Sleepy Head

A mixture between a rant and update in this entry.

Another semester is almost coming to an end and the only thing short of its completion would be the examinations. Each semester seems to pass by faster than the previous one and this time round, it wasnt any less different.

Tomorrow I shall be attending an interview for a post. The interview would be conducted throughout the whole day and the process reminds me very much of the scholarship interviews I had to attend before. Makes me super nervous as to what I need to expect from tomorrow. As usual, I have not been doing my newspaper reading and my general knowledge is still embarrassingly shallow. The only thing I hope that I can outshine the others would be my enthusiasm for all things new as well as my desire to participate. Wish me luck!

Exams are round the corner.. and as always, I am not prepared, no not just yet. Been busy scurrying about life doing everything but revising. I am surprised by the generosity of the lecturers' in our assessment marks this time round though. It's a good thing. :)

Well I really am tired as I type this. Feel like dozing off but I cant.

Till thennnnnn..  

Plan B @ Bangsar Village

A little break before the real drilling begins. 

Plan B is a place with simple but well-decorated decor. Comfortable cushions and the place attracts just the right number of crowd. It isnt too empty (which would indicate that it isnt that great) but neither is it too crowded that it becomes a turn-off. A, HF, M and I spent three hours chatting, laughing and crapping there. The food was filling and the desserts were tasty. By the time we proceeded to our chatting session, I was groping my tummy from laughter. 

Shall not crowd this post with words as there are plenty of pictures to do the talking. 

Pasta Beef Bolognese (RM21.00). M's choice - just realise I didnt try this. Oops. 

Pasta Carbonara in the picture below (RM20.00). Super creamy. I would definitely order this the next time I come back here! However my friends seemed to think it was a little too creamy and filling. You may ignore them and proceed to trying it out yourself. ;)

The picture above is the Pasta Moroccan Lamb Meatballs (RM24.00) Strangely I felt that the portion was much bigger than the other three bowls of pasta served but nevermind that. I must say that the meatballs were lovely. Very tender and powdery and not too much of a meaty flavour. Just perfect. And the creamy eggplants complimented the spaghetti quite well. 

A ordered Pasta Wild Mushroom (RM20.00). The most striking feature of this meal is the lemony flavour. 

There were a number of other pasta dishes but I guess we covered quite a number today since all four of us picked a different pasta dish. Heh. Overall, I would say that the Carbonara was the best followed by the Moroccan Lamb Meatballs. I did not fancy the lemony flavour much. However, I believe the preference would differ with each individual. 

Now moving on to the desserts. :D

It was love at first sight for me when I saw the Apple Crumble Tart. It looked so steady and stable. Yumm. 

 So naturally, I picked that. Apple Crumble Tart (RM11) was served with one generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream. I super love the crumble part and the apple chunks were not too wet nor dry. Just perfect. However, I would personally prefer a thinner or not so buttery crust. Again, this preference differs with each individual. It was nevertheless a good piece of dessert to try and my fellow friends generally agreed.

We could tell HF really wanted the Red Velvet Cake (RM10.00) so it was no surprise when that was her pick. Having never tried any other red velvet but my own, I must say that this was pretty good (but of course mine is still better :p). The cake was light and spongy. Not a hint of denseness nor butteriness. However the flavour of the red velvet was a little too disguised by the cream cheese frosting, for my liking. It was nevertheless, better than expected. :) *Thumbs up*

A picked the Flourless chocolate Fudge (RM11.00) which did not disappoint. Somewhat like a molten chocolate cake because of its moistness. 

And M, the kiddie, ordered the Rocky Road Bar (RM5.00). Felt that it was too dry and stuffed with marshmallows. Personally not much of a marshmallow fan so perhaps that is why I didnt really enjoy this. But M was  happy and since she loves marshmallows.. so... hehe. 

And that is the end of my review for Plan B. Well not quite. I had an awesome time today with the three of them. Laughing, talking, crapping, cracking jokes like there was not a care in the world. I laughed so hard till my tummy hurt and even then I couldnt stop laughing. thank god there were nice comfy sofas to sit at while we chatted. The atmosphere of the restaurant was very nice and easy. Not too posh, not too run-down. 

This is the place to go if..

You are crazy for Red Velvets. Also, it is a great place to grab some pasta. (Havent tried the other dishes so cant tell about those till then). The waiters are polite and dont try to shoo you away so you may also feel free to chat as long as your hearts desire. :D

Plan B

G5, Ground Floor, 

Bangsar Village I,

No. 1, Jalan Telawi Satu,

Bangsar Baru,

59100 Kuala Lumpur.

03-22872630

My Friends

I cant describe how much love and gratitude I feel right now. I have never felt this blessed for a long time and it really doesnt matter if certain aspects of my life are worse off than others. At the very least, in the past few months, I have been walking a journey to discover what true friendships really mean. Not to say that there is a stereotype mould for who deserves to be called your best friend.

What i found is that everyone has such unique striking personalities that makes them who they are. If you can truly appreciate the beauty of them as they are, you respect them for them, you are there for them when they are down - indeed, you are a friend. The tricky part is in distinguishing whether a friend is really a friend or someone who just spends time with you for the fun (aka "laughing friends").

Thankfully, I have rarely encountered such people. Most of the friends I know are genuine. And I hope things will not change for a long long time. Even as I type this, names are running across my mind. You know who you are, some may not even know this blog exists, some do. It's alright, doesnt really matter. I just want you to know how grateful I am to have found the meaning of friendship in each and everyone of you. Thank you for cheering me on when I am down, for listening and only listen to my rants and raves, for giving me the most random of messages and sms-es, for knowing what I have to go through and still, pretend that everything is okay, for giving me strength to pass each day, for taking me out and giving me the time of my life, for giving me generous compliments (which actually does wonders to my day) and for all the countless little little memories every single individual is capable of giving. All of y'll are the reasons I smile each day. Given the opportunity, I want to do the same for you.

I guess that is what makes friendships unique. They spark you to be better, they make you laugh, they make you realise that life is bursting with colours. In fact, friendship is very much like love and relationships, except that friendship can be shared by many while.. relationships are preferably shared by two.

My friends.. have shown me that there is so much more to this world than one person. That the world is indeed at my feet and it is truly up to me, to decide where and what I want to do with my life.

Life's Like That

Life is tough. Even a fool knows that. Maybe.. a fool would know it even better than most people.

But who's to stop you from making the difficulties in life something to be grateful for?

There are some things in life that we never realise but we do take it for granted. Too many.

I just got off a one-hour phone conversation with a friend in Australia.We havent met nor talked to each other in years. But we have never failed to keep in touch through facebook almost every other day for at least a year now. He called just to see how I was.

Funny how I never saw you as the type of friend I would keep years back. I guess life is like that. You really dont know what's in store for you next, till it's right in front of you. And even then, you can still be oblivious to it.

Brussels Beer Cafe @ Jaya One

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. - Tenneva Jordan

If that first sentence doesnt reveal what this post is about, I am not sure what will. My brother and I decided to take our parents out for Mother's Day. And since my mom was very keen on trying out some porky goodness around our home, Brussels Beer Cafe was her number one pick. You have to know two things about my mother.

Number 1: She loves meat, and doesnt like dessert. So unlike me.
Number 2: She hates crowds. She rather have a peaceful environment to eat in than fight for a table in a restaurant that apparently sells the tastiest meal. Somewhat unlike me.

Dad ordered Olma Bratwurst (RM48.80). I reckon this was the best thing our mouths tasted in Brussels tonight. It was served about one foot long and the diameter was approximately two inches. And that long THING was sandwiched in between two equally long buns! (Emphasis is mine). That is not even the end of how impressive the Olma Bratwurst was. The sausage was juicy and succulent with not a single hint of the rubbery texture you get in most store-bought sausages. I am no pickle lover but even then, I had to concede that the flavour of the pickles complemented the SUPER SIZE sausage very well. The potato wedges that came along with this was well-seasoned and fried to perfection. This is the ultimate meal to have here.

My mom ordered the Brussels Style Half Pork Knuckles (RM33.80) which came with some gravy in a jar. This was pretty good too, by itself. The meat was juicy and tender. And the pork skin was crispy and full of flavour. I didnt take much of a liking to the gravy and I felt the meat was tasty enough by itself but everyone else in my family enjoyed it.

My brother and I may fight like hell when we fight but at most times, we tend to like the same things and have very similar opinions on most issues. Today was such a day. We both ended up ordering the same thing - Grilled Pork Chop (RM28.80), which wasnt actually that great when it came. Two slabs of pork slices, one scoop of Belgium stoemp (mashed potato), and some boiled vegetables. There was some red wine to the meat, but that asides, this meal was so-so. The meat didnt impress me - it was too dry.

We also added on one side order - Meatballs braised in Leffe Brune sauce (RM13.80). These pork balls definitely did not disappoint. The meat was tender and tasty on its own, without the sauce. But with the sauce, it had that beer-like flavour to it. The taste of herbs was very strong too.

As for desserts, I ordered Waffles (RM10.80). Waffles with vanilla ice-cream and honey and chocolate sauce. This was my first time eating Belgium waffles. The flavour and texture of the waffles came as a surprise to me. Strong taste of cinnamon in an almost bread-like texture waffle. Topped with ice-cream.

Happy Mother's Day, to my mummy.

This is the place to go if...
You love pork or/and beer. More like, go there right now if you want your beer fix.



Brussels Beer Cafe, Jaya One
L-20-G, Block L, Jaya One
No 72A, Jalan Universiti,
46200 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan
03-79542000

Papa John's @ Sunway Pyramid

Despite claiming to be ever so busy in this torrid month of May, I managed to slip out twice in the same week to catch two different movies. The first was The Lady, on Monday. And Avengers, on Wednesday. First and foremost, thank you to "Uncle Lee" for sponsoring my 3D IMAX tickets to watch the Avengers as well as paying for my car park ticket and dinner. I was very impressed with how BIG the screen was and it was a much better viewing experience than my first 3D movie. Sobz. I really owe you big time now, in terms of cakes! Also got the chance to meet Crystal after like god-knows-how-many-months! 

We went to Papa John's for dinner. 

Breadsticks. I think this came from the pizza dough. Very bread-like. I like this. :) You may also dip it in garlic sauce, served at the table.

Potato wedges (above). A personal suggestion -they should make it into smaller pieces as the smaller wedges were tastier. It would be more fragrant and flavourful.

Picture below is the Super Papa's Chicken pizza. It had pepperoni, italian suasage, olives, green peppers, chicken roll etc etc. The only thing outstanding to me in this pizza was the olive. The pizza was alright but if you compare it with domino's, I would pick domino's.

 I think the Mexican Ole ordered by "Uncle Lee" was 6 inches. *super tiny - about the size of a human palm* I liked this better because it had a distinct spicy taste to it (from Jalapeno peppers!). Was initially kinda turned off when I saw the word 'corn' in the description of this pizza but hey.. it really wasnt that bad. Perhaps coz I love spicy stuff.

Crystal had to leave after the dinner. Hope we will meet again real soon. Meeting you two made me realise how much I missed those times we had last year. Really soon it would be one year since we have met.
























This is the place to go if...
You are a fan of Domino's or Pizza Hut's pizza crust but just want to have a change of taste. Alternatively, you may come here if you have never tried Papa John's before. Nothing outstanding (except the garlic sauce), but it isnt the worst. :)

Pizza Papa John's
Sunway Pyramid
OB3-G1-1 & 2 & G1.129,
Oasis Boulevard 3, Ground Floor,
Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall,
Petaling Jaya,
Selangor.
03-56317072

Alexis @ The Gardens

The first time I heard of Alexis having good cakes was when one of my old schoolmates told me that their Tiramisu is really good. I was not convinced, until today. 

Oh before I proceed, I must say that The Lady is a fantastic movie to watch - whether you are a romantic or a crazy human rights activist, or even just a simple person looking for a movie to spend your 2.5 hours away.  I cried throughout the show. But nevermind that. 

The Onion wanted to have dinner at The Gardens. And I was very keen to try out the Tiramisu at Alexis, as mentioned by my friend. So naturally, we made our way there. 

The Onion ordered English breakfast tea (RM12.50) and he was served with a set, just like the below. I was impressed! A pot of tea, a bowl of brown and white sugar cubes (with a little thing to pick the sugar!), a small pot of milk and of course, a cup to hold the tea. How adorable, isnt it? After all, most places that serve English breakfast tea only serve one cup of tea from a tea-bag. 

Then came The Onion's Pizza Magherita (RM29). Basically, it's tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil on a thin crust of pizza dough. I wont say it is out-of-the-world, because it isnt. Maybe I am used to the fast-food version of pizzas.. (think Dominoes), but this was alright.  Maybe.. it's more for those people who like thin crust pizzas. Me likey bread-like pizza dough.

Somehow I seem to have a knack for eating burgers everywhere these days. Coincidence much? This is the Alexis Burger (RM30). Prime cut beef pattie with onions, tomato, melted gruyere (a sophisticated name for hard yellow cheese from Switzerland), and shoestring fries. I have two things to say about this burger.

I will start with the burger and then proceed with the shoestring fries. The burger.. is meaty. Even more meaty than the one I had at The Bee recently. The pattie is thicker and the beef flavour is much much stronger here. Eating it with a fork and knife, it kind of reminded me of eating a steak. Heck, they even had the option of preparing it well done or medium rare! Meaty burger isnt for me, I prefer burgers for their flavour. But I enjoyed their bun, fresh and fluffy.

The shoestring fries on the other hand is just plain weird. I apologise for my frankness but I really cannot understand the point of eating fries when they have been shredded to strands and then fried until they are so crispy that they break upon any contact with it. I will prefer normal fries to this, any day. If you are curious of what it looks like, it's the hay-like thingy in the background of the burger. But of course, this is just my personal opinion and everybody may differ in their taste. In fact, The Onion seems to like it pretty much.

The environment of the place is peaceful and nice. It isnt the typical place you go for a meal. More for celebrations or dinner treats. White walls, plain ceiling. Magazines were even arranged on the counter. And the place is VERY spacious. The crowd normally comes in around 8pm and later. There were more people there when we left than when we arrived and FYI, we were there from 7pm plus until 10.30pm.

And.. and, the long-awaited desserts! The Onion ordered the Mixed-fruit Meringue (RM15). Most people always say how good the tiramisu here is.. but for me, I actually appreciated the beauty of this meringue better. It's basically two layers of meringue sandwiching a layer of cream with lots and lots of berries. The meringue was not too sweet and it had a marshmallow-like consistency. For RM15, the quality was indeed there - with each bite, there was berries and stuff. Oh btw, the portion was ginormous!

 I ordered the Tiramisu (RM15). A soft spongy cake with a slight whiff of coffee, with lots of cream. The cake is coated with caramlised pecans. The extra crunch from the combination of caramel and pecan was good. I could also taste cognac in the cake, somewhere. There were also thick chocolate shavings in the cream - love that! Although the raspberry sauce does give this Tiramisu an interesting twist, i personally prefer without as it overpowers the cognac flavour.

The picture below shows all the other desserts that we could have picked from. But anyhow, if I ever do come back to this place again, I will still pick the same desserts. Minus the main meals. ;)

This is the place to go if...
You have time (and money) to burn while in Midvalley or The Gardens. Highly recommended to spend your tea time here with a slice of cake and tea.



Alexis Kitchen Bar
Lot F209 First Floor
The Gardens Mall
Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
03-22872281

The Bee @ Jaya One

So I finally had the opportunity to go to The Bee. It was a sudden trip there as Land law test was CANCELLED and so was the lecture. You should have seen how we cheered when the Class Rep announced the good (or bad?) news. I feel so sorry for Dr Z that people were cheering, despite the fact that she cancelled the class because she wasnt feeling well. But then again, who looks forward to tests?

 

The environment of the place did not let us down. Michelle and I were like jakuns stepping into the place. The candid atmosphere totally took us off guard as the exterior of the cafe did look pretty grand. I snapped a picture of the coffee bar. They are supposed to be famous for their coffee and lemonade.

The menu for Burgers. Something else The Bee is famous for. 

I really liked the setting of the cafe. It was very casual and the staff was not overcrowding. The counter was manned by two guys and the waiter was really quite friendly. He must have sensed that we were not familiar faces and went on to introduce the good stuff at The Bee.

Thumbs up to the waiter.. He was funny, interesting and well-versed with the stuff sold. (I interrogated him about the cakes and he could answer my questions! :p)

Michelle's cute face posing with the Smokin' Texas Slaw Burger (RM24). 

We ordered two burgers. I ordered the Bee Burger (RM23.50) and Michelle ordered the Smokin Texas Slaw Burger. Then we shared half of each burger. In the picture below, the left is the Bee Burger while the right is the Texas Slaw Burger. I would recommend the Texas Slaw Burger over the Bee Burger simply because it has a more unique flavour as compared to the Bee Burger.

Bee Burger: Recommended by a lot of food bloggers. But for me, it was only reasonable for the price we were paying. The beef patties were thick and meaty.. totally a meat lover's dream and sandwiched with a bun and lettuce. I guess if you are obsessed with meat, The Bee's range of burgers are for you.

Smokin Texas Slaw Burger: Was also a beef burger. (They have other types of burgers too, not just beef.. Maybe just a coincidence that we both wanted to eat beef today) But how it differed from the Bee Burger was probably in the dressing. It had a sweeter flavour to it. Probably from the tomato jam. Michelle and I both found this better than the Bee Burger and it was just RM0.50 more.

The fries were lightly seasoned with salt. Not too much, not too little. I like-y! :)

And for dessert, we had Chocolate Caramel cake with Sea Salt (RM10.50). Heard that it was made by fatboybakes and I got excited over it and all. Because I have always been enthused by fatboybakes' creations.

Maybe my hopes were soaring high.. but the cake did not meet up to my expectation. No doubt it was chocolate-y, it was fudgy, and it was everything a chocolate cake should be. There was even caramel oozing out from the sides as we took each bite. But.. I didnt get to taste that tinge of saltiness the title of the cake promised. Where was the flavour of the sea salt? So I can only say it is a good Chocolate cake, but it doesnt befit the name it has.  

And of course.. because the waiter recommended the ice-cream, we ordered a cup of "The Last Polka" ice-cream. In case you are not aware, "The Last Polka" is a local brand of ice-cream selling homemade ice-cream using 100% natural ingredients using the creamy French style but with Asian flavours. I totally applaud their creativity and found their list of flavours, tickling and exciting. We settled for Salted Gula Melaka (RM7.20). Tasted more like butterscotch with chunks of gula melaka in the ice-cream. 

  

This is the place to go if...
You are looking for a great place to hang out or catch up with your friends. You can spend the evening here, whether to chit-chat or break a business deal. And at the same time, grab a filling burger to fill that tummy. If you support creative local sweet treats, you can be sure to make a beeline to this place. But of course, The Bee is not for the plain and ordinary. Most meals can easily cost RM30+ per person.



The Bee
2A-G, Block K, Jaya One
72A Jalan Universiti,
46200 Petaling Jaya.
03-79602160

Monday - Thursday (9am - 11pm)
Friday (9am - 12am)
Saturday (10am - 12am)
Sunday (10am - 10pm)

Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist @ Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock

Da place. 

Above picture taken from Motormouth. But if you know where Kedai Kopi Lai Foong or Pasar Seni is, then you would probably have a rough idea or even, have walked passed this place before. 

I did a little research on Shin Kee upon coming back and was quite surprised with all the positive feedback about the place. So yea, I know they specialise in beef noodles and beef noodles arent as common as chicken rice or curry laksa. But still.. somehow for my taste buds, I felt the place was.. meh. 

Anyhow, I must show you how popular it is. This was what the shop was like from the inside when we were waiting for our beef noodles. 

I had lunch with a friend. He ordered dry mihun with noodles and 'ngau zhap' (Mixture of organs and stuff). And this is what came.. The brown stuff did look fairly delicious. (Picture below) I will order this the next time I come here. 

 Another shot of it. 

And I ordered my typical clear broth mihun with beef balls. (Picture below)

The balls were surprisingly springy and bouncy, although a tad too salty for my liking. The soup was light and clear, not too oily. Wouldnt rate it the best, nor is it the worst. However, what I did enjoy was their homemade chilli sauce. Bursting with flavour! 

Everything is fixed at RM7.00. If you are looking for add-ons, it will be RM9.00 instead. The price must have increased over the years because looking at blog reviews written about it, some say it is RM5.00, others quote RM6.00. I suppose this place has gotten it's fair bit of popularity from all the blog entries written about it as well as due to the fact that it was listed as one of Malaysia's Most Wanted Food. 

As for me, I am still hunting for the best beef noodles around. I prefer something with a more beef-y type of soup. 

This is the place to go if...

You are craving for a good old bowl of beef noodles with minimal fuss. 

Shin Kee Beef Noodles Specialist

7A, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock,

Jalan Hang Lekir,

55100 Kuala Lumpur. 

10.30am - 3.30 pm

6.00pm - 11.00pm

Closed on Wednesdays