My Very First Blog

2. Last month, I decided to drop the word 'blogspot' from my blog's address. Yes, that's right! I have upgraded to a dot com. Now my blog's URL is http://www.foongpc.com. (You can leave out the 'www' and just type in foongpc.com in your browser). Please update the link, will you?

3. For those of you who have problem updating my blog in your Blogroll, you can enter my feeds URL instead. Just type the following - http://feeds.feedburner.com/MyVeryFirstBlog. Thank you!

4. OK, this one is long overdue. Last month (or was it two months ago?), I received a gift from blogger SK for winning a few awards in his blog. Read his blog post HERE to know what awards I won.

Isn't this cute?



SK had done a wonderful job designing the CD cover and the CD itself! Love it!



Oh! All my favorite songs in one CD! Cool! And a nice note at the bottom. Thanks SK! : )



5. Recently, I signed up for the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf member card. I love Coffee Bean's coffee and their all-day breakfast set! Miles better than the more famous Starbucks, let me tell you!



My favourite breakfast meal in Coffee Bean is the Club Sandwich set! It comes with 2 big pieces of bread with ham and eggs, salad and a cup of hot Sumatra dark coffee!



There are other good breakfast sets but this one is clearly my favourite! As a member, you get to collect bean points which can be used for future purchases of food or drinks at any of their outlets. Coffee Bean For the Win! : )



6. Do you like bubble gum? Well I like to chew on a bubble gum occasionally and my favourite brand is Dentyne. In fact, this bubble gum was recommended to me by a dentist friend! So imagine my shock when I found out that this brand is no longer available in Malaysia!

Luckily, I managed to find Dentyne selling in Bangkok when I went there for a short holiday recently! So I bought a few back. However, I'm still wondering why it is no longer selling in Malaysia. Anyone knows?



7. A good friend of mine who had just returned from a holiday in Spain got me this nice fridge magnet as a souvenir.



Football fans will know that this is the logo of the Futbol Club Barcelona or Barca based in Barcelona, Spain. Its long-time rival is Real Madrid but of course, you knew that already unless you are not into football.

So, to all you football fans, which side are you on - Barca or Real Madrid?

8. I have never liked eating porridge. I only eat it when I'm sick. That's a fact! However, this fact no longer holds true lately. My mom cooked this hou see fa sang (dried oyster and groundnut) porridge the other day and it was delicious!

Throw in some you tiao (Chinese fried crullers) and it's irresistible!

Then, a few days later, she cooked this choy kon (dried Chinese white cabbage) porridge and I loved it as well! Whatever happened to me? I was transformed from a person who hate porridge to a person who love it literally overnight! Amazing!



9. I am now on Pinterest! Are you? If not, come join me! For those of you who are already on Pinterest, do follow me, won't you? Don't be surprised to find some of your blog's pictures on my Pinterest site! Yes, I now pin any pictures I like from blogs and websites onto my Pinterest boards!

But don't worry, any of your pictures that are pinned have links that lead right back to your blog! You can even re-pin the pictures you see on my Pinterest site to your Pinterest site. But the pictures will always link back to the original owners no matter how many times they are being re-pinned. How cool!

Now do take a minute and see the pictures I have pinned on Pinterest HERE.

10. I have to admit, I am getting more and more addicted to coffee. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Well, I guess I will have to control myself. This is iced coffee I took one afternoon to keep myself awake!

If you want to know why I really drink coffee, read THIS!

11. I have set up a Mariah Carey mix tape on AtticTV. Currently there are 51 of her top hits in my collection - all carefully selected by yours truly. Enjoy them now by clicking HERE.



You can also sign in to AtticTV and listen to the different genre of songs and videos available there ranging from pop, hip-hop, and classical to Chinese music and even K-pop! And if you like, create your own mixtape!

12. Although I have been to the famous Snowflake Taiwanese Dessert many times for their wonderful ice desserts, it was my first time trying out their Sea Amber Jelly.



It was really quite nice! But of course nothing could match my all time favourite - the Japan Combo II soya ice special!

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I still remember how much I liked their complimentary bread dipped into vinegar and olive oil last time. It was the same this time. Still loving it!



In fact, I think I can just eat the bread with the vinegar and olive oil as the main meal by itself and order nothing else! LOL!

I wonder if they still give the same amount of bread if I were to go and eat there alone all by myself?



We ordered their Caesar Salad with toasted focaccia croutons to be shared amongst ourselves.



I love the crunchy croutons! Yum!



My parents ordered the Shrimp Aglio Olio. It comes with artichoke hearts, oven-dried tomatoes, black olives and garlic. Yes, the dish was quite large size, so my parents shared it!



We also ordered their Ham and Mushroom Pizza to be shared together.



The pizza was stated as a new addition to the menu although I did not know how new as I had not been to this restaurant for over a year! It contains tomatoes, turkey ham and button mushrooms topped with mozzarella cheese. I did not find it very nice, though. Just average. Let's just say I have eaten better pizza elsewhere!



I did not know what to order but finally settled for this Spaghetti & Meatballs.



Wrong move. Although the sight of beef meatballs and spaghetti drenched in marinara sauce sounds appetizing, what I had was too dry for my liking. Oh well, I still finished it without a strand of spaghetti left on my plate! LOL!

My brother and his wife shared this Seafood Cioppino.



Seafood what? Never mind. It's basically mussels, calamari, clams and shrimps sautéed in white wine and tossed in a spicy marinara sauce and served with fettuccine pasta.

Do you notice everyone shared their meal except me? Damn, am I a big eater or what?!

As for drinks, it was just plain water for us. Why waste money right? Drinks are simply not worth it! Better use the money to go for ice desserts at Snowflake! Haha!

FIRST COMMENTER

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Staged in Istana Budaya KL way back in 2002, it was one of the first few musicals I have watched and remains one of the very best I have seen. It's also the longest running musical in Singapore.

Directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham, this musical did not boast of any outstanding dance choreography or awesome special effects, but what impressed me was the interesting storyline, the music and the stage design.


Image courtesy of etsy.com

Very briefly, the story is about Chang and Eng, the conjoined twins in 19th century Siam (now Thailand) who first gave birth to the famous term 'Siamese twins'. They were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage. Although modern surgical techniques would have separated them easily, it was not medically possible at that time.

As such, the twins had to get on with life 'joined' together. Do you know how tough that is? When they were older, an American merchant discovered them and paid their family to take the twins to America to be shown as exhibits.

Later, the twins became American citizens, adopting Bunker as their new surname. The funny thing is, they fell in love with two sisters, Sallie and Adelaide Yates, married them and started a huge family! Can you imagine how they did that - both still joined together? A foursome perhaps? LOL!


Chang & Eng family portrait courtesy of Corbis Images

Aside from the very interesting storyline, I simply love the music! Composed by the multi-talented Ken Low, who shockingly died 2 years ago of complications from pneumonia at the age of 49, (read the news HERE), the music was so addictive and enjoyable. I even bought myself a CD after watching the musical!

The artists who played the major characters in the musical also did very well. Kudos must be given to the two actors who played the conjoined twins in the KL musical - Singaporean Robin Goh and Filipino-Australian RJ Rosales. By the way, RJ Rosales passed away mysteriously last December (I was totally shocked and devastated!) at the age of just 37. Read about it HERE.

Famous Singaporean celebrity Selena Tan did well as Nok, the mother of the twins although I thought her voice was not powerful enough. And who could forget the Midwife Of the West played to perfection by our very own Adibah Noor?

Anyway, one of the songs I love from this musical is Mai Phen Rai, sung by Selena Tan. It was touching, yet inspiring. It was sung during a scene when the twins were about to leave America, and they were fearful of leaving their mother behind. Here's the music taken from YouTube. (Lyrics provided below)

How do you like this song? It almost brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it. So touching coming from a mother to her sons. Of course, only Asians would understand this. I doubt the idea of the sons leaving the mother would touch a majority of Westerners - and probably that would explain why this musical would do well only in Asia.

I have been listening to this song a few times recently and one fine afternoon, decided to play it on the piano. So, here's the my piano version of Mai Phen Rai. As usual, please excuse the minor slips.

Hope you like it! : )

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The unique thing about this airport-like Terminal 21 is that each floor represents a famous city or place. We were on the first floor, which is the Tokyo-themed floor. As we came up this floor from the escalator, a giant Maneki Neko greeted us!



Maneki Neko, also known as the 'Beckoning Cat' is a common sculpture found in Japan. The Chinese also have their own version, usually referred to as the 'feng shui prosperity cat'. The cat had its left paw raised as if to beckon and welcome us to shop till we drop!

In fact, it is believed that the raised left paw has the power to bring in lots of customers! No wonder they put this giant cat there! Now is that why it was winking at us? LOL!

One of the iconic Japan landmarks I saw here was the Torii.

This Japanese arch painted in red, stood majestically between two rows of shops. I love it! You can find this ubiquitous structure in front or near Shinto shrines all over Japan. They are supposed to mark the entrances to sacred places.

But I guess the Torii gate here does not signify anything of that sort - I did not find any shrines nearby haha!

And then, not far away from the Torii, I saw this!

What is this? Can anyone please enlighten me? All I know was that it looked pretty cool!

While the second floor of Terminal 21 (London-themed floor) is dedicated to mens wear, this first floor is more for the ladies. There are lots of boutiques here selling trendy clothes and accessories, such as bags and shoes, and some are most probably from Japan.



Apart from boutiques, there are also beauty salons and a handful of food and beverage outlets. OK, I did not take many pictures so I shall more or less repeat the above photo. Haha!



The most interesting thing I saw however was not the Maneki Neko, or the Torii, but the sumo wrestlers! OK by now you should know they are not real! : )



Funnily, they were both stuck to, or should I say separated by the pillar! LOL!

Only in Japan is sumo wrestling being practiced professionally. So I think it is apt that Terminal 21 put these wrestlers on display!



What an amazing Tokyo-themed floor! Do you like this floor or do you prefer the London floor? (Haven't seen Terminal 21's London landmarks? Read about them HERE)

Coming Up Next : The Dazzling Lights Of Istanbul

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My friend and I were at this spanking new mall called Terminal 21 in Bangkok. When I saw the famous London bus with the image of the London guard in front of me, I really thought I was dreaming!



But it's true! There it was! The double-decker red London bus and the London guard in his red uniform!



Why were there a London bus and a London guard in a shopping mall in Bangkok? Well, every floor of Terminal 21 represents a famous city or place. We were on the 2nd floor of this airport-themed shopping mall, and the 2nd floor is the London floor!

Even though I knew I was on the London-themed floor, I was still unprepared to see the double-decker bus and the guard! They looked pretty amazing to me!

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Located in the Sukhumvit area, this 9-storey mall can be easily accessed using either the BTS Skytrain or MRT train service. If you are using BTS, stop at the Asoke Station, but if you are using MRT, stop at the Sukhumvit Station.

The Asoke Station is preferable since it is directly connected to Terminal 21 via Exit 1. However, Sukhumvit Station is not really far - you just need to cross the road and walk a little bit further.

Although the toilets in Terminal 21 are awesome and they are certainly a MUST VISIT for every visitor to the mall, there are other equally interesting things to see. One of them is the famous Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco.

Located somewhere in the middle of the mall, this replica of that infamous San Francisco bridge is constructed over 2 floors - the 4th and 5th floors. I was at the 4th floor when I took this photo.



When I went up to the 5th floor, I could actually see cars on the bridge!

What an awesome bridge! I love it!



A close shot of the cars. They look quite real, don't you think so?



On the other side of the bridge is Pier 21, a multi-restaurant food court. My friend and I had our lunch there and the food were not bad! More about the food in another post.



As mentioned in my earlier posts, every floor of Terminal 21 represents a famous city or place. Both the 4th and 5th floors are San Francisco-themed floors so this Golden Gate Bridge is the perfect landmark to represent this city.

At one end of the bridge, I was amused to find a man pulling the ropes connected to the bridge.



I thought this was a pretty creative piece of work!

Besides the bridge, there is also the romantic San Francisco tram on the 4th floor which I will blog about in a future post.



Coming Up Soon : The London Bus At Terminal 21 Bangkok

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