Those who knows me very well will know that I like to eat, but not exactly a fan of sweet and sugary stuff. I always prefer savoury stuff over sweet things to munch on. But every now and then, I will make an exception.

A couple of days ago, I received some goodies from Cikumuffin via Smallkucing and Mommyling. LOL. Both of them won the giveaway from Cikumuffin too, so I told Cikumuffin to just send it to Mommyling and I will pick it up whenever I meet either of them for dinner and whatnot.

So, to cut the long story short, I went and picked up the goodies from Smallkucing. The package consists of 4 pieces of Lemon Muffin in a white box and a container of Double Chocolate Chips cookies.

Lemon Muffins topped with exquisite lemony cream and pearly sugar.

Double Chocolate chip cookies by Cikumuffin.

Initially, I thought of just wanting to give all the muffin to Smallkucing to enjoy. You see, I’m not exactly in the mood of going out these days…I’ve been under the weather and whatnot, but Mamarazzi insists that she can’t finish it and I must have a bite of it cuz it tastes so heavenly. (truthfully, it’s hard to say no to Mamarazzi. Wakakaka… she always lure me with so much food so that I’ll come out from my vampire lair and I never failed to take a bite of her bait :P)

I was skeptical at first when I saw the pictures in Mommyling’s blog. Well, to be fair, I’m always skeptical when it comes to sweet stuff, and I thought the cookies and muffins are going to be just another one of those sweet things that I wouldn’t be able to push down my throat more than once. Most muffins are unbearably sweet, you know. (I wish I love to eat sweet stuff, though, cuz my sugar levels in my blood are always low, and doctors always advice me to take more sugary stuff)

But boy, was I wrong. Both Mamarazzi and Mommyling was right. Muffins made by Cikumuffin was really something to die for.

First of all, I was really impressed with the packaging. The muffins came in a lovely, semi-transparent box that I usually see in Malay weddings ‘hantaran’ ‘Hantaran’ is some sort of wedding gifts from bride to groom and vice versa. If I didn’t know it better, I could have sworn that these muffins are meant to be some sort of bridal gifts.

The taste of the muffins was really exquisite. It was not sweet as I initially thought it will be. Loved the fact that the cream that’s topping the muffin is not sweet, but sourish instead. It tasted like a hint of freshly squeezed lemon and bits of expensive cream cheese. The muffin itself was not dry like those you get from commercial bakeries too. It glided down my throat easily, and I could have sworn that the muffin was injected with some sourish lemon marmalade. (I could be wrong, though).

Overall, Cikumuffin’s Lemon muffins are addictive in some ways. I find it easy to get addicted to those lemony muffins. You’d want to have another one once you tasted one of these irresistible muffins. Needless to say, these muffins goes well with my cuppa tea. I daresay it’ll make a perfect dish during high tea or a tea party. It would be good for Chinese weddings too-where guests are usually unable to enjoy sweetly flavoured wedding cakes that has been prepared because they’re too stuffed from the nine course meal and whatnot.

I can’t really say much about the Double Chocolate Chip cookies, though. My husband and I only had one piece of the cookies each while the rest went into my son’s tummy. 🙁 My bad for leaving the cookies unattended. LOL! Can’t really give a fair and detailed review for these cookies, (cuz I only had one piece) except that Cikumuffin have been extremely generous with the chocolate chips, and it’s worth buying if you’re a fan of chocolaty products.

I was really impressed with the taste as well as the packaging and the branding. If you’d like to give it a try youself, do hop over to Cikumuffin’s Facebook Page for more infos on how you can order it.

Cleffairy: This is not a paid review, mind you. I’d criticize if the food does not taste good, freebies or no freebies. LOL. Pictures are courtesy of Smallkucing and Mamarazzi. You see, my photography skills don’t exactly give justice to anyone’s food. LOL.

I wonder how many of you out there are paid TV or satellite TV subscribers? I’m not a couch potato. I’m more to a workaholic who would prefer to sit in front of the PC working on my novels and whatnot instead of watching TV.

Apart from that, I’m also a little bit of a control freak. I like to be in control. The idiot box does not give me much control over things because I cannot control what’s being aired and I also cannot control those annoying advertisements.

Yes, I don’t fancy watching TV, especially the free TV whose funded by the local government. There’s simply too much ads, too much propaganda by the local government during election season, infested with re-runs of the old shows or movies and too much censorship on romantic dramas.

The free TV have terrible quality control, I must say, and it’s quite a nightmare for me to sit in front of the TV and tune into those free channels. They’re liable to give me hypertension.

I may not like watching TV and can definitely do without tuning in for a couple of months consecutively, but then again, every now and then, I do like the idea of sitting back on the old couch and indulge myself in a movie session or two over a bowl of buttered popcorns.

The only way for me to enjoy watching the idiot box is to subscribe to paid TV. Paid TV or  satellite TV is completely a different species from the free TV. It’s free from the local government’s propaganda campaigns, proper rating system for adults and children alike, minimal advertisements and most importantly, free of repeated old movies/shows re-runs.

Paid TV, to me, is a pure bliss. It’s something I can really call a home entertainment. It’s something I can enjoy without feeling annoyed.

Unfortunately, unlike my American counterparts, the customer service of paid TV in my country is terrible. I’ve heard of horror stories from paid TV users in my country, and frankly speaking, their testimonials does not exactly tempt me to subscribe their service.

My American counterpart is so lucky to have DISH Network. DISH Network is not only offering over 200 Satellite HD TV Channels packages, but they’re also customer oriented too. They aim to please and satisfaction is guaranteed. If you’re a Twitterer, you can follow them at Infinity DISH Twitter for current promotions and latest status updates.

Not a Twitterer but a Facebooker? Well then, fret not. They are on Facebook too. If you’re interested in subscribing to any of their services and want to know more about them, you can also ‘LIKE’ their DISH TV Facebook fanpage.

You can never go wrong when you communicate with your service provider via all these social networking sites. The response is much more visual and satisfying than calling up the hotline. It’s not only cost and time effective, but as you also get to see their latest promotion as soon as they’re ready to market it too.

Best part of all? You not only get satisfactory response from your service provider, but you can also make friends with other subscribers and exchange your views on movies and whatnot. Beat that. It’s like killing two birds with one stone.

Would you select your Lasik doctor on the advice of a stranger? Technology has allowed Internet business review listings like Yelp and Google Review to become more prevalent, but should patients be using the same tools to select a surgeon as they use to select a restaurant? This may not be the most appropriate referral source.
If you look at the Yelp for Stahl Eye Center in New York, two patients speak in glowing terms about their Lasik, but one complains that the wait was too long and wanted more information about each of the tests that were performed to evaluate him for Lasik. Was the third patient impatient? Is this someone who is easily dissatisfied, or was this a legitimate breakdown of the doctor/patient relationship. And are any of the reviews real?
A concern with unmanaged reviews is the ability to “game the system” by having friends and family create bogus positive reviews…and competitors to create bogus negative reviews. Perhaps misdirection about a restaurant is not such a big deal, but misdirection about a doctor can be a serious problem.
While Internet review services may be ideal for some services and products, a more comprehensive approach is needed for physicians. Patient satisfaction for doctors at the Stahl Eye Center has certified by the nonprofit USAEyes.org. Would a delayed appointment make a difference in that certification? Should you care?