New Journey

I am still ALIVE

2006-05-13T00:41:00.000+08:00

I didn't expect to be back this soon, because I thought I will spend quite some months to finish my study. However, Finally I have completed everything and have time to talk more about food and life.

So I am back now, hope you bloggers haven't given up on me.

Anyway, being my first start after an absence of quite some time, I won't serve any food to you bloggers as yet, But this photo caught my attention.

A baby whose body is painted with lot of advertisements, what parent will do this? I wonder.

On the other hand, it's mummy or daddy will have full of cash in their pockets if this advertisement sells, but I am still wondering who will ever like such an ad, will you?

Tag: Baby, Advertisement, Brand.

Sweet Snow White

2006-03-21T19:35:00.000+08:00

Making dessert is an ART, must not be too sweet but however, sweetness is a must; must not be too cold but being chilled is a must, sweet and cold to eat yet a delightful experience that warms your heart, just like a piece of art work.

However, Chilled Longan with Jelly is something that fulfills this dessert’s theory where you can have something sweet but not too sweet, and the Longan is hard but nice to chew.

The best thing of this dessert, you can have it anytime as long as you have enough stock of the canned Longans, and of course you need ice in your fridge.

If you do not have any idea about Longan, Click here.

Tag: .Dessert, Longan, Jelly.

Coffee Chick

2006-03-15T00:11:00.000+08:00

If you like coffee, you will like this “Coffee Chicken”.

If you read my blog long enough, you will know I am allergic to coffee, but I am quite fine with this dish, so if I want to taste the coffee, I can order this as much as I can, of course my pocket must have enough money.

However, I managed to speak with the chef about this unique food, and he told me they need to soak the chicken with coffee for at least a day, then only they will cook and serve it.

So if you happen to come to Kedah, Malaysia, you can try this chicken dancing coffee in Holiday Villa, I give it a 4 star (5 star is the most).

Tag: Coffee, Chicken, Coffee Chicken.

A Recent Obsession

2006-03-14T00:27:00.000+08:00

I got a LUPE
I must confess, being busy lately due to my addiction to this Neopets, where you can get a pet online and join a game to earn money for her, besides getting money to buy food or whatsoever to make sure your pet is well care for, and you require to obtain high scores win trophies.

I know it sounds silly, when I discovered this website, I felt the same way, but because being a Malaysian who have been influenced by typical Singaporean attitude, I am very Kia Su (afraid to lose), and ended up battling for game.

After a month of fighting, I won 2 trophies and 50000 neo money in the bank.

I wish I know how to quit it (a line from the movie script of Broke bare mountain), and return to my food blogging world to make more people feel hungry. LOL

I will back soon, I hope!!!

Tag: NeoPet, NeoPets, Online Pet.

Nothing Porky!!!

2006-03-01T12:08:00.000+08:00

This is the“Cantonese”Chee Cheong Fun.
The “Chee Cheong Fun” is a Cantonese word which means Pasta made of Pig intestines; I hope I translate it correctly.

However, Chee Cheong Fun has nothing to do with pork it is just that it resembles the intestines of the pig. But the main ingredient is rice, By right it should be called rice pasta rolls to make it CLEARER to foreigners, @_@

So if you come to Asian country, especially where there are Chinese, you can find Chee Cheong Fun.

In Malaysia, you can get few types of Chee Cheong Fun, it all depends on where you go, if you come to penang, normally it is served with sticky prawn paste and sweet sauce, some chili paste can be added, and served with sesame seeds and fried onions too.

If you don’t like the sticky and sweet style, you can look for the“Cantonese”Chee Cheong Fun, as they will add prawns or BBQ pork into the Chee Cheong Fun, which is then steamed it before serving.

P/S: February is a month of festive mood, sorry for being away quite some time, and I received my *punishment*, that is by putting on weight. ^_^

Tag: Chee Cheong Fun, Chinese Cuisine, Chinese Food.

Love Entry

2006-02-12T18:57:00.000+08:00

I suppose, we both are the perfect lover. Perhaps we are the perfect husband and wife.

We can’t remember the day for our first date, nor the first time when we hold each other hand. But we always know we love each other.

Despite you chose to follow your dream, and we are far apart, but our relationship never stops there but moving forward and understanding each other better. Because the distance we learn to tolerant, and also understand how much we mean to each other.

I am now waiting for you to come home, don’t be late.

Noted: today is the 15th day for the Chinese New Year, and its also known as Chinese Valentine.

Tag: Chinese Valentine, Love.

Something Salty

2006-02-11T21:32:00.000+08:00

Hi! I am back after a long break for the Chinese New Year. I had a wonderful time with family and friends and of course, lots of good things to eat.

However, sad to say I have put on more than a few pounds. Anyway, glad to be back and assuring you all of more goodies ahead.

To begin with, a surprise from me to you all bloggers, an interesting discovery from a restaurant, A DOLL OUT OF SALT. Don't be mistaken, it isn't something you would want to eat, it's purpose is mainly for decoration.

Usually, fruits or yam are used, but here is something new & weird. On the brighter side, it would save the chef time carving out cute stuff. All he got to do is to put salt colored with dye into a mold which is the placed in the microwave oven for about 2 minutes and out comes a cute decoration for a dish.

The idea of putting into the oven is to ensure it hardens and does not break easily.

For Chinese cuisine, the food served not only has to taste good, it also has to look and smell good. A good chef has to fulfill these 3 criteria in his cooking, color (i.e. aesthetic value), aroma (it has to smell good) and finally taste.

Here is an unorthodox method that is economic & non time consuming.

Tag: Chinese Cuisine, Salt, Doll.

Welcome the Dog

2006-01-28T18:08:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is the first day of the year of the Dog; my baby doggie will be the Queen of the house, so I wish every one of you Happy Chinese New Year.

However, my friend’s dog has a new costume for the New Year, her mother just made a RED Chinese costume for the dog, so I decided to share the picture here, with her permission, OKAY.

Just a brief note before the New day in New Year, wishing all of you have more fortune and good luck, and take good care!!!

Tag: CNY, Chinese New Year, Dog.

Baked or Steamed

2006-01-26T00:27:00.000+08:00

If you are in Kedah, I recommend baked food, original Thai recipe but home made in Malaysia, cheap, fresh and tasty, no complaints.

So every time when I have someone coming over to visit me from other state, I will absolutely bring them for a BAKED party.

Okay, let me explain a bit more, normally when you have baked fish or/and BBQ stuff in the restaurant, they will bake the food directly on the fire, but this specific restaurant will mix fresh seafood with marinated sauce and cover the food with aluminium foil.

Therefore, when they serve you the food, you will think they had steamed it instead of baking it, because the skin of the seafood, especially fish is so soft and edible, not like some places, where the skin of the fish would be hard and black.

The most important aspect is the price, affordable, 4 persons having a big fish,some squids, prawns and crabs, don’t be surprise to get back some change if you pay RM 100 (USD 26.30), the bill will be around RM 70 (USD 18.50).

My friend from KL screamed for her life and asked, ARE they serious?

She didn’t believe the price, so I told her, “Dear, this is Alor Star, a seafood heaven.”

Tag: Baked Food, BBQ, Seafood.

Love is Hurt

2006-01-22T23:37:00.000+08:00

Finally I had watched the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha”, a very touching movie, the actors and actress were ~~damn~~ good, and the script was so well written.

Although it was all about Geisha, but the director was able to bring out the message of love, and it really touched me when Sayuri (main character) said her heart was dying but slowly.

I suppose love hurts, not only was she a Geisha, but as long as you are a human person, one can't escape from this “curse”, being hurt is part of the love story, who haven’t taste the bitterness? I just wonder.

Being sentimental is kind of good, at least I won’t remember I had spent RM180 to eat a fish last Monday, I still feel bad now and I had blacklisted the restaurant.

Being Cheated is BAD, even when it comes to love.

Tag: LOVE, Geisha, Movie.

Call for Free

2006-01-21T18:48:00.000+08:00

If you have fun with SKYPE or messenger voice conference, I believe VOIP STUNT will catch your attention.

With this new launched yet beta version program, not only will you enjoy free calls from PC to PC, but free calls to certain land line in more than 30 countries.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not an advertisement, I am not even get paid nor do I get free credit for telling you this.

However, my friend was very excited with this new stuff, can’t wait but called me for more than an hour, but he said the free trial is over after certain minutes, after that you need to buy credit to keep enjoying free calls, only when you call to mobile phones, will your credit be deducted.

I haven’t downloaded the program as yet, because I am not keen in it, since they are still in BETA version.

Tag: VOIP, Free Call, VOIP Call, VOIP Stunt.

Fortune for North

2006-01-20T23:42:00.000+08:00

Do you believe in Feng Shui? Well, I am not really into it, but there is no harm in believing.

I was covering news for a Feng Shui talk tonight, and the Master said 2006 is a good year for the Northern part, so if you look at the map, Russia is the luckiest one.

The Master said, Russia is expected to have a very good performance in terms of economics, and they are going to be the leading country in the year 2006, but the BAD star will fall into the west, so America and Europe are expected to be out of luck, and they will be in an unstable and worrying situation.

Well, the Russian-Ukrainian dispute over natural gas prices is a good example, this has put almost the whole Europe in a “powerless” circumstances, and now because of the Arctic cold, Russia expected to cut electricity exports to help domestic users fend off the cold, again this will put Europe in the darkness worrying.

US is also not looking good after al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden threatened new attacks on the United States yesterday, if the States doesn’t accept their offer, where the Americans would reject President George W. Bush's continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, President George W. Bush has rejected the PEACE offer with the reason that they do not negotiate with terrorists.

So Americans are expected to be living in an environment of tight-securities and every one has to live in the constant fear, don’t you think this is so scary.

Back to the Feng Shui issue, after I analyzed the latest incidents, we can see the prediction of Feng Shui is happening already, but if you think (like I do) the Master analyzed the world-relation before his predictions of the future with Feng Shui theory, I have no comment, LOL.

Tag: Feng Shui, Russia, Europe, American, USA.

Little Me

2006-01-19T23:57:00.000+08:00

It must be the movements of the stars and the planets, that lately I encounter a string of bad luck.

However, I had managed to overcome all this, thanks to the cartoon Chicken Little, I have learnt that every day is a NEW day, yeah, no matter how bad the day may be, I am still alive and I am longing for the good day ahead.

So I decided to do something that I was really wanting to do for quite sometime now, buying myself a new washing machine, and a table with rollers where I can move everywhere with my laptop.

Although I still need to face and handle all the problems, I am telling myself to be strong, because I am Little Me, every day is a NEW day!

Okay, despite being in my late 20s but it is not too late for the Cartoon fever, LOL.

Tag: Cartoon, Little Chicken, Cartoons.

SICKeningly Slow

2006-01-16T23:32:00.000+08:00

When a butterfly cannot fly swiftly, I am STUCK.
All this years I got stuck with MSN messenger, no other reason but convenience, multifunctional and user friendly, nevertheless the most important part is speed.

I was very satisfied with the performance of MSN messenger for the last few years, but not until I had upgraded to version 7.5.

Slow to start up. It really SUCKs, sometimes it hangs or logs off without any reason, and the worse is when you need it the most, you cannot log into the messenger,you have to try and try several times, I was really pissed off.

I am using a high speed laptop with Centrino mobile technology, never had problems with other programs but the latest version of MSN messenger has really got me down, so I started to use Gtalk and Yahoo messenger.

However, I still prefer MSN messenger, can’t help but wonder will they ever hear my complain, while upgrading the functions kindly also consider the aspect of speed, nobody likes a sluggish gadget these days.

Tag: MSN, Messenger, MSN Messenger.

Pineapple Luck

2006-01-15T19:22:00.000+08:00

If a Christmas tree is a must for the Christmas decoration, any plants with a GOOD name will be a Chinese New Year tree, actually not tree, only small plants.

Getting a plant to put in the house during Chinese New Year is an art, the most common plant to get is Golden Lime which brings money and good luck, but Lime is too old “fashion” nowadays.

Therefore you can get more interesting plants in the market now, which are more colorful or creative, perhaps more than creative.

In Malaysia, Chinese in different areas will have different “NEEDs”; in Northern part where there is a majority of Hokkiens, they particularly love pineapples, because pineapple in Hokkien is “ Ong Lai” which means Good Fortune comes.

Hence there no surprise to discover that pineapples will be the most popular fruit during Chinese New year.

However, this year in the market you can get giant Pineapple, excuse me, not really a pineapple, but a creative art from bamboos to create a pineapple shape plant. The bamboos they used are Guan Yin Zu which also called as Chimonobambusa marmorea Makino or Marbled Bamboo.

These pineapples are quite pricy, available between 2 feet and 6 feet and it would cost you from RM 288 (USD 75.80) to RM 1228 (USD 323.20). @_@

Tag: Bamboo, CNY, Chinese New Year, Pineapple, Plant.

Basket Sweet

2006-01-14T01:22:00.000+08:00

There is 2 more weeks to celebrate the Chinese New Year, and the most important delicacy during this festival is called Nian Gao, or like what Fairuz told me today its also called as Basket delicacy.

The main ingredient in Nian Gao is glutinous rice flour and sugar, which gives it the stickiness. The process involves steaming. Nian Gao in Malaysia commonly come as a short cylinder wrapped in a banana leaves

Nian Gao can be steamed & eaten with shredded coconut, which I prefer the most, but I like to eat the fresh one, the best is one that has been freshly made, you can just eat without reheating.

Another way to serve Nian Gao is to deep fry it. After cutting into square pieces, it is sandwiched between some sweet potatoes or yam, and then it is deep-fried after dipping into egg and some flour.

As what my old people always say, Nian-Gao which translated as year-cakes symbolizes getting a lot of promotions, because the name is also short for the phrase “nian-nian gao-sheng” which mean to get promoted higher every year.

There is another old folk story where it is believed that on the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, the Kitchen God will return to heaven to give a report to the Jade Emperor regarding each family, The idea is to offer such super sticky gluey Nian Gao to him so that he would find it difficult for him to talk thereby talk less when reporting to the Jade Emperor.

Tag: Niao Gao, CNY, Chinese New Year, Chinese Delicacy, New Year Cake.

A Sign

2006-01-13T23:33:00.000+08:00

an omen......Good or Bad?
Today when a friend who hadn’t contacted me for more than 8 years, all of a sudden JUMPED into my MSN messenger, what a surprise, the moment he said hi, my 8 feet tall newspaper fell down and broke my table.

Is it a bad sign or something else?

If it was a sign, then what is the hidden message? I know it was just a coincidence, but why has it to happen just at that moment.

However, it was quite strange that 2 of my “friends” who hadn’t send me a mail or even drop by line for more than 8 years, suddenly remembered they have a friend, and wanted to contact me.

They came in almost at the same time and brought back lot of memories. I suppose I am no longer a sunny boy they used to know, but there is one thing remain unchanged, I am still good to a friend.

They said they missed me a lot although they hadn't contacted me all this years, but they had me in their minds.

I think this is what we call friendship, no need to commit to anything, but when the right time comes, the reunion is always surprise to us.

Tag: Friend, Friendship, Sign.

Pork in Soup

2006-01-12T23:59:00.000+08:00

If you like pork, then don’t miss the Bak Ku Teh (mostly translated as Pork Rib Herbal Tea Soup) when you are visiting Malaysia or Singapore.

Bak Ku Teh is well known for heating up our body system but it is healthy food, especially when you need something to warm your stomach, Bak Ku Teh is always the BEST to fulfill your need.

However, the best of Bak Ku Teh is not found anywhere of Malaysia but central, where there is a place called Klang as quoted in the Bak Ku Teh history, they believed that Klang is the place where Bak Ku Teh has first been commercialized.

I won’t talk much about it, because I still cannot get good Bak Ku Teh in northern part of Malaysia, if you like to know more, you can go there to enjoy the Bak Ku Teh ^_^

Tag: Bak Ku Teh, Food, Pork, Soup.

Secret Recipe

2006-01-11T21:56:00.000+08:00

Finally the Secret Recipe is opened in Alor Star at end of last year, Alina couldn’t wait and SMS-ed me to tell the good news while I was still in Rome, for my Christmas holidays.

Yes, we absolutely need a proper restaurant here, no offence but the food in Alor Star still SUCKs, I don’t want you to feel that I am complaining that the food here is bad, but just to tell you a horrible experience I had encountered.

I was having my Tomyam seafood in a Hotel restaurant, I thought that being hotel it won’t be that bad since they need to maintain a reputation, but I was so disappointed when the food was served.

Can you imagine that the food was stale and was smelling, so I had complained to the waiter and so they replaced the food, which was still bad.

Okay, that is not the last, I went to a cake house to have my banana chocolate cake, guess what? This was the first sour cake I had in my life, and when I complained to the waiter, they insisted that the cake was fresh.

However, there were too much bad experiences but I have no intention to spoil you bloggers' appetite, so forget about it.

If you wonder what is Secret Recipe, you can visit here to find out more.

Tag: Secret Recipe, Food, Kedah, Malaysia.

Cat and Dog

2006-01-10T23:57:00.000+08:00

Fairuz gave me a pair of belated Christmas present and souvenir from his trip to East Malaysia which was half a year ago, is a pair of Cat and Dog.

Although it is a bit late to have a Christmas present, but still it is a belated SURPRISE to me, and the present is so cute (too obvious) LOL.

However the souvenir which is a Cat from Kuching (one of the state in East Malaysia), which also mean CAT in Malay, that’s why they have cats everywhere, but it’s a shame that I have never been there.

Despite visiting so many countries, I have never been to East Malaysia, too complicated to explain but I promise to go there very soon.

Tag: Cat, Dog, Present, East Malaysia, Malaysia.

EW Pasta

2006-01-09T00:03:00.000+08:00

The Pasta looking good.
What is EW? I mean East and West lor.

Since I just came back from Italy, I bought some nice local Pasta with me back to Malaysia, so I must cook and eat, right?

Hehehe, I have a reputation for being a food adventurer; I am willing to try most of the food (not included wild animal, OKAY!!!) and I like to experiment new foods, like mix and match my clothes, I used to mix and match my food.

So with the Pasta I had bought from Italy, I was having my “east meet west” dinner, where I cook the Pasta with oriental ingredients.

Firstly, I cooked the Pasta in boiling water as usual, and then I stir the Pasta with Chinese sesame oil instead of olive oil, smells and tastes better.

Secondly, I cut the Bak Gua (barbecued meat in red color) into slices, and added some anchovies before putting them into the microwave for a minute, after that I poured the whole thing into the Pasta, stir it well before you start your meal.

Easy to cook and not oily at all, just like cooking a pack of instant noodle, but the Pasta with my EW style is healthier and taste better, I am loving it, Finger licking good (wonder McDonald or KFC will ask me to pay for the copyright!) LOL

Tag: Pasta, Food, East, East Meet West, Anchovies.

Sauce for Dogs

2006-01-08T12:01:00.000+08:00

When you need sauce to enhance the taste of your food, dogs have the same need, that’s why you can buy tasty sauce for your doggie, which will get your dogs happy to have their meal.

I heard about this sauce thing before, but was not really into it, considering the possibility to cause my dog to shed hair which is the main reason why I wasn't keen at all.

However, today when I went to the pet shop to stock up dog food just to make sure my doggie has enough food during the Chinese New Year, I was given a bottle of Sauce for Dogs for free.

It has a bacon flavor, I just need to mix 2 tablespoon of sauce with a cup of dog food, simply pour and stir.

I asked at least three times the shopkeeper to make sure my dog won’t have shedding problem with the sauce, I saw him kept nodding the head and said no problem, I agreed to give it a try.

I think my dog would love it, because she always like tasty food.

Tag: Dog Food, Sauce, Dog.

Instant Life

2006-01-07T01:31:00.000+08:00

Most of the imported instant noodles is RAMEN.
I got hooked onto instant noodles in my daily meal when I was working in Penang, can save more money and it is quite easy to cook.

However, I stop having instant noodle when I started to have hair-shedding problems, I was only early 20s.

I cooked a pack of RAMEN today, I added Pickled Lettuce and anchovies.
But now, I started all over again, because I found some nice imported instant noodle from Japan and Korea, the taste is ~~Fucking~~ Good, so I cannot resist the temptation, but I have to control myself not to eat too often.

A pack of this imported instant noodle is not cheap, it cost RM2.50 (USD 0.67) compared to the local product which only cost around RM0.40 (USD 0.11), so much of a difference but taste good, yummy ^_^

Tag: Instant Noodles, Instant Food, Japan, Korea, Ramen.

Double Protection

2006-01-06T23:24:00.000+08:00

I was quite pissed off a few days ago when I could not log into my HSBC internet banking account, and the system froze my account after 3 attempts, I am sure that the password was correct, because I always noted down my password.

So I called the bank to unfreeze the account but they requested a Pin-Code, ~~Damn it~~ I have no idea about the pin or whatsoever, so they kindly asked me to apply for my pin in the nearest office.

Okay, their nearest office in my area needed a 45 minute drive.

However, I got myself a reason to go back to hometown and of course eat some good food and had a nice shopping after the Pin thing was done.

So I went back to Penang this afternoon, first thing I did was to rush to the bank, the staff of the bank were pretty and helpful, but I wondered why they ask me about the DEVICE.

Who in the hell knows about the device that I should have? I supposed the lady sensed I haven't a clue, so she started to explain the device and help me to register for the free device, of course she helped me to activate the thing and I was so happy but then that was 2 hours later.

Anyway, since the device is free and they made sure everything is done, 2 hours was worth it, what’s a consolation!

Okay, the DEVICE will generate a password when I push the button, so when logging into my account, instead of just keying in my user name and password, I need to key in the Device’s password too.

I am impress with their thoughtfulness in terms of online security, so I responded with a smile of satisfaction, then the lady reminded me with a serious tone but keep on a smiling face.

She said, “If you lose the device, we will charge RM50 for its replacement, and don’t keep playing with the button.”

You know what? I almost answered, “Yes Mum!” hahahaha

Tag: HSBC, Bank, Internet Banking, E-Bank.

Hijau Kuning

2006-01-05T23:56:00.000+08:00

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, and remember my previous posts, then you know that I have mentioned about HijauKuning (green and yellow) in Vege-fruit Appetizer which was a combination of cucumber and pineapple.

As the color of the Flag of the state of Kedah, green and yellow in food will create some sort of patriotic passion, you can have cucumber and pineapple as “patriotic” appetizer in Malay cuisine.

However, there are many more expressions of eating the Chinese style “patriotism” side dish, where the Chinese here like to mix chillies and garlic with soya sauce, which is also green and yellow, but spicy and smelly.

Anyway, I kind of like this combination, especially when you eat it with Bak Gu Tek (pork ribs herbal soup).

Tag: Food, Malaysian Food, Chili, Garlic, Patriotism.

Short Break

2006-01-04T21:18:00.000+08:00

It is almost 4 days since I updated my blog, a bit busy and lazy after coming back from Rome, so sorry fellow bloggers to keep you all waiting.

However, A new look for New Journey was done within 3 nights, the html code was very hard to keep TIDY (since I am just an amateur), tried many times to get things right, so don’t be surprise at the time I spent on the smallest detail (which you won’t notice) for it look perfect.

Thank GOD, everything is okay now, New Journey has a new fresh look with more BITEs, oppppps I meant more Food.

So everyone, here is my belated Happy New Year greetings! And A Happy Lunar New Year too.

Carrot Dancing

2006-01-01T23:59:00.000+08:00

The carrot cakes covered with chili sauce.
In Malaysia, Chai Tao Kuih is usually in a shape of a square, Chai Tao means Carrot in the Hokkien dialect, and Kuih means delicacy, so Chai Tao Kuih if is translated in English it should read as: carrot cake.

In certain places, Chai Tao Kuih is also called as Kiam Kuih, Kiam means salty which well describe the taste of Chai Tao Kuih.

I love this since I was a kid, never miss a bite.LOL

Tag: Food, Malaysian Food, Malay Cuisine, Carrot, Delicacy.

Arrivederci 2005

2005-12-31T01:03:00.000+08:00

I managed to return home from Rome before the New Year, so I had New Year's Eve dinner with Fairuz at De’Kampung and we ordered 5 dishes.

Never missed the TomYam soup, Vegetable sauté with salty fish, Thai style squid, egg omelet and “Yellow Chicken”, which they seasoned with the turmeric powder before they cook.

I am glad to have my last dinner for year 2005 with my own Kampung taste, while saying Arrivederci to Rome, I am also saying goodbye to 2005.

Happy New Year!

Tag: Food, Malaysian Food, Malay Cuisine, Vegetable, squid.

Andiamo per mangiare Spaghetti

2005-12-30T02:22:00.000+08:00

How could you miss spaghetti when you visit it’s country of origin? I almost did, because too much variety of food to try, too little stomach to eat.

However, I managed to cook Spaghetti here in Rome, with its original sauce and ingredients, I had my bellisimo spaghetti, yummy.

Oh yes, not forgetting the pork sausage, just deep fried and eaten with spaghetti.

Tag: Spaghetti, Rome, Italy.

Mini for Two

2005-12-29T00:29:00.000+08:00

I envy most about the Romans is their small mobile gadget, a smart car for Two.

The size of the car is even smaller than the Perodua car KANCIL series in Malaysia, which has got only 2 seaters but the design is better, KANCIL or other else is too ugly, you can either park parallel or at a tangent, as long as there is space.

I really wish that Malaysian companies will import this car soon, as I will absolutely buy one with no second thought, yet it can moves real fast as I have witnessed it in the street of ROME.

Tag: Car, Gadget, Mobile, Rome, Italy.

Double Cold Action

2005-12-28T17:43:00.000+08:00

I got flu on the third day of my visit in ROME, what’s an unfortunate event.

However, the cold didn’t stop me from going out; the worse was it rained in the afternoon, so I have to do my sightseeing indoors, TERMINI station will be my only choice.

Not much shop here but it cost me 0.70 euro to pee (excuse me), if converted to Ringgit it would be RM 3.15, @_@

So after the ~~expensive~~ toilet time, I found one ice-cream stall in the corner, I do not understand Italian so I was confuse with the flavors, yet the shopkeeper was not helpful being their well-know reputation, and also stopped me from taking any photo, but he didn’t know I already did, unfortunately I got the wrong flavor which I thought is vanilla but it ended up something else.

Anyway, I just remembered that a doctor told me to eat ice-cream, which will help me getting better from the flu, so I still has to finish the “Don’t know what flavor” ice-cream.

Tag: Ice Cream, Rome, Italy.

Giant Doughnut

2005-12-27T03:50:00.000+08:00

The buildings in Rome are huge, the peoples here are “HUGE” too, so don’t be surprise to find HUGE food here, LOL.

Yes, I found this giant doughnut in Piazza Navona, this is about 5 times larger that the doughnut in Malaysia, but the price is more than 20 times compared to the price in my home town.

This giant Doughnut cost me 3 euro (USD 3.60), about RM 13.50 which I can buy at least 27 Doughnuts in Malaysia, but the taste between the doughnuts in the 2 countries, I can’t tell the difference.

Tag: Doughnut, Food, Rome, Italy.

Good Morning Vatican

2005-12-26T21:42:00.000+08:00

Seeing Vatican City from the DOME on top of the Basilica di San Pietro, on the right is the piazza San Pietro.

Although it was raining on and off, but today is much better than last night, so I decided to visit the whole Vatican city before I going for shopping, the stewardess told me that today is boxing day, crazy sale everywhere.

Part of the piazza San Pietro.
So I can only write briefly here because I don’t want to be late for the sale, and hoping you bloggers enjoy the photos.

Tag: Piazza San Pietro, piazza, Rome, Italy, Vatican.

Merry Christmas

2005-12-25T21:35:00.000+08:00

The white arrow indicates the projection screen & the red arrow points to where the pope actually was standing.

Adesso io sono in Roma, Italia.

Yes, I am now in Rome, Italy. Just managed to learn my first phrase of Italian.

After all the troubles of traveling, I meant the airport in Kedah being closed, I needed to drive about 2 hours to Penang airport, then transit in KLIA and finally reached safely in ROME early in the morning at 5.15am local time.

So I had my Christmas countdown on board and managed to rush to Vatican City to see the new POPE giving his Christmas blessing in Vatican, sounded great, but was raining whole day and I was sleeping like a PIG. LOL

Tag: Christmas, Pope, Rome, Italy, Vatican.

Christmas Eve

2005-12-24T10:05:00.000+08:00

My table setting for the Christmas dinner last year.
Finally, the floods gone with the wind (I hope so), although we don’t have winter here in Malaysia, but the cold wind blowing from China is ~~Damn~~ freezing and its been understood than the wind is the main reason of causing the unusual raining in the region, which had brought us the most serious floods in the decade.

Now, due to the airport is still close, I need to travel to other state to catch my flight to my holiday destination.

However, Christmas Eve as a holy night, I was very busy to serve my friend a good Christmas dinner last year, but today I am not going to do it again because I am on board.

So Merry Christmas to all of you, see ya!

Tag: Christmas, Christmas Eve.

Rice With Coconut

2005-12-23T23:53:00.000+08:00

Don’t be surprise, if you cook rice with a little bit of coconut milk, then you will know what I mean by Nasi Lemak.

Nasi in Malay means rice, and Lemak is fat or A.K.A coconut milk, it is served either with anchovies plus egg, or just a small fish, sometimes you can get chicken, but Nasi Lemak with Chicken is a lot more expensive.

However, the hawker here in Kedah sells Nasi Lemak all day long, the most popular choice is anchovies plus egg, they are packed with the rice in banana leaf, to give it a more exotic flavour, and it only sells for RM 0.50 (USD 0.15) per pack.

I used to have 2 packs, but most of my friend can eat more than 4 packs at once.

Tag: Food, Malay Food, Nasi Lemak, EGG, Rice.

More Food Less Flood

2005-12-22T23:37:00.000+08:00

Although I still cannot drive to my office due to the only way there is flooded, and the airport still closed which can affect my flight to my holiday destination, but somehow I am more relaxed now.

I suppose I am already used to the flood, or maybe I had gotten over the initial trauma, yeah it has reached a TRAUMATIC stage.

So on the way back from the flooding area, I stopped by a Malay food stall and bought my dinner, a fried egg, some vegetables and a fish only cost me RM 2.50 (USD 0.70).

Anyway, I had packed my luggage tonight and am ready to board my plane on Saturday, of course I pray to GOD which I hardly do, please no more disaster or rain.

Oh yes, today I received a nice Christmas Card from UK, thanks Philip.

Tag: Food, Malay Food, Fish, EGG, Rice.

Wish for the GOOD

2005-12-21T23:33:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is Dong Zhi, which translates as Winter Solstice.

As I mentioned before in my previous post, it is a big day for the typical Chinese family, because the whole family have a reunion and children will have to eat Tang Yuan, in terms of “EARNING” one more year of life.

However, the flooding is getting worse. I don’t expect the chinese families here will be able to have their colourful reunion dinner and the eating of the Tang Yuan, because the water doesn’t want to leave and there is more to come.

I really hope the water will recede soon. It's so tiring to talk about it.

Lets talk something funny. I lost my car’s number plate today. Now finally I understand the reason why there are so many cars on the road without number plates.

I wasn't even aware that it was lost, until I found out it had been swept away by the WATER whilst I was driving in the flood area. Interesting. So I will have to pay RM 12 (US 3.30) to replace it.

Tag: Rice, Dessert, Food, Dough, Flood, Raining, Tang Yuan, Malaysia.

Is the Worst Over?

2005-12-20T23:54:00.000+08:00

The flood is coming to town.
How long does it have to FLOOD? Another day of flooding, what a boring topic.

There is no sign of water level receeding and it looks threatening, that at anytime it will flow into the town, the road outside my office was almost covered by the yellowish river water, yet it is forecasted to rain more this week.

~~Damn it~~, Can I managed to leave the town in time for my holidays? If due to the floods I am forced to stay put, who will pay for my thousands Ringgit lost in airfare?

My brunch,McDonald Grilled Chicken Foldover.
I sound sick, so I started to calm myself down and try to see things positively, just hoping everything will be alright and I don’t need to have only one meal a day, oh thanks to Alina and Fairuz for buying me a set of McDonald Grilled Chicken Foldover, that was my brunch for today.

Never miss to thank IZ Reloaded for mentioning me in his blog too, yeah I had been blogged, LOL.

Tag: Flood, Raining, McDonald, Chicken, Malaysia.

Still Flooding

2005-12-19T21:30:00.000+08:00

The water is now moving from north to south, the town that I stay and work in is now in danger, but I guess my house could be safe from the flooding problem.

The WATER is coming to town.
However, today I went to another critical flooding area, luckily I got a lift from a Land Rover, my car is safe from the disaster, but when I went into the flooding area, I saw lots of cars FLOATING or covered by the water.

Still Flooding.
This is the most serious in last 30 years, but why the water LIKE to come in the end of the year? Last year I was sent to Indonesia right after Christmas on 26 December,Withnessed the outcome of TSUNAMI.

This year before I leave for my Christmas holidays, I have to cover the story of the most serious flood in the region.I think Christmas next year I shouldn’t plan any holiday, just in case!

Tag: Flood, Raining, Malaysia.

Flooding and Aching

2005-12-18T23:50:00.000+08:00

Canoe-fun in the floods.
I went to cover a story of one of the most serious FLOODS in the North of Malaysia today, Not only was I WET but also aching all over after having the adventure of the WAR of waters.

Everything was covered by yellowish water, I couldn’t see the road, and was not sure whether I would fall into a drain, praying to GOD to take good care of me, when my car was almost stuck in the middle of the flood area.

Fortunately the engine didn’t stall but was emitting lots of smelly smokes, something was burning and I had no idea, I had no other choice but to keep going, “life of Journalist, what else can I expect”, don’t even think your company will pay for the car damages, SUCK!

Rising water level
However, after I took all the risk to drive in the flood area, my car could not move due to the flooding level keep going up, I thought I had to spend a night there and cry for help.

Guess what, an angel (local resident) told me there is another way to go out, but I have to take a risk, ~~FUCK IT~~ just give it a try.

I went for my next adventure after having crossed over a flooded area, now I have to fight with the water again, although I got the direction from the "angel", but everywhere was flooding, I had to keep asking along the road.

Finally, after I was driving for almost 2 hours in the rural area, I managed to get back to the town, you won’t believe, I almost cried. Thank God, I am finally home, I miss my home.

Although its just a day, but I am so exhausted and tired, yet my body is aching, now I remember, I was walking in the water for almost the whole day where the water level was above my waist (about 4 feet).

You can read the news here in Malaysia News Agency.

Tag: Flood, Raining, Malaysia.

FISH oh fish!

2005-12-17T16:42:00.000+08:00

This is the most delicious Alor Star food to me, but the name is the most difficult to translate too, how do you translate Chai Por（菜脯）? Some say is salted carrot, or salted/preserved radish or 'minced pickled lettuce'.

However it is a preserved vegetable with sweet and salty taste, and they use Chai Por to serve with the fish, then named it as Chai Por Hu (in Hokkien, mean fish with Chai Por).

Firstly, they steamed the fish with hot water, and then pour the deep fried Chai Por on top of the fish, without any other ingredient, you can taste the original taste from the fish, yet it mixes with sweet and salty taste from the Chai Por.

One whole fish like what you see in the picture mostly cost you around RM 15 (USD 4), cheap, fresh and tasty, and they say you can only get the PURE Chai Por Hu in Alor Star.

Tag: Food, Fish, Chinese Food.

Draw for Personality

2005-12-16T23:21:00.000+08:00

Thanks to *Lynne*, I had some fun for drawing a house with a MOUSE, didn’t know how I made it, but I did it, although it looks ugly but the summary of my personality based on the drawing shock me for life.

Here is the summary:
You are sensitive and indecisive at times. You are a freedom lover and a strong person. You are shy and reserved. If you've drawn a cross on each of windows, you always want to live alone. Once you have a problem, you need a friend with you. son.

You will avoid being alone and seek the company of others whenever possible. You love excitement and create it wherever you go. You have a strong personality and you like to command, influence and control people.

You added a flower into your drawing. The flower signifies that you long for love. It also safe to say that others don't see you as a flirt. You don't think much about yourself.

Draw one for yourself here.

Tag: House, Blog Fun, Blog Game, Personality, Drawing.

Just 100

2005-12-15T23:59:00.000+08:00

Where do your visitors come from? And what are their nationalities?

Thanks to Neocounter, I can track the location of all my visitors, and finally I have received visitors from over 100 countries to my blog.

As I had mentioned before there are about 193 countries in the world, and now I have received visitors from more than half of the world, I know this is no big deal, but I kind of enjoy it.

Although I don't know who they are , but somehow they were here for a moment, maybe I don't even know about their country at all, but now because of their presence, I learn more about their country than ever.

Just sharing my thought.

Tag: Counter,neocounter,World, Country, Countries.

Let It Be Fried

2005-12-14T21:09:00.000+08:00

If you like crispy and fried food, Malaysia could be your heaven.

Perhaps I should say Kedah (northern state of Malaysia) would be your best choice, because you can get fried banana and fried potato almost in any area.

Convenient, cheap and fresh but very oily, if you do not worry about fever or pimples, then you can go ahead.

There are two types of Fried bananas you can get here, Higher or Lower grade, of course you have to pay more for the “Higher grade” where they deep-fry the whole banana with better grade “Flour”, which will cost you 30 cents (less than USD 0.10) for one.

However, most of my friends prefer the “low grade” fried banana, they will cut the banana into slices and deep-fry in oil, for only RM1.00 (USD0.30+-) you can get about 20 slices, my friend from Penang was surprisedly shock!

Come on, we are now in Kedah, LOL.

Tag: Banana, Fried Banana, Food, Dessert.

Birthday Surprise

2005-12-13T02:24:00.000+08:00

I used to do shopping or paying my bills with HSBC bank credit card when I was staying in Penang, but after I moved to Alor Star where they don’t have a branch here, I stopped using it since then.

So I thought since I am no longer their loyalty card holder (the worse is I want to cancel it due to the annual fee), will not have any more privilege reward to surprise me, which I am so ~~damn~~ wrong until I received a birthday card from them.

Guess what? This is not just a card but with their complementary gift, I can go any Ogawa shop in Malaysia to collect my RM 88 worth birthday gift, they are so thoughtful and I am so touch.

However, my friend told me they might have term and condition apply, therefore I forced myself to read everything in the card, but they didn’t mention I need to pay or do anything, as long as I collect my gift in 30 days from my birthday.

So instead of doubting any hidden agenda of the gift, I went to collect my gift, they just asked me to fill in the form and the massage pillow is mine, furthermore I am entitle to their lucky draw competition.

Well, I guess HSBC got me again, despite there is no HSBC bank here in Alor Star, I will still using my credit card, because I just found out I can pay through my other bank account.

Thanks for the gift, HSBC!

Tag: HSBC, Bank, CreditCard, Reward, Credit Card.

Roti Time

2005-12-12T23:44:00.000+08:00

Roti means bread in Malay, but The Roti that I am going to mention here is an Indian-bread.

In Malaysia, you can get all kinds of ROTI, Roti canai or roti Chennai is the cheapest and common Roti you can get, normally it is eaten with boiled chickpeas in spicy gravy, or just plainly with sugar.

As long as there is a 24-hour Indian-Muslim restaurant, you can order whatever Roti you want, we have Roti Telur (egg), Roti Sardine, Roti Planta (margarine and sugar), Roti Bom, Roti Jala etc.

Now I am showing only Roti Telur, I will show more if I get to eat more this week, LOL.

Tag: Roti, Indian Food, Bread, Food.

More about Tang Yuan

2005-12-11T13:23:00.000+08:00

Do you remember I posted The Chinese Winter which I mentioned the Tang Yuan.

Okay, the photo in that post is multi-colored pearl-like thing in the sweet syrup, and now I am showing you the salty way of it.

Most of us used to have this glutinous rice dough with sweet syrup, but we seldom get the rice dough with pork or chicken flavour soup, due to the preparation of the “salty Tang Yuan” are more trouble, if compare to the sweet one.

Honestly, I prefer the salty way, tasty and more like a proper meal, the sweet one is just a dessert.

You can see from the photos, the salty Tang Yuan will have fish-ball, all kind of mushrooms and vegetables, never miss pork or chicken, even their inner organs, LOL.

Tag: Rice, Dessert, Food, Dough, Tang Yuan.

I Got TAGGED

2005-12-10T17:35:00.001+08:00

Thanks to *Lynne*, I got TAGGED on my birthday, fortunately she only TAGGED me for food, if she TAGs me for personal stupidity like what I got TAGGED in my Chinese blog, I will KILL her, LOL.

This MEME is all about 5 childhood memories of food, what did I like the most, need to figure it out.

1. Drumstick

You know what I mean, right? We can only have chicken’s drumstick for birthday back in 70s and 80s, we were too poor to have drumstick in a daily meal, only when you were celebrating something big, the whole family will look at you when you were enjoying your BIG MEAL.

Of course I don’t need to wait for BIG day to eat drumstick now, but because today is my birthday, so it brings me back to memory lane.

2. Fried Egg

Fried Egg is my all time favorite, I could finish the whole plate of rice just having it with a Fried Egg, and of course Soya sauce is a must.

3. Ice Cream

Who can resist Ice cream if you were a KID, I love Ice Cream, yummy!

4. Char Kuih Kak

In Singapore they translated as fried carrot cake (Chai Tao Kuih) but in Penang, we called it Char Kuih Kak, don’t get it wrong, they are not going to fried the “Carrot Cake”, just the ingredient for Char Kuih Kak is carrot. LOL

5. Soya Bean-curd

Soya Bean-curd or more Familiar they are called Tau Fa in Malay, the soft Bean-curd is eaten either with sugarcane-made sugar in white, or the coconut-made sugar in brown, I prefer the white one. ^_^

The instructions of this MEME
1) List down 5 childhood memories of food.
2) And in the tradition of this meme, list the 4 previous taggers before yourself and then your own name at no.5.
3) Tag 3 (or more) other bloggers to continue this meme.

Four previous taggers and myself:
1. Beer Brat, 2. Single Guy, 3. Burgwaki, 4. *Lynne*, 5. New Journey

Three bloggers that I'm tagging:
1) Handsome Marco, sorry guy, you are the best choice to me. ^o^
2) Masak-Masak, since you are the expert of food, I am sure you got plenty ideas.
3) Rambler, talk about your favorites, please!

Tag: MEME, tag, Food.

Busybody

2005-12-09T21:39:00.000+08:00

Every time when I need to cover a story on an accident, a fire or any other news , there is always a bunch of busybodies.

They do not bother about their safety, just wanting to get nearer to the scene, even standing in middle of the road is not a problem, in the photo above you can see them standing just next to the dead body.

Sometimes I just wondering what businees for them to be there, this is none of their concern, yet they disturb the policemen and journalists like myself from carrying out their job, sometimes they even cause a traffic jam.

So if you are one of them, mind your own business and get lost!

Tag: Busybody, Accident, Police.

The Chinese Winter

2005-12-08T23:53:00.000+08:00

Well, this little multi-colored pearl-like thing in the syrup is called Tang Yuan in Chinese, which is made from glutinous rice balls in sweet syrup.

In China or Taiwan, Chinese normally have this on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year celebration, but in Malaysia or Singapore, the Chinese will have this chewy stuff in Dong Zhi, which translated as Winter Solstice.

Although we don’t have winter here in Malaysia, but the Chinese still celebrate Dong Zhi on 21st or 22nd of December every year, and it is a big day for the typical Chinese family, because the whole family have a reunion and children will have to eat Tang Yuan, in term of “EARNING” one more year of life.

The glutinous rice dough are normally in white and pink, but most of the children like the colorful dough, so mommies will try to make as many colors as they can, and don’t be surprise to see a bowl of rice dough in multi color.

However, Tang Yuan is not only served in sweet syrup, but you can have it in salty soup or even coconut syrup, it depends on what do you like.

Now, I have few photos to share in advance, because the local Chinese association organized a Tang Yuan making competition today, and I managed to take some photo to put in my blog.

Have fun and I will put more on 22nd December.

Tag: Rice, Dessert, Food, Dough, Winter.

Mushroom Crisps?

2005-12-07T20:27:00.000+08:00

I got a friend to pose for the Mushroom!
Yes, this is Mushroom crisps, no mistake.

I doubted when I bought it from the Guardian pharmacy, but when I opened it and took out a very first piece of mushroom crisps, you know very well about my reaction, Oh My GOD! I screamed loud and clear as usual, LOL.

Mushroom on hand, later in mouth.
They actually deep fried the mushrooms before they were packing it, so when you have the crisps on your hand, and actually you are having a piece of mushroom.

I like the original flavor which is oyster mushroom, and it cost RM 3.68 (USD 0.99) per packs, affordable and healthy.

Tag: Crisps, Mushroom, Food, Junk Food.

Pasar Malam Surprise

2005-12-06T18:16:00.000+08:00

Pasar Malam is a night market in Malaysia, as long as there is a residential area, there will always be a Pasar malam for you to visit, and its only once in a week, is a good place to get cheap stuffs.

7 packs of round crackers only cost RM 2.00 (USD 0.53), no kidding.

However, I hardly go to the Pasar Malam for shopping, not only because there are too many peoples around, But also I am not really comfortable to do any shopping next to a street.

Anyway, there is always an exception, last night when I was on the way back, I saw a Pasar Malam in a car park somewhere near to my house, and since there were not many people, I just stopped by and to have a look.

This potato crisps is just a biscuit with potato flavour.

First, I got 7 packs of round crackers for RM 2.00 (USD 0.53), no kidding, I asked twice and got the same answer for twice, 7 packs of any round crackers for only RM 2.00.

Then I got 3 packs of potato crisps for RM 10.00 (USD 2.64), in a pack of the crisps contains 14 separate small packs of crisps.

So I happily brought home all my cheap cracker but was disappointed with the awful taste, have you ever eaten a bitter cracker? I do now. >-<

Tag: Biscuit, Snack, Food, cracker ,crackers.

Fish-Ball in Shape

2005-12-05T18:02:00.000+08:00

Have you tasted a fish-ball before? It is a yummy little thing and I still prefer the one I kept eating in Hong Kong.

However, the picture above is not just a fish-ball, but a combination of fish-ball with bread crumbs, so the little cubic things on the “surface” are the crumbs and covered the fish-ball inside.

I got these ball things in the dinner I went last night, my friend told me it was made from crumbs, I was kind of doubt because it doesn’t taste like a crumb, but it doesn’t taste like a fish-ball as well.

Since I cannot get the answer by tasted it, I have just believe to my friend.

Tag: Fish, Fish Ball, Bread, Crumb, Crumbs, Foods

Gmail Giveaway

2005-12-04T00:00:00.000+08:00

If you haven’t applied for a Gmail account, and wanted to create one, just leave your email in my comment, I will send you the invitation; I still have 100 invitations to send out.

Although Gmail has been launched for quite some time, but I assume a lot of bloggers haven’t notice this useful and faster free mail service is so wonderful, yet you can email Mp3, photos and movies without worrying that you will exceed your storage limit and that your mailbox will get full.

Just leave your email, and you can get your early Christmas present, LOL.

Tag: Gmail, Email, Free Mail, Google.

Something Crunchy

2005-12-03T00:25:00.000+08:00

Rempeyek is the Malay name for this snack, there is no way of translating as the name Rempeyek is a noun.

Don’t bother about the name, this Rempeyek is a crunchy snack made from peanuts and anchovies, it is a perfect snack with beer, it's spicy and a bit salty that would really get you eating.

However, Rempeyek used to be a favorite snack in fishing villages back in the 19s, which only can be found there, but now they are commercialized so much so you can buy them anywhere here in Kedah.

So if I happen to visit you bloggers one day, a packet of Rempeyek will be as gift from the East.

Tag: Snack, Food, Peanut, Anchovies.

Cube Shield

2005-12-02T18:02:00.000+08:00

If you are working in the “cube”, this product might help you to get more privacy and you are safe from the “light-burn” risk, LOL

I don’t know the office working environment in the West, but in Asia, especially in Chinese’s company is mostly not allow their staffs to have PRIVACY in the office, it means you cannot COVER or HIDE yourself in the corner, just to make sure your bosses can keep their eyes on you.

However, when I found this Cube Shield, I am impressed with their creativities and thoughtfulness.

The cube shield says:

CubeShield™ blocks out bothersome overhead lights while providing added personalization and privacy to office cubicles.

CubeShield™ improves employee comfort and satisfaction in the workplace while preventing potential vision problems caused by excessive overhead lighting and glare.

CubeShield™ attaches to the top of cubicle walls -- four velcro strips make it easy to install and remove.

CubeShield™ is easily folded and stored in an office cubicle drawer.

Tag: Cube, Shield, Cube Shield, Office.

Vege-fruit Appetizer

2005-12-01T04:00:00.000+08:00

If you go to a proper Malay restaurant or attend a dinner in Kedah, you can always see a plate of cucumber and pineapple in pieces, give you a “Hijau-Kuning” (green and yellow, which is the colour of Kedah’s flag) passion.

However, this local appetizer not really a salad where they used to mix it with chili and vinegar, something like an innocent girl having a hot dance on your tongue, while a sourly bite will remind you to behave.

Interesting isn’t? Cucumber and pineapple are just a fruit and vegetable, but you never know they can be so difference until you try the Hijau-Kuning, LOL.

Tag: Fruit, Vegetable, Appetizer, Food, Malaysia.

Lousy Cinema

2005-11-30T00:26:00.000+08:00

Today I went to watch Harry Potter in the cinema with my friend, it was a nightmare to me, just wonder who will want to go to a cinema again if no improvement has been made, then don’t blame the consumer rather to buy the pirate DVD.

When the movie started, the screen was too dark to see the picture, you can see something moving, but not really know what had happened, it should be the contrast adjustment problem.

Nevertheless, the picture will just out of FOCUS, I mean blur while the movie was still playing, so someone had to adjust the projector to make it clear, then the screen was shaking, after the DISASTER, the picture get back to normal, then thing happened again, the DISASTER repeated.

This is not a joke, I mean the DISASTER not the worst part, half way of the movie, electricity supply shortage just happened, just like some one dropped by to say HI, we are blank for few minutes, till “the one” who just happened to say HI was left, the movie back on the screen, so marvelous.

(Fiction Picture)
However, your eyes were not the only victim in this cinema, some drilling noise will just added in like a choir or background music for the movie, its provided extra entertaining sound effect, should had gave then a big applause.

After went through all this DISASTER in the cinema, I got my neck aching and my eyes is so tired, I suppose a pirate DVD will have better quality.

Guess what? The cinema has been black listed by me, don’t ever think I will go again, unless they spend some money to upgrade their HARDWARE (facilities), they are so damn LOUSY.

Tag: Cinema, movie.

Christmas Song

2005-11-29T00:01:00.000+08:00

Click HERE to watch!!!

Not quite familiar with the song, but the main singer which is Santa Claus and the bases where the deer singing along, cute and fun.

This is a flash greeting card but you can watch the flash without having anyone to send you the card, click on the link, sit back and have fun.

Its mentioned the original song is Green day, but the real singer remain unknown and I suppose Santa Claus won’t want anyone to know who sang the song for him, LOL.

However, you need to have a little bit patients to wait for the flash to load.

Tag: Christmas, Christmas Song, Festive, Greeting_card, Flash.

Violence shock!

2005-11-28T19:40:00.000+08:00

Get involve with violence, who else isn’t? No matter you are Police, Army, Navy, Teacher or even Parent, you can name it, they have it.

Isn’t it sad? Yes, it is and now the cartoon is violence too.

I won’t say have fun, but you should watch this on your own risk, kind of freaking me out, a cartoon with fleshes and bloods, I got nightmare with it, thanks to my friend who passed it over to me.

However, I believe a lot of bloggers out there will enjoy the show, so click on the link and have “fun”, they called themselves Happy Tree Friends.

Tag: Cartoon, Violence, Happy Tree Friends.

Early Christmas

2005-11-27T00:13:00.000+08:00

Despite still a month to celebrate the Christmas, I had done the early decoration for the house, and having my early Christmas party due to I won’t be here during the festive season.

This year I have something more creative for the decoration, I included the “Christmas” theme Coca-cola can collections with the Christmas tree, having more lights and sphere shape of bulb balls.

Can’t wait to celebrate the colorful festive, what about your preparation for the Christmas? Tell me then.

However do you notice there is a Santa Claus in my blog Header? Ho ho ho......

Tag: Christmas, Festive, Coca Cola.

Indian Cuisine

2005-11-26T02:14:00.000+08:00

Tandoori chicken is not a new name of food to Malaysian, as long as there is a 24-hour Indian-Muslim restaurant; you can get Tandoori chicken in the menu.

So lately I found the very good one here in Kedah, have been going 2 days continuously, and enjoying the “Red” drumstick on my hand. LOL

Okay, Tandoori chicken is actually an Indian version of barbecued chicken, its tenderized in a yogurt marinade, seasoned with ginger, garlic and a few spices, it gets its red color from saffron and red food color.

The traditional Indian clay oven is called the "Tandoor". A Tandoor is a clay pot usually sunken neck deep in the ground. Charcoal is put on the flat bottom of the pot.

The heat generated by the hot charcoal in and on the sides of the clay pot is used for cooking. Long iron rods, long enough to reach the bottom of the pot, are used in the cooking process.

It is probably the most versatile kitchen equipment in the Indian kitchen. Barbecues, breads, daal, gravies made in them acquire a unique taste, very different from the food cooked on the regular kitchen oven.

Sources courtesy of Cuisine.com

Tag: Cuisine, Food, Indian Food, Tandoori, Tandoori Chicken.

Anti Corruption

2005-11-25T00:44:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Here, get Yours.

Although the Malaysian Police’s Image being tarnished with few incidents happened lately, but I saw the “light” today which is a very positive sign of improvement.

In fact the light that I saw today maybe disagree by a lot of Malaysians out there, but my point is, at least this is a starting point that better than nothing.

Okay, I went to the local police Raya (Muslim New Year) open house today and found out most of the police officers were wearing a TAG, sort like “I am anti corruption”.

A tag couldn't mean anything, but they are telling the nation that they are trying to CLEAN and CLEAR the “mess”, yet they are teaching and alerting the public, there is no way to corrupt!

I admire the spirit and attitude, and I am hoping with this starting point will really leading them to the bright future.

Tag: Police, Malaysia, Malaysian, Anti Corruption.

Blog for Friends

2005-11-24T00:14:00.000+08:00

It is fun to see our own blog on the highest rank chart and the web-counter running fast, but there is something even more interesting in the blogging world, culture “exchange” plus new friends in the world.

There is no doubt part of my regular blog readers are from Neocounter, we met each other in the blogging world and now we are friend, so if I happen to go holiday in the future, will consider the country I have blogger friends, save cost for accommodation, LOL, I am sure Jalberto and Marco won’t mind, hahahaha.

However, friends and quality readers are the important “elixir” to make the blog life last longer, but the question is, where do you get them?

Traffic exchange will bring you visitors for sure, but they are not necessary a blogger or reader, they might click for “living”, so this is the reason I am still stick with some of the blog traffic exchange programs, because we are bloggers and we read blog. I don’t mind to spend my time on some blogs, they are interesting, and I found them through blog traffic exchange programs.

So much so with the big numbers of blog traffic exchange programs you can get in the blogging world, I am not going to tell which one I like the most, you figure it out yourself, because my standard of good service is not how fast they could get me visitors, but how many good blogs they have instead of a bunch of subjective politic blogs.

This is the reason I started to long for the “yet about to launch” blog traffic exchange program – Blogmad, wondering how many good blog will be showing there?

Tag: Traffic, Traffic Exchange, Blog Traffic Exchange, Bloggers, Blogger, Blogmad.

Talk about Traffic

2005-11-23T00:36:00.000+08:00

If you tend to boost up your Google Adsense page impressions, TS 25 and Traffic Pods will really help, but you need to work a little bit harder and read through the help menu before you get started.

Because TS 25 and Traffic Pods are so difference if compare to others traffic exchange program.

Personally I prefer TS 25, since its started to operate on year 2004, it members database are working very well, I mean you can get more unique visitors if you are fighting for the ranking.

However, this year new comer Traffic Pods (Brother Company to TS25 if I am not mistaken) has its own attraction, although it works a little slow if compare to TS 25, but it still a leading tool to depend on, perhaps you can use both.

There is no doubt that other traffic exchange programs will work too, but normally they give you the good respond when you first sign up, then after a while (maybe in week time or shorter), the traffic will slow down, I mean if you won’t upgrade to pay service. LOL

So far I have tested with TS 25 and Traffic Pods for more than 2 weeks, they practically bring me at least 200 unique visitors from all over the world, and if I work harder and upgrade to pay service, I think it will certainly getting more.

Anyway, TS 25 and Traffic Pods are the traffic “booster”, the traffic will only come when you really work it out, the content of our blog still the main attraction to the other bloggers.

Therefore, we need to have a good contents and a good traffic “booster”, you can’t success without either one, Hahaha

P/S: Tomorrow will discuss about quality blog’s reader from Blog only traffic exchange.

Tag: Traffic, Traffic Exchange, TS 25,Traffic Pods, Bloggers, Blogger, Google Adsense.

Countries in The World

2005-11-22T20:01:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Here, get Yours.

How many countries are there in the world today?

I kept asking my friends lately, nobody can answer me. So I search the answer from Google, and surprisingly there is no accurate answer due to which country recognizes by what body.

Okay, The “body” that I mean is such like United Nations or United States' State Department.

By Most Accounts, like what About.com mentioned, 193 seem to be the most “Correct Answer” or I should say mostly been mentioned.

There are 191 members of the United Nations, but The United States' State Department recognizes 192 independent countries around the world.

However, about.com has Taiwan in list, so the answer is 193, and infoplease.com included East Timor, so the answer is 193 too.

So much so there is 193 countries in the world, I should assume that if its blogger who visited my blog are come from more than 100 countries, I should consider bloggers from half of the world been visited my blog.

I got 86 now, not too far to go, Waw! LOL......

Sources courtesy of About.com and Infoplease.com

Tag: World, Country, Countries.

Over-Baked Pizza

2005-11-21T18:38:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Traffic Pods and TS 25.

Once upon a time, a Princess invited all her beloved friends for dinner in a blue moon night, which she was going to give everybody a surprise by her home-made Pizza served for the dinner.

The Pizza looks just fine.
So the princess was happily singing her cooking song while she was baking the Pizza, after 15 minutes when the oven made the “DING” sound, princess was so excited and can’t wait to see her “works”.

Unfortunately things happened, just like the “unfortunate event”, its happened without any reason and still looked nothing wrong.

Princess stared at the Pizza, “nothing wrong” she said to herself, but why did she smell something disgusting.

Over baked look!
Unfortunately with an unfortunate event, all her beloved friends arrived just on time. All her friends asked the same question when they walked in the Palace, “what is that smell?”

Princess was so embarrassed, she had no choice but to admit there was something wrong with the Pizza, so all of her friend looked at the pizza but couldn’t find any problem until someone turn the pizza to the other side.

My God! Someone screamed loudly, the Pizza was over baked.

Here is my question, the Princess just made one mistake with the Pizza, she didn’t bake too long or too hot, the oven working just fine and the ingredients are perfect, so what is her mistake?

Tag: Pizza, Food.

Dried Fish Fillet

2005-11-20T00:03:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Here, get Yours.

Dried Fish Fillet is a kind of snack, do not be mistaken.

Since Omni wasn’t the only one who had “fainted”, few of my friends called to ask for it, now I am doing you bloggers a favor, have you watched the TV show “you asked for it” before? I am doing it now.

In Malaysia, we have 2 types of dried fish fillet, first is the Fish fillet for fish and chips, some RAW thing before cooking, no wonder a lot bloggers were shocked, LOL and the second one is a finished product (as shown in the picture).

The one that I bought is a BIG package, cost about RM 5.00 (USD 1.30), you can also get the small pack in the store, but the big pack is just enough for me and doggie, GOSH!

According to the label on the product, it is manufactured from fresh fish using sophisticated and hygienic technology under the strictest quality control.

It is rich in protein and minerals especially carbohydrate and calcium. It is tasty, nutritious, and easily digestible and contains all the natural goodness for the whole family.

they even won an award from the 22nd international award for foods and beverages.

Tag: Fish, Fish Fillet, Food, Snack.

Snack or Biscuit?

2005-11-19T12:02:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Here, get Yours.

Personally I prefer snacks, tasty and munchy.

So don’t be surprise that I need to stock up my supply for snacks at least once a week and it would cost me around RM 50 (USD 15), and in my list chocolates is a must, followed by potato chips, dried fish fillet, peanuts, ice cream etc.

However, this week, my list will include something healthier i. e. biscuits.

Hwa Tai “U-Lite” crackers, a tasty 3 type flavoured-biscuit , containing cheese, butter and spices, I prefer the one with spices, it tasts like home-made potato chips, yet it is health food.

A pack of “U-Lite” cracker only cost RM 1.00 (USD 0.30), cheap and healthy, I hope it won’t make me put on weight! LOL

By the way, I searched the company in Google, and they have a nice website as well, go there and have a look.

Again, I do not get paid by mentioning it in my blog, Anyway, is there anyone out there who want to pay me? Hahahaha…

Tag: Biscuit, Snack, Food, cracker.

What's A Shame

2005-11-18T00:38:00.000+08:00

Most of my visitors come from Here, get Yours.

For nearly 2 years I have been driving my car, and I never realized that my car has a built in steering lock. The other day when I was trying to adjust my wheel after I turning off the ignition, to my suprise the steering locked itself.

Anyway I was excited to discover this lock, but it was when I came back to my car later that I had some problems.

I could not unlock the thing, I so panicked that I almost fainted.

However, in my darkest moment, a shinning star appeared, Fairuz who happen to pass by, I almost cried out to him, and he had no idea whether I should have the other key to unlock the steering.

Anyway, he suggested that I pull the steering aside a little, and only then managed to unlock the steering and started the car with the same key.

It worked at last, thanks to him, Thank God.

Tag: Vehicle, Car, Steering, Steering Lock, Automobile.

Ad on The Moon

2005-11-17T00:02:00.000+08:00

While I was surfing on the net today, I found this interesting way to advertise my website or blog.

So easy, just PUT my ad on the Moon.

The webmaster didn’t pay me a cent for its website mentioned in my blog, I just intend to share what I found, and perhaps we can think of something in similar way to make some dollars.

The total moon land of the moon they “Owned” cost about $2,778.90 ^O^, and the average cell price is $0.2779, Most expensive cell costs $0.5465.

I didn’t really read the rule or the P&S agreement, I just look at the moon and clicked on some of their “moon creatures (costumer)”, well anyone out their want to start an “Ad on the Sun”? LOL

Tag: Advertisment, Moon, E-Commerce, ECommerce.

Eggs of The Day

2005-11-16T00:01:00.000+08:00

My friend forwarded this to me through email, not sure where is the original source, so who happens to know the author of the WORK, please leave your comment here.

I like this picture so much, you can even put the script to the eggs, “Oh my God, he committed suicide”, “I don’t want to see” , “how could this happened” , “I am so sad” and etc.

Leave your caption of Mr. Egg here, to see who has the most creative idea.

Tag: Egg, Art, Caption.

The Bridge has a Blog

2005-11-15T00:02:00.000+08:00

I came across with this blog in one of my Chinese friend’s blog.

Interesting, the bridge has a blog, who else out there haven’t get yourself a blog? Better move faster now before a building, a car or even a grave will have a blog.

Penang Bridge was the 3rd longest bridge in the world back on 1985 or later, I am not sure what is the latest ranking now, as much as I am concern, would rather to know that how bad is the traffic jammed on the bridge nowadays.

But now it has a blog, attached with 4 snapshot cameras, you can update the traffic condition by surfing the net, then I suppose one of the camera has broke down, wondering where is the technician who suppose to fix it.

However, as long as I got other 3, before I go back to my hometown, I can check the traffic condition, thank GOD ^_^

Tag: Malaysia, Penang, Bridge.

Do you EAT this?

2005-11-14T00:58:00.000+08:00

If you are a regular bloggers who use to read my blog, you will surely remember me showing a Rat (cake) in here before, and a lot of bloggers were leaving their disgusting expression with the comment.

These are cakes for Halloween, I suppose.
Now I have something even worse, skeletons, zombie and cockroach, not sure what else I can find, but if you can’t stand the RAT (click here to read the previous posting), I suppose you won’t even touch this one.

a zombie
I know its just a cake, but who wants to eat a cake looking like this, just wondering......

a Cockroach for your birthday!
Tag: Cake, Food, Cockroach, Skeleton.

IM Protection

2005-11-13T00:01:00.000+08:00

Do you know how to PROTECT your IM (instant messenger)?

My friend insisted I should have protected my IM before our conversation been “Seen”, it’s sounded so horrible, but even though you have a good “shield” for your IM, Hackers can still hack! So what’s the difference?

However, I never win my friend when it comes to “theory” argument, he said IM protection is exactly something I did for my car protection, sort like steering lock or gear lock, although you know that the thief can still steal your car, but you makes it more difficult to the thief, yet it takes too much time to unlock the locks that you had.

Do you know how to PROTECT your IM?
So, the Hackers can still hack, no argue. But its matter of time, no one will be interested to hack if you had all kind of protection program.

I kept silence after his LONG speech, didn’t even think about what he said, I just wondered and concerned, who will hack my IM? LOL

Anyway, since my friend had showed me the way, why shouldn’t I tell my bloggers, maybe you guys need it too.

Zone labs is a new name to me, they also have web-based antivirus or anti-spyware scan service, but their IM Secure is the one which caught my friend eyes. With the free version of IM Secure, you can keep your IM conversations private and protect vulnerable IM connections.

If you upgrade to IM secure Pro, then you can have message Encryption, Universal, Transparent Protection and ID Lock services.

It works with the IM you already use—AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, and even universal clients like Trillian. Once IMsecure Pro is installed, it protects your IM silently, without interaction.

Tag: Instant Messenger, Software, Internet.

Cheat for the Game

2005-11-12T00:01:00.001+08:00

I am not going to talk much about this, if you still cannot finish the GAME, here you are, I am doing you a favor by giving you the cheat.

Finish the Ver3
Finish the RPG
Finish the Cube
Tag: Game, Blog Fun, Flash.

Get Rid of The Spy

2005-11-11T00:01:00.000+08:00

If you still remember that I was just introduced a nice anti-spyware named Pest Patrol few days back, here I am to talk about how to get rid of the spyware when Pest Patrol dectected it.

Since you need to pay to get rid of the spyware, but as I said on my last posting that you can DIY (do it yourself), lot of my friends called me to find the way of DIY.

Okay, before I get more calls or e-mails for this problem, I think its better for me to talk it here, and make sure everybody is clear!

However, you have to do this on your own risk, if you mistakely deleted a wrong registery key, your computer system might be effected, so think twice before you do it.

First, you should click on the “+” next to the list in the scan result, with this clicked its will show you the location of the WORM, just browse it manually and delete the WORM.

By the way, it is easy to do it if it is a file in any drive of your hard disk, but if it is a registery key, then you need to go to “start” menu, then click on “run” and input “regedit”.

A new dialog box will pop up, so find your registery key with the location that Pest Patrol show you. Its sound easy, but to some of friends, this is a big thing to do, good luck!!!

Tag: Spyware, Adware, Antivirus.

Hints of the Game

2005-11-10T00:06:00.000+08:00

Left is Cube and right is Ver3.
Want to play GROW? Let me give you some hint.

So we started from the Cube, in this square block you should get HUMAN to work first, and then think about what would have the ground fills with life? I am telling you too much, just try it yourself, OK?

Final view of Cube.
Now we talk about the Ver3, this one is difference with Cube. In
Cube you just need to click on the “Goods” to play, but with Ver3 you need to drag the things to the logo on the red sphere.

The hint for Ver3 is everything started with the SUN, and the end will be the screen.

Final view of Ver3.
However, the RPG version seem more difficult to finish, therefore, I will talk more about it.

Started the game with the house, think about water, tree and palace to see which one should get first, then only considering the tower, rocks and the staircase which lead to underground, opppps did I forget to mention the treasure box? Hahaha......

So if you can’t finish it, no worry. Return to my blog tomorrow to find out the answer, hahaha...... then only you will come back for more!!!

Tag: Game, Blog Fun, Flash.

Time to Play

2005-11-09T00:02:00.000+08:00

click on the red ball on top to play the GROW.
I found this Japanese based of Flash Games today, can’t help but just love it and crazy about it, the name of the side is Eyezmaze, lots of game to play with but strongly recommended the Grow.

The theory of “Grow” is something similar like the God created the world, what did you get first will lead you to the end? Have to think about it.

The Grow itself already got 3 levels, I managed to finish 3 of them, quite fun.

Anyway, I will talk more on the following posting tomorrow.

Tag: Game, Blog Fun, Flash.

Green Green Grass of Home

2005-11-08T00:46:00.000+08:00

My friend from Penang was visiting me during RAYA, she was looking forward to have a good time in somewhere like country side, she is tired with the busy city life, a lot of fresh air is needed.

Therefore, I suggested giving her a drive to the paddy field area, since its now just on time for the second planting season of the years, everywhere is just GREEN.

However, before I came to Kedah, I was kind of wonder how is the view could be in the song of “Green Green Grass of Home” by Tom Jones or “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver, how the country side should look like?

I suppose I got the answer here, my friend was so excited, we even stop in the middle of the paddy field, just to take some nice pictures, this is a heaven to her.

So instead of telling you how excited she was, the photo would be even better to show her happiness, although I didn’t get the permission from her, but I assumed that she doesn’t mind if I show the photo here. Hahaha…. Since she is so pretty!

Tag: Malaysia, Paddy Field.

Spyware Everywhere

2005-11-07T19:04:00.000+08:00

I thought my laptop is well-protected with the Anti-virus and Anti-spyware softwares that installed in my laptop, but apparently it isn’t strong and good enough until I found Pest Patrol.

You do not need to install Pest Patrol, and using Pest Patrol to scan your hard disk is free, but you have to subscribe (Pay) the service in order to get rid of the WORM that they found.

The result will list out the worms and the location.
However, with the result and the list of what they had found, we can delete it manually, unless you are not an advance user then you have to pay for the service.

So scan your computer and find out how many Worms you had, perhaps I think Pest Patrol should pay me for this posting. LOL

Tag: Spyware, Adware, Antivirus.

I am a tea drinker

2005-11-06T23:55:00.000+08:00

Can’t remember where did I find this quiz, it was added in my favorite for quite some time, so today when I was trashing the “rubbish” in my computer, I decided to done it and get rid of the link, LOL….

I suppose I am allergy to Coffee, but the result of the quiz said “I must be a tea drinker”, well I kind of agree with it.

However, my dear bloggers can click here to have fun!!!

Check it out to see whether you should categorize in a coffee or tea drinker.

Tag: Coffee, Blog Fun, Blog Quiz.

This is CAKE

2005-11-05T22:41:00.000+08:00

No offense, but who wants to eat a cake that looks like a RAT?

At least I don’t, although you can have rats as your meal in CHINA, but they cut them into slices and cook it like Malaysia style beef curry, you won’t even know if it is a rat unless someone tells you.

But take a look at this cake, it looks exactly like a RAT, who wants to eat this? I am curious to know.

Tag: Cake, Food, Rat.

More food in Raya

2005-11-04T00:12:00.000+08:00

This is only a part of the "FOOD" view!
Okay, I already updated a new banner, should have put the new slogan “New Journey with MORE FOOD”, but because I don’t like the way it looks, so I skipped the slogan.

However, I really have more food to show, especially I had invited to go Alina and Muna’s house for food in the Raya day last night, yummy yummy I was eating whole day.

Especially in Muna house, her husband told me that Kak Muna and her housemate been having a marathon of cooking since day before Raya, because she need to cook for a big ( I suppose HUGE) family and “hungry ghost” like me, hahaha.

white thing at the back is "Ketupat" and the tasty beef with coconut is “Serunding”(I hope I spelled it correctly).

By the way, I was eating a lots, can’t remember how many round I had gone through, still tempting for more, but because need to give way to the other guest, I had to stop and behave.

Kak Muna was so tension before this, she was so worried whether she can accomplished the mission, but she did and did it very well, I MISS the food so much, perhaps she should do another round of RAYA FEVER for me, LOL.

Tag: Malaysia, Food, Festival.

A Kampung style

2005-11-03T23:47:00.000+08:00

Today when I went to visit my friend for his Raya, I was experiencing something very difference when I was looking for my friend’s house if compare to city.

My friend is living in a typical fishing village, he doesn’t have a phone but he drew me a map on the other days when I saw him at his working place, but guess what, he can’t even drew it properly, I can’t even find his house.

So I have to walk and ask people around there, when I asked where is the house with number 23, the first thing they asked was which Village, I answered this is the place because my friend told me his house is somewhere around the bridge.

They had no idea with the number, but they asked me who was I looking for, I told them the name, they had no idea, and then asked me what does he work? I tell them the occupation, they got some hint, therefore asked whether he is driving a car, I said yes, guess what? They show me to the house that I am looking for.

Number has nothing to do in this village; perhaps you can’t find a number on their house-door, but the villagers knowing each other so well, although they not necessary know your name, but little hint of work and differences, they can know who you are looking for. :P

Tag: Malaysia, Village, Culture.

Selamat Hari Raya

2005-11-02T21:35:00.000+08:00

I think tomorrow will be the Hari Raya for my Muslim friends, so I went to the mall to buy some presents, because tomorrow I will need to visit lots of my Muslim friends, and showing them how generous I am, LOL.

The information acquired from www.abcmalaysia.com stated:

The most significant celebration for Muslims, it signifies the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The celebration is determined by sighting of the new moon on the day, before the next month on the Muslim calendar, Syawal. The words ‘Hari Raya’ mean 'day of celebration.'

Muslims starts the day by wearing new clothes and congregating in the mosques early in the morning to perform Hari Raya Puasa prayers followed by visiting the graves of the departed. The young will ask for forgiveness from their elders and have open house for relatives and friends to come to their house. Plenty of traditional Malay delicacies are served during this festive season. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and decorated, and lighting of oil lamps welcomes the angels which are believed to be visiting the earth during the seven days preceding the festival. The celebration lasts for a month but most of the celebration is concentrated in the first three days

Visiting Muslim homes on Hari Raya Puasa, you can expect to taste a wide variety of delicious spicy dishes. Some favorite dishes that can be found in Muslims homes on this special occasion are ketupat, lontong, nasi padang and beef rendang. The Muslims also give packets of money to kids when they go visiting. The packets are usually green in color and children often look forward to getting these money tokens on Hari Raya Puasa. Overall, Hari Raya Puasa is a joyous occasion for Muslims.

Tag: Malaysia, Muslim, Festival.

How Much Is My Blog Worth?

2005-11-01T09:05:00.000+08:00

Mmmm, my blog isn’t that expensive, it’s only cost you $1129.08, but if it covert to my currency, it would be RM 4328.50, not so bad man, so anyone who interested to buy my blog, the market is opened now….. LOL

Have fun with How Much Is My Blog Worth? It has been told that the game is based on the Data from Technorati.

Don't forget to tell me how much are yours? See ya!

Tag: Blog Fun, Blog Quiz.

I am Good

2005-10-31T23:10:00.000+08:00

How evil are you?
I found this blog quiz from one of the Chinese blog, interesting right?

However the result surprisingly good, I swear to God, I didn’t cheat at all, just answer the question with my heart, so I hope you guys have fun.

Tag: Blog Fun, Blog Quiz.

Back on track

2005-10-27T21:08:00.000+08:00

few snaps from the cafe scene.
I thought I was a member of desperate club (not desperate housewives LOL) few weeks back, not only because I was freaked out and helplessly needed a warm body to hug with, although my doggie can accomplish the mission, but still I need a human body…… almost reach the stage of 18sx, hahahaha

After all, the hush time that I got finally over when two of my buddies back on track, they seem disappeared from the earth with no time, suddenly came back and they were waving their hands to me, yes they are home.

So we went out for dinning as usual, flirting with few strangers and the waiter (already became our friend), despite the Star Walk in Alor Star is quite suck, but we create our own bubble of flirtation environment, hahahaha so eager to flirt, we are sick.

However, with the technology of wireless, I brought my laptop and subscribed with hotspot, hehehe I am blogging in a café with two gossipers around, they haven’t find out I am teasing about them, cause they are so busy to discuss their DATE……..

Oh my God, I am the only one with no DATE. (Forced to amend, they have no DATE, just occasionally social activities, LOL)

Bite Me

2005-10-26T00:38:00.000+08:00

Yummy colourful delicacies.
A lot of bloggers who love the food preview here, should come as often as you can, satisfaction guaranteed, LOL.

So the other days when I talked about my blog with one of my friend, he suggested I should changed my blog to a Food Blog instead of a New Journey, he even got me a name, he suggested “Bite Me”.

Mmmm, the name sound seducing, I doubt bloggers will like “Bite Me”, but I promised to mention it in my blog, just to open for discussion, any of you who like it please tell me, I will consider it.

Malaysia style salad? I think this can “Gado-gado”.
However, when I came across with the “Bite Me” term, the foods here in Malaysia really have that power, which make you so tempting just for a Bite.

The colour especially, any colour in a rainbow, you can get it from our food here, this is the reason I like teatime, colourful delicacies which can be sweet or savory that brings you joy, the best is after the hectic day or tight schedule.

Okay, I am going for some bites now, see you guy later……

Praying Part I

2005-10-21T23:02:00.000+08:00

Joss sticks is a must when a prayer performing their praying.
Although I am Chinese, but I am not really understand the whole praying culture for the Chinese community, not only because there are too many deities, there are also too many forms of presenting their prayer.

So when I covered an opening of the new temple by the local assemblyman, I was confused if it should categorize the temple as Taoism, but I doubt it’s accurate.

Most the Chinese believe that deities like to eat fruits and Chicken.
What’s a shame, but I was not really bothered since I was not going to categorize the temple in my story. Then I was thinking of my blog, if I want to tell something about my own culture, I should find out the complete details.

However, there is too many praying activities in own community, so I decided not to talk thing too specifically, since it is too complicated, just let the picture tells the story, so now enjoy the VIEW.

Tag: Deity,Chinese,Praying.

Puri Fever

2005-10-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

An Indian chef is cooking the Puris.
I like food, as I always mention about food in my blog.

Not because I was born in the food paradise and worked as a food critic before, just like the old Chinese believes that food and sex have the same orgasm, mmmmm chocolate is the best example, LOL.

In Malaysia, due to the country's colourful culture and ethnic backgrounds, we are lucky enough to have variety cuisines.

For this time, I want to share something about Indian cuisine, have you ever hear about PURI? I tried to search in Google with the keyword of “Puri + Food”, there are 567,000 results, and surprisingly there are also many of the recipes that teach you how to cook Puri, interesting.

Puri is also served with difference curries like the other breads.
As from the result I got from Google, there is a website translated Puri as Crispy Indian Snack, but I suppose Puri is a members of the family of Indian breads, which is authentically Punjabi.

Atta flour is used to make Puri. The dough to make Puri is similar to that of the Chapatti, only less moist. Chickpea curry is usually served along with hot Puris, and it is also often served with Hindu vegetarian meals.

Tag: Indian cuisine,Indian Food,Indian Bread.

Coffee Smoke

2005-10-16T00:07:00.000+08:00

Most of my friends are crazy about Coffee but not me, practically I have a weak stomach, which coffee will easily cause me diarrhea.

So I must be allergy to coffee, yeah it sounds so bad.

The coffee beans just finish roasting.
I am not here to sing the “no coffee” song but I am going to tell my dear bloggers something related to coffee, the title should sounds like this, “the making of 3 in 1 coffee”.

Okay, 3 in 1 coffee is a common term to describe instant coffee in Malaysia, surprisingly in small state like Kedah, there is so many factories are producing instant coffee.

this is coffee not Tar, LOL.
So the other day I was covering an assignment where the deputy minister was visiting one of the local factory, and FYI it was an instant coffee manufacturer, expected to see a lot of coffee beans.

However, Instead of just having the coffee beans in view, we were just on time, where the workers just finish roasting the beans and cooling it with fans.

Smoky coffee......
Try to imaging the view, when the beans hot enough to burn your lip, they were using the high speed fans to cool it down, so the smoke was blowing everyway with the smell of coffee.

I believe this is a heaven to many of you, but trust me, this is a hell to me……

Tag: Coffee.

New New Journey

2005-10-15T22:59:00.000+08:00

After few days busy with works and FLU, finally I managed to get myself back on track, I am back to my blogging world again, hurray!!!

Well, since this is like a new born baby, perhaps it has been reborn few times after all kind of disaster happened to my blog, thank GOD I am still alive, so I must stop rambling before I get my blog into trouble again…..zzzzzzzz

So after leaving my blog out-of-date for few days, I want to thank those who keep visiting my blog, I know you guys always here, like Marco, Jalberto, Sumini, Philip, Mensa Barbie, Thomas, rambler, bao, HUDA, jej byvaly, Omni and the rest.

Then I hope my blogging routine will back to normal, really wish to post at least one nice story a day, like what I did before, mmmmmm need more courage on this.

Of course I tend to work on quality instead of quantity, so I will try my best. See ya.

Where is all the good food?

2005-10-10T20:24:00.000+08:00

Due to the lighthing not strong enough in the restaurant and I dared not use my flash light to get attention from the diner, this is what I could get in the view.

I need good food, especially now.

Do you know how SUCK I am now? During the Muslim’s fasting month and the Chinese’s Nine Emperor Gods festival, here in Kedah basicly have no good foods in the morning and afternoon.

Most of the good Malays restaurant close in daytime due to the fasting thing, and no offense but basicly the Chinese foods here is tasteless and flat, yet the worse part is I don’t choice at all.

So I have been skipped my meal for the past few days, but wonder how long I can survive like this since I have not much to diet for.

However, my Diva Alina drove me and Fairul down to Butterworth (around 110km from Alor Star), just to have their fast breaking meal at Victorial Station, I finnally had my tasty and juicy spare rib, thank gods.

FYI, I formerly stayed in the food paradise where people always say “there is no one die here cause by starving, but die with the reason of lazy, because in my hometown, there is so bloody convienence to get good food anywhere.

Anyway, I have a question, Kedah is not so far from Penang, but why does the taste has so much difference, its like east west in the earth, not connected and not even close, OMG.

Two bloggers been jailed

2005-10-09T19:27:00.000+08:00

Two bloggers jailed for making racist remarks online in the newspaper headline.

Aiyaya, this morning I was shocked with the newspaper headline: Two bloggers jailed for making racist remarks online.

I am speechless about it, just share the news here for bloggers-awareness.

News updated taken from Channel News Asia:

SINGAPORE : For the first time, two Singaporeans have been sentenced to jail for posting racist remarks online.

28-year-old Benjamin Koh Seng Huat, a kennel keeper at an animal shelter, has been sentenced to one month's jail.

Separately, the court sentenced 25-year-old former assistant marketing manager, Nicholas Lim Yew, to serve one day in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000.

He pleaded guilty to making racist remarks on his web blog which sparked off more than 200 comments.

Lim, whose postings were regarded less serious than Koh's by the court, was also charged under the Sedition Act.

Full story can find here in Channel News Asia.com.

Another story about the interview with the bloggers by TodayOnline.com.

More story in Electric New Paper.

Tag: Blogger, Singapore, Sedition.

Fun With Numbers

2005-10-08T00:27:00.000+08:00

I found this game from Silverdad, quite fun but I only got my phone number at the end without the area code, maybe the game is specially for American user.

here is the game started with.

Find a calculator.

Punch in the first three digits of your phone number (do not use the Area Code).

Multiply by 80.

Add in 1.

Multiply by 250.

Add the last 4 digits of your phone number (Example: If your phone is 206-555-1234, add 1234).

Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.

Subtract 250.

Divide number by 2.

When you hit the equal key, you will then see your phone number with area code.

Tag: Blog Fun, Blog Quiz.

What Gender Is Your Brain?

2005-10-07T18:50:00.000+08:00

What? My brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male.

When I read the result that almost cause me heart-attacked, I tried very hard to calm down and finish the result.

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female
You are both sensitive and savvy
Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed
But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What’s a relief, I thought my brain was a “transsexual” (no offense). Although I am not a HUNK, but I consider myself a manly kind person, lucky the result said this is a healthy mix of male and female, hey man, I am healthy, LOL.

Have fun gals and guys, What Gender Is Your Brain?

Tag: Blog Fun, Blog Quiz.

Nine Emperor Gods

2005-10-06T22:55:00.000+08:00

The Chinese in Malaysia now having their Nine Emperor Gods festival, but what is this?

Okay, The Nine Emperor Gods are part of a spirit-medium cult known locally as “Jieu Hwang Yeh”. These Nine Deities are believed to dwell in the stars in heaven under the reign of “Thien Hou” - the Queen of Heaven.

The devotee pierced a hard steel stick through his cheek to hold the bicycle. (Picture courtesy of L.S.Yeoh)

The Festival of the Nine Emperor Gods falls in the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and this festival normally celebrating at least 9 days, some of them included the eve and make it 10 days.

This is how the devotee holds the bicycle and walk on the street shoeless. (Picture courtesy of B.A.Teoh)

However, devotees will only eat vegetarian food in this 9 or 10 days, and if they are sincere enough, they won’t get burn if they walk through the “fire bridge” or not even get cut if they climb the “knife mountain” or “glasses alley”

So the festival this year happen to fall in 3 Oct, and 2 of my friends managed to take some pictures while they were witnessing the “sincere person” went through all the “Fear Factor” challenges, and here you are for the pics.

Despite been “threw” on a stake of broken glasses, the devotee who believe sincere enough and protected by the Nine Emperor Gods, won’t get any injury. (Picture courtesy of B.A.Teoh)

The Geovision.com said:

The festive started on the eve of its first day in the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, and temples of the Deities hold a ceremony to invoke and welcome the Nine Emperor Gods.

The devotee jumped from the ladder and landed on a stake of broken glasses, his bum is safe from breeding. (Picture courtesy of B.A.Teoh)

Since the arrival of the Nine Emperor Gods is believed to be through the waterways, processions are held from temples to the sea-shore or river to symbolise this belief. Devotees dressed in traditional white, carrying joss-sticks and candles, await the arrival of their “Excellencies”.

Not get cut from glasses is small matter, this devotee can even eat the glasses. (Picture courtesy of B.A.Teoh)

A carnival-like atmosphere pervades the temple throughout the nine-day festival. During this period of time, the constant tinkling of a prayer bell and chants from the temple priests are heard. Most devotees stay at the temple, take vegetarian meals and recite continuous chanting of prayer.

A procession to send the Nine Emperor Gods home then takes place to complete the rites of this religious festival.

Tag: Religion, Chinese, Malaysia, Festival.