25 February 2009

I have been on a tight schedule lately. Last week, I was in the Northern region for the entire week. The week before I was in Melaka. For the past few days I have been in out of Melaka, Muar and KL. Next week, I will be in Kuantan and the week after next, I will be in Perak. Due to running sporadically around Malaysia, I guess I can declare myself a Bishop of West Malaysia. No, I am just joking!!

Let me analyze what I have been missing out lately due to my busy busy schedule.

1. Because of my hectic schedule, I hardly spend time with my family, kaki-yumcha, boyfriend and my buddies.

2. Because of my hectic schedule, my house has somewhat turned into a hotel where I just stay a few nights and check out for the next destination.

3. Because of my hectic schedule, I lost the opportunity to eat with my family often. Unlike Kev, he gets to eat my mum’s home-cooked food more than I do.

4. Because of my hectic schedule, I cannot even utilize my favourite department which is the kitchen. I love to cook, you know??

5. Because of my hectic schedule, I am trying to squeeze time for blogging. I do not want to lose my passion of blogging.

6. Because of my hectic schedule, I try not to forget to look up to heavens and pray.

7. Because of my hectic schedule, I see the clouds in the skies or trees along the highway more than my bedroom’s mirror.

8. Because of my hectic schedule, my iPod Classic has become my best friend and the best source of relaxation.

9. Because of my hectic schedule, I sleep on a hotel’s bed more than mine.

10. Because of my hectic schedule, I cannot go paktor regularly! (This is the saddest part!)

11. Because of my hectic schedule, I cannot read my novels as I wish to finish at least 4 novels this year.

12. Because of my hectic schedule, I have to compress the amount of time in Facebook – Friends For Sale and make way for other activities.

13. Because of my hectic schedule, I have not watched Slumdog Millionaire, Changeling, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Valkyrie.

14. Because of my hectic schedule, I have missed a few episodes of American Idol Season 8.

15. Because of my hectic schedule, I have not watched TVB dramas for a very long time. I last watched Gem of Life at Episode 34! Gosh, it has ended at Astro on Demand. What a turtle I am in this series!

16. Because of my hectic schedule, I have not re-arranged my iTunes playlist ever since Jon reformatted my PC.

17. Because of my hectic schedule, I can only clean my bedroom once a month, or even once every 2 months? Oh Noooo!!!

18. Because of my hectic schedule, I am so lazy to apply facial mask. Gosh, my skin is going to be dehydrated!!

19. Because of my hectic schedule, I have not been swimming for a very long time.

20. Because of my hectic schedule, I am so lazy to do anything right now.

What a disorganized lifestyle and I need to realign my priorities.

Errr, wait, my shoe-boxes are all over the place right now, see… I need to rearrange them now before my darling who’s in Alor Setar now, will be calling me in a couple of minutes.

Good night, bloggers, readers and fans!!

22 February 2009

I’m finally back from Penang. I’m kinda exhausted due to excessive travelling up and down at the moment. However, I’m just eager to update my blog as I found one of the best Penang Char Kueh Teow at Pulau Tikus.

You just need to take a drive towards Pulau Tikus. Don’t worry, you will not get lost as there are several signboards leading you there.

Kedai Kopi Sin Hwa is just directly opposite the Pulau Tikus police station.

Proudly presenting you one of the best Char Kueh Teows I have eaten in Penang. It definitely beats the famous Sisters Char Kueh Teow and the one in Lorong Selamat.

Since not many people knew about this place, the Char Kueh Teow was served within minutes.

Now, why don’t you give it a try when you’re in Penang? It’s only RM3.50 after all.

18 February 2009

We, humans in the modern society, tend to consume endless servings of fast food and processed food. They feed us meaningless “healthy” nutrition information on the backs of the products, while our health takes a step down for the worse.

Due to this negligent damage, we should go on a DETOX. We should think of detoxing our body as a moment of spring clean like how we clear up our mess in our bedroom once in a while. A detox can dramatically reduce the presence of unwanted toxins.

Foods to avoid during your detox

• Red meat, chicken, turkey and any meat products like sausages, burgers, hams or bacons

• Milk, cheese, eggs, cream
• Butter and margarine

• Any food that contains wheat including bread, croissants, cereals, cakes, biscuits, pies, pastry, quiche, battered or breadcrumbed foods, etc
• Crisps and savoury snacks including salted nuts

• Chocolate, sweets, jam and sugar
• Processed foods, ready meals, ready-made sauces and takeaways

• Alcohol
• Coffee and tea
• Sauces, pickles, shop bought salad dressing, mayonnaise
• Salt
• Fizzy drinks and squashes, including diet versions

Rather than following an extreme detox plan that limits just about every food except fruit and vege while at the same time getting you to down a nasty ‘detox’ drink every day, this plan is safer and more sensible and shouldn’t leave you short on nutrients if you follow it for just one week.

Your plan can include:

• Fruit – your plan can include any fruit including fresh, frozen, dried or canned in natural fruit juice. This includes apples, bananas, pears, oranges, grapefruit, satsumas, sultanas, raisins, pineapple, mango, kiwi fruit, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrant, peaches, melons, star fruit etc

• Fruit juice – either make homemade fruit juices or smoothies from fresh fruit, or drink ready-made juices. Make sure ready-made juices are labelled as being ‘pure’ or ‘unsweetened’.

• Vegetables – eat any vegetables including fresh, frozen or canned in water (without salt added). This includes carrots, onions, turnip, swede, sprouts, cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions etc
• Beans and lentils – eat any beans, including those that have been dried or canned in water. This includes red kidney, haricot, cannellini, butter, black eye, pinto, red lentils, green lentils and brown lentils
• Tofu
• Oats – sprinkle oats over fresh fruit or use to make porridge, sweetened with honey and fresh fruit
• Brown rice and rice noodles

• Fresh fish – eat any fresh fish including cod, plaice, mackerel, salmon, lobster, crab, trout, haddock, tuna, prawns, Dover sole, red mullet, halibut, lemon sole, monkfish, swordfish etc. Canned fish in water is suitable too eg salmon or tuna
• Unsalted nuts – eat any including Brazil, peanuts, almonds, cashew, hazel nuts, macadamia, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio, walnuts etc

• Unsalted seeds – eat any including sunflower and pumpkin
• Plain popcorn – without sugar or salt
• Live natural yoghurt
• Extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• Garlic, ginger and fresh herbs
• Ground black pepper
• Honey

• Water – at least 2 litres a day. Tap or mineral water is fine.
• Herbal or fruit teas

Sounds boring huh? Why don’t you try preparing your own meals? It will take a little extra effort but you will be appreciating your food. You may try the following examples for your detox plan:

Breakfast:
(a) Porridge made with water and topped with natural yoghurt, banana, raisins and sweetened with honey
(b) Homemade muesli made from oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruit served with natural yoghurt.

Lunch:
(a) Jacket potato topped with tuna (canned in water) mixed with sweetcorn and natural yoghurt and served with salad.
(b) Slices of tomatoes, cucumber, tuna (canned in water) with very little mayo dressing
(c) Steamed broccoli and carrots served with any fish

Dinner:
(a) Bake a salmon fillet and serve with a jacket potato and steamed vegetables
(b) Boil a vegetale soup filled with onions, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes and tofu.

By the end of the 7th day, you should be rejuvenated and refreshed after the detox. If you think you haven’t achieve the ultimatum in health, I suggest you exercise.

Who knows, you will end up like this model:

Ahh.. just kidding guys. Most importantly, you do cleanse your digestive system once in a while. We need to do some maintenance to our body like how we maintain our cars from time to time.

So, take time out to detox!

12 February 2009

Recently, my dear friend, Timothy and I decided to pamper our taste buds at Tea for Two, a fine dining restaurant located in Bangsar.

I apologized for the vague picture as I didn’t bring a proper camera. I was just using my lil’ handphone camera (K850i) to snap.

IMHO, Tea for Two provides a perfect ambience and mood for loving couples especially when full attention is needed for tete-a-tete session.

Caesar Salad with Grilled Salmon was simply scrumptuous.

Main Course – Grilled Snapper with Sour Sauce

What made the fish excellent was the crispness of the skin that gave way to juicy and tender snapper meat.  The sauce was just right.

Dessert of the night – Tangerine Sherbet with whipped cream

This dish will surely entertain Malaysian sweet tooth for TONG SUI. 

All said and makan-ed, the look of utter satifaction on Tim’s face clearly justified the RM 98 that we paid for the dinner + a Caesar Salad. 

Definitely will return to try the whole menu!!

Address:
57 Jalan Bangkung,
Off Jalan Maarof,
Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur