Chinese Cuisines at Restoran City Star, Petaling Jaya

I was invited by Ken for dinner together with his friends from Tour2U at Restoran City Star in Taman Mayang, Petaling Jaya during my Kuala Lumpur trip. This double shop lot restaurant owned by Mr CM Wong has a nice and clean environment with one section of the restaurant air-conditioned.
Our meal consists of several recommended [...]

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Chinese Cuisines at Restoran City Star, Petaling Jaya |

Because Time Waits for No One

Friday 7 August 2009

I took out my keys to open the front gate, the corner of the wall was empty. It was an unbearable scene.

Rewind 9 years

Friday 2 March 2001

“I just bought a dog. You can have it. Yeah, from a client. No choice, a new way of entertaining client. Big business mar…heh heh”

That was from my cousin. I immediately ran to his house, which was a few blocks away from mine.

I was looking around, trying to spot a cute brown puppy. Could it a Golden Retriever? Or a Labrador? Hmmm…it could be a Terrier or a Beagle. I don’t mind. I was already grinning.

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“Where? Where? Where? Where is the dog??

My cousin pointed at a steel cage. Behind the black bars was a fur ball in white…

Which looks nowhere near like a ‘dog’.

I showed my cousin a sepuluh sen face. “Huh? I thought you told me it is a ‘dog’?”

“Yeah. A Pekingese what. It is a dog, you dummy. Oh but it does look like a cat hor? Garfield..hahahah!”

The next thing I know is that something furry landed on my lap. It is her. She came towards my direction and cuddled up herself on my lap comfortably. She was not wary of me at all.

That was the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life.

I looked at her in her eyes. “We’ll go home together, ok?”

She wagged her furry tail. I think she answered ‘yes’.

* * * *

I believe, Marley aside, she is by far the most difficult and fussy dog to keep.

She sworn by heart not to take any dog food. Pedigree premium biscuits, chewy sticks or chicken-in-can. She spat out whatever dog food that we bought.

Her peculiar eating habits will make you wonder if she reincarnated wrongly into a body of a white Pekingese. She really knows how to eat.

She likes durians. D24. No kampung. No thai.

Like owner, like dog? I don’t deny that.

My stay with her didn’t last too long. 2 years later when I finished my high school, I left her at home and moved to Subang Jaya to do my A-Levels. And then it was degree in Australia, followed by working in KL. Until now stationed down south.

Wherever I go, she remains the one closest to my heart.

.

Until the day when my mum returned home to find her laying on the floor in her usual position, but this time round stone cold.

It hurts me everytime to think about her departure. What really happened to her while no one was around at home, and the things that I would give up just to listen to her barking at the background whenever I call home or to see a running fur ball whenever I open the front gate.

I hope you had a happy life whilst staying with us.

Rest in peace, my girl.

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Because Time Waits for No One |

# 2 The Black Echoes

That irritating sound won’t stop.

It just won’t stop bothering me.

258 was the number of days that I have been counting.

There it goes … I heard the sound again, echoing in the tunnel.

I moved myself to the adjacent burrow. I can feel that it is coming towards my direction. Wait, something is not right here. From the back of my body.

……

Was I dead or did I just pass out in the dark? All I can feel is the numbness in my nerves.

I hate the sound of machine guns.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I grabbed the handle strongly, so strongly that I almost clutched myself to the seat right in front of me. The bus was rocking a hard way through the terribly uneven muddy path.

‘The absorber is worn out.’

Again, my head hit high into ceiling of the bus as it runs over a huge crater on the road.

We joined a day tour to Cu Chi and Cao Dai for less than USD 7. For that price, I certainly didn’t expect a long arse journey on the bus. I think my lungs, kidneys and stomachs sagged by 1.5cm after spending 5 hours travelling on the rocky road.

Our Bobby Chinn look-alike tour guide was very entertaining.

‘Miss, whe du yeu kam frum?’

‘Ohhh…de land famous for robbers!’

Astounded by his reply, I found out later that he means ‘rubber’. Certainly one of the most interesting remarks in this journey.

The journey throughout Cu Chi was a remarkable one. I was particularly amazed by their perseverance and determination. Imagine a bunch of Viet Cong soldiers living in the dark, humid and claustrophobia-inducing underground. The American troop described the conditions within the tunnel as ‘black echoes’.

We did try to explore one of the sections of the tunnel that has been expanded to accommodate taller/ larger sized tourists.

It ain’t fun.

I was a fool to believe that the tunnel has been enlarged to accommodate the big size us. *imagining walking around the tunnel freely like visiting museum liddat*

Half way crawling through the tunnel (I almost laid flat on the floor and creep towards the end), I was sweating and screaming in my heart…the tunnel seems to be never ending. How did the Viet Cong soldiers manage to survive in the tunnel for 20 over years when I find the dark claustrophobic atmosphere unbearable for mere 2 seconds?

I am a true brat spoiled by modernity.

After the exploration, I found something amusing. I really wanted to try that real thing. At least once. The guy recommended M16, so I bought 10 bullets (USD 17) for that.

It still ain’t fun lorrrrr.

I was a fool to believe that ear muff works. The NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) is close to ‘0’. The impact of the shot was so powerful that every shot leaves my ear drum with a numb (wee wung wung…wee wung wung…) feeling.

I’m glad that I insisted on trying out Nguyen Trung’s coffee on our last day despite the fact that we were supposed to rush to the airport.

We ordered “The Legend” which was nothing like the ordinary Starbucks cappuccino. The coffee was really strong and bold, definitely one of the highlights of my trip. *Love*

Later on when we return to SG, we found out that there is actually a branch located at Liang Court, Clark Quay. *Double Love*

*
For now, I’m more than happy to return to my comfort zone, happily munching on my routine subway ham and egg, surfing dumb websites, and crossing the road without the fear of being smashed by 58 motorbikes into a slab of tomato paste in the middle of the road.

Bar none, I still love you, Saigon.

Yellow stars missing in sight …

-The end-

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# 2 The Black Echoes |

Tales of the Unexpected from Saigon

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#1: Untold Secrets of the Message Room

When darkness falls, everything turns into a picture of dead silence.

I stepped on the narrow staircase leading to the underground.

‘Shhh…be quiet…you don’t want to wake them up…let me show you the way.’

I saw this young boy when I stumbled upon this place. In fact, I saw him everywhere. From the main door, the message room to the combat officer room… He was there, everywhere.

I lost him soon after.

‘Tub…tub…tub…’

The floor is so thin that I can feel the tremble. I heard that coming from the back.

‘Dooom…’

When darkness falls, everything turns into a picture of silence … a dead silence.

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.
.
.

.
.

.

.

.

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I didn’t dwell myself too long in that B-grade horror flick as I walk through the underground tunnel of the Reunification Palace.

Oh by the way, I was at Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) for 3 days. Thanks to the free air tickets from the lucky dip.

The first, second, third and fourth floor didn’t excite me. There were numbers of meeting rooms, conference rooms and dining rooms of different themes, a place previously resided by the presidents.

We were just wandering around the Palace and stumbled upon one eery staircase that leads to the dark underground. That really intrigued my interest.

There were secret rooms (or message rooms) with bulky and dusty switchboards, the very 60s phones and the good old typing machines.

Hairy attempted this shot ala Wong Kar Wai mode that inspired the series of dark tales.

The young boy is definitely not from our hallucination but he was really everywhere. Everywhere that we went. He loves blocking our way, interrupting at the background when we were shooting photos and looking at Hairy with a creepy smile.

‘Sekali you see him in one of the black & white pictures hung on the wall’ said Hairy with a blank look.

How interesting.

Obviously we didn’t spot him in any of the pictures, in fact the pictures shown were depressing and disheartening. Nuclear bombs, massacre and concentration camps. I just want to get out of that place.

Back to reality, we were caught in the middle of the junction with motorbikes coming from all 4 directions and with 58 bikes honking at us at the same time, as if we were blocking their ways *sweat*

Funny mode of transport in Vietnam

.

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I was literally distressed, I think a bowl of piping hot noodles would be a good cure.

We dropped by Ben Thanh Market (we call it the ‘Beh Tahan Market’) and zoomed straight into the food section.

Tell me about pracitising food hygiene, there were a few dead cockroaches lying under my seat.

To eat or not to eat? Gulp…There goes my first bowl of pork knuckle noodles in Vietnam and L-S (diarrhea) on the very next day.

At night, we strolled along the night market street and the dai chow stalls came into sight. Born to be gluttons, we settled for another round of food.

The return of the alcoholic.

Can you believe that a bottle of Saigon beer costs only 90 cents (10,000 dong)?

But that 90 cents can only give you a taste of gassy plain water. I stopped at one bottle.

Oh well, the journey didn’t end here. In fact it only started the next day – a five hours helluva extreme journey that can only be found in Vietnam.

To be continued.

Photo credit to the legendary Hairy from Black Tie White Lie.

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Tales of the Unexpected from Saigon |

That 3 Days in an Island

Different from what the title would imply, I’m not writing a hopelessly romantic getaway post. In fact, the trip was initiated by a not so amorous reason – to clear Fishy’s annual leave for the first quarter of 2009.

Hokkaido was in the list.

Koh Samui looks not too bad either.

Infomercial break: Visit http://www.pranaresorts.com/ , a newly established boutique resort by my company in Koh Samui

Whatever it is, the plan was to fully utilise our passports and travel out of Singapore. Ding dong here and there, after all the cost and time factor consideration, we ended up here…

Bintan Island.

An Indonesian Island that is blardy near to Singapore and is the well-known beach holiday travelling spot for Singaporeans, something akin to Malaysian travelling to Port Dickson.

The island has become so popular among Singaporeans that all prices are denoted in Singapore dollars. And nothing is cheap here.

Lunch was in the resort beside a muddy pool.

Trying to be adventurous, I picked some funny looking fruits from the buffet spread counter, thought it would have tasted something like lychee. But yiaks…the flesh was so hard and it tasted like one semi-sweetened garlic. To date, I still have no idea what is the name of this fruit. Shit, or was it only a plastic display.

After all the funny food and fruits, our next plan was to show off our assets.

I mean the colourful bikinis that we brought.

For that 3 days we took the risk to ride on the ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) or known as the quad-bike.

The ride was a rough and tough one, across the muddy pool, sandy pathway, up the hill, down the stream, and the whole vehicle was so hard to navigate that I almost crashed myself right into a tree. .
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15 minutes on the road and we regretted. Blardy hell, we even paid for one full hour of ride that cost us SGD 80. We suffered through the whole ride with aching fingers, dirty black face, dusty eyes and cuts – I think I hurt myself when I lost control and drove passed one thorny branch.

The evening was spent on the beach attempting beachy jumps.

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Piggy did the “pray-while-you-splash-water” jump.

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I attempted the “as-if-I-did-yoga-by-the-beach” pose.

Why am I always so determined to make myself look stupid.

Oh, and we saw an island swam us by…

The holiday was not too bad after all, albeit abit commercialised as the whole island is dedicated to earn monies out of Singaporeans.

I had fun.

We had fun.

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That 3 Days in an Island |

Penang Food – Dim Sum @Aik Hoe Restaurant

The day started with a “yum cha” session at the old eatery, Aik Hoe Restaurant located in Carnavon Street. This restaurant which occupied two shop houses still managed to retain its old nostalgic charm after fifty over years. The fixtures of old ceiling fans with flooring of small squares of blue and white tiles still [...]

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Penang Food – Dim Sum @Aik Hoe Restaurant |

CK Lam featured in Guang Ming “We Eat”

I am happy to see myself featured in the “We Eat” section in the Guang Ming Daily published on 29th March 2009. It was indeed an honour to see the full page article of myself having breakfast in Aik Hoe, one of the oldest restaurants in Penang which is well known for its authentic dim [...]

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CK Lam featured in Guang Ming “We Eat” |

Yaki-Yaki Japanese Barbeque Buffet Restaurant @ Jalan Bukit Bintang

After witnessing the huge success of Tenji Japanese Buffet has managed to achieve by offering 50% discount on all dining period, many other Japanese buffet restaurants are doing the same too. Xenri, Daidomon and now the newly opened Yaki-Yaki Japanese Barbeque Buffet Restaurant too.
These promotions or competition you might say, are definitely good news for Japanese buffet lovers. Anyway, yesterday was the day Earth Hour was celebrated and we happened to be at Bukit Bintang area wondering where to have dinner. We looked at Starhill’s Jogoya and it cost RM88++ per pax, pricey.. Then we suddenly remembered Yaki-Yaki next to Low Yat Plaza.
We decided to give it a try because it was quite cheap for a buffet @ RM46.25 nett per pax (including service charge and tax) We didn’t make any reservations and dined as walk-in guests.
After we got our table and paid the full amount, we were guided to a round table just next to the beverage area. Each table has its own captain in charge, and any orders for barbecue are to be made through him. To ensure the food is maintained at its freshest, Yaki-Yaki only serves the food (for barbecue only) when an order is received.

After making an initial order for some scallops, unagi, beef and Chicken with Wine Soup. We took a quick tour around the restaurant to see the available choices. Yaki-Yaki has Japanese (sushi, sashimi, tempura), Chinese (cooked seafood), Western, seafood, skewers (mushroom, satay, sausage) and dessert sections.
The first thing I had was of course some sashimi, raw oysters and an Unagi sushi – just to test the freshness. The sashimi was definitely fresh and very enjoyable, that alone was enough to make me a happy person lol.

Mussel with mayonnaise, sushi and steamed prawns with herbs. The prawns (freshwater type) at Yaki-Yaki are very fresh, another good news for me. Among all prawns in the buffet, I found this cooking style the nicest because the herbal taste wasn’t too strong and you can still taste the prawns’ sweet flesh.

Perfect half boiled egg the Japanese style, called Spring Water Egg.

I think Jogoya started it, and thanks to them the newer Japanese buffets serve these mini fresh coconuts. Very sweet and refreshing! Oh you don’t have to worry that they will run out, Yaki-Yaki replenished them very quickly and generously. No need to compete with the other diners for it lol (you know what I mean hehe)

The first food to arrive from our barbecue order – Scallop with Butter Cream sauce. It was nice to see the butter melt and cooking the scallops when they are placed on the barbecue. But too bad the same couldn’t be said for the taste. By the way, the time needed to cook the food is written in the menu itself. For example the scallops need to be barbecued for 3.5 minutes, while fish typically needs 4 minutes. Better bring a long a friend who can read Chinese because the timings are all written in Chinese.

Miso Beef, lots of fat in this one.

Because they are sliced to thinly, they cook pretty fast in 1-2 minutes. And they tend to stick to the grill too.

The melting of the fat will make the fire burn even stronger. I managed to remain calm and took some photos while my gang was freaked out trying to put off the fire, lol.

Left to right: Beef, Lamb and Chicken Satay, they were very spicy! Funny that only Chicken Satay was not in skewered form.

The list of food can be ordered for barbecue includes: Chicken Slice with Honey sauce, Miso Chicken, Lamb Belly Tender, Beef Striploin, Hokkaido Sanma Fish, Shishamo, Argentina Squid, Crab with Butter Cream Sauce, Japanese Rich Ball and Mochi and etc.

A plate of delicately prepared Japanese tofu, some more mussels and cooked scallops.

Tempura Soft Shell Crabs, no doubt one of the most popular items in the buffet. But luckily Yaki-Yaki replenished them very frequently too. I didn’t have to wait long for it.

Tempura Prawns,very crunchy since I got them just after they were deep fried.

More sashimi, all were nice and fresh. Special mention to the sliced abalone with spicy chili sauce, which was great as well.

The Ebi (prawn) is a must try, very flavorful.

The Unagi with Japanese Tofu (upper left) was another yummy dish.

The cooked scallops at the sashimi section tasted much better than those for barbecue.

We didn’t enjoy the Cod Fish because it got hard, dry and salty after being barbecued.

Luckily the Unagi was very nice. But you gotta pay extra attention when cooking them because they get burnt very easily. Shown here is a portion for three.

Whole pomfret, Garoupa (head and tail only), huge clams and tiger prawns were available at seafood section. They were very fresh as well but weren’t really suitable to go on the grill except the clams. Reason being they tend to get really dry and tasteless after being barbecued.

Some food tasted much better if Yaki-Yaki’s recommended cooking method was followed. Firstly, place the clams in the small aluminum foil plates. Then, fill up the plate with some Chinese wine before placing them on the barbecue grill. Although this will make them take longer to cook, you will be rewarded with tasty clams infused with the fragrance of Chinese wine. You really gotta try it.

OK, enough of what I had and lets take a tour of the restaurant. First stop, Chinese food section.

Butter prawns

Cooked crabs

Snails

Cawanmushi and different types of soup

Chicken Herbal Soup

Fresh coconuts that come in large containers in front of the kitchen counter. I have to admit they weren’t displayed as fancy as those in Tenji or Jogoya but who cares as long as they are replenished fast, that’s what I think really matters. Other fruits like orange, apple, dragon fruit and kiwi can be found here too.

Raw Satays

Skewered sausages, which I didn’t try any. There’s skewered mushroom, sweet potato and corns nearby too.

The soft shell crabs prepared at the tempura station were not only for the diners but also for the sushi section. Half of the soft shell crabs being fried here would be sent to the sushi section used to prepare California Rolls. So, no pre-fried soft shell crabs were used at all.

Sashimi and oyster section. This section is the best for me because most of the food tasted great.

Salmon Sashimi, orangery goodness!

The chef is very friendly and likes to talk to the customers. He will also give recommendations if you are unsure of what to eat. Cool guy.

He’s so friendly that he even volunteered to pose for me while holding a huge slice of salmon.

Mussels

Scallops

A huge selection of drinks were available, from soft drinks to coffee, tea and fruit juice.

The iced Nescafe was pretty good!

Brew your very own coffee here.

A fridge containing Fruit Jellies is located next to the drink vending machines.

And lastly, the Sauce Station with some unique looking containers. OK, I didn’t write a lot because I feel the 50+ photos are pretty much self-explanatory of what is served in Yaki-Yaki. Overall, very good Japanese buffet and I actually enjoyed the warm, cooked food more than the barbecue.
For RM46.25 (promotion period only, and 5% government tax and 10% service charge on NORMAL PRICE) this buffet is very worth visiting and I highly recommend it if they can maintain the quality and freshness of the food. And I think many of you want a comparison of Yaki-Yaki and Tenji, so here goes:

50% discount only from 16/03/2009 to 30/04/2009

Buffet Lunch NP RM65++ 11:00am to 2:30pm (3.5 hours)

Buffet Hi-tea NP RM55++ 2:30pm to 5:30pm (3 hours)

Buffet Dinner NP RM75++ 6:00pm to 10:00pm (4 hours)

Buffet Supper NP RM65++ 10:00pm to 2:00am (4 hours)

Yaki-Yaki Japanese Barbeque Buffet Restaurant,
Ground Floor, Federal Bowl,
Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Off Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Bukit Bintang Central,
55100 Kuala Lumpur (next to Plaza Low Yat)
Reservation: +603-2142 8111

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Yaki-Yaki Japanese Barbeque Buffet Restaurant @ Jalan Bukit Bintang |

Penang Restaurant – Cai Xiang Seafood

As a newbie to an area, I would usually choose to patronize the restaurant that is recommended by word of mouth or through the blogs. This time around I chose the Cia Xiang Seafood Restaurant in Bukit Tambun for our family weekend makan outing. This restaurant is nearby the Bukit Tambun Interchange of the North [...]

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Penang Restaurant – Cai Xiang Seafood |

RM1.20 Nasi Lemak @ Sri Weld Food Court, Beach Street

PJ has a famous RM1.20 nasi lemak, in Penang we have it too. Same price, same quantity, similar packaging but a whole lot more spicier. Definitely for those nasi lemak lovers looking for sambal pedas in their rice.
The funny thing is, the photos you are about to see are already one year old. That time, I knew I was going to move to Selangor so it was my last attempt to try as many Penang food as I could. One fine Friday afternoon, SL and I drove all the way from Bayan Lepas to Sri Weld Food Court at Beach Street just to try two food that were said to be famous there, beef noodles and nasi lemak.
Although the journey seem short for me now since I start working in Selangor (you know lah how freaking long those LDP highways are), those working in Bayan Lepas would know it is unusual to drive all the way to town just for lunch. Usually we just settle in Batu Maung, Bayan Baru or Bukit Jambul.

I hesitated for a while (for one year lol) on whether I should post this, main reason being the crappy photos. But then, why not? I think the photo is fairly self-explanatory on the level of spiciness in the sambal. Red hot!
For RM1.20 you would get a packet of traditional nasi lemak with a slice of hard boiled egg, some ikan bilis (fried anchovies) drenched in sambal.

Nasi Lemak drilling in progress. For me, finishing the nasi lemak was a challenge because the spiciness would numb your tongue and make you sweat like hell. And I ordered a cold drink so it only made things worse. You know how cold drinks make hot food taste even hotter right lol.
By the way, if you come early in the morning you would see rows and rows of freshly packed nasi lemak arranged in front of the stall. It’s a very neat sight and really great for photo. If I ever return that’s the shot I won’t miss.

Oh, this is one of my favorite drinks in Penang where we call it 932, basically a lime and sour plum drink. The limes are stuffed with sour plums and placed in a huge jar to be infused with sugar water (I think). Preparation is straightforward and simple, just mix with water and ice.
It is a very cool and refreshing drink, sweet tasting and not sourish like ???? ‘Kiet La Sem Boay’. 932 drink is extremely hard to find in KL, and they don’t call it 932 here. It’s called ?? ‘Pou Kat’ instead. So far I only seen one coffee shop selling it and the taste is just not as nice as those in Penang.

Yeah I mentioned that I was here to try the beef noodles too. But too bad the photo of the noodle is just too bad I dare not show it here. So, have a look at the stall instead lol. Taste wise I still find the Leng Lui Beef Noodle opposite the Balai Bomba much nicer, with more meat too.

OK since it’s been a year I last went, I don’t know if the stalls are still there. Can anyone verify? For a super-delicious-omg-I-must-eat-one-now photo of the nasi lemak, head to Rasa Malaysia. And apparently, Lingzie has already reviewed the nasi lemak and beef noodles even before I went there! Haha.

Technorati Tags: Penang, nasi lemak

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RM1.20 Nasi Lemak @ Sri Weld Food Court, Beach Street |