Pigging out and getting lazy

V-Day
Last week, D and I celebrated V-Day in true D & Nut style. Stuffing our faces, first at Subway on Thursday. Then a buffet the day after V-day so we could escape the crazy expensive set dinners. And there were some surprising gifts along the way. A new cap and running socks! Whoooppeeee! And a bluetooth earphone. How very thoughtful. And so very sweet cos I didn't expect anything at all. I guess he got quite terrified of me driving and answering calls / text-messaging at the same time. Hahaaa... sure beats silly roses or getting suckered into typical V-day promos! We had fun, and we both knew if he could just prop his chair by the chocolate fountain and stick his face in it, he would.

LY Day
Last Sunday, LY and I celebrated her birthday with a nice leisurely lunch, then we explored Pavilion for the first time in town. Huge. Later, we went over to Asprey in Starhill so LY could look at her 'dream ring' from the Keira collection, just for fun. It was quite a challenge to keep a straight face cos we pretended to be interested customers, cooking up a story about her non-existent fiance wanting to know her 'dream ring' and ring size. It was a riot and the sales girl took it hook, line and sinker.

LY tried the ring. We took pictures. And found out that the ring she liked wasn't exactly out of reach, though it would mean no more holidays for the entire year, hmmm, make that 2 or 3 years. It's a simple thick white gold ring with a small strip of pave diamonds (diamond dust) on a spinning outer ring. Understated but pretty. Just like the birthday girl.

We walked out with an Asprey paper bag.
Empty, apart from a thick purple catalogue. LY was a happy camper and on a high after having that ring on her finger. If only for a few minutes. Hahahaha.

Laziness
The post CNY illness and fatigue lingered on for quite abit. The cough was rather annoying and took about 2 weeks to heal. Doesn't help that I've been busy at work. It was hard to get back into training and I only managed a short run on Thursday morning and a swim this morning. My body was stiff and tired. So I listened to it and didn't want to overdo it. Looks like I'll have to get back into the groove soon. KLIM 21km is just over a month away. Aaaiiiieeeeee....

IRONMAN Langkawi
Just found out online that AS, MS and AI have completed the Ironman within qualifying time. CONGRATULATIONS! You people are an inspiration. Woohoo! Wah, looking forward to my first Olympic distance triathlon in May. So semangat now!

3-0ink

I woke up on Saturday with dread. Not because I turned 30, but because I had to work and present an online to the client. Fortunately, things went pretty well and the client service director did not throw a fit or press the panic button. Good start to the day.

I went over to D's place after and had lunch with his folks who just got back from India that morning. They got me a very pretty black and silver-gold saree. It's gorgeous. Thank you. I must learn how to wrap that thing.

And after a "I haven't gotten you a present lah" act (which resulted in some minor sulking), D surprised me with a pair of running shoes. Of the right type. In the right size. And in the right colour scheme.

Hwaaaaaaa..... I was so impressed. Just when I was about to go out and hunt for a new pair myself. My almost one-year old pair were showing signs of wear. And though they served me well in the past year, they probably only have one more race left in them. Thanks, D. Muaks. Can't wait to take these new babies out for their first run and break them in.

We played Boggle with his folks for pretty much the whole afternoon before we went out for dinner. I wasn't fussy about dinner. I was just hungry. Anywhere would do. And just as we arrived at our usual bak kut teh joint, I caught a glimpse of a very familiar bald head. Then I saw a few very familiar heads (with hair). What the...?!

I turned to D and all he said was, "Surprise!"
I was so stunned, I didn't even know how to get out of the passenger seat. I finally got out and I didn't know what to say, except thank you. There were 2 cakes with too many candles to blow out (delicious chocolate brownie from the gang and a smiley cake from LY's sister).

There were balloons and banners on the wall. And they even made a hand-painted singlet with big yellow boobs, which I had to wear most of the night. Er, don't ask. It was really funny though.

So there were my dearest buddies from work. My chaboh and MF. D's gang. Even CC from the band. Apparently there were supposed to be about 30 people for my 30th birthday, but some couldn't make it in the end. Anyhoo, to make the birthday an even piggier one on top of BKT, I got a roast pork (delicious), coffee beans and a gorgeous mixing bowl as pressies.

It was quite bizarre to see my friends from different places all in one place, and I was pretty much in a daze the entire night. Maybe it was the few sips of beer. Dinner ended with some cake, and a few us adjourned to Sunway Pyramid for coffee and hot chocolate.

Today, Sunday, was a little less eventful.
Overslept so I couldn't go cycling :(
Had two and a half roti canais at my favourite roti joint with D.
Scrapped my plans to go to the gym - was feeling really lazy.
AND I stuffed my face with some yummy roast pork.

So I bummed at home, paid some bills online and panicked at my bank balance (especially now that the cheque for the kitchen cabinets had cleared) *sob*. Drove my folks around on errands. Had a birthday dinner with my family. And then bummed at home some more with Sunshine at my feet. Nice.

Chinese New Year in a few days time.
Time is flying by oh-so-quickly.

Thanks everybody for quite a birthday celebration. More pictures to follow as soon as I can find my USB cable for the phone. I can't remember where I put it. And nope, it's not a sign of aging. I've had bad memory for as long as I can remember. Which isn't very much. Heh.

An edible pig sty

JH's 4Xth was celebrated in true pig-out style. Seafood at Wong Poh. Cake. And more cake.

Last but not least, TL bought some Marks & Spencers biscuits, Percy the Pig & Friends candy and some chocolate eclairs to build this...


It took us a few tries (we initially wanted to build a barn to put Percy and friends in, but it collapsed too many times). We finally built a little chocolate biscuit house, decorated with beribboned Percy Pigs, surrounded by little sheep and cows and eclairs.

Quite a delicious work of art.
I don't know if JH managed to finish all the cookies and candy at one go. Even one look at it is enough to send a person into diabetic shock. Yuh-mee!

Better late than never!

A HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY shout out to these March 29 babies:

CN who celebrated her birthday in Europe with her hubby on a baby-making holiday *hehehehe*. So much for "Buatan Malaysia" huh?

Wally. Thought of drawing you a birthday cake and posting it but the only artist around here is you.

And last but not least, Mint Chutney, the spicy mama. If you'd like a taste of her, try this:

Ingredients :
1 cup firmly packed mint leaves
6 spring onions
2 fresh green chilies
1 clove garlic, optional
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

Method :
The easy way to make this fresh chutney is in an electric blender. Cut the spring onions into short lengths. Seed the chilies and stalks removed. Put everything into the blender container. Blend to a smooth paste. If a blender is not available, finely chop the mint, onions and chilies. Pound in mortar and pestle a little at a time, until ground to a paste. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pack into a small dish and smooth the surface. Cover and chill until serving time.

Hope it was a good one, y'all!

Kinabalu Hullabaloo

No meaning one. Simply.
Cos I thought those two words sounded funny together.

It's off to Kota Kinabalu (KK) on Friday morning! We'll have a day and a half to bum around and stuff our face with seafood cos we're only climbing Mount Kinabalu on Sunday.

Now YL and I have been to KK before, and we aren't that keen to stay in the city. So we're going WHITE WATER RAFTING on Saturday as well! Whoooppeeee!

Last week, I was running at the gym like a mad woman. The high from the 10km race lasted the whole week and I felt so energised. Then my big toenail got inflamed (must be an ingrown nail). It hurt to even walk. Went to the doc and he gave me an antibiotic and a cocktail of THREE pain / anti-inflammatory meds. After two days, it got better, and the pus came out. It doesn't hurt as much now, though it's still a little tender.

I really should hit the gym tomorrow.
I notice the less I exercise, the more I seem to eat and the more constantly hungry I seem to feel. Strange innit?

And oh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY YULES!

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.

Saturday Pig Out

No matter how depressed I'm feeling, food is always a faithful friend. So my self-prescribed therapy involves alot of cooking and eating (I would add baking if my freaking oven wasn't out of order).

Saturday started out quite nicely. I woke up early (though later than I intended) at 7.00am to prepare some Sambal Stuffing, Assam Pedas sauce, and a potato stuffing for Stuffed Squid for the BBQ later in the evening. I cut up and pounded (I must add Food Processor into my TO BUY list) all the ingredients and fried the 3 different dishes till fragrant.

Then it was off to Paddington's Pancakes to meet up with Spot & Snowie, Geekchic and Box, my favourite bloggers who happen to live within a reasonable distance. At least when Geekchic is in town from up north anyway.

So we stuffed our faces with yummy pancakes and coffee. I had Classic Buckleberry - buckwheat pancakes with blueberries in it, served with maple syrup, beef bacon, a dollop of cream cheese and scrambled egg with mushrooms. A yummy combo of savoury and sweet, but I found the pancakes not as 'buckwheaty' as I thought it should be.



I can't remember what the rest had apart from the Full Montys Box and Geek ordered (pancakes with chipolatas, bacon, beans and a sexy wobbly whole fried egg).



But here are the pictures (thanks to Geek's camera).



Hmmm. THIS one looks kinda... er... nevermind.



Anyway, they went on to have tea and cake at Winter Warmers, but I had to scoot to my godsister's baby's full moon party. They had some yummy Indian food catered. The mutton curry was sublime! No pictures though, cos I forgot my camera.

Then it was home to pack up the sauces, stuffing and other ingredients. After which JK and I collected the seafood, bought the ice and prepared the grub at YKK's place. YKK had a brilliant idea - he left the still frozen dory on a tray under the fan. Sure enough, it thawed in no time at all! No need to soak in water!



It was also my first time cleaning squid. Such a messy affair and boy, were they BIG. I was hoping for smaller ones I could stuff whole. So I cut them in half, and some pieces the girls had to skewer both ends to keep the stuffing in.



The thawed dory was then marinated in olive oil and lemon juice for abit, then divided between the assam pedas and lemon butter & dill parcels.



Next, the Selar Fish. Gosh, the fins were so sharp I have tiny little cuts all over my hands now from rubbing salt and turmeric over their bodies. I vengefully snipped them off (the fins, not my hands) with kitchen scissors as I gutted the fish, bless that invention! After stuffing them with Sambal and pre-frying them, they were wrapped in banana leaves and foil.



As we went along, we enjoyed some Single Malt that YL brought over. Soon all the fish parcels were ready and the prawns' sharp bits were lovingly snipped off by JK.



The seafood was fresh and the prawns were amazingly huge and juicy. The dory was a little bland with the lemon butter & dill though. I guess frozen fish like dory needs a more flavourful sauce such as the assam pedas (which turned out pretty yummy, YAY!). I shall use the lemon butter & dill sauce on fresh fish next time.



YL prepared this yummy garlic oil to go with her BBQ veges - simple broccoli, Japanese sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes, oyster mushrooms, and WHOLE meaty portabello mushrooms. It was so good.





She also made a new potato salad with mustard, lemon juice and chives. But it was left in the fridge and we forgot to take it out! Aaarrggh! I got a taste of it when we were cleaning up though. And gosh, it was SO GOOD I would've eaten more if I wasn't already so stuffed.

So what's a birthday without the birthday cake? Something simple and un-jelak like La Manila's butter pound cake was the perfect dessert. Light, fluffy and delicious. We continued our chit-chat munching on cut fruits and sipping our beer and white wine. We kept it a very small, intimate party of SW's closest friends so we could have decent conversation. It's always much nicer this way.

For recipes to the above (the BBQ stuff anyway, I don't think I'll attempt a buckleberry pancake just yet, heh), hop over to my foodie blog. Sigh, and I'm wondering why I'm putting on weight.

Happy Birthday Geekchic!

So she's another year older (and wiser).

May this year be less angst-ridden.
More make-up laden.
And of more kick-ass patents.

My oven's dead so I can't bake a cake in your honour.
So here's an imaginary one. I'll describe it in detail so you know what it could've, or would've been like. Ha ha! Now that's virtual baking!

A light, fluffy cheesecake.
Not too sweet. Not too rich.
Yet creamy, like Ipoh-putih skin.
The base is a buttery, crunchy layer of digestive crumbs.

It's topped with a strawberry cream mixture (of freshly whipped cream with pureed fresh strawberries and some icing sugar folded in).
Yes, you guessed it, it's PINK in colour.
With a fat little strawberry perched in the middle just because.

I call it Le Geeque de Fromage.
(It think it loosely translates to The Geek's Cheese.)

Hmm. That's sounds kinda wrong. Kinda very wrong.
Aaackk! What have I done!?
Faster! Make a wish!
Blow the candles!

Wanton

I'm talking about dumplings made of tissue paper and nasal discharge. They're everywhere. I should clear those away from my desk before my cube becomes ground zero for some biological warfare.

The past two weeks sucked in the health department.
First, a bad case of tonsilitis.
Followed by a bad bout of flu.

I notice the correlation between the lack of exercise and the deterioration of my health in the past few months. I really want to start running again. And I did start, on Sunday. Only to have this damn flu hit me the following day.

Work has kept me busy. And tired.
To the point where I could only do up to Chapter 6 (or was it 7?) of my Purpose Driven Life project in my other blog. At this rate, I'll never complete it in time for Easter anyway. So I'll just do it slowly over the next few weeks (or months). Don't want to rush through it just for the sake of completing it fast.

I've nothing interesting to post.
My brain is still in a hazy, pathetic mess.
So in the meantime, I'll leave you with another picture of Sunshine. I just got her a new collar. It's padded on the inside for more comfort. And I even sewed a little red bell on it.



Last but not least, this is a shout out to two birthday girls today (29 March) and a birthday boy.
- Mint Chutney, the lovely mamma from Evanston, Chicago.
- My dear, dear friend CN who lives just a few minutes away, but I don't seem to see her often enough.
- And WT, the best illustrator in town in my book.

YL's birthday was yesterday, but she's in Spain now on a 3-week holiday. Envy, envy. I'm so looking forward to her postcards.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU ALL!
*love, hugs and kisses from me, licks and tail wags from Sunshine*

My chaboh (girl in hokkien dialect)

At TSB Bangsar, on our "10th Anniversary", 8 Jan 2006.

IACT, 1996
I first met LY on the first day of college.
She was probably the friendliest, prettiest looking girl in class with her dimpled smile and curly wurly hair.

I remember lunch on that first day at the corner coffeeshop. LY ate with a shy, quiet girl from class, while I was with another classmate I knew from my high school. I remember LY had char koay teow and the pig in me thought, damn, I should've ordered that cos it looked better than my pork noodles.

Before long, LY and I became best of friends. And we'd been inseparable since. Her house became my second home and every Saturday morning, we had a tosai and 'teh tarik' ritual at our favourite breakfast place, Sri Gangka, near her house. Sometimes it was just the both of us, sometimes with her family. Even her extended family got to know me and included me in their gatherings. How cool's that?

The 3 years in college were great times. I'd hang out at her place after classes if we were not out with the gang. And we'd play the piano and sing, no, wail at the top of our voices. Once, even into a microphone as we recorded ourselves. Hahaha.

Every year, our college gang would go for little trips to the islands and we'd all get drunk on the beach. One time LY and another friend bruised each other up playing football on the sand while intoxicated. It was rather funny.

When LY started dating DM, she'd take me along on some of their 'dates' in his big grey van. DM was also our classmate and we hung out in the same group anyway, so it didn't occur to me that I was a big shiny lamp post. And we had good CLEAN fun, mind you.

DM and LY had a beautiful relationship and they were together for about 5 years. They were good friends who turned into lovers. Even though they parted ways only 3 years ago and are now friends again, I still think he's the 'best fit' for her. Sigh.

CSU, Bathurst, Australia, 1999
We went to CSU with over 20 people from IACT. And for the first time in their relationship, LY and DM could spend alot of quality time together (LY's folks didn't approve of her dating so young back home, you see). I also started seeing someone then, so LY and I only saw each other at lectures and dinner time (we took turns to cook, and DM was our official chicken-butcher man). Or when we went partying. Even when we didn't spend that much time together, we knew we'd always have each other.

It was an amazing year for all of us. And before we left Australia, we had a wonderful holiday at Port Stephens, near Newcastle, 2 hours north of Sydney. Beautiful beaches that stretched out to the horizon. Sand dunes. Boating. Small islands. And that carefree feeling we didn't know we would never feel again.

LY and I still talk about it. It was probably the best time of our lives.

Unfortunately, we graduated.
So we had to join the real world.
Got a job. You know, like other adults.

We resumed our Saturday morning tosai and 'teh tarik' ritual at Sri Gangka. Sometimes, it was dinner or supper. No matter how busy we were, we made it a point to get together every now and then.

I got to know some of her colleagues who also became my friends. They sometimes referred to me as her other half. While we found it funny at first, we soon realised that dammit, we were so spoiling our market! But of course, our guy friends would always say it's okay as long as they get to watch. Bastards. Heh.

We WERE being watched.
One funny story was when she became my 'sponsor' at RCIA, a course I was taking to become Catholic. LY's a born-Catholic, so she volunteered to be my 'guide' throughout the course (a year-long one at that).

Our group's facilitator was a funny old man. You see, I would scratch her back for her when it got itchy in class (she's got very bad eczema). And sometimes we'd lean against each other when our backs were too lazy to support ourselves.

One night, towards the end of the course, he said to us, "I've been observing both of you for a long time. It's okay you know. As long as you come to church, lead a good and holy life, it's quite acceptable to me, maybe not the church, but I'm okay."

We laughed so hard we nearly died on the spot. We told him in between guffaws that it's not what it looked like. He probably didn't believe us, cos since then, he still gave us knowing looks.

Holidays! Holidays!
We went for our first girly holiday to Pangkor Island a few years ago and decided to make it an annual affair. It was always Pangkor or Langkawi Island (when we were earning pittance). Then in 2004, we had our first overseas holiday together in Bali for a week. I must say that was the best holiday ever. Two single girls. Lots of sun, sand and sea. Adventure (we hopped on 2 motorbikes to watch a festival in a remote village). Shopping. Spas. And er, moonlight dinners on the beach. Under the moonlit sky with sand between our toes, we looked at each other...

"YOU AGAIN AH!", and shook our heads in mock misery.

This year, we plan to go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and maybe visit abit of Thailand along the way. Can't wait!

And oh, it's her birthday!
LY turns 28 tomorrow.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHABOH! LARP YA! :D

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.

Empty hands, full stomach

Friday, 1 Oct. The Kancil Awards 04.

The ad industry annual award show. This year was quite a sad year for DDBi cos we didn't win anything. The finalists were displayed outside the ballroom before the dinner and ceremony started. So a quick tour of the exhibition told us we won't be running on stage that night. Saw old friends and ex colleagues. Was very happy for them who picked up a few. Like Alvin's Korean War TVC Bronze and Ivan's Gold in Copywriting.

It was also interesting to see how consistent Leo Burnett was across all categories. They've got really good people over there. So nervous about joining them soon. What if I don't measure up? What if I'm not good enough? Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

After the night was over, we went over to Flams in Pyramid. SookWai hung out with us too so that was really nice. Kinda like a little reunion for everybody. We went a little crazy. Guess we were really trying not to let our no-win bother us.

Rollerblading and a yummy dinner...

I could finally rollerblade!! It wasn't that hard after all. Tried on Kay Li's blades on Saturday which were slower than the pair Clare lent me. They were much easier to balance and once I got over the fear of falling, it was actually quite fun!

After rehearsals, I had dinner with my family and family friends at Gold Dragon City in Paramount, PJ. Kinda like a 'welcome home' dinner ("sai chan", or wash dust, as we would say in Chinese) for my brother. It was also mom's birthday.

The food was great... opened with the 4 Season Starter which had almond crusted crab claws, scallops and snow peas, some really nice fish cake and seafood balls. Then it was the Superior Seafood Soup which tasted like sharks fin, minus the fin of course. I would never order a shark killed. Then we had Pat Poh Duck, which was a braised herbal stuffed duck. My dad and the older folks loved it. We also had Mar Lat Chicken which was steamed chicken with a spicy sesame, chili and spring onion crumble on top.



Then there's the special Pomfret Rolls with Crunchy Bones. They deboned the fish, rolled the fish fillets and steamed them while the bones were deep fried till crunchy. Followed by Braised Sea Cucumber, Mushrooms and Broccoli as well as birthday noodles. For dessert it was warm Soy Bean with Hasma (frogs stomach apparently).

Li Yen brought a huge carrot cake with candles for mom and between 12 people, we finished 2 bottles of wine (which is not alot, considering I had to hustle the uncles to drink). It was fun. Everyone had a good laugh. They loved the food. And I was quite contented by my 3rd glass of wine.

It was nice to see my parents having a good time. Haven't seen them so contented, ever. These occasions are rare and few. Who knows how many more there will be.