Hi People!

Fuahhhhhhhhhhh. Almost a month ago since I last posted anything here. I seriously got damn a lot to share here lor but I am so tied with my current job (swear I'm not complaining!).

But anyway, I have 4 events coming up this week and it is very likely after this, I should be more free to update the blog. Heh. After all, this would be another way for me to release stress.

And I'm so glad that there are still people who would read this not-so-updated-on-a-timely-basis blog. So thank you guys, to whoever it may be. T___T

Anyway, despite all the workload and working on weekends, weekday nights and almost 7 days a week soon, I'm still thankful to have a great team in my company. A bunch of fun and crazy people that makes me feel comfortable around them man! In fact, I won't even feel reluctant to go to work though it's damn far from my home.

Because of this, I feel like showing the world on who my colleagues are...

The decent us..

... and the 'wtf-is-this-randomness' us. 

By the way, it was a team retreat/training that we had last week and we are all award-winning employees man!

Here, a picture of me and my award as The Troubleshooter HAHAHAHA. 

Well, of course not forgetting some of my ex-colleagues who are really worth keeping in touch lah. I really miss this bunch man!  

Us at POKC till we were way beyond their closing hours OMG almost 5-6 hours there. 

I guess that's the way of life. You gain and lose people at the same time, but it will always be the moments together that you cherish together most. In fact, there are more people I really want to meet again soon including my college mates, uni mates, SS Gang (fucking group that almost don't exist soon because EVERYONE is too busy with their own shit till no fuck is given to this gang - IF ANY OF YOU GUYS READ THIS YES THIS IS HOW MUCH I MISS YOU ASSHOLES!) etc. 

I vow to find time to schedule a meet-up with all these people after this week and they better freaking turn up pfft!

Okay, this is the end. Time to leave here for a bit and go on a battle for this whole week - game on! 

Kthanksbai.

POKC @ Damansara Uptown, Petaling Jaya.

Had a satisfying dinner yesterday at POKC (read: People of Kheng Chew). Stumbled on this place via Offpeak.my and they had a 20% discount. Sounded like a pretty good deal so the boyfriend and I headed there at 7ish with two other friends of ours since we were contemplating where to go for dinner.

Seated comfortably at one corner next to their counter, it felt rather quiet seeing that it was a weekend and I think we were the only table downstairs (not sure about the floor upstairs though).

Thought it was a normal coffee and eatery place but apparently, they serve Hainanese food (pretty good ones too!).

Click to read on the brief introduction of POKC. 

They had quite a number of choices for diners to choose from ranging from chicken, lamb, beef (think the only one was their Beef and Hash which is served during breakfast & brunch time, I assume?) and well, unfortunately, it's a non-halal restaurant cause it serves my favourite too - pork!

Their menu which consists of Asian and Western dishes. 

They even have burgers and some dishes for breakfast & brunch time.  

And they have coffee.. juices... mocktails... soda... beers.

Last but not least, desserts of course. 

The area was decently designed and it was quite spacious. 

Looks comfy right? :p

Their counter/coffee bar. 

Dinner was served in about 15 minutes and the first dish came. 

The boyfriend's POKC Enchanted Lamb Stew (RM 26.90), which is served with Hainanese white bread or rice. There was sufficient lamb meat to feed one person, think there was at least 5-6 medium-sized pieces of them and it tasted gooood! Possibly cause I'm a fan of lamb meat too. :p 

My Pork Chop (RM 24.90). The pork chop was pretty thick and served in a decent size as well. The meat wasn't dry or covered with flour, instead, it was very juicy! *two thumbs up* I really loved the fries too - made of sweet potato instead of the usual. Their POKC authentic sauce is actually some sweet & sour sauce with s tinge of spiciness, which goes well with the meat. The only drawback? I wished they served more vege instead of just the one that you see in the photo. 

The Tender Classic Koi (RM 20.90). It's the same as the Pork Chop except it's Chicken Chop. Taste was quite alright too according to my friend. More like some comfort food kinda thing. :p

After the satisfying dinner, hung around a while more and I felt like trying their affogato. Torn between the choice of Teh Tarik Affogato and Coconut Affogato, however, the latter was the recommended one. 

Coconut Affogato (RM 15) - served with Inside Scoop Coconut Ice-Cream and double shots of Espresso. The taste wasn't too great, maybe cause the amount of ice-cream was too little, when compared to the Espresso. Then again, this is personal preference so if you're looking to have more coffee than sweetness, this is something you can go for. :) 

By the time we leave, it's about 9 already and yeap, there was some crowd. Tables were filled and possibly cause people were there for coffee and dessert. Personally, though the price was quite high (there's also a 5% service charge by the way), I will definitely be back for the food and maybe, should try some other desserts and the coffee they have to offer. If you like, do pay them a visit too at:-

POKC (People of Kheng Chew) Coffee & Eatery (Same row as Rekindle, facing LDP)
12, Jalan SS21/35, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Opening hours: 11.30 am - 10.30 pm (close on Tuesdays)

So, want to work in an agency?

Oh shit. Just realised that it's been almost a month since my last post. Heh. Been busy trying to get hold of my new job at another PR agency. It's been great so far - great colleagues, great working environment, decent workload (shall not jinx this)!

Of course, there will always be the good and bad side no matter where you work, especially if you're working in an agency. Going from my previous experience, I realised that I've matured quite a bit in terms of learning how to handle stress and well... ridiculousness sometimes. It's the same ol' same ol' so far and here are a few similarities:-

1. So much work, how lah? 

How?! Working in an agency means you have to always keep this in mind - workload is heavier as you work with different parties all the time. Everyone has demands and KPIs to meet, hence, the workload and ultimately, pressuring you to work for them as though they're your only client. So if that's the case, be organised lor. Don't put off your work and if you know you have an event coming up, plan at least a month earlier with all the timeline and stick to the damn deadlines! 

2. You make no sense, sometimes...or most of the time.

Nobody gives a fuck on what's right or wrong when it comes to the way things are being done because everything boils down to own KPIs (I call this selfishness but let's leave it as it is). If you're not familiar with the industry, you basically don't know how things work. Truth is, everyone will always think they know everything inside out, especially those who are extremely hard headed. So when someone makes no sense, please freaking educate them like they're toddlers. After all, you're in an agency - you're supposed to consult. So yes, EDUCATE. 

3. You work for me, just because I pay a monthly fee to your agency. 

They say customers' always right. In this case, it seems like the client's always "right". Some are so authoritative that they want you to follow whatever they demand for, even if you know clearly it's wrong. Again, you're in an agency so if you feel this isn't right, try to talk some sense with them and reiterate your points a few more times (hopefully the information enters and sticks in their heads). At the end of the day, you should do what's best for the clients. Don't just blindly follow their orders and meet their tight deadlines while they are enjoying their lives. You need a life too! Always, always, think of this as a partnership rather than being the employees to them. 

4. Calm your tits yo. 

Everyone has their bad days so if things don't go your way, take a chill pill. Try to think of solutions and work it out. Don't whine. You can even make a joke out of their ridiculousness. Most of all, solve the problem and show them your expertise. I am not the best when it comes to calming my nerves down but I have learnt (and still learning) on how to handle unnecessary bullshit. On rare occasions, I choose to ignore entirely and just go berserk, like... "fuck this shit, I will do it my way to prove you wrong." So if really doesn't work out in the end, take it as a valuable lesson instead of being so down about it. 

Despite all these, I really love what I'm doing right now cause it's always challenging. No doubt, working in agencies are the best ways to get a grasp of everything quickly but do consider these situations that you'll face. Also, if you're not the most efficient person in the world and you can't handle crap, please think thrice to avoid giving problems to yourself, colleagues and even the clients!

Okay done, finish sharing what I want to share for the night already. Goodnight. :)

P.S. In the event it feels like I'm talking about you, perhaps you can consider changing for the better, though this is purely my personal opinion. Jangan terasa ya. :)

*Photos courtesy of Google images.

Nanzo One Shabu @ SS2, Petaling Jaya.

As a big fan of food and (affordable) buffets, the boyfriend and I tend to look around for new food, especially on Groupon. Came across this super good deal at Nanzo One Shabu in SS2, PJ, which is only RM 34.50 per person. 

                                              

The restaurant's concept? Shabu-shabu buffet with no time limit! Once you're seated, you can choose 1 out of 3 different shabu-shabu base flavours including Miso, Spicy, Tomato and Porridge. I chose the Spicy while the boyfriend chose the Tomato soup base.

After selecting the soup, you can also order different drinks without any limit. On top of that, you'll be served with green tea too! 

Our bottle of green tea.

The restaurant's menu.

The interior. 

There are various ingredients to choose from including...

Basic steamboat ingredients

More basic steamboat ingredients

Vegetables and shrooms

Really fresh seafood

And more fresh seafood!

free flow of Haagen Dazs ice-creams too!

different noodles that are wrapped nicely.

Our table. They use Vees by the way. Good brand! :p

My lemon juice - tastes good cause it's not cordial drink.

Some seafood (only first round!) There were more of course! :p

Beef slices.

Pork slices.

Chicken slices.

Lamb slices.

Yes, they have that much of ingredients and you're not limited to ordering them! :p

Happy him...

...and happy me, before we start digging into our dinner!

Was there for almost 2.5 hours, or it might have been 3 hours. Can't remember it now but it was really good. Even better and cheaper than Sukiya at that point of time! :D Too bad they don't have the Groupon promotion anymore. :(

The only downside was the soup as we thought the Spicy would be the Chinese Ma Lat soup but it's just Miso Soup with a hint of spiciness. Tomato soup was pretty tasteless too but you can definitely make the soup base sweeter with all the ingredients they have there. :) 

Anyway, though the original price might be slightly higher now, strongly recommend it if you're up for fresh seafood and various type of meat. 

So if you're up for it, feel free to dine in there at: 

Nanzo One Shabu (Same row as Daorae Korean Restaurant)

No. 70, Ground Floor, Jalan SS2/67

Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Silom Thai Cooking Class @ Silom, Thailand.

Oh hi! It's been so long since I've updated anything here. Been a little occupied with getting used to my new job and weekends became my lazy days. :p 

So going back to my Day 2 in Bangkok, the boyfriend and I attended our first cooking class together. Was supposed to meet the lady from the cooking school at xxx BTS train station by 9.15 am. Arrived at the place earlier and walked around to see what's available to eat. :p Stumbled across this stall which had quite a lot of people queuing up for it.  

So apparently, the lady was selling pork meat with sticky rice at 40 Baht. It's super cheap omg. Of course must buy lah right. Didn't eat the sticky rice but the pork was good man. 

Met up with the lady and a few other people where we were segregated into two groups. Our group was a full Asian team from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and us representing Malaysia HAHA.

Started by visiting their local market and each of us was given a shopping basket and a bottled water.

So cute right. :p

See the boss with the basket and the ladies behind. Fuh. They say guys who know how to cook are more attractive. Maybe it's true after all but heh, he's taken so shoo. :p

We were told that coconut milk is one of the most important ingredients in Thai food, especially for tomyum, curries and even desserts. Hence, our first stop here. 

One of the stalls that sell coconut flakes with the authentic manual machines. 

The stall also sold various curry powders and we were also taught to differentiate the curry powders there.

Curry powders and frankly, I only remembered the green one (front) and curry paste (behind).

After that, we proceeded to the butcher's to get some chicken for our green curry! 

The butcher's at the market. Chicken meat was pre-packed so it was really a hi-bye thing here.

The excited me while others are walking further away from us! :p

Third stop was the seafood shop, where we were also taught how to choose prawns. Must choose those curling ones next time cause they're sweeter! :p

Locals who were buying prawns at the market.

Our final stop for the market tour was of course to get vegetables! We got to see different types of ginger (heh. I still remember something that is named finger ginger wtf.), brinjals, leaves and more.

The vegetable market.

First group photo before we headed to Silom Thai Cooking School!

After a 10 minute walk, we finally arrived at the main entrance of the cooking school. It was really cosy looking even from the outside!

The main entrance of the school. 

Aprons which were nicely folded and placed on the table. This was mine! :p

First floor of the school. So cosy and clean!

The ingredients preparation table. 

We were given a locker each to put our stuff before we begin. After that, we went upstairs to start our lesson and our first task was to extract fresh coconut milk.

Obviously I'm the one doing and he was posing! Just kidding. :p

Our end product together with lots of love LOL. 

We were then invited to the preparation table downstairs while waiting for the coconut milk to set. At the table, Kuung, our cooking teacher for the day, introduced us to a few different ingredients that are needed to make tomyum soup.

Ingredients and our teacher.

Second group shot! Left: Team Malaysia and Team Taiwan. Right from the front: Team Hong Kong and Team Singapore! :p

After prep-ing the ingredients, we brought our respective trays up and started making tomyum soup. 

My tray and my wok. 

Tomyum ingredients baby! 

Looks delicious right I know. :p

Got time to pose for photo some more. Like a pro lah.

Our tomyum is finally ready! So nice leh. The taste was as good as how it looks okay. :p

Him and his tomyum.

Mine! :p

 After finishing our soup, we proceeded to the table to prep for our next dish - Pad Thai! 

They even placed everything nicely for us and we just need to chop the spring onions and tofu. By the way, those are really cute glass containers for different condiments. 

Our Pad Thais which was super yummy okay!

Once we're done with our food, we proceeded with making Phaneang Curry Chicken. Prior to that, Kuung also explained to us on how sticky rice was made which is for the Mango Sticky Rice later on.

Finger gingers, brinjals, basil leaves and.. I forgot what else. :x

Phaneang Curry Chicken. Though a little salty, it's still quite delicious. 

 After this dish, our final lesson was Green Curry Chicken where we made the paste from scratch.

The ingredients for the paste.

Kuung said, "The louder you thump, the better housewife you are." So apparently, he is a better housewife than I am LOL. 

The teams' hardwork to make this paste. 

Served with Thai Jasmine rice, we indulged in our final product before finishing the Mango Sticky Rice.

Our lunch. *sluurps*

And the Mango Sticky Rice that was prepared by the cooking school's staff. Don't be fooled, the yellowish cream on the plate is not the cream, but merely a decoration. Mango was super sweet and nice! :D

 By the time we finished our meals, they have already done cleaning the cooking area!

The cooking area upstairs.

Our group shot with Kuung, our cooking teacher for the day. :) 

It was a really special experience for us as we've never done any cooking classes together before and we also learnt how to make Thai food ! :D So for those who seek for a different travelling experience, you should give this a try! For all these experiences and a recipe book after, you only need to pay 1000 Baht per person! Super worth it lor! If you're a Malaysian, you will even get a 10% discount from the cooking school as the owner is partial Malaysian, which sums up to 900 Baht per person! 

So if you're interested, feel free to visit their official website or email them!