Tummies Growl

A quiet afternoon strolland tea@two MRT stops from OryuDong

2012-01-29T20:19:00.000+08:00

I can't recall which MRT stop it was, but it was one or two stops away from Oryu-Dong. We decided to have an aimless walk around since we only had 2 hours free time before the 6 pm evening service at the sanctuary.

Paris Baguette, is a well established franchise bakery all over Korea can be found in almost every street available. At first, I thought it was a franchise bakery originating from France (from its name), but surprisingly, it was started by 2 Korean ladies who have great passion for baking. Today, there are more than 3000 franchises throughout the world, and they are also big in the US. WOW.

The other bakery that is also pretty obvious in the eyes of a streetwalker, is the "Boulangerie". I really wonder why most bakeries here are named with a whiff of French, rather than building a local brand name.

Bakeries excite me, especially ones that are nicely decorated with pastries deliciously presented. It inspires me all the time. Sighs. When can I finally fullfill this dream?

I ordered Boulangerie's trademark pastry, the cream puff. The cream.... Oh...my...gosh, was so light, fluffy, sweet, and cold too. Each bite can make one close their eyes, and smile like idiots. It cost about 1500 - 2000 won (Can't recall the exact amount)

This was the strawberry shortcake. The pastry is a lot harder than the puff above, a little mixture of cake-like and brownie-like. The cream used was quite similar as the one above, but somehow the tougher texture of the pastry blended well with the sweet cream and the slightly sourish strawberry slices. This was 2500 - 3000 won (Erm.. I think)

After a quick bite of sweet deliciousness, we strolled along aimlessly looking at the surroundings. Up ahead, we saw this stall where this hardworking Korean lady was busy making some local pastries and also cooking waffles on the hot pan.

Out of curiosity ( we were already FULL), we bought one to try it out. It was rather hollow on the inside, and the inner lining of the pastry was coated with cinnamon and butter. I think our local Hiao Pia/ Kaya Kok rawks this over anytime! 1000 won for this.

Nearby the MRT stop, there was tiny local coffee shop, called Coffee AD. The shop is no larger than an average bedroom, therefore the owner arranged tables outside by the pathway. The breeze was so strong at this time that anything left on the tables were blown away.

I found the decor of the coffee shop really adorable. If only the weather and road/walkways/public transport systems back in Malaysia permit locals to walk safely and conveniently, we may be able to have more shops like these which will create a more interesting makan environment for us. I wouldn't mind popping by for a cuppa coffee from this store everyday walking to work.

I ordered an ice blended green tea shake, which was one of the best I ever drank. Super sincere with the green tea powder, not sweet, and the ice was nicely blended (very fine). YUMS! Especially drinking this while sitting outside, enjoying the strong cold breeze.

Peaceful. Amen.

fried chicken and chips and all corns poppy@Korean Restaurant nearby PKC, Oryu Dong

2012-01-26T19:13:00.003+08:00

It was my first time ever eating a butterless, oil free, charcoal flavoured popcorn. Initially, it did taste peculiar to me, but after awhile, you get a hang of eating them. Somehow, the crunchiness of popcorn remained and without the caramel usually found in our local popcorns, you can really go on and on eating them (Free flow by the way)

I like how they served beer too. This was as extremely huge jug, built in two plastic layers. I suspect it helps maintain the coolness of the beer. I once drank from a pint with similar design as well (two layers of glass) in Shanghai. Not sure what difference does it make to the beer, but I guess, psychologically, i felt that my beer tasted fresher and cooler than regular pint beers.

Icey cold beer without greasy food is totally NOT COOL. Hence, we ordered a plate of fried drummets with chips and potato balls. Bear in mind, this was not dinner, but supper (just two hours after dinner) Yikes!

And who were we kidding? Beer + Fried greasy deliciousness = happy ending with fruits?

This was the biggest pile of fruits served as desserts, that I had ever encountered. Usually, these come in the usual watermelon or papaya slices.

Korea rawks!

OK. I thought this was crazy cool. Instead of putting in coins/tokens and using the joystick to navigate the clamp, aiming for cheap looking stuffed toys in the arcade, why not clamp REAL LOBSTERS?

I saw a man slotting in at least 25 coins (not sure how much would that be converting into RM). After observing him, I realised that it would be really difficult for a clamp like that to catch hold of the claw of that giant lobster because its body was just too slippery. After a terrible failure in grabbing hold of any lobster, the man got really frustrated and did a little temper showing, by banging on the machine before walking off. Funny scene!

I guess those lobsters stuck inside could be slightly happier than those found in water tanks in restaurants.

Local ice cream cone@journey back to Seoul

2012-01-26T12:54:00.002+08:00

I did a final hike up the top of the Yeoju mountain before departing this wonderful place. Sure ain't easy climbing up, especially in long sleeve clothing. But *thumbs up* I made it! A snapshot view from the top.

An ice cream cone to cool down.. bought from a nearby local sundry shop. Vanilla and cookie flavoured ice cream.

Hmmm.. the taste was average. Walls cornetto chocolate ice cream still rawks! Talking about it.. I'm craving a Magnum now.

3 day seminar@Yeoju.

2012-01-25T14:06:00.003+08:00

From Seoul, we took an hour plus by bus to this place called Yeoju. A part of the hilly Yeoju is reserved for the congregation members who want to do retreats/prayers and seminars are sometimes held here, just like the launch of the 6th book of the History of Redemption book series.

We were greeted by a gigantic banner, and there were thousands of people from all over the country as well as foreigners actually came to be spiritually blessed.

The hardworking eldresses and congregation members were so kind to prepare food for so many of us. A simple, homely and hearty meal. We were served with a potato gravy, quite spicy, almost like dhall gravy served in a mamak.

This place provides precious clean water from the top of Yeoju mountain for drinking, bathing, washing etc. Apparently, the water has nutrients and minerals that will help preserve good skin and keep your body in good health. True enough, the water, although looks plain and normal, tastes slightly different from the water we drink. Truly refreshing, cooling and what a blessing! Some of us tapao-ed back several bottles (Kiasu-ness)

Found this huge nail plunged right into the thick, rough, surface of the wall of the cave, where people come in for meditation/prayer. When I saw this nail, I thought of JC's palms, and how humans were so cruel to nail them down His hands. Although He knew this will happen, He who is sinless, died on the cross for our sins.

Let us be able to follow His ways, and crucify our old sinful/worldly/evil/shameful self on the cross daily.

The true high priest.. can we discern it? Are we fullfilling the duties of a true Levite?

Does our faith shine brightly always, like the sun, or shines only when others are around you to lift up your faith, like the moon, whose light comes from the reflection of the sun, or flickering faith, like the twinkling stars?

BBQ Pork at the newly opened Korean restaurant@Nearby Oryu-Dong, Seoul

2012-01-22T16:46:00.001+08:00

The temperature was nearly 10 degrees on that evening, and we'd thought having BBQ for dinner would be a great idea. We stumbled upon this newly opened restaurant behind one of the tiny alleys, almost un-noticed if one walked past by quickly. In spirit of supporting the new owner who was smiling widely, ushering us we'd decided to dine there.

Pork belly DIY style. Cut as big or as small a slice as you want. Gigantic scissors again!

Well marinated spicy beef, waiting to be snipped off by that black gigantic scissors.

We didn't mind having the pork slices sizzling in front of us. The cold weather masked the smokey heat. I loved the beef, juicy tender and flavourful. The pork belly was too fatty for me, but the rest enjoyed them like fingerlickinggood, especially after dipping the meat into this spicy chilli soy sauce mixture that the owner gave us.

It was from this meal that I learnt to say the delicious word, in Korean. "Mashita!" or "Mashuseyo!" The lady owner was so happy to serve us, I guess we were their first non-Korean patrons. A few locals were also dining there, and I noticed they were observing us, trying to figure out where did we come from since we were speaking in English, mix Hokkien, mix Mandarin, mix a Malay word or two.

While the meat grilled themselves to charcoal perfection, we gambei-ed over Macguli for being here to receive spiritual blessings and the physical blessings that we were about to receive too, from the hot grill.

One of the most memorable meals I had in Korea.

Good morning Taiping breakfast!@chinese kopitiam behind Bismillah

2012-01-22T15:59:00.001+08:00

I was glad that the journey back to taiping started at 430am. Else, i would have spent 6 hours on my brakes, yawning, frustrated and having to hold my bladder.

The journey only took 3 hours, just in time to see the sunrise and driving past the thick misty, hilly areas along ipoh to taiping ( you can only encounter this around 630-7am). Almost like harry potter and the chamber of secrets, your car driving in the midst of the fluffly clouds.

Once i arrived at Taiping town, kopi satu! Warm, sweet, refreshing. With a kaya butter toast to dip in with.

Breakfast ain't complete without a roti canai. Tapao! From Bismillah next door. And in addition to that, puree and thosai from the old indian lady who runs the stall under the wing of this chinese kopitiam.

It's good to be back home!

Happy Chinese New Year to all! stay tuned for BBQ food picts for reunion dinner tonight :)

Home cooked tomato puree chicken fillet

2012-01-19T23:11:00.001+08:00

Decided to cook something from home for dinner.

Blended some tomatoes and chopped some into small pieces.

With a little touch of sicilian herbs and spices, whoa-lah! A meal fit for a simple italian wannabe.

Total damage: chicken (rm7) + tomatoes (rm5)

A picture of me doggie. Brings smiles to your face eh?

A thank-you dinner@Garibaldi, Bangsar Village

2012-01-19T22:56:00.001+08:00

A clinician society threw a thank-you dinner to all companies and commitee members for the hard work done last year.

Personally, i was shocked that this meal cost nearly rm300 including water and wine ( not sure which wine was served as the bottle was placed far away from me).

My conclusion remains: the best dish was the appetizer ciabatta.

The scallop was quite tender, chewy, fresh.

The braised veal with risotto turned out lousier than my previous bday experience here. The veal was not as tender as juicy as i had it last time, and until now my fav still stays with Sage. The risotto was a little undercooked too.

The lobster bisque was quite unique. I could really taste the bitter citrus flavour added. Some of them did not really enjoy its bitterness, and expected the bisque to be typically creamy, unlike this one.

Dessert was soo... Normal.

The connoursior vaguely remembered me tho' I remembered him clearly. He ushered me to return for my third visit.

I am Not... So...Sure... After this experience.

Blessed lunch@Pyung Kang Cheil church, Oryu Dong

2012-01-18T22:22:00.000+08:00

I can never erase it out of my mind the first time I sat in the Moriah Sanctuary on the first Sunday there. The church choir played "How Great Thou Art", which happens to be one of my favourite hymns. Hearing the orchestra played it live along with a huge group of choir members singing it in Korean (although I do not understand it, and could only read the translations) but the sound resonates so beautifully, it truly made me tear. The choir group in total has nearly 4000 members.

I am glad I filmed it in video also. Sometimes, on the way to work in the morning jam, I'll listen to it to bring me back to this moment.

Lunch was served after the service, and we paid around RM 40 for this (they were really hospitable to us, and we had several free meals already in the past few days here). The chicken chop was so delicious, nicely fried with the crunchy coated breadcrumbs, drizzled over sweetened soy sauce. What blessings!

Red Mango@Myung Dong, Seoul

2012-01-18T21:56:00.000+08:00

This gem is hidden in the 3rd floor of one of the shoplots in the busy and packed Myung Dong shopping district. We took almost 30 minutes hunting for this shop, trying our best to spot a possible signage that says "Red Mango" but it was terribly difficult. Almost every shop kiasu-ly protrude out a shop signage to compete visibility with the others. Many were brightly coloured neon lights, and that made the search worse. We asked a few locals too, however language barrier made it challenging for us to explain to them that we were looking for a famous ice cream shop (amongst plenty of ice cream parlors found here).

But finally... WE FOUND IT! It didn't have an obvious signage, and the shop co-shares with a chocolate parlor too. The environment was really cozy, with wooden furniture designs, lights dimly lited and peculiar quirky looking lanterns dangling from the ceiling wall. Each chair had a cushioned pillow to immediately get you comfortable. What I loved most was that they had pretty squarish clothed boxes by each table, for shoppes/ladies with big handbags to put them in, rather than taking up space on the table or having to hang them behind your chairs.

Good stuff don't come cheap. Like how Moo Cow and Tutti Frutti are charged, each swirl cost around RM4. The scoops above with 2 toppings given, almond slices and sugar coated walnuts cost nearly RM20. However, handsdown.. they were by far the best yoghurt ice cream that I've ever tasted. Moo Cow and Tutti are nothing compared to that. It melts in your mouth, creamy and sweet, but gives a slight sour bitter taste at the end palate. My Singaporean friend who was there with me told me that there is a franchise opened in one of the malls in Orchard, however those sold there tasted different from those served here. People suspect that it was due to the difference in the milk and the yeast content (Stringent food QC to enter into Singapore).

The other 4 swirls had fruit toppints, strawberries and blueberries. The yoghurt ice cream was blueberry flavoured too. Quite nice as well, but the original flavoured ones are the best in my opinion.

I haven't seen this in a long, long while. Found this hanging outside one of the dining places in the church area. Insect trapper plant.. coolio!

Dakgalbi@Myung Dong, Seoul

2012-01-18T21:18:00.002+08:00

Myung Dong, is widely known for its amazing fun felt shopping district. Girls swipe their credit cards here like all hell breaks loose, especially the facial stores. I myself fell into the trap of SkinFood craze. Boys, happily "wash their eyes" (observe with lust/passion in our local Malay language) standing along the roads watching pretty girls pass by.

Even shoppers need to eat after a long day of spending money.

We popped by this interesting looking shop, packed with locals.

A HUGE frying pan was found on the middle of the dining table. We ordered 4 portions of Dakgalbi, seasoned pork with veges (We were not allowed to order anything less than 4 pax). Then, we were given a plastic napkin to tie around our necks, like the baby's bib, except its for gigantic babies like us. The interesting part was that.. we fried them on our own, at our own leisure and style.

Cheers to all of us! With icey cold soju!

Fry fry fry fry ! How about that? Pay for a meal where you need to cook on your own. Interesting... nevertheless, it tasted really, really good. The meat was extremely spicy. With the meat freshly cooked from the giant pan in front of us plus the spicyness of the marinate, our lips swelled up, plump red, like botox gone wrong.

After the meal, we walked around, getting lost in between those tiny lanes
I came across this little corner seafood cafe. My first time seeing so many living squids swimming around. Although I could not capture their lluminating colours as they moved from the camera, in real life, they looked like moving glitters. Really different than how we see them when they're dead / cooked.

Spring time in Seoul. Beautiful flowers blossoming inside the church grounds. These colourful palette decorated the entire hill, almost like the rainbow made a trip down to earth.

WIP@BSC

2012-01-17T19:05:00.001+08:00

My long time colleague and good friend has finally decided to move on to a new job. Congrats to him... It was a lucrative move!

We had dinner with him as he wanted to share with us what he went through. Brought this apek to WIP for dinner/drinks.

We ordered the fried stuffed tofu, recommended by the waiters. Tofu was stuffed with meat and prawns. Fried stuffs can never stray afar from tasting good. RM 17/18, can't really recall.

Apek was craving for a carbonara. Surprisingly, this was really quite good. They were generous with the clams.. Even threw in scallops. Of course, not forgetting fried chopped bacon bits. Think this was about RM 25-30. Cant remember.

We ended the night, laughing, joking, bitching, complaining, remeniscing the old times.... Over beer and mojitos.

All of us will miss you dear friend! Good luck, TC!

Very berry strawberries!

2012-01-16T00:04:00.001+08:00

Within the vicinity of the church compound, there is a steep slope area where congregation members take a walk up and pray or meditate. The view up here is gorgeous, and reminded me a little of Maxwell Hill in Taiping, but not as damp and humid as the latter of course. There is a wooden house up here, where Sr Pastor prays and writes books.

One tip though, best to wear shoes if you want to walk up. Some ladies came up with heels, and it was a challenge even in covered shoes, to walk up this slope. Imagine, heels! Years ago, pastors paved the way up the slope by using old gunny sacks, to prevent the feet from hurting walking over the rough rocks and stones. Imagine then, when there weren't advanced technologies and such to do these. What respect!

After the journey to the prayer mountain, we came down and took a stroll around the area outside of PKC church. It was lovely to see fruits, meat, vege, fish etc sellers by the roadside shouting out to gain potential buyers' attention. Surely gained mine alright. I saw this huge pack of plush, fattened, bloody red strawberries, for only RM 7! Buy!

Such beauties eh? Very sweet too, btw.

A picture of the rocky road throughout the way up the slope. Along the way, you could also see old, worn out, gunny sacks in the midst of the rocks and stones. People will walk on those to lessen the possibility of stepping on sharp stones, and also having more grip coming down the steep slope.

Spiritual and physical breakfast@PKC church

2012-01-15T23:43:00.000+08:00

I was greatly humbled and genuinely touched by how the congregation had taken care of us visitors, from all over the world. We were given a really nice home to stay in the church, and after the night's rest from the flight and travelling, I was awakened by fresh air, bird chirping, and a great view of the beauty of this place.

This was the breakfast provided for us, a mixture of local korean food and western also. All these were prepared by eldresses, who in many churches around, may not be doing all these hard work, with their titles. However, Sr Pastor says that they must all work even at jobs like these, to remind themselves to remain humble and serve the church with joy and gladness. This act, really brings an ache to my heart, as many times, pride depicts my actions and I too, must have a humble heart.

This is another breakfast meal I had before the Lord's day service. Couple of buns and a cuppa coffee. What a joy!

Sollongtang@Near Pyung-Kang Cheil Church, Oryu Dong.

2012-01-15T23:30:00.000+08:00

I realised that I did not write a single post on my trip to Seoul to visit the main branch, Pyung-Kang Cheil Church, in OryuDong, in conjunction with Pyung-Kang day and the launch of the 6th book of the History of Redemption Series book, by the wise, humble and respectable Sr Pastor Abraham Park.The trip was truly, a spiritual blessing and awakening to me. And throughout the trip, I was also blessed physically, with the great food I had eaten.We arrived on 13th May2011 night, just in time for dinner. Pastor Andrew took us to this restaurant, just by the corner from the church. What a wonderful meal on a chilly night. I missed out noting down the restaurant's name, but apparently it is famous amongst locals. If anyone knows the name of this place, please drop a message as I'd very much like to visit it again on my next trip to PKC church.

This was the best kim chi I've ever eaten, in Korea and in my life. I was fascinated by how they serve kimchi in Korea, DIY style. The kimchi came in a relatively big pot, cabbage leaves unchopped. We were given a gigantic pair of scissors to snip the vegs into smaller pieces, according to our own liking and how much we could eat. The taste was amazing, seasoned just about enough, and preserved just about enough also.

This restaurant is widely known for its beef soup noodles. There is a special room by the dining area, full of huge iron pots and hot steam coming out from it. A man was seen inside his room overlooking the soups. According to Pastor Andrew, this restaurant has never turned off its electricity even once, and to prove its point, the monthly electricity bill is pasted on the glass door on your way out. This means that the soup has been boiling for years and years, hence its quality is without doubt.... AMAZING.

The beef slices were so tender, and the reason for its broth's off-white appearance, is due to the 24/7 boiling of the soup, with continuous addition of beef and spices. The soup was flavourful and strong aroma of beefy-ness locked in it. Yet, not oily at all. It felt like the elixir-of-life version of a soup, each sip made me thought about how long ago was this made.

It was the best beef noodle I ever ate in my life. Speechless.

Wan Tan Mee@kampung boyan, taiping

2012-01-10T21:40:00.001+08:00

A simple breakfast with my parents and granddad at this tiny zinx roof top place with a few hawker stalls.

The stalls here serve noodles cooked in all styles you can think of: from fried, to soup, to stirfry you name it.

As with all small town folks, we rarely remember road names but rather buildings and objects instead. This place is located right next to the huge chinese temple at Kampong Boyan.

I ordered the WTM, with tambah lauk 2 meatballs. RM3. Simple, humble, nice and gives a feel of homecooked. Chef threw in quite a lot of porklard too.

I saw how these people take care of the temple and how fervently they prayed. I felt ashamed and humbled for I had not followed His statutes well.

I gave a silent prayer for the people, and for my family, and for my breakfast WTM.

Amen!

We-feel-like-italians-day meals@Tosca, Doubletree Hilton

2012-01-10T21:11:00.001+08:00

Today, we dine as italians.

Today, we want all things carb.

A wide array of freshly toasted bread as appetizers. Mini ciabattas, breadsticks, crispbread all warmly served. Seriously, we could eat this and skip the mains. I was tempted for the second piece but painfully resisted.

Pizza was hugeeeeee. Might i say. The toppings were a little insincere but its light yet fluffy thin dough layer made up for its overall taste. Though it looked huge, we all agreed if we were starving we might just be able to finish the entire pizza, ALONE. This chicken pizza total damage: RM 34. Advisable to share for smaller eaters.

Pasta: for one who constantly cooks, sometimes i can't tell why pastas cost so much. Ive yet to crave any pasta, except the duck confit pasta from Ben's. This pasta was a very simple pasta, nothing much to shout about. I think it was tagged around rm30.

Nice view though, by the pool and the hotel was nicely structured which allowed this open space to have breeze blowing in constantly. It would be nice to have a romantic dinner here.

Home cooked food from taiping.

2012-01-09T12:53:00.001+08:00

One weekend in taiping, 2 days = 1 kg addition to body weight.

Needless to say, all food prep by mothers are always oh sooooo goooodddd.

Demona mama: responsible for pork curry, deliciously thinly sliced. Pork ribs, so so flavourful. Soy chicken, boneless and delicious.

Dogma mama: home made charsiew with the best meat and xo sauce. Home made yongtaufu of bittergourd and self planted brinjals. Sliced pork fried with soy sauce.

See you again on CNY!

2012!

2012-01-01T00:39:00.001+08:00

Happy new year to all!

I pray that everyone will see and hear the truth and the Word.

Now, a toast to 2012 with korean lemon soju now at Macguli.

Post - food poisoning food@Home

2011-12-28T23:18:00.002+08:00

Two nights ago, I suffered from a bad case of food poisoning. Woke up in the middle of the night with an open tap, and the tap was my mouth. Could not stop vomiting until 6 plus am, I had no choice but to see a GP.

GP was always my last resort as most of them are con artists. I still have not found a good GP in KL.

As there aren't many 24 hour GPs available, especially nearby, the only choice was the GP in Bangsar. Which was another conartist also. The doctor, instead of giving me what fitted me most, asked me if I wanted an anti-vomiting injection or tablets. I wanted whichever method that would be the quickest to stop the vomiting.

The doctor asked me to relax my bum, and I told her I am nauseous, and nervous as I had not had an injection in years and I exercise, of course my bum would be tense. In turn, the doctor told me that, "Hey, you wanted injection right? This is what happensla"

I"m like, "Zzzzz..????"

It did not stop the vomiting, as I continued puking when I got home. From then on, I had been sleeping for a good two days with a few small wake-up intervals in between. My aunt came to visit, I got up to eat, and then it was back to Snooze-land.

Finally I'm slightly more alive today. No more foodventuras for the moment.

Be a good girl, boil some vegetables : mushrooms, cabbages, carrots, onions, garlic and some chicken.

Man .... and New Year is coming!

Come on tummy, heal heal heal heal!

p/s: Oh yeah.. this was HOW I cleared by bowels.. painful experience.

Home blended apricot peach smoothie

2011-12-28T23:08:00.001+08:00

With both special occasions near by one another (Christmas and New Year), needless to say, EVERYONE is overindulging. Myself, a sinner also.

Excess spicy food, excess chilli, excess alchohol, excess junk food/chips, excess meat, under-excess water = constipation.

I decided to blend my own smoothie hoping to help me in my bowels.

Bought some apricot yoghurt, milk, peaches and bbbbbllllleeeennndddddddddddddd into one delicious smoothie :)

So much more delicious and fruitful than the ones you have from the juice bars. And oh yeah, a lot more cheaper too!

But did it help me clear my bowels? No...... but something else did. In a horrible, nasty, suffering way (To be continued....)

Sek Mee Choy@Kepong

2011-12-28T22:59:00.001+08:00

One of those nights where the tongues were itching for good food.. but the hungry minds just could not decide on which food to eat. We stopped by the roadside just to crack our heads , " What to eat?! " Surely, this scenario is familiar to many of you isn't it?

Suddenly, the memory of my colleague and his hard efforts in driving us from work, through the heavy traffic to Sek Mee Choy at Salak South for lunch popped up.

We then decided to go to SMC, Kepong's branch. Also through the heavy traffic.

Thank you, smartphone. The GPS finally brought us here.

RM 2.00 a bowl of vegetable rice. I liked it for the the dried shrimps (Heh Bi, in hokkien). It reminded me of my mom's fried rice back at home. Dogma's expression , "Pfft! My mom always makes this at home. Very easy." OK - Lorrrrr.

Fried bittergourd with salted egg yolk. RM 8. The bittergourd was slightly undercooked, a little hard but still edible. Super bitter alright, but with a nice salty end palate with the shredded fried salted egg yolk. The portion was quite huge for 2. Initially, I was a little worried that we might not be able to finish the food, but who would've known... we DID clean up each plate. Sweats.

This was the star dish in my opinion. Star dish for the restaurant too. The Ba Kut Teh version from SMC is a peppery spicy one. Similar to Singapore's style, but 100 times tastier. What was good about it was that the soup was not oily at all, and clear too, thus you wouldn't developed that too-full-can't-digest-after-meal feeling. I would want to have sips of this soup if I'm having a bad flu. The peppery soup will totally clear off my nose boogies! RM 11/portion.

They were quite sincere with the meat also. Meat was tender and fresh. Thumbs up! The only slack part was there seemed to be a miscommunication between the chefs and the waiters. At first, we ordered lean meat with no inerts, but the BKT came totally opposite of what we've asked for. Of course, they changed for us.

Second miscommunication. We ordered Steamed tilapia with ginger, 600 g. Total damage was supposedly RM 18. This fish was the least boney fish among the list of fishes on the menu. I can't eat boney fishes as my tongue isn't slithery enough to separate the meat from bones skillfully. Boney fishes make me gag.

Then came this fish "Song Fish Head" (That's the name of the fish I've been told) and after a few bites, Dogma sniffed it out that this was the wrong fish while myself in stress mode, busy digging out the bones. Wrong fish, and wrong weight too. Heavier. RM 25 total damage.

The fish did have a slight muddy taste even with the piles of ginger on it. Definitely wasn't a satisfying fish meal.

The young owner however, was observant towards the series of misfortunes that we'd been facing. He came over and apologised for all the mistakes in the orders and offered us a free bowl of longan pandan jelly. It was a nice gesture from the owner, although Dogma thought that I am a sucker for freebies.

The food here ain't expensive, and very decently priced for the portions given. Thanks to the owner's attentive actions, my willingness to return for another meal is higher than the time I was eating my fish. But, the next time around, I may limit my choices to just the BKT.

Anyway, taste is subjective, I would still recommend this restaurant a worthy try for value-for-money meals!

Voyager estate chardonay 2005

2011-12-23T17:41:00.001+08:00

Rich full of butter, cream, grapefruit, citrus note.
Finish was quite long.
Good effort but lacking in complexity and evolution

Teatime with bestie@Haute Food n Co, Plaza Damas

2011-12-22T13:34:00.000+08:00

We decided to order something different, other than sticky date pudding and the scones (although I got tempted halfway through and ordered it anyway.. "sigh"). My bestie wanted to try the tiramisu but it was oh so sold out :/

We ordered the apple, pineapple and passionfruit crumble. It came with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. The zingy-zesty fruity taste of of the crumble went really well with the vanilla ice cream. Good thing about the crumble was the ease in the sugar content. Else, it would have overpowered the taste of the fruits.

RM 16. Teatime promotion! (3-6 pm, with a cuppa coffee of your choice). You could choose from any cakes. RM 10, if you chose a pair of scones instead.

I had a Christmas dinner later on with the bible study group and some friends and this is my first ever Christmas gift! From a dear sweet 5 year old boy named Sean. He could recite the first 20 generations from Adam to Abraham! Amazing, how the work of Father God our Saviour.

Chicken Rice@Ah Kow, Food court near HKL

2011-12-22T12:47:00.001+08:00

My colleague brought us to this food court for lunch, nearby work area coverage, HKL.Many raved about this stall's chicken rice, especially its sesame fried chicken. What I found interesting was that the chef was run by a Chinese man, helped by a Malay lady and people from all races are eating his chicken rice. Now, this is what I call 1Malaysia. Not the freakishly brightly lited up UMNO building promoting 1Malaysia throughout the night, and not sure how they could cover their TNB expenses.

The famous sesame chicken. Not too bad, pretty crunchy on the outside. Being a meat lover however, I'd much prefer Yat Yeh Hing's chicken sitll (fat, thick and juicy), made my money's worth. Nevertheless, interesting taste, with the buttery sesame pungent aroma. Never ate it like this before.

Total foodie damage: RM 5.00. Not bad lah pricing!

Worthy try for a simple day and a simple meal.

Red Bean Bag cafe@Solaris Dutamas

2011-12-20T10:20:00.001+08:00

The newly opened cafe in Solaris has a real cozy, warm aussie feel to it. Maybe its the wooden furnishings, or the smell of coffee, or the cool looking bean bags on the walls.

Glad to have our first trial attempt on the last day of 30% off all breakfast items.

The pancakes are quite nice. Not oily and light. Damn generous portion, easily 7-8 pieces. Only slack part was the portion of the poached fruits. Not enough for all pancakes. Nicely presented though.

Ori price rm16.90, for mine 30% off!

The smoked salmon with poached eggs, mushrooms and asparagus served with two slices of bread. I must give credits to the presentation skills. Nicely presented.

RM 17.90. At 30% off too!

Coffee was the one thing that i thought would impress me best as theyve got this cool looking coffee station by the entrance. However, the coffee tasted like the one brewed at home with the coffee press. So i guess.... Invest in a coffee press and good, good coffee roasted beans then?

Save cost and happiness.

Ch Pontac Lynch 01

2011-12-18T19:35:00.000+08:00

My first Pontact Lynch.
Open up with slight red fruits and tobacco. But pretty weak on the palate.
Drink and forget.
Got it at rm138 during Hock Lee's sale

Gerard Tremblay 2005 Chablis 1er cru Montmain

2011-12-18T19:33:00.000+08:00

Some said aged chablis is a rare gem because most pll drank it young.

I kept a bottle of gerard tremblay chablis 1er cru 2005 for a couple of years.
Surprisingly, the acid and fruit still is very much alive, but dissapointedly, the minerality is kinda lost compared to my first few bottles years ago.

Would suggest aging a grand cru instead

Farah and her hubby, Shabir's wedding@tropicana golf resort

2011-12-17T14:06:00.001+08:00

My dear friend is finally married.

My first time attending an indian-muslim wedding.

Im amazed.. This food .. Is all that is served for the wedding! So much contrast in comparison to a 10 course chinese wedding dinner.

Food's real yummy :)

Home cooked food for lunch at office

2011-12-16T12:49:00.001+08:00

Economy crisis, all lost to wine and korean food.

Weight crisis, all lost to the food above.

Time to diet on ... Body and money. Aih

Miolo Sparkling Brut, Brazil

2011-12-15T20:29:00.001+08:00

Pretty interesting sparkling wine from brazil. Not too much complexity but with a distinct citrux, biscuit nose.
Enjoyable

Chocolate cupcake@Patisserie Rui, along Jalan Mont Kiara

2011-12-14T18:32:00.001+08:00

Pretty good chocolate cupcake although this wasnt what I intended to have, it was the red velvet cupcake that i was looking forward to!

Unfortunately, they were sold out and rui and her fellow sister bakers are busy baking cakes for the festive season.

Anyway this alternative cupcake is quite nice too! Only rm2. Real steal deal.

Coffee, i found, was a little pricey, small cuppa black coffee, RM9. Ouches!

Grey Label Shiraz 2003

2011-12-14T09:09:00.000+08:00

Bought it around 2007.
Drank it at end 2011.
Big nose of dark fruits. Spiciness has rounded out. Good. Still carries a lot of fruit and body,but was pretty easy to drink.

Can kEep still but it will not improve further.

Uncountable Re-visits@Macguli Korean Restaurant, Desa Sri Hartamas.

2011-12-11T21:44:00.001+08:00

Macguli is speedily growing to be one of the top favourite restaurants in Desa Sri Hartamas. This place is run by 4 chefs, and they serve really, really good Korean food. Generous serving of side dishes, and they all taste great! Especially, the sticky sweetened lotus roots, gelatinous sesame seed slices and of course, kim chi!

A slice of grilled peppercorn pork loin nicely tucked in between the fresh cabbage leaves, with some grilled onions and chilli paste. Waiting to be stuffed into my mouth. YUMS!

Very delicious. Half fatty half lean. Suited for a crowd mixed with fatty meat and lean meat lovers. You can slice off the fatty bits and eat the lean ones. Win-win! RM 27.

Beef bulgogi was.. excellent. The broth was clear, yet so sweet. From the long hours of brewing the beefy meat in it. I was already full, but my hands were not listening to my mind. They just kept going back for more spoonfuls! RM 20.

One of my used to be favourite Korean restaurants was the Korean BBQ Restaurant, next to the New SEA chinese restaurant in Desa Sri Hartamas itself. It's no longer there now. Several other pretty good korean restaurants sometimes can't sustain their business for long. Now having found another really awesome Korean restaurant, I sure hope they can really sustain their business and here I am.. promoting on their behalf hoping that more patrons will come over to support them!

This place is famous for their home mixed Macguli.. very, delicious and fresh. Only RM 20. A great place for a group of friends, drinking and eating. They open from 11.30 am till 5 am in the morning. Imagine the hard work these fellas, 4 chefs! I sure hope they will be here for a long, long time.

After a flavourful, spicy meal you can request for a free cuppa Segafredo coffee. Ain't that nice? Wash down the palate with a great bitter fragrant sip of coffee.

Dogma visits this place few times every week, bringing customers and friends. He is already recognized as a VIP there. Acting like a TaiKoh there now. Phew. But hey, tummie growlers will not keep coming back if this place does not have what it takes to fullfill our tummies!

Kaya kok@aulong, taiping

2011-12-11T20:35:00.001+08:00

Ive blogged about this before and i guess ill never get tired of it.

Hidden in the old township area of Aulong, this lady and her family is busy baking all her golden kaya goodies.

I dont know the address but if im in the car with you, ill direct u there.

I may be biased, as many raved the greatness of Ipoh's mini kaya koks but i think my hometown's version is so much better, especially freshly baked!

The warmth, crunchiness and buttery smell.. With creamy semi solidified kaya.

Best of all. Rm0.70 a piece. Steal deal!

Lousy korean dinner@Ummason, Desa Sri Hartamas

2011-12-10T16:35:00.001+08:00

I am a fan of korean food. Flavourful, spicy and most all of.. Generous serving of vegs and meat!

Good thing there are plenty of pretty good korean restaurants in sri hartamas. Some very good, some average.. But the many that i've tried did leave a fairly good impression on me, except..... UMMASON!

It is situated on the 1st floor, along the row of shophouses with 7E and bestari mamak.

First impression, the decor of the restaurant was a bit run down. Next, no one seems to be there.

A foreign worker waiter came looking sloppy, with a not-bothered attitude. Taking our order seemed like such a pain for him.

Then ... No one served us side dishes at all unlike the others who immediately serve them to you. Until we had to get the lady owner to serve us.. And she was busy face-booking . ....Zzzzz! Worst of all, the side dishes were so cold i was quite sure it just came out from the fridge.

The spicy pork and cuttlefish was quite delicious, but for 45bucks... Abit of a rip off!

The fried chicken was sooooooo lousy. Rm17 for this. Even uncle KFC served better chicken than this.

We left restaurant feeling extremely unhappy. Those of you who love eating food will know that feeling when you get ripped off. Grrrrr

Please avoid this restaurant to avoid Grrrr-ing after your meal.

Hearty lunch@Haute Food n Co, Plaza Damas.

2011-12-10T16:10:00.001+08:00

Haute food's one of the cafes i love. Small, cozy, homely, best of all.. Good food and cakes! A little pricey for normal eat-outs.

I ordered a smoked chicken ham, cheese and sun dried tomatoes sandwich. Really delicious and buttery. So filling, half a slice was enough to make you full. Freshly chopped vegs as side dish. Rm 11.90

The must try here is the scones which i so often rave highly on this blog and also to friends. Rm7 for two scones.

Another must try, the sticky date pudding. Heavenly oh heavenly. The taste of dates is not too much to overpower the palate. Just nice to make it bittersweet with a little sticky squishy texture making the cake moist.

To make it even a bigger kaboom, a sweet ball of vanilla ice cream on the side with really hot, melted caramel sauce drizzled on the cake.

Can you picture it? Cold ice cream, hot caramel sauce and a moist chunk of stickydate pudding. Rm11.

Orgasmic!

Journey back home@KLM Airways

2011-12-09T12:51:00.001+08:00

All great things must come to an end. Time to fly back to BOLEH-land. This was the food served on our connecting flight from Rome to Amsterdam. Stewed chicken with grilled mushrooms. Food was.. So so. As expected.

So sweet of them to give us toiletries kit based on gender. Females get a nice ribbon kit. A glass of champagne for myself. I got a re-fill not long after, but the clumsy stewardness spilled it on my seat. Now my ass gets to drink champagne as well.

This was about one of the best NZ marlborough SB I've ever drank. I am a big fan of NZ SB wines, and had been trying out numerous bottles. So far, those topped the lists are Hole in the Water, Goldwater. Now I found another one.. MapMaker.. I haven't seen it on any shelves in KL just yet. :/

Some wierd grilled fish with greenish vege paste. Weirddddddd. I didn't like this at all.

Breakfast was quite hearty. It was my final meal on the plane, and glad the food was good! Especially the grilled mushrooms and smoked salmon with cheese.

Goodbye Italy *sniffs*. Hello, Malaysia.

When will I get this chance again ? (shakes head)

Senechaux 2005 CDP

2011-12-06T21:06:00.000+08:00

Dark red fruits. Some blood and garrigue on the palate.
Pretty value for money.
Bought for 50sgd 5 years ago

Breakfast at the hotel before a stroll at Florence's wet market and leather market

2011-12-05T13:22:00.001+08:00

I do wish that I get to have breakfast like this everyday. I love granola cereal and yoghurt, and the combination of both together is awesome! Coffee was bad though. I quietly stole a few more chocolate spread, which serve as my breakfast spread on some lazy mornings now, back at home.

The moment I stepped into the main entrance of the market, this was the view. Wine, and ham, and salami, and pasta, and the list goes on. The rush of excitement immediately gushed in. I am guilty of not being like a real girl. Girls get the adrenaline rush when they walk into the shoppers' street with all kinds of luxury goods. I get excited over the display of delicious food.

At the yummy wummy ham hung on the top, while fresh blocks of different types of cheese were displayed in the cooling counter. I wanted to just buy everything from here and bring it back home in my 20 kg luggage bag. Sigh.

If our wet markets looked as fresh and as good and as CLEAN as this, I wouldn't mind marketing everyday rather than buying from frozen food from the major hypermarts. Fresh meat can be obtained in those pasar pagi and wet markets, but not convenient for me in terms of location, timing and.. most importantly, cleanliness! The smelly water puddles on the ground and leftover unwanted perishables thrown all over the place deters me from buying groceries at the wet market. The view of a pasar pagi when food stallers are wrapping up is always horrific. Rubbish everywhere, smelly.

Locals just popped by this bakery and have a cuppa coffee standing by the counter while having a sweet or savoury pastry from the display below. In a 10 degree weather. This is life man!

Macguli Korean@Hartamas

2011-12-03T23:50:00.001+08:00

This gotta be the best Korean restaurant in KL so far. Situated opposite KFC hartamas, this little restaurant will win hands down any of the 20plus korean restaurant I had tried so far in KL.

Specializing in korean rice wine ( macguli), korean pancakes and others, this restaurant is helmed by 4 young chef from korea.

The food is good, with lots of extra freebies thrown in everytime we visit...
U better come try now....

I am here abt 5 times a week, and it opens till 5am daily. Perfect for a after drink supper.

Attached Is stirred fried pork + free soy soup.
Cost; rm30

Do try the macguli or lemon soju here!!

Hokkien dish

2011-12-03T09:52:00.000+08:00

I went for a lunch at the most unlikely place, a 5 table "restaurant" sandwiched between car wash shop and a massage parlour, all within a run down wet market of kepong.

I'm not sure the name of the restaurant but it must have been there for ages.

It served authentic hokkien dish, with different parts of braised pork, skin. Knuckle, home made "white noodle", ginger clam soup and rough roast pork.

Interesting but only for those who wouldn't mind chewy porky fats

Guibbe Rosse@Piazza Della Republica, Florence

2011-12-02T21:09:00.001+08:00

Florence is a beautiful place. Love the scenery, the people, the ambience, the atmosphere. It was a slightly gloomy day in Florence, little drizzles and showers throughout making walking around slightly difficult. As it was our final night in Italy, we decided to splurge on a good meal. When we found some free wifi, we did a quicksearch and it seemed that this was a good place for a good meal.

Home brewed beer. EURO 4. Very, good, fizzy, floral, yeasty beer. One of the better beers I drank in Italy. BUT.....

Check out the size. This was their 1/2 pint. SO TINY. Unlike the other EURO 3/4 worth pint beers i drank which was at least 330 c. Pricey, phew. Lucky it was good.

The only thing I dislike about the appetizer bread served in Italy. Besides charging you for the bread (unlike in Msia, all bread free flow) about EURO 2, they are usually cold and hard, and no olive oil and balsamic vinegar is served unless asked. With such hardened and cold bread, its unlikely to swallow it down without any dipping sauce. The only place which we had lightly toasted appetizer bread was in Siena, and boy we were so happy!

This pizza.... WOO LALA. Was oh so good. Extremely authentic, and the salami i must say, very flavourful and spicy. They were very generous with the cheese toppings. Every slice we pulled out, had the 'Pizza Hut commercial" stringy cheese effect (when you order a real pizza from PH, chances are you will not get that stringy effect). Thin crunchy crusted. Yums. EURO 9.

My colleague, a "Fan Thung" (Rice Barrel, literal translation) has to eat rice at least once a day. He ate a risotto meal almost everyday. Needless to say, this dinner is not excluded from his rice obsession. It was soooooo creamy. Only guys can eat those, ladies will flee when they see this. Carbs, and fats. EURO 9.

We could not finish the pizza. Ala Msian style, TAPAO! Was pleasantly surprised how pretty the take-away box was. It became our lunch food on the train next day, heading back to Rome.

4 Hour Body Meal

2011-11-30T11:15:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-23T18:54:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-21T17:52:00.000+08:00

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

Ch Musar 1999

2011-11-21T17:49:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-21T16:04:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-20T18:30:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-19T13:16:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-19T11:03:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-08T15:50:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-07T23:10:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-07T23:08:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-07T23:04:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-07T22:59:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-07T13:40:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-04T18:29:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-04T18:27:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-04T18:25:00.000+08:00

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

Masi Amarone 2003

2011-11-04T18:23:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-04T18:21:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-04T18:20:00.001+08:00

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

2011-11-03T14:05:00.000+08:00

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

Sangiovese di Romagna

2011-11-03T14:04:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-03T14:03:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-03T14:01:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-03T13:55:00.000+08:00

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

2011-11-02T19:31:00.001+08:00

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.

Thai Yang Ping! / Sun Biscuits@Taiwan

2011-11-02T19:17:00.004+08:00

The long awaited Thai Yang Ping, a local delicary of Taiwan is finally here! Thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend who went there and bought a pack home. Light and fluffy, and caramelized sweetness. My last bite of it, I believe was nearly a year ago.

A slight twist of change from our crunchy, sesame, sticky Hiao Piah.

It sure looked like a full box now, but yeah.. After 2 days, only less than 8 left. :(

Bosco Ai Salici 2009 Chianti Classico

2011-11-01T00:36:00.000+08:00

Demona got this from Sienna, italy for less than 6 Euro.
Amazing how good value wine can be in Europe compared to Asia.,

The chianti was filled with sourish cherry nose, on the palate was light weight, coupled with some dark tea leaves after 45min of airing.

Simple, no fuss wine and great bargain at 6euro

Makkoli served in traditional stainless steal pot and bowl

2011-11-01T00:33:00.000+08:00

Recently, 4 young korean chef just opened a Makkoli restobar in Desa Sri hartamas( opposite KFC, above 7/11) its called Macguli.

The operating hour is awesome, from 11am till 5am daily...

I have been there 5 times this week.
The pictures tells u why

Black bean Makkoli

2011-11-01T00:30:00.001+08:00

I have been a great fan of Korean food and beverage lately.
Spurred by the many many new and authentic korean restaurants/bars around KL.

Recent I tried a Korean Rice Wine made from black bean.. Ooo. It was much thicker, with a good burnt after taste, akin to a alcoholized GenMai Tea..
Superb, and at rm7 bucks per 750ml, it represents a deal you could never refuse on a daily basis..

PS: besides typical Korean Rice wine, they have flavoured Makkoli, sparkling Makkoli as well!

Delightful Moosey Dinner@De Svarta Faren, Gamla Stan

2011-10-30T23:30:00.001+08:00

We were in luck to have the ever helpful concierge to give a couple o' calls to well reviewed restaurants and have a table booked for us during dinner. With an estimated 20,000 participants to this congress, needless to say, almost all popular eateries and hotels in Stockholm were fully booked.

Lucky for us, we managed to squeeze in a booking at this cozy italian restaurant hidden in the heart of Gamla Stan, De Svarta Faren. And boy oh boy, we nailed a good target.

The place was so cozy, dimmed yellow lights, with old paintings and rustic walls. Felt really good being in such a warm and comfy place amidst the cold chilly weather outside.

This restaurant gave me an opportunity to try the moose carpaccio.

The method of serving was pretty similar to the usual beef/salmon carpaccio, covered with rocket leaves. However, its thinly sliced bright red meat stood out. Very very flavourful... salty, some herbs. Texture was extremely different too. The meat was so chewy, but still tender.. nicely leveled to prevent anyone from choking.

The place was so cozy, dimmed yellow lights, with old paintings and rustic walls. Felt really good being in such a warm and comfy place amidst the cold chilly weather outside.

The portions were huge, HUGE, HUGE. HUGGEEEEEEEEE.

I'm guessing the concept is similar in each animal. They say the texture of the meat from free range fish and chicken are usually more tender, and bouncy and more lean. Similar here too, with the MOOOSEEEE burger. The meat was unusually red but very tender and chewy. Some might not like it, as it did have a pretty strong meaty smell. Like the smell you'd sometimes get in mutton or lamb.

The tiramisu was by far the best I've ever tried. Light and fluffy, and alcohol just enough to get you a slight kick. Check out the oozing chocolate. Mmmmmm...

The chocolate mousse, was only so so though.

For those who ever come by to Gamla Stan, this is one restaurant you must try. At the lower ground, there's a tiny secluded area for private functions and it is situated next to the restaurant's age old cellar. Really beautiful.

Estimated cost per pax with all the foodies that we have: starters, wine, main, dessert is about SEK 250-400. 30-40 Euroes. 120 - 160RM. Aih.. sedih, everytime talking about Malaysian currency versus what's outside.

Kinda cool also to see patrons enjoying the pretty cold weather outside the restaurant, sipping wine and having a great time with friends, with their legs cozily hidden under the restaurants' thick wool quilts.

50cents coffee@BIG, Solaris Dutamas

2011-10-30T10:04:00.001+08:00

Greeted by a pleasant surprise!

On the way to church to receive spiritual blessing for the week.. BIG also helped give my church members and I physical caffeine awakening....

With their opening promo RM 0.50/any coffee. Limited to only 2 purchases per person. Only until 10th november.

People living nearby or like hanging out in solaris and love a steal-deal coffee.. Pop by for a a coin's worth of coffee :)

Flight Food from KL to Rome

2011-10-29T17:24:00.000+08:00

This was my first business meeting, with the priviledge of flying business class. Probably the last time ever too. But yeah, I must admit... business class flight sure makes the journey SO MUCH more great. Mostly from the free flow champagne and wine and.. the reclining seat. Mostly, the reclining seat as I am an extremely light sleeper and have trouble sleeping on the plane almost every travel.

My journey to Rome was via MAS.

We were served with beef and chicken satays as appetizers. These were one of the most delicious satays I've eaten, aside from Satay Station's or the ever so famous Kajang Satay. Washed down the palate with some champagne, though this champagne was not particularly great. Only thing wierd was consuming all of these at 1 am. Slightly uncomfortable for the tummy.

Some cold cut salmon with fruits while watching "The Green Lantern", with cushion bass filled speakers, unlike the shytty ones we get in economy seats. Damnit.

Grilled salmon. Too hard for my liking. Totally overgrilled.

By lunch time (Malaysian time), and early morning 4 am Amsterdam time, we were awakened with fresh smell of toast pastries. The cereal granola were delicious, and really opened up the appetite.

I opted for the blueberry pancakes, instead of the savoury omelette with mushrooms and that was a big mistake. The pancakes were hard and too sweet. Big disappointment.

On the KLM flight from Amsterdam to Rome, we had our brunch on the 2 hour journey. They served the most adorable salt and pepper kit, in the form of the dutch clogs. So cute! The cold cuts with cheese were pretty flavourful and tasty, went well with the black coffee. The mains however, was lousy. Did not eat much of it.

We flew across this beautiful icey hilly mountainous area. We were debating on whether was this the Alps or Prague. The stewardess told us that we were lucky as most of the times, it would be cloudy and hazy and hardly any view to see.

However nice the presentation of the meals were, the thought of my colleague who was an ex-stewardess, telling me that these food were frozen sometimes, 1 month or more was always on the back of my mind. So yeah... Food for thought.

Simple and delicious meal@Trattoria Fonta Guista@Siena

2011-10-29T16:59:00.001+08:00

Our concierge suggested this place: affordable price yet pretty good food, nearby our hotel.

As soon as we entered, we were faced with a really warm, dimly lit, cozy place packed with locals and tourists.

I had enough of pizzas, and opted for pork chop. Euro 5.90, for a slice two palms size! It was impossible for me to finish it alone. The pork was nicely grilled and very flavourful. It was fresh meat, as there was no funky meaty smell that you get sometimes when your meat ain't fresh kill.

My friend ordered the risotta, being the typical i-must-eat-rice-everyday man. Super creamy, and nicely cooked till soft enough but not too watery. You could taste the strong ricotta from the rice. Good thumbs up! Euro 8.90.

Personally, i think the bread they serve before our meals should at least be slightly toasted. Almost all meals, the bread taste really bland and hard. Hard to swallow down without dipping into olive oil and balsamic. And yeah, it is not free unlike italian restaurants in Malaysia. Each basket cost Euro 2, and we usually just eat a slice or two max.

Sadly my friend isn't an alcohol enthusiast. The 1/2 litre housewine (euro 4.50, cheap!) went well with my meat but too much for me to drink alone.

All in all, good meal here... I strongly recommend those who visit beautiful siena to give this place a try, especially malaysians on a tight budget.

Here's a picture of beautiful hily siena! I would love to be here again.. :)

Home made gelato@Palazzo Nomena

2011-10-19T18:51:00.002+08:00

With the little time we have to walk around Rome city, we scurried around as much as we could with the help of an experienced Rome traveller, YK (who had been here once and raved how well he knew Rome already).

We came to the artsy fartsy part of Rome, with street musicians playing really cool music, talented artists selling their bestwork, mimes (no picts taken as we would be charged), street magicians etc. One really fun place to be with. Reminded me of Camden.

Saw this little girl quietly sitting down to have her portrait drawn. After looking at her face, and looking at the drawing.. I really do not know if I would want to pay him to draw me, like that.

Demona: The 'Rome' traveller told us to hold our thirsty tongues as we walked past, many of the many, many, many ice cream shops until we were wondering if he knew which ice cream we should try.

Until we stumbled upon this shop, which had an extra word that said " Fatto de casa", apparently meant "Home Made".

I had the vanilla and nutella gelato, the rest ordered pistachio and chocolate. Vanilla was really good, but the best flavour went to the chocolate. So so rich, chocolatey yet not too sweet.
Our fingers were freezing holding the cold cup. But yeah, it was truly a nice experience taking small bites of ice cream, while walking around with some romantic music playing on the background. Would be perfect if there is a partner with you taking a stroll.

A cuppa cappucino

2011-10-16T01:15:00.001+08:00

@ you have This too @ shall we dance? @ that tickles! @ the warmth of one's hand @ wipe them away @ bed of roses @ have a spoonful of chocolate ice cream @ backhug with warm breeze blowing @ partnership cooking @ surely appreciate the truth young man! @ dashing smile @ come let me help you with those things madam @ pinches winches @ what a joker! @ prayers, for you and I @ woof woof @ popcorns and movies @ why, thank you ! @ sorry seems to be the hardest word, no more ! @ that is one good coffee i must say @ lets go sailing and fishing @ good backhand. Ay mate! @ a hot air balloon ride? Nice @ listen and share @ this is one good charsiewpao @ wraparound feels awesome @ i announce u, publicly @ that is the sweetest mango @ we all love taiping @ patience is a virtue @ close our eyes with dreams so sweet @ smile with a reply @ peaceful sleeps @ fruity blends with strawberries @ can u patch em'holes up? @ liberation @ transfguration @ meadows so green you can sleep on 'em @ a grasp so tight a tear of joy @ open declaration @ kids will learn from us @ spread the Word @ save, love, peace.

I patiently await. With thoughts, hope, reminisence. Renew me.

Goreng pisang PSL@taiping

2011-10-11T20:48:00.001+08:00

This stall is famous for its gohleng phisang and fried popiah ala chinese style. Taiping-ites grew up with these delicious goodies.

The owner drives a sportscar, imagine that! I am in the wrong industry...

It has been a long while since i last had my hands on them, until last weekend when i made a trip back home.

The shop had expanded, and the owner no longer fries them. There stationed on the hot boiling wok, a petite looking indon girl.

The popiah no longer tastes as good as how i remembered it was. Banana fritters also shrunk in size. The cikodok was not bad but overall, i hate to say it.. The quality and standard has dropped dramatically.

Nevertheless, im sure this stall is sure to stay for a long, long time. Taiping-ites are usually loyal when it comes to supporting their favourite makan places.

I'm sure one fine day, i'll crave for them again and head over for a new batch of fried goodies. I'm empathetic towards my hometown :)

P/s: my dog hmmmpphh-ing when he saw me busy packing up to leave for kl. And another pict of him bidding me byebye with much sadness in his eyes.

Compilation of my breakfast sessions@elite palace hotel, st.eriksplan, Stockholm

2011-10-03T23:16:00.001+08:00

Buffet breakfast spread proved to be really awesome in Elite Palace. Not overly done with its choices of food, and not under either.

They had all kinds of pate, ham and salami served with cold herring and mackarel.

Cheese: chunks of brie, cheddar, goats, mozzarella. Burps!

Bread: wheat, rye, baguette, sesame etc the list goes on. What is the awesome factor? Its dairy products eg butter. Mygosh. So so so so fluffy, light yet creamy. Swoooonsssss.

They serve home made yoghurt also. Vanilla flavour tasted really good. Then, i added some fruits, walnuts, dried cranberries, macadamia etc.

Swedish meatballs were awesome... Mmmm.

And best-est of all, a cuppa hot fragrant aromatic black coffee to take away and sip through your walk to work. Bring along a piece of pistachio biscotti to munch while the bittersweetness of the coffee sinks into your bloodstream.

Ahh. Heavenly. If i could have breakfast like this everyday.

Great work companions on a sunday night

2011-10-02T23:08:00.002+08:00

Hesitated... But finally grabbed a bottle of yet another sauv blanc from marlborough NZ.

Next... Chopped some cheese bought from stockholm and leftovers in the fridge. Total cheezy damage: brie, camembert, matured cheddar.

Flipped open me laptop and started doing work, while psyching myself to go to work tomorrow.. Noooooo!!!

I need a new job. Thank gosh for sauv blanc and cheezie weezies and a computer game addict as companions.

Purrrrrfect way of eating a stroopwaffle

2011-10-01T13:51:00.001+08:00

Ive been taught to eat this famous amsterdam waffle this way.

Put a stroopwaffle on top of a hot, steamy cuppa coffee.

Let the steam melt its caramel filling and its outer part absorbs the coffee aroma and softens.

Take one bite, and take one sip of black coffee.

Bliss!

Im gonna buy more next time!

If only they sell the waffles mug size width. Mmmmmmmmmm delicious!

Afternoon delight@haute food n co. Plaza damaa

2011-09-29T13:01:00.001+08:00

Been missin' the scones here for a while.

After being away for a while. Time for a little alone time with The book and haute food's best seller scones.

After trying stockholm's whipped cream.. I salute them as they've got the fluffiest lightest cream ever.

If i can transport the cream here for my scones itd b purrrrrrrrfect.

For those of u who are unfamiliar with haute food n co and plaza damas, try their scones, butter cake, and sticky date pudding.

Since the moment i found this place, i've been promoting about it ever since. Yums!

Waffles@stockholm central station area

2011-09-22T23:58:00.001+08:00

Walking aimlessly in this foreign city does bring a liberating yet solemn sombre.

I carried a precious book with me, with a prayer for Him to guide me in giving it to the right person.

Somehow, i carried it out today, somehow i decided to divert my destination, then i stumbled upon this old and big cathedral. Somehow, it was opened for prayers/viewing. Somehow, the choir was practicing their hymns.

I felt sad entering the cathedral. With the choir hymns on the background, it was beautiful even when i didnt understand its language.

The place is absolutely beautiful with amazing paintings on the ceilings, depicting JC.

Yet, it was very empty with several elderly people around. I sat down and gave a silent prayer, and decided to leave the book here. I hope it be according to His will and blessing.

A few steps out of the church, i saw a cafe with a very nice el fresco setting, and the swedish waflos word caught my eye.

Woohoo... When the waffle arrived, i felt like a little girl again, getting excited and thrilled over my new barbie or something. It looked delicious and pretty!

And boy boy.. It was as it looked. Slurps!

This and a cuppa cappucino, 89krones/ 10euros/ rm 40 plus.

Najib needs a wake up call because citizens are suffering in and Out of malaysia.

Rolf binder Veritas bulls blood 2004

2011-09-21T16:15:00.001+08:00

Nicely aged by now, the wine exhibit some sweet dark berries and orange peel on the nose.
It was on the heavier side on the palate, but not obstrusive..
The wine glided smoothly over with harmonious tannins.

Pretty good to enjoy it now..a good wine with meat.

CJ, Ong

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone

Duck Village @ bangsar village

2011-09-21T16:12:00.000+08:00

One of the better roast duck speciality restaurant in KL..
This time we ordered crispy duck, which comes with sweet sauce, cucumber, spring onions and soft bread to wrap it all up.

Portion was huge and the crispy duck was quite flavourful, thou abit on the dry side.

The petai spicy taufu was not of my liking. Too sweeet.

CJ, Ong

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone

Impromptu BKT lunch@jln ipoh.

2011-09-18T13:44:00.001+08:00

After a truly inspiring sermon, time to be blessed with physical food.

Aimed to eat the addictive currymee at bulatan pahang, with much much dismay, they were sold out by the time we reached. And it was only 1215pm!

Next plan... Go back home and eat "puimin" ( instant noodles )

Some funny instinct urged me to say out, " how about eating BKT in one of the shops along jln ipoh?" while approaching the junction into that area.

Hence, BKT it was. With no expectations, no aim. Don't even know if the shop is popular or not so. Rain started pouring heavily too.

The corner lot shop, next to a dodgy looking hotel by the tip of jln ipoh end.. Was packed with patrons.

Food was served really fast. Portion was huge. Soup was quite sweet, lack a little on the herbal taste. Meat was quite tender in some parts, but not much so on the ribs.

One of the better BKTs ive tried. Tho the best still belongs to klang.

Would it make me drive all the way here to eat it again?
I think curry mee still wins that spot and unless they are sold out again, i probably will not drive here just for this:)

Leoville Barton 1994

2011-09-17T19:56:00.000+08:00

It was such a blessing, that this wine was delivered back to KL for me.

I had purchased this wine together with a ducru 94, just a week before I met Snr Pastor Abraham Park.

The Barton was still very much alive, much tobacco and chocolate on the nose, a hint of spice while on the palate, the tannins were round and silky. However, it wasn't very much complexed on the nose, even after 2hrs of breathing.

A heart warming drink...
CJ, Ong

Sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone

Tea dinner@PurpleCane, Gardens Midvalley

2011-09-11T08:43:00.001+08:00

A short and quick dinner before winter clothing shopping.

Braised chicken in tea gravy. Pretty value for money, rm18. The chicken was yeah... Superbly tender, but ive noticed that the flavours of tea in PC's dishes are gradually diminishing. If only the taste was stronger in the braised chicken.

The 2nd dish was home made scrambled eggs with tomato slices, rm10. This dish was disappointing. Nothing special about their home made eggs. Anyone can cook this at home. Thumbs down.

The one thing that i like about this place is their refillable rm1 tea rice. Very generous workable marketing idea. One downside: diminishing tea flavours.

Major difference from the time they first opened until today.

This is what i dislike about most proper kl restaurants, through time, cost and expenses and quick profits come to play, the promise to deliver consistent good quality food is down the drain.

Post Gym Session Lonely Dinners

2011-09-07T23:20:00.005+08:00

Demona: There are some nights where you feel broke, you have no great dinner parties to attend, you feel lazy, your palate seems off, your body is worn out from a long day at work... these do take a downhill turn on dinner meal choices.

These feelings usually hit me several days in a week, sometimes less, sometimes more. Especially after signing up to FitnessFirst nearby home, Village Grocer has now become one of my dinner sources.

Below are some of my weeknight dinner companions:

Demona: I usually leave the gym around 8 pm, just in time for .... FOODIE PROMO!

The bakery and japanese food section usually have promo deals from 8 pm onwards. As for the Village Grocer bakery, it is totally worth it as the pastries are actually quite delicious and they will sell them at 1+1. In fact, the same exact pastries are being sold with a golden price tag in that posh looking bakery located in the gourmet food area, under Cold Storage in Bangsar Shopping Centre. Bet a lot of people did not notice this. And in fact (num.2), some pastries are being served to us during our free breakfast meals in office. I'm not sure if we are considered lucky to be treated with premium pastries... or in fact, they are seriously cheap and we were donkeys to pay a premium price in BSC/Village Grocer.

Okay, I think I have side tracked. Back to the Jap food. Yeah, the party set is priced at... 50% off! The humongous thing is sold at RM 19.45. Woo hoo hoo. Ate with happiness under my comforter while catching up on my "The Mentalist" series. And then regret for not finishing them and over-carbing myself.

Anyway... I did come back another day, for party set round 2!

Demona: Since several months back, I suddenly developed an addiction towards NZ Sauvignon Blanc. I have this thirsty keenness to try new NZ Sauv Blancs. Hole In The Water was one of my top favourites. I've purchased 2 bottles already, and given another to my girlfriend as a birthday gift. Very strong fruity smell, somewhat lychee and has a smooth finish. Easy to drink, without a need to drink with food. Looking at this picture makes me want to grab another bottle from the wine section in Village Grocer.

RM 54.90.

Demona: For those who know me well.. they know that I'm an insane KokoKrunchKrankyKrazy addict. I can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a couple of days and still crave for it.
They are dinner saviours for me on some lazy nights when I'm too lazy to cook, I forgotten to defrost my meat, I crave for something sweet.

Wines babies delivered

2011-09-05T22:23:00.000+08:00

5 years ago I had 5 plus cases of wines stored in a commercial warehouse in singapore.

5 years later I had them delivered back to KL.

Much has changed these 5 years.

I used to be a wine snob who thought Grand Crus were the norm and sub RM150 wines were herbicides.

Ironically, due to various unexpected turn in events, I am only sipping sub RM50 shopping mall wines on a good day.

Today, I got my good babies back. After stowed away for 5 years.

Wether it is rm500 or rm50, I am thanful for everything.

Praise the Lord!

Cos Estrounel 04
Serrangula barolo 04
Musar 99
Ducru 94
Leoville barton 94
Yarra yerring no 1
Branair ducru 02
Folin arbelet
Malescot 02

CJ, Ong

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Business lunch@Ben's Food Store, Bangsar Village I

2011-09-01T17:54:00.002+08:00

Demona: We came with our customer to Plan B for lunch about a month back. This time around, our plan A was to go to Antipodian. As it was the final week of puasa, everyone was busy doing his/her last minute raya shopping and every single road on Bangsar was clogged up with cars.

Being nick of time, plan A was off our lunch list. Plan B food was still fresh in our minds, hence we opted for Plan C, Ben's Food Store.

The decor does somehow builds up an appetite for those who are eating alone or with another person and want to have a quick but good meal. Seats and tables were closely arranged and we had to tap on other patron's shoulders, asking them to make way.

Demona: Smoked salmon pizza with ricotta cheese. Very good combination of ingredients fused with the wooden oven charred aroma locked in the pizza. I only wished that they were more generous with the smoked salmon slices.. you could literally, count them. 4 slices in total to be exact. RM 19.90.

Demona: Nutella milkshake. This.. is the BOMB! Looking at this picture makes me crave for it. Ben's got a range of milkshakes, with names similar to the Ben n Jerry's ice creams. Made me suspect that they might be using BnJ's ice creams as part of the blended ingredients. Some other milkshakes on the menu are: Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, etc.

But the Nutella milkshake... ladies out there, this is worth every single digit of calories. One sip would get you thinking about nutella spread and kinder bueno chocolate. Shivers with joy, brrrrr!

Demona: This is the 3 combi salad, RM 29.90. With corn, bacon, veges. At first, we thought this was 1 of the 3 salads we ordered and were overwhelmed with the size, all praising the generosity of Ben's. It took us awhile to realise that they placed all 3 salads into one plate. Then, we all went, " ohhhhhhh......" RM 29.90 was a little steep for me, even if they had combined 3 into 1. I wondered if I had only ordered 1 salad, how little would it be.

Demona: 3 meat pizza. Not for the vege lovers. The meaty smell was so pungent, with a mixture of meatballs, sausages, ham. They were more sincere with the ingredients here.. at least I got lost halfway counting em' sausages unlike the smoked salmon. RM 19.90.

I would go back to Ben's for the milkshake, and maybe pizza if I've got a group of friends with me. But the sister restaurant, Plan B still serves better food I must say.

Groupon value meal dinner@Aria Italian Restaurant, Damansara Heights

2011-08-31T18:38:00.003+08:00

Demona : This was my first groupon purchase. Being a foodie person, the voucher was makanmakan related. The offer was for a seafood platter appetizer and 2 pastas for RM 65 at Aria Italian Restaurant in Plaza Damansara, quietly tucked in this posh neighbourhood of Damansara Heights.

Being a skeptic, I did google up this restaurant to see if it was worth my investment. Not much reviews on it, and whatever found on the web were also old reviews. I did ponder for a while, and finally I clicked on the "purchase" button and bid farewell to my RM 65.

On one fine hungry night, I decided to use up this voucher. The place wasn't difficult to locate and good thing that it was near home for me. Very few people were there at the restaurant, which also caused me to wonder if the groupon vouchers were intended to boost its popularity.

Bread as starter was served, with a really really delicious dip, made of chopped mushrooms and olives. The dip finished almost instantly and the waiter was nice enough to give a refill. BURPS.

Demona: When the seafood platter appetizer came, I could only say.. "HUAH". The only thing I regretted not doing was to starve myself for the day in order to finish this up. Based on the menu, this is priced at RM 68. Fried calamari and brinjal slices, grilled vegetables, beef and salmon carpaccio with non-authentic parmigiano-reggiano cheese, a GIGANTIC sauteed portobello mushroom, bruchetta with different toppings, risotto balls. The platter is enough as a main for 2 persons.

The best stuffs served were: GIANT juicy portobello mushroom, the carpaccios, and bruchetta.
Best carpaccio still goes to OSO Italian Restaurant at Tanjong Pagah, Singapore.

BURPS OUT LOUD.

Demona: The two pastas came after the appetizer. I stared at them, while burping and shaking my head NO NO NO. The zipper on my pants was crying out to me to release it. I looked at the clock and realised it took only 20 minutes to finish the appetizer and I was too embarrassed to ask the waiter to pack up these two freshly served pastas as take-away.

To shy away from embarrassment, we ate them too. The clam pasta may seem plain and boring looking, but it was pretty flavourful and I was glad em' pasta were home made. The seafood ink pasta was better, home made too. That was about the only thing delicious from the second pasta. The ingredients in it: prawns were really not fresh at all. The prawn meat were soggy. The scallops were average too.

Based on the menu, each pasta cost RM 28.

Well, RM 65 for these 3 was definitely worth the money. If it wasn't the generous seafood platter appetizer, I would have thought otherwise.

So.. will this experience make me come all the way to Aria for another Italian meal? Hmmmm....
at this point, I'm still sitting on the fence.

We shall see...

Hidden curry mee stall gem@heart of KL (tip: near HKL)

2011-08-23T19:36:00.002+08:00

One of the best curry mee i had in a longgggg longgggggg time. The gravy ain't typical orangish lemak like you mostly get these days. Very strong taste of curry powder with fragrant siew yoke!

The toast bread was a real  .. Ooh lala. Better than kota bahru's white house speciality toast bread. The toast was so buttery fragrant coupled with sweet home made kaya.

Best part about this place is that it is hidden in plain sight, i would not have ever stepped foot on this stall if my foodie sifu colleague hadn't brought us good-food-deprived souls (most of the time we suffer with crappy food from office)

He did say his favourite food hide out will be exposed since i will blog about it, thus my mouth is sealed for this time.

Whoever is really interested to try this place out, drop me a mail:)

BTW: what is even more peculiar, their main income was not the curry mee and toast but from................

fighting fish breeding!!

Behind the stall, were stacks of tiny glass aquariums, each with a beautiful yet fierce lil' fella swimming inside. Apparently very good and expensive breeds, minimum cost of one is approx. Rm300.

They even have Rotweillers and German Sherperds to guard these fiesty fishes.

Now isn't this a jaw dropping wow?

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Hakka noodle at Hakka Kopitiam Klang

2011-08-16T11:51:00.000+08:00

Its pretty rare to see a kopitiam with all stalls specializes in Hakka food.
This shop is located near 888 hawker center in klang

I tried the homemade hakka noodle which were slurpilicious, and loaded up side dishes of vinegar pork knuckles, curry chicken and yongtaofu. They even sell the fried yam balls ( suan pan zi)

CJ, Ong

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Aftermath stress release meal@Rakuzen, G Hotel

2011-08-13T15:34:00.005+08:00

A full day of presenting our business plan for 2013 to the GM.

My teammates and I were exhausted from the workload, mental stress, lack of sleep, peers, bosses etc. We made a pact on the night before to have a good stress release meal once this BIG day was over.

And it finally did. Bruised, battled, worn out.. but victorious.

Time for some tension release with some sushi wushi! Both physical and mental stress.
My first time eating salmon roe chawan mushi. FUH

Scot's @jaya1

2011-08-11T20:09:00.001+08:00

Sneak in for a happy hour whiskey shot at Scot's... And I earned a free whiskey from the bartender..

Dowmore 12 years: honeyed toffee nose. Smooth on the palate. With some fullness on the palate.very Good quality. Above chivas, glenfiddich 18 years. And many more. 15 bucks

Whyte and Mackay 13 years: not too bad. Simple but smooth. Light and blended whiskey. Free.

CJ, Ong

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Korean Strawberry

2011-08-10T11:49:00.000+08:00

Bought a bucket of korean strawberry at Oryudong, Seoul.
Sweetish strawberries that stufffed 5 of us to the point of suffocation.

The cost? RM15 per bucket

CJ, Ong

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McD Incheon Airport,Seoul

2011-08-10T11:47:00.000+08:00

Had a Bigmac in Incheon Airport recently.
In comparison to our Malaysia version, the beef patty is a tad juicer and beefier. Other than that,its still a McD
CJ, Ong

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