Captain America: Winter Soldier: right direction, not there yet....

Out of the whole Avengers list, Captain America and Hulk are my least favourite characters. Heck, I thought Fury is more interesting than them. One is just green muscle and rage while the other, the over-patriotism is just over-kill. However, the first Captain America movie, was in fact a nice adaptation that kept me wanting more. As much as I dislike Cap, the movie made it bearable, and led me to look forward to the next movie. The ending sequence which led to Cap being frozen is still fresh on my mind, with his emotional laden speech as he plunge to his frozen grave.

In the comic world, noone can be left to rest in peace (even character in pieces can be resurrected). Winter Soldier follows as Captain America awaken in the current generation, enlisted by SHIELD for its ops. Along his way, he discovered that SHIELD is not what its seems, and there are traitors among them. This set in motion the plan to hunt him down. Assisting him this round is Black Widow and Falcon. Throw in the super-villain, Winter Soldier, a ruthless mercenary for hire and a plan to destory/ control the world, and you have the formula to a good super-hero movie. Throw in some layers of character development and we will have a better show.

Chris Evans is getting comfortable for his third outing as Captain America. It is comforting to see him blend to the character, and it would not be long before we associate him to Cap, as Robert Downey Jr to Ironman. I prefer Scarlett Johansson portrayal of Black Widow this round, and the rest of the supporting character played their parts well. The chemistry between everyone is just nice, though Anthony Mackie's Falcon felt more like a sidekick here with the cheesy lines.

The action, at times felt bit blurred, but is enough to kept us on the edge of our seats. The fight scenes involving Winter Soldier using a short knife is innovative and exciting. The CGI is limited in this show, mostly involving the big carrier craft in the end, and the fights between Falcon and the fighter jets.

Seems like the whole show should work. It is in the right direction, more character development, reasonable action instead of mindless ones. Right casting to fit the character. And the script this round does help a lot, as this felt more like a spy movie than a super hero movie. There are so many spy movies with the usual agent-betrayed-higher conspiracy kind of shows. However, it is still far from being a good spy story. From the introduction of characters, one would know that who is the ultimate villain here. There is also lack of memorable moments. I bet few weeks down the line, I would just remember Winter Soldier as an entertaining movie but would forget the details. Still, I have no regrets paying the tickets though.

ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: stay for the 2 end credits teaser trailer. Now, am looking forward for Age of Ultron.

Cendol Padang Ipoh: new twist to favourite cendol

cendol with durian

 I  love a good bowl of cendol. I could still remember enjoying a nice bowl of cendol pulut in Klang or sitting in Donald n Lily for cendol with gula melaka. Of course, the usual day by day cendol is good enough to withstand my cendol withdrawal symptoms, and once in a while we would find a cendol gem here in our backyard. One of the stall which remain my favourite is the one near KK Pasir Pinji, just beside the road. However, more often than not, we will always find the usual mediocre ones or worse, the ones with expensive price with just a mouthful of cendol.

So, one fine night, while cruising around in the area of Ipoh field, me and Colleen chance upon this small shop. The weather was super hot, so we could not resist the temptation of a bowl of cendol although the place appeared deserted at 8pm. Cendol Padang Ipoh is just beside the Ipoh field near St Michael school. These shops used to be office to lawyers, engineers and so on before the renovated the place for eateries. Situated in old town, in the same row as Hong Kong bank, this is the row of old shops which face the field directly. The same row of shops accommodates Old Town White Coffee, and used to hold a famous steamboat shop. This row of shops, once upon a time, is very happening, busy with many people. Some person must have meddle with the fengshui which led to the place changed into a quiet row of old shops.

Back to the cendol shop, my guess this shop used to have banana leaf rice during in the daytime, while the cendol opens from day until night. Eating cendol here is as if eating roti canai in the new mamak shop which offers 71 type of roti canai. There are no 71 flavours of cendol here, but enough choices to have me wishing to try everything. There are the usual cendol pulut, with kacang or jagung. There are also some premium cendol which the combination is creative. I would love to try the cendol with Oreo, but since there are cendol durian in the list, my choice is obvious. The cendol itself is nothing to shout about. It is definitely not the best I ever tasted. The cendol amount is rather average, but more than some places which charges sky high price. The taste is not bad, but the sugar is left me rather unsatisfied. Nothing beats a cendol with good gula melaka. However, the combination is the one which is nice. The durian meat is generous, blended rather well with the cendol. I have to say, they should promote more cendol durian in other places as well as I could see this combination being a favourite among locals.

cendol with corn

To be fair, if I am a purist, this would not even be my top ten place for cendol in Ipoh. However, given the new creative new twist to cendol, I would love to come again. At least until I finish trying all the cendol in the premium selection.

ratings: 3 poink!
comments: cendol durian, cendol Oreo. What else could I ask for?

Rainbow Cafe: hit and miss, worth a try

comfortable seatings

spacious tables

Groupon definitely allow me to try new places. If not for the cheaper voucher, it will probably take me way longer to decide to come here. Rainbow cafe is actually very very near my house. It is just behind McD Gunung Rapat. The exact location for local is right behind the building which used to house Burger King. Yes, there used to be Burger King in Ipoh, but it was a miscalculation to open the joint next to McD. Clearly, it is not the king of burger in Ipoh, at least. Rainbow cafe occupies the building the house Station One. Yes, there used to be Station One in Gunung Rapat too, but given my past bad experience with the franchise, I tried to avoid it as much as I can.

white chocolate drink

As far as I can recall, they use back the same deco and the stage for singers. Expect the regular same comfortable setting. The staff is fairly attentive, given the place is not full at all. However, some of them appeared to be foreign worker, which made it rather impossible to ask about the details of each dish.

The menu is as expected. It is a hybrid between kopitiam/ pseudo-western (means, chop, steak and pasta with local twist)/ local - Chinese. There is also shadow of pseudo cha-chan-ting style of food and drink of Hong Kong. Basically, it is a rather rojak kind of menu. The advantage of such menu is that everyone would could try different things, though jackof-all-trade; master-of-none.

kuai fa mee 

mexican chicken chop

The first drink that arrived to my table is my white chocolate drink (RM6.90). Yup, white chocolate. It taste rather milky, reminiscent of white chocolate. However, being rather sweet, it just tasted bit weird for my liking. Mum-in-law ordered "kuai fa" mee, osmanthus yee mee, It tasted rather average, the prawns were surprisingly fresh. It is still pale compare to any of the "tai-chow" stall, but for a cafe, it lives up to expectation. On its own, it tasted bit plain, but add the sambal chilli, the whole dish tasted better. The heat, "wok-hei" of the dish is better than what I expected, and not so oily as well. The chef recommended Mexican chicken chop (RM 15.90) was very nice on the first bite, but somehow the excitement dies down towards the end of the dish. The chicken was marinated well, rather juicy and grilled to my liking. However, the Mexican style sauce, and spice is bit heavy on pepper, which is not my favourite. On addition to that, I felt the dish was rather salty. Despite all my critiques, the Hawaiian Chicken chop (RM 13.90) is the surprise hit. The sauce, using mayo with a tinge of pineapple is nicely done. Not too salty, enough sourness to lift the chicken chop to another level. However, I would prefer the chicken chop to be grilled rather deep fried. Both the chicken chop dishes are served with a generous helping of potato wedges and mixed vegetables.

hawaiian chicken chop

Without the voucher, I would say the price is high-normal, which is still acceptable. The food has its hit and miss, but given a choice, I would still come here rather than Old Town White Coffee.

open for lunch, dinner, supper
ratings: 2 half poink!
comments: I sincerely hope that the cafe will survive and break all the curse that plague that small area. Many eateries had tried their luck but ended up closing down.

Just Deriss: boutique cafe in Kampar? Just amazing~!

Boutique cafe, hip cafe, designer cafe or whatever you may call it; this are the places associated with big towns where the young adults have much more spending power. Where else would you get an expensive designer coffee whose price could easily buy a full meal for a table in the local friendly mamak stall? The price however, as some may argue, include the experience of having a cozy meal in a comfortable surroundings.

Hidden in the old town of Kampar, Just Deriss is a relatively young entry to the makan scene in Kampar. Located in Jalan Idris (the road parallel to the main Ipoh-Kampar- KL trunk road) in old town, it is just right beside EuYanSang. No big and colourful signboard, blink and you may even miss the place. Do not judge a book by the cover, therefore, do not judge a shop by the signboard. As plain as outside could be, once I step inside, I am in a totally different world.

A similarity in between all the recent boutique cafe is the obsessions of objects of yesterday.Think Burps and Giggles or Kedai Tiga Lima in Ipoh. Just Deriss is very nicely decorated, complete with an old bicycle on the wall, old TV, cupboard for diningware and even a signpost in the middle of the shop. This reminded me not to throw anymore similar things away from my house, as my dad own way older objects than any other cafe. (I have yet to see a similar kerosene fan elsewhere, and I have a functional old clock where I have to wind nearly every 2 weeks). I am seated in a secondary school chair and desk, which reminded me of my ACS days. Luckily my long feet are able to fit below the desk comfortably. The staffs are very friendly. The lady boss (I assume she is the boss) gently reminded me that the menu is on the board mounted on the wall.


First, there are a whole list of coffee. I still do not understand paying so much for a cup of coffee, therefore, I always go for something simple. The food choice was......bit disappointing, as there was not many choice. Less than the fingers on both my hand. So, choosing food here is by exclusion rather than my appetite.There is only one Asian noodle dish so Colleen ordered the white Penang curry mee (RM5.90). It may look plain, as there are not many other ingredients inside the bowl except mee, a fishball, tauhu and probably one or two other piece of accompanying ingredients. However, the taste is definitely better than My Kuali instand noodle version. I could not recall whether I tried the authentic Penang version, but this is as good as I imagine it to be. Despite the white colour, it is not as "lemak" as I expect, which is a healthy choice. It is bit mild on the spice side, I wish it could be bit hotter. Then again, I have high tolerance for spicy food. I, on the other hand, went for something simpler, and order the egg and ham sandwich (RM5.90). Served with a crispy charcoal bun, the sandwich is one of the better ones that I had ever tried. The egg and the ham blended in really good with the dressing, which I guess is a cross in between mayo and thousand island. Looks can be deceiving, it may look simple, but the taste is ever satisfying.

Do come here for a comfortable and nice meal. The food definitely taste good, and relatively reasonably priced. The deco is a plus point. The drinks, on the other hand, is higher priced.  Then again, this come from a local guy who regularly visit the local mamak and market for food and drink.

ratings: 2 half poink!
comments: would give it a higher rating is there are more choices of food. I would gladly come here again.

Open for lunch, dinner, and early supper.

300 Rise of an Empire: still an alpha male tale

I love 300; I thought it was tastefully done, as if I was reading the graphic novel. When I saw the trailer of Rise on an Empire last year, it brought back memories and I was looking forward to see the naval battle instead of land. However, once I found out it was not Zack Snyder who direct, but Noam Murro, I was bit disappointed. After all, I enjoyed most of Snyder's work (including Sucker Punch, though not Man of Steel) but never heard of Murro yet. Never mind, I told myself; I would still gladly pay to watch this.

300 was a simple alpha male tale of 300 Spartan warrior and their King standing against huge Persian amry led by God King Xerxes. Of course, they all died in the end but it was a magnificent battle, none the less.  Rise of an empire is not a sequel but a story running concurrent with 300. It did gave an insight into how Xerxes came to his level of tyranny and madness, and it was a interesting side story. While Xerxes was fighting Spartan, his navy commander Artemesia attempted to battle the rest of Greece in the sea. Only Athean general Themistokles and his small fleet stood in between her and Greece. Expect the usual early victory, middle fall and defeat and rise back to final victory. No surprise there in the storyline department.


The action sequence is great, at least in the beginning. Very picturesque and artistically done in the beginning, very MTV style. However, reaching the end of the movie, I felt "jelak" with the same style used over and over again. Too much blood splatter around and too much use of slo-mo in between action sequence. By the way, the CG was good except of the blood splatter everytime limbs/ heads/ torso was cut. The action sequences are good, though the star of the show is the tactical naval battle which is not just hit/punch/cut/arrows. All the girls will go ga-ga over all the muscular actors, however, I must say Eva Green, one of the only 2 female in the whole show, carried her role very well. She looks gorgeous at the same time, but was believable as the vengeful general who will stop at nothing to burn Greece to ashes. Sullivan Stapleton was OK as the male lead, though I still find the Spartan more macho. After all, he is still an Athean. Or maybe he goes around talking about democracy. Or maybe it is just the missing beard. Hmmmm...


This round, they tried injecting more layers into the story, which works to a certain extent. The confusion on democracy, the power of freedom, the history of Xerxes. However, it is still an alpha male story. Muscles, actions, fighting for freedom, etc. Did I enjoyed it? Yes, I did, though not as much as 300. Now I hope there is third movie....

ratings: 3 poink!
comments: now, I must look for the graphic novel....and as much as the Athean is the hero, it is still the Spartan who saves the day in the end, "THIS IS SPARTA!!!!"