When I first saw the name on the box, Japanese Mandolin... my mind immediately pictured a small, semi-egg-shaped musical string instrument (like a mini gambus), the one that would be played by people from either Mexico or Spain (I don't actually know the origin of this instrument, but somehow my mind goes to these countries :P). But that's just the thing... A Japanese Mandolin? Kok bagimana? Ghupa-ghupanya... it's the kitchen utensil mandolin thinggy. Sebelum ni, I never knew it was called a mandolin, but a quick image search through Google confirmed it... A Mandolin Slicer!

The website hosting this image can be found here... (ni kira free advertising ke? Or am I simply committing digital-image-theft?)

This is the mandolin slicer... also rembatted.... from here...

Anywayz... my wife just bought this kitchen slicer utensil mandolin thinggy yesterday. At first I was quite surprised as it costs RM77!!! Tu dah nak lapan puloh hengget dah tu weh??? But since sometimes, my wife makes quite wise decisions, I decided not to pull a fit... and just berdiam diri. At the same time, I was very2 de excited also, because I liked the fact that something new was bought (doesn't happen very often in my household...)

Balik rumah, I opened the packaging. At first sight, I immediately agreed that the RM77 price tag was worth every penny. Most quality kitchenware selalunya mmg mahal-mahal, but the hefty price tag is normally justified by the quality and durability.

The product's name is BENRINER - Japanese Mandolin (Slicer). Japanese Mandolin, but with a USA patent... Ok la kot... I don't know how other countries' mandolins look like, but I reckon almost the same. I read somewhere that Rachel Ray uses this product (on her show I guess?) Anywayz, ini lah dia rupa benda alah tu. Actually it's the same brand as the mandolin pic above, only ours is white :) It's the new wide type also (dunno if the previous one was too narrow?)

64 m/m dia tulis... 

First impression... from the (plastic?) material used for the body, I was convinced that it had quality. I've used mandolins before and most of them had the normal, plastik-keras biasa body. But this one... Walaweh... it actually feels quite hard and strong! Like very2 susah to break one. It also has a textured effect, which I believe was intentionally designed to stress the sturdiness. 

 

Provided are three slicing blades, FINE, MEDIUM and COARSE. Each with their own unique slicing/cutting abilities.

  

  

The slicer blades of course, can be easily interchanged :D  The main blade... looks very2 sturdy, like can cut anything from onions to shoe-soles (I am exaggerating of course). The slicing thickness can also be easily adjusted. And I pretty much like the safety-holder (finger guard) thinggy... the design is quite nice aye?

 

 

 

  

And of course, they provide handling instructions and safety precautions so that you don't wreck the thing during use and keep your fingers in tact at the same time  :)

 

syok tengok mandolin dot com

I look forward to be using this thing ASAP. My wife of course, akan guna dalam jangka masa terdekat. Pasal kalu tak, takkan dia beli ye dok? (Kalau dia beli saja-saja, nanti aku upah orang karate dia... hehehe).  At the moment, I myself have too much work to do and little time to do kitchen work (hence using kitchen utensils). Alhamdulillaah, ada maid dah sekarang, so no need to headache2 thinking of household cleaning n joint kitchen management with the wife. Tapi takpe... sikit lagi PhD ni nak habis dah. When that time comes, insyaAllaah I will start using this thinggy. Lepas tu, another post pulak :D Orait... Assalaama aleykom!!!

[click the above image to view this item on Amazon.com]

AND... enjoy the demo video below. Don't work quite well on cucumbers I see... hehehe.

Assalaam aleykom WBT. Yeous, again I am lazy and did my road tax through Myeg (http://www.myeg.com.my). Bukan apa, I mean it's just a bit of a hassle for me to call the bank and ask them to do it since they have the car's certificate of ownership. Senang story, I just use MyEG... again... yeous... I lazy.... :D Anywayz... How to do it? Same as how I said I did it in the past... ada a few posts about this, but lazy to tampal the URLs here... I am in lazy mode remember... ;]

Firstly, I went to TAKAFUL MALAYSIA and renewed my car insurance. After doing that, went back home to open the MyEG website. Click on ROAD TAX renewal... For me, I then proceeded to click on the link that said - "If you renewed your road tax with MyEG last year, please click here", since I already did it with them last year. Then filled in my car registration number and IC number.... and VOILA! All my information is displayed. OH! And you can choose to have it home delivered or you can also pick it up at MyEG's service centers (MyEG SERVICES e-khidmat)? I saw one in Bangi... but the option for it wasn't there (they use the drop down menu thinggy)? pelik tapi benarrrr... anwyayz.... Gedepab gedebup badabing badabang.... siap :D Pay using credit card and settle :D

• Road Tax Renewal Fee = RM90.00
• Delivery Charge = RM6.00
• e-Service Charge = RM2.75 (where did the .75 come from daaaa....)
• TOTAL = RM98.75 -- Ok la tu ye dok? 
• Delivery time - They say contact  them if the road tax doesn't reach me within 2-days... 

And another thing. I said in the past that when you do your road tax thru MyEG, the update won't be reflected on your geran kereta? Well, I just found out that you can have the geran kereta updated by writing an authorization letter saying that you allow a MyEG representative to collect the geran kereta at you hire purchase company (bank), and update it on your behalf. Of course, lepas tu dia akan return balik kat bank tu la :D You can call or email MyEG about this. I thought of doing this, but found the idea kind of scary...  Because it's my geran kereta! Serious things can happen if it falls into the wrong hands... right? kan? ke? I do have a point right? Please advise :D hehehe....

Oraits...

That is all. Hope this post has benefited someone or everyone :D Selamaaatz....

Today, I'd like to post about a bit about DIY :) Specifically, on how to replace a door knob set :) Alhamdulillaahirobbil'aalameen... it wasn't that difficult (mainly because the doors already had holes drilled in them from the default knob installations) :D Anywayz... It was a good experience and since I have nothing better to do, I will blog about it :D

Firstly, you need to go to Econsave or Billion to buy a cheap door knob system/set. Why cheap? Because ini rumah sewa... so no need to buy the mahal2 one. I am gonna leave one day anywayz rite :D I bought the WINSIR one, cost me around RM8++. The other one cost me RM9++, forget the brand.... I am blogging about the RM9++ one here :) After unwrapping... you will basically have this:


Before installing the new set, you need to get the old one out first :) Bawah ni, ialah gambar knob lama di bahagian sebelah dalam pintu. In the multi-colored circles, you can see a small punat (apa ek? punat dalam English?)... Using the device in the next picture, you will need to press down that punat so that the knob can be removed from the set :) Only after you've removed this knob that you can BEGIN taking out the whole old set from the door.


Then proceed to kopak-king (again, what is kopak in English?)... then unscrewing... then... kopak-king some more on the other side... then FINALLY... taking the whole thing out. Please refer to pics :) ... (brand KAH rupanya iye tuan?)


Get the new set... firstly install the... the... dayem... apa nama benda ni ek? hehehe. Ok. Install BENDA NI...


In the next pic, you can see that there's something protruding from the bigger hole. You will need to align this with the knob set... Make sure the knob set inserts smoothly into this protruding-something :D


Then screw... tighten... and voila! Siap... you're DONE! :D Room now secured from non-professional thieves, insyaAllaah :) Oh, btw... I had to replace this whole door knob set because in the old one, the key sorta broke and got stuck in the key slot place thinggy (I am sooo bad with all these 'technical' terms... I cry).


Okes... hope this has benefited the general public :D Assalaam aleykom WBT