Dilly - The Voice Personified

It Ain't Easy....

2011-12-04T14:38:00.000+08:00

If you are one of those folks who think that being a radio dj is easy because all you have to do is just sit there and talk.... think again.

I realise now after scoping out the latest competition that doing radio is pretty tough compared to, say, tv. Of course, being a tv host has its cons as well... long hours, having to make sure you look good all the time on tv and even after the cameras are off because people will recognise you, etc... but with radio you don't have a pretty face to cover up your mistakes. On radio it's just your voice and your personality that comes across the airwaves and your listeners judge you on that. I've seen it happen... hot babe on tv who's a real blur-case or has no personality in real life but because she's so hot, the guys are just bedazzled and blinded by her beauty that they just don't care. But put her on radio.. there's no visual blindfold to buffer you from the blandness that comes through and suddenly, that person loses her attractiveness and all she is is a pretty face.

And I've seen good-looking tv hosts trying out for radio before, and if it's an established station or company, they don't get the job. Why? "She/He has no personality"... "... sounds fake"... "... trying too hard". But usually it's the "no-personality" factor.

Radio is harsh. Your listeners can be harsh. Because they judge you on what they hear. What you sound like. What you say. HOW you say it. You have to know what to say or talk about that will keep them engaged, entertained and not bore them with too much chatter. Having said that, one minute of aimless, empty content can feel long and draggy as opposed to say, three minutes of fun, relatable and interesting banter which can leave listeners wanting more. On top of that, you have to remember what NOT to say, how NOT to say things AND make your bosses happy. And if there's one or more people doing a show together, you have to know how to talk to each other and still make the listener feel involved, otherwise it's just an internal conversation among the djs with the listeners feeling left out. It's a balancing act and sometimes, for radio jocks, because you're in a studio, you don't feel when it goes out of balance, but the listener sitting in the car can. And that's when they tune out.

Bizzy Body Experience - Day 1 Body Analysis

2011-12-03T12:28:00.000+08:00

I've had a lot of people tell me that I'm slim and petite but when they say that, I think to myself, you have NO IDEA how much fat I've got under this body and how much I've put on! I'm just trying to hide them all under bigger clothes! If you thought I'm slim now, you should've seen me before! I started becoming alarmed at how I couldn't fit into my old clothes anymore and that I had to buy bigger ones to fit me now. So from an XS and S, I had now, over time, become an M size! My guess is that once I hit 30, my metabolism went downhill and I couldn't eat as much as I could the last time.

I've been meaning to do something about my weight for the longest time but I never actually thought I'd go to a slimming centre and thought I'd just focus on going to the gym. So when Bizzy Body wanted to work with JD and I, we jumped at the chance! So on Tuesday, we went to the Bizzy Body centre in Damansara Utama for a body analysis.

First off, the friendly staff offered me hot tea and asked for my IC to register me in, after which, they took my height and weight measurements. For the record, I'm 149cm tall and at the time of weighing, I was 52.6kg. I blame the pan mee I had for brunch.

Evence was my consultant that day and she sat me down to go through my medical history and ask me questions on my lifestyle like whether I exercised or not, what my eating habits were and what my concerns were about my body. She also told me that my BMI was 12% over the recommended limit and that I would need to lose 6kg, based on my numbers. I would ideally like to go back to 45kg. But to be honest, my main goal is to be able to lose enough fat so that I can comfortably fit into my old jeans again. My waistline used to be 24. I'm now at 28!!! :p

Then it was time to disrobe in the private changing room that had a large mirror and let her point out the problem areas that needed to be worked on. Apparently, I have a lot of water retention and bloating and yes, the dreaded "C" word... cellulite. Fat here, fat there. Ugh.

Thankfully, Bizzy Body have several different treatments which they can use to address those problems. I especially like the fact that they have a treatment that can detoxify your body as well. So in my case, Evence recommended that I go for the E-Intense Slimming Treatments to see results so I've already booked my appointment for next week and I can't wait to try it out and tell you all about it! *grin*

Sambal kacang

2011-09-26T20:47:00.001+08:00

What is Raya without Sambal Kacang or Peanut Sauce?

So naturally, I made some!

Here's what you need:

3 Red Onions - blend
5 cloves of Garlic - blend
1/2 an inch of Ginger -blend
2 inches of Gelangal (lengkuas) - (optional)
1 stalk of Lemongrass
1 bowl of Toasted ground nuts - blend
20 stalks of Dried chilli - blend
less than 1/2 a piece of palm sugar
1 piece of asam keping
Salt to taste (and chicken or beef cube for added taste - optional)

Thinly slice the onions and garlic

Spices : 1/2 a tablespoon of jintan manis and 1 tablespoon of ketumbar

Saute the onions and garlic, then when they're almost golden brown, add in the spices...

When you can smell the aroma of the onions and garlic, add in the blended chilli paste...

saute...

Add the blended onions and garlic in...

Grate some palm sugar...

Add to the chili mixture...

Stir and continue cooking till the colour darkens..

Take two stalks of lemongrass and...

Add into the chilli mixture..

Toast the ground nuts in the oven till golden brown...

Blend the way you like it (I like mine fine with a little chunky pieces)

Then add to the mixture...

Leave to cook...

At this point it will look very thick, so you can choose to add water or coconut milk...

And once the whole concoction has been cooked down, you're left with a nice, thick gravy sauce that you can enjoy with your ketupat and lemang! :)

Brand new TV ad!

2011-08-10T21:54:00.001+08:00

First, it was JD's lack of parking skills... now, he's forgotten where he's parked my car! Check out our brand new TV commercial! :)

Women's Weekly Photo Shoot

2011-07-18T18:59:00.006+08:00

Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Rina Ahmad, Deputy Editor of Women's Weekly Malaysia telling me that they're planning to do a spread called "My Hopes for Malaysia" in one of their upcoming issues and said that they would like to have lil ol' me as one of their featured Malaysian personalities. Naturally I said "Yes!". Women's Weekly is one of my must-have magazines every month, and to be featured in it again would be so cool!

The last time I was in Women's Weekly was a few years ago when I was still just a fledgling DJ... Here's the article.

So I made my way to ThreeSixty Photography in Sunway Damansara (and got lost trying to find it! Thankfully got some help finding it eventually..).

Here are just a few snapshots from that day's shoot..

Getting my face on...

Getting my hair did...

Standing awkwardly in front of the camera as they were trying to get the lighting right...

Let's try sitting, shall we?

Naaaah... standing's better!

Me and KK, the make-up artist. She did a great job of making my skin look flawless!

The one who made it happen... Rina Ahmad, Deputy Editor of Women's Weekly Malaysia. Can you believe she's already married with two kids?? This is officially my second photo-shoot with her after 3 years!

Look out for the article in the August edition of The Malaysian Women's Weekly at a newsstand near you! I know I will! ;)

Meatballs and spaghetti

2011-06-03T09:53:00.182+08:00

I usually find the mood to cook during the weekends. Weekdays a bit-the-susah, you knows?

Anyhoo, I had minced meat.. I had canned tomatoes... I had pasta... AND I had watched an episode of Barefoot Contessa where she made meatballs and spaghetti. Naturally, I wanted to cook it too!

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1 pound/0.45 kg ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 1/2 pounds/680 gms spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

I hardly ever follow a recipe to the T. I always adjust it to my own liking and with whatever I had available. Same thing with this one. I didn't have white bread crumbs so I thought I'd try using tempura breadcrumbs... because they're so light, you would need to use more than what's in the above recipe.

I did have a loaf of stale bread though, which makes for great breadcrumbs, so I cut that up in rough pieces and put them in the blender...

... along with some parsley which I grow outside my kitchen window....

Along with some rosemary from my very own rosemary plant! They're not the easiest things to take care of. This is my third attempt! It's not in the recipe but I thought I'd add it in...

Anyway, I dumped them all in the blender and gave it a good whiz till fine..

To my minced meat, I added the Japanese breadcrumbs...

... and the blended breadcrumb mix...

... along with some parmesan cheese...

... one egg to help bind everything together so they don't fall apart in the pan...

... some salt and pepper... I didn't have any nutmeg on me so I skipped that part.

And the secret ingredient - warm water! It helps keep the meatballs nice and moist even after they're cooked.

Combine everything lightly with a fork...

And with your hands, roll them up into 2 inch meatballs... With the recipe above, you should have about 14 to 16 meatballs. In my case, since I didn't use that much meat, I made 9...

Heat equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch.

Don't crowd the meatballs. Once they're golden brown, leave them to dry on a paper towel.

After the meatballs were done, I started on the sauce. I finely chopped an onion...

Remove the oil from the pan but don't clean it off cos you want the flavours from the meatballs to remain. Pour in some olive oil and add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent for around 5 to 10 minutes.

In the meantime, I finely chopped the garlic...

Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

The original recipe says to add wine but since I can't take the stuff, I substituted it with chicken stock and cooked it on high heat until almost all the liquid evaporated for about 3 minutes. I'm seriously considering trying it out with Ribena next time...

I used canned tomatoes that still had whole tomatoes in them...

I poured them in together with the puree and with a wooden spoon, roughly chopped up the tomatoes while they were cooking...

Add in the parsley....

... and salt and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce...

... cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through...

In the meantime, I cooked a mix of fettuccine and spaghetti...

And once both sauce and pasta were ready.... Voila! Chow time!!

Roasted Tomatoes

2011-05-28T17:57:00.106+08:00

I. Love. Tomatoes. Whether they're fresh or sundried.. I absolutely LOVE 'em! And when I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa where Ina Garten showed how to make roasted tomatoes, I knew I was going to try it out for myself sooner or later.

It's one of the most simplest, fool-proof recipes around so if you wanna give it a go, here's what you need :

Ingredients

12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, cores and seeds removed
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 232 degrees C.

I personally didn't make that many. I just started off with 4 roma tomatoes. Anyways, cut all your tomatoes in half and remove the seeds. Personally, I can't bring myself to throw the seeds away so I just mix it up in some vinaigrette dressing and turn it into a simple salad. Waste not want not!

Lay the tomatoes out, cut side up, onto a baking tray and drizzle them over with some good quality olive oil...

... balsamic vinegar...

Sprinkle salt and black pepper...

...brown sugar...

I decided to add an extra ingredient to my tomatoes - Italian herbs!

I don't believe there's such a thing as too much garlic. I love the stuff! So I used 2 cloves here and minced them up...

... and sprinkled those over the tomatoes...

Then I simply placed the tray of tomatoes in my pre-heated oven and left them in there for a full 30 mins...

While they were cooking, I could smell the combination of balsamic vinegar and herbs in the air! Mmmmmm....!

I heard the Ping! of the oven indicating my 30 mins were up but I left the tomatoes to caramelize further in the oven. When I took them out, some parts looked like they were burnt, but it was actually the balsamic vinegar having concentrated in the heat. Which made the flavour of the tomatoes that much more heavenly!

It takes less than 10 mins to prepare and the rest of the magic just happens in the oven. If you like, finely chop up some fresh basil and sprinkle it over the tomatoes before serving. So have fun trying out the recipe. You'll have even more fun eating it! (I ate mine with breakfast rolls and cheese and garlic butter. Yummy!!)

I'm Floored!

2011-05-23T22:17:00.000+08:00

Every time I walked into my walk-in wardrobe, I always felt a sense of dissatisfaction about the floor tiles. The walk-in wardrobe just didn't seem complete to me. When I had the cupboards built in, I retained the original floor tiles because I wasn't sure then if I wanted to do anything with it..

... but the longer I left them, the longer they seemed to me as not the nicest looking tiles up close.

The idea of using laminate flooring tossed back and forth in my mind like a game of ping-pong. I just wasn't sure how much it would cost, whether it would be worth it... I knew that it would look good when it was done but I just didn't have enough information to be able to make a decision. And the main thing was... would I be able to afford it?

That was last year. Then not too long ago, I decided to just look for the Floor Depot shop in The Curve since I'd heard that it was there but I just never bothered to search it out. One day I did. And it just so happened that they were having a promotion! 40% discount and a lot of FOC stuff.

So after the sales guy explained everything to me, I paid RM500 as a deposit (100% refundable if I paid in cash and changed my mind 14 days later, but if you paid by credit card, they will take a percentage). I filled up a form with my details and was informed that someone will contact me in 3 days. Less than 3 days, Alan called me to make an appointment to measure my room for free. I made the appointment for later that week, he came by and in less than half an hour, had drawn a rough sketch of the room on his notebook with the measurements, and answered all my questions. He also showed me samples of the wood that he always kept in the back of his car...

Now, there are cheaper versions and also more expensive, higher quality ones and because my room was so small (66 sq feet) he already guessed that the cost would be less than RM1000. Turns out, there is a minimum payment you have to make which is RM1000, even if cost wise, it only comes up up to RM700 or RM800. So he advised me, "You might as well get the higher quality wood laminate rather than the cheaper one because if the cost is less than RM1k, you're still going to have to pay a lump sum price of RM1k anyway." It made sense so I agreed and chose the Kronoloc Premium Super Series in American Cherry...

The next day he e-mailed me a quotation of RM1000 which included to supply and install the flooring, complete with laminated walline skirting. A few days later, I went back to the store to pay the remaining RM500 - and I still had time to change my mind if I wanted to. I didn't.

That weekend, the Floor Depot guys came around with all their equipment. I had already cleared out the room and cleaned the tile floor so all they had to do was install the flooring. First, they laid out a sheet of underlayment on the floor....

Then, after asking me which direction I wanted the planks to be laid in, they started arranging them one by one...

... and because the planks interlock with each other, instead of the old way of gluing them one by one on the actual floor, installation was very fast, easy and not messy at all - save for a few planks that needed to be cut down to size and even then, they did it outside the apartment.

Also, they added skirting to give it a more finished and polished look...

So in two and half hours, this was the result...

And they did a very good, clean job of it. Beautiful, ain't it?? I'm so happy with my choice of wooden flooring. It looks great, matches my cupboards, it FEELS great underneath my feet. And it comes with so many other benefits!

Click here for more info on laminate flooring...

Lee DeWyze in da house!

2011-05-22T00:57:00.001+08:00

When I saw Lee DeWyze win American Idol Season 9 from the comfort of my couch, I certainly didn't think that I would actually get to meet the guy a year later!

He was down for a promotional tour of his first album and came down to our studio on the morning of Vesak Day.. and here's what went down :

What was crazy was that his fans from the US were actually listening in to our show online and were tweeting about it!! Also, his acoustic rendition of U2's "Beautiful Day" with JD's guitar was completely unplanned and unexpected. But very, very cool! He even signed JD's guitar, which made him a very happy camper!

Later that afternoon, he had a date with his fans at Subang Parade. And what a turnout it was! I was very impressed with the Malaysian fans for giving him such a warm welcome...

And since it was his first time here in Malaysia, and Mix FM was the official radio station for his tour, his record label came up with the idea to let us give him a little tour of our own together with a lucky listener, Vidya.

And here's what we did :

It was a night that neither of us expected would turn out the way it did... we even took him to a palm-reading man, Master Chin, who according to Lee, was 95% accurate about him! His keyboardist, Lincoln and his manager, Lizzie, were also so enthralled that they also decided to get their palms read. Lincoln even decided to try out the tarot cards - after which Lee said he wanted to hear what the cards had to say about his career. He was blown away by that unique experience..

There was so much to see at Central Market! We didn't have time to see everything! You could see that Lee wished he had time to step into each and every one of them and get something for his loved ones back home. He did manage to buy a few bracelets and a blow-pipe for his brother. And because he thought the 'keris' looked so cool, Vidya was sweet enough to get a souvenir sized one for him to take back!

We certainly hope that he won't forget us or Malaysia. He has to come back to try durians!

I Got To Meet Maroon 5!!!

2011-04-30T22:09:00.035+08:00

Ok. I can honestly say that I don't usually get star-struck. But I was very close to it as I was waiting nervously outside the room where Maroon 5 frontman, Adam Levine...

and guitarist, James Valentine were in...

I and several other members of the media were waiting for our turns to interview the band just before their concert at Stadium Putra Bukit Jalil.

Finally, the wait was over and my team (breakfast producer, Eric and web content producer, Lynn) together with Moots (Hitz.fm) and his lovely fiance, Vanessa, stepped into the room - (which oddly reminded one of a toilet cos of its tiled walls.)

Once Moots was done with his interview, it was my turn. I remember telling them "Welcome to Malaysia!" and explained that the baju kebaya that I was wearing was one of Malaysia's traditional costumes so I thought it would be nice to show them since I'm pretty sure they've never seen one before.

On with the interview!

And this is what happened....

Because time was running out, and there were other people anxiously waiting outside, we unfortunately had to cut short the interview and in the end were quickly rushing to get our pictures taken. Hence why my face doesn't look like it's camera ready. Dammit!

(Adam's hand is on my shoulder!! Squeal!!!)

We weren't done though, as keyboardist, Jessy...

and drummer extraordinaire, Matt, were waiting in another room to get their chance with the media...

This time round, we learned our lesson and made sure we got the pictures taken first...

... and then did the interview...

I went through the Speed Round with them as well and asked them a few more questions....

Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet bassist, Mickey. Hopefully there'll be a next time... all in all, Maroon 5 are a couple of really nice, regular guys who are amazing at what they do and who love doing it despite how tiring it can be. It's the fans and the positive vibe that their fans give them at their concerts that help give them the energy and the drive to do what they do.

And speaking of concerts, after a wardrobe change, we excitedly attended the amazing concert where I screamed myself hoarse watching the band put on a great performance. I don't know how Adam does it.. his voice was near perfection as he sang song after song, considering he does this, like, every two days at each new venue. Matt blew me away with his drumming skills. James was aMAzing with his guitar. Adam was equally good, if not better. Jessy didn't miss a note on the keyboard. And Mickey balanced everything out with his bass-playing.

My only beef was the fact that those who could afford the most expensive/VIP tickets were all seated. Who sits down in a concert??! This isn't the MPO for crying out loud! Even Adam had to encourage them to stand up and I was so relieved that most of them did and surged closer to the stage. I honestly felt that the REAL fans, who were standing further at the back of the arena and who were up on the stands, deserved to be up close cos they were the ones who were singing along to every song and screaming each time Adam did something or said something. I couldn't help but think "Maroon 5 must be thinking how weird and crazy it is that those people up front are sitting down!". I also felt it was unfair to the band because they had traveled all this way from the other side of the world to put on a good show for their fans, only to see half of them passive and glued to their seats. WTH??? I'm so glad that most of the people finally came to their senses and were on their feet in the end.

It was so cool that Adam learned to say "Saya cinta pada mu!" and "Terima kasih!". The crowd went wild and roared their appreciation. I felt so proud of our Malaysian Maroon 5 fans! I hope we all showed the band that it's worth coming back to Malaysia again. I'll be there for sure!

And yes, Adam Levine IS that much cuter up close and personal. ;)

Photos courtesy of Lynn

We Meet Bobby Chinn!

2011-04-25T12:54:00.003+08:00

Me, Bobby Chinn and JD

Thanks to KDU University College Malaysia, we were given the opportunity to meet celebrity chef, Bobby Chinn, of Discovery Travel and Living's "World Cafe"!

Here's an excerpt of our interview :

Now you see it, now you don't

2011-04-16T21:52:00.002+08:00

Remember how unhappy I was with my entry-way? Ugh.

Well, I finally remedied the situation when I got exactly what I was looking for - a chest-cum-bench. I discovered it at Authen Teak in Ikano (now known as IPC) when I wandered in. Luckily for me, they were having a sale!

Personally, I preferred a lighter shade for the cushion cover but since black/brown was the only one they had, I still took it with the idea of getting another cushion cover made next time. I love this piece of furniture as it now serves as an extra seating area and a place to comfortably put on my shoes...

... and the best part is, it opens up for an added place of storage! In my case, more shoes... Also, the fact that it has great ventilation thanks to the little spaces in between is another bonus... So, I highly recommend that you look for furniture that can do double-duty. Saves money and saves space! Also teak is great in that it has its own natural oils which helps to preserve the wood and keeps it looking beautiful so it's low-maintenance, durable and resistant to termites! Yay!

So now I've found a place for it.. directly under my wall painting. And this is what I see when I enter my home-sweet-home... and ever since I got the chest to hide away my unsightly shoes, it just seems that much sweeter!

New Paintings! Woo-hoo!

2011-03-20T20:59:00.000+08:00

This is my not-so-favourite part of my home... the entryway....

Every time I look at it, I wish I could do something with it to make it look more welcoming or something. Instead, it's just this bare wall with what looks like randomly placed wall items - a key holder box, an intercom that doesn't work, a doorbell ringer and the fuse box.

I also don't like the fact that my shoes are visible. I'd much prefer that they were hidden away.

But first, the bare wall. What to do? What to do?? Then it dawned on me... why not get a few paintings or a big painting to try and cover it up somehow so that it doesn't look so lifeless and detached from the rest of the apartment!

And that wasn't the only wall that was driving me nuts. My corridor was also a blank canvas waiting for a splash of colour and personality..

So, on a trip to Bali, my best buddy decided to get me some paintings for my birthday! So I got them all framed....

The biggest one looks best on the entryway wall...

It reflects nicely in the mirror opposite...

And the three paintings look at home along the corridor wall....

So if you've got empty wall space, displaying a painting there is the easiest solution! Just make sure that it's a painting you're happy with and which reflects your personal taste.

Our first TV ad!

2011-03-16T19:49:00.030+08:00

When JD and I joined MIX fm, we never thought that it would mean that we would be starring in our very own tv commercial!

Our director and his capable crew...

We spent the whole of Saturday shooting the ads (yes, there's more than one!) so first things first, I needed to get my hair and make-up done...

We were given our scripts to memorise over breakfast and when everybody was ready, it was Lights! Camera! Action!

The better part of the day was taken up because of the mounting and dismounting of the camera... reshooting.. driving around...

...and even though it was an extremely hot day, we enjoyed the experience. They even fed us lunch!

Now after several weeks of waiting, here is the final product! Enjoy!

Hitz meets Mix

2011-03-16T19:39:00.000+08:00

Lemme just tell you that Ean and JD are uncannily similar to each other - what with their bad jokes, hair-brained ideas and general wackiness. Which probably explains why they've been such good friends all these years! And JJ and I are the ones forever trying to reign our co-hosts in and keep them under control!

Anyway, I came across this video accidentally on YouTube... it was of when JJ & Ean were giving me a brief tour of their studio, haha! It was taken into my second month of working at Mix and one day I decided to wander into their studio for the very first time. And this is what happened...

Mel B in da house!

2011-03-15T21:19:00.003+08:00

I was watching Mel B : It's A Scary World the other day and it hit me - I actually met this woman!

On Friday, March 11th, Mel B came down to the MIX fm studio early in the morning so that we could interview her and ask her about her role as the International Ambassador for International Fitness Week, sponsored by Fitness First.

This was a woman whose songs I was singing along to when she was with the Spice Girls and I only just realised that when she was with the biggest girl group ever, she was just a year older than me! What????

And there she was, sitting across from me and JD, in the same room and we were interviewing Mel B aka Scary Spice. And what was really nice was that she still has no qualms about being known as Scary Spice cos as she succinctly said.. "There are only four other women in the world who can say that they're a Spice Girl..". Right on!

Check out the video of our interview!

And that wasn't the last that we saw of her. Right after our show, we went to Fitness First, The Curve to meet up with the winners of the work-out session with Mel B contest...

And here's what went down...

(more photos here)

Right after the event, everyone clamored around Mel B to get her autograph and have their picture taken with her...

One of her biggest fans was CK, who brought a whole folder that was FULL of Mel B memorabilia. He actually drove all the way from Ipoh to meet his idol...

So that's one Spice Girl... Four more to go! :)

Battle of the Sexes - February

2011-03-14T21:33:00.001+08:00

Crap. I lost the tie-breaker question in last month's Battle of the Sexes, which meant that I had to pay the price.

Just to remind you what Battle of the Sexes on Mix FM is all about, well, it's the classic women vs men contest where we ask our contestants two multiple choice questions each. The ladies get male-skewed questions (sports, movies, cars, etc), and the guys get female-skewed questions (chick flicks, make-up, cooking, etc).

If there's a tie in points, then we have to break the tie with a more general knowledge type question and the first person who calls out their name gets to answer. Now we've recently changed it up a bit to make it more fair. If the person who says their name first gets the answer to our question right, then they win a point for their team and ultimately, the game. If they get it wrong, the other contestant has to give the correct answer.

What if BOTH get it wrong? Then the producer has to ask JD and I a different tie-breaker question. - one that we are not privy to. Whoever answers it right wins a point for their team. And at the end of the month, the points are accumulated and the team captain (that's JD and myself) with the least amount of points has to go through a penalty.

The first time round, JD lost. So he had to eat 5 sushi rolls - that were laced with extra wasabi! Check out the video :

This time round, I lost. So the penalty was to clean up the city with Alam Flora... Here's what happened :

The whole thing even came out in an article written by newbie reporter, Siti, for the NST :

DJ turns street sweeper in MIX fm battle of sexes

2011/03/08
By Siti Aminah Abdullah

Dilly doing the job of an Alam Flora street sweeper on behalf of the girls’ team. — Picture by Lim Poh Chin

KUALA LUMPUR: DJ Dilly, who looked every inch an Alam Flora worker, had to sweep a 100-metre stretch in Jalan Bukit Bintang recently.

Dilly (Adila Syakir) was being punished because the girls' team lost in the Battle of the Sexes on MIX fm's breakfast show.

In the game which airs daily, callers are asked questions related to the opposite gender. When callers come up with the correct answers, points are added to the team of their gender.

The DJ who represents the losing team is penalised. JD (Jason Desmond Chin) is the DJ of the boys' team.

"It's fun for the listeners. I'm creating awareness here. Plus, I get to blog about my experience of being an Alam Flora worker," said Dilly.

JD said they chose the street sweeper's job as the penalty because they wanted to highlight the subject of cleanliness.

"We want to make the city a clean place, so Dilly gets to be one of Alam Flora's workers," he said.

Dilly said she was taught sweeping techniques and how to tie plastic rubbish bags properly.

"This is certainly not an easy job. I have a newfound respect for Alam Flora workers," said Dilly.

Thanks again to the folks of Alam Flora! U rawk!! :)

Tune in to this month's Battle of the Sexes from 8am only on Mix FM and find out what the losing team's captain has to do next!

Of Cushions & Curtains - Part 2

2011-03-13T16:40:00.000+08:00

While I was at Home's Harmony some time back to look for cushions, I also thought of looking for some curtain hooks or tie-backs. Instead, I found something much more interesting! They called them "curtain clips" - even though there is no clipping involved. At RM8.90 each, they came in two different shapes - square or circle. I opted for the round ones.

I'd been using ribbons to tie my curtains... not very appealing!

So when I got home, I excitedly tried them out. You put the cloth through like this....

And you hold it in place by sliding the stick through like this.....

Voila!! A fancy new way of displaying your curtains!

And they come in light brown too!

Of Cushions & Curtains - Part 1

2011-03-05T21:46:00.029+08:00

I love interior decorating and I think I'm addicted to it sometimes cos I'm forever looking round my apartment, thinking about what else I need to get to improve the overall look somehow...

And I was surveying my couch thinking that it needed a pop of colour cos it looked a little dull....

So while I was at One Utama, I thought I might pop by Home's Harmony to check it out and see if I could find some nice cushions. In my mind, I knew I wanted either red or orange coloured ones and I found them!

I would've preferred the colour to be a bit more vibrant but it was the right size and the material was so lovely and soft that I HAD to get it. And now that they've become a new addition to my couch, I feel I made the right choice.....

By Blogged Dose (My Blocked Nose)

2011-02-23T16:32:00.001+08:00

Last week, my sinus was acting up a lot more than usual. I couldn't breathe through my nose and I sounded like I had a perpetual cold. It's the most irritating thing ever!!!

So I decided to go back to using Rhinocort, a nasal spray recommended to me by my doctor. She had advised me that for the next 2 weeks, I should use it once in the morning and once before going to bed. So far, so good.

I also bumped into one of my bosses in the pantry who also suffered from a sinus problem, and he suggested I try Blackmores' Horseradish pills. I told him I had a friend who had also recommended garlic pills because they helped prevent her from getting any colds. So I went to the pharmacy and found to my delight that they now produce horseradish PLUS garlic pills! Whoopee!!! So naturally, I bought a bottle and tried it out that very night! The pills are supposed to help with people who have nasal congestion due to colds and allergies.

They're quite strong smelling but you only need to take one or two a day after meals.

I'm happy to say that so far, with this combination... I've seen the results. Or should I say... "smell" the results! Whether they're long-term or not, I cannot say. I guess I just have to be consistent.

But at least I can breathe through my nose again!! :)

Mary J Blige Live in KL!

2011-02-19T18:47:00.000+08:00

I can't believe I got to meet MARY J. BLIGE!!!!!!!

As the official radio station for the Mary J. Blige Music Saved My Life concert, our bosses at Mix FM gave JD and I the opportunity to have a phone interview with her AND host the concert that night at the Plenary Hall in KLCC.

Just before we did so, the organisers, PR Worldwide, gave us and a handful of fans to meet and take a picture with her. It was very brief, we didn't get to have a lengthy chat with her but she was excited when she realised that we were the ones who interviewed her over the phone. She remembered us!

Soon after, we had to go out on stage to rile up the crowd, give away the three personally autographed MJB CDs and we were told we only had 5 mins to do so. We stepped out onstage and found to our dismay that the hall wasn't as full as we had hoped it would be. Only a few rows of seats had people in them! Malaysians being Malaysians were late... what with it being a weekday and having to contend with peak hour traffic.

So after about 15 to 20 mins, people finally started trickling in and the hall finally looked respectfully full. JD and I went to our seats and waited for the show to begin...

She came out of the darkness in a glittery catsuit and sexy, black, knee-high boots and the crowd went wild! Especially me cos the first song she sang happened to be one of my favourites - "MJB da MVP". She continued singing her hit songs and less familiar ones with her power-house vocals and with the help of her amazing back-up singers. Occasionally, she would have her two back-up dancers on stage and man! For a 40 year old, Mary sure can move! I wanna be like her when I'm her age!

Naturally, she couldn't be singing for two hours straight so there was a break.

After the brief interval, she walked on stage to the cheers of the crowd. She's had a costume change. This time, she was wearing a sleeveless, white bodysuit, her boots and a black hat sitting jauntily on her short, blonde hair singing "Everything".. Her rendition of "No More Drama" got her a standing ovation.

She got everyone on their feet when she sang "One", and we were still dancing away enthusiastically to "Just Fine" and to everyone's delight, the next song was "Family Affair". She took a quick break and came on stage to sing "Be Without You", which turned out sadly for all the fans in the hall, the final song for the night. Even when all of us shouted for more and "We want Mary!!", we realised when the crew came on stage to unplug everything, that our night with Mary J. Blige was truly over. :(

All we can say is - and it's something I got to tell her myself at the Meet and Greet - "Thank you SO much for coming here to perform for us in Malaysia!"

Check out the video of the concert!

Bunny Sitting in the Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-19T17:45:00.000+08:00

Meet Hammie. She's a mixed angora.

And over the recent Chinese New Year break, I got to bunny-sit her while her owners went traveling to visit their families for the customary family reunions...

Hammie turned out to be a very easy guest to take care of at Dilly's Bed and Breakfast. As long as water, food and bedding were provided for, she was content and never complained.

One thing about Hammie that I noticed though, was that she liked to move 'house' a lot. Her red tray would be in one corner one day, the next day I'd find it in the middle... the day after that she'd move it to the other end of the cage... My friend told me that she must've been an interior decorator in her past life, haha!!

So here's what rabbits like Hammie eat... I was told to feed her twice a day with the mixed pellets which would provide the fiber and nutrients she needs...

... as well as hay that provides roughage to their diet and prevents hairballs, apparently.

And this is where Hammie dines...

Everytime I came home, I'd find her quietly sitting in one corner of the cage...
I have to say, taking care of a rabbit is kind of like taking care of a hamster - only bigger! :)

Eggplant Gratin

2011-02-06T19:25:00.000+08:00

I'd been meaning to try Ina Garten's "Eggplant Gratin" recipe ever since I saw it on an episode of Barefoot Contessa. I'm not what you would call a huge fan of eggplant but this recipe looked so simple to do, I just had to give it a go! It's like making lasagna... but with eggplants!

I took notes of the ingredients as I was watching the show but I found the full recipe online on the Food Network site...

Ingredients

* Good olive oil, for frying
* 3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick
* 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
* 1 extra-large egg
* 1/4 cup half-and-half
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.

Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

Yeah I know I think I should've checked on my dish before the 30 mins were up but despite the fact that it looks a little burnt on top, it tasted delish! I highly recommend you try it out one Sunday afternoon just like I did! :)

A weekend in Melaka!

2011-02-06T19:10:00.000+08:00

Last weekend, my cousin, her hubby and his sisters decided to make an overnight trip to Melaka. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for them inviting me along, I don’t think I would’ve made any attempt to travel anywhere and would have just happily stayed indoors doing nothing particularly out of the ordinary with my life.

So it was on a Saturday morning that we went to pick up my.. er… cousin-in-law’s sisters from their residence in Kelana Jaya and with my trusty GPS – and the sisters’ navigational help – we drove in my car to Melaka and managed to arrive there in just under two hours.

Now the reason for our trip was simply cos my pregnant cousin had a craving for asam laksa at a certain eatery called 88 Dessert that can be found in Jonker Street. By the time we reached that very shop (after the initial checking-in to our hotel), it was slightly drizzling. In fact, that weekend was to be a very wet weekend indeed. We were undeterred, however, in our quest for the asam laksa. In fact, the drizzle helped because where there normally is a very long queue especially during lunch time, there was none this time round and we didn’t have long to wait for our heaping bowl of hot laksa...

And it was just as delicious as we remembered it – albeit a tad bit sour this time. Nevertheless, we polished it off AND, something quite unheard of in our circle… we ordered another bowl each! PLUS we had even ordered their delicious cendol for dessert. Such gluttons we were!

After that very heavy meal, we decided a little walking around the shops would help. In fact, my cousin had brought a pair of wooden shoes she had bought from Melaka many years ago that needed fixing. The shop was still there. You can’t miss it. You’ll know you’ve reached the right one when you see the huge wooden clogs at the entrance…

If you’ve never been to this shop, you can find all manner of wooden shoes in all shapes, colours and sizes…

We got a chance to chit-chat with the friendly owner of the store (a vast difference from his rather dour-faced wife) .. a very nice, jovial Chinese man who was happy to entertain us with stories as we sat watching him change the original faux leopard-skin design strap of the shoes to a more match-friendly colour.

In fact, he even let us look behind the store where they kept all the wood blocks for these handmade shoes! Very interesting!

After our trip to the shoemaker, we popped by the Aik Cheong coffee-shop to buy back some coffee. Although I think that'll be the last time I'll buy anything from that shop. As we were taking pictures, my cousin overheard the proprietor saying "They'd better buy something if they're taking all these pictures!". I can buy my kopi-o elsewhere, thank you very much!

And when in Melaka, you MUST buy pineapple tarts! Although these are the rolled-up versions, I personally like these better. We followed our nose as the wafting smell of freshly-baked pineapple tarts filled the air and needless to say, we just couldn't resist buying them.

As it was raining more heavily now and we were all still full and lazy, we decided to head back to the hotel to rest before we headed out again for some seafood dinner! Oh yeah!

My cousin and her hubby told us about the famous Umbai seafood place.We ended up at the Ikan Bakar Parameswara where there was fresh seafood all around...

We thought that with the rain still falling steadily down that evening, there'd be less people. Oh no. The rain didn't deter the crowd of seafood lovers that turned up that night! Which was a miracle that we managed to get a table almost as soon as we arrived! Phew!

So after my cousin and her hubby finished standing in line to pick out the fish and got our table number, we made our orders...

Buttered prawn...

Ikan Siakap Tiga Rasa (3 flavours)

Deep fried squid

Ikan Pari Bakar

The soy-chilli-lime dipping sauce was DEEEE-licious!!!

So all five of us had all that, plus a big jug of watermelon-lychee juice, nasi lemak and otak-otak at a total of around RM132.00. Not bad, eh?

I'm glad the rain didn't dampen our spirits to eat!

Shape Up Your Lifestyle with Nestle Fitness Cereal!

2011-01-23T16:28:00.001+08:00

I'm not one to make resolutions but this time round, I had to. I could no longer fit into my old clothes and I was resorting to buying new, BIGGER ones!

So naturally, I was thrilled when I was told that JD and I were going to promote the Nestle Fitnesse Cereal 14 day challenge and we could take part in it as well. At last! After months and months of telling myself that I needed to do something, this came along and I had no choice BUT to do something about it!

But then, that's what the challenge is all about. It's supposed to help people like yours truly who have been leading sedentary lifestyles; people who want to start being healthier but haven't done anything about it. This program helps people to get on the right track and now, JD, myself and 10 other lucky listeners with a BMI of over 23, have gotten a chance to do just that.

What the 14 day Shape Up Your Lifestyle challenge involves is replacing one meal a day with Nestle Fitnesse Cereal. So basically, you'll be eating a bowl of cereal twice a day and the other meal should be a balanced meal of veggie, meat or fish or eggs, bread, dairy products.

It's not supposed to be a weight-loss program, but usually, those who have gone through this exercise, they've happily found that they have actually lost some weight in the process. It's only been Day 7 for me, but although I haven't weighed myself, I can see that my tummy has shrunk a bit and is less bloated. YAY!!!

On top of the change in diet, we've also been taking part in the Body Transformation Camp over in Taman Rimba, TTDI. Twice a week, all of us have to go and work-out for an hour, supervised by trained fitness instructors. Monday, we had Noel.... here's what went down....

By Day 3, we were all still aching somewhat from Day 1's workout. And this time, we had Herny as our trainer. The workout she taught us were different from Noel's, as it had more to do with toning...

What's great is that these are exercises that you can actually do at home. There's no need for any special equipment or anything. And trust me, you will break out more than just a sweat!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Body Transformation Camp but you know what? I think I'll go to the park today and do some jogging. See?? The program's working already! :)

Arrested Development in da house!

2011-01-23T15:37:00.000+08:00

(L-R : Speech, our producer Eric, Me, JD and Eshe)

I couldn't believe it! It was only our 2nd week at Mix FM and already JD and I got to interview the big stars. And what stars! Arrested Development, the guys who brought us Mr. Wendall, People Everyday and Tennessee - songs from our high-school days! Well... MY high-school days, anyway. I remember back when I was growing up in JB, stepping into my fave record store at Kotaraya (which was, back then, quite the-happening) and purchasing their album on cassette and playing it everyday on my Walkman! Their songs were also playing regularly over the airwaves of the Singaporean station that I was listening to (Perfect 10, 98.7). And 19 years later, I actually get to meet AND interview them! Ker-aaaaaazy!

Personally, I was excited and nervous to interview them. Add to that, it was our very first interview for our show and the pressure was on. But thankfully, everything went without a hitch and Speech and Eshe were both SO nice and down-to-earth and easy to talk to. Their road manager, Yolanda, was also in the studio with us to take pictures and she told us later that it was a fun interview and she enjoyed herself too!

If you missed out on the interview, check out the vid...

While we doing the interview, more and more people were gathering round outside the studio to watch. And after that, there was a frenzy of photo-snapping. Everyone wanted to get their photo taken with Speech and Eshe. Thankfully, we got ours taken with them whilst they were still in the safe confounds of the studio with us. JD and I were absolutely stoked when Speech presented us with an exclusive Arrested Development t-shirt each! Mine was white and JD's was green - and they got the right size!! They actually took the time to see what we looked like and get those tour t-shirts for us! SO NICE!!!!!

Showing off our exclusive Arrested Development tees!

After that was the next best thing - we got to sing with them!! It had to be People Everyday and I didn't expect Eshe to let me sing solo - I was harmonizing but then next thing I know, she stopped singing and let me sing "I... am everyday people..."!

They had a showcase going on at Hard Rock Cafe later that nite which unfortunately, I didn't end up going to cos by 9.30pm, I was already sleepy and in bed and their show was starting at 11pm. JD went however...

Anyway, it was a great interview and we had a wonderful time with them.. Here's looking forward to our next celebrity interview! I wonder who we'll get to meet next....?

Mix-ed Feelings

2011-01-08T16:20:00.000+08:00

JD and I have recently survived the first week of helming the All New Mix Breakfast Show on Mix FM and although it's been a hectic first week, I have to say... we're quite enjoying it. It's stressful, but a good kind of stress. I feel like our working style melds well with the organised system that they have here. We've got a great boss, and a great support team helping us as well. And we're already quite at home here and already feel like a part of the AMP family. And it helps that Astro has a wonderful cafeteria to make sure that we'll never go hungry. How laaaa to lose weight like this??

Despite the first-day jitters that we had, we've been getting a lot of positive feedback about our show from our friends, colleagues and most importantly the listeners, who loyally continue to follow us and have been telling us on Facebook how eager they have been to hear us back on air. And now that we are, we're happy that they're happy!

We're LOVING the music! I'm not getting any younger so I find myself appreciating the music from the 80s and 90s and the earlier stuff from the noughties, which Mix is playing anyway, thanks to your feedback. In fact, you can still keep choosing the music we play. Just tell us here!

We've got some fun new segments on the show... JD's Classifieds, where JD shamelessly decides to hassle the poor HR people in order to get - or rather, NOT get - a job.

Dilly's Daily Dilemma - where each day, a listener shares with me their dilemma and we put it to the listeners to give their suggestions. Unfortunately, JD also tends to put in his two cents worth. Hmph!

And one of our favourite segments on the show is called Brainfreeze, a fun, mind-boggling part of the show where we give you a new riddle each day and you try to solve it and hopefully win a Bizzy Body treatment voucher worth RM1500!

All the details can be found on our website, www.mix.fm, but ofcourse, the best thing to do would be to actually catch our show every weekday from 6 - 10am!

My Garden Project - Part 2

2011-01-08T15:33:00.000+08:00

So turns out, I didn't get enough carpet grass aka sod for my garden. So my buddy and I promptly went to get more from the nursery, but by the time we got back, it was already evening and so I promised myself that I would cover up the gaps when the next weekend came around.

And so I did and this is the result...

At an event, I received these adorable looking pandan plants as a door-gift. I think plants make wonderful door-gifts! So now my plan is to plant them in one corner of my garden...

Look out for Part 3! :)

Farewell Red, Hello Mix!

2010-12-26T18:54:00.001+08:00

"Dilly, what happen to u and JD as i don't get to hear both of u every morning in morning breakfast. What`s happening?".... "Dilly, when will u be on air again? Whoa...my journey to work every morning is plain boring w/o u n JD"...."dilly i missing ur voice in breakfast show in Red Fm! When u wanna make a comeback?"

Well, you probably have already heard by now the reason for our mysterious disappearance - JD & I are to be the new hosts for the All New Mix Breakfast Show!

But it wasn't without a heavy heart that I said goodbye to my colleagues and friends at Red last week. After all, Red FM molded us into being the on-air personalities that we are today. And it's credit to them that the folks at AMP have taken interest in us both and have asked us to join their family... So, thank you Red, for the opportunity and thank you Mix, for offering us another one..

So although things have changed in the mornings on Red, you'll be able to hear our familiar voices and banter - and bickering - that we know you've missed (because you've told us so!) on the All New Mix Breakfast Show with JD and Dilly come 3rd January 2011! New year, new show! Woo-hoo!

Tune in then, yah!!! :)

New addition

2010-12-21T12:15:00.001+08:00

For the longest time, I've felt that my bedroom wall was missing something. It was just a huge chocolate wall of blank space that begged to be filled. I had contemplated putting a shelf of knick-knacks but I knew that what I really wanted was a nice, big painting. But until I found the right one, I was going to have to put-up with the empty space.

Until one day, I found myself completely mesmerised by a leaf triptych I saw being displayed at an art shop in Plaza Damas. It was simple, painted in a shade of gold, but I loved it. I loved it for its simplicity.. the raised stenciling of the leaves that provided a lovely texture... and for the deliberate watermarks in the background which gave it a nice overall effect...

To be honest, at first I thought of hanging this in the corridor but I realised this painting really belonged in my bedroom. I liked how the painting echoed the leaf motif that was prevalent in my bedroom curtains...

So now every time I enter my bedroom, I get to see this...

A large painting above your bed makes a great headboard and it makes that large expanse of wall look a LOT more interesting. And if you're bored with it, you can always change it up with a new one - which I know I will! For now, I'm happy with this particular piece of artwork. And I like that the colour even changes with the lighting...

This piece of art makes an ideal focal point above the bed. Now I'll be on the lookout for MORE paintings! :)

Marinated Olives

2010-12-14T16:15:00.000+08:00

La Bodega serves up these really amazing marinated olives. For me, one is never enough. I could happily sit in front of the tv with a bowlful of these and polish them off in one sitting! But they tend to be a lil on the pricey side and I have yet to find them readily available on the shelves of supermarkets. So you know what I did? I decided to make my own! :)

I googled the recipe and found this one off the Food Network website and was delighted to see that I had all the ingredients...

Kicked Up Marinated Green Olives

* 3 cups brine cured green olives, such as picholine, manzanillo or queen

* 1 lemon, thinly sliced

* 1/2 cup olive oil

* 1/4 cup lemon juice

* 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano, or 1 tablespoon dried oregano

* 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

* 1 teaspoon dried hot pepper flakes

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir well to mix. Marinate the olive mixture, covered and chilled, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 day before serving. Let come to room temperature before serving. To store indefinitely, transfer the olives to a 1-quart glass jar with tight-fitting lid and keep chilled. Yield: About 3 cups

Ok, so I didn't get, like, 3 cups full cos I was experimenting with smaller olives from those tall bottles, but the aroma and look was pretty close to what I was looking for! Just for good measure, I cut little slits in the olives for the marinade to go through..

I have yet to try them out though. Decided to give it an extra day for the flavours to absorb so... will let you know how it goes!

My Garden Project - Part 1

2010-12-08T12:23:00.001+08:00

I was itching for something to do... a lil project to keep me busy. I had one in mind, in fact. It's just that I hadn't gotten around to starting it off.. But every time I saw the patch of land in front of my car, I would always tell myself "I've GOT to do something about it!".

It started off with an idea in my head which I put down on paper...

Then last weekend, BB and I and his friend Catherine went to a nursery and bought two types of plants for my lil garden. Two types of soil and carpet grass. And because yesterday was a public holiday (Awal Muharram), I spent a good part of the day toiling away at making my idea a reality...

First I had to get rid of all the pesky stones left behind from construction. And because I was in a squatting position most of the time, my thighs got a good workout. Then, my buddy came by to help me out with the hard labour - using the hoe my cousin lent me, he unearthed the top layer of grass, stone and soil...

After making a rough estimation of where my circle of plants was going to be, we drew a circle in the ground and dug up the earth there...

This is the main plant that was going right smack in the centre. So we dug a hole..

..coated it with a mixture of burnt soil and loose soil to provide temporary nutrition to the plant...

... placed the main plant in the hole...

... and covered it over with more soil. Ta-daaa!!!

These are the plants that I bought to place in a large ring around the main plant..

Next, I placed the smaller plants around the main one to get an idea of where they were going to be positioned. This gave me a chance to readjust them before actually planting them in the ground. A tip from my buddy...

So once again, we dug holes for each plant, sprinkled the mixed soil in them...

...planted the.. er.. plant, and covered it over with more soil until they were all snug in the ground...

We layered more mixed soil all over and watered the plants...

... and then came the next step. Putting down the carpet grass..

My buddy taught me to peel off the plastic from the layer of grass, place it on the earth, and press down on it with my feet...

Unfortunately, turns out that I didn't get enough carpet grass to cover the entire area so, we planted what we could and went back to the nursery to buy more... which means that I can't show you the finished look just yet... So wait for Part Two! :)

Dilly Dimana???

2010-11-16T10:57:00.002+08:00

"Huh???!!! What happened?! Why?? Where???"

If you're reading this, you might have had these questions run around in your head when you realised that JD and I are no longer on the Red FM Breakfast Show.

Some of you may happen to already know the answer, but to those who don't, don't worry. I feel bad that you all have to be left in the dark like this BUT all will be revealed here when the time comes. Just know that JD and I are a team and we WILL be back! :)

I'm touched by all the messages I've been getting and am STILL receiving from you on Facebook and here... didn't realise we have so many loyal and caring supporters!

So BIG HUGS and THANK you!!!!

Meantime, you can always find me on Facebook (Dilly Shakir) or JD (Jason Desmond Chin) if you haven't already. Chat with you later! :)

Spring-clean Saturday.... and Sunday!

2010-11-08T11:33:00.000+08:00

So should I watch Megamind with my friends or stay in and clean up the mouse-nest of a mess that was in my spare bedroom? That was the question I posed to myself last Saturday. In the end, I made it my mission to once and for all clear out the catastrophic corner that was in my guest room.

Now don't get me wrong. The rest of my apartment is not as horrendous. It's NOT!! It's just that unfortunately, my place didn't come with an extra room for storage and what you're looking at is basically nine years worth of stuff. By the way, I had actually thrown away more than half the stuff before, but when it became too overwhelming, I stopped. For several months. Hence, why the mountain of mess is still there.

So for the next five hours, I sat there sifting through piles of old receipts, bills, expired make-up, contracts, old bags, invoices, stationary, past diaries, etc... I was thinking that I could do with some help from Perfect Housewife, Anthea Turner!

I found myself getting annoyed with myself as I went through everything. Why on earth did I still keep this? And that? Why didn't I throw this away? I realised that when going through an exercise such as this, one needs to throw out any sentimentality and emotion out the window and stick to being practical. How else was I going to achieve the unbelievably pristine look that I so envied in my home decor magazines?

Finally, after those five pain-staking hours, here's what I eventually ended up throwing out in the end... it's a wonder that there were no cockroaches or lizards scuttling out as I was doing the cleaning. No no.... I didn't throw out the step-stool.

And here's the 'After' picture!! I breathed a huge sigh of relief once I was done. To be honest, there's still one box I need to get through and once I get myself a few more Ikea boxes, I can arrange the haphazard contents of that book shelf, but at least the bulk of the problem has been solved and chucked out. So that was Day One done and dusted....

.... Hellooooo Day Two! Yes. More mess. This time, in front of my bookcase... and dust. LOTS of dust. I figured, hey. I might as well finish the job in one weekend! Why procrastinate? Compared to the day before, clearing out this mess took less time. I sorted through old letters, an unbelievable amount of electrical wires (telephone, handphones, camera, computer accessories, etc) and old CDs, spare doorknobs, plastic plumbing parts, dusty old handbags, peeling wallets, old perfumes, etc...

BUT that was just the junk you see in front of the bookcase. Cleaning the bookcase itself took a heck of a lot longer. Why? Cos I had to individually clear out each and every nook and use my trusty Pledge spray to wipe away the unbelievable amount of dust that had settled there. And based on the magazines that I had earlier arranged according to date, the last time I dusted this bookcase was in April last year. Yes. I know. -_-

It's a good thing I started on my cleaning frenzy when I did because I noticed the unwelcome appearance of ants. Uh-oh! I thought. Their source was a mystery to me. That was, until, I started cleaning out the cookbook nook and found, to my horror, a swarm of ants under the oldest and biggest cookbook. Apparently they like French food. Needless to say, I sprayed them and the book and after that, thoroughly went through every other cookbook there to make sure there were no more ants. So far so good but I think I'm going to have to do a spot-check every now and then. The whole ordeal of cleaning my bookshelf took me well into the evening. It took me seven hours this time round. I was exhausted! Of course one of the reasons it took longer was coz I gave myself little breaks to cook, eat and watch some tv.

And here's what I had to throw out in the end..

Mission accomplished!:)

I have to say, I did more work and was more productive in these past two days at home than I have been in the past two weeks in the office! I tell you, clearing your house of junk is very therapeutic.

There's still more work to do (sort and file my bills and receipts, go through the boxes that are under the bed. I don't even know what's in those things!) but at least the major headache has been cured. Phew!!!

I'm actually looking forward to this weekend for more cleaning, haha! I'm on a roll, bay-beh! XD

Virtual Malaysia

2010-10-11T12:02:00.012+08:00

Sharon's Wedding

2010-10-06T12:51:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, 2nd Oct 2010, I had the privilege to be hired as the bridal make-up artist for one of my closest and dearest of friends, Sharon - a friend I've known since we were both in Form 2 back in JB. She was getting married at church that day so at 9am, I turned up at the Garden Residences, Midvalley where she and some of her family members were staying.

Now, prior to the wedding, she and I already had several trial make-up sessions to determine the look and colours that she wanted on The Day. As far as I'm concerned, these sessions are more important than the actual day itself because this is where, as a make-up artist, you put your client at ease in knowing that you will do a good job and give them what they want so that they have one less thing to worry about. What's the point in paying for an amazing wedding dress when you don't put your best face forward?

So that's what I tried to do that morning for Sharon...

Fresh faced in the a.m....

After applying the UV Base from Shu Uemura, I applied foundation and touched up any redness with concealer...

Set everything with loose powder...

After applying eye base, I chose Rose Pink from MAC and applied it at the outer corners of Sharon's eyes...

Then I used the Limited Edition Banana colour from MAC for the inner corners...

After blending the eyeshadow with a few other colours, I drew on the eyeliner with my fave MAC gel liner in black...

Then after curling the lashes, I brushed on black, waterproof mascara...

After which I applied the fake lashes which instantly opened up her eyes and made her look "sweet", don't you think?

I filled in her eyebrows with my Empro eyebrow liner...

And then brushed on MAC blusher to give her the "blushing bride" look!

I lined her lips with a pink-brown lip liner...

And filled in her beautifully shaped lips with Estee Lauder pink gloss lipstick.

After Calvin, her hairdresser, did up her hair....

This is the final result...

Me (as one of the bride's maids) and Sharon

Pics courtesy of my handy Blackberry, Eshantha and Lawrence Khaw

Tyre-ble!

2010-09-23T11:07:00.003+08:00

Was out Raya-ing with my family when they were here last week. We were about to go to another relative's house when, as luck would have it, my car got a flat tyre. Ugh.

Now, I've had flat tyres before with Cherry and I'd learnt to change them myself so that's not the problem. The problem was that this time, because this is the first time Chilli got a flat tyre, the nuts were too darned tight for me to loosen by myself so thankfully, my dad was around to help me out...

Turns out, somehow, somewhere, a piece of metal had wedged itself into the tyre, causing the puncture...

Luckily the incident happened when I was still at my aunt's apartment's car park and that I had family around. The only other problem was that there wasn't enough light. My brother and I had to shine whatever light we could emit from our handphones when my dad was trying to take out the car jack and spare tyre from the boot. Somehow or other, he managed to get them out and switch tyres.

Well, at least if this ever happens again when I'm alone, I'll know what to do. I just hope I have the strength to do it! Those nuts are damn tight, yo!

Ready for Raya

2010-09-23T10:46:00.000+08:00

You’d think that with Raya coming around, people like me would be ready with brand, new clothes to wear for the celebrations, right? Wrong! I’ve been recycling my past baju kurungs and kebayas over four years already. Finally this year, my mum pushed me to get something made and so I agreed.

As luck would have it, it wasn’t even ready for Raya! I still haven’t seen it! Which is why the lovely ladies of ShopWithFlo were a Godsend when they delivered a gorgeous looking kaftan for me to wear for my Raya rounds.

What’s wonderful about this soft, sheer, chiffon top is that it’s just so versatile and you can even wear it in TWO different ways…

Either short...

Or long, like I did!

And you can pair it with pants or a nice, long skirt. Check out the website or join ShopWithFlo’s Facebook page coz there are more choices and colours that you can choose from. What's also great is that if you have any questions regarding prices and dress sizes, you can be sure to get a prompt response from them.

In fact, Aly and I have been chosen by ShopWithFlo to be their ambassadors for the brand which is great coz now we have more options on what to wear for our events, haha! Now we have a one-stop shopping place in ShopWithFlo (Flo stands for “For Ladies Only”).

Check out the article to find out more….

Currently they've promoting their impressive line-up of Halloween costumes so do take a look. You may just find something there you - and your man! - may like! :)

Cocoa Fudge Cake

2010-09-12T00:35:00.000+08:00

My mum decided to make something sweet for a change so she pulled out an old cake recipe from my Mak Ngah - Cocoa Fudge Cake.

Ingredients :

WET
8 oz of butter, room temperature
10 oz of castor sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup of plain yoghurt
2 tablespoons of dark, melted cooking chocolate

DRY
6 oz of flour
6 - 7 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of soda bicarbonate

First, break up the dark cooking chocolate and let it slowly melt in a bain marie....

While you wait for it to melt, measure out the castor sugar...

...the butter...

... and mix them together in a bowl and use a hand mixer or standing mixer...

...till it turns into a white, fluffy consistency.

In another bowl, put the flour through a sieve then add baking powder...

... and soda bicarbonate...

... put the cocoa powder through the sieve as well ...

Next, you need four eggs.

Add them in to the wet mixture one after the other, stirring them in thoroughly after each one...

...so that it looks smooth and creamy.

Then pour in the yoghurt...

...and add in the vanilla essence...

After stirring them through, you can finally mix in the dry ingredients...

By this time, the chocolate would have melted...

So pour the contents into the now chocolate coloured batter...

Mix thoroughly...

Then after lining a cake tray with butter, pour in the mixture...

A tip from my mum is to make a little well in the middle of the batter so that the cake rises evenly in the end, and you don't have that raised, cracked portion in the middle...

Bake at 180 degress Celcius...

And in around 40 mins or so (test with a satay stick just to be sure), the cake is done! Just in time for tea! ;)

Laksa Johor

2010-09-10T20:24:00.000+08:00

When in Johor, make Laksa Johor. That's what my mom and I prepared during my trip down South for Raya this year. So I've decided the only way I can make this on my own is to take step-by-step pictures of the whole process so that it'll be easier to make this at home next time...

Unfortunately, my mom's recipes are very old-school - there aren't any real measurements. She eyeballs everything. So basically, here's what you need :

Sauce
Vegetable oil

Onions - 5 to 6 if small, 4 if large

Garlic - 1 head of garlic

Ginger - 1.5 inches

Galanga (lengkuas) - 1.5 inches

Lemongrass (serai) - 4 stalks

Dried chilli - around 20

Fresh fish (your choice of ikan kembung, parang or tenggiri) - 1kg or 8 medium sized fish

Fish curry powder - 2 small packets

Kerisik (toasted dessicated coconut) - half a packet

Dried anchovies/dried shrimp - less than a handful

Coconut milk - 1.5 a box (add water)

1 Asam keping or tamarind juice

Salt and sugar to taste

Chicken or ikan bilis cube

Spaghetti - 1 pack

Garnishing

Cucumber - 1 Large

Onion - 1 Large

Bean sprouts - 2 handfuls

Calamansi - up to you

Laksa Leaves - a handful

Jeruk lobak (optional) - chop finely

Sambal

Fresh red chillies - around 5 to 7

Belacan - 1.5 inches

Duration : 1.5 to 2 hours
Makes : A LOT!!

For the sauce, blend onions, garlic, ginger, lengkuas and lemongrass to a fine pulp...

Cut up the dried chilli, wash...

... and boil for around 10 minutes. Blend finely to turn it into chili boh...

Place the fish in a pot of water, add 2 stalks of lemongrass and let boil for 10 minutes, after which you should take it out of the water and let cool. Don't throw the fish stock away!

Meantime, mix the fish curry powder with a little water and turn it into a paste...

Heat some oil in a large pot and pour in the blended onions...

Saute till golden. Then add in the fish curry...

Again, saute till golden and then add in the blended chilli... then add in 1 tablespoon of sugar to taste

When the mixture looks "garing", add the kerisik...

Let cook till you can see the oil at the top... make sure you stir every now and then so that the bottom doesn't burn...

Meantime, while all that is cooking, you can tend to the fish. Pick it apart and make sure you get rid of all the tiny bones and scales. In this case, my mom used ikan kembung (mackerel) because compared to ikan parang (wolf herring), they have less bones to worry about..

Discard the heads and guts of the dried anchovies, wash and blend together with the fish meat above. (Note: If you don't have anchovies, dried shrimp are very good substitutes).

By now, the onions, chilli and spices would have been cooked down and golden brown. Pour in the blended fish.

Mix thoroughly...

Make sure you don't throw the fish bones away! Nothing goes to waste. Blend the bones and serai with some water and set aside...

Pour the blended fish bones in. Make sure you filter the liquid coz you don't want any rogue bones to get into the sauce!

Followed by the coconut milk... then add in the fish stock...

Stir, add in salt to taste, an ikan bilis or chicken cube, throw in the asam keping (or tamarind juice) and let simmer... at this point, the sauce is done!

Before then, you can already start cooking the spaghetti...

Now for the garnishing. You need a nice, large cucumber like this. Peel the skin off. Cut into 3 or 4 pieces, depending on the size...

And carefully cut around the cucumber in large strips like this, roll them, and then cut into long thin strips...

Finely chop the onions...

Cut the calamansi limes and get rid of the seeds for convenience sake...

Finely chop the laksa leaves...

Discard the black heads and tails of the bean sprouts (to be eaten raw)

For the sambal, traditionally the fresh chilli is pounded in a pestle and mortar. But these days, people like to use modern technology and blend. So roughly chop the chilli, remove most of the seeds if you don't want it too hot...

... and blend with a toasted piece of belacan

Be careful not too blend too finely, which is what happened in this case! By right, it should look like a thick paste with visible chilli bits. Just add a little salt to this cos the belacan is already quite salty.

Traditionalists would have finely chopped jeruk lobak (pickled radish) as part of the garnishing, but if you can't find any, the below would suffice...

And voila! Enjoy your Laksa Johor!

You'll be thoroughly satisfied! ;)

Be warned, though. The pics make this look easy, but it's a LOT of work!

Bazaar Ramadhan - Larkin, JB

2010-09-09T13:47:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the last time I ventured out to the bazaar Ramadhans. This time, my dad and I went to the pasar in Larkin for our buka puasa fare...

And what was the first thing I saw there? Fruits!

Cempedak, yo! My dad felt that at RM5 for 1kg, it was a bit pricey...

Having said that, he bought a whole cempedak because he said the last time he bought one there it was really good and let me tell you, it was the sweetest, creamiest tasting cempedak I've ever had!

After the fresh fruit stall, I came across this one that sold...

... readily-made Ketupat...

... Lepat...

... and something called Burasak

Then came the usual sights.... ayam percik...

Chicken rice with an impressive piece of chicken...

My mum calls this Masa Lodeh. She and my grandma know how to make this. I'm sure there's another name for it though...

More Chicken Rice...

Next to that was another stall selling what they called "Nasi Ayam Penyet"...

It's not Satay but "Satar"! Similar to Otak-Otak but with different spices..

Nasi kerabu... it's so full of yummy condiments that you can barely see the blue-coloured rice beneath!

You can even choose to add other lauk to accompany it...

Home-made pizza.... only here can you find Beef Black PAPER! LOL!

I was intrigued why there were SO many people gathered around this particular stall...

After squeezing through, I realised they were selling Nasi Lemak Kukus...

It looked so good that my dad decided to buy a pack each for me and my brothers... For RM6 you get all this with a HUGE piece of chicken...

Nasi Ambeng also got....

My dad however decided to go for the kuey teow which he said was very, very good...

Raw meat, anyone?

Freshly made mee goreng...

The sign says it all...

A saliva inducing close-up shot...

I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this! I LOVE Kacang Pol!

The lad who sold it to me said that they even have a Facebook account! The bread was cut nice and thick and buttered on both sides... the egg perfectly cooked. Sadly I can't show you the actual kacang pol but trust me, I bought one and it was BEEEESSSTT!!!! One of the better ones I've tasted so far. I'm DEFinitely coming back for this next year.

According to the makciks who were selling this, these pancake looking things are called "Akok".

Kebab - the Malaysian version...

A variety of serunding was on offer.... very handy for Raya...

Here was something else I didn't expect to see... vegetable stalls!

The drinks variety wasn't all that inspiring... it looked like the same ol' same ol'...

Although they did have this which was new to me...

And of course, we can't forget our local Malaysian desserts...

Putu bamboo!!

Yellow putu piring!!! You know I love this stuff...

With fruit stalls selling cempedak, there's bound to be Cempedak Gorrrrreng!

I have to say, I've never seen this before at other pasars either...

And to get you in the mood for Raya... what else but Raya cookies! This place also sells Batang Buruk...

Crispy, crunchy kerepek and keropok...

Fresh, yellow dates...

More Raya cookies!

A favourite for all occasions - Pineapple Tarts!

Dodol...

These lontongs will taste great with your favourite rendang!

So there you have it! Bazaar Ramadhan Larkin. A lot smaller than the one in Uda, but they made up for it with some of their unique dishes so this place gets a 3.5 out of 5.

Till next year when I do this again - maybe! - Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir & Batin!

Bazaar Ramadhan - Bandar Baru Uda, JB

2010-09-08T17:07:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was the first time I drove down to JB in my car. My dad acted as navigator and after we switched places at the Pagoh rest-stop, he drove the rest of the way. Once we arrived in JB, however, we decided to make a detour to Bandar Baru Uda to buy food to buka puasa with to take home.

So with my trusty Blackberry, I explored to see what a pasar Ramadhan in JB had to offer. From where I was standing at first, it didn't seem like much. I just saw a stretch of stalls and I thought that was it. Turns out, we were at a square with shop lots in the middle and the stalls stretched all around it! First stall I saw were selling these huuuuge murtabaks...

Next to that was this rojak place that had an impressive array of ingredients...

Deep fried battered prawns...

The brown things are actually home-made meatballs...

Deep fried battered sotong.. big ones, too!

Crabs! Yummy...

Potatoes...

Paru-paru... not a fan, to be honest..

... and more delicious looking fried stuff...

Plus the usual hotdogs and sotong balls, fish balls, etc...

Ooh! Squid rings in sambal sauce! Add a dash of lime juice... delish!

Ikan bakar

Roti John special!

More ikan bakar...

The chicken in their chicken rice looks nice!

A food truck selling nasi beriani gam...

If you're craving for lemang, they have it all prepared for you here... lontong kering

And you can't go to a Johor pasar Ramadhan and not see the famous Laksa Johor!

Love the way they laid out the spaghetti...

Burung puyuh...

More murtabak and other types of roti...

A kebab set-up.. your choice of chicken or beef

Paru drenched in sambal chilli sauce!

If you're a seafood fan...

Kerang with sambal chilli and lime...

... or you can have the mussels with sambal chilli and lime

Or if you're in the mood for something Western, there's always pizza...

An array of lauk-pauk to be had with rice...

The Batu Pahat recipe!

The nasi beriani gam.... the fried shallots and spring onions scattered on top makes this look very appetizing..

Have it with beef rendang....

... or mutton rendang...

... or ayam masak merah

Siput Lemak Chili Padi!

It was this stall's specialty..

"Don't miss out on your chance to enjoy the taste of real honey roasted chicken with special herbs and spices!"

This stall didn't have fancy advertising but seeing this should suffice! Ayam golek...

Smoke gets in your eyes while this man gets your ayam panggang ready for you...

From the same stall which also sells...

something that I can't really identify. Chicken innards I think..

Now with all that food, you need something to quench your thirst...

Ressberry???

The famous Air Khatira...

This is a first for me... Jus Kurma Susu

Guess what? I decided to get myself a bag of Air Kathira!

What's for dessert? Oh the choices seem endless!

Pulut serunding

Kuih kertas or pulut kertas

This lady was only selling bubur, pudding and pengat

What to buy... what to buy?

The cream puffs look good...

Now THIS is the real deal kuih lopes!

More colourful agar-agar...

Kuih tepung gomak

Tembosa! My late grandmother used to make these and sell them to people every morning.

Ooh! Chocolate balls in chocolate sauce with chocolate sprinkles!

More karipap and kuih...

Kuih lompang

Kuih bom

MORE agar-agar!

Cendol pulut

My favourite! Roti naik!

Can somebody tell me what this one's called?

Agar-agar again

As I was walking around, I heard overheard some of the sellers thinking I was some Japanese tourist taking pictures, haha! In fact, one lady asked me "Are you Malay?". The people here were very friendly and were excited that I was taking pictures of what they were selling.

Well, this place certainly didn't let me down and gets a 4 out of 5 from me!

My cool new fridge!

2010-09-03T10:41:00.000+08:00

Yay! My new fridge is finally here!

After going for years with my single door National fridge, I decided it was about time to upgrade to a bigger one.

After surveying a few different places and brands, I finally settled on Sharp's HiDeco Large Capacity 2-door ActiFresh Hybrid Cooling Refrigerator with Plasmacluster Ions (SJPT56RHS) which I purchased from the Best Denki store over in Tropicana City Mall.

Besides its energy saving factor, I also got it coz the handles matched my kitchen cabinet doors, haha!

Other features include :

ActiFresh Hybrid Cooling System
Plasmacluster Ions system
Electronic Temperature Control
External LED Panel for easy control & monitoring
Nano Deodorizer
Half Paired Tempered Glass Shelves
Separate Fruit and Vegetable Case
LED Lighting for Freezer & Refrigerator compartment
Stylish Door design with Cylinder Handles
Top Energy Saving

SPECIFICATIONS

Frost Free	Yes
Total Volume: GROSS ([L])	510
Storage Volume ([L])	437
Freezer Volume: [(L])	118
Fridge Volume ([L])	319
Dimensions (W x H x D mm)	700 x 1670 x 720
Colour	Silver

I was tempted to get the 66 inch one, but seeing as how it's just me using it, it wasn't necessary. My problem last time was that I didn't have enough space in my old fridge and now with this new one, I've got too much space, haha!

I love the ice-maker compartment - with just a twist, you get fresh new ice-cubes!

They also came up with a good idea where the side compartment in the freezer gives you the option to store something bigger, like a pizza box, through the flap which you can open or close...

Now that I've got space to store more food and ingredients, I'm all set for this Raya. Time to go grocery shopping! ;)

Bazaar Ramadhan - Putrajaya

2010-09-02T09:30:00.000+08:00

Friday came around and this time, we decided to make the long trip to Putrajaya, Precint 2 to survey their Bazaar Ramadhan. Although thanks to the MEX, it took us less than 20 minutes to arrive.

We didn't know what to expect, but we certainly didn't expect what we saw - already from where we were, we could see how huge the bazaar and on top of that, that was a large pasar tani market right next to the bazaar as well!

Despite that fact, there was still a lot of ample parking space, which is a definite plus point.

So what did we see there? Well, the first stall we decided to go and buy stuff from was the one selling grilled kebabs - we just couldn't resist!

You could have your pick of either beef or chicken kebabs...

Or you could opt for the lamb chops.. yum YUM!

At very affordable prices!

Fried snacks...

Cream puffs - cheap! Cheap!

Rojak pasembor...

Local kuih...

I forgot what this is called but here it is in the making, after which they'll drop it in very hot oil and they pop up once they're done. I love this stuff. Nice and sweet and chewy. Best eaten fresh. Don't wait till the next day or else keras already.

Not your regular looking mee goreng...

There was a huge Rojak Singapura stall...

Agar - agar...

There were also a number of stalls selling rice and lauk-pauk...

Ikan bakar...

Exploding fish...

I saw these two roasted chicken stalls side by side...

There was a long line at this one...

They actually had their own rotisserie!

How good does THIS look?

More chicken! The "exploding" kind apparently...

Your choice of apam balik...

These were really big. One person can't finish it alone!

Dragon fruit agar-agar! At least, that's what it looks like, no?

Finally I found the elusive chicken "rangka"!

Prospepper Burger, anyone?

Check out these babies! I've never seen them so nice and thick and juicy looking!

You can't go wrong with freshly made nasi goreng...

The labels on these drinks attracted me... they make the drinks that much more enticing, don't you think?

The labels on these don't look as nice, but the fresh fruit is a nice touch!

And you can't live without your roti johns...

And this is the first place that I found lemang! Yay!

We didn't think there would a bazaar that deserved a 5 out of 5 on our lemang scale, but this one certainly did!