CNY Dinner @ Warm Snow Beer & Dine

Every year before Chinese New Year, my colleagues and I will organize a dinner together to celebrate err.. Chinese New Year! Hahaha.. of course. Actually, it is called "收工酒" and it's usually held by the company to thank the workers for their hard work for the past year before the company closes for Chinese New Year celebration. But instead of that, we make it a tradition to have a small dinner for ourselves (just our department) just for fun! 

So this year, our CNY dinner was held at "Warm Snow Beer & Dine". Why did we choose this restaurant? Why not a Chinese restaurant? As there are only 7 of us, and we are all girls, normal 7-9 courses meal at Chinese Restaurant will be too much for us. After searching high and low for a suitable restaurant,   I found this groupon deal which is quite a good deal at RM80 for 7 of us. Though the deal does not include drinks, it is a 2-course meal with a main dish and a salad. For more information on the deal, click here. 

For salad, there are Spicy Thai or Citrus Garden Salad to choose from. Both are good. Look exactly like in the deal. But Spicy Thai is more tasty. If you prefer a simple salad with a touch of orange sourness plus sweetness, then Citrus Garden Salad would be your choice.

For main dish, we can choose either 

1) Grilled Coriander Chicken

2) Pan-seared Dory 

or 3) Salmon Carbonara 

We all like the chicken the most though the gravy was slightly too spicy for me. The carborana was not bad either, just that the sauce was slightly thin. But it's good enough because otherwise, you will feel bloated after eating the whole plate! Fish is a no-no. Fortunately, the fish was ordered for everyone to try since we were only 7 but the deal was for 8 persons.

Almost everyone complained about their drinks. My ice-blended Ribena was so diluted / thin. Hardly can taste Ribena. As it was a hot day, I was expecting icy cold drink.. but the ice was not the usual blended drink. Ice was too big size! Actually almost all the drinks were slightly diluted. Anyway, we were arguing on whether to use 'thin' or 'diluted' to describe my drink. Well, I guess either one can be used, right? Just that diluted is mostly used in our lab! ;P

Probably I may go there for their Carbonara or try other foods on the menu. But the restaurant is so warm (no air-cond). Probably this is why they are called "Warm Snow Beer & Dine". We should drink some beer to cool down. lol...

If you would like to try their food / drinks, here's the address:-

16-18, Medan Ipoh 1E,

Medan Ipoh Bistari, 

31400 Ipoh, Perak.

Tel: 05-5491321

Oh yeah...forgot to mention that we really dislike the choice of table cloth they used. hahahah! It has nothing to do with the food though...;D

Random post

* 酸角糕 = Acid horn. Can't stop smiling when I found the English translation of this China product.  ;D It's actually Asam Jawa or Tamarind. 

* J is now "legally" married with Matt. They signed the paper on 4.1.13. If you read the year first, it will be 13.1.4 and in cantonese, it sounds like 一生一世, which means everlasting. Saw their photo in newspaper the day after their ROM. However, as it's Chinese tradition to have the groom with his entourage to "fetch" the bride on the actual wedding day + having tea ceremony + wedding banquet , they are still not "officially" married yet.. (Ya, Chinese tradition is a bit complicated..) and the actual day will be in Dec. I'm so looking forward to that day. ;D

slightly blur cuz I took the picture from the newspaper

* Did not use gloves for an analysis the other day and my fingers became so dry and lost its sensitiveness. Thought it will be a fast analysis and I won't touch any chemicals. Wearing gloves are sometimes quite troublesome when handling things like opening bottle insert or peeling labels or holding tiny things. But yeah.. i learned my lesson. No more bare hands when handling chemicals especially toxic chemicals like chloroform. Oops.. 

* Visit a colleague's new born baby. Cute, tiny little girl.. ;D

* Was at All Inn Dessert some time ago with a group of friends. Didn't manage to post review on time. Anyway, we had a good chat but they don't have the normal types of '糖水' (cantonese for sweet soup) like 花生糊 (peanut paste soup), 紅豆沙 (red bean paste soup) or 黑糯米粥 (sweet black glutinous rice soup). I was expecting those but probably they are sold out or they don't have it at all. Can't remember whether they have it in the menu. Those in their menu are too fancy for me. Haha.. just not dare to try la! To be safe, I ordered "Dates, Aloe Vera & Longan" dessert which was slightly too sweet. Well..it's not too bad and not too expensive. It's actually a nice place for a quiet, chill out time with a few close buddies. "wink"

CNY decorations

Finally! The decorations are ready! ;D 

The firecrackers really took us some time to combine together. They just didn't want to stay at their positions and kept messing around. We later  found an easy way to stitch them together with the all-purpose cellophane tape. Added a crane in the centre of the lantern. It also took us some time to hang it as it was not easy to reach the ceiling with only a stainless steel stool.

Close-up of the lantern with fire crackers

After hung up onto the ceiling

A bigger view of the decoration

More lanterns were made later and hung on the ceilings.

This lantern has three stars (by KP) and a smaller lantern at the bottom (by SC)

Took me quite awhile to stitch this together. There are one little crane in each of the lantern and two fishes at the bottom

Decor on the wall

Now, you can really feel the festive mood swinging in. Hope this will liven up the working environment and reduce some work stress. ;) Thank you all for the contributions.. I hope this activity helps to build up team spirit among fellow co-workers too and instil cheerfulness in everybody who's working in the office. ;P

Preparation for Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is around the corner. Have you start preparing for the festive season or are you not in the mood yet? ;P

Our office is already getting ready with the decorations to boost the mood. It seems that most of us were still sleepy and couldn't really concentrate at 8 o'clock in the morning (probably because everybody else does not need to work today since it's a public holiday - Thaipusam). We decided to do a bit of art work and decorate our office for the coming CNY. Well..not everybody was sleepy, some were already working diligently.. lol. Well, we were also contributing in some ways too.. it's a good team building activity too! But of course, the difficult part was left to be done after office hour. >.<

So here are some decorations that are still not finished yet. They will be hung up the ceilings tomorrow. 

Lanterns I made

Crane by Coco and ribbons

Small little fans and fishes contributed by YT, SC and Coco.
The stacks of cylinders will be made into fire crackers (by YT)

This is my idea.. but YT helped hung them up ;P Looked more like a wedding than CNY decor..hahaha..

 Below were how our office looked like last year CNY.

Big "福" on the glass window. 

Three big lanterns along the office. 

Wall decoration by YT

Good deal?

Bought a voucher today for CNY dinner with colleagues. It seems like a good deal for 7 of us at RM80..but portion look small, wonder if we will have enough food. Lol... Never heard of this restaurant before, "Warm Snow Beer & Dine Restaurant". Funny name indeed.. how can a snow beer be warm at the same time? 

More updates after I've tried their food la.. ;P

My 2012

2012 was an exciting year for me. My sister said she sees changes in me over this year, in a good way of course! And she is proud of me! :D This is my first time writing back about what happened in my life in the previous year. For the past few years I started this blog, I haven't done this before and I think I should start writing one cuz it's good way to remember and count the blessings that I received from God. I'll summarize my 2012 by month. 

January

I spent New Year in Auckland! Isn't that awesome! hahahaha! Food in NZ was sooOooo good! I can imagine myself getting fatter and fatter if I stay there too long! Read more about food I had in NZ here! 

And then, there was Chinese New Year. There were a lot of food gatherings, reunion 'yumchar'/dinners and happy time. lol... Evie's wedding was in this month too! 

February

Seems that because of Chinese New Year, I didn't blog during this month. But I had a nice dinner with my best mate, J at Friends Cafe and I postpone this post to March. Nothing eventful this month because I spent too much during CNY! lol..too broke to spend more. Oh yeah...I started paying mortgage in Jan. That's why I'm broke. :( 

March

I bought my first smartphone! Something I wanted for a long time but only decided then. Why did I take so long to decide? What was I thinking? 

I'm so happy with my phone and it's been faithful to me until now. *fingers crosses*. Not much trouble except for a few glitches that I've posted here. 

April

My first visit to Aeon Station 18, the biggest shopping mall in ipoh. 

Sis was here in Ipoh with her children for vacation. We had dim sum at Foh San, shopping in almost all the malls in town (lol), playing with the kids and eating good Ipoh food. :D I've also discovered the famous Wan Tao Long which used to sell this iced dessert opposite Pasir Puteh (Tai Wo Yuan) market. 

May

Sabah trip with mom!! :D It was a fun and exciting trip. So long never been to a trip with mom. Hmm..we should organize a family trip soon. It's been awhile I have not travel with both sisters and mom together. 

And this month was my first encounter in online shopping. View my first experience here. 

Visited mLab 2012 at KLCC with my colleagues and.... my uni friend whom I've never met in 7 years came to visit and gave me a box of Godiva! lol

June

My braces were off! After wearing for 1 and half years, finally, they were taken off and I've got my retainers too. 

My cousin's wedding was in June too. It was a really big family gathering. I took 1 week off to spend time with family and relatives who came back from KL, Singapore, overseas. 

July

July was the month I did some backlog blogging. ;P 

August

Sis and her family came to visit Ipoh again. Everytime they are here, I'm just too busy playing with the kids and no time for blogging. ;P They are just so cute and growing up too fast! 

Oh, I baked some cakes too! And that's no ordinary cake. It's "apricot, dates, banana, almond and pistachio cake"!! :D But only one time. hahahaha! No more baking after that. Maybe I should try again soon. 

There's also Raya Open House that my colleagues and I were invited to. Having traditional malay food and a feel of kampung house.

September

My birthday celebration which I did not blog about. ;P I had a small birthday lunch with a few friends at the Artiste in De Garden. Not going there for food any more because the food is just too salty. Maybe for a drink and chat but not for big meal. 

October

Celebrated J's birthday at Capucino Cafe. Read more about what we had at this cafe. I changed my blog outlook in this month too. ;D

November

My friend accepted Christ on 23/11/12!! Praise the Lord! I took up the responsibility of being her mentor. By God's grace, we hope to finish the lessons before my friend leave for KL to finish her studies. Let's hope for a new beginning in the walk with God for both of us!

Tried this new B.E.D cafe in town with mom which we will go again and again in future! ;D Good food, good coffee, cozy place to hang out with friends.. just that they only open at certain hours. Check this out! >>> B.E.D cafe

Visited my sister in PJ. Lots to share here but I guess I have to do some backlogs again. 

December

And finally, it's the last month of 2012. Everyone was talking about the end of the world on 21.12.12. So, we survived and still is living as usual. lol. No la! God has His own time and Jesus will come back without anyone know when. So, there won't be any fixed date or time for us people to know. Therefore, for now, live as best as we can and share the love! 

And yes, we had a "Christmas Love Movement" that our family organized for Vision Home, Ipoh. We collected rice, diaper, milk powder and specific Christmas gifts for the children. In addition, we had extra cash for the children's education fund and the home general fund. :D 

Not to forget I had a wonderful Christmas time with my family. Here's a glimpse of our Christmas dinner table and a night scene of Kinta Riverfront where we spent on one of the nights during the Christmas holiday. 

Sorry for keeping you so long. I know...this is a really long post! :D Again, Happy New Year to you all and may God bless your 2013!