Year: 2006

PlayStation 2 (PS2) with Vertical Stand and 8 MB Memory Card

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ps2 slim

I purchased a PlayStation 2 slim form factor console with a Vertical Stand and 8 MB Memory Card (both PS2 official accessories sold separately). It comes with two DUALSHOCK 2 Analogue controllers and 10 “copied” (a euphemism for intellectual property theft) DVD games for RM 590 in KL.

ps2 tv tuner

It’s a pretty good deal. I don’t have a TV at home so I use a USB TV Tuner with a mini Component AV Cable (compatible with PS2) to use either my notebook screen or the PC monitor at home to play the games. It works well and the resolution is great (up to 1280 x 1024). The USB TV Tuner comes at RM 220 and can be used with an external antenna to watch free to air broadcast stations too.

I don’t think the PS/2 really needs a review since it’s a pretty old console so I’ll put up some photos regarding the setup of the system – using a USB TV Tuner with a mini Component AV Cable to a PC monitor/notebook.

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Kedai Makanan Nasi Ayam Ipoh – New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice (Ipoh comes to PJ)

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kedai ayam ipoh sign

Kedai Makanan Nasi Ayam Ipoh – New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice lays claim to one of the longest eating establishment signboards I’ve seen in my life. It spans a good four lengths of shop houses and has the bold tagline “Ipoh come to PJ“.

kedai ayam ipoh careful

That’s not the end of the Engrish though – the stairs leading up to this fine eating establishment is also hand painted with the phrase “Please go up slowly” in red paint. I think they meant a lot of patrons have tripped on the stairs before. Careful is the word. 😉

kedai ayam ipoh patrons

Kedai Makanan Nasi Ayam Ipoh is supposed to have really good Ipoh style chicken rice and our main liaison here, Lee, brought us to Petaling Jaya to check out the food over here. There are two entrances due to the large area and the place is packed with patrons – a testament to the food.

kedai ayam ipoh stall

The right side of the eating establishment is where the main chicken chopping action takes place. New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice offers a huge amount of chicken products and the opening hours are from 10:30 AM to 10:45 PM.

kedai ayam ipoh chicken balls

New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice has a standard bowl of chicken balls (no, not that kind) in soup served with chicken rice. There are about 4 chicken meat balls floating in the soup.

kedai ayam ipoh pork

We also had a side order of Sweet Sauce Pork (the three-layered pork from the pork belly) which tastes sweet and good. There is also a side dish of large bean sprouts which is standard in chicken rice meals in Ipoh, or so I heard.

kedai ayam ipoh chicken

This is the main dish itself – Ipoh Chicken. The chicken is kampong chicken (free range chicken) and it came on a huge platter with most of the chicken parts inside (including the liver).

kedai ayam ipoh chicken macro

Ipoh Chicken Rice tastes sweeter than the chicken rice I usually have back home – the essence of chicken seeps out slightly from the chicken to be soaked up by the bed of cucumbers at the bottom of the dish and the meat is tender and sweet, flavored by spring onions.

kedai ayam ipoh all

Kedai Makanan Nasi Ayam Ipoh has really good chicken rice – it comes highly recommended from me. It’s somewhere in Petaling Jaya (PJ) but since someone brought us along; I don’t know exactly where it is or how much the meal costs. It’s great chicken rice though.

Ipoh comes to PJ indeed…

P/S – My apologies – I have to rush out again, this really is a business trip. 🙁

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Roti Pisang Cheese Strawberry

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roti pisang cheese strawberry

Roti Pisang Cheese Strawberry is a user customized version of roti canai (the base) which uses unorthodox but delicious ingredients. I was at the 24 hour ScH mamak (just downstairs) for supper just now and asked for Roti Pisang…with cheese…and strawberry ice cream. 😉 The owner hid his astonishment well and double confirmed the order. I said Roti Pisang Cheese Strawberry – and a new roti variant is born! =D

roti pisang cheese strawberry slices

This is what it looks like – it came out shaped like a subway sandwich instead of the flat variable shaped roti canai. The Roti Pisang Cheese Strawberry is sliced into manageable but rather large bite sized pieces and it contains pisang (banana), cheese (er…cheese), and strawberry (ice cream).

roti pisang cheese strawberry contents

It tastes amazing, trust me. The taste is dominated by the strawberry ice cream and banana, but the melted cheese shines through, distributing that sweet, squishy, and salty umami (three posts in a row!) cheese flavor and texture combination all at once.

roti pisang cheese strawberry hot

You have to eat it really fast though coz it’s hot so the strawberry ice cream melts real fast. Check it out at your local mamak next time – any reputable mamak will allow customers to order quirky combinations of this Malaysian staple. 😉

P/S – I’ll reply all the comments tomorrow. I just got back and we have a big meeting early tomorrow morning so I’m going to turn in now. Good night!

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Night view of Taman Danau Desa a.k.a. "I'm in KL!"

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hb in kl

I’ve just arrived at our office in Taman Danau Desa…flew in on the late flight from Kuching to KL. I will be here for a couple of days on a business trip, so you know the drill – 016 888 3166 is the number to call if anyone wants to meet up. 🙂

I’m heading out now with my CTO to grab something to eat…will update again in a while.

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DIY Prawn and Peanut crackers

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pp crackers packet

Prawn and Peanut crackers is a local snack that is a variant of the home made Malay keropok (crackers). It isn’t actually made with prawns (shrimp) but ikan bilis (a small indigenous fish fry that has been dried and salted). It’s just what we call these crackers (YMMV). The crackers are about the size of a 3 inch CD. pp crackers diy

The crackers are made by DIY (a small Kuching cottage industry) and retails for RM 1.30 at most coffee shops. One packet of the crackers contains about six pieces, which makes the price per cracker at slightly above 20 cents (MYR). The cracker usually has one intact fish fry and several peanuts embedded into the cracker itself.

pp crackers

This is what the crackers look like up close – the ikan bilis and peanuts is placed on the chilli infused batter base before the deep frying treatment, producing this effect. It’s a favorite snack in our office. The crackers taste like spicy keropok before the salty ikan bilis tang starts to shine through as the cracker is munched, with the experience ending on a nice aromatic roasted peanuts note.

It contains very basic ingredients, but it’s executed so well that the whole is better than the sum of its parts. It’s also home made, so that means no preservatives. 🙂

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Coffee Bean Taro Ice Blended

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coffee bean taro ice blended promo

Coffee Bean came out with a new promotional drink – Taro Ice Blended. The tagline for the new drink is emblazoned on the banner advertising it in front of the Coffee Bean outlet – “Sooth your senses with Taro Ice Blended”.

coffee bean taro ice blended poster

The new Taro Ice Blended promotion is done in conjunction with the 3-Cheeses Grilled Sandwich and the Belgian Chocolate drink which is back for a limited time due to high demand. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is introducing the Taro Ice Blended for RM 12.

coffee bean taro ice blended morning

I went to Coffee Bean earlier this morning to check out the new Taro Ice Blended drink. I did bring along my digicam, but alas, the battery was missing as it was still charging at home. Thus, this post is brought to you by the Crappy Cell Phone Cam (TM). 😉

coffee bean taro ice blended making

This is a photo of a Coffee Bean employee blending the Taro Ice Blended drink and pouring it into one of the large sized containers. I opted for whipped cream on top (which comes at no extra charge).

coffee bean taro ice blended

The Taro Ice Blended drink comes out purple – it’s made of taro (purple yam) and it tastes great! Whipped cream is essential to the Taro Ice Blended experience – the mixture of the two tastes creamy with that umami taste.

Coffee Bean’s new Taro Ice Blended comes highly recommended from me. It not too sweet and full of taro goodness! 🙂

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Shepherd's Pie

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shepherd pie

Shepherd’s Pie is traditional British dish that consists of a bottom layer of minced (ground) lamb in gravy covered with mashed potato and (often) a layer of cheese. (from Wikipedia)

penny shepherds pie

This is Penny’s version of the Shepherd’s Pie – it consists of ground beef, mushrooms, carrots, green peas and the killer ingredient – onions. I strongly belief that good Shepherd’s Pie should contain onion. Onions are great!

shepherds pie

She brought it to work (said she’s make some for me) and I ate it for lunch. The recipe she uses consists of herbs and cheese mixed into the mashed potato. It works…and it’s delicious when it’s still piping hot.

Who there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch? 😉

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Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao vs. LINDT Chocolat Cree a Berne

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swiss faceoff choc shop

This is a face off between two premium Swiss dark chocolate (Chocolat Swiss Noir) – Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao vs. LINDT Chocolat Cree a Berne. I wanted it to be a straight Swiss dark chocolate comparison so…

cote dor

…the Cote d’Or Belgian extra high quality dark chocolate is out of this post’s scope

cote dor content

(and also coz I noticed that the Cote d’Or only contains 56% cocoa solids – a very low figure compared to the two Swiss brands I’m evaluating)

swiss delice supreme

The Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao is an extra dark bittersweet chocolate with a high cocoa solid content – the highest amongst the two, weighing in at 78% cacao.

swiss delice supreme noir

It retails for RM 9.90 each and comes in a thin cardboard package containing just 100 grams of chocolate. Weight for weight, it’s more expensive than the Cote d’Or brand (which I wouldn’t be mentioning except it was brought up :p) with its 2 x 200 g (400 g) packaging priced at RM 27.90.

swiss delice supreme back

The back of the package lists the contents of the chocolate and also has text that goes “Swiss Delice invites connoisseurs from all over the world to take part in a culinary journey throughout Switzerland. The delightful specialties are carefully created using traditional recipes and only the finest ingredients. Take a real taste of Switzerland home with you.”

swiss delice supreme foil

The packaging of Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% is impeccable – the slim cardboard packaging has a side that parts to reveal a thin block of dark chocolate wrapped in foil (which is the best wrapping for our climate – unlike the paper wrappings in Australia, our heat does not allow anything except foil for long term shelf life).

swiss delice supreme slices

The Swiss Delice Supreme Noir 78% cacao breaks apart easily at the perforations and produces neat imprinted dark chocolate in bite sized pieces. It’s about the size of the ubiquitous After 8 thin dark chocolate dinner mints for a better mind size comparison.

swiss delice supreme bite

I ate (nearly) the entire block of Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% (which isn’t much considering it’s only 100 g – the size of a large Mars bar) while waiting for my flight (which was delayed). There was someone sitting beside me, traveling alone too (Swinburne student – Hello Alice!), and I offered her a slice, which she accepted. She pronounced it good, as do I.

Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao is smooth high cocoa solid content chocolate – it has a melt in your mouth quality and its bittersweet nature is great. This is real dark chocolate – the product does not disappoint.

swiss faceoff lindt

LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne is also another Swiss dark chocolate product which caught my eye due to its retro packaging. It looks like a product from the 1940’s – the candy wrapping is minimalist and heavily text oriented. It certainly has novelty value.

lindt chocolat

I sampled the LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne the next day (and an important note here is that I wasn’t fully in withdrawal hell as I planned to stop my opiate consumption on Friday night and I was still VERY MUCH under the influence of Oxycontin bliss during the time of this review) at home.

lindt chocolat back

LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne also comes in a slim 100 g package. Unfortunately, it weighs in at a (relatively) dismal 49% cocoa solids content. LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne retails at RM 8.90 (all chocolates is this review is from the Choc Stop franchise at the airport).

lindt chocolat foil

The LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne chocolate bar is also wrapped in foil and comes in smaller perforated chunks. I personally prefer an After 8 sized slice, much like the format of the previously featured Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao instead of this smaller chunk.

lindt chocolat pieces

The chocolate perforates nicely to reveal chocolate chunks with the Lindt signature on each of the chunks. I’m still harping about the size of the chunk – IMHO, I feel that premium chocolate should come in the larger format instead of this Cadbury/Hershey’s (tick according to your country) style chunk which is associated with mass produced chocolate.

lindt chocolat bite

The LINDT Chocolat Cree A Berne breaks nicely and takes well to biting smaller chunks off it. It tastes great, with a bittersweet symphony that indulges the senses. However, I still prefer the Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao as it has that elusive mouth-feel from the higher cacao content.

swiss faceoff noir best

Swiss Delice Supreme Noir Authentique 78% Cacao is the better of the two. It’s definitely a must try, with its high cocoa solid content – which is what chocolate is all about. 🙂

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The sixthseal.com extended family Mother's Day dinner

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md hong ping

The entire sixthseal.com clan descended to Hong Ping Corner at the fast developing new Sibu Bus Terminal commercial area at Lorong 7, Jalan Pahlawan for the Mother’s Day dinner last night.

md extended family

This is candid shot of everyone (Headcount: 14) including the matriarch of the family before the gale force winds made their grand appearance (which is the best part of this post, bar none). It’s hard to coordinate shots what that much people…

md gale winds

Download: Gale force wind during Mother’s Day [sixthseal.com]

md gale force

This is a really funny video clip, especially when the expressions of the people are taken into consideration. 🙂
Sibu was struck by gale force winds last night and it caused a bit of a havoc with chairs flying around and tables topping (with food on it). Classic!

md our table

This is our table after everything has settled down – there were 3 mothers in here – the Grand Matriarch, and two others (one of whom is mine). We ordered about 20 dishes in total and booked two adjoining tables.

md grand matriarch

All Hail the Grand Matriarch!
(the one in dark red – she’s my grandmother, so sixthseal.com won’t even exist without her and the procreation that she experimented with many decades back)

md candid family

Download: Candid video of my extended family [sixthseal.com]

md family funny

I love this one – it’s a candid pan of my entire extended family and back and the final money shot still makes me laugh (warmly) today. I miss my cousins and aunties. 🙂

P/S – They all read this blog. Seriously.
I guess I’m the de facto superstar of the family (or the black sheep, depending on how you look at it).

😉

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Thunderstorm = Fried Modem

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fried sibu modem

My modem in Sibu was fried during a heavy thunderstorm in Sibu last night (which tripped the ELCB from a near direct strike as well, plunging the house into darkness) so I won’t be able to update until Monday morning.

Anyway, I got an SMS from nepasalaver telling me that our favorite local Malay tabloid is at it again – apparently, they have a serious lack of content (not to mention a dismal understanding of the English language). I hope they get more news coverage soon coz digging out old stories is just…old… 😉

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