Nicolekiss Food and Diet

Pineapple Rolls

2011-02-16T17:44:00.003+08:00

Ahh... Chinese New Year cookies. Who doesn't love them.

Actually I don't.

Except for these. Pineapple rolls.

before entering the oven.

Though people have the habit of calling them pineapple tarts since they originated from tarts. Or mini pies.

I never knew how these were made till recently I witnessed it myself in bb's house.

You roll those pineapple paste mix into an oval shape ball and then wrap it around a long strip of pastry.

Then cut when the pastry meets.

Pop into the oven, the whoila!

Freshly baked Pineapple Rolls. YUM!

Burning off CNY Weights

2011-02-08T01:59:00.001+08:00

Chinese New Year has come and gone and I have found myself two kgs heavier right after the festival.

I have a shoot in two weeks so I'm setting a goal to lose off these two kgs in 14 days.

Now I'm not an exercise buff but I don't mind walking. I disgress going to the gym, or any sort of sports because frankly, I don't really have that sort of stamina to last long. Strangely enough, due to my travelling habit, I have adopted a skill in walking.

And I don't just mean a walk in a park. I mean I can walk for hours non stop in a day and I can still find myself going on. I once walked an average of 5 hours a day for 10 days in Beijing.

Or even once hike-walk across a tiny peninsula on the Isle of Skye (in Scotland) in search for some lost village, one way journey took me five kms across the green hills and land, and another five km back. And I had been walking all over the island that morning.

So I decided to dedicate two weeks starting from today to walk. As my form of exercise. On a treadmill. Thank god for that. No sun for me thanks. I don't mind the sweat, I just hate having darker skin.

Now here's the calculation.

One kg of fat = 7700 calories (holy!)
(One pound is 3500 calories)

So to shed off that much, I can't just cut off on my daily intake of calories (which would be 1800 calories since I'm a girl) by 500/1000 everyday because then my body would take the carbs I consume and transform it into fat to burn.

And I can't just cut down on carb while cutting back on calories either, and focus on protein. Because then my body would transform protein into carbs in my liver (called Gluconeogenesis) and the process will just repeat itself.

And technically, due to the complexity of our metobolism, it would take more (than 7700) calories to burn off one kg of fat.

Generally, I should cut back on 500 calories a day and exercise at the same time (aka walk).
So by calculation, that would mean I should limit my consumption to 1200 calories a day.

But because I've been binging so much during CNY. It's actually healthy to detox for the first three days of the two weeks; because then it allows the body to burn your bodyfat first before realising it's calories deficient.

I'm talking about fruits, fresh juice, lots of water and no heavy solid food yet. Limiting myself to only 500 calories, this would help me cut back a further 700 a day on the first three days.

As for walking,

1 hr normal walking = 150 calories

But I'm doing a slight brisk walk at 4km/hr so 45 mins walking would take 155. (estimate, base on personal treadmill walk)

Hence, 1 hr 30 mins walk = 310 calories.
That would be 6km of walk every day.

First three days: (1200 + 310) x 3 = 4530

Following days: (500 + 310) x 11 = 8910

Total: 4530 + 8910 = 13440 calories.

Fat lost in two weeks: 13440/7700 = 1.745

That's a whooping 1.75 kilo of fat!

In two weeks and simply by walking. Not limiting much your intake as long as you stick to a 1200 cal daily benchmark.

Considering the possibility of water retention and undiscarded stools in my body, I'd say two kgs in two weeks should be a healthy and very possible achievement.

Wish me luck! (on my determination)

You should try it too.

Cabbages & Condoms @ Thailand

2009-12-18T03:55:00.000+08:00

First time I heard of the name was two years ago. In a lonely planet guidebook when I was exploring through northern Thailand.

Since it has become one of my favourite places to dine at for good authentic Thai food in Thailand.

The concept was this: cabbages were a common dish for the poor that can be obtained everywhere in the olden times, and with new concept, they wanted to make condoms as common and attainable as cabbages, hence the name.

I's become obvious that their objective was to promote anti-aids and safety first when it comes to sex among the people, the title would appeal the most to the young minds for obvious reason.

In the restaurant you'll find various displays that are inter-connected to condoms.

Names apart. They do provide really fancy, nice and affordable Thai food. Perfect for those who wants to savour authentic local food minus the noise from passing-by cars. It's a romantic place for couples and quiet night out with families.

We started off with some Miang Kum as appetizers. A form of dish that are served with Chaboo or La Lot leaves which you then wrap the ingredients around and dip it in sweet sauce.

The restaurant however have already prepared everything in a platter for you. So all you need to do is splatter some sauce and pop it in your mouth.

We then moved onto tom yum kung, something you must have in Thailand. And they served it pretty well here.

Red curry chicken was not bad either, though didn't know why we didn't order the green curry instead.

I would suggest the seafood in a coconut, great presentation and good taste too.

Then end your meal with a cold local Thai beer, the perfect way to end any meal.

Perfect.

Rating: 4.5/5

Cabbages & Condoms
10 Sukhumvit Soi 12, Bangkok, Thailand.
Contact: +66(0)2-2294610

Website: www.cabbagesandcondoms.com

Baliku @ Jimbaran, Bali

2009-12-16T10:27:00.000+08:00

If you ever get lost and confused when landed in Jimbaran, amidst all cluster of available restaurants for tourists along the coast, this restaurant is where you should pick when dine out for an evening romantic dinner.

Ask for discount, haggle for it. They'll usually give. We got it for 35% for two person. If you have more people, you can even get it at 40%. :D

Introducing the magic of night.

This is Baliku Special Sauce - the best damn thing your taste bud will ever try in Asian cuisine.

Ask for a bowl before the start of your meal, then you're ready to go.

Best dipped with calamari. Crunchy and sweet.

They even put some of the magic on our oysters appetizer.

We had Baliku special sauce grilled fish which was HEAVEN.

We ordered tiger prawns too but camera wasn't fast enough for our mouths.

The crabs were so so, fresh though. Nothing fancy.

The bill totaled up to 283k rupiah, which was roughly RM100 that time.

Seafood for two at such a romantic destination, I'd say it's pretty reasonable. :)

Rating: 3.5/5

Location: Jimbaran Bay, Bali, Indonesia

Foo San @ Christchurch

2009-11-27T01:24:00.000+08:00

Said to be one of the locals favourite yum cha (dim sum) restaurant in Christchurch, Foo San Restaurant was owned by a reader-turn-friend of mine.

funny photo of Danny

Great service, friendly and sweet staff (especially Danny's parents) and good food.

Yum Cha (transliterate to 'drinking tea') in New Zealand has never been a cost-wise option, more a luxury dining than you're everyday meal.

But if you're born local, it's actually considered rather affordable.

Almost everything on the menu was above my Kiwi's dim sum expectation, in other words, they were good.

My favourite being the chicken feet, always the first dish I ordered when I 'yum cha'.

Portions were pretty generous in spite of being a foreign food in New Zealand.

But then again, what meal portion was never big in New Zealand. People there ate generously too.

However, their most popular dish was the fried calamari, the one odd dish that's more Western than Chinese.

But the batter was nicely done and not oily at all. First bite guarantee your enlightenment as to why this dish was ever so popular.

First time for everything. Fried calamari dim sum.

rating: (I could be biased so let's just say it's 3.5/5)

Foo San Restaurant
6-8 Rountree St
Upper Riccarton
Christchurch City

Contact: (+64)(03) 348 4921

The Store @ Kekerengu

2009-11-16T23:15:00.000+08:00

Whenever you make a drive down from Picton or Marlborough along the coast line toward Kaikoura or Christchurch. Be sure to make a stop at The Store.

Located in Kekerengu, between Blenheim town and Kaikoura.

The Store is a scenic and cozy cafe restaurant facing an ocean that runs quarter a mile a distance at the back.

This is where you get your local cuisine at its best in New Zealand.

I was brought here non-selectively but was glad that my drivers did (I was hitch-hiking down south).

It was foggy and cold that morning and they were stopping by for a coffee break. Germans do like their coffee, other than beers.

Since I wasn't a morning person but woke up to catch the ride down anyway, I decided to have my breakfast, a meal I skipped and has been skipping every morning.

Choosing among the hot chocolates and sandwiches, I decided on a good old Egg Benedict for my brekkie.

Not a bad meal, considering that you can't really go wrong with Egg Benedict. Despite the coldness, we sat outside so the couple could enjoy their puff while I, er... bathe in freezing wetness.

Maybe one day I'd come back for a proper meal in the evening when I visit NZ again.

The Store
State Highway 1, Kekerengu
Marlborough
New Zealand

Contact: +64 (03) 575 8600

Cheese Souffle @ Wairau River

2009-11-14T19:55:00.001+08:00

If you're a fan of cheese.

Be sure to make a trip to Wairau River in Marlborough wine country when you're down to New Zealand.

They serve the legendary cheese souffle most tourists to Marlborough would hunt for, for its rarity.

I don't particularly think there's a lot to be fancied about this dish, there are much improvement though I would think it's more of a savory souffle more than a dessert. I had expected a dessert-ish dish.

But it's worth a try. And can be really filling.

Wairau River Cellar Door & Restaurant
Corner State Highway 6 & Rapaura Road

Open everyday from 10am - 5pm (except Good Friday, Xmas day & Boxing Day)
Lunch served 12pm - 3pm.

Contact: +6435729800 (or 03 572 9800 for local)

Jackman & McRoss @ Hobart

2009-09-01T16:10:00.000+08:00

Jackman & McRoss Bakery is one of the most popular cafes in Hobart, drawing crowds that on days would line outside the restaurant during meal hours.

Getting a table can prove a challenge but there's always take away options for most.

We managed to squeezed into a small table for two at the side of the window panel on a particular odd brunch hour, and yet the cafe was full to the brim.

I had the Egg Benedict.

While my friend went for a pastry pie (chicken).

The instant I took my first bite, I realized that the expertise of Jackman's lied in their sauces. It was delectable. Pie's and Benedict's.

Albeit the sauce on my egg benedict was a bit too little. And the caramelized onions were a star.

Asking for a second servings on the sauce was free, but take heed that the shorthand of waitresses and waiters there compared to the amount of customers every minute could mean that you won't see another drop of your order till the end of your scrumptious meal.

One of the rather unique order you could go for is the soda float aka ice cream fruit soda.

Pour over the soda served separately for you and observe it fizz over your glass before you can even say "Wowa!"

A nice treat to pair with your brunch/tea. :)

food rating: 4/5
service rating: 3/5 (slow service due to high customer count)

Jackman & McRoss Bakery
57-59 Hampden Rd
Battery Point 7004 TAS
Contact: +61 (03) 6223 3186

Mon-Fri 7.30am-6pm
Sat-Sun 7.30am-5pm

Bracegirdle's House of Fine Chocolate

2009-08-29T01:16:00.001+08:00

Easily the best chocolate cafe in Adelaide.

Bracegirdle's House of Fine Chocolate lives up to its name.

\

Not exactly cheap (they did say it's FINE chocolates), but reasonable enough for Australians.

They even have a nice chocolate fountain.

But I've grown out of the chocolate craze quite a while ago, so this thing didn't excite me as much as it did years ago.

I like the interior of the cafe, not exactly quiet for the place tend to trap noise within. So if there are customers sitting around inside, you'll hear the noise.

It's hard not to order the first drink on the menu.

It sounded like it's made for me.
(I should make my KISS a copyright one day)

It wasn't bad. But I much preferred Kokoblack's.

Some of the items definitely worth ordering here, like the Chocolate Waffle.

Good supper to go with.

And the Chocolate Fondue with Strawberries.

Key item?

The rich creamy Belgian chocolate sauce that top my chart of best chocolate tasted.

Unique drink to order.

Chili Hot Chocolate (Cocoa).

Funny thing was, I didn't feel the repulse feeling after drinking it which I anticipated at first.

In fact, the drink was more decent than expected. Pretty good I would say.

It did taste like, well, chili and chocolate drink mixed together.

Christmas Tree Marshmallow anyone?

The chocolate cake (brownie) slice was however the winner for the night.

It's been a long time since I've tasted such NICE creamy rich moist yet not too overpowering (well, it's quite rich, but you just won't get sick of it) chocolate cake/brownie.

An A list item.

Rating: 4/5 (Food & drinks mainly)

There are three stores of Bracegirdle's in South Australia, two in Adelaide and one in McLaren Vale.

More details on location and opening times, visit this link.

Oscars @ McLaren Vale

2009-08-26T23:19:00.002+08:00

One of the nicest boutique Italian restaurant I've come across in Australia is in the wine country of McLaren Vale, an hour south of Adelaide.

Oscars.

Their appetizers were presentable with a hint of character. Not the typical boring copy-and-redo type of food you'll find in other Italian restaurants.

Try the Chicken Liver Pate with Mango Chutney served with Pita Bread.

Love the pita bread concept.

Their homemade bread with Dukkah dip was not bad too.

Dukkah, an Egyptian mixture of seeds, nuts and Middle Eastern spices.

Usually have it with Egyptian baladi bread dipping into olive oil and then into the spice mixture.

Tangy, spicy, very fragrant. Not my kind of dish. But nice bread.

Their list of pizzas were a hit among the locals and foreigners.

We had the Mediterranean and the Tandoori Chicken flavours: 2 in 1.

What attracted me was the sinful generous dollops of sour cream on top of the Tandoori Chicken Pizza.

Oh heaven.

End it with a cup of good coffee or latter.

Rating: 4.5/5 (Food, Ambiance, Service. Perfect.)

Address:

Oscars
Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week
BYO (Bring Your Own)

Contact: +61 (08) 8323 8707

Chocolate Pizza @ Fellini, Adelaide

2009-08-13T13:26:00.000+08:00

Fellini is located up to North Adelaide.

The atmospheric old heritage building Italian restaurant is crowded with locals every night.

Here you can look at chef preparing their pizza straight from ingredients placement to the hot oven, and observe your pizza served straight out of the wood oven to your table.

But it is also here you will find a very unique dessert pizza menu: Chocolate Pizza.

You're given few options from the menu, like Mars Bar, Kinder Egg or Cherry Delights.

I ordered two out of the three popular dessert pizza, was it Cherry Delights? (they were out of their signature Mars Bar then :( )

I love the fact that they baked the chocolate chunks (Mars Bar, Cherry Delights, etc) on the pizza dough before topping it off with more chocolate and homemade ice cream chocolate.

The baked chocolate was chewy warm, a delightful contrast to the cold creamy rich chocolate and vanilla ice creams.

Not to mention very nice presentation.

A real treat.

Just be careful of your waist belt.

Dessert Pizza rating: 4.5/5
Restaurant rating:

Fellini Cafe
102 O'Connell St
North Adelaide 5006 SA
Phone: (08) 8239 2235

Entree: $9.90-$17.90
Mains: $9.90-$32.90
Dessert: $15.90-$16.90

Mon-Fri 7am-10.30pm
Sat-Sun 8am-10.30pm

Abortion in Adelaide

2009-08-13T12:09:00.000+08:00

Also known as AB (short for Abortion)

is a famous local dish in Adelaide. Best hang over food for the locals after a night's beer drinking and favorites among the college kids.

It's not difficult to see why. It one were any older, he'll probably die of heart attack walloping this.

Basically it's a combination of lamb kebab on a bed of fries and smothered with ketchup and mayonnaise.

Mmmm.....

One serve'll cost you AUD10.

No one knew who created the dish, there were two shops in North Adelaide that claimed that they did, oddly named The Red and White & The Blue and White and they're a few shops away from each other.

you can wiki it.

Have an Abortion when you drop by Adelaide.

Everyone does it. ;)

Kopitiam @ Swissotel Singapore

2009-08-01T08:54:00.000+08:00

Ever been to a high class Kopitiam?

Never try you never will know.

Head to the Swissotel in Singapore for your dosage 5-star kopi-o (black coffee) and milo dinosaur.

And waiters dress in suits.

They served local "authentic" (not sure if upgrading to a 5-star is still considered authentic or not) cuisines such as braised pork with bun.

Trust me, it looked better than it tasted.

However the prawn fritters with mango sauce was quite a delight.

Pricey though. (can't remember how much, I wasn't the one paying :p)

One thing fascinating that caught my eye in the menu (apart from the price) was this,

Just imagine, if one teh tarik cost 6 sing dollar, how much does a plate of fried rice cost? 0.O

Milo Godzilla.

You've probably tried Milo Dinosaur (if not, visit this restaurant for a try)

But Milo Godzilla??!! at SGD8.50?!

This I have to try.

Turned out, it's actually Milo Dinosaur, with two scoops of vanila ice creams inside.

SINFUL!!

But it's awesome. Rich, rich and uber chocolate-y rich.

It'd be nicer if I could finish it. (I probably could if not for all the food ordered)

A friend ordered chicken rice, which came in a set (it seems).

It wasn't anything fancy really, just really posh despite the irony of having your street side food served by polite suited waiters in a fully air-conditioned expensive hotel.

The Yang Zhou Fried Rice was worth the order.

5-star kopitiam. Try it. ;)

Rating: 3/5

Kopitiam Singapore Restaurant
Located in Swissotel Singapore.

Best Nasi Lemak & Milo Dinasour @ Village Park Restaurant

2009-07-31T02:00:00.003+08:00

Know where to get the best nasi lemak in town?

Head down to Damansara Uptown, located near one of the corner, is a new joint (ok, not so new) called Village Park Restaurant.

I've heard a lot of raving reviews of the Nasi Lemak here, so I decided to check it out one day.

We ordered each a Nasi Lemak with Fried Chicken. At RM6.80 per plate, it's one of the pricier mamak Nasi Lemak you find these days.

But oh god, it's so worth it.

The fried chicken was one of the crunchiest and tastiest fried chickens I've tried in a long time. KFC was so below par compared to this.

The key ingredient however, in my opinion, was the sambal. Not too spicy and rather sweetish, it blended too well with coconut milk rice and fried chicken drumstick.

I topped it off with a heavy drink, hailed from Singapore culture - Milo Dinosaur.

Priced at RM4.90. It was rather pricey for a Milo drink. But if you look at it as a ice blended chocolate drink, it's really quite reasonable, and definitely sharable between two people.

Normally Milo Dinosaur is just Milo mixed with condensed milk and topped with a generous tablespoon of Milo powder. I first heard and drank such drink was in Singapore two years ago.

But the one in Village Park served the drink ice blended. Thick, rich, icey cold and chocolate-y. What more can one ask for?

Try it. It's worth the visit.

Though the restaurant can get really packed during lunch hour, then it's much faster to self service and queue order your own Nasi Lemak from the counter.

Food Rating: 4/5
Overall Rating: 3/5

Village Park Restaurant (Damansara Uptown)
5, Jalan SS21/37,
Damansara Utama,
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03-77107860
Open from 7 am to 8pm daily, 7 am to 6 pm on Sunday/Public Holiday

Hong Kong French Toast Project - Failed

2009-06-24T22:51:00.000+08:00

Weeks ago I was hungry and there was nothing much to eat in the house.

Inspired by Kim Gary's french toast which we had a day ago, we attempted to make our own instead of driving out all to pay RM4.50 for a piece of fried egg toast covered in honey and butter.

The result was horrible. A total failure. No, a total disaster beyond repair.

After locating several recipes online for a typical Hong Kong french toast, we were convinced that it was piece of cake to make our very own, one that's identical to Kim Gary's, if not then at least a large resemblence, homemade french toast - Hong Kong style.

According to the recipe, the breads were meant to be dipped in a mixture of beaten eggs, milk, sugar and teaspoon of vanilla essence after having it generously spread upon a thick layer of peanut butter.

Somehow the very quick "dip" was so swift to soak up the egg mixture that by the time it was moved to the frying pan, it was soggy and gooey.

The result was unbearably........ ugly.

I really don't know how to describe the whole thing, was it soggy cakey? or wet goo? or oily slimey? Needless to know, the whole thing was chucked into the bin before we managed to proceed the second mouthful.

Well, at least the photos were good.

Hong Kong Delicacies

2009-06-15T02:38:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong is bursting with food. All the goodness in the world.

Smelly Tofu

My trip to Hong Kong was a taste bud tantalizing journey. Here I would like to introduce some of the best food one can find in Hong Kong. I have formed a list, and a lot of photos. So brace yourself.

Dan Dan Noodles

Hong Kong is quite popular for their dan dan noodles, which you can find almost anywhere. In most cafe restaurant or "Cha Chan Teng" or perhaps small street side restaurants around.

Two of the most staple styles are the spicy Sze Chuan style

and the mince pork dan dan noodle.

We also had pork chop as a side serving.

It was thick slices and really tender and juicy.

Fried Rice

When it comes to eating in Hong Kong, you can find everything that's famous in Mainland China here.

The "Yang Zhou Fried Rice" for example. (Yang Zhou - a place)

And also the "Xian Yu" Fried Rice (Xian Yu - salted fish), with pork chop.

Mango Puddings

For desserts, as blogged in my previous entry, you can find the Hui Lau Shan's mango desserts almost everywhere in Hong Kong.

Try ordering the original flavour, and maybe another one with the bird nest and ice creams.

They're so amazing it'll be ridiculous not to try it.

Wife's Cookies/Cakes

Wing Wah, no other brand better. Just try it. You will know.

Head to a branch before 2pm to savour a fresh out of the oven piece and you will see heaven shining lights upon you. Like it did me.

Pen Cai (Bowl Vege)

For something that's straight out of a Chinese version village storybook, try the "Pen Cai", literally means a pale or bowl of mix dishes/vege.

There're no appetisers, main course, nor desserts. It's just all one kick ass dish, one table, one group of hungry people.

You'll find everything inside one dish, from chicken, to duck, sometimes fish, pork, vegetables,

my plate

or in this case, lots of lotus roots.

The cheapest ingredients were always the last to be finished. That's how Chinese eats.

"Ou Duan Si Lian" (Chinese indiom - of how strings still attached when lotus root is halfed, often indicating about relationship)

Dim Sum

The best food to have in Hong Kong. Or Hong Kong's best food to have - Dim Sum.

Some prefer to call it "Yum Cha" (drink tea).

Dim Sum can be eaten in the morning, or have in the afternoon during tea break in other culture like Shanghai or Guang Zhou.

But here in Hong Kong, you can have it any time of the day.

Most Chinese will usually opt for the signature Dim Sum dish, such as:

Siew Mai

Minced meat/prawn mix half wrapped revealing top part, usually sprinkled with caviar.

Har Kao

Steamed wrapped prawn dumplings which "skins" are usually thin like glass paper hence creating melt in your mouth sensation.

Chee Cheong Fan

Usually wrapped inside are prawns or minced pork, served with sweet soya sauce and spring onions, eaten best when dipped in chili oil.

Congee

Usually served as starters before dim sum arrives.

I never like ordering or eating congee with my dim sum because then I'll get too full to eat the rest.

But most uncles and aunties around me have the habit of ordering congee every single time they eat dim sum.

Fried Spring Rolls

They're kids' all time favourite. One can fill almost anything inside these rolls and still be a delightable bite off the table.

I usually prefer mine with minced pork. Though you can also find other stuffing like prawns, carrots, turnips, lettuce, etc.

Shui Jiao (Steamed Dumplings)

Like spring roll, you can have almost any sort of filling in a dumpling. Most restaurants will have more than two types of dumplings at any one time.

Siew Long Pao (steamed pork dumplings)

Became internationall well known in the Dim Sum world since the introduction and commercialization of the dish in Shanghai.

They can be found in all better known dim sum restaurant throughout the country.

Radish Cakes

A de javu dish. Known to be a peasant dish, fried radish cakes are now served on the table alongside the rich and wealthy's dish such as Siew Mai and Har Kao.

Char Siew Pao

Another classic dim sum - steamed bun with sweet minced pork. My favourite dim sum of all time.

Fried Pao

Concept of fried dim sum was introduced when restaurant have left overs of prepared dim sum but didn't want to throw away on the day itself, so they fried it the next day to serve as an additional dish on the menu to customers.

I had fried siew mai before, it's nice when served with mayo. But I really don't really the tongue tingling part of fried pao, apart from the oiliness.

But there you do. A list of Hong Kong food.

Hong Kong Mango Pudding @ Hui Lau Shan

2009-06-13T17:37:00.000+08:00

One of must try dessert in the world is the Mango Pudding of Hui Lau Shan in Hong Kong.

Rich in mango flavour, full of oomph! and oh so good.

The restaurant serves a variety of mango pudding from ice blended to ice cream topped to bird nest mango pudding.

This dish is topped with bird nest, mango fruit and mango and coconut? ice creams.

An absolute sinner.

We also ordered the three portion mango treats that came with glutinous rice ball in mango sauce, mango mochi covered with coconut shreds, & mango ice cream on top of a bed of bird nest.

I didn't quite like the mochi or the glutinous rice ball. It would have been better off ordering a whole portion of the classic mango pudding with bird nest.

Here are some of the items off the menu list, together with the pricings for your references. They're all in HK dollar (HKD 2 =~ RM1)

Made you pick yet?

Time to book a flight to Hong Kong. :D

rating: 3.5/5

Hui Lau Shan
All over Hong Kong

TGI Friday's

2009-06-09T16:37:00.000+08:00

You know TGIF is your everyday family favourites when you ran out of ideas to eat and want to have some good old sinful fatty goodness.

Our appetizers started with deep fried Mac n Cheese cubes and cajun chicken strips.

Loved the strips. Not sure about the cheese cubes.

For mains, we had the sizzling chicken and cheese,

which was alright but maybe a bit too dry as it was chicken breasts. The grilled capsicum was splendid though.

fish and chips,

Amusingly quite delicious. Fresh and not too oily. Fried to perfection.
Have always loved thick cut fries.

and finally the highlight of the day Jack Daniel's® Glazed Ribs.

Which was, surprisingly, a flop.

The beef wasn't tender, was quite meatless, bone bigger than flesh, tough and dry. Only thing enjoyable about the dish was the fries and sauce. Not justifiable at all provided the price paid. (over RM40++)

rating: 3/5

TGI Friday's
for location, go to TGIF website.

BellyGood @ Bandar Sunway

2009-05-26T13:13:00.000+08:00

Was invited to a foodie sessions weeks ago in BellyGood restaurant, used to be known as Wendy's bistro. (Changed the name due to conflict with Wendy, the burger chains)

We were served stuffed portobello mushrooms and stir fried pepper sausages as appetizers. Sausages were below par, but portobello weren't bad.

But don't fancy this fried pork skin dish.

The mains in this restaurant were the pork ribs, comes in both sauces - BBQ and BellyGood sauce.

I grew really fancy toward their special sauce rather than the BBQ sauce, which tasted weird.

The ribs were really meaty and juicy. They also served mix pork dish, including ribs and pork belly meat, which were really tender and soft. Absolute yummiest with the special sauce.

Something I personally like is the sausage dish.

Which consisted of all sorts of sausages. It's just my personal preference to have a bite fun meal.

The spaghetti, however, was forgettable. Could go without it.

The desserts weren't that bad though despite its non-fanciness most cafe bistro were able to offer nowadays.

Tiramisu, not a fan, but a lot of them love it.

I stuck with my chocolate brownie with ice cream on top.

Would I come back?

Yes, but only for their special sauce pork ribs (I LOVE pork ribs!), hoegaarden beer, and mushrooms.

rating: 3/5

BellyGood
20, Jalan PJS 8-18, Dataran Mentari,
Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Tel: 03 5630 1699

Email: reservation@bellygood.com.my

Coffee Coke @ Zang Toi

2009-05-14T15:28:00.000+08:00

In Zang Toi, there's a special drink which I highly recommend anyone who's up for an adventure in food to order.

It's not on the menu, but tell it to the waiter and they'll give you what you want.

Coffee Coke. Trust me, it's fab!

What you have to do is open up the coke can and pour the drink down your ice cream cup filled with rich black coffee.

Careful not to let it overflow, the bubbles can get a bit carried away.

Bottoms Up!

From the trustworthy recommendation of Nicolekiss Food & Diet.

Rating: 3.5/5 (food's great, service not bad, ambiance so-so)

Zang Toi's West 57th St. Cafe

Jalan Bukit Bintang
LGF 032, Lower GF Bukit Bintang Plaza (BB Plaza)
Bukit Bintang

Seri Carcosa Negara - Afternoon Tea

2009-04-27T17:13:00.000+08:00

One of the most famous afternoon teas to have in KL Malaysia is the infamous Seri Carcosa Negara.

What was occupied by the British High Commissioners of Malaysia before its hotel days, the personalized 5-star boutique hotel set on two adjacent hills on Lake Garden Park KL is said to offer splendid ambiance for its classy visitors.

Pricing at RM60+ per person, it's certainly a luxurious way to spend your afternoon alone/with friends.

You can say that I have a fetish for afternoon tea. I don't know if it's the fact of the scones which reminded me of my hey days in Scotland and northern England, or the fact that I really enjoy mix fruit tea and have a quiet and nice afternoon in a garden sort of life style that attracted me,

Or even the fact that I fancy British-style mansion and would love to stay in one in the future one day.

Or maybe it's the fact that I love to snack, especially sweet desserts or small munchies between meals. Afternoon tea is a culture that's a must in my life.

Personally, I don't think the quality of the food was all that nice for the price one's paying, but I definitely enjoyed the ambiance, the garden and spending the English mansion sit-down-have-a-tea afternoon.

If I'll ever go back? Only definitely.

Rating: 4/5

Carcosa Seri Negara
Taman Tasik Perdana,
50480 Kuala Lumpur

Flutes at the Fort, Singapore

2009-04-10T13:27:00.001+08:00

So taking the chance of unlimited food expenditure in Singapore, I took the chance to visit Flutes at the Fort,

Taken from the site

a fine dining restaurant I saw on Timothy's blog followed by Yee Hou's helpful guidance to the place.

Having tasted some of the finest bread and caramelised balsamic vinegar in the Hunter's wineries, I find normal balsamic vinegar too acidic for me.

Boring taste I would say, the olive oil wasn't really smooth either.

Without hesitation, I ordered two appetizers: foie gras and scallops for my dinner. No, not a main course fan, and my cravings for dessert seemed to have died since August last year.

The scallops were big, I give them that. But not as splendid in taste than its looks.

Halfway, I spotted something remarkably attrative (at least to me)

My first love!! Nivole Moscato d'Asti. The first wine I've ever drank when I first got introduced to wine

Sweet, fruity, lightly spritz and very easy to drink. Probably the easiest wine to drink ever!

The Foie Gras were nice. Probably a bit too raw for my liking as I can almost taste the pungent raw organ smell, but then that's just my tongue.

Everyone else found it wonderfully prepared and top quality.

The fish on a bed of mash potato was superb though.

Especially the mash potato, the creamy soft texture of the mash exceeded my expectation and well placed in my best picked food list.

Didn't have the chance to try the baked fish nor the lamb shank. But heard that the latter was pretty well done, attention on the sauce.

We did however squeezed in one dessert at the end as most of us were too full to order anything else.

Banana souffle, really really good. Never knew banana and souffle can ever mix, but they did and they did well.

I love the strong banana flavor that's baked to perfection and the inside silky soft like any perfectly baked souffle should be.

The banana cream at the side was a good condiment to the souffle. Cold paired with the hot.

A plus.

The damage.

Rating: 4.5/5

Flutes at the Fort
Fort Canning Park
Entrance through the Singapore Philatelic Museum’s carpark at 23B Coleman Street

Tel: 6338 8770

E-mail: flutes@flutes.com.sg
Website: www.flutes.com.sg

Leaves and Fishes @ Hunter Valley, Australia

2009-03-28T03:04:00.000+08:00

If you're a fan of fish, ever in Hunter Valley, Australia; fancy wine and fine dining,

then Leaves and Fishes would be the place.

I had my first lunch in Hunter Valley on my second day, it was only a stone throw away from where I stayed, which was a beautiful estate house named Lillians.

Love the fork

The crispy salmon was a delight to have, the bed of creamy and soft mash potato was a definite plus point. :D

The fresh vege was a compliment to the salmon, buttery and bathed in rich, fresh herbal olive oil.

My partner ordered the "real" fish and chips tapered with sea salt and sweet malt vinegar.

The boring name of the dish was a contrast to the taste of the food. The presentation was not only splendid, the classic dish won us over with its creativity and taste.

I also love the restaurant's personal touch on its deco.

rating: 4.5/5

Leaves and Fishes
737 Lovedale Rd,
Lovedale NSW Australia 2320

Email: eat@leavesandfishes.com

Tel: +61 (02) 49307400

C. Club @ Pavilion, KL

2009-03-25T10:36:00.002+08:00

I've always wanted to go to C. Club for a drink, since it's opening, I've heard a great deal about it.

Weeks ago I had the chance to do so, not just once, but twice.

My dining partner and I were catching up after a long break so he decided to order a whole bottle of Chardonnay from Jacob's Creek, Barossa Valley.

Fruity, crisps, slight acidic, but easy on the throat. I really like it.

Halfway through we ordered two plates (one each) of Foie Gras with Scallops but found the pairing an absolutely fail. Definitely to better go with something sweeter, like Moscato late harvest or Botrytis Semillon.

Personally, the dish itself was divine, but I thought scallops and foie gras together are an absolutely no go. They don't go well together, never should.

One is a seafood, chewy and blant and should be pan seared to savour the freshness and texture of the white flesh; the other, rich, fatty, creamy, pan seared to be paired with dessert wine, the combination however, form a disaster.

Also, I thought the dish on the menu appeared much bigger than in real.

rating: 4/5
(overall verdict, lovely ambiance and service, love the duck confit)

The C. Club

Level 6, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2141 3160

Lindt Cafe, Sydney

2009-02-22T17:57:00.000+08:00

Before I even arrived in Sydney, I've heard all about Lindt Cafe.

Everyone loves Lindt chocolates right? I mean, who doesn't. They're famous for the sheer fineness in their Chocolate, especially their excellence chocolate bar. ooooo

So Lindt Cafe was one the first places I wanted to visit in Sydney.

woo ya! Look at the extensive array of chocolate-y heaven! It was hard for me not to choose just everything off the bar, seeing that I was on a chocolate crave period back then.

Their famous drinks are the Lindt milkshakes. Go for the milk chocolates, they're pretty decent. I would say amazing as I had better, but decent for the fact that they're carrying Lindt brand and it's not that shabby.

The Chocolate Hazelnut Gateau slice was really nice. Albeit too sweet, but love the pairing with the cream. Can try it when you're not eating with a glass of rich Lindt milkshake though.

I ordered the Hot Cocoa under recommendation. It's fun to drink, but other than that, there's nothing really fancy. In fact, if you're not careful, you might made the drink too sweet for your own liking.

The chocolate syrup can be really powering. Or maybe I was just greedy, but it's easy to overdose your cup of milk.

Oh, and take away is cheaper than dining in here. So grab a glass/cup and sit by the harbour for a cheaper take out.

rating: 3/5

Lindt Cafe
Cockle Bay
104-105 Cockle Bay Wharf
Darling Harbour, Sydney
Tel (02) 9267 8064

Marmalade, Bangsar Village II

2009-02-16T04:22:00.001+08:00

After the Ribena event on Saturday, I went to Bangsar Village to pass Ron some cookies from Hong Kong and was recommended to have some light food in Marmalade.

It was a lovely little cafe restaurant, a bit run down but we decided to take a seat.

The place was rather stuffy on a hot day, it was a corner lot with lots of window, which would be a nice place to visit on a rainy day.

I like the menu list. Lots of avocado choices, there aren't many avocado dishes around, especially when avocado doesn't come cheap in this part of the world. We were tempted to order a breakfast set as it seems to be their best list but since it was alright late afternoon, we went for a an Avocado Accents instead.

First few bites were really delightful, but when the taste sunk in the tangy flavor became a bit overpowering. I like the fact that they smothered avocado paste over the other cubes of capsicums, raisins, chicken, lettuce and more avocados. But three bites later, the granny smith apple cubes just killed the taste.

They should have gone easy on the apple and lemon juice.

I couldn't remember the other dish's name but basically it was thin smoke salmon slices topped with cucumber slices, avocado cubes, lettuce, hint of pesto and a light spread of wasabi mayo on focaccia bread.

I like that they used wasabi mayo however was disappointed that the layer of wasabi mayo was too thin, whereas the pesto almost non-existent.

Not a place I would go back again. Unless of course, if I ever do end up in that area in the morning to try out the breakfast menu.

Rating; 3/5

Other review:
A Whiff of Lemon Grass

Marmalade
1F-18, First Floor, Bangsar Village II,
No.1, Jalan Telawi Dua, Bangsar Baru,
59100 KL.

Tel: 03-2282 8301

Best Ice Chocolate in Australia: Kokoblack

2009-02-09T21:30:00.000+08:00

Ice chocolate is among my favourite drinks of all time. In fact, it is my favourite drink any time any where.

I can easily name you some of cafes/restaurants that serve my favourite ice chocolate drinks: Starbucks, J Co Donuts, Delicious, Dome, Sha la la Coffee (at the seremban rest-stop next to the highway), ice milo in mamak stalls, Kim Gary's ice milo, and the list goes on.

But there is one particular cafe that serves the best, tops the list of my selection now. And I found it in Melbourne Australia.

Which is why... Kokoblack is my most beloved find in Australia thus far.

Yet another chocolate cafe in Australia (dang those OZs do love their chocolates), Kokoblack serves some wicked chocolate drinks and desserts. Including their retail chocolates on shelves.

It's a brand of its own. I know it sounds like Cocolat in Adelaide.

Personally, I thought Kokoblack was more commercialised, more professional, in a very good way, as compared to the more personalised Cocolat.

Chocolate drinks in Melbourne ranged from AUD5 - AUD7. Which was very reasonable considering we spend equally that amount of money for a cuppa of ice blended in Starbucks anyway.

Focus on the second list.

Yes, hot cocoa was nice in the shop,

and a tempting choice of selection in the dead of winter, but what I really want you to try is the Ice chocolate.

Which was like the most amazing thing you will ever taste, chocolate lover or not.

Rich, thick, big, cold, smooth. Say OMG with me.

It helps that it was gargantuan and by finishing the whole glass equals to eating a serving of fish and chips in Australia.

God no wonder I gained weight down under. wtf.

However, we did try several other desserts too, which were very, extremely delightful.

Ice cream, yes very delightful. Can't remember what flavour.

Especially the chocolate mousse that completely blew my mind away.

Rating: 3.5/5 (could have been four but they didn't let me take photo of the shop inside, which was a turn off :( )

Kokoblack
167, Lygon Street,
Carlton, Victoria,
Australia 3053
(Melway Ref, 2B:F9)

Phone: (03) 93492775 or +613 93492775

Open Hours: (Additional Menu after 6pm)
Mon-Thurs: 12pm - 11pm
Friday: 12pm - 12am
Saturday: 11am - 12am
Sunday: 11am - 11pm

Max Brenner, Australia

2009-02-08T18:40:00.000+08:00

I remember the first time I stepped into Max Brenner, it was in Singapore with my ex years ago.

Max Brenner in Melbourne Central

I was overwhelmed by the fact there's actually a cafe that sold and served nothing but chocolates and chocolate related desserts and drinks. Everything about the outlet was chocolate-y,

I was awe strucked by the list of items they have in the menu and took almost forever to decide what drink I wanted to have.

Some chocolate shake

Last year I visited my fair share of Max Brenner in Australia and has tried a considerable selection of items off their menu.

No, I didn't have this. But was tempted to!

Strangely I found my first experience years ago was much better in terms of food quality and selection.

Memory failing me these days, was this what they called the First Love Perfection?

Two of their signature drinks were the Hugmug and Suckao (a type of drink where you can adjust how chocolate rich the drink is by stirring chocolate buttons into hot milk).

The Hugmug is a specially created mug where you hug your hot drink in both hands warming them in cold winter. It's a very cozy drink to have with your love ones.

My recommendation would be the Chocolate with Crunchy Waffle Balls, prized at AUD5.50. Milk chocolate as the favorable choice.

Awesomely nice.

Of course if you do not like chocolate, you can always opt for tea.

But hey, why go to a chocolate cafe then?

Max Brenner
Melbourne - Melbourne Central
Shop OE5, Menzies Alley, Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, 300 La
Trobe Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.

Phone Number: +61 3 9662 4442

Opening Hours:
* Mon - Thurs - 8:00am - 10:00pm
* Fri - 8:00am - 12 Midnight
* Sat -10:00am - 12 Midnight
* Sun- 10:00am - 10:00pm

Best Hot Cocoa in Australia @ Brunetti

2009-02-08T01:29:00.000+08:00

Brunetti in Melbourne, Australia serves the best Italian Hot Cocoa.

Located in City Square, I stumbled upon this cafe by chance during one rainy weather and needed a hide out till the sun comes out.

Perhaps fated, I fell instantly in love with this wondrous rich concoction that blew my mind away.

Never had I have such intense hot cocoa, ever!

The texture butts in somewhere between hot chocolate mousse/cream and full cream milk.

It was AMAZING. One glass enough to last through a rainy afternoon.

Brunetti City Square

214 Flinders Lane
Melbourne VIC 3000
Australia

Phone: (03) 9663 8085 or +613 9663 8085
Fax: (03) 9662 3360

Hours of Operation (Cafe):

Monday – Thursday (7am – 7pm)
Friday (7am – 12am)
Saturday (8am – 12am)
Sunday (8am – 7pm)

Fish and Chip at Beachcomber, Melbourne

2009-02-03T14:21:00.001+08:00

Down at St Kilda beach in Melbourne, lies a pretty little shack (or restaurant cum pub looking expensive little joint) by the beach, where they serve pretty neat Fish and Chips.

Catch of the day is a must eat at Beachcomber, it's always the best. At RM26, it's rather pricey but it's up to you to justify if the food is worth the price. I thought it was pretty good, but maybe a tad bit over-priced.

Henry and I ordered fresh oysters for starter.

Catch of the day comes with a free champagne.

With cute strawberry on top. It wasn't bad. However, having sweet tooth, I ordered a Botrytis Semillon to go with the wait.

One word: lovely.
Remember, it's Sevenhill Botrytis Semillon. Yummy.

Finally, our catch of the day arrived.

It was much smaller than I had anticipated, seeing that it was served in Australia and technically everything served here was big.

I have to note, however, despite all and all, the flesh of the fish, was divine!

It was succulent, soft, juicy and simply delicious!

Rating: 3.5/5

Beachcomber Cafe
10-18 Jacka Boulevard
St Kilda 3182

Star House Chinese Restaurant, Adelaide

2009-01-20T16:30:00.000+08:00

The best Dim Sum / Yum Cha I ever had, surprisingly, was not in Hong Kong nor China's Shanghai or Guangzhou;

the best I had was located wayyyy away from any parts of Chinese region, it was in fact in Australia.

Last year I was brought to this restaurant for breakfast at Star House in China Town, Adelaide.

And the dish completely blown me away.

Far far away.

Almost every single dish that was served was amazing. Take the chicken feet for example, I've never tastsed chicken feet more succulent and full (usually they're very skin-ny and bony, hardly any meat-feel at all), I don't know where did they get their chicken from because those were the fullest chicken feet ever, of skin and meat?

Normally I never order pork ribs during Dim Sum, not because I don't like pork ribs (I adore them), it's just that they always tasted so wrong. It's either very jelly-like or very fatty or very gooey.

But this was perfect. The meat was tender, soft, full, lean, and the sauce absolutely fragrant.

This was the only single dish that did not blow my mind off. The turnip cake was alright, good, but not fantastic. It stood hard competiting against the rest of the award winning dish in my heart.

The har gao was very filling too, prawns were juicy, but nothingto shout about, however when compared to Malaysia standard, it's pretty good actually.

OMG. I love this. Wu Gok, my all time favourite, complete bias review. Enough said.

Never been a fan of Siew Mai, but this was very meaty, reminded me of the siew mai in Hong Kee Tim Sum in Puchong Malaysia I had one few occasions.

Oh I adored this dish. It's like some tofu jelly of almond and some.. fruit taste. I coudn't remember, was it Lychee? It was really good, subtle and soft, bouncy and gorgeous.

But when it came to dessert, nothing, I say, NOTHING beats this god forsaken heavenly loved MANGO PUDDING. Top with thick milk.

The only ever mango dessert that ever made me swoon was the mango pudding with bird nest jelly in Hong Kong, and this completely blew me off the tops!!!

It was SO good, I couldn't resist having seconds! And I NEVER had seconds!

It has the softest, juiciest, fruitiest, mango-ey, sweetish-simply-melt-in-your-mouth texture ever!

I am going to have this everyday when I visit Adelaide again this year.

We then end it with a little bit of Tao Fu Fa (soya jelly), very fragrant. I never liked the TFF, but this was actually pretty good that I could sit down to slowly sip through each soft bite tenderly.

Rating: 4/5 (5/5 to the mango pudding alone!)

Star House Chinese Restaurant
1/39 Gouger Street
ADELAIDE SA 5000
Tel: 08 8221 6303
Fax: 08 8221 6303
Email: omiyi61@hotmail.com

Angelic Tea & Scone House

2009-01-17T02:49:00.000+08:00

Let me impress you with this little cafe my baby brought me.

Because it made me fall head over heels love at first sight with it.

*Photos were taken before Christmas*

It's called Angelic.

A perfect location for the perfect English afternoon tea.

It's set out for middle-upper class gents and ladies, or couples, who like to have an afternoon tea chit-chatting away in a small, comfortable, very home-y setting.

At RM26 you get a set of afternoon tea - tea, scone and cake. Sometimes the lady of the cafe will throw in complimentary homemade cookies for your consumption at the end of your tea.

It's really no ordinary experience.

They used Royal Albert teacups and saucers. (note: a fav of my mom's and mine)

Bone China from England, Royal Albert teacup and saucer can cost up to RM300 per set in Malaysia, much cheaper in Singapore, and much cheaper in England.

But it's not a cheap collection for those who collects bone china, like me.

The rim of the China are coated with 22k real gold.

Love their tea. (pic: house blend tea)

Imprinted with very delicate flower prints, the most famous print was the Old Country Rose, as shown in the photo above, of which I bought two sets and a mini milk jug for my mom's birthday (with my bro's $ :p).

Don't get my started on their scones.

It's not your conventional shape of scone. But it's home-made, warm when served, and utterly gorgeous.

Rating: 4/5 (environment and services were amazing, so far only had afternoon tea set)

Angelic Tea & Scone House
H-01, Plaza Damas,
65, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1,
Taman Sri Hartamas,
50489 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 603 62031794

Cocolat, Adelaide

2009-01-14T16:24:00.000+08:00

I love Australia for one reason and one reason only (food wise).

They have amazingly good chocolate cafes.

Where the restaurant or cafe serves all that is chocolate-y.

In Adelaide, it's COCOLAT.

I met up with Casey and Bryan and Jessie in Cocolat on my third day in Adelaide. All of which were my readers whom I met for the first time during my stay in Australia.

Walking into Cocolat was like entering heaven for the first time for me.

Everything there was either utterly sinful or deliciously attractive, it took me all my will power to not order everything on the menu or off the shelf.

From chocolates, to ice creams, to drinks to cakes!

Especially their cakes.

Tell me, how can you resist that?!

Even though we weren't that hungry, we opted for two cakes in the end.

Over a cup of hot milk cocoa and white chocolate.

My hot cocoa

Jessie's white chocolate

We didn't really like the white chocolate, it was too sweet, even after the second attempt of sending back to remake it. Hudson's definitely had better.

We had a piece of white orange chocolate cake and dark chocolate if I was not mistaken.

Now, truth be told. They're good. Yea they were. But not as good as they appeared to be. I would give them 7 out of 10. half extra point of which for good presentation.

It wasn't disappointing, the atmosphere was good. Company was what contributed my good experience there. I would definitely go back for memory sake. However, as a chocolate critic, it was a tad bit disappointing on the taste sector.

Rating: 3.5/5

Cocolat Boutique - inside Darriwill Farms Store
162 b King William Road
Hyde Park 5061
Adelaide, Australia

Hudson Coffee, Australia

2009-01-01T21:28:00.002+08:00

New year new post.

Yep and I shall start with Hudson Coffee from Adelaide Australia. You can find them in Queensland too.

The one thing I like about Hudson Coffee was that they served fantastic hot white chocolate.

I never tasted any white chocolate drink that I liked before in my life, in fact, I don't even like white chocolate itself.

But Hudson Coffee changed all that.

I ordered a cup of hot cocoa when I first landed in Adelaide, with marshmellows, a side I've always taken just to be on the safe spot.

It was really good. Sweet, but not overall dying sweet sweet. But it was really sweet, and nice, and warm-ish hot. (hot, but slightly on the warm side)

But it was till my reader-turn-friend Jessie who ordered the white chocolate, and I stole a sip from, that I actually quite liked the taste.

It's not as bad.

It was pretty good, to be honest.

The muffin we had was pretty good too. Huge, and wasn't able to finish it.

Yep, if you do drop by Hudson one day, order a cup of hot white chocolate. You'll never see white chocolate drink the same way again.

Coffee Club, Singapore

2008-12-27T01:36:00.001+08:00

Two years ago I chanced upon this open concept restaurant on Orchard Road on my Christmas visit, being a vegetarian I was, I ordered the only sandwich that's completely vegetarian on the menu, and fell in love with it.

The Swiss Mushroom Melt sandwich.

Heavenly.

Two years have passed and the food has changed since (from good to bad :( ), but it was a journey down the memory lane. I missed the experience tremendously.

My sandwich did not disapppoint completely.

My brother ordered the Really Huge Chicken Sandwich.

Which wasn't that huge and wasn't that grand.

However the smoked salmon Caeser Salad was rather pleasing.

Their star menu list, a dory crust thingy, was a disappoint though.

They might as well made my Swiss Mushroom Melt the star product instead of this.

For dirnks, my brother had the Pina Colada, which was ALRIGHT.

But anything better than the 1 dollar 50 cents too small Evian mineral water.

Coffee Club
323 Orchard Road (S)238892

Hooters @ Gold Coast, Australia

2008-12-16T11:09:00.004+08:00

Hooters in Gold Coast was much better than the one in Shanghai, experience and food wise.

One thing I adore and despite about Australia is in the proportion of their food servings. They're insanely and ridiculously huge.

Me and Stuart ordered the Tuna steak and Fish and Chips respectively, a combining order that can feed at least six Asians.

Medium rare tuna steak tasted a lot like beef steak and sashimi. It's tough, and chewy. Nothing like the tuna sashimi I used to have in Tokyo.

Stuart fish and chips was not a disappointment either. It was huge, and came with, not one, but TWO huge fish fillets.

I do sometimes wonder how the Australians dine. Their appetites are scary!

One thing I DO love about hooters, are their curly fries. They serve everything on a bed of curly fries. Which is a PLUS PLUS point for me anytime.

Services were great, food's good, portions big, definitely money worth.

Rating: 4/5

Hooters Mermaid Beach
2488 Gold Coast HWY
PH. 07 5572 4100

Shake Shake McDonald Thailand

2008-12-07T21:17:00.001+08:00

God I have not been updating this site for how long d! Jeez.

Too busy with my boutique and moving back and forth of KL and Bangkok and updating my nicolekiss blog till I no more time to scout for new place to eat.

Actually that's a lie. Just most of the time lazy to bring camera out only. Kekeke

Today I want to tell you just how much (for the N times) I LOVE LOVE LOVE McDonald in Thailand.

They always have sooo many varieties.

I decided to pop by McD today in Bangkok just before I leave this country, and found a whole new menu items available. It was amazing. If only I have so much stomach space, I would have bought everything.

wow, 15 baht only.

Anyway, the reason I went to McD today was because few days ago as I passed by an McD outlet in Siam Paragon, I saw this promotion they're having in conjunction with Madagascar 2.

Now the best part is... Shake Shake promotion in Malaysia only has the shake shake fries.

In Bangkok, we (or they) have shake shake fries, shake shake nuggets and shake shake chicken strips. It's like OMG dream come true.

I've always wondered when they are ever going to come out with shaker nuggets.

And now not only they have shake shake fries and nuggets, they even have bloody chicken strips!!! Woo hoo!!!

Without hesitation today, I ordered all three. :D

Because the McD at Robinson didn't have any seating, so I brought my take-aways to Starbucks to chill, over a good book of course. ;) (I'm so in love with Sherry Thomas right now, she writes some of the best romance novels)

Oh, and BBQ sauce in McD Thailand is different too.

It's spicy. And tasted like a combination of Sweet Thai Chilli sauce and Msia BBQ sauce.

The fries was delightful.

Better than the previous seasoning. I remembered they had Shrek before this, and it was seaweed seasoning. I'd say this paprika taste seasoning tasted way nicer.

It got even better with the nuggets.

For the first time, I was not tempted to dip my nugget in any sauce at all. No ketchup or bbq, nothing. The seasoning was perfect.

But I have to say the chicken strip took the cake. When eaten warm, the crispy skin was so orgasmic with the seasoning powder, which was thickly coating the whole strip.

Soft, tender, juicy.

I have never liked fried chicken that much before.

Over my favourite cup of ice chocolate and a good book, I'd say it was a lovely lunch. :)
I should do this more often.

Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant - Langkawi

2008-11-12T03:20:00.003+08:00

One of the best seafood restaurant in Langkawi is in Pantai Cenang, the west southern coast of the island. Personally, I like to call it Uncle Huat restaurant. :)

What started off as a small seaside food stall by this humble man, bloomed into the highest lobster selling restaurant in the whole of Langkawi. Serving only the freshest seafood and lobsters everyday, straight from the sea.

But what really differentiate Orkid Ria than any other restaurants on the island is their very specialty, Lobster Sashimi.

A dish that can only be done from the freshest sea produce. I would think the lobster alone can easily come up to RM200 a tail. SO do bring a thick wallet if you're keen to try. Hey, it's not everyday I get to try lobster sashimi. :D

Some of the other must try dishes here are the butter tiger prawns.

This was my utmost favourite. I love anything buttery, and I love seafood. Nothing beats a deep fried butter+egg prawn fritter.

The tiger prawns they use are so huge, it's like a mini lobster most restaurant usually served in KL.

At RM16 per 100gram. The price was proof enough to guarantee its quality.

Can't remember what this was called, it tasted like some sweet rendang with onions. If this won't send your cholesterol shooting up the rooftop, nothing will. Thank god for youth and low blood pressure.

Their Garoupa is a must try too. So fresh I was sure they were still jumping in the plate. Each bite was full of juicy sweetness and the flesh bouncy in a tender way.

We also tried some other more typical dish like the fried calamari (always a favourite) and stir-fried vege.

Not to forget about their gigantic crabs.

You can order for pregnant female crabs if you love some awesome orange cholesterol sins to suck on. But the male ones were big enough in my opinion.

Just look at its claw.

I like my dinner with a bit of wine, so as usual, it's sweet wine for me.

Yep you can bring your own wine here. I couldn't remember if they need corkage fee for Uncle Huat was kind enough to let us open how many bottles we wished that night. :p

"Uncle Boris? Does Uncle Huat usually charge for corkage fee?"

Finally, after the impressive appetizer, came the final dish that portrayed as much appeal.

Butter lobster. OMG someone kill me.

Rating: 4.3/5

Orkid Ria Seafood Restaurant
Lot 1225 Jalan Pantai Cenang
Langkawi, GE 07000 Malaysia
Contact: +60 4 955 4128
Open Hours: Lunch: 11am-3pm. Dinner: 6pm-11pm (Mon-Sun)

The Loaf, Langkawi - Dine-in and U Hu! Hu! Cheesecakes

2008-11-09T14:32:00.003+08:00

Once the personal pastry chef of our ex-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir, who made The Loaf a must-dine-at restaurant + bakery with his exquisite pastries.

People come here to adopt the palate that were once the high society's. And then he transferred his expertise to Westin Langkawi soon after and the restaurant is now managed by Grand Chef Yukichi Matsubara, an imported Chef from Japan who has won a gold medal in the California Raisin Challenge Contest in 2004.

Though we are not able to savour what it could have been offered on a PM's table, there will always be the world's best raisin bread to compensate.

Weeks ago few friends and I went to Langkawi, and luck on our side, The Loaf was throwing a week long 50% off everything promotion for it was their 2nd anniversary? So during 6 days stay there, we dined at The Loaf almost every single day - 3 lunches + 1 dinner + 1 afternoon tea.

We went wild on the pastry the first day. Ordering whatever that looked delicious, hey, 50% off food was blinking cheap, all the patries turned out to be no more than RM1.50.

Most of them were extremely delicious, my favourite savoury pastry was the Mushroom Quiche. It was heaven, soft creamy texture and very juicy. The chocolate centred block bread (on the left) was buttery and delectable.

What took the cake was the Chocolate Croissant.

Never have I eaten a croissant of such shape and the chocolate filled centre was to die for. Richly sinful, it was every chocoholic's heaven.

Then we moved onto The Loaf' Caesar Salad.

The presentation blew us away at first, the taste seconded that.

It was like no other Caesar dressing I have ever tasted before. Unique, presentable and delicious. It was 5 in 5 rating in terms of every aspect. RM18 was well worth paying (not to mention another 50% off for us). Though I believe in KL they charged this RM22.

The next salad was even better, Smoked Salmon with Pan Seared Scallops.

Again, presentation aced it. But what I could not forget about this dish was the gravy they used to sear the scallops.

It was SO good, I could have sworn I've gone to heaven and back. The only thing was that it was served too little (the gravy I mean). Scallops were succulent and very juicy, which made it advisable to eat the salmon first. RM22, it was hell reasonable and only available in Langkawi branch.

The following dishes are compiled over the few days we have dined there, so do not be alarmed and assumed that we finish all these in one visit. So here we go,

Broccoli Cream with Asparagus, RM22. Delightful dish, something unique and quite enjoyable for the small portion it was served.

The French Onion Soup (RM14) was quite WTF though. (No photo)

Then there's the Crayfish Bisque (RM20), this was unusual, it's either you hate it or you love it, or stucked in between dilemma, like me. I couldn't decide if I enjoyed the taste or hate it, it was odd, yet pleasantly odd, but off at the same time.

The Extra Crispy Croissant Tuna was surprisingly.... small.

For RM24, it was too much a disappointment. Two bites and done.

The Loaf's Club Sandwich was an A-to-go. Personally, I loved sandwich, so this was a plus point for me. It was so nice looking we ordered twice.

Chicken, turkey ham, bacon, egg, tomatoes and lettuce, all top ingredients of theses selections were used. what's there not to like? RM22.

The Open-Faced Beef Burger wasn't so open faced, for RM38, it paled in comparison with the club sandwich in terms of price and quality proportion. But it was good nonetheless.

The Open-Faced Sauteed Prawn Sandwich, however, was an absolute win. For anyone who loves seafood and sandwich, this would be your winning bet.

The gravy sauce used was as usual, exquisite and the prawns very fresh, I believed they might have applied pesto sauce and have nicely seared their bell peppers to perfect softness. RM28 for this.

Their pasta selection was just O.K, being after awed to no ends by the impressive appetizers and pastries.

Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca with Seafood was priced at RM30, worth a go for their generous seafood serving, one full piece of sea critters of every type rather than a thin slice of shrimp here and there. But the sauce was nothing to shout about.

The Lobster Cajun Style Spaghetti was worth a go though. At RM64 you get half a full lobster lying in your pasta.

Again, nothing spectacular about the sauce.

Ah, but the Fettuccine Carbonara was another thing.

Delightful. Not superb. RM30, it would remain delightful.

The Grilled Beef Fillet was the ultimate disappointment.

When asked for a medium done, it turned out overly-well done and the waiter refused to change it for us for the kicthen was close (it was last order). Very unprofessional and unpleasant encounter from staff. Not to mention a whooping RM58 for a stupid (and small) steak, I might as well dine at San Franciso Steak House.

I do HIGHLY reccommend the Seafood Platter for Two. Share with your friends as a centre dish, for this was not only enjoyable, it was down right delectable to the palate.

Scallops, mussels, prawns, squids, seabass fillet, salmon, a good dose of asparagus, broccoli, tumeric potatoes and carrots to reduce sin. Caper butter sauce was magnificent to go with. Everything was superb. I declared this main course the BEST main course of The Loft.

RM110 per dish was well worth paying.

Finally, we moved onto the infamous U Hu! Hu! Cheesecakes of The Loaf. Best known for their extreme soft texture, light as a feature and melts in your mouth. (You don't even have to chew)

Glitzy Strawberry. I thought the strawberry jam on top was a bit overpowering and sweet, the cheesecake though was undoubtly delicious. The rest seemed to love this.

Blueberry Treasures. Not bad, maybe I'm not a jam with cheesecake person. But I much preferred this over strawberry.

Berries Ensemble. Well, I never liked Blackforest Cake to start with, cherries don't work well in cakes for me. But I do love the cheesecake in this, no jam to ruin it.

Banana Supreme. Yes!! Finally something that suited to my palate! :D :D This was lovely! Chocolate and Banana and Cheesecake do very well together.

The final blow, and will always remained my favourite, their top selling cheesecake, was the Luxurious Chocolate.

Rich chocolate top, nicely paired with the soft lucious cheesecake below. A definite WIN!

Rating: 4.3/5
Comment: some disappointing main dishes and poor services, else everything was perfect!

The Loaf
Lot No C9 Perdana Quay
Telaga Harbour Park
Pantai Kok
07000 Langkawi
Kedah, Malaysia

Tel No: 604 - 959 4855

(Halal. Open daily from 8am - 11pm)

Zipangu - Shangri-La, Kuala Lumpur

2008-10-31T19:04:00.000+08:00

Weeks ago, I was invited, along with my wine buddy Boris, to Shangri-La for dinner. Courtesy of Shangri-La Director of Marketing Danny.

Shangri-La recently just did some renovation and has never looked more spectacular.

That night we chose the infamous award winning Japanese restaurant Zipangu to spend the evening.

We started off with some of the most delectable imported sushi that as appetizers.

Why delectable? Because at a staggering cost of RM98 per plate of Tuna sashimi, it bloody well be, that's why.

It was really soft. Melts in your mouth almost, though I have to say the best tuna sashimi I have tasted is still in Tokyo Tsukiji market. However their salmon sashimi was living up to every bit of the Japanese standard.

The meal was paired with German Spatlese (sweet wine) (I know, it's not suitable to pair with main courses, but I like the wine, sue me) from one of the most impressive collections wine cellar in a hotel I have witnessed. It's not everyday you get to choose a bottle, any bottle, from the shelf of a hotel's wine cellar (you know, they are bloody expensive for one, and limited secondly).

I was simply estastic to be surrounded by the stacks and stacks wine that night, if I would have my way, I would have popped at least 5 bottles that night. But I managed to restrain my will. It was hard, very hard.

Next off, we have Unagi Egg Roll maki.

These were decent, not a big big fan of sushi as I always find them too rice-y (I don't eat rice).

And then my favourite of all. The Unagi Kabayaki. Soft, sweet, and simpy orgasmic.

My two dining associates ordered the soft shell crab temaki, which I didn't try but still couldn't resist taking a photo.

Then we had shitake mushrooms for small bites. These were yummy. :D

But what took the cake that night was the, suprisingly, chawanmushi.

According to Boris, if one wants to know how good a Japanese restaurant's food is, just try their chawanmushi. True enough, these must be the softest softest softest, soft like feather!, egg pudding? tofu? i have laid my tongue on!! The texture was remarkable.

They didn't melt, they just turned to liquid in my mouth. It was superb.

I ended my meal for my favourite Japanese dessert. Red bean on macha (green tea) ice cream.

It tasted like Hagan Daaz green tea ice cream, which I have always vouched my life for.

Sigh, you know, I miss my sweet Spatlese. One day, I am so going to get my own wine cellar damn it. ONE day.

Zipangu Recognition:
“Best Oriental Restaurant", 14TH Malaysia Tourism Awards, 2003-2004
“Best Japanese Restaurant", Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards , 2003-2004

Phone: 603 2074 3900

Opening Hours:
Lunch: noon – 2.30pm (Mon - Fri) / 11.30am - 2.30pm (Sat, Sun & Public Holidays)
Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.30pm

Location:
Level 1, Shangri-La
11 Jalan Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Dress Code:
Smart casual

Somboon Seafood, Bangkok

2008-10-19T00:01:00.009+08:00

If you're ever in Bangkok, you have to dine at one of our (see how I'm already begining to use "our" instead of "their", I think symptoms of staying in Bangkok for too long is showing. sawadeeka~) best restaurants.

Somboon Seafood. So well known, even the Japanese royalties have dined here before.

(too lazy to post the photo of the Japanese royalty I took, only realised I haven't edited that after I close photoshop)

Their signature dish is the infamous Fried Curry Crab.

as shown on the menu

which I didn't get to try because my host (or dining partner) does not eat crabs. Weird I know.

Oh well, I was having too much spicy food on my recent trip to the Northeastern Thailand so wanted something easy for the evening. *still recovering from my food poisoning* (mentally I mean)

I ordered the honey braised pork ribs with vege.

Which was really good in my opinion, sweet, but not overly sweet. Vege's good.

Next we had the baked grouper (is it a grouper?).

This was exceptionally fresh, good, fleshy, soft and not overly baked. Everything was just right!

When you flip open the fillets, you will find the chef actually spread a layers of garlic butter all over the fish before baking them. Making it very fragrant and juicy.

pardon the shaky hands.. too eager to feast

some simple asparagus for an easy palate.

Nothing to shout about. But it was not bad.

The garlic fried prawns was lovely though.

Love the fried garlic and parsley at the side. The prawns were cut in half for easy peeling. Though I would have preferred something lighter that night (you know, like non-fried). But it was good nonetheless.

My dessert was what finished off a good meal.

Coconut and chocolate ice cream. The coconut ice cream was, somehow, exceptionally fragrant. It has like very pungent sweet floral smell, though I can't quite put to a word whether I like it or not. But chocolate ice cream always set things right. :)

I won't give rating to this restaurant. I would love to go back to try the fried curry crab one day before setting a final score.

The bill came up to 1,070 bhat (RM107). Pretty cheap considering there was a whole fish and plentiful of prawns.

Careful of any fake somboon seafood restaurant as there's a lot in Bangkok here I heard (yes, it's THAT famous). There're only five branches, so do check out the website (in the link at the top of the entry).

Somboon Surawong

169,169/7-12 Surawong Rd.,Suriyawong, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500

Tel. 02-233-3104Fax. 02-234-4499

I dined at the Somboon in Ratchada road (today), the address was obtained from Makankings blog.

48kg?!

2008-10-16T19:58:00.000+08:00

Remember this girl?

from this movie?

Her name is Kim Ah-joong (김아중). In the movie she played this really fat 200 pound ugly woman, Jenny

who fell in love with her singing managing director who used her for her voice to make this singer really famous.

The focal point of the movie, however, is that she lost a hell lot of weight and the sudden attention she gets when she evolves into this sudden beauty that everyone would die and get shot for, and also the sudden attention she gets from everyone and anyone.

I love movies like this. I really do love to watch people who had suffered in the past turns out brilliantly and thrives in life better than ever.

Despite the double standard-ness one usually see in society, how the average treats uglier people and all. I still love movie with a happy endings, that revolves about losing weight and becoming gorgeous. LOVE IT!

Motivates me you know.

But anyway, I was watching this movie again on my laptop today, I saw this scene where the director and producer were trying to lobby the idea of introducing Jenny as a new artiste, I saw a glimpse of the power point which they were projecting on Jenny's profile.

What caught my eyes was her said height and weight.

Take a closer look:
Height: 170cm
Weight: 48kg

HOLY SHIT. I'M 170CM TOO!
YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME?!

48KG!! THAT IS DAMN SKINNY WEI! omg, I think I am going to faint. And the said character is the same age as me too! born in 1984.

I don't it's just a movie, but there has to be some facts in it right? I mean they can't fake a person's weight on screen right?

Let's have a look at her again.

Geez. fine. so she is really skinny. but she is fit!! HOT in fact!

But 48?! That is like. like.. like... skinning me alive! I I I....

Will I look like that when I become 48kg? mmm...

I think I will be going on a salad diet from now onwards. that's it! Salads everyday it is!! No meat, no fat, none! Salads and tofu. Yup, or maybe with fish (since Sashimi ain't cheap and Jusco's too far to walk to everyday).

Yup salads.

Not salads with meat.

Just plain simple tasteless salads.

mm.. this doesn't look appetizing at all...

*demotivated*

OKAY! Motivated!!!! *hold fist tightly*

Everyday salads, here I come!

I think I should paste her photos all over my room to remind meself every single meal, what do you think?

O.. and seeing her hair makes me wanna dye my hair black again. :D

Water Snake Village, Guangzhou

2008-10-14T11:30:00.001+08:00

Fine, so you guys say Tao Ju Ju is not the best yum cha (or dim sum) place in Guangzhou, well, different people different opinion.

I decided to venture to other locally claimed best yum cha restaurant in Guangzhou. After some snooping around, I found myself in front of Guangzhou's infamous Water Snake Village aka "Shui She Chun" in Mandarin.

Inside the "village" (or food court centre), you can sit in the open air or the enclosed where aircond will bless you from the merciless heat outside (considering it was June when I went). Next to you you will find a teapot waiting to be filled with your selected tea.

They don't have my favourite Osmanthus tea ("Gui Hua Cha") so I have to settle for Chrysanthemum.

"It's ok~~" though much to my dismay I couldn't enjoy my favourite tea break with my favourite tea. Tea is a big thing in China afterall, and it has somehow incorporated part of that culture into me.

There was a long list of dim sum and other yum cha dishes I could choose from, which was difficult, as when you're in another country, the price of the dish is no longer your main concern but rather the taste of it.

I decided, for the sake of my food and diet blog and the sake of experience, to go for more dishes that I could normally handle, of course without the intention to actually finsih all of them.

I started off with the not-so-conventional dish. (Because yum cha don't start till 2:30pm in Guangzhou, so if you want to yum cha or have dim sum, you have to wait)

The century eggs, one of the favourite food around. In fact I even bought some to store in my Bangkok apartment, not just because the eggs are pink in color, but I do love some century egging every now and then. You'll never know when you'll have an emergency craving.

This dish, was superb! The green yolk was soft to the brink, it smelt, no doubht, like most good centurty eggs do, and it was good. Usually with ginger slices to pair with, but in this case, the wonderfully cooked and grilled sweet capsicum slices were brilliant, I wished I could live in Guangzhou just so I could try this dish every fortnight.

Then I opted for some typical usual dim sum dish.

Ha Gao

Not bad, prawns were big, nothing to shout about though.

Siew Pao

or, Sweetened Pork Bun. A bit fatty, (I prefer my pork lean), but not too bad.

Steamed Spring Roll

Oh yes! This one hit the spot! The only dish I finished on the table. It was pretty good. In fact I wanted to order another plate and decided against it as I have too many leftovers. I remembered it was some minced pork and vege slices inside.

Sometimes I wish they have one serving dim sum so I can try more, you know, instead of three pieces of everything in each plate, you can choose one piece to each plate, it would be my heaven then.

In the Water Snake Village, how it works is (when you want to yum cha that is), the moment it hits 2:30pm, you get up and head out to the back there you see piles of steamer baskets aligned together for your pick up.

You pass them your order form given to you and they will give you a stamp.

Take whatever you wish, and pay for the bill when you're done. Easy as that.

People in Guangzhou aren't very patient, especially when you're a Chinese, be it local or foreign, so it's better to know rather than to ask.

On my way out, I saw the main dish of the "village" swimming in front of me.

Yes, swimming.

Like its title. Water Snake Village's signature dish is...

Water Snakes!

And if it's not for 70+ yuan per fried snake, I would have ordered one myself.

Teddy Rice

2008-10-07T11:27:00.003+08:00

Following my rabbit rice.

I went to Carrefour the other day and spotted that they have new rice!

This time. TEDDIES! :D

Fried Teddy Rice *points up*

Then there's curry teddy rice.

Or was it just yellow teddy rice, I can't really tell.

And the cutest of all. Polar teddy rice!

Er.. cause it looks like a polar bear? LOL. Reminds me of Kel li though. She loves Polar Bear.

Best Pork Chop in the World

2008-09-27T20:04:00.000+08:00

is in Bangkok Chaktukchak market.

It's near the cutlery and plates section, near to a white wall exit (not the BTS entrance/exit).

They're Bangkok's signature dish and oh so juicy can die.

If you're ever in Thailand. Drop me a mail and I'll bring you over for a taste, free guide, on me. ;)

The offer stands as long as I'm staying here (which should be till March 2009). :)

They're the juiciest sweetest thing you will ever find. Guaranteed! :D

Bunny Bento from Carrefour Bangkok

2008-09-26T08:11:00.005+08:00

Woo hoo! This is my 100th entry for Nicolekiss food and diet. Still so little ppl wtf. LOL

I shall celebrate this grand event with some bentos I saw in Carrefour yesterday!

There's so many types of bunnies, and they're so cute.

it's actually the same photo, i just put there to confuse you.

I remember they have fried rice, curry rice, curry fried rice, seafood rice, etc.

This bunny is holding three prawns. I thought bunnies are herbivores

for 25 baht (RM2.5) each, it's blinking cheap! They would have sold this in Japan for at least RM5. I think.

This bunny is holding a carrot. omg so cute kan!

Come buy.. veli cheepp, veeellllliii cheeeep.

Are you happy?

2008-09-22T18:17:00.003+08:00

I thought I should share some of my more personal thoughts here in my food blog rather than my main blog because I have way smaller audience and readers in this section.

You know when you are thin, you feel good about yourself because you can wear anything and look good in it. I am wishing I am thin at the moment so I can look good and feel good about myself right about now.

It's not that I am not confident, but there are days when you wake up and you feel totally crap about yourself, and it tends to happen more often when you are bloated and aren't exactly fitting into that skinny jeans of yours.

One of the most effective remedies I have found to losing weight, is to be happy. Contrary to popular belief, when I feel happy (like really happy, or even in love), I lose a hell lot of weight. I tend not to binge eat or stress eat, I want to do a lot of activities and happiness is the greatest medicine for suppressing your hunger. Kinda like how cigarettes work for some.

Recently I find myself humming throughout the day, for no particular reasons really. And I look forward to everyday that is to come. I love this feeling, it's like falling in love, with life and with the world.

And it didn't matter what the most negative thing can be said about you, you won't be affected no matter what because you're just too happy to care.

Happiness, is the key.

Dim Sum / Yum Cha in Tao Tao Ju, Guangzhou

2008-09-15T08:36:00.002+08:00

The best dim sum restaurant you can find in Guangzhou, according to the locals, albeit a bit expensive, is at Tao Tao Ju.

Head there at 2pm and wait among the rest of the crowd to queue for the yum cha session at 2:30pm. Everything you find would be at 50% off. Bloody worth it.

Some of the Dim Sum dish you have seen on my other blog are the Char Siew Sou and the egg tarts.

There were also...

Half eaten chicken feet.

Which wasn't too bad.

The Ha Gao, ok la.

The pork ribs, not my thing. Some ppl might like it.

And the very nice Jasmine Tea.

Food. Food. Food. What else is there in China really?

Other than lots of tombs and graveyards.

Australians are the fattest people in the world

2008-09-14T10:12:00.002+08:00

Do you know that Australia is the fattest nation in the world at the moment?

I was not surprised when I went there. Everything there reminded me pretty much of England, only, bigger (pardon the pun).

Not just bigger in people, the country is big, the land is big, the words are big (BLOODY), the waves are big, the cultural diversity is big, even the food is enormously big. Especially the food really.

One serving is enough to feed three people in Malaysia.

This is a ONE serving pork ribs.

Which is why..

after 5 weeks in Australia.

5 good cold fulfilling fat week.

I have officially gained 4.7KG.

OMFG.

Time for another diet. (I'm beginning to feel like a yo-yo)

Kangaroo Steak, Australia

2008-08-25T03:44:00.000+08:00

Come to Australia and you have to at least try to buy your own Kkangaroo meat from your local supermarket to cook kangaroo steak. It's the cheapest meat you'll find in the land down under.

This meal is courtesy of Paul, my cousin's honey. :p

They say that kangaroo meat is super tough because it's all lean meat and no fat (they do jump a lot). Which reminds me, I saw a horde of kangaroos hopping passed a field while I was at a winery out of Canberra today. It was a grand sight! Beautiful almost, such magnificient creature, such speed, such height.

Such tenderness.

*cough*

Paul's a super good cook and had my steak medium done, which was perfect and the meat didn't turn out tough at all (though I like it medium rare where it's all bloody and red inside but it was delicious nonetheless!).

We savoured the dish over a hearty glass of Shiraz picked up from the very same local winery where we saw the herd of kangaroos roamed pass.

Finally, finishing off with some home-made apple pie (thanks to Paul the amazing baker, too) topped with banana custard cream and vanilla ice cream. Just the perfect finishing touch!

There you go, another addition to Nicole's been-there-eaten-that list. Kangaroo meat.

Flower Tea, Dong Tai Lu in Shanghai

2008-08-14T22:27:00.004+08:00

Along the street of Dong Tai Lu in old Shanghai town, among the rows of stalls that sells all sorts of trinkets and imitation goods, you will spot a tiny green flag from afar that reads "TEA".

This shop is famous for it's hospitality of serving good pot of hot tea during the cold season which is not very common in China, the hospitality I mean.

And the good thing is, you don't have to buy it if you don't want it,

they will still serve you a good pot of good old tea anyhow. So if you're cheapstake enough you can always come here and sample some free tea and claim that you have drunk tea in China.

And swear their quality and price by it.

Here you will find many sorts of tea, from the famous Hangzhou staple tea "Long Jing Cha" to the southern favourites "Pu Er Cha" to my personal favourite "Gui Hua Cha", which is part of the Oolong Cha range, you name it, they have it.

The most entertaining tea, and my all time winning souveniers for friends, is the Flower Tea.

What you do is, you boiled a kettle of water, pour into a transparent glass vacuum tube and plop the ball of flower tea into the tube. Like this,

and watch it grow.

It will first sink,

And as you continue to observe, it will start to blossom,

Like a fairy out of a flower bud, it unveils its beauty to the world. Slowly emerging its head and beautiful outline in the water, gracefully and elegantly.

The outcome was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I present to you, the Flower Tea. Cost at RM15 per box of 8 balls, you can drink this jasmine flavoured tea over and over again and store the flower in the water for a week for pure presentation.

The tea itself is nothing to shout about, but it's a sure way to win the hearts of your guests and a fantastic centre piece for any dinner.

Flower tea, fascinating creation. Good for health too. :D

我要减肥！！！

2008-08-06T23:23:00.002+08:00

Translation: I want to lost weight!!!

GOD DAMN IT.

le sigh~

Question: If I were to bring AUD 1000 for a one month in Australia? Do you think by the time I return? I will become a skinny ass chick?

LOL.

No I'm serious.
Will i?

Mobile KFC

2008-07-31T04:50:00.001+08:00

And you wonder why Malaysians are getting fatter nowadays.

Smiley Cookie

2008-07-26T04:27:00.002+08:00

Cookie that smiles, makes me smile...

:)

Afternoon Tea @ Winter Warmers

2008-07-22T15:30:00.001+08:00

One of my favourite place for a promising afternoon tea is at Winter Warmers.

They have a series of pretty Bone China Tea Cups which I absolutely adore.

With such quality tea sets, Winter Warmers provides a very elusive tea time experience for its customers. I was awed by their quality tableware and very English settings in the place.

My personal favourite is their mix fruit cocktail tea.

Which is utterly gorgeous and has a very strong fruity fragrant that brings out the sensual aroma which will teleport you instantly to Cameron Highland. The cool breezy tea plantation and fruit farms, hundreds of hill loops that can go on forever.

If you fancy a latte instead of tea, they have pretty good Italian coffee. Or well, a latte.

What is afternoon tea without a bit of afternoon snacks?

I simply love the 3-tier design which most hotels usually serve for their afternoon teas, for a price of RM29.90 for two. It's really reasonable.

Afternoon teas are usually eaten from bottom to top, starting with heavier food like scones and sandwich, moving up to cakes and then finally some tit-bits of sweets and biscuits.

"So, would you like a cuppa tea?"

Winter Warmers Coffee & Tea House

Lot no 0bk3 (A)&b.k.3(B), Ground Floor,
Oasis Boulevard Sunway Pryamid,
No.3, Jalan PJS11/15, Bandar sunway,
46150, P.J., Selangor

Tel: 603 74921008

Lot-G-86 Jln PJU 7/3,
The Curve
Mutiara Damansara
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 603 77250848

KFC Peking Sauce Chicken Wrap, China

2008-07-13T14:30:00.003+08:00

When I was in Shanghai, I made my virgin trip to the KFC in China.

There seemed to be more burger selections than our usual chicken platter, which is odd. Does Chinese love burgers more than chicken?

I know I would choose burgers over chicken anyday, but then again I'm not exactly chinese (figurative). I don't eat rice, I hate steamboat and I can't take spicy food.

My lunch that day was a wrap stuffed with chicken and assumably peking duck sauce. Mmm.. I like peking duck, and the sauce.

Reminded me of the Twister they used to have in Malaysia KFC. I wonder why they banish the item from menu, it used to be the only reason I visited KFC.

The peking duck sauce didn't sink in till after the third bite, it would be good if they were to drizzled more mayo and sauce into. More vege would perfect it, but then again this is afterall KFC.

It's quite nice. Not over the top nice, but nice enough to order it again.

Dark M&M

2008-07-11T11:52:00.002+08:00

It's dark.

It's mysterious.

It's the dark chocolate M&M. Dream come true!

Bloody thing cost me 60 baht in Phuket airport.

Don't they have something like this in Malaysia already? I remember it being in purple colour.

I prefer this packaging though.

And they even have a white color M&M inside! :D New color. I like.

Now if only they can come out with the peanut butter dark M&M.

DELIcious, Kuala Lumpur

2008-07-03T00:37:00.005+08:00

Ever since my first stumbled across this little cafe when it first opened in 1Utama shopping mall before it moved down to the ground floor (it was initially on the first floor and behind its own boutique), I fell in love and am still in love with their Death by Chocolate and Black Forest in a Cup.

Though I didn't know the name of the cafe was DELIcious back then.

Since then, they have branched out to two other outlets in Klang Valley. One is Bangsar Village 2, and the other, is here, in KL itself.

I've always love their bird cage settings, it gives a sort of ambience that allows people to sit there whole day listening to their ipods and blog. Ermm.. Maybe I should do that one day.

And I have loved two dishes they served since the day they opened. Not because it was superb or anything, simply because I love pasta, a lot. Especially Carbonara.

I have tasted nicer Carbonara else where but this is rather sinful too. (good for my tastebud, bad for my waist)

Their bolognese wasn't that impressive though. I definitely had better.

I tried the Berrilicious Chocolate Pavola, don't ask me what it is. But I quite like it.

The strawberries were what attracted my initially, but despite a soft looking bottom. It's actually crispy and sweet, very tantalising. It gets too sweet after a while though, which is why it's best eaten with the not to sweet whip cream and strawberries.

Dessert and Ambience Rating: 4/5
Food rating: 3.5/5 (I love their chicken pesto sandwich)

DELIcious
A-6-01, Ground Floor,
No3, Jalan Pinang, KL.
(Behind KLCC)

Contact: 603 2166 9099

China McNuggets in Shenzhen (Follow-up)

2008-06-26T22:39:00.003+08:00

After my first visit to Mcdonald in China and having tasted the three different types of sauce they have for McNuggets.

I went back on my last day when my flight was cancelled, in Shenzhen airport, to try out the final sauce which I failed to savour.

After sesame China, chili Thai and wasabi Japan, this is tomato Italy.

Also creatively called Italian Pomodoro. (hah...)

And surprisingly, it tasted like... bolognese.

Not bad~ (drag both words for dramatic effect)

Starbucks in China

2008-06-22T16:22:00.002+08:00

China Starbucks has this promotional drink called Dark Mocha. Which is a fabulous drink.

Anyone who loves chocolate should try this drink, I don't usually take frap or anything ice blended, but this is good.

Chinese Menu

They have a very varied selections of food and desserts too.

Starbucks in China are slightly more expensive than South East Asia, but it doesn't stop expat for dropping by here or their fav coffee in the world.

While waiting for my alternate flight (after my cancelled flight) at the Starbucks in Shenzhen airport, I am enjoying my favourite drink in the world while waiting aimlessly for 8 hours at the airport.

Ice chocolate, without ice.

Mcdonald Mcnuggets in Guangzhou China

2008-06-21T02:37:00.002+08:00

Three new sauces from Thailand for their Mcnuggets.

Actually it's four sauces, but I have to buy 20 pieces to get all four sauces, which I didn't. Besides, it was a Italian Tomato sauce.

from left: Japanese Wasabi, Thai Sauce Mayo, Chinese Sesame sauce

My fav is Thai sauce mayo. :D

YUM! Tomorrow will try more.

Tasting Room, Bangsar (Revisit)

2008-06-15T09:00:00.000+08:00

I just can't get enough of this place. Call is biasness, but all my friends who have been here love the ambiance, the food, the people and the wine!

This time start your appetizers with a bit of duck confits and chicken rissoto.

Duck Confit with Rock Melons

Chicken Rissoto

And don't forget about the baby octopus, mmm...

All simply divine, especially the Rissoto, I thought the wasabi mayo finished the touch! Muah!

Then head on to the main courses with your usual pasta, cod and beef.

O.. this is served with few tiny hidden Foie Gras (drool~)

Egyptian spiced Cod

Pasta Duo - with squid ink black pasta (my fav!)

Finish off with a full fledge cheese platter with a good wine.

This is not a good wine, but a random red wine which I brought back from Vietnam, it's sourish and grassy. Ugh.

But omg Umberto Cessario matches so well with blue cheese.. phewit~!

And finally don't forget a drop of 70 euro vinegar complimentary from the director if you manage to make him happy enough.

ONE DROP. That's all there is.

So good I tell you. I had few teaspoons of it. :D

My Dinner Tonight

2008-06-13T22:13:00.002+08:00

Ate too many "xiao long pao" these days.. decided to go for something lighter.

It says burger, but it's just bread 'kiap' cake.

yum yum....

My Breakfast This Morning

2008-06-12T15:23:00.003+08:00

Shanghai is beautiful~

Black Sesame Cake.. erm.. sticky taste.

25 year old Balsamic Vinegar from Italy

2008-06-11T01:36:00.003+08:00

Ever heard of an aged Balsamic?

This tiny little bottle from Florence, Italy costs 70 euro.

One drop is enough to send you to heaven and back. It's fragrant, sweet with strong raisin flavour. Definitely not your typical balsamic vinegar.

Yes it's tiny isn't it?

As usual I was hanging out at Tasting Room on one of our dinner and wine night, Ron whipped out this little gorgeous for us to sample.

One of the recipe suggested from the recipe manual (yes there is an eating manual that came along with the bottle) was to pair it with some fine vanila ice cream. So we decided to venture into that.

It's not your typical fusion but then again, this is not your typical cooking vinegar either. At RM350 per bottle, you have to be insane to use it in your kitchen. It's more expensive than a bottle of Chivas.

What you do is spoon a teaspoonful onto one scoop of vanilla ice cream, and savour it.

Sweet, tangy, fragrant and not too powerful (sweetness of the ice cream was actually toned down by the balsamic). It was beautiful.

I know it's odd saying this, but Balsamic Vanilla Ice Cream is one of the best dessert I have EVER tasted! :D

Champ's Prawn Mee @ Centrepoint, Bandar Utama

2008-06-08T21:15:00.001+08:00

Champ's Prawn was the best prawn mee in town.

I said was... because a week ago I went to try it again and found out that their prawn mee. has. degraded.

Sigh. You know how depressing it is that when you anticipate something so much and haven't tried something you love so much after so long. Things never turn out the same as they used to anymore?

Well, this is THAT kinda depressing.

It's not like their food is cheap either. RM19 for a bowl of prawn mee, blinking expensive. Though it's a very big bowl.

I used to LOVE their THREE BIG FAT prawns that so incredibly juicy and awesome, but now they've reduced to this. And only TWO instead of their awesome three!

Is it because of petrol hike a? Wait, I went there before the hike. Guess they're going to shrink it even further now.

Well, at least they still have the pork ribs and the soup is still pretty nice.

It's a sinful dish for your recent craving. :)

Prawn Mee anyone?

Rating: 3.5/5

Champ's Bistro
Lot F10, 1st Floor, Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: 03 - 7722 5800

Sakae Sushi, Sunway Pyramid

2008-06-03T16:09:00.004+08:00

I love Japanese food. Love it with a passion.

Hence few weeks ago I went to Sakae Sushi for some cheap Kaiten Belt sushi with Nigel and Kel Li.

I don't usually go these sort of fast food japanese restaurant, seeing how cheap sushi on the go is just NOT PROPER japanese food. But I was hungry, the movie was to start in 2 hours, there just wasn't time to sit and dine at snail pace. Besides, Sakae Sushi is semi-fast food in my opinion.

Unlike "some" other fast-food sushi joints, Sakae Sushi do make "rather" good sushi, hand rolls and maki. Like the dragon roll. I just love Avocado in sushi, don't you?

One of the dish that really impressed me that night was the Beef Ramen.

I have tasted several ramen before, both expensive and cheap ones. I have to say, this was really nice for what it was priced at.

The ramen belongs to Nigel.

Kel Li had Teriyaki Chicken Don. I tried a bit, it was alright, rice was a bit dry. Did I say I dislike rice? (exception in sushi)

And this is me stealing Nigel's ramen. Yum~

Looks familiar? :p

Sakae Sushi
Lot LL1.46, Lower Level 1
Sunway Pyramid No. 3
Jln PJS 11/5
Bandar Sunway
46150 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

Tel: 603-5622-1445

Triple Chocolatey Cereals

2008-05-29T22:21:00.003+08:00

Remember this name by heart.

Triple Chocolate Crunch Cereal

from Marks and Spencer.

Heaven made for chocolate lovers around the world.

Description: Light & Crunchy Clusters with Real Dark & White Chocolate Curls & Belgian Milk Chocolate pieces

I. just. died.

Superiorly sinful and heartattack worthy, I first discovered about this chocolatey chocolate cereal when I was 18, introduced by my first crush.

But they stopped importation three years ago for some reasons, I was devastated. I scouted through every Marks and Spencers around Malaysia and Singapore to no avail.

But now they back!!!

Yiipee! :D With a new recipe. Boo~ :(
(you know how new recipes always claim that they've come back with more oomph but actually they just switched to cheaper ingredients for mass production)

Well, didn't stop me there still.

I ripped open the box and plastic wrap and a rich aroma exploded into my face. Ahh~~ sweet chocolatey scent.

If there's one thing that should be made out of heaven, it's chocolate.

Pair it with your Goodday fresh milk (the best milk you can find in Malaysia, not that Malaysia ever really has nice rich good al-natural milk) and BOOM!

Nothing but good old rich milky-chocolate cereals to awaken your sense in the morning.

Not to mention 500 cal per 100 grams.

But hey, what is life without a bit of sins once in a while.

:D

Bei Zhan, Melaka

2008-05-25T16:49:00.002+08:00

On mother's eve, my family and I went to Melaka's famous Chinese restaurant Bei Zhan for a family dinner.

I brought white wine.

Allandale Verdelho, quite smooth to the throat.

And a little gift for mom.

Westin's miniature jams in a wooden box.

We started off with a cold dish (Mother's day special) that cost RM45, pretty expensive.

But it was the best cold fish, I simply LOVE the Unagi and fish roe maki.

The combination of glutinous rice and mayo was heavenly. I rate this dish 5/5.

We also have the usual dishes.

Sweet and sour pork, so so.

Steamed Cod in Oil, this is amazing. The cod was surprisingly fresh, and wonderful with the wine too.

And lastly, my mom's and bro's favourite.

"Tong Po Rou" or Braised Pork. It's alright, a bit over fried hence slightly tough on the flesh.

But overall it's a pretty good dinner. :D

Rating: 3.5/5

(4/5 if judged mainly on the cold dish and service, the rest of the dishes pulled the ratings down)

Bei Zhan Restaurant
16 & 18, Jalan Melaka Raya 23, Taman Melaka Raya, Melaka
75000 Melaka, Malaysia

Tel: 06- 281 2684

Blogging at Dinner

2008-05-20T21:20:00.003+08:00

or Dinner during Blogging.

Food does taste nicer with two laptops rather than one.

Siem Reap Hostel do offer one FINE~~ beef burger :D

Duck Fetus Egg, Cambodia

2008-05-14T00:22:00.001+08:00

The new age fad food.

It's delicious.

Check out my review here.

Fuji, Siam Paragon

2008-05-09T20:41:00.000+08:00

Fuji Japanese restaurant.

Don't have to go all the way to Fuji Mountain, it's not there.

Just head down to Siam Paragon in Bangkok, and you'll find it on one of the lower ground floors (the place where all the food are)

Where can you find Japanese restaurant serving pork.

Woo hoo~~ Me just love the menu~~~

I don't know, coming from Malaysia, I just find public restaurant with pork on the menu very entertaining. Call me "sua gu" la, but I can't stop smirking every time I see this.

Isn't it genius?!! Got asparagus some more~

But anyway, that's not what I had. Though I was tempted to try them all.

However I was more tempted by these.

Raw salmon roll with fish roe and mayonese.

There were great, I simply loved it. I have tried a lot of Japanese sushi and handrolls (temaki) and maki, and these could be classified as good. And I hardly give compliments to Japanese food because I am always very picky.

Then there's the Kobe beef roll with vege.

There would have been nice if the meat was not that chewy, it's almost difficult to swallow them.

My all time favourite.

Unagi (eel) roll with cream cheese. God, whoever put cream cheese in Sushi and Maki are geniuses!

The fusion was just amazing. I remember Sushi Groove (in Malaysia) have their sushi stuffed with cream cheese and avocado. Yum!

And finally I ordered the Maguro (Mackerel) Don (rice) with poached egg.

I didn't expect much out of this from an ASEAN country, or any part of the world apart from Japan because the last time I had an orgasmic Maguro Don was in Japan and that had blown me completely away, changed my perception on raw fish served with rice, it was so smooth and soft that the Maguro just melted together with the rice in your mouth.

This was not that orgasmic but because I love yolk mixture on rice, the dish didn't actually tasted as bad as I thought it would be if it turned out that bad (from the original expectation for a real Japanese Maguro Don) for me.

So when you go to Thailand (Bangkok to be exact), don't forget to try their pork sushi and maki for me. :)

Target this week

2008-05-04T15:59:00.003+08:00

To lose 2.5kg by Wednesday this week.

Method: Crash diet + running up down my condo two times every morning and night. (20 floors wei~)

It's achievable, difficult but possible, coz i know one of the two half kg is water, as I am now going through my menses and my body is full of water~ so really I am looking at losing 1.5kg, some of which are just waste and more water. More More More~~~~~

Leaving on a sailing trip this Wednesday, gotta look good for the sea baby! (yea right~)

Samurai Pork Burger in McDonald, Thailand

2008-05-01T19:52:00.003+08:00

Pork Burger.

Something a franchise fast food chain in Malaysia can never have.

to the far right corner on the top row

Poor us Chinese who love our pork sometimes. (With total respect to the Muslims, we really do love our pork)

Mcdonalds everywhere else always seem to have better options and selections than our local McD.

Bless my soul that I will never get too fat in Malaysia.

After having tried many McDonalds around the world, I return to Thailand to try the Thai McD menus this time round.

Sa-wa-dee-ka~

Hence we ordered three Samurai Pork Burger (in Japan it was teriyaki burger).

Spread with sweet sauce, the Samurai Pork Burger do remind me a lot of the Teriyaki Pork Burger in Tokyo, though not as sweet, but sweet none-the-less.

I like~

I had two during my stay in Thailand.

Swensens, Thailand

2008-04-28T00:48:00.001+08:00

It’s the mango season and Swensens in Thailand has come out with the most ingenius menu!!

The Millionaire Mango!!!

Yes, they’re having their very own version of Sticky Rice with Mango and Coconut Milk!! I couldn’t believe it when I saw it either! OMFG.

Mango Boat, two scoops of Mango ice creams and pandan sticky rice (this is so good, full of fragrance).

Add another 10 baht for the heavy cream. (comes in a shot)

I never really liked mango ice creams but these were heavenly!!! And I have never eaten ice creams with rice before either, yet this was just pure genius for me.

Wash it down with free Swensens water.

Or their very own berry yogurt shake

I’d suggest the water as the sweetness of the mango ice creams will overwhelm the yogurt drink.

Rating: 5/5

Location: Any Swensens restaurant in Thailand at the moment.

Doi Chaang Café @ Chiang Rai, Thailand

2008-04-23T21:54:00.000+08:00

I was cycling back to my guesthouse situated at the riverside when I passed by this beautiful café sitting quietly but brilliantly at the corner of the street under the traffic light.

After a two seconds thought, I made a small u-turn and cycled back to the café to park my cycle.

What catches my eyes when I entered was the stunning artificial waterfall at the entrance. Which made me decide to take a break and enjoy a cup of drink here.

I like how the upper deck of the place is made of wood. And everything felt so romantic, back to nature sort.

Love the paintings

Sit here with your love one to enjoy the hustles of Chiang Rai street outside. Perfect!

Even the menu looks so recycled, though a properly done one~

However the selection of drinks is a bit disappointing. Cheap though.

The desserts here are looking sinful. From chocolate cake to this blueberry muffin, ermmm..

I chose the sofa at the end of the café as my spot.

And no, I did not just drink water la, if that’s what you actually thought.

I ordered the ice chocolate drink. Wasn’t that nice. But it was cheap and the ambience was nice, so I’m quite satisfied.

Oh yea, don’t forget to bring your fully charged laptop if you want to use the wifi or for work.

Electricity sure don’t come cheap here. -.-

Travelling and Diet

2008-04-20T03:49:00.002+08:00

The scary thing about travelling, is you won't know if you have gained weight or lost some.

There's no way to tell, you can be bloated for all you know.

It's a scary procedure, for those who know weights can't be controlled, you might end up returning to your home after one month of travelling gaining more than 5 kg.

Or losing more if I'm lucky, which I doubt. I did lose a lot more in Lao though, maybe I should stay in Lao for 30 days, and lose up to 10kg in that month. :D

That sounds like a healthy way to lose weight, and what a way to explore the country.

Manhattan Fish Market, IOI Mall

2008-04-13T22:05:00.000+08:00

Short Note: Winner for the Tasting Room contest is May Yee. Congratulation girl, I'll see you on the 18th of May alright? :)

Manhatten Fish Market. I always think it's an irony. Manhattan, but the fish are probably local fish they obtain from the local morning market rather than all the way from Manhattan.

Yet, I have to admit, they do serve one of the most impressive seafood platter around town.

Not only it looks good, it tastes good and very filling too.

We started off with some Caesar Salad

A bit of a disappointing amount, as most pub salad always serve a size too big for you to even finish it as a main course.

But then again I guess that's why it's called the starter, appropriate almost.

Nice salad dressing, complements the leaves. Lacks some oomph, can't quite put into words what, that certain something special that will make you come back for more. It's alright, nice to eat, but nothing special.

Seafood platter for two is a must try.

And please, do not order this if you are alone. Unless you have been starving yourself crazy for three days three nights, it's a magnificient portion for two, or even three.

Great presentation too. Though if only there's no burnt smell if would have made things more appetizing. But hey, I'm not complaining.

Love the fish, love the oysters, love the chips, love the calamar, even the butter rice is superb.

People go for their fish and chip, I find it rather sub standard. However, I do highly recommend to go for the platters. It's really romantic if you're with your friend or partner.

Manhattan Fish Market
(Almost everywhere: Sunway Pyramid, KLCC, Mid Valley, Ikano Power Centre, Centre Point, etc)
IOI Mall, Batu 9, Jalan Puchong,
Bandar Puchong Jaya,
47100 Puchong, Selangor

Tel: 03 5882 1493

Website: www.manhattanfishmarket.com

Pancake House, Sunway Pyramid

2008-04-10T18:32:00.001+08:00

After visiting JCo donuts for so long, I finally took notice of this restaurant next to it. Called Pancake House, in Sunway Pyramid new wing.

Appeared to run by a group of Philippine's girls, I decided to give it a try.

What took my breath away was the Bolognese spaghetti (I know it's odd to order pasta in a pancake house, hey it wasn't my order, right Dom?)

It's not your traditional Bolognese, it's sweeter than normal beef paste. I love it! It's has the right texture and the right consistency of sweetness and tomato paste.

To me, it was perfection.

The pancakes were very fluffy too. Something I can't seem to produce in my kitchen.

But the Banana creamed filled pancake was nothing to shout about.

The ice cream was too small and the banana filling's too little.

I had the chocolate filled pancake with peanut butter on top.

It was nice, since anything with peanut butter is nice to me. I can't say it would be fair for me to judge that this was a splendid dish. I just love peanut butter.

But will definitely go back for the pasta.

Rate: 3/5 (they have very friendly staff who sang britney spears and backstreet boys' songs)

Pancake House
LG, Sunway Pyramid New Wing (Next to JCo Donuts)

Lao Food In a Glance

2008-04-05T13:11:00.003+08:00

Lao food consists of some Siamese and Vietnamese influence, hence it is not easy to learn about Lao food in a day.

It is even possible to have tried most of Lao Food in two days.

There's a lot of soup and fried noodle, fruits, baguette and salads involved.

First there are a lot of fruit shakes.

This drink of mine is banana and pineapple shake, I asked them to make it. Pretty good I'd say.

The Lao salad. Made differently by different stalls but the concept is the same.

Chicken soup noodle, one of the more stable dish. You can find this everywhere.

Chicken soup, mainly consist of raw vegetables, chicken and Maggi seasoning packet in soup.

Noodle soup. More vegetables than noodles.

Fried Rice Noodle with vegetables. This is quite yummy. But it gets dull after you eat it for what seems like weeks. Everything is practically the same. It's good still though.

One of my favourite. Mix fruit with yogurt. Easy to make, nice to eat. Laotian yogurts are mainly very sweet, so mixing it with fruits creates the perfect concoction.

Influenced heavily by the Siamese, you can also find the famous Mango sticky rice with coconut milk here in Laos.

However this stall made it rather differently and I find it too sweet to eat.

The sticky rice isn't as sticky and cooked too. I much prefer Thai sticky rice.

The only "odd" food I have been during my stay in Laos. Egg and yam custard in between pumpkin slice, pretty sweet stuff. Goes well with sticky rice, but comes off better as a dessert dish itself.

Lao(s) Noodles in Vientiane

2008-04-01T20:13:00.002+08:00

Laotian food is not unexpected as it bears similarity to the Thai and Vietnamese food, and even a strong culture of the French.

Noodles and rice are the stable food in Laos, not to forget tons of baguette everywhere.

Located at one of the seaside stalls just right in front of my inn,

this particular dish was my first meal in Laos, which also left a distinct impression of Laotian food in me.

White vermicelli sprinkled with peanuts and stir-fried with vegetables. It might look innocent but by god it is the freakishly spiciest food I have ever tasted since… I don’t know? Since since since.. since I drank that bottle of Tobaccos sauce by accident. No I’m just kidding, not that idiotic yet but I assume it would taste about the same.

It’s nice, no doubt. That is if you can handle the spiciness of the sauce.

5000kip coconut

The other very unique that sent tickles down my tummy (like really funny dish) was the fried crispy noodle with vegetables.

They weren’t joking about the crispy part.

It’s like eating Twisties, without all the salty seasonings and it’s dipped in diluted salty sauce and vegetables.

I can’t get myself around to get used to this dish though.

I still prefer Twisties on its own.

Food Poisoning Diet

2008-03-26T17:10:00.002+08:00

No. Don't even go there.

NEVER entice yourself with the slightest idea of it.

To be honest, and I mean brutally honest, and only the truth.

I would rather DIE than to have another food poisoning session.

No, I would rather GAIN WEIGHT than another to get food poisoned again.

I'm serious.

At least gaining weight I won't feel like dying, and all I need to lose is to stop eating and go on detox for a few days, painless effort compare to the PAIN I went through each time with food poisoning ok?!

Trust me. And I am saying it as the 6th F.P. encounter that YOU DO NOT want to get poisoned by food.

I only mention this because it is THE ONLY, and I really mean the sole reason, why I shouldn't be so darn depressed about my 6th time food poisoning.

I lost 2kg. yay~

God I hate food poisoning.

Seaside Seafood Restaurant @ Semporna, Sabah

2008-03-23T21:16:00.001+08:00

This is one of the best seafood restaurant I have dined in during my stay in Semporna Sabah.

And it’s cheap too.

Claypot noodle

Almost everything we ordered there was nice, especially the kolo mee or the claypot noodle which has generous servings of seafood in it.

I especially love the drunken prawns, sweet and just enough Shao Xin Jiu (Chinese wine?). Yum~

Kolo Mee

Give the fish a skip though, it’s small and costly (RM12?). Everything else is around RM 4~5. Considering the seafood, I’d say it’s bloody cheap.

Rating: 3.5/5

Seaside Seafood Restaurant
(next to Guardian Pharmacy, behind Sipadan Inn)
All the way in Semporna, Sabah

Zoning Out

2008-03-22T16:53:00.000+08:00

Food Poisoned.

No food consumption.

Sniff...

Mabul Café @ Semporna

2008-03-17T10:08:00.002+08:00

Mabul Café, a famous restaurant by the jetty next to all the scuba centres.

At Semporna’s standard, you’ll probably find the menu here with an overriding of variety.

It’s one of the few places (like two maybe?) in Semporna where you can find decent proper cheap and nice food.

The Wa Tan Ho has a generous amount of seafood and eggs. Which I like.

I managed to go back the second time for dinner with a group of divers for dinner the next few days.

I ordered the Mango and Avocado juice (requested on spot) as I saw someone drank this in KK and was fascinated by it.

It’s a decent blend much to my surprise. Both are creamy texture so it doesn’t feel off, but it does taste very much like.. well… Mango and Avocado. LOL. Loved it.

A diver ordered the Sizzling Lemon Chicken which looks yummy.

My sick friend ordered the lemon tea.

It offered an amazing selection. I thought it was good, can’t be compared with KL’s food. But it’s pretty good in Semporna. They serve good seafood too, but I was less than tempted to order a lobster (tight budget T_T)

Like seriously, the town has nothing but the best diving service and experience.

Rating: 3/5

Mabul Café & Seafood Restaurant
Lot 39 & 40, Block G, 1st Floor,
Semporna Seafront New Township,
91300 Semporna
Tel: +6 089781785

Hong Kong Recipe, Kota Kinabalu

2008-03-12T17:50:00.001+08:00

I walked in to Wong Kong Char Chan Teng in KK. And walked out.

Another Hong Kong Restaurant just popped up opposite the restaurant in Warisan Square in KK and always up for something new, I wanted to try something fresh.

Hong Kong Recipe, is it another spoof of Kim Gary and Wong Kok?

They offer a rather different array of dishes instead of the item-to-item copy Kim Gary and Wong Kok always fight over each other about.

Hence this unique (so they claimed) Spinach Noodle with Pork Chop was put to the tasting test.

I like the noodles, but seriously, nothing to shout about. Can’t really feel any difference form your usual flat noodles but it is rather nice as flat noodles themselves. The pork chop a tad too small here.

I was glad they still serve French toast here.

Afterall, what is hong kong restaurant without French toast? :D

Suprisingly, despite their realllly small and disappointing drinks (I’m comparing to Wong Kok and even Kim Gary’s drinks), I love this French toast. It’s definitely better than Wong Kok ones, but I still prefer Kim Gary’s French toast. They never serve butter in between, which made it not too oily to eat.

I miss Wong Kok’s Milo Ais~.

Rating: 3/5

Hong Kong Recipe
Warison Square, Kota Kinabalu town (I think)

Tasting Room, Bangsar

2008-03-08T22:22:00.008+08:00

Wine….

and Food…

Enough said.

Tasting room provides one of the best fine dining experience at the price of a bistro pub I have tasted in KL.

Don’t let its décor fools you, how much do you think would a glass of wine and a dish of lamb shank cost you?

(No I’m not telling you the price because I kinda forgot but the price was really reasonable. RM50 or less per person?)

The Foie Gras salad appetizer was my favourite, it’s not so much the foie gras (goose liver) but the creamy Enoki mushrooms inside the crusty paste. Heaven’s it’s so creamy and nice, I love it. However I thought it was slightly expensive at RM28, maybe they should have one without the foie gras.

The fish was a lovely combination of Egyptian spices, side salads and placed on a bed of small potatoes made it really exquisite.

My favourite of all was the Carbonara (always has been). But this was exceptionally creamy, and with yellow egg yolk mixed into the sauce, it gave the whole dish a new tinge of richness.

The Chicken Pita came out rather unique. Mixed with wasabi cream, it’s a fusion of western and eastern concept and it’s really creative, well blended. Though it did come off a bit dry and is a perfect way to mix eat it with wine.

And finally,

The Strawberry Chocolate Cake, appeared to be a fondant, or a lava cake that has a very soft centre and warm chocolate syrup oozing out when you pushed it apart.

And for this dish, I highly recommend new wine drinker to mix it with a Moscato d’Asti; slightly fizzy, sweet champagne like white wine that has been proven EVERYONE will like.

Since the day, I have been going back to tasting room for more and more Moscato D’Asti. And guess what, on the day of my birthday, I ordered so many, I literally wiped the store clean of wine. So if you want more, you need to wait for their next stock to come. :p

(Before I reach there that is.)

PS// The lamb shank was delicious too! Soft and nicely cooked, medium rare I think, and the baby carrots were gorgeous.

Rating: 4/5
(wanted to give 4.5 but that might be totally because I love Moscato D’Asti aka Nivole. :D)

Nicolekiss Food and Diet First Contest!!!!

Ok, here’s a catch. I have a contest here for all you readers out there (you stand a high chance because apparently no one reads this blog -.-)

This contest is open to all Malaysians (if you’re a foreigner staying in Malaysia, also can) Now, what you need to do is comment (with email address) in the section below, the most creative comment you can come up with of why you want to dine at tasting room.

And you stand a chance to win a DINNER with Nicolekiss and the director of Wine Cellar + Tasting Room, Ron Khoo @ Tasting Room. Deadline of contest is 16th March 2008!

So fast fast!! Comment comment!!!

Tasting Room
65-1 (above Wine Cellar)
Jalan Bangkung, Bukit Bandaraya
59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tue-Fri: 11.30am till late
Sat-Sun: 5pm till late
Public holidays: 5pm till late

Tel: +603 2092 4404
Website: tastingroom.com.my

Onde-onde from Cupcake Chic

2008-03-05T22:04:00.002+08:00

Yay, I finally got my Onde-onde cupcake yesterday. Yum yum...

Adapting from its counterpart concept,

Soft, sweet, pandan flavour cupcake, sprinkled with roasted coconut flacks and Gula Melaka (Malacca Sugar) fillings.... I quite like this.

I could be biased. (Onde-onde is a Melaka food, aka my hometown :p)

Cupcake Chic, The Curve

2008-03-04T11:30:00.002+08:00

Cupcakes galore… Once again my sweet tooth has set my journey out to look for more cupcakes~ Yum~

This time I was introduced to this very chic Cupcake Chic at the Curve by a lovely lady from The Star, Jaya – the girl who featured me on The Star Metro.

Cupcake Chic is situated next to Secret Recipe and right out side of the shopping mall facing the street. So if you’re wondering inside, you’ll not be able to find it.

The owner of this place has a food blog too.

Their old concept was to serve on the go, but now you get to sit outside on some small tables and eat cupcakes with your hand, or on a plate. (Spoons not provided though)

We had some gorgeous cupcakes here. One of it is the Masala Chai.

A cupcake fusion of cream cheese and Chai (a type of spicy tea); it’s perfect for those who doesn’t like their cupcakes too sweet. The cream cheese on top gave the cupcake the tinge of sweetness it needs and it’s something I can eat it over and over again without over-dosage of sugar.

I also had the more traditional pick that will never go wrong - chocolate cupcake.

Not just any chocolate. It’s Fatal Attraction. The name says it all. :D

When we were done, the waitress there recommended one of their latest product – Red Velvet. Said to be very famous in the states.

It’s a type of chocolate that is not too sweet, unlike most chocolate, it’s Red in colour.

I find it amusing, Jaya didn’t like it though. It’s definitely a different taste of chocolate; I probably would like it more if I didn’t have Fatal Attraction, it lacks richness as compared to your classic chocolate cupcake.

They don’t have all the cupcakes everyday though. Here’s a menu.

Click for large here.

I think I wanna get myself an Onde-onde cupcake this Tuesday.

Oh wait! Today is Tuesday! Yay! *runs off*

Rating: 3.5/5 (lacks environment)

Price per cupcake: RM4.50

Cupcake Chic
Lot GZF-4, Ground Floor
The Curve, Mutiara Damansara
Tel: 03-7726 9075
Fax: 03-7726 9058

Heng Hua Kuih (Cake)

2008-03-01T15:18:00.001+08:00

This is a secret family recipe that has been passed down since my great grandparents is the recipe of Heng Hua Kuih.

The cake which my family still eats every Chinese New Year since I was born, other than my aunt’s famous pineapple tarts.

First it requires a lot, I mean A LOT, of egg yolks, thus very unhealthy (what’s nice is not?), and very yellow.

Roll them into a big pao size dough and set aside.

Flatten each one by the roller pin and then by hand to perfection.

It has to be a rectangular.

Then, spoon two full generous (my aunt usually only put one spoon full which I think it’s too little) dollops of melted chocolate and condensed milk.

Finally, easily row them up in papers.

Set directly onto the over tray and bake.

Once done, just take it out, slice them up and put in a jar.

There you go, our very special family secret recipe – Heng Hua Kuih.

If I share with you the recipe then it wouldn’t be a secret would it? :p

Koko Krunch Duo

2008-02-28T03:01:00.001+08:00

The first time Nestle came out with Koko Krunch Duo.

My first reaction was: “Finally!”

It’s been YEARS that Koko Krunch has remained as just.. well.. chocolate.

I know I love chocolates but with everything nowadays diverting into something else, it’s about time that Koko Krunch came out with a new variety and taste.

It wasn’t until this year that I actually started craving for cereals again, I came across a box of it in the supermarket so decided to pick up.

Woke up the next day and poured myself a bowl of crunches. Also....

Always, forever… with milk.

Reminds me of my childhood, full of cereals~~~ Cheers to good old times.

Note: I think I prefer the old Koko Krunch

IZZI @ Uptown, Petaling Jaya

2008-02-25T16:59:00.003+08:00

At the end of the Cohort 4 Research Comm module class, I have a gathering dinner at IZZI with my fellow course mates and our lovely professor Ursula. (this was before CNY)

Mr Ho and Adrian (from left), Me and Ursula (from right); sorry I couldn’t remember all the names.

We had a feast.

The Mushroom Soup here was lovely. Though I didn’t order it, but I had a taste.

Best eat it with Cheese Bun, which I liked a lot. The cheese didn’t ooze out as expected but the cheesy cheddar inside was delicious.

I ordered Marinara Pizza with a classmate of mine. She didn’t like it, I thought it was okay, not fabulous, but edible. It did look lovely though.

Adrian’s Carbonara Pasta was my favourite. I wanted to wallop his plate but resisted. ~.~

The Marinara Pasta, however, was a disappointment.

Blunt and tasteless, except of the succulent prawns, which I thought was a bit overcooked (pity), the there’s nothing impressive about the dish.

I can’t remember the name of this pasta, but I know it had a lot of olives. It was so so, not my thing, some might like it.

Having sweet tooth, me and Ursula couldn’t resist having some desserts, and the encouragement among my classmates didn’t help. -.-

So we ordered an Opera Cake from the wide selections at their dessert bar. It was very creamy, too sweet for some maybe, I prefer the ones at Starbucks.

Being me, I had a bit of everything from everyone’s dish. Afterall, sharing is caring right?

My stolen portion of Carbonara

I loved the Mexican Chicken Salad here which I didn’t order but wished I had and didn’t have the chance to take photo of it. But the company was great, which made up for everything else.

I hope to see all of you again soon; you’ve been the best classmates so far. :D

Rating: 3/5
Price: Reasonable (around RM25-30 per head)

IZZI – Uptown, PJ
No. 45G & 47G, Jalan SS 21/37
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Malaysia

Telephone and Delivery : +603 77290855
Fax : +603 77290955

IZZI – Kuala Lumpur (Bukit Bintang)
44-2A, 44-3A, 44-4A
Jln. Sultan Ismail
50250 Kuala Lumpur

Making Pineapple Tarts

2008-02-22T08:29:00.001+08:00

Every year, my third aunt will make us the biggest bite-size pineapple tarts to share among our families during CNY. It’s a family tradition, and Melaka’s signature food.

This CNY, she brought the utensils and showed us how to make them.

Making the dough was hard work, but the rest of the process was fun.

Use a shape cutter to make sure all your pineapple tarts are equally shaped.

Put sweetened chunks of pineapples on top, one tablespoonful each.

Then use a zigzag twizzer to mould the side into shape. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look professional, it’s homemade tarts afterall.

Put them on your oven tray and preheat the oven to 180º (I think).

10 minutes and wha la~

Your homemade fresh and hot pineapple tarts!

Crispy, crunchy, heavenly!

I helped too. Able to guess which is mine?

I like to stand out. Sue me.

Yee Sang @ Lucky Famous Restaurant, Melaka

2008-02-19T03:58:00.001+08:00

Few days before Chinese New Year, I gathered some friends to “lou sang” at a local Chinese restaurant.

So we went to the huge and new Lucky Famous in town.

Yee Sang, literally translated to “raw fish”, shares the same pronunciations as increasing , hence it is considered a prosperity dish.

“Lou Sang” means to dig for wealth.

Served with different types of stripped vegetables, crackers, drizzled with sauce and oil and sprinkled with strips of raw fish and five spice powder.

It’s my favourite dish of the year!! Can someone please please bring me to eat Yee Sang before the end of 15th day of CNY.

Moving on.

The “cold dish” (appetizers) here are fantastic. They have scallops on clamp shells, sweet pork on a bed of pickled cabbage, century egg rolls, prawns and I couldn’t remember what that spring roll fritter thing was, I remembered it tasted really good.

Lemon Chicken's not so bad, I’ve had better, I’ve had worse too.

This was meant to be their recommended tofu. In my opinion it’s very disappointing if this were to be their best tofu.

Salad Prawn, prawn fritters drizzled with mayonnaise; again, I’ve had far better.

The “Kai Lan” was good though. :D Me like~

Here’s the address for you Melakan out there. But then again, who doesn’t know about Lucky Famous, it’s just in between Amigo and Red Square KTV AND it’s six lots wide.

Rating: 3/5 (cold dish alone is 4.5/5)

Lucky Famous Restaurant
1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, Jalan Melaka Raya 8,
Taman Melaka Raya, 75000 Melaka.

Tel: 06-284 0031

Lychee Cake of Coffee Bean

2008-02-16T06:41:00.002+08:00

With CNY, Coffee Bean launched (coincidently?) a new type of cake - Lychee Cake.

I have always liked rich moisture and chocolate-y cakes, but since I was visiting Coffee Bean with my mom and buying her a drink and cake while we chat; I have to choose something that is not too sweet, not too chocolate-y and something not cheesy (all of which she doesn't like and I like, sigh).

So I decided to take the risk of her picky taste bud and went for the new lychee cake.

Well, she liked it. (OMG, finally she liked something I ordered!! ..... as always :p)

RM8.50 for not too sweet, not too rich, non-cheesy and non-chocolate cake fans out there.

Black Canyon Coffee @ Centre Point, Bandar Utama

2008-02-14T18:11:00.001+08:00

On the day Jay Chou arrived in 1-Utama, was the day I was having my Research Communication class. I remembered clearly, it was a Saturday. *sob*

So after class, I met up with Gerald to have dinner together at Black Canyon Coffee in Centre Point.

Sour~

I heard from Marylin from Mindshare that the Black Canyon Coffee serves nice Black Canyon Coffee (pun intended by Black Canyon Coffee) so decided to have a try.

I didn’t have coffee cause I don’t drink coffee, so I had Green Tea Latte instead while Gerald had Ice Lemon Tea.

I was forced to change to green tea ice blended cause the green tea latte was horrible. It tasted like sugar water, with a hint green tea. Ice blended isn’t any better.

However the Dry Tom Yum Tuna with Pasta (Fusilli) took the cake. It’s amazingly nice despite the un-impressive name. 5-star to this dish.

Apart from that, the Thai salad and my Tuna Sandwich were total disappointment.

Too sour, too spicy, too sour.

Un-inventive, boring, blunt. Didn’t even cut of the brown edge of the bread for me. Sigh~

Rating: 2/5 (expensive for their kind of food, RM20 for a small dish and a drink)

Maybe for fusilli, I'll go back.

Black Canyon Coffee
Ground Floor, Centre Point,
Bandar Utama, Selangor

G(M) & G(N). Ground Floor
The Summit Subang Usj. Persiaran Kewajipan
47600 Subang Jaya
Selangor
Tel No.: 603-80236328