Belated B'day Celebrations @ My Elephant, Section 17

Happy 20-10-2010!!!!

This post is late by 2 months... My friends and I had a belated birthday celebration for some of us who had our b'days in June and July.

A friend recommended a Thai restaurant, "My Elephant" which is situated in Section 17, PJ for lunch. She is pretty much a regular there and so, was able to navigate us around the menu of yummy Thai food.

We decided to order a number of signature dishes such as a Thai Papaya Salad, TomYam and Red Curry.

The papaya salad was spicy, sour and salty at the same time. The saltiness comes from the fish sauce which complemented the raw papaya slices in the salad.

We definitely enjoyed the mixed platter which is one of the popular appetizers served at the restaurant. Crunchy and not oily at all!

We ordered two types of Tom Yam - one spicy and non-spicy. The prawns were scrumptious and soup was tasty.

The Thai Roast Duck Red Curry was fantastic! The dish had a good balance between the "lemak" (coming from the coconut milk) and spicy chilli. The pineapples were sweet and was not acidic after it was cooked.

The restaurant served a unique type of rice, i.e. "red" rice which is less starchy. It went very well with the dishes served.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in this little gem in PJ. I would certainly go back again for my Thai food fix...

The COWs 1st Birthday

Finally... Both little COWs have turned 1. They've moved up from babyhood to toddlerhood and the "fun" is just beginning...

My sister and bro-in-law held their party at Marmalade Cafe, Plaza Mont' Kiara. I've been to the branch of Marmalade Cafe at Bangsar Village II quite a number of times and like the healthy food there. The cupcakes are good and the Oreo cheesecake is just spectacular.

1st Milestone

It's amazing how 1 year goes by so quickly... Here's to many more happy milestones... ;-)

Stay tuned.

Mom's 65th B'day

This post is long overdue...

Mom celebrated her 65th birthday last month.

It was a simple affair, we opted to just have a simple dinner nearby and some cake. Mom said that she didn't mind as her birthday fell on a working weekday.

Introducing Charlotte & Olivia

Finally... Both of them are here!

My sis safely delivered both Charlotte and Olivia just past 10:30am with both twins a minute apart. She underwent a C-section as her pelvis was too small to deliver both babies.

In my last post, I mentioned that they were identical but turns out that I had the wrong info from my Dad.

They both have their own amniotic sacs, hence making them both fraternal twins. However, time will tell if both of them would look similar or not.

Well.. Here they are...

Charlotte Wong - COW I


Olivia Wong - COW II

They are barely one day old and their father has already given them nicknames...

Anyway, Charlotte looks more like her father, while Olivia looks more like her mom. Seems only fair... Kekeke... I just hope that the kids won't be as bratty as her Mom... Kekeke

Congrats Melina and Dallas!!!!

Update: Countdown to The Arrival of the COWs

Latest Update...

Thank God that both the twins were delivered safely this morning.

Seems that Olivia is bigger than her sister, Charlotte by 0.4kg... I'm not sure about the weight of both girls.

Yes, the twins are identical. I wonder which one will be right-handed, and the other left-handed... As the mirroring of the dexterity happens in identical twins...

Both twins and mother are doing fine.

Belated Birthday Dinner @ Oh! Sushi

EV decided to give me a birthday dinner a couple of weeks back.... This is perhaps one of the two times she is ever nice to me...

Me: Oi... When are you going to take me go 逛街, shopping, 吃大餐阿?
EV: When I'm free-la...
Me: Cheh... Every time also you like that...
EV: Ok-la!! On the 15th can or not, it's my "Merdeka"..

So, we had time to go for a movie, some shopping and a good dinner. It has been some time since we both went out shopping...

For dinner, I decided to go for Japanese as we couldn't decide on what else to eat. The funny thing is, I had Japanese food with the rest of the gang too.. Kekeke...

Oh! Sushi has been one of my favourite Japanese restaurants for a long time. I've not been back to the place since they had a face lift.

The one thing different about Oh! Sushi is that this restaurant is non-halal, which means that we can get pork.. :P

EV had her usual unagi. She can't seem to get enough of them eels.. Which explains why she is quite "slimy" at times.. LOL!

I wanted to have some salmon sashimi but wanted to have some rice too. So, in the end, I had a mini salmon don instead.

EV had craving for some seafood and we found the grilled scallops to be delicious! This reminded us of the time when we had giant scallops in Melbourne after a road trip with friends.

Both of us can't live without salad... We decided to try the Papaya Salad which was spicy with little chilli padi. Certainly a Thai-inspired dish although I'm not a big fan of spicy Thai food..

We enjoyed the stir-fried asparagus with bacon. Yes, it is unhealthy but I didn't take the fat but savoured the smoky taste of the bacon with the asparagus.

We certainly enjoyed this pork mayo dish which had a bit of chilli in it for slight kick. Plenty of onions, and some bean sprouts accompanied this dish, making it a bit more "balanced". The pork slices were not too fat too but sliced thin enough to be grilled.

EV: You must be very happy now...
Me: Why?
EV: Because you had your pork...

LOL!! Yes... I'm your typical chinese.. I must have some pork in my diet from time to time.

My B'day Dinner @ Monte's

It's finally the end of the month. *Phew*!!!

With the end of July, we must remember that there is only another 5 months left before the end of the year comes around... So, officially, we're in the 2nd half of 2009 now.

Now that Bangsar Shopping Centre has completed its face lift, I suggested that we head to Monte's for dinner as Dad misses the steaks there.

Monte's has undergone a major face lift too, where the place now looks like a very up market restaurant & wine bar. It has shed its western cowboy look of the 90's and early 00's.

The best part about Monte's is that after you've ordered your meal, they will serve you bread & butter. Most other restaurants will not provide this unless you order soup.

As for starters, my sis, bro-in-law and myself love the escargot served in garlic butter. It is decadent and sinful but we don't have it often. Kekeke...

Yes, escargot does mean SNAILS but these are not the ones you find in your garden-lah! It is a different variety and yes, maybe the snails can speak French... I used to be turned off by this dish but after tasting one, I realize how succulent snails can be! Now, I know why Snoopy love them snails in the garden when we had an infestation once. LOL!

Aside from all this, Monte's is great for their steaks. We ordered our usual beef sirloin and it was magnificent. The seasoning was just right and the meat was well rested before serving.

However, I did ask for Medium and it came out almost Well-Done which meant that the meat was a little too dry for my taste. Yes, I do like to see a little blood in my meat. *evil grin*

It was a simple birthday. It would have been nice if I had some Haagen Daz after dinner but we discovered that the ice-cream parlour was closed down after the face lift.

Well... Another year older... *sigh*

347th Post - 28th July 2009

Nothing spectacular reaching my 347th post.

Anyway, I hate it when my birthday happens to fall in the middle of the week. It makes it very odd for me to take the day off to enjoy myself.

With work/project being so stressful due to human/inhumane factors, I find it hard to enjoy myself this year.

I just found some very interesting photos on my mobile phone which I've not posted before.. I think. Kekeke... It brings back memories of when I used to have a desk and phone in the office - a place to call my own. At least back then, I had a proper place to sit to work. Unlike now, me being the turtle/nomad, camping around the office.

Oh well.. 347th post.. Another load of crap... LOL!!

Getting Together @ Canton-i

A couple of weeks back, my friends and I celebrated 1 leng lui's birthday. Well, she's rather shy about her age but I have to say that she's keeping well. :-)

Anyway, upon her request, we ended up at Canton-i @ Sunway Pyramid.

I've been to this outlet a few times and I'm a big fan of their porridge as it is done in the proper Cantonese style - i.e. smooth and thick unlike the Teo Chew style which is like rice in water. The porridge was much to the Hong Kong and Guang Zhou style which I had some many years back.

However, for this round, we did not go for the porridge but had more substantial stuff.

Canton-i serves killer prawn wantans! The prawns are fresh and large. It is really worth every single penny... The wantan skins were brilliant too. Not too thick or thin but just right. The wantans were not overcooked unlike some other places where the skins just burst and the filling seeps out.

We ordered other prawn-related dishes and it did not disappoint too.

With the roasted pork and honey-glazed pork hanging by the window, we can't resist but to order a plate to try it out. I've tried this dish a few times and this time, I would say that the honey-glazed pork had a good amount of fat. At some outlets under the same franchise, the honey-glazed pork was a little dry. So far, the best place for this has got to be Canton-i @ Gardens, MidValley.

With all that meat and seafood, we had to balance things out with some carbohydrates. This was the Fried Beef Noodles with XO Sauce, a very common dish in Hong Kong. It's not bad as the beef was marinated quite well.

We did order some other food such as vegetables and some wantan noodles but I didn't want to post those pictures up. Kekeke..

When my two friends were holidaying in Melbourne, they tried some whitefish which is very popular there. Well, looking at the menu, they ordered a similar type of fish and this was yummy!! Savoury and sweet at the same time, I think it goes well with porridge too!

As for dessert, my friends ordered about 5 different types of dessert but I'll only showcase two as I felt that these two were just out of this world! The simple egg custard tart is a common dessert or dim sum item in most restaurants but to make the perfect custard requires the hands of a master. The egg custard has to be sweet, smooth and warm while the pastry holding the custard has to be flaky and light. Superb... Please order this...

This other dessert can be a nightmare for some folks but for those who love the taste of durian, this dessert is unique to Hong Kong food. Most Malaysians take their durian from the fruit, i.e. fresh in all its "smelly" glory. The durian pancake was so-so, only difference is that it was deep-fried. The fruit wasn't very ripe which meant that the taste and smell of durian lingered but the sweetness wasn't there. :-(

All in all, we had a great time stuffing ourselves. Anyway, Canton-i can be a bit pricey but it is worthwhile a try. Portions are quite large too.

Meanwhile, I'll try to update another blog post later about my Father's Day lunch @... Canton-i... AGAIN!! LOL!!!!

Mom's Birthday

It was a rather quiet weekend and we managed to celebrate Mom's b'day last night.

My mom is in her 60's and she's enjoying it. Ever since she retired from teaching, she has been taking things easy.

During the weekend, Mom and Dad went down to Singapore to celebrate a close friend's 70th birthday who happens to fall on the same day too! My Mom had wanted to spend more time but because of my new job, she can't stay for very long as I can't take much time off.

As for the birthday celebration, when they arrived home yesterday evening, we went to have a quiet dinner at Chilli's, Bangsar Shopping Centre. My Mom didn't want any cake or anything as she said that she had too much to eat while in Singapore.

Aside from the picture of the burger I had, there weren't any other photos taken that night since both my parents were tired and my bro-in-law looked sickly after recovering from a bout of food poisoning a couple of days before.

I gave my Mom a recipe book of her favourite cook - Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. She loves his recipes and often wants to give Western cooking a go.

I don't have that many nice pictures of Mom... I'd figured that one day, I have to sit down and take photos of her. My Mom is shy in front of the camera and it is ashamed as she has a lovely smile.

I don't say this very often and I think I should,

I LOVE YOU MA!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Birthday Dinner @ Italiannies, Gardens MidValley

My farewell posts will be delayed slightly as I will need to post up something in conjunction with EV's birthday.

Yes, it is her birthday today. And no, I shall not reveal how old she is. Kekeke...

Seems that with each passing year, her "evilness" will increase in strength. I shudder in fear to think about how "evil" she will get when she hits 50 in about.... XX years time. (^.^)

Evil Queen Presiding Over Her Loyal Subjects...

I'm not allowed to post pictures of friends as they are awfully shy. So, I will have to focus on the food at hand. HAHAHAA...

Yes, I'm starting to think that this blog will have nothing but food and pictures... Kekeke..

No meal with our friends are complete unless we order some starters. Italiannie's does provide the free bread but whenever my friends head out to an Italian restaurant, the first thing they order is fried calamari. Ok, if you ditch the fancy term, it is just fried sotong-la. The sauce which came with the sotong was amazing. The calamari was cooked to perfection as it didn't turn out rubbery or the batter too greasy.

Again, my mates can NEVER escape from calling a pizza. Since most of the folks on the table were thin-crust fans, we ordered this lovely little pizza which had minced chicken, red and green peppers, mushrooms and cheese. Yummy for a non-seafood pizza.

Oh!! I have to mention that the food pics were taken with my 50mm lens. Love the bokeh and the aperture as it handled well under low-light conditions.

We ordered the roast chicken... again. I remembered my mates ordering this some years back for another birthday celebration and we enjoyed it. The sweetness of the chillies and onions really complemented the chicken and potatoes. The portion was large enough to be shared between the 6 of us.

No Italian meal would be complete without an order of pasta. My friends being fans of seafood, requested for scampi and this pasta was yummy!! Prawns were very fresh and plump and the pasta cooked al dente.

We could not leave EV without some sort of birthday cake. Someone in our group ordered this hazelnut chocolate cake which was not fantastic. I'd guess we should have taken that walk across the street to Delicious for that marvelous chocolate cake. This was a disappointment. I'm also surprised that they did not order Tiramisu... Hmmm...

EV's birthday dinner was fun. Our group had not caught up with each other in a very long time since after CNY and so, it was good to get together again.

Before I forget then....

HAPPY BLESSED BIRTHDAY EV!
May God Shower Blessings and Joy on your special day...

YC's Delayed B'day Celebration

Whenever my friends have a gathering of sorts, we often gather around food. This is no exception when it came to our dear friend YC's birthday celebration for 2009. I shall decline to state how old she got because it is a sensitive matter.

At Juelle's request, we gathered at The Banquet @ Bangsar Village 2. I've passed by this place and somehow, the ambiance of the place struck me as a meeting area for tai-tai to have tea.

Being a Sunday, the place was pretty packed with families and so, the waiter seated the 6 of us at a more isolated location away from the screaming youngsters. That itself was brilliant planning!

I haven't had coffee in a while, and this cafe latte was what I needed to wake up at 1:30pm. The espresso is strong and goes well. Usually, my cafe latte is served the other way around, with the milk sitting on top of the coffee, but this makes for a very nice shot.

Tuna Tostada - starter

The food served at The Banquet is a mixture of asian and western which offers a huge variety of food to taste. We were quite interested with the sets but since we missed the cut-off time, we couldn't try the Champagne breakfast set... :-(

I ordered the pan-fried salmon which was cooked just right. Some people tend to overcook salmon, making it dry and flaky, but this piece was cooked to perfection, with no hint of fishy salmon smell. The sauce had some rosemary which made it a meatier dish overall.

Juelle ordered the oven-baked butterfish which was moist and lemony. The fish still had some fishy smell but otherwise, it was buttery and tasty.

Another fantastic dish was the Penne with funghi or mushroom penne pasta. The sauce was creamy but not overwhelmingly creamy, and neither were the mushroom too "mushroomy" (for lack of a more descriptive word).

My friend CPP ordered the Spaghetti Vongolle, which is basically clams with pasta done with some white wine. Spaghetti was aldente and clams were steamed nicely.

The Penang Prawn Mee was delicious as well. Although it was expensive by our standards but for RM15, the noodles came with large prawns and is very tasty. However, if you know how to cook prawn mee at home...

We didn't stay for dessert. We went to another cafe for our cake fix. Here's a pic of it...

We had our Oreo Cheesecake and Carrot cake from Marmalade. *slurp*... I'm just drooling now, thinking about the cheesecake.