Chamadao

They had the launch at the Palace of the Golden Horses. The theme of course was horses, ancient ones that looks like they're dressed for war. And the decoration was Moorish.

Chamadao literally means the horse and tea route. A party has come up with an idea to reenact this route to commemorate it. It was a very important route in the old days, in the trades between the countries.

Horse caravans carried tea, sugar and salt from Sichuan and Yunnan to Tibet and brought back colorful mountain goods.

The Chinese over the ages often brought warhorses from Tibetan and other ethnic groups in Southwest China, and these too came over this road. The road also served as a significant corridor for migration as well as a cahnnel for cultural communication among the ethnic groups in western China; beyond this, it was a bridge for international cultural and economic exchange between China and India.

Although silk was not included in the trade goods carried over it, at times it has been termed the "Southern Silk Road of China," due to its importance in both economic and cultural aspects of Chinese hisotry.

~ adapted from Chamaxindao, Tea and Horse Caravan Road 2007.

Calisa's birthday

We gave her a surprise celebrating in Dome, Times Square. The ambience,

The food and drinks we had. We stuck candle in the dark, cherry muffin.

Candid shots of the birthday girl.

People who were there and had fun.

Ikea goodies

Always wanted one of their jars to hold the spaghetti. Singoalla biscuits are the shortbread biscuits with vanilla cream and a blob of raspberry jam in the middle. A tad sweet but yummy. Haven't had a chance to rip into the Pepparkakor cappucino thins yet though.

Barcode Building

This building reminds me so much of a barcode that I nick named it "The Barcode Building". Sometimes I get dizzy just staring at it, and the lines start to move, lol.

Creative advertisements

Can you believe a 15 year old and a 16 year old drew these pictures? They're great eh?

I've always liked black and white pictures. They remind me of the pictures taken in the olden days, those cameras with the huge bang whenver they took a snap.

Somtimes a really creative advertisement just blows you away. An element, like the Edge ad (bottom left) sort of Malaysianizes it, talking about the nasi lemak.

Christmas 2005

Indulgence, Ipoh.

We were having dinner here. Decorations were lovely. Fairylike, that's the term!

Discovery of sepia with daisies

This was when I first discovered that I can convert pictures in my trusty little digital camera. Lovely

Sepia

Straight or curly

Straighten the hair for a day. The fringe's real though, I snipped some of it off. Curly hair or straight hair?
Now I'm back to being a curly sue ;)

Streaks of light

Check out this photo! Okay, I didn't use any skills, photoshop or fancy cameras to come up with this effect.

I just happen to catch this picture by chance and it's way cool, to me anyway. Lol

New Year's Eve 2007

Warm coffee in a freezingly cold place. Slurps...

This was while we were waiting for the fireworks up in Genting Highlands.

Renaissance Dessert Buffet

Renaissance Hotel recently launched their dessert buffet. Strictly sweets and nothng else. Starts from tea time onwards till 6.30pm Friday. Talk about beginning the weekend with a little indulgence.

The sweet treats were a little too much for me though. Ice creams are home made with loads of garnishings, marshmallows, strawberry puree etc

____________________

Renaissance Hotel

End of Jalan Ampang,

Kuala Lumpur.

Options to get there:- Monorail, Bukit Nanas stop

Fusion heaven

Located in Sri Petaling. Slipped my mind to get the address or the name card. This was way back in January.
The food is fusion. What with what, I don't remember. Asian with something, Western maybe. Lol. But it's mouth watering. Thumbs up with the presentation as well.
We had a teriyaki chicken, very tender meat and the sauce, great.
The appetisers that we ordered was little cubes of fishcakes with a dash of wasabi. Not bad at all, since I normally steer clear of wasabi but this is truly alright.
The dessert is a chocolate pudding when you slice it, hot chocolate oozes out, still warm to the taste and combined with the creamy vanilla ice-cream, superb!

Carcosa Seri Negara

Would you believe it? Gold plated taps.
Lol, Carcosa Seri Negara, one of our country's heritage. Preserved well.
It's set in an idlylic place. Quiet, green. Could almost believe I'm not in KL when I was there.
Saw a couple browsing the place with the staff. Preparing for a wedding maybe?
But it's quite a nice environment for a wedding. Though parking's a pain. It's hazardous in fact. Cars perched precariously over the edges of the roads. It's almost on a hill, and the lanes are narrow. Other than that, it's perfect.

It seems to be that the old school liquor like Martell and Hennessy are striving for a bigger market share these days. They're organizing a lot of events and awards.

Been to a Hennessy Cocktail one recently. Got the recipes from the organizers. Enjoy...

Hennessy Paris, balance and finesse
1 1/2 oz hennessy
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz triple sec
1 twist orange peel

􀁑 Pour all ingredients into a shaker

􀁑 Add 5 or 6 ice cubes and close the shaker

􀁑 Shake well for a few seconds

􀁑 Open the shaker and pour through a strainer into a glass

􀁑 Serve

To obtain a subtle aroma, be careful not to overpress the orange peel.

Hennessy New York, rich and flavorful

1 1/2 oz hennessy

3 1/2 oz cola

1 lemon wedge

􀁑 Pour ingredients in an ice filled glass
􀁑 Stir a few seconds using a barspoon
􀁑 Serve

Stir well using a bar spoon before serving.

Hennessy Miami, fresh and fruity

1 1/2 oz hennessy
1/2 oz fresh lime juice
1/4 simple syrup 3-4 fresh mint leaves

􀁑 Pour all ingredients including mint into a shaker
􀁑 Add 5 or 6 ice cubes and close the shaker
􀁑 Shake well and strain into a glass
􀁑 Garnish with a mint leaf
􀁑 Serve

Use the sweet variety of mint.

Hennessy Moscow, fresh and sour
3/4 oz hennessy

A dash of lemon juice

lemon slice

sugar

􀁑 Shake Hennessy and a dash of lemon juice over ice
􀁑 Strain into a mini glass
􀁑 Add a sugar coated lemon slice on the side of the glass
􀁑 Serve

Just use two or three ice cubes in the
shaker as you do not want to dilute the
drink.

Hennessy Shanghai, a twist on a classic

1 1/2 oz hennessy
3 1/2 oz of ginger ale

dashes of bitters

1 twist of orange peel

􀁑 Pour ingredients into an ice-filled glass
􀁑 Add the twisted orange peel
􀁑 Stir for a few seconds using a barspoon
􀁑 Serve

Be careful when pressing the orange peel,
not to have an overwhelming orange aroma.

Don't get too drunk now fellas ;)

The job market

Do you ever realize how competitive the job market is? Gosh, I never realized it until I was speaking to a HR personnel yesterday and she told me there were more than 200 applications for the jobs they posted!
200!! Two hundred! How was anyone going to be picked out of the whole lot?! HOW?
I felt so insignificant and inadequate. Sighh...

Loony

Happened this morning. It was beautiful weather this morning, overcast and a little breezy. My sister was dropping me off at the train station this morning, when we saw a little kitten trying to cross the road! It was a tiny thing. Black with grey stripes.
We passed it, then watched from the rearview mirror in horror at its attempts and it's near miss with fate what with the cars all zooming by. Amazingly it managed to cross to the divider in the middle of the road.
By then I had impulsively asked my sister to make a U-turn to pick it up to carry it across the road. We saw it once again attempting to cross the road, which had me flying out of the car and scampering down the road like a loony to try and scoop it up. Now that terrified it so much that it leaped away from me, heading straight for the middle of the road. I groaned inwardly. A big red truck was bearing down on it. A crow butted its behind. It stumbled, mercifully the driver of the red truck saw my feeble attempts at rescuing it and stopped the truck in the middle of the road. But by the time I got across, kitty had already disappeared down the drain. Shucks!
A thought occurred to me when I was waiting for the train, did that crow purposely wanted to send the kitten to it's death by butting it?!! I thought I had read somewhere or knew from somewhere crows ate dead animals. Or did I confuse them with vultures? Anyhow, I was filled with horror at that thought.
Anyhow, I hope the poor kitten manages to survive this tough world.

Let them have an inch, they want a yard

Sometimes I get fed up as most normal warm blooded human beings.
In my job, it's a necessity to keep a check on me temper most of the time.
Some clients are just impossible. They push and they push.
"What benefits will I get if I sponsor such and such?"
"What extra things can i obtain by going with your proposal?"
"What else, what else can you give me?"
More and more and MORE!
Sigh...I want to say to them, stuff it!
Lol, ahh well that's life I guess. You get the good and rotten apples all in one basket.

Sunday Dinner

Cooked dinner again on the spur of the moment. Being a little tired from eating outside food.

The chicken dish is cooked with Heinz BBQ Sauce and tomatoes. Simple and nice. My sister said it's more suited to be eaten with pasta though. Hmm..

The cauliflower and broccoli was just blanched in boiling water and I prepared some garlic oil and soya sauce to go with it.

The eggs, one plainly fried, one sunny side up and one's a cheese omelette.

Very satisfying meal for 4 hungry people!

Lol...

Esther

She seems to grow cuter everytime I go back and see her. Naughty little thing though. But very smart.

This is her at 1 year and 7 months!

Post Graduate Fair Asia

Postgradasia.

Held in KL Convention Centre on the 8th and 9th of June. Not a very big hung of people hung around for this.

Nice, I like the quietness and the advice some of the exhibitors gave. Especially University of Portsmouth, the dean from a particular faculty, a new concept that they were exploring. Very interesting. I'll blog more about it when I find out more.

There were too much information to digest. See the pile of prospoectus I took home? They weigh a ton! Yes, and my sister and I lugged it all back.

But most of the exhibitors were from the United Kingdom and our local universities. I should pop into their website and browse for more countries. Anyhow, the appearance of most of their prospoectus were really nice. Thumbs up for effort!

Diethelm Warehouse Sale

There were throngs of peeps there! Man, it was worse than a wet market on it's best day.

Imagine the sweat and the pushing and shoving, all happening in the sweltering heat of the day! Muahaha...

Anyways, I enjoyed myself, cos' it was the first time that went to something like this. I managed to snag some new brands that I normally wouldn't try. Firstly, cos' they've imported price tags, and secondly I'm not sure of the quality.

Complan Nutrition Drink in Banana and Strawberry. Verdict:- not too bad.

Raisin Bran Cereal:- average, it's not crunchy enough for me. That's why I prefer Nestle's!

Quaker's Chewy Bars with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips:- Awesome snack!

Cocoa Balls and Kellogs:- Have not gotten around to opening them yet :)

Heinz BBQ Sauce:- Not bad at all, used it to cook dinner on sunday.

Lay's Stax & Potato Chips:- Great quality, gone in a poof! Thanks to the sister.

I should go to more of these warehouse sales! I was too fed up to hang around analysing wines. Oh yes, they had a selection of wines, but being such a novice, I was really unable to differentiate what's good and what's not. So I decided to ditch the counter and head home. Maybe next time, when I've garnered more knowledge on this topic :)

Mcdonald's breakfast

A steaming cup of tea, a half eat muffin, a terrace at the side of a busy street, I'm having breakfast. Ahh...the small pleasures of life.

ESP Camp last year at PD

Last year at PD camp. 2 of these fellas have already left for New Zealand and Australia respectively.

Dinner

Home cooked dinner. There's potatoes with chicken dices and sausages. And tofu with hoi sin sauce.

Been itching to have home cooked dinner. Does't look spectacular I know (*grins), but edible. Seriously. Ha di ha

Coffee Ritual

I just finished an interview and was plodding back to the underground car park when I spied this demure menu stuck on the plate glass of a little shop.
The turkey ham crepe caught my eye. Sounded perfect for tea...lol

I went in, relatively quiet. A row of quaint scienctific like apparatus caught my eye. What on earth are those?

My curiosity got the better of me. I questioned the couple who owns the place. They were rather reserved, probably because I was poking my nose into their business! Ha di ha, but I asked their permission to shoot some pictures.

Turns out, those rows of them there are coffee makers! First time I saw those, but they are a lot more affordable than the regular cappucino machines. They even have a tiny coffee grinder. But that was not for sale.

They sell tea leaves as well. The turkey ham crepe was rich and aromatic. A tad too rich for tea, I thought. But, all in all, time there was well-spent as I got some interesting pictures and a full tummy.

This little shop is located in Phileo Damansara, chock a block of office buildings but a lot of hidden gems like these there. I saw an ice cream shop and another cafe that looked really interesting. Another time maybe ;)
__________________________
Coffee Ritual
Unit 108, Block F,
Phileo Damansara 1,
No.9, Jalan 16/11
46350 Petaling Jaya.

Kuan Kitt's 24th

Kuan Kitt’s 24th birthday, celebrated in Alexis Bistro at Bangsar, in the middle of the afternoon, I might add. Haven’t seen him for some time, almost 6 months, so being his day, I thought asking him out for a drink would be nice. Hasn’t changed much, still the same funny dude I knew from my Sixth Form life, except that he’s pretty stressed out right now.
I hope he goes back to being normal after his exams!
Anyhow, the blueberry cheesecake was delicious, Earl Grey aromatic. The environment was relaxing. Bangsar being Bangsar, was still snoozing in the afternoon rays, so there were relatively few people, but many cars. (Where did all the peeps disappear to?!)
Alexis:- I can totally imagine it being a cozy little place for some jazz and chilling. Except for a snooty lady waitress, the waiters were all very cooperative and efficient.
My uncle gave a very good recommendation for their cakes though. It’s good, but not great. I suppose you pay for the ambience as well. Lol…

______________________

Alexis Bistro

No.29, Jalan Telawi 3

Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur

03 2284 2880

Girl's Nite Out at One Utama

Chooi Yin, Ming Yee, Mun Yee, Wei Chieh, Pooi Sze, Wai Kee and myself, including 2 gentlemen who are nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Anyhow, the list made up of us gathering together for dinner on a crowded Friday evening.
We ate our fill at a Vietnamese restaurant in One Utama, then proceeded to Coffee Bean downstairs for a little drink later. All we did was eat, drink and check out people’s friendsters. Ha di ha!
Opportunities to get together were few and far between at least for me. Invariably, I’d miss 2 out of 3 gatherings. Sometimes due to work, sometimes due to little old me away from town, so when I can, I appreciate the fact that we could still get together after many years of acquaintances and friendship.
So here’s to friends! (a toast please!)

A celebration, hopefully with many more to come.

GT Race

GT launched their 2007 run on the 22nd of May recently. It was a big do at the Equatorial Hotel, KL. They were the official hotel for this GT event.
Warrant a guess:- Hottest thing apart from the cars?
The girls of course, the GT Girls, 2 of them were brought in from Japan, as was the custom of the previous years.
2 of them were locals, our very own Malaysians, who were also pretty hot. Anyhow, Hannah T was also there. Our very own celebrity. Another album is in the pipelines for her.
My colleague was eager to try out our new camera, the Canon EOS, which took pretty cool pictures. I just put them together in a collage up there. Not much editing done. Girls still look hot. Lol…

Anyhow, all of you guys and gals who want a piece of the action, GT's happening in the Sepang Circuit, 22nd of June till the 24th of June.

Lunch was served a la Western style, with appetizer, soup, main course and dessert. In case you’re wondering what I’m holding up, it’s butter underneath the transparent embossed paper. I was fooled myself.

The dessert was yummy, creamy white chocolate mousse laced with raspberries. Melt in the mouth...Served with strawberry puree and a long, delicate piece of chocolate. Oh, base's edible too.