The Hundred-Foot Journey

michelin star

We have increasingly become a nation of foodies. Just look at the TV shows on offer – MasterChef, The Taste, My Kitchen Rules, Top Chef, The Great British Bake Off are all cooking shows that are extremely popular now. There are also food related programs like the now defunct No Reservations, Parts Unknown, Kitchen Nightmares, Man vs Food (Nation) and even odes to excess like Epic Meal Empire.

michelin star chef

That’s not even counting the craft beer movement which has spawned shows like Dark Horse Nation and Brew Dogs. All this has made Gordon Ramsay, Anthony Bourdain (he was a chef at Les Halles before he became a host), Graham Elliot, Heston Blumenthal and other Michelin Star chefs becoming household names. Hollywood has also increasingly come up with movies featuring food as the primary theme – starting from Chocolat (which was the first movie that caught my attention) to documentaries like Jiro Dreams of Sushi (about the 3 Michelin Star Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo).

france michelin star

I admit that most of the programming I watch nowadays are food-related shows. I’ve also eaten at Michelin-starred establishments from Hong Kong to France and I pre-order The Red Guide from Amazon every year.

france

I went to Paris with my better half earlier this year and the primary reason for our trip was to eat at Michelin-starred (and Bib Gourmand) restaurants. We’re both very interested in food, I even do a little cooking myself. I was amazed at the variety and freshness of produce in France – a lot of which we can’t get here.

joel robuchon

We also cooked during our trip and one of the interesting things we saw in Paris was a line of ready-to-eat meals by the 28 Michelin Star chef Joel Robuchon. This isn’t your average TV dinner but gourmet meals that you can just heat up and eat. There’s even one called Les St Jacques au Noilly & Riz Basmati cuisine. It’s a fusion of Indian and French food and that’s what a really intriguing upcoming film is all about.

The Hundred-Foot Journey

The Hundred-Foot Journey is a film produced by Stephen Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey with Lasse Hallström as the director. It’s based on a novel about the Kadam family, who came from India to settle in a picturesque quaint village in France to open an Indian restaurant called Maison Mumbai.

oprah hundred foot journey

They run into the chilly chef owner of Le Saule Pleureur (The Weeping Willow), a Michelin-starred classical French restaurant run by Madame Mallory (Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren) just a hundred feet away and the her protests against the new Indian restaurant threatens to escalate until Hassan’s passion for French haute cuisine (and also the beautiful sous chef, Marguerite – played by Charlotte Le Bon) combines to weave magic between their two cultures and imbue the small town with flavors of life that even Madame Mallory can’t ignore.

hundred foot journey scenes

At first Madame Mallory’s culinary rival, she eventually recognizes Hassan’s gift as a chef and takes him under her wing.

hundred foot journey stills

The Hundred-Foot Journey abounds with flavors that burst across the tongue. A stimulating triumph over exile, blossoming with passion and heart, it is a portrayal of two worlds colliding and one young man’s drive to find the comfort of home, in every pot, wherever he may be.

hundred foot journey exclusive

It sounds like a wonderful movie, and it’s from the award-winning director of Chocolat! I’ve read stories about the “back of the house” like Kitchen Confidential and this production is something I’m really looking forward to! It has all the elements that makes for a great food related movie, and if you’re interested in cuisine, eating, and theater, you’ll love this production.

Watch the trailer here! Life’s greatest journey begins with the first step. #The100FootJourneyMY

hundred foot journey photos

The Hundred-Foot Journey will be released in theaters on August 28, 2014. For more information, visit http://100footjourneymovie.com. Like the official Facebook page and follow their official Twitter account to interact!

Contest:
Why do you want to watch The Hundred-Foot Journey? Comment on the blog post below and the best answer will win a pair of tickets in season pass to the movie! Please include your email address in your comment (make sure you fill in the Email bit) so I can get in touch with you! 🙂

Shell FuelSave Challenge 2014 starts now!

sibu

I realize there is one thing that my humble hometown has that not many other states have – a traffic garden! I come from Sibu and we have a miniature town complete with small stop signs, lanes that have directions and even mini traffic lights! It doubles as a favorite jogging spot but that was how I learned the fundamentals of driving by pretending to be a car on my cycle as a 9 year old kid.

rtm me

I was quite involved in local events back when I was working in Sibu and I remember Shell did a traffic event there too.

shell station malaysia

However, there’s something more exciting coming up and there’s going to be auditions in Johor Bahru, Kuantan, Penang, and Selangor! The 6th Shell FuelSave Challenge is back!

shell fuelsave

The Shell FuelSave Challenge is an annual driving event which showcases how easy it is for everyday individuals (that’s you and me) to become advocates of fuel-saving and be awarded when they practise the Shell FuelSave Tips, coupled with the use of Shell FuelSave 95 – a Fuel Designed to Last Longer per Tank.

fuelsave 95

Interesting fact: Did you know that UPS in the United Sates almost never make left turns? Their courier delivery service trucks makes a right turn 90% of the time to save on fuel! This was actually tested in an episode of Mythbusters and it turned out to be true!

The episode of Mythbusters was dedicated to “hypermiling” and refers to a series of techniques for energy efficient driving.

Shell FuelSave Tips #1: Keep your tyres at the right pressure. Correctly inflated tyres are safer, last longer and improve fuel economy.

tyres

Shell FuelSave 95 is formulated with Active Efficiency Ingredients designed to improve fuel and engine efficiency as well as save costs. This year, participants will be able to enhance their knowledge on making smart choices on the road though the Shell FuelSave Challenge, which will have both a real-life and online component where you have the opportunity to win exclusive prizes and rewards!

Shell FuelSave Tips #2: Use air conditioning sparingly. Air conditioning puts added strain to the engine and uses fuel to operate, limit use to particularly hot days.

fuel consumption

Shell FuelSave Challenge 2014 is back and you can join the driving challenge that will test all your preconceived notions of fuel efficient driving! You think you can squeeze the most kilometers out of a single litre of gas? This challenge is for you! There will be four regional winners (North, East Coast, Central and South) for RM 2,000 each and the best of the best will come together for the National Finals! Just register and stand a chance to win the RM 20,000 grand prize!

Shell FuelSave Tips #3: Avoid carrying excess weight. Extra weight affects your fuel efficiency. Keep your boot and back seat clear of unnecessary items that just add weight to your vehicle.

driving challenge

You can also participate the Shell FuelSave Journey after registering online – there will be tasks and “missions” that can be completed by just answering a few questions and clicking a mouse button. This is the online bit if you’re more inclined to participate in a digital format. There will also be exclusive prizes and rewards even if you don’t make it to the Driving Challenge!

Start your engines now at the official Shell FuelSave Challenge page!

Wakudoki Your Way to Tokyo

I’ve read a lot of articles on the net trying to explain what the term “Wakudoki” mean – they range from “heart pumping, adrenaline racing” to “sprained neck” (haha wtf?). I’m here to tell you the official meaning of “Wakudoki”:

  • Waku-Waku” is a term in Japanese used to describe when your heart is pumping with joy and you can’t sit still
  • Doki-Doki” is Japanese for the sound of your heartbeat

Okay, I know that second bit from my college years watching anime.

Thus, “Wakudoki” is the creative expression for the joy you feel when your heart is pumping with excitement…and you can win a trip to Tokyo just by dancing the Wakudoki dance! 🙂

wakudoki

Thinking about winning a trip to Tokyo is giving me the “wakudoki” feeling. I’ve been wanting to go for ages! It’s one of the few countries where I haven’t been to, and it’s so close nowadays and since the visa requirements have been reduced (it’s now visa on arrival) we’ve always planned for our next trip to be to Japan.

Did you know that Japan has the most Michelin star restaurants after France?

Just thinking of eating at Sushi Saito by Takashi Saito or Ryugin by Seiji Yamamoto gives me the “Wakudoki” feeling. 🙂

There are 13 Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo alone as of 2014!

It’s time to WakuDoki Your My Way to Tokyo. I love the Wakudoki dance! It’s a fun way by Toyota to engage the youth of the world. I’ve seen dance covers on YouTube and I thought they were hilarious! I think I can make this work since it’s quite simple.

waku doki

Still confused? Don’t worry! The site will guide you through the steps of the Wakudoki dance!

wakudoki dance

It’s so easy everyone can do the Wakudoki! Just use your smartphone or notebook so you can access the front camera/webcam and start with the “Beginner Mode”.

wakudoki toyota

You’ll be given a tutorial video where you can simulate the Wakudoki dance simply by following an animated silhouette of the dance moves.

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the steps, check out “Expert Mode”! This mode doesn’t have a guide to help you out so you have to memorize the steps!

There are two rounds to the Wakudoki Your Way to Tokyo contest! The user whose video gets the highest number of views will win a “Beats by Dr. Dre” earphones at the end of each round. There will be one winner from each country! 🙂

The most remarkable dance video wins a trip for two to Tokyo!

wakudoki japan

Yes, there will again be one winner per country so every country (including Malaysia) will have a grand prize of a trip for two to Tokyo! Join the Wakudoki dance at www.wakudoki.asia to do the hottest dance in town now!

I baked my own Poppy Seed Bread with organic Macadamia Butter from scratch!

poppy seed bread

Yup, I went out and did a little shopping at the local baking supplies shop yesterday to make my own Poppy Seed Bread! This recipe requires:

baking supplies

  • High protein flour (250 g)
  • Poppy seeds (28 g)
  • Milk powder (6 g)
  • Salt (4 g)
  • Granulated sugar (12 g)
  • Egg yolk (1 yolk)
  • Vegetable oil (2 tbsp)
  • Water (170 ml)
  • Instant dry yeast (¾ tsp)

even bread

I had this freshly baked and still warm – the thick slices were slathered with organic macadamia butter (it’s just 100% crushed macadamia nuts) and it was so delicious!

taking loaf

(and it just took me 2 hours to bake)

baking water

I did not need to knead or proof the dough coz I had a Panasonic Bread Maker. Haha! I just:

1. Dumped all the ingredients into the loaf shaped bread maker

yeast dispenser

2. Measured out the yeast and poured it into the automatic yeast dispenser

menu

3. Selected “Rapid Bread” and “Medium” crust

perfect bread

4. Sliced the bread

poppy seeds

It was sooo easy that we wanted to make a second batch immediately. However, one minor issue with the bread maker is that it’ll come out with a U50 error code if you try to do that without waiting 1 hour (officially) for it to cool down. However, I managed to achieve that in 20 minutes by putting it under a fan in a 16 degree Celsius room (my living room is air-conditioned).

egg yolk

I have always heard that baking was a very exact science and you cannot mess around with it. Ingredients are supposed to be measured out to the exact gram or milliliter – no more, no less. However, I wanted to make another Nutella loaf since I thought the kids will enjoy eating that. I also forgot to put in the salt (!!!) the second time around.

nutella

My better half told me that the bread will not rise, but the Panasonic Bread Maker prevailed! Even though yeast requires salt and sugar to proof, I used honey in lieu of the sugar in the second loaf and poured in 2 heaped tablespoons of Nutella. It really made the bread fragrant and taste of hazelnut.

knead nutella

Even better, the bread came out fine despite me forgetting the salt (and no, Nutella does not contain sodium) and I didn’t put any vegetable oil in (we used canola for the first batch) since I reckon it’ll have enough hazelnut oil to and I was right!

bake

The poppy seeds are spread so evenly throughout the bread too! It’s unlike other bread makers which can have uneven ingredient distribution. I really like the ambient temperature sensors of the Panasonic Bread Maker for optimal proofing too!

nutella bread

There’s nothing quite like eating freshly baked bread without any preservatives or artificial additives coz you control what you put in. It tasted absolutely fabulous!

It’s just so convenient to have my own Panasonic Bread Maker at home and we look forward to a lot of baking in the future. I love bread! I love eating it, I love baking it, and I love looking at it. You might call that a tad obsessive but I’ve even come up with lots of weird recipes for sandwiches. smirk

Julie’s x LINE Limited Edition Cookies Media Launch

julies girls

You remember the Julie’s biscuits that we all grew up with? I fondly remember eating lots of these when I was a kid, it was one of the staples of growing up. I absolutely *loved* their Cheese Sandwich back then, I couldn’t have enough when it came out. It was revolutionary at the time. Absolutely fabulous!

julies cheese sandwich

This is what it looked like! This is the box with 18 convenient individually wrapped packs which wasn’t available back in the early 90’s, but I would have happily eaten the entire box when I was a still growing boy! 🙂 There was a media launch event for the unveiling of a new product dubbed Julie’s x LINE on the 4th of July and true to the name, it’s a collaboration between Julie’s and LINE (the app).

juliesxline art

I was quite surprised coz this isn’t a usual collaboration – there’s not much in common between a confectionery manufacturer and the developer of a communications app for smartphones – at least that’s what I thought at first.

juliesxline mascot

It turns out that the popular characters from LINE – Brown and Cony – is a collaboration between Julie’s and LINE for this season’s Oat 25 cookies range.

cony brown cookies

The first collaboration came out with Brown, the popular character from LINE and this second launch is to add one new character – Cony!

juliesxline registration

Interestingly, we received instructions to either dress in brown or pink. I didn’t quite get it at first until I realized that they were the colors of the popular LINE characters!

juliesxline me

Brown is the color of the the LINE character Brown (the bear) and Cony the rabbit/bunny is the pink bit! I have a pink shirt, which I don’t wear a lot (but I hear looks good on me), so I thought I’ll go with that to the launch of Julie’s x LINE.

juliesxline cookies

The Julie’s x LINE OAT 25 Cookies are limited edition. It’s available in these cute little metal boxes which has Julie’s oat biscuits inside and either Brown or Cony from LINE on the cover.

juliesxline

The Cony and Brown variations aren’t purely superficial though – the chocolate and strawberry flavors in Julie’s x LINE Limited Edition cookies are specifically chosen to match Brown’s peculiar characteristics and Cony’s sweet attributes. On top of that, Brown is known for his love for chocolate cookies while Cony looks adorable in pink.

juliesxline cony brown

I thought it was a stroke of pure genius, at least when the Julie’s mascot came out with both LINE’s popular Cony and Brown! You can get the limited edition Julie’s x LINE Oat 25 Cookies in any AEON, The Store, selected Popular outlets and many more hyper/supermarkets nationwide!

juliesxline media launch

There’s also a Snap, Tag & Win photo contest going on with the hashtag #JuliesLINEcookies, so if you’re a fan of both LINE’s cute characters and Julie’s biscuits, head on over to the Julie’s Facebook page for more information about this Facebook and Instagram contest! 🙂

juliesxline event

InvestSmart by Securities Commission Malaysia, Taylor’s Lakeside Campus

investsmart games

No, read on, this isn’t as boring and dry as it sounds, trust me! smirk I was at the very informative InvestSmart event at Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus the other day. InvestSmart is an initiative by the official Securities Commission Malaysia (Suruhanjaya Sekuriti) which has a goal of making you an informed and confident investor.

investsmart prizes

The way they approach this is with a good dose of fun and education embedded in the aforementioned fun bits. The InvestSmart initiative aims to:

  1. Encourage you to take control of your finances with apps and software use such as generate an invoice as a financial tool.
  2. Enable you to exercise judgement and discretion in making investment decisions
  3. Raise awareness on the role of the SC and their agendas

khairy jamaluddin

…and to that end, they appointed a lot of interesting speakers to talk about investment and how to manage your finances. There was a speech by the Guest of Honour, YB Khairy Jamaluddin who came to the stage wearing a very dapper outfit, with matching pink shoelaces and socks. I don’t think I can rock pink as well as he can!

investsmart app

He was also there to launch the InvestSmart app which you can find on Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

investsmart speakers

There was also a panel discussion themed “Take Control of your Life and Finances: Anything and Everything is Possible” where the attendees can talk and get feedback from the speakers, who come from a diverse field with one thing in common – they’re all successful young Malaysian entrepreneurs.

The four (4) speakers are:

  1. Hidayah Hassan, Creative Director and Founder of Cipela
  2. Hugh Koh, Co-founder and Creative Director of Pestle and Mortar
  3. Shanker Joyrama, Founder & CEO of Orion Social Media
  4. Adrian Yap, Co-founder and Chief Executive of Freeform, Founder of Urbanscapes Arts Festival

investsmart panel

I thought that would make for an interesting morning so I went bright and early at 7 am to catch the panel speakers in action. Not only was the auditorium (it was a lecture hall in Taylor’s University) packed, there was a lot of interaction between the crowd and the speakers too.

discount code

Also, the speakers came with gifts in the form of discount codes for their stores, where relevant! 🙂

investsmart booths

There was also an interactive games and exhibition area where you can win:

  1. ASUS Transformer Book T100
  2. GoPro Hero 3
  3. Crumpler Sling Bag
  4. RM 1,000 PRS vouchers

soccer me

You just need to get four (4) stamps from the 4 interactive games booths and drop your completed slip into the box for a lucky draw win. I decided to give it a go and did all the booths.

Interactive Games Booth #1 – Soccer

soccer booth

Each game booth comes with a question booth so you need to get both correct in order to get the two stamps e.g. complete the task and answer all the questions about investing correctly. The first booth aims to educate you about goals (pun intended) and has a soccer setup on one end and the Q&A on the other.

You need to complete both to get the two stamps required to participate in the contest.

Interactive Games Booth #2 – Ping Pong

ping pong

This is a booth where you match the ping pong balls (which has answers to them) to the correct box. There are about 10 ping pong balls so you really need to know your stuff to get them all right, and yes, you need to sort every single one of the small bouncy balls to get a stamp.

I did everything right the first time, but then again I’m slightly older and have a couple of investments under my belt so I know all the answers already. Plus, I read the entire handbook while waiting for the program to start since I arrived 45 minutes early. 😉

Interactive Games Booth #3 – Basketball

basketball

I thought this was the most interesting booth, maybe coz I didn’t think my hand eye coordination was that great. I managed to score every single ball that I threw, despite the balls being of different sizes.

There are answers written on the basketballs and questions on the hoops. You need to search for the correct answer on the basketball and throw it into the hoops in sequence.

The game itself is about InvestSmart which I thought was great! This makes learning about investing and finances entertaining instead of just being a games booth.

Interactive Games Booth #4 – Red Light Scam Alert

scam booth

This is also an interesting interactive games booth where you are asked questions about potential scams. Answer it right, and you get a green light. Get it wrong, and the red light comes on and you have to start all over again!

The red light comes with a satisfying buzz too! I heard it go off several times, which was what attracted me to the booth in the first place.

basketball booth

I didn’t win the prizes but everyone who completes the four (4) tasks will get a complimentary USB drive, which was great since I collect these things.

usb drive

I thought the InvestSmart event was a fun and educational way to get people to be aware of their finances and learn more about investment opportunities at a young age so Taylor’s University is the perfect place to hold it. I didn’t know you could start investing in stocks at 18 years of age until that day!

lucky draw

Learn more about investing and finance management at InvestSmart. It has a lot of tools and tips for everyone, and you can always check for suspected scams here.

The Best Free Meal or Drink!

7eleven clerk

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil matches are going on right now, with up to four (4) matches each night, usually at 12 am, 3 am and 6 am. This sudden change in sleep routines can make a person very hungry, and it’s hard to get something to eat at this hour, especially if all you want is a snack and a drink.

free items umobile

I’m here to tell you that there’s a solution to that problem…and there is such a thing as a free lunch, or a free meal anyway. Umobile is offering a free Revive Isotonic Original 500 ml drink with every RM 30 top up and one Mamee Express Cup Curry Flavour + Revive Isotonic Original 500 ml with a RM 50 top up!

umobile redeem free

I had an RM 50 top up that I just got and I drove to the local 7-Eleven during half time to grab a quick snack and drink. This is a fairly new promo so the night shift there wasn’t really sure about how to go about the redemption.

umobile 7eleven

Here’s how the redemption works:

  1. Get the items and bring it to the counter.
  2. Scan the items
  3. Pass your Umobile top up card over to the cashier
  4. They will scan it and it will offset the charges, making the items FREE

umobile 50

That’s all there is to it! 🙂

7eleven umobile

It’s a good thing my local 7-Eleven has complimentary hot water so you can cook the Mamee Express Cup on the premises and eat at the provided tables.

hot water

However, I was watching the Japan – Columbia match at home so I decided to quickly grab the instant noodles and isotonic drink and head on home.

7eleven tables

It’s soooo good to eat Mamee Express Cup instant noodles (which has a plastic fork included) and chase that down with a Revive isotonic drink in the middle of the night. All you need to do is to get a RM 30 or RM 50 Umobile top up and you can redeem the items at any 7-Eleven nationwide!

thebestfree

You can also top up your phone so you can chat about the matches with your friends – just keep the Umobile top up card so the barcode can be scanned to provide you with #TheBestFree snacks! It’s so convenient to redeem too, since there’s a 7-Eleven around every corner! This promo lasts till 31st August 2014 – surf over to the Umobile site for more information.

redeem mamee

I’m sitting here happily eating my Mamee Express Cup Curry Flavour noodles while watching Japan get trashed by Columbia, all thanks to the good people at Umobile. I can have a free snack *while* I get a top up which I need anyway.

mamee noodles

The only bad thing in this equation (for Japan fans anyway) is what the friendly neighborhood 7-Eleven guy put best: “Alamak, Colombia masuk satu goal lagi!

Whose side will you take?

socceroos

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

The 2014 FIFA World Cup is upon us again! 🙂

olabola football

It’s another month of going to mamaks and watching the games in large projection screens on Astro, sleepy people at the office and lots of fantasy football games and I have been looking forward to this one for four (4) years!

game on

Astro is also integrating a lot of social components into the 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup this year. They have a portal called Whose side will you take? which has several different things going on all at once. There’s a face-painting app, fantasy football based on the games, fixtures of upcoming matches and more all on the same site so there’s easy access to everything from contests to news!

facepainting

The first one is a drive to show your support for your favorite team by painting your face in their colors! Don’t worry, you don’t actually have to get your face dirty if you’re concerned about that (boo, not a real fan :p) – the wonders of modern technology allows your face to be *virtually* painted!

Just allow the Facebook app access to your profile and you’ll have a cool profile picture to use during the World Cup season!

olabola facepainting

It’s a really cool app too, the way the colors are painted virtually on your profile picture is amazing, it’s really realistic! Best of all, it’s aiming to be the largest face painting drive so you get to be part of history!

fantasy football

There’s also the Ola Bola Fantasy Football where you can pick your dream team and see how you perform during the World Cup season! It can be as complicated or as easy as you want so it satisfies both hard core fantasy football fans and casual gamers.

I found it to be a lot of fun! I want a lot of customization so I chose my own players (you can choose 4 max from each country) but if you just want to get into it, the fantasy football app can automatically choose everything from the players to the team for you!

lucky dip

I suggest using the auto-pick if you’re new to fantasy football.

The best thing about this is that there are prizes to be given away! The best team in the Fantasy Football Olabola Edition will get:

First Prize
RM 5,000 + PlayStation 4 + FIFA 14 game

Second Prize
RM 3,000 + PlayStation 4 + FIFA 14 game

Third Prize
RM 1,000 + PlayStation 4 + FIFA 14 game

prediction

There’s also an app called the Olabola Football Predictor where you can show off your prediction skills in real time during the World Cup! I know people who would love this! If you’re always saying how good you are and how would have predicted the match right down to who got the first goal and the exact score, it’s time to put your mouse where your mouth is and you could win a foosball table!

world cup

I’ll see you all inside Ola Bola! Pick a side for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and come and challenge my uber powerful team if you can! My team is called SixthSeal.

Korean Burger Revolution @ Bulgogi Brothers (and how to get 10% off)

bulgogi brothers

I was fortunate enough to be invited for a tasting session of four (4) new authentic Korean burgers before their launch. I was a bit dubious at first, since the burgers are made by Bulgogi Brothers, who are more renowned for their Korean BBQ than their burgers but I went with an open mind and said mind was blown away!

I’ve been to Korea twice before, the first trip was to Busan for the Pusan International Film Festival and the second to Seoul.

bulgogi brothers burger

Bulgogi Brothers are the first restaurant in Malaysia to successfully reproduce the taste of Korean dishes in a burger. You’ll know you’re not eating a regular burger from the use of authentic Korean flavors. I sampled all four of them and I’ll be back with my better half in tow to make use of my own discount code (more on that later) today!

bulgogi brothers promo

The new Korean burgers are all made with premium Korean beef bulgogi and they’re wonderfully creative:

Bibimbap Burger (RM 25.90)

Bibimbap Burger

Bibimbap is a dish that uses rice and other ingredients mixed together in a stone pot with a raw egg to make a quick and tasty meal. It’s probably one of the most popular dishes in Korea. Eating this burger is like eating bibimbap, without the rice.

It’s made up of a huge home-made beef bulgogi patty (90% meat and 10% beef fat for a delicious and moist burger) topped with sprouts, carrots, zucchinis and a sunny side up egg to get all the flavors of bibimbap into a burger. It doesn’t quite look like bibimbap but it tastes spot on!

I really liked how everything meshes together, and the sunny side up egg is perfectly done to emulate just how the egg would turn out in a bibimbap. The charcoal buns are specially crafted for Bulgogi Brothers and biting into this stack was one of the greatest pleasures I had that night, with the runny yolk coating each mouthful richly.

Kimchi Burger (RM 22.90)

Kimchi Burger

I’ve never quite liked kimchi. I can’t put my finger on it but it’s just not something I’ll eat regularly. I don’t usually even touch the complimentary kimchi when I eat Korean. However, I ate some of the kimchi at Bulgogi Brothers and I can honestly say that it was the best kimchi I ever had. The balance of the kimchi was perfect – the spiciness, the acidity and the umami finish.

The Kimchi Burger comes with the hand-made beef patty with mushrooms and lightly sautéed kimchi. It was moderately spicy and despite my aversion to kimchi, I found that I liked it quite a bit and this turned out to be my second favorite burger.

I particularly liked how well the kimchi goes together with the burger, making it a lot more than the sum of its parts. All their burgers are served with a side of crispy home-made sweet potato chips, which goes very well with the spicy kimchi burger as a sweet component.

Spicy Gwangyang Burger (RM 25.90)

Spicy Gwangyang Burger

This is a fiery burger for all fans of spicy food! The Spicy Gwangyang Burger is made of tender sliced beef brisket drenched in the Bulgogi Brothers sweet-and-spicy barbecue-like Osam sauce. It’s garnished with button mushrooms and onions, along with slivers of melted American cheese and comes off tasting like a Korean version of a Sloppy Joe.

I highly recommend this burger if you can take the heat. It’s painfully delicious and yet the osam sauce provides a sweet component so it’s not all spice. I like the selection of the brisket for the burger too, as it’s a very flavorful cut. If you’re only going to eat one burger, I’ll suggest this – you’ll definitely want more once you’ve taken a bite!

I could eat this every day for a month and be a happy man! 🙂

Unyang Burger (RM 28.90)

Unyang Burger

The burger for meat-lovers (get your mind out of the gutter), it’s a heavyweight offering with a thick home-made beef patty layered with American cheese, beef brisket in savory sauce and crispy shredded potato sandwiched in a toasted charcoal bun. The beef patties at Bulgogi Brothers are surprisingly juicy and I asked the head chef about it.

It turns out that they’re made with 90% meat and 10% beef fat mixed inside so when the latter melts, the juices are all retained in the patty. The Unyang burger is a very “clean tasting” beef burger that’s perfect for those who’re not into spicy food.

I like the flavor combinations and I ate a whole Unyang Burger and it stuffed me to the point of a near food coma…and I can eat a lot! The burgers are good value for money due to their sheer size, while not compromising on quality.

burger revolution

The Burger Revolution menu is a rather clever idea since you don’t always have the time or the inclination for bulgogi at lunch. It’s a quick burger that stays true to its Korean heritage and I loved the ambiance of Bulgogi Brothers with the K-Pop music playing in the background – you get the authentic experience the moment you step foot inside.

eating burger

You’ll get a 10% discount when you order from the new Burger Revolution menu when you mention my blog too! Just say “SixthSeal” from 16th June – 30th June at any of the Bulgogi Brothers restaurants in Malaysia and you’ll get 10% off your order and get an awesome meal to boot. Let me know which one is your favorite!

I’ll be going with my dear in tow and use my own discount code too. Haha!

Bulgogi Brothers
Paradigm Mall, Kelana Jaya
Pavilion KL
eCurve, Mutiara Damansara
Mid Valley Megamall

Facebook: Bulgogi Brothers Malaysia
Website: http://www.bulgogibros.com.my

Can you kick a football faster than 100 km/h?

fuleco kia

I tried!

whats your speed

I didn’t do so well. Haha! I was at the World Cup ROCKS with KIA roadshow @ Suria KLCC. The interesting bit is how I got there…

World Cup ROCKS with KIA

I first went to Menara Naza and checked out the all-new KIA Picanto. I’m too late for the free entry with a test drive promo (where you can win a trip to Brazil to watch the world cup) but I could still enjoy the roadshow, and of course, the drive there.

kia picanto

The first thing I did was to hook my smartphone up to the car. I was surprised that a car priced at this range has this feature, and it was easy to use too! I just needed to go to the dashboard and pair my smartphone…

car pair phone

…and vice versa.

smartphone kia

That’s all you need to do! I can now drive safer by using the Answer or Decline buttons on the steering wheel. There’s a toggle to browse through the call list though, which I thought was a nice feature – it’s better to have that as a toggle instead of a button since you can navigate faster and get tactile feedback.

steering toggle

There’s also volume control and music features on the steering wheel. I like the decision to make the volume control as a toggle instead of a button too! Mute as a button is fine since you only need to press that once. For things you need to press multiple times (volume and call list browsing comes to mind), having a toggle is much more comfortable.

suria klcc

I drove the KIA Picanto to Suria KLCC and back to Menara Naza after the event. I also took the chance to drive around town to get a feel for the car’s features. I like the compact size of the all-new KIA Picanto as I was navigating the carpark. It makes the turns and ramps all the easier to tackle with it’s small footprint and turning radius.

picanto me

I can see why cars like this size is so popular in the market nowadays. It’s very easy to park in cramped parking lots too and you can squeeze through traffic better. I didn’t feel dangerously close to other cars during peak hour city driving, unlike my current full-sized sedan.

driving picanto

It’s a very nice change to be able to cruise through tight spots and park in small spaces.

picanto parking

Anyway, back to the roadshow, they had all models of KIA vehicles out for display as well as World Cup merchandise.

KIA Fuleco

You can also pose with Fuleco the Armadillo!

speed kicker

Fuleco is the 2014 FIFA World Cup mascot, if you didn’t know already. It’s a species of armadillo which is native to Brazil.

optima

Interesting fact: The name is a concatenation of the worlds Futebol (football) and Ecologia (ecology).

fuleco me

There’s a life-sized Fuleco at the World Cup ROCKS with KIA roadshows going around so if you’re a football fan, go and take a picture with him! Strike a pose and share the photo via Instagram.

experience

There’s also Experience booths at the World Cup ROCKS with KIA roadshow where you can sit down and talk to the various sales representatives about the cars there. It’s aptly shaped like a football with chairs around, I thought that was cute!

kia world cup merchandise

There’s also various 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil official merchandise for sale! There’s shirts, mugs, keychains, and even the Fuleco plush toy!

registration

Or, you can try and win some merchandise by in the Speed Kicker game! 🙂

2014 world cup balls

I couldn’t kick fast enough but maybe YOU can so check out the World Cup ROCKS with KIA roadshow when it comes to a place near you! For more info, please log on to KIA Malaysia website at www.kia.com or go to their FB page at www.facebook.com/kiamalaysia.

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