Dinner at BBQ Plaza~

Going to begin by stating a fact: I would not be visiting any BBQ Plaza outlet any time soon.. Did you know that after eating you stink like mad if you were sitting at the direction where the smoke was blowing.. Eeew.. My hair, my clothes, heck even my pores oozed a smokey smell after I left the place >.<...

However, its hard to deny that it was fun while eating cos you get to cook your own food, and who besides Japanese men don't like to work a good barbecue?! :) That said, eating at BBQ plaza is not a very practical thing to do if: you're really very hungry (cos it takes time to heat up), you hate any sort of cooking whatsoever (then the heat and the smell will get to you) or if you dont like meat (you may break down and cry when you see the menu)~

Gleaming hotplate where you grease it with pieces of lard and grill your food, the moat at the side is for the vegetables, oh, and did I mention lard doesn't smell that good????

Things that you mix up to make the sauce, garlic, chilli and lemon and unidentified brown sauce

Gooey mess that saved the day, everything is practically tasteless without sauce, people who hate bland things, bring extra sauce if you go! Really, I felt that the food wasn't that great...

More vege than meat huh..

Red, red meat.. (wished they gave more bacon)

The things we cooked (and ate! :D) ordered the family set and an extra set cos we were kind of starving and it was just enough to fill up everyone's tummies.. Not that expensive but not that great tasting as well lah.. I think I would have hated the meal if I wasn't with the people I was with at that time, you know who you are people~ So, I repeat, I will not be going to BBQ Plaza again anytime soon!! :*

AEON Bukit Tinggi revisited~

Seems like a must go place when visiting Klang is AEON Bukit Tinggi, or Jusco in other words, eventhough there are many other shops.. Kind of makes you wonder where people went to when visiting Klang last time, since this AEON only appeared quite recently @.@~

So, definitely my visit to Klang this time would include a trip to the most popular mall around the area now, wouldn't it.. Actually the main purpose we went there was to watch the midnight show (Marley & Me) and we kind of turned up too early.. Hence the extras, like buying a screen protector for my jolly old camera, window shopping and erm.. of all sins, having SUPPER!

No prizes for guessing whether tis is sunup or sundown~

Beautiful dawn/ evening sky~

Ooo.. I can see it!!!

Everything else shown below happened here:

Weird but nice dessert, Milk (yea you read right, MILK) with red beans and barley..

Yummy, scrumptious, delicious, crunchy, tasty, buttery yam and pandan kaya toast..

Not nice-looking but very yummy ham and cheese crackers~

Leaving you with some before and after pics of him and me, catching each other secretly taking sneaky photos, hahahhaha...

PS: I wish there was a Toast More outlet in JB~~~~

Marley & Me- The movie

Watched this for the second time today.. First time at the cinema and today on the pc.. I am not ashamed to say that I cried both times during the scenes where the dog was dying.. For a book adaptation, Marley & me, in my opinion, is not a bad movie~ Personally, I never really enjoy book adaptations, well, besides Lord of the Rings of course..

I've had the book by John Grogan since a long time ago, and read and reread it countless times.. I remember I cried buckets too while reading the book *shy*... The movie follows the story quite consistently except that they turn John Grogan (played by Owen Wilson) into a guy scared of commitment, a best friend in the form of casanova colleague of John, Sebastian Tunney is introduced, and of course, lots of little details are omitted as well, like where Marley stars in a movie called 'the last home run' and Jenny's difficult second pregnancy for example.. I really recommend the novel, whether you're a dog lover or not..

Back to the movie, It does pack some laughs, and I really liked Jennifer Aniston in this movie, maybe cos her character's name is also Jenny so she's really believable in the role! I only found some scenes with long dialogues to be a little boring, but otherwise it was fine.. Maybe they were boring cos of Wilson's way of talking which makes it sound a little monotonous.. Anyway, you can be sure that I am telling the truth when I say it was quite an engaging movie when I tell you that I didn't fall asleep eventhough I was watching the midnight show and I was mighty sleepy by then.. I did fall asleep the next afternoon while watching Tales of Despereaux at the cinema.. So there!

A total of 22 different dogs played Marley the dog, and the differences are subtle and they are all adorable.. Whether chewing couches or humping stuffed toys or terrorizing dog-sitters, all the scenes still make Labradors amazingly cute, hehe.. I also like the way some parts are narrated by the actors and the scenes move by quickly, cos this way more details are shown to the audience.. All in all, I think this was a very successful adaptation~

I still think original Marley was cuter! :D Thats the original book cover by the way~

PS: Sorry for the late review, but this movie was only shown in Malaysia quite recently.. Whats more, the cinema version has some censored parts too, but they are very minor cuts..

Title: Marley & Me (2008)
Genre: Comedy, drama
Director: David Frankel
Main cast: Owen Wilson (John Grogan), Jennifer Aniston (Jenny Grogan), Eric Dane (Sebastian Tunney), Alan Arkin (John's editor)
Rating: 4 stars!
More info: Wikipedia


Oh and another thing, I've gone international!! Heehee...
So happy when I saw this~ Still need to improve on my teeny-weeny readership tho :(

Earth Hour is for Hypocrites!

Seen this logo lately??

Its going to be earth hour soon, and i'm going to be minding my own business, with the light on.. If you want to join in the event, its fine, but if you don't, that's fine with me too.. For the uninitiated, earth hour is happening today, 28th March 2009 at 8.30pm and everyone is invited to switch off their electrical appliances, including lights for one hour to support conservation of the earth.. Target is 1 billion people to join in this event..

In my humble opinion, this won't really help save the earth that much~

I mean, if you want to save the earth, why not make it a daily project instead of just doing it for one hour a year.. Imagine a rich businessman, who goes all out to promote earth hour, and making sure everyone is his company follows suit, and announcing how they will be conserving energy on this day.. He then goes home, in his carbon emitting luxury sedan, to his home with the multiple air-con units, dishwashers, etc and the next day, goes on with life as usual..

I was watching the news on a Singaporean channel yesterday, and they were talking about how some businesses contributed to earth day. There was this lady who said that they switched off the lights in their office in the morning on Friday and opened the blinds to use natural light. This was in conjunction with earth day, if that's the case, why not implement this every single day and not just for one day only, hmm? She also said that they found that it was bright enough wothout the lights @.@~ So why not do that everyday then?!

There was also an article in the New Straits Times today telling you things you could do to help save the earth and how you could help by doing them today.. The tips included turning on the air-con a few hours before bed to cool down the room before sleeping instead of turning it on the whole night, not putting the tv on standby mode but switching off when not in use and using low wattage lights in your home, all things which people in my family have been doing all along, so whats the use if you only do it for one day just because of earth hour?

If you really love this earth then don't do anything that would harm it, don't litter, use unleaded petrol, use more public transport (even though its unreliable, haha) instead of just switching off for one hour and chastising people who don't follow suit! Hah, hypocrites! :D

PS: I'm extremely happy, I got a new bag, a new jacket and loads of Face Shop products (at a discount!) yesterday!!! and I cleared up my whole wardrobe, it is now in a super neat and tidy state, yay!

Fantasies~

Contrary to the happy happy posts of my adventures this month, the end of March is going to be a hard time for me with a deep sense of foreboding.. What?! you ask.. Hmm.. its just that I'm going to be under a whole lot of examination stress on an all new level.. 4 subjects for my ICSA external exams.. sobs.. I foresee the coming months will have me moping around trying as hard as I can to cram things into my head..

Problem is, I feel so afraid, very afraid that I won't be able to finish everything in time.. Don't really have the mood to start seriously yet.. Hope the mood comes a visiting soon... :( Where got people prefer to do housework than to study wan you tell me??! Sigh.. Some rich guy come and sweep me off my feet so I won't have to work my whole life lah, no work=no need to study, hee~ Fat hope that!

I always used to joke that the end of the world, if it wanted to come, should better come before I wreck my brains studying for a major exam, if it came right after I had sat for a major exam then all the work I had put in would be wasted wouldn't it?! I remember I used to tell this thought of mine to everyone before my PMR, SPM, college finals, etc, hahhahaha.. In fact its still a fantasy of mine, that the end of the world will come so that I can stop all my work now.. People who love life don't curse me ya..

Sigh, fantasy and jokes aside.. I really really need an increase in concentration and brainpower now @.@... All the odds are against me, no tuition, self-study, I need all the discipline I have, hellllppp!!!

PS: New flavour of the week, Danny Fernandes-Fantasy.. Its not a new song but I love the rythm, can't fail to make me start swaying away, hehe... However I don't really know who he is, checked with wiki but info on him seems kind of limited, haha.. Hope to hear other songs from him next time..

PPS: Still more posts of my trips to come.. stay tuned! You didn't think that was it did you?? :)

Disappointment at Shanghai10

Planned to treat my mum to something I'd been researching about for her birthday a few weeks ago.. Cue: here and here (Read and Salivate people!!!!)~ but the stupid place, Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant in first World Plaza only opens its doors at 11am, and I was due to have an interview at 12.30pm, so too bad, had to postpone a meal that I had been anticipating till next time.. :(

After finding out about the operating hours of said restaurant, I was so so disappointed, one cos I hadn't given mum a birthday present yet and two, I really really wanted to try out the dimsum at Ah Yat since the reviews were oh so good.. As a replacement treat, we went to Shanghai10 (First World Hotel, Genting) the night before since everyone was craving for a dessert after dinner and wandering around, everyone except dad that is, who prefers to sit on the bed watching television more than walking around shopping..

First impression of the place was very good, as the decor and the ambience was quite nice.. The menu was even nicer, we had a hard time deciding what to order as everything looked so inviting, haha.. In the end we still ordered quite a lot of things eventhough it was supposed to be supper..

Designs on the wall.. Many more scenes but impossible to capture everyone of them lah..

Then the first dish came and the next, and we were horribly disappointed, cos besides not looking like the pictures in the menu, the food didn't taste all that great as well, this coming from someone who thinks almost anything tastes nice, so when I say something doesn't taste nice, then you know there's some kind of problem~

Too sickly sweet peanut dessert, I think if someone finished the whole bowl, they would have failed their glucose test immediately! My mum made it worse by adding water to try and dilute it, in the end it turned out even more disgusting and we left almost 3/4 of it.. I don't remember anyone eating the little bun as well, I guess we were all too distracted trying to make it taste less sweet..

These were also a little too sweet for me, and I actually have a strong acceptance of sweet stuff! mango and honeydew 西米露.. The ice also kept getting in the way as I was eating, cos there was so much ice in there, guess the waiters also knew it was very sweet.. The fruit in there was quite adequate tho..

Pan fried paus, a bit too dry for my liking and took a long time to be served.. O.o.. I had to finish them cos nobody else really liked the taste.. Sigh, and I had so high expectations for this..

We also had omega eggtarts that looked oh so scrumptious in the menu, but turned out so so so so tiny and with hardly any filling.. Only the crust was there and it wasn't a very nice pastry either.. Anyway they looked so pathetic that I didn't even bother to photograph them, just remember never to order them while you are there, or if you ever do go there..

The only saving grace! Durian pancakes! Half of it was durian cream and the other half was real durian flesh.. Poor bro, you really missed out on something very good! Who asked you to hate durians.. Well, less men more share, heh! Luckily we had this otherwise I would have felt very very very unsatisfied after the meal..

To be kind, maybe there are other things worth having at Shanghai10 and please tell if you do know what they are.. For me, I don't think I'll be going anytime soon, ok, maybe just to have the durian pancake and othing else if I can help it... and to think the final bill wasn't that minuscule as well, hmph! Should have gone to Baskin Robbins for dessert instead come to think of it~

Disney's Race to Witch Mountain..

Movie I watched while in KL.. I'd watched the trailer earlier and it look quite promising, so I was quite anticipating the movie.. Turned out alright for me, cos in the end you'll still get a feeling that its just a Disney movie, and Disney=Kiddy~ Well, kind of..

The story is mainly about 2 alien kids with special powers who crash land on earth in their spacecraft. Said spacecraft is taken away and kept by the government and the aliens become hunted fugitives.The main reason they came to earth in the first place was to collect the results of an experiment to prove that people on their planet do not have to attack and invade earth in order to survive, as pollution on their planet has caused it to be uninhabitable.. The Rock (oh, he prefers to be called Dwayne Johnson now..) is a kind crook turned cab driver, who does his best to help the aliens find their spaceship and go back home..

The movie is watchable, especially the beginning part, where there are clips about alien conspiracies known to us, like crop circles, Roswell and UFOs.. It also makes us wonder whether the US government really does keep secrets from its citizens.. Its quite exciting throughout, with some 'hold on to your breath' moments.. except that there are some illogical parts like the alien attacker 'Siphon', who seems so invincible in the beginning but in the end goes missing.. and Witch Mountain that supposedly doesn't exist and is like a fortress, but can be broken into so easily by a cab driver and a blur scientist, hah...

If you ignore the fact that its a movie with an illogical plot and that its ending is a little predictable, and throw in the fact that the kid who acts as the alien boy is eye candy or if you like muscles, there is a former WWE pro-wrestler, than you'll find this movie quite appealing.. :) parents with children would enjoy this cos eventho its predictable with a family-friendly ending, its still exciting and a little more grown up compared to some movies like spykids or the adventures of shark boy and lava girl for example... :D

Title: Race to Witch Mountain (2009)
Genre: Adventure, comedy, sci-fi..
Director: Andy Fickman
Main cast: Dwayne Johnson (Jack Bruno), AnnaSophia Robb (Sara-alien girl), Alexander Ludwig (Seth-alien boy), Carla Gugino (UFO-crazy scientist), Ciaran Hinds (Government agent Harold Burke)
Rating: 3 stars, quite watchable for a kiddy movie
More info: Wikipedia

March in a nutshell..

Very summarized version of my version of March 2009~ :)

7/3 Sat
Took the bus to KL. Stopped at Sungai Besi Toll Plaza. Had lunch at hawker stall in Petaling Jaya famous for Penang style food.. Went to aunts' place, chatted, had dinner, played cards, watched badminton game on tv, went to bed...










8/3 Sun
Woke up early, had breakfast. Trip to Bukit Tinggi, walked around and explored. Had lunch, went back to rest. Took a walk, read newspapers, had dinner. Watched badminton final on tv, went to bed.










9/3 Mon
Had brunch, took off to Genting Highlands. Checked into hotel. Walked around, shopping, entered casino for FIRST time. Had bak kut teh for dinner, overpriced. Walked some more. Wanted to watch a movie but nothing nice, had supper at Shanghai 10, went back to room. Chatted, played cards, had a nice bath, bed.










10/3 Tues
Woke up nervous. Checked out. Had noodles for brunch, sent to KL to meet up with friend. Interview with university reps at 12.30pm. No. 135, turned out could go in two-by-two, had fun chatting with interviewer, British not as punctual as i thought. Went back with Ms A, read magazines, had a nap, met classmate for dinner. Dinner turned into 4-hour chat-athon. Kidnapped friend back to stay with us, chatted till late at night.

11/3 Wed
Got ready to go to college. Travel agent briefing at 10am. Listened to 2 presentations on air tickets to UK with student price. Had lunch at Pizza Hut with Jason and Jayson. Spent 4 hours talking about nonsensical things. Rushed home to change for steamboat dinner with ex-classmates. Went to Cheras. Had herbal soup and Tomyam steamboat. Went back 11pm. Chatted till sleepy.

12/3 Thurs
Woke up and lazed around. Visa briefing at 2pm. Listened to boring presentation about application of visa. Decided it was unnecessary. Went to Low Yat Plaza for karaoke session. Spent RM15+ for six and a half hours of non-stop singing. Satisfied. Dinner at 铜锣湾. Saw cockroaches. Eeew. Went home. Fell asleep in middle of chat session.













13/3 Fri
Accompanied Ms A to send friend home. Went to college to wait for bf. Meeting friends for lunch. Went to college open day. Asked about latest course fees. Had lunch. Went to bank. Bought bankdrafts. Headed to Midvalley. Walked around. Watched race to Witch Mountain. Went home for dinner. Bath and bed.

14/3 Sat
Woke up late. Had lunch. Watched downloaded drama. Had a nap. Surfed internet. After dinner, went to AEON Bukit Tinggi to buy movie tickets. Shopped. Had supper at Toast More. Scrumptious. Watched Marley and Me (midnight show). Quite nice. Went back 2am+. Exhausted.










15/3 Sun
Planned to meet with Yee and Michelle. Bf didn't have the car. Had lunch. Rushed to Bukit Bintang. Very very late. Rushed to buy movie tickets. Tales of Desperaux. Third movie in 3 days. Fell asleep watching. Very draggy movie. Went to Sungai Wang after movie at Pavillion. Walked around. Planned to have dinner at "wai sik gai' in Pudu. Rained. Plans cancelled. Had dinner at BBQ Plaza in Times Square. Feet dying, 3rd shopping mall in a row. After dinner window-shopped a bit. Went home. Washed hair cos of strong bbq smell. Bed.

16/3 Mon
Caught by surprise, planned trip to Sunway Pyramid cancelled. Caught by bf's mum to go to Banting. His grandma's place. had home-made popiah for brunch. Travelled to Banting. met his grandparents, 2 aunts and 2 cousins. Went to Pantai Morib. Saw all sorts of interesting things. Dinner. Visited new apartment. Went home to bed. Before that had popiah again for supper. Delicious.










17/3 Tues
off to college early. Had breakfast at mamak. Roti Pisang and teh tarik. Ticket purchasing at college clubhouse function room. Waited for friends to arrive. Paid deposit. Had lunch with friends at KFC. Wangsa Maju Jusco. After long lunch, went to Pudu to buy bus ticket home. 3pm bus. Had ais kacang before boarding. Home in time for dinner.

18/3 Wed
Missed alarm. First time ever. Mum's friend coming over. Rushed downstairs to explain about college application. Received a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates in return. Spent the day lazing around at home. Rushed to update some stories. Watched downloaded drama. Episode 10 of 败犬女王.

19/3 Thurs
Normal day until afternoon. had to pack up again. Night bus to Penang. 10pm bus. Made way to Larkin bus terminal at 9pm. Luckily bus arrived early. Boarded bus at 9.45pm.

20/3 Fri
Arrived Penang 6.30am. Bleary. Picked up by uncle. Back home to wash up and take bath. Had dim sum at maxim's. Lovely eggtarts and fried carrot cake. Went to cousin Ai Leng's house. Played with her 2 daughters who stuck to me for the rest of the trip. Kueh tiao theng for lunch. Dry version. Went to visit uncle who just had operation. Accompanied aunt to doctor. Chatted until dinner time. Met up with other cousin, Wei Wei and family. Had buffet dinner at Cititel. Ate until stuffed. Went home.

21/3 Sat
Had breakfast at home. Lunchtime at Hong kong style restaurant opposite Bukit Jambul. Went to Queensbay Mall. Shopped a bit. Got lots of Rotiboy buns for teatime. Went home, rested awhile. Dinner at Teochew Meng restaurant. Got to eat lovely 'yam pudding' （芋泥）for dessert. Went home. Had fun playing gin rummy. I was the big winner. Bed.












22/3 Sun
Uncle and family off to church. Met up with all my aunts in mum's side instead. Went to maxim's again for dim sum brunch. Place packed. Played the role of waitress. Again to Queensbay Mall for all 4 sisters to have a chance to get together. Had Mango and Passion fruit Frappuchino at Starbucks. Chatted. Went off with cousin so that aunts could chat in peace. Window-shopped. Nice place for window shopping. Went into all shops i.e GAP, Guess, Forever 21, Esprit, Mango, etc etc.. After Queensbay Mall, off to youngest uncle's house for another chit-chat session. Played with his Shih Tzu. Forced him to take us to dinner. Went to Tsunami Village Restaurant for seafood meal. Home again.










23/3 Mon
Sent cousin's daughter to nursery school. Went to Penang town area for very very nice Kueh tiao theng, this time had soup version, with 芽菜鸡. Walked around market. Bought loads of things. Stocked up on biscuits, customary tau sar piah, coconut tarts, lo por biscuits, etc etc. Went to 4th aunt's place for lunch. Home-cooked lunch, this time acted as official dishwasher. Chit-chatted till tea time. Headed back home, bought bus tickets for 11.00pm. lazed around until dinner time. Had food unavailable in JB for dinner. 蚝煎， 肉羹， 卤面， 油条杏仁露, etc etc. Very full. In Penanag always eating. How not to get fat? Back home to pack before catching bus at Sungai Nibong terminal.

24/3 Tues
Finally back home after half a month of being away. Looking forward to my bed tonight!

Up in the clouds~

Right after Bukit Tinggi, off we went to another hilltop resort, this time to the very famous Genting Highlands.. We had free rooms thus the trip cos - it's no good to waste, isn't it?? hehe.. I was very excited when I knew about the trip cos it'll be the first time I get to go into the casino legally... :)

Anyway, its not as fun as its made out to be.. Everything is so digitalised now, there's no fun left, even the roulette is played digitally on a screen.. The only games I played were roulette and the jackpot machines.. Honestly, I don't understand how people can get addicted?! Its fun for awhile but then the smelly surroundings (lots and lots of cigarette smoke!) and the fact that you are throwing money away (or donating to the Lim family as most would say) gets to you.. I was dying to get out of the place after awhile..

Took a sneaky picture of a jackpot machine.. no cameras or recording equipment allowed inside.. Tats my brother's hand and knee by the way.. Poor guy looks so old until nobody bothered to check his IC eventho he's only 18, hahahhha... Last time any of us go into tat place I think, can't see where's the fun part.. I would prefer to go to the themepark anytime.. :D Just once for the experience is enough~

~Casino toilet shot @.@~

Didn't do much up in the clouds, besides the casino experience, we just walked around the shops and had a few meals there that's all.. Since I had an interview with representatives from uni the next day, didn't really have the mood to do much anyway..

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