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*