Wednesday 29 September 2010

Motion Sickness Wastes!!!

I got tickets to the premier screening of Charlie St. Cloud; can't remember whether I got the invitation myself or Pui San gave them to me. If any of you out there are wondering why I'm always getting premier tickets; WELL, I don't just get them. I do work for them, as in take the time to check out magazines (like Time Out KL and Female Magazine) and the Nuffnang blog for the contests and I join them. I use brain power to think up creative comments and slogans and write blog posts, and if the organisers think that I deserve them, I get them. And another factor is having a boyfriend who also participates and wins tickets. If I win, I bring him; if he wins, he brings me. :) Oh, and occasionally, Pui San will have free tickets for me.

Back to the story, so I had two tickets and since the screening was in GSC 1 Utama, Ben brought me to my all time favourite mamak for dinner; Murni Discovery in Aman Suria. It's my favourite branch among all the Murni-s!!

My Ribena Special

My Mee Raja Tom Yam

His Roti Hawaii
The last time I went there with W31, the Mee Raja's portion was small so I thought I could finish it. But that day, it was a HUMONGOUS portion. Even with Ben's help, I was so stuffed that I felt rather ill. And it didn't help that Ben was talking on the phone while looking for parking in 1 Utama. I'm a person who is prone to motion sickness, i.e; I get headaches if I read in the car, and somehow the car movements made me so giddy. The unhappy ending to that was, as soon as the car was parked, I rushed to the toilet and hurled my nice dinner out. Gave Ben such a shock. Sorry dear. =/

I felt better after that though, thank goodness. So we went and collected our tickets for Charlie St. Cloud. Got a nice surprise that the premier tickets were nicely printed. However it was free seating meaning we had to rush in for good seats.

Our tickets

Since time was tight, we went to Theobrama Chocolate Lounge, one of the nearest, where Ben and I shared a Chocolate Fudge Cake. I'd wanted the vanilla sundae but the 1 Utama branch doesn't have that. So sad..but the cake was nice.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

We had to wait a bit before the cinema was open, so I bought some 'Salted Popcorn' which I saw being sold at the snacks booth. It's supposed to be healthy but I don't really think so since it was so salty and popcorn has a lot of butter in it anyway.
I had expected the movie to be all about displaying Zac Efron's good looks/manliness since I read somewhere that this movie is supposed to be his break out from the boyish, high school heart-throb image which has always been his stamp from his High School Musical days. Well, it was sort of what I expected. A lot of close ups of him (I have to admit he does have very nice eyes..and hair) and AGAIN his role is the popular guy in school at the movie beginning. And he can see ghosts...or rather, only ghosts of people he knows that died and have not moved on???? The storyline is rather illogical and not very developed. But surprisingly though, I found myself watching quite interestedly throughout the movie because the storyline is the type that you just know and can guess the ending but you watch because you want to see how the story gets to that ending. There was some humour inserted here and there but I still felt like the whole thing was pointless once it reached the ending. So weird. Sorry Zac Efron, I just cannot take you seriously in the role of a MAN and a cemetery caretaker. Maybe in a few more years??? For now, stick to playing popular college frat boy.

Anyway, go watch it only if you're a Zac Efron die-hard fan. Otherwise, you'll come out of the cinema with raised eyebrows just like I did.

Monday 27 September 2010

Cake Mania & Eat, Pray, Love

I cajoled Ben into going to Empire Subang the other day. I was keen to explore more with him after my satisfying trip with Pui San. My main target was to check out the desserts which are available in variety from the cluster of shops there.

First, we went to Whisk and tried their best selling Red Velvet Cake, as per stated on the signboard outside the little cafe. Ben wasn't very impressed with the icing work on the cake but after the first bite, he proclaimed that he liked the icing better than the cake itself. Talk about not judging food by its looks. =.=

Red Velvet Cake

I personally didn't find the cake very impressive. It tasted rather like a normal butter cake with liberal red colouring. But the icing was very nice. It was a pity the cake wasn't layered with the icing like a traditional Red Velvet Cake would be like; else there would be more of the yummy icing.

Since I wasn't feeling the high I usually feel from desserts, Ben suggested we go to the shop opposite and see if the cakes there would deliver a more impressive taste. So we seated ourselves in Serai and ordered their Tiramisu, since their acclaimed Berry Pavlova wasn't available.

Tiramisu
My favourite bit, the abundant caramelised WALNUTS!!!
Even so though, I think the cake could do with more coffee in it as it wasn't moist enough like a Tiramisu Cake should be. It would really have been perfect if soaked with coffee liquor because the cake texture and cream were both good. Aww man...looks like the cakes didn't blow us away.

After eating, we walked around to take in the sights in Empire and I showed Ben the 4 storey slide which I'd noticed last time. Apparently it's the dubbed as the tallest indoor spiral tube slide by the Malaysian Book of Records.
Woooo....I'd love to go for a spin in there.

It wasn't open yet, so we decided to head home. Before that, we went back to Whisk and bought their specialty macarons for Ben and his sisters to try.

Multi-coloured macarons!!!

We had tickets to the premier screening of Eat, Pray, Love that night, so we headed back to Sunway Pyramid and had dinner in Sushi Zanmai. I revealed the hidden pathway to the Sushi Zanmai in Sunway Pyramid to Ben for the first time; and he was pretty speechless about how less chaotic the Sushi Zanmai in Pyramid is compared to the one in The Gardens. Hehe!!

Soft Shelled Crab Maki


After dinner, we met up with Louisa, Afnan, Abel, Vemal, Jane and Pui San in GSC so that I could give them the tickets. The tickets were wins from Female Magazine Malaysia and I was the 'tickets-keeper'. We filled up an entire row in the cinema. Haha!! Asha was supposed to come to but she got held back at work. =(

I have not read the book yet so I'll have to be on the fence about the exclamations of, "The book is better than the movie." About the movie, it was just alright. It was interesting to see the various different settings since the story revolves around Julia Roberts as a traveling woman in the quest of self discovery. There were some very funny scenes where the supporting cast delivered their roles excellently. However, I found the flow of the movie somewhat bumpy since the story sometimes jumped from one scene to another too suddenly and I couldn't really connect the scenes as they appear. I also couldn't really feel the emotions which the main characters were trying to project too, which made me feel slightly bored. Overall, just an okay movie for me. My advice is not to go in with any expectations of the movie.

Saturday 25 September 2010

Pui San's Sugar Loot Evening

Pui San and I had dinner in Empire Subang the other day. I haven't been to Empire Subang ever since it first opened and I must admit; I like it better now that almost all the shop units are occupied and open. Everything is new and gleaming; and the best part was, it was not crowded like crazy even though it was a weekend. Me, the crowd phobic = happy.

We had dinner in Chili's since Pui San was raring to eat something nice after being on restriction due to being sick. Haha!! I agreed since I've never been into the Chili's in Empire before. The decor there is pretty much the same as most Chili's outlets, but this one has wall windows, so it isn't as dim as the others.

My Hot Chili Chicken Crispers
Gosh, I LOVE their mash potato!!! I can just eat this only and be happy.

Pui San's Grilled Chicken Club Tacos
She only managed to finish two of the tacos and had to take away the last one.

After we finished our dinner, we went to Charles and Keith to have a look at their special PINK! promotion in conjunction with Breast Cancer Awareness month, where you can buy both a pair of shoes and the bag for RM199.90. The shoes were pretty but the bag was too small for me and not really my style. Pui San also showed me a fur trimmed bag she was eye-ing and I did my share of drooling over a few pairs of 4-inchers and a white tote bag. I love Charles and Keith!!! Only thing is, so many people in Sunway are sporting Charles and Keith bags that I don't feel it's very exclusive; though their bags are really SO NICE!!!!

I tore myself and Pui San out of there before we fell totally in love. Dangerous for our purses!!! Pui San then happily dragged me to Whisk; a tiny little cafe located at the bottom floor where their specialty is their macarons. They are priced at RM2 a pop and RM18 for 10 pieces.Apparently the macarons are so hot selling that they restrict the number of the chocolate flavoured ones which you can buy. And for those who're frowning and wondering what macarons are, these are macarons:-

Assorted flavour macarons
Cute yes?? I couldn't resist taking pictures of them!!!
Colourful!!!
RM2 a pop sounds very expensive right?? I did some research on them and found out that they're very tricky desserts to make and some chefs bake like 7 to 8 batches before getting them just right. So thus accounts for the eye-widening price tag. This makes me SOOOOO tempted to try making them on my own. I tried one and I liked the chewy and slightly crunchy texture. Interesting!!!Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

We were about to head home when we passed by another shop called Serai, right opposite Whisk. Pui San gave a shriek, dragged me right up to their display counter and pointed excitedly at a cake that they had just put out on display.

Serai's Berry Pavlova

I went Image Hosted by ImageShack.us at all the sudden excitement. Pui San explained that Serai's Berry Pavlova is like a rare treasure. She NEVER sees a SLICE on display much less a whole cake. She HAD to buy it and asked the waitress for a slice to go. "It's my lucky day!! Joyce, you're lucky!!!" she said. I couldn't help but giggle and ask the waitress to let me take a picture since it's so rare. The amused waitress obliged and we made some people stare and order it too out of curiosity at all the attention we were giving to that cake. Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Guess I just found a new dessert area to explore... Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Friday 24 September 2010

Baked Potatoes in Klang

After the longest time, I went down to Klang for the weekend to spend time with my Yee Ma and cousins. I used to head down to Klang almost every week when I first moved to Subang; now it's hard for me to head down so often since I have Sunday classes.

Anyway I reloaded my long dead T&G and spent the afternoon with Yoong in Sunway Pyramid before heading back to Klang with her. Between the both of us, we carried about a dozen US potatoes. Yes, potatoes. Purchased on the order of my Yee Ma who had a kitchen project for our dinner and her cell group meeting that very night. Yoong and I pitched in to help with..

PROJECT BAKED POTATOES

Baked potatoes are relatively easy to make. All you have to do is buy large potatoes, Slice them in half without removing the skin and steam them. After steaming, Yoong and I tackled the finger burning task of hollowing out the middle of the potatoes to make 'boats'.

We do it by repeatedly scraping the middle with a teaspoon.

We add the scrapings into the tuna mayo mixture

We also had a pile of mozzarella cheese with us.


Then we spoon the mixture into the 'boats'...

Drizzle some cheese on top...

And pop them into the oven for 15 minutes. The smell of baking cheese will fill your kitchen. I LOVE that smell. Well, this is what we got when we opened the oven door:-

Baked potatoes

See the cheeeeeeese!!!!

Hehe...Yoong and I only had room for one of the potatoes after we finished baking because we were so full after all the 'tasting' we did during the process. Can't wait for our next project. Weee!!!!

Thursday 23 September 2010

Dinner Date in FRAMES

P2 classes are getting seriously brain squeezing these days. I dread those classes like some people dread going to the dentist. And yes, I do do other things besides eat and post food in my blog. I just don't blog about it, duh. Would you rather read about me fidgeting in class and chugging Red Bull to stay awake than my food posts???

Anyway, Ben brought me out to dinner after one of the terrible classes. It was also to spend time with me before he went on his Kuantan trip with his friends. I walked some of my P2 stress away round and round Pyramid with Ben (I think I increased his mall walking stamina ever since he met me. =P ) and in the end settled on FRAMES for dinner. I've been here before, and my last visit was quite satisfactory. This visit, we were showered attention from a certain man who seems like the manager, but I didn't clarify that so I'm still not sure what was his position. Well, it reinforced my opinion that FRAMES has a very good team of serving staff. So do go there if you're looking for a nice place to unwind and enjoy great service.

Our Signature G-Frosts
It's original flavour is grape and lychee but I got apple and lychee after the man I mentioned earlier offered to whip up whatever I wanted. It turned out pretty nice!!!


My Lasagna
It didn't look very nice but it tasted nice!! Rather a pity the portion wasn't bigger though.

Ben's Cajun Meatball Pasta
The meatballs weren't great, maybe because of the meat mix or something to do with freshness; but I liked the spaghetti. Again, the portion could have been bigger.

Overall, I would say FRAMES selling point would be it's environment and desserts. It provided the perfect environment for me to relax and enjoy my company. Oh oh, and I finally installed foursquare after some initial resistance. All due to Ben and Adrian's fanatic 'check in' mania that made me join the cult to not feel left out. Talk about falling for peer pressure. Haha!!!

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