Cheesey delight

What better way to conclude a sumptuous dinner before settling down for TV time? A delightful dessert, of course XD. What kind of dessert, you ask? Cheesecake, babe ^^. My aunt brought home a 3kg cake (I think) after lunch at Imperial Hotel, KL (formerly known as Sheraton Imperial). This time, it's a heavenly Boston Cheesecake with a soft biscuit crust as the base of the cake.

I love how each bite of the cake melts in the mouth, leaving a lingering creamy-buttery taste. It's incredibly soft & smooth, unlike those less pricey cheesecakes available at your local bakery which are overtly oily & smells like cheap, bad margarine due to excessive use of margarine, eggs, cheese...you name it. No wonder this dessert costs RM100+ o_O Btw, it's fattening. And the best part is - I'm not afraid of getting fat by eating all this stuff. Are you envious?? XD

Growing up

I've collected my graduation gowns several days ago while there's still one more week before D-day. The "graduation" word seemed so distant then each time I stopped to ponder about it. I was only 12 when the first thought came into my mind. Then came next year. And the following year; each year passing by so quickly that whatever happened in the past remained as faint memories now. I didn't even realise that I'm coming of age when my 21st birthday came. Never knew that I'm old enough to leave my cocoon & ready to take on the world. It never really dawn to me that I'll be wearing that mortarboard so soon.

At this very minute, I had flashbacks on the day I first reached puberty. My God. That was ages ago. I can't believe it. And I'm one decade older now. A full-grown woman. To be precise, a petite sized woman. Who dreams to embark on a successful career in the future. There I go...applying jobs offered by MNCs & large companies alike, hoping that I would be selected at least for an interview. Tough luck so far as there were very few replies. Nevertheless, I was determined to continue. This is no time for slacking. I just need to try harder, I told myself.

I wondered, if I was born as someone else...would I take on an almost similar path? Would I be able to see, feel & enjoy what life has to offer? Or would I be fortunate enough to live on until this age & beyond to tell the tale of life? Would I be this, that? It's just that I felt a sudden feeling of relief that I'm so blessed with what I have now. Though I may not be gifted with the most intelligent of minds nor will be able to leave a legacy, the fact is I feel proud being me. If only I could choose to be me again in the next life. And hopefully make-do for all the mistakes that I've made in this chapter of my life. If only all of us could...

Five star service

I've been to, dined & stayed at 5 star hotels before but never once being treated like a princess felt much pampered. Or perhaps back then I was too young to understand how a 5 star service is like back then when I used to travel a lot. Not to forget, I hardly frequent those exclusive places nowadays. Anyhow, I was fortunate enough to have a taste of exclusivity when my aunt decided to pay a visit to the Lexus showroom at Mutiara Damansara.

The showroom is actually situated right behind Cycle & Carriage Bintang showroom & it's only less than 5 mins walk from Ikano Power Centre. Painted in deep brown & with many glass panels installed, the building gave an impression of a place for people of wealth & sophistication. There was a guard stood at the entrance looking prim & proper; saluting each of us upon entering the grounds. We saw 5 different luxurious car models of various specifications & price ranges were displayed at the spacious, airy showroom. The moment my aunt approached the car model that interests her, one lady in a classy black suit followed briskly towards my aunt.

Without wasting any min, she explained everything my aunt needs to know about the product; showcasing her technical know-how. Meanwhile, another lady came by with a tray filled with glasses of apple juice. The tea lady immediately went to fetch a glass of water for Grandma when my aunt complained that it was too sweet. Omg. I was thoroughly impressed. Not only the service was unrivalled by many, even the salesgirl & the tea lady were gorgeous women.

As we left, the salesgirl gave my aunt a catalogue, pamphlet & a door gift as a token of appreciation for visiting the outlet. Again, I'm amazed at Lexus' effort in paying attention to every finer details to capture the hearts of it potential customers. Just look at the catalogue...O_O

Hard-bound car catalogue that doesn't even look like a catalogue at all. More like a photobook that can be kept for novelty. And who actually distribute biscuits (green box with yellow ribbon) as gifts to potential customers anyway?? Wow. Honestly, Mercedes' service is not even on par with this fairly new Japanese luxurious car brand. What an experience I had! ^^

Four seasons...nay~

This might sound a little embarrassing but believe it or not, I've never been clubbing before in my entire life. Last Friday was my first experience clubbing in the heart of KL. It was the Grand Opening Nite of Club Quattro at Avenue K, Jalan Ampang that I attended with cousin bro. Being a noob clubber, I have no idea what to expect. Anyhow, I was expecting an out-of-this-world decor considering the club claimed that their rooms have 4 different seasons. Each room decorated & temperatures adjusted in such a way to allow clubbers to experience spring, summer, autumn & winter...all in one place.

Here's a sneak peek on how the club looks like.

Autumn Club
The interior walls were painted red with Japanese lanterns hung up high in the ceiling. Waitresses were clad in geisha-inspired satin jackets to add some Japanese touch to the surrounding. Disappointingly, the lights were so dimmed that I couldn't see much. Honestly, there weren't much decor to reflect the autumn season. And gosh, it was so stuffy in there that the supposedly cool temperature during the autumn felt more like summer. :/

Spring Lounge
This one is partially open-air as it occupied the space facing the road. Since this is a lounge, there's a small corner for live bands & comedians to entertain the club-goers while enjoying drinks from the minibar while soaking in the breeze & "rain".

Winter Bar
Most favourite among the four. Only measuring 8 Celcius, it made the environment so comfortable. There's a special partition with temperatures below freezing point & decorated with chairs, sofas, tables sculpted from ice. I couldn't even stand another minute or two in there. What's more, my rather thin black dress didn't help either -_-. Hence, sitting even only at the edge of the icy "sofas" hurt real bad on my bum. The bartenders, waiters/waitresses were all warmed up in winter clothing to complement the chilly season. Brilliant idea, I'd say.

Summer Restaurant
This alfresco-style restaurant has a minibar & table seats which span across the room as well as outdoors. Definitely for those who loves dining at the sidewalk. Not me since the air in Malaysia is so uncleaned & polluted. The air at the roadside might not be friendly to the nose, at least the view opposite Quattro is pleasing to the eyes. ^^ I didn't capture many shots of this restaurant cuz the low lights made taking pics pretty difficult.

Vodka & whisky were on the house from 8-10pm, hence me & cousin bro quickly grabbed a glass each before the time ran out. Interesting taste, indeed. It is a concoction of zesty lemon flavour with alcohol bitterness that burns the throat if taken pure without dilluting it with ice. Such is the greatness of vodka. Okay, um...not that great to some of you frequent drinkers out there. C'mon, it was my first time tasting hard liquor. I'm a noobie in this kinda stuff. Overall, I would give a 7 out of 10 rating for Club Quattro for that unique concept but falls short on the decor mainly cuz it failed to impress me. Seriously lacking the WOW factor.

I had a VERY good sleep that night after one shot as I have low tolerance for alcohol. I wasn't drunk, thankfully but I remembered having white patches all over my body when the alcohol effect kicked in. Till now, I still have the faintest idea trying to figure out what that is. It's not alcohol rash cuz it didn't itch. What the hell is that?? Hmm...

Find out more about Club Quattro at www.clubquattro.com

Under my skin

Ahh...it's been a long time since I last blogged about my beloved Dong Bangs. I have nothing much to blog about them for the past few months cuz they were pretty busy with their schedules in Japan & probably in the midst of preparing for the 4th Korean album release. Now that they're back with a brand new album; sporting different images & hairstyles - they're set to take the world by storm, bigger & better this time.

To celebrate their comeback, many fans made parodies off their latest single Mirotic by changing the lyrics. It's not like they did it on purpose to offend the boys but it's just another fun way to share their love for Dong Bang. Purely for good laughs. On the other hand, I don't usually look up on Dong Bang parodies so the decision to click on one of it was rather surprising. Mainly cuz the title of the video parody was Moronic. ROFL.

Unfortunately, this wonderfully done parody brainwashed & poisoned our minds in dbsg LJ comm that we have the tendency to hear the funny lyrics instead of the actual one. This is seriously bad news~ XD In case you got confused, here's a rough intepretation of the song by another member.

The boys are "more than cousins" close, they do not cheat on each other with girls, because they're so gay!

They did the jiggy-iggy on the beach when the monsoon came and rained baboons :O

The children kidnapped them and locked them in a box on the ship. The boys got hungry and made sushi on the red ocean (coz the sun set reflected on the water, yo)

Then some boy Mitchell came to join the orgy boys and they asked him the hand over the syrup (for their sushi), and tricked him (Yunho pinned him down, kudos to his mom, aha!)

No naked special pajamas and no naked Mitchell becoz 5+0=1 and 5+1=0 :O:O

Bwahahha children cannot top them, because they're so gay!

Credits to myvibrance@LJ (video parody) & jealous_sky@LJ (lyrics intepretation).

Is it not paper?

While slacking busy job hunting & running daily errands, I took some time off to learn handicrafts. I do enjoy making stuff though I won't deny that I'm actually good at it. I haven't been serious in this hobby for some time reason being Mum thinks that too works of art creates what we call...rubbish :/. She's right in a way cuz my room is seriously lacking space to accomodate more trash.

Anyways, I've decided to try out something new this time & flowers popped into my mind. Fyi, I do have fondness for flowers so it's kinda easy to get my attention (guys, take note!). I wanted to try making paper flowers; whether it'll be made into a bouquet & given to someone as a gift or just as a home decor. In my quest to gain this new skill, I looked up on Google for paper flower making walkthroughs. There I found a template & started working on my first crepe paper rose. After 2 failed attempts, this is what I've made...

The rose obviously didn't look right at all. I ordered a Martha Stewart crafts kit off eBay cuz I was determined to try again in order to perfect the rose shape. Alas, I made the right decision as the 3rd stalk looks exceptionally beautiful but still with minor flaws. From there I found that the problem arised from the template. The one I got online didn't allow me to get the shape desired. Martha Stewart's did. And I'm awfully happy that my masterpiece looks good & received compliments from others. Patience is a virtue, indeed.

Now I present you...the enchanted rose~

Any plans to give your beloved a bouquet of rose that doesn't wilt & lasts really long? Lemme know ;)

Bird's nest ain't that fun

For the past few days, I've been doing things that I've never done before in my life. And that is - cleaning the bird's nest. Most of you probably won't understand how great this delicacy is among the Chinese for over 400 years. It's believed to contain lots of nutrients which would enhance one's health. Some people find it disgusting to consume an animal's saliva for the sake of good health. Honestly, bird's nest doesn't look that bad after cleaning & soaking it overnight cuz it looks like gelatin. What's more, it's tasteless unless it's cooked in a soup with sugar or salt added to taste.

Eating bird's nest is delicious but the preparation is no easy task. In fact, it's a nightmare if you purchase the raw ones unlike those that you get from Chinese herbal shops such as Eu Yan Sang. There's just so much to clean before you can pop them into a pot to boil soup. First off, the bird's nest needs to be soaked overnight to allow the fibres to soften.

See the black spots? Those are swallow's feathers -_-

After soaking the bird's nest overnight, it needs to be clean under filtered water; gently shaking it using a sift to filter out the feathers. Here comes the no-fun part. Left-over feathers still stuck in between the bird's nest is to be painstakingly taken out using a forsep. Yes, I mean it.

I think I'll go blind if I do this everday. *sighs*

The feathers taken out by the forsep is to washed in another separate bowl of water. This is to prevent the feathers from sticking elsewhere & possibly fall into the bowl of bird's nest again.

Look at the immense amount feathers~

Now, do you still wanna drink bird's nest soup? Heh. Well, just go get the bottled ones by Lor Hon Kar to save the hassle. But I heard stories that bird's nest suppliers actually use bleach to clean their products before packing & sending them to manufacturers. Does this make you feel disgusted about eating bird's nest?? I do. As a matter of fact, I'd rather not eat at all.

Chocolate indulgence

A chocolate a day keeps a girl happy. Couldn't you agree more? I gotta tell ya that I'd tasted one of (probably) the best chocolate cake in my life. Like, seriously. This delightful cake was courtesy of my aunt who dined at Le Meridien KL recently with her fellow gal friend (aka my neighbour).

What's so great about this cake, you ask? Every bite you take on that slice of cake taste like heaven. It's incredibly rich in dark chocolate - my favourite! - that its natural bitterness works its magic on the tastebuds,. Guys probably won't understand this crazy feeling but girls...the chocolate-obsessed ones especially, I can assure you that this cake will drive you up the wall.

If you can't afford the whole cake, just grab a slice. After all, girls can't possibly finish the entire cake as it'll leave stuffed within a few hours. And bet that the weight conscious girls will regret eating them as they'll start counting the calories to be shed off for the perfect body. :/

The hotel name says it all...

Oh, heaven!