HB

A long, personal journey worth having.

I love the smell of cool balm in the morning

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morning swim

I hit the pool every other day for my morning swim. It’s just the condo swimming pool upstairs so I only need to grab my towel and head up to the top level. It’s pretty convenient.

I love swimming – the refreshing feeling of a dip in the pool at around 7 am when the sun is just coming up is incomparable. I’ve been doing longer and longer laps in the pool to build up my stamina and get the cardiovascular action going. I’m trying to exercise more and swimming is something I’ve always enjoyed since I was a kid.

You use muscles from your entire body when you’re swimming so it’s a pretty solid workout. However, I sometimes overdo it and get muscle cramps or aches. I tend to go all out when I’m just about to climb out of the pool – I’m swim hard and fast and usually end up with sore muscles.

tiger balm plaster pool

It usually happens on the calf muscles for me. I’ll just slap on a Tiger Balm Cool Plaster after I towel myself dry.

I have made it a habit to bring one of those up together with my towel. It’s important to completely dry yourself before putting on the plasters. It shouldn’t be applied on wet skin.

tiger balm swimming

The best thing about the plasters is that it comes in two sizes – the large ones are good for the bigger muscle bundles, but sometimes you just need pain relief in a small area, like my calf.

I’ve shown how to apply the awesome additional adhesive in the previous post but what I haven’t mentioned is that it’s not actually necessary to do that. The additional adhesive helps in areas which move a lot e.g. elbows, knees, joints etc but for regular applications, the Tiger Balm Plaster itself will do a great job in sticking on your skin.

tiger balm pool

I just love opening up one of the packs, the smell of the time trusted Tiger Balm formulation is refreshing. The small plasters are just the right size for muscle aches in the smaller muscle groups you strain while swimming. It’s available at large chain pharmacies like Guardian, Watson, Caring, and also your neighborhood pharmacies. The small packs go for RM 5.20 and it has two Tiger Balm Plasters inside.

I’ve been using the Warm Tiger Balm Plasters for back pain ever since I realized it won’t cause an allergic reaction and it works very well for pain relief. It was so good that I decided to use the Cold Tiger Balm Plasters for the muscle strains I get while swimming. I also love using pure cbd oil tincture as it relieves your pain from muscle pulls.

I usually keep mine on for several hours after the swim, let the unique Tiger Balm formulation work its magic, and the long lasting pain relief from the muscle aches is absolutely fabulous! 🙂

tiger balm leg

Cool relief after a morning swim. Ahhhh….

The things that happen on the LRT

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I originally wanted to post about young teenagers taking the LRT at like 6 am in the morning but I didn’t know if it was the school holidays and then I got sidetracked by this girl on the LRT just now. I wanted to take a photo of her but I was too busy trying to catch her eye.

sleeping teenager on train

+

cute shop assistant

…so take these two photos and superimpose them in your mind. Add more people to account for the rush hour and it’ll give you a pretty accurate picture. smirk

The girl on the LRT looks like the type that I would like, kinda like the photo of the girl above I took recently, which is sort of related (her name is Qinqin).

Anyway, she was walking sooooo fast once the train stopped that I swear she probably saw me intently looking at her. I finally caught up with her outside the Bukit Jalil station and said:

“Hello, I’m Huai Bin, what are you doing?”

look of disapproval

I KNOW RIGHT! Lamest pickup line ever.

She said:

“I’m a student.”

pedobear

…and I said “Okay, have a nice day” and then I walked away.

You know why?

1. She’s a student, thus too young for me.
2. She didn’t look that hot up close.
3. It was raining and I couldn’t be fucked.

Choose your own adventure kinda thing, except this has no next post or ending coz I walked away. There’s nothing else to add coz it’s LIFE and you only get one chance.

trollface

Shoplot hotels

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zoom inn hotel

These things are popping up like mushrooms. I’m currently in Johor and staying at Zoom Inn Boutique Hotel in Danga Bay for a night. I got it online for about RM 90+ and realized that the walk-in rate is only RM 78. There are three shoplot hotels within the area (not including Tune Hotel) and from looking at all (the room wasn’t available until 3 pm) this seems to provide the best price-comfort consideration.

game over room

Ill omens and portents. (!!!) Game Over all over the room. I’m not sure I want to see that whenever I open my eyes. smirk However, it is pretty creative, each room is has its unique theme and decoration…and the repeating game over is tethered to a quasi picture frame of someone playing a console game. Very artsy fartsy.

sliding either or door

Either-Or sliding door for toilet and shower.

lcd tv shoplot

The large LCD TV right at the foot of your bed is awesome though – it has all the premium channels but I only watch Discovery Channel or National Geographic variants/spinoffs. I’ll be happy with those channels.

Pros:

  • Cheap
  • Pretty comfortable for a night
  • Good selection of cable channels
  • Friendly and apologetic staff
  • Creative rooms

Cons:

  • Weak to non-existent WiFi
  • Room is dark
  • No writing desk

bloodstains duvet

It also has stains on the duvet that looks suspiciously like blood. I can only imagine what the previous occupants were doing but since their hairs are still sticking to the pillows, a multitude of entirely unwanted vivid scenarios come into mind.

I’m still waiting for housekeeping to change the sheets.

Speaking of creative, MilkADeal is having an awesome deal for novelty 8 GB USB drives in a variety of designs.

usb drive
RM43 instead of RM68 OR RM54 instead of RM89 for Limited Edition 8GB USB Drive + Free Delivery within Peninsular Malaysia from USB Boy. Only 200 vouchers available! [Up to 39% OFF]

I collect USB drives, though not to this extent, but it’ll be perfect for Secret Santa gifts. 🙂

The first online concert by Yuna

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the bee jaya one

I woke up at 8 am and drove to The Bee at Jaya One a few days ago, still bleary eyed and very much wanting to fall asleep at the wheel. It’s early for me considering I just went to sleep at 3 am the previous night to rush for a deadline.

I parked haphazardly and just missed getting a parking ticket with *two* cars to spare. #winning

parking ticket

I guess third time is the charm coz I got two parking tickets in a week before that.

the bee breakfast

Anyway, I downed some lemonade in The Bee (which is a surefire way of waking you up – it’s so sour it’ll make you pucker up like…erm, I don’t have any polite analogies for that) and started waiting.

For what?

yuna concert

😀

Yes, Yuna arrived in one of those Hummer limos to promote her upcoming online concert.

What’s so special about this concert?

hotlink press con

It’s going to be different. It’s an online concert which will only happen if 10,000 people register for it.

A online concert? Doesn’t that defeat the entire purpose?

Not really. I think it’s quite novel.

What if you’re stuck in the office doing overtime?

You also don’t have to battle:

…and best of all, you can watch it even if you’re not in KL! That’s the beauty of the Internet, how many times have you missed a concert just because you don’t live where it’s being held?

Yeah, “attending” a virtual concert can be a lot of fun…especially if you can tweet, Facebook or watch it with your friends. It’s the social media age, yo.

yuna

Yuna is going to perform her latest, unreleased song when the registration hits 10,000! 🙂

…and the single is not even named yet! I hear you can get a chance to do that.

yuna decorate cd

Now, you’ve been hearing a lot about the number 10,000. That’s coz that’s the maximum number of people allowed into this online concert.

yuna concert hotlink

Thus, to ensure a spot, you need to register at http://www.nowyoucan.my/yuna/. It’s very easy, registration is done via Facebook.

You’ll get a text to confirm your spot and you have to login from 7 pm – 7:59 pm for the 8 pm online concert by Yuna on 14th December.

yuna press con

Best of all, it doesn’t cost anything. Hurry, hurry, get your “tickets” to Yuna’s online concert here. 🙂

Road trips

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roadtrips

I love going on them. It’s fun to drive and go somewhere for the weekend. It doesn’t really matter where, the point is to get away and go to a different place to chill.

cameron highlands

Cameron Highlands

Fraser’s Hill

Penang

I’ve even driven down to Singapore before. What makes road trips enjoyable is always the company but the car you drive makes a whole lot of difference too. I’ll say it can even make or break a road trip. I’m somewhat experienced in these things and comfort also plays a huge part.

You want to be in a car that can accommodate everyone with enough space to stretch their legs to reduce driving fatigue. Even minor things like heat from the sun can ruin a perfectly good road trip – I’ve even come back sunburned coz of I took off all the tinting on my car when I shipped it from Sarawak to comply with JPJ regulations. A more powerful engine can also make a lot of difference in driver comfort.

cindy

I’ve been looking around for a new car for a while now. I’m planning to get another one after I buy my condo. I love long road trips so I have to factor that in when I purchase my car. I want one with a small turning radius coz I *have* gotten stuck in rural unpaved dirt roads and not being able to turn back while exploring a new area. Cruise control is one of the essential features that I’ll need to have. I’m also looking for more horsepower so it’ll have to be a 2.0 liter engine.

I was talking about all that with Cindy when we passed by a Proton Edar Showroom. I have been thinking about test driving the Inspira 2.0 Premium since it fits all my requirements…now it’s time to see if it lives up to the expectations.

test drive

I’ll be honest – I was pretty impressed. The car performs well on the road. The 2.0 liter engine really makes a difference when I took it for a spin, the Inspira is responsive and energetic – it’ll make road trips so much easier if you’re driving a car with some good ol’ horsepower under the hood.

I also tested the other important feature I was considering – cruise control. I took it on an extended drive down relatively secluded parts of the highway and engaged it. The Inspira 2.0 Premium’s cruise control kicked in perfectly and worked like a charm.

shift paddles

Cruise control really helps with driving comfort during long road trips as you can pretty much maintain the speed you set in steady road conditions – like long distance driving.

I have also verified that the turning radius of the Inspira is indeed just 5 meters. Well, I didn’t go out and measure it, but if you’ve been driving for 14 years, you have a good idea of whether it’s on the mark.

driving inspira

I swear this would get me out of trouble one of these days. Like I mentioned, I have a propensity of going into narrow, unpaved rural roads in search of a shortcut or just to explore during my road trips. smirk

safety glass

The Inspira is tinted not only to provide UV protection but also get rid of excessive solar heat. It doesn’t affect visibility at all – it looks perfectly clear from the inside I noticed that it filters out the sun very well. It was a hot afternoon when I drove the Inspira and with the air-conditioning blowing and the good tinting, it seems positively chilly inside. Perfection. This is just the kind of car conditions you need if you love going for road trips in our tropical climate.

proton inspira

The Inspira 2.0 Premium also comes with fog lamps and rain sensors to trigger the wipers and adjust their speed according to rain conditions – again, useful stuff on road trips, since you don’t have to engage them yourself. I’m telling you, it’s all about automating things man, that way the driver feels more like a passenger. Heh.

features

Proton has definitely outdone themselves with this model. The generous amount of space inside the car allows you to stretch your legs and lean back while driving. Your fellow passengers are apt to thank you for the additional room and space to chuck all their overnight bags too. The Inspira 2.0CVT Premium retails from RM 91,549 (OTR with insurance) for solid colors, while for metallic is RM 91,999 (OTR with insurance). It’s great value for money when you consider all the features it has…and you can get it in the 80k range!

inspira

Proton is currently having a Incredible Deals on Wheels promotion where you can get savings up to RM 5,000 when you book selected models from 15th November to 31st December. Surf over to www.proton-edar.com.my for more information. If you’re looking to purchase a new car, you might as well get it when a good deal is on.

Braised pigeon, roasted meat (siu mei) and waxed meat (lap mei) in Hong Kong

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hong kong siu mei

Siu mei shops can be found all over Hong Kong. These places specialize in Cantonese-style roasted meat – they have everything from plain steamed chicken to roasted goose. They also serve up a gamut of pork dishes – I’ve even seen an entire pig being displayed at one of these restaurants.

roasted meat hong kong

It was a rainy night when we stumbled upon one of the best siew mei (roasted meat) places in Hong Kong. We weren’t really hungry, we just wanted a place to sit down.

eating pigeon

We had spent the best part of the night browsing at Temple Street and I noticed this hole-in-the-wall place which is dirty, slightly dodgy, very loud, and thronged by locals.

lap mei

It serves waxed meat (lap mei) as well! I’m quite fond of the stuff so I decided to check it out.

hong kong local siu mei

The interior had a couple of tables and chairs thrown together and it’s full of old men. There’s definitely no English menu – it’s a place catering to locals. Perfect, that’s just the way I like it. 🙂

eating pigeon hong kong

Anyway, we ate about five meals a day while on vacation in Hong Kong so we decided to order a braised pigeon to share. The pigeon (squab is the proper name for a young pigeon like this) is served whole so you can see the small head and beak perpetually frozen in a mid-squawk of dismay. 😉 It doesn’t have a lot of meat on it, but it’s very tasty. The meat is slightly tough but the flavor is excellent. I absolutely loved it.

braised pigeon

The lap cheong (waxed Cantonese sausages) in Hong Kong is pretty good too. The flavor is almost neutral. I know, that doesn’t sound very appetizing but it’s great! It’s not as salty as the usual lap cheong we get over here – this one is slightly sweet and has a good ratio of pork fat and meat.

hong kong siu yoke

I had worked up an appetite eating the pigeon so I ordered a plate of siu yoke as well. Besides, it was still raining outside and I got the distinct impression that you’re supposed to leave when you’re finished with your meal coz there were people waiting and the tables are shared. Heh.

siu yoke hong kong

Now, Hong Kong siu mei shops takes great pride in their product and although I was pretty full by then, I couldn’t resist eating it all. The siu yoke tends to lean towards the fatty side (smirk) and has a crispy layer of skin on top. You get the whole experience of crispy skin, fat and meat and it’s very tender and juicy – positively orgasmic when you eat it with the mustard it’s served with.

siu yoke takeaway

Hell, it was so good I ordered a portion to take away and eat in the hotel for supper.

temple street siu mei

I also noticed that they serve steamed fish with rice, which a lot of people ordered. It’s an unassuming shop specializing in roasted meat, waxed meat and the odd fish somewhere near the fringes of Temple Street. It’s one of the best discoveries we made in Hong Kong, totally loved the pigeon and siu yoke. I wish I had tried the fish though, it looked very promising.

eating siu mei

However, it wasn’t very cheap – the dinner and takeaway cost HKD 340 (about RM 142) for the two of us. You can’t say much about the presentation but it’s the best siu mei we had in Hong Kong and it was worth every single red cent. 🙂

Interview with Linora on Red FM

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linora me

I was at the Red FM studio this afternoon for an interview session with Linora. She was doing the 2 pm slot and I was intrigued by everything inside. It was a very interesting experience to see how she does things on her show.

linora low

I first met up with Pei Yi in Starbucks who tagged me into the Red FM studio. I didn’t know what to expect but Linora turned out to be a really nice person that really made me feel at ease.

redfm-linora

Notice that they’re using beats by Dr Dre as the studio headphones. I had an encounter with them a while ago. Heh.

I somehow got this idea in my head that I could choose songs to play, but obviously that didn’t happen. I *did* get to intro a couple of songs though, including one where I made a stupid (but hilarious) comment while doing it.

linora

Fun stuff.

Anyway, the interview is about the blog being a finalist in Nuffnang Asia-Pacific Blog Awards for Best Lifestyle Blog. I was talking about how it got started, went off in a tangent about one of my favorite videos on the blog:

and generally enjoyed myself.

redfm on air

I had to be really careful not to swear – you’ll hear me stopping and thinking for another word for “crap” when I said “I write about all kinds of (crap)”. I ended up using “stuff”. I couldn’t go into a lot of detail about my really colorful life (which most of you might know a bit of anyway) but I had really, really wanted to dedicate this song:

I think it sums me up perfectly. Love the lyrics. And it’s NOFX, hands down my favorite band.

I said something on air about blogging – “It’s an immortality of sorts”…and went on about wanting my (as yet unborn) children knowing who I am.

linora facebook
Picture nicked from Linora while she was updating the Red FM Facebook.

The session went very well. I had a lot of fun.

Anyway, she was asking me about my blog Facebook page and I said I didn’t have one. It got me thinking and I started to create one when I came back just now before I realized that Aud actually did it for me ages ago. I thought she forgot.

…so if you want, join the coolest Facebook blog page – sixthseal.com on Facebook – it has 2 Likes to date (one of them mine). smirk

Hell, I just liked it myself a couple of hours ago coz I never even knew it existed. Heh.

redfm studio

Thanks for having me Linora!

Chef Martin Yan Chinese food wine pairing banquet @ Mandarin Oriental

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jacobs creek martin yan wine pairing dinner

I went to Chef Martin Yan‘s wine pairing banquet dinner at Mandarin Oriental a couple of weeks ago. It is actually quite intriguing for two reasons – I was a huge fan of his popular Yan Can Cook TV show as a kid and getting to meet the man and taste his cuisine in real life really appealed to me.

chef martin yan

He’s now doing a show called True Passion with Martin Yan on AFC where he pairs wine with Chinese food so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity when the invite came along.

martin yan dinner mandarin oriental

The dinner started with a cocktail reception where Jacob’s Creek served wine with various hors d’oeuvre before the six-course banquet dinner:

Chilled Scallop with Jellyfish and Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

Chilled Scallop with Jellyfish and Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

This is the first dish that came out. It’s paired with Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling and resembles the traditional cold appetizers in Chinese banquet dinners. There are four delicious items in this starter which includes a surprisingly tasty salad arranged on a soup spoon but the one I loved the most is the namesake.

scallops martin yan

The scallop is huge and pan-seared to perfection. It’s topped with scallions (spring onions), shallots (red onion) and carrot shavings but it is the pomelo citrus bits at the bed of the oyster shell it’s served in that makes this an orgasmic combination.

Oven Baked Sea Treasure Broth Served in Coconut with Puff Pastry

Oven Baked Sea Treasure Broth Served in Coconut with Puff Pastry

This Cantonese style double boiled soup is paired with Jacob’s Creek Reeves Point Chardonnay has treasures galore – there’s dried scallop, fish maw, shitake mushrooms, crab meat and even even abalone.

abalone martin yan

It tastes sweet due to the coconut flesh that’s infused into the broth. It goes very well with the buttery puff pastry crust that tops the young coconut shell that it comes served in. I’m not usually a huge fan of soups but this one is deliciously decadent – I even ended up scooping the succulent coconut flesh to eat.

Cantonese Style Steamed Cod Fish with Superior Soya Sauce and Baby Cabbage

Cantonese Style Steamed Cod Fish with Superior Soya Sauce and Baby Cabbage

This is the obligatory fish dish and it’s no secret that I have a weakness for steamed fish. I love the subtle flavors and fresh and tender cod. The fish almost falls apart when you spear it, and has a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Mmm…my favorite dish of the night.

jacobs creek

All the dishes are paired with a Jacob’s Creek wine and I’ve written about the wine pairings in Lifestyle Asia – Celebrity Chef Martin Yan Heats Up KL – and included two recipes from the night by Chef Martin Yan from AFC kindly provided by Joey.

Peking Sweet and Sour Prawns

Peking Sweet and Sour Prawns

I totally loved this dish. The prawns are really fresh and the sweet and sour sauce is delicious. Chef Yan gets this one done to perfection – there is a thin crunchy crust from the batter which seals in the tender and juicy prawn flesh. It’s paired with Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling 2007.

Australian Lamb Cutlets in 3 Chilli Sauce with Jasmine Fried Rice

Australian Lamb Cutlets in 3 Chilli Sauce with Jasmine Fried Rice

This is the main dish for the night, paired with a robust Shiraz. The lamb is amazingly rich and almost falls of the bone and the gravy goes well with the small portion of fried rice on the side. It’s one of the two dishes Chef Martin Yan cooked on stage and the lamb cutlets has a really great sauce made with ketchup, balsamic vinegar, chilli sauce and sugar. I preferred the sweet and sour prawns though.

Sweet Temptations of Chocolate and Mango and Lychee Jelly and Raspberry Coulis

Sweet Temptations of Chocolate and Mango and Lychee Jelly and Raspberry Coulis

This is the dessert after a wonderful and satisfying meal. The rich chocolate and mango cake/mousse is topped with an edible slice of chocolate with Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur printed on it. The lychee jelly and raspberry coulis at the side goes very well with it as it cleanses your palate after each bite of the rich dessert.

martin yan dinner group photo

This is our table at the dinner – got this photo from Wilson. Wei Zhi, Evelyn and Suanie was there too. I didn’t get the name of the other but the one in the Mandarin Oriental outfit is Bel.

martin yan

I also got to meet Chef Martin Yan, one of my childhood heroes. I can still remember the refrain “Yan can cook, so can you!” that he does and he hasn’t lost as bit of his stage presence. The guy has a great sense of humor and is very friendly in real life too. You’ve got to see him in action, the thing he does on stage is exactly like his cooking show.

mandarin oriental chocolates

There was also a selection of chocolates and candy from Mandarin Oriental to end the night. I was totally stuffed when I got home. It’s one of the best dinners I’ve had recently.

Tomorrow is a Saturday

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This happened a couple of months ago – stumbled upon the unlisted video just now and thought it would be an apt time to put it up. Heh.

The story behind this was that a couple of us were eating at Jalan Alor late in the night and tried to convince a friend that tomorrow is a Saturday.

(it was not, it’s actually a Wednesday or something)

There were this roving band playing music and I got them to sing “Tong Hua” (coz it just came into my mind) and made a dedication that declared tomorrow a Saturday.

Have a good weekend everyone! 🙂

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