Village Park Nasi Lemak @ PJ Uptown

Advantages of being a Malaysian, you get to eat all kind of foods from the vast multi cultural mixture in the country. One of the all time favourites Malaysian food is of course Nasi Lemak. My wife is a big fan of it, and the question is where is the best nasi lemak in KL? My sister brought over to try out the all famous Village Park. I knew it existed, but never know the exact location or try it before, because its actually quite far from my house for a morning breakkie. Covering it for you here now.


Village Park Nasi Lemak Restaurant is basically located in the Uptown of Petaling Jaya, and it's just along the shoplots behind the row facing the LDP highway. It's easily found because they will have this blue tents put up in front of their twin shoplots. Looking at the crowd, you bet it is good.


While making our way in, can't help to notice all the newspaper cutting stick at the doorstep. Newspaper, and a famous face, our current Prime Minister eat here as well. My sister told me this place got even more famous after his visit. Can't see why, because I don't think our PM is a food critics :P

Cedric's First Overseas Trip

My baby is 16 months old now, and yesterday mark the first day for him to go overseas!



It's more like a small river than sea, we bring him over to Singapore for a short holiday and he is enjoying max. Not sure if he knows, but he seems to be more active and happy compare to at home, great to see his laughter. With his new passport valid for upcoming 5 years, we will plan for more trips for him, and hope for him to absorb whatever we can to give him for a good future.

My wife lined up entire program for him, he probably don't know what's going on, but it's also just an excuse for both of us to have a little escape from our routine life =)

Praise to Ipoh Immigration Office, Crap to Putrajaya Bullshit

This post is on special request by my wife, because she got so emotional about this so requested me to do special entry. Yes Ma'am!

With my baby boy approaching 16 months now, finally we can start to plan for some trips for ourselves, and also expose him to other part of the world. We wanted to apply passport for him so at least we can bring him to the nearest 'overseas' Singapore. It took us 3 attempts, before we finally manage to get him a Passport! That's crazy considering immigration department in Malaysia has improved tremendously over my last visit, but think we are back to square one.

As both of us are working, so our times are quite limited, and we target to complete the application by Saturday morning. After checking know the opening time, we choose to go to the Kelana Jaya branch, because there is normally where I done my passport. My friends has warned me about crowd and advice me to go Putrajaya instead, but I thought not necessary. As we reached there, we saw a full crowd of people in the entire immigration office, some even have to stand outside. I quickly lined up to get the queue number, and before the queue even start moving, the officer announced "Sistem Tergendala, Harap Maaf", meaning system is down. Everyone don't know what's happening and continue to queue, my wife asked and officer said it's impossible to get the passport within the same day, so we decided to go off as we know our baby wouldnt be able to wait patiently together with us.

As when we decided to leave, my civic then gives us the trouble, engine not able to start, this refer back to my old post. Now you know my frustration. Wasted entire day for this when we got so many things on schedule.

2nd attempt, after Kelana Jaya experience, we finally decided to give Putrajaya branch a try. Long drive and upon reaching there, the building is beautiful from outside, but looks like ghost town. Went inside and it's so run down, really sad seeing our tax money wasted in such manner. Worst, there is only 4 counters and again there is a whole bunch of crowd filling entire tiny room. This time we decided to wait for it, as we couldn't afford to wait another week. We told the officer we got a baby with us, asking for queue number and he give us the number 86, and now serving 02. I went like WTF??? Asked the officer again, roughly how long need to wait, he said 1 hour. I doubted it, but without choice, I brought my family for breakfast and came back, to our horror after 30minutes, the number serving is 04!!! I told my wife, they move 1 number within 15minutes, we need 1,260minutes, that's 21hours! My wife said, let's wait a while more. I observe the counters see what they are doing, and saw they are calling a different set of numbers and all of them are family with young baby. I quickly ask one of the father why his number is different from mine, he told me you must tell the officer that you have a young baby, they will give you priority. I said I told them! I quickly pull my wife to the counter and the officer earlier is no where to sight. The lady told us yes, there is different number for family with baby. And we got 08 instead while it's not serving 04. A big relief, but angry. Just another few minutes after we got our new number, the officer again announce, "Sistem Tergendala, Harap Maaf". WTF!?

We check with the officer again, and he said it's whole Malaysia system problem, no matter where we go, it's the same. Crap, we got to drive all the way back to KL and wasted yet another half day for this crap. What pissed me off is the unprofessional of the officer, all wearing stylish casual wear and chit chatting and laughing behind the counter while hundred of applicants waited impatiently. It's attitude problem, I don't see them working hard trying to resolve the problem and serve the people.

We planned for Ipoh trip, so I told my wife, let's give it another try in Ipoh, she is sceptical about Ipoh immigration office. As we reach Ipoh branch, there is long queue. We quickly lined up and got a special number for baby. To our surprise, there are nearly 20 counters!! And they call our number right after we step in! Within 15 minutes, we got everything settled, and passport is ready within an hour. My wife is so happy and that's when she told me must blog about this! Praising the effectiveness of the Ipoh branch, friendliness of the staff and their professionalism! I felt proud of them as well, considering myself as Ipoh boy. We catch our wonderful and happy breakfast, and the passport is ready for us in 45 minutes instead. The service is 180 degree different from the Putrajaya!

What system is down for entire Malaysia? Crap!
Putrajaya being the capital of the government services, 4 counters and idiot officer? Crap!

Point to note, in Ipoh branch, they are churning our numbers very fast even for normal queue, as we walk away by 10am, the numbers already breached 100+ queue. Talk about effectiveness of Malaysia government, business as usual without any improvements. No wonder everyone is crying for a change in the government, as long as they continue to waste our tax money (My family contributed a lot of tax money, that's why I'm so mad!) they won't be long to stay in the office.

Honda Insurance Package, Like!

Last Saturday my Honda Civic got into flat battery problem, and me and my family is stucked in the town with baby in tow. For those with a young baby in the family, you know my frustration. Reliability and predictability is the main reason why we choose to buy a Honda, but then this happen to me. Without any warning / sign in the morning start, it just refuse to crank at parking lot. My Honda Civic is only 1 year 7 months old and clocking around 29,000km only.



When we bought the car, we took up the Honda Insurance Package as well, which is basically insured by Tokio Marine. Knowing that it should be under warranty, I call up the HIP's emergency number and after some calls, rescue sent from Honda 3S, Tenaga Setia Resources (because they are the nearest service center to my location) arrived after nearly 30 minutes. They jump-started my car, and pointed me over to their service center for battery warranty claim. Reached there and priority is given for insurance claim case, and my car is done within another 30 minutes, while my baby played at the children section in the center.

Although it was a bit hassle, but I overall praise the efficiency and response of the rescue team, particularly immediate attention on my case when I'm in the service center. For those new buyer of Honda car, go along with the Honda Insurance Package, it's integrated insurance with Honda Service Center that prioritise on the customer needs. I'm still a happy customer =)

BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon 2012

Recently I manage to complete another 21km marathon and this time we got 9 of us in the run. One of my friends manage to convince our company to sponsor us for the registration fees, and he successfully did it. Special thanks to our compny, truly encouraging healthy lifestyle for the employees. We have some new comers this time, so we train together but some are particularly lacking in training because they always never show up. So we already expecting them to suffer during the run, true enough, they struggled. Did they complete the run? Let's find out.



We joined the BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon 2012 and we travelled there in 2 cars. We all met nearby my house, and heavy rain just started pouring with thunderstorm! All of us were so worry as we would be running in the rain, but luck is on our side. The rain didn't reach Putrajaya area, and it was all clear sky when we reached there. We had some bread, water and took photos then the event is near starting at 8.30pm.

This run, I acted as the sweeper, partly because I didn't train enough to do time attack, but main reason were to take care of our new comers into their 1st 21km marathon event. True enough, 2 friends that's lacking in training, struggled along the race. I ran along with them, helped them and gave them encouragement. The lady that started off with stomach pain, I suspected she ate too much and she felt pain on the right side of the abdomen. I slowed her down and she felt better after drinking some water along the way. She also made a big mistake by wearing her new Reebok shoe for the run, and the shoe is a size smaller for marathon run (normally we buy a size bigger). Her feet started to feel the pain and finally she couldn't take it anymore upon 10km distance. She took it off and I carried the shoes for her, and she speed up like a leopard. Problem then started for my 2nd friend, the macho guy.

Initially, he seemed to be running good, and he pounded away from us after 10km mark, but we picked him back in 12-13km, he was struggling to continue to run as the pain started to attack his feet. This is the common problem for new comers, as they didn't put enough distance into their training, so their body can't take the punishment. He struggled badly that we have to run and walk along the way. I can see he is really suffering with the feet pain, and he felt like giving up, asking question about why people so stupid joining these kind of marathon. Gave some encouragements, we continued to push our limit and after over 2 hours, we were finally reaching the final few kms. I pushed them to complete the run, and the lady took off going ahead of us. I waited for my other friend, and his face started to turn pale. I were so worry that he will pass out. Persistent paid off, we both crossed the finishing line just a minute after 3 hours.

All of us completed the run safely, and as expected, some suffered the pain for days after the event, part and parcel of the marathon experience. They swear not to join again, but I'm sure they will run again next round =) Well done to all my friends.

I told them every run is a new experience, and for me, what's new?
1. I run with 4 shoes for the first time in my life on a 21km marathon (carrying shoes for the lady)
2. My first run in Putrajaya, and boy the place is beautiful. Too bad the route got too many slope, struggled a little over the marathon.

Cheers, and keep running =) Respect the Distance ...

Which Smartphone to Buy?

My ownership of the iPhone4 is near the end, reaching the usual 2 years circle as my contract with carrier end this year. So as usual, we are out to hunt for our next smartphone that will accompany us for the coming 2 years. My wife has basically decided to go for the new iPhone 5, as she is so comfortable with the iOS operation, then the headache is for mine.

I look at the market, and there are only a few notable players, namely Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia. There are others, but not really big players, so let's stick to the big names only, shall we?

    photo courtesy of www.gsmarena.com

 For Apple, there is only 1 product. iPhone 5 that's just announced, and it's not even in Malaysia yet. The iOS is a great operating system, I've been using it for 2 years, and it's all great, predictable and functional. There is no problem for me to continue with another iPhone for another 2 years, but I just dying for something different, to try out something else. However, the iPhone 5 still marvel in the following, which I'm still holding my grounds towards other brand.

Most notable feature: Incredible Retina Display (no matter what pixel you are advertising, nothing beats the Retina Display as of today!), excellent iOS system on functionality and stability, incredible built quality (premiumly built, and I dropped it multiple times, still functioning with only minor scratches).


    photo courtesy of www.gsmarena.com

For Samsung, I'm particularly looking at the Galaxy Note 2, incredible 5.5" size and I'm a man that's always looking for bigger stuff! I'm very much attracted to the sreen size and the 1.6GHz Quad Core Processor is just a no brainer features! However, the superb screen size is also a concern as I've personally play with a Galaxy Note 1 before, and it's not really ergonomics for our hand size. Further, the infamous plastic built quality of Samsung device is not really to my liking. I love the device, the specs tick all my boxes, but the size and plastic built is holding me back. What other choice I have? Galaxy S3? It's the same with a smaller screen, I would probably be prefer to go for iPhone 5 in that case.


    photo courtesy of www.gsmarena.com

For HTC, their trademark set named One X is almost the same as the Galaxy S3, only with a better built quality, much better and going head to head with iPhone. Performance wise still lose to S3 but if you are looking for a good built quality set on Android, One X is the only choice. For the size of 4.7", I'm torn between S3 or One X.


    photo courtesy of www.gsmarena.com

For Nokia, Microsoft based Lumia seems to take the world by storms, but it is still at its infancy, and they are growing fast. I've play with one before too, and the interface is definitely refreshing with lots of potential. I would say it's better than the Android, but due to its late entry, the concern is still on the apps availability and future potential. Lumia 920 the crown of model line-up, seems to be still running on dual core, but that's not a real concern as long as the Windows is running well.

I still can't make up my mind, and all above are almost in the same price range, only package by carrier will need a microscope to determine the best deal. With same price, concern is still on which to choose, as it's a 2 year commitment. It's sad to stuck with something you don't like, so I will spend some more time to think this through, I got 2 weeks more =)

You will notice that I don't stress on the specification, as they are mostly in the same. However, the operation of the smartphone does not rely on the processor, RAM, pixels and etc alone. It's a whole package, that's why Apple iOS is the most stable as they controlled everything. For top range smartphone, their performance is comparable, only consideration is the operating system if it's to your liking, and also the screen display and sizes.

Nasi Kandar Line Clear @ Penang

Been to Penang a few times so far, and this round I travel with a friend of mine, and he said want to eat the yummilicious Nasi Kandar in Penang. I asked him what's that, and he went like ... He asked me, you really don't know? I said no, then off we go to find the famous Nasi Kandar in Penang Island.


Introducing the Nasi Kandar Line Clear, hey, that's very weird name. Line Clear?? It's located just along the Jalan Penang and few shops away from the junction of Lebuh Chulia. Do notice that there are two shops in the photos, the Line Clear and the Yasmeen. Don't mistaken that they are the same, Line Clear is the famous one, Yasmeen is just another imitation trying to take advatanges of the fame, usual case.


Then you complain, where is it? It's along the road beside Yasmeen, and here is the entrance, hehe. It's not even a proper shop, and here is the entrance. Maybe that's why they are famous. As you can see, people line up all the way until outside, and the black shirt with stripes guy is lining up too.


This is the line of people queueing up, and the food is in the middle of the "restaurant". People mountain, people sea. I easily counted 30 people infront of us, but it's moving fast!

Chung Kee "Dai Shu Geok" @ Ipoh

In Ipoh, there are lots of good food around, but then everyone is asking me what else to eat in Ipoh? I tell them yong tau fu, then they said isn't the best yong tau fu is in Ampang? I replied, yes, because Ipoh's style yong tau fu is not called as such. We called them liu fun. Don't know how to explain, but it's been that way for long long time. It's almost the same thing basically, just that we don't eat them with rice.


This is the famous Chung Kee "Dai Shu Geok" in Ipoh. Dai Shu Geok meaning Big Tree Foot. The name is given because Chung Kee is originally located below a very big tree, so Ipoh people call the place Big Tree Foot rather than Chung Kee. It's well known, any Ipoh people will be able to point the direction.


New outlet, more spacious, more hygienic, and more comfortable. I personally don't like it, because I think it lost its charm of being a neighbourhood stall churning out good food. However, with a baby in tow, this environment is definitely more convenient for family. Appreciate it also.

Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant @ Ipoh

Visited this place time ago, and since I'm free now, trying to clear off my outstanding posting as much as possible. If you are in Ipoh, and suddenly craving for Japanese food, how? Every town will have some nice places for these kind of food, and in Ipoh, I introduce you the Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant. Most of the Ipoh boys and girls will know this place, as they serve one of the cheapest and best quality food in the town.


Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant, located in the new shop lots within the Ipoh Garden East. It's not hard to find, and it takes up 2 lots with rooms available.


Interior, the bar counter is all clean and sleek. It's not one of the best looking restaurant, but they do looks professional. Talked to the owner and their fish are directly imported from Japan every Tuesday. So if you are looking for fresh Japanese fish, go on Wednesday. Not sure if they have changed that though. Why run so far to KL for a Japan fish lunch/dinner?

Yang Kee Beef Noodle @ OUG

I've been staying nearby OUG for a long long time, and all these while I'm not aware of this place that serves one of the best beef noodles! My best friend CW brought me over the other day, and I got really surprise on how the delicious is the food, which me as a food blogger don't even aware of its existence. Talk about finding gems within own farm.


Introducing the best beef noodles in this tiny shop named Yang Kee Beef Noodles. It's located just along the shop of "famous" Steven's Corner within the OUG.

The shop is all airy, clean, and bright. Plastic chair and plastic table all around, and the cooking is all done at the back. They hang up those red decoration, earlier I thought it's some kinda japanese restaurant, haha.