Perpetual Tockism

Posted via email from spinzer’s preposterousness

No and I don’t mean like, you know, the anchor that you see tattoed on Popeye’s muscles!

No, not this at al!

What I DO mean is an actual anchor or rather, a HOST for the ESPN STAR Sports channel! Sounds unbelievable? Well, like they always say, seeing is believing!

That’s right, that ang moh guy could be YOU! As you will have noticed, the no. 1 sports network in Asia, ESPN STAR Sports has teamed up with SKYPE to search for a guest news anchor through their new online contest, Skype STAR Commentator.

All you have to do, really, is to upload a video of yourself presenting a selected news item from the official site. If you make it, you could be the selected winner to run a segment yourself on ESPN’s SportsCenter Asia, a sports news programme that is beamed out to 24 countries across the region… SCARY I know!!

Just log on to  www.espnstar.com/starcommentator, and using any webcam that should be in most laptops (or you can get cheaply la!), you just need to make a recording of yourself reading off a selected script and submit your auditions online. Simple? Yeap!

Top 16 finalists, selected by the ESS–Skype team will be interviewed via Skype video calling, for a chance to win over $5,000 worth of prizes as well as a once-in-a-life time opportunity to spend a day at the ESS studios and present a segment on ESPN’s SportsCenter Asia!

So it’s going to be worth a try anyway! Who knows… you could end up being a famous newscaster earning lots of $$$ and going for live games as a VIP. Sounds good?

Now here’s the catch…

There’s only 3 more days left to make your submission, so quickly do it now!!!

(Before 1st of November 2009)

What, you say you need some recommendation on how to set you apart from the rest?
Ok fine, don’t say I didn’t help…

.

.

.

.

This is what I did!

What was supposed to be a good makan session at this Restoran Pao Xiang Bak Kut Teh (String Tight) –  Please don’t ask why! lol – turned out to be something better when the mentioned restaurant was still closed at about 5.30pm on a Sunday. Apparently it only opens at 6pm, but we couldn’t wait, no, we instead took our stomachs elsewhere and found ourselves in front of this Shabu Shabu Buffet City. The pricing at RM27.00 for a complete buffet meal was just a little too “beh tahan” or “super cannot tahan it’s too damn cheap” for us and so in we go!

Located in Puchong right next to Giant, it wasn’t very hard to find; no siree especially with that big a billboard! (DY couldn’t locate it thought, maybe it’s time for her to wear specs lol)

Having to pay up front first, Miss DY forked out RM27 for each of us, amounting to about RM71++. We then took the lift up (there were 3 floors!!) and got ourselves seated, BY NUMBERS!! Explanation below.

What makes this place special is the fact that they place their foodstuff in Conveyour Belts, or rather much known as Kaiten Belts. Coming in small portions, one only needs to grab what they each want and stuff it into their pot of stock soup!

The broth is really clean, and so the onus is on us to fill it up with whatever we want to create that ultimate tasting soup that we’ve all come to love when it comes to steamboats!

Our friend Vincent here is no doubt an expert; he quickly grabbed the tasty parts like Beef Meat, Scallop Cakes among others and quickly pot all of them into the boiling broth.

Here’s is one of the numbered panels situated at the bottom. The system works such that you may click on either Low or High to get your preferred boiling temperature. This is especially important when boiling raw foodstuff and things like Tofu, which can easily break under high temperature. You can also turn it On or Off with a simple click of a button. Beats having to guess the temperature in most other steamboat restaurants using dials instead.

Of I forgot to mention… as the set comes it also comes with freshly thawed pieces of lean pork meat (yes unfortunately it’s not halal!) that will obviously make your soup so much more tastier. It also comes with tasty sauces meant to zest up your culinary experience, with the usual chilli and a mix of chopped fried onions, lime and a hint of ginger. Yum.

The pieces of lean pork meat already looks appetizing without being cooked. Bet everyone of you is drooling on your keyboard right now

Here we have DY and Vincent showing us how to do it right. A flurry of greenish and wan-tanish soup can be seen in the background… Expert siut!

This was how it looks like as time progresses. Oh look, they have squids served japanese style too! Anyway I digress. Look at our spoon, so mini!

Look at the cups on the left hand side. That’s Lemon Slush, a very refreshing drink that is available! Others include Orange Slush, hot green tea and Sky Juice, all self-serviced! Please note the amount of food around, and no, there’s no timing error; the picture above this has many more plates stacked behind, because it keeps getting removed by the ever hardworking staff!

It was a truly neverending experience… Constant taking from the conveyor belt, stuffing the raw materials into the soup, scooping out the cooked bits into your bowl while maintaining the sauce to make sure it doesn’t run out… it’s all so very tiring!!

People are also beginning to stuff the place up, and though we could feel noticibly warmer, this place is well ventilated enough such that it was still okay. Later I found out that there are people still waiting at the lounge so it goes to show how much in demand this Shabu Shabu Steamboat Buffet is

Oh, we haven’t stopped yet

Talk about multitasking, my friends were amazed at the fact that I could do so many things at the same time! Admittedly although this is a posed picture, it wasn’t far off from the truth. Action includes:

1. Using my chopstick to take pieces of cooked food into my mouth
2. Mouth munching on already existing chewed food
3. Right hand grabbing more raw stuff from the Kaiten belt, deftly using thumb and index finger to open the plastic coverage and dumping the contents simultaneously into the pot of boiling broth, ending with placing the plastic trays neatly in one corner and the plastic, the next.
4. The left hand is busy:
a) Reading updates on Twitter
b) Replying some of them
c) Taking pictures and uploading them on both Facebook and Twitter
d) Checking and replying e-mails
e) Camwhoring.

It was an ultimate display skill learnt in such a short time span

At the end of the day we exited full and satisfied. The only warning we had was that if we wasted food above 100grams we would be penalized. Fortunately, none of us had that problem as we came ready to gorge the whole Kaiten belt down, didn’t we guys?

One last thing to note: Don’t Pop in Your Fingers into the Conveyor. – as stated on their belt.

Why? Just don’t do it

I was given an Exclusive Media Invitation for Tai Zi Heen Fashion, Food & Wine Malaysia International Gourmet Festival 09 Review thanks the great people in Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur via Big Boys Oven . Super lucky experience and definitely a very unforgettable one!

Firstly we were shown the colourful dresses that was on sale in Carven Ong’s latest outlet here at Prince Hotel. One of my friends, Vi Vian commented that I could buy her heart with one of these dress. Her exact words were “if i can have just ONE of these gowns i would have been the happiest person in the world by now” ahahahha :P

I guess one of these would reaaaaaally do the trick…

And that’s the handsome Carven Ong, Fashion Extraordinaire! Didn’t take more pics from the fashion part cause I arrived late, but suffice to say it was nothing much butsplendid

Two of Carven’s models dressed in sexy cheong sam greeted us by Tai Zi Heen’s entrance. It’s been done up so nicely for the MIGF 2009! Standing next to them is Chef DJ who is the boss around here, and also Chinese Master Chef Ricky Thein who is responsible for the cuisine submitted to MIGF 2009!

Greeting us inside is Carven’s specially made dress to suit the Cantonese cuisine influenced combination for the occasion.

As we entered we were greeted by a luxuriously decorated table and seats, which made us feel like VIPs. Man they really do know how to be elegant and classy!

We were also told that our tasting session would be perfectly complemented by wine recommended by Pernod Ricard Malaysia. Both red and wine from the reserves were served along with the food, as pictured below!

The Chinese Master Chef Ricky Thein now presents his special MIGF 2009 innovations, starting with the appetizer menu:

Wok-fried prawn with Asian tomato & black sesame dressing – this was amazingly tantalizing, leaving a tangy taste in your mouth

Crispy yam puff with foie gras & minced chicken – I believed it melted in my mouth, many classes above our average dim sum

Steamed cod dumpling with crabmeat glaze – Obviously smooth and silky, with a subtle hint of seafood sweetness

Shredded beef with dried tangerine peel – Uniquely flavoured, not for everyone, definitely new to me!

*Served with Jacob’s Creek Reserve Riesling

A duo of duckling & organic yin choy broths with sun-dried seafood, prawn & hairy gourd was served next. The fine texture difference between the broths made for an interesting experience like no other. With the density difference between them, one could actually separate the flavours dancing around the tongue, while at the same time appreciating both of them together like a harmonic wave. The scallops, prawns and hairy gourd were bonuses to the soup!

We then had a choice between two main dishes. Honey & soya baked salmon with fragrant crab roe, soya beans, broad beans, honshimeji mushrooms & wolfberry sauce – well, what can I say? It was truly a master play of the various colours, flavours, seasoning and without doubt, perfect baking. Even the stick keeping the fillets together is made of wheat with black sesame seeds stuck on them, lending a little more taste to the incredible dish. Nothing was left on the plate at the end of the day, not even the uniquely sweet wolfberry sauce!

I also got to try the Citrus marinated rack of lamb roasted with white sesame seeds, wok-fried baby cabbage, fresh lily bulbs & a spicy minted plum sauce. Served as it is, there was no need for any additional seasoning unlike other lamb dishes. The succulent lamb pieces are marinated in a coat of citrus seasoning which isn’t too overpowering to the natural sweetness of the juicy lamb racks. The spicy minted plum sauce practically lent an intense flavour to the dish as a whole! This went beautifully with Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz

Dan mee with soy-braised beef, carrots, radish & leek topped with a splash of red wine was served after the main dish, meaning to be a light end towards the dessert, a typical custom in Hong Kong styled culinary arts. (This is usually when the Lou Mai Kai is served in a typical 8 course meal) The Crispy noodles were a perfect wrap for the juicy soy-braised beef hidden within it like a gem. Doused in the spoon of red wine, the dish becomes a sublime flavour to experience.

Tai Zi Heen Dessert Dim Sum to end Chef Ricky Thein’s MIGF 2009 selection:
Vanilla ice cream with fresh mango puree, sago & pomelo – Soothing to the throat after a heavy course
Chocolate whisky siew mai - Lends a sweet ending to the savoury dishes
Crispy water chestnut spring roll – Never goes wrong.

But my day at Tai Zi Heen will never end until I’ve had their Guo Ling Gou. Isn’t it the most remarkable, tasty looking dessert you’ve ever seen in your life? Note: this wasn’t part of Chef Ricky’s menu but by my own personal request. You MUST try it!

‘

So that was the end of our tasting session. Phototaking session ensues and it starts with our own Chef Ricky with Carven Ong and his girls!

Ah Bok and Jess my fav photog was here as well, sandwiching Chef DJ

The bunch of us at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur

In this photo: Sunny Yaw, Ken Chan, Chris Spinzer Tock, Sidney Kan, Xin, Witch, Ah Bok, Jessica Tan, Rachel Ting, Wilson Ng

There are more photos, but since this is already an extra long post you may view it here! To know more about MIGF 2009 go here, and you may try this out yourself by visiting Prince Hotel yourself, with the following address given below:

Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur
4 Jalan Conlay, Kuala Lumpur, 50450
Tel: 03-2170-8888

Upon creating my account which only required a username and password, I was lead to the page above that was as simple as hooking this client to the accounts that I already have. Unlike Digsby and Trillian, both Desktop app, I'm able to run Threadsy in any machine (I wonder if there's an iPhone App support). Also unlike Meebo, a web app much like Threadsy, the layout was incredibly smooth, not too CPU taxing and best of all, well, see below's printscreen

Undeniably I can already see how it will help me with my concurrent projects, as I spent most time actually sorting and filtering tasks out so that I can further communicate with my different teams. For now my testing with Google Wave shall have to wait (though it was fun playing Sudoku with @yoonkit!), while I enjoy myself beta-testing the capabilities of Threadsy in hope that I can find a feature that I will use for life

Christopher Tock
Technical Consultant
www.spinzer.us

Posted via email from spinzer’s preposterousness

I guess sometimes I don’t give these two enough credit for being my source of Joy Food. Just looking at this california wrapped Maki with a slice of seriously fresh belly tuna on top and a dollop of japanese Mayo with fish roe gives me a lingering aura of pure ecstasy. And that’s even without having to taste it yet, the way it melts right into every taste buds of my tongue.

The day was filled with Shaz’s laughter, as the small group of us went to Midvalley to have dinner before our grand plan: to taste the Ultimate All-You-Can-Eat Durian feast! One of us had this meal which until today confuse me as to the origins of the white creamy stuff above.

But of course, one could never go wrong with Japanese Curry and Fried Breaded Chicken with Rice. Heck I used to cook this when I was in London, studying!

Instead, premium maki is more of my choice. One could really taste the sweet and savoury Unagi Special with this premium Maki.

Lastly before we left, these colourful salmon rolls make awesome snack to boot. Aren’t the roes pretty?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so we left for our Durian Fest: and it didn’t take us long to find a row of potentially disastrous durian-reeking stalls.

We picked one of them, selling their all-you-can-eat for only a premium of RM10. Those around either sold it at 9 ringgit or more at 11 ringgit. We later realised that it was a limited selection, one that would have to sacrifice the tastiness and goodness of the “upper class” durians.

And so we decided to skip the Durian Buffet, and go for expensive luxury

We didn’t stop with just one, and of course, Durian without Coconut is simply unheard of. Well at least for me

Just look at those gorgeous portions. Sinking your teeth into them feels like the ultimate soft flesh, melting into your mouth before your face turns into a scene of explicit pleasure.

Like the one Shaz is doing. I wonder what he’s up to with that funny shaped piece of durian hmm?