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Malaysian Food
2008-03-07 04:49:00
Anyone wanting to travel to Malaysia and savor the food should check out Glory Travel mart a travel company specializing in travel within Malaysia.Besides experiencing a tropical paradise with white sandy beaches, the natural rainforests and a multi cultural society which is rich in tradition and flavors, enjoy also Kuala Lumpur, our modern capital with skyscrapers and plenty of shopping areas.My friend Jocelynn is one of the few people behind the company and she's been in the hospitality business for more than a decade, making her quite an expert in this field. I'm thinking of getting her to help me plan a get away with my girlfriends in April when I go back to Malaysia.
More About: Food , Malaysian

A Simple Stock
2008-03-06 12:41:00
Ningbo is famous for its seafood as it is very near the coast. So it is usual to find lots of seafood produce at the supermarket.One of the most common I find is tiny shrimps which I see used in soups, fried with vegetables and probably used to make stock.Tiny shrimps are also found in Malaysia and used quite a lot in our cooking but they are usually dried shrimps or a paste and can be very strong in flavor. The most flavorful of all is belacan which is fermented ground shrimp. You can smell it a mile away and it packs a punch when chili is added. Pungent, aromatic and delicious!We had cabbage the other day - a boring but easy to cook vegetable. To add some flavor, I fried some tiny shrimps in hot oil and then added some garlic before the cabbage. It turned out very nice.I used a fair bit of shrimps and was very generous with the wolfberries too.Today I used the tiny shrimps to make a stock. To take away the fishy taste, I added ginger slices and to sweeten, wolfberries (also known ...
More About: Chinese , Stock , Soups , Noodles , Simple

Health and Insurance
2008-03-06 11:19:00
My mom recently had a scare. Her shoulders became stiff and we panicked and thought it could be a symptom of stroke. After a diagnosis, the specialist concluded that it was not related to her heart nor was it stroke related. Still we were worried because my mom has blockage in her arteries.And about the same time, my friend's mother in law was rushed to the hospital as she suffered a minor stroke. She received treatment in time and is now recovering.Both these women are past 60 and at an age where most illnesses seem to surface. A lot of it could be caused by years of unhealthy eating and some possibly genetically inherited.This blog is about all the delicious food I've savored whilst traveling and also some I've cooked. And those who are passionate about food would agree with me that great tasting food are invariably not good for us! The correlation between healthy food and lousy taste cannot be denied and it is difficult to eat healthily when you have to eat horrid tasting stuf...
More About: Health , Insurance

Silicone
2008-03-04 04:16:00
I'm into silicone big time! For the kitchen that is :)I've seen silicone cake pans and molds and wanted so badly to get them but they were either too expensive or not worth buying at this moment because we don't have a house to store anything.But I couldn't resist getting a spatula and a pot holder! I bought these in Australia but I am sure they can be found almost anywhere now.The spatula is great. I find it easier to control when cooking and love the color it adds to the kitchen. The pot holder is also very useful and can serve as a base or as a grip - it is so flexible.It is amazing that it is heat resistant up to 360C and that is a lot of heat!
More About: Travel , Silicone

Cheeries
2008-03-03 04:53:00
I love cheeries!But they are so expensive! Ling bought some from the Asian grocer in Darra, Brisbane. I patiently selected about half a kilo, squeezing each lightly to make sure they were not too soft. Ling says she can't be bothered to sift through them especially since there were a million flies buzzing around. I suffered the flies, shaking my head, my hands, my bodies and trying to swat at them. So I was rewarded when I got to eat them back home! Wish I could've bought a whole box back from Australia.
More About: Fruits

A New Year
2008-03-03 04:23:00
2008 brings with it a lot of changes for us. The most significant is the selling of our home back in Malaysia. I was very hesitant about selling our home because I was so personally involved in the renovations - I chose all the tiles, supervised the contractor and organized delivery of all the furniture and throughout the 3 years we have been living there, slowly made it into our home. I even started cooking! It was an emotional time.In a way I should look forward to new beginnings - we will eventually settle in Australia so I am excited to go house hunting. The only scary part is having to commit to a Mortgage again considering that the interest rates in Australia is at an all time high with reports of further increase later this year. The price of houses are also expensive to us because of the exchange. We only get 1/3 of the value of the money received from the sale of our house! The Aussie dollar has strengthened so much and is almost par with the US dollar.We still have to bit...
More About: Personal , New Year , Year

Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory
2008-03-03 03:55:00
Willy Wonka's Choc Factory at Movie WorldI just had to go in!And I just had to buy something! Not chocolates though. I had a craving for The Natural Confectionery Co. 's Jelly Beans. They are probably the best Jelly Beans I've ever had. They are made without artificial colors or flavors and I love it.I brought a packet home but gave it to a good friend whom I know enjoys them just as much.
More About: Sweets , Chocolate

Sardines
2008-03-01 09:31:00
It's sardines overload today. After more than a month away and eating out most of the time, it is time to get back to basics.A can of sardines for the day! With rice and with bread or whatever else I can rummage from our not very stocked larder.It mayn't sound very nice but to me, it was a nice change. I am enjoying sardines on toast right now and loving it. I should have sauteed some onions and added the can of sardines but we forgot to get onions yesterday. No matter - straight from the can is fine by me.Ooh! I have a can of baked beans too...

La Sangria, Darling Street, Sydney
2008-02-22 05:07:00
We had the best seafood paella at La Sangria. It wasn't recommended - we just stumbled upon it by default because it was located near my brother in law's home in Birchgrove. It was almost dinner time by the time we reached Sydney , having driven from Hunter Valley.It was only 7pm but the restaurant was full. The only available tables were reserved but the proprietress let us have a table as the dinner guests were only due at 8pm.We ordered the paella for 2 and were told there was a 45 minute wait! I was ravenous by the time it was served. It was well worth the wait! I just kept smacking my lips and going hmm.. and yumm...the whole meal. It was good until the last mouthful. This is one meal I will remember for a long time.I had a lemon squash while waiting for the food.The evening sun.And the fantastic seafood paella...
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Spanish , Seafood

Swiss Deli
2008-02-22 04:34:00
Would you believe that this is a Salmon Risotto? Well, it is and it was delicious.We stopped for lunch at a shopping mall somewhere along the outskirts of Sydney city center on the way to Nelson's Bay and ended up having something light at a Swiss Deli .Served like a piece of pie, the risotto was probably baked and surprisingly not dry. The salmon taste was infused into the rice. The serving was just nice for me and wasn't too filling. I enjoyed it very much.
More About: Travel , Fruits , Italian

Spicy Pho
2008-02-22 02:43:00
I absolutely love Pho. The soup is always flavorful and a tad sweet - I am partial to slightly sweet food which is why I like Thai food as well.We had lunch at this Vietnamese restaurant in Darra, a suburb in Brisbane. I don't really remember the name of the place but it was near a huge Asian grocer which is well stocked with all kinds of foodstuff from most Asian countries.David and I both chose the spicy Pho with beef slices. I think it was probably the best Pho I've had and I slurped up all the soup. The Vietnamese coffee was also good. We didn't specify hot or cold coffee and it came served cold with lots of ice cubes. It turned out great.
More About: Travel , Spicy

So Much Food...
2008-02-21 17:05:00
So little time!I can't believe that my last post was on February the 8th. I've eaten loads but haven't had time to post everything. I am in Kuala Lumpur at the moment and still eating my fill before flying back to China next week. I still have quite a few posts of our trip to Australia and I guess I will have time to do it all justice when life gets back to routine in Ningbo. Hopefully there will be some new restaurants to visit when we get back.Until next week then...
More About: Travel , Food

Food Court, Harbourside, Sydney
2008-02-08 02:20:00
We'd run out of ideas on where to eat and we weren't sure if our friends were up to eating Western again. We certainly weren't going to eat Chinese food all the time.We had spent the whole afternoon at Tarongo Zoo despite the heavy downpour and the drizzly weather, walking around in a plastic poncho and feeling a bit cold and wet. By the time we got back to Darling Harbour we were quite tired out. We headed to Harbourside so that they could do some souvenir shopping and we could introduce them to certain Australian products like UGG boots, Vegemite and tea tree oil.I tried to convince them to buy a small jar of Vegemite but it wasn't well received. I love Vegemite! I have a mid sized jar back in Ningbo - David's sister brought some for me when they visited Shanghai.Anyway I digress...So not sure where to eat and it was still raining quite heavily outside, we stumbled upon the food court. With a selection of food to choose from, we thought it was the best place. Our Chinese frie...
More About: Travel , Food , Fast Food , Sydney

Eastbank Cafe Bar Pizzeria, Sydney
2008-02-08 01:22:00
It has been very wet in Sydney this summer but yesterday morning was bright and sunny and we were excited to be tour guides to our Chinese friends. We picked them up from Chinatown and took a monorail to Darling Harbour then we took a ferry to Circular Quay to show them the 2 Australian icons - the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.After the scenic tour, it was time to feed them before taking them to Taronga Zoo. What better way to enjoy a summer's day than to have lunch by the Quay with the Harbour bridge and the Opera house in view.We chose Eastbank because it served Italian (which is our preference) but it had also other seafood offerings in its list of mains on the menu. Our Chinese friends are not very adventurous with food but are relatively familiar with Italian because of Pizza Hut!We ordered a fish and chips for the father, a spaghettini vongole for the mother and a spaghetti bolognaise for their daughter and I think the food was well received because they polished...
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Pizzeria

A Reunion Feast at Nine Dragons, Dixon Street, Sydney
2008-02-08 00:48:00
Nine Dragons at Dixon Street Our reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year was spent with our friends from China who have traveled to Sydney on our invitation. Their hotel is near Chinatown so it was convenient to take a walk around to find a Chinese restaurant. I did ask David to book a table earlier but he assumed wrongly that it would be easy to find a place to eat. Most of the restaurants were either booked out or full. The next table was after 9.30pm! We became quite desperate to feed our friends on this special night. Nine Dragons was the first restaurant we came across which had tables. I was a bit apprehensive and thought that the availability of tables on this night meant that the restaurant was not popular but after savoring the food, found it to be reasonably priced and the food was good. We did notice a lot of Aussies there - the sizzling teppan beef and lemon chicken seemed to be a favorite among them. The Chinese restaurants in Sydney serve mostly Cantonese style f...
More About: Travel , Restaurants

Little Swallows, Newcastle
2008-02-08 00:23:00
We had lunch at Little Swallows before we set off for Sydney. It was another good meal. For starters, we had a seafood platter of crumbed calamari, prawns and egg plant. You can't go wrong with fresh seafood. I like it that the crumbs were very fine and since it was hot from the stove, the batter was light and still very crispy. The crumbed egg plant was a surprise. It was really good done this way. David and I are fans of ravioli and ordered that for our main dish. It was stuffed with a minced mushroom paste served with a cream sauce with shallots. It was a very rich pasta because of the sauce and I think I've discovered a preference for tomato based cream sauce over the basic cream sauce which I find too heavy. We enjoyed a cup of flat white after the food which was a good thing because we needed the caffeine shot to keep us awake for the drive back to Sydney. Fresh seafood platter. Ravioli with a rich creamy sauce.
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Italian , Newcastle

Scratchleys
2008-02-07 23:32:00
Scratchleys on the Wharf.I just wished my camera could have done justice to this place! We've never failed to take a drive to Newcastle whenever we are at Sydney. Some of the nicest Aussies we've met come from Newcastle! This trip was no different. Our 2 hour drive was pleasant and since the road map is really reliable we had no trouble finding our way.We met up with our friends and then made plans for dinner. It was supposed to be Chinese at a restaurant nearby the hotel but it was closed on a Monday night so we went to the wharf to have seafood at Scratchleys. On my first visit to Newcastle, sometime back in 2002 we had lunch here and it was a sunny day with blue skies and since the restaurant has almost all glass walls, you are almost dining al fresco. Things haven't changed a bit in almost 6 years and I was eagerly anticipating a good dinner. I wasn't disappointed.We had some drinks to start off and I had a glass of Riesling. It was, to me a perfect way to start dinner. We w...
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Seafood , Western

Reunion Dinner
2008-02-06 02:26:00
I am going to be missing the traditional reunion dinner, a dinner on the night before the first day of Chinese New Year. As a child, it was a night I look forward to. Not only will there be a feast, we also get new pyjamas, a red packet with luck money and we get to set off firecrackers. Things have changed quite a lot now that I've grown up but the sumptous dinner remains the same. Before I was married, I had reunion dinner with my mom but now, it's reunion dinner with David's family. We sometimes go away for Chinese New Year as it is the only period when David takes his long leave from work. We've spent some years holidaying or visiting his brother in Sydney. We are in Sydney now and we actually had an early reunion dinner with Peter and his in laws yesterday night. It was indeed a feast. We had steamed fish, steamed chicken with garlic and chives, abalone soup, fried spring rolls, prawns and fresh vegetables. Tonight we will have reunion dinner with friends from China who h...
More About: Travel , Dinner , Reunion

Cafe Opera, Gold Coast
2008-02-03 05:37:00
What was supposed to be an outing to Movie World turned out to be a shopping trip to Harbour Town! It was pouring almost the whole drive to Movie World and if we had paid the entrance fee, it would have been a waste so we decided to drive a bit further to check out Harbour Town - outlet shopping!There seemed to be a lot of shops and a lot of nice things but the price is not always right after the exchange. We did get some good deals like nice t-shirts for AUD9.99!We did have a great lunch though. There were no shortage of restaurants, cafe and fast food outlets and we were really undecided. Somehow I had a craving for fish and chips so we sat down at Cafe Opera . The fish of the day was barramundi and I ordered mine grilled. It was excellent with a lemon cream sauce. The ice coffee was also a pick me up. It was nice with a lot of whipped cream.It was a good meal after a few hours of shopping. In the end, Movie World was forgotten and it turned out to be a fruitful day out - bargain s...
More About: Travel , Gold , Seafood , Western

Greasy Joe's, Melbourne
2008-01-28 01:28:00
No prize for guessing who had pancakes again!Edwin had the Lot breakfast.The black thing in the middle is sourdough toast.We tried some of the mushrooms which were huge.Joanna and I shared the big breakfast.Isn't the portion huge!Big breakfasts can't get any bigger at Greasy Joe's. Joanna and Edwin picked us up in the morning for breakfast. It was great meeting up with friends and having a great meal together.It was a good thing Joanna suggested we share the big breakfast because there was no way I could finish it all alone. I even had trouble with half the portion. This is not a breakfast meal for me - it would be considered lunch and tea as well!After a full meal we took a short drive to St. Kilda beach and it was a bright and sunny day though a bit chilly with the breeze. I could have stayed on the beach the whole morning if not for the fact that we had to meet another friend later and we also wanted to visit Joanna and Edwin's home at Elsternwick.Thanks Joanna and Edwin for ...
More About: Travel , Breakfast , Bars , Western , Melbourne

Koko Black, Melbourne
2008-01-28 00:07:00
I am definitely not the first person singing praises of Koko Black . If you are a chocolate addict, this is surely the place for you to hang out in Melbourne. It was packed when we arrived on a Sunday after dinner and we had a bit of a wait for a table. People were milling around looking and browsing the packaged chocolate section. There were a lot of people selecting their chocolates for take away as well. I would think that the glass counter has to be cleaned often to get rid of drool :)The array of chocolates were so inviting but not cheap. Arranged so nicely are truffles and pralines with different flavors. Not only does Koko Black sell fine chocolates, they serve a range of desserts, ice cream and hot chocolate drinks and that was what we were having that night.Angela ordered a Chocolate spoil because she insistedthat I try a few signature desserts.There was cake, Belgian chocolates,shortbread, ice cream and mousse.The mousse was heavenly but oh! so sweet.Angela and Alson in th...
More About: Travel , Dessert , Cakes

Krispy Kreme
2008-01-27 13:10:00
Original glazedA dozen assorted doughnuts we boughtat the Melbourne domestic airport for Ling, Mike and Harry.Harry really liked them and he had 2 for tea on the day we arrived.So many people had a box of these on our flight to Brisbane!Thanks to Michelle, we had our first taste of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and I have to say that we enjoyed the light, soft and fresh doughnuts very much. We initially thought to have 1 each but ended up buying a dozen and we didn't regret it.
More About: Travel , Snacks

Squires Loft, Melbourne
2008-01-27 12:34:00
It was absolutely the best steak I've ever eaten. Gavin's said that if we like steaks, Squires Loft was the place to eat them and he was right. David didn't quite agree because in his opinion, the best steak he's ever had was a Florentine steak and we had that in Rome when we traveled there in 2003. I have to admit that the Florentine steak was really fantastic but it was so long ago...I like my steaks rare but I need to be in the mood for bloody steaks! I have it medium rare more often. Once when we were traveling in New Zealand, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and I ordered steak. I told the waitress that I'd like it medium rare. A few minutes after she had taken our orders, the chef walks up to our table and wanted to meet me - he said that he had to meet the only person he knows that doesn't want her meat well done! In fact he suggested I tried the steak, rare. I did and he was really pleased with me! And it was a great meal.At Squires Loft, I had the eye fille...
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Western , Melbourne

Drink Your Fruit
2008-01-27 12:28:00
A refreshing drink for a hot day. We decided to make a fruit juice - grabbed whatever fruit there was in the fridge and juiced them together. We used oranges, mango, green apples, peaches and blueberries. It was interesting to watch the different colors as the fruits were juiced. I think the mango added a great smooth taste to our fruit concoction. It was so sweet in the end and after adding crushed ice - it was a nice cool drink and full of goodness too.
More About: Fruits , Drink , Fruit

Aussie Pie
2008-01-27 12:05:00
We rented a car from Priority Car Rentals at the Brisbane outlet which was really a good deal. I think David paid AUD$25 a day for a manual Hyundai Getz. Mike sent us to collect the car and pointed us to the right highway to get back home to Westlake but somehow we took a wrong turn and ended up heading to Sunshine Coast. It took only 5 minutes before we realized and turned back.David wolfing down his meat pie.Bronze award for Mai Hot Bread.We took the Nudgee exit on the motorway and turned back towards the city. It was then I spotted the PIE SHOP! It was past 1pm and we were hungry so we made a pit stop and discovered a great pie shop. Mai's Pies have won awards and I must say that it deserves the medal.Warm steak and mushroom pie.The filling is full of gravy and very tasty.The Chocolate Mud Cake was also excellent.I have to say that I enjoy pies - I like the combination of pastry with a savory filling and I especially enjoyed this meal. I am glad we took a wrong turn!
More About: Travel , Pastry , Western , Aussie

Leung Kee Wonton Mee, Taipan USJ
2008-01-25 09:31:00
Malaysian Chinese food is really a melting pot of all the food from various province of China. We get the best of all kinds of Chinese food originating from different provinces. Of course the food could have changed because of the influences of spices and chili and also from the other cultures of Malaysia.We had wonton noodles for lunch on of the few days we were in Kuala Lumpur. It is something that I did crave for when I was away from Malaysia. You can get wonton noodles at almost all coffeeshops but there are of course, the few favorites. We didn't get to go eat at Ho Weng Kee at SS2 but Leung Kee's wonton noodles are not too bad too. I like my noodles, soft and smooth but some people actually prefer their noodles to have a rubber band texture!Pickled green chilies are a must with Wonton mee.Wonton skins were smooth and the filling very tasty.They are always served separately with soupwhen you order your noodles dry.We ordered and extra bowl of prawn and pork dumplings.The nood...
More About: Malaysian , Coffeeshops

Dosa/Thosai
2008-01-25 09:10:00
One of the first things we have to have when we get back to Kuala Lumpur is having roti canai or thosai. I love roti with fish curry but on this occasion I decided to have thosai. I must say that they did it really well at this curry house opposite Ambank on Jalan Yap Kwan Seng.Nescafe ice - sweetened with condensed milk plus sugar!Rava dosa for a change. I prefer paper dosa.David's dosa.Lots of coconut chutney to go with dosa is a must.
More About: Travel , Indian , Dosa

Oriental Spoon
2008-01-25 06:25:00
We opted for Korean food last Sunday night. Ai Ling went with David in the car and I got a fantastic ride to the restaurant on Gavin's bike. My stomach was doing flip flops and by the time I got there, I wasn't sure I was hungry anymore!Of course when the food arrived sizzling, the aroma of freshly cooked food whet my appetite. Korean food can be very spicy so be careful not to order anything that says, "exceptionally spicy" on the menu. We ordered the exceptionally spicy skinless chicken dish that really set our tongues on fire. It was really enjoyable if you can withstand the heat. David sure did since he hadn't had spicy food the past week due to gastric and he made up for it by finishing a good portion of this spicy dish.You can tell from the picture that it looks spicy!The only person that really enjoyed this was David.The seafood with tofu soup was really good.You can find small clams, oysters, shrimps and lots of tofu in the soup.Shrimp pancake was reserved for thosewho di...
More About: Travel , Spoon , Oriental

Yong Tau Fu
2008-01-25 05:25:00
This is what we had for an early dinner before we caught out flight to Sydney last Thursday. Mom suggested it because it was near her house in USJ14. Margeret's Yong Tau Fu is famous because of its silken tofu stuffed with mince fish & pork paste. My mother once asked them where they got their supply of tofu from but they weren't about to reveal their trade secret! I must say that the tofu is exceptionally soft and smooth. Very tasty.We had some other dishes and you can see that everything is very fresh and we were very satisfied with our meal.Stewed pork with fungus.A mixture of tofu, lady's fingers andbitter gourd all stuffed with a deliciousfish & pork paste and fried.They are then served up with a bit of broth.Fresh iceberg lettuce lightly stir fried with garlicand oyster sauce.Stuffed brinjal - excellent!Light and crisp - the fried beancurd skin stuffedwith fish paste was really something!You can't eat Yong Tau Fu without thesweet sauce mixed with chili sauce
More About: Restaurants , Chinese

Scandinavia
2008-01-25 05:01:00
My friend Caroline is married to a Danish guy. I used to call him, her Danish butter cookie :) and they both live with their 3 kids in Geneva. During the holidays, they drive back to Denmark to spend with Peter's family. The drive takes 14 hours across Switzerland and Germany. Peter says the drive is manageable because the roads are great and there are enough pit stops along the way so that the kids can visit the toilet and the adults can stretch and change drivers.I have visited them in Geneva twice and have expressed an interest to follow them by car back to Denmark and then travel to the other Scandinavian countries. From Denmark to the mountains of Lapland, the incredible scenery of Scandinavia makes driving your own vehicle a fantastic experience. The roads are excellent and traffic signs are easy to understand. Accommodation should not be a problem, just visit Sweden Hotels ; Stockholm Hotels ; Norway Hotels ; Oslo Hotels.I know Peter's family is not in Copenhagen but I can...
More About: Travel , Western