Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The long awaited KK post (and quick rant)


Okay I know I haven't updated in a while. It's not that I don't want to, it's just I don't know how to. Went through piks since I've been back last night. After trying really hard to be very selective already, I ended up with exactly 100 pictures I want to upload.

ZOMG TTM (i.e. to the max). After trying again, I finally cut it down to 50. So, please bear with me. I promise I won't upload more than 30 (absolute maximum) at once in the future. So yeah, real sorry bout the delay and didn't mean to bombard all at once!

Also, people have been asking me why I started a food blog? They then go on to ask if it's so I can review and critic food and restaurants? I mean, people who's got the chops do that which is fine.

But let me make it clear right here and now by saying NOOOOOOOOO.

That is completely besides the point of doing this to begin with! Personally, I have nothing against people who do that. But nothing ticks me off more than people who are ridiculously PRETENTIOUS and OVERcritical when it comes to Food. As if it makes them feel elevated by pretending to "know a lot" about Food.

For instance, sometimes when a group of friends and I would go somewhere for food/drinks. Suppose one or two of them would be genuinely happy with what they've ordered and it's so nice to see people enjoy their meal. Then later, another smart ass would interrupt by telling the other two to their faces in great detail about why it actually sucks and how they've had better somewhere else.

Seriously... SERIOUSLY... Can you NOTTT?!?! It's times like these when I want nothing more than to shove a giant watermelon into their mouth. Just cause of your indecency and insensitivity you make it really awkward, people feel bad and yourself look like such an ASS.

I guess what really gets me set off is how rude they are to my other friends by saying these things and thus making them not able to enjoy their food as much anymore. What... A... Prick.

And then you have people who are completely stubborn when it comes to deciding where to eat. Hypotethically, when a group of people have agreed on a place to eat cause they all generally seem to like to eat there, can the person throwing the hissy fit about this-place-that-everyone-likes-not-being-as-good-as-this-other-place-that-noone-else-like-but-you NOT and just drop it?

Otherwise can you not pull that sour yoghurt face when every body decides to go ahead anyway and just grow up?

I don't know. A part of me is saddened by how a night out with friends can turn from being a great time having conversation and sharing laughter over good food to a night solely about "good food" based on your own petty judgement and just because we decide to eat somewhere else would turn the night into a complete flop for you especially if it's sort of a rare occasion since you're going out with friends that you seldom get to meet.

Seriously... Sometimes it's not just about "the food" okay. And don't let it be all about that alone. Well maybe that's certain people's definition of a good meal and good time. I guess it's fine if you're eating on your own, but it's really selfish if people just would not budge and make situations really uncomfortable for other people over something so petty don't ya think?
Is it just me or do you guys have friends who're like that also?

And to all these obnoxious people out there, have you guys ever considered that the reason people would like a certain food or restaurant is perhaps it provides great service and atmosphere for a good time or it's reminiscent for others who's had fond memories there before, despite being PERFECTLY AWARE that they probably don't have the "best food" in town and doesn't care that much anyway. ZZZZZZZ. Go suck on a lemon, will you.


*** WOWWWWW that was a whole lot of steam that I let out at once. Probably not the most "Life* giving" blog post out there but it had to be said. Anyway at the end of the day, I know I'm not perfect either and I'm LEARNING to love each person just as much. Just some thoughts that I've kept inside for a wee bit too long hehe. Hope you're all well and having a gastronomical experience wherever you are!

Also note that this is not a personal attack on anyone but just a quick rant to vent out my exasperation from numerous encounters in the past. Wrote this up when I had a bit of free time at the office yesterday afternoon hehe.



Warmest blessings,
Wince =)


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**Note: From now on my KK/Malaysian posts shall be split into 3 categories:


(i) KK Food


Bird's nest soup as a welcome back drink on my first night made by Mum. Something she used to prepare for us during exam periods back in high school.

P.s. I never remember or pay attention to exact names of coffee shops but will try from now on. One of my favourite fish noodle shop @ Inanam



Oyster omelette

"Mun Ng" aka "Stewed fish" in Hakka. Really tasty dish

Dinner @ Ocean Seafood. This is called "Xiang Bi Luo" aka "Elephant Trunk Clams"

Staple for our family. Sabah veggie fried with dried shrimps and extra egg



Mum's homemade soup

"Shen Rou Mien" aka "Zhu Yuk Meen" in West Malaysia aka "Pork Noodles" @ Inanam



Favourite "Ngiu Chap" aka "Beef Combination Noodles". Tastes much better than Vietnamese Pho, specialty of KK. @ Jia Shiang Nyiu Zhak, Hilltop



Tuaran Mee, another KK specialty

More fish noodles but of different kinds. Lots of coffee shops sell the same thing but almost completely different at every shop. @ Lee Wong Kee, Hilltop

The fish lip, please don't freak out, it's awesome

Sweetened nuts for entree at Chinese restaurants pure win. @ Equatorial Restaurant, Tg Aru Plaza



BEST salad prawn in KK





The one and only way I would judge a good Chinese restaurant is by their fried rice. Yes, fried rice at restaurants. But it's through this simple dish that true skill is required and shown

Had seafood dinner at a friend's restaurant. This is called "Dong Fong Luo" aka "La La" for short. Like snails but not disghusting. Very typical authentic seafood dish here @ Shuang Tian Seafood Restaurant, Asia City

This is how it's done

GORGEOUS

We always order this dish every time we go back to her restaurant. Here we have Nestum Prawns

ONLY RM6.80/kg or AU$2.20/kg!!!!!!!! Cheapest we've ever eaten in our lives ZOMGZOMGZOMGGG.

Always ask for female crabs. That way you get to eat the really yummy crab eggs too. BEAUTIFUL

Had a craving for coffee shop Western food the other night. Chicken chop @ Lee Wong Kee, Hilltop

Erm... Baked apple crumble for potluck on NY Eve. Too busy rushing to feed people and didn't realise I haven't gotten a proper picture after it was baked. Was really successful and every one liked it given it was only my first time baking it PHEW! Looks like this but golden brown on top =/

Mum's contribution for the potluck, awesome chicken chops. Very popular that night indeed.

Korean BBQ for New Year's Day dinner @ Bintulu Restaurant, Lintas

Deep fried whole pork legs. SO YUMMY. Fried til ultra crispy and you can't taste the oily fats anymore

Bimbimbap wasn't too bad. Only wished the stone woulda been hotter so it could slightly burn the rice at the bottom. Oh wells tasted good tho

Different kind of Ngiu Chap. This one @ Kedai Kopi Ria, Damai

Went for a unique dinner experience, i.e. Congee/Porridge Steamboat @ Station 13, City Mall

Surprisingly good qualitiy and fresh ingredients were used. I think it's cause every single staff in the restaurants were the owners with their family members, better quality control. Always more successful when operated themselves

Actually used good fish. Forgot what it's called, gotta ask Mum again

Craved Jap dinner the next night, this one's @ Hana, City Mall. Good variety there

Salmon Skin Handroll

"Kaki Frai" aka Deep Fried Oysters

What I always eat at Jap restaurants here. Salmon head and a bowl of rice



Vanilla ice cream with mango syrup =]


(ii) KK Drinks


"MILO O KOSONG KAU KAU BING". I ALWAYS have my Milo like this. O = no condensed milk, Kosong = no sugar, Kau Kau = extra thick, Bing = with ice. Complicated person, I am

"Kit Chai Sui" aka Calamansi Drink

"Teh C" Bing aka Iced Milk Tea. Different from bubble tea though. These three are my all-time favourite drinks at KK

Made fruit punch for NYE too. BIG HIT that night, so simple and delicious, highly recommended. It's called Luscious Slush Punch


(iii) KK Fruits


"Tuku". Like "Langsat" but bigger, juicier, sweeter and smaller seed. You have no idea how much I LOVE local fruits

Coconut from our own tree in our own tree in the garden. Don't mean to sound biased, but one of the sweetest I've ever tasted. We also ate the flesh just in time. Not too ripe til they've hardened but just soft enough you can still taste the sweetness. YUMMM.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

BRISSSSSY


Some piks were taken with friend's Canon EOS DSLR. Had lotsa fun using it. Looks waaaay better than piks with my digicam. Got some simple editting pictures lessons from friends too. Didn't get to edit any photos tho. Hope I get to improve, we'll see.


Brissy (1-9 Dec '09):


Whoaa really nice Spiced Carrot Cake at this cosy little cafe that was awarded Australia's Best Cafe 2009. Now I see why, good coffee and best carrot cake I ever had.

First night had Korean BBQ dinner. Wagyu beef and pork belly. Oooooooh sooooooo gooood!

Trying to show you what I mean. Pork cooked til extra crispy, absolute yummm

Uber tender wagyu. Tasted really sweet too especially without salt and pepper

Went to this Belgian pub after that and tried so many different specialty beers! Such a great experience sipping lotsa crazy kinds of beer with friends. Here's two of them. Conclusion (for non flavoured beer, that is): Belgian beer tastes either very light or very strong, nothing in between

Wooo... Awesome awesome lunch. The beef and chicken were especially gooood! Spent so long sitting down talking and just chilling. Best thing ever. @Hard Rock Cafe, Surfer's Paradise, Gold Coast.

Famous 12oz Burger. Not bad only that it came out slightly cold for some reason, boo... Just like Grill'd the other day

Best Bubble tea I ever had! The pearl actually tasted of tapioca and was nice and chewy mmmm mmmmm. Never thought I'd appreciate bubble tea but this was exceptional. Lotsa interesting flavours too. @Hazel Bubble Tea, Surfer's Paradise.

Bought this just to take picture of Cookie Monster, no really. Not really a fan of cupcakes to be honest. Always looks great and interesting but ALWAYS turns out too sweet =/. It's not them, it's me. I ain't got no sweet tooth

Breakfast for champions

Lamb rump for lunch

Make-your-own-sundae! I asked for nuts but oh well. Least it was a more interesting subject to take a picture of. Fun camera

AWESOME BBQ later that night much thanks to a friend who prepared everything. Chikky wing, lamb chops, salad, corn on cob, sauteed shrooms n onions, baked potato and wait for it.... PORK RIBS!!! Ohhhh man first time having BBQ with pork ribs and it was sooo friggin awesome! Never thought of it al this time and now I'm gonna have it at every BBQ. Great idea!!

My greedy plate

Oh, another friend baked us her signature cheesecake (unbaked)! Was soo tasty my goodness. Showed me how, so simple. Hope to try it some time

Went to this awesome Chinese Malaysian restaurant. All the dishes were sooo nice but piks turned out crappy so I'm just gonna show this. Best one of the night, butter prawn!! Though tasted more like nestum prawn mmmm... @Yahoo Restaurant, Sunny Bank

Went to this famous "Tau Fu Fa" place afterwards

Got back from Movieworld and was extremely starving. Finally went to this nice Chinese restaurant for dinner. This is Chicken Al-Kapitan, one of my favourite childhood dishes. It's basically chicken fried with curry spice powder. Mmmm. Massive portions too! 3 huge drumsticks with this. @Little Singapore, Brisbane

Another friend ordered this super yummy butter fried chicken with rice. Again, MASSIVE. And tasted so nice.

Dagwood Dogs for lunch. Meh. Short break from all the fun. @Wet 'n' Wild Theme Park, Gold Coast

CUP NOODLES FTW!!

Exquisite dinner prepared by friend on last night. Nice salmon imported from Norway (not Norwegia, folks. Or was it only me who got it wrong?). Cooked with blue cheese, Seeded mustard and Jack Daniel's sauce. MMMMM. For sides, cous cous with mushroom sauce and my measly salad.



After Brissy (10-12 Dec '09):


Pandan Chicken. MANNN. Was supposed to try and make this before I leave but no time =(. @Ying Thai 2, Lygon Street

Extra yummy Pad Thai Chicken

Proper Tom Yum soup

Too hungry before dinner that night so made one of my favourite snacks. Initially Oreo cookies with peanut butter. Then friend suggested Jam too. BRILLIANT idea!

Friend brought yummy lamb skewers (spicy and non-spicy) as well as Roasted Duck and Soy Chicken. Duck was really nice, even though it was take away! Gotta find out where they bought it. Somewhere on Clarendon or South Melbourne.

My soup for the steamboat. Made with dried scallops, dried anchovies, red dates, honey dates, chinese cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, ginger, onion and crushed peppercorn. Quite tasty =)

WHOAAAAAA was looking for place to eat and stumbled upon this restaurant and decided to give it a go. ATTENTION: I now have a new favourite Thai Restaurant!! Only sucky thing is it's all the way at Port Melbourne, gahhh. But seriously, I've never enjoyed Thai Food so much. So nice and authentic and apparently awarded too. Ambience was great for a nice slow dinner to catch up with old friends. This Thai Fish Cake so niceee. @Emerald Elephant, Bay Street, Port Melbourne.

Best Pad (i.e. Stir fry in Thai, I think) dish ever had. Veggie stir fried with Tom Yam sauce. Plate was completely clean after we were done, even all the sauce

Specialty of the place. Red Duck Curry. FOAHHHH extremely superb!! I really really enjoyed it. Who knew duck would complement this curry so well. Never have I eaten any curry dish that made me want to finish every single drop of sauce. If only I had more room gahhh.

Yellow Chicken Curry. Had potato inside which was so nice and soft BUT not mushy. Must've taken skill to get that right I bet. Such a yummy dish too. Had soo much rice with these two curry dishes you wouldn't believe. Overall $20/person. Money well well spent!


After today, will finally start food blogging from KK!! CANT CANT WAIT =D


Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Potluck dinner on 29 Nov 2009


Piks from potluck dinner we had the other night with the uni gang as promised.

Oh btw, was fooling around with my friend's Canon DSLR camera this afternoon. Just to test out the functions and stuff to hopefully get the feel of it. Must say that it's really nice. Pictures turn out exactly how I want it to most of the time. So, hopefully I'll be able to upgrade my photog skillzzz from amateur digicam user to try hard wannabe pro soon. Been reading up on photography tips and researching cameras today too. Really liking it so far =]

Anyway, back to piks. Also note that have decided to make the piks bigger compared to before for viewing pleasure. Enjoy!



Made creamy butter prawn. Managed to finish cooking the sauce before the butter started to brown which didn't manage to do first time I attempted this. Tip: Cut up butter to thin slices beforehand to melt faster. Also cause was in hurry, so didn't get to cook the prawns before the sauce. Will need to season and precook prawn with salt and pepper and also a bit of finely minced garlic instead of just tossing it in when sauce is ready. Curry leaves were packet ones cause the fresh once I had from an Aunty were all used up GAHH. These things would've made it much better but oh well. It was okay I guess.

Best lighting I could get zzzzzzz, no good no good. Need to learn how to edit and take better pictures =(

Calvin's roast leg of lamb. So yummy and cooked just nicely, medium rare! The vegs were also really yummy. Huge hit of the night.

Oh's signature Hakka Pork, aka "Zha Yuk". Seriously, lots of work go into this simple looking dish. But all worth it once you taste how good it is. Even better than the ones you get at restaurants, no joke.

Jackie's spring rolls

Calvin's other dish, Spaghetti Bolognaise.

Shin's potato salad

Before shot. Also missed out Jeff's shepherd's pie right there in the middle. Really nice too!

Round 1

Ken's Mauritian dish. Forgot the name but according to him it's a really authentic Mauritian hawker food. Always good to experience other culture through food.

Other hit of the night: BOILED RICE. It's so funny cause the rice was just going non stop but the pasta remained almost untouched haha. Feel bad cause it's not like the pasta wasn't nice which it was, it's just cause.......... we're Asian =]

Jade's authentic Malaysian snack, "Kuih Kapit" in Malay, aka "Qing Shing" in Chinese, aka "Love Letter" in English.

..... And it was sooo friggin' good!! MUCH lighter, sweeter, tastier and more importantly, CRUNCHIER than any you get back home during CNY! Hits home man, hits home. 10 points for making us feel nostalgic again

Given up. Too much good food. See what I mean about the pasta? Hehe

Lastly, Oreo Cheesecake made by Jeff! SO NICEEE. This guy can SERIOUSLY bake like nobody's business!