Month: June 2008

The art of the sickie

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mc

I took a sick day today due to an URTI infection according to the doctor’s diagnosis. I have been coughing really badly for the past few days and getting symptoms of the flu for about a week now. It took a turn for the worse last night when I came down with a fever. I went into work this morning anyway, but felt I was too sick to be there, so I went to one of the panel doctors and he told me I had an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and put me on a course of antibiotics. He wanted to give me three (3) days sick leave but I told him I only wanted one (1) day since there’s a lot of outstanding work to be done at the office.

I’m not being sanctimonious or anything like that, it’s just that I really enjoy what I’m currently doing in the office right now. I went over to Sandra’s pharmacy and she gave me some hydroxyzine gratis which makes me really sleepy so I’m going to catch some sleep and shake off the fever.

I know that one in three sick days are from people pulling a sickie but I’m seriously ill right now (not as in terminally ill, but feverish). The title of the post doesn’t help, but I just thought it would be funny. 🙂

I’ll reply the comments tomorrow. Mr. Sandman is calling.

San Francisco Coffee

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san francisco coffee

I went to the rather derelict looking San Francisco Coffee outlet at Miri to grab a quick snack before heading to the airport. I’m clearing all my Miri trip backlogs – this is the final one before the Miri beach writeup tomorrow. 🙂

sfc counter

The decrepit and understaffed San Francisco Coffee franchise didn’t even have a barista at the counter at first. The staff was just lounging around OUTSIDE the premises. I was told that this franchise outlet is closing down soon, that probably attributes to the low morale.

sfc stand

The San Francisco Coffee souvenir stand was unmanned so you could probably just nick some of the stuff if you’re thus inclined. I’m pretty sure the staff would neither notice nor care about anyone doing the Five Finger Discount over here. 😉

sfc interior

There were a couple of other customers besides us but the place exudes a general feeling of barrenness (not in the biblical sense).

extreme buzz 

I ordered the Extreme Buzz with an additional shot of espresso (RM 16). I needed the caffeine to keep awake during the trip back just in case I become an unwitting drug mule from certain people slipping stuff into my baggage during the numerous microsleeps I had. :p

oj did it

This is OJ DID IT – an orange juice fruit frappe that Faye ordered. I just love the wordplay, it’s cracked me up to no end. 🙂

sfc cheesecake

This is the San Francisco Cheesecake (RM 7.95). It was alright, nothing to write home about that’s for sure.

sfc waffles

The place also serves waffles (RM 4.95). It comes with Heinz marmalade, Anchor butter and honey on the side.

sfc us

I was the only one that was due to fly back that day due to work commitments. I was totally exhausted by the end of it all.

life is good

San Francisco Coffee – Life is Good (except for the staff of this soon-to-be-closed outlet). 😉

Island Country Club and Island Pub & Lounge in Miri

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island club

I went to Island after dinner at Shiki with Kim and Mark for a couple of drinks. We were planning to head over to a Middle Eastern joint for shisha but the place was closed so we ended up at Island Country Club while waiting for Darren to join us.

island country club

It turns out the Island is comprised of two isles (?) – one is the more upscale Island Country Club where we were and the other is the more chilled out Island Pub & Lounge (also called Island Wine & Cocktail) where Darren was.

island club bar

The interior of Island Country Club is more upmarket with a small bar seating area and more comfortable tables and chairs.

island al fresco

There is also an al fresco seating area running the entire length of the two Island clubs.

island pub lounge

The drinks menu is similar in the two Island clubs – the drinks are made at the larger bar at Island Pub & Lounge and sent over through a slot in the wall to Island Country Club.

island decor

The prices are the same too, so it’s a matter of preference as to the ambiance of the two different watering holes.

island pool

There is a pool table at Island Country Club, while Island Pub & Lounge has more TV sets playing sports channels.

island tribal

I lost my digital camera that very same night and I remembered going there again with Faye, LV and her husband just to get photos of the very same drinks we ordered that day. I know, it’s being obsessive, but I just couldn’t get over losing the photos. :p

dirty pussy

This is Licking Dirty Pussy (RM 15) – a shooter that I had the first night with Kim, Mark and Darren that I had before lounging with a Margarita and then nursing a Kilkenny.

kilkenny

I did the exact same thing the last night, but without the Kilkenny coz Darren already got a photo of me with that. 😉

island margarita deluxe

I had the Island Margarita Deluxe (RM 18) – the strongest Margarita on their menu. It seems that the Margarita is the signature drink of Island Club – it was what the waitress recommended and they have three featured versions of the frozen concoction.

island margarita blue

I insisted that Faye ordered the Island Blue Curacao Margarita (RM 18) that Kim had the first night. I wanted to take a photo of the drink for consistency. 🙂

island margarita mango

LV went with the Island Mango Margarita (RM 18). The margaritas at Island are all of the frozen variety.

island club redux

This is from the second time I patronized Island. The first time was with Kim, Mark and Darren during the Miri bloggers meet and the very night I lost my digicam. This reenactment is brought to you by my new Sony T70 instead of my missing Sony T2.

kim me

This is me with Kim on the first night I came to Miri.

island me darren

We hooked up with Darren too, which is a really cool guy in real life.

island me kim

This is another shot of me and the gorgeous Kim – she’s just so photogenic that I have to put up her photos. 🙂

kim hb

It was great to meet up with Kim and everyone else in Miri.

island group

Check out the posts of Kimberley and Darren of the night. It was fun hanging out with them. Thanks for the excellent hospitality, guys! 🙂

Bintangor Rojak and Bintangor Orange Juice

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bintangor

Bintangor is a town about 95 km away from Sibu. It was decided that an impromptu road trip be made to check out their rojak and orange juice – the two things Bintangor is famous for. Four of us went in my car on Sunday afternoon: 

mary

Mary 

klm

Clare aka KLM. 🙂
The secret is out, so she let me put the original photos up.

huai bin

Huai Bin (me) and bengbeng

bintangor sarawak

Bintangor isn’t really far away from Sibu if you maintain a reasonable speed. It must have been the company of the two fine ladies coz we were there before we knew it. The “Welcome to Bintangor” signage is in the shape of the Bintangor orange. It’s the symbol of the town and there’s also a replica orange in front of the wharf – it makes for a good photo opportunity.

wong hung ping

The famous Bintangor rojak stall is called Wong Hung Ping and the rojak (a local fruit salad) is so renowned that Sibu people have been known to drive down just to eat the rojak during the weekends. They also sell the rojak sauce (which is the crucial ingredient that makes or breaks the dish).

rojak sauce

The bottles of rojak sauce goes for RM 7, which was up from the previous RM 5. That’s just about in line with the oft quoted 40% price increase. 😉

rojak owner

The proprietor of the Bintangor Rojak Stall used to be a nice, old lady. This is her daughter manning the stall. She’s the one managing the stall nowadays due to the advanced chronological age of her mother. I like her as well, she’s friendly, like her mom.

rojak ingredients

Rojak is made by chopping up pineapples, tofu, cucumbers and miscellaneous other items…

…before mixing it with the special Bintangor rojak sauce.

rojak dishing

It is then dished out and eaten with forks. It’s really a simple dish to prepare, it’s the special rojak sauce that makes it taste good. Bintangor is famous for their rojak due to the excellent rojak sauce that they make…at least in this stall.

bintangor rojak

This is the Bintangor rojak that we drove all this way for. Rojak is a communal dish, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone eating a plate all by himself.

bintangor rojak photo

Here’s a closer look at the Bintangor rojak. The money shot, if you will. 😉

bintangor orange juice

The stall also serves Bintangor orange juice. Bintangor orange juice is not made with Sunkist oranges (which was what they accidentally served us the first time) but from Bintangor oranges. It comes in a brighter shade than regular orange juice.

bintangor orange

These are what Bintangor oranges look like – it’s also the official produce of Bintangor. It’s sweet and tangy, with sour hints. It’s smaller in size than regular oranges. 

bintangor group

The Sibu blogger contingent at Bintangor.

bintangor camwhoring

True to blogger tradition, we did the camwhoring thing at the Bintangor wharf. This is me taking a pole up the ass while Mary looks on with mirth. Boy, I’m gonna be sore tomorrow.

bintangor photo

It was a fun road trip with the Sibu bloggers to Bintangor. I had wanted to go there for ages to take photos of the famous Bintangor rojak and Bintangor orange juice and the company was great! Cheers! 🙂

Sibu bloggers meet @ Kokoberry

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kokoberry

This is the Sibu bloggers meet “Reloaded” on Sunday morning. It was decided last night that we were going to head over to Kokoberry the next morning to support Mary’s enterprise (since the drinks would be free and all that ;)).
L-R: Mary, Arthur, Huai Bin (me), Clare, and Clement. bengbeng was also there but he likes to keep his anonymity so he was the one that took the photo for us. Contrary to popular belief, the kid is not mine. 😉
Disclaimer: The hand on Clare’s shoulder is obviously not mine since it’s holding a crepe and it’s too small to be mine anyway. It’s not Clement’s either. It can’t be Arthur’s unless he’s Mr. Fantastic so that leaves BengHui (who’s only 9, and thus, innocent enough to be harmless). 😉
Update: Original photo uploaded with permission since the cat is out of the bag. 🙂

double chocolate

I had the Double Chocolate (RM 3.20 / RM 3.50) which tasted absolutely fabulous. There’s a double dose of chocolate in this drink from the chocolate ice cream and the chocolate sprinkles in addition to the chocolate concoction. This is another one of the Top 9 selection from the Kokoberry menu.

clare dslr

When Clare takes out her equipment, everyone else’s family jewels looks small in comparison. 😉

stp mary

This is the presentation ceremony to the established food critic – STP (suituapui). If he says it’s good, it’s good.

cheese crepe

Mary was kind enough to do a special non-menu item for us – this is the Cheese Crepe. It tastes really good. I like savory fillings more than sweet fillings. I’m not sure if she’ll do it for customers, but perhaps if you ask nicely? It’s amazing, this cheese crepe. It got the thumbs up from all of us.

cheese crepe macro

This is a closer look at the cheese crepe. It’s filled with grated cheese and that goes really well with the crepe.

clare mary

The two leng lui bloggers of Sibu sends their regards. 🙂

Siew Ling

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siew ling

This is Siew Ling. Adorable! She’s really cute in real life. Unfortunately, she’s a minor so unless you want to be locked up for 10 years with 10 strokes of the rotan (whipping) her age makes her off limits. 😉

siew ling me

I managed to get her number but since she’s only 16, the relationship shall remain strictly platonic. *cough*

Hey, I really am down with the flu, okay? Don’t blame me for coughing all over the place. Ask the other bloggers, I have been coughing the whole weekend. :p

KFC Chicken Chop with Colonel’s Gravy

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kfc

The SBU (sounds like a firm, but the acronym stands for Sibu Bloggers United) adjourned to the KFC in Delta Mall for lunch after the meetup at Kokoberry Sunday morning. Delta Mall has been our recent stomping grounds due to Mary establishing her business operations there.

kfc chicken chop

The KFC Chicken Chop with Colonel’s Gravy is KFC’s latest promotion. I remember a similar item a couple of years back but my archives are kinda messed up (gonna fix that soon) so I can’t search for the exact entry. The current promotion comes with a chicken chop, coleslaw, crinkle fries, a bun and a Pepsi.

kfc chicken chop gravy

This is the KFC Chicken Chop with the famous deceased (or fictional?) Colonel Sander’s special blend of gravy. It has peas, carrots and corn in a rich, savory sauce on top of the cut of chicken of your choice. I went with a drum, coz the local chicken chop usually means a drumstick over here.

kfc chicken chop macro

The chicken is tender (it’s Original Recipe, not Hot & Spicy) and goes well with the gravy. The coleslaw serves as a contrast to the salty chicken and the bun works well in soaking up excess gravy. True to my notorious clumsiness, splash damage was done on my white shirt while handing my drink. I remember doing the very same thing not 15 minutes ago to Clare’s d-SLR bag. Sorry! 🙂

kfc stare

There was a bit of a staring match beside me – Clare vs BengHui. Clare can be quite the fierce, I’m glad I didn’t spill my drink on her d-SLR, but on the bag instead. I think she would have killed me if I did that. The staring match degenerated into something which I’m unable to put on the blog (unless the bidding goes high enough). 😉

kfc group

I thought the KFC Chicken Chop with Colonel’s Gravy tasted alright, but it didn’t go well with Clare and Mary, despite my best attempts to get them to try it. Come on girls, here comes the aeroplane! :p

Butt crack

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xy chromosomes

I have finally decided to come up with an XY Chromosome post due to the requests from the female readers of sixthseal.com. I realize that I have been neglecting this demographic and decided to do something about it. An opportunity presented itself to me just now – I noticed a rather pimply set of cheeks staring at me and I’m sorry to say that the cheeks in question were not facial features, but rather anatomically located in the posterior (commonly known as a “butt crack”).

I’m not sure if it feels more comfortable to go commando in baggy jeans but consideration should be taken into account for the optical health consequences of a wardrobe malfunction.

Arrrggghhhhh…I’m blind!!!

Sibu bloggers meet @ Li Hua Hotel

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li hua hotel

The Sibu contingent of bloggers had a meet at Li Hua Hotel at 7:30 pm just now. STP suggested the Li Hua Hotel buffet @ RM 11.50 per person. He had nothing but good things to say about the ayam masak hitam there and thus, it was decided that the Sibu bloggers meet be held there.

clare ng

There were four of us that had a mini-bloggers meet at Orchid Hotel before adjourning to R&R for drinks the previous night but it was so clandestine that the only other person I can name that was there is the delectable KLM. 😉

li hua hotel buffet

The Li Hua Hotel buffet is rather limited in it’s selection but there is a free flow of drinks. There is a very strange practice here though – the food is not refilled. Thus, once the meat and vegetables at the buffet table is gone, they won’t refill it, and the buffet is effectively over.

steamed rice

There was the obligatory steamed rice dish (which was about the ONLY dish that was refilled) – all the others were not, but STP got the waiter to come out with an additional dish – curry chicken, due to our turnout.

ayam hitam

This is the flagship dish of Li Hua’s buffet – the ayam masak hitam. It’s chicken cooked in black sauce and herbs and translates as “chicken cooked black”.

chicken brinjals

There were also brinjals (eggplant) cooked in curry and roasted chicken.

tofu mee

Tofu and fried noodles were next on the buffet line…

fish veggies

…and the last buffet cart contained sweet and sour fish pieces and mixed vegetables. There were only six (6) dishes in total including the steamed rice and fried noodles. Most of us had already eaten though so it was alright, and the price was reasonable too.

plate setting

This is what I foraged from the remainders of the buffet line. The orange juice (from concentrate, not fresh) has unlimited refills.

my dish

Here’s a closer look at my dish. I did not do the speed eating feature in my repertoire for fear of alienating the rest of the bloggers. 😉

me mary

I’m sure you recognize Mary of Kokoberry fame. We’re heading there again tomorrow at 11 am to bum free drinks off her. 😉

sibu bloggers

This is a group photo of the Sibu Bloggers United (SBU). I have been told that I’m likely to get a heart attack if I eat with this bunch of foodies. =D
L-R: Mary, Huai Bin (me), Clare, Arthur and Clement.

bengbeng came at 9:15 pm to join us for a couple of drinks. He likes to remain anonymous though, so there’s no photos of him…unless you ask Clare nicely. 😉

It was fun meeting up with all of you. You should check out the feature done by bengbeng on Romeo & Juliet (Huai Bin & Mary). It was funny to pose for all those photos. Heh!

Massive Park

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massive park

Massive Park is an attire outlet in Miri that has a portfolio that features mainly Taiwanese street wear.

massive park owner

Faye decided to buy me two casual long sleeved shirts since she noticed that my wardrobe for work on Saturday is limited to a Nike sweater and a DKNY trench coat (both from my days in Melbourne).

massive park present

I have to wear long sleeves even on our Casual Saturdays at work due to my visible tattoos which is officially against company policy.

massive park girl

I also got the cute shop assistant to pose for a photograph. I didn’t manage to get one with her we were late for a movie but this will go into the XX Chromosome category anyway due to the MILF proprietor and the adorable shop assistant. 🙂

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