I Dare

30th anniversary...is a long way

I was invited to Kimarie's 30th Anniversary celebration at their premise last week. In conjunction with their anniversary, the CEO / Director, Vincent Ho, decided to also launched their makeup academy, M Academy.

The founder of Kimarie (Vincent's mum), Ivy, came over to our table and chit-chatted for a long long time..... She is a really nice lady. A very cute, petite one. We were there at 7.15pm and we waited for 2 wholesome hours before the actual event started. The premise was actually quite small and stuffy. 

So, the event started at 9 plus. The ex-Miss Petite, Hannah Tan, was the emcee for the night. She is really pretty and down to earth. No air at all.

I was getting hungry despite the canapes and alcohol served. I was wanting to  enjoy Wong Ah Wah's grilled chicken wings. (We did go after the event :P )

They had about 6 models that night, parading on the hair pieces and exaggerated make up. The make up that was demo-ed on stage was ...... Well, I was speechless and pitied the Caucasian model. The make up artist threw gold dust on her face, practically! It must have been painful and she had a tough time removing the make up after the event. 

Here are some shots of me having fun that night.

Weeeeeeeee......!!!!!!!!!!

I got off work at 4.30pm today!!!! Yippie!

Sweet and Savoury

Came across this 2 snacks lately. 

New Ferrero chocolate made out of dark chocolate and almond. My verdict - Chocolate is rich and melti-licious. It is not as sweet as the regular Ferrero nuggets.

Another interesting SKU is this from Mr Mustache - Pringles. It tasted quite nice actually and it surely made me felt less guilty while munching on these. :) Another plus point? But, there is 1 negative point about it is that the chips are shrinking. I remember it used to be as big as the diameter of the canister, but not anymore......

Starbucks evening by the pool

Was feeling a little moody so I went out that afternoon. I wanted to check out the newly build / still in progress Setia Walk. 

I informed Leroy my plan and he met me there for Starbucks. I didn't really walk around exploring, wasn't really in the mood to. But just wanted to get out from the house to take a breather. 

Hmm...I don't know what the above statue means, really.

Starbucks is located near the pool; just right opposite The Beer Factory which is already operating. The place is quite a nice place to hang out or meet up with friends for yum char. Even though it was 5pm, but we weren't exposed to the sun or either it felt hot and stuffy. On the other side of the pool, the public can actually play in it or have a dip (with proper, decent dressing, of course). Quite a fun place for kids. So, you can have your kids playing in the pool while enjoying a drink. :)

Leroy was busy doing his work on his lappie, while me, sat beside him, accompanying him with my Ice Mocha in my hand. Or in a matter of fact, he was doing his work, accompanying me? Well, we just enjoyed each other's presence and  company. That was what mattered most to me. 

A night of elephant and vampires

Saturday night. I met up with a couple of friends for dinner. Leroy had his family gathering, so met up with him after dinner for movie. We watched Abraham Lincoln, the Vampire Hunter. A so-so movie, if only recommended if you want to pass time.

Bah, back to my experience at My Elephant, the first outlet at Section 17, PJ. This is a rather small restaurant, I think there is about 10-12 tables. I didn't really count, but am guessing it's around that figure. The ambiance and layout of it makes me feel at home. A cozy and superb place for small gatherings or parties. 

Check out the cover page of the menu. A little elephant at the corner of the cover. Cute, right?

Let you have a peep at some corners of the restaurant, just in case you haven't been there. :D

The view from where we were sitting.

To my right from where I sat was the entrance.

If you are a 'green lover', I would recommend you this - GREEN AROMA. It's basically a combination of lemongrass and pandan drink.

I had the honor of ordering the food. Boy, we had a sumptuous one!

We wanted to try something different from the usual, so we had Seafood Tom Som (clear tom yum soup). 

It's not that spicy (to me at least), so I think it will suit those who can't or doesn't take too spicy food.

Green curry with chicken. Another favourite Thai food of mine. Oo la la.....it's yummy! Before I could take a proper nice shot of it, it was half gone!

We added a plate of fried chicken later on because we didn't feel it was quite enough to please our palette. :P Bring greedy, perhaps? Hehehe.. Well, the fried chicken was nothing special, honestly.

And of course, the sambal paku vegetable that we had. And brown, unpolished rice served at RM3 per person.

This restaurant has been around for some time now. I highly recommend you to call in for reservation as it's quite fully booked + the place is small.

(The business card is so cute. Reminds me of Chiang Mai, somehow)

There are a lot of dishes for you to select from and one more other USP (Unique Selling Point) is that they do have dishes for vegetarians too!

A Self- Check Note

To evaluate yourself if you are fit for a job in a company.

*Extracted from The Star last week.

 Is it true for you?

The FREE Mori OPENING

It was Friday evening. We had invitations to attend the grand opening of FREE MORI Cafe / Bakery. Being their neighbor, we walked over after work to show our support, or rather to geh-poh the happenings. :D

It was quite a big job for the production house, I would say. The uneven tiled ground was evenly carpeted, tents were set up, an automated backdrop was done for the grand opening.

Well, I didn't have much background about this cafe. Apparently, (through the speeches by the VIPs), FREE MORI is actually operating in a few other countries, like Taiwan and a few cities - Hangzhou and Chengdu, in China. Most of the invited VIPS for speech were from Taiwan and China. They also invited the mayor of Ipoh to officiate the opening. They have currently a few outlets in Klang Valley - in SS2, Publika Solaris Dutamas, Shah Alam, SS15 Subang and soon in Taman Desa.

FREE MORI's concept is really like a wonderland, cutey style. But, honestly, the pastries and breads are not as yummy as RT's. The cakes are still alright.

The decor that evening.

We waited for a long....long......long time before drinks were served by the waiters. They were walking around but with a tray of pastries / cakes and still not the drinks. 

Finally, a tiny glass of fruit punch.

 And, I supposed the highlight of the evening after 3-4 speeches, was Dennis Lau, the infamous electric violinist. He came out from the automated backdrop in a black jacket and sunglasses. Many were thrilled.

And, I also waited for a long time, hoping for the buffet spread to be opened. Sigh....by the time it was opened, the line was so darn long. I was hungry and we didn't want to wait. I was waiting to try out their kitchen food, but didn't get a chance to. I once saw them having a photo shoot for their menu as there were ready cooked lamb shank, pasta, fried chicken with rice and etc......

Below is the drinks menu.

Front cover.

Back cover.

Inner page with prices. 

Yup, their prices are similar to Starbucks or Coffee Bean.....

And that was my Friday evening.

The Interview and The Photo

We had an interview with a trade magazine few days back. 

Other than the interview covering on our company's business, brands and operations, we had a group photo taken with the key personnel too. The process of it was really funny.

.....and finally this was the selected photo for the magazine to feature. Yeah, and so we are not professionals models as per... :P

From Sweetheart to a Shield?

" T-Time!!! "  That was the message that my colleague sent me yesterday afternoon via MSN. 

She bought a piece of cake and I wanted to try because it looked nice and yummy; plus the name of it is "Sweetheart". If it's nice, I might buy it for my darling to try.

This is what happened when you have 2 people tasting a cake. 

From a heart shape to a shield / badge - looking cake?

It was quite nice. It's caramel on top and custard on the second layer, and lastly cheesecake at the base. Ohhhh.......caramel custard is my favourite dessert, especially the one from Ipoh's conventional kopitiam (coffee shop).

Nom nom nom........

Papa's Day

Something different for Papa's Day celebration. Instead of going to that few regular outlets, we tried one which Bro brought us to at Kota Damansara.

Okuchi Japanese Restaurant.

Papa enjoys Japanese food very much; or shall I say, fish. He loves fish, so we took for a sumptuous meal.

The menu is actually quite think and there are many many different dishes in there. Some were different from the usual Japanese restaurants in town. Later, I found out that this is actually a family business and the chef is a very experience one. 

The waitresses and waiters were quite busy that night. It was quite packed. Luckily, I reminded Bro to make reservation and we got a room to ourselves! Ahhh......privacy! The design and layout of the restaurant is cozy and feels homely.

We had to wait quite a while for our food to be served. This was because the outlet is lack of manpower. The waitress (I think she is one of the bosses), told us  that it is really difficult to hire and  retain junior staff these days. 2 months is the max for a newly joined staff before he/ she leaves. One of the reasons is because they don't know / couldn't cope making and cooking those dishes in the menu.

We definitely had more than the above. I didn't capture all of the dishes we ordered because I was whacking the food..... lol.......

I bought a cake from FREE Mori for Papa. Well, FREE Mori is actually the cafe's name and not that the cake is for free. :P The cafe has a few branches - Publika, Taman Desa and Shah Alam...and soon SS2. I have to comment that their cakes are actually not too sweet (which is good) and arty. So, it will be just nice for those who has a sweet tooth and on diet. :D

A quite artistic Tiramisu cake.

Papa didn't have it after dinner. But, a bite was gone? Well........it was ME! Mua tasted the cake.....QC QC.......hehehehe...

I find the cake rather a little too creamy and the taste of the coffee was slightly heavy.

Surprise!

Mama told me this morning while I was having breakfast that she has used up the Parkson vouchers that I passed her last week. She said I will get a surprise. 

I waited and waited after my breakfast, but there was no action from Mama.

So, off I went to work as usual......and totally forgotten about it throughout the day....till....

I got home and opened my room door. Oh my! New linens!

The bed sheets and comforter are so soft! And, the design on it plastered a smile on my face. 

Yes, Mama....you are always there when I NEED YOU indeed. Regardless any day, anywhere.

Thank you for the surprise and I love YOU!

I know I will surely have a very good night sleep tonight. :D

Adding on to my Business Trip

Right after my "Business Trip" post, I received these photos.

The ASEAN people....Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Taiwan and Malaysia. :)

Hanging out....

And the group photo

The Business Trip

On my recent business trip, it was a week spent in Singapore for 5 full days of meeting and capability training.

We had a wonderful dinner on the first day after the meeting. They chauffeured us to Wangz Hotel in a charted bus as there were about 40 of us. We had dinner at Halo Rooftop Lounge. The place is just beautiful with the night view. A very nice place to hang out. Food? Superb. I love the Seafood Pasta. The light creamy sauce was absolute yummy, tasted just right.

All of us - the Distributors Operation gathered together to wine and dine. It was great to socialise and PR a bit since we don't see each other often but only through emails correspondences.

The dress code for the day was white, grey or black.

All of the P&Gers except me, the ex-P&Ger. :p

And that was the work bit.

Below are some photos I took.

And I met up with her, after many months....... We hung out together for dinner and window shopping and lepaking in my room.... :D