Kal El

I have just gotten myself a new gadget - a Hard Drive Dock! Reason for buying this gadget? Hehehe I somehow lost the Western Digital MyBook adapter (entah tertinggal kat mana entah) and needed fast access to my files. Since none of the shop sells the adapter for MyBook, the cheapest and most practical solution would be this fantastic Vantec Nextar Hard Drive Dock. Amazing! Now instead of having one external hard disks, I could have a few - wah lau wei! (Tapi kan at the expense of my WD MyBook la... takpe, jumpa adapter nanti I'll replace the HD in the poor MyBook hehehe)

Here's a description of the product from DealsDirect.com

The Vantec Nexstar® Hard Drive Dock is a complete and easy way to add or swap hard drives to your computer. It gives you the flexibility of connecting any SATA I/II hard drive to your computer via USB 2.0 connection without opening up your computer case or installing into an enclosure. Simply just insert any 2.5" or 3.5" SATA I/II hard drive into the NexStar Hard Drive Dock and you are ready to transfer, copy, or backup files. Quick and easy, the Vantec Nexstar Hard Drive Dock is the perfect solution to access your hard drive in seconds.


Features

• Install and Access Hard Drive in Seconds
• Simple to Use Design; No Need to Add Enclosure or Open Case
• Eject Button for Easy Removal of Hard Drive
• Supports 2.5"/3.5" SATA I/II Hard Drive up to 1.5TB
• Add Storage to Any System with USB
• Plug & Play
• Attractive Blue LED Power & HD Activity Light
• Transfer Rates Up to 480Mbps w/USB 2.0


Specifications

• Model: NST-D100S2
• Device Support: SATA I/II Hard Drive
• Device Size: 2.5” or 3.5” Hard Drive
• Internal Interface: SATA
• External Interface: USB 2.0
• HD Capacity: Up to 1.5TB
• Power Supply: Dual 5V/12V 2A
• Material: Plastic
• Dimension: 136x83x87 mm

System Requirements

• Intel Pentium II 350 MHz Compatible or Mac G3 Processor & Greater
• Microsoft Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Vista or Mac OS 8.6 & Greater
• USB-Equipped System
• For USB 2.0 Speeds, the System Must Support USB 2.0 Specifications

Another restaurant we recently tried at Jusco Setiawangsa/Au3 was Boston. This restaurant serves mainly western food and some Asian cuisine as well. The place looked posh but it was affordable with nice ambiance and free WiFi (all of the restaurants there provides free WiFi)

I've always liked it when restaurants serve my drinks in jar like glasses - like at Road House Grill, Boston serves their drinks in similar jars - it makes the drink look just tempting, yes? The drink above came in a lunch set that I ordered. It was Chicken Cordon Blue that came with a bowl of Musrhroom Soup, Garlic Bread and the unidentifiable drink above .

Chicken Cordon Blue, Garlic Bread and the cold and tasteless Mushroom Soup

While the Chicken Cordon Blue tasted just OK (I think Secret Recipe's better), I really despised the Mushroom Soup - it was tasteless and cold - as though it was prepared last night and they didn't even bother to reheat. Disappointing! The garlic bread was good though.

Baked Rice in Cheese

KN would always love anything with cheese on it so that's the Baked Rice in Cheese served and according to KN it did not taste good as well.

Fried Wanton with Prawn

And we ordered this fried wanton - it was nice but a no-no for me as there was a gigantic piece of prawn in each of them - I was a little furious but didn't make noise because I didn't think the description on the menu had the word 'PRAWN' in it - so since KN couldn't eat that much, it went to waste.

An American Werewolf in Paris is not a sequel to the classic An American Werewolf in London movie. Although they may fall in the same An American Werewolf Series but this rather 'modern' werewolf was not well accepted by fans in general. In this movie werewolves had the choice of turning into one at any point of time with help from a serum - so there goes the trademark for werewolf movies - the moon - the full moon.

Unlike in An American Werewolf in London, the Paris counterpart did not have that umph in it - the scene where werewolf lovers get their kick from - the transformation scene. I think this is because a different technology was used in making the transformation in this movie compared to the real hard work the guys had to go through in An American Werewolf in London. I do feel that computerised horror flicks or CGI created horror characters, whatever you may call it are just unrealistic and it limits the creativity of the film maker, unlike when they had to physically put make up on actors to make them look scary.

Having said all that I still enjoyed the movie (and yes, I've watched it a million times!)

The following is from Wikipedia:

An American Werewolf in Paris is a1997 horror/comedy about werewolves . It was directed by Anthony Waller and starred Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy. It follows the general concept of the1981 film An American Werewolf in London .

The title of this film has a bit of history; when production of the original London film ran into trouble with British Equity, director John Landis, having scouted locations in Paris, considered moving the production to France and changing the title of his film to An American Werewolf in Paris.

The Plot

In the opening scene, a man is seen under attack, almost managing an escape from the Parisian sewers before an unseen creature pulls him back. Meanwhile, tourist Andy McDermott is seeing the sights of Paris with his friends Brad and Chris. When Serafine Pigot leaps off the Eiffel Tower just before Andy is about to do a bungee-jump, he executes a mid-air rescue. She vanishes into the night, leaving Andy intrigued — and also unaware that she is the offspring of the couple seen 16 years ago in the earlier film.

Andy tracks her down and asks her for a date. They attend a night club called "Club de la Lune" (literally translating to "Club of the Moon"). It was called like that, because that night was a full moon in the sky. The owners of the club were actually members of a werewolves's society, which wanted to kill and eat all the guests. Serafine told Andy to run away (in that scene, Serafine is seen transforming into a werewolf). When Andy is running it is seen a werewolf chasing him and when Andy is about to escape, it bites him and Andy faints. The next day, he wakes up in Serafine's bed . When he awakens, he has toothmarks on his leg and is informed that he's making a transformation into a werewolf, confirmed by his sudden taste for raw steaks. Serafine explains that her stepfather (seen in the film's opening scene) has been working on a drug to control her werewolf transformations. The real cure lay in killing and eating the heart of the werewolf that bit him.

An American Werewolf in Paris was poorly received by most critics. The review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as "rotten", with only 10% of reviews positive based on nation and worldwide ratings. Unlike An American Werewolf in London, which had Oscar-winning special make-up effects by Rick Baker, Paris relied heavily on CGI for its transformation effects and chase sequences, a common point of derision from most critics. According to box-office sales and online reviews, this sequel proved to be much less successful than the first film.

This movie is an ultimate Werewolf classic - I've watched it a million times and I am still amazed at the technology back then. My favourite part vote goes to the transformation scene where David (the main actor) turned into a werewolf - I'd say there isn't any werewolf movies so far that could match the transformation as it was shown in An American Werewolf in London. It was so life-like that until now I wish I could turn into a werewolf myself. Silly me... See the transformation sequence in the photos below and look at David's facial expressions - it looked as if he was really in great pain - very realistic indeed! A masterpiece! (Warning - some people might get offended due to the obscene nature of some of the photos)

Err just pretend you didn't see what you think you saw - 18SX kejap!

I was in standard 1 when this movie was released and this was one of the first horror flicks that I fell in love with - of course an influence from my late mother - Thank you mummy! An American Werewolf in London is the kind of horror movie/thriller that you could watch over and over again without getting bored, believe me. After more than 20 years, I still love this movie.

The following is from Wikipedia -

An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 American-British comedy/horror film, written and directed by John Landis. It starsDavid Naughton, Griffin Dunne, and Jenny Agutter. This movie won the 1981 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and an Academy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup. The film was one of three high-profile werewolf films released in 1981, alongside The Howling and Wolfen . Over the years, the film has accumulated a cult following and has been referred to as a cult classic.

The film was followed by a 1997 sequel, An American Werewolf in Paris, which featured a completely different cast and none of the original crew.

The Plot

Two American college students, David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) , are backpacking across the Yorkshire moors when they are attacked by a large, unknown animal. Jack is killed, but David survives the mauling and is taken to a hospital in London. When he wakes up three weeks later, he does not remember what happened and is told of his friend's death. Things get stranger when he is visited by Jack's ghost , which takes the distressing form of a reanimated corpse, who explains that they had been attacked by a werewolf , suggesting that David himself is now a werewolf. Jack urges David to kill himself before the next full moon, not only because Jack is cursed to exist in a state of living death for as long as the bloodline of the werewolf that attacked them survives, but also to prevent David from inflicting the same fate on his eventual victims.

Upon his release from the hospital, David moves in with the pretty young nurse , Alex Price (Jenner Agutter) , who grew infatuated with him in the hospital. He then stays in Alex's London apartment. When the full moon rises, as Jack had warned, he turns into a werewolf. In this form, David prowls the street and subways of the city, and slaughters six innocent Londoners. When he wakes in the morning, he is naked on the floor of the wolf cage at th zoo , with no memory of his nocturnal lupine adventures, and not at all attacked by the resident wolves.

David eventually realizes that Jack was right about everything and that he is responsible for the murders of the night before. Despite being in an advanced stage of decay, Jack returns for another visit, this time accompanied by David's victims from the previous night. They all insist that he commit suicide before turning into a werewolf again. David fails to do so, and consequently, he turns into a werewolf again and goes on another killing spree. Following a chase through London, he is cornered in an alley by the police when Alex arrives to calm him down by telling him that she loves him. Though apparently temporarily softened, he is shot and killed when he lunges forward, returning to human form in front of a grieving Alex as he dies.

Here's a video of the transformation from YouTube - mind the French dubbing ya!

Yellow Cab Pizza is a new pizzeria nearby Ampang Point. If I am not mistaken there are two Yellow Cab Pizza outlets in KL tapi not sure where's the other one located. KN bought this take away one weekend and the moment I saw the pizza box - alamak! Gelak tak hengat punya... kenapa? Sebab pizza box dia ikat ngan tali rafia! Funnee but unique!

I can't recall the name of this pizza KN bought but I kinda like the taste. What's best - banyak onion slices and olives... yummm yummm!


When it comes to pizza, i like mine with beef. I just think chicken or other flavours doesn't really go well with pizza. Tak ngam la...I wish one day KN would drive me to Yellow Cab for a dine in so that I could know what's available (heheh I haven't tried driving yet - so have to depend on KN to drive me around heheheh kesian dia jadi drebar pulak kan?

And of course, sudah semestinya setiap kali ke Signature's Foodcourt KLCC, maka Kal El tidak akan lepaskan peluang menikmati Iced Jelly Fruit Cocktail yang amat menyegarkan ekekeke.

Happy 32nd Birthday to the love of my life. Cherish life as if it's going to be your last day on earth. Cherish your loved one as if there isn't going to be tomorrow with him. Sayang, thanks very much for taking care of me. Thank you very much for always being here with me whenever I need you. Your love is much appreciated. I love you dearly.

Hmmm it's been awhile since my last rants about life. The last was when I was with the Blood Sucking Sicko Company. No don't get me wrong here, I am VERY happy at the new company. People are treating me well (like they always do) and my bosses are just great and understanding. Ye lah since I still haven't started driving so I depend on KN to drive me around for meetings and if KN is not involved in the same project, I will usually tumpang someone who drives.

My concern is with some people's mentality - mentality orang kerja kerajaan ni... hmmm bukan semua tapi most of them yang Kal El pernah deal (usually people with power) ada masalah ni. When I say orang kerja kerajaan, that includes GLCs. When I was with the previous company I worked very closely with people from this one particular Ministry. In this new company pulak I work closely with a number of GLCs.

GLC ke, pure kerajaan ke, semua mentality sama - they have no respect for people's time. Janji tu satu hal la... kata meeting starts at 9am but pukul 10 pun tak sampai lagi, or if they're already present - sigh - nak pi breakfast dulu. What the heck? Then tak sampai 30 minutes after the meeting started, nak kene berhenti minum pula. Dah la cenggitu they call for meetings tak kira masa and with such short notice. Like we're suppose to kneel infront of the King when summoned pulok.

Furthermore masa meeting mesti nak ada makan - hello! Are you attending to discuss business ke or nak makan? Tak cukup-cukup makan kat rumah or the government is paying you too little to afford good food? Please do understand that those who work in the private sector bukan hanya attach to one project at a time. It is usally multiple projects and kalau dah selalu attend meetings, workshops (ni lagi satu membazir) and each meeting makan masa sampai 6 jam - when la kerja nak siap? Talking about workshops - what the heck - can't they just have meetings and discussions at their offices? That would save travelling time and costs - ye la dah kerja buat cara kerja, you need to be in the 'working' environment to think bukan at some beach resort - itu environment untuk 'leisure', if you know what I mean.

My colleagues pun ada juga yang mentality macam tu - get over exited when they're asked to join the workshops - hey, set you priorities right - nak kerja ke nak pi jalan? One of my office mates ni pula ambil kesempatan - that would be the time he can play golf - guna ticket entertaining clients kononnya... kononnya la kan... hayooo!

I have however came across very efficient people from the government sector and GLCs and too bad these people's reputation are tarnished becaused of the few who likes to take advantage of others. To them employees of private sector are highly paid sampaikan there was one project I was involved in with one Ministry in 2003, ada ke officer tu dengan selamba minta Kal El bawakan dia Starbucks coffee and cheesecake bila Kal El datang mengadap! Ahahah takde pasal la Kal El nak buat macam tu.

Kal El bukan nak buka pekong sesiapa.. just some points for us to ponder.

Ok...ok... the syrup is bad for me, I know... but what the heck hehehe...sekali sekala maaa... So it was Saturday and I craved for some homemade pancake@lempeng - this is Ka'ngah's recipe and the colours? Ahahaha that's my trade mark. Saja je suka-suka untuk seronok makan.

Memang senang je nak buat pancake@lempeng ni... and besides, you can add onions or grated coconut - also Ka'ngah's recipe - I like 'em plain.

Kalau la teringin kan, here's how to prepare it:

Tepung gandum (suka ati ler nak banyak mana - the more the merrier)
Telo
Air
A little salt and sugar kalau mau
Colouring kalau nak dunia anda berwarna mwarni hehehe



Bancuh ke semua bahan tadi (just make sure adunan tak berketul) dan masak dalam kuali - kalau ada kuali leper macam kat gerai burger tu lagi bagus. Kalau kuali biasa pun ok gak, boleh agak-agak saiz dan shape pancake anda - sesuai kalau ada tetamu hehehe. Enjoy!



Masak ni kejap je, jangan lelama nanto hangus pulak... dan kalau ada kaler brownish pun dah tak cantik kan? Penat je nanti letak colouring lawa-lawa...

Another Banana Leaf Rice Restaurant we recently visited was Thurkah's at Taman Melawati. Kedai ni kat area old shoplots on the same row as Buy Sell Trade di Taman Melawati.


Seperti biasakalau makan Nasi Daun Pisang memang la meriah dengan lauk-lauk dan kuah karinye... meladung ler daun pisang Kal El dengan kari... yumm yummm! Dan seperti biasa Kal El akan order Ayam Masala dan KN pula Ayam Goreng.


One thing I don't quite like about this particular restaurant is their kedekutness with the poppadom. Punya la sikit kasi and bila minta lagi... habis pula katanya... To me, no banana leaf restaurant beats Steven's so far...

Tapi kan Samosa kat sini memang sedap habis,.... nasib baik Kal El dah kenyang makan Nasi Daun Pisang so I had only 1 piece of Samosa that day... hehehe

I was craving for Pancakes recently and on our monthly visit to Pet Safari @ Ikano we dropped by Paddington House of Pancakes @ The Curve for tea.


Before this we used to go to Paddington House of Pancakes kat Hartamas and this was our second time at the Curve branch. It is located beside Bubba Gump Restaurant.


I ended up not ordering any Sweet Pancakes that day but had a savory Corned Beef dish served on a thin piece of Pancake - macam pizza and it was really nice and filling.



KN had this mouth watering, very sweet dish - triple Pancake with Vanilla Ice Cream... ahahah Kal El siap jeling-jeling tapi nak mintak sikit malu pulak.... ahahaha padan muka!