Song About Jen

Malaysia:: Ipoh: Food Marathon

2009-10-31T19:48:00.000+08:00

After a heavy breakfast at Foh San, we went to Gunung Lang. It's a recreational park with man-made lake, formerly a tin mine. We just walked around the park and did some gibberish talk. After that, food marathon started.

First stop, Funny Mountain Tau Fu Fa. The funny part is it's actually a drive through tau fu fa shop. The customer will stop the car in front of the shop, order and eat in the car. For walk-in customer, there's only a long bench provided for you to sit.

The tau fu fa is cooked in a wooden barrel. I believe that's the traditional way of cooking that makes it special.

Best tau fu fa I ever had. The texture is so darned good.

Next stop, we went to Yee Hup for Hiong Piah and Ching Han Guan for Lotus Meat Floss biscuit. Unfortunately, the lotus meat floss biscuit was sold out for that day. They should produce more to cater for the brisk business.

Forget about the disappointment, we moved on to Aun Kheng Lim salted chicken. One chicken is sold at RM 16.00. Like that tau fu fa shop, only takeaway service is available.

A sneak peak of how salted chicken is being prepared. Interesting!

We then savored this nicely posed salted chicken in a kopitiam.

The last stop was Kong Heng Coffee shop. We wanted to order egg custard and again they were sold out. This kopitiam offered quite a variety of good food.

Check out the Kai Si Hor Fun.

And also, popiah. We also tried the rojak and satay.

The food marathon reaches the finish line. Burp!

Technorati Tags: Food Coffee Shop Ipoh Malaysia Travel Trip

Malaysia:: Ipoh: Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant

2009-10-21T18:02:00.004+08:00

Q: Do you know where Ipoh folks hang out in the morning?
A: Dim Sum restaurant.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. My friends and I were in Ipoh so we headed to Foh San Dim Sum Restaurant. Another famous dim sum restaurant Ming Court is actually located opposite to Foh San. Both also crowded but we picked Foh San.

Take away service.

Look at the queue. Ah Ma also waited until sien already.

We waited for around one hour for a table. While waiting, I walked around and snapped some pictures. Spotted Hua Nam Coffeeshop which I stumbled upon the review at Ipoh Food Frenzy In 4.5 Hours, Hua Nam - Part 3 while looking for food POI before the trip. Ipoh is actually a food heaven.

We had quite a number of people so we ordered quite a lot of different dim sum. Food pics rolling in.

BBQ Pork Bun (Char Siew Pau)

Chicken Pau, Lotus Paste with Egg Pau and unknown Pau

Pork Dumpling (Siew Mai). Thumbs down!

Prawn Dumpling (Har Kao)

Mushroom Dumpling

Seriously no idea what it this.

Pot Sticker Dumpling (Guo Tieh)

Claypot Cheong Fan with Pork. There's another pot with duck meat.

Pork Ribs (Pai Kuat)

Porridge

Egg Tart

Glutinous Rice (No Mai Kai)

Kuih-muih

More kuih-muih

White Radish Cake (Loh Pak Kou)

Chee Cheong Fun, stuffed with prawn or char siew.

Steamed Pork with Century Egg. Someone snapped up the pei dan faster than my camera speed.

Kuih with lotus paste inside. My friend could hardly swallow it. Too sweet and sticky for her taste bud.

Red Bean Cake. Received most compliments among my friends.

Overall rating, OK only lah... Our stomachs almost burst.

Technorati Tags: Dim Sum Restaurant Ipoh Malaysia Travel Trip

The Eczema Experience

2009-10-17T21:19:00.002+08:00

For the first time in my life, I know what is eczema or dermatitis when this happens on me. Not on my hand or leg or body but on my face. Damn. There are red patches and rashes around my mouth and eyes. It could be caused by allergy to my Kose skincare and poor immune system due to unhealthy working lifestyle. The bad thing is this eczema cannot be cured, it can only be controlled.

I went to Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital last week and the medications were futile as my face condition did not improve at all. So yesterday I went to Ting Skin Specialist as recommended by many people. It's hard to make appointment as the phone line was always engaged. After several retries, the line eventually managed to get through at 9.15 am. The earliest time slot available was 4 pm and my number was 41. Holy smoke. So many people already made appointment in a short 15-minute time? So in the evening, I went to the clinic. Besides prescribing medicines and ointment, the doctor gave me steroid injection, on my backside. I requested for arm but he said cannot because arm does not have enough muscle. He mentioned that inflammation would go away in 3 days after the injection. It's getting better today but I hope it will not come back to me after 3 days. I could still feel the side effect of dry mouth now. I asked him how much time is required for the redness to be cleared from my skin and he said WEEKS!! Leaving me no choice but to live with it until I'm fully recovered.

My fellow friends, please take care of your health. Eczema is no fun.

Happy Deepavali!

Malaysia: Ostrich-mali

2009-10-08T23:51:00.003+08:00

Mr. Ostrich, thanks for the nice portrait!

Captured this during my visit to Gunung Lang at Ipoh, Perak.

Thailand:: Kanchanaburi: Death Railway Train Ride

2009-09-13T02:29:00.001+08:00

After visiting Bridge Over The River Kwai, we took a train ride from Kilen to Namtok station on the death railway. The ordinary ticket was already inclusive in the package. I should have topped up THB 150 to upgrade to second class carriage because it really smelt bad in the ordinary carriage. The locals use it to transport livestock? Luckily, I had my mask on. The silver lining was I was close to the locals. Riding on the same carriage, the schoolchildren greeted the foreign tourists with warm "Hellooo" when we got on the train.

The view was incredible breathtaking. It's so tranquil and peaceful.

Another panoramic view with meandering streams and greenery. Does it make you to hate the elevated highways and traffic jam in the concrete jungle even more?

Woah, look at the mountain. It should be the Thailand frontier and Burma frontier at another side.

There are quite a lot of resorts built along the river to cater for the tourist's need to stay overnight at this serene place. Some of the resorts could be seen floating on the river.

Tourists dropped off at one of the train stations. They might be headed to the waterfall or national park in Kanchanaburi next.

Also bid goodbye to a bunch of cordial kids.

We arrived at Namtok station which is the terminus of death railway. The Thai government did not rebuild the dismantled rail link. So the only way to cross the Thailand-Burma border from Kanchanaburi is by land. After having a hell of fun ride, we then had lunch at River Kwai Village Hotel. The tour ended with a boat ride along Kwai Noi river. Not much hype except without the life jacket on.

Last but not least, a view along the boat ride.

We then merged with other tourists who stayed overnight at the hotel to go back to Bangkok. There was actually a family who wanted to take the train from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur. OMG, I can't imagine how many hours it's gonna take them. That's it for Kanchanaburi trip.

Technorati Tags: Death Railway Train Kilen Namtok River Kwai Kanchanaburi Thailand Travel Trip

Thailand:: Kanchanaburi: Bridge Over The River Kwai

2009-09-06T20:42:00.006+08:00

Continuing from the War Cemetery, we moved to Bridge Over the River Kwai which was the main highlight in Kanchanaburi trip. This bridge is part of the death railway crossing the River Kwai. The railway was destroyed but it was rebuilt and still functional today. There was another bamboo bridge and it was long gone. Look at the bombing mark at the pillars.

The curve and column are original since they were first constructed in 1942. Vandalism happened.

Just like any other tourists, I took a stroll along the rail to the opposite side. This local auntie was crossing the bridge and she was mumbling in Thai language. I hope that she was not scolding me for taking her photo.

Walking further down, it was an entertainer's joie de vivre by playing violin to the public on this historical railway bridge.

While walking on the bridge, I always reminded myself to mind my step. I was just one step closer to the river Kwai and I could drown anytime.

That's me on the bridge. It was a great experience.

The tour guide told us that the train would bound from Bangkok to the last station thrice a day. I was lucky to witness it without having to wait long. Nice. Please wait a few seconds and come back to see this photo. I purposely make a gif image to depict the train crossing the bridge.

Let's have a virtual walk on Bridge Over the River Kwai.

Next up, a train ride on the death railway.

Technorati Tags: Death Railway Bridge Over The River Kwai River Kwai Kanchanaburi Thailand Travel Trip

The Merdeka Post

2009-08-31T00:48:00.000+08:00

#1.
My neighbour would have named his WLAN as 'i love malaysia'.

#2.
Chocolate. A short film directed by late Yasmin Ahmad. What's really happening in Malaysia?

#3.
Happy Independence Day!

Thailand:: Kanchanaburi: War Cemetery

2009-08-26T00:41:00.008+08:00

Due to time constraint, I will write my day trip in several posts. I'm going to share my Kanchanaburi travelogue first although I went there on the second last day of my trip. The only reason is I enjoyed this trip the most. Being a city folk, it's a total different experience when I was thoroughly immersed in green and beauty of the Mother Nature.I booked my tour at THB 1200 and the travel agent picked me up early in the morning. All the tour members were then transferred to a coach and continued the journey to Kanchanaburi province on a 3-hour ride from Bangkok.

The first stop was Death Railway Museum. This museum mainly showcase the history of building the Death Railway. During World War II, the Japanese army transferred the Prisoners of War (POW) from Indonesia and Singapore to Thailand to construct the Death Railway. The railway was built from 2 starting points at Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand and the ending points were then connected upon completion. Due to terrific working condition, scarcity of food and medication as well as torture from the brutal Japanese army, many POWs suffered and lost their lives. Live for nothing or die for the Death Railway. (you know what I'm talking about if you watch Rambo IV :P)

After spending some time touring the museum to have a grasp on the history and background, it's time to visit the War Cemetery. The location was so near to the museum that the tourists could see it while sipping the complementary tea from the museum cafe. This cemetery house the gravestones of the POWs, mainly British, Australians and Dutch. There were stupendous POWs from the Malaya also died while building the Death Railway. Blood had shed but too bad the cemetery was nowhere to be seen.

It's drizzling all day so we were not allowed to walk on the grass and have a closer look at the headstone. The cemetery was well maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The gardeners were still working in spite of the rainy day.

One of the headstones. RIP.

Overlooking all these headstones did make me feel like I was in the ending scene of Saving Private Ryan. Sad and meanwhile I feel grateful that there's no war in my homeland.

Lastly, a short video of the war cemetery.

Technorati Tags: Death Railway Museum War Cemetery Kanchanaburi Thailand Travel Trip

Thailand:: Bangkok: Calypso Cabaret

2009-08-17T08:02:00.004+08:00

I traveled solo to Bangkok and I survived. I think I'm A(H1N1) free too although I had flu-like symptoms when I was there and I'm still alive at this moment. Let's begin my Day 1 journey here. I took Air Asia flight from KL to BKK in the evening. Even though the flight was delayed, I still earned 1 hour due to the GMT difference. Should I feel happy? Lol. Upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport, this was how the immigration counter looked like. Face mask had to be removed so that the officer could see my face clearly.

I got my taxi transfer coupon at Exit 3 counter. While queuing up for the taxi, I grabbed one copy of Bangkok City map which was plenty useful. The map is widely available at BTS Skytrain stations too. Tips here, remember to tell the taxi driver 2 words namely Motorway and Meter. The passenger had to pay for the 2 tolls at THB 25 and THB 45 each. While arriving at the destination, just pay for the amount shown in the meter plus THB 50 surcharge.

Because of the flight delay and massive jam near to Victory Monument, I didn't make it to The Jim Thompson House as planned in my itinerary earlier. At night, I went to watch Calypso Cabaret at Asia Hotel. The hotel was easily accessible because it's directly connected to Ratchathewi BTS station.

I bought the ticket online at THB 900 which was cheaper than the ticket bought over the counter. I was allowed to choose the seat number also. The setting was nice with mirror balls and the audience were sitting by a round table. Complimentary drinks was served.

There were several shows with different characters and plots based on the songs. The opening was this lips-synced singing by a pretty ladyboy with good figure.

The show continued with more dances with these feather costumes. Feel like Moulin Rouge?

A short video of the masquerade dance.

Some of the shows were quite boring with Chinese or Japanese songs with some heart-broken kind of story. Of course, there were a few shows with hilarious character. Like Mr. Geisha, a man turned into a geisha with his kimono and wig.

He found his victim at the front row. He freaking hugged and kissed that gwai lou guy with a bloody red lips mark left on his face. Haha. I believe that the guy silently vowed to himself that "I would never sit on the first row in any of the show in future". After that night, Mr. Geisha would be deeply imprinted in his mind forever.

Most of the costumes were sexy with minimal cloths on. Check this sexy back with golden bananas around the waistline. It's even sexier on the opposite side. Lol.

The show was not all about ladyboys. Macho men did perform too. The Korean girls around me were laughing incessantly. Lol.

At the end of the show, there's a photo taking session with the ladyboys. Mr. Potato was so happy.

Technorati Tags: Calypso Cabaret Asia Hotel Bangkok Thailand Travel Trip

I Hate People

2009-07-22T00:16:00.002+08:00

Yes, I truly hate people.

Current TV

2009-07-05T23:03:00.003+08:00

I got to know current_ through an interview with Laura Ling video. Subsequently, I spent my weekend watching Vanguard channel with series of real live documentary that happens around the globe. I really respect these journalists who would risk their lives to reveal the hidden reality of life.

Another note, I hope that N.Korea knows what peace is.

Technorati Tags: Laura Ling Current TV Journalism

Beat It

2009-07-01T19:03:00.003+08:00

The first time I heard this song was from Fall Out Boy Folie à Deux album. Anoop Desai then sang it in one of the American Idol shows. Now only I found that the original singer for this song is Michael Jackson. It's kinda funny to watch back the music video produced 2 decades ago. No fancy lighting or funky digital art. Just his very own style of vocals and dance move. Although I'm not an aficionado, I gotta salute to the moonwalker. Salute to the King of Pop!

R.I.P.

Malaysia: To Dataran Merdeka

2009-06-28T04:05:00.008+08:00

Today is Standard Chartered KL Marathon day. Although there is less than one hour for full marathon (42km) to start, I can see the countdown clock at the official website already showing 000 Days 00 Hrs 00 Min 00 Sec. Lol. The starting line for this marathon is located at Dataran Merdeka. Two days ago, I went there to collect my race pack. That was my first time to step foot on Dataran Merdeka although I have been staying in KL for a few years and saw it in TV a hundred times. Shame on me.

Being a first timer, I went there using public transport with the help of maps. I took Rapid KL Lrt to Masjid Jamek station and proceed to dataran merdeka on foot. This was the direction guide provided by Google Maps with the starting point at Masjid Jamek and ending point at dataran merdeka. It's easy. Just walk along Jalan Tun Perak and make a turn into Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

There is always choice. I search for the same thing using Garmin. The map shows more detailed view with the building logos and roads. I walked to HSBC bank using shortcut and walked along Jalan Medan Pasar until the junction at Lebuh Pasar Besar. Look for Loke Yew building or Agro Bank and walk towards that direction. Cross the road and voila dataran merdeka is there. KL buildings are tall and they can be spotted easily.

All roads lead to dataran merdeka. That's my first experience going there. Finally, a photo of iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building captured using my mobile.

This is my first time running for 10km marathon and I hope I can complete the race. The organiser is good enough to use Rapid KL bus as sweeper and I don't wish to see it. Haha. Good luck to all runners!

Run... Forest.. Run....

P/s: RIP MJ!

Technorati Tags: Dataran Merdeka Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Nokia Google Maps Garmin

Ovi Store on Nokia 5800 XM

2009-06-05T20:51:00.002+08:00

With recent launch of Ovi Store, I install Ovi Store client on my Tube for easy access to tonnes of application and widget for my phone. For selected countries, the update is available at Download! folder. Just go to Menu> Download!, then tap on Options> Refresh Content. In my case, the Ovi Store icon is not available other than those Jamster icons. So I get it from http://store.ovi.com/ official website. Browse the page and click on "Download the Ovi Store application" hyperlink.

Before downloading, login to Nokia account is required. Make sure you register an account beforehand. Click on the Download button and the installation file (.sis extension) will be downloaded to your device. Proceed with the installation after that.

After installation is completed, Ovi Store icon will be available in application menu. Just tap on this icon whenever you want to look for applications, games or media files for your phone.

Voila, all the cool stuffs are on your finger tips now.

If you own a Nokia device and haven't browsed through the Ovi Store, it's definitely worth a try!

P/s: 21st Century Breakdown on my playlist now!!

Technorati Tags: Ovi Nokia Symbian S60

Linkin Park : New Divide

2009-05-23T10:05:00.002+08:00

Linkin Park new song "New Divide" for the upcoming movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Sometimes I think I can get poisoned easily!

P/s: Microsoft research on Cibai.

Kasut Beribu Bintang

2009-05-18T23:15:00.003+08:00

My shoes are so worn out that the rubber in front can open so wide like a big crocodile mouth.

I got myself a pair of Converse. It makes me feel little bit younger.

Saya suka Kasut Beribu Bintang saya.

Happy Wesak Day!

2009-05-07T23:56:00.002+08:00

Another weekend is approaching. It's Wesak Day on 9th May this Saturday. I went to Buddhist Maha Vihara last year and I think I won't be there again this year. So here's an early wish of Happy Wesak Day to everyone.

Check out my Wesak post last year. Happy Mother's Day too!

It happens...

2009-05-01T11:49:00.002+08:00

Accident happens...

Shit happens...

It happens...

P/s: Happy ~~cheap~~ labour day!

SuperPoke!

2009-04-28T07:49:00.002+08:00

SuperPoke! fails when the hen is strangled by wires.

Stumble upon this when it was having technical issue. Nice art BTW.

India: People (Part 2)

2009-04-26T14:55:00.003+08:00

Continuing from India: People (Part 1), these are a few more shots about people in India.

Holy Water on My Forehead.

Photo taken at Kapaleeshwarar Temple

Anyone needs a star?

A boy selling stars to the drivers on the road.

See my magic to fit my whole family into this tuk-tuk

A man carefully make arrangement to fit his family into the cab after shopping spree at Spencer Plaza, the largest shopping mall in Chennai.

Trouble

The Guard and Vintage Metal Detector

Before entering the compound of Fort St. George, we have to walk through this door-like vintage metal detector.

No durian?

A random fruits seller on the street.

P/s: Food Promo by vkeong.com. This link is just great.

Adidas 60 Years of Soles & Stripes

2009-04-22T23:22:00.004+08:00

Adidas 60 Years of Soles & Stripes party in conjunction with Mid Valley Fashion Week. Cool break dance and hip hop!

Stripes rules!!

P/s: Today is Earth Day. It's never too late to make a change to save the earth.

India: People (Part 1)

2009-04-18T22:45:00.004+08:00

This post is about sharing some of the pictures about People in India. It's about their expressions and what they do in their daily lives. I did not travel for more than 1 year already. Hence, the thing that I could do is to look back old photos and reminisce the feeling of seeing different stuffs. Attached are some tag lines that drift through my mind.

A penny please...

A piece of cloth is all I've got.

Baywatch

Who say I need XBOX?

Pink and Orange are the colors to light me up.

Have you traveled lately?

Tribute to Kurt Cobain

2009-04-05T16:55:00.002+08:00

Kurt Cobain, the musician who got my respect all time!

Video by: MetalHeadCraig - Kurt Cobain Tribute
Music by: Foo Fighter - My Hero

Kurt Cobain Wallpaper I created 2 years ago.

NIN

2009-03-30T23:47:00.003+08:00

Nine Inch Nails album art is simple yet artistic.

Download free NIN|JA EP

What do you play?

2009-03-26T23:52:00.004+08:00

In university, we play DotA.
In corporate, we play Tai Chi.

What do you play?