How To : 5 Top Tips To Keep Happy At Work

1. Choose To Be Happy At Work.
It's a choice... it's YOUR choice. Think positively about your work. You can choose to be happy at work.

2. Do Something You Love Every Day.
Find something that you enjoy doing every day in your current job. Look at your strengths, skills and interest. Capitalize on your strengths and focus on the things that you can control and influence.

3. Make Only Commitments That You Can Keep.
Understand your capability and assess your ability to complete a requested commitment. Don't volunteer if you don't have time, else you will wallow in the swamp of unkept promises. Fulfilling those commitments will reinforce your sense of accomplishment.

4. Make Friends And Have Buddies.
Enjoying moments and liking your colleagues will help you have a more meaningful work experience. Take time to get to know your colleagues and build networks. In turn, they can provide you with support, resources, news and sharing.

5. If All Fails, Job Searching Will Make You Smile!!!

Food Review : Sisters Char Keoy Teow

One of the famous char keoy teow spots in Penang, the Sisters Char Keoy Teow is located along Macalister Road. It's tucked away in an unassuming corner of the road. Sisters started off with 2 sisters (hence the name!) as the pioneers and now the stall has been inherited by one of their son. Besides the famous char keoy teow, they also have jawa mee, wantan mee and an assortment of kuihs.

We ordered the medium plate of char keoy teow, it was a pretty small plate when it arrived. But there were 2 big prawns in the plate and the overall taste was wonderful! There was a bit of crabmeat at the top which it was originally famous for. For RM4, it was a pretty satisfying meal. Ditch that overrated and overpriced char keoy teow from Lorong Selamat and head over to Sisters. :)

Ultra delicious Char Keoy Teow

We also ordered the Jawa Mee and it is supposedly the original Jawa Mee in Penang (not sure how true is this claim). It was a bit pricey for a normal Jawa Mee at RM3.50. Anyhow, it made for good eating too. A good experience in one of the oldest coffee shops in Penang!

Just go for the char keoy teow. :)

Product Review : New Anglia Shandy Apple Flavour

So I've been a long time fan of shandy, especially Anglia Shandy. I even have a stack of playing cards embossed with the Anglia Shandy logo that I remember playing with during my childhood days. :)

So it was with great anticipation when I read in the Star newspaper article about a new Anglia Shandy flavour being launched in Malaysia. Called the Anglia Apple, it promised a fresh tangy taste to the lemonade beer.

A brand new twist on the old Shandy

We bought a couple of cans to try it out. And boy! I would definitely not recommend this drink to anyone. The taste of the shandy was totally overwhelmed by the fake apple-ish flavour. It came in with a bang.... but it sure does fizzle out.

Moral of the story : Stay loyal to the original Anglia Shandy - I'm buying a whole crate of them for Chinese New Year!

Food Review : Kenny Roger's Roasters, Queensbay

It's always a struggle thinking of what to eat in Queensbay Mall, Penang. Anyhow, we decided to head to Kenny Roger's on the basement level, despite some bad reviews that we've heard about the place.

It was pretty quiet in the restaurant, with just another table taken up by a couple. We hesitated but then decided to take the plunge and go ahead to order. We chose the 1/4 black pepper chicken with 3 sides and muffin for RM17.90++. We chose the mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit salad for our sides. You get to choose from 3 different flavours of muffin as well - banana, vanilla or chocolate. We asked for extra black pepper sauce which made the meal extra spicy and yummy.

Slurpilicious!

So, the story ends with a happy ending... fortunately! :)

How To : Make White Fungus Tong Sui

The white fungus tong sui is good for those with cough and those that need more "cooling" drinks for the body. It is suitable to drink after a spicy or fried meal.

Ingredients :
1. White Fungus (Peh Bok Nee)
2. Lotus Seeds (Leng Chi)
3. Pai Her
4. Dried longan (Ngeng Ngeng)
5. Rock sugar
6. Pandan leaves

The Ingredients

Steps :
1. Wash and soak the lotus seeds and white fungus in water for about an hour to get it soft. Remove the green shoot inside the lotus seeds as it will make the drink bitter. Remove any hard parts from the white fungus as well.
2. Wash the other ingredients and throw everything into the pot to boil. Make sure not to soak the dried longan in the water for too long as it will lose its sweetness.
3. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about half an hour.
4. Remove from fire and serve warm or cold.

The result

Travel Review : Gua Tempurung, Perak

Head for the hills!! Ok, so it's a cave in this case - Gua Tempurung. Located in Perak near Gopeng, the largest limestone cave in West Malaysia is easily accessible off the North-South highway using the Gopeng interchange.

We took a day trip to Gua Tempurung after hearing a lot of good reviews of the place. Upon arrival, we checked out the available tours there. There were 4 different types of tours. If you are aiming for the Grand Tour, make sure to arrive early as the last entry for this particular tour is at 11am.

As it had been raining the previous night as well as having some light drizzle in the morning, the wet tours were closed as the water level was too high and therefore considered dangerous. We settled for the Top Of The World tour instead.

The tour turned out to be pretty informative as we slowly walked along the pathway. The rest of the group had gone ahead so the tour guide stayed with us instead and gave us some tidbits of information. We were shown the various landmarks formed by the stalagmites and stalactites of the cave - the Cat, the Old Man, the Jellyfish were among them.

I call it - THE BULL.

As a last note, remember to bring along a complete change of clothes if you want to go for the wet tours. Sport shoes and a torchlight are mandatory. Most importantly, bring your waterproof bags around to protect your electronic items (handphones, car keys, etc) as you may get submerged completely in the water at certain points.

Food Review : McDonald's Cheeseburger

With food prices still being on the rise despite decreasing petrol prices, one can only wonder where to get a good and reasonable meal. Well, for sure, it would not be at McDonald's.

We ordered a large McValue meal and a cheeseburger a la carte. The cheeseburger alone cost us RM4.20 with the 5% government tax. Just check out how "huge" it is in comparison to the drink. :) Definitely not food that you can eat to fill up your stomach. Sure enough, we felt hungry again after 2 hours. Guess our tummies didn't need the regular 4-hour schedule to process that food.

It is not the first time I've felt that McDonald's just isn't worth the money (check out my previous post). Guess I'm going to be avoiding McDonald's for a while now. At least until the portions get bigger, or the prices get smaller. Both of which may never happen... but I can always hope.

Food Review : Victoria Station, Penang

Ahhh... what did Penangites eat for upscale Western food before TGIF and Chili's landed in Penang? Where else but Victoria Station, that restaurant famous for its train theme and confusing train schedules? (Has anyone else looked at those schedules and tried to make sense of it?)

Just to refresh those good-ole-days' memories, we headed back to Victoria Station for lunch. They had a fresh flower on our table, which felt like a class above Chili's and TGIF. We ended up ordering one of my usuals, the Fisherman's Platter which boasts of an array of seafood -scallops, prawns, fish and squid. And of course accompanied by the salad and fat fries on the side. The dish would not be complete without tartar sauce to dip all those fried seafood! The dish cost about RM27.90++ which I think is pretty reasonable for the choices of seafood that I got.

Cholesterol-inducing Fisherman's Platter

We got a plate of Baked Salmon as well, which came with baked potato (one of my favs!) and corn. Don't forget to ask for more of the potato fillings when they come around. The portion was quite big for the price (RM34.90++) and delicious too.

Baked Salmon, yum!

It was a good walk down memory lane. Personally, I'd still keep this place on my list of to-go places.

How To : Make Fried Rice Chinese-Style

Fancy eating in for a change instead of always going out to eat but don't have enough ingredients to make a whole 3-course meal? Why not try a simple dish like fried rice which is simple and easy to make?

Ingredients for 2 people :
1. Cooked rice (tip : cooked rice left overnight is best for this as the moisture has dried up)
2. 1 Carrot, diced into small cubes
3. Long beans, about 4 or 5 strands and/or chinese cabbage
4. 2 eggs
5. Diced chicken bits (optional)
6. Dark/Thick soya sauce
7. Chopped shallots and garlic

Instructions :
1. Pour some cooking oil into a heated wok.
2. Once the oil is hot, throw in the shallots and garlic and stir them until they are mildly cooked.
3. Throw in the chicken (if you have) together with the carrots and long beans.
4. Stir fry the ingredients until they start getting cooked. Add salt to taste.
5. Now add in the rice and mix well, adding the dark soya sauce for the colouring.
6. Create a well in the middle of the wok and break the eggs into the well.
7. Cover the eggs with the rice and mix well.
8. Once everything is cooked, it is ready to serve.

Home-style Chinese Fried Rice

Food Review : Ryoma Japanese Restaurant

Located along Jalan Tanjung Tokong, Ryoma is housed in an old refurnished bungalow and boasts of an authentic in-house Japanese chief chef. Incidentally, the website seems quite outdated compared to the actual menu provided at the restaurant. Make sure to flip through all the pages of the "real" menu if you go there - it has some hilarious captions in addition to the pictures of the food there.

Must be very nice, dear!

After entertaining ourselves with the captions, we decided to get down to the real business of ordering our food. The prices were quite steep if you compare it to "fast-food" Japanese restaurants like Sushi King or Sakae Sushi. The service was quite good however, we were given a private room and served with ladies fingers as an appetizer, free of charge!

We finally settled on the Ryoma Gozen bento set - the main attraction being the 4 blocks of raw salmon and one deep-fried salmon. It also comes with teriyaki chicken, vege tempura and salad. Since we chose the set, it also came with a bowl of rice, miso soup and chawanmushi. The price for this was RM48++. It was quite worth it to order the set. Ordering the dishes individually would have cost us much more as the chawanmushi cost RM10 if ordered ala carte style.

Ryoma Gozen

We also ordered the kake ramen for RM16++ (I tried to change the ramen noodles to udon instead but it would cost us RM6 charge for changing noodles, so no way!). The amount of food was just nice for the both of us and the green tea comes free of charge as well. The ambience of the restaurant is really nice especially when it starts to get dark. Remember to take a walk around the restaurant outside after dinner - it's a good way to exercise as well as enjoy the lights and scenery outside.

Walking it off around Ryoma

Product Review : St Ives Apricot Scrub (Invigorating)

The St Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub has been around for years. The product promises to reveal vibrant, visibly healthy skin and also making your skin look softer and smoother. I got it for less than RM20, alternatively you can also wait for special promos to get it at a cheaper price.


Technique :
1. I usually wash with a cleanser before using a scrub. Probably it's cos I have the paranoia that I'll scrub all the dirt into my skin if I did not clean it beforehand. :)
2. Once the face is cleansed, squeeze out about an inch of the scrub into the palm of the hand.
3. Apply all over the face and scrub using the palm for a more even effect. Do not scrub too hard or you'll end up doing more harm than good.
4. Leave on face for about 1 minute and then rinse thoroughly.

The result :
The face does feel a lot smoother, probably because of the graininess of the scrub - it has a very sandy feel to it when you first use it. Overall, it does feel like you're just scrubbing your face with sand from the beach. Therefore I don't recommend using the scrub daily as it will be pretty harsh on your skin. However, it's pretty refreshing and no negative reactions from using the scrub. I can definitely use this scrub in conjunction with my face mask from Simple.

Food Review : Bravo Italiana, I-Avenue Penang

We went for lunch at the somewhat newly opened Bravo Italiana at I-Avenue Bayan Lepas. The set lunches start from RM16.90++, which consists of their homemade soup, a main meal, drinks (choose from tea, coffee or iced lemon tea) and ice-cream for dessert. It comes with complimentary garlic bread, which was freshly done and warm from the oven.

We ordered the Black Pepper Chicken set lunch, which was the RM16.90++ set. The soup arrived first - it was homemade broccoli soup. Pretty tasty! The black pepper chicken was average - just the normal sauce over the fried chicken. It came with the usual sides of mixed vege and fries.

Black Pepper Chicken

We also ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was nicely presented and delicious as well. Usually I tend to avoid creamy sauces because it does not taste good once the dish gets cold, leaving me with a mildly nauseated feeling. However, the spaghetti here was pretty good.

Spaghetti Cabonara

The Spaghetti Al Capitano was excellent - tomato based sauce and seafood. What could be better? The seafood was nicely cooked and did not have the "stale" smell that comes from old seafood. Make it a point to order this dish!

Spaghetti Al Capitano

Lastly, we ordered the tiramisu for dessert. The price was a bit offputting at first at RM12.80. We were wondering whether it would be nice enough to merit that price. However, it did not disappoint as this is really something that is a must-try!! It was creamy and had a pretty strong alcohol flavour to savour.

The delicious creamy tiramisu

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this place as the price is not that expensive and the food is excellent.

Happy New Year 2009!

Little words are needed. Have a blessed 2009 ahead!