dDoinkster Speaks

It's been awhile since I met up with my old secondary school friends so yesterday a bunch of us decided to drive to Kuala Selangor for some seafood and see some fireflies since tomorrow is Labour Day and everybody is on holiday. :) Started the trip from PJ around 5pm and got to Kuala Selangor around 6.30pm I think...So went over to the usual restaurant that I visit since the one that Kean Eng wanna go to is already full. Even this one that we went to, we had to wait for about 45 minutes before the food came to us. Thankfully, we got our table pretty quick and with a good view too. :) Got to see the sun setting from where we sat. :) Good thing too since the food took forever to get to us. :D Only bad thing about it was that there was quite a lot of trash floating around the area... Maybe that's why the water of the river is quite erm...murky. :D I guess I should be thankful that it's not the other type of 'floaters'. ;) If you've been to Kuala Selangor for seafood before and have used their toilets then you would understand what i mean. :P Ok, so maybe not all the toilets are emptied directly into the river but most of them are. ;) So...yeah. :) I'm thankful, not that happy that the river is dirty but still thankful. :P But all in all, if you try not to concentrate on the garbage that's floating on the river, the view is pretty good and just about when the sun was setting, our food came...but by then I'm already in pain with gastric. Not good! The tofu soup was pretty good, taste kinda like shark's fin soup but without having to harm any sharks in the making of the soup. :D *yum* *yum* Then there's the 'ho chen', I think they are a type of oyster...cooked with eggs. :) Not a big fan of oysters and stuffs like that. But it seems to be good since the rest were enjoying it. :) The usual, vegetables...a must to create a balanced meal. :) Instead of fish, we had sting-ray cooked spicy. :) Lovely but think this was one of the reasons why my stomach was hurting real bad after the meal. :/ But since it's pretty good so I guess it's worth the pain after. haha. :P This is erm...a type of prawn...i think. 'har ko' in cantonese. The food quality at this restaurant is pretty good even though during peak hours the food is served really slow. :) How could a seafood meal be complete without the presence of crabs. :) This is cooked with marmite...not really my favourite style of cooking the crabs but good enough. Now this is one of my favourite style of cooking crabs. :) Sweet and sour and maybe spicy as well but it must have loads of gravy so that you can dip bread into. :D *slurp* After dinner, we drove over to to see the fireflies. Since there was only 7 of us and one boat could only take 4 passangers with the fee for one boat at RM40, Irene, Wei Ken and I had to share one boat while Kean Eng and his girlfriend, Debbie and Ivy shared the other. Fee comes with 4 bottles of water. I don't remember them being row-boats cause the last time I was there in 2002, they used motorboats. But I guess it's good to not use engines since it will pollute the area. Anyways, I was talking to the guy that was rowing us to see the fireflies, it seems that during public holidays, they had about 31-32 boats in service and each boats goes out for about 6 to 7 rounds. That's one heck of an exercise. And they don't have a closing time, as long as there's people that want to go out to see the fireflies, they'll row you out there. All that is not including weekdays where they cater to more of tourists. Now those guys really don't need to go to the gym. :P A inside tip about going to see the fireflies, if you're thinking about it. Go try for the first boat out which is at about 7.45pm. Because that's when the fireflies are just out and nobody has been there to disturb them. It seems that when light is shined on them, they will switch off their lights and it will take them quite awhile to light up again. So thanks to all the dumbos that ignored the no-flash photography rule, those who go later will not be able to see as many fireflies as you could. :) And do try to go as early as possible... it seems that when we went around 9pm, there has been 200+ trips out already, so odds are the fireflies that you could see is limited. Now there's some tips for you if you're thinking about going to Kuala Selangor to see fireflies.

Ah the once every 5th Sunday Potbless has now reach the end since In July, we'll be starting the 2nd Service where there'll be 2 services on Sunday instead of just one. First service starts at 8am and second service will start at 10am following which will be Children's Church and SCG [School for Christian Growth]. Exciting times ahead since most of us will be moving away from our own comfort zones. :) Since I was too busy eating, I could only get photos of before the feasting began. :P And before the feasting began, the kids had a lot of fun playings games. Our pastor's kid, Joel here volunteered to be dressed up as a soldier. So willing he was that he stood really still until the end of it all. :) Then there's cute lil' Chris on the girls' side. :) I guess dressing up soldiers aren't a girl's thing. :P Anyways, since boys that age are not into girls that much, Joel was very ready to fight Chris with the paper-made weapons with the other boys cheering him on. haha. Really funny sight. :) Who knows, he might just be the first of the lot to fall in love. haha. :D As you can see, the boy is all ready to start but the cute little girl is just waiting patiently to strike later. :P haha. After lunch, the boys though of using the fan to keep the balloons in the air and to make a competition out of everything, they got another balloon and see which one will stay in air the longest will be the winner. :) Now if we can get one of those huge industrial fans, that'll be even more fun. haha. :D Loads of budding Picassos and Michaelangelos in Children's Church. ;) So that's a tree on a ridge with the church flying to heaven held by invisible angels and that's the roaring sea next to the ridge with the sun, clouds and birds in the air. :) That's the explanation that I got from the kids...Good enough for me. :P

Doesn't it look delicious? ;) Mouth-watering? Thanks to Queen of the World's student, who brought them to the little Day-Out for the youths this morning at Lake Garden, I got to taste them yummy 'kuih lapis' [layered cake] bought from Indonesia. :)

Yeah,the YF went to Lake Garden to have some fun in the sun. Super hot, that's what I think about it...but all in all quite fun, it's been awhile since I've been to Lake Garden. The last round was with Donald, Li Ann and Li Mei and that was like in 2003? ;)

Man, those were good times. :D Funny times, times when we would hang out until 3am and decide that in 3 hours time, we'll wake up and go to Lake Garden for some exercise and stuff! :) And of course right after the fun, we all crashed like dead-fishes at Li Ann and Li Mei's place. :P

I just wanna send a big thank you the good people at Jazz Selecta's TraxxFM, Jezza, Maya & Pn. Norbaiyah for inviting us to join in the interview with Branford Marsalis just before he leaves KL. It was a very interesting experience to be watching the interview and knowing that it'll be on radio on Tuesday. :) Good stuff, and it was definitely great for me cause I've learnt so much more stuffs about jazz. :D What a great experience. :) Was suppose to bring him out for a night out in town but because he had a long day, he wasn't up for it hence he went back to the hotel and Jezza, Eugene, Pn.Norbaiyah went for dinner at the Pantai Dalam area. Maya had to work cause she's on the Rock It Show on TraxxFm every Thursday and Friday with Navsta. Anyways, we swung over to look for some Nasi Lemak Rindu, which is the one that I've been looking for since a while back, after reading FriedChillies recommending it. :) Now I finally got the chance to try it. The sambal is pretty good and the nasi is hot and tasty but the chicken, could have been better. :) The chicken I had at Bangsar with the guys on Tuesday was better. But at least now I can say that I've tried Nasi Lemak Rindu and I do kinda 'rindu' [miss] it already. ;) Had 2 servings of nasi lemak for late dinner/supper after the interview that was suppose to start at 8pm but ended up starting at 9pm. So tune in next Tuesday on TraxxFm's Jazz Selecta to listen to Branford's interview. :) More information available on alldatJazz.com.

Firstly I would like to apologize for the grossness of this photo. :D Secondly, I would like to apologize to all the cat-lovers. I would like to state that I DID NOT mean to hit the cat with my car!

The fella just jumped in front of me while doing a little cartwheel and it happened so fast, I couldn't do anything to avoid it.

And the bloodstains on my car bonnet was a little difficult to clean. ;) This all happened when I was on my way to church, so if you're passing Giant, USJ and you see the remains of a cat on the road leading towards USJ1/Chee Wen School...then that should be the one that got to know my car bumper on Wednesday! hehe. :P

Here's a little something that you won't see in KL or PJ. :D Fried grasshoppers from Myanmar. CC brought it back after her mission trip there with Pastor and Miss. S.

She bought them for Nelson and Yvonne since they like it so much. To me...that's pretty disgusting and has a foul smell! :P Anybody interested? ;)

Now doesn't egg look perfect? :) Just nice to be sucked. haha. :P

The best thing about this mamak is that all the eggs come out looking like this. Really good but the indo-mee will never beat the one at SeaPark Maybank mamak. :D

A bunch of us went for mamak last night after prayer meeting near the Sunway Extreme Park. Not that good. :P

Self-invited myself to see the Jazz Selecta 'live' in the studios and thinking that I'll just be the coffee boy for the night but turns out with Albert in the studios as well with the usual suspects, Jezza and Maya. They decided to have a little forum, discussion about what Branford had to say during the press conference. So me being the youngest and all...I had the best time listening and learning but when they asked for my opinion, i kinda froze and was rambling. :P I don't think I'm cut out for radio. haha. ;) Or maybe I just need more practice. :P Anyways, it was a fun time of learning for me. :D So if you're into jazz and wanna listen and learn more, tune in every tuesday night from 10pm til 1am on 90.3FM, TraxxFM's Jazz Selecta. After the show, we went over to Bangsar looking for food and what better than the famous Bangsar nasi lemak. :D I'm surprised that Bangsar was quiet at 1am but then maybe it was just tuesday, that's why. :) Love the chicken! :) But the sambal could do with a little more kick. ;) Guess I'm so used to the SeaPark Maybank mamak's nasi lemak's sambal. Chatted until 4am before we all left so quite crazy also lar. :D

Went over to Williams for dinner since Irene had cravings for their mozzarella and bacon naan. :) Oh well, I don't mind going to Williams cause of the Ribena + longan drink. Now this is a wonderful naan too, but I think the turkey ham naan is also yummy! :D Saw this the other time I was at Williams and I had to try it this time. :D It's ok...I think I like roti triple H better. :P I wonder how many more dishes that Williams can offer and I've not tried yet. :)

Ok,so I got only one ticket but that's good enough for me! Now I can go check out Branford Marsalis performing jazz with his band at the Hall in MPO. :D Can't wait, can't wait!

Was given the chance to attend another press conference and this is really the big one for me. I get to meet Branford Marsalis! The man that played with Sting, did a tons of different type of music. What a privilege it was. :D The man is to saxophone like Dave Weckl is to drums or Santana is to electric guitar. Anyways, since the PC was suppose to start at 2.30pm, I got Roy to have lunch with me and he suggested this little restaurant in Ampang Park called Cozy House. Quite a small place but the food was pretty good! Roy did all the ordering since I've never been to the place. And the ladyfingers cooked with belacan was delicious! This dish was fantastic...it has a lot of slices of beef rather than just dried chillies and ginger. :) *yum* We were almost late for the interview but it seems that MPO has a knack for not starting on time. :) Even though we didn't get to ask them a lot of question, mostly because one of the reporter there was asking him so many questions, I thought she was doing a private interview session with Branford and ignoring the rest of us...I felt he was a really down-to-earth and friendly person. He'll speak his mind and it was a wonderful experience for me to have learnt so much from him in such a short span of time. :) Can't wait to see him perform with his band on Thursday!

Yes, my mom has given me less than one week to get my stuffs out of the apartment because my brother's 2 friends are renting my room and my sister's room while he takes the master bedroom. If I only had though of doing that earlier, I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of packing my stuffs and moving. Sigh. Now I have to leave the comfort of my lovely room and my view to Mutiara Damansara, the always a-huge-pain-to-get-out-of place. So long room. So long view. I'm gonna miss the little time I had spent sitting in my room and switching off the lights and having some good jazz tunes playing on my powerbook while I look out of my window towards SS2, PJ and Subang. I wonder when can I move back to my comfy room. Picture taken from FudgeMonster. The sort-of-wild and free donkey is now being dragged back into its cage. Why didn't I think of getting some friends to rent the rooms in the first place?!?! Craps!

Went over to Kota Kemuning with Nelson, Yvonne and Irene just now to check out this Meranti town-house place which they are contemplating on purchasing. Looks really nice, right next to the golf course with 1,200 to 1,400 square-feet of living space. Lovely! :D Even though it's kinda far from PJ and you'll have to go through Subang Jaya to get out or pay the toll but it's really a nice housing area. :D Had dinner with Andrew and Celine and their daughters since they've moved over to Kota Kemuning recently as well. Andrew had some 'wild' tea leaves for us to savour and I must say that even though I'm not such a huge chinese tea fan, this was pretty good. :) I'm surprised that there's some good food to be found in Kota Kemuning. :) Like this stewed pork, egg and tofu that I had, they also have chicken and duck but I love pork more. haha. :) Yummy! Irene had the claypot chicken rice...it was ok, she doesn't like the salted fish and the chinese sausage so I guess the taste could have been better. :) But with the egg, it was alright. :) Now i wonder what other good food I can find in Kota Kemuning. :)

It's been awhile since I've been to Italiannis and this time I have with me Irene and Sun to try out Italiannis' latest outlet at The Curve. Suppose to introduce Sun to Trina of Laundry Bar [The newly opened spot which created quite a buzz] and see what can happen. :) So before the meet, we had my favourite dishes for dinner. I didn't notice this side of the wall where the graffiti/wall-decor was pretty cool. :) Love it, maybe I should re-paint my room with stuffs like this. ;) Didn't even bother to take photos of the Calamari Caesar salad since I've had it so many times and so many photos I've taken of it. :D But this, I love alot! The Grilled salmon erm..something...delicious! *slurp* :P~ This was nice too but if it was with cream sauce, I would have loved it even more. ;) The downside of the dinner was that we ordered a little too much so we didn't have space for the wonderful tiramisu and other mouth-watering desserts! ;) I guess the next round we'll have to get more people to come along. :D Thanks again for dinner, Sun. :)

Got home at 4am and had to wake up at 10am [I must be crazy!] cause I had to get to The Lab at Hartamas for a haircut. Had to bring Irene along as well since she's also in need of a little trim. :) Anyways, we had a small brunch before the appointment at the DimSum shop opposite The Lab. Pretty straightforward stuff but I think the one in Taman Megah is so much better. :) If the price wasn't that high, I would have ordered another one of these 'har gao' [shrimps in the filling]. Must go check out the Taman Megah dimsum soon. :P This one was pretty interesting, it's like the fried yam thing but this is with fruits and mayo. Not too bad but I think I like it better when there's yam in it. :D

Finally after a week of absence from attending jazz gigs, I'm checking out Happy People Quintet at The Top Room @ Top Hat. It was a fantastic night, so much fun that we left the place around 4am. :)

Talked until don't know when to stop and leave...but it was worth it, having spent time with friends with a common interest. :) Jazz. Keep your eyes peeled at alldatJazz.com for the review and some clips to download. :)

Finally, Laundry Bar is now open and it's right here in the Bandar Utama area. No more driving all the way to KL and getting stuck in the traffic jam just to party! :D

Thanks to Trina, the owner for inviting me for the launch, I got to meet quite a few people. :) Had to go alone cause LM had to work late but thankfully, KhaiLee and Yuri of Project Bazooka was there along with Yuri's girlfriend, Wuen Fung and KhaiLee's friend, Jun Ji? [I have no idea how to spell her name! :P] so anyways, it wasn't that bad after all.

Got to meet a few new friends as well, so all in all it was a pretty good night even though I drink to my hearts content with the free flow of drinks. :P Next time I guess. So go check this place out, it's right next to Italiannis, same row as Marche Movenpick just on the other end. :)