Remembering Ben

Back in Primary 3, Ben was looked up as our 'Big Brother' whom you could count on when you needed his help. If you needed to borrow 50 sens for lunch money, he'd give it to you without any hesitation. In fact, sometimes he'd give you RM1 and tell you that you needn't pay him back. 

To the girls, Ben was also our protector. Should any boy pick on us and refused to stop after we tell them so, we'd just tell Ben about it and he'll tell the boy off. Ah, it was nice to be protected. 

We fancied ourselves as a 'gang' only in class, just because we thought we were cool. (I think) The gang consisted of Liz, Marsha, Lat and I for the girls, and Cyrus, Kok Wah, Jason, John and Ben for the boys. (Correct me if I'm wrong, because my memory fails me right this moment.) 

Ben was also one of the fastest runners in our class and one of the most popular games we used to play in school was Police and Thieves or more popularly known as 'Catch'. The girls would be the police and catch as many thieves (the boys) as possible. Come Primary 4 and 5, boys from other classes would join us in our games. 

The girls sucked as thieves, to be honest. We would rather stay at 'home', which is usually huge tree somewhere, than run around being caught.

What made Ben popular was probably his ever so carefree atitude, as if he had no care in the world. I'm sure he had his worries, but he hid them well. He was tall lanky, and when he smiled, his eyes crinkled up at the corners. I don't know why I remember this (weird, I know) but yeah, that's the way he laughed or smiled. 

If I had to make a comparison right now of how he was then, he'd be 20% like Sam of Glee, with the square jaw and sort of pouty lips. 

Just saying. 

Yeah, that was a random thought. =P

If I couldn't take his teasing any longer, I would punch his arm until it was blue black but somehow he never got angry at me. If it was another guy, that guy would either hit me right back or screamed at me.

Hmm yeah. I played rough with Ben.

In Primary 5, I remember the so-called gang being hauled up to the Headmaster's room for something. Extended recess because we wanted to fight with someone, perhaps? I'm not too sure. 

But when all of us were in the room (Jason and I were the class monitor) being reprimanded for that something, our heads hung low and filled with remorse. We apologised and said we wouldn't do it again and was sent back to class. 

Instead of returning straight to class, some of us hung around outside the corridor, discussing how remorseful we felt. How were we to forgive ourselves? 

At this point, some joker decided then and there that we HAD to go to church right now. Right that instant. Since God forgives everyone, we should pray for forgiveness too! 

The church is right beside our school so it was easy for us to walk over and sought the Pastor's urgent help immediately. Pray for us and with us right NOW, we probably pleaded,  so that we'll feel better. We'd be better people!

I don't think it help us that much because by the time we returned to school, our teacher was appalled and even more furious than ever. We weren't punished or anything, but I swear someone must have told her that we went to church to pray so please have mercy on us silly kids!

 ~*~*~

Some time ago, Cyrus told me that during Ben's 11th (or 10th?) birthday party, I danced with his youngest brother, Marcus. That's pretty random, I know, but I had to dig deep into the recesses of my mind to find a fragment of this memory.

Lat told us last year or so that back then, Ben had a crush on her because he gave her a little present. I don't recall this at all, bugger. Perhaps it happened without me knowing.

Liz said he liked Transformers and both of them would sing the theme song together. I definitely didn't know this at all.

I wouldn't have guessed that Ben had been in KL for the past few years if I hadn't read about him in the news the other day.

Rest in peace, Ben.

You were a great friend.

The Random Noms

Sometimes I don't know why I keep taking pictures of food when I don't really know where to put them. On Facebook? Nah.

Nescafe with fresh cow's milk. 

Santa Chapati House, Jalan Tun H.S.Lee, Kuala Lumpur. 

A colleague bought me lunch as our birthday celebration (his was a day after mine) after I returned from my holiday in Perth. I chose the venue, because I was craving for something simple, either chapati or thosai.

We both ordered a cup of coffee after our meal and I loved the milkiness of my coffee, all because fresh cow's milk. =)

Sure, the taste of caffeine was diluted but I think I liked it that way.

Don't think YB would like it. =P

Tuna sandwich for lunch

OK, my packed lunch probably isn't fantastic enough to deserve some recognition. Hehe. But tuna with cheese? It was a strange combination which ... suited me just fine.

Basically, I was just too tired from our holiday so I just threw together something easy.

Besides, our fridge is out of order. =(

I'm itching to cook / bake something but sigh, the thought of a broken fridge just dampens my mood.

We headed up to Ipoh the first weekend we were back because YB had to sign some documents for his dad.

We went somewhere in Pasir Pinji for pan mee which was forgettable.

The sauce was slightly sweet, and the soup was spinach - that's all I remember.

On the way back, we drove past the Big Tree place where I enjoy their yong tau foo selection - especially the fried turnip!!

Mmmm... now I can't help but to think about it.

When we arrived back in KL last Sunday evening, we took YB's parents to Segambut for dinner. We ordered the tomato kueh teow and the sweet & sour pork with rice.

Despite their initial reservations, the PIL enjoyed the tomato kueh teow. I think my FIL was concerned it would be a bit too tangy or sour for him.

Dinner last Tuesday was somewhere in Kepong, at a restaurant called Restoran Yuen Kee. We first knew of the place when we were invited to join KYK, OKT and his friends for a new year dinner two years ago.

Bitter gourd with salted vegetable.

My PIL (parents-in-law) said that they have yet to find a restaurant in Ipoh which serves this dish. 

 Braised pork belly with salted fish.

I ate so much rice for this dish!

 Stir fried kangkung with belacan.

 Steamed fish with minced ginger.

That was a LOT of ginger!

I tried my best to scrape off the ginger before eating my portion. It wasn't easy!

The total bill came up to about RM71.00 for the above 4 dishes, 4 glasses of water and 5 plates of plain rice.

Reviews:

Black Tie, White Lie

WorldWindows

Simon Says

V Burger - East Vic Park, Perth

We arrived in Perth on the red eye flight from KL via Airasia on Saturday, 5th May 2012.

At 530am, VK greeted us outside the arrival halls and it was good to see him again, just after seeing him a week before in KL.

We hung around at his home before I surrendered for a short nap, which lasted about 2 hours. Aaaah, that marked the beginning of a holiday!

He took us to East Victoria Park for lunch and I was secretly excited.

Jumping up and down in the inside, to be exact.

I don't know why but maybe it felt great to be away from work!

Or maybe the skies were just beautifully blue in Perth!

Or maybe I was just hungry and eager for some food. ;)

(Hey hey, it rhymed!)

Their motto: "Prepared with love ... Served with passion ..."

I took the liberty to snap a picture of the menu, just in case one of you happen to be around the area some time. *shrug* Who knows?

Guess which one caught my eye?

It was almost 1pm and I guess I must say we were lucky enough to find a table to ourselves.

Fresh onion rings served with aioli.

Too fresh that I felt it was a bit too oily. The guys enjoyed it, though.

This is mine!

Have you guessed my order yet?

VK was thinking of ordering the one I ordered but since I called it first, he had to choose something else. ;D

His was the Guacaloumi.

I ordered the Halloveen, because the pumpkin and feta cheese and basil pesto just hooked and reeled me in.

When the burger arrived, it just looked too tall to fit into my mouth that I had to tear it apart.

Did you know that I'm a pretty messy eater? ;)

I ended up give YB one half. Boo.

YB went for the F.B.A (Full Blooded Aussie) because he said, "Might as well! I'm in Aussie, right?"

Fried egg and bacon and a slice of beetroot (eeyucks!) on a bed of rocket. Something like that.

He said that mine was delicious. ;)

It was a satisfying meal, although the portion looked deceivingly small. 

From the reviews I found online, V Burger Bar is pretty much on par with other burger joints around Perth, like Burger Bistro and Jus Burger. 

I'm not sure how their burgers fare but they were always packed with customers!

Mmmmm ... I kept thinking of my pumpkin burger during my entire stay in Perth!

I'm so easy to impress!

~*~*~

Other reviews:

urbanspoon gives it an 87%!

The Food Pornographer

Perth Food Engineers

Last Friday Night

I was craving for so many things, from KFC to carbonara to anything Western.

I managed to somehow convince YB to head over to Ben's General Food Store at  Ben's Independent Grocers, Publika for their mushroom lasagna.

I absolutely lurve the pesto splat on top!

Our choice of side salad that night was tabbouleh something. This one had chickpeas, couscous, courgette ... and yoghurt? Hmmm, don't think it tickled our fancy.

 

 For a change, we ordered a pizza to try. We browsed through their pizza selection and couldn't really decide on what we really wanted!

We settled for one with spicy lamb meatballs, mint and yoghurt.

As the waiter placed it on the table, I was busy trying to cut a bit of the lasagna to put on my plate.

My head was bent low, nose almost into the pizza.

I almost gagged.

I thought it was my imagination, so I took a whiff of the pizza.

And almost gagged again.

It was freaking pungent!

I immediately recalled the wild smelly goats (I think they belonged to someone) we came across during our bush walking in Perth a week ago - they smelled really strong!

(At that moment, I had swore off eating mutton. Ugh!)

"Oh. My. Gawd." I shuddered.

"I think the pizza smells really bad." I told YB.

I brought the pizza to his nose and and he wrinkled in disgust.

We both looked at each other and stared hard at the pizza together.

YB took a bite of a slice and said that it wasn't too bad when you drizzle it with olive oil. 

I tried and agreed.

But decided to mash my meatball into mince and spread it evenly as I could on my slice, before taking bites.

I swear, I tried so hard not to think of live smelly hairy goats.

We both agreed that the pizza needed more mint to balance the pungent taste and smell of lamb.

You know, the floors in Publika's public toilets can be dangerous. I know it's the Ladies, but you can accidentally peek up the woman's skirt in the next cubicle from the reflection on the tiles!

I'm not even comfortable peeking up my own skirt!

 ~*~*~*~

We headed to Dukes & Duchess in TTDI after dinner, to meet up with some friends for drinks.

It was LeeCH's birthday, and Mae's was on Saturday.

Mae had bought a slice of cake for LeeCH but somehow it became everyone's birthday cake!

As usual, they were trying to get me drunk but somehow it didn't really work with Hoegaarden. So lucky me, free beer!

The incomplete group picture of happy people!

~*~*~

 

Other reviews:

Ben's General Food Store

nothingmuchdave

Motormouth from Ipoh

The Sweet Spot

Dukes & Duchess was previously Chip & Dale:

The Yum List

Eat Drink KL

 

D.O.M.

I've been meaning to write this but somehow never found the peace and quiet to get to it.



11th April 2012.

Do you remember that public holiday on Wednesday, in the middle of the week?

I went to Taipan, USJ to meet up with two girlfriends for tea. We decided to meet at Pappa Rich.

VJ was there first and not before long after I arrived, Pauline came. We jumped straight in to the usual, "How are youuuu?? Long time no seeeeeeeee!!" before we decided to order.

At this time, I noticed a man walked past our table and stared at us. I can't stand people who openly stare! Ugh.

He proceeded to sit at the table beside ours. He sat at the side facing both VJ and I, so he was 'beside' Pauline.

The girls and I chatted and exchanged news between ourselves. The last time we had met up was at my wedding reception in Kota Kinabalu a year ago. Fancy that!

How time bloody flies.

Now this man, I couldn't help but to notice him as I was diagonally facing Pauline. He was sitting "diagonally" as well, with his body facing us - his legs weren't tucked under the table. (Oh my gawd, you do know what I'm trying to say, right? Because this is very important.)

He was holding his newspaper very close to his face, I guess that was how he reads his newspaper.

Occasionally, he'd drop the paper and look at me. Or the girls. I don't know who but he would just look at us me.

I say me, because we are diagonally facing each other.

Then he'd return to his newspaper.

Suddenly, I froze.
And cringed.

I noticed that his dick cock penis  thing was peeking out of his shorts.

WTF.

He had his legs opened up and euw, that thing poked out by the side every now and then.

I thought to myself, what the hell do I do?

And foremost, why the hell wasn't this dirty old man wearing any underwear??

I was tempted to take a picture and show the girls, in case no one would believe me, but I didn't dare to.

I leaned over to VJ and told her what I saw. She glanced over at the D.O.M. but he had already crossed his legs.

I was like, OMG WTF! I am being flashed by an old man!

He has grey hair, by the way.
On his head, silly.
No, I mean, on top of his head!

(Caught my pun? =P)

We told Pauline but it would just be too awkward for her to turn to the man and witness it for herself, based on her sitting position.

I didn't know where to look.
I was torn between throwing my glass of water at him and reporting to the management and take a photo and put it up on Facebook (lol!) but I just sat there, stunned.

Gross lah.

Seriously, a flaccid one would not poke out of one's shorts just like that. It has to be hard to do so.

So who or what was giving him a bloody hard on then??

Ughhhh my brain has been tainted for the rest of my life! I can't remove that disturbing image from my mind!

He eventually left, after 30 minutes of flashing, before looking my way again.

Well, I did think he had left, but 10 minutes later, I saw him walking past on the patio and he looked our way.

Not sure where he went, perhaps, flashed at another woman elsewhere?


Anyway, I can't believe how I chicken shit I was not snapping a picture of it. You would believe me if I showed it to you!

Because it doesn't make sense if I have the guts to snap a picture of a driver cutting my queue at a u-turn when I could have exposed the D.O.M!


p.s. Seriously, a hard one sticking out of his shorts ... for 30 minutes at least? Sick!

Making Sushi At Home

A few weekends ago, we had YB's parents over for two days.

They usually bring along with them plenty of food to last us for at least 4 days. Parents are like that, you know? They share their love through food. =))

For one of the dinners, we said we'd make sushi and let everyone have a bit of fun preparing their own creation.

'Japanese' potato salad for side. 

Everyone liked it!

I think it must have been the Japanese mayo that made the difference. Mmmmm.

I used this recipe.

Shiny sushi rice which took some time to prepare. As Ken advised, the sushi vinegar is very important - don't skip that step!

You can follow this recipe.

Tamago was a bit of a failure. =P

Not sure which recipe I used but yeah, I just used Google for the recipes. I even checked out YouTube and showed YB how it was done!

Well, OK. This wasn't Japanese but we thought Taiwanese sausages would bring a hint of sweetness to our sushi.

FIL had a go, making his a fat one.

MIL had a go, and hers was neat and tidy.

I made this!

Everyone made more or less the same thing, since we had limited ingredients. But it was good fun!

I wanted to make sushi maki, with the sesame seeds and flakes on the outside of the roll but YB warned me not to be too adventurous.

Well, after 2 cups of sushi rice, we were pretty stuffed.

Next time, I'll make sure I have some shake sashimi. =)


p.s. About 2 years ago, we made fresh spring rolls with them too. I'm not sure if I'm just terrified of cooking for my PIL (for fear of my dishes being yucky) and let them make their own dinner instead.

The Birthday

Tuesday - May 2, 2012. 

Surprise delivery at work from the husband. ;D
Lurve the pink roses!!

A colleague bought me lunch - did he know it was my birthday? I don't think so ...

Potential flooding of the river at Dataran Merdeka that evening. Some of my colleagues were allowed to leave the office early once they removed their cars from the car park.

As for me, nooooooo, I had to bloody get back into the office and continue working! Phhhbbbbbt! The boss didn't allow me to leave an hour early. 

Grrr. I was mighty pissed off about that.

 Dinner at La Teh.

 

The usual suspects from Dutamas Runners. ;)

My birthday cake from Humble Beginnings.

I made a mess out of the cake.

Although I had a really bad day at work that day, I sucked it all in and look forward for the evening. OMG, I can't think of work because it just stresses me out. Ugh!

Idon'tlikemywork!

Oh but the cake was really rich and yummy!

(source/photo credit: YB Wong)

It was a fun evening but had to end early ... just because we're old farts who needed to get to work the next day! ;D

No matter how much effort I put in to my work, I don't think the bosses will appreciate you in months or years to come. I remind myself these days (at work) that friends and family appreciate me so much more than my bosses, so don't sweat the small stuff! 

Or what WC used to tell me, "Don't let the little people bring you down!"

After all, aren't employees replaceable?

ANYWAY, about my birthday! YB has NO idea what to get for me for my birthday so I'm still cracking my head about what he should get for me. Hmmm.

Any ideas?

Yes, a spa package would be ideal.

A pair of new running shoes, too.

Oh, and a nice long holiday, perhaps. ;D

Orang Asli Trail Run 2012

Saturday - April 28th, 2012.

The Orang Asli Trail Run was in its second year running. This time, it had about 180 participants crowding the small Orang Asli village in Kg Batu 16, Jalan Bentong Lama.

Registration fee was RM35 per person with no running vest and water station in the jungle. There were, of course, some food and drinks after the run. Tshirts were for sale. All proceeds go towards the village.

 Eeny, meeny, miny, mo!

 So, who do you think was the most overdressed for a trail run? ;D

The organisers briefed us on the trail we were about to run. Karen on the left, and Dzul on the right.

Karen is one momma I aspire to be, after having 2 kids! C'mon, no way I know I can be that skinny after pregnancy ... *cross fingers*

 At the beginning we ran on the road. Everyone was still warming up.

Running through an area which I think is being prepared for the Orang Asli's home stay project.

The first river crossing.

It was amusing to see some people take off their socks and shoes to cross the river barefoot, and then put them all on again on the other side of the river. =)

 Blue skies!

 That's my orang asli over there. ;D

Crossing the bamboo bridge. 

A colourful butterfly caught our eye. But that stop cost some people some blood - the leeches pounced! 

I absolutely LOVED the nice neat trail which was deliberately cleared for us. It was also nice and cooling that early morning, which made it a very lovely run indeed.

 I love the drawing of the iguana the most!

(photo credit: Dondang Ida)

(source/photo credit: Andrew C.H. Hsien)

Nearing the end of our run (we didn't know it at that time), we came across the final stream crossing where our route was blocked by the kiddies.

The kiddies were ready to ambush us with pails of water!

(See the lady's posture - it was so funny! She was asking to be excused from this 'punishment' but her request was not heeded.)

(source/photo credit: Andrew C.H. Hsien)

Even the boy refused to let go of YB! Hahaha!

(source/photo credit: Yap Eng Hui)

(source/photo credit: Yap Eng Hui)

This is really hilarious - the dog was not amused with our antics!

Tshirt sale was very good. By the time I queued up to purchase a few, they ran out of blue!

I nicked one because I was hungry. ;D

A quick "After" photo before YB and I rushed back home to get ready for our trip back to KK.

The event was a short one, and we clocked less than 7km, which puzzled us. We were expecting about 10 - 12km and didn't expect an under distance run. Karen said she altered the first part of the route, and perhaps we should have done 2 loops!

Well, since we were enjoying our run so much, I don't think YB and I would have made it out in time had we ran 2 loops. Traffic was a bit busy when coming out of Jalan Gombak and gawd, were we stressed out in the car.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and had no qualms about driving out of town and supporting the event (for charity).

I am pleased to report that I survived the run leech free! 

I prayed hard that it wouldn't rain on Friday so the trail wouldn't be damp on Saturday. Phew!!

 ~~

Other news:

The Star's article

Tri Stupe.com

Kampung Toys - some videos taken of the run that day!