Eating down south

YL and I were in Muar yesterday for RK and TJ's wedding, but on our way south, we stopped by Melaka for Tangkak Beef Noodles. Thanks to the lead on this makan blog, we found the place. We initially thought of going to Tangkak town itself (it's right next to Muar), but not knowing the way to its famous beef noodle shop or anybody there meant we could get hopelessly lost.

Even with a map, it took us a wrong turn or two before we found the place at 37 Jalan Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya. But boy, was it worth it! Very generous portions, yet not too much. The beef slices were delicious. The broth beefy. The tripe nicely chewy. The tendon melt-in-the-mouth.


YL pointing to the shop. Oooooohhhh.... the beef noodlessss.

We also had the beef balls. It's not as bouncy as the beef balls in KL, slightly on the sweet side (which took some getting used to) but tasty all the same.


Tender, tender beef and juicy beef balls.

Next to get on our list was the famous mille crepe in Melaka. I didn't know where it was located. So I sought the help of Melaka foodie, Jason who told us it's at Nadeje's in Plaza Mahkota. Not only did he give us very good directions, he was so sweet to call the owner to pack 4 slices ready for our collection. Thanks dude! :)

We went on our way to Muar, sat down for coffee at the 434 Kopitiam at the main road facing the bus station, ordered some famous Muar coffee and dug into the mille crepe. It was really good lor. Kicks Food Foundry's ass. Hard.


Nadeje's Mille Crepe. 434 Kopitiam's Elephant Bean and Double Shot Sai Kee iced coffee

Even the coffee was yummy. YL and JK had double shots of Sai Kee iced coffee, while I had some 100% Elephant Bean iced coffee. Wah, syiok lor! Hers was strong and flavourful. Mine was not as strong but it had a nice, bitter-ish after taste. Kinda like the bitter winey taste of some durians. YL didn't quite like it, but my tastebuds enjoyed the rather unique flavour. JK then suggested we try the babi (pork) satay at the glutton street nearby.


Lots of stalls selling Satay and Otak-Otak. Porky and Cockle Satay.

Her cousin's wedding was only two hours away. But since we're here, might as well right? So we had the satay (JK ordered cockle satay as well) and or chien (oyster omelette). The satay was good... ah, pork, the best meat in the world. The or chien was delicious and eggy. Not too starchy with lots of oysters.


The uncle preparing or chien. Slurrrppp.

We were feeling really stuffed by the time we went back to her grandmother's place to change for the wedding dinner.

And that's another feast on its own.

Six Seasons. Braised Precious Seafood (yay! no sharks were killed). Steamed Pomfret. Mushrooms and Broccoli. Salad Prawns. And my all time favourite. ROAST PIGLET! There were also some really interesting new dishes I've never had before, wedding dinner or otherwise. Chicken Rojak (fruit rojak with fried chicken pieces, a refreshing twist the usual lemon chicken) and Stuffed Orange with Yam Paste. It tasted sweet, tangy and earthy all at the same time. Really comforting and yummy and so fragrant from the orange peel which you could eat. It looked like the orange was stuffed with yam paste and then boiled in syrup.


Trays and trays of Chicken Rojak. Stuffed Orange and Yam Paste.

I felt like the orange after that. Duly stuffed.
As we drove back to PJ after the dinner, my mind was toying with the idea of swinging by Melaka again for satay celup. My full tummy protested. Anyway, it was late. And YL's utter shock that I could still think about food was a good indication that the satay celup should stay in my head. Heh heh.

It was a fun trip. And such a cute couple too.
Here's wishing them a lifetime of joy, laughter and good food! :D


Congratulations RK & TJ!

Why I love working here...

Been crazy busy for the past week.

Working on a new biz pitch. Worked both days last weekend and will be working this coming one too. Sigh.

But I love working here.
Not just because I've got great friends / colleagues / bosses here, but also because we're like family.

Like today, about 17 of us went out to eat bak kut teh (pork in herbal and garlic soup) for lunch. It's wonderfully communal, chopsticks digging into 2 huge claypots of boiling broth and pieces of meat, mushrooms and tofu. It's wonderfully delicious, with a bowl of rice and a mini-dish of raw chopped garlic, thick black soy sauce and birds eye chillis on the side. The shop was wonderfully hot, crowded and noisy. And we ate, laughed and poured tea above the din.

On the way back in the car, a few of us were discussing Chinese idioms. I'm illiterate in my own mother tongue, knowing just enough for basic daily conversation with my mom and some relatives. So I was learning quite abit about clever Chinese wordplay. It was interesting to say the least, and it made the short car ride back to the office such fun.

Here are some simpler ones (in Cantonese) I learnt from JH and JC.

Sui lok sek choot (receeding water exposes rocks)
- Truth will reveal itself with time.

Tau ngak gwai pin (steal bluff kidnap cheat)
- Untrustworthy (quite obvious hor?)

For siew kei gon (fire burns flag post)
- Now this one is a little complicated. A well-burnt flag post would give you a long piece of charcoal, which in Cantonese is "cheong tan", which also sounds like a "long holiday". So by saying you're burning a flag post, you're actually going for a long holiday. Uh. Okay...

Gai mou ngap huet (chicken feather duck blood)
- Nothing left but worthless things. Usually used when you're saying someone is in deep trouble (especially when it's about money).

Mou ngok butt chok (not evil not done)
- Do nothing but evil. Used to refer to people who does nothing but... well, evil. Quite self-explanatory this one.

Chat chat bat bat (seven seven eight eight)
- Almost compete, but not 100% yet. I wonder if number 10 is considered a complete number by the Chinese. Hmmm.

There are alot more but I can't remember them all now. And it's time to get back to work. Maybe I'll post another one about this, once I have time to do more research.

* For some strange reason, every time I'm stuck in a meeting with a government ministry client (it's nothing short of painful), I get this huge craving for bak kut teh. Good thing my colleagues agree it is the best comfort food. Eating it, even if out of spite, is a balm to my soul. If you want to know why, ask via email. I don't want a lawsuit. Hahaha.

The perfect greasy non-kosher breakfast

OK, I know I'm a lousy foodie blogger, if I can even call myself one, when:

1) I don't bring my camera to take photos (batteries dead!)
2) I can't give you proper directions on how to get there
3) I can't remember everything on the menu, despite my annoying menu reading habit*

*At a new restaurant, I tend to flip through the menu over and over again while waiting for the food to arrive. I read the descriptions, as if trying to memorise them, knowing very well I won't remember much. But there's just something about reading menus (especially if there are pictures) that really make me happy, and I always like to keep a copy on the table. Sometimes you have to pry it out of my hands or there won't be much of a conversation. Heehee.

My criteria for the perfect breakfast would be:
1) Good coffee
2) Bacon, and I don't mean shrivelled up pathetic pieces. Or worse, *shock horrors*, beef bacon. Oh lard, forgive me...
3) Sausage / ham
4) Sauteed mushrooms, and only fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter/bacon fat
5) Eggs, sunny side up x 2
6) Baked beans
7) Toast & butter
8) Grilled tomato
9) Juice

Now, don't get me wrong..
Some places serve really good breakfasts with beef bacon *makes the sign of the pig*, but it just ain't the real deal without Elmer Fudd.

So this rules out the breakfast at La Bodega (about RM30 for the whole works). Very yummy. But kosher.

Out next, Pizza Uno. Cheaper than La Bodega (about RM16, if I remember correctly), but boy, do they stinge on the portions. I got barely a mouthful spoonful of mushrooms! And kosher, so nuh-uh.

Now, pork lovers...

Wendy's Bistro, Sunway Mentari
On the same row as the popular steamboat places, it's quite hard to miss. They serve a great breakfast, and you can choose between streaky or back bacon, and chicken or beef or pork sausage. How's that for choice? I remember the breakfast was rather good value for money (I can't remember the price now), and delicious too. I'll probably go there again one day and find out the prices for you. They've got a pretty extensive menu, so do check it out. Only thing freaky about it is, the front two pages sounded like some kinda self-motivational "I've-been-to-a-brainwashing-seminar" type of propaganda. Hee.

Fogel Meat Market, Plaza Damas
LY told me about this little eatery in Plaza Damas sometime ago, but I never got round to going until 2 weeks ago. Step right in and a variety of bacons, hams, steaks, chops and other carnivorous grub will greet you. They look very fresh. And the place smells very much like the nice clean butcheries in Australia. Of course, the smell of meat grilling added to the olfactory-memory triggering. Sigh... Aussie meat. Oh, by the way, this joint IS owned by an Aussie.

Good news. The food is OH-MY-GAWD fantastic.
Bad news. It's rather expensive.

That said, it was packed on a weekend brunch.
We were told to come back in 1/2 hour to get a table.
Wahliao.

The big breakfast platter (RM35) has generous portions of everything. Enough to feed two.

VERY GOOD bacon (I prefer streaky, but their back bacon was anything but tough). 2 sausages (we chose lamb and pork), 2 grilled tomatoes, 2 small pieces of grilled beef steak, toast with butter, and a generous mountain of mushrooms. Wow. In one huge plate too.

Of course, now I'm not sure if they made a mistake.
You see, when the bill came, they charged me for TWO platters.
When I said I only ordered one, they happily deducted one platter from the bill. But I'm really wondering if there were 2 portions of the "big breakfast platter" on that giant plate we shared (the tables for two were small, so it made sense to have one giant plate vs two big plates).

Will go again and order it to see if one serving gets me all I mentioned above. Cos if that's the case, RM35 for all that is freaking AMAZING! But oh, drinks were not part of the deal. Juices were RM6 each but freshly squeezed and yummy. Coffee was about that price as well me thinks.

They have a really nice meaty menu. From steaks to chops to Aussie pies to kebabs to sandwiches to burgers. Very nice lor! Where is it? It's on the same road as Yogazone. Say, Yogazone is on your left. Walk down the street and you'll see Fogel on your right.

:@)

Heard there's another porky-friendly breakfast place called Jarrod n Rawlings in Damansara Heights. Maybe I'll check that out soon. And probably revisit Wendy's and Fogel's soon. If only just to eat and take some pictures.

Oinkers, unite!

Yummm!

Mixed Nuts

My dad's been quite a chipmunk, invading my nut stash to make a mixed nut snack. I bought a medium pack each of pecans, pistachios and almonds some time back. Thought I'd keep them handy in case I feel like making some biscotti.

My dad loves nuts, so I told him to help himself to some if he feels like snacking on them. Suffice to say, my nut stash is depleting quite rapidly. If I don't make biscotti soon it'd all disappear.

He made me a little container to bring to work the other day.
It was so yummy I finished the whole thing. A second container now sits half full, beckoning the same fate. Aaarrgghh...

What's inside - pistachios, almonds, pecans, white peanuts, all toasted briefly in the oven. And, some of the biggest, fattest raisins I've ever seen. They're really yummy, and yet, not too sweet. There's no added salt, but the nutty flavour and the raisins go really well together. I'd take a picture, but how it looks won't do justice to how it tastes. Maybe I'll do a dressed up photo of them nuts this weekend.


Empingan Berlinjau (Berlinjau chips)

I have no freaking idea what a berlinjau is. All I know is, I can't find it anywhere in KL. I had a meeting in JB on Friday, and on the drive back up to KL we stopped at the Ayer Keroh rest stop and I found these chips. The first time I had them was at a friend's open house.

My guess is it's a fruit of a tree, dried or steamed, and then rolled flat and then deep fried. It's crispy, with a slightly bitter aftertaste. Not exactly starchy and yet, doesn't have that oily taste of other chips. Strange.

Of course, I ate them all before I could take any pictures. I bought 2 packs. Finished one in the car on the drive up. Finished another at home. I had a long, tiring week. I deserved it!

Okay, I'm a pig. Though I did share it with my dad.

Post edit: Another blogger wrote about the belinjau here with pictures even. Go see!

Then I googled 'berlinjau' and found 'belinjau' on Wikipedia.

The Gnetales consist of a single genus, Gnetum, which are mostly woody climbers in tropical forests. However, the most well-known member of this group, Gnetum gnemon, is a tree. The seeds produced are used to produce a crispy snack known as 'Keropok Belinjau' in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Malay name for this plant is 'belinjau'.

.

D's CKT

We were chasing episodes of 4400 when he said he'll fry up some char koay teow. The only other thing he's ever cooked for me being instant noodles, I arched my eyebrow in disbelief.

Some pottering about later, I had a hot plate of CKT in front of me. They were out of bean sprouts but there were chopped cabbage, some prawns, chicken meat and egg. But whaddya know... it was actually RATHER GOOD. It didn't look like the CKT you'd get at the shops, but the garlicky fragrance and taste were all there. Quite impressed lor!


JK's birthday

We had Ka Soh's Fish Head Noodles at Vintry in Damansara Heights yesterday. The rainy weather was perfect for the tummy warming soup and smooth rice noodles. The wine that followed was yummy. Though it was mighty strange how JK ended up buying the wine. Eh! :) Hope it was a happy, happy birthday! Hugs!

Vintry's just wonderful. A good wine selection in a cosy little place. And you can order food from any of the restaurants along that row of shops. Must remind myself to do a proper full review in my foodie blog when I have more time.

Three-O-Minus-One

My 29th birthday has been a non-stop food fest since Thursday.

First, it was dimsum at Oriental Jaya with CN, her hubs, EL and LY.
Then on Friday (the 'official' day), my colleagues did a surprise yao char koay and kopi breakfast at the pantry. To avoid my very food-sensitive radar of a nose, they hid everything early in the morning. I didn't suspect a thing. They (my friends, and of course, the food) are THAT good! Haha!

At night, LY took me to Vintry in Damansara Heights.
It's a lovely, lovely porky place right next to La Risata (behind Victoria Station), with an excellent wine selection, starting from RM50 and up. We had pork. Lots of pork. Roast pork. Roast caramelised pork. Bacon. Tom yam ribs. And a soothing oxtail soup. We chose a Wolf Blass Chardonnay which was actually pretty good at the price of RM55, to wash down all the porkiness. Ahhhhh!

A day over 29 on Saturday, I had a dimsum brunch with my folks. Then dinner at Celestial Steakhouse in Kelana Jaya with D. The chef was apparently once the personal chef of Donald Trump or something. Phoooah. The steaks were pretty yummy, though D's ribeye turned out more medium than medium rare. Good thing my prime rib arrived a juicy red medium rare. Slurp.

I've never been to a steakhouse that offered beef of 3 different nationalities. Wah... Chinese cows, Malaysian cows and American cows.

We went Malaysian, which was pretty good, and almost double the price of Chinese beef (I wonder if Chinese beef is imitation beef, like Chinese imitation leather goods, hehehe). Obviously the US beef was also almost double the price of Malaysian beef. A tad too extravagant, me thinks. The food here looked interesting though. Would go back to try their other stuff. Like the 7-cheese lasagna. Mmmmmmm.

Then Sunday night, a seafood dinner at one of my favourite crab places, Wong Poh, with some dear friends. We had cheese crab, salted egg crab, marmite mantis prawn, veges, Guinness ribs and yummy La Manila carrot cake. Followed by copious amounts of tea and lots of laughs.

It didn't stop there. There was a birthday lunch today with some colleagues from my department. We went to this Chinese restaurant in Aman Suria. Not bad at all.

And KC said she wants to treat me to makan and drinks coming weekend.

Gosh. All this eating BEFORE Chinese New Year. How like that!

Bestttt!

Thanks for a well-stuffed belly this birthday.
Thanks for the lovely pressies.
Thanks for the lovely company and friendship.
Thanks for the love.
My belly so lucky.

Something Fishy This Way Comes

This is all I can say about the KFC Alaskan Fish Burger.
GOD-DAMNED AWFUL!

The TV commercial had nothing to do with it (apologies to my friends who did it... it was prolly the client, right? Hahaha). But that said I have a bone or two to pick about this gross miscommunication. Right, I work in the ad business, so I know the burgers won't turn out as big, as juicy, as pretty or as delicious as portrayed on TV. I know how to 'manage my expectations' and take it all with a pinch of salt.

In this case, I did not need any salt. At all.
The fish was exceedingly salty. Maybe to cover up its exceedingly fishy taste. They claim to be using pollack fish. McDonald's Filet-O-Fish uses pollack fish. They taste MILES apart.

KFC claims the Alaskan Fish Burger is 30% bigger than the nearest competitor. "More fish with every bite" MY ASS! It was in NO WAY bigger than a Filet-O-Fish, assuming that's the 'nearest competitor' they were talking about. Look, if they want to compare themselves to the likes of Ramly Burger el cheapo fish fillet burgers or A&W's fish burger, they might as well shove it up themselves.

The ads portray the fish in the Alaskan Fish Burger to be TWICE it's actual size. Most ads usually have this disclaimer: *All items shown are a representation of the actual product. That I can accept. But this... this was pushing it wayyyyy too far.

Next, the sauce. It was bad. Yucky mayo and some funny chilli sauce. Nothing, NOTHING like the gob-smacking deliciousness of tartar sauce in Filet-O-Fish (which they put so little of in the burgers nowadays, upsetting!). The sauce and shredded lettuce created quite a mess on top of the miserable fish patty. Oh, and the bun was dry. Nothing like the soft, fragrant steamed bun of Filet-O-Fish.

KFC is offering a money-back guarantee for those who are dissatisfied with the taste. But I didn't bend as low as an ah pek cheapskate. I will pay for what I've eaten, but there's no going back.

The very next day I HAD to have a Filet-O-Fish, just to erase the memory of the Alaskan Fish Burger from my mouth. Yecch!


Now THIS is a fish burger.

*Note: My opinions are personal and I am not affiliated in any way to McDonalds or KFC. Just so you know, cos these days, even bloggers get sued for defamation. Heh.

Father time

I enjoy hanging out with my dad.
Not that I'm a daddy's girl or anything, but we get along very well these days. One upon a time when he was younger and of better health, he had quite a nasty temper. Age and Parkinson's have slowed him down considerably. But despite all that, he laughs and jokes alot more now. And he sends me the funniest SMSes - mostly reports on Sunshine's antics and complaints about mom's super healthy (read: bland) cooking. He'd conspire with me to buy home some Hokkien Fry for supper. Bad for him, but I indulge the old man sometimes.

On Friday, I was on leave. Dad had to get his meds from both UH (now UMMC) and IJN (National Heart Institute). IJN was smack in town, near some of the more interesting old eating joints. I read about a Mushroom Pan Mee stall on Lorong Haji Taib 5 (a notorious red light district by night) on eatingasia.typead.com. Dad being a greedy foodie like me, despite his stomach not being able to digest as well as it used to, was more than eager to try it out. It was nice and mushroomy, though I felt the soup was rather bland. Read EatingAsia's article for a full description.

On the same foodie blog, there was a post about an old Chinese pastry shop nearby called Sin Wah Bee. They are famous for their Tau Sar Pneah (mung bean biscuits - ground mung beans in a flaky lard-y pastry). My dad loves Tau Sar Pneah and gets cravings for them. So we took a short walk along the backroads of Chow Kit to find that shop. And it was there. Just like in the picture on EatingAsia's blog, the old Chinese lady was at the back, making the little biscuits. A big mound of mung bean paste in front of her. Little circles of pastry shaped into coins on her side. A big wooden tray was filled with freshly baked biscuits. The place looked like nothing was changed since decades ago. Check out EatingAsia's pictures of this little shop. Very interesting. Taste-wise, cannot beat Penang's Ghee Hiang Tau Sar Pneah though. Hehe.

As we were walking back to the car I spotted a Bake With Yen baking supplies shop. I went nuts. LITERALLY. There's just something about baking supplies shops (and supermarkets) that makes me deliriously happy :D.

Back to the nuts. Chinese New Year's coming and I'm thinking of making more biscotti. Different flavours. So I bought a pack each of crystallised ginger, almonds, pistachios and pecans. Dad went on to take a handful of each nut to roast for snacking in front of the TV. Bwahahahaha!

It was 6.00am

And I managed wake up after the first alarm.
I had to go against every single fibre of my body to drag my carcass out of my bed. I'm so glad I did.

It's been goodness-knows how long since the last time I got up this early for the gym. And I didn't even go to the one near my house in Subang. Made a date with YL to meet her at the one in The Curve. We spent about an hour there before having breakfast at O'Briens.

I didn't do alot this morning. Just a brisk 10-minute run at an easy pace, followed by a 5-minute brisk walk, then to the bike for another five. I didn't want to over do it after being such a lardball. So I lifted some light weights upstairs for a little while before calling it quits and took a leisurely shower.

It felt good.

YL was so sweet and treated me to breakfast as a reward for waking up. Yay! She knows how many times I've told her I'd join her in the morning only to text her "I couldn't wake up laa".

We shared a mozzarella wrap and had a cup of coffee each. Oh, the wrap was good! Pesto sauce (I loovvvvee...), mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes and lots of crunchy leafy greens in a tortilla! How's that for healthy! Of course I absent-mindedly finished the side serving of potato chips, AFTER lamenting to YL about them being so unhealthy. Hmmm... I'm hopeless.

We're targeting an easy 5km race sometime in September or October at the Terry Fox charity run. The days when we could breeze through a 10km race feels like a lifetime ago. I hope I can beef up my stamina before the Terry Fox. It'd be embarassing to pass out before I pass the 1km mark.

Running, oh, how I miss you.

Sigh. Back to work. Zzzz.

Shryh, Geekchic & Wandernut meet!

Geekchic was in town from Penang yesterday, a quick stop before her flight down under. So she took the opportunity to catch up with Shryh (who also happened to be in town) and me for brunch.



Chit chat. Rant. Laugh. Chit chat.
It was fun meeting Geekchic and her other half JS again, and Shryh for the first time. Not to mention the food was really lovely as the following pictures would illustrate.

We went to Marmalade, Mont Kiara (I first went there with LY a few weeks ago) for their lovely salads and desserts. Mmm mmmm...


Mushroom Bruschetta


Pear & Pumpkin Salad


Sounds of Havana Salad


Mozzarella Sandwich


Mushroom Quiche


Lemon Lime Tart


Apple Crumble

All these washed down with 4 lattes between us.

Good company, good food.
What more can you ask for on a Saturday afternoon.

An opera, obedience school, oh-wow salads and oh, it's God!

The opera.
Courtesy of my friend and singing buddy, SY (thanks bro), I got a complimentary ticket to watch M, The Opera on Friday night. I was hoping to go earlier, but my workload left me with hardly any energy, much less any mood to do anything.

I'm glad I went after all. Not only because it was a good show, but because a few of my friends were in the ensemble, doing what they do best. It was good to see SY, Nic, MV, ST and JC (playing sax in the orchestra) performing their hearts out. And with a blog name like "The Art Comes First", Nic, really babe, I don't know how you do it (she hardly ever takes a break in between productions).

Now, a brief review.
An eclectic mix of opera, broadway, jazz, asli and malay rock/pop, the music was amazing to say the least (Saidah Rastam is possibly one of the best composers in the country). But what could be one of its greatest achievements (seamless transition from one genre to another), would be its greatest setback. It was difficult to make out what what was being sung sometimes, especially when there were several different singing styles happening at once. The subtitles were not helpful either (some songs were in Malay).

I would say that each individual scene was stunning on its own. But the story was hard to follow, even with the synopsis in hand. Storytelling was overpowered by everything else along the way. Certain parts of the story could've done better with more build up or some bridging between them, while some parts were unnecessarily draggy. That said, it was a visual feast. Great production value with lovely costumes, great choreography and staging. And of course, the voices were nothing short of wonderful. More importantly, the audience enjoyed themselves. I know I did :) Good show, guys.

Obedience school.
In the quest to turn Sunshine into a Canine Good Citizen, I took her to obedience school on Sunday evening. Canines of all breeds were there. From handsome German Sheperds (Sunshine was sooo flirting with one called Lucky), a Golden Retriever, a Doberman, a Siberian Husky, a Jack Russel Terrier, Shih Tzus, Mini Schnauzers, Poodles, and even a Bull Terrier.

The lesson of the day was the Heel command. The trainer was so good with her. She was so... obedient. Apparently my tone of voice was not firm enough for her to take me seriously. But he said she would be very easy to train. So she had fun socialising with other dogs, and making all the kids who came along fall in love with her.

Oh-wow salads
LY and I went to Marmalade on Saturday evening for an early dinner. We ordered two of their fantastic salads (they serve some really mouth-watering ones), a mushroom bruschetta and smoothies. The small-size salad was a meal in it's own (it's huge) and the mushrooms were fresh and sauteed just nice.

Then we shared an apple crumble with coffee. And boy was I tempted to order the carrot cake and the lemon lime tart and the tiramisu served in those little glasses. Gosh. The apple crumble was amazing. Twice the thickness of any you would find in Starbucks or anywhere else, for the same price of RM8.50. It was spilling over with delicious cinnamon-scented apple, cooked just right in a nice pastry shell, topped with oaty crumble (the custard could be a tad thicker though). So delicious.

It's been awhile since we had a girly night to catch up. We planned our Cambodia trip and then did some shopping at Midvalley. Aaaah. It's good to have a leisurely weekend again.

Oh, it's God!
Mom got baptised on Sunday at my brother's church.
Now my whole family's Christian and my brother did a good job of making sure it happened (which is more than what I can say for myself). I hope my mom will grow into the faith and understand what it really means, instead of doing it just for the sake of doing it. Sometimes I really wonder if she knows what she's doing. But I guess the most I can do is pray for her, be more patient with her (God help me) and guide her whenever I can (God knows I need guidance too). Our love-frustrated relationship is often testing and tested. I do try. I just gotta keep trying.

Absolute Gluttony

My friends know me well.
And feed me well.

Birthdays generally lose their sparkle after the age of 10. But that's fine when you have some wonderful friends who take you out for good food. And alot of it.

So I turned 28, well fed, and with good company!

The glutton's paradise:

2 Feb
Lunch with colleagues at the Paris Coffeeshop, SS 2 PJ
Yee Sang, Steamed Fish in Bean Sauce, Stir Fried Vegetables, Homemade Tofu with Preserved Veges and Mince, Champagne Chicken, Guinness Stout Ribs, Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab and Kam Heong Lala (Fragrant Clams).
- The Guinness Stout Ribs (a pile of really dark, glazed meat) and Champagne Chicken (served in a half-watermelon shell) were simply AMAZING.

BEFORE:


AFTER:



Dinner with D at NeroVivo, Ceylon Hill, KL
Seafood Antipasto (with Scallop, Mussle, Baby Octopus, Calamari in small servings, prepared in different styles), Veal Ragout Fettucine, Red-wine Beef Ravioli in Truffle Scented Mascaporne Sauce, 12-Min Chocolate Cake and Gelati



*Dessert is not shown here cos they were half eaten by the time I remembered to take a picture.

- Nerovivo is a small, cosy (and I dare say, romantic) restaurant in what used to be an old bungalow on a little hill. The antipasto platter was lovely. The two pastas were... well, interesting. As for dessert, the 12-min Chocolate Cake can't compare to TSB's Chocolate Volcano, but the gelati was yummy. If only they weren't served on a big flat plate though. Scooping ice cream off a flat surface was quite a challenge.


3 Feb
Steamboat dinner with ex-colleagues at Coco, BSC
It was so nice to be with the old DDBi gang again. Catching up. Reminiscing. And laughing about one particular person whose existence in the agency (or on earth) is a real joke. It's amazing how every time we get together, there are always several new stories to remind us that some people were created, just for the heck of it. If you know anyone more unethical, selfish, inhuman or daft, I'd be pleasantly surprised. Now, that's enough blog space wasted on this freak of humanity. Ahem.


Oh, SW got this really delicious cake from Chef Jerome. It's SO SO GOOD!


4 Feb
Buffet dinner with LY at Rennaisance Hotel, KL
My gawd. I think I ate enough here to last me the whole week! Fresh oysters, sashimi, smoked salmon, an array of antipasto, soup, baked salmon, roast beef, a chocolate section, Haagen Daaz ice cream, delicious bread and a variety of cheeses, lots of cakes, fresh strawberries and cream, pralines, salads... er, well, that was all I could stomach from the spread.


*I gave up taking pictures after this first plate, cos it would mean taking my camera out of my bag too many times. Heh.

After all that food, we took a walk down Lebuh Ampang to kehpoh-kepoh abit. It was really a whim, and it being a nice breezy night for a change, made the walk quite pleasant. Then we remembered that M.O. had a really nice resident jazz band. So we made our way there and sat down for some really nice tea, served in even nicer silver (waahhhh).





5 Feb
Dinner with some dear friends at Wong Poh Seafood, PJ
We had Cheese Crabs, Guiness Stout Crabs, Marmite Crabs, Marmite Mantis Prawns, Mantou and Veges. It was delish delish delish. And so much fun too, as always! I was so full from stuffing my face and laughing all night. Anticipating the crabs, I thought it was a bad idea to bring my camera when my hands would be too greasy and stained to take pictures. Now I wish I had! Dammit!


What can I say? You lot are wonderful.
Thanks for the food, the pressies and most of all, the love.

Penang

I dare not step on the weighing scale.
It's been non-stop eating for the past 3 days.

The trip started innocently enoughly when D, his granny and I drove off to Penang at 7am.

Then we thought we might as well stop in Ipoh for breakfast (on the way wat). We had dimsum at this shop called Yoke Fook Moon or something like that, near Excelsior Hotel. It was so yummy. The prawns were huge, and the morsels of meat, tasty and juicy. Much cheaper than KL prices I might add.

Before this, the furtherst I'd driven my car was to Ipoh. So driving to Penang was new to me. I had to be super alert! I downed some Ipoh White Coffee and we went on our way.

When we arrived at D's aunt's place, we rested abit before our main agenda: pigging out!

We had pasembor, a Penang salad of shredded radish, cucumber, bean sprouts, prawn fritters, egg and peanut sauce, curry laksa, noodles in spicy, coconut curry, pig's blood jelly (I passed on this), chicken, tofu and long beans, char koay teow, fried flat rice noodles with duck egg, prawns, chives, cockles, garlic and chilli, and popiah, soft spring rolls with radish stew and dried cuttlefish stuffing. Really good stuff. Then we went around hunting for cheap DVDs (RM7 a pop, compared to RM10 in KL).

The next day we had a breakfast of koay chap, a twisty flat noodle in a dark earthy soup, with duck meat and some pig innards. This, is a rare find, even in Penang. And definitely not available in KL. I finished every drop of soup.

We also had ban chien kuih, a thick pancake with peanut and sugar filling, some local kuih (sweet pudding-like things), apom (a thin crispy coconutty crepe) and sugee cake. It was also Mak Ee's (D's aunt, Cheryl's mom) birthday, so there were lots of birthday cake in the house.





For her birthday dinner, we went to the Beach Front, at Batu Feringghi. The place served the best deep fried spring rolls I'd ever tasted. It's so good, they don't allow take-aways for fear of people copying their recipe.

It came in generous portions. Crispy on the outside, flavourful on the inside - finely shredded cabbage, radish, carrot, onion, shallots, crabmeat, mushroom, chicken mince, a hint 5-spice powder and goodness knows what else!

Other stuff we had were assam prawns, sambal belacan veges, seafood tofu and a fish curry. Pak Teow (D's uncle) and I washed them all down with icy cold beer in frosted mugs and toasted to Mak Ee's good health.

And finally, we had a last hit of Penang food in the afternoon before driving back to KL.

Oh my, oh my *rubs belly*.

Volcano chase!

Three different volcanoes in one week.



Yummy!

Happy bird-day to me!

When Darren and I stuff our faces, we really stuff our faces.

Last night, he took me to a chinese restaurant for my birthday treat. After agonising over the menu, he had a birdy good idea.

PEKING DUCK.

"You sure? The whole bird? Just the two of you?" the waiter said, almost disbelievingly.

"Can finish ah?" he asked.

"You think we can't?"

The good man jotted it down on his notepad.

"So you want the duck meat with noodles and all that right?"

"Yah! And more cucumber and spring onion please."

To his credit, he kept a straight face. Almost.

He disappeared and some time later, the duck made its entrance from the kitchen. A waitress went on to carve it as her assistant wrapped the skin in little egg pancakes dabbed with hoisin sauce, with slivers of cucumber and spring onion. The little wraps were served on a huge platter of prawn crackers.

Other tables stole glaces. Perhaps in disgust. But heh, we know it's envy. It did look delicious. And tasted as delicious as it looked.

When we were done with the bird (and noodles), we were kinda peckish (no pun intended). So we ordered another bird - HK Roast Pigeon.

This time the waitress was smart.

"One or two?"

"One to share lah. Eat for fun only."

"Err. Ok. Wah, good lah. Eat so much but you don't get fat hor?"

Gee. Erm, thanks.

But oh, the pigeon was good. So fragrant and crispy. Though it did look rather pitiful.

After dinner, stuffed as we were (at least I was), we went to Bayou for yummy chocolate cake. MmmMmmmm.

Thanks, baby! It was fantabulous.

Burp.

Food for thought

McDonald's chief executive Charlie Bell died on Monday from a battle with cancer. The news article, while singing praises of his career achievements, painted quite an unappetising picture.

"...A charismatic leader who said he ate a McDonald's product most days, Bell was diagnosed with colorectal cancer just weeks after being named to the company's top job in April.

He underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy, delegating authority to other senior executives, before relinquishing the post in November to undergo more intensive treatment.

The company's first non-American CEO, Bell had succeeded Jim Cantalupo, who died suddenly of a heart attack after a little more than a year on the job. He was the company's first CEO to have worked behind the counter since Fred Turner, who retired in 1987. "

Coincidence, perhaps. But I'd like to think the food had nothing to do with it. Then again, have you watched the documentary "Supersize Me"?