Haze AGAIN!

What a horrible weather! Seems like the haze has arrived YET again. Darn, it is worse for people with sensitive noses like me. I've been sneezing a lot of times since this morning and I can feel like there's an army of mucus in my throat. I pity those suffering from asthma, they sure will feel it a hundred times worse. I'm sure many people are affected by this. Arggh... this feels really bad.

I really don't understand why our "friendly" neighbour country doesn't get how bad the situation gets because of their forest clearing fires and illegal crop burnings. It is pure selfishness if you ask me. As if the global warming isn't bad enough, they go and make it worst by creating this hazardous and health threatening pollution. Every year it is getting worst. How very inconsiderate!

This has got to STOP. Those who can do something about please, please do SOMETHING!

Daughtry in One Utama!

Last Saturday, thanks to Doreen, we managed to catch the "Traffic Jam: Street Party" organized by Sony Ericsson in One Utama Cental Park Avenue. It was really awesome to see Daughtry "live". The performance is superbly outstanding. They even brought along their own sound engineers. Too bad I had no photos to show you because they didn't allow any cameras (except camera phones) so I had to register and put away my camera during the whole show.

There were other performers there as well. Daughtry was the main act and they saved the best to the last. It started with some percussive performers called the Aseana Percussion Unit (APU). Their repertoire was rather entertaining with many different styles and a lot of infusion of chinese, indian and ethnic sounds.

Daniel Lee also came to sing three songs. To me the best song performed was Mimpi. It was really good, greatly expressed and I can feel his confidence in this song. The other two songs was alright, but I think the music was a tad too loud because I couldn't really hear what he was singing.

There were also other local acts and a DJ session. I felt that the sessions before Daughtry were a bit too long. So long that by the time Daughtry came my enthusiam were a bit drowned out. But despite that I have no regrets for attending this concert. Daughtry is SO GOOD! Really awesome, man! I mean they can still sound like how they do in their CD recording. Amazing huh? I am really, really impressed! Not many performers can actually perform well "live". Some even needing to use auto-tuning in their performance to maintain their pitching. They played a lot of songs and even had some acoustic solo performances by Chris Daughtry himself. The crowd seems to be enjoying themselves a lot. They sang along to those familiar songs like It's Not Over, Over You, Feels Like Tonight, What I Want and many more.

Like I've mentioned earlier, I have no photos but I can share with you a few clips.

A little Monday hello

Good monday? Hope you're not suffering from Monday blues. I couldn't really sleep last night probably cause my monthly thing is here. *sigh* I was practically tossing and turning the whole night. Now I feel a bit dizzy and there's this nasty pain at the back of my head. Hope it goes away soon.

Everybody in my office seems to have caught a cold. I can hear a symphony of coughs, sneezing and stuck noses towards my right side. Hope I won't catch their virus. *shudder* I've got to strengthen my immunity because I can't afford to be sick.

Sex and the City

I managed to catch up with Siew Kheng and Boon Han yesterday. We were gathered together to watch the free preview screening of Sex and the City. It was a pretty last minute decision, because I only got to know about the extra ticket for me during lunch time and only got the other 2 tickets for Siew Kheng and Boon Han towards the end of the day. I thought were so lucky and were so excited for this chance to go watch together, it seems like ages since the bunch of us actually got together.

So all of us met directly at Midvalley. Doreen ate dinner with he colleagues, while I waited for Siew Kheng and Boon Han. Guess where we went to eat? Carl's Jr! Definitely one of the best burgers around. You've just got to try it if you haven't.


























The movie was at 9:00pm so we went to the entrance of the cinema and then discovered that our tickets was for two different cinemas, halls #3 and #13. So we figured, never mind lor maybe we'll see each other after the show and went our separate ways.

So in we went to watch the show. It was quite a long show, more than 2 hours long and was pretty funny. The dialogue was very witty and interesting. I don't really fancy Sarah Jessica Parker which is one of the reasons I have not watched Sex and the City. But nevertheless I have to admit that this show was really interesting, in fact more impressive than I thought it would be. The show was really colorful, and it's so interesting to see all the fancy dresses and outfits. Friendship is the key focus and it really reminded me how important friendship means to me. To all my dear friends, thank you for sharing my ups and downs. I realised that many a times, without them I think life would be unbearable. Life is naturally complicated and everyone needs someone there by your side once in a while, not necessarily to do anything but most of the time to just listen to us whine, complain and to cry and laugh together.

By the time the show ended, Doreen and I were exhausted. We went straight home, bathe and headed onto bed.

The next morning, we found out that Siew Kheng and Boon Han did not watch the show? WHY? The tickets were for the cinema in Pavilion KL. OMG!! Why didn't any of us realised that? No wonder we had different cinemas halls? And we were thinking at that time how come so many halls allocated for the movie preview. What a lesson to be learn, man. Next time we have to make sure to check through all the details in the ticket!

Nice roasted duck!

LOVE ROASTED DUCK? Let me introduce you to a really nice place in Damansara Uptown. The place is called Restaurant Yook Tho Yin. It has excellent service and is not too pricy considering the quality of food and the service. The duck has crispy skin and the meat still retains the juicy wholesome goodness. Take a look at it, makes your mouth feel like watering right? Simply delicious!















We also tried two other dishes, the Pei Pa Tofu and the Bittergourd Fried with Salted Egg. Both were also really yummy! The tofu looks pretty normal but once you sink your teeth into it, you'll notice how good it is. The tofu is stuffed with really soft and tasty fish paste. The blend brings out the natural tastiness of the tofu. The bittergourd looked really interesting with deep fried flakes of salted egg and was very appetising good, too!

Havana Bar

Ever been to a bar called Havana? A nice cozy bar located inside Tropicana Club. The crowd seems to be more matured and the music is suitable for casual hangouts with friends. There's a live band performing there as well if you're into live performances, called Downbeat. They're music tends to sound a bit old (even the keyboard sounds like from the 80s) but the song selections are not bad. Not the best but not the worst either. If you love to join in for Latin dances, you could stop by every Thursday, there's a Merengue session with a free dance workshop. The songs they play, whether live or from the cd, are really nice danceable pieces that you can show off your latin dance moves to.

I dropped by last night with Reese and Doreen to check out this bar. The atmosphere was very lively and friendly. Doreen and I also went and tried out the Merengue workshop and it was very fun to learn twirling here and there. There weren't enough guys who joined in, some girls needed to be the "guy" and Doreen was my "guy" yesterday. We even went twirling around exchanging partners until we finally danced back together. Really cool!

Check out some photos of us enjoying exquisite wine:

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

I went to catch Hellboy 2 the second time yesterday night. In case you were thinking, the first time was in Penang with my brothers. The sound system in Cathay Cineleisure is superb! By far the best in all the cinemas in KL and PJ! And the popcorn is so delicious, they're so generous with the caramel! Yummy!

The movie was overall okay, it was up to my expectations. Nowadays, most movies tend to be lower than my expectations, some proving to be really really disappointing. What happened to all the good movies? Iron Man was the only odd one out because it exceptionally good and Indiana Jones 4 was unfortunately rather disappointing. It totally lost me when the aliens were introduced. At least Hellboy 2 had a good story flow and a healthy dose of humour. The story continued from the first movie rather smoothly and this time you can see a variety of different kind of monsters. I particular liked the "tooth-fairies"! So cute and yet so deadly. :)

The soundtrack for Hellboy 2 is so cool! It's composed by none other than Danny Elfman, the same dude who wrote for Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride and Wanted. That same distinctive dark and slightly eerie feel signature of his can be heard. I'm even thinking of getting the soundtrack CD. :)

Catch it if you haven't! If you have no clue at all about what this movies is about, check out the trailer here:
Hellboy2: The Golden Army Trailer

I watched with my blind (a.k.a. "unsighted") friend, Chee Chau. Yes! "Unsighted" people do watch movies, although I would call it more like "listen" to movies. At first I also was a bit skeptical when he told me he watched movies. Did you know that there are special DVDs available for the "unsighted" people, where they actually have voice-overs to describe the scene (not available in Malaysia though). Of course they are shows that "unsighted" people can't watch, such as Mr Bean and Charlie Chaplin because they don't speak. :P

Sometimes "unsighted" people do require some explanation because not all the scenes are verbal and it can get kind of confusing when it comes to action movies such Hellboy. But do not fear, Sandie is here! According to Chee Chau, I am very descriptive so no problem la if watch with me.
As we were leaving the cinema, I spotted something shiny on someone's seat and it triggered my curiosity. A closer look revealed them to be three coins. By then everybody had already left the cinema, so I took it (finder's keeper's). It was a mere 60 sen but I managed to partially subsidise my parking fee. Ha Ha Ha, better than nothing, right?

Roti Telur Goreng!

Let me introduce to my favourite, the Roti Telur Goreng (if you have yet to know it!). Imagine your average roti telur being cut into small chunks and then fried like how they do for maggi goreng. It is simply delicious! You'll know once you've tried it. So far I have not found any mamak place in PJ which offers this tasty dish. Please let me know if you know of any!


The only place I do know to get them is at the Serdang mamak. I do occasionally drive down there when I have Roti Telur goreng cravings! Here are some photos from one that I have "tabau-ed" recently. Looks quite similar to koay teow goreng right?
















If you do have the chance, I highly recommend anyone to go try out the mamak in Serdang. They really do offer a wider variety and some can be said to be innovated by UPM students. Here's a list of mamak food from the top of my mind that are popular back when I was still in uni:

1. Roti Telur Goreng
2. Roti Tisu Milo (roti tissue sprinkled with sugar and milo)
3. Roti Mayonaisse (roti rolled up with hard boiled and mayo inside)
4. Roti Cheese (roti filled with cheese and sugar)
5. Bollywood Shake (ice blended mixture of coffee, milk and tea)

Party time!

Last weekend I went with Doreen to a Muay Thai after party at Zouk. Here's a photo of us with some new friends we made, Jane and Alison.
I still have no clue in knowing what is so fun about going clubbing. Perhaps I am getting old? Or maybe just not my cup of tea. I generally don't fancy going to clubs because it is so smoky (I myself don't smoke) and sometimes a bit sweaty if the club is hot. I dread having to wash my hair for god knows how many times just to get rid of the tobacco smell. I also don't really enjoy drinking alcohol, namely hard liquor. The only ones that I prefer to drink are red wine, Martini and Bacardi Limon.I do however enjoy going to Jazz clubs, the ones that offer live performances. My current favourites are Bangkok Jazz and Alexis. Those are really nice! The ambience is more suitable for hanging out casually and at least you can talk without having to shout. :P

Here's another photo of muas truly in party mode!



















After the Zouk party, we were starving so we dropped by for some supper at good ol' McDonalds. Does Doreen look sober yet? :P

Say NO to drugs!

I am sick.... I really hate feeling all weak and uncomfortable. I guess no one wants to get sick, but neverless we are only humans and even machines break down once in a while. I don't usually fall sick often because I can proudly say that my immune system is kind of strong. *grin* So what usually happens is I will feel like falling sick then next day, walaa! I feel okay and back to normal. This happens constantly so I feel like there's a constant battle within my body's defense system and virus/bacteria attacks. Come to think of it, it feels like there's a miniature Lord of The Rings battle in my body. Ha ha ha! It can get kind of tiring, that sometimes I just feel like getting full-blown sick just to end it! Ha ha ha! I guess that would be like the FINAL battle of LOTR!

Nowadays, with the weather and the bad air you can easily get sick. So everyone, please please take care of yourselves. Because I always believe that prevention is better than cure!

I don't believe in taking drugs to relieve your sickness. Unless I really need to, I will stray as far away from it as possible. For me taking drugs too much increases your risk of dependency on them. One of the common drug that is prescribed by your doctor when you have a cold is the infamous "antibiotics". Did you know that the more often you eat a certain type of antibiotic, your body will actually get used to it and everytime that happens you need to increase the strength of the antibiotic? And because of this, there are mutated, stronger and probably incurable colds because those virus strains have also gotten immune to these antibiotics? So are we really improving things, or making it worse?

Pasar Malam at Sri Petaling

Last Tuesday I managed to go to the Sri Petaling pasar malam. It has been quite some time since my last visit there. Brings back so much old memories. It is by far my favourite pasar malam in Selangor/KL. :P

As usual, I purchased some yummy "chow tao foo" and it still as good as ever. Check out these deep fried beauties.

Thanks Doreen for driving us all the way down. Surprisingly the traffic flow was not as jammed as I thought it would be. Here's a photo of Doreen with her "Lam Yu" fried chicken wing. Viva la Chicken Wings!!