Fast Food Inc.

McDonald’s Coca-Cola Contour Glass

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mcdonalds

I love McDonald’s and I’ve been writing about their promotions for ages. Don’t
stare me, just look at my archives.

korea 

I even rushed to the nearest McDonald’s in Korea during my recent trip to Busan to grab a Big Bulgogi Burger (their localized specialty).

mcdonalds prawn wrappers

I started my passion for the Golden Arches with the McDonald’s promotions in Australia – a particularly memorable one is a cross-promo with Scrabble. I remember trying to eat their entire menu (one of each burger) during an astoundingly stupid dare when I was in university. It didn’t work out too well. Chronically ravenous *cough*, I started with the McOz burger, and proceeded to eat three more burgers before slowing down and grinding to a complete halt, stomach near bursting.

mcdonalds mcoz aussie burger

The next time I tried to eat everything was done in a more appropriate (read: controlled) setting – the Salads Plus menu, over the course of a couple of days.

mcdonalds sega2

My love for McDonald’s collectibles is not unknown either – I rushed off during my lunch break in 2004 to get my grubby paws on the McDonald’s and Sega 2 mini video games. One horrific day, the handheld game sold out BEFORE lunch hour and I had to scour the entire town for places that still has it. Since then, I’ve taken to going in the morning before work. I stood outside the outlet as it opened, and it got to a point where the people working there recognize me and waves.

Some other memorable McDonald’s promotions:

McDonald’s Crispy Prawn Burger and Prawn Wrappers
McDonald’s Fish McDippers
McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover
McDonald’s Prosperity Burger Chicken and Prosperity Desserts
McDonald’s Spicy FIFA World Cup Soccer Star promotion
Mega Mac and Big Mac Chant
McDonald’s Gold Medal Meal Beijing 2008

I loved the Crispy Prawn Burger and I really wish they’ll bring it back. It’s awesome stuff. The Olympics 2008 glass is the predecessor to the 2009 Coke Glass promo which is the point of this post. I’ll better get to the gist of it before this turns into a full blown PhD dissertation. 😉

Coke Contour Glass Meal poster

Well, if you’re into collectibles McDonald’s is coming out with a series of limited edition Coca-Cola glasses. Yes the iconic Coke glasses are back! =D There are 7 Coke glasses in all and you can get it FREE just by buying any Large McValue Meal with a Sundae.

Coke Contour Glass color of the day

Just point at the Coke Contour Glass Meal place card conveniently located at the counter, choose your burger and the flavor of your sundae to get the current Coke glass FOC!

Coke Contour Glass Meal

I managed to get the Cool Blue glass but what I’m really waiting for it the Iconic Grey (called Charcoal in other countries) coz the personality description for that is “You might just be the wildcard!”

coke contour glass camwhore

Heh! That describes me down to a T (or *.* rather – dash of geek humor here).

coke contour glass tray liner

Another one to look out for is the 7th Coke glass. It’s called Sparkly Clear and it’s exclusive to Malaysia! The other countries only get 6, so the final one will definitely be one hell of a collector’s item!

I’ve got the Perky Pink and Cool Blue.  This time around, there’s no set release dates for new Coke glasses…which can lead to some, well, problems:

fighting over coke glass

You’ll just have to keep checking the McDonald’s website to get the inside scoop when a new one comes out. Perky Pink, Cool Blue, Fortune Green, Iconic Grey and Royal Purple are out, and some colors have already sold out. Don’t let the Coke glass ruin workplace relationships. Grab your favorite color today, they’re going fast!  Go go go! =D

McDonald’s in Korea

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*adds a notch on my belt*

mcdonalds

I like eating McDonald’s in different countries to check out their localized offerings. I suspect this has a lot to do with the New Tastes menu in Australia where 2-3 new items are introduced for a week, and a week only. I was in university then and most university students eat a lot of fast food. *shrugs* I digress.

mcdonalds korea

McDonald’s in Korea has several different items:

Big Bulgogi Burger (3400 Won or RM 10)
Bulgogi Burger (2800 Won or RM 8)
Bacon Tomato Deluxe (3800 Won or RM 12)
Shanghai Spice Chicken Burger (3700 Won or RM 12)
Shrimp Burger (3300 Won or RM 10)

korea mcdonalds

The Bacon Tomato Deluxe is like the Big N’ Tasty we get over here except with real bacon from pigs. The Shanghai Spice Chicken Burger is their version of the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe. The Shrimp Burger is similar to the Crispy Prawn Burger we had over here a while back. I ate the one in Lotteria (the fast food arm of the giant Lotte) instead. Lotteria is the #1 fast food chain in South Korea – I’ll post about it later.

Thus, the only truly localized menu item is the Big Bulgogi Burger.

bulgogi burger

I had the Big Bulgogi Burger set (4900 Won or RM 15) and one interesting thing about Korea is that they’re very big on the environment. You pay 100 Won extra for the cup, which is refunded when you return it for recycling.

big bulgogi burger bite

Bulgogi is a Korean dish which means marinated barbecued beef and we had the same thing for dinner the night before. Bulgogi done right (and the Koreans always do it right) is tender, succulent and delectable! The Big Bulgogi Burger is essentially a double Bulgogi Burger – the Korean version of Big Mac, if you will.

big bulgogi burger

Oh, how do I even begin to describe the pure awesomeness of the Big Bulgogi Burger? Imagine a huge burger made with soft buns and tender, melt-in-your mouth bulgogi beef sandwiched in the middle. Visualize the juices practically squirting out of the bulgogi beef when you bite into it, coating your tongue with the delicious barbecue marinate.

big bulgogi burger me

Now, multiply that thought by a factor of 10 and you might just get a hint of how breathtaking the Big Bulgogi Burger is. One of my friends took a bite and promptly decided that he needed to have one too so we ate the same thing again at the airport McDonalds!

The Big Bulgogi Burger is awe-inspiring – it’s so delicious that the superlative to describe it hasn’t even been coined yet.

I have experienced the divine and I’ll never be able to settle for a lesser burger. 🙁

McDonald’s in Sri Lanka

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mcdonalds sri lanka

I know, who the hell eats at McDonald’s when they’re on vacation right? Well, I’ve made it my personal jihad to check out McDonald’s in the different countries I visit for their localized menu items.

mcdonalds staff

It’s like stamp collecting – how do you explain it? I can’t, an inexplicable urge came over me and I told the tuk tuk driver: “Bring me to your leader!”

mcdonalds counter

I meant bring me to the nearest McDonald’s.

mcdonalds sauce

The first regional difference is their sauce – instead of chilli sauce, their chilli sauce is infused with garlic. Nice! There is no regular chilli sauce here.

menu liner

McDonald’s is renowned for their signature Big Macs. The Big Macs in Sri Lanka comes in two variants – beef and chicken (due to the religious constitution – Hindus don’t eat beef).

scratch win

The staff is very friendly and accommodating – but perhaps only to foreigners, since I noticed they were decidedly cold towards a local who was short LKR 50. I paid for her; it’s only RM 2, not a big deal to us, my good dead for the day. 😉 I also got a free Coke from this scratch and win contest they’re having. It was either a drink, a t-shirt or a trip to South Africa to watch…you guessed it, cricket!

mcrice container

I ordered a McRice with Chicken (LKR 220 or USD 2.20). It also comes with the option of fish (since Sri Lanka is an island in the middle of the ocean) or vegetables (a sizable community here is vegetarian).

mcrice chicken

The chicken is nothing to write home about – it’s just a piece of fried chicken breast.

rice sauce

However, they do have a rather tasty sauce of onions with gravy that adds that extra dimension of taste to the chicken. The rice on the other hand, is really something I would take the time to draft a long correspondence back for!

mcrice

The interesting thing about their rice is that it’s heavily flavored by various spices and comes with a side serving of shallots. I notice that Sri Lankans loves their red onions. It’s served at almost every meal!

veggie burger

I also got a Vegetarian Burger with Cheese (LKR 360 or USD 3.60). It’s obviously not for vegans due to the cheese but it tastes good – like the Vege Burger I had in Melbourne.

chicken big mac

I was stuffed at that point but I insist on trying all their different menu items so I had a Chicken Big Mac (LKR 410 or USD 4.10) to go. It’s unusual, tastes like a McChicken instead of a Big Mac, but with two all-beef chicken patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

sauce

The other thing I noticed about McDonald’s in Sri Lanka is that they don’t have proper sealed sauces for take away.

sauce size

They use a flat round container instead. This is how it looks like beside a LKR 5 coin. I’m not sure if this is a recipe for botulism but since it’s Maccas I guess they should have reasonable standards, even in Sri Lanka. 😉

mcdonalds

McDonald’s in Sri Lanka is quite expensive when you consider the currency exchange. I paid the equivalent of RM 12 for a Chicken Big Mac. I don’t know how it rates on the Big Mac Index by The Economist magazine, but it’s certainly not cheap.

Posted: 10:04 PM Sri Lanka time.

The Quest for the McValue Lunch

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lunch

Lunch has always been a particularly bothersome time – there are not a lot of food outlets near my office so it’s either the mamak (which tends to slaughter me, running up a bill in excess of RM 10 is not uncommon if I eat nasi kandar) or the Chinese shops (very crowded, and the food isn’t exactly cheap either).

Thus, there is always a constant debate over where to go for lunch. I don’t take the heat very well so I always vote against the Chinese shops. We usually end up eating at some quiet café – the average amount I spend on lunch is about RM 10-14. One fine day, I heard some of my co-workers ordering McDonald’s for lunch – that was the first I’ve heard of the McValue Lunch. It starts from just RM 5.95! 

enter

I was traumatized. I used to review McDonald’s stuff and was the first to know about their latest and greatest, from their Crispy Prawn Burger to their Salads Plus menu in Australia. I even ate McDonald’s in Thailand just coz I was passionate about trying everything on their menu! I was appalled that I wasn’t the first to know about the McValue Lunch and was determined to undo this affront to my pride. 

mcvalue_4

Thus, I checked McDonald’s FaceBook diligently and am proud to report that I was one of the first to find out about the new McValue Lunch menu. They now have the Big Mac (RM 7.95) and the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe (RM 7.95) in addition to their existing RM 5.95 McValue Lunch portfolio – McChicken and Filet-O-Fish. 

time

The best thing about the McValue Lunch? It’s available from 12 pm – 3 pm every single day. Check out the clock at this outlet. It’s even available on the weekends. Monday to Sunday, they’ve got it covered. You don’t even have to go there personally – the McValue Lunch is valid for Dine-in, Drive-Thru and even McDelivery with no minimum order. Best, kan? 

mcvalue

…and with our lunch problems sorted, we proceeded to dine in air-conditioned comfort at a very, very reasonable price. It’s cheaper than the places we usually hit for lunch and it’s just 5 minutes away from where I work. I went for the Spicy Chicken McDeluxe coz eating a Big Mac is very likely to induce a post-lunch coma.

spicy 

It came up to just RM 8.35 inclusive of tax. I can honestly say that it’s one of the best deals for lunch in town… 

me

…and to top it off, McDonald’s is running a blogger contest in conjunction with the McValue Lunch. The contest tagline is “Have you McValue LUNCH-ed this week?” and you’ll need to squeeze the grey matter to produce some creative juice for your post. Just write about your experience with the McValue Lunch and post photos or create a video from 27th April to 31st May 2009 to stand a chance to win the Apple iPhone 3G complete with a 6-month contract with Maxis!

This is my submission – I think I scared the customers (and the staff gave me disapproving looks) when I waltzed into the outlet shouting (screaming?) a greeting in Japanese and ordering before I even got to the counter. I must have looked somewhat deranged. 😉tagline_logo

Well, have you?

Madagascar Move It! 2 the Curve

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mcd roadshow

Madagascar Return 2 Africa fever is running high and McDonald’s upped the thermostat with a great road show at the Curve last Sunday when I was at Cineleisure to catch the movie.

move it dance

The promotional booths had games with themes like “one minute to hit it”, “one minute to throw it” and others along that line but it was the Move It Dance Competition that drew the crowd in droves.

This is the crème de la crème – it’s a group of small children doing a dance routine. It’s choreographed, but the age of the performers makes the choreography all the more remarkable. It received high accolades from both the judges and the crowd, and it was one of the first performances – certainly setting the bar high for the other teams, this one.

madagascar meal

The Madagascar Return 2 Africa promotion by McDonald’s has three components (at least for the edible aspects, and I urge pedophiles to refrain from commenting on the dance competition with the word “edibility” in the same sentence) – the Move It Breakfast Meal (RM 11.90), the Move It Milo McFlurry (RM 5.90) and the Move It Meal (RM 14.90).

move it breakfast

I had the Move It Breakfast Meal at the LCC-T.

move it mcflurry

I had the Move It Milo McFlurry in the McDonald’s in Kelana Jaya.

move it meal poster

However, for the Madagascar Move It meal, I wanted them to Move It (TM) over to my condo so I called 1300-13-1300. 😉

move it charge

McDonald’s McDelivery certainly Move(d) It…and charged me RM 3 for it. Hmph.

move it meal

The Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Move It meal comprises of a Double McChicken, Move It McShaker Fries, and a Green McFizz. The best part is the Move It McShaker Fries, which are flavored fries and tastes great!

monkey fries

If you haven’t watched the movie, you should. It’s better than the original in many ways. I particularly liked the giraffe dying hole. Oh, that had me laughing out loud. It nearly gave me a laughing fit. Morbid humor. Heh!

I want maternity leave!

McDonald’s Gold Medal Meal Beijing 2008

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gold medal meal

McDonald’s is having a promotional meal for the Beijing 2008 Olympics which is due to commence today on 08/08/08. It’s called the Gold Medal Meal and consists of a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe, Onion Rings (or French Fries), Carbonated Drink and a Sundae for RM 14.80.

gold medal meal meal

I went to check out the promotion just now during lunch break. It’s to get into the Olympics fever and all, since the opening ceremony will be held tonight at 8 pm. The excessive amounts of eights are due to the number 8 being an auspicious figure for the Chinese.

coca cola contour glass

The Gold Medal Meal also comes with a limited edition free Coca-Cola Contour Glass. This Beijing 2008 glass features five (5) different designs – Swimming, Athletics, Basketball, Volleyball, and Archery.

gold medal us

I’m having the worst pimple outbreak in the history of my life. I’ve never had problems with pimples or acne and I’m not sure why my face looks like a pizza right now. My friend tells me I’m just having my adolescence late…at the ripe old age of 27. I think I’m going to have to get some pimple cream before the Olympics opening ceremony tonight…which means a guide to managing pimples is coming up. 🙂

gold medal meal coma

The sheer amount of food in the Gold Medal Meal is certainly a combination guaranteed to induce a post-lunch coma.
Oh well, “One World, One Dream“, right? 😉

KFC Toasted Twister

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kfc toasted twister

KFC is having a new variant of their popular Twister Wrap. The KFC Toasted Twister is basically a toasted version of their Twister with the tagline “Great Taste On The Go”.

kfc twisted toaster colonel

I spoke to the good Colonel himself and he was promoting the KFC Toasted Twister combo with the toasted twister with honey pickled sauce, flavored fries, 7Up Revive, and a mini radio for RM 14.90.

kfc toasted twister combo

The a la carte Toasted Twister goes for RM 5.90 and my dining companion, not being a big fan of drinking fluids in general, opted for that instead.

kfc toasted twister phallic

I shall refrain from making any phallic jokes.

kfc toasted twister inside

The Toasted Twister tastes much better than the previous wrap. The honey pickled sauce is sweet and offsets the saltiness of the chicken inside the wrap. The toasting process also imparts a nice charcoal flavor to the wrap, which tantalizes the taste buds but probably wrecks havoc on your antioxidant diet. 😉

kfc radio

The combo meal also comes with a free KFC miniature radio that looks suspiciously like an iPod. This radio can also be purchased separately for RM 9.90.

kfc radio batteries

Batteries not included. I have mastered the art of camwhoring.

kfc oral

Please, no references to acts falling under crimes against nature laws.

Pizza Hut STARZBITES Sausage Pizza

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starzbites promo stand

Pizza Hut is having a new promotional pizza called the Starzbites Sausage Pizza. It comes with the tagline “Double the treat! Double the fun!” and is a new concept where mini cocktail sausages (like mine) are embedded in the crust – not as in sausage ring type filled crust (which was a previous promotion), but in a star burst configuration.

starzbites spinner game

True to Pizza Hut’s promotional pizza tradition, there is a spinner game involved. 🙂 The rules of the game have changed this time though – you’re allowed one spin, and if the spin goes to a free regular Starzbites pizza, you have to spin for a second time and get it right again to get the pizza. Otherwise, you default to the second spin’s item.

starzbites girl

I’m know to be spun all the time (old readers of sixthseal.com will get this reference ;)) so I was the designated spinner. I got a free salad (which is better than a free Pepsi, which is what I tend to get in the spinner games). 🙂

starzbites salad bar

Thus, it was off to the salad bar to claim my free salad…

starzbites salad

…which I’m not able to utilize to the full potential due to my lack of salad stacking skillz. 😉

starzbites sausage pizza

This is the Starzbites Sausage Pizza with Hawaiian Supreme topping. It’s claim to fame is the star burst configuration and the alternate toppings on the individual sausages. The New York style topping of mayonnaise and tomato sauce is on one sausage while the next sausage would have the Chicago style topping of honey mustard and relish.

starzbites sausage pizza fangs

The Starzbites sausage pizza is also given a sprinkling of black sesame seeds on the side of the star burst shaped pizza. It tastes quite good and is a rather novel presentation of a pizza.

starzbites us

The STARZBITES Sausage 1 combo (recommended for 2 persons) is priced from RM 29.90 and contains:
1 Regular Starzbites Sausage Pizza
2 Soup-of-the-Day
4 pcs Breadstix
2 glasses of 7Up Revive

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). 😉

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

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