Certified Kentang Becomes a Couch Potato

What's Puffyrazzi been up to lately. Apart from being engrossed in work, the other half the time was spent in front of the TV. I hear a collective echo asking me what's my recent recommendation... ahahaha.... Alrighty then, here goes some of the best things i've watched since the lunar new year.

Coming out tops is Death Note, a Japanese manga-based movie. I've had friends highly recommending this movie for the past 6 months or so. Always one to shun Japanese movies, i decided to give it a try after those incessant persuasion. Now, i am really glad i caved in 'cos it must be the best movie i've watched this year. I know i'm a little late cos this movie came out ages ago, but for any of you who have yet to watch this, just catch a glimpse if you have 140 minutes to spare.

Oh , and did i mention it is now the season for nerds? I've been noticing a lot of Taiwanese entertainers ( be it male or female) are jumping on the nerd bandwagon. The hottest haircut of the season happen to be the 'liu2 hai3' hairstyle. If you don't understand mandarin, think the Rainie Yang (female) and 2moro(male) haircut... It is also evident in the local TV scene. Last week i watched an episode of The Dance Floor on channel 5. A group of performers actually donned the infamous bow tie + boxers + brown leather shoes + gelled hair outfit. Hey it's official! Nerds are in!

Aside from that, ugly seems to be in too! Forget The Desperate Housewives and their well-manicured lawns in Wisteria Lane, the drama of the moment is Ugly Betty featuring the fat and ugly Betty Suarez. I managed to catch the pilot episode and it looks promising. Any other fans of the show?

As a fan of idol dramas, i only watch the best ones AKA cream of the crop. I've just managed to complete the latest highly rated drama, 轉角*遇到愛. The first half the the drama is pretty cartoonish while the 2nd half is very moving. I applaud the cast for their ability to switch from comedy to drama without batting an eyelid. Of course i may be biased in this comment cos i absolutely adore 小猪.

Enough for now. I'll keep you guys updated should i happen to have any new recommendations. I'm looking forward to Spiderman 3, Shrek 3 and Harry Potter : The Order of the Phoenix. Cheers...

Joke Of The Month

In order to assure the highest levels of quality work and productivity from employees, it will be our policy to keep all employees well trained through our program of SPECIAL HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING (S.H.I.T.).

We are trying to give our employees more S.H.I.T. than anyone else. If you feel that you do not receive your share of S.H.I.T., please see your supervisor. You will be immediately placed at the top of the S.H.I.T. list, and our supervisors are especially skilled at seeing you get all the S. H. I. T. you can handle.

Employees who don't take their S. H. I.T. seriously will be placed in DEPARTMENTAL EMPLOYEE EVALUATION PROGRAMS (D.E.E.P.S.H.I.T.) Those who fail to take D.E.E.P. S.HI.T seriously will have to go to EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE TRAINING (E.A.T.S.H.I.T.)

Since our supervisors took S.H.I.T before they were promoted, they don't have to take S.H.I.T anymore, and are all full of S.H.I.T already. If you are full of S.H.I.T, you may be interested in a job teaching others. We can add your name to our BASIC UNDERSTANDING LEADERSHIP LIST (B.U.L.L.S.H.I.T).

Thank you,


BOSS IN GENERAL, SPECIAL HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING
(B.I.G.S.H.I.T)

Food Rendezvous in Bangkok !

Just last month, Crispy ventured out to Bangkok, in search of the ultimate pair of shoe, bag, t-shirts and other great shopping bargains. However, what attracted me most should be the food she ate. Judging by the huge array of food that she gobbled down in mere days, i think she's now working very hard at crash dieting ( or gamfei, the exact words she relayed to me =P )

Ah, let's all rejoice at the sight of the majestic food she had :

Eh, apa ini? Looks like a Har Gao-cum-Jiao Zi. Haha... Damn those prawns look really succulent.

Girl accessories? Fridge magnets? Nooo.... these are candies. Boy, they come in more colours than your regular pack of M&Ms. Word of caution : Excessive consumption of food colouring should not be good for you.

Hey, looks like a fruit basket, but only they are shinier. I spot fake bananas, chillies, tangerines, grapes and carrots? What do you see?

I believe this is crab curry though i can't make out which part is which. The only turn-off about this dish is how it makes your hand oily and dirty while you struggle with your crab.

Alamak, ini nampaknya macam laksa Kuching lah. Selepas aku menikmati hidangan bermutu tinggi itu 2 tahun lalu, tidak pernah aku melupainya. Oh my god, my Malay is still passable!

Bangkok KFC anyone? One thing i like about this photo is how the KFC there still uses cutleries, plates and glasses like they used to in Malaysia and Singapore before it turned into a fast-food chain. Why does the KFC there serve roasted chicken? Should be KRC for Kentucky Roasted Chicken then...hehe

Now, isn't this nice? Looks too nice to be eaten, to be frank. I like how the Japanese present their dishes. Makes you feel bad about having to eat it cos it looks too pretty.

Holy Lord! I love shellfish and mussels are one of my favourites!!!! Somebody help me! Can somebody tear me away before i start licking my computer screen?

Bak Chor Mee? Or Fishball noodle?

Thailand fishcakes. I guess it should be similar to our Ngoh Hiang. Not one of my favourites.

You know, i'm beginning to wonder if Crispy really did go to Thailand or she just had this dishes in Kuching. This looks exactly like those Paku dishes i had when she brought me to Kuching.

Japanese cold noodle, or better known as soba. I would like to ask Crispy if this is authentic cos it looks suspiciously like a display.

Regular chinese dishes.

羅志祥-精舞門

Cool Cool Cool !

Ah Nee's Other Half Revealed :D

I have a very good news to announce today. My very very good friend Wendy ( or more affectionately known to me as Ah Nee) is attached! To keep everyone excited, i decided to black out his photo and wait till she officially introduces him to our close circle.

I've known Ah Nee since Dec 1997, the day we stepped into Singapore to further our studies. Thanks to a twist of fate, we became roomies in Hua Zhong Hostel for the next 2 years. She was a very close pal, being my confidante when i'm down and lonely.

In NUS, we were roommates in 2000. The following year, we moved into single rooms but remained neighbours. We finally stayed apart from 2003 onwards but we still meet to catch up on what's going on in each other's lives.

Ahhh...what good times i've had with Ah Nee. From the days when we were a teenager, she'd dreamt of her Prince Charming who would sweep her off her feet. Her 3 most important criteria then were

1) Fair

2) Short

3) Cute

OK, that was an inside joke...haha... to let everyone in to share the joke, i used to say she wanted the opposite of tall, dark and handsome. I can't believe it but i'm laughing out loud now recalling those fun times i've shared with her. She's a real gem. Eng Lee is one very lucky man.

新年快乐!

Happy Lunar new year everybody! Wishing everyone lotsa good luck and happiness . May my family/friends/ dear and near ones good health and prosperity this year. Hahahaha... i think this came a little behind schedule, but i guess a late wish is better than none.

I was back home in Malaysia for a week. It was scorching hot every single day i spent at home... i helped my mother spring cleaning and baking cookies. Gave Puffy and QQ a bath. Most importantly i came back knowing how to cook vinegar pig trotters :D .

The funniest thing was my mother wrote an email to me and my sisters informing us that she did not get any supply of hong bao packets this year. By the time the three of us returned home, she ended up with a tonne of hong bao packets that will last her to the next year of the pig! hahaha...

My 2nd sis also taught me something new i'd like to share with anyone who is not familiar with some 'Malaysian Culture'. According to her, if you happen to be travelling on a road in Malaysia and you see a vehicle on the road shoulder with a branch ( yes, those from a tree) sticking out of one of its windows, what does it mean? Simple, it means that the particular vehicle has broken down and is awaiting the tow truck. Hmmm...why don't they just use that little triangular thingy that is meant for this purpose?

Well, all society have their own curious little 'weird ' culture. I guess for Singaporeans, it would be using small tissue packets to 'book' your dining seats while you're queueing for food. I also queried my boyfriend if this practice is prevalent in Kuala Lumpur. Apparently, it is not... hohoho.... he works in the Singapore business district area, so he puts up with this act every day during lunch hour.

I know many people got sick after the lunar new year. Take care and get well soon! Cheers

Dinner and Dance

Feb 2- My company had its annual Dinner and Dance. This year marked the first time they held a Croda Idol competition, some sort of a copycat programme copied from a certain reality show. I had the privilege of sharing a cab there with the later-crowned Croda Idol winner! Haha, she was practising and trying to perfect her pitch during our 45-minute ride to the hotel.

Well, for one the emcee sucks like hell, he ought to attend more courtesy classes. Need to learn the basics about pleasing your customers, not dissing them. His team did provide sufficient entertainment though. Their huge Karaoke TV fell off with a crash during our Managing Director's all important speech =P

Despite the small glitches, it was a really enjoyable time for most of us, better than previous years. I was dead beat by the end of it and i'm not sure why... haha... my whole body was aching, my head was throbbing and my eyes were dry. I didn't even had a drop of alcohol throughout the party... hmmm.... Too tired to drag myself to go partying after that. Ended at home and slept 12 hours straight to noon...ahhh...

The ever happy 'younger' generation of lab personnels

My colleague-cum-mentor-cum-boss-cum-friend

Newly promoted Senior Chemist...yeeeehaaa..... =P

Woooooooo...Croda Idol Winner 2007

Puffyrazzi's Japanese Name

Came across this several minutes ago. My japanese name is

藤原 Fujiwara (wisteria fields) 三千代 Michiyo (three thousand generations)

OK, that's... pleasant... =P

QQ's Progress Report

Hey there, i'm QQ the cute little puppy Puffyrazzi mentioned earlier. I have been with my new set of masters for about 2 months now. Boy, have i grown since then. Every day, they feed me these nice dog biscuits that i wipe clean in seconds. I also have a housemate by the name of Puffy. I love to bully her day and night cos she is such an old bore so i need to perk her life a bit...hiak hiak

I bet you guys don't really understand the stress being a cute dog. Sometimes i feel like screaming, cos of all the attention. My masters keep pestering me, saying i'm cute and trying to teach me how to do things right.

Don't get me wrong, i love my masters, especially Mommy cos she combs my hair everyday. Grooming time also means petting time. She also gives me baths, which i really enjoy except for the last part where she blows me dry with a hair dryer. It gives me goosebumps. Daddy, on the other hand, brings me out for an evening walk everyday. I adore looking at the scenery and smelling the wild scents outside home.

As i grow up, i get naughtier. Hey, you can't blame me for going through a teething period! I constantly need to chew on something, but i can't help it. It's like an addiction... Blimey, i don't think its something you grown ups understand. See! My masters tried to control my teething problem by locking me up in this 'jail' once in a while. Of course i'm upset, well , try to look on the bright side, at least they got me a special polka dot bowl to go with it, which i'm very pleased with.

I learn new things fast. I am now able to sit and shake-hand on command. And i got it right on my first try too! I'm not a pedigree dog for nothing, you know. I'm slowly but surely catching up with Puffy vocabulary-wise... heheh...watch out...QQ's coming through!

Puffyrazzi's Family!

Catch a glimpse of Puffyrazzi's family! My apologies if some photos are not that clear, they are probably the ones taken by my phone camera.

My sisters and I + Blackie the dog.

Sungai Lembing weekend house, 1983.

My parents and my sisters.

In a meadow somewhere in UK, 1998

Frosty the batman lookalike cat.

2004

My mom with Lele. (do they look alike? =P)

2004

A candid photo of my eldest sis, Lynn.

My 2nd sis who doesn't like to have her photo taken. So i am putting a side profile of her. Hohoho....

QQ, the shih tzu.

Puffy the Pomeranian.

Merry 2007!

Merry X'mas and a happy 2007 all! This greeting came kinda late, but better late than never. I was hampered all week by the internet glitch at home. Ahhh, the power of mother nature, who showed her rage on Boxing Day last year. One quick jolt to the seabed made some of us unfortunate ones lost connection with the web for days. Sigh...and my connection now is still slightly slower than it used to be.

So, did everyone get what they wanted last X'mas? I never really had any experience celebrating X'mas before i came over to S'pore. It was only after i came here, the habit of gift exchanging began to rub on me, thanks to the frenzy of those around me...haha... I was out almost all day on X'mas day this time, soaking up the spirit in the shopping district. However, i didn't anticipate that half of the stores would be closed. Ah well, at least the cab queue was short, actually it was almost non-existent ;)

As for New year's eve, it was a blur to me. I was zapped from having to recover from a night shift, so i spent almost the entire day snoozing away. I did wake up briefly to catch the 'MOMENT'. But half an hour later, i was snoozing again.

Ahhh, i miss food from home. My favourite food in the entire world is Malaysian style hokkien mee ( the s'pore version sucks to the max). Look look, i captured a picture so that i can gawk over it whenever i want. Looks pretty sinful huh? Covered with pork lard and fats, it is not meant for the tubby ones. Also not advisable for those with high cholesterol levels =P

On the 5th day in Malaysia, i was running a high fever due to a throat infection. Guess how much it cost me to see a doc for consultation + 2 medicine courses? Less than RM15, which amounts to about $6. Waaaa hhahahaah.... on my way out of the GP's clinic,i spotted a famous kopi shop and i smiled sheepishly at my father. We ended up buying a humongous Da Bao (big pau) - malaysian big pau size is more than double of s'pore's - and a homemade Lo Mai Kai.

My mom is the renowned cook /chef in my neighbourhood. When she's not busy making pizzas of baking her own bread, she'll be in a neighbour's home making cream puffs. Some of my all-time favourites that my mother alwiz makes on my request are : Fried pork meatballs, Fa Gao (steamed cupcakes), durian cream puffs, pancakes, apple pie, pizza that i top on my own (yay! extra mushrooms) and this light dish ( see pic). Minced pork with added dong cai surrounding an egg.

Enough of babbling today. It is Saturday today, i'm getting ready to go out shopping with one of my bestest fren whom i have not seen for 2 months...ciaoz. Lastly, a happy new year once again woohooo~

Healthy Korean Fare Part 2

Oh, here comes the 2nd part of my Korean food tasting experience. I've realised that even though i ate like crazy over there, i didn't gain any weight. I think this has to do with the fact that Koreans eat healthily. They eat everything in small portions and their meals comprise of mainly green vegetables. I would say that their eating habit is similar to their counterparts in Japan, only difference being Japanese food emphasises more on presentation.

I'm sure many of us have been to a Korean BBQ restaurant. It is some sort of a fad over here in South East Asia, and i wasn't sure if it was authentic Korean food. Take a look at the photo above, it is actually similar to what we can find in a Korean BBQ restaurant over here. We grilled marinated meat over the hot stove and when it's done, a pair of scissors was used to cut the meat into bitesize. There were also a lot of side dishes available to go with the rice.

I spent on of my days in Korea in a leading theme park there. The tour guide gave us freedom to choose whatever we would like to eat for the day. After 4-5 days of Korean food, i opted for something more familiar, so i had pasta. After the first bite, i realised it was Italian food, Korean-style..haha.... the tomato soup and the salad was too sour. So, after the entire meal, i was feeling somewhat sore in the stomach, felt like all the acid was corroding my stomach linings while i was enjoying a thrill ride in the park...hohoho....

Hey! Would you look at that? I was very priveleged to be able to enjoy a feast fit for a king! Normally in restaurants, u get the waitresses to serve you the food in a tray. This was a change for me, where the waitresses actually carried the whole table to where we were sitting. There were so much choices spread on a tiny table, and we couldn't finish everything in sight. It was really a rare experience, and i'm glad i stuffed myself silly!! haha!

On one of my days in Seoul, the weather dropped to as cold as 6 deg Celcius. The bad news was that almost the entire day was spent outdoors. The wind was blowing and the cold numbed my hands, it was a miracle i escaped unscathed, without even the slightest sign of flu. That night, our dinner was the heart-warming Ginseng Chicken. You could almost hear all of us breathed a sigh of relief at the dinner table. The hot soup served in a ceramic bowl was what we needed, it was really yummy.

On this same night, we went street shopping in Myung Dong, a well-known shopping street in Seoul. My boyfriend and I spotted a long queue at an ice-cream hut and we just had to try it, despite the weather !~ I must say the yogurt-mango combo soft serve was one of the best cones i've had. It was my first time having a cone in a freezing weather, and it was actually enjoyable.

A-hah! I couldn't believe we had Chinese food in Korea. It tasted a little odd, but overall pretty pleasant. The dishes were a little overly-salty. Perhaps this was due to the fact that i had been eating many days of Korean bland food prior to this meal. Even if i had not stated that this was a chinese lunch, i guess you could've guessed from the tea, the round table and the chopsticks ( Koreans use metal chopsticks).

Look closely, but don't be surprised if you see raw chicken meat in this. This has nothing to do with the photo 2 posts back! haha...just that this photo was taken before the stove was warmed up. This meal was similar to the Korean BBQ earlier. One extra ingredient was added, making this dish more special. Notice the cylindrical stuff? That is the korean 'Nian Gao', a famous roadside snack. It has this bouncy and chewy texture which i couldn't get enough of. This was one of the best meals i had over there. And with this nice meal, i conclude my food coverage during my brief 8 days visit to Korea =)

Mr Q

HEY U,Mr.Q 愛你耍Q的指數

電流像瀑布 好像重力加速度

你又殺 又無辜 與生俱來的功夫

加快腳步 要加入連署

New Addition to the Family

Welcome aboard...there's a new member in the Wee family!! Let me introduce him to everyone, his name is QQ. He looks abit like the long-lost relative of those cute, furry Ewoks from the Star Wars movie. Must be some sort of a distant relative or something like that la... i guess Shih Tzus all look like Ewoks =)

Anyway, his birthday was on 11/9/2006, he is just about 10 days shy of 3 months old. The emphasis right now is on his date of birth. We were really glad to have found a dog whose birth date will not be hassle to remember ( i can't really recall Puffy's DOB, just know it was sometime around June 1998). Little did we know that with his date of birth, came the famous traits of recent terrorist' attacks. He likes to drop 'bombs' around our house, zips around in a fast and unpredictable manner, making it hard for 'government' ( read : my parents) to keep up.

To QQ : Good health, a be a good boy!

Spot the Oddity

Hi there everyone. Here's a puzzle, can you spot what is unnatural about this menu? Hey, no answers given, go figure! Have fun.... muahahahaha . By the way, this menu belongs to a famous east-meets-west coffeeshop in my hometown ;)

天天夜夜

每一天在你的怀里等待

每一夜我感觉你的存在 　　

　 走过伤害　

我回头看

是永远都灿烂的爱

这一次我决定勇敢去爱

这一次我陪你看到未来

So How do I live

How do I live

How do I live

Without you

Healthy Korean Fare Part I

Last month, i had the chance to visit a country with very delicious and easy looking food. Sure, it tastes a little bland for a frequent laksa and KFC eater staying in the 'salty and oily' land of Singapore !

Today i will share some photos and description of the quintessential Korean fare that i had the privilege of trying out over there in Korea.

First up is a series of 3 photos of what i would call DIY fried rice, Korean style. I had this right at the base of Naejangsan National Park. After we had settle down in our seats, the waiters brought us each a plate of rice with meat, raw vegetable and egg. It was all donned on a thick hot rock plate.

Prior to frying, this dish actually looks like Mt Naejangsan itself! Haha! They both mountain-shaped and colourful!

We were then instructed to fry the rice quickly and thoroughly to prevent burning and to ensure the egg was totally cooked and safe for consumption. It was a very healthy meal, with its accompanying green side dishes. I could've done with more salt and pepper though :)

On one of my nights there, i tried Haemultang (seafood stew). Various seafood is boiled before adding red pepper paste and red pepper powder. The taste was both refreshing and very spicy. Not one of my top picks though.

Now, doesn't this look like something out of Fear Factor? Sorta like fried worms of some sort teehee. Actually, if u look closely, you will be able to see that it is in fact, fried squid. In a Chinese context, this may not be the most prosperous of names ( chao yao yu), but the little hint of spicyness, coupled with the juiciness of the squid, Oh my lord, it really tasted like something they serve in heaven! Top pick top pick!

Now, what do we have here? This is Korean seafood steamboat. We had a lot of seafood during the couple of days we were in Jeju Island. Being an island and all, Jeju is famous for its freshly caught seafood. This mouth-watering meal came complete with crab, clam, shrimp, fish and other goodies. Oooh yea!

I can't really recall what kind of steamboat i had on my first day. I only remember that it had a lot of fresh vegetable in it. Look at the side dish closest to the cameraman, that is the King of all Korean dishes, KIMCHI! Cabbages and other vegetables are soaked in salt water, then seasoned with different spices before being fermented. I have to admit that personally, i really really h ate Kimchi. But i had to try the Korean version while i was there and it was a little better compared to what we have over here, but i still hate it hohoho...