My Food Bug

I am home for the weekend. Only reasons I decided to go home because 1) my dad was in KL so I could get a free ride back, and 2) most importantly, there is finally broadband at home! Plus I needed a haircut. So today with nothing to eat for lunch I decided to raid the fridge to see what I could whip up.


Gotta love cooking at home

Since I've been in a mood to cook lately I decided to try and come up with lunch for myself. And coming back to a well stocked fridge is a real heaven! Decided to make a super omelet for lunch. So I looked for eggs *check*, onions *check*,tomatoes *check*, cheese *check*, spices and condiments *check* and most importantly bacon *check*. So off I went creating a mess or a masterpiece.


The secret ingredient : bacon.. pork bacon..

Started off by frying the bacon together with the onions. Once that was cooked, I added some olive oil and poured 2 eggs in that I seasoned with pepper. When the eggs was almost done I threw in 1 tomato inside. Finally I added 1 slice of cheese (should've used 2) along with some black pepper, oregano, salt and paprika flakes! Only thing is my pan was kinda small for 2 eggs so I had a problem making the perfect omelet shape. Oh well... again presentation went out the window.


My omelet supreme!

In the end it did turn out pretty good I have to say, got the thumbs up from my mom so I guess that is THE sign of approval eh? Well other than that, the bloody hot and humid weather didn't help at all. Had to take 3 showers today!


This is Da Bomb!! Actually it would make a pretty good one!

But the heat of the day couldn't keep me away from eating the best fruit the da world. Just the other day in KL one of the neighbours were eating durians and all I could do was to smell and mope.. Its been awhile since I got to taste that familiar creamy, sweet, slightly bitter and ever so tasty fruit! Finally I got my durian fix for this year! Was it enough? I don't know, hope to get some more tomorrow before I get on the bus back to KL!

A Lighter Note

Football and money has always gone hand in hand, but this is a little too much don't ya think?


Saw this in todays The Star newspaper...

Liverpool fans must either be pissed or having a laugh. Either way, its a light hearted moment for the darkness that surrounds today.

The Fall of A King

It isn't a good thing when you wake up in the morning all fresh and chirpy and log on to Facebook to open your Restaurant only to be bombarded by people's status message saying "RIP Micheal Jackson". That's what happened to me. And its shit I tell you. At first I thought it was some misinterpretation of the news but after scrolling down and seeing more and more SM (status messages) it was just too much to be a mistake rite?

So logging on to the news site I found out that it was true, that the king of pop himself has passed away due to cardiac arrest. Thats what the initial report says. Whether or not its the truth we'll just have to wait and see. Now, usually when people especially superstars die, it doesn't bother me at all, cue Heath Ledger, I mean, its all part and parcel of life right? But somehow the passing of MJ seemed to have struck a nerve with me. I guess its because as a kid, he was one of my inspirations, the reason I fell in love with music. Heck, I even have Bille Jean and Beat It on my phone alongside Metallica and Avenged Sevenfold k!

I could still remember the first cassette I owned was MJ's Bad record. Never really had the moves like him cos face it, I just can't dance. hahaha.. but seeing him do it was just awesome. No doubt his awesomeness has inspired a generation of artist who are now a household name in the industry like Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown. His songs were sang over and over again by us in karaokes, though some have been remade into IMHO pretty good songs like Cris Cornell and David Cook's version of Billie Jean, Fallout Boy's Beat It and Alien Ant Farm singing Smooth Criminal. And not to mention the countless MJ impersonation acts across the globe. Some were really good (like the one on Britain's Got Talent) and some well, kinda sucked.

Whatever it was, I will always remember him for the many things he has 'given' to the music industry. From the silver glove to the crotch grabbing, to the most famous of moves : The Moonwalk. Heck I still can't quite catch how to do it. He could be bad, a smooth criminal or even a werewolf but he was still one cool SOB while doin it. He has also thought us to love someone no matter if they're black or white, that we can heal the world, and that we'll never be alone cos he'll be there with us (which if you're a kid can be kinda creepy).

Sure in more recent years he has been marred by controversy such as his pedophile scandal and his Neverland Ranch to his 'Artist of the Millennium' award at the MTV Music awards. And who can forget his countless nosejobs but I'm sure the millions of fans out there including me, never really gave a shit about it. I knew what he was all about. And the sad thing is his comeback tour will now have to be put off permanently.

So this is my tribute to the King Of Pop, the one man who had it all : fame, money, love (married to Elvis' daughter!) and most of all : talent. May you rest in peace in your neverland and showing the people in Heaven how to dance for real...


As you rest in peace, your legend will live on...

So Long My Loyal Servant...

Last weekend, after 5 years my laptop finally slapped a DNR sign on itself and decided to call it a day. To think of it, its exactly the time C. Ronaldo joined Manchester United and left. hahah... Pressed the power button and waited for the usual start up process but this time the screen just remained blank... I was trying to figure out what the heck was the problem, and my best guess was that the motherboard had finally given way. I knew it was only a matter of time cos I have been unable to use the normal USB ports for couple of years d and that usually means (in my case it is) motherboard problem.


R.I.P. 14-06-09

I tried to be optimistic and tried turning it on several times, and when the solitary time it did go to load halfway through windows, the BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) appeared! I knew I was fucked then. So the next day during my break I went all the way to Times Square again to the service centre. First thing the technician said to me was " Sir, firstly I'd like to inform you that we do not produce parts for this model anymore". -.- ... And after further inspection, he concluded that it was indeed my motherboard problem and there was nothing I could do about it. I dunno to feel happy or sad at that moment. But the first thought that popped into my mind was : NEW LAPTOP!!


My new machine... Bigger, Badder, Better and err.. Blacker??

So after letting my dad know and getting approval from him, the search for a new laptop was on! But to be honest, I had already narrowed down my options... to 1. I wanted a Dell Studio 15. Remembered working for Dell at one of last years' PC Fair and I was totally blown away by it. It does seem that although I do not dress that stylishly (do I?), my gadgets somehow get the preferential style treatment (see my Nokia 7200 and my current W595). So the only laptop that has style + performance + price was the Studio 15.


The keyboard protector looks like a spread out condom.

And the very next day after class, I was at Low Yatt looking for the best buys. See there may be 3 or more Dell stalls there but not 1 are the same! First I looked at the one on the ground floor, price was nice, free gifts acceptable and specs were as I expected. Even offered a Targus bag at no extra charge! But major bummer was the didn't have black! The only color I think is nice besides the custom 'surf' design that can be found on the net. So off I went to look for another one on the next floor, again price and package suited me but again, no black!! Was it that hard to get a standard generic color? Heck the dude even suggested pink and purple to me!! Like wtf man!! So dissapointed I went to the 3rd floor which I think was the last Dell booth around.



The ON button neatly tucked at the side..

So after reading their brochure my first question to the guy was "Got black color mou?". I think I took him by surprise, cos face it, the first thing a customer asks when buying a laptop is hardly the color right? So after checking with his warehouse, to my surprise and delight, the black color was available!! I immediately told him I wanted it and to book it for me. Was so happy man.. It was priced at 2,999 but it had a RM200 rebate! And I asked for a backpack so for an additional 30 bucks, I got myself a sweet Targus backpack. Of course it came with a host of gifts which include a cooling pad, keyboard protector, lock, sucky headphones and a mouse which I think its the coolest mouse I've seen (don't mention the Razor n Sidewinder series pls), the cord can retract and extend! Dunno why but I find this cool!


Sweet backpack..

The laptop specs weren't that shabby, with 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3GB of RAM, 320 GB of Hard disk space and a 512 MB ATI Radeon Graphics card. All for just 2799! And to think my old laptop cost nearly 6,000 bucks! So within that week, with cash in hand, I bought my second laptop. And boy was it a breath of fresh air. Everything seemed so fast for once, now I can watch shows and play Restaurant City without lag! Haven't had the chance to try out any games that will push my graphics card yet... Time for that will come. But one thing I didn't like about the design was the function keys (F1 - F12). To use them I've gotta press the Fn button first then only can work, so instead of Alt + F4, I gotta go Alt + Fn +F4 cos the normal functions include volume, brightness, etc.


This just makes it sweeter!!

As for my old Acer, I'm currently using its hard disk as a new external and its currently formatting as I blog this. Only got the casing today cos stupid me didn't know that laptop harddisk oso got IDE and SATA type. -.-' . And I am putting up my 1 GB DDR1 RAM for sale at RM 90 only!! And its only been used for bout 5 months, so if anyone has a old beat up laptop that needs more juice, contact me k! Wei Nie thought I was selling my whole laptop for that price. ROTFL.. I also intend to operate on the laptop when I have the time. I've always wanted to see the insides of a laptop :D. Hmmm.. a little Sylar like eh?

Guess thats for now, new shit thing that happened was my camera couldn't recognize the memory card anymore! :( . I just took the pics above and they were fine, before I inserted it into my laptop, I thought of taking pics of my mouse; put back in and can't read d. SHIT!! -.-'

P/S : So now with this , people like Phang, Soon, Yong and Tze Meng can't make fun of me and keep asking me to change my laptop anymore!

Ala Ramsay Take 1

Been quite busy now that school has started and all, sorry that my project still hasn't taken off yet. I'll put it on hold for the moment. Anyways, last weekend I was at my gf's place to cook dinner for her. I thought it would be a great way to show off whatever skills I've obtained from watching AFC on Astro while I was back in Malacca for the past near month and having a mom that can cook almost anything in the kitchen helped a lot! Also need to gain back some credit points from the girlfriend :P. And I figured it couldn't get any simpler than grilling salmon right? Haha, I'm sure most of you would say "wtf, salmon easy ka?" , but than again, I prefer cooking this kinda 1 dish meals than a 3-5 course Chinese meal.


Gotta molest the salmon to get em flavors in..

So after some research on salmon recipes on the net, my menu was : grilled salmon with creamy dill sauce and bow pasta. She did cook some beef fillets and a vege but this post is about me! :D. Best thing is her house so near to Bangsar Shopping Center (where most of the expats shop), getting the freshest produce didn't seem to be a problem. I got 2 salmon fillets which had the skin on one side. Thing is, according to my mom, can't get that kinda cut in Malacca, just the normal cut with the backbone in the middle. Heck, I even manage to find fresh dill (hands up those who have no idea what that is!). With all the ingredients bought and ready, now the process begins!! Guys who want a cooking lesson take note ya!


Seasoning the salmon..

Right, first I seasoned the salmon with salt, black pepper and garlic with juice of half a lemon. Actually the recipe said to use lemon pepper and garlic powder but I improvised instead. I figured it would not be wise to buy a bottle of each just for one meal and besides using fresh ingredients is better yes? Now that the fish has been seasoned, down to making the marinade. Yes, seasoning itself just won't do for this couch-tv chef.


Mixing brown sugar and soy sauce... am I going nuts??

So on to the marinade which I thought was kinda unusual cos it is a mix of vege oil, soy sauce and brown sugar! Again, I improvised by using extra virgin olive oil instead of vege oil for health reasons :). Oh and also added some water to dilute the marinade. Then I let the fish sit in it for 2 hours in the fridge, turning sides on the hour. Erm, as for the measurements, it was 1.5 tablespoons of brown sugar and soy sauce, bout 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and water. This serves 2 ya.


How to drown a fish... partially...

In the mean time I boiled nearly half a packet of bow pasta. Here is a tip that I picked up on the website : season the water with 1-2 table spoons of salt. That will give ur pasta taste and don't bother putting olive oil or butter in it cos it would just be a waste. Me trying to act pro, just hantam the salt ni, and to my surprise, it really works! And when it was time to serve it, I drizzled (yes folks, I can drizzle) some olive oil and mixed in some dried parsley and oregano for taste.


Should've been paying more attention... medium high you fool!

Alright, after 2 hours, time to get some cooking, so heat up a pan to medium heat, than add olive oil and put the fish skin side down first for about 2-3 min. Than turn it for about 2 min and can serve d! On my account, I thought of trying something different that I saw on tv which was to put some herbs in between the fish and pan, in my case fresh dill. Phwar, the aroma I tell you, will make you wanna reach into the frying pan and grab the fish, just like how grizzlies catch salmon in the wild!!! Only mistake I made was putting the fire too high so it got slightly burnt but surprisingly it still tasted godlike! hahaha..


Presentation left much to be desired.. but it's the taste that counts!

Now with the same pan (this gives you the chance to clean the pan and use the leftovers as extra flavour!), put in some butter and saute (waaa word...) half an onion which was finely chopped and 2 cloves of garlic. Than I gradually added 3/4 cups of milk together with about 2-3 teaspoons of finely chopped dill. Supposed to add some flour along the way but since I forgot to buy it, I just left it out. Let it reduce awhile till it becomes slightly thickened and your ready to feast!


Secret to tasty pasta : Salt in the water!!

I couldn't have been prouder of myself weh! Truth be told, this was actually the first time I cooked a meal for others without some supervison from mommy!! The brown sugar and the salmon blended in seamlessly and gave the fish a nice sweet taste. And it the fish was so fresh, bau ikan pun tarak! And surprisingly my sauce goes well with the pasta! All in all a great night for me. And her almost licking her plate added the topping. Though I'm not sure what Gordon Ramsay might think of it. Maybe he'd spit it out for being too burnt and calling me a donkey? haha.. I'm sure Jamie Oliver would say 'nice job' though :).


After cook of cos must clean up la~

Well, tonight pula I'll be cooking again. This time its gonna be grilled chicken breast with cream mushroom sauce and pasta. Manage to get some fresh button mushrooms so who wants a taste?!
Ah, if you have been active on Facebook, you'd know my laptop dieded. I am blogging now from my NEW laptop!! More on that in the next post!

I Have A Dream Or Should I Say Idea... (Please read til the end!)

I don't know what it is, but some how the wheels and joints in my mind are suddenly starting to not only spin and work , but doing it in over time as if I'm tripping on acid! Maybe its because I am gonna start a fresh with my studies, or maybe reading one or 2 of those motivational books knocked my wheels into motion.

See, as I was waiting for my bus at Melaka Sentral, I was reading this book (yes, I am starting to read) which compiles short stories about people on how they overcome failure, take risky moves that pay off or believing in themselves to succeed when no one else did, basically to motivate the reader la. From what I have read and recalling those from other books, the people that are involved in the story are usually 1) old enough to be my grandfather 2) dead already 3) famous but only to their work circle (like a president of a university or a CEO of some investment bank). I'm thinking to myself, how many of us today, youngsters in our own rights, actually know about them? Sure there are the stories of the average Joe making it big, but it does get kinda boring doesn't it?

So that was when my first brainstorm hit me.. And I kid u not, it actually begain to rain n there was thunder n lightning. Those in Malacca will confirm it providing they are up at 10+ la. Anyways, I wondered wouldn't it be better if those stories come from people who we can relate to or at least know of their existence? In which I meant famous people of today, like David Beckham, or Beyonce or Johnny Depp or Sir Alex Ferguson even 50 Cent and Gordon Ramsay. I'm sure they have stories/ past experiences that define them and made them who they are today. I'm sure they have gone through a lot of hardship and sacrfice that would make most of us just drop dead trying to get where they are. And I'm sure that their stories would be more appealing to us , people of today, than some dead president or minister. Don't you agree?

Then I thought, if I were to compile each of their stories, just that 1 defining moment, and put it in a way that can motivate/inspire people, wouldn't that be great ( I don't think there is any in the market yet rite?)?? Of cos a whole line of road blocks immediatly popped up like getting consent, publishing, resources, funds, etc. Which led me to ponder, 'Wouldn't it be nice if I knew someone who is in the publishing line, or someone who knows someone who knows how to get consent of the people involved?'. But no, as of now, I do not have a freaking clue on how to get started!

So putting that book publishing idea, which is quite a lofty one, on hold, I decided to go ahead with another idea which seemlessly drifted into my mind : getting networked. Now we all know how important networking is these days rite? And quite frankly, my network is not as big as I would like it to be. Sure I have friends who are going to be future doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, business related, PR related and even pilots but instead of having just that, it would be better to have more right?

How am I going to extend my network base? I have come up with a very simple yet effective way ,IMHO, by just keeping in touch or KIT (fuyoh, come out with my own short form weh!) with people. Basically just like a pen pal thing, writing/typing mail to that person with intention of getting to know the person better, taking interest in whats happening in their lives (Of course not to the point of being kepo la). Like in primary school when our teachers would ask us to write an unoffical letter to a friend/pen pal and we most of the time would let them know about the vacation we took last holiday. Thats my purpose.

Of course I'm not going to ask any Tom Dick or Harry "eh how are u ah? how u been?". My plan is this : I'll send a letter on Facebook to almost all my 178 friends (yes thats all I have) letting them know of my intention and this experiment. Of cos I'll get the ball rolling by letting them know my recent events (the part where we tell our pen pal about the vacation to the beach we just had). And hopefully they will reply personally to me about things that are going on in their lives. Ideally, I hope this tru n fro thing be at least once a week or fortnightly cos if it was any shorter, there won't be much to share right? And of course it is not a must to keep the same time period cos undoubtedly, they will have other commitments to attend to. So what I do want is a regular reply, once a week, fortnightly, heck even once a month is oso regular right?

I have to be realistic about this project, I do not expect everyone to reply and start this thing with me. Even if 1 person replies, I will still carry on. See the beauty of this is down the line, with that one contact, who knows, he/she might be able to give me opportunities in life like a job, place to stay, good functions to attend, etc and I might be able to do the same for them. Even better is the chance of connecting 2 people who don't know each other yet has things to offer one another. Like if friend A is running a business and wants to promote and sell their items and friend B works for an advertising company. It would be nice if they knew each other right? Or if I professional help on a certain matter, I can just open my address book rather than open the yellow pages.

It does sound that at the end of it, I am making use of them, hoping to get easiest route to the big cheese doesn't it? Well, isn't this what networking is all about? And I am sure I will be able to offer my services in return (not to explicit I hope!). I hope to be able to type out the 'letter' by the end of this week and it is gonna require some smart thinking as I need it to say I am serious about this project yet I'm not forcing anyone to participate and I have to keep it as short and as simple to read yet it has to be detailed enough so my message can be reached across.

Oh, I will update the progress of my experiment, good or bad, here on a time to time basis, and if you are a frequent visitor here and are replying to me, you might find it redundant so bare with me ok. At least I can know more about you too right? And for those whom I regularly meet up or chat with online, you don't have to partake in this. My aim is towards those who are not one of the regulars so to speak.

What do you think? Will it work?

Time To Turn Over A New Leaf...

Good news good news! I got my wish, although not all that easy, to NOT study in MMU! I am saying this because its not that I have the option to reject MMU, but they wouldn't accept me into their degree program! Apparently my grades weren't good enough to qualify for the degree course so instead they offered me their foundation course instead! Which meant I have to go another extra year! I was like "No f-ing way I'm goin to waste another year jz for pre-U", and for the first time in this situation, my parents agreed!

Truth be told, I was heavily considering studying in MMU should they accept my application. Even if it meant I had to be under 'lock down' 24/7 as agreed by ex-India boy and wanna be Korean boy. See, that and the fact that I won't be able to see my gf as often was the only down side of studying in MMU as compared to at least 5 other things I could think as a pro of staying here (although I'm sure those 2 will tell me that parental lock down triumphs everything).

In the end, non of it mattered as I will (99.99% sure) be starting class at HELP on Monday! See, it was not as if I didn't try to appeal to MMU, heck , my mom and I even went there to ask about my application and stuff. The girl at the front desk asked me to write a letter of appeal and that was on Monday. And on Tuesday, I personally handed in the letter along with other relevant documents (again) with the assurance from the clerk that my case will be heard and I will get a response on Friday (today). My mom even called up the next day to make sure the person in charge of this thing got my letter and they said yes. So come today, called MMU in the morning and they can say my letter was no where to be seen!! They couldn't even tell me if the committee had reviewed my case or not!! So at 3 pm, decided to ring them again and they still gave the same freakin excuse!

Pissed off, my mom and I went there with another copy of the letter hoping to get to the bottom of this shit! Then as we were walking to the front desk, the clerk called my mom's hp and said they found the letter along with the approval. Mahai... I hate to play the race card here but the way they organize and manage themselves, even their own documents oso misplace explains a lot doesn't it. Of cos I'm not saying ALL of them, but you know where I'm going with this.

Speaking of things falling into place, not 5 minutes of me going online and spreading the news, a person from HELP called me up. Initially, I was afraid they oso will reject me cos I am 1 week late for class although the date line states 12th June. She asked me if I was joining them and mentioned that the last day for me to register myself is next Wednesday. Boy did my heart let out a sigh of relieve when I heard that. I asked her if it was ok for me to join the class even if I haven't payed my registration fees. 'Not a problem' she replied, further saying all I have to do is go and collect the time table and join first. Heck she even said she'll e-mail me the timetable (although at this time, my inbox still no new mail). Plus she also said she'll personally brief me about the college stuff and all since I missed orientation week!

I am impressed that they took the liberty call me to provide me with info, even if I haven't confirmed that I'm joining. When on the other side of the spectrum, they couldn't be bothered to let me know my application has been denied/waiting list. And I assume if I didn't take the trouble to find out, sampai tua la I'll wait for their reply and in the end miss both intakes..

But, now that it has all been said and done, this opportunity given to me signifies a new dawn for me. A fresh chance, late as it may be, to start on a clean slate. And by Thor (or whatever mystical being you worship :P), I am gonna seize this chance. I know I've said this a billion times and maybe more, but I am making a promise to myself to be more pro-active towards my studies this time and seriously cut down on the distractions and side shows to the bare minimum. If I can block it out completely, all the better. I have to do well this time cos if I don't, my dad will stop the financial support and force me to look for a job!Yes this paragraph might sound like something plucked out from a self motivation book and maybe it is but if those books manage to sell millions and influence the masses, it must be working rite?

So I'll be heading back to KL tomorrow to restart my life, 6 months (yes thats how long) in the wilderness is making my brain go numb. Will I make it this time? I'm not going to say I hope so, cos hope is just like sitting under the apple tree waiting for the apple to drop, instead, I'm going to say ' yes I will' and by crook or hook, I'll make that apple drop!