Leopard's blog

"Happy Chinese New Year 2012!"

2012-01-19T23:06:00.001+08:00

Driving back tomorrow, out for a week, back to work on 31 Jan. Wishing everyone

"Gong Xi Fatt Chai!"

"Last minute arrival before CNY!!"

2012-01-19T22:59:00.003+08:00

More toys + 1 free gift comic... got these from a forumer in LYN for RM220~~

Marvel Universe: Mary Jane, Psylocke, Mystique

Thor: Destroyer and GI Joe ROC: Agent Helix!

4 ladies and 1 monster, girl power! :P

"Pre CNY Lunch 2012!"

2012-01-18T22:26:00.002+08:00

Went for a pre-CNY lunch with some close frens at Xuan Xin, now available at QB Mall!

Tofu & Vege, my 2 fav dishes~~

Pork

Fish

I like the way how the lighting made our skin "glow" hahaa...

Ok, 1 more working day to go before Friday, which according to the unwritten Modolala rule, is 1/2 day! ;)

"Deepak Chopra: Buddha Jesus Muhammad"

2012-01-16T22:17:00.004+08:00

New reading material, exploring the 3 major religions in the world...

"Marvel Universe: X-23 & Cable!"

2012-01-14T09:11:00.002+08:00

More Marvel Universe haul!

X-23 and Cable~~

Hot

Mean

Can't stop buying :P

"New collection - Marvel Universe!"

2012-01-09T09:25:00.003+08:00

With Star Wars products non-existent, I had to buy something in the mean time :D Here's my mini Marvel Universe 3.75 inch collection:

X-Men. They used to be my favourite comic book when I was still in school. Now we can get them in handy collectable sizes!

The rest: From Daredevil, Captain America, Spiderman to Moon Knight and Thanos... as long as they are colorful, I'll buy it! Hahaa....

"Jade Blossom Restaurant @ Crystal Point"

2012-01-02T13:17:00.002+08:00

Mom and sis were here before X-mas and we went to Jade Blossom at Cystal Point for dinner. We had the whole place to ourselves, complete with waiters who had nothing else to do but serve us :-S

Appetizer

Pork

Vege

Tofu

Yam ring

Price is around RM80+ for 4 of us, service is fast becoz there were no other customers (it was a Wednesday night anyway!) and food tastes great... Recommended!

"Chinese New Year deco?!"

2012-01-02T13:06:00.002+08:00

Deco at Queensbay... on the 1st of Jan! Haha.. barely had time to catch a breath after X-mas and New Year!

"Happy 2012!!"

2011-12-31T17:58:00.001+08:00

Would like to wish everyone a Happy 2012!

"Macross Frontier: Bandai's YF-29, now with Super Parts!"

2011-12-10T20:43:00.005+08:00

Remember some time ago I scoffed at Bandai's YF-29 design and wasn't too keen on getting it? Now it's sold out everywhere and the prices on ebay have skyrocketed to US500 each!!! The fighter plane does play a reasonable part in the final battle with Brera's VF-27 in Macross F: Wings of Goodbye. And now Bandai has released the compulsory super parts. I pulled some pics from gamu-toys:

SUPER.WICKED @_@

Arghhhh I should've bought it last time!!!! :( Bandai, please reissue it...........! I promise never to doubt u agaaaaaaiiiiiiinnnnnnn~~~~~~~~~~~

"Birthday 2011!"

2011-12-01T21:22:00.004+08:00

Went to Daorae Korean BBQ restaurant on 22nd Nov to pre-celebrate my birthday for 2011. But we didn't order the BBQ set coz it was too expensive! Hehe, just ordered one meal for each of us.

Ok, I don't look too bad after the fall..hahaha

Wasn't long before they served us the usual starter dishes

Wife's favourite, the kimuchi soup with tofu and pork... served with rice

My fried rice with glass noodles

comes with soup

Then they surprised us by handing out these freebies:

steamed egg..

pancake...

fruits...

and this sweet/ginger-ish desert.

Wow! All for RM40. Really satisfied meal!! :D The next day I had lunch with my colleagues at Kim Gary , utilizing the 50% discount voucher, and had a light japanese dinner at Azuma. Had to drop by TRU, managed to find myself a 2nd Marvel Universe figure:

Darkhawk... ain't he cool? :P

"Yamato's 1/60 VF-17S Diamond Force!"

2011-11-22T22:01:00.003+08:00

Macross news has been a bit slow around here, but coming this Dec is the long-awaited VF-17S Diamond Force from Macross 7! This is ace pilot Gamlin Kizaki's ride~~

Fighter:

Drooling... it's super sleek!

Gerwalk:

Weird Gerwalk mode, coz there are no arms :P

Battroid:

Wicked 4 antenna skull-type head :P

HLJ has it on pre-order for 22320 Yen, which is about RM921!!! That's why Macross news is slow around here :-S

"Star Wars Ultimate FX Lightsabers!"

2011-11-13T21:43:00.003+08:00

I'll been slowly collecting these, starting with Darth Vader's. Found that the quality is quite good, and that it really feels like a real lightsaber, so I went and bought the next one, Jedi Luke's lightsaber.. and yesterday finally getting Anakin's lightsaber. Complete collection of Blue, Red and Green sabers:

Vader's

Anakin's

Jedi Luke's

Altogether now! Luke's green is the brightest one~~

The hilts are plastic, but they are given metallic paint to look, well, like metal.. The tube is plastic too, so there's no fear of breaking it as you practice swinging them around :P I should take a video to show the "light-up" and motion sensor effects too; really cool! Each retails for RM159.90, but TRU is having them for RM139.90 each now.

"Heroic Age Captain America!"

2011-11-07T10:36:00.003+08:00

Found this Heroic Age Captain America (Comic Series) from Uncle's shop going for RM29.90 (retail price RM39.90)! I usually would only collect Movie Series line, but I like this figure's design with the shiny colors~~

Macho look

His shield springs open blades

Knife and pistol

Seems like Captain America figures are set to follow Thor into the clearance bins... then I'll grab a few more Comic Series design which are rather unique, like the WW2 Battlefield CA! :D

"The trip that was not meant to be..."

2011-10-30T15:35:00.003+08:00

Well, things didn't go exactly as planned. I had finished packing on Friday night for the trip to KL, excited and all. But on Saturday 2AM, I woke up to go to the washroom. As I was coming out, I slipped and fell forward, hitting my head on the floor. THUD!! That is one sickening sound! I was just one or two steps away to go back to bed, and now I'm lying on the floor clutching at my bleeding head! Wife was shocked speechless. Drove me to Pantai emergency and had the wound cleaned up. Fortunately, the wound is an abrasion (superficial) and does not require any stitching. More importantly, the Doctor asked if I fainted, or if I had double vision, or blurred vision, any of these and I would need to go for CT scan. Luckily I did not, but if any of these develop over the next few days, it could be a symptom of internal bleeding... :-S

Hey, I don't look too bad rite?

Look again... now I am Two-Face!

Actually, when I bought these tickets a few weeks ago, I had a funny feeling like I was not going to get to sit the bus. Oh well, at least I live to fight another day! And so did Arsenal, who scored an epic 3-5 victory over Chelsea on Saturday nite! I was so happy cheering that I almost forgot that I had injured my arms during the fall! :P

"Wedding week again!"

2011-10-28T20:00:00.002+08:00

No update this weekend as I'm traveling to KL to attend Mr Raymond &Ms Sheau Yee's wedding at Doubletree by Hilton! :D

"Captain America: Hydra army growing!"

2011-10-26T17:36:00.002+08:00

Happy Deepavali! It's a holiday today, so let me spam some pics of my newest acquisitions: more Hydra troopers from Captain America!

Red Skull and the growing Hydra army! I was so happy to have found another pair of Hydra troopers in Parkson :D

Cap in trouble...

... nah, he can handle anything! :D

"Six-course lunch @ Ming Garden, Penang Times Square"

2011-10-23T12:34:00.003+08:00

For Wife's birthday, we went to Ming Garden restaurant at Penang Times Square.

The grand entrance, complete with the lion.

The six-course meal (each person gets one set of these):

1) Appetizer

2) Shark's fin soup

3) Wrapped in silver foil...

... aha~~ hoi sum, mushrooms, fish maw...

4) Fish slices

5) Yee mee with crab meat

6) Dessert

Verdict:
GOOD: Great food! #1-5 were just plain awesome. Even the yee-mee, which I usually don't like. #6 is so-so.

GOOD: Nice environment. Plenty of table and quiet ambiance.

BAD: Loooong waiting time... Dish #1 took forever to come, and while #2-4 came at the right pace, #5 took ages again. And we had to keep reminding them where is #6. We ended up spending nearly 2 hours there!

BAD: Portion is way too small.

BAD: The set costs RM45 (I think) PER PERSON. Yeah, it's plain excessive.

Maybe next time we'll just go for the usual dishes :P

"Marvel! Thor! Captain America!"

2011-10-15T09:49:00.004+08:00

Lets welcome Dr Doom, from the Marvel Universe line!

Don't worry, this line will be purchased very selectively... only figures which have good sculpt/paint/appearance will be inducted into the collection :D Such as this guy, Dr Doom... looks menacing and "generic" enough to fit in any universe.

Lets get an update on the other Marvel collections going on:

1) Thor. Easily my favorite movie of the year. Which is why I'm taking extra effort to complete the main characters:

Frost Giant, Odinn, Thor. Loki, Volstagg, Fandral, Hogun

I need Sif, the Destroyer and probably King Loki as well. Maybe a few more Frost Giants might make it look even more interesting ;)

2) Captain America. It's a nice enough movie, although kinda draggy towards the end.

Hydra (Dark Threat), Hydra soldier, Red Skull, Crossbones, Captain America, Winter Soldier

The Hydra soldiers are perfect for army building... if u can find more! Distribution from Hasbro again sucks to the max, as it did with Thor's line. The shelves are overloaded with multiple versions of Captain America. Come one, let loose on the cool figures!

And now, with the Avengers trailer already out, we can look forward to another round of Marvel fest next year! Avengers Assemble!!

"Visitors from Japan"

2011-10-08T09:52:00.002+08:00

We had some visitors from our Japanese counterparts over the past 2 weeks. Communication (language) was at times funny as both sides were trying to guess what the other is saying! Only their manager can speak fluent (more or less) English.

Here, at the end of their visit, they invited us to Kampachi for dinner. Hopefully we've hinted enough to them to request our boss to send us to Japan for any follow-up issues! ;)

"ATR Teambuilding 2011: Cycling @ Georgetown!"

2011-09-29T21:31:00.001+08:00

This year's dept teambuilding is a rather unique one: cycling tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Penang! We started at 8AM and it didn't take long to reach the first stop, Chew Jetty:

A long walk to the end, where we can see the jetty. I don't know if it was me or what, but I was sweating buckets that early in the morning!

Next up, Cheah Kongsi:

We had a tour leader who was giving a lot explanation about the history of each places and the significance, but I wasn't really paying attention becoz of the sweltering heat and at the same time, trying to snap some pics :P

Like this one... hehe.. framing up the picture using the barriers, to give it a sense of depth...

Our bicycles parked..

Everyone was crowding at this tree... must be very valuable becoz it was chained!

ah.. some figures close-up

After that was a well-needed stop for breakfast! The heat was really getting to me... and had to wear these safety jackets some more...

Next:

These places are great for snapping photos. Here I have my favourite model #1 to pose for me... hahaa...

Another pic to showcase the 'framing' effect... did it work? u be the judge!

Favourite model #2.. Ok, u can see clearly I wasn't paying attention to whatever the tour guide was saying becoz I can't describe what are the places we stopped. The routine is like, u cycle a few hundred metres through the heritage part of the city and stop. What's nice is that u get to zigzag around the maze of inner roads that are very difficult to access by cars. There are shortcuts everywhere!

Ok, this I remember.. it's one of the last places where handmade joss-sticks are produced by an old man...

Our last stop is the Nyonya house. If it looks familiar, it's becoz we took our wedding photos here! :D

Ok, back to the starting point and return the bicycle. It's a rather different type of teambuilding, I must say...

But the highlight (and reward for all the hard work) is of course, lunch at E&O Hotel!

Favourite model #3.... haha..

Bike rental costs RM60++, corporate rate. Check out their website, probably they can do a better job explaining the World Heritage Sites!

"Baking mania!"

2011-09-24T10:26:00.003+08:00

Sis went on a baking mania during Raya! Yumm~~~~

Pizza!

Mushroom+crab filling!

Cakes!

And the best of all... a carrot cake for mom's birthday!

Darn... those candles burn really fast! -_-''

"Dinner at Bei Zhan, Melaka"

2011-09-20T22:16:00.002+08:00

Ah, one of my favourite place to have dinner in Melaka...

Tofu

Vege

Chicken

Steamed buns with braised meat.... err... i guess in our hurry to eat, we forgot to take pic of the braised meat!

And this wonderful curry vege... actually there was only fish curry in the menu, but the waitress was nice enough to recommend the vege version, since all we wanted was to taste some curry! :D

Fast, comfortable and satisfying... not particularly cheap though. Definitely worth more visits in the future!

"Sharon's Farewell"

2011-09-14T21:07:00.000+08:00

Aii... another fren's farewell... again at Nando's.

LS, Doris, Leo, SA and Sharon

As Doris said, Sharon gave us a lot of memorable laughter! Take care over in US, ya!

"Happy Mooncake Festival!"

2011-09-13T20:59:00.004+08:00

Yesterday morning, some of my frens wished me Happy Mooncake Festival. Then kinda wished that I had a nice piece of mooncake to sink my teeth into. Ok, lets go and buy it after dinner! But sadly, the shop where I wanted to buy mooncake was no longer opened... apa la... spoil the mood only. Wife said, why not try at Sunshine Square? Ok, went there, also cannot find it :( But since we were there, might as well go toy hunting ;)

... and guess what I found :D

Captain America figures!! Untouched!!! Holy crap! In one go, I found ALL the figures I'm looking for~~~ Hit the jackpot! Strike gold! Hahaa...:D

Then Wife asked the cashier if they sell mooncakes (oh ya, in my excitement, I totally forgotten why we were here) and she said the counter is near the shampoo area. And there it was, the last stall, closing dy. we quickly grabbed one piece. Mission accomplished :)

Our haul...

All 3 Hydra soldiers... perfect for army building!

by KLT :P

Pearly Jade Mooncake flavour.... yummm~~~~ ^_^

"Transformers DOTM: Jetwing Optimus Prime!"

2011-09-10T10:29:00.005+08:00

If there's one thing that I liked about Transformers Dark of the Moon (DOTM) is the scene where Optimus flies in with his jet-wing pack blasting Decepticons away. Of course, he ended up getting caught by hanging wires, which was pretty silly!

Takara Tomy has a toy based on that scene (flying in, not getting caught in the wires) and it's one wicked badass figure! Check out these pics taken from their website:

This would make one mean display!! I'd really like to get one of these, except the price is over RM5xx :-S Hmm.. maybe they'll release a smaller and cheaper version soon?

"New stuff coming in before Raya!"

2011-08-21T10:13:00.002+08:00

At long last, a return to Star Wars figures with:

1) Defend Kamino battlepack (RM109.90). The star is ARC Commander Blitz, with Echo and Fives completing the set. Wow, Hasbro is really chopping us poor collectors; we are getting lesser and lesser figures for battlepacks. Last time used to be 5, then 4 now 3... and the price is still the same @_@

2) AT-RT with ARF trooper. A rather odd color-scheme (polka dots??) but pretty neat vehicle. RM69.90. Got both of these from Parkson, with 10% discounts :D

3) And now, let me introduce a new collection series: THOR, the Mighty Avenger! Aik? Isn't the movie long over? Yeah, and I still haven't watched it yet!

Loki, Thor, Fandrall, Hogun

Quite amazed with their costume design, even though I don't know who Fandrall and Hogun are. Apparently, they are Thor's friends, and part of a group called Warrior Three, together with Volstaag. Well, I couldn't find Volstaag, but still pretty happy that I've jumped onto the Thor bandwagon. Now where's Odinn...... :D

"Samsung S23A950D 3D LED Monitor!"

2011-08-14T09:16:00.004+08:00

I had my heart set on the normal Samsung 24 inch LED monitor on sale for RM700 at PC Depot. It's half the price of the new 3D monitor. But when I stepped into the shop, they were playing Avatar on the 3D monitor.... wow... wickedawesomecool... DROOOOLLL...... the guy let me test the 3D converter feature with the glasses and ----- SWIPE ------ I bought it immediately! :P

super thin!

can angle it a bit too

I can finally use my HDMI cable... previously I used a DVI-VGA adaptor for my old monitor :-S

Accessories... most importantly the 3D glasses

Posing with my old monitor... gosh, has it been that long? It looks so antique... :-S

Sitting on the table~~

Tested with some movies and games last nite and it's just amazing.... just don't remind me I need to pay RM1399 next month! :P

"Samsung LED 3D Monitor!"

2011-08-07T09:28:00.002+08:00

23" Samsung - S23A950D 3D LED... PC Depot is selling at RM1399...

Super cool!! I want! :D

"Ipoh Day Trip Part 2!"

2011-07-30T08:34:00.004+08:00

After the very filling dim sum breakfast, PeiSee brough us to the historical centre of Ipoh, mainly the Railway station and Dewan Bandaraya, both with classical European architecture:

We saw an awful lot of Old Town White Coffee outlets in Ipoh and also the endless signboards promoting them...

But this shop, Nam Heong, is the original Old Town White Coffee! A very small shop, packed with people. PS said she felt that the coffee there was a bit erratic in taste, sometimes over-burnt. We didn't try it anyway, because....

... our main objective is just across the road: Sin Yoon Loong- the original original maker of white coffee! (The shop beside, Sun Yuan Foong, is the relative).

Ahhh.... all for this one cup of coffee... it tastes superb, totally different than the 3-in-1 stuff on the market. Satisfied... hahaha

Then, she brought us to this shop called Funny Mountain, which isn't really clear from the picture above, because it was taken in her car; it's like a drive-thru thing. The workers will go to each car and ask for your orders. Here, we tastes possibly the best taufufah ever!!! It's so soft and the texture is perfectly smooth... it was so good, we tah pau a few pack back to Penang....hehehe...

And for tea/lunch, she brought us to a Yong taufu shop near her house. Another wicked awesome meal... the YTF is so big and filled with fish paste... and of coz, it's served with noodles and the unforgettable Ipoh beansprouts; thick and crunchy!! haha

Going fast, but they refill it fast as well

Good, filling and cheap... what more can you ask for? :P

We skipped the other famous Ipoh dish, the Beansprout chicken, mainly because there's a lot of bad comments about it... she said there are some nice, non-commercialized ones, but only open at night. Ok, maybe next time!

"Ipoh Day Trip Part 1: Dim Sum at Foh San!"

2011-07-24T13:25:00.000+08:00

Always wanted to go to Ipoh for food hunt and to visit my Padawan PeiSee since she left Modo few years ago. Yesterday, I finally fulfilled that promise! Woke up at 5.30AM and drove down... got lost in Ipoh city but thankfully PS asked her BF to rescue us while she booked a table at Ipoh's largest dim sum outlet, Foh San. I'm always wary of going to tourist traps, and Foh San plainly screams "tourists here!" So lets see what's our verdict:

Massive castle

Spread of food. There were just 4 of us (and her BF had to leave halfway through), so we couldn't take too many dishes:

Siu mai... this is decent, but a bit hard

Har kaw... wow....just awesome! The skin wrapping is too thick and best of all, the filling is flavourful! Even Wife who seldom eats these complimented on it.

Fluffy char siew pau... The meat is not too fat and the sauce is not too sweet... brilliant!

Fried wan tan and fishballs... all superb!!

Chee cheong fun... nice... they are certainly generous with the fillings!

Yong tau fu.... beats the hell out of all the other YTF we've eaten... wonderful!

Batik ladies...

Even though the place is huge, it's still packed to the brim!

The egg tarts look nice...

..just like these pink cakes. Too bad no space left in the stomach! :P

The bill came up to about RM60, which is slightly expensive, but we were very satisfied customers indeed :D

"Captain America!"

2011-07-17T11:35:00.002+08:00

Now this is a movie I'm eagerly awaiting: Captain America!

And the compulsory toy line from Hasbro... I was impressed with the quality of the sculpt and design, so I bought 4 figures from Uncle.

Captain America (Movie Series)

Red Skull (Movie Series)

Crossbones (Comic Series)

Winter Soldier (Comic Series)

Actually, I'm not a Captain America fan, so I have no idea who Winter Soldier and Crossbones are... but they look menacing enough! Lets hope the movie is nice :D

"Bumblebee in the house!"

2011-07-11T13:00:00.001+08:00

Taken 2 weeks ago at QB Mall!

Haven't had the urge to watch the new TF3 just yet... maybe wait for the crowd to thin out... but I have a feeling it's gonna suck; they are milking the franchise dry! :P

"Choked in haze!"

2011-07-08T07:48:00.002+08:00

For a few weeks now, the island has been enveloped by this thick haze... *cough cough*

I need my blue sky back..... :(

"A sign of times"

2011-07-04T21:49:00.002+08:00

A year ago, we usually ordered 3 dishes for dinner and that would cost us below RM25 for 2 person.

A few months ago, we downgraded and ordered 2 dishes and 1 fried rice for dinner. That costs below RM20 for 2 person.

Just now we ordered only 1 dish and 1 fried rice for dinner. That costs RM13 for 2 person.

Haha... a sign of times indeed! :-S

"Iron Man: The rest"

2011-07-02T10:26:00.001+08:00

Here are the other characters gathered along the way:

Fury of Combat value pack. This went on a super-clearance... only RM29.90 (original RM129.90!) hahha.. here we get the Mark VI Iron Man, 2 Army Drones and Nick Fury!

Armored Assault value pack with Ivan Vanko aka Whiplash, the Mark V Iron Man and a Navy Drone. This one cost RM89.90, though I think there's sure to be a clearance soon! :D

Nick Fury... I say they nailed the likeness of Samuel Jackson pretty well!

In the movie, there are actually 4 types of Hammer Drones: Air Force; Marine, Army and Navy. Here we only have the Army and Navy ones...

Whiplash! His face is like a kid... and they put the wrong color on his whips :-S

Some characters are sorely missing from the list like Black Widow and the final armored version of Whiplash. From the poor sales of the Iron Man line, it looks like we won't be getting them anytime soon!

"Iron Man collection"

2011-06-28T21:31:00.001+08:00

After writing the last post on Iron Man, I was curious to actually see the difference between the Mark III and Mark IV armor, so I went to buy the Hall of Armor Collection version of Mark III. Thankfully there was still one left and at a slashed price of RM39.90 (from RM69.90)~~

This version has a stand, just like how Tony displayed it in his house.

...with a blue LED!

Ok, at first glance, the colors deceive... but look closer and we will find that they are almost completely different! The Mark IV armor is far sleeker and streamlined.

In fact, Mark III is more closely related to Mark II, as it's sort of a repainted version.

Mark IV and Mark VI share the most similarity; only the change of the chest-piece and some additional silver markings.

Finally the completed Mark I to VI collection, with Iron Monger and War Machine thrown in...

"Big Imperial AT-AT Walker!!"

2011-06-25T16:13:00.003+08:00

Toys R Us slashed the price of the Imperial AT-AT from RM499.90 to RM299.90! Straight went to grab one before they are sold out~~ :D

With no-plastic-bag-everyday rules enforced, I had to carry this back in the open.. haha.. alot of people gave me weird looks along the way! :-S

Assembly required...

Ta-da! Massive massive toy... it's like the size of a pet dog! :P

"Oven+Chicken!"

2011-06-23T21:20:00.003+08:00

My Melaka house has a new microwave oven!

So Sis cooked up this nice little Italian Chicken dish~~ yummm....

Gotta have one oven in my future house also! :P

"War Machine!"

2011-06-18T15:44:00.004+08:00

Iron Man 2 was launched in the summer of 2010, and although the movie was underwhelming, there's one character which many agree was uber cool -- War Machine!

But War Machine proved to be a very elusive figure to purchase, particularly the 3.75 inch version- everyone just wanted one! Finally, it's Summer of 2011 and I still couldn't find it in retail... sigh, give up dy la... just go to eBay and purchase an overpriced one at RM50... :-S

Here he is!

So cool ^_^

Back to back!

This is the Mark VI armor with the triangular chest piece

Here's a little trip down the Hall of Armor:

Mark I - created in the caves in IM1

Mark II - also seen in IM1, but it has the freezing problem at high altitude; this is also the suit which Rhodey took to be made into War Machine

Mark III - oops, I don't have it! They were flooded in the market, so I was waiting for it to go on clearance :P

Mark IV - seen in IM2, modified from the battle-damaged Mark III. At a glance, Mark III and IV look more or less the same; personally I couldn't tell the difference!

Mark V - the portable suit, which can be carried from the suitcase

Iron Monger from IM1 - the big bad guy at the end

Family pic. These are neat to collect, but some of them are just so damn hard to find!

"More Penang Food!!"

2011-06-12T09:14:00.002+08:00

Continuing the food fest with

1) Curry Mee @ Lorong Seratus Tahun

A strangely named street :P

They provide a bowl of chili paste for you to add as much as you want, to give that fiery look! So how is it? The thing about curry mee in Penang is that it varies alot from one place to another. The soup here is special, but the overall taste just doesn't wow me.

2) Seow Fong Lye Cafe @ Lorong Maccalister

The street is hidden from plain sight, but it has two famous stalls:

Char Koay Kak - abit overburnt (maybe due to the super-huge crowd that day), but the lobak is definitely top class! Very very long wait though :-S

Chee Cheong Fun - Long wait as well, but this is probably the most outstanding CCF I've tried; the texture is just right and the her kor (shrimp paste) is light and not too sweet. Perfect!

3) Hou You Seafood Restaurant @ Teluk Kumbar

Nice place, just by the fishing village

There's a stall that sells satay of a different kind- the gravy is marinated with the meat! And it tastes awesome!!

Lala - awesome!

Mantis prawn - awesome!

Kangkung

Chicken

Fish

Their trademark noodle - awesome!

Oops, remaining sotong :P

Verdict? Cheap and good, what more can you ask for? :D

4) Leng Nia Seafood Restaurant @ Lip Sin

I blogged about this place some time ago, but this time went there with my family and that means we can order many dishes!

Starting off with Pari in curry. The pari is fresh and huge and the curry is fragrant and thick - Awesome!

Another of their trademark dish is Belacan chicken!

Honey pork ribs

Claypot tauhu

Omelette with bitter gourd
Vege 1

Vege 2

Soup

Verdict? Again, nice and cheap!

"Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow"

2011-05-28T10:11:00.002+08:00

When my family was here a few weeks ago, we went for Penang food hunt! Here's one of the new places we tried, Ah Leng Char Kuey Teow @ Jln Dato Keramat:

Didn't seem like a lot of people that day, but the lady told us "Need to wait 45 minutes, ok?" :-S And it really took that long!

This is the normal version, RM5. Not particularly outstanding...

This is the Special version, with more giant prawns and notice the mantis prawn on top... This one is AWESOME!!! The mantis prawn brings out that special "sweetness"! And it costs RM10!!! Holee crap... CKT in Penang really become tourist places dy... -_-''

"Wedding in Singapore!"

2011-05-21T09:37:00.003+08:00

I'm back! A hectic trip down to Singapore to attend my sister-in-law's wedding.

Flying via Jetstar... RM290 for two of us, return flight. Pretty cheap, and save time!

We stayed at a government "chalet"...

with BBQ pits

old-style houses... 3 in one block. Ours was the middle one

Inside

Living room

Dining room

The place was pretty big, though "chalet" isn't really the term to describe this place... more like a dorm? Anyway, we didn't have pleasant experiences with this place because the moment we opened the door, the whole place reeks of urine smell... yucks.. and it was stuffy... and... at 3AM, both neighbours were BBQ-ing, singing and partying all night! Arghh...

Next morning preparations...

Vignette effect :D

Though I wish he didn't, the groom arrived on time at 7.30AM.... gosh... and that's after a sleepless night...@_@

My role is the secondary photographer, though the primary photographer will only appear in the solemnization session later.

Love this shot... the colors are vivid and strong :P

After bringing the bride back to the groom's house and all the tea ceremony, we head to the Art House in the City center

The Art House is actually the old Parliament building

Another fav shot... I tried to kick the blue banner on the left away, but it wouldn't budge :S

Making their entrance

Solemnization

Vows

Kiss the bride and take more photos!

Signed!

Family photo...

And after that a buffet lunch downstairs~~

Marina Bay Sands resort is visible outside the Art House... a marvelous sight indeed!

We didn't do much in Singapore after that... just 2 hours in Vivo city , dinner, ... too tired to do anything else. Next day, flew back to Penang. Good thing is, we had another day's rest cause it was Wesak day! There will be another ceremony over in Melaka on June 4th... and I get to be photographer again! :D

"Off to Singapore!"

2011-05-14T08:27:00.001+08:00

No updates this week as I'll be on "official" duty again... as a backup photographer for my sis-in-law's wedding at Singapore! :P

"Revoltech Fraulein: Ayanami Rei and Asuka Langley!"

2011-05-10T21:50:00.000+08:00

Jack Sparrow wasn't my first foray into Revoltech's lineup. Last year I actually bought 2 other figures from another of Revoltech's line, called Fraulein, which basically consists of female action figures! Yeah, sounds pretty sissy I admit...

Here's Ayanami Rei and Shikinami Asuka Langley from Evangelion 2.0!

Ayanami Rei

Asuka

They come with all manner of accessories; multiple hands, facial expressions, stands etc... Each costs RM120+. Ok, it is sissy!!

"Revoltech's Jack Sparrow!"

2011-05-07T09:55:00.002+08:00

I thought I was going to end up empty handed at Uncle's shop, until I saw this: Revoltech's Jack Sparrow figure! Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favourite movies but until now I never managed to get a single representative in my collection...

Box

Comes with figure, sword, pistol, stand, alternate right hand and even a name plate!

And his hat is removable too

He may not seem like it, but Jack is an expert swordsman!

This costs RM150 (!!) *cough cough*... I hope they make a Davy Jones or any of the other members of his crew too!

"Technical Symposium 2011 @ Hotel Equatorial"

2011-05-07T09:33:00.002+08:00

This year, I had a slot for poster showcase... well, it's better than having to give oral presentation like last time. Especially since my lady boss took all the questions fielded! :P

while I stood around waiting to take pics! Muaahhhaa

EQ's lunch sucked big time though... :(

"And a short video clip!"

2011-04-27T10:23:00.000+08:00

"I'm buying it!"

2011-04-23T13:25:00.000+08:00

Finally decided to go ahead and buy it! This is the actual unit:

Already comes with the gate...

Kitchen. Pretty small... which is good, so I don't have to spend a lot on kitchen cabinets :P

The living room, viewed from the kitchen.

The view of the Penang Bridge from the balcony

And looking down is the swimming pool...

Walkway

Shared toilet. Good thing is that the pipes are all concealed...

Small room. Unfortunately the view here is of your neighbours unit!

The second room...

and the master room...

still can view the Bridge

Master room's toilet. Shower area is too small :-S

And I didn't notice that at the end of my block was the view of Komtar... pretty neat...

The buying process has started... already put 1% deposit, decided on the lawyer firm and bank loan. Oh ya, the price is RM414k... which means soon I have to come up with the 9% remainder of RM37.2k! *cough cough*

Buying house is a very expensive affair, not only for the price but also need to pay the agent's commission (RM4k) and lawyer fees (about RM9K). Too bad EPF withdrawal can only be done after completing the signing and stamping :'(

"Stress-relieving post!"

2011-04-16T09:02:00.002+08:00

After a very exhausting week, here's a stress-relieving post!

1) Macross

Starting with my current display piece, Macross Quarter! Seldom transform it due to the very stuff joints... but I like to leave it in Attack mode, holding his massive cannon :D

I thought it might be fun to see how far we've gone with Macross along the road:

Macross Frontier collection!

... and Yamato's side of the story: From Macross Zero, DYRL and Macross Plus! Macross collection is very very expensive (if you do a quick math, each one roughly costs RM600-700), but it gives the most satisfaction :P

2) Star Wars

And my favourite trio from Star Wars Clone Wars Season 3! The season finale was aired last week, overall some really nice episodes and some really terrible ones. But it's nice to see Ashoka maturing into a fine Jedi, unlike the annoying character we saw earlier. Anakin has also become much more reserved as the war drags on, and as we see from his uniform above, reflects his character in Episode 3.

Also, I've decided not to buy by carton for the Vintage collection. This means I'm very unlikely to complete the collection... but hey, money is a premium, and I don't really need updates to characters which I already have. Here are a few managed to grab from TRU from time to time:

and more random Clone Wars figures

3) Souveniours

First, from the Champions League trophy tour... the Carlsberg ladies took these Polaroid pictures for everyone... and I took two :P

And a nice little souvenior from Zoe who came back from Japan business trip, prior to nuclear leak, of course.

"BM Permai @ Bukit Minyak"

2011-04-09T10:06:00.004+08:00

This was the other choice for property... double storey terrace at Bkt Minyak, just 5 minutes from Juru Autocity. Due to be completed end of this year, priced around RM350k, land area is 22x70, build up area is 22x45.

Main door

Living room. It was a bit strange to see so big space for living room since all the while we were only looking at apartments in Penang island :P

Dining room

Kitchen. There's also a small maid room and a toilet on the right.

Up the stairs are 3 rooms:

Master room

Master room's toilet

The other two rooms are more or less the same

and they share one toilet...

The show unit. Didn't bother to take inside because show units are sooo deceivingly nice! :P

For RM350k, it sounds like a decent deal, but the main drawback is that we'll be living in mainland. The neighboring area is pretty well developed, lots of facilities.. but have to cross Penang Bridge to get to work :(

So, eventually our search for a house goes back to the Island! :D

"Farewell BL!"

2011-04-03T17:28:00.005+08:00

First farewell of the year... goes to BL! And in tradition of our group, we will have multiple farewells... which means food all week :P

Farewell Part 1 @ TGI Queensbay

My order... Noticed how unattractive it is? Tastes okay, but this Tennessee Chicken is sort of a replacement of the old Jack Daniels Chicken.. I wouldn't recommend it though.. in fact, I think after this meal, we ban TGI dy.. the food quality is poor..

Farewell Part 2 @ DOME

This is the "official" farewell, with the bosses... no pics though... food is pretty much the same, except the prices have all been increased :(

Farewell Part 3 @ QB Food court

This is the cost-effective farewell... with ex-Modo colleagues.

Good luck at your new place pal!

"Macross Frontier: Bandai's DX Chogokin Macross Quarter!"

2011-03-26T10:34:00.003+08:00

Finally, here comes Macross Quarter!

From Macross Compendium:

The Macross Quarter, a Variable Space Carrier, which is the operational base of the S.M.S. in the Macross Frontier fleet. It is one-quarter the size of the current Macross class warship and approximately the size of regular carriers. Despite being equivalent to a 400m-class vessel, it has a transformation system allowing it to transform from a warship (cruiser mode) to storm-attacker mode (battle mode) for close-combat. The port side of the ship functions as an aircraft carrier. It boasts the of mobility and combat performance of a fighter even though it is the size of mid-scale warship. Colonel Jeffrey Wilder is the ship's captain.

Macross Quarter is easily one of the most impressive display piece in my entire Macross collection, not to mention the biggest.

It has high metal content, making it considerably heavier than the rest of the DX Chogokin line.

It also comes with these mini figures:

The one and only representation of Vajra as a toy :P

Gerwalk

Gerwalk?!! Yeah, it's pretty silly for a capital ship to have Gerwalk mode, but it does appear in the series!

And finally, the attack mode! Transformation is very easy... theoretically! The high metal content and super tight joints make it much harder~~ though there's not much of a risk of breaking anything...

He can also store the Carrier (ARMD-L) on the back with the use of an external connector...

... so that he can use both hands to fire the Macross Cannon!

Macross ships never looked so stylish............. :P

And here's the box:

Ordered this from Hobby Link Japan during their clearance sales and it costs only RM498 including shipping, compared to the retail price of RM880 in Malaysia! Good deal~~

"Summer Place Condo"

2011-03-24T21:49:00.005+08:00

This is the new condo which interest me the most... called Summer Place, just recently obtained OC:

Contains 3 towers

Guard house

Entry to each tower requires security access card

Multi-level carpark. Each unit gets 2 car parks, which is rare in Penang!

Swimming pool

Playground

3 lifts to service 12 units per floor

Corridor

One of the units we visited... there are different types available

This is the 1012 sq ft type... cheapest :P

Kitchen for the 1109 sq ft type... forgot to take one of the 1012 sq ft, but it is one or more tile lesser in width

It has a dry yard... could be problematic as people can climb in from outside..!

Master room

Master room's toilet.. the nice thing is that it already comes with the glass panel

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3... very small.. potential candidate to be converted into the Museum! :P

Common toilet.. both toilet seems pretty small I feel...

The best part is the balcony! Depending on which tower and which unit, you can get the Penang bridge view....

Or the jetty view...

Or the most expensive.. swimming pool view!

So... why don't buy it yet?

1) Price skyrocketed from RM 395K to 420K, depending on view! Original developer price was starting from RM298K, which is almost RM100K increase..........

2) Leasehold... left 97 years...

Sigh...property in Penang has really become the playground of speculators and investors, driving property to ridiculous prices... :( Pity those of us who really want to buy for own stay. The saddest part is that I could actually have bought it from the developer TWICE at cost price... double SIGHHHHH~~~~~~~~~~~

"McD Free Big Breakfast!!"

2011-03-20T13:52:00.003+08:00

... but the queue was too long ...aihhh~~~~

Maybe I should go at 7AM on a weekday! :P

"Aza Aza Starvil Korean Cuisine & BBQ Restaurant"

2011-03-13T22:01:00.004+08:00

Situated opposite Queensbay Mall is this new Korean restaurant!

Refillable snacks.. I like the green vege and the potato thing. The other two are ... :-S

And this is Aza Aza Special BBQ Pork Ribs (RM24.90). This is their "chef super highly recommended" and it is very very nice indeed! Wrapped with the vege, every bite is paradise :D The key lies in the sauce to marinate the meat.

Kimchi jigae with rice (RM16.90). Nice, but a little too spicy for me. The one at Daore is much better though.

For drinks, we ordered Mixed Fruit Cocktail and Honey Citrus Tea (RM4.90 each), both are very nice. All in all, a good place to have Korean food without busting the wallet!

"UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour"

2011-03-09T22:51:00.002+08:00

The magnificent trophy went on tour at Gurney Plaza last weekend, thanks to Heineiken!

There wasn't a big crowd though... perhaps the event wasn't well advertised! I only chanced upon it when I saw the advert in the Sun.

Besides the cup, there were also memorabilia from previous matches on display

This brings back bitter memories... :-S

And me helping to lift the cup on behalf of Arsenal!

... because it just seems like we're never gonna win it for real....... :'(

"DX Chogokin YF-29 pics!"

2011-03-02T19:40:00.003+08:00

Fighter:

Gerwalk:

Battroid

Fighter is a bit weird.. too sleek for my liking. The inverted wings ala VF-19 doesn't really work out here.. and I wonder how will the toy be able to support the entire back piece in Gerwalk mode.. but Battroid is just so wicked!! Damn tempting (again)!

Pics from Amiami

"Dinner at Bei Zhan Restaurant"

2011-02-24T21:28:00.004+08:00

When we were back in Melaka last December, we went to Bei Zhan Restaurant. My first time there... lets see what we had:

vege

egg

tofu

chicken
'
steamed buns

for this meat dish

It was pretty good actually.... and most importantly: FAST! Restaurants in Melaka have this bad tendency to take their own sweet time to come up with the dishes, unlike in Penang, where chefs cook up a storm in minutes. Price was pretty decent too, I don't remember being ripped off or anything.

They moved to this beautifully decorated building a few years back. Nice. In fact, we would've loved to host our wedding here if they were completed at that time. And also, we would've loved to have the family CNY here instead of GNW also.. hahah.. guess I'm still a bit peeved with GNW charging a fortune for CNY meals! :P

"Birthday meal at Kim Gary!"

2011-02-24T21:04:00.004+08:00

Yeah, this was way back in Nov last year, after coming back from Beijing 2010. We had the Kim Gary birthday voucher which entitles us to a massive 50% discount off the total bill... so apa lagi.. order as we wish dy!

Wife ordered this hot plate mix platter

and I tried their seafood cheese baked rice

and topping it off with their mango ice blended something. All superb!! I think the bill came to about RM30.. well, we wouldn't have ordered these otherwise :P

"Happy CNY 2011!"

2011-02-20T14:51:00.003+08:00

It's the rabbit year!

the icon for this year ..haha

Since CNY falls on Thursday and Friday, we were back in Melaka the week before for a very long break~~

New deco for the house

And on the eve was the prayer and offerings ceremony:

With loads of food to last for the next few days!

Yearly date at Sab's house:

Dinner at Dragon Deluxe with the Gang:

Dinner at Good New World with family:

Eat eat eat... after came back from CNY, seems to have gained a few kg :S

Bro brought his gf to meet the family..heheh... I think I better find a new house to move soon!

Yum cha and photo posing at Riverbank cafe:

my fav shot of my fav models..:P

Location just by Melaka river.. nice~~

And a few hours after that, we were back in Penang dy... arrghhh... CNY over so soon. Hopefully next time CNY is in the middle of the week, so that won't have to go back so early!

"Macross Quarter survives Customs checkpoint!"

2011-02-15T16:48:00.003+08:00

Pics I took when Macross Quarter arrived safely from Japan :)

from Hobby Link Japan

with bubble wrap

Brand new condition!

Full review coming up!

"My new PC!"

2011-02-15T16:09:00.003+08:00

My old desktop completely broke down in Feb 2009, although actually it could not serve newer games way before that. I always put off getting a new one until just before CNY, I heard the CALL (of Duty). Coincidentally, Intel had just launched the Sandy Bridge architecture, so everything was falling into place nicely!

And finally here is the new (really) long awaited PC!

Side transparent casing

Here's the specs:
1) Intel core i7-2600 Processor LGA1155 3.40GHz, 8MB L3 Cache, TDP 95W (RM955)
2) Asus P8P67 Intel P67 S1155 M/B (RM599)
3) Kingston 4GB KVR1333 DDR3 RAM (RM158)
4) Sapphire ATI HD6870 PCIE 1GB DDR5 256 Bit Cross Fire X, PCIE2.1, DX11 - (RM785)
5) WD Caviar Green 2TB 64M SATA Hard disk 3.5 in (RM307)
6) Cooler Master GX 750W PSU (RM367)
7) Cooler Master CM690-II PLUS Chassis (RM285)
8) LITEON 24x DVD Writer (RM61)
Assembly charges (RM60)

Total = RM3577

Some of the specs are insanely overkill, such as the power supply; 750W!! It's even more expensive than the hard disk :P Actually this is to accommodate any future upgrade to a Cross Fire system. As I'm testing all sorts of games at max settings, the single HD6870 graphic card seems to perform effortlessly. Even the notorious hardware killer game, Crysis:Warhead, can run very smooth. However, I'm running at 1280x1024 resolution, so probably the true test would be to run at 2560x1600 or 1920x1200.

Ok, fire away~~ Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is waiting! :P

"Yamato's QF-2200D-B Ghost Booster for VF-0S!"

2011-02-11T09:44:00.003+08:00

Here comes Yamato's QF-2200D-B Ghost Booster for the VF-0A/S! The Ghost booster was seen prominently in the last episode of Macross Zero when Roy Focker and Shin Kudo piloted their VF-0S and VF-0A respectively in the final battle. Judging by the wickedness of their opponents, Ivanov and Nora, they are going to need all the help they can get!

On its own, it's not much of a sight... it doesn't transform or anything; just has some landing gears to pull out. But the reason for buying this guy is to attach it to my VF-0S!!!

Fighter:

Comes with additional assortment of missiles too

Gerwalk:

And my favorite of all... Battroid!!

Super wicked cool~~~~~

Bought this directly from Hobby Link Japan, costs around RM2xx.

"Back to Penang..."

2011-02-07T17:41:00.002+08:00

...complete with a bad sore throat and mild fever... sigh...............

"Happy CNY!"

2011-01-31T09:18:00.003+08:00

Managed a last-gasp Pre-CNY dinner with frens from Penang before going back to Melaka. Thanks to Doris for organizing.. :P

Happy CNY!

"Car handle stolen!!"

2011-01-22T22:34:00.003+08:00

Wouldn't you believe it... someone stole my car handle!!

No wonder the car doors were unlocked when I wanted to go to work last Monday... sigh.. this is the problem of parking by the roadside :-S Nothing seemed taken though... actually, there's nothing worth taking anyways :P

And just came back from workshop... spent RM100 to get a replacement handle.. which is black in color! Haha.. well, as long as it covers the gaping hole. What a unique CNY gift!

"Beijing Day 1 Part 3"

2011-01-20T17:48:00.004+08:00

We leave behind the Hall of Supreme Harmony...

to move to the remaining two halls:

Hall of Complete Harmony

where the Emperor prepares himself before going into the Hall of Supreme Harmony

and the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

This hall has many purposes, to hold banquets, exams...

Both these halls are also seated on these marvellous 3-tier marble terraces.

This is also where you can find the largest stone carving in the palace..

And finally we reached the end of the Outer Courtyard...

Guarded by a pair of these lions

Ornate red wall separating the courtyards

By this time we were starving, so we grabbed a quick (and pricey) bite in one of the shops inside, before continuing our journey further!

"Macross Quarter is on the way!"

2011-01-18T22:16:00.004+08:00

It's finally shipping! Hopefully can get it before CNY.... :D

"Star Wars Vintage Collection Wave 3!"

2011-01-12T22:35:00.000+08:00

Spending spree continues~~! This time is Wave 3 (Return of the Jedi) of the Vintage Collection.

I ordered a whole case to get all the figures from Wave 3

Admiral Ackbar, Wooof, Gamorrean Guard

Jedi Luke, Rebel Commando, Wicket

R2D2 (Jabba's Sail Barge), Anakin Skywalker, Clone Trooper

TWO Santroopers and yet another Darth Vader. Gotta sell these on ebay~~

And spend above RM200, get one free Rocket-Firing Boba Fett! Really enjoying these Vintage figures. I'll need to get another case for Wave 4 in a few months' time too!

And several Comic Packs to round off Star Wars for this time!

"Banpresto's Macross Frontier Sheryl Nome SQ #1!"

2011-01-09T12:03:00.003+08:00

Ok, we don't have to wait, here's the first figure from Banpresto's new SQ (Special Quality) line for Macross Frontier... and who else can it be but...

SHERYL NOME!

This is based on her costume from her elaborate concert in the Macross Frontier movie, which is a blend of the White Bunny and Black Bunny costume.

White or Black?

At some angle, she looks startled

Obviously they greatly exaggerate her assets!

And some angle, she's like an angel ^_^

Just like the DVD cover of the Macross Frontier movie~~

Costs RM98 before discount, which is a great price range to add more figures to the growing Sheryl army! :D

"Banpresto's Macross Frontier SQ Sheryl & Ranka!"

2011-01-06T22:27:00.004+08:00

Check out what's coming in Mid 2011!!

Sheryl!

Look at that angelic face~~~~ ^_^

and Ranka!

Cute!

Get both of them to recreate the final scene of the Macross Frontier TV series!

MUST BUY!!!

"Beijing 2010: Day 2 Part 2"

2011-01-03T11:07:00.005+08:00

Ok, we've paid the entrance fee and crossed the massive Meridian Gate...

... to reach the First Courtyard and the Inner Golden River.

There are 5 bridges crossing the Inner Golden River. The Gate of Supreme Harmony can be seen.

And they provide such stunning vistas... the reflections on the river, the curves.. everything is just perfectly aligned!

Crossing the bridge

We then reach the Outer Courtyard. Vast and spacious.

We've reached the Gate of Supreme Harmony

Massive lion statues guard the gate.

Looking back at the Meridian Gate from the Gate of Supreme Harmony

And from here, we can catch a glimpse of the most iconic structure of the Forbidden City...

The Hall of Supreme Harmony; the main hall where the Emperor receives his officials amid cries of "Long Live Your Majesty!" This Hall is the symbol of power for the nation and not surprisingly, its most magnificent and luxurious structure.

It is seated on a 3-tier marble terrace

Perfect symmetry

And this is what everyone wants to see: The Throne Room!

We can't go in, but even from outside, can see the amount of intricate details that adorn this room.

I look small... :P

Sundial

Crane

Tortoise

Copper and iron vats

Next: Moving deeper!

"Macross Frontier: Super Parts for VF-25F Alto Custom!"

2010-12-31T22:14:00.003+08:00

It's New Year's Eve and here we have another purchase: the Super Parts for VF-25F Alto Custom! Before this, I have two versions of Alto's valkyrie: the Movie Version Super Messiah and the Tornado Messiah. We sort of got conned by Bandai because the "Movie Version" was never in the movie. I still like it a lot, but was always longing to have the accurate version of Alto. While participating in the local Macross forum, I came across a guy who was selling off a brand new Super Parts for a good price of RM180. So I removed the Tornado Pack from the VF-25F and now we have the iconic, the real, TV-accurate, movie-accurate Alto's VF-25F Super Messiah!

Simple box to contain the super parts and the stand

Fighter:

Gerwalk:

Battroid:

Alto the Kabuki performer! :P

Without the super parts:

Battroid:

Waiting for his vajra meal

Gerwalk:

Fighter:

Getting the Super Parts made me feel as if I just bought a new valkyrie! The only problem is, I can only display either the Tornado Pack or the Super Pack at one time~~ :-S

Flying again with the rest of Skull Squadron-- just as he was meant to be!

"Macross Frontier: Bandai's 1/60 DX Chogokin RVF-25 Luca Custom!"

2010-12-26T23:01:00.000+08:00

Here comes Luca's RVF-25! Luca Angeloni is the tech specialist in the team, so his valkyrie isn't exactly the most sought after compared to the likes of Ozma, Alto or Michael. The RVF-25 is equipped for electronic warfare with the large radome and sensor capabilities.

Part 1: with Super Parts
Fighter:

The unique radome

And the sensor fin which can be flipped out

Radome expands!

Gerwalk:

Gerwalk mode SUCKS. BIG TIME. I spent 15 minutes trying to get this guy to pose without the back wing section collapsing.

Luca. Well, actually it's the same blob of plastic for every VF-25 :P

Battroid:

RVF-25's unique bug-like head... cute :D

Luca is seldom seen in aggressive fighting mode though, he prefers to send out his Ghosts to do the work.

The large radome partially blocks the wing boosters from closing.

Part 2: without Super Parts
Battroid:

Yeah, he looks naked without the super parts!

But like all the other VF-25 valkyries, the poseability increases dramatically without the extra parts!

Gerwalk:

Gerwalk on the stand is pretty boring...

You have to cheat a little to get the aggresive "A-stance" that we all love Unfortunately this "cheat" is so unstable that you have to fiddle with the angle and joints so that it doesn't collapse. Sigh. Bandai, bandai....

Fighter:

Radome spinning effect :P

The radome can be totally removed to make it a generic VF-25.

The box art:

Now that SMS Skull Squadron is completed, what next? Get Macross Quarter?? :P

"Macross Frontier: SMS Skull Squadron!"

2010-12-25T20:17:00.005+08:00

For a long time I've been observing the price and availability of the last member of the SMS Skull Squadron which was missing from my collection: Luca's RVF-25. Prices fluctuated between RM750 to RM550 at one time. But maybe I waited too long, until they began disappearing from the market. What the hell, during my trip back to Melaka for Suwei's wedding, I went to Robot Master at Dataran and just swipe RM700 *cough cough*... just imagine it as a Xmas present for myself~~~

Anyway, here's a first look at it:

The unique part of Luca's valkyrie is the radome:

It can spin and open as well

More significantly with Luca's arrival, SMS Skull Squadron can fly together now!!

"Flying" on the apartment floor :P

My fav pic~~ :D Full review of RVF-25 to come...

"The Wedding Part 4: Finale"

2010-12-24T21:39:00.004+08:00

Wow! Must be surprised to see this post I bet :D This Dec 26 will be the First Anniversary of our wedding so fittingly, this is the conclusion to the Wedding post, started one whole year ago.

After the dinner session, we stayed back at the restaurant to settle the bill. The amount collected from the ang pow was enough to cover the bill, the liquor and the services of the Video and Cameraman. All tired and relieved after the very long day, all we could think of was to lie down in bed and sleep! Ah, but there was another surprise to be had...

Wife was the first one to enter our house. Suddenly she shouted "Why your room is so messy?!!" Ok, I'm not exactly the tidiest person around, but I didn't think I left it in a mess... but when I saw it, there was this sinking feeling that the night was going to get a whole lot longer-- our house had just been burgled! Our clothes, bag and stuff were thrown all over the place. Same in the other rooms, but the main target was my room. I saw my wallet which had RM600, on the bed, emptied. My old Sony camera which I had intended to give to Sis, was also missing. Even my old perfume was gone. Fortunately, VERY fortunately, I decided to bring my Wedding ring to the dinner.

We went around searching what was taken; both my brother and sister's laptops were gone, the Guess watch which I bought for my mum from US was gone, her handphone was gone, some ang pow which relatives gave when they came to my house before the dinner was gone. Come to think of it, luckily I brought my company laptop to the restaurant to play the Wedding DVD. We estimated the total losses to be about RM20k.

My Bro and I went to the police station to make a report. The best thing was that the police officer said that we were the 4th house to be robbed that night. Must be a syndicate going around targeting people's houses during weddings because they know no one will be around. Even neighbours. I messaged a few of the Gang to tell them the news. What a way to end the night... in the police station! The police came over an hour or so later to take pictures and try to find fingerprints. Apparently, the robbers came in from my kitchen window and left by the door. Amazing.

I was so dead-beat tired that I just lied down and slept on my mom's bed. The next day, my relatives came over and we all got a little paranoid staying in the house. Would the thief strike again? After this incident, Mom installed a metal grill to protect the kitchen window. She was pretty upset about the watch. Well, material things can be bought again. Most importantly, no one was hurt.

Ok, that's it! Despite that minor blip, I will always look back fondly to 26 Dec 2009. Thanks to all my family and friends for making it the happiest day of my life! ^_^

P.S. Darn, I gotta get the Video edited and uploaded-- lets hope it doesn't take another year to do that! :P

"Su Wei's wedding!"

2010-12-17T20:31:00.003+08:00

No updates this weekend; going back to Melaka to attend Su Wei's wedding! Signing off~~

"Beijing 2010: Day 2 Part 1"

2010-12-15T21:45:00.003+08:00

Our first adventure in Beijing would be the visit to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Beihai Park. After hotel's free breakfast, we took the subway to Tiananmen East stop.

We came out of the underground tunnel and reached Tiananmen Square. Opposite the road was our first glimpse of the Tiananmen Gate.

There are 2 guards standing still in these platforms.

Chairman Mao's portrait hangs over the gate.

The square is huge and holds the crowd easily. One thing though, you can't miss the heavy presence of police officers everywhere. Not surprising, considering this was the venue of a few uprisings in China's past.

Monument of the People's Heroes

Very large projector screen!

Not much to the place, so we went across the street.

Long stream of people going in. And it's a Monday :P

Beyond the Tiananmen Gate is the massive Meridian Gate.

Practice marching...

This is the last point where it's free. Beyond this gate, we need to get the tickets to the Palace Museum.

Next: Inside the Forbidden City!

"Beijing 2010: Day 1"

2010-12-12T22:40:00.001+08:00

Why Beijing?

In fact, why travel at all? Haha... you can guess it's due to Wife's unhappiness that we haven't gone anywhere for a long time. It's not that I don't like to travel; I love seeing new places! However, the Wedding wiped out a substantial amount of my savings. But after months of scraping and saving, we finally got back into a healthy zone.

Initially we were thinking of going somewhere in South East Asia, in particular I wanted to see Angkor Wat but she wasn't too keen about that. Then SA said his honeymoon would be in Hong Kong. So I did a little research but couldn't come up with the "pull factor" to bring me there. It's a shopping paradise for sure, but something was just missing. Wife's sister suggested that we go to Shanghai as there was a World Expo going on at that time. Still the "pull" wasn't there...

Then I recalled earlier this year, another colleague went to Beijing for a business trip. He was asking which part of the Great Wall should he visit. From there it sort of made sense; if this was going to be my first time to China, why not go straight to the capital? You would be spending just as much going to Shanghai or Hong Kong anyways... Ok, with that set, we visited several tour agencies to get the typical itinerary of Beijing.

Initially, my plan was to just follow the tours because it would be so simple: no planning needed, no reading required, just follow the guide and they'll take care of everything. That's what people usually do when they go to China, rite? But I kept getting this nagging feeling that maybe following the tour wouldn't be such a good idea. Yes, they'll bring you to the attractions, but it's mostly touch-and-go and you'd be spending a lot of the time in tourist shops instead.

Still it did not occur to us yet that we should go on our own. Until one fine day, I was chatting with my lady boss and she said she was going backpacking... in JAPAN. I was like..."Wow... do you speak Japanese?". She said nope, but that wasn't stopping her from spending two weeks there. And that's the "push factor"-- JUST DO IT! So I bought Lonely Planet's Beijing City Guide and spent the next weeks planning for the trip.

Many people were like "You're not following a tour in China?" and "Have you thought about it (again)?", really made us nervous. In fact, two days before leaving, we were having sleepless nights worrying! Wife summarized the feeling perfectly: "How come people go for holiday to enjoy but we're suffering...?" Haha... either way on the 21 Nov, we were at Penang Airport with all the butterflies in our stomach!

Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong.

Luckily they served breakfast fast because we were hungry already

Chicken rice

Pork rice

The flight from Penang to HK was uneventful. But once we boarded the connecting flight via DragonAir, I suddenly felt the excitement building up: all those months of reading and planning and we were finally heading to Beijing!

Sunset

Beijing Capital Airport was really MASSIVE. We cleared immigration and took a taxi to our hotel. Taxis charge by meters in Beijing and are very reliable. The Capital Airport was rather some way out of town so the taxi bill came out to RMB 100+.

Sunworld Hotel... not too bad.

After unpacking, we went searching for dinner and found this shop serving Taiwan food.

Set meal usually comes with rice, vege, meat and soup.

Rice noodles. It was a pretty satisfying meal, though a bit on the oily side.

Coke

Cozy inside the shop. Outside, the temperature was pretty cold, but still manageable.

After the meal, we went back and had a good rest. The next day the adventure starts with Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Beihai Park!

"Hectic days!"

2010-12-10T23:27:00.003+08:00

After coming back from Melaka, was bombarded with work and more work. Thankfully, the weekend is here, but tomorrow I will be attending a colleague's wedding at Pantai Remis! Really hectic days~~

And I'm sure the Gang are anticipating the next big gathering on 18 Dec: it's Suwei's wedding!! Already bought the bus tickets back to Melaka... gosh, so excited!! I've known her since the Parkson working days way back in 1998/99, so she's like a sister to me. Very happy to see that she's getting married (finally) ^_^ I'll be bringing my whole camera equipment back; hope to get some memorable shots for the event :)

Talking about pictures... the photos from the Beijing 2010 trip are currently being posted in Facebook first, before posting them in this blog; no, it doesn't mean the blog has become less important. There are lots of 'side stories' and commentaries I wish to add to the pics, and that can only be done effectively in the blog! ;)

Also, I'm gearing up for the purchase of the desktop after the old one broke down nearly 2 years ago! Budget around RM3K for it, hopefully can do as 0% installment for a year :D

The year is drawing to a close and 2011 is coming. How did the year go by? I have lots to say, so lets leave the analysis for the next post...

"Back to Melaka"

2010-12-04T09:30:00.002+08:00

Going back to Melaka for the long weekend, back to Penang on Tuesday!

"Home Sweet Home!"

2010-11-30T20:47:00.004+08:00

Touched down in Penang on Sunday night; what a relief to get away from the freezing weather in Beijing!

Day 1:

PEN-HKG-BEIJING. Upon touch down, we took a taxi to the hotel and immediately asked the hotel if they could help us purchase the train tickets to Datong. Luckily we got the soft sleeper seats, but couldn't secure the return tickets.

Day 2:

A bright and sunny day awaits! The weather was superb, clear blue sky. We went to Tiananmen Square, and onwards to the Forbidden City. The place was spectacularly beautiful and also DAMN HUGE. We walked 5 hours straight and couldn't even finish it! The subsequent trip to Beihai Park had to be cut short because our feets couldn't take it anymore and it got dark at 5PM.

Day 3:

Supposed to be Badaling Great Wall, but opted for something less punishing for our feets! Went to the Summer Palace. Unfortunately the temperature dropped drastically that day and it was also hazy. Pure suffering when the wind blew :D And also the Summer Palace was also SUPER HUGE. Wanted to complete the Temple of Heaven today also, but we wouldn't do justice to it if we rushed it through. Ok, straight go to Beijing West Train Station to take the train to Datong.

Day 4:

The train ride is an adventure by itself! The soft sleeper was a room with 2 double-decker beds. Reached Datong at 3AM, rented a hotel room to rest properly. Rented a taxi for the day to finish both the Yungang Caves and Hanging Monastery. The weather that day was the WORST ever. The Hanging Monastery was in a valley and the wind was blowing like mad. All the winter clothes also cannot help!

Day 5:

We managed to get the train back to Beijing, but it was hard sleeper! It was like a military bunker style 3 deck bed (so 6 in each compartment!) Arrived in Beijing, rest till noon before we went to the Temple of Heaven. The weather turned nice again. Skies were clear and less chilly. Thankfully we spent 1 whole day here because it is really a magnificent temple and an icon of China. Later that day we went to the Olympic's Bird Nest stadium. We were way behind schedule by this time :P

Day 6:

The Great Wall at Badaling. Surprisingly the weather was soothing up in the mountains, even with all the wind blowing. Getting to Badaling by public transport was one challenge by itself! People will try to do anything to con you to go to their tour. Even taxi drivers also don't want to send us to the bus station. Yeah, go figure! We spent 4 hours in the Wall, and walk until legs all injured..hahha.. we underestimated the challenge of the Great Wall :-S Again, we slipped behind schedule and couldn't go to the Ming Tombs.

Day 7:

OMG, the last day dy! Do we go for the Ming Tombs or what?? No more fooling around, on this day we finished FOUR places: Yonghegong Lama Temple, National Centre of the Performing Arts, Beijing Zoo and Hutong Tour! Haha... desperate dy :P

Day 8:
BEIJING-HKG-PEN. So happy to be back in Malaysia :D

Summary:

I have mixed feelings about the trip. Felt like mission not complete; missed out on the Ming Tombs, Chuandixia and Jinshanling Great Wall. Perhaps another visit on another time? BTW, we took over 4000 pictures, so hope to get these published soon! :P

"OOO"

2010-11-19T12:51:00.003+08:00

Signing off.. back to Penang on 28 Nov!

"Beijing-Datong side trip in danger!"

2010-11-15T21:50:00.002+08:00

Dear Leopard,

Best wishes from Beijing Xinhua International Tours!

We are sorry that now it`s already late to book train tickets between Beijing and Datong.
Usually, train tickets need to be issued 10-20 days in advance.

Anyhow, thanks for your enquiry.

Have a lovely day!

Best regards
Linda He

Oh no... the overnight train from Beijing to Datong on 24 Nov and back is the trickiest part of our trip. Train tickets are unavailable to be booked online, and even this tour agency is not able to secure us the tickets. Looks like have to find other transport means, such as buses!

"Beijing's weather"

2010-11-14T19:39:00.000+08:00

GULP!

"Goodbye... and welcome!"

2010-11-13T09:07:00.003+08:00

It's weird to write a post about a pair of shoes, but I have great memories with this little buddy. Bought in 2008 for CNY, it has since followed me on great adventures to KK, US, Langkawi, and pretty much everywhere else.... but the last hike in Pantai Keracut proved to be the last adventure. The shoe mouth 'opened' and attempts to first stitch and then glue it back failed... :(

And with Beijing 2010 coming, we need a replacement:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Tada! Still black, but with a streak of bright yellow at the bottom. Welcome aboard. I hope we have a great ride together!

"Beijing 2010"

2010-11-10T21:47:00.003+08:00

Flight tickets already bought (Cathay Pacific-Dragonair)... Hotel already booked... Now here's the proposed itinerary:

21 Nov
Penang-HKG-Beijing

22 Nov
Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Beihai Park

23 Nov
Great Wall at Badaling

24 Nov
Travel to Datong for Yungang Grottoes and Hanging Monastery

OR

Travel to Chengde to see Mountain Resort and Eight Outer Temples

25 Nov
Chuandixia

26 Nov
Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven

27 Nov
Jinshanling Great Wall

OR

Relaz relaz

28 Nov
Beijing-HKG-Penang

I keep hearing: "You sure you don't want to follow tour in China?" Really freaking me out... hahhaa... already nervous like hell.. that's why I only plan one or two activity per day. We didn't want to follow tour because heard a lot of horror stories where they bring you to side-trips to the shops which you are not interested in. And being rushed all the time. And have to wait for other people. Anyway, I already bought a copy of Lonely Planet's Beijing City Guide so May the Force be with us! :D

"Celebrating Macross Frontier: False Diva!"

2010-11-05T17:32:00.005+08:00

Recently, the new Macross Frontier movie, titled the False Diva, was released. To commemorate watching it the 2nd time (without subtitles!), I took out these 3 heroes to recreate the final battle~~

Ozma, Alto, Brera. The movie was pretty much so-so, but the final action sequence, with these 3 guys defending Sheryl and Ranka was memorable!

The original Macross F TV series is still the best, so I brought out the gang again~~

The 1/72 scale VF-25F Super Messiah. Now permanently in Fighter mode, because I super-glued all the parts so that they won't fall off :P

Macross F figures. I wish they came out with more of these. Although they are small, but at least it wont burn my wallet!

My fav: Sheryl and Ranka combine :D

Defiant. Armored Ozma still can transform to Battroid mode despite breaking a crucial part! BUT... if you just touch it, everything collapses, the wing, the armor pack, gosh... what a mess :-S

"Hot Toys' (Improved) Bruce Lee figure!!"

2010-11-04T13:55:00.003+08:00

Previously, when Hot Toys announced their new 12 inch Bruce Lee:

I think the response was like..."Err.. the body sculpt looks plastic-y!"

And now, they have done this:

Hot Toys have actually refined the body sculpt to look more natural! OMG!! It's so temptinggggg!!! :P

(Pics taken from Hot Toys)

"Should I have spoken out?"

2010-11-04T13:04:00.001+08:00

Some time back, I saw someone posted in a forum, wanting to sell his Macross VF-1A Hikaru custom. He threw in a display stand and put the price as RM400. It was a fairly good price...unless you knew that this VF-1A release had a big problem, which was the fragile shoulder hinge.

On my VF-1A, the shoulder hinge had hairline fractures already and it would only be a matter of time before it broke. When I saw this person trying to sell his off for cheap, I wanted to reply, "FYI, this is the version that has the shoulder hinge problem". But I hesitated.

A few days ago, I read the forum again; someone had already bought the VF-1A from this guy and reported that the shoulder had cracks. And he isn't able to contact the seller. On surface, it does seem like the seller knew about this problem and wanted to sell it off quickly and cheaply (or maybe not).. but damn... I really felt guilty that I didn't choose to speak up then.

What would you have done?

"Silly mistake"

2010-10-30T21:27:00.004+08:00

Just now I was at Popular to buy two books, costing RM84 and RM66 respectively. I had 2 RM10 gift vouchers and Wife had the Popular member card which allows 10% discount. Went to pay at the counter, but was told that if I use the voucher, I'm not entitled for the 10% discount. Oh-uh. The bookstore was freezing cold and we didn't have lunch yet. The queue was also building up behind us. Dizzy and tired from reading and walking, I thought "Hmm..ok, the voucher expires this year, so lets use that."

As I was walking back to the car, there was just a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. I sat there, calming myself down. What was wrong? Have you figured it out? :D

If I had used the voucher on the cheaper book, and used the member card discount on the RM84 book, I would have been able to utilize BOTH the card and voucher. And I would've saved RM8.40. OMG... What a silly mistake........

Lesson learnt: NEVER make decisions in a hurry or when you are too tired to think :(

"Gomenasai!"

2010-10-29T21:10:00.003+08:00

Sorry for abandoning the blog! Last weekend we went back to Melaka to attend TSG's wedding. Came back on Sunday and the rest of the week had been very hectic to say the least! TSG asked me to be the secondary cameraman, which was nice, because I wouldn't want to be the primary one: too pressure! As the secondary one, I get to snap behind-the-scenes pics, especially of our gang :D

Took more than 800++ pics, and selected around 130+ to be uploaded in Facebook. Which brought me to think: are blogs still relevant? Using Facebook for sharing pictures allow our friends to view them immediately and place comments. Blogs however (for myself at least) takes a tremendous amount of effort to write up and publish. So, end up most of the time, the entry gets posted a long time after the event occurred!

Anyway, the next few weeks will be even more hectic as I plan for my trip to Beijing... on Free and Easy. OMG, I can't believe we opted not to follow any tour! This will be crazy for sure~~

"This is a Happy Moment"

2010-10-21T21:57:00.003+08:00

I was very fortunate to have been able to attend a Dharma talk by Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk whom I know from reading his simple and effective manual on meditation, "The Miracle of Mindfulness'. The event was held at Phor Tay Secondary School (conveniently outside my house) on 21 Sep. One of my friend was a freelance photographer for the event and he shared with me a few pics. Thanks, pal!

Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. The most amazing thing I recall is the ease of which he was able to expound the Dharma to a wide range of audience. The message was simple: "This, here and now, is a happy moment".

His students from his school in Plum Village, France.

Some souveniors on sale.

Meditating... or sleeping?? :P

The event was very successful and a full house too. We were there early to beat the crowd but almost couldn't get in because we didn't have tickets. The problem was that the banner promoting this talk said "Admission is Free". But what they meant was "Admission is free, but entry by tickets only". Turns out the tickets could be obtained from several Buddhist societies. But since I wasn't a member of any, I didn't know about this. Thankfully, a lady in the donation counter came to our rescue and issued us tickets on the spot! :)

"Sunset"

2010-10-21T21:42:00.001+08:00

It lasted only a few seconds, but what a nice sunset :)

"Promotion Lunch @ Dragon-i"

2010-10-20T22:11:00.002+08:00

1) Relieved to be *finally* promoted

2) Happy to have frens to celebrate it with me

3) SA, CF, SF, Doris, Leo, SH, BL, AL

4) I like this background more... but why Doris stand so far la...

5) Err.. guys, you should've told me my hair was messy...! :P

"Macross Frontier: Bandai's DX Chogokin VB-6 Konig Monster!"

2010-10-17T20:15:00.001+08:00

Here comes the VB-6 Konig Monster from Macross Frontier!

Shuttle mode:

This is the S.P. version, which comes with the Sheryl nose art! The normal version instead comes with a Ranka nose art which you have to stick yourself.

Gerwalk:

Because the Monster is a heavy artillery unit, it has a dozer blade to stop it from sliding away due to the momentum of the turret cannons~~ wicked!!

Really fearsome!! :D

Destroid:

Least seen is the Destroid mode, which is this model's weakest mode. The legs cannot actually move forward or backwards, so you can't really pose it in aggressive stances. But it's ok.. I'll leave it in the more familiar and menacing Gerwalk mode...

Box:

The S.P. version comes with a plastic transparent slip cover which has Sheryl Nome art in the front and back...

I love the back cover more... ^_^

This is the main box art

and back...

And this is the "extras" box, which contains the items specific to the S.P. version...

... which are:

1) Sheryl nose art painted on
2) The blue stand which recreates the scene where the Monster lands on Frontier's dome
3) More Sheryl stickers
4) Sheryl Nome's Island Premium credit card!

complete with her signature :P

5) The transparent cover slip which holds these two boxes together

Phew! That's a lot of stuff compared to the regular version. The retail price is RM800 for this monster. I wasn't planning to get it so soon, but then Shopkeeper threw 10% + no charge on credit card... apa tunggu lagi.. swipe la! :P

"ATR Teambuilding @ Pisces, Behind the Scenes"

2010-10-13T21:23:00.003+08:00

I don't have anything new to share yet, so posting these "behind-the-scenes" pics which I found from the loads of pics shared by other photographers!

Zoe caught me snapping my 2 other models.. feels weird to see it.. :P

Photographers usually don't have many pics of themselves, so this one is a rare taken by SA

This one was taken by Shaun.. looks like I was so focused on viewing the pics!

A close up shot by CL... his pics all seem to be close-up/portraits -- which is not good for guys... girls ok la... can showcase smooth skin :P

Pic by Zoe... early morning action! Sometimes quite pressure also; have to find the right setting, and have to compose the picture in an attractive way.. and make sure people don't spend too long waiting for u... but it's all fun (I guess)!

Ah, I can't wait for the next opportunity to play with the camera-- starting with our fren TSG's long awaited wedding next Saturday!

"Restoran First Famous Federal @ Lorong Susu"

2010-10-07T21:59:00.001+08:00

Ok, moving back to town (that's where all the action is!), we're going to Restoran First Famous Federal, located in the strangely named Lorong Susu off Jalan Macallister. They sell only one thing as well: Siu laap (mix platter of meat served with rice).

Chilli

Rice. Pretty normal...

...until you put their magic sauces!

They give free Chai Buay soup. Nice

And here comes the platter: a mix of roasted chicken, chinese sausage (lap cheong), roasted pork (siu yuk) and char siew. We arrived there early around 11.40 AM and had to wait more than 1/2 hour for the food to arrive, because the char siew wasn't ready yet. The roasted chicken is average, but the lap cheong is awesome, siu yuk is just heavenly... you'll bite through the crispy outer layer, then into some fat which just melts and finally into the juicy meat. Superb. And the best of all is the char siew. Words fail me :P

The place is pretty hard to find, but man, what a gem it is! Be sure to go early as it's always crowded. Oh ya, and the whole meal costs RM18, which gave us a bit of a shock :P Definitely not cheap, but still highly recommended.

Ok, I've finished posting all the new discovery food articles. There's a new list of places to try out, will go hunting soon :D

"Leng Nia Seafood Rice Stall @ Lip Sin Garden"

2010-10-06T21:20:00.000+08:00

Ok, moving away from food in town, here's a stall much nearer to home. Leng Nia is basically a "choo-char" place, serving a variety of dishes. Recently we go there once a week and here are some favourite dishes:

Claypot taufu. Stuffed with ingredients, in particular fresh prawns, this is *the* most favourite dish here. The sauce is uniquely tasty (RM8)

Hot plate tofu. Comes with salted fish. Their home made tofu is really nice, and this is another style which we alternate (RM8)

Sweet and sour pork. Portion is just nice for two of us. (RM8)

"Yau-mak". Stir-fried with garlic. Generous serving too! (RM6)

Leng Nia will probably not win any rave reviews, but then again, rave reviews have disappointed us before! :P Whereas other places are increasing their prices indiscriminately, at least here we can get decent food at decent prices. Leng Nia is located just beside Sunshine Lip Sin and can get quite crowded (slow) at weekends.