You got me drooling...

This is one of those posts that will set you drooling (either for me or the chocolates). If you choose me, then you've got good taste but if you choose the chocolates (I wouldn't say it's bad taste) but rather not so smart because I'm the one whom market these delectable luscious chocolates!!! Without me, you will not even see chocolates being commercialised and marketed at every corner of the world. See, how important my role is. (actually it's just another excuse to camwhore with the chocolates) Chocolates is what I deal with everyday anyway.

People always say, working in a factory is mundane, routine and it does not have a pretty working ambiance and such. But you know what they say, a chocolate factory is the best smelling factory of all times! Even perfumery can't beat the smell of a chocolate factory. You can get sick of the perfume or even experience a nose block but when you smell chocolates, it's a totally different feeling altogether. Have you ever heard people getting sick of smelling chocolates? For me, after so many years working with chocolates, I some sort gained immunisation to the smell already. The factory smells so good that even sometimes I forgot to put on perfume. Haha lucky no one is complaining that I smelled like a chocolate. Hey, I might even taste like a chocolate too! *wink*

Chocolate and my name has become synonymous. When ever people try to save my contact in their mobile, they will always put the word "choc" beside my name and thus known as the "chocolate girl". My first ever job after graduating in 2005 was to handle the portfolio of Tango, a mass market compound chocolate in Network Foods (the company that markets Van Houten, Andes, Crispy, Kandos & Tango chocolates). I know it has to be the food industry for me after a few interviews and I have not looked back ever since. I have not regretted for a single moment to work under such a credible CEO, whom is my ex boss for he gave me ample freedom to develop the brand. I received a lot of guidance from my ex-colleagues whom now has become my dear friends. If it were not because of my experience in chocolates, I will not be called in for my current job, which as you all would have known by now is to market and develop Fidani, the rolls royce of Malaysian chocolates.

I don't know why but when I looked at these pictures, it brought me walking down memory lane again from how I started and developed a passion for these sinful treats. The amount of chocolates I had eaten in these 3 years probably has exceeded the amount you have for the last 20 years. Although I don't eat as much as I used to, the chances of me rejecting a piece of chocolate offered to me is almost impossible.

I would like to think chocolate as the new black gold. From my pictures, my expression seemed to be fascinated by the display of Tiffany & Co, Bvlgari & Cartier all combined together but its just chocolates I'm looking at. The array is countless and the choices are limitless. Who would have thought that chocolate can be as expensive as gold nowadays! Why do people spend more on chocolates than gold? Why does some of my customers spend almost RM20k on chocolates for weddings when he or she can definitely buy a small bar of gold from the bill? Because somewhere through life, we all strive to indulge in the finer things of life. We splurge and we enjoy rather than thinking of the resale value of the possession.

Chocolates have brought me far. Further that what I have expected. The amount of joy, companion and friends linked through these delectable treats have been unimaginable. I've fallen in love and out of love (I refuse to dwell further), had developed feelings that I think I shouldn't (I don't give a damn) but I did (not a tinge of regret) and met wonderful people I've never dreamt of meeting - all of this through the common linkage of just chocolates.

How could you not drool at these delights?

Chocolates make me happy - that's for sure but at the same time chocolates is also the source of my stress and worries. That's because I make money out of these brown stuff and I take chocolates seriously (more serious than any of you) due to the nature of my work. But this is also to dedicate my thanks to those whom appreciate my flair for the brown stuff. Especially to my current bosses and colleagues whom trusted me to run the show. And my dear assistant, Mei (whom is reading my blog) for all the support and $$$ you brought in! Thanks for the eyeliner (she gave me to thank me for the guidance, wow, so touching) which I would be using everyday! See, chocolate factory has nice people. This is just a preview of a fun chocolate project I'll be organising next week. Stay tuned...

So, are you drooling at with me?

Sheessh....

Have anybody been watching the closing of the Olympic games on Astro 816? Before they started screening the closing ceremony, there was some highlights on the games participated by Malaysians commented by Raymond Goh & this guy from UITM named F.

If you have been watching the highlights half an hour before the closing ceremony, you will be ROTLF (rolling on the floor laughing) until you can't bear to look at the screen anymore. UITM has been a very hot name due to the certain issues raised from our Selangor MB about the 10% quota to non-bumi students to be admitted into that university. As if la any non-bumi is lining up to be admitted into that university. Maybe there were a few good graduates from there but I don't deny that Malaysian universities in general are not up to our expectations in terms of facilities, lecturers and also courses.

I am trying my best not to offend any parties here but I can't help to comment on the choice of Astro to put an UITM student up there to comment about the game highlights when the poor guy up there is struggling with his ENGLISH! For God's sake, put la someone who can speak more fluent English than him and someone who doesn't add an "s" to every word making himself sound like an "ass". Maybe Astro was blind, oops I mean deaf.

Honestly, if you were watching it and you can stand every word he said, I have to salute you. The way he pronounce the words and pluralized everything just irritates me.

My England might not be powderful or prefect in anyway but I certainly don't "ass" everything up!

Ooh I'm so Book-cited

So I've been tagged by Random Bytes and it's only fair if I do the honour of replying the tag. Anyhow, this is also my FIRST EVER TAG, yeah pathetic I know (cos nobody wants to tag me!!!) but I'll try my best nevertheless being an amateur at this.

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?

I think I've got a pretty good start at reading. I've been reading ever since I can hold a book although I might not understand the words, who says I can't read pictures?!! I attended the nursery when I was just 4 years old so I should have been an early reader!

During my time, there were no GameBoys and Playstation, no electric-powered bikes or eletronic pets, so the only thing I can do was to read and play Barbie dolls and build Legos.

What are some books you read as a child?

It definitely can't be Sidney Sheldon or Dan Brown or JK Rowlings right?!! I love the Ladybird Peter and Jane series. I'll read from (a) series to (b) series. Some of the other books I love was the Disney book collections. My parents will read a story to us each night before we sleep although most of the time my Dad would mumble to himself after 2 paragraphs and he'll continue to read as if it's for his own understanding. After the end of the story, he'll close the book and asked us to sleep. We usually won't get to understand the story after all due to his mumblings.

My collection of children books

What is your favourite genre?

It has to be children books when I was young, romance & literature when I was in my teenage years, and now it would be any books that I deem nice to be read be it romance, fiction, or motivation titles.

Some of the random books I have

Do you have a favourite novel?

I do have my favourite novel such as the Shopoholic series by Sophie Kinsela. Kept me laughing at every page.

Where do you usually read?

In the toilet. There's where I spend quality time with the book without any interference. Sometimes on the plane, especially on Air Asia when there's no meals to expect.

When do you usually read?

Anytime of the day when I'm not busy with anything else. And it has to combine with the right mood.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?

Yes. Always. I get distracted when the book I'm reading is not hooking me enough to be loyal to it. I'll stray to other books I can find and then return to the earlier book when I'm sick of the new books.

Sometimes I can just read the book halfway and never to touch it again.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?

I don't. I treat them the same way. Just read it!

Fiction & Non-fiction mixing well

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?

The only time I was in a library was years ago when I was in College trying to borrow some textbooks for the assignment. I usually buy my own books because I want to possess the books and torture them by reading it at my own sweet time and never have to take good care of it. I put my books everywhere and I flip and fold the pages as to when and how I like it. Thus, I can never borrow books or I'll get fined for ill-treating them.

Do you keep most of the books you buy? If not, what do you do with them?

I kept them all except for the children titles which I gave them to my cousins. I put all of them into the book shelves. I can almost start a library within my own house. I think I have a few hundred of books.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?

I'll share Peter and Jane, stories by Hans Christian Andersen and Enid Blyton with them. As they grow older, I'll show them the Harry Potter books and later I'll train them on literature especially those Shakespeare ones which I love - The Taming of The Shrew, Twelft Night, Macbeth, Midsummer's Night Dream and Romeo and Juliet. I'll expose them the beauty of English literature, the wonderful poems ever written like Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, works by John Keats, Y.B Yeats and Wordsworth.

What are you reading now?

The Catch by Mark Mason (a book I left untouched for years after buying it).

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?

Yes - when it comes to books with series. I also have a TBR when I heard good reviews about some books.


What’s next?

It has to be the LittleBlackDress books with many different titles for light reading. It's easy and relaxing to read these books. They're full of romance and mushy mushy predictable endings! I dig them because I like to live in a world where dreams are possible to come true one day. Just like the previous book which I've finished it in 4 airplane rides from KL-KK, KK-Labuan, Labuan-KK and KK-KL!

This is the book I finished on the plane.

Honestly, I would really love to read the books that my father loves such as the books written by Tom Clancy, Jack Higgins, Jeffrey Archer and John Grisham. I find the books a bit difficult to read maybe due to my level of reading, understanding and the small fonts! He does have a huge collection of these books and I've tried to pick up one of them but I just can't seem to pass one chapter! If I can ever grow to love these books, I'll save a lot of money on buying books.

My Father's Collection of Tom Clancy expands to 2 book shelves.

Jack Higgins? I only know Jack & the Beanstalk

What books would you like to reread?

My joke books!

Who are your favourite authors?

William Shakespeare, Sophie Kinsela, JK Rowlings, Jack Canfield, Stephen R.Covey

My Chicken Soup to cure my starvation for inspiration

For the finale, I would like to tag these people. Wanna know why?!!

1. Yiling - My youngest sister whom loves reading.

2. Ziling - My younger sister. Do you read?

3. KY - I know KYSPEAKS, KYEATS, KYDRIVES but does KYREADS?

Memoirs of KK

To wrap up my trip in KK, I will post up all the "memorable" pictures here to remind myself of my virgin visit to the Land Beneath the Wind. Although it has just been 3 days here, I quite liked the place and I would definitely plan my next trip here soon for relaxation.

#1 : Ocean Seafood Village

Situated just beside Promenade Hotel, this restaurant serves very good seafood dishes. Too bad I did not have any food pictures to show. Recommended but price is not cheap (on par with KL prices)

#2 : Starbucks @ Warisan Square

Was bored on a Tues afternoon, so went for coffee with a client. Just to make sure the cappucino tasted the same in all the joints across Malaysia. The chocolate walnut cake looked nice but it is too densed.

#3 : Heng Long Restaurant @ Warisan Square

Well, this is where I had my breakfast on the last day of my trip. It's a shanghainese restaurant that serves dimsum and also other dishes. It has the same concept as Dragon-i.

Dragon-i definitely has a better ambiance.

Some sort the same menu and food like Dragon-i.

"Siao Long Bao"

Tian Jin Meat Bun

Overall, the taste was ok, nothing to shout about and selection is pretty much sufficient but I was disappointed that I wanted to eat the Pork Tripe La Mian but they said it was not ready till noon. Some selection of the dim sum is 50% off from 8am to 12noon.

#4 : Hong Kong Recipe @ Warisan Square

This is like a Hong Kong Cha Chan Teng joint we have in KL. They serve food like wantan noodles, toasts, rice and chinese cuisine.

Tea and Yin Yong (a mixture of tea and coffee)

Prawn wantan noodles

Half boiled eggs and butter & kaya toast

Me enjoying the delicious wantan noodles.

Well, the food is pretty good and the price is quite reasonable. RM4.90 for a set of half boiled egg with toasts and a cup of tea or coffee. The noodle I had was RM6.50.

I know that I haven't been going out to try authentic Sabah dishes or local coffee shops because I was so busy and didn't have time to wander around. I hope the next time I'm making a trip there again, I will know where to eat and maybe visit the Sutera Harbor.

#6 : Beautiful airport and view from above

The breath taking view from the plane. Next destination I'm looking forward to in Sabah - Sipadan Island!

Labuan in 4 hours

Monday was a crazy day for me. Never would I have woke up at 5.30am and not get a single sleep till 12am and not a single complete meal from 10am to 10pm! The flight from KK to Labuan was at 7.20am and because the Radius Hotel is about 15mins away from the airport, my colleague and I only started to leave the hotel at 6.10am. We managed to check in by 6.40am, with ample time for boarding. We took MAS as it's the only choice available between KK and Labuan. The return airfare was the same as Airasia from KL to KK! To add salt to the wound, the journey took only 20mins. The cheaper way was of course to take the ferry but the journey takes 3hours so taking the plane saves damn a lot of my precious time.

As we arrived by 7.40am, my branch manager from Labuan was already waiting for us at the arrival hall and the first destination was breakfast of course! He took us to the Fong Kee coffeeshop at Jalan Bunga Kemuning. Accoording to him, that's the coffeeshop with the best crowd. I wanted to eat Kolo mee so bad and lucky it's available there. It was delicious. Although it looked a bit like our wantan mee in KL, the taste is slightly different due to the sauce and also the type of noodle used.

Fong Kee Coffee Shop

Kolo Mee

Barli served in a coffee cup

After satisfying my cravings, we adjourned to his office/chocolate warehouse. It was my first time to Labuan and also his office. After some chatting and grabbing a few boxes of Loacker (my favourite wafer enrobed with chocolate at the moment), we went into town. The town looked exactly like Langkawi with rows and rows of shops selling liquor and cigarettes. However, one thing surprised me. Given the small amount of residents, they sure have quite a number of hotels and night spots. According to my branch manager, the night clubs and bars are really flourishing due to the demand. The liquor was really CHEAP! The same Absolut Vodka Mango which cost me 37 sing dollar is only RM35 here!!! So I can't resist it and bought a bottle to offset the losses I made for the singapore bottle. Haha.... On the way, I also managed to capture a shot of the Hummer! FYI, a Hummer can cost up to RM2m duty paid and in Labuan it's probably RM800k. Ever watched CSI Miami? They used a Hummer in the series.

Hum..Hum.. Hummer

So after some showing of our company's outlets and competitor's outlets, he sent us back to the airport. Initially, we have booked for a return flight to KK at 9.40pm but after the advice from him, we decided to change the flight to 12.20noon because the few hours there is really sufficient. There was nothing much to see anyway. The changed of flight cost us another RM100! Damnit.

New seat colours on MAS

The Boeing 737 was just refurbished with new seat covers to carry MAS's new vibrant image. Well, the colours are really vibrant but it's too glaring. The covers were also not fitted properly as I can see that it hung loosely to the seats. I was hoping that I can catch a flight in the Maswings Fokker plane but those planes are only used for certain routes like from Labuan to Miri/Sibu.

MASwings Fokker plane

After arriving at KKIA at about 1pm, we stayed in the airport to help with my client's new shop. The fixtures and gondolas are only ready by 3/4pm and then by the time the stocks arrived to be displayed on the shelves, it was already evening. We wasted a lot of time waiting at the aiport. We should have instead went back to the hotel to take a nap but the taxi costs RM20 a way, so we decided to save our company some money by waiting there. By the time we managed to put up the stocks for 2 shops which consists of 4 wallbays and 4 gondolas, we were already exhausted. I only had a McD burger at 10pm. The last meal was at 10am so you can imagine how starved I was!

The shop at KKIA's new airport Departure level

The shop at KKIA's new airport Level 2

Fidani's Gondola

I was really very exhausted and my leg was killing me as I have been wearing my 3inch heels for the whole day! This moring I managed to wake up at 8.30am and head to the airport to attend the opening and in time to see the flowers being delivered. I hope yesterday would never be repeated. I can almost die of exhaustion and starvation. Lucky I was still alive to be able to blog about it today.

Kota Kinabalu Here I Come....

I flew to KK on a Sunday to work. It is my first time flying to KK. After living 24 years in Malaysia as a Malaysian, I am embarrassed to declare that this is my first ever time to any part of East Malaysia eventhough I have been to more than 10 cities in Europe! So this morning's trip to KK was rather exciting for me. As I reached the KK airport, I can't help but to notice that the airport has a beautiful view of the sea. The runway was just beside the sea!!!

I was also my first time prebooking a meal on board of Air Asia. A nasi lemak will cost about RM8 in flight but if you prebook it online, it's on RM7. See, RM1 saved!

This is what it looked like in the menu

This is what I was served...

Well, isn't it typical for food served not turning out like what you've seen in the menu?!! I even counted the peanuts and there's only 12 miserable peanuts in my nasi lemak!!! But Air Asia had a new menu where some of the food is specially available at certain routes like Indonesia and Thailand.

I'll be flying off to Labuan tomorrow on MAS (thank God) and I need to be at the airport by 6.20am (shit). At this moment, I'm blogging in my STANDARD ROOM at Radius Hotel KK with free internet access and a LCD TV at just RM175/night minus breakfast and a window view.

Well, time to catch some sleep after a full meal of soft shell crab, steamed red snapper, buttered prawns, vege, clams, "balitong-liked-clams", and fried giant fish at Ocean Seafood Restaurant. Good night.

Fidani is Music to the Tastebuds

I've written this post a few days ago and dunno why the post appeared before the Face or Body post. Geramnya. Click here for the latest post or scroll down.

Face or Body?

So how do you scan (specifically - "check out") a man? Not using X-ray glasses of course. How do you a rate a man by his attractiveness? The face? The body? The ass? or some other criteria? Not everyone has the same views when it comes to identifying a hot pick.

Brad Pitt

Like me, I look at the face first. Well to be able to sense a hot guy coming your way you have to look at his face first unless he's walking your way with unbuttoned shirt! If you're attracted to Brad Pitt, you will definitely belong to the face and body group where you get attracted by his good looks and muscular body. How about when Brad Pitt looks like this?

Sorry I smudged his right nipple

Same looks but different body. Well of course he still looked hawt despite the fact that I have tried my best to give him a big belly but he still looked good. Never mind the bad photoshop skills but just look at him, he's still good looking and girls will still drool at him. All he needs is a buttoned up shirt and no one will see his belly. So if you still like Brad Pitt, it means you rate a guy by his looks especially his facial features. Nothing wrong with that. After all you can't always be switching off the lights when having sex or ask him to hide under a brown bag when going out. I'm not trying to offend anyone here especially those not as handsome as Brad but beauty does lie in the eyes of the beholder.

ooh la la - Michael Phelps

Or some might go for a hot bod rather than a hot face. Like our Olympian Swimmer Michael Phelps, who has a hot body to die for although I don't think he's very good looking. Having a boyfriend with a body like that will definitely keep me busy during my free time (not sure what were you thinking but it's definitely not what crossed your mind). A strong and powerful body like that will only mean two things - he's a sexy person & he can definitely lift me up with one hand! that was why I was occupied every night watching the swimming events heats after heats. I sigh when they wear full-body swimming suits. What happened to the days where the swimmers only wear swimming trunks?!!

Calvin Klein Underwear Model

Or how about a guy with great looks, body, ass and a big bulge? That we called an almost perfect man! Look no further, grab yourself a CK underwear model. they usually look good, have a ass kicking body, cute butt and well endowed below the waist. Bedtime would definitely be fun with one of their specimen around! They are also girl rating guys with a nice ass. So how do you define a nice ass?

Definitely not like Homer Simpson's Ass

Some may like it rounded and firm, providing a good squeeze and some might just look for a reasonable ass that suits the body frame. We don't pick on big fat asses because it means smaller space for us in the cinema twin seats or he'll have to take a bit of our space on the airplane. It's always broad shoulders and nice ass criteria to look for in a guy. A broad shoulder carry a good bear hug where your body fits perfectly into his arms. Don't you think so?

So apart from the ass, there's also a very important asset to be evaluated - his bulge. Just like how they evaluate our lumps and humps, we have to do them justice by assessing their bulge. How big and how tiny to the inches. Well, a big one doesn't always mean good sex and a tiny one doesn't mean they are incapable of satisfying you, it also very much depends on his efforts and yours as well. However, of course the big ones will have a better advantage. Try assessing the Olympic swimmers & gymnasts first as a practice. So many of them and it's all free views!

If a guy tell you he is well endowed, tell him you don't believe it and he'll attempt the following:

Mission completed

As much as physical rating is given to a guy, I still feel that the most important criteria is still the personality. Physical attributes are enticing at first but they are only short term. I believe a good looking man only deserves his looks if he's good at heart too. As for those good at heart but lack goodness outside, it doesn't make them any less attractive if given ample time for a girl to get to know him better. An intellectual man is far more interesting than a pea-brained man in a hot bod. That's why I never go for hot bods or hot faces because I know those are to lust and not to love. I dig intelligent and kind hearted man (and also I want him to make me look good beside him) and those who is bigger than me so I don't need to be on a diet to look slimmer than them! Intellectual intercourse is just as important as what goes on the bed!

Fidani is music to the tastebuds....

So glad that Monday was the last day of the 4 violin performances that I have planned for the soft launching of Fidani Symphony Collection at KLIA. Let me *SIGH* hah... It was not only tiring, power draining and time consuming, it was indeed a challenge by itself. Not only my assistant and I have to work from 6pm to 10.30pm on a Friday night, we have to arrange for the performance including all the details of security passes, sampling exercise, incentive schemes and also new aprons for launch.

It took me almost 1-2 months to look for a violin player whom can perform in public. There're always a few types of musician. Some can play well but can't play in public, some are courageous but can't play well and some can play well in public but demand rocket high fees. It's quite difficult to find an all rounder with an affordable price. After a few phonecalls and help from my mom's friend whom is a music teacher, I managed to get one. Lucky she's still young and it's her first time playing solo so she accepted my offer. At 18 years old, with an attractive look, she's already playing for one of the shows for KLPac.

So, let the pictures do the talking:

Full concentration

Playing in front of Fidani Gondola

Playing in the Satellite Building KLIA

Well, credit not only to the beautiful violin player and photographer. I must thank my assistant, Wei Mei for the good job done too! She has been coordinating the sampling exercise and the promoters for the performance. And not to mention the two beautiful "part-time promoters"......

whom happened to be Wei Mei & I

Fooling around

So, why were the boxes named Symphony?

For Symphony, every piece of chocolate is an artistic expression of passion and magnificence. Its creation is synonymous with a composer weaving musical notes into the hearts of its listeners.

The craftsmanship of every chocolate note reflects the sensuous curves of every glide of the strings from a violin and the harsh yet melodic resonance of a cello staccato. The different shapes from the smooth and curvy, to the rough and harsh, come together as one in a single masterpiece, and that masterpiece is created in the latest Symphony Collection by FIDANI.

And I did a few experiments with the photoshop....

Fidani

Fidani Symphony

Although it was tiring, at least it was fun and we have completed the mission. I wouldn't say the response was superbly overwhelming, it was quite okay as there were some tourists who stopped by to take pictures with her while some stand a few feet away to listen to the melody. Because the performnace are near to some F&B outlets, some customers get to sip their coffee while enjoying the music. One of the officers from the airport came and told me that it was the best promotion strategy he have ever seen. Well, that made my day already!

And that's a wrap! Phew!

What's cooking?

Ever since I've brought my own induction cooker to my workplace, I've utilised it to the fullest because I would make excuses to stay in the office and cook my own lunch instead of going out and spending my hard-earned-money at unscrupulous hawkers whom raised the prices of the food by RM0.50!

So yesterday was a good day to celebrate. 08.08.08 was meaningful and how not to celebrate such a good day by piggin' out? Thus, my assistant and I decided on Wednesday that we will have steamboat for lunch on Friday at the office!

So there we have 2 ladies in the office having steamboat at the vacant room beside mine. Although it's just a simple lunch, we managed to have a sumptuous meal yesterday with all the fishballs, vegetables, lady fingers, beancurd, squids, noodles and a type of dumpling like which my assistant called it UFO! haha.... we also have to close the door to prevent the smell from getting into the whole office area because most of my colleagues are all on diet!

I had fun having such a sumptuos meal in the office. But I can only do it once a while because it definitely involved a lot of preparation at home. Maybe I can consider having it once a month. I was so full that day that I didn't even eat the J.co Doughnuts that Datin bought for Shereen's birthday party that afternoon.

At night, I really missed the whole Beijing Olympics opening ceremony because of the birthday party I've promised to attend. I guess I'll just have to watch the repeat of the programme. Wouldn't want to miss the pride of the chinese and also the asian countries!