Favorite Restaurant/Food/Recipe?

I initially thought of starting this entry about the Olympics, after all it does start today. But then I got thinking that everyone's probably got the same idea, which means many, many, many blogs about the games in Athens. So I thought I'd take a stab at being different and write about my favorite restaurant/food/recipe.


Ok, ok, for those who know me, you'd also know that I love a variety of foods, restaurants and recipes as my previous blog entries will attest.


Here's a list of my fav foods and where you can get them (in no order of preference)!!!
Asam Laksa:

*maggi mee,

*megamall jusco,

*mom's cooking!

*Red Ginger restaurant

*Penang (??) restaurant - forgot the name of the restaurant in megamall (sara, do u know??)

Sarawak Laksa:

*bangsar coffee shop (forgot name but it's a couple of blocks from Giant, formerly known as TMC)

Otak-otak:

*Red Ginger

*Bangsar Pasar Malam

Tiramisu

*Pasta Pomodorro

*Alexis Bistro

Margaritas

*American Chillis, Bangsar

What are your favorite foods/restaurants/recipes?? Share them with us, so we can try them too!:P

The Piercing Ordeal Pt. 2

Continued from The Piercing Ordeal


Day Four - Sunday 1/08/04
I woke up today wanting to go back to bed, desperately. Had a really late night last night (a big no-no according to my piercer) but 5 minutes more was all I needed. My alarm clock did not allow me to get them.


Having to wake up at 7.45am every Sunday for church really bites (the waking up NOT the going to church - I am a good girl, I am) but waking up 15 minutes earlier today just so I can brush my teeth and tongue at a slower pace? Surely I wouldn't need 15 minutes extra for that? Well apparently I did, because I didn't have a second to spare before leaving.


Had a really pleasant lunch today because I discovered something yummy I could eat - mashed potatoes with loads of milk and butter and Campbell's cream of chicken! Had them for lunch and I have to say, cold potatoes and soup never tasted so damn good (strictly no hot food for fear of injuring my tongue). Decided to have the same thing for dinner again. I mean, more cold mashed potatoes or more liver tasting porridge? 'Nuff said.


I'll probably have the same thing for every meal until my tongue has healed. Who can get sick of mashed potatoes right?


Day Five - Monday 2/08/04
Monday's here and that only means one thing - shopping at Midvalley with my mother. I spent 4 tortured hours at Midvalley smelling all things delicious and eating nothing. Bakeries are the absolute worst with smells of hot pastries and buns coming out fresh from the oven filling the air. McDonald's comes in a close second especially since my Double Cheeseburger craving has not subsided. I return home to eat cold mashed potatoes and chicken soup. Funny, it doesn't taste as good as it did yesterday.


One of my lecturers called while I was out so I had to call her back to find out what she wanted. Just my luck, her name is Zeti. Our conversation is as follows (and this is no exaggeration, folks):


Me: Hello. Can you put me tru to Jheti, pleash?
Operator: Erm, sorry?
Me: Can you put me tru to Jheti?
Operator: Oh, you mean Zeti from the _______ department?
Me: Yesh.
Operator: One moment please.
Zeti: Hello, Zeti speaking.
Me: Hi Jheti, you called me earlier?
Zeti: Who is this?
Me: Thish ish Sara?
Zeti: Eh, apasal suara lain hari ini? (Why does your voice sound different today?)
Me: Oh, shakit tekak. (Sore throat)
Zeti: Oh kesiannya... anyway, your application for __________ has been approved so you have to come on the 4th to reenrol for your course.
Me: The fourt? Dish Wedneshday?
Zeti: Erm yeah, the fourthhhh...
Me: What time musht I be der?
Zeti: Anytime between 9-5 but I would advise you to be here at 9 to avoid the crowd.
Me: Oh ok. What musht I bring?
Zeti: 3 passport sized photos, a photocopy of your IC and money for your fees if you want to pay on that day.
Me: But you haven't told me how mush my feesh ish?
Zeti: Oh, let me check. (Rustling of papers) Your fees for this semester is ________
Me: Oh ok. Let me write it down. Ish dat all? Anyting else I shud know or bring?
Zeti: Mmm no, I don't think so.
Me: Ok den... tank you. Shee you dish Wedneshday.
Zeti: Erm... ok. Bye.


Bet she never had a weirder telephone conversation.


I had strawberry ice cream (melted, of course) and potatoes again for dinner. Did I say I was going to eat potatoes for every meal until my tongue was healed? Ok, maybe not.


Day Six - Tuesday 3/08/04
My tongue felt surprisingly normal this morning so I assumed it was 100% healed. Tried bending it to see if it was still swollen. The searing pain I felt might be a clue... definitely still too early for tongue twisting.


I never thought I'd say this but I am now officially off ice cream and mashed potatoes. I can actually feel them both oozing out of my pores... and I swear that when I raised my arm earlier, I got a whiff of mashed potatoes... my pits smelling exactly like my dinner is definitely not a good sign.


Had my first can of Diet Coke in five days though and it was heavenly. Decide to have just Diet Coke for dinner since I am addicted to the stuff. Was on to my 4th can before I gave up. My tongue had all but turned black because of the colouring so that couldn't have been very good for me.


My tongue became increasingly itchy after "dinner" and I practically had to restrain myself from scratching it with my fingernails. The next best thing to do is sleep it off so looks like it's bedtime for me.


Day Seven - Wednesday 4/08/04
I woke up feeling like I lost ten pounds so I hurried over to the scales... only to find that I'd put on 4 pounds??!!!!! How was that possible? All I've had for days now is milky/ buttery mashed potatoes, cream of chicken soups and loads of ice cream... oh.


I spent most of the afternoon at college reenrolling and prayed that none of my lecturers would notice my weight gain. Lucky for me, none did.


Anyway my tongue has returned to its normal size so I had a really good dinner just now. I guess my face must have looked really miserable in the afternoon so my mother suggested cooking soupy noodles for me. Trust me, at this point, I could have eaten cardboard in soup and it would have tasted like manna from heaven but hot soupy noodles with REAL MEAT was just I needed and DAMN, WAS IT GOOD!


So did I regret piercing my tongue especially after all the sacrifices I've had to make in the past week? Not even for a second. In fact, I would do it again in a heartbeat and encourage anyone who wants their tongue (or other body parts) pierced, to go ahead with it if they're really sure. Hey, you only live once and if you can't do the things you really want to do, then what's the point in living? Trust me, piercing your tongue is definitely a life experience you'll carry with you to your old age.


Now if you'll excuse me, it's time to get rid of those pesky pounds!

The Piercing Ordeal

Precisely a week ago, I got my tongue pierced. Some of you might be going "Eww!" but understand that this was something that I had wanted to get done for years. The plain & simple truth is, I love body piercings and am absolutely addicted to them. When I told my mother a few years back that I was going to get my tongue pierced, my mother freaked out. Not the I-say-no sort of freaking out but rather the I-say-no-and-if-you-go-ahead-anyway-I'm-not going-to-talk-to-you sort. Naturally I had to forget about it if I wanted to live in peace.


I brought it up again recently and shockingly, my mother said I could go ahead with it on one condition: that I spare her the gory details of how they do it (hehe!). Now to be honest, I could have gone ahead with it ages ago (come on, I'm in my 20s!) but I decided to discuss it with her out of respect. Trust me, no piercing is worth it if your mum can't bear to look at you at the end of the day.


So anyway, I raced off to Sungei Wang with my friend once I got the green light and here I am, pierced tongue and all a week later :) Anyway, here is a brief day to day description of what I went through during the last week (also if you're thinking of doing it, you'll have a rough idea what to expect).


Hey, when you can't eat, talk or swallow properly, what else is there to do besides think up your next blog entry and write?



A Grainy Picture of My Tongue Piercing


Day One - Thursday 29/7/04 @ 11.30PM
Pierced my tongue 5 hours ago. Was a bundle of nerves as I entered the shop but the piercer immediately made me feel at ease by being friendly and informative. He gave me a form to fill up, told me to sit on a high stool and explained the procedure. I gargled my mouth with Listerine for a few seconds and then I was ready. I tried to calm myself as much as possible and succeeded for a few seconds... until the piercer warned me that I could seriously injure my tongue and lips if I pulled back my tongue while he poked the needle through. My nervousness multiplied tenfold. I stayed as still as I could while he placed a clamp on my tongue and told me that the pressure applied by the tool usually hurt more than the needle itself. Braced myself for the worst... felt nothing. Then he picked up the needle and effortlessly slid it through my tongue. I could feel the needle going through but it was absolutely painless! The piercer slid in the barbell, screwed in the bottom ball and I was done. Tongue feels weird and uncomfortable. Looked in the mirror to find my tongue bleeding slightly. Felt a little bit faint because I hate blood. Recovered instantly when I saw how perfect his workmanship was. Gargled somemore with Listerine, listened to his aftercare instructions and list of Dos and Don'ts and made my way home... in silence (a first for me).


Reached home and showed piercing to mother. Was expecting mum to be Ok with it since she did say I could go ahead with it. Expected wrongly. Was greeted with "Oh My God!!!" over and over again. My guess is, I'll be hearing it more often than I'd like to.


Made a HUGE mistake of not eating before piercing. Was starving at around 9.30pm so I stuffed myself with the one thing that's easiest to swallow: iced water. Still had to train myself to swallow differently with the barbell. Dribbled more than I drank. Felt surprisingly full but only for about, oh 5 minutes. Am dead beat & still hungry so going to bed now. Have not slept this early since 1997 for exams. Must be the result of nerves working overtime. Decide to have one last look in the mirror... I heard that it would be swollen and sore but mine feels normal so am extremely pleased. Aftercare will be a breeze.


Day Two - Friday 30/07/04
Woke up in the afternoon (told you I was tired) with tongue the size of my fist. All I could think was, whoooboy, what have I gotten myself into? Tongue has thickened but luckily, there is no soreness or pain. My speech has worsened though... have omitted the letters s and z from my vocabulary.


My mother is a doll... she made a huge pot of soup for my lunch and bought 2 tubs of ice cream for me knowing I wouldn't be able to eat solids. Had three bowls of soup plus plenty of iced water so was filled to the brim. Watched a Home Improvement rerun and hey, was hungry again. Decided to treat myself to a big bowl of Neopolitan ice cream. Got greedy and scooped a big spoonful into my mouth. Note to self: big spoonful of unmelted ice cream can rub against the piercing resulting in severe pain. Had an unsatisfying (warm) Neopolitan shake instead.


Dinner consisted of more soup (surprise, surprise) and iced water. Have sudden craving for McDonald's Double Cheeseburger... heck, would even be willing to eat the paper that wraps the burger.


Day Three - Saturday 31/07/04
Ah, the weekend's finally here but I'll be staying home to rest my tongue. The piercer told me that it's ok to smoke and drink but I've decided to abstain this weekend, just to be safe. My tongue is still as swollen as ever and talking is still difficult. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it but my tongue feels extremely itchy! I've learnt that the best remedy is iced water so I've had to drink even more than the previous two days (that's all I need, more iced water!)


My mother cooked chicken porridge for me but I couldn't eat it because the grains were too rough and big. So my mother blended it up for me into a kind of soup and I had that for lunch. Now you might think that chicken porridge and blended chicken porridge would taste exactly the same, right? Wrong... dead wrong. I have no idea how blending it altered the taste but my chicken porridge tasted exactly like mushed up liver. I never want to have blended chicken porridge again... ever.


Spoke too soon. Just found out my mum made more for my dinner. Oh boy.


To be continued: Day Four - Seven...

One of My Heroes Dies :(

Pennsylvania girl who started a lemonade stand for cancer research dies at age 8
MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 2, 2004


(08-02) 08:05 PDT PHILADELPHIA (AP) --
A young cancer patient who started a lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research, sparking a nationwide fund-raising campaign that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, has died. She was 8.


Alexandra Scott, of Wynnewood, died peacefully Sunday at home on her favorite couch, her father, Jay Scott, said Monday.


"She opened her eyes for the first time that day just before she passed away. She looked out at the trees," Scott said. "In the past she's been in a lot of pain, but at the end she had no pain, which is what she worried about."


Alex, diagnosed just before her first birthday with neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer, decided to set up a lemonade stand to raise money for treatment. She took in $2,000 that first year, and a series of stands had raised a total of $200,000 after four years.
In June, lemonade stand fund-raisers were set up in all 50 states, as well as in Canada and France, and Alexandra and her family appeared on Oprah Winfrey's TV program and the "Today" show.


Alex hoped that her Alex's Lemonade Stand charity would raise $1 million this year for cancer research. The effort has reached about $750,000, and Volvo of North America had pledged to hold a fall fund-raising event to assure that the $1 million goal would be reached, Jay Scott said.
Since June, Alex's quality of life had dropped off, and her health had severely deteriorated in the last few days. Still, she remained determined to push forward, family members said.


The Scotts plan to set up a memorial fund in their daughter's honor at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where Alex was treated most of her life. She had asked this past month that something be established in her name.


"She had never asked about that before, so I think she knew something was going on," Jay Scott said. The family recently gave the hospital $200,000 from this year's lemonade proceeds.
Kay Sweet, a retired principal who home-schooled Alex over the past three years, when she was too sick to go to school, will most remember her student's determination and fierce independence.


Sweet noted the sacrifices the Scotts have made as they juggled Alex's care, their family life and the fund-raising efforts. Jay Scott works full-time, and their family includes three other children.


"They're just wonderful people, and have given so much of themselves to all of the causes that have been really important to Alex," Sweet said.


On the Net:
Alex's Lemonade Stand: www.alexslemonade.com