"Xian Ding Wei Taiwanese Tea Room @ Queensbay Mall"

Saw this new restaurant opened beside Sakae Sushi @ Queensbay Mall. Looks nice... lets see how is it!




The environment is really cozy... nice comfortable sofa, attractive colours...



Original Pearl Milk Tea and Jasmine Plum Tea.. coming at RM4.90 each, both are excellent, especially the Jasmine tea. The first sip of it felt like a breath of fresh air.... so soothing~~



We ordered their two recommended set meal: Sweet and Sour Pork set (RM17.90)



This came first, pretty nice, but it felt like it was just heated up... so deduct some points from there. The set comes with soup (ok...), side dishes (forgetable) and braised pork rice (superb!).



and Chicken Three Variety set aka 'san pei chi' (RM18.90)



This version is on the sweet side, the meat is really tender... very nice :)



But the one thing that really stole the show was the chilli! They have 2 types; the one at the top with the anchovies are the best :D

The meal came to RM53.60 after taxes. Recommended? Well, I think if you're gonna charge so much, at least the serving should be bigger. Both of us felt not full after the meal. Also the service was kind of poor. Waiters don't smile or greet. They just go about their business.. it's like the place is 'cold'. Good for a try, but I'm not sure about coming again. Next!

"Her new Myvi!"

Wife finally got her new car on Friday... and next day straight go to the workshop for repairs because there was a "kuk-kuk-kuk" sound at the back. Turns out the rear right absorber was faulty! Local cars......... -_-''

Anyway, it's a Myvi Ezi 1.3 Auto, priced at RM49.7k.

Aside from that problem, the car is nice to drive and really spacious. Next time drive this back to Melaka :D

"Bandai's VF HI-METAL VF-19 Kai (Fire Valkyrie)"

Here comes Bandai's VF-19 Kai Fire Valkyrie from the new VF HI-METAL line at 1/100 scale!

From the box:

"The VF-19 Kai Excalibur Basara Nekki Special (Common Name: Fire Valkyrie) is a modified version of VF-19 test fighter that was used prior to the VF-19 fighter's official employment by the Macross 7 fleet. This fighter is flown by Basara Nekki, the vocalist of "Fire Bomber" a popular rock band in the Macross 7 fleet.

In addition to cutting-edge performance the fighter's design has a "musical" emphasis, and serves a test model for the use of musical energy.

Secretly employed by the UN Spacey, the fighter was initially seen to be a potential disturbance to the Diamond Force elite squadron as well as regular fighter divisions, and squadron attachment was left unclear. However, as Basara's song persevered through battle, Basara and the Fire Valkyrie were soon to become acknowledged by the entire fleet for their central role in the battle against the enemy Protodevilin."

Fighter:





Note: the stand is not included (screw~~)

Gerwalk:



Despite owning the VF-19, Basara hardly ever uses Gerwalk mode simply because he doesn't know how to!

Battroid:





Super poseable~~ The "gun" he's holding is actually not a weapon... it launches speaker pods which amplifies Basara's singing to the enemies! Check out this snippet of Mac 7 to see it for yourself :P



Showing his stylish looking face~~ (you can guess that I'm a really big fan of the Fire Valkyrie!!! ^_^)



Comes with two sets of face to show the open and closed mouth version...



Basara with his Fire Valkyrie!



And together with band member Mylene Jenius

Here's the box:

This guy cost me RM298 before 5% discount. I really like the VF HI-METAL line because it costs less than half the price of the usual 1/60 scale, which means can collect more! And next in this line is the VF-1J... hurray! :D

"Back in Penang"

Back in Penang. BLUE ar!!

"Star Wars Hasbro Q&A"

In this month's Q&A session, Hasbro announces major cancellation of planned Star Wars products citing very poor sales and generally collectors "leaving the hobby". And this response from one of the forums best describe how I feel:

I love how they blame the cancellation of everything on "lack of sales". Well guess what, jackasses?? If you put the stuff in stores, people will buy it!! If you don't ship it, how can we buy it?!?!

So true. I still can't find so many figures that I want for Star Wars despite hunting down Toys R Us a few times every week... -_-''

"Megan Fox in Superbowl commercial showing MOTOBLUR"

Hmm.. she's hot, but I wonder if the message got across to the audience? Yeah, this is supposed to be a PHONE ad :P

"CNY deco in Queensbay"

Just one more week!



Not particularly attractive I feel... and I think we all noticed those things hanging from the ceiling are the exact same design used during Christmas, except in red :P

"Do you remember... Indiana Jones!"

Once upon a time, Indiana Jones fans rejoiced when George Lucas and Steven Spielberg announced the 4th Indiana Jones movie: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (KOTCS). Many expected this to be the last Indy movie as Harrison Ford isn't getting any younger. The casting of Shia LaBeof as Indy's sidekick seemed like a hand-over ceremony of the Indy role to a younger actor. But we all got a pleasant surprise when it was still Harrison Ford who kicked ass as the 60 year-old Indy!

In conjunction with the movie release was the launching of the toy line. Hasbro indicated that the duration from the movie announcement to the release date was too short, so they had a very tight schedule to develop and release the toy line. So it's no wonder that the first 2 waves that came out were simply.... awful. Sculpting of the figures, especially the head was poor. The paint job was even worse. I had a hard time selecting the figures with acceptable quality.

Here's my collection...

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:


Mutt Williams, Indy


Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett) and her soldiers


Ugha warrior, Indy with fedora removed and Cemetery warrior


The Jungle Cutter

And from the first Indy movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark, which starts off with an intro to Indy as he tries to retrieve the Fertility Idol. Hasbro made 2 sets based on that scene



Oops...! :P


"Snakes... I hate snakes"


Indy, Marion Ravenwood


Monkey man and Cairo thugs


Searching for the Ark of the Covenant... Indy in disguise, Sallah and German soldiers


German troop car


Indy on horse

German soldier on bike


Chasing the Cargo truck!




And Rene Belloq discovers the secret of the Ark!

But soon it became clear that the line was headed for cancellation. Kids just weren't into Indy. The remaining 2 waves, from The Last Crusade and Temple of Doom, were very scarce. I don't think they ever made it here. A 5th wave, with more core characters from ROTLA, was cancelled and Hasbro said they would only revive it if there is a 5th Indy movie. Come on Lucas & Spielberg! :P