Makan-makan: Tsim Tung Restaurant@Pandan Indah

Location: Tsim Tung Restaurant, Pandan Indah, corner shop, the blocks of shops (near The Store) opposite Menara Maxisegar.
Food variety: Hong Kong style

30-Dec Fri, Dinner
Me and N went for dinner at this Hongkie restaurant. This exterior view of this restaurant is eye catching, and you can't miss it when you go round the block of shophouses. With X'mas just passed, the chrimassy decorations are still there, with snow-painted glass windows, x'mas deco, a "warm" fireplace...everything's just look warm and cosy inside. The menu is typical of all Hongkies restaurants (eg. Kim Gary, Tong Luo Wan, etc.).

Here's what we tried:

• Chicken Chop Baked Rice with Yin Yong Sauce
• Pork Chop Baked Rice with Yin Yong Sauce
• Mango Milk Shake
• Banana Milk Shake
• Strawberry Ice dessert

Makan-makan: Pepper soup meehun

Last Christmas morning, dad was waking everyone up instead of sleeping in. I was thinking "ok...where does he intend to have our family breakfast this morning? He must have eaten something yummy..."

So we went to this restaurant at Imbi area, it's called Restoran Yok Yak (Seafood). Frankly, we've been to this restaurant numerous times before this to have their yummy Bak Kut Teh. By the way, this restaurant is at Jalan Barat, same row as the Tai Thong restaurant. It's in one of the streets behind Jalan Imbi.

This time we were trying their Pepper Soup Meehun. This dish is cooked in a claypot, the meehun used is not the usual fare we have, insteat it used the thick meehun (cantonese = cho mai fun). The meehun is cooked in the pepper soup, with pieces of chicken and some garnishing of pasrley. Dad said the chef also added some Chinese wine to enhance the flavour. The dish looked a bit plain, but it was quite tasty. And I guess if eaten on a rainy day, the bowl of steamy meehun would definitely warm up your body and tingles your tastebud with its peppery taste!

That aside, we also ordered steam fish head, yaw char kuai and Pai guat (rib bones served in bakuteh soup). And of course, a pot of hot chinese tea to wash away the stuffed and oily feeling. Well, if you don't fancy the meehun, you could always order their bakuteh. Or probably seafood (i've never tried this anyway).

Oh, by the way, this restaurant is quite popular. It can be quite packed in the mornings, especially during weekends and holidays.

Makan-makan: Yummy cakes at Secret Recipe

27-12-05, Secret Recipe (Ampang Point) - We had a small get together for yen's birthday. It was supposed to be just me and yen had a quiet little chit chat. But then I thought it would be more fun to invite the rest of the gang along. :P So we had Michelle, Adrian, Vay and Mun Yee who came to join us that night.

We gals definitely had a fun nite chit chatting (work, make up, scuba diving, blah blah blah...). Well, you see the point of me choosing this place as the meeting point was to enjoy the cakes...yum yum...!

We decided to order a piece of cake each and put the sinful thought aside for the night. And we're busy snapping pictures away before we sink our teeth into the delicious cakes. Here's a pic of what we ordered (clockwise, from top left)...Marble Cheese, Blueberry Chees, Chocolate Banana and Mango Delight. Looks yummy rite? And they got us all sweet and stuffed for the night :D

Masak-masak: Mom's Tomato Sauce Mee

This is one of favourite dish from mom. She usually cooks it during the weekends. It is quite easy to prepare and the ingredients are easily available from the supermarket. You might be surprised that mom uses no oil for this dish. That's her way of healthy cooking.



Tomato Sauce Mee (serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 pieces of tauhu (cut to small cubes)
1 red onion (cut)
12-15 prawns (peeled and cleaned)
1 tomato (cut to small cubes)
1 packet of yellow noodles (washed)
tomato sauce (to taste)
1 tblsp black soy sauce (kicap pekat)
1/2 cup of water
3-4 branches of sawi vegetable (optional)
a small bowl of beansprouts (taugeh)
lime (to squeeze over the noodle when served)

Steps:
1. Put the tauhu and cut onions to the heated wok (no oil needed, you are "toasting" the tauhu and onions).
2. Add the tomato and prawns. Stir fry it.
3. Add noodles then pour some tomato sauce and black soy sauce to taste.
4. Add the water for a little gravy. Stir and mix.
5. Add the vegetable and beansprouts last.
6. Stir fry it for about 5-8 minutes.
7. Dish out and serve with the cut lime.

Nix's on Fear Factor homepage

Dear friends,

Thanks to those of you who catch Nix's episode on TV last Friday :D Here's the homepage of Fear Factor for Nix's group. Visit it before they update the page for the next episode ;-)

Must Watch: Fear Factor (Nix's episode)

Dear friends,

Must See Tonight @ Ntv 7 8:30PM
Catch Nix on action in Fear Factor Malaysia!
Fearless Nix!!!!!!

Don't miss the show! Muahahaha!!! =D



:: Read my previous posts on Fear Factor ::
* Fear Is Not a Factor * Fear Factor Round 1
* Fear Factor Round 2 & 3 * Fear Factor gathering at Sunway

Bookworm: Deception Point

Just started reading this book yesterday. I'm a big fan of this author Dan Brown. He's really good at the story plots, twists and turns of events, the facts, all the mysteries, codes...it just gets you hooked! Just like what it said on the cover - "It's unputdownable!".

Earlier on during my trip to Glasgow, I'd bought "Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" for UK$3.99 at Borders. It was really a good deal, the books were selling for half price! I wished I could buy all four books, but it was too heavy for my luggage.

After finishing the two books, I can't wait to get my hands on the remaining two - Digital Fortress and Deception Point. I bought them at MPH. Yeah, a little pricier, but the books are worth the money. This current book is the last one to go... Hope I can finish it before the end of the year comes!

During one of my visits to Popular bookstore, I flipped through "The Da Vinci Code, Special Illustrated Edition". That was after I finished reading the non illustrated version of the book. It was simply inspiring and exciting to see what Brown described in his story. The drawings, museums, and the "holy grail". This book is pricey though. I suggest you read the non illustrated version, and flip through the illustrated version in the bookstore. Haha... But of course, if you lots of money to spare, buy yourself the illustrated copy.

Have any of you read Brown's books? You can share your reviews with me! My favourites are still DVC and A&D =D

Coffee to the rescue!

Post lunch hours are usually the sleepy hours...it would be so nice if the company have this "siesta" (*A nap in the early afternoon) policy...hahaha...

"Wakey, wakey...stop dreaming gal! You ain't gonna get any siesta."

So here comes Nescafe to the rescue...deng deng deng..! :P

The smell of coffee never fail to perk me up and get my brain and mind into work. I think caffeine should be branded "God's Greatest Gift to the Worker". Remember this cute mug? It sures feel extra good sipping coffee from a mug given by mom. it just gives me the "home-sweet-home" feel.

Do you have anything on your office desk that reminds you of home?

Makan-makan: Hakka Mee @ Pandan Indah

A business colleague of mine recently recommended me a place to eat Hakka Mee. This signboard in front of the restaurant is called "Zhang Ji Hakka Mee", or look out for "Dai Ga Sek" (literal translation = everybody eats). The place is at Pandan Indah, the row of shophouses near the Pantai Hospital. It is the same row as the Proton showroom. Or if you know Pandan Indah's Steven's Corner, this shop is at the opposite road. There's also a famous "Pan Mee" shop along the row of shophouses.

Till now, I do not know of other nice places to try out Hakka Mee. So the nearest that I know is this shop, which serves quite yummy noodles. The noodles are handmade, which makes it special. The noodle is garnished with minced chicken, served dry style ("gon lou" / no soup). And depending on what you order, it comes with pork balls too. There are many choices to choose from the menu, all using the Hakka handmade noodle - curry mee, thick noodles ("chou mien"), thin noodle ("sang yao mien"), and there's also the "shui gao" (dumplings).

The price is normal fare, RM 3.60 (small), RM4.20 (big) for a bowl of noodles. The dumplings is RM 3.50 a bowl (you get 5 dumplings). The place is quite clean too. It looks like a popular place to have lunch.

So if you happen to drop by Pandan Indah, do drop by this shop to try the Hakka mee. I'm planning to try the "Pan Mee" sometime soon...and see what's attracting people to the shop. Oh, and there's also a shop just round the corner, selling beef noodles too...hehehe...yum yum...

My 26th birthday!

17-12-05 --> My birthday!!!

Birthdays are supposed to be happy and joyful with greetings from your family and friends, celebrations and oh, of course, the surprises! (* that's the fun part). Just to share with you how I celebrated my birthday...

Close view of the yummy cake :P~
(if you are wondering, the cute yellow bear deco is not edible, it's a toy which can be put on your pen/pencil. A creative add-on from Nix ;-) )

Me cutting the birthday cake (courtesy of Nix)
Me making a wish...."big big bonu$" :P

Having dinner at the revolving restaurant at KL Tower. We had buffet dinner, they served starters, Malaysian food, limited sushi selection, and very delicious looking desserts. The waiters and waitresses were very polite and courteous. And there was a pianist who played and sang some nice songs. Though I must say the price doesn't come cheap for a "dinner aloft the city" (RM101.20++ per adult). (*very nice place to enjoy your dinner, looked like I wasn't the only birthday gal there, there were a few of them celebrating with me as well! A popular place for birthday celebrations I guess.)

Got this cute mug from mom, sis and bro. Photo of Nix's pressie will not be available though... :P

Company Annual Dinner at Flinders, Mont Kiara

Attended my company's annual dinner at Flinders. A nice restaurant near our Mont Kiara office which serves gourmet food. Flinders is a very nice place to meet up for dinner, and also provides the privacy for those who prefer a more quiet dining place. Food price is a bit pricey, but I guess you pay for the ambience for fine dining.

We car-pooled to the restaurant after work, it was a 3-4 mins' drive from Plaza Mont Kiara, and the place is easily found. We had buffet dinner - pasta, fish, duck, veg, soup, salad, choc dessert and spinach omelette. Personally I think the food if okay, but it was a little cold since it was served buffet style.

After enjoying dinner, we had our Christmas gift exchange. It was fun guessing who's your Santa, as we are supposed to buy something for somebody, and the receiver will guess who is the one giving the gift. I got a box of chocolates...yum yum...

Christmas presents under the Christmas tree.









The restaurant's entrance.









Restaurant's outer view.









The buffet spread (restaurant's inside view).










If you are interested in checking out Flinders, see below for the address and the location map.
FLINDERS (Restaurant & Bar)
Ground Level, Damai Sari,
Mont' Kiara Damai, 3 Jalan Kiara 2,
Mont' Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03.6203.1841
http://www.flinders.com.my/
[Location Map]

I'm a December birthday baby! <*hint *hint>

This is so cute...oh, I meant the Christmas stocking on the right..haha..what? You thought I was referring to myself in the picture is it? Oh, come on, I'm not a narcissist lah...but hey, my photo does look lovely with the snow flakes and snowy effects..haha :P

I took a snap shot of this from my company's monthly newsletter. Every month it has this section for the monthly birthday babies. Oh, ya...I'm very much a "baby" at heart :P So i thought of putting this in my blog for keepsake.

Origami fun: X'mas Santa

The newsletter magazine on the coffee table caught my eye. It was the Christmas deco on the cover that interested me. It was a Japanese magazine, it's like Greek to me. Nevertheless, I flipped the mag. Oh, I didn't think the origami section would have interest me at all. How wrong was I! And it turned out to be something to write on for my blog.

The origami section was teaching how to fold a santa. I tried to follow the steps, oh...it wasn't too difficult at all! I hate those complex origami which I always never could comprehend, and my folded objects would normally turned out not what it was supposed to be! But gosh, this was simple. Hehe...good for dummies like me. Heck, they should name it Origami for Dummies. *hmm..wonder if the Dummies book series actually have one title on this.

Anyway, I used old "ang pows", since I wanted the red colour. Within minutes, I have two cute paper Santas. Here's my handiwork...hehehe



...if you want to try your hands at it, here's the steps. The pic is a lil small, but heck, I guess you could figure it out. The Santa is make up of 3 parts, the face, the body and the bag. Join them together when you are done...and ta-da...you have your very own paper Santa! :D

My big and round face

This is me after perming my hair...oh, of course you can't see the whole thing..haha...I tied up my hair. See, I told you my face looks big and round like a pancake :P This photo was just taken during my lunch at Bestari restaurant, a mamak shop at my office.

My hair perming experience

Last Saturday (3-Dec), I got a new hairdo done. Wondering what I did to my hair leh...hehehe....nothing spectacular lah, just got it permed. So why then am I blogging this down? Haha..just for fun.

 

You see, when the hairdo was done, I swear my head looks bigger, and my face was round like a pancake! I just couldn't believe I took the courage to plunge into "no return journey". It took a while for me to accept the new "ME".

 

But of course, just to make me feel better, my friends and family complimented the new look. I just felt weird with the big bunch of "maggi mee" on my head :P After a few washes, and less hair sculpting gel, the hairdo is less "explosive" and looks more natural now. Ok, I think I can now live with it.

 

If you think the agony of coming to terms with the new hairdo is hard, well, let me tell you, the actual agony lies in testing your patience while waiting in the hair salon. All in all, it took about 45 mins for "consultation" and the hair cut, 1.5 hours to put on the curling tongs, another 1.5 hours of waiting for the chemicals to seep into your hair, and another 30 mins to wash, blow and style the hair, before you could pay the pretty lady at the cashier and say goodbye. So it's like half a day gone, sitting on the chair. Talk about sore bums...ok, don't tell me to think about how pretty I'm looking now, it's worth all the waiting agony...

 

So, gals if you are thinking of doing something to your crowning glory, do plan ahead for spending half a day in the salon. Guys, my advice to you is never step into the salon with your girlfriends, else you will regret it, unless it's those 15 mins quickie hair cut. Hahaha....

 

Ok, what? You asking how do actually look like now? Nah, I'm not going to post my "explosive" photo here. Here's the deal, you call me out to yam char, and you get to see my new hairstyle and laugh at it...muahahaha...

3 steps to recognise a Stroke

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

 

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
1.  *Ask the individual to SMILE.
2.  *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
3.  *Ask the person to SAY A SIMPLE SENTENCE  (Coherently) (example: "It is sunny today")

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's  nnual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

 

Source: forwarded by YYL

Now you know...Apple Logo

This bitten apple will look familiar to most of us. Now, take a close look at the second picture. Ring any bell?





Got this interesting fact, it seems that long before there was Apple as we knew it with the chunk taken out, there was the original Apple logo. Designed by Steve Jobs and Ron Wayne who fortunately kept their day jobs, the logo depicted Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. The second picture you looking at is the original logo. I guess a simple logo is still the best to build branding =)