FujiFilm Baby Camera

Baby Wei waited patiently for her "baby" to arrive last month
while Monkey sat sipping on her lychee drink at Kinokuniya
and when it came, a huge smile drew on her face
:)))))))))))))))))

"I thought polaroid died-ed a few years ago???"
Baby Wei: "This isn't a polaroid....it's a Fujifilm!!!!"

errr pardon my ignorance.....
but instant cameras have came a long way and Polaroid now only manufacture instant digital camera
where u can preview and have the prints at the same time

this one is a true "evidence" machine,
coz no alteration can be made
and instant "evidence" can be produced.....

wakakakakakakaka

Ta-DA!!!!!
the colors were not fully developed yet when I snap this pic
need to wait a while more
and the most important part, u r not supposed to flip the instant film to dry it....

just let it dry on its own and it will be fine

for more details, visit

www.fujifilm.com

PS: Sweet Devil Rachel told me last nite, I need to blog a bit more faster...coz a lot of postings have been lagging.....sure woman...after I quit my job and u gonna take care of me hor?? :P

PPS: but heck last nite was great with u ladies. Muaks!!!!

Mangrove Tour in Langkawi

This was my very first mangroves outing...
never in my ever imaginable mind that I'll do this but heck it was FUN!!!!!

Baby Wei booked us a 4 hours tour with a licensed guide
Mr. Guide thought we were from Hong Kong......
with one papa-san and all his chicks -_-

and off we go...the 4 of us + Mr. Guide + Abang Mat Boat
weather was extremely lovely
very good for photography :)))

1st stop was a bat cave....
my first visit to a bat cave....yes I know I'm a city slicker :P
so Mr. Guide was pointing to us and explaining the formation of stalactities and stalagmites

u are forbidden to touch these beautiful solidified minerals
bcoz the residue/oil/dirt fr your hands can disturb its growth
and it takes a hell long of time to grow a milimetre

when we were inside the bat cave Monkey was fanning and squealing like a mad woman
everyone was -_-"
Chris da Boss: "I shy to bring u out man!!!!"
"NO!!! but look they are flying and pissing everywhere!!!!"

think I'm more scared of all the poisonous snakes under the wooden plank we were walking on
the smell bats urine and shit were horrible

but hell u dun get to see this everyday don't ya????
it's cute to see the formation of baby bats clinging onto the ceiling of the cave
and another group of adults bats on the other side...
each marking their territory

and alas we saw lights and were out of the cave
it was quite claustrophobic inside

next was the bird watching
*this one GOE's favourite*
sorry folks no pics, coz the moment I wanna snap...the beautiful bird just flew off
no wonder GOE alwiz taught me the rule of 4 seconds...just need to stay still and be ready with all your gears
we saw many beautiful ones....in different colors
and Mr. Guide gave us a catalogue to identify them

this one was the flower of the mangrove tree
the whole stick hung on the tree and when it's ripe, will drop off
with the law of gravity the whole stick will drop vertically onto the mud, lodge there
and ready to root

and the fruit part will open up and ready for photosynthesis and survive!!!

mangroves are very important to the coastal line

Mr. Guide also explained its role during the 2004 tsunami
the reason that Langkawi was not hit at all *except one man died due to heart attack then*
was the multiple islands "wrapping" the main Langkawi island which broke the waves of tsunami
and the vast mangroves which covered 3/4 of the island

the mangroves acted as a "breaker" and decreased the size of the tsunami
folks in Langkawi only suffered very low tide followed by extremely high tide during tsunami
with almost zero casualty....well except that only one man

but the most important role of mangroves was the ecosystem of the sea organism
bcoz it offers a very unique and quiet marine base for the young organism to survive
small fishes, crabs, shrimps called the roots of the mangroves their base...
without these small organism there won't be bigger ones which in the end ended up on our dining table
:P

the stick of the fruit is rather sturdy and can survive for a very long long time
Mr. Guide then peeled it to show us the multiple layers

Mr. Guide: "See the soft part here...this one is monkeys favourite part"
at this juncture everyone shifted their eyes to me

-_-" I don't eat this lar!!!!

Baby Wei said she wanna try first

so sedap or not?????

it was a very educative tour...
thank you Baby Wei for arranging this :)))
we had heaps of fun!!!!!!!

Island Hopping over to Thai waters

Mommy Jacky, Baby Wei, Monkey
errrr illegals at Thai waters

well blame Mr. Guide for bringing us to Thai waters
and we were without passports :P

Chris da Boss was so excited and pointing everywhere T_T
*I lagi shy to bring u out*
this is rather a unique island coz the left side which he's pointing to is Thailand
and while the right bank is Malaysia
so it's an "International" beach wakakakakakaka

and we hang out for a while at this international beach with international waters :P

really pristine water and view
being msians we only hung out at the Thai waters :P
kekekkekekeke

I am Back :-))

Hey peeps,


This monkey is back home in Malaysia,
so more reading materials for u all......


Switzerland has been.....errrr one word...
WARM!!!!


the day we arrived, it was 4 degrees and I was skipping happily on the street
and the next thing....the weather was creeping higher and faster than the stock market
T_T


by the time I left Switzerland,
it was 22 degrees!!!!!!
M.A.D.


No sight-seeing this round, coz remember....it was for work????
the most important part which I've enjoyed thoroughly was meeting up with the Swiss team
and also the worldwide team
the regional medias, press and buyers


how funny the beautiful ladies at the my concierge tend to pass every single guests who are fr Asia to me.....just bcoz I m multi lingual
could be fr China, Taiwan....well my mandarin can barely survive
Hongkie...well this was not a prob
sometimes Korean....just bcoz I can speak one word....only a word...KAMSAHAMIDA
Japanese....well I can do greetings in japanese :P
Thai....err I can only do 2 phrases in Thai
Indonesian...ahem this I can handle coz I speak a lot of malay. anyway this is under my market & surveillance
Indian...well this is under my care so no complaints
Singapore/Msia are also under my care


well the rest I can't really understand were guests fr:
Dubai......errrrr....well....do I say assalamualaikum to u?
middle east...I m so gonna kill the person who takes care of this market coz 80% of the middle eastern guests were directed to me and not this person.


Ladies at concierge: "CHERRY!!! I need your help coz they don't speak a word of anglais, sil vous plait??"
"non, non, non......wat makes u think i can speak their language??? GAH!!!!"


well this monkey spoke Italiano to order drinks for her guests bcoz the bartender is italian,
the security cum bouncer at the entrance was also an italian
french to her swiss colleagues
cantonese to her hongkie colleague
super broken can die mandarin to her taiwanese colleague
at the end of the day, I dunno wat am I speaking at all
*faints*


think I soooo have to attend mandarin classes that's for sure
it's a very important language huh


the other part I enjoyed was meeting the regional medias
it's really weird to catchup at a different place
at an unfamiliar territory 
dining at new places and we dun even know wat to eat looking at its German menu
*oh yes I CANNOT speak a word of German at all!!!! except "JA" which means yes

one thing for sure, we managed Swiss cheese fondue and the excellent German veal sausage
:))))))))))

Will post more about my 3rd Baselworld in Switzerland

Deste

this was JS's birthday cake
yeah I know it's HUGE!!!!!

Chef Lino took 2 hours to change the vintage and bottle number
I should have changed it for him... :P
my bad my bad

the cake was hiding inside the Miele fridge
Monkey showed it to Doc,
Doc showed it to Em and the chain goes on

till Prince C had a peek and thought it was the real thing
and almost hold the "bottle" with his hands T_T
lucky he didn't coz I will chop him off for damaging the cake
guess he had too much to drink.

he was as happy as a lil boy
it's only a cake...not the real bottle
I can't afford the real thing :P

the cake was yummy
sponge with crunchy chocolate pralines at the bottom

Chef Stefano Deste
came fr Italy's top pastry family, he's the 5th generation of the Deste family
Chef Stefano also represented Italy at one of the world's pastry competition
before joining the popular Garibaldi Group, he was from Dolce & Gabbana restaurant in Milan.

very beautiful creations huh?
for more visit their website at

www.deste.com.sg

PS: thank you to Chef Lino again. I can't wait to visit your new restaurant next month :))))

What he's reading.....

yep and that's only like books & magazines by the bed.....
yet to check on more lying around the house
I pity the poor table clinging on to his life


don't know how to pack everything when we move
all the junks~~~~~

Wat happen to my stand in blogger(s) ??

"A B C" soup *by JS*

Thought i do something different for todays posting.........Yes, i shall attempt to document the preparation of my dinner.

In this household, when this dish is prepared, you can be rest assured that someone is not feeling well......Damn, got this very bad sore throat/flu and it's an infection from a very aggressive strain of virus >:-(

Anyway i really needed comfort food and the first thought that came to mind was the "A B C" soup so here goes...........

this is the mire pioux and tomatoes....... coarsely cut

some nice wash potatoes peeled and............

roughly cut

pork ribs blanched in boiling water

long peppers, cubeb pepper corns and 2 bay leaves

The long pepper and cubeb pepper is the most important ingredient. If replaced with ordinary pepper corns, you will get............. an ordinary soup!

The long pepper has this floral bouquet and incredible earthy nose and when combined the scent is so complex that it goes beyond what one will call a floral bouquet.

Like Long Pepper, Cubeb pepper is also mainly grown in Indonesia(Bali actually) but it's origins like the common pepper corn lies in India. It is pungent and bitter with a strong terpene aroma. The aroma is sometimes described as woody, champhoraceous and spicy peppery.

Basically put everything in a big pot(except potatoes), fill with enuf water to completely cover everything and bring to a boil. Then simmer until meat is reasonably soft but not falling of the bone. At this stage add in the potatoes and continue to simmer until it turn soft and soup thickens.

By then, the meat should be just about falling off the bones. Add water if necessary at any stage.

To serve garnish with scallions.

Yes, it's a simple soup guys but remember the special pepper corns are key and unique.

aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh :)

Surprise Galore episode 3. *by JS*

This is the last of episode incase you have too much already :)

Waking up the next morning after a heavy nite of makan and drinking......first thing that X my mind was "haha, no more surprises"............... however that was not to be!

Came dinner time, i was told to get dressed(meaning smart)and be ready to go.

JS : HUH, go where??

Monkey : go dinner lar. don't ask too many question!

Here was go again.........yes, whisked into a taxi and headed to an unknown destination again. This time we had to X over to Sentosa island........and into the Integrated Resorts of Genting! This is indeed something new cos i have never been here before so no worries guys, i won't have a clue on what was going on :) We disembarked at Micheal Hotel.....hmmmm, Micheal who?? dunno leh!!

Then as we walked very quickly pass the big direction signage and there i saw a familiar name......

Yes, guys, now i know....we are going to Susur Lee (pronounce Su seu Lee) restaurant :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Off my mind, He is definitely in the top 3 chef list.

I read a lot about him and there was a documentary of him on AFC. His humble beginnings lies rooted at the Peninsular Hotel Hong Kong where he served his apprenticeship and that was where he developed his culinary skills.

He later migrated to Canada and work as an executive at various restaurants. The turning point of his life came when he wanted to come back to HK since his wife got an assignment in the British colony............but that was not to be and fate struck a lethal blow......she left for HK before Susur and was one of the passengers on board the ill fated Korean Airlines that was shot down by the Russians near the Sakhalin island. In that sense Susur was fated to live in Canada and destined to become one of the top chefs in the world..........his life story is indeed motivating if one believes in one's destiny..........and i do!

Sorry, got carried away with describing the man........Anyway i was so exited going to his restaurant even though i know he won't be there.

On entering the restaurant you will see the kitchen on the right with the funky redish tinted glass.

busy looking kitchen

we were immediately led to the private room where Em, Leanne and doc was waiting for us......and then i thought i saw a man with pony tail talking to Em. I remember Susur had long hair......

It can't be lar.....he travels round the world as he's also the consulting chef for many renown restaurants so no way he will be in S'pore.

Then as we approach, this charismatic man turned around and greeted us.....Hello, I am Susur........

JS : speechless man.......err, err, err, err...........you are Susur and you are in town......what a coincident. What an honour to meet you. :))))))))))) Suddenly my mind went blank and i was searching frantically in my brains for all the questions that i had wanted to ask the man himself.....and then reflexes took over.......

JS : can we take photo with you???

Monkey : Aiseh and paiseh wor......like tourist!! Thought you said you wanted to "interview" the man if you ever have the opportunity to meet him in person!!

JS : 0_O

thanks Susur for obliging :)

In real life flesh and blood, he looks exactly like how he looked on TV. Even his behavior was exactly like on TV. What a wonderful surprise :) I am still speechless..........took a while to settle down from the excitement. haha.

Then the other guys started arriving........none other than GOE and Zhang Jingna......another surprise!! Jingna is a celebrity photographer in Singapore and a Canon ambassadress .......so it's 2 against 1 tonite in favour of Canon.....clap clap clap!! She is also a gold medalist(including breaking the record) in the air rifle category at the 2005 commonwealth shooting championship and that explains the steady hands when it comes to photography........yeap, sharp shooters make good photographers..... that's only my theory lar!!

Jingna and GOE

Definitely a nite to remember with so many celebrities around :)

The table setting was an image of "Class"

We quickly settled down after all the excitement and as usual Prince C was asking for "mumm mumm" !! haha. Yes, we were all hungry and ready for the evening ahead.

The first dish was this very interesting hors d'oeuvres.

Yes, the bun like thing are actually mini burgers with chicken and foei gras

Sou Tou !! weiiiiiii, this one for elderly folks birthday leh -_-

scallops on momotaro tomatoes

This is a very special soup......with black truffles, etc.

Rice porridge with asparagus and other goodies

The prawns was served with cigar shaped mun tou......just the right amount of chilly heat.

pea shoots with garlic

fish grilled wrapped with ginger, etc

Pork neck.......a very under rated part of the pig. Very nice meat texture

Wagyu beef done in a very Asian way

finish off with desserts

Well,that was a flurry of good stuff that was churned out from the kitchen.

I especially like the soup and the rice soup. The prawns gotta be one of the signature dishes of Susur Lee. Nice flavoring, not too much chilly heat and not too much lemongrass......thats the secret i guess......... moderation!

As usual at every dinner we must pay respect to our wines which deserve a mention.

Tonite's wine was pretty mild compare with lastnites. we had a DP Enotheque 95, another Chambertin Clos de Beze 01, Chambertin Armand Rousseau 88, Chateauneuf du Pape domaine du caillou, corton charlemagne white burg, etc......like i said pretty simple and mild....agree or not ??

With one of Singapore's star celebrity photographer and Canon ambassadress around how can we not have a photography session...... after all me need to curi some secrets too :)

a well composed pic of Iching snapped by Jingna

off topic a bit..... anyone seen the movie "The Shutter" ?? Doesn't the next picture remind you of the movie?? :)

GOE, black shirt ok tonite....i won't change the colour of your shirt.... you can come out now :)

Doc, Em and Leanne

monkey and JS

Prince C and Iching

Monkey and the charming Jingna

Well folks we come to the end of the 3 part series. Hope you have enjoyed the pictures and storyline.

A special mention to Em and doc for playing host and collaborating with monkey to surprise me. Txs guys.

P/S BTW Susur Lee wasn't suppose to be in town until later that week. Like i said, destiny is a strange thing.....if you are fated to meet, somehow you will meet by hook or by crook :)