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I'm 32 today!

Apr 052013

Best birthday present ever!

It appears that I was born on this very date, 32 years ago. 1981 to be exact. I’m not big on birthdays coz I’ve never really had positive experiences with them. However, certain things have changed. I’m totally clean now (except for the cancer sticks) and I’m in a very happy relationship.

ling hb
Photo taken by the big one

That’s the best thing that happened to me. You’re the best thing that happened to me. :)

dinner

I just came back from dinner at McDonald’s (it’s the place we had our first date – the Kota Damansara branch) but I didn’t have the food there. I ordered an iced caramel latte from McCafe and the little ones had sundaes and chicken nuggets.

roasted chicken dinner

I ate a very nice home-cooked dinner made by my girlfriend instead. It’s roasted chicken (there are 2 drums and a thigh inside) with potato salad and rice, all packed into a large Tupperware the size of a large pizza.

huge dinner

I’m not kidding, it’s huge!

I’m surprised no one told me that I shouldn’t be eating outside food. Haha!

cupcakes

I know you spent a long time in the kitchen making this and I’m thankful for the food and the chocolate chip cupcakes.

They’re delicious! I appreciate the effort you put into making all this. <3

eating birthday dinner

I also like hanging with the kids, it makes me happy to see them happy and I like talking to the big one and taking care of the little one. I brought a round of Ramune (the Japanese drink with the glass ball) coz no one seems to have heard of it before and I wanted everyone to try it.

glenfiddich 125 anniversary edition

She also got me a Glenfiddich 125 Year Anniversary Edition box for my birthday. I was looking at it on the trip back from Melbourne but didn’t want to get it coz I still have a lot of single malt whisky.

birthday gift

…but while I was in the toilet, she *ran* back to the duty free shop in Tullamarine and bought the damn thing! She said it’s coz I wanted it and also coz the “25” in 125 years is our anniversary date. I thought that was really sweet of her.

present

I’ll be off tomorrow for a surprise weekend birthday trip that Ling has arranged. I don’t know exactly where we’re going but I’ll update after my birthday trip. :)

Thanks for everything dear!

32 birthday

I don’t think I can be with anyone else but you. You’re everything that I’ve been looking for, someone who loves me for who I am, who accepts that the past is the past and who can tolerate this ~~emu~~ cassowary. I always say I’m lucky to have you and I always mean it. I love you Yee Ling! *hugs*

P/S – Cheers for all the birthday wishes, everyone! :D

Pringles bowling!

Events, Roadshows 16 Responses »

Apr 012013

pringles dancers

Yup, you heard right. I saw a loooonnng line of people queuing up at 1 Utama and jumped into the queue. *kepoh*

pringles bowling

It’s Pringles bowling!

bowling

There’s a huge “bowling ball” made of foam which you’re supposed to drive down an alley (no throwing) using your hands. The “bowling pins” are soft cans of mock Pringles.

victory dance

Everyone gets a can of Pringles for participating…but if you actually manage a strike (down all the pins) or get a spare (down all the pins with two attempts – the most you’re allowed) there will be a group of dancers who comes out and celebrates with you.

Take a look at this video!

pringles bowling pins

It’s a very “feel good” event – no purchase necessary, they’re just giving them out and letting the mall crowd play Pringles bowling too.

bowling dance

It’s an awesome idea. I don’t know who came out with it but it’s one of the most interesting things I’ve seen.

pringles pins

I tried it out when it was my turn to bowl and unfortunately didn’t manage a strike.

bowling pringles

My second attempt masuk longkang. -_-

pringles

However, the people were kind enough to hand me two cans of Pringles anyway, which is what you’ll get if you manage to successfully bowl over all the pins.

dance skit

This is exactly the sort of thing that goes viral very quickly. I Whatsapped a friend of mine and told her about it. I heard that the Sunday turnout was a lot higher than Saturday too – the Pringles bowling event was held at the LG Oval of 1 Utama over two days.

old man

The dancers have several different routines for a strike. I saw them pull a (rather unwilling) old man when he managed to get a strike. The man was reluctant at first, as most Malaysians are, but warmed up quickly and started dancing together with the crew. Haha!

human bowling

That’s not the best part! When a little kid comes up to bowl, the dance crew will act as the bowling pins (!!!) and fall on cue.

I thought that was very sweet of them.

kid bowling

In the spirit of giveaways, I passed a friend of mine the two Pringles that I won during lunch just now. Sharing is the name of the game.

joyce hb ryan

It really made my weekend to see all this. It’s not just the novel idea of bowling with Pringles but how they executed it – with human bowling pins for children so they could win two cans of crispy goodness. It’s an opportunity for kids (and kids at heart) to have some fun while at the mall.

humans bowled over

I hope to see more of this in the future. I was there with Joyce and bumped into Ryan. Thanks for an excellent diversion and fun times on a lazy Sunday afternoon! :)

I made my very own Egg McMuffin!

Bloggers, Events 29 Responses »

Mar 142013

making egg mcmuffin

I was at McDonald’s Bandar Sri Damansara over the weekend. I took a typhoid jab before that in preparation to work inside the kitchen.

bloggers breakfast session

There were platters of hash browns, McMuffins and coffee/tea for everyone when I arrived and the second floor was full of people who came for the Bloggers’ Breakfast Session.

bloggers breakfast

Five of my readers turned up with their +1 – Eiling, Adel, Simon, Brenda and Cindy. Rachel was there too, which makes up my montage of 6 photos! :)

bloggers

There was a kitchen tour involved where we go to see the inside of a typical McDonald’s kitchen.

mcdonalds freezer

Here’s the freezer which contains everything from orange juice to specific items like “slivered onion”.

french fries

Here’s the deep frying vat used for French fries.

drive thru

I also managed to go into the drive-thru kiosk to take an order.

mcdonalds drive thru

It was a lot of fun!

counter

However, what was even more fun was that I got the opportunity to prepare breakfast. Look ma! I’m at the other end of the counter! :D This is actually meant for customers (thus the typhoid shot).

orders

The orders come through on a screen behind the preparation counter. The preparation counter is basically a nifty, clean, labelled area where you can prepare everything on the breakfast menu.

done

I did an Egg McMuffin!

gloves

I had to wash my hands and don gloves before that – the gloves in particular intrigued me. You don’t need to touch anything, just slip your hands through the plastic gloves and you’re set for handling the food.

wrapper

The Egg McMuffin is done by taking two English muffins and putting them on the correct paper. There’s a crown and a base for the muffins, all items should be stacked on the latter.

getting cheese

You start with a slice of cheese on the muffin…

getting eggs

…pick a perfect egg from the freshly cooked batch and stacking it on with a spatula.

chicken roll

Before choosing a slice of chicken roll and placing that on top.

mcdonalds eggs

The preparation area is heated (!!!) and so are all the food items, which are discarded after a period of time.

wrapping

There is also a standard way to place and wrap the Egg McMuffin up – everything is done exactly so an Egg McMuffin you order here would be the same as anywhere else in the world.

mcdonalds egg mcmuffin

I was supposed to serve my Egg McMuffin out but I wanted to eat that so I asked if I could.

my egg mcmuffin

Permission granted! :)

egg mcmuffin

I had a lot of fun doing that.

eating caydence

Here’s a shot with Caydence, who’s with McDonald’s!

caydence

She has four (4) different name cards – well, it’s the same but the front bit is different. I thought that was really cool!

mcdonalds

Oh yeah, you remember the importance of breakfast that I was writing about? Well, there was a McDonald’s Breakfast Day last year where 200,000 Malaysians joined the McDonald’s Breakfasts Movement. I was puzzled at the queue at the local McDonald’s so early in the morning – it was due to them serving out free breakfasts.

mcdonalds national breakfast day

This year, there will be a National Breakfast Day on the 18th March 2013 where an estimated 5 million (!) Egg McMuffins will be given out to stress the importance of a wholesome and freshly prepared breakfast.

national breakfast day

It’s the World’s Biggest Breakfast Giveaway! In Malaysia, each of the 222 McDonald’s Breakfast Restaurants will offer a FREE Egg McMuffin to the first 1,000 customers from 7 am to 10 am on National Breakfast Day on 18th March 2013! There’s a hilarious site called Not a Morning Person where you can get more information.

Mark that date folks, and catch up with a co-worker or a loved one over an Egg McMuffin!

I'll be personally serving breakfast for 5 readers! :)

Bloggers, Events 52 Responses »

Mar 052013

eggs

You know the phrase that goes “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper”?

It’s the most important meal of the day. I’ve always had the bad habit of skipping breakfast and eating a lot for lunch until recently. It makes you feel crappy from the low blood sugar levels and you tend to overeat during lunch, which causes the sudden influx of carbs to give you the dreaded “post-lunch coma”.

It’s really a problem that compounds on itself.

bacon

I have realized the importance of breakfast and have been eating it regularly since last year. Nope, not last year as in “3 months ago” (it’s just the start of 2013) but early last year. :p

It’s now my routine to wake up and eat breakfast before doing anything else (even before reaching for them cancer sticks). True story.

coffee

A hungry man is an angry man, or so the saying goes. It’s actually hard to feel good when you have low blood sugar – you’ll be lethargic, lazy and generally in a bad mood.

It’s what people mean when they say they “got up on the wrong side of the bed” (that’s three quotes now haha).

breakfast

Low glucose (blood sugar) is primarily the reason for that and since you’ve been asleep for 8 hours (or more like 5-6 in my case) it’s all the more reason to load up on a healthy breakfast.

I read this article about reasons people tend to skip breakfast, the number one excuse being “I have no time for breakfast”.

That was what I always told myself too, and I think the way around that as suggested is to have breakfast on the go – drive through a drive in and grab some muffins that you can eat while driving. This is also a good way to get around the problem of you not feeling like preparing breakfast in the morning.

fruits

The other reason I hear often is “I’m on a diet”.

Skipping breakfast is really bad for you if you’re on a diet, it messes up your blood sugar levels, induces cravings and you’ll just end up eating more. You’re just sabotaging yourself by not eating breakfast since you’re more likely to binge later and research shows that people who do that end up putting on *more* weight. A lot of people ask my why I’m thinner nowadays and I can look at them straight in the eyes and answer with a straight face:

Healthy living!

Thanks for that gem, Sue! :)

carbs

A good breakfast should have all the food groups represented:

Carbohydrates – gives you energy throughout the day
Protein – provides the building blocks and increases satiation (the feeling of fullness so you won’t be inclined to snack)
Fiber – always good to loosen up everything
Vitamins – Important Stuff ^TM
Minerals – (see above)

…and lots of fluids. Orange juice is always a good choice in the morning!

cheese

Anyway, I’ll be taking a typhoid vaccination next week. It’s actually required for everyone handling food but I don’t think a lot of places does it. It’s a requirement for McDonald’s though and that’s where I’ll be serving you breakfast!

takeout

McMuffins, orange juice, whatever you want that’s on the menu. I’ll be dishing it up for you. I’ll be in the kitchen too, so the stuff you’re eating is actually prepared by me. Haha! I have room for 5 readers (who can each bring a friend) so that’s 10 pax in total.

Bloggers’ Breakfast Session
Date: 10th March 2013
Time: 9:30 am – 11:00 am
Venue: McDonald’s Sri Damansara

meals

The spaces are very limited for this kitchen tour and specially prepared breakfast. Just comment about what your favorite breakfast is (it can be anything) and make sure your email is valid (so I can contact you) to indicate that you want to join the breakfast session and I’ll give 5 people (10 in total since it comes with a +1) the chance to come. Make sure you’re okay with the dates ya! :)

It’ll be a great start to the day!

Daytime fireworks colored smoke salute cakes!

Chinese New Year 22 Responses »

Feb 212013

color smoke salutes

Okay we have a fireworks post today but it’s not just any regular fireworks post. These are daytime fireworks e.g. fireworks you let off at daylight coz you *wouldn’t* be able to see them at night.

Whaaaaaaat? Really?

daytime fireworks cake

Yup!

color smoke salute effect

It’s actually called smoke salutes with a comet tail effect but these are airborne shells arranged in a barrage cake that contains bombettes filled with colored smoke that bursts in the air, creating a colorful cloud. This is the first time I’ve seen it available in a commercial format like this.

smoke salutes cake

I bought this cake of 49 shot colored smoke salutes for RM 200. I was specifically told to let it off in the morning. I found that it’s best to use these daylight fireworks when there’s no wind to make the smoke linger longer.

This colored smoke aerial cake produces a wonderful display of pink, green, blue, yellow, purple, smoke (black) and red. Pink is the most vivid color, followed by purple.

colored smoke salutes

I was surprised that the 1.2” mortars in the cake can produce such an impressive show. It’s quite long too so the shells shoots up quite high.

smoke salutes

Unfortunately, I had set my video mode to Shutter Priority so the sun completely washed out the smoke salute display. :x

daylight fireworks

It’s actually a very nice show and I’ll definitely be getting more of these next year. I’ll remember to film it better next time. The colored smoke lingers around in the air for a while and the vivid colors from the aerial smoke salutes makes for a novel daytime fireworks cake. :)

Chinese New Year 2013

Chinese New Year 25 Responses »

Feb 192013

open house

I compiled a list of random photos from CNY open houses, visiting friends and generally doing the things I do each year during Chinese New Year. :D

This is a performance of a yu – a traditional Chinese musical instrument. I don’t know what it’s actually called, I just looked at the list of Chinese instruments at Wikipedia and the yu seems to fit it best. It’s a flute of sorts with a gourd at the back – there’s multiple tubes and it can make quite an enchanting melody.

cny visiting

I also managed to catch up with Ting Chuan, a very old friend of mine. We went through the same class in primary school *and* high school together. Luke is to the other side of me.

ting chuan hb luke

My high school mate has been married for a long time (his wife Siew Ling and their daughter is in the first photo) – was one of his heng tai during the wedding and he’s now the proud father of a bouncy new baby. This is the cute Megan. :)

megan

I’m always amazed and a little envious when see stuff like this. I’ll love to have kids of my own too. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a soul mate yet. I’ll see how things pan out. ;)

romeo steph

I went clubbing three times too – it’s been a while since I drank this much. It was a lot of fun! That’s Romeo and Stephanie @ The Base. I get to see this bunch of friends only once a year since we all work at different places.

cousins

This is 3 Degrees. We made a new tradition of going clubbing with just cousins starting this year. :D

birthday present

I also got my very first birthday present from Patricia Felicia – my birthday is not until 5th of April but she reckons she’ll not see me then coz I’ll be in KL so this is a 2-month early birthday gift. Thanks Pat! :)

chinese 80th birthday

Speaking of birthdays…this is my great aunt’s 80th birthday!

great aunt

She remembers me as a little kid when I lived in Sungai Merah. To be honest, I don’t even remember living in Sungai Merah but that’s what the older generation is for. Haha!

sky lantern cny

Letting of sky lanterns with my bros Eddy, Calvin, Romeo, Ah Tong. This is a RM 2.50 biodegradable sky lantern sold as an alternative to fireworks.

sky lantern

It really goes up high with a 15 minute burn time.

fountain cake fireworks

We also let off a fireworks cake called Jin Se Pu Bu (Golden Conflagration – a classic barrage from the early days way before the ban). This is up there with Colorpeony in terms of multi-tube aerial shots – back in the days (talking about the ’80s here) these are the *really popular* ones.

Two foot long fountains were also lit simultaneously beside it for a better show.

muesli cookies

I also visited Arthur’s house, which is just around the corner. Those are his muesli cookies.

arthur grace

Arthur has been a good friend of mine since I was a little kid. I didn’t have a car (mom’s car broke down) so Grace picked me up.

josiah

It’s has been an awesome Chinese New Year! I’ll be getting the annual fireworks and firecrackers post up before Chap Goh Meh (the 15th day and the end of the Lunar New Year). Hope ya’ll had a great CNY too! :D

The firecracker and the cat

Chinese New Year, Interesting 14 Responses »

Feb 172013

chinese firecrackers

This is a powerful multi-layered braided string of 39,999 traditional Chinese firecrackers – it’s huge, with lots of powder and chalk, which produces tons of red paper. I strung them up around the gate like a snake yesterday for the 7th day of Chinese New Year.

firecracker

It’s really, really loud. I was standing about 1 meter away and I could feel debris and chalk flying right past me.

Anyway, after my ears stopped ringing I suddenly heard a cat’s pitiful mewling.

Puzzled, I looked around.

No cat.

We searched and searched and finally isolated the mewling to a corner with our temporarily deaf ears. Me and my dad thought it was coming from *inside* the air conditioning unit.

air con

We spent a good 10 minutes trying to pry it open coz the cat sounded like it was trapped inside.

I kept looking in too but I couldn’t see the cat.

My dad went in to fetch a suitable spanner to undo the lugs while I tried to see how the cat could have gotten in but there are no openings.

…and then my dad happened to look up.

firecracker cat
(cat)

Yeah…

We were crouched down and looking inside the air conditioning unit so we never thought it was coming from above. Besides, our hearing was shot.

stuck cat

I think it’s a stray that was walking from the backyard when the firecrackers scared her and in a burst of adrenaline, she somehow managed this amazing acrobatic feat that she couldn’t extract herself from.

I had to get her down.

petting cat

Nice cat, wish it stayed but she haughtily stretched herself and left after I petted her a little and the ordeal was over. Ungrateful. Hmph.

Viva la Riolution!

Events, Product Launch 10 Responses »

Feb 152013

globebox cooling

Glove Box Cooling

Arkamys Audio System with 6-speakers

air bags

6 Airbag System

kia rio launch

Haha! I was at the launch of the All-New Rio at The Curve just before I came back for the holidays. I booked my flight tickets the day after so I could be there. It seems like a very promising car, with a rather lofty tagline that got me intrigued.

There were performers using nothing but traffic cones and other day-to-day percussion instruments to do a choreographed intro which I liked a lot.

road rage

…and like a scene from West Side Story, a couple of menacing looking dudes armed with iron pipes came out – and started a hard charging dance of sorts.

percussion band traffic cones

Everything ties back to driving or automobiles so it’s good to see opening gambits that really makes sense instead of stuff that leaves you stretching you head and thinking “So what was that all about?”.

press con

Datuk Syed Abdul Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar also came on-stage before the launch of the all new Rio. He’s the COO of Naza Kia Malaysia and I bumped into him later at the press conference at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant.

/cue dramatic music

The launch gambit was also impressive in its own right. Having been to more than a few of these, I was expecting the usual and looked for when the car would be driven it. Watch the video! The cars are already there, and there were 3 Kia Rio vehicles that were unveiled to the hiss of smoke and the sound of revving engines.

kia launch malaysia

The all new Kia Rio has a lot of features that you wouldn’t expect to see in a car of this price range (OTR Prices: Rio 1.4 EX (RM73,888), SX (RM79,888)). It really is revolutionary. Or Riovolutionary.

rio front

It’s basically a 1.4 cc compact 5-door hatchback that comes in two variants. However that would be a bit like saying caviar is just fish roe.

kia rio back

Speaking of caviar, have you ever wanted a mini-fridge in your car? At least something that would cool down your drinks? The Kia Rio has it – the glove box is cooled! I think this would be the #1 selling point for me. Perfect for road trips in our weather.

rio back

Other awesome features:

LED Daytime Running Light
Static Bending Light (provides light where the steering wheel turns)
Safety Window (you won’t get your hand nipped when you accidentally wind up before you have your hand in after using Touch N Go)
Electric Folding Mirror with LED Side Repeater
Tiger Nose Radiator Grill Design (won a lot of design awards, this car)
Stylish Sunroof (woot!)
Full Air Conditioner with Cluster Ionizer (so you won’t get depressed during traffic jams)

rio interior

There’s also:

Arkamys Audio System with 6 speakers
AUX/USB/iPod port
Bluetooth (for your phone calls)
Tilt & Telescopic Steering wheel (so you can adjust to your optimal driving position)
Push Start Button & Smart Key

Some of the features are for the Kia Rio 1.4SX variant. You also get a 4-speed automatic transmission with a manual shift gate for those who wants to a degree of manual driving.

The all new Kia Rio 1.4L also got a EURO NCAP rating of 5 stars during safety certification. That’s widely considered as the toughest safety standard to pass.

kia rio engine

Of course, there’s also auto defogging and rain sensors for the wipers, which surprised me even more at this price range. The Kia Rio not only looks great – winning the reddot Design Award, Good Design Award and was the abc Design Award Winner in 2011 for the Exterior – but performs well too!

hb-kia-rio

Best of all, it wouldn’t break the bank. It comes in several colors for the 1.4EX version while the 1.4 SX Rio comes in Electric Blue.

kia winner

Oh ya, you remember that Rio Roundabout Contest I was talking about last time? Turns out the prize giving ceremony was held there too.

winner

The dude sure loves his all new Rio! :)

Lady Bug aerial fireworks - launches several stories high!

Chinese New Year 24 Responses »

Feb 152013

lady bug fireworks

I came across some interesting novelty fireworks this year. The Lady Bug is a fist sized firework painted like a ladybird that’s supposed to launch several stories high into the air. I thought that was quite an impressive claim so I got a few packs.

It’s sold in a pack of 3 for RM 15, which makes it RM 5 for each of the ladybird fireworks.

ladybird fireworks

Lady Bug fireworks is basically a spinner connected to an aerial shell-like lift charge. I think that’s how it works – I didn’t dissect it to find out.

The ladybird fireworks really shoots up to 4-6 stories. It’s variable – I’ve seen some that goes higher (about the same range as a 3” aerial shell would go).

I’ve seen a lot of people lighting these off – it’s a straight vertical lift after some furious spinning action. I reckon a *report* at the end of it’s apogee would make it more interesting though. :)

CNY 2013 reunion dinner!

Chinese New Year 11 Responses »

Feb 112013

firecrackers

I always have my Chinese New Year reunion dinner at my grandma’s place. It’s just our family and my grandma with a few aunts eating some great home cooked food.

I traditionally also let off a string of firecrackers before eating. :)

reunion dinner

I love the hearty Heng Hua dishes that my grandma and aunts cooks – it’s what I ate during my formative years and I’m very fond of chai bo (a preserved vegetable), the sea cucumber + razor clam mix and the pork + chicken stew.

cny 2013 reunion dinner

Here’s everyone! My grandma is the one to my left, my mom is on my right. The chick that looks like me is my sister, who flew off just now headed for New Zealand. My dad is on her right and that’s Kara, my niece, on her left.

I also brought along a Bushmills 10 year old single malt whiskey from Ireland for drinks. Almost finished the bottle, it’s a lot more fun drinking like this.

bushmills single malt

My cousins all came later – this is also a tradition of ours, I’m the banker and we played Blackjack and later a crazy version of Baccarat where there’s no edge to the house (me). My uncle was telling me I was doing it wrong. Haha! I don’t mind, all of my cousins are younger than me and I want them to win.

I lost a few hundred from our gambling session (which I actually have to budget my losses each year coz I do stuff like giving extra payouts for audacity e.g. hitting up to 5 cards and not busting in Blackjack) and everyone went away happy.

Happy CNY everyone! Gong Xi Fatt Chai! :D

Older Entries Newer Entries

I'm 32 today!

Pringles bowling!

I made my very own Egg McMuffin!

I'll be personally serving breakfast for 5 readers! :)

Daytime fireworks colored smoke salute cakes!

Chinese New Year 2013

The firecracker and the cat

Viva la Riolution!

Lady Bug aerial fireworks - launches several stories high!

CNY 2013 reunion dinner!

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