Saturday 12 November 2016

Rendezvous: A Modern Circus Art show by PsycuSix – 12 November 2016

It's me, the poster girl

Me again, featured in the article of discoverkl.com

Viva Vertical was invited by PsycuSix (Malaysia’s leading modern and contemporary circus performing group) to perform for this 1 day event, free to the public at the Square, Publika.

We were informed 2 weeks before the event and were asked who was available for the show. I was available and I said yes and had no regrets as it was super fun being surrounded by the circus team!

We were rehearsing the whole 2 weeks; with late nights on Wednesday and Friday, the week before the show. On the full dress rehearsal on Wednesday, 9 November 2016, we were able to watch the circus act put together by the team, PsycuSix, and we got to try the “air-brush make-up” done by Anissa, one of the lady members of PyscuSix. We had to hold our breath and close our eyes while the colour make-up was sprayed on our faces.   

Our show was scheduled to start at 8.00pm. Before 8pm, we saw the crowds already coming and trying to get the best seats in the house, though right at the front you needed to sit on the floor. A few seats were put near the front (in front of the restaurants) but that was not enough. Also, some people would go and get a table at the restaurants upstairs to get a better view of the whole stage.

The show started off with the opening of beating of the drums and then a contemporary opening dance. There were Acts 1, 2 and 3; Act 1 told the story of working adults with their busy life in a beautiful future and showcased the circus team performing various acts like juggling, acrobatics, aerial arts in hoop and silk, fire arts and hip hop dance. 

I was in Act 1, performing the opening contemporary dance, duo hoop with my partner Sheila and towards the end in Act 3, in the LED performance. After Act 1, we quickly rushed backstage to get our make-up done by Anissa.


Our duo hoop performance, picture captured by my friend Caroline Jim. She had the best seat, i.e. 1st floor restaurant




My partner, Sheila, getting her make-up done

This is me and Anissa, my make-up artist
Scary......
There were international artists that performed that night; Dai Zaobab from Japan, Marvin Ong from the US, Legato Visual Performing Arts from the Philippines and Ehrlich “Firechill” Ocampo from the Philippines.

We had an amazing time with the make-up, circus team and crowds. I was so grateful that I have my husband, little girl and a few friends that came and supported us and videod our performances.   

The swan and the bee. The costumes for our Act 3- LED performance

Check out our make-ups

The bee trying to sting the swan

Group photo of the aerialists and our manager, Nana 

Our colourful costumes








Saturday 5 November 2016

El Fresco Intermark – 5 November 2016

The restaurant
Jaya Grocer at the Intermark has this service where you buy your steak or seafood from the butcher and/or seafood counter inside Jaya Grocer, and you can have the chef in El Freso cook it for you after you paid.  The cooking charge is only RM8.00 for 1 steak/seafood meal.  


 
Menu and there is also a menu at the counter

The kitchen

I was informed by my colleague that the steak was super good. So, I decided to try it out myself.

Step by step, this is how it works:-

(a)  Go inside to Jaya Grocer and choose your steak/seafood;


(b)  Proceed to pay at the cashier;
(c)  Bring your steak/seafood to the order/cashier counter at El Fresco;

Bring your steaks or seafood to this cashier counter

(d)  Inform them how you would like your steak cooked, i.e. rare, medium rare, medium, well done;
(e)  Choose your side dishes from the menu or from the counter and order your drinks (there is other Western food as well on the menu like pizza, spaghetti, salads, pies);
You can also order your side dishes from the display fridge

Side dishes available and also serve sandwiches and pies

(f)   Make payment. Please take note that there will be a cooking charge of RM8.00 for the steak/seafood;
(g)  Find a table and your meal will be served shortly.

These were the steaks that we bought and had cooked together with our side dishes and drinks from El Fresco:-

The steaks that we chose
 
RM39.81 (for steak) + RM8.00 (for cooking charges)

This steak is rare. Just checked out how they grill it. It's super perfect. 

RM28.54 (for steak) + RM8.00 (cooking charges)
The steaks were grilled and it was super duper yummy. If you checked out the steaks above, it was not marinated for us and it does not come with any sauce. The cook must have put some black soya sauce and seasoning to make it taste good. You eat it as it is and it's super juicy, tender, chewy and the best thing is you can taste the steak juice.  

Steak Fries RM7.50
 Super crunchy steak fries. I do recommend this side dish.

Aglio Olio Spaghetti RM7.50
 This spaghetti is slightly spicy for kids as there are chili flakes and other herbs on it.

Garlic Mashed Potato RM7.50
Topped with cheese on top of the mashed potato. If you don't like garlic, there are no bits of garlic and no taste of garlic. I only tasted creamy cheezy, rich mashed potato.

Fresh Orange juice RM6.90 and Fresh Apple juice RM6.90
Those drinks are not freshly squeezed. It must have been pored out from a juice carton.

The service in this restaurant was good. It does look like a mini cafĂ©/ food court concept. You won’t miss it when you come from Jaya Grocer’s cashier; it’s on your left side. 

If you love steaks, freshly cooked for you, this is the place to go. It’s on the expensive side but the meals are worth your pennies. 

The details of the restaurant:

El Fresco Intermark
Lot LC-01, Intermark Mall
The Intermark
348 Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2181 0978
Fax: 03-2161 2022
Opens everyday, 10am -10pm


Thursday 3 November 2016

Restoran Jai Hind – 3 November 2016


Only the ground floor is open to customers. Check out the limited tables and chairs.
This restaurant serves North Indian cuisine, Tandoori and Punjabi sweet-meats and has been around for many years, tucked away opposite the busy Masjid Jamek market (behind Masjid Jamek LRT station). 

Jai Hind was a well-known eatery among the lawyers when the Magistrate and Sessions Courts were still at the Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad Building.  After court sessions, Jai Hind used to be the place for breakfast or lunch among the Indian / Punjabi lawyers, while the Chinese lawyers would go to Seng Nam for its famous chicken rice.  I also used to come to Jai Hind often after my court sessions.

If you were here 15 years ago, everything in Jai Hind still looks the same now (except that now they have to charge you GST) and nothing has changed.  It is one of my favourite places to get chapatti so I decided to introduce it to the junior lawyers in my firm for lunch and they enjoyed it.   

They make fresh chapatti

Take your plate and choose your rice and dishes

The variety of sweet desserts. Not sure what is it call but check out the menu for desserts and prices below

More sweets and desserts

More sweets

The menu for the sweets and desserts

Check out what we ordered:-

 
My chicken and vegetable dishes. 

Cheese naan

Chapatti

Tandoori chicken

The whole thing only cost me RM10.00 and 6% GST

Once you have chosen / ordered your food, the waiter will come round and give you your bill. Your waiter will calculate everything and give you a price for all the meals and drinks you ordered, without breaking it down. You wont' know the individual price unless you ask the waiter. Bring that bill to the payment cashier. The cashier will add 6% GST to your total bill.



Please take note of the following before you decide on Jai Hind:-
  • the place is dirty, i.e. the floors and the chairs and tables have been around for many years
  • it’s very hot (be prepared to sweat a lot) unless you sit right at the end in front of the air-cond. However, it’s near the toilet and wash basins and you may also want to avoid sitting there
  • the place may put some people off as it’s extremely cramped.
If you are able to take the above, I do highly recommend this place as it serves good food, curry, Indian desserts and the best thing of all, the food is cheap. If you want Rassam, do drop by on Friday as they serve Rassam only on Friday.

The service in this restaurant was good. I know the waiter well enough as he has been serving me for the past 15 years!!

My favourite waiter since 15 years ago. He has been there for ages. 

The happy faces after the meal

The details of the restaurant:

Restoran Jai Hind
No.11 & 13, Jalan Melayu
50100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 2692 0041