Feliz Navidad @ Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia

When Jason asked if I had wanted to take up an invite to check out Academy of Pastry Arts, I was rather nonchalant about it. I had no idea that there was an academy in Petaling Jaya in the first place (it's just 4 months old!) and I was still feeling tired after coming back from Melbourne. Now, I'm glad I went that day - I had so much fun while learning and having a hands on opportunity to decorate my very own gingerbread house.

This is what they say about themselves : -

"Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia, a premier institute offers you the rare opportunity to learn the art of bakery and pastry making in a professional setting, being personally trained and coached by experts in their field. Your skill will be finely honed through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to the best pastry techniques, tools, and ingredients.. Our Academy is dedicated only to the art of pastry and it is our target to be the finest pastry academy in Malaysia & Southeast Asia. We are committed to groom the best ready to perform pastry professionals entering the hotel industry and related pastry fields.

Read more about the Academy from their website and Facebook page.

The main kitchen area and classroom area.

Academy of Pastry Arts Malaysia offers four main courses : -

Certificate in Pastry and Bakery (9 months)

Certificate: Art of Intermediate Pastry Program (3 months)

Certificate in Bakery Arts (3 months)

Continuing Education (Short term courses) See schedule HERE.

Short term courses (which range from RM150 - half day, RM250 - full day, RM500 - two days) include
Cheesecake
Chocolate for Beginners
Chocolates and Praline
The Art of French Pastry
Tea Cakes, Cookies & Bar

Course fees include EVERYTHING - ingredients, equipment, study material. For the longer term courses, pay up in full on the spot and you can get a 10% discount. Interest free monthly installments are also offered. If there are Master Chef classes held during your time at the Academy, you can attend the classes for free (these classes are at RM2000 each otherwise and are usually attended by established Pastry Chefs of the Southeast Asian region). Be taught by World Champion Pastry Chefs who are flown in to Malaysia!

We visited the Chocolate Room (Gasp! I would love to have a Chocolate Room in my house apart from the usual dining room, store room, bed room, hahaha!) - No Willy Wonka here, but lots of delicious chocolates made by students that were laying around - such temptation!

We were given a tour of the academy and also had the opportunity to see some students creating their masterpiece. There's also a sugar art work room and came across some students' lovely sugar art works.

Lunching @ KTZ, Kepong

When I frequent the KTZ (Kei Tak Zek - "Remember To Eat") outlet in SS2 at night...I usually order my Shanghai Cheong Fun with baby shrimps (RM2.90)which is my fave ...eh, no pic though.  As for desserts (more like a drink)...I would order the Strawberry Blend with Gui Ling Gao (Herbal Jelly) - RM8.30 (see my 2007 post on this drink, it was RM7.80 back then, inflation!).  Of late, I discovered that I also like the Apple Citrus Green Tea (RM4), try it!

However, not too long ago, I went to Kepong to meet up with a old friend and we decided to have lunch at KTZ in Kepong.  The very first KTZ; where folks were first introduced to their signature icy desserts - until they opened more branches elsewhere. Located by the side of a busy and rather dusty road, folks would throng this place (including me) and I remember that I was disappointed a few times when their desserts were sold out when I dropped by after movie night! Blessed me then when KTZ opened in SS2.  However, I do feel that the food in KTZ Kepong outlet is better, not only in taste but also in presentation wise.  The SS2 outlet is so busy most of the times that I feel like they seem to concentrate on getting the food out quick to the customers and aren't really bothered with the way the food looks when it leaves the kitchen, which at times can be described as "almost mangled"!

I would say I hardly go to KTZ for lunch (more for drinks and snacks at night) and found myself ordering other items that I haven't tried before during the lunch in Kepong that day.  We ordered some side snacks as starters...

Salted Egg (RM3.70) - A mix of fish & meat paste with bits of carrots, deep fried and served - tasty and even better with the chilli sauce

Sunday Sights - Las Vegas

Here's Las Vegas during daytime under the hot scorching sun, we headed into Planet Hollywood Hotel to cool down. Stay tuned for night time shots....

It's Sunday (so soon???), and back to a whole new week ahead soon. Don't fight it, embrace it :o).

Lazing around Sitiawan

The holiday came and gone and we're back at work.  Luckily, the weekend is just around the corner, YAY!  Continuing with Sitiawan, we came to realise that Sitiawan folks are friendly people as it was the case with Charles and his family.  Believe it or not, the whole group of us even hung out at his neighbour's house - yes, someone whom we just met for the first time!  After picking up the paus from Yee Si and filling our tummies with Kampua Noodles, Charles took us back to his house to clean up and rest.

Then he told us about his neighbour who has the best botanical garden in Sitiawan and brought us all over! The friendly neighbour gave us a warm welcome and asked us to make ourselves at home (to which at this time, I went round taking photos of his lovely garden).

Kampua Noodles @ Pasar Awam Kg Koh, Sitiawan

Continuing from my previous post...remember that we arrived at Yee Si too early and could only get the orders an hour later? Well, what did we do to kill time? Charles whisked us off for lunch at the Kampung Koh wet market. Check out Motormouth From Ipoh's post when he ate here too (with map and directions) during his food hunt in Sitiawan. This place opens for breakfast till lunch time (we were there around 2 plus and it was still operating).

Well known for dishing out home made Kampua Noodles (Foo Chow style) ... at the Pasar Awam Kg Koh at Jalan Simpang Dua

As we arrived for a late lunch, the lunch crowd had dispersed by then

Pau Attack @ Yee Si, Kampung Koh, Sitiawan

I'm way behind editing my photos....and while I'm not done with Vegas and Canada, Taiwan and now Melbourne, there are still the road trips that I did to Sitiawan and Penang!  Oh well, from Vegas - I shall now take you all back to our shores, Sitiawan, where my first stop over was at the famous Yee Si at Kampung Koh. (Oh, a word of thanks goes out to Charles & family for extending their wonderful hospitality and to Glorious Jade, WWS and Ash for being hand models and putting up with all that waiting while I snapped away at all that food).  

Stopping over to grab some paus, we found out that we had to wait a while for the "thousand layer" peanut pau as we were too early (we arrived at 2pm).  We actually went off and came back again to pick up our orders slightly after 3pm. Luckily we placed our orders earlier, it was almost sold out by the time we got there the second time round.  Check out the scene at the side lane....

Operation Pau - Churning out the steamed buns....

Steamed Paus (Buns) on bamboo steamer trays, going....

Desserts & Desserts at MGM Grand All Day Buffet, Vegas

Not quite sure how we ended up buying a whole day buffet ticket but it was a  deal at USD33.30/person!  I guess we were too tired to think and decided to make things easier.  One can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at MGM Grand! Breakfast is from 7am - 11am, Lunch 11am - 2.30pm and Dinner from 4.30pm till 10pm. Hahah...yes, we almost sat through breakfast right up to the lunch slot!  I found the food to be pretty standard fare (hence no pics!)  Of course, more hot dishes were served during dinner time as compared to breakfast.

A section of MGM Grand Buffet's large dining area.

Here's a shot of one of the many "food islands" serving a wide range of food.

Grand City Restaurant @ Sec 11, Petaling Jaya

I really haven't been to this area in Petaling Jaya for quite a while...about 10 years, I would say. When Constance suggested that we did our casual team meeting over breakfast at Grand City in Section 11, I was keen to revisit the area...and now, Grand City has become a favourite of mine for tea time snacks. I'm not so keen on the rest of their food but if I can, I would drop by here for breakfast and tea time (3pm onwards) as only then are certain food items available. What do I keep coming back for?

Sweet Appam made by a cute auntie! (Pardon the green tone in the pics due to the green canopy)

Going through the motion...