Trippin | Melaka Bandar Bersejarah

Last weekend was REALLY HOT in Melaka! I was sweating like a bacon. And I thought that I might faint coz of heat stroke. There wasn't much to do in KL for the weekend, so we headed to Melaka.

Stayed a night at Hotel Puri which was wonderful. Far much better than Baba House across the street. Baba House does look a bit haunted to me. Sorry... Talking back on Hotel Puri. It's actually a boutique hotel. We took the cheapest room, a standard room cost RM120++ (RM138 including taxes) But I recommend you to take the suites. It looks nice. Take a peek at http://www.hotelpuri.com/Not much can be said about Melaka as I've been there tonnes of time. But the food are to die for. Loved the cendol here with the Gula Melaka. You can't get anything like this in KL. And the Nyonya Laksa... Hmmmm! Talking about it makes me hungry... There are a lot of stalls/shops/restaurant serves these. But I still like to visit this Antique Shop 88 @ Jonker Street.

For those that haven't been to Melaka (not likely, loh) ~ have to take a stroll to the Jonker Street pasar malam on Saturday (not sure about Sunday). It looks like a flea market to me though. Lot'sa stuff to be seen and bought. Oh! And for those non-shopper, pubs and cafe can be found here too. I did have a drink or two that night. Thanks Alan and friends! According to Alan, the ritual is ~ drink ~ eat roti bakar & half-boiled egg @ the corner around Equatorial Hotel ~ char siu (roasted pork) rice ~ dim sum ~ go home & sleep. Fortunately, we ended at the roti bakar place and THE END. Hahaha!

Before heading back to KL, me and Wend had our lunch at some place new called Calanthe Art Cafe. As we don't want to be eating the same stuff like chicken rice ball. It's cozy inside here. Not many people coz I think it's far from the normal people traffic. Food was OK OK only. But there are a lot of coffee selection. Using our Malaysia 13 states to name the coffee. Besides that, there are a lot more to choose. I personally recommend to have coffee here. More than half of their menu are on coffee. Good try though...

Till we meet again, Melaka!!!

Cubicle | Bye 1GB...Hello 4 GB

Sigh... (@^$%&!!!) *Nicole is cursing the person that took her thumb drive*

Yes. I lost my 1GB thumb drive. My Sandisk Cruzer Micro USB 2.0 Flash Drive. I happen to love it, OK? Maybe it got a bit touchy when I noticed 2 of my colleagues having the same thumb drive but it was 4GB. I was like "Wah!!! 4GB woh!" And that was the last time I saw my 1GB thumb drive. *sob.sob.* ("Thanks" Bryan & Kenny!)

I tried looking high and low but I think it's too heart broken. So, after 2 days of my thumb drive departure, I made up my mind to get a new one when I got my salary. Coincidentally, another colleague of mine ~ Alan *who is still using 512MB??? Hahaha* wants to get one too. So, we headed down to Low Yat and grabbed 2 (with no discount!). Bryan said he got it for RM50 but we found the cheapest at RM54 :( Anyway, I got to pay RM50 only lar. Thanks, Alan!

Now, in the room there are 4 identical thumb drives. Mine, I need to cling something on it so it won't get mixed up.

See mine? *with the clog*

Happily I showed off to the rest of the team. Then, suddenly there is this virus ~ Disk Knight! Supposedly a "beneficial virus" (hello? is there a thing called beneficial virus?) Developed by a Bangladeshi saying that it will prevent flash drive viruses from spreading. You mean by having a Disk Knight virus to prevent viruses from flash drive to spread?

~taken from

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/security/adventures/archives/disk-knight-is-beneficial-virus-18456

Disk Knight, software designed to protect PCs from infection launched from a USB memory stick, apparently installs itself on everything in sight.
About a month ago we received a report of an alleged security program designed to protect computers against malicious programs that use USB memory sticks to spread. A good example of malware that spreads using removable USB media is W32/LiarVB-A. The alleged security software, named Disk Knight, is developed by a Bangladeshi student and its idea is simple: if a USB key is protected by Disk Knight the program will prevent the launch of any other process on the computer and display a message prompting the user to block or allow the starting process. Since USB malware is typically launched when the USB key is inserted, Disk Knight can prevent any virus from infecting the computer via that route. This sounds like a good idea. However, the problem is in the implementation. Once the Disk Knight program is installed and starts protecting the computer, it will copy itself to every inserted "unprotected" USB key, making it "protected". Furthermore, if the newly protected USB key is subsequently inserted into another computer, Disk Knight will run and install itself onto the computer, all without the user's consent. This behaviour and the lack of control from the user side makes Disk Knight a computer virus.

I hope that I didn't bore you to death with this. Just be careful where you jab your thumb drive to next time.

Wassup | 2008 Olympic Torch @ KL

There is this buzz these few days. About what, you asked? The 2008 Olympic in Beijing! Well, it's going to happen in 08.08.08 *nice date (hou yat chi)* Anyway, I am proud to say that I've seen the torch! Well, it actually passed by my office at Jalan Sultan Ismail. So, what the heck! Let's go see, see, look, look.

Look at the crowd!

I awaited patiently at my floor, looking down the road. At 3.30, there was this dry-run which conned all of us in the office. Haih. There was a bunch of people lining up along the road. I can see China's flag being carried around. But from my floor, I can't tell much.

By 4.30, I catch another look out the window. Ohhh! I can see the police car and the fire truck. It's coming. Suddenly my "semangat berkobar-kobar"! Let's go down! If we watch it from here, it's like watching TV at home. So, I grabbed my digicam and rushed down and be among the crowds. My timing was just nice as they was about to pass the road.

And WOW! I saw it. The torch was beautiful in red and silver! With the fire burning up at top. It really makes me go AHHHHH..... I'm not sure who was holding the torch, a lady. I manage to snap a few pix.

Feeling patriotic?

And thanks to today's technology, every phone can record the event. Thanks Rachel for the clip!

You did noticed that someone was chanting something in the background. It was all the China supporters. Chanting "Beijing! Jia Yeow!" It was so patriotic! So enthusiastic! Suddenly, I have a urge to go to Beijing to watch this once in 4 years event ~ D' Olympic. Chey! Konon lah...

Silver Screen | Forbidden Kingdom

Two tigers cannot live in one mountain...

This was the punch-line. I'm really sorry to say that this wasn't what I expected from the collaboration of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. If you have already decided to watch this movie, please do not put so much hope in it. I feel that it was a really force-ful movie whereby it was forcefully being done in English just to have the story revolved around the "guei lo" aka the english kid. The only pure entertainment is during the fight between Jet Li (Silent Monk) and Jackie Chan (Lu Yan). That was really nice.
As I was saying, all the Chinese proverbs, names are translated into English. A direct translate, mind you. Such as "Two tigers cannot live in one mountain", "Five Elements Mountain", etc. Which I found it was very funny. But on the other hand, its just letting the non-Chinese to understand the movie.

I keep blaberring on the languages and haven't really said anything about the movie itself. OK. It's about a lost time traveller, travelled back in time to the ancient time when gods and mortal are visible to each other. Do I make any sense?

Remember our "Sun Wu Kong / suen em hung" the Monkey King? This is what the movie about. Freeing him by returning his golden staff (gam guong pang) to his statue at the Fifth Element Mountain (em chi san). Pardon the translation, ya. As you guessed, it's done by the kid - Jason, who is obsessed with martial arts. So, it's a dream come true to him to be taught kung fu by 2 "sifu".

2 lovely ladies also stars in this movie ~ the mature Li Bing Bing (Ni Chang) and the cute Liu Yi Fei (Golden Sparrow).

Well, that is my opnion lah. You guys are free to try...

Hunting 4 Food | Chef & Brew

To the hungry.

To the weary.

To the chic.

To the working class heroes.

To the thinkers.

To the doers.

To happy hours.

To any hour.

To something timeless.

To something new.

To the dreamers.

To the realists.

To the mind, body and soul.

To Chef & Brew.

Found this place in Plaza Damansara, Damansara Heights. From far it looks really expensive. But hey! I love to hunt for food, especially with these bunch of friends.Surprisingly, Chef & Brew is quite OK. Like my Sizzling Grill Chicken is RM21.90 and Weng's Roast Lamb Shack is RM24.90. Portion was fulfilling too. Just have a look!

Roast Lamb Shack & Sizzling Grill Chicken

Maybe I jumped to the main course too fast. Hehe! Was really excited! *can't blame me*
So, let's start off with the appetizer. The Chili Lamb (RM16.90) and Cheese Wanton (RM7.90) was recommended. The Chili Lamb was nice, taste like our Chinese "kung po" but I feel that the Cheese Wanton is just normal fried wanton sprinkled with cheese powder.

Cheese Wanton & Chili Lamb

I didn't have soup though but from my friend's bowl, it's nothing to brag about. So, here comes the main dish. I was recommended to have the Sizzling Grill Rib Eye (RM39.90). But my tummy wasn't in the mood for beef. I chose the chicken instead. Beware! When having the sizzling dishes, they will give you a bip! Yes, those napkin tied to your neck like a baby. The others ordered sizzling rib eye and sizzling ..... . All are served with black sauce, veggies and french fries. As for the lamb shack, it's served with mashed potato instead of french fries. Weng couldn't even finish his lamb shack. So, if you're up to it, remember to have an empty stomach ya!

As for quenching my thirst, I had the lemon lime juice. It's to burn up some fat. That was what I heard. But I would strongly recommend the coffee. Weng had the Jamaican Coffee. It's coffee mixed with Rum which was very good and pricey too (RM14.90). Here, they have quite a selection of coffee mixed with liquor. You can try it.

Jamaican Coffee

The ambiance was great. A nice place to chill out. If you're not up to for a big dinner, you can always opt to have a bottle of wine. As my friends are not the drinking type, we just stick back to dinner.

What's a dinner without dessert? The outlook of the desserts are nice. They have tiramisu, chocolate cake, brownie with ice cream, etc. I was quite full so Tara ended up ordering the brownie (RM7.90). To be honest, Secret Recipe's tastes better. As for the rest of the deserts, it's up to you to try it.

In total, it's a nice place but I might not be going there for quite some time. It's worth a try, though.

Epicure, 1, Jln Medan Setia 1, Bukit Damansara.

Wassup | I'm Lovin' It

There is this buzz of free breakfast at McD these days. Well, not the whole set though. Just the Sausage McMuffin. But HEY! It's FREE! People here love FREE stuff. Well, I do too! It's just that it's too early to have burgers and McD is not just around the corner of my house... So, how is the situation? Is the queue long? People fighting to get in line or to get more that 5 pieces? (T&C said that one can only get maximum of 5 pieces)

Go to http://www.mcdonalds.com.my/highlights/freesampling.asp

Oh! I forgot to tell you that it needs coupons to be redeemed. Where to get the coupons? Hmmm... Coupons are given away at all McD, 11am onwards with any purchase and at LRT, monorail stations. So, keep an eye look-out for those people wearing red and the mascot of a paper bag with Ronald McDonald's red shoes that might scare you sometimes. No worries, these are friendly teenagers giving out coupons.

Told you that they're friendly :)

Wassup | Sunny Wednesday

Yawn. . . It's a bright sunny Wednesday today. Wish it was a holiday. * I do wish that it was a holiday, everyday!*

I didn't lie about the sun

Feeling like having another short holiday soon. But where? That is near? No need to fly or drive long distance. I feel that there aren't any near place to KL. Nearest would be Melaka, PD and Genting. Whereby I've been there tonnes of time.

I want another holiday!!!

There is one place I would like to go though. . . Sekeping Serendah. It was told to be a very nice place (according to the website http://www.serendah.com/home.html) But the place is more suitable for a bunch of friends, more fun. It's in a middle of a jungle. SCARY!!!

From the same people of Sekeping Serendah there is another place called Seapark Brickhouse(http://www.seaparkbrickhouse.com/) It's in the middle of the city, PJ. It's actually a big bungalow. You can rent the whole house (RM600) or just a room (RM150). Not bad actually. Worth a shot. Feel free to surf their sites for more info.

Okay. Done day-dreaming...

Trippin | Genting

Movie of the year

I think I can win the Oscar, man! This was shot last week at Genting. It was a sad, sad day. Just finished 2 rides and the rain came pouring down. So, what else there is to do? Every ride was closed.

And "TING" *light bulb appears!* To fill up our precious time and to show our disappointment hence this video comes alive. Thanks to the actor and actress ~ Alan, Grace and Jay. *applause* Not forgetting the people behind the scene ~ audio-Rachel, camara-me lah.

Love this shot! Don't you?

The terrifying ride

So, as I was saying. . . Went to Genting with my colleagues. Stay a night there. . . Booze and card games till late night. What's a Genting trip without going to Coffee Bean and drink ice blended outside? So, with slippers and shorts (pity Alan and Kenny). I, of course wear long pants. Comparing to a few years back, I will be shivering from bones to bones. But this time, it was nothing. I'm blaming the over-developement of Genting. It was not as cold as it used to be.

There was this Songkran festival happening there. Complete with elephant rides! Not FREE, of course. For me, it's just a gimmick. Ways to make people to spend more. No, I didn't fall for that!

The elephant ride

Time does flies when we're having fun. See, see it's Sunday and we're heading back to life in KL.
~Thanks to Ah Nie to join us after all!~

Silver Screen | Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Get your history book and dictionary, people. (Well, for me lah) Three Kingdoms is about Chinese history which I'm very weak at. I'm English educated so please understand. This mandarin film stared by Andy Lau and Summo Hung. Lead actress is Maggie Q. Dated way back the centuries - post Han Dynasty, is about the war between the 3 kingdoms of Wu, Wei and Shu. Zhao Zilong (Andy Lau) is the legendary hero that sacrifices his life to war to fulfill a dream of peace. Luo Ping An (Summo Hung) is a coward that betray his country. Not like him, right? And the beautiful Maggie Q is Cao Ying, the grand daughter of Cao Cao army's commander. She is vicious in this movie.

This is where you'll see the 5 great warriors of Shu kingdom (5 Tigers Shu) - Guan Yunchang, Zhang Yide, Zhao Zilong, Huang Hansheng and Ma Mengqi. But in this movie it's more on Zhao Zilong. On his victories and sacrifices.

Overall, it's an OK movie for me. It's a historical type of movie. Can't expect anything more. Oh yea. Voices of Andy Lau, Summo Hung and Maggie Q are not their own even though they are speaking mandarin. I wonder why they dubbed it...

Silver Screen | L Change The World

Ken'ichi Matsuyama!!! He's so gorgeous! For those who doesn't know who is Ken'ichi Matsuyama, here you are...Yes! He is L from the movie L Change the World. This was supposed to be Death Note's 3rd sequel. That was what I thought. Apparently, it has nothing to do with the Death Note book. It was burnt at the start of the movie.

It's totally about L. Ahhh.... He saving the world. Those hero-hero type of movie lah. Don't fret. I still think it's a good movie to watch. But some comic readers might have a different set of mind. Saying it's not like in the comic. HELLO??? If you want it to be as like the comic, then just read the comic lah woi.

So, let's start this off. There is no Death Note book, no Kira, no Light Yagami. It's about a virus and wiping off some of the human species in order to clean up the world. A crazy wacko lady, K mastermind this. You notice that I said K. Meaning she was supposed to be on the good guys side. I shall not reveal too much. Where is the fun of that, right? Go to the cinema and watch it!

Besides saving the world, L needs to babysits 2 kids. Which turn out to be hilarious! Trying to bribe them with his candies and chocolates. One genius boy from Thailand (L named him Near, heard that from comic he will be known as N) One girl, Maki, daughter of the scientist that found the antidote for the virus. Cute kid wanting revenge over her father's death caused by K.

The cast

If you want to know what really happen in this movie, you'll know what to do. As for me. . . I liked it. And I love Ken'ichi Matsuyama.

Conquering Taipei | D7 ~ BYE BYE TAIPEI!!!

I actually didn't sleep at all. Yesterday drinking session ended at 12.30am. Reached hotel, bath, packed. It was already 2am! Our van comes at 4am send us to the airport. It costs us NT1300 for 1 van. We asked the hotel staff to help us as at that wee hours it is difficult to get public transportation. Plus, we have lotsa luggage.

Our flight is at 7.40am. I thought that it would take us 1 hour to reach the airport (from the estimation time when we reach Taipei on the 1st day). But, according to the driver it only takes 30 minutes to reach there at this hour. Aiya! Anyway, Fong and Siew was late. Over-slept woh! Hahaha.

Our scheduled flight

We reached Taoyuan Airport at 5am! Way too early. Some of us catch a nap. Weng gets cranky if he doesn't get sleep. You noticed that I don't have much photos to show coz everyone was blur-blur and no mood to take any photos. And feeling sad too. . . Going back to M'sia and some of them starts work the next day. Luckily for me and Weng, we took the whole week off! Wohoo!

Our flight ~ MH95

Our flight took 4 hours. And checking our flight status, I can see the temperature in KL was 32 Celsius. Argh! In Taipei, it's only 18 Celsius! Well, let's admit it. I need to let Taipei go! I'm sure I'll go back there someday...

"Ai Taiwan"

Now, now... Let's not forget to thank those who made this trip a success. Without you all, there won't be FUN in fun. *Oh yea! Girls, at the hot spring, it will be our "little" secret* (whispering)

Lin & Alex ~ the newly-wed ~ thanks for letting us join your honeymoon trip. Hope that we'll get little Lin and little Alex later *wink!wink!*

Fong & Siew ~ the girl-friends ~ thanks for all the jokes and insights of all things. Wish Fong happy, happy always and Siew's business grow big-big!

Kean Kean & Hua Hua ~ the love-birds ~ thanks for being lovey-dovey in front of everybody without fail *will send you all the paparazzi photos of you two*. All the best to both of you.

Weng ~ my other half ~ thanks for being my translator and ATM. (hehe) But most of all thanks for being there, next to me...

As well as all the friendly and helpful Taiwanese that helped us along the way.

"Shieh shieh nie men!"

Those who's planning to go to Taiwan. Electricity is 110 Volts, 60 cycles AC. Remember to bring adaptors. You don't want your camera or mobile to be out of battery.

~HAVE FUN~

Conquering Taipei | D6 ~ Longshan Temple, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Ximenting & Shihlin NM

Boo Hoo!!! (sob! sob!) It's the last day in Taipei. Tomorrow will be heading back to hot Malaysia. I really loved it here... I don't want to go home!!!

Since it's the last day, we all decided to have a Free & Easy day. Then, everyone has a chance to go wherever they want. Those wants to "pak tor", can go "pak tor". Those wants to shop till the last drop, can go shop. Hahaha!

As our last breakfast, we went around Longshan Temple. Ate "pai gu mien" Pork Rib Noodle. That's the thing in Taiwan. Even it's just a normal stall, it's delicious ~YUMMY

Pork rib noodle and "lu fan"

Surely we need to visit a temple while in Taiwan, right? Taiwan does have a lot of temples around. So, we decided to visit the nearest one, Longshan Temple. It is one of the oldest temple around. Even as early as 10am, the temple was filled with worshipers.

Longshan Temple

Just to show that we did our homework, we paid Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall a visit. It's a huge, huge place. Wei Kean & Li Hua eloped. So, it's just me, Weng, Fong, Siew, Lin and Alex to feel patriotic.

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial HallAfter nearly a week here, do we look Taiwanese?

Before we went our separate ways, we made a pit stop at KFC, Ximenting. Not stuffing myself too much, I made way for the famous "mee suah" like meehoon, more bubble tea and mini fried chicken. The bubble oolong tea was the best. I can't really remember how much it costs but hey it's the last day. I don't care anymore...

Ah Cheng Mien SienLegend Tea BarFried mini chickenOne last look at Ximenting before the sun goes down

Me & Weng head to Shihlin NM to "sapu" again. Hehe. Managed to snap a few pix before going crazy again.

We finally found the toilet themed restaurant, Toilet Modern. It has branch here in Shihlin. What a coincident that we bump into Wei Kean and Li Hua there. Surprisingly, Lin and Alex was also eating at Toilet Modern in Ximenting! This is what we called "GREAT MIND THINKS ALIKE". As we discussed later on, the one in Ximenting tasted better than the Shihlin branch.

Modern Toilet Restaurant Black pepper pork set, seafood pasta, ice-cream and drink in urinal bottle (argh!)

I've ordered a Black pepper pork set (NT180) that comes with ice-cream and tea. Add NT30, you can change the glass into a urinal bottle and you can take it home. Quite pricey for the so-so taste. But I reckon that the Ximenting branch taste better. If not, you ask my friend, Lin. Pasta looks nice too but nothing compared with Mr J II pasta. *Jie Lun! Jie Lun! (chanting)*

Then, we rush back to Ximenting to meet the others for a drink. Gals and guys separated. We had our drink at a cafe/pub in front of "Xi Men Hung Lou". There is a stretch of pubs/bars (pst! Weng suspect that some of it are gay bars)

Xi Men Hung Lou

So, there! We ended our Day 6. So sad... We took taxi back to Kilin Hotel and start packing up. Actually to think of how to stuff all our goodies into our luggage. Luckily that I brought an extra hand luggage. But it took lotsa effort to put all my trophies in. So, next time bring bigger luggage!