Listen to Avril's Hot - I love that song

A little part of me misses Malaysian food. In the midst of spending so much time in the library and studying and bearing all the stress, I think of Malaysian food. A short moment of pondering about the Malaysian authentic cuisines. In those thoughts, I find peace, hope, joy and ocassionally a plate of pork noodles.

I didn't actually took pictures of these dishes when I was back in Malaysia - mainly because my hunger would just devour the whole plate the moment it lands in front of me. Haha..

Hokkien Mee - There isn't a decent place here that sells proper hokkien mee. Malaysia's version is the best due to the very fact that they put deep fried pork fats on them. Omg - the unhealthiness, the crunchiness and oiliness. I just love it.
Side effects of long term high cholesterol included.

Pork Noodles - Be it with soup or the dry version, it just taste super good. OMG - I love it! the combination of small pork pieces with the soup and not forgetting the seasoning is just brilliant. You just can't believe something that taste so good can be made so easily. Trust me - I know, I have seen them making it while I anxiously wait for my food.

Bak Kut Teh - OK, to be honest, I just had this a couple of days ago. It SUCKED to infinity and beyond. The soup was practically tasteless. It might as well be just plain water in there. The meat was 90% fats and the mushroon was hard and tasteless, almost like the soup. Just one drink of Malaysia's Bak Kut Teh can bring back good memories. The taste - so full of flavour. I can taste the meat, the herbs and the vegetables. With at least 3 bowls of rice - I always end the meal with a big smile.

Rojak Mee - Yes! Rojak Mee. A dish that I will order when I'm not too sure of what I want to eat. Indian Rojak with mee rebus and a generous helping of thick gravy. One word - Heavenly. It's usually served in a big portion, a huge plus for me as I usually eat at least 2 dishes anywhere. I'd usually take my time picking out my favourite bits and save them for last. As it's called Rojak - you can expect an abundance of flavour in this dish.


There's so many more dishes that I can think of. All these dishes have something in common though - they're cheap! Yes, and widely available as well! Woo hoo!
Some good things in life come cheap after all... haha

That was my thought until recently. The food crisis hit the world... OMG


Prices of wheat and rice rose up at an alarming rate. Wheat and rice! Important raw materials for the beautiful Malaysian cuisine. Nooo!!!



Source : Daily Express News



Following are the increase in prices for mee items effective April 10 :

- Mi Kuning (Yellow mee) up 20 sen a kg;
- Mi Kering (Dry mee) up 20 sen a kg;
- Small Yee Mi up 30 sen a kg;
- Big Yee Mi up 70 sen a kg;
- Wantan Mee up 60 sen a kg;
- Wantan wrapping (Kulit wantan) (500 gm packets) up 40 sen per packet;
- Dumpling wrapping (500 gm packets) up 50 sen per packet;
- Keow Teow up 30 sen a kg;
- Chu Cheong Fan up 0.04 sen a roll;
- Laksa Pendek up 30 sen a kg;
- Laksa Panjang up 30 sen a kg.

Even wantan and dumpling wrappings increase price? Noo.. by so much summore. Chee Cheong Fun go up by 0.04 sen. WTH - how to count? Need to order 10 then only get 4 sen. If order less than that how are they going to charge? lolz...

Argh - gone are the days of cheap Malaysian delicacies. Sigh... this is depressing... back to studying I guess.

I listen to Avril everyday...

I am feeling random now. Mixed feelings of I-don't-know-what-is-going-on-with-me-right-now. Sigh... Today's a good day I guess - though I feel like my progress in terms of studies is really going slow.

I need to bathe now - will do so after this post.

see! omg. So random.

Ah well, let me drift with my thoughts right now. I am thinking bout the very fact that there are so many pretty girls in the LSE library nowadays. Like OMG - where were you all this while? seriously an huge abundance of pretty fine chicks out there. Either that or my taste have drop like 1 million levels lower due to study stress and all.

But seriously, why are there so many chicks? omg - ok I really shouldn't be complaining right now. haha - I'm ever so grateful now. Will try to spend more time in the library.

Speaking of chicks, they have different effects on guys. The most common, to my honest opinion, would be the attraction of his undivided attention - and ocassionally a little drool here and there...

Well - I didnt say the chick had to be a girl... Chick can mean lots of things...

And this 'guy' here is kind of over doing the drooling. Haha - Trust me when I say that he's managed to fill a pond that now homes some fish and 3 ducks.

On another note - I really don't get blogs where people put a really big POSER picture of themselves right at the front. It's like when you go to their blog - the first thing that slaps your face would be their really BIG face - or some really LAME pose of theirs. I mean - how low can your self esteem be to want to sell yourself to every reader that prances around the internet and stumbles upon your blog?

Sure you might argue that this gives the blog some personality and originality.

LIKE DUH! it's your freaking face! no one's going to have your face (not like anyone wants to anyway)

Most of the time - the ones putting on their face probably managed to luckily take a decent picture of themselves. It was probably the best picture of themselves and they want to show it to the whole world. "See people of the world, I'm good looking too!"

WTV... point is that that's probably the best picture you're going to take of yourself EVER! and that picture might stay there for the next few years giving the wrong impression of yourself to others. Why try to look good so fakely? Accept that you're not-so-good-looking a.k.a. UGLY. You should get acquainted to that word very well.

Why don't you put a picture depicting your true self at least? why sell out another image of yourself to others?

for once BE REAL - be yourself...

Or better yet - if you can't find a decent picture of yourself - because of the fact that your face might not be that presentable... put a mascot. That always work out well.

Ice-Shaun features Punchos! the Spanish mutt

BLOGGER WONT LET ME UPLOAD ANY PICTURE!

ARGH!


CURSE YOU BLOGGER!

HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF BLOGGER WHEN YOU DONT LET A BLOGGER -ME- BLOG IN MY OWN BLOG?


Your picture cannot be upload due to some internal error.



WTH!


HERE'S WHAT YOU DO... TAKE A REALLY BIG STICK. TURN IT SIDEWAYS AND STICK THE STICK UP YOUR CANDID ASS!!

Sigh - frustration. My lovely pictures showcasing my own narcism can't let itself out to the whole, for the whole world to admire.


IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID INTERNAL ERROR. INTERNAL ERROR, sounds like something you'd call when a robot gets stomache pain and need to shit out a shitload of mechanical shit.



Stupid blogspot! go shit yourself out because you're just so full of it...




ARGH!!!!

Rantz

Ugh - don't you just hate it that you KNOW very well that you don't have any more time left but still your stubborness that never learns through countless painful experience before, chooses to procrastinate (again)?



I have my exams coming up.



I am stressed.



I have to read a big thick book with many words and little pictures.





and someone told me I have white hair. OK, more like reminded me of that. Sigh. I have HAD white hair since I was in form 4 - I think. I dunno why! OK!





Perhaps it's just the very point that I get stressed up so easily. Blood pressure increases and rushes to my head. An overdose of blood just like a plant that got too much water dies, my hair just dies.



Instead of being like a plant, it FREAKING chooses to turn white! wtf... drop off if you're DEAD ok! why would you want to turn white? ARGH





You just want to turn white so that every other person who takes a look at my hair would think I'm that same age as George Clooney. I'm not even 21! - why.. am I talking to my hair.. sigh





I wake up later nowadays.. I want to wake up earlier. Point is - I CAN.. I'll just head to the library and sleep there. Logic comes into play here. I can sleep longer in bed and go later to the library or go earlier to the library and sleep there. The end result is the same. Just that I can sleep on my comfy bed rather than on the uncomfortable chair/table. So I choose to sleep longer in bed... sigh





Random - I don't want to do my laundry... I have a full basket now.. I wish I had a dryer... argh





Random - Daniel Powter's Bad day is playing on my playlist. Sometimes I think my WMP has a mind of its own. IT KNOWS MY FEELING.

It like bloody understands me... to the point that it can play what I'm feeling right now...



OK - let me try feeling sien now. Let me click on the next button...

...

...



wat a stupid song... Daniel Bedingfield's If you're not the one. SO GAY! gay gay... wait - why is it on my playlist... omg...





let's not go there...

EMO

currently emo-ing because of Avril's The Best Damn Thing. Been listening to it for the whole day. soo emo! But some songs really make me laugh. Lolz

Mixed emotions now... due to her. Love this album a lot...


Go get this album! yes, it's old and all already.. but get it anyway. Who cares if she dyed her hair pink and blonde! she still sings brilliant songs and tunes.


I like ALL the songs on this album - the only other artist that I can say the same would be Linkin Park. I'll save that for another emo day. Haha

Espana

The trip to Spain was definately an enjoyable one. One filled with many events that made it enjoyable. We travel 4 cities and tasted many different cuisine that Spain has to offer. I didn't expect the weather to be so hot there. To my surprise, we had to take our jackets off in the evening and by night, we were still feeling cold with them on.

The four cities, Sevilla, Granada, Barcelona and Madrid, were very different from each other. In the period of 8 days, I saw different lifestyles and cultures. The best part was, there were just a couple of hours away from each other. To begin with, in Sevilla, lunch was about 2.30 pm and dinner could be as late at 10pm. Unlike Malaysia that offers food practically 24 hours a day, if you get hungry at about 7-8 pm, you'll have a problem looking for a restaurant that would provide food for you. We were practically hunting for any restaurant that was open and willing to sell food at that time.

The 2 days in Sevilla really opened up my eyes to appreciate the artistic value all around me. I was at the Plaza de Espana. A huge plaza that summarizes the whole country's cities and history on its walls. A beautiful place indeed. The only setback would be that most of the places of interest that were visited were pretty much under construction or repair. This plaza was no exception. Let me also mentioned that weather most of the time was really good - sunny and windy. I'm ever so grateful for that.

Everyday, one of us would be in charge of being the tour guide. That person would be responsible in bringing us around to see the sites and trying to make the best out of the 1-2 days that we have for each city. We end up walking a lot - we had a record of about 33000 steps in our first day. Suffice to say, most of us lost weight after this trip. But I have no regrets in all of those walking. I feel that walking is best way to see the city, all it has to offer, its richness and all.

That much walking also gave us time to talk to each other, bond together in a sense. I wasn't that close to all of the 5 people in this trip initially - but after this trip, I got to know them better. All in all, this group had different things to contribute to this trip and that made this trip such an enjoyable one. Though I have to say that I was subjected to being bullied for the whole duration of this trip, it was still a nice experience. I think...

With 6 of us there and coincidentally, all of us bringing a camera each - there were tonnes of pictures taken during that 8 days. Everywhere we went, every random moment or any weird looking monument, one of us would be ready to snap away. All the good memories and pictures were captured in our cameras. I look forward to compile all the pictures. Will be done soon.

Throughout this trip - we had fun just walking around and seeing things that were new and strange to our eyes. Ocassionally, we would find something fun to do. One of them would be racing in a garden maze in Barcelona. The two teams were the Guys and Girls. Contrary to the popular belief that girls would have a good sense of direction because of all the shopping training, the guys won by a landslide. The garden in Barcelona was really well kept and beautiful. These were the sort of things that we'd usually see in the movies.

Another thing that you'd only see in a movie would be the Temple of the Holy Family. Started by Anthony Gaudi, it is unfinished unfortunately. The genuis in architecturial design passed away being seeing this masterpiece being finished. Luckily, he left behind the blueprints to the design. The constructors are currently taking their time to finish it so when it's done, it'll be as if Gaudi himself did it. They planned to finish the building 100 years after Anthony Gaudi's death.

Besides looking at all of these artsy stuff, we did many other things to entertain ourselves. In a catheral in Barcelona, for the very first time - I lit a candle. Though it cost me 1 euro to purchased, I'm glad that my candle would burn brightly for some duration of time. Let it shine brightly to lighten others. :)

Other things would include mixing with the locals. My spanish isn't that good so I wouldn't go far in having a conversation with a local. :P I don't know why, but Spanish people esp in main cities are really good looking! Antonio Banderas!! - OK, that was random. But wth. Lolz

And best of all, Paellas! Omg - I love paella! OK spanish food in general was really good. But for me, Paella was a whole level above. It tasted so good, eps after walking for the whole day. I was tired, my legs were painful and all. Then I had paella. It was seriously delicious. I could eat a while pot right now. hehe


Well, that was Spain in a post. There were many more events and pictures - but just for a summary this was it. I enjoyed myself there a lot! Spain is indeed a beautiful place to go for any reason be it the scenery, the food or the festival. Would definately consider going there again soon...

Flea Market in Barcelona

In a turning from La Rambla (the shopping district in Barcelona), lies the Flea Market. A sanctum for spaniards to buy daily groceries, have something to eat or to get something really cheap for someone. Regardless of the reason - this place was definately worth checking out.

This was the front entrance. It sure beats any flea market entrance in Malaysia. Lolz. It looks good enough to rival Centrepoint. Hmmm

Some of the first shops at the entrance. The funny thing is - pork and cheese seem to go together everywhere. At the market, at your tapas plate and in your sandwich. Hmmm. Cheesy Lomo. Now there's a thought... lolz

The range of seafood here is amazing! And they all look so fresh - can even compare to the ones in Harrods. OMG - I miss seafood so much now. Go back must go to the kepong D'foodland. 30 types of crabs! Muahahaha and I want fried lala as well.

Eggs - in all sorts of sizes, colours and prices. Haha - didn't bother asking which eggs came from which bird. Probably wouldn't understand also. What if got earthquake in Barcelona? (touchwood) Hehe, the shopkeeper would probably open a scrambled eggs restaurant.

Now the best part, chocolates! Made into very interesting shapes and colours. Haha, first up! Crazy Frogs! They look so realistic. I wonder if they have chocolate tadpoles. They might look to much like sperms though... hehe

So pretty right? OMG - If I could make one of those. WOW - I'd be so proud. Can give a whole bouquet of candy flowers! I thought it was made with chocs at first, later one found out that it was made with marzipan. But still! it's so nice and hard as well. Hehe

Oh yea!! the best looking one around. This picture is up for the guys who appreciate the beauty in life. Yea, you know who you are. Didn't buy them though. Too heavy - I'm not a chocolate person and it'll hurt my heart to see them melt away.




Lastly - this picture is a MUST. An honor to Paella! I love paella! hahaha. there was a huge pot just lying there. We didn't have the time - otherwise, I wouldn't mind spending a good hour there just eating away... :)

Tortoises

Exams!! Ugh - the stress of it all. Life in London can get really fast paced sometimes. So fast that you don't even feel the time pass - you don't realised that it's time to eat. When that happens, I like to just lean back and look at something slower... just to get my perspective back in place.

Lolz - chill out people. Don't get too stressed out!

Tapas

Just got back from Spain - that would explain the lack of updates for at least a week. Lolz - and yes I did get a little lazy to blog. Anyways, we (6 of us) conquered Spain through the 4 cities. Sevilla then Granada then Barcelona then Madrid. It was wonderful to see loads of chicas (chicks), the architecture and best of all the food. Let me just declare here that I really LIKE to eat Paellas. It's so wonderful! OMG - I must have more...

Upon checking in Sevilla, we were extremely hungry and eager to check out spanish food. A typical spanish food would be found in a Tapas Bar. So there we were - in the bar and ready to order. My way of ordering was easy... ONE of everything on the menu. Hahaha (they didn't let me order in the end.. sigh)

Here's where we had our first taste of Spanish food...

Yea - that's the place we were eating at... with 2 lovely swallows flying to each other, right before colliding into each other in a fatal accident. hehehe

This is pretty good. Grilled squid with olive oil. Very interesting blend of flavours. But I think I'll lay off from calamari for now. My stomache's making all sort of sounds that I never heard before and I think it's because of a certain calamari sandwich. Sigh...

No kidding - that's what they call pork there. So you can go 'Can I have your lomo?' or 'Do you want to try my lomo?' or 'This lomo taste soo good.' Lolz

That's chicken in spanish. As you can see - most of the dishes are accompanied with bread and chips. Must be a trick to make it more filling. As there were 6 people, we always had to divide everything to 6 pieces. Kind of hard when the dishes are already so small to begin with...

Despite my title for it - it actually taste pretty good. And this one came in 6! haha - You can never go wrong with grilled juicy mushrooms. Even if there's some green cream on it. We ordered another helping of this one. Just can't seem to get enough (though the next serving came with only 5 mushrooms. I don't know how they measure the servings here.)

That would be cheese and dried pork. Doesn't really taste that nice - but it provides a different flavour at least. I would say that this would be the least filling dish here. Just a note - the green things at the side of the cheese isn't mold, it's just some spices and herbs. Moldy cheese actually taste much better, to my opinion at least.

Cod with salsa - a very interesting combination. I'm glad this one turned out well. The only complain I have is that they give too much salsa/gave to little cod. Lolz - the balance was completely off. We had to use bread to eat up the salsa - not the other way round...

Looks pretty doesnt it? I can't remember what this was already. Something fried on top of a weird looking vegetable. It tasted pretty good though. I personally liked the salad at the side.

FISH - that's the best part of Spain. The seafood here are pretty fresh, well most of them at least. It's such a huge improvement from London, besides the warm weather there as well. I think this was salmon - but who cares? Accompanied with a glass of wonderful spanish house beer, this tasted pretty good.

That's our first lunch in Spain - most post on Spain to come soon. I miss the weather there soo much! Argh...