Happy Birthday Alex!

It's been 5 years now. This is your 5th birthday you're celebrating with God. We miss having you around especially during festive seasons and birthdays. Until this day, I still question Him why you were taken away from us so soon. Though the questions are not answered but I belief in His great purposes He has for us.

It has been a bumpy road ever since your departure. But of course, time eases the pain a little. Still, it is not the same without you. Whenever friendly strangers ask papa and mommy about their kids, I can see their sadden expression. Very often, they brushed off the question by answering "Only one child." It's not that they don't acknowledge you, it's because it aches us thinking back the past.

Lately I've been feeling worst! Especially when my big day is getting closer. It just break my heart knowing you won't be around to witness the occasion. But this I know, that you will be smiling down from where you are blessing the both of us.

Happy Birthday baby brother!

Love,
Sis

New entertainment set!

Recently, dad bought a new TV replacing our already-out-of-order TV. Well, not really out of order, just that the TV is not responding to the remote control anymore, the volume is constantly soft and we could only adjust from the TV itself. Oh yes, it's getting old too :P He decided to get an LCD TV.



After been waiting patiently for a day, our new tv set finally arrived! 2 good men delivered to our doorstep and assembled the entire set for us.



Best Denki was having a promotion and we got a complimentary home theater system to go with our new LCD TV.



Approximately 30 minutes later, our new TV and home theater are working! The surround system of the home theater is great! The picture on the TV is so much clearer now that I can even see pimples on the girls :D

Eating out: Nyonya

We were in PJ earlier today and decided to have an authentic Nyonya cuisine (halal) for lunch. We headed to Nyonya Restaurant in SS2. This restaurant has been in operation for as long as I can remember. I was still in my primary school when I first eat there.


Otak-otak, RM4.50

The otak-otak is really good. Big fish chunks hidden in the herbs. Comes highly recommended for those who loves otak-otak. But then again, who doesn't? :P


Sayur Paku, RM12

This Paku vegetables is best fried with sambal belacan. This style of cooking is good too. A lot of minced dried shrimps are added into it.


Beef Rendang, RM15

The cubed beef are cooked for hours. It is really tender and filled with the rendang aroma. Best to eat with rice!


Sambal Petai Udang, RM15.50

This dish is amazingly good! But a tad too oily though. There are many shrimps, lots of onions and lotsa sambal!

When I was younger, I hated petai. Not everyone can get used to its acquired taste. As you all know, petai is also known as stink beans. LoL! As I've grow older, my tastebuds changes slightly and I don't mind having a spoonsful of petai these days. FYI, it is very good for those with diabetes and migraine.



As for dessert, I ordered the Cendol, RM3.30. It is served in such a small bowl. Also, I've had better cendol elsewhere, ie: Madam Kwan's! Should have ordered its renown onde-onde. Made a mistake there, tsk!

Do try this restaurant out. It also does catering.


Nyonya Restaurant (Opposite RHB Bank)
52, Jalan SS2/24
47300 PJ
Tel: 7875 9709

Equatorial's Food Tasting

I'd like to dedicate this entry specially to my dearest Shally, kekekee.

The wedding banquet of my side is less than a month's away. So, I booked a table and 10 of us headed to Equatorial for food tasting.



Seen here are my grandparents and parents. The table has been decorated exactly as the VIP table for the banquet. There are several napkins folds to choose from. I've selected the swan for VIP table and bird-of-paradise for other tables.



This is the sample of the menu. During the actual banquet, the menu will be printed in Chinese and English.



Combination Platter: A combination of 3 hot dishes and a chilled dish.



Soup: Shark's fin soup with crab meat and roe. It is a little watery compared to other places, which is good. That shows how little starch that was added into it.



Chicken: Roasted chicken in two styles. The chef remove most of the breasts meat and made kerabu out of it. It tasted really appetizing with its sour and sweetness of mango, cucumber and onion.



Fish: Steamed red garoupa with shredded ginger and tangerine skin. The fish is really fresh and it is not overcooked.



Prawn: Wok fried prawn in spicy brown sauce. The chef should refine the taste as it lacked the spicyness and wok-hei. Otherwise, it tasted good too.



Vegetables: Braised abalone & sea cucumber with broccoli. It was pretty bland. For those who are health conscious, the less additives and preservative, the better. For those who isn't, there is always extra soy-sauce on the table :D



Rice: Lotus leaf rice with dried seafood. This is by far the best lotus leaf rice I've eaten. The rice is nicely cooked, it wasn't too salty, lots of dried seafood and .... yummy! 'nuff said!



Dessert: Shanghai pancake and mini bun. Both of these were pretty basic. The fillings is red bean paste.



Dessert: Chilled sea coconut with ginseng. It's pretty good too. Lots of dates and dried longan. But I find the sea coconut were bit too soft. It supposed to be chewy.

There, first look on our 9-course banquet. It may looked great and delicious now. Hopefully it stays that way on the actual night. But if it isn't, you also know how hotel food tastes like right? Haha, don't put too much hope! See ya on that day!

Eating out: La Esquina

La Esquina is a Spanish's tapas corner located in Era Walk, Seremban. I was in town today to meet up with my girls from college. It has been over a year since I last met them, tsk!


Masa del Pollo, RM10

Tapas is Spanish appetizers that can be served hot or cold. This is chicken chunks dip in olive oil with garlic, onion, capsicum cubes. It is very garlicky. Also, it is served with a dash of wine.


Seta de Boton, RM8

This is Garlic Button Mushroom. It tasted almost the same as the chicken. Just that, this is mushroom and that was chicken, tsk! Though that, it tasted pretty good if you'd dip baguette into it.



This garlic bread is really one of a kind! I make better garlic bread! Haha, look at the coarsely diced garlic and capsicum.


Pollo Asado, RM21

Anne ordered the chicken thigh topped with vegetables. I tried a bite and it's creamy and tangy. I think it'll taste much better once squeezed with lemon.


Cangrejo Basque, RM18

Yen Yen and Michelle ordered the same dish, crab casserole. Again, I grabbed a bite. It tasted quite good, bit on the salty side, which is great to eat with the vegetables and/or sliced baguette.


Tortilla omelet, RM18

Hui Bao and I shared this dish. It is basically omelet made to the shape of a tortilla wrap. In it, there's potato, chicken, onion and capsicum. Tasted quite bland, should have ordered the crab casserole :P

If you've notice by now, most dishes are served with baguette. I don't remember having alot of baguette when having meals in Spain. This is definitely Malaysianized Spanish food. I'd definitely drop by elsewhere next time, haha. That's what I rate this eatery.



It's great meeting my girls again. Seen here are Anne, Michelle, Yen Yen and Hui Bao. Thanks for coming out to meet me! *hugs*


La Esquina
Jalan Era Walk
Era Square
Seremban
Tel: 06 768 7405

Fwd: Divorce letters!

I've just received this funny email from my aunt! I'm sure it has been circulating around for some time now. To those who haven't seen it, read it. By the way, we women aren't nasty :P

Dear Wife,

I'm writing you this letter to tell you that I'm leaving you forever. I've been a good man to you for 7 years & I have nothing to show for it. These last 2 weeks have been hell.
Your boss called to tell me that you quit your job today & that was the last straw. Last week, you came home & didn't even notice I had a new haircut, had cooked your favorite meal & even wore a brand new pair of silk boxers.
You ate in 2 minutes, & went straight to sleep after watching all of your soaps.
You don't tell me you love me anymore; you don't want sex or anything that connects us as husband & wife. Either you're cheating on me or you don't love me anymore; whatever! The case, I'm gone.

Your EX-Husband
P.S. Don't try to find me. Your SISTER & I are moving away to West Virginia together! Have a great life!

Dear Ex-Husband,

Nothing has made my day more than receiving your letter.It's true you & I have been married for 7 years, although a good man is a far cry from what you've been.
I watch my soaps so much because they drown out your constant whining & griping. Too bad that doesn't work.
I DID notice when you got a hair cut last week, but the 1st thing that came to mind was 'You look just like a girl!' Since my mother raised me not to say anything if you can't say something nice, I didn't comment. And when you cooked my favorite meal, you must have gotten me confused with MY SISTER, because I stopped eating pork 7 years ago.

About those new silk boxers: I turned away from you because the $49.99 price tag was still on them. I prayed it was a coincidence that my sister had just borrowed $50 from me that morning. After all of this, I still loved you & felt we could work it out.
So when I hit the lotto for 10 million dollars, I quit my job & bought us 2 tickets to Jamaica.

But when I got home you were gone. Everything happens for a reason, I guess.
I hope you have the fulfilling life you always wanted.

My lawyer said that the letter you wrote ensures you won't get a dime from me.

So take care.

Signed,
Your Ex-Wife, Rich As Hell & Free!

P.S. I don't know if I ever told you this, but my sister Carla was born Carl. I hope that's not a problem.

Eating out: Penang House

Bestie and I were in Cyberjayae to meet 2 college buddies. However, Keith didn't show up and his excuse was "I need to go gym! I had chicken rice today!" Oh my. I didn't know that he's obsessed with his body :P Or may be that was just an excuse :P So that's just left three of us and decided to go Penang House, in Street Mall.



Hui Bao and Kiean ordered the Penang Nasi Lemak. I think it tasted like any other nasi lemak. I haven't had this nasi lemak for over a year. I've forgotten how it tastes like.



I had the Fried Wantan Mee. This is the ONLY place I know that serves fried wantan noodles, and it's good! Really good! No joke! Kiean has been working in Cyberjaya for years and had never tried this. Guess what, both Hui Bao and Kiean loved it. Haha. It's a little moist, which is good as wantan mee needs some moist in it.



This is Kiean! It's great to see you again. Can't wait to see you soon :D

New gizmo in town!

I'm not the first to blog about PhotoFunia. It has been making waves and crashing our shores lately. Tons of people have been making use of this intelligent gizmo and all I hear is good feedback. Of course, it was my turn to try it out.

I didn't try most of the effects though. I prefer sketches and building artworks the most! I find them really surreal. Take a look!



Some of my friends have commented that I was like doing a commercial for toothpaste company, shampoo, etc. So I guess this photo suits this building effect :D



Look at this sketch artwork! It's an amazing piece! I wish I had my face sketched when I was touring Europe last time. Well, at least I know how it'll turn out now. I shall then anticipate future sketches with ... err... more anticipation! Haha!

Eating out: Oversea Restaurant

We dined at Oversea Restaurant during lunch today. Everywhere was packed and it almost rained this afternoon. So, we headed to JayaOne as the carpark is covered. This particular branch of Oversea was previously located at AmCorp Mall before moving to this strategic location.

We tried the set lunch that includes 4 dishes that is priced at RM128++



Oversea Restaurant's renown BBQ Pork! Caramelized coating wrapped every inch of the pork belly. Pork lovers out there would definitely love this. Then there's roast duck too. Really crispy skin and came with accompanying plum sauce.



Next up is the pan-fried Cod fish in soy sauce. I love Cod fish! The tender meat is filled with fatty omega goodness, hehe. This style of cooking is good too, rather than the normal steaming. It is rather sweet because of the caramelized onion underneath the fish.



This is claypot glass noodles with Chinese cabbage. In it, there's ginkgo, tau kan and dried oyster. It tasted a little weird to me, it was added with fu yue. Though the taste wasn't strong, but I prefer the natural taste of Chinese cabbage.



Lastly, there's beancurd. The gravy on the tofu is really nice. There's diced garlic, ginger, chilis, dried shrimps and tau cheong. The rich flavoring is really good as tofu is basically bland. It goes really well with rice. By now, I was stuffed! I didn't even finish the bowl of rice.

Oh yes, we started off with a bowl of soup of the day, which was lin ngau(lotus root) soup. It ended with a complimentary fruit platter (honeydew, watermelon, mango).

There are daily set lunches for 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 pax. Drop by and try it out.

Raya Open Houses!

I went to 4 Raya open houses alone today! And I'm not even Malay! Here are the photos from 2 houses: M&M and D'Sentral neighbourhood (my housing area).



Look at the crowd! It's only 6.45pm! By 8pm, the tables were fully occupied.



There were many many hawker stalls to cater M&M's guests tonight.



For one, it's this dessert stall. Free advertisement :P Pretty good. I'll definitely try them out when I'm at Midvalley the next time.



Then there's a mamak stall, making roti canai and tosai.



Briyani rice and dhal. Other than these, there were char kuey teow, satay, roast lamb, drinks, popiah, curry noodles, lontong and much more. And you know what I ate? Only 1 popiah! Yea, that's what I get after attending 2 other Raya open houses before this :/



About an hour later, we left and came back to our house and attended the next one.



More food!



And more!



Mom and I were seated with neighbour living next to us. It was enjoyable getting together once a year :)

Eating out: Jusco Supermarket

Was at Midvalley today for my fortnightly facial appointment. After a 2-hour of rejuvenating moment, I came out with a growling stomach. My parents have already had their lunch and I can't imagine myself having to eat alone. Then, I decided to buy food from Jusco supermarket.


Potato salad, RM2.50

It's been awhile since I last had potato salad. It's pretty good too, though I think it lacks of black pepper. There are potato cubes, carrots and fresh onions. Best to eat when chilled.


Skewers, RM5.60

Other than that, I had some skewers too. Seen here are fish balls, vegetable balls and minced chicken balls. Fuh, that's whole lot of balls there :P They're quite good too. The Japanese sauce tasted sweet too, quite like the sauce that usually served on unagi.

Yeap, that was basically a simple lunch. Got tired of the usual ricem noodle meal. Opted something simple and hey, I like simple food too :D