As Suanie Sees It

The package I received from Nokia a couple of weeks ago (including the box which Ryan is using as a head gear) was actually an invite to Nokia’s media launch for the N96 at the KL Hilton. Thanks to David, I was able to take Pinky along with me (she was here for a week).

James, Ringo, KY, me and Pinky before the launch

Once there, there were many familiar faces. As we were heading home after a different event last night, KY remarked that these events are a great excuse and opportunity (not to mention being relatively inexpensive, ahem) to catch up with friends. I had to agree with him. In the immortal words of Roberto Benigni, la vita è bella.

There were speeches, video presentations and booths showcasing what the N96 is capable of. And dinner. Dinner is always awesome. And beer. I didn’t touch a single drop because I was driving. Go me.

The GM of Nokia (M), Mr. Vlasta Berka

The N79 (candybar, comes with change-able covers that also changes your phone theme) and the N85 (slide phone) will be launched sometime in the fourth quarter of the year. The highlight of the day, the Nokia N96 is already in stores, with the RRP of RM 3,338. Besides being an upgrade for the N95, the flagship N96 comes with a very nice 2.8″ display screen, 16GB internal memory, 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash, built-in 3D stereo speakers, A-GPS, along with the usual awesome stuff that you can get with the S60 software.

The Nokia N96

As you can see from the image above, the N96 comes with a little stand so you can prop your phone up to watch movies and stuff. I think it will work great with the Nokia bluetooth keyboard, as I think that the latter’s metal prop is a bit flimsy to hold even my N95, and the allowed space was not that great. The N96 also supports streaming video from the web or live broadcast mobile TV.

My birthday is coming soon, you know…

Lightcraft performing at the event

There were 2 bands from the Nokia Independent Artists Club (IAC) performing their stuff — The Deserters and Lightcraft. Pinky and I rather liked Lightcraft’s songs, though the band sometimes drowned out the lead singer’s voice. Sounded a bit Coldplay-ish, mod-type. You can check out their MySpace here, click to listen to the song ‘Those Beautiful Shapes’. I like.

Pinky, me and Hazel from Nokia

I had a great time Cheers. The entire Flickr set for this event (17 photos) is here.

Tags: kl hilton, kyspeaks, lightcraft, n96, nokia, ringo

My car wouldn’t start this morning. So I had to borrow my sister’s car to go to my mechanic, have one of them come back to my house with me to get my car, then go back to the shop again. Since I live somewhere near 1U and my mechanic is in Bangsar, you can imagine how joyous I was from all the driving around.

Not to mention my car stalled no less than 3 times on the road.

Turns out that something was loose with my battery. I had it replaced with a new one sometime last month, so they didn’t charge me anything for tweaking it a bit. Of course they wouldn’t dare lah. But when these things happen, I am always so glad that they do not happen on Sundays. You can hardly get anything fixed on a Sunday without having to sell off your limbs.

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I hate red ants.

Die, you motherfuckers.

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As many of you know, one of my indulgences is Starbucks’ ice latte. Well, I hereby officially announce that I am cutting down on the damn drink. After nearly 27 years of existence, I have finally come to terms that I may have a slight case of lactose intolerance. Got pretty acquainted with my toilet last night.

Actually I didn’t even think of the possibility. I am after all, (almost) hardy and (rather) sturdy, and I don’t seem to be allergic to anything. Peanuts and shellfish, come to mama.

So one evening I was at Starbucks with Richard and meimei, and I told them that I had to rush home because I needed to do #2. I offhandedly mentioned that I sometimes have to urgently go after a cuppa. Meimei looked at me in a daze, and said, “Err… doesn’t that tell you that you have lactose intolerance?!”

Since then I’ve not been able to get the thought out of my head. So there you go.

Tags: ants, car problems, milk

Some things in life are hard to forget. The usual cliches are your first boy/girlfriend, your first kiss, your first most emotional moment, your first loss, first time you cried the hardest, etc. Or the first time you completed all levels of Super Mario Bros. Well, some people remember and cherish the strangest things what.

I have many of those, and I keep a lot of them locked up in my memory pool. You know the Pensieve in Harry Potter? I’ve no idea what JK Rowling was on when she made up the whole thing (which I don’t believe is anything strong, because I think she’s a glorified copycat) but to me, the wand that unlocks my memories can be as simple as a keyword.

The other day someone mentioned Jobsdb to me and it took me back to the year 2000.

It was after my STPM exams and I was lounging about at home with nothing much to do. Something came over me and I went on-line to look for a job. Back then the options were rather limited – both on-line and for me. I saw a few interesting positions on JobsDB Malaysia, submitted my application via the form on the site (which included a link to my then-website) and proceeded to forget all about it…

Until one fine morning when I was woken up by a phone call to attend an interview in KL. I should perhaps mention at this juncture that it was the only reply that I received from my various applications to assorted companies. That was why I went up to KL for that interview to see what it was about. I got hired on the spot and about a month or two later I made the move to the big city.

Since that day, I don’t think I’ve been back in Batu Pahat for more than a month.

Well, lots of things happened after that. But it’s interesting that Jobsdb sort of got me to where I am now. I guess that’s one way of looking at it.

Me pretending to be an advertiser offering my services

I’d known for some time that Jobsdb expanded their services to include advertisements for assorted stuff, under the brand name 88DB. A quick glance at the main page shows that they have a LOT of categories for you to advertise your goods or services, or for you to browse through whatever you need or do not need in life. I just spent about 20 minutes looking through the Food & Beverage section, heh

There’s an on-going contest by 88DB for the most creative ad, called the Super 10. From now till 29th October 2008, you stand a chance to win a 4D3N trip to Bali for 2, a Philips DVD player and even one of the 10 PSPs that they are giving out weekly. You just have to have something to sell and be creative about it, that’s all. For more information, clickety click on this link.

Now, I’ve been looking through my room to see if I have anything of value for sale. Myself excluded, I don’t. That’s because I have the habit of cleaning out my room every couple of months, and I’d throw out/ give away whatever that I do not need. Well, most of them anyway. Unless you are interested in some cough syrup or contact lens solution, then I don’t have anything for you.

And I really don’t want to part with my terribly awesome L figurine just yet.

So I hereby announce that I am endorsing KY and his quest to sell off his Kois. Even though his haiku was not a haiku, even though there’s sentimental value in those kois, even though I can’t stand his smug grin whenever he wins something (one too many times), well he’s my friend. Until I manage to rustle up something incredibly, ridiculously amazing for sale on 88DB, please go vote for KY’s entry here.

Or you can sign up as a member for free at 88DB and start selling stuff. Come show me, maybe I’ll vote for you too

Tags: 88db, jobsdb

Early last month, we received an invitation from Andrea to dine at Coca. Truth to be told, I’d never heard of it before but almost everyone around me has. Goes to show how much or how little I know, but please do not let that minor hiccup stop you from inviting me to anywhere. I am a fast learner

I reckon that most of you Muslims who read my blog should be grown-up enough to NOT complain about my blog posts on food. Okay lah you can marah-marah a bit heh, but that’s not really going to stop me Well, look on the bright side — you get another buka puasa dining option! I am so kind and generous, I overwhelm myself sometimes

Coca Restaurant @ Subang Parade

One fine evening, KY, FA, Ringo, Tim and I went to Subang Parade for said dinner. KY told me that Coca is well-known for their steamboat. So that was what I’d expected to have. There we met with Andrea, who is the Marketing Manager for Coca; a most pleasant and friendly lady. She told us that she would not be feeding us steamboat, but an array of dishes with rice to showcase Coca’s new extensive menu. O okay, I’ll go have their steamboat another time on my own then.

Drinks and juices for everyone!

I had the Thai longan drink, it was nice. KY ordered the roselle drink and he said that it was super nice, especially with the inclusion of a very crunchy roselle bulb.

First off, appetisers. We had the pandan chicken, stuffed prawns and deep-fried calamari.

Appetisers - pandan chicken, stuffed prawns, deep-fried calamari

The pandan chicken was very delicious, definitely one of the better ones I’ve had. You should try it when you pay Coca a visit. The stuffed prawn wasn’t really to my taste, but it’s not bad. I think they had fish paste, prawns and mushroom bits. Tim really loved the deep-fried calamari — that was also when we discovered that Tim’s allergic to shellfish. Hah! There were lots of what looked like crunchy deep-fried flour that came with the calamari. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be garlic! Very nice!

Seafood tom yam, steamed fish with Thai sauce, green chicken curry

The seafood tom yam was somewhat spicy, with very generous portions of seafood. I forgot what type of fish we had, but it was very fresh and rather nice. The green chicken curry was not bad, though it could be improved because I’ve had better somewhere else.

Kailan, prawns, tofu with scallops

The stir-fried kailan was yummy. FA thought it was a tad sweet; later Andrea suggested that maybe the chef had included some fish sauce in the dish. The fresh prawns were deep-fried with oats; sweet and satisfyingly crunchy. While we were trying to cram in as much food into our stomachs as humanly possible, Andrea came around and asked if we would like to try some tofu because she didn’t want Tim to go hungry (him being allergic to prawns and crabs) and he said yes. So a claypot brimming with tofu, mushrooms, mixed vegetables and fresh scallops appeared on our table a little while later. I think Tim whacked most of it, as I was not the bottomless pit as I thought I was.

The big ticket item - chilli crab with crispy man tou

We also had chilli crab, accompanied by deep-fried buns for you to soak up all the sauce that is served with the crab dish. I had most of it because I love crabs. Even then there were lots leftover We did think of you, Kim. According to Andrea, this is a very popular dish at Coca. The sauce is strong, slightly spicy (for me) and when you take a crispy bun to it, it was awesome.

Sago in coconut milk, mango with glutinous rice, red ruby

Then came desserts. My favourite has to be the sago in coconut milk. Well I liked the others — fresh mango with sticky rice and red ruby — as well, but the sago did it for me. For some reason, Ringo cannot take coconut milk, and so she had…

Ringo with her ais kacang

Well, we were thoroughly stuffed at the end of dinner. I still cannot believe that we had so much to eat! I asked Andrea for a quick round-up bill of what we had. She said it would come up to about RM 500. Well, I’m glad that Coca belanja-ed us makan

I was told that there are currently two Coca restaurants in operation — one in Subang Parade where we had dinner, and the other at 1Utama. They are looking to opening another outlet, but have yet to make a decision on the location. You can check out their website for full addresses, contact info and opening hours.

Kepuasan tahap maksima

Well it was a most satisfying meal. I had a lot of trouble walking afterward. Thanks for having us

- Full Flickr set here, including a couple of extra photos and larger sizes. You get the idea.

Tags: coca, fireangel, kyspeaks, ringo, seafood, suanie, thai, timothy tiah

Finally, the last post on my Hong Kong trip in June 2008. Heh, I thought I should finish this off before blogging about recent trips… Just photos la, but still, to put it out there…

View from our hotel room @ BP International

Somewhere along the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade

Me somewhere at Victoria Peak

Thanks to Nokia, Text 100 and 141 (M) for everything

Links:

- Hong Kong June 2008 :-
hk june 08 - food food food
hk june 08 - things you can buy with money
hk june 08 - what little alcohol tales
hk june 08 - when relieving yourself is not a relief

- Flickr set for Hong Kong 2008 trip
- My first trip to Hong Kong in 2004
- Flickr set for Hong Kong 2004 trip

Tags: esplanade, hong kong, hong kong island, mount austin, tai ping shan, the peak, tsim sha tsui, victoria peak