Korean BBQ

I'm a sucker when it comes to korean food. Last nite, went for dinner at Korean BBQ Restaurant or otherwise known as Dae Jang Gum at Bandar Puteri Puchong (behind Citibank, next to Giant Puchong), with Adrienne and Stephanie. In case you didn't know, Dae Jang Gum (Jewel in the Palace) is a popular korean historical drama. As you stepped into this restaurant, you can already see a big poster of Lee Young-Ae (the main actress in the drama) hanging on the wall. In fact, as I recalled, her posters are also everywhere in Korea...even at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul. This place has a simple decor. Each table has a suction fan hanging from the ceiling, placed over a BBQ pit. A plate of hot charcoal is placed into the pit and the fan will suck the smokes off the pit, when the meat is being barbequed.

We started off with BULGOGI, sweet marinated beef with mixture of soya sauce, sesame oil, black pepper , glass noodle and onion. This comes with rice and 8-9 side cold dishes, which is very typical in a korean meal. We have anchovies with nuts, spinach, bean sprouts, sotong in chilli seaweeds, several varieties of kimchi, mashed potato sweetened with apple and a few other dishes which I have no idea what they are but we makan saja. Unlike our local rice, korean rice is more starchy and moist. Nice! Just like in Korea, we can actually request for extra helpings but for the amount of food that we already had on the table, it was enough to satisfy our appetite.

We also had JOO MOOL LUCK (hope I got the name correct), thick marinated beef, cooked in the BBQ pit. You can actually attempt to barbeque this yourself but usually the waiter will be most happy to do it for you. This dish usually comes with dip and a basket of lettuce.

The kimchi soup is real tasty although a little too spicy for me. It has kimchi, tofu and lot of chillies. We also got complimentary dishes from the restaurant, GYE RAN JIM, an egg custard and kimchi cake (no idea what is the korean name for it). Korean BBQ served a variety of canned drinks, beer and of course, SOJU, which is rice wine. The restaurant served complimentary refillable traditional korean tea known as BORI-CHA.

(pictures are courtesy of Hayana)

I didnt get to check out the toilet in this restaurant but according to Steph, it's decent.

Korean BBQ is open from 11am - 11pm daily.

Article from Star

Nite at TGIF

I was craving for some good old western meal so I went to TGIF with sis and family on Saturday nite at Subang Parade. As we were quite early, the place wasn't very crowded. Niece and I ordered Smothered Steak....hers well done while mine is medium. Nephew ordered fish and chips. BIL and sis ordered burger and sauteed fish pasta respectively.

The last time I went to TGIF before this was about 2 years ago at Section 14 PJ. Service was superb with the waiter tending to our every needs. I can't say the same for TGIF SP. BIL asked for 2 glasses of hot water (he asked TWICE) but the drinks never came at all. How hard can it be to pour hot water onto 2 glasses? My sis' pasta came when the rest of us had already finished our food because the waiter forgot her order. BIL had earlier requested another waiter to kindly check on the pasta but still, the food came so very much later. The supervisor felt bad about this and offered complimentary dessert...which we never took cos we were already full. What a waste huh?

For drinks, I ordered Friday's Lime Margarita, on the rock. Tasted pretty much like plain old lemonade. No taste of tequila at all. A real disappointment. I wondered if their Cosmo would have been better. I think next time must go for a round of happy hour elsewhere. It's long overdue...

Overall it was lousy service, lousy drink, so so food only. Even BIL agreed that the service level has gone down at Friday's SP. Probably should have gone to Chillies instead.

Super Weekend

Went for 3 back to back classes on Saturday - BJam, BPump and my fav BComabat. Was pretty much beat halfway thru combat. I guess it's not such a good idea to do so many back to back. Was very tempted to go for Brian's BBalance but by then, my body didn't allow for it. If I was super woman, I would have gone for BJam, BPump, BCombat, BBalance and RPM in one afternoon...yes, very wishful thinking indeed. Maybe I'm just being kiasu...pay so much per month, go for classes kau kau :-)

On Sunday, went for usual yoga. I was expecting the gym to be a little quieter than usual cos I assume most people would have balik kampung. Surprisingly, the yoga class was full, just like it was every sunday. Mr.Yoga was 5 min late. Just like Thurs & Fri's classes, he got us to do chaturanga pose....again. Luckily we didn't have to hold so long this time. Mr.Yoga never previewed this pose to the non-regulars so I wondered if they knew what they were doing. I think he didn't go around correcting them either. As usual, a lot of downward dog pose in this class, followed by chaturanga, then downward dog, then chaturanga....finally did shoulder stand. Surprisingly, no open shoulder/hips this time. I think Mr.Yoga's not very focus in this class as per his usual self...hmmmm.

Went for BJam after that. Luckily got Siu Siu (sp?) to accompany me. The class was replaced by Cheryl. FJI is like a chipsmore cookie la...sekejap ada, sekejap tak ada. This week, she was a no show. The class went pretty well though....would have been nicer if there were more members. I think next to FJI, I quite like Cheryl as jam instructor.

New direction

In exactly 1 week's time, I will be celebrating my 1-year full membership (or should I call it anniversary?) at my local gym. Coincidentally, this gym and I share the same birthdates...ahaks. In honour of this, I have decided to turn this blog into more of a "gym blog" to keep track of my activities there....and to see how long I will sustain my membership there. I managed to get through 3 months....1 year...so, what's next?

For a start, I went for Crystal's BP class last nite. Arrived at the gym earlier than usual, much to Kelly's curiosity. Since I was too lazy to do warm up, I spent a good 30 mins observing the BC class instead. The BP class wasn't full as usual (probably the rain had something to do with it) but still managed to draw a huge crowd. In BP 61, I upped the weight for tricep and bicep cos there was less repetitions. Sad to say, now that we are back to old releases, I have to revert back to the old weights...sigh. Shoulder track was a killer...as usual. Did pretty well for lunges though. Maybe is time to up the weight for that as well. Other than that, everything else seemed the same. Nothing to shout about....

I was tempted to continue on to BJ after pump but that class finished rather late. I have been in Jam mood recently. I know I suck at that but I won't stop going to the class. Had a blast in Leo & Juwita's class last Sunday. Did pretty well except for some mistakes here and there...biasa la.

Crazy weather

I am so hating this weather pattern that we are currently facing; extremely hot sun during mornings and early afternoons...then heavy rain in the late afternoons or evenings. Thanks to this type of weather, I find no valid reason to wash my car. What's the point right? It'll just get dirty again on the same day...within hours if I am not lucky. Poor car...hasn't been washed since CNY. Well, ok la, the weather isn't entirely to be blamed. I guess once upon a time, when my car hasn't aged that much, I was a bit more "motivated" to do car grooming, regardless of weather.

This weather is also causing breakouts on my face. Yeah....I know it sounds silly but I find no other satisfactory explaination other than the weather. The last time I have this many pimples popping out within weeks was 5 years ago. Can't remember how the weather was like back then though :-)

I am also feeling what I believed is eyestrain this past 1 week. I know my job requires usage and prolong peering into the computer monitor but I don't remember having this type of eyestrain before during my career. Feeling slight headache as well. Am thinking of making an appointment at Tun Hussein Onn Eye Hospital. I wonder if the doctor will laugh at me if I correlate my eyestrain with the weather. On a different note: My colleague just mentioned that the symptoms I described may not be eyestrain; which prompts more concern for me....sigh...sigh...

The sky is already so dark outside, right on cue. Expect heavy downpour within the next 30 mins...as usual.

A stress free week

I think I've been very well rested this week with a lot of laid back work and in the process... plenty of surfing and chatting..ahaks. After going through the past few hectic months, this is indeed a welcome change. However, too much rest is also making me feel very lethargic. Not a good sign. Certainly not good for the brain. Next week I must make sure I get back full force to a normal stabilised schedule.

Things are not going well between an account manager here and a certain major business partner, which has affected the whole company somewhat, as far as tenders are concerned. aiya...why can't we all just get along...one party needs to grow up and let bygones be bygones; and the other party needs to learn better people management skills. Now I have to scratch my head to figure out how to get both sides to work together better.

In this dog eat dog world, a good business relationship is essential. The IT world is not that big. People from this industry bump into each other very often enough, even though they may no longer be in the same company as when you know them. Whom you hate today may be the person that you need help in the future. So, let's all play nice now....

Behind that name

AUDREY
Origin: Old English
Meaning: noble strength

It seems that there are many interesting and unusual English names these days. Some are english names which do exist, unusual as they may be. However, some names are just purely made up by individuals who want to be so-called "different". I find it odd and amusing that some people will go to all lengths to create their own english names. It’s one thing to be creative and wanting to be original in name, but some of these names are just downright ridiculous. Some people never bother to find out the meaning of those names before adopting them. Don't even get me started on the spellings of these unusual self created names...

I once had a housemate with the name Vico (the first lesbian I ever knew, lots of drama..that's another story..). The name reminded me of the chocolate drink, VICO. In fact, I never knew such name exist until that drink appeared in the market. Interestingly enough, the name VICO does exist as an english name. It’s actually a masculine name and is the italian short form for Victor. I bet you my former housemate never knew this.

Last week I met a replacement instructor by the name of Aubrey. Back in college, I had a guy friend by that name so naturally, I’ve always thought that Audrey is for girl, Aubrey is for boy. Imagine my surprise when this instructor walked over to the table I was at..

Aubrey came over to introduce herself to Adrienne and I while we were waiting for the BJ class to end. This is the first time an instructor actually took the initiative to introduce herself/himself to us first, so I was very touched by her gesture. Due to the similarity of our names (only one alphabet differentiates us), she remembered me throughout the class…ahaks.

I did some research and found out that Aubrey actually applies to both masculine and feminine. Interesting…things that I never knew.

AUBREY
Gender: Masculine & Feminine
Usage: English
Pronounced: AWB-ree [key]
Norman French form of the Germanic name ALBERICH. Originally a masculine name, since the mid-1970s this has more frequently been given to girls.

I have a few acquaintances with unusual names...Lexiss, Vernice, Terrenz, Yunice, Adon, Felin, Alvie, Demiey, Kavin, Canry, Christenny, Sherona, Jessly, Raychi, Rykel...to name a few. If you do a search in the Names Dictionary, chances are you won’t find any of those names in there. Definitely TOP MARKS for creativity.

There are some people who have names that are spelled differently from the traditional ones. I'm not talking about names that do have legit different spellings eg. Katherine-->Kathryn, Christine-->Kristin, John-->Jon, Kelvin-->Calvin, Dylan-->Dillon, etc etc. Sure, we all want names that are a little different from the norm but can you imagine naming your child "Robeen" instead of "Robin", or "Daynis" instead of "Dennis". The poor kid has to spell out his name each time just so people can get the spelling right.

Speaking of names, I remember this conversation I had with a classmate during school days:

Classmate: Can you think of an english name for my brother?
Me: Sure, how about Dennis..
Classmate: No la..sound like Tennis
Me: Ok...how about Adrian..
Classmate: No la...sound like drain
Me: Patrick?
Classmate: Sound like Battery wor..
Me: @#%&* !!

What’s behind your name?

Reflection of life

I'm contemplating skipping my regular routines for the next 2 weeks. I think I need some quiet and private moments to myself. Might be a good idea to catch up on whatever that I've been procrastinating (or missing) in life. I think I'm getting lazier as I get older. I used to get very restless if a certain task isn't done but now..hmm...I couldnt really be bothered that much. Maybe it's a cycle of life. Gosh...I sound like one depressed soul :-)

Insanely occupied

It has been a very hectic work schedule since beginning of this year and even more crazy in the month of March. I'm stealing a little time off in between breaks to blog. Luckily for me, work schedule will slow down a little next week onwards and I can catch up on my other job scope which I have neglected. Feels really bad about it actually but big boss understands my situation so I'm a little relieved at the same time. I only have 2 hands. Can't be in so many places at the same time. Not that I don't practice multitasking but in a work situation where I have simply too much to handle and time is a factor, it is important to prioritise and focus...not an easy feat.

Despite my busy work schedule, I do still find time to attend my gym sessions in the evening although I have skipped a few regular classes here and there. It's the only thing that keeps me sane. I have never truly appreciated the benefits of exercising until I started my swim regimen 2 years ago. I'm not a good swimmer but I have learnt not to be afraid of water. Being able to swim laps give me the best satisfaction. Ever since I joined the gym, I have not stepped into the pool much, which is really a pity.

Despite occupying my time between work, gym, family and friends, somehow there's still something lacking in my life. I keep telling myself that I need to make my life more meaningful this year (I think I tell myself that every year...hehehe) but I have absolutely no idea what is it that I am searching for. What is the ultimate goal? A career with better salary perhaps? A bigger condo? A new car? A man? :-) No idea...really no idea. Perhaps more friends?? Well, 8 more months to figure out the answer....

In the meantime, it's back to work...