Makan Trip - Melaka

went to Melaka for a day-trip on Sunday since it’s holiday. uncle mun came to fetch us at 7a.m and met up at joe’s place and convoyed to Melaka. reached there at about 10a.m and we went hunting for chicken rice ball. we passed by a shop which was quite good business cos there’s many people there and it’s located under a 大树头 （big tree）[we had a theory that every hawker who operates under a big tree is sure very delicious! it’s kinda proven cos almost every famous food came from big tree. wtf. it’s true.] but we didn’t know how to u-turn back to that place and not sure what’s the name so we just GPS to any famous stall available, and Hoe Kee at Jonker’s Street came up so we went there.

rice balls. quite nice. very fragrant.

stir fried cabbage. so-so only

steam chicken. we had 2 plates. very soft and juicy. but Smelly said no chicken taste.

overall the meal was ok. can go back next time but i think we can find a better one. after that, we went for our dessert… CHENDOL. which is just the opposite of the restaurant, recommended by Hoe Kee’s staff. it’s a very quaint shop with a bar counter and 3 tables. they displayed a collection of coca-cola bottles and cans.. also a few other old school soft drinks.

a cabinet displayed only Coke. many different sizes and designs.

we’re actually their first customer for the day. Chendol was nice. not too sweet. coconut is just enough, not too overpowering. just nice! totally recommended! thirst quencher!

after Chendol, we took a walk along the street. it was SUPER hot! we’re sweating all over.. imagine sauna. we went to the St Paul’s Church Ruins just to satisfy Uncle Mun and joe’s crave for photo sessions.. we were all forced to climb up to the ruin and do nothing. =_= then we went to the cannon place and airplane place.. (i don’t remember what’s the name of the place. history fail). all i know is it’s very hot and humid and sweaty and er.. just not feeling touristy enough to turn on my CW™ mode. so no photos.

since it’s makan trip, we went for the famous Nyonya Laksa at Jonker88.

finally satisfied my craved since the last time i went there, which is 4 months ago =P but to be honest, it’s not as nice as the first time i tried this. perhaps it’s because of the crowd or something.. and one thing that turned me off was there was some meehoon accidently mixed in the laksa and the portion is very small. a tiny bit of disappointment there but the taste is still great! shared this with Smelly cos still too feeling full from chicken rice.

after that, we went to Dataran Pahlawan Megamall.. which is very “mega” lol.. only one floor (i think) but long stretch. [how can you call it mega when it’s like… not?? wtf.]

we walked about in the mall because there’s free aircond. =P Chloe (Uncle Mun’s daughter was pestering him to do the hand wax thingy so he let her try but she couldn’t keep her hand still the third time she dip her hand in the wax so she got “burnt” a lil and cried (actually it’s not THAT hot but for a 5 year-old, it may be burning hot) lol. didn’t manage to do the wax at last cos she got panicked and scared. but the guy there was very nice and patient tho.. no photos cos it’s in mun’s cam.

then, we came across a “wishing well”, actually it’s a charity for those unfortunate children or something but they made the donation box like a wishing well to attract people to donate. i like the idea! kill two birds with a stone. get people to donate and they get to play a lil “game”. just insert a coin in the slot at both sides and it will spin through.

here’s a video i took.

pardon the kids.. don’t know whose sons.. they thought it’s really a game.. haha.. they tried to take the coin back to roll it again! :P and sorry it’s tilted cos i forgot i’m using a digicam.

we did put a few coins in it. hey, this wishing well is definitely recommended way to do charity! i’ve never seen people who are SO eager to donate! =) thumbs up for the person who started this.

it’s already about 4.30a.m and we’re up for another round of dessert! since i’ve never tried durian chendol before, we went to 三叔公 (San Shu Gong) [direct translate : 3rd Grand Uncle] since that’s the only chendol shop that looked pretty comfortable. they have a shop at Jonker’s Walk too.

vainpot on CW™ mode.

there were not many customers when we went in so at first, i thought that it’s probably not that delicious but we waited patiently for the durian chendol. i was pretty skeptical at first cos i’ve always thought that chendol with other flavors or ingredients other than CHENDOL is a bit off cos it’s not chencol anymore when you out other things in it! (eg: chendol with sticky rice) right right? ok, i digress.

i like the cup holder. DURIAN! my fav fruit!

when i saw the color of the durian paste, i was like “ i thought durian is supposed to be yellow?” and doubted a second when i mix everything evenly before my first scoop.

“DON’t MiSS!”

nice done cup holder.

so i finally braved myself for my first spoon of durian chendol. the minute i put it in my mouth, it like.. OMG!!! it’s ORGASMIC! LOVE AT FIRST SPOON!!! OMFG! this is totally extremely very superbly fuckingly highly recommended by me! the ice is shredded just right, after mixing everything, the texture is not too thick, not too watery, just nice. not too sweet and it has got nata de coco in it! i think they dipped the nata de coco into gula melaka (brown sugar) or they made the nata de coco from the gula melaka. super nice! and the durian….. the durian….. omg.. the durian flavor is just ngam ngam hou! not too overpowering. THE DURIAN CHENDOL IS JUST AWESOMENESS!!!!! writing about it now and looking at the photo made me crave for more already!! ok, i better stop raving about it now cos if i continue, it’ll be very long. trust me. DURIAN CHENDOL IS BEST!

pineapple tart. didn’t try but Smelly said it’s good!

some durian springy cake or something. i only remember the word “springy” in the menu. taste ok. it’s a cold dessert.

quite nice but i think the chendol bought me. i like the “leaf” wrapper tho.. this restaurant is definitely creative. i like the durian chendol holder.. ok.. stop talking bout the durian chendol now.

so after we’re done, we went to Eye On Malaysia. since we all, except loon and siew ling, missed the one in Titiwangsa last year, we thought why not just go for a ride since we’re already there, right? so before we went up, we passed by this exotic animals exhibition thingy.. we didn’t go in la.. cos have to pay and i dun like cold blooded animals. i still like my Alfie. but they put a few animals at the entrance tho to attract people.. like this friend of yours..

don’t be deceived by it’s cute face. this fella actually tried to grab joe’s camera when joe pointed it too close to the cage.. and then, he grabbed joe’s bag when joe turned around!! hahahaha! very mischievously cute! see? munching his apple.. this monkey is really cute. and i’ve always thought that all monkeys are like little kids.. so humanly err… monkey! wtf.

i know this ‘eye’ photo is a bit too cliché but nehmind.. i been there. better late than never.

loon below the eye.

we. is. here.

bleh.

(how i wished that was the London Eye)

discount for MyKad owner. wtf.. malaysian kiamsiap (stingy) so have to give discount only we will go up. hahaha!

ticket for 2.

we had to sit separately cos max per gondola 7 person. wtf… we’re 7 adults and a 5 year-old! ugh..

was a lil dizzy when the thing swung when it’s not moving so i had to try not to move so much.

the nicest view when we’re on top. other than this view, it’s like.. you can see the brown straits water… unfinished buildings, and er… basically, the view is not breathtaking. well, breath taking for uncle mun cos he’s acrophobic! well, mild type la.. hahaha!! no wonder before we went up, he keep on saying that he scared his daughter will throw a fit because of the heights.. but actually his daughter is braver than him! LMAO!

uncle mun in action. keep himself busy so that he won’t feel the height.

oh oh… i btw, i’ve actually TOUCHED A SNAKE!!!!!!!! there’s a lady who’re holding an Albino promoting their exotic animal exhibition at the entrance so Smelly asked me to touch it cos he knows that i’m afraid of those slimey cold things and he wanna scare me.. so i braved myself and used my right index finger to touch it.. while Smelly GRABBED it!!!! ok la.. maybe i’m a bit exaggerating… but he actually ENJOYED touching the snake! ugh! ok, i had to admit that it’s not THAT scary after all.. the skin feels just like.. uh.. snake skin handbag. -_- wtf right. really!! and… not much difference from my pv bag’s surface.. i kid you not. my bag is softer tho. i asked Smelly why the snake is not as cold as i imagine.. he said that i didn’t really touch it cos actually i have to GRAB the snake like him only can feel its coldness. wtf. he said index finger doesn’t count. wtf. whatever… i’m gonna tell my kids i’ve touched a snake! haha! “your mommy touched a snake… bluek!!”

but uh……

fml.

forgot to take a photo of me touching the snake as prove. so i can only say, no prove! and my kids will think that i lied.fml. T_T (let’s go back there to take photo!!!!)

ugh, Smelly kept saying that he wanted an iguana as a pet after that cos we saw one at the ruin earlier.. wtf… iguanas, lizards, geckos whatever kind it is, is a NO WAY okay! i have Alfie and is happy and enough. no more room for another pet okay.

so after the Eye, we went to the Portuguese Settlement to have our dinner.. which is overlooking the straits..

an uncle came and greet us (actually more to force us) to dine at his stall. it’s like food court style but all the different stalls are selling the same seafood la…so the uncle actually is trying to catch business.. he was very accommodating he even brought a lazy chair for Chloe! (she’s deeply asleep by the time we reached the place) so we thought he’s too nice to be told off so we ordered and dine there.

Sambal Lala. but the lala tastes like O-jien tho.. uh.. not my type of taste for the sambal.. so-so only.

Asam prawns. doesn’t looked like asam style to me at first, but to our surprise, it tasted quite delicious! i like it cos it’s sour, just the way i like it..

kangkung belacan. normal.

squid fritters. star dish of the night. the batter is not too thick and melts in your mouth. very crunchy. thumbs up!

butter garlic crab. which was quite nice.

baked fish Portuguese style.

Kam Heong style crab. i prefer the butter garlic version cos this one’s cooked with too much of spice. the spices taste was too overpowering to my liking.

baked otak-otak. very nice! i like!

overall, the trip was good but too tiring perhaps due to the hot weather. we head home at about7.45 but reached kl at about 10 cos we got lost a bit thanks to Malaysian signboards! damn misleading! ugh.

we all spent about rm60 per person (excluding petrol and tolls) for the whole makan trip! quite affordable right? mmm.. i’m thinking of going back there again some time soon. for the durian chendol of course!!!

oh.. Happy Raya and happy holidays!

little by little.

I’ve been going home more regular lately. It feels strangely good. Strange, because I’ve been staying out for almost 3 years now and during those 3 years, I can even count with my fingers how many times I actually stayed overnight at home. I do feel guilty for not being home often. And I’ve talked about moving back home so many times that nobody’s gonna believe that I can make it because I never kept my words. Going back home lately is actually some kind of achievement for me. I said it feels strangely good because I never thought that I’ll feel good going home. I’ve always thought that my room is not the same anymore; my bed doesn’t have “my” scent already, even my wardrobe is left too long that my clothes got yellowish and smelt “forgotten”. But I realized that I felt good because something just doesn’t change no matter how long I stayed out. It’s still MY home. It still felt warm despite whatever icy emotional wars that never fades in the house ever since before I even move out.

One thing that got me hyped up these days when I go home is due to the existence of my niece. She’s 17 months now and she’s such a cute mischievous bundle of joy. Though she doesn’t really come home that often with my sister, but every time she’s back, she lights up everyone’s mood. Ahh… such a bliss to be a child. No worries, no stress, capable to throw whatever fits whenever possible (and get away with it), being loved and pampered by everyone, doing the simplest things that make people laugh… well at least we all lived the first 5 years of our lives without uncertainties… how I wished I remember how it was like to be a two-year old. Sure it was fun. At least nobody’s going to judge you. All children are cute no matter how annoying they get. They’re all meant to be loved. All deserved to be pampered.

Tiny little things changed bit by bit and the latest things that I realized when I was home last week were all the plants that were planted by grampa, ever since I can remember, went missing. His beautifully shaped multi-colored azaleas, the fern tree that survived for more than 20 years, those different types of vegetables that he used to plant regularly (though I never really dare to eat it ever since I got to know what he used as fertilizer), his beloved bonsais … all of that, was his glory. He was very proud of them and everyone was marveled at his talent, creating those gorgeous plants. Passersby gazed at those bonsais in admiration and many were envious, for it was too beautifully created (though he sold most of them few years before he passed away, which made my dad furious cos he sold it too cheap)…. Those azaleas, was my favorite of all. Three or four colors married to a steady branch in one big pot, skillfully bent into their shapes and designs (he used to cut it into bird shapes, which I’d always thought was shape of planes). I used look at him in amusement whenever he work on his plants. He put so much effort in each and every masterpiece and it still amazes me how brilliant my grampa was. When he passed away, those plants became orphans and left unattended. Some of them slowly got out of shape and some of them decided to accompany grampa to a better place. And when I found out that it went missing last week (I think dad got rid of them), I felt a tinge of pain in my heart. His glory died with him. Bits by bits.

Another thing that changed is gramma. She never calls my name like few months ago. She can’t remember me anymore. In fact, she can’t remember anyone. No words can be used to describe how I felt every time I see her now. She got thinner day by day. Her memories are vanishing. Her smiles are fading. All I can see in her face now is confusion and emptiness. What is she thinking right now? What is in her mind all the time now that she doesn’t remember? I wonder if she still recalls anything. I wonder if she’s putting any efforts to do so. But I’m sure she remembers at least something… Could she? It saddens me whenever I thought of her situation. Her deteriorating memories, her dislocated hips that is recovering slowly, her puzzled expression from not remembering anything… looking at her now is like looking at a rose that we received from our partner. The minute we received it, we started to admire it and before we learn how to appreciate it, it’s time to let it off our hands. We tried hard to preserve it from withering, but we knew one day, the petals will dry up and drop one by one.

I will appreciate the rose that I’ve neglected and almost forgotten. I will remember to shower it with love even though I knew it couldn’t absorb any more of it. Even though I knew one day, all that will be left is the thorny dry stem and I’ll have to pick up the petals from the floor… one by one, pieces by pieces.

Smelly’s Big Three O @ Secret Of Louisiana

 

This year is a bit special cos Smelly is turning 30! ^O^ so i gathered some of his close friends for a simple dinner at Secret Of Louisiana at Plaza Kelana, PJ. it was quite a last minute thingy cos i couldn’t think of any present to get for him due to personal financial crisis AND his wish list (something to do with car, what else?) is definitely WAY off my budget. :P  he’s a bit practical so getting something for him is a bit hard (i bought him a bottle of perfume for his 28th bday and until now, it’s still full!)

Hoegaarden for starters!

 

obligatory shot!

 

*smiles*

 

Forest Wild Mushroom Soup. delicious! just nice! it’s like freshly blended mushroom soup!

wine deco

 

entrance

 my main course. Sonoma Red Wine Chicken. new taste to me. i like the side dish.. baked/grilled carrots and wedges.

 

yums!

 draught hoegaarden. a bit disappointed tho cos it tasted a bit different from the usual that we had. too “watery”.

Smelly’s Rosemary Lamb Shoulder. not bad but too burnt at certain parts. mint sauce no taste. hmm.

 

Uncle Mun’s Original American Cheese Burger. highly recommended!

joean

 

Joean’s Louisiana’s Shrimp Scampi. taste good she said. very fragrant too!

  Siew Ling’s Seafood Aglio. Tasty!

groupie.

Ah Loon’s Arcadian Braised Chicken that came after two and a half hour. yes. TWO AND A HALF HOUR! he reached and ordered at 8.30p.m and supposed to fetch Siew Ling from work after eating but since Joean waited for 45 minutes for her pasta and he ordered 15 minutes later than her, we asked him to go fetch Siew Ling first and come back. and after he fetch Siew Ling, she called us when they’re on their way to order her pasta and when they reached at about 10.15pm, her pasta was served just in time.. BUT his meal is not! we actually checked with the waiter double triple quadruple  gazillion times in between the time he went to fetch Siew Ling but they said “chef is cooking” “chef a lot of order cos a lot of people” until they came back and we asked the supervisor again, and she said she’ll re-order for us and will make sure it’s ready in 10mins. by the time his food was served, Siew Ling already finished her food. gah!!! bad service! AND, the appetizer, Seafood Gumbo (no photos cos forgot but quite nice. it’s garlic bread dip with some seafood mash) that i ordered only came after everyone finished their main course!  (which is 2 hours later) hello!! my appetizer became dessert!! sigh… food was okay but service wise a bit turn off cos most of the waiters there are not local and they can’t seem to understand English very well and they took realllllllyyyy lllooooonnnnggg time to cook our food. hmm.. i don’t know if it’s because of weekend or so happen last night there’s a lot of patrons or perhaps they’re short of chef last night or memang their service is that bad…? hmm.. food was nice but definitely no next time.

hehe

  make a wish sincerely and it will surely come true

oreo cheese cake from Secret Recipe. thanks to Ah Loon for getting it for me.. =) i think Smelly didn’t see that coming.. heh.. we didn’t sing birthday song tho.. cos we all agree that it’s too er…. overrated? haha! (actually i know Smelly doesn’t like it cos he feel embarrassed. bleh!)

 

Happy Birthday bB!

going into another phase of your life. i wish you’d enjoy your unforgettable moments of twenties and looking forward to a fruitful three series. 

p/s- though your looks may still deceive other people but remember… “dai gor zai la lou jor la.. sang sang sing sing la ha…” MUACKSS

you know you have to go home more often when you couldn't find your toothbrush at your own house!

Ahh.. at last! went for "siu gai yik" !! (bbq chicken wings) went with Shorty last  night. been craving for siu gai yik since last week and finally got to eat it! yums! no photo cos too hungry. 

ahhhh... one step nearer to my goal, which is to go home more often (and overnight too) cos last night i finally push myself to stay home. yes! mission one accomplished. 

now moving to mission two : keep it up!

if i say i didn't brush my teeth this morning, will you still be my friend? what??

let's go holiday!

I checked AirAsia flight tix to HK next year during my birthday week and it’s only RM364 for return tix! OMG! I’m so tempted now.

I thought of “sin zham hau zau” (do only tell). But but… I’m still afraid that we’re still unable to arrange our schedule for next year yet. Boo.

But if I can “sin zham hau zau” like this year’s Bangkok trip also can ma.. right? Nothing bad happen also… Smelly didn’t kill me.. plus, this HK trip I already hinted him so considered he’s informed la.. right? Right?

Hmm… *evil plan*

BUT

I hate waiting for so long till holiday… =(

 

Sigh.

 

Let’s just go Singapore. Nearer. Or Hatyai. Wtf.. desperately need another holiday! Anyone? Weekend trip out of Malaysia?

don't bother. total randomness

So I started work for a week already. And I've been such a good girl for the past week! Can anyone imagine Denise reaching office ONE whole hour EARLIER than scheduled time?

Yes my friends… I've been reaching office an hour earlier, which is 8a.m. (almost) everyday. Well, except for yesterday and today (and the first and second day I reached 15 mins earlier cos I still have to test the timing..)  working in PJ is such a bitch sometimes. Though it's near, it seems so far due to the unpredictable traffic jam. The first day, I tried going out at 8.15a.m and reached there at 8.45. the next day, I went out at 8.30, I reached at 8.50. so the day after, I went out at 7.30 and I reached at 8a.m. then I tried 7.15, still reaching at 8a.m. no matter how early I go out, I still reach within 20-30  minutes. So I decided from now on, I will go out at 8.15. just nice. But yesterday, due to the long weekend, I overslept! When I woke up, I thought it was already 10.30! (effects of snoozing) horror I tell you! But when see properly, ceh.. 8.30.. so  showered and rushed out at 8.45. reached office at 9.10. a lil late but it's okay cos half of my colleagues reach at 9.30 everyday.

And today, I thought I can reach at least 5 minutes earlier  but still late 10minutes cos can you believe it???!? I took the wrong road! Supposed to take the right lane after Kerinchi toll, but I don't know why I go to the left and went to Pusat Bandar Damansara instead! Knn. Have to waste 10 minutes to u-turn.

And last Thursday after work, normally the road will be very jam and it'll take 40 minutes to reach home, BUT to my surprise, the road was very clear! Took me only 15 mins! It's like miracle! I thought I saw the time wrongly…

 

Ok.. the point is…

 

KL traffic jams are just unpredictable. I hate traffic jam! Gimme my strawberry jam!(oh.. cameron's strawberry jam is best! I dunno where Uncle Liew got it but it's the BESTEST.)

 

I'm just human after all.

Funny how human mind works.

Always looking for something that is not there.

Always reaching for something impossibly far beyond reach.

Always wanting something that is not ours.

Always comparing with things we can't possibly achieve.

Always hoping for something hopeless.

Always changing our mind and become restless.

Well, funny how my mind works.

who can help me?

ok.. so i was having this problem with the Microsoft Word 2007 in my laptop that i STILL can't figure out how come! anyone using Microsoft Word 2007? do you have this problem too or was it just me? and can someone tell me how to fix this? it's a lil annoying cos it's like the alignment lari but it's actually not and i'm very irritated. let me show you.(click on photo to see clearer)

ok, so when i open new Word document, the layout came out like this...

New Document


see? like off alignment right? and when i tried to "pull" it normal back, it won't let me. the "double arrow" just won't come out. it went missing! and i just can't do anything about it. i've tried switching view type, margin switched back to normal also cannot. i tried clicking everything.. but can't change it back to normal.


then, i tried opening once of the Word file from my pendrive, the alignment is back to normal. like this..

Old Document


see the arrow? supposed to be adjustable. but not when i open new document, only old documents can be adjusted.

BUT

when i tried viewing "Print Preview" (new doc) , the margin/alignment didn't went off. it's the same!

see?
Print Preview


so now.. can someone tell me how to fix this? it's annoying and i kept thinking that the margin wrong when it's not.


reminder of problem. why alignment lari???

ugh. please help me make it back to normal... please please please..

side note: i took almost an hour using Paint to draw things (layaning friends and editing at the same time). damn mah fan ok.. Paint is like.. damn a lot of function not available (maybe i just dunno how to find it). too used to photoshop. ugh. note so self: install photoshop in laptop!

and i thought i'm going blind.

The haze is back. Weather is so unpredictable. One day the sky is clear, the next day, I can’t even see the nearest tall building! Ugh... today when I go to work, I swear I can't see the buildings that I usually see (like Menara Telekom from Federal Highway, if I remember correctly, I can usually see the building). Everything is blurry. I thought my eye sight is getting worse and thought of wearing my specs again but no... It’s not my eyes (though I really need to wear my specs again when dusk is approaching. Cos normally evening time around 7.30pm if I’m still driving, those images started to get really blur. It’s getting worse lately. Ugh. Specs are so uncomfortable. Lenses are no no cos too tedious to put on and my specs power is not that high so no point). It’s the haze. Ugh. I don't even dare to open my windows when I pass by tolls... the "haze smell" is worse than car's smoke. Ok... Maybe I’m a lil exaggerating but the smell is definitely there (though for a smoker’s nose to detect the smell is a bit of a miracle) but you get the idea… the haze is definitely back! I’ll just try to stay indoor as much as I can now…

so i was browsing through JoeyYap.com and found something interesting.. it's actually the 2009 astrology overall outlook.

Ox (1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997) 

In the Year of the Earth Ox, the Ox needs to tread carefully. Your relationships and health are on unstable ground, so proceed with caution in your affairs. You will have to pay close attention to all that you say, or you risk offending people with your quick and sharp tongue. It is advisable for the Ox to keep a low profile where relationships are concerned, and refrain from saying things that could be interpreted as offensive or provoking.

source : joeyyap.com

now i know why previous bad luck occurred.

so i've actually been warned. just that i didn't notice. until now.

sometimes, it's hard not to believe in astrology..

Annual Trip - Cameron Highland. Models in the making.

ok.. just a few teaser photos from the Cameron Highland trip cos i'm too lazy to upload so many photos here.. mostly photos from our group "photoshoot". photos credit to leemun, kenny and peks. 

first time playing tennis. fail. hand and feet coordination damn salah. i think i really don't have any talent in anything that requires me to use both of my hands and feet except swimming.. better luck next time!

emo lah.. smelly is not with us this time!

sad to go home. =(

more photos here and here.