OH MY GOD THERE ARE ZOMBIES EVERYWHERE. Not really. Before I tell you anything, I should start my story at the beginning of this crazy day.
Last Friday I had to attend a class in the afternoon (urghhhhhhh) , and I reached school early in the morning to discuss my Tuesday presentation with my partner. After he had to go and attend his class somewhere, I took refuge in an abandoned classroom and caught up on my YouTube subscription. Halfway through, a few people came in and asked me if they could use the classroom. Naturally I said yes and turned back to my screen. I caught some words like "get ready" and "do this quick", and out of curiosity I walked over to them to see what they were doing.
It turned out that they were preparing to dress up as zombies for a "zombie walk" to promote the Haunted House at our program's Fright Night. As they worked, I looked on for quite a while, and eventually I got interested enough to start helping them. They burned some parts of their clothes (yes, burned) and cut it here and there to give them that apocalyptic look. The wounds and blood were next. One of them already mixed the adhesive solution and fake blood beforehand so they only had to put the wounds on. We tore cotton pads to fine pieces and rolled them up to make the edges of the wounds. The intended area for the wounds were first covered in the adhesive solution (you will never believe what's in it...... it's mango jello mix and flour) and then the rolled up cotton pad pieces were then slighted dipped in it before being put on. When those were slightly drier, the very-much-convincing fake blood (consists of chocolate syrup, cornstarch and red food dye) were used to fill in the wounds and smeared around them to make them more realistic. More fake blood was used to smear their faces, bodies (one guy was smearing his abs, it was heaven, don't tell him that), and clothes. More of them came in and did the same thing as well.
Before we could finish, we were told to evacuate to the foyer for the classroom was to be used for a lesson. We complied and finished up outside at the foyer. A few more people joined us there and we had a fun time. Powdered makeup was put onto their eyes and fingers to make them look more "dead", if that was at all possible considering the blood and wounds on them. After all that necromancy, they were ready to terrorize the school grounds. I stayed behind the first time to look after their belongings that laid among the blood drips on the ground. It smelled of mango and chocolate.
They came back and reapplied their blood and readjusted their wounds that might have slipped off from their original position. This time, I followed them as they scared and chased unsuspecting passerby, while promoting the haunted house at the same time. One guy had half his face covered in blood as one of the female zombies slapped him (... I think), and a girl ran in panic as the very same zombie chased her screaming. Props to you, girl.
We eventually returned to the zombie base camp. The zombies went off to wash off their wounds, blood and sins, while I stayed and chatted with the ones who didn't transform. I soon found out that they were from our university's Society of Performing Arts, one that I had tried to figure out how to join but had no luck. I enquired about the membership of the society and had gotten a satisfying answer (you will have to find it out yourself).
I then joined another club, Grapevine, an editorial club (again, too many unsureness), by chance while talking to a random person who was in charge of selling the tickets for Fright Night. She holds an important position in the club and confirmed my membership after I had offered to help for Fright Night. It is in two weeks and they are in a hectic situation, so I was more than glad to help.
That was quite a rant wasn't it? I sincerely apologize if this bored you but that was one of the most interesting days I have lived in a long while, with emphasis on long (ehem). I am now engaged with two clubs' decoration, as well as a personal project for Fright Night, so I might be too busy to write something next week, but I will try my best.
Until then, I wish you eventful and interesting weeks leading up to Halloween.
Sunday 19 October 2014
Sunday 12 October 2014
IDEASSS + Crazy Day Out
I have been getting a lot of ideas lately. There's so many that I started the habit of carrying a little notebook around again. I would say a good ninety percent of those ideas is about food, which might be the influence of the movie Chef I watched a while ago. I also have been getting some ideas about crafts, mainly surrounding the possibilities of paper, which probably is an after-effect of me making a paper wallet out of a Starbucks paper bag.However, I didn't write any of this to tell you the ideas I got, I wrote this to guide (I am not qualified enough to use the word teach) people how to get ideas and work from there.
Now, before you start to do whatever work that requires you to have ideas, get everything you need in place. Pen, pencil, paper, tea, computer, and so on. Put them all down on your workstation before you start any actual work. Ready? Go.
1. Write a title for your ideas. Make it simple and to the point. For example, I need ideas to write a blog post. I would write something like, Ideas For A Blog Post. With a title, it will be much easier for you to write anything.
2. List out all your possibilities, the major ones first if you can't manage. Using my previous example, my possibilities would be: Tutorial, Food, Thought, Rant, and Diary.
3. By this point, some people might be stuck at trying to think of more exact ideas. For this, I suggest you to do something else that is related to what you are trying to do. For me, if I am stuck at writing a blog post, I would read other people's blogs for inspiration.
4. Now that you have a general idea of what to write, write a draft. It doesn't matter if it's in point form or paragraph form, just write down everything you can think of. Ignore the little mistakes here and there, you have plenty of time to correct them later on.
5. Compose your work. Weed out things that are irrelevant or with insufficient evidence support, then regroup by order what is left.
6. Take a break and look at what you have so far. Get a glass of whatever you fancy, just make sure you don't add too much sugar and get jittery from it. Good? Moving on.
7. Expand. From the previous steps, you have already formed a skeleton for your work. Just expand what you have so far, but keep it relevant. Try not to repeat points or add unrelated subjects. If I'm writing a blog post about a restaurant, I shouldn't go off and talk about how to do photography.
There you go, seven steps (or six if you didn't take a break) to getting ideas and working your way from there. It might or might not work for you, but it worked for me. Take a shot, what is there to lose?
*********************(This is a line to separate two topics. Kindly ignore.)******************
Yesterday was Sunday. I got bored of my four-walls house scene, so I decided to call my aunt to fetch me to an event I read on Facebook the other day. The name's Foodgasm Fest, and it's organized by Rock and Tulips, whoever they are. My aunt agreed to drop me off, and we embarked on our journey.
Before we go to Foodgasm Fest, we went to a lunch appointment with my aunt's friend at her father's restaurant. The restaurant's called Cafe Vietnam and it's located in Puchong, and they have a mannequin dressed up in Vietnamese clothing standing outside. (SPOILER ALERT: They are opening a new branch called Cafe Vietnam Express, with less varieties on the menu.) Let me tell you, this cafe serves the BEST authentic Vietnamese food around. I promised to come back again to give them a proper review because it is an insult to not write about such a good restaurant.
After the eventful lunch date with two little boys running around in glee initially and quieted down after getting scolded and punished (with some tears shed no less), we set off to the actual destination the Foodgasm Fest, held at Taman Rimba Kiara at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. I got off the car and walked to the venue, hopeful that my expectations are met.
The first thing that I saw: people. People everywhere. People of every age walking in and out of the park entrance. After staring at the ridiculously huge lines of people, I started my walk to the actual entrance of the event. It's a good thing that the park has a lot of trees because the combination of haze and human heat is slowly rising the temperature of the surrounding air.
The event was packed with people. Being a leisure-style picnic event. a lot of people was sitting around on picnic mats with their foods and drinks. One thing I noticed right away was the loooooong lines to buy drinks and ice creams. They, are, so, long. I walked around the entire venue to survey what there is. After ten minutes of brisk walking, I had come to an unhappy conclusion that there wasn't a lot of worthy booths. I did however found one booth that proved to be very interesting. Their name is Ladle & Whisk. They specialize in boutique catering, anything from dinner gatherings to afternoon tea parties. I bought two cakes from this nice lady who spoke with passion (and THAT, people, is how you recognize commitment) and told me about their establishment. Naturally, I took a name card for future reference.
I wouldn't pin the event down as a disappointment, but it didn't live up to the expectations it generated in me. With cakes and fried chicken in my hands, I left the event for dinner with my aunt and grandma to this famous franchise that got a lot of attention lately: Johnny Rockets. In hindsight, I regret for not having taken any pictures, but I will try to illustrate my experience there with mere words.
We went to the franchise that opened in Avenue K, which is located right opposite the Petronas Twin Towers. The entrance was sandwiched between two other establishments, one's a restaurant and the other is a pub. We were led into the restaurant and the staff collectively greeted us. All of them wore uniforms that look like waiters at an American diner from decades ago. The restaurant itself looked a great deal like a diner too, with its bar, cushion sofas, and a jukebox (that doesn't let you play your own choice of music, but still plays music nevertheless) . We sat down at the cushion sofa tables that has a tiny jukebox (that doesn't play music at all but is a nice decoration) and ordered our dinner. I ordered a Route 66 burger with chicken patty and a mango shake, while my grandma wanted a Tuna Melt with no cheese (oh grandma) and my aunt ordered some spicy chicken wings (or something, I don't much care for spicy stuff). About five minutes after we ordered, the music changed and got louder. The staffs gathered as if on cue and started dancing. Some people looked and laughed good-naturedly while some simply ignored the dance routine. They danced for a good three minutes before going back to their bussing.
Our orders arrived and my first impression was the onions falling out of the burger. After trying to put the onions back into the burger to no avail, I cut my burger in half and started eating it. The burger buns have an unmistakable taste and smell of shortening, but the mushrooms and onions more than made up for that. The chicken patty was not hard and dry like a certain franchise's burger, but was tender and juicy enough for me to rank it higher than some franchises. The mushrooms and onions were cooked to the Maillard point, giving them a nice sweet and grilled taste. The only thing I didn't quite like was the large amount of fries served together with the burger and made me wish that I told them to hold the fries. I tried some of the wings my aunt ordered and had to take several large sips to rid of the spiciness. Johnny Rockets, being famous for their shakes, changed my perception towards shakes forever. The shake was so creamy and had the prominent sweet and sour taste of mangoes, at just the right temperature. There were so many of it that they served the leftover in a metal shaker. The dancing happened again when we were almost done with our meal. Following that, we settled our bill and set off for home.
That was one heck of a Sunday I had in a long while. Minus the disappointments, it was a fairly fun run. Looking at the name card now, I know who to call when I want to organize a send-off party when I leave for USA.
Until next time, I wish you interesting Sundays with surprises in store.
(P.S. Stupid computer won't let me post pictures.)
Now, before you start to do whatever work that requires you to have ideas, get everything you need in place. Pen, pencil, paper, tea, computer, and so on. Put them all down on your workstation before you start any actual work. Ready? Go.
1. Write a title for your ideas. Make it simple and to the point. For example, I need ideas to write a blog post. I would write something like, Ideas For A Blog Post. With a title, it will be much easier for you to write anything.
2. List out all your possibilities, the major ones first if you can't manage. Using my previous example, my possibilities would be: Tutorial, Food, Thought, Rant, and Diary.
3. By this point, some people might be stuck at trying to think of more exact ideas. For this, I suggest you to do something else that is related to what you are trying to do. For me, if I am stuck at writing a blog post, I would read other people's blogs for inspiration.
4. Now that you have a general idea of what to write, write a draft. It doesn't matter if it's in point form or paragraph form, just write down everything you can think of. Ignore the little mistakes here and there, you have plenty of time to correct them later on.
5. Compose your work. Weed out things that are irrelevant or with insufficient evidence support, then regroup by order what is left.
6. Take a break and look at what you have so far. Get a glass of whatever you fancy, just make sure you don't add too much sugar and get jittery from it. Good? Moving on.
7. Expand. From the previous steps, you have already formed a skeleton for your work. Just expand what you have so far, but keep it relevant. Try not to repeat points or add unrelated subjects. If I'm writing a blog post about a restaurant, I shouldn't go off and talk about how to do photography.
There you go, seven steps (or six if you didn't take a break) to getting ideas and working your way from there. It might or might not work for you, but it worked for me. Take a shot, what is there to lose?
*********************(This is a line to separate two topics. Kindly ignore.)******************
Yesterday was Sunday. I got bored of my four-walls house scene, so I decided to call my aunt to fetch me to an event I read on Facebook the other day. The name's Foodgasm Fest, and it's organized by Rock and Tulips, whoever they are. My aunt agreed to drop me off, and we embarked on our journey.
Before we go to Foodgasm Fest, we went to a lunch appointment with my aunt's friend at her father's restaurant. The restaurant's called Cafe Vietnam and it's located in Puchong, and they have a mannequin dressed up in Vietnamese clothing standing outside. (SPOILER ALERT: They are opening a new branch called Cafe Vietnam Express, with less varieties on the menu.) Let me tell you, this cafe serves the BEST authentic Vietnamese food around. I promised to come back again to give them a proper review because it is an insult to not write about such a good restaurant.
After the eventful lunch date with two little boys running around in glee initially and quieted down after getting scolded and punished (with some tears shed no less), we set off to the actual destination the Foodgasm Fest, held at Taman Rimba Kiara at Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. I got off the car and walked to the venue, hopeful that my expectations are met.
The first thing that I saw: people. People everywhere. People of every age walking in and out of the park entrance. After staring at the ridiculously huge lines of people, I started my walk to the actual entrance of the event. It's a good thing that the park has a lot of trees because the combination of haze and human heat is slowly rising the temperature of the surrounding air.
The event was packed with people. Being a leisure-style picnic event. a lot of people was sitting around on picnic mats with their foods and drinks. One thing I noticed right away was the loooooong lines to buy drinks and ice creams. They, are, so, long. I walked around the entire venue to survey what there is. After ten minutes of brisk walking, I had come to an unhappy conclusion that there wasn't a lot of worthy booths. I did however found one booth that proved to be very interesting. Their name is Ladle & Whisk. They specialize in boutique catering, anything from dinner gatherings to afternoon tea parties. I bought two cakes from this nice lady who spoke with passion (and THAT, people, is how you recognize commitment) and told me about their establishment. Naturally, I took a name card for future reference.
I wouldn't pin the event down as a disappointment, but it didn't live up to the expectations it generated in me. With cakes and fried chicken in my hands, I left the event for dinner with my aunt and grandma to this famous franchise that got a lot of attention lately: Johnny Rockets. In hindsight, I regret for not having taken any pictures, but I will try to illustrate my experience there with mere words.
We went to the franchise that opened in Avenue K, which is located right opposite the Petronas Twin Towers. The entrance was sandwiched between two other establishments, one's a restaurant and the other is a pub. We were led into the restaurant and the staff collectively greeted us. All of them wore uniforms that look like waiters at an American diner from decades ago. The restaurant itself looked a great deal like a diner too, with its bar, cushion sofas, and a jukebox (that doesn't let you play your own choice of music, but still plays music nevertheless) . We sat down at the cushion sofa tables that has a tiny jukebox (that doesn't play music at all but is a nice decoration) and ordered our dinner. I ordered a Route 66 burger with chicken patty and a mango shake, while my grandma wanted a Tuna Melt with no cheese (oh grandma) and my aunt ordered some spicy chicken wings (or something, I don't much care for spicy stuff). About five minutes after we ordered, the music changed and got louder. The staffs gathered as if on cue and started dancing. Some people looked and laughed good-naturedly while some simply ignored the dance routine. They danced for a good three minutes before going back to their bussing.
Our orders arrived and my first impression was the onions falling out of the burger. After trying to put the onions back into the burger to no avail, I cut my burger in half and started eating it. The burger buns have an unmistakable taste and smell of shortening, but the mushrooms and onions more than made up for that. The chicken patty was not hard and dry like a certain franchise's burger, but was tender and juicy enough for me to rank it higher than some franchises. The mushrooms and onions were cooked to the Maillard point, giving them a nice sweet and grilled taste. The only thing I didn't quite like was the large amount of fries served together with the burger and made me wish that I told them to hold the fries. I tried some of the wings my aunt ordered and had to take several large sips to rid of the spiciness. Johnny Rockets, being famous for their shakes, changed my perception towards shakes forever. The shake was so creamy and had the prominent sweet and sour taste of mangoes, at just the right temperature. There were so many of it that they served the leftover in a metal shaker. The dancing happened again when we were almost done with our meal. Following that, we settled our bill and set off for home.
That was one heck of a Sunday I had in a long while. Minus the disappointments, it was a fairly fun run. Looking at the name card now, I know who to call when I want to organize a send-off party when I leave for USA.
Until next time, I wish you interesting Sundays with surprises in store.
(P.S. Stupid computer won't let me post pictures.)
Friday 3 October 2014
PAPER CRAFT FTW!!!
HI.
Sorry, too excited there. It's been... two weeks since I have updated this blog, I think? I've been doing something extremely time and effort consuming, at least, it is so to me. What you can see above is one that I already done, it is a character called Danbo from an anime named Yotsubato&! (yes, both the ampersand and exclamation mark is supposed to be there). It looks like a cardboard robot (to some extent it is), but it is actually a costume worn by a girl named Miura for a science project. Miura didn't want to crush Yotsubato's dream of meeting a robot (which is herself in a costume), and lied that she is a robot named Danbo. I actually bought the papers for this over two years ago, so I procrastinated quite a bit before I decided to make it.
I bought this one pre-cut, so I only have to stick the pieces together. Sounds easy eh? No. It's actual cardboard, and that made it very difficult to bow to the force of my fingers. Building the individual pieces was relatively simple for someone with experience in arts and crafts, but putting them altogether? Nuh-uh. It took me about 237 glue stains on the table and 154 glue stains on my fingers before it is finished.
The moment when the final piece is attached, I felt a feeling of euphoria I have not known for years, and I realized...... it is the feeling of making a piece of art with my own hands. *cue backstory music*
During my primary school years, I found a love for arts and crafts, especially those of a papery nature. Origami was on top of it all. Every day, my little fingers would move silently below the tabletop when the teacher is talking as I made one fold after another. A crane, a flower, a space age military airplane, you name it, I will find a way to fold it. My classmates looked my way and awed at my work, but they never approached me more. (Interruption: I wasn't exactly a nice kid, but that depends on how you define nice) One of the most significant works of mine is a blessing I gave to my friend, in the form of a miniscule crane. However, as the years passed by, I slowly forgot this passion of mine and moved on to other things, like reading and *cough* surfing the internet. This curious paper robot have reminded me of my adoration for such finger works. I... excuse me while I become emotional for a while. *grabs tissue*
Hem, hem. Well that was embarrassing. So that was my story about paper crafts. Lame, yeah I know, but it's, all true feelings! *fake sobs* Anyway, I am actually working on another piece of paper craft, but I won't tell you what it is just yet (Hint: Miyazaki).
Here's to a future where paper crafts rule.
Friday 19 September 2014
I Have A Confession
Yesterday I opened my email inbox and one of the mails' title caught my attention. I clicked into it and read the brief mail. After reading it, I decided to make this post that might change the lives of some people. I promised a confession, and here it is. I...
...love steampunk. Yes, you read it right, steampunk, that thing you heard before but you didn't know what it is. That mail that I mentioned? It's an update from the Hullabaloo Steampunk animated film campaign that I helped funded, telling me to blog about them or get other blogs to cover about them, so that they can get more exposure and get more funds (meaning possibly more sequels!).
Hullabaloo Steampunk animated film is a campaign that hopes to help preserve the dying art of 2D animation by producing a 2D steampunk themed animated film and showing the investors that people really want to see a feature length film of 2D animation. In addition to that, the film Hullabaloo also encourages girls to explore science and adventure with the help of the two female protagonists, Veronica Daring and Jules. Here's a brief sneak peek of what the film is about:
"THE STORY OF HULLABALOO
Hullabaloo is the story of Veronica Daring, a brilliant young scientist who returns home from an elite finishing school to find her father--the eccentric inventor Jonathan Daring--missing without a trace! The only clue left behind points Veronica toward Daring Adventures, an abandoned amusement park used by her father to test his fantastical steam-powered inventions. There she discovers a strange girl named Jules, a fellow inventor who agrees to help Veronica in locating her missing father and discovering the secrets of his work.
Together, Veronica and Jules learn that Jonathan Daring has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of influential persons, who seek to use his latest invention for nefarious purposes. These villains are wealthy and influential and neither Veronica nor Jules can stop them openly. But determined to save her father and holding true to the family creed that technology should be used for the good of all, not the greed of some, Veronica assumes the secret identity of “Hullabaloo”, a goggled crusader who uses wits and science to combat evil and oppose the nefarious conspiracy that has taken her father.
But the question remains: what are the villains up to? What do they plan to do with Jonathan Daring’s mysterious new technology? And will Veronica and Jules be able to stop them in time? "
The big surprise is.... former Disney animators are part of this project. James Lopez, Bruce Smith, just to name a few. They also have some voice talents that pack a punch in their skills. I'm not gonna let off too many here, so if you want to know more click here.
So what are you waiting for? Go and fund them now! There isn't a lot of time left!
P.S. Did I mention that you can get rewards if you fund and that the rewards get better the more you fund?
...love steampunk. Yes, you read it right, steampunk, that thing you heard before but you didn't know what it is. That mail that I mentioned? It's an update from the Hullabaloo Steampunk animated film campaign that I helped funded, telling me to blog about them or get other blogs to cover about them, so that they can get more exposure and get more funds (meaning possibly more sequels!).
Hullabaloo Steampunk animated film is a campaign that hopes to help preserve the dying art of 2D animation by producing a 2D steampunk themed animated film and showing the investors that people really want to see a feature length film of 2D animation. In addition to that, the film Hullabaloo also encourages girls to explore science and adventure with the help of the two female protagonists, Veronica Daring and Jules. Here's a brief sneak peek of what the film is about:
"THE STORY OF HULLABALOO
Hullabaloo is the story of Veronica Daring, a brilliant young scientist who returns home from an elite finishing school to find her father--the eccentric inventor Jonathan Daring--missing without a trace! The only clue left behind points Veronica toward Daring Adventures, an abandoned amusement park used by her father to test his fantastical steam-powered inventions. There she discovers a strange girl named Jules, a fellow inventor who agrees to help Veronica in locating her missing father and discovering the secrets of his work.
Together, Veronica and Jules learn that Jonathan Daring has been kidnapped by a mysterious group of influential persons, who seek to use his latest invention for nefarious purposes. These villains are wealthy and influential and neither Veronica nor Jules can stop them openly. But determined to save her father and holding true to the family creed that technology should be used for the good of all, not the greed of some, Veronica assumes the secret identity of “Hullabaloo”, a goggled crusader who uses wits and science to combat evil and oppose the nefarious conspiracy that has taken her father.
But the question remains: what are the villains up to? What do they plan to do with Jonathan Daring’s mysterious new technology? And will Veronica and Jules be able to stop them in time? "
The big surprise is.... former Disney animators are part of this project. James Lopez, Bruce Smith, just to name a few. They also have some voice talents that pack a punch in their skills. I'm not gonna let off too many here, so if you want to know more click here.
So what are you waiting for? Go and fund them now! There isn't a lot of time left!
P.S. Did I mention that you can get rewards if you fund and that the rewards get better the more you fund?
Tuesday 16 September 2014
OMG, TWO Live Music Restaurants?!
Like what the title said, I visited two live music restaurants this week, and since I didn't have the time to post the first time last weekend (more like I procrastinated so much that I decided to leave it till later), I thought I might as well post them both at once.
The first one I visited this week was on Saturday (see what I mean with procrastination?), and its name is Six Inch Cafe. Six Inch Cafe is a live music restaurant that is located at a famous area in Cheras Selatan called C180 (I don't know what that means though) that has a collection of many types of restaurants, along with some drinks and desserts shops. The cafe's name Six Inch seems to be an innuendo for, you know (*whispers* penisss) but it's actually referencing to their signature dish, which are hot dogs with seasoned sausages.
My first thought when I saw the restaurant was :"Is it legal for them to take over the sidewalk?" Usually there is an allotted space outside shop lots for sidewalk purposes (duh), but Six Inch Cafe put their own chairs and tables on the sidewalk to the point that you can barely walk past them. They also did this.
Having found a table and sat down, I promptly looked around with curiosity.
Bedazzled by the sparkling trees, I turned away and looked down on my menu.
Nothing pleases a food enthusiast more than a menu with tons of choices. I decided to order a cheesy pork burger from the special set menu that comes with fries and soft drink. We also ordered a chicken fillet, a hot dog, a chicken burger, and a Cantonese style fried noodles. When the waiter went to make our orders, I looked up and saw this.
They hung up dried vampires and ghouls' corpses for the Halloween season (I wonder who their supplier is, they did a great job at making sure the corpses don't smell). I didn't get a picture of the waiters, but they were wearing masks and helmets with horns on them to accommodate the coming holiday season (even though the horns don't really make much sense). We talked for a bit when my dad's drink arrived.
Shortly after that, our food arrived.
The sausage was seasoned well and the bun was grilled with butter. I wouldn't say it's the best around but it's much better than I had expected. The chicken was okay, not terrible butnot exceedingly delicious, but the sauce was good. The big surprise was my cheesy pork burger. First off, it's huge, bigger than a lot of burgers out there. They made the patties themselves and even blow torched the cheese that was laid on top of the patty to give it that nice Maillard flavor. I was slightly disappointed that they didn't put any cheese inside the patty, but everything else was spectacular. We arrived a bit too early so when the unplug band started performing at 9 o' clock, it was too late for us to stay and just listen to them without the company of food.
Even though their main attraction is their sausage buns/ hot dogs/ whatever you want to call them, their burger won me over instead with its juiciness and size. The buns were also grilled with butter which made them much better than plain unheated burger bun, and the vegetables were fresh with no signs of wilted leaves and the sort. The huge drink my dad ordered was not bad but not what you would want if you drink little to no liquid during your meals. The Cantonese style noodles was acceptable, but I have had way better ones somewhere else.
VERDICT
Food: 3.75 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 1.5 oui's out of 5.
I was pleased with the food, but not so pleased with the waiters' serving attitude. Our orders came at an appropriate time, but everything was not. We asked for extra utensils and other things, but after we told three waiters and waited for half an hour, we still didn't get what we requested. We pretty much gave up in the end. The unplug band was okay but not anything worth shouting for.
Would I recommend it? If you're looking for good food but at a price not too terrifyingly high, this is the place for you! Their price range is within 20 ringgits which is not too expensive considering it's a live music restaurant. Try to arrive at the restaurant a little bit later so that you can listen to the band before you are halfway through your food.
Six Inch Cafe
No.32-G, Jalan C180/1, Dataran C180, 43200 Cheras, Selangor.
+6012-2366737
sixinch.cafe@yahoo.com
As I promised, I am reviewing another live music restaurant and this one a kind-of-well known chain restaurant called Wings Cafe. Wings Cafe is a live music cafe that provides unplugged music every night and has eight chains across Malaysia so far. The name Wings is actually an acronym for the cafe's name when read in Chinese (they used Cantonese and Mandarin), which is w (wui回), ing (音), and s (shi 石), which is "echo rock" in literal meaning.
I had gone to the other chain of the restaurant in Kuchai Lama (if my memory serves me right) before this visit, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I am sad to say that I am somewhat disappointed with this visit.
We went in and picked a table close to the performing stage. It was sort of dim in the restaurant but I could still read the menu (slightly difficult than usual). I briefly explained to my parents what the restaurant offers before we called for the waiter. There was only one waiter, but with the restaurant's slow business (which is totally different from the other chain) she was able to serve us promptly.
We ordered our food and I glanced around.
We waited a little over 20 minutes before any of our orders came.
My Potion drink was an interesting mix between blue curacao and passion fruit, it was sour and sweet but not much of a wow factor. Our food came minutes after our drinks.
After several mouthfuls, the heat hit me and I gulped down my Potion in a desperate attempt to drown the spiciness in my mouth. My dad saw my distress and he asked me if I wanted to have his pan fried chicken instead.
At this time (around 9 o' clock), two men in their twenties went up on the performing stage and started tuning their guitars. After we finished our meal we listened to a few songs and I sent up a paper with my song request. I was baffled when he read out my song request and said that he didn't know how to sing it, and I stared at my dad with my mouth hanging open for a good minute or two. One more song after what happened, we settled our bill and left.
VERDICT
Food: 3.25 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3.25 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 3.75 oui's out of 5.
The food was mildly disappointing for I had better ones during the other visit, but it was the smoked bacon aglio olio that made me shook my head at. *LOTR meme* One does not simply make aglio olios that spicy without making people dislike it. The price was scary to say the least, and it costed nearly two times of what we paid for at Six Inch Cafe. The singers were also not very good compared to the ones me and my mom each visited on different occasions. It is safe to say that I won't patronize this particular chain until they bring themselves up to the other chains' standards.
Would I recommend it. Sadly, no, at least not until improvements have been made. I would recommend you to go to the one in Mahkota Cheras (which my mom spoke highly of) for a better live music restaurant experience.
Wings Cafe
No. 74, Jalan SS2/60, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
+603-7876 3309
www.wingsmusicafe.com
Until next time, I wish you marvelous gastronomy experiences in your future.
The first one I visited this week was on Saturday (see what I mean with procrastination?), and its name is Six Inch Cafe. Six Inch Cafe is a live music restaurant that is located at a famous area in Cheras Selatan called C180 (I don't know what that means though) that has a collection of many types of restaurants, along with some drinks and desserts shops. The cafe's name Six Inch seems to be an innuendo for, you know (*whispers* penisss) but it's actually referencing to their signature dish, which are hot dogs with seasoned sausages.
My first thought when I saw the restaurant was :"Is it legal for them to take over the sidewalk?" Usually there is an allotted space outside shop lots for sidewalk purposes (duh), but Six Inch Cafe put their own chairs and tables on the sidewalk to the point that you can barely walk past them. They also did this.
 | |
| That's right, they laid down AstroTurf (or something like it) on the pavement. |
 |
| I was nearly blinded by this. |
 |
| They have a variety of choices including both Western and Eastern dishes. |
They hung up dried vampires and ghouls' corpses for the Halloween season (I wonder who their supplier is, they did a great job at making sure the corpses don't smell). I didn't get a picture of the waiters, but they were wearing masks and helmets with horns on them to accommodate the coming holiday season (even though the horns don't really make much sense). We talked for a bit when my dad's drink arrived.
 |
| It doesn't look it, but it was one of the largest drinks I have ever seen. |
 | |||
| This is what is left of the hot dog when I remembered to take a picture of it, with the noodles in the background. |
 |
| This was the chicken fillet... |
 |
| ...and this was the cheesy pork burger. |
Even though their main attraction is their sausage buns/ hot dogs/ whatever you want to call them, their burger won me over instead with its juiciness and size. The buns were also grilled with butter which made them much better than plain unheated burger bun, and the vegetables were fresh with no signs of wilted leaves and the sort. The huge drink my dad ordered was not bad but not what you would want if you drink little to no liquid during your meals. The Cantonese style noodles was acceptable, but I have had way better ones somewhere else.
VERDICT
Food: 3.75 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 1.5 oui's out of 5.
I was pleased with the food, but not so pleased with the waiters' serving attitude. Our orders came at an appropriate time, but everything was not. We asked for extra utensils and other things, but after we told three waiters and waited for half an hour, we still didn't get what we requested. We pretty much gave up in the end. The unplug band was okay but not anything worth shouting for.
Would I recommend it? If you're looking for good food but at a price not too terrifyingly high, this is the place for you! Their price range is within 20 ringgits which is not too expensive considering it's a live music restaurant. Try to arrive at the restaurant a little bit later so that you can listen to the band before you are halfway through your food.
 | |
| That looks bigger than six inch. |
No.32-G, Jalan C180/1, Dataran C180, 43200 Cheras, Selangor.
+6012-2366737
sixinch.cafe@yahoo.com
As I promised, I am reviewing another live music restaurant and this one a kind-of-well known chain restaurant called Wings Cafe. Wings Cafe is a live music cafe that provides unplugged music every night and has eight chains across Malaysia so far. The name Wings is actually an acronym for the cafe's name when read in Chinese (they used Cantonese and Mandarin), which is w (wui回), ing (音), and s (shi 石), which is "echo rock" in literal meaning.
I had gone to the other chain of the restaurant in Kuchai Lama (if my memory serves me right) before this visit, so I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I am sad to say that I am somewhat disappointed with this visit.
We went in and picked a table close to the performing stage. It was sort of dim in the restaurant but I could still read the menu (slightly difficult than usual). I briefly explained to my parents what the restaurant offers before we called for the waiter. There was only one waiter, but with the restaurant's slow business (which is totally different from the other chain) she was able to serve us promptly.
We ordered our food and I glanced around.
 |
| There's a bar where they make the drinks. |
 |
| My drink, Potion. |
 |
| I forgot to take a picture before I started. It's a smoked bacon aglio olio. |
After several mouthfuls, the heat hit me and I gulped down my Potion in a desperate attempt to drown the spiciness in my mouth. My dad saw my distress and he asked me if I wanted to have his pan fried chicken instead.
 |
| It was pan fried and covered in mushroom sauce. |
VERDICT
Food: 3.25 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3.25 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 3.75 oui's out of 5.
The food was mildly disappointing for I had better ones during the other visit, but it was the smoked bacon aglio olio that made me shook my head at. *LOTR meme* One does not simply make aglio olios that spicy without making people dislike it. The price was scary to say the least, and it costed nearly two times of what we paid for at Six Inch Cafe. The singers were also not very good compared to the ones me and my mom each visited on different occasions. It is safe to say that I won't patronize this particular chain until they bring themselves up to the other chains' standards.
Would I recommend it. Sadly, no, at least not until improvements have been made. I would recommend you to go to the one in Mahkota Cheras (which my mom spoke highly of) for a better live music restaurant experience.
No. 74, Jalan SS2/60, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
+603-7876 3309
www.wingsmusicafe.com
Until next time, I wish you marvelous gastronomy experiences in your future.
Friday 29 August 2014
Third Time At Ippudo
Since this is a food blog (or at least I'm trying to make it one), I shall share my dining experience on my last Sunday morning at Ippudo with the internet. (If anyone actually reads this)
Ippudo, also known as Hakata Ippudo in Japan, is an international Japanese ramen restaurant chain. Twice before this visit I had gone to the chain located in Pavillion Kuala Lumpur, situated in the Bukit Bintang district. This time round, my parents (they were paying for the meal, and driving too) decided to try another Ippudo instead, and this one is located in The Gardens Mall, situated right beside Mid Valley Megamall.
Upon entrance, the waiters greeted us in unison, but in Japanese (I asked my dad but he just said that it meant "Welcome") and one waiter led us to a table. I looked around the restaurant and saw that there wasn't many people, but then I remembered it was only half past ten in the morning. When we sat down, I saw something very interesting on the wall to my left.
It was a comic page that briefly described the concept Ippudo is built upon (which I would come to later). Fascinated, I looked around and saw this wall.
A wall of spoons, which I stared at for about half a minute before turning back to my menu. Having been to the other chain two times prior to this, I already knew what to order, but I will still explain it briefly here. Ippudo serves three main types of ramen noodles, with the variation in the soup and type of noodle.
As you can see, there are three variations of their tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen, and if I remembered correctly they had slightly different noodles, some flatter than others. Each tonkotsu ramen then have their own combinations of toppings and whatnot. With a little bit extra cash, you can get extra toppings such as pork slices or eggs.
Now we have come to the concept of which Ippudo is bulit upon.
In the bowl of noodles that they serve, you would notice the noodles is actually less than what you would expect of such a big bowl of broth. This has reasons to it. In order to not let the noodles get soft as you are eating them, they decided to reduce the amount of noodles served and instead serve these kae-damas instead. These noodles can be ordered in varying hardness of very soft, soft, normal, hard, and very hard. (If I remembered correctly that is) This prevents the noodles in your broth getting soft before you finished them, but the kae-damas also accommodated those with larger appetites.
After we had ordered our noodles (with my mum adding three side dishes), I looked around the restaurant.
I liked the lighting very much, but sadly my phone's camera is incapable of capturing the soft hue of yellow that illuminated the restaurant. With a cheery mood, I picked up my glass of green tea and took a sip. I was very disappointed that the green tea was so weak, I wouldn't consider it tea at all.
We waited for a while before our noodles arrived, steaming hot. The waiters spoke in unison and this time they said "Itadakimasu!", which means something similar to "bon appetit". ("Enjoy your meal")
The noodles were very good, as expected. The pork bone broth is rich and full of flavor, and the chashu (simmered pork belly) was juicy and didn't have that distinctive pork smell some other pork noodles have. I tried some of my dad's and the broth was spiced just to the right degree where it's hot but doesn't burn your tongue. Me and my dad decided to ordered one kae-dama each (wrong decision) after we were almost done with our first bowl. Shortly after that the side dishes arrived.
They were good, but nothing to die for. I forgot to take a picture of the menu because it was separated but it was some sort of promotion or deal I think. We were all so full that by the point all the side dishes are gone, I couldn't finish all of my kae-dama noodles. (Never doing that again)
When I gave up on my noodles and looked up, I noticed the restaurants had a lot more people. Waiters were bussing noodles to customers and bowls away from cleared tables at an astonishing pace. When the bill came, I took a look and the price was as expected. Four bowls of noodles (we brought our maid too) and three side dishes costed a little over two hundred Malaysian Ringgit. Having had our fill, we walked ourselves out and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pillar with words and turned around.
Naturally, I took a picture and continued my way out of the restaurant.
VERDICT
Food: 4 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Overall it was a pleasant experience, but I wish the side dishes were more exciting and the waiters more enthusiastic.
Would I recommend it? Yes! If you are just around the area, give it a try and let the noodles bring you into a world of broth-y wonder. Go to the one in Pavillion too if you have the time, they have better lighting. (Albeit natural and not the inner part of the restaurant)
Until next time, I wish you marvelous gastronomy experiences in your future.
IPPUDO The Gardens Mall KL
Lot-T218, 3rd Floor, The Gardens Mall
+603-22016238
www.ippudo.com.my
P.S. I got a nifty Ippudo Loyalty Card that gives me a stamp for every RM50 spent, and a reward for every RM250 spent. I think that if you redeemed the reward at RM250 you cannot accumulate your stamps for the RM500 and so on. I'm saving up for the T-shirt and bandana.
P.P.S I forgot to mention the price for each bowl of noodles. Each bowl is about 28 to 36 Malaysian Ringgit depending on the soup and combination.
Ippudo, also known as Hakata Ippudo in Japan, is an international Japanese ramen restaurant chain. Twice before this visit I had gone to the chain located in Pavillion Kuala Lumpur, situated in the Bukit Bintang district. This time round, my parents (they were paying for the meal, and driving too) decided to try another Ippudo instead, and this one is located in The Gardens Mall, situated right beside Mid Valley Megamall.
 |
| The restaurant's name in Kanji/ Chinese. |
 |
| This one was in Chinese. |
 | ||||
| There were other ones in English and Japanese too. |
 |
| (This was taken later when we were leaving.) |
A wall of spoons, which I stared at for about half a minute before turning back to my menu. Having been to the other chain two times prior to this, I already knew what to order, but I will still explain it briefly here. Ippudo serves three main types of ramen noodles, with the variation in the soup and type of noodle.
As you can see, there are three variations of their tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen, and if I remembered correctly they had slightly different noodles, some flatter than others. Each tonkotsu ramen then have their own combinations of toppings and whatnot. With a little bit extra cash, you can get extra toppings such as pork slices or eggs.
Now we have come to the concept of which Ippudo is bulit upon.
In the bowl of noodles that they serve, you would notice the noodles is actually less than what you would expect of such a big bowl of broth. This has reasons to it. In order to not let the noodles get soft as you are eating them, they decided to reduce the amount of noodles served and instead serve these kae-damas instead. These noodles can be ordered in varying hardness of very soft, soft, normal, hard, and very hard. (If I remembered correctly that is) This prevents the noodles in your broth getting soft before you finished them, but the kae-damas also accommodated those with larger appetites.
After we had ordered our noodles (with my mum adding three side dishes), I looked around the restaurant.
 |
| The "bar" area. |
I liked the lighting very much, but sadly my phone's camera is incapable of capturing the soft hue of yellow that illuminated the restaurant. With a cheery mood, I picked up my glass of green tea and took a sip. I was very disappointed that the green tea was so weak, I wouldn't consider it tea at all.
We waited for a while before our noodles arrived, steaming hot. The waiters spoke in unison and this time they said "Itadakimasu!", which means something similar to "bon appetit". ("Enjoy your meal")
 |
| This was my order, Modern Tonkotsu, Akamaru Chashu. |
 | |
| I forgot whose and what combination this was, but it's Spicy Tonkotsu. |
The noodles were very good, as expected. The pork bone broth is rich and full of flavor, and the chashu (simmered pork belly) was juicy and didn't have that distinctive pork smell some other pork noodles have. I tried some of my dad's and the broth was spiced just to the right degree where it's hot but doesn't burn your tongue. Me and my dad decided to ordered one kae-dama each (wrong decision) after we were almost done with our first bowl. Shortly after that the side dishes arrived.
 |
| This had avocado, salmon and pork bacon. Yum. |
 |
| This had tuna and the sauce on top was spicy. |
 |
| It had bean sprouts, unagi and teriyaki sauce. |
They were good, but nothing to die for. I forgot to take a picture of the menu because it was separated but it was some sort of promotion or deal I think. We were all so full that by the point all the side dishes are gone, I couldn't finish all of my kae-dama noodles. (Never doing that again)
When I gave up on my noodles and looked up, I noticed the restaurants had a lot more people. Waiters were bussing noodles to customers and bowls away from cleared tables at an astonishing pace. When the bill came, I took a look and the price was as expected. Four bowls of noodles (we brought our maid too) and three side dishes costed a little over two hundred Malaysian Ringgit. Having had our fill, we walked ourselves out and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pillar with words and turned around.
 |
| A pillar with "Thank you" translated into other languages. |
VERDICT
Food: 4 oui's out of 5.
Atmosphere: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Furnishing: 3 oui's out of 5.
Serving attitude: 3.5 oui's out of 5.
Overall it was a pleasant experience, but I wish the side dishes were more exciting and the waiters more enthusiastic.
Would I recommend it? Yes! If you are just around the area, give it a try and let the noodles bring you into a world of broth-y wonder. Go to the one in Pavillion too if you have the time, they have better lighting. (Albeit natural and not the inner part of the restaurant)
Until next time, I wish you marvelous gastronomy experiences in your future.
Lot-T218, 3rd Floor, The Gardens Mall
+603-22016238
www.ippudo.com.my
P.S. I got a nifty Ippudo Loyalty Card that gives me a stamp for every RM50 spent, and a reward for every RM250 spent. I think that if you redeemed the reward at RM250 you cannot accumulate your stamps for the RM500 and so on. I'm saving up for the T-shirt and bandana.
P.P.S I forgot to mention the price for each bowl of noodles. Each bowl is about 28 to 36 Malaysian Ringgit depending on the soup and combination.
Thursday 21 August 2014
A Foggy Future
Hello internet! It's been a while since I have written anything blog-like and since I have yet again fell into the abyss of indecision, I thought I will try this again to calm my nerves (they are very strung up these days), and what better way to start all of this again than to share my college experience?
My fall semester at college is starting next Monday, and this will be my second semester. My first semester was relatively fun, with an amazing History professor Mr. Leong Soo Ming (Mr. Leong, if you see this, umm, never mind) and awesome coursemates. However, everything fell to pieces when I decided to look up my targeted university, University of Southern California, for my future transfer. As I scrolled through the majors offered to look up for my initial major which is journalism, my eyes fell on two schools, right on top of each other. School of Cinematic Arts and School of Dramatic Arts.
Now, I have never really done any acting in my life (or much of anything else either), but I am a person often described by others as 'dramatic'. Most of the times when these moments occurred I actually overexaggerated my emotions or behaviors to a level of absurdity to humor my friends. Can I act? I don't know. Am I tempted? Heck yeah.
On another note, there was also the option of writing for screen and television. I do enjoy writing now and then, with storylines that revolve around characters that are excluded from the society either by talent or situation. I do not know if I can write anything that has the weight of an actual script for a play, but I again am tempted by the very thought of it.
And then there's journalism. I am a food addict, critic, connoisseur all in one, and so journalism naturally occurred to me when I quit my culinary diploma last January. I want to use the power of a journalist to spread messages (food or no food), to let the world know things covered up, to be the voice that prevails when everyone else quieten down. To write is my passion and dream, at least, until I saw the words theater.
I had never really did anything spectacular in my life. I can't draw as nice as comic artists, I can't sing for two pence, I can't make music due to me not knowing how to play any musical instruments, I can't do maths and science (I tune out, that's how inept I am), and many more. The only things that I were and am good at, it sounds pretty lame, but it's an extended knowledge of a lot of things (a LOT, I can give brief explanations three out of five random topics) and writing + making up stories (perhaps me lying very well has something to do with this......). This is the very reason why I am at this crossroad. I don't know if I can act, or write for other people to act, but I know that this knowledge will forever elude me if I never try.
Hence, the topic. My future is now a foggy mess, a wide plain scattered with hidden jagged stones that will trip me up if I run carelessly through it. I have already composed a plan A, which is to take up theater class THTR101 as soon as there's an opening, and experience it for myself. If all else goes well, I will finally know what I should do with my life.
Here's to a future where the fog is gone!
My fall semester at college is starting next Monday, and this will be my second semester. My first semester was relatively fun, with an amazing History professor Mr. Leong Soo Ming (Mr. Leong, if you see this, umm, never mind) and awesome coursemates. However, everything fell to pieces when I decided to look up my targeted university, University of Southern California, for my future transfer. As I scrolled through the majors offered to look up for my initial major which is journalism, my eyes fell on two schools, right on top of each other. School of Cinematic Arts and School of Dramatic Arts.
Now, I have never really done any acting in my life (or much of anything else either), but I am a person often described by others as 'dramatic'. Most of the times when these moments occurred I actually overexaggerated my emotions or behaviors to a level of absurdity to humor my friends. Can I act? I don't know. Am I tempted? Heck yeah.
On another note, there was also the option of writing for screen and television. I do enjoy writing now and then, with storylines that revolve around characters that are excluded from the society either by talent or situation. I do not know if I can write anything that has the weight of an actual script for a play, but I again am tempted by the very thought of it.
And then there's journalism. I am a food addict, critic, connoisseur all in one, and so journalism naturally occurred to me when I quit my culinary diploma last January. I want to use the power of a journalist to spread messages (food or no food), to let the world know things covered up, to be the voice that prevails when everyone else quieten down. To write is my passion and dream, at least, until I saw the words theater.
I had never really did anything spectacular in my life. I can't draw as nice as comic artists, I can't sing for two pence, I can't make music due to me not knowing how to play any musical instruments, I can't do maths and science (I tune out, that's how inept I am), and many more. The only things that I were and am good at, it sounds pretty lame, but it's an extended knowledge of a lot of things (a LOT, I can give brief explanations three out of five random topics) and writing + making up stories (perhaps me lying very well has something to do with this......). This is the very reason why I am at this crossroad. I don't know if I can act, or write for other people to act, but I know that this knowledge will forever elude me if I never try.
Hence, the topic. My future is now a foggy mess, a wide plain scattered with hidden jagged stones that will trip me up if I run carelessly through it. I have already composed a plan A, which is to take up theater class THTR101 as soon as there's an opening, and experience it for myself. If all else goes well, I will finally know what I should do with my life.
Here's to a future where the fog is gone!
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