Time Out

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Philip

We all need to take a break every now and then. So it was with me. I decided to head down to Kuala Lumpur (KL) for a quickie—3 days, 2 nights. I flew this time and stayed at The Gardens Hotel, which is linked to two huge malls: The Gardens Mall and Mid Valley Megamall. I wasn’t planning on shopping—just browsing through the two big bookstores there—MPH and Borders. I really wanted time by myself to think, to contemplate…It was a very restful and enjoyable trip as the following pictures will attest.

(Above) I had a very nice room on the 20th floor, equipped with all the amenities I could ever need. The king-sized bed was very comfortable and most importantly wireless broadband was available at no extra charge.

(Below) The bathroom and shower area. Just look at that huge basin! There were mirrors everywhere for the narcissist in me, LOL.

(Above) On my first night I decided to give Tony Roma’s a try…and I wasn’t disappointed. I ordered the 8oz Fillet Mignon with broccoli and loaded mashed potato with ham, rice, and all kinds of goodies. Washed it down with bottomless iced tea—yeah, I decided to stay sober, heh heh. I was so full I couldn’t order any dessert.

(Below) I requested a morning call at 7 in the morning. After a quick shower to wake me up I headed to the 6th floor for my buffet breakfast at The Spread. This is a very nice all-day dining restaurant; the food was good and the staff pleasant and attentive. I even spoke to Sahadi, a tall girl who was interested in photography but was too shy to have her picture taken. Look at the goodies I’ve availed myself here—guava juice, black coffee, yogurt, some dim sum dumplings, sausages, hash browns, baked beans, mushrooms, and Danish pastry. Needless to say, I skipped lunch and spent the afternoon walking in the two malls.

(Above) I was tired out after doing so much walking so I was looking forward to putting my feet up on this wonderful couch made for one. I then realized that I had to take some self-portraits, otherwise who would believe I was there? My Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom came to the rescue. This little fella is ideal when travelling due to its light weight and portability. I know this isn’t my photo blog but I’m going to give you the details anyway: I used my Canon EOS 550D with the Speedlite 580EX II in bounce mode. The little white reflector in this amazing flash puts some catch lights in my eyes. I took around a dozen shots, this one was the most likable.

(Below) A shot of the lobby area in the hotel. I took this handheld without flash, and was amazed that it came out so well. The horizon is perfectly level (yeah, I’m boasting) and at the wide-angle end of my Canon 18-135mm IS zoom lens, it’s pin sharp. The pretty lady walking by was an added bonus!

(Above) Here’s Bel (on the left) from Pakistan and Vicky from China. They both work at Tony Roma’s and I had the pleasure of talking with them. They made me feel so at home I decided to return again for more on the second night.

(Below) Here’s a photo of me and Vicky. Direct flash from my Speedlite 320EX was used since the ceiling was a tad high and dark brown in color.

(Above) Second night at TR’s and this time I’m on to a 10oz New York Strip. The beef was tender and succulent; coupled with my favorite broccoli and a baked potato for a change (loaded with goodies). I had to give their desserts a miss again, I was so full after this fabulous entrée.

(Below) On my third and last day I was so glad I could meet up with Emily, a fellow blogger that I hadn’t met before. She was so kind to take a day’s leave just to meet up with me (thank you, Emily). We headed to Chili’s at Mid Valley for some Tex-Mex food and had an enjoyable time chatting like old friends. I was still reeling from the hotel’s buffet breakfast but I put on a brave front and decided to give it my best shot, ha ha.

(Above) Emily chose the fire-grilled Chicken and Portobello mushrooms while I sheepishly ordered the Caesar Salad with grilled chicken (below) The portions were American-sized, meaning huge! It was delicious through and through.

(Above) We threw caution to the wind and ordered a dessert monster, the Molten Chocolate Cake. Fortunately we ordered just one. Shamefully decadent dark chocolate cake with a large dollop of vanilla ice cream on top, smothered with tons of thick chocolate sauce. Both of us could barely finish this dessert so Emily took the rest of it home. It’d be a shame to waste it, no?

Soon after lunch I had to say goodbye to Emily, check out of the hotel, and make my way to Subang Skypark Airport. Till the next time—arriverdecci, Gardens!

Oasis

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Philip

I decided to check out a restaurant in Batu Ferringhi last night. A few friends had commended on this fine establishment and I was game to expand my list of favorite restaurants in Penang. I originally planned to dine at the Ferringhi Garden (the name of this establishment) on October 26 but due to unforeseen circumstances I ended up here two nights earlier. Armed with my Canon EOS 550D and Speedlite 580EX II I went for it. The restaurant was pretty quiet since it was a Monday night—I didn’t mind though. I was so glad they didn’t have any live band or nonsense like that—the piped-in music was good for a change.

I ordered a Caesar Salad and what arrived on my table was visually alluring and had my taste buds all fired up.

The Caesar Salad was exquisite—it had a hard-boiled egg which looked like a clove of garlic, there were some potato wedges and some BBQ chicken strips. Not to mention the shrimps—yummy. Next up, I ordered the Rack of Lamb but I was so hungry (some things never change) I tucked into it and was about to finish it before I realized I’d forgotten to take a picture, blush. The waiters and waitresses were attentive without being overbearing—my glass of scented water was topped up regularly and I felt very well-treated. I had had a glass of Merlot earlier on in the evening.

For dessert I opted for the Dark Chocolate Walnut Cake with vanilla ice cream. In a word, this was good. There was so much to pick and choose from the menu that I must come here again, heh heh.

After this excellent meal I walked around, taking pictures. The thing I like about Ferringhi Garden is that the owners have spared no expense in giving the establishment a very unique look. Each section is different. There’s an air-conditioned dining area, or you can opt to sit outside al fresco. A mini waterfall and a long pool containing Japanese koi (carp) add a soothing touch to the ambiance. Here’s the lounge area where one could opt for a pre-dinner drink (I can just picture myself with a Merlot) or after-dinner coffee. The warm reds of the sitting area and the nice pictures on the wall truly make one feel at home.

(Below) There’s even an exquisite art gallery tucked away on the second level. I forgot to ask whether the paintings were for sale.

(Above) All the flowers in this restaurant are real. No plastic stuff here.

(Below) I couldn’t resist taking a close-up shot of these cute little teddy bears after paying the check. I chose not to use the Speedlite 580EX II for this; instead I shot with ambient lighting and hand-held the EOS 550D tightly and shot with a shutter speed of 1/15s at f/4, ISO 400.

In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back.”

Gobble gobble

Posted on November 24, 2009 by Philip

There comes a point in one’s life (mine) where consuming leftovers day in and day out results in an astounding “Enough!” emanating from my lips. Not surprisingly, the MO shared the same sentiments so we decided to go out for lunch. I decided on a place called Mizi’s Bistro in town. I felt this was the place to take said MO for lunch, knowing that they served big-sized portions (I did some advanced research scouring the local food blogs)

Mizi’s isn’t a big place, but they have a set lunch going for the princely sum of $6USD per head. You have your choice of soup, main course, a soft drink, and you can eat all the ice cream you want for dessert (that’s right). I chose the mushroom soup (don’t blech, Miss Miller) and it was delicious, thick and creamy and doesn’t give the impression of coming from a can.

The MO chose a grilled chicken smothered with mushroom sauce, and when it appeared even he was startled with the generous portions. He finished it, by the way.

As for myself, I ordered a club sandwich. I think they should have renamed it the Windows 7 club sandwich, the thing was just so darn big. It made the Windows 7 Whopper pale by comparison.

Last but not least, we helped ourselves to some overflowing portions of wonderful ice cream (I didn’t want to take pictures of the ice cream that we guzzled because it would reinforce the image that we were piggish) All in all, it was a very nice lunch, but I am just so full (burp!)

The ABC’s of Me (F)

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Philip

F: Facebook, Friendships, Food

Ah yes, Facebook. The cyber opium social networking network—some people love it, others wouldn’t even touch it. I haven’t been on Facebook for very long, in fact I only signed up last year but I love it. I can understand why it has become the #1 social networking phenomenon—it has almost everything (text, photos, apps, quizzes, chats, groups, marketplace, etc.) integrated into one convenient center. You just decide how much and what you want to do with it. The wide range of options makes Facebook very customizable, but you’ve got to learn to be careful not to divulge stuff that might come back to haunt you later on (ah yes, heard the one about employers searching FB for information about their prospective staff?)

I use Facebook primarily to connect with my friends and to publicize my blog posts, whenever I write a new one. And the quizzes—well I won’t talk too much about them, because there are some absolutely stupid and banal ones there (imagine a quiz titled “How stupid are you?” and you get the picture) Still, it’s great when you have time to kill or you’re just about fed-up with computer work or games. The chat program is very rudimentary; I still prefer Windows Live Messenger. However, it’s convenient for a quick chat when your friends are logged in.

One thing I’m grateful to Facebook for is that recently I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend from my University of Arizona days. We haven’t been in touch for something like 28 years, and through FB I managed to find this friend and reconnect. It was wonderful, and I think this is something that FB excels in doing…thanks, Facebook!

Friendships and friends mean so much to me. I don’t have a lot of what I would call close friends. Just a few of them and with the exception of one (yes you, Boss!) all the rest are in the good US of A. I know, we can’t like hug or throw friendly punches at each other, but Windows Live Messenger more than makes up for it. To all my friends out there (and you know who you are) I love you all. Thank you for your friendship!

“I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Uh oh, someone’s going to call me a piggy when I mention food. I remember one of the best advice I received from my dad as I was about to depart for the UK was this: “You eat to live, not live to eat.” In other words, don’t be a glutton. And if eating isn’t enjoyable, then why do it? The same goes with sex, I suppose…but oops I am getting side-tracked. Many people are envious of me because I can simply eat whatever I like and yet not put on weight. What can I say, I have a high metabolic rate, LOL. However, I don’t use that as an excuse to pig out—no no no. I’ve been more careful with my diet now that I’m close to hitting the big 5-0.

Speaking of which, I’m absolutely a breakfast person. I need my breakfast! It has been cereal for the past years but recently I converted to oats because of their ability to purge the bad cholesterol away from my body. Honestly I am not a fan of oats but hey, if it’s good for me I’ll eat it. I have regular meals (and leftovers yes) and I indulge in the occasional pizza and burger, though not always. And since I’m managing my boss’ food blog it is sometimes a wee bit overwhelming to look at all those glorious food pictures and become hungry and salivate—but fortunately I can stand it!

As a fitting conclusion to this subject of food, just take a look at this whopper of a burger from Burger King. Can you finish this monster in 7 minutes?

P/S Watch the video here. The final comment from the guy who ate this makes this video well worth watching.

BBQ Bonanza

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Philip

I received an invitation to a barbecue recently, from Sue and Mrs. Pau (proud parents of the Piano Idol winners). It was held yesterday at the Pau’s residence, so I thumbed a lift from fellow teacher Ricky, with two bottles of red wine and my Canon in hand. We arrived at the venue, the weather was lovely, and oh my gosh, I’d never seen so much food in my life! These two wonderful ladies (pictured below) were certainly going to ensure that everyone was going to have a good time that evening.

And what about the food? How do I start…well we had pork ribs, chicken, Thai salads, Belacan Rice, Spaghetti, desserts, and not forgetting to mention the copious amounts of soft drinks, beer, and wine (thank you, Mr. Pau) I must have had at least three glasses of wine but I was stone-cold sober—and I wasn’t driving anyway, lol. The chicken was gone in a matter of minutes!

But the surprise of the evening were the cakes (courtesy of Ricky). Not one, but two—and they were delicious (from Ritz Pastry again) Word got round that my birthday was just around the corner so they “cornered” me and sang the birthday song for me at full force—it was fabulous! Thank you so much!

We didn’t disperse until after 11 pm or so, and Mr. and Mrs. Pau insisted that I take some leftover food home—spaghetti (thanks to the Kuans), pork ribs, some mangos and dessert. I didn’t wake up with a hangover today, but I sure had a good workout—morning walk and 30 laps in the pool. And then lunch consisting of spaghetti and pork ribs, what a life!

I am very touched by the gracious warmth and hospitality of the Pau family, Sue and her family, and Mr. and Mrs. Kuan. The whole residence looked like a mini Las Vegas, except that it was all laptops and gaming consoles all over the place, the kids were living it up after the school exams, and everyone was having a good time. The kindness that these people have shown me will remain in my memory for a long, long time.

More pictures and writeups from Sue (my friend and fellow blogger) at her blog here.

Small Rewards

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Philip

Aside from my Canon PowerShot SX120IS (which I wouldn’t consider a small reward) I’ve lately been…how shall I put it, pampering myself. Not with lavish head to toe makeovers, or anything like that. Just small rewards, because I feel happy and fortunate to be myself (and I have to be myself because everyone else is taken, hee hee) And since I can’t take whatever financial gains I’ve made when I go to see my Maker, why shouldn’t I indulge, once in a while?

Which is what I’ve been doing, and some of these rewards are free, like my morning walks. Even smiling back at a fellow resident here is a small reward. Saying thank you to somebody. Allowing an older person to get into or out of the elevator first (usually I allow other people to do that first, regardless of age) Playing the piano for guests and staff at the hotel to hear. These are all small rewards, and they come at no cost to me.

It may come as no surprise to know that I also cherish my alone times. I guess I got used to this during my college and university days in England and the States. At first I was terribly lonely (which is different to being alone) but then gradually I learned to get over it. Nowadays my alone time is treasured. I’m not saying that it’s better or that I don’t like the company of friends or anything like that. Just plain time alone by myself, to contemplate whatever I like.

Some of my friends (I won’t name names here lol) know how much I love food, including leftovers…yes, what a piggy I am. I do gobble, but greedy I most certainly am not. But to have a nice meal as I did the other day in a shopping mall and just watch people go by—I find that very relaxing, in a way. And then recently on a whim I decided to stop by at Swensen’s to have a Coit Tower ice cream (my favorite from eons past) Mmmm, delicious!

Swensen's Coit Tower

To top it all off, someone recently (ok, it was Mrs. Fong, the music school administrator) was so kind as to get me some cheesecakes from the local Ritz Pastry here, and man, it was heavenly! Uh…so much so that someone (who shall remain nameless) actually gobbled one without my permission. My favorite was the blueberry cheesecake, so I made a beeline for Ritz today, and what do you know, they were out of it! Wah! I settled for a Mocha cheesecake instead (see the picture below) At a price of RM5.80 ($1.65USD) for a small slice, it isn’t exactly cheap, but once that first mouthful goes in, it’s definitely worth every penny. Quality has a price, yes?

It’s an ill wind that blows…

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Philip

I recently went to the blog of one of my close friends, and to put it mildly, I was appalled to read that she was just having a lunch consisting of baked beans from a can, and two crackers. Reason being that she has a ton of bills to pay (don’t we all) and sadly food had to be placed way down on her list.

Then I look at my own situation here and I can’t help but feel something gnawing in my heart. I’m not rich, but my kitchen and fridge is stocked up with food, and the food caterer comes six days a week, bringing dinner to me. I have coffee, milk, rice, noodles, cookies, etc etc. It saddens me to know that my friend doesn’t even have all this stuff that most of us take for granted. Yes, I’m the one who buys it, but still I am thankful that I can afford this, even with the humongous bills that I have to settle every month, without fail. I just wish that I could just send her some provisions over the Internet!

It saddens me, but life can sometimes seem so unfair. I don’t envy people who are rich, but there’s only so much I can take when I see these people with their expensive cars, luxury penthouse suites, eating expensive dinners at hotels, etc. And here I am, trying to make every dollar and cent count, yet there are people who are in more dire straits than I can ever imagine.

So again, I have always resolved to be thankful to God for what I have—knowing that He will provide for me, in his own time and judgment. Meantime, even if I can’t contribute in cash, there are other ways I can enrich the lives of people I care about—a kind word, a smile, a listening ear, doing something without expecting anything in return, the list is endless. And hopefully providence will smile on me and grant what I really require in due course.

And my dear friend—I am praying for you, always.

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Instead of waiting for the storm to pass, dance in the rain

Tag Archives: food

Time Out

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Oasis

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