20290914 The Voyager Commbadge

Ever since I watched Star Trek Voyager more than a decade ago, I loved their ComBadge. Initially, the oval Next Generation was good but after a while, it kinda look old. I used to have a thick TNG ComBadge which gives out that chirp whenever it was pressed. Later on, as the sweat from my hand affected the chrome, it kinda went forgotten.

But the desire to have another 'working' ComBadge still persist. There was a Bluetooth version but this was not my kind of thing since I rarely talk on my Mobile.

What's next?

This thought was in my mind the whole day. It is possible to make one. Deck7 has made it but at a limited run and then, disappeared. There are a few obstacles I need to overcome since the issue lies with the Prop's thickness which is quite thin. I need to find a solution that plays the chirp sound, uses low power battery and still be light enough to stick to the costume or shirt.

So, these are the issues I need to overcome besides getting someone to re-create the Delta badge but hollowed out. Magnets still plays a part though.

For the time being, it is still a fridge magnet

I got a friend to recast this IPI badge so many years ago, for the Premier of 2913 Star Trek Movie, Into Darkness. I cannot do the deed again since he dropped it and the badge actually chipped. Ten years later, the extra ones that became my Fridge Magnets had a dark circle in them. It must be the strong neodymium magnet pulling the metal particles of the silver paint. I am tempted to respray them. One day. Ish...

20240910 Entering the Lair of the King

Today was a Golden Opportunity for me. After some money laundering, I get to eat at Burger King after so many years.

Burger King

When it came to fast-food Burgers, my choice was always the Big Mac from the Clownhouse. It was not until my Friend and I visited Burger King that I fell in love with the Whopper. When our orders came, those thick fries were a game changer. By the time I've finished with it, I could barely touch the burger. I really wanted to but I'd get myself killed.

However, it was not everytime I get to have a Whopper. From where I used to stay, the Clownhouse was the obvious choice and now, its the Sugar Bear. I would know there is a Burger King nearby once I get the whiff of its distinctive aroma. However, getting through its doors was another story. But today, its here and I have time to spare since the errand would not be completed until the hour is up.

 

Entering the premises, I was one of the two customers, which is very unusual since it is also 1030 in the morning. The whole place was cool, neat and clean while the Staff greeted me. Then I remembered the Israel Boycott.

 

My order came in less than 5 minutes and this time, I see can see that I am able to finish the Burger. Lying beneath the order is a paper coupon for great discounts for my future visit.

I was about to look for straws until I too another look at my cup. The cover design has done away with the straw. It was a great idea but because the whole cup was airtight, I had to make a small hole so the cup would not deflate everytime I took a sip. Maybe one of the four holes can be punched out but I'll have to find out on my next opportunity.

The fries again, was great albeit a little cold. But I can feel them starting to fill my stomach.

The sauce packets are quite difficult to open. You use your (non-oily) fingers to teat off the left half which is good but the tear stops in the middle which I then had to cut them open. The chili was sweet and so, it became more like a sweet sauce to me.

Finally, the Whopper. It smells great and although not as visually appetizing like the ones shown (for illustration purposes) on the screen.

The main star would be that beef burger itself. The whole burger tasted very good especially those crunchy tomatoes and its sauce. But for me, it was always the onions. In any burger, if they had fresh crunchy onions, I would be happy, never mind the burger itself. So, I was hoping for more onions.

 

20240904 The Coffee I liked

 

This brand, Old Town, is nice but their prices have reached the RM18.00 mark while the rest are hovering at the RM14.00 mark. I am thinking of making my own salted caramel

 

So, what is coffee?
I've been drinking it since my parents introduced it to me. It was hot black coffee with some sugar, poured from a thermos flash on a cold morning with me sipping it in the car.

I wasn't much into it until after I came back from the UK and started working. I mean, British Tea was great and all but the taste kind of tapered off to the sweet end. And then when I got my first real coffee, you know, the ones where you add sugar and milk to it, it was good for a change. But I was still addicted to milk tea, the ones which were served by the Mamaks. Ice Cold Pulled Milk Tea, which goes by the name of "Teh Tarik". It was a nice drink until it was informed the tea leaves were just powdered stuff. And so, this fact slowly steered my choice to coffee. My mouth usually uttered 'Teh ais ' before I even take a seat but nowadays, it's 'Kopi ais'.

But for the last two decades, I would usually switch to powdered sachets because it was insane not to have coffee in the house even at 3am. Plus, I'd be too sleepy to drive and search for any open Mamak shop. I can't remember when was the exact time I switched over but it was the same time I've started to mix drinks. So, I'd guess it would be in the mid-2010's. Ever since I 'invented' the Neslo where you add Milo to Nescafe in a 1:1 ratio (that's another story), I've been adding chocolate to coffee, which after many years later, it was called, Mocha. It was also the same time that I realised I was addicted to Coffee Bean after two expensive drinks, and so, that had to stop but that gave me ideas of iced coffee with syrups.

So, why these interest with coffee? I am not even addicted to caffeine as I can sleep normally even after a few cups. Sadly, the same cannot be said with actual Chinese Tea which leaves me awake for hours.  And I am definitely not a Nescafe Fan where their coffee tastes bitter.

Anyway, my latest fad would be, apart from mocha and white coffee, it is coffee with salted caramel. I was first introcduced to it before the pandemic was the RENCHÉ ROAST brand. At that time, I would be testing a lot of brands and forgetting what they tasted like when the pack finishes. But not RENCHÉ ROAST as it has caramel. Then Old Town suddenly came out with it sometime in 2023 right during the time when caramel was starting to gain interest. This has a stronger caramel presence and so, when mixed with (actual) chocolates such as Toblerone or Cadbury's Chocolate drink, it was a very, very good combination.

20240901 Permanent Defrost

The 14 year old fridge felt kinda warm these past few days and yesterday, we woke up to the upper section not being cold at all. Naturally, we and or rather, I, blamed anyone who did not close the doors properly. After much trouble shooting and power cycling the Fridge, I know that the upper section has a problem. What really rankled me was that it only clocked about less than four years in terms of operation hours.

It is most probably a fan not blowing into the fridge and it costs about anything from RM56 to RM100 plus. However, since I do not know much about fridge repairs and this was just a simple logical deduction, I was not allowed to open it up.

In the end, we opted to buy a new one which was slightly bigger but from the same manufacturer, Panasonic. I wanted something that would last like General Electric but they don't sell them anymore in this part of the world. So, after a nice dinner at QHouse, we walked across to IOI Mall's AEON and arranged for delivery in a few day's time.

Gone were the days when things were built to last for decades and not years.....

And in the span of just two and a half days, all food and stuff has to be thrown out, except for the beers, which lasts longer even if I can't drink them. And I just bought the fresh carton of milk...

This is the Panasonic Inverter which we bought around 2007. Although it is 14 years old, it only ran for maybe, less than three years and was kept in the other location for years. We got it back a few months ago and it was working fine until yesterday. So maybe, elements and dusts seeped into and affected the moving parts...

[Update: 03.09.2024]

When I came home, the fridge was ON, which I could have sworn that its plug was OFF the night before. My Wife said she did switch it off and when she came back, she decided to turn it on again. This was because on the previous day, it was making a loud nise like a muffles motorcycle exhaust. And now, the fridge is cold. Not cold as in cold, cold but just cold. Still, we have made our choice and tomorrow, a new model will replace it.

Well, you know what?
The fridge is COLD!

And it is a little bit taller too.