The Manhattan Fish Market

Personally i've not been to The Manhattan Fish Market before, be it at Gurney Plaza, Queensbay Mall or Juru Autocity. Both sis visited this place and it is highly recommended by them. The price is reasonable considering the big food portion. And they give lots of fries! I love to try the Manhattan Favourites - Manhattan Fish & Chips & Manhattan Seafood Platter for Two looks very tempting & i've not taking my dinner. Fish fillet, oysters, prawns, rice & FRIES - my favourite. I can hear my stomach growling now.

place to eat?

Does anybody know where to have dinner for 4 persons + karaoke in Penang or Bworth? Budget is around RM200-300. Any type of food is fine except Japs, cos FIL dun take japanese food & i dun take raw food :P

My bro-in-law is coming back this Saturday & hubby is planning to organize a dinner to celebrate both father's & mother's day. MIL enjoys singing & she just took part in a singing competition among her own gang. Hakkaido at Gurney Drive is not a bad idea but it's gonna be very expensive.

Nuffnang reduces minimum cashout to RM50!

Check out the latest news at Nuffnang blog on the reduction of minimum cashout to RM50. Of cos it's a great news for small blogger like, so considerate...muacks... I still have RM49 to go by the way :p Well, it's a good start wat :)

Hopefully Nuffnang team notice my other blogs:
Life at Work
Stories to Share


p.s. Tim, you still owe me a Nuffnang cap :p

Nuffnang - The Orient's Voice Gathering

As promised, i've delayed the post on Nuffnang - The Orient's Voice Gathering. It was held at Food Loft, Gurney Plaza Penang. I was late by 20mins and when i reached there, i saw a bunch of people in white Nuffnang shirts. Simple and nice shirt i would say. I sat with my friends, zoe-t, CW & Dan (a new found friend). Well, i felt like an alien on that day since there were a lot of people whom i dunno and looked much younger than me. Sad only. I didn't realise a group of mummy at the other corner, if not i would go over and say Hi to JacelynChew. Saw a few other "VIPs" like KennySia, Nicole, CedricAng, TimTiah & 5XMom at another table. I really like Lilian when i first saw her. She smiled all the time through out the gathering and was very friendly.

(pictures from Dan)

There were very few counters at Food Loft compared to Mache in Singapore although both the restaurant have the same style where you will be given a card when you enter the restaurant & return the card to the cashier before you leave. If you happen to lose the card, you're in trouble as fine will be imposed. Once you order your food, you need to pass the card for the workers to scan some amount of money on to your card. Fish & chips which i ordered was a big NO. After seeing other people's blogs on food at Food Loft, i think i did a mistake by ordering the fish & chips :P

There were a few games & quizzes going one including where Kenny had to donate some hairs off his body for auction (for charity), thanks to Dan. I didn't stay for too long for the gathering since hubby was waiting for me at the atrium. No doubt it was a successful event for Nuffnang :)

Road to Stardom with StarCeleb

StarCeleb
There is a new show called the StarCeleb reality show hosted by Daniel Tan & May Wan. This show gives you a chance to become a Star Celebrity, host, brand ambassador and model. It's simple, all you need is to be a Malaysian between the ages 18-30 and fluent in English/ Mandarin.

For those who are interested:
Audition date: 23rd-24th June & 30th-1st June 2007
Venue: Parkroyal Hotel,Level 2 Catleya Rooms,Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL



Only 2 talented lucky winners will be entitled for 1 year modeling contract & RM25K each. Winners also stand the chance to be star celebrity, host or even brand ambassador. Hurry & grab this opportunity =)

Advertlets Blogvertorial opportunity for 50 Bloggers!
This opportunity is open to all MALAYSIAN bloggers between 18-30. Blog language has to be either English / Chinese. Click here for more information on what to write & how to participate. Deadline is before 1 July 2007 and limited to 50bloggers only.

$$ in need

Yay yay, tomorrow i'll be getting the keys to my mini apartment. But i need to prepare cash for my apartment renovation & an extra carpark. Darn, RM20k will fly away from my account by next month. Wonder how long EPF will take to approve & bank in my EPF money. Hubby's application is approved but it has been almost 2 months and he has not seen his money in his bank account yet....

strange but sweet :)

I have no idea what happened, but from the day i came back from our family trip, hubby & i haven't had any war yet *touch wood*. Seriously, usually both of us will surely find something to argue about 2-3times a week. Sometimes, the war will drag for 1-2days. But since Sunday, there is no war between us. Strange izzit it? It's so unlike us but it's a pleasant thing for both of us :)

joke or reality

The forwarded email below is now circulating in my office. I've received 4 of them from separate senders. A joke or reality? You decide.

"Before the marriage:
He: Yes. At last. It was so hard to wait.
She: Do you want me to leave?
He: NO! Don't even think about it.
She: Do you love me?
He: Of course!
She: Have you ever cheated on me?
He: NO! Why you even asking?
She: Will you kiss me?
He: Yes!
She: Will you hit me?
He: No way! I'm not such kind of person!
She: Can I trust you?
Now after the marriage,read it from bottom to the top. "

help Yvonne Foong

The first thing i saw on my blog this morning was an ad about a patient of Neurofibromatosis, Yvonne Foong (see the Ads on the right of my blog). The title of the ad is "Click here to find out how you can help a blogger who might be in danger of losing her eyesight."

She is suffering from Neurofibromatosis where there are tumors along her spine, brain & under her skin. She lost her hearing within a year. Although she may look well now, but her whole body is full of ticking time bombs. My heart goes out to her.

Some may question why didn't she go for newspapers or higher authority like MCA for help? She has a good reason behind her. All she needs is fund for constant scanning to trace abnormalities in her body and she may not know when the tumor will attack her body. I hope those who are reading this will sympathy her and give her support that she needs.

thanks to Advertlets

Another big hug & kisses to Advertlets for putting "Lesen Mati" ad in my blog. I received RM0.30 after after one week, not really that bad :P I didn't realise there was an ad in my blog until a friend of mine triggered me.

I received another ad from Advertlets on Ping. Ping will be having its 1st Anniversary Party on 070707 (7 July 2007) at Geek Terminal in Spore. There will be Blog Awards Presentation where food will be served for free. Advertlets is their main sponsor including Bak2u & Geek Terminal.

hugs & kisses to Nuffnang, Exabytes, Foodloft & oOmph!

I would like to thank Nuffnang & Exabytes for advertising in my blog. Was pretty busy last week that i had no chance to post about the ads Nuffnang put on my blog.

Recently i too was invited to join the First Nuffnang gathering in the Penang, The Orient's Voice. Only 100 Nuffnangers are invited for this special event held at the Food Loft at Gurney Plaza, am i lucky? Food and drinks will be sponsored by Food Loft whereas gifts are from Exabytes & oOmph!

Bangkok - Day 4

Read more here: Day1, Day2 , Day3 , Day4

16June Day 4
Mum tried to wake dad & youngest sis for breakfast. Nobody wants to go for breakfast since we had a tiring day before that. I went to breakfast with mum & sis & her bf. We packed breakfast for the rest. Finally we took a bus from our hotel to Grand Palace & Wat Phra Keow. On the bus, a Thai guy volunteered to bring us to Wat Phra Keow since we're unsure on where to begin. We were inside the compound where we were stopped by a few guys with badges. Thinking that they're trying to cheat us as well, we ignored them. However more people with badges came to stop us & were very fierce. Finally convinced by them, we went to rent clothes to cover our "aurat" before going into the temple & grand palace. Even sis's bf also had to rent a pair of pants and shirt since he was wearing 3/4pants & sleeveless. Took a very fast tour around the temple & grand palace. Saw the Emerald Buddha & blessed ourselves with blessed water using lotus flower. From there we took a bus to Chatuchak Market directly. Took lunch at one of the coffee shops where the auntie mistaken dad for being a Thai. Must be his skin color...hehehe. After lunch, we proceeded to CTC market entrance. We were separated into 2 groups since the place is so big with 15000 stalls. You won't be able to find anybody in that area even if you have CTC map in your hand. Believe me, it's big & crowded makes you very sticky & hot. I had to search for dried prawns and you will never believe how many stall owners & police officers i approached before getting to the correct stall. The dried prawns was priced at RM36/kg but the girl gave me discounted price at RM32. I asked her to give more discount, she reduced to RM28 "last price". I asked her for more discount. She then asked me to give her a price (it's their tactic). So rubbed her back (no harassment) & smiled at her and told her RM20 :P She kept saying "no, cannot....please please please". I kept smiling at her but firmed with RM20 :D In the end, she gave up and packed for me. I'm not sure whether it was a good deal or not, but i'm definitely happy with the price :>

Just when we were on our way out from the mess, sis wanted to get to the first shop to buy her bag. Ya allah....so we went for a big round in search of the "first shop". Looking on the bright side, we found a stall selling tidbits & selling fried insects & maggots >: Took the MRT back and bathed. Went out for dinner on the right hand side of our hotel, seafood stall. We ordered 5 dishes but they served 6 dishes. The extra dish was Mango salad (kerabu mango). Unsure whether it was papaya or mango salad, i took a bit and tested without realising what i've done and confirmed it was mango salad which we wanted to order earlier but didn't :P The rest scolded me jokingly for being siao to taste the food like that. I didn't know why on earth i did that. I calculated the price for dinner was RM75+ but it turned out to be RM69. I think they have made a big mistake. A girl came to do the calculation by just looking at the leftover dishes on our table. How on earth will she know what we had earlier since there were only empty plates on the table. So stupid :P Anyway, we went back to hotel, packed & calculated the expenses for each person. RM547 per head, including accommodation, transportation, meals & airport transfer. That's so cheap isn't it? I only spent RM200 for shopping :D

Expenses:

1) Grand Palace/Wat Phra Keow
Bus No.2 from Samran Place Hotel to Grand Palace/Wat Phra Keow (RM0.70)
Grand Palace/Wat Phra Keow entrance fee (RM25)



2) Chatuchak Weekend Market
Bus No. 44 from Grand Palace/Wat Phra Keow – Chatuchak Weekend Market (RM1.50)
Kampung Pheat MRT – Chatuchak Park BTS (RM1)
Interchg Mo Chit MRT – Ratchathewi BTS (RM 1.50)

Bangkok - Day 3

Read more here: Day1, Day2 , Day3 , Day4

15June Day3
Woke up at 5am to catch the 6am bus (BKK time). We took packed breakfast from the hotel since it took 45mins before we reached Southern Bus Terminal to catch another bus to the Floating Market. The bus dropped us at Southern Bus Terminal where we saw a lot of buses. Uncertain of which bus to take, we asked a passerby to guide us. She took us to a bus nearby where the driver kept saying "Yes yes yes" for every questions we asked him. Sensing something was not right, we went to another 7-11 and asked a guy. The guy was kind enough and brought us into the Southern Bus Terminal counter itself and asked for bus info for us. It was RM8 per person and we thanked him & waited for the bus to arrive 20mins later.

The moment we got onto the bus, everybody slept until the bus conductor woke us up. To our surprise, we reached a place where there is only 1 boat station and the lady was charging us RM30 per person. We got CONNED by the bus driver. We didn't want to get on the boat & tried to tell the bus conductor they dropped us at the wrong place. All of a sudden, the bus conductor suddenly kept quiet & dun want to entertain us & pretend dunno how to speak english!! No other choice except to bargain with the lady. The price was reduced from RM210 to RM200...big deal!! Sis said that her friends hired a boat for RM110 only. The lady threaten us that the market will be closed by 11am (BKK time) & that time was already 9am (BKK time). My da jie & i were very angry so we spoke using calculator only. She reduced the price to RM190, last price according to her. We insisted RM100. Then my sis couldn't tolerate anymore, said that we're only going to pay RM110. The lady agreed. Later i found out that the canal tour is only RM50...damn it! After touring the river which was very crowded with seller & tourists, we took a yellow bus back to the bus station to switch to another bus back to Bangkok.

first seller who approached us with mangosteens

more things to bargin for

2nd hiccup of the day, the yellow bus dropped us somewhere in the town of Dumneon Saduak and told us to wait for a bus there. @#$@!!! I got so angry but what to do, we had to trust him. Waited anxiously for 30mins & a bus came and picked us all up.

3rd hiccup, we were left at unknown place again where we had to walk about 20mins. All of us gave up & we stopped a bus to take us to the bus station. Initially, we wanted to visit the Grand Palace but everybody was dead tired & we ended up taking the bus back to our hotel where everybody slept like a pig.

Sis woke us all up for dinner. We walked to MRT station from our hotel place again to Lamphoon. There is a famous seafood restaurant called Somboon Seafood. My sis said her friend got tricked by tuktuk to another restaurant with similar name where they spent RM400 for 2 persons. Crazy. So we walked all the way to the restaurant, about 20mins walk. Finally reached the restaurant and ordered the famous crab curry, steamed seabass, garlic prawns & not forgetting Tom Yam Kung. Delicious & filling and it was only RM154. No wonder the restaurant was so packed.

Took a train back to National Stadium then to Saphan Taksin to the Sky Bar (Sirroco) at Lebhua State Tower. Open-air bar at 6th floor. Dress code must be decent & no jeans & sports attire are allowed. I was wearing my Nike which i think they didn't aware :P There's nothing to shout about the SkyBar @ Sirroco. Drinks were cheaper ranging from RM40-25. I ordered Silver Moon while the rest ordered Bailey's, Heineken, Blue Moon, Fruit Punch & something else. Free cashew nut. Spent an hour or so there and decided to go home.

Expenses:
Bus No.511 outside Samran Place Hotel to Southern Bus Terminal (RM1.30)
Bus No.996 Southern Bus Terminal to Dumneon Saduak Floating Market (RM8)
Canal Tour (RM110)
Yellow Bus from floating market to Dumneon Saduak town bus stop (RM0.50)
Bus No.78( Dumneon Saduak town to Bangkok opposite Lumpini Place building (RM6.40)
Bus No.511 from Southern Bus Terminal – Samran Place Hotel (RM1.30)
Ratchathewi BTS - National Stadium BTS) (RM2)
National Stadium BTS – Saphan Taksin BTS (RM2)
Saphan Taksin BTS - Ratchathewi BTS (RM3)

Bangkok - Day 2

Read more here: Day1, Day2 , Day3 , Day4

14June Day 2
Parents, da jie & i took breakfast at the hotel while the rest bought some food while on the way to BTS station. We were on our way to MBK and all other shopping complexes nearby. A taxi driver approached us and told us that it's too early and all the shopping complexes are still closed. He then offered to drive us to another market to shop. Luckily we've read about all the scams in Bangkok and we ignored him. But no doubt he was right about we were too early, it was only 9am BKK time. So we walked all the way to National Stadium BTS to find way to Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha) & Chinatown. Got the direction from BTS officer and while on the way down the stairs, a lady in her mid 50s approached us. She talked to dad in TeoChew & recommended us to take taxi instead since there are 7 of us. Ignore her again and we took bus to Wat Traimit. From Wat Traimit, we walked to Chinatown then spent 30mins looking for a bus stop to take us back to National Stadium BTS, just like what the Amazing Race competitors always do.

From there we walked all the way to Erawan shrine. Stopped for McD at Siam Paragon and before we continued our journey, we stopped by at a Tourist Info Center booth to get more information for Dumneon Saduak Floating Market and other places. After praying at Erawan Shrine, we took MRT back to MBK.

Lunch was at MBK food court. The food is about the same price as our food court at big shopping complexes. Ranging from RM3-8. Mum insisted we get more bottles of mineral water (more seawater without salt). I got a Adidas shirt for hubby and was so tempted to get a new pair of purple Nike for myself. We sat near the MBK atrium, resting and while waiting for the Suan Lum Market to be opened at 7pm. Saw a Thai waitress flirting with an ang moh customer. Also saw a drug addict nearby. Within a few minute a police officer approached & questioned him. The police officer was so efficient.

Took BTS to Lumphini & had dinner there. Proceeded to walk around Suan Lum Night Market. It was hot & humid & crowded. Mum was grumbling non-stop. Can't blame her, she is not used to walk for so long & she doesn't like crowded place like that. Anyway, we didn't shop much there. I got some magnets for my fridge & a pair of sandals. Called sis's bf to urge him to go home.

Expenses:
1) Wat Traimit
Bus No.73 same side of National Stadium BTS - Wat Traimit (RM1.40)
Bus No.73 at Wat Traimit - National Stadium BTS (RM1.40)

2) Erawan Shrine
National Stadium BTS – Chit Lom BTS (RM2)
Chit Lom BTS - National Stadium BTS (RM2)

3)Suan Lum Night Market
National Stadium BTS - Sala Daeng BTS (RM 2)
Interchg at Silom BTS – Lumphini BTS (RM 1.50)

4) Back to Hotel
Lumphini BTS – Interchg at Silom BTS (RM 1.50)
Sala Daeng BTS – Ratchathewi BTS (RM2)

Bangkok - Day 1

Read more here: Day1, Day2 , Day3 , Day4

I'm back from Bangkok and i have a lot of things to blog about.

13June Day 1
On Weds, My da jie & i took full day leave. I dropped hubby at office and off to EPF to do my house loan transaction. Not too many people before me and i was attended by the same sweet Malay lady at the same counter as hubby. The girl was very nice to me and fortunate i brought all the documents needed without having to go for a few more round. Hubby had to go back 3 times. After about 30mins, i drove back to mum's apartment to re-pack my luggage. We decided to bring 3 bottles of RO water each, which means total of 21 bottles. The water there is too dirty, according to sis it's like drinking sea water without salt, get what i mean? Finally, packed all the water bottles & off to airport. Waited for 3rd sis & her hubby-to-be to gather with us at the airport. Boarded the plane 5.05pm. Before that we passed RM200 for sis’s bf who was our treasurer throughout the trip

When we finally reached the airport but had to wait for very long queue at the custom before we finally see someone holding sis's name at the airport...sis got very excited & took pic with our driver :D On our way to the hotel, he showed us photos & tour packages from his company hoping we will hire him for the rest of our trip. No way, we did our homework already :P Hotel rooms were very comfortable though not too big, as long as it's clean & no sticky toilet floor. We wanted to add extra bed but i guessed the receptionist didn't get us, so we saved about RM320.

First place we went after settled down was the night market on the left of our hotel. Had our dinner there: noodle soup, kuey teow soup, fried oyster, fried kuey teow, wantan mee & no drinks. The drink stall owner dares not approach us since he dun speak english hahaha. Anyway, sis ordered tomyam mee and when it came, he passed her 2 packets of ingredients, just like the ones we used to cooked instant tomyam mee. That bowl costs RM4, so expensive. We had a walk at the night market to get some skewers & drinks. Sis bought a pair of slippers for RM5.90 only. Back to hotel to rest.

father's day meals

Went over to island for father's day lunch with mum's side. Lunch was so-so only at Northam. After lunch, spent time in Gurney to help mum to look out for a dress for sis's wedding. Nothing suits her, so we went home empty handed. At mum's aprt, we continued to listen to her stories about her everyday life until about 6pm where we took turns to bathe before dinner. Had to wait 1 hour for dinner which was even better than lunch at Northam. Reached home at 10.30pm, tired and sleepy. I still haven't packed for my bangkok trip this Weds :P

last saturday

Last Friday, both of us skipped dinner. Instead we had choc feast...haha. We didn't feel like eating a complete meal for dinner. He had laksa before 5pm while i had heavy lunch. He suggested we go for supper which i was too lazy to change and step out from the house. Finally we just went to bed not feeling hungry at all after the chocs.

Hubby woke me up quite early on Saturday morning, at 9.30am. Erm..my usual time to wake up is 11am. So off we went to do our marketing nearby the house. Spent about RM30 and i cooked for lunch & dinner. More expensive than eating out huh? But hubby wanted a home cooked food, so no choice. Steamed fish, soup, veggies & omellettee. My culinary skill isn't exactly that excellent, but the food was edible. Hubby went off to look for his "mistress", his dream superbike with FIL. Wasn't really interested in anything with 2 wheels :P Actually, it's the price, he can get me a brand new Vios with the same price. Crazy or not?

Nuffnang Community Event - The Orient's Voice

Nuffnang is inviting all member to hang out together at Food Loft at Gurney 2 weeks from now. All you need to do is register at Project010 but limited place for 100 Nuffnangers only. Read more about the event here.

The Orient's Voice

bye bye to keyboard, hello MS Surface

Microsoft Surface is just so cool. The idea behind MS Surface started in 2003 & today it has become a reality. 30inch diagonal display table and use it with hand, fingers, electronic devices. Minority Report has become reality.

earn RM100

Advertlets.com has just launched it's Referral System in last month. Only Malaysians and Singaporeans are eligible to participate. Winners will be announced on the Advertlets blog, on the 3rd of July 2007. The top 10 referrers by the end of the month of June 2007 (30th June 2007, 11:59PM), will get RM100/SGD45 each credited into their Advertlets Account.

So hurry and sign up now :)

my chocs

The only thing that makes me happy is food, especially chocs. There are still a lot of leftover chocs in my fridge since last year and i hide them in another cabinet whenever there are uninvited guests. Call me a selfish person but i have good reason behind being selfish. There was one time when MIL's godson came to visit her from Malacca. She brought him to the kitchen and showed him the chocs hubby got for me and asked her god-son to take some! The packets of chocs were not opened yet but there she was asking people to take them. He took one bar of Hershey's which i didn't mind at all. But MIL insisted he takes another packet of unopened chocs HOME! Hulamak...they are all mine! Hubby brought a few kgs home for me. Luckily, he was paiseh and refused the offer *phew*. From that day onwards, whenever hubby informs me MIL will be bringing guests over, i'll hide all my precious away. I dun want MIL to be so generous with my things, esp my chocs & sweets.

great disappointment

Nothing can describe my feeling now. I missed something and now i'm feeling very disappointed & lost. I just accept the fact that i lost it. It's not exactly that serious but somehow i just want to be left alone and be sad about it now. No words could comfort me now. Just leave me alone.

Not to forget, i dreamt about the mango tree in our house bear not only mangoes; it bears grapes, pears & apples too. 4 kind of fruits on the same tree, what's the meaning of my dream?

western food war

Last Friday, there was a massive jam on the bridge due to 3 days holidays for us, so we decided to detour to take dinner before joining the jam again. Went to Fettes Park to look for the Hakka Western Food shop recommended by Jason from AEC but it was closed. So we proceeded to our usual western food shop at Fatty Loh Chicken Rice shop. All the tables were fully occuppied & there were people standing near the counter ordering food even before they get a place to sit. Finally, we got a table for 2 and ordered our usual meal - pork gordon bleu. This time, the portion was bigger than it used to be. Competing with the other western food shop? I bet so :P Anyway, couldn't finish it this time i wonder why. It was my favourite. Anyway, both of us got mild sore throat the next day :P

penang bridge marathon - more goodies

My company is sponsoring us to the Penang Bridge Marathon 2007. Hip hip hurray!! Not only they will reimburse the entrance fee, we will also be given another full set of attire. Hehehe...more goodies. First, we got a few cans of drink sponsored by Yeo's, now another set of attire. So cool. Can i register for more people or it's only for employees? :P

souvenirs from hokkaido

I just received a pair of very pretty earrings from my aunt who just came back from hokkaido. She also didn't forget to bring back a bottle of Coke for me. I dun collect Coke, but now i have 1 from Beijing & 1 from Japan. Maybe i should start collecting them now :P Aunt said everything is very expensive there. Even smallest thing like key chain costs RM30 each (1000yen). Hua...if i get to go to Japan, dun expect me to get anybody anything :P Once a friend told me, i have to have at least RM15K if i want to go to Japan. Guess i won't be visiting Japan so soon.

2 days off

Friday again, means i'm off from blogging world for 2 days. Nope, not going to install broadband at home yet. I rather spend time online at work while waiting for hubby after work. Afterall, my earnings is not consistent now. Perhaps later :P

late payment again

Oppss....i tot today i 31May. What a forgetful me!! Citibank is going to charge me RM5 fine again. I think this will be the 3rd time. I'm thinking of going over to mum's place tonight. But still my heart is not healed properly yet. Maybe next Monday will be a better time :P

welcome taiping people with 2nd link to PG

I read about proposal to ease the traffic on Penang bridge from one of my blog buddies, zoe-t. I think PSBS will take a very long time to implement this or ignore this idea totally. 3rd lane is not even up & they are proposing another bridge.

Near future, you will even find colleagues travelling to & fro Taiping. Not a surprise since 2nd link links Penang island to Bt Kawan. Taiping is so near Bt Kawan, think about it.....

I also wrote about the insult & unfair sarcastic remarks made by penang island people to mainland people.