Tiong Sue Lynn - Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 Finalist

Tiong Sue Lynn aka Bangsar Babe is a writer, a food blogger and a columnist. I've been reading her food blog for a while before I met her last year for the first time in person when I went for the food tasting session in Belly Good.

She's a seasoned beauty pageant contestant too. She's a finalist for Miss Universe Malaysia 2006, 3rd Runner-up and Miss Popular for Miss World Malaysia 2009 and now she's one of the eighteen finalist for Miss Universe Malaysia 2010. I salute her dedication and determination to never give up.

Bump into Bangsar Babe in Hennessy Artistry 2010 in Opera Club, Sunway

You can show your support by reading her Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 blog or go to her food blog here. You can also follow her updates on Twitter here. Look at some of her photo shoot her blog post. This is another leng lui announcement brought to you by Simon Says. ;)

Gizmodo Editor's Computers Seized by Police

Wow. Talk about something that you can blog and something you can't blog about. Apparently after Gizmodo.com posted about the "lost iPhone 4G prototype" that Gizmodo paid USD $5,000 for, the editor of Gizmodo.com, Jason Chen is now facing problem with the law.

Latest report from CNN that "Police seize computers from Gizmodo editor"

Snippets from CNN:

"A search warrant posted by Gizmodo says police on Friday seized computers, cameras, hard drives, business cards and computer servers from the home of Jason Chen, the site's editor who last week published details about Apple's unreleased smartphone.

The warrant, issued by a judge in California's San Mateo County, says police were able to raid Chen's home because they had reason to believe his computers were used to commit a felony. The warrant makes specific reference to the unreleased iPhone 4 and gives police the authority to look for e-mails and other documentation related to the gadget."

So, if it's something (source/prototype/etc) that one have gotten through informal ways and published it on the Internet, then one might have to face the consequences. This is especially true if you are dealing with patented technology products from big company such as Apple.

Well, I salute Jason Chen for his guts to publish what he want and know that his readers will want to read even though it could land himself in the hot soup. Hope Apple won't be too harsh on this issue, it's not Jason who lost the next generation iPhone prototype in the first place.

Katherine Ng - Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 Finalist

After being one of the 12 finalists for FHM Girl Next Door. The brainy and pretty (God is not fair, I know) Katherine Ng was just announced one of the 18 finalists for Miss Universe Malaysia 2010. You can follow her updates in the pageant race in her Facebook Fan Page.

Read about her personal experience in her blog. Get the official updates from the Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 official website here or read what's she write in the her very own Miss Universe Malaysia 2010 contestant's blog. You can also follow her in her Twitter.

This is a leng lui announcement brought to you by Simon Says. ;)

Street Food in Badung Market, Denpasar, Bali

Welcome to Badung Market, Denpasar, Bali. The market that never sleep as what the locals told me.

As most of you have read that my first day in Bali I ventured into Badung and Kumbasari Market in Bali with the Astro "MAS Saya Nak Cuti crew". As with any street market, the Badung market has a lot of fresh farm produce and of course street food to offer.

Vendor selling something like a bun covered in sugar.

I then came across an interesting street delicacy, which looks like fried popiah (spring roll). I asked the vendor what is it called. Leong Peng was what I heard, sorry I don't know the correct spelling for this food.

You have to option to add in cili padi (bird-eye chili) if you like it hot. I of course asked for more.

The vendor cut the Leong Peng into a few pieces, cut some cili padi and pour some homemade sauce which tasted like a mixed of peanut and kicap. A bit like our pasembur rojak sauce with a slight different. It's good. Only cost me RP 2,000 per piece, that's why I like street food.

Don't look like much but is very tasty.

A lot of variety of fruits can be found in Badung market.

Bali dessert?

The famous Bali sausage.

Walking down to a corner of a shop, I saw this Bakso Mie Ayam stall next to it. Who will miss out an authentic bakso in Bali huh.

A bowl of bakso mie ayam only cost RP 5,000, cheap by any standard. Look at the generous amount of bakso chicken meatballs that were given. With a dash of a few special sauce into the soup, mie, friend wantan and bakso meatballs, and it was ready. I sat on the plastic chair provided and consume the piping hot bakso mie ayam there.

The mie is not like our yellow noodle. It is more like a glass noodle in blue colour. Yes, before the mie was cooked it is in transparent blue colour.

The sky is almost dark when I finished my bakso mie ayam. Waking back towards my transport, I spotted the sate ayam stall. Already a bit full, so I decided to take away the sate ayam instead. I asked for lontong too (ketupat in cylinder form lol). Cost about RP 12,000 I think, 10 pieces of sate ayam (chicken satay) and a piece of lontong (quite a lot).

The stall is so old school.

Very different from our Malaysian satay. The meat is not too marinated and the sauce is not kacang and sambal but a mix of dark soya sauce and sauce that I can't really make of. It goes very well with satay. To my surprise the lontong tasted better than the satay lol.

This is where the sate ayam is mixed.

Here's the video showing you how the sate ayam was packed for take away.

If you ever visit Bali, be sure to visit Badung market where you can have a lot of street food. The three that I've had is only like 10% of the food there.

Kick Ass My Review

Kick Ass the movie is absolutely kick ass (pardon my lame pun). The ticket teller even joked with me when I was buying the RM 6 ticket on Super Wednesday in TGV Kepong.

Me: One ticket for Kick Ass please.

Teller: Aduh, sakit.

Me: Huh?

Teller: Kick ass mah.

Me: Hahaha.

Okay, joke aside. Kick Ass was based on the comic written by Mark Millar, whom happens to be the executive producer and the screen writer for the movie too.

The story is about Dave Lizewski, a high school student whom is somewhere in the middle in the high school hierarchy. A comic fan himself, he wondered is there anyone out there that will wanna be a super hero. Then one day, he finally decided that he wanted to be that super hero that help others that needed help. He became Kick Ass (Aaron Johnson). Whom is really got his ass kick instead of kicking others ass.

In come the real deal in the super hero game. Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz). Big Daddy was an ex-cop that was framed by mobster boss Frank D'Amico (Mark Strong). His wife died while giving birth to their daughter while he was in prison. Her daughter Mindy was then taken care by his best friend and ex-partner.

After five years in prison, Big Daddy came up with a plan of vengeance against Frank D'Amico. He taken by Mindy into his custody and trained her to be a merciless killing machine against the mob. From there, her daughter became Hit Girl and he became Big Daddy.

Hit Girl is a favourite with most of the people that watched this movie because she really can kick ass and curse for an eleven year old girl. Expect blood and gore and vulgarity in this movie. Praise the Malaysian censorship board for leaving much of it intact, this is after all rated 18 for Malaysian cinema. But I don't know why they mime some of the cursing during the first torture scene by the mobster. Other than that this is a nice fucking movie, yes expect a lot of fuck word in it.

Rating: 8.5/10

Red Mist, the next villain for Kick Ass 2?

The pictures here are all nipped from Eyeris. Read his not a review.

Ngong Ping (昂坪), Hong Kong

My Hong Kong trip last year are mostly about food, I never really visited any tourist attraction. After I got to know from Jane that there is a mall in Tung Chung that consists from factory outlet shops of well known brand, I decided to go there with Aaron and Ray whom both are in Hong Kong too.

Saw Zaku and Gundam man-size model in the MTR station when we are walking to Hong Kong station from transit.

We passed by Hong Kong Disneyland station before reaching Tung Chung. That's the MTR to transit to Disneyland.

It's very easy to come to Tung Chung. Just take the Hong Kong line MTR from Hong Kong station and Tung Chung is the final station. Look for the exit to Citygate Outlets.

In Citygate Outlets you'll be able to find factory outlet shops for well known brand such as A/X, Calvin Klein, Coach, Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Quiksilver, and others that are selling out of season items from their brand. You'll might find discounted item of up to 80% here. So, it's a very good bargain hunting ground.

Coach Factory Outlet some of the bag are selling at 30% discount.

At first, we came here just for bargain hunting but when we reached Tung Chung we found out that we can go up to Ngong Ping using the cable car from the Ngong Ping Cable Car station just walking distance from Tung Chung station. So, we decided to take the cable car to go see the big Buddha in Po Lin Monastery.

A round trip for the cable car cost about HKD 157 per adult. You can add HKD 50 more to experience the Crystal Cabin which the floor of the cable car is transparent so that you can view what's below of you. We opted for the normal cabin because it is very foggy that day. There are also other package that cost cheaper when you buy in one like a package that include the Monkey's Tale theater. Check out all the pricing on the website.

Queuing up to board the cable car.

It is very foggy, so there's not much to see on the cable car. You'll be able to see Chek Lap Kok International Airport just a few minutes after you board the cable car to go up. Be sure to take the brochure where there's map that marked interesting site to see during the traveling on the cable car.

It takes about 20 minutes to reach the top. Before you stop, be sure to pose for the camera because you picture will be taken and you can buy it from the counter up there. You'll be able to see souvenir shops and restaurants located in building designed based on traditional Chinese architecture.

That's a tea shop behind me.

You can make a wish by writing ur wish behind the wooden plate. I think they learn this from Japanese temple.

To go to the big Buddha, you'll have to walk about 1KM. You'll pass some grocery stores that sell tao fu fah (flower beancurd) made from water from the mountain. There's actually a village up here.

I bought a bottle of warm Vitasoy before I walked up to the big Buddha.

There's many steps but I think Batu Caves has more.

Take picture half way up the steps.

Finally, I've reached the top.

View from the top.

Ngong Ping is really worth a visit. The air up there is so fresh and you can try out the 山水豆腐花 too. Also you'll be able to do some exercise when you walk up to the Buddha. We got back down and did a quick shopping in Citygate Outlets. I bought a pair of Reebok running shoes which cost me only HKD 195.

We then took the MTR back to Tsim Sha Tsui and had beef brisket noodle for dinner.

Shutter Island

I almost went crazy while watching Shutter Island. Yes, this is not an exaggeration, my mind play tricks on me and the movie play tricks on my mine. Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit but this movie is really one mind fucking movie.

Starring Leonardo DiCarpio and directed by Martin Scorsese. I got to watch this movie two days before it's official premiere in Malaysia. Thank you Kel Li.

U.S. Deputy Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCarpio) was called in to investigate an escaped prisoner in the mental hospital detention in Shutter Island. This hospital are for those criminal with mental problem.

Teddy Daniels and his subordinate on the way to Shutter Island.

There's seems to some dark secret in the mental hospital. Will the mind of Teddy Daniels be screwed while investigating the truth behind all this? Or your mind will be screwed first? lol

Shh...your mind will be screwed, muahahahaa....

In Shutter Island, the director will keep you guessing, which is true and which is fake, what is real and what is not. A truly mind exercising movie. You'll like it if you are one movie fan that like to guess the outcome of the movie. Just enjoy the flow of the movie if you don't want to think so much.

Rating: 8.5/10

Watch it if you dare.

Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰)

Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰) my takes.

I went to watch another very good local film on the first day it premiered. Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰) is our beloved Ah Niu (阿牛)'s first directorial debut. He even produced and starred in it too. In short, it's an Ah Niu's film.

Casting his good friends of Malaysian singers that made it big in Asia. The lead actress is one of his best friend Angelica Lee Xin Jie (李心潔) who won a string Best Actress awards like Hong Kong Film Award, Golden Horse Award and Hong Kong Film Critics Award. So, acting part is no a problem there.

The other Malaysian singers put up a very good performance too. Especially Gary Chaw (曹格) and Victor Wong Ping Guan (黄品冠) whom gave it all out that they don't care about their images anymore as a singer.

Ah Niu as the lead actor did very good as well, really don't know how he manages to put on so many hats and did so well in one time. The other star studded cast are Fish Leong (梁静茹), Eric Moo (巫启贤), Jet Yi (易桀齐). Penny Tai (戴佩妮) and Nicholas Teo (張棟樑) also did a cameo appearances.

This movie is great. Ah Niu did a very great job. I love the simple story and yet full of surprises. Some scenes are very funny but not in an idiotic way. It's a very Malaysian movie with familiar languages and background. The sound editing in the movie is one of the best in local film, I think this is due to the sound was edited in Thailand. I also like the way how Ah Niu capture each scene with a very unique angle.

I will have to say 初恋红豆冰 is better than most of the recent Hong Kong love movie. A good movie don't have to have the best special effect or watch in 3D. A simple and good story will do. Except for the background and languages used, I felt like I was watching a movie made for the International market. Lee Xin Jie really show her acting skill here, I dare say that she might be nominated for awards if Ah Niu sent in this movie for nomination.

Well, this is the best local produced film yet that I have seen. You all should watch it too. I am planning to watch it a second time already. Look out for Gary Chaw's son (still a baby) making a cameo apperance and wait after the ending credits to watch an extra scene lol. For more information, you can go to Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰) official website.

Some comments from 988 DJ after they watched the red carpet premiere of Ice Kacang Puppy Love (初恋红豆冰). I am lazy to translate. Please use Babel Fish or something if you can't read Chinese :p

DJ KK Wong "不會有荷里活的高潮迭起，但有很多馬來西亞的美麗。沒有激情澎湃的愛情，卻有你我熟悉的細膩。我是支持本地創作，但他們的表現確也令我刮目相看！心潔是影后，所以演得好我覺得是理所當然，她繼續會是影后。阿牛的精彩演出，我給了他100分！媽的！他竟然真的會演戲！牛哥，我服你！"

DJ 彪民 "看电影前，我以为我会为它骄傲，多过于感动。看电影后，我因为感动，而骄傲。衷心的感谢牛导，为我们拍了属于我们的故事。而且是一部水准之作。《初恋红豆冰》。赞！"

DJ Luke "看完《初恋红豆冰》后, 提醒我无论是以前或现在, 爱情依然无分对错。我们要勇敢啊！"


Rating: 10/10

The theme song of Ice Kacang Puppy Love song is an old song from the 80s composed and written by a Malaysian, 陈绍安, hence you'll see that it will be played in cassette in the movie. Ah Niu sang his version in the movie.

The name of the song is "纯文艺恋爱" Pure Contemporary Love:

TM iTalk Whoa Launching

Just a night before I went to Bali, I went to the launching of TM iTalk Whoa! which I've blogged about here. So at the launching event, we learned more about TM iTalk Whoa! TM is so generous that in the goodies bag it's a headphone-mic set so that we can call using our laptop to any country with a very low call rates using the TM iTalk Whoa portal.

Nice headphone-mic set courtesy of TM.

MC of the night warming up the crowd first before that start of the launching.

The "birthday boy" then told the crowd what is iTalk Whoa all about. It is actually what TM called Connect, Communicate and Collaborate. In iTalk Whoa portal, you can CONNECT with all your contacts using different social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter just in one place.

It also let you COMMUNICATE with your friends and family that are using different type of chat program such as MSN, Yahoo! Messenger or Gtalk just in one portal because you can add in your different chat account and integrate within TM iTalk Whoa. Not only that, you'll also be able to use the VOIP service to call your friends and family that is oversea with a fraction of what your IDD call will cost you.

Last but not least you will be able to COLLABORATE, share all your videos, pictures and thoughts with your friends and family just in one place and one account. Now that's what I call collaboration.

"Birthday Boy" giving the launching speech.

Okay. Back to some fun and games. We have here to move ice cube from one glass to another glass and then filled it up with orange juice. The one whom is the fastest will get a prize. I joined the 2nd round too but alas all of us guys lost to Haze. I blamed my big hand and the small glass.

Eric and Terrence hard at "work".

After the games, we were all entertained by Bunkface. They are very popular now, don't play-play. The crowd went crazy with Bunkface rocking the house down. You can always count on TM to put on a good event.

Bunkface rocking their hearts out.

Ah, the music might be too loud for the kids.

Rock and roll was interrupted half way because it's time to sing birthday song and cut the birthday cake. Guess who's birthday it is?

Do you want Bunkface to sing birthday song to you too?

Well, that night was really fun and informative. During the Q&A session. One of the question is "Why TM iTalk Whoa can only be use on Internet Explorer?" Well, the fact that 90% of the OS in the market is Windows and Windows comes with IE. So, we can safely says that everyone will have IE and will be able to use the services provided from TM iTalk Whoa portal. Common sense. The team from TM iTalk Whoa will continue to improve the portal and make it compatible with other browsers in the near future. They promised.

Met a lot of old and new faces there. I'll just show those that I met for the first time that night.

Ceddy. I've been reading his blog two years ago but didn't meet him before.

Allison.

Okay. That's the launching. Next I'll blog about how iTalk Whoa saves me in Bali when I forgot to bring my mobile phone to Bali.