What time is it? It's Makan Time again! Early morning and i'm out to get Nasi Lemak Kerang ( See Hum Nasi Lemak ) from this stall by the beach, named the grammatically-baffling Tree Under.
This is what their Nasi Lemak Kerang looks like. Filled with a generous portion of chilli hum, with a small hard-boiled egg and a piece of cucumber. This small serving is actually just perfect for breakfast, not too much.
This restaurant called 'Crocodile Rock' is relatively new in Kuantan. It is actually housed in a old colonial house with a huge garden. The English owner cleverly uses a fusion of old and modern elements in her decor of the place. This picture shows the 'colonial' part of the house. The dining hall in which we were seated is the modern part near the entrance.
This grilled salmon came with a colourful garnish. The salmon was slightly overcooked but it was fresh nevertheless. The hollandaise dipping sauce had a very nice lemon twist flavour that was not too sour.
This place is famous for its thin crust pizza. I had a banana-chocolate pizza and it was crunchy and really fun to chew on. I'm taking off points for using a plate that looked like something my mother uses to chop her meat on though!
Beef satay in a western restaurant? The ketupat rice was undercooked and this dish was way overpriced. Give me Malay hawker satays anyday!
At a halal buffet, i encountered this dessert which i've never seen before. I asked the caterer about it, and they informed me that it's called 'Puding Raja' ( Royal Pudding). The ingredients include prunes, cashew nuts, cherries and shredded egg yolks. When ready to be served, the ingredients will be mixed with sweetened milk custard.
This is the final product. Looks very very nice. I love milky desserts but a little less sweet will be great.
I had just arrived home last week from work when my housemate sent me an SMS informing me of a forest fire just outside my house. Being the kay poh paparazzi ( puffyrazzi) that i am, i immediately went down to get a taste of it all.
The fire was actually burning on a hilly area inside so the firemen had to erect a ladder and trekked into the affected area.
My house was all smoky and the area had a hazy blanket during the day. At night, it got a little better probably as it had cooled down.
Ahhh.... hunky guys in uniform camping under my house....hohoho....
I went down again after dark to get another look....
And i got this photo from the stomp website... haha...there's my house!
Today i'm going to share with everyone part of my mom's pineapple tart secret. She used to make the 'open' version, and the pineapple was cooked from scratch but with less people helping her now, she has progressed to making the 'closed' version and buying prepackaged pineapple. Here are the pineapple balls which i made in the morning. The whole lump of pineapple paste has to be rolled into bite-size balls.
After lunch, my mom started preparing the dough for the tarts.
The dough was also rolled into bite-size balls, and the pineapple balls are stuffed into the dough one by one. This year i learnt how to perform this step, and my mom was stationed next in the production line where she used a pair of scissors to make little thorns on the tarts. My father, meanwhile, put on the last touch by placing the clove.
Here the tarts are ready to be placed in the oven. Their surface has been glossed with a layer of egg yolk for its shine.
Finally, the tarts are out of the oven. My sisters love these, hope they'll ultimately learn to make their own...haha....
This year's annual dinner was held at Amara Hotel. Look at the transformation from lab coats to pretty dresses/outfits. What a rare sight that can only be seen few times a year. Last year was a failure because we didn't capture as many photos as we would have liked, but this year we compensated by taking way TOO MANY photos!
Some of the guys...judging from this collage, i guess i have a soft spot for guys who work for the alkoxylate plant....haha.... guess which one of them is my favourite?
Two old friends and two new friends! Soo Sun looked so dainty in her white frock... Anna and LK were smart in their black pantsuit attire while Sixian was looking absolutely radiant as well.
Some of the other girls...El was a dead wringer for Cleopatra...haha.... MJ was without doubt one of the best-dressed of the night =P
All the younger generations in the lab ( under 32s) ....Jianwen, what are you doing there??
Agent LL : Ehh....? What is this? Grandma is preparing to bake something for us? Let me CHECK what it is...
Agent LL : OK OK...i know what it is now. Grandma's making Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies. I will assist her, as usual, being the good assistant i always am. Let me CHECK the recipe first.
Agent LL : OK, Grandma has placed all the ingredients into the mixing bowl. I'll have to poke around to CHECK if she's put in the right stuff.
Agent LL : Everything's going smoothly. The stuff is being stirred in the mixer. Wow, listen to the whirring sound.... i can't wait to taste it. Before that, just let me CHECK the progress.
Agent LL : Grandma, what are doing? I've done a check, everything's going according to plan.
Agent LL : Agent KK , your duty is to turn this big dough into smaller lumps. Do it like this, easy does it... just look at my demonstration. Don't worry, i'll check on you from time to time!
Agent LL : The cookies are done! Good job everybody...CHECK this out!
We woke up this morning and looked out the window to discover that it was snowing in Interlaken. After breakfast, we made our way through the snow to the train station only to find the trains were way way behind schedule (much to the shock of everyone, Swiss precision hardly fails on any occasion!). A professor from the University of Bern sitting with me on the congested train was translating the German announcements on the train for me, and also telling me he was already 2.5 hours late for work. It seemed that no one expected snow in October! Not even the Swiss Rail!
.
We made our way to Bern and checked into the hotel. The temperature gauge in Bern Train Station read 2 deg C. From the first day when we landed in Geneva, we had air-conditioning in our room, till now the last day, we were actually using radiators in our room! After dropping of our stuff, we took a bus to Barengraben ( Bear Pits). Bears have been an integral part of Bern since their Bernese troops brought back a real bear in 1513, and it is said the Bern is named after bears. Much to the dismay of the onlookers, the bears were asleep in their den and didn't want to come out. I made a few snowballs and tossed them to wake them up but they refused to budge.
.
So, we walked back towards the Old Town. Bern is more quintessentially Swiss than other cities. The inhabitants of Bern were often mocked by Swiss residing in other parts of Switzerland for their 'legendary slowness', but this has actually resulted in the beautifully historic town being left intact for years. The people in Bern believaed in leaving things alone.
.
However, it was easy to get lost in the maze of the town, where all buildings and roads are almost of the same shade and design! We decided to keep on the main road with the trams which led us to Zeitglockenturm, originally the western gate when the medieval town was extended. This clock tower is the most recognisable landmark in Bern and the road leading up to it is decorated with many different fountains. The clockwork and figures on the clock tower begins to twirl 4 minutes before the hour and attracts many tourists daily.
.
After walking around Bern looking at their quiant shophouses for another 2 hours, we departed on a train to the industrial town of Olten, just 45 minutes outside Bern. Wen Lee had done some research and found out that famous Swiss chocolate Lindt has a factory outlet there which is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-4 pm. We reached Olten at about 12 pm, and promptly had lunch. We got lost for about an hour, as no one in Olten spoke English and we were lost. After all, this town is not exactly a tourists' spot! Finally we found a restaurant by the river where the waiter actually spoke English and he directed us to the factory. It actually felt like walking in Tuas ( albeit a very COLD Tuas), going to the factory. Finally we reached the Chocolate Factory and did our chocolate shopping.
.
After that, we went back and combed the city of Bern some more, before getting into a small diner to have Crepes for dinner, along with Cafe Mocha with a dash of Bailey's Cream. Having satisfied our hunger, and longing for our warm beds, we went back to our hotel and packed our stuff.
.
Early the next morning, we left for Geneva, about 2 hours away, where we were to fly to Amsterdam (Holland) for our flight home. ByeBye Switzerland.... Switzerland had been my dream country since i was a little girl, and finally i was able to fulfill my dream of visiting it, and it didn't disappoint one bit!
Click on the hd button on the right bottom corner for High Definition.
Now let's head for desserts! I haven't had dessert for a long time... longing for a good treat =) This MOF Japanese Sweets and Coffee in West Coast Plaza is its 2nd flagship store ( if i'm not mistaken ) after the one in Lot 1. After having dessert there, a colleague suggested that i try its coffee cos she said it was one of the better coffees she's had so i might just visit them again.
A waffle for my friend who loves waffles. The presentation was really nice, but they should've used a smaller plate cos it made the dessert seemed tiny.
Shiratama Kurian, it contained kanten jelly, supposedly a trademark of this dessert place. It is similar with those rectangular jellies you find in your ice kachang, only bigger and better-tasting. This dessert came with a brown sauce which had an odour like a cross between maple syrup and gula melaka.
A Mango Kakigori for my mango-loving friend and to match her yellow T as well....hahaha...the shaved ice was really fine, and melted in our mouths... it was like eating clouds... =P
Macha Kurian, a dessert with a very heavy green tea taste. Came with generous servings of ice cream, soft serve ice cream and fruits. Highly recommended! This place is one of the rare places i've been to in which the pictures in the menu were actually inferior to the real servings!
Heading home after a very fulfilling afternoon...bye~
After a lousy bet with my friends + delaying it for close to a year, we finally settled the score and celebrated by dining in the new West Coast Plaza's Sushi Tei. I'm not sure whether it's because this place is new and not fully opened or because the economy is not exactly flourishing, but the place was deserted on a Saturday afternoon!
Haha....those who were not paying looked the happiest, the semi-paying one was able to crack a smile. The one who was being hit in the wallet could hardly muster a grin =(
Caviar sushi! Nice eh? Classy look, but i couldn't say the same about the taste. Blech....
My favourite food which i'll order whenever i'm in a Japanese restaurant - Chawanmushi! There's something really comforting about Japanese Steamed Egg... everytime i have one i feel so good inside.
The highlight of the meal - Teriyaki Garlic Beef Steak ( medium rare ). Really tasty and appetizing, would recommend this to beef-lovers. The meat was tender and marinated well.
Dragon roll as suggested by LK. Very nicely decorated and a good dish to share with a bunch of friends.
Come on let's eat!!!! Oh my god, even the waiter was laughing at us...
Last but not least, a little soup to wash it all down. Sushi tei's kaminabe was really fresh, with its multitude of vegetables, tofu and crab. The supple glass noodles was chewy and went well with its miso soup.
What time is it? It's Makan Time again! Early morning and i'm out to get Nasi Lemak Kerang ( See Hum Nasi Lemak ) from this stall by the beach, named the grammatically-baffling Tree Under.
This is what their Nasi Lemak Kerang looks like. Filled with a generous portion of chilli hum, with a small hard-boiled egg and a piece of cucumber. This small serving is actually just perfect for breakfast, not too much.
This restaurant called 'Crocodile Rock' is relatively new in Kuantan. It is actually housed in a old colonial house with a huge garden. The English owner cleverly uses a fusion of old and modern elements in her decor of the place. This picture shows the 'colonial' part of the house. The dining hall in which we were seated is the modern part near the entrance.
This grilled salmon came with a colourful garnish. The salmon was slightly overcooked but it was fresh nevertheless. The hollandaise dipping sauce had a very nice lemon twist flavour that was not too sour.
This place is famous for its thin crust pizza. I had a banana-chocolate pizza and it was crunchy and really fun to chew on. I'm taking off points for using a plate that looked like something my mother uses to chop her meat on though!
Beef satay in a western restaurant? The ketupat rice was undercooked and this dish was way overpriced. Give me Malay hawker satays anyday!
At a halal buffet, i encountered this dessert which i've never seen before. I asked the caterer about it, and they informed me that it's called 'Puding Raja' ( Royal Pudding). The ingredients include prunes, cashew nuts, cherries and shredded egg yolks. When ready to be served, the ingredients will be mixed with sweetened milk custard.
This is the final product. Looks very very nice. I love milky desserts but a little less sweet will be great.
All the younger generations in the lab ( under 32s) ....Jianwen, what are you doing there??
A waffle for my friend who loves waffles. The presentation was really nice, but they should've used a smaller plate cos it made the dessert seemed tiny.
