Then & Now

It's been 5 years, and the same stall still operated at Wang Full Food Centre. But there was a marked difference in the quality, the quantity of the food served.

Last time in 2010 :

Mackerel fish balls, fish paste slices, seaweed, fish maw and vegetables in clear broth

 Fish balls, fish paste slices, seaweed, and vegetables in clear broth

Today :

 Visually unappealing .... 

Together with a bowl of dry-tossed beehoon, still RM5.00

Back then in 2010 : 

Laksa Special

Today : 

Also visually unappealing, not even a single piece of prawn in sight and charged RM5.00. The laksa gravy was also overly salty.  

To be fair, the laksa vendor had changed since 2010 .... word has it that the lady used to sell at Crown Cafe near Crown Towers.

Why is the difference so glaring? Is it the rising cost of ingredients? Inflation? Complacency? Whatever it is, no more coming here for the fish noodles. And definitely no laksa for me here.  Read the posts here and here to reminisce the good old days.

Predictable Man

Every time the man mentioned going to ABC Food Court for lunch, it meant that he needed to go to the bank afterwards.

How do you know? he asked me one time during lunch when I enquired whether he needed to drop by Public Bank, which was just opposite the food court.

Duh, I rolled my eyes. He was so predictable.

Today was one such occasion. Today I was very hungry. But the chicken rice guy skipped my order so that the ladies who came after me were served first. I wasn't happy about that at all but what to do? Sigh ....

 Salad Chicken Rice, RM4.50 

The fried chicken was actually very yummy. The meat was juicy and tender, and well-marinated, the skin very crispy. The rice was fragrant, savoury and fluffy and I liked the sweet and tangy pickles too. I didn't really care much for the salad dressing, the baked beans and the chili sauce though. They could really be done away. Salted vegetable soup accompanied the rice. 

I also ordered a plate of rojak from the stall just next to the chicken rice stall. This stall was operated by two very young and pretty ladies .... 

Rojak, RM3.00

The rojak had slices of cucumber, jicama, pineapples and sliced tofu. They were cut and mixed with the rojak paste and then sprinkled with chopped roasted peanuts. The rojak paste here wasn't commendable .... simply because it wasn't stinky enough. I think a good rojak paste should pack the pungent flavour of shrimp paste. This one wasn't substantial enough, but was more on the sweet side.

The man had rice and soup .... and then we left predictably for the bank. Duh.

Peach Garden, Jalan Song

We went for a massage at this outlet called "Fushen Health Services". It is located at Tabuan Heights Commercial Centre, the same row as Porkies. The masseuses are all Chinese women from Mainland China. Normally, I would forego the Chinese masseuses in favour of Thai or Indonesian ones. But it seems that I had no options here.

When we reached there, all the masseuses were occupied. That meant that business was really good here. We did not make a booking, and had to wait for about 15 minutes till the next two masseuses were available.

Then, we were ushered into the massage cubicles. The lady (no. 21) who massaged me was middle-aged, and she had very firm hands. She gave me very assertive rubs in very consistent strength, so I must say that I had a great massage session, relieving me of the soreness in my shoulders and back. The man, however, felt very lethargic after that. Geez .... I'd be worried if he suffered the same effects as the last traumatic massage he had. Hmn ....

We had an 1 1/2 hour session for RM42,00; an additional RM10.00 was charged if one wanted a special medicated ointment to be applied during the massage.

At least this massage outlet did not cheat on the duration - the 1 1/2 hour session was fully used up (unlike some places I know of!)

We exited the shop after we paid .... and walked along the shops when we saw a large crowd of people at Peach Garden.

Wow! I exclaimed. We walked over there and decided to have our dinner there too. The thing about this place was that the round tables were so crowded together. It was impossible to sit without encroaching the next table!! Well, I sat facing the man, but we were not the only 2 persons at the table.

 At first....

We had 2 strangers' backs at the table! It was downright weird!!!! And I felt really uncomfortable. I tried to move the table a little, but I could not do so. The table must have been screwed to the ground! Fortunately, one table finished eating and left. So I quickly shifted next to the man. It was easier to talk and to share our food that way.

I moved and it felt less weird

I ordered a pork burger.

 Pork burger, RM6.00

The bigger was larger than usual, but it looked flat. So I pried it open to see .....  

 There's the pork patty 

 And a huge mess of chilli, cucumber, onions, mayo and chilli sauce

While it was edible, I'd say that it was nothing great. And at RM6.00, it sure was not cheap! 

Chicken Chee Cheung Fun 

This was not bad ..... I liked the thin and elastic pastry, the filling had not only minced chicken, but it had some chopped mushrooms as well. The sauce was not bad too. I think the chee cheung fun would be nicer had the filling been prawns or char siew. 

 Teochew Oyster Omelette, RM10.00

I did not like the pastry which was too thick and chewy for me. 

The next time I come here, I'd sit outside and dine al fresco. At least it did not look too crowded there. There were really, really a lot of stalls here selling all sorts of food. I've yet to explore them all .... till next time. :))

Nice Taiwan Style Restaurant

Nice Taiwan Style Restaurant. I'd say that everything was far from nice - from the service to the food. It also served local food, not so much of Taiwanese food. Don't believe me, check out the menu here.

So I bought a RM30.00 voucher for RM18.00, and headed there to redeem my voucher today. And we worked out what to order to use up the entire RM30.00. I repeated the orders to the lady waitress ... and she double checked by pointing to the menu in front of me .... her finger nails long and pointy. Eew. She'd better not touch the food!

Anyway ....

 Millet & pumpkin porridge, RM4.50

The porridge was not sweetened, and the consistency was good; but there was more millet and water than pumpkin, so much so that one could hardly taste any existence of pumpkin in the broth

 Honey Green Tea, RM3.00

This was very diluted 

 Butter milk chicken rice, RM6.00

Look at the portion! The chicken and the gravy tasted alright .... but the amount was rather pathetic. 

 Cantonese Fried Bee Hoon, RM6.00

This at least looked more decent than the rice; it tasted good; the ingredients used included sliced fish cake, chicken, some chopped giblets and a single piece of prawn. The prawn tasted soft and mushy .... erm .... not fresh? 

Curry squid, RM12.00

I had ordered spicy squid, but curry squid was served ..... hmn ..... the sauce tasted fine, with lots of lemon grass, chillies and onions .... the portion for the squid was reasonable ... but again .... instead of being firm and succulent, they was a bit on the soft side, leaving me to wonder again whether they were fresh .... hmn .... 

We had to pay another RM1.50 for the meal ..... and the lady at the counter did not even look up and acknowledge us when we put the money on the counter. What's wrong with her?

Nice Taiwan Style Restaurant? Hmn .... I'd say NOT Nice Taiwan Style Restaurant. My first and last. No more next time ... and I would not recommend this eatery to my friends.

Earthlings Coffee Workshop

This is one cafe that can give Starbucks a run for its money. That's what the staff at Starbucks told me. Therefore, I can have only very high expectations for the coffee they serve at Earthlings.

Today marks my first visit to the cafe located at City One Mega Mall, together with my friend S.

Freddo Chocolate, RM12.00

Freddo Choclate, & Piccolo Latte, RM10.00

Piccolo Latte 

With a slice of flourless chocolate cake, RM11.00

A delectable slice of flourless chocolate cake, RM11.00

Earthlings is serious about the coffee they serve, using single origin beans and methodical extraction methods. Coffee beans from all over the world are studied, roasted and extracted in the house - just to achieve a perfect blend of brew. In other words, a lot of attention is paid into crafting each cup of coffee.

I had the Piccolo Latte .... a tiny 100 ml cup which consisted of a single shot of espresso and steamed milk. Of the two brews presented to me, I chose a more classic, heavy roasted brew called Darklings. To me, it was a bold cup a coffee, aromatic, full-bodied and with a sharp biting taste.

S loved her iced chocolate very much, which she said to be very rich, and which she claimed that she could get addicted to. Lol. We both found the cake to be very good ... not to sweet and a perfect accompaniment to our drinks. :))

Kueh Chap @ Yang Guan Cafe

We were going to Cosway at Ban Hock Road. After beating the traffic jam, we had another problem of finding a place to park the car. At lunch time, Ban Hock Road was really crowded .... and only after circling the vicinity for such a long time, we managed to find a parking. Buying our stuff was a breeze ... and then it was time for lunch.

We went to Yang Guan Cafe at Ban Hock Road just now, where I had ....

Kueh Chap, RM4.00

The kueh chap was ordered from a stall also selling Bak Kut Teh & Kompia. The prices for kueh chap ranged from RM4 to RM6; I ordered a small bowl for RM4.00. Well, let me deconstruct it for you. First of all, I find the flat sheet noodles to be rather springy! Just the kind of texture that I liked! Next, the all-important broth had a tinge of herbal flavour, which ended with a sweet liquorice aftertaste. It was not bad, actually. The meats comprised of pork belly, lean meat, neat squares of pork skin, and pig stomach. They were all tender and infused with the braising sauce. Also present in the bowl was slices of tofu. Eat the kueh chap together with the lime and chilli dip accompaniment.

Well, I don't think the kueh chap here at Yang Guan is well-known in town, and I don't think they would be among those in the list of best kueh chaps in town, but I'd say that they do serve a decent bowl of kueh chap. :)) 

Next to Yang Guan Cafe was Lee Coffee Shop, and I could see that the bak chang dumpling and pulut panggang stall was still selling. Yayy! I walked over to buy my favourite pulut panggang.

Pulut Panggang, RM1.50

Read here. The pulut texture was great and it was very pleasant to eat with the sweet, savoury, spicy and piquant coconut-dried prawns filling. :))

Homemade Organic Savoury Glutinous Rice

My neighbour R gave Mom a kilogramme of organic glutinous rice. So Mom decided to make some savoury glutinous rice with it. It's one of my favourite ways to eat glutinous rice, because the variety of ingredient that go into the rice lend it lots of flavour and texture.

Mom does not always make the savoury glutinous rice at home. She says that it's a lot of work. Indeed, a lot of effort goes into cutting and chopping the ingredients into small bits. Mom uses lots of shallots, dried prawns, chopped preserved radishes, meat, mushrooms, tofu and peanuts. This time around, in place of peanuts, Mom added some steamed chestnuts into the dish. All the ingredients are cooked separately to bring out their individual flavours. Finally, the glutinous rice is steamed and mixed with all the rest of the ingredients, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Savoury and satisfying 

Sometimes, depending on the ingredients and on her mood, the glutinous rice did not really taste good - sometimes the rice could get overcooked and mushy, sometimes it wasn't salty enough, and sometimes there weren't enough ingredients to give it texture. But this time around, Mom's glutinous rice was just perfect.

I brought with me a Tupperware-ful for breakfast at work this morning. :))