Of things that go “bump” in the night

Horror films are not my cup of tea, but sat through one last Saturday. It is a 2004 Thai based film called “Shutter”, where a young couple accidentally hits someone whilst driving, and sped away. The question is, can you escape the past? The story unfolds with past secrets coming back to “haunt” them, literally. The guy is a photographer, and he begins to note “things” in the pictures he takes.

I think the movie had some “borrowed” moments from other horror shows, but is creepy enough at certain parts. There were a few scenes in the middle of the show which scared me a bit, but the ending almost totally freaked me out. Unexpected and unnerving to the core (to me anyway). Go get the DVD or VCD for Shutter. I think it is worth a watch, particularly for the ending.

From this show, it compounded my past fears of horror movies, and listing them down also sends chills down my spine:

1. Sleeping, whilst something stares malevolently at you.
2. Something creeps from under the bed towards you.
3. Use of a knife to self-inflict cuts with blood dripping all over, but oblivious to the pain.
4. Standing in the lift facing the lift button, with something looking at you from your back.
5. Something hanging from the ceiling watching you (brrrrrr)…

Number 4 and 5 are my worst fears at the moment. Don’t know why, but extremely nervous and totally freaked out by scenes like that. Should I pyscho analyse myself? :(

How do I overcome my fears, I say prayers usually, recited like a mantra. Yes, I know, I am such a scardy-cat for a grown up, but I don’t take things like these lightly.

What sends chills down your spine?

The Birds and the Bees

Received this via email the other day, and still tickled me somewhat although not a new joke. That Old Question, but an IT answer. May be viewed as a bit "sexist", in that the Dad answers, but for all you people into "Women Power", just imagine it's the Mum answering. :)

CHILD: Dad, where did I come from?

DAD: Okay, we had to have this conversation some day!.. Listen... Dad and mom met in a chat room on the net. I set up a meeting with your mom and we landed in the bathroom at the Cyber Cafe? Then, mom did some downloads from dads memory stick and when dad was ready to upload, we discovered that there was no firewall. Seeing that it was a bit too late to cancel, I just carried on doing the upload. Nine months later, the damn virus appeared!.

CHILD: Huh?

Other food encounters - Part 2

Sometimes I wonder why I can’t seem to lose weight, and then I think back on what I have eaten during the week, and it makes me ponder more. Here I am with lots of opportunities to eat. Should I whack kau-kau? Should I control? My inner being is torn in two; on one hand, I “eat to live”, and the other, I “live to eat”. How ah?! Exercise? Err… soon… soon….

A Local Encounter - Tapas
Located at the Micasa Service Apartments. Their crème brulee is supposed to be very good, but has somehow deteriorated in quality over time. Even the food. I like the fried kueh teow here, and is served in a mini wok thingy. Quite a nice presentation I thought, but taste wise has gone downhill.








A Local Encounter - Alexis Bistro
Just had this today. Celebrated one of my colleagues’ birthday. Ordered different types of food and shared amongst all of us. It’s a turning point in age for her, as one other colleague “gently” put it, “normally the change in age is 1 digit, this time is 2 digits”! In my working terminology, “big figure changed”….Ouch… But no matter the age, young at heart is best. :P








A Local Encounter - Kuchai Entrepreneurs’ Park
Again, another birthday celebration, but this time for one of my gang members last Sunday. Went to Kuchai’s Entrepreneurs’ Park post birthday bash (i.e. after lunch, bowling, movie, etc). Quite a lot of selection, quality varies depending on stalls. Generally ok, but look at the succulent satay dish. Mama mia!!! Apparently a popular spot, given the larger number of people frequenting the place.








A Local Encounter - Miscellaneous
Mango lolo anyone? Shaved iced topped with fresh mango, and a “healthy” dose of mango syrup on it. Anyone who loves mango, must try this. Had this in the outlet in Kepong (wai sik kai) sometime back, but I think the “road side shop” has expanded, and opened an upscale shop selling this as well as other desserts.

There’s actually another place I frequent, Sri Neela’s in Taman Desa. I go there for the Paper Tosai (tosei? – will call it TS then). It’s the best place to have the paper TS, spread out thinly on the hot cooking thingy, and scrapped through to make it extra thin. Add a dab or two of sugar and margarine (or is it butter?), let it brown on one side, cut from centre to the outer rim, roll and voila! It is ready. Can’t seem to find a picture of it. I guess whenever I eat there, no time to take picture, just eat upon serving…. too good to hold back.


A Chocolate Encounter
Who’s a fan of chocolate? I like chocolate, especially the dark chocolate variety, and have even known cakes with names like “Death By Chocolate” (and have tried it too!, very good!). Was given some chocolate in the office, and with work being extra stressed this week (a few late nights with tight deadlines), my consumption of chocolate increased. People often asked me how come I put on so much weight compared to a few years back. I usually reply, “When I am stressed, I eat chocolate”, but I guess in my line of work and my lifestyle, opportunity to eat comes quite frequently. So, have tried to reduce eating portions as a form of “operational” control.

Got this picture through the email, and reminded me of the song “How much is the doggie in the window? Woof, Woof!”, and I almost “salivated” just looking at it!




And here end-eth my posts on food encounters (for now anyway).

Other food encounters - Part 1

Been a bit remiss in my postings earlier. Had quite a few makan-ing sessions over the past month, but have not been updating regularly. So here’s me playing “ketchup” (catch up – get it?) Hahahaaaa….. never mind me, private joke:

A Korean Encounter
I think I have been at least twice within the month to two different restaurants in the Korean Village opposite Ampang Point for Korean BBQ. Both outlets were opened by authentic Koreans, and when you see other Koreans eating there, you can bet the food is genuine enough. My younger sister goes for the ox tongue BBQ. Personally, I think it is so-so only. My preference is for the marinated oink oink meat, as well as the BuGoGi. I find the unique thing about Korean makan is that there are a lot of side dishes to go with the mains. Yummy..








A Japanese Encounter
Another encounter split over two sessions at two different Japanese outlets. The first is an outlet called Kiku Zakura. It’s a chain of restaurant situated in selected shopping malls. They do a mean tasting Teriyaki Chicken! Tried their fried yam ice cream dessert, came in two pieces, and with yam ice cream oozing out upon opening the crust…. Ohhhh - slurpp……..







The second Japanese encounter was at the Japanese restaurant in KL Hilton. A bit on the posh side, but catered well for business lunches. I had a Unagi and Tempura mix set, as well as one soft shell crab temaki (handroll). Surprisingly, I was kind of disappointed with the presentation of the dishes given its so called prestige, but food quality was quite good. And guess how much was EACH of the soft shell crab temaki? RM5? RM10? RM20? Nope. RM25? Nope. Higher, my good chap, higher! But, it was damn good (even before I found out the price). Fresh and well fried to a crisp! The dessert was also quite good, a plate of fruits, with some black sesame ice cream. Don’t mind the position of the spoon (ahem), I had it nicely laid out for my photo taking, but one of my lunch companion thought that it would have more character placed this way… oh well…








A Durian Encounter
Was invited to a “all you can eat” durian fest last weekend by one of the bankers who played host at Bukit Kiara enar the poolside. They bought different types of durians by the truckload. It rained initially in the afternoon, but subsided to give a nice cool atmosphere. I tried various types of durian, and found one which I particularly like (I think it is called “101”, much better than the famous D24). The flesh is so rich in taste and meaty, slightly golden, and va va voom… simply brilliant. I went over to the durian party with the intention of just saying “hello” and maybe conservatively makan one or two pips (as I had a following engagement – see the seafood encounter – right after the durian fest). But greed prevailed, and I stuffed myself silly with durians (sigh). Was a bit “shy” to take close up pics of the durians as there were quite a few people around, but can go imagine’lah!












A Seafood Encounter
Right after the durian party, a bunch of us went to Pandamaran for seafood! Given the “slightly” enlarged size of my tummy (even more pronounced than normal), I selectively chose what to eat. There was seafood galore, and the group went heavy on crabs – tried the salt baked one and then the steamed one. Personally, I like my food more savoury, but can’t complain, cos’ I wasn’t really hungry anyway. The prawns was divine though, with a house special mixed paste. Had some “man tous”, and devoured the prawn paste with the man tous accordingly!







Dinner conversation touched on softshell crabs (we didn’t have it that night), and one story somehow shocked me a bit, but don’t know true or not. I have always thought that the softshell crabs were “born” softshell, i.e. naturally softshelled, but was told that it is not true. To get the shells soft, the shells, legs, etc, are peeled off the LIVE crabs, so that they would grow back. In the process of growing back, the meat is thus tender and soft. Hence, at that stage, it is cooked as softshell crabs! EWWWW!!! So cruel! But then again, I need to do some research on it to verify the process. Otherwise, am not sure if I can look at another softshell crab dish in the same way again. Anyone know for sure and can help verify? And yes, when I was in KK four days prior to the seafood encounter, I walloped a mega big helping of softshell crabs. Now where did I put my bottle of Lecithin….

China - the food (a selection)

Generally, I preferred the food in Kunming compared to Dali or Lijiang. One thing I note, is that there seemed to be a standard dish of fish (but with so many bones!), possibly because it is fresh water fish as opposed to deep sea fish, with variations in its cooking style. There is also the obligatory "oink-oink" dish, but shudder to think of all the layers of fat on the meat. I took a slice or two initially during the trip, and totally avoided the dish or its variation after that. I think the best meal was on the last day, where we had the mushroom hot pot, apparently a popular seasonal dish in Kunming. And in no particular order:











I asked the tour guide how much does it cost for a typical meal outside of restaurants and touristy areas, and was told a simple meal like the chap fan type can range between 5 to 8 Yuan (which is about RM2.30 to RM3.70 at current exchange rate).