Eggy Bread

I made some French toasts or eggy bread for breakfast ...

The bread I soaked with a mixture of egg, fresh milk and sugar .... and then pan-fried in butter.

Eggy bread ... 

Hmn .... but I think they weren't sweet enough. Next time I'd either have to add more sugar in the egg or dust the bread with more icing sugar before serving.

Desserts @ Hui Lau Shan

Hey ... this outlet has my surname! Lols. Hui Lau Shan in Cantonese. Xu Liu Shan in Mandarin. This desserts shop hailed from Hong Kong, and has many outlets across the Klang Valley. It serves pricey but healthy desserts, mainly consisting of mango.

Hui Lau Shan

The opportunity arose for us to try out the desserts, when we strolled about Cheras Leisure Mall and came across an outlet there. We ordered only 3 items to share, but I must say that I was very impressed with the presentation of the food. Everything looked so pretty.

1) Fresh Fruitties Mango with Coconut Noodle - There were 2 items in this set.

Fresh fruits in a bowl. Don't you think they look too pretty to eat? There were rock melon, honey dew melon, watermelon balls, slivers of fresh mango, strawberries and kiwi fruit. All tasted fresh. But the sweet mangoes stood out among all the fruits.

Coconut noodle on one side, and mango puree on the other.

I enjoyed the slippery and smooth coconut-flavoured noodle - not sure what they are made of , but they tasted good. Even on its own. I did not like to "pollute" the flavours with the mango puree on the other side.

2) Mango Romance - This set was made up of 3 small bowls of mango dessert.

Here was mango puree, mango dices, and little glutinous rice balls. 

Mango mochi and slivers of fresh mango

I enjoyed the orange-coloured mochi skin which was springy and chewy, and coated with fresh grated coconut. Inside the mochi was a cube of fresh mango. Quite an interesting variation of the usual mochi.  

Mango sorbet, with mango dices on a bed of mysterious, springy and chewy jelly. Not sure what it was, but this was my favourite dessert among all that I've tried. The sorbet was yum with the accompaniments. 

3) Aloe Vera & Crystal Jade Jelly with Watermelon

No offense, but I dislike watermelon ...... 

Well, if mango is your favourite fruit, then you should not miss Hui Lau Shan. 

Knife Sliced Noodle

Last November, I bought a Groupon coupon. That was before I had a horrible time with Dealmates. Now, however, I am wary of buying such deals online. After all, people have had bad experiences.

Anyway, with my Groupon coupon bought, I had no choice but to redeem it unless I want my money to go to waste. For RM25.00, I could redeem 4 sets of knife sliced noodles, each set comprising of a noodle dish and a drink.

And I am glad to say that I enjoyed the meal!

Knife Sliced Noodles made by slicing a piece of dough into a pot of boiling water, thereby cooking it. Previously, I've only seen it on televsion ... and so I thought this would be great opportunity to try it. This restaurant is called Restoran Knife Sliced Noodles  or in Mandarin it's山西刀削面, and it is located at Taman Segar near Cheras Leisure Mall. It was very difficult for us to find parking near the shops, so in the end, we parked at the mall and walked.

Sea coconut & longan tea

Sweet, cold and very refreshing. There are pieces of sea coconut and longan tea in the drink.

We tried the following types noodles served in different ways. The noodles were the same - they were quite smooth and springy, and absorbed the flavours from the different sauces. Because the noodles were thick, I think they tasted better when coated with thick sauce, rather than in a soup.  

Spicy Beef Noodles in a soup

This was very spicy! The soup had a mild beef flavour, but mostly, it was overpowered by the chilli oil. There were a few slices of beef garnishing the noodles, but I thought that the noodles did not absorb the flavour of the soup that well. Hence, I did not like it.

Spicy Beef Noodles - dry version

I did not try this ... Bro said it was ordinary.

Pork rib noodles with spices

The sauce was a bit on the sweet side and the pork ribs were rather tender. Not bad.  

 Zhajiang Knife Sliced Noodles

I enjoyed this dish, it was spicy and very fragrant because of the use of bean paste. the raw vegetables added a refreshing taste to the whole dish. Yum. 

The staff was very friendly and patient, the food was alright, so no wonder they were quite a lot of people eating here. Not bad, worth trying. 

Parmesan Cheese Cake

From La Boheme at Aeon.

Parmesan Cheese Cake 

It was reasonably priced at RM3.50 per pack. 3 packs only sold for RM10.00, and lots of people were buying it. So I thought I'd give it a try too.

Back home, I sliced it to share .... and found that the cake was light, not too sweet, yet slightly salty with the taste of cheese .... Not bad at all.

Mom's Apam Balik

Mom always wants to cook or bake something when she is free. The other day, she had this desire to make her own Apam Balik ... it's a sort of pancake, traditionally filled with chopped peanuts, canned cream corn, butter and sugar.

Well, it's surely not her first time making these pancakes. Back home in Kuching, Mom has a brass pancake gridle which she uses to make these Apam Baliks.

Mom usually adds some chopped sesame seeds to the peanuts too .. and instead of canned cream corn, Mom likes to use fresh corn. She will buy one or two fresh ears of sweet corn, then remove the kernels off the cob before cooking them with a bit of sugar and starch.

Though I helped beat the batter for the pancake, I never asked Mom what she put in there ... ;p So I really did not know what type of flour she used.

But I did help her cook the pancake in a non-stick pan ... and then instead of chopped peanuts, I decided to put only some creamed corn  .... and cheese.

Cooked ...

Cut ... 

 Creamed corn and melted cheese ... 

The pancake was soft and chewy, and the combination of creamed corn and melted cheese was very yum ... I liked it. In fact, everyone liked it and we finished the corn and cheese pancake within minutes! Lols ... we are sure to make some more soon. ;p  

Curry Puffs

I love curry puffs. Normally, curry puffs are filled with spicy curried potatoes. Sometimes, mashed sardine is added to the potatoes for variety.

I love curry puffs and I buy them daily. I usually buy them from an old Malay lady at the wet market. But every day, I find that the curry puffs taste different. Lols. So inconsistent!

Sometimes the pastry is flaky ... sometimes it's crispy ... sometimes it's soggy .... sometimes the filling is tasteless ... sometimes the filling tastes just right but other times it is tasteless ...

Well, the old lady sources her curry puffs from different people, that's why. Sometimes, she has a few trays on the table ... all curry puffs but made from different people. So I am always not sure which ones I should buy. Thankfully, most of the time, the curry puffs are yum.

 Curry puffs

Inside .... savoury pastry compactly filled with spiced potato dices ... 

The curry puffs sell for RM0.40 each. It's really cheaper to buy them than to make them on our own!

Carl's Junior

I used to enjoy Carl's Junior, but alas, the quality of the food has dropped. And it is reflected in the utensils they used too.

First up, the 2 trays which I got were both uneven .... with a mound somewhere at the centre. Though perfectly usable, they sure did not give a good impression. Bad.

Superstar With Cheese  and Fries

Hmn .... the fries did not taste as good as they did before. They were salty .... and well, just salty.

Superstar With Cheese 

The grilled beef in the burger was also not tasty .... I did not know what went wrong .... but the whole meal just disappointed me.

Hmn .... it's rather unfortunate .... so I hope they improve.

Watching The World Pass Me By

I find the fragrant tea at Chatime really addictive. So how can I resist treating myself to glass of bubble tea whenever I come across an outlet?

At Pavillion, Chatime is located on the fourth floor at the annexe building ... and it has got a few tables and chairs outside the outlet ... and I find it just wonderful to sit there and look down the walkway below as people trundle by. I look at the cool and trendy youngsters in their branded garb ... the fashionistas in their designer labels .... the tourists with their cameras and shopping bags ... the office workers with their ID tags around their necks .... and I wonder about their lives and their background and their routines ....

Anyway ....Chatime at the Pavillion is strategically located .... a great place for me to hang out and look at people and their antics.

People watching ... 

Today, I discovered that Chatime also sold fried chicken! Yay! For a limited time, a fried chicken combo is RM9.90. One can order a drink worth up to RM5.90.

So with my tea, I ordered a fried chicken chop .... original. One could also opt for the chicken to be spicy. I did not wait long for my drink, but it took them a while to get ready the chicken.

The fried chicken combo

Well, this was Taiwanese-style deep-fried battered boneless chicken breast. The portion was rather huge! The crust was crispy, but did not seem to stick well to the chicken as they peeled and fell off the meat. It was also rather greasy. It also tasted a bit sweet .... hmn.

For me, it's a steal because the combo is really cheap. Worth trying.

Free Pretzel

I bought the Turkey Combo at Auntie Anne's the other day and got a gift tag. With the gift tag, I could redeem a free original pretzel with the purchase of any specialty pretzel. Yippee.

So I bought a Seaweed pretzel .... cause it was the only flavour they had at that time ....

Seaweed pretzel

The pastry is essentially the same, but topped with dry seaweed flakes. The seaweed had this very fragrant smell, and brought a slightly savoury feel to the pretzel. It was not bad ... but it was not my preferred flavour.

Original pretzel

Plain, but it was yum. In fact, I preferred this to the seaweed pretzel. It was relatively, soft, quite chewy and  slighty crispy on the outside. 

And best of all, I paid only RM3.40 for 2 pretzels! Like. 

I'm Lovin' It : McChicken

I did not have the appetite to eat but I did not want to skip lunch. Whenever I skipped a meal, I would tend to binge later on, and that was dangerous.

And so ... I was pondering on what to eat? I did not want rice nor noodles ... nothing heavy. Finally, I settled on having a sandwich or a burger.

It was nearly 12.00 p.m. And nearby at McDonald's, people actually sat waiting for the McValue meal to be sold  from 12.00 noon to 3.00 p.m. daily. Once the staff flipped the menu board to commence the sales of the meals, the masses thronged the counters. I joined in the queue and was glad that I did not have to wait for long.

Prices for the McValue meals start from RM5.95. If I remember correctly, there were more items at RM5.95 before ... but it seemed that McDonald's had increased the prices ever so tactfully. Now, there is only the McChicken meal left at RM5.95.

And I ordered just that! After tax, I paid RM6.30 for my burger, a drink and fries.

McChicken burger

I think it's a very basic burger. Sandwiched between the toasted sesame bun was a breaded deep-fried chicken patty, shredded lettuce and mayo. My burger was freshly assembled, and it was quite yum in fact. 

And so I sat nibbling at my burger while enjoying the view .... 

 The only McDonald's outlet with a beautiful view of the KLCC gardens ... 

Bon-Ga Korean BBQ

My parents wanted to try Korean food as they had not eaten it before. We decided to try Bon-Ga at Sri Petaling.

Well, the place looked great, and I hoped for the food to be great as well! But first up, there were six of us, and we had 2 square tables joined together. It made it rather difficult to talk during the meal. Do Koreans use round tables? ;p

There was a bottle of cold barley tea on the table, and we helped ourselves to that while browsing the menu. When we were done ordering, the banchans arrived.

 Banchans

Except for the potatoes, I enjoyed all the other side dishes. I felt that Bon-Ga wasn't very generous with the banchans. They only refilled when we asked them to. Not sure what some of the stuff were though .... 

Kimchi

I have always enjoyed spicy, sour and pungent kimchi. This one was quite yum.

 A salad

Mom enjoyed this and wondered how they made it ... I have no idea, but perhaps the pickled the long cabbage and added fresh lettuce to it. 

Fresh and crisp Coral lettuce wrap

Dolsot Bibimbap, RM20.00

It was very prominent with the taste of red pepper after we dumped in the whole saucer of gojuchang in there ... a smoky flavour was evident as well. 

Sundubu Jjigae, RM25.00

Nice, fiery red colour in the stone pot ... with quite a lot of seafood ingredients in there.

Ssamgyetang, RM38.00

I enjoyed the Ssamgyetang a lot. It had a mild ginseng flavour and the chicken was really tender. Yums.

 BBQ Pork Belly

We ordered 2 different cuts of BBQ meats  - pork belly (RM28) and jowl (RM32)... but I did not know why it was not cooked on the table. The meats came instead on 2 sizzling plates. Hence, it spoilt the experience for me. Part of the fun of eating Korean was to see the meat cook and cut on the table! Hmph! 

Of the two types of meat though, the jowl meat was leaner and tastier. The pork belly was just too fatty. You can see it for yourself in the picture.   

Pricing wise, I think Bon-Ga is quite reasonable. 

Nail Point

My first time doing a pedicure in KL. I was at Berjaya Times Square .... such a big mall that I got lost finding my way around ....

And so, I referred to the directory. There were a few nail salons there. I did not know which one to go, so I simply picked one and walked in ...

OPI NLR53 - An Affair In Red Square

A colour from the Russian collection, an old colour which first debuted in 2007. It was confident colour, rich and red and shimmery. The colour made my feet look paler or fairer for that matter.

There wasn't anything that great about the experience, as it was after all just an ordinary pedicure. I was offered free nail art for the big toes, but to which I declined. No frills for me. ;p Boring eh?

I had to dry my nails for quite a long time. I think I sat at the dryer for about 40 minutes! I was wearing a pair of covered shoes, and they just wanted to make sure that the nails were really dry before I put on my shoes. I paid RM43 for the pedicure. A good RM8 more than I usually pay for in Miri.

Thye Hong Prawn Noodles

I found the Prawn Noodle Stir-fry at Thye Hong @ Food Republic, Pavillion to be fantastic!

Prawn Noodles Stirfry

I loved everything on the plate. Transparent thick rice vermicelli was used, and it was smooth, slippery and springy. I liked the texture. The consistency of the gravy was good - not too diluted and not overly starchy. It had a robust, full-bodied prawn flavour, and yet it was not overpowering. I suppose this would be the result of using good quality broth. The prawns were reasonably firesh. The crunchy beansprouts accompanied the noodles perfectly, but to me, what added to the unique flavour of the whole dish was the chives. It added a welcoming sort of pungency to the noodles. The eggs were stir-fried beautifully to combine with the noodles and sure smelled very fragrant. Before you dig in .... squeeze in the lime to bring a slightly tangy flavour to the whole dish. It was real yum ... so much so that I ignored the chilli sauce that came on the plate. Highly recommended, RM9.00 for a small plate. 

Pepper Stirfry

Mom bought green peppers because they were on sale at the market. 3 pieces for RM1.00. Cheap, eh?

How should I cook them, Mom asked me? And I volunteered to cook it for her.

Pretty? 

I had the peppers and onions cut in wedges, and the carrots and king oyster mushrooms sliced. The chicken breast meat was sliced and marinated with sesame oil and light soy sauce and pepper. Then all I did was to stir-fry them over high heat, and then added a seasoning consisting of water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, malt vinegar and some Shao Xing wine.

Hmn .. the crunchy vegetables in a sourish sauce was appetising with rice. Mom liked it. So did the rest of the family.

Shoe Hunting

I wanted to buy a pair of shoe but was having difficulty looking for a pair which I liked. Hello, I was in KL, shoppers' paradise. There was supposed to be a lot of choices.

But to really find a pair that I liked was difficult. Well, perhaps I was also being fussy ... no heels ... I had plenty of heels but seldom wore them. They had to be beige as beige complemented my feet. Somehow, beige was not really in season. Fashionable colours this season included mustard, royal blue, peach, tangerine. And so, it was not easy to find something I like in the correct shade. 

And so I chanced upon a pair of flat sandals I liked at Vincci KLCC. I wanted to buy it but, unfortunately there wasn't my size left. Hmn. So I went to Vincci Pavillion. Vincci Mid Valley, Vincci Fahrenheit 88, and even Vincci Sungai Wang ... and I could not find that sandal I wanted there. How come they only had it at Vincci KLCC? 

After that, I visited lotsa shoe shops .... Summit .... Charles and Keith ... Sembonia ... Crocs ... and well .. I did not find anything I like. 

2 weeks later .... I saw my sandal again at Vincci KLCC and yay! They'd just re-stocked it. And so I bought it immediately. 

Let's go! For more shopping ;p

I was glad to have bought a pair which I liked ... now it was time to look for some clothes .................. 

Dinner @ Oriental Viva

We went out to celebrate Bro & Sil's wedding anniversary ... and also Berry's 3rd month birthday, and the restaurant of choice was Oriental Viva. This was Cantonese cuisine at its best. For I was very impressed with the food and the flavours.

This was the appetiser ...

Braised peanuts ... these were very soft, fragrant and tasty 

These were the condiments ...

Onion relish

These thinly sliced onion rings were concocted with chillies and tamarind paste to result in a tangy and very appetising relish

 Chilli paste

These

To eat together with our white rice, we ordered 4 dishes .... 

 

Signature Tofu
Wow, it was first of all pleasing to the sight. Just look at that special tofu squares. Not sure what the green stuff on the tofu was. Anyway, it was deep-fried and served on a bed of spinach and covered with lots of shimeji mushrooms.

Signature Tofu 

The tofu had good texture, and the spinach and mushrooms complemented it well. The sauce was sweet and savoury, very delicious indeed.

Then came the vegetable dish ... 

Hong Kong Kailan in oyster sauce

The vegetable was lightly flavoured so preserve the freshness of its taste. It was very crisp, but well, I did not really like kailan ... so I was no very fond of this dish.

Next, the STAR item arrived. 

Long Dan Fish

This was another signature item here at his restaurant. "Long Dan" is a large river grouper fish. I never heard of it before this, though. Slivers of the boneless fish meat was steamed with beancurd sticks and black fungus, and served with lots of Chinese celery. 

I found the fish meat to be very smooth, and sweet. It was absolutely divine! 

And finally, smoked chicken was served. 

Smoked Chicken - half a bird

Smoked chicken

The meat was juicy, tender, and with a smoky flavour; we were not so impressed with this dish though.

Baby Romaine salad 

I was rather intrigued with the way the salad was served ... a fusion of East and West! The baby Romaine was dressed in a sweet and tangy mayonnaise dressing ... and then arranged compactly in a traditional Chinese rice bowl! So creative, I thought. Dad enjoyed the salad a lot. 

4 dishes, 5 bowls of rice, 1 pot of hot Chrysanthemum tea, 10% service charge and 6% tax. We paid RM237.00. It was a memorable meal, though, as all of us enjoyed the food very much.