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Don't they look delish? These are just some of the dishes that you can try at Han's Dim Sum. At affordable prices and guaranteed freshness (the dim sums are steamed upon ordering, not pre-steamed and kept heated) you'll be pleasantly surprised by how full-filling these dishes are. Looking for a quick lunch that is light on the tummy and pocket, but heavy on flavours and satisfaction, add Han's Dim Sum to your existing list. If you don't have a list yet, why not start with this?

Located at the Third Mile area, Han's Dim Sum occupies the corner lot of shophouses across Timberland Medical Center just next to Jolibee. Other landmarks to hep you spot the right location is Siang Siang Corner and Maxis. Here's the foursquare location. No pork, no lard, no alcohol served here. According to my host, Han's Dim Sum is trying to attract the younger generations to enjoy dim sums as a meal in general, and I have to agree, this place has all the perks that we all could enjoy (personally tho, if it comes to food, I'm game >.<)/

Let's start with the house specials - Chicken Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf. Choose your preferences be it roasted or steamed. As the name suggests, the chicken rice topped with chicken of your choice is wrapped with lotus leaf before being steamed, giving the pleasant aroma as you enjoy it. The portion is also good for a full lunch meal.

Next is another house specials - the Sifu Pau. This is another lunch-appropriate meal, and suitably made to enjoy dine-in or to go. It is a essentially a bundle of joy - a hot, steamed bun with glutinous rice, herbs, chicken and salted egg yolk (a Chinese friend told me it is essentially lo mai kai in a bun >.<)/  OMG I cannot get over the taste of it. I only had a quarter, but I kid you not, the bun was soft and supple (erk, that's a weird adjective to use on buns.. pun intended) the sticky rice and chicken was savoury, and the salted egg yolk was the surprise center. yummeeeehhh!!!! 

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The writer would like to stress that it is now 12.30 on a Saturday morning, and he hasn't had lunch and skipped breakfast and is now droooling at his own post >.<

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When it comes to choices of dim sum, there are many to choose from the menu. If you're a little lost at what to get, came with a couple of friends or simply have a big appetite, try Han's Yamcha Starter Set. This is the house favourite, serving the following dim sums:

Chicken Ham Roll

Seaweed Roll

Braised Chicken Wing

Century Egg Siew Mai

Chicken and Mushroom Siew Mai

and the chef's pick of the day.

Of course, you still have a choice to mix and match the individually priced dim sums from the menu.  Various condiments and dips are also available to dip the dim sums - I'm inclined to think that some dips complements a certain dim sum and do not work as well with others, but the only rule I follow is that if it taste good, it taste good. If not, try a different one. >.<  

Common kopitiam drinks are also available to wash down all those good food, or just order a pot of Chinese tea and shoot the breeze with your friends. 

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The writer would like to point out that he just realised Han's Dim Sum is less than 5 minutes drive from where he is currently at. There can be no doubt that he is going there for lunch >.<

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First of all, IF there are any spelling errors a.k.a typos, please forgive me. I'm a little tired from work - brain is basically so dead that even zombies would lose appetite! >.<

Last Sunday, after little dilly-dallying during lunch, me and my friends (a brother) included decided to go to the beach. The weather was just fine, a little windy but the sun was hiding behind the clouds.. PERFECT day to spend at the beach.. 

I can't remember when was the last time I went to the beach. To be honest, the drive turns me off. Yeah yeah, it's only half-an-hour or so according to some people... still, the road was bumpy... aaannnndddd.... if you happen to drive behind a slow driver, it can be a "dangerous" drive.. 

aaaaaaannnyyyywwaaaayysssss... we got there nonetheless.. and snapped a whole lot of pictures! This is my favourite!

Took it with Android SphereCam.. you can view the sphere here. 

SphereCam may not work properly on mobile devices. I suggest you go to your desktop and enjoy some of the spheres I took there instead.. 

An almost 360 Panorama of D'Cove

A new attraction : Whale Bone!

Ice Cream Goyang in the making! 

More spheres can be viewed here and here. These, however, are experimental and are epic fails!! hahaha!

Cheerss!! >.<

P/S : Sorry for the external links to the spheres.. I can't seem to be able to find out how to embed them into the post.. >.<

People who got stuck in loneliness have done  nothing wrong. None of us is immune to the feelings of isolation anymore than we are immune to the feelings of hunger or physical pain. 

John Cacioppo in his book Lonelinees.

We were out at the swimming pool, dipping and playing in the water after a hot day when at one point a friend came up and said "You must be in love." Perplexed at how he got the impression, I went of the defensive and asked "How did you come up with that conclusion?" He simply said "Because you looked lonely." 

I find myself pleasantly intrigued by how he associated being lonely and in love. "Loneliness," he went on to say, "in not the same as being alone, this being with others does not guarantee you to not feel lonely. It is also not the same as being cooped up and drowning yourself with guilt and fear and insecurity. Loneliness, real loneliness, is the want of intimacy." 

Describing loneliness as the want of intimacy really put things into perspective. I later discovered that this definition came from Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, a German psychiatrist contemporary to Sigmund Freud. Some of her notable publications was on Migraine, Stereotypies, and Domineering Mothers. Her theory on migraine, in particular, is.. 

..of the opinion that the symptom is produced when an unconscious hostile tendency is directed in particular at the destruction of an object's intelligence ("mental castration") and guilt feelings turn this tendency instead against one's own head'

(Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1946) p. 253.) 

I digress. Coming back to the topic of loneliness, it has been recently linked to bodily ailments as well as mental degeneration. Psycho-biologist can now show that loneliness sends misleading hormonal signals, disrupts the genes that governs behavior and causes other body system to malfunction and fall apart. Time and age, being the constant, also contributes to the physical effect of loneliness. Some of the diseases that are thought to be induced partly by loneliness is Alzheimer's, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and are also contributing factors to bad habits such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and drugs. 

Loneliness vary from person to person, just as taste vary from person to person. One would say that a lemon is pleasantly sour, helps to accentuate the taste of his food, while another would say that it is an unnecessary to his food and that the sourness blunts his appetite. There are introverted and extroverted people, as well as there are those who are in constant need for connection and those who don't seem to need friends at all.  

There are among us who are extremely lonely - not because of having too few friends or connections, but because they lack the social support that they require. It is not the quantity, but rather the quality of support - because loneliness can be treated through trust and intimacy. However, following the principle of natural selection and survival of the fittest, lonely people tend to be shunned away from the community for being perceived as weak, or suffer in silence to lead a life under false identity. 

These people are like walking time bombs - more sensitive than others to the pain of rejection. Their temperament is akin to that of a spoiled 5-year-old who would throw a temper-tantrum is his demand were not met. Similarly, shorter temper or passive-aggressive retaliation, cynical remark they consider as jokes, raised voice and self-preservation gestures such as folding the arms across the chest to protect himself. 

Biologically, their heart rate increases, stress hormones flood his body, body tissue swell up, and white blood cells swarm up in anticipation of a physical attack that never came. It would be harmless if this bouts of inflamed arousal dissipates quickly, but if kept for a prolonged period of time, the blood pressure levels would rise. Furthermore, because the body is kept at anticipating larger threats, part of the immune system that fends off smaller, more subtle threats began to fail, contributing to acquired allergies and periodical sickness. 

If we now know that loneliness, a social emotion, can reach into our body's biological system and cause disruptions and amok, what should we do about it? Change our view on health. Being healthy is not just about having a healthy body, but also having a healthy mind and emotion, and a healthy support society. Start small - reach out and seek those who can fulfill your social need, and in return do not shy away from those who seek you to fulfill their social need. Pay closer attention to the later, as you never know, you may heal your own loneliness as you heal theirs, and consequently be in love with each other.

Note : for further reading - The Lethality of Loneliness

Ever since it opened, I've always planted an intention to sit and try the food at Boardriders Cafe @ Sunset Avenue Plaza Merdeka, Kuching. I have to say, I was not disappointed. The other day for Iftar me and a couple of friends was able to try out one of the promotion, which as a main course, a soup and bottomless iced tea for RM 19.90 ++ (I'm sure the ++ was for any extra drinks or desserts and what not).

The list of main courses was not too overwhelming, among them was :

• Pineapple Chicken Curry with Butter Rice
• Clack Pepper Chicken Chop with Butter Rice
• Tuna Spaghetti Carbonara
• Turkey Ham and Cheese Sandwich
• Beef Pepperoni

My two good friends decided to try the Black Pepper Chicken Chop with Butter Rice. I had a bite, and boy the black pepper sauce was delicious. Not too strong, just nice. The colour and plating was nicely done, with plenty of fresh salad and tomatoes. Fortunately for me, my dear friends has a low liking towards vege so I had extra salad (which I was unable to finish in the end being too full after my own meal). 

I ordered the Tuna Spaghetti Carbonara because I am a fan of carbonara sauce. Mixed feeling here, because as much as I do enjoy it, the sauce was too thick and the tuna was too chunky to my liking. An extra spoon or two might help the dish too, I suppose. But the overall taste and presentation was delightful enough I cleaned my plate anyways (then again, a lot of people would say I clean my plate in spite of whatever). 

The three of us stayed and talked for a couple of hours over iced tea. The waiters were attentive enough to offer to refill our cups, our seat was cozy right by the window overlooking Padang Merdeka. I like how the cafe was setup to reflect the ambiance of an indoor surf joint, complete with surfboards! And for those who wants a quiet time to themselves, they even have a bar along with headphones so you can still retreat into your own world even if you forgot your earphones.

I managed to snap (and enhance here and there) a few photos. If you've never tried Boardriders Cafe before, do give it a go. I'm sure you'll fall in love instantly!

"Make new friends but keep the old, 

for these are silver and those are gold."

I'm not sure who came up with that quote, but it is one that I stood by. 10 years passed since I left secondary school. Some of my friends I haven't met since. Some kept in touch, and some are still best friends even.. no, especially after all these years. We're grown up men and women now, and lots of us are married and having kids. Blink after blink, lo and behold we're all uncles and aunties now. 

Along with the Ramadhan comes the annual gathering of friends. This year was no exception. It's as if a preliminary gathering in the breaking of fast, when come Aidilfitri a much bigger gathering is bound to happen. Even those who could not make it was mentioned and kept close to heart in best wishes. I find myself reminiscing on my bullies whom have grown into gentlemens with their wife and kids. Hatchets are buried, water under the bridge. Now we laugh at our silliness, not only in primary and secondary school, but also in the recent years when gatherings would occur and stories were exchanged. Truly, friendship, like gold, grows in value over time. 

Well - I'm gonna go on a limb here and post in my native language. 

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Malam tadik dapat jwak melepas rindu melepak ngan geng-geng skolah dolok. Ngembak sungkei, bukak posa.. lepak kejap, kak ya kt pulang, kata dirik nya tek... cek cek kol 10 jwak baruk angkat. Nak molah cerita kali nak? hahaha! 

Tok lah tempat bersejarah tahun tok. Makanan nang superb. Location cun (kat Greenroad, sebelah Cotton Button, Lock Ann.. sik jauh dari Celcom Center lamak). Urang pun sik rami - ka nang khas direserve k kita bekuku-kakah? hahaha! Aku sik ingat bila last ku tetak serenggak nyawa kedak malam tadik. 

Banyak di-order kmk org k makan. Badan yang datang 7 orang (plus a little girl and a baby yang sangat-sangat comel) tapi order bagei makan 10 orang. Ney gik dengan jagung susu ngan ABD gik. Tapi, nyaman senyaman-nyamannya. Aku yang alergik ngan seafood, boleh makan sampei 7 8 ekor udang (undang bak kata member sorang. Hahaha!) Besar-besar gik ya! Dalam banyak-banyak ya tek, center dishes adalah :

Daging Celebrity	Butter Prawn
Tom Yam

Geng-geng seperti biasa sangat kuku-kakah. Oleh kerana aku pun lamak dah sik melepak ngan geng-geng tok, banyak cerita yang miss. Tp sidak seperti biasa sangat sporting beguro-bersenda macam dolok marek. nang rioh la. Best jwak bila ada nembiak k ngalih cerita. Dapat tauk ada yang nak kawen dah ujong tahun tok. So next year, ada harapan la bilangan berganda-ganda.. Aku doa semoga dipermudahkan urusan ktk orang semua, amin.. 

Tok baruk preliminary round kata orang.. Tunggu raya kelak, in sya Allah, kita berkumpol rami-rami gik. ok?

I was never one to drink coffee.. until recently, that is.. Now I just can't seem to get enough. XD

If you're also an avid coffee drinker - or just generally enjoy western cuisine in a very western setting coffee shops, you'll love Bing! Here's a map of them on Foursquare. It is actually a neat place to just chill with friends, or a solitary coffee with a book and/or laptop (a handeld device - like a phone, is also good) for blogging and all. Quiet (at least on both occasions I went there) and very relaxed. It's almost like you're not in Kuching.

Chicken Panini

I've only been to 2 of the few Bing!s' here in Kuching, and not sure if it's strictly in Kuching or there are branches in other places. Since it's higly unlikely for me to travel anywhere anytime soon, I won't bother to check.

The first time my friend brought me to Bing! we went to the one at Premiere 101 Mall. It's round the corner facing the main road on the same building as the Korean Mart (i think). So I tried the Chicken Panini.. My friend had the Gourmet Burger.

Gourmet Burger

Food didn't take too long to come.. and they almost always come at the same time so we can all enjoy the meal together while it's still warm. They were very very delicious.

That was also the first time I tried a panini. Nothing too special about it really, but I do tend to exaggerate about stuffs. Especially food. And this panini, being the first, is just divine. The mustard was the best I've had so far.. Mayonaise and tomato sauce were nothing special. XD

I forgot what I had for drinks. Didn't snap it at the time.. probably something with caffein. I remembered it being served with a cookie on the side.. Caramel Machiato.. yeap.. that's what I had for drinks. I forgot what my friend had tho.. Hold on.. lemme think......... nope.. nothing.. XD

A few weeks later (last Sunday to be exact) we went once more to Bing! This time at Jalan Lapangan Terbang - opposite mainroad side of Fourpoints. I thought maybe I'll have the burger this time.. or something else.. When we got there, I went and ordered pasta instead. Like, I can't remember the name, but it was the healthiest pasta ever. Spinach chicken something something (I like to eat but never really bothered about the name of the food). Anyone know?

I had an ice blended to drink this time. Again with caffein. Loved the whipped cream topping! XD

I would really recommend Bing! as a good hangout place. Just have a rather deep pocket. Price range is comparable to that of Starbucks.

Me and my friend had a great time talking and hanging out here. So far it's just a mellow pair of dudes, but I look forward to a time when I could collect everyone and hang out in a big group we came across the second time we hung out. Maybe y'all could join in too!