For the cooking competition fans, most of you is undoubtedly aware that MasterChef Malaysia is now in full swing on Astro in the following time slot:
Astro Ria (104): Saturday to Wednesday 9 pm
StarWorld (711): Thursday 9:50pm
Website: www.astro.com.my/masterchef
For the uninitiated, MasterChef Malaysia is the reality cooking competition that was originally started in the UK and now found its way in dozens of countries. Participants in MasterChef are not professional chefs but everyday people who aspire to venture into culinary industry, or who just really enjoy cooking, people like you and me.
This is the first time we have MasterChef competition it in Malaysia
As of writing, there were only 19 contestants still vying to be the first ever MasterChef Malaysia.
There are several things to like in MasterChef Malaysia as compared to other cooking shows. First and foremost, of course, this contests involves everyday people who are just like you and me, and they are all local.
Secondly, you can also learn a lot from this show. Not only from the recipes that can be found on the website, but also some of the skills you can learn from the skills tests as well. The proper way to separate egg white from egg yolk, the way to dice onions, etc.
Finally, MasterChef exudes a very positive environment where learning is encouraged and there isn’t any showboating or stabbing at the back like you would find in many other reality show. There are even tasks where contestants have to work together in teams to get through to the next round.
To me, this is much better than those ME FIRST attitude that is found in other shows.
Chef Kenny and Chef Johari
My favorite chefs from MasterChef are Chef Kenny and Chef Johari. If you’re old enough, you might remember the Baba and Nyonya show (Big Bibik) on TV from eons ago where Chef Kenny was always in drag. I actually didn’t know that Chef Kenny is a chef until I watched the episod featuring him as a guest chef, what a surprise.
Chef Johari almost always encourages the contestants and basically the polar opposite of personalities like Simon from Ameirican Idol. I think with that’s going on in the world, we can have a little less nasties these days. Furthermore, Chef Johari is the most senior of all chef on the judges panel.
As for my favorite contestant, it’s gotta be Felix Tay, who shares the same home town with me – Penang!
I think the guy has got a really good shot at becoming the very first MasterChef Malaysia, and you can’t fault me for supporting a my own hometown boy who has shown flashes of skills in the MasterChef kitchen.
Which brings us to my favorite dish at MasterChef Malaysia thus far – Felix’s dish in the chili invention test. The judges all loved this dish, and what intrigued me in this dish is the ingredients used – guacamole sauce as the bed, fish, and plenty of chili. I’ve never had guacamole with something spicy before and this really looks interesting, don’t you think?
One moment that stood out at MasterChef Malaysia, for me, was the onion challenge in the first round. The situation was very similar to the same challenge that happened in the blogger’s masterchef challenge version – a lot of people accidentally cut their fingers, crying from cutting onions, and then of course, the very first few people who were eliminated at the end of the first episod.
Ultimately, what I want to see from MasteChef Malaysia is how the winner progresses in the culinary field here in Malaysia, will he/she open a restaurant? or have a cooking program on TV? changes entire career path?
And more importantly, will I be invited to have a taste of the winner’s cooking ultimately? 😀
We can only wait, but in the mean time, MasterChef Malaysia is running a facebook contest starting on the 19th of November, 2011. Be sure to take part on https://apps.facebook.com/masterchefmy
There’s weekly prizes of RM 500 and 4GB MasterChef pendrive, and final prizes of iPad, induction cooker, cash, and more! Do check it out.
Mine was probably some 20 years back when I went to the cinema with my parents. I remember the oversized 3D eyewear that’s made of paper frame and the dizziness that accompanied the unforgettable experience.
I even ducked when the military truck zoomed out of the screen and seemingly head to me on a collision course, it was awesome, I couldn’t stop talking about it for days.
Fast forward to 2010.
3D movies are aplenty, just this year alone pretty much all the animated movies are shown in 3D as well as traditional 2D screens. Then of course, there’s also Avatar, arguably the most successful 3D movie to date.
The journey doesn’t stop there, Panasonic now brings the 3D movie experience into your living room with the latest Panasonic VIERA 3D TV.
The VIERA 3D TV comes with Full HD, which in my opinion, is the only way to go if you’re looking to get a flat screen TV. Without 1080p, you won’t really enjoy the totality of what Blu-ray and other HD broadcasts bring.
Other than being Full HD, Panasonic also implemented the Blacker Black Panel on this series. With a native contrast ratio of 5,000,000 to 1 (as opposed to dynamic contrast, confusing? Wiki it), VIERA is able to recreate vivid details of fine textures even in very dark films. I can imagine rewatching Sin City with this, yums!
Furthermore, the TV also comes with VIERA Cast SKYPE TV, you can use it to make Skype calls at the comfort of your living room, how cool is that right?
As a result of these technological prowess, it is no wonder Panasonic is the winner of 2010 Best of CES.
In fact, Panasonic is a much larger player in 3D technology than other brands that focus solely on making electrical items. The company has a Hollywood lab serving as an R&R center and acts as consultants to moviemakers in creating the best 3D experiences.
James Cameron’s choice of camera & equipment in making Avatar were, well, Panasonic. That gives you a sense of Panasonic’s involvement in this area.
Go check out Panasonic VIERA 3D Full HD Experience event at Pavilion from 30th September, 2010 and try the 3D walkthrough, it is amazing!
For the technology savvies, here are some details that should be of interest to you:
Full HD 3D Plasma with Frame Sequential Technology displays images at 120 frames per second (gamers should be familiar with fps)
The High-Precision 3D Eyewear (the sexy thing above) with Active Shutter Control operates in synchronisation with the alternating images, creating crisp 3D moving images.
Crosstalk Reduction Technology shortens the luminescence time between frames to create clearer 3D pictures without ‘double images’.
Blacker Black Panel produces a dynamic contrast of 5,000,000:1 for extremely deep, rich blacks and vibrant colours – even when viewing in brightly lit areas
Well, you still need to be wearing a pair of 3D glasses to view 3D contents with VIERA, but look at the design of this thing. I wonder if it’s fine to be wearing them at the beach too? 😀
Whenever I go to any foreign places, it is always interesting to tune to their local tv channels to get a taste of the local media. I think there is no other places that airs more languages on national TV than in Malaysia. On last count, we have more than 10 languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Tamil, Hindi.. not to mention Manglish.
Situation in Vietnam is slightly different, instead of airing shows in their respective languages, they usually dub it in Vietnamese. However, if you listen closely, they only use ONE person to dub the entire movie. It doesn’t matter if the actor on screen is old, young, male, female, baby, dog, cat.. just one person speaking the dialogs monotonously, without emotion nor any hint of passion.
This is the very first KY tv post, my very own fake plan food review “TV” show!
Now this is not the first time I wrote about Satay Celup at this particular place in Melaka. The previous entry on Ban Lee Siang Satay Celup includes the review in text, as well as pictures, contact number, address, and map. Then again, nothing beats the video, especially with hot chick (who is also my camera girl and chief editor) in it too.
It was 5pm and we were the very first customer in the restaurant. Trust me, by sunset the place will be busier than a beehive.
