Coffee, Tea or Me ?

Ok..that's one cheesy title for a blog post, but then..considering how greedy I am when it comes to food & drink, choosing between Coffee & Tea when I want a fix....is really a tough choice!

I love my coffee, having developed the addiction while I was working in Adelaide (awesome coffee...sigh..i miss it already), I'm also a fan of tea. I have been drinking tea since....well, i can't remember when, but my daily life in Malaysia will always have tea. My dad loves tea...he fell in love with tea, mainly because of its health benefits and before he knew it, he has the whole family hooked on tea. Everyday, we will have freshly brewed Chinese tea, readily available at home........

Now, with The Tea Republic, they have a wide selection of teas....more than 30 different type, the last time I've checked. The teas that they have are from all over the world - France, Japan, Sri Lanka, Australia and etc.....

And did I mention the delectable selection of desserts available at the shop ? Sinfully sweet macaroons....mille fuile with raspberries, Varlhona Chocolate Tarts, and selections of cakes, pies and pastries.

The Tea Republic

The Tea Republic (TTR) is a personal project of my school friend, Sumita. A interior designer by profession, her passion for tea has prompted this Tea Republic project.....and I supposed, its a secret mission to convert all Malaysian to shower their love on tea, rather than the sweet offerings that are readily available at the mamak (teh/milo/kopi tarik ?), and the Malaysian infatuation with Starbucks/Coffee Bean (ice blended frappucino anybody?)

What can you expect at The Tea Republic ? I would have say - go and see for yourself, but here's my brief :
A place where you can have a heathly drink, a place to find your inner peace, and a place for surprises...
Why surprises?  well, TTR has a changing menu for food and they are updating their tea listing as they go....so for all you know, you might find new and different desserts and hot food every forthnight...

My personal favourite at TTR ?
1) The Orange Rooibos Cream Tea - fragrant with a very pleasing orange nose..a hit of sour at the back of the palate and is perfect for drinking on its own (that's how I like it), or ask for a sugar stick or honey...if you have a sweet tooth. Honestly, I think I'm hooked on this...but I'm determined to try different tea each time I visit TTR...

The Cream Orange Rooiboos Tea

2) Caramel Tea
Awesome tea - with a strong caramel nose, but without the sweetness....I find it very unique, personally!

3) New Lupicia Green Tea - Takachiho blend
The tea leaves are apparently roasted in some japanese iron-pot, hence when brewed, there's a nice toasty flavour to the green tea. I find it refreshing in a way....my current favourite!

4) Tropicalitea - your version of ice-blended drink with tea and fruit!
I personally will ask for watermelon tropicalitea...but i've heard that the honeydew tropicalitea is equally yummy! A must on a hot and humid day....definitely will quench the thirst!

5) Masala tea
If you love your Chai Latte, you will like this.....
Freshly pounded masala mix gives this tea the Oomph! required....i feel all nice, warm and toasty after my dose of hot Masala Tea....

5) Red velvet cake...

Red Velvet cake with cream cheese topping

The texture of the cake is rather creamy and dense (very much like a pound cake), but packed with chocolatey flavour and the cream cheese topping complement the cake nicely! They are currently selling the cupcake version....

6) Chicken mayo croissants
I just like it....cannot explain why....ask for a sprinkle of cracked pepper when served.....

The teas are priced from RM6.90 and up to RM25ish for a pot. Not exorbitant - considering the ambience and the location of the shop. Just take a walk around BSC, and you will notice that drinks in most of the eatery don't come cheap.....

I will hop down to TTR for a healthy dose of tea (i drink mine without sugar most of the time, and chose to enjoy the natural flavour of the tea)...

My to-try-list :
1) Cardamom tea
I think it sound quite exotic, and being the friend of the owner, I have the privilege of observing that all the spiced tea (Masala/Cardamom/Cinnamon) are made with freshly ground/pounded spices - yes...freshly ground with mortar and pestle. The idea is....to retain the maximum flavour and fragrance of the spices!
And Cardamom, according to the wisdom of Ayurveda, is a great herb to help improve the respiratory systems and is commonly used to help with curbing nausea...

2) There are a few more tea of the Lupicia and Damman Feres range that I've yet to try......

Oh..and I supply the TTR with my Earl Grey Pannacotta - read about this @ all about Pannacotta post

Earl Grey Pannacotta with Caramelised Pineapple toppings

Dancing Fish - Awesome Indonesian food...

There's nothing like a horrible traffic jam and a rainy afternoon .......Why? You may ask...Mainly because...the frustration of being stuck in a traffic jam in central Kuala Lumpur city center and the rain itself, would have work up the mother of an appetite! And did I mentioned, I was stuck in the traffic for more than 1 hour, traveling from KLCC to Bangsar Shopping Center ("BSC")...? The trip would have taken less than 30 mins on normal traffic condition, but on a Friday afternoon, with rain and the typical Friday prayer traffic......you just have to rough it out !Any friends who know me for more than a year (or lesser) would have known that I always succumb to comfort eating....food always make me feel better, unless the whole food experience itself is awful to start with. When I'm finally parked at BSC, I was determined to have good food.....something packed with flavour..something to tantalise my taste buds (I've been on a very bland diet due to a month-long battle with flu/fever/sore throat and cough).Having heard recommendations from friends about this restaurant, and the place looks pretty nice on its own...I took the lift right up to Level 3 of BSC new wing, head straight to Dancing Fish and waited to be seated....tick tock tick tock tick tock...i must have waited for about 10 mins, with waiters/waitresses and at some point the restaurant manager walking past me, but chosed to ignore me.....I'm getting rather annoyed (mainly coz I'm hungry)...but its peak lunch hour...so, maybe they have their reasons to ignore me...or they think it is highly unlikely for 1 lady to want to dine alone! Anyhow, I finally manage to catch the attention of one of the restaurant manager (he's got this funky hairstyle), and asked if I need to be seated or I can just look for my own seat....and after another 5-10 mins, I'm given a table.
So...the culinary journey at Dancing Fish begins.... :After ordering, you can expect to be served a bowl of keropok (crackers), served with a generous dollop of sambal (shrimp chilli dipping sauce)....the sambal is awesome...the keropok...well, i don't really like this kind of keropok (there's a bitter aftertaste), i would have preferred some papadam, but then again, i supposed this kind of keropok is typically indonesian ?

Keropok and accompanying sambal (They call this Emping)

The problem about dining alone, is that I can only order limited dishes....as there's only that much of a tummy space available....

I've ordered, the individual set meal, which includes the Crispy Fried Chicken (fondly known as Bebek), and 2 servings of salads of the day. I was given an interesting serving of starfruit salad (a mix of fresh onion slices, crispy anchovies and star fruit slices). The starfruit slices was crispy and the crispy anchovies toppings , together with the sauce make this an interesting salad....definitely something that I was looking for - tantalising flavours and texture !

The set came with Nasi Kunyit...mainly long grain rice (its fluffy) cooked with turmeric....

And the other salad of the day, is the gulai pucuk paku - vegetable cooked in a coconut/turmeric base...something you'll be thankful to have, after having some of the spicy sambal, that comes with the set. And there's some tempeh and fried tofu pieces - you can dip this into the sambal for some extra Oomph! :D

The fried chicken, looks really dry on the outside, but was surprisingly succulent on the inside...so no complains there. It could have been packed with more flavour...as I like my food seasoned well...but nothing that a little sambal can't do! :D 

A word of caution - this is a typical way of making fried chicken (On the main menu, they serve fried duck - indonesian style), if the wrong cut of poultry is used, you might end up with a dry piece of fried meat. I happen to be lucky enough to get somewhere around the chicken thigh region...so the meat is pretty succulent.

At RM23.90, I think its pretty reasonably priced, considering the serving size and the ambience..

Individual Set Meal with Fried Chicken (Goreng Ayam Set) - RM23.90

Being the greedy monster that I am, and not knowing how massive the set meal is (I have a notion that most restaurant in BSC serves really tiny portion of food...at least, they seems small to me or by Australian standard - check it out for yourself and try a meal at Chinoz at BSC), I have impulsively ordered a soup.
The waitress that was taking my order, says that the serving size is for 1 person....and I thought...yea..soup is not filling...its ok to order a soup!

Prawn Coconut Soup - spicy and sour soup base - RM17.90

I've expected something like a tomyum base soup, and true enough, the soup base is pretty close to tomyum...just lacking the depth when it comes to the spiciness and the sourness of the soup. Otherwise, the soup is packed with the fragrance of coconut and lemongrass......And you can really find generous servings of soft and flavourful coconut strips in the soup, together with a mussel, some oyster mushrooms, and prawns.

Overall, I think the soup will be good enough to be shared with another person.....

OH...and after reviewing my receipt, I realised I had also ordered the Keredok, an Indonesian Salad...no pics though. I'm sure it is pretty nice, but I was too full to really enjoy it properly, hence, I won't say much about this. The Keredok (the serving once again, is pretty good) = RM9.90.

Overall, a meal that was hardly shared - even though I manage to get my BFF from The Tea Republic to join me for lunch (she had had lunch earlier) ,  the bill came up to RM69.40......
A bit expensive if you were to spend that much everyday for lunch, but totally worthwhile as it kills all the frustration from the traffic jam and I totally enjoyed the food....

Where to find Dancing Fish Restaurant :
Lot T120, T121, T122
Bangsar Shopping Center
Tel : 03-2095 6663

Beanstro @ Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

I have found a way to record my thoughts as and when, I have any...er thoughts...
Park a "Note" in my iPhone. It has the time and date recorded, and the only drawback is, I can't really attached relevant photos to those thoughts....else, it will be a "draft blog entry" which I was hoping to just copy and paste when I get my hand on a computer.

I've downloaded some Apps that allow blogging to be done on-the-go, but I just like to do it on a computer...and that's old-school for the younger generation eh? I can't imagine when it comes to a day, where a laptop is equate to..say a type-writer ?

Anyhow, I was down in Singapore a couple of weeks ago. It was a pretty good trip...met some friends that I haven't seen for a long time, especially my BFF, Suet! Its cool to catch up with her, on how life after marriage is! :D

Now, I have been complaining about the lack of good coffee around in Kuala Lumpur since my homecoming in Dec 2010...so I thought, I'll find some nice coffee joints in Singapore. While there are The Coffee Connoiseurs chain that I saw along Orchard Road, I believe that there are more less visible hidden gem somewhere, that I'll need to discover...

I didn't have much time in Singapore, but when I was heading to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to meet my Adelaide buddies, I was feeling light headed...coz I'm hungry....I only had some breakfast earlier and its almost 4.30/5.00 pm when I arrived at MBS.

The MBS is looking really grand and nice, and as I was walking..I saw this coffee place that says "Beanstro". I thought...that's pretty cute...and the place was packed..there's a line of people waiting to be seated! That should be a good sign, eh?

When I finally gotten my seat, and have a look at the menu, I have to say, I was rather disappointed that its just another fancy cafe by The Coffee Bean Company...with a more impressive food menu...

At this point, I'm ravenous......so, I've ordered a Molten Chocolate Cake and a Quiche Lorraine, both are priced around SGD17 and SGD8 respectively. Pretty decent, if you are not spending in RM.

~~~ The Molten Chocolate Cake~~~~
The menu says that the cake will be served with vanilla yoghurt on the side, but it turn out to be whipped cream. I actually took the time to ask for the menu again, to double check...and yea, it says vanilla yoghurt....well, I was just being a pain since I have yet to have any food at this point - mainly because they served the cake without any cutleries.... I have to ask for a spoon.

The texture of the cake is ok...could be more goo-ey and oozing with chocolate sauce, but no complaints on the serving size though..this can be easily shared with 2-3 person, if you are having tea/snacks.

~~~The Quiche Lorraine~~~
Once again, the quiche was served with no cutleries...I supposed, in Beanstro, the customers are to eat with their hands ? Not that I mind, really...if the food that I ordered are not piping hot, and came out fresh from the oven, unless I want to intentionally burn myself...

It was a nice touched, to get a nicely-heated quiche...from the texture of the pastry, its pretty obvious that the quiche is not freshly baked, its re-heated. Which is fine....really, no customer would want to wait for 30 mins for a little quiche to be freshly baked...

Loved the warm and nicely baked tomato on the side, which cuts through the cheesy taste of the quiche...and there's some turkey bacon in the quiche too.

I have to say, that they took the time to include nicely dressed salad on the side, while most cafe would have just chuck in a few lettuce leave and say that's it! Its a plus point, given that they are pretty busy then....

I had the brew of the day, which is pretty ok....nothing to complained about.

Just for the record, I wolfed down the quiche pretty quickly, before moving on to the Molten Chocolate Cake....and sad to say, I only managed to eat a few spoonful of the cake...as I have to leave some space in the tummy for dinner with my friends from Adelaide!

Overall, the whole experience is pretty ok.....but I would have tried something that's not from The Coffee Bean / Starbucks next time!

Chinese New Year 2011

Its been 2 years since I've celebrated Chinese New Year in Kuala Lumpur with my family.
The past 2 years, my Chinese New Year were merely mediocre compared to the festivity and spirit in Malaysia, but thanks to some Malaysian friends, we make do with whatever we have to make Chinese New Year counts, even though we are all away from home, residing in small little Adelaide.

So..now I'm back home, with my family...and Chinese New Year is less than 24 hours away....the festive "feel" seems to be quite far far away...

Is it because of the family drama...grandma sick and all the accompanying dramas that come with it, or is it because I've grown up and couldn't see the "fun" in Chinese New Year anymore ?

Its so tiring....but hey, who knows...maybe tomorrow will be a better day, and the Chinese New Year bug will bite ?

One can only hope that the coming year, will be better than before!

Wired wrongly

It's another night
And I still can't doze off
It seems like my body decided to wired itself in a topsy turvy body-clock
I slept the whole of this afternoon, never felt that tired since...since quite a while

Maybe that's why I can't sleep now

And my arm still hurt from the jab... Hepatitis vaccine... It kinda swelled up

And the night is so quiet.... Reminds me of the days when I was still studying. Late at night is when I can concentrate the best... I find my peace

But i supposed it's different when you've grown up...inner peace is hard to come by

New Year Resolutions - How to make it happen ?

I've decided that instead of making a list, I'm going to state what I'm going to do, and do it within the month.

Given that Chinese New Year is on its way, less than 3 weeks now...I'll make my first resolution for 2011, to go to the gym for at least 3 days a week until Chinese New Year arrive. Its going to be quite tough, because :
1) I'll have to wake up before 10am, so I hit the gym first thing in the morning. Knowing me, I'll find all sorts of reasons not to exercise....
2) I'll have to fit in gym for at least 1 hour at minimum, and in between, I need to find time to go out with friends, do my CNY shopping, bake pineapple tarts (once I start, I'm not going out...coz I look like a mess after baking and its actually quite tiring)
3) It will take a lot for me to convince myself that gym is actually enjoyable!
4) If I manage to head to Kiara Walk (for the little uphill hike), that will count too!!!


There....
Start next week....
dead line : before 3 Feb 2011...

such a baby

a burn "wound" from the dealings with the oven, while making pineapple tarts 2 days ago.

it was healing fine...when sub-conciously, I begin to scratch it and there...can you see the open wound ?

sigh..its not painful, but it looks painful...and i feel like screaming at myself for scratching myself (actually, the whole sentence sounds quite wrong!)...

ugh....