Watercolour!

I was bored. with nothing to do. nothing to watch. at least not that interest me. so i paint. it's so sad to have such a boring life as a postgrad student.
The first one would be themed as "Growth" -  growth is never impossible even under the worst circumstances. determination decides how we strives! I got inspired by a very good painting in the web as well with three stones as the theme..so i modified it a little....:D (cos kenot get mine to look as nice)

This painting is based on a technique i saw online. using blotches of colours den transforming them into flowers... :) not as nice as the original painting i saw but oh well

Winter Solstice to Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is here. Christmas is just hours away. I have so many pictures of food and restaurants pilling up but I don't seem to have the time to actually start writing and uploading them. Just bear with me and once I finish my thesis and finals, guess I'll be doing all that in one shot. Winter Solstice has come and passed and I din really feel it that much...it used to be a very exciting day or rather, a nite before my mum, sis and I would start rolling up the 'tangyuan' or glutinous rice balls and keep them in the fridge. The next day, we'll all boil them together like a mother-daughters project in the sweet sugary soup. Even though I have never liked glutinous rice balls, the process of doing them were so much fun that I'll even reluctantly eat up a bowl when my mum made me. Those days were over now since my sis and I are so far apart and mum's no longer here. :(
 

Taken from googling and the owner's site is depicted

The Tang Yuan we used to make never really had a real recipe...which is prolly why it's more fun...
We just gauged about half a pack of the glutinous rice flour, so prolly around 150g? or 200g? and made a hole in the middle and started pouring bit by bit the water and start kneading till it form a soft dough...adding in 2-3 tbs of fine sugar as we go along. We then divide them into three: 1) White (current ones) 2) Pink 3) Green

The pink ones are done by adding 2-3 drops of red colouring or more if we want them brighter

The green ones are done by adding blended juice of pandan leaves


Once that's done, we roll them up and if we're leaving them overnight, we put them in a covered container or tray with a wet cloth over it...
Cooking Procedure:
Big pot of hot boiling water
1) drop in each balls once by one and once they float, transfer them to a bowl of cold water

Second pot of hot boiling water
1) add screwpine leaves/pandan and sugar (as sweet as you want) and drop those cooked tangyuan inside..

Easy-peasy. The reason I chose the pic above is probably cos ours usually look like that. But our white ones are usually bigger and there's 12 or 13 of them...haha...the rest are all smaller ones..

Oh how I missed those days...

Thanks to UTM's new academic calendar, I couldn't even go back home for Christmas and is stuck in the uni the whole of December. Oh well, at least there's CNY hols to look forward to. Maybe I'll just spend my Xmas Day in some Cyber Cafe to pass time or do some drawings. Today is not a very good day...a lil pissed at what I thought as privacy violation but will try my very best to forget about it. Sometimes I wonder, how could people whom you thought know you, don't really do. And those whom you thought do not know you well, seemed to know you better?

Nambawan Cafe, PJ

 Yeap. Finally came here after wanting to for a few years. Haha. This shop is situated in a rather not-so-convenient route I guess. The deco is pretty Ok and it's pretty warm inside. I can see A/C in the shop but I don't think they are switched on, which I can understand considering that there are not a lot of patrons. It's just us and another table. Oh, I forgot to take any photos of the drinks so....do excuse me ;P

This unassuming mushroom soup is surprisingly good for the RM3++ price tag. It is deliciously creamy and sweet? and tasted even better if you asked for the black pepper and dashed your way along your slurps. ;pp

This is the main reason I came actually. For the pork burger! RM6.90! Amazingly cheap eh? However, I was a lil dissapointed in this burger as I was expecting the tomato salsa which everybody seemed to get in their burgers (from their blogs) but not mine! *wails* "where's mine auntie?????"
Anyway, the patty was good and the burger overall was quite NYUM but it was a lil too well-done I think. I can feel the bitter after-taste from the too charred patty in between bites but I did not complain much cos it was so cheap. And also, cos I finished it too fast so basically I don't have the time :P

The Pork Chop on the other hand is slightly 'normal' I guess. Just two lean meat marinated in SHao Xing if I'm not mistaken? Or isit in the Sauce and deep fried in bread. Again, I shall stress here again that the price is low. So, kenot complain so much la! hahaha

NAMBAWAN RESTAURANT & CAFE
No 10, Sri Manja Square One,
Taman Sri Manja,
Jalan Klang Lama,
46000 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Telephone : 6016-224 1533 (Yap), 6013-263 2772 (Gilbert)
Business Hours : 12.00pm – 3.00pm, 6.00pm – 10.00pm
Closed on alternate Mondays.

Viet Cafe, Alor Setar

After endless hours of searching and googling online, I stumbled upon an entry of this place, Viet Cafe. Since the review wasn't bad about this place, I decided to give this place a try together with my sis for one of our dinner to avoid some serious squeezing in our brains for ideas. When we reached, the whole place was quite deserted except for one or two worker smoking in the front of the shop. Not exactly the kind of vibe any shops wanna give their patrons, eh? Anyway, braving ourselves for the next adventure, we decided to just go ahead and eat despite that. *sigh* Guess we are just some desperados for some foodacios in Alor Setar.

Inside, the deco is not exactly a disappointment even though it doesn't wow us away. :D

However, the overpriced drinks are a lil daunting. Hahaha. Soft drinks are OK I guess at RM3. However, coffee in this place (I saw some blogs saying the coffee was all that etc which encourages us to order! Argh! The irresponsibility of some bloggers! Please la...next time if not nice, say not nice...if from the 3-in-1 coffee, don't praise it like it's some sorta original coffee they make ownself etc). However, I shall still plough on...anyway, for the coffee, this is a very disappointing experience. My advice: Do not order the coffee unless you are expecting some mediocre watered-down version. For the owners, I am sorry if I offend you with this blog but this is my opinion only. And do compare the picture of the coffee I HAD and the coffee they DEPICT in their Facebook page. *double sighs* I don't get some shops. If you want good rep, maybe you should keep up the quality or at least try to?

The only thing I find commendable about the drinks is the fact that they used a very unique-ly shaped glass for the soft drinks. I guess I will grudgingly give them some bonus points for that.

THE COFFEE WE WERE SERVED

THE COFFEE THEY FEATURED IN THE BLOG.

As for the so-called famous fried popiah that again, one blogger highly recommend, let's just say I beg to differ. Looks-wise...quite pathetic...Filling-wise, very thinly put...Looks itself says a lot no? Like a wise man once said, a picture says a thousand words. Therefore, I shall leave this picture unexplained lest I get a letter from lawyers eh? :P Maybe I was expecting too much from all the praises some people are singing about this dish. So...maybe I was a lil biased...:S

The Mango Seafood Kerabu. This I shall say OK! Haha, it is quite good I guess. EXCEPT that the prawns they used were so unfresh that it leaves a slightly paper-ish sensation in my mouth. Eeekkk!

And...the seafood tanghoon. This is also not bad considering. Haha. See? I'm not as picky of an eater.

Viet Cafe
11 , Jalan Lengkok Sari, Taman Bandar Baru Mergong,, 05150 Alor Setar, Malaysia
Hours
Mon - Wed: 11:30 - 01:00
Thu - Fri: 11:30 - 02:00
Sat - Sun: 11:30 - 01:00

PS: the so-called free wifi is only for an hour and then it's blocked...:S weird cokot shop

Paradise Dynasty, Singapore

This place has the most unique flavours for their "xiao long bao" IMO. And all of them are so beautifully done in so many colourful small portions that they are irresistable albeit the rather steeper price compared to normal ones in Malaysia. :) They come in 8 flavours: Original, Garlic, Ginseng, Foie Gras, Black Truffle, Cheese, Crab Roe, and Szechuan for about SGD$19.80 per basket. I personally like the original, ginseng and the cheese. The rest like the garlic, foie fras are a lil...blahh..hahahahah. Do I think the premium ones are better than the original? Nahhh...I still liked the original better. So, I guess y'all will just have to try them out yourself. After all, one man's meat is another's poison *ahem* maybe not poison in this case, but you get wut I mean...

Their ramen though are EXCELLENT!
Especially their soup. The rib soup/broth isvery rich and sweet with the fragrant rib-scent coming to your senses with every slurp. ;P PS: This is the half eaten version. hahahhaha. This is the sliced lean meat ramen soup.

The dried version is not as impressive though but oh well, you can't have the best from both worlds sometimes :D Oya, this is the fried seafood ramen.

On a sad note, the lotus appetizer is very disappointing and I thought it tasted like they were just drenched in some mango or cordial syrup. Yikey! And it's a totally money wasted on this one.

This is the seafood appetizer. Seafood tosses together in soy sauce, vinegar, lime and lots of bird's eyes chilli. Very spicy but enticing :)

The hand rolled pastry with red beans is quite good despite the fact that I don't normally take this flakey pastry. I think this is one good version of it. Not too sweet and oily either :)

Paradise Dynasty is located at:

2 Orchard Turn, #04-12A
ION Orchard Singapore

Tel: +65 6509 9118

Operating Hours:
Weekdays 11am to 10pm
Weekends 10am to 10pm

For a cheaper alternative in Malaysia, go to HERE for nice xiao long baos :)

Din Tai Fung, Pavillion

Like usual, if you are at any restaurants like Din Tai Fung, Dragon-I or etc, wut else but to order their 'xiao long bao' or literally translated as little dragon buns. In this place though, I usually like their crab-meat xiao long bao better than their normal ones cos they are the only one with crab meat stuffings. Haha. However, in this shot here, we ordered the normal ones. This place boast of pretty decent xiao long baos with cheaper price as compared to Dragon-I. I guess maybe cos Dragon-I landed in Malaysia first? Or wut? I'm not sure too but anyway...here's the basket we ordered (Devoured in minutes or was it seconds?) Blerk!

The fried french beans with minced pork is a delicious addition if you're ordering dishes albeit a lil too well-done (the beans). It's savoury and fragrant so I definitely welcomed it after spending the whole day shopping around in the malls in KL.

The sweet and sour pork/chicken (can't remember) is decent as well. Portion was quite alright despite being served in a quite small plate. Hahaha...Maybe it's a trick of illusion of sorts eh? Making the dish appear bigger by using smaller plate? Anyway, we enjoyed this as well....or maybe we were just too hungry that time..:X

We ended up the dinner with a mango-rific dessert which is not as sweet as one would expect, but quite refreshing all the same especially after the quite filling dinner.

Oh well, Din Tai Fung is definitely a place I would always revisit. :) So I guess that alone says alot about the quality of food and the ambience...Don't you think?

Oya, to actually cover all the dishes, here are some other photos from my previous trips to Din Tai Fung in MidValley. I won't repeat what has already been covered though :)

The Prawn Fritter Thingie

They put whole prawn inside covered with very muchy mayo (a lil too much IMO) and some mango cubes...A nice starter if you like prawns and mango :)

Guess what? Hehe, yeapppp...the Crabmeat Xiao Long Bao! *lipsmack*

The Chicken Soup Ramen however is quite disappointing. I hated the gingerish smell which accompany the soup and I preferred Ramen from Dragon-I all the way or the place in Paradise Dynasty, Orchards Road, Singapore.Click HERE to view my take on it.

Located at Pavilion 6th Floor Lot No. : 6.01.05, Level 6
Tel. : 03-2148 8292.

What would Puss in Boots do?

Tell us how you would defeat the bad guys if you were Puss and Kitty Softpaws?

Well, if I am either one of the adorably cute felines, I would definitely defeat the baddies by....

WORKING TOGETHER! Like a lot of people say, two is always better than one. Some more, two sword-brandishing felines! This is definitely gonna be the best team ever! Not to mention we have lots of practices going on (to keep our claws *ahem* I mean, our sword-wielding techniques sharp, see? *rawrrrr*). And we are so gonna beat all the baddies down with some mean duo-combo in sword play! Heeeyyaaakkkkkk...Bring it ON baby!

And thennnnnnnnn....if THIS!

 

Or even THIS!

Fails to work, then maybe we shall just CHUCK AWAY the swords and go with.....
CAT-BOXING! *winks*

and add in some MEOW-THAI (Muay-Thai for Humans, see?) Let's see how the baddies are gonna run with us kicking and boxing them down to the ground!Yeeehhaaaaa!

Yeah! That's right! Don't let our super-cute furry self fool ya for we can be a real mean a$$-kicker when we wanna be! *MeowwwwSSSSSS*

If all fails, our last resort would be...the good old trusty BIG INNOCENT EYES!

Maybe you all might already know that Puss is good at this but imagine if there are two of us (Puss and Kitty Softpaws), then there would be a brown tawny puss and another velvety black kitty ready to pose. Who could resist? Then that would be the time when we catch the baddies off guard by digging our claws into them and bring them to their knees! MUawahahhahahah *heroic laughter* PS: You do NOT wanna try this at home kittens! It's for us adults only..:P

Lunch at Delicious

The very beautiful deco...me likey!
Bear was pretty enthusiastic to bring me here. According to him, ehem, most of the food here are quite good.

Dear Delicious, let's just say we are now quite disappointed in you. Bear got so high regards of you and yet you let him down. Yours sincerely, Me and Bear

LOL. Anyway, more on that later. We had plain water to start cos I had like two cups of coffee since morning :S and water is good for me! *healthy smirk*

For mains, he had Smoked Salmon with Sour Cream & Capers on Toasted Multigrain. Erhem, he usually have his oriental style food here but someone decided to go all western that day. :P When it arrived, he enthusiastically squeezed his lemon wedge all over his salmon before realising it's bad. EWW! And when we told the waiter, we are only given a replacement lemon instead of replacing the whole plate. Since he's rushing for time, we decided to leave it. *SULKS* PS: the bread is a lil dry too :S

As for moi, I ordered Carbonara Spaghettini with Wild Mushrooms, Beef Bacon, Oregano & Cream. I like it except I am used to having my carbonara without mushroom, more so when it's the oyster mushroom...:P

Total Damage: RM56

Interested? This one is at:
Delicious Cafe
A-6-01, Ground Floor, No. 3, Jalan Pinang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.
T: 603 2166 9099  F: 603 2166 7099
B: MON-SUN & PH: 11.30am - 10.00pm

The Apartment, KLCC

The Apartment. Have heard of the place from my sister quite long ago but has yet step foot into any of them. (They have branches in KLCC and The Curve too I think). Anyway, for the one in KLCC was next to Malones (both are under one company). We went in pretty early for dinner since it's raining outside and I guess the ambience is alright (for me) but Bear thinks it is very stuffy and hot :S Anyway, the Apartment boasted of some of the more famous Jamie's recipe in their menu...so..guess it is worth a try despite some not-so-nice reviews from other bloggers :D

For drinks, both of us ordered the same thing. Freshly squeezed mango juice! They use real juice here unlike a lot of so-called restaurants serving syrup or flavoured versions. :) RM12.50++

For appetizer, we had the baked aubergine (oven-baked aubergine topped with mozzarella & parmesan cheese, served with rocket & tomato-salsa) -RM8.90++ I find the aubergine prettty average but i liked the tomato salsa with its rather chunky tomato bits, as the sourish twang just managed to offset the slightly crumbly cheesy aubergine :)

Bear had the Malones' menu for his mains.Roasted Peppered Chicken (Halved roasted chicken glazed with black pepper sauce. Served with kedgeree and watercress). He loves it but it is slightly too spicy for me..very peppery...We both hated the rice though. It tasted like the MAS' in flight meal's rice...the ones you get served with rather bland chicken? :P Anyway, this is RM26.90++ but you would get it at a better deal during the lunch promo :S

Initially I wanted the duck pasta, but since they are out of it that night, I opted for the next best thing (or rather, the next nearest thing) THE DUCK CONFIT! It is defined as "slow-cooked duck served with potato wedges, apple, cherry tomatoes and plum chutney" in the menu and even from the description, I was expecting a sweet savoury dish and I was right :D The duck was nicely done (very soft and tender) and the sweetness of the sauce was nicely evened out with the very sourish green apple. The setting in the restaurant was so dark that I accidentally ate some of the spices along with the duck though..Pluerk! Anyway, I would say the confit of duck is worth ordering if you have a sweet tooth and is not adverse at having your mains in sweet savoury bites :D RM27.90++

We wanted desert at 1st, hence the rather normal orders for our dinner but apparently, even eating all those are very filling...so many desert another time?:P

I would say overall, my visit here is pretty pleasant except for a very enthusiastic waiter who keep peeping to see when we are done with our meals and keep clearing the table of crumbs and tiny specks of sauces etc. LOL. Granted, he is very efficient but it is a lil disturbing to have such constant interruptions even though it is just to clear our table (I believe leaving the plate for a minute or so before clearing is good? Rather than clearing it the minute we put our fork n knife close together) FUh!

The Apartment
Lot 139, 1st Floor, Suria KLCC
(facing the lake)
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
50088 Kuala Lumpur
Email: theapartmentklcc@chaswood.com.my
Phone: Tel: +603.21662257
Opening hours: 11am to 10pm

Malones
Lot G48 Ground Floor Suria KLCC
(Next to The Apartment)
Jalan Ampang, 50088 Kuala Lumpur