Confessions of a City Slicker

I alway thought my favorite color is blue. I’ve always loved blue ever since I was a little kid, which kinda contradicts with the cliche that little girls should wear pink and little boys wear blue.

Nah, not moi. I’ll grab anything that is blue.

Experts also say that blue is especially suitable for the bedroom because it’s a relaxing color. Hey, even better news for me because sleeping is my favorite pastime next to being a couch potato

And damn, do I adore blue eyes. I’ve always wished mine were blue but that’s not possible with my DNA. Thank God for colored contacts

My recent shopping trip revealed otherwise, though because I seem to lean more towards white. An inventory of my wardrobe confirms that I have a fetish for white shirts. I think it’s because no matter what they look like, even if it’s just a plain ol’ white T-shirt, they always look so hot as a 3-piece ensemble. Plus, they are real easy to match with anything.

It’s strange. During my shopping trip, I kept reminding myself to go for bold colors. Don’t grab the white things because I do have choices. However, the same design presented with a few colors to choose from, I automatically pick the white ones.

Maybe because I saw the white one first? Will my choices be any different had I seen the same piece of clothing in a different color before I see it in white?

Hmm…

That doesn’t mean that I’ll stop buying my beloved LBDs though.

This trip to KL was particularly busy so there wasn’t much time to explore or hunt for delicious food. We were introduced to 2 must go places near our hotel, Istana - a place that serves champagne for breakfast and another place with a very unique signature dish.

It as during our last night in KL that the boss suggested we have something special for dinner and we decided to go to the second place, El Cerno along Jalan Bukit Bintang.

This is a section of Jalan Bukit Bintang I’ve never been to before, a short walk from Istana Hotel. It reminds me of a more happening version of Lorong Selamat. There are pubs, bistros and restaurants on both sides of the road.

The sign at the main entrance says, “Porkielicious” which tells you what their main dishes comprise of. Heck, even their menu has pictures of pigs on them.

The signature dish of this place is a baby piglet dish made from a 150 year old recipe that leaves the finished product with a very crispy skin and flesh so tender you can cut it with a plate. It’s called Cochinillo Al Estilo Segoviano and costs RM118 for half a piglet (2 persons) and 219 for a whole piglet (4 persons).

Not gonna put pics here because it takes forever to upload a pic in FS blogs unless you already uploaded them elsewhere and embed the link here, so you can check out the pics in my FB account.

Along with the baby piglet dish, we also ordered an apetiser. Our biggest surprise was when they threw in soup and an after dinner drink for us for free!

Our baby piglet came along soon after that and Lisa, our waitress walked us through the process. With one swift fell, she showed us that you really can cut the piglet with your plate. Customers get their chance to cut the piglet after that.

Then, came the fun part. After cutting the pig, they brought out this bucket with a stone mortar inside. Lisa explained that after cutting the pig, you must break the plate for good luck and you get to choose one of 2 wishes - love or money.

If you choose love, you hold your plate at 5 o’clock and 7 o’clock. If you choose money, you hold your plate at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Then you drop your plate into the bucket. The plate will break when it hits the mortar so you don’t have to worry about shards of glass flying everywhere.

It didn’t occur to me to video tape the whole process. Damn, what a wasted opportunity :p

The dish came with accompanying side dishes that includes salad, potato wedges and the most heavenly, out of this world gravy. As expected, the skin of the baby piglet was crispy and fragrant but there were lots of fat underneath. Baby piglets normally don’t have a lot of flesh but we were told that because the animal was still young, the fat is not really that unhealthy.

Really? For me, fat is fat, no matter how you put it.

Lisa told us that eating the dish with our hands makes it more fun and tasty but I passed because then I’ll have to dig stuff from under my nails when washing my hands. They did provide each of us a bowl with water and lemon for this purpose, though.

Half a baby piglet shared amongst 3 persons is quite a lot, especially with the fat, it made us full real quickly.

The other dishes were just as good.

The soup was this very thick and smooth stew. Can’t tell was was inside because they were all very well mashed up but whatever it was, the combination was just superb.

Our appetiser was called Baquerones which are bacons stuffed with white wine marinated anchovies. It was recommended by the staff so we thought the anchovies were salmon. Only after reading the menu did we realize they were anchovies. The bacon were really crispy and fragrant as well.

I enjoyed my meal there, mostly because of the experience. I did feel a little guity about eating the baby piglet. After all, it looked so adorable on the platter and it is a young animal that hasn’t even had a taste of life.

Then I came home and read this in the papers which piled on the guilt :p

We didn’t get to go to the other place for breakfast, though. We were exhausted and slept till noon only to have to rush to the airport. Next time, maybe.

I’ve been hearing a good deal about the beef noodle from Jalan Alor for quite some time now, so this trip to KL, I convinced a very hot local to take me to the place

Apparently he also has never tried the beef noodles, so we both got our “beef noodle cherries” popped that night.

There is really just one stall that we could fine there - Ngau Kee - which also came highly recommended by several floggers. It’s not really located in Jalan Alor per se, more like another road parallel to it.

Ngau Kee is not a shop but a stall that serves customer on the five foot way.

I promptly ordered my bowl of noodle with soup, as usual and being quite proud of myself that KL people understood my Cantonese. My date had the dried koay teow.

So here is my bowl of noodle with a few balls, bits of beef and shredded beef mixed inside. On first tasting the soup, there is definitely the unmistakable aroma of beef somewhere in there but by the end of the meal, it started to feel like I’m eating lor mee instead of beef noodles. Too much use of star anise, I guess, understandably to mask the smell of beef, since most locals don’t care for it.

My date did let me have a taste the soup that comes with his dried koay teow. There is very strong hint of ginger in there, obviously to mask the smell of beef as well.

It’s a shame really, since we are eating beef noodles, there shouldn’t be this need to mask the smell of beef, which really isn’t that terrible.

So when it comes to ranking for beef noodles in the country, the one in Beach Street, Penang still rules

PS. It took me days to get this post published because I couldn’t insert the picture of the beef noodles. In the end, I had to be content with just inserting the tumbnail. Grrr…

But don’t worry, just click on the image to view the full size.

Friendster Team, *hint, hint* here’s something else you need to fix :p

I’ve often see this dog food commercial when I log into my Yahoo! email account. It’s so touching and sweet and ever fails to bring a tear to my eye. What an aww… moment.

If I get to wake up every single day and see that beautiful sight, my days will always start perfectly. I will be in heaven and everything will be right with the world.

Aren’t dogs wonderful?

It was quite a change from The Ritz to my little isolation room in Penang GH but all in all, I can’t complain. They have been taking very good care of me while I’m here. Heck, I hardly have to get out of bed for anything other than to go to the bathroom.

Speaking of which, I have my own private bathroom right here so there is no need to go share the public one. From what I can see, this floor is being kept very empty so that the regular patients are kept far away from us. Can’t say for sure what’s it like outside because I haven’t set one foot outside my door since I got here.

I’m pretty much left on my own because the doctors and nurses only come in to serve my meals and for my daily check up. That’s fine because the medication left me pretty drowsy anyway. If I can’t sleep, there’s always Facebook and my little pets there to keep my amused.

Meal times, now this is an eye opener. I was resigned to having oatmeal and porridge for the duration but they surprised me by asking if I wanted Western Food or Asian Food. I opted for Western food and have been gorging myself for the past few days. One thing’s for sure, I’m going home a few pounds heavier since I’m going without my Herbalife. Seriously folks, the food might not be up to restaurant standards, but they ain’t half bad either.

I get to leave after breakfast tomorrow morning, once I’ve had my 6th dose of Tamiflu. Can’t wait to get home to my own bed.

My roommate told me that some of her friends who also caught the virus have been discharged and guess what? The whole stay here is 100% FOC!

Can you believe that? Staying in a private air-conditioned room and fed stuff like fish & chips, 1/4 chicken with mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and French toast and it’s all for FREE!

I can only imagine how much a private hospital will charge for this. I remember staying not even one night in a private hospital when I had food poisoning and they charged me a bomb.

To the team at Penang GH, thank you so much for your hospitality. You guys have been great. Also to the Action Team, for following up with me and checking up on the parents while they are being quarantined at home.

Sei Lou is coming back, World. Did you miss me?

I can’t believe this is happening to me. I read the reports in the papers all the time but never thought I would be one of those “lucky” ones who caught the Swine Flu.

Guess it’s a good thing that E had the foresight to get us tested as soon as we came back from KL. Granted, I had been working very hard that week in KL, so probably my immune system took a beating.

I was already feeling under the weather the day we left KL. Since I exhibited the symptoms, they had me tested and put under house quarantine pending the results.

Believe me, it’s no fun being treated like contaminated material. The folks from the hospital all came out in their Hazmat suits to swipe my throat. Before that, they wouldn’t even come out and see me, instead took my history over the phone.

Two days later, this afternoon to be precise, my results were in. Two health inspectors showed up at my frontdoor and told me that I had to get myself admitted to the hospital for treatment. Depending on how much I respond to treatment, I could be here for around 3 days then spend another few days on home quarantine.

At least they allowed me to bring my laptop and since I had the little broadband USB with me, I can still go check my Facebook. God, I’m really pathetic. Can’t live without my Facebook LOL.

When I came to get myself checked in, there was already a receiving line waiting for me. Yet, nobody wanted to come within 5 feet of me, it seems. The guy at the entrance yelled my name from across the room then directed me to the waiting area.

“Great,” I thought. “Now everyone within earshot knows that Sheryl Lee has H1N1.”

Then another guy in a hazmat suit came to escort me up to my room. It was like a VIP escort as he directed people out of the way. When we came to a busy corridor, he had me wait while he cleared the traffic. I’ll actually think it’s funny if I wasn’t sick.

He left me at the elevator with instructions to go to the 3rd floor. When the door opens again, I’m confronted with a cage. Man, these guys are serious. A nurse also fully wrapped up in a hazmat suit came and escorted me to my room.

Well, at least I won’t feel like I’m sleeping in a five-foot way when I’m here. I have a roommate, who also got checked in today.

They have already taken my blood and chest X-rays so it’s the long wait to see how well I respond. At the moment, their action unit is retracing all my steps during my trip to KL, including people I made contact with and the people on my flight.

Unfortunately, my roommates from KL have already left the country by the time my results came out.

I’m gonna have a lot of time on my hands the next few days, so folks, feel free to drop by for a chat on MSN or Facebook, k? Update me on what’s going on in the outside world because I don’t think we are allowed to leave this room.

And oh yeah, who would have thought that GH offers Western Food to its patients as well. Not bad, huh? At least I won’t puke from a daily diet of porridge.

I have been neglected my blog again. Something happened, but I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s just say that people can be so mean and cruel.

I just need to take some time to grieve and mourn, but I have faith in God that He will lead me in the right path and offer solace for my broken soul.

Meanwhile, I want to share this video with you all. It’s a very beautiful song with a powerful message of love and peace. Thanks for sharing, P

I don’t know about you guys, but he so reminds me of a young David Archuleta.

I had my browser on the whole morning, checking it periodically.  By 10.00 am, the results were in - Kris Allen is the new American Idol.

Then, the threads started to come in on Facebook.

*NAME* Kris won. Not expected. ADAM WAS BETTER!!! America got it wrong…

*NAME* is in utter disbelief that Kris Krap won the American Idol competition. (OK, even I have to admit that this one is a little harsh)

*NAME* would have accepted it much easier had Allison Iraheta been made the Idol instead of Kris Allen

And here’s my personal favorite from an ex-schoolmate. She composed a bloody pantun for it too

Bangun pagi, gosok gigi
Hantar budak ke sekolah cepat skali
Langsung balik, di depan TV
Lepas dua jam, dunia ku diruntuhi
Tersangat seksanya, sebab Kris menangi
Oh Adam…sakitnya hati!

Yeah, it’s really tragic that Adam didn’t win. Truthfully, I didn’t really take him that seriously at first. He was just that OTT guy but he is the only one so far who can get away with it. In fact, he made OTT fashionable.

I did wonder if they will make him one of the top 12, and they did.

I only started to pay attention during Michael Jackson week when Adam sang Black or White. After that, he could do no wrong. Every other contestant is forgotten after Adam sings.

I mean, who can forget that famous swagger down the staircase during Jazz week, that powerhouse performance of Born to be Wild, the haunting Mad World and touching If I Can’t Have You that not only reduced Paula to an emotional pool but yours truly and probably millions of other women who tuned in to watch as well?

With Kris, it’s really a matter of Kris Who? He’s such a paradox. I find his performances really boring that I lose interest almost immediately. But surprisingly, the judges seem to rave about him and I’ll go “What?!?!”

Know what? I almost feel sorry for Kris during the finale. Almost.

From the judges’ comment, they were ready to dismiss him. It was like they were consoling him, telling him that if he made it this far, he should be proud of himself.

IMHO, after listening to the song that will be the winner’s debut single, I’m actually relieved that Adam didn’t win. Like, that cheesy song will be his debut single? C’mon, Adam is waaaaayyyyy too sophisticated for that song. It’s so cotton candy fluffy and sweet and my boss will say, “no semangat”.

They can’t be serious to expect someone of Adam’s caliber to debut with that song. Nah, he deserves something better and I expect his first album to shoot right to the top of the charts.

You’re a superstar, Adam, not just an Idol and I will be looking forward to download your debut single

The signs were hung up prominently enough and an announcement was made. The message couldn’t be clearer - NO CAMERAS, NO RECORDING.

But do Penang langs ever listen to instructions? Have they ever been good at listening to instructions?

From my vantage point hiding behind a service door at the back of the ballroom before making my grand entrance for the opening dance number, I spy at least 5 cameras already rolling away.

That was just a view from the doorway. Who knows how many more were doing the same thing on the other side of the room that I couldn’t see.

E mentioned during one of our committee meetings that in other places, when people say no cameras, it means no cameras. People wouldn’t even dare sneak one in or turn it on even if they had one at hand.

Penang langs take an exception to that. We do whatever we want, don’t we?

Darling Blog, I’ve been sooooooo busy lately that I regret to say, I’ve been neglecting you.

I had been so busy preparing for WBDD. Between my duties as video editor, working on the videos up to 2.00 am everyday, getting my costume ready and rehersals for the opening dance, I hardly have the time to blog.

Now that it’s over, I’m going to update all the things that have been happening, so for a short period, there will be many, many belated posts.

The recent WBDD was certainly more happening, with performers from all over Asia coming in.

The highlight was of course, the VIP performer, Sadie. What an amazing performer she is. The drum solo is her specialty. Her movements were precise, sharp and clean. I love how she includes layers in her performance.

Check out her performance. This is one of the pieces that she performed that night. Notice that rapid movement of her belly as she used it to beat the tassle that hangs from her bra. It’s called a flutter, something that’s really new to me.

Sadie has been dancing for 12 years and probably has been for most of the 365 x 12 days, which makes my measly 3 years experience belly dancing just 1/4 of her experience.

No pics to share at the moment, just have to wait for friends to tag me on FB. Sigh, the bane of not owning a camera. There aren’t that many pics to share anyway because I was too busy taking care of the video presentation throughout the evening while everybody else was posing left and right.

I even missed the chance to take a pic with Sadie while she’s still resplendent in her costume. I heard some people cornered her backstage and took a pic there and then.

Ladies, fast fast upload the pics, lah and remember to tag lil’ me

I’m proud to say that my videos were a hit. I didn’t expect the less than a minute short presentation I did for the Children Protection Society, one of the beneficiaries, to get an applause.

Or getting special mention of my name during the event for video editing. That was definitely something I didn’t expect and I was touched that Conny asked the MC to do it.

I bought tickets for the parents to attend the event and as I walked past their table after completing the opening dance, I can see that Mom was really proud of me.

Of course, being the not so demonstrative family that we are, a nod of approval was all I got, but it’s enough for me to know that she acknowledges that I’m really serious about this, that this is not some little interest that I will get tired of soon enough.

Being part of the organizing committee has taught me a lot about allocating my time for office work, committee work, rest, and the fine art of multi-tasking. I couldn’t afford to let any of them clash, otherwise nothing will get done and I’ll end up stretching myself too thin.

All that hard work and lost sleep is definitely worth it to see how successful the night is.

More updates coming up, but I’m going to get some much deserved Zs now. Got lots of them to catch up on.