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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

One More Day to Halloween Day!

I came across this funny video of this Buffalax who edited a clip of an Indian version of Thriller and did the subtitles of what he/she thinks he/she is hearing in English. I thought this is a suitable and humorous post to put up in time for Halloween, my favourite day of each year ;o)



I first got to know about Buffalax's videos when Precious Pea directed me to a zany video link (the second video below this paragraph) in YouTube. However, this one is rather vulgar but it's so extremely funny, I had tears running down my cheeks and almost fell of my chair. So, be warned...if you are offended by such obscenities, DO NOT click on play. But for those who can take it, go on, CLICK on the play button, you won't regret it. Just don't blame me if you end up rolling on the floor with tears streaming down your face while your boss is hovering over you with his arms akimbo and with his "I'm NOT impressed!" look on his face. LOL! The choreography in both videos are filled with killer moves!



I bet that you, Mrs Pitt, will probably be running towards the toilet to pee while/after seeing this video!!! Sigh...thinking of the time I spent my Halloween in San Francisco! I did write about that back in October 2006 and I have decided to repost the entire "Happy Halloween" here today (so that I can go to bed earlier. Hehehe...). Happy reading!

I had the opportunity to celebrate Halloween in the States a couple of years back and had the most fun ever. Mrs Pitt and friends brought me to the "famous" Castro Street in San Francisco where they had the Halloween Street Party. There were signs plastered everywhere that no weapons were allowed and there were policemen at every corner. I must admit I was rather thrilled, a bit scared initially but amazed with the crowd and my surroundings. After soaking up the fun, I was more relaxed. Surely, you can understand why I felt a bit nervous in the beginning, right?
Not sure where I was, but I felt burning hot! Ha ha ha...."Girls" Just Wanna Have Fun!
Guardian Angels or Devils In Disguise?

There were cute and funny costumes too. There was this particular group of "medic" wheeling this "lady" laying on a hospital bed who was screaming and seem to be in pain. When I got closer to them, this was what I saw.
The "lady" had given birth! It's a girl! LOL.....
Animal Farm?
The REAL cowboys from Brokeback Mountain

Well, there are some pictures that I can't post as I don't want my post/blog to be flagged by some conservative folks. Let's just say, there were also some guys that wore a costume that was a replica of a certain part of a male anatomy. They were literally a giant walking ....! Talk about being a ....head, LOL! Oh well, for my last pic, I was really partly amused and scared at the same time. This guy must have been about 7 feet tall! I know I'm short but I'm not THAT short! I was really wondering whether he was going to let go of my neck after the picture was taken. Ha ha ha...But since I'm blogging right now, I did live to see another day.
The crowd made up of people from "all" walks of life were well behaved and it was fun outing. Well, to me it was, I didn't see or hear anything unpleasant but it seems to have some ugly incidents every year. Apparently, some people in SFO are trying to put a stop to the annual Halloween Street Party this year for all sort of weird reasons apart from security related ones.

Let's hope Halloween celebration catches on over here on a grander scale. But knowing the crime rate in Malaysia, we might have more crime that night as criminals would take the opportunity to strike since it's would be okay to walk around in a Halloween costume and not be able to be identified! Oh well, que sera sera, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween. ~ Author Unknown

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hot Hanoi - Part 4

It's the weekend...actually half of the weekend is already gone. I had an extremely busy Saturday with it starting at 9.30 in the morning at Menara Star in Petaling Jaya. Hahaha...yes, your dear floggers have been chosen to go to Penang, the final round of The Star's Drive For Food. Yay! There will be four of us driving all the way from KL to Penang starting early next Saturday morning. Check in to this blog again after 4 Nov to find out the results.

So for now, here's Part 4 of Hot Hanoi (especially for SC of Food4Thot who'll be making a trip there soon). Have a good "what's left of a" weekend! ;o)
Thread Art
I had forgotten to post the above shot earlier. We were taken to visit a crafts factory where one could find all sorts of souvenirs. I was awed by the intricate work being done by the endless rows of these people, threading the canvas bit by bit to create a work of art; an art made of different coloured threads. These art pieces are also found in the city but prices will defer according to the quality of threads used.

We then started our journey after lunch to Halong Bay (a 3 hour bus journey), arriving there in the evening. It's pretty quiet here and there is really nothing much to do but to just enjoy the view outside my hotel window.
View 2
The view on my right
View
The view in front. It felt so peaceful as I looked out my window. As the night grew, I was only greeted by a canvas of darkness in front of me with some flickering lights now and then. With nothing else to do, we turned in early, looking forward to our cruise the next morning.

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It was raining the next morning and as usual the moment we stepped out from the hotel, we will be surrounded by the locals; some beckoning and some pleading to us to buy something from them. As you can see, rain or shine, the selling never stops. What more if one could find an interested buyer even though she's already on the bus!!!

We arrived at the jetty shortly and the group of us made our way excitedly to our little "ship" that was already waiting for us. There were quite a number of smaller boats around the jetty area with some of the locals peddling their goods to us tourists or with some just beginning their day in trying to catch some fishes so that they can sell them to us for lunch later!
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Once we were on board and the ship started its journey across the bay, we basically just sat back and enjoyed the lovely scenery (while of course some of us took photos). I'll leave you with some of the many photos I took.
Halong Bay 4

Halong Bay 6

Halong Bay 5

Halong Bay 3

Halong Bay 2

Halong Bay 1



To be continued...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

We Won...the First Round....

Some of you might or might not be aware of The Star "Drive For Food" contest that has just ended on Oct 23. Well, a few of us floggers submitted our videos and in Week 3, three of our videos were picked for the RM100 weekly winners and we are now in the running for Phase 2, a self drive trip to Penang (with team members) where accommodation, petrol and toll is paid for! Read more about the Drive For Food contest HERE! Then another submission of ours also made it in Week 4! Woo Hoo!

We'll know whether we make it to Phase 2 soon. So here are the 3 of the 5 winning videos in Week 3 for your viewing pleasure. What topic did we choose for all our videos??? Why...FOOD of course! What do you expect from floggers??? LOL....

WEEK 3 RM100 winners

Jackson of Living In Food Heaven and his entry


A team effort entry - Jack Jack, Kin Kin, Ee Ee and me (for those of you who know who is who, please do not address us by our names in the comments as some would like to remain anonymous apart from Jackson, who loves the glamour. Hehe!).


My most last minute and simplest entry done with photos of my previous posts on Taman Connaught Pasar Malam. Check out : Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.


WEEK 4 RM100 winner

Our best team effort yet with Jackson's fantastic movie making skills (again starring Jack Jack, Kin Kin, Ee Ee and me!). We were inspired by Fat Boy Bakes and his post on Apple Crumble. I was asking Jackson why my initials are bigger than the rest of them...I think it's because it goes according to body size! LOL!



Will we make it to Penang? Stay tuned....

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mama's Kitchen, Taman Tun Dr Ismail

(Non-Halal)


Mama's Kitchen has been around for quite awhile. My family would occasionally come here for dinner as we found the home cook style dishes quite good. However during our few recent visits, we found the dishes that we normally ordered to have "shrunk" in serving size. We ended up ordering more dishes and at the end of the day, paid more than we should for home cook dishes. Hence we decided that if we ever do dinner here again, we would just order noodles instead. And that is exactly what we did the next time we were here.
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First up is the Wantan Mee with Siew Yoke (Roasted Pork). The meat is fried with dark sauce, sugar and shallots and then added on top of the noodles. Mixed it up and you have some tasty noodles here. I find the meat here a bit too tough at times but on the other hand, I might have just been too spoilt as I love the siew yoke from Vintry.
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Singapore Fried Mee Hoon (Vermicelli). Good wok hei, I love crunching on the beansprouts.
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Fried Rice - pretty good. Love the additional bits of char siew (BBQ pork). However for better home cooked style fried rice with bits of lap cheong (chinese sausages), try Tua Huat at Sec. 19, Petaling Jaya.
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And then you have the Kong Nam Mee. I'm not sure why they call it that but I was introduced to this noodle when I was staying in Rawang for awhile. I had the best version there so far. At Mama's Kitchen, you get a pretty decent version. With the noodles deep fried till crispy, the gravy (which is cooked together with the babycorn, cauliflower, green bean, chicken and cuttlefish) is poured over it. Of course, why do I like this noodle in the first place is for the fact that they serve this noodle with slices of century egg. Yummy! My only grouse is that they only gave a few slices (I should bring some from home??? Hahaha...)

So, for some simple and tasty meal of noodles, one can go for a bite at Mama's Kitchen. It's located at Jalan Datuk Sulaiman (a few doors away from 18-20th Century and where Devi's Corner is nearby, at the corner....where else. Hahaha.....).


Noodles are all I need
I don't really care for the meat
No worries about carbo
Cos I look like Greta Garbo!
- wmw



Saturday, October 20, 2007

Tagged: 12 Layers of Me & The Desktop Challenge

I have been tagged by several people. This weekend, I'm gonna do the tag by Jason (I know I still owe NKOTB and Jacelyn one each, do I owe anybody else? Care to remind me???)

Layer One: On The Outside
Name: WMW
DOB: 31 October
Current Status: Singlelicious
Eye Colour: Black.
Hair Colour: Brown (thanks to my hairstylist)
Righty or Lefty: Ambidextrous but tend to use right more.

Layer Two: On The Inside
Your Heritage: Cantonese
Your Fears: Being up on stage
Your Weaknesses: Being Funny when I shouldn't be
Your Perfect Pizza: Roast Duck meat and mushroom topping!

Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your Thoughts First Waking Up: Brunch with the floggers - Beef Noodles! Yay!
Your Bedtime: Around 2-3am (1am if I have an early appointment the next day)
Your Most Missed Memory: Monkeying around with my Dad

Layer Four: Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald’s or Burger King: Burger King (Wendy's actually!)
Single or Group Dates: Both....the more the merrier! ;)
Adidas or Nike: Nike gets it done.
Tea or Nestea: Tea...hot tea, no milk, no sugar
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate for drinks, Vanilla for ice cream!
Cappuccino or Coffee: Cappuccino.

Layer Five: Do You…
Smoke: Play around with it! :p
Curse: Only under my breath! LOL....
Have a crush: Major big time...Daniel Henney
Think you’ve been in love: KNOW that I've been in love
Go to school: Not since the last 20 years! Hahaha....
Want to get married: Not a matter of want but whether it's written in the stars :o)
Believe in yourself: 100%, 200% when I'm intoxicated!
Think you’re a health freak: Health no, freak yes!

Layer Six: In The Past Month Have you…
Drank alcohol: Yes, in moderation.
Gone to the mall: You mean my other home? Yes...
Been on stage: Yes, reluctantly
Eaten sushi: Yes, nothing raw though.
Dyed your hair: Yes

Layer Seven: Have You Ever…
Played A Stripping Game: No...but Truth Or Dare
Changed Who You Were To Fit In: Never

Layer Eight: You’re Hoping
To Be Married: Nope....just hoping to stay happy!
For a: DSLR camera - Canon/Nikon

Layer Nine: In a Boy (For guys, In a Gal)
Best Eye + Best Hair Color Combination: Like Daniel Henney
Short Hair or Long Hair: Like Daniel Henney

Layer Ten: What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago: Starting on this.
1 Hour Ago: Chatting on MSN with my sis.
4.5 Hours Ago: Having beef noodles with flogger friends.
1 month Ago: Celebrating Mid Autumn Festival
1 Year Ago: Can't remember lo....

Layer Eleven: Finish The Sentence
I Love: to travel.
I Feel: sleepy now.
I Hate: hypocrites.
I Hide: my clutter!
I Miss: my sis.
I Need: to clear out my store room!

Layer Twelve: Tag Five People
1) NKOTB - My Love My Food
2) Tankiasu - Sexy Beast
3) Ethan - Spare Change
4) Kat - Suum Cuique
5) Judy - Grandmother Stories

Oh, this is one I remember owing Judy for the longest time : - The Desktop Challenge. Here's a shot of my desktop.
desktop

For those of you who have not laid eyes on this guy on my desktop before, that's Daniel Henney, the love of my life. Hahaha....

Here's to a good weekend...to you and me!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Food Around Jalan Alor/Tengkat Tong Shin, Kuala Lumpur

As locals, playing "food host" to guests especially from overseas is quite the norm. So, what more as food bloggers? Usually, the first place that we can think of where visitors can get to try several varieties in the same vicinity would be Jalan Alor/Tengkat Tong Shin area. Doing just that on one occasion a few months back, it was indeed a night of the best of the best!

First up is Wong Ah Wah, a restaurant stop that's usually a must for newbies in the area. Of course apart from ordering the mandatory yummy grilled chicken wings, the 6 of us ordered a few other dishes here (taking care not to earn stares from the staff there by ordering just one dish and yet not overeat as we had a few other food stops to make).
Shellfish
La La (shellfish) in Kam Heong style (dark sauce and curry leaves), a sweetish spicy dish that Wong Ah Wah cooks pretty well consistently.
Shellfish
We also tried another shellfish variety, the Bamboo La La. However, after trying the Kam Heong style, this dish tasted rather normal as it's just cook with oyster sauce and wasn't spicy. And I love spicy food ;o) Masak-masak's review on the same outing at Wong Ah Wah can be read HERE.

Restoran Wong Ah Wah
1, Jalan Alor,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-2144 2463/2148 3413

Read more about Wong Ah Wah (and other dishes) in my previous post way back in February 2007 when I first met up with some famous food bloggers. Sweet!


We had then wanted to try grilled fish further up along Jalan Alor at Meng Kee but the stall was close. Thrown slightly off, but definitely never lost for ideas, we then decided to head towards Tengkat Tong Shin and try out something new for most of us - food at Restoran Muar. Recalling Babe In The City - KL's post on this place, we ordered a few of the items that were given the thumbs up.




Deep Fried Egg
The crispy deep fried eggs were simply scrumptious. Looking almost like an edible Jackson Pollock artwork, this dish came drizzled with dark soy sauce and wasn't that oily as one would think.
Deep Fried Egg
The hidden gems (egg yolks)
Deep Fried Kai <span class=
Another deep fried dish recommended by the staff there, Deep Fried Kai Lan (Chinese Kale/Broccoli). It was a night that could well turn us into Orang Minyak (oily person in Malay) like the P. Ramlee movie. LOL! However, this dish was another tasty one, especially when accompanied by steamed rice! Lip smacking good.
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We then ordered a small bowl of Cendol. It wasn't a lot and we thankful for that for once :o). This icy dessert (it had red beans in it too) was fragrant and quenched our thirst well.

Restoran Muar
6G, Tengkat Tong Shin,
50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel : 03-2144 2072

The last stop for the night was located across the road (almost directly opposite Ngau Kee's Beef Noodle stall; read my post on Ngau Kee and also at food.recentrunes.com).

I have been eating from this stall since I was a kid and Man Sook's fried noodles are great stuff. I love his version of Hokkien Kway Teow, Cantonese Kway Teow & Vermicelli and Fried Mee Suah (fine wheat flour noodles) especially. Located in a dark alley where the only source of light is from a single bright flourescent light at the cooking station, Man Sook (Slow Uncle in Cantonese) cooks up a storm almost every night. No worries though, for those who don't fancy in dimly lit alleys, Man Sook has some tables and chairs put up near the brighter five foot way at the shops nearby.

He's known as Man Sook as he cooks up a storm slowly but surely. One must be prepared to wait a fair bit before he gets the order done ;o). But for this, it is surely a case of "good things comes to those who wait". When dining here, remember that patience is a virtue. Ha ha ha....

Looking at Man Sook, I get a warm feeling of familiarity and the memories I had living in this area for 25 years before shifting away (hence, thinking about my dear old Dad too). I get that feeling everytime I patronised Man Shook's, Ching Hai's and Ngau Kee's stall actually :o).
Man <span class=

Man <span class=
Man Sook in action; assisted by his son
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As it was the first time here for everyone else, I was given the liberty to order for them. The Hokkien Mee was nice and had no alkaline taste to it. However, this was average in comparison with the following noodles.
Fried <span class=
The Fried Mee Suah was a hit with everyone. The Mee Suah is deep fried till crispy first and is then fried together with lots of cabbage, beansprouts, a few eggs, prawns, sotong and pork slices. Crunchy, crispy and fragrant with wok hei, each bite was delightful and bursting with flavour! Best accompanied by a hot pot of Chinese Tea ....

It provided the end to a perfect night...we were full and happy but most importantly our guests were too. So, the next time you have some visitors in town; bring them to this area for some cheap and good bites if they are game for some street food especially. There are also lots of other restaurants like Restoran Muar and some of fine dining too like Max! Kitchen & Wines in this Tengkat Tong Shin area. One would be spoilt for choice....


I'm trying to eat better. And, I do feel wise after drinking tea. After eating vegetables, I just feel hungry. ~ Carrie Latet




Friday, October 12, 2007

Hot Hanoi - Part 3

Hanoi has its share of wonderful sights apart from its interesting street scene. For one, there are lots of lotus ponds around and they make nice picturesque shots.
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Pond at The Temple Of Literature founded back in 1070

The temple is also the ground for Vietnam's first university built back in 1076. Here are some photos of the vicinity.
Literature Temple

Literature Temple
Watching over each and every step you make!
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We then went on to the Fine Arts Museum, where I only took a few shots before I was told that cameras weren't allowed on the grounds.
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Sculpture at Fine Arts Museum

Fine Arts Museum
I ended taking a shot of the guard on duty standing along the corridors instead, she seemed amused!

Oh, as the group were making our way on foot on the streets, I came across a barber operating on the streets and wanted to take a pic. As I was going to take a photo, he showed me a cardboard sign "Photo - 1 USD". So, if you are taking photos in Vietnam, please be informed that some of the folks might just ask you for money. However, he was the only one who did but I was told that it's quite a normal practice. Anyway, I didn't have 1 USD and gave him 5,000 Vietnamese Dong instead (I think it's equivalent to RM1). He was still happy and I was happy that I got my photo.
Barber


To be continued ....

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Restoran Famous Seremban Favourites, Sunway Mas

(NON-HALAL)

UPDATED : FAMOUS SEREMBAN FAVOURITES HAS SHIFTED TWO DOORS AWAY FROM THE OLD PREMISES, STILL IN THE SAME ROW! HAPPY EATING :O)

Was told of a shop in Sunway Mas serving wonderful char siew (bbq meat) since last year but never got round to visiting the place till a few months back. Since my first visit then, I've become a regular at this place that serves heaven on a plate!
Famous <span class=
And this is the reason why I've been back here countless times. I'm trying to limit my visits here to once a month! Too much of something is bad, but too much of nothing is sad, so said The Spice Girls.
Char <span class=
The meat is tender and whether the cut is lean or not, they still lovingly fill the mouth with such a wonderful sensation. Be it the lean yet tender cuts or simply the not so lean cuts that melts in your mouth, this has dethroned my earlier char siew favourite located in Kuala Lumpur. A small portion cost RM5/USD1.50; cheaper than the one downtown in Kuala Lumpur.
Sweet "Char <span class=
The sweet caramel sauce is served separately. I like it that it's done this way. You can put as much or as little as you one, accordingly to your liking.
Hakka Noodles
There are several varieties of noodles there; I opted for Hakka Mee (RM3/USD0.90). Hakka Mee is the simplest looking noodles one can find with a colourless gravy; a plain Jane for some. But this plain Jane here has aplenty of good points. I love the texture of the broad noodles and the minced meat that came along with it. Add on some pickled green chillies and it's one good meal!
Rice
One can also have the rice. Though the rice carries only a slight hint of flavour, it's cooked nicely as each grain are complete and well separated.
Fish Ball
The fishball was nice and springy though I detect a bit of a fishy taste. I can't help it if I'm fish intolerant! LOL! I don't really like to eat fish, so you go and give this a try yourself.
Vermicelli with Cuttlefish
Spotting this on the menu, I recalled enjoying the Sotong Mee Hoon (Vermicelli with Cuttlefish) during my previous trip to Malacca where we had a stopover in Seremban for breakfast. So, we just had to order this. The noodles was quite bland as one of the crucial ingredients was missing. Sambal Belacan!

I had some deep fried dumplings here but didn't have my camera with me then. It was pretty tasty too. You can take a look at them from Tankiasu's review of this place HERE. Check out Lyrical Lemongrass's post on this place too (you can get the location map). Meanwhile, I'll be making my monthly visits to this place and try my best not to overeat my quota! ;o) See you there....


Restoran Famous Seremban Favourites
80-1 Ground Floor, Jalan PJU 1/3B
Sunway Mas Commercial Centre
47301 Petaling Jaya

(7.30am till 4.30pm daily- char siew available only after 10am)
Call to check 017-279 8582
Closed on Tuesdays

Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you!
~ Tommy Smothers