Siu~V: May 2010

crystal jade..thomas cup....what a flop

Recently I had dinner with some ex-colleagues at Crystal Jade; the pork-free outlet in Pavillion. Not sure what's with the 'Meal Meal Meal'.... asking us to dine there for 3 meals a day kot.

Jewel, Eugenie and I .... all working close by and yet rarely meeting up for meals and chit chat..shame on us la, girls!

Sook Jeng being flanked by me and Jewel ... we were all from one same company (Hong Leong Assurance) and we have all since left to join its competitors...(LOL, don't we all....)

Our rather costly drinks ranges from RM 10.90 - RM 13.90.

Really a money (thirst)-quencher la.

Luckily I really enjoyed my Iced Lychee Tea....was looking for my lychee in it though.

The Green tea color's pretty icky.. :p

Good wedges though. They gave a full bowl- most value for MAAneh! (money)

Not sure what's the black stuff surrounding the pasta...Sook Jeng said the sauce was just plain sour..

My order - obviously if you know me well enough, you'd know I was actually attracted by those Tempura Prawns and long beans.

This was quite nice...not too creamy until it gives you that bbblurghhh feeling when you eat too much.

This certainly looks better than it actually tasted.

I didn't try it myself but Eug certainly wasn't fond of it..tasteless chicken, she claimed..too bad girl.

But the one who had it worst was poor Jewel.

She was playing with her dinner after only 5 minutes of digging in.

She sure was expecting it to be something you find at Kim Gary's or Wongkok.

For me, those cheese-baked rice stuff......never a risk i'll take ever since i've had cheese that tasted like rubber band.

Sook Jeng was contemplating which goes well with her carrot juice - evaporated milk, fresh milk or sugar water...and decided to ask for all three.

So you see, the food was pretty bad and the interior pretty plain...except for the lights that changes color from time to time.

But I actually was more interested in their projected big screen.

Obviously I wasn't the only one.

Lots were too...

...including those merely passing by.

If only they had known ...

..that what they were gonna watch on TV...

...was gonna be a complete waste of time.

what a pity.

lazy bum

i'm loving edamame; cute dat they serve it hanging from its stalk.

anyway, busy weekend - had some wedding to attend to :P

lots of blog postings not up yet. (yes moon, I'm a lazy bum)

Procrastinate no more, siu V!

Stay tuned...

Guess where I am...?

You'd never believe this place is in my hometown Malacca.

Right in the heart of the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, Malacca.

Such a beautiful sight, isn't it?

Family and I decided to pay this place a visit (after umpteen years!) coz we were simply craving for some Portuguese food. And where better to have REAL Portuguese food than at the Portuguese Settlement!

But first, couldn't resist not taking photos of its surroundings. What was once merely a sandy beach front with a wooden jetty so dilapidated that with the wrong footing and your entire leg can fall right through it, was now nicely done up with walking paths, railings and lamp posts.

I must say, it is indeed a job well done to revive this place.

If one intends to come here for a very very good dinner, my best bet is be here before 6pm to avoid the agony of queueing up for your table.

And do not take heed some of the badgering stall owners who will relentlessly try to cajole you into eating at their stall instead.

Go With ONE Aim In Mind .......... .............. SEA TERRACE!!!

(Coincidence that they're listed as Stall No. 1?)

Very closely related to Mediterranean food, Portuguese food is full of flavour with fresh fish and shellfish found on virtually every menu...and cooked in every way possible.

We tried the Baked Fish for RM 17.50 (It was a 350g fish).
The chilli paste was very good and frankly, I was tempted to finish up the entire fish by myself.
The soft fresh flesh was baked to perfection!

aiyah, sooooo small for 4 mouths!!

Next was our order of la la, but somehow they looked more like bamboo clams, don't they?

@#X% !

RM 10 for this plate of fugly-looking clams cooked in Ginger Sauce.

Stay away from these and go for something else OTHER than Ginger Sauce coz it was just so tasteless and watery.....no KICK!

We had no choice coz all the other dishes we ordered were either SPICY/ FRIED......(heeeeeaaatty mah)...So we had to choose a 'safe' dish before mum starts to nag.

The Brinjal cooked in Sambal was another wise pick of ours.. *bangga*

RM 6 only and HOT, HOT, HOTTTT....just the way I like it!

Don't be put off by the oil - you can easily unclog your arteries by exercising like I do..............

..........in my dreams

Now, the Deep Fried Chicken Wings you MUST try....at RM 1.80/piece, they're extremely tasty!

I suppose the cucumber slices are there to contra the 'heaty' effect of the chicken...hehe

For extra precaution, we each ordered what else, but a fresh Coconut! @ RM 4/nut

Returning after many many years, I expected the prices to shoot up due to the increase in tourist activity in this area.

However, it was quite a surprise that the bill came up to only RM 58.

That's hardly RM 15 per pax. Sweeeeet.

Even sweeter was the sunset background that day.

And that old shabby wooden jetty?

The jetty is rebuilt and now stands majestically out into the ocean.

Miles and miles out into the ocean............

(ok, maybe not that far out :p)

Best Clams in Town...Soon Sing

There's this little coffee-shop along Jalan Gombak that many may not be familiar with.
It's 'Kedai Kopi Soon Sing' with a 'G' behind the pineapple lantern.

Some of Mark's ex-colleagues from Jerneh Insurance actually drove all the way here (one even from Nilai!) just to savour the taste of the food here. ...AFTER listening to our strong recommendation, of course!

After about 20-minutes wait, the food finally arrived...all at once!

Fried ginkgo something something...(i still find this a quirky way to eat ginkgo!)

Pork with salted fish (i swear the name of this dish sounds much better in Cantonese..)

Fried sotong

Braised Beancurd with mushroom

Fried Glass Noodle

Green vege (wat else!) - forgot which kind tho'

HELL, I'm more interested to show you THIS..

no no, I mean .. THIS!!! this oyster is like the size of a ping-pong ball!

Check out the CHolesTerols!.....super duper damn sedap giler babi siol LA LA in Chinese wine

And they never fail to throw in a few suprise Mussels into this dish as well!

Sweeeeeeeettt...........both the sauce AND the La La...!!

One of the toughest challenges I have to face each time confronting this dish is fighting the urge to go for another ...and another...and another piece of la la.....kononnya gotta control my cholesterol levels maah..

A very contented (and stuffed) group of people after dinner!

Too full (lazy) to even smile dy...

A very modest looking coffee-shop that opens for lunch and dinner

A very shy cook that you should always look for to take your order...Ask him for recos.

Food's reasonably priced - only RM 123 for 8 pax and your satisfaction guaranteed.

EVERYBODY'S verdict of the night : The LA LA dish alone makes travelling all the way to this place WORTH IT!!

(Soree I don't have the exact address of this place, but it's really near the Genting Klang police station and Sime Continental Tyre shop along Gombak. Otherwise, you can always bribe me with 'la la')

freaked me out!

As Jin and I reached the airport counter, they told us that our flights have been brought forward (?! can they do that?!)...mine was pushed forward to 9.30pm while Jin's was at 10.30. A check at my watch and it showed 8.45pm. Oh no, is there time......

Jin was hungry. Very.

Despite me informing her there'll be midnight snacks on the plane (it was MAS mah!), she still wanted to grab something quick at the food court.
And insisted I follow.
My heart was taking pity on her, my brain was saying "ARE YOU NUTS?!" but my mouth just blurted out "hou la hou la.."

Off we went rushing to find A food court....when suddenly we felt like going to the toilet pulak. Saw a bunch of screaming teenage girls going into a toilet, we followed....only to find that it was actually the MEN'S toilet. wtf .

We did it anyway.

Off we went to have chicken rice - fastest ever gobbled down.

A check on time, it was 9.20pm (?!!?!!)

As we were then about to leave the food court, this cleaner came up to us and said "Nah, ambik ni..freee.."

She gave us 8 bananas and a rim of DoubleA A4 paper.

???

Not thinking how much i love bananas (!) or how I could use some paper to write on, I shoved them all to Jin.

brardy hell...I was so late dy.

Forgetting to even say my goodbye to Jin, I ran off like a mad woman through the airport (you know how long these buildings can be), scrambling with my bags and all.

In the midst of this adrenalin-rush moment I've put myself into, I managed to call my brother to tell him I'll be reaching Heathrow airport in London at 11.30pm so be there to pick me up. Here I was already running late and he somemore had the cheek to crack jokes with me over the phone. sweat.. o_o'''

A brave move to glance at my watch again...9.30pm!

omg...Right from that moment, I like transformed into the ultimate 'tin-porr' (perempuan gila/ crazy woman). I've never ran so fast so hard, lugging my bags all the way from one end of a building to another.

It was a helter-skelter state of kan-cheongness to the MAX!

As I find myself dashing around the airport, I felt my body rocking at first......
then I began moving more and more furiously.

The movements were getting violent....in fact, so frantic that I startled myelf

from sleep.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS it was all a dream!! .. I told myself.
THIS morning's dream to be exact!

Thank God, I was never late for my flight (never will be..hmmph!).

I never did go to the men's toilet

and I never had chicken rice at the airport.

Bugger, AM I tired now. All the running around in my head.

In fact, that was my second 'major' dream after waking up at 8 just to fall asleep again.
Forgot my first dream episode, though.

I didn't DARE go back to sleep anymore...all this dreaming is more tiring than staying awake.
Maybe I should nap on my sofa instead- see how THAT goes.

And for what it's worth, I remember the airport in my dream was a very very beautiful one...guess my creative juices flow better when I'm asleep =_=

Gonna watch my Slam Dunk series now. Wicked funny.
At least funnier than my dream lor.

p.s. - if you were paying attention, you would just now wonder how come my flight to London only takes 2 hours.

Well, I didn't say i was leaving from Malaysia, did I? ^.^

cheers....er, i mean, snoooooze.

go wet in awet thai cafe

Birthdays are a great reason to eat good food - like when we all went to Awet Thai Cafe (Jalan Kaskas, Taman Cheras) for Polly's birthday. Supposedly a famous Thai place, though I hardly know of any around other than Nong and Jimmy.

My first time here...not for these people, I think.

The place was packed, luckily we booked two tables for ourselves. Otherwise, the birthday chick wouldn't be smiling from ear to ear dy.

(I couldn't stand NOT planting a mole on KF's face coz it was a close-up shot)

The rest of d gang who made it that night....

(doesn't lydia remind you of Taylor Swift?!!)

Then we also have the 'new' love-birds....

and the 'soon-to-be' newly-weds...

say "cheeeeeezz"

Taking group photos...oblivious to the watchful eyes of the other patrons >.<

(err, what's wif the 'retard' look, dear...)

Gotta show you what we ate right?...

Deep-fried Kang Kong (RM 8) - very 'one-of-a-kind' dish, crispy and tasty just like all fried stuff but also very oily lor

The must-have Green Curry (RM 16) - Not the best, but not bad..can't really recall its taste, meaning not the best tasted lor :P

BBQ Squid (RM 18) - Nong and Jimmy's one better!!

anyways, me no squid fan so I only had one 'ring'

The 'inevitable' Pandan Chicken (RM 2.60/each) - Seems like another 'must' with Thai cuisine, eh? I still prefer my 'paper-wrapped chicken' though...P.C. is just all meat, no skin...and I just love my skin....(think K-F-C..)

Now, I could have sworn I also took a photo of the Tom Yam Seafood Soup (RM 7.80/small bowl)...but I couldn't find it in my cam cam anymore. ....the BEST PART of ANY THAI meal and I don't have a picture to show...*sad*

We ate and ate and ate and 'sapu-ka-liao' everything.

Some were belly-happy.....some eat until blur....some craved for dessert...