share my precious little find tucked in the corner of Central Market... From the looks of it you wouldnt have thot anything great was there... boy was I wrong.... Herein lies one of the best Nyonya food I have ever had....

Inside the restaurant it was filled with antique furniture... Every table and chair was of different size and shapes... The decor was very peranakan...
And they had giant tables and chairs... my feet couldnt even touch the floor when I sat down.. of course it is partly due to my lack of height as well but lets not dwell there.... ;)

As for the food... yum yum!!! It was really so good... we had ju hu char as appetisers but we were so hungry we whallop it all before I could snap a pic.... Even the food below was snapped halfway eating... We had kangkung belacan, belacan omellete, devil's curry chicken and of course lobak!!!

One more item which I found was extraordinarily yummy was the nasi lemak rice... Basically rice cooked with santan and with blue flower for the Nyonya touch. It was so fluffy you knew immediately it was steamed rice and not those from a normal rice cooker.... It was really really good...

Oh I should not forget to mention the ice lemon tea... Yes you read right... Ice Lemon Tea...theirs was as authentic as it gets...really good stuff.... I was one happy camper...or eater.... haha!!

I am obviously not the only one to extoll the virtues of this place... check out the crowd... ironically not many locals know of this place... instead it is packed with foreigners who are either living in Malaysia or visiting.... Being that it is located in a tourist center, I suppose no local actually bothered to check out this place assuming it's just normal food with premium prices... Although it is a tad pricey but definitely worth it.... trust me...

Precious Old China was definitely a precious find.... :) Glad my mum's fren recommended the place.....

A kick start to 2010

2010-01-04T10:12:00.005+08:00

I celebrated my new year's eve getting to know a whole group of new frens thanks to "Uncle"'s invite to his new pad for a get-together.... There was good food, "Sex on the beach", great company and to top it all off a fantastic rooftop view of the KL skyline... At the stroke of midnite the skies were all filled fireworks near and far lighting up and smoking up all of KL as far as the eye can see... It was kinda cool to watch so many fireworks all at one shot... the benefits of living in a condo with a sky lounge and loft huh? The gathering was definitely one of my more enjoyable new year celebrations... perhaps it's a sign of maturity (hate to use old age) that I prefer a more laid back celebration.... :)

To kick start my new year, what better way than to go hiking... yeah rite... I could think of a million other ways - nah..actually just one... to sleep in!! Haha!! But anyway... woke up at 0630hrs and headed to Cheras for my hike up Bukit Apek... The whole time I was driving and hiking there was only one thing on my mind... WHY??!!! Haha!! Why did I agree to such torture the first day of a new year? It was during the early stretches of the hike that I had to acknowledge my lack of exercise throughout 2009... I was sooooo UNFIT!!! haha! I was huffing and puffing all the way.... luckily I didnt give up and managed to reach the peak... but there was no view... Isk.. what a let down.. took us 1hr 40mins to hike to the summit... But the worse was yet to come.. thanks to my smarty pants fren who thot that he would know the way and decided to take a different route down... It took us 2hrs and 20 mins.... yeah... it's a first for me...that the hike up is shorter than the hike down (except for KK when I busted my knee but that's a different story...). Anyhow, lesson learnt... only hike if there is proper guide who knows his way.... or else stick to the beaten road...

the starting point....

I spent the rest of the day napping... My sleep deprived body was complaining... haha!! :)

So what is my new year resolution? never really had any specific targets but I would like to try and lose some weight, get fit, better myself in all ways possible and to have "HOPE".... with hope things just dont seem as bad... :)

Wishing everyone a fantastic year ahead.... Make it the best you have ever had... Carpe Diem... :)

*pictures of food and ppl were flitched from Kevin... (ooopss..hope u dont mind...)

My Christmas dinner....

2009-12-29T10:43:00.006+08:00

This year my sis and I were hardworking... so we decided to prepare christmas dinner... well she decided to prepare dinner... haha!! So we had a nice family meal with stuffed baked chicken (in lieu of turkey)....
The chicky....
Its stuffings...
Then we had stuffed baked potatoes as well... basically stuffed with mash potato mixed with bacon and mushroom topped with some chives....

Next up...some baked prawns... as you can see...everything is baked coz although we said we are hardworking...we aint that hardworking... haha!!!My plate full of goodies..... that's cranberry sauce you see there...

and to wash it all down... we had a bottle of Choya.... not exactly Christmassey but oh so nice to drink... :) this particular one especially....
The only sad thing about my christmas this year was the lack of christmas present... Haiz.... sniff sniff.... my christmas pressie was the Burberry wallet I got for my birthday... that's it coz sis said it was too expensive to be just a birthday pressie.. As such, we had no tree this year... coz there wouldnt have been any pressie under it... :(

Tis the Season to be Jolly...

2009-12-23T16:43:00.003+08:00

Fa la la la la la la la la....

It's Christmas again!!! My MOST favouritest season of the year.... Although this year my time has been quite packed with work and studying and I didnt have much time to enjoy the festivities and go for my Christmas shopping.... I still love this season..

Managed to squeeze in a few things though.... :)

Baked some gingy men for all to eat....

Made some small Christmas cards for all to receive.....

Wrapped a few pressies.....

and made a pop-up card..... (for a closer look, check out my other blog)

Sadly that is all for now... lets see what I can squeeze in with 1 day more to go... :)

It's all over....

2009-12-23T16:36:00.002+08:00

Yeah!!! Once and for all... it is over and never coming back again... hahah!!

MBA is over and done with....

What better way to celebrate than a fancy setting....

A glass of bubbly.... (toast included...)

A nice dinner.....

Topped off with a yummilicious dessert of chocolate cake... *heaven*

That was how me and Elaine celebrated our new found freedom.... *bliss*

Elaine's Dim Moment....

2009-11-18T14:47:00.002+08:00

This happened just half an hour ago.... You just wouldnt believe what goes through this woman's mind sometimes...

It was after lunch and it had started to rain when we were on our way back to the office... So when we got into the office and our auditor told me that there was a body shop promotion across the road.. Body bath selling for RM10 a bottle.. what a steal... but then it was raining... So I asked the auditor whether she was headed there and she said yes.. Happily I asked her to buy some for me.. then Elaine being the nosy one asked what was going on.. I told her and she stared at me... with her eyes big big and a smile equally as big... and she started blinking... I asked her "u want?" She nods... then I say tell the auditor what u want la.. then she looks at me and blinks again... I looked at her back and said.. "But it's raining!!!" and she blinks again and waves her hands at me telling me to come... ""but it's raining!!" and she looks at me, waves again and says "Come come!!" I said no unbrella and off she goes in search of one... I was just thinking in my head... "Why me!!!!????" So I told the auditor, it's okay then no need to buy for me... I will go with Elaine...

So happily Elaine came hopping back with the umbrella and down we went... stepped out of the office block and it was pouring... and the promo stall was so far away... so umbrella is opened and we rushed out... After 5 steps in the rain and my legs were wet... and then what else could go wrong you say? The street was pooling which meant water level was rising and me wearing sandles had to get my entire feet wet!!!!! All for 2 bottles of Raspberry scented body bath which I would have gotten without getting any part of me wet....

By the time we got back... my sandles have turned from purple to maroon coz it's soaked with water and Elaine just looks at me and smile... Showing me all her teeth... Haiz... the things I do for her... and guess what she said? She said "I didnt know it was raining..." I told her, didnt you borrow the umbrella coz it was raining? She says... "Oh ya hor....?"

I rest my case... It was a very dim moment in time....

A good weekend...

2009-11-09T10:36:00.002+08:00

Been quite some time since I posted anything.... The past 2 weeks have been stressful... So stressful that I had my first nose bleed in the my entire lifetime...I had to cope with a huge sense of injustice that it just consumed me.... made my blood boil... I was angry and bitter but then I just realised... it is what it is... There is nothing I can do to change it but there is something I can do to make myself feel better... that is to not let it get to me... to try and see the brighter side of things and not focus so much on the things that upsets me...

I also came to realise I have many good friends around me who are there for me when I am down... thank you all for taking the time and listening to me lamenting at my poor pathetic life... :)

Last weekend was a break from my routine MBA classes.... Saturday I had my hair cut short as usual, had a nice dinner and movie outing.... It felt like a normal pre-MBA day... nice... :)
Sunday I became a busy body and followed along to a 4x4 Rally which my company participated in.... It was a boring but yet fun experience... got to shoot a few shots with the D2X... haha!! Has great company in the car who didnt mind me dozing off along the way... and it all ended with a meal of crabs... yum yum... my favourite... I dont know why but I get such a feeling of contentment when I am having crabs... but I do... in between the entire day I was having an interesting sms conversation with a fren... havent done that for a long time.. haha!

So all in all it was a good weekend... wish I had more of those...

Turning 28....

2009-10-23T09:17:00.005+08:00

I turned 28 two days ago.... :) Old? Nah.... A growing pimple right between my eyes reminded me of my youth... haha!! If you can still sprout pimples, it means you are still young!!!

My birthday celebrations started on Saturday when my sister decided to make sugar figurines using fondant... She was making me cupcakes for my bday... awww... she's sweet... after my many naggings that I wanted something special... hehe!! Results of the project? Tadaa....
Aren't they cute...? Adorable huh? Some were made by me and some my sis... I like the Dino/Tortoise... hehe!! He's cute....

So then Monday came about and I had a dinner date for Pasta Zanmai... Had my staple Unagi No Spicy Pasta... it was good... and my onsen tamago... yum... Company was good as well... All in all a good kick start for what's to come....

Then Tuesday came and pressies arrived..... there were awwws... and eh? haha!! the eh? I shall explain later.... After work I had a date to Cafe Cafe.... First time there and the ambience was good... Warmly lit with crystals hanging off the ceiling giving it a classic romantic feel... Dinner was good.. the Company was great.... poor you for getting wet in the rain and falling sick... sowee.... :)

Now the actual day has arrived.... :D and I am on leave!!! Yaay!!! Yearly tradition to not work in my birthday.... But unfortunately still had to come in for a meeting but it was just for an hour so it wasnt so bad... :) Then off for some self pampering... went for a facial spa with Biotherm... it was a 2 hour session of facial and massages... nice!!! but unfortunately hence the aggravated pimple between my eyes.... UUrrghhh!!

Dinner with my family at Nero Teca was good... as usual we over ordered and stuffed ourselves silly... hehe!! Was initially planning to go Seven Ate Nine but unfortunately they were fully booked... Can you imagine that? Fully book in a Wednesday? Ah well just my luck, will just have to wait another time to try the place out....

Now for the cupcake reveal... My cutest ever birthday cake all made by my dear sister Ai Li!!! *big hugs*

Aint it just simply adorable? :D Cute leh? hehe!!

Now for the pressies... this year was a kinda good year... not as many pressies but real nice ones... The ultimate pressie us defintely from my sisters... I got a Burberry wallet from them... something I was eyeing during the HK trip and they bought it for me... Isnt it great to have sisters? haha!!!

I got a lightblok from Renee.... It is gorgeous!! Look at the glow!! Nice hor?

Then I got a October Jewellery box from precious thots from Elaine... thanks budak!!! It came with a separate bangle coz based on Elaine's estimation it would fit but jeng jeng jeng!!! It didnt!! hehe!! The card was damn cute too!!

Now for the eh? pressie... well it wasnt so much the pressie but the card... my fren Kenn was nice enough to post a card and pressie from Bintulu but the eh? part was the card was in Malay... haha!! Interesting huh? and the pressie I have not assembled yet but I am assuming it's a cat running along a track... I suppose it's too keep me entertained at work when I am stressed?I got another pressie from Ai Li after much pestering... hehe!! Now I just need to find a rope.... I saw in the display window of the shop 4 friends forever bears hanging off a rope which looked so cute so I told Ai Li I wanted it... obviously the rope was a prop and not for sale.. The initial deal was for me to find the rope and she would buy me the bears but then I got one for my birthday first eventhough I have not found the rope... hehe!! Rope oh Rope where art thou?

Last but not least... my ang pao from my mummy... It's a standard birthday gift for me to 'fai kou cheong tai'... hehe!! Thank you mummy!!

Well this is almost the end of it... still got one more dinner to go... Went to a place called Schokolart in Solaris which I didnt know of... Food was not too bad except that the signature dish was kinda weird... Chocolate Chicken Satay is just weird... haha!! But once again the company was great... couldnt stop chatting until the poor waiters were restless coz we were the only ones left.... haha!!

So that ends my birthday...I got many wishes on Facebook... Calls from Ching Yee (*big hugs*) and Vivien (*big hugs*) and smses through the day from frens and colleagues... It's nice to know that I am remembered... :D

Love you all guys!!! Thank you for all the wonderful wishes.... :) I had a great birthday.... Muacksies!!

Consultants (roll eyes)

2009-10-19T09:36:00.002+08:00

There is a saying out there that goes...

"Those who cant do, teach and those who cant teach, consults"

I so concur with this saying.... I have encountered such an individual in my MBA class... Oh God... He just loves the sound of his own voice and goes on and on and on... He thinks he is great when he actually isnt... Just because he is a consultant doesnt mean he is better, just means he cant work in a normal environment.

He thinks himself as a very 'in' person.. updated and technologically savvy... Highlights the point that he is an engineer... Condemns the OHP which is in the class questioning why in this day and age does colleges still use OHP but then he himself cant get his laptop to sync with the projector and requires the help of a mere sale manager (non engineer) to do the job for him... and he condemns the OHP? *roll eyes*

He can just drone on and on about the same topic when it is clear no one is responding... Insist that we ask him questions on our research paper and when no one does, he continues to talk and sprinkle his talk with the question "So anyone wants to ask anything about their research?". I was so tempted to just say "Cant you see the answer is no, so can be get on with it?".

The comes to our presentations... When we first started our MBA, our presentations were the old school method... Bullet points with what we want to say and nothing visual.... But as we went along, we were told that presentations now need to be more dynamic, more visual, less wordy... We were told that if everything we want to say was on the slide, why present? Everyone could read. So we adapted to make our presentation more interesting and more visual. Elaborated more during our presentation with less being written on the slide...

However, the modern man he is questioned our methods saying management wants to see the words on the slide.. If we plan to elaborate an important point, we should bullet point it on the slides.. Dont forget the slide numbers coz people might want to refer to a specific slide at the end of the presentation. We all questioned why were we asked to take a step back in our methods of presentation? Has he been out of the real world for way too long? For every 20 mins presentation, he proceeds to take 40 mins to scrutinize every single slide about what we should have done and what we shouldnt have done. I truly worry about the choice made by the college to appoint him as a lecturer. Were his credentials really that outstanding? Hmmm.. I wonder...

Anyway, that was how I wasted 6 hours of my Sunday... listening to his scrutiny and wondering why me?!!!! hehe!!

Consultants? Bleh!! Give me a normal lecturer anytime...

One Malaysia Wedding

2009-09-29T17:19:00.004+08:00

I attended one of my highschool mate's wedding over the weekend... It was truly an extremely interesting one.... Firstly Eve is a Christian indian so she had her ceremony at the church which I unfortunately didnt get to attend.. So I attended the dinner at nite not knowing what to expect... Invitation says HGH Convention Centre so there I went...

I was first greeted by throngs of people all beautifully dressed in Sarees of all colours... Some were truly breathtaking... Lo behold right outside the hall was the registration table... how odd huh? Normal indian wedding you just go in... this was where things started to get really interesting... I signed myself in...got my assigned table.. No 56... went through the door and Oh My God!!! 95 tables in total...

Was the first to my table, sat down and picked the menu up... hmm... what for dinner? Mutton curry perhaps.... Imagine what I saw....

A full 9 course chinese dinner complete with sharkfin soup and ending with chinese pastries... whadayaknow... haha!! Chinese food at an indian wedding and that was when I noticed chopsticks being laid instead of fork and spoon... hmmm... :D

Then there was these little cups of something alchoholic... wasnt too sure what it was for but I soon found out... :) But before that finally the rest of my gang appeared and we went on a picture taking frenzy....
Soon the announcement came for the bride and groom to enter and before the door opened we had the shock of our lives... There was fireworks being lit within the hall and it was flying our way!!! OMG!!! it flew right above our heads and hit the wall.. yikes!! Then the music started playing... We had Black Eye Peas with 'I got a feeling' playing as the couple walk in... interesting huh? The best has yet to come... After a brief intro the emcees for the nite welcomed dinner into the hall and dinner came with this!!!! Look for yourself... Our very own fire show....hahaha!!

Somewhere between the 4th and 5th course of the meal we were told to welcome the bride on the stage for the cake cutting and champagne pouring... That was normal... what came after was not... We had a yam seng session.... haha!! Now that is what those little cups were for... It's the wine to toast... :D

To top it all off we had a Philipino band playing throughout the whole nite... This is definitely the most eclectic wedding I have ever attended... It truly is One Malaysia....

Oh I almost forgot... we had a photo montage of their childhood photos all the way to adulthood... It was the coolest I have ever seen... It was like an Ipod advertisement... Coolies... :D

Well, that's the story of the wedding... I do wish Evelyn and Lionel all the best in their marriage... May it be filled with love and laughter always....

My God-awful trip to Penang...

2009-09-23T17:57:00.004+08:00

It's Saturday 19th September 2009.... It's a day before Raya.... I had to wake up at 0630hrs to send my sis to the airport then head to elaine's house to pick her up for our drive up to Penang.... For what? to attend a wedding...

So I arrived at Elaine's house at 0840hrs and we headed off... traffic was quite decent... just many cars on the road but overall quite smooth... as we passed Tg Malim we decided to turn in for some breakfast... it was about 0930hrs.... We had the all famous curry pao thanks to the trusty navigation... :) We had toast Kahwin as well with ample butter... yum!!!
and it was downhill after this.... the freeway/highway came to a standstill... yes I mean a standstill... we were crawling between 20-30 km/hr for the longest of time... the highway had some weird split which I didnt know about so we were unable to turn into Ipoh.... uurrghh... and it was already 1330.... so no lunch for us.... why oh why!! Why did I agree to attend this wedding... can you imagine... it took us almost 4 hours to arrive in Ipoh from Tg Malim... this is insane... it is probably 100++ km only....

We finally arrived in Penang at 1630hrs... after almost 8 hours of drive which usually only takes 3.5hrs.... aarrrghhh!!!!! so we had lunch at 1700hrs.... Char Kuey Teow.... elaine enjoyed it but I thot it was kinda normal... oh well....

Took a nice picture the next day heading out of Penang towards Prai for the luncheon wedding... I am sometimes amazed at my gungho-ness when it comes to frens... I keep asking Elaine why are we doing this... and she answers... "you wanted to wan ma..." so nice of her hor.... Along the journey we planned our revenge... if Elaine ever gets married she is to get married in Terengganu during Raya... better still on Lang Tengah island and make sure that Ah Hean (whose wedding we were attending) travels all the way to attend... if you know your Malaysian map well you will know that even by car on a normal traffic day it takes 10 hours to reach terengganu from Penang... muahahaha!! Imagine Hari Raya..... *gives a sly snigger*

Never ever am I doing this again..... If I ever do... give me 2 slaps on the face....

Alter ego...

2009-09-18T18:25:00.002+08:00

Yesterday I made my mooncake's alter ego.... the snowskin... Looks quite successful huh? :D

Mooncake - The Journey

2009-09-08T09:52:00.009+08:00

I have always believed that there are a few chinese traditions which should be kept and passed on from generation to generation so that we never forget such tradition.... There is 3 in particular which I have always wanted to learn..

1. Bak Chang (chinese dumplings)

2. Mooncake

3. Lin Kou

Well I have done the first a number of times and this year I felt extra hardworking so I attempted the second one... So here is my journey...

I was highly ambitious so I tried both lotus paste filling and red bean paste filling... fuiyoh!! talk about an ambitious first time!! :D

First you start of with the beans... Red bean is pretty easy... You got the beans... cook them til soft... blend them... sieve them... cook them for an hour and a half...

Tadaa!!! all done.... still took about 5 hours as a whole though....

Next up... the lotus paste... now this one is kinda a toughie.... first you need to remove the pith from the 'lin chi' (lotus seeds) so that you dont get the bitterness of it... Then you boil it to soften the shell....

Then you soak it and piece by piece remove the shell... Fuh!! This was back breaking work.. took me 3 hours to remove all the skin....

Clean babies.... they then go into the pot.. cook til soft... blend then sieve... then cook for about an hour and a half again....

Waalah!!! the paste is at last ready.... I slept at 2am to finish this... haiz.... the things I do for tradition.....

Next morning it's rise and shine.... time to make the outer skin... after again having a mixture left over nite now I gotta mix the flour in til I get a dough consistency...

Shape the fillings into little balls...

I am ready to make wrap the filling in my mooncake skin.... The mould is nice and oiled... ready for some stamping... luckily I have the modern contraption and not the traditional wooden knock knock wan... that is only for elaine's fishies...

The raw mooncakes ready for the oven... looks authentic huh? Me so proud of meself... hehe!!!

Made a little piggy for fun.... cute huh?

Final step... into the oven it goes.... Oops... kinda over browned some bits... couldnt estimate the temperature of the oven..thank god nothing got burnt....

Check it out!!! looks good huh?

The inside view....

Well I hope it taste as good or even better than the ones bought... hehe!! For those who got a chance to try... please leave your comments... :D

Day 6: Bye Bye Hong Kong

2009-08-24T11:01:00.012+08:00

The final day of the trip has come... we booked the last flight out so had the whole morning and afternoon left... Started off with dim sum since everyone says you must go have 'chou cha' in hong kong... so we did... another obscure place that was difficult to find....

Dim Sum was pretty standard actually... except for that squid tentacles thingy which I also had in Sydney but cant find in Malaysia... since when does squid tentacles qualify as dim sum? weird... Some steam variety... nothing particularly special though...

This is the only thing worth mentioning.. the 'har kow' was really succulent... had juices flowing out of it... yum yum...
Doesnt that look good?
After dim sum we went for some last minute shopping... wanted to go to this adidas warehouse is some industrial building... after searching... found this dodgy building that fits the address.. got ourselves up and guess what? A sign says "No retail'.... Jeez... that info on the net is not trustworthy whatsover... must be a dated info... so instead went to the shopping mall nearly... Found a sports shop with quite good discounts.... :) Got my Taekwondo shoes!!! yaay!! coolies huh? It's PINK!!!!I also saw this really nice Burberry wallet which I nearly bought but didnt... that is for another story.. tell ya later... but final stop was this supermarket-like place which sold some toys as well... and guess what I saw? A sushi maker!!! not the bamboo mat... a real sushi maker which you stuff rice in.. turn the dial... stuff seaweed in and turn the dial again and wualah!!! sushi!!! :D Went I find time to do it I shall show it off ya!! hehe!!

So that was all the time we had... rushed back to the apartment.. did some last minute packing... and headed to the airport... ai li insisted I snapped the photo of the roadsign.... just coz it has Mickey Ear!!! "Spot the mickey"... hehe!! that's their signage for Disneyland... cute huh?

That's all for now folks... that ends my 6 days in hong kong.... of course there was one last adventure... Elaine lost her luggage at the airport.. poor girl... she lost all her shoppings coz she was too efficient a packer and managed to stuff all her purchases into her little bag... lesson of the day... bring a carry bag to carry your new shoppings!! :) Some idiot mistakenly took hers... So she was left without a bag and worrying whether the guy will return it or not... So the whole nite and the journey back Elaine was sad... and sadder when she thought of what was in the bag... then she kept updating me what she remembers to be in the bag... aww... poor girl...

Luckily half way back she received a call from them saying the guy returned the bag!! Yippee!! Elaine was all smiles again...

So to leave you with a last picture of Elaine smiling... and trying her best to pretend that the China Bag next to her wasnt hers.... haha!! Yeah... she bought that plastic bag with zipper which usually China imigrants used.... haha!! Hilarious!!!! :D