Impromtu Outing @ IKEA & The Curve

- It's been so long since the last blog. Mmm..I felt really lazy recently, with no intention to go out from my house at all, thus, you know, there's nothing particularly special to blog about my boring life.

Supposedly today is a day for warehouse bust. I'm looking for a pair of running shoes. Haha..don't underestimate me, I will be participating in the 10km Run - Standard Chartered KL Marathon on the 28th of Jun 2009 (it seems to be an impossible mission but trainings are on the way!). After reading the reviews online about this warehouse sales which most of them are the negative ones, I've decided not to go.

Then, it was Baby Cheng's idea to go to The Curve. And since we're heading there, we visited IKEA too. Mummy requested us to get a dustbin and toilet brush set (I'm not very sure how it was called, but it is used to wash the toilet bowl..what do you call this?). Those were for use in Cher Hau's house. FYI, Cher Hau is our brother and well, his house almost finishes renovating, minus out the part of painting, touch up and cleaning.

We had our lunch in IKEA's Cafeteria, taking in their famous Swedish Meat Ball, and a Chicken Ham Sandwich. *slurrrppp..yummy..*

Swedish Meat Ball is priced at (as of 26 Apr 2009):
5 balls- RM5
10 balls- RM10
15 balls- RM14

Chicken Ham Sandwich - RM6.90
Soft Drink (refillable) - RM1.50
Mineral Water - RM1.00

The IKEA Cafeteria was surprisingly crowded at 2.30pm, hence we have no choice but to join other diners on the same table. I was sitting opposing a nerdy guy (he was alone), and to make us comfortable, both of us tried to ignore him and have our lunch and chat. I bet he was listening to our conversation. The way he looked at us was quite sceptical but we tried to ignore. And while i was away taking refill for my drink, he started to talk to Baby Cheng. WIERDO. Even when i was back, he intruded our conversation. Huh..okie..maybe he was trying to be friendly, but intruding strangers in their conversation without a proper approach was obviously RUDE.

After completing his meal, he waited, looked at us and continue to listen to our conversation. Both of us continued to ignore his presence and slowly finished our food. He left after that. What a day!

Lala..I've got these from IKEA too! Singoalla biscuits are extremely nice! I've tried this previously, at time when I make my complaint of hunger, Wong and Hew offered this to me. I'm crazily stocking them up (bought 5 packets of Singoalla). By this time, I've already finished a packet. *yummy yummy*

Each item shown above cost me RM4.90!

Lastly, I bought myself these bangles from the flea market at The Curve. There are plenty designs available and these three were chosen by me and Baby Cheng. My damage for these bangles is RM20!

Nice?

Morning Dim Sum @ Restoran Clan, Sri Petaling

哈啰
Baby Cheng 来写部落格了

某个早上 （忘了是哪一天 =p）
我们俩心血来潮
跑去 Sri Petaling 吃点心 （当然不是用脚跑那种）
其实我们比较喜欢吃 Jalan Ipoh 那间的 (去了那么多次, 都没注意那间店叫什么名字)
但是那间有点远
所以就去 Sri Petaling 啰

(左上: 名片, 右上: banner, 左下:剪报，右下：我们order 的点心）

看
这次变聪明了
懂得跟老板拿名片
嘻嘻

吃点心
一定少不了包的啦

（奶油包）

其实这间店出名的不是奶油包
而是鸡窝包　（鸡窝包　＝　包　＋　糯米鸡）
我们两个都不太喜欢吃糯米鸡
所以没　order

（左上：菜卖，烧麦，虾饺，鱼丸，右上：芋角，左下：叉烧猪肠粉，右下：teh ais)

这次 order 到有点多
吃不完
可是都＂尽力＂把它给吃完
浪费食物是不好的　（就是因为这样，所以我才这么胖，haiz）

好啦
Baby Cheng 就写到此
下次＂见＂

Sushi King @ Mid Valley

Another outing. This time to Mid Valley as Baby Cheng is looking for birthday presents for her besties. The mission is to get a simple bag for JacQ and a black colour jacket for Cynthia.

While wondering around, yup...it's dinner time...and since I was still keeping the RM30 Sushi King voucher from HSBC, we decided to have sushi. By the way, it's expiring 31st May 2009, so why not use it, rite?

Being not really hungry, we had a few plates of sushi from the belt and ordered a Tempura Udon set.

Our favourites (From Top-Left: Baby Octopus, Ebiko sushi, Inari sushi, and Tamago sushi)

Baby Cheng's favourite is the Baby Octopus. We had two plates of these! The first plate was already warm, so it tasted a little weird. But the second plate that we had was a cold one, so i think it was newly on the belt. Ohh..and we noticed that the amount of Baby Octopus was quite little compare to the last time we visited Sushi King (maybe, half a year back or longer). Cost down, maybe?

NEW item on belt - Philadephia Maki

The Philadephia Maki is the new item on the belt. A CHEESE wrapped maki. It taste OKIE, but not that special to me. I tasted better ones from other chain sushi restaurant.

Tempura Udon

Our Udon was overcooked. It was too soft. Nevertheless, the soup and the tempura are OKIE.

And yeah, the service in Sushi King is getting better. We have attentive waiters/waiteresses that are fast to serve, and are able to refill our green tea even before we finished a cup. If I would compared to the last time we went there, huh..."慢慢等啦。。。"

While eating, we had fun taking pictures too. Haha..cam whoring..

And there we goes, our bill totalled up to RM30+ (after HSBC discount of 10%)


p/s: Sushi King really need to improve on their food quality and service as there are many other chain sushi restaurant mushrooming.

Shookie's First Trial of Carrot Cake

My first trial with CARROT CAKE!

Google-ed around for Carrot Cake recipe and this is what I found:

Ingredients:

• 100g pecans/walnuts (toasted & coarsely chopped)
• 340g raw carrots (equivalent to 3 cups of finely grated carrot)
• 280g (2 cups) all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  
• 4 large eggs
• 2tsp baking soda
• 2tsp baking powder
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 2tsp vanilla essence
  
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
   
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans/walnuts. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Tadaaaa...this is the outcome of my trial!



It actually taste quite good. However, the texture of the cake mimics the texture of a banana cake. I wonder why. Maybe too much baking soda? *Anyone able to answer me here?*

I'm thinking of making some adjustment to some of the ingredients so that it can make up to the taste that i like. Some of the amendments in mind:

• 150g pecans/walnuts (toasted & coarsely chopped)
• 4 cups of finely grated carrot
• 1 1/2tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2tsp cinnamon powder
  

Till my next baking with the trial adjustment..Tschus!!

-Shookie-

Starbucks Breakfast @ The Mines

1st of April 2009. No April Fool jokes, instead we received sms(es) from DIGI. A tempting one! *wink*

Ah ha..being not able to say "NO", we finally found a good excuse to try out the Starbucks breakfast meal. Baby Cheng had to collect her spectacles and contact lens from from an optical shop in The Mines, hence we decided to collect it on the Saturday morning since both of us have to work during the weekdays. Yuuuhooo...good excuse, rite?


The Starbucks Breakfast set is at a promotional price of RM6.50, and it consists of:

• Starbucks breakfast sandwich (of choice) : Minced Chicken Omelette Sandwich, Sausage Omelette Sandwich and Sunny Egg Sandwich
• Freshly brewed tall coffee of the week (or add RM3.00 for a tall latte)
  

We wanted to try out a variety of the breakfast so these are what we had ordered:

• Baby Cheng : Minced Chicken Omelette Sandwich with a tall coffee
• Shookie : Sausage Omelette Sandwich and a tall latte

Close up pictures of the sandwiches (after dissection!).

The Minced Chicken Omelette Sandwich is worth a try because you can hardly find it anywhere else. The bread is soft, and the flavoring is quite thick. Both of us like this sandwich a lot! While for the Sausage Omelette Sandwich, it goes well with the coffee. This sandwich brings out the originality taste of each ingredient.

Here is a picture of us with our breakfast. Splendid breakfast!

Pen off now.

-Shookie-

Crocs - 2nd Pair At 30% Off

Tadaa..our new pairs of CROCS !!

Baby Cheng has always wanted to get a pair of Crocs since the day we confirmed on our AIRASIA flight to BALI. Her excuses were:

• she will not need to bring an extra pair of shoes/sandal/slipper
• she doesn't want to bring her Birkenstock and wet her sandal; else she wants to get another pair of flip-flop (excuses again..)

Alright. There were just excuses. When a woman wants to buy something she desires, there will be plenty of excuses for it. Same to me! *wink* I've always wanted one after hearing Umi's comment on her Crocs.

We got ours at Crocs outlet in Puchong, IOI Mall. Yeah, it's a brand new branch and it was newly opened a few days ago. Plenty sizes are available and I believe they are clearing fast due to the promotion that they are having right now. 2nd PAIR AT 30% OFF!!

Our damages:

• Baby Cheng - A pair of golden Olivia (NEW!) - RM 139.00 [no discount on new design]
• Shookie - A pair of pink Malindi - RM 90.30 (after 30% discount) + RM 17.80 (2 jigbitz)

I wore it out yesterday (it was a whole day outing) and yes, my Crocs is pleasantly comfortable. So, for those who wanted to get a pair, go with your partner and both of you will be entitled for discount!

- Shookie -

Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh @ PJ Old Town

We had read a few blog reviews on Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh before we decided to write about it too. Not that we really want to comment about it, but this is the place where me and Baby Cheng decided to start our very first blog! Thus, last Sunday was a day for both of us to get ourselves busy by taking photos of the food. Since it was an unpredictable decision at time, we used our brother's SE phone to capture the photos. Well, though not professionally done, but we must agree that the photos taken are quite clear.

(Lesson 1: Bring digital camera everywhere we go!)

To us, Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh was a very famous Bak Kut Teh stall since 20 years back. I remembered patronizing this food galore frequently since I was a kid, way back when our family was staying in Old Klang Road. And so does Baby Cheng! It is surprising that she can remember this stall because she was extremely young then, maybe 3 or 4 years old. She can even remembered that we used to have Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh by the roadside.

Back then, Heng Kee was only a stall by the road side, and it was fast populated in the evening. On our visit, we could still remember a few significant VIPs at Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh.

1. The manly Lady Boss (she had short hair -- like a man). She was still around on our last visit. She takes order and count the bills. I believe she's the owner's daughter.
2. The Fat Fierce Woman (this is how my dad address her). This Fat Fierce Woman, i believe is the lady boss, was the cook at that moment. She easily got "pik chik" (stressed/tension) and scream most of the time. We did not see her, so i guess she would have retired.

(I do not think that I am good at expressing/describing them. We should have taken their picture. So, remember Lesson 1!)

To cut all the craps, below are the details of our visit:

Day/Time: Sunday, 22nd March 2009, 6.00pm
Location: Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh, 16, Jalan 1/10, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor (known as Old Town)

Since we were there early, we managed to get a better table, and the food was served fast! However, due to climatic reason, despite a huge number of fans available, the place was quite hot and stuffy.

(Lesson 2: Tie your hair up if you have long hair, else you have to eat real slow)

The Bak Kut Teh in Heng Kee is served in bowl (not the claypot or the Klang style Bak Kut Teh). You will be required to order them separately. They comes with different sizes with different prices, of course:

• Small: RM7.00
• Medium: RM15.00
• Large: RM21.00** ( not too sure of the pricing )

These are what we had:

(Clockwise, from Top-Left: As usual - garlic, red chillies/"cili padi", a pot of Chinese tea; White rice; "Yau Char Kueh"; "Tau Foo Pok")

(Clockwise, from Top-Left: Spare Ribs/"Pai Kuat"; Pork Stomach & Intestine; Our complete Bak Kut Teh set)

Nothing much we can say about this Bak Kut Teh stall since it was already famous plenty of years back. The soup was clear, not too oily and herbal-ly sweet. We requested the waiter to add soup for us continuously! I love to eat the rice soaked with the soup, which explains why we need extra serving for the soup. (Haha!) Besides, the meat was tender.

(Clockwise, from Top-Left: Finishing Time; Heng Kee Bak Kut Teh Stall)

We could not finish all the food, mainly because the order size was a little too much for us as it was recommended by the Boss. So, we take away/"tar pau" the leftover for Johnson (our family dog).

We paid RM62.00 (okie, it was dad who paid) for this meal. Personally, I would consider it slightly more expensive on the price, for 5 of us. Normally a claypot Bak Kut Teh, serve 5 persons will only cost approximately RM40-RM50.

Nevertheless, going back to PJ Old Town for Bak Kut Teh reminds me of my younger days -- my kindergarten, my primary school and the hustle and bustle of the street.

-Shookie-