Tummy widening delicious snacks@Dogma's

Demona: Chips are common snacks that we both have together, especially if a good movie's showing on TV. The only difference is that, Dogma only has eyes for good quality imported chips, where as my choice is narrowed down by the price tag. Glad to know that these branded chips are still affordable in Dogma's land (I also profit along the way..hahaha)



Demona: This was the Terra Red Bliss chips: Made with olive oil, roasted garlic and parmesan. NO TRANS FAT. 30% LESS FAT *winks*



Demona: Huge ass slices, crunchy, salty, with pungent parmesan and garlic smell. Purrrrrrrr-fect!



Demona: The portion was actually quite generous. A pack could fill up 3 small bowls. Chips were never too much for us "chip-sie monsters!"



Demona: Dogma's supplier, who happens to be a Korean, gave a box of Japanese made chocolate cookies to him as a thank you gift for a ride to Changi. Sweetened sugary Dogma ferociously fought his desires against opening it, and saved it... for cookie monster Demona!



Demona: Cookie monster Demona ripped the wrapper apart and these were its contents. Cute, leafy green and baby pink coloured tiny packets, sealing up sugary treasures soon to be unearthed.



Demona: Light, crunchy and buttery baked thinly sliced cookies sandwiched a checkered piece of creamy sweet red bean and white paste. Could not really tell whether it was chocolate or coconut based. I am sure it was nicely explained in Japanese (but obviously I am an illiterate in this language), but whatever it was, the sweet stuff went exceptionally well with the cookies. The taste of both items was a brilliant combination, and decorative details were not left behind.



Demona: Lotus pandan paste cookies were found in the leafy green packets. I could not decide which was the superior one as both were equally delicious!



Demona: Japs and their intricate details, focusing on every aspect from taste, looks, presentation, packaging etc. Thumbs up to their great effort!

Village Park Part 2@Damansara Uptown

Demona: There was something sinister about Village Park's nasi lemak. After a week or so from my visit here, somehow or rather, my mind just tingles and tingles, reminding me of its deliciousness, then I start to salivate, crave, drool, dream.... of this pungent coconut fragrant rice coated with spicy, onion crazy sambal and an even ZING-er than ZING fried chicken.

So.. Dogma and I returned for round 2. (On my own, my visits to VP are uncountable already)



Demona: Sugar honey coated Dogma took the spicy sambal eggplant for me as he knew that eggplant was one of my favourite dishes. The eggplant was a little oily, but the sambal accompaniment was a lovely match to it.



Demona: The queue was elephant long. Dogma was madly frowning everytime he turned back to look at me. He queued up for food by the display counter while I sat down enjoying my White Coffee ice. He came back with a plate of chicken rendang instead of my usual fried chicken. I groannnneedddddd, telling him why he skipped the fried chicken. I needed to satisfy my crave for it. His frowning sweaty face told me clearly he wasn't going back into the line for round 2.

This addict had to do the queuing this time.



Demona: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... crave, fulfilled! I also asked the makcik at the counter to slap on some fiery sambal on my chicken too. Dogma chewed the bony bits while I munched down the meaty parts. He now understood why I liked the fried chicken so much.

The rendang chicken was coconut creamy, fragrant and spicy. Comparing both, I still think that, Jason Fried Chicken Bourne is the Chicken Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum for Village Park.

It is much more worth buying the nasi lemak with fried chicken set than just the chicken itself, because the set cost RM 6.50 while the chicken alone cost RM 4.50. OUCH!

Verdict: Undeniably good. Looking at the pictures now, made me build up my obsessed craving for the nasi lemak again. Oh no! Here goes the crazy, scary, out-of-control village park nasi lemak craving's vicious cycle repeating itself.

Pan Mee@Restoran Ngem Ngem, Cheras

Demona: There are only so few Chinese food places to choose from, which are nearby HUKM. My colleagues and I usually skip lunch if we were going to cover at this area. One day, I stumbled upon a new eatery area nearby HUKM by accident. To my surprise, there are several coffee shops nicely hidden inside this area. I decided to choose Ngem Ngem, which was the first in sight.



Demona: The ambience was as expected, stuffy, hot, messy floors, noisy etc. Nothing much was left as I only arrived at 3 pm. The uncle cooking at his pan mee stall seemed the busiest. Therefore, I decided to give the man a bowl of pan mee's business .

The pan mee was just average. Oil, dark and light soy sauce were added to give the noodles the distinct brownish colour. The typical ingredients added were fried anchovies, slices of mushrooms and minced pork.



Demona: A bowl with some slices of foo chuk and leafy vegetables was also given. The soup was under average. High level of MSG was detected. Nothing special could be described about the foo chuk and vegetables as well.



Demona: Without this X-factor, as well as the complement factor (Me being superbly hungry), I would not have finished my food. The chilli helped spiced up my noodles.

Verdict: Typical expectation from most coffee shops. As long as you have a big variety of food types, situated on a convenient location, the business will work. The food offered may not need to be delicious, just as long as there are many types for customers to choose from. The pan mee which I ate left no impact at all.

A bowl cost RM 3.50. The price was decent though, thus this area will be a good place for a cost-saving lunch.

The uncle who cooked the pan mee got superbly excited when he spied on me taking pictures of the noodles. I did not even realise that he noticed me until he came over to collect the empty bowl and asked if I was a reporter.

Sorry uncle! My write up must be honest. :)

Annual Cheng Beng Festival@Taiping

Demona: It's been two years since I attended the last Cheng Beng prayers. I am stunned over how innovative the people who made these praying things have become. So much have changed, only in two years. One thing that hasn't changed, was the serene, peaceful, calm atmosphere Cheng Beng created. Somehow rather, it was soothing to see people returning to their elder's graves to pray.



Demona: The regular food used for prayers. Apparently, there are rules where by only certain food can be placed on top and below. My mom and my aunt (uncle's wife) are the only ones in my family who still know all these details. Personally speaking, I am afraid to say that I believe this tradition may possibly disappear in the near future.



Demona: I only know of sticking coloured papers on my great grandparents' grave. This was the first time that I saw snipped bits of shining colourful papers to be sprinkled all over the grave. According to YY, these snippits were SOOOOOO.. last few years news. Gosh, I am totally outdated.



Demona: The creation of paper clothings, money and jewellery get more and more funky, creative and innovative as the years go by. Next time around, space suits maybe?



Demona: It took us FOREVER, to get the two coins to have a head and tail each. I'm guessing, great grandpa and great grandma were too engrossed watching my dad, aunt and uncle playing this old card game (which was to be burnt along for them too).



Demona: KIM TOON KIM TOON! (gold bars gold bars!) PEK KIM TOON PEK KIM TOON!(white gold bar white gold bar!)



Demona: Will I be able to own this much in future?



Demona: XL wallet and watch for grandma? Gosh, she is even more stylish than I am. All that I am carrying is this huge wallet Dogma bought me for my 1st Birthday and a brandless black leather bag. Handphone for her too? How advance has the world below us become?



Demona: All the luxuries were burnt for the elders to receive them. The heat was excruciatingly hot! I was wondering, how will they be able to get hold of all of these things once they were completely burnt into ashes. (great grandpa with a huge ass bag trying to make sure everything that falls into the bag? Sounds pretty funny)



Demona: My grandpa. The kind soul who gave his wife and his and her siblings these three beautiful graves to rest in when they depart from this world.





Demona: Pokok Assam Market's Siohhh Bakkkk! (roast pork). Raw, authentic, home town style. Savoury, salty, some parts were lean, some parts fatty, but finger licking good! Unbelievably good.....

Assorted Wine Review@ Singapore

Here are some wines that I had over the past few days. Too much wine too much wine.

Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1 2004, Victoria@100SGD: A Bordeaux blend with predominant Cabernet Sauvignon, merlot, malbec, petit verdot from the Yarra Valley. The nose was pretty elegant and bordeaux like. Unlike Margaret River's, it has not much Pencil lead/shavings nose but rather a tobacco nose with some dustiness/wetness on it intermingled with some dark berries. Palate was medium with some currant and medicinal tone. a moderate acidity. Tannins was powdery which was nice. Good effort.

Joseph Faively Macon Village 2005@37sgd: An entry level chardonnay from the famous negotiant. Not much of a nose but citrus and vanilin. Palate was one dimensional with citrus and not much acidity to last. finish was short. However, the general package was pretty harmonious and good for some occasional quaffing.