Happenings - March/April 2014

Well, this is an overdue post after being left out earlier

probably b'coz i hav totally forgotten about this event

 GUESS WHAT THE EVENT IS?

 nope, it isn't any superstar concert...

but instead it is the company annual dinner!

how could i ever missed out in posting such important function of the year?!

probably coz it was held in the beginning of the year where too many happenins' around tht overshades it.

anyhow, the company never fails to have the annual dinner @ Shangri-la Hotel.

I dun have to tell u how sucks the food was, coz i hav been mentionin' this N times.

The food was mediocre, nothing to shout about...

 the only food that pass my palate is the dessert...which is actually plain vanilla ice-cream with choc lava cake. 

Total disappointment rite?

i'm pretty sure the below leftover food is mch * (infinity) better than what is being served at the hotel ballroom. Well, I shudn't hav complaint mch since the dinner was entirely F.R.E.E. & fully sponsored unlike some of my previous company where staffs need to pay (a certain minor sum) to be eligible to attend.

March passes fast, and soon it was April...

April is another hectic month due to rushing some deadlines, but i managed to squeeze-in for a Vitagen talk!

back in being a kiddo again, listening to health talk and sampling Vitagen ;-)

it reminiscent back in those primary school days where Vitagen van came to my school...
havin' a brekkie during ofis hours is GOOD once in awhile ;-)

Meat Dumpling - Wonton

One of those cold nite in Shanghai, i went with a group of tourmates to this wonton shop. It operates even after midnite and is still having patron droppin' by....at 1am plus...

yea...i was there at around that time coz someone needs to take-away (to-go) a bowl of hot wonton soup for his supper.

 here's the menu board...if u can read chinese

 here's one that i had...the smaller version of wonton with pork filling

 and the larger one which I know as 'sui kao' (in cantonese)...but tastes pretty mch similar to that of wonton...

Tastewise, i still prefer the HK version...as it has huge and juicy shrimps stuffed in every wonton.

Shanghai version is too bland, jst like the local ones in KL.

 on another hand, I tink their instant noodles are much more superb than what we have here locally

they hav spicy szechuan beef noodle....

as a hopeless junkie, i bought the large bowl...it was huge that I gotta share with mum

it tastes so yummielicious!

slurrppPPPPppppp!!!

Breakfast @ nearby Yu Garden, Shanghai

Our first meal in Shanghai was at one of the prominent vegetarian restaurant nearby Yu Garden.

When we reached the place, all these had been laid on the table waiting for us. The soy bean drink was still piping hot, plus the buns (Chinese bao) were fluffy

 we were served with vegetarian buns, fried glutinous rice cake and red-bean paste 'ang ku' (tortoise cake)

The bun was superb, the angku was fresh...

just i thought that were the only food for breakfast, i was surprised that the waiter came with these bowl of noodles for each of us, individually...

we were fed to the brim!

nevertheless this vegetarian noodles was yummie, with mushroom and beancurd skin stew in dark sauce.

 here's the eatery place ;-) We were seated at upstair.

 the surrounding is like a heritage village with oriental-ancient-like architecture buildings..being a tourist-packed area, this place is crowded even during the morning...but it doesn't matter as the air is fresh during spring ;-)

well, there goes my very first meal in China "mainland". Was surprised that it tastes good, despite numerous negative remarks (from frens and families) on how sucks the Shanghainese food are. Not impressive though, but considered "okay"

Bon Appetit!

Monthly Birthday Celebration @ Office - Month of April'14

One can never slimmed down if they are working in my office....

coz....

FOOD IS ABUNDANCE

with daily free lunch and monthly b'day party...it is undeniable that you will easily gain weight...

as usual, my lunch gang had invited me to tag along at the party despite we aren't the April babies...

*thick skin me....jst go for the sake of eating ;-)

as soon as the candles blown-off, i was the first to queue for the satay...yeapz! i oni 'attack' the satays!

and ignore the rest of the food in the buffet line...

there were also fried rice, fried chicken, and fried foo-pei (beancurd skin). But i took none of them - was too engrossed into Satay...

sandwiches and currypuffs....yummielicious!

wish i could hav more currypuffs...it was really yum...

but my stomach couldn't feed in anymore....coz i had a bowl of
n.o.o.d.l.e.s

yea...that's my bowl of noodles with chili paste and extra fishballs/fishcake!

a very satisfying meal especially after having the satays....teeeheeeheee....

Bon Appetit!

Flight Meal: KL - Shanghai, China

My flight to Shanghaiwas at 1:45am...It was a midnite flight and reaching there in the morning.

Packets of peanut was served moment after take off...as the breakfast will be a few hours later...which will still be in the middle of the nite (alrite, it is actually during the wee hours in the morning)

i had a western breakfast consists of omelette, potato wedges, sausage and baked tomatoes.

It was served with the usual stuffs of fruits, yoghurt and bun with butter plus a cup of tea.

this meal lasted me for a few hours before my stomach starts growling again at about 9 plus...

luckily the trip organizer had arranged for another breakfast, else i would be starving till lunchtime.

On my flight back home, i took the late noon flight...hence lunch was of more solid dish consist of noodles, chicken and mix vegetable. It comes with fruits, tiramisu and bun as usual.

The tiramisu was superb!

Overall, the food is okay as it suits my palate well.

Bon Appetit!

Nestle Hamper

It's time of the year where we collect our exclusive Nestle hamper....This is supposed the door-gift during their AGM, but it was distributed separately after the event

 anyhow, all of us were so excited to receive the goodies, especially when they are EDIBLE

 see the happy face of this soh-poh and her Kit-Kat

my fav of all are Maggi mee, for sure!

GreenGoose Guest House, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Let me take u a tour of the room in GreenGoose...

Here's my "VIP room"

Why so?

coz the room is unusually spacious than a standard hotel room

it even have sofa at one corner. 

 and a walk-in closet with dressing table. But i found this space a bit wasted coz normally people dun have such big luggage that would occupy the whole wardrobe

 even the bathroom is like a stage!

u can sing, dance and practise ur movement coz there is a mirror sliding door...and when u r taking bath from that bathtub, u can see urself naked from the reflection of the sliding door mirror

 the toilet bowl...ok, nothing fancy about that

 this place is like a mini apartment except that it doesn't have a pantry

 other than that, all basic necessities are provided, such as fridge, tv, air-cond, hair dryer, wifi

well, that's about my VIP room....

I got to know that not all room are the same. My colleague got a smaller room with lesser amenities and in run-down condition. So i consider myself lucky to have a better room ;-)

Pan Am TV series

Pan Am was aired in the local television since a few months back and last week i managed to catch up with the final episode of it...14 episodes ended just like that...

and i will definitely miss those pretty characters, especially Kate, the secret CIA agent with her 'adventures'...

 and Colette, being so natural and attractive ;-)

 wasn't quite impress during the beginning of the series but as it goes along i got to know of a few characters, their "fictional personal stories", lavish lifestyle in the 60's, and the cute (but elegant) sixties fashion

 kudos to the series producer for portraying the modern-vibrant-fun of a stewardess life...

they seemed to enjoy travelling & being pampered, plus being the centre of attention

isn't this the dream of every women nowadays?

anyway, the final episode is about the turning of the new year "1964"....and it ended with a group of them watchin' the new year ball from the apartment balcony in New York...

1964 is like half a century ago...oh my...

Cream and Fudge, Banani, Dhaka

Life is hard in Bangladesh, unemployment is high and salary/wages are way too low to survive even in Dhaka.

Their people have no choice but to opt working in other countries, hence their immigration dept are all-time crowded with citizens applying/renewing their passports. I was at their passport office during the day time for a project submission and somehow seeing their people hardship and the street-life make me felt pitiful over them. They do various odd-jobs and hard labors to earn a living.

there are street vendors selling the similar stuffs...i wonder how they could compete for business...

anyway, their street-scene could be miserably disheartening with a majority of the people in poverty.

Some might only got to have plain bun and water as their staple food, meanwhile only a small population are wealthy and can afford having expensive ice-cream.

Well, my colleague bought us to Cream & Fudge @ Banani, a place which is frequented by expats and some richer people of Dhaka.

As u can see, tht place is not frequented mch by locals, most of the patrons here are expats and non-bangladeshi.

here's the menu

i ordered the similar item based on the front cover of the menu ;-)

it can never go wrong...

well, it was my colleague's treat for the four of us. But eventually he is getting it claimed on company account....

so, it's company treat ;-)

i deserved a nice ice-cream from the company for all my hard work, rite???

Feasting @ the Office Canteen

Here's featuring one of the best lunches i had during weekdays at the office canteen ;-)

Lunchtime seems to be exciting these days with unexpected surprise.

yeapz...i had roast duck and it's a drumstick!

 it paired well with the other dishes - acar, crackers, beansprout, cherry tomatoes and cucumber....looking at it jst get me drooling again....

and not only tht...i was also having a bowl of curry noodle with extra ingredients (fishballs, long beans, brinjals)...

 great lunch & companion made my day....LOLx

see...i m a BIG EATER!

Breakfast @ GreenGoose Guest House, Gulshan, Dhaka

My colleague booked me a room at GreenGoose rather than Sarina Hotel :-(

Well, i dun expect much from this guest house as compared to that 5-star hotel...hence my expectation over their breakfast has been 'toned down'...

GreenGoose is more of like a service apartment with the concept of homely environment. It is situated at a small alley rather than the commercial area. Well guarded by security guards and its gate is locked all the time. I felt like living in a 'prison' rather than a hotel.

Anyway, the whole experience is new, coz i got to enjoy a homely cooked breakfast specially prepared by their in-house chef, upon our order.

 the cafeteria isn't huge...it can only accommodate around 7 tables (if i recounted correctly), but that is sufficient enuf to cater for all the tenants at GreenGoose

 the windows are grilled...similar to those houses back in KL...

i felt like i'm havin' my meal at home, plus they have Kikkoman soy sauce on some tables!

that reminds me of the bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce at my home dining table :-)

 but well, i dun need the soy sauce anyhow...

coz most of the food are flavorful enuff with spices.

Here's what i had....

i ordered someting oriental....chinese-style chow mein (fried noodle)

just ordering that for the sake of curiousity, coz i wonder how it taste like if being cooked by a bangladeshi chef!

turns out very yummie ;-)

all thanks to the spices. 

and i was also served with a plate of complimentary fruits....

well, that neutralized all the spices tht i gulped down from the noodles.

Bon Appetit!