Dragon-i.

And hello, I'm back! Tomorrow's the last day of exams and both subjects are quite easy and there's no need to memorise so... here I am, blogging. 14 subjects in 7 days, fancy that!

Anyway, back to the blog post.. Celebrated Mother's Day at Dragon-i, an oriental restaurant. There are lots of outlets throughout Malaysia so locate your nearest outlet here!





We went to the outlet at 1U. This isn't my first time as I've had Dragon-i for quite a few years already. It was established in 2004 and I've had my share of Dragon-i since then. There's a Signature restaurant located in Pavilion and also, Canton-i restaurants, which are also a part of the big family.

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And.. hello to the phone camera again. Sorry for the quality of some images.



Went out with mom, grandparents, siblings and the housekeeper/maid. :D





One of their signature dishes and on the must-try list is the Shanghai Xiao Long Bao, which is a meat dumpling filled with hot soup. Be careful not to poke a hole in the dumpling as the soup may spill before you get to taste it!

The Xiao Long Bao served here are quite delicious and one of the best I've tasted so far. Some other oriental restaurants' can't be compared to this. The soup is not too little and satisfying, the pork soft and tasty.. I could go on and on. We order the Xiao Long Bao every single time we visit Dragon-i because my sis is a huge fan of it. She absolutely loves it!

"The filling is a skillfully-balanced mix of minced pork shank, ginger and natural pork skin gelatin, which after steaming, melts into a tasty, delicious soup. To eat it, lift the dumpling gently and place it on a spoon, then pinch small a hole at the base. Carefully sip the hot melted soup before consuming the dumpling with the shredded ginger and Chinese black vinegar condiment it is served with for that perfect gourmet taste." - Dragon-i.com.my



Spring rolls.



Another one of my favourite dishes - Fried Seafood La Mian.
Personally, I don't quite like their soup La Mian (noodles) as they are quite tasteless. The Fried Seafood La Mian just has the right amount of saltiness in it. The seafood is also fresh and scrumptious.

We had some homemade dishes to go with white rice that day:



Baby Pork Ribs Glazed with Zhenjiang Black Vinegar - The pork ribs are not too hard nor too soft. Just right.



Stir Fried Fish Fillet with Aubergines - OK, seriously I've forgotten the exact name. I'm a huge fan of fish fillet so.. it's pretty good for me. Well-cooked.
Granma cooked this for dinner the other day after we had this. She succeeded. Guess I'll have a lot more dishes to look forward to. Hehehehe



Egg White with Crab Meat - with an egg yolk to add some flavour. The sauce prevented it from becoming tasteless. I like the taste of egg and crab meat, well-mixed.

And, last of all, Braised Chicken Taiwanese Style - hmm.. how do I describe this? It has a strong basil leaf smell-and-taste. The sauce is of the salty-and-sour kind. The chicken itself is chewy and lovely. Dang, they do know how to cook the chicken!



Eh. Like mother, like daughter.



And so, wish me luck for the last two exam subjects tomorrow!
See you guys soon :D

5 May: GE13 .-.

GE13, General Elections 2013. It's time for the elections again!
Well, for those who aren't citizens of Malaysia, please don't vote. This is Malaysia's election, let MALAYSIANS decide who to vote for.



This year's election is quite different from the past. Lots of campaigning, lots of enthusiasts, lots of foreign workers who were given chances to vote..?



-pic from FB-

Translation for picture above: Certain political leaders spent RM600million in 11 weeks for campaigning.

So, the main point is, Malaysia's politics are divided into two groups of people: Barisan Nasional (the governing party) and Pakatan Rakyat (the opposition party). Seems like people actually ARE doing something to change this year. They want to give the opposition a chance at governing the country.

Slogan? Ubah! (which means "Change!" in Malay)
This slogan is not just used by non-Malays but even the Malay hawker who was selling nasi lemak said so when we passed by him this morning.



-pic Googled-

Yes, I know I'm not old enough to vote and I may not understand politics as some others but still.. It breaks my heart to see an unfair election where every single kind of dirty tactic is used! Yes, politics is usually dark and dirty but this is way over the top.



-pic from FB-

Voters flocked to their voting stations no matter it is scorching hot or even raining (yes, they are still patiently waiting for their turn). Me? I followed mom to her voting station about 8.10 this morning. Moral support. :)



And, whoa. There are about a few hundred people there already. All queuing and waiting.



It was pretty hot then. And there was even a guy who fell while queuing. Heatstroke, maybe? Some people were watching videos and checking for updates on their smartphones, while some others were chatting about the elections or the weather or whatever. The point is, they don't have to know each other. They just talk to each other and mingle around, no matter what race or religion.



random pic taken by mom.



I learnt that there weren't so many people during the last election a few years ago. Mom went about 9pm and she just went straight in to cast her vote. This year, we queued for about an hour.



-pic from FB-

Now, phantom voters. What's that? They are those foreign workers who got an IC issued by the government and had their permission to vote. I mean, this is ridiculous. Shouldn't Malaysians vote for their future government instead of these foreign workers? Some of them are even allowed to vote twice. It gets on my nerves. Saw some reports of people hitting those foreigners, an action which I disapprove of. It's immoral! Hitting people is just not right. If you suspect them, just give the authorities a call. There's no need to hit them.



Those who have voted will have blue or black ink over their fingers to make sure they won't vote again. It was guaranteed to not go off for a few days but unfortunately, it does. Some experimented with dishwashers or soap but mom proved that it can be washed off with just water. A few million for this stuff? Wasteful.



And the process is done! Met up with XiuYu and we chilled for a little. After sending us home, mom went back to scout for phantom voters..

Here are some extracts:

"The regime of Malaysia's National Coalition Front (Barisan Nasional), had bribed to the official recruitment agency of Bangladesh, to allow a huge number of Bangladeshi workers (estimated about 600,000 people) deported from their homeland to Malaysia for such despicable and non democratic action." - petitions.whitehouse.gov

"But the ruling party has significant advantages, he says, in the cash it has spent on crowd-pleasing hand-outs, and in the way Malaysia's parliamentary system over-represents rural areas, where the government's support is strongest." - BBC News

"Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have spoken out against possible fraud with voters and foreigners allegedly being moved across the country. Several activists have shown video proof of such movements but police have dismissed those fears." - The Malaysian Insider

It doesn't matter that you're voting for Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. It's entirely up to you. I'm not forcing anyone but please, think before you vote. Seriously.
I guess I've made my point clear. There's still 2 more hours to go. Good luck :)

Iron Man 3.

Sorry for the late post. I was planning to blog earlier but I was quite busy with the choir competition, staying back late at mom’s office, schoolwork, celebrating sis’ birthday… and I’m not a very hardworking person either so…

Anyway, as you can see from the title of the post, I’m going to blog about the new Marvel movie, Iron Man 3. I watched the movie on Sunday but hadn’t had the time to blog about it till now.

Directed by Shane Black, Iron Man 3 is the sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2. (duh) It is also the 7th installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which includes the Iron Man series, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk and the Avengers.

Let’s have a look at the man behind the iron suit, Mr Tony Stark – genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Well, he’s committed to Pepper Potts now so he's not a playboy anymore but he still has all the other qualities AND also both sarcasm and narcissism. 

Mark 42

For me, the best thing about this movie is the new and improved Iron Man suit, Mark 42. It shows how good Stark is at building things and his passion for it. 

At the beginning of the Iron Man series, Stark built Mark 1 when he was held captive in Afghanistan. Then Mark 2 when he returned to safety. He needed assistance to put on the suit then. A little spoiler here but Mark 42 is controlled by Stark's senses. He can control it with some simple gestures. Unfortunately, it's not technically built for combat.

Mark 1

The antagonist in this movie, Aldrich Killian was a scientist whose idea got rejected by Stark back in 1999. He did not realise that he had created himself a formidable opponent then. 

In present day America, the country is threatened by a terrorist who calls himself the Mandarin. When unexplained bombings happened around the country and one of the bombings put his friend and Stark Industries security chief, Happy Hogan into the hospital, Stark made it a personal matter.

He is helped by Harley, a pretty cute boy who handed him a limited edition Dora the Explorer watch which is oh-so-popular after the film release.

Well, there's a first for everything...

War Machine was re-branded Iron Patriot. Honestly, I prefer the name War Machine. It just has the coolness in it. The colours do remind me of Captain America.

Of course, most movies have a happy ending. Stark and Potts got back together and he decided to throw all his suits and even his electromagnet away. 

Is this the end of Iron Man? I think not. Tony Stark IS Iron Man. 

And also, Avengers 2 will be out soon.

Picture time! :D introducing the cast:



Robert Downey, Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, the guy with the iron suits and all.



Gwyneth Paltrow as Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Tony Stark's girlfriend and CEO of Stark Industries.



Don Cheadle plays Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, a.k.a. War Machine / Iron Patriot.



Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian, founder of Advanced Idea Mechanics and the main antagonist in the movie.



Rebecca Hall as Maya Hensen, a botanist who works with Killian.



Jon Favreau as Happy Hogen, also the director of the past two Iron Man films.



James Badge Dale as Eric Savin, the muscles of AIM.



Ben Kingsley plays Trevor Slattery, a.k.a. The Mandarin.



and Ty Simpkins as Harley, a darn cute boy who can be as adorable as he can be :3 (uhoh here I go again)

-all images Googled.-

Guess that's all for now. Written exams tomorrow. Wish me luck!