simply

Today is one of those days that I feel that I am floating in mid air. No, I am not high, just drifting...

ho chak

My colleague recommended 'jing fan' aka steamed rice for lunch today after watching Ho Chak, the makan programme of 8tv last night. Well, we were not the only ones who had the same thought for lunch... (the amazing power of REACH of television).

We arrived at 12.45pm at the chinese styled coffee shop at Kelana Jaya (close to Giant Hypermarket) hoping to sample the talked about item but to our dismal, it was SOLD OUT!!! By the way the aunty was grinning when she said that. She did offer for us to try the soup with white rice in mushroom sauce. Sad. Never mind lor will conjure up the previous sensation when I sampled this amazing 'jing fan'. Anyways my colleague had the soup and rice combo and gave it two thumbs up.

***

This stall is not new to me as it is near where my parents live. We frequent this place quite often and is a favourite of my dad's. He always orders the ginger chicken variant. Always. There was also once when my cousin and I had lunch there at 2.30ish and was told that they had three portions left. We order two, one for each of us and was highlighted that there is only one more portion left and whether we would like to have that as well... (the owners are very friendly you see and that they know how devastated one can be when it runs out) My cousin, not having tasted it before politely said no and within seconds after taking his first mouthful stood up and walked over to the stall to place the order for the last portion. Too late! The last portion was already ordered buy someone else. Good things come to those who wait - NOT! Well not in this case anyway.

***

I had chicken varuval, beans and sambal potatoes with white rice from the indian stall. Chicken was great, beans were average and the sambal potatoes were burnt. My other colleagues order cantonese fry meehoon/kuey teow but portion was rather small so he had the appetite to consume half my other colleagues fried rice topped with a bull's eye. They said the fried rice was very great, full of lap cheong aka chinese sausage and other stuff. The other two had 'chap fan' aka economy rice and char siew wantan mee respectively. I wish I could have been more descriptive about the economy rice but he chomped/shoved it down before I could figure out the combo but the basic csw mee was given the two thumbs up.

The little corner coffee shop is choked with good food and great prices and that's one of the reasons why the place is always bursting with patrons. Hey, maybe I should consider highlighting this information when if I put my house up for sale...

hanging gems

It was a few years back when I acquired this piece of 'Art', if you wanted to call it that-- if permitted.

It is actually a poster I acquired to get it autographed by the visiting 'Stars' of Manchester United, namely Beckham, Giggs and Keane (only one remained at Man U). Soon, it may hang there no more.

You see, I am quite the budding entrepreneur. Having surveyed Ebay quite closely over the past couple of months, I discovered that there were some 'collectors' who would pay quite a fair bit for an autographed item by a sportsperson that they like, whats more, getting 3 for the price of 1.

I was contemplating on posting it on Ebay soon but perhaps I will wait till Giggsy retires from the team for it to fetch a higher price. What do you think?

ho ho ho weng kee

This makan place is famous for most KL and PJ folks. They first started their operations in Jalan Sultan, near the police station and the old post office which is now defunct. They moved over to SS2 for many years now and caters to the lunch crowd and basically everyone who wants great char siew wantan mee, ngau lam mee or the curry mee. My family used to dine quite frequently especially since my mum used to workout with the lady boss. That must have been about 20 years ago...

The thing about this legendary place is that the food still taste as good as before. The char siew is still tender, the curry is still thick and so fragrant and the hor fun, aka rice noodles, is still so smooth. Four of us went there for lunch today and all had the curry hor fun except for one who opted for the traditional char siew wantan mee. We also ordered the siu kau, aka dumpling.

The curry was scrumptious; thick and spicy yet not overly oily. The noodles were, once again I can't seem to stress this enough, so so smooth and there were also beansprouts, char siew and wantan. The wantan mee was nice too. Now the siu kau was kinda different from the ones that you may find at yong tau foo places complete with water chestnuts, etc... This version from HWK was simply filled with just PORK. There were moist and juicy nonetheless. Great when eaten with the pickled green chillies.

Good food, great taste at ho ho ho weng kee... Somethings just never change!

have a break

I love holidays even those that I have absolutely no plans for.

I welcomed the Hari Raya break with much gusto and anticipation although it was only a 'slightly' extended weekend of an additional day but nonetheless I was like a kid in a candy store or when I surprised my husband with the new Man U jersey. Beaming.

Today while most of us a back at work sans the usual traffic, I look forward for the next few days when the 'high' is still very much in me.

take 'n eat

This week has been really hectic with alot of running around whilst trying to skirt the pre-raya traffic. So much so that i have not cooked since last week due to the lack of fresh ingredients from my non-grocery outing last weekend. So yesterday being almost traffic free , my gf and I decided to stock up for the long weekend and have dinner at the same time.

Ok so let me digress a little. For me and many claustrophobic individuals, going to a shopping mall prior to a festive celebration is just wrong. Imagine the legions of people doing their last minute shopping (a well-known characteristic of Malaysians); those celebrating will be stocking up on canned drinks and cookies as well as fresh produce while those not celebrating will be buying gifts for those celebrating and of course stocking up for the holidays. Therefore, the malls WILL BE CROWDED.

Now back to the main story. We ended up at Ikano for 2 very simple reasons; 1stly coz it was close to where both of us work and 2ndly it is the least crowded mall in the vicinity.

This time having to decide where to eat was quite a non-event for us. We wanted to have a quick meal coz it was getting late and also coz a few minutes later could mean no tables as it was dinner time and for the Muslims, time for them to break their fast. So where can we literally take n' eat? Sushi King lor.

It has been a while since I have had Sushi King. The last time was probably a year ago but we made a good choice dining there as it was cheap and taste wise, not bad. Then again my expectations were not high and did not have anything that involved fish so ...

I had the potato salad sushi (RM3), californian roll (RM4), egg mayo sushi (RM2), edamame beans (RM4) and miso soup (RM4). See what I mean when I said there were no fish involved. My gf had the fried bento set that came with the usual plus a yakult which was a nice gesture.

All in all it went well and am quite glad to have gone back to the road less travelled.

balik kerja

It is Thursday and I can't wait for the weekend to start as it is an extended one due to the Raya holidays but at the sight of my desk, the situation does not permit me to 'lepak' yet; may even have to take some work home. Oh by the way, if you were wondering whose pair of lips are those, they belong to a model for an ad. And yes, I do leave my wallet exposed like that...

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY, soon.

benetton ad

Remember these old Benetton ads...

This is my version :

Cool isn't it...

snack time

In the midst of getting reports done and the menial but time consuming filling, we were all relieved to be treated to some goodies today.

We had LAYS which was kindly sponsored by our colleague and ice cream potong (CENDOL) courtesy of our supplier -- long story.

Anyway, it was a great way to rejuvenate and recharge for the next few hours before we pack up and leave. Hopefully some kind soul you do the same tomorrow but then again anticipation is never fun; surprise is.

believe it or not

Not long ago, my husband and I headed to Ipoh for a gathering at his grandparents house. There were more than 50 of us from all parts of the world including Germany, France and Sri Lanka. I met many of my extended family and was enamoured by how close they all are.

Since his uncle occupied the house next to his grandparents, they had a total of 8 rooms of which were made available but my husband and I opted to put up at a hotel to made way for other families. His grandparent's house also came with a garage that now houses a cendol man. This is where he stays and where he makes his cendol to sell. Oh and yes, this is where he stores his cendol cart as well.

Now the beauty of this set-up is that he sells the cendol right outside of the house which is a skip and a hop away from well, where he lives.

He has been living in the house for many years now and have become somewhat a part of the house--like an extension.

So every now and then, when the craving kicks in for cendol, we don't need to travel too far for a real, HOME MADE treat.

priceless

Rushing from the office to an appointment in the late afternoon yesterday was quite a struggle with the traffic building up and the sudden rain. Where I was headed to was not necessary the easiest place to park (strangely they don't allow visitors to park in the building-- go figure) but managed to get a spot at the open car park adjacent to the building.

I, for all those who know me, find inconvenience (aka using the umbrella) inconvenient. Hence I was debating whether to get wet or use the cumbersome rain shield. I gave in to the latter as it was raining harder by the second.

As I had to juggle between holding on to the gi-normous golf umbrella (courtesy of YTL) whilst rummaging my bag to pay for parking, I saw a pretty decent looking guy dashing out of his car to pay for his parking sans an umbrella.

Ok, lets pause for a moment-- what would a NICE, DECENT, WELL-BROUGHT UP INDIVIDUAL do in a similar scenario ... let's read on to find out.

As soon as I paid my parking and pretended to meddle with my phone, I offered the guy to share the umbrella if he was headed the same direction. The look on his face was PRICELESS. He was somewhat shy and a little apprehensive like he didn't know how to respond. When he finally came to his senses he jumped at the chance and before long we were sharing the umbrella.

What started off with a strange vibe was immediately broken by the customary questions about where we were going, blah, blah... midway, he decided to take over the reins and hold the umbrella instead... hey who said chivalry was DEAD!

Soon after we arrived at our destination and parted ways. I was happy to have done this very small deed to someone in need and I suppose he was sincere with his words of gratitude.

Moral of the story :

1) Small deeds make the world a much better place

His facial expression just said it all... People are just not friendly or helpful anymore. We have become selfish and totally ignorant. Sad reality.

2) Rihana's UMBRELLA rocks!!!

Pay it forward.

funny thing

Anyone who has tasted the famous funny mountain tau foo fah would know that it is the best in Ipoh, KL and some say the whole of Malaysia. I don't beg to differ but would like to confirm this fact as the TRUTH.

The numerous times that I have visited Ipoh, this is one joint I never miss. I can go without the curry mee or the hor fun, but this no way.

Smooth, silky and nutritious too,
You'll be suprised at how much it can do,
Funny Mountain is where you will find it,
No way to ever break this kick!

seasons

Like how seasons come and seasons go, how the green from leaves take a new colour come autumn, so many things have happened over the past month and a half.

My mum had a minor op to remove her piles. My family bonded like never before and thank God for family members to lean on during these times. She is back to normal now and all well.

My brother has just completed his big project assisting in Robinson and has finally come to an end with the launch just a few days ago. Kudos.

Daisy, my beagle, my little baby, has had to date two bouts of food poisoning. Two house calls later and two dose of antibiotics, she is back to normal. Good thing.

I am just recovering from flu that hit me over the weekend and am still recuperating but it has been tough coz stress doesn't really help one to recover faster.. I think it slows down the process.

In the midst of all these, I am trying to apply for withdrawal from my EPF to redeem my housing loan only to be plagued by incompetent people at StanChart. It has been 45 days and I am still waiting for the documents to be ready. Go figure.

But in lieu of being sad and down and disappointed, blah, blah.. life can be worst. At least I have my family, Daisy, health and my housing loan. And my husband has been GREAT.

Terima Kasih.