Saturday, May 26, 2007

Food & Tea Restaurant

On Saturday and Sunday, I ate at this new restaurant at Jusco Metro Prima by the name of Food & Tea. Yes, I went ate there on two consecutive days. Yes again, I know the name of the restaurant is boring with a capital B. What happened to creativity and being catchy? At least the mandarin name is acceptable, Huan Xi Di literally translates to Land of Joy.


If it weren't for the appearance of the restaurant, and their attractive banners, I wouldn't have walked in, in the first place. Even the name sounds so hastily chosen, surely you'd expect the same attitude towards the preparation of your food?

Mother Nature Mocktail, Rm 5.20
Sweet Sour Crabmeat sauce with Mantou, Rm 3.30
Cream of Mushroom "Brulee" Style, Rm 6.30

Apparently not. This my dears, is how they serve their mushroom soup. The soup alone is nothing to shout about, too starchy for my taste. However, you can expect an abundance of mushrooms in it, for the mushroom lover, moi. This is what sets it apart. It's served in a coconut shaped bread, freshly baked to perfection. Crunchy and the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. When eaten together with the soup, ahh, it complements one another. Both the soup and the bread has to be eaten simultaneously to optimise your mushroom soup experience. Not a bad combination. But beware though, I found my peel-the-bread-from-the-top efforts futile. A little tug, and I felt my little bread bowl was gonna rip up and spill. In the end, we just bit it directly with our teeth, although you risk getting bewildered stares, and looking kinda stupid, it's much more effective at that.

An impressive menu with large photos, and big fonts! Why can't all restaurants illustrate their food? Big fonts are good too, especially for the semi-blinds like me. I just think it was awfully considerate of them to throw in a detailed description about the dish too. There were many choices, including bread, rice, noodles, porridge, HK style, Shanghai style, Tongsui, dessert, and a huge variety of drinks. By the way, I did order this. The picture of the real thing is somewhere down there.

Cheese Baked Rice, Rm 11.90 (if I'm not mistaken)
Haha, I caught my mom with her mouth full =P She said it was ok, except that it was a wee bit too filling.

Cheese Baked Seafood Noodles, Honey Red Tea
The tea was refreshing and it came in a big glassful. No refills needed =)
Cheesy is probably the best word to describe the dish.

Smoked Ham Focaccia, Rm 4.80
Oh, I ordered this, and it's cheesy, cheesy, cheesy! There's a thin layer of crunchy dough underneath, with a layer of streaky bacon I think, topped with loads and loads of cheese!
(and some weird mouldy-green stuff, but no matter, doesn't make a difference) Cheesy-licious!

Butter Chicken Rice
It's not too bad! I like its simplicity, and the fact that the chicken is so crunchy. Again, the gravy tastes odd on its own, but it does complement the chicken. The only thing to improve on is perhaps more veggie. If all Malaysians eat like this, we'd all be constipated.

Apple Green Tea Rm 3.80
XO Fried Rice with Chicken Rm 7.80
As you can see, I took this photo when Bernard was halfway through his rice. I would say the portion is just right for boys on puberty, even post-puberty ones, teeheehee. He seemed pretty happy about the food, and thinks we should go back there again. I forgot to add, that they serve FAST, although the dishes may seem a little fancy. We were seated after a 10 minutes wait, and all the food came like, around 15 minutes after ordering. That's 6 items for 2 persons. They make Broga Pan Mee look like a failure. Not too bad, within 40 minutes, we were done and just in time for our movie ^^

Coke & Lemon, Honey Peach Green Tea alongside Honey Red Tea.
Sunshine and Sweet Romance Mocktails with black straws.
The other drinks that we ordered. If you look carefully, you can also see the Fah Sang Wu, or Peanut Broth in the background. I wasn't kidding about the variety.

All in all, I would say this place is worth checking out, if you're just plain bored with all the other food. Check it out, First Floor, Jusco Metro Prima, Kepong. There's also a brand new TGV there too on the top floor, if you're tired of queues and cinemas running out of tickets.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Wai Ken's Birthday!

Today we celebrate...
WaiKen's 20th birthday.

Blackforest cake from Ms.READ's Delicious cafe @ One Utama.
Don't you underestimate this lil piece of thingy, apparently it tastes way good!
Happy birthday buddy... You're the lamest, most BOA-obsessed, most fitness conscious, Manchester United fan to me.
The above was said in full fondness.

We love you, we really do.
L-R: Carolyn, Sheryl, Jessy, Eli, Me, and who else in the middle?

I hope you find your prezzie useful. When I have the money I get you a ticket to a MU game ya.

Savoury "Problematic Chicken" aka Ayam Masala.
Oh gosh, that masala sent me straight to heaven okay?
And thanks for the dinner AND supper that night at Steven's Corner. Though it's just simple mamak food, I reckon it's 5-star mamak food, and we had such splendid time together. Of course we did, we ate up a bill of >Rm 200, but they were nice to give you a discount, hahaha. Can you imagine? Just the 11 of us, and cheap mamak food, came up to such a crazy sum. So you all should think twice whether to treat us who has a forever-famished appettite.
Full account on WaiKen's birthday on his blog.

After that 30+ drinks or so, (I think we made Steven's Corner run out of cups), we headed down to Asia Cafe, Subang Jaya for the UEFA Champions League Final!
AC Milan vs Liverpool
The place was overcrowded by 2am. Thank goodness we came early, not only did we get parking, we also managed a table and a chair! I think the Subang Jaya Liverpool Fan Club was there or something, the atmosphere building up prior to the match was simply amazing. There were people in team jerseys everywhere, and flags too!


Why are we so many hours ahead of Greece? Damn, we waited till 3am in the morning to watch. Thank you so much dear, for staying up and taking me out for the match, eventhough Arsenal's not playing. I love you!
But alas, AC Milan triumped over Liverpool with a score of 2-1, amidst an eruption of celebration amongst Milan fans in the premise. I was devastated to the max. Boohoo... Ahh, screw it. Better go sleep and get over Liverpool's defeat.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Mothers Day

13th May 2007

Event : Mother's Day 2007
Venue : Elitis Ancala, Valencia.
Time : Lunch time
Company : The rest of Valencia residents

Now if I have to name a single thing that this place has, that my old place in Menjalara doesn't have, it would be the amazing bond of the community here. There's nearly always a reason for celebration in Valencia, just like their slogan, I certainly am experiencing "Time of your life". I'm not doing any free advertising of any kind, but it really is a nice place to live in. They're are still launching new phases, and can I remind you guys, I would be delighted to have you all to come live near me. Lol!

We were sent a glitzy invitation card to another community event. Apparently, you don't have to be a mom to be invited. There was a treasure hunt session, but we were too busy snoring away to attend that, teeheehee... But with food on the itenary, there's absolutely no reason why I should miss that! We were up and ready by Lunch time!

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a huge white-and-lilac tent. Nearly circus-like, but less colourful. We were ushered in, in no time. Registration thus follows, along with souvenirs. I'm extremely satisfied with the huge piece of heart shaped Belgium chocolate =)

Oh I just love signing huge boards, it makes me feel like a star!
"Queen of Hearts" I like that theme, very original.

Fantastic decoration, very impressive, for a tent. This is definitely the kind of treatment moms would love. Flowers, hearts, food, balloons, textiles blending in tasteful harmony.

A sumptious food spread that's bound to excite anyone's tastebuds. Well, mine was stimulated badly, can you see those candy??? Tongue's tingling , saliva glands activated...

Beautiful table decoration comprising of ferns, berries, tea leaves, eustomas, roses and more.
I dare not imagine how much it cost to put one of these on every table.

Daddy enjoying his "morning" coffee...

True to their theme, they're totally commited to treating royalties here.
Note: Mom overdose ahead. Proceed with caution.

My mom, typically simple and fuss free, nervous about the makeover, with her lovely make up artist in white, and me on the camera (obviously).

Mom getting her locks primped up by another lady.

"I'm a gorgeous queen and am not afraid to flaunt it "
*smirks*

"Now, now, we don't wanna mess up my professionally done hair"

"I think I'll give a him a Moma Lisa"

What better way to relax other than to be massaged to your satisfaction.

"I'm the Queen, massage me."

"No baby, I'm off duty, go find daddy."

And SuetMun pretended to be a mom get a free massage too.

The most popular attraction, which queue lasted for an hour.

A golden Mothers Day moment for ya. But Ma, you weren't supposed to move when they're drawing.

A near complete caricature. Oddly, it reminds me of the sign on toilet doors with the word "Ladies" underneath.

Look who was there too! JingHui, JingEr, my students cum neighbours!
(in Buck-toothed glory)

Daddy was obviously happy to meet the men, who were abandoned by their women, who were busy being pampered, who also left the children under their care.

There was an emcee at the event, mainly to host kiddy competitions to keep them off their moms. And she goes, Valenciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa... to victory.
I have no idea why the cameraman is there, but I guess his job is to attract the kids. You have no idea, kids these days are professional camwhores! Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Yo dude, that's my girl over there! She got her big lungs from me! *smug*

There's clowns too! I especially like this one, he's naughty and cheeky, not to mention cute too!
I think my bro was scolding me when I took the shot, haha.

I'm better, I managed 2 clowns, hehehe... Honestly, I had no idea, the one on stilts was behind me when we were taking the picture, hehe...

On our way out (we used an exit different from the entrance) we saw a carousel! I LOVE merry-go-rounds!

You don't have to tell me. I know we look alike. Except that I look older with those eyebags.
Ugh, I rushed back straight after my last paper for Mothers Day. Seems that the weariness has yet to wear off =(

After celebrating with my Mom in Valencia, we headed to meet my mom's mom, Granma!
Oh, oh, I wrapped that bouquet. Since granma's not fond of splurging on "useless overpriced flowers", mom presented her with her best garden blooms!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Karaoke @ RedBox, The Curve

12th May 2007

Venue : RedBox, The Curve

Time : Dinner till late
Attendance : Everybody, lol. (ok
lah, i'm just too lazy to list all.)

The following will be a photoblog.

A grand room was booked. It's the biggest I've ever been in my RedBox -going history, not that I go there much though, heh heh. Still, it has a projector screen, one huge sofa, and 2 other sections, one that has a mini TV with playstation games, and the other has 3 screen's that's showing the videos that were played on the projector at the moment. Impressive huh?

I knew you couldn't see anyone in the previous shot, so here's everyone. 5 of the 6 mics were controlled by, Uncle Steven, Uncle Bear, Aunty Gabrielle, MOM (applause), and Bernard.

Oh, did I mentioned that there were attached washrooms too! One that I can hog for as long as I want, without getting into a queue. Ever wondered if a cordless mic can be brought into the toilet? Haha, imagine, some hardcore singer singing in the toilet with the mic and extra loud music, while squeezing out a chunk of poop. If you're lucky you might be able to catch the *ploop* of the shit diving into the toilet bowl from the speakers, muahaahaahaa...

Uncle Bear putting his heart into his singing, while Uncle Steven looks on. I must admit, they still having the groove despite their age =)

There you see William engrossed with his Playstation game, with Aunty Angie, Uncle Patrick and Aunty MeiLing deciding to just kick back, relax, and "enjoy" seeing us discover our "singing talents"

I sooo love Gwen Stefani!!! Has anyone heard 4 in the morning? Isn't it amazing?

The queue for the mic, and the current "Mic-whore", my bro -_-"

And so we gave Uncle Bear another birthday celebration, since our lunch came under a "Birthday Package" Oh well, good for him. And of course, for us too. Ahem.

The package comes with a birthday cake of choice, and buffet lunch for all. The food sucked. Big time. I understand that since we're not paying much anyway, so we shouldnt be expecting a food extravaganza. But seriously, the variety was too pathetic to be called a buffet. And the food, hardly anything to shout about. 'Nuff said.

A couple caught cudding, lol. You can't blame us for getting snuggly and all. *shrugs*

And guess what? We're not the only couple in the house (say that ala Jolin&DT) .
Couple #2: Daddy and Mummy getting all comfy, and happy about it.

Couple #3: Uncle Patrick, and Aunty MeiLing
We're together and not afraid to admit it! Don't we just look matching together.
(even the clothes, lol)

Couple #4: Uncle Phillip, and Aunty Angie looking like a million bucks!

Couple #?: Err, no couple here, lol... Just good pals, Uncle Steven and Uncle Bear.

Couple #5: Uncle Moon and Aunty Lily, I see the old flame still going strong!
The singing party went well until suddenly
.
.
.

Don't ask me what happened. Ask him. This picture was taken as ordered by dad.

Alrighty then, a shitload of photos done. More to come. I'm starting to think this is a good way to escape from writing alot of words, hahaha...

Next update: Mothers Day at Valencia.