Esquire Goodness...

Esquire Kitchen is pretty much an institution in KL. One of my earliest memories of it was having dinner with my family when I was three or four years old at the one of the oldest restaurants situated in Sungai Wang.

Over the past 30-odd years of my life, the food has remained pretty much the same, except for a few new additions. The decor has changed slightly but the main theme of the restaurant still remained the same.

Kuching Hawker Food

I certainly enjoyed the hawker food in Kuching.

In fact, my most favourite food is Kuching Laksa. Kuching Laksa is very different from the curry laksa served in KL. The main difference is that it has prawns and egg slices served with it.

The bee hoon noodles are also a bit thicker than your regular bee hoon. Absolutely delicious...

Chicken Rice @ Restoran Satellite, Petaling Jaya

I can't believe that I did not blog about this particular chicken rice place despite having taken photos (and edited it) 3 months back!!!

Anyway, this chicken rice place has been at this location in PJ ever since I could remember. My family has been going to this shop for our chicken rice fix for many many many many years... Yes, ever since I could remember...

The restaurant's name is called "Satellite" and it is situated in PJ, near the KWSP building. It is the last corner coffee shop next to the road junction. If you are familiar with PJ, the shop is located opposite the AOG (Assembly of God) church at Jalan Gasing, PJ.

I love the bean sprouts served at this restaurant. The bean sprouts variety is fat and short, much like the ones they serve in Ipoh. It tends to be sweeter and has more of the bean sprouts taste.

In recent years, my Dad always like to order to minced pork meatballs which the restaurant serves in a soup. The meatballs are pretty large and I think they make it at the premises.

Finally, the "star" of the restaurant; the steamed chicken. The chicken is pretty sweet and fresh always. The sauce they drench the chicken in always seem to be so delicious, despite it being quite oily.

Of course, no chicken rice is complete without the "yellow" rice (rice cooked in chicken stock and other spices/herbs) and chilli sauce. For some of us, the chicken skin is the best part of all!! However, due to cholesterol concerns, we all don't eat the skin now.

Strange enough, when I spoke with my dietitian, she did say that I can still take chicken rice but remove the skin and not take too much of the sauce and avoid the "yellow rice". Besides that, portion control is important when it comes to how much protein and carbohydrates to take in this meal.

This restaurant also serves the "Hor Fun" or flat rice noodles cooked in soup or dry sauce, i.e. soya and oyster sauce which also goes very well with the chicken. ;-)

Just looking at these photos makes me drool.. Hehehe

Happy Festival of Lights!!

Wishing everyone and their families a Happy Deepavali or Diwali!!!!!

Sorry-la... No photos this year as I didn't manage to go out to take photos of those beautiful kolums...

Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri...

To everyone who is traveling these Hari Raya Holidays, have a safe "balik kampung" with your friends and family.

The Last Day @ Meng Kee, Jalan Tengkat Tongshin

Talk about "The Last Supper"...

Just last week, I went with a group of friends to have brunch at one of KL's old eateries.. Meng Kee @ Jalan Tengkat Tongshin.

This place has been an institution of food in the Bukit Bintang area for a great many years.

It just so happens that the day we all decided to meet up at Meng Kee was to be the last day the shop would be opened at its current location at Jalan Tengkat Tongshin. When the shop finishes its business at around 3pm, it would be closed for good.

However, it won't be closed for long as the stall would relocate to Jalan Alor, which is just behind its current location. The shop would reopen in about 1-2 weeks time.

We chatted with one of the aunties and she mentioned that the stall did not want to pay the exorbitant rentals which has kept increasing year upon year. It seems that the rental of the shop was RM20,000 per month!

Being in a nice location with some pretty interesting decorative architecture, this shoplot would soon be converted into something trendy like some of the restaurants down the road, i.e. Changkat Bukit Bintang.

Now, time for the food... :-)

Yes, we had to have some vegetables... Although it was supposed to be a day of celebration for some of us carnivores but the balanced omnivores wanted some greens/fibre...

The steamed chicken was yummy. I think it was kampung chicken or free-range, as the fat was quite yellow and the meat especially sweet. The farm-reared chicken tends to taste a bit bland, which means that when steamed, the meat is not as sweet.

Meng Kee has some really delicious char siew or honey BBQ pork which just melts in your mouth. The pork is BBQ to perfection where the dark bits are sticky and sweet, without leaving the meat hard and dry. In short, each mouthful tastes succulent and moist!

As usual, there are no photos of my friends pigging out as they are shy to be in front of the camera.

I think I will pay Meng Kee a visit at their new location (near Nova Hotel at Jalan Alor) when they reopen in about a week's time.

Breakfast of Champions...

You'll have to admit that this has got to be one of Malaysia's most favourite breakfast item...

When my uncles from Australia come back to KL for a visit, one of the first stops for breakfast would be at the local Indian restaurant to fulfill their Roti Canai crave.

I think one of my uncles can sit down to have 3 pieces of the Roti Kosong (no filling) with a Thosai as well.

My family often goes to this particular restaurant near the Universiti Hospital for our Roti Canai breakfast during the weekends. I don't have it during the normal weekdays as I either have bread, yogurt or cereal in the morning before I rush off to work.

Now, our favourite accompaniment with roti is...

This makes for a very complete "meal" (unhealthy.. :( ) and so, Roti Canai is sometimes a brunch thing that we do over the weekends.

Of course, roti being just pure carbohydrates will not last us beyond 2 or 3 hours and so, we have to take some fruits as fibre to keep us full.

Now that my uncle from Perth is down in KL, I wonder if we would be taking him there for Roti this weekend...

7:02am

Damn it!

Ok, I shouldn't start my post with a curse.... But.... No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get my mandatory 8 hours of sleep. =_=

I went to bed at around 12:30am and woke up... lo and behold at.... 6:15am. I was supposed to be awake by 7:00am. Where did that 45minutes of sleep go?? Oh yeah, I remembered... Nature's call woke me up. Grrr...

7:05am - Some random thoughts before I feed the dogs and prepare to go to work. I've got to get the routine right as by next week, the school holidays would be over and the mad traffic return to the streets. *sigh*

Anyway, something cool to share - my sis and bro-in-law have given names to the twins. They are very certain that both are girls. So, we're currently praying that Charlotte and Olivia would safely arrive at the end of August.

Wouldn't it be cool if they arrive on 31st August 2009 and share the same birthday as Snoopy? But then, the cost of delivering that day would be double or triple...

Perfect Sunday Brunch

After a hectic week, it is often a good idea to unwind with some activities. For me, a good meal with my parents is a definite must for me.

No matter how busy, we all must make time for family; be it a meal or just to meet up for a drink.

My Dad is a big fan of spicy food. So, last weekend, he insisted on having some banana leaf rice at one of the restaurants in PJ.

Banana leaf rice is pretty popular in Malaysia as the "set" comes with a default set of vegetables side dishes, some yummy curry or dal sauce and as an optional dish - meat or fish.

We typically eat Banana Leaf rice with our "natural fork-and-spoon", i.e. our fingers. It can be messy for first-timers but once you get the hang of it, you'll enjoy every finger-licking moment. :-)

There is something definitely satisfying when you eat with your bare hands. Of course, PLEASE do remember to wash your hands before you eat. (^.^)

I was craving for some fried chicken - no thanks to EV who showed me her b'day vouchers from Jusco; where one of it was for KFC... Damn...

Mom ordered her fried fish, Dad some curry chicken while I had my fried chicken. All 3 dishes were delicious!! The chicken was deep-fried to perfection - not too greasy and the chicken is still moist inside.

Dad really enjoyed his meal as he asked for extra rice - with no charge.

However, like everything else, the banana leaf rice set is now RM4.50, where it was previously RM3. The fried chicken is about RM6 when it used to be RM4.50... :-(

Oh well, it wasn't too bad. At least we had the rasem and payasam for free...

After this HUGE meal - we all went back to our carbohydrate coma... Bliss...

Some Taiwanese Please...

Some weeks back, EV wanted to celebrate her b'day by going out to a lunch and movie. Her favourite X-men character Wolverine was playing and she had been talking about it for weeks.

I enjoyed the movie as it was entertaining and that is all. ;-)

We ended up at Fong Lye, a Taiwanese restaurant in Gardens, MidValley.

I can't remember if this is the Peach Ice-Tea or Passion fruit Iced-Tea, but it was refreshing on a hot day!! I usually like to go for Bubble Tea or Milk Tea but the weather being so hot, you just need something sweet or sour with lots of ice to quench that thirst!

The rice-sets at Fong Lye come with a reasonably large bowl of rice, with yummy minced pork. Most sets will come with 3 small side dishes and a bowl of soup.

This time round I decided to go for the chicken chop which was crispy and succulent at the same time. EV went for the Ginger Beef set, of which I didn't take a photo of...

As for the price, Fong Lye is reasonably priced for the portion they provide. This explains why there is always a long queue outside the restaurant during weekends. There is a complimentary lime drink for those who wait outside for their seat - which is great as it stimulates the appetite too. :-) Besides that, I find that to be a nice touch to welcome customers to the restaurant.

This is a restaurant that I will return time and time again.... Yum!

Check Your ATM Transaction Print Outs...

During such harsh economic times, every single penny counts. And so, even when we use the ATM to do our banking or reloading transactions, it's important to check your ATM transaction print outs.

Last night, I nearly got a heart attack while reloading my Touch N' Go card at the ATM.

I usually reload my card every two months and so, for each reload, I go for RM200, since I'm already down to my last few ringgit - RM3.61, which isn't enough to get by the tolls I pass through each day., to and from work. :-(

I went through the motions and da... da... da... Everything went as normal. So I thought.

When I touched my card, the ATM screen showed that I've reloaded RM2000!!!!

WHAT THE HECK????!!!!

Well, when I got the print out, it confirmed what the ATM screen showed. I've reloaded my card and instead of RM203.61, it showed RM2036.14!!??

I checked the balance at the ATM again, (cost me another RM0.50 to check... GRRRRR) and Thank Goodness, it showed the right balance - RM203.61. *Phew*

The funny thing is, where did that 0.004 come from??? Hmmmm...

If I had really reloaded RM2000 for my card, I would have called up the bank to give them an earful about their programming error. I don't mind reloading my card with that large amount as it would save me the hassle of reloading it for the next 12-15months, but to lose RM2000 from your account is just painful!

So, better check your ATM transactions carefully.

Chinese New Year @ Suria KLCC

It just seems that the festivals are pilling up one after another. It was just a few days since the Christmas season has passed and now, in a couple of weeks; we'll be enjoying another round of festivities again.

Gosh, this is going to put havoc on my diet and exercise regime! Anyway, I'm lucky to have supportive friends and family members who understand my regiment and so, they try not to force food on me. However, I'm getting lots of advice on how to lose weight!! Good, or bad, I thank them for it.

Anyway, the shopping malls are hard at work to setup stages, decorations and arrange for cultural performances in light of the Chinese New Year festivities. Suria KLCC is of course, no exception.

Fridays are my photography days and after lunch, I usually bring my camera to take photos around this area.

The center court had been under preparation for the last 3 days and finally, the stage is ready for CNY performances. Soon, the stalls will be brought in for folks to buy CNY goodies. I can't wait for that. :-)

I'm not an expert in Chinese classical music/instruments but I believe the performers were playing music on the flute and Chinese "pi-pa".

Suria KLCC has hung up some lanterns all along the mall, as well as a couple of giant lanterns above the center court.

The lanterns hung around the mall... I like the symmetry of the lantern arrangement.

The decorations at Suria KLCC are at best modest. It does invoke the Chinese New Year mood as the shops start playing "tong-tong-chang" music (^^) as well as hanging up red decorations to invoke good fortune.

In times like this, the retailers need all the "red luck" they can get.

Christmas @ Work

Christmas is clearly underway now. Even though the economic situation seems quite dreary, but we do all we can to give ourselves some hope.

My office has started to put up some decorations for the upcoming Christmas party. It will be a fun time with some dinner and "Secret Santa". (^ ^)

This is a new Christmas tree which we put up this year. For many years, the office has been putting up a very small tree where we have to place a large box so that it looks better. So, after talking to management, management has decided to fork out some money to get the tree and new decorations. Yay!

I wished that the candy cane was real... ;-)

Even the shopping centres are outdoing each other this year with the Christmas decorations. This year, Suria KLCC has done away with the typical purple decorations and had decorated the tree with ornaments related to Christmas and the winter wonderland.

As for the attraction, Suria KLCC has scheduled performances of Christmas carols by different musical performers. For tonight, a string quartet performed in front of an audience. A string quartet consists of performers using four instruments - 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello.

I did not stick around for long as I had to go home. I do hope to capture more Christmas decorations at the other shopping centers. If you do have time, do try to stick around to see some performances as it will be worth your while. 

That reminds me, I will need to get the home ready for Christmas too!

Cake Obsession

I would have to admit. I have a slight cake obsession. 

The reason why I say, "slight" is that I do not normally idulge in cakes everyday or every week.

However, EV has a very very passionate cake obsession.

EV: I'm hungry

Me: You're always hungry.

EV: Let's have tea.

Me: It's almost dinner time, if you eat now, you won't be able to eat dinner.

EV: I don't care... I need CAKE... DELICIOUS!!!

EV and I are pretty ardent fans of Delicious. Sure, some folks think the food is so-so but I kind of like their menu, especially some of their salads. 

EV: I want to have chocolate and carrot cake.

Me: Wait ...wait.. You're suggesting that we eat TWO cakes???

EV: Yeah, why not?

Me: I can't finish two cakes let alone one. My stomach can't take it.

EV: Wah... Your stomach shrank. Good for you! More for me! 

She tries to convince me that carrot cake is "healthy", except for the cheese topping. Yeah, but she forgets the amount of butter and sugar which goes into the cake as well.. 

Moments later...

EV: Oh no... I can't finish it!!

Me: See, I told you so...

In the end, she ta-paoed the leftover cake. 

Now, EV is not that unhealthy. She only had stir-fried vegetables and some fried loh see fun for lunch. However, when it comes to her sweet tooth, she can't help but succumb to these yummy things...

Of course we finished the chocolate cake first... (^.^)

We Saw This Coming... Didn't We?

Rusty sure looks worried - I would be too if I see the cost of my kibbles and treats are going up...

CNN seems to be using this word very often these days - the dreaded "R" word which folks in the financial world have been trying to avoid for some months now.

Well, the world's 2nd largest economy has shrunk again in results for another quarter, and that means, it's technically in RECESSION.

We all knew that the big "boom" period would not last forever. What goes up, must eventually come down.

However, judging from the BIG crowd at the shopping malls, I don't think the Recession reality has hit our local Malaysian consumers. Sure, they noticed that price of goods are going up despite price of petrol going down. But, do they understand why?

I've explained to a colleague last night that the price of food is not just dependent on petrol alone. Many other factors are also included such as the price of animal feed which uses grains such as corn, has been scarce due to an increase of production for bio-fuel usage as well as environmental factors such as drought or global warming effects which has affected crops. Indirectly, these factors has attributed to the price of food.

Of late, I've also noticed that a lot of companies in whichever sector has been pushing hard to close deals/sales, initiated committed projects with clients and tried to forecast the future; in anticipation of getting enough monies to "ride this storm out".

It's the same with my company as well where the boss has been EXTRA PUSHY to get us to close deals with clients who are already quite hesitant to commit to anything. I'm very afraid that with TOO MUCH "CLIENT BULLYING", we just might lose the client. It's good to be persistent but not to the point of irritating the client.

Anyway, have you started to cut back spending or are you still oblivious to the economic turmoil around us?

Weekends Are For Relaxing

It is obvious that we work for the weekends, i.e. we spend all our waking time to make a living for ourselves. Of course, we also "work" for the weekends.

Unlike my dogs who take time out to relax everyday, I can only relax during the weekends. I wished that there were more days in a week where we can just relax. Somehow, I'm thinking about France and how those folks work about 3-4 days per week.

Anyway, in Malaysia, most companies will enforce a 5 day work-week. However, some unfortunate modern slaves (to coin's zewt's favourite description of modern-day office workers), have to put in 5.5days per week. :-(

So, in this 2 or 1.5 days of bliss, how do we Malaysians spend our time? Most will just stay home to catch up on chores as well as spend quality time with family. Others have a jam-packed schedule of shopping, yumcha/makan with friends as well as those gym fanatics; who will put in 2-3hrs at the gym in sweaty heaven. (^__^)

My latest weekend activity is just to go out and snap as many interesting photos as I can.

Since EV's favourite past time is to go "jalan-jalan cari makan" or walkabout looking for nice eats; these days, I tend to take more photos of food... Hmmm...

This weekend happened to be the start of the Malaysian school holidays. So, you would expect most malls around PJ and KL to be jammed packed with window-shoppers and their kids. Yep, it's like a zoo out there.

Honda's ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovation MObility) robot happened to be in town this weekend and me, being the ultrageek, managed to squeeze some time to see ASIMO in action! **claps hand with glee**

Before that, I had to do something for EV. She needed a lift to KL Sentral as she had a flight to Miri for work, and so, I obliged to give her a lift - provided she chia me breakfast. (^___^)

We went to this restaurant in Taman Tun Dr Ismail which is famous for their Ipoh Hor Fun. It used to be situated at the shop lots where Pizza Hut was but they have relocated to the row of shoplots next to the DBKL office in TTDI.

We had the Ipoh Hor Fun soup, with Steamed Breansprouts and Chicken. It was heavenly. If you are not watching your cholesterol points, you may just try the steamed chicken skin which is like a piece of silk just sliding down your throat. *slurp*

Breakfast came to RM23, which included drinks. Why it was so pricey, well, we ordered the steamed chicken drumstick + thigh combination... KEKEKEKEE

After dropping EV off, I "rushed" over to 1Utama to see if I could see ASIMO in action. When I got there, a sizeable crowd gathered in front of the stage and I was very lucky to be able to grab a spot at the right-side of the stage. The show started at 11:30 and I was there at around 11:55am. Talk about luck...

The doors opened, and ASIMO steps out to greet the crowd!!

I thought ASIMO would have been a lot bigger but it was no larger than a 10-year-old kid.

ASIMO in action, more pictures here.

ASIMO is a technological marvel in robotics as it moves in a very human-like manner. Now, you're wondering why a car manufacturer is pouring money into research for a robot but this robot has many uses in manufacturing as well as for other medical-related uses.

Research into ASIMO's mobility is helping scientist understand better the mechanics of movement, things we take for granted each day. By developing a robot which can move freely on its own, in future, perhaps quardipelgics or amputees may make use of robotics to gain the ability to move freely again.

Anyway, more information about ASIMO can be found here --> http://world.honda.com/ASIMO/.

The geek in me was very happy to see this in action. However, I was quite sad that I couldn't get any merchanise. Would have been nice to have a little ASIMO on my work desk.

Chillis Can Fly?

EV: Do you know that chillis can fly?

Me: Chillis fly??? You mean like fire coming out of your butt when you eat too much chilli padi? (^___^)
EV: What rubbish you talking about??

Kekeke.. This conversation never happened of course. It was entirely fictional. It just happened that we were @ Gardens, MidValley on Sunday to see if we can catch a movie and grab some lunch as well.

We both don't get out too often these days. For me, I've been staying home; following the Canto drama on DVD - Moonlight Resonance like crazy over the weekend. :-P EV, on the other hand has been stuck with work. She's one of those modern slaves where she will take 1 day out of her precious weekend off to go back to the office to just do some menial job like replying e-mails or completing her time sheet.

So, after a lot of persuasion, she decided to go out.

We ended up at Flying Chillies, one of the many Thai food outlets opened by Sea Cuisine Sdn. Bhd.

We started our meal, by calling a starter - Fried Sesame Seed Chicken Toast, accompanied with a Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (RM10+)

Close up of the starter...

Stir-fried Mixed Vegetables (RM15)

I persuaded EV to order the Thai Green Curry Chicken instead of going alacarte individually. She thought that since we both wanted to taste the green curry, we should order vegetables with white rice.

Thai Green Curry Chicken (RM15 - chicken, RM18 - beef)

The green curry was much more spicier than expected! Don't be fooled by the single "chilli" icon at the side of the menu item. This curry is hot!! The curry had green aubergines (brinjals) but it wasn't the small variety. Anyway, the balance between the sweet palm sugar and salty green curry paste suited my palate.

Infamous Thab Thim Grob (Red Ruby)

We were both so full after our lunch but still managed to scrounge some space in our bloated bellies to take dessert. :-P We both also ordered the Thai Iced Tea which was RM10+ each.

I can't really recall the price of the dessert as I didn't pay for the meal...... Haha!!!

Oh well, do try this place out. The food is quite good although pricey but that's to be expected for this type of cuisine.

An Old Faithful - Jaya Noodle House

I'm not sure if many folks still remember the old noodle shop in Jaya Supermarket @ SS14, PJ... But, that shop has moved to Jaya One ever since Jaya Supermarket has closed down.

On Saturday night, EV and I decided to try the food out at this old place.

Anyway, I remember the place being kind of old and dingy, tucked away at the corner past the jewelery store in Jaya Supermarket. Things have changed now that they have moved to Jaya One. The place is clean and isn't as dingy as before as the kitchen fumes didn't flow back to the dining area. Those were the memories of my childhood. :P

I went with an old classic - Char Siew Wantan Noodles (dry). The char siew meat was lean and a tad bit dry but the noodles was springy to the bite. The vegetables was poached to perfection, neither under nor over cooked.

The wantans were ok. Nothing fantastic and it didn't have too much fat. It could have used with a little bit more prawns in the filling.

EV went with her rice accompanied with fried sliced fish and ginger. I didn't take a photo of that as she was terribly hungry. We ordered a boiled soup - Watercress with pork. The shot I took wasn't so good as the ceiling lights got reflected off theh surface of the soup. -_-

I've been having a lot of meat lately. So, a plate of Fried Kai Lan with garlic went well with whatever I was having.

Now, I can remember the individual price of each item but the dishes were under RM10 each, but the total bill came up to RM50; which includes a bowl of Peanut Cream or (花生糊), coconut and ice lemon tea.

I think I'll come back again for their other specialties. :-)

Light Overcame Darkness...

Happy Festival of Lights

It's festival time in Malaysia again and this time, its Diwali or Deepavali!!

To all Hindu friends and readers, I wish you Happy Deepavali!!

May you enjoy the company of friends and family during this wonderful Festival of Lights!

To everyone else, have a great rest during this long holiday weekend.

How Many Times You Pee/Poo Per Day?

This piece of news is just a "flush of genius"... - ‘Pay for water waste’ plan on the cards (The Star)

Yes, we have to pay for our water here. It is a shock to some folks from other countries that we have to pay for clean water while some countries are getting it for free, i.e. treated and clean. While, over here, we have to pay for our own water to be treated AND yet it is still not clean enough to be drunk straight from the tap.

Now, we have to watch what we eat/drink because, we will need to pay each time we pay homage to our Royal Throne at home or work or play.

Energy, Water and Commu­nications Minister Datuk Shaz­iman Abu Mansor said that his ministry was at the early stages of looking into a “Green Tariff” which would require consumers to pay for wastage they incur.

“The Green Tariff is a volumetric-based tariff that combines the tariff for water and waste water into a single holistic tariff.

“Whatever water is used, it almost entirely ends up as waste as well. It’s still at a very early stage. We are still studying the issue,” he told the press after launching the Fifth National Utilities Summit here yesterday.

Gawsh, first of all, I'm wondering how much will it cost me, the poor taxpayer how much $$ it will take for the ministry to conduct the study. Second of all, when will this be implemented? I need to know so that I can also plan my exit.

“We are looking to see what would be a fair way of charging consumers, meaning you pay for what you use.

“It will not be a flat rate system,” he said.

OMG!! That means that if my entire family has diarrhea a particular week and assuming that we have to visit the bathroom > 10 times per pax.... I will be screwed for that month's bill...

BTW, aren't we all paying $$$ to Indah Water already? Why another tariff?

I have a strange feeling that some genius out there will start another "night service" like those in the good 'ol days of people collecting your waste at night. So, you might hear lorries with people yelling "URINE LAMA, KENCING LAMA.."

LOL!!! Gosh, I usually write nonsense stuff on Fridays... I'm two days early. ;-)