Curry at Na Na Fish Head Curry Restaurant.

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Curry for dinner! That's a tremendous reason behind on why out of sudden curry was struck to my mind and craving for it for my dinner. Was spending my sweet time at home on a lazy Monday where everyone was busy with their work at own cubicle at office. The feeling was awesome though people often called it as "Monday Blue". I would say life is great why not making your everyday colorful? Even a "Blue" day you should also make it great too because it is not just something black and white exist in your life.

It was so great that when looking out from the windows, only those houses with maids or housewives busy with their house chores and nothing more than that you could see except a peaceful garden or park. When it was noon, around the time for usual typical Asian lunch time (12 ‐ 1pm), you could start to smell various types of dishes flowing from the window. The smell of spices flowing from my neighborhood was a strong and thick Curry smell! That's the reason which makes me searching for curry as my dinner after all.

I remember my friend once rattle on how impressive the curry from Na Na Fish Head Curry restaurant was, then I decided to travel all the way to the restaurant at Marina South in Tanjong Pagar.

They have ala carte and set meals. So I ordered their set meal as it seems more worth it with a complete set of drink. From the look of the curry dish itself, it looks not as spicy as expected, but when you taste on it the spiciness is hot to the max, especially their red curry. Maybe it taste very spicy for me but not for those who able to take high level of spiciness. They have 2 types of curry, one is yellow curry and another type is red curry. Yellow curry is the mild type of curry, while the red one is more spicy type.

Therefore, we decided to order two different types of curry to give it a try. However, for me it's just the difference of color yellow and red, because both also taste very spicy to me.

The funny thing is the restaurant is actually famous with their Fish Head Curry, but because I don't really eat fish head, so we ordered curry fish fillet and curry chicken instead. If you like spicy then you can go for it but it is too spicy for my taste bud. I can even feel the spiciness and hotness of the curry in my stomach throughout the night after we finish the curry.

Overall we enjoy the curry in a comfort of air conditional but yet we still sweat on such cooling environment. Maybe it could make you imagine on how the spiciness beats such cooling environment.

Understand that the spiciness is due to the recipe mixture that makes the curry itself unique than other restaurant. I ever wondered that why not the restaurant come out with something special for their recipes which allow customers to choose the degree of spiciness just like how the buffalo wings customization on the level of spiciness selection. Then it would be something that everyone can try on especially those who can't take spicy food. Isn't it a great thing for consumer? Perhaps it could create a longer queue with that, as customer always prefer something special and customization based on own favorites.

Tea break at the food stalls.

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Malaysia is always famous with its variety of foods. You can easily find any of the stalls around you for a tea break and with some traditional road side foods. I always love the famous traditional fruit mix with a combination recipe of the sweet and spicy sauce. It is also known as Rojak in Malay, where it means wild mix. It is a mixture of a prawn paste sauce which taste sweet and added with chili (it is optional) into a varied assortments of fruits, and also with crispy homemade biscuits. 

Usually the Rojak seller will add a lot of cucumber instead of more fruits, which I often requested to exclude cucumber, so that they could give me more fruits. We often discussed that maybe because cucumber is cheaper than fruits, so they put more cucumber so that the portion looks big, but actually with a lower cost of it. Perhaps, those smart seller with some business minded would do so.

I would normally requested to add more peanuts and the crispy fried chips, as the peanuts are finely chopped and roasted, which gives it an ample texture and a lovely crunchy bite.

Don’t mess up with another type of Rojak, because there are two types of Rojak commonly sold in Malaysia. One of the type which I described above and also shown on the photos above is adapted from the combination of Malay and Chinese cuisines, while the other type of Rojak is the Indian version. That’s the reason why Malaysia is a country with multiple races, and have various types of foods.

Not to miss out a great combination during tea time when having those nice foods with the combination of Ice Cendol. Cendol is a famous Indian traditional dessert that often sold on pushcarts during the old days, but nowadays, it is sold on a mobile small lorry. Sometime, it you are lucky, you might found a Cendol seller carrying the equipment around selling the Cendol on a bicycle, but it is rare nowadays. In case any of you do not know what is Cendol deserts, but no worries I could probably describe it in a simple way. Cendol actually contains the basic ingredients of coconut milk, green starched noodles with artificial pandan flavouring, and palm sugar (or brown sugar).

When comes to having such a great foods in Malaysia, I always never miss the chance to try on each of the stalls. We even ordered soya bean drinks, curry puff, keropok lekor, and some other Malay fried food, where we often called “gorengan”. 

Ginger Candy from Macau.

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Ginger candy, also known as "姜糖" in Chinese, which bought from Macau. Ginger, by its nature, is considered a warming and spicy flavored herb that can be used against various illness caused by cold. I like ginger very much since I was small as my family often include ginger in most of the dishes cooked.

This brand of ginger candy is the hard as rock type candy, instead of like those usual chewy or gummy types. So you won't find it stick on your teeth. The candy is neither too sweet nor too spicy. It just fit the balance taste of sweetness and spiciness.

The candy is potent and less spicy. I have read from an article once that the taste of ginger candy is usually made accordingly with the season. The taste is adjusted to suit with the season, where during winter the candy is made with a spicier taste to help to warm up the body, while during summer it is made sweeter.

Ginger candy is better known for its wide variety of health benefits. The most common benefits of ginger candy is it helps with digestion and soothe your tummy, and also useful as a natural breath freshener as well. That's the reason why ginger is often used as one of the ingredient for cooking meat as it helps to give a better smell to the dish by reducing or eliminating strong meats smell.

Usually I will bring along some ginger candies in my bag, in case for an emergency use. It is great for calming an upset tummy and I also found that it’s useful for soothing a sore throat. It has become the alternative of throat lozenges. Sometimes I will just pop in one of the candy in my mouth after taking my meal, especially after eating seafood because it helps to curb with bad breath. Since decades ago in ancient China, ginger was popularly used in traditional Chinese medicine for coping with food poisoning and nausea.

Furthermore, it is adopted in reducing the toxicity of other herbs, absorbing and neutralizing the toxins in the stomach.

There is one very famous brand of ginger candy, named Ting Ting Jahe Candy which originated from Indonesia due to its excellent quality of the products.

Some of the researchers suggest that ginger may aid in lowering cholesterol, preventing clogged arteries and killing cancer cells.

Ginger candy is in fact a great way to consume the goodness of ginger, especially for those who could not stand with the sharp smell of fresh ginger. Ginger has indeed amazing healing powers and it works wonder as treatment for girl’s sickness, from morning sickness to menstrual cramps.

Since ginger consists of various health benefits, even with the consumption of ginger candy, it is still a good amount of ginger to stay healthy. Try out on the scrumptious ginger candy if you have not taste any of it before!

Krim Soda from Sibu, Sarawak.

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Krim Soda is a sweet carbonated drink. The packaging and processing of the drink itself might be different from one country with another; however, they share the common taste of vanilla.

Krim Soda is also a soft drink that specially made in Sibu. Sometimes, you might find them filled in a Carlsberg or Tiger recycle bottle with their sticker label on the bottle. That is the reason why they could afford to sell the soft drink in a much lower price than the famous Coca‐Cola or F&N soft drinks.

Some people even said that the Krim Soda drinks was originally made by the local of Bintagor. Anyway, this drink you can only able to find in Sarawak.

Starbucks Banana Mango Frappuccino!

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It’s shopping time on weekend! After tiring walk and shopping at ION Orchard, we decided to have a rest and quench our thirst at Starbucks. Since recently they keep advertise and promoting their two new beverages Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino and Banana Mango Frappuccino blended beverage.

Also getting to know that actually the new beverages is only available for a limited time period, so never miss the chance to give it a try. I tried the blended Banana Mango Frappuccino, as I was craving for something sweet and fruity.

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I like the taste of the drink as I like sour taste so much. The mixture of mango passion fruit juice blended with freshly peeled banana makes the drink taste sweet and a little sour. Furthermore, I also heard that it's Banana Mango Frappuccino is available based on the availability of their daily supply of fresh bananas. So the drink should be as fresh and healthy as you could imagine?

Summer comes and summer goes, I will try the Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino before the summer is over! I guess it should taste something sweet, creamy and crunchy?

Self Decoration Ice-Cream!

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Had a great lunch buffet at Seoul Garden and of course after taking those heavy food, never forget to get an ice‐cream as a desert. I'm not a great ice‐cream decorator and it came out with a simple 3 scoops of ice‐cream with some mixture toppings. Actually I was rushing to go off from the lunch, so end up not spending too much time on the decoration of the ice‐cream. Anyway, it's just a happy snap shot to share with. Desert always makes a person happy.

Due to the hurry of time after having the grill and some steamboat food, I don't get the chance to make their ice kacang, where they provide various different topping ingredients. Shall make one DIY ice kacang for the next visit. Stay tune!

I had a story of ice cream about my friend. My friend went for a dating together with her husband and her husband suggested her to go out for an ice cream after having their movie. Her husband brought her to a very special desert shop selling varieties of ice cream, with the only intention of making his wife happy, as desert often makes a person happy. Then when come to make an order, after the wife chooses her favorite one and the husband did not order any of it and saying that he is not having any of it because he is still feeling full. They started in argument when the wife responded with a higher tone to her husband, "What?! You are not having any? And yet you brought me here? Are you trying to fatten me up so that I'm less appealing to other men?". The husband just keep quiet while the wife showing him a black face.

The husband's good intention has been totally misunderstood. Is ice cream that fattening? Yea, the sugar on the ice cream is fattening but with a little consumption of it once in a while wouldn't bring so much effect of fats. Although such situation happens once in a blue moon among relationship, but not to blame any of the ice cream desert as it is the great source of social and make people connects happily.

Sometime when you going on a family jaunt for ice cream on weekend could just be a great day!

Wonderful Treat On 35th Swensational Years!

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I received this Swensen voucher after paying my bills for one of my dine in meal at the restaurant. At first I thought I receive the voucher as a gift of spending over $200 at the restaurant. Until I saw the advertisement online and I just realized that actually we can just redeem the voucher by flashing a mobile phone snapshot of the voucher during a payment which is spend at least $70 at any of their restaurants islandwide.

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This $35 dollar off promotional is only valid until end of March 2014, as Swensen is celebrating their 35 Years Anniversary. The promotion itself is only valid on weekdays and not available on weekends or Valentine’s day.

The first thought that came to our mind when chatting about this voucher is, will there be another $36 dollar discount for the next year when Swensen celebrate their 36^th year anniversary? 

I like their Apple Crumble, served on a sizzling hot pan and drenched in delicious sauce. The combination of cold and hot mixture gave you a fantastic feeling of enjoying desert. Although I was doubt of ordering the Apple Crumble at first as I heard from some of my peer's opinion that it taste awful. But ended up I insist on ordering it to give it a try, and it was surprisingly taste to be good and doesn't taste as awful as what others claimed to be. Like the wise man said, "never try, never know, and you will never know how an apple taste like from just a description itself until you taste it yourself". I like the soft and a little crunchy apple chunks dipping with hot caramelized sauce. It tastes delicious with the combination of hot, cold, sweet, crunchy apple, and soft custard.  

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Generally it is still worth it especially with the $35 dollar voucher and also we received a free Firehouse Birthday Sundae treat. Whenever I visit Swensen, I will never miss to have their ice cream desert. Some even named it as the International Ice Cream Parlor.

Indeed we had our great time chilling with the cooling ice-cream desert after a stressful and tiring week from work. That’s the reason why I love desert so much as it would be absolutely perfect to make a day.

I had always found it a good place to gather around with friends for a birthday celebration because it is famous with its ice-cream cake and also with a wide array of ice-cream concoctions. 

It’s definitely a fantastic ice-cream parlor that one must experience. 

Peelable Banana Ice‐cream from Thailand.

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Tried this peel able banana ice-cream during my visit in Thailand. It is a banana shaped ice-cream that not only looks like a banana where it also peels like a banana.

I had not seen such unique ice-cream before. When I first bought this ice-cream, I didn’t realized it was actually peelable, especially from the look of the picture alone and I assume it was only for an illustration of advertisement. 

The outer peelable layer is actually a jelly like consistency. It tastes as an icy gelatinous and thick substance. The inner layer consists of milk ice lolly. Hence, with the jellyness of the outer layer and the creaminess of the inner layer compliment each other perfectly. I would say such innovative ice-cream production creates an excitement not only for kids but to adults as well.

It makes everyone went banana (crazy) with this ice-cream. It looks incredible and stunning.

You can just peel the outer layer of the Popsicle using your mouth instead of peeling with your hand which makes your hand sticky. There are some tricks on peeling the jelly layer, where you first bite on the top of the Popsicle and you can slowly peel the jelly layer with your mouth.

You will never know how it tastes until you taste it by yourself! It is a cool ice-cream though! 

Finally Tried On "Lao Ban" Soya Milk!

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Lao Ban Soya Beancurd stall is famous for its soft, smooth and silky with jelly pudding looks Beancurd. I had tried both of their original and almond taste Beancurd. Although I had been dropping by their stall for countless times, but this is the first time I try their soy milk, since many recommended for their soy milk. At first I was in dilemma whether to buy the soy milk drink from Mr Bean or Lao Ban as both of them just nearby across the street. End up I tried this and will try on Mr Bean's one the next time.

It seems like the information provided by most of the articles about soy milk seems confusing. Some article said that soy milk is a great replacement of dairy milk for people with lactose intolerance or having milk allergy. From my own opinions, all this while I thought Soy milk should be a healthy and beneficial products as it came from bean, which is from plant, unlike cow's milk. However, some research, which most it are from the opponent of soy milk, dairy associations says that the chemical found in soy plants has some drawbacks.

For the beneficial of soy milk, it helps to reduce cholesterol and promote cardiovascular health. Some research even shows that regular intake of soy drink can improve blood circulation and keep us safe from strokes and heart attacks.

Minority of the people who having soy allergy has to be alert with soy milk consumption. This is because drinking soy milk can cause swelling, vomiting and diarrhea.

In addition, some research suggested that men should reduce the intake of soy drink, as it may inhibit male fertility with a decrease of sperm count. Although the finding seems argumentative but it's better not to take too much intake of soy drinks for the precautions.

The reason why such a natural soy with a good benefits to health becomes another harmful diet for human is because the problem starts with how the soy is produced. As nowadays, most of the soy beans are farmed in country with high technology advancement and is genetically modified for its massive production in order to support the high demand of soy around the world. The alteration of the gene in the soy itself from the biotechnology research to make it produce in a much shorter time to overcome the insufficient amount of soy demand. The chemical used in the herbicide and soy causes several side effects in long term consumption.

Therefore, always bear in mind that we have got the means to decide what we buy. Before purchasing, read the label and be even note weary if it's packaged with clever marketing. An organic products is always much more safe for consumption but of course there will be a difference on the price.

Android KitKat on My Nexus 5!

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My first new digital device of the year 2014, Nexus 5! It's going to be my new toy perhaps. LOL…

There are two choices of colour selections for Nexus 5, where it comes in black and white colours. I was in dilemma considering whether to choose black or white as both colours seems appealing. However, end up I choose black color as the white color would need probably a few days later as it is not available at the store I purchased. Anyway, it looks cool too.

Actually this is the first time I'm using Nexus phone by Google, and I actually just get to know that the numbering for the model represents it's size of the screen. For example, Nexus 5 is a 5" inch phone, Nexus 7 represents a 7" inch tablet device, and Nexus 10 is a 10" inch device.

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Guess what you seen above? Are you having the same thought of mine when you first seen the screen display? Yes! I was thinking of KitKat chocolate wrap. It is Android 4.4, KitKat platform! The display itself is cool!

Now I would say it's a new "snacks" of mine to explore and "taste" with. I read from Google page and it stated that it is the first phone with Android 4.4, KitKat.

Previously I do not have any deep impression or knowledge on Nexus phone for its performance, design, features, etc. because I was not a fan of Google earlier on as I'm using Apple iPhone device all the while. With a conventional wisdom, I often consider Android as more complex and easily customizable compare to my iPhone 5. When I first come to try on Nexus 5, it was pretty smooth with their performance and features as well.

Not that bad as what I think of it before this. Therefore, now I believe in what people often said, "Never judge or comment on something if you do not have any knowledge about it and you can only comment until you personally experience it". This is pretty true.

In addition, their touch screen performance is quite sensitive as well unlike what I experienced on other devices which are not that sensitive. I believe this is what most of us would like to have as we touched on the phone navigation most of the time.

One of the feature of Nexus 5 which I like the most is that it's Android 4.4 KitKat allows you to speak "Ok Google" to activate touch less screen. It detects your words and translates it into text to be search from the Google search queries. Not only that, the voice search feature also allows controlling almost all of the handling on the device. For example, you can speak to control and set the alarm on your phone, you can even speak a specific application to be downloaded on the phone and the device will just work smartly to search from the Play Store for you to download. This is really fantastic!

With this device along, I believe I can easily set my reminder, arrange my task and set my daily schedule easily by commanding the "Ok Google" features.

Nexus 5 comes with a reasonable price which cost much lower price compare to some other premium brands with higher resale value. Hence, this makes a mistakes to some people that it was a "budget" phone, but I would say it’s a budget phone with a premium features. From my opinion in purchasing a phone, I don't just weigh the device by its brand and price, I would compare with its features, specifications, and overall user experience as well, as this will be the facts review of the phone. Only with that we are able to have a clearer picture on whether which device is worth more to be purchased.

To make a fair statement, of course with the price itself it comes to the cost of the manufacturing device. As people often said, you pay for what you want. Hence, a smarter would probably review the device and decides what are the common or regular used features that the device would give to them and from there we can decide whether we need to pay the "extra price" for the features or hardware that we rarely use.

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I like its camera functions because it auto focus in a split second one you move around the phone. It has a quick camera load on the apps when it is start. The speed of capturing is as fast as one short per two seconds. This makes more fun in handling of the camera. Professional photographer often captures moments with a quick speed and now you can be an expert photographer as well with your Nexus 5. It has 8‐megapixel for the back camera and 1.3‐megapixel for the front camera.

In the midst of exploring, I found their new features of more additional Emoji characters on text messaging. It gives more expressions of your feelings to you friends as sometimes words can't express how we feel.

I'm pretty impressed with one of the Android quote, “The platform is going to be taste as good as its confectionary look".

What a nice phrase!

There are much more to explore with as I am only a newbie to the phone. Will share more experiences of mine after I master the phone, hence at least give me some time to play around and taste my "snacks" first. Stay tune!

P/s: Do feel free to leave any comments if you have any experience to share with together. Thanks.