Cokeworld Citizen

Singapore - Novena QQ Rice

2009-11-15T02:47:00.006+08:00

Don't get me wrong here. I am not promoting Tan Tock Seng Hospital or whatsoever. But the fact that I am so katak di bawah tempurung, I can't skip through this place. LOL

The hospital was really huge and once you are in there, you weren't even sure if you had just stepped into a hospital. NO Dettol smell!

There is Delifrance and Subway too! Eeks >,< Kopitiam Food Court, Mr. Bean, Optometrist, 7 Eleven, MUSEUM...complete with escalator. Sounds like a mall isn't it?

I left with awe. LOL Of course, to come up a building with top notch facilities, a lot of money is needed and I don't think I want to discuss it here :P

That day, me and cousin bro planned to get to Esplanade. So to get there, we need to pass through Novena Medical Center (Novena Square) and head to the MRT. Till my cousin bro complained he was hungry and I did not want to give in when he suggested to have lunch at TTSH Food Court :P

We somehow agree to try QQ Rice despite the outlet looks deserted.

There were a few choices of rice to pick such as purple rice, 5 grain rice, brown rice and so on. They were all kept warm using these wooden buckets. Pretty interesting.

QQ Rice also offers a wide choice of fillings for the rice. These are vegetarian fillings (e.g. mushrooms, vege, beans, seaweed etc)

If you don't like vege and prefer to have your rice packed with meat, there are also an equally wide array of fillings (e.g. seafood tofu, crabstick, bacon, even Ngoh Hiang!)

Many choice but no time to think what fillings to go with. So we quickly pick purple rice to go with mushroom, cheese and turkey bacon...LOL!

The rice ain't cheap though...if not mistaken SGD4.50 or sumthing...

Pizza kind of topping wrapped in rice =.= We didn't eat it immediately after we bought it. As a result, the rice smell of plastic :S Other than that, the taste was fine although a bit tasteless :P

Hot rice wrapped with plastic doesn't seems to be good a good idea because plastic smell was strong. We finished it anyway. Kind of defeat the purpose of being a healthy food. They should find an alternate material to wrap the rice or something.

Happy reading~

Singapore - Kovan Hougang Wet Market

2009-11-10T16:21:00.010+08:00

Geee...Seriously I don't know what to say about wet market. Although I like to hang out in malls particularly air-conditioned ones, wet markets would always come across my mind regardless where I travel to. We can see lots of things there be it "tersurat" or "tersirat" LOL

Types of fresh produce, the quality and pricing says a lot about the locals as well as their lifestyle. Kovan Hougang Wet Market is only one of the MANY wet markets in Singapore.

There are a couple of stalls selling fish but this stall has the widest variety. Really fresh and they have grouper too. I saw a 东星班 at the another stall. Don't know what's the price though...

Halal poultry stall with some frozen beef in the chiller. Because they are kept in the chiller, the chicken seems to be pinkish and fresher too. Halal chickens are smaller compared to the normal ones. Don't know why.

Here comes a stall that caught my attention. The aunty sells 生鱼肉 (fish) and 活田鸡 (paddy frogs).

Super fresh and those frogs were plump too. Reminds me of the man who slaughters frogs back at Taman Connaught Pasar Malam. You wouldn't want to see how they do it.

I never seen such huge 生鱼 before. The aunty would slice them based on how much the customer wants. If not mistaken, half slab of it cost about SGD14.

In Penang, an uncle would normally sit beside a huge blue plastic tub with nets covering it. The small 生鱼 would then be slaughtered upon order.

One of the vegetable stalls in the market. Hardly see people selling asparagus in wet markets. Vegetables here are not bad.

Standard sizes...even the leeks are plump.

And clean too! Don't recall seeing any dirt on the vegetable and bad leaves were removed before they are bundled together. How I know? The uncle was just sitting beside these bunch of vegetables, carefully picking the leaves XD

Beautifully roasted items :DDD

But despite so many items, my aunt went for the other stall instead :S The old couple's stall located just beside the stall in the picture above. The old uncle reminds me of my grandfather LOL Hair style, Pagoda brand shirt and those shorts...just can't miss it ;)

Not as many items, and the char siew is red. However the roast pork was not bad. I was more curious on how the duck would taste like. They don't sell only drumstick, so we took a quarter of it and of course the lower part with the drumstick...hehe

I never thought the duck would be tasty! LOL The skin wasn't crispy but smells good. Must be the maltose syrup (麥芽糖 ) the uncle added when marinating the duck. The maltose syrup also contributed to the roast duck's colour :D Duck meat wasn't dried out. Still soft and juicy. Things got even better when the duck sauce was poured over it. It was great! Not too salty or watery. It doesn't have the strong bean paste smell with a tiny hint of wine. Probably the bean paste brand they get in Singapore are the better ones and also it all boils down to the uncle's/aunty's skills.

Hong Kong style roast duck? Should be. This is only an ordinary stall in a wet market. Those famous ones must be even better.

One thing is for sure...Never judge the outlook of a stall :P I almost finished the duck in one sitting LOL leaving only bones (with a bit of meat attached) for my poor cousin brother...wahahaha!

Happy reading~

Singapore - Koay Teow Tng at Kovan Food Court

2009-11-09T00:52:00.002+08:00

I have been wanting to visit Singapore's wet market but wasn't able to do so until recently. It's either I don't have the time or I couldn't wake up :P Come on...where would you choose to go if you only have a few days time in Singapore? Ochard Road or wet market flocked with aunties?

Aunt and I decided to have some breakfast before making our way to the wet market section which is just next door.

Something we were very aware of was the Sunday crowd. Lots of people, lots of car and lots of stalls with long queues!

發記 is a stall selling fish ball noodles with a variety of noodles like mee poh(flat noodles), mee kia (yellow noodles), koay teow and bee hun. The uncle was very fast in whipping up super hot bowls of fish ball noodle soup.

Finally he prepared mine. By the way, its all self service here.

This bowl of regular Koay Teow Tng was priced at SGD3. I would say the pricing is similar to KL. The slightly higher pricing is quite reasonable because you can practically share this HUGE bowl of noodle with another medium eater.

The koay teow noodles is quite thick and the uncle gave A LOT =.= I would prefer to have thinner and less thick strands of koay teow :P Anyway, the soup was pretty good. Although a bit oily but the soup was boiled with lots of meat and LOTS of pork liver. Pork liver was very fresh and powdery. The fish balls were very bouncy and no fridge smell.

Aih...needless to say, this bowl of ordinary koay teow tng warmed my stomach pretty well. It rained a little that morning.

The stall also serves curry chicken noodles and dried style noodles. I haven't try dried style noodles from this stall but I do love the taste of Singapore style konlo as they add ketchup to the noodles. Hahaha weird but I like it :D

Of course I couldn't finish the noodles so I had to pack the other half home :S What more its super hot. So hot that I have a hard time snapping photos of it and also eating it :P

Happy reading~

Location: Kovan Hougang Wet Market (Morning-Evening)

Singapore - Hougang Mall Ichiban Sushi

2009-11-07T03:06:00.004+08:00

I haven't been to Ichiban for a few years now. Although Ichiban is not some high class Japanese food outlet, it's a place where I use to have my meals with my cousins when they are still in Singapore. So I make it a point to visit this place whenever I travel down south :) Still the food has to be good too right?

Haha I sat at the exact same place when I last came here with my aunt. The only difference was that the chef was cutting up piles of fresh salmon fillets.

We went to Ichiban Sushi on a Saturday so we had to wait for a while before our food was served. The restaurant was pretty packed.

Cousin bro ordered Nikutofu Wazen Set SGD 16.90

There would be the usual vegetable tempura...

A small bowl of teriyaki chicken with rice.

And of course the egg, tofu and beef hotpot...Just the bubbling sight of it already makes you hungry.

Sweetish flavourful broth with soft beef slices and silky tofu...The egg was really good too because it soaks up the broth while heating above the small flame. Good stuff~

Beef hotpot aside, my order arrived. Chasoba and Katsudon Set SGD 13.90

Ice chilled soba noodles were very springy but to some point it becomes hard after awhile. Anyway, one thing I realised was that the chasoba didn't come with raw egg anymore :( So much for the Avian Flu...The chasoba was really a lot and unfortunately my cousin bro weren't able to share this with me. His set was already filling enough.

Just to make things clear...I seriously saw the word there MINI on the menu. Suddenly my set came with a medium sized bowl filled with rice, egg, onion and a thick slab of fried chicken fillet on top =.=

Although full, I manage to stomach this bowl of Katsudon. It pretty good. The egg was cooked together with some onions and the slab of chicken chop. Similar to the Unagidon at Sushi King but Ichiban's Katsudon taste way better... hands down. The rice wasn't too wet or sweet. Just nice ;)

After the meal, I could barely walk :P And not to mention, we have groceries to buy as well...

Happy reading~

Location: #02-23 Hougang Mall
Tel: +6563867836

Singapore - Tiong Bahru Pau in Toa Payoh

2009-11-06T20:33:00.009+08:00

It was my first time heading over to Toa Payoh if I exclude the trip of sending my friend home a few years back :P Only after I went back to Penang, my mom told me about the curry mee at Toa Payoh =.=

Me and my cousin bro were heading over to Toa Payoh Community Centre to settle some applications. The cab dropped us in front of Toa Payoh's community library. Such a huge building...which I am very sure there are tons of books in there...But it doesn't matter now. I can enter USM library and borrow books any time any day LOL...

It was almost 6pm when we were done with our errand. Clear sky and pretty hot. This is when a lady came by and asked us, "Do you know where is XXX shop?" with a look on her face hoping we could answer her. Too bad we couldn't as we are not local.

Not much things here except for ordinary shops.

At the end of the open air mall, we walked to this area. This is where high rise buildings starts to dot the other half of the place and I did feel as if I was transported to another part of the island or something.

On the way to Toa Payoh MRT station, a teenage girl holding a music phone walked to us and asked, "Excuse me, do you know any cinemas around here?" Again, we were not able to answer her. Singapore doesn't seem to be that small after all.

Judging the sun ray, you would have guess that me and my cousin bro were probably roasted by then...and that was when I saw a row of shops on my right side particularly the one I am going to feature...

Tiong Bahru Pau & Cake Shop. Toa Payoh area but Tiong Bahru Pau Shop... Anyway, people were queuing up in front of the shop, so we joined the crowd too LOL!

With a number of items on the price list, I didn't hesitate to ask a customer queuing behind me on what are the shop's famous items :) She told me their all their items were good especially the pau. She didn't say what pau so I decided to order 鸡肉大包 SGD1.50 and 鸡球大肉包 SGD1.50 since I never heard of them before.

Fried items looked good but we were heading off to Ang Mo Kio to have our dinner, so I gave it a miss.

However, I saw this basket of siu mai-s which looks really good. Pricing at SGD 0.70 per piece, I only asked for 1 :P

The siu mai-s are the largest I'd seen so far. It looks as if the meat were bursting out of the siu mai wrappings LOL...At least double the size of our Malaysian siu mai.

The taste? It was great. Fresh meat taste. No fridge or weird smell whatsoever, not overly minced, has some bite to it and juicy. Worth every cent I paid for it.

We didn't eat the pau on the spot. Instead, I put them into freezer once we get home like after 4 hours? :P Pau will last longer and maintain its flavour if you freeze them. And that's what happen to the pau below.

After 2-3 days of rock solid freezing, they still come out delicious and juicy as if we just bought it.
I think the pau below is 鸡球大肉包. Its really good. Fragrant with wine smell and juices were flowing from the pau.

鸡肉大包 on the other hand wasn't as good as 鸡球大肉包. It lacks something which makes it less tasty comparing to 鸡球大肉包. Dad says it's important that they add ginger juice to balance off the wine in 鸡球大肉包.

Anyway, I am happy to be able to try regular food like these :D

Singapore - Air Asia and Hospital Chicken Chop

2009-11-03T16:49:00.004+08:00

Finally back in Penang in one piece :P Haha...October was surely a super busy month packed with travels be it near or far. After a review trip to Kulim and touring around Georgetown with friends on separate days of a weekend, I continued my journey down south to the Singapore.

I haven't taken Air Asia to Singapore before and they gave me a 45 minute flight delay as a "welcome gift" for a start :S

Weather was pretty bad throughout that week in Penang. If the plane arrived early, I would have boarded the plane in the midst of a heavy downpour. And no, I never thought I would need an umbrella prior boarding a plane :P

Fortunately the clouds cleared after the rain. The only thing I enjoyed throughout the flight was the aerial view. Not to mention, it is also the only thing free from them :S Back then when I flew with SIA, there was not much to see. In short, I quite enjoy the journey up in the air. If not mistaken the island in the picture below is Pulau Jerejak.
My enjoyable moment only lasted for a while before my head felt like its going to explode...until I landed...

This is also my first time at Changi Airport Terminal 1. Not much difference from Terminal 2 except the length which would take forever for you to reach the end.

At the imigration counter...
Me: Excuse me, could you tell me where to extend my social visit pass?
Officer: You are here for how many days? Would you be going anywhere else?
Me: 21 days. No I am not going anywhere.
Officer: There I give you 30 days already. You don't want is it?

Okay...blur me. I thought I would have to extend my stay on my own at some remote office building hahaha...Why didn't they do the same thing for me previously???

Went to the hospital to visit my uncle after touching down. This is the cafetria of Ang Mo Kio Rehab Center. The rehab center is something like a smaller hospital for patient to recuperate. So the place has lots of greens around and much more quiet.

Environment was clean and no 'hospital smell' at all.

My first food in Singapore would be a plate of Black Pepper Chicken Chop, SGD4+ Sauce was okay but the chicken was pretty tough and dry. A pile of fries was given as if its free. Took me some time to finish it. Well at least they have chicken chop here. I wonder other hospital cafeteria serves Chicken Chop?

Just wait till I get to Tan Tock Seng Hospital at Novena...

Happy reading~

Kulim Kelang Lama Laksa

2009-10-27T12:49:00.004+08:00

Woohoo~ So much have been said about Kelang Lama laksa but not many post about it. I guess people would be flocking to the place after so many of us wrote about it. I came back from Kuala Sepetang the week before and tried their laksa but the taste wasn't really to my liking.

I wonder how would this stall fare?

Foods like this are always isolated right? Keeps making you so curious about it!

Too bad the 'chai kuih' is not opened on that day :(

Anyway, laksa stall opened was what matters most!

Cariso was very amazed by the laksa's stall innovation LOL Kulim is not only famous for laksa but also their flies :P

There is also a huge container of Laksa crackers which they called "laksa peah"... They just leave it there and customers would help themselves with it. Talking about trust in 21st century...

Each piece of this costs 20 sen ...so dip in!

The crackers were pretty fragrant with some ikan bilis (local dried anchovies) added in because the flavour is very subtle. Now the main character, the laksa...Despite coming from an island where the laksa is famous throughout Malaysia and even abroad, I actually like this laksa more. Yes...you read it right. Not as vibrant looking as the ones on the island but it taste good. The broth doesn't smell too fishy and not too sweet. The slight sourish taste makes you want to slurp more hahaha...Very appetizing and moderately light.

Another major thing is the noodles. I have never come across laksa noodles this springy! Judging the non even surface of the noodles, I believe its self made.

Laksa from Penang (sweetish, jelak and too spicy sometimes) while Kuala Sepetang (salty, sour and moderately spicy).

A bowl of this would cost RM2.40 (small) and RM2.80 (big) and RM1.20 for only a bowl of soup :D

After slurping off a bowl of laksa, you can chill down with a bowl of ais kacang. Ice shaving was very fine which literally melts before its even in your mouth LOL. Pretty similar to Malay ais kacang because they add in shreds of dried nutmeg and used condensed milk.

We continue our journey heading to our next stop, Ki Xiang Bak Kut Teh back at Seberang Perai...Told ya..the laksa was light XD Joking! 4 of us shared a bowl, so go figure!

Happy reading~

Laksa Kelang Lama
Behind SJK Kelang Lama, Kulim.
Business Hour: 11.00am -6.00pm (Closed on Monday)
Tel: 04-4904935

Bukit Mertajam Branch
Taman Jaya,
(人安藥房旁边)
Tel: 012-460 8866

Kulim Noodle Station - Food

2009-10-25T13:10:00.008+08:00

Here comes their standard noodle...prepared the classic way, 'kon lo' style...

Springy Noodle With Fried Chicken Dumpling (No. 7) RM 6.50

I would prefer it to be a little bit saltier though. I quite like the fried chicken dumpling.

Hahaha! The chicken thigh and drumstick definitely looks alluring to me. It almost covered the whole bowl! I would love to chomp it down the caveman style but I think as a cha bo gina kia, its better to chop it down to smaller pieces. You wouldn't want people staring at you right? The noodle taste is the same as the above, dry style.

Springy Noodle With BBQ Honey Whole Leg Chicken (No. 15) RM 8.00

Fried Springy Noodle With Prawn - Non Spicy (No. 39) RM6.50

I quite like the taste of the dish as its very egg-gy and fragrant. Too bad its soft for my liking and it would be great with a little more 'wok hei'.

Fried Springy Noodle With Thai Style - Spicy (No. 40) RM6.50

The noodles are dryer thus not as soft as the previous noodle but the chilli seems to overcome the egg smell. Not very spicy too. Can try if you prefer more kick for your noodle.

Below are:
Front - Curry Springy Noodle With Prawn & Fish Ball (No. 25) RM 7.50

Curry mee was ok but some thinks its salty...hahaha...You don't have to slurp the soup and just eat the noodles :P

Back - Springy Noodle Soup With Tom Yam Seafood (No. 32) RM 7.50

Tom Yam was pretty power. The soup was very flavourful but a little too sweet. I suspect they added milk which softens the tom yam original bursting flavours. According to the owners, this Tom Yam noodle is the top seller at Penang E-Gate outlet.

Fried Yellow Noodle Hokkien Style- Kicap Hitam (No. 49) RM6.50

Not bad actually. But again would like it to have more 'wok hei'. The taste was just right. Not too salty. The lye water taste is inevitable because its a Hokkien Char signature taste lol!

Well as I have mentioned in my previous post about char koay teow..."no charcoal, no char koay teow" right? Its obviouly cooked using gas stove. So its unfair for me to comment on this :)

Spicy Fried Kuey Teow (No. 44) RM6.00

Tom Yam Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 54) RM6.50

The rice tasted ok but a little too wet for my liking. Again Tom Yam power and kaffir lime leaves helps to ellavate the fragrance alot.

Fried Rice With Prawn (No. 53) RM6.00

This has got to be the healthiest dish of the restaurant. Less oil, Less salt and Less cooked vegetable. Don't get me wrong here. The fried rice bears resemblance to kerabu fried rice but minus the fresh herbs used. The vege in the fried rice would usually be slightly undercooked to retain crunchyness.

For those who wants some extra bites, Noodle Station offers an array of side dishes you can order.

Honey BBQ Chicken Wing- 6PCS (No. 72) RM14.50

Hmmm...I still prefer my own chicken wing :D

Fried Chicken Dumpling- 10PCS (No. 73) RM5.00

For those who are tham jiak like me and would like lots of fried wantan (but the ones came with noodle, not enough)... You can always order extra and have the whole plate to yourself :D
Nicely fried but they can use a paper or 2 to soak up the oil a bit.

Suppose to be 10 in a plate but some were munched up...*ahem ahem*...by me...

For those who really really dun like noodles and die die also must have western food regardless where you are....

Chicken Chop With Brown Sauce (No. 57) RM10.90

I prefer oriental style chicken chop. This chicken chop uses brown sauce. But nevertheless, the chicken is very crispy.

Super Sandwich With Smoke Turkey (No. 67) RM7.50

Sandwich was crispy with thick toast, smokey turkey ham flavour and vege. For those who just want a quick bite, this should be the one.

A new outlet thus lots of room for improvement especially the food. However, its a decent halal place for everyone to get together. With their extensive drinks menu, now I have another place to suggest when meeting up with my Muslim friends hehehe...

Location:
G 7, Ground Floor, Landmark Central Shopping Centre
No.1, Jalan KLC Satu (1),
09000 Kulim, Kedah Darul Aman.

Tel/Fax : 04-4954168
Business Hours : 10.30am - 10pm

Kulim Noodle Station - Beverage

2009-10-21T14:51:00.010+08:00

Thanks to Cariso for the arrangement and also Mr. Khoh for the invitation :D

I was quite excited about the trip to Kulim as I have not been there. Many of us were not familiar with the place too.

For those who knows where is Kulim's Giant Hypermarket (a.k.a Kulim Landmark Central), you should be able to know where Noodle Station is.
Easy to spot and you can enter the premise through the front door or back door (from carpark).

Little did I know Noodle Station originates from Kelantan. Yupz...It's the same outlet as the one at E-Gate, Penang Island. Kulim outlet just open this year.

GPS location: N 05°23.155' E 100°32.783'

Good news for Muslim friends as the restaurant is halal!

When I stepped in I saw tons of cordials at the bar area.

We had a NUMBER of drinks...the colourfuls...

Sunrise (No. 209) - RM 8.00 (blended mango juice, orange juice, strawberry & yogurt)
Mango Sorbet (No.201) - RM6.00
Kiwi Sorbet (No. 202) - RM6.00
Mango Snow (No. 208) - RM7.50 (blended fresh mango with sago)
I Love You Lemonade (No. 223) - RM 3.50 (Blue Curacao & passion fruit)
Raspberry Truffle Italian Soda (No. 226) - RM 4.50 (soda & raspberry syrup)
Angel Face (No. 230) - RM8.00 (lemon, Blue Curacao & lychee with soda)

Recently my taste buds switched to non-adventurous mode LOL...I actually preferred ...

Iced Ceylon Lemon Tea (No. 156) - RM4.00

and also....
Iced Honey Peach Fruit Tea (No. 164) - RM7.50

I like the above 2 drinks as they are not too sweet and refreshing~

Besides, Honey Peach Fruit Tea is a value drink because of the serving size. Two people can certainly share this.

Ice Age (No. 212) - RM 8.00 (blended vanilla, Blue Curacao, blackcurrant juice and yogurt)
Au Natural (No. 181) - RM 6.00 (iced raspberry & lemon)

The tastes of each mocktail concoction really depends on the person herself. Some likes the ice blended, some prefers smoothies. Ice Age was pretty interesting but a little too sweet for my liking.

Next came the earthy drinks...

Iced Teh Tarik (No. 150) - RM4.00

I didn't quite like the teh tarik as the tea flavour wasn't strong enough but it was smooth and milky.

Iced Cream Cappuccino (No.115) - RM8.00
Mocha Iced Blended (No.120) - RM8.00
Snowflake Americano (No.96) - RM 6.00
Havana Holiday (No.95) - RM7.00
Teh Tarik Hazelnut (No.140) - RM3.50
After Dinner Mint Cappuccino (No.80) - RM7.00

The Teh Tarik had some vanilla aftertaste, probably due to the hazelnut syrup. There is an error in the picture. The Pure Choc is supposed to be Mocha Iced Blended. Anyway, ice blended Mocha was smooth and tasted softer than other coffee based drinks.

Green Tea Honey Latte (No. 172) RM6.50

This drink has gotta be the weirdest drink combination in my life LOL! We are talking about mixing green tea with coffee XD Unfortunately, I couldn't accept the flavour. Haha...its too much for me...

Pure Chocolate Iced Blended (No.190) - RM8.50

Pure chocolate was not bad. Taste like thicker version of Milo lol...But I wasn't in the mood of having coffee or chocolate during the review :P

Kulim Noodle Station - Food coming up soon!

Penang Reservoir Garden - Char Koay Teow

2009-09-30T09:31:00.000+08:00

Many people talk about where we can have the best char koay teow and etc. Some say stall X is good, some say stall Y is good. Well, I just cannot understand why people flock to Sisters Char Koay Teow, Sin Hwa and Lorong Selamat.

The unconventional choice for me would be Padang Tembak Market and Reservoir Garden. Reservoir Garden has 3 coffeeshops. This char koay teow stall I am about to mention is at Golden City Coffeeshop (opposite Keat Seng Coffeeshop). The area is just located beside Ayer Itam Road Shell petrol station, near a traffic light junction.

This aunty still uses charcoal to fry her koay teow. Oohhh firing hot...

The char koay teow was full of wok hei and delicious. Very difficult to find stall which uses charcoal these days and gas stoves can never replace charcoal ones. I guess my personal conclusion is "no use charcoal, no eat char koay teow" :P

Happy reading~

Kuala Sepetang Trip: Prawn Glorious Prawn

2009-09-29T01:22:00.000+08:00

I tell you, I haven't had that much prawns in my life O.o After all the walking and trips, time for DINNER! If you recall the picture of an uncle squatting at the back of the house cutting mantis prawns...yupz its there on the table all ready to be munched by us :D :D :D

I can't remember the names of the meat balls but it has a powdery texture (yam?) to it with some 5 spices powder scent and wrapped together in beancurd sheets. I didn't see the process of making it because we were still out...somewhere in the forest haha...By the way, the aunty is a Teochew (as well as the rest of the villagers) so its a Teochew appetizer?

Here is one of the main characters...yummy yummy~ Boiled freshly caught prawns. How fresh? They were hauled up at that very evening :D Bouncy meat with no weird 'water' smell. For that I could only think of these words... 鲜味 I walloped half of the tray :)

This, I also walloped half of them :D We were lucky to have them :D During the week (few days before we get there) there were no sign of the mantis prawns but fortunately B's dad manage to catch them on the day we arrived.

It was also very fresh. When we peel the shells off, the flesh was intact (as a whole) and FIRM. All of us enjoyed sucking and biting the meat off. The curry mantis prawns was B's mother's special and she had mercy on us by making it less spicy... Hahaha!

I wasn't planning to stop until YC told me that her friend turned allergic to prawns due to prawn overdose :S So much for telling me that...I dropped my prawn immediately after hearing that LOL!

It was a cooling night and fortunately no rain. We decided to ride around the small pekan. Some were on bicycles, some rode the motorcycle. We stopped over at the market area for some ais kacang and there were so many people.

I saw a stall selling prawn noodles and the other sells curry mee. My friend told me the curry mee there's famous but I was more curious about prawn noodles. I could only stomach 1 bowl of noodle so I picked prawn noodles instead :)

Well, I didn't regret. The prawn noodle soup wasn't as murky as the ones in Penang and my mouth doesn't stink after having them. It's like having a slightly diluted version of my friend's prawn noodle. Interestingly, they don't use fried shallots. Instead they add in fried 'tim chok' (甜竹) and the owner was pretty generous with the prawns. Although tiny, but every bite of the noodle has a prawn or two stuck on it. Haha. The prawns didn't seem to be fried with chilli like the ones in Penang but they are good on their own. Before I forgot, their soup wasn't sweet base but 鲜甜 and more to the savory side :) I slurped the bowl dry. After that, I realised there wasn't any sediments beneath the bowl which you would normally find when having Penang prawn noodles.

All that was washed down with a bowl of ais kacang....I was extremely satisfyingly bloated ~ *burp*

Happy reading~

Kuala Sepetang Trip: Matang Mangrove Reserve

2009-09-28T14:17:00.008+08:00

I think it's a coincidence that the trip was arranged in a chain manner LOL! We spent less than 20 minutes at the charcoal factory and headed over to the Matang Forest Reserve, the place where Green Wood/Bakau Minyak grows. The ride took no more than 5 minutes to reach there. We were a bit in a rush because the day's getting darker.

After we took a form (some survey form required to fill in when we enter the area) from the office, we were immediately greeted by these trees :)

Visitors can either choose to park near the entrance and walk in; or ...

drive further more until you see the structure below. This is the starting point of the forest walk. Pretty long distance. If not mistaken, we spent around an hour and half which includes stopping a while, sight seeing and most important of all...taking pictures!

Visitors can choose to rent the chalets and stay over for the night. Not sure of the price though and at this point my friends were feeling mosquitoes wheezing all over them. Perhaps less mosquitoes during high tide?

I haven't been on a long walk for quite some time so I was sweating beads haha!

At some point of the walk, you would see the river...

and a docking area where the boats (for fire fly trips) parked. Yupz...there are fire flies at Kuala Sepetang too, besides Nibong Tebal. But no one was there and we forgot to ask the officers about it before we left.

More trees... I say evening was the best time to visit the park as its not so hot.

Another place which I'd seen only through television so it felt really good for me to be there finally :)

Let's head home for dinner!

Happy reading!

Kuala Sepetang Trip - Charcoal Factory

2009-09-25T22:31:00.004+08:00

Whenever you are visiting kampung areas, its not unusual that you see people riding motorcycle without helmet and driving around without putting on seat belts :P How else you gonna squeeze in more than 3 people at the back of the car eh?

A couple of minutes driving and we are standing at the one of Kuala Sepetang's famous charcoal factory. I am pretty sure this site is talking about the one I visited. Anyway, when we were there the area was dead silent. Probably you would hear cars passing by or dogs barking. Other than that, the place looked as if it'd been abandoned LOL...

Baking process had started and transporting logs only takes place during early morning, when the tide is high. The place below is where the boats carrying logs come in. The water level was very low when we were there.

So I guess no point having so many workers around right? Only saw the lady boss there and she was kind enough to let us in ;)

Not a single part of the tree is wasted because leftover of the chopped trees were used to fire up the kiln and they are neatly placed outside the factory (near the entrance).

It was my first time visiting a charcoal factory :D Previously I onlyget to watch it from television. The moment you reach the place, you wouldbe able to smell the charcoal. You can sniff out the difference betweenthe charcoal there and the regular ones back in Penang.Yeah la, still smokey smell but it doesn't smell 'choking'. No wonder the charcoals produced at Kuala Sepetang can make it all the way to Japan.

Lucky to be able to see some remaining logs outside the kiln. I am only a head taller than the logs hahaha!

I think one of the food to look out for should be satay. Obviously they would be using locally produced charcoal right? Aih...I only thought about it at time of writing this post. My brains are getting slower these days...

Happy reading~

Kuala Sepetang Trip: Kuala Sepetang Town, A Town-ful of Flavours

2009-09-20T14:14:00.009+08:00

Moving on from Taiping, we quickly head over to Kuala Sepetang, my friends hometown. Not exactly great weather but at least there was no rain. Before reaching Kuala Sepetang Town, one has to drive past this road. On the left side of the picture is the famous Matang Mangrove Forest or to some "红树林". A long straight road with dense mangrove forest on the side, very scenic indeed.

A couple of minutes later, we reach the town. It was an interesting experience to me because I have never been to this part of Perak before. I could only see hills and rubber trees back at my father's hometown.

My friends and I were very excited. One of them thinks this place is 'photogenic'. Hahaha...I have to agree with him. 这地方很有味道...

The bustling Kuala Sepetang Town roads are much more narrow compare to Pekan Lenggong. Thus not having a feel that its a pekan. Hahaha. It felt more like a housing area with mini grocery stores and coffee shops instead XD By the way, a quick check on wikipedia, this place was previously known as Port Weld. So there is a history behind this town but I guess my friend didn't know about it LOL...

We were just in time to catch the scene below. The workers were gathering dried prawns after sun drying them on cement floor for the whole day. The premise next to my friend's home is a small factory producing dried prawns and salted fish. That's why when we got off the car, the area smells of dried seafood. 海的味道... LOL!

We hanged out here for a while to take some air. Light breeze swifts by with swallows chirping.

My friend's dad was cleaning the Mantis Prawns for our dinner later in the evening! I think there's a kilo of it in there! Wahahaha...I shall leave it for the next post.

It only took my dad's friend awhile to finish up what he was doing. And he threw us a surprise by telling us we are getting a short boat ride along the river! Woohoo! The jetty was a stones throw away from my friend's home.

Houses in Kuala Sepetang were built closely together. They remind me of my previous visit to Penang's Mixed Surname Jetty.

Walk through the alley and here we were.

The jetty faces the mangrove swamp. Pretty much like Nibong Tebal but I think the Kuala Sepetang's river view was much nicer.

Somehow the sky cleared a little but it wasn't hot. It's been a while since I hop onto a boat.

Sorry for the blur picture. Haha this is the best my (lousy) camera could take in maximum zoom mode. Unfortunately it got maximum-ly blurred too :P

Spent several good minutes on the boat taking in the view and a sky full of eagles. Very happy :D The day was getting late. Already 5 pm when we returned from the boat ride.

Not to waste time, we quickly change our transportation mode to car and head off to our next destination, Matang Mangrove Forest Reserve :D

Happy reading~

Selamat Hari Raya!!!

2009-09-19T20:19:00.005+08:00

I am dedicating this Nescafe Raya card to all my Muslim friends and fellow readers~ Wishing you guys a safe journey back to kampung and ber-Happy Raya!

Kuala Sepetang Trip: First stop - Taiping Famous Cendol

2009-09-16T19:33:00.006+08:00

Finally a trip with my friends! That's about time...No pre-plans because the trip was decided the night before. That is how crazy my friends can be :P

The day started out cloudy followed by heavy rain for an hour or two but after that, the sky cleared when we wanted to head over to Weld Quay.

Bright sun + blue sky = smooth trip :D

We had to take ferry over to mainland Penang's bus terminal because there were no bus (to Kamunting, Taiping) available at Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal. Its been ages since I'd been on a ferry...5 years?

The bus arrived at 1.30pm. Fortunately there was still some time to spare because we are unsure of the bus schedule. We happily hopped into the bus, snored for 1.5 hours and there we were...Kamunting, Taiping.

And guess what? I our first stop was actually Taiping's Tesco not cendol stall... LOL! But of course we didn't simply drop by the hypermarket for fun. We had to pick up some stuff to BBQ at my friend's place later when night falls.

Later on, we tried our luck to see if Bismillah Cendol was still open. My friend said it finishes early and it was 4++pm already. The stall was located at Jalan Barrack (Taiping) behind a secondary school. Indeed, the stall was still open when we reached.

Because we were late, they had run out of red beans and 'pulut' (Malay term for glutinous rice).

This was the uncle behind the stall that day. He was packing several packets of cendol. I noticed that take-away cendol's portion was huge. The mug he used was a standard container to contain shaved ice and other condiments before pouring them into a huge plastic bag.

A cooling bowl of cendol... It was a bit to my disappointment because the santan was not as thick as I thought. The santan did not have the slight salty after taste. I guess the coconut milk was freshly prepared daily as they don't last very long without salt. The black sugar syrup had sharp but light taste compare to Penang's. The cendol strands was interesting because it has a distinctive pandan flavor to it, not just the color. Too bad they were too soft for my liking.

After eating, I asked if I could visit the back to see the place they prepared the cendol. They gladly allowed :)

They had already made the cendol so we only get to see the finish product, one huge container of it. The machine below was the machine they used to cook the cendol.

How I know about the place? I clearly remember an episode of Ho Chiak (8TV) aired about 3 years ago. They introduced this place towards the end of the show. Hehe...

Okay...Taiping famous cendol, checked. More post coming up :D

Happy reading~

Invited Review: Gelatissimo at Gurney Plaza

2009-09-10T15:32:00.022+08:00

Soorrryyy peeps for the long hiatus. Had a really bad backache and the only thing I could think of was 'PAIN' >.< Jason and Gill for the little 'field trip' and making us feeling like kids again :D Having tried gelato by another gelato vendor, now I can make a fair comparison between the two.

This is the only Gelatissimo outlet in Penang. One can easily spot it along Gurney Plaza's Alfresco area. Originating from Australia (Italian owners) and has reached our shores for quite some time. Now, they made it to Penang.

It was a joy looking into the gelato chiller...So colourful and there were all sorts of flavor :D The gelatos are all made using imported natural ingredients. These were the flavours of the day and would change frequently as Gelatissimo has over 90+ flavors. However only portion of them were made available in Malaysia as not all of of the flavor suits our local taste buds.

They really live up to their tagline, 'The Real Taste of Italia". The gelatos (ranging from premium sorbets to premium dairies) were very smooth, fresh and not too sweet. Each has their distinctive taste and I kinda like the idea of having cake flavors in gelato version such as Profiterole, Tiramisu and Strawberry Cheese XD

But the top seller gelatos would be Belgium Chocolate and Mango. Truly, they taste great. Belgium Chocolate flavor was super intense and the super smooth mango sorbet gave made me feel as if I was munching on a frozen real mango.

It doesn't matter what I say here actually because you can taste of the gelato of your choice before buying except for Chocolate with Chili. Not spicy and the chili flavor only appear as a subtle aftertaste.

The Passion Fruit Blood Orange sorbet were good too but the seeds were a bit annoying.

Currently they are serving those gelatos in paper cups and small wafer cone. Soon large wafer cones would be available at the store. Actually, its much fun to have gelato with wafer cones. One bite gelato, one bite wafer. Everything ends up in your stomach...very environmental friendly LOL!

Below are the pricing for cups and cones:

1 Flavour Cup RM 8.90
2 Flavours Cup RM 12.90
3 Flavours Cup RM 16.90

1 Flavour Cone RM 9.90
2 Flavours Cone RM 13.90
3 Flavours Cone RM 17.90

As for take aways, Gelatissimo offers 2 types of packing:

Regular 650cc 2 flavors RM35.90
Large 1300cc 3 flavors RM65.90

Blogger's Gelato Choice: Belgium Choc and Mango?
Many of us pack 650cc of the mentioned gelato tho...

While waiting for the other group to finish their field trip, we get to taste some Mango Shakes. One word...Good :D I just love the Mango taste...

Below are the pricing for the shakes:

Regular - RM14.90
Extra thick - RM16.90

If one prefers something more 'adult', there's Affogato (Italian word for 'drown'). The management thinks its best to source the espresso premix from Illy for convenience.

The item that was drowned would be a scoop of Biscottino.

The espresso was rich and aromatic. Although it came in powdered form, the taste was pleasant and smooth. Probably the Biscottino gelato soften its taste a little. I gulp down the rest after some of us tasted. Hehe...

This is Mei Yi's cup of gelato, consisting Green Tea and Belgium Choc. Good choice as Green Tea was one of my favorite too :)

Thanks again to Mr. Hong the Marketing Manager who was willing to patiently explain to us the process of making those lip smacking gelato.

Another great day meeting the blogger geng....

Happy slurping~

Add: G-45A Gurney Plaza, Penang.
Contact: +604 2280822

Exabytes Refer and Win campaign

2009-08-27T23:06:00.003+08:00

Source: Exabytes

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This year is Malaysia's 52nd Independence Day! Yay! As always, we will be running a few special campaigns to commemorate this special day.

Stand a flag in front of the house,.. check.
Stick a flag on the car rooftop,.. check.
Put an iLoveMalaysia logo on website to win iPhone 3GS,.. REALLY?

YES! This is a chance for you to win yourself one fancy, must-have smartphone - iPhone 3GS worth RM 2500 each! That's not all. The best part is, you can also refer someone to join this campaign, and if they are selected as winner, you as the referer will win the exact same prize! - all while expressing your love to the country!

Don't be disheartened if you fail to get the grand prize. We still have other cool and expensive consolation prizes waiting for you. We hereby kick off this campaign today!

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*Remember to write my email (jianmy@gmail.com) in the referrer's email field!

Winners would be picked randomly. So good luck to everyone!

Penang Food Blogger 4th Gathering - Vintage Bulgaria

2009-08-23T14:54:00.020+08:00

Here comes again the special occasion of Penang Food Bloggers Gathering where not only Penang Bloggers were attending but also a few bloggers from outstation, met up with us that night.

About 2 months ago during one of our meet ups, we elected Alan and Allie to be our organizer. Later on, we were given a month's worth of time to cast our votes to decide our gathering location.

Based on the scoreboard, apparently almost everyone happily said "Aye" to the little Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant which is located at the hillsides of Tanjung Bungah :D Our last count on the invitation list was 42 people. What a feat!

Here we are...the restaurant is just in between the shops.

To reach this place, you just need to be more aware when you are about to reach Copthorne Hotel/Toy Museum. There is a traffic light junction and Medan Selera Food Court. Turn in and you would be able to spot the shop lot immediately. I haven't been there, so it was a good experience.

I like the deco a lot. The restaurant did live up to its name 'Vintage' Bulgaria. Haha!

Peering through the windows, I could already see the lovely restaurant setting and cannot wait to go in! Hehe...

The restaurant has 3 levels. The area I saw when peering through the windows was slightly below ground level.

At level 2, there was the bar area. Tastefully decorated with rows of empty wine bottles and some Bulgarian decoration items.

Pretty isn't it? Skillfully woven Bulgarian Rugs.

On my way to the top floor, I saw these cute dolls below the stairs. Never knew their national clothes are so colorful.

Yupz, this should be the way XD

The restaurant were caring enough to print out a banner for us LOL! Kudos to them~

The whole concept of the top floor was to make the diners feel as if they are eating in a restaurant veranda located on top of hills overlooking a small typical Bulgarian village.

Thus the outdoor elements such as lamp post and windows were placed in there together with some flowers. All tables were placed with real flowers.

Cordial drinks were served while orders were taken.

We had the menu with us more than a month ago but eventually we made our decision by having all of the dishes on the menu. With 6 of us, we ordered 3 mushroom soup, 3 seafood soup, 2 Plovdiv Pork Ribs, 1 Djolan Pork Knuckle, 1 Bulgarian Platter, 1 Cod Fish, 1 Chicken Stroganov, 3 Chocolate Creme Brulee and 3 Chocolate Soup XD

I believe if we were to put all these together on the table, it would be very scenic feast LOL!

The soup in front was Mushroom Soup with 'Vintage' Garlic Bread. Tasty. It had the right thickness and not overly flavorful or too much cream. They are only starters, so no need to be so heavily flavored right? Besides, we were having the soup with garlic bread. It was just nice.

However, their Seafood Soup caught my attention. It was really good. I never had seafood soups as good as this. Fresh and savory, no weird fishy smell. Subtle taste of seafood. I think the soup was made primarily using fish and crab meat. Good ah :D

We tried the Baked Cod Fish with Creamy Mushroom Sauce first. The fish was soft and feels almost like jelly. We must have been given the tummy area of the fish. The sauce was good. Creamy but it did not overwhelmed the fish. We wiped the plate clean.

Next, Chicken Stroganov. Since they use chicken drumstick, the meat was bouncy and smooth. The sauce was also cream based but with the addition of bell peppers, it has a different fragrance to it which encouraged us to continue having more of it. The mash potatoes were quite special. Herbs and spices were mixed in it yet we do not know what are they. Cariso mentioned it reminds her of an Indian dish. Haha!

Next, Bulgarian Platter (mix grill of kebapche, kyofte and karnatche) According to the menu, they are traditionally home made Bulgarian sausages and pork fillet. Certainly home made sausages when take note of the sausage texture. The herbs in meatball (kyofte) were a bit heavy for me. Maybe others would like it more.

Yeah! Plovdiv Ribs! Thumbs up :D Honey glazed outer surface and well marinated. Some find it a bit salty but it was alright for me. The meat easily comes of the bone and I was surprised at the rib's tenderness.

We can forget about roasted pork ribs from other chain restaurants. Haha This is the taste I was actually looking foward to if I have pork ribs. Maybe because I like things sweet haha!

Here comes the star of the restaurant, Bulgarian Pork Djolan or traditional roasted pork knuckle. Not only thumbs up, our fists were up as well XD wahaha!

We barbaric-ly tore the meat from the roasted kunckle. We absolutely enjoy it! Cariso was happily sucking the bones while I chew on the perfectly honey glazed skin...good ah! The pork knuckle was really huge. I think 2-3 normal eaters might be able to finish it off :D

Here are the in house desserts. Chocolate Creme Brulee.

Creamy smooth and rich. Not overly sweet... well if don't count the burnt sugar layer on top :P

That was my first time trying Chocolate Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream. Hard to resist myself from trying eventhough I know its heaty :P

It comes in a HUGE mug. An scoop of vanilla ice cream inside with some chocolate flakes as a finishing touch. The chocolate soup wasn't too sweet and not overly thick with chocolate. When you sip it, it smoothly flows down your throat, NOT stick there lol! I think the ice cream plays an important role of softening the chocolate taste.

Hohoho after this meal and the lunch, I was cholesterol and meat overdosed : P Aiks...its not over yet...

PS: Please be aware that the set menu was tailored to our occasion. But somehow there were so many of us, so other patrons had the same food as us on that day.

Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant & Bar

(Next to Ingolf’s Kneipe German Restaurant)
Add : 1-E, Jalan Sg Kelian, Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: 04-8981890
Business Hour : 12 pm - 12 am (last order at 10pm)

Penang Food Blogger 4th Gathering - Dessert Sponsors

2009-08-23T13:20:00.009+08:00

Just as we thought we are done with our dinner, the cakes and fresh made gelatos showed up O.o Definitely eating to the fullest :P

Those extra desserts were fully sponsored by Gelatissimo and Winter Butterfly Homemade Cake. many thanks to the them for bringing over the desserts personally :D

First off would be Cream Cheese Mousse Cake.

Next, Oreo Cheese Cake.

And lastly, Chocolate Brownie.

The chocolate flavor of the brownie was strong and it wasn't too sweet. However, I think the cake was stored in the restaurant's chiller together with other cakes, so it was a bit dry. We should have asked the restaurant to microwave it for us before serving haha XD

The rich cream cheese layer was sandwiched in between crushed Oreo cookie bits. Slightly messy when cutting but it didn't really matter. Oreo and cheese cake was an interesting combo. I have never tried although I often see it in bakeries. Oreo biscuit seems to be the best choice as they are still crispy when eaten together with the cream cheese. Good stuff.

My favorite has to be the Cream Cheese Mousse Cake. A simple layer of fresh cream was spread on top decorated with fresh strawberries. Probably because of the heavy dinner (and not to mention lunch too) the light tasting mouse cake seems nicer.

The spread on top was only fresh cream. In fact, the cheese had been mixed into the cake mixture beforehand and when I ate, it gave out the subtle cheese flavor in my mouth. Most importantly, its not sweet :P Else it would be difficult for us to stomach it.

Of course no one would forget the gelatos which Mr. Hong brought over from his Gelatissimo outlet in Gurney Plaza. There were Green Tea, Rum n Raisin, Belgium Chocolate, Mango and Banana.

A great finish to our gathering dinner that night :D

Cake Sponsor
Winter Butterfly Homemade Cake
Add: 46, Taylor Road, 11600 Penang.
Tel: 016-4455667
Email: im@dennieyeap.com

Gelato Sponsor
Gelatissimo (Gurney Plaza Outlet)
Add: g-45a, Gurney Plaza, Penang.
Tel: +604-2280822

Invited Review - Gurney Drive 75 Celsius (Environment)

2009-08-23T04:01:00.000+08:00

*More about their drinks and food...

Sorry peeps for not updating recently. The past week was convo week, so go figure :P From picking up robe down to photo shooting, a food review (Thanks Ken!) and Penang Food Blogger 4th Gathering (post coming soon)...All in a week's time! >.<
The dining area of the restaurant is located outdoor as pictured below. Thus, I agree with CK Lam that it could be pretty hot to dine there in the afternoon. Night time would be better to hang out with friends especially the loud speaking ones since its outdoor LOL

You can always opt to sit at the large sofas if you're not so keen with metal chairs and tables.

At first I thought someone sketched on the tarpaulin using pen but it turns out to be printed hehe...

The bar area is just at the corner of the restaurant and the kitchen is behind.

This place used to be occupied by Cubar then Chasers. So do look out for the sign when you drive pass Gurney Drive. They are located just beside Island Cafe ;) They do not provide parking lots but one can park at public parking lots opposite the restaurant.

Coming up next...the drinks...
**(More about their drinks and food...)**

75 Celcius Restaurant & Bar
75 Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang.

Business Hours - 11am to 2am

Invited Review - Gurney Drive 75 Celsius (Drinks)

2009-08-23T04:00:00.000+08:00

Super hot weather calls for icy cold drinks right? I lost count of the glasses of iced water I had when I was there :P

Since 75 Celsius is a a bar too, there are a number of drinks to order ranging from coffee / cordial juices to alcoholic beverages (cocktails, beers and liquors). No worries to families who are bringing kids to dine there as they also serve soft drinks and milkshakes.

The restaurant was generous to serve most of the drink available on the menu. Anyway, there were 20+ of us. Each one of us ordered a drink and it was already sufficient to cover a huge portion of the drinks menu haha! Too bad I had to stay away from drinks like coffee :P

Below is 75 Celsius' top drink, Dawn of the Beauty (pale orange and red in color) RM7 and Philadelphia (3 mix top up with soda) RM7.50.

Below - Wild Fruit (Orange, mango, strawberry, pineapple cordials blended with crushed ice) RM9.50

Below - Ice Espresso (Black color) RM7 and Michael Jackson (white color) RM10

Below - Cappuccino RM5 , Hazelnut Cappuccino RM5.50 and Caffe Mocha RM6

From front - Tequila Sunrise RM13 , Screwdriver RM13 and AK47 RM18

Staying away from coffee was one thing but eventually I ordered an alcohol based drink for the 'sake of trying' XD Thanks to Steven who robbed my drink, I had to go to the bar and order another shot of it.

Didn't know that Lemon Drop is made of Lemon Bacardi. At this point I wasn't sure if I should drop the shot glass into the glass of ice water or just drink it and bite on the lemon :P The more curious side of me wanted to taste the liquor so I just emptied the shot glass. Hahaha...I wonder if it was me or the weather...it tasted a bit sweet and quite smooth :P

If none of the drinks I mentioned interests you, you can just pick Lemon Temptation (lemon with Sprite) RM7. Simple and refreshing :D

My personal choice would be any refreshing drinks that came with ice LOL

Moving on to REAL food...

75 Celcius Restaurant & Bar
75 Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang.

Business Hours - 11am to 2am

Invited Review - Gurney Drive 75 Celsius (Food)

2009-08-23T01:32:00.010+08:00

A bunch of appetizers and snacks were served. Chezzy Garlic Bread RM6.90 was first to arrive. The crispy slices of baguette were toasted with some garlic spread and topped with cheese. It would be nice to pair it with the soup.

2 salads were available on the menu - Crispy Chicken Salad RM12.90 and Chef's Salad RM11.90 The portions were not bad actually and can be shared between 2 person.

Then came the soups :D First off...the sourish Creamy Tomato and Bacon Soup RM6.90

Herby Oxtail Soup RM8.50

My personal vote goes to Creamy Mushroom Soup RM6.90 3 types of mushrooms were used to cook the soup. Pretty thick and flavourful.

Some fried snacks were served as well such as Tempura Calamari RM8.50 The Calamaris were nicely fried as they did not have the rubbery texture. The thousand island sauce provided some flavor to the calamari. The batter coating the calamari wasn't thick either.

Below - Fish Cocktail RM8.50

Lamb Brushetta RM8.90 was pretty good. The lamb was well cooked and flavourful. It matches those garlic bread prettu well.

Mushroom Brushetta RM7.90 Yupz I think my personal preference would be both brushetta like some of the bloggers.

Below - Tuna Supreme RM12.90

Turkey Fresco RM12.90 :D these sandwich pictures reminded me of burger pictures on some ads.

There were also spaghettis . Below was the classic Marinara Seafood Pasta RM16.90...

Then Aglio Olio RM15.90 A bit too pepper-ish for my taste buds. But overall its a flavorful dish .

Below - Alla Carbonara RM10.90

Below - Baked Cheezy Seafood RM16.90

Below - Chicken Chop RM10.90 Sadly I didn't manage to try this. I couldn't track where the dish went : P

Below - Ribeye Steak RM17.90

Below - Lemon Butter Fish RM12.90

Below - Tagarashi Salmon RM17.90

Below - Spice Lamb Leg RM18.90 The lamb was nicely grilled and smells good too.

Another lamb dish, Lamb Cutlet RM22.90 The grilled lamb cutlet was not as fragrant as the lamb dish above. However, we can always drizzle some sourish mint yogurt sauce. I did prefer the sauce to be a bit sweet. Some restaurants serve it in jelly/jam form. The patch of cooked vegetable was actually ratatouille. Sourish and pretty appetizing actually.

The next few dishes would be beef dishes so beef people would be glad to know this...haha
Below - Jacuzzi Beef RM17.90
Below - Cheezy Beef RM15.90

Finally, Hamburger Delight RM16.90 which was my favourite item among all.

The beef patty was about slightly more than 1/2 an inch thick yet its cooked to perfection with its juiciness maintained. Not only that, the spread of sweet thousand island sauce (or was it mayo?) made me wanna sink my teeth into the burger even more :D This is a huge burger so I think sharing with another person would be ideal so you can try other food.

Overall its was nice to be able to meet 20+ bloggers and enjoy a meal together. Although only a bite of here and there, I was quite bloated. Another gathering was only about 3 hours away :S and more meat would be coming our way :P

75 Celcius Restaurant & Bar
75 Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang.

Business Hours - 11am to 2am

Convocation Coming to Town!

2009-08-13T10:35:00.009+08:00

In another 3 days, I would be in a hall filled with people from all over Malaysia :D and perhaps abroad too. The feeling was just indescribable. Taking family photos after our first shoot back at 1988 :P and those 3 years in campus was over...just like that :(

Convocation Week started from yesterday onwards until Sunday. The island would definitely be seeing more visitors than usual (school holidays are just around the corner). My graduating friends who were from other states had made hotel reservation in advance...somewhere like 2 months ago. Nearby hotels would be fully booked super early for sure. Some even mentioned hotels I haven't heard of LOL!

Recently I have been told about HotelsCombined.com. I hopped over and checkout the website. Clean looking site, NO blinking ads all over the place and fast results. I simply searched for Penang and it lists out all participating hotels. To my surprise, it showed hotels (near USM) mentioned by my friends. Although Hotels Combined doesn't do reservations, at least we could get hold of important information about the hotels we would like to stay in, right? Another click on the 'Price' tab, the cheapest hotel appears on top of the list *thumbs up*. Price does matter to me and I believe others as well. Those who are graduating next year, the website would be a great place to start looking for accommodation. Searching for a hotel at/near a food street is a good idea too.

The site doesn't only cover Penang. HotelsCombined was established in Australia (2005), so they cover other hotels around the globe too. Good news for travellers :D Many travel sites like Travelocity (USA) and AsiaRooms (Asia) are their partners. This means we would be conveniently directed to those sites and check out the neccessary details.

Happy searching~

Penang Ayer Itam - Curry Mee & See Kuo T'ng (四果汤)

2009-08-10T08:22:00.000+08:00

Hot hot hot! These days, the weather is unpredictable. Just looking outside the window, its enough to make you feel as if your skin is searing under the sun. But the moment you step out, you might be drenched with rain water =.= Scarry. However, it did not stop me from having a bowl of Ayer Itam Curry Mee. The last time I had this bowl of curry mee was many years ago.

When I first tried them, I did not like the taste. The curry smell was pungent. Nevertheless, droves of customers still flock to this stall every evening about 3-4pm onwards.

You have to be early else they would be sold out.

I was skeptical about it at the begining but I tried anyway. Indeed, the soup was different. Instead of those curry powder smell, the current one is much fresher with the use of lemongrass and ginger flower.

The texture of the coagulated blood is a bit different to other stalls. Its like eating duck's blood but just that this one is chunkier and slightly firmer.

Since its was a hot day, we had some See Kuo T'ng (四果汤) as well. The stall has always been located at this tiny lane beside the Ayer Itam Food Court.

There are regular stuff like red kidney beans, white fungus, dried longan, sago balls, jelly strips and barli.

I like it as its chilling and not too sweet. Great way to wash down all the curry mee I telan just now.

This is only one of the curry mee stalls at Pekan Ayer Itam. Lol...

Location:
Beside Air Itam Food Court (Curry Mee stall at the entrance of the alley while See Kuo T'ng is in the alley)
Pekan Ayer Itam, Penang.

Operating Hours:
3pm - 6pm (Close earlier if Curry Mee is sold out)

Happy reading~