Photos

Established since 1942, Chong Kok is the last authentic kopitiam (coffee shop) in Jalan Stesen, Klang. It was my mom's favourite haunt since she was a kid. But I only visited it for the first time today. The nasi lemak, curry puffs and rojak were great. And nothing beats their own brewed coffee. I even took my baby out for breakfast today. I'll let him tell the story

It wasn't supposed to be a Prawn Mee pig out day. We thought the prawn mee at the shop at Sea Park would be decent enough for a photo shoot. But after looking at the bowl and taking a few shots, I realised that no amount of photoshopping can save and transform the sad looking bowl with a mutilated egg into something worth salivating over.

So I asked James where the best prawn mee in town is located.

"Champ's," he said without hesitation. And pretty soon, we were there. We weren't disappointed. And we ended up eating more stuff than we should.

Of course the Prawn Mee at Champ's costs about 4 times more than the one at the Sea Park coffee shop. But it also tastes 4x better. So you really do get what you pay for lar.

Here are the pics. You be the judge.


The Prawn Mee @ Sea Park coffee shop


The Prawn Mee @ Champ's


James and his loves

Champ's Bistro

Lot F10, 1st Floor, Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
03-7722 5800
Open from 10:00am to 12:00am daily

I was honored to be invited to shoot Sita's cosy and utterly lovely home which she fondly calls 'Casa Sita'. Sita's a freelance interior designer with a flair for mixing and matching a hodgepodge of furnishing materials (including some very unlikely ones) and making a beautifully decorated home out of them. Presenting to you some shots of Casa Sita:

There's a new happening watering place in town just right across the Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa. That place is Borneo Rainforest - the brainchild of Tiara Jacquelina. TV Smith cordially invited this blogger to the launch and after battling the perennially heavy traffic jam on the LDP, I arrived 20 minutes late. Dang, should have used the NPE. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of people came about the same time as me. I was enthralled by the very picturesque place Borneo Rainforest is located in. There were pretty lights everywhere and it was surrounded by lots and lots of water - the man-made lake as well as the man-made waterfall. These water features made the whole place look and feel cool. An open-air concept that is truly workable even in the midst of our humid climate.

We all had to register at the counter before being allowed to walk into The Ruai which was located within the Bistro. This was where I encountered some slight difficulty that comes when one is in-between jobs:

Receptionist: Please fill in your name and put you name card into the basket.
Me: (wondering if I should put in my current business card because I'll be uncontactable in less than 2 weeks) Errr... I don't have a name card. I'm kinda in-between jobs right now. (stopped myself from explaining to her that I'm not unemployed, just waiting for my last day to come and, nah... save it lar)
Receptionist: Oh, in that case, can you state the reason you are invited in this column instead?
Me: Ok.

As I wrote the word 'Blogger' on the empty space, a sunny bright beam came to her face. "Ooooh, you are a blogger! Welcome! Here, I've got some press release and a door gift for you." She handed me a beaded necklace and the press release. I was as pleased as punch. Who would have thought that the blogger word could mean so much? Bloggers have a much more elevated status in our current society compared to just a few years ago. Back then, not many people appreciate the idea of blogging and much less know what blogging was all about. "Wah, why publicize your life stories and air your dirty linen in public? LOA*, izzit?"

But now, business owners and media mongers know that bloggers are a potent new form of word-of-mouth. And they are careful to treat us with the utmost respect and friendliness.

And so I entered into Borneo Rainforest that looked and felt well... quite close to a real rainforest - if you discount the upbeat music, dressed-to-kill party people and free flow of booze all around. Yep, it's one snazzy tribal-looking jungle alright. Borneo Rainforest is actually made up of three different and distinct areas - the Cafe, the Bistro and the Ruai. I walked past the Bistro with its totem poles and private spaces with cosy corners. And headed to the Ruai where TV was sitting happily guzzling lashings and lashings of beer. This is the place where the bar counter is located and "Ruai" (a Sarawakian word) means a space for people to get together in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. I have my doubts about the casual part though - all the people there looked dolled up and dressed to the nines. One lady was dancing the whole night away. In golden stilettos. How she managed to do that, I had no idea. I loved the music that they played - a groovy mix of music from the 80's and some head bobbing house music. The DJ of the night was one Psycho G.

We were treated to special performances by a band, some guys playing with some recycled looking thingies, Camilia and of course, Tiara Jacquelina herself. She is all that I imagined her to be - lovely, petite, down-to-earth, fun and buoyant. And the lady can sing! She crooned a Sheryl Crow number to her delighted fans.

Well, the lady also seems to be a business-savvy person with a keen eye for location and details. Sunway is always spilling at the seams with a crowd of people. What better place for them to hang out than Rainforest? If they have enough of the party scene for one night, they can always traipse over to the Cafe and enjoy the famed Chili Crab and Sarawak Laksa

Anyway, enjoy the pics taken with my dad's point and shoot. Didn't feel like lugging baby around yesterday night




*LOA - Lack of attention

Just came back from an ultra fun kid's birthday party shoot @ the swanky Tasting Room. The theme of the day was Dinosaurs - the birthday boy simply adores T-Rex. Everything about him revolved around dinosaurs - his T-shirt, his art work, the birthday pinata and even his awesome green dino birthday cake.


You can tell the kid's artistic (and dino-crazy)


Jurassic Park-like cake


Dino Pinatta

The food was fabulous.

The steak was so tender and succulent. It's simply to die for...


This chocolate dessert thingy apparently tastes as good as it looks. I didn't have any, was too busy guzzling the steak and coffee


This is the first kid birthday party I attended that had a wine tasting session.


Nope, I didn't have any wine either.

Most of all, I enjoyed snapping pics of the kids. They were so cute, I wished I had more time to shoot them!


The bday boy


If you think I'm cute now, wait till I grow up!


This babe's eyes can melt the stoniest of hearts


Go away, can't you see I'm busy making dino cookies?


When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother what would I be?


Hmmm, should I have one more ice cream?


Yes, you should!


Oh, look - balloons!


I know I'm irresistible. Hee hee...


Like father, like son


Mother and daughter


Taking a cat nap