tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68712431949230544782024-03-07T23:28:27.596+08:00gila makanPassion for Malaysian foodUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger280125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-39573355865305551562015-01-26T12:44:00.000+08:002015-01-26T12:44:01.150+08:00Gyukingu Japanese BBQIt was cousin Chew's birthday and he asked us out for dinner. Rightfully we should had treated the birthday boy to the meal. But he was the host instead, the reason being we had no idea that it was his day. He asked us out and we gladly went along.<br />
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The place he took us to was a Japanese BBQ restaurant in Kota Damansara. Known as Gyukingu (牛大王 or Beef King), it is located on the first floor above the Al Rajhi Bank on Jalan PJU 5/17.<br />
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They have a bull head for their identity. It was Christmas season (last December) and the happy bespectacled bull wore a red cap. I wonder why restaurants use such motifs as they their trademarks - smiling bull and elated chicken - when they are the ones being eaten!<br />
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Inside, the restaurant belied its small insignificant entrance. It was a large place, nicely furnished with tables, cubicles and private dining rooms.<br />
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And a large, well stocked bar.<br />
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We were led to a private room. It was dining tatami style. sitting on the floor. Thankfully they had a recess under the table and was not so taxing on our old stiff legs. The room was small and windowless, and the walls and ceiling were painted black. Fortunately we had good company and conversations to distract us from the surrounding. Otherwise it was like sitting in a prison cell and could be very stifling and claustrophobic.<br />
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We had to remove our shoes before we enter our room. And when I came out to relieve myself, I could not find them (they apparently kept them in a hidden rack) and I had to tread barefooted to the loo.<br />
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The menu was tantalising.<br />
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This Christmas offer that included Wagyu beef, Okinawa bacon and a bottle of red wine for 4 to 6 persons was very reasonably priced at just RM388++.<br />
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While cousin Chew selected the meats, we waited for the wine to breathe.<br />
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His choice was breathtaking. There was a variety of seasoned beef...<br />
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And marinated pork..<br />
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Grilled over a coal fire...<br />
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And eaten with fresh salads.<br />
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Thoroughly delicious.<br />
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The Wagyu beef deserved a special mention. It was exceptional. I could see why it was so prized. It was so tender and succulent, almost melting in the mouth.<br />
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We had some fresh scallops too.<br />
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Carefully grilling them to ensure they are not overdone.<br />
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Besides the self-grills, we also had some side dishes. Like this good size squid. It was done by the chef and was so fresh and succulent. Very good indeed.<br />
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Bowls or garlic fried rice and miso soup for each of us.<br />
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And even some Korean fare - bibimbap and kimchi.<br />
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Dessert was sesame ice cream which to me was rather unusual in flavour. I really do not think sesame is a good ingredient for ice cream.<br />
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I preferred the yuzu (a Japanese sour citrus) sherbert.<br />
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It was an awesome meal. Cousin Chew's dinners have always been elaborate affairs. This certainly was no exception. Happy birthday again, Chew.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-60047284429857363992015-01-17T12:10:00.000+08:002015-01-17T12:10:01.737+08:00Pepper Pork ChopIt's been quite a while since I last featured a recipe in my blog. Today I share with you on how to do an awesome pepper pork chop.<br />
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We start with some nice pork steaks. I think best part of the pig for chops is the shoulder. The pork shoulder steaks pictured below were from Jaya Grocer (non-halal section). They were fresh, nicely cut and reasonably priced.<br />
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First, we brine the meat. <a href="http://www.finecooking.com/articles/why-brining-keeps-meat-moist.aspx">Brining</a> is soaking the meat in salt water. It is an important process in my recipe and unless we do it properly, the chops will not turn out as juicy and delicious. We prepare the brine solution with 3 tablespoons of salt in 3 cups of water. You can use any kind of salt - cooking salt, table salt or coarse sea salt. Immerse the meat in the salt water and keep it in the fridge for about 4 hours. It is important to keep the meat refrigerated during the entire brining process.<br />
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At the end of the 4 hours, remove the meat from the brine. After the brining, the meat is redder in colour and firmer in texture.<br />
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Do not wash the meat. Sprinkle ground black pepper on both sides of the meat. Then return the meat into the fridge for another hour. This seasons the meat and allows it to dry.<br />
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After an hour, the meat is ready to cook. Pre-heat the oven to a temperature of 200 degrees Celsius.<br />
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In the mean time, heat up a wok or pan at medium flame. Put in a scoop of butter.<br />
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Lightly fry the meat in butter for 2 to 3 minutes on each side.<br />
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Until it is like so.<br />
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The meat is then cooked in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.<br />
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The outcome is a gorgeous juicy chop.<br />
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This is a bottle of peppercorn sauce that Alan bought for me from Australia. It is fabulous and suitable for all kinds of meats and fish. We probably won't find it in Malaysia. You could use any other black pepper sauce to your liking.<br />
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We have the chops with some salads and fries. My wife loved the meal. It was the first time I had seen her finish such a big piece of meat.<br />
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The "secret" in this recipe is the brining. It provides the necessary moisture to the meat to make it juicy and succulent. The salt made it so flavourful, yet not the least salty. The recipe is simple and the reward is absolutely delicious. Enjoy.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-77304337659895439332015-01-08T13:05:00.000+08:002015-01-08T13:05:42.267+08:00Yun Lai Huat Dim Sum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Niu Ze Xui (牛車水) or NZX is a failed shopping mall in Ara Damansara. It started with a bang 3 to 4 years ago, but it fizzled out. As it was very near to where we live, my wife and I used to frequent the place. The problem with this mall was that it was not air-conditioned. It could be quite warm and stuffy there. Malaysians love air-con and perhaps that was one reason why this mall did not make it.</div>
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Today the mall is in a sorry state. The walkways are empty. The shops are empty. Some areas are starting to show signs of neglect and rot.<br />
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Surrounding the mall are many shops and offices. Many of them thrive in spite of the gloom inside. In fact it is often difficult to find a place to park. There is an basement parking. But it is shady and they charge RM2 per entry. People avoid it.<br />
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One of the shops that thrive is a dim sum restaurant - Yun Lai Huat. It really is not a great place. But dim sum is a popular food. And being the only one in Ara Damansara, it appeared to do a reasonably good business.<br />
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We have eaten there a number of times. And each time, it was a crowd.<br />
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Their tables spill to the five foot way and into the empty mall.<br />
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Their dim sum selection is not fantastic. The usual stuffs - nothing out of the ordinary. Prices are not that cheap - comparable to other more established dim sum restaurants.<br />
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I was quite pissed off once. I asked a waiter for refill of water for our tea. He very rudely and loudly told me to do it myself, pointing to a hot water boiler nearby. Later I told off the boss. He did not apologise and gave me the excuse on the shortage of workers, and that his workers would refill if they were free. I had to tell him that his man was standing idle when I requested for the refill.<br />
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Now to the food. The dim sum were not extraordinary. Quality was mediocre and the flavour, so so. One notch below places like <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2010/01/dim-sum-here-is-really-quite-good.html">Jin Xuan Hong Kong</a> in PJ Uptown.<br />
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The porridge was too thick and mushy.<br />
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They serve noodles as well. Perhaps the saving grace. The texture of the noodles was nicely al dente.<br />
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Yun Lai Huat is perhaps living proof that a successful restaurant need not necessarily have the best food and the best service. It perhaps has a lot to do in being at the right place selling the food that people want. That actually had been the reason that we had repeatedly gone back to the place in spite of the mediocre food quality and tea refill fiasco. We balked at the thought of driving all the way to Jin Xuan in Uptown PJ, and having to hunt for a parking space or to wait in queue for a table.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-43859731235948894482014-12-29T11:36:00.000+08:002014-12-29T11:36:30.535+08:00Fish Steamboat in ButterworthMy year end review is on a steamboat restaurant located on Raja Uda in Butterworth. It was my first time in this part of the town and I was surprised by the number of eateries along this long road. There were restaurants, food courts, hawkers centres and food stalls. They all looked very tantalising. But our objective that evening was some nice steamboat.<br />
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Zi Wei Yuan is quite a mouthful in name, but wait till you get a mouthful of their steamboat. It was a big spacious place. The shop was extended outwards to provide the space. It was adorned with typical Chinese red - red steel structures, red lanterns, red curtains, red blinds. Thankfully the tables and chairs were spared.<br />
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Despite the gaud, it was really a very pleasant place. There were lots of empty tables when we arrived there but as we progressed through our meal, the place gradually filled to capacity.<br />
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The highlight of their steamboats is fish. The other goodies in the menu are add-ons. There was a choice of fried fish or grouper. We opted for the former.<br />
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They used the traditional charcoal pots.<br />
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Strictly charcoal. No gas, no electrical stoves.<br />
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The only "modern" appliance was this battery operated fan to stoke the flame.<br />
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This was the soup in its original form. In it was the fried fish that we had opted. There also was abundant vegetables.<br />
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More interestingly, there were pieces of fried yam. They certainly added flavour to the soup, which was sweet and tasty even without the array of food that we were going to put in.<br />
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The pieces of fried fish in the soup were fresh and delicious.<br />
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Besides the fried fish, we also ordered a plate of grouper. They were super fresh.<br />
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These were pork belly strips. I made sure they were not overcooked.<br />
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Good size prawns that were also very fresh.<br />
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Fish and meat balls.<br />
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Sotong. One of my favourites, especially the "janggut" (tentacles).<br />
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Pork tripe. I love them for the texture. Particularly delicious in steamboats.<br />
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This was fried fu chuk (<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">腐竹</span>- bean curd skin).<br />
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Mushrooms.<br />
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This was listed in the menu as abalone slices. It certainly tasted like abalone. Very nice indeed. But I seriously doubt if it was genuine abalone. The slices were big. A dish of such a big abalone would had costed a fortune. It definitely was a seafood. I just wonder what kind of abalone wannabe this was.<br />
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Quail eggs. These are supposedly very high in cholesterol. But recently readings told me that eggs are good for us and should not be a cholesterol concern. So I had them without any guilt.<br />
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Another of my favourite - fish maw.<br />
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Tong ho (<span style="font-family: 'Lantinghei TC';">唐蒿</span>- grand chrysanthemum) is a popular vegetable for steamboat. But they shrink in the soup. They are not expensive. I wonder why they could not serve a bigger portion.<br />
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The steamboat in this place is apparently very popular amongst the folks in Butterworth, Prai, Penang and as far as Sungei Petani. I can see the reason why. It was very good. The soup, although looking murky was very tasty. The ingredients were very fresh and of good quality. I enjoyed the meal totally.<br />
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Happy New Year 2015.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-19014400202853452162014-12-14T15:52:00.000+08:002014-12-14T15:52:23.033+08:00Oriental Pavilion RevisitedThe last time I dined at the <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2011/05/oriental-pavilion-in-jaya-33.html">Oriental Pavilion</a> in Jaya 33, was at a wedding more than 3 years ago. Since then the couple have probably become parents and I had not returned. Until about a couple of months back - for a birthday celebration.<br />
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I looked forward to going there again. I knew we were in for a sumptuous meal. And we was not disappointed.<br />
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The place had not changed very much. The decor and furnishings were the same. It was still a very nice up-market Chinese restaurant. We were a party of about 20 people and had 2 tables booked into a private room. It was very conducive for pre dinner chats and socialising.<br />
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The tables were set for fine dining. It was very elegant.<br />
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Most Chinese restaurants offer peanuts for pre-meal munch. This place provided sambal long beans. They were delicious.<br />
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The appetisers were individually served and gracefully presented. The first of the hors d'oeuvre was a braised scallop in a mayo sauce with trims of salad and fried lotus root. In the middle was a succulent shrimp in a mango dip. On the right was half a soft shell crab deep fried in a batter. All three were exquisitely delicious. I took my time to savour them.<br />
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The soup was also individually served. It was uniquely and ingeniously presented in teapots. It was a chicken soup with fish maw, conpoy (dried scallop - <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">乾瑤柱</span>) and other goodies. We had the soup in teacups. It suited me well because I prefer slurping soup from a bowl (or cup in this case) instead of a spoon. It was piping hot and so very tasty.<br />
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I do not know what they call this dish. It was a deep fried chicken topped with a mixture of deep fried minced crisps. I cannot tell what was in the mixture, but it tasted very nice with the chicken.<br />
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The grilled pork rib was succulent and tender, done with a caramelised soya sauce. It was marvellously prepared.<br />
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The cod fish was very fresh. It was pan fried with teriyaki sauce with an orange flavour, accompanied with some diced fresh shallots. The generous portion of the fish was presented in a large bamboo leave inside an orange dug-out. It was superb. I have never tasted a fish prepared in this manner. Such innovation.<br />
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The highlight of the meal was this abalone plate. Each diner was served with a mid size abalone. In the dish were also broccoli and mushroom, and soya skin wraps. In the wraps was a mixture of lotus seed, water chestnut, carrot, herbs and other goodies. The whole dish was a treat. Without doubt, it was the abalone I relished most.<br />
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In the Chinese tradition, noodles signify longevity and is normally served during birthday meals. This noodle was very nice but in the midst of so many wonderful dishes, it was quite ordinary.<br />
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This cheese sponge cake was made by our cousin Fong. I had always enjoyed her fluffy cheese cake. I particularly like the semi burnt cheese at the top of it.<br />
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I believe she also made this delicious cendol jelly - complete with gula melaka and santan.<br />
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Together with bowls of red bean broth, dessert was complete.<br />
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Oriental Pavilion - nice place, awesome food and prices to match.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-38540935677316199272014-11-27T11:06:00.002+08:002014-11-27T11:06:15.243+08:00Onde OndeThe onde onde is a popular Malaysian kueh that takes the form of bite-size pandan balls with brown sugar (gula melaka) inside and shredded coconut on the outside. It is a delightful snack. A bite on one produces a sweet squirt of gula melaka into the mouth and the coconut makes it a really delicious treat indeed.<br />
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This makan place in the Citta Mall adopts it as its name to reflect its Malaysian flavours.<br />
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Located on the ground floor of the mall in Ara Damansara, P.J. it is essentially an open restaurant serving breakfasts, lunches and dinners.<br />
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We first patronised the place several months ago when it had just started business. It was quite small and quiet then. </div>
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And then its popularity picked up. They added more tables and their dining area expanded. But it apparently was not quite enough. We wanted to have dinner there after a movie at the mall one evening. We had to turn away because of a long queue waiting for vacant tables.<br />
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Now, let's have a look at some of their fares. First, the nasi lemak. I guess this all time favourite is a must in any Malaysian restaurant worth its salt. The nasi lemak here was delicious and complete - coconut flavoured rice, sambal, peanuts and ikan bilis, rembah deep fried chicken thigh, hard boiled egg, some salad and some crispy keropok.<br />
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Mee siam is another popular Malaysian dish. The fried mee-hoon was deliciously done and was served with a nice curry chicken.<br />
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This was another version of mee siam, with a variety of condiments - shredded chicken, omelet strips, peanuts, shredded cucumber, carrot, onion, pineapple and a couple of shrimps. When the condiments were mixed and tossed with the mee-hoon, it turned out to be a credible meal.<br />
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The mee curry was somewhat lacking. The curry just did not have the oomph.<br />
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This rather confused looking dish was char koay teow with duck egg. It certainly did not look very appetising. But the flavour was not bad at all. Not quite the Penang standard but better than a lot of char okay teows that I have had in the Klang valley.<br />
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The fruit rojak was not bad too. The sauce was good. The ground peanut sprinkling was adequate. I particularly like the keropok they had included. It made the rojak a lot more interesting.<br />
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This is a different kind of rojak - the pasembur. I had wanted to try it on our first 2 visits to the restaurant. But we were apparently too early. They only start preparing the pasembur around lunch time. When I finally got to eat it, I was disappointed. The all important deep fried stuffs in the pasembur were not up to standard. They were soft and soggy - not at all crunchy that they should be. Also they shredded the cucumber and sengkuang (jicama) too thinly. The sauce was okay, in fact quite good. It was the main ingredients that were disappointing.<br />
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They serve a variety of kuih muih. Their onde onde pictured above definitely lived up to the name of the restaurant.<br />
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And yes, roti kaya too. Prepared in the traditional coffee shop way.<br />
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They have a lot of other Malaysian favourites - laksa, Ipoh sar hor fun, hokkein prawn noodles, fish ball noodles, satay, ice kacang and so on and so on.<br />
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Onde onde is not the place for Malaysian holy grails. Some of the dishes we tasted were good. Some were mediocre. And some like the pasembur were disappointing. But their variety was impressive. It certainly is worth a visit.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-18096413229369774272014-11-13T09:34:00.000+08:002014-11-13T09:34:12.315+08:00Chicken Cuisine Noodle HouseIn most coffee shops we find a main proprietor running the shop, selling coffee, tea and other beverages. He/she rents out space in his shop to various food stalls and the combination provide a good selection of makan makan. The coffee shop I feature today has the same set up, with one difference. All the stalls in this coffee shop belong to the shop boss. None of the stalls is rented out.<br />
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Chicken Cuisine Noodle House is an unique coffee shop, not only in name but also in its set up. It is owned by this gentleman and his wife, assisted by a large team of Burmese workers. His chatty and friendly wife who was rather camera shy and refused to be photographed, told me she did not even know how workers they had. The workers are everywhere. There is no differentiation of work as every food stall belong to the same boss. And I could see the workers were all very busy, hardworking and knew exactly what to do.<br />
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My wife and I frequent this place for breakfasts. It is quite a big coffee shop, occupying 3 shop lots on Jalan Pekedai U1/36 in the Hicom-Glenmarie Industrial Park of Shah Alam.<br />
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The variety of food they serve is amazing, considering that they are all prepared by the boss and his wife. Of course they have workers. But these foreign workers don't just churn out the food. They need to be taught and supervised.<br />
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They have the so-called "chup fun" (<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">杂饭 </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or</span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span>mixed rice) with a good selection of meats, vegetables and everything.<br />
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The ever popular chicken rice.<br />
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This is their nasi lemak stall, which also serve mee siam with delicious selection of chicken, prawn, squid, pork and other good stuffs.<br />
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Wanton noodles <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(雲吞麵)</span><span style="font-family: 'Lantinghei TC'; font-size: 13.9px;"> </span>and Hakka noodles <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(客家麵)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span> The Hakka noodles came with selection of meat balls in a soup.<br />
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Pork noodles, pan mee <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(板麺)</span>, yee mee <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(伊麺)</span> mee suah <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(麺线)</span>...<br />
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The curry mee here is really very good. The curry is rich but not too much santan (coconut milk).<br />
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I love their chee cheong fun <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(猪肠粉)</span>. Wrapped in it is a mixture of sengkuang (jicama) and dried shrimps. It is delicious. This chee cheong fun is a must-try if you ever get there.<br />
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Their yam cake <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(芋头糕</span><span style="font-family: 'Lantinghei TC'; font-size: 13.9px;">) i</span>s equally good. It is soft and yummy.<br />
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Their char koay teow <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(炒粿條)</span><span style="font-family: 'Lantinghei TC'; font-size: 13.9px;"> i</span>s unfortunately not great.<br />
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There are a lot more in this diverse eating place. Not forgetting the beverages and desserts.<br />
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I was curious how they managed to prepare all these in time for breakfast business. The boss lady told me that she and her husband and all their workers start work each morning at 4.00am to prepare the foods. And then open for business for a good part of the day. With such long hours, the workers still seemed like a happy hardworking lot. I awed at this boss couple. Not only were they able to come out such a variety of food each day, they were also able to motivate their workers. Production and human managers from all over can certainly take a page from their books.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-64394319389810085502014-11-04T14:45:00.000+08:002014-11-04T14:45:09.259+08:00Gin Shui TeiNestled in the Tropicana Golf & Country Club in Petaling Jaya is a popular Japanese restaurant. I had heard about it lot of times but had not got the occasion to try it. Until our cousin Chew invited us to dinner one Friday evening.<br />
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I was not in best of shape and had to be in a hospital. But I did not want to miss out on the dinner. So I asked my doc for leave. With a catheter attached to my hand and amidst curious looks from other diners, I joined my siblings, cousin and spouses for a sumptuous Japanese dinner at the Gin Shui Tei.<br />
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The place seemed a bit old but by no means run down. The decor was somewhat outdated. I guess they had been around for quite awhile. And perhaps it was time for a little make-over.<br />
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Our party of 7 came well prepared with the booze. We had Japanese sake and red wines.<br />
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This Japanese bottle even had gold flakes in it.<br />
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In my condition, I did not touch a drop. Docilely, I stuck to green tea.<br />
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The meal as normal, started with a couple of salads. Both were basically the same. One had a mixture of nuts...<br />
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While the other came with crispy ikan bilis and a dash of red roe. The dressing was a sweet sourish Japanese. They were very good.<br />
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We also had some edamame for starters.<br />
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Two large servings of sashimi then appeared on our table. They were glorious. There were salmon, tuna, mackerel, yellow fin and a large clam. Every bit was superbly fresh. Including the wasabi that sensationally cleared my nose. I had never had so much sashimi in a single meal.<br />
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What do you call a Gyudon without the rice? This was our next dish. It was dish of sliced beef cooked in a sweet soy sauce with onion. The meat was deliciously tender.<br />
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Cousin Chew ordered 2 servings of sukiyaki - beef for everybody, and considerately chicken for my non-beef eating wife. Sukiyaki has never been my favourite Japanese fare. Like in all Japanese places, I found the soup somewhat sweet and too ajinomoto.<br />
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The salmon heads were heavenly. They were salt baked and amazingly fresh. The meat flaked out was we picked on them. I worked on the soft tissue and fish fat - with no sense of guilt as it was Omega-3. A real joy.<br />
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Tempuras appear to be a must in any Japanese meal. And the assortment that was served did not disappoint. The batter maintained its crispiness even after a long time on the table. The prawn particularly was tastefully succulent.<br />
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To top it all up, each of us was served a bowl of this delicious garlic fried rice. I marvel at the manner the Japanese do their fried rice. Each grain was by itself. They did not stick to each other. The flavour of the garlic was subtle. Somehow their fried rice is delightfully different.<br />
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Dessert was green tea ice cream with red bean paste. This ender is very typically Japanese. Yet I enjoy it each time.<br />
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It was a heavy meal of quality Japanese delicacies. In my condition, I probably shouldn't had eaten so much. And it must had costed our cousin Chew a small fortune. In all, it was a most satisfying evening for me, even though at the end of it, I had to return to my crummy hospital room.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-88270792285202810012014-10-27T13:07:00.000+08:002014-10-27T13:07:03.970+08:00Launceston, Devonport & the Eastern CoastWe stayed in Lanceston for 2 nights in a motor inn. It was actually more like a terrace house - double storey and like all the other lodgings we had in Tasmania, it was warm, comfortable, and equipped with full facilities.<br />
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I woke up to the aroma of breakfast. Alan and Joyce, without fail in the whole duration of the trip, were early risers and had breakfasts prepared before my wife and I dragged ourselves out of bed. For this, we had much to thank the Crosbies.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launceston,_Tasmania">Lanceston</a> is the second biggest city in Tasmania, with a population of just over 100,000. It is one of Australia oldest town, with churches, buildings and homes I found to be quaintly English.<br />
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After breakfast, we were off to explore the area. We headed towards <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devonport,_Tasmania">Devonport</a> - the northern most port city of Tasmania. The distance to drive was just about 100 km which would normally take not much more than an hour. But we took our time and stopped at various places.<br />
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Our first stop was a small town named <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloraine,_Tasmania">Deloraine</a>. We passed this town the previous night on our way to Lanceston looking unsuccessfully for a petrol station. But it was only in the day light that we became aware of its beauty. The Meander River that runs through the town was simply breathtaking.<br />
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Next we stopped at the famed Ashgrove cheese farm near Elizabeth Town.<br />
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Here, we bought more cheese and saw how they were made.<br />
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Then we relaxed in a gazebo outside and tasted an assortment of cheeses.<br />
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And I did something I had never done before.<br />
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From cheese, we turned to chocolates. Further down the road, was a chocolate factory. We tasted some, bought some and saw how they were all made.<br />
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Devonport was uneventful. With a population of just 27,000 it was too laid back. We cruised around town and had lunch at Hungry Jacks. Then we headed to the coast. The view was pristine but not spectacular.<br />
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You could take a ship and do an overnight cruise from Melbourne to Tasmania, with your car and all. If you do, your port of call would be Devonport and your ship would be the Spirit of Tasmania.<br />
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We went around looking for seafood. We were disappointed. Crayfish was not in season. Oysters were meagre and expensive. That night, back in Launceston, Alan compensated with a spaghetti dinner, with soup and garlic bread.<br />
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Next morning, we checked out of our apartment. But before we left Launceston, we visited the Cataract Gorge Reserve. It was a gem of a place. Cataract was just a short drive from the city centre. But what we saw totally so un-urban.<br />
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It was a large park on the South Eske River. The beauty of the place was remarkable. The dammed river flowed into a small lake, and activities evolved around the lake. There was even a swimming pool but at this time of the year, the pool was drained.<br />
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We took a walk around the lake and crossed a suspension bridge.<br />
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The views from the suspension bridge...<br />
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We rode on a chairlift up the hill.<br />
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The views from the chairlift was even more impressive.<br />
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After Cataract Gorge we drove to St Helens, a small fishing town on the eastern coast of Tasmania.<br />
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Along the way, this small pretty building caught our attention. I was curious. I googled the <a href="http://www.gabr.net.au/biogs/ABE0248b.htm">National Bank of Tasmania</a>. Indeed they existed from 1885 to 1918. For an institution that has been defunct for nearly 100 years, they really have kept the building in the most pristine condition. I guess it is now somebody's home.<br />
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In St Helens, our accommodation was another comfortable apartment.<br />
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We went to the St Helens waterfront hoping to get some seafood from the fishing boats for dinner.<br />
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Nothing. But we did manage to get some fresh oysters from a shop.<br />
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Dinner that night was sumptuous. It was Alan's steaks again with plenty of veggies. And of course, fresh oysters.<br />
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Next day, it was a short drive to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fires">Bay of Fires</a>. This was a scenic stretch of fine white sand. The bay was so named by the first Europeans who arrived here where they saw fires lit by the aborigines who lived here.<br />
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The nearby rocks were characterised by a unique bright orange granite deposit. This was a natural swimming pool - a kind of enclosed pool of water with a small inlet from the sea. It was so tempting for a dip. But the weather was far too cold for that.<br />
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From the Bays of Fires, we drove south towards our final Tasmanian destination. It was a coastal drive. As we progressed south, we kept a close lookout for seafoods. We were determined to have a good seafood dinner on our last night in Tasmania.<br />
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We found an oyster farm. Without any hesitation, we stopped and bought 3 dozens of what turned out to be the best fresh oysters in the entire trip. The prices were reasonable too.<br />
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We also stopped by this seafood shop looking for lobsters. The friendly shopkeeper told us that he did not have any and directed us to another outlet further south in Bicheno.<br />
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He then showed us his pet crab. Charlie was 4 kilograms in weight. He was definitely not for sale. Apparently this species of Antarctic crab can grow to a size of 40 kilograms. The guy was determined to grow his crab to this size.<br />
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We arrived at Bicheno and successfully located the seafood outlet.<br />
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We were in luck. They had lobsters. And fresh prawns too. Because it was off season, we paid a small fortune for them.<br />
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Soon we were in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coles_Bay,_Tasmania">Coles Bay</a>. This small sleepy town of just about 500 people is located in the Freycinet peninsula. We spent the night there in someone's apparent holiday home that Alan had rented for the night.<br />
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That evening, dinner was glorious. Lobster and prawns..<br />
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Fresh juicy oysters. Look at the size of hem.<br />
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And a bottle of white wine.<br />
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In the morning of our final day in Tasmania, we drove around the Freycinet National Park.<br />
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The sights were amazing. The place was so well kept. Absolutely immaculate.<br />
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My last minute desperate attempt to spot a whale was fruitless.<br />
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We departed Coles Bay and headed to the historic town of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_Tasmania">Richmond</a>.<br />
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The town was as old and rustic as it could get. Old Beetle cars included.<br />
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It boasts of the oldest bridge in Australia. Built in 1823, it is a busy important thoroughfare for the town.<br />
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The oldest Catholic church in Australia is also located here.<br />
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Richmond was the last place we experienced in Tasmania. After that it was a short drive to Hobart airport and from there, we flew by Jetstar back to Melbourne. Our driving adventure in Tasmania was most memorable. We covered the whole island. We met its friendly people. We encountered the wonderful wildlife, We tasted their famed seafood. And we had the best of hosts. Thank you Alan and Joyce.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-39268108337726844142014-10-19T00:10:00.000+08:002014-10-19T00:10:05.167+08:00Idyll Western Tassie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The west coast of Tasmania is largely untouched by development. There are only a few small towns scattered in this part of the island. And <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strahan,_Tasmania">Strahan</a> (pronounced "Streu-on") is perhaps the most popular and the only one by the coast. The town is beside the a big bay known as Macquarie Harbour.</div>
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Our drive from Hobart to Strahan took nearly 6 hours covering over 300 kilometres of good country roads. En route the scenery was serene and beautiful. There was hardly any traffic. We had the whole highway to ourselves. We passed by a couple of small settlements. They were hydro electric power stations. They have this ingenious system of channelling water in huge pipelines from the lakes in the mountains to generate electricity.<br />
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We could not find any cafe or restaurant along the 300 km of highway. But we were fully prepared. We had packed coffee and sandwiches. And stopped by a rest area for lunch.<br />
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About 40 km from Strahan, we arrived at Queenstown. It was a charming hillside place with a beautiful railway station and an imposing hotel. We lingered for a while, took some photo shots and proceeded on.<br />
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It was almost dusk when we arrived at Strahan. As we entered the town, there was hardly a soul. There was one main road along the coast. On this road were some shops, cafes and small restaurants.<br />
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Opposite was the water front to Macquarie Harbour. The population of the town is just over 600. The main activities are tourism, fishing and timber.<br />
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We checked into our booked apartment.<br />
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Dinner that night was a chicken we bought at the local store.<br />
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Followed by cheese we bought in Bruny Island.<br />
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Next morning, we woke up early to take a cruise in Macquarie Harbour. This huge body of water is a bay, accessible to the open sea through a small inlet known as Hells Gate. On our cruise we would visit Sarah Island and sail into Gordon River.<br />
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The boat we boarded was named the Eagle. It was a big boat, with nice comfortable interiors. We settled down to a 6 hours cruise.<br />
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The first point of interest was Hells Gate. This was a small opening from Macquarie Harbour to the open ocean. As the name implies, this can be a treacherous stretch of waterway for seamen, and a light house is in place to guide them.<br />
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Then the boat headed to Sarah Island. Along the way we passed many fish farms. They keep salmons.<br />
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Like Port Arthur, Sarah Island was a prison settlement. It is a tiny island. It was hard to imagine spending years if not a lifetime, in this cold frigid and hostile place.<br />
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This perky young man told us the story of Sarah Island, in the midst of the ruins that were once the home of the wretched prisoners.<br />
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The prisoners of Sarah Island were master ship builders. The ships they built were apparently used throughout the Australian settlements in their days. In 1834, the last ship built in Sarah Island named The Frederick was hijacked by 10 prisoners who escaped and sailed all the way to Chile in South America. They were later recaptured and brought back to Australia. Remnants of log from these ship building activities can still be seen on the coast of Sarah Island.<br />
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We sailed up the Gordon River. It was a most scenic cruise. The river was so pristine and undisturbed.<br />
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It is apparently a haven for fresh water anglers. In our drive around Tasmania, we talked to many of the locals. We were told to bring our rods and reels on our next visit. We were assured we would not be disappointed.<br />
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We then stopped by at Heritage Landing for a walk into the rain forest. The sights were amazing.<br />
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Buffet lunch was served onboard the boat. It was cold meats, salmon, salads and fruits. Everything was super fresh. We enjoyed the meal thoroughly.<br />
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After the cruise, the boat docked near a saw mill. Here we had the opportunity to see some of the activities in the mill. The wood they process is from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagarostrobos">Huon pine</a> trees. The Huon pine is native to this part of Tasmania. They are much treasured and special licenses to fell these trees are very limited and strictly controlled. Illegal logging of these trees are punishable with long prison terms.<br />
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I was fascinated by this log on display, estimated to be some 900 years old. Huon pines are very slow growing and can live up to 2000 years.<br />
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From Strahan, we headed to Launceston. It was nearly 3.00pm when we departed Strahan. The drive to Launceston was about 280 km.<br />
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En route, we saw Cradle Mountain from afar. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_Mountain">Cradle Mountain</a> was originally one of our destinations. It is a beautiful hill resort in the Lake St Claire National Park. Unfortunately because of the lack of time, we had to skip this experience.<br />
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The drive from Strahan to Launceston was made very interesting by the wildlife that we encountered. We saw lots of wallabies, possums and wombats. These animals are, I believe, nocturnal. As night fell during our drive, they came out in droves. This wombat leisurely strutted across the road in front of our car.<br />
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It was not only here that we encountered wildlife. In our week's adventure across Tasmania, we saw kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, possums, a seal, dolphins, kookaburras, deers and wild rabbits. Judging from what we saw, the island must be teeming with wildlife. I was on constant lookout for whales. No luck.<br />
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The most significant wildlife sight to me was an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna">echidna</a> we encountered during our drive in the eastern coast of Tasmania a couple of day later. It sadly was dead - a road kill. The echidna is a rare animal. It is one of only two mammals (the other is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus">platypus</a>) in the world that lay eggs instead to giving birth to their youngs.<br />
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Under the spiny back was a soft furry cute creature. What a sorry way to meet such a fascinating animal.</div>
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We reached Launceston at about 8.00pm that night. Our GPS guided us to our hotel apartment. There we rested.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-75916495984665796752014-10-09T23:12:00.001+08:002014-10-19T11:26:39.846+08:00HobartOur flight from Melbourne to Hobart was just over an hour. The pilot announced that the ground temperature in Hobart was 4 deg C. But when we got out of the airport, it did not feel so cold. We picked up our Toyota Estima from Avis. It was still early morning and we had a full day ahead of us.<br />
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Our first stop was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Arthur,_Tasmania">Port Arthur</a>. This small town is located in the south tip of the Tasman peninsula about 90 km from Hobart. Port Arthur is famed as a former convict settlement.<br />
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In the 18th and 19th century, penal laws in Britain was very strict and harsh. People were punished and jailed for the most minor of offences. Boys as young as nine years were thrown into jails. As the result, the prisons in Britain were severely over-crowded. The authorities decided to send these convicts out of the country. Newly discovered Australia was selected and the first convicts arrived in the new land in 1787. Over the years, nearly 200,000 prisoners were brought here and they were the foundation of the British colonisation of Australia.<br />
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Port Arthur was one of many prison settlements in early Australia. It was the destination of the most hard core of the prisoners. Conditions were harsh and the inmates were treated severely.<br />
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Moving around the old buildings, we could only imagine how conditions were like in those days.<br />
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We stood in the rain in awe as our guide told us the story of this terrible prison settlement.<br />
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But the place was not all grim and gloom. There was a pretty sight. These were homes of the commandant and officials of the settlement. They even had a small church. They lived normal family lives alongside the inmates whose lives were not as as normal and definitely with no families.<br />
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This imposing building is now a small museum. Inside, we had a glimpse of how the people were like in those days.<br />
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This quotation from the Governor General of Tasmania, Sir George Arthur, of whom the prison settlement was named after, reflected the attitude of the authorities on the prisoners.<br />
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Our visit to Port Arthur included a boat ride around Carnarvon Bay.<br />
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This was the Isle of the Dead. Here prisoners and officials from Port Arthur were buried. Even in death they were discriminated. Officials were accorded tombstones. Prisoners were buried incognito.<br />
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After Port Arthur, we headed back to Hobart. En route, we stopped at a supermarket for provisions. Then we went looking for our apartment that Alan had booked. We spent 2 nights in the Woolmers Hotel Apartments.<br />
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The apartments were rather old and small. But they were comfortable enough and came with full facilities.<br />
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That night at my request, Chef Alan did his magic again and whipped out his delicious steaks. This time, it was sirloin served with a cream pepper sauce and plenty of vegetables.<br />
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Eaten with some nice potato salad that my wife made.<br />
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Supplemented by some juicy grilled chicken thighs.<br />
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Home cooked away from home. We couldn't ask for more.<br />
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Next morning, we drove up <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Wellington_(Tasmania)">Mount Wellington</a>. Rising to a height of 1,721 meters, this imposing peak overlooked the city of Hobart.<br />
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It was an easy drive up. The scene on the way up was fabulous.<br />
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On top, conditions were freezing cold. Outside temperature was recorded at 2 deg C. The wind was so strongly it almost lifted me off my feet. There was a lot of snow on the ground.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">I struggled to walk against the gale. I had never felt so cold in my life.</span></div>
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We sought refuge in the observation building. The sight from the top was breathtaking.<br />
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From Mt. Wellington we drove some 40 km south, to a small town named Kettering. There, we boarded a ferry that took us (car included) to Bruny Island.<br />
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Bruny is a sizeable island over 360 sq km. with a population of only 600 people. There are 2 land masses connected by a narrow isthmus, which is also a road, known as The Neck.<br />
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The island was almost totally deserted when we drove around. Apparently they have a lot of visitors. But this was not the season. As we drove south, we came across an oyster shop. We immediately stopped to buy a couple of dozens.<br />
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We then drove around looking for a picnic spot for lunch. There wasn't any. We were getting hungry. Soon after we passed The Neck, we stopped our car by the road, and proceeded with lunch on sandwiches and hot coffee that we had brought along. It was here that we had our first taste of Tasmanian oysters.<br />
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The island was serene and beautiful. Most of the houses were in the south. It took us nearly 2 hours to cover most of the south island. Except for a few passing cars and those in the oyster and cheese shops, we did not see anybody else at all. We wonder what the people in the island do for a life.<br />
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Before we left the island, we stopped at the local cheese factory/shop. I felt they were over-priced. Still we bought some.<br />
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That evening, we went around looking for the famed Tasmanian seafood. We were attracted to the brightest light at the Hobart harbour. But I am not sure if we came to the best place for seafood.<br />
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The place we came to was Mures. It seemed like a very popular place. It was packed. We wandered around for awhile before we could get a suitable table.<br />
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The array of seafood on display at the counter was impressive indeed. But the prices were inhibitive.<br />
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We made our selection from a menu at the counter. The guy gave us a pager. It would buzz when our food was ready.<br />
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Our seafood orders were all deep fried with fries. The menu did not offer any other type of cooking. It would be nice to have some steamed fish or some blanched prawns. They did offer fresh oysters but they were too expensive. We settle for some scallops and fries...<br />
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Calamari (squids) and fries...<br />
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And a seafood platter. In the platter were fish, prawn, calamari and scallops. They were all very fresh. But it was a glut of deep fried and far too much french fries.<br />
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We also ordered a couple of seafood pizzas. The pizza were fabulous.<br />
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They were all helped down by some fresh salads.<br />
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And slaws.<br />
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We had a good meal. But I wasn't too sure if Hobart had only these to offer in terms of seafood. I was pretty certain there were other places that offer more than fried and fries. Well, we would have to look elsewhere in Tasmania.<br />
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Next morning, we packed our things and checked out of our apartments. There was still one more place we wanted to visit before we leave Hobart.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca_Market">Salamanca Market</a> is a popular open market located in Salamanca Place. It is opened only on Saturday mornings and we were lucky our short 3 days stay in Hobart coincided with one.<br />
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Salamanca was a short drive from our apartment. As soon as we parked our car, our stomachs told us our first priority was breakfast. Alan and Joyce had been to a nice cafe there. But they couldn't find it. So we settled down to this alternative.<br />
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We each had simple breakfasts. I had this toast and jam. The toast was superb. The bread was aromatic with assortment of nuts.<br />
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Banana bread with honey.<br />
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Poached eggs on toast.<br />
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Bacon and egg on toast.<br />
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And of course coffee.<br />
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The breakfast was expensive. I asked for 2 poached eggs. Just eggs, nothing else. It costed us 10 aussie bucks - 30 ringgit for 2 eggs. Most expensive I ever had.<br />
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The total bill for our simple breakfasts was close to 80 aussie bucks. Oouch.<br />
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After breakfast, we walked around Salamanca market. It was an interesting place. People sold all types of things - food, clothing, artefacts,<br />
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We also walked the nearby Hobart water front.<br />
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We saw this familiar looking red ship - the Aurora Australis. I am not to totally sure. Was this the same ship we saw on television that they used to search for MH370 in the Indian Ocean?<br />
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Just before noon, we settled ourselves comfortably in our car and drove out of Hobart to explore the rest of Tasmania.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-7412214013952178192014-10-01T21:37:00.000+08:002014-10-01T21:37:44.445+08:00Awesome Aussie HolidayWe have just returned from a helluva 2-weeks holiday in Australia. We flew into Melbourne on MAS and arrived in a crisp early spring morning. Our host Alan drove more than 100km from Geelong to pick us at the airport. We relaxed and rested our first day in Alan and Joyce's home.<br />
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That evening, Joyce and Alan prepared a sumptuous meal for us. We had Alan's roast prime ribs (wonderfully prepared), Joyce curry lamb (yum), steamed mussels (fresh from the Geelong water front), complete with veges and sambal. It was delicious meal.<br />
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Alan, Joyce and their charming family were impeccable hosts. They went out of their way to make us comfortable and at home.</div>
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After a good night's rest and a hearty home breakfast, Alan drove us to Dandenong in east Melbourne to the National Rhododendron Gardens. This park, as the name suggests, is dedicated to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhododendron">rhododendrons</a>.<br />
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It was still early spring, and the flowers were not yet in full bloom. Still the garden was a pretty sight. They were enough flowers to satisfy our cameras.<br />
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The views in many parts of the park was magnificent.<br />
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Next day, we set off to do the Great Alpine Road, north east of Melbourne. From there, our target was Lakes Entrance in East Gippsland. It was to be a 2 days trip. The drive was long and hard on the first day. Alan did all the driving. We passed by several small towns...<br />
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Scenic look-outs and tough unpaved country roads...<br />
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Before finally arriving at our first night-stop in Myrtleford at about 8.00pm. The town was ghostly deserted.<br />
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We went looking for food. The only decent thing available was pizza and pastas. We shared 2 pizzas.<br />
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And ravioli and garlic bread. The meal was so-so.<br />
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The boss lady was not very friendly. Probably because we arrived near their closing time.<br />
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We spent the night in a motor inn. It was warm and comfortable.<br />
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Fully rested next morning, we hit the Great Alpine Road. The first town after Myrtleford was Bright. It was a quaint little town. Here we hired some chains for our tyres. The chains were for slippery winter roads. Since it was still late winter or early spring, we were bound by local laws, at risks of hefty fines, to carry them even though the road conditions did not require their use.<br />
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After Bright, we began to climb. The landscape changed dramatically with the altitude. The normal gums trees were quickly replaced by leafless twits.<br />
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Then we saw snow. Initially, at a distance.<br />
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Soon, we were near enough to walk on it. We got out of our car for some fatuous frolics.<br />
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As we drove on, more snowy activities became evident. Like ski lifts and snow mobiles.<br />
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Then we entered the ski resort of Hotham.<br />
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<span style="text-align: start;">Hotham is apparently privately owned. They levy a fee for each car that stops by the resort. We were just passing through. We did not bother about the payment.</span></div>
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The place appeared beautiful. However, even though there was sufficient snow, we did not see many skiers.<br />
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We left Hotham and started to descend. We stopped at a small town named Omeo to return the tyre chains that we had hired at Bright. Like all small Australian towns, it was "Hello.. anybody around?".<br />
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A couple of hours more on the road, and we arrived in our final destination. Lakes Entrance is a popular beach resort about 300km east of Melbourne. It was almost dark and raining when we arrived. So we went into Coles and bought some food and checked into the apartment that Alan had earlier booked.<br />
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The apartment was beautiful - spacious and fully equipped. Here the ladies prepared dinner. Alan was the honorary chef. He made us a wonderful steak dinner.<br />
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The steak was delicious. It was good Australian meat. Alan seasoned it with simple salt and pepper and then pan fried it to perfection. He then prepared a sauce and the meat was eaten with plenty of fresh salads. Ole to the chef. I enjoyed it so much that I asked for more of his steaks in days to come.<br />
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Next morning, we set out to explore Lake Entrance. The place was very quiet. There was hardly any tourist. It was not the season yet. It was early spring and was still cold. The high season had yet to pick up.<br />
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Across a narrow channel facing the township was a long stretch of sand dune. A beautiful bridge connects the mainland to the sand dune. We walked across the bridge...<br />
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The narrow sand dune was beautiful, with some buildings and leisure areas.<br />
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On the other side of the dune was a pristine sandy beach.<br />
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About half an hour from Lake Entrance was another water front resort - Metung (pronounced Mee Tang). We saw a lot of holiday homes in this small township. The wharf was picture pretty. Ideal place to own a boat and retire.<br />
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Also a superb place for a hot cup of coffee. After that we headed backed to Geelong.<br />
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That evening, Alan and Joyce treated us to a sumptuous Aussie dinner. The place they picked was a pub known as The Commo in Geelong.<br />
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The large building had 2 sections - the normal drinking joint and an adjacent restaurant. It apparently is a very popular drinking and eating place in Geelong.<br />
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The prices seemed reasonable too.</div>
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A fire place at the centre was added charm to the ambiance.<br />
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The meal started with this goat cheese and tomato bruschetta. Nice crispy toasts with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum.<br />
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For entrees, the selection included this crumbed calamari (squid) with fries and fresh salads. I did not have a bite of the squid. The comments from those who did was that it was very good.<br />
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This was steak and kidney pie, served with mashed potato and blanched vegetables.<br />
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My wife had this chicken risotto in a zucchini and lemon sauce. The flavour was naturally kind of sourish. The risotto was served with 2 crispy something. We are not sure what it was. But it certainly was nice.<br />
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My selection was this roast lamb with mint jelly sauce. It was to be served with mash potato but I requested fries instead. Also on the plate was blanched vegetables and corn on the cob. The meat was tender. The flavour was delicious. A heavy meal indeed.<br />
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After dinner, we went straight home to an early bed. For the next morning we had to leave Geelong at 3.00am in the morning for a 100 over kilometre drive to the airport. There we would take a 6.30am flight on Jetstar. Our destination - Tasmania.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-11560432956032254932014-09-19T20:19:00.000+08:002014-09-19T20:19:06.147+08:00Namoo Korean Fusion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On the 3rd day in Sungei Petani, we crossed over to Penang for a day trip. The drive to the island was just 30 minutes. When we arrived at Penang, we did not head for the beach or any of the many attractions there. We went to a shopping mall. Like there are not enough shopping places in KL, PJ and the Klang valley.</div>
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We wandered aimlessly (well at least to me it was of no purpose) for a couple of hours in the Gurney Plaza. Then our stomachs started to remind us that it was time to look for some food. We went down to the street level and window shopped the many makan places there. The youngsters selected the Namoo Korean place. I wasn't too eager initially. But in the course of the meal, I was glad we were there.<br />
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The actual name of this place was Namoo Korean Dessert Cafe n Bistro. They apparently have outlets in KL too.<br />
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They had a simple yet attractive decor. They made clever use of wood for their shelves, walls and ceiling. And they had a wonderful array of old items on display.<br />
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On of the items was this good old type writer. In our school days, we actually had typing classes when we learnt how to use this machine. I used to type letters, notes and even school work. I asked my nephew and nieces in our group if they had ever used a type writer. Blank faces.<br />
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I also asked them if they knew what this black disk was. Only one answered - "CD". Close enough. But LOL. Has anyone seen a CD this big and this black. I had to explain to them what a gramophone record does.<br />
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Hungry stomachs waiting for food.</div>
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As normal, the beverages arrived first. A smiley cup of hot chocolate.<br />
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The lemonade was actually quite strong and awakening.<br />
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A kimchi soup. I have no love for this soup so I better not make comment on it.<br />
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The chicken bibimbap was very good. It had minced chicken, various vege strips and seaweeds over hot steamed rice. We stir mixed the whole thing with the sauce provided. They also provided a small bowl of kimchi. It was delicious.<br />
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This was the bibi rice burger. The patty was a grilled chicken with an egg, cucumber and lettuce in a bibi sauce. The bun was brown rice. It was served with french fries and a small bowl of salad. You couldn't eat it like a normal burger because the rice bun would break off. The flavour of the chicken and the sauce was ok, not a wow. But the rice bun was interesting. It was quite good, even by itself. Strange concoction. I guess this was innovation.<br />
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We also shared a normal kimchi chicken burger. It was much the same as the first burger, only the bun was normal. In spite of its name, I could not taste any kimchi in it. Maybe they forgot the kimchi. Just as well. Imagine how a burger would taste like with kimchi in it. I don't think I would like it.</div>
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The Korean seafood pancake was much like a pizza. The crust was thin and crunchy. It was delicious.</div>
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Finally, we each had a small bite of this banana hottuk pancake. It was a sweet pancake topped with slices of banana. I liked it. I though it was unique and innovative.<br />
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The restaurant was a true Korean fusion that cleverly assimilate Korean tastes into local and western flavours. I liked it. But it was rather pricey. A simple meal like this set me back more than 150 bucks. I have yet to decide if this chain is worth a second visit.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-89661128218960772602014-09-07T13:47:00.000+08:002014-09-07T13:47:10.335+08:00Zhong Ma Seafood, Sungei Petani<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was the Raya festive long weekend, and time to balik kampung. Not my kampung for there is nary a reason to balik there; but to my wife's where an extended family of in-laws made up a happy but noisy mob.</div>
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In the evening of our arrival, the whole battalion drove out in a convoy for food. The restaurant selected was a new place in Sungei Petani know as the Zhong Ma Shi Seafood Restaurant <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(中馬式). It </span>occupied a large plot of land on Jalan Legenda 6 in Sungei Petani. Outside the restaurant was an even bigger plot, used as a car park. They sure have a lot of land in this part of town.<br />
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Inside, there were several dining areas including private rooms, The tables were spaciously arranged. Except for the rooms, the place was not air conditioned. Fortunately it as a cool evening. The advantage of such an environment was that the noise was not contained and we did not feel stifled in spite of the crowd.<br />
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In the middle was a large court yard with a water fountain, colourful lightings and a large projection screen. There were several tables for alfresco dining. Our crowd was split into 2 tables - basically kids in one and the old folks in another.<br />
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Two cold beverages were served. There was the nutmeg juice, and the haw (山楂 - fruit of hawthorn) juice. I didn't like both. They were far too sweet. This was the first time I had seen haw juice. Naturally I was curious. It like a concentrated blackcurrant (Ribena). It was too strong in flavour and far too sweet.<br />
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I stuck with my favourite Chinese tea.<br />
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Rice was served in a large pot. We helped ourselves to hearts content.<br />
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First on the table was the green. It was a lightly stir fried green sprouts. Nothing to write about.<br />
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The fish curry in a clay pot was very good. The curry was rich and the flavour was very pleasant with an unique flavour. There were the usual accompanying veges - long bean, brinjal, okra, cabbage, etc. The fish was chunky and fresh. I enjoyed this pot of curry. I think they really got the recipe right.<br />
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The mantis prawn was deep fried in a batter. It was too well done. We could not savour the mantis. I would preferred a steamed mantis dish any time. Still the flavour was not too bad. The curry leaves added to the good taste.<br />
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This pork ribs was apparently ordered for the benefit of the kids. It was deep fried and doused in a thick soya sauce. It wasn't bad at all.<br />
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The other vege dish was this plate of cauliflower and broccoli stir fried with mushroom and baby corn. It was a good respite from the meaty dishes.<br />
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This was a chicken dish. It was also deep fried and then stirred in a sauce with onion and chilli. I honestly have no recollection how this chicken recipe tasted like.<br />
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The final dish was this deep fried siakap (barramundi) in a spicy soya sauce. When the plate was put on the table, my first reaction was "still got some more?". I hardly touch it. I was already filled by then and there was one too many deep fried dishes that evening.<br />
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It was a big meal. Over all, the dishes were good. I had no complaint.<br />
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And the prices were reasonable too. There were more than 20 diners - young and old, big and small. The total damage for double servings of all the dishes amounted to just over 300 bucks.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-45331142978095419462014-08-27T11:27:00.000+08:002014-08-27T11:27:01.015+08:00J & D Espresso<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
All day breakfast joints are apparently quite in vogue. This is my 5th western breakfast features after <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2012/02/breakfast-at-antipodean.html">Antipodean</a>, <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2013/11/brekkies-mr-ms.html">Mr & Ms</a>, <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2014/03/three-little-pigs-and-big-bad-wolf.html">Three Little Pigs</a>, and <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2014/07/nutmeg-in-bangsar.html">Nutmeg</a>. Last weekend, we were at the Empire Shopping Gallery in Subang Jaya. As we parked our car in the open air parking lots, I noticed this cafe Jibby & Co., which was packed with a breakfast crowd with people queueing outside to go in. Are people really that crazy about western brekkies? Apparently I am. With 5 brekkie features, I have to be.</div>
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J & D Espresso is located in the Oasis Business Centre (not to be mistaken with Oasis Square in Ara Damansara), at the T-junction of Lebuh Bandar Utama and Persiaran Tropicana, in Bandar Utama, PJ. The business centre was initially meant to be a food court. They had a big signboard to that effect. However, they apparently did not have enough food vendors. So they took down the signboard and converted it into a business centre.<br />
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The place was very quiet and listless. There were a few stores selling I-don't-know-what. Hardly any patrons. The J & D Espresso was the only makan place. It added some life into the otherwise near-dead business centre and put some cars into the car park. Like I mentioned many times, when there is food there is life.<br />
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As we walked into the restaurant, we were greeted by a large coffee bar. The sweet young thing there was rather shy to have her picture taken. A couple of baristas were busy with their chores<br />
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The dining area was rather small. Every single table was taken up. That bespoke the popularity of western brekkies. Besides all day breakfasts, they served all day lunches, pastas and pizzas.<br />
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We started our day with some beverages. The usual latte for my wife.<br />
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And the usual long black for me.</div>
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Health conscious Crystal stuck to her earl grey without sugar and cream.<br />
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This was the French omelette. It was 3 eggs stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, served with salad and herb croutons. You can imagine a 3 eggs omelette would be rather big. It was. A real full breakfast.<br />
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The pancake stack was 3 fluffy pancakes, with mixed berries and Anzac crumbs, topped with a fruit compote and salted butter. I have never fancied pancakes for breakfast, But Crystal seemed to like it.<br />
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The big Aussie brekkie was a real treat. It was choice of 2 eggs (I opted for sunny side) on toast, a big garlic sausage, pork bacon, baked beans, grilled cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and a crispy croquetas. It was good. In all the brekkie places that I had been to, I had ordered their big breakfasts. This was one of the better ones. I particularly like the sausage and bacon - genuine porky stuffs.<br />
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Next stop has to be Jibby & Co in the Empire Shopping Gallery.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-48215640450136387812014-08-17T00:20:00.000+08:002014-08-17T00:22:12.847+08:00Charcoal in Saujana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We were guests of the Saujana Hotel at the Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang. Six of us from the office were invited to lunch by the hotel. We arrived at the lobby and were greeted by a most pleasant marketing/sale lady.</div>
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She showed us around the hotel which had a beautiful resort environment and facilities. We walked through the rooms including some exclusive suites, one of which even had a private gym and spa.</div>
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Lunch was at their new dining facility - the Charcoal. The restaurant was a makeover of the old Suria Restaurant, which was one floor below the main lobby. The Charcoal had opened only about a month before our visit.<br />
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Another very pleasant lady greeted us at the restaurant.<br />
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The made-over Charcoal was basically very much the same as the previous Suria in terms of its lay-out. The furnishing, decor and furnitures might had changed, but they had kept the same dining and service areas. I did not see very much difference between the new and the old. Perhaps it was because I don't frequent the place. The last time I was there was perhaps 5 years ago.<br />
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They have several indoor dining areas which were uncrowded with very conducive ambiance.<br />
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And a L shape non air-conditioned "veranda" with comfortable and equally conducive sofas. Only, it was rather warm in the dry hot season when we were there. They had some ceiling fans but I doubt they helped much.<br />
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I saw major changes in the service area. In the middle was a big BBQ grill where they did the meats. Beside the grill were stacks of firewood - apparently used to fire their grill. That made me wonder. Was this a charcoal (as the name implies) or a firewood place?</div>
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On display were various meats for your order. They had steaks, chicken and lamb...</div>
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And various seafood including king fish and pomfrets. They all looked very fresh and of good quality.</div>
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Beside the giant grill, there was a smaller grill at the counter. The guy manning the grill was busy doing the various meats. So what was the different between the big grill and this small one? At the time we were there, the big grill was left idle. All the BBQing was done on this small grill. </div>
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Besides the meats, there was a very good spread of other goodies. This was the starter/appetiser section with the various mouth-watering Malaysian preparations.<br />
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There were also a salad selection for the less adventurous.<br />
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Soups and breads.<br />
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The entrees were both local and westerns - meats and vegetables for rice and pastas.<br />
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And finally desserts. Fruits...<br />
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Pastries and cakes, and local kuehs.<br />
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My meal that day was this oxtail soup with a sesame bun and butter.<br />
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The main meal was a combination of starters, grilled meat, fish, rice and some curried mutton.<br />
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Desserts were shared with fellow makan mates.<br />
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Ending with a satisfying long black.<br />
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The buffet at the Charcoal was a comprehensive spread. The foods offered were fresh and of good quality. The Saujana charges RM99++ per pax for buffet lunch and dinner. The meal I ate that day was definitely worth much less. Fortunately I didn't need to pay for it.<br />
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Unless you are a big eater, buffets most often are not very value for money. It is really a 2-way sword. The restaurant prepares more food than required to satisfy its customers. Nobody wants to dine on a depleted buffet spread. The diner, on the other hand pays more than he/she actually eats. So it is wastages all round. I wonder what the restaurants do with the excess food.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-48145887627923982022014-08-07T13:08:00.000+08:002014-08-07T13:08:10.769+08:00Las Carretas Mexican<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I betted on Germany, and I got a free dinner. My wife picked Argentina, so it was square one. After the World Cup final, the makan group re-gathered for the 2nd wager dinner. This time around, the winners outnumbered the losers three to one. Germany was a popular choice.</div>
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<a href="http://www.lascarretas.com/">Las Carretas</a> in Subang Jaya is located on Jalan USJ10/1F (Tai Pan). I remembered this restaurant. I was there many years ago. It used to be on Jalan USJ10/1E. It was a small restaurant with limited seating. Several years ago it moved one street away to this more spacious locale. It has 2 floors of dining. Beside this Subang Jaya branch, Las Carretas has outlets in Ampang and Bukit Damansara.<br />
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Inside, the restaurant was vibrant and colourful. The owners took pains to furnish the place with multi coloured lights, arts, artefacts and pseudo palm trees to reflect the boisterous Mexican culture.<br />
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The well stocked bar at the ground floor which I am sure will not be short on tequila selection.<br />
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A staff greeted us at the door, and at the mention of our reservation, led us to the back and up an interesting flight of stairs to the upper dining floor.<br />
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Up there, the scene was no less colourful and flamboyant. It was less crowded and noisy. Definitely a more conducive dining area compared to below.<br />
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Our table was next to a colourful wall mural depicting Mexicans dancers and musicians.<br />
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Even the cutleries we dined from were no less colourful.<br />
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We were the last to arrive and by then, the rest of the dining party had already finished the complimentary tortilla chips. Not to be outdone, I asked for an additional serving. The sweet young waitress willingly obliged. The chips came with a bowl of salsa dip. It was indeed a superb appetiser.<br />
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After a short chat, the dishes began to arrive the poppers. These were deep fried battered jalapeño chillis stuffed with cheese. As we bit on the jalapeños, the melted cheese oozed out. The poppers were served with a bowl of capsicum salsa. The dish was interesting but not great. The flowing cheese did not have much of a flavour.<br />
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The third appetiser was the nachos. It was a plate of tortilla chips, with minced beef, baked with cheese, jalapeños chilli, bell pepper relish and enchilada sauce - topped with a scoop of sour cream. It was delicious. I liked the melted cheese on the tortilla chips. The meat added to the flavour.<br />
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The first entrée was this charbroiled beef back ribs. It was marinated with jalapeños and chilli, and covered with a rather sweet BBQ sauce which I didn't quite like. The meat was perfectly done. The texture was just right and wasn't too soggy or soft. The meat did not just slip off the rib bone and needed a little effort with the fingers. I like meat this way. The ribs was served with some salad and a jacket potato.<br />
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The fajitas is one of the popular Mexican dishes. And we did not miss it. We had a mix of cajun chicken and beef steak, both of which were cut in strips and served in a hot plate. The condiments came in a separate plate - comprising some salads, grated cheese, rice and beans, salsa sauce, sour cream and guacamole (an avocado sauce). All these were wrapped and eaten in tortillas. The fajitas here was not great. I had had much better fajitas. The condiments were not enough. I would had preferred a lot more guacamole. Even the tortilla wraps were limited. At the end of it, there was leftover meats for want of more wraps and condiments.<br />
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Our final dish was an added on. It was a tortilla wrap. It basically was a pre-wrapped fajita. The fillings were the same - cajun chicken, rice, beans, topped with guacamole and sour cream and served with some salad and salsa sauce. The cajun chicken in this wrap tasted better than that that came with the fajita.<br />
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The meal was great. Again, like the first one in My Elephant, I enjoyed the company more. I am no Mexican gourmet. I had tried a few in the U.S. Somehow I felt the Mexican dishes here lacked authenticity. But that is only to be expected, just as much as I expect getting authentic Malaysian food in Acapulco.<br />
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We are already looking forward to the next World Cup.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-28054962797299788562014-07-28T00:31:00.002+08:002014-07-28T00:31:59.476+08:00My (2nd) Elephant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was reported that the recent World Cup generated billions of dollars in illegal gambling's throughout the world. This dinner was part of these billions. At an earlier dinner in the midst of the football fever, the conversation inevitably drifted to the World Cup. To make things interesting, we decided on a small wager. A paper was passed round and each of us was to list down the 2 teams that we thought would make to the finals. The losers would buy dinner for the winners. When Germany and Argentina won their respective semi-finals, the group duly re-gathered for the dinner. I wasn't lucky. I predicted Germany and Nederland. </div>
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The restaurant picked was a Thai in Aman Suria, Petaling Jaya. When this place was suggested, I immediately remembered <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-thai-elephant.html">My (Thai) Elephant</a> that I had featured in my blog way back in 2010. That Elephant was in Section 17, PJ. I did not know that the restaurant had prospered and expanded - with branches, not only in Aman Suria but also in Sri Hartamas, K.L. </div>
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The Elephant in Aman Suria occupied 2 shop lots with 2 dining areas. It was simple but tastefully furnished. White, blue and grey was the featured decor. Our reserved table was in the inner sanctum.<br />
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When we arrived there, SP had already ordered the dishes. The waiter was still around taking orders for drinks. The popular selection was this pandan juice with lime and mint. It looked very green.<br />
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I believed the more refreshing drink was this serai (lemon grass) juice which I opted for. It was cold and fragrant and thirst quenching. The biji selasih (basil seeds) added colour and flavour to it.<br />
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We started the meal with this miaeng kum. It was a Thai appetiser comprising various raw ingredients - chilli padi, diced lime, garlic, shallot, peanut, dry shrimp and sesame. It came with a sweet sauce. All these wrapped and eaten in <a href="http://herba.berita1.com/daun-kaduk">daun kaduk</a> - wild betel leaves.<br />
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The papaya salad had shredded unripe papaya with garlic, chilli padi, peanuts and the usual Thai stuffs in a sweet and sour sauce. And if it was not sour enough, they provided a slice of lime. The serving of very small. There were about a dozen of us with a couple of big eaters. Fortunately SP had presence of mind to order double servings for all the dishes.<br />
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The seafood tom yam was rather strong - hot, spicy and sour. There were prawns, squids and fish slices.<br />
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The waiters dished the 2 servings into small individuals bowls.</div>
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Gai tod is a Thai style fried chicken. Again, the serving was dismally small and even the 2 servings were not quite enough to go around. I could taste a strong herby marinade. The flavour was good. Wished there was more.</div>
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This was a platter of fish cake, tofu, and fried and fresh spring rolls. I only managed to taste the fish cake and the fried spring roll. I liked them both. But why couldn't they serve at least one piece of each for every diner? Moan.<br />
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Without sounding like a broken record, just look at the serving of the grilled squid. I had a bite of it. It was succulent and flavourful. Very nice.<br />
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The panaang gai or chicken curry was very nice. Like all Thai curries, it was thick and rich in santan (coconut milk). It went very well with rice.<br />
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Steamed siakap (barramundi) in Thai sauce. This was the only decent size serving of the meal. I didn't quite like the dish. Firstly, siakap is not my favourite fish. And the preparation was not fantastic.<br />
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This was kia jiao tofu. Kia jiao in Thai means omelet. So this had to be a tofu omelet. Honestly, this was a first for me. I had never heard, let alone tasted a tofu omelet. I did not taste any tofu in it. It was like one thick plain omelet. I guess they blended the tofu into the egg and then fried it into an omelet. I liked it. The texture was soft and nice. I think I will try making this one day. Tofu omelet - quite a novelty, isn't it?<br />
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Stir fried kai lan. Very mundane. Still it was a good choice of green.<br />
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We had a choice of white of brown rice. I was glad SP opted for the brown. </div>
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With the small servings, I guess we all still had ample stomach space in spite of the many dishes. Each of us ordered our own individual desserts. Their was no suggestion of sharing. I believe this was a cheese cake. It looked like one with a thin layer of crust at the bottom. The reason I wasn't sure was the way they served it, with sticks on each piece of them.<br />
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My wife had this cold sago with nangka (jack fruit) and other goodies in it. I had a taste of it. It was very good. The coconut milk was rich and very fresh. The sago was plentiful and the nangka went very well with the whole thing.<br />
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The most popular dessert that evening was the red ruby (water chestnut). It was topped with diced mango.</div>
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My choice was the Thai classic - mango with glutinous rice. The serving was quite large. The glutinous rice was a mixture of white and brown, which was quite good. But the whole thing was not up to my expectation. The mango was rather soggy and the coconut milk was not quite enough. I wished I had ordered the sago instead.<br />
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The dinner was very enjoyable. I liked the company more than the food. And it was not going to end there. During the meal, another piece of paper was passed around to predict the champion. Like the tournament, there again would be winners and losers. And we would re-gather one more time.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-27637309375817276932014-07-19T15:22:00.001+08:002014-07-19T15:22:33.138+08:00Nutmeg in Bangsar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fancy another western brekkie place? Like the others, Crystal brought us here. The Nutmeg is located on the upper ground floor of the Bangsar Village II shopping complex along Jalan Telawi in Bangsar, KL. We were there around 10.00am on a Saturday morning. The shopping complex was still almost devoid of people, but the cafe was well patronised. </div>
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We had a table near the entrance. From our table, this was the shot of the inside of the restaurant.<br />
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The crowd was mostly young people. I was rather shy to take photo-shots of the place. An old man moving around to photograph the place would look rather weird in the midst of the many young people. So I sent Crystal in. These were some of the shots she took.<br />
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Breakfasts occupied a large part of the menu. They also offered lunches and dinners. Most of the other offerings were pastas. </div>
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Soon after we selected our breakfasts, our coffees started to arrive. Mine was the usual long black. The brewed coffee was strong and aromatic. It was my first beverage of the day and a great boost to the appetite.<br />
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My wife had a more pretty latte.<br />
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There was a big miscommunication when Crystal ordered her omelet. She asked for a truffled mushroom omelet and then added that she wanted egg white. The waiter mistook her order and brought a normal omelet and an egg white omelet. When the error was pointed out, the waiter quickly took back the normal omelet - no fuss at all.<br />
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She supplemented her omelet with a serving of lamb sausage. There were 2 sausages in the serving. This lamb sausage was one of the reasons she brought us to this place. I have to say that it was quite delicious - not bad at all. Only, they did not taste like sausage. They were more like kebabs.<br />
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My wife had this baked egg. It was quite an unusual and innovative preparation. It was 2 eggs baked with cheese and tomato, served with toasts. She enjoyed the dish.</div>
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My order was the Nutmeg big breakfast. It comprised 2 eggs of choice (mine was scrambled), a lamb sausage, hash potato, baked beans, sautéed mushrooms, roasted tomato and a choice of salmon or salt beef (I chose the beef). I did not like the scrambled egg and I immediately regretted my choice when the dish arrived at our table. The egg was far too mushy for my liking. The salt beef was quite tasteless in spite of its name. The hash potato was not what I had expected. I had wanted hash browns, but they turned out to be normal deep fried potato. And the baked beans tasted a little sourish.<br />
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Before we arrived at the Nutmeg, I already knew that I would go for the big breakfast. The reason was simple. I wanted to compare this place to the other places - the <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2012/02/breakfast-at-antipodean.html">Antipodean</a>, <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2013/11/brekkies-mr-ms.html">Mr & Ms</a>, and <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2014/03/three-little-pigs-and-big-bad-wolf.html">Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf</a> where I had their big breakfasts. I have to say although Nutmeg's big breakfast had a good variety, the quality and flavour was at the bottom of the list. And once again, I missed the real (pork) bacon.<br />
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My brekkie adventure will not end here. There is at least one other place that I have yet to visit. It will be soon. We pass by this place often and my wife keeps reminding me. And when I do, I will definitely write about it.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-32330963467802807062014-07-09T22:33:00.000+08:002014-07-09T22:33:06.362+08:00Tony Roma's in Citta Mall<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We were bidding farewell to 2 dear colleagues - Razali and Trixie. Ganesh organised a dinner for them and the place he picked was Tony Roma's at the Citta Mall. The mall is quite near to our office. And with the small participating crowd, it gave me a good opportunity to feature a variety of dishes that they offer there.</div>
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Tony Roma's took over the location where <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2012/07/gourmandis.html">Gourmandis</a> used to be in the Citta Mall. Gourmandis, unfortunately has closed shop here. The last time I visited Tony Roma's was a long long time ago, probably even before I started this blog. I did not have great expectations of the place. I have learnt not to expect too much from American chain restaurants with experiences in the likes of <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2011/12/tgif.html">TGIF</a>, <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2014/04/chicago.html">Chicago</a> and <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2011/07/bubba-gump.html">Bubba Gump</a>.<br />
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The Citta Mall is in Ara Damansara, PJ and is accessible from the Subang airport road (a.k.a Subang airport car park in most times of the day). It is fast becoming a popular hang outs among PJ and Subang Jaya folks as evident by the number of cars there. It used to be that we were spoilt for choice on where to park. Not any more. I believe this is attributed to the large number of eateries there. Where there is food, there will be people.</div>
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Tony Roma's in the Citta Mall is quite a big outlet. They have an open alfresco dining area.<br />
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And the more popular indoor air-conditioned comfort. In view of the current heat wave, it is difficult to imagine why people would want to dine outdoors.<br />
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When I arrived at the restaurant, the waiter was already doing his round taking orders. There were more than 10 of us in the group. As the food arrived at our table, each one graciously offered their dish to me to photograph - for this blog. I managed to take pictures of all the orders. But there was no way I could remember what they all were, least of all the names of the dishes. But I will try. If I cannot remember, just enjoy the visuals.</div>
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My first shot was this pasta dish. I think it was the salmon carbonara.<br />
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This was grilled salmon with garlic butter scampi. It was served with rice and broccoli. Kevin, who was seated beside me, had this dish. From where I was, I could detect the fishy smell of either the salmon or the shrimps. I don't know if they were absolutely fresh. But Kevin did not complain.<br />
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This was the ribeye that Razali ordered. It was served with mashed potato and beans. Razali ordered a medium rare. It turned out to be very well done. The waiter was summoned. No questioned was asked. The waiter took back the steak and later returned with another - medium rare.<br />
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I honestly am not sure what this was. I believe it was another steak. But it was topped with some kind of a chilli sauce? Well, somebody ate it.<br />
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Three dishes of ribs were ordered that evening. The first was this rack of lamb. There was a choice of 2 side dishes. I have no idea what the side dishes were. Looked like baked beans and scrambled eggs. Nah... cannot be.<br />
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This was the "bountiful" beef ribs. I believe Ganesh had this. His choice of side dishes was a jacketed potato and cold slaw.<br />
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The final rib dish was this almost unrecognisable black slab of meat. I can only guess that this was another rack of lamb. Was the chef overzealous doing this one?<br />
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The shrimp scampi pasta certainly looked very good. I only hope the shrimps were fresh.<br />
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I believe this was the mojo chicken, served with rice and vegetables.<br />
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And the filet medallions - also with rice and veges.<br />
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Finally, my choice was the grilled lamb chops. It was 3 portions of succulent lamb, very nicely grilled in a marinade. The meat was delicious. I opted for french fries and cold slaw. I think I made an excellent choice. I enjoyed it thoroughly.</div>
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We ordered 2 portions of triple desserts to share. Each portion comprised a red velvet cake, a mini cheese cake and brownies and ice cream. They told us they ran out of ice cream, and served just the brownies. What a lame excuse. There was a big supermarket Presto just one floor below the restaurant. They could had just ran down and grabbed all the ice creams they wanted. Anyway, the desserts were a total failure. The brownies were like stale bread. Kevin kept reminding me to write how bad the desserts were. And indeed, they were way below par.<br />
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The evening was more than just about food. There were brief speeches, a good bye gift and plenty of hugs and photo shots. Perhaps a few tears too.<br />
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Good luck Razali and Trixie. Don't forget to come back.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-42809979675890938952014-06-29T16:40:00.000+08:002014-06-29T16:40:27.257+08:00Face to Face Pan Mee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It was a Sunday evening. We had just returned from Sungei Petani and after a long tiring drive, cooking was absolutely not in our agenda. Still we had to eat. This pan mee noodle shop is in our neighbourhood. And on that weary evening, it seemed to be the most apt place to go for a simple meal.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">面对面 </span>literally means "noodle facing noodle", but a clever play of words can make it to mean "face to face". And that is the name of this shop. It is located in the centre of Dataran Ara Damansara, in PJ. This dataran has grown to be a real busy commercial centre in Ara Damansara - with many eateries and shops, and far too many car workshops which illegally hoard parking spaces, making car parking a real nightmare on most times of the day. During lunch time on weekdays, this is not a place to be in.<br />
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We have seen and passed by this shop umpteen times but had never bothered to go in. Until that evening. Inside, it was a pleasant respite from the craziness of the locale. The atmosphere was cool and unhurried. It had simple furnishing, comfortable enough to get a quiet meal in a more sane environment.<br />
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Pan mee <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(板面) </span>is the mainstay in the shop's menu. This hand made noodle is unique to Malaysia. Some people are crazy about it, so much so shops like this are now all over the Klang Valley. Not me. I can eat it, but it is not my first choice.<br />
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Besides pan mee, the shop also offer other noodles and rice dishes - even char koay teow. They also have a variety of side dishes to choose from.</div>
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Many eateries now make their patrons tick and write their orders in printed slips. I guess it saves on labour. I like the idea. I can take my time to browse the menu and select my options without anyone hovering over me to make a decision.<br />
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My choice was drink was the good old iced lemon tea. My wife's was a cold honey lemon.<br />
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On our table was a host of condiments. There were 3 types of chilli pastes and a sambal. And of course the mandatory soy sauce and pepper.<br />
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I had this bowl of dry (kon lo - <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #69878e; line-height: 21px;">干</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #69878e;">捞</span></span>) fine pan mee. It came with a poached egg, minced pork, fried ikan bilis and a bowl of soup. It wasn't great. The texture of the noodle was rather soggy and did not have the al dente springiness. The ikan bilis was kind of stale - not totally crunchy - surprising since this was a pan mee shop and their turnover of deep fried ikan bilis should be high enough to ensure constant supply of this good crunchy favourite.<br />
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They provided a plate each of chili paste and sambal with the noodles, which were already on the table.</div>
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My wife's choice was this bowl of chicken soup mee suai <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(面线)</span>. I had a sip of the soup to check its flavour. Again, it was not great. The soup was kind of murky. </div>
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This bowl of sayur manis soup we ordered was really quite unnecessary. Sayur manis or potato leaves to the Chinese, is the usual soup served with pan mee. The bowl we ordered had an egg in it. The soup was not bad. I liked the flavour of the sayur manis and the egg gave it a smoothening effect. But since my noodles came with a bowl of soup and my wife's bowl was all soup, this was rather redundant.<br />
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I thought this side dish of fried sui kow <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(水饺)</span> was the best of the dishes we ordered that evening. It was piping hot when it arrived at our table. The stuffing was good and the skin was crispy. Sad, we came in for a meal, and it was this crummy side dish that I enjoyed most.<br />
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In spite of being in our neighbourhood, I don't think we will be back in this pan mee shop any time soon.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-89045455557199250312014-06-20T14:14:00.000+08:002014-06-20T14:14:33.732+08:00Song Kah, Sungei Petani<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We were in Sungei Petani on the last weekend of the recent school holidays to visit the in-laws. Almost everybody from the extended family was there. Dinner that Saturday evening was a little problem. There were 30 odd people and nobody was prepared for do the mass cooking. So it had to eaten out.</div>
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The most convenient place to be was a home restaurant which was a short walk from my parents-in-laws' place. It was a home restaurant in every sense of the word. The place was actually a single storey semi-D house in an housing sub-urb of Sungei Petani. I don't know how they managed to set up a restaurant in this locale for it was really a nice respectable housing area. I wondered if the neighbours had complained.<br />
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I have been to Song Kah on a previous trip back to S.P. a few months ago. I did not bother to write about it then. But I found the food pretty good then. So this time around, it made it to my blog.<br />
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The restaurant is apparently managed by the family living in the house. The 2 young men who took our orders and acted as waiters looked quite alike. So I guessed they were brothers. And they were apparently quite versatile people. At a corner of the restaurant was a counter, making and selling talismans.<br />
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And if you have a problem with your computer, you could come here too.<br />
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The drinks they served were mostly home brewed. But the chrysanthemum was far too sweet.<br />
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Dinner was rice and dishes.<br />
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The first on our table was this sambal brinjal (egg plant). It was actually very tasty. The brinjal was stir fried in a rich mixture of sambal and minced dried shrimps. It was spicy. The brinjal was were cooked and was soft and smooth.<br />
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The dark sauce pork was another credible dish. It was lean pork stir fried in a dark soy sauce. The sugar in the dish made it kind of sticky and flavourful. They added in some spices and curry leaves. The final outcome was a very pleasant dish that went wonderfully with our rice.<br />
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This was chicken in a hot plate. Below the chicken was a layer of eggs, They fried the eggs on the hot plate and poured the chicken over it. The chicken was spicy but tasted good.<br />
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The curry fish was the best of the lot. The fish very fresh and there was plenty of okra, long beans and vege. The flavour of the curry was also very nice. It must had been the curry powder or curry mix they used, for the flavour was quite unlike the ordinary curry we find in most Chinese restaurants. This was more Indian in flavour. Anyway, we were scrapping the bottom for the last spoonfuls.<br />
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The fried cabbage was very ordinary.<br />
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The final dish was the mantis prawn. It was deep fried and then stir in a mixture of tau chu (<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span dir="auto" style="line-height: 1.3;">豆</span><span style="line-height: 1.3;">醬 - </span></span>soya paste) and other spices. I felt the mantis prawn was lost in the rich mixture. I couldn't tell it was the crustacean. The flavour was good but I felt it was a waste of nice mantis to be cooked this way.<br />
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It was simple good meal. And not that terribly expensive. It gave true meaning to a home cooked meal away from home, in a home.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-86248153284713830782014-06-11T10:03:00.000+08:002014-06-11T10:03:02.637+08:00Al Qasr Cyberjaya<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Located speck in the centre of Cyberjaya, along Persiaran Multimedia is The Street Mall. It was built on the concept of a mall within a garden and is apparently very popularly for office workers during lunch time. And there were many restaurants there to cater for this need.</div>
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There were Italian, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Chinese, Malay, etc.<br />
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On the Saturday evening that we were there, the place was largely empty. There was nary a soul. We strolled through deserted walkways and peered into empty restaurants. It was kind of eerie. But then, Cyberjaya is not exactly a hustle bustle type of place. If I had a restaurant and can have it filled with day time (office worker) guests, Monday to Friday, I would perhaps be quite happy. At least there would not be late nights and weekends are all mine. But don't listen to me. I am a lousy businessman.<br />
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We eventually arrived at the objective of our being there - an Arabic restaurant named Al Qasr. I believe Qasr is pronounced Kaser.<br />
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It was a charming place. It had a typical middle-eastern decor. It was bright and vibrant. My wife took this panoramic shot with my iPhone. The effect was spectacular.<br />
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This place was not as empty as the other eateries in the mall. They had a few Muslim guests that evening.</div>
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The place was operated by a team of Middle-eastern men. Our waiter said he was from Yemen. They spoke to each other in a lingo I recognised as Arabic. Even the cashier who was an old man looked foreign. But he spoke to me in perfect Malay; so I knew he was local. He said the restaurant was newly opened and was jointly owned by Arabian and Malaysian businessmen.<br />
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The menu presented us did not look new. It was worn and tattered. My wife suggested that they might had moved there from another location. Perhaps.<br />
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We started our meal with some juices. I opted for water melon. It was concentrated and sweet, and unadulterated - very refreshing.<br />
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The pita bread they served was hot from the oven. They made their own breads and are offered without charge to all guests. It was superb. I would drive 40 kilometres to this place again just for this bread. I love fresh bread. This freshly baked Arabic pita was near the pinnacle.<br />
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We shared a lentil soup. Again, the word to describe it was superb. The soup was thick and smooth. The flavour was delicious - much like a good dahl, but unspoilt by spices. The soup was served with a slice of lime. I didn't know whatever for - the soup did not need additional flavour. The crisps that accompanied the soup was also very nice. I forgot to ask the waiter what they were.<br />
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The Greek salad we ordered was just so-so. It had various diced vegetables in a sourish dressing and overwhelmed with shredded feta cheese.<br />
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The lamb kebab was delicious. It was served with french fries, some shredded salad and a cup of sour cream. They all sat on a large piece of flat bread that looked and tasted very much like our roti canai. The kebab was outstanding. One of the best kebab I ever had. The meat was tender and aromatic. Very well done indeed. My wife is no fan of mutton and beef. She does not like the gamey taste. This kebab was a little gamey. Yet my wife tolerated it and enjoyed the dish. The underlying "roti canai" was also very nice. I was tearing out the bread to wrap the meat. There were 2 wonderful types of bread and it was kind of hard to decide which to go for.<br />
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Our second entree was this "madfoon chicken". It was a quarter of grilled chicken served with a most wonderful rice. The chicken was served wrapped in a metal foil. I had to unwrap it to have this picture taken. The chicken was OK, not a wow. But the rice was fantastic. It was obviously long-grain basmati rice, cooked much like the biryani; only the flavour was much better. The rice was fluffy and had a kind of savoury sweetness. Like the fresh bread, I enjoyed the rice thoroughly.<br />
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After a hearty and most satisfying meal, I decided on some Arabic tea. I had read that the Arabs make very good tea. I was eager to try some, given that the meal so far had been very authentically Arabic.<br />
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But I was somewhat disappointed to see the Lipton label on the pot. I didn't think Lipton was in any way Arabic.<br />
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Sugar was separately served. I also read that the Arabs take their tea very sweet. To be authentic, I guessed I had to follow suit, and helped myself generously to it. The tea turned out to be very nice. There was a very pleasant strong flavour of mint in the tea. Strange. I didn't think Lipton made mint tea. I opened the lid of the pot. In it were fresh mint leaves.<br />
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The Al Qasr was a very enjoyable Arabic experience. I must return to this place. And when I do, I have to get a bigger crowd. The two of us did not get to taste much of the variety they offered. A bigger group will allow us to order more. And when I do, I may just write about it again.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-24327229653702950122014-06-02T12:13:00.001+08:002014-06-02T12:13:29.355+08:00Great Nature Vegetarian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We visited this vegan restaurant many months ago. The pictures were sitting in my hard drive, together with those of several other restaurants, waiting for my story to be written. Most of these "archived" makan places are not worth writing on. I reviewed them recently and decided that I could do a feature on this restaurant after all.</div>
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The Great Nature Vegertarian Restaurant is in Klang - Jalan Sungai Putus. I haven't the faintest idea where in Klang this is. But with present day GPS, Waze and other apps, getting there should not be such a big deal.<br />
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The restaurant was quite ordinary. There was nothing fanciful. They tried to - like installing this ghastly "chandelier". But it did not work.<br />
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The thing I liked about this place was the spaciousness. They did not try to squeeze in too many tables into the 2 shop lots. There was ample room. As the result, it wasn't unpleasantly noisy.<br />
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And business was not bad. Most of the tables were taken up. Somehow, Chinese vegetarian food is popular. People think it is healthy. But it may not necessarily be so. Some, cooked and fried in abundant oil, can be just as sinful.<br />
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Tucked in a corner were shelves selling vegan products. Not an uncommon feature in vegetarian places.<br />
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And some "bak chang" (<span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">肉粽</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #006621; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"> - </span>glutinous rice dumplings). Was it during last year's bak chang festival? I really cannot remember.<br />
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What I can remember was that we were there for a simple meal of rice and dishes. Edwin brought us there.<br />
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We started with some honey roast pork ribs. How could I remember it was honey roast? - you may ask. Simple. Each time I take pictures of the food, I also shoot the names of the dishes in the menu. Anyway, the ribs were good. They even had bones on them - pieces of sugar cane. Clever wasn't it? At least they feel a bit like the real thing. And you can even chew on the "bones", if you like.<br />
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The crispy tofu was "home made". It was simply deep fried. The skin was crispy and the tofu inside was of course soft. The chilli sauce wasn't bad either.<br />
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I remember the curry fish as pretty authentic. The curry was tasty with a nice santan (coconut milk) flavour. The "fish" even had some fishy flavour on it - from the seaweed wrap that was the fish skin. The vegetables were plenty. It was served piping hot in a clay pot.<br />
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This was braised mixed fungi in a pumpkin. Unfortunately I do not have much impression of the dish. I did not even remember that it was a fungus dish until I referred back to my menu pics. But it looked good, didn't it?<br />
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This was a mix vege dish - the loh hon chai (<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.1em;">羅漢斋</span>). This was a popular Chinese vegetarian dish comprising simple vegetables, mushrooms, dried tofu and fu chuk.<br />
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Our final dish was this rather messy yam pot. In the deep fried yam basket was a stir-fried mixture of diced vegetables and mushrooms. Ordinary but not bad.<br />
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This "archived" restaurant was not a bad place at all. I wonder how it got lost in my many blog fodders. There may one or two more of such "hidden" places. When I find them, I will definitely tell you about them.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6871243194923054478.post-67003470902346464132014-05-22T10:12:00.000+08:002014-05-22T10:12:01.414+08:00Lara Djong Grang, Jakarta<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was in Jakarta for a brief one-night trip recently. There I met up with Kevin, Ganesh and Joel. That evening after we did what we had to do, we went out looking for makan. Kevin whipped out his mobile phone and Waze-guided the taxi driver to a restaurant he had found in the Internet.</div>
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The place went by the name Lara Djong Grang. It's location was on Jalan Teuku Cik Ditiro No.4, Menteng in central Jakarta. Both the restaurant and the road were mouthfuls in name. Outside the restaurant, it was a dark and mysterious. The place was surrounded by big trees and lighted statues of mythical creatures.<br />
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Inside, we were awed. The place was unreal. It was like we had walked into in an ancient civilisation - kind of an Indiana Jones sort of place. The interior was not much brighter than outside. The main dining hall was presided by 2 big and imposing figures of some legendary gods. The place made clever use of spot lights, candles and oil lamps to create a truly mystical ambiance.<br />
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They had a big collection of beautiful artefacts. I do not if they were all Indonesian in origin. </div>
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We were seated in the main dining hall. The table was big. We were very comfortable and looked forward to a truly authentic Indonesian meal.</div>
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Besides the main dining halls, there were smaller dining areas and some private rooms - all of them with similar dim and esoteric settings.<br />
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Kevin did the honour, ordering all the dishes. I think he did hell of a job, considering that even though Indonesian and Malaysian dishes have a lot in common, most of the dishes listed in the menu were new to us. And I honestly cannot remember everything we ate.<br />
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The drinks came first. Kevin had this coconut juice that tasted rather strange. I had a sip and a piece of the flesh. It was not like the ordinary coconut at all. It is hard to describe the flavour. The flesh was a little powdery. To me, it tasted somewhat like a decaying fruit. I didn't like it.<br />
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Mine was an equally strange drink. It came in a bowl. The waitress told us this could be also a dessert. It was a potpourri of strange things. The black stuff was a kind of cincau. The green thing was lime and mint jelly. The white blot was coconut flesh. Below these were small bits of a lot of other stuffs. I had no idea what they were. I think I tasted sago and nutmeg. The flavour of the whole thing was equally mixed. It was sweet, sour, and slightly bitter - all in one. With lots of ice on the bowl, it was actually a very refreshing drink. I liked it. I only wish I remember the name.<br />
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This other dessert drink was much like our ABC (air batu camper). I remember this avocado ABC on a <a href="http://gila-makan.blogspot.com/2011/02/penang-food-in-jakarta.html">previous visit</a> to Jakarta.<br />
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Then the food started to arrive. We had 2 appetisers. The first was these rolls that were very similar to our lobak. I tasted meat and prawns. They were exotically served in a big sea shell. Tasted not bad at all.<br />
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The second started was these "udang swarloka" - deep fried prawn balls. Another interesting and creditable small-bite to tease the palate.<br />
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This was a serious sambal dish with roasted brinjal. The amount of fiery hot chilli in it was intimidating. I found the flavour too strong and spicy.<br />
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The salad was not unlike our rojak. It was the "karedok sunda" - a Javanese dish of various vegetables in a peanut sauce. It had kangkung, cucumber, bean sprouts, cabbage, long beans, basil - all the rojak stuffs. It was delicious.<br />
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From the banana wrapping, I thought this was the otak otak. Far from it. It was a mixture of soft tofu and minced meat, cooked in a creamy sauce. It was delicious. I thought the dish was very innovative.<br />
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The grilled "gurame" fish was also very nice. The meat was soft and tender. The marinade was light but distinct. This was the first time I tasted a gourami. I always thought the gourami was an aquarium fish. I didn't know they eat them.<br />
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Indonesia is famed for its gado gado. I guess this one here could not be any more authentic. The ingredients were the same as the gado gado we have in Malaysia - tofu, egg, tempe (fermented soy beans), cucumber, sengkuang, etc. But the sauce was not quite. They do use a peanut sauce, but it was different. The sauce in our gado gado is similar to our Indian pasembur rojak. In Jakarta, I guess they do not have pasembur. Perhaps I am biased or I am used to our pasembur. I actually prefer our version.<br />
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I have never had so many varieties of satay before. This satay boat we ordered had 6 different types. There was beef satay, mutton satay, beef tongue satay, chicken on sugar-cane satay, fish satay and squid satay. Their preparation of satay was not quite the same as ours. They do not use the same marinade. And they do not offer the same peanut sauce. In stead, they provided different types of sambal and chilli pastes. We had a stick of each. They were delicious.<br />
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We had 2 soups. The first was the soto ayam. It was a milky soup with chicken, potato and I don't remember what else. It was slightly spicy but not fantastic.<br />
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Somewhat more fantastic was this soto bentut goreng - an oxtail soup. The meat (oxtail) was fried and served separately. The soup came in a small pot. The meat was tough and dry but the soup was superb. Perhaps we were supposed to immerse the meat into the soup. We did not.<br />
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We ate all these dishes with 2 different types of rice. This brown rice was quite fragrant and nice.<br />
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The yellow rice was the same as our nasi kunyit. It was glutinous rice (pulut) cooked in turmeric (kunyit). Of the two, I preferred the brown.<br />
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Towards the end of our meal, I noticed this side dish, compliments of the house. I thought it was a keropok (prawn/fish cracker) and did not pay too much attention to it. On closer look, I realised it was not keropok. It tasted more like fried fish maw. We asked the waitress and she told us it was "kulit sapi" - cow skin. Effectively we were eating leather. I joked that it definitely tasted better than my shoe. It certainly was the first and most delicious cow skin I ever had.<br />
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We hardly had room for dessert. But we wanted to sample some Indonesian after dinner sweets. We ordered two to share. The first was very much like our cendol. It was pandan flavoured green strips in suntan (coconut milk). It did not taste good. I had a spoon and it was enough.<br />
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More awful was these 2 pieces of green stuffs in a brown sauce. We stared at them for awhile wondering what on earth they were. The taste was worse than it looked. It was like a sponge cake in a mixture of gula melaka and milk. I still shudder at the thought of the taste.<br />
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I couldn't believe we ate so much that night. Our big table was to the brink.</div>
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Notwithstanding the desserts, it was a good and unique Indonesian experience. I guess we had some true authentic Indonesian dishes. The similarities between Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines are many. Yet they are so different. By any standard, Lara Djong Grang was a fabulous restaurant. It had the exotic ambiance and the genuine Indonesian food to match. We couldn't ask for more in Jakarta.<br />
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