Feeling Hungry?

Nowadays with the wealth of restaurants around and each restaurant offering 100 of choices of food to eat, sometimes it gets really hard to choose a place to eat. Most of the time Amy and I would be down with the same question, where you want to eat. One day we were at Sg Wang and we went to Farmosa restaurant which is a Taiwanese sort of restaurant. 

We sat down and the menu was brought to us and I was flipping through the menu and something caught my eye.

 

See anything weird other then well say the Simmered Ox Tendon? Still can't see it? Look all the way down to item number 22. Do you want some Large Bowel Mee Sua? Sounds good to me. Haha. Nah didn't order it. Was to chicken to order it. Hehe

Macro around the garden

Adding to my super bored car interior post, I follow up with an equally bored macro post. Macro is not one of my strongest photography technique. Then again I am not really strong in any of the photography technique. Most people specialised in certain fields of photography say landscape, macro, wedding or portraiture. Me semua rojak and not good at anyone particular field.

So here is some macro's I took around my house garden.

This is of course Bougainvillea flower which more commonly known in Malaysia as the bunga kertas. Now the funny thing about this shot is that the first shot I shot using an SLR was also a Bougainvillea flower and it was from this exact same tree. This is the shot I was talking about.

Now the scary thing is that was taken using a canon 400d with the 17-55 kit lens and it was maybe taken in Apperture priority mode. 4 years on and the photos still look the same and I have upgraded to a freaking 5D and using a Tamron SP90 which is a dedicated macro lens and in Manual mode. Still no improvement. Pengsan betul. 

Anyway moving alone, another very well shot flower in my garden is...

Up till today, I have still yet to take a clear picture of this flower on macro. I think it is really time for me to consider to make the decision to invest in a good quality tripod.

This is a picture of the same pink/red flower above but it has yet to bloom.

At least this picture is a little more respectable where there are at least clear part of the picture which is actually sharp. This I think it is also the same species of flower as the above one but it is white in color. The other difference about this flower is that the middle filament part is much bigger as well.

Recently I have been trying to do more black and white photos, still not able to take good black and white photos but here goes nothing...

Ok ok to tell you the truth this shot was actually a failed shot. It was suppose to be macro shot but as you can see everything is blur. So had to convert it to black and white to save the shot. I guess it was worth a try.

Now I go to this flower which I always consider a real challenge to take. The reason why I call it a challenge is because well the flower is the size of maybe a 20 cent coin.

Why I like to macro this flower is obvious, the filaments in the middle are super small which makes it really nice if you get it right. Unfortunately once again, failed attempt. Last but not least is actually a new flower which I haven't photographed before.

The thing that caught my eyes to take this picture is that when I got really close up, they actually look a little like roses. It looks almost like a bunch of roses.

Well that is all about the macro for this time around. Need to really brush up my skills and work on my macro photography. Maybe the first thing is to invest in a tripod. Unfortunately at this point of time, no money because house reno and wedding is in the pipeline and boy I am going to be broke. :)

Just being bored

I have been getting bored with my photography and it hasn't gotten any better. For some reason I feel that I am taking the same exact pictures and I have not taken a picture I have gone "Wow now that is a really good picture" in a very long while already. Couple weeks back while washing my car, I decided to be all macho and all and dismantle my car door to check my automatic window which has been leaving some oil stains on my glass.

Unfortunately after about an hour or so trying to get to the panel, I finally found out that the whole rig was actually behind a whole piece of metal which I am not able to access easily. I gave up but not after deciding to pop to hood and check under the hood. Then I decided to take my camera out to capture some shots.

That is the guts of my car and what makes it so fuel economical. Well that is what Toyota wants you to believe but in the end I think because the car is built as light as a tin can that is why it saves so much petrol. 

This is what generates electricity for the entire car and enables things like the radio and lights to work. It also charges this...

To allow for your car to startup every morning. 

I have no idea what this part is above but the only reason why I took it was because it got a Toyota sign on it. Wah lau advertising for Toyota kau kau. Now we go to what makes the car move when you press the on accelerator pedal.

The part above if I am not mistaken and I could be because like I know alot about car engines is the throttle wire. Basically when you press the accelerator paddle it pulls this wire and the engine revs.

Again no idea what the part above is but it just made a great picture that is all.

Yup my car's color is Phantom Grey 7457. So good of them to put it on the inside bay of my car and will allow me to pick out the right color if it needs re-spraying.

The part above is what activates the SRS airbag. If I am not mistaken that is either the accelerometer or the crash sensor. Basically it should measure the amount of deceleration of the car and if it reaches a certain limit it deems that you have hit something hard enough to deploy the airbag it would. If it is a crash sensor then basically if you hit something and the car crumples until it whacks this bugger, it will trigger off the airbag to save you life if you are wearing your safely belt of course.

Remember people, do not open this cap when it is hot. If you still plan to open it, well be prepared to cook your hands and maybe your head depending on where your head is when the cap is open. Basically that is the radiator cap and when the car heats up, the water and coolant combo inside the radiator boils up and become steam. So if you open it when it is hot, the steam will rush out under pressure.

This is the fuses that is under the fuse box, this will prevent any sudden surge of electrical power from blowing out all the lights and electronics in your car. Surprisingly the electrical power in your car is very "dirty" It is not a stable 12V but goes up and down depending on the revs of your car as well as the charge of the batteries. It is especially "dirty" when the car is first started up. It is advisable not to plug in any of those car phone charges when starting the engine. Oh yea it might blow up when you do since the surge of power is uncontrollable.

The system of pulleys above are the parts that turn as the engine turn to power things like the alternator to generate electricity and also run things like the A/C in your car. After a while I got really adventurous and decided to take out the top engine cover off to see what is inside. After the top cover came off...

What impresses me is the colored dots on each of the what looks to me like spark plug covers. What I think those dots represent are actually checks by Toyota personnel. So what I imagine during the production line, each stage of the production line has a different color. So once they put the spark plug in and cap it off, the fella will mark it with his/her own color. Once it goes to QC and the fella has checked it then he/she marks it off with another color and maybe at final QC the fella must check that all the colors are there and he/she check the part one last time and then he/she marks his own color as well. So if there are any problems they will know which exact section that didn't do their job correctly. All this is speculation of course and that is why Toyota is world renowned for its car manufacturing.

Last but not least is of course the dip stick to check the condition of your engine oil. It is important to check the condition of the engine oil as it is the engine oil that keeps all the parts in the engine well lubricated and cool as well. So if there are particulates in the engine, things starts to grind with each other and you might end up getting a brick of an engine.

Well that is what I do on a Saturday morning when I am bored and Amy is at work. Lame I know. Oh well.

Siew Yoke

Disclaimer: This post is full of pictures that could be offensive to people from other religions. If you feel offended by pictures of this nature please feel free to skip this and come back next week for a post of a different nature. For those of you who are not offended, please be prepared and maybe prepare a bip to mop up all the drool.

It is about 2 months from our ROM and about 7 months to our wedding. I also just took my yearly blood test and it came back high cholesterol and high uric acid. So in the past week or so, when Amy and I would look for food we will try to take the healthier alternative. So last weekend while driving along the LDP, we were thinking of a place to eat and Amy said well there is the Fu Kua (Bitter gourd) restaurant which is of course healthy. 

I have been trying my best to avoid this place because Fu Kua basically my nemesis when it comes to food. I will only eat Fu Kua if it has been forced down on me, unless it is the fried Fu Kua my colleague makes which doesn't taste like Fu Kua anymore. So we drove towards Taman Sea and just before reaching the Fu Kua restaurant, we saw the sign SIEW YOKE. As any self respective chinese person, we couldn't resist the lure of slow roasted belly pork which is so soft and juicy in the middle and yet has a crispy skin. 

We made the conclusion that heck tonight we are playing tennis anyway and we will surely burn off what we eat now. So lo and behold we were in the Siew Yoke restaurant. Oh yea we were also drawn in because while looking at the menu at the front, the waiter told us there was a promo where buy a small plate of siew yoke and get 2 bowls of noodles free.

Initially I was being greedy and was asking Amy if a small plate is enough for the both of us. However logics prevailed and we ordered the small plate of Siew Yoke and first to come was....

The chili sauce was actually pretty good surprisingly. It has the right balance of spiciness and also a hint of sourness from the vinegar. Amy was saying that they were using good quality vinegar. After some patient waiting and the next thing that came out was...

Yea we ordered a plate of tofu to "offset" the unhealthiness of the things to come. This plate of tofu also saved us from ordering the medium sized plate of siew yoke. The tofu was nice, soft and most importantly COLD. The main thing about this dish is the tofu needs to be cold and the fried garlic/onions have to be sufficient. Usually you will not have enough oyster sauce on top but this one had too much. Finally after somemore waiting the main dish arrived.

They had 3 types of Siew Yoke there and we order the melting gold roast. The best thing about this slab of siew yoke was that it wasn't very fatty. It had just the right amount of fat to keep the meat moist while it is being roasted and the skin was oh so very crispy. The meat wasn't really melting in our mouths but still it was very good tasting. Combined with the chili it was a really really really good meal.

The only thing missing from this meal is some beer. I mean beer with siew yoke is one of THE BEST combination to have while say at a pub or something. More pubs should serve siew yoke and maybe have a beer and siew yoke combo you know. We each also ordered the 8 treasures herbal tea and guess what? It had free refills. Now that is what I call a steal. Everything came in at 23 bucks and it was a very satisfying meal that probably contributed to why my tennis sucked so badly that evening. The fat from the siew yoke was weighing me down and making me lazy to run and swing the racket. :)

Special Cat

My bro has a very special cat called Trippy. I think she has been featured on my blog a couple of times. However for those of you who don't know Trippy, well my bro found her wounded one day about say 2 or 3 years back. She was missing her tail and also missing part of her hind leg. My bro took her to the vet and 2 weeks later she became my bro's pet. Now Trippy is special not because she doesn't have a tail or part of the hind legs, but she is special because she doesn't act like any other cat.

She doesn't react to us calling her name or even this sound that Amy makes that sounds like a rat. Amy does it all the time and usually a cat will turn around and look, not Trippy however. I think it is due to the injury she sustained when she was young, she is very scared of basically anyone other then my bro and my sister in law. Even when I go to their place, Trippy will run at the sight of me.

About 3 weeks back however, she didn't have a choice since my bro and my sister in law were heading on a 2 week holiday and Trippy was left at our house. Initially she would run when she sees me, but about 2 or 3 days after my bro left. She started to allow me to scratch her and play with her. Guess in the end the loneliness gave out and she started to get really comfortable with me.

I noticed this habit she has where if I pulled my computer chair table out, she will jump on the chair and jump on the computer table to sleep. One day I decided to perform entrapment on her, I decided to prepare my "ka chang" and then once I was ready, I pulled the computer chair out and proceeded to play PS3 as if nothing happened. 5 min later she was on top of the table and I sprang my trap...

She was watching me intently as I got nearer and nearer to her with this big glass eye. All my charms and my scratching for an entire week finally paid off as after a couple of shots...

Her eyes were actually closing as she got used to the sound of my shutter going off. After while I could get really up close and personal with her.

She continued to sleep or maybe pretend to sleep while I went crazy and snapped like a paparazzi.

Once in a while she would "wake up" and give me that I am watching you even if my eye are close. Don't try to do anything or fear the sharp end of my claws.

However after about 5-10 minutes of me walking around here and taking photos she finally....

KO-ed on top of the table and when I got bored, I went back to playing games. I think the next time I go to Penang, she will still run away when she sees me. Haha.

Rise and Shine Everyone

Sometimes waking up early in the morning is a good thing. I only say sometimes because most of the times it is way better to stay in bed and pig out. Especially if it is a gloomy morning and it rained the night before. However one morning as I was pulling out of my house and heading to work. I couldn't help but stop my car, take out my phone and take this series of pictures.

It is just awesome how sometimes the right time and the right place with the right equipment (camera phone) will get you some nice pictures. Enjoy

Coconut Chopper

After our penang hill hike, my mum has been talking about this coconut jelly thing for a while now. We have had coconut jelly here in KL before but my mum said that this one is different. Apparently the guy has so much skills that they do not open the coconut. They just put the entire unopened coconut into a steamer and steam it. Once it is done they put into a fridge to chill it and it becomes jelly.

This place deals with everything coconut. They have coconut water, coconut jelly, santan, etc. You name it and they got it as long as it is coconut. The real special thing about the coconut jelly is that when you put it into your mouth it just melts and become sweet coconut water. It was really a refreshing drink/dessert after our tiring hike.

While we were there, there was one guy who was opening coconuts for the coconut water to be sold. Now this guy has got some skills when it comes to opening coconut. Check out the video below.

You do not wanna mess with this guy ever. He could easily treat your head like the coconut he is chopping.

If you are ever in Penang you can check them out at:

Joez Enterprise
201, Jalan Dato Keramat, 10150, Penang Malaysia.


Recently they also opened an outlet in KL at KL sentral infront of CIMB. Never been there before but it it really definitely worth a try.

Penang Trekking

About a month back we went to Penang for a makan trip and also to visit my brother. My mum this trip was super gung ho and ask my bro to plan a trip to hike up penang hill. However the funicular still wasn't operational so instead of going to the main Penang hill hike, we decided to take a shorter route which should take about an hour and 30 minutes one way.

In the morning as we all woke, it looked like a very gloomy day and as we set off from my bro's place it started to drizzle. We decided to move ahead and drive to the place and if it is still raining then we just go makan. However luckily when we arrived at parking area, it stopped drizzling and the sun was coming out. We trekked up the hill stopping by some of the rest spots to see the view.

It was a tiring trek and since it rained in the morning means it was pretty humid as well. So humid I was sweating buckets and Amy took some evidence.

Suddenly it looks like I have very little hair on my head. After about 1 hour or so of walking we finally reached the first real resting point they called number 5. If you are early enough to arrive here, they actually server kopi O and teh O absolutely free. By the time we arrived, the kopi O sudah habis so we only had some teh 0. I had this bee which liked me so much it was flying all over me. Maybe I have some sweet sweat.

While we were resting and rejuvenating on the free teh O provided, dad decided to show off some of this Tai Chi moves on a huge rock.

Super bergaya and somemore got some back light effect from the sun at the back. After mucking around for a bit, we decided to head to rest stop number 3. This is where they actually serve free fried Bee Hoon. However since we were late there was nothing left of the Bee Hoon. So what to do, cam whore lar as usual.

After all the cam whoring, the sun was coming out and we decided to start walking down. However there are some who like to just lie down and have a sun tan.

There are actually quite a few dogs there just lying down in the sun and resting. As the sun was coming up, the clouds were dissipating and blue skies started to show.

Fuuwwaaahhhh almost look like the skies in Australia or something. Hehe. As we were walking down, we were actually being followed by one of the male dogs. It looked like it was actually leading the way right in front. My dad was at the head of the pack and the dog would follow my dad. When it ran a bit further in front of my dad, it would actually wait for my dad to catch up and walk off again. While my dad was accompanied by the male dog, we were accompanied by 2 female dogs.

To ward off the tiredness, we actually made up a story about how it was forbidden dog love. The 2 female dogs were in love with the male dog but the pack didn't like it. So they ran away so they could be together. I think maybe it was just the "thin" air on the hill.

On the way down, I took the opportunity to take some nature photos as well.

As we got down, we finally saw the funicular which wasn't working at the moment. Well at least it was the old funicular, the Penang Government was installing a new one which was suppose to be operational in April.

On the way back to the car, my dad saw some poles stuck into the ground and started to show off again. It was obvious that the younger Ting brothers cannot stand there and be upstaged by the older Ting. So we decided to accept the challenge...

First middle Ting (my brother) couldn't hold his stance. So Top Ting (my dad) decided to give him some pointers.

Fuwah after that steady like a rock man. So we all gathered our breaths and did it all together for one picture moment.

Look at that man, super rock steady from all the 3 of us. This is what the Ting Men are all about man. You know how I always say my bro and I do stupid things all the time and in the end he always get hurts? Well this time it was kinda different.

Wahahahha. See lar show off somemore. That is what you get. It was a good family bonding time. Need to do it more often actually.