Eats: Breakfast at Social House

Affectionately known as SoHo by the locals, breakfast at Social House is definitely a must. This is my 2nd time here and it's always a 2-thumbs up experience for the amazing and scrumptious breakfast. Located on the 1st floor next to Harvey Nichols supermarket section at Plaza Grand Indonesia, SoHo starts their breakfast service as early as 830am.



If you are feeling especially hungry go for the All-Time Favourites which was Hub's choice. You get a choice of bacon, ham or sausage serve with eggs, aragula rocket salad, grilled tomatoes, baked beans and beautifully sauted potatoes served on the side.



I decided to try their Eggs Benedict which was served on lightly buttered toasted country bread with ham and melted mozzarella cheese. Yummyliciously to-die-for!!



Towards the end of our meal, I noticed that there were quite a fair bit of Muslim patrons. Which Hubs explained that the locals here are very chillax on this sorta thing. They are perfectly OK to dine in a restaurant that serves pork. They just do not order pork that's all. Refreshingly tolerant i would say!

****

Social House
Grand Indonesia East Mall. 1st Floor
Jl. Jend. Sudirman
Jakarta Pusat 10310, Indonesia

Eats: Paying Homage to Porky Pig @ Kedai Kenanga

It's not easy finding pork dishes in Jakarta. So when Hubs found Kedai Kenanga, he was as excited as his 5 year-old nephew Willliam opening his Christmas pressie.

Tucked in a rather quiet looking arcade near where Hubby is staying, Kenanga serves anything that gotta do with Porky Pig. From barbequed pork, roast pork, 5-spiced pork wrapped in tofu skin, pork satay to pork siew mai and heck they even have stewed porky ears. Yep.. you read the last one right. Order the special and you get all of them served with rice in a single dish.

****

Kedai Kenanga

Ruko Permata Hijau,
Blok F No.26,
 Jl. Patal Senayan, Permata Hijau

Eats: Nasi Padang @ Garuda Restaurant

This is another must-try on the Indonesian foodie list. Not because I am "wow-ed" by how good the food is, but try it for the dining experience. The very moment we sat down, the dishes just kept coming, and coming and coming. Until we actually have a spread of at least 20 plates of meat and vegetable dishes in front of us.

The way to start is to ONLY take what interest your taste buds. Because there's a catch to it. If you tried something which you did not like the taste, you will be charged even though you did not finish it. And now you wonder, what do they do with the rest of the dishes that you did not touch? Well, the restaurant actually "recycles" it for the next customer that comes in. And there lies the second catch: GO EARLY during the lunch hour. If you can, be the 1st customer of the day.

Verdict: Good enough Malay-esque cuisine that's slightly overpriced (in my opinion)

And this is how much food we had on the dining table.

****

Restoran Garuda

Jl. Arteri Pondok Indah No. 79 D

Kebayoran Lama, 12240 Jakarta Selatan

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of us all?

Asian women have this huge obsession with fair skin. And now the pursuit of fairer skin is no longer limited to the fairer of the sex. It would seem that men too have fell under the spell of numerous beauty products out there promising fairer and supple-looking skin.

A male customer came and ask for the literature of a new health drink containing pearl powder and marine collagen. Unfortunately, the product did not come with a 2-page long fine-print explanation of its properties. What's available is already printed on the box and the bottle and it offers limited information on just how the product delivers its promises: rejuvenates aging skin, prevents wrinkles and pigmentation and the ever-elusive skin whitening effect.

In the end, he did not buy the product. The reason: he's already on collagen supplement mainly for skin whitening properties and did not see any effect so far. In fact he is so well-informed that he mentioned the latest wonder in whitening products are those containing human growth hormone which guarantees visible whitening effect. I just nodded my head and mmm and ahhh at the right intervals, in passive agreement.

Vanity, Thy Name is Wo(Man)!

My pet peeve!

I dislike dispensing Postinor. Literally, anyone and everyone ask for it, men and women alike, from dirty old men to the sweet sixteens. Postinor is indicated as emergency contraception in the event of missed pills or torn condoms or more sinister, a rape. But in reality, it has achieved recreational status, because it absolves the users from practising safe sex apart from the obvious of trying to prevent a pregnancy.

And today, a nerdy looking college-going male came in asking for levonorgestrel 0.15mg. My first instinct: that's a weird way to ask for a medicine, because hardly anyone in Malaysia is educated enough to ask for medicines by their generic name. Secondly, the strength mentioned felt 'not right' because for that strength it would normally exist in combination with an estrogen as combined oral contraceptive pills and if it's a progestogen only contraceptive pill it would be at a very much lower strength. Upon further probing, I found out that he was looking for emergency contraceptive pill.

Come on, if you dare to do it without condom and all, be brave and mention the brand. No need to be shy-shy and try to act smart. Grrrrr!

And for girls who happen to be reading this, please be responsible for your own body. As with all medicines, there are known side-effects. For Postinor, it may cause ectopic pregnancy which is pregnancy occuring outside the womb. If you are sexually active, there are long-term contraception available which are more effective and reliable than Postinor. You can always discuss these options with your doctor/pharmacist.

Of numbers, fortune telling and... MLM?!

Yesterday, after taking a free BP check for one of the regulars, she asked if she could do a number reading for me. Always the curious me, I said sure. She asked for my birth date and quickly drawn up an inverted triangle and began filling it up with some numbers, which I found out later that these numbers were actually summation of various combinations of my birth date.

She then proceeded to tell me about my character and personality, i.e. how am i like and the works, which I sorta agree with. She went on to say that I 'seems' to have various opportunities to venture into businesses/investments which had I gone into these, I would have been very successful. However due to my own uncertainty (as in to do or not to do, that is the question), I have missed out the opportunities. Nevertheless, she said that I must venture into business coz I would make it good as the numbers "seems" to point in that direction.

Next she asked me to pen down the character of my chinese name. Whatever she saw there, it wasn't good coz she said that certain elements in my name does not bode well for my personal life, hence i must change my chinese name. She informed me that there's a particular Dato who conduct seminars on this number/fortune telling thingy in Kota Damansara (including name change and all the works) and if I was interested I could go and listen. I said non-committally that I would think about it and we exchanged phone numbers.

Throughout the day, I didn't have much time to think about the episode until later at night when my mind quiet down. As they always say, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. I felt a little restless and out of curiosity googled 'numerology' and 'kota damansara'. Interestingly the word "visiber" turned up.

I went into the company website and saw the familiar inverted triangle and the various formulas to derive the numbers which the lady had penned down earlier in the day. I also found out that this thing has been in existence since 2007 and from various blogs learnt that it has some MLM elements to it.

The restlessness grew and I called Hubs to relate what had happened. When he heard about the 'businesses' and 'investments' bit, he was laughing his guts out and said that it was so obvious the lady was 'baiting' me. Since Hub's cousin was visiting, I asked Hubs to check with him if he has heard of the company as he sorta move in the MLM circle.

Now on a saner mind, I recognised the 'baiting' was indeed there, and realised that gone are the days of 'hard sell' where enthusiastic MLM-ers encourage you to attend their motivational/inspirational talks that makes one so positive and practically wrap in this bubble of 'can-do' spirit. Instead, this particular company has employed something which I felt is uncomfortably darker, where in this instance the use of special numerological calculation to influence one that the future is changeable through numbers and good luck charms.

And I thought all men are born to know how to shave

As I was catching up with some ex-colleagues over lunch a few days ago, relating a couple of weird but hilarious customer encounters, one of them encouraged me to blog about it here. So here goes:

This episode happened quite a few years back when I was still in employment by another chain retail pharmacy. The store opposite from me is a photography shop and manned by a rather effeminate and plump Chinese man.

When he's not too busy he will run over to my store, mostly to window-shop and ask some general questions about health supplements on how to maintain beautiful skin or for weight loss. One day, he turned up in front of my counter and rather sheepishly asked how to get rid of facial hair. With him being a man and all, I thought he would always have a steady supply of razors in his bathroom. So naturally I answered shave lor.

Turning a slight shade of pink, he asked "Got any cream ar instead of shaving?" and while he was asking this, his right hand was lightly patting his rather scarce moustache - one-day-old hair probably, with the little pinky finger sticking out. Trying to maintain my best professional composure, I answered, "Most of the time shaving would be the easiest. I suppose you can try some of the hair removal cream like Nair or Veet but these are formulated for body hair, hence not tested for face."

Looking back I realised i should have suggested a third option: strip wax, just for the heck of it. Hahaha

Close Encounter of the Very Weird Kind

and I don't mean ETs or UFOs. My encounter with weird calls/sms-es from unknown numbers has taken a funny, bordering weird twist.

Two weeks ago, while in Jakarta, apparently I was a property agent. Someone sent me a sms requesting to be kept in the loop of any possible double-storey homes in Bandar Puteri Puchong that are up for sale.

Last Saturday, I received two more weird sms-es. In SMS 1, I was a university student. I was "asked" if I was interested in a study date. If yes, the sender of the sms will do the necessary booking of study room with the university.

In SMS 2, I was simply asked this question in Malay: Can sign (the contract/deal)? As usual, my response to theses pesky sms-es is to press the delete button. However sender of SMS 2 is one determined lady, which I shall call her Ms. B. When failed to get a reply from me, she called and asked to speak to a Mr Tan. I told her there's no such person and requested her to stop calling my number.

But that wasn't the last I heard from her. Ms. B called yesterday and again requested for Mr Tan. I gave the same response - no such person. She went on to explain that she had earlier sent a sms to my number to inform that she has banked in some money and when can she sign the contract. I repeated myself that Mr Tan doesn't exist and I told her to stop bothering me. When I ended the call, then only I saw her sms stating she banked in the money as requested and when can she sign the contract.

That sms got me worried. Like shitting bricks worried. In my mind, flashed the worst case scenario - someone could be using my number in some shady money lender business and I saw my face plastered in the Star newspaper, seeking help from Head of MCA Publice Service and Complaints Bureau to appeal to whoever it is to stop using my handphone number in such way.

I quickly called Hubs to tell him what happened and to get advice on my next course of action. Hubs informed that maybe I could check with my mobile service provider if there's another user registered to my number and also to lodge a police report. I gave my service provider a call and weirdly enough there's only one me that's tagged to my handphone number and their advice was also to lodge a police report.

On hindsight I decided to give Ms. B a call to find out exactly what sorta business is this Mr Tan involved in. Upon questioning her, I found out that she wanted to borrow some money from some shady money lender and apparently was asked to deposit some money into a particular account. She was supposed get in touch with Mr Tan after doing that and that's where the blunder happened - she couldn't remember precisely Mr Tan's handphone number. She could only remember the last four digits which matches my number correctly but wasn't sure what were the first three digits.

I gave her a very stern warning that her sms-es and calls got me very worried because it certainly felt like someone has deliberately use my handphone number illegally in some illegal businesses. I also told her that I was that close to lodging a police report. She begged me not to do so as it was really fault on her part that she couldnt remember the exact number. She sounded genuine, someone desperate. She promised not to disturb me anymore and will inform me if my number was indeed illegally used.

I left the matter as it is. My only fervent hope is that it was a genuine case of stupid blunder.

Eats: Gourmet Garage in Kemang

One place in Jakarta that you can never go wrong with the food is Gourmet Garage. Located in Kemang, i.e. the expatriates hub, Gourmet Garage is housed in a 2 storey building, and as the name suggest, it is a place that promise to tantalizes one's tastebud. On the ground floor is the western kitchen as well as the western supermarket with goodies ranging from gourmet meats to western sweets and imported produce. On the first floor is the Japanese kitchen and the bar. This is my 2nd time here, and I have never been disappointed so far.


Hubs is crazy over the freshly squeezed orange juice, hence that is a must. It was OK with me, definitely freshly squeezed with orange pulps swimming in the juice, but according to Hubs, that day it was slightly watered down. For our mains, I ordered the Wagyu Beef Burger while Hubs opted for Nasi Goreng Kambing.

The fried rice was OK - I mean, how wrong can one go with fried rice, y'know what I mean? But my Wagyu Beef Burger was a different story altogether. Only one word to describe - WOW! The patty was nicely done - I requested medium, oozes with natural beef juice and amazingly tender. The bread was nicely toasted, french fries fresh from the fryer with a bed of aragula and roquet salad in balsamic vinegar dressing to complete the meal. Will definitely be back for more!

****


Gourmet World (formerly Gourmet Garage)
No 66-68, Jln Kemang Raya,
Jakarta Selatan 12720

Eats: Live seafood @ Bandar Djakarta, Ancol

Hubs always laments the lack of quality seafood in Jakarta supermarkets. And I don't blame him at all. One of my mission to Jakarta recently is to prepare some home-cooked meals for him. But alas, the quality of so-called "fresh" pork or fish found in the supermarkets (including those found in the Korean community) left much to desire that the word stale seems more appropriate.

Hence, while hanging out at the Black Cat Jazz Lounge on Friday night with some fellow Malaysians, we jumped at the opportunity when one of Hubs's friend suggested to dine on fresh seafood in Ancol Dreamland, touted to be the largest theme park in Jakarta, about 30 minutes drive (without traffic) from the city center. The date was set and it was all system go come Saturday 8pm.

The place was pretty easy to find, expressway all the way in the direction of Kelapa Gading until we came upon the signage Ancol and exited as directed. From the expressway it was a short 5 minutes drive before we reached the main entrance. The theme park itself is really big and it took us quite awhile before we finally reached our designated restaurant for the night - Bandar Djakarta.

Same as Ancol Dreamland, Bandar Djakarta IS a sprawling restaurant boasting of seating capacity up to 1000 pax. It has its own fresh seafood market where patrons get to choose their choice of live and frozen seafood. The restaurant was packed to the brim but we only have to wait 10 minutes before we were led to our table, and mind you we didn't even call ahead to book a table.

Next comes the exciting bit - choosing the seafood. And we were spoiled for choices. From live mud crabs, to live garoupa, live local scallops, live prawns, giant clams and calamari. It is indeed a seafood lover paradise! Hubs and friend were on a shopping frenzy deciding which seafood to take and how to cook it. As for me, I was the trigger-happy tourist, with my camera in hand, busy snapping photos.

 

After placing our order, we didn't have to wait long before they served the usual ulam and the local version of otak-otak. Unlike the ones you get in Muar, they were devoid spices, and it was more like fish paste (yu-wat) and went very well in the accompanying peanut sauce. Off to a good start! Next came the highlights - the seafood itself. They were fresh, with natural sweetness and amazingly yummy. My only gripe was the steam garoupa - it was slightly oversteamed by 5 minutes. Otherwise it would have been a perfect dinner.

This was something really funny that we saw - 2 obviously very angry garoupas going for each other's throat. They were deadlocked like this from the time we were choosing our seafood at the market right until we left the restaurant!

****

Bandar Djakarta

Pintu Timur

Taman Impian Jaya Ancol

http://www.bandar-djakarta.com/

Eats: Being adventurous @ Ibu Samino

Another must-try while in Jakarta is their Sop Buntut which literally translates as "Backside Soup". Despite its outrageous name - some may think it's crude but personally i think Bahasa Indonesia is so rustic in itself that it is charming, Sop Buntut is actually oxtail soup and is usually served with white rice, melinjo emping (crackers) and spicy sambal on the side. Unlike the heavily spiced Sup Ekor Mamak near Bangsar Village or the stew-ish western version at Rennie's in Jln Gasing, the Indonesian Sop Buntut is actually a clear soup with just the right amount aromatic spices without being overwhelmingly spicy.

Knowing my penchant for this and having tried what the locals claimed as the best Sop Buntut in town at Hotel Borobodur in Jakarta during my previous visit, Hubs has since discovered this little roadside warong near his office which he thought serves a rather mean version. Throwing all cautions to wind about eating roadside food in Jakarta, I asked Hubs to bring me here last Saturday for lunch. And it was rather good, having just about the right balance of beefy taste and spices.

Hubs also ordered something else for me to try: Bebek Goreng Kremes, which is Deep Fried Crispy Duck. For some unknown reasons, the Indonesians love their ducks. Everywhere we went, bebek (Indonesian for duck) is featured prominently in their menus. I would say that the mixture of two types of sambal went very well with the fried duck and the crispy bits. And I survived the whole roadside experience with no bad tummy. In fact I was feeling very much like a ular sawa after the heavy lunch - I could barely keep my eyelids open and we have to cut short grocery shopping time to go home for afternoon siesta. ;p

****


Sop Buntut Ibu Samino

Jln Setiabudi Selatan, Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan

Cream Bath @ Roger's Salon, Clinic and Spa

During my recent five days R&R retreat in Jakarta - really, I didn't do anything at all except to get ready in the morning,  was chauffeured around by Hubs driver to malls, massage parlours and restaurants and in between that, still able to find time for cat-naps in the afternoons, I really have to say this about the Indonesians: they REALLY perform miracles with their fingers when it comes to massages. And you get massage services literally everywhere, from traditional massage parlours to your everyday hair salon.

One such place is Roger's, and basically all hair salons in Jakarta offer this absolutely-out-of-this-world-yummylicious experience in the form of CREAM BATHS. In Kuala Lumpur, it is nothing more than your mere, nondescript, extraordinarily normal hair-steam experience at your neighbourhood, aunty-type hair salon. But in Jakarta, WOW!

First of all, we were asked to choose one of six different flavours of hair masque, from dark chocolate to green tea and strawberries which promises to nourish, hyrates and rejuvenates dull and lacklustre tresses. Once that is done, we were led to the washing area for our hair to be washed before the amazing experience begins.

I chose dark chocolate while Hubs opted for yoghurt strawberry. My massage therapist began by slowly working the hair masque into my wet hair, covering every inch of my scalp before her fingers worked their magic. The pressure was firm yet gentle and over and over again, she rubbed and massaged my scalp for a good 1 hour. Next, she took another dollop of massage cream and begin to massage my neck, shoulders and right down to the middle of my back. This continued for another 30 minutes before she took a hot towel to rub off the massage cream. Last but not least, she wrapped my hair in a small towel, put on the steamer for 15 minutes before rinsing off the masque.

The verdict: My hair came out soft and rehydrated, all aches and pains plaguing my shoulders and back completely gone, and all these for only RM 40 per person. To top it all off, Hubs said my hair smells really yummy, reminds him of dark chocolate mousse. Yum-yum :)

p/s: Another reason why I said Indonesians are darn good with their massages is that on my last day in Jakarta, we had some time to kill before leaving for the airport, and so we decided to go for a foot reflexology. I mean after all, when it comes to foot reflexology, we thought no one can beat the Chinese right?! But how wrong we were. The Indonesians gave as good as it gets, to a point I have to tell my therapist to go easy. Again another amazing experience for only RM 7.50 per hour per person.

Address:
Roger's Salon, Clinic and Spa
Jl. Wolter Monginsidi No. 21, Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan.
Tel: 021-72780276, 72792939
Email: wolter@rogersalon.com 

Eats: Sam's Strawberry Corner

Of course, no trip to Jakarta or Bandung will ever be complete without a visit to Sam's Strawberry Corner. I was first introduced to Sam's Strawberry while visiting Bandung almost a year ago. At that time, I was googling for things to do and eat in Bandung and Sam's Strawberry Corner was highly recommended especially their Strawberry Juice (more like a frappucino) which is made out of fresh strawberries.

I was hooked after that first try and insisted that we have to visit them again in Jakarta when we found out that they have branches in the city also. Other food on offer are Mee Bakso (kon-loh noodles served with chicken floss and meat balls) and Sio May (humougous fish paste siew mai)

Sam's Offerings

Mee Bakso

Strawberry Juice and Sio May

****

Sam's Strawberry Corner
Bandung: No. 84, Jln Dago, Bandung (in front of Uptown Factory Outlet)
Jakarta: Jln. Cipaku 4, Jakarta Selatan (in front of CCF Wijaya)

Updated: 1st Nov 2011
My recent visit has seen them upsize their strawberry juice to this...

and I decided to be adventurous to try the komplit set i.e. mihun asin with pangsit, bakso and ceker sans babat (i.e tripe)

My latest obsession

I feel like an infatuated teenager again. The object of my desire, Edward Cullen and Bella Swan of vampire-human love saga from the cult novel Twilight. I was hooked after watching the movie version on DVD. I vowed that do-or-die, I absolutely must get my hands on the book.

There was altogether 4 books namely: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I bought the first 2 books and on Saturday midnight, I got down reading and reading and reading. Within 48 hours I completed both books, sacrificing my sleeping time - I only slept 6 hours in total.

The novel version is far far better than the movie. If you are a sucker of love story like myself, especially those depicting star-crossed lovers, this is for you. The emotions I was feeling while reading, it was as if someone has taken a serrated knife, stabbed into my heart and twist it over and over again. But of course there are also many tender moments which absolutely melted my heart.

I have since bought the remainder 2 books in the series. Can't wait to devour them.

Today is a good day.

I woke up this morning with 2 important errands: first, to go to the British Council in Jln Ampang to collect my IELTS results and second, to look for Eclipse and Breaking Dawn to complete my Twilight novel collection.

I don't really know what to expect for my IELTS result, only that I know I had to get a minimum score of 7 across the listening, reading, writing and speaking tests.

I queued patiently for my turn to receive my results envelope. When I finally got the envelope, I opened it and pulled out 2 pieces of paper. I didn't even glance through to check my results, I only reconfirmed with the receptionist if there's any further procedure that I need to follow through. He said no and I left. It was only while walking out of the lobby that I pulled out again THE MOST important piece and took a good look at my results. I have passed all the tests with scores ranging from 7 - 8.5 and achieved an overall band score of 8. I was over the moon!

Next is off to lunch. I made a date with Lil' Sis who was working nearby, for our all-time, feel-shiok meal - Kin Kin Pan Mee behind Jln TAR. And a good and satisfying lunch it turn out to be, as always. :)

After dropping Lil' Sis back at work, I made my way over to Borders @ The Curve to see if I can get hold of Eclipse and Breaking Dawn of the cult vampire love saga between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen of Twilight fame. All paperback versions were completely sold out. But luck was on my side as I remembered across the street at Ikano Power Center is the mega huge Popular Book store. I quickly made my over there and as I walked in, I saw what I was looking for.

A good day indeed!

Di Atas Urusan Paduka Baginda

Now, when one receives this in the mail, it could only mean one of the following:
- from the income tax department (especially this time of the year), OR
- from the traffic police department.

I didn't think it was the former because they usually use properly sealed envelopes and this one isn't it. It was a computer-generated envelope with three perforated edges that you can tear off ala like those mails you received from the bank regarding ATM/credit card pin number.

In my mind, I thought it must be the traffic police and that could only mean one thing. Traffic summonses! Yikes! Any recent outstation trips that I could have exceeded the speed limits? After all I am known to have a heavier right foot and the tendency to step on the gas peddle ;p Hmm.. there was that trip down to Malacca two weeks ago. If Hubby found out, he would not be pleased since it would be my 3rd speeding offence while using his car.

The only way to find out is to tear it open. And to my surprise, it is as follows:


Dear Sir/Madam,


We, from the Road Transport Department wish to inform your good-self that the motor vehicle licence for vehicle bearing registration plate WMR 6188 is due to expire on 10th March 2009. Kindly make your way to any of the Road Transport offices or your nearest post-offices to renew the motor vehicle licence before the due date.


Thank you.


Hmm.. since when the Road Transport Department ever send reminders to renew one's moto vehicle licence?! I am gobsmacked!

Be nice to the waiter if something is wrong with the food.

And also to the nice pharmacist if you are asking for discount.

With my current employer, it is norm to give discounts in order to retain customers and also to have price advantage over other retailers. In today's bleak economic climate, everyone is even more cost-conscious and every cent counts. The pressure is definitely on in giving the "right" discounts to make the customers happy and to ensure healthy profits.

What i don't understand is some customers actually think that by being rude, they can intimidatingly persuade the retailer into giving them the price they are willing to pay. For example:

Retailer: Yes sir, can I help you?
Customer: I am looking for product X
Retailer: (proceeds to look for product X from the shelf and search for discounted price on the computer and writes it on the price tag)
Customer: WHAT?! RM40 enough la!!
Retailer: (... la di da ...) Here you go sir (with a smile on her face)

I didn't give this customer the price he was looking for. I could have but he was so rude that even my staff who was working nearby actually looked up to see who this person is.

As I discovered recently on my mind's tendency to drift off, it's easier to "switch off" when the other person do not understand what is basic courtesy.

IELTS

Today, after so long, I am back in the exam hall. And the test to be exact - IELTS, which tests one's English competency in listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Prior to this, two days ago to be exact, I was getting a wee bit panicky, thinking how am I going to at least pass the test with the minimum requirements, having left the exam environment aeons ago. I didn't want to waste money and buy the official test materials for a one off thingy. Luckily there's always the ever resourceful internet and I managed to find some test materials online. I practised with what I found and they didn't seem easy - or maybe I was attempting to concentrate while watching American Idol at the same time on Astro. In the end with a little prayer, I decided to leave the rest up to God.

It was a rather uneventful day. The test turn out to be easier than I expected it to be. At least there's no distraction ;p My biggest enemy, however, was my own little wandering mind. And boy did it gallivanted. The listening bit of the test required 100% concentration as the candidates have to listen to a CD containing a series of conversation while attempting to answer 40 questions at the same time. I suppose I got complacent when shortly after the first conversation was played out, I realised it was rather easy-peazy.

And that's when my mind decided to gallivant. In split seconds, before I knew it, my mind was somewhere else and I realised I just missed the answer to Q8. And it happened twice! I can't believe myself, neither could Hubs when I called him at end of exam to report back on how it went.

*shish*

Recipes: Devil Curry

I was first introduced to this Eurasian dish 3 years ago by Hubs (then boyfriend) during Christmas lunch with his family. I love the spiciness of this dish and always look forward to family gathering at his uncle's to eat to my heart's content. I have since got the family recipe from Hubby's uncle and decided to cook it myself today.

Devil Curry

Half a chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces, seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper
2 whole onions, quartered
2 stalks lemon grass, lightly bruised
1 tomato, quartered
1 green chilli, halved length-wise
500ml water
5 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Chilli paste (blend into smooth paste):
20 dried chilies, deseed and boil to soften (I prefer boiling over soaking in order to kill of any fungal spores)
8 fresh chillies, deseed
10 cloves garlic
12 shallots
3 thumb size ginger
1 1/2 thumb size fresh tumeric
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 candlenut (buah keras)
5 tbsp water

Method:
- Heat oil in wok. Add in chicken and fry until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Add blended chilli paste into heated oil. Fry until fragrant and the oil bubbles through, i.e. paste turns from bright red colour to a dark red colour. If using non-stick wok, make sure there's enough oil to prevent paste from sticking and getting burnt.
- Add in serai and onions. Fry until fragrant before adding chicken. Stir to coat chicken pieces with chilli paste.
- Add in water and bring to boil. Next add in tomato, green chilli and salt to taste. Lower the heat and simmer covered for another 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked and tender. Leave curry covered and set aside at least 30 minutes before serving.

My bestest Valentine gift ever!

0374924700

Now that I'm working part-time in retail, i don't have my hp with me all the time. While taking my meal break, i noticed this number which rather frequently appeared on my miss call list, on average at least once in every 1-2 months. Whenever i called back, it is always ringing off the hook.

I decided to google this number and found out that I'm not the only one who received calls from this mysterious number.

http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/0374924700

http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-037-492-4700

According to netizen Erik, the number originates from Maxis for telemarketing purposes. I really hope one day i'm able to answer this call just to verify that it's really from Maxis.

New Uses of Dynamo

Chinese New Year is around the corner and it is the time of the year for spring cleaning. I always dread cleaning the kitchen because of the one year build-up of grease on every flat surfaces imaginable. Since time is running short, i thought i better do it this afternoon.

Just as I was about to start, I realised that my dishwashing liquid is running low and I don't have a spare. Die-la, how to start cleaning? I decided to improvise using concentrated Dynamo liquid detergent.

And the results? AMAZING! I didn't have to scrub hard as Dynamo just seems to melt the grease away. My kitchen cabinets and counter surfaces feel so smooth and clean and oil-free! *beams*

And I discovered another use as well. Mix equal amounts of Dynamo with bleach in a spray bottle and top up volume with tap water. Give it a good shake. This mixture works wonders on all bathroom surfaces. No hard scrub needed!

The race is on

As more and more branded medicines are coming off patent, the race is on for generic and ethical players in the pharmaceutical industry to outdo each other: Generics can't wait to get their hands on making copies of off-patent medicines, while the big pharma is in desperate need to innovate and evolve their way of doing business.

I came across a rather interesting product while in Perth. It's Canesoral Duo marketed by Bayer for vaginal thrush. This product contains a single-dose oral capsule of fluconazole 150mg PLUS 10g of clotrimazole cream for symptomatic relief. Separately, both fluconazole and clotrimazole have lost their patent and generic copies are readily available at fraction of the original cost. And this is where credit goes to Bayer on being innovative to stay ahead of the game. Canesoral Duo is premiumly priced at AUD33 per box.



One can always argue that one can buy the generic copies of both separately and save some cost right? This is where the beauty of the product comes in: it is quite impossible to buy the oral capsule on its own as one would need a doctor's prescription. This is not the case for Canesoral Duo as it is categorised as a Pharmacist Only Medicine which means that pharmacists can dispense this product without a doctor's prescription. Smart ler...


Only time will tell if we ever see this product on our shelves here in Malaysia.

Travel stories: Dolphin watching off Penguin Island in Perth

Managed to capture wild dolphins live in action. Took us about 1 hour plus cruising the seas before we were able to see them.

Travel stories: I am a Cina-kui after all..

and proud of every minute of it.. HAHAHA

I thought I belong to the new Chinese generation i.e. in my definition, those who can take on cold sandwiches for lunch anytime and survived western meals for lunch and dinner like forever.

When I was in Munich 4 months ago for work, after 2 days of pork knuckle, bratwurst and sauerkraut, my craving for Chinese food was at all time high. And when girlfriend and me finally settled in a totally unassuming Asian cafe that look more like a take-away place, when my plate of Chinese fried rice was served steaming hot, when I took that first bite, I have died and gone to heaven. It was oh-so menghilangkan gian.

My recent Christmas holiday in Perth is the final nail in the coffin. Sure, I was having Asian dishes at every meal, but this time the craving is for noodles. And so on our final day of roaming Perth city centre, I told Hubby I have a desperate urge for noodles for lunch and I remembered seeing some Asian food stalls at Carillion City food court.

The place was packed with lunch crowd and it took us awhile to find a place. When we finally did, I already knew what I wanted. Steaming hot bowl of Nyonya Curry Laksa complete with crab sticks, fish cakes, fish balls and prawns. I was completely satiated, savouring each mouthful of meehoon and slurping each spoonful of the yummy laksa broth. Mind you I was coming down with a sore throat (and still nursing one at point of blogging), but that did not deter me one bit.

Happy New Year 2009

As the final minutes of 2008 ticked away, making its last circle on the face of the clock, I can't help but to feel that the festive mood is somewhat subdued this time. I am not exactly sure if it's due to age catching up or whether everyone is bracing for a weak economy in 2009.

For some, 2009 could be a good start: new promotions and new business opportunities all lined up and set to go. But i'm pretty much sure that at the back of everyone's mind, lies the niggling question of how a weakened global economy is going to impact on my lifestyle, spending habits, future goals and plans, and etc. One thing for sure, all of us are riders on this gigantic rollercoaster slowly chugging up the peak, anticipating the adrenaline rush that hits us when the cars race down the downward slope.

As a friend aptly puts down on her facebook NY wish: I wish you your own little miracle in 2009.

Happy New Year folks!