boon's log 3106.01: Welcome to Penang...

Recently, there has been a sudden influx/migration of oversea/over-strait franchises into Penang. Well, it does make Penang look more "international" and an international city needs more international "names" along her streets. I mean, I still remember when my hometown, Ipoh, had it's first McDonald's and Pizza Hut. We felt really international! :) Before that, KFC was the fastfood-king in town. No kid or no parents that does not know or have not heard of that name!

Just last weekend alone, IL and I visited two of them. On Friday, our colleagues and the both of us visited Subway. Yup, Subway has finally arrived in Penang. It was, of course crowded and people had to line-up from the counter, took a u-turn and then snaked until the entrance to the shop - so much so that they ran out of bread - that they had to use Pita bread wraps, instead. Imagine - such a long queue at SUBWAY! Anyway, we had a fair share of fun during lunch - the 11 of us. Yes - typical Subways have minimum seats available. We even saw a Gwailo (expat working for Motorola) taking a picture of the overcrowded Subway at e-Gate, Penang. He must be thinking to himself - these Penangites are real health fanatics! We, Americans need to learn from them. Or, maybe he's thinking to himself, "Bingo, perhaps I should take up the franchise for Quizno's. I bet it's gonna work with these health freaks running around...



Anyways, on Sunday, we then treated out tastebuds to Seoul Garden. Yeah, I still remember landing myself at Seoul Garden - suggested by Rene in Singapore about 8-9 years ago. Yup, the establishment has been running in Singapore for almost 10-over years. But only NOW, that they land themselves at Gurney Plaza, Penang. Well, it is just Korean steamboat+hotplate buffet. There have been "poor" write-ups about how this differs from the real-Korean-deal and the food is not fresh. But people still flock the branches and have their buffet lunches there - perhaps it's a more affordable option than the other more established and more authentic Korean restaurants.

Basically, not too bad. Wonder what's next! Well, personally, I think Penangites are pretty much ready for the 2nd choice for hamburgers - and you pretty much know what I'm thinking - Burger King! Yeah, many have been talking about it and we're just waiting for a bold enough businessman to take the risk and have the courage to go against the big hamburger giant, McDonald's. But hey, waitaminute!, I believe we DO have an alternative to supporting McD - and that's our very own Ramli Burger - remember, at one time (I'm not sure if we still are) we were shipping our hamburger patties to our neigboring Singapore! Way to go, Ramli! Speaking of which... I'm kinda hungry now...

boon out...

boon's log 3006.03: First Contact

Last night while IL was working on her laptop, she felt a sudden movement within her. She let out a little "Oh!" and she said, our baby just kicked me! Yes, our little baby's first kick! Our first contact with our baby! We were so excited about it that it seemed like the entire world surrounding us suddenly just stopped moving and it seemed like the entire attention was focused on the little fellow inside IL. According to an article that IL read, we can actually "play" and communicate with the baby by tapping on her tummy. If you lightly tap on her stomach (lower abdomen) and wait you may possibly get a respond back from the baby. We tried that for the first few times, and it actually worked! We received a response back from the little fellow - we received a few "blows" from the baby. We were estatic! We kept on tapping for a while and later decided that it was late and the mom needs to sleep - and so does the baby, I guess. Enough tapping for one day.

We are now in the 5th month - round about the middle of the 2nd trimester. Bets are still open for the gender of the baby. For those who are interested, you can drop me an email (link on the sidebar). :) So far, the bets are split 50:50. Keep them bets coming in. :)

IL's always afraid that she has put on too much weight and that she is overweight for her body size. But Eric (OBGYN) and a few of us kept on saying that she's alright and that she is not overweight. Let me sneak a picture of her tummy into this blog :P

We'll be going for our next check up next Monday. So far, all has been progressing well and the doctor has been really helpful in guiding us and providing us with most of the information that we need - the rest we just need to get them from reading materials. Oh, there is also another channel of information - the older folks... "No pineapple, no watermelon... etc. etc." It's interesting how watermelon can be a risk to pregnant women. Pineapple, perhaps I may be able to comprehend, but watermelon???

Alright, that's as much I can provide for now. Will be back soon for more. Work has been tough and rough on our schedules - and now, back to work.

boon out...

boon's log 2806.03: Repatriation... (Pt.2)

here are some of the photographs from my Lake Tahoe visit a few weeks ago prior to coming home...


Lake Tahoe at Spring


Road leading to Lake Tahoe


California-Nevada Stateline. You can see that the casinos does not waste space/time by setting up Casino right on the stateline on the Nevada side (Reno), where gambling/casino is legalized...


View of the Valley on the way to Tahoe


Approaching Lake Tahoe. I took a similar picture some time ago...


Lake Tahoe


My ride...

boon out...

boon's log 2706.05: Blow to Enhance

IL and I were grocery shopping at Tesco's Penang last night. When we were done and were at the checkout counter, we saw this intriguing product. I mean, let me rephrase that - what's intriguing perhaps is not the product, but the sticker that is on every one of this product. Sorry about the grainy image - I was probably still laughing when taking this photo...


Blow to Enhance

Do WHAT to enhance? Gee... talk about subliminal messages...

Well, Happy Friday and have a good weekend... and to all the Penangites - enjoy the long weekend - that is if you are observing the replacement holiday!

boon out...