i’m lovin it!

YES! McD’s Prosperity Burger and Curly Fries are back! Just got my fix last Monday. YUM! But I must say, between the burger and fries – I order the Prosperity Meal more for the fries than I do for the burger. Curly fries ROCK!

buffets, past and present

I just had a buffet lunch last Sunday at The Royale Bintang. The food was only so-so. But for a sub-RM30 buffet of which patrons are allowed to sit through literally the whole afternoon (we were there from 1pm to 4pm), one can’t complain too much.

Anyway, the point I want to make was that I can barely eat half as much as I used to at buffets. Used to here, refers to my early-20s and before when I was able to go for replenishment after replenishment of grub! Can’t really say how much I used to eat, but a good indicator was when I used to be able to eat up to 50 sticks of satay, or in another instance, up to 50 otak-otaks. I don’t know if that’s much for you, but the fact is, I can’t eat that much anymore. I now concede, that if and when I decide to go for a buffet nowadays, it’s more for the variety of food being offered rather than the quantity.

Which brings me to my next topic – Vincenzo’s Sunday Champagne Brunch. RM98 per pax for a brunch buffet with 2 glasses of champagne, free flow of bubbly, wines and mocktails. A little pricey? Not so for CIMB and Direct Access Credit Card holders (myself bring on of them). Every cardholder who brings a guest gets to eat for free i.e. 50% discount for 2 diners, 33% discount for 3 diners and so on so forth (for more details, click here). Well, I’ll definitely be making a trip there before the promotion ends on 27th December. RM98 for 2 people for a buffet with 2 glasses of champagne and free flow bubbly, wines and mocktails – who wouldn’t

Adidas Supernova Sequence

My latest purchase – a pair of Adidas running shoes! I’m usually very hesitant about making purchases above RM100 (food not included) – but so happens my previous Power shoes gave way at a time which I was gung-ho about playing squash with Lydia.

I started my hunt by checking out what promotions were available at the time and found out that RSH was having a promotion, offering 10% discount for purchases above RM100 and 20% discount for purchases above RM200 on selected brands. For Adidas, I was only eligible for the 10% discount even though I spent well above RM200. But lucky me, I was also eligible for a 15% Cash Back with AMEX! Effectively, pending my rebate from AMEX, I would have saved close to 25% of the original value of the shoes.

So how did I end up picking this particular pair? Well, it was the best fitting pair for within my budget Here’s more about the Adidas Supernova Sequence.

Raul Midon – State of Mind (2005)

I think I was very lucky to have gotten this album at the very first shop I checked. Am loving it oh-so-much! Acoustics. Rhythm. R&B. A dash of Latin American.

This guy showcases a completely different style of playing the guitar – incorporating plucking, slapping, hammering, strumming and harmonics. Genius. What makes it all the more amazing is that he was blind since young. Speaking of which, featured in one of the songs in this album, is Stevie Wonder on his harmonica.

Well, find out for yourself what he’s made of in the youtube video below… State of Mind, one of my favourites from the album. Pay particular attention to how he does his “mouth trumpet”

offers, offers, offers!

I’m pretty much a sucker for deals. Not in the sense that I get ripped off, but I like checking out items and services on discount/promo/sales – be it walking around in a grocery shop looking for food items on discount, checking out a credit card company’s latest offers for it’s card-members or just strolling around in a shopping complex during sales periods.

So when I chanced upon Offer Station some time back, it proved to be a real gem! It (somehow) pools together offers of all sorts and organises them into categorises i.e. Offers, Warehouse Sales and Dining, amongst many. It really is practical. On a personal note, I’ve already made some savings (mostly on food) by checking out Offer Station first. Most recent was when I was looking for a place to eat Thai food – of which we ended up dining at Celadon, where I was entitled to a 10% discount plus a 10% rebate. Also, not too long ago were visits to One Utama’s Dockers and Levi’s store, which were offering discounts up to 50% and 70% respectively.

This coming weekend, I’ll most probably be paying a visit to The Summit USJ to check out the Metrojaya Shopping Carnival with Lydia. Who knows, we might be able to find something neat at a discounted price

home cooking adventures #3

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you our latest home cooking adventure… this time, it’s Aglio Olio served with Swiss Brown Mushroom. Looks good, tastes good!

Basic ingredients – lotsa Aglio, that’s garlic and a generous amount of olive oil (Olio). Some other ingredients include swiss brown mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, yellow capsicum and some dried chillies.

Unlike our previous two cooking adventures in which we recipes with step by step instructions, the recipe we had this time only indicated the ingredients needed and did not give any instructions as to which goes into the pan first. As a matter of fact, adding mushrooms wasn’t a part of the original recipe – we just decided to have a little bit more to our Aglio Olio, not to mention a handsome pouring of wine in the preparation of the mushrooms

End of the day, our experiment turned out delicious! The only thing we thought we needed to improve on was the order in which the ingredients are put into the pan. We’ll see how that goes the next time we make pasta again.

golfing around

I must say, 4 years back I knew nothing about golf and had no interest whatsoever in getting myself involved in the sport – whether as a player or spectator. My first real exposure to golf, as a spectator at least – was during my tenure at one of my previous jobs in which one of the responsibilities of my group was to transmit the latest scores of ongoing golf tournaments. It was through this responsibility that I eventually understood what birdies, eagles, pars, unders and overs were.

In the latest development involving myself and golf… just yesterday, I played golf for the very first time. It was at the driving range, and using a 9-iron I (only?) managed to hit the ball some 50 metres. Apart from that, what do I have to show for my first hand at golf? A nasty blister.

All in all, I’m quite happy with my first experience at playing golf. I have to say that it is a sport that involves not only strength and speed, but also precision and focus. Quite an interesting combination if you ask me. Having said all that, I know that there’s a certain someone extremely exhilarated at the prospects of me picking up golf – even if it’s just the occasional trip to the driving range with her

DiGi Pimp My Broadband

A video made by a friend of mine – Chern Liang, staring another friend of mine – Leona.

Like it? Vote for it here.

looking forward to monday on a friday!

Yes! It’s Friday and while everyone’s going TGIF! I’m actually waiting eagerly for Monday to come! Before you think I’m some freak who is obsessed with his work to the extent that his life depends on it – I’m actually looking forward to Monday coz it’ll be my first time at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP)!

Lydia (not her first time there) and myself will be there on 12 October to be entertained by vocalist Mia Palencia and guitarist Roger Wang as they perform jazz pieces including one of my all time favourites – “Somewhere Over The Rainbow“.

I first heard about Double Take (as their collaboration is known) a few years back when I was considering going for a local jazz event – which I ended up not going for. Lydia tells me they are good and that Roger Wang is one of her guitar idols. Well, I’m gonna find out for myself this coming Monday. In the mean time, check out Daily Chilli for a short write up on Double Take.

prayer powered battery!

This morning I stepped into my car half wet from the rain only to hear the “click” sound as I turned my ignition. I tried it again – and to my dismay, no sound of a revving engine but instead – “click”, followed by my car alarm going off. Battery flat, I thought to myself. Sigh…

I quickly typed a sms to my boss informing him that I would definitely be late, with a possibility of taking half day off. It was after all raining quite heavily and my housemates were still alseep – no one to help me push the car. After sending the sms, and as I was about to get out of the car – I decided to say a quick prayer. As I ended my prayer, I turned the ignition one last time, and to my joy, the engine started! Not in a jerky manner or seemingly half powered – it started as if there was no problem to start with! Boy was I thankful.

By the time I reached my office, the rain was already stopping so I decided to check my battery for possible reasons why my battery failed this morning. Battery water was sufficient and no residue was found on the terminals. I continue to wonder why I couldn’t start my car this morning, but my primary thoughts are on the power of prayer and the reality of God answering our prayers.