Langkawi Chronicles:Shell-Out@De Boys Cafe

On a whim, Boss Lady and I decided to grab some simple rice & seafood dinner.

Checked on FB and came on to a post about a newly opened beachside eatery called De Boys Beachside Cafe and after perusing a couple of pages it seemed like a good deal.

Got lost along the way. :)

Thank heavens the chap from the cafe came to our rescue on his motorbike and led us to his place.

The place is nice and quaint, smack dab on the beachside complete with the salty tang of seabreeze, perfect for Shelling-Out.





Then came the food.







And this is Boss Lady starting the meal.

Fare thee well

Had to let go one of my team member today. This is now the hardest task yet in trying to administer staff discipline.

The staff is a fairly good one, mostly reliable (orang Malaysia kata 'okay-lah') and always respectful, even during disagreements with his team members.

However his attendance is less than acceptable, prone to being absent from work. What is due has been done - counseling, briefings, the obligatory show-cause and warnings, but he broke the camel's back recently.

So I had to let him go.

The hardest thing I had to do this year.

Why would I?

There are moments that suddenly dawns on me how plain my life is. I have always appreciated the quiet and the calm.

Routine becomes the most normal thing. Go to work. Grab a lunch.
Work some more. Then return home for a quiet dinner. Pick at offerings on the internet. Occassionally buying stuff as well.

I guess a plain, simple life is for me.

Then there are times when I have this urge to just pack up and leave for a lone escapade, to be away from everything I am acquainted with. Just to see and do new things. To experience and see something using only my senses and be not concious of somebody else's needs or desires. Just for me.

Travel across Malaysia on a lone roadtrip, go camping on short spells, weekend staycations at hotels and resorts, perhaps a spa treatment that includes pedicure.

Or flying off to places new that I have yet to see and do for a month long round. Heck, I wouldn't mind a nice revisit of the cities I have been to, only this time to see with eyes unburdened by work commitments.

Dont know I if I might develop homesickness. Would I?

Or am I already home sick?

Sounds like beginnings of a middle-age crisis, I know. Haha.

Stupid Things On The Net: Party (Huh, Really?)

Oh, but you did attend the party. 

Remember a few months ago,

 when you did the horizontal tango?

Gahh!

If I could split myself into 10 persons I would have less to worry about work. Running a team of 20 persons is driving me up the wall.

Gahhh!

Deep thoughts

Read. Feel. Decide. Do.





Why is doing it so difficult?

posted from Bloggeroid

FB Farce

Imagine going through your FB feed and stumbling upon a post about a certain 'wakil rakyat' in Langkawi given an extra new task

So people were commenting, essentially congratulating the chap and them suddenly you reach a post by a commenter you know asking said Wakil Rakyat to impose Hudud Laws and Hapuskan GST.

Dude! Really? Seems a whole lot disingenuous to ask for implementation of the hudud laws when you partake in a lot of recreational drinks and chemicals.

Wow.

Out & About: Dinner Game of Thrones style in Prague!

Pre-dinner we-fie as the others are yet to arrive and therefore there is time to be crazy

En Din and his lovely wifey.

Power ladies - Roslina and Tim

Cheers (non-alcoholic, of course).

Our wonderful B.O.D Members with their family.

Leadership! L-R Clockwise from Middle:
En Ali the Honcho, En Zul the Money Guy, En Zai of Kahaani, Pak Budi of RHR Indonesia,
Pak Aziz of The Qamar Paka, Mr Mohan of Lanai & Sasana Kijang & Chef Feisal the group culinariste.

Pirates! Yarrrr!

Blond belly-dancer and me!

I don't know if I am happy because there is the hawt babe, or because
I get to handle a proper python! Hahaha!

Yesss! Picture with hot babe taken!

A Few Of My Favourite Things: Namoura, A New Love

Tried this gem of a dessert, Namoura, found at a Lebanese stall in a food court in near our hotel.

I am normally not a fan of arabic style desserts (mainly because of the use of loads of honey and sugar), but this one sort of caught my eyes (and belly). Ordered a portion (and shortly after, another!)

Imagine a wonderfully deep buttery flavour, redolent with clarified butter (some would argue Ghee), ab-soul-utely dripping with unctuous honey and held together by fragrant notes of orange blossom water.

Uhh-huhh.

I had to have it twice!

:)

Out & About: Halal Food in Prague

One cant go on travelling in Europe and continuously partake in non-halal meats (or worse, go Veg all the time, ugh) without serious repercussions of guilt right?

Haha.

So a couple of us decided we were to look for proper Halal food in Prague. Thankfully the presence of Middle Eastern cuisine and cultures is very much a common thing here, so there was indeed at least one shop/cafe in every street block or shopping complex.

First off was a simple Food Stall in a nearby shopping complex called Safir. Where we had these delights.

Yup, an utterly delightful Namoura. A sweet honeyed dessert of baked almond and sugee.

Brother Hj Manan tucking into his dish of Lebanese styled Briyani and Chicken in Spicy Tomato.

Ogle!!

I had a small order of mixed grill. A simple dish of skewered chicken, lamb and beef over pickles with a wedge of lebanese flatbread. I was too hungry to bother with snapping any pictures. :P

The day after, after our long Walking City Tour, a few of us decided to gallivant at the Palladium Mall in the Republic Square and have more halal meats. 

Walked around until we worked ourselves an enormous appetite. As Rezeki would have it we found this proper restaurant and was immediately taken in by the handsome waiters to a table  (they were very persuasive waiters okay!). 

El Emir, Lebanese Restaurant.

Could they be siblings? 

A quick peruse of the menu we made our minds and moments later we were tucking into really good Lebanese at El Emir Restaurant, a western styled sit down that offers Halal dishes. The food here I would argue to be even more authentic than all other I have had. 

Now, this is a proper Mixed Grill Dish. Unff!

Can you smell the delicious aroma of grilled meats over the tart pickles. Yummy!

En Ali (camera shy isn't he?) decided upon having the Lamb In Spices,
which doesn't describe much but imagine a silkier and smoother biryani
with a whole lot more subtlety. It is at once rich and satisfying without
making one feel jelak. Glorious Lamb Shank over steamed basmati grains.

Then we went back home to digest. 

The next day, knowing it was going to be my last Lunch in Prague, I went back there with Bro Hj Manan where I ordered the biggest sampling platter they had. Hahahaha!

 

In yer face homies!
That is a masterfully prepared Mezze Platter. Grilled Meats - Shish Tauk, Lamb Kebab, Raw Dried Beef, Grilled Beef Cubes, Falafel, Spinach and Cheese Parcels with Aubergine Moussaka, Tabbouleh Salad and Chick Pea & Sesame Hummus with a basket of Lebanese Flatbread. 

Just look at those glistening juicy meats. The slices of Raw Air-Dried Beef was surpassingly good, gamey, and rich and moist, despite it being dried. 

The cold and cooling side dishes worked in tandem with the warm and spiced meats. 

 

Gloopy side dishes. Yummmmmm.

Best cap to the meal, a deep, European styled dark coffee.

Our bill came up to about CZK 1100 (Czech Korunas, or Croners) for each of the 2 days we went, which translates to about Rm 170-180 for 2 persons. Not too bad at all of the portion sizes and the quality we had. 

Out & About : Praha (Prague)

It was that time of year again for our company's annual conference trip. This year the powers that be decided it was to be Prague, the capital city of Czechoslovakia.

It was a long 13hour flight from KL to London on MH 0004 and after a short 3hour layover, we connected to Prague on BA 856. The lot of us arrived late evening (almost midnite!) in the hotel in the city.

The hotel itself had this old world appeal about it as it was nestled in a refurbished old building. Thankfully the inside was lovely and the rooms were sufficiently largeish for 2 persons. The bathroom was even better with a modern standalone tub nestled close to a warm radiator and lovely rain showerhead above.

Thankfully I slept like a log and woke up relatively recuperated (unlike my Japan trip, where I caught a flu). Bathed and refreshed, I had thier breakfast buffet at their quaint restaurant below. Simple food was served, just a smattering of types but each was done correctly and served properly they way it was supposed to be.

Then I spent most of the day going over my presentation to iron out any kinks.

The next day was a full meeting day for us and I must say it went pretty well. Very few negative comments and all round we noted that the company did well (which explains the Prague trip).

We had a walking tour after that, led by a local elderly-but-hale chap called Simon. He brought us through a circuit of new and old parts of Prague ending in Republic Square.

View of the Charles Bridge in the distance.

Entrance of a lovely restaurant in the old quarter part of Prague, about a 5 minute walk to Charles Bridge.

Hippie love in Prague?

I wonder how often the owners must paint the buildings. That is a LOT of work!

That is a stall near the side staircase leading on to Charles Bridge. Wonderful aromas of roasting Pork Knuckle rotisserie style! :)

View of the clean(ish) river flowing underneath Charles Bridge.

Republic Square with an automaton celestial clock.

Love the different building faces and house-crests.

Good golly, filled with merry. Tourists of many kinds, of many nationalities. Lovely.

It was a long walk (with nary a break in between) but the city was lovely with charming cobblestone roads, mortar buildings and many nooks and crannies, the way all old European cities are.

A Few Of My Favourite Things: Shih Lin Street Snacks

After 3 years of not having 'em.

Oyster Mee Suah. Have not had this in 3 whole years, as it is not available in Langkawi. :'(

Shih Lin Crispy Chicken Rice Box Set (mana box dia?), of fluffy sticky rice, fried boneless chicken thigh, soft tofu and diced century egg, all slathered with sweet soy& ginger sauce.

Oyster Mee-Suah and Crispy Chicken Rice Box set. :)