Monday, December 31, 2012

Food Review: Mr. Siew Bao, Sunway Pyamid

Note: This is a scheduled post.



I know Jeff will be happy to see another positive review of his traditional Chinese puffs.

After the disastrous tasting of the Seremban’s Siew Bao, which stung Mama Carrie’s taste buds with its enormous amount of sugar and salt, she started to crave for Mr. Siew Bao.



His Winter Melon Paste (老婆并, lao po bing) was perfect; it contained more winter melon and less sugar than its commercial rivals. Siew Bao (烧包, shao bao), on the other hand, was better than the one Mama Carrie bought on her return drive from Seremban. This particular one had just the right amount of salt, sugar and oil.

I can't help but wonder if Jeff had done his research before he launched the product and I want to give him a thumb's up for giving us the traditional taste.



Address: Mr. Siew Bao,
F1.K1, Sunway Pyramid
No. 3, Jalan PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Landmark: It's a mere booth away from Maxis on the 1st floor of the new wing.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Food Review: Pasta Zanmai, Sunway Pyramid



In continuation to the previous blog post, here’s the promised food review that took me so long to write.

After Kar Wyai had brought me to this little shop in Asian Avenue where I splurged on more accessories, we shot straight for Pasta Zanmai since she had the craving for Japanese food and since it was within steps away.

We followed the waiting waitress with what sounded like Beijing-accented English inside the packed restaurant. There’s no way of telling if she’s really a Chinese, but I’ll leave it at that. She led us to the only available table, which was in the middle of a group of four working colleagues and a family of mother, father and son. She left us alone; she allowed us some time to finalize with our order, which we did.


This happens when one is bored.One starts taking random pictures. The working man at the next table shot glances at me, my food and my camera for what, I don't know...

From my seat, I could see the clock in the restaurant’s kitchen and shot oblique glances at it, mentally noting the time. I didn’t know how long it took for our dishes to arrive; it was about 10 minutes after our order was submitted that the drink arrived. Waking up with a full stomach and skipping breakfast wasn’t bad enough; waiting for 30 minutes for the dishes to arrive was excruciating for us but none of us had a choice, do we?



Fruit Tea

Couldn’t help it; it was at the peak hour of lunch break, so while we waited for the kitchen to whip up our dishes, we walked through a variety of our past memories and reminisced on our elementary classmates – there’s only a handful I can remember, one I want to verbally strangle with my bare hands now – and Blue’s Clues! You read that right.

So, after what seemed like eternity, our dishes finally arrived but we remembered to take the pictures of it and us for this little food review before we pounced on it.



Top: A set of Chicken Teriyaki Omelet (with Garlic Fried Rice), Miso Soup and Salad
Bottom: A set of Tori Tortilla with Chicken Pasta and Crab Meat Roll

Mine are the ones on top; Kar Wyai’s ones are at the bottom.


Kar Wyai, with her order


Yours Truly, with her order

We had great difficulty polishing the plates clean and there was no more space in our stomachs to sample the parfait that Huai Bin had mentioned in one of his posts. You see, our stomachs almost exploded at the surprisingly-normal portion.

Next time.

Next time, we shall skip the main meal and head straight for the dessert section.

Was I happy with the service? I won’t say that I’m happy, but I was satisfied with the service. The waiters were trying their best to satiate the bored, hungry diners as fast as they could. Well, at least my order wasn’t forgotten – like that time at Chef Low’s place.

Address: F1.73, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall,
3, Jln PJS 11/15, Bandar Sunway,
46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Telephone: 03-7492 0710
Landmarks: Find Shojikiya, and you'll find Pasta Zanmai. Other neighbors include the Orange Zone entrance into Jusco and the New Wing entrance into Asian Avenue - all on the 1st floor.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

My Christmas

“Even if you’re not happy with the way things turned out, you didn’t have to write your [displeasure] on your face.”



And gee, here I thought that I forced it down and kept a low profile. I’m not a crowd pleaser, but I certainly don’t want to incite the crowd either…

It’d have been alright if it had happened on any other given day – but certainly not on Christmas morning, a day when I should be full of smiles instead. The annoyance that I felt during the 21st birthday resurfaced again into a full-blown resentment and exasperation – so much so that yes, my face was fixed in a displeased frown for half the day. I didn’t know what caused, but I remember getting it worst.

Can I say that I’m really happy that I’ll be permanently away during this time next year? I’m not sure if I can swallow it with a pinch of salt again – and there’s Chinese New Year to worry about. It’s exactly six weeks away, and I’m already worried whether I’ll have to sit there like a lost and confused participant.

I may be able to speak and understand Mandarin; that doesn’t mean I’m fluent in it.


Chocolate muffins and chocolate loaf that I had baked on Christmas Eve. Had to brighten the picture by at least 20% as the original picture was far darker than this.

It was a typically normal Christmas if you throw this out of the bigger picture. We swung by Freddy’s place to pick up a couple of groceries and spent the whole day sprawled on the couch, swerving through the Astro channels, hoping for a program to watch. But shoot! There was nothing interesting to watch on Christmas Day! WHAT?!

As Wednesday morning rolled around, my dear friend and I went together in her car to Sunway Pyramid, where we spent most of the day together doing what we do best: window shopping, although we both bought a couple of accessories and the traditional Chinese pastries to bring home.


The deer that I never had the chance to capture.

After lunch at Pasta Zanmai, we shot straight for Daiso and browsed through other shops. With lethargy hitting on us and the time going against us, we decided to head home and crash.

The hours flew faster than I had expected. I was dead exhausted when I entered the house to Big Fat, who merely wagged his tail with confusion in his eyes. It was like he didn't recognize me in that split second.

Stay tuned for the food reviews that I have in store.

And until then, I'm out of here to take a breather.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Season of Advent


Let's join together to celebrate the coming of 2013 with a thunderous bang!

Friday, December 21, 2012

In Memory of the Sandy Hook Elementary Victims


Moment of Silence for Sandy Hook Victims on Dec. 21

Sign the pledge; spare a five-minute silence to commemorate the innocent lives lost in the tragedy.

For our local folks, it's at 10.30pm Malaysian Time.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Blackened Anger, Rotten Displeasure

Even though it’s been at least five hours now, I’m still flaming with fury and exasperation with a particular person!

To the Sarawakian uncle who flew in and scooped every packet of the Angelica, that was bloody unfair of you! Not only was it very selfish of you, it was uncalled for too! Just because you’ve flown in from the other side of the country for this item doesn’t mean first preference – especially when you left not even a packet behind!!

Excuse me; you’re not the only one who needs the herb, all right! And you’ll never be. Others like me, who have issues with their internal system, need to drink it on a frequent basis for us to recover from our ailments. Tell me, how in the world do you expect us to wait a week and our various conditions to improve when you, in your selfish state, swept the aisle clean, sparking clean?!

Do you mean to say that if I were to fly in from Singapore or even Thailand that I can be just as selfish as you are and leave hearts in fury at me? Please, neither do I eat this excuse nor do I bother if you’re not a local. If you want to buy in bulk, order it directly from the farmer instead of leaving other shoppers in flames of fury!

I drove all the way from my little recluse in the self-sufficient suburb, hoping to pounce on just a packet – or maybe 2 packets, no more than that - of the herb for my health issues after a lapse of fortnight and this is what I get in return?!

A wasted trip, all because of your inconsideration!

Preposterous!

Don’t let my eyes fall on you; I will give you the trademark stare and a lecturing punch for your inconsideration and selfishness! Oh, please don’t talk to me about manners when you’re lacking ‘em.

You know what? You can take your so-called exclusive rights and be gone, far away from me! Never ever appear in my sight, or I’ll give you the trademark stare and a lecturing punch!

Maybe that will teach you a lesson or two in civic-consciousness. Answer me, how would you like it if you’re in my shoes?

Since you’ve deeply exasperated me, I’m prepared to boycott the store until at such time when my anger towards you has slowly tapered away. If you think you’re so grand, go ahead. Go and infuriate all the customers and chase them away in their fury and you be the only one sustaining the income flow of the store! Then, we’ll see whether you are that grand as you think are.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas in the City '12

First and foremost, let me begin by saying that this is a scheduled post. At this timing, Ciana has hiked Bukit Kiara and is now running her errands, picking up a couple of groceries along the way.


The NKVE at 5.15pm.

Traffic congestion. This is the reason why I like to stay in my neighborhood - it happens to be the place that I was born and bred in - unless I really have to venture out to run my errands.

Me being me, I was supposed to bring those pairs of jeans that I had bought from Padini for alteration last week but it was just one of those things that I haven’t gotten around to … until recently.

Seeing that Thursday’s NZ Natural Flavor was the one that I had been eying for – Forest Berry Frozen Yoghurt, I went ahead and bought a scoop without asking for Mama Carrie’s permission. Polishing the cup, ah, it has allowed me the split-second enjoyment of the pleasant New Lynn memories. Let's see, how about making the 5-minute walk to LynnMall weekly for this? Yup, I used to live in that little townhouse (which I still love) behind the Waitekere Community Center. 

Mind to treat me to a scoop if and when we meet in person? *winks*




And since I had brought the camera along, I went around the old wing's central concourse and took pictures of the Christmas decorations. Gee, I'd have been able to take a clearer picture of this decoration if it weren't for the family.

I don't blame them; I wanted to be done with photography before the crowd arrived.



Couldn't quite take the whole decoration because, again, somebody was blocking my view.

More pictures can be found here, on The Tempremental's Facebook page.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

麦管我; 我... 我要爆哭!

惨了我! 要我怎样写呢?

没人真真知道我心想了什么.



一段段讨厌自己。做错太多弥不了事情。如果我 - 那个15岁的少女 - 有勇敢和成熟度,我不会在一直后悔。也走掉了。

不,我意识是说,我会已经去别的地方,比较好的地方。

恐怕我梦破碎到那时候。

真的,我不骗你.

唯一的希望是我还能来得及。

For someone who doesn't care about anything and wants only to live day by day, look at what transpired? Sigh.



快进18个月, 友情慢慢消失了。

最令我失望是你居然会忘记我生日。这是第一次;我不是说过,除了我父母,我不喜欢朋友忘记这重要的日子。

虽然我决定跟他保持一些些距离,我没想过这一点。

不能说我有伤悼。好像我刚刚写,我是对他有那么一点失望。

Monday, December 10, 2012

Shelby's Annoyance

I have never done it before, so to have someone doing it to me on a frequent basis stinks.

She had chosen to devote most of her free time tending to the cleanliness of her home or socializing with her friends over coffee or movies instead of revealing herself to the neighbors. Not a single soul even knew that she was part of the neighborhood; she left for work early in the morning and returned home after sunset or on certain days, late at night.
    As if sensing Shelby needed some time out, her friend Melissa invited her out to their favorite haunt - which she immediately agreed to but now that she waited in her seat at one of the tables, she wondered what was delaying her friend.
    She couldn't help but sigh. Her friendship with Paul didn't save her from the silent stress and annoyance she had been living with; it in fact was the whole cause of it.

"Tell me more about your neighborhood," Melissa said, snapped Shelby out of her quiet thoughts.
    The two friends browsed through the stores with shopping bags in their hands in an attempt to burn off the calories that they had gathered from the heavy lunch.
    "Why, what's up?" Shelby asked. "It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, calling it
my neighborhood."
    "You're living there, what."
    "Yeah, without a choice."
    "How come?"
    "Just." Shelby sighed. "Just answer my question first."
    "All right." Melissa lifted up a graphic tee that had a painting of a young lady from its resting place. "This looks good, don't you think?"
    "Yeah, it does. Anything will accentuate your perfect figure."
    "What, sarcasm now?"
    She folded the tee over her forearm. "Back to your question. I'm looking for a new house in your neighborhood."
    "Oh, I wish we could be immediate neighbors but no" - Shelby's face darkened - "you are not moving to the same street. Never in a million years! I have terribly weird neighbors with a capital tee and a double u."
    "How weird can neighbors be? I mean, humans are humans."
    "Neighbors who think that they are more superior. The cats at the old place are much more educated than their counterparts here."
    Melissa struggled to keep herself from laughing.
    "Why, what's so funny?"
    "I don't think I've ever heard anyone describing cats in that way."   
    "It's not that I dislike cats. I can handle them stealing forty winks at my place, but at least they don't disturb my peace by slipping unannounced into my garden and peeing on my flip-flops."
    "Okay, now that's bad."
    "There's more. The neighbor blocked my path on my way out earlier."
    "
That same neighbor?"
    "Yes, who else can it be?"
    "You should've screamed at him."
    "No point in wasting my breath. I grazed his car bumper. If that doesn't make him realize his mistake and my exasperation, I don't know what will."
    "
Whoa!”
    Shelby yanked a striped tee from the fashion rail. "This looks perfect. I shall give it a try. Forget it, Melly. Forget about moving onto the same street. I know there is a vacant house up for sale, but I don't want you to have the same issues as me."
    "Why did you move here, then?"
    "Ask Paul. He didn't leave me with options. I'm still exasperated with him, though."
    "What happened?"
    "Let's just say that he turned out to be another person, not the Paul I have known all these years."
  
  I'll have a word with him, Melissa thought. I need to uncover the reasons behind you two's crumbling friendship. "Okay, Shel. Why don't we push this matter aside and shop like there's no tomorrow? It'll help to boost your spirits."  
    "Thank you, Melly."


So yeah, I'm pretty much waiting for the green light - there are a couple of matters to be dealt with at this current time - to be given before I'm packing my bags and bidding this place adieu.

There's only so much one can take.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Who doesn't want to be 18 again?

I know 18 was a story of just a couple of years ago for me. Oops, did I just unintentionally reveal my calendar age?

Anyway.

Like everyone else, I will jump at the chance to be 18 again and undo all the mistakes I’ve done.



How reminiscent the video is!

I’m writing this post while I’m listening to the song and it’s bringing me back to my 18-year-old self.



Sounds familiar?

It's the theme song for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that was directed by Ang Lee and won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 73rd Academy Awards.

This is the English version of the same name, A Love Before Time:



I'll let you decide which version you like best. =)

Ocean's 1/2: On the First Day of Christmas...

Taken from Will of Ocean's 1/2 with credit. =D

Ocean's 1/2: On the First Day of Christmas...: There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially ...

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Day's Outing with Uniqlo

Gee, I guess I managed to squeeze in some time tonight – even though I’m dead exhausted – to write this post.



Found this buried among other pictures on my cell phone.

A white Christmas tree in Ikano – decorated by nothing but Barbie dolls! =O

Who would have expected it? A brand new store opening attracting a huge crowd of at least at least a thousand folks at the time of my arrival and from what I heard from the employees, people had started waiting there since around 8.15 am.

Yes, I’m talking about Uniqlo’s newest store in Paradigm Mall.



The employee whom I had a small talk with mentioned that the store was supposed to be opened at only 10 am sharp but since there were too many humans there, they had no choice but to push forward their opening time. Talk about wanting to be there before 10am!

This was the queue at 10.15am – when I arrived.


and on...



and on...



Spent an hour plus queuing and queuing until our paws ached terribly. Not worth the wait, I tell you. The store had too narrow a space and contained too many a human. *roll eyes*

The fellow shoppers ended up shoving me here and there whenever they wanted to cross without the magic words of “excuse me” or “sorry”. Hey, where did the manners run to?

And me being me, I was getting exasperated with the huge crowd and the behavior until my voice rose an octave. I’m not easily angered by anything but the little temper that I had flared into a full-blown warning when this kid pulled his stroller towards me without even giving a crap! He kept yanking it until the wheels of the baby stroller knocked my ankle!

I yelled a “Doonnnnntttt!” in an annoyed but not exasperated tone while Mama Carrie shot the mother an angry stare. Don’t ever anger Mama Carrie; she, I tell you, can pierce you to the ground where you’re standing at with those stare of hers.

I didn’t care if he screamed and cried for attention as I was already exasperated and if nothing is done to rectify the matter, I might just throw the basket down on the floor and leave the store with a blackened face.

So, when he was successfully pulled away from me and brought elsewhere, I held tight to the shopping basket that I had been carrying for dear life while I inhaled a couple of deep breaths, mentally telling myself to “cool it”. And another lady – this time, an older one – had the nerve to jump queue. She was lucky in the sense that I was a foot faster than her otherwise there will be two things: one, I will make a comment right in her face that it’s really rude to jump the queue or two, I’ll shoot a nasty, angry stare at her.

Mama Carrie being Mama Carrie, she demanded that we return in the late afternoon to buy more pairs of the straight skinny jeans since it fitted us like a glove.



And so, we braved the traffic congestion and headed out back to Paradigm again. *shakes head*

I was half-expecting us to be rounding the area, having a difficulty looking for a vacant parking bay but there was a reserved one for us – right at the doorstep, wow! Thank You, God!



She had the background and experience in sales and marketing and was pretty much confident that the crowd would be lesser because those who had bought earlier in the morning might only return tomorrow, not in the same day.

So, I guess she was right. It was certainly a different scene; it didn’t look like it was a newly-opened store.

There was however still a long queue at the fitting room but it wasn’t as bad. You should’ve seen it in the morning. It was so long that the end of the queue almost reached the entrance!

Truth be told, we were pretty lazy to join the queue and give those pair of jeans another try. There is always a risk when you do that because you never know if the size is right for you and if the item accentuates/flatters your figure.

We browsed through the mall in an attempt to kill time (hence the Christmas pictures below) and 2 hours later with 60 bucks poorer, we finally called it a day.









If you really want to know the person in the above picture, take a guess … and take a wild one. *winks*

The opening sale will end on this Sunday, 9th Dec. If you’re not sure where it is, Uniqlo (LG-02) has Sephora and H&M as its neighbors.

My advice to you is this:

1) Be prepared to join the long queue to the fitting room and to the cashiers (unless you’re able to be there at the off-peak hours.)

2) If you can, wear a skirt/dress or a pair of khakis. It’ll help if you decide to skip the long queue and try it there and then over your own piece of clothing.

The Oldies

Note: This is a published post because Ciana has taken the day off to run the errands somewhere and may have attended an obligatory service. She's playing it by ear on the latter. 

Ah, how can I forget this song?

I immediately fell in love with it when I first heard it on the airwaves. When it was played the second time on the return drive from Klang, I could already sing along to it.



This song has always done its best to lift up my spirits whenever I'm down. I can imagine being under the heavy rain, turning myself around and around until I collapse on the wet floor in dizziness.



This has to be Glen Campbell's famous song.

Like so many other classics, I love this song so much that I can be found humming the tunes or singing it aloud in an off-pitch way.



The lyrics, oh, it's so meaningful.

I made the mistake of listening to it on the quiet, rainy night while following Papa Carrie on a drive around our (previous) neighborhood. The tears literally rolled down my face the moment the chorus came in.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas in the City, Ikano and Sunway Pyramid

Hmm, what am I to write about? Here I am, staring at the blank page before me with the brain terribly exhausted from writing some other but necessary documents. Mind you, I still have a long way before I’m done with ‘em.

But I guess I can write about Christmas and how I’ll be spending it.




Apart from it being a couple of weeks away after my birthday, what I love about Christmas is the beautiful carols and the presents. Oh, and the decorations too. If it weren’t for the crowd, I actually fancy taking drives to the favorite haunts and capture the many different decorations on film and paper.

I miss the street that I’ve always referred to as the Candy Cane Lane. It’s the street where the neighbors will adorn their houses with the decorations and allow random strangers to come and admire it or maybe even make a comparison between the houses.

The lights will bring the normally quiet street to life, exuding a welcoming feel to any visitor.



Before I continue, don’t you think the picture above resembles a little of the manger that baby Jesus was born in?




I can’t help but observe that the sheep looks … sneaky. He looked like he was ready to pounce on me.

Due to space constraint, more pictures can be found here on The Tempremental's Facebook page.

We had woken up early to run some morning errands on the same day that I indulged in my birthday treats before heading out to Sunway Pyramid. 



This year’s Christmas will be celebrated in a simple way – different from past years.

There won’t be any travel plans.

There won’t be any gatherings to attend.

There won’t be any grand buffet meals to splurge on.




I wish I had been able to slide to the old wing’s concourse for more photographic moments but we were pressed for time.

A pity, don’t you think?

I’m only looking forward to the Christmas Mass where I can enjoy the choir’s melodious voice. I’m not placing too much hope on presents this year because, well, I doubt there will be one for me...



... even though the presents here are all waiting to be delivered or collected by their respective recipients.

That is however provided that the world doesn't beat me to it. Tell me, who isn't worried or apprehensive about the end of the world?

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Birthday Treats


Thursday: Forest Berry Frozen Yoghurt
Friday: Macadamia Supreme
Shoot! I know I’ll have enjoyed the Forest Berry more than the Macadamia because the former is the flavor that I’ve always gone for whenever I’m near a NZ Natural kiosk. Macadamia, me have never tried but there are no complains. Better for me to sample all the flavors of the days - at 3.90, instead of its usual price of 6.90 - while it’s still on, right?

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to buy myself a scoop of Forest Berry on one fine Thursday.

Let you in one fact. I went overboard with the ice-cream brand during my days in Auckland, would even eat it every other week during the wintery and windy days. It didn’t even help that I was living within walking distance to the mall. Literally a 10-minute walk to LynnMall.

I didn't get the brain freeze, though.


Even though I know that it’s for the impending trip, I literally winced when the total amount came up to almost 270 bucks (on clothing!) but there were two benefits: there will be more points on my member card; and I didn’t need to fork a single cent for the parking ticket.

I however discovered a hidden hobby of mine: year-end shopping. Mama Carrie raised an eyebrow when I hinted that I wanted to stay longer in the mall and shop even more. So, with that in mind, I shall head over to their branch in Ikano and in Curve a little later to see whether I can pick up more worthwhile deals.


I won’t be surprised when the departure date arrives that I’ll be yanking two luggage worth of clothing while I make my way to the boarding gate. Gee, can I deal with it a little later?

Right now, I’m not even sure what has taken over my mind and my wallet.


I’ve seen this mall many times before when I needed to take the shortcut. Living in an area like this, I’m forever exposed to traffic congestion here and there, mini and major. It’s a surprise that I moved to this familiar place (let you in on another fact: I was born and bred here) upon my return from Auckland.

But then again, nobody is lucky to escape traffic congestion.

For someone who’s never been to this place, it was quite relieving to know that the directions were quite straight forward (even though there were no proper signboards around). My acquaintance however had quite a rough time finding the place.

So, what were we doing in an unfamiliar place like this?

Good question.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Egg, Ham and Big Onion with Cucumber Sandwich Recipe

This is the recipe for the "Egg, Ham and Big Onion with Cucumber Sandwich" that was featured on First Sandwich Day. (Directions are included, don't worry.)

Ingredients:

2 slices of sandwich loaf.
1 medium-sized egg
1 medium-size big onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cucumber, finely grated
3 Tbsp raw or cooked ham
1 stainless steel or non-stick pan
A little oil

Directions:


Roughly dice a medium-sized big onion. I'm using the purple onion from India, but feel free to use the Holland white onions.


Crack and beat a medium-sized egg into a container before adding the ham.


Pour the mixture onto a preheated and oiled stainless steel pan. If you're using Teflon, skip the oil.

Once it is fully cooked on both sides, set it aside onto a slice of bread.


Finely grate the cucumber. You don't necessarily have to use the local cucumber. If your crisper has only the kyuri (Japanese cucumber), feel free to use it.

If you don't have a grater similar like this, just slice the cucumber with a knife.


With a tablespoon, scoop the finely grated cucumber and spread it around the cooked egg with the back of the spoon.


Press the cooked egg and the grated cucumber with another slice of the bread.

Although I ate my sandwich as it is, feel free to cut it in half if you find it more convenient.

Because this recipe was done at the spur at the moment, I know it doesn’t seem “right”. The directions are all over the place.

Give me some time; the next recipe of any kind should be a much more improved one.
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