jackie leong | the life

My Birthday Celebrations for 2010

2010-08-12T22:14:00.013+08:00

As I have mentioned in my previous post, there is quite a lot of happening stuff going on this second half of the year. I will start off with my birthday celebrations this year. Because of my work commitments, I had to leave for a working trip to China from 13th till 29th July which means that my birthday celebrations had to be pushed forward a week earlier.

As I have already promised my fto club members that I would be attending the gathering on 11th July, I kept my promise by doing so. Before meeting the guys at Bumbu Bali @ Bandar Puteri Puchong at the designated time, I fetched June to a condominium around KL Sentral area to collect a specially ordered cake for her mum, but ended up that it was actually meant for me. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting it. According to June, it was made by KY.. the well-known food blogger of KYspeaks.com. Sneeky BB.

Mine

June's

Anyhow, I met the rest of the members at Bumbu Bali and had an enjoyable time catching up with them talking bout cars and recent happenings. But mostly the topic is about cars because there were several new comers to the club, so it is good to know their car's history and background and shared knowledge about the Mitsubishi FTO. As most were planning to excuse themselves, we had the cake out for the usual cake cutting ceremony where all of them sing me a birthday song, i make a wish and blow the candles off the cake (cept the candles flying off part :P). The cake was a bit hard to cut because it was frozen hard which the waiters did not listen to June's instruction to take out 20minutes before to chill before serving. It tastes good nevertheless :)

Happy 25th Birthday Jackie!

We settled the bill and made our way to our cars to arrange them for a quite group shot before going our separate ways.

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As evening approached, me and my family drove down to Elcerdo at Changkat Bukit Bintang for an oink oink dinner celebration :D I decided on the restaurant as my family have yet to try the scrumptious pork served here. I made reservations a few days in advance to avoid any disappointment. As soon as we arrived, we were ushered to our table. We took our time to go through the menu and I suggested the whole roasted suckling piglet to my dad as it is like the signature dish of the place. The rest were ordered based on the waitress's recommendations.

Here is what we ordered.. for appetizer, we had the Spanish Ham Platter and
Greek Salad. For our mains, we shared the Hickory Smoked Pork Soft Ribs, a whole roasted suckling piglet and Paella’s with King Tiger Prawns. Dessert was complimentary, why? Continue reading lah :P

After ordering, we each were given a bowl (or more like a cup) of soup and servings of bread to be dipped into the soup for munching. We chatted and waited for our food to arrive.

The first to arrive was our appetizer, the Spanish Ham Platter. It is an assortment of Jamón Serrano & Jamón Iberico with a Variety of Chorizo Sausages and Condiments. Most of it, tasted kinda salty. Eating it with the melon balls and sauerkraut seems to help balance it off :)

Next to arrive is the Hickory Smoked Pork Soft Ribs. This one is yummy, i just hold it with my bare fingers and slowly feast on the meat. Blogging about it now wets my throat with taste XP! This is the fastest dish to get cleaned off the plate.

You would notice that every now and then you'll hear sounds of plates crashing and breaking echo-ing throughout the restaurant. Keep calm because this is a norm at Elcerdo. It is a Greek tradition that breaking plates would bring good luck. Well, for this to take place at Elcerdo, you'll have to order the roasted sucking piglet which on the menu it's called "COCHINILLO AL ESTILO SEGOVIANO".

This was next to arrive on our table and the waitress which attends to our table, briefly gave us a walkthrough on how to chop the piglet with only a plate. The explanation is that the piglet is so crunchy that you can just cut it into half with just a plate instead of using a knife/chopper. Me and my dad get to chop the piglet into pieces and then wish for either love or money before dropping the plate into a wooden bucket which contains a stone. The plate would break, signifying good luck :) As per their claims, the skin of the piglet is indeed crunchy. But because its portion was too much for us to finish, we had to take the leftover home.

Oddly our Greek Salad, the appetizer came only after the piglet was served. Weird timing but somehow help to freshen our taste buds from so much pork intake :P It was cleaned off as well! hehe..

To be honest, I don't really know what is this because I just can't seem to recall it.

The last dish to arrive is the Paella's with King Tiger Prawn. My family seems to like it very much although it was just so-so for me maybe cuz I was too full to have any more. The seafood is fresh though, this I can testify :D

As for dessert, it was complimentary by Elcerdo. I guess it just so happened that they sms-ed me on this very day that I am entitled to complimentary dessert for my birthday celebrations. If you're wondering how they get to know my date of birth, well because a year ago I was there to celebrate June's friend's birthday and all of us kinda registered. So yeah, I informed them I would love the complimentary dessert and therefore we were presented with this:

Awesome isn't it? All complimentary, thanks to Elcerdo :) Fresh Strawberry in Mango Sauce with Chocolate Mousse and Wild Raspberry Sherbet. It tastes absolutely fantastic because I like that it is sour. The cute piggy is a take home gift ;)

Aahh.. what a fantastic dinner with great company. Thanks to my family, my girlfriend for the wonderful-wonderful dinner! muackx! Love you all to bits!!

Expect Tastier Updates In The 2nd Quarter of 2010!

2010-07-08T23:22:00.003+08:00

Whoa I actually did not realize that my previous post was dated more than a month ago. I am really occupied with my job that I hardly find enough time to rest, moreover when it comes to posting updates with regards to the happenings to my life. For sure my life ain't exactly dull... not exactly very happening at the same time, just a rather balanced way of life :)

Just be patient and bear with me on the lack of updates because otherwise, you my friends would definitely be missing out on the juicy stuff I have in store for the 2nd Quarter of Year 2010!

Pleasant surprise...

2010-05-20T10:01:00.006+08:00

Look at what arrived on a delivery van today, in a brown box..

Any ideas yet? It was ordered for my younger sister, so she did the honour of unboxing it while I waited anxiously.. well, until..

Yeap! It is a brand new Apple Macbook Pro! The build quality of it is just indescribable. It not only looks well made but it also feels awfully solid. Weighs quite a bit too, must be the all aluminium unibody that contributes to the factor.

This is the entry model Macbook Pro which is equipped with a 2.4GHz Core2Duo Processor, 4GB of memory, 250GB of storage space, and other standard equipment for Macbook Pros. This particular one, however is pre-installed with iWork as it would be useful for preparing documents, presentations and what not. Unfortunately this isn't mine, so I don't have the opportunity to explore the world of Macintosh =(

Setting up of the Macbook Pro was quite a breeze, although trying to figure out some of the controls and actions that we are all so familiar with on a Windows environment proved to be quite a challenge. No worries as I am sure she'll figure it out in a matter of time with exploration and tinkling with Snow Leopard. A month ago, I bought her a Magic Mouse to be paired with this Macbook Pro. A perfect match I must say, the minimalistic look it has.

Hopefully she appreciates the awesome Macbook Pro and takes good care of it ;)

CNY Visit to Full House @ NZX

2010-03-22T00:29:00.009+08:00

Full House Restaurant has been in business for quite sometime now, starting with its first establishment at Niu Ze Xui, Ara Damansara to the expansion of their rather successful business to a branch at Sunway Pyramid as well as occupying a bungalow lot at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. I have been to their branch at Sunway Pyramid but never to the one at NZX because every time I want to go there, I get lost and eventually give up.

So this year's CNY, a gathering with June's friend has brought us to NZX because her friends knew the way. Never step foot into NZX before, I have only heard that there isn't much there but being there myself, it is very clear that NZX is quite a dead place par a few shops. Reality bites eh?

Walking into the area you will see Full House Restaurant in all its glory. It is one of the many theme based restaurants that are cropping up everywhere. The entire restaurant is decorated with many things white that is relevant to its theme. That is besides the decorative items and apparels that they have for sale. Anyway we headed straight to the upper level for our table. After we ordered our food, something came up that Yan Fay had to leave so we continued on there chit chatting, enjoying our food and finally camwhoring around the premises. The food and drinks are okay and the prices are reasonable. Probably that is what keeps them surviving till this very day even in such a dead place :D

We left after that to drop by Hui Ting's house to wait for Yan Fay to rejoin us, after which we went to his home for more riches into our pockets :P

Chic Pop @ TTDI Plaza

2010-03-08T22:07:00.004+08:00

As dated as this may be, it was my first time attending Chic Pop's Street Market. I missed the ones held at Zouk Club. This time around it was held at TTDI Plaza which is located not too far a distance from One Utama. This time around, I made sure I set aside some time for the last weekend of January to attend it with June as I have heard good things about it.

Besides that, I also made very sure not to drive my car there because the bloody slope into the basement parking is not only steep, but the retarded developers made a speed hump right after the darn slope. That caused me my front bumper's skirting. So if you, or if your other half is driving and have a really low riding car, consider parking elsewhere and walk to the venue.

The very first thing I noticed when I step into the street market is the absolute horrid heat of the place. Despite being covered, there just isn't enough ventilation around the place to get rid of the trapped heat. The organizers could have rented those misting machines to bring the temperatures down.. I mean, they would have surveyed the venue beforehand and be well prepared for this right? After all, these kinda street market are bound to bring in a lot of interest.

There are some good giveaways for this event such as the free manicure, free massage, and free fortune telling by tarot or zodiac. The free drinks wise, Tiger beer is awesome for us guys but I suppose they could have considered non-alcoholic drinks such as juices or soft drinks for them ladies that do not want to have beer.

As June wanted to get her free manicure, she went to queue up because there was just one or two people, until some came queuing and sort of cut her line and got a number from the lady manning the booth. The lady literally turned a blind eye that June was there first. I mean, the lady did not even inform her regarding the queue by number when she was at their booth waiting, and there was absolutely no f*cking sign showing the need to get a number. The worst thing was because the girl that was doing manicure had done hers, the girl that cut queue was next in line because the next number was not around. So there is really unfairness to a certain extent here. Hopefully the organizers would at least make sure these booths have a proper way of managing crowd FAIRLY, else there really is no point in giving any when poor management causes your event attendees to get upset.
As the heat was already unpleasant, coupled by that upsetting bullshit we both left the place.

Before we left only did I come to a conclusion that of all the booths, the Lecka-Lecka booth has got to be the best throughout the event, chilling us down with cold sweetness. At Chic Pop, I met my former university mates - Eu Gene and Sern Liang. Not to forget Prakash who is a friend of June's

Working Trip to Hainan, China

2010-02-12T10:17:00.009+08:00

This working trip came very much to my surprise as on the day itself I had a conversation with June about the possibility that I had to travel overseas for work as this is part of my job responsibilities, although I have yet to have the opportunity. So happen that as I heading to June's place to have dinner with her, I received a phone call from my superior whether I would be able to travel to Hainan, China from 3rd February to 10th February to support our system there. It really caught me by surprise and I decided to confirm the trip shortly after informing June and my family.

I submitted the necessary documents to my company for the ticketing department to submit an application to the China Embassy to obtain for me, an entry Visa into China. FYI, It normally takes 4 working days for the Visa to be processed. My flight was subsequently booked after I got my entry Visa. Came 3rd February, I took a cab at 4AM in the morning to LCC Terminal Airport. After the usual check-in procedure, I had breakfast at Starbucks Coffee as Old Town White Coffee was filled with people. After my colleague arrived, together we went in to the Departing Gate to wait for our flight. Our flight departed at approximately 6.55AM and I basically slept throughout the duration of the flight which landed at 10.05AM. We then took a cab to our hotel to check-in and drop-off our luggage before walking to our client's office which is about 15minutes away.

This was our daily routine, working from 8.30AM till 8.00PM most of the time to complete our tasks. Usually we don't have to work on weekends, according to my colleague but this time around there seems to be some problems so we end up working on Saturday and the morning of Sunday. The only consolation was our lunch hour is from 12noon till 1PM and there is a napping time between 1PM till 2PM :P Cool :D

As it was my first time stepping into China and being at Hainan for one whole week, I was able to witness the behavioral patterns of a typical local from China. Despite efforts by China to improve certain aspects of their habits, it is quite a norm to witness men or women, the young or the elderly to be spitting on the streets. Nose digging, mouth digging, and et cetera, you name it they're bound to have done it. There was even once this middle-aged man break wind as we were walking by. WTF really.

That aside, I find meat to be quite an essential part of their meals. Every single meal that I have had there was cooked with either beef, pork or chicken. This charcoal steamboat that we were invited to join our client, they were just screaming for more meat to be served. Food here is quite different and very reasonably priced too, if not cheap. Let's not talk about liquor as the beer here are just, cheap. Cheaper than Malaysia I must say and boy oh boy, the locals here can really drink.

Anyway there is nothing much to do because the nearest tourist destination, Sanya as I was told, is approximately 4 hours drive away by car. Therefore, my days here was spent mostly at shopping complexes, night markets and at a street that was quite popular for shopping here. However, I did not manage to shop much because there really isn't anything worthwhile to purchase here unless you just want to get cheap imitation goods. Except for some candies, coffee powder and small items.

On the very last day at Hainan, I spent the night packing up and making sure nothing is left behind. The following morning we got up early to have Dim Sum for breakfast nearby before hiring a cab to the airport. As we were running slightly behind schedule, I was quite nervous because if the check-in counter is closed, we have to go through a lot of hassle to get on the following flight. Fortunately, we managed to check-in on time to catch our flight with extra to take a look at the one and only duty-free shop.

Arriving back in Malaysia and being greeted by the oh so familiar hot & humid weather is quite welcoming because I am finally free from the culture shock I experienced there and nothing beats being back home with my loved ones. Especially the language barrier I had with the people there. It was a good working experience :)

2009 + 1 equals 2010

2010-01-18T22:23:00.003+08:00

Every brand new year there is always the ancient talk about accomplishments that you have or have not achieved in the past year and what resolutions you have planned on achieving for this new year, this may have took me quite sometime to post due to my workload and social commitments but nevertheless here it is:-

In 2009, my resolutions for the year were to
1. Self-improvement - Be able to continue improving myself and be an asset to my company.
Results: Gained more knowledge and experience in my work as well as providing guidance to my fellow colleagues. So I guess I more or less achieved what I set out to achieve.

2. Financial Management - Be able to live within the constrains of my current income.
Results: I guess this is just so-so because when I managed to have some savings, it would be spent on my de-stressing needs for trip and not to mention sudden problems cropping out when i least expect of it (like my car)

3. Travel - Be able to visit more places this year regardless whether it is within Malaysia or out of country.
Results: Awesome. I visited Bali in the middle of the year and head to Singapore to celebrate Christmas with Adeline, a good friend of mine since my high school years! Best trip to Singapore to date.

4. Blog - More frequent bloggings
Results: So far so good, after all I did post a lot more than I did back in 2008.. worthy of applause?

Source: My 2009 Resolution

Curious to know what I have planned for the Year 2010?
Well..
1. Be financially capable in the sense that well, just like what it says.
2. Brush up on my photography techniques and work on my creative side.
3. Stop slaving for my car.
4. Travel for relaxation, away from the hustle and bustle of work.
5. Maintain my social network.

That's all for now I suppose, what's yours? Thought bout it? Come share it with me ;)

Thanks for reading and hope you have a great year ahead!

Christmas Decorations

2009-12-30T00:51:00.005+08:00

Christmas is a merry occasion for many people and that is the same for me as well. Knowing that various shopping complexes would have put up decorations for Christmas, I set out to several places to capture the decorations to share them here with you to play a part in spreading the festive joy. As for my Christmas celebrations, I will post them up here soon too, so please stay tune for that along with other functions that have taken place ;)

1 Utama

The Gardens - Carolling

The Gardens - Action City's Domokun!

Midvalley

The Curve

The Curve

Genting Highlands

Genting Highlands

Genting Highlands

Belated Happy Christmas and Happy New Year in advance to everyone!

June's Birthday. What's the Plan? - The Day

2009-12-14T22:02:00.008+08:00

As June loves to sing, I brought her to our favourite karaoke outlet, Red Box Plus @ Pavillion for non-stop karaoke in the morning till mid-noon! Just the two of us, as usual. This is our favourite karaoke spot was mainly for the following reasons:-

1. 4 Hours (11AM - 3PM)
2. Lunch Buffet
3. Up to date songs
4. Unlimited refills for drinks
5. Still well maintained

After karaoke, we took a walk around Pavillion to camwhore with the christmas decorations and window shopping at some of the newer outlets. When we were done, we head straight to June's relative's newly opened boutique at 3rd Mile Square Old Klang Road. I can't recall exactly the name of the boutique but will update this post when I find out. June cannot resist and bought herself a new dress and a belt. =.="

We went back to my place to get changed for the night's outing, as I have already pre-planned to have some of her closest friends gather up to give her a surprise dinner. As many weren't able to attend early, I tried to delay by telling June that I am not hungry yet. As Jonathan was the first to arrive, he hold on to the table for all of us who were late.. Many thanks for the help Jonathan, appreciate your patience to wait for all of us.. I kinda "paiseh" to make Jonathan hold the table so I eventually led June to Alexis Gardens which she was surprised to see Jonathan. Then came Joyce and her boyfriend, Joshua. Followed by Ah Eng, Fan Jian and Cedric. It was quite unfortunate that Shook Ghee was occupied with her work that she could not attend while Jermenn was occupied with his charity work. Nevertheless, he made a call to wish her Happy Birthday.

As everyone was ready, we ordered our food and drinks and spent the rest of the night chattering away catching up on good times, gossips, trips, fashion and cameras.. I gotta say, a big bunch of camwhores, everyone just gets into the mood of snapping away with their cameras..

There was a party crasher which was a little boy from the next table. He was kinda cute though, from his replies to the question posed by some of our friends. I called for the birthday cake which I had made reservations for earlier during the day to be served. It is their in-house specialty cake, the Pavlova. We had tried their Tiramisu before because it the Pavlova was not sold out previously, so we tried the Pavlova this time around. The cute little kid sang a birthday song in Korean and couldn't wait to blow out the candles even before June made her wish! What a naughty little boy. Luckily he did not managed to blow them out, and we controlled him from blowing them out. June however blowed the candles with the little kid, since he looks forward to doing just that =.="

We shared have the cake sliced up and served to our friends, keeping two slices for our family to try it out. As it gets late, Cedric, Fan Jian and Ah Eng excused themselves because they were heading out for fishing. Jonathan on the other hand slept late and had a long day photoshooting at the National Zoo so called it a night and left for home to rest. As for June, Jackie (Me), Joshua and Joyce, coincidentally all our English names starts with "J" head to a nearby mamak off Old Klang Road for some drinks and more conversation. We finally called it a night when it was almost 1AM.

So June, I hope you had a blast for your birthday this year. Thanks to everyone for making this possible, I appreciate your support. Cheers!

June's Birthday. What's the plan? - The Eve

2009-12-01T21:18:00.011+08:00

There would be a little complication when it comes to describing how the whole occasion took place because while June plans out her ideal celebration, I too had been making some magic work behind the scene without her knowing what is taking place.

June had in advance agreed with her close girlfriends Shook Ghee and Joyce for dinner on the eve of her birthday. Unfortunately Joyce was unable to make it as she had to attend a gathering with her friend that returned from US. As we all gotta have our meals so without much consideration, I told June to go ahead with the plan, albeit with few more friends joining in :) The dinner venue was decided at Ole Ole Bali @ Solaris Mont Kiara because June's office is around the area and that the other suggested venue was pretty damn far.

Anyhow, curious who turned up? A good count of eight person:-
1. June
2. Jackie
3. Shook Ghee
4. Joseph
5. Ah Eng
6. Cedric
7. Evon
8. Evon's Friend

As June was occupied in a meeting, I was the first to arrive at Solaris as I was working at my client-site at Plaza Damansara. After meeting up with June, we took a stroll around the area while waiting for more to arrive. We eventually went to the restaurant after Shook Ghee arrived as both them girls were starving already. Once everyone has arrived, we ordered our food and started chatting and joking around.

After dinner, Evon and her friend left for another appointment. The rest of us head to Boston for drinks and continue our conversation and gossips until Shook Ghee had to leave for her fengtao session. Clubbing that fun? Haven't clubbed for real for a long long time so I don't know what it's like anymore :P We called it a night when it was half hour past midnight. We definitely appreciate the company of so many friends.

Trip to Bali - Day 4

2009-11-09T00:04:00.003+08:00

It is always a dreadful feeling when a wonderful trip eventually comes to an end. It was no different for our trip to Bali. As both of us did not have a proper spa treatment at Bali as of yet, I planned to go for one before our flight back home. We went to Galuh Bali Spa which was recommended by our Indonesian tour guide. It is located about 10minutes away by car.

Anyhow, when I arrived at the spa, I know that we're in for a good treat because the entrance decor and the whole setting of the place is very welcoming and soothing. We were utterly surprised that the staff there were able to communicate in many languages. We had a good 2 hours of spa treatment and the our bodies just feel so relieved of the aches, so much that June sprained her foot on the pathway.

After the spa treatment, one of the staff drove us to the airport and within hours we were on our flight home to Malaysia. I gotta say that to this very day, I still long to return there for more relaxation and enjoyment ;)

Trip to Bali - Day 3

2009-09-30T22:44:00.007+08:00

You must have been wondering what happened to the rest of the trip eh? Don't worry because it is just be getting pretty occupied that's all. Day 3 of our Trip to Bali itinerary is all about the Sun, the sea, the shopping, the beach, and a relaxing free and easy day.

Our day started off with the usual breakfast by the pool, with slight variation of the same food. After breakfast, we walked out to Kuta Beach because it is only 100metres away from our hotel. There were some surfing activities going on but we did not really stick around much because the sun was really blaring and the waves aren't exactly exciting so we left after I took a couple of shots.

Kuta Beach

Surfing Event

Umbrella-ella-ella

That's me, and my bb!

We walked for about 10minutes on the main street of Kuta, passing by the few higher class hotels including the famous Hard Rock Hotel before reaching the shops around the Matahari Kuta Square. There are all kinds of shops here selling casual and sporting goods to formal attire but be aware of imitation products. Some of the labels found here are not exactly cheap, but there are definitely labels that are reasonably priced so scout around before making a purchase :) We spent about 5-6 hours shopping around the area and walked along the streets stopping by shops that had items that caught our interests. It is almost like an endless route of shopping around this area but however, we noticed the prices of the things here are higher compared to those art market that our tour on Day 2 brought us. So if you plan to get souvenirs for your friends, do get them during your day tour instead of from Kuta. It also seems to me that one would have more bargaining power at other places other than Kuta.

We went to a popular Balinese restaurant that was recommended by our tour guide which is called Warung Made. There must be a reason why this warung is pretty much fully occupied most of the time so we had to give it a try. We tried their Nasi Goreng, Mee Goreng and Satay Babi :D The portion was quite large, didn't know Balinese people eat that much.

Nasi Goreng

Mee Goreng

Satay Babi

With all the walking around Kuta, our feets were aching like mad. We just step into one of the shops offering foot massages to give our feet some tender loving care. Well, it was my first so it was helluva pain for my feet instead. Didn't help that the masseuse was a man which means more pain. I only enjoyed the feet cleaning process :P The part where he starts using his fingers to squeeze and rub my poor toes was when I start getting really stressed out. I swear that the following day my feet were aching badly. That aside, during our conversation it seems that the masseuse know where we can have Babi Guling. But because we do not know where it was, he offered to go buy it for us. How kind of him :)

As the day was getting late, we quickly returned to Kuta Beach to witness the Sunset. The beach was packed with loads of people wanting to see the sunset. It was quite a sight for the very fact that I do not catch sunsets much and that the sunset at Bali was indeed spectacular.

We returned to our hotel after that and went for a short swim in the pool. It was a rather short swim, probably about 15-20minutes because the pool was damn cold and being skinny just did not help. After a nice hot shower, we went out to the alleys behind our hotel in search for a place to have dinner. That was where we went into Chasers cafe and had Calamari for starters, Pizza as main course, and bintang beer for me and June had Bali's signature Avocado juice! (Quite desperate to try the avocado juice so luckily this cafe had it, so we left Bali with no regrets!) We returned to our hotel and call it a night, just in time before the sky poured ;)

These pictures were taken from June's blog because I did not bring my camera out for dinner.

Trip to Bali - Day 2

2009-09-01T21:41:00.018+08:00

Day 2 is the only day we will spend on taking a tour around Bali. Well, not exactly a full on tour around Bali because I think that may take a couple of days rather than just one day. Please be warned that this would be a lengthy write up of my fruitful tour :D Anyhow, as we took up the 13 hours Kintamani tour, our pick-up time was pretty early in the morning so as you could have already guessed, we woke up earlier to catch some breakfast by the poolside before heading out. The breakfast served at the hotel was pretty standard stuff such as scrambled eggs, sunny side up, flavoured pancakes, garlic bread, porridge, juices and et cetera. Quite a variety, just depending how light or heavy you want your breakfast meal to be :D

Care for a swim?

Breakfast by the pool side ;)

My light breakfast

Anyhow, very much to our surprise, our tour guide were very punctual as she arrived on time to pick us up at 8.30am. Luckily we were equally punctual :P Our ride for the day is in an air-conditioned Suzuki APV, you must be wondering why I pointed out air-conditioned since in this modern day most passenger vehicles would be equipped with air-conditioner. Unfortunately our taxi ride to the hotel from the Denpasar International Airport was not air-conditioned, so it was rather hot and stuffy at the back :( I supposed the ride to be new since some of the seats are still plastic wrapped and not forgetting that it had a very very clean interior. In case you are wondering, in the vehicle is our driver, our tour guide, me and June.

We left our hotel for Batubulan to watch the Barong Dance. It is a classic example of a battle between the good spirit and evil spirit. I quote Indo.com:

"The story goes that Rangda, the mother of Erlangga, the King of Bali in the tenth century, was condemned by Erlangga's father because she practiced black magic. After she became a widow, she summoned all the evil spirits in the jungle, the leaks and the demons, to come after Erlangga.

A fight occurred, but she and her black magic troops were too strong that Erlangga had to ask for the help of Barong. Barong came with Erlangga's soldiers, and fight ensued. Rangda casted a spell that made Erlangga soldiers all wanted to kill themselves, pointing their poisoned keris into their own stomachs and chests. Barong casted a spell that turned their body resistant to the sharp keris. At the end, Barong won, and Rangda ran away."

The Good Spirit, Barong!

The boar attacking the ministers

The performance was actually quite good, partially hilarious from the cheeky acts of the performers. My dad has numerously emphasized to me that the Barong and Kecak Dance (I'll write about this at the later part of this post) should not be missed as both are the most popular performances in Bali. This Barong Dance performance lasted approximately 45minutes if i recall correctly. There was a little disappointment from a large tour group that made quite a lot of noise throughout the performance, quite an annoyance in my opinion. Most unfortunate that this group of annoyance was from our beloved country.

Prince Sadewa, tied to a tree for the sacrificial ceremony but given mercy by God Shiva that turned him immortal

The Evil Spirit, Rangda makes an appearance!

The hilarious scene

The hilarious scene

The Erlangga's soldiers stabbing themselves with the keris

The traditional instruments

After the Barong Dance, we were taken to a silver and gold smith shop to check out how the silver and gold jewellery were hand made. I was quite astounded at the handiwork involved in jewellery making as thin and tiny pieces of silver were made into creative patterns of jewellery pieces. Definitely did not stop June from making a purchase there :) Being the first customer for the day also helped our negotiations for a good price!

The interior of the gold and silver smith shop we visited

Next stop was to a traditional art gallery nestled in the traditional Balinese residences in Ubud. Here we get to witness the creations of art from different styles of painting, namely the traditional painting using calligraphic ink and also there is the rather modern ones by young artists. It would have been better if there was an artist doing their thang right there and then. As this place in actual fact is the residence of a family, we get to see the building arrangements as in their rooms, kitchen, workplace, and et cetera. Our tour guide told us that it is a norm for each Balinese family's residence to each have their own "temple" within their very own compounds for worshipping purposes. I ain't talking bout those mini-altar we have back here in Malaysia, but proper ones in their very own Balinese style.

Work of several months using calligraphic ink

One of the many artworks found

One for the album!

Place of Worshipping

On the way towards the top of the Kintamani mountain, we made a stop to sample the world's most famous coffee, the Kopi Luwak! Actually, that decision was made after thinking for a moment that since we're already there so might as well :D Why? Well, considering the very fact that Kopi Luwak is actually made from the faeces of the Asian Palm Civet (One of the pictures has the whole description). The sampling of their balinese coffee, ginger tea, cocoa and (can't remember the other type) was free but it'll cost you a cuppa starbucks to sample the kopi luwak. Cheap considering the fact this coffee is sold for a lot more elsewhere (US$160/pound).

Cocoa

Coffee beans

Vanilla

Description and the coffee itself

Woooooo! Processed and non-processed

The various drinks

Kopi Luwak

In my opinion, the kopi luwak tastes quite thick perhaps due to the amount of powder when blended but i find the taste bitter to the throat initially and then a light after taste of caramel. Not too sure if those ample amounts of powder leftover in the mouth was because of too much powder when the coffee was blended or that is how the coffee is supposed to be. After tasting the different kinds of coffee and tea, we went to the shop to make our purchase of cocoa and vanilla sticks to be brought back home to be shared with our family. We also get to taste some fruit there such as passion fruit and salak among others available there. Salak fruit is also commonly known as the Snake Fruit due to its reddish-brown scaly skin. This fruit can only be found in Bali Island, talk about exclusivity. My tour guide was kind enough to pluck off some Salak fruit and also getting me more passion fruit as she saw me enjoying the fruit.

We continued on our journey towards Mount Kintamani for lunch with a spectacular view of Volcanic Mount Batur and Lake Batur. It was a buffet lunch, a mixture of traditional Balinese and Western dishes. I wasn't used to the taste of Balinese meals so I only had a light and sufficient meal but it was definitely not as shabby as the ones mentioned by my parents when they were here last year. Thanks to the awesome weather, the skies were clear and scenery was just so beautiful that pictures do no justice to what we saw in person.

My light meal :D

Me having my light meal

Volcanic Mt. Batur

Lake Batur

One for the album!

After taking pictures of the scenery, we hopped on our ride and head towards Tirta Empul at Tampaksiring to check out the clear pools which were believed to have magic curative powers. According to folklore, the clear pools was made by lndra when he pierced the earth to create a spring of amerta, the elixir of immortality with which he revived his forces who were poisoned by Mayadanawa. (Source) The water was really cooling as I dipped my hand to the pool to have a feel of it. As this is a sacred or holy place, females had to put on a sarong while males that are in shorts had to put on a sarong as well as a mark of respect to the place. Since I was in shorts, for the very first time I was made to put on a sarong :P

The clear pool of magic curative powers

The pool where water from below can be seen coming out of the 3 "piercings"

My BB June and Me in Sarongs :D

We left again for the road, stopping by the paddy terrace at Tegalalang for a few shots before continuing out journey towards the Ubud Art Market for an hour of shopping since we had a little extra time in our hands.

Paddy Terrace of Tegalalang

We then left to return to Batubulan for the Kecak Dance performance. The performance is usually held in the evening so you definitely have to make arrangements for your evening to be free especially if you only want to catch the Kecak Dance and not the Barong Dance. For the uninformed, this I quote from Wikipedia:

"Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance."

The interesting part of the performance was when two virgins danced with their eyes closed in parallel that I couldn't pinpoint mistakes. The finale was the most anticipated part was when a man performs a Sanghyang Jaran dance. Riding a wooden horse, the man charges through a pile of burning coconut shells. I was quite astounded by the act because the man repeatedly kick, sit and jump on the burning coconut shells. At one time, he kicked a piece of the coconut shell towards us, falling just few steps away from where we were seated =.=! The downside to this venue is that because the sky is getting dark and it is an open air kind of place, there isn't really any proper ceiling to bounce my flash and without any speed lens I was left with a lot of crappy shots.

Sky getting dark

Man chanting "cak"

The two "virgins"

Prepping the man into a trance

Didn't your momma tell you not to play with fire?

Don't care la, my leg has no feel weh..

After the Kecak Dance Performance, we went to Jimbaran for Seafood Dinner fronting the Beach :D The food is nothing spectacular but the company of my lovely bb along with the soothing relaxing sound of beach waves and sudden fireworks in the sky from afar makes the whole experience just oh so wonderful. Try not to have additional seafood because I don't think it is worthwhile as I have gathered from my family and friends as well as witnessing the table in front of us leaving with the large plate of fried calamari basically untouched. But the grilled sweet corn is just to die for sia, it tastes so damn good damn it i'm drooling from thinking bout it right now.

Me no bluff leh, really got fireworks de..

I pretty ma?

See my bb smile sooooo sweet! :P

Young boy grilling it for us :D

That concludes Trip to Bali - Day 2 as I am sure you don't want to go on listening to me blabbering about resting in the Suzuki APV for almost an hour ride back to our hotel and then cleaning up and fall fast asleep on our comfy bed :) Day 3 is next!

Trip to Bali - Day 1

2009-08-23T23:04:00.005+08:00

After so many months of working, I finally took leave to go on a trip with my bb June to Bali. This trip was meant for me to de-stress from work and also part of our annual trip to getaway from the busy life in KL. I planned for this trip quite early this year as I wanted to go for a trip or take a break once I obtain my confirmation. The initial plan was to head over to Singapore, but I had been there like every year for the past 2 years so it was getting a bit boring besides the fact that there isn't much interesting stuff across the causeway. Since my parents had been to Bali before and there were nothing but praises for the place, I decided to head there this time. It was also good timing that AirAsia was having promotions for their tickets so I managed to get us flight tickets for a pretty good deal inclusive of pre-selected seats and on-board meal ;)

As we were two months away from the actual flight departure, we started searching for accommodation at Bali only to realize that the duration of our trip fell within the High Season period for Bali so most accommodations had surcharges. It didn't really help that we weren't exactly sure where to stay because we wanted to stay somewhere reasonably quiet but nearby the beach. After weeks of research and surveying online, I decided to stay with Wina Holiday Villa Kuta Bali Hotel, a 4-Star rated hotel. It is located approx. 100metres away from the Kuta Beach as well as within walking distance to shopping destinations around Kuta.

Anyhow, our trip was from 9-12th July. When the day finally come, I was really happy and excited. Why?
1. finally a break from work
2. first trip overseas with my bb on a plane :D
3. first time to Bali!

The first disappointment on Day 1 was that our flight was delayed by a whopping 1hour and 45minutes. They sure know how to time their delays damn it, just another 15minutes and we get compensated for the delay. So instead of departing KL at 11.45am, we end up departing at 1.30pm. We went to LCCT by one of those shuttle buses at KL Sentral. First hand experience of their recklessness on the road and also at the end of the journey, you have to retrieve your own luggage at the baggage compartment. After checking-in, we went into the respective terminal to look around as well as to wait for our flight.

Protective Masks - Preventative Measure from A(H1N1)

Boarding our flight

Big-Ass engine, there is another one on the other side :P

Boarded ;)

Bye Bye Malaysia!

Before we knew it, we were on the plane and on our way towards Bali, Indonesia for hopefully a wonderful, relaxing and enjoyable trip :) The flight took almost 3 hours and upon arrival and the queue at the immigration, customs and the road journey to our hotel (10minutes away, but due to congestion on the road alongside the Kuta Beach, it was about a half an hour journey), we checked into our rooms around 5pm. We quickly freshen up, changed our clothes and head out for an evening stroll around the shops at the alleys behind the hotel and searched for a proper place for dinner.

Skies 1!

Skies 2!

Skies 3!

Volcano!

AirAsia Nasi Lemak, Sedap!

As we went to Bali without any proper travel itinerary, we had taken a bunch of brochures from the Denpasar Airport arrival hall and from there we look at the humongous choices of local places to visit and the various tour packages available. Upon retiring back to our rooms after dinner and some shopping, we finally settled for a 13 hour guided tour to Kintamani, which I promptly called the tour agency and arranged for our Day 2 at Bali. Efficient leh.. :D

The Hotel Room

Appetizer!

June's Main Course!

My Main Course!

June's Graduation @ Nikko Hotel

2009-08-03T21:19:00.006+08:00

June's Graduation is just one day after the MAA 15th Anniversary Annual Dinner. Early in the morning itself I got up to give directions to the Make Up Artist that was hired by June to come over to my place. She put on a pretty good make up and also styled June's hair. Overall June was pretty satisfied with her work :)

As we were running a bit late, I sprinted to Nikko Hotel using the KL-Putrajaya highway but unfortunately got lost around KL because of some stupid directions that I got previously. I did manage to find the place, but was late for almost 45minutes. It did not help that there was a bloody long queue to the registration counter to collect the tickets, graduation robe and ceremony agenda. Either way, after putting on her graduation robe, she wasted no time in searching for her friends and grabbing them for pictures :) As all students are informed to enter the Grand Ballroom as the Graduation Ceremony would begin, I went to Old Town White Coffee opposite Nikko Hotel for my lunch as I did not want to enter the hall. I met June's parents at the Lobby and passed them their tickets.

You must've noticed those big yellow sunflower bouquet that I got her for her graduation ;) Anyhow, as I was having lunch, coincidentally Ash came into the same restaurant so I invited him to join me for lunch as we chat like shutterbugs. Ash is Radiance's boyfriend. Radiance is June's classmate. After lunch, we went back to Nikko Hotel and that was when June's friends arrived. They are none other than Yan Fay, Hui Ting, Hee Siang and his gf. We waited outside the ballroom until the ceremony finished and the graduates to walk out from the hall. After the graduates were done with their group photography, all hell break lose as they go around to take pictures with their family, lecturers, classmates, college mates and friends. So did we XD

After much camwhoring around Nikko Hotel, June returned the robe to the counter. To be honest, it was quite ridiculous to be required to return the robes within 1 hour after the graduation ceremony as the graduates then would not be able to go to photo studios outside to have their studio photoshoots. Although there were booth set up to snap these studio shoots there, the prices were outrageous. We left for Pavillion KL to have drinks at Starbucks Coffee to catch up on good times while waiting for time to pass so that we can head to this corner shack by the road around Timesquare area for dinner that was recommended by Yan Fay. It was tasty nonetheless. We called it a day after dinner and return to our homes :) Congrats BB Wa Wa, wish you all the best and succeed in your future undertakings and great career path awaiting you ;)

MAA 15th Anniversary Annual Dinner

2009-07-22T20:40:00.007+08:00

On the 4th of July 2009, I attended the Malaysia Aikido Association's 15th Anniversary Annual Dinner because my dad is the Honorary General Secretary of the Association. It was held at the Pearl International Hotel Grand Ballroom.

I went with June, my sister and mum as my dad had to be there early with the VIPs. We obtained lucky draw tickets and CDs upon registering at the registration counter. We went to our tables while waiting for my extended family and some of my dad's friends to arrive.

After the usual late entrance by the VIPs and speech by the MAA's Technical Advisor, Mr. Seiichi Sugano Shihan (8th Dan), Guest of Honor and MAA's President Mr. Low Thian Seng (4th Dan), dinner was served :D

The dishes served during the dinner is not exactly fantastic but the fresh prawns dipped in mayonnaise is probably the best dish for the night! We were entertained with live band performance and several round of lucky draw. I must say the performing band is really good, kicking out various genres from the oldies to modern ballads to hokkien songs.

Towards the end of the dinner, the VIPs were invited to join the MAA Executive Committee members in cutting the cake as well as pouring champagne to mark MAA's success in achieving its milestone. After that, the VIPs were ushered by fine ladies to the dance floor to do the cha-cha. That pretty much draws the dinner to an end as the crowd gather their friends for photographs and as the music gets louder and louder as those let their hair loose and dance to the beats of the live band.

We left shortly after informing my dad as it was getting kinda loud and we're getting bored :P

what happened to updates?

2009-07-15T19:17:00.003+08:00

Well peeps, many apologies for the lack of updates lately but be rest assured that I have a tonne to share over the course of past few weeks since the beginning of the month of July.

So be patient and you shall see some interesting reading material here, and pictures of course! :D

Till then, I hope you all have been doing well yourselves ;)

Cheers.
Jackie

Dain Ti Hill @ Pavillion KL

2009-06-16T21:18:00.004+08:00

Two Saturdays back, it was not just any Saturday but it was our King's Birthday and thus it was a public holiday throughout Malaysia. I had the intention of taking June to a nice dinner at night but only to be reminded that it was my cousin's 21st Birthday celebrations so my plans was sort-of ruined. Nevermind that, as it was a public holiday I was already expecting citizens of Malaysia to come all out to flood the already crowded shopping complexes on a weekend.

So without much thought, I just drove direct to Pavillion KL as whatever it is found here are more often than not, costlier. That is besides the fact that it is so huge that you would hardly find it congested in the shopping complex. Anyhow, since dinner plans was ruined we took a stroll around the restaurants in Pavillion in search for a good lunch.

As we pass by this restaurant called Dain Ti Hill, June told me that her friend had been hollering about this restaurant and that her friend always had her meals at the restaurant. So I assumed that it must be good la since her friend frequents it that much.. boy oh boy, was I wrong =(

There isn't really much variety and the quality of food is rather appalling that it is really like fast food meals ('cept that this is chinese and not burgers, chickens or hotdogs). I was outright surprised that food was served within 10minutes of placing our orders, heck it arrived even before our drinks was served. The food is nothing to shout about because I think even the next door Wong Kok Char Chan Teng would fair better (in terms of variety and taste). No doubt the interior design of the restaurant wins hands down but come on, with this kind of food, that is definitely my first and my last visit.

Dain Ti Hill
Lot 6.01.05,
6th Floor Pavillion KL,
168, Jln Bukit Bintang,
Kuala Lumpur.

Making Dreams A Reality? Meet Malaysian Dreamgirl!

2009-06-01T22:51:00.012+08:00

Do you know what it takes to be Malaysia's Dream Girl? Apparently, neither do I but because of my girlfriend which actively watch MDG since their first season, every now and then I am told of the show's progression. So what in world exactly is MDG.. Well, I quote from Malaysian Dreamgirl's official website:

Malaysian Dreamgirl – the first reality series based on a model search competition to be fully broadcast over the internet.

The competition begins with walk-in auditions held at major cities around Malaysia. Among the hundreds of aspiring Malaysian models that audition, 12 will be selected by the judges for a shot at the big stage. These 12 finalists will then live together for up to 10 weeks, learn the basics of modelling and compete to prove who is the best.

Viewers can follow their journey by watching 2 half-hour episodes every week from this very site, and vote for their favourite model by SMS. Models will be eliminated from the competition based entirely on the SMS voting results. The last girl standing will be the next Malaysian Dreamgirl.

In short, it is a model search competition that is fully broadcasted online in which the shortlisted contestants are eliminated one by one, entirely through SMS votes. The winner would obviously be the last one remaining in the competition.

The finale show that was held at The Curve consists of the three final contestants, Pinky, Dawn and Juanita. June was there not only to watch the finale and its results but also in support of Pinky. That was after Ming was eliminated in one of the rounds. I think Ming has good potential but was unfortunately eliminated which I think most likely due to her height. Both June and I coincidentally met Ming while we were shopping at TopMan/TopShop @ 1 Utama several days before the MDG Finale.

Anyhow, I was unaware of the MDG Finale was held on a Friday until June told me that we are to head to The Curve. Luckily I brought my camera with me that particular day, otherwise I would have lost a good opportunity at trying out shooting at events. We met up with Kevin Boey as he reach the venue earlier than us. He had media pass into the event. He told us to go in as bloggers but I know in advance that those bloggers that registered have special passes which neither of us have it. I inquired at the counter and manage to go in with June as photographers. Roy arrived slightly late and went to the first floor to takes pictures because he has a long range zoom lens which is ultra useful when it comes to events.

However, there is quite a disappointing fact with the show is that the stage was not well planned out. The runway was quite narrow just sufficient for the girls to walk in two directions at the same time, so during the final stages where the runner ups and winner is declared, you would be looking at either the host's bareback or the back of the girls (It's not like we have fetish for another person's back). They should have extended a special area from the stage (something like those tvb special event shows) so that the hosts can emcee without figuring out where to stand so as not to block those girls.The sitting area for invited guests were also quite badly arranged in my opinion. There were no barricades to prevent others from intruding their space so I can tell how annoyed those guests were when photographers, bloggers and what not were slamming their bags or maybe rubbing at their backs and also sitting at their allotted seats. To add salt to the wound, the show did not start as per schedule.

Anyhow, the show began with FlyFM DJs Phat Fabes and Ben entering centre stage to try to bring up the mood of the audiences, after which a group came out to play instruments. The MDG Finale's Host are none other than Elaine Daly and Will Quah. After their introductory speech and whatnot, the real show start with all 11 contestants taking turns to walk on the runway with various dress designs and also products of sponsors that has contributed to the success of the show. One of the contestants pulled out of MDG due to some back problems and therefore also did not participate in the final showcase.

I was really disappointed that some of the girls that actually made it into the show are just below average. I am not sure if this is part of the organizer's plan in trying to reach higher targeted audiences by manipulating these girls or whether the judges really think they can transform an overweight, non-confident, chubby looking girl into a complete slim, super-confident, sharp looking model in merely weeks on the show. I am pretty confident that you can pick any girl that were there at the finale that are non-contestants and they can anytime be better. I was near the stage area and the sight of some of the girls walking the runway just gives me the shock that they are the part of the 12 finalists. Don't get me started on the dresses that were selected for the girls.

Come on la judges, don't tell me you did not notice those cellulite wei.. Why give these girls false hopes? I am saying this because there are certain criteria that makes a model, a model. You don't just see one's boobs and ass and decide those are potential model quality when other qualities were not found in them. There is also the height factor, the self-confidence and that particular flair which is unique to models.

Not to mention the lack of fairness when such contest winners are selected based solely on SMS votes. It is unfair because the contest would just disregard the qualities that the most potential girl may have just because some other had the money to splurge on buying the votes. Look what happened in Season 1, the same repeats in Season 2. Season 3 is going to be the same thing again, the girl from some wealthy family figures she can be a super model, auditions.. manage to get chosen then tells papa and mama to vote until she wins, otherwise dun wan be their daughter jor.. or sends them to old folks home when they get old :P

So there you have it, the winner of the contest turns out to be Juanita with a majority of over 20,000 votes. Wow. Why am I so not surprised? To 1st Runner Up, Pinky and 2nd Runner Up, Dawn, don't fret as I am sure both of you would be able to find your way in achieving greater heights in the industry after your appearance and performance in the reality show. And for the other contestants, I am sure the experience garnered from the show have shown how harsh reality can be when it comes to such contests.

Vintage Buttons - Pretty Little Things For Your Ears!

2009-05-26T23:36:00.003+08:00

Vintage what? Vintage Buttons, my friends.. haven't you heard of this new online store that has open its door to business???

Here is a little introduction.. Vintage-Buttons is the name of June's online shop which sells earrings that are creatively designed, unique and hand-crafted by her. Each design is limited and made from vintage cloths. They are not only light-weight, but also feels comfortable when worn.

For the time-being, she has came up with four themes to her designs. They are none other than: Pearls, Cotton Candy, Secret Garden and Vintage Chick.

Sample pictures:

Pearls

Cotton Candy

Secret Garden

Vintage Chick

As these are handicraft works and are not mass-produced commercially, you can be assured that the prices are reasonable for the efforts and creative thoughts of the person that had went towards making these vintage earrings for your fashionable needs.

To view more designs and information on how to purchase these nicely made vintage earrings please point your browser to: Vintage Buttons

Party Like A Rock Star!

2009-05-19T22:29:00.007+08:00

Ever wondered what it's like to party like a rock star?

Well, I was invited with June to Keane's Birthday celebrations last weekend that was held at Red Box @ The Gardens Midvalley. I was really curious of what the VIP Room has to offer as it was the most expensive package available there. I have been to karaoke birthday celebrations but none until such an extent.

When we reached there, we were ushered to Room Number 1. We were there pretty early so not much friends arrived yet, but nevertheless Chun Meng, Keane and Cedric were already warming up to the party, singing.

I was pretty impressed with the amount of space in the VIP Room, check out those pictures. There are like 4 to 6 separate areas with two projectors each side for karaoke and about 3 LCD screens around the area one actively showing sports channel (Man Utd vs. Arsenal that night?), one for song selections and another for internet access. If not mistaken there were also Wii Games for your enjoyment if you get tired of singing karaoke. Not to mention our time is from 6pm till 3am!

Anyway, I went ahead to the dinner buffet as I was already hungry. There were oysters, mussels, sushi, oriental delights and others. The following are some of the food we had..

While we were having our food, friends start streaming into the room and exchanged greetings with the birthday boy. That was when the booze start pouring in. Yes, there were booze. Plenty of booze. Which explains why at the end of the day, June had to fetch me home instead :P

I joined some of Keane's friend playing this dice game. Each has a canister with 5 dices, so you have to say out the number of dices in total of the number of players and guess who is the bigger liar. The loser has to drink his own glass of beer, sips usually. It was quite fun until they switched to using cards. This time, before each takes a card from the deck, everyone will decide whether the smallest or largest number will have to drink all the liquor on the glass placed in the middle. The glass can be filled by any of the player, also giving each the option to swap for a different card.

While I was playing these drinking games, June was busy singing-K with her good friend Shook Ghee :D On and off i would run around to snap pictures of the celebration. That was until I got drunk, which I could not remember when. I wanted to leave that very moment, but friends pulled me back and prevented me from going back (while i was still conscious and sane). I feel like shit later on anyways, keeping the details off the record :P

Labour Day

2009-05-11T23:05:00.003+08:00

This is the first time I celebrate Labour Day, being part of our country's workforce. On the eve of labour day, I had to work overtime due to the need to complete development for a project that is due for demo next week. Right after work I fetched June and waited for my parents to be back from work to go to Nasi Kandar Penang @ PJ State for supper. Me and my mum had thosai, while June and my dad had Roti Telur and last but not least my younger sister had Nasi Lemak. It was quite unfortunate that the quality of food has dropped.

On Labour Day itself, we went to Old Town White Coffee at Seri Petaling for lunch. Initially we were rushing to the airport because their flight was scheduled at 3pm but my dad received SMS notification by AirAsia that the flight would be delayed till 4.20pm. So we returned home for a short rest before sending them to the airport through the KL-Putrajaya Highway. After fetching my parents to the airport, we went to Menara Hap Seng at KL for a warehouse sales.

As I was not sure where the place is located, I used the GPS function on my mobile phone to take us there. As we reach KL area, I was directed to the Kampung Pandan Roundabout and it was really my first time using this way. At this roundabout, the inevitable happened. I was given a summon for not following the arrows drawn on the road (wtf?). I was told I had to enter the roundabout to make a full circle even though I am exiting the roundabout through the first exit. This really pissed me off because there were no tell-tale to do such a thing at a roundabout. Anyway, we went to the warehouse sales after that incident and it was quite disappointing that the items on sale were just not up to expectations. We then went to the Traffic Police Station at Petaling Street to sort my traffic offense matter but was told that the summon settlement counter is only opened to 2pm that particular day and to come back on Monday since the summon would not be keyed to the system yet anyway. We then went home while I just curse my bad luck on the very first day of May.

Day gone, Night fell, it was dinner time. We went to Happy Garden's Wai Sik Gai with my younger sister and had rice with several dishes among which are "Siong Tong Yuen Choy", "Hak Chiu Luk Yuk", and fried tofu with chilli sauce for dipping. It was a good dinner, delicious and filling :) We spent the rest of the evening watching Astro AFC (Asian Food Channel) and end up cooking maggie goreng in the middle of the night because I got hungry :P Thanks to June I had a nice supper ;)

What happened to all the updates?

2009-05-05T23:20:00.003+08:00

Terribly sorry I must say because I was tied with quite an immense amount of workload recently. I had been having quite a rough time for the past 2 weeks since returning to my office (I was sent to a client-site for 2 weeks before that for an assignment) as I was assigned to handle support for three projects based at my company's data center and at the same time had to participate with my team's product development in anticipation of a demo that would be held in about a week from now.

All of this responsibility had made me not only having to rush between my office and the data center but also working overtime just to make sure i complete my task before the given dateline. All this hectic schedule of cramping everything together had resulted with me falling sick. Not a joy to be coughing and having flu at this particular time.

Not to mention my desperation to update my blog for you kind folks that had been keeping up with my posts here. Hopefully within the next few days you will see some recent posts here rather than my backlog posts :)

Thanks and stay tuned.

Backlog: Chinese New Year 2009 - Day 6

2009-04-16T21:14:00.002+08:00

On the very first weekend of Chinese New Year 2009, June joined me and my gang for an outing for the day as part of our visitation. The group consist of me, June, Kevin Boey, Cath, Moon, Amanda, Gen Hui and Alicia, Gim Howe, Roy, Ivan, Kevin Lim and Jen Shen. We started off in the morning at about 10.30AM by meeting up at the Taman Connaught Shell petrol station as my car and Cath's car needed a refuel. Before our meet up, Amanda and Moon gave Alicia a lift from her place in Gombak as our first destination would be Gen Hui's house which is located somewhere in Cheras. Kevin Lim joined us in the afternoon, after lunch while Kevin Boey, Ivan and Roy only joined us later that evening. Well, Jen Shen's place would be the final destination because some of us had said that their family would not be in, so on and so forth. So we only managed a poor 3-house visit this year, minus Ivan's open house la :(

Anyway, we went off to Gen Hui's house after meeting up and refueling and spent sometime watching television at GH's place (nasty accidents) and drinks. We left an hour or so after that to Citrus Park at Mega Mendung for lunch. We had lunch at Vietnam Kitchen. We ordered several dishes and enjoyed our lunch. We thought of having yee sang but since I have already told my younger sister to get one mai of yee sang, I told the rest that we will have yee sang at my place :)

After lunch, we all head to my place where Gim Howe joined in whereby we played cards, chit chat and have drinks. We had yee sang after spending an hour plus playing. Shortly after, Kevin Lim arrived followed by Kevin Boey and Ivan, both fresh from attending the Subaru Owners Club's Private Track Day at Sepang F1 Circuit (*rolleyes*). We headed direct to Jen Shen's place.

I had to say that our visit to Jen Shen's place had always been pleasant :p Jen Shen's mum prepared sandwiches and frankfurters for us to munch while chatting. Not forgetting the rather cool DIY-coffee making appliance that they have. You just drop the Cadbury-type of ingredient in a small container into the slot and push it in. Press on and your hot drink will be dispensed. Wow, I want one! :D

We chatted, we teased, we took some pictures, we played cards for hours but most of all, we had fun :)

Around 5.45PM, me and June excused ourselves as we had a dinner appointment with June's family at a restaurant at Brickfields. It was a very nice dinner :) After dinner, June followed her family back home to pack some clothes as she will be staying over at her Aunt's place at Hartamas. I went home to freshen up myself before fetching her from Hartamas and returning to Jen Shen's place where we played cards all the way till midnight. I was reluctant to leave because I lost a lot of money ">_<" but luckily I managed to cut my losses so it wasn't too bad :)

They went for supper but we did not join as it was late and since June is staying over at her relative's place, it is impolite to return late. As far as I am concerned, it was indeed a wonderful Day 6 with my lovely bb and friends.

Backlog: Chinese New Year 2009 - Day 3 to Day 5

2009-04-13T23:11:00.003+08:00

Day 3: It took me quite some pondering whether to apply leave for Chinese New Year celebrations this year and being a new addition to my company, I decided to forgo the holiday and started work on Day 3 of CNY. It wasn't all that bad actually, after all there were some saying that Day 3 and Day 5 are good days for those born in the Year of the Ox to start work this year. It was quite a dull day, as there was only 4 person including me at the data center. Once it was time to clock-out, I went to fetch June and went to one of my friend's place for his Chinese New Year Open House. He is part of our gang of friends that get to know each other through a forum, most of us interested in cars. I spent the rest of my evening there as it was raining and that my aunt's place is some 30minutes of driving away and that I have to work the next day. Thought there would be some card playing, but unfortunately the host was reluctant to be banker so there wasn't any card playing. Left when it was time to leave, a tad disappointed.

Day 4: Yet another boring day at work except that another 2 or 3 colleagues turn up for work. I don't recall anything special done on this day, I pretty much spent my day at work refreshing my e-mail inbox and surf around websites.

Day 5: I was working as well, pretty much the same as the day before so there isn't much for me to elaborate. But rest-assured the remaining days of CNY were much more fun ;) Stay tuned because this is just a filler :P

Backlog: Chinese New Year 2009 - Day 2

2009-03-24T23:05:00.005+08:00

Day 2 of Chinese New Year 2009 started with lunch consisting of leftover vegetarian from Day 1 and some dishes from Eve (I think), after which we went to my dad's sister's place at Salak South for a short visit. We were there for about an hour or two for conversations on topics like music, past experiences and medical stuff.

We then left for Uncle Ho's house which is located at Glenmarie Court. Uncle Ho is my dad's friend since primary school and after the initial gathering of friends at our place on Day 1, some of them gathered again for the second time at his place for more catching up. We were the first to arrive, and I went to greet Kah Mun's pet puppy, Peppy which I had introduced here before. Peppy is really cute and I just can't resist snapping pictures and play/pet him. Peppy will bark at visitors that entered the house but did not make an effort to say hi to him =.= We spent a good deal of hours here as our parents and their friends were busy with their conversation. I don't blame them as after all they only gather once a year.

As it was getting late into the evening, we left for my mum's youngest brother's home at Pusat Bandar Puchong as my extended maternal relatives had gathered there for dinner, drinks and gambling. This is one part of Chinese New Year that I like because my aunt prepares really good food and I like to gather with my cousins. What was available to do? Well, some watch teevee while some chit chat and some had drinks and then some had their hands in the gambling. Well, after I had my dinner there.. I had red wine while playing cards :P Infact I think I had a bit too much as I was on the tipsy side when leaving. That wraps up Day 2 of Chinese New Year 2009.

Backlog: Chinese New Year 2009 - Day 1

2009-03-19T22:43:00.004+08:00

The day started with my mum preparing vegetarian meal for my family as we do not want the hassle of having vegetarian with the crowd at the temple at Happy Garden which we had the past couple of years. Oh, and did I mention previously that this is the first time that my elder sister did not celebrate Chinese New Year with us? This was because she was occupied with her housemanship at Kuching, Sarawak.

As per our family tradition, the first day we stay home as host to friends and relatives that come visiting. My paternal side's relatives came visiting after lunch followed by my dad's close friends from his primary school(oh yeah!), high school, and university days. There were noticeably less people this time around, perhaps in future too because many of his friends had migrated overseas for their children studies or opt for other countries. Well, there's a saying that the grass is always greener on the other side. The kind of sacrifices that parents went through just to ensure their children get the best education and live a good life.

Anyhow as the grown-ups do catching up, we, the youths gather around to chit chat and play cards to past time. Late noon, I excused myself to fetch my girlfriend June to my place to join everyone at my place for chats, card games, what not. Soon after my dad's friends left, my friends from high school came over to visit. My maternal side relative's came to visit too, minus some that seemed to be occupied or something. To spice things up, everyone gather around a small table and started the real card games, with blackjack and three cards. As I was host, it was obvious I offered to be the banker. Let's just say luck was on my side :P

As it got late, the game ended and after everyone left. We cleaned the house up and I fetched June back home because the following day, she had to go back to her hometown at Seremban to visit her grandmother :) All in all, a good Day 1 and definitely a healthy collection of red packets on this day ;)

Backlog: Eve of Chinese New Year 2009

2009-03-15T17:41:00.005+08:00

Looks like I finally found some time to start posting up some really backdated stuff such as my Chinese New Year celebrations for the Year 2009. Look forward to more content in the next couple of days as I fill you in on how well it went ;)

On the Eve of Chinese New Year, I stayed home to help my parents with the house cleaning up. I started of cleaning out the garage of empty oil containers, wiping them clean and re-arranging everything to look neat. After that I cleaned the porch's floor along with washing clean all the cars at home with some minor detailing. My hands were all roughed up and I have aches all over from the amount of cleaning up done. After meals I still continued by cleaning up my room, the toilet, etc. Unfortunately, these cleaning were not photographically documented as my hands would be dirty, and that my sister just can't seem to snap a proper picture :P

We had our re-union dinner at 6.30PM and after that, we did the yearly thing of dismantling the dinner table for some proper cleaning up. Then we just rest till it was around 11.00PM and head out to the temple at Happy Garden and Thean Hou Temple @ Taman Seputeh. Photography was not allowed at the temple at Happy Garden so I adhered to it. I did however took some at the Thean Hou Temple. It was quite sloppy that night because it rained through the night since late evening. Not very pleasant >_<

Surprised?

2009-03-10T22:07:00.003+08:00

Well, someone was :P My girlfriend was surprised when she got her much-delayed valentine's gift. How it was a surprise? Well, I know she had been searching for a reasonably large bag for quite sometime and that she was also considering getting this particular bag, after knowing that it is really light.

So after much consideration, I went direct to the outlet that sells the bag to make my purchase. I consulted the sales person there for some suggestions as I was not sure to get the long handle or short handle one. At the end, I walked out of the shop with the short handle one as it looks more fitting to the overall look. It is navy blue in colour because it would be easier to match with clothes and does not catch on dirt as much when compared to lighter striking colours.

I had to lie to my girlfriend that I went somewhere to buy some parts for my car, which she buy the story I made up (sorry bb! :P). I had to act as if there was nothing wrong the following day (Friday) when I met up with her after work because it was kind of inconvenient for me to carry the gift around with me to work. So she had to wait till Saturday (oh well, she did not realize either way since it did not cross her mind at all that I had already bought her something). So came Saturday, I was actually excited but pretended and continued being my usual self.

When we returned to my place, I told her to go up to my room first on the pretext of grabbing myself a drink. I followed behind after getting my drink and she was actually on the phone to call her friend Chun Meng as he missed called her previously. So she was just speechless throughout the 2-3 minutes of conversation with him when she opened the door to see the gift awaiting her. You should see her reaction of hugging the big bag and not paying attention to her phone conversation :D

So there you have it BB, your very own Longchamp Le Pliage bag. Hope you like it as much as I am happy giving it to you ;)

Movie: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009-03-03T20:44:00.005+08:00

Curiosity of this movie has brought you here? You are not alone because I was curious of the movie too and could not contain my excitement in catching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last Saturday after my numerous failed attempts at obtaining good seats in the cinema. The flow of the movie is somewhat familiar to that of my previous review of the movie Slumdog Millionaire as both has to do with relating to past experiences. This movie switches to the past as the experiences is read from a written diary in the present time.

My curiosity arises from the synopsis of this movie because it mentioned about mother giving birth to a baby that looks horrendously ugly. It seems that this baby will grow up with age but with the symptoms, conditions and looks of an elderly getting younger (of course, they did not know :P). Very freaky, and very peculiar indeed. So shockingly difficult to accept that the baby's father ran off with the baby and attempted to dump the baby into the sea which was seen by a patrolling officer that ran after him (perhaps anger blinded him as his wife passed away giving birth to the baby). The father managed to escape and abandoned the peculiar baby on the door steps of an old folks home.

The caretaker was really shocked with the find but accepted the baby as it is, as God's fate. Diagnosed by the home doctor, it was revealed that the baby would not live long, having the conditions of a dying old man. Most in the home thought of the same too, but as the story unfolds, Benjamin (the baby) gets younger and younger while the rest in the World gets older and passes away. It was really ironic to see a teenage boy with the face of an old man growing up being stuck with the rest of the elderly at the home, making it look as if Benjamin is an old man too.

In my opinion, this is not just a good movie but also one which I felt is a better movie than Slumdog Millionaire. Girls that are oh so fond of Brad Pitt would obviously swoon to the shots of him with a younger and much more attractive look. Not to mention the almost flawless looks that Cate Blanchett had on her in the movie. No wonder they got an Academy Award for Best Make Up besides two others which are Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. Despite the awards, and good reviews the movie has got.. I find it rather unrealistic towards the ending where Benjamin starts losing his memory as he gets younger. The part where he loses his memory, that is fine as babies do not have much of a memory until later days while old folks tend to get forgetful. But the part where he gets shorter, smaller size until shrinking to the size of a baby is really unrealistic. I was expecting the character Benjamin to retain his size but with the characteristics of a baby such as smooth and soft skin and the innocence of an angel. Honestly, that is the only gripe I have of the movie.

Let me remind you peeps that the duration of this movie is almost 3 hours in length.
This movie easily ranks high on my list. Therefore...

Rate: 9.0/10.0

Movie: Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-28T00:39:00.004+08:00

This movie, I am pretty sure is the first movie from Bollywood that I have watched and it has really brought my attention that the movie production from India has improved so much over the years.

Believe it or not, I grew up spending time on weekend afternoons watching Hindi shows, not because I want to but because there wasn't any Astro back then and cartoons were only shown in the morning. So like it or not, I spend those weekend afternoons and evenings watching Hindi shows. As most probably know, it is the usual crazy unrealistic fights where one man gets attacked by a gang of 10 people, only to beat all of them and to run off, getting chased on by another gang of 20 people, and also succeeding in giving them a good wallop and survived the attacks with just some minor bruises. Not to mention the anytime, anywhere they'll go into a trance of dancing around flowerbeds, hugging trees and rolling all over the grass fields.

I am impressed with how far Bollywood have came to touching the movie production styles of Hollywood. I think the awards it held to its helm speaks very much, being awarded a total of 8 (EIGHT!) Oscar Awards. I think the movie would have been more enjoyable if not because of the strict censorship thanks to the Malaysia Censorship Board.

Back to the movie, a short summary of its content is such that:

"A Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers."

As per the summary, this movie lives through the experiences of a young kid growing up in the slums of Mumbai as he answers the questions put forth to him in the "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" show. There are some truth in the movie in the sense that a person growing up in the slums tend to be looked down upon, insulted, humiliated and harassed with brutality. I however find the questions in the show to be too coincidental to the participant's life. Oh well, I do accept it as it is a movie and a good one at it. It did took me a while to grasp the style and flow of the movie in the beginning, thus making it a bit boring but as I understood the storyline it became rather interesting.

Lesson from the movie?
1. Mumbai is really dirty (maybe it is just the slums) with that amount of garbage littering.
2. A lot live their lives in poverty.
3. Children being abused. (to be beggers? wtf)

Rate: 8.5/10

Valentine's 2009

2009-02-17T21:55:00.007+08:00

Greetings all, today I bring you some coverage of what sort of celebration I had for Valentine's Day 2009. Some may have drop by June's and figured out what took place, but nevertheless, this is mine. Despite being told that a romantic valentine should take place this time around, well.. it did not happen.

I did actually spent some time figuring out what I should do actually but just was not sure it was the right thing to do due to the cheesiness of it. Such as reading out a love poem. As well as a romantic dinner for two at some high rise building overlooking the city of KL. Or perhaps a stroll at Genting Highlands at the same time enjoying the cool breeze.

So why the plans but not doing it?
1. It feels kind of cheesy to just read out a love poem, especially when you ain't no Shakespeare quality.
2. There's a concert held at Genting Highlands, so needless to say it would most likely be congested and lack of parking.
3. BB didn't quite like the idea of being at a bar during valentine's day =/

That said, here's the rundown of what we did. We woke up early when morning comes on Valentine's Day and prepared ourselves before we head to Red Box Plus at Pavillion KL for our karaoke session. Lunch Buffet and 4 Hours of non-stop karaoke! I selected quite a lot of love songs this time around, since everyone is in jolly good lovey dovey mood. Enjoyed every minute I tell you :D After the session, we take a walk around the mall before heading home to rest and change into more suitable clothing for dinner.

I guess it was smart measure to make reservations about a week in advance because when we arrived at the venue, there was a queue outside it. We went to Kura Japanese Restaurant at One World Hotel. Why? Well, not many would dine at such a place and also there would be no pre-set menu which are usually not worthwhile. That is besides the very fact that there would be plenty of parking available at a hotel ;) We reached there, ushered to our table and made our orders. The food tastes just absolutely dayum, although I think June made a wrong choice because the combination just doesn't go along very well.

After dinner, we went over to Cineleisure Cathay Cineplexes to check if there would be any movie ticket available because I was unable to make any purchases in advance. Needless to say, there wasn't any so we both end up at Gloria Jeans Cafe where I had a cuppa. Thinks were quite sour after that, so I'll skip all that. Don't want to ruin your reading taste la :P

After sorting things out, the following day we went out together for a movie. The Wedding Game because little June wants to watch a comedy show. It was quite LOL show but I think there's plenty of space for improvement to a ROFLMAO show lo.. After the movie, we cabut to Seri Petaling for a meal we had not had together before, as in just the two of us. We ordered dishes to go along with rice. What dishes? There's "Sai Kan Thiew Pin", "Thit Pan Tau Fu" and some special chicken dish the restaurant had for the day. We were full, we were happy, and it was reasonable too. (pictures... at June)

We then left for Desa Park City to meet with her friends whom were at Kluang Station since 9.30pm (we reached at 10.45PM >_<) - uhh.. not on purpose ma, need to makan wan leh, and BB said no speeding else telinga putus.. so.. boh pian la.. so to YanFay, Hui Ting, Hee Siang, Swee Yan, gomenasai! :P

That's all people! :D

Backlog: Karaoke Nite-Out 2009

2009-02-12T22:18:00.006+08:00

Early 2009 on one fine day, Kevin Boey asked the gang if anyone would be interested to tag along for a karaoke session that very weekend night. A total of six of us went ahead with the plan for a karaoke outing because we found the charges to be rather reasonable for 3 hours of karaoke inclusive of two drinks and buffet dinner.

Weekend come, night falls and as we gathered at Neway 1Utama.. we were greeted with the hidden charges arising from their compulsory fruits and tit bits. The additional foodstuff was quite a rude shock when the costs were revealed that the fruits (each serving costs RM25, there were 2) and the tit bits (each serving costs RM9, there were 4!). That means that in addition to the RM36++ per person charge, the compulsory foodstuffs accumulated an extra RM86 to our bill. After government tax and service charges, each of us ends up forking RM60 per person which is seriously pricey.

Since we were there already, might as well continue with our plan since there isn't much to do other than that. So despite being reluctantly agreeing to the charges, we went ahead with the karaoke session singing our lungs out at the same time feasting on the pretty okay buffet dinner they have in store. I must say that their waiter/waitresses were very helpful in assisting us in fetching our food to our room :)

We took turns singing, selecting songs and eating (while the other sings) throughout the session's duration. But soon time was up and we adjourned to a nearby mamak for short conversation which our friend Jen Shen joined us as he reach KL from Malacca. No worries as I have some pictures to share.. :D

Backlog: New Year's Eve 2009

2009-02-04T21:45:00.009+08:00

Right, this time around I will bring you back to the last day of Year 2008. Although reluctant, I had no choice but to go to work on this day since it was not a public holiday and that I am still under probation so I thought it would be best to avoid taking leaves until after probation. Despite commitments with work, the celebration must go on as we usher into the Year 2009.

As I had made prior arrangements with my friend (who came all the way to KL from Penang) to celebrate together, I have made the necessary reservations a week before with the Bubba Gump Restaurant at The Curve Shopping Complex. Initially I was thinking of celebrating at 1 Utama because June's favourite artist Justin would be performing there but unfortunately the tickets reserved for OneCard holders had already been fully redeemed. Anyhow, after work I went directly to June's place to change into more comfortable wear and after which we went to The Curve.

I just don't get it why everytime there is a celebration, there bound to be horrible congestion without fail. Most of the time it is due to cheapskates with pea brains that park illegally on a two lane road, reducing it to a single lane. Seriously, they could afford to own a car but cannot afford the measly RM2 parking fees? Not to mention those who jump queues only to force their way into those who had queued patiently.

We made it to The Curve just in time to meet Kelvin and his girlfriend at Bubba Gump where we were ushered to our table. After going through the set menu and placing our orders, I whipped out my camera and started snapping pictures throughout our dinner. We did some catching up with each other. I knew Kelvin through a forum which we so happen to gather during weekends for some teh tarik. Then on we become somewhat buddies as we often went up to Genting Highlands for the cool breeze, drinks and *cough*Casino*cough* :P Few years ago when he returned to Penang, his hometown to work, we don't meet or hang out much anymore but I do try to make an effort to visit him several times a year ;)

Interested to know what we had? I'll just let you look at the selection of appetizers, main courses and dessert!

Kelvin and his girlfriend

Me and June

After dinner, we took a stroll around The Curve, window shopping. Did a bit of camwhoring too. We did purchase two small electronic fans because with the crowd, the heat is to be expected. Hot is a no-no forJune! The shop was closing, but I managed to get permission from the staff to quickly buy the item before they close :D We went to the main road which was closed off for performance that night as well as the countdown and fireworks display. We bought some foam spray and sat by the sidewalk awaiting for the moment. We witnessed quite a number of people going around spraying each other with foam.

I did not post up any fireworks display as being directly under the fireworks is quite a challenge to snap them. After the countdown, we left immediately but got stuck in a crazy 2 hour congestion. One while trying to leave The Curve and another at Hartamas. It was a very tiring day for both of us but we have good fun :)

Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2009-01-25T17:26:00.005+08:00

Today, on the Eve of Chinese New Year 2009 I would like to take the opportunity to wish my loved ones, friends and all my readers that are celebrating Chinese New Year this year a very Happy Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Cai :) while for those that are not celebrating, Happy Holidays to you ;) May the Year of Ox bless you with good health, the fostering of stronger family ties, lots of wealth and peace and harmony all year round. May everyone have a prosperous year ahead.

This festive season, for those returning to their hometown by driving please drive safe, be cautious and keep to the speed limits. If you're tired, please stop at the nearest R&R for a break or short nap before continuing your journey. Most importantly is arriving back home safe and sound :) Those riding passengers, please remember to buckle up for your own safety as well.

Being one that is born in the Year of Ox, I hope everything goes well in terms of my loved ones and my career. Before I bore everyone with my lengthy sentences, let me just share with you some pictures of the Chinese New Year decorations that I have taken which were on display at the 1Utama Shopping Complex.

Backlog: Christmas Eve 2008

2009-01-18T23:32:00.006+08:00

Rewind back to 2008 on the Eve of Christmas, I had to work so Christmas celebrations had to wait until after work. My girlfriend June was able to leave work early so she got home early and got busy preparing for the rest of the evening while waiting for me to finish work and pick her up :)

I had made reservations at House of Frankfurt several days earlier to avoid the long queue as June said on normal days even this place is packed.

Anyhow, after picking up June, we head straight to Bangsar where the German restaurant is located. We reached there very early to escape the traffic congestion and lucky for us, there was an empty parking lot along the road which saved us the hassle of parking at a nearby shopping complex and walking quite a distance to the restaurant. As our reservations was at 7.45PM and we were more than an hour early, we took a stroll along the streets of Telawi and end up in Starbucks Coffee for a cuppa. We had the Toffee Nut Latte (which June seems to rave about it as it tastes really good) and English Breakfast Sandwich (yeah cuz I was kinda hungry). We got this small little screen cleaner as a courtesy gift from Starbucks Coffee which is now hanging on my camera bag ;)

Toffee Nut Latte & English Breakfast Sandwich

Starbucks Mug

Starbucks Mini Screen Cleaner

Cam-whores at Starbucks!

We went to House of Frankfurt after that and was ushered to our reserved table. I find the people here quite friendly, and that is not just the staff of the restaurant but also the people having their drinks there. Perhaps it is the happy merry christmas mood :) This really lightened up my mood as well ;) I was somehow a bit surprised that there wasn't really much people dining here on this particular day, it might be the special menu they have on this day which was quite unfortunate as they were not serving the dishes that June had told me about such as their German sausages, bacons and pork knuckles. I was not aware of the special menu but I guess it is just normal for such practice on such festive times. Let me show you the pictures ;)

German Weissbeer

Appetizer

Main Course

Dessert

Cam-whoring in the restaurant

Christmas Decor

House of Frankfurt

Around 11.30PM, we made an exit from Bangsar as my family was returning from Bali, Indonesia on the very same day and I had to fetch them from KL Sentral as they were taking the bus from LCCT. Anyhow, me and June did our countdown in the car :P I don't think we'll regret that because the Christmas celebrations this year was rather appaling, or to say, ridiculously quiet. The only place I heard had fireworks was at Sg Wang. So at least some peace and quiet is not so bad :)

Tenji Japanese Buffet @ Solaris

2009-01-12T21:22:00.008+08:00

Following pandafied's request to put up these, I concurred with as it was partly my intention to introduce to you a new place in town as an addition to your list of restaurants which offers japanese buffet but at of better quality.

I present to you, Tenji Japanese Buffet. This restaurant is located at Solaris Mont Kiara and occupies a total of 11 (yes, eleven!) shop lots as means of catering to large number of customers.

Stepping into the restaurant brings about the atmosphere of an upmarket dining place with the use of amber spotlights as lighting. There was a waterfall at the side of the entrance as well as a pathway of pebbles and slabs that leads to the dining area (inside for the non-smoking area and outside for the smoking area). The overall restaurant can be seen to have a modern Japanese oriented interior design as can be seen in the pictures.

Coconuts, for that cooling feeling :P

Fresh oysters, fresh sashimi, fresh everything!

Chocolate fountain for fondue dippin'

Food wise, it is very similar in terms of concept to the already well known Jogoya Japanese Buffet @ Starhill albeit the variety of food available at Tenji is less in comparison to Jogoya but there are pros and cons. At Tenji, the amount of food available is more than sufficient for a buffet and the limitation is good in the sense that you don't have to scratch your head every single time you go for the next round. Not to mention that a restaurant that prides itself on offering japanese buffet, aren't you there to feed yourself with Japanese gourmet? The immense variety available at Jogoya is not purely of Japanese food as you can practically have Chinese, Western, Italian or Thai-style food there.

Anyway, that aside.. the food here is really really fresh and the servings are continuously renewed. There were fresh oysters, sashimi, sushi, soba, and many many more. There were also non-Japanese food in case you are wondering. I however, had quite a number of fresh oysters and those salmon sashimi are just yummylicious! As for dessert, there are cookies, cakes and even ice-cream.. Not typical common Nestle ice-creams but Haagen-Dasz ice-creams yeah ;)

Some fried items.

Fresh!

Glee of Joy for Sashimi!

Some chinese herbal soup.

Coffee with Milk, anyone?

Before I end my post, let me give you a slight idea of their pricing.

Weekdays:-
Lunch: RM77++
Dinner: RM88++
Supper: RM77++

Weekends:-
Lunch: RM77++
Dinner: RM88++
Supper: RM77++

As my family frequent Japanese eateries quite often, we signed up for their VIP Package which comes with:

i) Choose one of five Gift Sets (View at the Restaurant)
ii) Member Discount of 5% (Free entry for card holder on card holder's birthday)
iii) RM1000 Discount Vouchers (RM50 x 20)*
iv) RM1000 Cash Vouchers (RM100 x 8 + RM50 x 4)
*To be used within 6 months, and each voucher per 2 person dining.

The VIP Package goes for a cool RM1600. Yes, that is one thousand and six hundred ringgit only, in words. So if you're an avid fan of Japanese gourmet, this is a worthwhile package. The membership is for 1 year in case you are wondering.

Tenji Japanese Buffet Restaurant
Lot L-01-01, SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara,
No 2, Jalan Solaris, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Opens from 11AM
Reservation: 1700 80 1818
Fax: 03-6203 6982
Website: http://www.tenji.com.my

Out With The Old, In With The New

2009-01-04T22:12:00.002+08:00

Time really flies, doesn't it? Year 2008 has disappeared and Year 2009 has appeared, so it is the time of the year where we reflect on what we have achieved in Year 2008 as well as what are our new year resolutions for this brand new Year 2009. That said, I will hop directly to my achievement in Year 2008 :)

1. Completing my studies - I think this is the greatest achievement I have to date with regards to my studies. Completing my studies means a lot to me as I not only proved to myself that I can do so, as well as to others that has looked down on me. The feeling is just indescribable.

2. Maintaining a relationship - Easy for some, not so easy for some. To me, I am glad everything worked out great between me and my lovely girlfriend and looking forward to continue doing so :) It has been a blessing having her by my side through thick and thin as she has been very supportive, understanding and very thoughtful. There may be squabbles, but I guess that is how we get to know each other better and together resolve the issues. Baby, if you're reading this (which I am sure you will be, muakss! I love you :D)

3. Travel - Who said travel has got to be overseas only? I have travelled with my girlfriend to various spots in Malaysia this year such as Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands, Bukit Tinggi, and Penang Island. We also have a wonderful trip to our southern neighbour, Singapore.

4. Securing a Job - With the current global economy complications and with news of workers being retrenched or having their working time/pay cut due to their companies trying to work ways to endure the current economic complications, I am very happy to be able to secure my first job through just a single interview.

5. Photography - This is something that I found myself really loving a lot. It captures great and memorable moments that can be treasured and shared with others. I am glad I did not get a Playstation3 as I would most likely regret because I don't really enjoy games.

I think that is pretty much of my achievements in Year 2008 that is worth mentioning, thus I will continue with my resolutions for Year 2009 which hopefully can be achieved :P

1. Self-improvement - Now that I have secured a job, hopefully I would be able to continue improving myself and be an asset to my company.

2. Financial Management - This is something that I hope I can master so that I would be able to live within the constrains of my current income. Not to mention that I am definitely going to work harder to achieve a fatter paycheck :P

3. Travel - Yes, I love to travel and I hope I would be able to visit more places this year regardless whether it is within Malaysia or out of country.

4. Blog - Some may have noticed that I have recently started being active in blogging although I have slowed down in recent weeks after starting my job because to be honest, I had to wake up pretty early during weekdays and that means sleeping early too. Therefore I am unable to blog that often because I am usually tired after coming back home and getting stuck in the awful congestion. But I promise all my readers that I will try my best to serve you the content desired as frequently possible :)

That is all for now, a small list that I hope of achieving. I hope all of you would achieve yours too and may Year 2009 be a better year than those before :)

Wishing Everyone A Very Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T00:14:00.002+08:00

With less than 24 hours to go as we usher into the Year 2009, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of my readers, including my family and friends a very happy new year!

I hope all of you would have a wonderful time on New Year's Eve whilst counting down to the final few seconds to a brand new year. May Year 2009 bring you more health, peace and wealth! :)

The Wedding

2008-12-28T21:21:00.006+08:00

7th December 2008 was an auspicious date that was chosen by one lovely couple to tie the knot. I have known the bride since 1998 as she was my classmate in high school. Those days in high school, there was this trend of being pet brothers or sisters and that is just how we were related. The mentioned bride was none other than Adeline Yong. For the uninformed, she also blogs and is part of my blog roll.

The Stage

Since early 2008 she had already informed me to make myself and my partner available for her wedding dinner that would be held in December 2008, which a promise is a promise and I made very sure that I would be able to make it. When Adeline's dinner was just around the corner, I was suddenly informed by June that there was another wedding dinner with her family on that very day as well. The sudden turn of events kinda got me rather frustrated as to what to do since I have already promised Adeline that I would be there and there is that of June's commitment to her family. So end of the day, June went to her relative's wedding dinner at held in a restaurant near Pudu for a short moment before I rushed us to Adeline's dinner at Equatorial Bangi. I have to say I was speeding pretty much most of the way there and made it in time :)

After settling down, I started mingling with some friends and doing some catching up on what they have been doing, et cetera. From the wedding dinner, I find myself somehow a tad like a stranger as there is some sort of communication gap with the rest which happens very much due to not keeping in touch often. The craziest and noisiest bunch that night is most definitely our group of friends from high school, with the screaming, shouting and hush-hush slide-show presentation on their friendship. Sigh, I feel really left out the moment I saw the slides because I was not part of that circle. Nevertheless I feel happy for the bride that she has great friends :)

I had some conversations with Adeline a week till several days before her wedding as well as reading her daily updated blog and noticed that she had underwent a lot of stress (emotionally and mentally), frustrated and headache with the wedding preparations. It seems that the preparations in KL was pretty much handled by her single-handedly as her husband is in Singapore. She said that she had great help from her awesome friends. The wedding was a great success ;)

The CamWhore

Some of my close friends

The bridegroom, Wein Eu is a Singaporean which means that Adeline is now permanently residing in Singapore. She recently got the happy news from the ingapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority that has approved her Permanent Resident status in Singapore. Check out her blog to follow her journey through her new life in Singapore ;)

Last but not least, Congratulations to Wein Eu and Adeline Yong! May you both live happily ever after. I'm waiting for your double angpow this coming Chinese New Year lehh :P

Cheers!

June

The Gents

The Ladies

With the Bride and Bridegroom

The Both Of Us

My Ride, My Love, Wedding Vehicle

Title-less Post

2008-12-23T14:07:00.001+08:00

I am writing this blog post using my mobile phone so excuse me for any mistakes k?

Since yesterday I had not been feeling very much of myself.. it is weird indeed cuz i feel really mixed up inside of me.. I have been home alone since Sunday as my family is away for vacation but I am unsure if that is the reason behind me behaving unusually.. I am emotionally overwhelming that i have been having a glass of mild liquor nightly..

Shouldn't be work related because I have yet to be assigned any proper task so my stress level is absolutely minimal. Although I would definitely appreciate some proper thing to do than to sit idly wasting my life away. That aside I must confess that this working lifestyle is affecting my rest as I seem to be tired endlessly just longing for a goodnight sleep..

Either way, I think i am just worried about my family being away from home as well as worrying about everything unnecessarily. My life of trying to fulfill the needs of people around me always drives me up the wall at times because my plans are not able to be executed smoothly.

Sorry for making ya'll listen to me talking so negatively sia.. I just need to spill some emo-shite out of my system nia.. Thanks ya :)

Lost My Mobile Phone

2008-12-20T22:24:00.003+08:00

First of all, sorry for the rather slow updates lately because when I am back from work I am pretty tired and need the rest as I haven't exactly adapted to my working life.

Anyhow, on 10th December Shook Ghee asked my girlfriend June if she wants to watch Space Chimps as she has free tickets and was unable to watch the preview screening. June asked me if I am able to go for it, so with my confirmation we told Shook Ghee that we would be able to attend the preview screening. Since her office is just a building away from where I work, I walked over after work to get those tickets from her.

I then went to fetch June and we went to a mamak nearby her former high school for dinner before heading to 1Utama for the preview screening of Space Chimps at GSC. I was quite excited as GSC is better than TGV and the fact that the it is FREE! June told me that preview screenings usually prohibit mobile phones from being brought into the cinema as she has worked part-time for such a function before, so she left her phone in my car whilst I just brought mine into the cinema since it is already low on battery.

The cartoon wasn't exactly worth while because the production and storyline of it looks like it was done on a rather small budget. It was funny, but just the typical kind of cartoon you watch on TV. It is nowhere near the quality you see in Ice Age and The Hedge kind of cartoon.

When it comes to how I rate it, I have to say that Space Chimps is only able to hold itself at a low 2 out of 10.

After the screening, I fetched June home before I went home. Here comes the dreadful news.

As it was a public holiday for the state of Selangor, I was up quite late till around 2.45AM when I realized my mobile phone is low on battery and I should charge it. I got really worried, frustrated and tensed because I was not able to find it. I searched high and low, in and out of my house and through my car but to no avail. Only then I find myself in the position of a man who drop his mobile phone. I was so miserable and angry at myself at the same time because this is like the very first time I dropped something as costly as a mobile phone. Sigh!

I did not sleep the whole night until it was around 5.30AM which I had to go get some rest. Around 8AM I woke up to inform my parents about it and left to GSC 1Utama to speak to the person in-charge to inform of my loss and provide details of it. Although it is unlikely that I will recover it, at least I put some effort in doing what is necessary lo.. :(

I went to the Maxis Centre near my house to get a replacement SIM-Card and after which I went to Sungai Wang, Kuala Lumpur to shop for a new phone. I have my eyes on a phone for quite sometime but did not have the plans to purchase it, at least not until I drop my mobile phone or when it goes dead. I surveyed a couple of booths there before settling with a package at a price which seems reasonable to me. It is the Nokia E71 in standard package, in addition to the following extras:
- 4GB microSD memory card
- Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-102
- Nokia Car Charger
- Additional 1 Year Warranty
- Free Screen Protector

The reason I got the phone is because it is packed with loads of features and has that business-like look and at the same time being one of the slimmest smart phones around. I am not going to review it as you can find abundance of those by just Google-ing it. All I can say is, it is superb and I am loving every minute of it and to the extent that June also love it and itches to get one for herself in the near future too :D

Despite being really unhappy that I have lost my Nokia N73 Music Edition, which btw was passed to me by my younger sister. I felt really bad about it but I guess I gotta move on, and I am really happy with my new mobile phone ;)

Nokia E71: Front View

Nokia E71: Rear View

Jen Shen's Birthday Celebration

2008-12-14T12:56:00.006+08:00

Several weeks back, Jen Shen had our friends gathered for a BBQ Party. As there was quite a number of our friends that are November babies with Jen Shen being one of them, he took the initiative to hold a BBQ Party for the fun of it but us friends take it as an opportunity to celebrate his belated birthday and also for the rest.

The weird sightings at Jen Shen's House

Most of us made it to the BBQ Party which starts at 7PM. The amount and type of food available was good. There was also an abundance of liquor for those wanting a fix. There were foot long sausages, roasted turkey, herbal eggs and others.

Say Hi to J

Say Hi to Silvia

The Food

The Starved

The Gang Gelojoh

June joined me earlier that day and had dinner with my family before we went to Jen Shen's BBQ Party. We still have some of the tasty food that Jen Shen had prepared for us. Can't help it because it looks delicious.

Part of the food

That is Gabriel behind our camwhore pic =.=

After everyone had their dinner, then came the cake blowing ceremony. We had prepared two cakes for this occasion, one for the face-planting and another for us to eat. The one for face-planting was quite funny because of the message on the cake itself and the reaction on Jen Shen and James face when they saw it. That was besides them getting caught off-guard and smacked into the cake. Jen Shen's case was a bit special as he managed to keep himself from being planted to the cake, but not very long as demonstrated by Moon when he manually carried the cake and smack it into his face when he was about to blow the candles off the second cake :D

Jen Shen "Heart" James

Happy Birthday Gab, Jen Shen, June, James

Aww.. they look so happy :p

Haha, all hell break lose when Jen Shen scoops up leftover of the spoiled cake and threw it randomly at people, namely Ivan and Gabriel. Putih-putih sia.. :P

James Owned

Jen Shen Owned

Anyways, after that we went inside his house for some card games with liquor as punishment. Everyone had a chance to drink booze :P But the finale has got to be when Jen Shen joined in and was practically uttering nonsense and showing his side of being a drunkard.

The Drunkard

Peppy.. Puppy.. What?

2008-12-09T22:08:00.006+08:00

A week ago, I went with my family to visit a friend of our family whom had an illness. Knowing my friend had a pet, I went to say hi to this little friend which I shall introduced to you people :)

People, meet man's best friend, Peppy! He is a male of Shih-Tzu breed. If I am not mistaken, he is only 2 years old. He is friendly and can be quite playful too.

All visitors to the house will definitely have to meet him and say hi, otherwise which he will bark until you do so :P Cheeky little fella.. I am quite confident that his favourite toy would be the ball which he had chewed, gnawed and made it sloppy from his saliva >_< Why? Because when I grabbed it from him, all he does is focuses on the ball and keep trying to get it back from me which I demonstrated in one of the bottom pictures.

Besides cute, he also have a pretty owner which takes care of him la.. otherwise where la got that happy, cute and hang fook look on his face! :D

Peppy

"Gimme my ball back!"

"Okay la, let's camwhore!"

I used to be quite fond of Shih-Tzu breed of dogs but now reverted my fondness towards Poodles and Yorkshire Terriers. Cute little friends.

If you have such cute little friend, remember to treat them like your loved ones. Please do not abuse them alright! :)

New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice

2008-12-07T12:05:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday, I went with my family to this famous New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice that is located in Petaling Jaya, specifically along Jalan Gasing. This is definitely not our first visit as we have been visiting this restaurant ever since I was a little boy :) So looking at the age of the restaurant and the popularity of it, I am pretty sure most of you have visited or at least heard about it.

Compared to yester-years, there have been a lot of changes with the restaurant, namely being renovated and extended to the upper level as well as implementing modern technology into their POS (Point-Of-Sales) System. There are so many workers and with the newly implemented technology, the food was served quickly and most stuff were done very efficiently.

We ordered the Ipoh Chicken with portion for 4 person along with Nga Choy and a plate of Char Siew and Siew Yuk. My honest opinion is that the food here tastes really good but I think there might be some excessive flavouring in their food preparation that makes the throat get really dry. So please make sure you drink lots of water after the meal as it does make the throat rather uncomfortable.

The famous Ipoh Chicken ;)

Char Siew and Siew Yuk

Bean Sprout aka Nga Choy

The Restaurant located along Jalan Gasing

New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice
107 Jalan Gasing,
46000 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor
Tel: 03-79560958

Restoran Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House

2008-12-04T21:47:00.003+08:00

Yet another food review from me. This time I bring you to Restoran Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House which is located at Taman Connaught, Cheras. This restaurant's interior looks basically like your regular kopitiam cum hawker shop but with the only addition of a single air-conditioner unit which is a blessing for most of us, especially with the harsh hot weather that we have to endure day-in day-out all year long.

Anyway, on to the food, I was here with June to try out their Dry Chili Pan Mee which tastes pretty good here. However odd this may sound, it seems that it was quite popular (as you can search on Google) for their Dry Chili Pan Mee in comparison to their Curry Noodles (which I have yet to taste). To be honest, I have been having Pan Mee in Soup most of the time and this is like my second time having Dry Pan Mee. Something different for a change, yeah i like changes.

Dry Chili Pan Mee

June looks busy :P

Restoran Madam Chiam Curry Noodle House
Jalan Cerdik
Taman Connaught, Cheras

Restoran Jin Man

2008-12-02T21:14:00.003+08:00

As promised, a food review of what I had at this restaurant that was introduced by my former classmate. A note of reminder is that the food served in this restaurant is strictly non-halal. There were quite a number of food selection available but we, June and I tried what Restoran Jin Man is famous for.. Fish Ball Noodles!

It is utmost uncommon for someone to be raving about fish ball noodles, I am sure but let me present to you one of the better tasting fish ball noodles that you can have in the Klang Valley.

I ordered the "Wet" Fish Ball Noodles while June had the "Dry" Fish Ball Noodles. To be honest, I was actually quite surprised that they put fried pork lard (in cantonese, called chu yao zha) with the noodles because I don't really recall those that I had before having it. Maybe they do and I did not pay much attention because the amount of fried pork lard was probably very little that I neglect it. Anyhow, the fried pork lard is in the soup for the "Wet" version and for the "Dry" version, it was prepared with the noodles. It was special alright, well to me for the very least :D

"Wet" Fish Ball Noodles

"Dry" Fish Ball Noodles

Soup with fish ball to accompany the dry noodles

It is open from 5AM to 4PM daily except Mondays.

Restoran Jin Man
71, Jalan Dato Haji Harun
Taman Taynton View
Cheras
56000 KL

Tel: 03-91327269

my first day

2008-12-01T21:56:00.002+08:00

Some of you may re-call my post several weeks back with regards to me being offered a job by Company A and then being called up by Company B for an interview?

I have accepted the job offered by Company A just a day before my trip to Singapore. I did attend the interview conducted by Company B but somehow the inconvenience of transportation, job scope, among others which sort of made me back out from waiting for their offer. I therefore accepted Company A's job offer because somehow I have a good feeling that I would do just fine in this company (hopefully I am right) and also partly because of the instability of the global economy which I guess it is best I secure a job.

Anyhow, today was my first day at work but the real work has yet to start as we were new to the company (me, and 7 others are there for our first day). We were briefed more thoroughly on the workplace regulations, a brief tour of the office, some further briefing on the company history, products and services, and human resources issues. Although the real work has not start yet, the time spent on sitting in some of the boring briefing was driving me sleepy and i had to chew on Clorets to keep myself awake. After the end of the briefing sessions, me and my new colleague met two of our seniors and was told to do some reading on JavaScript, VB Script and SQL. Unfortunately, our superior was not around so most probably will be meeting us tomorrow. In the meantime, I am still doing some reading on JavaScript cuz, well.. it was not in my syllabus back in college >_< Neither did I learn of VB Script but I will just do some reading on JavaScript tonight..

I will leave my ramblings on parking voes and traffic congestions for another day :P

That is all for tonight. Check-in tomorrow for more stuff, and maybe some food reviews ;)

updates the coming week

2008-11-30T22:42:00.002+08:00

right, i will be posting the updates tomorrow because i have to get some early eye shut and rest tonight because.. tomorrow is one of the special moments of my life, as a person.. i will brief you more in detail tomorrow, so chill and be patient la :D

Singapore | Day Three

2008-11-28T01:13:00.004+08:00

Day Three in Singapore is pretty straight forward as it was the final day of our trip. We woke up around 10.30AM, cleaned up and start packing our stuff with careful checks so as not to leave anything behind. After that we checked out and stored our luggage with the concierge before walking down the road towards Bugis Village for lunch.

Before lunch, we went into Sim Lim Square to do some window shopping because I have not been there for over 5 years. It did seems that some items are either pricier, or only marginally cheaper. Considering warranty issues with the items, it is best to purchase in your own country unless it is cheaper in Singapore and has international warranty, otherwise it really defeats the purpose of purchasing it elsewhere other than your home country. I did buy something, but that I will leave it for another post ;) Sim Lim Square is really like Low Yat Plaza in KL.

Sim Lim Square

We then had lunch at this foodcourt just besides Bugis Village which I had Roasted Chicken Rice while June had Roasted Char Siew Pork Noodles. These are really delicious and we noticed the stall actually had some coverage from local and international media. No wonder there were quite a lot of people placing their orders from that particular stall during lunch hour.

Walking back to the hotel, we bought ice-cream. It is a must have for June every time she visits to Singapore, and she did not miss it this time as well. It is a block of ice-cream sandwiched with crackers. She got the Yam flavour and it tastes good, besides being cheap. Does anyone know where we can find such ice-cream in KL?

June loves ice-cream.

Collecting our luggage, we took a cab direct to HarbourFront Centre, which is the Aeroline Coach Service Station which we met with Joyce and Joshua as we have pre-arranged to take the same coach back to Kuala Lumpur. As Joyce and Joshua seats were located the rear most, they opt to stay at the lounge area in the bottom deck. I had bought the seats on an earlier date, so me and June were seated just two seats behind the front row on the upper deck. It was comfortable where we were seated except that the ceiling in front of June's seat was having a leaky air conditioner which drips when the coach makes a drastic stop. Somehow it went away after that. In this journey, we were served with Javanese Mee with some meat and egg. We had hot chocolate for this trip back ;) Anyhow, there were no issues along the way so five hours later we find ourselves back at Bandar Utama Station (1 Utama New Wing) and went separate ways back home. My friend Kevin and his girlfriend Catherine fetched both me and June from 1 Utama back to our home and we really appreciate that :) Thanks Kev! Thanks Cath!

June with the Albert Court Clock

Me with the Albert Court Clock

That concludes our Day Three of our trip to Singapore.

Singapore | Day Two

2008-11-26T23:18:00.007+08:00

Awaken by the preset alarm on my mobile phone, we woke up, cleaned up, and head to the hotel's cafe to have our breakfast. As I intended to go check out the Fountain of Wealth in Singapore, we went there by MRT after breakfast.

It took us quite a lot of walking to reach the place because I was not sure where it was located until careful inspection of a map in one of the underpass links that it was further away near Suntec City and not near Raffles (which was a shorter distance away from the City Hall MRT). Nevertheless, we managed to find our way and took some pictures at the spot before leaving for VivoCity Shopping Complex because June have to get some items for her mum.

June at Little India MRT Station

Sprinklers that dances along with music, very cool!

June wanted to camwhore with this display..

Fountain of Wealth, Singapore

Whilst I camwhored with the Fountain of Wealth!

Dedicated to those born in the Year of Ox, just like me and June.

When we reach VivoCity, we went direct to SuperDog for our lunch. Since we had it a year ago in Singapore, we were really looking forward to having it again because their hotdogs tastes fantastic and their fries just taste so much more better than McDonalds, Burger King, et cetera that we have had before. After lunch, we went to Tang's to purchase the items that June's mum wanted but unfortunately was one short as stocks ran out but we were told it was available at Orchard so we have to go there instead. Never mind, we will be meeting friends of ours there anyway so off we went.

June's selection, the Bacon Ripper!

and this was mine, the German Bratwurst (Sauerkraut)

June very happy that she is finally able to have SuperDog!

Look at the satisfaction of having a SuperDog!

We took MRT yet again to Orchard Station and went into Wisma Atria while waiting for June's friend to arrive. In case you are wondering, they are Joyce and Joshua. Yeap, June, Jackie, Joyce and Joshua, the 4Js are rocking the City of Singapore! They both arrived shortly after and continued shopping. We tried to cross-over to Tang's Plaza from Wisma Atria through an underpass located a stone's throw away but it was blocked off by the construction site and we were unable to find a proper way across the road. Sigh! But through the shopping complexes basement paths, we were able to cross-over and bought the missing item that June required. After that much of walking, we sat down for a drink before going out to take some pictures.

Picture taken by Joshua, outside Tang Plaza.

Merry Christmas

The ladies.

June with rotating christmas tree decoration.

Joyce and Joshua, taken by yours truly.

We took a cab to Clarke Quay and have our dinner at Hot Stones. It is basically raw meat or seafood which you cook-yourself on a block of hot stone to your liking. Due to the claimed large portions, we ordered an appetizer and two main courses for sharing for four person. The food was good, although I was expecting more haha..

Buffalo Wings

Pork, Yes.. that is Babi

Supreme Seafood Platter

Joyce cooking Pork :P

We called it a night after dinner and took separate cabs to our respective accommodations. My baby June was exhausted from too much walking that she was feeling rather sick, besides already sick with flu. I feel really sorry for her =( That concludes Day Two to the Merlion City.

Singapore | Day One

2008-11-26T01:30:00.009+08:00

Mentioned in previous posts, I was away from 21st to 23rd November 2008 to Singapore for a planned trip with my baby, June. The day started with the both of us catching our coach ride to Singapore.

We took the Aeroline (the name of the coach service) double decker coach from Bandar Utama (Beside 1Utama New Wing) at 8.00AM and I was quite impressed with the punctuality of the coach arriving on time and departing at the estimated time of arrival. Once the coach hit the PLUS North-South Highway, we were served breakfast which was a sandwich from Subway and any choice of hot drinks of coffee (black or white), tea and hot chocolate. The cabin crew was fantastic at serving us, the customers and passengers of the coach service. The ride was comfortable and well equipped with a monitor up front and one at the middle of the coach, with a lounge on the lower deck for five person at any one time and a toilet for light usage only. The journey from Bandar Utama, Malaysia to Harbourfront Centre, Singapore took approximately 5 hours including a stop at Pagoh R&R and the immigration check-points.

The Aeroline Double Decker Coach

Reaching Singapore, we took the MRT to Little India Station as it was the nearest to our hotel. The map outside the MRT wasn't that accurate so we ended up walking in the wrong direction. Anyhow after asking the locals there, we turned around and found the hotel just a road away from the MRT station so all was well. We stayed for two nights at Albert Court Hotel. After checking-in, freshening up and a short rest we head out to have lunch.

We walked down the street only to find Sim Lim Square and further down, the Bugis Village. Sim Lim Square is a landmark in Singapore for Computing and Electronic items, even photography items were available. Bugis Village on the other hand is where the shopping is all about. Coming across the immense amount of clothes, accessories and stuff for sale, June said she wants to shop there so bey tahan that our tummy is hungry, we quickly head to McDonalds for a quick lunch and return to Bugis Village to do some shopping.

McWings

MegaMac Burger!

June happy to fill her tummy at McDonalds

There are some differences with the McDonalds menu there in Singapore compared to Malaysia. June was raving about their McWings (or chicken wings) so that was what she ordered while I got myself this Mega Mac Burger. It is basically a Big Mac with 4 slices of meat. We both were full after the meal and with the energy, we head back to Bugis Village and shopped. We definitely did not return to the hotel empty handed ;)

Bugis Village

June loves her new cute bag!

Realizing we had an appointment with Chee Weng, a friend of June from her high school days, we rushed to the MRT Station for Ang Mo Kio MRT Station. I just love how efficient the MRT and the coverage of the strategic locations in Singapore, very unlike Malaysia's LRT. We met Chee Weng at our destination and proceed to have dinner at New York New York! in Ang Mo Kio Hub. It serves Western food and for some reason, there was a long queue =.= Chee Weng said it is nice? BTW Chee Weng, thanks for the dinner! :)

Camwhore at Little India MRT Station

Andy Lau of Singapore!

Smoked Salmon Sandwich?

Some fishy meal which I forget..

After dinner, the three of us took a van to Singapore's Night Safari. June told me it was nice, and since me and the Andy Lau of Singapore has not been there before, off we went. The van ride was horrible. Nevertheless, arriving at the venue about 20-30minutes later we went straight for the Tram Ride.

It was a 45minutes ride around the Night Safari, looking at the animals inside. Unfortunately flash photography was not allowed and with the moving tram, I was unable to capture any pictures worth displaying here. For the first time, i see a pack of Hyena in real life.. :s Some idiot at the rear of the tram that did not understand the "No Flash Photography" sign and numerous advice to not take picture with flash, went ahead and took a picture with flash which caught the attention of one of the Hyena which went staring at the passenger. I was hoping the Hyena would go chomp his head off since he did not put it to good use anyway. But of course that is impossible since I am pretty sure there was a large gap to prevent them from escaping.

After the tram ride, we went for the Night of the Creatures show which have numerous animals showing off their habitual instincts of sight, smell, hearing and other abilities in surviving in the wilderness. Once the show was over, we made our exit and gone our separate ways with Chee Weng. We took a bus ride to return to Tekka Mall which was just across the main street from our hotel. However, the bus missed a stop and with the passengers complaining about the designated stop, the bus made an illegal stop on the right side of the road (note: DANGEROUS) allowing us to exit which was great because our hotel is just a stones throw away :P

June with Andy Lau of Singapore

Compared to Andy Lau of Singapore...

I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame

Look ma, I got bunny ears!

Nyek nyek nyek.. nice ma?

Proof we've been to Night Safari!

One of the displays for camwhoring!

That concludes Day One in Singapore ;)

Pre-Birthday Celebrations for June

2008-11-24T22:31:00.005+08:00

Last Thursday, 20th November there was a pre-birthday celebration for my baby, June at her home. It was celebrated a day earlier because on the actual day itself, June and I, we both went for a trip down south to Singapore. Anyhow, the usual faces of Jonathan Fay, Hee Siang, Hui Ting, Joyce, Shook Ghee and I guess the more common face showing up is me la duh! :P

Around 9.30pm her friends arrived and we just gather around the table and started singing versions of the birthday song followed by the wishes and cutting of the cake. Did I mention that the cake tastes fantastic and was made by June's Mum? It is called the Oreo Cheese Cake! Her mum is superb at these baking things and every other week I get to have some really tasty-yummylicious food :D Go ahead and envy me :P

Oreo Cheese Cake!

Cake.. or June?!

Yay, time to makan cakey!

We took the opportunity to camwhore with the birthday girl also.. ong ma!

June and Friends!

"Eh, this cake yummy leh!"

Eat, Chat, Pose!

After munching the cake down to a few pieces of leftover, we adjourned to Hide for some chilling, chatting and drinking at the rather dimmed ambience.

Group at Hide!

Everyone left early because Friday is a working day, so here is a picture of June with the gifts from her lovely friends.

Presents galore!

look who's back!

2008-11-23T23:19:00.003+08:00

Yeap, I am back in Kuala Lumpur and I am extremely exhausted from the amount of walking I have in Singapore.

More on my trip to Singapore soon. In the meantime, allow me to rest and let my poor body recover from exhaustion :D But one way or another, I enjoyed my trip to Singapore so stay tuned for more updates as I shall be doing so in the coming week. I was supposed to like post something while I was away but due to some Internet-access issues, or more like "scare" reasons, I decided to just stay offline.

Quick Note n Birthday

2008-11-20T20:35:00.002+08:00

Just a short note that I will be away from Malaysia from 21-23 November 2008. I am visiting our neighbouring country located south of Malaysia, which is Singapore. It is a getaway from KL trip for relaxation, shopping and well, enjoyment. Not to mention as appreciation of my holidays while it lasts. More on this when I get back, but you might want to check my blog as my notebook is coming along with the trip this time around ;)

Oh yeah, please drop by June's blog and wish her Happy Birthday because 21 November is her BIRTHDAY! ;)

Pappa Kopitiam and Crystal Jade

2008-11-19T21:05:00.006+08:00

In my previous post I mentioned how tough it was to obtain tickets to the latest movies that hit the cinemas, especially on weekends which brought about this visit to Pappa Kopitiam at Kota Damansara. Initially the plan was to head to Niu Ze Xui (NZX) at Ara Damansara but I was unable to locate it and frustrated with that, we (June was with me) somehow ended up at Kota Damansara and after several rounds of this area, we decided to just chill at Pappa Kopitiam.

I thought it was yet another Old Town White Coffee type of outlet that is sprouting around the Klang Valley but I was wrong upon checking out their menu. There were a lot more variety to their food and beverages compared to the likes of Old Town White Coffee. Nuff said, we ordered one drink each and some snacks just to chew on.

Hot Honey Lemon Tea

Tau Fu Fah

Chicken Wings - RM4.50

Half-boiled Eggs

June loving her Tau Fu Fah

Enjoying my chicken =P

PS: I really like the half-boiled eggs. They taste a lot better compared to those that I have tasted at Old Town White Coffee outlets.

Website: Pappa Kopitiam

Kota Damansara Outlet
No 2-1, Jalan PJU 5/5
Dataran Sunway
Kota Damansara
47810 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel +603 6141 7128
Fax +603 6141 7129

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Last Sunday, I went with my family for dinner at Midvalley Megamall. Not knowing what to have for dinner, I suggested we check out the new Crystal Jade Restaurant at The Gardens Midvalley.

I was not sure what to expect but I was a bit worried when I opened the menu and was greeted with abalone dishes. Haha, I was not expecting that and my parents were wondering what to order as the waiter was not exactly helpful in advicing us what dishes to order. But nevertheless we ordered some "normal" dishes sufficient for four.

I'm not exactly sure the name of the dishes but there was this roasted duck, healthy fried rice, tiny fried fishes, vegetables in soup and this mushroom mixed with vegetable dish. Simple dishes but tastes good and reasonably priced. Even my mumbling younger sister seems to be speechless and enjoyed the food as much as the rest of us did. I missed out the pictures for the mushroom mixed with vegetable dish until it was too late. So I left that picture out :D

Roasted Duck on Hot Plate

Healthy Fried Rice

Vegetables in Soup

Small Fried Fishies

Crystal Jade @ The Gardens

Website: Crystal Jade Group

Mid Valley City Outlet
#T210-A 3rd Floor
The Gardens

Movie: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

2008-11-19T01:22:00.006+08:00

I just had my dose of movie at 1 Utama a couple of hours ago with June. We watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and I am pretty sure most of you would have already watched it earlier than me.

I hold watching the movie to weekdays so that it would be easier to get a hold of better seatings compared to weekends, well, especially weekends when you would have to practically rebut with others just to catch the show.

We enjoyed the movie and overall I would rate it 8 out of 10. It was really hilarious and quite a number of touching scenes. If you have not watch it yet, I would recommend this. There is nothing like a session of "I like to move it move it, I like to.. move it!" :D

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Actually, I watched James Bond: Quantum of Solace yesterday with June, Elaine and Elaine's friend Crystal. Elaine managed to get a hold of free tickets to the movie, but it was shown in TGV. Nevertheless, being a Malaysian, free is good :P So after dinner and picking up June, we headed to 1Utama just right on time to catch the movie.

Unfortunately, June commented that the movie was boring, and I cannot help but agree but I did enjoy the starting chasing scene between the Alfa Romeos and James Bond in his Aston Martin DBS. The exhaust notes are like music to my ears :D

My overall rating for the show? An average 5 out of 10.

Reduction in Petrol Prices

2008-11-18T13:08:00.003+08:00

Finally, more reduction to petrol and diesel prices by the Government.

This is due to the falling of global petroleum prices with a barrel of crude costing about US$56. Effective 18 November 2008 (after midnight 17 November 2008), the new pump price for RON97 is RM2.00 per litre while RON92 will be sold at RM1.90 per litre. Diesel is priced at RM1.90 per litre.

This is good news for petrol heads and many vehicle owners as this reduction will definitely ease the pockets.

Unfortunately for me, I was not aware of the news and had re-fueled the Myvi on Monday afternoon itself, as it was running low :( Nevertheless, it was good news in the long run anyway.

Surprise Birthday Dinner for Aaron

2008-11-18T01:48:00.009+08:00

Last Friday, me and the gang got together to give a surprise birthday dinner to our fellow friend, Aaron. His girlfriend, Corynne got a hold of me through SMS and through facebook's message threads, we gathered our gang and discuss on what to do for that eventful day.

On that very evening, there was quite a bad congestion in most major roads in the Klang Valley and due to that unfortunate circumstance some of our gang had to skip the surprise storming into the restaurant because they are late. Me being the co-organizer had to be early there so I was lucky that I left home early and made it to the meeting spot about 40minutes earlier.

Those of us that were there early, gathered at Starbucks 1Utama whilst waiting for the rest to arrive. Upon receiving the signal from Corynne, we made a move towards TGIF 1Utama and stormed in the restaurant to greet him. He was definitely surprised alright. What happened, I'll leave the pictures to do the talking ;)

Kevin Boey, June Lee and Alicia

Corynne and a speechless Aaron

Corynne and yet again, Aaron being speechless

From left: Alicia, Amanda, Moon, Kevin Boon and Kevin Boey

June and Corynne

Fried Calamari

Mac n Cheese Balls

Jack Daniel's Chicken

Aaron figuring out how to blow off the tricky candles

Birthday Boy

The face-to-cake technique

Aaron afraid of more surprises!

One for the album!

June and I couldn't resist the temptation :P

What happened, when we adjourned to The Laundry @ The Curve.

additions that complement my camera..

2008-11-16T02:26:00.008+08:00

Check out the new equipment that I bought to complement my camera equipment :) It is the SB-600 AF Speedlight from Nikon and the SanDisk VideoHD SDHC with 4GB capacity!

I bought the SB-600 speedlight for various reasons such as:

1. Not having speedier lenses
2. Low-light conditions
3. Creative photography

Without speed(or fast, whichever you prefer) lenses, regardless of what type of photographic interest that you have.. the probability of the captured subject, foreground or background that appears in the captured shot may end up blurred unintentionally due to environmental factors which is commonly due to low-light conditions.

This is due to the slower shutter speed that is required to allow sufficient light to be captured by the sensor for proper exposure of the subject and foreground/background (if any). With slower shutter speed, any movement within the captured frame from the opening and closing curtain will result in blur in the final picture. This is of course affected by the camera as well. If the image is taken handheld and not on a tripod, any slight movement may cause the final image having blur as well.

Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight packaging

Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight contents

Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight

Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight, front profile

Nikon SB-600 AF Speedlight, rear and side profile

Click here to view the specs of the speedlight.

As for the SanDisk VideoHD SDHC with 4GB capacity, I got it because I am afraid that the SanDisk SD Card with 2GB capacity which I got packaged with my Nikon D60 purchase may not be sufficient for continuous shooting and also for the speedier reading/saving speeds. I initially planned on getting the SanDisk Ultra II SDHC but because the shop ran out of stock, I had to settle for the SanDisk VideoHD SDHC which I was told is of similar performance with the Ultra II, if not better.

SanDisk VideoHD SDHC 4GB, taken with speedlight bouncing off ceiling

Click here to view the specs of the SDHC.

Search for Stolen Nissan Skyline GT-R34!

2008-11-15T13:24:00.005+08:00

I was out for a surprise dinner for Aaron yesterday when suddenly one of our friends got an SMS that Russ's Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R34 was stolen from his apartment at Damansara. Returning home from the celebrations, I checked through forums (zerotohundred.com) for more information and what I got is as follow:

At about 3:45pm today Russ’s spouse, Nicole received an SMS Alert from the car alarm company notifying of a rapid arm and disarming of the GT-R’s security system.

Curious, Nicole rushed home and was shocked to find the GT-R missing from its usual spot. Unfortunately the security guards weren’t aware of what happened. Coincidentally the CCTV system weren’t working at the time. Though other relevant people within the area are currently being interviewed for leads.

You can help simply by: notifying the police or 012-6900120 even trying to be a hero, if you do come across any hints, or better, a visual sighting of a:

* Skyline R34 GT-R
* Colour: Bayside Blue
* Number plate: JHM 35

The chassis number is: BNR34-004751
The engine number is: RB260725904

Places to also look:

* Industrial Areas, Warehouses
* Back lanes of shops and houses
* Doesn’t matter if you’re in Penang or Johor. Thieves travel. Fast.
* Chop Shops / Junkyards
* Suspicious Areas?

The owner will reward whoever that finds him his precious R34 GT-R or even provides usable information.

Pictures:

It was last seen travelling south past Melaka.

The owner has offered a sum of RM52,000 in hopes of getting his car back. Should the car be found almost bare and stripped down, there is still a reward of RM30,000.

what the buzz?

2008-11-13T23:49:00.002+08:00

I am pretty sure you must be wondering what the buzz all about with me being so excited. It may not be a big thing but to me, it is after going through so many years of studies. It seems that my final results were released yesterday but I was not aware of that until my friend Seng Tat told me about it. He told me the degree classifications were also released. I braced myself, and upon viewing the results I was tremendously happy that I had achieved Second Class Honours First Division. Although I had aimed at obtaining a First Class Honours, but the final year was really tough and I am really glad that I managed to secure a Second Upper for my degree. In other words, YAY! I AM FINALLY GRADUATING! =D

That was actually the second happy news that I received on the very same day. Despite it being the second happy news, I must say that it is indeed the happiest news I have ever received thus far :) It is a great achievement for me, for I have failed miserably in my previous studies in another course. Nevertheless, this achievement carries with it tears of joy and a huge relief.

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I have previously written a post on my experience attending my first interview right? Well, the first happy news came about in the morning when I received a call from the lovely lady from the HR Department of that company, informing me that my application into the company is successful and I am offered the job. I however told the lady I would give her a reply in the next few days for consideration.

Moments after that call, another company which I submitted my resume called me for a scheduled interview this coming Monday. I was given a brief description of the process and what documents to bring.

The company that called me up for an interview is actually a larger company and although I am happy, I can't seem to come up with a decision on this matter. I will probably see how I perform in the interview and aptitude test before making any rash decision. Both companies have equally good job prospective and therefore it boils down to the salary that the company has to offer. The first job will provide training as I will be learning a new programming language whereas the second job will most probably be the same old languages that i have learn in college.

Decisions, decision, decision. Hopefully all goes well, and I shall be joining the workforce of today's society =S (Although am not keen, but damn.. I still need to have to get food on the table right?)

OMG OMG OMG

2008-11-13T03:07:00.000+08:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

I just can't believe it.. It is so TRUE! *smack myself left and right*

wanna know more? wait patiently for tomorrow.. =D

happy moments

2008-11-12T01:39:00.003+08:00

I got a message through MSN from Aaron this morning enquiring about the recently launched Nikon D90 and after providing him the necessary details, he came and fetch me and together we went to KL to make the purchase. Aaron was super excited about the purchase despite it was for his brother :D After negotiating the price, he tested the camera. Since I was there, I took the opportunity to briefly test the Nikon Speedlight SB-600 because I was having problems with indoor shots. I did not make the purchase though. We left soon after payment. After my dinner, I joined Kevin Boey, Jen Shen, KC Ng, Aaron, Kevin Boon for their dinner at Seri Petaling. Well, only the first three were having their dinner because the rest of us had ours at home already.

Aaron's first touch of the Nikon D90

Speedlight aimed directly at Aaron

Speedlight bouncing off ceiling

Dinner at Seri Petaling

The dishes ordered by the three musketeers

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Last Saturday 8 November 2008 was my dad's friend's son's 21st birthday and there was a celebration at his house in Cheras. On that very day, it was also my friend Gabriel's birthday. This is the first time I attended two birthdays in a single day but luckily the timings were different. I went to my dad's friends place with my parents but in separate cars because I will have to leave early to head to Gabriel's party at Poppy Garden KL. Nothing special at the earlier birthday but Gabriel's birthday party was fantastic. I have not clubbed for over a year and it feels good to get my body groving to the tunes mixed by the deejay on deck that night. The whole group of us were there (except for Roy and his partner) and all of us definitely enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Gabriel for the invite and fantabulous night!

One for the Album

indulge and enjoy

2008-11-10T02:48:00.006+08:00

On Friday, I went with my girlfriend, June to have lunch at Nirvana Maju Restaurant that is located opposite Bangsar Village Shopping Complex at Bangsar. It is our second visit to the restaurant, after all it was a recommendation from some friends. A quick google revealed that the restaurant is indeed famous for its banana leaf rice meal. Our first visit there was not that enjoyable as we had to sit outside and coupled with the hot weather, it ruin the first impression. No doubt there are a lot of people eating there.

This second visit, we were there early.. before 12noon which we managed to find a table in the restaurant and placed our order. Apart from the regular banana leaf meal, we ordered deep fried calamari and mutton curry. Shortly after they brought the banana leaf, rice, three variety of vegetable with your choice of curry (chicken curry, fish curry or dhal). Mutton curry came next, with the deep fried calamari served a while later. It taste good indeed but was a bit surprised that the deep fried calamari is priced slightly on the high side. Here are some pictures:

Address:
No. 43, Jalan Telawi 3,
Bangsar Baru,
59100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-22878445

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After lunch, I accompanied June to the various boutiques at the Telawi Streets as she wanted to go shopping. After shopping, we went to the newly opened Chocolate Lounge at the Ground Floor of Bangsar Village Shopping Complex. I have had a taste of their hot chocolate drink (Ms Coco) at their franchise at 1Utama Shopping Complex and I really like it. June decide to treat me a drink so I ordered one of their cold chocolate drinks, called the Ms Coco Mocha Frappe. I prefer the hot one, but their cold version is just as good ;) Very thick taste of dark belgian chocolate, thus on the bitter side. But if you can't take the bitterness, there's always sugar available at the tables although i recommend enjoying the pure tastes of it. The pictures:

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When night falls, we head to Midvalley Megamall to catch a movie. I planned on watching Quantum of Solace, a James Bond movie but with the tickets selling out so fast I changed my mind and bought tickets for Bangkok Dangerous instead. Quite a number of people have said that it was not a good movie but I guess it is a subjective view as we find it pretty okay.

That's all for tonight :)