WHAT’S MY OBSESSION WITH FOOD SHOWS ?

Hi … my name is JD and I’m a food-show-holic !

If you find yourself watching repeats of food shows and find yourself repeating the hosts lines or you know the recipes by heart … you’re a food-show-holic ! I am happy to tell you though, that you are not alone.


I can’t seem to stop watching repeats of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” and “A Cook’s Tour” … and he doesn’t even do any cooking on the shows. I’m not watching it to learn recipes or new cooking techniques … I’m just completely entertained by this guy.


Recently, Keith Floyd passed away and there was an endless stream of Keith Floyd repeats from his Fjord Fiesta, Far Flung Floyd, American Pie … I realized that we’d never get anything new from this charismatic man.

Who loves the BBQ guy ? I do !

Who loves Surfing The Menu ? … well … I preferred it when it was Bender and Curtis (who has his own show called Take Home Chef … love that too).

Who loves Iron Chef ? Don’t you love it when the guy says “Fukui san” ? LOL !

Whatever happened to Gordon Ramsay ? I liked his no-mistake-no-nonsense attitude.


What food-show-holic would I be if I didn’t give props to the man himself.


The original superstar chef … Jamie Oliver. Naked Chef revolutionized how cooking shows could be made interesting, humorous, informative and not stuffy. Of course, Mr. Oliver has moved on from his younger days taking on causes close to his heart from taking in problematic youth to his 15 Restaurant charity programme worldwide, taking on the British government with his School Dinners programme, getting people to start cooking more at home with their own produce in Jamie At Home and of course his Great Italian Escape (where he needed to recuperate) … if you don’t love Jamie … you’d better check your pulse.

You thought I was done huh ? … My list of loves would definitely not be complete without the voluptuous Nigella Lawson. Yummy ! Don’t really watch her shows for the cooking … you know why I watch it don’t you ? Hehehehe.


Before I finish up … can someone tell me this … why is that Sizzle guy still on ?

If you’re a food-show-holic like I am … tell me your loves and hates. Would love to hear from you.

ADAPTATIONS … GOOD IDEA OR BAD IDEA ?

When was the last time you really enjoyed a comic book adapted movie ?
I’m guessing most would answer … Transformers 2 was OK right ?

I agree … Transformers 2 was awesome … if you’re a Transformers fan. I recently watched it again and I watched it from a non-fan point of view and, to be honest, was a little disappointed with it. I’m starting to see what everybody else has been saying … Jerry Bruckheimer messed the movie up. Great visual effects (except for the robot chick with the tail that molests Sam Witwicky) and great sound and all that but the story … COME ON !!!

This got me thinking.

What other comic book/cartoon series adaptation movie promised a lot but bombed big time at the box office cos of bad production/storyline/directing/acting. Here’s my list of the 10 worst (I’ve got a ten best as well coming up so relax la !).

- League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
- Daredevil
- Superman 3 and 4 (was there a 5 ?)
- The Watchmen
- Fantastic Four
- Phantom (waaaaay too campy … Billy Zane in purple doesn’t work for me)
- The Hulk (the one with Eric Bana)
- Batman Forever (with Val Kilmer) and Batman and Robin (with George Clooney)
- Bloodrayne (if not for 1 particular “scene” … the movie would be unwatchable)
- Catwoman (what was Halle Berry thinking)

There have been some really good ones though. Here’s my favorite 10 (in no particular order) :-

- Iron Man
- Transformers
- X-Men series (not Wolverine)
- Spiderman
- 300
- Batman Begins
- The Crow (the first one … so sue me if I enjoyed it)
- The Hulk (the Edward Norton version)
- Road To Perdition
- The Rocketeer (also campy … but I thought it was cool)

There were some which were kinda in the gray area … wasn’t sure whether I liked it or not but worth mentioning :-

- Masters Of The Universe (kinda like it)
- Flintstones (boleh la)
- Garfield (can’t hate a cate with Bill Murray’s voice right)
- Mortal Kombat (the first one … so cool)
- Supergirl (oh yeah)
- GI Joe
- … did I miss any ?

Then there were those bad video game movies :-

- Alone In The Dark (starring Christian Slater)
- Far Cry (man this was bad)
- Doom (with The Rock … no way no how)
- Street Fighter (the old and the new … both suck)

There were some good video game movies too :-

- Silent Hill (creepy)
- Resident Evil (c’mon Mila Jovovich)

I guess there are just 2 more coming out that everybody’s excited about cos we hope they’re gonna be good …

Prince Of Persian (starring Jake Gylenhall) and Thundercats (no cast yet).

Check back with me when these movies come out and see how these 2 did and for the rest of my lists … if you don’t agree with ‘em … please do comment … I may have missed a few.

OUR ICONS PASSING

It's been a strange few months.

Our favorite artistes have been singing their hearts out ... belting out hit after hit.
Our favorite actors have been lighting up the silver screen with Oscar worthy performances.

The youngsters have also proven their worth with Miley Cyrus the undisputed queen of the youngster stars with Taylor Swift and maybe even The Jonas Brothers in there as well.

OK ... that's one end of the spectrum.

Here's the other end. The sad end.

In the past 6 months alone ... we've lost a good number of award winning celebrities ... names we grew up with. Names that conjur up images of magnificance and a life full of vitality. That's the side the world sees. What the world doesn't see is the private (and family) side of these superstars we've grown to love thru the decades. Some struggled with drug addiction. Others with medical issues. And some with psychological troubles.

I'm not pulling skeletons from any closets here ... just wanna make sure these names stick in your head cos these were icons of the industry and they deserve to be remembered.

Date of Passing	Age	Name	Field
09 / 14 / 2009	57	Patrick Swayze	Entertainment
09 / 14 / 2009	65	Keith Floyd	Entertainment/Food
08 / 25 / 2009	77	Ted Kennedy	Politics
08 / 13 / 2009	94	Les Paul	Music
07 / 17 / 2009	92	Walter Cronkite	Journalism
06 / 25 / 2009	50	Michael Jackson	Music
06 / 25 / 2009	62	Farrah Fawcett	Entertainment
06 / 23 / 2009	86	Ed McMahon	Entertainment
06 / 03 / 2009	72	David Carradine	Entertainment
05 / 04 / 2009	75	Dom DeLuise	Entertainment
04 / 25 / 2009	86	Bea Arthur	Entertainment
03 / 18 / 2009	45	Natasha Richardson	Entertainment

... and then there was also Heath Ledger who passed away in January 2008 ... who died tragically at a young age at the height of his career and leaving behind a young child.

You will always be in our hearts and minds and we'll recall the happy times as if you were members of our own family because in a way ... you were in all our lives.

We'll miss you.

WHAT’S UP WITH THE ROTI JOHN ?!?!

I’ve recently started fasting along with Dilly for Ramadhan and part of the fun of the fasting month is the festivities and fun at the pasar Ramadhan. You see the most amazing spread of food and it’s been well documented on the “Food Network” overseas that Malaysia has one of the more diverse selections.

What I’ve noticed over the years that I’ve been fasting and also visiting the ‘pasar’ is that there’s always one item that becomes this “phenomenon” that’s seen in every single pasar nationwide. You still do get the staples like ayam percik, nasi campur, satay and a myriad of kuih but that one item add to the variety and it’s everywhere.

A couple of years ago, it was the mini murtabak … then it was the deep fried popiah (springroll), then the tube drinks came along (with the multi level ingredients) … then last year kebabs were a huge hit but what do I see this year ?

ROTI JOHN !

You can get it a la Subway … short (which I think is a 6 inch) and a long (foot long I guess) and all with different 'inti' (filling) !

In case you’re wondering what the heck ‘Roti John’ is … here’s how it’s explained in Wikipedia :-

“essentially an omelette sandwich, is a popular Malay breakfast and snack item … The ingredients include minced meat (chicken or mutton), onion, egg, sardines, tomato-chilli sauce and a baguette-type loaf.”

I know you’re used to having me rant on and on but not this time … I ain’t ranting. I’m just wondering … how do they (the bazaar stall owners) come to this agreement that this year they decree ...

“we’ll all make Roti John and we’ll flood the markets”

I’ve been having Roti Johns everyday during Ramadhan trying out different stalls at different bazaars. There’s only a slight variation and they’re mostly delicious. Mostly. There were 1 or 2 stalls that had questionable ingredients which made it taste weird but all-in-all … my experience with the Ramadhan Roti Johns have been quite satisfying.

I think, however, that I will need to broaden my horizons for the last 2 weeks of the fasting month so I guess I’m gonna leave the Roti John behind and try different things. Any suggestions and where I can get it ? I’m willing to drive to anywhere within the Klang Valley although I do miss the pasar Ramadhan in Penang’s Bukit Jambul … which I think rocks !

Anyway … send in your suggestions and comments … would love to hear from you ! Sorry ... too much Roti John I think :)

They're Back !!!

Well technically … they really didn’t go anywhere but I’ve just been trying my darndest to avoid them and ignore them.

Who am I talking about ?

The night illegal parking attendants !!!

They’re everywhere … like the ghosts in 6th Sense !

Damansara Uptown, Hartamas, Solaris, Bangsar … you name it … they’re there. It’s amazing that they do this blatantly and everyone knows they do it yet no one does anything about it. We, the public, can’t do much cos :-

#1 – if we’re hard-up for parking, we pay ‘em … not to look after our cars but so they won’t do anything to our cars
#2 – they’ve got gangs and they’ve got a boss who is scary looking

So what do we do ? We either pay ‘em or we try to find parking in some other place far away from where we wanna go to. And it’s gotten worse these days.

How ? ... you ask ...

Just go to Hartamas or Solaris. They’ve cordoned off parking lots for their “business”. They act like enforcement officers and I’ve seen ‘em threaten the public who complain to their faces that what they’re doing is illegal. Some will even “help” you out by taking the keys to your car cos they offer “valet” services. Here’s the surprising part. These guys look dodgy and dangerous and folks actually hand over the keys to their cars !

WHAT IS GOIN’ ON HERE ?!?!?!

Why aren’t the authorities doing something about this ? This is out and out burglary !

I tried to get some video evidence but unfortunately to catch them in the act meant me getting up-close … which I tried … and they didn’t seem pleased that I had my phone camera on them. Damn that red light on my phone. They were “apa lu buat ?”.

Scary right ?!

Anyway … hopefully something can be done cos it’s been going on for far too long.

More rants from me soon so keep checking in with me and if you’ve got any comments or you know of any location or if you’ve had enough with these illegal parking attendants problem, please leave your thoughts here as well.

The Ugly Side

We’ve all watched An Inconvenient Truth.

We celebrated Earth Hour by switching off all non-essential electrical items.

We celebrated World Environment Day.

Supermarkets are urging us to use less plastic bags when shopping.

We’ve got more hybrid cars being produced to reduce carbon emissions.

So much is being done for us to save our planet … and we can’t even correctly throw our rubbish away into the right waste recycling containers.

I have seen it with my own eyes … I don’t know if this is the case all over the world but I know for a fact that certain Malaysians (remember the term one bad apple spoils the whole basket) don’t know their plastics from paper from glass from aluminium.

Just walk around any mall in the Klang Valley and chances are you’ll have bins specially marked for recyclable goods. From Ikano Power Center to One Utama to Bangsar Village to KLCC to Pavillion and MidValley … saving the environment by recycling is no longer just a tagline … it’s a regular routine for some (I’m hoping most) of us and I’m glad the malls (where most of us go to most days) provide such facilities to us. Like in MidValley … you can drop off your old newspapers, cardboards, plastic bottles, etc. at the Alam Flora booth at the basement parking area near the autopay machines.

Ikano has some nicely (and clearly) marked bins for your recyclable trash. What did I see just a couple of days ago ? Malaysians (from the selekeh ones to the well dressed ones) were all dumping their plastic bottles in the paper bin, throwing flyers and other paper products in the plastic bin and you got all other manner of things in the glass bin.

What is going on here ? Are we that ignorant to the fact that every little bit helps ? Are we that aloof that we feel “argh … the cleaning staff will sort it out for us” ? Are we that high-and-mighty that we think we don’t need to do anything but everybody else owes us everything ? … including cleaning up the environment ?

Wake up folks … it’s time we watched An Inconvenient Truth again ! At the rate we’re going … we’re not gonna have a planet to call home soon. It’ll be just one giant trash ball !

Do your bit ! Every person has a role to play and every little bit helps. The environment’s not getting any better and with you not recycling only makes things worse. They’ve done their part … they’ve got the facilities to help clean up this ravaged planet … it’s time to change our attitudes because ultimately … we’ve only got ourselves to blame when we complain about the weather and how “it’s not how it used to be”. It’s how it used to be that caused this problem in the first place.

Come one people ! Let’s get to it ! It’s time to save the planet !

Parking Parking Where Art Thou ?

Anybody been to Bangsar recently ?

Driving around Bangsar’s Telawi area on a weekday during business hours is a nightmare … and looking for a parking space near the shops … even worse.

Well guess what ? It’s even worse now.
Remember the little alleys near the houses … remember we could park there ?

NOT ANYMORE !!!

They’ve shut them off to cars and now we’re left with no option but to either park near Lucky Garden (good luck … park near the front and your car gets pelted with bird poo) or to park at the Bangsar Village car parks. Menyusahkan la !

Not complaining about the parking lots in Bangsar Village though. They’re clean, safe and well lit.

I’m just saying that we’ve lost some ample parking space because of this exercise and also we’ve lost our escape routes whenever the Telawi area gets jammed up.

I know a lotta folks are saying, “What’s the big deal ?” … it is a big deal if you go to Bangsar often. Bangsar offers almost a one-stop area to pay your bills, get your bank stuff sorted out, go grocery shopping, makan-makan a bit and probably get some exercise in at the gyms or a massage at a reputable Thai massage place. We’re losing options to park where we want to.

I can only hope that this is only a temporary measure and they’ll open up the alleys again for parking and drive-thru.

Now where else do I have an issue with ? Oh yeah … Damansara Uptown and Hartamas ! If you’re one of ‘em who double park and cause jams … beware … my next posting on parking, cars and the Malaysian traffic system might just involve you too !

But for now … tell me what you think about the parking in Bangsar. Feel the same way ? Maybe not ? Please do comment.