Nyonya Colours

Upon my arrival to KL by train, I stopped by Midvalley to kill time before heading to Serdang in the evening. And this time, I managed to meet with Jin Ann over a late lunch break in Nyonya Colours, The Gardens LG walkway. Seriously I had no idea where to dine, though I'm really spoilt between choosing the promotional priced Fish And Chips in Manhattan Fish Market and Paddington House of Pancakes.

I'm surprised to see Nyonya Colours packed to the brim at lunch hours. Many office staffs flocked this place as I understand they offer decently priced meals without you sweating hot buckets under your long sleeved shirt. I was not attracted to try their main meals here. Perhaps I'm not a person who will pay RM10 for my nasi lemak, just to dine in air conditioned space. I decided to try their desserts - Thab Thim Krob (RM3.50). Initially I was shocked to see only a small teaspoon of toppings? Well, I was glad to find more jackfuits and the reddish water chestnuts under the shaved ice poured with coconut milk.

Jin Ann had the Cendol. We haven't been meeting up or really catching up since we left Form 6, so I'm not in the level where I will dig into her bowl of dessert and taste it blatantly. =p But from her comments, the bowl of Cendol failed to deliver.

There was a myriad of colours among the dainty morsels of Nyonya kuihs. I just randomly chose two to tame my stomach while catching up with a long lost friend before searching on what to eat later. Stay tune for my next meal! =D

Ah Khai's Famous Char Siu, PJ

For lunch on my second day, we headed to PJ to meet up with Je Mein, co-founder and marketing manager for a part time recruitment agency, Your Part Time. He brought us to somewhere in Paramount Garden, in an ordinary looking chinese kopi char bou named Restoran Simon’s Delight (sounds like western food huh?). To be exact, I got this photo from Citygal's post, and got to know that the exact location is in Section 20, Petaling Jaya. Apparently the person behind this stall is an MBA holder!!!

As seen from the stall, Ah Khai Famous Char Siu Chicken Rice took pride with the cut-out from The Star. But let's see how the Char Siu lifts up to its name. Upon arrival, the Char Sius gave a different impression from the stereotype reddish coloured ones. Rest assured that artificial red colouring is used to the bare minimum, or virtually avoided at all here. You are rewarded with sinfully flavourful naturally caramelized charred bits! Remember to finish up the cucumbers to neutralize the carcinogenic effect though! =D

The Char Siu uses lean meat for roasting. A very different part of the swine is used here. The meat fibres resemble those used in stewed pork, resulting in chunks instead of slices of char siu upon presentation on your dining table. We opted for the "bun fei sau" (half fat, half lean). The verdict? I'm not really a fan of roasted meat which has distinguishable layers of lean meat and fat. The tender lean meat was easily seperated from the fat, thus allowing us health freak, me included, to scrap off part of the fat layers. I would prefer those amalgam-ed types of roasted meat which leaves you no choice but to take a bite into virtue and vice at the same time! =D

I'm not really captivated by the Char Siu's here as I'm accustomed to those "siu lam" (ribs), whereby you don't get chunks of lean meat but more of bits of meat which you desperately scraps of from the bone. Perhaps those who fancy lean meaty charsiu's will favour this version. Chicken here is not too outstanding either but passable! You can identify a crowded restaurant here during lunchtime, but again I have to admit again, KL people's taste buds and preference are indeed..... weird different!

A simple gift means alot....

A simple birthday gift means a lot.... In fact, this is the only birthday gift I received this year besides getting from my parents. I really miss the times where friends will go the extra mile in looking for a pressie to make you smile. As we age, don't talk about presents, even there are so many people not remembering or bothered to wish you on your birthday. Even so, the easiest way out is spamming one's FB wall. Really miss the time whereby they spam my hp with calls and sms instead.

Oh, a special thanks to my friends who remembered me while they were having fun in Bali. The obscene shaped keychain was a cheeky present. =p

Happy Easter Day!

Greatest man in history, named Jesus....

Had no servants, yet they called him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher.

Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer.

Had no army, yet kings feared Him.

Had won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today

Domino's Pizza Chocolate Lava Cake

While waiting for photos from a belated birthday treat this morning at Qi Yuan, I promise you another coverage with more items savoured. And this time, with higher quality photos as my makan gang tugged in, among them a sharp shooter with her DSLR. But before that, I shall have a short review over my Domino's Pizza dinner. Nothing new except for the Chocolate Lava Cake.

Yup, I had it delivered to my doorstep. Hence it was in an aluminium foil casing. It turned out to be smaller than the advertised size. Judging by its price, its still abit steep for RM4.40 AFTER a 50% discount. I mean, who would pay RM8 for a piece of cake the size smaller than the saucer for your teacup.

Though it indeed tastes good.... and it means business when it proclaimed itself to be LAVA cake. The rich chocolate sauce was indeed oozing out though the cake was only eaten after we finished our pizzas, around half an hour later after it was delivered? Verdict? Not bad. Decent dessert for a fast food chain.

At The Cross

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

But I say, Father, forgive US, for we KNOW what we are supposed to do, but we keep FAILING to DO IT!

At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

IKUPM Musical 2011 - Could It Be Love?

Couldn't find a better time to post this up. The day just before Good Friday....

It was an early Easter for IKUPM this year. And for the first time (well, first time as far as I know of) we had a musical! I took 2 days off work to attend this musical back in UPM soil on the the 6th of April. Wednesday nights are synonymous to IKUPM members.

And the best part about it was.... IKUPM got an approval to get Panggung Percubaan UPM for our venue. Praise God for His favour! I'm sure the committee members must have prayed very hard and stepped out in faith. Peter told me, they already proceeded with the flyers without even confirming the booking of the hall! That was the reason why there were so many flyers/posters design as they keep on updating it from time to time. Their faith and passion got rewarded with a overwhelming response. I'm not sure how many people can the Panggung Percubaan can fill, but perhaps near 1k?

We were blessed to have Juwita Suwito as our guest performer of the night. Besides belting a few songs as an opening act, she also collaborated in one of the scenes of the sketch/musical. Besides that, our guest speaker was Andy Yeoh from Acts Church. He was the one behind pioneering the Recess Revolution Movement. He was a down to earth speaker and could relate with the crowd well. Normally people will just walk off during the message session but I noticed almost everyone stayed on. Well, I was so glad that at least hundreds more people got an understanding that Easter is NOT about rabbits or colourful eggs but its about the death of Jesus Christ on the cross on Good Friday. But the story doesn't end there. He rose up and ascended to heaven on the 3rd day thus its called Easter Sunday. Easter is about redemption and second chance, in other words victory over sin and death! =D

Before the message was illustrated to the audience, the night kicked off with a short but good time of praise and worship. I didn't expect to see so many quiet juniors before I left has now taken up responsibilities, namely Daniel on drums, Deenie on the keys, Jason and Eliza on vocals. They sang "Your Grace is Enough", which is one my fave songs.

Musical is never complete without dancing, on top of vocals. The costume were simple but yet projected a myriad of colours in every dance scene. I didn't know some people I met during uni days could dance so well. =)

A scene from "Could It Be Love?" sketch. A very cliche storyline but moving and touching too. Revolves around a broken family whereby one of the siblings lived in bitterness and resentfulness prior to a childhood and upbringing without much care and affection. Two of the female leads in the musical. Joyce Tang playing "Jane" and Bee Koon playing.... erm "mom"??Bee Koon did a very good job in portraying a defensive single parent protecting her kids, really can see her put her heart and soul in the character. Joyce, the musical director for this musical, played a quiet and fragile character, caught the crowd's attention, when she belted "Only Hope", a song made popular by Mandy Moore from the movie A Walk To Remember.

The male leads.... Peter portraying an elder bro who cares for his family and Andy playing his violent character, the black sheep of the family. John 15v13: Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.is the theme for the whole musical, until its climatic ending, whereby the elder bro took blame for a murder which his younger brother was supposed to be convicted with. Similarly, the plot was to make us ponder back Jesus took the blame for our sins, to die in a humiliating manner so that we may have a second chance in life.

One more shot of Peter and her "gf" in the musical, Kelly, played by Stella. This is one of the most amusing scene. Perhaps I know Peter well as a buaya. I think he do not need to refer to the script for this scene. Sweet words can easily come out as it is in his blood. How I wish I'm 2-3 years younger, then I will be the one playing his character in this scene. And I'm confident I can do better. =D

After the climatic scene , the gals presented a mime to the song "At The Cross". Phew, thankfully its not "We Were The Reason" again, which I felt its an overused song, though very meaningful song with a emo-ish melody. I'm now waiting for any of my friends who recorded this video to send to me so that I can learn it up and bring it back to my hometown church. At the end of the musical, Andy and Joyce belted a duet with a self titled theme song.

It was indeed a good gathering to meetup with old IKUPMers. This is a group photo of the Engineering Cell Croup from my year up to the latest intakes which I haven't meet them before. So it was worth my 2 days off work since I can't attend the IK Annual Dinner (again!) because my company annual dinner clashes with it!

Not to forget a chance to meetup with my juniors, 2 years younger. A fun and happening batch. Similar to mine. Normally for my course, the intakes will have a proven pattern: studious, happening, studious, happening, and the cycle goes on! I'm indirectly saying, my batch is the fun and happening one too, and im one big contributor to it! rawrssss! Just got to know that Ying Huey was in the dance team too. Great job!

And I have an enjoyable night. I'm sure all of you deserve a pat on the shoulder for all the effort put in. Be it the ones on the forefront till the backstage crew and ushers, you have done a good job. And now, don't stop just yet as followup-ing on new members and those interested to know more after discovering the real reason behind Easter is about Jesus's death and resurrection on the cross is indeed crucial. Keep the faith and I'm sure IKUPM will grow from strength to strength!

Peking Pan Mee Noodle Shop

Pardon me for not updating my blog regularly. The journey of food hunting seems to found a big obstacle when my camera was drowned inside my sling bag, thanks to the loosely capped bottle. And it happened on my birthday. Sigh...

And as I was holding my company's camera, I managed to do a simple review of Peking Pan Mee Noodles Shop in Medan Ipoh Bestari, directly opposite Kafe Tim. My parents told me that Kafe Tim also has a stall which serves good Pan Mee, but comes with a long wait, sometimes lasting till 45 minutes. We had breakfast here one Saturday morning after I felt like taking a break from K10's liu fun. Well, it was my 2nd visit this time. I had the Chi Keong Duck Pan Mee (RM5) on my first visit with my colleagues. This time, Dad was adventurous and tried the Curry Pan Mee (RM4.30) which was richly laden with coconut milk.

This is the Kei Chi Pan Mee. Wolfberries were extracted to make the noodles hence resulting in a dark orange colour. The soup have a subtle hint of keichi, but abit bitter/"keip" to my mom's liking. My parents are used to pan mee which serves generous servings of ground pork meatballs and tender pork slices and ikan bilis flavoured soup. So their way of evaluating a good old bowl of pan mee might be different, though I do agree that the sayur manis and fried ikan bilis and good sambal belacan is part of the scoring criteria too =D

Trying something different from the rest, I had the Claypot Salted Vegetables Fish Head Pan Mee (RM8) Yup! Pan Mee can be used instead of rice vermicelli! The soup was indeed appetizing with salted veges, tomatoes and seaweed to flavour it, not to mention velvety smooth tofu. And the star of the dish was indeed the generous portion of fried fish heads. The fish head pieces were chopped to friendly sizes and does not have any fishy odour.

Last but not least, the woman asked me to try their home made Yong Tau Fu. At RM3 for 2 huge pieces, I have to agree its a steal, especially those who prefer a light lunch. Served with bean paste sauce, the taufu stuffed with pork+fish meat were fried to a crispy exterior.

Reasonably priced yet authentically tasty Thai Food

After reading posts from Motormouth, I finally get to have a taste of the renowned unsung hero of Ipoh Garden East-Bercham territory. When it comes to Thai food, there are not much options in Ipoh, except for a few decent restaurants like Koh Samui. Remove the pricey tags in compensation of a hawker stall ambience, Thai Wong from Nakhom Pathom Specials can easily whisk up a few champion dishes.

For example, their Tom Yam soup is a clear winner! The fiery red concoction will leave you sweating buckets since this place is not air conditioned! As seen, Thai Wong is ever generous with ingredients. You get what you pay for, with squids and prawns enough to accompany your rice by itself. This will get you downing additional rice as the soup was pleasantly sourish and spicy but abit salty to my liking.

Glass Chicken Feet Salad - Not that they incorporate glass to coat the chicken feet. duh! but the translucent chicken skin from the chicken feet is the star of this dish, contributing to the good mouth feel, slightly crunchy and juicy, just like you are eating the fungus (suet yee). Coupled with the tangy nature of tomatoes, vinegar, lime juice and generous portion of onions, if this dish doesn't give you the headstart in a meal, what does?

For those who fancy semi ripe mangoes, do try their Thai Mango Salad. The version here is slightly different as it was very pungent in taste rather than swaying to the refreshing side. The salad is drenched in vinegar and sugar, giving a robust taste! Be careful of birds eye chilli as it may give you a long lasting sting towards the meal. The amount of dried cuttlefish is not very much to be seen but it was substituted partially with chopped cashew nuts.

Thai Styled Steamed Tillapia. You can opt for a Lemon Grass Style or have it done using Sting Ray. Mix and match do apply here! Mix and match wisely though as I wouldn't advise you to order the thai styled steam fish if you have ordered Tom Yam soup.

Lala Omelette. Generous portions of chopped lalas are used in this dish. The egg is fluffy and far from being oily. Besides this, they also serve Or Chein if you fancy oysters.

Thai Fried Chicken. I read from a blog post that this dish was praised up to heavenly realms. But in reality, the dish arrived slightly cold, probably pre-fried and reheated upon serving. The reheating step probably was not enough, maybe due to the oil not hot enough. It did not delivered the crispy exterior as promised, though the flesh within was kinda juicy. What is fried stuffs when its not pipping hot, ryte?

Thai Styled Fried Fish Cakes! With chunky portions, one pieces should be enough for one person. And a small serving for 3 came in 5-6 pieces! Gasps! The fishcake is abit too chunky for my liking. I think one piece here is equivalent to 3 pieces served in Koh Sam Mui! And a small portion here costs only half of that in Koh Samui. Now, you do the maths! =p

Last but not least, this is the Chicken with Basil Leaves. I do not really fancy the version here as I prefer something more delicate and the chicken used is too chunky! I ordered this on my first trip because I wanted something with gravy. Well perhaps I would try the Green Curry. The food here is quite reasonably priced. 1st trip: 1 salad + basil chicken + tomyam + fish cake = RM33 with 3 big rice. 2nd trip: 1 salad, fried chicken, steamed fish+ lala omelette = RM43. Come earlier on weekends as you will be doomed when the crowd comes in full force around 7pm!

Another trip to KL tmrw - reminiscence of the past weekend!

Without much realisation, I'm heading down to KL once again! My previous visit was just around slightly more than a month ago? This time around, I think I wont be playing Mahjong in Shinyee's house or camwhoring in a airport (!!!). Let me do some recollection over the moments hanging out in an airport while regrouping with another few friends to meetup for dinner in Kampung Baru Subang.

Not to mention, living like a KL-ite, caught up in the lust of material possession. I spent just one weekend there, and when I got home, suddenly I felt so sucky to drive a petrol thirsty national car, working on Saturdays with a relatively low pay and felt that I'm so far from all my wishlist - a DSLR, home theatre system, at least an item by Steve Jobs, oversea trips, a Japanese brand car or even a house! If I were to work in KL, I wonder would I be able to brace through all of these temptations the world has to offer. So much material possession, so little money.

Imagine most people are driving cars like these..... Don't you feel tempted to own one? =) I do.... at least there aren't many cars such as this in Ipoh. Spare me the peer pressure. Though I would love to own at least a sport performance car, AT LEAST once in my life. And with my low Ipoh salary range, God knows how. If the cars won't get in your head, perhaps all the branded stuffs in Pavilion or Starhill Gallery does. I feel so inferior if I'm walking with short pants and slippers here.

With my Ipoh salary, perhaps I still can afford a round of window shopping or even shopping once in a blue moon in KL. Not a shopaholic by nature, the craving for good food is always present in my blood. And gosh, how I wish to grab one Subway loaf as soon as I step out of the KTM. I wonder what is the Sub of the Day for Wednesday. =)

And places which I definitely wanted a revisit. One would be Levain. How blissful it is to have a pastry breakkie or brunch on a lazy weekend with an old style cottage setting. And the best of it all, it won't hurt your pocket much.

Especially with close ji muis.... Some things are better chat with girls. We can't deny that the fairer gender is blessed with genes of good listeners. Better still, one which also shares the same interest with me, which is EATING! =)

Chilling out in Sunway Giza. Well, I'm such a kampung boy to know that Sunway Giza its not in Sunway, its in Kota Damansara. There are alot pubs and cafes here. And this place will be packed to the brim if there were football matches!

A simple gathering with my coursemates who are working in KL after I failed to enter our CNY gathering due to the Perak State Christmas Musical. Of all the places we chose to chill in OverTime bar. No clubbing this time around because we seriously need to talk and update each other.

Males are a rare "commodity" in my course. And tonight, I present you the 3 best ones! The 3 most happening ones - excel in almost everything, except academic! =p

MILO ain't the drink for Champions. BEER is!!!! Hahaha.... It's my first time drinking Starker beer. Available in two types, Aromatic or the Full Lager. We had the Aromatic, which was lighter and have a faint sweet taste. I would recommend the Aromatic to those who are in their baby steps into enjoying booze. RM15 for half a pint, RM28 for a full pint, RM300 for a barrel!

Managed to meetup with most of my IKUPM Engineering Cell Group members over the signature Roti Diana. A dish not found in mamak elsewhere. The roti canai is shredded, stir fried with some vegetables, fried chicken cuts and curry. Then it is wrapped in an omelette. Some of us guessed that this dish got its name because it look like a CAR WRECK. =o This is one stall which houses the unsung heroes which loyally serving UPMers without much affected by the price hike. Thanks to this stall, I'm so much motivated during the study/exam week. Though most of the time, overeating here cause me to doze off while revising my work =p

The following morning, I had breakfast at Bao Long, a common chinese eatery well known to all UPMers. People in Serdang fancy certain dishes alot. You can find Pan Mee stall almost everywhere, but the ingredients used is really below standard. It's common to find pork meat balls, fishballs, fu chuk unlike REAL PORK meat patties and pork slices for Pan Mee found in Ipoh. Other than the disappointing LATT TONG (spicy pepper soup), Serdang also takes pride in Hakka Yong Tau Fu and Fish Head Noodles.

Last but not least, video games arcades have the latest game machines. Among them, my favourite dance game, PUMP IT UP. The FIESTA edition compiled popular hit song from all the predecessor release. The LCD screen with MVs accompanying the latest songs really bring the game to another level. Besides that, a few rounds of PARA PARA PARADISE cleansed me from all the guilt of overeating in the last 24 hours. Time to doze now, as I will be up for another 2 days in KL. Looking forward to the Easter Musical tmrw night!