Selamat Raya Merdeka!

It's not often that Hari Raya and Hari Kebangsaan is on the same day. Wishing all Malaysian out there:

Selamat Raya Merdeka!

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

Then sings, "Selamat Hari Raya kepada muslimin dan juga musliman. Setahun hanya sekali..."

Wishing you all a great holiday week and don't forget to like Simon Says Like Page :p

#ChurpOut at Mek-T, Bandar Puchong Jaya

Only after a month since the 1st ChurpOut at Mark's Place, Churp Churp had their 2nd #ChurpOut last Friday. This time is buka puasa at Mek-T (masa riang, masa hebat :P). Mek-T is a restaurant that served up authentic Terengganu food using a fast food system. You order the food and pay at the counter, food is serve and you take the food. Although the system is fast food but the cooking is slow cook and is cooked based on estimation of orders. Small batches of each dish were cooked and only when the dish is low that a new batch is cook to maintain the freshness.

By the way, the food here is certified Halal. Hence we all buka puasa here.

We start off with laksam and pulut lepa (steamed glutinous rice with fish filling). It's something like a thick chee cheong fun rolls top with minced fish belacan gravy. At first I thought with belacan the gravy will be very salty but the taste turn out just nice. One of my favourite dish of the night. As for the pulut lepa, I think they are too generous with the glutinous rice, if the rice is lesser a bit then the ratio with the fish filling will be just nice. Also, some of my Malay friends there prefer it to be grilled instead. Ah, too bad grilling is a no no because there's not place for the smoke to go.

Laksam

Michele the ChurpHead^TM introduced her fellow Churpies before we dig in to our laksam.

We had keropok lekor for snacks served with hot special chili dip (it's sweet and spicy). Tasted rich with fish and less flour. Those that I find in KL pasar malam has more flour than fish inside. The Malay couple (their hometown is Terengganu) sitting next to me said that the keropok lekor here is almost 90% as what they had in Terengganu.

Keropok Lekor

Nasi Sedapp Sokmo with Gulai Ayam is not my favourite of the night. The rice is not too bad but the chicken has a kind of earthy taste like there's some herbal medicine. What I can say is that it is an acquired taste :p

Nasi Sedapp Sokmo with Gulai Ayam

Nasi Ulam is next, I think Kelantanese will call this Nasi Kerabu instead. I've been wanting to try this after I read it on Sixthseal. Nicely cooked rice mixed with the fried coconut meat. The only disappointment is that the ulam (mixed raw vegetables) is too little.

Nasi Ulam.

I never imagine Nasi Dagang looks like this. I always thought it will be colourful as Nasi Ulam. As plain looking as it is, actually nasi dagang is cooked with 90% rice and 10% glutinous rice. That's why, there's a bit of stickiness to the rice. If there are mangoes at the side, I would have thought that I am eating a Thai dessert. As always, Nasi Dagang is paired with a fish curry and in Mek-T a kind of local tuna fish is used. Nice and simple.

Nasi Dagang.

When all the heavy stuffs were done. Cindy served each of us a cup of Rojak Betik (papaya salad). Betik muda (pickled young papaya) is used. Mixed with rojak sauce and a bit of keropok ikan (fish chips). It's quite sourish and the vinegar acidity might be a bit strong, might not be suitable if you have gastric problem. It helps to lessen my feeling of fullness after the heavy meal though.

Rojak Betik.

Mek Pau Goreng (pan-fried bun) comes with two choices of filling. Shaved coconut meat filling and red beans filling. The red beans used is much bigger size than the red bean I see normally. No, it's not Azuki bean. The other one is a deep fried bun with fish filling that I forgot the name :p

Top: Deep fried bun. Bottom: Mek Pau Goreng.

Ended the night with a bit of kuih and brought home Lompat Tikam for supper :)

Mek-T is owned by Cindy's parents and the recipe is contributed by her mom whom is from Terengganu. The Terengganu delicacies here is as authentic as it can be, even those hometown is Terengganu that night gives their thumbs up. So, if you craving for authentic Terengganu food, Mek-T is the place to go.

P.S. Three Churpie Plushies were given away as contest prizes that night. That's why it's ways good to join a #ChurpOut.


Address:

Mek-T
127, Jalan Kenari 23A,
Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47100 Puchong, Selangor
GPS Coordinates:(N 03 02' 39.0' E101 37' 23.7")
Google Map here.

Other Ppl's View:

Sixthseal

Simon Says Like Page

Well. Not much time to do a long post. For those of you that do not know yet, I've started a Like page for this blog of mine. In the like page, new blog post link will be updated there, photos related to a blog post will be uploaded to an album (for those that like to see more photos because I don't want to bombard my blog post with too many photos), and YouTube link to the videos of my YouTube Channel (some post I have shot video).

So, if you like the posts that I wrote in this blog, then go like Simon Says Like page too to get the full experience wtf.

Thank you ;)

arThursday at Malones, Sooka KL Sentral

I was at Malones, Sooka KL Sentral last Thursday. I found out that from 15th till 30th Aug 2011, Thursday will never be the same at more than 100 Guinness outlets nationwide because it will be arThursday. Last Thursday or arThursday in Malones is not only special promotion on Guinness like RM5 Guinness or buy four pints and get a limited edition Guinness Arthur's Day T-shirt. It is also arThursday Live music party.

On each arThursday there will be one new design of limited edition Guinness Arthur's Day T-Shirt. I already got the 1st week's T-Shirt.

Just go to any participating Guinness outlets nationwide to get this deal.

As for arThursday Live Party.

6 group of artists/bands are chosen to perform live on arThursday in a few different outlets. Not only that, they will be competing to get votes so that they could get the two spots to perform in Arthur's Day concert 2011. They are Rosevelt, CSBTEA, Dragon Red, Prema Yin, NakedBreed, and James Baum.

Catch them live on arThursday in these venues and vote for them.

Rosevelt, CSBTEA, Dragon Red

Royal Oak, Solaris Mont Kiara - 25th August 2011
Mandolin, Kelana Jaya - 8th September 2011
Backyard, Sri Hartamas - 15th September 2011

Prema Yin, NakedBreed, James Baum

Finnegan's, Midvalley - 25th August 2011
Lust, Changkat Bukit Bintang - 8th September 2011
Delaney's Irish Pub, Bukit Bintang - 15th September 2011

If you can't go to the venue to vote for your favourirte bands or artists to have them perform in Arthur's Day concert, then you also can support by voting here.

After each round of performance, Guinness girl will come over to ask for your vote. You can vote the artist in or out for Arthur's Day concert.

On that night in Malones, I was able to see Rosevelt, CSBTEA, and Dragon Red performed.

Rosevelt

CBSTEA

Dragon Red

Which of the three you'll like to see in Arthur's Day concert? Of course, a few International artists will be performing too but Guinness is still keeping it a secret of whom will be performing. At the time being, we can decides which local artists we want to see performing there.

That night I drank four pints of Guinness Draught and ate a very delicious Malones Beef Rib. It's so juicy and tender. Oh, the mashed potatoes calcannon is very good too.

Oh, I took the train to Malones that night. Drink sensibly, don't drive if you want to drink a lot :p

It's My Birthday!

To all the Leos and August baby out there, Happy Belated Birthday and Happy Early Birthday :p As my birthday falls in the middle of August so it's quite obvious that half of the August already celebrated their birthday and another half haven't :p

This is me in Aug 2008

Interesting fact about my birthday. From my birthday's day, I will also know what day is the National Day of Malaysia will fall into because it will be the same day. If my birthday for example this year falls on Wednesday, then National Day will also be celebrated on Wednesday. It's because National Day is exactly 2 weeks after my birthday. I know, it's quite lame lah.

Me in Aug 2009. That's CityGal in Aug 2009 :p

No celebration this year because I have to work on my birthday. I won't mind if you send me present though. Email me to get my house address to send you present :p LOL

That's me in Aug 2010.

In case you're wondering how young am I, well, it's not secret that I've passed my 30th birthday 2 years ago. I think every year I have one birthday post posted ever since I blog actively if not mistaken. Last year, last last year, and last last last year (well sort of).

This is me in July 2011 and that's Bendan :p

Hmm...seems not much has change since 2008. Still that fat and the hairstyle almost the same. Maybe it's time to get a new hairstyle. Crew cut maybe?

Samovar, Solaris Mont Kiara

Another Groupon Deal that I've bought, the last one is Indian food. This time it's Russian food. Samovar located on the 1st floor of SoHo Solaris KL, facing the back. So you won't be able to see it if you only venture the front part of SoHo.

I've arrived at 6pm which is kind of early for dinner hence, I am the only customer. The deal offered a 3 course Russian meal. I can choose one main from the three mains offered. Pelmeni, Katletti or Maria beef or chicken. I will be served with Borsch soup and unlimited Olivia Salad.

I half expected that the Borsch soup will be sourish but it turn out not very sourish. I find it to be a bit bland though. I found it funny that what seems like Gardenia bread comes with the soup. Well, maybe they don't order their own pastry in Samovar.

Next up is Olivia Salad which consists of chicken, egg, potatoes, carrot, green peas and cucumber tossed with mayonnaise. This is very similar to the salad one can find in KFC minus the chicken and egg. Well, it tasted quite nice, much better than KFC's. The best part is the generous amount.

I chose Katletti for my main. Katletti is deep fried minced chicken stuffed with cheese and butter battered with bread crumbs, served with some greens and cashew nuts rice. I love the chicken. It's fried right with the bread crumbs still very crispy and once I bite into it out comes the butter and cheese. The meat still juicy and tender too. The rice tasted not bad too and compliment the chicken very well but I don't know why there are a few pieces of noodles inside the rice. Also, the tomato puree dipping has a bit of spiciness in it. Goes well with the chicken. Once should try it with and without the dipping.

While there's some hit and misses here, there's still a few dishes that might worth a try in Samovar. Maybe I'll come back in the future to have a try.




Address:

Samovar
K-01-08, SOHO KL
Mont Kiara
Jalan Solaris 2
50480 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 016-2304534

Operating hours:
Mon-Sat: 3pm – 12am
Sun: 4pm – 12am

Other Ppl's View:

Mimi's Dining Room
Eat Drink KL
Bella Dela Rosa

A-Fu 鄧福如 - 原來如此 Showcase & Autograph Session

If you watch YouTube a lot and are into the Chinese music scene, then most probably you'll know this girl called A-Fu 鄧福如. She got popular when she did a cover of Bruno Mars' "Nothing On You" and the video got viral and it's now got millions of view. Then some smart record company signed her up and released her debut album "原來如此".

So, when I heard from OneFm 88.1FM that she will be in town to promote her album in Sungai Wang 6pm yesterday, I of course have to go down there to have a look. Since I'm off shift on that day too. After collecting my birthday gift and contest prize which are 4 TGV Cinema passes and 2 TGV cinema passes from Nuffnang and Churp Churp respectively, I will then drive to Sungai Wang. I shouldn't have stopped by at Yut Kee for tea and roti babi.

I thought a drive from Dang Wangi to Bukit Bintang will know take me 5 minutes. How wrong was I. Once I got into Jalan Sultan Ismail from Dang Wangi, it's like a standstill. Took me about 40 minutes to reach there. Not only that, I didn't expect the showcase to start on time as from my experience, usually the artist will be late. Maybe A-Fu is a new comer so can't be late :p By the time I reach Sungai Wang lobby she's already half way singing her 3rd and last song "Just The Way You Are" another Bruno Mars cover that she posted on her YouTube Channel.

After that, OneFM DJ came out to chat a bit with her.

On from their conversation that she's been to Malaysia for 3 days already and that day is her last day in Malaysia.

She didn't wear her white Beats headphone that she's wore in some of her videos that day. But I saw a fan of her wore one when he went up to get her autograph. Beats headphone is not cheap yo!

Before the autograph session starts, there were a photo session for the 20 lucky winners from a radio contest to take picture with her.

After some more photo session for the media. It's time for the autograph session. I haven't had the chance to buy her album yet, so I bought it on the spot. It's only RM35, which is quite okay. So, I queued up to get her autograph :p I was also able to shook her hand and I saw that her left hand has some numbers and characters written with a blue pen. I shook her left hand because she's using her right hand to sign the CD.

Woot! I got her autograph.

The crowd is not exactly a lot of compared to most seasoned singer but for a new comer, this crowd is good enough. Not to mention the traffic jam that cause most fans didn't make it in time. Joshua is one of them.

After the autograph session was closed, there's this one fan that didn't get her autograph. He asked A-Fu whether she can autograph for him. She then came down from the stage to autograph the CDs for him. Damn lucky this guy.

Not the guy in white, he's EQ Music's director.

Lastly, he emcee asked A-Fu to put a big signature on the backdrop.

It's time to say goodbye!

Horrible Bosses

This is Nick (Jason Bateman ) with his psycho boss Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey) whom is making his work life very stressful. He was lectured and forced to drink whiskey during work time when he was only late for 2 minutes to work by his boss.

Dave Harken making fun of Nick in the office.

Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) is a hard working account manager in a chemical factory. He has a very nice boss but not his boss' son Bobby Pellit (Colin Farrell) whom is only into partying and drugs. Bobby has plan to sell off the company and cash out.

Bobby showing Kurt who's the boss.

Dental Assistant, Dale (Charlie Day) is engaged and love his fiance very much but he is constantly sexually harassed by his dentist boss Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston) (I don't mind being harassed by her)

Dr. Julia Harris sexually harassing her assistant in a day's work.

The three are good friends and the could not that the shit from their horrible bosses anymore. So, one night they have this idea of killing their bosses to make their work life much better.

They engaged the help of Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx) to kill their three bosses. Their murdering plan didn't turn out quite of what they expected, which is filled with funny scenes. How it will end?

Personally, I love this movie. There's not much cliche in the jokes or humourous scene. Some of the jokes are quite original. The beginning might be a bit slow pace while showing how the bosses tortured the three hapless employees. Things starts to move quicker after that.

This is one funny non-cliche comedy that I've long been waiting for. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell did a great job in portraying the horrible bosses. The three main characters did good too. Oh, remember to watch the bloopers after the end of the movie. There's a punch line in the blooper that is funnier than the movie lol.

Rating: 9/10

Horrible Bosses will be showing in Malaysian cinemas on 11th August 2011.

My Favourite Smurf

Lala lalalala lalalalala. I grew up watching Smurfs. I was 5 or 6 year old then. Smurfs are back and in 3D in the cinema.

This time the gang in blue will ventured out from their world and goes to Big Apple (New York if you are not familiar with the nickname of US cities :p). Actually The Smurfs got lost in New York and are trying to find their way back to Smurf Village.

My favourite Smurf is Brainy Smurf.

Of course, Brainy Smurf will come up with his so call plan which the other smurfs won't listen to. The only plan they will follow is Papa Smurf's plan. He asked Gutsy Smurf to find a map with the help of Brainy. Smurfete will then interpret the map because she's actually beauty with a brain. Of course, Clumsy will accidentally destroy the map.

Fear not, Brainy tells the others. "I've just learn that we can get a map from this piece of hardware." It's a GPS device. From his long research of the world map, Brainy remembers the coordinates of Smurf Village. He entered it to the GPS Navigation device and off the go. Of course, it is not smooth and easy during their journey back home but in the end, they made it safely back to Smurf Village.

Alright, The Smurfs will be showing in Malaysia cinemas on 1st September. In the past, I only see Smurfs in 2D but now I can see how they'll be like in 3D. Come on all you 80s' babies out there, it's time to relive your childhood. Lala lalalala lalalalala.