The Ship SteakHouse @ Jln Sultan Ismail

Err.. Pardon me. I'm gonna do another post on food again. Haha.
Reason being, I haven't been doing anything sufficiently interesting to be blogged about. The only interesting thing that's been happening of late was that sis is around in KL for the week, so there'll be more food outing. So bear with me (one week only, very cepat lalu wan... haha).

Anyway, today's post will be on our dinner outing last nite at The Ship, along Jln. Sultan Ismail, KL. Dad decided to treat us to something nice. Either that, or he's been eating too much of Nasi Lemak, or MeeHoon Goreng, or Nasi Goreng Kampung until muak himself. Haha. It was my first time to the branch/outlet here, though wasn't necessarily my first visit to The Ship in particular. When I did dine in The Ship previously, it was the one along Jln. Bukit Bintang. So dad and I had this conversation that went like that.

Dad : "Tonight, dinner at The Ship, okay?"
Me : "Okay, the one near Bkt Bintang?"
Dad : "Yeah, the one nearby Bkt Bintang"
- pause - assuming everything gau dim, confirm - then...
Dad : "You know how to go or not?"
Me : "I know la... Just opposite the Sg Wang/BB Plaza la" (thinking if dad thought I was stupid or wat, haha)
Dad : "Nolar. Walk along Sultan Ismail"
Me : "Har? U mean walk along Bkt Bintang?"
Dad : "No. Sultan Ismail"

( ...Communication gap/Miscommunication. Bound to always happen with dad & I. Don't know why... haha... )

So I ended up googling to find out if there was one in Sultan Ismail. If my visual memory served me correctly, I think I'd seen it from the monorail before. Haha.

So anyway, here are the few captured snapshots of what we had at The Ship last night (in random sequence).

The usuals to start off with - bun with butter spread

Dad had a glass of red wine, just for the fun of it (and for the red meat)

Sis had Apple Juice... (of all things)

I had Seafood Chowder to start with... (banyak seafood, see, I had to scoop up to show you all, haha)

Salad, came with the chef-recommended steaks..

Carpetbag Steak - mixed with oysters in between...

Charbroiled Rib-Eye Steak...

Charbroiled Sirloin Steak...

A dessert to end with - Banana Split..

I can only say, we had a very stuffed dinner. Stuffed is the correct word to use, 'coz throughout the night 'til the wee hours of the morning, we were still burping steak-flavoured gas. So the word stuffed is justified. = )

New York New York Deli @ 1 Utama

Was at 1 Utama yesterday for lunch with dad and sis. Found this place over at the corner where Giant used to be. Giant's now replaced with Cold Storage, and along the isle, you'd find a number of new restaurants/eateries/kiosks/stores popping up. We'd thought since neither of us have tried this out, to give it a go. So we ended up here...

... in New York New York Deli!

A corner view of its interior from where we were seated.

Both dad and sis preferred to go safe with the classics like...

Cape-Style Fish & Chips (it was so-so on this)...

... and Hawaii Teriyaki Chicken (not too bad for a dish so simple, chicken quite tender, and I loved the wedges)

This was my selection. Brats (Beef Bratwurst Sausages) Wrapped In T'Bacon and Cheese. (Quite yummy I would say... I actually thought I was having porky sausages, hehe. It was *that* close. But don't worry, it's a halal restaurant, so definitely not pork =D )

The classic All-American Root Beer Float. A must-have (for me that is). It's been quite a while since I had nice root beer float lah...

Err.. I can't quite remember the exact name of this drink. It was something with Rich Chocolate with Blueberry & Cream, or something like that.. Haha.

If you're craving for deli ala the New-Yorker style, (and if you're around in 1Utama), hop into New York New York Deli to give it a go! Locate them at :

LG311, One Utama Shopping Centre (New Wing), Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya.

You could also contact them at : 03-77279400

Great Classic

There are certain great movies that you would rewatch and rerun endless times, and still feel, you know, great. For a lifetime. I think I'm an emo & a cry-baby when it comes to love stories. I've just caught a glimpse of short clips of the movie from YouTube, and I think it touched me just as much, so much so that for a second, I thought my tear ducts started running its engine. And I'm talking bout this movie in particular.

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997). And I'm classifying this as an all-time favourite classic. This was the movie, that made 'The Way You Look Tonight' a hit again. Will get the full version of this movie for a re-run. But in the meantime, found these clips to share with you. Enjoy :D

Syok-ness!

I meant to take a picture of my workstation in the office, where I have a special corner where all my food (or junks) are stored. Erm, actually, practically all my neighbouring colleagues contributed, in a way or another, their junks there (no-lah, we have some very healthy snacks there too, okay), and somehow, by tradition and norm, that part/corner of my workstation becomes a snack corner for us. Amazing how we just have our ways to bond ourselves, huh? But I've got second thoughts now, 'coz you know... have to like, show professionalism at work ma... so cannot lah... Haha! But anyway, I'm still gonna go ahead and present to you the newest addition to my snack corner... and here it is :

Yup! This is my new snack for the days to come. I like how it's just nice for my addiction towards dark chocolate. 60% - not too sweet, not too bitter. Syok! If you like dark chocolates too, do get your hands on these and give it a try!

A World Of Hope

You know how fortunate you are, when you come across the less-fortunate in your daily lives.
And you know how strong you can be, when you see how less-fortunate people fight their way to survive, and never give up. And you know how small, petty and insignificant your worries are, when you see that these people, under the circumstances where such hindrance keeps them away from feeling less than perfect, yet have the warmth of spirit so great within them.

I wouldn't say I've been roaming the streets a lot. But I've roamed enough to find, on the streets, the blinds with their trust-worthy walking sticks, beating the rush hour crowd, just to get to work, just like all of us do. I've seen people with just a leg, with their trustable crutches, balancing their way slowly to get to work, just like all of us do.

I like that within our realistic community, modernised society, there's a world that shows no discrimination towards the less-fortunate. I like that these people have jobs, just like we all do. An opportunity for them to earn a living, a place for them to feel they belong, and that they don't need to depend on sympathy just to stay alive, the chance for them to contribute to the society, and that they too, can succeed. But above all, I like that within our urbanized society, there are still kind, generous, helpful and warm people out there, right here in our very own busy city, who are just as willing to aid others - the ones that offer their seats to them, the ones that hold their hands and lead them across the busy streets, the ones who care enough.

It just gives you a glimpse of hope, that this world, as it is now, could be a better place - now that, is very touching. And to be reminded that it is never too late, to be kind. To be reminded that when things get rough in life, when the world gets realistic with you, you can always, strike a balance, and think of how the less-fortunate are more fortunate, grateful, and thankful, as compared to us.

Potentially The Greatest Conquer (In My Life)

You know what's the best part about being spontaneous when you're planning for a holiday?
That there's no sound plan being arranged/organized/laid out for it.
And for that, you don't really have to be stressed all over to plan for a well-deserved holiday.
The keyword here is 'flexible'. And you know what flexible is putting me at "risk" now?
That a supposingly leisure jalan-jalan trip to Kota Kinabalu with a group of friends, might end up being a damn adventurous one!

The intention was a holiday. The target, however, was to conquer Mt Kinabalu! - the tallest mountain you can practically find in Borneo. (Next year that is). Thanks to AirAsia's famed zero-fare promotion. I seriously don't know how I'm going to survive my way up there. I hope I'll stay alive. Haha.

But well... If I ever make it up there, if all's going well, here's where I'll be standing & setting my feet on by next March!

I better start working my butts off in the next half a year so that I stay alive in the mission. Practically everything needs to be worked on - stamina, skills, tact, even on the little fear of heights I have! Haha. Wish me the best of luck (and lots of strength - mentally & physically), okay? If I ever die on my way up (or on my way down from) there, please always remember, I want to be remembered as 'the gal who died peacefully, and not in fear', okay? (Touch-wood) Haha!

Mongol (2007)

Thanks to my highly-interested-in-history other half (I'm quite sure he's not reading this), I've had the opportunity to watch this movie a few months back (without really knowing it was gonna be an up-coming blockbuster movie). I see that it's now showing on GSC screens, so I did a little more homework to find out more on the movie that I'd been trapped to watch back then, without knowing a clue of what to expect. I think I did ask if it was gonna be one of those long boring movies with lots and lots of historical data to digest. By the name of it 'Mongol', that would be a common perception to hold. But I was proven wrong. Historian or not, I would want to really recommend this movie if you're interested to find out more of the ever-famed great ruler, Genghis Khan that practically everyone in our century (or centuries before) have heard of. Directed by award-winning Sergei Bodrov (Russian), the story brings us to see how Temujin grew up as a kid in all life's turbulence, right up 'til how he became Khan of the Mongol Empire, the largest & greatest empire of all time in history. A truly reflective movie. Do give it a go!

Passion

Yesterday, I had a fair chance of having a chat with my reporting director, who's by the way a great leader by the lengths of the achievements I've heard thus far. I've just never met her in person in my short tenure with the current role that I'm in, despite the numerous times of hearing her speak over team meetings through countless conference calls. So it's a little awkward given the thought that I'll be in a one-to-one session with a total stranger, and it was meant to be an informal 'chat'. But it all turned out real well. She's a superbly friendly and nice person to speak to, and she's not all about work. And I like that. Leaders who are not just all-work and no-play, are pretty people-oriented leaders. : )

Some where along the conversation, she actually got me thinking of a word. The word that stood out to me was passion. Yes, passion.

Now, I'm pretty sure when I was younger, I'd had ten times more passion towards life and towards the things I did than I have now. It's a rather cynical view to have, isn't it? I know. So what did I do about it after the call? I dived into my innermost thoughts (and judgmental emotions) to pin point what do I really have passion in. And you know what sprang into mind almost instantly? The word shopping. Haha. I have passion for shopping??! That's my passion?! Pathetic, I tell you. So I shrugged it off with a laugh and started the whole deep-in-thoughts process again to search for the right answer. [For the record, shopping does count as a passion. It's just never as healthy to the wallet. : ) ]

And there was never a right answer. There were actually.... a few of the right answers. Haha. And they go like this..

1. I thought if I've got passion for music, in music, towards music. And I think I do. If I could've learned more instruments, I would. If I've had the time to compose and write songs, I think I would too. If I were at the karaoke, I would've enjoyed singing too. I guess I just don't make a good musician as a career. It'd be awful if you see me, in a black tux suit, conducting an orchestra - can't imagine. I'd probably get thrown rotten eggs. Haha.

2. Teaching? Yea, I think I can teach. Probably kids, kindergarten? I'd probably find them cute and adorable, so it doesn't 'feel' like you're teaching anyway. But you know how kids are these days, right? They grow & learn faster than their age. What if I get questions like, "Teacher, what is sex? I overheard my parents talking bout it". What am I supposed to answer then? In this case then, again, I don't think I cut out to be a very tactful teacher.

3. What about travelling? Sure, I think I would've loved it if I can just travel and see the world with no worries. But that would require more financial dependence than you think you can afford. Become a tour guide then? But I wasn't really that good in history back in school, and plus, I'm bad in memorising things. Die... cannot also.

4. Designing? Not the fashion design, designing, but the architectural design, designing. Thought about it. Several times. Hmm... I don't know. Am I really that interested and good at it? Designs are rather subjective, abstract, perceptive things. And I never did score in my art back in schooling days either. I'd like to try out for fun, but not at the expense of earning none to survive with. So again, vague.

So how lah? Passion in thoughts, but not in action. Haha.
All I can say, is that I really lack passion in what I'm doing now. That's a recipe to fail & recipe for disaster. But all that said, I'm keeping all these KIV and calling it a day for now. Will be back for more posts soon. Have a great evening!

Professional Blogging?

If you've been following my blog for a while now, you would've noticed the vast diversity in quality among the snapshots & photos provided throughout entries from the very start.
I hadn't really been putting much emphasis on how my photos should appear professional in any way, 'coz I was only blogging for fun's sake, for memory's sake, for life archive's sake, for my-eyes-only sake (in a way la).

And then, I find myself getting more and more picky on nice shots.
With my occasional handphone camera, and digicam as the only two trusted tools with me, I sometimes look at my photos, and I go "Hmm.. what kinda photo is that, how to put on blog?"
Haha... I know, macam professional blogger, right? Or some professional photographer.
But I assure you, I'm not. In fact I would think there's so much more to learn from taking a very nice shot from my digital camera. What more with an SLR one! So I'm gonna be aiming for a better camera, soon! Been eye-ing on one in particular, just that, err... you know lah, financial constraints ma. What to do?! Haha.

To echo that, I actually start taking pictures of things I come across more often than ever now... Ada lah sikit-sikit symptoms of being a professional blogger every now and then. You know what my dad said the other day when I was busy capturing photos of the food over dinner? He said "Maybe you'd ventured into the wrong business". Haha. Maybe, just maybe, he was right. In a way or another, I think I actually enjoyed blogging & photography more (okay, much more) than I enjoy my current workload! And that's bad news! Top that up with lots and lots of technology glitches that the systems/tools are facing, with the ever-so-underground kinda office politics, with the NATO (no action, talk only) people. Totally not helping.

Okay lah. That's it from me on a random piece, in a random hour (am still in the office actually).
Will post soon!

All-Time Favourite Almond Powder Drink

Guess what was sitting on my workstation when I came into the office this morning (with my usual Monday Blues)?!

Tadaa.... This!! :D

My all-time favourite Almond Drinking Powder, specifically flown in, in the spaces of a luggage bag, in EVA Air's very own cabin cargo, all the way from Taiwan! Haha! Yup yup, as you could've guessed, it really made up my day. And, it must've guiltily weighed kgs (err.. for a few cans of those) in my very kind colleague's luggage. But he was real nice to carry these back for me, and I'm really grateful he did! Haha. 'Coz I'm missing these almond powder lots. Okay okay, enough talks, I'm gonna go make myself a cuppa! 'Til then! And oh, I'm so gonna try out the sesame one soon - hope they're just as nice! Hehe.

Krispy Kreme is here in KL!

Right, I had to do another post on food.
This has been a 'lil delayed, but here goes...

You know how Krispy Kreme donuts became the talk of the town lately?
Yup, everyone everywhere was practically talking 'bout those donuts!
You hear 'em donuts spoken by colleagues in the office, by passerby's in the monorails, in the shopping malls (even when you're pee-ing in the toilet)... practically everywhere. I kid you not!

So last week, I finally had my share of this new hype when I headed down to Berjaya Times Square & bought those yummy little donuts, packed 'em back home to Kuantan, and share with the entire family these new little arrivals in town.

I'm sharing a few shots here. Just don't drool... :D

The culprit that was responsible for everyone's added wasitlines... hehe..

space These are the original honey glazed ones...

space And these are a few assorted ones... Check out those choc bits - those are from Hershey's, yummm!

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I didn't quite had the chance to try out more assorted flavours as I bought 'em quite late. Shall give this another go soon!

Black Canyon Coffee @ East Coast Mall, Kuantan

Hey all!
I'm back from my regular weekend travelling back and forth Kuantan.
Only thing that was irregular this time 'round, was that we went celebrating Mother's Day over dinner last night. It was Mother's Day eve, we'd figured most of the chinese restaurants would be jam-packed and we wouldn't be able to get a table if we were to walk in without making a reservation [leave alone having an enjoyable dinner]. So we brought mum to East Coast Mall, and we tried out Black Canyon Coffee, there, for the very first time.

Here are a few quick snapshots of what we've ordered for the night!

Mum ordered their Mother's Day promo-set, which consisted of....

Fish Fillet Steak, and soup of choice (mushroom/corn/chicken)...

With Milkshake/Latte of choice (we chose Chocolate Milkshake)...

As well as a two-scoop ice cream dessert...

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The rest of us ordered some of their ala carte dishes & their dinner promo-sets.

Chicken Teriyaki Steak Set, which comes with a...


Strawberry Milkshake...


Stir-fried Spaghetti with Chicken Ham & Mushroom Set, comes with a...

Tom Yum Soup...

and a fresh watermelon juice...

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We also randomly ordered these :

Spring Rolls...

Thai Spicy Salad with Seafood..

You know how the rave is when a new restaurant/cafe outlet opens in Kuantan. Practically everyone will contribute to the excitement level for the first few months it's opened, more often than not, only to find out it doesn't necessarily looks good on the inside as what it's shouting from the outside. There are instances where you might find the food weren't as nice as it boasted to be, or that the service could be a dauntingly bad experience. But Black Canyon Coffee in East Coast Mall is none of those. In fact, the dinner session there was an unexpectingly pleasant experience that night. We could be just lucky, or they could've been putting huge amount of effort & efficiency to cater to the Mother's Day crowd, but all we knew was that we walked away satisfied that night.

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And here's wishing every mother a Happy Mother's Day!

My First Pair Of Lewre Heels!

Guess what I got myself today? :D

A pair of Lewre heels! Yay!!

They're having a Lewre Shoe Fair here at The Weld Concourse from today (4th May) to 8th May. Stocks are quite limited as of this afternoon. But it's only like, err... 14 floors below my office! So I went to have a look anyway. Hehe. So here's what I got...

You know what the funny part was? I was trying out these heels with a dear colleague, and then this saleslady came and assisted me with the sizes, you know what she asked me? "Are you looking for wedding shoes, miss?" to which I laughed madly. Dear colleagues was saying "What's with the impression of white being associated with weddings anyway?!" to which I answered, "Ok wat, these heels can now be a good buy 'coz it can actually last me years 'til my actual wedding day comes". Haha.

The two things I absolutely love from this purchase :

1. Unlike any other warehouse sales or fairs, they're giving us proper quality paperbags if we do actually purchase, and not those pasar-malam-like red/white colour transparent plastic bags. At least not so pahlia lor... Hehe.

2. The best-est (no such word okay, but I need to express my excitement, haha) thing about this is, the usual price for this pair of heels is selling at RM259. And I got it for RM50! Muahaha. Happy betul...

Music-Man Lee Hom Live in Malaysia 2009 (Bukit Jalil)

Yupp. Finally. Been putting off writing this entry 'coz I so wanna find the perfect balance in mood & momentum to be writing it (so that I don't sound like I'm the craziest person on earth, or sound like I'm killing off the excitement level for the night, in other words, potong stim :p ). But I was also busy-lah for the whole long weekend, that's why this entry's been a 'lil delayed. Haha.

Let me tell 'ya how the craze all started with this concert. When word got out about this concert back in early March...

I was practically quite kiasu to actually make plans to buy myself those tickets, making sure I don't miss out on good seats.

And this is what I'd manage to get. Row R, okay. That's 18th darn row, I tell 'ya. And I thought I was kiasu enough, not expecting other LeeHom fans to be that kiasu. Kiasu giler... Haha. I was actually in a minor sulking mode after getting those tickets, a little disappointed to how the inconsistency was with the Galaxy staffs, and thinking to myself I must've gotten those tickets a little too late.

But well, come 2nd May'09, it actually turned out quite okay. We were actually seated just a row ahead of the railings, so our views weren't obstructed in any way at all. Pretty lucky, huh?

Did you know that seats were pretty much filled up in the stadium that night? That's approximately 25,000 over concert-goers/fans!

There were plenty of highlights throughout the concert that it's hard to actually point out a few random outstanding ones. (I'll try my best, okay?)

1. His Music-Man attire/outfit complete with his custom made Bahamut treble-clef-dragon electric guitar, which costed USD$25,700, specially made by famous Irish, Alistair Hay. Dragon's been a pretty significant icon in LeeHom's recent designs, as he himself was born in the chinese zodiac year of dragon.

2. The stage backdrop visuals during the entire concert was awesome! I don't know how they did it, but I would give full credit for this. It was fabulous.

3. It was a different choreography altogether this time around, no repetition as compared to the previous two concerts. I guess the Music-Man-rock-theme must have given this a bonus in variation of some of the songs.

4. I really really love the part where he showcased his violin skills. It is by far, my favourite! I find it so amazing because over the years, he's been focusing so much on other instruments like drums, piano, er-hu, gu-zheng, guitars, harmonica and all, that I find his piece of performance on violin in the previous concert hasn't been all that impressive (which was a 'lil disappointing to the fact that violin was the first instrument he picked up in learning music when he was young). But that night, I fell in love once again with his violin-playing. Nice. :D

I found the part on Youtube, so I can gladly share with you, though I wouldn't think you can see him performing from this video, but at the very least, you could listen to how he serenaded us with all the right phrasings and pitches on his string instrument.



5. He'd showcased his talent in guitars, violin, piano and drums, but I'd silently wished there was more. Hehe. I feel tak cukup. Haha. I know.. I was being greedy.

6. Throughout the concert, there were times when it did feel more like a walk-down-the-memory-lane and reminiscence of his 13 albums to date. With everyone singing along to songs as old as this...



to this...



to this...



It really does feel good to be a part of the stadium-packed-crowd singing along & cheering aloud to tunes like that.

7. You know that the concert's great when, by the end of the concert, most of the people are already up on their feet cheering Encore for more! So LeeHom came up-stage once more and gave his best last here...



It was overall-ly good, I only wish it was longer. I actually came home really tired, I think I swayed/swung/waved my hands too much throughout the entire concert lor. Haiyo! And the one part that was missing compared to last concert in 2007, was a guest star appearance. Check out his Heroes of Earth 2007 guest performance with JJ Lin (林俊杰) here! Was impressively wow-ed by the real creativity.



Here's cheers to Music-Man's concert's success, and Happy be-earlied Birthday! :D

Ohh! And I sincerely apologise for the massive video files uploaded from Youtube, be patient with the connection yea. :D