Awana Skyway

All these years it's been in existence and I had never once set foot in it until recently. For the longest time I had assumed it had been put out of commission because well...it's old. So 2 weeks back Jen and I decided to give it a try because our regular Genting skyway was on maintenance. I must confess that I have always thought it was bigger than it actually was. You know like fit in 25-30 people. Nevertheless I was eager to give one of the oldest cable cars in Malaysia a go. (Jen needed some persuasion though. haha) I must say that the ride was rather slow, uneventful and almost "sceneryless." The only interesting part was when we were passing through a halfway station, we were mere inches away from knocking into the wall. Jen almost went beserk. Oh well, now I can at least say I tried it. =)

Blocoli anyone?

From time to time when I see funny signs, I'd like to capture them. This shot was taken at a chinese restaurant nearby my place. I can see why it was spelt this way...I'm sure you do to. The one below is one I captured at a Japanese 5 dollar store. Well, I'm sure we all want to do an accurate work with our mouse. =)

Cookies Craze

As you already know, Jen's into baking and stuff. She was into muffins a while ago and then cupcakes and the  current fad happens to be cookies. She's already spent a small fortune building up her empire of cookie cutters and  other related baking paraphernalia. So perhaps one day she will have this sprawling cookie conglomerate that will span over many continents. haha... well, maybe we conquer cheras first-lah. Anyway the picture you see is one of her first batches. Not too bad I must say. 

Tripod Tangle

Got me a new toy today. Have been wanting to get a tripod for sometime now (so that my trusty Sony won't be so lonely. haha) Happened to be around section 14 today so I decided to pop into Digital Mall to go hunting for one. Most of them looked expensive so I didn't bother to ask.  Stumbled into Avers and found one which I thought wah....not bad huh only RM39. To be sure I asked the sales guy whether it could be used for all cameras. He confidently replied YES. It's all standard one...So I confidently bought it. Right, so when I tried putting my DSLR on it just now, I realised that there was no screw cap at the bottom to fasten my camera. I tried looking for an instruction manual but it was no where to be found. Only then did I realise that hmmm....maybe this is for a point and shoot. I guess it still works just that, it'll probably take me an hour to screw it on. =)

A day of goodbyes

Farewell Emmy

A big thank you to KLIA Ekspres for releasing 1000 tickets for only RM1 per trip. It came just at the right time. What could've cost us a whopping RM140 only came up to RM4 for a round trip to KLIA for 2. Fantastic. Today was the day we said goodbye to a dear friend, Emmy. She may be small sized but she has a huge heart. Well, Jen decided to bake a personalized cookie for her to munch on while on the long flight in to Dublin. Well goodbye Emmy, have a great time there. May your days be filled with many wonderful and pleasant experiences. (of which perhaps some might include the company of a handsome Irish boy perhaps? haha) Take care of yourself and know that He who watches over you neither slumbers nor sleeps...but for you please sleep-lah. You medics can get a little carried away when hitting the books. We all miss you already. God bless.

Laksa Lover

I am reminded of the song which Ron Kenoly sang with Darlene entitled "You Are" (Click on the link to listen) I know I'm bordering sacrilegious to even remotely try to suggest that this song describes my relationship with curry laksa. However, if you have tasted great laksa before, you too would be inspired to pen similar words. I recently had a decent bowl of it at La Manila MidValley. Those of you who know me, know that when it comes to my favourite dish, I have set pretty high standards. For it to be listed here means that it has passed my stringent tastebud test. :) It is not the best I have tasted but I would consider it to be in the top 5 range for me. The laksa stall at O&S still comes up tops for me and the Segambut comes in a close 2nd. So if you've come across some really good ones, do drop me a note. I'd like to go check it out. 

Jun Kee Restaurant

Wow, I just realized that my last 5 posts was about food. This was not intentional I assure you, just that in the last couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of eating at a few decent joints and I thought why not share the love? haha... Well, so this new place (it's not really new actually, just that it is new to me) is located at Taman Midah Cheras and it's called Jun Kee. Now the cool thing about this place is that right now they are having a special promotion until the month of Sept and each dish only cost RM8 - RM12 depending on what you order. Do note that this promotion is only available on the weekdays. I was there about 4 days ago and it had a pretty decent crowd. There were 7 of us and we ordered like 6 dishes including a fish and the bill only came up to RM96. Dishes were really tasty and if you do go, order the kangkung belacan. Not many places do this well, and this is one place that does. Will be going to another new place tomorrow, keep watch for post on it. =)

You won't believe what I found !

Yesterday while taking a walk at the Ramadan Bazaar at Len Seng Cheras, I happen to stumble upon a rather unique stall. I was looking for my ayam percik which I usually do during the fasting month but somehow the stall that was selling it didn't seem to appeal to me that much so I moved on, it was then that I saw this stall which was selling chicken wing and right next to it was what you are seeing in the picture now. Ok, for those of you who can't seem to figure what it is, let's just say that it's somewhere in the lower region of the chicken. haha...well needless to say I got me a stick, wanted to get more though. In retrospect I think I should have. Well there's always tomorrow. Bishop's nose anyone? 

Lau Heong Seafood Restaurant

When you think of food in Sentul, what comes to mind? Well there is this seafood restaurant called Lau Heong Seafood Restaurant that serves a number of killer dishes. Apparently the must haves here are the Claypot Fish Head Currry, Pig Trotters (Ohhh my), Creamy Sotong/Prawns, Nam Yue Fried Chicken and the soup based lala... Not too hard to find if you're familiar with Sentul. If you're not, there are a few left and right turns. The restaurant is actually near the Sentul LRT Station. Need I say more... Lau Heong Seafood Restaurant

Downtown KLIA Wantan Mee

Sluurp! Check out the Siew Yuk man. For those of you who think that good food cannot be found at KLIA, you just might be wrong. There is this obscure wantan mee - chicken rice place at Downtown KLIA opposite Concorde Inn Sepang. As you drive through the arch entrance, you'd probably won't expect to find anything remotely appealing there but but as with most good food joints, you could be situated at the ends of the earth and somehow people will hear about it and find their way there, especially the Chinese. If there is one thing we know how to enjoy, it is great food. Apparently all the KLIA taxi drivers know about this place and I can see why. Having arrived there we almost could not find a table. They don't take orders from the table, you'd have to line up. Needless no holds were barred when ordering the food. We had dry wantan mee, yong tau foo, steamed white chicken, chicken feet and wantan. (I think they ran out of char siew)  The next time you are around the area, you might want to drop by. I've taken the liberty to locate the place for you on google maps so that you don't have to. Click Here. Bon Appetite! Next post is on another awesome place I went to which will send your tastebuds to heaven. haha... 

Lookout Point Seafood

Walking down the road to Jerusalem today...this image  sort of reminds me of a song I sung many years ago at Putra Stadium. Okok. so I'm not exactly walking and neither does this road lead to Jerusalem but if you stay around Cheras, you would undoubtedly have heard of this place before. I've been there like 3 times but till now I am still not sure what it is called. All I know is that this place gets really crowded especially in the weekends, you would find tour buses, luxury cars and you'd have to get there really early or you might just find yourself waiting in line to get a table and mind you, there are lots and lots of tables. All I know is that it's near the Cheras Lookout point and it's on the way to Hulu Langat or something. To get to the restaurant you'd have to look for the puny little signboard which says Fish/Vegi Farm by the roadside and turn in, about 400 meters of tarred and dirt road later you reach a landing where the restaurant is situated. There is a huge fish pond, the buzz of a generator and a humongous load of cars. The food there is quite tasty and fresh cause they breed their own fish and grow their own vegetables. We were there recently to give a farewell to Emmy and Ben. Perhaps if you are around the area you might give it a try? I found a blog post about it, you can get the address from there. Seafood Vegetable Farm Restaurant Cheras

Kenwood Surprise

Wow. This is the first time I'm having a video instead of an image. Well, it all started yesterday evening after dinner that Jen and I decided to go to Ikano since we were around that area. If you've ever been to that place during the weekend you would know how close to impossible it is to find a car park. Anyway, I managed to find a spot somewhere which was sort of a 'self designated' extension of a parking bay. Well, one has to get creative at times like this. Anyway, it was decided that Jen and I would meet at Harvey Norman. Apparently they were having some sort of sale going on and Jen saw on the sales catalogue (those are dangerous things I tell you) that a particular mixer had like a Rm300 discount which I thought was quite impressive.

She had been complaining about a cheap RM40 hand mixer I had bought her many months ago which at the lowest speed would send her dough flying all over the place, so it was clearly unsuitable. Apparently mixing pastry requires some level of delicateness for it to come out just right. But what do I know? I'm only familiar with the consumption part not the commingling part. What I can tell you is that we walked in with no intention of making any purchase, just wanted to look at the kind of models they had and what the discounted one looked like. Well as you can see from the video that it didn't quite work out as planned. About 5 minutes before the shutters came down, out we came with a trolley carrying a brand new Kenwood Prospero. I won't say how much damage it has caused except that the banks allowed a 12 month interest free installment. So that was probably the only reason why I felt more at ease to go ahead with the purchase. That and with the hope that the machine might potentially help her produce even better stuff. =)

Restore

Read something cool yesterday. Hope it will be a blessing to someone who might be facing some tough times. 

When life caves in, you do not need reasons, you need comfort. You do not need some answers, you need Someone. Jesus often does not come with an explanation, he comes to us with His presence. We are always seeking the reason. We want to know why. Like Job, we finally want God to just tell us WHAT IS GOING ON? But God does not reveal His plan, he reveals Himself. He comes to us as warmth when we are cold, fellowship when we are alone, strength when we are weak, peace when we are troubled, courage when we are afraid, songs when we are sad and bread when we are hungry. 

He is with us on our journeys. He is there when we are home. He sits with us at our table. He knows about funerals and weddings, commencements and hospitals, jails and unemployment, labor and laughter, rest and tears. He knows because He is with us. He comes to us again and again. - Bob Benson -

The Painting On Your Wall

Chances are if you are a parent and if your little child passes you a drawing that he did as a gift to you, you'd most likely keep it for a very long time even though you know it's not exactly the best drawing in the neighbourhood. Why? Because the value is not so much in the gift itself but the person who gave the gift. Just read a really cool story from Rob Bell's book. He said that at the tender age of 5, he once made a Christmas present for his dad out of a piece of black and green drainpipe glued to a flat gray rock with little white stones resting on the inside of it. 30 years later when he went to his dad's office, it was still there resting on one of his shelves. He still had it and had never gotten rid of it. Then came the lightbulb moment for me...he said "How you treat creation reflects how you feel about the creator" When a human being is mistreated, objectified or neglected, when they are treated as less than human, these actions are against God. Because how you treat creation reflects how you feel about the CREATOR. Perhaps some food for thought for us huh?

Oatmeal Muffins?

Jen decided after dinner that she was going to do some baking. All she said to me was that she was going to bake something. She never told me what it was and I never asked. Roughly 2 hours later she came into the study where I was doing some work and presented me with 2 freshly baked oatmeal, blueberry muffins. Boy, did they look good. OK. I have to confess that I am NOT an oatmeal fan so I would have preferred it minus the oatmeal nevertheless, it was yet another baking success. Looks like I might have to get her that Kitchen Aid Mixer after all. hehe... shucks. My neck still hurts. =(

Fondue s'il vous plaît?

Hot Melted Chocolate and Premium Ice-Cream. Ohh...what more could a person ask for? Such a divinely inspired combination! My only conclusion is that it could only have existed in the mind of God and He was gracious enough to allow us mere mortals the pleasure of enjoying something so exquisite as this.

This picture was taken at a Haagen Daz outlet at the Sunway Pyramid. If' I'm not wrong you can find this beauty at all their outlets. If your wallet can't take the stress, you can also opt for an alternative at Baskin Robbins...yummmmmm also spectacular. =)

Smokin' Hot Nasi Lemak

I couldn't quite remember when I had this plate of nasi lemak but I was going through my phone trying to clear unwanted images when I stumbled upon this picture. As always, I'm usually too impatient to wait before I sink my teeth into good food, resulting in a not so aesthetically pleasing photograph. Sorry!

But trust me, the nasi lemak here rocks. Even my parents love it coming here. Mind you, it's not cheap but at least they're generous with the servings.  Take a bite off the nice big juicy fried chicken thigh and you'll know what I mean. They also have other stuff like sambal prawns, rendang, etc. Quite a few sides to choose from. It can get quite crowded, so you might want to be early. Go ahead, give it a try this weekend. Village Park Restaurant is at  No.5, Jalan SS21/37,Damansara Utama, PJ. (Oh, they're closed in the evenings by the way) - If you need a map, click here : Map to Village Park Restaurant

An Octogenarian's Day

It was a happy day for Grandma Tang last Sunday. I believe it's not because she turned 80 (Seriously, I don't know anyone who's glad at being older after they reach 30) but more so because all her kids, her inlaws, almost all her grandkids (and the sole grandkid inlaw!) and her 10 month old great-grandkid was there to celebrate the occasion. You should've seen her face beaming from ear to ear when we sang her a birthday song. Priceless. The desires of the elderly I've come to realize are simple : that in their advanced age they would still be able to see and enjoy the company of their family. Seeing their family together and knowing that their kids and the generation after them are doing well is better than a thousand birthday cakes. This is a value our younger generation needs to embrace with a greater intensity.

At 80, Grandma Tang is mentally sharper than a sword. During each visit she would usually get into conversation with me about the good ol' days and even give me  pointers on how to cook! She once recounted a story of how she cycled herself to the hospital to deliver one of her 5 kids. And I remember going "Wow! What is this woman made of??" Well, just glad to have been able to participate in this auspicious occasion. :) 

Cupcakes from Heaven

Jen decided to bake some cupcakes the other day for Sivin's gathering last Friday. She decided to try out her own little recipe this time, having been an ardent and devout follower of Jamie Oliver and the Joy of Baking for sometime. I guess she has managed to pick up enough of the basics to attempt a little adventure on her own. As her QC officer, I must say that her recent attempt deserves an A+. While it might not look very stylo milo, you'd have to sink your teeth into one to truly appreciate its fine quality. These beauties were made with 78% coco premium quality chocolates, hand beaten and you would be pleased to know that the vanilla extract used was homemade. Just today I finished the last 2 of it. Slurp! Yum. Yum. As my little nephew would say "No More!" That's right, no more left. Finito! Well, it does look like her baking fad is here to stay. (thank God!) Keep a look out here for more surprises soon. To be unveiled at a later date!

They came and they conquered...almost

OK. I know the picture is kinda crappy but it's the best my trusty Nokia 2300 could do. (Besides I think we were not supposed to take pictures. A regulation practiced in many establishments that still kinda baffles me. Why ah?) Anyway, the day finally came when Jen and I were supposed to go watch the Canto-pop concert "All About Men" at the Arena of Stars ,Genting. We decided to go a day earlier and booked ourselves into Awana to chill out. Ah...I love the cold weather. KL has become somewhat like a perpetual sauna. Saturday came and we had some time to kill before the concert so we went to the Strawberry Farm to get some fresh strawberries and cherry tomatoes which was quite a bargain really. It was going for like RM1 for 100g! As you can see from the picture, it doesn't look too bad. (Resembles grapes don't you think?) We took the skyway to Genting and spent the next few hours at Pedas Springs while waiting for the concert to begin. As expected, the concert was Full House. Screaming fans all over the place and then there's me... wondering why I was there. No-lah it wasn't so bad Just that they sang a few rather obvious off notes. All in all it was quite an interesting experience, one that I don't think I'll repeat. haha....

One Year Older. Hopefully Wiser

Two days ago I had one extra candle to blow out. I remember when I was much younger, I would get very excited at the fact that I was getting older. In fact, I was constantly hoping that my age would accelerate. I had desperately yearned for freedom. Freedom to drive a car, stay out late, hang out with friends... freedom which I saw my sister having but was sadly evading me. So the day finally came when I could do all those things. Now that I had tasted it, I wish time would decelerate and go backwards. Let me assure you, nearing the 4 decade mark is not fun! Oh, how I long for those carefree years. haha... I am quite sure I am not the only one with such inclinations. We are such fickle minded people I tell you. =)
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all my family and friends who left me  smses and birthday wishes on Facebook (without which many would have probably forgotten. hehe) and not to forget my darling wife who gave me a nice spa treat, dinner at Tony Romas (see pic) and to wrap up the perfect evening, tickets to watch Robin Hood which incidentally was released on that night itself. How splendid! Ah....what more could I ask for? I am truly a blessed man. Indeed I have much to thank God for. 

The other 2 women in my life...

Haha...bet that caught your attention huh! Ah...Mother's Day, a day where Mothers around the world are honored and celebrated. Apparently the origin of Mother's Day goes back to the era of the Greeks and Romans. But  the more recent history of the special day dates back to the 1600s in England. Here, a day known as "Mothering Sunday" was celebrated annually on the fourth Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) to honor all mothers. After a prayer service in church to honor the Virgin Mary, children brought gifts and flowers to pay tribute to their own mothers. Our gifts to our moms this year is our prayer that God will continue to grant them the best of health, that they will constantly experience the wonderful embrace of His love and of course, some lovely home baked cookies from Jen as well. What did I do? Well, I supplied the raw material and was the quality control officer. =) It was a well day spent indeed. Had a bottomless lunch buffet at Legend Hotel where mum-in-law entered a penalty kick competition in an attempt to win a 2 Days 1 Night stay at Legend, but I think her GPS was slightly off that day... nevertheless we love You Mums. Thanks for all that you've done, your love, care, support, reprimands, sacrifices have made us to be who we are today. This is our Tribute to you. 

The most embarrassing day of my life

Yesterday has got to be like the most embarrassing day of my life. Was at Pavillion  with Jen to meet up with her good buddies from school for dinner when I decided that I needed to use the toilet. (I bet you know where this is heading) So I absent-mindedly walked into the long hallway leading to the restrooms not really looking properly at the 'puny' little symbols stuck by the wall of the entrances. (YES, I BLAME THEM! THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE!) and the first thing that entered my mind was "Ummm...where are the urinals ah?" How come this toilet don't have one?" My eyes were scanning around trying to locate them. The next thing was, how come all the men are wearing skirts? It took me a good 4 seconds to realize that I WAS IN THE WRONG TOILET!! My feet immediately developed a mind of its own, did an about turn and dashed out as fast as it could. As I was leaving I could hear little giggles. Boy, what a horrible nightmare. I think I shall have phobias going to public toilets now. haha... =)

To GO or NOT to go?

Realized that I hadn't blogged in a while. Kinda busy I guess, trying to improve the look of cutiDeals and movie review. PHP and CSS is not easy I tell you. So far I've managed to bluff my way into making some minor tweaks here and there but the more complex stuff is...well complex. On the lookout for some prize  sponsors. So if you know of anyone who might like to give out free hotel stays or movie tickets in exchange for some publicity, do drop me a note. Anyway back to me ramblings. I was driving along the main Kota D'sara road today on my way back from a meeting when I reached a traffic light which had both the red and green light on, I was thinking to myself, which one is it, red or green? Should I go or stop. Well I decided to go cause the car next to me was going. haha...that goes to show that we so influenced by peer pressure. Go with the flow you know. Okok...I know in this instance it made sense to go. You know, there was this story about an experiment done which sort of proved the power of peer pressure. Hmmm...maybe I'll safe that for another time. Need to hit the road!

No Strings Attached

In this day and age, it is very hard to find one party offering another something good or of value for nothing in return. The term "no strings attached" is an idiom which basically means there no special demands or limits that you have to accept. Usually there would be some hidden clause, phrase or small print within the contract which one has to fulfill in order for one to fully enjoy the product or service. I remember on one occasion I was given a voucher which entitled me to claim an expensive product for just about 10% of the selling price. I was young and naive and believed that something of this nature could possibly exist. Someone once said that "If something is too good to be true, it probably is." I see the wisdom in that statement. I am more careful now of course. Anyway, back to my story. I was so excited about the possibility of obtaining that product at the unbeatable price that I dragged my colleague along with me (who was skeptical about the offer) to the shopping center which was about 40 minutes drive from my office. I stepped in with anticipation looking at the product which I was about to possess for almost nothing, only to be crushed when the sales staff told me "I'm sorry sir, you can only get this product at this price if you buy RM3000 worth of our other products." My colleague was almost laughing his head off and I was sadly fuming mad. Needless to say I walked out empty handed. The P1 Wimax comes with no strings attached...literally!

- Project Alpha Season 2 is presented by Adidas Action 3 and supported by P1 and MAS.

My New Office Chair

After a long, exhaustive and tiring search, I've finally found my true love....opps, I mean my spanking brand new office chair. My trips to the junk store turned out to be futile as those guys charge almost  just as much for a brand new one, so I thought nah... why pay so much for a used one when I can get a new one for almost the same price? So my search for the illusive office chair continued. After dropping some friends off last night, Jen and I made our way to IKEA. You see, I had been sort of eyeing this chair for some time but due to its price I wanted to opt for a similar low back model which was half the price. BUT last night after testing out both the chairs for a million times (Jen would testify to that) I made the gut wrenching decision to go for this model instead. It was painful but I must say that I DON'T REGRET IT AT ALL. If you are ever in IKEA go sit on Moses and Verner at the Office Furniture section and you can literally feel the difference! I am a happy man.

Earned my 1st Dollar through Sponsored Tweets

Hahaha...seriously, I never thought it would happen to me, at least not so soon. I earned my first dollar through Sponsored Tweets. I joined this program sometime in August last year through a referral from John Chow a big time Internet Marketer who resides in Canada. The guy earns like US40k a month through his blog! If you look at my cutiDeals twitter list, I don't exactly have that a fantastic list of followers. In fact I'm sure many of you have a much bigger list. Well, anyway last week I was pleasantly surprised to find a mail from them saying that an advertiser would like me to make a tweet for them for 1 buck. So I did. It's not much I know but it's a good start! haha...so if your twitter account is more than 60 days old, you have at least 50 followers and have made at least 100 updates, you qualify to join. Well, what are you waiting for, Click here : Take me to Sponsored Tweets

Taiping Laksa

Went back to Taiping last weekend with Jen and my in-laws for the Cheng Beng festival. (Wanted to visit grandma as we didn't get a chance to do that during the recent New Year. I do kinda enjoy going to Taiping, you can see lot's of old buildings, greenery...quite serene surroundings quite unlike KL. The food is cheap too. The moment we arrived we headed straight for Port Weld or now more commonly known as Kuala Sepetang. It is reputed to have one of the best laksas in Taiping and I can see why. The place was already full when we arrived with people lining up to order. Thankfully we managed to get a table. The only reason why the bowl was almost empty was because I was so intent on enjoying it that I almost forgot to take a picture of it. haha... Needless to say, I was quite satisfied with the quality and you know how high my laksa standard is. =) 

I Wanna Be a Project Alpha TV Star!

Hey guys, have you ever wondered whether you have a shot at becoming a celebrity? Maybe you've been watching American Idol or the Biggest Loser Club Asia and you've kinda secretly fantasized about how nice it would be if you had just a minute of their spotlight. Perhaps when you were growing up, you dreamed of becoming a Hollywood superstar and imagined yourself having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I know I have, well... in a way. As a young boy of 9 I was obsessed with becoming Christopher Reeve aka Superman. (ok, you can get off the floor and stop the hysterical laughter now...)  Somehow the thought of being faster than a speeding bullet and leaping tall buildings on a single bound appealed to me then. I even went as far as dressing the part. (I shall spare you the specifics, for  fear of giving you a hernia from all the laughing!) Well, that aside, if you really, really want to be a famous star, I've got good news, there just might be a chance for you to get some limelight. =) Project Alpha Season 2 is offering YOU (yes you...my potential for stardom and celebrity status blog reader) a chance to be featured as a Guest Blogger in the next season of Project Alpha. How? Very simple only, just click on this link I wanna be a Project Alpha TV Star  - Project Alpha Season 2 is presented by Adidas Action 3 and supported by P1 and MAS. Auditions are now open! Check it out at www.projectalpha.com.my/auditions or projectalpha.ruumz.com/groups

No Sweat

March 24, 2010. Bill knew he had a date with destiny. For 6 long grueling months he had been pushing himself hard, many times to the point of exhaustion. His body had screamed in pain yelling for him to stop but he knew he had to endure those moments of agony if he wanted to emerge as the champion of the inter-school marathon, a victory he so badly wanted, not so much for himself but for his father who had just passed away barely a year ago. 

His father had been his source of inspiration, his cheering mate. Despite the many setbacks and failures in his life, dad had never given up on him. When he was just 8, Bill had met with a horrifying car accident which took the life of his beloved mom and left him almost crippled. He was devastated and fell into depression. After months and months of physiotherapy, painful surgeries and counselling, he was able to recover fully. Dad was there for him throughout his ordeal despite having to deal with his own pain. "This is for you dad!" He muttered softly under his breath as he crossed the finish line beating 480 other contestants to clinch the coveted Inter-School Marathon prize. No Sweat at all, absolutely no sweat at all... – Project Alpha Season 2 is presented by Adidas Action 3 and supported by P1 and MAS. Auditions are now open! Check it out at www.projectalpha.com.my/auditions

All About Men Live in Genting

I don't believe this is happening. I don't know how it happened or how I got persuaded but yesterday I braved KL's afternoon traffic  and went all the way to Genting One Hub at Wisma Genting to get 2 tickets for the upcoming All About Men concert in Genting which will be held at the Arena of Stars on the 22nd of March 2010. The last time Jen and I were there was for Kenny G's live concert (which incidentally was attended by the Yang diPertuan Agong as well. Cool eh?) We didn't get great seats then so I made sure that I get proper ones this time. Jen was jumping up and down when I first told her about this concert and well as they say...the rest is history. I still don't really know what kind of event this is cause they didn't say. I know Ron sings but the others...what will they do? Perhaps we will get some re-enactments of sorts. Oh well, these TVB guys are pretty creative, I'm sure they'll think of something. Have you seen their game shows? Hilarious! Well if you're interested, I'd suggest you get to Genting One Hub cause the online booking is broken. I believe the PS3 seats (cheapest ones) are still available, but they should be going out fast though... hmmm I should bring a whistle and one of those big pointing hands...and  not to forget fluorescent sticks too. haha =)

Interesting Discovery

The other day we were tuned in to the History Channel on Astro to catch the documentary on the controversy surrounding the Shroud of Turin, widely believed to be the burial cloth of Christ. Scientists are convinced that it was a very clever forgery, possibly by the legendary renaissance genius Leornardo Da Vinci. It was ascertained that he did not paint it so how did he do it? Well, I shall not get into specifics but it has something to do with optics, It is believed that he used an optic lens to burn the image onto the cloth, much like what happens in a camera (and our eye sight). The other interesting bit of 'revelation' was that the facial image burned on the cloth was that of himself! Not only that, it appears that the famous Mona Lisa painting could likely be a potrait of himself too based on the closeness of the facial structure. (see pic) Interesting!

No Pet Allow

A few posts back I remembered writing about this strange sign I saw outside the Jusco Supermarket where it said "Free Ice Available for Purchase" Well just about 2 days ago, Jen and I decided to eat at this Yong Tau Foo restaurant opposite Tmn Connaught. (it's awesome by the way!) You should try it out if you're in the area. They have really good Yong Tau Foo, Ipoh Hor Fun, Lam Mee, etc. Well, when we sat down, I noticed another interesting sign. "No Pet Allow" Hmmm... I think we need to do something about our standard of English. But enough about the sign, it's the food which is what I came for. For those interested here's how to get there : Khuang Li Yong Tau Foo

My Favourite Surfing Spot

Most people have a favourite surfing spot. For some it's at home, for others at cyber cafes. If you ask me, I would say that my favourite surfing spot would be the Starbucks Coffee outlet inside Borders at Gardens MidValley. The reason why it's my favourite is because not many people know about it and therefore it's not packed and crowded like the rest of the other 2 outlets at the MidValley area. Besides, it's very cosily located at the back corner of Borders which makes it extremely ideal for me. Secluded from the rest of the world and free from disturbances one can surf in solitude and peace. What more can you ask for? The internet speed is usually good because there's not many people using up all the bandwidth, plug points are quite ample (if not you can request for an extension) So yeah, I'm sure you can see why it's a great place for undisturbed surfing. The PLUS POINT is that I can sip down my favourite nice piping hot Cafe Latte while surfing. I have at times literally sat there for a good 4-5 hours surfing while waiting for my wife to finish her shopping or her facial. See it's perfect. =) The other good thing about that location is that they actually allow you to bring in up to 3 or 4 magazines for browsing. So...if that is not ideal, I don't know what is!! - Project Alpha Season 2 is presented by Adidas Action 3 and supported by P1 and MAS

Biggest Loser Cheras

Due to strong encouragement from friends, I've decided to embark on my own biggest loser programme. After watching them loose like 40-60 Kilos, I have been somewhat inspired. If they can do it, so can I. So I've aptly named mine : Biggest Loser Club Cheras. =) Although I don't need to loose nearly as much as them, nevertheless I need to knock of some Ks to get out  that perfectly chiseled body that's hiding beneath all the extra layers...hahaha what a JOKE. Well, for starters I've come up with my own desktop background to keep me motivated. I've got Dave and Christine yelling at me daily and some weight loss tips at the side. I'm pleased to announce that I began with an hour of cardio, push-ups and crunches yesterday evening. My arms hurt like there's no tomorrow now. =(  I shall keep you guys posted on my progress. Had my first weigh in today. 

Tsunami Steamboat

In case you're wondering if that's the name of the steamboat restaurant I went to...No it's not. It's the aftermath of unrestrained hunger.. The hunger of 11 guys and gals to be exact. Kane being solely responsible for at least 80% of it. haha....

It seems apparent that this place is quite popular with the locals. They have like 4-5 different kinds of soups. (one called 'Malat 'which you need to stay away from. yeeesh) The spread is quite ok, with lots to choose from. The highlights are the huge crabs that people go grabbing for once the workers brings them out. Reminds me of the chicken wings at Yuen Steamboat (another favourite)  Oh, they have BBQ lamb too! You should give it a try if you're nearby Sunway. I don't have the address but it's called Big Pot Steamboat....I think...or some kind of pot. 

Purchase for Free

I was walking with Jen at MidValley the other day and stumbled upon this interesting signboard right outside the Jusco Supermarket.   There's this huge Not For Consumption Ice Machine somewhere in the middle.

I guess the person who did this must be quite undecided whether they should charge for ice or not. haha.... 

Next time you drop by, have a look. =)

Bluetooth is TOOTHLESS!

For sometime now I had wanted to get a bluetooth adaptor. My lappie unfortunately doesn't come with a built in one. So a few days ago, while at MidValley I decided to pop into an IT shop to purchase one. There were 3 choices. 2 were RM29.90 and 1 was RM18... For me it was a no brainer. Jen sometimes can't understand why I always choose the cheapest things. To her, cheap means lousy. Till this day we still have debates about my choices and hers. Anyway, I got home and tried to get it installed because I had this funny picture on my phone which I am dying to show you guys. Well, it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out why the picture is not up yet. Needless to say, my bluetooth is toothless! Well, some support guy is going to get a nasty email soon...nah just kidding. Me nasty? Perhaps just a toothless growl. =)

Gong Xi Fa Cai

It's been said that the Yee Sang dish originated from Singapore somewhere in 1964. Don't really know much about the history but if you like to read about it, you can go to to wiki Yusheng. Anyway I look forward to Chinese New Year each year as I'm quite fond of this dish and you can usually only find it during the New Year Period. As usual, the Lee family came together on the eve of CNY for our reunion dinner. We would do it ala pot bless style and each family would bring or cook a different dish to be shared by all. This year it was decided that we would meet at Uncle Arthur's house. I managed to get some sparklers this year from the pasar malam and the kids had a gala time with them. Daren managed to capture some good moments... Just posted it on the CNY2010 album.Go have a look.

What in the world is this?

OK. So most of you might be wondering by now, what in the world is this? For those of you who are percussionists or drummers, you might recognize what these are... although they're not exactly the conventional type. For the longest time I've been wanting to get a pair of...ok, they are called drum mallets but have been reluctant to cause they are not exactly in the cheap dept. The cheapest set I found costs over RM80 and most are over a hundred ringgit! If you want to do a nice mellow dampened cymbal roll, you've gotta have mallets man, the sticks just won't cut it. Anyway, I was walking around Curve today after dinner and stumbled upon this Japanese shop opposite Beat Box (Yamaha) and it was selling all kinds of strange things like most Jap shops do and at one corner I found these beauties. I thought to myself...hmmm...it just might work, the head is made of rubber, the sticks are pretty sturdy, WHY NOT? So I bought them and it only cost me RM10 !! Was tempted to pop over to Yamaha to have a go but nah... they might kick me out. So for you drummers who want a cheaper alternative, go look there. It's called finger sticks. =)

Kapersky blocked my adsense

Kapersky antivirus blocked my google adsense today. OK, it might sound funny to you but if you run a site that sorta depends on google adsense for an income, it's NOT SO FUNNY after all... Yeah so I was doing some updates to cutideals today and suddently when I tried to refresh it to review what I did, up came this small little box at the bottom saying that "page2googlesyndication js blah, blah, blah URL was deemed malicious and was denied" At first I thought it was a joke, google ads malicious? What's going on?? Anyway I did some searches and apparently this happened quite extensively on the 25th of Jan 2010. Why it didn't come up on my pc then baffles me! Needless to say I was a little 'concerned'. Tried doing an update, crossed my fingers and hope it would fix things but it didn't. Anyway, I left it alone as I had other stuff to work on. Well, it's 3pm now and I think the problem is solved. Maybe Kapersky was flooded calls and emails from angry adsense dependent client like me. haha... Don't get me wrong. I really like Kapersky and I think it's a great software compared to the other resource hungry antiviruses. (You know what I'm talking about) Perhaps someone was just having a bad day... Anyway it's solved. I'm happy! =)

My Vacation Spots

Decided to compile a slide presentation using my trusty Movie Maker program yesterday. Somehow for some reason, the picture gallery plugins in Wordpress decided to give me a hard time so I thought I might as well do something more interesting. So began my little project to do a slideshow. Decided to pick out some pictures from some of the holidays that Jen and I went to in the past 2 years. Didn't realize that we went to so many places. Anyway it's done and I've posted in on Youtube. Decided to do a little promo for cutideals as well... hehehe... see if you can see my crocs. =)  Check it out here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwBaWzwf2RI

Looking for a nice cheap compact camera

Wow! I've not posted in a month! I must be really really...busy. hehe. Have been thinking about getting a small mini compact camera for my blogging activities. Something small enough for me to slip into my pocket and carry around. Cause you never know when the "konica" moment may arrive. =) The camera on my phone sucks big time. It's might as well be 0.000003 megapixels with the kind of quality I get from it. And my DSLR is too big to lug along. So I thought hmmmm....why not get a compact camera? That way I can still take quality pics and it's small enough to carry around. The only thing is that I don't really want to spend very much $$$ on it, something simple would do. Any suggestions? Some might ask, why not get a good camera phone. Well, I'm open to that but aren't they expensive?