style & life : lifestyle

FEED Movie Review - Disturbingly Disgusting Film

2008-11-20T14:47:00.010+08:00

FEED Poster

Sorry that I have never posted anything here..well, this might be a good start..I would like to share this utterly weird (and disgusting, maybe) movie I've watched last month entitled 'FEED'.
I had the chance to watch this movie when I ransacked my neighbour's DVD collection.(sorry bout that! hehe). Anyway, this movie was never widely released as it was an underground production of Brett Leonard who specializes in psychological thriller films and horror genres.

FEED ventures into the underground sexual subcultures known as "feeders" and "gainers" - the weird world of fat erotica and sexual desires. Men who admires fat (feeders) seek out obese women (gainers). Feeders are sick minded individuals who take pleasure in excessively feeding their partners - gainers, who in turn becomes a giant disgusting blob. While surfing the internet to try to find some sickos, an Australian cybercrime investigator, Philip (Patrick Thompson) stumbled upon the Feeders&Gainers website. The website is taking bets as to when these women are going to die. One of these men may be going too far - feeding his gainers to death and publishing the details online. For some reason, the cop decides it's his duty to fly to US and save the fat women from exploding, despite the objections of his superior. The rest of the movie has the cop and his weirdo nemesis playing mind games with each other.

I would recommend you to wait for the mind-twisting ending despite an attempt to gross you out with it's obscenely fat bodies. Its definitely worth it. I certainly enjoyed FEED for the uniquely disgusting experience that it was. Do not judge this movie solely on the sexual and erotic (disgusting) scenes, but from a revolting reflection on obsession over beauty. And yes, avoid eating while watching FEED or you will end up vomiting like a friend of mine.

Checkout FEED's trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDrQKG1JmJY

"DEFINITELY ONE OF THE SICKEST FILMS I HAVE EVER SEEN"

[Review done by Shafinaz/Burnstrux]

2008-05-17T00:38:00.004+08:00

IRON MAN BABEH!!!

One of the most anticipated flick of the year has arrived, and lemme just say, it is MAGNIFICENCE and BRILLIANCE in the form of a motion picture!!! From the beginning to the end of the movie, i was hooked, glued to the movie. I even sub-conciously hunched forward from my chair!!!(then of course, i realised a slight pull in my back and moved back)....well my point is, IT IS MOST DEFINITELY one of the best Marvel adaptation to hit the screens. The story just keeps on progressing, just when u think u know what's gonna happen, something more exciting happens.

CAPTiVATING CAST

Oscar Nominee Robert Downey Jr stars asIron Man/Tony Stark, along side Oscar winner

Gwyneth Paltrow who plays Ms. Pepper Pots,

assistant to Tony Stark, a billionaire with who

invents weapons for his major company.

Also starring Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard.

SYNOPSIS

Well, the movie evolves around Tony stark, who is a brilliant inventor, absolutely genious! He owns Stark Industries, which manufactures weapons. He gets kidnapped and was forced to build one of his latest invention, but instead, he builts a suit to escape...of course he does lah, if not, the story would not progress!!! Then of course, there's a little company scandal.....then...i can't say anymore! but the story does deal with current issues on war, and how weapon companies are making unethical profits from war it.

A definite MUST SEE!

Do check out the official website

http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/

~Natasha~

Important Announcement from the Chief Permanent Blogger

2008-05-15T14:19:00.000+08:00

Greetings!

I'm here to announce that I'm the new chief permanent blogger taking over from Faris Ahmad as he opt to relinquish his duties in major of his online activities but has agreed to stay on as the Style & Life Team Adviser.

On behalf of Style & Life I would extend my heartiest appreciation to Faris Ahmad for having faith in me to spearhead this wonderful blog. My hope for all is that this blog revives its long break and our permanent bloggers continue to pour in great inputs for the benefits of all.

Till my next post.

Shuhada Rabi.

world music festival 2008

2008-05-05T15:01:00.000+08:00

Since I was so busy these few days... so, I didn't have much time for blogging. Not even time for buying my broken belt. Gees!

Ok, lets go back to the topic. I went to the World Music Festival 2008. The venue was at the Botanic Garden, Penang for 3 days which was on May 2, 3 & 4. Ticket price was RM50 for adult and RM20 for children. Its classy... so the price was reasonable.

The banner

The 1st day was on Friday. I was worry that we would be stuck in the traffic jam. Penangite knows that its always a bad traffic on Friday since people are going back to their hometown, yeah... we have 2 days off for Saturday and Sunday. Everybody driving their car and end up traffic jam on the bridge and jetty. Even though I don't nag, mumble or whine... still I don't have a smile on my face every Friday. Thanks God that I've changed my working schedule to 7.30am - 4.30pm. Which most people going back at 5pm! Lucky me... Ok enough crap. Mom, my 2 sisters and a sister friend want to join the music festival. Sisters went to facial salon and hair salon, end up I couldn't go back early like usual. I fetch them around 5pm. Again, thanks to God... it wasn't that bad for the traffic. Reached home, we rushed to shower and got ourselves ready as soon as possible. We need to run from the bad traffic again which people from the factories were going back to town... its weird right... when people who lives in southern work in northern and it happen otherwise to people who lives in northern. Most Penangite having this problem tho... We reached there around 7pm. There were few car parks there, marked with A, B, C & D. After we parked the car, the organizer leaded us to the shuttle van. Oh it was so convenience! Managed to buy some mineral waters and we got in. Everybody were tagged by a green wrist band at the entrance after you pass the ticket to them for approval.
We walked happily till in front of the stage. We chose the left side of the field for our seats. There were no chairs... just field, ground, soil, green grass... I guess they wanted to keep it green and nature environment? We didn't mind, not at all =) The opening was awesome by Dya Singh. Made us applause loud and screaming! They have 2 stages -- they started with the left stage and they prepared the right stage for the 2nd band, and they repeated the same thing over and over. So, for those sat in the middle were lucky! The whole night was fantastic. My family had a lot of fun. We even danced, moved our body together and teased each other. Enjoyed watching others with their style of dancing too... Not to mention the bands! They were absolutely fabulous and could attract the crowd! Around 10pm we were starving. I went to pee and bought them some pizzas by Pizza Hut. It ended around 12 midnight. We used the shuttle van again to the car park. It was well organized because even tho there were so many peoples, they managed to keep us calm and not clumsy at all. Oh btw, I saw my blogger friend Riz there as well. We were suppose to meet, he left his cell phone in my email and I wrote them down on a piece of paper but misplaced. My fault... Sorry Riz... now I got your number on my cell phone, I swear =)

The green wrist band

My family

The opening -- Dya Singh

From Denmark -- my 3rd choice

From Reunion Islands -- My 4th choice. They have great instruments and songs

People were having fun...

Nigeria dance that caught our eyes

Ok, the 2nd day. I went there with another blogger friend Apom. So, this time I knew how this music festival goes, so I prepared myself with some mineral waters and pizzas. Also went to toilet before go in front of the stage. We were tagged by the orange wrist band at the entrance. This time I wanted to sit in the middle but was crowded. So, I sat on the right side which I could also see the big screen when the band was at the left stage. Man... my 1st favorite band would be Kumpulan Kinabalu Merdu Sound from Sabah, Malaysia. I love the flute, bamboo and all their instruments. Not to mention the typical Sabah dance which I think very nice. Love their musics as well...! Irish performed again for the 2nd night. Last night they replaced a band from USA because they were stuck at Taiwan airport. Irish band would be the 2nd favorite. They knew how to catch the crowd attention and made us dance and clap our hand with smile. This time they managed to make us, I mean all of us stand! Everybody danced and kept clapping our hands. I saw my long-time-didn't-meet god bro as well there. He came all the way down from KL -- Nickk. We bought Haagen Dazz ice cream too. Yummy~

The orange wrist band

The Irish... they performed twice -- 1st and 2nd day

My 1st choice... band from Sabah

Around 12 we moved. My friend wanted to go to club as we didn't go to any club for ages. I told him that I couldn't go into any club since I wore sandals. But he insisted to go, ok we went to Slippery Senoritas and there was still cover charge after 12. I was shock. I didn't know everything just change... drastically. The cover charge at SS was RM50 -- crap. Then we went to Momo and the cover charge was RM40 -- another crap. And last we asked at Carmen, it was RM30 -- still crap since they played only oldies which some of them even before I was born! It was almost 1am and it is a waste if we go in. We canceled the plan and went straight home.

I had fun... =)
Thanks God... Amin.

Leona Lewis The X Factor

2008-03-23T16:07:00.009+08:00

Leona Louise Lewis (born on April 3 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and winner of the third series of the popular British television talent show The X Factor.

Her debut single, "A Moment like This", was released in December 2006, breaking a world record after it was downloaded fifty thousand times within thirty minutes. Her second single "Bleeding Love" was the biggest selling single of 2007 in the United Kingdom. Her debut album, Spirit, was released in November 2007, and became the fastest selling debut album ever in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is claimed Lewis will be the first winner of a major television talent show in either the UK or U.S. to be given a major global launch with the release of their debut album.

The X Factor

In 2006, Lewis auditioned for the third series of The X Factor, singing "Over the Rainbow". She made it through to the final stages and was announced the winner on December 16, winning a £1 million recording contract. She was mentored by Simon Cowell.

Lewis' voice was consistently highly praised by all three judges — Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon_Osbourne. On occasions she was compared with divas such as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion. However, Lewis was also criticised, by both the judges and in the press, in relation to her confidence. Vocal coach Mark Hudson also criticised her lack of star quality.

On the final night of the show, joined Lewis on stage for a duet of their song "A Million Love Songs". After the performance, singer Gary Barlow told Cowell, "This girl is probably fifty times better than any other contestant you have ever had, so you have a big responsibility to make the
right record with her."

(Picture right : Lewis' final performance at The X Factor)

Spirit

On 25 April 2007, a press release was sent out revealing that Simon Cowell and Clive Davis would work together in a first-of-its-kind partnership on both the song and producer selection for Lewis's debut album, entitled Spirit.

On 24 September 2007, Lewis performed a special album launch party at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge, London, where she performed four tracks from the album. The album was released in the Republic of Ireland on 9 November 2007, where it entered the Irish Albums Chart at number one, being Ireland's fastest selling debut album of all time. It was released on 12 November 2007 in the United Kingdom, where it entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, and was also the UK's fastest selling debut album, and the fourth fastest selling album of all time. The album was released internationally in January 2008, and went to number one in New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Spirit will be released in the United States on 8 April 2008. Lewis recorded tracks for the album in London, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City and Atlanta, Georgia. She worked with several songwriters and record producers including Dallas Austin, Max Martin, Stargate, Walter Afanasieff, Salaam Remi, Kara DioGuardi and Novel.

She also recorded a track with Ne-Yo. Two further tracks were recorded in early 2008 for the U.S. release of the album, "Forgive Me" featuring Akon and "Misses Glass" featuring RockCity. Lewis's second single, "Bleeding Love", produced by Ryan Tedder and written by Tedder and Jesse McCartney, was released on October 22 2007 in the UK.

Lewis performed the song on the first live show of the fourth series of The X Factor on 20 October. The single sold 66,000 copies on its first day of release and went on to sell 218,805 copies in its first week, giving it the biggest first-week sales of 2007 to date. It entered both the UK Singles Chart at number one, where it stayed for seven weeks. It also debuted at number one in the Irish Singles Chart, remaining there for eight weeks. It also reached number one in the singles charts of New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Bulgaria. On 16 December 2007, "Bleeding Love" won The Record of the Year 2007 award.

In February 2008, Lewis broke the major American charts as "Bleeding Love" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 85. It currently stands at 8, entering the top ten for the first time. Not only that, she is currently number 1 with Bleeding Love on i-Tunes and recently appeared with Simon Cowell on the Oprah Winfrey Show. On 31 October 2007, Lewis appeared on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge, with acoustic performances of "Bleeding Love" and a cover of Snow Patrol's 2003 single "Run". Her version of "Run" was popular with listeners, and as a result, was added to Radio 1's A list (a list of songs receiving the most airplay). On 6 November she won 'Newcomer of the Year' at the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year Awards. It was reported on 31 October 2007 that management company UEG Music planned to release an album of ten songs recorded by Lewis before her time on The X Factor, shortly after the release of Spirit, called Best Kept Secret. This is because the management company claimed they wanted to recoup some of the costs incurred in their investment and training of Lewis, including £70,000 of studio costs that they claimed remained unpaid. They also claimed to have offered Sony and Lewis's father to buy the rights of the album but both refused. Cowell was reportedly angered by the release of the album, saying that the company did not have the rights to release the songs, and that he would attempt to block the album from being released. He also claimed that the songs are unfinished demos, that fans should boycott the album and that there is no agreement with Lewis to release it. A representative for Lewis said: "UEG approached Leona and her representatives earlier this year - but they do not have the rights to release these demos. Despite Cowell's attempts, the album was briefly released two weeks after her debut album Spirit, on 26 November 2007, through online music store Juno Records, though all trace of the album was removed from Juno the same day. In the 30 November 2007 edition of American magazine Entertainment Weekly, Lewis was included among "8 to Watch in '08" in their 2007 "Entertainer of the Year" issue. The list of entertainers expected to become household names in the coming year describes Lewis as "the next Mariah Carey". On 14 January 2008, Lewis was nominated for four BRIT Awards, in the categories British Female Solo Artist, British Breakthrough Act, British Album for Spirit, and British Single for "Bleeding Love". She performed at the awards ceremony on 20 February 2008. Despite being the favourite to win the most awards, she received none. On 9 February 2008, Lewis performed at Clive Davis's annual pre-Grammy party, as Davis's 'Special New Artist' guest.

It has been reported that Lewis has agreed to appear in the seventh series of American Idol in 2008 to help boost her career in the United States. Lewis performed "Bleeding Love, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, on 17 March 2008. Lewis's third single, a double A-side featuring "Better in Time" and "Footprints in the Sand", was released in the United Kingdom in March 2008, in aid of Sport Relief, and she visited South Africa for the charity. As a part of Sport Relief, Lewis has set up a website, yougivemestrength.com, for people to share their inspirational stories. It has been reported that Lewis is planning a £15 million world tour in 2010. A second album is planned for release in 2009.

(Picture above : Lewis visited South Africa for aid of Sport Relief )

Personal Life

Lewis lives in Hackney with her boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa, an electrician, who she has known since she was nine years old. Lewis has stated that she would like to marry Al-Chamaa.
Lewis has been a vegetarian since she was 12 and says she would like to promote a line of non-leather bags and shoes that are affordable.

(Credits : Wikipedia)

bukit merah

2008-03-22T10:43:00.001+08:00

Editing this post. I made a sequence of this post with part 2 and part 3 with so many pictures. So, it made my whole blog heavy with pictures and slow loading. So, instead of using this method I guess I should give flickr a try.

First of all, let me say some words about this lovely gathering. It was a wonderful moment in 2008... which I won't forget forever. I had big headache at work and it was a great time to spend time with friends and give me a peace of mind. All4One a guild in Ragnarok combined from 3 big guilds Ancient Legacy, Wirawan and Enigma. We were enemy before in game then we merge and built a great guild called All4One or well known as A4O. We had many achievements including the latest one, 3rd place for 3 vs 3 PvP competition. Instead of we are good in game, we are great buddy in real life as well. We had a lot of gatherings and not to forget we are active in War. What else can be better than this with online game? Any other better one compared to Ragnarok? Nah! So, this time we went to Bukit Merah. Usually we had a smaller gathering and not going anywhere for vacation. But this time, it was different. Vacation and gathering. Even tho, I've been there for several times, but this time it was different. Lol, not to mention we talked almost everything about game. To those who know nothing about Ragnarok, it would be a great dull conversation. Thanks to organizer Azmie for collecting the money and took a great package for 4 activities which include orang utan island, eco park, sky cycle and water theme park! I enjoyed all the moment we spent together. So, here I share some pictures taken when we were there... Enjoy!

Some videos :

toasted oats

2008-03-22T10:41:00.000+08:00

Bob bought toasted oat for breakfast. It’s kind of cereals mixed with wild berries -- strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. I ate it with low fat milk and it was delicious. Try it if you love cereals :)

some typical asian foods

2008-03-22T10:38:00.001+08:00

The party was fun. It was sponsored by Kak Ana, Kak Zila, Kak Pah dan Kak Zaini. The menu was lontong, sambal sotong, rojak buah, pudding and caramel. Delicious I’d say! Our branch director didn’t allow us to celebrate but we made it anyhow. Nah! It won't really waste the time and we celebrate it once a year. So, why not?

sushi king and starbucks

2008-03-22T10:36:00.000+08:00

Since I couldn't go anywhere yesterday, so I got my own agenda today ;)
Guess what? Outing with Nadia my old mate. Kinda forgotten when was the last met... yeah too busy with works and business. Friend does help to release tension too.

We started with out for lunch -- Sushi King [I talked about Sushi last time, this should be the 2nd episode eh? Hehe]. Fetched her around 1pm and we went to Sushi King in Prangin Mall. Man... it was so delicious! No wasabi please... haha! Joseph joined us a bit later since he went to church for some activities [Ah! He didn't eat anything at Sushi and in fact he really could not stand the smell at the restaurant... I did not smell anything at all hehe]. We laughed a lot while enjoying the lunch.

After lunch, we went to cinema planned to watch movie [it was spontanious plan anyway ;)] but then no good movies. So, we just walked around for cds and cell phone. Then, we plan to go home.

On the way taking her home, we stopped at Gurney [near Chill Out club, is this landmark ring a bell?] for Coffee Beans. Me with Ice Blended Mocha and Nadia with Ice Blended Caramel. We had chit-chat with the drinks. It was full of laugh and fun. So long I did not have this fun... I need it for a break sometimes haha!

Took her home and drove back. Bad traffic as usual but still a smile on my face. I was so happy.

Good day!

chicken rice

2008-03-22T10:32:00.001+08:00

Last week my youngest sister cook Chicken Rice which is my favorite! I love the chicken that they cooked with honey... yummy!

This is my plate... hehe. Taste it and you'd love it!

These are the chili sauce and soy sauce.

The soup... mmm

The chicken... tomatoes and vege!

eden seafood village

2008-03-22T10:29:00.001+08:00

Last Thursday right after we finished work, me and another 4 colleagues went to Eden Seafood Village a classy, expensive seafood restaurant at Batu Feringghi. We made this plan earlier to celebrate my colleague Takdir who celebrates his birthday 4 years once. Why? His birthday is on 29th February. Yes, I know 29th is on Friday but he applied leave on Friday. Nothing we could do to change that, we made it on Thursday then.

We bought him a short sleeve shirt, a cute soccer birthday card with our pictures on it and a small chocolate cake. About seafood, we chose the fish ourselves. That was the best part =). We chose Siakap, Kerapu, cuttlefish, tiger prawn, spider prawn and some vegetables.

The restaurant agreed to cooperate with us to play birthday song. It was so much fun and not to mention the foods were so delicious! Yes it cost us RM800.00 for the dinner. So, what do you expect? =)

After dinner, we walked around the night market there. Yes it is so popular and foreigners like it so much. You can get many things at cheap price. Yes, they are not original… but who cares? =) I managed to buy Heroes season 1 and 2 with cheaper price compared to Prangin Mall [refer to my earlier post]. Season 1 with 7 DVD and season 2 with 3 DVD cost me RM40.00 and free 1 more DVD which my friend and I chose American Pie - Beta. Lol.

Then we drove home. Yes, another sweet memory for 2008 =)

Some photos :

Entrance. Nice Minangkabau style roof.

Choosing fish

Oh ok, my portrait?

Me and Azali

Colleagues

Takdir wished something... =)

Singing...!

Me, enjoying the dinner!

Birthday boy's favorite =)

Video to share :

differences between butter and margarine

2008-03-22T10:26:00.001+08:00

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed
the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW...the difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end...gets very interesting! Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5
grams. Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating
the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other
foods. Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine. Very high in Trans fatty acids. Triple risk of coronary heart disease.

Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and
lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol). Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.

Lowers quality of breast milk. Decreases immune response. Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY
INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC. This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area.

Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:

*no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)

*it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional
value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weenie microorganisms will not find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

P/s: The article has been taken from HERE.

malacca & johore trip

2008-03-22T10:18:00.000+08:00

Urgh, I’ve been away from my computer for so long. Last Wednesday was the last time I used computer surfing net, forums and blogs. Then on Thursday morning I shut down. This morning, I turn it on and something weird happen. Darn! Windows changed to ice age mode -- Yeah, old classic mode. It doesn’t really matter if just the mode changed but I couldn’t connect to the internet. Now, it’s beyond my temper! Now, I'm running my stupid 2 anti virus -- Avast and Mech5. I do miss my Kasperky 6. I’ll ask from Bob Annes as soon as I could get online.

Ok, back to the topic… my great vacation in 2008. I didn’t expect it'd be a great vacation since I've been to Muar and also Malacca. I watched a program on TV called 360 degrees and it attracted my eyes regarding Morten Village -- it’s about Portuguese village full of culture, foods and life style which I like to know and interesting. So, ok… and the journey begun… [Remember we drove 2 cars]

7/2/2008 - Thursday morning, we woke up early. As early as we get up to work! Haha. I don’t mind… really. We moved around 8am. We stopped for late breakfast at Sungai Perak. It was almost noon, so we ate like 2 in 1 meal. We chose rice. What special about this Rest and Refreshment [R&R] stop? Hehe we could find 2 restaurants selling Ikan Patin. What is it? It’s a river fish. I didn’t like it that much, lol. Enough to say that I'm happy that I tried it once! Experience tells… =P

The journey was long and when we almost reach Malacca, the bad traffic started which annoyed me a lot! Imagine… we reached Malacca around 5.30pm! Scroll up and read what time we started journey. Reached there I ran to bed and take a nap. Around 8pm, mom woke me up. Parent and I drove to Muar to fetch my aunt. 2 hours drive to get there. So, go and back took us 4 hours. Aunt took us dinner at Muar. Nurul, Dayah, Hadi and Sharol didn’t go to Muar since Sharol was tired and fell asleep soundly. They ate dinner around the hotel then. I reached hotel around 2am, shower and food and slept around 3am!

8/2/2008 - Next day, woke up a little late… around 9am. Parent and aunt bought breakfast. So, I didn’t need to hurry for breakfast. We got ready as slow as snail and drove to town for Asam Pedas Melaka. Aunt took us to one of the best. But we were shock with the price though -- 2 Jenahak fish head curry [half only for each], 8 pieces of chicken, few slices of squids, white rice for 9 plates, some Cucur Udang and vegetables cost about RM96.00. Ouch! Then, we drove to find Morten Village [scroll up and read what it’s about]. 2 rounds in the jam city was really pain in the ass. We couldn’t find it and changed plan go to the seaside and eat mix fruit rojak. When we were driving to the hotel, friend told me Morten Village moved to another part of Malacca. Gees! As soon as we reach hotel, everybody were tired and took a rest. Nothing special at night but boring dinner that sisters and bro in law bought. Right after 12, mom was the 1st person wish me birthday when I went out of the shower followed by my aunt and daddy.

9/2/2008 – I got many sms and calls from friends and relatives regarding my birthday and yes kind of disappointed with some friends that didn’t even remember my birthday. Especially those who are close to me and I never miss their birthday. Nevermind… life never fair… =) We planned to go to hottest place in Malacca now call Famosa Resort. It has 3 nice spots like Water Theme Park, Safari and Cowboy Town. Since we don’t want to waste time in the water theme park [yes we don’t have enough time], we just simply chose safari. Never a wrong choice though, it was so cool! We had great time together with whole family. It has been so long we went for vacation together. We left safari around 7pm and drove to Muar. Yes, we had book tables at Pelangi Hotel restaurant. As soon as we reached our hotel [Muar Traders Center], we showered and got ready. We were late! Kak Ana, Jojie and nenek joined the dinner too. Haha! It was my birthday celebration. Yes no cake, but great foods. I ate some prawns and lovely bean curds. Burp! Was so full haha!

10/2/2008 – We suppose to go back today but we were all exhausted. So after we discussed, the result was we stay for 1 more night. We ate some puff at Secret Recipe and lunch at the place aunt took us on the 1st day we fetched her. It was the same menu -- Asam Pedas hehe my favourite. We went to Tomyam restaurant for dinner. One of the best in town -- that was what my aunt told me haha! But the foods were awesome, really. Oh yea, also… bad news on that night, Man Utd lose to Man City by 2-1. No mood to elaborate!

11/2/2008 – We got free breakfast. Buffet at the hotel. Yay~! This was the best part… the foods there were delicious. It was a fun breakfast full with laugh and joy. We packed and checked out at 1pm. We drove to my aunt place and ate lunch there. Then played Counter Strike at our cc. Hehe… first time I used my own pc that I put there for playing games. Thanks aunt for giving me opportunity involve in this cc biz. Around 4pm, we drove back to Penang. We reached home around 3am. Duh! I was so tired but it was a great start of 2008!

batu feringghi

2008-03-22T10:15:00.001+08:00

Day 1

7.30pm --- Ah ok, I didn’t pack last night. So, I packed all stuff this morning. Not much things to pack and it was easy since I got items list with me. As soon as I got things ready, put them in my car boot and went to office. Bla bla bla full of talking in the office. Guess what? Politic and election again. Wish I have my own room instead of that silly cubicle. Darn!

There was a demonstration at KOMTAR this afternoon regarding NEP termination and some other reasons which I don’t even care. Tired of politic. They chose, then they regret. Sharol used my car to take mom and sister home. They were allowed to go home because of that stupid demonstration.

Around 5pm [yes, I finished work at 4.30pm… tried to be a hardworking staff today?] I drove my family to the apartment we booked – Bayu Emas Apartment. The view was ok and I'm not really sure what other facilities they have instead of swimming pool [ah ok… no WiFi here! That means no internet! Grr…]. Pretty tired, worked whole day even though we have long break for Friday prayer every Friday [12.15pm-2.45pm]. Going to take shower now and rest while waiting for dinner. I’ll write later.

Day 2

8.40am --- Woke up earlier than that. Yes, I was lazy to get up from bed plus it’s weekend. What do you expect? Ok, I made myself a cup of coffee. Since I didn’t write yesterday so I'm going to write a little about night activity [ah don’t get me wrong ok?]. It rained after I showered – but just for a while. Sisters went down to swimming pool. I didn’t feel like swimming, so I just looked at them from above while cit chatting with my dad about many things started with politic, vacation and foods. To be honest, I was damn hungry. The pool close at 9pm, they went up and changed while me and dad watching craps on tv [what else better than today’s politic for that term?]. Ok we ate a very late dinner [suppose to be supper?] around 10pm. My friend Nadia sms-ed me suggested that the stall near the entrance has good deep fried cuttle fish. When I reached there, they have 2 stalls. 1 has no people and another 1 has more. I called her up for confirmation. She said the 1 with less people [to be honest, I only saw 2 ah pek with their single drink]. The food was terrible and I’d say pricey for a stall and foods like that. But did I have a better choice? No [really a NO? Oi… there was another one beside]. So, if there’s no place to go tonight. I’d like to go to another stall rather than the same stall again.

Ok, enough about last night. There’s nothing special this morning rather than sunrise [the stupid huge Bayview Hotel hide the sunrise], green trees and bird flying and singing. Peace of mind I’d say. I captured some pictures again. Lately I feel like picture-story-telling concept introduced by Nokia is something snappy and in fact I believe so much in “seeing is believing”. I don’t know what’s the plan today arranged by mom, so I'm going to rest and wait. I’d look to go to the beach, maybe later.

9.20pm --- Back to the apartment from downstairs. I tried to connect to the WiFi [I knew they have it when i asked, lol] using the password given by the clerk this afternoon after we ate breakfast. Sadly, I could connect but the strength was low and I couldn’t connect to the internet. I thought mom and sisters will take ages to get ready for dinner so I can write, but I was wrong. I’ll continue later.

11.30pm --- Just get back from dinner. Dinner was delicious. I ate Nasi Goreng Belacan and other with their own choice of fried rice. Side orders were Tomyam Udang and Sotong Goreng Tepung. Ok I'm going to tell you what I did today. After breakfast, I watched Heroes DVD. 2 DVD and I'm done with Heroes Season 1. Yay!

Then I went to swim at the pool downstairs. Few laps for little exercise today – better than nothing. Came back to apartment and nap.

Woke up and it was 7pm. Me and sisters walked to the beach. We couldn’t see good sunset but enough to see God’s wonder. Beautiful. The sea was calm and peaceful. Ok, enough writing for tonight. See you tomorrow…

Day 3

10.45pm --- Oh ok, I took longer than I thought to write about today. Woke up and enjoy the scenery outside from the apartment. See the view of sea, green trees and birds really attract my attention lately. Give me 100% peace of mind [sorry if I keep repeating about this sentence again and again]. Went out for breakfast with parent at the same restaurant but this time we chose roti canai. The food there was fine. Went back home and I took a nap while sisters went for swimming.

Woke up in the afternoon around 2pm and Nasi Dalca was ready on the table. Lucky me? I think so =) After eating we had cit chat with family. A lot of laugh and jokes – plus Raja Lawak was on tv. I just rest in the apartment… relaxing.

In the evening around 8pm we went out for dinner – yes at the same restaurant we ate dinner last night. Fried rice again and my favorite – Nasi Goreng Belacan. Side orders were Daging Merah, Sup Campur and Sayur Kangkung. Delicious I’d say. You should try… I planned to visit my colleague in the Gleneagles Hospital but when I called him he told me that the hospital turn off the light already and he has no idea whether the guard would allow me to go in. So, I didn’t want to toss the coin on my luck. I told him that I’ll visit him tomorrow – he said ok.

Now we are resting in the living room while watching tv. Kind of lazy to write tonight. See you tomorrow =) I'm going to play with my niece...

Day 4

5.40pm --- I got diarrhea early this morning. Around 9am I went out. Took mom to the office and I drove to Klinik Seri Pulau. Then took mom and we went to visit my colleague at Gleneagles Hospital. He was fine but need operation tomorrow morning. I do hope things will get better with him and so with the operation. My prayer will always be with him. Then we went to Subaidah in Tanjung Tokong and bought some foods for family. Drove up the hill back to the apartment. Ate my lunch and resting. Around 3pm we checked out. Now I just reach home and pretty exhausted. But yes, I'm happy… =)

Manhattan Fish Market - Juru Autocity

2008-03-21T02:48:00.001+08:00

On Thursday, 20th March 2008, I went to have dinner with a couple of friends at the Manhattan Fish Market in Juru Autocity. Juru Autocity is in mainland Penang along the North South Expressway. The exit on the North South Expressway would be right after the Sungai Juru rest area. Please note that you do not need to pass the Juru toll plaza in order to get to Juru Autocity. The Autocity is somewhat like a motoring hub incorporating lots of eatery outlets and clubs. It is a commercial area located amidst the industrial area in Juru. The Manhattan Fish Market is located in the third phase of the Juru Autocity commercial area.

(Picture above: My friends and I)

As per my observations, this phase is the most happening phase in the Juru Autocity. They have numerous upclass eateries and clubs around. The Juru Autocity Flea Market is located in this phase of the commercial hub as well. Other outlets in this phase includes Starbucks, Swensen's and Tao Authentic Asian Cuisine. There are quite an ample parking spaces if you need to park your car in the area. Besides the usual car park lots near to the commercial buildings, there is a dedicated land to accommodate for more parking lots.

Picture above: The standard set-up
of the Manthattan Fish Market in Juru
Autocity.

As Manhattan Fish Market is a restaurant-chain, the interior and signs are basically the same between its restaurants across Malaysia. In case if some of you are curious, the Manhattan Fish Market chain does not originate from Manhattan or America for that matter but rather is a Malaysian-owned chain. The restaurant-chain shares its menu as well between its restaurants.At times there might be slight variations to the dishes (even if they share the same name). During this outing, we ordered something which we could share, hence we picked something under the 'Strictly For Sharing' section of the menu. There were four of us, whilst most of the dishes in this section catered for 2-3 persons.

Picture above: Manhattan Seafood Platter
For Two

So, we ordered two sets of dishes, each for 2-3 persons. We ordered their Manhattan Seafood Platter For Two and their Fishermen's Giant Fried Platter; both are the chain's recommendations. Waiting time for the food did not take long as it was pretty much standard. However, I cannot tell this for sure as when we were dining, there were minimal number of customers as it was a weekday and a working day the next day. It took about 20 minutes for the dishes to be served. What caught our attention is that when the Fishermen's Giant Fried Platter was served, the waiter flamed the dish before serving it to us. So if you're up for some adventure, do order this. I have also heard that their flaming prawns do undergo the same process too.

Anyway, the dishes were really bigger than what we expected. There were not much of a difference between the two meals. The significant difference was that the Manhattan Seafood Platter For Two lacked a big chunk of fish fillet. Both the meals were more for 5 persons rather than 4. We did not finish the meal as all of us were too full, not to mention we are indeed small eaters. The restaurant has a very pleasant ambience with a remarkable cleanliness and hygiene standards. They have a good team of staff employed as well, being able to communicate in decent English as well as are dedicated towards customers' well being while dining.

Picture above: Fishermen's Giant
Fried Platter

I personally had Coke Light for my drink while my friends had tea, and skyjuice. There is nothing too great about the drinks as they were pretty much standard drinks available elsewhere. However, I am not denying the fact the restaurant serves their own speciality drinks as well. I am not able to give a review on it simply because I did not try them.

Prices were somewhat middle-ranged, averaging at about RM30-40 per person for a complete satisfying meal.

The location of this outlet in Juru Autocity particularly is excellent as there are many other good places to hang out for the young night ahead; for supper or simply a drink over a good chat. You may want to indulge yourself on ice creams! Haagen Dazs has an outlet there.

Meet Our Permanent Bloggers

2008-03-20T15:27:00.010+08:00

Style & Life : Lifestyle currently has a handful of permanent bloggers contributing articles on a consistent basis.

Come and meet them!

Shuhada Rabi
Chief Permanent Blogger / Creative Adviser
Born December 8th, 1990, Shuhada enjoys blogging during her free time simply to express herself. She started blogging since 2004. Her blogging habits of not sticking to one provider for long has been her signature ever since. Currently she blogs on her latest blog, kembOngkempis. She dislikes and despises those with hatred towards her and constantly requests them to stay off her blog as well as her life. Shuhada can really be a friendly girl on net, but in real life she is a quite shy person. Shuhada owns of the nickname kembOngkempis. Like other regular teenagers, she uses social networking sites such as Facebook and Friendster. She very much likes to spend her free time in front of the computer; mainly editing picture or playing her favourite game, The Sims 2 or the popular online game, Neopets.

Faris Ahmad
Group Adviser / Co-founder
Faris was born in Perak, Malaysia and later was raised in Penang where he spent most of his childhood. Faris usually goes by the nickname Riz in the cyberworld so much so as he is known to some of his friends. Faris enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, hanging out and trying new food to mention a few. However, he seems to dislike the idea of sports ever since he was a child, but if forced, he would always opt for badminton. Faris would be turning 20 in August 2008. He has been offered a place to study Mathematics at King's College, University of London. Faris will hence leave for the UK come September 2008 to take up this offer. Faris is the only member of the team that does not take an active blogging role. He however oversees and advises the S&L team on content and blog postings. Faris is a Youth Amplifier on YouthMalaysia.com where he takes an active role as a writer writing on youth issues. His personal blog is on a hiatus for the time being, but Faris confirmed that he will be back blogging on his personal site when the right time comes. At present, he resides in Penang island with his family.

Natasha Khanum
Permanent Blogger / Co-founder
Natasha, famous for her addiction to the colour purple is a 20-year old student currently pursuing her bachelor of commerce. Natasha is an active arts enthusiast. She has been involved in projects carried out by UNESCO, Arts-ed USM and several other art NGO bodies. Besides that, she is a regular girl-next-door. Natasha enjoys outdoor activities, hiking in particular. She also works out at the gym regularly and enjoys dancing. In her free time she simply hangs out with her best buddies, most of the time indulging the best foods in town. Quoting Natasha on her favourites, she says ' I'm all crazy about chocolates and satay'. Natasha is based in Penang at present and lives with her family.

Faisal Admar
Permanent Blogger
A true Penangite, Mohd Faisal Admar Hafiz majored in Information Technology. Having said so, his life basically rotates with computers and IT related stuff. As he describes himself, Faisal is a computer and internet maniac. He started blogging quite some time back but had his ups and downs in his blogging habits. Recently, he started blogging frequently again. The reason he took up blogging again was to express his sorrowfulness and depression as his stress level was getting high with work and colleagues. In other words, blogging made his life a little bit better. Since then, he has changed his contents to be more positive-like. Currently, he is attached with the Inland Revenue Board. A guy of big dreams, he says he'll achieve his dreams in the long run. On the development of this blog, he hopes to contribute some good articles. Faisal who is 27 this year resides in Penang. Faisal blogs on http://www.faisaladmar.blogspot.com

Lisa Cheah
Permanent Blogger
A native Penangite, currently residing in Norway, and attempting to finish high school as an IB graduate and then eventually majoring in Law. Lisa uses sarcasm as her form of defense mechanism. Lisa enjoys doing regular teenage things, with exception of the drama. Just because Lisa is a girly girl, doesn't mean she likes pink and goes around acting like a bimbo. She gets loud and can talk like a chatterbox and totally enjoys intellectual discussions. Appreciates a honest friendship. Usually blogs on her own private blog www.my.opera.com/orlyandsa. Lisa has a strange phobia with seeds and is totally in love with her bolster, whom she shares everything with. Lisa is a self proclaimed vain-pot and sees no problems with that. Lisa also loves pinching cute fat babies.

Shafinaz
Permanent Blogger
Shafinaz is famous among her friends as Peanut or Inaz. She is also known as burnstrux in the cyberworld. She was born in Penang on 6th June 1988. She is a proud Penangite and most of the time, she craves for Nasi Kandar. Apart from that, she enjoys indulging in variety of foods that can satisfy her. She is currently pursuing her second year of her Diploma in English Communication at MARA Professional College Indera Mahkota – Kuantan, Pahang. Peanut is a gadget aficionado and has a wide knowledge on gadgets. This is the first official blog that Peanut is contributing to. She has an obsession with TV series; Heroes, Prison Break, The L word, Nip/Tuck and Brothers & Sisters. In addition,Peanut is a huge fan of Fall Out Boy and Boys Like Girls and dreams of becoming a drummer one day. She lives her life not up to anyone's expectations and marches to her own beat, not to the rhythm of others.

Zamir Hady
Permanent Blogger
Syed Zamir Alhady was born in Sabah, Malaysia and but raised in Penang since 1995. He is the second child in his family. He is a pretty simple laid-back guy. One would describe Zamir to be enthusiastic, hilarious, talkative and open-minded guy. Zamir is despises being selfish and stingy. Currently, he has just completed his National Service stint at the Guar Chenderai Camp, Perlis and ever since has been waiting for his university placement. He started blogging when he was 16. He used to have a personal blog but recently deleted it as he plans to set up a new one soon. Zamir goes by the alian Psycho Phreak in social networking sites; MySpace and Friendster. Zamir loves the colour black hence it is not a surprise to catch him donning black tops always. Zamir enjoys swimming, chatting, eating and cooking. He dislikes sports so much that he often skips sports training back then in school. He spends his free time hanging out with his buddies, watching movies and chilling out on the Net. He is a die hard fan of Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Dashboard Confessional and James Morisson. He has a string of favourite tv shows, and to date has not missed any episodes of Smallville, Desperate Housewives, and Ghost Whisperer. He turns 18 this year and aspires to be a successful businessman in the future.

Be A Part Of Us

2008-03-20T15:23:00.003+08:00

Information to join our team of permanent bloggers
You are welcomed to submit your application to be a permanent blogger on this lifestyle blog if you have what it takes to be one.

To be a permanent blogger, you are expected to post in as frequent as possible (around once a month at least). As this is a free-for-all blog, your contributions of articles or offer to be a permanent blogger does not translate to any payment whatsoever.

You will need to be proficient in English as at present we are only publishing materials in English. Also, you should be familiar with blogs and it is an added advantage if you have one. Individuals with high sense of enthusiasm and motivation are encouraged to apply. Your entries should be posted in general; not matters pertaining on your life. You cannot at any time post materials which would be deemed inappropriate such as political or racial issues. You may reproduce works of others but obtaining their approval beforehand is vital and should be borne by you. All unoriginal work published by you on this blog will need to be credited to their original owner(s).

If you think you have what it takes, please send us a mail.

Your mail should include the following;

ONE (1) article on any of the categories listed as per the blog banner above - with pictures would be an added advantage. Your article should be at least 3-5 paragraphs long but a decent amount of information.

Your full name

Your age

Present area of residence and country

Nationality

A short paragraph stating why would you like to join us

A Personal Biography (In a third person's perspective) - For example, please have a look on our permanent bloggers section.

Your picture with the dimensions not exceeding 450px x 600px (any orientation). If your picture is smaller than the said dimension, we would appreciate that you maintain its aspect ratio. Your picture would be preferred in greyscale too.

Your application is subjected to a review by our permanent bloggers for approval and is not automatically approved. You should hear from us within ONE (1) month after submitting your application, if your application is successful. If your application is unsuccessful, it may be caused by one of the following reasons:

(a) You missed out submitting information as per required. Incomplete application.
(b) We currently do not have any vacancies or openings for a permanent blogger.
(c) You do not possess the proficiency or qualities to contribute towards the blog.

If your application is unsuccessful and if it is caused by reason (b), your application would be stored in our records. Should there be a need for a new permanent blogger, we would look up into our records and reconsider your application. So there is no harm in applying!

Do note too that even if your application is unsuccessful, we may still publish your article(if it meets our requirements and standards) with credits given to you as a guest blogger.

Please send in your applications to this e-mail address with the subject being PERMANENT BLOGGER

Information to be guest bloggers
If you are not interested of being a permanent blogger, or do not want to feel obliged to contribute on a regular basis but you would still like to contribute your materials from time to time, you can always opt to be one of our guest bloggers.

By becoming a guest blogger, your profile would not be featured on our blog but articles submitted by you would be posted on the blog by a permanent blogger. The material however would definitely be credited to you as the contributor.

To submit your articles, please mail them to this e-mail address with the article's title being the subject.

Should you have excerpts or other materials such as pictures in your article but they do not belong to you, please let us know the name of the original owner(s) or their source(s). We would deem your article as an original work by you if you do not include those details.Please note you will not be paid for your submission as this is a free-for-all blog.

Please include your name that you wish to be credited at the beginning or the end of the article.

If you would like to have a line or two dedicated on your personal biography, you may do so. WE WILL ONLY INCLUDE A MAXIMUM of three lines at the end of the article.

Your article should not touch on sensitive issues and should be relevant to one of the categories stated as per the blog banner above.

Welcome Note and About Style & Life : Lifesytle

2008-03-13T15:34:00.002+08:00

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages,

Welcome to Style & Life : Lifestyle, a non-profit user-to-user based blog serving the online community. Most of our bloggers on this site are from Malaysia, hence articles posted too would reflect on the Malaysian lifestyle. However, we would like to emphasize that the blog would still serve as a general reading material for the online community regardless of any nature. We will try our best to post more entries covering on non-specific Malaysian issues from time to time.

This blog was created in March 2008 which had its first entry posted on 13th March 2008. However, the blog only officially kicked-off on April 1st, 2008. We currently have a handful of bloggers signed with us as Permanent Bloggers with the number of applications growing by the days.

This blog would feature a diverse range of topics dedicated to a diverse group of people. Style & Life : Lifestyle was firstly discussed during a lunch outing in 2007 by Natasha Khanum, Faris Ahmad and Min Chua. However, due to unforeseen circumstances back then, the project was at a standstill for nearly half a year before taking off.

The objective of creating a blog such as this nature is to enable the online community to share and learn new information on a free-based platform whereby we do not charge readers and do not pay contributors. Also, it would help to give an inside to today's latest lifestyles habits and happenings.

As this is a free-for-all website, Style & Life : Lifestyle may not publish articles on a regular basis, but would work on a concept of relaxation. Permanent Bloggers would post their articles whenever they are flexible to do so, but they are expected to post at least one entry per month. There is no force on them on this but a review would be carried out every April to check and balance on their performance. Permanent bloggers who do not meet the minimum of 12 entries per year would be terminated to be a permanent blogger on Style & Life: Lifestyle. They may re-apply but would be put on the application queue. Style & Life : Lifestyle would limit the number of its permanent bloggers to 15 at any one time. To cope with that hindrance, we welcome anyone from the online community to join us as guest bloggers at anytime to contribute towards this site. Please click on the link located at the BE A PART OF US section.

At present, we have no plans of making advertising as a source of income to generate enough revenue to maintain this blog. It is hosted for free and it is on a free domain. However, we have plans in the future to allow advertisers to post their ads so that we could generate enough revenue to purchase a unique domain which would in return increase site traffic. Extra funds from this would be channeled to the needy. We will from time to time inform our readers should this idea take off.

Style & Life : Lifestyle would never post articles touching on sensitive issues such as political, racial or religion issues. This is to ensure a healthy blogging culture between its bloggers and readers. Most of our permanent bloggers are regular bloggers at their personal blogs, so be sure to check their blogs out too. However, this site is in no way affiliated to their blog in terms of usage. We only endorse their blogs on our site.

We hope you will have a great time reading our articles and hopefully do come back for more. We also hope that you will learn a great deal of information by using this blog.

We would be mostly be appreciated if you too could contribute to the blog in terms of submitting materials.

We wish you a pleasant surfing experience.

The Permanent Bloggers Team
Style & Life : Lifestyle
March 2008