Bite me

Fruit Salad

2009-11-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

I was just fooling around in the kitchen with some leftover fruit that was two days away from compost.

It had jackfruit (a little funky already), mango (I could detect a slight tang of alcohol), dragon fruit or pitaya berry (so soft I had to work double time just so that it sliced properly, if it were the red variety, I would've attempted to make a coulis out of it) , canned rambutans stuffed with pineapples (two fruits in a can! What could possibly be better?), pomegranate seeds and severely bruised mint leaves (coarsely chopped to account for the bruising.).

I tossed the whole lot around with kaffir lime juice (gotta love typically Asian flavours) and brown sugar and toasted sesame seeds (I mixed black and white for extra drama.)

It photographs fantastically doesn't it?

Don't call it a comeback

2009-10-21T03:04:00.000-07:00

I'll be moving into a new house soon.
Kitchen looks out into a bright space (Good lighting)
I'm moving in with Selina (She has a good camera at hand)
I accidentally bought a microwave oven and I'm planning on getting a normal convection oven (More toys to play with.)
We're talking about getting an internet connection at the new place. (Instant updates)

Looks like the scene is all set for more tomfoolery in the kitchen.

First on my list, Indian desserts.

Keep it posted! That is, if anyone's still reading of course :(

Sweets for my sweet...

Gold Leaf!!

2009-09-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

the problem with edible gold leaf? No freaking one that I've asked so far seemed to even know what it is let alone where to find it. If anyone knows, please tell me. I'm in need of a huge load of edible gold leaf very very soon (This Thursday, in fact.) Please help me if you now where I can buy it. Edible Gold Leaf.

Peking Duck at Chynna, Hilton Kuala Lumpur

2009-08-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

Eh Dubrovnik! If you're scouring the Internet for any mention on you, PAY ATTENTION. This is how a REAL restaurant would behave in the face of a potential crisis with a customer:

Scenario: Monday evening. DB ordered a Peking duck for dinner at around 7 and the order was confirmed by the Hostess on duty. When we went around for dinner, the waitresses graciously took our order for drinks (as they always do). Then, a waiter wheels in this strange looking thing on a platter, half a duck. Even though we'd already ordered one whole bird. We looked at the bird in confusion, and then at the waiter who smiled at us politely and took out his carving knife to strip the skin off the bird. We stopped him, asked him what he was doing, "This is not our bird, we ordered a whole duck." The smile faltered, he scuttled off to fetch the hostess. Very nicely they explained "Oh, we only have half a bird left so that's what we're serving to you tonight lah." or something to that effect. Understandably enough, we were pissed. No courtesy to explain this to us over the phone when we made the order, no courtesy to tell us that only half a bird was left when we checked in and no courtesy to have the waiter explain it to us before wheeling the bird in. They had three opportunities to exercise professionalism which they ignored and the sore point was that it appeared that they thought we'd either keep quiet and take the bird although it was not what we ordered or that we were too stupid to notice that our bird was not complete. We sent the bid back to the kitchen and left the restaurant for dinner in Alexis instead.

The following day, DB sent a letter to the F&B Director to voice his displeasure on the incident and painted a scenario on how they could've avoided looking unprofessional.

Yesterday, we made the same order again and went to the restaurant for a second try. As soon as the bird was wheeled out (a whole one) the F&B Director himself popped over, addressed D.B by name (wow) and announced that "We'll be taking care of you tonight." (Wow). Dinner went ahead without a glitch, the duck was perfect, the Baby pak Choi that we ordered to go with it was beautifully presented and completely tasty and when we asked for the check, the waiter told us that 'the F&B Director is picking up the tab tonight, I hope you enjoyed your dinner' (WOw)

Later on, when we went down to Cafe Cinno for some dessert, the Director came up to us, introduced himself to DB (completely ignoring me in the process but since I'm Malaysian and completely used to double standards in service, I had no issue with it.) and made small talk with us. (WOW)

His actions that night not only repaired whatever damage was done in our previous visit but cemented the restaurant and its service staff in my mind as one of utmost professionalism.

If a restaurant does not intend to perform at this level of service (Dubrovnik, I'm talking to you.), then that restaurant would be better off getting service tips at the friendly neighbourhood warung where patrons are assured reasonable prices, good food and a friendly smile.

I harp a lot on things, i know that but Dubrovnik, Boo, Double Boo. You cannot possibly call yourself a restaurant, no way. The cheek of your to charge a 5% service charge on top of our tab. Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Evening is the Whole Day

2009-08-24T18:20:00.000-07:00

Initial reviews called Preeta 'A Thrilling new Talent', her debut novel ' A Passionate, Striking Book.' However, on the off-chance that anyone would want my opinion, I would call both Preeta and her novel 'OmifuckinGod brilliant!." and with this I allude not to the level of analysis or metaphorical whatnot that critical readers love so much to bore others with.

In all honesty, I found myself struggling to stay interested in her characters from the moment I lifted up the book. Decorated self indulgently with winding sentences, spiced by the typically vernacular English of this region, Ama and Uma and Patti and Appa began to morph into one dimensional cardboard characters after the first charming chapter.

Up till chapter seven, I could not help but think that Preeta could do well as an independent Malaysian filmmaker. Nevermind plot or character development or settings. Just describe, describe, describe.

Up till chapter seven, Evening looked set to be yet another one of those books with the author describing someone doing something, someone saying something, someone smelling and tasting something, a veritable (albeit: boring) playground of sensory descriptions.

There were moments of brilliance captured in the tongues of her characters "stoooopid" you can hear everyday all around you in Malaysia, sentences were constructed in reverse in order the way we actually speak "I was all the time asking him," ungrammatical sentences "is it?" that would make our former colonial masters weep in despair at their failure in teaching us the subtleties of their tongues all served to ground the characters into someone familiar. 'These are people I could know." I thought to myself as the book progressed the way a cartoon dog on a slippery floor would, skittering and scuttling at a frenzied clip, frantically going nowhere.

And then there was chapter seven 'Power Struggles'. Without giving too much away, I would say that for me, Chapter Seven took the book to an altogether roaring height from the gently simmering ember that was its preceding chapters.

Preeta's talent is obviously rooted not in the style of her prose or the flow of her plot. Her talent, it may seem, lies in her ability to so plausibly relive an entire chapter of the life that we missed as Malaysians of my generation, the bogeyman of racial intolerance that has held us so ominously in our place in the so-called social contract. With an almost ethereal personification of both Rumor and Fact tangoing away as the streets of Kuala Lumpur burned, Chapter Seven suddenly made the price tag of the book completely worth the purchase.

I have yet to move beyond Chapter Seven, three times have I re-read it to savour again and again the sheer eloquence of her storytelling as the Slit-Eyed Cina cowered before Tuan Melayu and the Keling heaved sighs of relief for lucking out on the violence by sheer cultural luck (Never manifested graphically, Preeta kept the action shrouded behind a diaphanous veil of allusion and hint, increasing its ominous quotient exponentially. You can see through the fabric of her storytelling the flicker of a shop being razed to the ground, hear the thin, almost neverthere wail of the bereaved mother dragging her bleeding son into the relative safety of a back lane away from the horde of terrified aggressors. Terror betul la Auntie ini.)

Brava Preeta, Bravissima.

Dubrovnik

2009-08-24T02:44:00.000-07:00

Why bother putting up pictures for a restaurant that left a severely bitter aftertaste in our mouths?

We went to Dubrovnik last Friday night for a light dinner and granted, we probably ordered the wrong things. (Apparently, we ordered the Croatian counterparts to ABC Soup, Pan Mee, Roasted Chicken, Appam and Mee Sua.)

Perfectly ordinary food aside, we were treated to a post dinner show by the extraordinary Supervisor for the night who in the course of a heated explanation as to why they were too lazy ass to split the bill, asked Oliver in very polite terms "Sir, WHAT is your problem?" and upon my advice "You do not challenge the customer." replied in the same polite tone "I am NOT challenging you." and even extended a lovely invitation to us "I can give you my manager' number and you take it up with him."

To be sure, he made a perfectly horrible dinner a downright waste of money and this incident alone has begun to make me wonder as to how reliable some blog posts have become.

I've read glowing 'impartial' reviews of this restaurant in several highly regarded posts but after this treatment in Dubrovnik, I'm starting to feel that these restaurants have caught on to the power of blogs and are using them as they would any other media outlet; eg. hamming it up for famous bloggers to get a good mention in their posts, actually (and I really pray this hasn't happened) paying bloggers to say nice stuff about them.

It was a Friday night, 9.30-ish when we entered the restaurant and it was E-M-P-T-Y. We should've helped them to keep it that way. RM400 + flushed down the proverbial toilet that night was.

Dubrovnik? Boo. Double boo.

Foodies, my advice. Stay away from this sham of a restaurant and let them fold for a lack customers they way they probably deserve to.

Rama V

2009-08-07T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is my 'Suck It' blogpost to the asswipe that swiped my digital camera last week. You may have taken from me my primary tool for food blogging but you will never take from me my spirit for gluttony.

I will be bringing my mum and my sister to celebrate the former's birthday in style at Rama V. I'll order my favourite Pad Ka Prau and the Duck Curry that they do so unusually with lychee in it and I'll swill my mango juice (or maybe wine if we're up to it, I'm buying >.< although I'm broke and I haven't even told my mum of our car break-in tragedy... ignorance is bliss.)

So though this trip will go by with no actual photograph to substantiate the visit, if they actually serve that purpose in the first place, I will hold the memory of this dinner in my head cause I'm a semi-regular to Rama V anyway, courtesy of Daddy B.

So, to the window-smashing-bag-stealing thief, suck it. Take my camera. Canon A830s are obsolete and will fetch you no more than RM50 ish on the dark market nowadays. I only hope that you (don't) O.D. on whatever drug you choose to purchase off the sale of my junk.

It's all over

2009-07-31T04:02:00.000-07:00

Farewell, my trusty albeit obsolete A830. Someone broke into my sister's car last night and retrieved me of my sole tool for food blogging. Karma for neglecting my blog for so long? Who knows.

My camera byebye. Me sad. A little.

Cause byebye camera means I can get a new one and not feel guilty. Any recommends for a decent point and shoot that won't burn a hole in my wallet?

Sunshine in a Bottle

2009-07-19T17:11:00.001-07:00

Sounds like a tacky song title don't it?

After a long, LONG time of using the stove only for instant noodles and pre-fried breaded drummets courtesy of Ayamas, I finally found the impetus to go about and begin playing with food again, the raison d'etre of this entire blog project to begin with, as it were.

The victim of choice for this this play session? Lemon curd.

I've always thought of lemon curd as that something that would imbue to your breakfast, snack or dessert that little extra-Englishness, and it is! Wondrously easy to make too and supremely fun to photograph (with that much yellow in the frame and under morning light, nothing can possibly go wrong.... just saying.)

To begin with, Lemon Curd is seriously nothing more than lemon flavoured, well, curd. Custard based, if you will.

It took me:

Three yolks and one whole egg
Almost a cup full of fine granulated sugar
Half a bar of butter (online recipes called for unsalted butter and then asked for a pinch of salt on the side so I thought, what the Hell...)
The juice of three lemons.
The zest of whatever number of squeezed lemon rinds you feel like manually zesting (I managed to summon up the stamina to only do two before the citrus acid threatened to zombify my fingertips)

Online recipes always (check it, I went through about five different sets of instructions) request that you strain your lemon curd after it has attained the rich texture of custard to remove cooked bits of egg.

Not necessary. To avoid having to labour through that step altogether, I got creative and creamed everything but the lemon juice together. THEN, I blitzed the lemon juice in a microwave to get it to boiling point (byebye vitamins) and poured that into the egg, sugar, butter mixture in a tiny stream to temper the whole thing.

From there, the custard mixture went straight into a ceramic bowl and into a wokful of water. Add in some feverish stirring with a metal spoon (they asked for a wooden spoon but I'm thinking, if I chose to stir the custard with my foot, there's nothing they can do to stop me no?), and after the custard had gone past the "when it coats the back of the whatever spoon, draw a line through it and if the line stays separate, then you're done" stage, I simply left it to cool.

Not brain surgery, I grant you that much.

Lemon curd. Sweet, tangy, creamy, light as a feather despite the number of eggs and amount of butter used. I can think of a million and one things to do with this almost ethereal condiment: spread on toast, swirled into cheesecake batter before baking, swirled into muffin batter before baking, mixed with gelatine and poured over a filled sponge as icing, folded into whipped cream and spooned into a sponge for filling, swirled into vanilla cream and piped into choux buns as filling, the possibilities are endless.

You know what else is endless? The sort of curd available at your fingertips once you have the basics covered. Kiwi, strawberry, blackcurrant, soursop, lychee, ginger, galanggal, beef (O_o)

in a radio voice: Try it yourself. With knowledge and skill at your disposal, the world's your oyster! Crack it open and instead of squeezing lemon over the protesting, squirming flesh of the dying shellfish, bathe it in the warm, optimistic torture of lemon curd. The oyster will thank you for a stylish funeral before entering the cavernous Valhalla of your gut. Muahahahaha....

My first entry in FOREVER

2009-07-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

Well almost. I know this would probably count as promo-whoring (and I'm not even being paid for this :P) but it IS a food shot done by lil' ole' moi and I've hired Mariah's retoucher to make it look the way it does. Comments?

I'd put in text and stuff to make it look like a proper ad but I'm up to my ears in other work right now. Selina would call this *sheeng, sheeng*. That's the onomatopoiea describing something shining or gleaming. Just FYI.

edit: Should've raised the levels on that croissant. It's looking a little gloomy next to the dazzling coffee cup.

Been Gone Long

2009-07-09T01:48:00.000-07:00

Haven't I?

The evil empire grows

2009-06-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

Same old, same old. Work done not for me but for the cause of another. I pout in frustration.

Ah well, my time will come.

A Day out with Food Papparazis

2009-06-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

It was madness I tell you. After months of ping-ponging comments on each other's blogs, the Nomad Gourmand offered to me the very thing that I've been whining about for so long; a set of wheels to go to all the great places to eat which are usually off the beaten track (read:No public transport access.)

Apa lagi, when I bled the invitation over to Selina, she said "I want, I WANT!" faster that I can say "Eh, want or not?"

Our destination for the day was Restoran Tin Sing (the only location guide that we were justgiven was just that it was "under the tree": which was a bit of a misnomer as the tree in question was about 20 yards away) which is basically a local neighbourhood stir-fried-dish-served-with-steamed-rice place.

Tucked in the depths of a rural looking neighbourhood, Tin Sing is but one of the many choo char places operating in the area. What they had to boast however was their Fried Salted Egg Squid.

Unusual to say the least, it took me awhile to get used to the strongish flavour of the salted egg which quickly died away after several bites of the succulent squid.

We also had as complementary dishes a disgruntled looking curried tilapia, some french beans stir fried with preserved black beans and dried shrimp yumyumyum, sweet and sour pork croquettes and a steamed egg dish.

But enough about the restaurant, I want to talk about the desserts that tteNomadGourmand brought to share with us all.

The first one she christened "Damn Good Chocolate Cake" which is a handle well deserved as it was, indeed, damn good.

Luscious (dark chocolate?) mousse set over a slice of (dark?) chocolate cake and slathered in mercury quick (dark?) chocolate ganache, the cake was not only pretty impressive to look at, one bite felt like the chocolate man had kicked you in the face and pooped into your mouth as you lie senseless.

It was THAT good, I swear. (note to self: Copy recipe!)

The second dessert that we had was just as good but in a completely different way. A banana tart of sorts, it's construction was pretty simple: Shortcrust pastry (just nicely done, not too tough or dry), paint the insides with (dark?) chocolate, fill halfway with custard, top with chunks of bananas and torch the 'nanas to caramelise them somewhat. Not exactly heavenly but it was quite well done. (note to self: Copy and improve on recipe.)

The final item that we had on that day was (surprise of surprises!) RED FREAKING VELEVET CAKE!! I didn't think that we even had such cakes in Malaysia. Eh, Nomad, when you do pop by and see this post, do us all a favour and tell us again where you got the cakes (I can't remember la).

Of course, the best thing about the entire trip was not the food. It was the new friends that we made.

Going out for dinner with commplete strangers and becoming friends in the process?

As this lady so succinctly suggests, Why Not? (pssst.... this relic of a poster probably hailed from the dark ages of politically incorrect advertising. teehee.... Wonder if the agency responsible is still in business.)

Plus, I'll never forget the look on Selina's face as when the food arrived, the ENTIRE table but her whipped out cameras and started snapping away madly. Selina, join the fray next time.

Dare I do this?

2009-06-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

It's non-food and in my own defense, my Tin Sing entry has grown out of its draft stage.

So here it is. Another submission to evil. Oh for the day when I begin to do these things for me.

Even more evil

2009-06-08T03:13:00.000-07:00

Man, if artwork were weapons, I could fund a war! (Go ahead, roll your eyes :P See if I care.)

It just occurred to me that what I'm doing may be a teensy bit unethical because even the Boss hasn't said anything about the artwork yet (although I've already emailed it to him for his approval or derision.). What can I say. I'm a big fan of intellectual masturbation.

note to self: The next post HAS to be about food.

More Evil

2009-06-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

I really didn't think that food blogging would e all that difficult really. However, as the lack of posts on food can attest to, it appears that I've always been expanding a lot of eefort into this without realizing it.

Case in point, flogging from work is an arduous and nerve racking task so much so that I've got several entries on draft and no time to think on commentaries and stuff.

The only things that I can post up on the quickie now are work that I've done for, well, work.

Lookit!! Lookit lookit!!! Art Deco inspired posters for our new coffee outlet at work. Pretty spiffy eh? (I have a bit of a swollen head when it comes to work I've done so if you're rolling your eyes... WHATEVER!! :P)

All the Potential in the World

2009-05-28T04:15:00.000-07:00

Wasted!!!! Or not.

I wish I was working for me. (May 2010 *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*)

You see, if I was, I'd be using my powers for the greater good (read:ME!!) and not in service of some other power :P

Depicted above is the design for a kraft paper Shopper Bag that I designed for Austin Chase Malaysia which will see distribution in the entire Klang Valley in the next six months. I rationalised the design thus:

The entire visuals tie in with our chosen tagline "Bean There..." <> and it simply shows the logo floating over well-known skylines of the world (Can you recognise yours? Note the sacrilege... No Petronas Twin Towers :P) because Austin Chase has already... bean there !!! Great innit?

Why is the logo floating over the cities of the world you ask? It represents the sun mah!!

Temu - Travellers' Cafe and Restaurant

2009-05-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

It's really happening!!!! Would I jinx it by announcing it this soon? Temu's only in it's embryonic stage.

Keep it posted!!!

Yogya Zhadan (just cuz I'm not allowed to say the B word at the airport.)

2009-04-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

Since I wasn't so sure whether to run a huge monologue the way I always do when recording the 4W1H of my trip to Yogyakarta or to allow the pictures to do the talking, I've decided to balance them out with both. I was also a little clueless as to how I should structure the contents: do I split them up according to category (eg. Places visited, Food Eaten, etc.) and then it hit me. Chronogically of course. 96 pictures ya'll. Are you ready?

Much in the manner of Death Row prisoners asking for a last meal, Selina insisted that we alas our perut with something Malaysian before leaving. Since we met up in Brickfields prior to our joint departure, we had brunch at a nearby Indian restaurant (can't remember name lah but it's beside Joy supermarket if I'm not mistaken)

I had an issue with my masala tea as it was SUPER gingery. All the angin was being tendang-ed out of me all the way to the airport, I don't think the lady passenger next to me in the bus was too amused.

The pudina paratha was also a handful as I was forcibly reminded of eating Colgate. I was very fond of the thick crunch that it offered though.

Too bad Selina didn't allow me to buy any of these sweets :-( cause then I'd be thrown of the plane for sugar induced unruly behaviour. They're pretty though. What'd you call those little colourful dots?

As soon as we touched down at Adisucipto International, we were whisked (ok, we had to beg and bargain our way through cut-throat taxi touts) by a Camry, (A CAMRY, what the Hell is wrong with Malaysian taxis? Crappy cars, stinky aircons and rude as crap taxi drivers... Malaysia Truly Asia no?) taxi to our hotel, Satya Nugraha. To simply sum up the hotel, our stay there for four nights including five bottles of Aqua to stave off possible typhoid, a bottle of Coke to cure me of a visious bout of car sickness as well as breakfast only cost us RM377 ringgit. I found the hotel. Pat me on the back. Our first night in Yogya, unfortunately, was most uneventful because the sun set on us around 6pm Yogya time and we were taken to a Siamese (pathetic, I know) waroeng for dinner.

I lobbied super hard to catch sunrise at Borobudur and we booked a taxi that took us to the site at 3am (!!!!! we were supposed to be on holiday) but negotiations with touts (so much of them I tell you) took so long that the sun surprised us by popping up and i had to be content with shots of the Candi in broad daylight. Damned touts.

We worked it, I tell you. We did!!!

Those famed stupas? I was very surprised to learn that there were Peek-a-Boodhas in them. Very very neat.

Tip: Malaysian travelers are most easily identified by their ability to amuse themselves in the most sampat of ways. Good old Malaysians...

Tip: Do your homework before visiting world heritage sites. I was mightily impressed by the wisdom of ancient architects when i saw the rock-tiled floors on Borobudur, at least that was until I read later on a poster on-site that most of the things on display at the Candi were restored from their original ruined state and therefore not exactly ancient. I guess the only thing authentically ancient about Borobudur is the idea of its existence. Very very sad.

Selina learnt later that day that respect is due to religious relics. Thanks to her little stunt above, her anus turned purple and sealed itself shut. :P

For my punishment, Buddha came to me in a dream and told me that he'd be revoking my ticket to Nirvana. Guess there'd be no happy ending for trying to get there before his time. Oh, apparently he also hit me over the head with an ugly stick. It also didn't help that we did this and travellers take note, this is very , VERY important.

When purchasing tickets to enter Borobudur, make sure you line up at the local tourist counter, look like an Indonesian (I didn't need much help in that department apparently) and say, when asked, "Hah? Asalnya gua dari Jakarta dong! Iya. Daerah Jabotabek!" International tourists are charged a different, and much higher rate than local tourists. Go local.

Which was what we forgot to do at Candi Prambanan. When the gate guards stopped us and pegged us as hailing from Singapore, "Dari Singapore?", instinct took over and we indignantly responded "No lah. From Malaysia". HUGE mistake. We had to pay nearly RM stupid 135 to get into that stupid temple (I can feel Nirvana slipping further and further away from my grasp) and it wasn't even completely open cause the stupid earthquake of '05 had made of that stupid place an unstable pile of stupid rubble.

And there was venison... I mean, deer at Prambanan. I mean, are they even native animals? That place was a complete tourist trap and we hapless tourists were helplessly trapped. :(

The worst thing about rushing from one end of Yogyakarta to the other end (it seems Borobudur and Prambanan were located at polar ends of the town) was that we only had enough time to stop over at a 'restaurant' ... which had the distinction of being addressed as such owing to the sole fact that it was in a covered building. All of the items on the menu was branded 'Parah' and 'Parah' it was indeed on our parched palates (it was about 35 degrees outside, I kid you not) as the prawns and calamari (called cumi in the local tongue) was grilled to the texture of used, dried up condoms (not that I would know what THOSE were supposed to taste like of course :P). Aromatic indeed but not good overall.

By this point in time, I was ready to sign off Yogyakarta as the worst holiday I've ever had. But then, we stopped over at our final destination for the day, Sundak Beach after a bone jarring trip by taxi. You see, the idea was, since we missed sunrise at Borobudur, we should at least catch sunset at Sundak Beach where we were told we would get a really spectacular view of the setting sun blushing immodest shades at our voyeuristic attempts to score a National Geographic moment with her.

What we found there however, was far more spectacular (and strangely unpromoted). A FREAKING LIVING CORAL REEF!!!! It was as if I was dropped into a candy shop: I dragged Selina all over the reef (Trampling on corals are bad for them, take note, but you gotta gimme a break, I've just had a crappy day at that point) and it was simply teeming with animals big and small, ordinary and alien. Moray eels, bristle worms, sea stars, sea urchins and so much more. I would go back there if I could, really.

Of the much hyped and ever elusive sunset, all we managed to catch of it was this sad excuse of a Paddle-Pop coloured sky.
And you get more colours on a Paddle Pop too..... :(

Then, dinner at the nearby Baron Beach completely turned our crappy day around. For a grrrrrrrrand total of RM8.00 per person, we were served ocean fresh battered and fried calamari (a staple for me, I live to eat calamari rings of all sorts) as well as ocean fresh (nyehe...) seaperch, seemingly cremated from overenthusiastic open grilling. I don't know how else I can say this but the fish was GOOD! Firm flesh, buttery mouth feel, light seasoning of salt and black pepper, and two of them were even carrying roe which was a bonus for me. The spectacularly understated dinner ended our second day at Yogyakarta with our battered (trala!!! That's copywriting for you!) faith restored and us looking forward to another day of street and food trawling. Good seafood at Baron Beach, take note.

Breakfast the next morning was a little sadder. Although I was fighting tooth and nail to have some Nasi Padang (I mean, how can you go to Indonesia and not have Nasi Padang right?). Selina was adamant that we had something soupy instead. And so, despite all precautions and personal reservations, we plonked ourselves down by a road-side waroeng and ordered us some Soto Ayam. Austerity personified, the portion served was insufficient to even line the insides of my stomache. It did cost a neat RM3 for the both of us though; which was THE cheapest breakfast I have had in EVER. This meal however, proved to be the easiest to down, by far, as the day progressed and we introduced ourselves to more and more waroengs.

You see, it finally occured to us that assorted sambals (crushed chillies) were the gravy de vie. There was blindingly hot plain crushed chillies, deep crimson ones flavoured with dried shrimp, a sambal made of green chillies and even a potent cocktail of ginger, chilly and garlic in some fishy tasting stock. That's all they had with whatever it is they happen to be eating; usually rice. Dry, DRy, DRY!!! Just imagine, Fried Chicken, Rice and Sambal in a fast food outlet.

We found it! Yogya Chicken, your friendly neighbourhood fast-food joint. The service was overwhelmingly friendly but the best part about the place was the charming way in which it was stuck in the past (think American ice-cream parlours of the 50's). It was as if McDonald's never happened.

That's not to say as if the Indonesians are an excessively patriotic lot. We found the odd cart pusher selling French Pastries (or at least, a version of what they though would pass off as French pastries).

Funny thing about Indonesia food though; or perhaps just the chicken. Each piece of chicken that I sank my teeth into were cooked to perfection no matter the method used. Selina and I actually had a rather deep discussion as to why their chicken is so much more tender and flavoursome than ours. My guess was the kind of chicken that they used (scoff all you want la Selina, I have evidence...)

There's chicken of the roadrunner variety.

And then there're those too pretty to be eaten, Ayam Serama, lookit the comb!!!

And then there are those cross-bred with a bagful of Jelly Beans.

In Pasar Burung Ngasem, just adjacent to the Sultan's Palace, you don't need to gorge yourself on space brownies or happy pancakes to see Technicolor balls of fluff running around. The local traders've already taken care of that for you!

The market boasted an array of animals of all shapes and sizes i tell you and all of them were for sale! I shudder to think about which animals were destined for the cooking pot. Not only were there birds of every conceivable species (I'm sure some of them were illegally possessed but, indonesia, dadada, y'know...) , there were also puppies, hamsters, fish, water dragons, civet cats, you name it. After the smack in the face for the sense that was the Bird Market however, the Water Palace was as mild as watered milk in contrast.

In fact, the most fun I had touring the place was the sacrilegeous sight of a piece of America nestling in a not-so-hidden corner of this tribute to the gloriousness that was ancient Indonesian civilisation. Globalization is such a kick in the teeth for those trapped in the past eh?

The day, however, picked up again around lunch time when we went to Jalan Kaliurang (campus grounds for Universitas Gajah Mada) to meet Selina's friend, Yoga, for lunch.

Jamur Steak at Food Feltz; these huge slabs of battered stuff are mushrooms! Aye indeed. They're mutated enough in Indonesia to provide a substantial lunch for the starving student.

On Yoga's recommendation, Selina and I ordered the alleged house and regional specialty, Nasi Kebuli (mine had mutton, Selina's was wrapped in anana leaf and grilled). I had to say that it was nothing much to shout about as it looked and tasted exactly like fried rice but whatever. You see, Selina had done some Internet research prior to our trip and we were really looking forward to do that which she was told were highly recommended: visit Via Via cafe on Jalan Prawirotaman and eat Nasi Gudeg, which is basically a mixed rice dish featuring the cooked insides of a jackfruit. Inneresting. And so, everything else that we had to eat prior to these experiences, we discounted as mere filler.

The brain child of a coupla Belgian travellers, Via Via cafe has 13 other sister Cafe's in popular tourist destination all over the world. Each one of these cafes are highly sensitive to its local communities and therefore each branch has its on unique personality.

With an extensive menu with a winelist and cocktails featured, Via Via is apparently very popular not only for its good food but also for its contribution to local tourism. Very neat idea IMO; very ripoff-able. I had Lamb Kofta served with Garden Salad and CousCous, Selina had Nasi Ayam Bumbu Rujay and we shared Tortilla Chips with Guacamole. Too bad it wasn't a Friday night (live jazz by local bands, now this is a business organisation with real heart.)

After lunch, Selina entertained herself with a bit of live porn. This guy was bathing in an awesomely filthy river. I guess that's a process of inoculation of some sort; guy's probably so polluted no bacteria can live on and in him.

sigh....... I bet you're tired from all of that scrolling. I've been told that my mental train is very hard to track and to be perfectly honest, I'm tired from narraating. 1 picture=1000 words. Help yourself>>>>
Soda Gembira: Sparkling Sirap Bandung (another ripoff-able item)

Beware of Children. No shit! You know what those critters can do to you?

First it's all feigned innocence and goo-goo eyes. Then when your back is turned, they widen your hips, stretch out your skin and pull your boobs to knee-level if you're the mother and empty your wallet if you're the father. Beware the Children.

My National Geographic moment.

I was gonna ask for a bottle of what I thought to be some local brew until was told that it was Bensin; Petrol. Hmm... I think it should qualifiy as a local brew in some countries.

Toasted rice cakes. I've been having nightmares of rice ever since I came back from Yogya.

This lot for only RM5. Where la can you find a deal like this in Malaysia.

This shot pays tribute to Selina's camera (remember the blue baby from several posts ago?) which returned to the Lord on the second day of our trip.

Yes. There's even a local version of Tang Yuen (I have a recipe posting on this in the blog somewhere, it shouldn't be hard to find, I think I tagged it.)

This market is a complete nut-house of textile and apparel traders. Go lah if you dare. We went three evenings in a row.

We finally found Selina some Nasi Gudeg at yet another road-side waroeng. There was nothing unusual about it, seriously, if you don't find it, I think you would not have missed much, if anything at all.

Bakso Sapi. Beef Balls (go ahead, make a dirty joke, I dare ya.). They were heavy, luscious, flavourful and all around satisfying (I dare ya, I dare ya, I dare ya...)

Their version of congee however was all sorts of wrong. It was so sweet as to almost be dessertish. Gourmand as I can be, I couldn't bring myself to take more than a few spoonfuls. Urgh...

The one bird that the Indonesians DID manage to mess up was the duck. Bebek Kremes is as close to duck confit as you can possibly come across in an Indonesian restaurant. The frying process completely dried out the flesh, reducing it to resinous strands of stuff that had to be flossed out later. Avoid Bebek Kremes at all costs if you want to continue your love affair with the fatty bird that is the duck.

The Athlete's Foot. Money CAN buy you more than Happiness.

Toast goes by the loaf in Yogya apparently.

fin

I'm sick of the sound of my own inner monologue.

Back home in Malaysia, exhausted, starving (we had dindin at Marrybrown: a homegrown fast food chain, our own version of Yogya Chicken, maybe I should do a review on their stuff one day, I'm a regular visitor to this chain and I think this is just as good as the imported McD and KFC. Occasionally, Malaysians do get something right.)

Bento King

2009-04-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

Lookit the prizes!! Well worth a try doncha think? I just had to put this up cause the brochure has a moment of Major Fail right on the front page.

Um... try Halal next time?

the Zoo Post

2009-04-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo, there was lots of things to do, we could go to the safari while we eat our food, so come and follow me, on the path to safari, KFC is where I want to beeeeeee.... ever wonder why they don't play that jingle anymore?

The only thing left of KFC in the National Zoo is a garbage bin with Colonel Sander's face on it. That was a bit of a shame cause I was actually looking to having KFC there. But since my sister had already warned me that there would be nothing edible in the zoo (wallet wise unless you don't mind paying a premium for watered down kiwi cordial as toxic green as the Hulk), we stopped over for lunch at Peter's Pork Noodles.

Located at a hidden food court (very easy to find actually: take the road in front of KL Central and towards Brickfields and turn into the open air parking lot being watched over by Liam Neeson trying to hard to be cool), Peter's Pork Noodles has been in operation since the early 70's (we asked: the auntie speaks Hokkien).

Selina first introduced these noodles to me about four years ago and completely changed the way I looked at Koay Teow.

I had a historical aversion to Koay Teow because it was all I was allowed to eat whenever I was sick. So by association, soupy Koay Teow was something gag-worthy to me. These however are completely different from the ones that I was used to back in Penang. The noodles are slimmer and completely smooth in mouth-feel.

The clincher however lies in the stock used as a base for the soup. Auntie was unwilling to tell us what goes into the soup so I cannot share anything here but take note of what happened to our orders....

Soup pun habis ok... Note however that you'd get a much more generous helping of pork bits and slices in your noodles if uncle Peter wasn't around ( Selina's observation after three years of loyal patronage... so that's wisdom right there.)

And right, the main reason why I wanted to go to the zoo was so that we could celebrate my sister's 20th birthday in style.

We had cake, she wore funny Mickey Mouse ears and became an impromptu exhibit for a bunch of pre-school kids.

We had a Rum-Ball rat put on the cake cause my sister was born in the lunar year of the Snake!! Geddit? Snake eating Rat?

And then there were the animals of course.

Conclusion for the trip of the day? Not going back to the zoo in the next ten to twenty years or whenever we've forgotten how hot and uncomfortable we were there (whichever is further away). And to think I sent in my resume for a Corporate Communications position. (to which they never bothered to reply btw.)

Oh, and Selina and I camwhored for abit.

Maybe I need to go to a 'How to Smile and not Look like a Total Nut-Case" course.

Canon Powershot E1

2009-04-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

Oh my Gosh! Have you ever seen a cuter baby?
It's Selina's latest toy and this little dynamite packs a mighty powerful punch at only RM599 a pop (10 mega pizels, 4 times optical zoom, fully automated, image stabilizers, a choice of pink , Powder Blue and White AND inclusive of casing and a 4GB memory card O.o) So I ask you, what do you do when you acquire a new toy?

You go to the nearest restaurant in sight to test it out on food of course.

"Finest authentic Arabic Moroccan and Lebanese Cuisine."

Tajine is an ideal restaurant come lounge, for you to enjoy the real taste of Moroccan and Lebanese dishes with your Family, friends or partners, creating an ambience both unique and intoxicating, tempting you to stay for long.

That's what the website boasts and Selina and I had to say that we both agree (we went in at 5.30pm and left around 8.00pm).

Tajine!

Mahalabia. Again! Freud will analyse this: This child must miss being breast fed.

Spending a very reasonable RM57++ (ahem... my treat btw) for several shared courses and an extravagant 2 and a half hours just resting our sore hips and overheated feet, we had for our early dinner Waraq Ainab, Fatoush, a Lamb Kabsah, a pot of Arabic tea and (yet again...) their version of Mahalabia (What can I say, I'm hooked to this milk pudding. Can't wait for my fridge to come.)

I thought this was close enough.

Turns out I could go closer.

The Waraq Ainab (RM7) I've actually had before in Tarbush already but Selina was pleasantly surprised by this healthy take on a visually familiar snack, the usually deep fried poh phneah. Made primarily of spiced rice tightly rolled into a pickled grape leaf, these cigar shaped appetizers are slightly pungent with a heady vinegary scent. The rice inside may be a little too dense for people used to loose fluffy grains but would otherwise make an unusual , and most definitely healthy, change in our local dietary habits.

You see the huge yellow lump in the background?

I chased that yellow lump away to get this shot.

The salad exotically coined Fatoush (RM8) however proved to be rather underwhelming (though the pictures turned out so nicely...Selina's E1 is a MIRACLE). A salad comprising of chopped Romaine, tomatoes, radish and cucumber tossed in a vinaigrette and garnished with toasted Lebanese bread, it was something that I could've thrown together with my eyes closed (I'll prove it to you, just you wait for my fridge to arrive.)

Our Lamb Kabsah came with a side of Goat Juice

It didn't take long for the (Burmese) waitress to bring out our main dish (although I had explicitly asked that our orders be served course by course) but we had enough time to just go completely native in this Middle Eastern restaurant (read: bum around with eyes half closed). Although not half as fancy as the way Tarbush is made up on the inside, Tajine comes off as less pretentious and therefore less stuffy. Indeed, the other guest next to our table was so comfortable that he had his feet up on the couch with his shoes off (which was a little gross but I guess, when in Rome, you do as Romans do)

This huge chunk of fat melted in my mouth and went straight to my arteries.

Our Lamb Kabsah (RM22) came to the table with less fanfare then I personally thought it should've received. A mountain of rice (whole solid grains mind you) with four generous chunks of lamb cooked till it was literally melting off the bones, this rice dish was worth every single cent that it cost us. We were a little too callous however with a bowl of sunshine yellow stock that came together with the rice. Thinking that it would be similar to the cabbage stock common as an acompaniment to Hainanese chicken rice, I took (and later persuaded Selina to do the same) a spoonful of the stuff and nearly died of goat overload. A lamb stock of gargantuan proportions in flavour, we eventually poured the whole lot all over the rice (which was apparently what we were expected to do in the first place because the flavour of the rice improved by mountain goat-like leaps and bounds.)

Happy camper syndrome: Good food at FREE prices.

Did I mention that Selina's new camera is a MIRACLE? Such sharp pictures, such depth in colour, I hardly had to touch anything up with Photoshop. And Canon's not even paying me to say these things (although I think they should.)

Ergh...

2009-04-18T17:46:00.000-07:00

Is there something wrong with blogger? I'm trying to upload pictures and videos but it's taking a lifetime and a half. I'll try again tomorrow.

It's the ZOO post!!!

Here today...

2009-04-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

...joo tomorrow!!! Yap. Taking another shot at it. We'll see how that pans out.

Stupid Rain

2009-04-11T18:12:00.001-07:00

Yeah... No prizes for guessing whether I got to go to the zoo or not. You can have all of the best plans in the world but if Destiny has already decided to work against you, there's only so much you can do. First, my boss decides to hold me back in the office until about 2 pm which meant that Wismen had to wait for me for about 40 mintes in the non-air conditioned lobby of my office blog which eventually resulted in a semi-permanent loss of hair and sanity on his part. Then, when we went to have lunch before taking the bus to the Joo, the sky decided to screw with us with a torrential libation of heavenly tears.

Apa lagi, we had no choice but to do what we always did. Restaurant hop.

Lookit the sign! Not the Wismen!

I've been a fan of Tarbush's for a very long time already but since we've already had some (really bad) beef noodles at Ampang Mall, we only stopped by for an entree and two desserts. The wonderful part about Middle Eastern cuisine (Lebanese in the case of Tarbush) was that; according to Wismen anyway; everything was paste-y. And he was kinda right cause I wanted Hommus Tahina which is simply mashed chickpeas (kacang puteh) mixed with tahini paste (sesame paste; you can buy this in a jar) and garnished with some whole chickpeas, olive oil and a kiss of paprika. At RM10.00 a pop, you'd be forgiven for thinking about daylight robbery but I've always been willing to fork out that amount for this dish in particular.

Note to self: Try Hommus Tahina recipe when fridge arrives.

Eaten with Khoubiz (an flat bread of Lebanese origin; not unlike chapati in some sense), the paste was aromatic, mellow and above all else, very comforting as its clean flavour was not too over-powering.

I wish it would've been the same for the dessert.

On my exhortation, we ordered the Mahalabia (congealed milk pudding, Google it and learn how easy to make it is.) and the Baklawa (Google that too...)

MAHA labia!!! Geddit? teehee...

The Mahalabia (RM8.00, not too steep considering the pleasure provided) came garnished with slivered pistachios and was; IMO anyway, delightfully light with a hint of cardamom, which was very unusual, and smelt as it had been French Kissed by a rose. Wismen was turned off by the baby-barf like texture however but don't mind him since he already has an expressed aversion to paste-y things.

I can't decide which picture is nicer la...

The Baklawa (RM13.00 for a measly 5 pieces), on the other hand, was an altogether different ballgame. I haven't Googled this yet so I'm just going to describe it the way Wismen and I discussed this. Filo pastry filled with crushed assorted nuts, cremated and then drowned in syrup. The immediate sensation that you get as soon as it goes into your mouth was that of a slow searing of your taste buds as the dessert begins to burn with its sugar load. One bite of this hyper sugared up treat and we were launched into an immediate state of sugar shock... Diabetics beware.

Makanlah Kueh Kencing Manis sekarang juga!

So powerful was the sweet that Wismen's Iced Lemon Tea (RM9.00. Really?) completely lost all of its flavour. (I oredered warm water.... sensible me, I know.)

SUGAR SHOCK SUGAR SHOCK

the "Private" Dining Booth dressed up like some Harem thingy.

What followed after that was a slightly heavier meal at Causeway Bay in Law Yat Plaza. As an apparently accurate imitation of the real deal in Hong Kong, the place served standard Chinese fare with grandiose monickers. Note the "Upper Class Fried Rice" going for RM22.00 per plate. I suppose it must be eaten with a spoon held with the pinky out.

What we ordered however, was far more common in nature.

Good old fashioned Siew Yoke (Roasted belly of pig with crackly, snappy skin.) The layer of fat under the skin was THICK, the way I like it.

See?

One more time ok? Mmmmmmmmmm...

Wismen oredered a bowl of Sui Gao (Super dumplings?) noodles and; I've always known that; was pleasantly surprised by the flavoursome stock and the very, VERY generous brain-like dumplings.

Oriental Bathing Beauties (Porky ones)

I had the pork chop sandwich and as expected was completely underwhelemed by the bread that it came with. What is it about Chinese breads which makes them so... meh. It was lightly toasted so it had crunch but it was also strangely flavourless with no character whatsoever. I've noticed this trait too in the breads that they like to use for so-called Hong Kong thick toast. They suffer from the same ailment of having no personality; thick, dense and bland. Yak!

The meat was ok. The bread, not so much...

Low notes aside, it was an altogether fruitful day (except for the freaking zoo; we're having another stab at it next week FYI) and I stand by what I've always said. There are a lot of things in KL to eat. but we all already knew that didn't we?

p.s. Hey, somebody suggest someplace off the beaten track that I've probably never been to before. Pretty please....

p.p.s Remind self to remove warming filter on camera next time. Everything looks jaundiced.