I love capturing photos of plants, food and non-living things because I always believe, although they are not human, but they do have their own expression and emotion yet to be read and appreciated.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Raspberry Cheese Cake

Since I’ve got my smart phone and installed Instagram, I think I found a better way to share my photos, better is in the sense of efficiency and convenience. Yet, there are some post need to elaborate and share in details, e.g. my vacation photos and diary, but will cut down those posts of food or restaurants that I’ve visited.

When technology gets more convenient and sophisticated, human tends to be lazier, e.g. in the era without phone, we wrote letter with perfume paper and beautiful sticker and stamps; in the era without mobile phone, we will walk miles to public phone to call regardless of good or bad weather; in the era with smart phone, we whatapps, fb to wish happy birthday… Technology shortened the distance and at the same time, seems lengthened the distance as the same time. But of course I still appreciate technology that has improved our lives…

I’ve no idea why am I writing such an emotional intro, sounds like a goodbye or something… Come back to the topic, this is the cake that I bake for one of my betties, Kitman, for her birthday. I’m so sorry for her because she always see me posting cake I baked for others but I’ve never bake one for her, even we know each other for about 15 years, almost half of my life.

This cake took me 2 days to finished, baking layer by layer, took time and definitely need patience to let each layer to set, because she deserved the best. Bottom is the digestive biscuit, 2nd lower is the cheese layer, 2nd upper is raspberry mousse and top is raspberry jelly. And of course I’m glad the birthday girl like it. I hope, I really hope I can bake you cake for birthday till I can’t bake anymore.

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Sunday, July 08, 2012

动地吟

我不是文人,语文科目也没有考很高分,天分欠缺,但是我很支持艺术活动,就如我常讲的,我特别容易被这些艺术家的热情感染,他们的热情是我的充电器。

朋友邀我一起去观看动地吟,墓地动地吟,虽然在墓地但是一点都不阴森,现在的墓地都很摩登,整个环境看起来像公园多余墓园 - 这是对场地的印象。动地吟这名字对我来说其实有点陌生,听过,但不知何物。得知创办者之一是我以前的副校长 - 傅承得,表演者之一是我以前的美术老师 - 吴圣雄,好像就跟这活动更贴近一些些,纯粹是自己在“认亲认戚”。我们一群人浩浩荡荡闯入墓园但没有人知道这活动耗时多久,我们都空腹入场,盘算等一下要去那儿吃好料。入场时是兴奋的、期待的。

当天大道发生严重车祸,导致很多重要的人物无法准时,所以活动接近晚上7点半才开始。活动有诗歌朗诵、诗曲演唱、舞蹈、击乐等。所吟唱的诗很多都与政治有关,现场气氛虽然没有如一些政治人物发表公开演说般激昂,也没有某政党支持者在现场把气氛炒热喧哗,观众都很安分的欣赏,学生偶尔窃窃私语讨论笔记。。。但是我的胃却不安分,胃液在身体内兴风作浪;心脏也不守纪,不规律的悸动让我很难专心。这种艺术让我吃不消,对我来说太承重了,即便这样,我还是等到活动结束才离开,我实在不忍吹促友人提早离场。当我走到车子开车的那一霎那,我的胃和心也即时平复下来。

我无法分享我的观后感,我只能承认我软弱,我无法正眼面对政治这一块。

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Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Assorted stories in Korea

Before I start, I have to advice that followings are merely my personal point of view, things and people that I've came across during my latest trip to Seoul and Jeju Island, they might not represent the country or people in general.



We, group of 6 spent 6 days in Seoul and 4 days in Jeju Island. It's a memorable trip, I wish I could record as many details as possible. Will record the daily itinerary in my later posts, this post just to list down few interesting points that I feel.

1. People
I find that the Korean are very friendly and kind, we encountered some problems in the trip and the people there never hesitate to lend us their hands. For example, on the day we arrived, the owner of the guesthouse overslept and locked us out on the street, an uncle wearing flower shirt (also wearing a sunny smile on his face) passed by offered us his cell phone to call the owner and called the police to help. Although at the end non of him and the police officers can help, but I am grateful for his kind gestures. 
Then a staff who is working in another guesthouse (she is actually a Taiwanese working while learning Korean there) helped us to contact all guesthouse nearby just to get us a place to rest, she speaks fluent Korean, watching her kept talking on the phone at 1 in the morning, I was touched, if I were a guy, I'll definitely fall for her.
Then another day when we were suppose to catch a bus to Nami Island but we missed it, a pedestrian saw us searching up and down and so he came to offer us some help to call the travel agency, suggesting us an alternative way to Nami Island, although he speaks neither English nor Mandarin, I know he was trying his very best to help. How could you not touched by all these?
Will you help a tourist when he/ she looked like in need of any form of help? I won't say no, but I will hesitate, why? Worth think about it.

2. Public toilet
I always got surprise to explore the public toilet in Korea. Usually we will only get surprise when thing happen out of norm. I'm too use to visit a public toilet which has no toilet paper inside, shoe prints on the seat, wet floor, bad smell and etc. Public toilets are not the same in Korea. How can they maintain the toilet so well? Is it because of civilized people or hardworking cleaner or good management system?

3. Language
When I was telling others that I'll be going to Korea, the most common comment that I get is, "are you travel on your own or follow a tour? Communication is an issue there." so, we downloaded apps which can help us to do translation, in case. But, throughout the trip, I don't think language is really a big issue, some of them speak simple English, I even met a guy in MRT and he speaks very fluent English, we can chat about country GDP, safety, tourists spots, economy... And most of the shopping mall, they hire staffs who can speak mandarin as well, of course some of them are China Chinese or Taiwanese, but some are local Korean! They have also a very big banner at the airport written in Chinese, welcome the Chinese (China) to visit their country, smart! Of course there are still a lot of ppl speak only Korean, but again, because they are very friendly, they will try their best way to communicate with u.

4. Fashion trend
Hallyu is real hot everywhere, not only in Asia, but all around the world, and not applicable to only K-pop music, but food and fashion too. Besides the Japanese, Hongkies and Taiwanese, Korean is quite trendy too, I think. But the way the Korean follows the trend is slightly different from the other nations that I mentioned. They are trendy, but not a lot of variation, for example, the shoes, Tom's, I think is in trend, so you will find a lot of youngsters wearing the shoes, as if it's uniform. So, it's not hard to find what's in and what's out at the moment, and now, another in trend item is the big black frame spectacles.

5. Plastic surgery
I am not an expert in differentiating people before and after plastic surgery, my friends said most of the Koreans have done that, erm... I have no comment, but generally, I think the lady, sorry to say, most of them are not natural beauty, they wear heavy makeup, nice to see from far but not close up, so, even they have nice skin, I can't tell what's hiding under the makeup.
Korean, no matter guy or gal, they have big frame, not fat, but just bigger in size, so for guys, they have nice body, I think the reasons might be they take good care of their out look (so they go to gym) and they have to serve in the army too, wow, they are real hot (applicable to their bodies only, not the face, lol). However, for the gals, big frame isn't an usual term we use to describe a beautiful lady.  

6. Safety
I think Seoul is a safe city, at least you don't feel threaten when you are walking alone late night. Friends said because we didn't read the newspaper, we only spend few days there, so we can't really judge, yes, we can't judge but I can feel, compare to some of the countries I visited throughout the years, I think Seoul is safe.
Not to mention in Jeju Island, they have these terms Samda: 3 abundancies (rocks, wind and women) and Sammu: 3 lacks (thief, gate and beggar). From the Sammu, you can tell how safe is this wonderful island.

7. Living expenses
The living expenses in Korea is quite high compare to other Asia countries, a bowl of instant noodle by the roadside costed about RM9, well, I think this is expensive. And anything that labelled "Made in Korea" usually charge higher compare to imported stuffs. However in another hand, the duty free stuffs are worth buying, but those stuffs are usually branded items. So, if you are intended to buy branded items (bags, cosmetics, clothes, skin care and etc.), you will be happy to shop till drop!

So, that how I see and feel about Seoul and Jeju Island... will definitely visit these places again, till I save enough "bullets"...


Friday, May 18, 2012

Putien, 1 Utama

When I saw the notice board saying that this restaurant was going to set up a branch in 1 Utama shopping mall, I can’t wait to share this with my friends who are PR-ing in Singapore, they brought me there the last time when I visited to Singapore and I like the food that they served.

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Dishes which are highly recommended: 九转肠 (Nine layers of pork intestine), 芋香鸭 (Crispy yam duck), 兴化米粉 (Xinghua rice noodle), 卤面 (stewed noodle), etc.

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I was in my diet plan so I only try a piece of each dish above when I was dining with friends in Putien that day and skipped the noodles. Will definitely go there again with parents next time!

Putien
G213A, Ground Floor
Promenade Section
1 Utama Shopping Centre (Old Wing)
Bandar Utama
Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-77221539

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Genting Strawberry Park

Another old dated post which was suppose to be done in Feb… I was thinking to click the x button but few days back, I was searching for something and I found it in my history post, a post which was posted in year 2008, it reminds me the reason why I started blogging years back, one day, when I got old, looking back, this will be a very good photo album with all the stories & feelings that I had & experienced, I should keep blogging…

I know I shouldn’t have any complaint in life, life is always beautiful just the matter in how you look at it. But, by saying is easy, I was quite depressed for a long period time, no specific reason, or probably I’ve been accumulating a lot of bad feeling/ energy unconsciously within myself, and I don’t know how to get rid of it. I think my parents know (as I’m extremely quiet at home), just that they also don’t know how to comfort me, so sometimes they have this idea of doing day trip somewhere, in their mind, I’m always a kid who likes to go out or “gai gai” (road trip).

This time, they brought me to Genting Strawberry Park…

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Before going up to Gohtong Jaya, we had lunch in Bentong – Ginger chicken rice noodle & clay pot tilapia fish, yummy… 

Genting Strawberry Park isn’t exactly all the way up in Genting but in Gohtong Jaya. This park is kinda new, seems maintaining quite well, not over charging and I think is a good place where parents and school teachers can consider to bring kids here learning through play. We be able to pluck the strawberry too, just that you have pay what you have plucked la… 

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Lettuce farm & passion fruit farm too… not a big farm, but at least you know the lettuce and passion fruit didn’t come from hypermarket vegetable section.

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Beautiful wild orchid & calla lily

P/S: Road trip therapy doesn’t always help, but I know my parents are the persons who love me the most in the world.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

Haven’t bake for a period of time, and last 2 months, the strawberry which imported from Korea was so fresh and sweet, coincidently I also found a recipe of making Japanese strawberry short cake, so, I thought I should give it a try. At first I was following the method written to prepare the short cake, however, I failed, yet I need to figure out how to settle 2 boxes of strawberry that I bought, so, I follow the usual way of making sponge cake (refer http://unprofessionalphotography.blogspot.com/2011/03/lemon-peach-mousse-cake_29.html), cut and layered the cake with whipped cream and strawberry cubes, then cover the cake with whipped cream and decorated with strawberry slices… muak, lovely! (self-praise again Embarrassed smile) I think, baking is still quite therapeutic for me, instead of shopping.

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Later on when I was surfing the net, I came to this page http://www.lafujimama.com/2010/07/japanese-strawberry-shortcake/, she is also using sponge and I think, one day I would love to this her recipe.

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Brotzeit – German Bier Bar & Restaurant

I didn’t count the weightage of me posting food compare to other, I guess must be 80:20, Rolling on the floor laughing. Among the 4 essentials, cloth, food, shelter and transportation, I used to prioritize food as my top priority, but lately I lost my appetite, I used to eat a lot, especially those that I like, but lately if you were to ask me if I’m finding any unique restaurant or asking around any good recommendation, I’m not… why? Never thought that this could happen to me, probably my subconsciously I’m stopping myself for food, I really need to go on a healthier and more moderate eating. While saying this, look at what I’ve post for the last 4 or 5 posts! They are all FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD! Light bulbProbably eating too much before this, made me a bit guilty to my body & weight…

This German restaurant was recommended by my colleague's ex-colleagues… That night was crazy… look at what we did… 

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Me & the 3-litre Paulaner

(I’m not a beer lover, just trying to drink the beer with this gigantic beer glass)

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I was bringing my besties – QY & KM for dinner the other day, besides pork knuckle, I don’t think I’m familiar with German food… let’s try!

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The beautiful interior, my favourite is the beer bottle wall

While waiting for QY, me & KM was starving, so, we ordered this onion soup with cheese dumpling as our “pre starter”… omg, love at 1st try!

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Roasted potatoes and salad were picked as our starters. The salad is super yummy, they are not all raw, some for example the cucumber, I think the chef has heated or steamed or smoked a little…

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Wahahahahahaha… here come the main course!!

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The girls were terrified by the portion, me too, but I remember it wasn’t this big when we take this to go with the beer at the crazy night, we had to order few bowls of fries and wedges too, this time, it was really too much for 3 girls. This platter allows us to try all the signature dishes, all type of sausages, pork cutlet, pork knuckle too!

I really like the restaurant although the food & beverage are a bit pricy, and the table near the beer bottle wall has some mosquitoes, I will still highly recommend BROTZEIT!

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Brotzeit – German Bier Bar & Restaurant

Add: G(E)-018, Ground External Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Mid Valley City Lingkaran Syed Putra, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603-22875516

Operating Hours: Sun - Thu: 11:00 – 00:00, Fri & Sat: 11:00 – 01:00

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P/S: All photos were taken by my new toy iPhone 4S since my previous 2 posts http://www.unprofessionalphotography.blogspot.com/2012/03/handcrafted-coffee-full-of-beans.html

Do you think the photos are as nice as taken by my compact digital camera Panasonic (Lumix) DMC-TZ7?

 

Friday, March 30, 2012

Restauran Light House Seafood, Taiping

This wasn’t a food trip, it was a trip to attend my god-sister’s wedding in Penang island during Christmas. We were god-sisters since we both participated a community service during our college time and we were both assigned to the same foster family.

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The bride is my god-sister, the lady in purple next to my god-sister and me is my foster mother, and the guy in blue batik next to the groom is my foster father, the young lady in black dress front row is their daughter aka my foster sister.

The community service was a compulsory activity in the college if you didn’t choose any of the sport curriculum to earn the credit point. Obviously I was joining this instead of sport, I’m not a sport person since young. Looking back, it was fun and meaningful, we visited a rural village in group of about 40, with the mission to close the educational gap between the city and rural village, and I got to know this group of “member” who are very kind-hearted and fun too.

Most of us were actually going to Penang from KL, we car-pooled and when we were traveling back to KL, we stopped by Taiping to visit another member who is staying in Taiping. She brought us to this restaurant which was hiding nowhere, but apparently very famous in the country! Their specialty is seafood porridge, look at the pot that we ordered!!! So huge!!! So YUMMY!!! I must remember how to get there… will sure come again for this.

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We ordered a dish of clam and fried fish too… OMG, the clam was so good, believe me, I can’t stop once started! As for the fish… I do not know how to appreciate this dish, the other members like it, they ate the bone too.

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The signboard of the restaurant and us, my beloved 2000 community service group 7 members!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Handcrafted Coffee - Full of Beans

It’s hard to relate me to coffee, because I can’t tolerate with caffeine, of course I love the coffee scent, like to go cafe with friends, and I support art, anything related to art, I admire artists’ passion, their unlimited inspiration… and these are what I don’t have. When I was traveling to Penang last Dec, my bestie brought me to the new mall – Strait Quay, it has variety of unique restaurants, nice scenery because it’s by the sea, but still a bit quiet due to new opening I guess, then we discover this cafe – Full of Beans, handcrafted specialty coffee.

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The young and pretty barista was syphoning our coffee… this is what we called art (coffee and pretty girl) and science (syphon the method)!!!

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Lemon cake to go with our syphon coffees, I forgot what’s my bestie’s husband order, but he likes it black, and we girls want coffee but at the same time afraid of the after effect, so we had latte. Cake was too sour to eat alone, but to go with coffee, wow, it’s another experience, lemon and bitter coffee can be besties too!

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                                                               The happy girls…
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FULL OF BEANS

(Handcrafted Specialty Cofee)

Unit 3A-1-6, Block A, First Floor, Straits Quay, Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang, 10470