Speed blogging from Ipoh right now as we speak.

So I drove back to Ipoh – in the goddamned rain! – last night to attend an event right after an event in the city. 

ELEVATE hits downtown Ipoh @ Sensation of Sound (S.O.S)!

*Full blogpost coming soon*

Talk about a back-to-back schedule on a Saturday! Geez. But it was all worth it.

Coming back to the place I spent half my childhood in is always something to look forward to 

Heck, it's practically my first time partying/clubbing in Ipoh! 

Was taken to supper after the party! I shall eat what the Ipoh-peeps eat 

Popular for their Bak Chiok (baby octopus) & Yuet Gong Hor (Raw Egg "Moon" Koay Teow noodles), Restoran Tuck Kee along Jalan Yau Tet Shin is the place to go.

We also had Braised Chicken Feet – I didn't eat it but the others did! – , Herbal Boiled Eggs & Pork Balls

People patronize them during dinner and it's also the to-go place for "after-clubbing" hours.

Coming back to the comforts of home means being spoiled by comfort food as well.

A gift from granny. Kieldsens' original Dannish butter cookies! 

Discovered excellent news that made the raver in me jump for joy!

The legendary God of Trance music, Armin Van Buuren will be making his way to Sepang, Malaysia for A State of Trance (ASOT) 600!

Mark your calendars fellow EDM-kakis, for March next year will be so fun!

Cuddles & playtimes with my babyChivas 

He's the best cat in the world, my one & only –  I love him to bits! 

If you can ever read this, lil one, mommy loves you a whole lot

So what else did I do earlier in the week? Let's see..

Woke up early to have quite an elaborate breakfast Tuesdate with boyfieKon

at La Bodega @ Bangsar Shopping Centre

I fully recommend the Club Sandwich, Big Breakfast and Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon on Toast.

It was sucha hearty breakfast and much chattering over coffee & hot chocolate. 

Tues outfit of the day! Casual with an edgy hint on a day out 

Fri outfit of the day! Played it girly with a childlike, Japanese touch. Matched my iPhone with my outfit too!

Oktoberfest with the buddies! 

Drink up on a Friday night to kickstart the weekend 

Made Organic Wholewheat Durum Spaghetti with Roast Chicken,

Button Mushrooms, Chopped Basil & Asparagus for dinner

Breakfast like a king! Had O'Briens Irish Sandwich Bar @ The Curve

The Big Club Sandwich & Classic Triple Decker Sandwich were real winners! 

Brunch! Fruit & veggie platter of mangos, watermelon chunks and celery

Dinnertime. My fave mix of oven-roasted Zucchini, Baby Potatoes, Australian Carrots, Pumpkin,

Shallots, Garlic and a generous amount of Rosemary & Black Peppercorn seeds

Dinner again! Organic Wholewheat Durum Pasta Carbonara with Broccoli,

Button Mushrooms, diced Carrots with lots of onions! 

Replaced cream with a healthier alternative – a nice blend of low-fat yoghurt, egg-whites & milk.

And when I do decide to eat out, Japanese food has always been at the top of my list.

Check out the Grilled Gindara Codfish in Teriyaki Sauce I had at Sushi Zanmai @ The Curve

Another one of my all time favorites – the Caterpillar Maki Roll, also from Sushi Zanmai 

Can't ever say no to Grilled Unagi (eel), Omelette & Avocado 

Imma let you in on a little secret 

You know how I always share the healthy, clean food that I either homecook or when I eat out, right?

Truth is, that's as close as I can actually get to my ideal diet.

A whole lot of my sweet-tooth snacking, overindulging & unhealthy food enters my system too. 

Hey, I'm only human – just like you.

But the very moment I've set my mind to propagating health & fitness, by inculcating this idea and motivating all of you, I have to first set an example. 

One always have to practise what one preaches, right? 

And I'm glad I've managed to drive this point home, from the feedbacks I've received and by mere observation. I see more and more healthy eating & an obvious increase of a fitter lifestyle in all of you.

So proud of ya'll! 

My favorite bowl of Mac & Cheese. Just one of the many sins I indulge in. Don't we all?

I hope this doesn't demotivate you, but rather motivate you even further with the truth.

So don't be discouraged or think you've failed and have to start all over again, whenever you succumb to that burger, pizza, chocolates or nasi lemak – I do too. 

The moment you make an attempt, you're one step closer to your idea lifestyle, ya hear me? 

Oh and yes, some good news to share!

I've been invited to a fully-sponsored trip to Cambodia to attend BlogFest Asia 2012 held in Siam Reap! 

Simply cannot wait – Angkor Wat, here I come! 

Before I go, as usual, a song of the week for your listening pleasure 

Got this one stuck in my head since last Friday at David Guetta's rave party . 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8aaR6jo4VA

The lyrics. Just six sentences, but means so much. Just… yeah. 

Have also been plagued by an alarming, inexplicable occurrence in the household that is seemingly responsible for my missing belongings and finding those said missing belongings in the possession of others 

There is a fine line between having absolute trust in someone and

having to believe in the supernatural. I can only choose one. 

No matter. Whatever it is, I'll have it dealt with. SMILE! That's all for this week's wrap-up.

Have a lovely seven days ahead of you!  I will too.

Sleep well, ladies and gents. Let your dreams take flight *yawns*

Much love,

Jessicat

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The Sunday Times is a new once-a-week series; a personal piece published every Sunday night to recap the highlights of my week, capture what piques my interest and to share recommendations for to-go places and to-eats throughout the week.

Check out the entire series here : The Sunday Times edition.

Some of the photos are posted instantly on my Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr & Facebook on the go.

So follow me to get instant updates and pretty photos of the sights & sounds all around!

Woot woot!

Last night was amazing 🙂

So the whole lot of us went up to Traralgon by taxi and joined in the festivity of St. Pat's Day!

There was a sweet promo too, buy a glass of Guinness draught and get this awesome pawesome hat

I'm loving it! 😀 😀

I'm proud to say that the St. Pat's day celebrations in Malaysia are also just as well-celebrated in full scale just like it is here – and probably other parts of the world too :) There was so much merriment in the club!

Just the way it should be

Traditional Irish songs were played by a live band on stage as well

They belted out renditions of various acoustics, non-traditional songs and even modern pop culture ones too

Okay since I'm rushing my E-Journalism assignment research and writings now, this is gonna be a quick one 🙂

So… ta-daaaa! Party pictures with my mates from last night. Enjoy!

After downing some drinks and partying it up a bit, we headed up to Saloon where the real mad-arse party is.

Burn the dance floor with our heat!!

Partied till wee hours of the morning… till the doors of the club shut!

The girls' feet were aching due to our vicious high heels, but ohwell… I took them off and parked them by the stage to make sure I could really party the night away. Shuffle babehhh shuffle!

But poor Bardha!

Her feet hurt beyond madness while wearing her superhigh brand new stiletto pumps

Shot while waiting for the cabbie to take us home

Once we headed home, some of them knocked out back on their beds, the others cooked Mee Goreng for supper, and some of us stayed awake doing our assignments, studies and reports. LOL what a ironic way to end the night! 😀

Crashed at South 9 for the umpteenth again for the night. I swear I live there already haha. Goodnight all!

HAPPY ST. PADDIES DAY!

xoxo

Dinnertime! 😀

Today will be about the belated Merry Guinness christmas dinner I had in Finnegan's!

 

All dolled up for an evening of chillaxing infused with good food + kick-ass drinks, I buzzed buddy Kelly along with me for some nomnoms

Oh oh oh oumaigawd. Guinness aplenty!
 

A waiter of Philippine descent greeted us with the menu and we skimmed through the list of meals and drinks in a flash.

Heck, we were already so hungry! Traffic jams made it worse. It was 8pm by the time we flipped those pages.
 

While waiting, Mitchell (the Manager of Finnegan's) came outside to join us!

Talk about extra company

And more company! The dude on my left is true blue Irish while Mitchell on my right

is a proud product of the US of A. No prizes on guessing the nationality of us ladies!
 

We ordered quite a lot of food, as we were planning to share all our meals!

So naturally, it took quite a while to arrive. But issokay! We had our Guinness draught flowing non-stop as well, that pretty much distracted me from the dread of waiting to have my tummy satiated 🙂

Slurps! 😀 Taking a swig of my ice-cold frothy beer!

Down 'em all? Easily.

I dare you to dare us.

Anyhoozers, small talk and catching up distracted us from our growling stomachs.

And before we knew it, the food arrived before we could say MORE GUINNESS PLEASE? 😀
 

Check out our Classic Cottage Pie and cute Pizza bites!
 

Unlike the traditional English pastry pie, they way this was

cooked/presented somehow reminded me of lasagna! 😀

But nevetheless, boasting the same fantastic taste any beef cottage pie should rightfully have

Now allow me to indulge in my pizza bites 😀

I liked how it came in miniature pieces, so much easier to chomp it down and share among us.

No more messy and cheesy threads all over the place

Hmm.. Pizza Hut should incorporate this idea!

Ideal for sharing in large groups too. Just grab a chunk and go!

Have a bite of our pizza, would you? 😀

Despite being much smaller in size, that's as far as the reduction went.

For every bite of the pizza was bursting to the max with sausages, smoked bacon and pineapples!

Some snacks to accompany the heavy meal?

We obliged. That's our Calamari and Onion rings served in a basket!
 

Being a natural sucker for soup, I ordered a bowl of Leek and Potato Soup
 

Just a little trivia : I never really like pork.

Sure, I've gobbled down a slice of bacon or two or even a shred of pork knuckle before. But in general, I tend to avoid pork as much as I can. Why? Nothing of religious nature though, just a mere preference.
 

But tonight, these Barbequed Pork Ribs were too hard to resist.
 

So you've seen it in all its glory the moment it was placed onto the table.

But what happened in under 10 minutes? Hmm…
 

I swear it mischievously vanished before our eyes and landed into our stomachs.
 

No no no! The piccie below is NOT photographic evidence of how everything disappeared
 

I'm sorry you have to endure savage gluttony forced upon your viewing consumption.

On normal days I am a tad more refined when I eat, just so you know 😛

Wrapped up our delicious Irish dinner with a clink of our glasses

Cheers, babe!

Nothing like a burp of satisfaction from food paired with a smooth pint of Guinness.

Trust me, it comes hand in hand! 😀
 

I say no meal is complete without it

Yes Mitchell, we get your point

Merry Guinness folks! Needless to say, I had an enjoyable Monday evening! 😀 😀

Now back to reality, time to work that body!

Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas everybody!

To those who are also celebrating, I hope you had a fantastic Christmas dinner with your family last night 🙂

I sure did!

Anyway, apart from the tradition of celebrating with TheFockers every year, imma share with you my first Christmas party of 2010!

All thanks to Guinness! 😀 😀

So yeah.. a few weeks back, I was invited for Guinness' first series of Merry Guinness christmas dinners. This was held at Malone's Irish Restaurant & Bar in Sooka Sentral, adjacent to KL Sentral, Malaysia.

I arrived on location and saw the elaborately decorated dining tables and Christmas set-up all ready for the evening

Pretty, ain't it? 🙂

Candy canes and candy red Christmas stockings!

Snowmen, Gingerbreadmen, Beermen… oops I meant mini beer bottles!

and ermm.. ballmen? 😛

But what made a better evening was the company of the warm friends and familiar faces 🙂 🙂

There was so much merriment in the haus and so much Guinness to go around… it's free-flow babeh!

Jingle bells! 😀

Walking further in, I spotted the traditional Christmas tree.

No Christmas party is complete without the evergreen coniferous tree! It's a pity we only have the artificial ones here in Malaysia 🙁

Unlike in the movies where daddy puts on his galoshes and goes to the woods

to chop down this tree and brings it back home for Christmas! 😀

After lots of mingling around over glasses and glasses of frothy ice-cold Guinness draught, the Christmas dinner was about to be officiated!

Welcoming all of us to the event 🙂

Are you ready to see what was served, guys? 😀

It was in such a dramatic manner! The black curtains fell right after he gave his short speech and revealed this sumptuous feast!

Now, that's what I call a table of gastronomic heaven!

Splendid! 😀

Especially over a pint of Guinness *clinks glass

So yup, those are the food 🙂
 In fact, that's only half of what was actually served that night!

And this is me looking all gluttony

there were macarons, stollen cakes, foie gras, beef stroganoff and so much more I don't even remember!

Try asking my stomach, she'll prolly recall better 😛

There was also an action station for turkey slicing and cranberry sauce!

Oooh the yums. Talking about it makes me miss the turkey already.

Please sir, may I have some more? 😛 Oliver Twist lolol.

While we were devouring our hearty meals, there was a live band that played for us all! 🙂

They were singing lots of Christmas songs – ranging from the traditional ones to the more modern ones

i personally loved Guinness' version of the !2 Days of Christmas

'cos it had something to do with fried chicken wings haha

And that's not all!

We were enticed to a magic show, which involved fire-eating, finger chopping, tangled knots and more

The Magician was showing Andrew how it was supposed to be done

Soon they had a Q&A session where 5 limited edition Guinness miniature bottles were given out as prizes.

It even dated all the way back to 1974! 😀 😀

Tied so neatly with a black ribbon, I wished they were mine!

So I decided to join the Q&A. Hmm…the questions I could remember were –

How many pints of Guinness are served everyday?

What is the actual color of Guinness?

What is the name of Guinness' christmas event?

Well, my question was simple. So I managed to answer it correctly!

I absolutely love the antique bottles for my stash. It fits perfectly in my collection of alco 🙂

Yuenny won herself a set of these babies too!

Adorable much?

I think she answered the color of Guinness question. The correct answer is Ruby Red! 🙂 (Yes it's not black, contrary to popular belief)

Here's a shot of my swag, courtesy of Guinness!

There's also another Guinness glass inside the paper bag,

'Who dreams of a white Christmas?' Tshirt, a Santa Hat and more!

I'll be wearing the Santa Hat for my family Christmas dinner tomorrow

Do you see that place mat which reads 'Have a Merry Guinness' above?

If you open it, it's actually a board game!! I'm SO going to bring it back home to play with thefockers tonight.

Bloggers playing the Guinness board game!

It's very much like snakes & ladders, only more exciting, Guinness draughts instead of snakes

and players require a good liver 😛 😛

We're getting shot on film!

Guinness even made a bloggers video edition of Merry Guinness wishes and the party!

My Guinness moments 😀 😀

With frosty the snowman too!!!!

Of good food, catching up with good friends, good fun and festive air 🙂

I had fun celebrating my Christmas the Guinness way. Heads up! Merry Guinness promos are held in various outlets around the Klang Valley and other parts of Malaysia as well.

This coming Monday, I will be dining at Finnegan's Pub in Changkat BB for an Irish Christmas Dinner by Guinness. Can't wait! Will be bringing along one lucky person with meeeee 🙂

Do grab a pint of Guinness and enjoy the rest of your party!

Merry Christmas again and enjoy the rest of your holiday fellas

with love ,

Jess