Gathering With Ex-Columbans

Couple of days ago, Danny invited me and some other friends to his house for dinner.

Living room & dining place.

He moved into a new place this year. That is the first time I went to his house.

Kitchen?

That's just part of his house. What I can tell you here is that his house is not that small. Some describe his house as castle. ;)

Dinner cooked by Danny's mum.

Danny's mum cooked us a superb dinner. I bet everyone carries a full stomach that day. At least, I did. :)

Before dinner started...

8 ex-Columbans were having dinner together.

What are you doing, Zhung?

We chit-chatted while we were having our dinner. But few of them (only Sharon actually) was busy eating only. Haha! Sharon will sure give me a scold when she sees this.

Baba & Nyonya.

It took us forever to finish our dinner. After dinner, we were given a tour around the house.

Group photo.

From left front clock wise: Melissa, Sing Huih, Sharon, Adeline, Zhungyi, Kok, Zhi Dek and Danny.

Girly love.

We were, then, brought back by Danny to the living room. There, we continue our chit-chatting session and some funny activities.

Stuff Danny with those cushions!

Everyone was trying to bully Danny that night.

Danny was exhausted by the attack.

Hitting, throwing and stuffing him with pillows. Maybe he's the host, that's why he had to 'entertain' us.

Initially, Charlie's Angel but in the end they became, Funny Angel.

There are actually 20 photo shots in the making of Funny Angel. These 3 girls kept on discussing on how to pose for a photo and there were never ending laughters thoughout.

Everyone was tired after all the laughter.

Girls' group photo.

The gathering came to an end after several hours. It was indeed a very enjoyable and fun gathering although I was hit numerous times by the girls. Another unforgetable memories given by my fellow friends. Thanks, guys!

When's our next gathering, guys?

Christmas Christmas

These few days, I haven't stopped eating. Eat and eat and eat! So, again, I'll write about food.

Christmas eve, my Baba was craving for seafood restaurant. I have no idea why. Whenever he drove pass a seafood restaurant, he would say, " Let's eat here". Hmm...

He then decided our Christmas eve's dinner to be at Tanjong Seafood Restaurant (I think that's the name of the restaurant since as you all know, I only know how to go to a place and eat :P).

I'll start off with the empty plates and let you all guess what dishes my Baba ordered.

Guess, guess, guess!

It's tough to guess from the empty plates, eh? Let me tell you the answers.

Black Pepper Crabs.

My Baba ordered Crabs with Eggs but ended up, Black Pepper Crabs. My Baba was so kind to just accept it.

Venison with Spring Onions and Ginger.

This is one of the common dishes which my Baba would usually ordered.

Hong Kong "Chai Xin".

How can we have a dinner without a plate of green vegie? The waitress recommended this but then, I can't figure out what's the difference between the local "chai xin" and the Hong Kong "chai xin". According to my Mama, it's just more expensive at which, I strongly agree with her.

Our Steam Pork Ribs with Plum Sauce did not show on the table. The pigs are still in the farm that day They forgot to serve us that dish as the business were too good that day.

That's for Christmas eve. As for Christmas, I had lunch with my family again + my Gong Gong.

Hainanese Chicken Rice with Three Layer Pork.

I had this Hainanese Chicken Rice with Three Layer Pork. The shop is opposite Imperial Mall. Sorry lah, I don't know what's the name of the shop again...

I can see your saliva is dripping!

Surprisingly, it tastes so good! The chicken is tender and fully cooked (without the yucky blood). The Three Layer Pork is just nice as it is not too salty. 4 out of 5 stars from me. :)

At night, I had dinner with my family + relatives. I'm sorry I was too shy to take photos of the food in front of my relatives although Bamboo taught me a technique on how to take photos of food in front of relatives. ;)

However, I have two cuties to show here.

Little cousin accompanied by Piyo Piyo the duckie.

She's 4 years old and she uses Kodomo Lion.

Another little cousin of mine.

It's quite tough to take a photo of her. After I asked her to take a photo, she'll count "1, 2" (yeah, she only know how to count one and two but not three) and then, I must snap a photo of her. If not, she'll run away!

Cute, right? :P

That's my 2006 Christmas. A simple yet wonderful Christmas. :)

Internet Access Down!

Alamak! Internet access to most of the overseas websites was down for the whole day today. What happen actually? It's due to an earthquake in southern Taiwan. I hope those in Taiwan are all safe.


Wednesday December 27, 2006

Internet access to overseas websites disrupted

PETALING JAYA: Local Internet access to overseas websites came to a crawl Wednesday after international links were disrupted by the earthquake in southern Taiwan.

Internet service provider (ISP) Jaring said the disruption started at about 3.45am Wednesday, and warned users to expect congestion to and from overseas websites during peak hours.

Internet service provider TM Net said the earthquake caused a fault on Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 links between Shantou, China and Tanshui, Taiwan, and between Lantau in Hong Kong and Chongming, China.

The disruption has caused outages to several TM Net international transit and peering links.

TM Net said Malaysian Internet users may experience some delay in accessing content and websites hosted overseas, especially in the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Europe.

Action is being taken to reduce traffic congestion by diverting traffic through backup links, it added.

TM Net customers can call 1-300-88-9515 or e-mail custcare@tm.net.my for further enquiries.

*Extracted from www.thestar.com.my

Merry Christmas!

Here, I wanna wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!


Any presents for me? I don't mind receiving late Christmas presents though. ;)


More updates on Christmas later...

Dōngzhì Festival (Winter Solstice Festival)

Dōngzhì Festival is one of the most important festivals in Chinese Lunar calendar. In this festival, the old and young get together to make and eat tang yuan.

Tang yuan with mixed crushed peanut and sugar.

Tang yuan is made from glutinuous rice flour and is normally coloured with red colouring. It is boiled with pandan leaves (optional) before sugar is added to the boiling water. Often, it is eaten either with the soup or dipped into the mixed crushed peanut and sugar.

Tang yuan at closer look.

Tang yuan symbolises reunion. Therefore, not to forget, everyone in the family gathers together for dinner at night.

Mouth watering dishes.

My Jiu Mu (aunt) cooked few delicious dishes for the reunion dinner.

"Da Lu Yak" (duck cooked in dark soy sauce).

First and foremost, my Jiu Mu presented us with this duck. The actual receipe, I don't know. The only thing I know is, eat, eat and eat! :P

Doesn't look appetizing? You are wrong!

This is one of the must-have-dishes whenever there is any occasion to celebrate. So, you can guess how nice is this dish.

Vege with mushrooms.

Mario Bros. favourite dish, mushrooms! I think I need this most to grow taller! ;)

Prawns.

I don't know how my Jiu Mu cooked these prawns. I think she steamed the prawns with ginger and a little bit of Chinese wine (if I'm not wrong). It's nice!

There are two other dishes which I couldn't manage to take any photos of them. The two dishes are the steamed fish and "Kacang-ma" (chicken cooked with Chinese herbs and wine (?)). Alamak, how can I not gained weight with all those dishes? :P

So, that's how I celebrate my once a year, Dōngzhì Festival. How about you?

Lunch With Baba

I should have post this earlier but I slept quite early last few days and no time for me to post this. Apologise for that.

The other day, I had lunch with my Baba (dad) at one of the stalls opposite Open Market, Miri.

Lots of food stalls there.

There's a name for this place but often, I tend to forget it. I just know how to get there, eat and leave. :P

Kho's Food Stall.

Out of so many food stalls, we have chosen Kho's Food Stall for our lunch that day. Actually, it is one of our favourites place for lunch.

Combination of roast pork, barbeque pork (char siew) and meat roll.

Other choice include roasted duck, roasted chicken and etc. All these, although are not as good as those in Perth, are so much cheaper.

Vege Soup.

The soup doesn't look good in the photo. It is not attractive too. But I can assure you that, it's definitely delicious! The soup is HOT enough to make you sweat.

Kangkung With Belacan.

There are other varieties of vege which can be ordered too. Kangkung with Belacan for my dad that afternoon. One word, YUMMMYYY YUMMMYYY....

How much altogether? Only RM13 (with two plates of steamed rice). Cheap, right? If I was to order the same food in Perth, definitely it would cost me more than that.

Kho's Food Stall gets 4 stars out of 5 from me.:)

P/s: Try the noodle stall at the "food court".

P/s/s: Try the fresh sugar cane drink there. Cheap and refreshing!

Smoking, Newest Trend?

Since I came back to Miri, I have consumed more second hand smoke then ever. Everywhere I go, there are at least a person holding a cigarette.

Newest trend.

From my friends to my fellow colleagues, they smoke non-stop. One after another cigarette, I, a non-smoker, almost faint because of the smell.

Will baby smoke few years later?

Does smoking really make you look cool? Is it the newest trend among the Miri-ans here?

Cute doggy smokes to look cool?

Not only men smoke nowadays, but women also started to pick up this unhealthy habit.

Love smoking? Please don't!

I'm not against those who smoke. I also have friends who smoke. I just want to let everyone know that smoking is not good for you. It risks your personal health. Besides that, those around you are also greatly affected. Love yourself, love those who are around you but please don't love smoking. If you are a smoker, I strongly suggest you to stop. If you know anyone who smoke, please advise them to stop.

For more information on smoking affects your health, click HERE!

Update Tomorrow

Can I update tomorrow? I need a rest...

What a Disappointed Result...

My exam result was released earlier today. As usual, I was so nervous. Straight away after I woke up, I turned on my laptop and checked my exam result.

Worst result in 3 years!

I got 2 credits and 2 passes. I know I shouldn't complain since I have passed all the units. However, I expected more better result than this. If the two passes are credits, that would be so much better.

I have emailed my lecturers and asked for a review for my exam papers. I understand it's quite impossible for me to asked for more marks. I just hope I can know what mistakes I made.

What a disappointed result...

Update Soon, Ok?

If anyone thought I'm dead already, I'm proud to say I'm still alive! :P Sorry guys, I know I should update more since I'm having my holidays now. But, but, forgive me la. These days, after coming back from work, I'm dread tired already. Somemore, these weekends I'll have to help my dad with his business. It's busy, busy and busy. Nevertheless, I haven't forgotten my blog of course. I promise I'll update as soon as possible.

Stay tune!:)

Fat Cat Fast Food Corner

Fat Cat Fast Food Corner is newly located at the top floor of Bintang Plaza, Miri. Previously, it is located at the same floor as the Cineplex but now, that place is under renovation for some other purposes.

Fat Cat Fast Food Corner.

It is actually one of the stalls of the food court. It operates from morning till night. It offers various dishes for fast food but there are other menu which you can order.

"Mani Chai" with egg.

I went there with my family for lunch. My mama picked this "mani chai" from the fast food corner. "Mani chai" is a local vegetable which I haven't had for months. Normally my mama will fry it with egg and ikan bilis.

Mixed vegetables.

My baba ordered this mixed vegetables. Nothing to boast about this dish. Brocolli, I have it at least one day every week in Perth.

Clay Pot Pork Ribs.

I ordered this Clay Pot Pork Ribs. Pork ribs cooked in thick soy sauce soup, is my favourite dish at Fat Cat Fast Food Corner. Try order this when you visit Fat Cat Fast Food Corner and I'm very sure you will like it.

Fat Cat Fast Food Corner is a place to offer great food which values for money. It is highly recommended by me.

P/s: Another dish which I would like to recommend is the Vietnamese Beef (beef fried in special sweet and sour sauce).

Petra Resources Sdn. Bhd.

I'm sorry for the lack of updates these few days. I have been working since last Tuesday from Mondays to Saturdays and from 8a.m. to 5p.m. except for Saturdays. I only have to work half day on Saturdays.

By the way, my 100th posts dedicated to PETRA Resources Sdn. Bhd., my industrial training company.

PETRA Resources Sdn. Bhd.

PETRA is dealing with locally manufactured parts and rotating equipment and provision of maintenance services for the oil and gas, petrochemical and energy industries.

Some of the valves for servicing.

These are some of the parts for maintenance. This is the best thing about industrial training. You get to see the stuff which you can only see in textbooks.

Photo taken at my dad's office.

First day to the company, I don't know what tasks I will be assigned to. So, to be handsome polite I dressed a short sleeves shirt and a pair of trousers. Just a normal set of office wear.

Professional, right? :P

Since I'm a FUTURE mechanical engineer, I am assigned to the workshop department. I have to work together with the other technicians in the workshop. I am quite relieved actually when I was told that I have to work in the workshop. If I was to work in a design department, with all the Computer Aided Design (CAD) softwares, I might faint anytime. I don't like anything to do with design, frankly speaking.

I was given a set of workshop wear by the company which consists of two pairs of coverall, a pair of safety boots, and a pair of safety goggles. All FREE!

Family and friends have been asking me how much allowance is given by PETRA. To be honest, I don't know. But for me, that's not the most important. The most important is that I get to obtain experience and learn something from the more experience technicians and engineers.

Three months to keep me busy...

Summer Holidays

The day before I came back to Miri for 3 months summer holidays, I went to Matsuri again. This time, not with my sister and cousin, but with Danny and his sister.

I just love this restaurant.

The first time I went there was when my sister came back with me to Perth.

Teriyaki Beef.

This time I went there because I decided to buy dinner for Danny and his sister in order to thanks them for helping me with everything.

Soft Shell Crab Sushi Roll Set.

I believe we all had a wonderful dinner that day. The last dinner for me and Danny in Perth before we left for Miri.

The next day, I had to wake up at 8 a.m. to collect Apple Strudels, which I had ordered earlier, at Corica.

Corica with the most famous, Apple Strudels.

Thanks to Jon again for the ride to pick up the Apple Strudels.

Just a small shop.

It's just a small shop I would say. However, it's not only famous among the people living in Perth, but also the tourists who come to Perth for holidays.

Various kinds of pastries.

Apart from Apple Strudels, Corica also makes different kind of pastries. I bought Jon a Chocolate Horn and myself a Horn (funny name for the pastry huh?:P).

6 Apple Strudels in a specially made box.

I bought 6 Apple Strudels which cost me Aud$16 each. I know they are expensive but then, when you put it in your mouth, I'm sure your mouth will automatically say, "DELICIOUS!". Corica is kind enough to provide a specially made box so that I can transport the Apple Strudels to Miri. The box is free if you purchased 6 Apple Strudels but I think you have to pay for the box if you buy less.

Apologise for the quality of this photo.

That's how the Apple Strudel looks like. Layer of crispy pastry with custard and apple filling in between. It's aroma is enough to make your stomach growling.

Horn.

This is the Horn which I have bought for Aud$2 per piece.

Custard filling.

I would say this is a small version of Apple Strudel without the apples filling. I can't find any other word, besides "YUMMY", to describe the Horn.

For those of you who are interested in Corica's pastries, below is the address and phone number:

Corica
106 Aberdeen Street,
Northbridge,
Perth, 6003 Australia.
Tel: 08-9328-8196

At about 10a.m., Danny's sister sent Danny and me to airport.

Royal Brunei Airlines.

That's the plane which has brought me all the way from Perth to Brunei. The flight took us 5 hours to reach Brunei.

Just a small plane.

Again, this plane does not have an individual screen in front of the seats. Everyone has to share a big screen in front.

Food looks good?

Everything's ok for the flight except the quality of the food they served.

What is this?

I got myself Lamb with Mashed Potato although there was another choice of Chicken with Fried Rice. I am very disappointed with the food they served, honestly. There were only 3 or 4 small cubes of lamb covered mostly with thick gravy. Why not they change the name to Gravy with Mashed Potato next time so that I will get a hint that getting the Chicken with Fried Rice would be a better choice?

I shouldn't have complain so much since the price of the ticket for Royal Brunei Airlines from Perth to Brunei and from Brunei to Perth is considered one of the cheapest you can get out there.

So, here I am, back in Miri. I am going to start my industrial training on Monday for 3 months. That's mean, there's actually no holidays for me this summer. I just hope I can do a good job in my industrial training. Wish me luck, guys...