4 Hour Body Meal

I started to follow the 4 Hour Body Slow Carb Diet by Tim Ferris.

This is my typical breakfast:
3 eggs
Baked beans half can
3 stalks of celery

Loss fats gain life

Cakes@Ritz Bakery, Penang

My colleague was telling me about how famous and good Ritz's cakes are, especially the green tea cake.

Being one greedy fart, i just had to try them. The bakery is located near where i was camping, at the scary looking 1926 Heritage Hotel. People out there, do not be fooled by the hotel's pictures on the internet! Highly recommended.. NOT to stay there.

Anyway, i left the hotel early and so happens we drove by the bakery. Knowing i won't be passing this area again... We pitstopped for cakes. At 9am! Just as the worker unlocked the entrance. First customer, and totally wierd breakfast.

The green tea was so green i swear it looked like a nice patch of lawngrass placed in front of me. i wished they put more redbeans in the cake and less sponge. Rm6.20. RT and San Terri still have better green tea cakes for sure.

The one with the cherry top is the blackforest cake. That was abit of a letdown. Not good. Rm 6.20.

The final cake is called ButterScoth. Not sure what scoth meant but it surely did not look like a butterscotch cake/ a choc cheese cake. Nevertheless, trying out new stuffs are what i like.

After taking a bite, i still "caught no ball" (cant make out) what was the intention of this cake. The chocolate coating was hard, and abit too greasy. in the middle of the cake lies a layer of crunched up marie biscuits, prolly mixed with butter and another thin layer of sponge cake. The feeling I got was ," Greasy". My colleague felt sick in the stomach after finishing it. This, for breakfast, urks. His take home message was,"I think i ate the whole brick of butter". Poor fella.rm6.20.

My thoughts of this bakery? Probably regulars/locals have developed a love for this place as i must say the bakery's inner decor is very warm and friendly, plus their tastebuds are accustomed to the cakes since this shop has been around for a really long time already.

For me, i really feel that the few Ive tried did not impress me, especially the fact that they are pretty pricey! There are definitely better cakes here in KL for that price alright.

Btw, a pict of the scary hotel. Please avoid staying there. These people had the guts to give me a room which they already knew that the aircondion compressor was spoilt and was making alot of noise. When i got back from work at 1030pm, there was no other room available and i had to sleep through the night as if i camped in a construction site. Plus, locals were telling me that the hotel is .... Booooooo. Creepy!

Piano Deli Perdoni 2009 Dolcetto d'alba

Demona bought this from italy.
Chocolate, sour plum dominate the nose with some hoisin nose.
Pleasant quaffer

Ch Musar 1999

This is my 5th bottle of Musar.
Surprisingly light on the palate, with pretty intense sour plum, fur and salt on the nose.
Lite to medium bodied, and end with some black tea note at the end palate.
Got it cheap from a merchat in london.

Verdict: I'm always a fan a Musar. Pretty complex and unique nose. With good complexity and good price to quality ratio. Had tried the 99/01/02 so far.

Destress meal@BEN's, KLCC

After work at the convention, me and some colleagues headed over to Ben's for dinner. I didn't know that California Pizza Kitchen bidded Msia goodbye. What a silent exit!

BEN took over and the place was so crowded.

We left the ordering to my fellow ben fan, Noora. She ordered garlic bread and chicken wings as appetizers.

The food came real quick. Thanks to the super power blast air conditioning, our bread went cold fast and the 'angin' went in, making the bread soft and difficult to chew. Chicken wings were so so. I'd much prefer them old skool style, with spicy mixture of tabasco, chilli and tomato sauce.

The soft shelled crab salad was quite unique. Sourish, spicy, sweet and salty young papaya slices, with onions and thinly chopped long beans accompanied by a really fat and big soft shelled crab. Again, power blast aircond turned our food cold in no time.

We had two pastas. Spicy crabmeat and duck confit. The spicy confit was average, nothing much to shout about but the duck confit deserved a round of applause.

Deep fried duck, deboned and mixed along with sundried tomatoes ans rocket salad, stirred with spaghetti. Superbly marvelous. The charred grill smell of garlic and duck really got fused in.

The nachos was quite disappointing. The cheese harded in no time and some of the nachos 'masuk angin'. Man, there sure was a lot of masuk angin food that night.

I would definitely come back for the duck confit pasta. It was smooches, oh so yumyyyyy.

P/S: one thing wierd is that this outlet doesnt serve pizza. Hmmmmm..

Curry laksa&CKT@OK restaurant, TTDI

Otw to Jusco for some grocery shopping, pit stop for brunch!

Apparently, this stall at OK restaurant is popular for its curry laksa according to many food bloggers.

A fairly old tiny auntie was busy frying the CKT while her partner uncle rushed to prepare the curry laksa. Mind you, auntie fries with style alrite. She was all accessorised from ears to wrists, and finishing off with bright purple nail polish and red lipstick.

The crowd swarmed towards her stall. Many kiasu ones wouldnt move from their spot until the food was delivered right into their hands. Poor chicken rice and kueh teow soup stall nearby, having their space taken up by patrons waiting for auntie's food.

Not used to fighting my way through food, i had to unleash my ugly self or else i would stand there forever with no food to eat.

A good 15minute wait in the midst of chaos of other ppl yelling out their orders, to the auntie tensely chasing uncle with his laksas, to forgetting their customers orders.. I did wonder was it all worth it?

When i finally dived in the first mouth of the curry laksa, i was slightly disappointed. It was a little better than many others, but the hidden gem curry mee near Bulatan Pahang still beats this any day. Rm4.50

As for the CKT, it was not bad. More towarda the dark soy sauce style than the lighter ones. If only auntie had fried it longer, the KTs would have been more charred and that would enhance its flavour. Rm4.50

Would i wait again and fight through my food in future? Hmmmmmm .. maybe if i so happens pass by this place and have no other lunch plans.

Gelato frenzy@Pisa, Italy

 Apparently, Pisa's got many many many gelato stalls all over. Eyes constantly on the lookout for "Propria", as for home made. We found one, 5 mins walk from the central train station.

 Chocolate and Pistachio. Euro 2.20. From its taste, I could tell it was home made alright, the ice cream tasted slightly rougher edge. I absolutely love the chocolate ice cream here.. bittersweet, and every scoop you take really puts the thought of you munching on a chunk of a chocolate bar. Shows how sincere they add their ingredients into their gelatos.

 Pisa's a fairly serene town, with several colleges and universities located here. You could see students at every corner, cycling or carrying their textbooks walking with their headphones. I walked past the Medical University, and was caught by surprise to see their medical students all dressed up like they were in a fashion/art and design college.

We all had our schooling phase where we were so absorbed into the extraterrestrial, mysterious wonders ideas (all thanks to Mulder and Scully). Tower of Pisa was one of those mysterious wonders I read when I was in school. To finally see it, frankly speaking, I was a bit tad disappointed. It was not as tall and large as I thought it would be. Even the fact that it was tilted, it did not impress me much. Think I spent a good 20 minutes max there and was more eager to venture for food in Pisa than be amazed by this monumental building.

We got lost in Pisa, having to walk about 1 hour plus around the outskirts in circles and not knowing how to head back to the train station. The signage here is as good as signages in KL. Follow follow follow.. then it disappears. Would I come back to Pisa again?

I think... not many, many years.

Ambullneo Vinyeard Big Paw Chardonnay 2005

A blend of chardonnay fron different sites owned by ambullneo, this is a well made burgundian styled chard.

Nose was complex, sweet vanillin and mango/pear note. Palate was well balanced, clean and lingering aftertaste.
Impressive wine but if the wine is more sharp and focused on the palate. It would be great.

Teochew Restaurant@Setapak

One of the popular lunch areas for KL-lites, especially working crowds. Despite the chances of getting the pungent oil stained smell on our workshirts, along with lack of parking space and its location being in a terribly jammed area, there ain't no stopping people from bracing through all these for the food here.

Traditionally, this place is famous for its fish cake, hokkien me and Chow Park Mai Fan (literal translation, fried white bee hoon).

We ordered the fishballs instead of the fishcake this time around. I'd much prefer these, maybe because they were simmered in the soup, giving the impression of being healhty and made me feel that the dish was less oily compared to the fishcakes. Don't get me wrong, they taste pretty fishy good, but a bit too oily for my liking.

Friedvege ( I can't remember what vege this was). My friend could not remember either. All he knew was that this vege was supposedly good for our body as it has therapeutic properties of healing bruises and physical injuries. Whoa-lah, I do not know whether I could trust it but at least this vege was deliciously enjoyable unlike food for medicinal purposes which usually taste bad.

Before I wrote this post, I did ask him again if he could remember, and his advice was ," You want to know the name? Gotta go back there and eat again."

The Fried White Bee Hoon, by far was the best among the three I had for lunch. I'm guessing it has got to do with the mixture of :
i) Good frying skills
ii) Dried shrimps, never go wrong to flavour up the dish
iii) chewy fishball and fishcake slices
iv) fried pork lard.... SINFUL.

Only one downside to this dish... the chef might have spilled too much oil in the rice noodles. It felt like putting on new lipgloss each time I scooped up a portion to eat.

Total damage for this meal, including drinks: RM 25. Not, too bad I'd say. But this restaurant would be more suitable and enjoyable for lunches with at least 4 pax. And oh yeah, if you are not in a rush too.

There was a fruit stall seller just outside the restaurant and we washed down the oilyness with some healthy bites and vits. Pineapples, guava, ciku, for only.. RM 3. Quite affordable I must say, considering the fact that the ciku was quite big.

Leoville Barton 1994

In contrary to the 2002, this bottle felt very tired, lacking of fruits and a horizontal display of lean body, some tobacco and cigar.

La Spinetta Ca di Pian 2002, Barbera d'asti

Some might said it is over the hill.
But the Garibaldi manager opened this for us to taste,complimentary of the house.

If you like aged wine, you will appreciate this.

A nose full of nutmeg, mushroom and nutty note.
Light and faded palate.
Not much fruit but unusual nutty note.
Good wine for thought, light palate.
Only for those who appreciate highly developed and unusual wine

Ch Leoville Barton 2002

Huge black fruit, cassis and alcohol heat upon opening in Nov 2011.
After 45min in decanter, it transformed into a heavily scented nose of tobacco, cigarbox and creme de cassis..
On the palate, it was weighty, beefy and some blood. Awesome after taste.
It was a perfect match with smoked lamb rack, and slow braised veal cheek we had.

An good wine that became great when paired with solid red meat.
It could cut thru the red meat, and allows the midpalate sweetness, and endpalate black tea to shine thru.

An exceptional wine for a 2002 vintage.
Even the sommelier at Garibaldi was impressed with this bottle after 2 hours

Copolla Blancaneux 2003

This is a solid A white from Napa valley.
Not evolving much nor having extremely complex, but it was a good solid wine on its own.

Nose: white floral, cream, vanilla
Palate: medium weight with silky tannins. Gliding down your troat.
Verdict: it was so balanced and pleasant that I gulp down the whole bottle while surfing online.

It still has some life in it and would be interesting to take a look at it in 2013

Home cooked dinner@ingredients from Italy

Still jetlagging Italian land and air, i decided to cook pasta tonight, ala authentic italian, using ingredients that I bought in Italy, with the exception of local rocket salad. Rm3.

This pasta pack cost euro 0.80 only! Some pastas cost about euro 1, but in places like BIG store in solaris, the price tag was rm20 over. :(

I fried some salami slices bought from Florence's central wet market. (Euro3. Grated some cheese bought from Siena (euro 5 in total) and mixed the pasta with camembert cheese pellets stolen from the BnB in Rome (euro nill)Sprinkled some salsa spice from Florence.(euro 2)

give it a good good stir. And whoa-lah! Home made salami creamy cheesy pasta.

As for thirsty slurps, a bottle of chianti from Rome (euro6) Very nice to wash down savoury palate with a simple chianti.

Next round: skip frying the salami, i overcooked it :(

Kota damansara penang fare

Goodpenang food.
Abit expensive at abt 30bucks per pax.
But a good choice if u need some penang food fix when you are in KL

Sitiawan kong peng

A Foochow delicacy, onion biscuit that were baked in clay oven and filled with pork lard and sauteed onion.

Amazing taste.
Used to be 40cents. 10 years ago and now its 80cents.

The best is still those found in Sitiawan Perak.

I could easily eat up 10 of these in 1 sitting

Rolf Binders Bulls blood 2004

Blend of shiraz mataro.
Not overly big, with good structure.
Solid, but not exciting.
B-

Masi Amarone 2003

Pretty ok for a Amarone but lacking much complexity on the nose and palate.
Nose: slightly raisiny, with dominant blackcurrant
Palate: dark juice with slight black tea after an hour
Verdict: allegrini amarone reserva was much impressive, but at a much higher price

Big Mama Grouper

Giant grouper seen at Jaya Grocer.
Fresh and perfect for steaming.
At RM68 per kilo, I think its reasonable.

I wonder are these grouper farmed or caught?

Grant Burge Dolcetto Sparkling Shiraz

Slightly sweet, sparking shiraz from Grant Burge.. Initial thought it would be an interesting bottle with movie.

And at RM50 per bottle it seems like a good deal.

However, I was hugely dissapointed upon opening.

Overly sweet, huge fruit and hallowed palate. Hardly detect any sparkling fizz.
Its taste exactly like a alcoholic ribena booster

Hermitage KL

Hermitage KL stock just arrived from Europe. Some day this will all be my babies

Sangiovese di Romagna

Sangiovese from the Romagna area, which are to be cool climate.
Sour cherry nose and smooth palate. @rm50 per bottle represent awesome value.
Not a wine to ponder over but a good one to drink without fuss on a weekday at home

Alion 06

Cigar box, tobacco and dark berries on the nose. But somehow with a lot of alcohol heat on the nose.
Typical Alion. Might need some time to taper off the alcohol heat.

Pierre Morey Bourgogne + Ponsot Morey St denis

Pierre Morey Bourgogne Blanc 02 and 99
Hugely impressive bougogne white that were made from Meursalt grapes. Nose was intense ( 02 was complex with some funky durian note and 99 was bloody)

Overall: 02 was amazing, with 99 lacking abit behind. Awesome

Ponsot Morey St Denis premier cru 01
This was overshadowed by the bourgogne blanc, eventhou it was double the price. (Rm460) femenine and smooth but lacking character and did not cut thru amidst the other wines.

We had a alion as well and the Ponsot just went dead

Sang har mee@gao ren guan

Had this sang har mee ( seafood noodle) at Gao Ren Guan@jaya1 recently.

I aint sure the price but it tasted decent.
You could try the stewed bittergourd with pork. It was goood as well

Pretty good wantan mee@Restaurant BBQ, Chow Kit Road

 My friend, who's an extremely season kaki of good food, especially in KL area brought me to this new shop, located along Chow Kit Road (I believe it is also Tun Abdul Rahman road, the main road parallel to the famous Kin Kin Chili Pan Mee. Personally, I am extremely bad with road names) to try out the wan tan mee, knowing that I'm a sucker for this dish, especially if it involved good char siew.

 Sure, the presentation skills were so so. But I was humbly surprised that the noodles were quite tangy, and thank gosh they did not wack the soy sauces onto the noodles, like many wantanmee stalls today, which really spoils the taste. The charsiew was quite good too, meat was pretty tender and crunchy caramelized on the outer skin, oh lalalalala. For those who dislike sweetened meat and prefer the more plain old skool' charsiew, this may not be the right place.

The wantans were pretty big also, only one could go in my mouth at a time. Some other places are pretty stingy and you can hardly see much meat in the wantans. Those you can swallow a few at a go.

 To have the full-on experience of the charsiew, my friend ordered a more fatty version of it as a side dish. I sliced out the fatty parts (Yes, I'm sure many already wacking their heads reading this). but yeah, oh so crunchy on outside and tender on the inside. One of the better charsiews around Klang Valley that I've tried.

Another upclose view to highlight the glistening caramelized skin and the fatty watty layers.

Total bill, inclusive of two drinks.and my friend's wantan noodle soup = RM 20. I think, it's a real steal deal for a quick snappy delicious lunch.