Three Girls, A Laptop, and WAY Too Much Free Time

Other people kill time between classes by, I don't know, studying, or getting a head start on assignments, or having intellectual conversations with interesting people (it IS an institution of higher learning, after all!).

This is what Pei Vin, Christina and May Lee do when bumming around waiting for class to start.

Don't ask.

Practicing our salutes! Just in case... uh... Just in case.

We noticed some people walking by and smirking.. so we decided to cut out the weird faces.

I would post more pictures, but I'm afraid that they might not pass Pei Vin's very high Quality Control standards, and retribution may come in the form of online publication of the picture of our orgasmic faces (mocking a certain asshole, but we look very hideous. Karma is a bitch), in which I look vaguely like Darwin made a mistake and certain people are kin to donkeys. =(

We took a LOT of photos. Hah, Mr Photography Lecturer Who Questioned My Passion For Photography, I never said if my passion lay behind or in front of the camera.

To be honest, when I was young and I thought I would be tall like my 6-footer dad, I had a dream - to be a model. Sadly, sometime in Form 3, I realised: 'I'VE STOPPED GROWING!'. Hopes dashed. I'm a stunted 5 feet 3 inches. So, I decided that I shan't be bitter: I shall TAKE photographs instead! So what if I'm short, eh? No height minimum behind the camera!

The closest I'll ever get to fulfilling my childhood dream - sneaking pics inside boutiques' changing rooms *shifty eyed*. If you like this dress, it's from my uncle's boutique in SS15, Fab'louz Butiq, it really has a lot of awesome clothes! Check out their Facebook profile here.

Yvonne Foong

Today I read in the Star about a senior of mine from high school, Yvonne Foong. 

Yes, I'm sure most of you have heard of her at least once, as she has been featured in newspapers, etc., and has even produced a book 'I'm Not Sick, Just A Little Unwell'. I'm ashamed to say that even though we come from the same area and attended the same school, I know almost nothing about her save the fact that she is very courageously battling Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NFII).

Well, I still know close to nothing, but I do know this: She needs help.

In case you don't know what NFII is, it is a condition in which benign tumours grow inside one's body. In the past, she has lost her hearing; now she is in danger of losing her life.

She now needs to raise funds by Friday in order to pay for a brain shunt that will save her life, as her brain fluid is now bwing produced at such a rapid pace as to be potentially fatal, if there is no intervention. Read more about it here. 

She needs, according to the Star, a whopping RM 23,000 by next Tuesday for her surgery in the United States. If you can, please do your bit for a courageous 24-year-old woman who has faced more hardships than most of us could bear.

How to donate
Bank name: Maybank
A/C no: 512222060663
A/C name: Foong Ming Niang 

For more details, you can contact her mother at this number: 016-356 8579.

Update:
She has managed to receive the funds needed, plus some 10k extra for emergencies. Well done, Malaysia! I have renewed faith in your ability to care for others. <3

Food Post Part 2 - Poon Choy @ LYJ Restaurant

If you, like moi, thought "Who's Poon Choy?" then you would benefit from a short history lesson.

'Poon choy', or 'Big Bowl Feast' is a Hakka dish that originated in the Song Dynasty, when the locals of the Guangdong Province cooked a massive amount of food for the fleeing emperor and his entourage (they were invaded by Mongol troops), but had no dishes to serve them in. 

Problem: No space. 

Solution: Stick 'em all into washbasins!

And thus, Poon Choy was born.

Can I get an 'Amen, Hallelujah'?

This is heaven in a dish for gluttonous swine like me. Those in denial, come out of it, I can hear your stomach growling from here!

Okay, LYJ has taken us out of the times of wooden washbasins, and now we have stainless-steel dishes and 

 stoves(!)

to keep the food warm (Yay for technology!). But, they have retained the essence of the original Poon choy - food fit for an Emperor, all in one dish.

Mmmmm. We counted, there were about 10 varieties of food in there - fishpaste-stuffed fish, steamed chicken, roast duck, vegetables, oysters, some sea fungus thing, pork and a whole lot more - all sitting there bathing in each other's sauces. A word of warning - the Poon Choy can feed up to an estimated 10 - 15 people, depending on their appetites. There were about 12 of us that night, granted, a lot of us aren't exactly large eaters, but there was a huge amount of food left over! Oh, and the Poon Choy comes with a ginormous plate of vegetables on the side. 

Imagine your typical 10-course Chinese dinner, all condensed into one single course. And the fun of trying different sauces and gravies with different meats. They all taste good, you have my word for it.

Proof of LYJ's awesomeness - they have their write-ups on the wall. Photo (and the next couple of photos too) from this blog!

There, now you're all set! Just make sure you have a large group with you - or a large appetite. 

Bon appetit!

 

Food Post Part 1 - Yamada @ SS15!

SS15/5A is definitely best known in the food context as the Japanese food street. You think I'm kidding? There is Tomoe, Gin Ryu Tei (formerly Ryu Men Tei), Rakuzen, Jyu Raku, Hyotan (further down the street), and now, Yamada, which jumped onto the bandwagon about 6 days ago, according to the lady boss. The awesome (some might say crazy) thing is that almost all of them are next door to each other, which means that 'fierce competition' may be a euphemism for what actually goes on while the customers contentedly stuff their faces with sushi and terriyaki chicken.

Now, you may think 'GILA! Yamada is the new kid on the block, confirm die d.'

Hah. You is wrong, my friend.

For one, Yamada is helmed by none other than Yoshiharu Yamada, the selfsame chef who ran the kitchen of Munakata for about 25 years. Yes, the Munakata.

Do you want to know something coincidental? The Yamadas have a daughter who goes to the school my dad teaches in. Talk about a small world!

Back to the restaurant:

I don't consider myself a 'food blogger' since my posts are always so fail - I just like to post illustrated gushes about good food. I shall proceed to gush now.

One, the chef is the uber experienced and fabulous Yoshiharu Yamada.

Two, jockey service so you don't have to make ten rounds around SS15 looking for one lousy parking spot.

Three, THE FOOD.

Mmmm. Appetiser on the left, some really awesome beef cubes that are salty-sour and chewy and GOOD. On the right, the salad that comes with the set. They make their own dressing!

 My set! Sorry, the name escapes me. But it's a ginger-flavoured beef set. At RM25, I think it's really reasonable! The mound of beef may look small, but it's actually a LOT of thinly-sliced beef, so tender and juicy the strips almost fall apart in your mouth. Flavour-wise, I can only drool expressively in the hopes you get what I mean. Delicately flavoured with garlic and a gorgeous slightly buttery juice, it's really something I'd recommend.

The sai lou with the bowl of garlic fried rice (RM9). It isn't on the menu, but the chef said 'No Problem!', and voila! Fragrant, delicately fried, and a rather huge portion. Can I get a 'YUMMY!'?

The chicken terriyaki set (RM21), the name of which I've forgotten again. I solemnly swear to bring a notebook next time I go out to eat. I have the memory of an aging goldfish. 

The chicken is also a thing of beauty and joy! It is deep-fried, but I don't know why the texture and taste is a little bit reminiscent of satay. Covered in a terriyaki sauce that isn't too heavy and overpowering, can you blame me for stealing bits of chicken from my brother?

Hmm. My picture of the Saba Shio set (muahaha I got the name from another review found here. Go read it, the pics are WAY better than mine AND the reviewer remembers the names of the food!) is really horrendous. Go read the review in the link, the pic is much nicer.

The saba is filleted, something you don't get in regular, run-of-the-mill Japanese restaurants. A whole saba fillet, beatifully seasoned and delicately pan-fried. Juicy, pesky bone-less, and slightly crispy on the outside, it is a steal at RM21. Seriously.

To top everything off, check this out! Complimentary sashimi from the chef! 

You can literally TASTE the freshness. I kept the wasabi at a minimum, just enough for a bit of a kick, but so little I could taste the flavours of the sashimi. Fresh, light, and tender.

Are you drooling yet?

Yamada Japanese Restaurant
5, Jalan SS15/5A,
Subang Jaya,
Selangor.

Review: Life of Pi

I finally finished reading Life of Pi, an incredible book that somehow COMPLETELY escaped my notice until recently when a friend told me about it. It's one of those books that just suck you in, and bombard you with imagery, emotions, and messages that make you wish your brain had a higher processing power so you can take it all in.

Or maybe it's just me, and I have a slow brain. I don't know.

The story goes like this: Piscine Molitor Patel starts his life story with a bit of background information - born in Pondicherry, calls himself 'Pi' because 'Piscine' is a French word that sounds like 'Pissing', the son of zoo owner, discovered religion at the age of 14 (he discovered Christianity and Islam, and practiced both in addition to his original religion of Hinduism), was supposed to emigrate to Canada with his family. On the ship, tragedy struck, and he ended up on a lifeboat ALONE with a bunch of animals, most notably a 450-pound Royal Bengal Tiger. Now, I don't know about you, but I definitely would not want to be anywhere near a tiger, especially if there are no solid steel bars between the both of us.

I don't want to give too much away, but it took Pi 227 days of aimlessly drifting to reach Mexico (he tells us this right at the beginning, so we don't have to suffer the agony of wondering if he's going to get eaten by the tiger), during which time he acted as zookeeper to the incongruously-named tiger, Richard Parker. A skinny little boy, it took all his mental, physical and spiritual strength to survive. 

A vegetarian, he became an expert butcher.

A devoted Hindu, Christian and Muslim, his faith was continually tested but he persevered, managing to perform holy rites.

Someone who used to get picked on by his older brother, he summoned the balls to act as alpha male on that boat (the other male being a FRICKIN BENGAL TIGER).

It is the narration of an amazing journey, not just in terms of physical distance as travelled by this boy in a lifeboat, but also in terms of life.

Reading it, I was continually amazed at man's capacity for adaptation and change, and what humans will resort to in times of intense need and desperation.

What makes me really go 'wow!' is the fact that for the most part of the book, there is only one human character. It is not a book to throw you off by introducing a whole host of characters in the hopes that you will not notice the deficiencies of the protagonist. In this book, there is one boy and one tiger, on a sea. There is nowhere to hide, and in this case, no NEED to hide.

Is it any wonder that it won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2002? I think not.

Wednesday Night

IS DRINKING NIGHT!

Study? Us? Whaaat? Apa tu?

THIS is what Literature students get up to when we suddenly decide to dress up, get out of the monkey-infested jungle that is UKM and paint the town... err.. a nice shade of salmon pink.

The view from my window. Pretty, no? But MONKEY INFESTED.

So, back to our Wednesday night escapade!

We went to Jaya 1 in PJ, specifically because of Brussels Beer Garden (Hoegaarden!), because Chris Tan was craving Hoegaarden beer (and so was I). But I'm getting ahead of myself. The night starts with dinner at Frontera, this AWESOME Mexican place in Jaya 1, right next to Brussels. 

While waiting for Her Majesty Pei Vin to arrive, we 

The Christinas!

This is NOT a candid shot. Do not be fooled.

camwhoredddd =D *ahem* I mean, practiced our photography skills. Don't the Christinas look awesome?

When Pei Vin arrived, she wanted to join in the fun!

Okay, enough about us, what about the food, right? THE FOOD IS GOOD. We've never had burritos or tacos before, and I had to ask a waiter "Erm, excuse me, what is a burrito?", feeling very stupid because, hello, we're in a Mexican place! How can we not know what Mexican food is, right? However he wasn't very informative, being quite bad at explaining.. so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Zees ees a burrito.

And this is a taco!

We tried both types of taco; yes, you can choose from a choice of 'soft' or 'hard' tacos (Chris chose both cos we're all noobs at tacos, etc). Both are yummy! The hard one tastes like Original Flavour Chachos. The soft one is a squishy Chacho. Hmm. Sounds gross, but tastes good!

The burritos - Chrissy had a Frontera Beef Burrito (RM15.95) and I had a Shredded Beef (RM17.95) one - look exactly the same so I only uploaded one picture! They taste super awesome - if you like Tex-Mex food, you'd love this place. Mine was incredbly rich and flavourful, the beef was nicely shredded and tender. With cheese and their 'Fire Sauce' (I kept interrogating the waiter "Is it spicy?" "Are you SURE it's not? Are you really really SURE?", I mean, it's called FIRE Sauce! But it's not, don't worry), it is absolutely yummy, bursting with meat and juices, tempered with the richness of the cheese. The burrito's wrapping - a flour tortilla, if I'm not wrong - is slightly chewy in texture and relatively tasteless, which is perfectly fine because it complements the stuffing to perfection. 

Chrissy's burrito tasted quite similar to mine, to be honest. I can't really remember what the difference was, but I found mine to be more flavourful and her beef wasn't all shredded like mine.

The burritos and tacos came with 3 sides; refried beans, a salsa salad thing, and Mexican rice. The rice... well, it tasted like nasi tomato. Not the most amazing thing ever, to be honest, just tomato-ey rice. Plus, I'm on my low-carb diet, so I automatically go 'EW! CARBSS!' whenever I encounter rice. But the refried beans are pretty awesome! Somehow, when I think of 'refried', I envision dry, slightly burnt and pebble-like beans. But noooo.. these are the texture of baked beans, with a delicious savoury flavour that just... oh God, I'm starting to salivate. Mmm. 

The salsa salad was okay! A lot of people aren't really into tomatoes and onions, so if you're one of them, the salad may not be your thing, but I found it really nice after all that heavy food. Very light, with that onion-y bite and the tang of tomatoes, it really prevented me from getting jelak.

And the tacos! Mmm. Chris chose the Chicken Taco (RM17.95, I think) (I'm so bad at remembering names *sadface*), so its flavour was lighter compared to ours. Unlike my burrito, the taco was stuffed with veggies as well as meat. And I only tried the hard taco, so it's hard to give a really accurate review.. but it was really very nice! Something I had never ever tried before. And it takes a while to get the hang of eating a taco, I think, especially a hard one, since it CRACKS when you use a knife on it. She ended up using her hands. A bit messy, but very VERY nice, especially with the special sauce it came with.

Pei Vin, being unsure of what to order, stuck to the safe option

Cajun Fish and Chips (RM 20-odd? Sorry, I fail at this).

Okay, it may look quite dry and not very appetising compared to the other, more exotic, things we ordered, but it's pretty damn good! The pinkish sauce is the dip for the fish, I have no idea what it is, but it's definitely not regular old tartar. Stupendously good. The fish didn't taste 'Cajun', I mean, I don't know what 'Cajun' is, but it tasted like regular battered fish, so... but it was really delicious! Perfectly soft and white under the crispy coat of batter. And the friessss *drool* I LOVE THEIR FRIES. I like my fries crispy on the outside and soft and potatoey on the inside. Therefore, it only made perfect sense to throw my carb-less diet to the wind (heck I was going to drink beer in a bit, so what's the point of a diet?), and inhale Pei Vin's fries for her.

Sufficiently reenergised, we resumed camwhoring with vigour.

Our resident supermodel, Chris Tan.

But then all hell broke loose. Pei Vin went on a terror spree!

"HAND OVER THAT PHONE!"

"I LOOK HORRIBLEE!!"

I think the other customers thought we were mad. We were, sort of. IT'S THE REFRIED BEANS, I SWEAR.

BEST BEHAVIOUR, EVERYBODY!

 After the war, we put all differences aside and took a happy group shot. All the warring places in the world should emulate us. Seriously. UN, maybe you should discuss this at the next summit or whatever. BTW, if I stop blogging, it's because I've been murdered by Pei Vin for posting mad photos of her. Sorry Pei Vin! Nice pics coming up!

After brawling like a bunch of enraged cowboys in a Mexican cantina paying the bill in a dignified manner, we went to Brussels!

Chris with her Hoegaarden, Chrissy with her Baileys, and Pei Vin with her.... tomato juice. Sigh.

The Beer Guy! Poor man, I was like "WAITTTT! I WANT TO TAKE YOUR PICTURE!" and he had to stop and smile (while cursing inwardly, no doubt).

Hello, beloved Hoegaarden, we meet again.

Light, ice-cold, refreshing beer. YUM!  

I refuse to think of the calories.

Pei Vin's tomato juice turned out to be utter crap. So we played lat-tali-lat to see who'd have to drink it. Guess who was the lucky loser?

Sigh.

I like tomatoes, I do. But tomato juice? Sorrylah. It's gross.

After more gossiping and bitching and gawping at Amber Chia's preggerness, we had to leaveeeee. And here ends this week's episode of 'ESCAPING FROM THE MONKEYS!'.

Rite of Passage!

I think there are milestones that mark the lives of women, and one such milestone is

HER FIRST BIKINI!

Yes, I finally have one, thanks to the Christinas!

Chris Tan and Chrissy

Birthday pressie, but I never really got around to taking pics (in it, and of it). Well, the pics have all been taken but the ones of me in it will not be published for the sake of your eyes.You're most welcome.

Here it is, May Lee-less!

Isn't it gorgeous? Quick; someone, ANYONE, TAKE ME TO THE BEACH!

Yes, my friends know of my not-state-secret: My love of Disney Princesses. So, the box (Chrissy made it herself!) is all DP-ed in a way that made me clutch the box in awe (I was actually distracted from the pressie inside! That's how much I love me my cartoons!) and wonder. 

Ooops, pic not rotated. Nevermind, rotate your head.

Lookit that! Dear PRINCESS May Lee. *beams*

'Nuff said.

Hand Me The Bleach...

...I need to clean my brain. No, I haven't been doing/looking at/watching anything I shouldn't have. Ironically, my trauma comes from a desire to keep abreast of current news. Who said it's good to read the papers? FML.

Nek Wook wants a baby

Nek Wook, the 108 year-old cougar (she puts other cougars like Demi Moore to shame, woot! Malaysia Boleh!) and her recently-released-from-rehab-ex-druggie-toyboy (at 38, the word BOY is debatable; but compared to her, he's practically a beardless stripling) want to have a child.

As in, a real baby.

Oh, and here's the bit that made me want to pour Clorox into my brain by way of my eyeballs.

“We tried (to have a baby) earlier but my wife’s age factor was an obstacle." ~ disgusting fetish man, a.k.a Druggie Hubby. HOLY GOD, WTF! SHE'S ONE HUNDRED AND FUCKING EIGHT! DUDE! GO BACK TO REHAB, YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY NOT OKAY YET!

"We tried it the normal way, but my wife menopaused five decades ago, oops. We forgot. Hey, give us a baby!"

 So yeah, they now want to adopt a child, ala Brangelina (but just a teensy bit older). 

"Mohd Noor said that on their way back from Pasir Mas, Kelantan, yesterday, his wife pointed out to him a shop selling mittens and baby products.
“When I looked at her gesture, I realised that she badly wanted a baby,” he said, adding that they would prefer a toddler as he would be easier to take care of.
“I can’t expect my wife to be running around at her age when I have to work to fend for my family,” he said."

*cue hysterical laughter* The man must still be on drugs.

How are toddlers easier to take care of?

Uh. Good luck. Hey, maybe if you feed the kid drugs (share share a bit la, you're his dad!), he'd be REALLY easy to care for.

"I can have sex at 108 - I can handle ANYTHING!"

 "Mommy, you're so YOUNG!"

P/S: Play safe, heed the condom ad (Not you, Egg-less Grandma and Druggie Hubby.)

Ingenuity, Thy Name is UKM Student

This is my friend Christina.

This is Christina's drawer.

20 rolls of toilet paper, God only knows how many packets of tissue, 6 bars of Dettol soap.. the list continues. I get a kick out of showing visitors her drawer, which can double up as a kedai runcit (convenience store).

However, as we realised one fine day, she has 20 rolls of toilet paper

BUT NO CUPS.

This is how we sophisticated university students take our drinks.

Yup, Tupperware.

We were driven to desperation.

Literature students are taught to think out of the box, you know!

In case you were wondering why I didn't volunteer any cups of my own:

I didn't bring any, either. *shamefaced*

*babbles incoherently*

We can finally see Enrique Iglesias - ALL of Enrique Iglesias - and we don't even have to risk jail time!

Ladies, stop pinching yourselves. This is NOT a drill. I repeat, 

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Read THIS

Enrique Iglesias Promises To Keep One Drunk, Seksi Bet!

 

and try not to squeal.

 

 Madre de Dios!

Holland wha-?

¡Viva España!