LCCT shortcomings not Air Asia's fault...

The writer of this letter has very valid grouses against Air Asia, particularly in terms of staff attitude and flight delay handling. In fact, I believe Air Asia should properly retrain their ground staff in basic customer service, courtesy and interpersonal communication. As for their cabin crew, I have no complains.

However, the writer then links the shortcomings of the LCCT to Air Asia, where I believe that this is not valid. In the first place, Air Asia never asked to operate out of LCCT. They would have been happy to operate out of KLIA (if not for the ridiculously high operating charges and constant pressure from the airport authorities). In fact, they actually asked to operate out of the old Subang Airport, but was given all sorts of excuses that prevented them from doing so. (Ironically, Fireflyz now operates out of Subang Airport with no restraints!)

Anyway, LCCT management is not synonymous with Air Asia management. LCCT is operated by Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) and so any complaints about "crowded, uncomfortably hot and stuffy terminal" and "used toilet paper all over the floor" should be directed against MAB, and not Air Asia.

Mamma Mia! rocked the house!

I can see now why Mamma Mia! is such a bestselling show. The music is infectious. The costumes are meticulous. The lighting and sound productions are world class. The singing is amazing. The dancing - spectacular. In short, all ingredients to a perfect brew of West End glamour.

In terms of singing performance, the live musical outperforms the movie version. But in terms of scenery and editing, of course the motion picture has its advantages. Both stand equally firm on their own strengths and weaknesses. But it's hard to say which was the better experience. 

Having said that, nothing beats a live show, especially with music involved, especially with ABBA music!

whole body aching...

...didn't realize that moving is such a tiring experience... and this was with full force help from my family... imagine if it were only myself!

The process started actually on Monday. We did some house cleaning and cleansing, and put up all the curtains. Meanwhile I went to get the Buddha rupa from Sukhi Hotu, and brought it to Maha Vihara for blessing ceremony. After lunch, Uncle Yap came over with the fridge and washing machine, and also Astro installation. With everything over, we went for a quick dinner in Asia Cafe. Then, we went back to pack up the remaining stuff and dismantle the bed for transportation.

Early the next morning, we had the fire crossing ceremony, and then I proceeded to setup the altar for the Buddha image. After that happened, we patiently waited for the lorries to arrive. Soon, IKEA delivery arrived, carrying the wardrobe, TV rack, work table and bookcase system to my upstairs library and master bedroom. While the assembly service was going on, the delivery lorry arrived with all our stuff, and unloading began. All this was happening while we were enjoying sumptious desert cooked over the charcoal stove. Soon after, the water filter guy arrived and installed the outdoor water filter - by the way, the water is still murky!!! X-( 

Anyway, Roland came after that and installed the house number plate, and then we went through some defects list (e.g. the clogged drain). After a pizza lunch, we proceeded upstairs to put together all the IKEA furniture (book cases, TV rack, work table). That took up the entire afternoon, and we waited patiently for the furniture lorries to arrive. Around 7pm, the first lorry arrived, unloading the dining table, sofa set, altar and coffee table. Around 9pm, the second lorry arrived carrying the downstairs TV cabinet, console table and shoe rack. All ended around 9.30pm, and we went for Lok Lok supper.

Special thanks to all my family members who helped me pack stuff into boxes and cars and lorries, move stuff up and down and up and down and in and out, cook and clean and clean and cook... couldn't have done it without all of you!

There's still many boxes which are still packed up, and the house is in a mess, that I'll need to do some cleaning again. But, thankfully tomorrow's a holiday, so hopefully can do more stuff.

Oh ya, the bulat-bulat bedroom curtain rod came off the wall :( have to fill up the holes and re-drill... who can do ar??? Also, the doorbell suddenly did not work after the house number plate was drilled up. Sigh... the defects list just never ends right? :P

Violence!

Wow... Malaysians are really getting creative with their violent acts. I thought that this type of crime only happens in the movies. Looks like I was wrong!

Ipoh food

I suddenly had this craving to make a road trip up to Ipoh to savour all the famous Ipoh foods... hmm, maybe I'll do that on my next trip up north to Penang...

Oh crap, talking about Penang made me salivate, thinking about all the glorious Penang foods...

*DROOOOLLL*

Happy Anniversary!

Dearest... happy 2nd wedding anniversary :)

Dinner @ Pizza Uno

Pizza Uno, formerly known as Pizza Italia, recently moved to a spanking new 3-storey unit in USJ Taipan. Along with the move a significant price increase accompanies...

Anyway, we had an enjoyable, surprisingly not super filling dinner there. We started with Gambas con Ajo (shrimp in garlic) and cream of mushroom soup. The gambas was super fresh and springy, and the delicious drenching of olive oil over finely chopped garlics, chili, and other herbs brought out the superb texture of the shrimp. The musroom soup was normal, nothing fancy to shout about.

We had 2 main courses: Fettucine Napolitana (tomato based vegetarian pasta) and Aussie Pizza (salami, pepperoni, peppers, egg and cheese). The hand made fettucine was amazingly fresh as usual, while the pizza was just the right texture to hold in the hand. Not as wet as those made in Marco's, not too thin such as those from Brava Pizza (Asia Cafe). The parmesan was kind of "musty" smelling, but I suppose that's how cheese is supposed to smell like.

We finished with a lovely strawberry cheese cake dessert, which was quite small in size, but generously filling. The bill came up to RM80 for 2, quite reasonable I believe. Next time I'll try their other tapas (the crostini platter sounds delicious :)

Crostini Platter

toasted bread with garlic aioli beef bacon, smoked salmon with cream cheese, sauteed mixed mushrooms & mini bruschetta

McDonald's Prosperity Burger

This year, it really sucks because:

1) The value meal no longer bundled with Orange McFizz!

2) The burger size has shrunk!

3) The patty is too small!

4) The fresh onions don't come in slices; rather they are minced up :P

5) The price has increased!

6) It's not as spicy as I remember before!

Miyako Japanese Restaurant, Sheraton Subang

We were attracted by the 40% discount promotion with Citibank credit cards for the buffet dinner, that's why we decided to try it out.

Upon arrival, service was prompt because we were practically the only customers in the place. The initial spread of sashimi, sushi and fresh seafood was quite tantilizing. But moving further to the hot food proved to be disappointing - limited selections and no unagi! Can you imagine it: no unagi in a Japanese restaurant?!

The tempura shrimp was pretty OK, but the teppanyaki was salty to the hells. I suspect it's the salted butter they use to grill the seafood. The desserts were weird too. The only saving grace I suppose was the 40% discount. Would I go there again? I highly doubt it. Dining in Shogun would have been a better offer indeed...

Cupcakes...

I've seen several blogs writing about those cupcakes which are all the rage nowadays. All of them mention that they taste really good. I bought half a dozen today just to try. Indeed, they look very nice and colourful. But they taste really too sweet and after a few bites, it feels very "jelak".

Cupcakes are not so tasty after all...