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Showing posts with the label food

Wilayah Walkabout

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February 1st is Federal Territory Day, a holiday which commemorates the transfer of Kuala Lumpur to the control of the Federal Government. Prior to 1974, Kuala Lumpur was under the governance of the Selangor State Government. KH and I took the opportunity to paktor  at Petaling Street, the historic heart of Kuala Lumpur. Had no idea about lunch options, so we were lucky that the lady boss from Wu Li Tou Drunken Clam Noodles was very persuasive. The stir-fried noodles were quite flavourful with decent wok qi .  The restaurant was at Jalan Sultan, just a stone's throw away from REXKL, the old Rex Theatre. The theatre was rejuvenated into community and arts hub, and also houses a very Instagram-able BookXcess. The place has the feel of a bookstore maze. There's a food court on the ground floor, with some hipster cafes as well. Further down the road, we found a tong sui shop with some great options called Zhaoji Desserts . The ginger milk pudding comes with a mini hourglass to ti

XVI

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Sixteen years together is no easy feat. Although KH and I had already spent so many years together, we can still say silly things to each other. Poke fun at each other about subjects that have origins from when we started dating. Our inside jokes. Does it mean that we have not progressed? I would like to think that we still maintain the same innocent love that we have for each other. To mark the occasion, we had a wonderful lunch at Entier French Dining located in Alila Bangsar. We had a table with a view, and the natural light really makes the food porn photos pop. A memorable dining experience complete with anniversary cake compliments of the restaurant.  Mei and MiniMei were in town, so we took the opportunity to catch up with them at Chye Seng Foo Coffee in Cheras. Perhaps MiniMei was exhausted from all the social events that her momma dragged her too, so she was a bit sulky. Nothing a little bacon fries couldn't solve. With Mei, she updated us on her situationship and life b

Hopped Over to Sungai Burung

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On the second day of Year of the Rabbit, we made a trip to Bagan Sungai Burung to visit my maternal cousins. Did the usual visiting at the fishing village. For the first time ever, my cousin brought us to the nearby beach. The mind-blowing thing was that it was just a stone's throw from the old house. Just a short walk. Guess we never went there because it isn't a particularly beautiful beach. The government fortified it with stones to stop erosion. According to my cousin, its popular for wedding photography among the Malay community. That beach is close to the estuary of the Bernam River, so once in a while there would be tourists waving to us on their boats. Being a fresh spot, we took quite a number of photos. Would have taken more if not for the sweltering sun.  With the touristy things out of the way, it was time for a hearty home style seafood hotpot. Anticipating our arrival, my cousin laid crab traps at two in the morning, and brought home loads of flower crabs when the

Restaurant Celebrities: K-Boss

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Ticket to Korea is one of my favourite Korean fusion restaurants. The menu is small, but the few things on it will get you hooked. Even if the food ( the cheesy ribs are recommended ) doesn't attract you, perhaps the K-Boss with the American accent will. P.S.: At the time of writing, the outlet at SetiaWalk is temporarily closed :(   

Closing the Gap: 2023 Edition

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Tried my level best to catch up. Finally I'm blogging about 2023, although its 2024 in just a couple of days. No parties, no raves for New Year's Eve. Typical for me to spend it at church although in recent years, there's no fireworks or fellowship. Just the mandatory mass, and "Year in Review" video.  In the first week of 2023, there was already a wake service for a fellow BEC member. The death statistics have been higher than usual. On a happier note, the year started with a gathering at Apollo's house. His mum cooked up a storm again, and we had good bitching session. In terms of the Lunar Chinese New Year, preparations were heating up everywhere. The morning market was flooded with new year goodies, and students peddling calligraphy. Along with it, the signature traffic gridlock. At church, decorations were also in full swing with help from various Mandarin BECs. All sorts of design ideas were thrown around, and combined with a mash of whatever we could fi

Christmas 2022

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Christmas 2022 was memorable in the sense that there was a water cut on the 24th. Many a Christian housewife nust have been pissed with SYABAS. Christmas morning mass at church experienced a windfall turnout, no doubt bolstered by the seasonal CEO ( Christmas & Easter Only ) parishioners. Met up with the Tribe for a meh lunch of quinoa nasi lemak La Juiceria Superfoods . Then it was a 40-minute wait at Oomph Bukit Jalil, for a crazy noisy dessert session. Frankly, the lack of noise dampening at the place really annoys me. The kids were much more interested with the opening of the Christmas presents back home.   Later that night, I pulled on my red jockstrap, and  red Tartan pants to attend Terrance and Phillip's Christmas potluck. Lots of food ( KH decided to bring pizza much to my chagrin ), fun, drinks, and coffee. For some reason, the party is always segregated into the dining table gang, and the living room gang. And among the guests, there will be a midnight gang, and a

Rear End of 2022

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Before 2022 ended, KH insisted that we have a BFF gathering. Managed to round up Janvier, The Chief, Jaded Jeremy, Bunny, SimonLover, and ForIHaveSinned to join. Our dinner location was at Seppia & Polpo at Starling Mall. Having happened nearly a year ago, I really forgot my opinion about the food. And I forgot to leave a Google Maps review. In addition to wrapping up the year, it was an impromptu birthday celebration for ForIHaveSinned. Although he is my senior, his plump and perky ass puts many young boys to shame. Coincidentally, we bumped into TummyFull at the mall, as he was hosting some 'interest group' friends from out of town. The heavy rain outside limited our choices for dessert to the cafe inside Book Excess. Hang in there, I should be blogging about 2023 before 2024 arrives!

Modern Malay Wedding

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At the end of 2022. my neighbour's daughter got married, so mum and I received an invitation to their wedding reception. Been a while since I've been to a Malay wedding, and I must say that times have changed. Back when I was a kid, the typical Malay kenduri ( banquet ) was not done in a buffet fashion. Guests dined in quads, where when four guests sat down together at a long table, food would be served. Following the theme, there would be four dishes with a washing jug in the middle ( food tastes better when you eat with your hands! ). Typical dishes are ayam masak merah , rendang daging , acar , and papadam . And of course there would be rice, usually nasi minyak . At my neighbour's wedding, some of the traditional dishes were present in the buffet spread,  but there were many added bonuses. like an apam balik station, cendol station,  curry noodles station, and  roti jala.  Also the traditional door gift of bunga telur  ( hard-boiled egg decorated like a flower ) which

Sore in Surabaya V: CityChill

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With not much planned for the day, we had a leisurely breakfast buffet at the hotel, and later did some exploring of the grounds. One could really wear a tuxedo with pin tails, pair it with a top hat and walking stick, and not look out of place at The Majapahit. But then, you could be mistaken for a poltergeist. My favourite spot is the Cafe 1910 with its grand stained glass windows, and antique furnishing. Too bad we didn't have time for the pool.  Later in the morning, we took a Grab to Masjid Cheng Hoo , a Chinese-Muslim mosque that looks like a Taoist temple with its red Pagoda-like design. Its namesake is Admiral Cheng Ho, who had traveled to the  Malay Archipelago to trade and spread Islam. The mosque is actually pretty small and located behind a basketball court ( many Chinese temples in villages also have a basketball court ), so we were quite baffled when the Grab driver told us that we had arrived. Finished looking around in less than 30 minutes, and we were off to Raja T

Sore in Surabaya IV: Incredible Ijen

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At midnight, Pak Sulaiman drove us out to Paltuding , which is the nearest stop to the Ijen crater. For 2 hours he navigated pitch dark roads, while we dozed in and out of sleep at the backseat. Unlike Bromo, there isn't much decent infrastructure in the vicinity of Ijen, hence tourists have to stay at Bondowoso.  Everyone would wait at the many waroeng s near the carpark, sipping thick local coffee. Met up with our local guide who gave us a couple of 3M respirator masks, and headlamps for our impending trek into the sulphur fumes of Ijen. The hike up was 4KM over a tarred road. Our guide knew every bend of the road, and would update us about how easy or difficult the upcoming stretch was. Such intimate knowledge was picked up from his decades of mining sulphur in Ijen. His shoulders are scarred from carrying 70kg baskets of sulphur in and out of the crater daily. If your legs fail you, you cam pay to use modified carts ( the locals call it 'medicine for the knees' ) that t

Sore in Surabaya III: Beautiful Bromo

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Pak Sulaiman navigated a slew of dark and winding roads to get us to Bromo. Lots of hotels and amenities in the area. The altitude is high, and its so cold that we could see our breath. Our guide is actually from thereabouts. Checked in to the Cafe Lava Hostel at dinner time. Lugged our luggage up a steep flight of stairs, jumped into the shower with its gas powered water heater, and put on our warmest jammies. Sauntered down to the hotel's cafe for a simple dinner of vegetable soup and coffee. Wake up call was at 2:30AM where there was a line of jeeps waiting to take tourists to Bromo to catch the sunrise. At around 3:40 AM, we arrived at a rest area with a lot warungs . Sitting on low stools, we huddled around a small charcoal hearth to keep warm. A lady served us banana fritters and hot coffee. While waiting for the cue to go, we chatted with a Malaysia couple who were in the same warung . Although I was pissed with Batik Air for transit fiasco,  the couple had it way worse with

Sore in Surabaya II: Very Wet

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Woke up puffy-eyed and sleepy for breakfast at 6:00 AM. Finally had a good view of the surroundings at Yanti Homestay. The place is a cluster of rooms with common areas and a warung at the front. After our simple breakfast of a sandwich, omelette, and weak coffee, Pak Sulaiman met up with us with a clove cigarette in hand. One look at the shoes that we were wearing, he shook his head and told us to change into slippers. Together with a local guide, we walked a short distance to the Tumpak Sewu viewing deck. In the Javanese language, Tumpak Sewu means "a thousand waterfalls", and it's really breathtaking. Water flows down 120 meters over a semi-circular gorge with Mount Semeru in the background.   The real adventure began with our descent to the foot of the falls.  One would think that such a beautiful nature spot would be under the governance of park authorities, but in actual fact it's all maintained by locals. The path down was a mixture of trails, bamboo paths, r

Sore in Surabaya I: Terrible Transit

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Remember my cancelled trip to Danang due to well-timed cyclone? To make up for that, KH arranged a trip to Surabaya at the end of November. The itinerary included waterfalls, and volcanoes. Nothing too strenuous he assured me. The night before our departure, KH notified me of some bad news. Surely it wasn't another cyclone! Batik Air had chopped our direct flight to Surabaya into a transit at Jakarta! Because of that, our arrival would be late, making our schedule a little more hectic. The check-in queue at the airport wasn't too bad. And there was small consolation of a check-in cutie in my line of sight. Tall Thai boy from the looks of it. Pretty good leg room on the Batik Air flight, and we were given a cheese bun, and a muffin. At 4PM+7, we landed at Terminal 3 of Soekarno Hatta International Airport. Thinking back, it was 19 years since my last visit, and that terminal didn't exist back then. Pretty large and empty, and for some reason the airport authority has a th