Places To Eat, YUM!

I am back!!! Did anyone miss me? :P Well, I have been really busy for the past week, and had limited access to the internet, hence I couldn't find time to make any new post. So here I am, spending my LAST day in USM, yeah, seriously, this will be the last night I will be staying in this house... will be leaving this memorable place the very next day... and for good... :(

Having that said, I am going to write something about the food and places to eat around USM, yeah! Initially when I came here, I found out that the food totally sucked (eurkss, I never liked any food in *9 other that its nasi lemak). The food in Parit Buntar area is like a treasure waiting to be found and unveilled. The truth is, there are plenty of really good and unique food in this area!

Bagan Samak('river' food), Sg Kerian(Laksa), Juru Autocity(international), Serdang(fried porridge)

The first pic is Bagan Samak, where you can get really tasty 'sam mei yu' (3 tastes fish), I don't know why it's called 3-taste, probably cos it's sweet, sour and spicy? Err... You can also get really big prawns, etc. Since fresh water living are the main ingredients for most of the dishes, the chef need to have really great skills to make them trigger your taste buds! Next is the famous laksa near Sg. Kerian, at just RM2/bowl. Hehe, that's the reason I always have two bowls during each visit. The business is so good that the owner only runs his business on Saturdays! And usually you gotta line up to get your seat! Going a lil further from PB area, we have Serdang (which is about 25 mins drive from PB) for its famous 'fried porridge' (hmm, fried foods are supposed to be dry... so what's fried porridge really about?). This is the place that never fails to impress anyone whom I recommend the place to. Sometimes you gotta make advance booking before going too. Moving even more further is Juru Autocity, you can get any kind of food you want there basically. There are Korean, Japanese, Laotian, Vietnamese, Thai, Western and Chinese food, all centered in this place which is also loaded with luxurious cars from Honda to Ferrari. Don't know why the people there are so rich... hmm...

There are many more great places to eat which I haven't mentioned, but let me show you the ultimate place to eat here... TADAA!!!

Food fair in my house!

Haha! That's my place! :P The best part of it is that it's free from MSG, keke. And let me tell you something that may surprise you, I am the main chef!!! Ok, you must be doubting the taste of the food (maybe I am not good at making jelly :S), nvm... Let's see if you'll be lucky enough to get the chance to try out my 'sao sai' in the future. Hehe...



So here I am, wrapping my last blog from USM... I am gonna miss the people, the lifestyle, and this 'unhappening'(that's what everyone says, but I like it that way) place. Bye bye, USM...

Be StRoNG!

It's good when you don't have a boyfriend around you when you are at that pace of life transitioning to being independent and learning how to live on your own. This pace of life strucks me during my campus life. When I first entered uni and lived away from my family, it wasn't really a huge change to me as I could still depend on my ex during the first year. Hmm, somehow I just tend to be dependent when the there was a person I knew I could rely on was just so reachable. Now, that wasn't healthy.

After we got off from our relationship, I started to be independent and I actually loved that! That's when I really start to learn about responsibilities and know how to appreciate better the little things that people around me do for me. Usually when I don't get my hands on doing something, I won't really know how much effort is required hence I tend to take things for granted. Being able to live on my own has made me so much appreciative and stronger; and that also makes my parents so much more confident of what I am able to do on my own now. Thinking back about it, it's funny how my Mom or Dad goes like, "WOW! You did it? You're really good!" everytime when I rebelliously do something they don't agree with just for the sake of protecting me, thinking that I am too infirm to handle it. Probably that's because I am the youngest child, and they see me as the feeble one who needs more protection, hmm... Anyway, I am just glad that I have proven to them that I can take good care of myself now :D At least they won't have to worry that much when I leave to Penang for work.

I guess if I have a boyfriend who is in the same campus with me throughout these years, I am still that dependent girl who just knows how to look to her boyfriend in times of troubles. It's a good thing I don't have one. And hey girls out there, even if you do have a boyfriend who is just a phone call away, try not to rely so much on him and challenge yourself to get things done on your own first. The gratification that comes from your achievement will surely give you a sense of victorious accomplishment that drives you forward to being stronger each time. Seek God for strength, He's stronger than your bf! Live up to the power within that God has blessed you, girls! Be like the PowerPuff Girls!

RM2 @ Sushi King!

My HD asked me for lunch once I logged in to my MSN this morning, I quickly agreed cos I thought it would be nice to catch up with him after not seeing him for quite some time. Fate was just not by our sides when a temptation too strong to resist lured me. MC told me that Sushi RM2 promo was back and said there was still one final slot left for me. Hmm, I love seafood and Jap food... so... I, I... 'aeroplane' my HD... gone... Gonna make it up to him someday.

We chose to go after lunch time to avoid the long queue. Well, it seemed that many students like us were thinking of the same thing, hence we waited for about 15mins for our turn, not too bad. That was when I decided to take some shots of the situation then. It was truly a satiable meal! What more could I ask for with every plate of sushi I ate only costed RM2 regardless of what it costs usually? GREAT value and yuMmY!


Waiting for the long Q...

The first time I've seen so many plates of sushi during a Jap meal (except for buffet) -.-"

Try to count the number of plates!

Avril's Back!

Avril's back with her new album after 2 years! Hmm, she is my favourite female rock singer. She seems special cuz she isn't one of those girly singers with just a pretty face. She can write her own songs, compose her own music, and play piano and guitar, quite cool. So here's the cover of her latest album "The Best Damn Thing" which will be released on the 17th April 2007.

I've heard the songs in her album, they are quite good. There are 12 tracks, with 6 fast tracks, 3 mid tempo, and 3 slow tracks. I'd say her slow tracks are really good, giving them 4.5/5 averagely. I'd give the album an overall score of 4.3/5. If you're an Avril and rock fan, the album will surely be worthy of the cash spent on it.

She's married now, and her image is slightly a lil different than she intially was. Not so much of the Rock Princess look, a lil girly outlook like Ashlee Simpson. Check out her latest video here and be the judge yourself.

Prison Break Never Fails

Everytime when I told someone that Prison Break was superb, he/she would reply me with, "You just like to see the leng chai in the series" or "It's just another series lah.." or "It's a chicks' show...". Hmm, in fact, I said, "It's just some silly series that wastes your time lah.." when my friend first spoke to me about the series. Haha, I don't need to convince those that I spoke to about this series any further, I just need to get them to watch the pilot and they will find themselves totally chained to the series! This has NEVER failed, Prison Break NEVER fails!

The addiction is so contagious, really. It's funny how I started watching it last sem during my AIC project while we were waiting for some long simulations to be done, and that's how I got my teammates (whom also happened to be my housemates) to start watching PB too. Ever since then, they all got addicted just like me and we all PB addicts would gather in my room every Tuesday night to watch the latest episode, hahaha. CK and SL were a lil left out at the beginning, but they managed to finish the WHOLE season which consists of 22 episodes in just 2 days! -.-" really sweat...

Soon the "PB virus" spread to other clans, now I guess more than 10 friends in USM are 'infected' already :P Not to mention some non-USM-ers like PS, HF, J, and SKY hahahaha, they are all PB addicts now! Yes, I am an addict too...(you PB fans out there surely know what that quote is about!)

Anyway, just a quick entertainment of 40 minutes weekly isn't so bad. Plus, Season 2 has just ended last week... Now we've gotta wait until 29th August for season 3 premiere. Gonna have a drought season soon as all my fave series are hitting a season ending soon, including Lost.

So is anyone of you starting to wonder what's so good about Prison Break already? Hmm, I guess Jazlie wrote a very good review on PB in her blog, you can check out what PB is all about at her blog, just click on the link to "Jazlie" at my sidebar and check out the review she wrote! Or visit http://jazlie.blogspot.com/2007/04/prison-break-finale-season-2.html ;-) Here's a sneak preview on Season 3! Cheers~~

Sepang GP - Did Massa Screw It?

Sepang F1 GP was finally here!! But what difference does it really make to me?... hmm... after all I was not anywhere at the circuit :P Well, SKY was there with his family... eee... so envy you... :P

Knowing that Ferrari's Massa was on pole with Kimi backing him up on the 3rd position, I was quite positive Ferrari might check the flag with a sleek 1-2 finish. But Massa was easily confused by Alonso's move which made him took the outer path during the first corner and he lost 2 positions to McLaren's Alonso (urgh, I don't like this guy :@) and Hamilton (wow, he is really a great driver!).

Hamilton performed a great defense for Alonso that the gap between Alonso and the rest was so huge everything seemed too predictable I lost my excitement to watch the race. Massa did plenty of mistakes during the race... his impatience to overtake Hamilton caused him to lose 2 more positions when he had a stab down into turn four and got the brakes locked sliding the Ferrari off the track... sigh... Not too bad though as I thought Kimi could handle Hamilton better! :P

Hmm, didn't really know what happened in the middle of the race because I fell asleep... zz... a little boring race in the middle. The last few laps of the race were quite interesting as we could see Raikkonen giving his best shot in trying to claim the runner-up position, but... to no avail at the finish line though... Man, he looked so beaten up on the podium. Quite sad to see that Alonso and Hamilton kinda neglected him during the toast.

If only Schumi didn't retire and is teaming up with Raikkonen now... could it have been better? Let's hope Massa will do better next time. YES, do ur best, Massa! Let's hope either Kimi or Massa will grab the championship away from Alonso!

Btw, an exclusive take from S.K.Y here:

That's Kimi Raikkonen, my current favourite F1 racer!

Sprain or Ergonomic Problem?

Every now and then, my right wrist suffers from this tingly ache whenever I twist it to the side. No, it's not that I overstrain it or anything, just a simple action of brushing my hair to the left side already triggers the pain.. :( It has been lingering for more than 2 months... urghh... It gets annoying sometimes because I have trouble doing many things, simple things that I need to do daily, like moving the steering wheel when I drive, picking up a bottle of 1 litre water and the list goes on... I am left with no choice but to stop playing badminton or to get involved in any kind of sports that requires strength from the wrist. Crap... what kinda sports am I left to do? Jogging? Swimming? Hiking? That's all? What about the fun sports games? Badminton and tennis no more? :'(

I was trying to recall the cause of this aggravating pain, yes, it's getting worse. I really started to feel the pain about 3 weeks ago. Now why would I say it has been around for 2 months then? About 2 months plus ago, my right wrist was over-twisted by a friend. From that day onwards, I could not play badminton anymore because my wrist ached badly everytime when I did. I thought it recovered a few weeks after that (there was no sign of pain for quite some time) until after a month; when the pain returned after enormous time spent on typing my FYP thesis. Blame it on the mouse, oops... lemme rephrase; blame it on ME, for not positioning my hand at the right level on the mouse. I used to place my right hand a lil too far that I needed to extend my arm too much, and a lil too high I was actually stressing my wrist badly, urgh...

Here are some tips of how you should position your mouse that I find useful:
1. Place your mouse close to your keyboard and within easy reach. You should be able to use your mouse comfortably with your arms close to your side, and your elbows at a slightly "open" angle.
2. Use your elbow-not your wrist-to move the mouse. Keeping your forearms in one place and using your wrists to "flick" the mouse can increase intracarpal pressure-leading to wrist and finger pain.
3. Don't click too hard!
4. Make sure you're holding your mouse correctly. Avoid letting your fingers "hover" above the mouse or trackball buttons. Always use a light grip. Don't hold the mouse when you're not using it, and keep your wrists in a straight or "neutral" position.

Of course, there are more on the keyboard and monitor positioning, and lighting etc as well. I find this site quite useful. Check it out for tips on office ergonomic, and other computer-related health topics.
http://www.healthycomputing.com

Hmm, so is my wrist pain really caused by the over-twist or ergomonic issue? I guess it started from the sprain (or just sTrain rather?), which was almost recovering but was then aggravated by the lousy ergo practice I engaged for 3 days straight. I consulted my doctor about it, and he just told me to apply a heat pack (which I still haven't bought :S) to it frequently. Yah yah... please remind me to buy the heat pack...

Lucky Day

Last Tuesday was really my lucky day. I escaped from two fine tickets. I would say that I am an obedient driver on the road. It has always been my habit to wear the safety belt before pushing into gear 1 or gear R. This time around, when I was just about to make a move, Dad rang me up to ask if I was reaching home early. My mind was totally not focusing after we ended the call and so I forgot to put on the belt. I was strolling at about 40kmph when I saw a minor accident bout 50m away... two traffic policemen were at the scene, I didn't know my safety belf was unattached... closing up to 20m, and only then I knew it! I remained sober and slowly slid the belt across me... I was fortunate the policemen were busy looking at the motorcycle then, phew... That was the first escape.

Next, I headed to KFC... hehe... my usual favourite hi-tea or early dinner with buddies because of the Tuesday specials :P Parked my car, with a one hour loaded duration. Guess we were too engaged with our conversations we forgot about the parking. Again, about 20m when we were reaching the parking lot, I saw the man in the blue uniform writing sth on his RED book! Ahhh!!! I quickly activated the alarm, just the blue button ok? :P Thank God the guy was kind enough to cancel the ticket, he even smiled back to us. He was really kind :)

Hey... I don't mean to encourage you ppl out there to not wear your safety belts or leave the parking meter unloaded, ok? I admit it's wrong for me to have conducted these 2 acts, but I was lucky to have escaped this time. It doesn't mean I'll be as lucky the next time! I also learnt my lesson even though I didn't get the fine. Well, if I did, I would have paid for the tickets. NO bribery ok! Now I remember better to put on the safety belt even after I talk on the phone. I do time up my parking duration too now :P I repeat, DO NOT offend the laws ahhh!!!

This Could Be My New Job

Oops... I did it again... :P Yeah, I became the tour guide of Taiping once again last Friday. I am getting better at it that I have come out with packages of the places to visit. Well, I won't say Taiping is a happening place, hence I only managed to come out with 2 packages eventually. Lemme count... this will be the 6th time I am tour-guiding my coursemates to Tpg in my final year... hmm... gonna be eligible to be a certified tour-guide already.

We took off from Parit Buntar late at 10am, initial plan was to kick off at 9. It didn't take us that long to reach Taiping anyway, the 'Monaco track' was a piece of cake already since I stroll along it almost every week (some of you may know exactly what I am talking about!). Our first stop was at Maxwell Hill. Unfortunately, the ride back to foothill was a lil too late so we just cancelled the plan.

We headed to Taiping's famous 'pool pool' as a backup plan! We had a fun time playing in the pool. I love the water so much I was the first to get myself all soaked wet! There are some pools which are really deep and you can actually swim around, wheeEEE!!

After our visit to zoo, 4 of them headed for boat paddling (2 by 2). I had gone through that way too many times so I decided to just walk around the garden to take some nice pics on its scenery, also being my friend's photographer while they were busy enjoying themselves in the lake. Here are the pics ...

So what do you guys think of the pics? Most of all, how do the tourist spots of Taiping impress you or disappoint (I hope this is not it...) you? Do I seem like I am promoting Taiping now? Haha, maybe! Taiping is indeed a nice spot for a 2D1N vacation. Hey btw, the places that I mention in this post is just 30% of the attractions, I still have another package to be unveilled someday ;-).