NiuZeXui (NZX) Commercial Centre, Ara Jaya

Had some time and decided to go and check out NiuZeXui (NZX) with Sis Mah. Read it first from CatsnDogs' blog and was wondering what NiuZeXui was like. Translate NZX to Cantonese, it means Cow Car Water! Yeah, I wonder why they call this place by that name. Found the place easily (thought I would get lost initially!) and proceeded to park in the basement which still had lots of parking bays available. By the way, NZX is labeled as Malaysia's largest covered boulevard which has just open for business about a month ago.

Walking around the area reminded me of walking around Petaling Street (mostly Chinese themed retail outlets). However, two retail outlets caught my eye. I found this Starbucks outlet very nice and cosy as I hardly come across any Starbucks outlet on its own as I usually see it in a "mall lot" or shoplots. This outlet is in a little building by itself. If you notice the first floor, they seem to have curtains too! I guess this is for the sake of the customers' privacy. Don't mind chilling here with a cup of my fave coffee.

The other one is Big Apple Donuts (no queue at the moment.....shhhh...) as it's also smack in the middle of the building and pretty much an outlet on its own. It has a bigger sitting area as compared to the one in Curve.

Only the smaller shops are opened at the moment, will wait and see what else is in store. Meanwhile there are lots of stalls selling Chinese New Year goodies. But I guess I don't mind going there again for my coffee or donuts!

NZX Commercial Centre
No. 2 Jalan PJU 1A/41B
Ara Jaya PJU 1A,
47301 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor

Click HERE to read about Ekeng's meal and also for directions.

Check out NZX's website for more info and layout but a word of caution, please turn down your speaker volume before you click on the link as they have a rather upbeat music playing when their site starts loading and it doesn't stop. I couldn't find the MUTE button or I didn't see one :o).

W.W Laksa House, Jalan Kolam Air, Johor Bahru

We arrived in Johor Bahru (JB) at around 2 plus pm and were quickly whisked away for a late lunch. Alicia & Charles brought us to W.W. Laksa House as they told us that we should try the laksa here (W.W. stands for Water Works). Speaking of abbreviations, do most of you know that my blogspot name UGWUG, is actually one for You Get What You Give? :o)

Mmm....look at all those pipes running along this place. I wonder why they call this place Water Works. Hahaha....

The friendly lady who prepared our laksa.

Here is the price board. They also served other varieties of noodles; soup or dry but when visiting a place called W.W. Laksa House, the best bet would be to order the Laksa!

The laksa curry gravy wasn't that thick but was fragrant. I passed the cockles along to my friend and guarded the crispy stuff and other goodies that were in my bowl :o). Fried wantan, taupok (bean curd puff), fish cake and fried vegeball made this an enjoyable meal for me.

Another lady put a container of these onto our table without us asking. They operate on "pay for what you eat" system. Since Johor is well known for their otak-otak delicacy, we tried some of these at RM0.50/USD0.15 a piece. They were still warm when they were served to us.

The otak-otak was lovely. I don't think one can really have a "bad tasting" otak-otak here in JB/Johor. The ones in Klang Valley are more processed, darker and flatter. The ones in JB were the contrary and even though they were sold as snacks, they tasted good enough for me to eat containers of it (if I wanted to...but I didn't, hahaha) and make it a meal on its own! Well, some of you know how I don't really like eating fish as I don't like the "fishy" smell but this was fragrant and charred just right to my liking. Wonder if anyone wants to try making otak-otak at home, here's the recipe!

W.W. Laksa House
36A& 36A1, Jalan Kolam Air,
Taman Water Works
80100 Johor Bahru
Tel : 012-7990979, 012-7273755
Opens Daily except alternate Tuesdays (7 a.m. - 3.30p.m.)

For location map, click HERE


Dinner time in JB, to be continued...

Beef Noodles @ Quinn, Jalan Toman, Seremban

I thought I should post about my eats during my recent trip to Johor Baru and Singapore. Starting our journey at around 10 a.m, Munch told us that he wanted to do a stopover in Seremban for beef noodles. The rest of us couldn't agree more and looked forward to lunch. Munch gave us three places to choose from and we settled on Quinn Seremban Beef Noodles located at the corner of Jalan Toman 6. Hence, this is part of my continuation on Beef Noodles from my previous entry.

Different from my usual Seremban stopover for beef noodles place, this place was definitely cleaner and cooler (air conditioned, as compared to the au natural place of the market).

Hahaha...this is like some sort of signature shot from me whenever I take photos of sauces (the rule of odd numbers!), in this case the chili sauce.

The beef noodles were quite good but I still prefer the one from the market. It has the same special gravy (albeit a bit starchier) and sprinkled with sesame seeds. The noodles were slightly softer; I would have prefer it to be a bit more springy (cooked al dente). The beef cuts were okay on their own merit but if I did a comparison again, they were not as tender as those from stall 748 at the market. Of course, the best meat cut I have tasted is located right in Section 17, Petaling Jaya itself.

The beef balls were nice and springy, pretty standard quality at most beef noodle stops but the soup wasn't as beefy as I hope it would be.

For one looking for a bit more comfort when chowing down beef noodles in Seremban, try Quinn's. I know of some people who just won't go to the market to eat! ;o). Oh, Quinn serves a mean Nescafe tarik too. It was very nice and smooth, just look at it!

Quinn is open from 9.30 a.m till 6pm and closes on Tuesdays. Munch did mention that they have another outlet in Seremban but not sure where.


The journey continues....

Cupcake Moments with Cupcake Chic @ The Curve

When I visited Cupcake Chic's website, I found out the term from them to explain my experience with their cupcakes. As they say, it was truly a cupcake moment (as in a Kodak moment???) when I took my first bite! After I finished the cupcake, I found myself licking around the paper rim that still had bits of frosting....hahaha!

Saturday evening, Teckiee, Xiu Long Bao, Nic and I made our way there around evening time. There were a number of empty trays and even as we were taking photos, customers were streaming in and clearing more trays! We quickly made our pick too as we were afraid that there will be none left by the time we were done with the photos of the cupcakes that were still sitting prettily on display.

Forget-Me-Not

I think this was Chocofee - Coffee Cake with Chocolate Mocha Frosting

Teckiee's pick - that's edible 18k gold dust! The Lycheetini is a special creation for the coming Chinese New Year celebration. If I'm not mistaken, that Chinese character means Prosperity.

Another view of Teckiee's pick

Well, obviously I have not tried all the varieties yet as at to date. I've only managed to check four types of the list. For me, they were all really yummy but it wasn't so much of the cake itself that won me over. It is definitely the frosting that gets my two thumbs up vote.

Chick Flick - Pineapple Cake with Sage Frosting

My photo version of Envy "Chic" - Green Tea cake with Green Tea Cheese frosting

Here's my Forget-Me-Not "Chic" - Lavender Cake with Bailey's Frosting

But if I had to pick the best of the four, it would be Butter Pecan for me - Butter Pecan cake with caramel frosting. I absolutely love the frosting and the pecan at the bottom center of the cupcake.

I find the frost topping just about the right amount as compared to other cupcakes where the frosting can be too much as compared to the size of the cake itself. The sweetness is also spot on for me. With 25 different types of cupcakes to choose from, I'm sure there will be some hits and misses for me but the four I've tried so far has gotten the approval of my taste buds. Some guys say cupcakes are for females, I guess it's cos of the pretty colours? However, these same guys now have something they can get for their better halves for birthdays, anniversaries, as peace offerings or simply to express their undying love. Hahaha...and for me, those are definitely Cupcake Moments ;o) Now, let's just hope that in time, I won't have to queue for an hour just to get some of them.

Not all 25 (and counting) cupcakes are available on a daily basis. Do check out the schedule HERE as to when your favourite "stars" will make their appearance. The cupcakes are priced at RM4.50/USD1.40 each or RM25/USD7.60 for a box of 6 and RM48/USD14.60 for one dozen.

Cupcake Chic @ The Curve
Lot GZF-4, Ground Floor,
No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3,
Mutiara Damansara,
47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 03-7726 9075
Fax: 03-7726 9058
Email: order@cupcakechic.com.my

Click here for the Location (opens from 10 a.m. till 10 p.m daily)


Other floggers who might have experience their cupcake moments :-

Jason of Ipoh Mali Talak Sombong
Honey Star
A Lil' Fat Monkey
A Self-Proclaimed Foodaholic (a detailed entry!)

Friends are like cupcakes in my pantry of memories - Anonymous

5ive - Tagged on a Sunday!

This is really a long overdue tag passed on to me by NKOTB!


5 things found in my room
1. CD player
2. Phone
3. Salt lamp
4. Craft & photography magazines
5. Dirty laundry!

5 things I’ve always wanted to do
1. Be serious about my paper craft work!
2. Learn how to play the guitar
3. Migrate to San Francisco and be with my sister
4. Go on a 1 month wildlife safari tour in Africa
5. Work for National Geography/Travel Discovery Channel!

5 things found in my bag
(Only take my bag when I go for my eye check up!)
1. Magazine
2. Tissue
3. Writing pad
4. Bottle of mineral water
5. A pack of Wrigley's Cool Watermelon sugar free chewing gum

5 things found in my wallet
1. Money
2. "Plastic" Cards - ATM, Credit, Loyalty
3. Name cards of recent places I ate at
4. Restaurant bills/receipts
5. IC & Driving License

5 things I’m currently into
1. Blogs
2. Daniel Henney (read my 1st post on HIM here and ladies, do click on that tiny pic to see how he looks like...all I can say ... YUMMY!)
3. Crime & Investigation Channel on Astro
4. Limewire
5. Games from Orisinal (read my post on Orisinal here), my favourite game site.

5 floggers that I'm going to tag are …..

1. Whoever
2. Feels
3. Like
4. Doing
5. This!

Kafe Bawang Merah, Subang

(Halal)

Having to go for an evening meeting at Sheraton Subang one day, Glorious Jade and I decided to go a bit earlier to beat the traffic jam. With an extra two hours to spare we decided to look for a place nearby for tea and headed to Kafe Bawang Merah (Red Onion Cafe) as we had heard of them serving up some tasty Indo/Malay cuisine.

Entering the place, it was already pretty filled up (saw a number of familiar faces; all with the same idea of having tea here before the meeting!) and it's quite a small setup. It's a dimly lit cosy albeit a busy place. Kafe Bawang Merah doesn't have any ala carte dishes but actually serves food ala canteen style. It's self-service, queue and point at the pre-cooked dishes on display.

I forgot what Laksa this was that Glorious Jade ordered but I had a taste of the gravy and it was lovely. It came served with boiled egg and beef slices. The beef slices seemed a bit overcooked to me. Mmm....anyone knows what sort of Laksa this is??? Well, forget about proper food presentation here but it's the taste that matters here. Fuss free and tasty food at reasonable prices is what this place is all about and the crowd here is the testimony to that.

I had my Meehoon Mee Soto Ayam, a usual Malay favourite dish of mine. Beansprouts, little begedil (fried potato cutlets) and shredded chicken meat added delight to it. The soup was very flavourful and eaten with the wonderful dark sauce with minced chilli padi (bird's eye chilli), it was one tasty bowl of noodles I truly enjoyed tucking into.

The dark sauce minced chilli mix that provided the "icing to the cake"!


I know this looks really oily but to be fair...this was actually the last bit left at the counter and since I love beef, I decided to take a chance and took the last order off them which was displayed in this plate itself (since there's so little left of it, it must be good, right?). I think this dish was Daging Masak Kunyit - beef that was cooked with onions and turmeric powder. Well, my verdict of this? It was really good stuff! The meat was tender and was marinated so well that the flavour was sealed in throughout each chunk of meat. Now, I only have to make sure that I drop by this place earlier if I don't want the pick up the last plate of meat that's soaking in oil!

Just when we thought we were done with our meal, something caught my eye. During tea time, Kafe Bawang Merah also serves an assortment of kuih. We wanted something savoury and ended up getting some of these...

These Yam Cake were topped with generous bits of fried shallots, spring onions, cut chillies and minced dried prawns. They were so tasty, we actually ate them without adding any sauce at all.

Nowadays, I look forward to meetings held in Sheraton Subang as it gives me a chance to drop by Kafe Bawang Merah again for their no frills self-service food. However, when the crowd builds up, things can get a bit chaotic at the counter as the line gets "lost in transaction" and instead of "first come, first served", it becomes "whoever come, first served". However, one is well rewarded for their patience once you take a bite of their food :o).

Check out Epicurious Girl's love for this place HERE.


Kafe Bawang Merah
12A Jalan SS12/1B (opposite Sheraton Subang)
47500 Subang Jaya
Opens Daily (except Sundays) 9am-10pm
Tel : 03-5621 6100

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.
~Mac McCleary

Food Crawling into Wai Sik Kai, Pudu

Continuing to clear my very very backdated photos, the highlight is now on Wai Sik Kai, Pudu. We walked across to this place after our quick 3 dish meal at Sek Yuen earlier on.

First stop - Deep Fried Chicken

They fry all parts of the chicken here - look at this batch of chicken feet! Sorry, I didn't touch this but enjoyed watching those who ate this. The continuous action of spitting out those tiny little bone joints. Errr...what a sight!

The hanging sotong (cuttlefish) is the signature look of every sotong kangkung stall which usually also has plates of cockles on the menu too. Sigh! Makes me miss the stall in Malacca...

The sotong kangkung was just normal standard, I think the sauce was not thick and was too little. Need more crushed peanuts.

My favourite stall of Wai Sik Kai. Being a Chee Cheong Fun (Rolled or flat rice noodles) fan, this stall attracted me like honey to a bee.

Yes, it was just me and this plate of Chee Cheong Fun with curry gravy. The world stopped turning and the music was just playing for the two of us. LOL! Topped with some pork rind, fried bits of dried prawns and sprinkled sesame seeds, I enjoyed this a lot. It was just simply delicious and I finished the curry gravy too, right to the very last drop!

The Chee Cheong Fun stall also serves steamed rice cake with curry gravy with the same toppings. This stall seems to be a hit with the floggers as we had quite a few varieties ordered from the same stall.

Another item from that stall was Yam Cake, this time served with sweet black sauce. Both the curry gravy rice cake and the yam cake was nice but it was the curry chee cheong fun that took my heart away that night :o).

Fried Carrot Cake...sorry after the Chee Cheong Fun, nothing much could make me stray. Haha.....This was okay to me.

This took my attention away for awhile though ;o). The Stuffed Grilled Tofu (Tauhu Bakar) was pretty good. Stuffed with generous filling of shredded turnip and cucumber, the tasty dark sauce with prawn paste and adequate crushed peanuts made this hit with the floggers.

I realised Jason likes to order this quite often whenever the floggers go out. Ice Kacang must be his favourite dessert of all time. This was a colourful concoction! Should be right up his alley as I remember the Ice Kacang that I had in Ipoh (Jason's hometown) was one of almost psychedelic colour as mentioned by Boolicious in her comment to me but this one here from Wai Sik Kai takes the prize!

Looks like the floggers should have another revisit to Sek Yuen and Wai Sek Kai again. Posting this makes me crave for the Chee Cheong Fun! Hahaha... Read Jason's take on this outing HERE...don't believe the part when he said that I licked my plate of Chee Cheong Fun clean!!!

He who eats alone chokes alone - Proverb

Catching Up On My Sleep!

Wake me up when it's time to eat!

I've been catching up on my sleep during the weekend. Hope you all had a good one! That's my cousin's one month old son (pic taken with handphone).

Beef Noodles at Kean Fatt, Petaling Jaya

During one of my conversation with UJ, I had told him about the tasty beef noodles in Section 17. He had not tried it before and usually gets his favourite beef noodles from Kean Fatt, the corner coffeeshop which is located at Jalan SS3/59E. As I'm always game for beef noodles, we met up at Kean Fatt for a beef noodle rendezvous one late morning. UJ also mentioned to me that the pork noodles here were quite good too but since I prefer beef over pork, I went ahead and ordered a bowl of kway teow (flat noodles) beef soup noodles for myself.

The beef noodle stall in front of the pork noodle stall (both stalls also have other noodle varieties).

A very beefy looking beef noodles indeed. The broth was nice, almost herbal like. The mixed beef (meat and tripe) was pretty normal while the kway teow was standard. I still prefer the meat cuts from Julian's stall in Section 17. For those who prefer a heavier taste, one might like this, for a lighter version one would go to Section 17's. The beef noodles here is cheaper though, RM4.50.

Read about the pork noodles at Kean Fatt from Masak-Masak HERE (scroll down for June 6's post).


To be continued ....More Beef Noodles!

Woo Kok, SS3 Pasar Malam

When Melting Wok came back to Malaysia for a break, we met up and had some food adventures on several occasions. One of the things she told me about was the Woo Kok (Taro puff/Yam puff) from the SS3 Pasar Malam (night market) along Jalan SS3/29 and SS3/64 which is on every Tuesday. She was raving about the Woo Kok and said that I just have to try it.

On a Tuesday evening, she was kind enough to pack some for me. Why pack? Well, apparently they are snapped up pretty quick and it's normally sold out by 6pm. That's an hour just after the owner sets up his stall!!! I reached her place around 5 plus and she got into my car and carefully handed me the box of goodies. She looked at me with glee as I slowly opened the box like a kid opening up her Christmas present; unwrapping it slowly to prolong the excitement. It was a funny sight too as this took place in my car (which was pulled over to the side of the road) ...the excitement and the photo shoot. Hahaha....

Golden Beauties; Woo Kok (Taro/Yam Puff)!

Melting Wok then kept prompting me to eat them straight away while we were still in the car. She said that they were still warm and it best eaten that way, otherwise, I should put them in an oven and heat them up for minute or two. I heeded her advice and took a bite there and then...

I was pleasantly surprised. With a crispy exterior, the filling of meat and onions (cooked with dark sauce) was still warm and moist and overloaded my taste buds with such a wonderful sensation that I was rendered speechless for a few seconds! Or was it the fact that I just couldn't talk with my mouth full??? Hahaha...

When I regained my speech, I asked Melting Wok, "Do you think there are any left at the stall?". Without a moment hesitation, we sped our way to the SS3 pasar malam area which is only about 5 minutes from her house, hoping to grab a few more Woo Kok. I'm serious, there was such urgency! LOL!

Reaching there we were relieved that there were still some left. I placed my order first and then only took photos (it would be a tragedy have I been told that there is none left by the time I finished taking photos!). Other customers surrounded the stall buying the numerous fried goodies. I eyed the Woo Kok zealously while making sure the owner packed my order :o).

At RM1.30/USD0.40 (2007's prices..hehehe) a piece, this was indeed a simple and satisfying indulgence to me.

As we were leaving the area, we passed a stall that caught my eye and I decided to make a stop here and took some pics. This time, it was a stall selling Malay kuih (local cakes).

These steaming bamboo rice kuih (Putu Buluh) was a sight I've not seen before, I must admit. It's actually rice flour with brown sugar filling being steamed in short hollowed bamboo sticks.

Once cooked, they add desiccated coconut as topping. The whiff of fresh steaming kuih was just too much to bear and we ended up buying some (RM2/USD0.60 for 5 pieces). It was lovely as we ate it fresh off the steamer.

It's just Sunday night now...and I'm already thinking of making a pit stop at SS3 pasar malam this Tuesday for these two goodies. Who knows? I might find other goodies that will appeal to me, just like Teckiee did ;o). Thanks Melting Wok, for the Woo Kok you bought me and for telling me about it.

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.
~ Author Unknown