Sholee's sphere

MPOV: A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas

2012-02-23T20:00:00.000+08:00

Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) is preparing for the holidays by visiting Santa at a shopping mall. Later on, the so-called "Santa" (Patton Oswalt) sells him marijuana in the mall's parking garage. Since being dumped by Vanessa (Danneel Harris), Kumar has let himself go by not pursuing a career as a doctor, poor hygiene and cleaning habits. He still lives in the messy apartment that he once shared with Harold Lee (John Cho), who has gone on to become a successful businessman on Wall Street. Harold's assistant, Kenneth (Bobby Lee), persuades him to buy a 3D television. As Harold and Kenneth leave the building, they are mobbed by angry citizens who throw eggs at them. Kenneth sacrifices himself in order to prevent Harold from being hit. Meanwhile, Vanessa visits Kumar and tells him that she's pregnant with his child, which shocks him. The two get into an argument and Vanessa leaves.

After he arrives home, Harold is seduced by his wife Maria (Paula Garcés), but their attempt to conceive is interrupted by the arrival of her father (Danny Trejo), who dislikes Harold. He explains to Harold that he has never had a perfect Christmas, and is counting on Harold to make this one the best for his daughter. He has also brought a tree which he has grown for eight years and has deemed the perfect Christmas tree. When a package addressed to Harold arrives at Kumar's apartment, Kumar decides to deliver it to Harold. The package turns out to be a large marijuana joint that Kumar cannot resist smoking. Since Harold has gotten married and does not get high anymore, he knocks the lit joint out of Kumar's hands and it lands in the tree, causing a fire that destroys it. To replace it, Harold reserves one of the last decent Christmas trees available at a nearby lot. Kumar, feeling bad that he may have ruined Christmas for his now-estranged friend Harold, decides to look for a replacement tree, and ends up bribing the tree lot into selling him the tree that Harold had reserved. When Harold sees the car with the tree drive away, he chases it, and the car with Kumar's tree crashes and blows up on the highway, destroying the tree. Harold argues with Kumar right before introducing them to their new friends. Harold, Kumar, Todd, Adrian and Todd's daughter drive to a party in New York to retrieve a Christmas tree at Adrian's partner's party. Things takes a turn for the worse, and Harold and Kumar are forced to go to Broadway, where they hope Neil Patrick Harris can help them get a tree.

After a wild night of performing on Broadway, getting kidnapped by Ukrainian gangsters, and shooting Santa Claus, Harold and Kumar return to their regular lives. Harold invites Kumar to his Christmas party the following day. In the evening, Kumar sneaks through Vanessa's window and explains he will stop smoking weed for the sake of her unborn baby and will re-take the exams to become a doctor. Harold returns to Maria's house with her father waiting on the couch. The two argue until Harold explains he might not be the perfect son-in-law, but he is the perfect man for Maria. Maria's father hesitates before accepting him into the Perez Family.

The film ends with Harold and Kumar celebrating Christmas together, along with their families.

The above taken from Wikipedia.

First off, this movie is definitely 18 SX ya! Filled with vulgar words and some naked scenes, it somehow reminded me of a movie I don’t watch, South Park. It may be another typical family Christmas storyline but different due to the obscenity. Nothing much to comment except that definitely not for the young ones.

5 thumbs up out of 10

MPOV: Happy Feet 2

2012-02-22T20:00:00.000+08:00

Erik, son of the penguins Mumble and Gloria, is reluctant to try dancing as most of the penguins in Emperor-Land do. Erik's first attempt at dancing embarrasses the other penguins. Erik and his two friends, Boadicia and Atticus, follow Ramon to Adélie-Land and finds that Adélie-Land has been ruled by a God-like penguin named The Mighty Sven. Sven is the last of his kind who survived death by his ability to fly. Erik instantly becomes enamored with Sven, who takes a liking to him. Sven and Lovelace tell the others that they were saved by humans. The two eventually flee and end up on Antartica, where Sven performs his first miracle by revealing moss to the local penguins. Sven uses his power of "Sven Think" to help Ramon find a mate. Ramon instantly falls in love with Carmen, another Adélie penguin who is uninterested. Mumble follows the chicks' footprints to Adélie-land and orders them to return to Emperor-Land, but they refuse. Sven sends Erik back to Emperor-land with Mumble.

Meanwhile, a group of krill are in the midst of a swarm. Will is an adventurous and existentialist krill determined to discover what lies beyond the swarm. His friend, Bill, reluctantly follows him to ensure his safety. Once separated from the swarm, Will and Bill realize that krill are at the bottom of the food chain, created to be eaten. Inspired, Will ventures out to evolve and "move up the food chain", eating a real creature instead of being eaten.

Meanwhile, Mumble tells Erik that he is unique to the world and that he will someday find his calling, but Erik dismisses his advice. While trying to cross a perilous ice bridge, the penguins encounter Bryan the Beach Master and his two young sons, who refuse to let the penguins pass. Suddenly the ice gives away and Bryan is trapped in a deep crevice below the ice. Mumble sets out to free Bryan by antagonizing a sleeping leopard seal until it chases him down. Unknown to them, Bill and Will try to eat a creature with a face that awakens the seal, but Mumble saves him. Seeking acceptance from Erik, Mumble is disheartened to learn Erik attributed the feat of courage to Sven Think. Bryan returns to the Elephant Seal beach, but not before thanking Mumble and promising to return the favor to him at any time.

The above taken from Wikipedia.

Another simple and beautiful animated movie, with nice animated scenes and snow. It's kinda predictable but still entertaining.Good to watch with the family.

7 thumbs up out of 10

Baby Angel

2012-02-21T20:42:00.001+08:00

Not many people knew that I had a miscarriage before. It was between Tyger and Princess, basically we were trying for baby no 2 then. It was an exciting moment as we were happily anticipating this baby but I was overconfident. Why? you might ask.

Well, it was just 6 months after Tyger and I felt that it’s just another pregnancy… sab sab sui lah (easy peasy)! I proceeded to do everything as usual, never thought that I was pregnant and I should slow down. I was careless, kept thinking that my body was strong enough since I have properly ‘pou’ (nourished) after Tyger. Another pregnancy should be breezy. How wrong I was!

Alas, I started to bleed a little. I got panicky, went to see a GP. They couldn’t say much as they were not experts, only advising me to see my gynae. As the next appointment was in just a few days, we decided to wait until then.

Dr Goh, my gynae, was taken aback as he kept scanning around my tummy. I was 3 months along then. After awhile, he had to finally concluded that I had lost the baby! Both Hubby and I were devastated! I just couldn’t believe my ears! I felt as though I was in a nightmare, on zombie mode throughout Dr Goh’s explanation and advice. I was told to do a D&C and had to be hospitalized for 2 nights. It was Christmas eve 2002.

After D&C, I was warded with other happy mothers which added more salt to the despair, the wound deepened, hurting more. I was snappy especially on Christmas day when this idiotic of a husband was complaining non-stop of the doctor enforcing his wife to opt for c-sect, claiming that the doctor was actually rushing off and wanting to make extra money. Hallo!!! Your wife and baby’s life were in danger! How can you simply blame the doctor??? Are you medically capable to decide for your wife??? He was such a selfish bastard, kept thinking of that extra RM2 – 3k cost! WTF!!! Here I am, on the next bed, baby-less!!! Pfft!!!

Anyway, after conceiving Princess, the zombified, empty feeling subsided but through the years, it does return, on and off. Like last night, I couldn’t sleep thinking of Baby Angel. Yes, we decided to name this baby, Baby Angel. If only I had not been overconfident, acted like a demonfied bitch, Baby Angel would still be alive. Sigh! I practically treated my tummy with more care after I found out I was pregnant. I slowed down, moved with care gently, graciously day after day until Princess was born.

Ladies out there, mommies to be… honestly, never ever take things for granted! Or you will live to regret it forever!

P/S: If we were to have baby no 3, I do hope Baby Angel will reincarnate to be with us again.

Weekends

2012-02-20T20:16:00.001+08:00

Weekends nowadays consist of sewing, cooking and TV series, aside from the usual house chores. It is, honestly, therapeutic and fulfilling, compared to window-shopping or loafing around. Staying home is the best remedy, especially since on a tight budget, also catching up on old stuffs, spending more time with Minnie and, of course, saving more $$$. I get to complete my old sewing projects! But, alas, my Angels have grown up on me >.< perhaps need to sell it off then. Glee has reached Season 3 and I’m trying to catch up, just reached Season 2. Can’t wait for Hair Battle Spectacular Finale coming Sunday!!! Tuning into The Voice, ahem, especially Adam Levine. Need I say more??? Digging out my books too… Sophie Kinsella, Stephanie Meyer, Patricia Cornwell, Nicholas Sparks… they have been waiting for me for years! So many to read up!!! I’ve been brushing up my cooking skills too! Whipping up, at times, weird concoctions but hey! It turned out alright! *grinning widely* How I wish weekends are longer, like 5 days, and weekdays are just 2 days. Ain’t that great? *wishful thinking*

See my bundle of cloths… accumulated through the years, waiting for me to sew… I wasn’t kidding ya

Some of the sewing which I managed to complete, wished I could do more before I start participating in bazaars again:

Sewing

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I guess as I grow older, I’m more easily contented. More to come, need to top up first though… zippers, ribbons, buttons…

Valentine’s Day

2012-02-19T10:00:00.000+08:00

Hubby always say everyday is Valentine’s Day. We don’t need to join the jam nor crowd for expensive yet tasteless dinner. We shouldn’t support over-priced florists and gifts too.

Although with a heavy heart, I have to agree with him. Valentine’s Day means celebrating love. Don’t we celebrate and appreciate our love everyday? Or we just celebrate our love for 1 day out 365 days? It makes sense, right?

As such, I prefer celebrating more important dates like our wedding anniversary and birthdays which are more meaningful and relevant. Agree?

However, Hubby did make an effort to make me feel appreciated last Tuesday ^.*

Fried rice with love...

Yeap! We came home from work, he went straight to the kitchen and whipped up a fried rice for me ♥ ♥ ♥

My home-cooked dinner for Hubby the weekend before Valentine's:

My gift for Hubby... cooked with love

RIP Whitney Houston

2012-02-18T00:47:00.001+08:00

These few days, news are abuzz with the death of one legendary diva. She has been an iconic singer, model and actress. Such a talented woman with God’s gift of a unique voice. It’s sad that she has to leave this tumultuous world in such a manner.

One can only blame her ex-husband, Bobby Brown, for introducing her to drugs. Since her marriage to him and drugs, her career has started tumbling downwards. She was so hooked on both of them, she just couldn’t see the damage which was slowly and cruelly taking her life and God’s gift to her. I totally can’t understand why her family was unable to stop her, reason with her to leave these bastards sooner! When she finally divorced Bobby, it was too late as the drugs have eaten into her thus no matter how often she tried to stay clean, it will slowly creeps back in. By then, the damage was done as she has lost her golden voice. To think of it, maybe because of that, she has lost her confidence and strength too, hence keep turning back to drugs for support. Is she that lonely? No friends to turn to? No comfy shoulders to cry on? Even her daughter, Bobbi Kristina, has dabbled with drugs! No thanks to such bad influence from parents who lead such example.

So far, nothing has been confirmed of her death, only conclusion was she had drown in her bath tub. Was she too high on drugs that she was not awaken when plummeted into the bath tub? Or she had totally passed out or slipped and fell into the bath tub? Those are just my assumptions, even the toxicology report is not out yet. Reading the news of her just before her death, her last few days in the eyes of the world… my oh my… wasn’t helpful at all. She was in a shamble, looked beleaguering and perhaps lost. I wonder what was in her mind then. What was she thinking? Why the ‘ugly’ side of her? The sad part, she didn’t want to end up like MJ but she has…

I have grown up listening to her songs, especially during my secondary years. I may always be a Mariah Carey fan but I do enjoy listening to Whitney’s songs i.e. One moment in time, When you believe, I will always love you, Greatest love of all… mostly ballads.

Whitney, may you find peace and serenity, finally. God bless…

KFC chaos

2012-02-17T21:37:00.001+08:00

The recent incident in KFC could be an isolated one but it proves to the world that the term ‘Customer is always right’ has no value whatsoever anymore. At one glance, it may looked like customers have no right to be served with respect nor dignity at all! It makes me wonder what do these workers learnt about Customer Service. I wonder if they had ever gone for training in the first place! Do they go for refresher courses yearly too? Including the managers?

On the other hand, was the customer being rude? Did the customer speak harshly to the workers? Well, after queuing for more than an hour with 0 chicken, I would have lashed out at the workers too. Come on! We are all human beings, not animals! Imagined if we had switched places, the workers would have felt the same anger brewing as the customer! I wonder how come the workers didn’t estimate the amount of chicken against the volume of customers. They don’t have such practice in place? If they had done that, they could have prevented such untoward incident in the first place. They could informed the customers beforehand. As such, the customers would not have queued for more than an hour. All this are ‘domino effect’ and ‘work smart’ lah!

Not only the workers, even the manager was to blame! Come on! Being in charge of the branch meaning you will have to face the music! Instead, he allowed the worker to lash out at the customer… he also avoided the customer… he even did not prevent his worker from bashing the customer!

In my opinion, the person most responsible for this fracas is the manager in charge. In such environment, the manager should have met with the customer and calmed him down. Also perhaps try to find a way to compensate/ pacify the customer. This is all in his power to do so. He would have prevented all this from happening in the first place. It is his duty and responsibility. A responsible person would have responded and resolved the issue efficiently.

Well, this is just my opinion after reading the newspapers of the incident and am not aiming nor pointing fingers. I could be wrong as I wasn’t there to witness it. CCTV footage would definitely help as evidence of the incident and not the public’s recording as it may not have the front nor back footage. It could also be taken out of context. Lets hope KFC will resolve this amicably.

‘With great power comes great responsibility’

MPOV: War Horse

2012-02-12T12:00:00.000+08:00

In Devon, England, a boy called Albert Narracott watches the birth of a thoroughbred foal and watches with admiration the growth of the young horse, galloping through the fields at his mother's side. Much to the dismay of his mother, Rose, Albert's father, Ted, buys the colt at auction, despite a friend pointing out a more suitable plough horse for his farm. The desire to spite his landlord, Lyons and then retain his pride, being the apparent motivations for Ted to make higher and higher bids for the colt. The high cost of the horse means he is unable to pay rent to Lyons, who threatens to take possession of the farm if the money is not paid by the autumn. Ted promises to meet the deadline, suggesting he could plough and plant a lower, rock-filled field with turnips. Albert names the horse Joey and devotes much time to training him. Albert's best friend, Andrew Easton, watches as Albert teaches his colt many things, such as to come when he imitates the call of an owl by blowing through his cupped hands.

Ted, who has a bad leg from a war injury, is frequently shown drinking alcohol from a flask he carries. Rose shows Albert his father's medals from the Second Boer War in South Africa, where Ted served as a sergeant with the Imperial Yeomanry. Ted was severely wounded in action, and received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery under fire. She gives Albert his father's regimental pennant, telling Albert that his father is not proud of what he did during the war, and that he had thrown the flag and medals away, though Rose saved and kept them hidden.

Albert trains Joey for the plough and, to his neighbours' astonishment, prepares a stony hillside field to plant with turnips. However a rainstorm destroys the turnip field, so to pay the overdue rent (and without telling Albert), Ted sells Joey to Captain Nicholls, a young cavalry officer, as World War I breaks out. When Albert finds out he confronts the officer and begs for him not to take the horse. Nicholls promises he will take care of Joey as his own horse and hopefully will return him after the war. Albert tries to enlist in the army, but is too young. Before the captain leaves with Joey, Albert ties his father's pennant to Joey's bridle.

The above taken from Wikipedia.

At first, I thought that this was another Horse Whisperer kind of movie but I was wrong. Surprisingly directed by Steven Spielberg, it was beautifully acted, storyline was fulfilling with meaningful dramatic moments. This may be another war epic motion picture but totally different especially with the strong and courageous Joey, the hero horse. Totally ♥ Joey!

7 thumbs up out of 10

Hubby’s birthday

2012-02-11T12:19:00.001+08:00

As I ran out of ideas (and also $$$, sshhh) on what to get for Hubby, I’ve decided to cook some nice meals for his birthday ^.^ You all know I’m not a fantastic cook so I try my level best lah… to serve him nice dinners once he comes back from work ^.*

Pre-birthday dinner:

Took this pix mid-way through dinner, cabbage soup with ‘kong yui chi’, stir-fried pork with ‘mui choy’ and fried egg.

Birthday dinner:

Steamed cat fish with taucu and chinese cabbage soup.

Hubby also received a small cutesy cake from his colleague, Esther. So sweet of her ^.^

Post birthday dinner:

Stir-fried carrot, arrowroot and cuttlefish and ‘choy kuon’ soup. Hubby marinated and cooked wild boar meat with honey.

Hope he enjoyed my dishes. May this water dragon year brings lots of joy and laughter, loads of wealth and good health to him. Love ya…

Note: you can get my recipes here

Facebook Freebie Friday

2012-02-10T23:38:00.001+08:00

Another freebie from MyMemories! Quick, download it ya… just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Yes, Valentine’s Day Cards up for grabs! Just click on the pix above and it will bring you to the Facebook download page! If you have not gotten MyMemories Suite v3, please ensure you do so by clicking on the banner on the right. Of course, make sure you paste the given code for USD$10 discount:

STMMMS45818

Don’t forget to make a Memory today!

Wednesday & Thursday

2012-02-09T23:22:00.001+08:00

Wednesday started on a happy note.

It then soured.

Thankfully it ended gratefully.

I was so happy to be back in the office this year. Goodbye KL! Goodbye customer! I thought it would have been permanent. How wrong I was! After 1 month and 1 week, I was told to go back to KL Sentral. It’s so unfair! I just couldn’t understand it! The reason was just too vague! To cut the story short, yes, he had paid the parking for the 1st quarter but it would have ended next month! Aaargh!!!

Deep breath… breath in… breath out… breath in… breath out… need to calm myself…

I was deep in thoughts while walking towards the Asia Jaya bus stop when I spotted a bus with the signage Section 14. I immediately ran to it and knocked on it’s door. Mind you, the bus was at the traffic light ya… bus driver was kind, telling me he’s not going that way but still asked me to board. I was stumped and just followed. You know what? The bus was heading to the Asia Jaya bus stop! Yay! Everyone un-boarded and bus driver told me to wait at the other side including waiving off my fair! Double yay! I was flabbergasted! I also saved 10 mins walk! Thank you Rapid KL bus driver (T608 @ 6.40pm)!!!

Thursday started with anger.

Ended with a happy feeling.

I had breakfast with Hubby before heading to the Putra LRT station. Had spicy nasi lemak and hot teh tarik… a hot, flaming morning! Anyway, at the LRT station, a woman asked for help with the new, unfriendly, ticket vending machine. As I was rushing, I apologized I can’t help her and rushed for work. While in the train, I felt so guilty for not helping her! Damn! I’m really sorry auntie!

Then, the day turned better, I had free lunch! Customer had a post-CNY lunch buffet so we had a tummy-filled lunch, burp!

Glad that the free lunch dawned like a good omen for me. My old partners-in-crime were happy that I’m back although I have a different task in hand, different job position. I guess, since without a choice, I would have to get on with it and just go with the flow. I’m also praying very hard that something BIG will bestow upon me and Hubby. *fingers crossed*

Li Chun egg balancing

2012-02-08T20:25:00.000+08:00

Sad to say this but I just found out the below from Wikipedia:

The terms Li Chun egg balancing or egg of Li Chun refers to a Chinese folk belief that it is much easier to balance an egg on a smooth surface during Li Chun (the official first day of spring in the Chinese lunar calendar, which usually falls on February 4 or 5), than at any other time of the year. Balancing fresh chicken eggs on their broad end was a traditional Li Chun ritual in China.
This "fact" has come to be widely believed in the United States since 1945, and egg-balancing events are sometimes held on that date. In fact, the balancing of an egg on its broad end is not particularly difficult, at any time of the year.

So whoever said that egg balancing can’t be done at all or at any time of the year is lying! I’ve tried it and it can still stand. Mystery resolved.

MPOV: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 1

2012-02-07T15:34:00.000+08:00

During the reception following her wedding to Edward Cullen, Bella Swan is visited by her friend Jacob Black. When Bella accidentally reveals that she and Edward plan to consummate their marriage during their honeymoon, Jacob tries to attack Edward, but his wolf pack hold him back. He then runs off into the woods, and Edward takes an upset Bella back to the reception.

The couple spend their honeymoon on the Cullens' private Brazilian island. Although hesitant, Edward has sex with Bella for the first time. After Edward realizes that he bruised Bella's arm, back and shoulders during sex, he vows to never be intimate with her again, much to her disappointment; he later gives in to her seductions. Two weeks into their honeymoon, Bella discovers that she is pregnant with the fetus growing at an extraordinarily accelerated rate. After consulting with Carlisle, they rush back to Forks. Bella refuses to consider having an abortion, and enlists Rosalie's help to protect her wishes.

Opposed to Sam Uley's plans to kill Bella and her child, which is thought to be a demon, Jacob angrily leaves the pack and arrives at the Cullens' to protect Bella; Seth and Leah Clearwater join him, forming a new wolf pack. As the pregnancy progresses, Bella's health severely deteriorates. As a last resort, she begins drinking blood, which satisfies the fetus and allows her to regain some strength. Soon afterward Bella goes into a painful labor and gives birth to her daughter, Renesmee. To save her life, Edward injects Bella's heart with his venom to transform her into a vampire, but nothing happens, and Bella is thought to be dead. Greatly distraught, Jacob attempts to kill the baby, but stops when he realizes he has imprinted on the child, becoming her protector.

When the werewolves learn of Bella's "death", they attack the Cullens' house to try to kill the baby. They are forced to stop after learning Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee, which, under their wolf law, means Renesmee cannot be harmed. Bella's wounds heal; she remembers her entire life as the venom reaches her heart. The Cullens all look at each other in shock. Bella's heart finally ceases, and she awakens with red eyes, a newborn vampire. The film cuts to the credits.

The above taken from Wikipedia.

Finally watched this movie but I only enjoyed the 2nd half. The first half was lacklustre, except for the wedding. Too dragging, their lovey-dovey scenes have lasted at least an hour before she gets pregnant! Honestly, the whole book could have fitted into 1 movie and doesn’t require 2 parts to complete, perhaps a 3 hour movie instead of 1.5 hrs x 2 >.< Anyway, Edward looked fake the whole time especially when he was supposedly smiling. It somehow doesn’t feel genuine. Bella, on the other hand, kept showing more skin =.= Thankfully, Jacob was the best among the lot! Well, lets hope part 2 is more hyped and pumped up with more excitement!

6 thumbs up out of 10

CNY 2012 - part 2

2012-02-06T11:44:00.000+08:00

Here’s the finale. In fact, today is the last day of Chinese New Year according to the Lunar calendar, to which the Hokkiens call it ‘Chap Goh Mei’. It's also called Chinese Valentine's Day where the single ladies would throw Mandarin oranges into the sea, hoping for Mr. Right to appear ^.^ You can read more of it here.

On the night of 8th day, we went over to mom’s place to ‘Pai Thin Gong’. Once the clock strikes midnight, the prayer started and so do the fireworks! It really felt as though Lunar New Year has just started! Definitely felt the new year aura then…

I had company dinner the next day at yet another complicated location, Oriental Pearl Bukit Kiara. We had to u-turn twice before reaching the restaurant =.= The signage's were definitely poor! As usual, the ‘Yee Sang’ and company were great as opposed to the overpriced 8 course dinner. Even the wax duck had a foul smell! Me nose instantly snuffed out and triggered alert to the brain!

Oriental Pearl Bukit Kiara

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Other anecdotes:

Had an expensive ‘Chui Keok Chou’ for lunch on my first day back to work.
Had a fun time with these lovely pets last Thursday at TCM.
Had this lovely Champaign Chicken, my colleague Pat called it ‘snooker chicken’ for the obvious reason, for lunch last Friday.

Memorable...

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That’s all folks! Time really flies when we are enjoying it!

Last but not least, a very Happy Birthday to my dearest Hubby! Hope the Water Dragon is kind to you and brings you lots of luck and wealth!!!

MPOV: Vivo

2012-02-05T15:02:00.001+08:00

We had an impromptu pre-birthday celebration for Hubby since he was off last Thursday. Furthermore, all the highways and bi-ways were terribly jammed up, with heavy downpour, thus prompting us to swerve into Tropicana City Mall. It’s been ages since I’ve been here!

Hubby’s restaurant choice for dinner, his all time favourite, Vivo ^.^ He ordered Set 3: New York Fish & Chips with Mushroom Soup:

First time trying this, I ordered Pesto Mushroom Linguine:

Without fail, my cup of Americano:

Overall, service was still as good but the nice, warm ambience was spoilt by baby crying on the other side of the restaurant >.< The food was good and fresh, Hubby totally enjoyed his. I find the pesto tingling weird with all the peppermint taste! Really need time to acquire the taste ^.* Americano, however, tasted differently with a more bitter twist to it. I wonder if they had changed the coffee powder or the blending is different *thinking*

Total bill was RM40.50 inclusive of 10% service charge and a glass of ice water. I noticed some slight increase of pricing i.e. Americano increased by RM1 to RM5.50. Anyway, it was still worthy, not too steep as compared to other restaurants with similar menu and not too tasty variety.

Location: L1-55, Level 1, Tropicana City Mall

7 thumbs up out of 10

Lap chun (立春)

2012-02-04T21:35:00.001+08:00

Today, according to the Lunar calendar, is the start of spring ^.^ It is called ‘lap chun’ (立春), which also signifies the actual date the year of the dragon starts… meaning if you are born today, you are officially a dragon. It’s also a day where the eggs will stand on it’s own. No magic, no tricks, it really does stand!!!

You can read more of it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichun

http://www.mynicegarden.com/2012/02/lichun-lapchun-2012.html

I’ve always heard of it but never experiment it before. So this is my first… I wonder how long it will continue standing… waiting… waiting and waiting ^.*

MPOV: Farcent Magic Diamond Mop

2012-02-03T20:44:00.001+08:00

Thank goodness for this creative invention! Definitely better than the conventional broom as the dust will not fly in the air… it will not give me runny nose nor non-stop sneezing too!

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! So effective and clean! And it doesn’t cost a bomb in the long run… about RM30 together with the towels as per pix above (lost my Tesco receipt ^.^)

Website: www.farcent.com.tw

8 thumbs up out of 10

MPOV: Johnny English: Reborn

2012-02-02T22:58:00.001+08:00

Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson) is learning martial arts in Tibet as penance for an earlier disastrous mission in Mozambique. His Tibetan guru and mentor, Ting Wang, is actually an MI7 sleeper agent: their employers have requested Johnny's services.

Johnny returns MI7's London headquarters (now Toshiba British Intelligence) and is assigned by new boss "Pegasus" (Gillian Anderson) to stop a plot to assassinate the Chinese premier during scheduled talks with the Prime Minister. Johnny also meets with friend and fellow agent Simon Ambrose (codenamed "Agent One") and MI7's resident inventor, Patch Quartermain. He is also assigned a junior agent, Tucker, to accompany him.

In Macau, his Chinese contact is murdered in a casino, but English discovers a poker chip in the man's hand with the address of ex-CIA agent Fisher (Richard Schiff) in Hong Kong. Fisher reveals that he is a member of 'Vortex', a secret cabal of assassins, who also sabotaged his mission in Mozambique. Vortex's power lies in a secret assassination weapon which require three metal keys to unlock, of whom Fisher has one. Fisher is killed by an assassin, (Pik-Sen Lim), dressed as a cleaner, but English manages to chase down and incapacitate the killer accomplice and recover the key. While bragging with Tucker about the success of his mission on a flight back to London, the key is stolen by a member of vortex disguised as a steward. English is humiliated in front of the Foreign Secretary and Pegasus at the latter's estate when it is discovered that the case is empty. English proceeds to assault Pegasus's mother twice, both times mistaking her for the killer cleaner.

The above taken from Wikipedia.

Only 3 words… hilarious, hilarious, hilarious! Rowan Atkinson at his best although a little overdone at times. After a tiring day, a good movie to de-stress and wind down albeit tummy aches due to over-laughing our guts out! It may seemed like another James Bond spoof but this movie is more humane, showing more of Johnny’s sensitive side.

7 thumbs up out of 10

Wednesday’s freebie

2012-02-01T21:27:00.001+08:00

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a nice and pretty template to frame your lovey dovey pix as a gift for your loved one or just for fun! As these are png files, you can create your own scrapbook or journal, even adding embellishments and personalizing it as you like! Just click the link below to download:

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1

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Sholee Sphere: February updates

2012-01-30T22:36:00.000+08:00

I've just learnt a new shopping trend i.e. Fukubukuro. Sounds Japanese right? Yes, it is! It's a New Year trend the Japs have been practicing for years which literally means Mystery Lucky Bag! Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Fukubukuro (福袋 lucky bag, mystery bag) is a Japanese New Year's Day custom where merchants make grab bags filled with unknown random contents and sell them for a substantial discount, usually 50% or more off the list price of the items contained within.

Since it's still Chinese New Year, I've decided to start this for Sholee Sphere with a slight twist. It'll be held every February with 4 bags of random items. I'll labelled these Mystery Lucky Bags according to the 4 seasons i.e. Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Please note that I will be using reused paperbags as I totally believe in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. I do hope these Mystery Lucky Bags will catch on and you'll love it as well.

Another new service I'm introducing, all thanks to Valentine's Day, is gift-wrapping! I'll be providing free gift-wrapping service for any purchases, as long as you do mentioned the purpose of the gift prior to delivery. Of course, it'll be a simple wrapping according the the items purchased.

Some of the new arrivals for February:

CNY 2012–part 1

2012-01-29T15:25:00.001+08:00

More of a photo-blog thus am splitting it into 2 parts. Anyway, this year’s Lunar New Year seemed too short, as though it has ended abruptly by 3rd day. Well, mostly due to the short leave as Hubby was coerced to start work on the 4th day instead. He has an idiotic, dumb arse hole as a boss so can’t help it. Closing the shop for another 2 days can kill him, as though thousands of RM business has gone missing. In actual fact, there wasn’t any business at all!!! Pffft!!! Ignore mode on… must swing back to jovial self…

My first ‘lou sang’ was with my colleagues ^.^ We had a pre-CNY dinner on 18/01/12 at Pantai Seafood Restaurant which served expensive yet not too nice food. Even the parking was a hassle as the restaurant was crowded. Thankfully the ‘yee sang’ and company were good.

Oh ya… off topic a bit… I was happy when I finally received this CNY greeting from Maxis. I was thinking many years of being stuck as their customer has finally paid off. Mind you, there weren’t any other telco services available at my housing area thus stuck with Maxis for a while lah.

Then lo and behold… bro Ryan just had to crush my thought =.= He received this nicely packed ‘pu-erh’ tea box set via courier from Maxis >.< Wtf!!! I wonder what he did to receive this!

Back to CNY, this time around, we had our Reunion Dinner with my parents. My In Laws were supposed to join us but they changed their plan at the very last minute! My second ‘lou sang’ which was totally yummylicious! Sis requested for Sushi King’s salmon yee sang set which was kinda expensive but really worth it! The most memorable of all? Princess was busy hunting, picking and eating the salmons!!!

Reunion Dinner

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We were at IOI Mall for a last minute shopping and getting the ‘yee sang’ earlier on… Princess with a bunch of fake blossoms ^.^

First day of Lunar New Year, lunch at Li Ku’s (mom’s second brother) flat. Li Kim, his wife, served a sumptuous meal but, blimey, I was vegetarian on that day o.O Tyger had a fun time with the Wii and Princess enjoyed camwhoring with Yee Yee (sis)!

Lunch @ Li Ku's flat

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After lunch, we headed to Sar Chek’s (dad’s younger brother) house to ‘pai nin’. Something we didn’t do before but hope to sustain in the future ^.^

Sar Chek’s house

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We went back to dad’s house for dinner before heading home to retire for the night. We had to wake up early the next day as we have a mini open house! Hubby cooked all the delicious meals as I can’t cook in bulks! LOL! Mind you, Hubby is a great cook! My relatives and colleagues were totally amazed!

My mini open house

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Once everyone has left, Princess started camwhoring >.< I was annoyed a little as I told her to take everyone’s pix earlier on but in the end, not many and mostly blurry! The ones she took of herself was good! *slaps forehead*

Princess

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Went back to Tapah that evening since we have to rush back to KL the next day before we started work (I cancelled my leave too since there’s nothing much to do).

Facebook Freebie Friday

2012-01-27T23:53:00.000+08:00

Another week has passed, another new freebie from MyMemories!

Don't forget to 'Like' the Facebook page after clicking the above image ya, Unlock the Download and you will be able to Download the freebie! Enjoy!

Sob! Sob!

2012-01-25T23:06:00.000+08:00

Feeling melancholy now as we have just sent our Angels back to hometown, a darn short Chinese New Year celebration this time around. Definitely too short, just 4 days!, but we had no choice. Hubby has been coerced to start work tomorrow >.< Since I had nothing to do, I cut short my leave too, just to avoid staying home in the void environment... sob!

Princess: Mommy, after you left just now, I cried
Me: Why?
Princess: I missed you mah... I went to your bedroom and cried a bit. I just took Daddy's 'chow chow' and your pillow to sleep with tonight... your pillow is full of your hair smell!
Me: *tears welling up* oic... I missed you too...
Princess: I wished the holidays were longer! So missed you and Daddy!
Me: *sob caught in the throat*

Keong Hee Huat Chai!

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000+08:00

So soon! Tomorrow is Chinese New Year! I’m not fully prepared yet… so many things to do still o.O

Anyway, here’s wishing all my readers, friends and family a very Happy Lunar New Year! May the coming Dragon year brings you lots of luck and prosperity!

Keong Hee! Keong Hee!