Follow Me, Follow Me, Down Down Down

Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it:

Tonight, at 8pm: Turn off the lights.

Yeah, turn off the lights, even if it's just for one hour.

Because on March 29, 8pm is Earth Hour. An hour dedicated to reminding the world of how every little thing we do affects the environment. Even switching off lightbulbs can make a difference.



So follow me down to the site, sign up, spread the word, and don't forget - turn off the lights tonight.

We can all make a difference.

I looked above the other day
Cuz I think I'm good and ready for a change
I live my life by the moon
If it's half lay low, if it's harvest go slow, and if it's full, then go
Nelly Furtado : Turn Off The Light

You Had Me At Hello

Don't even tell me about the way you watch me pass outside your door or how you've dreamt you've kissed my lips like... a thousand times! Really, never mind all that - you had me at that very first "hello".

And the other night, when you told me that the kid was not your son? Heck, I don't know whether or not to believe you, but I sure as hell don't care either way! After all, I'm already willing to overlook that thinning hair and (gawd!) even the double chin. What's an illegitimate child, huh? Just keep looking at me with those smouldering eyes, darling, and I doubt I could ever remember to always think twice...



Yes, yes, yesyesysohyes! It really is you that I'm looking for.



*waves hello very frantically


Hello, oh hel-LO!

Spider Picks And Supper Pigs

Haven't been to the movies for ages, and finally went to catch one (I think for the first time this year), just last week.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a nice movie, if you're into fairies and goblins and such. Nice, not necessarily amazing, but nice, nevertheless. It's a simple children's fantasy tale that's not too complex. Things do get resolved a little too tidily, but hey, like I said, it is a children's tale after all.


Freddie Highmore does a commendable job playing identical twins with polar personalities - one broody and rebellious, the other all freshly scrubbed and neatly buttoned. Either way, he's cute (in a non-pedo way, I must add) and he's got that boyish charm working for him. It's also good to see he didn't rehash his earnest-to-goodness Charlie character from that other film about the chocolate factory. Sad to think adolescence will be corrupting him all too soon.

Anyway, the movie did leave me wanting for a bit more, since there just weren't enough fairies and nymphs and pixies to slate my thirst for the fantastic. Looks like I'd have to turn to the books then. Yes, they are children's books, I know, but there's five of them, and from the excerpts I read, there's a whole lot more to the story then what had been portrayed on the screen.

In conclusion, do watch this movie for a light, fun romp that won't hurt your brains or eyes. Don't worry too much about the hows and whys and you'll be able to enjoy the show.

And oh yes, if you need a spot of dinner or a late-night meal when you're done with the show, consider dropping over at Sungai Besi Wan Tan Mee for their famous fare. Recommended orders include the flavorful curry wild boar, sumptious suey kao, and quite possibly the best char siu in KL. Don't forget to grab a big dollop of their really good sambal as well!

I know, I know... again with the food!

It's just a roadside dining place with plastic tables and chairs, and as you can tell, they're not concerned about pretty presentations. But hey, this is food that's so good it's literally spilling out of it's plate, so I'm quite prepared for the messiness.

I'd give it two thumbs up, but I'm just too occupied with eating everything in sight.

More Meaty Goodness

As a follow-up to the Meat Market Sunday, I had another meaty Sunday a couple of weeks ago, thanks to my cousin who somehow figured that's how his little 4-year old should celebrate her birthday. She seemed to have fun, she did, though I'm not sure if she ate all that much. Happily, the food did keep us adults engrossed enough not to notice the kids running about helter skelter.

Anyway, if you like your Korean BBQ and the Ampang Point area is too far for you, consider popping over to USJ Taipan's Dae Jang Gum. It is authentic, though not in the royal-kitchenmaid-turned-imperial-physician way you might expect from a place bearing her name. In fact, you may even find it strange to walk into a Korean restaurant to find an entire wall covered in a painting of some street in... Penang, perhaps.

At least the owners really are Korean. But not as cute as those K-Pop idols look, unfortunately.

But yeah, the food is indeed good. Really good. My cousin did all the ordering so I'm not too sure what was what, but among the stuff I had, the one that really stood out was the pork marinated in some sort of sauce. It was really tender and flavorful.

Yummy.

Of course, be prepared to leave the place smelling of sizzle. After all, all the barbecuing is done right at your table.

Oh yeah, the tea's a tad dodgy as well. But other than that, it's an excellent place for a big, meaty meal.

Weathering Storms & Living Long

Been meaning to post sooner but sigh, it's been raining, it's been pouring, and me love life's been boring me to tears...

But I digress.

Meteoroligical and political storms aside, my parents have been squatting in my "loft" for half a week. So of course, there's been a little loss of privacy, and zero gym time for me.

On the plus side, my house is spick and span, even the fans and windows have been cleaned, my goodness. The laundry gets folded up neatly, and all the shirts and even t-shirts get ironed. There's breakfast waiting before I leave for work and dinner greeting me when I get home.

Sigh, but it's back to living like the slob I am now.

Sob sob.

Here's a token picture of food.


Mee sua, or longevity noodles, customary meal for chinese people celebrating their birthday (yes, for us, it's almost always about either prosperity or longevity, preferably both). As it so happened, my chinese lunar birthday fell exactly one week after my roman calendar birthday.

Which reminds me... happy belated birthday, darling!

32

So what's the perfect antidote to that huge-ass, meat-stuffed brunch I had on Sunday?

I don't know, but surely it can't be all the lemak I had for dinner that same day! Still, what the heck, I just had a craving for it and strangely enough it's one of those things that's not so commonly found in KL, and when you do find it, half the time it's just not done right. Surprising, since it's not all that hard to make.

So I perah-ed the kelapa (by which I mean I opened a can of coconut extract), chopped the carrots and long beans, shredded the cabbage, ground the dried shrimp, and threw everything into a pot to boil. A dash of turmeric powder and a scattering of salt, and there you have it... Sayur Lodeh, mixed vegetables cooked in coconut milk, which forms the basis of any lontong.

I opted for the lontong darat style, which basically is a dry-ish version of lontong. It's less messy, and more importantly, I don't have a pot big enough to cook sufficient gravy for the regular lontong. Hehe.


Just to make sure my guests got a bit more of variety, I got sambal sotong, satay and tea eggs to complement it. PLUS, meat floss to top it all off.

[ Hostess's Hint: Meat floss adds flavour, texture and fun to an otherwise bland dish. Try it with steamed rice, porridge, instant noodles, or like me, when making lontong for the first time and you want to have something to conveniently cover up any inadequacies ]

This year's birthday dinner turned out to be a much quieter affair compared to the previous two years. Everyone's so busy these days (or maybe my friends just don't love me anymore). In any case, it was kind of a relief because I always hate having to deal with the logistics of a dinner party for a dozen or so people. Sorting out what to seat people on, what to entertain them with, preparing enough food and diningware... I'm just not a party-planning person.

So in a way it was just nice that there were only six of us that night. We could sit comfortably around the dining table, and I could serve my guests using real plates and bowl and forks and spoons and glasses. And my pots and serving bowls are just big enough to cater a group this size.

Well, my thanks to C&J for ditching C's final company dinner in favor of my little do. Perhaps I should have organised a lucky draw to compensate your missing out on that one!

Thanks to the monkey and his McCutie for bringing the satay, the nasi impit (couldn't have had lontong without that!) and most of all, for doing the washing up. And yeah, thanks for the book as well... think I'll love it *Hugs*

And, of course, thanks to WiFi, for having the foresight to bring a cake, despite my telling everyone they needn't bring anything. Like, how was I to know I'd fail at making a cake, even if said cake was prepared from a store-bought premix per instructions on the box?

Actually, the cake turned out fine but fell apart when I tried to take it out of the pan. Seemed that I missed out on the instruction that said "line the pan with baking paper". Sigh. So while we could technically still eat the Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Crumble (formerly to be known as Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake), it would have been a little bit difficult figuring out where to stick a candle on that mess of cake pieces, sliced bananas and melting ice-cream.

Incidentally, WiFi bought a "Crystal Orange" cake. I wondered if it was by coincidence that the baker had come up with batches of this, so soon after Chinese New Year.


All in all, I had I nice weekend before my birthday, what with the brunch I had and then the dinner. My birthday itself was spent quietly with no fanfare whatsoever in the office, followed by a relaxing spot of BodyBalance at the gym.

It turned out that there was a teensy bit of fanfare, after all. Joining yw[2k] and the other gym kaki for dinner, I was surprised by Wingedman popping up with a cake (with a cake, I said, not out of a cake). Eeeks! Just what I need, more cake... but at least it wasn't some space cake from Amsterdam!


Thanks, everyone, for making this a nice, cheery, drama-free 32nd birthday! I can only wish the rest of the year would be as pleasant as the last few days have been :-)

Make Mine Meat

MMM...

Marvelous. Mouthwatering. Merriment.

MMM...

Meat. Meat. And (ohIthinkI'vediedandgonetocarnivoreheaven) More meat!

This is what Sundays are about. Crawling out of bed at ten, heading over to a posh address for a spot of brunch with a bunch of friends. Brunch that consists of processed cows, pigs and lambs. Oh yum.

This might have been how we agreed on it:

Me: Let's have dinner on Wednesday.
Nut: I got a cramped sole.
Snowie: Spot's sprained her back.
Spot: That's cos you didn't milk my udders for over a month.
Wingedman: I've got plans to go gambol about among the tulips, wearing clogs... and only clogs.
Me: ... Erm... okay... how about a carnivore's brunch on Sunday then? I heard good things about this place...
Nut: Ooh... that place is AMAZING!
Snowie: Count me in!
Spot: Moo too!
Wingedman: Omg I'll hijack the next flight out and meet you guys there...

Well, I did say that might have been how it went...

Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately) Wingedman did not manage to hijack a plane. Maybe he overslept or something. But the rest of us followed the scent of burning fats all the way to Fogal's Meat Market at Plaza Damas, and gathered over a mighty big meal of mmmeat.

When they say it's a Big BBQ Breakfast, they weren't kidding about the BIG. It's seriously big enough to feed two adults with healthy appetites. Even adults with appetites as healthy as mine. Two steaks, two sausages, two grilled tomatoes, bacon, egg, hash brown, toast and mushroom, literally topped with butter (see that pack of SCS sitting on the bread?).

The two couples at the table, of course, each happily shared a plate of mass murder.

Sigh, it would seem that the tyranny of St. Valentine continues beyond February.

Poor single me, having no one to spread the fats with, had to forgo all that, and instead, settled for just a plate of french toast and bacon.

With a side of hash browns.

And a pig sausage.

And oh, a plate of mushrooms as well.

Which turned out to be a mini big breakfast, anyway.

Spot and Snowie (bless the cow's multiple stomachs) had enough room to squeeze in a dessert, which they very nicely offered me a wee bite. Now I'm no fan of dates (the fig... and perhaps, to a much lesser extent, the experience as well) but this sticky date pudding is absolutely dreamy.

Nut had promised the presence of hot, young, blond-haired, blue-eyed Aryans, waiting on us. Unfortunately, they weren't there that day, though there was a cute, dark-skinned fellow who greeted me and showed me to my table. In the end, it didn't matter - I was too busy eating.

In between the munching, there was also much chatting and laughing. This is definitely the kind of Sunday I love waking up to.

Anyway, I had a really good time. And thanks again, Spot and Snowie, for the wonderful treat!

Remember peeps, it's MMM... Meat Market at Mont Kiara.

(Okay, technically it's Sri Hartamas, but that doesn't start with an M)

:P

Unpretty

To be honest, I'd rather stay home these days.

Because when I step outside, my eyes get sore from seeing all the pennants and banners and posters strung up and across lamposts, from tree to tree, and even pavilions wrapped from foot to pinnacle in party symbols.

Oh. My. Gawd. The ugliness of it.

It's like the streets are strewn with officially condoned rubbish. Do they really think that making me see all that stuff stuck on every available surface would make me want to vote for either of them? Well, they seem to think so, don't they?

Give me a prettily made-up campaign and I might think about voting for you.

But right now, I'm simply indisposed from bouts of nausea and bleeding eyes.