Apologies

I'm so terrible at keeping a blog, I swear. The only reason I blogged so regularly while on radio was because my boss kept breathing down my neck about it. Whenever I missed a post, my boss would bring it up in the next team meeting. Do you have any idea how scary that is? Lol. Anyways, I will be traveling soon and I figure, what better reason to start updating again.

So look out for wonderful scenic photos coming your way in October. In the mean time, there are a few things I would like to rant about. Mainly this one thing that happened a few weeks back. Pretty sure many people can relate to this as it happens more often than we would like to admit. 

A very good friend of mine contacted me awhile back, saying she wanted to borrow some money. I had quite a bit to spare especially as she said she would pay me back the following week. I had borrowed money from her countless times so I figured this would not be a problem. 

In fact, one time I was in Paris stuck with no money (loooooong story) and she transferred a significant amount into my account without asking anything. So yeah, I had borrowed from her before and she is a close friend so I did not think much of it. 

So a week passed and I did not hear from her but this was typical anyways because she is always busy. And then a couple more days went by and I started to get desperate.

You see, I am traveling to the US next month and I have been changing money little by little for the past few months. Being a freelancer, money does not come in once a month, sometimes several times a month and sometimes once in two to three months. Some clients are just terrible paymasters (lets save that story for another post, another time).

I had a stash of US dollars which I had changed when the rate was still 3.86 but I was running out of Ringgit really fast. My next payment was not due for a few more weeks, leaving me with no choice but to contact my friend.

I texted her, saying I kinda needed to use money and if she had enough to pay me back. No reply. Okay fine, she's known not to reply texts almost all the time. So I waited a bit more, thinking she would absolutely get back to me when she had time, seeing as to how important this was. Benefit of the doubt.

It did not benefit me at all. No reply. Funny thing was, she was suddenly very active on social media (This is a person who hardly ever posts anything on social media, compared to me who posts at least one photo a day). I texted again. No reply. A number of days passed and out of the blue she texted me saying "By the way, I am not ignoring you. Things have been crazy. I will pay you before you head out to US."

Something along those lines. 

Now, she is an old friend. A very good old friend. We have been through a lot together and she has lent me money countless times. This was not about the money anymore. This was about the fact that I felt disrespected as a person. I was disappointed and upset and I made a conscious decision not to reply to her text. She did not bother to look for me after my no reply.

I took a stack of my USD and changed them back to Ringgit, knowing full well that I would need to replace this USD at a much higher rate before I leave the country. What a waste yeah? Well I had no choice. My car needed to be refueled and my tummy wanted food.

I believe it has been a month and recently while scrolling through social media, I found her in another country. Last night, somebody posted a photo of her being even closer to where I live. 

I am not posting this so she would read it. I am beyond confident she does not read my blog, neither does she have the time to. I am posting this to ask you what you would do if you were in my shoes. I don't care about the money anymore but a real heartfelt apology would go a long way at this point. 

I don't know. What do you think? 

The Clothes Folder!

Recently I followed my Mama to Putrajaya to settle a home loan thing. And there was a bazaar outside the Kementerian Perumahan building. Vendors were selling everything from robes to hijabs to kitchenware. And then I came across this guy who was folding clothes using a plastic board.

I had seen this once before on an infomercial in New Zealand and had wanted it for the longest time. Now I know a lot of you have learnt a simple way of folding clothes on youtube but this is something I could easily teach Mama. Not another technique on folding clothes, just a contraption to help her do it easily while keeping it neat. 

As I guessed, she loved it and is still using it today. Now if you are wondering where this bazaar was so you could buy one yourself, I have news, this bazaars move from one government office to another every month. 

So here is a better alternative. The vendor told me that he opens his booth every other Sunday at The Curve's bazaar. He tries to be there most Sundays so that is the best place for you to go hunt for him okay? Good luck! 

Unbelievable Coincidence

A few weeks back I saw something in the bookshop Borders that reminded me of somebody I met back in 2009. You see in 2009 my boyfriend, Aaron and I took a trip to UK to visit both our best friends and a few more friends in Paris. It was a very tight budget trip and we got by with the help of so many wonderful friends over in both countries. 

While in UK, we took a weekend trip to London with some friends and met up with another Malaysian friend who was living and working in London at the time. 

One of the days in London, all of us took a walk down a row of shops, I do not exactly remember where but there were a lot of people hanging out in the back alley. As we walked down that street, we bumped into a street performer James and his ginger cat with a scarf around its neck, Bob. James was walking around with his guitar while Bob was comfortably perched on top of James' guitar. 

James approached us and said that for one Pound, he will sing for us. I told him that I only wanted to pet Bob. James told me for one Pound, he will sing and I could pet Bob. So we struck a deal. The whole time James sang, I petted Bob and Aaron took a video of the whole thing (unfortunately the hard disk where I saved the video is broken and I cannot retrieve the video). 

After James finished his song, we paid them, said goodbye to Bob and they both went on their merry way. Last month, about five years later, I went into Borders and found this book.

I could not believe my eyes! James had since written a book about Bob and it became the No 1 bestseller! According to the book, James was homeless when he found an injured Bob, nursed him back to health and they have been best buddies ever since.

I also found another book James wrote after the wildly successful first book and the second one contained delightful photos of Bob doing different things including taking a walk (aweee), perched on James' guitar (double aweeee) and wearing different scarves(triple aweeee). I will finish this book and let you know how their story went.

Incredibly out of the millions of people living in London, I actually ran into this pair before they shared their heartwarming story with the world. I hope James is no longer living on the streets and that both he and Bob now have a warm home to go to at night. 

I am a big fan of yours, Bob! May you live a good long life aside your best friend, James Bowen. 

Authentic Pakistani Cuisine

The last time I blogged about food was about Rakuzen. Right after finishing that post, I started craving for Japanese food. So that night we headed to our favourite Japanese restaurant, Rakuzen in SS15 Subang Jaya. As we parked the car, we came across a Pakistani cuisine restaurant just a few shops down the block from Rakuzen. 

Sheesh Mahal is the name of the restaurant and the host had on a full suit. He stood outside the doors, smiling at us from ear to ear. From outside we could see that the restaurant was well lit and beautifully decorated. We stood there for awhile, trying to decide on whether or not we still wanted to go ahead with Rakuzen or try something new for a change. 

My boyfriend and I are big time foodies. We have done the spontaneous foodie road trip before, we try new places any chance we get, we love the food network, you know, we are your typical foodies. 

Yet sometimes, we have our reservations. You know that feeling when you have high expectations of an eatery and then you end up severely disappointed by the food, service or ambience. And seeing as to how we have never heard any recommendations from friends with regards to Sheesh Mahal, we were not so sure if we should try it out ourselves. 

So we dished out our smartphones and checked for reviews on Trip Advisor. Turns out Sheesh Mahal has a four star rating on Trip Advisor and all reviewers had the best of things to say about the food, the service and the ambience. 

So we walked in and were greeted by smiley faces and bright wallpaper. 

My first thought was, "Hmm they have good online reviews yet the place is near empty." Only three tables were occupied, including ours. I later found out this was because the place is still very new. A lot of people come to dine yet a lot more still do not know about their existence. 

My next thought was that Sheesh Mahal's decor looks like fine dining and that we should have been better dressed. But looking around, I found other patrons dressed in t-shirt and jeans also. 

And then I looked at the menu and was surprised at how reasonably priced the dishes are!  The place may look like fine dining but the price is far from. However that does not mean the service is discounted because we were treated like Kings and Queens. The waiters were polite, pleasant, ever helpful and always prompt when called upon. 

We ordered a serving of Briyani Rice, one Butter Naan, one serving of Palaak Paneer (spinach and cottage cheese), Chicken Tandoori and Fish Tikka.

Briyani Rice

The Butter Naan was soft and buttery, just as advertised.

I used to think that Palaak Paneer is such an easy dish to make, nobody can get it wrong, but unfortunately I have experienced bad Palaak Paneer at a restaurant I no longer frequent. Sheesh Mahal's Palak Paneer is creamy, smooth and everything Palaak Paneer is supposed to taste like. Definitely a must have for your next visit.

Well seasoned, soft, flaky Fish Tikka.

The Tandoori Chicken was perfectly cooked, well marinated but incredibly salty. Since everything else they served was perfect, we forgave them for this (hopefully one time) mistake. Anyway other reviewers on Trip Advisor have great things to say about this dish. And you know what, I believe them because apart from the accidental saltiness, the chicken was perfect.

We told the host about the Tandoori Chicken and he apologized profusely. He later offered us a bowl of this delicious dessert.

I apologize for not getting the name of this must try dessert but let me describe to you what it tasted like. It was like flavoured shaved ice. Not too sweet, just nice.

All in all, I will definitely pay Sheesh Mahal another visit in the near future.

Sheesh Mahal

33 Jalan SS 15/5a, 47500 Subang Jaya
03-5621 3671

KLIA 2

A few weeks back, I posted on instagram photos of my Mama, my brother and myself shopping for groceries at KLIA 2. After that, I got a lot of whatsapp messages from friends asking "Why on earth were you buying frozen chicken from the new airport?"

Let me clarify. Firstly, my parents live in Kota Seriemas, Nilai. Now even though the official address says Nilai, Kota Seriemas is really near to the Sepang International Circuit, KLIA 2 and KLIA. For as long as they have been living there, they only shop for groceries at Mydin and Tesco. 

There is really nothing wrong with Mydin and Tesco, in fact both places have everything we need for our every day cooking. However, once in awhile when Papa and Mama have a craving for western dishes, we find it hard to search for western herbs and spices. 

So the moment I heard from Hafiz (my ex on air partner) that KLIA 2 has a Jaya Grocer, I immediately called Mama "OMG Ma, we have to make roast chicken. KLIA 2 has a Jaya Grocer!"

Mama "Jaya Grocer tu apa?" 

After a lengthy explanation, Mama agreed to check out Jaya Grocer in KLIA 2 with me. That weekend I went home to Nilai (I live in KL) and picked up my Mama and Amir (my annoying brother). 

Mama : Jaya Grocer tu apa? (I hope Mama does not read this post. She is going to lose it if she finds out I used this photo hahaha).

Finding a parking was easy. Even though the airport was full of people,(those flying off, those arriving and those who sebok want to shopping shopping like us) I think not many drove their cars. Yes, the parking fee is as expensive as KLIA. The moment you walk into the building from the carpark, you will enter Gateway @ KLIA 2, which is their mall. The mall has many eateries and shops (which I will tell you about shortly).

That day was the first day Air Asia started operating in KLIA 2. There were a lot of people who looked lost and unsure of where they should go to check in. Thankfully every where we turned, we saw an Ask Me person. 

These guys and gals had permanent smiles on their faces and were very friendly and warm. They pointed us towards Jaya Grocer.

This poyo guy is my brother, Amir. 

Jaya Grocer has a cafe inside surrounded by aisles of grocery items. Their frozen section has everything from chicken to beef to fish. Although their prices are slightly more expensive than in KL, I do not find them unreasonable. Anyway, it is not like we are planning to buy our everyday groceries from here. Only for those times when we need ingredients which are not sold at Tesco or Mydin (or Kedai Runcit Ali). 

After we got everything on our list, Mama wanted to rush home. But Amir wanted to look for The Loaf (Oh yeah, we are huge fanatics of The Loaf's Cranberry Cheese Scones). So Amir and I decided to drop Mama off at home and come back that night. 

We were told we could push our trolley to the car. Unfortunately we could not locate a trolley area at the carpark. Perhaps the management can look into this.

So that night, we came back to KLIA 2 and were greeted by a traffic jam!

We later found out this was because it was the first day of operations for Air Asia and a lot of flights were delayed.

After parking the car, we walked all over Gateway @ KLIA. The idea was to list down all the shops and eateries available so next time we want to buy something or eat a dish that is otherwise only available in KL, we could opt for KLIA 2 instead. Yes, they have a Guardian Pharmacy for my shopping pleasure. I mean, which girl does not love the pharmacy ey?

I did not enter Giordano, therefore I am not sure what their prices are like.

KLIA 2 has a large Toys'R'Us. Go go Power Rangers!

I did a mental comparison and I do think Toys'R'Us in One Utama has a bigger selection of toys.

Thor's wife was having a very bad hair day.

Gateway @ KLIA 2 is also home to Victoria's Secret, WHSmith, Jelly Bunny, Carlo Rino, Bonita and the list goes on and on. I believe more outlets will be opening soon.

We saw this sweet little cafe called Nanny's Pavillion but did not stop to dine. Might just try it out next time. We also found Chatime, Marrybrown, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Dome, O'Briens, KK Supermart (for whatever reason, Amir was really excited to see KK Supermart, padahal kat Nilai pun ada), KFC, Oldtown White Coffee, and the one we came for, The Loaf. Our favourite Abang who was previously the manager at The Loaf Empire is now the manager at The Loaf KLIA 2 (I told you we are fanatics). 

The Cranberry Cheese Scones are priced at RM3.90 each which is a vast difference from KL, where the scones are priced around RM3.00 - RM3.20. Later Mama told us "Hah RM3.90? Baik pegi Empire."

As we were walking back towards the car with bags full of The Loaf's Cranberry Cheese Scones, I came across my favourite Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. I was as excited as Amir was when he saw KK Supermart. 

Gimme my XXL Crispy Chicken now!

Okay that was fast.

Again, everything served is slightly more expensive than in KL but if you think about it, driving from Nilai to KL for XXL Crispy Chicken will cost petrol and toll amounting to the same price paid for XXL Crispy Chicken eaten in KLIA 2. Yes? I say yes! Nom nom nom.

In conclusion, if you live in Nilai/Bandar Enstek/Sepang, visiting KLIA 2 for food once in awhile is pretty worth it. However, I doubt the same can be said for shopping. Having said that, I did not exactly check out the prices of shopping items so how about you let me know once you have seen for yourself. Thank you in advance.  

Hollywood Stars!

For the first time in my life I had won a contest! One fine night while watching the CI channel, I caught an advertisement about a contest to win meet and greet passes to meet Kurtwood Smith and Omar Epps. In case these names are not too familiar, Kurtwood Smith is the guy who played Red Forman on That 70's Show. Yeah, Eric Forman's fierce father who was always threatening to put his foot up everybody's ass.

Meanwhile, you may remember Omar Epps as Dr Eric Foreman in House M.D. (Funny how Red's son was also Eric Forman in That 70's Show). So I thought, hey how neat would it be to meet Red Foreman, right? He's no Keanu but I still grew up watching him on TV and he gave me a lot of laughs over the years.

Both men now star in a brand new TV Show called Resurrection. The show is about an old man (Kurtwood Smith) who lost his son in an accident about thirty-two years ago and suddenly one fine day, an FBI Agent (Omar Epps) turns up at his doorstep with his lost son, still a child, not having aged a day over the past thirty-two years. 
This show has already made its debut in the States and ratings are encouraging. So this contest was basically Lifetime Asia's effort to introduce would be fans 

Mak tak pernah menang apa-apa contest in my life, nok. So I was not very optimistic but I tried anyway. All I had to do was answer a simple question and finish the sentence "I would like to meet Kurtwood Smith and Omar Epps because..."
So anyways the dinner cum meet and greet was last night. I wore my best outfit, best shoes, carried my best clutch and got myself over to Aloft. I bumped into an old colleague, Aimi over there and we took a selfie, hoping to win the selfie contest while waiting for the actual meet and greet session.

The criteria to win the selfie contest was to make your selfie unique so we picked our noses. Unfortunately we did not win. Haih. Penat korek hidung tapi tak berhasil. 
Finally the meet and greet session started and I lined up nervously. I had so many things I wanted to say to the both of them but time was not on my side. When it was my turn, all I managed to stir up was, "Hi Red Foreman. Hi Eric Forman." To which, Kurtwood Smith replied "We are the Foremans!" Lol. Omar was not as amused. He seemed thoroughly exhausted. He just gave me a tiny smile.

I met an old friend, Devi Da Lil Devil (I don't know why she calls herself that, she is the exact opposite of the devil) while lining up and she helped take the photos for me. Thank you, love!

Ooops not quite ready...

And here we go, my muka jakun plus super shiny forehead. Yay! Achievement unlocked! If there was only one thing I could complain about, it would be that Omar probably needs to go shopping. That shirt... oh gurrrrl, I don't think so snap! Snap!

At the end of the night, I took a full photo of my outfit of the day, just to show you the dress I picked out especially for the event.

This dress is from River Island. I purchased it through Zalora after seeing photos of Nadine Ann Thomas (yes she was previously Miss Universe Malaysia) wearing it to an event. I thought to myself "Omaigawsh I want to look like Miss Universe, like totally". 

I love River Island, the cut fits me like a glove. Will show you a few more River Island pieces that I have, next time.

Ohhhh and if you are wondering what is the outcome of my cupping the other day, well, I still have the bruises but the pain has worn off. My back feels lighter and the nagging pain I had just above my buttocks has disappeared. I will definitely go for another session next month. 

Thule Bike Battles

Last month I was involved in a shoot for Thule Bike Battles. It was a whole day challenge for cyclists. And when I say cyclists, I'm talking about pro cyclists from all around Malaysia.

From national cyclists to people who have cycled all around Malaysia, to people who have won a segment of the Le Tour De Langkawi, these people have achieved impressive things as far as cycling is concerned. 

The first episode is up on youtube and I hope you can join in the fun. Don't be shy to subscribe! 

Warning: This Post Is Dedicated To Hemsy

Chris Hemsworth. A man who appeared out of nowhere (actually he is a pretty established actor in Australia) and charmed our hearts playing the God of Thunder. 

I giggled when I typed the God of Thunder. Don't now why. Maybe because he's so sexy.

So this wonderful, gorgeous, smoldering actor was in KL a few weeks back. And boy was he here long. About five to six weeks in total. 

The day photos of him arriving in KLIA emerged, I wanted to meet him so badly. I wanted to tell him what a good actor I think he is and that I want to see him in more dramatic roles and no more Thor. I wanted to tell him that my girlfriends printed out a life size cardboard photo of him for my birthday. 

My boyfriend hates this cardboard

I wanted to tell him that I have been waiting to watch Rush for the past one year. I wanted to tell him that I have seen him in everything he has been in. I. Wanted. To. Meet. Hemsy.

But nobody knew where he was half the time. Not too long after, Guibo (from Fly fm) got in touch with me, asking for details. I just said I know he is here to shoot a new movie called Cyber and I know he is supposed to shoot in Perak and KL among other places. But that was all I knew.

So Guibo and Zher took to the airwaves, asking people to help them stalk Hemsy. One day, a friend of mine sent me a photo of her friend with Chris Hemsworth. They were dining in a hotel when they bumped into him and his daughter. I almost died.

But that was the first solid info I had on where he was staying. Grand Hyatt KL. So I told somebody who told somebody and soon Guibo and Zher heard about it and they went to Grand Hyatt, had expensive coffee and stalked him.

They met him.

Guibo got a high five

And so did Zher

I was beyond jealous. A few days later, my TV co-host Baki went to Grand Hyatt for CN Blue's press conference. As he was waiting for his car at the jockey, Chris Hemsworth walked out and bumped into him.

Taken from instagram

When Baki called me to tell me what had happened, I yelled at him. He did not deserve it but he enjoyed it. I think. So I went to Grand Hyatt the next day. Sat at the lobby with my girlfriend, Shannaz. We waited and waited and waited until we heard Chris was actually in PJ, shooting.

Photos popped up online of the shooting location and hundreds of people were hanging around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the God of Thunder. I gave up. Went home and forgot all about it.

Anyway, I watched Rush recently, thanks to TGV Cinemas for inviting me to the premiere. It's the best thing I've seen him in so far. His first dramatic role. I expected it to be a good movie since Ron Howard directed it so no surprise there. Go watch it. The movie will teach you a thing or two about friendship and chasing your dreams.

Hating on K-pop?

As we all know, The Shout Awards 2012 took place on Friday and all your favourite celebrities came out to play. (I was seated at the same table as Amy Search and I wanted a photo with him so very badly but was way too shy to ask! Sigh)

It was an awesome event with loads of surprises, special performances and did you see the robot at the start of the show? I mean, did you see the robot? Absolutely mind blowing! 

Now to the matter at hand. With K-pop gaining a huge following here in Malaysia, it was only fitting that we had not one but two K-pop acts perform at The Shout Awards. Now, I understand that some people don't understand the big fascination with K-pop while others are willing to go as far as learn the Korean language, just to show their love and support for their favourite K-pop bands/artistes. 

Of course, with every big trend, there are also big skeptics. Examples range from Justin Bieber to the Hipster trend to the Gangnam Style dance. More often than not, skeptics have no real reason to deny these trends, yet they have a lot to say.

For instance, skeptics are known to tweet things like "Gangnam Style is the lamest thing I've ever seen." or "Justin Bieber is so annoying." or "Hipsters are wannabes." 

Yet Gangnam Style has become the most watched video in youtube history, Justin Bieber is laughing all the way to the bank, carrying along his truckloads of awards, and Hipsters are celebrating life and art and not the slightest bit affected by skeptics' hateful social media postings.

Same goes with K-pop. Skeptics have so much animosity for the vast K-pop trend and following that they are willing to post the most ridiculous things on Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately on Friday, skeptics took their hostility to a whole new level. They boo-ed and threw things at the two K-pop acts who performed on stage at The Shout Awards.

If you weren't there, don't believe what you hear. VIXX and Nu'est did not get hit by water bottles or other random objects thrown at them and the boos were not even loud enough to reach the stage. I was seated right next to the stage, I heard soft boo-ing but it wasn't detrimental to the point that these two acts will swear off Malaysia after this.

Having said that, the boo-ing and the throwing of paper fans (kipas kertas, not literally throwing K-pop fans) still should not have happened. K-pop fans who were at the venue were so upset as they were there from the beginning of the show and they were good sports with every local act that performed. They screamed, they cheered, they danced and they clapped. 

Basically these K-pop fans came to the show, endured the jam, stood in the rain so they could watch their two favourite acts live. Yet, they still supported all the other acts which they were not particular fans off. Why couldn't the others do the same for the K-pop fans? 

After all, it's a party. You come to have fun and enjoy the music and music is universal. So why act in an uncivilized manner? 

I admit, I am not a K-pop fanatic myself, however ever since I started hosting 8TV Nite Live, I have learnt to appreciate the K-pop trend and their die hard fans. If you say you don't understand their fascination with K-pop, I'm sure they also do not understand your fascination with Michael Jackson/Britney Spears/Guns n Roses/Justin Bieber and whoever else you used to or still love. 

All I can say is that, everybody has their own unique preference, be it music, food, fashion, art, or even cars. 

Respect their preference and they shall respect yours. 

Last but not least, don't try to make this K-pop issue a religious issue because it has absolutely nothing to do with religion or race. Don't be stupid. 

Thank you for reading. Spread love!

Papa The Conman?

I am not sure if I have blogged this before but it is so funny, I have decided to put it up again. Few months ago when I was still working at Fly fm, I came to work with a story of how my father lost some precious belongings at home. 

 Up till today we still have no idea who took his laptop and watch which were in the bedroom because there was no sign of a break-in and the other expensive items lying around inside the house were left untouched.

My on air co-hosts at the time, Prem and Hafiz decided to give my father a call and get to the bottom of the matter. But the call took a different turn and my father was accused of the crime instead. It may not sound very funny but take a listen and laugh your heart out. I know I did.

Penang Nasi Kandar in KL (NOT Kayu or Pelita)

If you live in the Klang Valley, chances are you have experienced that Nasi Kandar craving at least once. But the problem is that the only decent Nasi Kandar places you can find in the Klang Valley area are Kayu and Pelita.

Let me introduce to you a place unknown to many. Their Nasi Kandar is so far the closest to the original Penang Nasi Kandar and they do not charge exorbitant amounts. Say hallo to Kudu Nasi Kandar!

 

There is always a line outside Kudu, especially during the weekends so I suggest you go on a weekday, perhaps around the hours of 2-4pm. There will still be a line but surely not as long. 

This photo was taken at 3pm on a weekday

 

I covered my plate with my favourite "kari telur ikan" and boiled ladies fingers, prawns and half of a "telur masin". "Kuah campur" is a must

Of course, apart from the Nasi Kandar, they also make the usual roti, thosai, and other "goreng-goreng" dishes

Try it today and let me know what you think.

Restoran Kudu bin Abdul

335 Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman
50300, Kuala Lumpur