Highlights of Year 2008

January

DHL IT Services Annual Dinner & Dance 2007
- most memorable: I won a 42" Sharp Aquos LCD TV (BX Series)... of which I stupidly sold off :(

The girls :)

*****
February

Chinese New Year 2008!
- I guess CNY is always a great time of gathering the family together :)

The variety of dishes for the 'hoi nin' meal

*****
March

Trip to Sitiawan
- One of the many visitation trips under the TRAC MYF's agenda.

Home-Cooked Mee Suah with Chicken & Ginger in Red Rice Wine

*****
April

Lesson on Can Opening
- One of the many hilarious moments...and a very stone-age way of doing things as well :S

Super 'cacat' (mutated) looking man...

The key opened my can of luncheon meat perfectly!!!

Tadaaa!! (just roll the little bit of tin around the 'key' as you wind it) Awesome invention?? -made in China! *lol*

Best Tong Sui
- This is yet another highlight. You'll never or maybe rarely get to find such a large variety of tong sui in town! Tong Sui in Section 17 rules!!!

There are around 17 types of tong sui that night!! SEVENTEEN!! There are a variety of tong sui with fruits too...like apple, papaya, & lemon - just to name a few!

*****
May

Korean Lunch at Hauen Khon Korean Restaurant
- I went for a week-long training out of office & the training center was beside Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya. This was one of the better meals that we had there :)

Dak Bulgogi Jung Sik [soup] (RM14.90/set)
BBQ chicken, golden mushrooms, shredded carrots, spring onions, onions, & red dates in really tasty & sweet soup

Trip to Cameron Highlands
- I was there as a co-facilitator (children's sessions) for a church's family camp.

The prettiest flower I've ever seen

Tea Valley

*****
June

Calvin & Rachel's wedding
- It was an honour to be back in Kuantan for the wedding of my brother & sister! Rach looked SOO beautiful (and of course Calv looked handsome ;) )

The wedded couple: Rach (good friend) & Calv (family friend)

*****
July

Dinner with colleagues
- This was a rather speacial dinner. Two of our friends got promoted :)


*****
August

Foodbuzz Featured Publisher
- PerutBesi received their name cards & was named Featured Publisher by Foodbuzz!



*****
September

Trip to Bagan Lalang
- One of the few family trips :)



AMBP Ambassador
- I was short-listed as one of them!



Trip to Penang
- Yet one of the many visitation trips under TRAC MYF



*****
October

Hai Peng Kopitiam, Kuantan
- The siam/thai-style curry mee here is very special. The texture of the noodles is like the spaghetti.



*****
November

Lunch with EB & Junie at D'Lish, Bangsar Village
- Lovely food, cosy ambiance, awesome fellowship :)

Choice of 3 Salads

Tiramisu in a jar!

*****
December

Christmas weekend in Kuantan
- Somehow Kuantan's always THE place for me to rest, relax, & unwind in the warmth of family & friends.

My new toy

Sisters at Teluk Cempedak beach

Aaron & I at the beach

*****
I guess that sums up the year 2008. Indeed there are so much that took place, that I have not blogged about as well. The year has been SO busy & it was also filled with many goodies :) (of course there are not so nice stuff that took place, but the good ones covered it all).

Anne & I look forward to the new year :) We hope that we'll be able to bring more goodies to our dear readers as we journey through the new year ahead of us!

To all our faithful readers,

Happy New Year & have a greater year 2009!!

- Ruth & Anne

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Post Christmas Holiday

Dates: 26 December 2008, Friday - 29 December 2008, Monday
Venue: Kuantan! (where else? it's my 2nd home :D )
Occasion: Post Christmas holiday with family & friends
Activities: Basically, I was back there just to relax, unwind, & no doubt, meet up with family & friends :) My sister & my friend, Junie, came along with me, & I believe they had a wonderful time as well... even though there was nothing much for them to do except to eat & 'vegetate' ;) Oh yeah, it was our first time driving up to Kuantan too!! Woohoo!!

Note: I received a new Lumix FX-38 digital camera for Christmas!! All the photos below are taken with the new camera ;)

Let's talk about the food first, before I share about the fun! ;)


*****
Date: 27 December 2008, Saturday
Venue: Teng Haw Coffeeshop, Jalan Teluk Sisek, Kuantan (few doors away from Zam Zam)
Occasion: Breakfast with Aaron, Rachel, & Junie
Overall comment: This place is well-known for its curry mee. No doubt the ingredients that came with the noodles were pretty good, but somehow the soup still lacks the 'kick'. I felt that the serving/portion was very generous (maybe it's because we were there late & they were about to close)...
Halal: No

Teng Haw Curry Mee

Ratings:
Presentation: * * *
Price: * * * *
Environment: * * *
Taste: * * * 1/2
Service: * * *


Overall:

*****
Date: 29 December 2008, Monday
Venue: Dream House Kopitiam, Lorong Galing 2
Occasion: Brunch with aunty Rosalind, aunty Alline, Abigail, Aaron, Rachel, & Junie before we left for KL
Overall comment: The 'rainbow pan mee' is pretty nice. The noodles are 'just right' in my opinion, & the soup is quite tasty as well. The only set-back that I think the pan mee lacks is the generosity of the mixed ingredients... like the meat, anchovies, black fungus, & veggie. Somehow I feel that the 'rainbow pan mee' in Seri Kembangan is still better ;) The portion is very, very generous & the price is SO irresistable as well... RM4.00 for a good helping wei...

Halal: No

Dream House Kopitiam, Lorong Galing 2 (ppl refer to this place as Tunas building)

'Rainbow Pan Mee' (RM3.70/bowl)
The different color noodles are just different ingredients used to make the noodles. The green ones are made from 'por choy' (a type of green leaf veggie), while the orange noodles are made from carrots. Apparently there's another variant that uses dragon fruit, but they didn't have it when we were there :(

Dry Pan Mee (RM4.00/plate)
I've no idea why the dry pan mee is more costly...plus, this is the normal pan mee, not even the 'rainbow' one! Wergh...so strange...but ah well, nothing much to shout about...

Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * *
Environment: * * *
Taste: * * *
Service: * * *



Overall




*****
I certainly had more food than just the above ;) The thing is that I didn't take any photos of the:

• 1st day's dinner at Pantai Seafood Restaurant in Air Putih,
• 2nd day's dinner as it was Aaron's grandma's birthday dinner (very pai se to take ok...)
• 3rd day's lunch at the Hainanese Chicken Rice Shop, opposite Berjaya Megamall (bummer) cos it was lunch with Aaron's family
• 3rd day's dinner with chi-chi Evelyn & family at Mr Specky *sigh* (I'm waiting for Calvin to pass me the photos since he was my PA for the night ;) )

Anyways, here are some photos taken during the entire trip:

*****
Date: 27 December 2008, Saturday
Venue: Teluk Cempedak beach, Kuantan
Occasion: Intro Junie to the Kuantan beach since she hasn't been to Kuantan before! Plus take Abigail out for some fun :)

My sister, Rachel, & I at Teluk Cempedak beach
The beach is just 5min drive from the house :) This is Bay2... less people, cleaner water ;)

Aaron & I on some rock at Bay 2 in TC
The beach is just 5min drive from the house :)

The weather on that morning was rather nice :)

Rachel & Aaron

I love the sea breeze! :D

Junie & Abigail
I guess Junie had quite a lot of fun that morning...though she got kinda sun-burnt :P Same goes to my sister & Abigail...lobsters man :D

*****
Date: 28 December 2008, Sunday
Venue: Mr Specky Seafood Restaurant, Jalan Beserah, Kuantan
Occasion: Dinner with chi-chi Evelyn & family

Rachel Gai & I
Thank you for the dinner, zha-bo! Great meeting up with you again!!

My forever lovelies Abigal & Nichol
These are my 2 dearest girls :) Life was very different after I came to know them while I was in Kuantan (3 years ago). I'll SO miss them!!

That's all the photos I have for now. I'll upload more when I get hold of the rest of the photos! Stay tuned & have a great year ahead!!

- Ruth

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New Toy

My old faithful :) I'm so proud of it. Very sentimental gift as it was given to me by my group of church friends who pulled together cash to get me this. They knew I was very saddened by my missing Lumix while I was in Seoul last year. Love my gang! *hugs!!*

Pentax Optio E30 - 7.1 MP

Note: Photos of the Optio E30 are taken with the Lumix FX-38

Front View

Back View

*****
My new toy!! :D Favourite brand (so far) -- the Panasonic Lumix. This was my Christmas gift from Aaron this year. Thanks loads!!! *hugs!!*

Panasonic Lumix DMC FX-38

Note: Photos of the Lumix FX-38 are taken with the Optio E30

Front View

Back View

Aerial/Top View

The year 2008 seems like a year too great beyond my comprehension & wildest dreams! I'm very thankful for this year & am indeed looking forward to a new year ahead!

- Ruth

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Saba' Restaurant, Cyberjaya

Date: 24 December 2008, Wednesday
Venue: Saba' Restaurant, Cyberjaya (New Town)
Occasion: Lunch with colleagues (5 guys & I'm the only girl! *ergh* but it was fun :P)
Overall comment: Although I'm not a fan of Arabian food, I must say that the food here is very delicious! Seriously... you've gotta taste it for yourself. The price of the food may seem slightly high, but the portion served makes the food there really worth eating :) Trust me! *lol* For the 1st time, I found good food in Cyberjaya!! *woohoo!!*

Barbican Drink (RM3.00/bottle)
This drink is something like soda/carbonated flavored drink. The ones that some of the guys had was lemon flavor. Not too bad, I heard.

Mango Juice (RM5.00/glass)
It's super expensive for a glass of mango juice, but I tell you, this is no normal juice! Super 'kow' man!! It's filled with fiber & it's VERY thick!! It's almost like drinking slurpee, except that slurpee is ice & this is like blended 'Elephant Tusk' mango itself! *yummilicious* Thank you, Toby for treating me to this drink :)

Grounded Mixed Chilli & Pickles
These are given free :) The chilli's too spicy for my liking *woot!*

Lamb Kabsah with Rice (RM20.00/large serving)
The regular serving costs RM15.00, but with 5 guys & a girl, it's advisable to just order the large serving of the tender, juicy, well-marinated with herbs, grilled lamb... one of the best lambs I've ever eaten!! Seriously....good portion & feeds all 6 of us well ;)

Roasted Chicken (half bird) with Rice (RM13.00/half bird)
I thought that the roast chicken will be dry, but I was wroooonnng.... I liked the flavor on the skin & the meat is actually nicely cooked :) Kudos! *drools* Oh yeah, they do serve 1/4 bird for RM8.00/serving as well :)

Lebanese Bread (RM2.00/pack of 10 pieces if ordered separately)
These bread came with the BBQ platter below. We didn't really enjoy the bread though...it was slightly too dry...what more when eaten with the BBQ meat! *lol*

Mix Barbeque (RM25.00/plate)
This platter consists of chicken kebab, lamb kebab, grilled chicken, & lamb tikka. The meat are actually quite nice, but it was a little dry... I quite like the rich flavor & I certainly enjoyed the fries! Oh yeah, the platter comes with some dip alike the peanut sauce (but it's actually white beans paste), but we all didn't really like it :P

Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * * *
Environment: * * * *
Taste: * * * *
Service: * * *


Overall:

- Ruth

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Merry Christmas!

I know I haven't been updating this site as often as I used to...& yes, I've been saying that I'm busy, busy, busy....which in fact I am. The whole of last week, I was at camp (and I was pretty much the person in charge of the whole camp, with of course a team of helpers).

This week itself, I was rushing work & the Christmas gifts, as well as go caroling (I just came back from caroling halfway...cos I know that if I join them 'til the end, I'll puncture). Christmas itself, I'll be spending time with my family...while this coming weekend, I will be heading back to Kuantan with my sister & my good friend, Junie. The packed schedule that I have is a true madness *faints*

Ah well, apart from all the madness, I could still share the joy of Christmas with some friends :) I'm very thankful for my colleagues, whom I could call friends. They were very touched by my lil gift & it just gives me great joy to see their faces lighting up upon finding the gift on their table (I left it on their desk while they were away for lunch...hohoho) :)

The handmade gifts from me to my friends :)

I hope to keep this site updated as often as I could. To all our dear readers, have a blessed Christmas & a great year ahead!!



Note: Christmas picture above taken from www.mehtanirav.com/2007/12/25/merry-christmas


- Ruth

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