obc jan 2010 graduation @ mark’s place
On Sunday we had our graduation event aka excuse to drink a lot without tsk tsk from instructors at Mark’s Place, Kelana Jaya. There were a lot of recruits from KL, not so much from PJ. Why ar? Sharon, where were you ar? Kevin? Tate? Hafiz? Smacks.
Nick won ‘Spirit of Bootcamp’ award for January 2010, voted by fellow recruits. Congratulations mate! He also made a short appearance with his wife and kid, wearing his lucky yellow shorts. I think I spotted a hole. Need to retire the shorts and frame it up lah.
Not much to write about, just lots of photos ‘cos I suddenly decided to go around and camwhore. I suppose the most memorable moment was when I approached Fotini and asked, “Would you like to camwhore with me?” and she thought I’d asked her, “Would you like to come home with me?” Heh. I think I was stunned for a bit as well 
obc: s07e02: a glimpse into what we do
This is one of the days when I have difficulty sitting up standing up straight, thanks to my Original BootCamp Malaysia session yesterday morning. Actually it was a good, intensive session that I was inspired to draw up some images based on what we did yesterday. I wouldn’t mind doing it again but since OBC does not do the same routine twice (exercises may be the same, i.e. push-ups, sit-ups etc but the course of how we do it is never repeated), I doubt they’d mind me sharing our Tuesday session.
This is also to sort of prove to my friends that I really do go to BootCamp, that it’s not just all in my head and it’s not an excuse for me to eat more. Just because I’ve never really put up photos of me doing those exercises, heh. Come on lah, I’m not that imaginative.
We had a bit of jogging but skipped our usual elaborated warm-up. Got 10 grunts for not jogging in a perfect file and 20 grunts for late-comers. Not going to go into that for now… We then ranked up according to the 3 fitness levels – Delta, Seal and Ranger, as per much awesome illustration below.
Actually it’s quite a feat for me to remember everything in sequence because I’m sometimes in a blank after the sessions. Then memories of what we did were blanked out. So if you’re anal with perfect details, sorry.
First set: 20 seconds each with 10 seconds break in between:
1) King Kong push-ups; 2) Squats; 3) Plank holds; 4) Military star jumps
Can’t remember how many reps we did with the first set. More than 4, less than 10. Not a lot of time added on as well, which I don’t actually mind. It’s just fun to yell out to the newer recruits to do their exercises properly so we do not get extra time. Sort of to set in the discipline, you know. This is the easy stuff — when it comes to the hard stuff in the 3rd and 4th week and we get a lot of time added on, then I’d be really moody
After the 1st set, each rank has to go for a run. As per my second awesome illustration below, recruits have to:
1) Jog/ run in a line towards the goal post;
2) Go around the goal post;
3) Run around where Sgt. Sim was standing back to the goal post;
4) Run back to the starting line.
My illustration is most likely not drawn to scale but you get the idea. Rangers bounced back twice, Seals 5 times and Deltas 6 times. At the end of the session I was chatting with Hafiz and he was moaning about being in Delta this week and having to bounce back 6 times.
Hafiz: “WE HAD TO BOUNCE BACK 6 TIMES YOU KNOW….”
Me: “So? Seals did 5 ok! You did one more only what!”
Hafiz: “Err…. *shy*”
While waiting for each rank to return, the recruits at the original stations did military push-ups and lunges. I only remember that Seals did 8 of each, rinse and repeat.
Once all 3 ranks did ran and returned, Sgt. Sim gave us a 1 min 30 secs water break. SO GENEROUS! I’m not taking the piss okay; we usually get 30 or 45 secs and that would be too short a time for me to run to the nearby rugby goal post (where we put our water bottles), gulp down some H20 and run back. I don’t know why I’m always standing at the far end of the line. You’d think that I’d have learned by now, eh?
Second set: 20 seconds each with 10 seconds break in between:
1) Diamond push-ups; 2) Jump squats; 3) Jack knives; 4) Seal jumps
Another run towards the goal post, without having to bounce back this time. While waiting, the recruits did military push-ups and squats.
Then a short water break and warm-down/ stretching. So that’s what we do lah. Fun or not? 
dine for haiti @ damansara village steamboat restaurant
I’m helping my friend Patrick to spread the word. Damansara Village Steamboat restaurant will be having a charity dinner event tomorrow evening in aid of victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.
How it works in 5 simple steps:
1) You go to Damansara Village Steamboat restaurant on Friday, 5th February 2010 between 5.30pm to 11.30pm
2) You order from their regular menu then wait for your food to come.
3) You eat, nom nom nom nom nom.
4) You pay the bill.
5) Your money will go to a donation channel for Haiti victims’ relief.
Photos nicked from KYSpeaks
In 2008, Damansara Village Steamboat organised a similar donation drive for the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China. It was quite a success, I don’t remember how much was raised but I have a vague impression of a pretty impressive amount. Of course, they absorbed all cost so whatever they collected went straight to the charity. It will be the same for Dine For Haiti, where ALL proceeds (cost and profit) will be given to the appropriate channels.
Patrick Teoh himself will be there as well as some of his celebrity friends including Amber Chia, Xandria Ooi, Andrea Fonseka, Hans Isaac, Yasmin Yusoff, Daphne Iking, Ben Ibrahim etc. They’ll also be auctioning off some of their personal items where the proceeds will be added to the donation box.
Good cause. I won’t be able to make it as I have a prior engagement, but I’d ask you to go not only for the charity drive, but also for the fresh seafood. It’s one of my favourite steamboat restaurants and I’ve brought many friends there to try it out. They all loved it 
Not sure if they’d have the salt baked crab tomorrow but if they do, order some! Awesomely delicious!
Damansara Village Steamboat Restaurant
1067, Jalan Jenjarum, Kg. Sg. Kayu Ara, off Jalan SS23/10, 47400 PJ
Tel: +603-78031832
Click here to view a map to the restaurant.
GPS coordinates: Lat: 3° 7′26.64″N , Lon: 101°36′46.71″E
no frills dining @ kitchen creatures, centrepoint bandar utama
If you’re as well-versed with Centrepoint, Bandar Utama as I am (which is not a lot, really ), you would have noticed that there is a new-ish restaurant taking over where the old Manhattan Fish Market used to be. Kitchen Creatures is on the 1st floor, right above Starbucks.
I’d noticed the restaurant since Day One. Can’t really help it as I pass by Centrepoint more than a couple times a day. Never had any inclination to go try it out because it looked posh and well, I just didn’t have any idea what food they serve. Yes it would be a lot of effort to go up the escalator to check things out.
One day I saw Elizabeth Wong’s tweet about the place, and so I took Horng there. It was quite okay so I returned a second time with more friends.
I quite like how the owners did up the place – classically simple with a cosy ambiance. They knocked down one of the 4 walls to install doors that could be folded up, then had a patio with a few tables and chairs in place. This is especially lovely in the evening when the sun is about to set and you can see the sky turning from blue to a glaze of red and orange before going dark. It would have been perfect if the restaurant served beer so you could knock back a few while waiting for your food. Unfortunately alcohol is not in the menu. Shame.
The restaurant concept is simple – food at an affordable price with no government tax nor service charge included. This means prices are nett which I love because I hate calculating that extra 15% on top of your food prices. The food items are inexpensive as well – for example you can get a spaghetti carbonara for RM10.00 or a rib eye steak for RM16.00. Drinks are on the pricier side but I suppose that’s how they make money. The cheapest drink available is a bottle of mineral water, charged at RM2.50. This is one of those restaurants that do not serve tap water so that’s a bit sucky.
Beef bacon carbonara: RM10.00. Not bad but my sister had it last week and she didn’t like it. I took Ryan there once and ordered him this and he loved it. Then again he’s 4.
Spicy Seafood Marina: RM13.00. For the amount of seafood they put in, it’s a steal. I liked the sauce as well.
Monster platter (fried shrimps, calamari rings, deep fried mushrooms, mini wings, nachos + dips): RM15.00. Not bad but too much deep-fried stuff on a single plate tends to yuck me out. This was shared among us so it wasn’t too bad.
Grilled lamb/ sirloin steak: RM16.00. We also had rib eye steak and a mixed grill, but they all looked almost the same – 2 sides and the meat covered with whatever sauce you’d ordered. They all tasted okay too, with the exception of the sirloin steak which Kim didn’t like. I mean, for that kind of price, you can’t expect prime meat can you? As for the sides, I loved the angel hair pasta. The vegetables on the other hand, almost broke my crown trying to bite into them.
The clear winner was this…
Spinach with feta cheese pizza for RM10.00! Never mind that I could count the strands of spinach with less than 10 fingers, the dish was heavenly! I think we’ll be trying a lot more pizzas on our next trip there.
In conclusion (cewah, macam tulis karangan untuk SPM pulak), I would recommend Kitchen Creatures for its value for price concept. I would stick with non-grilled items because I’d rather pay more for better quality elsewhere. But the rest of the items on the menu is okay, do give the pizza as per photo above a try. I saw a photo of their baked stuffed mushrooms on another blog (RM7.30), looks good so probably I’ll try that next time as well.
Still wish they serve alcohol though.
By the way, here’s a peek at what we do while waiting for our food to arrive.
Kitchen Creatures
Lot F110, Centrepoint
3 Lebuh Bandar Utama
47800 Petaling Jaya.
Tel/Fax : 603-7729 8039
(Cash Terms only)
— — — — —
[This is a Xpax Advertorial]
As part of the Big Freekin’ Sale, Xpax is offering 50% discounts on Channel X downloads all day long. You’ll be able to get selected music, ring tones, wallpapers, games and so on at half their original price — I just saw that they have ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ in their library, going for RM3.50. Heh, I love that song, I don’t know why Well, now you can purchase it at RM1.75. Also spotted a whole list of Michael Jackson’s tunes as well.
Another promo that Xpax is having is the Buy 1-Free-1 during Happy Hours. The Happy Hours are: 10am – 12pm, 1pm-4pm and 7pm-9pm. During these Happy Hours, when you downloaded any one of the content listed under the Happy Hours downloads offerings, you’ll be able to get another for FREE. As in, no need to pay.
These discounts and promotions are available to Xpax, U.O.X. and S.O.X. users. The Xpax Big Freekin’ Sale goes on until 31st March 2010. For more information, check out www.channelx.com.my or dial *118# on your phone.
american chili’s bangsar says there’s a marked difference between a vodka orange and a screwdriver
Reading Thirsty Blogger’s post on a reader’s bad experience at American Chili’s, Bangsar reminded me of an almost similar incident years ago. Similar as in the staff at American Chili’s Bangsar we had to deal with had zero point zero clue about the basic nature of food and drinks and they were quite rude about it too.
A bunch of us were at the said outlet. If I remember correctly, it was a small gathering among close friends to celebrate KY’s 2xth birthday. We had lots of booze and food and a jolly good time until…
I’d been ordering vodka oranges all noon, happy hour long. For my final order, I asked for a vodka orange. The dude probably didn’t hear me well so I repeated that I want a vodka orange; a screwdriver.
To cut the story short, I was charged double the price of a Happy Hour vodka orange. Why? Because I ordered a Screwdriver. Err… what is the difference between a vodka orange and a screwdriver? I don’t know, but they are different so we have to charge you separately. Vodka orange is essentially one part vodka and two parts orange juice, no? Yah but for a Screwdriver, we add more vodka so the charges are different. WTF I’ve been ordering vodka oranges the WHOLE AFTERNOON so wouldn’t it make sense that I’d wanted a happy hour vodka orange instead of your version of a screwdriver?!?!
And on and on and on. The manager came out, insisted that we were incorrect, and that a vodka orange and a screwdriver are different items. But we’ve ordered it from other Chili’s outlets, they never messed up our orders.. are you saying that they are all wrong? Yes.
Honestly it was the stupidest argument ever. I felt stupider and stupider quarrelling over whether or not a vodka orange and a screwdriver are the same thing. It was like, there was peace in Middle East and nothing left on earth to argue about.
Deep also kena this situation before, but he didn’t cower and pay the full amount like I did.
Like I said, it has been years since the incident but I remember it like it was yesterday. It’s so ridiculously stupid that I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.