Burger KL Janda-Jandaku Gangster

PATI daging burger bakar diadun dengan rempah ratus istimewa.

MALAM semakin dingin dan jarum jam di tangan sudah melebihi pukul 11 malam. Secara logiknya mengikut putaran alam, waktu begitu kebanyakan daripada kita sepatutnya sedang berkira-kira untuk masuk tidur. Mungkin juga ada yang sudah dibuai mimpi enak.

Namun, senario sebaliknya berlaku apabila anda mengunjungi Restoran Soho Seafood di Sungai Merab, Bangi, Selangor.

Orang ramai masih memenuhi kawasan itu tanpa terdapat tanda-tanda untuk mereka mahu pulang ke rumah.

Tegar melayani kedinginan embun pagi yang mula menitis, penangan hidangan di KL Burger Bakar adalah jawapan kepada segala-galanya. 

Gara-gara burger bakar yang berharga antara RM7 hingga RM20, hidangan Barat di gerai itu telah mendapat sambutan luar biasa dan menimbulkan satu fenomena dalam kalangan pengunjung.

Pemiliknya, Mohammad Fikry Abdullah, 29, berkata, walaupun pada mulanya sesetengah pembeli merasakan bahawa harga burger itu agak mahal, namun selepas menikmatinya, mereka terpesona dengan rasa daging burger yang cukup enak dan empuk.

Tambahnya, selain ketebalan dan berat dagingnya mencecah sehingga 140 gram setiap keping, daging-daging tersebut telah diproses dengan resipi sendiri. 

“Adunannya dibuat sendiri dengan campuran daging kisar, daun sup, bawang dan beberapa ramuan rahsia lain. Burger ini lebih enak jika dinikmati ketika masih panas kerana jus-jus daging yang meleleh,” katanya.

Hari ini, burger bakar semakin mendapat tempat dalam kalangan pelbagai lapisan masyarakat dan hidangan Barat itu sedang mengalami evolusi mendadak.

Lebih istimewa, daging burger tersebut bersaiz agak besar dan tebal berbanding burger konvensional. Ia dibakar menggunakan pemanggang dengan menggunakan arang sebagai bahan api. 

BURGER KL Janda-Jandaku Gangster setinggi tiga tingkat menjadi jawapan kepada selera pengunjung yang berganda.

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Justeru, siapa mampu menepis keenakan hidangan daging burger bakar yang tebal yang panas-panas dan dilimpahi sos cili, sos lada hitam, mayonis, sos Thousand Island dan sos keju. Ia disempurnakan dengan sayur-sayur seperti salad, bawang dan nanas.

Menikmati hidangan berkenaan adalah mengikut cara masing-masing dan seseorang itu tidak perlu segan jika mulut comot sedikit. Itulah nikmatnya burger bakar!

Mohammad Fikry berkata, dia bersama dua kakitangan kini tidak menang tangan melayan pengunjung yang tidak putus-putus datang bermula pukul 6.30 petang hingga 12 tengah malam.

Ditanya cabaran bergelar usahawan burger bakar, dia menjelaskan, tanggapan masyarakat yang mengatakan bahawa makanan Barat itu cepat disiapkan seperti burger konvensional perlu dikikiskan.

Jelasnya, proses membakar daging burger mengambil masa antara 25 hingga 30 minit dan perlu dihidangkan ketika masih panas untuk mengekalkan kualitinya.

“Pada peringkat awal gerai ini dibuka, ramai pembeli yang kadang-kadang tidak faham dan sering merungut kenapa terpaksa menunggu lama. Namun, saya tidak salahkan mereka kerana mungkin tidak faham dengan proses penyediaan daging burger bakar.

“Tapi Alhamdulillah, selepas hampir tiga bulan beroperasi, semakin ramai pembeli tetap yang sudah faham malah ada yang sanggup menunggu giliran tempahan untuk tempoh masa yang lama,” katanya tersenyum.

BURGER KL Menjerit bertambah istimewa dengan sajian udang bakar secara sampingan.

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Berkenaan nama hidangan KL Burger Bakar yang unik, dia memberitahu bahawa dia sengaja menampilkan kelainan menerusi penggunaan tajuk-tajuk filem sebagai daya penarik selain rasa dagingnya yang luar biasa. 

Nama-nama filem dipilih kerana ia mencapai kutipan box-office dan dia percaya, jualan burger yang menggunakan nama tersebut juga mampu mencapai sasaran serupa. 

Antara burger yang paling mendapat perhatian ialah burger KL Drift yang menampilkan daging burger dihias dengan kepingan keju serta daging salai. 

“Burger KL Janda-Jandaku Gangster pula bagi mereka yang gemar menikmati makanan itu dalam kuantiti yang banyak iaitu daging burger yang disusun tiga tingkat dan dijual pada harga RM20,” katanya penuh semangat.

Kepada mereka yang ingin membuat tempahan awal atau majlis katering, anda boleh menelefon KL Burger Bakar, Sungai Merab, Bangi di talian 019-222 4475.

Variasi spesies hidupan akuarium

IKAN pendarfluor antara spesies ikan yang paling menarik perhatian ramai.

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MENYAKSIKAN kawanan angelfish (Pterophyllum) yang bebas berenang di dalam sebuah akuarium mampu membangkitkan ketenangan dalam diri. Ikan berwarna merah jambu yang mampu mengeluarkan cahaya daripada badannya itu turut dikenali sebagai ikan pendarflour.

Ia merupakan hasil penyelidikan bersama antara Akademi Penyelidikan Kebangsaan Taiwan, Academia Sinica, National Taiwan Ocean University dan Jy Lin, sebuah syarikat swasta bioteknologi.

Apa yang pasti, angelfish merupakan sebahagian daripada hidupan yang dipamerkan sempena Ekspo Akuarium Antarabangsa Taiwan yang berlangsung pada 9 hingga 12 November lalu.

Ekspo selama empat hari yang diadakan di Dewan Pameran Nangang, Pusat Dagangan Dunia Taiwan itu merupakan acara tahunan yang berjaya menggamit kehadiran ribuan pengunjung sama ada pelawat tempatan mahu pun pelancong asing.

Kepelbagaian spesies ikan dan terumbu karang boleh dilihat pada pameran tersebut.

Di samping itu, terdapat juga hidupan lain yang dipamerkan termasuklah kuda laut, obor-obor, ikan emas, udang dan banyak lagi. Kesemua hidupan tersebut didatangkan khas dari seluruh dunia melalui 43 pempamer yang mengambil bahagian.

Kawasan pameran itu dibahagikan mengikut tema seperti bahagian ikan pendarflour, ikan hiasan, reka bentuk kreatif dan sebagainya.

Dalam pada itu, sepasang ikan pari mutiara bernilai AS$17,628 (RM54,149) turut menarik perhatian pengunjung. Menurut Setiausaha Agung Persatuan Akuarium Republik China, Chou Hsu-ming, Taiwan membiak 5,000 baka ikan pari air tawar sebulan iaitu paling tinggi di dunia," kata beliau sambil menambah bahawa spesies pari dengan tompok keemasan itu popular dalam kalangan pengumpul ikan kerana digunakan untuk meramal nombor loteri.

Timbalan Ketua Majlis Agrikultur Taiwan, Hu Sing-hwa berkata, acara yang mula dianjurkan sejak tahun 2009 itu dibuka percuma kepada orang awam. Setiap kali pameran itu berlangsung, ia berjaya mencatat kehadiran lebih 100,000 pengunjung.

"Pasaran global untuk ikan akuarium dan produk periferal adalah sangat lumayan dan ia dianggarkan bernilai AS$6 bilion (RM18.4 bilion)," katanya.

Gecko has its washing routine licked

 
Gecko tongue Tongue-believable ... gecko licks the water off its face 

 THIS cute critter’s washing routine is off the scale. The crested gecko used its tongue like a windscreen wiper to clear droplets of water from its eyes and nose. Snapper Ian Schofield, 34, watched as it then whipped its inch-longue tongue back and forth across its scaley face at Knowsley Safari Park in Liverpool. 

 
Gecko using it's tongue to wipe eye Geck-ing clean ... the critter wipes its eyes with its tongue

Ian, from Croydon, south London, said: “The gecko’s spiky skin gives it a menacing look but it didn’t look threatening as it licked its face. “It poked out its tongue and moved it across its face to clear the water, starting with its nose and towards its eye.  

Gecko standing on a tree branch Smiling ... the gecko post

 “Its tongue looked like a rasher of bacon and was pretty flexible. I certainly couldn’t get my tongue out that far.” He added: “I got within a few centimetres of the gecko as I took my photos and even thought I may touch it with my lens and some point.”

Beckham in £12m global tug of war

David Beckham In demand ... 

DAVID Beckham is at the centre of a £12million global tug of war that could make him football’s highest paid player. Becks, 37, yesterday began a bidding battle as he confirmed he will leave current team Los Angeles Galaxy in ten days’ time. 

 Big-money clubs in China, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, America and France are now ready to break the bank to get the ex-England skipper. 

 Chinese football giants Shanghai Shenhua are said to be willing to pay Becks more than £350,000 a week to uproot wife Victoria and family from LA. 


 But they face competition from Aussie clubs Melbourne Hearts and Adelaide United, France’s Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil’s Botafogo, South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs and the New York Cosmos. 

 The clubs are less interested in Beckham’s ball skills than his ability to boost their global TV audience. Sources in LA said Becks could easily make at least £12million from the deal.

 One said: “It doesn’t matter he isn’t the greatest player any more. He makes clubs great in terms of sponsorship. A club could pay him £500,000 a week and it would still be worth it.” The biggest earner in football is 31-year-old Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o, who is paid £345,000 a week by Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala.

Is this Harley Davidson’s latest model? Artist creates human motorcycles

Racey ... models make up street bike

NOW that’s what you call a bunch of Hell’s Angels.

From a distance they look like the latest motorbikes off the production line, but closer examination reveals they are models of a different kind. 

The nude human motorbikes are actually the creation of body paint artist Trina Merry whose amazing work blurs the lines of reality. 

Stunning model ... naked girls form Harley Davidson

It takes up to 18 hours for Trina to paint the lifelike bikes and they have now been chosen to front a huge US motor show. 

  Trina, from San Francisco, California, said: “I am a conceptual artist and often I am inspired by the bodies themselves by what they can and can’t do. 

“Everyone has seen the pictures of scantily-clad women next to motorbikes and cars and it can look a bit trashy.

Paint job ... dirt bike looks realistic

 

“I wanted to take the idea of a beautiful woman and the motorbike and turn it on its head by making the bike from the bodies of the models. 

  “Nothing like this has ever been done before.”

Trina’s latest work featuring the three types of motorbikes for the Progressive International Motorbike Shows that will be touring the US this year.

How it's done ... models practice posing as bike

Smashing pumpkins

Spooky sculptures carved out of veg

Halloween horrors ... scary figures carved out of pumpkins

SAY Hallow to these spook-tacular sculptures – all carved out of the humble PUMPKIN.

Artists Ray Villafane and Andy Bergholtz created the Halloween horrors in their workshop.
Former art teacher Ray, 43, began carving without any training and only discovered his talent after offering to shape a pumpkin for one of his pupils. 

Spook-tacular ... pumpkin looks a little like Ghostbusters' Slimer

 

Now he can carve a fully detailed pumpkin in just two hours. 

Scare art ... veg carved in the image of horror doll Chucky

 

Ray, from Bellaire, Michigan, US, said: “Very often I don’t have a preconceived idea of what I’m going to carve, I just start carving and the creative ideas come to me. 

“It doesn’t always turn out the way I wanted and there’s always times when I have to throw away the pumpkin and start again. 

Smashing ... pumpkin gets 'punched'

 

“The pumpkin is the most important element in my work, I’ll pick up around 50 different pumpkins before I even find one which is suitable to carve. 

Pumpkin art ... incredible detail in the sculptures

 

“The best pumpkins are the ones that feels heavy for its size, that tells me it’s going to be a thick pumpkin, you need the pumpkins to be thick so you can carve a 3d face out of it.” 

Pumpk-incredible ... is it King Kong?

 

Ray is now something of a celebrity in the States and designs pumpkins and giant Halloween sculptures for corporate Halloween parties and displays across the US. 

Seeds of terror ... spooky pumpkin carving

 

He said: “It’s particularly busy at this time of year, but I love my job — it’s fun and I feel like I’m creating something almost magical. 

“When you put a cool face on the pumpkin it feels almost animated, like you’ve bought the pumpkin to life.” 

Unzipped ... pumpkin

 

Villafane studios recently created a sculpture of Johnny Depp's character, Barnabas Collins, in new movie Dark Shadows. 

The film - which is released on Blu-ray and DVD today - sees imprisoned vampire Barnabas wake up from a multi-century sleep to discover that his past is back to haunt him. 

Work in progress ... Johnny Depp is carved out

 

Uncanny ... Johnny Depp in spooky flick Dark Shadows

 

Helmet head ... pumpkin

Baumgartner lebih pantas daripada kelajuan bunyi

TERJUNAN yang dibuat Baumgartner.

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WASHINGTON - Pelagak ngeri Austria, Felix Baumgartner menjadi manusia pertama bergerak lebih pantas daripada kelajuan bunyi di luar sebuah kapsul kelmarin.

Dia terjun dari kapsul tersebut yang berada setinggi 39 kilometer (km) dari Bumi.

Kapsul tersebut bergerak ke udara dengan menggunakan belon helium.

Ia mengambil masa lebih dua jam untuk tiba pada ketinggian 39km dari Bumi.

Kelajuannya mencecah 1,342 kilometer sejam (km/j). 

Lelaki itu 265km/j lebih pantas daripada bunyi.

Baumgartner, 43, kemudian mendarat dengan menggunakan payung terjun di sebuah kawasan di sebuah gurun di Roswell, New Mexico, Amerika Syarikat (AS).

Laman web syarikat minuman tenaga Red Bull menyiarkan aksi pelagak ngeri itu yang memakai pakaian seperti angkasawan semasa dia berada di dalam kapsul tersebut.

Baumgartner menanggalkan topi dan menggenggam kedua-dua tangannya selepas dia mendarat dengan selamat.

"Apabila saya berdiri di atas dunia, anda berasa rendah diri. Anda tidak berfikir tentang memecahkan rekod lagi. Anda juga tidak memikirkan untuk memperoleh data saintifik.

"Satu-satunya perkara yang anda fikirkan ialah pulang dengan selamat," katanya selepas dia selamat mendarat kepada wartawan stesen televisyen CBS.

Dia turut memecahkan rekod sebagai manusia pertama membuat terjunan dari altitud tinggi.

Sebelum ini seorang bekas pegawai tentera udara AS, Kolonel Joe Kittinger memegang rekod itu dengan terjun dari sebuah gondola pada ketinggian 31 kilometer dari Bumi dengan kelajuan 988km/j pada tahun 1960.

Baumgartner menyatakan pengalamannya terjun dengan lebih laju daripada bunyi itu sukar untuk digambarkan.

"Anda tidak mengetahui kepantasan anda," katanya. 

Rekod itu kemudian disahkan oleh jurucakap Persekutuan Aeronautik Antarabangsa (FAI) pada sidang akhbar di Roswell, New Mexico.

Presiden Austria, Heinz Fischer mengucapkan tahniah ekoran kejayaannya dalam projek terjunan anjuran Red Bull Stratos.

Baumgartner pernah terjun dengan menggunakan payung terjun dari Bangunan Petronas di Kuala Lumpur pada 1999. - Agensi

Monkeys hitch a hairy ride

Animal autobus ... a capybara ferries a family of spider monkeys around

FOUR mischievous spider monkeys hitch a ride on the back of a capybara, the world's largest rodent.

In another hilarious snapshot, one of the cheeky critters rides his hairy companion like a horse. 

The adorable animal interactions took place at a zoo in the Netherlands, where both South American species share an enclosure. 

Giddy-up ... a monkey rides the rodent like a horse

It was caught on camera by Dutch photographer Corey van Loon during a visit to the Beekse Bergen safari park near Eindhoven. 

Corey was stunned to discover the creatures are inseparable. 

The unlikely best pals eat, sleep and play together - and they even help groom each other. 

Pals ... South American species share an enclosure and are inseparable

She said: “The capybaras don’t seem to mind the monkeys climbing all over them and riding on their backs at all. I think they love each other's company. 

“They often lie down in the grass and let the monkeys clamber all over them. 

“It is really very cute to watch them together. It’s so much fun to see the two species get along so well."

Snakeskin-covered car promises luxury on new scales

Specially modified ... snakeskin Bentley GT

A LUXURY car customising firm has unveiled a specially-modified Bentley GT - covered in snakeskin.

Latvia-based Dartz Motorz's upcoming Bentley SS - which stands for Snake Skin - will be available in 2013, the Chinese Year of the Snake. 

The motors come with specially-treated skin covering their exterior, as well as the interior detailing and dashboard. 

But it will set car enthusiasts back a little more than your basic paint job, with prices starting from a whopping £8,000. And that's without the £125,000 or more you'll need to buy the Bentley GT in the first place. 

Customised ... Snakeskin Bentley GT

The skin used is taken from snakes specially bred on farms for the leather industry. 

But animal lovers who have fallen for the luxury look shouldn't despair - as cars can also be fitted out with a vinyl cover made to look like snake skin. 

Company boss Leonard F Yankelovich said: “We are sure the Snake Style will be hit car covering during 2013 Snake year!” 

Exterior ... skin comes from snake farms

Big appetite? Eagle swoops and snatches deadly Nile crocodile

Lunchtime ... the plucky bird flies off with its wriggling meal

 

AN EAGLE swoops down and grabs a crocodile in its claws before flying off with the dangerous prey.

This incredible scene was captured on camera by a British safari guide working in Tanzania.

The image is all the more amazing because, fully grown, the Nile crocodile is one of the world's most deadly creatures. 

Adults can grow to six metres long and weigh up to a ton - thanks to a diet of hippos, giraffes, buffalos and the occasional human. 

But when they're still infants, the amphibians are vulnerable to passing predators.
In this case, opportunist birds of prey. 

Eagle-eyed ... the bird sneaks up on the croc at a watering hole

 

Safari guide Mark Sheridan-Johnson, 32 who was raised in Tanzania by his Newcastle-born parents, insists he's never heard of an eagle attacking a crocodile before. 

Mark - who took the photos - said: "In nine years of being a safari guide I would never expect to see this. It's unheard of. 

"I think this eagle could be a lone individual who has learnt how to hunt for crocodiles. 

"It certainly knew what it was doing."