The Secret Life of Nora

Published by simon on September 29, 2011

Just got back from the premier of the new Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina play called ‘The Secret Life of Nora’ at Istana Budaya earlier this evening. Snagged two complimentary tickets for me and my wife.

Well, I’ve no yardstick to measure local musical productions by (this is the first local play I’ve watch, I’ve never been the artsy type) but I’ve gotta say it was enjoyable. The storyline was 60′s campy kitsch but enjoyable, the songs memorable and catchy. The sets were pretty good and moved seamlessly thru the scenes (of course, can’t compare to the revolving stage at the Queen’s Theater when i watched Les Mis in London).

But the real attraction of the show were the performances not only by the leads but by the entire singing and dancing crew. Datin Seri Tiara is definitely a very talented singer, and when the spotlight goes on her, she really comes alive with energy and a powerful voice.

Of course, the other lead Ryan Silverman is good, and also funny was Adibah Noor. And as annoying as Aznil Nawawi is most of the time, for tonight the toned it down just right for the part.

The Secret Life of Nora runs from 29 Sept through 16th Oct at the Istana Budaya. Catch this great musical while it lasts. Tickets are available via airasiaredtix from RM30 onwards.

Carhunting We Will Go

Published by simon on September 12, 2011

Apparently my mom thinks i need a new car. The 15 year old Wira I have is starting to have Alzheimer’s, so its probably a good idea. She wants me to get a 7 seater, so that when she comes visit me, she and my sister can fit into the car with my family comfortably instead of squeezing everyone into a sedan car. Well, if you know about the cars available in the market, you’d know that 7-seaters are either MPVs and SUVs, and MPVs are either compact or big ones. There are a couple of criteria, we have a budget limit of less than RM100k, which seriously limits the choices we have, but that didn’t stop us from test driving every model in the market, just to see what’s on offer.

The other thing was that my wife and mother were not a fan of local or Korean cars, speaking from experience. So no Alza, no Exora, no Sportage. And since my wife will be the one driving it all the time, she didn’t want a bulky car. So off goes the list car like Nissan Serena, Toyota Alphard and Estima, etc.

Anyways, over a few weekends and the Hari Raya break, we went carhunting.

Chrevrolet Captiva (from RM144,888)

OMG THIS IS MY DREAM CAR! Y U NO CHEAPER?!!!

Very impressed with this car and all the modern gadgets. Spacious interior, can seat 7 adults comfortably. Everything feels luxurious, from the console right to leather seats. Didn’t test drive it. No point if i can’t afford it right? The new diesel 2.0 model was just launched a few days before when i viewed this model, can u believe its more expensive than the petrol 2.4 version (RM156k vs. RM145k)?

Mazda 5 (RM153,400)

If the Captiva was my wow-car, then this one was my wife’s. We weren’t for a huge MPV like this, but the features really made the best impression on my wife. They have DVD player, automatic sliding door, sunroof, and the two back rows were spacious. But the one thing that set this car from the others that it felt sold and luxurious, unlike many other models that we tried that looked and felt cheap, especially the interiors.

But anyways, so far both Captiva and Mazda 5 were impossible for us to afford, but no harm in test driving them right?

Hyundai Santa Fe (from abt RM150k)

Mitsubishi Grandis (RM164,980.00)

Peugeot 5008 (RM159,888)

We also did the rounds on all the other models. They were all fantastic, good to drive, spacious and luxurious. Unfortunately they were all also beyond our budget. Among the three both the Peugeot and Grandis looked good, with the latter pricier. But Peugeot appealed to me more. The Santa Fe was the cheapest of the 3, but it didn’t impress us. Besides, my wife didn’t want a Korean car.

Chery Eastar (from RM82,888 to RM84,888)

You know the adage, you get what you pay for? Well, this is the cheapest car we viewed, so… Why would anyone seriously consider this car? The seat covers reminded me of my ’97 Iswara and the colour combination interior is so unappealing. Plus the if you look closely to their metallic paint, you can see its really dull, even compared to local cars.

Grand Livina (RM88,600 to RM97,300)

Now finally a car can seriously consider, with the price within our affordability. My wife had this car in mind to buy, until i test drove it. It felt underpowered carry 5 ppl going up the Puchong hill, plus i wasn’t impressed with the interiors.

Toyota Rush (RM85,888 to RM94,888)

I seriously can’t remember why we walked into the Toyota showroom, probably to see the Innova or the Avanza. We already knew we didn’t both these two models (Innova is too bulky, Avanza is too small) but we went anyway. Then we saw the Rush. Fit our requirements. A bit overpriced, though.

So that’s all the models we looked and test drove. We dropped by Suzuki and Ford too, but they didn’t have the range we wanted. I couldn’t find the BMW in Puchong, and let’s just forget about Mercedes. I also went to Honda, but they didn’t even have a showroom unit of the Stream to view. So which car did we finally decide on? Well, those who see me regularly will know in a month’s time…

Restoran Siu Siu, Somewhere Near Robson Heights

Published by simon on September 5, 2011

We’ve found an awesome place to eat, its a surprise why we’ve not heard of this place before.

The place is called Restoran Siu Siu (recommended by Kien and May) located on near Robson Heights behind the MCOBA building. Just turn into the road beside the MCOBA building and you’ll see it on your left partly hidden by a hillside secondary jungle. We were last Friday lunch during the Hari Raya week long break.

It’s an old fashion restaurant, reminiscient of a small town. No frills, no airconditioning or paper towels here.

They have a few specialties, like claypot crab rice, claypot prawn rice, sang har mien (fresh prawn noodles), lap mei claypot rice. But the one specialty we went all the way there to try was their char siew (roast pork). Actually my wife wanted to try it, I’m more of a siew yoke person.

This is the char siew and the lap mei claypot rice (roughly translated, preserved/waxed rice). It’s filled with waxed duck meat and lap cheong (chinese sausages) and its tastes heavenly. We wanted to try the claypot crab rice but it was unavailable that day.

Great place to eat, must return and try the other dishes. With friends in tow.

The place is packed on weekends, best to call and book a place first. A bit on the pricey side.

Restaurant Siu Siu
No. 15-11, Lorong Syed Putra Kiri
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 016-370 8555/016-309 8038
Open from 11.00am to 12.00midnight.
Closed on Mondays.

My One Week Staycation

Published by simon on September 2, 2011

What’s a ‘staycation’?

It’s a vacation where you and your family stay at home instead of going off somewhere. Or in Malaysian terms, no money to go somewhere far for holiday so we stay at home lor.

Since my great company gave me the whole week off (so nice of them), and with my MIL visiting, i took the chance to go to some of the places i haven’t been for a long, long time.

Actually my 9-day long staycation started last Saturday and Sunday, but it was mostly taken up by my usual weekend stuff (we managed to visit 5 car showrooms on Saturday afternoon) so it doesn’t really count.

Day 1 Monday (Hari Raya’s Eve)

My MIL was in town for a couple of days, so on Monday morning we took her down to the potato factory road, a.k.a. Petaling Street. Really, you say? Petaling Street? How touristy is that? Look the last time i went there was probably in 1997 when i bought a Metallica CD from the stall under the pedestrian bridge and a Nirvana tee from one the stalls along the main street.

Things have surely changed a lot. A lot more touristy, sure, and most of the stalls are manned by foreigners now. But most of the shops are still the same, and the stuff we wanted to eat we still there.

Had lunch at the wantan mee stall, ate the fried potato balls (not that great) and visited that famous art supply store (eh, more expensive than Art Friend leh), and my wife bought swiss rolls from Happy Meal (no not the McDonalds one).

Of course we went to Central Market after that, don’t recall i’ve ever walked in before this.

There was a cool 2nd hand bookstore there, and some nice art stores, there rest didn’t seem interesting (my wife bought rubber Angry Birds toy. Authentic and traditional Malaysian craftwork right there).

In less than 2 hours and we’ve seen everything. So enroute back along Jalan Damansara, we dropped by at Tropicana Mall. I’ve been there once when it first opened. Kinda dull place, except for Borders. Found Ninja Joe at the LG level, tried the pork burger. Quite nice. Expensive.

Dinner we drove all the way to Lan Jie for my MIL to try the fish. Was a bit late, apparently we ordered the last 3 fish available for the night. Interesting bit of trivia i learnt from the lady boss. they actually go through 200-300 tilapia PER DAY. On weekends, they can sell up to 400 PER DAY. Are there even THAT MANY tilapia fish in Malaysia?!

Day 2 (First day of Hari Raya)

My MIL made a trip to Genting, so we went to the Bookfair in KLCC. IT WAS EXTREMELY CROWDED!!! KLCC was insanely crowded. The Bookfair was even worse. But more on the Bookfair later.

Firstly, lunch at Madam Kwan’s. MADAM KWAN’s was CROWDED! We had to register and was told to wait 15 mins for a table. So we went to Toys ‘R Us. Toys ‘R Us WAS CROWDED! Actually, no it wasn’t. Nobody shops there, except expats and parents desperate to buy a last minute present.

For a peak holiday period, Madam Kwan’s service was excellent and speedy. Got my Nasi Bojari (and spaghetti for the kids).

After lunch we walked across to Convention Centre for the Bookfair. The English section was crowded enough, the Chinese section was like a warzone.

I’m thinking, do Malaysians actually read this much? If they do, then i don’t think the govt should be worried at all.

Anyways here’s a pic of me and Hannah waiting for my wife and Alyssa outside the Lifestyle Pavilion (where they sell stationery) on the 3rd level.

And the view of KLCC park behind me.

It was a long and tiring day of jostling with crowds, and we finally made it back to Puchong. For dinner we tried this Taiping restaurant.

Food was cheap, but i still prefer Taiping Ho Chiak in SS2.

To be continued when i upload more pics.