Malacca 2008

After months of planning, the day trip with my friends finally materialised last Saturday.

It was a really good trip; a getaway from the usual city life. The weather was perfect, a slight overcast. We visited historical sites – St Paul’s Hill, Fort Famosa (as the locals refer to it now to avoid confusion with A’Famosa Resort) and the Stadhuys. We took photos. We left footprints along the busy narrow roads of Jonker Street. We visited the Majestic, a recently refurbished mansion turned into a boutique hotel by YTL. The Spa Village and the interior of the hotel was lovely, a modernised version of antiquity elegance. Of course, we stopped for food – Teo Chew Bak Kut Teh, Mango Ice Kacang, Cendol, Popiah, Pork Satay, Chinese Desserts, drinks in a cafe and the end the day, a scrumptious 8 dish Teo Chew dinner at Teo Soon Loong. After an interesting stroll along Jonker Street where there was a night market, we headed home for KL.

I bet we all had fun! Looking forward to more of such trips with you guys

p/s: Pity I was still down with my case of stomach flu, I was eating at half capacity. 

Stomach Flu

I have been having a bad case of stomach flu since Tuesday. I love to eat. This flu business seriously affects my ability to eat as I would normally, therefore I am hating the stomach flu even more!

It’s uncomfortable.

There is much gas in my stomach making me feel bloated, I lose my appetite for food, I get lethargic and it left me with one sleepless night when it transitioned to a case of diarrhea.

I’m gradually getting better. Not soon enough, though.

A Collection of Updates

Presenting to you, a mega bumper special update. A jumbo update!

Read on, if you will.

Chinese New Year 2008
This year was quiet. Is this a permanent trend? That is gets quieter and quieter? Instead of going to Kepong, as my family always does every Lunar Chinese New Year for as long as I can remember, this year we found ourselves in my second grandma’s house in Sungai Buloh. Had a good lunch over a huge spread of food. I didn’t want to relinquish my hot seat, to continue eating but there were other relatives waiting for their turn, so grabbing the last piece of roasted duck in between my teeth, I got up and cleared the dishes. The rest was the usual affair of visiting the homes of my relatives.

The biggest difference this year was that my Grandma of 70 from Singapore decided to break her ritualistic journey to KL for the Chinese New Year this year, choosing to stay in Singapore and spend the New Year with my aunt and her family instead. There was no mahjongg (She’s really fond of the game and doesn’t mind playing with us grasshoppers, I in turn don’t really mind losing money to her) and no dramatic comments from TVB serials can be heard from the  TV (Actually, my Mom has adequately fulfilled this replacing Cantonese for Korean – she watching her Korean dramas.)

On Listerine

“Listerine Bottle 3” uploaded by sirnick4 on Flickr.

I am sure you have used it before and I think it’s a wonderful product for oral hygiene. I’m also very sure that every time I rinse my mouth with it, a layer of tissue is removed. Honestly, it stings!

It’s amusing that they portray rinsing with Listerine to be a cheerful affair in their TV ads. For me, I tear.

Happy Chinese New Year

One day late, but better late than never.

Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of the Rat bring you good fortune, happiness and good health.

Cloverfield

I watched this today, it’s actually pretty good. If you can get through the motion sickness inducing camera work that is. The first 20 minutes were quite hard to get by though.

The story is pretty simple: survival.  The special effects and CG work were very good and convincing. The characters were okay, simple everyday people you’d expect to find in reality.

In the end, all was for naught.

I enjoyed the movie, it wasn’t as bad as some people say it to be. The Blair Witch Project was an obvious movie to be compared against due to the same style of camera work. However, unlike TBWP, Cloverfield has a clear storyline to it and so is worth watching at the very least.

My new toy

I spent a fortune on a new car entertainment unit (a radio) last Saturday. The experience is truly worth the money spent. Compared to the car’s stock speakers, I can now discern instruments better in songs. The clarity is incredible!

Plus, it is iPod ready, so I can connect Seraphina to the unit and be thoroughly entertained during my time spent in the car now.

Next phase, a new amplifier and a small sub-woofer. Perfect!

BBQ was fun!

I attended a friend’s BBQ on Saturday last and it was a blast.

My friend and I contributed chicken skewers that I marinated with soy sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and grated ginger. We also contributed dessert – a concoction of cincau, tinned longans, tinned sea coconut in honey syrup, a splash of vodka and a handful of ice. The chicken was pretty good!

There was a lot of food: sausages, lamb, chicken skewers, bacon, corn on cob, fish, fried bee hoon, potatoes, chicken wings, mushrooms and marshmellows.

Friends kept coming and I can safely assume everyone had a good time. We had a little surprise for a birthday boy and birthday girl where we presented them with cupcakes from Cuppacakes. They were thoroughly surprised. Good!

Had 2 rounds of Fudge – a drinking game, where in the second round the game just went crazy – for the guys anyway. I had too much and wanted really to throw up all that gas from the beer. I was in a rather snappish mood later. I just felt so uncomfortable and I was already feeling high already. So, I apologize for my foul behaviour to anyone whom I snapped at last night.

I got home and watched a little TV while snacking on crisps. Fell asleep.

All in all, it was a good Saturday.

Ulu Yam Road Trip

Despite having only 3 hours of sleep, I woke up in time for a road trip to Ulu Yam. We had breakfast before heading out to our destination via Kepong.

The trip was so-so. We could not find the scenic stops on the way. The only highlight was a stop at the second dam in Ulu Yam. I forgot what it was called (Selangor dam?). The towns of Ulu Yam – (Bharu and Lama) are small little towns with many old buildings and homes. Development is reasonably slow here. Stray dogs cross the roads at will, unafraid of moving cars.

We went up the windy road to Fraser’s Hill. I like the air. It’s so cool and fresh. The sight of lush greens was very welcome. Unfortunately, when we got there the gates that controls the flow of traffic to Fraser’s (only a single lane road connecting the gate to Fraser’s Hill) were not open until 30 minutes later. As we did not have too much time on our hands, we decided to go back to the town of Ulu Yam Lama for lunch.

We stopped for loh mee, a very popular dish of noodles in thick egg and vinegar broth in Ulu Yam and made our way back to KL.

I managed to snap some photos during the trip.

I’m still up

I have been up for almost 21 hours now. I slept very early this morning after getting home from The Asian Heritage Row in KL last night. My colleagues and I had a farewell for another of our colleague who’s leaving the country to try her luck elsewhere.

I shall sleep soon.

p/s: I will update you on the Ulu Yam trip and my chicken marinade for a BBQ very soon.