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My love, my life, my universe

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melbourne

Well, most of you know that I just got into a new relationship. I’ve been keeping it under wraps for a while since my girlfriend, in her infinite wisdom, doesn’t like publicity. I just recently revealed who it was during a trip to Melbourne about a week ago.

limited edition candy ripe

It was our first overseas trip together and it’s kinda how we got together. I like showering her with gifts – little ones that says “I love you” and lets her know that she’s always in my heart whenever and wherever I go.

bali

I do travel quite a bit – I went to Bali straight after that and we spent several days physically apart. It’s all good though, with communications the way it is nowadays, it’s always easy to keep in touch. We’re the digital generation – with data roaming and WiFi connections, using Facebook or Whatsapp to message each other is easy.

whatsapp

It’s always important to stay in touch – data has always made a lot of difference for us. I can send photos of what I’m doing to my girlfriend. I snapped a photo of something that means a lot to us (it’s an inside reference to our relationship) the moment I got off at Ngurah Rai Airport in Denpasar.

whatsapp images

Little things like this can make a lot of difference in a relationship. It shows that you’re constantly thinking of her. <3 I honestly would be hard-pressed to name disadvantages in the gift of data in a relationship…unless you’re cheating on your other half and is somewhere you’re not supposed to be – say, KL instead of overseas – and your GPS location settings on Facebook shows that. smirk

It’s all good, all the way for me.

chat

We actually got together thanks to Facebook and Whatsapp. It’s what made this relationship *possible* – how I noticed her and started chatting with her and finally made my feelings known to her. It was a big step coz I thought it would have alienated her but luckily it seemed that we were meant to be.

Data is what brought us together and I’m thankful for that coz I’m lucky to have Ling in my life. 🙂

relationship

Anyway, that’s my story. There’s another interesting around that’s doing the rounds on the net. I’m sure you’ve seen the Don’t Lose It All videos circulating around but in case you’re one of the few who hasn’t, you can view the previous short videos on that link.

There are 3 episodes in the rather interesting love triangle of Amy, Nick and Joe. The most riveting part about this is that the audience (which is you and me) gets to choose the plot via voting!

I won’t give out any spoilers here so go watch the videos if you haven’t already.

xpax wong fu

The final episode is, as usual, chosen by votes – it was a close one between Nick & Amy and Amy & Joe…and guess who won? Fans of Nick & Amy rejoice!

Here’s the final episode of the epic story as voted by you! It’s interactive, interesting and quite frankly, better than a lot of the other locally produced fare on air nowadays. Don’t ruin the ending if you haven’t watched the first 3 episodes – watch from the start!

It’s an interactive extravaganza like no other, with the finale aptly done! Check out the final episode at Don’t Lose It All! 🙂

P/S – The storyline is a little like mine – couldn’t have done it without data. Haha! You can dial *128# to pick a data pack on Xpax and load up to stay in touch 24/7 with your loved one!

Pringles bowling!

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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!

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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. smirk

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! 😀 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! :)

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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!

Viva la Riolution!

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globebox cooling

Glove Box Cooling

Arkamys Audio System with 6-speakers

air bags

6 Airbag System smirk

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! 🙂

There’s Nothing Like Australia!

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Interesting fact:
This blog was started on the 19th of April, 2002 when I was living in Melbourne

kangaroo

I’ve lived in Australia for 4 years while doing my college and uni. I’ve also stayed in other places while growing up but nothing beats Australia in my heart. I’ve always loved the place and have been back three times since graduating! 🙂

It’s a great country that has a bit of everything due to its unique location – you’ve got the temperate climates to the north to the infamous 4-seasons-in-a-day weather in Melbourne, towards the south. This makes it the perfect place for adventure lovers – there is a wide variety of activities to suit all tastes.

surfing byron

…and the things to do!

carving

I like to travel around and experience new things and I did a lot of that while I was there. Hands down my favorite is snowboarding – Mount Buller in Victoria is where I learned skiing and snowboarding when I was there.

sea kayaking

There’s also sea kayaking in Byron Bay, New South Wales where you power over the surf and get to watch dolphins and sometimes even whales migrating. I thought that was a lot of fun!

katoomba

If you love running, don’t miss the Six Foot Track 45 kilometer super marathon from Katoomba to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. It’s Australia’s largest 100% off-road running event.

bridge climb

Australia also boasts of having two of the three legal bridge climbs in the world. Well, you can technically climb bridges anywhere but you’ll be liable to a fine or jail time. Heh. Or you can do it legally at Sydney Harbour Bridge and Brisbane’s Story Bridge.

camels

Highlighting the pure diversity of Australia, there are also camels in the “outback” – the desert interior. These are the only feral herds of their kind in the world. You can have a camel safari right at the outback! Bet you didn’t know that about Australia! 🙂

sand dunes australia

The Stockton Sand Dunes near Port Stephens are some of the largest sand dunes in the entire Southern Hemisphere. It can go up to 1 kilometer wide and 30 meters high at some places.

There’s also an abundance of nature activities and magnificent vistas in the Land Down Under:

It’s a very beautiful country – there’s the Great Ocean Walk between 12 Apostles and Apollo Bay. It’s Victoria’s (the state Melbourne is in) premier long-distance walking track where you get to see the tallest cliffs in mainland Australia, waterfalls cascading down limestone walls, ancient shipwrecks, Aboriginal middens and manna gums with resident koala populations.

I’ve heard that the 12 Apostles (rock stacks in the ocean) are steadily getting eroded so it would be a good idea to go visit soon!

12 apostles

Of course, there’s also Phillip Island with its unique population of little penguins. You can see the cute little things landing on Summerland Beach every evening during the “penguin parade”. Photography is permitted but no flash is allowed coz you’ll scare them off.

Lake Eyre in South Australia is another popular destination – it’s one of the world’s largest salt pans and since it only fills up a few times a century, it’s drying up fast so this is another one to go for before it completely dries up. There are scenic flights over the lake.

sydney

There’s really something for everyone in Australia and while I’m talking about adventure and the outdoors over here (it’s what I’m into) there are a myriad of other activities for those who have interests that lies elsewhere. I haven’t touched even a tiny portion of what’s available for adrenaline lovers Down Under.

crab

Shopping, dining (the best crab meal I’ve had was on a chartered river cruise in NSW), or just plain sightseeing, there’s a newly revamped portal at australia.com for you to browse through and decide what you want to do before you go.

uluru

The amazing thing is that every article in that extremely detailed website is also translated into perfect Bahasa Malaysia! There are also other language options and I found the new tourism video to be very aspirational – it’s the one that I titled this post after and you can see it right at the main page of australia.com

aboriginal dance

Cheers and I hope that you’ll come to love the country where I spent about 1/3 of my adult life living in as much as I do! 🙂

A drive around town and food discoveries in Lorong Bandar

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town graffiti

I’ve never actually walked around this part of KL. I’ve driven through it often enough but never stopped and checked out the food. Joyce was telling me that she saw a lot of stalls there a while back with Shin.

This area is where the really old pre-war shoplots are at. I’ve had a steak dinner around the area at Ril’s Steakhouse at Jalan H.S. Lee but this time we’re out to investigate the little lanes around the area – essentially playing tourist, which is kinda fun.

mixing yam cake

I came across this auntie exerting herself mixing a batch of gooey stuff at Lorong Bandar 4 and asked her if I could have some of that.

I was quite taken aback when she said NO!

yam cake dough

It turns out that this is a batch of yam cake (oh kueh) that’s still uncooked. She said it’s for tomorrow and promptly put it into the a home rigged steamer with a wok. I ordered a portion of the (cooked) yam cake for just RM 2.

yam cake

It’s quite good when eaten with the (optional) chilli and sweet sauce. It’s a good find (also found a better unnamed shop) and goes to show that driving around and just stopping somewhere unfamiliar for an afternoon can be quite a fun afternoon in itself.

yam cake address

…and speaking of driving around town, here’s a short mention about the new Rio and an awesome contest where you can actually win the car by solving word puzzles!
___________________________________________________________________________

The all new Kia Rio is a 1.4 cc compact 5-door hatchback that comes in two variants. It’s an award winning design that has a sporty profile from the low roofline combined with a special ratio of metal and glass. It’s a great looking car with a distinctive wedge that you’ll recognize instantly.

all new rio

Do you fancy yourself a word smith? Good with puzzles and all that? Always the winner in Scrabble? You can win yourself a Kia Rio by solving word puzzles in the Runabout contest on Facebook!

It’s a lot of fun!

(plus you can win a car!)

Pin Your Adventure!

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mt kinabalu
Climbing Mt. Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
(Nature Quests)

white water rafting
White water rafting
Gopeng, Perak
(Water Extreme)

eating sago worms
Eating Live Sago Worms
Mukah, Sarawak
(Food Travels)

zorbing
Zorbing
Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Selangor
(Thrill Seeker)

parasailing

There are so many adventures to be had in Malaysia. The one above is parasailing in KK, Sabah. Some are less than an hour’s drive away from KL. I’ve had so much fun just inside my country that I’ve even forgotten some of the places I’ve been and the things I’ve done.

parasailing boat

This is where a fun app on Facebook comes in – Nestle Drumstick’s Home of Adventure is an avenue where you can submit your best adventures based on four (4) categories – the ones I’ve included at the beginning.

instructions

There’s a search function too and you can choose between East and West Malaysia. I’m going to go to East Malaysia coz that’s where I’m from. I chose somewhere close to Sibu, where I was born, for Food Travels (with a bit of Thrill Seeker thrown in).

sibu

I just need to Pin the location and write a simple description. You’ll need to put in your name, IC and cell phone number so they can contact you if you win. It’s that simple!

This is where I wrote:

The place where you can *eat* live sago worms (grubs) – just pluck off its head and nom away! 😀

and then there’s an optional feature to add a photo or video.

Here’s my sago grub eating video if you’re not too squeamish. Heh.

It’s fun to do and best of all you get a chance to win RM 35,000 in cash prizes. The top 10 winners each week will be awarded RM 500 so go on ahead and Pin Your Adventure now! 🙂

Presents for each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas!

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christmas advent calendar

That’s the modern adaptation of the advent calendar and I think it’s a wonderful concept! It’s basically a countdown to Christmas and having small gifts for each days leading up to the final big present on Christmas Eve. You can make one that gives out:

ice cream

A nice bowl of ice cream on the first day

theatre

Tickets to the theatre for the second day

dinner

A nice dinner outside for the third day

theme park

A trip to a theme park for the fourth day

iberico ham

A nice leg of Iberico Ham for the fifth day

romantic hotel

A night’s stay at a romantic hotel for the sixth day

nature

A day trip getting reacquainted with nature for the seventh day

parfait

Back to a nice parfait for dessert on the eighth day

…and so on up till the 24th day which would be Christmas Eve!

It’s a really fun way to get into the spirit of Christmas and get the holiday festivities going.

It’s also the time to get gifts for loved ones – your friends, family and maybe even yourself. 😉

ikea table

One of the pieces of furniture I kept when I moved to this studio is a small table I bought from IKEA that my friend Jamie kindly painted for me. It has since been sitting at a corner of my living room, accumulating all sorts of stuff (which I have unceremoniously dumped under to take this photo).

I moved into a fully furnished studio but you still need the little touches that will personalize it and make it truly your own.

dali

Well, not the trippy stuff that Salvador Dali dreamt up (although tickets to see them would make a great addition to your own advent calendar). For more practical items (that is, things rooted in the real world) IKEA has introduced advent calendar to Malaysia – a tradition that is celebrated in a lot of Nordic countries like Sweden.

advent calendar

It has great bargains for the 24 days leading up to Christmas Eve – the awesome thing about The 2012 IKEA Advent Calendar is that you can see the deals that are coming up by hovering over the day. Keep in mind that the deal is only valid on that day itself so it’s a great way to buy gifts for loved ones at a good deal.

The best thing about the IKEA Advent Calendar is that you can actually peek at deals in advance so you’ll know what the promotions are on a certain date. The deals are really good too – you know that IKEA already operates at a low profit margin so that you can get quality products at the best deals ever.

trofast frame

I’m personally waiting for their TROFAST pine frame at RM 169 (discounted from RM 249) on the 23rd December. It’s actually categorized as toy storage for children but you can use it to store a wide variety of things – I’ve mentioned that my condo lacks space so all my stuff (various personal souvenirs from travels) can go right into this – it’s a great way to save space! 😀

However, for this, some of the prices on furniture are marked down as much as RM 100 – like this queen size Sultan Tarsta mattress pad:

mattress share

…also if there’s something that catches your eye you can always hint to your friends by sharing the deal on your Facebook Wall. 😉

Here’s the link to The 2012 IKEA Advent Calendar so you can help ease your friends Christmas shopping. Heh.

Bak kut teh for breakfast in Klang and KEN Rimba

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teluk pulai klang

It started with one of the best bak but teh sessions in Klang. Sam wanted to bring us to this great BKT place he knew but unfortunately they had sold out (at 11 am in the morning!) so we headed to the popular fallback – Teluk Pulai Clay Pot Ba Kut Teh.

bak kut teh klang

There’s just something about eating bak kut teh in Klang – it’s the real thing, it’s what it’s famous for, and nothing quite beats plate of lard enhanced rice with various cuts of pork simmering in herbal soup. They do an excellent dry BKT as well.

pork innards soup

There’s even a healthy order or stomach, intestines and other innards.

How awesome is that? I had two plates of rice, and with that awesome start to the day we headed to KEN Rimba, which is surprisingly just minutes away.

living area

KEN Rimba is Malaysia’s first green township in Shah Alam, but don’t let the address scare you off – it’s not that remote. Despite it’s Shah Alam postcode, it’s actually a stone’s throw away from Klang…

ken rimba klang

…and I mean that literally. I could probably throw a stone from the eco-friendly development and hit Klang. I think. Heh.

ken rimba legian

The concept of KEN Rimba is inspirational – it’s a 60 acre freehold development that is built on environmentally sound practices. We were shown around the still-building JIMBARAN Residences (168 units) as well as the completed LEGIAN Residences (328 units). There will also be two phases of condominiums in this township and the streets are split up by rain trees in mini-roundabouts.

legian

The former is a scaled up and larger version of the latter, and it brings the concept of ecologically friendly houses to life. The basics are all there like building houses in a north-south orientation. It helps prevent the worst of the glare from the sun to come in and the consequent build up in heat while roof tiles that removes heat and proper ventilation meant to catch the natural wind is installed.

green alleys

The back lanes and turfed walkways running along the each carefully planned terrace house blocks has Palawan trees for shade (and good ol’ CO2 to oxygen conversion) – little oases that you can walk through that provides a burst of green that’s quite soothing to the eyes.

fish

There are even water features there that are being seeded with marine life. It all makes me feel like I’m in Bali, which is why I suppose the names of the residences are chosen. Heh. I like how this both works as a carbon sink and aesthetic feature.

ken rimba shah alam

The terraced units utilize some of the same green features incorporated in the high end KEN Bangsar luxury condominium – which goes to show that building green does not necessarily have to be limited to expensive developments.

ken rimba ecological

The bit I love most is how the homes are illuminated by a skylight – it allows natural light to shine down straight from the roof and reaches down to a small plot of open garden right in your living room!

living room earth plot

It’s dubbed an in-house green planter for internal landscaping in the industry. This is what it looks like in an unfurnished unit – you can do whatever you want with it, even tile it up, but that’ll be a shame considering the novelty of the area.

plot

Here’s what the potential of that (relatively) little plot can do. This is the show room and I thought that having real plants inside your living room would be something different, a real area you can put your green thumb to and introduce some greenery into your daily life, right where you can see it all the time.

breakfast bar

The terraced units looked small in the unfurnished lot that we went to but it was just a question of scale – without furniture inside, it’s hard to tell how space can be utilized and I was amazed when the show room provided a visual example.

living room

The living and dining areas are huge and can easily fit a family of four with rooms for everyone, including a maid if you’re so inclined.

master bedroom

The second level contains the master bedroom with its own en-suite bathroom and toilet while the other two rooms are spacious enough for future developments of your own. 😉

master

They can be your kid’s bedrooms or a study and library, depending on how you want your lifestyle to be. JIMBARAN Residences has a slightly larger lot size of 22′ x 65′ while LEGIAN Residences is a standard 20′ x 65′ but it’s what you do with the area that matters! The latter has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and the photos are from that showroom. It has a built up area from 1,800-2,200 sq ft.

rainwater

Sam also showed us how rainwater can be filtered and recycled with the rainwater harvesting tanks provided at the back, which you can reuse to water your lawn or wash your car.

ken rimba showroom

KEN Rimba has the 328 units in Legian Residences ready to live in (although it’s almost sold out) and the upcoming Jimbaran Residences is going to be built with a loft, which increases the area of space available (from 2,100 – 2,500 sq ft). That makes a total of 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and an attic/loft. I think the loft would be great for a teenager to live in, at least I’ve always wanted that growing up. 🙂

rooms

There is also a commercial area which will have F&B outlets (so you don’t have to drive to Klang if you don’t want to), an existing playground and other thoughtful conveniences like the covered walkway to the nearest KTM station. Both JIMBARAN and LEGIAN Residences are guarded communities and the security is awesome – it’s a place where you’ll feel safe having your kids play outside.

corner terrace pool

It’s easy to lose yourself in the greenery that is KEN Rimba – the trees planted to flank the area not only shuts out the surrounding enterprises, but also reinforces the feeling that you’re walking into a green township. It’s won several prestigious awards like the BCA Green Mark GOLD and GOLD PLUS (Provisional for JIMBARAN) as recognition of it’s ecologically friendly status.

ken rimba pool

The corner terraces all have a swimming pool! I think that’s awesome – a place to cool down after the stresses of the day.

ken rimba homes

The terrace homes are not just green, it’s affordable too and has all the nice touches that makes it desirable. You can find out more information at the KEN Rimba website.

Green Awards:
green logos

Facebook: https://facebook.com/KEN.Greenbook
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamCS10
Email: contact@kenholdings.com.my
Sales enquiries: 1300-22-9933

bicycles

I really liked how there are bicycles available for residents to use free of charge.

Great concept, eh? 🙂

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