Eat Jakarta

Went on a trip to Jakarta. Did so many things but what I enjoyed most were the eating and the drink.

Let me list how many things I ate here (those I took picture of) :

1) Nasi padang at Garuda Restoran (which is much like the mamak shop in Malaysia) which you can eat 24 hours a day and is at every corner of Jakarta. They serve it by bringing all the dishes at once and you eat only those you want. They will also only charge you for dishes you've eaten.

All these were served to four diners

All these were served for one diner

2) Nasi Goreng Komplit at Waroeng Kopi (which is like a high-end kopitiam which you can find in many parts of Malaysia)

3) Nasi Goreng Kambing (Lamb fried rice) and Sate Kambing at Kebun Sireh. Jakarta street food at its best complete with buskers to entertain you. The best after-hour food in town :

4) Nasi goreng buntut and nasi with sup buntut (the buntut refer to the tail part of the cow) at Canteen, a shop behind the bookshop Aksara in eX Mall. 

5) Then I also tried a cheese burger from Burger Spot in eX Mall where the patty is made fresh. However, I tasted a better burger where the patty is made fresh in stall in Bandung at a place called Mr. Moo Burger.

6) And of course, I just had to try the Kopi Luwak which is made popular by Oprah and seen in the film The Bucket List where the drink is known as poo of the civet cats which can be found in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia. Kopi Luwak now has a cafe called Kopi Luwak cafe and is sold quite extensively at the airport which you can buy as you are flying off. I now understand why it is so popular as you cannot really taste the acidity like any normal coffee but coffee addict like me feel drinking kopi luwak is like drinking Nescafe (as one my neighbour puts it as we were talking about it). The price per cup? Around RM24 to RM30 (USD8 - USD10) and per packet, it is between USD50 - USD75 per 100grams depending on whether it is Arabica or Robusta.

At the Kopi Luwak cafe in Plaza Indonesia

At Caswell's Fine Coffees and Teas in Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Jakarta

Nestle Drumstick Almond Thrill

New ice cream by Nestle ice cream which is true to its name : Almond Thrill. Full of almond and in terms of thrill, that too. Is it tasty? Let me paint you a picture. You are living in a country where after a full blast of storm and rain, the weather can go back to between 35 to 40 degree Celsius. What better way to cool yourself than grabbing some ice cream. Here was the weather on the day we were given a preview of the new ice cream, and we were sitting just below the sun in Sunway Giza:

The event was launched by Mr Chew Soi Peng, Executive Director of Ice Cream Dvision of Nestle Products Sdn Bhd. The new Nestle Almond Thrill drumstick ice cream joins all the other well-known Nestle drumstick ice cream such as Vanilla Got Nuts, Chocolate Blast and Kit Kat. 

In conjunction with the new flavour, there is a contest which you can join and the prize is RM57,000 in total. Convey how you like to live your adventure with Nestle drumstick by Liking the Facebook page of Nestle drumstick at www.facebook.com/NestleDrumstick. After that register as a member of the Nestle drumstick Almond Thrill 'What’s Yours?' Facebook Application at http://apps.facebook.com/drumstick-thrill. 

Then, upload a video  of not more than 2 minutes long based on the theme onto the Facebook app or you can claim a video shot at any NESTLE DRUMSTICK® ALMOND THRILL "What’s yours?" on-ground event listed on www.drumstick.com.my. Just look at the way you can have fun and try to win yourself some money at where we had the launch in Sunway Giza.

Easy isn't it?

Nur Kasih the Movie

It seems that I have been watching a few Malaysian movie these past few months. More than I usually do. Still getting use to it due to a new business I am involved with which deserves its own blogpost as it is actually a business dream which finally came true. I was ribbed about this business once but I am not into it big time. Let me make sure it is off the ground first before I tell the whole world about it.

So, Nur Kasih the Movie is another movie which I got to watch much, much earlier than the 19 Million fans (which the advertisement claimed had watched the television series). I can attest to its popularity as a household of two like mine, who never tuned in at all to the television series, know of its existence. So, it is no denying the fact, I was intrigued in watching a film about it.

Is it any good?

As a Malaysian movie, which is full of melodrama and love story, it does tug at the heart. Couple it with the sweeping vista of panoramic landscapes in Malaysia, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, it does make it into a movie.

Plotwise, there does stay true to the original storyline which made it famous in television. It also borrowed the storyline of another famous love story but I still would give credit to the scripwriter for making a great story greater. There is a complain about the usage of CGI but it didn't make it any less entertaining.

Tomorrow, 19th of May 2011, it is the first day the movie will be shown nationwide in Malaysia. I can predict it will be a successful movie. It has a twisted plot and it will bring tears to your eyes. There was a parody video from Youtube shown at the start of the movie during the premiere which actually rings true. Why not if you want to spend your money on a few other summer movies from foreign shore, treat yourself to a Made in Malaysia movie which is actually well worth the price of your tickets.

One more thing, if those who never watched the show and said it is all about polygamy, there is no trace of it in the movie.  

Mumbai, not what I expected

What did I get myself into? That was the question when I was told by my wife we were going to Mumbai around 6 months ago. The reason I gave in after being prodded by her for nearly a few years to go to India was due to the cheap Air Asia tickets of RM500++ for 2 persons. India was their new destination then and a friend of my wife asked whether we wanted to go Mumbai with her. My excited wife asked me and we were the holder of 2 tickets to Mumbai. 

There was supposed 3 other people with us going to Mumbai but due to certain unforeseen circumstances, in the end, there were only the two of us. We settled the visa to India at the last minute, booked a hotel room at a 5-star hotel with good rates thanks to the internet and we booked a free-and-easy tour. We talked to people about what to expect. First to the skeptics who keep on saying that we must be mad going to India then to those who know their way there. All these people had went to Mumbai either for business and pleasure and we get both side of the story.

Due to the skepticism that sets in, we packed a whole bag of medicine (adding more than our usual medicine supply which we always bring with us). For all the third world countries disease like malaria and diarrhea. Alhamdulillah, we never needed any of the medicine. 

So, the question that needed to be answered. Is India that bad? My answer is no. I love being in Mumbai. What do I love about it? 

1) The food : You will know why spices are so important in cooking when you are in Mumbai. Everything about India is food. It is so good that it can practically bring tears to your eyes. There are the fresh breads of various kinds, the curry-like gravy which are 100 times potent than curry and the chillies. Someone said I would be surprised at the smell of Mumbai but when I came out of the Mumbai International Airport, what I immediately felt hungry. The right word for it is "Yummmeeeeehhhh......!";

2) The people : They are all talkative. Some do have the look of, who the hell are you to ask me about my country but I will enlightened you nonetheless. And they talk at the same time whilst understanding each other. Being back in Malaysia, my noisy office seems quiet by comparison. The best word to describe them : Colourful;

3) The architecture : I am still in awe with the most expensive home cum personal office in the world with 3 helicopter landing pads own by the owner of Reliance Group of India. As for the other parts of India, I am at a marvel as colonial building mixed it up with art deco building. Even the abandoned buildings around the city are amazing. I have to remind myself to look down whilst walking as I was too engrossed with the buildings;

4) Shopping : The food, the clothes, the material for clothing, the books and even the movie tickets price are cheap. Super cheap. I ate two plate of briyanis with drinks and dessert for RM8-00. I bought a book for RM15. We went to see Thor in 3-D, with premium seats by just paying RM21. If you love shopping, you can do no wrong with Mumbai or India for that matter;

As with any travel, there are cons to it. The time we were there, it was quite hot. So hot that you may will keep on looking for air-conditioned places. Certain part of Mumbai is quite dirty but after living in Malaysia which is not THAT clean in contrast with other cities I have been to, I can accept this fact. As we chose a hotel which is quite far from the city center, we have to travel a bit and the traffic jam was quite bad but what city in the world doesn't have that problem nowadays. Oh, the noise pollution is bad too but again, I live in the city, so I don't mind that.

My assessment of Mumbai? I don't mind going there again if just for the food but I do want to visit other part of India and I suggest you to visit it as you will understand Indian culture better when you have experience a slice of India.

Samsung SMART TV Launch

A few weeks ago in April, I was invited to witness a new revolution in television watching. I did asked myself how smart can a television be as internet seems to be hogging the limelight when it comes to television. It seems that Samsung is one step faster in adapting that as the SMART TV system is not juts about the television. It is also an entertainment system, a computer system you can hook to the television, the 3-D glass that you need to view your favourite show and of course, sound.

As we registered, we were given a 3-D viewing piece for us to see how 'real' television viewing can be. Needless to say, being the blogger we are, we were already playing around with the buttons on it and trying out the spectacles. 

The event was graced by Mr. Yu Jai Sul, the Managing Director of Samsung Malaysia, who pointed out "As we enter a new era of immersive experience, Samsung has redefined the visual elements that make our TVs the centerpiece of any room". Although he is pointing the obvious, it cannot be denied that it is true that rarely does a house does not have a television. Even if you do not watch television, you will use it as a place for you to play video games in so many consoles and use it like I do, as a computer.

A launch gimmick follows with Mr Yu and Dato' Lee Chong Wei breaking a wall to show the new experience coming to your home and then we were presented with the new television and entertainment system.

It was quite impressive and you can just reach out and touch the persons inside the screen (Don't you just wish that?)

The 3D experience is thanks to Samsung 3D LED TVs with stunning clear 3D pictures with the world's best panel technology and proprietary image-improving techniques. The world's fastest unique double-rate frame transition technology reduces the picture frame transition by 50 percent to enhance the viewing quality of 3D content. There is also '3D' sound so that you will run aware scared when the goes in the television says "Bo!"