Rowie's Scribbles

Some of you may notice the Go Green gadget on the left of this blog.  Typical household and industrial lighting methods employ fluorescent lamp tubes because it is relatively cheaper than LED lights. However many home owners are switching to LED for its following advantages: 1) Better cost savings While the price of a LED lamp is higher than the fluorescent lamp, the LED lamp has better long term savings as it can last much longer than the fluorescent lamp, hence replacement is not as frequent. This is especially true for industrial users, where frequent maintenance will require more downtime as well as labor cost.  2) Environmental friendly Fluorescent lamps contain mercury which is not only a pollutant but a toxic chemical. LED lamps are safer and it is not noisy. LED lamps also have better energy efficiency and consumes less electricity which contributes to a greener environment.  3) More durable & efficient LED lamps are not constructed from glass s...

I seldom put my mind to resolutions - they tend to be the same every yr and generic in nature. This time, I've more specific goals in mind and I'll just list them here so I can easily look 'em up whenever I need reminding :p 1) Play mahjong I never played or was exposed to the game much until last yr CNY at the bf's home; his family members are very skilled at the game and it was a rush of pongs, counting and pretty tiles clinking. I suppose it would be a good game to learn; after all, it is a good way to bond with others and adds to the CNY mood :D   2) Make ice cream & desserts The bf got me an ice-cream maker machine for my birthday. My 1st attempt of making coffee-chocolate ice cream (complete with choc chips) wasn't good; I'd too much water so the texture didn't turn out so well. There are various recipes and I want to try make some favorites - sweet corn, pineapple...I also want to make tau fu fah. My previous attempts with Konnyaku...

I wasn't a fan of Japanese food until about 3 yrs ago - I thought raw food couldn't be good, but Senjyu changed my mind about that. Since then, I'm open to trying Japanese food and after visiting a few restaurants, I can say I like California roll, good sashimi, the best ramen is in Ippudo and no to udon or soba.  My 1st visit was with the bf to the Paradigm branch and between us we shared a Kaisen Kara Miso Chanko Nabe (what a mouthful! Spicy miso soup + seafood + hot pot) and Chicken Katsu Curry.  Me & colleagues went to Watami Japanese Restaurant in Pavilion today to celebrate a birthday; the outlet is spacious and lighting was good. The wait staff were attentive and quick to serve; they even encouraged us to make full use of the Livingsocial vouchers as we still had some value left.  We didn't wait long for our food and the wait staff were quick to re-fill our green tea.  Salmon sashimi Watami Tonkotsu Ramen Tonpeiyaki Chicken katsu tam...

Since I started using Musescore (see my write-up here ), I produced some scores for my group and individual practice. I'd like to share some of them here as Musescore unfortunately limits the no of uploads to their site :( So I've uploaded some to Google drive, f eel free to comment! :) Embroidered Purse - a Chinese folk song piece, I referred to the YouTube vid below: - currently I wrote scores for 2 violins but they are WIP and I will be uploading a solo violin version soon. Song of Yimeng Mountain Currently only the solo violin part has been written. Refer to the YouTube vid below: PS It was fun to learn how to embed YouTube video into the blog post as well as sharing Google documents! :)

There's something about Fridays that entice us to eat somewhere different *more expensive cough cough* for lunch. Shopping malls are the best answer as parking is easier and houses many options. Near my office we tend to go to Pavilion, Avenue K or KLCC Suria. To be honest, I only go to KLCC to attend the concerts by the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and I find the food outlets/restaurants there either too expensive or crowded. However, if no decision is made on the venue, I would always recommend KiKi Taiwan Cuisine by Fong Lye (I've not eaten at Fong Lye before but I heard the food is good).  Sweet sour fish Seafood fried noodle Rice with Chinese Wine The set meals consist of 1 main dish and 3 types of side dishes; the portion is just nice for 1 person and there is so much variety. Don't be fooled by the long Q: the turnover is fast and usually we get seats after 5-10 min. Also the wait staff give refreshing lemon juice to waiting patrons, so no rus...

Sis just turned 26 so we had dinner at Urbano e Fresco, an Italian restaurant at Solaris Dutamas. The atmosphere was quiet, modern and good for family to borak-borak.  The menu is in a newsletter format -- I was disappointed that they didn't have much variety in terms of meat and pasta dishes. There are many choices for pizza as well as desserts tho.  Bread for starters: nothing superb about this. The bread was relatively thinner than what I'm used to so you may end up tasting too much balsamic vinegar/ olive oil as they get soaked up easily.  We shared the following: 1) Breaded chicken breast 2) Pesto spaghetti 3) Carbonara spaghetti 4) Spaghetti bolognese 5) Pizzas The portions were a bit small but the taste was good; not too flavorful. I particularly liked the pesto spaghetti and the carbonara. The pizzas are oven-baked; the crust was thin and crunchy - me likey! The service was okay; the staff were pleasant and attentiv...

Time flies so fast! Yesterday marked the 1st yr anniversary of my relationship. I purchased Livingsocial cash vouchers for Fisherman's Cove, an elegant restaurant specializing in seafood tucked away in Starhill Gallery. I read reviews and they consistently reported good food and service, as well as a romantic ambiance = win! The restaurant was relatively quiet considering it's a Friday night; I requested to dine upstairs and we were ushered to a unique dining setting. The furniture and decor projected the feel of a big fishing ship; it might be made complete if the restaurant played music of the sea :D The seats weren't comfortable for him but I guess he's taller so the support isn't there.  We were served warm sourdough bread and warm water as the crew got to cooking. I asked the waitress if the bread was store-bought and she replied "it's chef's recipe". It was warm + fluffy on the inside + crunchy crust = so delicious, we had to ...