Kal El

When Chicken Hartz opened its doors at Sunway Pyramid somewhere in the 90s, I remember it to be such a hit, especially amongst my group of friends. We had to reserve places and the queue could be terrible on weekends. I was in college then and would take the trouble to go all the way to Sunway Pyramid to eat the all-I-can variety of chicken servings.


After ages not stepping foot at Sunway Pyramid and forgetting about Chicken Hartz's existence, KN reminded me that they now have Chicken Hartz at Summit USJ - we frequent Summit USJ for our DVD supply and to watch movies at GSC since our courting days six years ago. So we decided to head there one day for dinner.


The restaurant concept was nice, it's glass on all sides of the four walls and passers by can see what's happening inside. We were quite shocked to see the place empty because as far as I can remember, Chicken Hartz at Pyramid had never been empty before (I now wonder if the one at Pyramid is still in operation).

The price was still cheap - the same as it was more than 10 years back, I think, but the food line-up wasn't as good. They had a salad bar, soup of the day, fried chicken, pizza, mojos, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, nasi goreng (!!!), mee goreng (!!!) and to my surprise, some other local dishes. For desserts they serve pudding, fresh fruits and ice cream.


The food was so miserably bad that we took less than half an hour (each guest is permitted a maximum of two hours in the restaurant and before tasting the food we actually said that we're going to make use of the full two hours tasting every single dish there). The salad was no doubt fresh, and the soup was good but the main dishes were cold and tasteless. The Mojos were cold and the fried chicken was, well, only God knows how pathetic they were. Now I know why they could sell the food there at the price it was more than 10 years ago. I don't understand why they had these local food served, especially those you can get at a mamak stall or cook yourself at home and taste soooo much better.


I could still remember the delicious pineapple tart they served at Pyramid and was really disappointed to see some jelly-like pudding being served instead, what's worse was it was cut into really small puny pieces.


However, we agreed the the free-flow carbonated drinks (not good for me but I wanted to make my money worth heheheh) and their delicious self-served sundae ice cream was the best. Will I come back? Nope, not even if it's for free. I was making all sorts of monkey faces to the passers by hoping they'll know how bad the food there was and how torturous the visit was. Or perhaps they're saying - hah now you know why we're not eating there!

I wasn't really in the mood to cook but both of us were too lazy to think of where to go for lunch last Sunday so I decided to rummage though the fridge to see what's available. Walla there were eggs and only eggs in the fridge and some potatoes left from what I cooked a couple of days ago. Also in the fridge was a bottle of Life's Sweet and Sour Sauce and a quarter packet of mixed vegetable from the Fried Macaroni I proudly prepared God knows how many weeks ago.

So here it is, Fried Egg and Fried Potatoes in Sweet Sour Sauce. Easy and fast to prepare, except for the tedious (hiks) process of peeling the potatoes. Dasar pemalas! Taste wise (masuk bakul angkat sendiri punya kes ni) boleh la tahan till KN tambah 2 kali nasi muaahahahah. Am so proud of myself!

Same songs, different approaches.Enjoy!

To our dear family vet, Dr. Zul who got married on May 25th @ Shah Alam, congratulations. May the two of you be happy always. Aren't they a cute couple?

What is Malaysian Artiste for Unity? (Taken from the site.)

Pete (Teo) was juggling tomatoes. bored. So he telephoned a few friends, “how about getting together to make an anti-racism national unity song and music video?” all said yes without hesitation. Not because Pete threatened them with a sharp and rusty knife. but only because they love Malaysia.

The contingent swelled to 52 people a few days later. It included filmmakers, dancers, singers, producers, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, designers, footballers, activists, celebrities, students and a florist. Nobody would be paid. Yet they were enthused. Not because they were high on speed, only because they love Malaysia.

They gathered to record the song. It had a catchy chorus and was able to induce a mass sing-along. Everyone was happy when it was done. They named it ‘Here in My Home’. then more people joined. The party now included more than 120 people but the budget remained exactly zero. It seems even the spreadsheet loves Malaysia.

Everyone turned up for the video shoot, much fun was had and friendships made. Video editors went to work after the shoot was done. Both the recording and the video would be given away for free. A gift to the nation from those who love Malaysia to those who feel the same.

did you ask what this is all about?

It's about LOVE.

**********

Enjoy the music video, sing along and understand the lyrics. Let's stay united fellow Malaysians no matter what your political views are, no matter what faith you believe in, no matter where you are in this world, we are all Malaysian and we are united. thanks to those who worked hard to produce this amazing and meaningful video. Syabas!

I am not sure whether this is a remake of the 1972 Indonesian Horror Hit 'Beranak Dalam Kubur'. Being an ardent Indonesian Horror fan, I rushed to the cinema on their first day of screening.

The movie is about Jessy, Jovan, Titaz, Kaila and Brian who are close friends and medical students. They went to a hospital to attend anatomy practical. At the hospital they found a morgue which has been closed and abandoned. Being playful, they entered the locked abandoned morgue and found a female body inside. Since then they started experiencing disturbances and one by one was killed (what's new) . The ghost, Jasmine, a village girl who came to Jakarta to become a singer, tragically died due to witchcraft. Jasmine mysteriously rose from the dead and crawled out of her grave to give birth but her baby died. Since then she refused to be buried elsewhere except for the hometown which was discovered towards the end of the movie.

The movie started with a really gory and brutal scene to how Jasmine died. I kinda like the movie for its horrific elements and use of loud and starting sound effects but was rather disappointed with the resemblance and familiarity to Ju-On - there were even a couple of scenes directly copied directly from Ju-On. It is sad that Ju-On, although I think was one of the scariest horror movie ever made has set a trend to how ghosts look like. and even sound. Come on people, be creative!

Go watch this movie if you're in for a scare! Definitely worth the money and time spent.

Sick Nurses (สวยลากไส้) is perhaps worse than a Grade B Horror movie, with the sluttiest (excuse me) actresses I've ever seen acting. Named like a porn in the 80s (opps!) Sick Nurses surely disappointed me in many ways - this movie was recommended by a trusted pirated DVD seller in USJ - ahaha I could guess why he was recommending this movie lah.

However disappointing, the 2007 movie, directed by Todsapon Siriwiwat and Peerapan Laoyon with casts like Son Wajananon and Chitchan Rujipan had a rather interesting and quite an original ending. Sick Nurses is about a group of nurses and a doctor who trade corpses. The movie only made sense when towards the end the X-Men Mystique-like ghost turned out to be the young doctor's gay partner who underwent sexual change surgery in order to marry the doctor. At the same time the doctor was in love with one of the other nurses and got her pregnant. Like many other horror movies, Sick Nurses is about revenge. The doctor's gay partner who was a nurse in the same hospital was murdered by the pregnant nurse witnessed by the other nurses and whose body was sold to the black market. While waiting for the body to be collected, the transsexual ghost woke to revenge her death.


Well, I won't recommend this movie but if you have that free time and are bored to death, and need a different perspective to how ghosts may look like (surely unlike the usual Ju-on look-alike) do watch this movie - just for laughs!

We were at the Pet World Malaysia 2008 exhibition at the Midvalley MVEC Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur recently. Apart from cats shows, there were many pet shops selling pet products from fur care to pet food to pet adoption booths by SPCA and PAWS. We took advantage of the sample given out and the Iams offer they had there. We bought the 15kgs bag at a cheaper price than usual and got a free Eukanuba 15Kgs purple-coloured bin. We wanted to exchange the points we accumulated from previous Iams purchase but couldn't find anything interesting and suitable for our cats. So we decided to continue accumulating points so that we could get another play tunnel for the kids at home. Imagine combining the two tunnels together? We're sure it would be exciting for the kids as well as for us watching them play together. Overall the visit was really worth the time and effort spent.

The last time we were here was a zillion years ago in 2004 to celebrate KN's birthday. We've been wanting to return but wasn't able to until the recent public holiday. It was something decided at the spur of the moment, a sudden decision to go to a place we used to go at least once a year.

After breakfast at McDonald's near Taman Melati, we took a bus from the Putra LRT Terminal in Gombak - a package we took that includes return bus tickets, return Skyway tickets and a pair of outdoor theme park tickets. It was considerably cheap as we only had to hop on the bus, take the skyway and enjoy ourselves at the theme park. We were wrong.

Yes the tickets were affordable but deciding to go on a public holiday was not a good idea. As we were early we thought we could do away with the crowd but as we reached the Skyway station we were taken by surprise as the queue was a mile long. So here we are thinking we were smart but there were many who were obviously smarter. It took us an hour before we could hop into a car.

The mishap didn't just stopped there. As expected the queue to most of the popular rides were as long too. So we decided to narrow down to the rides we really wanted to try - well, there wasn't anything new after 4 years except for the signature ride - the Flying Coaster. We've been wanting to go on this ride since it was first here more than 3 years ago.

So let's say that our trip to Genting this time was for the Flying Coaster. With the ticket we bought we were entitled to a couple of rides each. It was indeed a fun ride and how we wished we were able to go on it at least a couple more times but again, as any other rides, the queue was long so being in a line for two rides was enough in a day, but it was worth the wait. We'll just wait for the long overdue roller coaster ride @ Paris Disneyland, if we go there next year as planned, even if a half day queue is needed. We're determined.

Whatever it was, and however bad the experience were, we appreciate the time we had to spend with each other. A lesson learnt though - never go to such places on a public holiday unless you don't mind spending most of your time queuing.

I have recently updated my 6 months old Nokia N95 firmware. Believe me, the phone has been working wonders after the update. My last firmware was dated 2006 and with the latest updates it feels like a totally brand new device. As if I have just purchased a new multimedia phone all together. The camera works better, zoomed pictures are just brilliant. The DVD quality video is crispier and a couple of new games available. The phone's working more efficiently now without sudden crashes like it used to before the update. Updates can be done from your PC to your phone. To check for updates and step-by-step guide to update installation, visit the NOKIA website. Do back-up your phone's content ensuring that all important data are back-ed up either into the memory card or your PC.

We were finally at Carls Jr. to taste the gigantic everything there. This was our first visit after Carls Jr. was gone for almost 15 years. I could still remember they had two outlets in KL - my favourite was the one opposite Kotaraya Complex as I would be in that area almost every weekend coming back from college (the bus stopped at Klang Bus Stand and I had to walk a little to change bus to my parents home in Taman Melawati).

As far as I could remember, when Carls. Jr. was under the MBF Foods management, the ourtlet was just like McDonalds in terms of price and size although I preferred Carls Jr. for it supposedly healthy Charbroiled Burgers and the happening atmosphere there.

After 15 years of absence the size and price has tremendously grown but it still tasted good and enjoyed our meal there. I ordered the Super Star with cheese and a giant sized Coke while KN ordered the Western with a large Ice Lemon Tea. I couldn't finish the burger even though I've always had a huge appetitie. Even the fries had me full before tasting the burger. Price wise, I think it is reasonably fair.

It has been our favourite weekend activity to visit the cats at SPCA. When we were working at Bandar Baru Kelang last 2 years, we made it a point to spend some time with the cats at least once a week since PAWS was nearby. Nope, we didn't do any cleaning or grooming work with the cats, just spending some time with them, stroking, talking and appreciating their presence. If you have been to either SPCA or PAWS, you'll know that cats here are not all the time persians and beautiful looking, they are usually strays who need loving homes for shelter. However, if you're lucky enough you'll get a really elegant cat but it shouldn't be about beauty but kindness towards animals.


These places were where we ended up adopting five of our ten cats (including those who have left us) and we are glad we did that as they have made our lives more meaningful. Alhamdullilah, our rezeki hasn't been better since we started adopting the cats of which one was from PAWS, four were from SPCA, one was from a back alley in Shah Alam while the rest were from the Independent Pet Rescuers (IPR). Only one of them was purchased from a breeder.


So last weekend we went to SPCA in Ampang after breakfast at our favourite weekend breakfast place - Mak Jah Stall just beside SPCA (i'll write about this place later). There were many adorable cats for adoption as SPCA was having an adoptioon campaign. So, if you are a cat lover, and stil have some space to fit in a loving creature in your home, do visit these cats at SPCA or PAWS. If you love dogs too, I'm sure you'll find one that you'll fall in love with. Of course nothing comes free but what you're paying for is for the spaying or neutering service to deter them from over-populating thus causing more strays to be left without love and care.

Of course, if you could even adopt a stray from the streets or the food courts, it would still be
a noble act and doing these cats a huge favor. May God bless all of you.

This year the two Davids are competing for the American Idol crown. My predictions have been correct throughout and will I be correct this time again? Archuleta and Cook are definitely a couple of talented young men, both sing very well and both are able to mesmerize their audiences. Both are my favourites in this season (I love Syesha tolo but someone has to go last week) Cook with his ability to transform any song into his own, and Archuleta with the wonders of his nasal tone would definitely make the finals this year a very interesting one.

Who will win? We'll see tomorrow but i'll surely go for the charming Archuleta.