Politcs: BN retains two-thirds majority but Sarawak’s fixed deposit shattered

KUCHING, April 16 — The Barisan Nasional (BN) has managed to keep its two-thirds legislative majority in Sarawak but today’s results have shattered the coalition’s invincibility and the notion of a fixed deposit in future elections.

The DAP doubled its presence to 12 and PKR tripled its representation although the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lynchpin had contested in 49 seats. PAS lost in all five seats it contested while Independent George Lagong took one seat.

The number of state seats to the Opposition pact will spell danger for BN as it could help them win more parliamentary seats when the general election is called by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. PR now has 75 MPs but the Sarawak win could translate into more in the future.

At 10.55pm, BN was declared the winner for 55, or 75 per cent, of the 71 seats in the Sarawak legislature. In the 2006 elections, it won 62 out of the 71 seats. Initial estimates showed that BN's popular vote went down from 62.93 per cent in 2006 to 55.24 per cent in today's polling.

The biggest upset was SUPP president and Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri George Chan Hong Nam losing the Piasau state seat to DAP’s Ling Sie Kiong.

The six-term incumbent’s defeat could spell the end of the SUPP, which won only six of the 19 seats it contested.

BN had expected to lose up to 20 seats in this state election as the Opposition had centred its campaign on long-serving Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, whose reluctance to step down has even apparently infuriated national BN leaders.

Najib had pledged that this would be Taib’s last election and he would leave soon after but the veteran leader has said openly in front of the BN chairman that he will stick around for a few more years.

He made good that promise by quickly taking his oath of office as chief minister for the seventh time at 10.30pm which was broadcast live through national and satellite television.

Critics believe Taib's continued presence could help move more support to PR, which won its seats despite limited money, logistics and media presence.

Najib himself had to spend six days canvassing for votes across Malaysia’s largest state and state BN officials estimate that the coalition has spent nearly RM500 million to secure today’s victory.

Opposition leaders had concurred before today’s polling, saying BN officials had openly offered cash for support.

Sources within the Election Commission (EC) said BN won most of the seats as more from the older generation turned up to cast their ballots early compared to the younger generation who are known to support the Opposition.

“The trend was always for BN from early on in the day,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

He pointed out that Taib’s PBB won all 35 seats that were contested reflecting the leader’s popularity among the Melanau community.

Today’s results will come as a relief to the ruling coalition which scrambled at the tail-end of the campaign to counter the massive crowds that thronged Opposition rallies in major towns.

But PR leaders were upbeat that they scored well in the state election.

“The future is bright for Pakatan in Sarawak. I don’t think BN leadership will dare to call for GE in next few months,” DAP national chairman Karpal Singh told reporters here.

However, PKR leaders were not around or too despondent to comment on the results. Source: The Malaysian Insider 17/4/2011

Food Hunt: The Chicken Rice Shop, Jusco Metro Prima, Kepong

Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another edition of food hunt and of course, today ME & Kimmy are at Jusco Metro Prima to spend our beloved Sunday as we are here to watch movie as well. After the movie, we have decided to have dinner over there and we have chosen The Chicken Rice shop as our choice for dinner tonight.

We reached the restaurant at around 7.00pm and there's not much people at the restaurant. Once we sat down, we were immediately served with the menu. There are quite a number of choices of chicken to choose from and it took us about 10 minutes to look at the menu and decide what to eat. We've ordered Chicken Rice Meal for 2 sets and each set costs about RM14.99 per person. The set consists of choices of Steamed, Roast, Soy Sauce or Hainanese Curry Chicken to choose from. So I've chosen Braised Chicken and Kimmy had chosen the Roasted Chicken. Then it also contains a regular bean sprout, soup of the day, a glass of carbonated water as well as Pai Tee and a desert. It seems a lot of things to eat for the set and I would say it's pretty worth it. The portion of the chicken meanwhile was average to large as well.

The Roasted and Braised Chicken was both great. It was very nice indeed as we had a great time eating over there. The bean sprout meanwhile was just normal. The Pai Tee was something special where it was something like a cup cake shape and inside it contains a lot of vegetables and it was something new for us. It was tasty too to eat. I bet you will love it too. The desert served is the Nata Coco Jelly and it was pretty sweet as well and I bet it's not good for health but the coco jelly was nice to eat. Possible, try to ignore the water. The soup meanwhile was just average as they served vegetable soup that day and it was pretty plain as well.

Overall, the food was nice especially the chicken and the Pai Tee was nice. Others looks normal but with the amount you pay for RM15.00, you get great food and lots of satisfaction because it has a lot of things on that set. It was value for money and I vowed to go back again to try their other dishes. The bill came and it costs around RM33.30 plus government tax and I guess it was reasonable and I am happy to pay the amount based on the potion of the food we get. You may try other branches as well but the Jusco Metro Prima branch is good. Enjoy! MY RATING: 4.5 /5 ; KIMMY RATING: 4/5

* Food & Drinks Rating are based on the food & drinks we've ordered and not overall food & drinks.

Address:

Lot F21, 1st Floor,
Jusco Metro Prima Shopping Centre,
No.1, Jalan Metro Prima, Kepong
52100 Kuala Lumpur.
Telephone: 03-62578795
Business Hours: 10.00am - 10.00pm Daily


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Cinema Movie: Ghost Must Be Crazy (鬼也笑)

Release Date: 08 April 2011
Language: Mandarin
Subtitle: Info Not Available
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
Director: Mark Lee, Boris Boo
Cast: Mark Lee, John Cheng, Henry Thia, Dennis Chew, Wang Lei
Rating: 18PL

Synopsis:

"The Ghost Must Be Crazy" has two different stories entitled "The Day Off" and "The Ghost Bride". In "The Day Off", Ah Nan (John Cheng) and Ah Lei (Wang Lei) goes for their annual in-camp training and they meet a very "on" Platoon Commander. As they're about to play a prank on the Commander as a form of revenge for all the rigorous training they had to put up with, a series of strange things happen. In "Ghost Bride", Ah Hui (Henry Thia) who is unlucky in love meets a stranger, Ah Hai (Mark Lee), who promises him fortune and blessings if he seeks help from 'brothers and sisters' in the netherworld. Ah Hui does so and ends up finding a beautiful jade bangle inside a red packet. Soon after, Ah Hui strikes the lottery, but spends it all lavishly. Just when he is down in the dumps again, Ah Hai offers him another solution and something strange happens.

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My Comments: It was a bitter weekend for me as on Sunday itself I catch a cold and I had a bad day. Well, despite all these hassle, ME & Kimmy had managed to go TGV Metro Prima in Kepong to watch movie after I bought it online earlier. It had been a long time that ME & Kimmy never go there to watch movie and today it's time to go there and watch it. We miss the big screen over there as well. The movie we had chosen are also scary and in the same time, will have a good laugh too. Ghost Must Be Crazy is the movie that we've chosen and this movie is designated for those who love ghost movies together with some laughter. Last year, this movie are also being shown in cinemas and if we were to compare, I guess last year's one would be more better. This year, it talks about one incident in the jungle and another incident inside the town. Last year, it talks about 3 ghosts stories but this year it was just 2. It was directed by Mark Lee and Boris Boo and both of this directors are very famous in Singapore. Also the casts whose are very famous as well including Mark Lee himself & Henry Thia and I can guarantee you that you will laugh and in the same time scared yourself off the seats in cinemas. It was a good combination I would recommend you to watch this movie if you love comedies and in the same time love some scary scenes as well. I was not the best movie ever but still a good movie produced again by the Singaporeans. Enjoy! MY RATING: 4/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 4/5

BREAKING NEWS: Fresh quake triggers tsunami warning in Japan

Tokyo (CNN) -- A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Japan on Thursday, triggering a tsunami warning for one prefecture.

Workers evacuated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following the quake, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Tokyo Electric said it has communication with the plant and the power is still on. There were no immediate reports of damage, it said.

The quake's epicenter was off the coast of Miyagi in northeastern Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Public broadcaster NHK reported a tsunami warning for Miyagi prefecture, saying people in that area should evacuate away from the shore to a safe place.

NHK also reported a tsunami advisory for Iwate prefecture, saying a tsunami is expected to arrive in coastal regions there as well.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said based on all available data, "a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is not a tsunami threat to Hawaii."

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 41 miles (66 kilomemeters) from Sendai -- one of the areas worst hit by last month's 9.0-magnitude quake -- and 73 miles (118 kilometers) from Fukushima, where a crisis has been under way at the nuclear plant since last month's tsunami.

The quake was centered 207 miles (333 kilometers) from Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was 15.9 miles (25.6 kilometers) deep, the agency reported.

It took place shortly after 11:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET).

Food Hunt: Madam Lim Kitchen, Tesco Mutiara Damansara

Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another wonderful weekend where ME and Kimmy had decided to go for yet another session of window shopping and we arrived quite late to the mall around 4.00pm as we just walk around and of course to have dinner before we go home.

And we have chosen Madam Lim Kitchen as our choice located at Tesco Mutiara Damansara. We arrived at the restaurant at around 7.15pm and the crowd is pretty less at that time. Once we sat down, we were pretty amazed by the choices of the food and it's look pretty tempting for us to try it out. Once we looked at the menu for about 10 minutes, finally we have decided to order 2 rice with 3 dishes so that we can share among ourselves. We have ordered Paprik Chicken (Small) (RM6.50), Kam Heong Sotong (Small) (RM7.90) & Mixed Vegetables (Small) (RM6.00). Besides small portion, there's a large portion to choose from as well. For drinks, both of us ordered Sirap but I've ordered Sirap Limau while Kimmy ordered Sirap Ros.

Let's go straight to the food comments. Overall the food was lovely and nice especially for dishes with curry or spicy flavour. Firstly, the Paprik Chicken was good with the fragrance of the curry as well. The best comes from the Kam Heong Sotong where it was very delicious and the spiciness tastes perfect. Both of us simply love this dish the most. For the mixed vegetables, it was rather great with the support of the 2 curry dishes. Overall, the dishes that we've ordered are simply irresistible. You should go and try it.

The price meanwhile are very cheap and it was very worth trying it. Imagine for 3 dishes and 2 drinks plus 2 white rice costs us around RM27.70 plus 5% service charge. Where can you find it now with this price of the amount of food we eat. The portion of the food was pretty big although we ordered small portion. I can guarantee you where it's just nice to order 3 dishes if you have 2 people eating. If you have 5-6 persons, you can go for the large portion and the price is pretty reasonable as well. What are you waiting for? With a cheap price and also with good food, this is a place for you and your family. Enjoy! MY RATING: 5/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 5/5

*Food & Drinks Rating are based on the food & drinks we've ordered and not overall food & drinks.

Address:

Lot 22, Tesco Store,
No.8, Jalan PJU 7/4, Mutiara Damansara,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Telephone: 03-77103758
Business Hours: 10.00am - 10.00pm Daily.


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Food Hunt: Otak-Otak Place, Tropicana City Mall (Part 2)

Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another edition of the food hunt and today ME & Kimmy were at Tropicana City Mall for some windows shopping perhaps and watching movie. Then for dinner time, we had chosen Otak-Otak Place again as our destination as it was way more better than 1 Utama Branch. Once we sat down, we were served immediately and the crowded was pretty less as we reach there around 7.00pm.

After taking a look at the menu for about 5 minutes, we've finally decided what to order and I've ordered Nasi Lemak Ayam Percik (RM9.90) with a glass of Blackcurrent Longan (RM4.00) while Kimmy ordered Mushroom Chicken Chop (RM13.90) with a glass of Honey Lemon Cold (RM4.20). We've also ordered Steam Otak-Otak Fish (RM3.00) as our side dishes as well. Let's go straight to the food comments. The Nasi Lemak Ayam Percik meanwhile was great and nice to eat. The taste was great and good. I simply love the taste especially the fragrance of the rice and the sambal itself was nice. The chicken percik was nice too with its own sambal. The Blackcurrent Longan meanwhile was a hit and nice. It was nice and great to drink as well.

Kimmy's western food Mushroom Chicken Chop meanwhile was just so-so and not so nice. Well, it's proven because Otak-Otak place only serves best Malaysian Food and not Western Food. Well, do expect some drop in performance on their western food. The Honey Lemon Cold meanwhile was great and nice too. It's refreshing and the taste was just nice without too sweet nor too sour. Kimmy said she recommend you to order the Honey Lemon Cold but not the Western Food she'd ordered. For the side dishes, the Steam Otak-Otak Fish was nice too. It was just 1 piece that served in a platter and it was nice to me but Kimmy said the smoked otak-otak is more nicer. I love the taste of the Steam Otak-Otak Fish.

Overall, the price was just reasonable and standard as those Kopitiam out there like Old Town or Papparich. The total bill came and it's about RM36.75 including 5% service charge. I would recommend you to come over this restaurant rather than the 1 Utama branch as the food here served one of the best in town. Check it out! MY RATING: 5/5 ; KIMMY RATING: 4/5

*Food & Drinks Rating are based on the food we've ordered and not overall Food & Drinks.

Address:

Lot L1-58,
Tropicana City Mall,
No.3 Jalan SS20/27,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Telephone: 03-77280403
Business Hours: 10.00am - 10.00pm Daily


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Cinema Movie: Men Suddenly In Love (猛男滾死隊)

Release Date: 17 March 2011
Language: Cantonese
Subtitle: Info Not Available
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Running Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
Director: Wong Jing
Cast: Eric Tsang, Chapman To, Maggie Cheung Ho Yee, Monica Chan, Chrissie Chau
Classification: 18SX

Synopsis:

Five graduates from different years come together to celebrate their secondary school teacher Master Jude's 80-year-old birthday. This includes York, the ever protesting committee member; Claude, the award-winning movie star; Sam, the gynaecologist; Keith, the feng-shui master and Charlie, the dance instructor. Master Jude is a happy-go-lucky bachelor who enlightened them on the matters of relationship and sex during their school days. Since all of the five men have marital problems, this is a good time for them to meet and share their grievances together.

_______________________________________________________

My Comments: Today is a beloved Sunday as ME & Kimmy had decided to go Tropicana City Mall for a simply window shopping as there's quite some time we did not visit there already. So we've decided to catch a comedy romance movie called Men Suddenly In Love starring several popular Hong Kong stars. With the famous comedian such as Eric Tsang, Chapman To and Wong Jing, this movie set to be one of the funniest movie ever this year. And I have to admit it because it contains a lot of funny scenes but not overall movie. Also this movie is classified at 18SX as it contains sex scenes that are not too nasty. Overall in this movie, you will see a lot of sexy scenes that will led into several sex scenes as well but not too extreme. This is also the first time where I saw this type of movies in cinemas. Overall, the storyline is very well done and it does have a moral story in this movie where you should not carouse and leave your wife alone in the house. Once again, it's a fun yet entertaining movie and you should not miss it but only limited to 18 years and above unless you bought the DVD to watch. I would recommend you to watch this movie as it still shows in cinema on press time. Enjoy! MY RATING: 4/5; KIMMY RATING: 4/5

Cinema Movie: Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son

Release Date: 10 March 2011
Language: English
Subtitle: English / Chinese
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
Director: John Whitesell
Cast: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson and Max Casella

Synopsis:

FBI agent Malcolm Turner and his 17-year-old son, Trent, go undercover at an all-girls performing arts school after Trent witnesses a murder. Posing as Big Momma and Charmaine, they must find the murderer before he finds them.

________________________________________________________

My Comments: Good morning folks and hope you have a great day. Today I have a lot of free time and so I've decided to bring my car for a polish & wax and in the same time while waiting for it to be done, I've decided to go to 1 Utama for a walk. Then I went up to the GSC cinema and then decided to watch a movie to make my time past faster and easier. So I have chosen this comedy Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son as my movie of my choice today. It was a fun yet entertaining movie as you will simply love it. Besides, the storyline was very well matched and it was a perfect movie to catch throughout the 107 minutes of laughter. This story was talking about a FBI who have to go undercover by becoming a lady and in the same time to investigate a case at the girls school. As these 2 fellas Martin Lawrence and Brandon T. Jackson did a superb job by giving us super laugh where their casts in this movie was real funny. It was a perfect start in the morning after watching this movie. I would recommend you to watch this movie as you may watch it with your friends, your love ones and your families as it's suitable for all ages as well unless you're under 13 years of age with parents supervision because it talks a little bit about sex and there's some sex scenes in this movie as well but it's not harmful. So, for those who love comedies, this movie is the best choice for you while it's still showing in cinemas and do not miss the show! Enjoy! MY RATING: 5/5

Food Hunt: Tenji 2 Japanese Buffet, Puchong

Dear All,

Welcome back to yet another edition of Food Hunt where I am going to bring you guys to Japanese Buffet at Puchong. It was indeed right where Tenji 2 is our destination as it finally opens at Puchong Bandar Puteri. Today, me & my colleagues of Hauni Malaysia came and enjoy the food thanks to our beloved birthday boy Ho Wing Onn, who treated us to this wonderful dinner. Thanks Brother Ho Wing Onn. We have 6 of us attending including our birthday boy and others would be Gina, Kee, Alex Chew, Wei Wen & ME.

The variety of food there was pretty moderate to choose from and the food quality was indeed better than Tenji 1 at Solaris Mont Kiara. The Sushi and Sashimi was pretty fresh and there are quite a lot of varieties to choose from but still lose to Jogoya in terms of varieties and the taste. The udon and tempura meanwhile was just moderate and not so good. The best thing is you can eventually order ala-carte dishes up to 4 dishes per order and you can repeat order (based on the menu book) once the 4 dishes had arrived. We tried several dishes including fish, shark fin, chicken etc. and find out that overall the food was also just moderate to good.

If you are a steamboat fans, Tenji 2 also offers a steamboat pot for your choice as well. All you need to do is just to choose the ingredients and then they will serve you the soup. Nice isn't it? Tenji 2 also offers the Chinese special cuisine called 'Dim Sum' and it found out to be sucks. It was not nice after all. The best comes from the dessert part where they serve Haagen Dazs Ice Cream. It was so nice and lovely and eventually I had taken 3 small cups of it ranging from Almond, Green Tea and Chocolate flavour. You can also put some colored chocolate flakes to make the ice cream tastes even better. Also, you can try out the chocolate fondue where you can eat it with biscuits as well.

Overall, the food is still moderate to good and it's much more better than in Tenji Solaris Mont Kiara. I would recommend you to come over here as the food is more nicer and the ambiance here are pretty good and quiet as well. The price meanwhile is about RM68.00 per person for dinner time. It's pretty reasonable for the food you get and it's average where it's cheaper than Jogoya but expensive than Tao. Enjoy! MY RATING: 4/5

* Food & Drinks rating are based on the food & drinks we've ordered and not overall food & drinks.

Address:

32-G, Dataran Puteri 3,
Jalan Puteri 1/5,
Bandar Puteri
47100 Puchong, Selangor.
Telephone: 1-700-80-1878
Business Hours: 12.00pm - 10.00pm Daily


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