resourcefulness~

Yours truly has unpublished hundreds of older posted dated from 2008 till 2011. I will need some time in filtering out post which are food reviews from rantings and events of my *ahem* personal life. To kickstart the repost unpublished/archived posts on food, here is one of the many which I handpicked so that I can entice somebody whom I know :)

When hunger strikes.... when the weather is too cruel to allow you to have a "blow water" yumchar sessions... when dinner don't seem to give that satisfaction.... Is instant noodles your convenient answer?

Tonight, we will learn a twist from your usual bowl of noodles. The major ingredients needed are resourcefulness and improvisation. I crave for something soupy due to the rainy evening. Something slightly fiery would be perfect. Saw this packet of Ibumie Har Mee flavour. Before getting the final product as per above, a list of preparation needed to be made, which includes:

1) Saute the prawns, preferably with some sambal tumis paste/chilli oil if available in your fridge.

2) Deep fry the shallots. Drain and use for garnishing.

3) Fry the fish cake and thinly slice it.

4) Thinly slice some pork, in my version, I used roast pork (siu yoke). Just improvise with whatever you deem fit.

5) Hard boil egg and thinly slice it.

6) Cook noodles and drain it.

7) Prepare broth using MSG/prawn flavour provided and chilli oil. You may further improve the version by frying the prawn shells and keeping the oil to drizzle over before serving

8) Arrange accordingly and pour steaming hot soup over.

9) Garnish with some greens (kuchai only available - preferably they use kangkung)

10) Have some extra chilli flakes from Dominoes? Add in for that extra kick!

There you have it. Late night hunger pangs cravings with a twist. =) PRAWN MEE SUPREME! (easily beat any versions served outside)

Bukit Merah Laketown Waterpark Visit

It's been awhile since I last blogged. And to my dear readers, you will be abit disappointed for not seeing a food post. Yours truly has been on a dry season and did not really went food hunting regularly. Besides that,  I think I have tried out most of the eateries in Ipoh worth mentioning. How bout a short write up on a day trip instead. After all, its my first time driving long distance. Seriously, the furthest I drove was to Kampar only. And this time, I'm fortunate to make another milestone to drive up all the way to Bukit Merah.

Bukit Merah exit is just a short drive after the Taiping toll, if you are travelling from Ipoh. Toll cost involved: RM10.10 from Ipoh Toll to Bukit Merah Toll, with a time cost of slightly more than 1 hour. Petrol is a subjective matter but distance traveled was around 150km to and fro. 

Thank God for a day off! I have been a bit sick of working on public holidays, both recognised "unrecognised" public holidays. As long as the factory operates, I have to be at work. If the its within a "declared" PH by the company, then I will get a replacement day off. Yes, NO double/triple pay/allowances! So, I'm very glad to be away from work, at least for a day during the Raya period. Kelvin suggested to "play water". Hence we are here!

I was here at Bukit Merah Laketown during the H.U.G.E. Camp back in 2000 if I'm not mistaken. That time we only have free time to explore the Birdpark/OrangUtan Island.

I wonder how much the ticket has increased but its RM27 per person for the water park entrance. Good thing is.... flat rate for all season. So no surcharge on peak periods/holiday season.

Well, we have to leave our belongings in the locker. Handphones, wallets and cameras. So yes.... I did not get any pricey shots of myself enjoying that day. So one more picture before we get wet. =)

Yes this is the standard outfit. No spectacles, No buttons or jeans. No jewellery. Oh, that's the tube for rent. RM10. Without it, you will not get to play certain water slides.... Check in time, approx 11.30am...

Checkout time 4.00pm.... But the weather was real good. We kinda expected it to rain but it didn't. It was "just right". Ideally I prefer a clear morning sky with a cloudy afternoon but things turned out to be the opposite. Since we played till late afternoon, we did had quite measurable scale of sunburn.

These are some of the quick snapshots I got after my shower. I went in to snap pics of certain attractions. This is the Giant Wet Bubble. Only 6 people can enter at one go for a timed session. Make sure you make full use of it as you have to queue up for quite some time. Have a "last man standing" game and throw all your opponents down! Else, have a race to the top using the ropes. Or you can just play safe by syiok sendiri jumping on the inflatable bubble~

This is how you make full use of the RM10 rent for the tube. The Giant Tube Slides. Else you can laze around with the tube in the Wave Pool or the Lazy River. For more "intimacy", take off your shirt and go for the Body Slide, where you have direct contact with the slide surface. There are 2 lanes, one in which you will go through turnings causing a slight nauseating experience. The other one, you will end up having water inside your nostrils if you do not hold your breath as its a straight slide down to the pool.

This is the ultimate ride in the whole park. Enter The Boomerang! One person at a go... Scream all you want. But if possible, open your eyes la and feel the G force on your body. Not as horrifying as the Space Shots in Genting, the initial journey downwards definitely gets your heart beats faster.

Final shot - posing with a Buaya on the "Wave Pool". Please peeps, if you called me a Buaya, think again, when was the last time  did i buaya you? It was a all guys trip... except for somebody's gal tagging along. And yes, I did not buaya also. But I did "cuci mata" abit.... once in a while, okla to spend this amount =) This sums up my Raya-Merdeka break, putting aside yumchar sessions every nite. 

Dad's Birthday celebration at Daorae~

Perhaps you might be thinking. What?! Now only Daorae is being reviewed? It's more than half a year! Or nearing a year. Well, the fact that I haven't tried Daorae until now is because it's ain't cheap. And most of my potential makan partners have already tried it at least once with their family or other friends. Well, looks like I have to try it with my family as well.

Upon entering the Tatami dining area, I saw this framed poster! Well, its a Korean BBQ restaurant. What do you expect. At least the side dishes are more easily recognizable compared to the members of Super Junior.

Ginseng, Korea's pride! A whole cabinet on display but definitely not for sale.

There are a few private rooms available. This are can sit around 20 people. Just right for a private function. I noticed there are other smaller tatami rooms too.

Else, head to the public dinning area. Choose to be seated in chairs....

... or on the floor. We were ushered to this tatami area. Guests must remove their shoes to step into this area. Well lit and spacious, there are many tables in this area.

Occupying almost an area of about 6-8 shoplots (3-4 on the left and right, inclusive of the walkway) Daorae is situated on the 1st floor of De Garden at one far corner of the building. In addition to the exorbitant rent, a huge lump were invested in fixing the exhaust vents and the charcoal grill stove. The exhaust system were proven to be very strong to ensure that the smell on your clothes were kept to the bare minimum.

Seaweed Soup. Its slightly different compared to Japanese Miso soup. It has a slight resemblance to the Chinese Choy Kon (Sun Dried Vege) Soup. Not salty at all but it has an appetizing umami trait which is a good kick start to a hearty meal ahead.

Uploaded in a random order, here comes the Macaroni Salad. Lightly dressed with mayonnaise with carrot and cucumber strips. This is a side order you will look forward to if you are not really full from the BBQ meat.

Tamago (Thick Omellete Slices) - a item which is very familiar in Japanese Cuisine. A piece or two would be great. And it provides an extra layer to be wrapped in the lettuce roll later. Read on.

Egg custard (Chawan mushi ala Korea) - velvety smooth - make sure you finish while its still hot.

Pickled.......... erm Cucumber? Seriously no idea. I just had one cube and it was abit hard. Prefer the Kim Chi than this.

Cockles in spicy and sourish sauce. I didn't try this AT ALL! I don't really take this mollusc. Am a bit paranoid of food poisoning if this is not handled/cooked properly.

Potato Balls. Again similar to the Croquette but this paled in comparison because it is already cold and slightly soggy. I mean, fried things should be best eaten fresh upon frying. Else, try a piece or two just to fill up your stomach.

Ermm... Beansprout. Wonder is was blanched or sauteed. But the fragrance of the sesame oil is imminent. The bean sprout is a bit overdone if you are a firm believer that taugeh should be at its juicy best! Else, its a great munch ni between savouring your meat.

Ahhhhh.... KIMCHI. How could a meal in a Korean restaurant be incomplete with this side dish. Cabbage is pickled alongside garlic, chilli, onions and in some version fruits. Unrefined sesame oil and unpasteurized vinegar are highly recommended to be used to preserve this dish and it brings health benefits from the good fatty acids components. Kimchi is said to be an anti oxidant and it lowers the cholesterol level too. Besides that, it is said to promotes good intestinal health from the good bacteria (Forgot those name, please refer to Vitagen advertisement =p). If you can't be bothered by the health facts, just remember this: KIMCHI is a staple food of the Korean community. It's convenient, can multitask in many dishes and can be kept in the fridge for weeks without any chemical preservatives!

It's so unfair, Kimchi got all the limelight in the long paragraph before and nobody care to elaborate much on the pickled eggplants with capsicum. =S

Even the spinach got more recognition. Its the only GREEN and UNPRESERVED one among the banchan(s). Providing the necessary fibre for the meal, we could not help but asked for refill twice for the spinach which was not overdone or too old. The young to the toothless senior citizens would be able to chew it, less to mention the lightly flavoured oil dressing in tossing up this vege side dish

This is when the banchan mostly occupied most of the space on our table. Our table were abit too small. Bear in mind the mains have not made their entries yet.

Furthermore every person is served with dipping sauces for the BBQ meat. There is the salt infused oil. some sweet sauce and fermented bean paste which was very mild spicy.

Without waiting long, the waiter came with a small cauldron of glowing red charcoal to fill in beneath the hot plate. Sometimes I wonder, although the prices of food here is slightly above your normal restaurant, one must bear in mind the operation cost and the decor/renovation. Take for example, there is must be charcoal ready throughout their business hours. And the charcoal must be maintained at the "just right" amber state

Food here are grilled by their own staff. So make sure no impatient smart alecs grabbing a piece directly from the grill as it may not be cooked to the desired level. Let the waiter/staff do the cooking. They will dish up the cooked meat, cut it into bit sized pieces (if necessary) and serve it in a separate bowl for the customers. This is a portion of Woo Sam Kyup (RM45) which is thin slices of marbled beef without marinade....

... and it turns out to this! I choose the plain version for me beef as I would like savour its original and natural flavour. At first, dad thought this was pork as it looked abit like bacon. Tastewise, it was not really flvaoured. The bovine essence was not strongly present. I expected a more robust beefy taste.

This is the Daeji Gal-bi (RM28) which is pork ribs in sweet sauce marinade. Though it says RIBS, but the meat were actually boneless. This dish really gets my thumbs up. The meat was marinaded well from the inside out~ Juicy and yet flavourful, similar to the sweet sauce used in marinading Char Siu. The grilled garlic and caramelized onions is a MUST to be fitted into your lettuce-meat wrap

Dak Gal-bi (RM28)- boneless lean chicken meat marinaded in a spicy sauce. I do not really like this dish as the sauce did not really penetrate into the meat. More like a "make up", in other words, just on surface. Furthermore, I find the chicken meat not firm and was abit.... soft because of over marinade or has the chicken been frozen for quite some time. Hmmm... No wonder the pork occupies nearly 2 pages, the beef 2 pages too while the chicken/lamb and squid were all squeezed into 1 single page in the menu. Looks like their forte is red meat, particularly prime cuts of beef (which don't come cheap, mostly around RM60-75 for premium portions)

Knowing that meat alone wont be able to satiate our hunger during dinner time. We tried a noodle dish called Janchi-Gook-su (RM18). In a nutshell, it is actually wheat noodles simmered in broth with seafood. Nothing really spectacular for this dish but it's a fresh alternative to your Nabe Udon in Japs places.

Soon-dubu-jjigae (RM18) was actually a spicy soup/broth/stew like which has tofu, vegetables and some seafood in it. You can opt for other versions with beef or pork belly. Served in a bowl on top of a stone plate, you are assured of hot and pipping soup for every spoonful. I ordered this dish as I'm always curious on how the characters in Korean series slurp their meal out loud when enjoying this. Comes with a bowl of white rice, I too imitated how the Koreans eat. =p

Yes, this is the bowl of rice which came long with soupy dishes. Upon ala carte ordering, it is charged at RM5 a bowl!!! Yes, this is one of the fact known to me which made me procrastinating to give Daorae a try. At first, I did not noticed the rice since it was nicely served in a stainless steel bowl. I enquired the waiter about the rice which never came along with the soup. The waiter came with the bowl of rice later...

Little did I know that the bowl of rice was on the table all this while. Lets play a short game to test your eyesight. Noticed in the picture the one with the yellow circle was the "untouched, unseen" bowl of rice. If I did not tell you that there were 2 bowls of rice, you would've missed it out too in the beginning, just like me. I mean which so many items on the table, what can you expect rite? =p

All in all, the meal was a fresh experience for us. My whole family, me inclusive, have not tried Korean Cuisine before. Though I would prefer Japanese cuisine (at this rate, I can have a decent meal in Hokkaido), I don't mind coming back to try other stuffs once in a blue moon. During its opening, I read from a couple of blog complementing the good and friendly service but my dining experience was just quite mediocre. We did not even get the complimentary Korean savoury pancake if they feel that "you have ordered exceedingly" beyond their expectation. The total damage was RM151, still not qualified for the pancake mer? Anyway, I hope it was an eye opening experience for dad, at least to certain extend, it was for me =)

my VAIO~

Make. Believe. Their tagline. Buy. Believe. My tagline. RM3k is not a small amount considering its use for the purchase for a laptop. But it's a price paid mostly for branding and exclusiveness. My first laptop was from the Acer Aspire series in which it was spoilt after 2-3 years of usage. The hinge was broken and later on motherboard fried when nearing the completion of its 3rd year of service to me. I don't think I was a rough master as the Compaq CQ40 served me well past its 3rd year mark but I think its time to get a new one. After all, there is tax exemption of RM3k for purchasing personal computer once in 3 years. I mean, if its time to change, why not? Rather than entering the pockets of corrupted officials.

I just got this Vaio C Series laptop on 8/8, an auspicious day! Upon opening the case, there is the Vaio laptop (of course), battery charger with 3 different pin plugs, spec sheet, warranty guide and a quick start up guide. The "guide" was brief indeed as it shows the parts name and how to power up and backup your lappie. Rest assured that the complete manual is pre loaded in your laptop. =)

I chose the neon green colour. Among the C series, there are white, black, pink, orange and green. There are 2 latest colours of red and blue to the series but somehow its either down to choose between orange and green for its outstanding light reflective index of the material used to produce its body.

A full picture of this laptop. 14 inch screen weighing at approximately 2.4kg with the battery. Well, I chose this over the Acer Time Line X series intel i3 processor 13 inch model which was lighter and thinner @RM1999. But sorry to say, I'm doubtful over Acer's durability. Hence, I decided to try out Sony's Vaio.

Got this from Sony Centre in Kinta City. Comes with an additional warranty and a free Vaio bacpack. And... a pretty salesgirl which gave me very good attention and professional in promoting the products. No, the girl is not a free gift, but part of the service =)

Coming back to the lappie, it has an Intel i5 processor 2.3 GHz, with the turbo boost technology to 2.9GHz when you are multitasking. 4GB of RAM should be enough for you to run Windows 7 Premium with the Aero functions and a few gadgets at the side. 500GB of hard disk should be sufficient, and it has a spindle speed of 7200rpm instead of the usual 5400rpm, bridging the gap between the performance of a laptop to one of a powerhouse desktop.

Other than netbooks and entree level lappies, most of the lappies nowadays would come with a graphic card. my Vaio C series has a built in Intel HD graphics for balanced and normal usage. Once a programme such a games start to load, you can configure for performance priority and thats where the dedicated 1GB of video memory from the ATI Radeon chip kicks in!

Vaio does have its own software which offer updates online. The ASSIST button will initiate a user friendly rescue attempt to backup your system, reformat, etc. Upon pressing, the WEB button also launches a internet browser without booting up Windows. Once Wifi is already activated and in range, you can start surfing the web within 5 seconds! That's almost on par with the boot up time for the Mac! Though only web browsing can be done (no MSN, no adjusting volume, brightness, etc...) its a very useful button to me to like check up football scores the night before when I have a few spare minutes before going to work. Both ASSIST and WEB button can be activated when the system is shutdown. The customizable VAIO button is a shortcut key for your media gallery and other Vaio softwares like Vaio Gate, etc.

It comes with a HD 1.3MP effective pixels webcam, ideal for Skype conversation. Although the slow internet connection at home maybe a deterrence for high definition video calls, but it might come in handy sometimes elsewhere. The webcam also serves its purpose in the hand gesture media selection. Browsing and selecting songs, pictures, videos without the click of the mouse by swiping your hands mid air left and right. It's not really a practical feature, but perhaps they wanna give you a sample on how Playstation Move and Eye Toy works.

The light emitting material is not meant to be misunderstood as glow in the dark material. It only displays its strength when under proper lighting. When the surrounding is dark, something else will take on the centre stage, just like the picture below.

Yup, the illuminated keyboard strikes out when the surrounding is dark. The light sensor triggers the backlit keyboard in dim conditions like a typical setting in a coffee house. I might wanna disable the function if I'm running on battery. The 6 cell battery should last you around 2-3 hours of usage unless you are running power draining programs.

So there is it, a brief but comprehensive review on my new laptop. Why not a Mac Book Air with that price? Perhaps I want something exclusive. Everybody else owns an Iphone or Macbook in one way or another. Yeah, I'm glad to be a proud owner of something sharp in colour. So far so good with my new toy, Vaio C series =)