Chopstix Uptown

I noticed their signboard few months back but I never have the guts to go to their restaurant because 

1. I'm not sure if it's Halal
2. I'm positively sure that it's one of those Chinese Baba-Nyonya restaurant hence refer to No. 1

Last week, my colleague suggested that we have our lunch at Chopstix. I was hesitant at first but kalau kita tak pergi kita tak tahu kan. Since it's just few minutes away from my office, so why not!

Good news is although they are not certified Halal but they are Pork-free. This could probably be because they sell liquor, I'm not sure but yea, it's good and safe to eat for Muslims.

Their wall. Can conteng-conteng

I had their Curry Laksa and it taste good. It can be improved though. I give 3.5 out of 5.

My Curry Laksa

According to my colleague, this Asam Laksa was good.

Chicken Lobak.

Menu written on the wall

The prices are reasonable and they serve quite a tasteful laksa. I had their Thai Drumstick Curry Chicken the other day. It was so-so only but the Nyonya Curry Asam Laksa was very very good.

They open daily from morning to night (I think!) and they are on facebook too. So, check them out!

For those who work/stay nearby, this is a place for you to check on. They are at the same row of Village Park, right next the the kedai mamak.

Sydney Day 2

Hai, bila nak habis my Sydney chronicle ni. I just remembered that I haven't completed my Sydney story. So here's to day 2.

Our second day was spent on 1 location only. A walk to The Royal Botanical Garden. Yes, you read it right. We had a day walk at a park. We covered every area - South, East, West & North, you name it. But before we made the visit, we visited the most popular place in Sydney - The Opera House of course.

We started our day quite late as we waited the lil princess to wake up. She just loved the weather she decided to sleep more than 12 hours that night.

It's going to be a post full of photos. Senang sikit tak banyak cerita nak celoteh.

Our daily transportation - the ferry at Double Bay to Circular Quay station

Opera House from the ferry

All 5 of us in front of Opera House

We passed by the Parliament House on our way to the park. We wanted to visit the Parliament House but unfortunately, there was an event happening on that day. Tak ada rezeki kami.

In front of the Parliament House

And so, our walk to the park begins.

The herbs garden

The roses at the park. Masyaallah, cantik sungguh

Huge palm trees. Iman tengah syiok tidur

Sakura trees

Mommy and the tulips. They were so nice

The Botanical Garden and its view. Magnificent 

The view from the hill top - the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge

That's summarized up our day 2. Balik dah ngam-ngam pkol 6 and it's already dark. Balik dengan keadaan yang patah kaki tak sangga. We spent 3 hours walking at the park. Never have I walked that long at a park in my life but I did it in Sydney, bravo!!

Shall continue with day 3 soon.

Recap on Sydney Day 1

A Mother, Student & Senior Planner

My days have been tougher each day but having said that, I am forever thankful for the rezki, the opportunity to shine in my career (chewahhh, statement tak boleh blah!), and to challenge myself completing my Masters. Yes, I shouldn't be complaining sebab ini semua, sendiri yang cari pasal but yeah, with all of these commitments, I, at some point think that I have neglected the one person that I shouldn't be neglecting - Iman Alexandria.

Last Wednesday, she had an eye infection. Tak tahu dari mana datang, bangun tidur tengok her left eye jadi redish in color. I panicked but I seriously, I can't send her to the hospital as I just got back from a week of medical leave due to the tooth surgery and I had a long list of meetings to attend to that whole week. I asked my mother for her help to send Iman to the hospital and Alhamdulillah, she's all fine now. Ini situasi no.1.

Situasi no. 2 happened also on that same week of her eye infection. I had to leave for work early that week. Iman was still asleep when I left the house. And by the time I reached home, she was already asleep. It hits me like a thunder when that situation happened and I cried while carrying her to bed.

And I started to question myself - what type of mother I am for leaving my daughter with her nanny all day long and not being around her. I started to feel like I am a bad mother. Am I a bad mother?

Maybe I should reconsider my options. Maybe I should take that lecturer scheme so that I can spend more time my my family. Maybe I should.......

Saturday, Class & coffee

And because of the guilt I have for neglecting my daughter, I decided that I really need to balance my work, study and family life. Hence, although my weeks are occupied with work and studies, I will make sure that I spend some quality time with my lil' girl.

We went to KLCC park yesterday and girl, was she happy. Walaupun sekejap sebab weather yang main-main hujan tapi within that short time at the park dah cukup buat Iman bergolek-golek sampai seluar kotor. And I will make sure that my weekends are all spend with her, Insya Allah.

The guilty of a mother. Sigh!

China House

The highlight of my Saturday visits to Penang, apart from my first experience of giving lecture to 15 Mass Comm students was the activity I had after that with the bunch of funny-entertaining Mass Comm students.

I was picked by two of these super generous-funny-interesting third year students at the airport and they also were the responsible ones to send me back to the airport along with driving my lecturer and I to Penang town for lunch. Yus and Kamal were very nice and helpful and I must say, their hospitality memang tip-top.

I don't even spend a single cent on this trip as everything was covered by my lecturer - from the breakfast upon my arrival to lunch and the coffee session we had after that. Minyak pon di tanggung beb! Rasa bersalah sungguh but anyway, syukur atas pemberianNya.

I had the best breakfast at Sardon having nescafe panas and roti jala. Memang dah lama mengidam and I finally got the chance to visit this very happening place for breakfast during my short visit to Penang. Takda gambar sebab malu lah depan students kan but yea, it was fun!

After the class, we headed to town for lunch - to the original Kapitan restaurant located at the centre of Penang road, which I had their best served Nasi Beriyani Ayam. Gambar tak ada to justify but oh my, I've finally fulfilled my craving.

Penang's Little India

After lunch, we headed straight to this super nice-cozy coffee house which I fall in-love the moment I step my foot at the place.

This is the main entrance of China House

This cafe is located at Victoria Street near the Port Weld entrance. It was build on a old Chinese building, own by a Mat Salleh lady. 

The wall of the cafe

The open-air concept for customers to have their servings right at the middle of the cafe

The walk-away. A cool concept. I love so much!

And what I love so much about this place was the desserts that they served. My goodness. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to taste the cakes as I just had a large bowl of Nasi Beriyani Ayam but I will definitely go back to this cafe and taste all of their cakes again someday.

Table full of cakes 1

Table full of cakes 2

And of course, the taste of their caffe latte was superbly delicious. The coffee taste perfectly good, oh my!!

My Caffe latte

All cakes are between RM10 - RM12 per slice and they serve quite a big slice for the cake. They serve variety of cakes, my goodness, my sliver is literally on the table as I type this and they are all baked freshly by the chef.

This is a must place to visit if you are in Penang. It has the perfect ambience, the perfect servings, a good coffee and they have a Wine room for their customers to enjoy their drinks at the most comfortable way.

I will visit this place again, Insya Allah.

1st time experience as a Lecturer

Last month, I received an invitation from one of my Master's lecturer to be the guest lecturer for her class. Her topic was on Media Planning and she wanted someone from the industry to give a lecture based on industry practices. She wanted to expose her students on the real practices of Media Planners and for that, she invited me to be her guest lecturer.

And of course, without thinking much, I agreed to her invitation. She gave me the topic that she wanted me to talk about and that I prepare the slide show for the class.

Well, this is actually one way of me saying indirectly to the lecturer that I am up if they would like to offer me to be a part-time lecturer. I have raised this concern to my other lecturer, but according to her, USM did not have such program hence they can't offer me such position. Oh, I forgot to mention that this teaching is for the third year students of Mass Communication faculty.

Cara halus gitu. Well, this is one of my way of giving back to the society, chewahh!. I'm not saying that with 5 years experience as a Media Planner has qualified me to teach the students but this is actually me sharing the knowledge that I gained through my working experience to the students. I am still young and fresh and there are a lot of things that I still need to learn but that doesn't mean that I can't share with other people on what I have, right? After all, sharing is caring. 

The thing is, there are a few of Malay working in this industry. Most of them prefer to be in the PR sector. Kononnya, PR lebih glamor but what they don't know is that there are a lot of things that one can learn (and of course, glamorous is not part of it) if one enrol in this industry. I guess, I'm being biased because I am clearly a Media person but yes, as biased as I may sound, this industry serves interesting knowledge and there are a lot of things that one can learn from it. 

So, my mission is indirectly to build these students' interest into Media instead of PR.

So, off I went yesterday to USM, Penang to teach 15 Mass Comm students on the basic knowledge of Media Planning and I must say that I like it. The kind of response that I received yesterday was marvellous. Being a nervous me, I thought I can't deliver the lecture considering the fact that I just had a tooth surgery couple of days before and Alhamdulillah, Allah Maha Mengetahui, I did not face any difficulty while delivering the lecture and in fact, I was pain-less that day, Syukur alhamdulillah.

I didn't get the chance to take the picture while the class was full but yea, that was how the classroom looks like.

I must say that it was indeed a good experience. I don't mind if I have to go there every week to give a lecture. In fact, I once dream of being a lecturer cuma tak cukup pandai je nak ke tahap itu. This actually opens up my eyes that maybe, just maybe, I should reconsider my offer.

Maybe, who knows, someday I may pursue with PhD and be a lecturer instead of a Media Specialist. Doa-doalah kan ye!