Alluring Lang Tengah

Went to Lang Tengah Island last week. For those who are clueless to where this lovely island is, its smack right between Perhentian and Redang islands, off Terengganu shores. If you still donno where I'm talking about, go brush up your geography ;p
Previously, I went to Perhentian Kecil and I enjoyed that place tremendously. Then, I was told that Lang Tengah is the most beautiful island of the three. With high expectations, I was looking forward to this trip. The boat ride was around 1 hour and when we were near the islands, checked the waters. Clear and blue. Good :)

The beach at the resort we were staying

The moment we stepped on the shore, however, we were not that pleased. The beach was scattered with dead coral bits, all washed up to shore. So, we needed a lil getting use to the sand. With that, we got biased. At that point, we still think that Long Beach was better.
After staying there for 4 days though, my opinions changed. Prickly beach aside, Lang Tengah is really one precious little gem. The corals are abundant, some are so near the beach that you'd only need to wade 6 steps into the sea and you can see corals between your legs (in my case, a huge sea cucumber!). I never got bored of the snorkelling there (as I dont dive), we snorkelled a few times a day. You can also choose to snorkel around the island (by boat)
We managed to see so many corals and fishes that was so breathtakingly beautiful. I think the most exciting part was to snorkel near an area called blue coral. Yes, obviously the corals there are tinge with a slight neon blue, truely awesome. But the star of the sea there was the black tip sharks. We were the only one there early in the morning and I was hoping that the sharks had their breakfast already ._.". We saw a couple of baby sharks, playful and were swimming close to us. Then when we snorkelled to the deeper end.. the fishes parted, and the mother shark appeared!! Quite large, I'd say around 1.5 meters, she was my most enxiciting encounter there.

At the end of the rocks lies the mother shark....

We also snorkelled at an area where there are supposed to be turtles and sting rays. Guess our luck was down, didnt get to see them. We also missed the morray eel, a rather elusive creature.. :(. We saw lots of parrot fish, clown fish, sea anemone, some huge sea clams, sea urchins and lots of fishes that I dont know the names..

The far end of the rocks are the turtles and stingrays rumah..

The locals are a friendly lot, one brought us to see other parts of the island and to look for 'blue sand' at night. Hav you heard of blue sand? I sure didnt and was I like a jakun! You just need to gently scratch the shore(where the sea is lapping) at night (without light) and you will see tiny specks of blue blinking lights in the sand! Its like looking at stars... it blinks for a brief 2-3 seconds, but it was truely amazing. I think those blue things are micro organism, got a fright when we touched them, blinked an angry blue glare at us.. then fade away.. but then again, I really dont know..

Lovely sunset at Lang Tengah

Over all, I had a fantastic time there, looking forward to go back to Lang Tengah next year.

Sek Yuen Restaurant

Last saturday, rolly polly brought dragon, redv , june, eric and me to try a restaurant located in the heart of Pudu called Sek Yuen.
A really old restuarant, we felt like we have been warped to the 1960s once we stepped in. There are 2 parts of the restaurant, the original being non aircon(an old pre war building) and next to it, another shop with air con. All the food is cooked in the original building and carried over next door (from the back) to be served.
We reached slightly over 7pm, and the place was already pack! Actually, I think the original building was more crowded, guess coz it gives a nostalgic feel to its patrons. Rolly polly said that they still play songs from vintage vinyl! Wont be surprised if I can hear Zhou Xuan and Lin Dai's songs as the staff are really ancient! ;p

Some dishes required to be ordered 1 day in advance, which we did for the Pat Poh Ngap (Eight Treasure Duck). What we got was this gargantuan plate of duck (good to feed 10 people, as the staff boasted), braised for many hours. The whole duck was deboned(cept for the thighs and wings), filled with lotus seeds, ginko nuts, mushrooms etc, went for a quick "yau zum" before it was braised till tender. The duck came out aromatic, fully absorbed with the ingredient's delicate flavours.

We also had Kam Hiong fish head, Stir fry prawns and a plate of veg. The simple dish of veg came out surprisingly delicious, as its has enuff of 'wok hei' (quote frm rolly). I rather enjoyed the fish, a mix of fish head and meat sliced, deep fried before stir frying with kam hiong condiments. The prawns (har lok) was ok for me, thot it tasted like me mum's tomato stir fried prawns.

Overall, the food was good, an extremely hearty meal. Though there were only 4 dishes, the 6 of us could not finish the food. Mind you, we are not small eaters, redv and eric had 3 bowls and 2 1/2 bowls of rice respectively with plenty of dishes to go around. The bill came out to be around RM170 (minus the beer), we knew that its the duck thats slightly costly as the ingredients used was not cheap.A normal meal (everyday dishes) shud be around RM15-20 per person. Sek Yuen is located at 313-1 & 315, Jalan Pudu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur.Tel: 03-9222 9457, 03-9222 0903

Yik Kee restaurant, TTDI

Was supposed to post this before my trip.. guess didnt have the time till now ;p

Its the month of world cup and dragon, cc, eric and chia wanted to have a quick dinner before the game. We decided to have dinner in Taman Tun (TTDI) and to try out Yik Kee restaurant. I was told that this Yik Kee is a branch from the famous Yik Kee in Karak, which I have never tried before either. This branch was opened maybe 6 months back, with warm, clean decor. Very chinese, but must say that its rather small.

We quickly skimmed through the menu, not wanting to waste precious time.. A quick glance at the first few pages of the menu consists of more expensive dishes, like sharks fin, abalone and scallops cooked in various styles. Heh? I thought Yik Kee serves wholesome homecook food? We did find some more average priced dishes and we settleed for salted chicken, braised pork with black wood fungus, stir fried 4 angle beans and mah por tou foo.

The braised pork (salted chicken and four angled beans on the left and right respectively)

The dishes took rather long to come, and we noticed that the servings was not that generous :(. The first dish that came was the salted chicken. Eric said that his grandma can do better than this. I have no further comments.

Next came the veg and the tau foo. I must say that I enjoyed the veg tremendously. The beans were stir fried with some dried shrimp and chllies. Not over cooked, it had the right crunch and freshness to it that I find extremely good. Not so for the tau foo though. I find it rather bland. The last dish that finally came (yea, we waited long for this babe) was the braised pork. Its pretty good actually, the pork was tender, and the sauce thick and flavourful. Only gripe? Portion was a tad small.

The price range was ok, most of the dishes costs between RM15 to RM30. Still, its just an average restaurant to me, I doubt I will be back again.

Yik Kee is located at the same row as Devi's corner. Turn left at the IBM traffic light (IBM is on your right), you will see Yik Kee in the middle of 2 rows of shops.

Comrades, almost a con story

Yesterday, when I came out from the LRT station, a Chinese national man approached me. He asked if I could conversed in Mandarin, which I nodded in reply.

Next he started his explanation of being here in Malaysia the first time with his wife and blah, blah, blah.. Anyways, the gist of the story was they needed money to travel to KL( the reason was too long to explain). We are comrades, he said. Look, if I wanna cheat you, I would not ask for just RM10, he pleaded. His wife was at brink of tears, and she pleaded too.

~hiya comrades!

At that time, I was already lost in thought, fighting an internal battle of Fear and Conscience. Fear of being conned, coz we hav heard too much stories about Chinese conman. But my conscience was niggling at me, What if its true? What if they really needed help? I looked around me, there was no chinese around us. I decided to trust my gut and pass them RM15.

They took down my number, said that they would return me the money next day. I told them there was no need to, As long as you are honest to me and not doing anything against your conscience. They still insisted for my phone number.

Did I really got conned? Maybe. Well, at least my conscience is clear.

Wonder if my comrades would call me soon?

My Kitchen, Sunway Mas

Not MY kitchen literally, this restaurant is named My Kitchen.

Have been trying some lip smacking food at Sunway Mas area (next to Aman Suria) and decided to pop over to My Kitchen finally. Every time I pass by that area, I never had the urge to try the food in My Kitchen, even though there are decent crowd in the restaurant. Read some good reviews about it and hence, my visit there.

My Kitchen is a simple one shop eatery, brightly lighted. However, I found it rather warm sitting inside (dont recall it having air con). They serve Hainanese and Malaccan food with quite a vast variety. Since there were 6 of us that day, we order quite a number of dishes (as most of it was below RM10). Their signature dish are mutton soup and lotus chicken which we ordered. We also tried the omelette with cincaluk, spicy braised pork, toufu with mince meat, special brinjal and fried veggies with mace.

Clockwise frm bottom left: Mutton soup, Lotus chicken, brinjal and omelette wth cincaluk

Maybe it was the high expectations I had from the good reviews, am not sure. But I found the food to be mediocre. The mutton soup, to my disappointment, was not flavourful. It was rather diluted, and I just cant pinpoint what was missing in the soup (yes, the mutton is there ;p). The Lotus wrapped chicken came in slightly bland, but it was very much over powered by the aroma of the lotus that you can hardly taste the rest of the ingredients. Still, not all was bad. I enjoyed the brinjal dish tremendously, it was stir fried to perfection. The other veg was ok too. The omelette may be a tad salty for most of us though. The toufu? Dont like it.

Although the bill came out to be really reasonable (cant remember how much), I dont think I will be patronising this place again. Guess it just dont suit my palate. Am certain that many people found the food passable, coz the business was good (nearly full house).

My Kitchen is at Sunway Mas area. Same road as Jin Shan Cheng restaurant (corner shop), opposite Restaurant 88.

The cutest pup in the world!!!

Well, at least for now. And with the fact that I have not seen that many pups.. kekekeke

I went with my fren CC to last-of-the-dragon's house last saturday to see her new pup, Terri. A mixed Shitzu and schnauzer, this little bugger is barely 3 months old.

Aint he the cutest thing?? awwww

Last-of-the-dragon picked Terri up, and the lil bugger was trembling coz it was afraid of heights! Still, Terri settled down really quickly and started nibbling at us. Luckily its still toothless.

Which is the toy and which is Terri?

I noticed something about Shitzu though. They like to head straight "there" if you are sitting on the floor. Poor CC got 'attacked' by Terri. Actually, I think CC rather enjoyed it ;p

^Horny Terri hard at work

A frustrated Terri venting out his anger on the toy...>

I wished pups always stays as pups.. they are so adorable!

The pussies kept coming...

Were you thinking of something else?? Yes, I am talking about pussy cat. In particular, my neighbour's pussies. ok, that sounded weird. My neighbours are nice people. So are their well behaved children. Their cats, however, are another story altogether.

I wonder how it began, maybe when our neighbours decided to have major landscaping done to their backyard. The cats, started loitering at our backyard more frequently. We had issues a few years back with the previous group of cats (which has, since then, disappeared), which gets joy using our backyard as their 'toilet'. After a while, they deemed our backyard is not good enough, and much to our relieve, they left..

One of the notorious pussy at our backyard..

Sorry I digressed..back to the current pussies. We are fine when the cats came over because of the construction going on next door, but for them to unceremoniously dump their stinking poo is really unbearable! You can smell the fresh pile feets away, and a whiff of that can send you swooning. I was reading this article in The Star recently on cats. On how clean cats are, and how exciting they will get when there is construction in the vicinity as there are new, soft soil for these pussies to poo in. Bollocks! Have you seen how cats behave?? The pussies next door:

1. Always keeps their own home clean while soiling others (if they can find a way out)
2. Never ever dig holes to bury their poo, unlike their ancestors..
3. Have dainty paws that cant dig
4. Did not poo in the construction sand/soil
5. Are not afraid of you and gives you a look of disdain.

Anyone can tell me how to stop the pussies from coming over to my house to poo? Please?

Koon Kee claypot chicken rice

Sometimes, we take things for granted. Like this purportedly famous claypot chicken rice. Its smack right in the middle of my neighbourhood and I have only ate there for less than 5 times ( and I have been staying at my current house for 3 years already ;p).

Koon Kee claypot chicken rice.. sorry it look rather 'tossed'.. again I forgot to take the pix before i attacked the food..

Koon Kee claypot chicken rice is famous around PJ, heck, I've even seen people travelling up from KL to eat this. They only operate in the evenings, for dinners, as during day time, this shop serves hawker fare. Business is usually good, even on weekdays. I had dinner with last-of-the-dragon there some time back, and we ordered claypot for two. The steaming hot claypot came loaded with the fragrant smell of burnt rice(this is my favourite, i love eatin the burnt parts), well marinated tender chicken, chinese wax sausage (lap cheong) and salted fish. The combination does complement each other well, a great mix of flavours fills in with every mouthful. The serving is rather large, so usually we cant finish the whole meal. If you are around PJ, especially near Damansara Jaya (where good food is scarce..kekekeke), do give this a try.

The stall also serves steamed soups such as watercress soup, old cucumber soup, lotus roots soup etc and veg. Price: RM12.50 for claypot for 2 persons (2 sizes, single or double). Soup ranges from RM4- RM6. Note though, on very busy days, the wait can be rather long, around 30 mins.

Koon Kee claypot chicken rice is located at Atria shopping centre square, facing out, next to Lotus restaurant (there's an open air parking between Lotus and Koon Kee).

Patience is the kunci

Earlier on, I wanted to name this post "The dumb f" as agreed amongst my frens.. Finding it a little crude, I decided to use another title instead. sorry mates..

One of my fren recently relocated to KL to work. To date, I am still figuring the reason for such a change. I mean, he's been working in Spore for years, is rather stable there.. i think..

Anyways, a few of us met him after his first week on the job. Decided to meet at Mid V for dinner on a Friday nite. He came nearly 2 hours later, face black as coal. Man, the bitching gonna start soon..

Most unfortunately for him, his introduction to working in Klang Valley is the massive jam. To add to that, he stays in Cheras. Double whammy! I must say that he had very bad luck, to start his working life in KL on the NAM and Agung's birthday week. But I was stumped to know that at one point, he came out of his car wth his carlock to get a bus driver to 'move on' as the bus driver was causing a jam. Hey boy, it dont mean that you cant do it in Spore, you can do it in Msia, ok?? No road rager is my fren..

My advise my fren, is patience, deep breath and learn the nooks and crooks in KL to escape the jam.. else, theres always the LRT, but thats another story altogether.. :)

Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo

I was at PJ Old town and was told that there's this famous yong tow foo which has been in business for decades. Seong Kee yong tow foo is located in a very old open air food court, next to the Old Town market.

Whats so great about Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo?? Well, this is the ONLY place I know of that 'yong' its food upon order. You can see stacks of bitter gourd, chillies, brinjals, tow foo, foo chok skin etc all without the filling. Once orders are place, they will fill it with fish paste. As for sui kow, they prepare mince meat with chopped carrots, black ear fungus, onions etc and would wrap immediately upon order. You'll need to wait a while, but no worries, not too long though..:)

The delectable selection of yong tow foo

The tow foo was silky smooth, and dipped in the sweet and spicy sauce, must say that its real good. The sauce's flavour was somewhat different from the usual one you get..same same but different I guess. The sui kow and fried foo chok were equally scrumptious coz its freshly made.

We also ordered another dish, their fish head curry. I guess this is a signature dish coz nearly every table has it..

They were very generous with the veggies, they gave loads of it. The fish head, chopped to coarse pieces, was at the bottom of the bowl. Piping hot, eaten with rice, I must say this is a rather decent fish head curry. The sauce is rather thick, the way I like it. However, as I am not a big fan of very 'santanish' curries, it was just all rite for me.

Seong Kee also serves other dishes such as assam fish, hakka fried pork, stir fry veg, pork in vinegar, fried chicken wings..If you can stand heat and compromise with the hygiene there, do give it a try

Seong Kee Yong Tow Foo, 35, Taman Selera, Jalan Othman, PJ . Tel: 77810946 (you can call in to order for take aways if you dont wanna wait)

Au revoir alpha male?

Recent years, I noted that there is an alarming increase in metrosexual males. Men who:-

1. grooms all the time

2. religiously follows the 3 steps of facial care (thats bare minimum, i know men who goes an extra mile on slathering expensive stuff on their face)

3. reads female magazines and know the ins and outs of female couture

4. are sensitive and have EQ

No, no, they are not gays. This new breed of men came in with such a force, that it took lots of women by surprise. We just didnt know how to differentiate them from gays..hahahaha

I was chatting with this metrosexual fren of mine a few days ago on facial care products. Was I surprise when this guy list out the beauty product brands, range and quality.. and a tirade on how each product is good/ bad coz he has tried? NO. Heck, he even spend more money on his hair than me! I was stupified nontheless, coz I only know half the things he was saying. Should I be impress? Now, that's something to ponder on..

Where are the alpha males? The manly man? Then again, maybe not..

I think a SNAG is much better...kekekeke