Konbanwa こんばんわ..
I passed my I1 Japanese exams! Boy was that a huge relieve, as I was pretty much prepared in retaking it another time. Thank heavens I didn’t have to. Now it is on to I2 demo I’m gonna take a break for a short while just so I can focus completely on my dissertation due on the 30th June this year. It has been given me sleepless nights, the fear of not completing it on time. Boy am I the procrastinating champion. I can’t do that now, as there is no more extensions allowed, hand it or fail it. Damn this cruel world.
I had Kinpachi for lunch after the exams. Located in Subang Jaya, just after the Subang Parade road leading to Kuala Lumpur. I had a bowl of their Kimuchi Katsudon. It was too much veggies and Kimchi stuffs for my liking. I was actually looking forward to have Tonkatsu, pork cutlets. However, to my dismay, what was presented then was only a mere few pieces. I felt like I was having a bowl of vegetable rice. Maybe it is just me, but I could have whipped up a better bowl of Katsudon… It came with a bowl of Miso and a saucer of pickles. The meal cost RM17.00. I didn’t finish my donburi. Feeling extremely thirsty and hot I decided to have a nice cool beer to cleanse the heat. And plus beer is a damn good tranquilizer for afternoon naps.
With so many Japanese diners in Subang, I wouldn’t head back there again.
I went over to Souled Out at night as well, a St. Patrick event was held there. I figured, they would have some sort of Guinness Draft promotion there as they were heavily promoting it for a good whole month. I was utterly disappointed that they didn’t, I mean what’s the point? They had some games and some really bad singing. I guess they were trying to be as Irish as possible but fell flat in comparison. Of course the most disappointing thing is definitely on the non-promotion Guinness Drafts!! How can that be? Who gives a fuck about St Patrick’s Day here? Who gives a shit about Shamrocks? Malaysians need to remember that day as a day they give 50% off for the stouts! I am not being an el cheapo but that’s how the M’sian mentality works. They don’t talk about the great DJ, the great decorations and the great games…they just talk about the cheap stout they had! And if there should be an event again next year, this will be the thing that they’ll be looking forward to! It’s like Oktoberfest where they have big discounts on beers, this is what I’m talking about. People here would associate that day with that. And plus I hear other places in the world give out free beers on St Patrick’s Day…Well, enough about that. Maybe I just really expected more..
Have you guys tried that Bologne Gion Bread? I don’t really know what is it really called cause it says Bologne (which is a city in Italy) on the banner and it says Gion (which is a city in Kyoto) on the plastic bag. So what is what? Well for now, I assume it’s called Gion Bread, and it cost a whopping RM18 bucks for a loaf. A normal loaf of Gardenia would set you back for about RM1.80? So you have some math calculation to do there, in short more bread than you can eat! However, despite the highway robbery price tag…there’s always a queue, and you may have guessed it..SOLD OUT! They started out as a stall outside of JUSCO Mid Valley…I think? Or maybe not, as I’ve seen it before at the Bon Odori fair at the Matshushita Sports Centre in June 06…so they may have set it up somewhere else before. The bread is cut into thick slices and they are buttered. They recommend that you give it a light toast to give that light crispiness on the surface and yet soft inside…very much like a Mcdonald’s French Fries minus the deep fry. I like it very much, especially when I have two slices of Honey Turkey Ham, two slices of Salami and a thick slice of Parma Ham, some mayo, some mustard, a slice of cheddar, lettuce and tomatoes, sandwiched in between. It makes a really good lunch! Better than O’Brien’s ! Well, the bread anyways…their relishes and that darn good turkey bacon are still a standout.
Nevertheless, bread will always be bread…of course their technique of making the bread is somewhat unique as they claim it to be…they can fool anyone, I mean how many of us have worked in a bread factory before? I guess as well, it’s the fresh and imported ingredients as well. Yes, yes…it makes a really good bread…and you really really can eat it on its own….again with that coffee craze of mind. However, for a staple diet of breakfast every morning, the price is a tad bit HIGH! I think for folks like me…LIKE ME…. breads such as this would be shelved away in my list as indulgences. It’s nice, but not to die for anyways.
Attended my cous wedding at the Banker’s Club on Sunday. Small place but it was pretty ok. It fitted about 18 tables, only close relatives were invited, you can feel the togetherness. I feel that sometimes in a wedding it’s more important, rather gathering a bunch of people you have to call out of obligation, many of which who do not really wanna come, yes out of obligation as well. It was my cousin who is now residing in Australia and married to a Filipino. You have his folks and sisters from the States coming to KL to attend the wedding. The food was ok, typical Chinese cuisine, the roast chicken and the fried rice was good. Apparently they didn’t have a karaoke system there, and Chinese will always be Chinese…they just want to sing!! So the night was filled with acapella numbers, some good some just downright horrible…the horrible ones I imagine are the equivalent of stand up comedies for me, rather than a torment in some cases. Yours truly’s dad sang as well, by the request of my uncle and aunty…oddly he chose Ave Maria..hmmm…Oh the groom sang a Frank Sinatra number as well, ‘It had to be you’. He neither sounded like Frank nor Harry. Well, it was a surprise anyways, a song he dedicated to my cousin, his wife. Strangely, he kinda stressed on the part of the song where it goes, “With All of your faults I love you still”….hmmm….
I guess it was a nice wedding, short of the extravagance that everyone is so accustomed to nowadays, it was just nice.
I’ve been listening to The Shins lately, their song, “Phantom Limb”. The MTV has the band singing and kids in some theather play as well. I just don’t the MTV sometimes, maybe I don’t try hard enough to try to comprehend it. Whatever the reason, it is a nice song. Call to Apathy was one of their better hits as well. Here is the Lyrics to Phantom Limb….
Frozen into coats,
White girls of the North,
Fire past one, fire the one
They are the fabled lambs,
A Sunday ham,
The ancient snow.
And they can float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I
Could ever try,
Could ever try.
So we just skirt the hallway signs,
A phantom and a fly,
Follow the lines and wonder why
There’s no connection.
And weakened falling eyes,
In cheap shots from the tribe,
And we’re often in Marcus’ porch again,
For another afternoon of the goat-head tunes,
And pilfered booze.
We wander through her mama’s house,
The milk from the window lights,
Family portrait circa ninety-five,
This is that foreign land,
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime,
So, when they tap our mundane heads,
To zombie-walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time,
And we’ll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too fall along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
Oooh waooooooo waooooooo
So, when they tap our Mundane heads,
To zombie-walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time,
And we’ll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too fall along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.
