earthlings coffee workshop

earthlings coffee workshop, the latest addition to the coffee scene in town. today is their grand opening, but we were there last night after our not-so-impressive-yet-expensive dinner at sidewalk, in green heights area.

we were greeted by a friendly young chap with strong australian accent, so we presumed that was the owner. he was also the barista in the house.

the atmosphere of the place is relaxing and cosy, with the right kind of soothing music being played. a bit pity that the place is actually not big, i saw 4 tables and a counter where you can have your coffee hand-brewed in front of you. they will talk/discuss/negotiate with the management to put tables outside their workshop in the future. there were no cakes or pastries served last night, however, we were told that they will have those from today onwards. keep my fingers crossed that the cakes and pastries will be good! 

the barista was busy making drinks when we were there, therefore did not have a chance to talk to him. i would want to ask him about the origin of their earthlings name, the reason for using workshop and not cafe; the origin of their coffee beans etc. when i first heard of the name, i thought they would offer some kind of courses in coffee appreciation or coffee art, and that made my heart skipped a beat! hahahaha! there is this very sophisticated looking equipment, and we were told it is used to roast the coffee bean. 

we ordered 3 latte (rm11) for the younger ones and 2 hot chocolate (rm10) for uncles who cannot sleep after drinking coffee at night. hahahaha! the barista was quite stressed and nervous when he did the coffee art because i was standing in front admiring, that the art did not turn out well. hehehehe.... however, the art on hot chocolate was better.

while we were cuppa'ing, we were wondering why had they opened the cafe in a mall. you have to follow the operating time of the mall, the size of the shoplot might be restricted, and the parking fee too! anyway, i hope this little humble cafe will last as long as they could and keep improving to provide us with good coffee (and cakes too!) hahahaha! it is situated at the ground floor of the mall with a messy basement carpark, cityone! at the moment, they are opened from 10am until 10pm. they will call out foe the last round of ordering by 9.30pm before the equipment is shut down for cleaning. you can visit their facebook page earthlings coffee workshop

so, which 2 do you think are the hot chocolate uncles? 

keep calm and drink coffee 

;-p

gim's burger

last night, i went to gim's burger in stutong with my brother, sister, brother-in-law, cousin sister, niece and uncle. this place has just started business mid of february, so it is still considered as a "new toilet" for most people.

it is situated in stutong parade commercial centre, next to family clinic, opposite the police flat in tabuan jaya. it has a big and bright signboard which is visible from the main road and you will not miss it! when we arrived there about 7.30pm, the place was practically full house, with every possible seats being occupied. the place is not too big. there are 2 slightly longer tables that can sit 10 people each, 2 higher tables with higher stools with 6 people each, and a long stretch of window seats by the side. the long table gives you the opportunity to sit with strangers, to look at what they are having, to have someone ever ready to help taking group photos and best of all, to listen to funny conversations! hahahaha!

while waiting for our seats, we checked out the menu and made our decisions. at the moment, they have chicken and beef burgers, with more varieties to come in the future. it is more worthwhile to go for the so-called combo meal where the burger comes with a medium-size drink, coleslaw and fries. all types of burger come in soft bun, unless you opt for charcoal bun and that will be rm0.50 each.

after you have placed your orders and paid for it, you will be given a number. next, you can find a place to sit down and yak until the cows come home! hahahaha! the kitchen and the griller is small to cater for the big demand at the moment. therefore, the waiting time can be long. we waited for slightly below 60 minutes for the burgers to be delivered to us! hahahaha! they are not even 1-month old, so we hope that they will improve along the way, and not just vanish after some time. 

there is still a lot of room for improvement, speed is definitely the main one. either they get a bigger griller in the future or with more experience in the future, they can speed things up. otherwise, this board has to be taken down! hehehe.... "good food served fast" ;-)

there was a guy walking up and down in the eating area, making sure everyone was okay. i am not sure if he was the boss, but i think that was quite a good service. the young customers sitting next to us had their orders came very late and they were given a 50% refund by that guy! come to think of that, he might be the boss after all since he could make that decision!

my aussie rules burger finally arrived! hahaha! it was a beef burger with lettuce, tomato, pineapple slice, beetroot and fried egg on top. i opted for charcoal bun as i have a soft spot for it. the beef patty was juicy and quite flavorful. i think the patty was freshly made by themselves as i could find beef tendon in the patty. it was quite a mess eating this burger as it was quite a big burger and the egg yolk just oozed out when i took the first bite! like what my brother has said, that's the fun of eating a burger messy!

this is gim's classic burger, also a beef burger. the fried egg, beetroot and pineapple slice were substituted by caramelized and peppered onion. my brother wanted a satay burger, but they did not have it yet, even though it was written on the menu board! my sister had toriniku burger, a chicken burger while my niece had tropico burger, the beetroot-less aussie rules burger ;-)

overall, it was a good nightout, everyone enjoyed their burgers, even my 81-year-old uncle! the place was bright and clean, the aircons were powerful, probably they were all still new. the ventilation was quite good as we did not smell much after the meal. from my observation, they could have installed a numbering system, where number is being displayed after the burgers are ready and customers could pick up their own orders. at the moment, they are sending over the burgers and i saw them struggling a bit, trying to look for the numbers. 

at the moment, they are only opened for dinner from 6.30pm onwards. i saw a coffee machine behind the counter, but i doubt they have the manpower to serve coffee yet. you can also visit their facebook page under "gim's burger"

clean-as-you-go might be a good practice? see you next time!

cheers, 
the cunning one ;-)

19 june 2010

vicky left us peacefully on 19 june 2010 after been in our family for 11 years. we are truly blessed to have such a wonderful and loyal dog in our family. he was like a family member to us.

he came to our family in 1999 when he was still a young puppy. i remember i have just came back from my studies in kl and when I got home, i saw this young chap sleeping near the shoes rack. my mom told me that his name was Vicky though he was a male dog! hahaha! they also told me that he was a quiet dog. man! they were wrong! he eventually grew up and became one of the fiercest dogs we ever had!

i am closest to him among all the family members. i was the one giving him his weekly bath that he disliked. when he was sick, i was the one who went to the vet, to talk to the doctor, explained his symptoms and conditions and eventually got the medicine for him. vicky was the only dog in our family that did not visit to the vet but could get his sickness treated!

he was a very loyal dog. at first we did not notice this. when a stranger was outside the house, he would bark but he wouldn't attack if the stranger remains outside the house. however, if he ever steps foot in our house compound, vicky would attack because his territory had been invaded!

vicky liked to have his stomach scratched. when he was lying on the floor and when i told him to "lie down", he would roll over lying on his back and wanted me to scratch his belly! i enjoyed doing that and he enjoyed being pampered.

vicky was not picky when it comes to food, just like his master, me! occasionally, i would give him hard boiled egg or make him some fresh milk which he would finish in no time!

when he came to our house in 1999, a stray cat which we call him meow meow also came about the same time. they eventually became good friend. meow meow sometimes would sit in between his legs and scratch his neck! it was so rare to see cat and dog sitting together, without any fight! every morning when we let vicky out to do his business, meow meow would follow him and wait for him outside the gate. after things were done, both of them would walk back to the house together and wait for their breakfast! that was so cute!

towards the last part of vicky's life, he was suffering from arthritis. his right hind leg became weak and he had difficulty in getting up and walking around. i think he must have felt painful too when he had to get up, that's why sometimes he would just sit down and pee. it really broke my heart and saddened me to see him that way. i went to see the vet and got him glucosamine, the supplement for joints. the vet also told me that it would not cured his arthritis, but would improve his quality of life. that was good enough! i did not want to see my dear old dog to suffer at his old age. the supplement indeed worked on him and i could see a stronger and a more lively vicky, sometimes he would even run! according to mom, on the last few days of vicky's life, he has had no appetite and was weak.

on that fateful day, i was travelling from hoi an to hue (i was holidaying in vietnam that time) and strange enough, i kept thinking about vicky. memories of vicky just flashed through! after i have checked in to the hotel and settled down, i received that message from mom....

i just burst out....

it has been a wonderful and eventful and amazing 11 years that we have spent together as a family. he always has a special place deep down in our hearts.

we will meet again, vicky! :o)

妈咪 。 母亲节 。 爱

哇！好久没有写东西了。一句话， 懒惰~

昨天在上班的途中，电台开启了母亲节的话题，也播放了有关母亲，妈妈，阿娘的歌曲，突然间，心里感触很多，也可以感觉到泪水在眼里打滚。。。

二零零八年可说是个难忘之年，不是因为北京奥运，而是因为母亲加入了癌症勇士的行列！在那两年里，陪妈妈到医院去见医生，去复诊，去做电疗化疗，帮妈妈从网上搜寻有关资料，给妈妈买有机食品，鼓励她，开导她。。。 心里最开心时是当我听到母亲自己致电告诉好友她在抗癌！因为我知道妈妈已经接受了，而且有着正面的思维去看待它。

今年会送一台洗衣机给妈妈当作母亲节礼物，旧的已经残旧了。 明年会带他们两佬去台湾， 这是我对他们的承诺！



母亲节的心愿是愿全天下的母亲，妈妈，阿娘，妈咪们，特别是我至亲的妈妈，身体健康平安，天天幸福快乐！

:-)

* happy *

yesterday, i was supposed to help out at the charity sale in blessed sacrament church. however, there was no pre-arrangement been done, so i ended up went there with my parents to buy food!

it was a beautiful breezy cooling morning! the breeze has made the "shopping" so much pleasant! we had rm100 worth of coupons, so we bought quite a lot :o) we bought chicken rice, bamboo chicken, braised pork leg, barbecue pork rice, grilled fish, fruits and i also got bookmarks for the sunday school kids.

while we were there, we bumped into cousins, aunties, nieces, mom's friends, dad's friends, the uncle who swims on saturdays, the guy who used to jog in the same place, the couple whose son is attending my old primary school :o)

i found a rm10 coupon in my pocket when we were back at the car. we did not want to walk all the way back to the charity sale, so i gave it to a stranger who was on her way there :-) hehehe.... and i felt good!

i ended up running for an hour on the treadmill machine in the gym!

it was indeed a beautiful happy sunday morning spent with mom and dad :o)

傻瓜

相信付出会有代价 ...代价只是一句傻瓜 ..." 好真实哦!

conquered

for the first time in 34 years, i completed 1 full lap of breaststroke swimming in the olympic size pool! what a big achievement for me!

hahahaha....

yesterday, since there was no sunday school, i went to the pool early for my sunday swim. the weather was beautiful with blue blue sky and the pool was not crowded at all. there were only 2 uncles at the deeper end of the smaller family pool while some kids were playing in the shallow part.

i swam for about 20 laps in the family pool, then i left. then, there was this inner voice asking me to go to the olympic size pool and i actually went! no one was swimming there except another uncle doing lapping in lane 4. so i took the first lane where i could grab hold to the side should i suddenly panic half way! hahahaha...

i took a big gulp of air then i started my virgin voyage in the olympic size pool! i swam for 300 metres before calling it a day off, and got out the pool, walked away with a big grin inside :o)

what a beautiful sunday!