Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the eve of a brand new Chinese New Year! I would like to wish all a very Happy Chinese New Year and to those who aren't celebrating, have a great holiday. For those traveling back to their hometown , safe journey. I'll be taking a short break and will be back next Monday (hopefully!).

It's Lo Sang time! - at The Ming Room, Bangsar Shopping Complex

Lime tree (Four Seasons?) at NZX, Ara Damansara

Pink "Blossoms" at NZX, Ara Damansara

GONG XI FA CHAI
(Wishing You More Wealth)

Tepian Tebrau, Johor Bahru

Whaddaya know, it's dinner time! During the laksa lunch earlier, discussion about dinner was already going on and planned with Charles taking us to Tepian Tebrau at Jalan Skudai for local favourites. I was told this place opened not too long ago and is best known for serving up tasty grilled fish. Hmmph...I asked, "Anything else???", as I'm not a fan of fish...hehe. Charles amd Alicia assured me that there will be plenty of other food that will fill my tummy up...and I was all smiles :o) :o) :o).

Tepian Tebrau is a hawker centre but one which exudes a cosy ambiance, thanks to it's wooden structure, tables and chairs (though you'll still see extra plastic chairs/tables being used during busy periods). Located along Johor Straits, this stretch is also called Lido Beach. It was rather dark on the opposite side where we parked the car (lots of ample parking spots) and I couldn't really see anything except a black canvas ahead towards the horizon.

We left the ordering to Charles and Munch and the rest of us sat down and waited for the goodies to arrive. When a lady came over to ask us for our drinks and rambled something about an ice desserts with fruits, I decided to order that as I have never tried such a dessert before. Soon, the food order arrived at our table and we tucked in.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab - dipped in batter and deep fried, these were somehow different from the usual ones I've tasted elsewhere. Maybe the secret is in the batter? I liked the ones here as they weren't oily!

The sweet & sour La La (shellfish) was yummy. I loved the sauce which came with generous egg swirls. We ordered a plate of fried rice and added the sauce to it!

Sotong (cuttlefish) Kangkung (water morning glory). It was just okay, I would have prefer a stronger taste to the sauce (no prawn paste?).

Stuffed Grilled Tofu (beancurd puff) was really good. The sauce and crushed peanuts were adequate and the tofu, with a crispy exterior was a delight to bite into.

Then came the spicy grilled stingray. This was different from the ones I've tasted in Klang Valley. It didn't have the usual crisp on the surface and was moist (too moist!) as it was served with a topping of sambal and diced onions on it. I prefer the crispier dry version with the sambal on the side but the rest of them said that this was good. Well, we do all have different taste buds...different strokes for different folks.

This is the fruit ice dessert I ordered. It had soursop, mango, nata de coco, sea coconut, watermelon and jelly. Squeeze the lime over it and it was absolutely lovely and thirst quenching.

Later on, Charles' sisters came over to join us and brought us two boxes of desserts made by their mom. They told us that their mom has a knack for concocting strange mixture of ingredients and coming up with all sorts of extraordinary desserts. True enough, the home made desserts made specially for us was something that we haven't eaten before.

Here you have the dragon fruit mixed with orange juice agar-agar (jelly). The taste of the two surprisingly complemented each other well and this was one refreshing dessert! Such an interesting mix!

This is an eye opener! Though simple, I had not come across anyone doing it till now. Carving out the centre, Charles' mom filled it up with fresh milk mix agar-agar and threw back in cut pieces of papaya. Once chilled, slice them up and you'll have these beauties! Such a delight!

Since the night was still young, we decided to head on the Zon. We walked around a bit and had drinks in one of the establishments. The drinks were quite cheap (due to the fact it's a duty free zone, I suppose) and after sitting around for awhile, it suddenly dawned on us that it had actually been quite a long day for us. We headed on back; prepared for our journey into Singapore the next day.


To be continued....

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).