Dinner @ Bicycle Cafe Veggie

ROAR! I'm a meat eating machine. I ensure my daily food intake comes with at least a dish of meat, be it poultry, lamb, beef or similar.  Although I am fond of meat, I am conscious of the consequences whenever over consuming one in favour of the other.  When I said other, I meant the greens.  Vegetables and fruits are just as important in our daily diet.  Afterall, we are aiming for health, right?  Hence, the keyword here is "balance". 

Having a balance diet is what I desire most.  It could not be describe any better than when riding on a 2-wheeler - The bicycle.  And that is exactly what the owner has named his cafe:

Tucked cozily on the ground floor in one of the few available corner lots of Karamunsing Capital, Mr. Lee Mun Fei, the owner of this vegetarian cafe, is redefining the meaning of vegetarian food.  A look at the cafe's facebook page, they have varieties of food preparation which include the Asian Fusion, Burgers (O.O), Fast Food (O.o), Hot Dogs (O.O), Italian food, Taiwanese, etc.  Yes, I know.  I am baffled as well with such description.  

The interior with a mini (non-alcoholic) bar 

The dishes can be as conforming to the authentic vegetarian ones, to as the everyday common dishes on the streets.  The followings are the varieties that we tasted:

Variety of buns

Fried Tofu Puff, comes with its own unique sauce

Bicycle Combo, variety of fried entree

The above are just simple dishes as initial debut for our taste buds. The following got me more excited coz each dish tastes better than the other as they being served:

Piping hot veggie lasagna @ RM12.90

Pattaya Fried Rice.  This is only RM8.90. 

And the final 3 dishes are of my favorite:

Spaghetti Alfredo @ RM12.90

Perfectly made. Neither too creamy nor too watery. I like how the spaghetti had maintain its slim & tender feel instead of the soggy and soaked-fatten ones some vendors still serve.  That is one important criteria I adhere to whenever I crave for pasta.

Indian Style Fried Mee

The noodles was spicy, which I totally love.  Not having tasted indian fried mee before, I find it abit wet??  Maybe its supposed to be that way.  Anyway, be it wet or dry, this one comes under my "re-ordering list".

Vegetarian Bah Kut Teh

This soup definitely blew my taste bud.  How can an originally of meat dish became sooooo tasty when replace with veggie?  The soup was well flavoured, sweet (see the wolf berries a.k.a gei zi floating in the soup?), and filling.  This is a fulfilling dish.  Definitely one of my recommended item.

Yummy session in progress

All these were concluded with an un-named dessert which has yet to be featured on their menu.  I say, the dessert was all sweet and berrylicious.

How to find out when this dessert will be available?

Follow them on their facebook page.  Periodical updates on what's available and on promo are mentioned there.

Bicycle Cafe Veggie, newly opened with it being made official just recently in the month of July 2012 itself.  This lifestyle vegetarian cafe breaths new meaning to the interpretation of being a vegetarian and staying healthy the vegetarian way.

Found hung on the cafe's wall 

BICYCLE CAFE VEGGIE

H-0-6, Ground Floor, Karamunsing Capital,
88300  Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Tel : 088-448 711 

Operating hours: 10am - 11pm (Monday - Sunday)

Come on! Let's ride on a bicycle to affordable, delicious & healthy green food.

Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2012

I must have done a very very VERY good job (LOL!) for Carlsberg 'coz I was once again invited to blog for them. My last Carlsberg post was on "The Triple Launch Party" which is currently sitting handsomely as one of the most popular post in this blog of mine.  

This time round, I'm being joined by not only Tom (Rungitom), but other bloggers as well:

From the Left: Sherrie, Margaret, Chloe Tiffany, Nathalie, 

Calista, myself &........ Tom on the camera :P

Organised on July 20, at Firefly bar & grill, a press conference the event was & it being named "Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2012", hence a singing contest it shall be.  Some facts about the contest:

• Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2012 is organised by Carlsberg Malaysia Sdn. Bhd,
• The 2nd edition offers more than RM30,000 cash prizes.
• The open audition will be held at selected outlets in six areas (starting from 17 August):
• Sabah - Sandakan, Tawau & Kota Kinabalu
• Sarawak - Miri, Sibu & Kuching
• Participants will have to perform any 2 songs in different languages (English, Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin)
• The best 10 participants from the audition will compete at the respective Area finals.
• The details of the Area finals and more can be obtained from www.diamondidol2012.com.my or follow their facebook page.

Carlsberg Diamond Idol's objective is to promote young talents with singing skills.  This is their 2nd edition since introduced in year 2011.  12 grand finalists will be going through special classes in a training camp where the singers will be able to improve on their singing skills by getting pointers from the professionals in the industry.  The professionals are none other than Professor Dr. Fred Chin as the motivational trainer, Victor Lee - a well known local singer as vocal trainer and Skyler Liew - well known dance intructor in Sabah.

Mr. Kenneth So on the podium

Mr. Kenneth So, General Manager of Luen Heng F&B (a subsidiary of Carlsberg Malaysia), in his opening speech "We are once again proud to be part of this magnificent opportunity to use this as a platform to be closer to our consumers.  We anticipate through this sponsorship programme, Carlsberg is able to provide a platform to showcase the talented young singers in East Malaysia".   

The night's event was magnificently made official with the unveiling of its official  jingle (at the end of this post) produced by Stephen Lim - a well known producer who has collaborated with Hong Kong artistes like Jacky Cheung (SCREAM!!! I LOVE........... his songs <3. Did you know he just went to KL recently? ^_^) , Eason Chen and Daniel Wu.

The official launch

Toasting to the launch

The night was followed by introduction of the judges and tuned to the talent of Agnes James - 2nd runner up & The Most Popular contestant of Carlsberg Diamond Idol 2011:

Official judges joining on stage

Strong vocal talent by Agnes James

The press conference was all of happy faces, laughters, some free flows ;-D & more photo taking:

This time I did not pose with the Carlsberg ladies.  Guess who were I with?

Whoa!! He ain't a nobody, he is Mr. Popular

TADAH!! The bravest 4 on stage - WE ROCK!!  Next to me is Melisa

So, cutting short on pics, a reminder here, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you got the singing talent, don't miss out.  

More than RM30,000 cash prizes!   

The stage is set.  Its up to you to step up!

** Photos credit to BorneoColours.com

Sabah Beauties @ Miss Malaysia Earth 2012

Sometime about 2 months ago, I blogged about our Sabah beauties i.e. the contestants of Miss Earth Sabah 2012.  I ended the post with ways on following their progress and achievements.  Have you been following them? ;-)   

Well, I did! I am glad to follow their tweets and on facebook.  There were constant updates and lots of stunning pictures.  Following every step of their activities and preparations for the coronation night, the journey had been one of most meaningful.  It was a testimony of their dedication in raising awareness of the need to protect our one and only beloved earth.  Following their progress, it is also a reminder to me, as the guardian of this beautiful land, that I should not destroy our only breathable planet but instead, sowing the seeds of caring for our environment. 

And hence, after what seemed like endless events and activities, with all its fringe prizes, the crowning of the winner was finally made on June 16, 2012:

 #01 : From the left, 2nd Runner-up (Water), Grace Chang Siew Ling.  

1st Runner-up (Air), Deidre Ann Walker.  Crowning Winner, Joanna Marie Faurillo.  

3rd Runner-up (Fire), Xandria Ban Kah Yee.

If you think the coronation night marks the end of these beauties journey, well you have just made the wrong assumption.  Instead, their quest had just begun as they continue in raising environmental awareness whilst vying for the Miss Malaysia Earth 2012 title.  The event was recently held in Ipoh, Perak.

All four beauties were further trained, groomed, advised and motivated to face the greater challenge, the challenge to face all the country's states' crowning beauty representatives.  There wasn't a minute to waste as upon touching down in Ipoh, they visited various places around the state of Perak, such as the nursing home, coal factory, BOH tea plantation, vegetable plantation and strawberry farm in Cameron Highlands, and also competing in many of the subsidiary prizes**.  Their quests were pleasantly reported in this :

#02 : Borneo Post, July 13, 2012

#03 : All the beauties of Miss Malaysia Earth 2012

The coronation night on July 15 proved to be oh so suspenseful as their tweets kept coming in.  It was the first time for me to experience such beauty pageant without even seeing on television!!  With Joanna, Deidre & Xandria making to the final 10, that is already a major achievement for Sabah.  Hooray!!   

To receive news of Deidre being crowned the Miss Malaysia Earth 2012 1st runner up, the excitement was beyond just happy.  I WAS ELATED!!

#04 : Deidre, 1st runner-up (Air), Miss Malaysia Earth 2012

#05 With the newly crowned Miss Malaysia Earth 2012, Deviyah Daranee from Kuala Lumpur

The success of our Sabah beauties cannot be describe complete without the hard work of Mandy Nandu, the Director of MNE Productions who holds and organises the State's Miss Earth Sabah.  Mandy is also the national crowning queen of Miss Malaysia Earth 2009.  She responded in an interview of her happiness and proud of the results gathered as it has always been what she visioned, to have representatives of high-quality, equipped with not just beauty but also talents and intelligence to compete in the National Level.

#06 : Deidre & Mandy

The Miss Earth Sabah 2012 titleholders dedicate their year as the Green Ambassadors to promote environmental projects and to address issues concerning the environment to the community of Sabah.  As the state organiser, Mandy continues to arrange environmental programmes and activities for the winners where they are able to contribute to the community by spreading the awareness of environment protection.

Even by recording the Miss Malaysia Earth 2012 event in this post, I can feel the gratifying sensation & how proud I am of our Sabah representatives' accomplishment.  I could not contain myself when I read this very thought provoking answer Deidre gave during the Q&A session.  I end this post with a picture of our very happy Sabah representatives and Deidre's powerful answer: 

"Do not wait until the last tree has been cut, the last fish has 
been caught and the only last river polluted, then only mankind 
realizes that money cannot be eaten" ~ Deidre Ann Walker

#07 : From left, Xandria, Grace, Deidre, Joanna, Mandy & Crystal who is also 

a Sabahan (won the title of Miss Malaysia Earth 2011 - 1st runner-up)

** The subsidiary prizes:

• Miss Earth Media Gorgeous 2012 - Deidre Ann Walker
• Miss Yee Hup 2012 - Deidre Ann Walker
• Best in Talent - Xandria Ban Kah Yee
• Miss Charming 2012 - Joanna Marie Faurillo
• & many other prizes' 2nd & 3rd placings.  Congrats!!

# Photos sourced from Miss Earth Sabah facebook page (#01) & @MissEarthSabah tweets (#02 - #07)

Updates 20120712 + Me!

Hello!!!  Have you been missing me?  ^_^   

What can I say?  I am a bad blogger.  Have not update this blog because of my ultra maximized laziness.  There!!  I confessed!! You can unfollow me now.  *Waaaaaahh!! #cryingkitty.  Please don't....... #innocentkittylook

Lately, my daytime office job has been taking up alot of my attention.  With all the stress and pressure building up, I wasn't in my best of mood to blog.  I tried to compose a few times, but all I saw were depressing, frustrating and negatively expressed posts.  I couldn't bear to fill my blog with bad auras and affect my happy readers.  Who would want to keep reading blogs that cast black clouds, dark shadows and thunderous cracks all the time, right?

Hence, I'm glad that my sunny mood is re-emerging again as the pressure is gradually release away.  There are still some sizable pressure in me, but seeing most items in the checklist are ticked away, so is the burden being set free.  LOL, so glad that the event will be this coming Saturday, a gala dinner it shall be..... and its time to FLASH MY......... (tsk, tsk, no naughty business here ;-)).......... AWESOME FABULOUS ME!!!  Okay, its still a working day for me, attending guests, attending guests and attending guests.  But hey, I dress for the occasion, right?  

Here are some of my props which hopefully will not disappoint anyone, especially myself:

My fav double eyelid tape & new falsies <3

MAC my day ;-)

Sensationally high :-O

HA HA HA...... Laugh die me on the amount of RM I'm willing to spend for just "ONE WORKING NIGHT"!!  Boss, if you see this, I put my heart and soul in building an image for the office (& of course for myself too).  Maybe you should consider giving early bonus this year? *wink!!

.......... Psst, & a pay raise too.

As for the dress, well, let's just say............. & keep it a mystery *wink, wink!!

♥♥♥

** I tweet on my latest ups and downs. Follow me @vibrantkitty

** I am on Instagram with my mini stories.  Follow me @ vibrantkitty