Food & Wine

>> Friday, October 29, 2010

Remember the 2008 summer when we were too poor to eat out but still desired to have good meal every night. Do it ourselves was the prefect solution. We enjoyed the moment to prepare the 3-main-course at her kitchen, which has beautiful sea view. At that time, we considered preparing a great meal is a way to de-stress.

The habit stopped when I don't think it will be appreciated. Yesterday, friend was excited and putting effort to prepare for a great (and expensive) meal. Even though you have to spend hours to prepare one meal, which only require 20 minutes to finish it. The satisfaction could not be replaced. 
The poached pear was the perfect ending for the night. Definitely want to do it again. Hmm... X'mas eve dinner?

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From June to Sept, 2010

>> Friday, October 08, 2010

Nearly five months I didn't update my blog...

Travel
No surprise, I have been traveling every month I went to Jakarta, Bali, London, Amsterdam and Barcelona. Jon (Spain), Zoe and Will (NZ) visited Malaysia and spent good amount of time travel around Malaysia with them. Europe trip was the highlight of my year. I fall in love with London city (I want to live there), met up with Nick in Amsterdam (have an EPIC time) and finally I went to Barcelona (it is like a dream come true).

On the last day of two-week-Europe trip, I decided not to complete my plan for 2010 - one trip every month. May be I want a perfect ending of this plan, may be I was tired, may be I have enough, may be it is time to live in reality. I am not giving up on passion of traveling (it is impossible) but is trying another way.

 "I am loyal and constant in my love for travel, as I have not always been loyal and constant in my other loves." ~ E.G.

Life
I moved out from home in September after months of planning. I feel alive again when I start taking care of myself. There are some minor changes in the relationship between me and family & friends but it is a good change. I enjoy very much being the Independent-Yi again! 

Three more days, I will turn 25. I have been living in this world for half of the century, it is time for another change.

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2010 5th Trip - Bang Bangkok

>> Friday, May 21, 2010

Because of the protest in Bangkok, we have postponed the Bangkok trip from April to last weekend. It ended up to be the worse time. We were there when the "red-shirt" leader pass ed away and the government finally has decided to "clean up" the mess (it caused some violence). For me, it was quite perfect. It was an experience that I appreciate a lot during travel. 

The atmosphere in Bangkok is very low key (not many tourist and people are reluctant to go out). On the other hand, it actually made the trip quite relaxing. No pack and traffic. We have done the typical activities such as shopping and massage. During the trip, my impression with Thai is very polite, nice and friendly. You could just tell based on their driving. Even though they are not following the rules, they are not rude but give way. In the market, you don't have to bargain too much. They do tell you the price they want to offer (of course, they are small amount try to rip you off). The honesty is pretty impressive.

I felt quite bad for the protest. The people here are so calm, nice and peaceful. It is just because of one man, who desire more power, it turns the country into a mess. It actually reflect lots of war in the world. Most of the time, it just because THE ONE. The one who uses foolish of low-education people, the trust and believe of people toward him, gets what they want. It is sad but it is also what we have to deal with. 

It sounds cheesy but wish we had a chance to enjoy at least a day of peacefulness. V

please..

Next stop: Jakarta, Indonesia.

Post title credited to a friend.

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2010 4th trip- When wine meets music

>> Friday, April 23, 2010

Beach. Crazy. Culture. Doing-nothing. Food. Friendly. Peace. People. Relax. Respect. Sun. 
There are the general ingredients for my good trip. Singapore never be an exciting destination for me and somehow always involved some sort of pains.

When good wines meet good music, it magically turned my Singapore trip into an enjoyable experience. I have to admit that I am looking forward to the next Singapore trip.

Magic 1: Wine connection is a "wine pub", which located around Clark Quay, with huge collection of wines and reasonable price . It is owned by French. The place has a very warm and friendly environment for customer to enjoy a glass or bottle of wine. The uniqueness are you won't be able to find the same bottle in any place in Singapore and they remove the duty tax from selling price - it means you are enjoying the duty free wine.
Achievement: Four bottles of wine and the last customers.

Magic 2: The-CD-shop, obviously is a CD shop, with a huge range of CD and Music collection. The staffs are friendly and helpful. You are free to try any CD and spending your time in the shop. The home brand/collection - high society, with good collection of song and nice packaging, are recommended.
Achievement: Four CDs and two hours.

I guess it's always the matter how you create your own experience. Just be a little bit more open-minded, my world could be quite amazing.


p.s. thanks Chloe for Wine connection and Annie for The CD Shop

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Do what I love

>> Thursday, April 08, 2010

I get slightly annoyed when people think I take too much holiday or spending too much money on traveling. People might think I take advantage from working at family business - flexible in holiday and better pay.

Ok, I might be travelled more than some people. However, I disagree with the time and money. I guess most people's travel involve some sort of money (flight, luxury hotel, tour,etc) and taking long leave from work but it is not how I travel. All my travels are cheap and well time management.
  • Book flight during promotion - it means you book your flight six months in advance. All my flights are 50% cheaper than normal prices. 
  • Utilize the network - I only choose those countries which I could potential get a free bed or cheap accommodation. I do not mind sleeping on some couches. If I have to pay, will make sure it is good value (cheap and good) 
  • Be a local - I will try my best to be local rather than tourist. I am reluctant to pay ridiculous price for those must do/see activities or places. It does not really matter for me. I enjoy meeting people and the local culture. It also makes my trip cheap. 
  • Plan it smart - I do lots of calculation on cost and time to maximize the money value before any decision. 
  • Be efficient and responsible - taking leave may be hard for most Asian company. I do agree that it is one of the advantages when working for family. For me, as long as I finish my work, I do not have to stay in the office 24/7 to prove that I am hardworking or anything. 
This is my travel philosophy. I enjoy travel more than anything at the moment. I want to maximize my travel experiences when I still have the freedom. I know it will be harder when I have more responsible in the future. This is what I love so stop judging me!!

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TEDxKL

>> Sunday, March 28, 2010


I was quite excited about TEDxKL. It was an opportunity for me to reconnect with the ideas, positive energy and passionate people in Malaysia. There are 11 speakers from different part of the society.

Amongst all the speaker, there are two speakers, Peter Nicoll and Aloha Lavina, really got me thinking. Peter from Scotland is running a Community Action Group based in KL to "get people off the street" (address the symptoms of both urban and rural poverty through street food programmes, etc). I was shock that we have 770,000 population in KL are hard poor, living on the street and with hunger. It is HUGE but how many of us in KL actually aware of it and trying to do something to help them. I really appreciate a foreigner, has no responsible to this city/country, but doing such an amazing things for us.

Aloha Lavina, who is a photographer based in Bangkok. First, I love her accent and the words she were using during her presentation. It just sounds so beautiful. It is very interesting to see the world through a photographer philosophy. Three messages she was trying to delivery in the 18minutes - trust process instead of the end result, have fun and pure awareness (Attention shapes reality). She mentioned that you will stop having fun when you are losing your attention. I totally agree with it. At the end, she wrapped up with a phase "The World Is Your Idea". Believing in and focusing on our idea we can shape the world we want.

Pramesh Chandran, who is a technopreneur and was appointed as CEO of TIME dotCom in 2008, is another good speaker. He has given lots of very useful information to the audience why the broadband speed in Malaysia is way behind developed countries and countries in Asia which has high speed broadband with affordable price. It was way out of my imagine how many other parties, government are responsible to this. Except his overtime speech, it was a very informative and interesting presentation.

This event has inspired me to be more proactive and actually make a change in Malaysia society. There are so much I can do and need to be done but what I have I done to make a change in the past eight months? I always want to be an entrepreneur and owning a business. However, I do not want to be someone who only care about how much profit in their business. Impact that I could create always my motivation. I am very excited when I know there are people actually have the same dream as me out there and I am not alone.

p.s. Congratz to a very successful event with great speakers and audiences. One part I was very impressive was the organiser tried very hard to make sure everything on time. It is very rare amongst Malaysia's events. Although it is not perfect, I do see the effort and it is what Malaysian should learn to be.

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More than a cup of coffee

>> Tuesday, March 23, 2010

From searching the best Hot Choc in Auckland, the best Mocha in Wellington, now I found the best Cappuccino in Malaysia at Cafe Departure Lounge. 

I am very used the life which could easily access a cup of good Mocha in NZ (Ahhh.. I miss Cubita). It become slightly hard in Malaysia. Yes, Malaysia has lots of coffee franchises/cafe. Sadly, 99% I will receive a cup of coffee with over frothed milk (burn your tongue), coffee is watering (bad coffee bean and milk), which are the perfect combination to ruin my day.

Luckily I can at least have a good cup of coffee once a week at Cafe Departure Lounge. Thanks for the owners who have the passion in making a good cup of coffee and serving good food. Now my perfect weekend (if I am in KL) is spending my afternoon there, having a cup of GOOD coffee/mocha, reading my book, eating a slide of cheese cake and teasing their staffs. What a luxury!

When will they open another branch just next to my office?

p.s Congratz their barista, Yee, for winning the "best cappucino" and 2nd Runner-up awards at Malaysia Barista Championship 2010. It was a very good weekend to experience the passion of coffee. 

It is more than a cup of coffee.

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No more house hunting!

>> Tuesday, March 09, 2010

One of my main tasks after back to Malaysia is looking for a house for my family. Mum has been wanting a landed house for years. However, my sister and I were not within the country so it has been delayed. 

I was hunting the house through few property agents. It was a nightmare when dealing with them. They are on and off depending on their mood! I know that I don't have a million dollar budget but at least still above average! What kind of shit service I have been receiving. Personally I can't deal with bad service so I decide to buy a house without going through property agents and start searching the developer website. 



At the end, I found this place - Sutera Damansara Ria II. It is pretty much a perfect house for us (except we have to wait for 2 years but it is not like we don't have a place to stay now). It is within our budget, a very nice neighbourhood (with mountains, reserve forest around, human make lake), convenience location (easily to access all the main highways), perfect size and modern design (with high ceiling and well used of space). Everyone is happy with the house and everything so we make our final decision within 24 hours.

Just need to settle down all the financial part then I am done! I'm actually very proud of myself that able to get this done perfectly. 

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2010 2nd Trip - Revisiting India

>> Friday, February 26, 2010

After three years, I finally have the chance to visit India, which I consider the third home, again. It was very relaxing and good. I didn't do much during the trip,  just spending time on the beach and resort. Eat, Sleep and Drink! It gives me lots of positive energy after this trip. 

Goa is still Goa and Bangalore is still Bangalore. Nothing much has changed but it reminds me lots of good times there and the reason I love my stay so much. This place has taught me how to be patient, flexible, open-minded and positive. Now with the cheap flight, I think I will visit more often.


Some achievements during this trip: 
  • I finish a book "retired young and retired rich" by Robert Kiyosaki
  • Good reflection in term of my changes these years and future plan 
  • Relax and love my life again

Even though most people in Malaysia does not have positive perception toward India. Secretly, I think life in India is more interesting than Malaysia. If there any chance, I wish to stay there more than home.

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KL Night Life

>> Saturday, February 13, 2010

You can have so much fun with the right company. I finally experience the complete the KL night life in a week. It is a bit crazy but I'm really happy.


Luna Bar 
It is a must-go bar when friend comes from overseas. Price of drink is a bit ridiculous but I guess it is still better than go up to KL Tower. 


Pavilion 
At the center of KL. You can easily find all kind of food (good to bad, east to west) at one place. Also a good idea to get a drink before and after dinner. We got a free shot because the bar tender didn't know how to count. :P The parking is surprisingly cheap during weekday. 


Changkat Bukit Bintang
It is so far my favourite place in KL. I like the bar on the street instead of inside the mall. You can do a bar tour here easily. Get all kind of music and variety price of drink. Lady definitely should go on Wed (Ladies night), you can have all night free drink. 



Pinchos @ Changkat
I love everything about Spain so Tapas is one of my favourite. This dish is amazing with some wine. 
Good Food + Wine = Good Time 



Social @ Changkat
I love the music and they have quite bit of wine choice. Pool table available if you could play well. We stay until they "locked" us inside. Definitely go back again. 



Bangkok Jazz
We were the only customer on Tue. They are not really playing Jazz (but I do show my friend the Malaysia truly Asia coz they were playing some random Asian songs) and the drink is not good. I won't recommend but may be the weekend is better. Thai restaurant upstair is pretty good but a bit too quit. 



Asian Heritage
Went twice so far but have not had a good experience. So may be not my place. 

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Challenge your fear

>> Monday, February 01, 2010


I love to spend my holiday at the beach. Because of my fear of animal (including fish) and deep water, It is a bit boring sometimes. It is my dream to swim in the sea and master all the water activities, i.e. scuba diving, surfing, etc.

To make my Malaysian life more excited, I decide to challenge my fear. I have checked out the course at 1U, the price is reasonable and it does not seem to be that hard. I have no fear when come to sky diving or bungy jump, I'm sure I have the confidence to do it.

Before Aug, I have to get my PADI certificate.

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iPad

>> Friday, January 29, 2010


A new creation from Apple was launched two days ago - iPad. There are a lot of review, good and bad, has published in the last 48 hours. Even though a lot of people quite disappointed of the iPad, such as the name is lame, it is just an oversized iPhone, what is the point to have it; I still very excited about this new creation. Yes, I'm an Apple fan. 

I think iPad could really change our way of reading, the way the publisher function in the next five years. It just like how iPod has change our way of listening and buy music, pretty much the entire music industry. We are reluctant to buy CDs or even burn CD. Since I have the iPhone, my car does not have to mess up with lots of CD or I could not find the CD I want when I am driving. 

I believe iPad will have the same impact to our life in the future. I have to admit that I love to act of going to book shop and buy book, put at my bookshelf and start reading it. This is how I feel now. I used to love to go to CD shop, look for CD and buy CD but now I can't be bother. I always find myself could not find the CD I want in the CD shop. 

I can just imagine my life with the iPad, reading the newspaper and TIME magazine while I am having breakfast. My house doesn't have to mess up with lots of newspaper and magazine, and mum won't get annoyed and start yelling at everyone. I can read the book on my bed or everywhere I go. I won't feel guilty when spending money on buying lots of book but no time to read it, it is going to be cheap at ibook shop. I carry my newspaper/book/mp3/photo album everywhere in my home. Another good feeling is I save more trees. 

I love the iPad idea and I want to have it. 

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Obedience to the parent

>> Monday, January 25, 2010

As Asian/Chinese children, we seem to be obedience to our parent's order  or wish. Even though we're not happy or disagree with their opinion, order or decision, we most likely will obey. Remember during high school (even now), I get very frustrated when friend make their decision based on their parent wish. The most common is  their degree and at the end they don't even know why they are getting that degree.

I was trying very hard to live and do thing in my own way, however, I could not completely escape from this tradition or "responsibility". May be this is what they society has brain-wash us since young.

I am glad that my parent always give me lots of freedom in making decision.  may be i'm not listening However, when they are getting older, they intend to persuade you to stay and live with them. You will feel bad/shit if you're not doing what they wish although deep down you prefer to go for your own path and way. I completely understand how they feel but I think parent should also take initiative when managing their elderly, like making new friends, join activities, etc. It can't just be their child's responsible of making sure they are happy. Pls putting so much hope on your children, it could reduced the indirect pressure to their child and both parties will be happier.

It is such a conflict feeling for me when deciding between parent's life and my life. Hopefully I'll remember how I feel now; so when I am getting old, I'll be a cool and happy old lady/mum without worrying my family.

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