I was looking through my past photos just a couple of days ago. It's amazing that the year 2008 is coming to an end. I can still remember clearly, 2 years ago Durianberry and me went all the way up to Balik Pulau just for the pau! Because the exact time wasn't mentioned in Best of Malaysia both of us ended up waiting 2 hours for the seller!

Of course during the 2 hours we went exploring around Pekan Balik Pulau as well as asking people, what time would the pau man show up :P We did not dare to lepak too far away from the pekan as we were afraid we might end up at some peak of a hill and miss out the pau man.

Finally, we saw him while driving along the main road, about 200m off of the pekan.

The uncle was friendly enough to let us take pictures of him...

And his steamers load of pau! In an hours time, dozens of pau was swooshed away by locals or people like us. lol

I absolutely love his brown sugar pau. Not very sweet, fluffy texture and natural brown sugar smell are just hard to resist. Absolutely great for tea time XD

Happy New Year everyone~

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It's end of the year and normally my uncle would treat my family for nice buffet meal. This time he decided to try the E&O buffet lunch which he claimed it was good after he had a meal there about 2 weeks ago.

Guess the recession hit the hotels hard eh? It used to be flowers. Now its being replaced by some unidentified green plant :S

Iced water with some lime added in is a must every time I have buffet meals. Digest faster means can eat more right?

The appetizer below is Seafood with Fruit. Well from what I'd tasted it should be scallops, sweet basil and strawberries mixed with some EVOO. Scallops were sweet but I think the basil didn't go well or too much basil so not many went for it.

Of course, who would miss the oysters? Squeezed some lime and I slurped it down my throat. It's fresh and I could taste the hint of sweetness in it. However the oysters weren't shucked properly as the shell bits was all over on its flesh.

I had another serving of baked oysters. I didn't really like it because they over baked it and it has that fishy smell to it. No fresh :(

Hot plate on the action with chefs grilling beef, lamb and seafood.


This is the Char Koay Teow uncle.

Fresh huge prawns were used in E&O Char Koay Teow.

He did a pretty good job. Char Koay Teow was delicious. Better than Sisters Char Koay Teow hands down!

It looks like an ordinary char siew but I assure you its not. Have you tried Lamb Char Siew? Definitely my first. The taste was not bad albeit a bit dry and cold.

Then I went on with the usual grill beef and lamb. Beef was super tender. The chef might have punched it real good. LOL Lamb was tough. The grill salmon wasn't good either. Dad was right. When salmon is grilled, it's not fresh.

Crabs were good with smoky taste to it but they were all small and the tray was filled with its shells. Honey chicken wing is supposed to be served hot. So imagine munching on chilled bbq wings. Hard. Finally mom found Cod fish (The main reason my uncle wanted to go to Sarkies Corner) but unfortunately its fried and badly fried. Oil were spewing out once I dig in.

After dealing with not so satisfying main dishes, I eyed on the Choc fountain.

Marshmellow with choc sauce. I think I prefer fruits with choc.

My cousin brought some cupcakes to the table. Pretty issn't it? Taste good too.

Hahaha, I couldn't have enough of Goodsberry. They were placed as decorations on cakes and desserts. I practically snapped up every single berry on those desserts :) Pretty little thing.

Washed everything down with 3 cups of hot tea. Tak boleh tahan. It was too full.

The verdict is I don't think I would return to E&O Hotel for its buffet especially lunch. The environment was noisy (lunch). The only thing I like about the place today is the lights coming in through those huge windows. I'd been there for Chinese New Year dinner which cost a bomb. The food are the almost same even after 3 visits on 3 separate occasions.

Currently we are considering G Hotel for CNY reunion dinner.

Happy reading~

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It was a normal day until my friend sms-ed me that I was featured in The Star Food Blog section. It was really an honor because that review actually occupies half a page O.o So I thought I should re-post Nyonya Breeze here with some correction. Thank you for the person who submitted my post to them :) Something I would like to rectify though. I am a female blogger =.= And it was stated at my Xanga's sidebar. How did the people missed it?

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Let's see... the last time I had a nyonya meal was...more than 3 months ago? Anyway I had a proper Nyonya lunch once at Hot Wok Island Plaza before it gulung tikar :P The food wasn't great anyway. In Penang, in order for a shop to sustain its business, it has to serve CHEAP and DELICIOUS food.

Wiki the word 'Peranakan' and you would find interesting facts about them. Anyway, that's not my point. I read a small paragraph of descriptions about the Nyonya food origin on the menu. Its said that the ones in Malaysia are separated into 2 groups. The 'Thai-influenced' and the 'Indon-influenced'. Penang's Nyonya food would be 'Thai-influenced'. It's obviously because Penang is closer to Thailand (The dishes I ordered were pretty...santan-ny...so go figure). Their southern counterparts (Melaka & Singapore) would be 'Indon-influenced'. This explains why certain food items in Melaka and Singapore are not available in Penang. I didn't know about this up to now XD Oh before I forgot Nyonya food in Penang could have a bit Hainan influence as well.

Decided to bring my Singapore aunty to this restaurant because we are bored with the usual lunch places. This place is clean, comfortable and no elaborated decorations (cheap sign! kekeke).

Homemade nutmeg juice. Wish they serve fresh nutmeg juice but I guess not everyone could accept it.

Mom and I did the order. We ordered so much that the waiter couldn't keep up! LOL

Because we ordered Choon Peah (Spring rolls), the waiter brought over this soy sauce. I thought its a normal soy sauce with chili. It's not. I could taste cinnamon and a bit sourish-saltiness in it. Dad said Hainanese prepared this kind of sauces for deep fried food. Serene and Mayakirana told me its only LP sauce. Serene added that the Nyonyas would make their own concoction of LP (Lea & Perrins) sauce.

Choon peah is good! Slather it with the Nyonya self made LP sauce, it taste even better : )

It's like the sauce enhanced the choon peah flavour. Suppose to have Roti Babi as well but they mixed up the order and gave our Roti Babi to another table. Unlike the conventional Choon Pneah, there's minced pork, some cabbage and carrots. Ordered 3 rolls of Choon Pneah which cost RM 12 (about 12 pieces).

I have a feeling Roti Babi have the same fillings as Choon Pneah. I wonder if Roti Babi is Hainanese food?

Then came the Kari Kapitan Chicken...Yumz....A huge bowl with huge chunks of chicken! Yummylicious kuah smoothered on hot rice...Syok! Not spicy at all and very herb-ly flavoured. Love it.

One large bowl of Kari Kapitan Chicken costs RM14. Woohoo cheap gila. 7 people took their piece of chicken and there's still left over about 3 pieces.

Nasi goreng ulam sure lives up to its name . Serene recommended nasi ulam but I ordered the other one instead. Luckily, if not my parents sure complain. The fried rice was good with loads of shallots and herbs such as daun kadok, daun selasih and kay-sai-tin. Thanks to Serene who provided me this information : ) Me like. A bit dry but has nice fragrant and not heavily flavoured. RM7 for that.

This dish below is called Masak Titik but in the menu its Masak Lemak. The dish was cooked with sweet potatos, potato leaves and santan. Sweet and soupy, something I hadn't try. Funny thing about nyonya food is they don't have distinctive salty flavour. All their dishes taste are spot on. Serious. I never felt thirsty throughout the meal. This explains the quality of food here. Thumbs up :) One large bowl Masak Titik, RM12.

Another dish served piping hot, Sambal Goreng. This taste fantastic. Its soo delicious! And it never came across my mind that Sambal Goreng is like that!

Deliciously cooked with brinjals (kio) and peeled prawns (how kind of them) with some other ingredients like roasted cashew nuts. Its just as good as the Kari Kapitan chicken and could easily help a person to whoop up 2 plates of rice which I did >.< It's never enough for a family with huge appetite.

Ordered another 3 pieces of otak otak which I think is over steamed. Not smooth and taste a bit funny. Probably too much daun kadok. Three pieces of them cost RM9

Serene suggested Sambal kacang botol instead of Kerabu Kacang Botol but I prefer kerabu more : ) And I love it. Raw kacang botol (Four angled beans? Its a legume) with onions and spicy sauce. Woo sedap! Hahaha Taste was just right, spot on!

There are a few more dishes we ordered (Ikan Belanda & Fried Bayam). Nothing special but they still taste alright. First time I got to know about Hong Bak. The potatoes taste good but I guess Tau Eu Bak would fare better compare to Hong Bak.

To finish off the perfect lunch, we had Lek Tau T'ng (Green Bean Soup) for dessert. No choice. One day, 1 type of dessert served. Nonetheless, dessert was good. Though I felt its a tad too sweet. But it smells really good!

All in all like what Serene said, pretty authentic and reasonably priced. Wonder if I would get free meal for posting this?

Please go early to avoid disappointment and long waiting time.

Nyonya Breeze Restaurant
No.50, Lorong Abu Siti,
10400 Penang.

Rosie, Gerald, Ken
Tel: 012-3348390

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I was strolling at Tesco Sungai Dua and saw this in one of the lower shelves. I think I'd seen this on Martha Stewart morning show.

Certainly looks like something you can hit a fly with or play badminton LOL


Priced at RM6.90, what do you think it is?

Happy guessing~

PS: Answer's in the comment.

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I'd been going around malls lately and I realise Christmas decoration in Penang is pratically nothing compare to places in KL, don't even mention Singapore. I took this picture 2 years ago at Queensbay Mall before the credit crisis crunched our Christmas mood. Gurney Plaza's tree is teruk this year.

Merry Christmas and berjoli New Year~

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A few days ago before Xmas, a couple of friends and I went for dinner. Initially we planned for BKT but eventually we went over to Gim Hin cafe instead.
This is a place where most of the USM students will head for dinner other than 'Plus 2'. Both places mentioned serves 'chu char'. I can't seem to figure out the 'chu char' hokkien term in English. Anybody?

There were only 4 of us so we can't order much.

First up "Fu Yong Dan". Fried egg with some spring onions, fine carrot strips, onions, prawns and some diced char siew. Not overly fried and not too oily. Well, I think its a standard dish where people can actually judge if the stall is good or not isn't it?

Next dish coming in would be stir fried mixed vege. There are some cabbage, canned button mushrooms, spinach and so on. Although the veges are only stir fried with some garlic and ginger, the gravy taste good. We ended up slurping it clean LOL

Finally, Marmite Chicken. Today it was a bit too saltish, probably too much Marmite. Yeah you read it right. Marmite with fried chicken. See there is another problem with translating Chinese name into English. What do you call "Marmite Kai Ting" in English?
3 Dishes is too much for 4 person. We were pretty much bloated.

Dinner total = RM23.80
Yeah I busted my dinner budget.
Whatever lah...*burp*

Location:
One of the old wooden houses beside Tesco Sungai Dua.
You can park at Tesco Sungai Dua and walk there.

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It's first day of school again. I don't know.It doesn't feel all the same as my previous 'first day of school'-s. As usual, it was all chaotic at school. Fortunately, there wasn't much of a problem this semester except the fact that my PTPTN (after deduction) only left RM100 in my account T.T OMG How to survive??!

In situations like this, the only thing I can skimp on is my meals :P I am fat anyway so I guess its high time for me to cut out KFCs and McDs.

There is a community center called Excel (I think) at Sungai Dua and they serve decent meals for a fraction of a price.

Before a student get his or her meal, they would need to grab a card at the side of the door and pay after queuing up for the food.


All these only cost me RM2. Yes. RM2 You have a few dishes to go with your white rice (sometimes yam rice), a small bowl of soup, iced drinks and a piece of fruit. They serve lunch as well, for RM1. All tasted like home cooked food and perhaps yummier than home cooked? :P Luckily my mom don't online. I guess these are the things I will be missing most as soon as I graduate later next year (if no lecturer fails me *touch wood*).


Can you imagine? No more student price, student package, student promotion and most of all...student holidays....

By the way, they will only start serving RM2 meals by 5th January....Until then, it will be RM3 yucky economy rice (rice, 1 egg and a bit vege + a drink)...aih...

!Note: For students only!

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It's this time around again where people would think...
"Hah? So fast?". Yes, its amazing how time slips through us without noticing!

These tong yuen (glutinous rice balls) are made and captured by my course mate back at her home. Wish my mother was a little bit more rajin then I wouldn't always have the unappealing pale pink, pale green and pale white *roll eyes*.

Huh? Food dye? No no~ My friend only uses natural food dye. Ok lah except for the red.

These rice balls will always have a soft spot at my heart. They are so cottony soft, chewy and you get to mess around with the rice flour dough :)

If you have the time do get the glutinous rice dough from a tong yuen stall opposite Traders Hotel. Their doughs are different on the class of their own. They do not stick to your teeth and QQ and no murky pandan syrup!

Happy rolling~

PS:
This year's winter solstice is a day earlier than usual. So instead of Monday (22 December), it will be 21 December. The newspaper mentioned that the sun or earth somehow rotates and reaches 270 degrees earlier than usual or sumthing...

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