woot2 ... !!

it's been almost six years since i last posted any article..wasnt sure if my blog address was still there..haha

but anyway, it feels like such a long time ago and so many things has happened in my life since then... i havent really felt any need to write about anything just yet..so maybe, i'll just leave this for awhile and see what happens... hehe

hidden gem..

well...almost...becoz it looked kinda empty, so many stalls but not that many people there on the two occasions that i went to explore, which is a shame really.. and a gem becoz the foods served were very much above average with some almost on the verge of excellence..

first up was this penang style mee goreng..i must say this one tasted quite authentic. reminds me of that famous one in burma road, pulau tikus

this penang hokkien mee (aka har meen in KL) may have looked quite bland but i was kinda surprised. not bad actually especially when mixed with lots of chilli..

this mixed grill was average but the black pepper-looking mushroom sauce was nice, especially with the fries..

this pizza was amazing. wood fired, thin-crusted with the right kind of cheese, stringy all the way..had to pull almost a foot in front of me before it finally broke off..hehe and for rm10, i must say it was a real steal..

amazing techni-colored smoothie drinks they serve at this cafe, and very tasty too..

trust me, this one taste as good as it looks..








well...this place already has an established branch in ss15 subang jaya and although this one may not have as many stalls as its brethren in sj, certainly the quality of the food served is almost as good..for folks living in puchong, you might want to check this place out..and for sure i'm gonna be going back there again to try out the other stalls..

Asia Cafe

Jalan OP 1/1, Pusat Perdagangan One Puchong, Puchong, Selangor 47100

i thot i saw..

...a buaya by the river..haha lol

but it turned out to be a large monitor lizard surfacing from the river looking for food...hmm i didnt know monitor lizards swim..eeks, maybe it was a crocodile after all.. but anyhoo..this post's not about that lizard or buaya..

it's about a little weekend sojourn up to kuala selangor for a little R & R.. meaning rest & eat like nobody's business lo..it was a nice long drive up there and the next day a short brisk drive back..why leh? because we used our GPS to get there but used the shorter trunk road back going by roadsigns..haha

 err..does this fella look like a buaya? ..maybe not but i wouldnt go near him anyway..

how much more rural can this get ? ..

with days spent playing mahjong with your buddies al fresco style..

or drinking fresh coconut water on a hot humid day..what else can one ask for..

and they even got monkeys by the hundreds up on a hill too for entertainment..

 .. this is where we went makan .. well..err..actually, we ate at the place where i stood to take this pic, so this one is another seafoodie place next door...hehe

i got no words to describe this dish..just fabulously tasty.. creamy butter fried crabs..

 and eaten with this fabulously fried man-tou, you could just swipe off every little bit of that creamy butter sauce..



this is some funny looking siput..i really dont know what it's called but it was nice as long as you dont accidentally swallow the shell coz that would feel like having a tiny blade down your throat...

 this was marmite chicken? (i'm just guessing..) but it was wonderfully well done with just the right amount of sweetness...and i thot my only chicken meal has to come from popeye..

 another crab dish.."kum-heong" style..the crab had quite a bit of roe and the meat was truly fresh..like it just jumped out of the river and landed in the cooking wok..

 oooo...my favorite, salted egg mantis prawn..so sinfully nice.. hehe

 this one i no like..why leh? because 1) it's steamed..dont like steamed stuff.. 2) the shells are intact...!! too lazy to peel them and 3) coriander and ginger i totally hate...eeeeks !! hahaha

this one again, not in my books but i suppose it was nice coz the fish was really fresh, and most important had no fishy smell plus no irritating small bones to remove from your mouth while eating the meat..


hmmm...this one supposed to be their "chew-phai" dish...oyster omelete ..but came out looking like a pancake..this one didnt pass, means fail lor...haha. taste-wise was kind of so so only..

..and finally, our obligatory vegetable...which was kind of totally forgettable.. i suppose, seafood restaurants dont really care two hoots about serving nice veges..



luckily this dish came out to save my day after all those steam steam stuff...crispy fried sotong..nice :O)



all those ten dishes, with rice, water, a couple of beers etc etc..came out to about rm 300.00 !! and the eight of us ate until we could not eat any more.. so cheap...........!!

and oh...i should mention that we stayed at this place called the zande motel..rooms were really nice and clean and costs us rm 165 in total for 3 rooms for one night.. aiyoh..if i move there, i surely can live like a king..



p/s: the seafood restaurant is called riverview..very famous one..every tourist go kuala selangor sure end up eating there one..hehe

errr....

i didnt mean to do this, really...but i just could not control myself..

i know, i know...i have said it a thousand times before and each time i had to pinch myself but yet...i am weak, i am human...and...I JUST CANT HELP IT...



i just love smartfones !!! kakakaka :P


so..my galaxy note went out the window and in came this newbie..the first of its kind in the market..a quad-core 1.5 GHz running on android ICS...wheeeeeeee

i present to you my latest toy..the HTC One X ..

this is just about the fastest running smarfone there is right now..with beautiful graphics from any which angle that you look..read the review by gsmarena and see for yourself why this baby is so so hot at this moment..

the only downside, as yet again with all the smartfones out there...the battery just doesnt seem to last long enough for me to enjoy playing with it..and i was kinda getting used to the 5.3 inch display of the galaxy note.. :O(

home cooking ??

yeah..u heard me right !! the wholesome goodness of real home-cooked food. a kind of rarity nowadays when every eatery out there, plus some too busy-to-cook mothers who leave the cooking to their maids, throw up what appears like tasty looking meals but are so heavily laced with chemicals instead..haha (means got plentiful ajionomoto added lo..).

in contrast, let me tell you a bit about those dishes that come with just the right amount of ingredients, the right balance in aroma, taste & texture, and not forgetting the whole-hearted effort plus hours of preparation, that go into bringing them to fruition and wah laaah, you get the kind of meal that really beats all diet programs.. means you just want to throw any thoughts of dieting out the window and gorge yourself silly on the food like there's no tomorrow..but one that is so much more healthier than what one can buy outside or those that come with added foreign flavors...hehehe

i met this really wonderful lady a while back, an aunt of a good friend of mine, who's just so into creating simple & wonderful dishes that can rival the best that any restaurants can offer..now i wish i had taken more pictures of her creations on previous invites but i suppose, when i saw them food laid out on the table, my camera just went out the window instead as i laid my hands on those mouth-watering delicacies..lol lol

well, this last invite, i had the mind to quickly snap a photo before everyone attacked the food..hahaha

i had on previous occasions suggested to her to open a restaurant or cafe as i truly believe she can really do brisk business, but on the other hand, come to think of it, good food like these should perhaps be known only to a few select people, to savor, to indulge in and to bring joy to... and i think she does that rather extremely well for all her family, relatives & friends... and i am so honored to have had a couple of those opportunities to share in them..





p/s:.. and oh, she plays a mean game of gin-rummy too...

ok folks..

..i'm taking a break. may not be blogging for a few months..

got things to sort out..will be back, hopefully soon..

cheers..

a nice getaway..

i wanna tell you about this little place that i discovered by chance recently..

it was just one of those lazy days at the office when i suddenly got a pop-up email message from booking.com on their specials..absent-mindedly opened up the web-link and what i saw really piqued my curiosity..it was a flash deal on a boutique hotel in town..at rm49 for a room, it was totally unbeatable, especially when i saw the pics of the rooms and the hotel..

so i made an immediate booking for an upcoming holiday, got hold of my bunch of friends and off we went to explore the place..

what greeted us on the outside was kind of totally unremarkable..an almost plain looking glass door fronting an unassumingly normal looking building amidst a run down neighborhood...but once we opened the glass door, it was like going into a different dimension..


pretty decent looking frontage..that is if one doesn't look too far to the left or the right..and if one forgets to appreciate the real esthetics upfront, one might think it not very different from any other budget hotel in that part of town..







motel-like rooms seen from the courtyard..very clean corridors..not a piece of rubbish seen..







artificial looking natural trees..haha. dont get me wrong, it actually looks very very pleasing..landscaping must have been done by a professional...the plastic paneling actually allows sunlight to come into the courtyard but keeps out the rain. the sides are not enclosed, which allows natural air to flow in..very smart..






having a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon can be quite nice, relaxing and refreshing out here..with my samsung tab in hand, i could just while my time away playing angry birds..







quite upmarket finishings. one can judge a room by its wash basin..and the wood paneled flooring just adds a further measure of luxury..very simple but yet very cozy and comfortable..








this is really nice..mattress on a floor board. so japanese in styling. the bed was really comfortable...i could just live in this room forever..and with a 32-inch LCD tv facing the bed..i was in heaven..







the shower and toilet..again very very clean. the hot water was a bit low in pressure..but what the heck, just have to spend a longer time in there lo..








a nice table to do one's work if necessary..







i was actually very surprised by the design and make-up of this hotel, the courtyard and mostly the rooms. i could tell that someone actually took the time to design this very aesthetically pleasing place from scratch, when they re-built the place..and to offer it as a lifestyle hotel at a very very affordable price is truly remarkable..and unbelievable. i just hope it stays like this forever..


so..if you are looking for a nice getaway that wont burn a hole in your pocket, look no further than the V Garden hotel in KL.. you can get good deals from here too..and you might also want to explore the neighborhood if you come to stay, as dinghy as it appears to be, it actually holds a treasure of eateries not known to many..and you can tell these places cater to KLites who know where to find good food..without having to use a credit card...