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A&W's
2007-09-04 17:26:00
The A&W's Drive In Restaurant in State, Petaling Jaya has been there for as long as I can remember. It was probably the only American fast food outlet at that time in the seventies. It wasn't so popular when McDonald's opened but I personally feel that they've survived because of the root beer and its waffle!Fat juicy bean sproutsSteamed chicken with gingerWe had quick dinner at Ipoh Chicken Rice tonight. We only ordered steamed chicken and bean sprouts saving space for dessert at A&W's. David and I have eaten waffles in a lot of countries when we travel and we feel that the ones they serve at A&W's are the best :)Waffles!!I really enjoyed the rootbeer floatToday ours came with one very huge scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with strawberry sauce. The root beer float with vanilla ice cream was excellent! I am not really a fan of root beer but I think it is the only soda that tastes nice with ice cream.We were quite surprised to find the car park full and the place pa...
More About: Fast Food , Dessert , Western

La Manila
2007-09-04 16:26:00
We go to La Manila at Midvalley Megamall for local favorites. The Penang Char Kuey Teow is the best! I also love the Prawn Mee, the Curry Laksa and the Assam Laksa.The best curry noodles in town IMHO!Also the best char kuey teow!David and I didn't really need to say out loud to each other where we were headed for dinner, after we parked the car at this shopping mall yesterday. We automatically walked to La Manila! I enjoyed my char kuey teow tremendously! Can't wait to go again for the curry laksa.
More About: Chinese , A Man , Nila

Delicious
2007-09-04 15:56:00
We've always enjoyed good meals at Delicious and many people can attest to the fact that the food there is great. It is a place to meet your friends; where families have their Sunday dinners; where girlfriends have tea after shopping around Bangsar; and where you can expect good food without fail. It is also a place where people young and old gather to enjoy time together - a wholesome restaurant which serves a variety of food so that everyone can have their favorites.We usually end up in Bangsar area on a Sunday. David likes the peanut pancake sold at the night market and I usually find fresh vegetables there. We frequent a few restaurants and a favorite is Delicious. We are surprised it took us almost a week after we got back before we ate there! We haven't had the time actually. So when we ended up there for dinner, it was unplanned and by the way sorta thing.The local food is what David loves. There was a time I was crazy about the sambal udang tumis and would have that almost...
More About: Restaurants , Dessert , Italian , Western

Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur
2007-09-01 16:43:00
Shin Kee Beef NoodlesDry hor fun noodles with minced beefI prefer the beef ball with my noodlesDavid likes the beef slicesShin Kee serves my favorite beef ball noodles. I always order a large bowl. During the day you can find the shop on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock but as it was night, they operate on Petaling Street. We didn't really plan to eat there but David had to send some guests from overseas to Chinatown so it turned out that we could grab a bite at one of our favorite hawker stalls.Batter, sugar and peanutsHe has been selling his peanut pancake for years in Petaling StreetWe always choose the edges. Nice and crispy :)David was also eyeing his favorite dessert - peanut pancake. He absolutely loves it. Every Sunday, he would go to the night market in Bangsar to buy some. We buy extra pieces for breakfast the next day. It is nice and crispy after toasting it in the oven.As we were walking back, we passed by the longan drink stall, locally referred to as Air Mata Kucing. I rememb...
More About: Snacks , Dessert , Chinese , Kuala Lumpur

Makaning Bentong, Malaysia
2007-08-31 11:24:00
It is National Day holiday today. Merdeka! Merdeka!We joined our church cell group for a little outing out of the city to eat Durian! David and I are not particularly fans of the King of Fruits but we went along to enjoy the fellowship. The drive is about an hour and half and our destination was a little village off Bentong, called Sang Lee village.A pit stop is necessary before reaching Sang Lee and since Bentong is famous for its homemade ice cream, we made our way to this coffeshop called Kow Po. I had the shaved ice with palm sugar, cocktail fruits and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. David had the same but he was greedy and ordered another two scoops of ice cream.Ice kacang also had cendol and red beanPandan and sweet corn flavors - very local!It was a hot day and having something cool like ice kacang was nice. The village was another 20 mins drive away. The road was good and there was little traffic.All packed and ready to load onto lorryThe boss likes his cigar :)The durian sh...
More About: Travel , Malaysia , Chinese , Tong

Tony Romas, Shanghai
2007-08-31 11:19:00
Freshly baked bread with herb butter served to all patronsSt. Louis ribs basted with Carolina honeyWe love the ribs here! No conversations, just lip smacking barbequed ribs.
More About: Shanghai , Western , Tony

Lao Wu Chuan Cai Guan, Ningbo
2007-08-25 06:28:00
Old House of Szechuan cuisine at Xiaowen JieWe had a mini feast yesterday night to celebrate Esther and Punit's birthdays earlier since we won't be here next week. It was our treat for them and we headed for this Szechuan restaurant near our place. It was also at this restaurant that we first met Punit and Rohith.We like the food there and we each ordered our favorites. We are an unusual group where eating is concerned. Punit is strictly vegetarian and Rohith is Hindu and doesn't eat beef. So ordering can be tricky but thanks to their openness, we have been able to enjoy many meals together!The beef wrapped in lotus leaf was excellent. It was loaded with garlic!Another version of potato strips.Instead of spicy and sour, the strips were deep friedwith dried chilies and coriander leaves were added.It was really nice.Sweet and sour pork ribs - one of Rohith's favoriteThis was also an excellent tofu dish with celery, leek, brinjal and chili.Diced chicken pieces with peanut and dried...
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Spicy , Chua , Ningbo

Masala Popcorn
2007-08-25 04:12:00
Melted butter mixed with masala spiceThis recipe is courtesy of Punit from Bombay, India!Popcorn with a twist! Instead of salt or caramel, it was garam masala spice!! Salt was sprinkled on the popcorn after it popped, garam masala was mixed with melted butter then added to the popcorn and tossed. Savory popcorn - what an interesting snack :)
More About: Travel , Indian , Snacks , Spicy

Dry Curry Noodles
2007-08-22 13:38:00
Improvising is what I do best when cooking. We've ran out of rice so I planned on cooking the last of the ramen noodles, I like so much for dinner. I also have to finish off whatever foodstuff which cannot keep because we are heading back to Kuala Lumpur for a few weeks.Now I had in mind fried noodles with scallops and celery. I had celery stems left which I bought yesterday. I only used the leaves for my bah kut teh soup the night before.All I had to do was to fry some garlic and ginger, add the scallops, celery and seasoning and when cooked, to mix in the ramen. I started by preparing some chopped garlic and ginger. While doing this, I decided that what I had in mind seemed a bit bland. I rummaged and found some seafood curry powder. I mixed about 2 teaspoons of it with some stock to add to the stir fry turning it into dry curry noodles.It was an appreciated move because David is thrilled to have anything curry. He came home just as I was mixing in the ramen and when he walked by...
More About: Chinese , Fusion , Curry , Noodles , Spicy

What is This?
2007-08-20 04:04:00
The fruit is called Jin Gu Niang (Gold Lady) from Shandong province. I have searched the internet but have no idea what it is in English.Anyone with any ideas?
More About: Travel , Fruits

A Taste of Home
2007-08-19 10:36:00
I had the most satisfying lunch today at Z Place.I ordered Hainanese chicken rice and it was delicious. To me, the two most important accompaniment to good Hainanese chicken rice dish is the chili sauce and the rice. I rate this one of the best chicken rice I've eaten in a while. Either that or I've been starving for a taste of home!I was so hungry and eager to sample that I forgot to take a photo first.Notice how I had already tried mixing up the 3 different ingredients!Not only that the chili sauce was good - it also came with thick black soy sauce and minced ginger. The combination of these 3 ingredients made the sauce really nice with the steamed chicken and buttered rice.The chicken was done well. Boneless chicken steamed and served cold with a sprig or two of Chinese parsley and soy sauce. One bowl of rice wasn't quite enough for me.What a nice and satifying Sunday lunch :)
More About: Travel , Restaurants , Home , Taste

An Italian Affair
2007-08-18 14:31:00
We went shopping at Metro this afternoon for some groceries and items for the house. We find Metro has most of the things we need. It is a hypermarket - most items are sold in bulk so we don't go there every week. For other basic items we just walk next door to A-Best supermarket.What we like about Metro is that they carry more imported stuff. The frozen food section is well stocked with imported fish. We only eat fillets or fish without scales :) which you don't find in the Chinese supermarket so we are glad Metro has a good selection.We bought some frozen scallops and I made a creamy sauce to go with it and pasta. I still had a huge bunch of spinach which I couldn't finish cooking yesterday so I boiled them and made a Western style salad by adding butter, cream cheese, salt and pepper. It was not too bad.Spinach overkill - yesterday and today! I think I'll lay off these greens for a while :) We managed to get a small tetra pak of whipping cream so that's when I decided to ma...
More About: Italian , Seafood , Affair

A Simple Lunch
2007-08-18 14:13:00
Rice is our staple and we have it for dinner most nights. For lunch I prefer bread or noodles but because I am alone, I end up eating leftovers so inevitably it will be rice.I guess if we eat so much refined foods - white rice and white flour for the bread, we should try to introduce more healthy grains to our diet. I was telling David that we should mix our white rice with some red and brown rice and change our white sugar to brown sugar. The only problem is trying to find these in China!When we eat out at the Chinese restaurants, rice and noodles are the only staples we get. Today we ordered some dishes to have with rice. We were planning on 2 dishes - the sweet and sour, spicy potato strips, and the egg with tomatoes but David decided to add a grilled mackerel.I love suan la tu dou siFried egg with tomatoes is a very appetizing dishGrilled mackerel was a bit tinyI ordered cucumber juice. I find it very refreshing on a hot dayIt was a quick lunch because we were going to visit Dav...
More About: Travel , Lunch , Simple

An Uphill Task
2007-08-17 14:06:00
Cooking is an uphill task for me. Not only because I only started cooking in my late thirties but also because I don't know half the food items out there. This cooking adventure has taught me so much! And I'd have say that it has been much easier because of the internet. What I don't know I google!Today I was actually lazy. When David called up in the afternoon, I indicated that we might end up eating out. I had a change of mind in the evening so I quickly took the meat out from the freezer. We still buy our meat from the supermarket. I have no idea how to buy meat or fish let alone know what the parts are called in Chinese .My walk to the market was leisurely. I was taking in the surroundings - the other residents walking around the garden and walking their dogs. Outside, activity was bustling - it usually peaks about 5pm when it's after working hours. A lot of people shop for the day's food to cook for dinner.I only needed 1 vegetable. Nothing in mind until I spotted what look...
More About: Beans , Task

One Pot Cooking
2007-08-16 14:14:00
Do you know that I've been using this wok without a handlebecause I couldn't find it when we first opened the box!Well....we found it IN the box when we were moving :)So I've fixed it today and what a joy to have the wok fitted with a handle.For dinner today, I fried some fresh vegetables bought just before cooking :) For the main dish, I decided to try one pot cooking. Chicken and mushrooms with rice cooked in the rice cooker.My "fried" rice with bits of nicely browned garlicI washed the rice and let it dry. I fried up some chopped garlic with the rice. Put the rice back into the rice cooker and added water and chicken stock to cook as usual.For the chicken - I marinated it with loads of chopped ginger and onions. Add some black, thick soy sauce, pepper and a dash of five spice powder. Oh! I put some sesame oil into the marinade because I just love the smell of it. I thought it might just add more flavor to the chicken.The dried mushrooms were sitting in a bowl of hot water to s...
More About: Cooking , Cookin

To Market, To Market...
2007-08-16 13:53:00
To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,Home again, home again, dancing a jig;To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;Home again, home again, jiggety-jog;To market, to market, to buy a plum bun,Home again, home again, market is done.Mother Goose rhymeI didn't buy a pig or a plum bun but I came away with some really fresh vegetable. A huge bunch cost me only RMB2. Actually I don't know what I bought - the lady had a very strong Ningbonese accent so I couldn't make it out but here's what they look like. After cooking I realize that its this slimy vegetable I like.My original picture was very dark.I am learning to use Picasa to edit the photo for uploadThere were quite a variety of vegetables, mushrooms, fresh noodles and fruits - as it should be but I haven't been to a wet market for so many years. We usually do our shopping at air conditioned supermarkets so visiting the market here is an event to be noted!Vegetables were fresh and the stalls were clean. I guess I was fortunate to...
More About: Marketing , Travel , Market

Tea Time in China
2007-08-15 14:55:00
By 5pm we were exhausted. Having moved 3 car loads from the 5th floor of the old apartment to the new, our legs and arms were aching. It wasn't so bad at the new place since we had a separate entrance and the front door was only a few steps up but we still had to walk up steps from the basement car park.Chinese chives pancake was nice but very oilyI couldn't start unpacking until I had some food so we walked to the street corner to have something light to eat. We ordered Chinese chives pancake and herbal jelly dessert served in some chilled evaporated milk.Sweet milk with bitter jellyThe dessert was very nice and refreshing. The slightly bitter herbal jelly was nice against the not too sweet milky base. It was also very cheap :)We weren?t up to cooking so we went out for a simple dinner at another restaurant around the area. We are going to attempt eating at all the eateries nearby so that we know what?s good. We were told that most of them deliver so we can call for a takeaway if...
More About: China , Snacks , Dessert , Time

Food Photography
2007-08-13 11:00:00
I like photography. I appreciate real life form, scenery and events captured on lens. But I really love food photography. I wish I had the patience of some of the food bloggers out there. They not only cook well but capture the food beautifully on camera.I wished I could take better photos :) David won't let me use the flash when I take photos at restaurants. He thinks it irritates the other patrons and I guess he is right. So now you know why some of my pictures are so bland :(I've overcome the feeling of being shy about whipping out my camera for anything and everything that happens in my life but I will still try not to bring too much attention to ourselves. I did get this man waving a shaving knife at me when I tried to take a picture of his customer!But I just love taking pictures and I love blogging.Esther was making fun of me the other day at the movies. Seeing that it was my first cinema show in Ningbo, she teased me - she asked if I was going to take a picture of my cinem...
More About: Food , Photography , Food photography , Graph

Ciao Italia, Ningbo
2007-08-12 16:20:00
Today we wanted to eat Italia n and we decided to try this restaurant listed on the Ningbo Guide and since I was chatting with Lusha on MSN I asked if she would like to join us for dinner.The menu was pretty extensive. The selection for each course is varied. I must say that I couldn't decide! David was going for a pizza while I was torn between the risotto and the steak. In the end I settled for a pasta, Lusha had a pizza, David changed his mind and ordered the homemade gnocchi.Lusha's pizza margheritaDavid ordered homemade gnocchi with spinachMy fusili with seafood and pesto sauce was excellent.I like it that the chef put black olives and raisins in it.I also had a glass of white wine and David had the red. It was pretty good and I was happy that my wine wasn't too dry.We don't usually eat the full 5 course meals Italian s eat. We have either a salad and a primi (1st course) or skip the starter/salad and save room for dessert.I had a full course Italian lunch once. We were in M...
More About: Travel , Dessert , Breads

Look What David Found...
2007-08-09 20:23:00
Wasa rye crispbread! In Auchan!I love these high fiber goodness. I think I've seen it in supermarkets in Malaysia but never attempted to try them until we were in Germany last year.We are very Western when it comes to that morning meal. Coffee is a must and cereal is preferred. Cold meats, fresh fruits and juice, cheeses with fresh bread is a luxury but that was what most B&B's in Germany serve as their first meal. I must say that we enjoyed our hotel breakfasts very much.I'd grab a few extra crispbread which were packaged separately, where ever available to munch during the day and I got accustomed to the almost bland taste. I guess eating it with some cheese, peanut butter or some preserve would have made it nicer! The rye ones are a bit tough if eaten without spreads but it is undeniably a healthy alternative to crisps or junk food. I prefer the Crisp and Light kind which is nice plain but they don't have it here at Auchan.
More About: Travel , David , Breads , Look , Davi

Fish and Chips
2007-08-09 19:33:00
I attempted another Western meal and it didn't turn out well.My chips tasted good but were soggy! I think I didn't deep fry them long enough or the oil, not hot enough to properly fry the potatoes.The batter for the fish was tasty and again, I think I couldn't retain the oil hot enough to give the batter a good frying so the fish was not crispy on the outside and not crumbly on the inside.I need a deep fat fryer if I am going to attempt deep frying anything else. I was really slaving at the stove, so to speak, when cooking today. It was hot and hard work, trying to make sure the fish didn't stick to the bottom. Cleaning the pot after was another nightmare. Good thing David thought to soak it in soapy hot water to get the hardened bits out.I am still dreaming about having really good fish and chips. The best David and I have eaten was in Kaiaua, North Island, New Zealand. It was really in an out of the way sorta route but it was one that was most scenic. We almost missed the shop...
More About: Travel , Fish , Chips , Chip

Nanyuan Hotel, Ningbo
2007-08-06 15:52:00
One of the highlights of Makanning Ningbo is having dinner at Nanyuan Hotel . The food is really superb here.Today we had spring rolls - light crispy pastry deep fried with fresh vegetables inside; steamed crabs with light soy sauce and wine - the crab meat was so sweet and there were lots of roe; seafood broth with puff pastry - the broth was nice and thick, and filled with goodies; fresh scallops cooked with lots of garlic and some vermicelli; razor clams with some salted vegetables; fried beancurd with some chili sauce; diced chicken with dried chilies; tung poh pork, and some other vegetable dishes.All the dishes are prepared well and the quality never varies. We've always been impressed by the food and have not been disappointed yet.The packaging is impressive!We got a little extra when we were leaving, David's partner who is always our host when we eat there gave us some mooncakes. The Mid Autumn Festival is coming up soon. Not really that soon because it is supposed to be s...
More About: Travel , Chinese

My Disclosure Policy
2007-08-04 06:04:00
This policy is valid from 04 August 2007This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.This blog does not contain any content which might pr...
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Travel UK
2007-08-04 05:09:00
Steven is one of this blog's visitor and he's living in London - a city I love and miss! I've had the privilege to travel there a few times when David had to work there and I can't get enough of the city. Steven has been sharing with me his foodie haunts in London :)I think I have fond memories of London because of my friends there. When I visit, I spend a lot of time with them. I have no lack of accommodation because I always have an open invitation to stay with them in the suburbs. Still there sometimes arise a need to find accommodation in the city for David's work.Inevitably I'd travel to Manchester to visit Ling. I am no football fan but I am sorta a MU fan by default. Way back in college, my friend David Peters who is a fan, made me one! So when I first visited Manchester, Mike who is Ling's husband drove me around the city and we paid a visit to Old Trafford. It was late in the evening and very quiet. I wondered then, what it would sound like with the crowds during a m...
More About: Travel

Z Place
2007-08-01 16:03:00
Otak-otak was authenticLaksaChar Kuey TeowWe tried the food at the Singaporean restaurant in Ningbo called Z Place . I had ordered laksa curry and David, the char kuey teow. We ordered otak-otak as a side dish.My laksa was not too bad. Not very authentic but then again Singapore laksa could be different from Malaysian laksa. I still like the La Manila curry laksa best! David's char kuey teow was not bad and again, not very authentic. We exchanged plates to try each other's food but in the end I finished the char kuey teow. I like it that it was a bit sweet.The otak was authentic. I personally prefer the steamed kind. The offering at Z Place was good, spicy and fresh.We saw a lot of familiar food we'd like to go back and try. Bak kut teh, Hainanese chicken rice and some other spicy dishes.We didn't stay long enough to watch the band play. A band plays old Chinese music from Mondays to Wednesdays and the rest of the week, the entertainment is jazz performed by a Filipino band.
More About: Lace

Elements@Lao Waitan, Ningbo
2007-07-29 08:04:00
On the dot at 10pm we walked over from Indian Kitchen to Elements Restaurant & Lounge where the music was already loud. We were given our bracelets upon entering. I got 2 because ladies get a free toilet pass.The party is called, "Break the Seal" where we paid RMB75 (early bird price) for drink all you want. When you need to go to the toilet, they cut your bracelet and after that you'd have to pay for drinks. There were finger food going around and I had a few chicken nuggets which were quite good.*The restaurant was having the party as a sort of soft launch. The official one is sometime in August. My first drink was sangria and it wasn't half bad with loads of cut fruits. Next was a tequila sunrise served in a Jack Daniel's etched glass tumbler which I really like (I mean the tumbler!). After that I stuck with Bacardi and coke. David and I had quite a lot to drink!I checked out the menu and after chatting with the owner cum chef, David found out that Richard is from Hong Kong an...
More About: Travel , Bars , Wait , Ningbo

Indian Kitchen@Lao Waitan, Ningbo
2007-07-29 07:23:00
Yellow dhal butter friedFish masalaDavid's favorite restaurant in Ningbo has to be Indian Kitchen . Surprisingly, we haven't been there to eat since we got here in June. Yesterday was our first visit and David was greeted familiarly by the restaurant manager who recognized us. The manager even remembered David's preference for Coke Light.There was the weekend buffet but we opted for ala carte because I wasn't really hungry and wouldn't do the eat all you can invite, any justice. I usually do the ordering because I am more familiar with the dishes but David tried yesterday night. In the end it was still my suggestion to have the yellow dhal dish and it tasted great with naan bread. I really have to try to find the recipe.We met Saravanan, the operations manager later at the party next door and I tried a few Tamil words I learned from my friend, Kavitha on him and his friend Ashok. They had a good laugh and with that I wrangled a promise from them to teach me how to cook the dhal ...
More About: Travel , Chen , Wait

Chao Nian Gao ???
2007-07-29 07:14:00
Chao Nian Gao is quite nice but very filling. The rice cake is stir fried with vegetables, mushrooms and pork slices. The texture is very chewy and surprisingly not dry.Flesh juice anyone?You can have some snock too :)
More About: Chinese

Casa Maya@Lao Waitan, Ningbo
2007-07-26 15:19:00
David is not working today because there's no electricity at the factory due to some upgrading works. What started as a boring day for me and him turned out pretty well towards dinner. I usually don't cook on his days off so that we can explore the city a bit and eat out.We were actually undecided but since we'd already visited O'Reilly's some weeks back, we decided to go to Lao Wait an instead. It is Ningbo's version of the Bund. It was quite deserted last year but tonight, it was teeming with dinner patrons as well as people strolling near the river.We headed for Casa Maya a Mexican Restaurant which opened on the 21st of this month. It was deserted and after looking through the menu, I can see that David wanted to head to Indian Kitchen. The hostess was Filipino and she noticed we weren't local. She persuaded us to try and told us that the chef was authentic Mexican. The restaurant was actually located on the 1st floor hence the deserted ground floor.A spiral staircase broug...
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Fish Noodles
2007-07-25 13:24:00
I am tired of eating rice so I decided to try this recipe from a friend's site. Back in Malaysia, I used to crave for fish head noodles and I have to say that it's not easy to find a hawker stall that serves it just right for my taste.When Suz posted this recipe, I was thrilled. I had some fish fillets in the freezer and I was thinking to cook fish porridge but decided against it as I was trying to set a record of cooking a different meal everyday without repeating!I didn't follow the recipe exactly because I was lazy and didn't want to fry the fish fillets. It tastes so much better if you get the fillet pieces all nice and crispy to go with the soup. Instead I just marinated the fish with some pepper, organic seasoning and some ginger (to get rid of the fishy smell). I also sliced some mushrooms and tomatoes.To cook, I first browned garlic and ginger. Then I added the marinated fish. Followed by mushrooms and tomatoes. After these were all nicely cooked, I added some spicy pick...
More About: Fish , Noodles