The Good Batch & Wondermilk, Damansara Uptown

3rd August 2014

I've been postponing Akiko's birthday celebration meal for two months lol (her birthday was 1st of June), mainly because I was busy with my quarter closing during July and forgot what I'm busy with on June lolol.

 

I have Akiko two choices of good brunch places, Nosh or The Good Batch. We chose The Good Batch in the end because it's close to her place (and my workplace), and the best part is the Wondermilk beside haha. Wondermilk has my favourite Macadamia flavoured Fresh Milk hehe ^^.

 

We met around 10.30am at Empire Damansara, and reached The Good Batch around 11am. There was already a long queue there, but we got in pretty quick because we don't mind the window seat. In fact, window seats are great because there's super good lighting there and great for selfies!

Photos taken using my Casio TR-15. Great lighting right?

Before I forgot, we were wearing matching Floral Lolita outfit that day ^^. I felt really happy with our fashion choice because I rarely dress up in lolita in normal occasion. My lolita is a bit toned down though, no headdress, big bows etc.

Love this photo of her! Really have to say that the lightings are really great. The lilac purple hello kitty bag is her birthday gift from me! Hope she likes it~ Had a hard time choosing and this is what I ended up buying her.

My turn~ The lighting's so good that I don't even need to edit or add filter.

Ordered a Gryphon tea for myself. Tried Hanami tea this time, Japanese Sencha with Cherry Blossoms.

 

One thing I like about Gryphon teas is their descriptions behind each tea packs. There's even tea pairing suggestions lol And details such as brewing temperature and time.

 

Akiko's pretty hot chocolate drink. Should be not bad.

 

Akiko's main dish: French 'O' - This is good! Fluffy omelette with mixed vegetables and melted cheese ^^

And my Norwegian - Smoked salmon eggs benedict. By now you guys should have already know that I'm a sucker for eggs benedict lol. I just can't help but to order this everytime I see this. It's not great though, but not bad either ^^.

 

After our brunch, we went to Wondermilk for some snacks as planned. This will be my second visit to Damansara Wondermilk (I went to the one in Publika before as well); my first visit to this branch was with Akiko as well, that time we went there for some manicure session at a nail salon near-by.

 

Akiko's Lolita OOTD. Rose motif JSK. Very interesting matching with pink gradient tights.

My Lolita OOTD. Lacey blouse with Pink Floral lolita skirt. Comes with a matching big pink floral bow but I didn't use it. Instead, I match this outfit with a floral metal x fabric long necklace for a more subtle look. Wanted to braid my hair initially but too lazy to do so in the end lol.

 

Our meals at Wondermilk! I ordered my usual Macadamia Wondermilk drink, while Akiko took Butterscotch Soda (it was surprisingly good). Now, if I want to take any of the nicer wondermilk flavors, I'm forced to get a cupcake with no extra charge =___=. I don't really know the reasoning behind, but Akiko said it was probably to clear off their stock, so I guess thats why they are being so despo about having people trying their cupcakes. We ordered wedges as well to munch, I really love the creamy pesto dip that comes with the wedges.

 

I brought back few wondermilks for my family, so that explains the few extra cupcakes that I was forced to take ahem. I'm not really a cupcake eating person though, mainly because they were usually extremely sweet. But I do agree that they look great though.

 

After wondermilk, Akiko suggested that we drive to E-Curve for some purikura, which we did ^^. I love this Purikura machine!!!It's called Akogare Baby 3, a different machine from the ones I usually take. This one is even more interesting with two pieces of photos per person ^^. We can even choose to have a collage version for one of the piece, and a normal type the other side.

 

One sad thing is that the Puri-App download thing is not working for this machine, so we didn't get to purchase the softcopy of the photos like how we did usually. But I scanned the pictures though!

The four scanned photos. We played twice because I realise that we didn't have a full body outfit photo in our first attempt. Must play one more time because if not wasted our effort to dress up nicely in lolita haha.

 

Must go back there to play this machine again! Haiz why the machine not in 1Utama, if not I could do that everyday hahaha.

 

Thanks for the great time and Happy Birthday Akiko-chan~ 



Red Box Sing with Class, Sunway Pyramid

17th August 2014

Went for this RedBox singing competition around 2 weeks ago. I first heard about this from Johan in our J-singing gang group chat, and was feeling rather half-hearted about joining. But in the end I was half-dragged into signing up because Kaoru, Zie Aun and Johan pulled me to register right after AMG event. Can't say that I'm not free to register haha since I was also waiting for Animenz piano concert with them.

 

Too bad the Sunway branch only have 3 positions left, Kaoru had to join the Bukit Tinggi's batch while Zie and Johan participated twice (one with me at Sunway, another at Bukit Tinggi). I didn't really prepare for this competition and I was having flu on the competition day hahaha. Nose block! Anyway, we were asked to reach 45minutes before the competition starts (7pm) for sound check.

 

One of the highlights of this competition (the main reason I joined) is that we will be using the Shure Vintage mic to compete! It is kind of a rare chance to use a vintage mic (unless I buy one myself lol) to perform so I was pretty excited about it! The champion will get to win themselves a vintage mic + RM500 cash voucher (if i'm not mistaken), but I doubt I'll win la, thats why I'm only excited to try out the mic haha.

The prizes. Everyone who participated will get a consolation prize of RM50 RedBox Cash voucher.

Most of us were still not used to the mic, since we only get around 1-2mins to test it out. I was pretty amazed by the standards of the contestants though! All of them sang really well and I enjoyed the 2.5hours of music ^^.

The judges. I'm feeling a little bad for not remembeing any of their names lol.

 

I participated with Wonderland by FLiP, a song I've performed for several times with my band. Slightly regretted picking that song because it's really hard to do a great performance with no heated audience (and three pair of eyes -- the judges staring). This song is better suited for band performance and people having fun together haha.

 

Nonetheless I still enjoyed a lot singing with the vintage microphone! It has good resonance and the effect is amazing. I would probably consider to get one after getting a good dynamic microphone for my stage performances.

 

After all contestants sang, we were given a 10-15minutes break for the judge to make their final decision on the winner. We used the time to chat around and getting to know new friends who love music!

 

Choy Peng, who is a blogger. She sang Utada Hikaru - First Love~

Precious Group Photo! Thanks a lot to Kaoru and Kenji for supporting us~

A big congratulations to Johan for winning the First Runner-up ^^ He got RM200 cash voucher so I guess he's gonna spend them by going to redbox a lot lol. I'm more of a LoudSpeaker fan recently, their prices are much cheaper, with SUPER COOL song selections, and even their food taste good!! Sorry to say but RedBox food kinda sucks.

 



 

 

My RM50 consolation cash voucher haha. Am probably going with either my family or Sacchin, although I would be happier if it's a LoudSpeaker voucher hahaha. To everyone who joined and participated, gokurousamadeshita! I'm sure we all tried our best and you guys are awesome as usual! Hope to join more of these competitions to further improve myself, broaden up my network and to spend time with friends who love music ^^.

 

Bistro a Table, Section 17 PJ

19th June 2014

Peggie and I decided to have her birthday celebration at Bistro a Table, Section 17 PJ two months ago. I was the one who suggested the place because I've always wanted to try this French restaurant; heard that it wasn't extremely pricey like the ones in KL, but with good food quality. I'm glad that Peggie was satisfied with the place because if not, I'll feel soooo bad since this place isn't cheap and it's her birthday celebration afterall, it would be great if she enjoys it.

 

We both went there after work. It was supposed to be a tough challenge for me finding the place (ahem you all know my standards), but my dear colleague Nicole decided to sit in my car just to show me the way!! I secretly admire her courage to sit my car lol

 

So yeah I had zero problem reaching there because I was with Nicole, and Peggie reached there around 15minutes before me, so she was walking around the shop houses peeping at other restaurants. 

 

We were greeted politely and brought to our table upon arriving. I really like the ambience and enjoyed the privacy there.

 

Bread and butter. Peggie's pink guava juice behind.

We asked one of the waiters to help us take a photo, he ended up taking xxx number of photos =___=. We both smile until kayu already he still wanna keep taking. Nonetheless I still like the photos~ Posted only one because they all look the same anyway lol.

 

There are two types of degustation menu on that day: the Degustation Menu, and the Deluxe Degustation Menu. Peggie picked the first while I took the latter so that we could try out everything together haha.

 

My Deluxe Degustation Menu.

Peggie's degustation menu.

Our desserts menu!~ We picked the Mangosteen Pavlova and "MindScrew".

Wine list. I ordered a Chardonnay (Mendoza Tilia Chardonnay 2010) to pair with my caviar cold pasta.

The ala-carte menu that we didn't touch. Hope to try them out next time!~

Bistro a Table's star dish:

Signature Coddled maple syrup egg with crouton dust & Fleur de Sel

This dish is quite famous if i'm not mistaken. It's really delicious and special! To eat it, we gotta mix the crouton dust into the egg using the small metal spoon beside. Both of us agreed that it would be better if there's one more asparagus though, one is too little. Still great though!

Traffic light chilled soup of ice tomato, smoked yellow capsicum & creamed cucumber

LOL with the looong menu names. I really like this chilled soup, mainly because I LOVE tomatoes, and I like chilled soups haha.

Seared Hokkaido Scallops with orange, wilted witlof & cauliflower puree

Please don't ask me what is "wilted witlof" coz I have no idea lol. I think the scallop is good though~ Peggie likes it too. The scallop is really fresh ^^.

 

Avruga Caviar cold pasta with Soy, mirin & White truffle oil

Paired with my Chardonnay~ The caviar tasted fine but I prefer the pasta to be less salty. This should be one of my least favourite dish among the entire deluxe degustation menu.

 

Pan-seared Red Pearl fish with salted cod brandade & tobikko buerre blanc

Peggie's 2nd entree. Couldn't comment much because I've forgotten the taste (only tried a bite), but should be nice.

Shredded Duck confit & leek fettucine

 

Peggie's main dish. She likes the duck confit a lot~ I prefer my pasta which is coming next.

Boston Lobster Spaghettini with Vermouth & Cognag Veloute

I really love this Lobster Pasta!! It has a really strong cognag flavor but still compliments well with the lobster. Great dish!!

 

Overall I enjoyed my Deluxe Degustation menu a lot, other than the caviar cold pasta which is a tad too salty for my preference. My chardonnay paired well with the caviar though, so I'm still very pleased.

 

Before our desserts were served, the owner of Bistro a Table - Ms Isadora Chai came by and asked if we would like to share our desserts because if we wanna share she would prefer two MindScrew (next dessert) sweets for us! How sweet and thoughtful! This really enhance our entire experience here and we had loads of fun with the taste play. Will come back to that later.

 

Mangosteen Pavlova with Chantilly cream & candied cucumber

Very interesting combination! I love mangosteen to begin with, and this pavlova wasn't overly sweet. Though I'm not really a pavlova fan, perhaps I have yet to meet one that I really like.

 

Next is the super interesting and FUN "MindScrew"!!!

The instructions lol. This may just win the most interesting food I've ever tried haha. Basically we were asked to try out the fruit dessert given to us first, and they were just tasteless. Like completely tasteless. Apparently they reduced out the sugar from the desserts.

And then, we were given this medicine looking lozenges, and were supposed to suck on it until it fully dissolves (make sure the whole tongue is coated). And after that....MIRACLE happens!!!! OMG. Everything just tasted sweet!! We were given pieces of super sour lemon (we tried it before taking the lozenges and it's EXTREMELY sour), and it tasted sweet and yummy after omg, just like those refreshing lemonade.

The two Lozenges and super sour lemon for us to play with.

 

This is the supposingly tasteless fruit desserts. After the lozenges, all the fruit flavors came out! And they all tasted really good! lol we were acting like little kids and were so amazed with the change in flavors. Apparently the lozenges has this berry that Ms Isadora found out from Africa, so she decided to use it in her dishes.

The happy us having fun~ The sweet effect lasted for around 3-4 hours so I suggested Peggie to come to this restaurant again with her boyfriend coz it'll be really romantic for them (imagine all kisses tasted sweet!) lol.

 

I seriously hope I could come back here again haiz...It has been my target to try out cool places and splurge once every month, but I'm having a serious problem with finding a food tasting partner who wouldn't mind to try everything with me sobs. My family is becoming rather stingy lately so it's hard for me to bring them around to share my food experience and excitement with them. Not to mention it's practically impossible to go to these kinda places alone.

 

Anyway! Am still eating fine, trying as much new places as I can with people who are kind enough to go with me ^^~ Thank you very much!!~ I think I've almost finish trying out 1 Utama and nearby places, left some at TTDI, Uptown and Damansara areas. Looking forward for more foods!

 

2014 ACG Fiesta, UTAR Sg Long

Super Backdated post: 22 March 2014
(Although typed this right after the day lol)

I just had a short mini 2 piece acoustic performance with Joee (The CrestFall's keyboardist) at ACG Fiesta 2014, UTAR Sungai Long. Here's the page if you guys wanna know more about the event: ACG Fiesta.

We broke the record of shortest practice time before performance LOL, but it wasn't as scary as the time where our full band only met up for the FIRST (means we haven't even see each other before) time TWO days before the band performance, that was seriously nerve wrecking. This time we only met up twice for practice; first one was the Monday before the performance where both of us weren't really prepared ahem, and the 2nd practice was few hours before the performance =__=. I was feeling uneasy and all, but we were all in 'nankurunaisa~" (whatever will be will be) mode. 

Selfie of the day~

I have to say though, this is a really small event (with very few booths and a small hall), but the committees were really helpful and friendly (example we were given a room to rest and practice)~ The audience were very supportive by singing along with us~ and were very attentive and cheered for us even though there's some who have never heard the songs before ^^. So both of us had quite a fun time performing and spending time together.  

Some performance pictures~

This year's performance was a whole lot better than last year's, in terms of the PA and sound equipments etc; but somehow our performance was full of echos in the hall which I don't really know why. And as usual we can't really hear ourselves on stage (there's no monitor), but I'm starting to get used to this (am being quite pro performing in worse situations). Performance wise I think we did quite well!~ I did some lyrics mistakes here and there but I don't think anyone would realize during the live performance ^^.

I'm looking forward for more performances with my band, really miss spending time with them. Kinda regret not buying stuff from the booths haiz, I was too tired to look around. 

Ending the post with performance videos:

1st song : The Beginning by ONE OK ROCK

2nd song: Everything's Alright by Laura Shigihara -- from the game 'To The Moon"

3rd song: Pledge by The Gazette