David Cook rocks my world

For those of you who followed American Idol season 7, you'd definitely know who I'm talking about.. For those who didn't, where were you??? David Cook is simply one of the most awesome singer born in American Idol! Truth be told, I only followed AI starting from the top 12, and at that time, I had more preference towards the other David (Archuleta). However, towards the middle of the show, I started to gear towards Cook, especially with his rendition of Music of the Night and Always be My Baby. You guys simply must listen to them! It's amazing how he could transform a pop song (Always be My Baby) to a lovely smooching ballad that would melt every girl's heart! AND you must check out his version of Billy Jean... the only version I've only ever heard was from Michael Jackson and I didn't really like it. But Cook belted it out so differently I'm listening it from a brand new perspective! In fact, I might start to like this song, after listening to it a few times... :) Listen to it and tell me what you think! *wink*

Since then, I was rooting for David Cook to win, and my goodness, a 12 million majority! That's a complete knockout I say! Ever since the win, I was always searching for his studio recorded songs to download. :) And I was lucky to find one site which has ALL his studio recorded songs AND live performances from AI, in mp3 format. I hereby would like to share this awesome site with you, so that you can download ALL of his songs and listen to them over and over again until you're a David Cook convert like me. :P Did I mention that all the downloads are also free? Don't wait! Here's the site: David Cook fan page Thanks to poetry4kids! :)

Compass gone mad

I am not myself today. I wonder what happened to me, or it could probably be due to PMS? We'll know if it happens a few days later. *LOL* I just feel sedentary, stagnant and largely pensive. Perhaps I have been so used to dealing with tight deadlines and gargantuan workloads that my new found freedom seems like a stranger to me. For the past few weeks, or as long as I can remember, I have been burying my nose in work and never having a good night's sleep. As if that is not bad enough, I had to deal with my assignments in class as well as my final year project. The trail is just endless. Today, however, I found out that my work project dateline has been extended. Not only 1 or 2 days, mind you, but 6 weeks! That's 42 freaking days! Suddenly I am lost. It's like all these while, the busy-ness of the day was the compass in my life, directing me to do what I should, no questions asked. And now, I don't have that business guiding me anymore... my compass has gone haywire, I need to realign myself. Gosh sometimes don't you just hate it when you rush and rush for a project dateline that is near impossible, thinking that you might just nail it, only to find out that in the end the deadline is extended. Efforts are almost wasted! *sigh* Anyway, I feel much better now after chatting with a good friend. Compass realigned and I am back on track, I hope.

P/S: Please tell me, what do you do to perk up your senses when you're just too tired or sleepy at work? Share with me ok! :)

I like...

A day in Penang & Kedah

It was the Wesak holiday on Monday. I only managed to sleep at 6am in the morning, due to the midnight bus I took from KL to Penang the night before. Barely two hours after that, Saucer called me up and told me we're going out to eat and take pictures around Penang, together with WL and Sharon. It certainly sounded fun, but not as fun as lying on my bed and keeping my eyes closed just for an extra hour. I simply couldn't wake up due to sheer exhaustion! I was literally begging him to let me sleep for 1 more hour, but apparently everyone else was awake and getting ready. Either I had to get my ass up and get ready, or they'd leave without me. :( Guess I wasn't left with much of an option! So I did drag myself out of the bed and was ready in 15 minutes, half awake and with eye bags! :P

Our first stop was to have breakfast in this stall recommended by WL. It has one of the best duck/chicken drumstick noodles with herbal soup. And I couldn't agree more! :) Too bad I'm not really sure where this place was... but I took a picture of the stall, so maybe someone would be able to recognize it.

Duck/Chicken drumstick noodles stall


Chicken drumstick noodles with herbal soup


Duck drumstick noodles with herbal soup

After our hearty breakfast, we set out to have a mini tour around Penang island, just to take pictures! WL had just bought a semi-professional camera and we're all very keen to try that out. OK, maybe only me. :P

Our first location: Somewhere near the jetty... Sorry I'm really bad with names!

First stop!

Mini fountain nearby


A walk in the park :)


I like this bench...

And the camwhoring begins! :P *Stop reading if you can't stand seeing too much of me* LOL

With the fountain



On the bench that I like! =)


On the cute bridge


Random


What a weird slogan: Buat Kerja = Do Work! *LOL*


Walk straight and you shall see the beach in front :)




That's WL in the background :P


I like this picture, capturing a tree trunk and plants in one shot...


With the big tree... Oh I feel so secured :P

Next location: .. at the pier...

Posing with the pole


If only I am the owner of ONE of the boats behind, I'll be very happy ;)



QEII as the background... I still haven't been there!


Admiring the sea


Poser


With pretty flowers

Posing with the car... OMG

The photographer aka WL ... isn't he cute? :)

Saucer and I

Next location: Kim Gary
After one long and hot morning of taking pictures, this was what we needed!

Green tea with honey ... refreshingly perking up my senses! :)


Mango snowy from Kim Gary


More snowy! Brrr... I feel cold already...

Next stop: Lunching at New World food court, Penang.

Curry mee


Jawa mee


Famous Yam kuih ... I like!


Yummy dumplings!

Next location: Bukit Hijau, Kedah!

After having our lunch, it was already 2.30pm in the afternoon, with the hot sun glaring above us. Suddenly, one of us talked about the coveted waterfall getaway that is Bukit Hijau, Kedah. Truth is, we did have plans of going there for a day long picnic, but it was never materialized yet. Somehow on that particular day, everyone was just in their adventurous mood! So we all packed our swimming gear and towels and drove straight to Kedah after lunch! We reached there in 1.5 hours but it was all worth it! :) The view was magnificent and the water was oh so glorious!

Freezing cold water!


Breathtaking view

Last stop: Bukit Mertajam night market

After our short bath in the waterfall (it started raining after 1 hour of reaching there), we left and looked for dinner. Dinner was with much ado because everyone was deciding where to eat and we ended up choosing many places but didn't know how to go! In the end, WL suggested that we go to Bukit Mertajam for dinner, since we had not been there before and he claimed to know how to get there. :P Got there we did, but we were at a loss on where to go exactly to eat! After much searching and asking around, we finally reached the night market where there was a huge crowd since it was Wesak day. Little did I know, there was a procession going on in the night! Anyway, we ordered the following dishes for dinner, and WL had to wait for some 30 minutes in the queue just to buy the roasted meat! They looked nice, but didn't taste all that good... *disappointed*

Roasted duck looked tasty... but not exactly so.

Assorted Roasted meat

I ordered this kangkung dish from a stall nearby, because during the 30 minutes wait, I saw many tables ordering this and it smelled heavenly! And it did taste wonderful as well! I was so smart... :P

Amazing kangkung... Serious!

The steamed fish from the same kangkung shop. Not bad...

Steamed fish

At the end of the day, we were all so exhausted but gladly so! Never have I toured around Penang and Kedah in one whole day... and I was out from 8am til 10pm at night! That's a freaking 14 hours of touring and eating!

Look forward to another similar trip soon! ;)

Sakae Sushi has the best teriyaki chicken rice!

Beware! Another food review coming your way... :) Last weekend, before my trip to KL, my friends and I went to have a late lunch (at 3pm) in Sakae Sushi, Queensbay Mall. It wasn't the first time I visited this place, but I always got excited going there, simply because I LOVE the teriyaki chicken rice in Sakae. :)

As usual, since we're already famished, we ordered some sushi as appetizers. Certain sushis are cheap at RM1.90 per plate, like the ones below:

Salmon looks so fresh and shiny here eh?

Salmon sushi

Spicy tuna sushi

Spicy salmon sushi

Besides the sushi, we also ordered the salmon rolls, ALSO at RM1.90 only! So cheap right? *LOL* But I didn't eat much of the sushi or rolls, because I wanted to save my stomach for the chicken rice. :P

Spicy salmon rolls

This plate of fried salmon here was not bad. Rather big piece considering the price of RM3.90. But the pieces served on that day were a little bony. Left with not much meat to eat. :S

Fried salmon

Of course, soon enough, my favourite dish came! Have you even tried this rice yet? It's the nicest Japanese rice I've tried in Penang. (Not a very huge achievement :P) Anyway, the rice has just enough teriyaki sauce, which was by the way, extremely delicious without being too sweet. There were many pieces of boneless chicken on top of the rice as well, which were nicely marinated. All in all, this bowl of rice always leaves me feeling satiated and happy. :)

Teriyaki Chicken Rice

My friends ordered this rice instead, which I believe to be curry chicken rice. The curry was a little weird, probably because it wasn't hot at all. Perhaps Japanese serves their curry cold? And the curry was not too spicy, so it's good for those who can't eat spicy food. It came with loads of potatoes as well! But I still like my teriyaki chicken rice better. :P

Curry Katsu Don

I think Sakae Sushi overall has nicer food than the other counterpart *you-know-who*. :) I will definitely go back again for their teriyaki chicken rice, again and again!