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Fine dining in Equatorial Penang

July 22, 2008 – 2:07 pm

Last month, I attended a friend’s wedding in Penang held at Equatorial Penang. It was a poolside wedding with the dinner at the ballroom. I was expecting a normal chinese round table dinner, but was surprised and delighted when I entered the hall.

The table setting was a long banquet table, beautifulyl set with candles and flowers.

The wedding favour was very cute too, it’s a little aluminium candy box in the shape of a luggage complete with wheels. By that time I was starving, so had to munch on the candies.

I had to take a pic of the menu as I would never remember the names of the dishes.

There was a free flow of this redish looking mocktail juice. I was unable to determine what juice it was.

First dish up was the Tartare of Tuna with Cilantro on avocado salsa, iceberg lettuce, balsamic gastrique and foccacia toast. The Tuna was served raw it was pretty delicious.

This was the Asparagus soup with truffle, which didn’t sound nor look very interesting, but it was pretty yummy.

Cranberry pineapple sherbet, this was sour and sweet and cold, like eating ice for kids.

This is the main dish, Baked Fillet of Chilean Cod crusted with tomato-passionfruit jam, sauteed pea sprouts and pilaf rice. I love cod fish, I cannot forget this taste, it was wonderful. But at this dish, it was getting pretty full. I must say that while eating these dishes, we were also served bread with butter which I munch on away in between dishes. Thank goodness it was also at the end of the meal.

We were served the dessert, Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee topped with Almond tuile. Sweet like custard…

That was the end of the dinner, which closed with Chocolate Pralines, the wedding cake, and coffee and tea, at which time didn’t taste appetizing anymore due to the overloadedness of food!
It was my first experience fine dining at a wedding, definitely memorable.

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By leona 58 views| Posted in Food | Comments (1)

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WiMAX vs other Broadbands

July 17, 2008 – 4:28 pm

How many types of Broadband services do we have now in the Klang Valley. Obviously there are some variations and different companies offering different kinds of packages. Here’s a comparison of some basic offers and what WiMAX can possibly offer in days to come. I’m comparing based on Broadband of 1Mbps to avoid confusion, since different companies offer all kinds of speed limits.

1) Streamyx
Does majority of people in Klang Valley use Streamyx? I think so, since we think it is being monopolised by them. The problem with Streamyx is users need to pay for the broadband and the phoneline separately, so when add up together, it’s not cheap. Therefore, they came up with Streamyx combo so users don’t have to pay for phone line rental, but at 1mbps, it’s a monthly fee of RM110. Not very cheap either. I pay RM77 per month for my 1Mbps account, plus RM27++ for the line rental, total being RM104. That’s inclusive of certain downtimes and times I can’t log on at all. Another bad point, it’s not mobile. Also, there’s a contract period, is it 2 years? Good point, it can be more stable and faster than using those USB modems and you can get and replace the modem easily in any IT store.

2) Maxis Broadband
Maxis is actually a telco company that ventured in Mobile broadband sometime ago. Maxis is currently advertising No Contract Period, that’s cool. But read the fine lines! They are tricky here. In the fine lines it says, if you cancel your Maxis broadband account after 12 months, you don’t have to pay anything, but if you cancel below 12 months, you have to pay RM200 administrative fees! That’s a bit like lying don’t you think? You’re basically still stuck with a 12 month contract in different words.
The last bit of their FAQ scares me off too : What happens if I lose the modem?

A replacement cost of up to RM900 (depending on modem type) will be chargeable should you lose the modem or return the modem in a damaged condition. You will be issued a replacement modem if you decide to continue with the service upon payment of the replacement cost.

Like goodness, what kind of modem costs so much? Reading the FAQ kinda makes me turned off from even checking the packages, seriously. Anyways, Maxis Wireless Broadbands doesn’t have 1Mbps package, it’s only up to 640kbps. Only in 3g coverage areas you might get up to 3.6mbps. Advanced package of 640kbps cost RM78 monthly with modem included.

3) DIGI Broadband
I actually can’t find the word BROADBAND in Digi’s website. It’s actually hidden as Data Plans and called Highspeed Mobile Internet. So I’m not sure if this is really broadband. The package for unlimited use is RM66 per month, and you can use your phone as a modem. Basically it’s based on EDGE, so I wonder how slow it really is as it’s not stated anywhere on the site. Oh wait, it is stated at 224kbps. Oh wow, that’s ancient speed.

4) Celcom Broadband is one of the telco pioneers here. They are advertising their packages with FREE USB modems. Celcom broadband also doesn’t have 1mpbs packages. There’s only 2 speed, Broadband basic, at 384kbps for RM68 and Broadband Advance up to 3.6mbps for RM98 a month. Of course, with USB modem, the good thing is one can surf anywhere, especially in places without a phone line. Some people can use their 3g phone as modems too.

There are other companies, which now I feel, is not really worth a mention since their coverage is weak and limited to certain areas only. With all these wireless broadband services, there are still their many limitations and weaknesses. So now entering into the picture is WiMAX. I think most Malaysians are hoping that WiMAX is going to be the solution to many of our connectivity issues. The question now in our minds is, how much? How fast? How soon?

Without much details released yet, we can only speculate. I read on the forums that it’s only RM80 a month and speed is up to 2mbps. Users have to use special WiMAX modems, which comes in home type modems and USB modems. Not sure if these are free, but I believe if there are packages, surely there are offers in price for the modems too. For eg, if you sign up for 2 years, maybe we get a free modem? If it’s only RM80 a month, I think I’m willing to sign contracts of 2 years. After all, we don’t really like to keep changing our service providers, the WiMAX sounds too good at the moment, wireless internet anywhere? This is really one of my dreams come true. What are you willing to pay for such a service?

By leona 105 views| Posted in Tech | Comments (3)

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A new WiMAX lifestyle

July 16, 2008 – 1:55 pm

WiMAX, sounds like something that’s wide and maximum? Truth be told, I only heard of this term today, and it really stands for something long and challenging to remember, that is, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. It’s based on the IEEE 802.16 Air Interface Standard, compared to 802.11 currently used for WIFI. WiMax delivers a point-to-multipoint architecture, making it an ideal method for carriers to deliver broadband to locations where wired connections would be difficult or costly. Now, WiMAX is really a new technology for using broadband internet, and it’s wireless, fast, and doesn’t take a long time to set up. In my office now, we’re still using wired broadband, which took weeks to setup, where every pc is connected by metres and metres of LAN cable that has to be nailed to the walls and cubicles to hide the horrendous messy site from people.

However, at the modem and switch area, one can still see all the blue wires curled up and it is just a sight to behold. This place is just next to my table and it ain’t pretty. Takes up a whole lot of space too.

So, with WiMAX, this won’t need to exist. We ended up having a WIFI router installed so my boss and some other colleagues with notebooks can make use of Wireless technology, that means no more having to access their emails on the desk only, and being able to go to our library and use the internet with their notebook there. Still, it’s not as pretty as it sounds, as my boss still complains that he gets limited or no connectivity as our WIFI router is too far from the library, it’s something like less than 10m away, but blocked by many walls.

Supposedly, WiMAX has a calculated range of 50-70km, that’s compared to WIFI’s alleged 10m. What? That’s like 5000 times more! But that’s not it, Broadband SPEED is what we all look for. Most people can only use up to 1mbps with their current broadband subscription, and it’s not nearly fast enough. I can’t understand those that are still using Dialup, do they have so much time to waste? 56 kbps? That’s ancient alright. WiMAX promises a 70Mbps! Though many wonder whether it can really reach that speed, but hey, 10mbps is more than enough thinking of it right now.

If there’s WiMAX services right now where I live, surely life is much different. I don’t have to wait till I get to the office or get home to send an important email. Of course, no more excuses that I didn’t get that email because I was on holiday. Plus, I can blog and upload photos on the go! Like when I was in Penang, I actually suffered 3 days without internet! There was no WIFI service even in the hotel I stayed in. I was just wondering I could have uploaded my friend’s wedding photos LIVE and allowed those who couldn’t make it to celebrate together.

I would probably have a handheld WiMAX device that I can carry anywhere, or a laptop I can turn on anywhere. Office lifestyle will be different too. In our office, we wish we can do away from the cables and have free seating style, everyone brings in their laptops and sit anywhere to do their work. In this way, we won’t be building our own ‘kingdom’ and sit in our own cubicles all day. It will be more open and discussion friendly.

Now, 3g is great, but 3g is much slower at only 384kbps. Here’s a really easy to understand diagram of some of WiMAX’s details from theSTAR:

By leona 93 views| Posted in Places, Tech | Comments (3)

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Penang Hawker Food

July 15, 2008 – 8:03 pm

Last month in June, we drove up to Penang for a friend’s wedding. It was only over the weekend, so it was pretty impossible to conquer all the Penang hawker food. The last time I was in Penang was nearly 10 years ago, so I could hardly remember what’s good to eat. Well, this time round, it was a memory refresher. Here’s some great foods I still miss…

We reached there in time for dinner, so dinner was at a hawker place, I can’t remember the name now.

‘Oh Jien’ which is Fried Oyster in Egg, super oily and super delish. This can be found anywhere in Malaysia but in Penang, the oysters are extra large and more in quatity.

‘Char Kueh’ is Fried Chinese Radish Cakes, fried with Beansprouts. This is good, thought I can’t forget Kuching’s sweet version.

“Penang Lor Mee” is my main dish. I love the thick gravy, unlike versions found in Kajang, which are more watery. Portions of hawker dishes in Penang are much smaller though, it seems that it’s made for people to eat more than one dish at a time.

We had other things like Popiah and Hokkien mee, but my friends eat so fast I didn’t manage to snap the pics.

On another morning, after church at PCC, we went to a mamak stall to have mamak mee and Pasembur.

Mamak mee is too hot and not for me!

Pasembur is much more bearable for me. This is a kind of rojak with mixed tauhu and cucumber. I wasn’t all crazy about this dish. I guess I really prefer Chinese food.