Yum Yum Yum

My students had a food fest yesterday and it was an awesome event! Best ever yet :) Here's what I had to eat:

1. Nasi lemak - RM1.20
2. Mango juice - RM1.20
3. Lemang and curry chicken - RM3.00
4. Fried mihun - RM2
5. Lime juice with pandan - RM2.00 (2 cups)
6. Kuih bolu - RM2.00
7. Fruit rojak - RM2.00
8. Chocolate muffin - RM2.00
9. Special chocolate muffin - RM3.50
10. Kuih bolu takeaway - RM15.00
11. Ice cream - RM1.00
12. Taufufah - RM3.00
13. Soy milk - RM1.00
14. Soy pudding - RM4 (3 bowls)
15. Longan dessert - RM4 (2 bowls)
16. Mangoes - RM2
17. Watermelon - RM1
18. Ice lolly - RM0.70
19. Fruit in a cup - RM3.00
20. Candies - RM1.60
21. Super duper nasi lemak - RM1.20

Grand total - RM56.40 for one heck of a lunch...

I am stuffed... and broke...

Fiscally interesting...

The rest of April is going to be somewhat of a personal challenge for me, fiscally anyways. No thanks to income taxes being paid... of which this year I paid 40 times what I paid 3 years ago and definitely no thanks to my spendthrift habits, I started the month with just about enough cash in hand to survive till next pay day.

And that was before my kitchen sprung a leak and I had to call the plumber.

So, as usual, a blonde headed plumber came and got the job done at an astrocious price so now, I'm left with half of what I had in cash. It's a little reminiscent of my first couple of years working, and very reminiscent of student times. I literally have zero savings (though whole lotta credit cards) so it's going to be very interesting to see how the next 2 weeks shapes up :)

I really should save but then again, why bother leaving money behind when I die? :)

Ouch...

It's income tax season... and like many other Malaysians, it's time to reach deep into the pockets and pay what I owe the country. I really don't mind paying but I do get a little peeved when some friends mask their earnings with very creative accounting.

Anyways... just a few days after paying what was due, I fell terribly sick. Coincidence or not, who knows but I was down with terrible laryngitis for almost a week. It's awful having no voice and barely able to swallow.

I'm so glad that's done with...

And this is what I do during meetings...

There was a spate of meetings, workshops and teambuilding camps this month and last at my workplace. I've been to 3 outdoor camps that required me to do scale walls, crawl through muddy tunnels and all sorts of other physically demanding team activities. And there's always the workshops and challenges held indoors for the complete holistic teambuilding experience. It's exhausting but, but, but... being at so many different hotels and venues gives me the opportunity to do what I like :) which is looking at pretty light fixtures and admire beautiful buildings...

Here's a few snapshots of my favourites...

Ole Ole Bali

Ole Ole Bali is a restaurant in Pyramid (outside actually) that serves Balinese style food with an array of Western dishes. Portions are generous and food is good. The popularity is evident with the long waiting lines during peak hours :)

Here's a sampling of the stuff I had with family.

Big Mouth Burger:



Ayam Bertutu:



Grilled Dory:



Ayam Panggang:



All the above dishes cost around RM20 but it can easily be shared by two (unless you eat like me). :)

Surprise

I've been busy travelling the whole of last week. When I came back, I found this in my garden. Surprise surprise!

I feel accomplished...

I drove to work today... and I did not get lost! After 1.5 years of working here, today is the first time I drove here... on my own... and without getting lost :)

It's amazing...

Daily Grind

CNY is coming to a close and the time off was bittersweet this time. Lots of great stuff went on including meeting two wonderful twin cousins for the first time! Food and family also made sure the days were warm, satisfying and celebratory.

This year also saw some big changes on my personal front. Adjusting to it on my own time but looking forward to the 'new' year with eyes wide open.

Squeak Squeak!

The Year of the Earth Rat is upon us and I'll be back in Melaka celebrating the season with family. Here's wishing everyone a Happy Chinese New Year!

Back from Bangkok

Bangkok was a blast! This is my 3rd trip there, 2nd time alone, and by far, the best time I've had there. I arrived at noon and checked into my hotel. Had to settle for 2 single beds as those are the only rooms left. Was a little freaky at night having an empty bed beside me. Hotel was good though and I highly recommend it. Economical, great location, wonderful breakfast and amazing service :)



I was famished by the time I arrived. First stop was Siam Paragon and I had some rice and this Thai popiah. Very sticky, funky taste but I'll stick to my favourite nyonya popiah.



I took this photo at Paragon Departmental Store. I love dinosaurs... even pink ones.



I spent the entire first day shopping. Went from Paragon to Siam Centre then to Siam Discovery and then to MBK. When I was utterly exhausted, went back to hotel to rest and shower.



Dinner that night was a no-brainer. I had to have tomyam. Went to Suan Lum night market at Lumpini which is close to where I was staying in Silom. Food was amazing and cheap. I had Tom Yam Gai (chicken), egg and vegetables with a mango shake. Delicious.



After that it's another round of shopping. Suan Lum night market is very similarly laid out to Chatuchak though on a smaller more manageable scale. And because it's at night, it's not so warm. Very pleasant shopping experience. And with that, Day 1 comes to a close!



Day 2 began with breakfast at the hotel cafe called Foodie. It's open 24 hours and the food is good. Selection isn't vast but quality of the food is really taken care of. Very tasty, wholesome, and filling.



Day 2 began with a walk around Silom and a visit to Central Silom, a mall. Here's Ronald in the traditional Thai greeting pose.



After a walk-a-bout, I took the train to Chatuchak and met a friend who drove me to Ayuthaya. It's an amazing place with so many temples. I really liked the reclining Buddha (one of many).



More beautiful shots of one of the temples. This place reminded me of Angkor Wat though not quite in that scale. Awe-inspiring though I was a little frightened of being trapped while the whole place crumbled. Could see many of the brick foundations collapsing under the weight of the huge structure.



There was also a memorial to one of the deceased kings. Apparently, the king's favourite pet was the rooster so there was a whole herd of them lining up. Very cute. Wished he liked rabbits instead.



The last temple I went to had some interesting traditions. First of all, you buy some live fish. Its mostly river fishes such as the climbing perch, snakehead, 3-spot gourami, rasboras and eels. Each fish carries a symbolic meaning so you can choose a specific type or get one of every kind. I got one of every kind to be safe :)



So what you do is you bring your fish to a river beside the temple. You are given a prayer to recite and then you release the fish into the river. It's quite an experience though I really wonder what this does to the natural eco-system.



The temple also had a good gardener with good choice in animals for the shrubbery.



Lunch was at a nearby stall. I had noodles and then had this fishcake dish which was delicious! Cheap too...



That night, I went again to my favourite mall... MBK! And thus ends Day 2!



Day 3 is a little shorter as I need to get to the airport by mid-day. Spent a leisurely morning browsing through the street vendors and actually ended up at MBK again.



It was a fun, leisurely holiday... looking forward to visiting Bangkok again!

My name is Dan and I'm a...

...workaholic?

I would never imagine myself being one but nowadays, work is what my entire life revolves around. Or seems so anyways.

My work calendar is filled up all the way through to January 2009. At least 14 weekends have been fully booked with traveling and I'm also working on Dec 31 2008. I'll be celebrating New Year's in Ipoh probably in Impiana Casuarina enjoying the view of the old racehorse and eating chicken biscuits.

I'm also working a few days before CNY this year which is a first. I'm usually off for like 2 weeks during CNY but there's stuff I need to attend. It's a crazy time indeed. Even my Feng Shui predictions says that work will be a big part of 2008 (though it also did say I will be earning more moolah, woohoo!).

On top of my fulltime commitments, I also teach parttime like most of you know. This time, I'm doing 10 hours a week, which doesn't sound all too bad except that the 10 hours are all in one day. Talking and fielding questions to an endless stream of students for 10 hours with barely any breaks in between has definitely been hell'ish so far. I hope I can survive till the end of the semester without breaking some necks along the way.

Right now, I'm just looking forward to my short getaway to Bangkok. Some good food and rest will be amazing :)

Days go by

January is like any other so far, except of course that it has quite a number of holidays in between. I've yet to work a full week and am definitely not complaining although all the eating and less gymming can't be good. And that insane but wonderful pigging out session recently with Meng and company could not have helped! Come next week, my waistline will take more beatings when I stuff myself with authentic Thai fare when I visit Bangkok for a few days.

New years are over-rated but you can't fault the holidays and the food.

Welcome 2008

It's the new year... I spent new year's eve watching the X-Men marathon and fell asleep at 1:00am on January 1 2008. In other words, it was like any other new year before :)

Like many others, I do get quite reflective during this time. 2007 has been quite a dramatic year. It was an emotional roller coaster, I was challenged with a new career, I've never had such a tight schedule, and financially I made some very major commitments. 2007 has been one heck of a ride with decisions made in that time having long-term repercussions.

In 2008, I expect to have an even busier schedule with work eating up 14 hours daily (commute inclusive) for 6 days a week. Sundays, my one and only rest day will be taken up with chores and family duties and this will likely be my life for a good few years. So friends, let me apologise in advance for retreating even further into my anti-social shell!

2008 will be a challenge on all fronts. There are lots to gain and also much has been lost but life goes on irregardless. Have a good year everyone and all the best!

Christmas in the middle of nowhere...

Christmas this year was somewhat anti-climactic. Although I don't really celebrate Christmas, I usually do find myself in somewhat festive company or at least at home watching a Christmas movie. This year, I spent Christmas working in Beaufort, a small town in Sabah that really could use a few good eating places.



I was there to do some visitor research on one of our travelling exhibitions. Work was alright although I tell you, time passed so slowly my team and I were checking our watches every 15 minutes or so. The pace there is so leisurely that we even went to bed by 9pm out of sheer boredom.



There was a little drama though when a stray cat who was mewing from the ceiling jumped and landed on an airconditioning unit and was stuck. Valient staff members jumped to the rescue albeit dangerously. I was standing a little distance away as I did not want a frenzied feline jumping on my head.



Being a small town, the best accomodation we could find was the Borneo Golf Resort which is about a 30 minute drive away, leisurely of course considering the winding single lane roads. The only lodging options in town is some guesthouses and I definitely do not want to spend 4 days in a seedy joint. Then again, the resort isn't any better. Rooms are decent but the pool is filthy, breakfast is bad and there are insects everywhere! Can't beat the view of the golf course though.



The resort also seemed to target Koreans so breakfast is a little funky and Korean channels is a aplenty. Only thing worth watching was CNN thus the early nights.

It was an interesting Christmas but I've never been so happy to be back.

Tis the season...

It's hard to avoid Christmas especially when plastic trees of all shapes and sizes with all kinds of adornments start sprouting up indoors. I particularly like the tree at Megamall. Funky use of traditional looking decor with some really interesting candy like thingy's.



I had some trees of my own at home too. Couldn't bring myself to pay good money for green plastic and too lazy to make one so compromised with a somewhat abstract tree that took 5 minutes to make. Seemed festive enough during my little Christmas/HariRaya/TangYuen makan.



I also did some 'cooking' and managed to pull off a decent garden salad, potato salad and tang yuen for the first time!



But when it comes to food, nothing beats the super duper dessert I had at Clara's wedding dinner. Gosh, it was amazing... almond biscuit, vanilla ice cream and mango soup with a dash of galangal. So so so good.



Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone. To old and new friends, lost and found friends, and those never forgotten... good tidings to one and all.

Working weekend

I've been really busy and terribly exhausted of late. Lots of travelling and there's stuff that needs dealing with. I don't like year-ends...

Anyways, spent the last weekend in Penang and devoted quite a few hours to stacking chairs...



I also met the PowerPuff Girls. :)



Looking forward to a week or so of my regular routine before I'm off to Beaufort in Sabah. Groan...

What do you see?

Can't remember whether I've posted this but was going through a presentation and this photo I took popped up. Do you see what I see? Brr...

Gloomy

Having a bout of down-and-outness... waiting for the sun to come out and shine again...

Home sweet home...

There was some changes in my work plans so when I found my weekend was available, I took the opportunity to go back to Melaka especially when it was also my Dad's birthday. It's been ages since I've been back and it's always good to soak in all the good things about being home :)

This time round I managed to get a taste of all my favourite Malaccan goodies! It's quite rare for me to get so much eaten in a trip!

I also managed to visit the Eye on Malacca. Here's a shot of it.



There's also a trampoline thingy and a Pirate Ship.



This area used to be the old inter-state bus station. This old bridge links the station across the Melaka River to the old town centre. You can see the old Cathay cinema building.



You can also see the back of the old shopfronts.



It's good to be home.

Bernie Wifi!

Tis the season for work trips again and my first stop was Kota Kinabalu. I was hoping to stay at the Le Meridien where I was rooming in previous trips but due to some logistical issues, ended up at the Beverly Hotel where I met Bernie WiFi, the hotel's WiFi mascot who apparently everyone wants a piece of. His tie is on fire though but since he doesn't seem to care, he must have some super powers.

Speaking of WiFi though, my colleague who always proclaim her IT background pronounces WiFi as Wee-Fee... interesting...