Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Lunch @ Menglembu East Ocean Restaurant & our Ipoh trip

I've heard Deardo talked about this restaurant like N times and finally I made it there with him and his family on a trip to Ipoh! Now their love for this restaurant was basically because their food are damn cheap and nice. But we went for some pricey stuff that day and here's what we had...I know I shouldn't be having shark fin soup but er... Just once in a long while! :)
Our very yummy abalone!
Stir-Fried French Beans with Salted Eggs! Yummy~!
Yam Basket, not my favourite...
'Jiu Pai Tofu'.
Very tender and yummy Dong Bo Yok!
Yeap the abalone itself already is RM38 per piece and the big bowl of shark fin soup was already RM48. But trust me, the rest of the dishes ranges only from RM6-RM12!!! Even Deardo's mum was like:"What? The yam basket dish only cost us 6 bucks! 'Yam gong loh...'(in Cantonese)!"Deardo's interpretation of "the food are delicious~!"
Not only that, taste wise, the dishes really impressed me! The shark fin soup (little shark fins but loads of crab meat and dried scallops), the abalone (very nice to chew, not really ruber-ish), the Dong Bo Yok (freaking tender and yummy) and Fried French Beans with Salted Eggs (OMG this smells and tastes soooooooo GOOD!!!) were all my favourite! Seriously, haven't had such impressive proper Chinese food for some time!
Really, you should give it a try whenever you're in Ipoh!

Menglembu East Ocean Restaurant
1-7, Hala Perusahaan Menglembu 17,
Menglembu,
31450 Ipoh,
Perak
Tel: 05-2829 457, 05-2829 435

Well that lunch pretty much summed up our trip to Ipoh before we headed back to Taiping.
But earlier, we started our day with some famous Foh San Dim Sums and because we really didn't have any idea where to go in Ipoh, we went to this Gunung Lang Recreation Park just to kill time and accidentally found out it was quite a cool place to visit! Here we are~~~! Gunung Lang!
Played model to Deardo Wong's car/toy/second gf.
Don't you just love my lovely red skirt???
The only group picture we took that day!
So it's a place with this beautiful mountains and all that, with a lake in the middle where you can pay 3 bucks as a return boat fare to travel over to the other side of the lake to a park where you get some kampung houses, a lighthouse, and some ostriches, kancil, monkeys and turkeys! Oh and by the way, there are so many BIG FAT fishes in the lake too! I was having fun feeding the fishes! There were so many GIANT ikan keli~! I love eating them!!! :p
I'm leaving on a jet-boat...
So raya feel, right???
Stomachache pose just for the fun of it. :p
Yeap, that's the so-called 'lighthouse'.
Nice view hey?
The ostriches were especially cute whenever they put their heads up to look at Deardo who was snapping pictures of them!
Obviously this Gunung Lang isn't a very famous tourist spot, at least from what we saw. But the entire atmosphere was really nice there. Like really green, really erm... NATURAL! Besides, the scenery from the top of the lighthouse was really amazing!!! How could people didn't realise that this is not too bad a place to visit in Ipoh?
I truly had fun there! :D

And then we also killed some time playing bowling at Ipoh Parade and bought some bloody yummy Kaya Puff.
Here's a funny name for a building/shop lot in Ipoh... Deardo's dad said this is the ex-Foh San! Surely a very 'dramatic' place, I think.

I hope it is still not too late to wish you all SELAMAT HARI RAYA, HAPPY MERDEKA & HAPPY HOLIDAY~!!! :D

Monday, August 29, 2011

Hello, this is a film review

Being home totally makes me freaking lazy to blog. Plus, I was really into the Glee mood even though I totally think the storyline is just too childish (yes, even though Kurt's story always, in fact never failed to make me tear, I'm so weird I like gay guys! LOL!).
So anywayz, my first blog post from home is going to be movie review of movies I've watched maybe 2 weeks ago... Not that they aren't good, just that I was really lazy, okay? So here we go...

Rise of the Planet of the Apes
I must admit because I've grown up watching more Chinese movies as a kid, I did not watch any of the earlier Planet of the Apes movies. So this is the very first one.
The story was something like how people misused chimpanzees as their experiment tool and in the end got it back from the chimpanzees. Yea I know, like so lame right? Well, maybe not lame, just that it's a bit lack of creativity. Like once you watched the beginning you already can predict what's coming next. Having to say that, I still like the message the movie wants to bring out to the public. At least it is straight to the point that you shall not mistreat animals. And I'm totally amazed by how technology has made the apes looks so human! I mean, the facial expression made them so creepy to watch!
Nothing to shout about in terms of acting, totally a waste of actors using James Franco and Freida Pinto. But I was surprised to see Tom Felton in it! Quite cool to see him landing jobs outside the Harry Porter series!
I know I sounded like I hate the movie at the beginning of the review, but actually, I think the movie is worth a watch. You just have to put aside the fact that the storyline is just not very fantastic.

武侠
武侠很文艺。可以这样讲吗?就是那些对白实在是深奥,再加上大部分的对白都是金城武的四川腔华语,更加头痛!只能非常专注的看字幕。虽然戏名为“武侠”,但其实主角是个屠夫,不是武侠,连武打戏份也很少。反而金城武的戏份比较多,或许应该叫“法医”才比较贴切。总之整个电影从故事编排到对白都很另类,或许这就是特别之处吧?我不会说不好看,但我相信不是所有观众都懂得欣赏。像我就觉得大概就是还好吧!
我是为了汤唯而看了这部电影,但失望的是有点大材小用的感觉。甄子丹就实在跳不出叶问的框框,但老实说句,这部算不错了,比陈真好很多!金城武确实是重点,确实演得蛮到位的。嘿嘿,帅哥会演戏!!! :p
我对陈可辛导演的电影不熟悉,但我感觉只要是陈导的粉丝一定会喜欢这部电影。若不是大概就大概看了有点lost啰!

Friday, August 26, 2011

My Mashed Potato Recipe, etc

Here's a mashed potato recipe taken from my best mate in Perth, Jodi and modified by yours truly. Deardo and I definitely love it and he was very surprised at how easy it was to get this done!

1) Cut potatoes into cubes and boil them in salt water for no less than 15 minutes.2) Drain the water off and start crushing and pressing them with a spatula or whatever useful kitchen tool you have in your kitchen.3) Sprinkle enough salt to taste.
4) To make the mashed potato really creamy, pour in appropriate amount of milk and continue stirring, pressing and crushing until you really see the mashed potato like really fluffy.5) Add in mixed herbs and pepper to give it an extra flavour so that the potato won't taste so plain.
And that's it! We had our mashed potato with the Sha Cha Sauce (yeap, we are so in love with that sauce!) Grilled Chicken and some greens as a side. I just love the texture of the mashed potato! :D

Ohyea! The dressing for our green salad! Also something I learned in Perth. Simply mix some olive oil, vinegar, soya sauce and sesame oil to make a very very yummy salad dressing! Oh yea... Careful with the amount of vinegar if you don't want your dressing to be too sour, just like how ours turned out to be! :p Very simple and erm... Asian salad dressing I guess...

On other occasion, we made another quick and lazy salad at home, which I won't say it's a healthy salad but I would say... Interesting and tempting salad!
I bought some Char Siew from a restaurant near work, lay them all over some lettuce, cherry tomatoes and hard boiled egg. Then sprinkle roasted almond over it. I did tell you it is tempting, didn't I?
Now, the best thing is, I didn't even need to worry about the dressing! I just poured the Char Siew sauce the restaurant gave over the salad to make it a Char Siew Salad! Okay, I agree it doesn't look very appetizing at this point... But taste wise, it was marvelous!
Not very healthy as a salad but well, I guess it's still a good and bloody simple recipe if you are on non-carb diet lor! :)

Going home for Raya. To all of you who are going home for Raya too, have a safe trip and drive safe!!! :D

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

Thanks to someone special, I was at Sunway Pyramid last night to watch the premiere of this movie (in fact it was my first ever premiere experience!). Though I did not follow the series (yes, not at all), I do listen to some of the tracks from the movies in which I also think the Glee guys sang Teenage Dream better than Katy Perry herself. Hence, I am definitely interested to see this 3D concert movie!
To start off, it is really just a concert, zero storyline with bits of backstage funny interviews and footage of some Glee fans' stories on how the show and the characters changed their lives. I am a little disappointed with the concert due to the song selection. But I do prefer it when they sing together as a group rather than solo performances. The solo performances were just too forgettable where surprisingly I thought Brittany's slutty performance was the most unforgettable one! I mean, it was sexy and nice choreography as compared to others that are too dry! I don't see why they have to give Rachel so much of air time cos I think her singing isn't fantastic. They should have let Mercedes and Kurt sing more! Oh by the way, my favourite character is Kurt even though I've never watched a single episode of the Glee series. Of course, best performance goes to the Warblers! Love their Acappella!!!
I love the footage of the Glee fans! They were all very encouraging asking you to be yourself, in a bloody cute way! Love it love it love it! Probably the best part of the entire movie, really! Okay, shouldn't forget the little boy who sang like Blaine! Just to give you an idea...


The Glee team better bloody hell pay that little boy for making the movie so cute to watch!!!
I give it an average of 3 out of 5 and it would have been more if they sing more of today's hit songs or super classic songs. I think it is a movie purely for 1) Glee fans, 2) musical fans and 3) those who love inspiring stories and don't think they sound like crap or too fake.
Now, can someone lend me Glee series??? I wanna watch!!!

P/S: I just found out Kurt (Chris Colfer) has won a Golden Globe (outdated me) for his performance in Glee! And I just soooooo love his speech!!!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

It's my pleasure to help! :)

Papo and Mamo are two very kind human being. Almost half the population in Taiping know them and almost all of those people have gotten some kinda help from them. Papo has always 'support' the lottery guy just because he feels bad for him selling lottery for decades. Mamo will always help her friends, who are normally senior citizens, to run some small errands like banking and posting letters, etc. Hence, it is natural that their daughter, me, know the importance of helping people.

Honestly, compare to my parent, I am not always a very helpful person. With people I know I sometimes think reward is necessary when I help. Like you know how you always tell people:"hey now you owe me a meal' after you've helped them? And I always think when you are too nice, people will take advantage of you easily! But when it comes to people who are poorer and less fortunate, I normally have a softer heart for them. In many ways, I am thankful for having such parent for bringing us up in that way. The only other time I really did community work was at the John Curtin Weekend, which I enjoyed so much that I joined for three years in a row!
There was one very unforgettable incident that I would like to share with you. Deardo and I were at a steamboat restaurant having dinner when this unable person came on a wheelchair (or was it just a trolley?) came outside the restaurant singing Hokkien song, begging for donations. His voice was terrible, but I felt really bad, especially when it started to rain and he actually continued to sing for a little while more and everybody else were ignoring him. I told Deardo I wanted to help, and passed him 5 bucks as he ran out to chase that fellar (who had to finally stop because of the rain) and gave him the little money. He came back and told me that was like the first time he did such thing. That sudden moment, we both had tears in our eyes.

I'm not saying Deardo doesn't have sense of sympathy, but to me, he is the other way round. He helped his friends and family without complains. Just that he was not used to donating and stuff like that. Well I can see that changing now actually. :)

Okay, enough of the introduction. So I first had the idea of sponsoring a child when I was studying in Perth. It was May 2005 when I was forced to cover arts and cultural events as part of my Print News assignment. I went through some interesting journey to reach a school in Subiaco to see the Watoto Children Choir performed. Read my experience here and how excited I was when my article got published in The Western Independent, Curtin's own community paper here. Apart from the cuteness of the kids and how good their singing was, I learned about Watoto. They are actually sort of like a village set up in Uganda for unfortunate children and even mothers, who are mostly victims of war and AIDS. So behind the smiling faces, there are so many sad stories. Most of the children have lost one or both their parents to AIDS. I felt dearly for them but at that time, as an international student, I couldn't afford to sponsor them and I've decided that this year for my birthday I would do something meaningful by really helping the kids in Watoto.Pictures taken 6 years ago when the Watoto Children Choir performed in Perth.
Yes! My article!!!
So yea, this basically came a bit early since my birthday is only coming next month but oh well, there shouldn't be time limit for charity! I'm officially a sponsor of the Watoto Babies starting July and all I need to do is pay HKD250, which is just RM95 per month and that will enable the Watoto people to help orphaned babies, who are often dumped in rubbish bins, roadside and churches in Uganda. Unlike the children sponsorship, I don't sponsor one person but to all babies and I thought that is a good idea because honestly, I don't want the kid that I sponsor to be forced to write letter to me, you see what I mean? And I guess it is also extremely important to help these kids when there are younger, making sure they have enough to just grow up healthily. My very cool welcome pack! I'm part of Watoto now! :D
I was absolutely excited when I received the welcome pack from Watoto Hong Kong office. While as a trial, I picked to sponsor for a period of six months. But I don't see any reason to stop after that.

One of my favourite tracks sang by the Watoto Children Choir! :)

I am obviously not writing this to tell you how nice or how kind I am. I think I'm just very excited to share because it has been years I wanted to do this and to finally start doing it just made we feel really good! And plus, RM95 per month to help those who are in need? I believe you can also help them up! Check them out at the Watoto website now~! :)

The next thing I really hope to do is to see them perform live again. If I could I would really hope that I am powerful enough to get them to come to KL to perform! And next next thing? Perhaps a visit to the Watoto Village? That sounds great, right? ;)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tokyo Street & its yummy lunch @ Suki-Ya

Even though I might have other things to share, I chose to blog about the Tokyo Street first because I think to many, it is chic to visit that new place in Pavilion. So, being kiasu, I can now proudly say:"I'VE BEEN TO TOKYO STREET ALREADY!!!" :pNot the real Tokyo but people are so excited some had to queue-up just to take pictures!
Of course, that includes us!
Nah, this is the spot where you really have to wait for your turn to stand and snap a pic!
Well, Tokyo Street has some shops and brands that you already know such as Daiso and Kindori Ice-Cream, together with some new brands, including a bubble tea and mochi stall! OMG I just missed the mochi, must go back and try one day! It is not as fancy as I've expected since you've probably seen most of the stuff on sale there, but yeah it's a good change and it has certainly succeeded in attracting the crowd! Yeah, we realised we forgot to claim our chance to share our wishes to try our luck to win a trip!
The 'Tokyo Street'...
Yeah, the 'Tokyo washroom'. LOL!
Well of course dining wise, the restaurants and cafes are all brand new names. But honestly, it is not difficult to figure out which ones are the crowd's favourite. One's the Hokkaido Santouka Ramen that KY has already introduced and I always wonder if it is because of his recommendation that the restaurant is so freaking busy! The queue seems to be never-ending! But Deardo being Deardo, prefer to go by quantity. So we chose the second most famous restaurant, Suki-Ya Eat all you can Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu, which is right next to the ramen shop. How the restaurant looks like at 11.30am.
The buffet costs RM29.80 per person and you get free flow of thinly sliced lamb, beef and chicken meat, plus a 'healthy bar' where you can get tofu, vege, variety of mushrooms, yong tofu etc to add into your Shabu Shabu pot. Also, there is an ice-cream machine for some free flow ice-cream too!He better make sure he is amaze by the soup, not the auntie!
The little healthy bar where kiasu Malaysians go crazy fighting for their food!
They have three choices of soup bases - clear soup, bean paste and spicy (ok I created the names according to my memory). We chose the clear soup and bean paste soup and we obviously still prefer the clear soup. Most of the vege and mushrooms were very fresh and nice but the main thing, which is the meat are also very impressive! We both love the lamb the most! They don't have the smelly lamb smell that you always get with lamb and you can taste how fresh and how nicely-cut they are! Simply delicious that we wallup three plates of it! Ah, together with three plates of beef, we told ourselves our cholesterol level is now high enough for some extra work-outs! :pVery excited about the meat lor!!!
I think by now you already realised how much I love steamboat!
Okay, was just really in a mood for pictures I think.
We totally fell in love with the Misotare Sauce on the right! Spicy, sweet, salty and nutty! Yumzzz...
I was very excited about having my first scoop of ice-cream after months! Bloody cough worms...
We truly enjoyed the buffet and some of their staff were quite helpful and friendly. And with that price, if you have more of the meat, it is actually quite worth it! The only down side was that we were very unfortunate to be seated near a Cina-pek family who talk and sneeze loudly and their spoiled kids just made it worst! Gaahhh... Cannot tahan those people! Worst, outside, the DJ was announcing all kinda promotion the grocery shop is having... Spoiled the whole atmosphere!!! This is how the restaurant looks like at about 1.30pm.
The queue at Suki-Ya can be very bad too, though not as bad as the one next door. But yea, you better be there earlier! They open at 11.30am for lunch and 5pm for dinner.

Suki-Ya
Tokyo Street
Level 6, Pavilion KL.
Tel: 03-2141 4272