Google Turns 10!

A short post in the wee hours of a Sunday morning ...

I turned on my PC and my usual Google homepage loaded and was surprised to see the normal Google logo making way for Google's 10th Birthday. I was surprised not because I saw the special Google logo but for the fact that Google has been around for a decade! Time sure flies...
I always look forward to seeing special Google logos for special occasions/holidays/events. My favourite so far must the the series of Google logos for Beijing Olympics 2008. Starting on 8 August 2008 till 24 August 2008, there were 17 different Google logos altogether; changing everyday. I've compiled this series and loaded it here for those who might have missed a few or weren't even aware.

Well, the holidays are here and some will be enjoying a week off from work, Happy Holidays!

To my fellow Muslim friends and readers, Selamat Hari Raya and for those who are travelling, safe journey!

MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN!

Xenri, Old Klang Road Kuala Lumpur

Sugar Bean's post on Xenri made it to The Sunday Star, congrats! It also reminded me that I have yet to blog on this place myself though I went there a few months ago.

Now, it's was a bit confusing when I turned up with KA to meet an old friend, JT and she suggested that we do lunch at Xenri. When we walked up to the restaurant, we found that they were doing some renovation work and thought that we had to find another lunch venue. Before we could even turn around, we were ushered towards another direction about 2 lots away to another entrance which was also Xenri! Xenri at two places with different deco within the same block? Hmmm....that reminds me that I didn't find out the reason why there were two Xenri/s. Stepping in with confusion, our minds were quickly cleared as we were were wowed by the "Zen-ness" of the restaurant.

Private rooms and more secluded areas were linked by a small path with a gentle stream of water running through beneath.

Inside one of the private rooms

Arriving there for an early lunch, we had the place to ourselves for the first half hour or so and I proceeded to take photos of the interior. Actually this is probably the first time I'm highlighting more of the interior of the restaurant rather than the food.

The secluded dining area

And what about the food? I was really hungry by the time we got down to ordering after the photo taking and initial amazement, I decided to order a dinner set for lunch! Hahaha...the Beef Suziyaki Zen set also came with tempura and at RM36, it was indeed a substantial meal and reasonably priced.

However, tastewise I felt that it couldn't live up to its surroundings; a winter shade of pale amidst the warm interior. Well, almost such a shade. It wasn't bad but neither was it good. I had a taste of my friends' food and came to the same conclusion...ordinary. I must say that JT said her bento set (RM25) was nice, (goes to show that when it comes to food, it is quite subjective) whereas KA said her Gyu Don (RM18) was okay.

Come here for the ambiance and enjoy the company of friends. The "Zen-ness" will put you in non-complaining mood for sure and all will be good at the end of the day ;o).

Restoran Xenri
20, Wisma Elken
Jalan 1/147C, Batu 5
Jalan Kelang Lama
58200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03- 7783 8118

The obstacle is the path. ~ Zen Proverb

Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Part 12

Came evening time, we were all psyched up for a carriage ride into town. Mohamad, our guide had us all walked into a lane where 10 horse carriages were waiting for the 20 of us. It was quite a blast riding convoy into town!

It was hard trying to take a photo while I was riding along. I purposely took the last carriage so that I could take shots from the back.

We actually rode through a night market which had a narrow path. You can see how close the shops are to us on our right and left. The stalls selling clothes and fabric hang their goods above and across; creating an interesting "tunnel". This is one of my fave shots.


After the ride was over, the group of us decided to have a go at Shisha (Hookah). Most of us failed miserably at it as no matter how we sucked and sucked the hose and inhaled, we couldn't get any smoke out from us when we exhaled. So, I guess one could say that we truly sucked at it in the truest sense! Hahaha....Mohamad must have been laughing at us fools at that time and decided to show us how the Egyptians do it!

Mohamad The Dragon

The next day, (with our heads cleared!) we were off to visit more temples. This time the Temple Of Karnak. Click HERE & HERE to read more about this place. This was another "National Geographic" moment for me.









See the broken statue with just the legs on the right? That is how they signify which of the statues were of the living and not the dead; those with the left feet forward.




More storytelling from Mohamad




Stay tune for the final part of Egypt's Mysteries & Wonders

To be continued...

Belated Mooncake Post

Just a quick post today. Ethan forwarded an email to me about some mooncakes being sold in Hong Kong. I laughed when I saw it! I guess sooner or later, someone would come out with such mooncakes.....And now, presenting the mooncakes.....

CLICK ON ALL THREE IMAGES FOR A LARGER AND CLEARER VIEW

By the way, I did check if there was such a website. Turns out there is, G.O.D means Goods Of Desire but I couldn't find the link for the mooncakes! Maybe I missed it, here's the link if you would like to see if you can :o).

Pick n' Brew @ 1 Utama, Ramadhan Buffet

Last Friday, a bunch of us met up at Pick n' Brew at 1 Utama for Ramadhan Buffet dinner. Present were of course Jackson himself (see his photos HERE), Precious Pea, FBB, Jason (who arrived an hour later!) and we had fun eating and catching up with each other. We heard a bit of food tales from Jackson, travel tales from Precious Pea who had just return from a short holiday in Australia. We also heard some flowery tales from FBB (hahahaha....), whilst we just heard a few words from Jason as he was the usual quiet self :p.

As Precious Pea and I were the first two to arrive, we went around taking photos of the food. Seeing that there were too many food items to cover, she and I agreed to cover different items and link our post to each other. Well, her post is already up and I realise that she took photos of most of the items and I covered a lot lesser! Oops! Anyway, check out her post HERE with a whole lot more photos! I have linked FBB's and Jason's post here since they got their post out by now.

Part of the buffet spread; the area for salads, soup and desserts (local kuih, cakes and cookies)


There were several varieties of salad but the one that caught my eye was the Apple & Barley salad. Nice and different, found it rather refreshing.


Hot Dishes (clockwise from 12 o'clock) : Lamb Rendang, Seafood Rice, Beef Cutlets, Chicken Rotisserie, Sotong with Spicy Peanut Sauce, Roast Vegetables

To accompany the feast, they also have side dishes like salted eggs, salted fish, tempeh and more...


Beef Kerabu


Acar


Do try the Gado-gado (vegetable salad) as the peanut gravy is nice and the ingredients are freshly prepared.

Just behind this counter, one can also order Laksa Johor (which I forgot to take a photo of!) and get other goodies like these...


These Grilled Squid were really good. Fresh and cooked just right, it had the right amount of herbs and seasoning to make this a flavourful treat!


Another hit with me were the Vegetable Fritters. Again the batter had just the right amount of salt and was the right size as a delicious vegetable snack.


Of course, eventhough I'm not a fan of fish I found these Ikan Bakar which were nicely prepared and wrapped in banana leaves quite enticing!


I enjoyed the Nasi Ulam as the grains are separate, I don't enjoy eating soft and sticky mushy rice :o). The herbs and vegetables in this Nasi Ulam were lovely. By the way, this is the plate where the patrons scoop from, this is not MY plate of nasi ulam. LOL!


While I might be able to resist some of the food there, resistance was futile against these yellow yummy beauties that seemed to call out to me! Hahaha....The Roti Jala (a local version of crepe with holes like a net, hence Jala which means net in Malay) was nicely done too but the curry gravy wasn't spicy enough for me.

I opted for my two favourites, the Kuih Ketayap (Dadar) and Cucur Badak over the other cakes. The skin for the Kuih Ketayap was soft and thin while the coconut filling had just the right level of sweetness for me to have several of these. Lovely! As for the Cucur Badak, the filling was not too bad but I found the dough slightly more chewy than it should be.The bunch of us were full and there were several other main, side and dessert items that I couldn't try. Wanna try your hand at making Cucur Badak? Rasa Malaysia shows you how!


There's also Fruits and Marshmallows Choc Dip for those who want a healthier (only a bit healthier, hahaha...) dessert.

Well, the food spread at Pick n' Brew is rather different from the usual Ramadhan buffet at such restaurants. At RM38+ for adults and RM18+ for children, Pick n Brew's Ramadhan Buffet promo started on 8 September and will run till 30 September every evening from 6.30pm-10pm. Dishes vary from day to day. The spread is a mix of local, fusion and Western quality dishes which are nicely presented. Coupled with the nice ambiance of the restaurant, we enjoyed our dinner here that night.


Pick n' Brew
F233, First Floor Promenade
1 Utama Shopping Centre
(the end nearest to One World Hotel)

For reservations : 03-7726 0102

SELAMAT BERBUKA PUASA!

Bread & Olives Cafe, Ampang

A few month's back, Jason organised a small floggers' gathering in Ampang. Why so? Cos some of us have heard about the view at this place and wanted to go there and see it for ourselves.

Going there was rather complicated as most of us weren't to sure where to start! Hahaha....with directions printed out, KampungBoy CityGal, Jason, Simon, Cookies Cream and myself set out on journey in two cars to the top of the hill. Since we didn't know the way, we made sure we started early so that we won't get lost in the dark! Hahaha...anyway, going up earlier is also better as we were told that the area up there can get rather congested and one might end up having to park their car at the foot of the hill and walked up. Talk about working up an appetite!

After taking many lefts, many rights and going straight...we arrived at the top of the hill. We stood there for quite awhile, just taking in the wonderful sight before us. Now, there are several restaurants on top of this hill and we have heard and read that the food served at most of the establishments have not been having favourable reviews. However, we were told that Bread & Olives Cafe served the best food up here as compared to the rest and so, we chose to dine at Bread & Olives Cafe that night.

The al fresco dining area (one can also choose to dine indoors)

I spotted Mediterranean Lamb (RM17.50) which is Lamb Shawarma on the menu and didn't hesitate ordering it as I recalled the fantastic shawarmas I had when I was in London many years ago. Of course, it's not London but Ampang that I was in and I was somewhat disappointed that the Lamb Shawarma turned out rather bland and ordinary. Chicken Shawarma is also available (which was what Jason ordered).

KampungBoy City Gal's order of Lamb Briyani (RM29) looked a whole lot more interesting for sure. Had a bit of the lamb shank and it was rather good. Accompanied by a side dish of spicy potato sauce, salad and wonderful separate grains of briyani rice, this dish was happily shared between the two of them.

Both Simon & Serene ordered the Roast Chicken (1/2 for RM23), and it too came with Briyani Rice and a side salad. The Chicken came smothered with cream sauce and peppered with chilli powder. Both Simon and Serene loved this dish as they enjoyed tucking in the tender and moist chicken.

But this was definitely my favourite of the night, the Burj Al Arab Pizza (RM25). We chose to have it with lamb meat topping (thank goodness all of us eat lamb!) and I was pleasantly surprised that the pizza tasted great. Topped with a generous amount of onions, capsicum, olives, cheese, tomatoes and meat; we each had a slice of this flavourful pizza. Love it...and wished there were more! Hahaha...Well, I would like to dine at Bread & Olives again - the food's pretty good and best of all, dine on top of a hill with a wonderful view to boot!

Bread & Olives Cafe
No. 7 Lot Perniagaan Komplex Pelancongan
Menara Tinjau, Jalan Ampang Hulu Langat
68000 Ampang
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Opening Hours (6pm to 1 am)
Tel : 013-2506119

Read Spare Change's review HERE (with location map)

Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do. ~ Jason Love

Exotic Enigmatic Egypt! Part 11

It was our last night on the cruise ship and most of the crew came out after dinner and did a performance for us at the lobby area. Towards the end, they got some of the passengers to join in the singing and dancing and we went to bed feeling a bit sad that the cruise was soon coming to an end.

The next morning after we disembark, we were taken to the Valley Of The Kings, located amongst the desert mountain at the West Bank of the Nile.

Unless you're a tomb raider, this is one mountain you won't want to climb.

This valley holds about 63 tombs for kings and nobles and has many chambers. We picked a few to go into as some tombs have very complex chambers where one might have to climb up and down very steep steps. It's really warm and almost up to the point where one might find it hard to breathe (those with asthma were told to refrain from going into certain complex tombs). Let's just say, walking into one of the tombs made me experience how it might be like for one trapped in a mineshaft.

We then went on to visit the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut which is built right into a cliff!

Wikipedia says : Djeser-Djeseru is the main building of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple complex at Deir el-Bahri. Designed by Senemut, her vizier, the building is an example of perfect symmetry that predates the Parthenon, and it was the first complex built on the site she chose, which would become the Valley of the Kings. Read more about Queen Hatshepsut and the temple HERE.

Explanation from wikipedia : Osirian statues of Hatshepsut at her tomb, one stood at each pillar of the extensive structure, note the mummification shroud enclosing the lower body and legs as well as the crook and flail associated with Osiris



On the way back, we were taken to an the countryside where there were many places selling alabaster. We were given a tour and shown how alabaster is made.




The many different types of Alabasters

Onto our last leg of the tour, we had a bit of luxury when we checked into Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor.

In the late afternoon, we had a "meeting" in one of the conference rooms for some Egyptian history lessons and our guide, Mohamad even drew some hieroglyphic for us to learn. Apparently all Egyptian tour guides had to study and pass exams on Egyptian history and hieroglyphics before they can work as tour guides.

We relaxed in the open air lounge before we embarked on a night out in town later ;o)

To be continued ...

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Brussels Beer Cafe, Jaya One Petaling Jaya

(Non-Halal )

(For Those Above 21 Years Of Age)
Don't Drink and Drive

I know I was suppose to continue with a post on the picnic I had over the weekend but instead I'm posting on the other weekend discovery; Brussels Beer Cafe again.

What happened was that I was supposed to have dinner with JC and E in Jaya One, venue yet to be decided. However, JC and E decided to hit Brussels again since Happy Hours were calling them. When I reached there around 7pm, they were still drinking and Mr Jägermeister (more about that name later!) was there too.

Soon, we were ALL drinking ourselves to a "happy" state though Happy Hours were long over. Hahaha...and we still haven't decided where to eat.
Here's an assortment of beer on the table; Hoegaarden, Leffe and Carlsberg Extra Cold

At this time, Danny came over and asked us girls whether we would like to try Girl Liquer. We haven't heard of it and and wondered how it would taste like and Danny promptly served us a glass of Girl each. Mr Jägermeister was perplexed that he didn't get a shot but Danny told him Girl was for girls only. Guys should try a shot of Jägermeister (and Mr Jägermeister became him name henceforth).

Girls with a glass of Girl (RM15) - a clear drink of a mix of Lychee, Raspberry, Premium Vodka and Cognac. Don't be fooled by the sweet thing, this Girl isn't as easy as one thinks ;o), Girl has 25% alcohol flowing through!


Guy with a shot glass of Jägermeister. We tried a sip of it and it tasted like cough mixture to me. Really strong and not what a girl would usually drink. It's really potent with 35% alcohol level. Well, since I knew nothing of it apart from having that tiny sip, I decided to Google it. What's in Jägermeister? Apparently it's a trade secret and some say it's a herbal liquer. Get the history from the official website (you have to key in your birth date as you have to be 21 years and above to view the site). Interesting, it has "recipes" for drink mixes with names like the innocent Oatmeal Cookies, German Chocolate Cake to names like The Devil You Don't Know, Jekyll & Hyde, The Dirty Leprechaun and Gangrene. Gasp! Check the list, there's more. This shot came out blur as I was probably senseless for awhile there (uhhh..more like intoxicated, hahaha).

By this time, we figured that it was best we just stay put and have our dinner at Brussels Beer Cafe itself and asked Danny for his recommendations.

Mushroom Toast (RM10.80) - Toasted baguette topped with creamy mushroom and cheese. A heavenly experience when I first bit into these crispy and sinfully rich toast. Having said that, I can still sit all night here and just keep ordering and eating these wonderful creation. Well, all night or until I keel over! Hahaha....


Brussels Chicken & Stoemp (RM23.80) - Chicken Thigh stuffed with mushrooms with caramelized leek and rosemary reduction. The chicken was tender and moist with the skin seared spot on for me. The Stoemp - mashed potatoes with onions, carrots, leeks with bits of bacon was really flavourful. If the average size chicken thigh doesn't fill you, the Stoemp will! The gravy was delicious and had the right consistency that clinged onto the Stoemp, enabling us to "mop" up everything on the plate!

For dessert, good ol' Belgian Waffles (RM10.80). Two waffles were served with a scoop of ice cream and a small slab of butter with a twin sauce dish of chocolate and honey on the side. The waffles had just the right thickness, crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Add a bit of everything on a delightful piece of the waffle and pop it into your mouth. My tastebuds were having their fair share of "happy" moments too. Hehehe...

After such a tasty meal, it was good to know (they printed this in the menu) that their food is cooked using Premium Olive & Soybean Oil which are Trans Fat and Cholesterol Free, low in saturated fats, high in Omega 3 and with natural antioxidant properties and also high in healthy monosaturated fats :o).

Here's Brussels Beer Cafe with some Happy patrons enjoying themselves ;o)

But the appropriate way to end this post would be this scandalous pic of Mr Jägermeister kissing a Girl....


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The End...for now ;o)

Brussels Beer Cafe
L-20-G, Block L
Jaya One
No. 72A Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan

Tel 03-7954 2000

Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. ~Ernest Hemingway

Over The Weekend ...

... I drove JC's dog around and had fun playing games with him.

Buddy's so cute...resting his head against the side of the floor console and looking at me!

Buddy's a really good boy! Such a joy to take him around. He can do all sorts of tricks - High 5, Gimme a Ten, Roll Over, Play Dead, How Do You Do, Balance, Lay Down etc. etc. (Photos taken with camera phone while waiting for the traffic lights to turn green, I don't click and drive!)

...had a picnic with LOTS of great food at one of my favourite place with one of my favourite group of people.

while getting some R&R

and enjoying the serenity of it all in the later part of the evening

Where one can find such wonderful serenity located right outside one's house!
(Location : LakeEdge Puchong which I've blogged on back in 2006

...celebrated our National Day with a discovery of a new place where they have (drum roll!)...

Imported beers on tap! Look at how cold it is! That's ice!

and turns out that Sunday is Happy Hour all day long. Hoegaarden Draught 1/2 pint goes for RM14 and 1 pint RM24 (usual RM16 and RM28 respectively. RM2 and RM4 cheaper is still better than nothing! Mon-Sat Happy Hours are from 5pm - 8pm).
Location : Brussels Beer Cafe, Jaya One
(Sorry pics from Brussels aren't clear, taken with camera phone and the place is dim)

To be continued...(I wish it was with beer but it's about the picnic. Hehehe)