Welcome To The Family.

so all my four brothers are happily married

I'm so exhausted, I can't wait to sleep more on the plane tomorrow on the flight to Hong Kong! 5 days for me to chill out before I come back just in time to attend Emma's akad nikah and both the receptions.

While there, I am gonna eat yummylicous food, do some major shopping and hopefully finish up the last hundred or so pages of Breaking Dawn to complete the whole Twilight saga. Sounds like a wonderful plan.

Last!

I was eager to finish but at the same time, I didn't want to finish. The 3rd and best book so far and by the end of it, I was dying to start on the last book. But I don't want to start. I am in denial. I want to know how it works out but I don't want the fairytale to end! I had a hint on how it will end though because I accidentally read the spoiler on wikipedia. Trust wiki to be discreet! I was actually quite frustrated when I found out because it kinda spoil the whole 'anticipating the ending' thing for me.

There were numerous twists around so it was actually quite emotionally draining to read and to catch up especially when I was reading it so deep into the characters. Sometimes I just feel like screaming and tell the characters to "oh please, make a decision already!" I was that absorbed into the books. Only 754 pages left of the saga. Since I am in denial, I shall take my time to savour Breaking Dawn. Edward Cullen. Yummy.

A Birthday Treat...

almost a complete family photo

...that comes with a RM2000+ price tag. Heads were already rolling the moment we got our hands on the menu. Premium wagyu beef was on the menu and naturally, we got them for our beloved parents. And of course, I wasn't an idiot. I got myself that too since we the siblings are footing the bill equally. Hohoho. Too bad for those who ordered the normal beef. So where the hell did we splurge? Le Meridien Hotel's Prime.

A friend dropped by at the cafe today. It's been a long time but sadly, I was closing up to rush to the hotel so we were unable to hang out for long. Nevertheless, it was nice. By the way, if you're reading this, I hope you stayed awake for the Twilight movie. Don't say I didn't warn you. And if you actually find yourself interested to read the saga, you know where to get them. As you know, its sold out in all major bookstore in Klang Valley so since I am a fraction of the fortunate ones who have the complete set, I'll charge reasonably for book rental ;p

I Can't Sleep.

Although not quite late yet but considering that I start work at 7.30am tomorrow, I should be in bed already with my quilt comfortably tucked over my neck. I know its a bad call for buying that regular iced latte at 10.30pm. I used to be able to sleep soundly even after coffee but that doesn't happen anymore. Explains why I am still awake.

Since I am still conscious, I shall write about the 2 books I've read within 1 and a half weeks, 1061 pages in total - or half of the 4 books Twilight saga. Another 2 books remaining means there are 1383 pages more waiting for me. The first saga I've ever read and each book is damn freaking thick, and not the mention, heavy to lug around.

They are classified as young adult books, have corny and cheesy lines but I find myself (gasp!) enjoying it very very much. The movie is not quite close to the actual book but the actors in the movies made reading easier, more imaginative and fascinating. At some point in book 2, I actually find myself choking back tears as I imagine the actors actually doing those heart-wrenching scenes.

Each book tells the story from the protagonist, Isabella 'Bella' Swan's point of view. Book 1, Twilight is the introductory book of the saga. If you're lazy, try to stay throughout the movie and you'll get the gist. Book 2, New Moon is a little boring for my liking because Edward Cullen appears for like, what? 9 chapters out of 25? This book is mainly about Bella's BFF relationship with Jacob Black and his secret. Forks, Washington. It's a weird town.

If you are still lazy, wait for New Moon, the movie sequel to Twilight as it has apparently been confirmed and tentative release date is November 2009.

Ok. Good enough. Long post and now I am sleepy :D

:D

Yohei oba-san, thanks for the card! I know you chose it because you know the sushi will tempt me! It's really really cute. I hope you didn't send one to Yi Fan because I wanna show off the card when she gets back. Hahahaha

Yours is already on the way ;)

Answers.

I've finally consulted my orthopedic doctor regarding my bunion problem. It is surprisingly a common problem and mostly genetic. The long standing hours had asserted extra pressure to my toe and it hurts. Naturally, I had to rely alot on my knee to reduce the pressure. And now my knee hurts too. Sigh.

Remedy? Besides anti-inflamation capsules, I was given a pair of silicone gel toe spreaders. It will help realign the bone and hopefully reduces the pain. Basically, I have mini door knob between my toes.

Twilight Bandwagon.

I know I am not the only one who jumped on the bandwagon.

The movie could be better though. It is a very simplified version of the book. Good that I've read 90% of the book already, otherwise I would be so frustrated throughout the movie 'cos the scenes are jumping around too fast for non pre-readers to comprehend.

As usual, applause for our Censorship board for censoring the, yes, kiss scene that mattered because the next thing we know, Edward Cullen (the vampire) was flung to the wall. ??!! Ok, I read the book. I know what happened. But how about those who didn't?

And you wonder why we support piracy...

Recognition.

She came back :D and requested for my business card so The Star newspaper could come in and do a review. That's really nice of her ;) Now I feel ashamed for not knowing who she was the moment she walk through our door.

We're also in Virtual Malaysia writer's blog! Check it out at http://smalltimetraveller.wordpress.com/. Didn't wanna do a hyperlink because I don't want her to trace her way back here, so do me a favour, copy and paste it on your browser :)

13D's successor

For no particular reason, I searched for WSA on Facebook. Found a group for it and was browsing the photos on the album when I found this:

This is 13D in year 2007, the year after we left

God. I miss that place so freaking much, you have no idea. I miss everything about 13D (and sometimes 13E - just to make you happy, Yi Fan!) and everything I've gone through with my housemates. If any of you are reading this, I hope you remember the times when we:

1) went Lim Cchour / Silverbell / Foodtown / PaknSave and brought back a crazy load of groceries
2) had semester 1 party, birthday party, gathering party, drinking party, semester 2 party, farewell party..........
3) made dinner preparations for the family every weeknights
4) went for late night milk tea at Hulu Cat
5) cleaned the house and the toilet for the RA inspection and when someone loses a bet
6) got stuck in the apartment because of the crazy storm that knocked out Auckland Central
7) gossiped (ehem) and found out secrets
8) had our Mt. Ruapehu road trip
9) went to Taupo bungy and you guys laughed your heads off over my crazy screaming (AAAHH! I need to destroy the DVD!)
10) watched porn movie in the living room

Did I forget anything?

Ouch.

A trail of water on the bar floor left by melted ice caused me to make a massive split. Unable to control my balance, I went down on slow motion, thankfully with boss and Anthony oblivious to it. And the cctv unable to record it. Phew.

Bruised my left knee and strained my muscle. Both my legs are aching now, as if I just went for a long delayed workout.

I need an extended holiday and its coming in the form of Christmas and my brother's wedding!

Drop Dead Exhausted.

Weekends are crazy in both DL outlets. Its like, the customers know just when to bully us - always when we are short handed. At least Solaris outlet is doing well on weekends so no complains..

In Aman Suria, we used to have some local celebrity, hosts, writers etc. coming in to chill out and such. The most famous among all has gotta be Daniel Lee of Malaysion Idol fame. He was there twice.

Today in Solaris, Xandrio Ooi came. Who? She came in looking all cool but was in fact pretty friendly and chatty. I didn't know who she was until she introduced herself after asking for my name. Claimed that she'll come again. We'll see....

I'm Done.

Surrendered my student ID to college today. With that, I have thus completed my course withdrawal process. Yes, I have withdrawn from my culinary course permanently because (1) I am too busy to attend classes and (2) I am not quite happy with the college.

Ok. I admit. I can live with working and studying at the same time. I just can't take how the college manages its stuffs. Rather than complaining too much, I decided to just quit. And I know I could find better if I really wanted too.

So there. End of the student life for me. And I have yet to use my student privileges. Darn.

Ms. Ngui Yi Fan,

EAT YOUR HEART OUT!!!!!!

Procrastination.

Wow. The overused word when I was in uni. It's always procrastination when it comes to assignments, studies, exams and anything uni related. 2 years later, I can't believe this word is popping up again.

I should start prepping for my upcoming exams. My worst fear came true, Larder Production may be wee big tougher that I've expected it to be. Without a recipe to guide us, we'll all just have to rely on our own brain, in my case, my 'grass' brain. Did a sample for Pastry 1, which turned out not too bad. Edible and presentable. Pass-able I guess.

But does the exam result really matter now?

Nervous.

The practical exams for the culinary skills course I've been taking for the last 3 months is happening next week. Exam is nothing new but I'm getting a little nervous because I've never done any exams like the ones I'll be sitting standing for. Just 2 papers this semester - Pastry 1 and Larder Production. I've already got my topic for Pastry so I'm cool. Just need to do a little practice, bake abit and present it like a master chef's work and I'm good. I'm worried about Larder Production because its a 1 hour exam, with 1 apparently strict chef as judge. And I haven't got any clue what topic I'll be getting.

I've never fail any final exam papers in my life so please don't let me fail at what I do best.

Anyone wanna try my sample product?

Change!

Everyone is talking about the same topic - Barack Obama is officially America's first black president. It was a very long election campaign and I didn't bother to follow until the very last couple of weeks. And just within the weeks, I've concluded that if I was an American, I would vote for him. For change.

With him being elected it proves that regardless of race, as long as the person is capable he/she can lead a nation.

In with Obama, out with Bush! Wooohooo!

Eye Candy.

Ok. I so need a new laptop. It is so frustrating because my current Mac (an ancient version 10.3.9!) is running at an extreme crawl. Opening an extra window will just burden its operation and slow everything down. The colourful wheel of death appears so frequently, I've already consider it a permanent fixture.


I wanted to get the Macbook Pro so badly, I saved a big chunk of my pay for almost 1 year. That was before the new version came out. Just this month, Apple released new versions for Macbook and Macbook Pro. The price tag increased by a couple of hundreds and the design for both the new machines are more similar. Let's not discuss/compare the specs.

Anyway, I've prepared Rm7000 for Macbook Pro. Now I might just get the Macbook. Excess of RM2000 in the pocket for me to splurge on other things such as beautification accessories.

Oh wait. My click-wheel iPod is gradually dying on me. Maybe I can get iPod Touch with the excess moolah. Hmmmmmm.... decisions decisions.

How much?!

Cannot be a little bit more expensive, ah?

At RM90, this has gotta be one of the most expensive imported CD I've ever purchased. Oh what the heck. It's Miriam Yeung's latest. You'll never ever catch me downloading or buying pirated version of her albums. All 24 albums I owned are original - just a little support for her music ;)

So, will this finally dethrone Younha' Someday from my car's CD player? I'll let you know...

Real Talent.

Younha's Someday is still spinning in my car's CD player. Its been there for 2 months (since it was released) and I guess it'll still be in there for a little while more. Upbeat songs to keep me awake for that morning drive to work and soothing tunes for the chilled out drive back home.

At only 21 years old, she's gotta be one of Korea's most talented export. Watch any of her Korean live performances on youtube and you'll know what I mean. I am a sucker for Younha giving it all in her performance. And she always do. With that being said, this is one worth mentioning;

The Lucky One.

Stumbled upon Nicholas Sparks latest novel, The Lucky One, at the bookstore last week. As usual, it was expensive (close to RM70!) but it was a very good book. Totally worth it, I reckon.

When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck—winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph—his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina—Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son—to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet.

Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Hopefully Soon?

Mont Kiara has a fairly international community. I don't know how many New Zealanders live/hang out around here but I've got a Maori customer today! There might be some Pakeha around here but Maori? He's the only one so far, albeit a tourist. He's from Kapiti Coast and he stirred up my urge to fly to New Zealand.

Sigh.

I miss that blardy place.

And why is my internet so slow suddenly?

:p

Form an orderly queue and I'll make sure each and everyone of you gets an autograph. Hohohoh!

Thanks to Su Yi for getting us into the November 2008 edition of Seventeen Magazine! Please buy an issue and contribute to her year end bonus!

We're Open!

Facebook decided to go all slow when I have tons of photos to upload.

yes, we are open

It was Departure Lounge Solaris Mont Kiara's official opening today. Tiring day but I had heaps of fun entertaining everyone who came to celebrate with us. We had a few random customers and some actually came from Aman Suria after reading the notice I stuck on the roller shutter!

Thanks for coming, you wonderful people! Do drop by once in a while ;)

Grrrrr!

You know you are not having the best of days when everyone pisses you off. Intentionally.

Bring me the OSIMs!

Today is a day for me to catch my breath. Departure Lounge Solaris Mont Kiara is finally open for business on Friday. The past few days prior to that, I was cleaning up the place with my brother and his wife till 1am-ish. By the time I got home and showered, it was close to 2am. Then I had to head out for work at DL Aman Suria at 7.30am. After getting off work, I went straight to Solaris to clean up again. As we are short of staffs, I had to work for 12 hours in Solaris for at least 5 days a week. Then I will split my shifts between 2 outlets for the remaining 2 days.

We organized DL Solaris' very first private function yesterday for Victoria University MBA Club. Me and my brother prepared a buffet spread of 2 kinds of pastas, grilled chicken sandwiches, skewered cocktail sausages and caesar's salad for 50paxs in a mere 6 hours. Mind you, only 2 of us were doing everything from mise en place to cooking it. Then I had to supervise the event, run around like mad dog refilling the food and coordinate the kitchen. Thank God we managed to get 2 staffs from Aman Suria to help us out. To cut long story short, I worked for 20 hours yesterday. Equally tired, my boss declared DL Solaris closed for today so we can both take a rest and prepare/purchase items we've forgotten about.

My mom said we are actually pretty good at organizing buffet spread. We both joked that secretly we majored in culinary when we were in university instead of engineering (my brother) and marketing. Hmmm, I knew all the cooking sessions back in 13D helps!

Nippon!

I noticed my recent visitor is from Japan. Yohei, sorry to keep you waiting. Here's the post you've been waiting for.

In less than 1 year, I went to Japan twice. The latter trip was fun but it will never ever beat the memorable and the crazy times of the former trip. Some of you may have already viewed the photos on my facebook and you may notice that there are always none or little description on the photos. Descriptions are specially reserved for the blog, so here you go.

This trip is a 7D5N tour package by Apple Vacations, covering Japan Alps, Gassho Village and Tokyo Shopping. This is an advanced tour, said our tour guide Laurent because it covers locations most Malaysian travel agencies doesn't. To review the tour, I would say it was flexible in terms of schedule and itinerary. Laurent is really good at what he does. He can speak for a few hours straight and along the way made it so humourous and interesting. I would say he is the best tour guide I ever encountered.

Some photos from the trip:

tze wan, wish you were here at this kukuciao (penis) shrine!

wasabi ice cream. spicy but surprisingly good

charmaine: this is mine. get your own.

mystical scenery at kurobe dam

so what exactly do you do on the pleasure boat?

shirakawa gassho village

tourists at san machi-suji, takayama

the bunny (takayama usagiya) shop from tvb's the seventh day

the bridge a few people told me to lookout for

the reason why I was told to lookout for the bridge

addicted to cafe au lait

she didn't drink it. i swear!

my all time favourite, curry katsudon

met up with shingo

and yohei obasan osada

japanese queuing for krispy kreme donuts

but i still prefer mr. donut. thanks for buying them for me, yohei!

on board singapore airline's A380 aircraft. spacious and all but the food still suck

There are more photos but these are some I find it interesting to be posted here. Back from the trip, I'm fully recharged and all prepared to sell my soul to departure lounge Aman Suria and Solaris Mont' Kiara. Till the next trip (don't know where yet), tataaaa.

Off We Go!

Flying off to Japan tonight via Singapore on SIA's new A380 plane. Heard so much about the jumbo jet, it's about time I finally experience it.

Generously, big bro paid for our 7 day, 5 night tour package. We're touring Takayama, the location TVB used for filming The Seventh Day!! Mei Yin, I'll let you know if the place is really that beautiful :D

Of course, what is visiting Japan without meeting up with my drunkard buddy, Yohei obasan Osada? Yi Fan, we will try to have lots of fun while you rot in windyland, Wellington!

Jun and Nik, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri! Don't eat too much :)

Sneak Preview.

Some of you may already know that Departure Lounge is opening a new branch in Solaris Mont' Kiara. Want to know how it'll look like? Sneak peek for you curious cats:

main entrance

lounge area

bookshelves and mock fireplace

bar counter

the la marzocco machine

condiments counter and entrance to washroom

kitchen

You still can't imagine how the place will be like, am I right? 'fret not for I have prepared something extra for you cats;

entrance and lounge area

fireplace and dining area

dining area, condiments counter and entrance to washroom

bar counter and lounge area

So what do you think? Very very different from the current outlet, eh?

Sigh.

And you think some people will learn from their mistakes. As if challenging one lecturer wasn't enough, the kid I mentioned in the post earlier succesfully challenged another lecturer from another class. For his heroic actions, we were all prematurely dismissed from the class. Oh you should see our anger.

Good things comes in a pair. If you have a smart ass, you should also have a big boss in the class. Being an ex-educator and at early 30s, you'll expect the person to be more mature and rational. Maybe that person didn't quit the job. We suspect that that person got fired instead. My God, can you believe someone actually still uses that "I am older than you, so please respect me" to win an argument?

So yeah, no prize for guessing who are the most hated people in the class. What a pair. Maybe they should hook up. No, wait. They had a major argument last week because big boss was bossing smart ass around.

Good to hear that smart ass is changing to another group. May luck be with the unfortunates.

Foolish.

In all my years as a student, I've never walk off from the class/lecturer while class is commencing just because "I am feeling damn tired / The class is freaking boring". Not especially when it is a practical class with only 12 students where the lecturer clearly remembers you and looks into your eyes when he teaches.

I don't know if thats how high school grads nowadays act but frankly, I have a problem with some of their attitudes. When I was in school (be it high school, college or uni) no matter how much I dislike the lecturer, I will still respect him/her for the status and stay in the class for as long as the lecturer teaches. I think it is really foolish and stupid for challenging the lecturer over your attitude (or lack thereof), for acting like a cocky smart ass and walking off just because, and comes back thick faced and pretend nothing happened. Kid, you just need to walk off once and your results are as good as fail.

Going back to class after graduating for sometime really open your eyes. Youngsters, they don't respect their teachers anymore. Being fresh high school grads, they obviously have no idea how the tertiary education system works. If they think the system works like secondary schools, where you just have to attend exams to pass, God, they are so naive. That kid would probably wake up from his la-la land when he fail his first college exam. Oh, I will so update you guys after the exam.

Side note: Yi Fan, I learned how to make the proper hollandaise sauce today *hint. I miss CIMA!

*cough

superb piano solo

Anyway, I am finally feeling much much better. I am still coughing quite a bit though but at least the sore throat is gone. My throat was so sore the last few days that I couldn't even swallow my saliva without wincing. So yeah, I had porridge for few days till my tongue turned numb.

I am so craving for kebab Melawati from the Ramadhan bazaar. I would've gotten it a long time ago if it wasn't for the stupid throat.

'Tis The Season To Be Sick.

I'm having a really bad sore throat and cough now. I hate hate hate sore throat. Give me a fever anytime. I can take that but I hate sore throat! (It doesn't give you an excuse for a MC..... damn!)

My parents came back from Indonesia today and brought home 2 cartons of WSA 13D/E (2006)'s favourite food:

the legendary mi goreng

I am so craving for mi goreng with japanese mayo (yifan, why did u introduce this recipe to me?!) but I'll have to wait till this sore throat heals. See, I told you I hate sore throat.

New Name.

Next time if you ask me where I live, I'll say Tropicana Indah. Don't ask if I've moved there from Damansara Indah because they are the same.

Out of the blue, the developer decided to change the name of our area from Damansara Indah to Tropicana Indah. It seems pretty straight forward to them. Change the name, discard any association to Damansara, give it a logo, inform the relevant parties (eg. Pos Malaysia) and voila. Its more difficult for us residents. Imagine the hassle of changing our mailing address again, and worst, updating our identity cards again!

Anyway, I actually quite like the logo's design! Gave this area some kinda identity.

Wow!

After 8 months of MIA, Younha is finally back to Korea from Japan with her latest masterpiece and a new image. A very good album, I reckon. Ok, so I don't understand the lyrics but the tunes are catchy. Plus there's a nice English song in the album :)

My Babies.

Tools of trade I received from SHTCA. Just like what I hoped for, we got 5 J.A Henckels knifes. Yaaaayy! So yeah, some people get excited over clothes, cars and other luxuries but I get excited over kitchen tools.

Oh, and some people put stick or baseball bat in the car to prevent road bullies, car-jackers, robber etc. but I think I'll leave my kit in the car for that purpose. If the knife doesn't hurt them, maybe the wooden spoon could... whack whack