Mobile phone ad I'd like to see

fictional phone advertisement:

Motola CRZY
Features:
Save up to 20% of your call charges!

So how would you react to such an ad? You can save money by using this phone. How is it possible?

By reducing the talk-time! Instead of having mobile phones that let you talk for hours, you can save money if you get a mobile phone that only lets you talk for 10 minutes on a single charge. Faced with rising prices and expenses, I think there would be people interested in such a phone. Judging from the amount of hoo-ha over the new high tech toilets in KL, such a phone could be a runaway success.

I can't take credit for this revolutionary idea. Zin mentioned this in passing while we were on our lunch break.

And in case you're wondering what I'm rambling about, it's just my lame attempt at making a joke. Erm... anyone laughing?

Paddington's House of Pancakes

More Queensbay gastronomic delights. This time at Paddington's House of Pancakes.

The place didn't have much of an ambience - simple decor. But it makes up for it with its extensive menu and comfortable environment. Their menu consists of pancakes from Russia, Holland, America and maybe Germany, if I'm not mistaken. A whirlwind of pancakes (and pies, lasagna, pasta) for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

Anyways, speaking of their extensive menus... they don't serve all of the selection. And to make matters worse, their grill was not working that day. So we were limited to the 12-inch Dutch pancakes, the pannekoek.

The pannekoek is 12-inches of thin pancake that's crispy at the edges. Then toppings are added and an array of complements like mashed potatoes, baked tomatoes and in some dishes, spicy wasabi mayo!

My parents accompanied us to Paddington's, and we have a trip around the world! We had the Amsterdam, Seattle, Tokyo, Capri and Venice pannekoeks. Delicious!

A cat's life

A little more to the left...

Pannekoek and Moleskine

I remember -
of family's delight
at Paddington's

Old Town Experience

Queensbay, the largest and longest (why longest when it's already the largest?) shopping mall in Penang. A long, long time ago I thought to myself, would I still be around should the building ever be completed?

7 years later and I found myself walking with SP along the lower floor of the shopping mall. Who would have thunk.

We had dinner at Old Town, a quaint little coffee shop with old style chairs and tables. The ambience would have been really nice had there been walls. Instead the coffee shop is in the middle of the floor, under/beside the escalator.



SP had their famous white coffee. I can't help but suspect they used the same instant 3-in-1 coffee packs that we find in supermarkets. I was not impressed. We also ordered their "famous" kaya and butter toast. Again we were left wanting. The toast was cold with thick chunks of butter and a layer of kaya.

For the main course I had the curry laksa. It looked good but didn't taste as good. It was much too oily and lacked the creamy curry sensation. The yellow noodles were undercooked.

SP had the rendang chicken rice which was basically nasi lemak. It was ok, but nothing exciting.

Our high level of expectation may be because we have another "old town" coffee shop to compare. It's located in Amcorp Mall, KL and their toast and coffee are exceptional.

Would we visit Old Town again? Maybe for some toast and coffee... maybe.

Cute Mr Posey

My tortoise in shining shell

- sp

Bakerzin, a haiku

Night's cloak unfurls -
unable to resist
sweet delicacies' beckon

Little Cottage in the City

SP have been telling me about this restaurant along Burmah Road, and we finally decided (actually she decided) to visit the place.

It's called Little Cottage, and it sure is little. But don't be fooled by the size of the place when you enter because there are more tables upstairs. Little Cottage takes up 1 lot downstairs, but takes up 3 whole lots upstairs.



We had our lunch upstairs. The decor is decidedly cozy. Lots of knick knacks, an almost country-like decor.



How can anyone not like turtles greeting you at the stairway?



There are lots of waiters in Little Cottage, and they are very attentive. There's a lunch set menu with a considerable selection to choose from. Then the waiters will bring each course as you finish them, unlike other places where everything is dumped onto your table.



First there's the mushroom soup. Thick and yummy. The soup comes with a bun and butter. Then the main course. I chose the Grilled Fish with the Little Cottage special sauce. Accompanying the dish are mashed potatoes and a few selection of vegetables. I enjoyed the fish. It was moist and tasty by itself. I hardly needed the special sauce or the dollop of tartare sauce to enhance the taste.

SP chose the Chicken Chop. This is quite a normal dish, so I didn't choose it. But SP let me have a bit and I was surprised. It actually tastes good! The chicken chop had the right crispiness, together with the sauce, made for a very delicous bite.

Then there's dessert and a choice of coffee or tea. If you wish, you could add-on to the lunch set. Only the tiramisu caught my attention. We didn't have the tiramisu because the lunch set was quite substantial.



Little Cottage, a diamond in the rough, along Burmah Road. Parking may be difficult, but the food and the ambience is worth it. Oh... and the prices are very reasonable.

A respite

The past few weeks I have been drowning in a torrent of "we have to meet the deadline!", "stay on schedule!", "this has to be done before the week is over!". What little personal time I had was used for my "cave time" where I would tune out from reality and spend an hour or so in front of the idiot box.

Then, a respite.

I can now allow calm personal thoughts to percolate in my mind.

Just last night, we sat on the sofa and had some quality time together with Amy Grant singing Christmas carols in the background. Our Christmas tree was set up in the living room sans the blinking decorative lights. We'll have to get a set this weekend. The tree just isn't complete without those lights.

This respite also meant I could catch up with my reading. I'm halfway through Michael Crichton's State of Fear. A blurb on the back cover states, "... In the jungles of Malaysia, a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitation technology, built to his specifications. ..." How could I resist?

How could I not stop laughing? Why? This deadly hypersonic cavitation generator is made in a factory in Pudu Raya, and is located "just a few kilometers" from "the ultra-modern airport designed by Kurokawa" (read: KLIA). A factory in Pudu Raya? Just a few kilometers from KLIA?

This one factual error aside, I found the book rather interesting. I don't know where facts become fiction, but perhaps that's why I like some of Michael Crichton's books. He takes an idea, and pushes it to the extreme.

A quiet place

at day's end
she finds solace
in a quiet place

The Eastern Wishes Cafe

Our lunch outings are getting pretty extravagant judging from our latest discovery - The Eastern Wishes Cafe located in i-Avenue. It's facing Bukit Jambul Complex, so parking is not too difficult if we arrive before the lunch crowd. It's the shops facing the other side that's attracting the most crowd.

The decor is the popular contemporary - dark wood furniture, simple fixtures with similar dark wood trims. bigfish noticed an interesting, yet simple, design - using wooden boards to hide exposed wiring. Neat trick! It's something I may want to do for my home where ALL my wiring are exposed.

Ah... the food. They serve set lunches, so I ordered the sweet and sour fish fillet. It comes with soup (ABC soup was the soup of the day) and a drink. I chose orange juice, and I was pleased that they used real oranges. My dish was satisfying, although my lunch buddies' sweet and sour pork portion seemed a tad small. The lunch sets are reasonably priced considering the environment.

The place didn't have a lasting impression on me. The place was comfortable and the food was reasonable, but there are many other restaurants that offer the same things. Unless they find their niche, I probably won't visit The Eastern Wishes Cafe that often.

My attempt at haiku

the weekend passes...
through the daze of work
love's clarity remains

This little piggy...

is on its way to market...

Keep right

My Moleskine on Thailand

Before there were City Moleskines, I had already started a quick and dirty guide to Bangkok, Thailand in my Moleskine. This was for our trip to Bangkok in May 2006. Here are some of the pages:

Next year, we're planning a trip to Hong Kong and I've already started on the guide. But this time, I'm starting the guide from the back of the notebook. Since I use the Moleskine daily, I thought it would be better to write from the back so the guide won't be scattered all over the notebook.

We may not refer to the Moleskines that frequently in Hong Kong because the tourist maps are usually much better illustrated, but I enjoy writing in the Moleskine the destinations that we may visit, and discovering their attractions in advance.

That's just me. I like knowing as much as possible about a new place before arriving. SP on the other hand enjoys the exploration.

Pre-nup and a treat

After 6 months of procrastinating and busy work schedule, we've finally completed our prenuptial inquiry with the priest! The priest was very patient and explained all the questions to us, making sure without any doubt that both of us knew what we were getting into. Half an hour later, we've set the date for our wedding and now, what's left are the practical preparations like, "do we want flowers?", "where will we have the luncheon?", "who's going to photograph the wedding?".

And the treat? Dinner at Zealand Cafe, along Gurney Drive.

Korea House

SP and I were in KL during the DeepaRaya holidays and we visited a Korean restaurant - the Korea House. It's located at the popular Sri Hartamas area. I find it strange that the place is so popular but it sure is unique, with trendy bistros opening next to old-skool kopitiams. The shoplots look old, the walls are tiled with bathroom tiles (!) and the streets are narrow.

Korea House is another odd duck. A Korean restaurant but the interior is without a doubt very English Victorian decor. Don't expect Korean ambience, but the food is pretty good. And I'm not even a fan of Korean food!

It was a BBQ affair. We don't even have to lift a finger. The waiter did all the BBQ'ing for us.

So much kim-chi... I don't like kim-chi, but the BBQ meats were very nice - well marinated, and cooked to perfection. The stove uses charcoal! Maybe that added some flavour to the BBQ.

It was a nice experience, but not enough to persuade me to like Korean food. Kim-chi... too sour...

Yi Pin at Sg Nibong

YiPin
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

This was another place that SP and I recently discovered. We've heard of this place a few months ago, but never gave it much thought because we weren't sure the food would be good.

Turns out, SP's colleagues brought her to Yi Pin for her birthday bash and she liked the food!

The place was sparsely decorated and the exterior was rather plain. But good looks are not what we're after. We want good food. I would have liked to say that Yi Pin didn't disappoint, but the food was only average for me. But SP insists that their steamed fish was delicious. It was already past lunch hour, and according to the waitress, we couldn't order that particular dish.

Anyways, we settled for claypot tofu, fish fillet in black bean sauce and some vegetables. The claypot tofu was pretty good - lots of meat and mushrooms and vegetables. The fish fillet was so-so, but I'm not really a fan of black bean sauce. And the vegetables (I can't remember the name) were nice, cooked in garlic. Very pleasant.

Looks like we'll have to revisit Yi Pin to try out the steamed fish.

Deepa-Genting-Raya

SP and I went to my parents' place in Genting. I stuffed myself silly during the 3 days I was there. Those mini-pretzels are really addictive.


My dad planted some sweet potatoes in the garden and my mom would pick the leaves and cook them for lunch or dinner. SP even helped to pick the leaves. It's like my very own "Little House on the Prairie" experience.

The pumpkin patch I mentioned from my last visit is going to be replaced. The last few pumpkins are huge! My mom hasn't decided what they would plant in its place. It's either kacang botol or kacang panjang.

Day by day...

ContactSheet-001
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

I'd stand on the same spot and take a photo. Day or night, rain or shine.

Not any more.

New carpark

The new carpark is finally ready!

Lots of parking bays and a "sky bridge" that connects the carpark to the main building.

Shanghai Ding Tai Feng

SP told me about this new place near Queensbay - Shanghai Ding Tai Feng. Or as the sign shows, "House of Dumpling".

The place is still quite new, but I could see it's getting popular. SP actually heard about the place from a fellow blogger, and now you're hearing about it from us!

Getting there is quite easy. Just head to Gold Coast and turn into Queensbay. You can't miss the restaurant. Just look for the huge signboard on your right.



They mainly serve dimsum and a few handmade noodle dishes. SP told me about a few of their dimsums, but what really caught my attention was the dimsum with soup on the inside - siew loong pau. I really liked this dish, especially when it's still piping hot. Hold the dimsum in your spoon, bit a small bit on the side to let the steaming hot soup flow out, let it cool a little, and pop the whole thing into your mouth. Yum!

Then there's the oddly named "pockey mouse" dimsum. SP said they looked more like porcupines. Maybe the dish should be called "pokey mouse" instead. The pau skin is speckled with black seeds that I couldn't identify, and inside is a sweet filling. The speckled pau skin adds a very nice texture.

From top left: SP cornering the last "pockey mouse", "pockey mice" huddled together, roasted pork ramen, siew loong pau, deep fried red bean bun, Shanghai pot stickers.

Highly recommended. We would have ordered more if we had brought enough money. Nevermind. There's still next time.

View from the backseat

Whenever we go out for lunch, I have dibs on the backseat.

Food Loft

food loft
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

I've heard of this new restaurant at Gurney Plaza. From what I hear, it sounds like a high class food court. So SP and I found ourselves outside Food Loft on a Friday night, and although the concept was a little like a food court, the ambience was way, way better.

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and helpful. Since it was our first time at Food Loft, we didn't know how things worked. We sought their help a few times and soon we were comfortable ordering like regular customers.

Each of us were given a "food card" where we would order our food from the kitchen section and show the cashier our food card. That's how our orders are tracked.

There's quite a variety of food to choose from - there's the Nyonya kitchen, Western kitchen, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean... We were spoilt for choice...

I was most attracted by the dessert - the Jumbo Mango. It's a huge bowl of shaved ice, covered with mango puree and lots and lots of sweet delicious chunks of mango. Ooo... bliss...

Remember that food card? After our meal, we handed our food cards to the cashier and she'd tally up our bill. Sounds like a food court, doesn't it. But the decor, the efficient service, and comfortable environment made our first visit to Food Loft an enjoyable one.

SP and I will definitely revisit the Food Loft.

Shariff's Nasi Kandar

shariff
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

Our favourite place for Nasi Kandar. The way I like my Nasi Kandar - rice drowned in curry... hmm...

zin deconstructed

zin
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

What is "Deconstruction"?

An alternate view of a subject by breaking it up into individual parts that interact with each other, creating the subject as a whole.

Lunch with George(town)

Lunch with George(town)
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

Seeing Red

Seeing Red
Originally uploaded by boysbytes.

Watch your head

RAZR V3i, Lomofied

A wedding at E&O

SP and I were invited to a wedding at E&O last night. It's the second time we've attending a wedding at E&O. I can see why couples chose the place - the setting and the ambience were beautiful.


We were dressed to the nines.

The dining hall looked grand. Perhaps to maintain the grandeur-like environment, the dishes were delivered rather slowly. However, this time was much faster than the first wedding we attended though...

There was live piano music played by a friend on stage. Very nicely planned wedding, with a very comfortable pace.

Mooncake Festivities

Friday was the mooncake festival, and we were invited to a potluck gathering organised by SP's friend. Traffic was bad that night, but we managed to grab a bucket of KFC and still arrived at the gathering pretty early.



Lots of cats at Gold Coast. This fellow wasn't camera shy.

Everyone brought lots of food - KFC, local kuih's, keropok, fried rice, even crab! I didn't try the crab because I didn't like messy food, but I did try a taste from all the food that night.


The decor was very nice. Minimalist, and white theme everywhere. I especially liked the embedded sound system and the LCD TV. It might be a plasma... I can't tell.


Everyone enjoyed meeting up again after the Sabah trip. The DVD SP and I made was a big hit. Lots of laughter, lots of good memories of the trip.

Our life on iLife

SP and I stayed up pretty late last Thursday to prepare the DVD of our trip to Sabah. Apple's iLife suite really simplified most of the work. The only time consuming parts were picking the photos and the music to accompany the slideshow.


We managed to finish the DVD on Friday, just in time for the potluck gathering that night. Our friends who joined us in Sabah were there along with a few friends.

They looked pretty happy with the DVD. I still have a few final touches to add to the DVD, but that shouldn't take too long.

The curious incident of a battery in the car park

I got a call from zin, asking for cmos' phone number. A few minutes later, zin called again asking for another colleague's phone number. If I weren't so sick with the flu, I may have wondered why zin was calling me so many times. But before my weary brain registered curiousity, zin called again. This time, he was asking for me.

Turns out his car battery was flat.

There's nothing more manly that 2 guys, standing next to their cars with the hoods propped up, and peering knowingly into the engine bay. *grunt, grunt*

Oh yeah, click the image for a larger view of the panorama.

We head out to Kota Kinabalu

Saturday - September 23, 2006
Day 1

We had a plane to catch. We had already packed the night before and just as we left our apartment, the heavens opened and it rained... like cats and dogs... it poured... and poured...

Naturally I got a good soaking. It was so bad that I was asked twice, why I was so wet - once by the Airasia personnel at the check-in counter, and another time by the security personnel at boarding terminal. Bleh...


To our surprise, our plane from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, and the connecting flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu was not delayed. Although we did hear (a loud groan from the passengers in the waiting room) that the next flight right after ours was going to be delayed by more than an hour. Thankfully it was not our flight.

We arrived at Kota Kinabalu's Terminal 2 airport. It hardly looked like an airport because it was very small. I later learned that Terminal 2 is still under construction as a Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for Kota Kinabalu.

Our driver was already waiting for us to bring us to where we'd be staying in Kota Kinabalu for the next 5 days - Trekker's Lodge, right smack in the middle of Kota Kinabalu city.

The place was basic. Basic rooms, basic bathrooms, basic everything. At least it was clean.


Here's how the common area looks at Trekker's Lodge. Click the image for a larger version. We ate our breakfast here for the next few days - 2 slices of toast with butter and jam, a slice of local fruit and all the coffee or tea we can drink. I was actually rather pleased with the breakfast.

Trekker's Lodge is right smack in the middle of the city center so everything we needed was within walking distance. There's a 7-11 right around the corner, literally. There are a few restaurants nearby, less than 5 minutes away on foot. Reload cards, toiletries, medicine, snacks, beers, all just a short walk away.

The people running the place were all very friendly and very helpful. There's even a Travel Advisor, Mike, who hangs around the place and is a source of information for tours or trips around the city or the nearby islands for snorkling or diving.

Strangely we hardly saw many fellow trekkers. Maybe they were busy trekking or exploring the city to actually spend time at the common area. Nah, we didn't spend much time at the common area as well. We had a mountain to climb!

We're back!!!

Five days in Kota Kinabalu... and we're back. It'll take a few days to compile all the photos from everyone in our group.

It's been a blast!

Macro Magic

I read about this macro "hack" for mobile phones from docfiles. Finally found a suitable lens thanks to bigfish who had an extra loupe.

It works pretty good! Here are some examples. The trick is to hold everything steady and guess the focus.