Month: August 2010

New York City: Food Guide – Part II

This entry marks the last entry of my New York City 2010 series. Finally!

Cafe Sabarsky

I found this place through the recommendation of Yelp (popular social media website in the US). I was searching for a good place to eat around the Met Museum and this place was highly recommended by some people.

This Viennese café is located inside the Neue Galerie’s museum. The cafe is not visible from outside but you can see it once you enter the museum.


Although the cafe is quite small, the atmosphere was really, really nice.


fourfeetnine and TimothyTiah!


Latte to kick start my meal 😀


Sabarsky Heiße Schokolade (House made Viennese Hot Chocolate with
Whipped Cream) :D~~~~~~~~


Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut & Röstkartoffeln (Roasted Sausage with Riesling Sauerkraut, Roasted Potatoes & Dijon). Izz zoooo zesmalllll


Apple strudel here is highly recommended. Looks awesome. Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of cooked fruits. Hence the apple strudel tasted so-so for me.

Address
Neue Gallerie
1048 5th Ave
New York, NY 10028
Website: http://www.cafesabarsky.com/

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Magnolia Bakery

This bakery was featured in numerous movies and sitcoms – recently being Sex in the City.

This bakery has a few outlets around New York City and the one that I went was not the one featured in Sex in the City.

The highlight of this bakery is their cupcakes.

I think it was so-so. It was a little bit too sweet for me. But if you’re a big fan of cupcakes and have a sweet tooth, do try this.

Address
1240 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Website: http://www.magnoliabakery.com/

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Burger Joint @ Le Parker Meridien

On my last night in New York City, Raymond said he will bring me to a place to eat burger. He brought us to an office building and I was wondering where could this burger place be. He then lead us to one small corridor and voila! a burger joint! It is tucked in a small part of Le Parker Meridien!

The interior, of course, was not fantastic. In fact, it was quite messy. The walls were scribbled with writings and there were left over food strewed here and there. We even had to clean the place ourselves.

However,the burgers were awesome! Many thanks again to Raymond for buying us supper!

According to many reviews, Burger Joint serves one of the best burgers in the city. Do try it out when you’re in NYC!

Other reviews
DMANBURGER “Burger Joint at Le Parker Meridien Hotel

Website: http://www.parkermeridien.com/eat4.php

Address
119 W 56th St,
New York‎

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Bloom’s Delicatessen & Restaurant

Sarah brought me to this place on my last day in New York City. According to her, this is a “crew joint”. That means a place frequent by steward and stewardesses.

The reason she brought me here was to try out this restaurant’s breakfast set. She said the food is good and huge. I usually have no problem in eating large meals but the breakfast in Brooms brought me down to my knees. It was huge!!

I had this breakfast set called Lumberjack – came with pancakes, eggs and bacon. There were 3 slides of pancakes and the pancakes were as big as capati!!

After my second piece of pancake, I surrendered. My “bottomless stomach” does have its limits. Those who wishes to try this, I would recommend you to share it with a friend unless you’re 130KGs.

Website: http://www.bloomsnewyorkdeli.com/

Address
350 Lexington Avenue,
New York, NY,
United States‎

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That’s all folks!

Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival!

[Advertorial]

2010 is whizzing by so quickly that more than half a year has gone past and only 4 more months left! AAAA

Time for my resolution-check!

One of my key resolutions that I set for 2010 was to save enough money for a house.

To achieve my goal, for starters I had…
1. Cut down on unnecessary travelling (except for business trips) – CHECK
2. Diligently save 30%-40% of my monthly income – CHECK
3. I continued to write blog advertorials – CHECK
4. Entered Enter contests to win cash prizes or win any items deemed attractive to my eyes – ???

Although I’ve been keeping tabs on my money, there are times when I just had to splurge simply for the sake of contributing to the country’s economic growth which is not such a bad thing!

That time has come, the moment I’ve been waiting for…the annual Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival is finally here! Time to stock up my parents’ birthday gifts, gf’s Christmas gift and new pair of working shoes! ho ho ho

The country’s biggest sale carnival (running from 24th July to 16th September) brings you an array of bargains from home grown products, funky fashion-wear, and the latest gadgets to affordable holiday packages and the best part is that many of the retail goods are tax exempted or duty free. You don’t need to fly all the way to Langkawi or Labuan just for duty free shopping!


Or to Bandung


and buy ciplak stuff 😛


Or to outlet stores at New York 😛

And come back with a huge credit card debt :O Took me months to clear off my NYC trip credit card debt -_-

To add to the excitement, there are several contests running in conjunction with Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival. One is by MasterCard, the official card of Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival 2010 which will be rewarding its cardholders with attractive weekly prizes worth up to RM100,000 through its ‘MasterCard Spend and Win Programme’. Every week for eight weeks, MasterCard cardholders will stand a chance to win a MasterCard Priceless Eco travel package to East Malaysia. Aside from this priceless experience, MasterCard will also be giving away two Apple iPad 3G, weekly for eight weeks. ZOMG I WANT TO WIN AN IPAD!!!

Off the streets, you can put your creativity to the test with the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival Website Contest by Tourism Malaysia. Capture your ‘I love to shop in Malaysia’ moment in a 3-minute video clip and stand a chance to win prizes worth up to RM10,000! In order to join the contest, participants are required to be a fan of www.facebook.com/shopmalaysia, done by clicking ‘like’ at ShopMalaysia’s Facebook page. Participants must also have a registered account with YouTube for the purpose of uploading video entries. To enter, the video must be uploaded onto YouTube and the Link, be submitted through the online form posted in the ShopMalaysia’s website, www.shopmalaysia.my. From the 24th August to 30th September 2010, all videos submitted during the one-month long promotion will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The videos will be judged based on performance, cinematic appeal, editing, creativity, and viewing frequency on Youtube.

Back to my to-do list item No.4, I will try my luck on swiping my MasterCard (with cautious of course) because I WANT TO WIN AN IPAD!!!

Penang: 1 Night Trip: Mama One Ton Mee

I found this place while roaming randomly around Penang. The first thing that caught my attention was their signboard stating, “Mama One Ton Mee – since 1960”. The words “Since 1960” caught my attention. If they’ve been around so long, they must be good!

Mama One Ton Mee is located at Lorong Susu. It’s a small shop that serves solely wan tan mee but with a few variety. It seems that they specialize in wan tan mee.

I decided to depart from the usual Penang hawker food i.e char kuey teow and prawn mee and choose wan tan mee instead. I’ve never seen anyone raving about Penang wan tan mee.


I ordered roasted pork wan tan mee.

It was not bad! The noodles very springy and the dumplings were tasty!

I did a search on the internet and I was surprised that I couldn’t find any local blogs talking about this place. The only website that I found was actually Japanese blog. Check it out here

It is just a street away from Lorong Selamat. If you’re tired of the usual fried kuey teow and cendol, do head to Lorong Susu for awesome Wan Tan Mee!

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Penang: 1 Night Trip

My colleague had to travel overseas hence she sought my help in a case she has in Penang.

We usually fly a day earlier before our case. Court starts at 830am nowadays and it makes no sense to wake up extremely early to travel. Also, if the flight is delayed, we’ll be screwed big time as our case may be struck off for non attendance.

When I arrived in Penang, one of my clients picked me up from the airport with his Mercedes Benz CLK and then bought me dinner. Most awesome client evaaaaa!

I stayed in Traders Hotel in the city. Although Traders Hotel is not known to be a haunted the hotel like the one nearby, the thought of it gave me the creeps. Having something whispering to my ears or sitting on me or flying around in the room is not something I want to see before I go to Court :s

Penang Supreme Court Building looks bloody awesome. It was built in 1903 and refurbished recently.


Dome at the High Court building. Apparently this dome was hidden for many years until they found it recently.


The Bar room. Place for lawyers to hang out.

It took me a while to find my Court room as it was my first time there. When I found it, I loudly greeted the staff there, “GOOD MORNING!!!”.

The staff’s eyes were wide open. I was puzzled for a few seconds and then I realised that Court was in session! The Judge was sitting there already! FML!

Fortunately, the Judge ignored me. *phew*

Although my matter was a chamber matter (that means its a case to be heard in the Judge’s room/chamber), my matter was heard in open court. I had to sit through loads of boring cases..zzz

After Court, I had 5 hours to kill before my flight. I was alone but nevertheless wanted to roam around to eat Penang food.

When I asked what is there to eat in Penang on Twitter and Facebook, I was bombarded with answers!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the places they recommended and ended up roaming aimlessly around Penang.

After roaming around for 20 minutes, I spotted a signboard stating, “Mama One Ton Mee – since 1960”. Will blog about this place later.

After having a bowl of Wan Tan Mee, I tried walking back to my hotel and got a little bit lost. Somehow I ended up in Lorong Selamat and end up having…


a bowl of Cendol


a bowl of ABC


and a plate of fried char kuay teow. Prawns on steroids. Damn big.

After that, I wanted to have a bowl of prawn noodles but I had to catch my flight back to KL. :s

Trip back to KL was uneventful. As usual, upon touchdown, I headed straight to the office to work. Aahh.. lifee as a lawyeer..

Asian Blogger & Social Media Conference @ Times Square Hotel

I was invited as a panelist in the panel discussion of this two-day conference at Times Square Hotel. The invitation to be a panel member was quite last minute. I only gave in my confirmation letter and profile 2 days before the conference.

I couldn’t attend the first day of the conference because I had another talk to give. It was a rather stressful week. I had to give 3 talks in 3 consecutive days. Fortunately, the 3 days went well.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir gave the opening address. I heard it was quite out of topic.

The event was featured in the Malay Mail the next day. I realised that my photograph was on the conference banner. I didn’t even send the conference organisers my photograph!

Thank god I wasn’t wearing the same shirt. *phew*

The panel discussion was the last event of the conference. Other panel members were the honourable Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, Niki Cheong, Kenny Sia, Kinkybluefairy and a few others. The topic for discussion was Freedom of Speech. The moderator proposed that each speaker give their views on this topic for 5 minutes before opening the floor for Q&A. I was shocked! I wasn’t prepared for it at all!


At this point, Kinkybluefairy said to me, “F**k, what am i supposed to say??”

The moderator called up names randomly by picking pieces of papers inside his pocket. It felt like back in school again. It was like waiting in line to be caned in school!

Then when it came to my turn, I confessed to the crowd that I wasn’t prepared for the speech at all.

Fortunately, my past talks on Blogging and Law and also article on Social Media and the Law helped me to fill up the 5 minutes that I was supposed to fulfill.

Some twitterers complained that our session wasn’t a panel discussion at all. I thought this would turn around when they open the floor for discussion.

Unfortunately, VIP of the day, Federal Territory Minister Raja Nong Raja Chik came early and the discussion had to be cancelled.

The organiser was nice enough to give me a token of appreciation. I was invited to the stage to receive the token presented by the FT Minister.


The Minister – I shook his hand when I went to the stage to collect my token. His handshake was rather soft. Not something I expect from a Minister. HE SHOULD HAVE CRUSHED MY HAND!

Overall, it was a good event. Wish I had spent longer time there!

[Picture credits to TianChad!]

Data Protection and the Internet

My article on data protection on the internet was published in The Star newspaper on 5 August 2010. Unfortunately, they changed my title to Personal Data and the Law. It was originally Data Protection and The Internet. My article was only in respect of internet and not the law in general!! Wtf!!!

Anyway, here’s a reproduction of the article which is obtained from here.

Personal data and the law

Putik Lada
By FOONG CHENG LEONG

As the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 will be in force any time soon, data users are advised to be familiar with, and to start adhering to, its principles.

THE Personal Data Protection Act 2010 that is set to be enforced regulates the collection of personal data by parties for commercial transactions and will change the way we do business.

In brief, personal data is defined as any information that relates directly or indirectly to a data subject, who is identified or identifiable from that information or from that and other information in the possession of a data user.

A data user is basically the party using the personal data of an individual, which is referred to as data subject in the Act.

Personal data may take various forms and may be a name combined with other information, passport/identity card number, telephone number, photograph, fingerprint, or DNA.

A name itself cannot be personal data as there may be many individuals with the same name. However, where the information is combined with other information such as an address, this may be sufficient to identify an individual.

Unfortunately, the Act is only limited to personal data in respect of commercial transactions. Social media networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, and foreign website owners are not subject to the Act.

This limits the type of personal data that are protected, for example, intimate photographs of individuals. As such data is normally not collected through commercial transactions, their distribution may not contravene the Act.

In Hong Kong, such data is covered. In an incident relating to the online circulation of nude photos of certain celebrities, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data decreed that such photographs are caught under the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

The Act sets out seven principles which a data user must adhere to when dealing with personal data. They are General, Notice and Choice, Disclosure, Security, Retention, Data Integrity and Access.

Failure to comply with any of the seven principles amounts to an offence punishable with a fine not exceeding RM300,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both.

Under these principles, the collection and use of personal data must be consented to by the data subject, and steps must be taken to ensure that they are updated, correct and stored securely.

Further, adequate notice must be given to data subjects that their personal data will be used, and the purpose of the same. Data subjects should also be given the choice to opt out from giving certain personal data. Personal data no longer in use has to be destroyed.

Consent is not defined in the Act but a positive consent — written, oral or electronic — would be sufficient. However, positive consent would not apply in a scenario where a data user sends a form requesting consent and the form states that consent is assumed if no response is given. Failure to respond may not be considered as consent under the Act.

As the Act only applies to personal data in respect of commercial transactions, whether blogs would fall under its purview would depend on the circumstance of the case. If a blog is established purely for a recreational purpose, the Act may not apply due to the limitation of the definition of personal data.

A website generally collects personal data in two situations: when a user visits the website, and when a user provides information to the website operator, e.g. through an online form.

Information collected from a visitor to the website would include the IP address of the visitor and also cookies. Cookies are files used by websites to collect information about a user’s online activity. It can recognise a computer when a user logs on and can allow a website to store and remember usernames and passwords. Such information must be properly kept and not revealed to third parties.

As for the latter situation, website operators should inform the visitor that his or her information will be kept and used by them and their related parties. If website operators wish to use the information for other purposes, such as for marketing, they should obtain consent from the data subject.

Also, if personal data will be transferred outside Malaysia, consent should be obtained, otherwise any reference to the owner should be removed as it is an offence under the Act for a data user to transfer personal data outside Malaysia.

Companies need to be careful when sending out marketing materials. Under the Act, data users may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM200,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both if they refuse to cease sending unsolicited marketing materials.

Following the security principle, personal data collected by website operators must be kept properly to ensure that they are not leaked. Proper security measures such as encryption must be in place.

If personal data is meant to be revealed to the public, notice should be given ahead and consent obtained. For example, a web forum should indicate to its users that information will be revealed to the public if requested. However, if the personal data is requested by a competent authority, consent may not be required.

In addition, website operators should also consider inserting a privacy policy statement on their websites in a specific page accessible by a visitor.

The privacy policy should state:

> WHAT will be done with the personal data;

> WHO is collecting the personal data;

> WHAT personal data is being collected;

> whether the personal data will be transferred out of Malaysia: AND

> whether the personal data will be disclosed to third parties.

As the Act will be in force any time soon, data users are advised to start adhering to its principles. Notice and consent of data subjects are the keys to allow a data user to use personal data. As such, data users should revise their data collecting system to be in line with the seven principles.

Unfortunately, at this stage, the extent and applicability of the Act is unknown and it seems to be wide and far reaching and, to a certain extent, excessive. In this regard, a Personal Data Protection Commissioner should be appointed soon to address these uncertainties.

In many jurisdictions with data protection legislation, the respective Commissioners play a vital role in determining the scope and applicability of the Act and will from time to time issue good practice notes or clarifications to the public.

New York City: Food Guide – Part I

Before my trip to NYC, I was told that I should try the hot dogs on the streets. Well I did and I must say it was great!

American diners were another thing recommended to me. I am glad that I manage to eat there. It’s nothing special but it’s the experience that matters.

Anyway, here are some good places that I went.

Lombardi’s Pizza

This place was recommended by Raymond. It is recognised as the first pizzeria in the United States and was opened in 1905.

We were brought to the upper floor of the restaurant which only has a few tables. We ordered 2 awesome pizzas and I must say that they were awesome!

32 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012-4173, United States
(212) 941-7994
Website: http://www.firstpizza.com/

Open Weekdays 11:30am-11pm; Weekends 11:30am-12am

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Junior’s Cheesecake

On the next day, Raymond brought us to another awesome place for dessert – the famous Junior’s cheesecake. They’ve been around since 1950s and they have few branches all over NYC. Raymond brought us to the one at Times Square. In fact, it was so good that I went to Junior’s twice!


I would highly recommend the plain cheesecake. It’s quite big hence sharing is recommended.


Red velvet is good as well.


Devil’s Food Cheesecake was too rich for me. I was full after half a piece of this thing.

West 45th St. between
Broadway and 8th Ave.
Phone: (212) 302-2000

Hours (EST):
Mon–Thurs: 6:30am–12am
Fri & Sat: 6:30am–1am
Sun: 6:30-11pm

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Sushi Ichimasa

Timothy Tiah, fourfeetnine and I found this place by chance while waiting for our play to start. It is a small Japanese restaurant. Chefs were Japanese and one of them even visited Malaysia!

Food was fresh. Service was good. Price was reasonable. Place was cozy. It was perfect. What else more can you ask for?

I tried ordering my meal through Japanese. It’s been a while since I spoke Japanese. I managed to order my meal but the lady thought I was some second generation Japanese that cant speak proper Japanese -_-

302 W 50th St
(between 8th Ave & 9th Ave)

New York, NY 10019

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New York City: Central Park & Going Home

After rock climbing, we took a stroll around the park. There are couple of baseball fields. I wonder why the pitchers there throw their balls lightly for batters to hit.


Each bench in Central Park has a plague dedicating it to someone or something.


But this is a bit too much -_-


Squirrel!!


A friendly squirrel! p/s no the squirrel didn’t eat the sweet -_-

After our trip at Central Park, we met up with Raymond and his friend for dinner. He brought us to an awesome burger joint. Will blog about it later in my NYC food guide entry.

Night time in NYC

After dinner, Raymond brought us to his office. We had an awesome view of Central Park and the city!

Our day ended after the trip to Raymond’s office.

Since my flight is in the afternoon, I had to wake up early to catch a bus to JFK airport. Sarah brought me to a cafe in the city which serves massive breakfast. Apparently, it’s a “crew joint” (a place where airflight crews usually hang out). Will blog about this massive breakfast later. It was so much that I could feed all the children in an African village.


Walking towards the bus station…


One way ticket to JFK..


Goodbye New York City!