Aboard the Logos Hope, Port Klang

Woke up early Saturday morning and found out that the kids did not have to co-curriculum classes (what? really?! We have a Saturday free?!!) So immediately i told my wife “Let’s go visit Logos Hope!”

Actually, in all the many times Doulos has visited Malaysia, I have never had the chance to visit it, so it has been kind of a big regret for me. Now that Doulos has been decommissioned, i rather not miss the chance to visit Logos Hope this time around.

So after dim sum at my new favourite restaurant, we drove down straight all the way along the Kesas and arrived at the Cruise Centre.

Waiting to enter the parking. RM3 to park is a little steep, no?

The new Cruise Centre building. By the way, who’s Glenn?

Lots of clear signage to point you to the right direction.

There it is at the end of a long jetty. That huge ship behind it is Superstar Virgo.

Man, Superstar Virgo is HUUUGE…

It actually looked a little weather-beaten up close.

First of all, a little short introduction to the ship.

As far as bookshops go, its smaller than you’re average MPH. But just a slightly different selection of books. Lots of children books.

When we first arrive, the crowd was still manageable. After 10 minutes, it was really starting to get packed.

Taking photo with some guy with a big head.

The cafeteria had limited seating, plus ice-cream was RM5 per scoop, so we gave it a pass.

“Oi, up in front! Stop blocking the gangway! It’s drizzling!!!”

So all in all, it was just for the experience to visit Logos Hope and supporting their non-profit cause. Who knows how many years it will be for them to return here.

The Secret Life of Nora

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

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

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

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.

J.R.R. Tolkien by Mark Horne

Sure you’ve watched the movies. Some of you may have read the books, too. But not many would know much about the man who created the magnificent lands and creatures of Middle Earth.

I was quite thrilled initially to read about JRRT’s early life and how his Christian faith help shape the ideas his writings, having read quite a bit about this matter in the past. This booked offered a quick introduction (only about 130 pages) and it did provided a good background story to how he formulated his ideas as a child, wrote, re-wrote and published his books.

For me the stories of his early childhood were interesting, but the college years lost me a bit. But the most enjoyable part was when we was getting his book edited and published.

All in all a quick and interesting read. Could have done with more contemporary editing and some pics, though.

This free book was provided for review purposes as part of the Booksneeze program.

Online Coupons Overload

Unless you have been off the internet for the past 1 year, you must have heard or seen about this recent online coupon or discount craze. I’m talking about those group discount websites like Groupon and WeBuy and the dozens of similar websites.

Discount coupons have been around for decades – in the 80′s some of my friends’ mothers would cut out coupons from newspapers and magazines that offer discounted items or free samples. When the internet started, a few companies started it, but it never really caught on in the US until Groupon and Living Social popularized it in the scale we have today. Sometime in the mid of 2010, it really started to catch on in here in Malaysia. There have been a few of these sites (with a more or less the same concept) since as early as 2008 but they mostly failed to take off.

So anyway, I’ve somehow never got round to joining any of these sites until recently. I dunno, my idea is that the less you see these deals (however cheap they may be) the less you’ll spend in the long run. But out of curiousity, i did a survey of some of the sites, and finally signed up with Groupon Malaysia and MilkaDeal. Most of the others don’t seem to stand out, after awhile you tend to see the same deals repeated ad nauseam – Car polishing/waxing, spa treatment, facial treatment, dancing classes, etc.

And i bought my first coupon yesterday. It’s food, what else?

Billy Graham in Quotes by Franklin Graham

There’s probably no evangelist better known through the decades than Billy Graham. I’ve always been interest in his writings and his life story (i’ve read a recent biography and many of his books from the 70′s and 80′s).

This books presents the life and thoughts of the man in a different, collecting thousands of Billy Graham’s quotes in one book, culled from his writings and speeches. The book is organized in different categories, ranging from the tradition to the contemporary. Some of the categories are specific (like ‘Young People’ and ‘Worry’) some are a little too general (like ‘Life’ or ‘Addiction’).

In his ministry Billy Graham has probably preached a few thousand sermons, so there are probably inumerable quotes to choose from. What i found was that some context some of to the quotes would have been a great help. Each quote has a reference, but it is not possible to know the context of the quote unless we have the source in its entirety.

But this marks as a fantastic reference and resource for Christians. Billy Graham preaches the word of God, and he is unwavering and honest throughout this book. I think i will be coming back to these books in years to come for comfort and inspiration.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Borders Bordering Bankruptcy

Borders, as some of you may know, is closing down. First the Borders UK, now Borders in the US.

Here are some statistics, taken from this article:

40
Number of years Borders has been in existence. It was once the second largest bookstore chain in the country, behind Barnes & Noble.

1,329Number of stores Borders operated in 2005

405
Number of Borders stores still in operation

717
Number of Barnes & Noble stores still in operation

200
Number of Borders stores that were closed earlier this year, after the company filed for bankruptcy protection

$1.28 billion
Assets Borders listed in its bankruptcy petition

$1.29 billion
Liabilities Borders listed in its bankruptcy petition

11,000
Approximate number of Borders employees who stand to lose their jobs if the remaining stores close

I personally don’t shop retail at bookstores. These days i mostly buy online from BookDepository (for a limited time, STILL the most awesome online bookstore in the world) and bookstore that is having a sale. And yes, sometimes at BookXcess.

But i spend a lot of time in bookshops, browsing books. And as far as the big bookstores in the Klang Valley (MPH, Kinokuniya, Times & Borders) I like Borders the best. And here’s a few reasons why.

They pioneered the comfortable seating concept in Malaysia. To be fair MPH does this also, but Borders were the first to openly embrace the concept here. And they are still the only store do so now. Sure, the kiasu Malaysian loves to sit and read magazines for free (and sometimes sleep), but I applaud Borders for sticking true to their customer charter.

They have the best selection of graphic novels and manga. By and large many manga readers give their own lot a bad name by reading for free and damaging the merchandise, but still Borders faithfully stocks them. And undoubtedly in terms of DC and Marvel graphic novels, this is the best place to shop. Only Kinokuniya is on par. MPH? Pfffft.

They generally still have the best selection overall. In terms of subject matter, they have a wide range. Kinokuniya may have the biggest and best selection, but outside KLCC, they have NO other branches. Can’t find a rare overseas print? Borders will order it for you FOC. MPH being a local store, can’t do this. In terms of selection, Times bookstore is almost laughable (sorry, but its true).

But having said that, they do thave their problems. For one, would it kill them to have a website for Malaysia? Even MPH has an online searchable database.

For a guy that visits Borders almost once a week, i can tell business is becoming increasingly tough and challenging for them. I sure hope Berjaya can keep it afloat.

Arsenal Live in Malaysia

So 2 months ago I jokingly asked Pat via e-mail, “hey wanna go watch Arsenal B play Malaysia?”

He replied “Sure!” and I was like, “er, okay…”

So we went to the game yesterday, and I certainly had no regrets. We left Puchong at about 7pm and traffic was surprisingly smooth all the way except at the IOI Mall flyover. We parked right on the TPM flyover and walked a short distance to the stadium. Traffic control was very good, and the atmosphere at the stadium was carnival like with Ella’s “Standing In the Eyes of the World” blasting from the speakers.

Security was okay, I got a light pat down from a RELA member. But i notice they didn’t pat down the Caucasian girl beside me… In the stadium we got pretty good seats, near the corner flag. I heard this morning there were 60k supporters in the stadium.

(First sight of the pitch. It’s surprisingly well lit!)

Everyone was pumped and started cheering wildly at anything and everything on the field. Even the Gunnersaurus mascot.

Sorry for the pathetic photos, i had to use my Galaxy S. And all i could do was drool at the guy beside me with his Canon 550D with zoom lens.

(Crowd goes wild when the Gunners run out to warm up.)

A chant of “NASRI! NASRI!” goes on when Samir Nasri appeared, which was really nice. But i doubt we can really do much to keep him at the club this or next season.

And they’re off! I must say, watching the match live, time goes a lot faster than on TV. Malaysia played quite well in the first half, with Kunalan testing Vermaelen a few times on the left wing. But towards the end of the 1st half and the entire 2nd half, I guess Malaysia lost focus and couldn’t get possession. Not easy playing against the one of the best passing team in the world.

Towards the end of the match, the biggest cheer of the night was when Wenger brought on the biggest stars – van Persie, Sagna, Arshavin and Nasri.

So in all, it was a great atmosphere. Traffic out of the area was manageable, was home by 11.30pm and found out that my very own NEIGHBOUR was also at the match!