Visit Sarawak Year 2014 Media Campaign Launch

Posted on By sweet surrender 5 Comments on Visit Sarawak Year 2014 Media Campaign Launch

Soo… I will be away on the ultimate Sarawak+Brunei road trip of my life with CatsFM starting tomorrow lasting 8 days.

Why is this happening? This is because next year will be Visit Sarawak Year 2014. Starting now, there will be lots of campaign promoting Sarawak to the world and I’m happy and glad to be able to be a part of it.


I took lots of photos of the launch and a videos of the theme song but guess what?!!? The ultimate blur queen, me, accidentally deleted all the photos and video. What left are these you see here…


Attention to people in Sri Aman (18/11, 12.15pm), Sibu (19/11, 9am), Mukah (20/11, 12.15pm), Bintulu (21/11, 9am), Miri (22/11, 3pm), Brunei (23/11, 2pm & 24/11, 8pm), and Limbang (24/11, 9am & 1pm), spot this car for the Perodua Rangers activities by CatsFM around the town and get some freebies ok? 😉


Biaramas buses that are “dressed up” to promote VSY 2014 will be seen throughout Borneo. Too bad we won’t be traveling on this bus for this trip.


Minister of Housing and Minister of Tourism Sarawak Datuk Amar Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg was there at Merdeka Plaza for the launch.

There might be live updates from me during the road trip via my Twitter or in this blog if I can find the time and the opportunity to do it. Do follow me if you want and do Like my FB page – Irene Law – Sweet Surrender as I will organize a giveaway contest after I got back from my trip because there’s more than 100 Likes already.

Going Places, Land of the Hornbills - Sarawak, Public Events, Uniquely Kuching

Adidas First Flagship Store in Kuching

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I’ve been so busy these days. So many things need to settle before going off on an ultimate road trip discovering Sarawak and Brunei starting next Monday. Will talk more about it when the time come.


This post today is about the first Adidas Flagship Store in Kuching. The launching was this afternoon. Honoured to be able to be there to witness the launch.



The store is located at CityOne, ground floor, just next to Metrojaya. I’m sure Adidas fans in Kuching will be very happy.


Guess who were there? Fay Hokulani was there to grace the opening. Very fit and pretty girl. She’s the ambassador for Adidas Malaysia and Kuching. Currently she’s also one of the faces for #mygirls campaign in Southeast Asia.

Lastly, short video of the dance performance during the launch.

Public Events, Uniquely Kuching

Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 6

Posted on By sweet surrender 2 Comments on Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 6

Last part of Melaka trip. We finally found Rong Mao Dim Sum (32, Jalan Tukang Emas, 75200 Melaka) after asking the local people there. We almost gave up and just wanted to go to any Nyonya eatery for breakfast.

It’s located opposite Masjid Kampung Kling. This mosque doesn’t look like a mosque, more like Chinese temple that’s why we didn’t notice it even though we passed by it so many times! Also, it’s undergoing restoration, many constructions signboards were setup around it, so we didn’t see the name of the building.





The food we had, don’t quite remember what they were. Only remember some of the names tofu skin, lotus leaf rice (RM2.80), cha siew pao (RM1.20), buttermilk/custard pao (RM1) and various type of dim sum. The dim sum starts at RM2/plate.

You get free flow of Chinese tea in pot and you can refill it as many time as you want, self-service, RM1/person. There’s different type of tea leaves to choose from too.

Overall experience, it wasn’t bad. Great place for family to gather. Even though the shop is old, it’s quite clean and well-maintained. Very friendly people too.


Left: This is the mosque opposite Rong Mao Dim Sum called Masjid Kampung Kling. Make sure you find this mosque then you will find the dim sum place.

Right: Another temple found at Jonker area. In fact, there’s many temples around the area.


Various Chinese associations are there too.


For lunch, we decided to give the shop next to Jonker 88 a try. They are definitely overshadowed by Jonker 88. It’s called QQ Ice(86, Jalan Hang Jebat, 75200, Melaka, Melaka, 75200).

Left: Nasi Lemak with Rendang Chicken (small – RM5). Hmmm… I don’t know… I had better ones in Kuching and Adelaide before. Maybe I’m not used to Melaka styled nasi lemak.

Right: Yong Tau Fu Mee (small – RM4), this is really… I just can’t put it in words. Can’t stand the yellow mee, so bitter. Had hard time finishing it. Never like yellow mee being cooked this way.


Left: Wantan soup (small -RM3), edible but nothing special.

Right: Mango Cendol (RM4), ah… Ok… Don’t think I want to repeat what I said in previous posts about the ice dessert. At least of all the dishes in this shop, this is the best *LOL*


Lastly, some Nyonya kueh (RM1/each) found at one of the Nyonya eateries near our hotel.

That’s the end of my Melaka trip. Next up will be Port Dickson.

Food Porn, Going Places, Melaka, The West Side

Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 5

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on Melaka Trip (6-7 Sept 2013) – Part 5

Evening approached, the night market at Jonker Street started.

Bought this coconut shake, refreshing, tasted not bad but I think they’re using old coconut for it. The bits and pieces of the coconut flesh was quite tough. Don’t remember how much it was.This is not the original one. I was expecting it see scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and made on spot but they just took it from the back of the stall. Rather disappointing. The original one is at Klebang.



Some views of the market, very happening, lots to see and eat.


We decided to have our dinner at one of the shops. I did not take note of the name but shouldn’t be too hard to locate as it’s located along with other food stalls.


This is the only place selling Portuguese-Style Sambal Lala and other seafood (I think…) which they cook it outside of the shop. Tried the fried chicken wings too. All the food was not so bad, not ultimately tasty but they’re good enough. The sambal lala was spicy enough, sour and sweet too while the fried chicken wings was tender and juicy.


We also tried the little crabs. Don’t mistaken it for soft-shell crabs. The crabs were deep fried and sprinkled with chili powder, great to go with beer. Very crispy.

Price wise, I don’t remember how much were all of them as I wasn’t the one who made the order. Rest assure that it’s reasonably priced.

Basically we just spent our the whole night walking around the market and bought some local produce and souvenirs.

The next morning, we went out for a walk and tried to locate the dim sum shop which I read online. The followings are places we’ve passed by in order to locate Rong Mao Dim Sum.





MY GOSH! I couldn’t believe that we went round and round and round for I think more than 5 rounds trying to locate it yet it’s just on our right side but we kept taking the left turning. Why on earth none of us thought of the right turning? Anyway, we found the place and will blog about it more in the next post.

Food Porn, Going Places, Melaka, The West Side

The Journey, Coming 30th Jan 2014

Posted on By sweet surrender No Comments on The Journey, Coming 30th Jan 2014

Aiks… The 4th day of November, 2013 is ending real soon! Was rather occupied last week. Finally get to update this post now.

Last Friday, I was invited to interview The Journey’s director and watched the documentary of The Journey known as End Credits at GSC CityOne. It was also one eventful night that got me so damn stress out and almost cried my way home while driving. Long story cut short, I was not only lost in CityOne but also when I was on my way home. ARG!! That moment, all I think of was if only I have a bf then I don’t even have to be so lost! I know… I know… Crazy thoughts… Totally unrelated *LOL*

Anyway, back to the main topic.

This is Director Chiu Keng Guan and I with the novel inspired by the movie, The Journey. You know how usually movie is made based on a novel but this is the other way round.

Let’s talk about the making first, End Credits. Was lucky to be one of them to watch it.

The making of the Nation Movie tells a remarkable tale of how a group of golden-agers with no professional experience in acting ended up playing leading roles in the much-anticipated movie, which is directed by Chiu Keng Guan. To keep a record of their life-changing experience, Astro is pleased to present “End Credit”, a 90-minute documentary directed by Bak Chee Hong. The documentary captures the behind the scene moments of how the elder actors, namely Uncle Frankie (an art enthusiast in real life), Uncle Khong (an avid bird photographer), Uncle Meng (a sports enthusiast) and Uncle Huat (an owner of beef noodle stall), acted out their roles with passion and heart.

Film production might seem like a wild dream to most of the people, yet, there was this group of elders chose to go beyond their age limits, and marched on to realize their aspirations. Most of the retirees have never involved in acting or film production before. Their dedication and perseverance were highly driven by their hearts filled with passion. Their over-brimming energy serves as the best testimony showing that age is nothing but a number.

It’s so heart-warming and close to our heart. Tears inducing too! I am very sure Malaysians will be able to relate to it very well. I’m sure the movie would be even more awesome! Looking at how everyone, young and old, all involved in the movie making, it was amazing! Kudos to all those who took part in the production.


Now, let’s go to the movie, The Journey.

The movie incorporates motifs such as family, friendship and cultural values in a light-hearted and heart-warming approach for audiences of all ages, featuring 73-year-old amateur actor Frankie Lee, winner of Miss Astro Chinese International Pageant 2007 Joanne Yew, and Australian stage actor Ben Pfeifer.

The story revolves around a conservative father who reluctantly agrees to his daughter’s marriage to a Caucasian man and insists to host a traditional Chinese wedding for the sake of his reputation to celebrate this union. Together with his son-in-law to-be, he then embarks on a road trip around Peninsular Malaysia to send invitation cards by hand. Along the journey, their strained relationship undergoes a subtle change.

While setting against the backdrop of picturesque landscape at Cameron Highlands, Penang, Kedah, Melaka, to name a few, The Journey also intersperses portrayals of uniquely local Chinese culture and lifestyles such ‘Pai Ti Kong’ (Worship of Heaven) at the Clan Jetty, Penang, and the Chingay Parade in Johor.

Chiu also revealed that Astro has a plan to host gala premieres for The Journey in each and every state of the country simultaneously in January 2014.

The highlight of the movie is the hot air balloon. It’s handmade by all those in the production and guess what it’s made of? Plastic bags and cellophane tape!

In End Credits, looking at their perseverance and dedication just to make the balloon fly moved me to tears! They failed many times. Imagine such hard work, making the balloon and when you wanted to get it to fly, it was torn while going up and damaged even more when it got hooked on the basketball net and tore even further when they brought it down. The balloon is 80 feet tall and with the width of 50 feet! 100% handmade by common people! At the end, finally when it can be flown, two uncles managed to take a ride on it for the sake of the movie.

All the settings were not just setups but it’s real events (Pai Ti Kong in Penang and Chingay Parade at Johor), there’s no rest for them during Chinese New Year too. The shooting went on in order to capture the real atmosphere of Malaysia’s unique celebrations.

If you would like to watch it, be sure to mark your calender, 30th January 2014, CNY’s eve, at major cinemas in Malaysia. I highly recommended it.

Entertainment Snippets