will i am's delayed diary

Tater was in Kuala Lumpur for a social trip so we made plans to meet over dinner at Quivo, Pavilion. Started things off with some happy hour drinks and some beer snacks. Quivo's Cheesy Spinach Dip was an excellent start. Crispy pita chips go well with a melted Parmesan cheese infused with baby spinach. For dinner, KH and I shared a pizza. Post-dinner coffee was at Coffea Coffee where Tater tried the Peanut Butter Latte. Not something I think I will ever order. Haha. Always great to have Tater over because he's such a nice guy and always has great stories to tell. His most recent adventure was at the North Pole Marathon! Never a dull moment in his life. And he's not seeing anyone at the moment... :D

Gone are the days when the Bazar Ramadhan was a place for great food. Back when I was growing up in Kuantan, we didn't really need to care which shop we bought from because everyone had some actual culinary skills. Miss the crunchy mini samosas, delicious nasi dagang , and spicy popiah basah . In Klang Valley these days, it is hard to find decent food at such places. The food that is sold is only a 'seeming' of its name. A poor imitation with no real substance. Might look like it, but end up tasting all wrong. And if you're unlucky, you might walk away with a stomach flu. Probably would have to kiss many frogs to find your prince. But after a few kisses, you would probably give up from the utter disappointment. While roaming the Bandar Kinrara 5  Bazar Ramadhan , I chanced upon a really good nasi kerabu among the multitudes of stalls selling rainbow-hued drinks and grilled meat ( walking through a meat haze! ). The nasi kerabu came with all the right sauces and cond

KH suggested dinner at 8 Jugra, a new and upcoming place for Italian food. The restaurant is located off Jalan Klang Lama, converted from an old detached house, so it is quite hidden. Arrived at the restaurant well before dinner time and was greeted by snooty service. Since we had no reservation, they had not much interest to have us. SK actually asked to look at the reservation and work something out. Waiter: Sorry, but we are fully-booked. SK: That table is for 7:30 PM right? It's only 6:00 PM now, we'll be gone before that. Fantastic, right? The interior was pretty interesting. A mix of new and old furniture in a setting that reminds me of a house in the country. We ordered three items, but only the roast pork belly and risotto arrived. The pizza was lost in transit although there was only one other table occupied at the time. Our neighbour was pretty chatty. He was a German retiree who was very interested in old school furniture, Bakelite switches and the like so t

Right after KH and I got back from our Hokkaido trip, we attended a family function together at Bagan Sungai Burung , in the heartland of Selangor. It's a fishing village where my maternal cousins live and work. Every year, my uncle would throw a huge birthday party ( cum annual dinner for his employees ) and he would invite us to come. To him, the more the merrier, so invited SK and KH to tag along. Both of them had never been to that neck of the woods before and they were curious to try the famous seafood there. We exited at Sabak Bernam and headed into the Sungai Besar area. Further in was Bagan Sungai Burung. Our first stop was at Tokong Hui Long Kong , the main Taoist temple of the village. The road in front of the temple was lined with rows of huge joss sticks with dragon motifs. Nothing unusual about that, but we were shocked to see pineapple shaped joss sticks too! At my uncle's house, I brought them around jetty to look at the place where they process the daily c

We had a long drive ahead of us. KH and I split the 300KM drive to Chitose . The expressway was quite boring with no big rest stops. Mostly just toilets and a vending machine. Pushed on and arrived at Mitsui Outlet Park , Kitahorishima at about 2:00PM. Our Mitsui Premium Outlet in Sepang has a similar design, but the selection of brands is much better in Hokkaido. Although shopping was high on the list, eating lunch was more important. The food court offered a good selection of lunch options. Miso ramen is popular in the Sapporo region, so KH tried that. I for one found it to be overpowered by garlic oil. I chose Hokkaido pork don with leek. What I ate was pretty close to what Senya serves in KL. Kudos to Senya. Found the best bargains at Rockport and Banana Republic. Surprisingly, they also have a supermarket there selling fruits and vegetables. When we left MOP, our hands were full of shopping bags. Been trying to find SK's Albion products for two weeks but to no av

Early in the morning, we got dressed to pay a visit to the Fish Wholesale Market . It was not a fun day to be out. Wet and windy. Much more windy than wet really. When the angle was right, we felt 'helped along'. At pedestrian crossings, we held on to the lamp posts to avoid being blown onto the road. Crazy. Along the way, we saw tsunami warning signboards marking all tall buildings that have been designated at tsunami shelters. Hotel Chocolat was one of them. The Fish Wholesale Market is something like Kuromon Market in Osaka, but bigger and less centralized. From one glance, one can tell the King Crab is king in Hakodate . Nearly every shop sells it. Other specialties are live squid ( fish your own ) and scallops. Filled our high cholesterol breakfast quota with grilled giant scallop, boiled hairy crab and grilled King crab legs. My favourite was the boiled hairy crab. They boil the whole thing in salt water and serve it to you whole with a pair of kitchen shears. T