Yang aku paling tak suka sekali, bila aku gigit dan kunyah sebiji burger panas yang baru dibeli di gerai tepi jalan (yang mengaku mereka menjual Burger Ramly), aku rasa seperti tengah makan McD. Kalau aku nak makan Big Mac, aku pergi McD lah brader. Aduhhhh.

Jadi, aku pun berbesar hatilah untuk menulis satu panduan (guideline) tentang bagaimana untuk mencari Burger Ramly yang berperisa sebenar! (Bila makan boleh dengar Hayden Panettiere sebut “yum..” ) Ok. Tapi sebelum itu, apa itu Burger Ramly? Sila klik gambar. Buat malu je tak tahu apa itu Burger Ramly. Ceh.

Ramly Burger on Wikipedia

#1: Gerai burger + 7-Eleven
Perasan tak, kebanyakan (selalunya) gerai-gerai Burger Ramly ni terletak berhampiran dengan 7-Eleven. Aku kurang pasti sebabnya, tapi aku fikir ini adalah satu cara untuk menjimatkan kos dengan menumpang lampu putih 7-Eleven yang terang-benderang. Lagipun cara ni bagus untuk menarik pelanggan 7-Eleven, dan sebaliknya. Kira macam kau nak pergi beli air kacang soya dalam tin kat 7-E, lepas tu macam lapar, lepas tu macam, “Eh eh ada burger la kat sini jom beli.” Dua-dua boleh untung.

Gambar hiasan milik criticallyacclaimed.wordpress.com

Elakkan gerai-gerai burger di Expo atau pasar malam, sebab mereka ni selalunya jual burger semata-mata untuk ambil kesempatan. Macam pasar malam seminggu sekali, time tu je la diorang nak jual burger. Tak ada consistency. Kurang trial and error. Tak ada observation dan feedback customer. Cuba cari gerai yang jual burger tiap-tiap malam kat satu spot je.

#2: BOB
Apa itu Bob? Bob boleh jadi nama orang, atau boleh juga jadi gelaran kepada mereka yang berbadan sasa. Ok, mungkin bukan sasa. Tapi besar. Besar tak besar la. Macam kat sekolah dulu la kan, mesti ada at least seorang Bob yang baik hati dan sporting di kalangan rakan-rakan kita. Kalau ditakdirkanlah satu hari Bob ini menjadi chef, pasti kebarangkalian untuk berjaya itu tinggi.

Don't trust a skinny cook

Cuba tengok Pakcik Sanders. Beliau masak ayam sejak berpuluh-puluh tahun, dan sampai sekarang rasa KFC masih sedap seperti dulu. Adakah Pakcik Sanders memakai skinny jeans? Pada hemat aku, orang berbadan besar memang kuat makan. Apabila diorang masak, diorang masak macam sendiri mahu makan. Sebab tu dia jadi sedap.

Kalau kat gerai burger tu setakat mat rempit rambut tajam main flip-flip burger untuk bikin motor, tak payah. Ataupun budak-budak hingusan yang bukak gerai burger untuk jadi corner member-member datang lepak, tak payah. We want Bob.

#3: Kancil / Wira / Saga lama
Ya. Perasankah anda, di hampir setiap gerai Burger Ramly yang famous, di belakangnya terletak kereta seperti di atas. Nak nak pulak Wira Tonggek make-up triple layer. Lepas tu bukak bonet pasang lagu-lagu Rock Kapak, atau Sinar FM. Pehh. Memang sejati punya Ramly Burger.

Gerai kosong pun nampak steady bila letak kancil tonggek.

Tapi kenapa? Ok, satunya, memiliki kereta menghapuskan persepsi bahawa brader burger tu adalah mat rempit. Kedua, bikin kereta vs bikin motor, mana lagi mau pakai duit? Mana lagi mau bikin lu kerja kuat? Gigih ni berpeluh-peluh brader tu press daging burger sebab mau duit mau beli spoiler Evo letak kat Saga dia. Kita boleh nampak effort di situ.

#4: Burger Ramly 1 Malaysia
Kalau nak tau best tak best burger dia (kalau first time datang situ), tengok customer dia. Adakah customernya terdiri daripada berbagai-bagai bentuk, rupa dan saiz? Adakah customernya ada variety di situ? Jika ya, anda kini selangkah lagi ke hadapan dalam menemui gerai Ramly Burger sejati.

Sebenarnya mana-mana kedai makan pun sama. Kalau you masak sedap, you bukak gerai ceruk mana pun orang berpusu-pusu datang. Kalau you pindah-pindah sekali pun, orang akan cari juga gerai you jugak, ok?

#5: Pembalut Ramly original

Pastikan ianya Ramly®

Tengok gambar di atas. Kenapa Daging Double Special Tambah Mayo™ tu nampak sedap? Sebab dia tak letak burger tu dalam bekas polystyrene! It’s so simple, nampak classic. Dari luar pun orang dah tau ni mesti Burger Ramly.

Yang ramai orang jual burger sekarang ni sibuk nak letak dalam bekas putih tu, sebab diorang malas! Malas nak balut atau tak tahu cara nak balut. Kalau tengok burger yang sedap, perhati macam mana diorang balut; kemas, nampak mantap burger di dalamnya.

Tahukah anda bekas polystyrene sangatlah tidak sesuai untuk dijadikan bekas makanan? Klik sini.

#6: Showmanship
Sebuah gerai Burger Ramly yang berjaya pasti mempunyai kriteria ini. Biasanya untuk memasak sebiji Daging Biasa Taknak Sayur™ mengambil masa kira-kira tujuh minit. Jadi kita sebagai customer, gunakan masa ni sepenuhnya. Gunakan hak kita sebagai pengguna.

Membuat hatiku terpegun

Perhati macam mana dia flip daging burger tu, belah tengah ke tak, letak seasoning banyak mana, pecah telur perfect ke tidak, dia press daging tu ke tak. Semua ni boleh diperhatikan dan dijadikan panduan serta iktibar.

#7 Ramuan-Ramuannya
You are what you eat. Ini yang emak aku selalu cakap masa aku kecik-kecik dulu. Kadang-kadang kita tengok burger tu nampak menarik, meletup. Tapi bila makan separuh, buang masuk tong. Mungkin sebab salad dia tak fresh, atau daging dia tak belah tengah jadi tak cukup masak. Kan? Tengok juga jenama apa dia pakai. Kalau macam tak pernah dengar punya cap ayam, mungkin tak sedap.

Tengok. Bersusun beb.

Aku paling suka kalau tengok barang-barang tu semua susun baik punya. Macam balang sos kat dalam gambar ni kan. Terus menaikkan lagi rasa hebat Burger Ramly tersebut.

Ok bye.

ps: Kat Dengkil depan 7-E dekat Malee ada satu gerai Burger Ramly jual burger dip dalam black pepper sauce. Mantap beb. Salah dia bungkus dlm polystyrene je. Lain-lain dah perfecto.

Warning: Very mild spoiler ahead

Finally, after RM4 mil, 40 animators and 2 years later, Malaysia’s first full-scale 3D animated movie entitled “GENG: Pengembaraan Bermula” (GENG: The Adventure Begins) premiered on the silver screen on 12th February 2009.

My mates and I caught the show on 12.10am the next day at the GSC, Alamanda Putrajaya along with many many MMU students who made up most of the hall. It felt like attending a lecture class in the E-Theatre, MMU

To be frank, at first I was kinda underestimated the production quality and storyline of the movie. Hey, you can’t blame me. We’re Malaysian and we have to be skeptic on all Malaysia products. Even our ‘beloved’ prime minister is quoted as saying, “Try it because you might like it. I myself decided one day to try it and discovered they were not bad…” [source]

Ok lah, enough of sarcasm already. Well, based on majority of Malaysian made movies which are emm, lame-o, one has a reason to be doubtful. But hold on, after watching GENG I truly eat my own words back. The animation is really smooth and realistic enough. I won’t go as far as saying that it can match Pixar Studio’s or Dreamworks’ animated movies which cost at least ten-fold more, but for a local product this is really something!

As someone who has experiences in using 3D softwares and doing 3D assignments, I realized how much effort is taken by the people in Les’ Copaque Production (LCP) in realizing the 1st Malaysian full CGI movie. The lighting is really beautiful and convincing (I like the night scenes’ lighting), the texturing is quite minimal but enough to make the 3D looks real. The animation in general is impressive and well done, although at some parts they move a tad too fast to be real but it’s not a big deal since the whole thing is cartoon-like.

The story is about a group of kids who become friends or ‘GENG’ during their journey in resolving the mysterious case of ‘hantu durian’ (durian ghost) in – well, you guessed it – Kampung Durian Runtuh. The GENG is consisted of Badrol, Lim, Kak Ros, Rajoo, and the famous twin Upin & Ipin. The journey took them deep into the jungle where there are mysteries waiting to be unfold.

At first, the plots seem pretty straightforward and one can almost foresee what is going to happen next. But towards the middle and the end, the story takes us into an interesting twist that will explain the stuff at the beginning and make you keep wondering what will happen to the GENG. I really like the ‘other world’ where Oopet and his mom live – it’s just like the scenes from Spore.

The characters are also very adorable and connect with each other and the audiences well. In term of character development, some are really good and some aren’t so. I personally prefer the character Badrol to be ‘richer’, because I think he is kinda static and ordinary from beginning till the end – unlike Lim who has this dislike attitude towards kids, and also the Chinese slang. The twins, Upin and Ipin are very funny and cute as usual and this really helps in making the story more alive (I’m sure you guys have already watched their TV series, right?)

There are a lot of jokes and humorous incidents through out the story which added up to the believability of the whole scenes. For example, in the early parts during the TV interview, where Tok Dalang excitedly tried to enter the frame. And there is also an Uncle Muthu with amusing Tamil accent which keeps me smiling everytime he ‘talks’. Not to mention the after-credit scene which made the whole cinema burst into laughter. I didn’t see that coming, really.

Overall, I would give “GENG: Pengembaraan Bermula” a solid 8.0/10 – mainly due to the hard effort by a mere 40 local animators and this is the very first local 100% CGI film, and it is very promising for the future! GENG is a very exciting animated film that will take you on a roller-coaster ride of fun, humour, suspense and feel-good experience. It is very suitable for the little ones too as it is filled with moral and cultural values

On the other note, I am very sure that in the future LCP will produce much much better productions and who knows, maybe there is another LCP in the making already.

To all of you who haven’t watch GENG or is still deciding whether to catch it or not, just head straight away to your nearest cinema and watch it! And for those who’ve done so, go for the second time. Hehe. Long live Malaysian animation industry!

Official website
Official blog

World of Goo is simple. Levels begin with a small structure, and this is where you begin. Crawling along the struts of this structure, or sleeping around the level, are balls of goo. Pull off a goo and place it nearby and it’ll eagerly attach itself to the main building. You simply repeat this process until you reach the level’s goal – usually a pipe that hoovers up any balls of goo that come near it. That’s it. Use goo balls to build to the pipe. Easy.

Look at those pictures. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Everything. From the beautiful levels, which go way beyond the basic graphical expectations of “looking nice”, to the charming-alarming cut-scenes, to the beautiful characterisation of those adorable goo balls. World of Goo isn’t just beautiful. The world, and its surreal anti-establishment storyline, feel original and sincere. It’s Tim Burton’s vision of one of Roald Dahl’s more amoral tales. The short music loops are fantastic, too. Alternately whimsical, dramatic and haunting. Think Danny Elfman’s themes to Beetlejuice, and Edward Scissorhands, and a few things in between. Basically, World of Goo has the soundtrack to a life I wish I lived.

World of Goo is the product of 2D Boy – a couple of guys in a tent – and while it’s common to forgive indie developers a certain lack of polish, or finesse, there’s nothing here to forgive; the game is slicker than most full-price commercial games. Some of the nuances are pointlessly deep. Pick up one of the goo balls. Hold it against the wall, and move it up and down. It’ll rotate with the friction. Do it fast, and pull the ball from the wall, and it’ll carry on spinning. It adds absolutely nothing to the game, apart from that polish, that sense of completeness. Similarly, the sound effects are perfect. Yelping, cheering goo balls make every move an event. The World of Goo, basically, is a raging pleasure to spend time in, and interact with.

Oh yes. I’m addicted to this adorable puzzle! It’s like Worms + Bioshock + Lemmings. Read the full review here. I got some Goo Bridges to build.