Chinese New Year Revenue

Looking back, it's been 5 days since I last blogged. Well, I've been very busy and there were no laptop & internet connection at my grandma's house (good excuse) and I was busy "investing". So far, EIF has made no progress since the last report as it had dropped 100 points yesterday morning after gaining 150 points in Ipoh. Can't believe a Drappier Champagne breakfast ended up with me loosing money! I should be Happier!

The No.1 revenue for Chinese New Year is of course coming from Ang Pow collection! Last year, I did come up with the ang pow collection ranking and this year I shall not simply because revenue has gone down especially coming from my parents. My mom cut our ang pow money by 50% due to recession! What?!! In return, we asked for 1 month household money waiver and the request was rejected. Sigh...

Kiss kiss... now my ang pow please...

In our family tradition, on the first day of CNY, we have to serve tea to both of my parents and wish them all the auspicious phrases before we could get any ang pows from them. This year, we used a bit of mandarin phrases that we learnt from the mandarin class a few days ago. We have phrases like "may whatever shares you buy go up and down as when you wanted it" haha....

If you exclude my parents, actually my ang pow collection revenue did go up. It could be due to many of my relatives are married, I'm visiting more houses and I'm still thick-skinned to be asking for ang pows?!! Every year, my aunt told me that this shall be my last year collecting ang pows and I told them "you shall be disappointed" because I plan to collect for a few more years! Lol...

One from Dad, one from Mum and 2 others for my birthday!

The 2nd revenue comes from the "investment" games that you play during CNY. I have been investing for days when I was in Ipoh and I did make some money. It was a very time consuming game as I was just putting very small bets. Even my cousins whom are still studying is betting RM50! What a shame... I don't make much but at least the time passed by very quickly and meaningfully!

Happy "Niu" Year

I would like to wish everyone a very HAPPY "NIU" YEAR!
May you prosper (in monetary terms) and not at the waistline.
Wishing all of you the best of health, safe and sound, and lots of exciting adventures!

It is also the start of my resolutions (again...) since I've been breaking it most of the times due to encouragement of my friends to eat more, drink more and be merry. And so, this lunar new year is a start of my determination. Or maybe I should start 15 days later?!!

And... may EIF prosper & grow!

EIF Report Status

I remembered that many have doubted the rate of returns on EIF (Eiling's Investment Fund) on Chinese New Year. Well, I am sorry to disappoint you guys to bring the news that EIF is having a bright start admist the slumping economy irrespective of whether the share market is going up or down.

The EIF is solely dependant on the skills of the chairman (which is obviously me, myself & I) and luck. So far, lady luck has been with the chairman and the investment has started to generate a ROI (Return on Investment/Rate of Profit) as high as 1000% which is far better than any of the investment funds available out there! Even though CNY has not started, EIF is having a early kick start a few days before the official launching date.

After work yesterday, I went over to my wine merchant's office where we had a good time eating, drinking, smoking, gambling and making merry. As usual, there were ample plates of juicy roasted "siew yoke", at least ten other dishes, fine wines, single malt whiskeys, rare champagnes, Cuban cigars and some "investment" activities.

One of the highlight of the night was of course the Philipponnat Clos de Goisses Brut 1992 Champagne where the last few cases were all snapped up a day ago. If you think Dom Perignon Vintage is expensive (around RM400-500) a bottle, this is easily priced at RM1000+ a bottle outside! The palate has a flowery and citrus note to it. Nice effervescence and bread aromas. One of its kind in the Champagne region, this cuvée is made from a single "cru". Ms. E was so kind to open her last bottle of the wonderful champagne to enlighten our tastebuds!

After that, the boss opened another 2 bottles of the Old Malt Cask Macallan Distillery 23 years which was a fantastic bottle. It has a rum finish which makes the nose filled with sweet notes and incense liked spices. The palate is sweet with burnt caramel and it was so smooth on the rocks and I absolutely love this bottle. It is a must try from the Old Malt Cask range. Not that expensive, at just RM800++ for a bottle of quality single malt whiskey.

The main highlight of the night was of course the "investment" that was ongoing. My friends are so nice la... The boss, one of my usual wine kakis actually took out a stack of RM50 notes worth about RM8k and lost it all to the staff in one evening. After that, he refilled another RM5k but didn't had the chance to make him loose that stack yet. My other wine kakis all took out a stack of RM50 notes to play except me whom was stashing all the RM10 notes. Small fry mah, so play small lo...

I lost the first few games of "Big 2" but managed to recover it all after winning thrice. After that, we switched to Black Jack (21 points) where I partnered with one of my new found friend and we managed to make quite a sum from the small investment capital of RM50. My returns were 10 fold, so you do the calculations. The strategy was to be slow and steady and don't be too greedy. With just RM10 for each round, I have managed to make my RM50 capital lasted the whole night. Luck was with us because we kept getting the black jack (1 ace & 10points/picture) the whole night. I think there were at least more 10 times we strike the jackpot.

So, don't look down on the profitability of EIF! It may be risky but the returns are high. It may be small but the trustability of the fund is solid. However, it's too late to make a investment now as the fund is closed. We shall see how well the fund performs at the end of the 15 days.

Lucky Me....

I was cursing that today was a Thursday which is a no "4D number day" and there were no casino in sight except the one up the hill. Why, why, why?!!!

I was feeling damn lucky today. Or in fact, I've never been this lucky except for the time I won the Ipod Classic from Bacardi Razz Launching which until today remained unopened & unused even how excited it got me at the moment I won it. I have just realised that it has been a "black elephant" (because it's black) sitting on my desk which serves no purpose. Or maybe I wasn't into mp3 anymore.

These are the incidents that happened in sequence.

1. There was a free lunch on the company's account as we were giving the chef a farewell. I get to choose the menu and obviously I chose the most expensive one since my GM said money is not a problem as long as we have a good time and the food is good.
   
   



2. When I went back to my room in the office, my assistant told me that there is a surprise for me on my table. I saw the gold box with a lovely cake inside. It was from Dato Raja Nordiana, the CEO of MAS Golden boutiques and lounge! In fact I was so touched by the thought of it! It was so nice of her to remember me and even my own big boss never give me anything for CNY!!!
   
   



3. I went to Carrefour with Wei Mei to get some Mandarin Oranges and soft drinks for all the staff in the factory. There were 60 of them and I got them two "pon kam" which was so sweet, juicy and nice and it costs me RM120. Then as I was talking on the phone at the queue to pay, I saw a RM50 note on the floor.
   
   At first I wanted to send the note to the information counter but after thinking for a while, I used the money to buy the soft drinks for all my factory staff and Wei Mei just fork out another RM20 additional for the drinks! Anyways, there were no names written on the note so it wouldn't make sense for me to find the owner and return the money, right?!!
   
   There was a saying in Chinese that goes "when you have found a treasure on the floor, even the judge can't make you return it"
   
   
   


4. When I return the trolleys back to the trolley bay, there were two trolleys with the 20 cent coins still intact. So, being a nice and responsible citizen, I arranged the trolleys and then reattached the rails and take out the coins. So I made an additional 40cents for my good citizenship!
   
   
   So, when you have so many lucky incidents in a day, what would be your normal reaction? Buy TOTO, MAGNUM, BIG SWEEP and whatever you can find la! The thing is, I didn't. In fact, I think if I have bought the numbers this evening, I would strike the jackpot and then I would quit my job and tell my boss that you can take over my portfolio as well since you think that the double digit growth that I have achieved last year wasn't good enough for you.
   
   Btw, I was still in a very disappointed mode as I did not get what I wanted during my appraisal yesterday. A mention of the letter "D" would trigger me and I'm sure you wouldn't want to piss me off because the results of it can be quite severe.

Dessert's Bar @ Subang Parade

I've been like a mad woman snapping pictures these few days ever since the acquisition of the Sony a300. It's like a self-discovery to see whether I have the photography skills hidden inside me. After a few hundred of pictures, I think still need more practice. The only thing I like about the camera (besides the sharp & nice pictures) was of course the act of clicking the button and listening to the sound of the shutter. It's really addictive. I can go on and on clicking it! Lol...

Back to the Dessert's Bar at Subang Parade, I decided to give it a try on Sunday afternoon when Julian, my college mate from the good ol' days wanted to meet up. At first we have decided on Starbucks but I changed my mind because I wanted to try this outlet.

Julian, the mysterious man...

The tiramisu is so cute. And can you notice the heart shaped thingy?!!
It sucked big time. Nothing like a normal tiramisu at all!
Somemore can put the recommended sign! Ish....

The banana & Raisin crepe with overcooked banana that looked so dead!

My cuppa which has no kick. Still prefer a Starbucks anytime.

The food wasn't so nice. I had higher expectations of the desserts because I can see that there were quite a number of customers. Intially I ordered a strawberry strudel but it was finished and thus I have to settle for a crepe. Besides crepe, they serve ice-cream, muffins, cakes and scones. I don't think I'll be coming back again. IMHO, any "tong sui" or nyonya kuih would simply entice me better.

Thanks to the promotion or else I'll be cursing all way back. We received a 50% off on the total bill. Therefore, a cup of earl grey, cappuccino, tiramisu and a crepe only cost us RM19++. Sorry, promotion ends 18th January 2009. Heheh...

no good...

So what do you think of my "going-to-be-professional" food photography skills?!!

[Disclaimer: This is strictly my honest opinion and tastes vary with tastebuds. Please do not even waste your time trying to sue me because just like my sister, we ain't rich! Thnx]

Friday Feast

And so I can't control myself on the 16th day of the New Year. It has been a bloody 15 days since I last had a glass or even a sip of wine. Now I find myself at Imbi Palace on a Friday night meeting up with all my wine friends for the first time since Xmas and we are all indulging in a feast.

I tried telling them about my resolutions, like usual, my resolutions will not work. And as we hold our chopsticks to "lo" the "yee sang", they all said "Resolutions are meant to be broken!"... Cheers....

The Yee Sang itself is one of the highlights of the dinner. Not only it was overwhelmed with a generous portion of fresh Salmon slices, it also has abalone slices and also Toro. Toro is most tender part of the tuna, buttery, rich toro comes from the fatty belly. Usually, it's served in Japanese restaurants and I'm quite surprised to see it here at a chinese restaurant! This plate of Yee Sang is to die for. Not only the radish and pickles are nicely done, the crackers are so crispy and tasty and the ultimate ingredient - the sauce is just fantastic.

The second highlight of the dinner was of course my favourite food - FOIE GRAS. Although this foie gras could not be compared to the one I had at Lafite, what was commendable about this dish is the creativity of the chef. Have you eaten a pan seared foie gras with fried soft toufu served with an oriental sauce? I can tell you, it's pretty interesting and the fact that both of them jived well too.

The other dishes we had (clockwise from top left) were sharks fin (chunks of fins) soup with chicken feet, brocoli with abalone slices, roasted pigeon and Japanese Black Pig (Korobuta). There was just too much to eat and I didn't really finish my food. My friends are always spoiling me with the good food and wines. How to stay slim like that?!!

The wine selection that night was pretty interesting. We had a champagne, a bottle of white wine, 5 bottles of red wine and a whiskey. Of all the wines that night, I particularly like 3 of the 5 reds I've tried. First of course would be my favourite bottle - Cos'd Estournel 2002, then it would be the Chateau Haut-Brion 1999, and the Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild.

The Haut-Brion 1999 has a fruity nose. The tannins are well integrated and it has some hints of tobacco. It's smooth and easy to drink. And the price tag - at least RM1k. The Haut-Brion and the Mouton Rothschild are all from the Premier Crus just like the Lafite Rothschild.

The grand vin is Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, of which there are 25000 cases per annum, and the second wine Le Petit Mouton de Mouton Rothschild (which I was drinking), are produced in only small quantities. It's grand vin, a bottle of can cost between RM800 to RM10k. The Petit that we were drinking is no less than RM500++ (from the web) since I didn't ask them about the exact price. The other unique feature of this wine is the labels. It is the significant aspect of the Mouton image with labels created by some of the world's great painters and sculptors and that is why its labels are very unique and differentiated.

I think I've got a pretty expensive taste for wines. So far, I have tried most of the wines from grand crus except for a few which I think I would never been able to afford. I would like to try the Château Lafite-Rothschild, Château Latour and Château Pétrus from the Bordeaux one day! Learning how to purchase a bottle of French wine is not easy and thus if you want to know more about the classification of French wines and the left bank - right bank, you can read here.

The dinner is never complete without a good puff of cuban cigar. That night we had a Bolivar each to complete the good wine and food. To go with the cigar, we had a equally good Macallan Distillery 25years from Old Malt Cask. I think that's too much for me to handle. That night, not only I cut down on my food, I also cut down on my drinking. I had Mr.L helped me with two glasses while I finished the other three. No price for guessing which 3 other glasses I chose. Lol...

Feng Shui & Astrology 2009

I had a pretty interesting Saturday at KL Convention Centre. It's not easy waking up early on a Saturday especially after a night of good food, wines, whiskey and cigar. Yes, my resolutions went haywire again. Shall elaborate on the next posting.

Many would be surprised if I tell them that I woke up at 8am on a Saturday to attend Joey Yap's "Thriving in Challenging Times" Feng Shui & Astrology talk. In fact this is my third time attending his talk and I find it rather interesting. He, himself, is actually a very good public speaker. Not only informative, the talk is pretty entertaining too. Joey is the founder and CEO of the Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics, a global institution for the study of classical Feng Shui and other chinese metaphysic subjects. My mom has been following his talks and reading his books for years.

So, today I will pass on some knowledge and tips to readers of eiling.blogspot.com. If you're familiar with my posts, you'll know that I write a lot about personal life, food, booze, parties and work but what you don't know is that - I am capable of teaching you a thing or two about Feng Shui! Lol... And you're lucky because you do not need to pay a cent or endure 5 hours of talk to get these information that I'm posting. Now, say thank you.


Date Selection (btw the new year starts on 4th February 2009)

1. The dates below are the good dates recommended to commence business "开工" or "hoi gong".

28th January 2009 - 11am onwards except for Rabbit
30th January 2009 - 7am to 9am except for Snake, Rooster & Ox
2nd February 2009 - 7am to 9am except for Monkey
6th February 2009 - 9am to 11am except for Rat

These are the dates that you should go back to the office and do some work and consider it as the day that you are starting your work after CNY. You'll have to look at your BaZi combination of Hour, Day, Month & Year to know more about the astrology outlook for the year. The astrology outlook according to the zodiac animal sign on the year that you were born is too general. To know yours, use the Basic BaZi Ming Pan Calculator tool given by Joey's website. Click here. Just register and then key in your Hour, Day, Month & Year of birth and something like the chart below would appear.

In lower row of this chart, you'll notice that this person is born in the hour of Ox, day of Tiger, month of Ox and year of Pig. So, the right date to commence business would be 28th January 2008 which is the best date of all. That means, if you have a rabbit in the last right column, then 28th January 2009 is not a good date for you.

2. These are the dates to activate the Wealth Star (money luck and investment).

31st March 2009 - 7am to 9am (Activate SE1 of the house) except for Snake
3rd June 2009 - 7pm to 9pm (Activate E1 & SE1 of the house) except for Rooster

To activate the sector, all you need to do is to move the furnitures, hang & unhang paintings or even redecorate the area. You can also sleep at this sector for instance. For those experts, you can use water to activate the area. When using the water feature, the best is to have the water outside the house.

The Compass

To get a better understanding of the sectors e.g SE1, NW2.... you can use the picture above as a reference. All you need to do is to take a compass and stand right in the middle of the house and then you will be able to identify the sectors correctly. Or, you can super impose the compass on your floor plan if you want to be accurate.

The one in purple, SW3 is good for solving problems. If any problems persist, it will be solved.

The one is light blue, NE3 is a Nobility Star. Good if you want a mentor or helping hand.

As for the red, N2, don't ever ever touch or activate that area. It's the worst area of all for 2009. Do not activate means - no water feature, moving objects, or renovations.

3. To activate Peach Blossom (relationship luck)

(not recommended for those who is already in a relationship except that if you're greedy)
Too bad, this sector is a staircase in my house. I can't be sleeping at this area, can I?!!

19th March 2009 - 11am to 1pm (to activate S2)


4. Bad Dates

And lastly, you can tell those you dislike or your competitors to start work or sign contracts on these dates (if you're cruel enough). These are the worst dates of the year and nothing important should be done at these times. For example, if you're planning to divorce on one of these dates and at one of these times, you might not be able to get a cent out of your husband! So whether you plan to get at least 50% or none, it's entirely up to you!

31st January 2009 1pm to 3pm
25th February 2009 7am to 9am
17th March 2009 7am to 9am
7th July 2009 11am to 1pm

Feng Shui is not a religious belief and its a form of Chinese Metaphysics. You can either believe it or not but it's always good to change what you can than trying to change what you can't. In chinese, we believe in destiny, luck & feng shui. Destiny is fixed upon birth, luck is ever changing and Feng shui is up to us to manipulate. So, why not use Feng Shui to the maximise the well being of one's life?

Twilight Robbery

I went out for dinner with two friends at Overseas Restaurant in Jalan Imbi last weekend. My friend had a craving for char siew (roasted honey pork) and it seemed that he loves the char siew at Overseas so much so that he frequents this outlet eveytime he's in town. It was my first time to this outlet in Jalan Imbi. Usually, I'll just have Overseas at Jaya One. I was quite shocked that the KL outlet is crowded despite being "not so new" or "no ambiance". No doubt the food is good but the atmosphere wasn't that appealing to me.



We went to the restaurant in his BMW M3 and it was a ride of my life. More like the scariest ride of my life because it was worse than riding a roller coaster. I felt so scared sitting in the car when he clocked at more than 160 km/h at some stretch of roads in the city. I told him that we were not in a hurry and I prefer to get out in 1 piece. However, I was ignored and he continued with his occasional speeding during the journey. After dinner, we adjourned to the fruit stall outside Soo Kee Restaurant in Jalan Imbi for a fix of durian. I have not tried having durian as a dessert after dinner and now I know how it felt like. Hmm... Heavenly.

Recognise this stall properly and I shall tell you why.

We ordered 1 Musang King Durian (mao sang wong). Apparently it was one of the best durian breeds around and some even said it was better than D24. I had tried it before so it's not a big deal to me. I had to agree that it was good. Ample flesh and aromatic. Ok, here comes the bill after everything was done. It cost my friend RM57 for one durian! Can you imagine that?!! With RM57, I can probably have two dishes at Overseas!!! Why would someone pay that much for a durian? Hello, it's just a D-U-R-I-A-N!!! Should I repeat that again? Maybe not.

I think it's a twilight robbery (since it happened at twilight and not in daylight). Maybe we should have asked for the price before we eat. But then again, these guys are filthy rich so it doesn't matter I guess. For me, I rather spend RM57 for a bottle of duty free Absolut Vodka anytime.



After that, we had a smoke and a drink at KL Hilton before calling it a night. I think I had 3 shots of Glenmorangie on the rocks and then a cup of Earl Grey. I was lucky to have a chance to try the newest Limited Edition of Partagas Serie D #5. It's a good smoke no doubt but perhaps it needs a little bit of aging in the humidor. After that, I had a MonteCristo Edmundo, one of my favourite cigars. I had 2 for the day and for the rest of the month, I can only have another 2 more since the quota is 4 cigars a month. Haih... I know my resolution sucks. I hope it's workable for long term or else I'll have to replace them with more achievable ones soon.

Too much indulgence for the day. Wait till you hear about tomorrow.

Our Family's New Toy

I have always envy those who has the privilege to post nice and sharp photos on their blogs. Especially those who blogs about food and no doubt their food photography had me salivating in front of my computer screen. They all have one thing in common - DSLR cameras! Yes, the secret of good photography lies in the camera besides the photographer itself no doubt.

I can tell you, that's about to change.

Eiling's blog will be having some pretty good (maybe professional-looking) photographs from time to time now since my sister, Yiling has acquired a Sony α300 recently during her birthday. It was a conjoined effort of forcing the parents to buy it! At least the frequent complaining of the photos from digital cameras worked! Now she has beautiful pictures in her food blog.

Our new toy!

Mom used to complain why we need to spend that kinda money on this bulky black thingy until she saw the results of the photographs! She was awed by the good photographs and was very excited when we kept taking pictures of her new cupcake creations. You can view them here.

I am now slowly but surely learning how to take nice photos with this new camera. However, I am still trying to find out how can I carry a Crumpler bag around stylishly and at the same time trying to match with my Celine handbag and ultra high heels. Hmm... I wonder how it'll work?

I guess after all, you can't have the best of both worlds. Either you choose to look good by carrying a compact digicam or look like a photographer with a DSLR!

I love mandarin oranges and today I get to sink my teeth into these first citrus delights for the year! So how could I not use the new toy and take a picture of it?!!

My favourite!

What I liked most about CNY? Besides it being my birthday of course, I love the fact that I can collect revenue while drinking and munching on food for free at every house I go to. And I like the casino@my-own-home version of gambling. Since my resolution is to make more money, I guess this CNY you'll be seeing a gambler in action everyday for the next 15 days of the new year. Anyone wanna contribute to EIF (Eiling's Investment Fund)? Your money could double and triple in just seconds! Or it can go down the drain. No risk no gain!

Fidani Counter @ Satellite KLIA

I couldn't believe it, that lazy eiling has finally got her ass down to gym this evening to work out. It has been a couple of months since I last went to the gym, by always giving excuses to myself like tired la, dinner la, busy la and la la la.... I was so out of shape that I nearly thought I had an apple body silhouette. I started off with the treadmills, running for 1km and then switched to the thighs work out machine, followed by the hips and then lastly the Dance Mix class by Luciano. In total, I had a 1 and a half an hour work out session, trying to sweat out my fats. I hope it's working because I felt sore all over. I am determined to get back in shape!

Ok, back to the topic. I want to reveal to you my company's new state of the art biggest chocolate retail shop in Satellite building (after taking the train) in KLIA. Not only it's modern, new and tasteful, it also houses so many brands of chocolates that you would not find elsewhere. For instance, Fidani Finest Chocolate Creations. Heheh...

After spending around RM30k on this counter, it's finally done! This would be the newest counter I have at the airport. Later on, I would be bringing in the chiller and you guys can hand pick the chocolates to your own preferences! But on the other hand, I was quite disappointed as one of my back walls will have to be sacrificed for Patchi! Ish...

Thanks to my sister, Yiling whom helped me take these beautiful shots with her new Sony a300.

My beautiful counter!


And the person who manages the brand.
Oh btw, what do you think about my new Zara jacket?!!

Bad Tourist Guide

I am officially the worst tourist guide around! Ask Jeremy, and he can tell you how terribly and horribly bad I am in finding my way around KL. I was put to the test when I agreed to bring him around KL yesterday afternoon since he has not been stepping into KL for years after moving to Brisbane. At the moment he's on a one way ticket to KL and because I practice Malaysian Hospitality, I wanted to take him around. He's like the most EMO blogger I know. And he wrote his emo stuff pretty well.

Actually, I've been thinking for days on where to visit in KL. The only places I go to when I'm in KL is either KLCC and Pavilion for obvious reasons which I don't think I need to reveal. So, I thought the best thing to show the tourists is basically our infamous Petaling Street where LVs cost much cheaper than in KLCC and my dream watch Franck Muller only cost 1% of the actual price.

The Loaf@Pavilion was the meeting point. After a short conversation with him and his friend, she passed on the tourist guide duty to me. I was trying to search for PS with my GPS and its nowhere to be found, so being a brave driver with no sense of direction, I circled Bukit Bintang and Jln Imbi numerous times to find that I'm heading nowhere. When I was about to give up, I found PS!!! I was so ecstatic for a moment before the parking problem hits me. I can't find a parking and there was a bad traffic jam and so in the end, we both gave up and I decided to take him to our very own Egyptian Pyramid lookalike which is none other than Sunway Pyramid. However, at 6.00pm, I was starving already so I conveniently took him to Wan Hou Steamboat. At one time, I loved the steamboat so much so that I was there every weekend. Even Ky likes it (just to prove that it's good).

We were the only customers at that time. It was way too early for dinner I guess. I tried telling him that I purposely booked the whole restaurant just to welcome him but he didn't fall for it. I guess I didn't sound convincing enough. He did say "KL girls are aggressive" and I corrected him. "Sorry, I'm from Ipoh". Back to the food, I'm glad he enjoyed it as much as I do. At least he agreed with me that the soup and the pork balls were tasty!

After that, we adjourned to Sunway Pyramid. I took him jalan-jalan around some shops for a while and instead of him buying things, I bought a handphone. It wasn't for me but for my mom. Eversince her Samsung (which I passed down to her) phone battery became obsolete, she had to use my sis's sony ericsson and she had so much trouble in using it so I thought getting her another Samsung would be a good idea. Jeremy was waiting patiently for my retail therapy activities and after that I took him to my favourite hang out joint, Republic which is just outside Italiannies. It's an open air bar with music, tv screens and comfortable chairs for a drink and a smoke.

Getting my cherry popped for Guinness.

It was fun hanging out with him because he taught me a lot about alcohol. He told me I was missing the best part of life if I haven't try Guinness Draught and so I took a sip from his glass while closing my eyes to fully savour the supposedly heavenly taste that most Guinness fans seemed to claim. Ok, I had to agree that it was good despite it's black. I have always stereotyped black liquid as bitter drink. I told him that he's missing the best part of life if he hasn't try single malt whiskey or whiskey on the rocks.

Jeremy & Me

We went on and on until it was 11pm. I sent him to the Asia Jaya LRT station only to find that the LRT station has closed at 11.30pm. Therefore, I drove him back to his hotel in KL before reaching home at 12.45am due to some stupid roadworks at Jalan Imbi that forced me to make a detour!

He'll be flying back to his hometown in Kuching this weekend before returning to KL again. And the funny thing is, there might be a possibility that I'll become his landlady soon. Ooh... someone that I can call up and chase for rental every month. And maybe make his life a nightmare by forcing him to clean the condo properly by having monthly inspections. Or I could make use of the swimming pool facility... Haha. I hope I didn't just intimidate you and you'll regret renting my place! Nice meeting up with you anyway and I hate Man U for beating Chelsea 3-0 yesterday!

My Friend's Wedding

Behind every wedding, there's a story to tell....

And my story is, I forgot mixed up the dates of my friend's wedding. After driving back from KLIA at about 1pm, I rang up Huai Bin and see what he's up to. I was starving and I needed to eat so I dropped by his apartment at Kelana Jaya. His place was amazingly dirty. Although I was glad to see a man like him loving chocolates but I wasn't impressed with the amount of chocolate wrappers on the floor and so... I helped him clean the place. I was able to collect 3 bags of rubbish just from his living hall.

Then, we went over to Ky's place because I rang him up earlier to yum cha together and he and his housemates were preparing to play golf. So Huai Bin and I joined Ky, Horng and Rachel for a golf session at Sunway Extreme Park Driving Range. It's been quite a while since I was there. And happily after golf, we went for dinner together at a restaurant near Ky's place. The food was good and I was eating like my usual self.

As we walked back to KY's place, I received miss calls and calls from my college mates. I was wondering why are they calling me at the same time. Did I miss any gatherings? And I found out, it was the wedding dinner night! And all along I thought it was next week! Shucks...

Lucky I had spare party clothes in my car and I hurriedly get dressed and sped my way to Overseas Restaurant in Subang Parade from HB's place. I wasn't too late for the dinner as they were only having the second dish when I arrived. It must be the joke of the year. I had two dinners in a night and because I was so bloated from the earlier dinner, I didn't eat much. I skipped the sharks fin soup altogether.

This is the 1st invitation to a wedding I've ever received from one of my college mates. Gosh, Wai Kit is the first in our group to get the ball rolling. Congratulations man. You've always shine in the class and now you're the 1st to take the lead to join the group of man with "commitments".

4 beauties from Inti College Subang Jaya
From left: Me, Elaine, Hue Gee & Hoong

My class mates: Yew Chung & Yat Ming


Me with the Couple

I like what they did with the video presentation. They showed how the bridegroom and his best men were tortured in the morning by the bridesmaids. They were made to eat donuts dipped in God-knows-what and drink super sour juice. All the four tastes of sweet, sour, bitter and spicy were fully utilised. The aftermath, best men puking at the drain outside the house. Then they have put on lipstick and draw a big heart on a piece of paper. It was so funny seeing those men wearing lipstick and kissing the wall. It was so nice to be meeting up with my classmates again. It has been quite sometime.

I was so proud of myself. I didn't drink a single drop of alcohol during the dinner. Aren't you proud of me?

Will post about our wonderful golfing session later.

P/S: I bet KY, HB, Horng & Rachel must be laughing when they all saw this post.

Why, why, why?!!!

Pheeewww... I've finally completed my two-day-training for Incoterm, Shipping Procedure & Import/Export Documentation at a training centre in Amcorp Mall arranged by my HR. Although the training doesn't fit into a Marketing description but it was beneficial to me since I'm expected to handle the exports for Fidani. The two-day lecture by Dr.Pathepen is indeed interesting and informative.

It felt like going back to college all over again where every two-hour lecture comes with a break. The only downside is that I've been having more than 10 calls during the training and it's annoying. I finally got my certificate without having to go through any examinations! How cool was that?!!

I'm supposed to dine with my wine companions tonight at El Cerdo to try out the new chef's cooking whom just came from Ricks Cafe but I was unable to join them after confirming with them that I'm coming on Wednesday. I've got another last minute dinner appointment somewhere else and now all of them are upset. I'm upset too because I haven't been really following my resolution #2 which says EAT LESS & LESS EXPENSIVE FOOD. It's 9 days from new year and I seem to be eating like 2008. What a disappointment!

I tried telling them about my resolutions but Mr.L tempted me with a vertical tasting on Romanee Conti (one of those bottles that cost RM30k). I knew he was lying! They just want to lure me out. Then I told him, the quota for dinner together is once a month! After that, another of my wine & cigar companion called and tempt me with a dinner and tasting on a few bottles of premium vodka. Why must you guys do this to me?!!!

This is such a torture!!!

Gu Yue Tien @ Chulan Square

I was invited by one of my wine drinking friends at a very last minute to have dinner at Gu Yue Tien together with his German clients. It was a too good offer to be turned down as I am free and I have not tried this particular restaurant hidden amongst the other outlets at Chulan Square. I have been passing Chulan Square for God-know-how-many-times in December since I need to go to Pavilion very frequently.

The owner and master chef of this humble setting is none other than Frankie Woo. Having worked in countless restaurants and hotels since he was 13, Chef Frankie Woo now happily calls the shots at his own outlet, Gu Yue Tien. Since it was opened three years ago, the restaurant has been attracting the city’s more discerning diners, including the rich and famous – Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan, Datuk Michelle Yeoh and her beau, amongst others, have been spotted here. He translates the joy of eating by offering a unique selection of delicacies combining a variety of Asian and international flavours, ingredients and techniques.

Some facts about Frankie here. His accolades and achievements are pretty impressive. You know what they say, never trust a skinny chef?!! I told him the same thing and he laughed. But you can trust Frankie. He's warm and friendly and his creations will definitely melt your heart and soul. That's how I felt right after the appetiser.

We started with a plate of "yee sang" which is a platter of pickles and crispy crackers served with raw fish and plum sauce during CNY for prosperity. Gosh, nowadays they do serve yee sang pretty early. I had this in December!

However, this is not a conventional plate of yee sang. The usual colourful pickles are replaced with strips of fresh pear and assorted lettuce leaves that one finds in a western salad platter and surrounded with fresh salmon slices. Besides the commendable efforts of making this a unique yee sang, the sauce and crispy crackers were absolutely delicious. The oriental taste of the dish is maintained despite the new and westernised combination.

If you love soft-boiled eggs, his trademark Half-boiled Egg with Foie Gras (RM8++ each) is a 'must have'. Imagine a decadent treat imbued with the indulgent richness of foie gras, and lightly poached egg served in its shell. I dig it in like how I would for my usual half boiled eggs and let me tell you how heavenly the feeling was... it was beyond description! It might be the most expensive single half boiled egg you've ever eaten but you would not regret it!

Clockwise from top left: Herbal Duck, Steamed Cod, Prawn with bacon and Iberian Pig.

The other dishes were all equally good! I especially like the prawns wrapped in bacon and deep fried to perfection. It was served with mangoes and apples which I find it interesting. This surf & turf dish has got me addicted. I will definitely order this again next time. The dishes are all so refreshing. Despite the fusion style of cooking and westernised presentation, the taste remains oriental.

And lastly, besides all the good wines we were having which I did not take any photos, we had a glass of Grappa di Amarone Allegrini to end the dinner. I must say I'm not really a fan of Grappa or any Port after dinners but this particular grappa is nice. But still not my cup of tea! I think a cup of warm chinese tea is more appropriate.


After that, I adjourned to Bangkok Jazz and joined my sisters and her bf. Mr.W tagged along and buy everyone drinks! Wohoo.... I'll definitely be making a return visit to this restaurant. For round RM100++ per person (without wine), one can get around 6-7 course dinner here. I would think it's pretty reasonable. It's really a hidden gem and I love this place.

Updated post here.


So, let Frankie woo you to...

Gu Yue Tien Chinese Cuisine
Chulan Square (just opposite Pavilion)
Jalan Raja Chulan

For reservations, please call: 03-2148 0808

Lunch: 11:30am - 2:30pm (daily)
Dinner: 6:30pm - 10:30pm (daily)

Should I?

I had just received a surprise phone call from the CEO of one of the hotels in KL. She wanted me to play for the opening ceremony of the grand ballroom on the eve of Chinese New Year. I got to know her when I was still working in my previous company where the hotel is one of the subsidiaries. You know how company likes to exploit the staff whenever possible and not paying them for the extra talents they have?!! I did played once for them for free and thus this time, I have the right to demand for a payment since I'm not working there anymore.

She offered RM1000 for a 1 hour performance. It is indeed lower than what I actually get paid for. On a normal day, I would decline straightaway but this time, I told her that I would think about it. What made me say it?!!

I was just thinking, since my resolution No.1 is to make MORE MONEY, I would need to accept the offer. And since I plan to accept the offer, I will try and accept a few more offers during Chinese New Year because I will be bloody using my time practicing everyday for the performance. So why not perform for a few more events using the same songs and make MORE MONEY with the same effort?!!

Just imagine the money raining from the skies...

And thus my new year resolutions are working. Hmm... the next step is to make a list of houses to visit and my ultimate plan is to remind everyone that my quarter of a century chinese birthday is on the 1st day of CNY and therefore, I shall be given a double angpow! That should complete my Jan's plan of making MORE MONEY!!!

Muahaha.... (evil laugh)

Eiling's NY Resolutions

I know resolutions are boring because resolutions are meant not to be achieved so that the following year, you can have the same resolutions again! But somehow, I guess this year, I must achieve part of my resolutions list. I must, I must and I must no matter what achieve all the "less" resolutions unless someone gives me a good reason not to!

#1 Make MORE MONEY

So that the money is enough to be turned into toilet rolls to wipe my ass. Ok, maybe not wipe my ass cos it'll be such a total waste. I'll use the money to get myself a toy boy.

And everything else LESS

#2 EAT LESS & less expensive food















I don't want to be a Fatso. I have enough teasing from KY already. Always telling me how much slimmer I was when I first knew him a year ago! Somemore tell me I was 10kg lighter last time! Hmmph....



#3 DRINK LESS & less expensive wine


















And I don't mean water! I'm talking about my wine enjoyment. I need to restrict myself to 2 glasses per dinner. Either I get a 10ml tasting portion for all wines or I'll just get 2 big beer mugs to the dinner since I'm only restricted to 2 glasses.


#4 SMOKE LESS & less expensive cigars


And since I don't smoke cigarettes, I guess, I'm pretty comfortable with this resolution. And because recession is in town, more reasons for me to smoke less cigars. I'll have less than 4 sticks a month! Anyone wanna sponsor me cigars?









#5 SPEND LESS & buy less expensive things


















This is supposedly a resolution every year but it never happened because as I earn more, I spend more. That's how the graph goes. The more purchasing power, the more expenditure. It's correlated and therefore, I shall make it a point this year to cut down on my spending. To start off, I need volunteers to sponsor me meals... Since I wouldn't be eating a lot too... Anyone?



So after all the "less"es, I guess I'll be making even more LESS merry. So don't blame me if I didn't want to come out or dine with you guys. I'm not being an anti-social-person, I'm just trying to have a little bit of self-control because the outside world is full of TEMPTATIONS. I cannot resist temptations when the temptations itself is tempting! Thus I made up my mind. This would be the year where Eiling will weight LESS and have a MORE healthy body! And I will not drive when I'm drinking more than 2 glasses. I need a bloody driver! Is it too late for a Christmas wish?!!