Spaghetti Grill, Midvalley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur
If you’re looking for a place to eat at Midvalley, do give this place a try. It’s located on the same row as Chili’s but just further down. It offers quite authentic Italian pasta and pizza with bottomless drinks for a dirt cheap price of RM10. The taste of the cuisine might not be as good as more authentic places, such as Little Italy in KK, but it’s definitely better than some other pasta places such as Pizza Hut or Domino’s.
Watch out for this signboard the next time you are at Midvalley
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The interior gives you a calm and cozy feeling. This, along with bottomless drinks, might stop you from leaving ^^
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Can watch sports here also (Too bad World Cup is over)
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Some of the food on the RM10 set lunch. There’s also a dinner set which cost around RM16 which includes soup and other appetizers (can’t remember, sorry)
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Calzone (simple but yet delicious, but it sort of look like an oversized curry puff)
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Chicken Bolognese pasta (with a piece of garlic bread on the side)
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Chicken salad (looks like KFC popcorn chicken plus some vegetables)
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Pepperoni Pizza (A lot better than what’s offered by the Pizza Hut)
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They really have a brick oven with wood fire at the back of the restaurant.
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Anyway, do give it a try.
You might be wondering what I was doing there recently right?
I met up with the bride here to give her the wedding photos. And thus, ends my first wedding assignment.
In case you didn’t catch that post, visit here.
The Food in Penang
Please make sure you are not hungry when you’re reading this or you just might get more hungry at the end of the post
I didn’t just went for the Proteomics Workshop in Penang nor did I just went to take photos at St Anne’s Church, I had a great time filling myself up with some great food as well.
This is all thanks to Olivia, JJ and Dominic.
The day after I finished the workshop, JJ took me to Seberang Perai where Olivia was staying at and our first stop was Sungai Udang (Coordinates: precisely at N05 9.050; E100 27.750)
This place is famous for its curry seafood which I had to say was great 
~Curry Fish~
~Curry Crab~
They serve the dish with either bread or rice. Imagine dipping bread into the curry and eating it. (I’m salivating).
Quench the spiciness of the food with a bottle of cool sugarcane juice
After that we ventured to a night market nearer to the Seberang Jaya area where Olivia recommended some of the nicer food to me.
~Some type of chicken~
~Soft version of the egg rolls you normally have during CNY. I like this one~
~Sandwich with BBQ pork and meat floss in it. Damn nice~
~Finished it with this nice cool dessert~
At night, we ventured to somewhere (I really should take note of what I eat and where I eat and how much it cost)… to have a steamboat dinner. I remember it was nearby Bukit Mertajam area though.
~Steamed fish steamboat with the extras dishes we ordered~
Later, Dominic went across the road to buy some of the nicest kuih I have ever tasted. Seriously damn nice.
~The kuih~
~The family that made them…Vehicles were lining up literally to get some of these kuih~
And finally, the next morning, I had a nice tasting hor fun for breakfast in Penang. This one can really fight with the one in Perak
All in all, thanks to Olivia once more for bringing me around Penang to ‘see’ Penang through my taste buds.
Food in Pangkor (July 2010)
We went to this place called Ye Lin seafood garden which sit pretty much within walking distance (around 1km) of Vikri Chalets. Ye Lin, is apparently one of the best seafood restaurant in Pangkor and I really agree with that statement. I had one of my best seafood experience in Ye Lin. I would really recommend this place to everyone whose visiting Pangkor.
*Apparently the whole dish cost around RM125 for 5 people, which considering what we ate was well worth it*
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~Soft shell crabs~
~Floured cuttlefish~
~Laksa steamed fish~
~Cray fish~
Reviews: Nijyumaru Japanese Restaurant, Sutera Utama, Johor.
Managed to grab a bit here with Janice (although it would seem like she’s the one craving for it) and a few friends during my stay at Johor while covering Li Hong’s wedding (Photos might be up soon)
I’ve heard quite a lot from Janice about this Japanese Restaurant and it will be a pity not to give it a try while I was there.
Food’s a bit on the expensive side but since we did have quite a good lunch, we didn’t really order much to eat.
*Photos are taken by me and Janice. Since we were both snapping away at the food, I’m not really sure which one is taken by me and which one by her. So even though I watermarked it, credits go to her as well*
This is Seafood Nasu. An assortment of seafood in an eggplant (RM 18)
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This should be the Sal Mentai Yaki (RM 14)
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Soft shell crab tempura (RM 12)
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Sake haru maki (RM 18)
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Unagi Ura Maki (RM 15)
I hope I didn’t get the menu wrong. It was sometime ago when I ate it. All in all, definitely one of the best Japanese food I had so far. Well worth a second visit.
Nikon 35mm f/1.8G
Gotten this lens recently
Really love the bokeh but it becomes a bit hard to control at f/1.8
Also distortion is quite easily seen using this lens
But it gives really sharp photos.
Tested it out during a trip to Papa John’s pizza recently
Will most probably be my fixed-on lens if I don’t need a zoom or the 50mm higher prime.
What I have grown to love… Final Fantasy VII and its music
There are a few things which I really do love. These things are simple things that the mere presence of something related to it can just bring me to tears because I really do like them.
And one of these ‘things’ was something I grown up with. It’s Final Fantasy. One thing in particular brings me back to my teenage days when I was totally engrossed in the game was its music. Beautifully crafted music by Nobuo Uematsu. And one of the best game I ever played was Final Fantasy VII
I remembered walking a distance to a friend’s house to watch him play the game (And to have some hands-on). I remember trying to get the game online (very slowly) and had the game torrent stuck at 99.8% and in the end it didn’t finished btw (Oh I stress that my days of downloading games are over).
And I remember spending whatever savings I had on the music CDs.
The music were just amazing, spectacular (Hats off the Nobou Uematsu – His music is always the best).
A while back I did blog a review about Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core which also had great remade version of FFVII music. And some time back as well, I found some videos on the Tour de Japon orchestra which plays all sort of music from the Final Fantasy series. And some brought me to tears.
Here are three which really got me:
Aerith’s theme, calming and beautiful.
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The main theme from FFVII, both peaceful and distressing.
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And finally, my favorite (Its from the movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children)
This piece is called ‘Cloud Smiles’. This keeps reminding me that amidst all the pain and strife that I have gone through, there will always be a bright and happy ending to look forward to (Even the conductor was smiling in the end, this is one of the last song the conductor did before Nobou came out to conduct).
Do not miss out on the last one. It is really the best.
And perhaps, today, I have found out more about what love is.
Kin no Uma Japanese Dinner Buffet review
I had the chance to visit Kin no Uma Japanese restaurant in the Palace of the Golden Horses a while back. Went to savor their Japanese Buffet which starts off at 6.30pm till 10.30pm on Saturdays at a price of RM65 [every once in a while I do this and end up eating bread for the next few days].
Those who know me will know that I have a super ‘fetish’ for salmons. And my eyes just popped out of the sockets when I saw this
A whole freaking tray of raw salmons, oysters and other raw fish. I’m in heaven.
I wasted no time savoring the salmon and thinking about it now just makes me drool.
Had a lot of salmon, maguro and one oyster [Oyster are definitely not my cup to tea]
Anyway, besides the [all-you-can-eat-salmon], there are also other delicacies such as Japanese Udon, Teriyaki Chicken, Chawamushi, Fried Garlic Rice, Unagi, Seasoned Octopus etc. [all you can eat]
There are even some BBQed fish on a stick [salmon once more] and some grilled salmons. Salmon all the way.
But for those feeling a bit sick of all the salmons by now, I would recommend strongly that you try the cooked saba mackerel. The meat was just amazing, so amazing that it melts in your mouth. I had two servings of the saba mackerel that night.
For dessert, there was ice cream [Green tea, Mint, Yam, Corn etc]. The Green Tea ice cream tasted great according to most of us who went for the buffet, having abundant green tea taste without tasting too powdery.
There was also a humble selection of cakes [3 types to be precise] but Palace of the Golden Horses was always famous for their cakes and they haven’t let me down now. There was a chocolate mousse cake [if memory serves me correctly], a hazelnut chocolate cake and a durian-corn cheese cake [pardon me if I’m wrong about the cheese part] but all three cakes tasted heavenly. The hazelnut chocolate cake had crushed hazelnuts in it and it was just simply irresistible.
We who ate there thought that the durian-corn cake was really underrated. The other two cakes was quite rapidly finish by other customers but noone seemed to have touched the durian-corn cake [perhaps it was due to the green-yellow color of the cake]. Anyway do give it a try, and if you are a Malaysian, I’m quite sure you will love it.
Setting wise, the place really have an antique feel to it. Some of the rooms can be booked for larger groups of people.
All in all, the only thing to improve regarding the place should be the air conditioning. Things can get a bit heated up when there are many people around.
Do give the Japanese Buffet a try. There’s a cheaper promotion out this month for the lunch buffet which is at RM38++ [But I’m not really sure if its a full buffet or if certain things on the menu are excluded]. Will go on a 2nd trip for the lunch buffet to find out.
Note: Some other photos of the hotel. [Its really an exquisite place].
Ornaments on display
Settings in front of one of the lift.
The ‘coffee house’
The entrance to Carousel Cafe.
A miniature model of the hotel.
Manga Review – Doubt by Tonogai Yoshiki.
A few days back, I was wondering why there aren’t any more manga (Japanese comics) which are similar to Kindaichi Shonen no Jikembo (About Kindaichi solving murder cases etc). I really like that manga and was a bit disappointed when they ended the manga quite some time ago. Of course there are still Detective Conan and Detective Academy Q but those just can’t compare to the impact that Kindaichi series had on me.
So to satisfied my needs for mystery, I searched on the net for some ‘Mystery’ manga and stumble upon this little gem.
Doubt is a 20 chapter manga by Tonogai Yoshiki. 20 chapters will just take up around 2 hours of your time. Think of it as watching a movie.
Synopsis:
There is a game played in Japan called ‘Rabbit Doubt’. Players play this game using their cell phones using the following story line: It was said that one day, a wolf sneak into a group of friendly rabbits. When the rabbits fell asleep, the wolf showed its real form and started to kill off the rabbits one by one. The rabbits- finding their numbers declining- began to feel suspicious of each other, hanging whomever they thought was the wolf. The game ends either when the rabbits are all dead or the rabbits finally capture the wolf (I know I know, the plot sounds a bit like Mafia)
And so, a few players of the game decided to meet each other but unbeknownst to them, a wolf snuck into their gathering. Finding themselves trapped in a warehouse with no way out, and being killed off one by one, will they be able to unmask the wolf before being killed off entirely? Who is the wolf?
The whole plot is filled with twists and turns and I found myself making numerous amounts of deductions as to who the wolf could have been (And lets just say that one of my possible deductions came true in the end…). The depth of mystery is just compelling and makes the manga a really fascinating read.
I could really relate the plot to the movie ‘Saw’. Especially how to plot develops until the surprising revelation in the end. *cue Saw’s theme* *XXX, I would like to play a game* *Shudders*
There should be more manga’s like this out there. Give it a read and you might find yourself enjoying it, just like how I did.
Link to Doubt –> Doubt manga
*All images are from www.onemanga.com- Credits for scans goes to those who provided it as listed on OneManga*
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core :spoilers beware:
I managed to finished the game just a little while ago… And frankly I’m impressed… And I obtained these photos from my run through the game…
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core talks about the happenings before the original game of Final Fantasy 7 which came out around a decade ago (thats a long long time ago)
And those who had played the original Final Fantasy 7 will no doubt be interested in the storyline of this game. Crisis Core tells out the story of Zack, who in the original game is already deceased (So you’ll already know somewhat how Crisis Core is going to end)
:Read on but be beware of spoilers:
Being in an elite group of soldiers (called SOLDIER), Zack and his mentor Angeal looks into the mysterious disappearance of another comrade Genesis. Crisis Core will also showcase how Zack first met with Aerith in Midgar’s Slums (and how there was chemistry between them), how Zack and Cloud first met, how Sephiroth found out about his birth from the Ancient Jenova cells, and how Zack eventually fell in the hands of Midgar’s army.
~Zack: his dream being: To become a hero~
Prepare to revisit places you have seen in the original game such as Midgar, Nibelhiem, and even Junon. There are also several familiar faces you will meet along the way (Such as Aerith, Tifa and even certain summons). Unfortunately, the game didn’t really showed one of my favourite character, Vincent Valentine… All you can find about Vincent is the coffin which he’s asleep in…
~Aerith (I love how she says HELLLLLOOOOO~~)~
The game still retains the usage of Materia (stones which contains magical properties). Expect to spend some of the time reorganizing and leveling up the Materia to make them more powerful. Materia fusion is introduced here at which you could fuse different materia together to power them up and even create new materia.
~Genesis (fan of LOVELESS)~
Unfortunately, since Crisis Core is a hack and slash type of game, there are no other playable characters in the game except Zack. To make up for this, DMW is introduced. In battles, this DMW will spin like a slot machine and your summons and special moves will be triggered when you get the right combination. The other thing to note about DMW is that your leveling up is also dependent upon it which means that it could be very very easy for you to level up or very very tough for you to do so. To enhance the playability of the game, missions are introduced. Now frankly speaking, playing the mission alone will take a few days at least to acheive 100% mission progress, but the mission mode eventually become very repeatative after a while. And certain missions tend to be really easy while some others tend to be almost unbeatable. I failed to beat one mission where the enemies can make a ONE-HIT-KO on you if you fail to evade the attack even after playing that level numerous times. There is also one mission at which you have to kill off 1000 Shinra Soldiers… That mission alone took me almost an hour to finish…
~One Act from LOVELESS.. Nothing should stop my return… to become the dew that quenches the land… to spare the sands, the seas and the skies… I offer thee this silent sacrifice~
I managed to finish around 48% of the mission before it became either too tough or too repeatative to continue.. And at that time I was already at Level 50… And could easily dispatch any other enemies in the main storyline… So hack and slash seems tedious after attaining higher levels…
~One of the battles in Crisis Core~
Storyline-wise… The game really cleared up a lot of uncertainties which I did have when I played the original FF7. One particular memorable scene which could be found in both games as well as the movie Advent Children is The Burning of Nibelhiem… I’m guessing that if there is an award or a ranking for the best fire burning scene ever… Nibelhiem scene will top the list…
~These two are around as well ~
It also amaze me to see how close Aerith and Zack were… And how their relationship developed… And how sad the story was when Zack suddenly disappeared, not being to see Aerith… And how heartbreaking it was to learned that Aerith keep on writing letters to Zack for the four years that Zack remained unconcious inside Nibelhiem manor… And how the normally cold stanced Tseng, kept all the 88 letters that Aerith wrote for Zack… And how the Turks (hired arms that does the unspeakable) attempted to locate Zack and Cloud before the army in an attempt to save them… Crisis Core shows you parts of the story which you never really know about… Like how in the ending of Advent Children we see Aerith and Zack together waving goodbye to Cloud… It dawned on me that when Aerith died in FF7, she was reunited with Zack… And I’d always thought that its pity that Aerith died so early in the original game… But after watching Advent Children and playing Crisis Core, I felt that she is happy being with Zack again… (Especially how she wanted to have more time with Zack in Crisis Core)
~Aerith’s letters,in Tseng’s possession which never made it to Zack~
I’m also amazed at how the Buster Sword changed hands from Angeal’s father to Angeal and later to Zack and finally Cloud… How Zack leaves his hope and dreams to Cloud after he died… I’m also really disgusted at how the army managed to kill Zack off…
~Zack’s last stand… This scene was totally heartbreaking… Seeing your hero getting worn out and later shot~
Another intriging point is what really happened to Genesis… We saw him getting hoisted by 2 men who mentioned that he will become one of their brothers… And we could see that one of those men seems to have white/grayish hair… So my speculation is that could Genesis be one of those grayish haired guys in Advent Children… or possibly related to one of those guys?? Another mystery left unsolved…
~At least it seems he died peacefully~
Music and BGM-wise… Certain familiar tunes have been reworked and sounded even nicer than the ones before… And I still got teary eyes as the ending credits rolled with the BGM of Aerith’s theme and Cloud’s theme (Yes, I’m a soft one)
And the ending of this game shows where the original Final Fantasy 7 takes off… With Aerith selling flowers in Midgar and Cloud jumping off the train
~Cloud… the hero of the original FF7~
Another particular memorable scene was when Zack flew into the air (figure of speech) and just moments before the credits rolled… He asked… Hey… Do you think that I’m a hero now?? And yes Zack… I really think you are a real hero now~~
A great game which solves many unanswered in the main game and leave certain new ones… I believe that there’ll surely be another game about FF7 since the story has not ended yet…
Thank to Square-Enix for developing such a memorable game… Even after ten years the game is still going strong… You all are the greatest for coming out with the whole FF7 story… From Crisis Core till Dirge of Cerberus… The whole story is just amazing!!!
Anyone with a PSP out there…?? This is really a must play!!
