Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Transport Part 5

Here are pics of the different modes of transport I came across and some which I personally had the experience of taking during my trip in Egypt. Seriously, I have never taken so many modes of transport before in all my previous trips!

Row Boat

I'm not sure what to call this but a long boat?

Cruise Ship

Donkey

Camel vs. Horse Carriage

Shadow of Horse Carriage that I took

A skinny Horse Carriage

Train

Here, you have your usual car (a clean one!). Just wanted to show you the parking system. If you don't put enough money into the parking meter or don't come back in time, you'll find that you'll be unable to drive your car away. They have this mechanism built into the road that will rise and block your way out!

Public Tram Bus (Note the local guy who's squatting!)

Tour buses

Taxi (the yellow and black colour reminds me of Malaysian taxis of yesteryear)

Taxi Van

And my most scary ride of all, sitting in a no door taxi van!!!

To be continued...

Spring Golden Restaurant, Shah Alam

(NON-HALAL Post)

Preparing to go off to meet Daphne, I was suppose to give a ride to Teckiee and Ashley (a non blogger friend of mine) to 1Utama. However, I couldn't get my car alarm remote to work as my car battery had a relapsed and couldn't be revived (it went into "sick" mode while I was away in Egypt but I managed to zap it back into action and it lasted me for another month). So, Teckiee ended up fetching me and Ashley and off we went to Pick n Brew where we also met up with Kusahi Keat and Imbi n Itchy (I'll just call her INI from now on - which means "THIS" in Malay). For more on the meet up, read Teckiee's post HERE. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, as always when we gather and even planned for another eat and chat session later today.

Anyway, during this particular session, Kusahi Keat told us that he had found a place in Glenmarie for some very good char siew (BBQ pork). Me being a BBQ pork fan told him to take us there and he made good on his promise and took me there the very next day. As for the rest, one of couldn't wake up in time and one didn't response in time and ended up missing out!

Turns out that I do know how to go to this place (*pats myself on the back*) on my own as I've been to the area before and have not realised the "treasure" that was hidden in this 2 year old restaurant all this while.

Kusahi Keat had called up earlier to check whether they were opened on Sundays and have also reserved some char siew for us. So, I waited with bated breath as the "treasure" was delivered to our table.

You can order the BBQ Pork lean or otherwise. We ordered Poon Fei Sau (half lean, half fat) and these arrived. It looked good and I took my first bite with great anticipation. The fat melted away and blended with the meat part with was very tender, I was definitely satisfied! It's a tad less sweeter than my other favourite place for char siew. So for those who like it less sweet, Spring Golden is the place for your kind of char siew.

Kusahi Keat wanted some more meat and ordered a small portion of Siew Yoke - Roast Pork which paled in comparison with their BBQ Pork. The meat was lean but it was also dry.

We also had a small bowl of 4 prawn wantans but these wantans weren't small at all. The wantan had a whole prawn and minced pork for filling, making it a delicious side dish.

Spring Golden also serves roast sausages, roast duck, ginger duck and curry chicken to name a few and you can also choose to have your meats with noodles or rice. This is actually their second outlet in Shah Alam and there is another third outlet in Klang with the main branch located at Taman Perindustrian Axis in Shah Alam. I spoke to the sister of the owner who runs this place and she mentioned that the meat are cooked at the main branch and transported to this second outlet. There is also another variety of pork which is called Sakura Pork. It's somewhat like the premium cut and is available upon earlier reserved request (like as in days, as the supply is from Ipoh). Kei Kei (the sister) told me to give her a call anytime to find out if there's any available on days when I would like to drop by. I told her that it might not be a good idea as I will probably be calling her everyday. Hahaha.... she might just ignore my calls then. I told my brother about this and we are already gearing up for another visit to try out the Sakura Pork at this place next weekend with the family.

If the ordinary cut tastes so divine...one can only imagine how the premium cut would be. Stay tune for Part 2 of Spring Golden next week!

Spring Golden Restaurant
3 Jalan Peniaga U1/34
Hicom Glenmarie, Industrial Park
40150 Shah Alam
Selangor

(Tel : 012-368 8112)
10.30 a.m - 8 p.m. Mondays - Fridays
10.30 a.m. - 3 p.m on Saturdays & Sundays


Main Branch
25 Jalan Sepadu C
25/C Section 25
Taman Perindustrian Axis
40400 Shah Alam
Selangor

(Tel : 012-216 7767)
8.30 a.m - 9 p.m daily

Read Julian's post on what he says is the BEST char siew ever from Spring Golden Main Branch.


To be continued...???

Britain's Dog Got Talent!

I'm hooked on checking out the acts on Britain's Got Talent. This time I came across this incredible dog! Check it out....It even got Simon Cowell saying "Oh My God!" in astonishment!

Thank Goodness It's Friday! Have a Great Weekend everyone!

Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Part 4

Almost a wordless post. Just the sights and scenes around Egypt, this time in Alexandria. As usual, do click on the highlighted words from more info (linked to Wikipedia).

Pompey's Pillar

Roman Amphitheatre

There were stalls located along the way as we made our way to the Citadel of Qaitbay but we had no time for that.

Inside looking up - Citadel of Qaitbay, Alexandria

Guess what we had for lunch...yet again.



I still had room for more food as some of you would know that I'm not a fish fan!

I did find something that I absolutely love in Egypt, their fruit juices. The strawberry juice is fresh and it's so thick, the straw stands! It's about RM9 per glass (best was at Athenus Restaurant). I tried the mango juice also which is just as nice.

There are quaint cafes along the streets like this one, very much tempted to stop by for a cuppa.

But Egypt is a dusty/sandy place (not all the time), and looking at how these parked cars were, I had second thoughts about drinking at cafes located by the road :o).

To be continued ...

Midsummer Nights Feast @ Starhill Gallery (11 July - 20 July 2008)

I was invited via Food Street Malaysia to Starhill on 13 May recently for the media conference on Midsummer Nights Feast. A 10 day Gourmet Festival starting from 11 July – 20 July will see Feast Village at Starhill Gallery transform into a gourmand's paradise. With Middle Eastern, Thai, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Malay, Western, Peranakan and Nyonya specialties to choose from, be prepared for a true taste adventure and indulgence in fine cuisine.

What's unique about this festival is that diners will also be entertained not only through their taste buds but also visually with theatrical performances in collaboration with The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac).

The list of the participating restaurants are as follows : -

Enak KL
Fishermans’s Cove
Jake's Charbroil Steaks
Jogoya
KoRyo-Won
Luk Yu Tea House
My Thai
Pak Loh Chiu Chow
Sentidos Tapas
Shook
Tarbush
Vansh

After a speech and slide presentation by Ms Steffanie Chua, General Manager of Starhill Gallery, the media were given a food presentation tour and food tasting to give us an insight as to what's in store for diners during the festival. The food tasting session turned out to be a feast loaded with scrumptious goodies. They were all so delicious but if I had to pick, my favourite of the evening was the Roast Wagyu Rump Steak!

Roast Wagyu Rump Steak from Shook!

We were also treated to some lovely desserts (I loved the fruit tartlets!) and given three cupcakes in cute carrier boxes as door gifts. Jackie Chan's Cafe was also on hand for those who needed a cup to further perk them up for an end to a wonderful evening.

Here are some highlights to look out for during Midsummer Nights Feast.

11 July 2008 Friday
5 p.m. - 7 p.m Opening Ceremony Of Midsummer Nights Feast

7 p.m – 12 a.m Opening Gala Dinner for Midsummer Nights Feast with Midsummer Night Ballet Performance by KLPac

12 July 2008 Saturday

7 p.m – 12 a.m. Night of Eastern & Oriental Express

Diners will experience the world class cuisine served on the legendary Eastern & Oriental Express in Shook! Led by YTL Group Executive Chef Kevin Cape. Agatha Christie’s novel “Murder On the Oriental Express” will be staged on that night and diners will have a chance to walk away with 2 train tickets for Eastern & Oriental Express for finding the “murderer”.

YTL Group Executive Chef Kevin Cape

There will also be local and international Celebrity Chefs making their appearances and conducting Master Chef Classes too. Chef Bobby Chinn, well known celebrity chef will be preparing a special menu at Shook! and will conduct a Master Chef Class. Chef Stephen Mercer will be specially flying in all the way from Australia to create a special menu at Fishermans’s Cove and conducting a Master Chef Class too. Chef Ismail who is the Food Ambassador for Malaysian Kitchen will be in action with creating authentic Malaysian food with “Balik Kampung Night” on 18 July 2008.

Master Chefs from Feast Village will also be demonstrating and showcasing their culinary skills, sharing their secret recipes and tips during this 10 day festival.

15 July 2008 Tuesday
10 a.m – 1 p.m. Launch of Feast Village Junior

Junior members of our society will be educated on “What Is Good Nature's Food” and participate in exciting activities relating to food.

16 & 17 July 2008 Wednesday & Thursday
Kids between the age of 7 – 12 will have a hands-on experience on decorating cup cakes and learn the different types of meat cuts and the art of beef tasting.

3 p.m. Venue : Shook! - Chef Judith

4 p.m. Venue : Jake's Charbroil Steaks – Mr Vincent Lau

16 July 2008 Wednesday
7 p.m. - 12 a.m. Organic Night – There will be a special menu using organic and non-genetic modified produce as key ingredients.

20 July 2008 Sunday
7 p.m. - 12 a.m. The Grand Harvest Finale! Diners can enjoy world class cuisines from 12 different restaurants at Feast Village, offering over 50 choices of cuisines – all at one price with a “Gourmet Safari” pass at RM200 nett per person. One word of advice, “COME HUNGRY!”

Mushroom Risotto with Duck Confit

Japanese range from Shook!

Pink Pepper Crusted Tuna from Sentidos Tapas

Sashimi from Jogoya

Sliced duck roll with asparagus, carrot and chinese parsley from Pak Loh Chiu Chow

Culinary Discovery Passes are available for any dinner where a booking for 9 persons will be entitled to a complimentary pass for 10 persons at only RM1,800 nett. A10-Day VIP Passport will be exclusively available to YTL Platinum Plus members with special price privileges. This event is truly a celebration of LIFE. For reservations and further enquiries, kindly call 603-2782 3882.

(Information and details are correct at the time of writing - from Starhill Gallery's Fact Sheet)

Soba In @ NZX, NiuZeXui Ara Damansara

During one late afternoon, Glorious Jade and I were out looking for some food as we had something light earlier in the day and were feeling hungry by 5pm. As I driving past Giant along the LDP Highway at Kelana, it looked like it was going to rain (judging by the dark clouds) and we had to decide quick. NiuZeXui (NZX) was nearby and I recalled Ekeng's post on some cold soba that he tried there and I was curious to try it out. After convincing Glorious Jade too, we headed onwards to NZX.

We found it after several attempts of walking in the wrong direction. To head towards this stall, walk along the long row of stalls in the centre. You will see several junctions along the stretch, look out for a stall in the centre that's called SWEETLY. With your back towards SWEETLY, walk away from the centre and towards the junction that you are now facing directly. You will find Soba In almost towards the end of the row of this junction.

Soba In is a small 2 in 1 place, with the other half of the shop selling Herbal Tea. So, it was no wonder that their set meals comes with a cup of home made Herbal Tea. The two stalls are operated by Ms Koh and her uncle.

There are different type of toppings to choose from; lunch sets are only RM5.90/USD1.80 (inclusive of the herbal tea) where dinner sets (being a bigger portion) are at RM7.90/USD2.50 (yes, inclusive of a cup of herbal tea too). However if the sets are not in the combo that you want, you can choose from a list. Toppings range from RM1.50 to RM3.50/USD0.50 to USD1.00; julienned cucumber, carrot and eggs are the standard toppings always given on top of the other topping/s that one chooses.

A large portion of soba noodles is at RM4.80/USD1.50, whereas a small portion is RM3.80/USD1.20. The soba noodles comes with a special sauce, concocted by Ms Koh herself. One has a choice of original, garlic or spicy - both Glorious Jade and I opted for garlic.

I chose from the set of the one with Chuka Wakame - marinated seaweed. The plate came with an array of colours from all the different ingredients and topped with sesame seeds. It was a pretty sight :o). The noodles aren't really the conventional soba but more like a thinner version of yellow noodles but it has a different bite unlike those of yellow noodles. So, it's more like a localised version rather than a Japanese one.

Glorious Jade chose the Chuka Idako - baby octopus and it was just as lovely as my set. We both enjoyed tucking into the delicious, refreshing noodles and enjoyed each and every bite as we bit into the noodles along with the crunchy julienned vegetables together with the toppings.

What's our verdict??? I'm sure you can tell from this pic :o).

The sauce is the secret to making this healthy cold soba plate a tasty meal. You know what I usually say of healthy meals right? "What's healthy usually isn't tasty". Well, I stand corrected here and I'm glad I've found another place to have a tasty AND healthy meal (apart from the carb, hehe) plus one that's reasonably priced! Of course, this is a simple meal at a simple set-up stall . Considering all the factors, this cold soba dish gets the thumbs up from me. If you like cold soba, you'll definitely like this.

NZX is pretty quiet during the daytime with a slightly better crowd at night time. It's a pity as I feel there isn't enough marketing done to increase people's awareness of NZX. So, if you're ever in this area and wondering what to eat, check out this place. I always make it a point to eat at Soba In whenever I'm at NZX.

Check out Ekeng's write up and directions to NZX HERE and my previous post on NZX itself.

Soba In
Lot No. N6& N8,
NiuZeXui, Ara Damansara
No. 2, Jalan PJU 1A/41B,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Tel : 012-6019 922

"If giving up noodles meant that I could lose weight and be thin, I don't wanna be thin!"
- wmw

Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Part 3

The internet connection is pretty unstable. So, I shall quickly load the photos and get this posted up. Remember to click on the highlighted words to read up more on the places I went too.

After lunch, we boarded our bus again and made our way to Mohamed Ali Mosque, located at Citadel. Here are some pics I took of this pretty place.

*****

From the mosque to the church, next on the list was the Old Hanging Church

I felt a sense of calm here; dimly lit and silence all around...the only thing one can hear is probably the clicking of cameras. Hahaha....

When we left this area and headed towards our bus, we came across a stall that sells all sorts of nuts. We were so taken in by the large selection available (unlike our conventional kacang putih man's stall), the bunch of us made the owner of this stall a happy man as he pocketed our money in exchange for his nuts (Err! That came out wrong...haha....) when we ended up buying the nuts, herd mentality style. The nuts aren't that cheap, a small bag goes for 20 Egyptian Pounds (approx. RM12!) but they were absolutely delicious and worth going nutty over.

I only noticed this later...protruding upward and open pipes were turned into makeshift "nutshell" bin.

We then had a buffet spread for dinner at Happy Dolphin Restaurant. The place looked promising as we entered but alas, we had a familiar line up as far as the food is concerned. Hahaha....So, here we go...

One thing to like about this restaurant is the view of River Nile...at least the sight of this river ended the night on a beautiful note.

To Be Continued ...

Soo Kee's Son Meng Chuan, Prawn & Beef Noodles @ Medan Imbi, KL

Taking a break from Egypt, I looked through my folders and found this (taken back in Dec!) and immediately told myself I need to visit this place soon. I missed Malaysian food a lot after my trip to Egypt and this is one of those noodles that I crave for.

I usually eat at the original Soo Kee located at 14, Medan Imbi but on the night we went, it was closed. Next alternative, Soo Kee's Son Meng Chuan which is just opposite across from daddy's place. This was my first time eating here but I do realise that this place is usually not as crowded as compared to original Soo Kee. I found Soo Kee's Son had a cleaner place and the workers were more friendly (in the sense that they actually smile as opposed to the straight face ones from daddy's place).

Since there were only two of us, we couldn't really order a lot. Being more of a beef lover rather than prawns, we opted for the Keong Choong Ngau Yoke Hor (Ginger Spring Onion Beef Noodles - in this case, Flat Noodles) over the other specialty of Sang Har Mee (Fresh Water Prawn Noodles).

But first, the essential Pickled Green Chillies - a must when eating the beef noodles.


When the noodles arrived, it looked good! We found the beef slices was tender and nice but not as tender as Soo Kee's. However, Soo Kee's Son fared better in terms of the noodles as it had "wok hei" (the "essence" imparted by a hot wok on the food - according to Wikipedia) and was full of flavour coupled with the yummy egg swirled gravy!


We wanted vegetables and we wanted soup too, so we ended up ordering the 2 in one dish; Spinach in Superior Broth. It had a generous amount of golden anchovies and bits of century egg (my fave!) and the soup was indeed superior!

I'm not sure about how the other dishes fare here but it was an enjoyable dinner though it wasn't our first choice of venue. The next time I'm in the area and looking for beef noodles...I think I might just pick the son's place over the dad's ;o).

For a history lesson on Soo Kee's and his children, check out Babe_KL's post HERE.

It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. ~ Johann Schiller

Britain's Got Talent!

Mrs Pitt sent this link to me, I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to post this here. There's a surprise in store! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Part 2

My PC is running though not 100% "well" :o). So my post will be short and sweet, I just hope the photos load up without any hiccups later. Click on the highlighted words to read more about the place I went to. So, where were we??? Oh yeah, Egypt!

Now this is the view from my hotel balcony. The tent in the upper left hand corner is where we had our breakfast everyday.

Lovely, eh? It was nice dining here but sad to say that it seems Egyptian food doesn't have much variety. Can you believe that we had the same type of breakfast for four days? Omelette, pancake, pasta, sausage, porridge, pita bread etc. etc. Uh, forgettable stuff really though of course I enjoyed it only for the first two days. By the third and fourth, I, WMW, for the first time in my life, ate to live rather than live to eat! LOL...

As for swimming, I never got a chance to as the only free time I had was in the morning before we left for the day's programme and I was always greeted by this sign. Anyway, I didn't bring my swimsuit ;o).

After breakfast, off we went to see The Great Pyramid at Giza! I was excited about coming to this place as this is one of the Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World. It was really surreal being there and I felt like I was in some National Geographic documentary.

Of course, you get to see a lot of little stalls selling souvenirs. At certain areas, there are really a lot tourists and it became quite difficult to get a nice shot as they get in the way. It was basically the same problem at most tourist spots. Here, the tourists look like they are for sale along with the souvenirs in the foreground, hahaha! Mmm...French, German, Italian, which one??? Eh, I think not 'cos they seem a bit too old for me :o).

Kahfre's Pyramid, the second largest and The Great Sphinx. Look at how tiny we are compared to the size of them! The photos don't do justice to the feeling one gets being there in person.

You find armed police everywhere here. There is even one on each of our buses, accompanying us in and out of places. To feel safe or to worry about the fact that there's danger lurking, hence the presence of them everywhere??? Uhhh, let's try not think about what happened on November 17, 1997.

Soon, it was time for lunch and we were taken to El Hati Restaurant. It was so dimly lit inside, I felt like I was eating inside a cove, considering that it was daytime! Hahaha....Look at how we sat, all in a row and the tables were low. And this group is only from one of the four buses and groups had different time schedule as the restaurant just couldn't accommodate all of us.

And what can you see on the table? More Pita Bread and dips! Hahaha....We are given a bottle of mineral water each during every meal time (and two on the bus).

Here's a blur shot of what I had, lamb kofta with some beef cubes. The meat was on the dry side but I love the rice yet again. I have no idea how they cook it though this time, it seems that they added some dark sauce to it and it was as fragrant as ever.

To be continued...