Trip to Kunming / Stone Forest / Jiu Xiang

Day 1

We reached Kunming airport at about 5pm, so by the time we reach our hotel and rest a bit, it's time for dinner and some shopping.

For budget travelers, I would recommend that you stay in Fairyland Hotel (Kundu). Perfect location and super duper cheap. It's about RM100/night inclusive of breakfast. Their breakfast is not bad too.

 First stop is Jian Xin Yuan

We just told our taxi driver for recommendation and he brought us here. You have to queue up infront of their restaurant for them to take your orders. After you made your order and pay, you then proceed inside their restaurant to collect your bowl of noodle.

 Over-the-Bridge Rice Noodle

Trust me, you will be eating this dish everyday.

 This is supposed to be the most famous dish in the restaurant. You have to dip the raw meat in the hot soup to cook it and then follow by the noodle. I don't think their soup was hot enough to cook the meat. However, the meat came out well done surprisingly. Don't bother too much about the layer of oil on your soup, Kunming dishes are very oily, you'll get used to it.

The shopping area

More shopping area

Babi Club in Kundu. Lol

Kundu is full of clubs and you'll be surprised that there are so many people going clubbing on a Monday

 Day 2

We went to Stone Forest which is about 2 hours away from the city. According to our driver cum tour guide, this place is rated as 5-star and a UNESCO listed site. Throughout our trip, we booked a lady driver who brought us to all these long-distance touristy places.

Beautiful, isn't it?

It's a lot of walking if you want to explore the entire Stone Forest.

Ahem. Testing my flexibility here

 Over-the-Bridge Rice Noodle again for lunch

This is also Over-the-Bridge Rice Noodle

After our lunch, we went to Jiuxiang Scenic Area. This scenic area consists of a few scenic spot.

 The gigantic cave and this is just a small part of it.

 Do you like flowers? I do!!!

 The colourful cave and the doggy footprints

 The twin waterfall

Dunno how to describe this

Okay, till then cuz I am sleepy now. To be continued.

Aunty Su XO Fish Head Noodle @ Seri Kembangan

I have never liked fish head noodle until it was made popular by restaurant like Win Soon @ Kuchai Lama, Goon Wah @ Kuchai Lama and the like.

Spotting this newly opened restaurant which is just a stone throw away from my office, I didn't hesitate to try.

Actually the first time when we went, we were turned off because we have been sitting for 10 mins and our table were still uncleared. All the staffs there were just too busy to notice or serve us. After finally able to get the attention of the lady boss, she told us that we might have to wait half an hour for the food.  No thanks and we left.

Since I was determine to try it, we went at 11.30 am the next day (talking about desperate, LOL)

There wasn't many people at this time, as expected. But since we were still full from our breakfast and I doubt if their fish head noodle is good, we ordered a bowl to share between the two of us. 

Luckily it didn't take long for our order to come.

XO Fish Head Noodle (RM12)

I already like it at the sight because it's in claypot (retains heat longer) and using the thick round rice noodle (lai fun) instead of the common thick vermicelli. Their soup is quite unique as it is clear and sourish but it does taste good!

 The varieties of fish head noodles on their menu

 Kampung-style fried rice (RM8) - yum yum =)

The interior

Hong Kong Milk Tea

It is actually quite a common cup of HK milk tea EXCEPT that

it comes with sugar syrup infused with pandan flavour for you to adjust your own sweetness.  Absolutely perfect for those who prefer less sweet like me!

Maybe I will go again next week. =)

Aunty Su 

Address:

No. 2-1, Jalan SP2/8

Taman Serdang Perdana, Seksyen 2

43300 Seri Kembangan

Tel: 03-8942 8611

Website: www.auntysu.com.my

Japanese BBQ at Taman Desa

For my mom's birthday, initially I had wanted to bring her to Yuzu at The Garden for a nice Japanese dinner.
As the rain has stopped right before our dinner time, I thought it would be a fantastic idea to go for Japanese BBQ al-fresco style. I asked if she would like to try Japanese BBQ or Yuzu. She chose Japanese BBQ so off we went. It was a good idea too since it was a Friday night and most the places are jam. So going to Japanese BBQ at Taman Desa which is also near our home seems to be perfect (plus it is a lot cheaper for my pocket as compared to Yuzu..hahah)

The Genghis Khan Lamb is cooking on the grill

It comes with a lot of cabbage and it is the only meat dish here which doesn't require barbeque-ing

We ordered mixed vegetables with pork and beef for BBQ-ing.

For BBQ, they only have pork and beef though. So there's no chicken or seafood.
The meat is tender and it's marinated well, not too strong so that it doesn't overshadow the original taste of the meat.

On the bottom right is their special sauce to dip your meat in.

 The birthday girl

Mom seems to be happy with the food. 

Since this place is always crowded, we are lucky to get a place without having to wait.

We had to take the bar table with high stool though.

Since both the table and grill is so tall, we had to stand up in order to grill.

If you look at the bottom right of the picture above, the others will put the grill on a small chair beside the table.

Coming with my mom & hubby is a joy because they will do all the bbq-ing while my job is just to eat and eat. Hahaha..

Slightly charred BBQ pork *drools*

Japanese risotto

 The crowd

Me & mom

For drinks, we ordered green tea and a bottle of Asahi. The price comes to about RM80 plus for the 3 of us. Considering this set up, it wasn't cheap but I would say it's a reasonable price. I will definitely revisit this place especially right after a rainy day.
As for service wise, it's like of a hawker place. So hope you don't expect soft-spoken Japanese girls to be taking your order :P.

Address:
Gerai Makan Japanese BBQ
Center Court, Plaza Faber
Jalan Desa Jaya
Taman Desa Off Jalan Klang Lama
58100 Kuala Lumpur

Direction: Plaza Faber is the row of old shops besides Wisma TM (where TM point is). The stall is in an alley among the shops row somewhere in the middle.

Pork place @ IOI Boulevard, Puchong

It was Eugene's birthday and we threw him a surprise birthday celebration at the Pork Place in Puchong.

The menu with hand drawn cover

We ordered this for sharing

The meat is tender and skin is also crispy but the taste is quite bland.

Price: RM60 plus

I didn't know most of the dish name and the prices are from my rough recollection cause hubby threw away the receipt. :(

Nice presentation right?

Baby ribs - not bad, not excellent either.

Price: RM55

This is one of the dish that we were advised to order in advance as they do not keep a lot in stock.

The friendly supervisor (or maybe owner) told us that they use special pork which has less pork smell.  She said even those who doesn't usually eat pork can give it a try.

Pumpkin soup

Price: RM9.90

French vanilla mille crepe cake from Humble Beginning.
I absolutely love this cake for its very rich egg flavour.
I have tried the ones from Indulge and Food Foundry, and I love this the most!

The two moms, baby Sarah and me

Baby Sarah is not interested in having her photo taken. Lol..

Here's the birthday boy (the one in black)

and the lovely balloons from his wife.

The happy Lau's family

 My deep-in-thought face as I was counting the changes 

The guys

The group
I hope you notice the Hello Kitty balloon on the top left. It's from my birthday last month =)
Since I was assigned to get balloons for the birthday boy, I took the opportunity to refill my balloon and took it along to the restaurant. :P

Overall, the food is not bad, and both the service and ambiance is good. But as the restaurant is quite small, it's just a bit awkward when people (mostly children) were looking at us when we were setting up the birthday decor and taking photos.

The Pork Place

31, IOI Boulevard, Jalan Kenari 7,

Bandar Puchong Jaya,

47100 Puchong,

Selangor, Malaysia.

Contact No.: +603 7729 4600

Close on Mondays.

What I didn't know about Foie Gras

Today I was happily reading some food blogs on fancy fine dining restaurants and I thought I want to try out foie gras which is a popular, and expensive French delicacy.
I don't think I have tried it before, or maybe I had long time ago but I don't remember.

Then, I came upon a blog which point out the cruelty of farming foie gras. Basically, foie gras is a diseased (read diseased) and enlarged liver of a duck or goose, produced through force feeding. To qualify as foie gras, the poor duck's liver has to be enlarged to a minimum of 300 grams, which is 6 times the size of a healthy duck's liver. Sometimes, the duck's liver is even enlarged to 10 times their natural size.

How do they do that?

Here's what the force-feeder does, everyday for 2-3 times, they will grab the poor and helpless bird, shoves a long, thick tube all the way down his throat and pumps in large amount of food into his system. Each feeding is about 0.45 kilo which should be almost the portion of my heavy dinner, I think. But god, this is a duck which is 1/10 my weight? As if this is not cruel enough, they will add in OIL and water which doubles the food weight mentioned, making it 20-30% of the bird's body weight.

Now imagine if I stuff you with 10kgs of dry corn + water for 3 times/day (assuming if you are 50 kgs, if you are heavier, your portion would have to increase)

and I thought eating shark fin is cruel, but this 100x worst.

Ladies & gentlemen, here's the picture of healthy duck liver and a foie gras. See the big difference? Imagine how the bird would have suffered. Needless to say, a LOT of birds dies over this process.

Picture from PETA
 

Check out the video below about this cruelty, narrated by Kate Winslet.

 

Foie Gras, anyone?

Oh between, I always find it fascinating the way foie gras is pronouced - \ˈfwä-ˈgrä\ (Click here to listen)

Cooking & Kapitan Nyonya Curry Chicken Recipe

Well, well..at my ripe age, it's time that I learn how to cook!

I think my cooking experience started when I took my cooking badge back in my girl guide days. Haha..and then it was many many years that I didn't touch the kitchen.  When I had to throw a BBQ party some years back (after a lot of threatening and coaxing from my friends), I was actually quite petrified because I have no idea how to marinate the stuff and most importantly, I don't like to cook. But then I love food so much! So when we had a few potluck parties, I did take the effort to experiment with cooking the dishes that I like. The result wasn't too encouraging or motivating enough for me to try again. Ohh, before I continues, one VERY IMPORTANT thing that I have learnt is some of the recipe on the internet is really crappy, so best is to get your recipe from reputable sources.

Until recently, boredom has got into me and coincidentally  hubby just dig out some old cooking books. So, I am thinking to myself...cooking is not rocket science, what the heck, just give it a try! And I have to say that I am an ambitious person. Lol..

Hence, this is my first attempt for a full course meal.

 ABC soup & Beancurd

Brocolli with prawn & Steamed Emperor Chicken (using A1 brand paste :P)

Tomyam bihun

Overall ratings that I give myself. :P

Taste: 7-8 out of 10

Satisfaction: 8 out of 10

Level of Fatigue: 9.5 out of 10

Since I think I fare well in my first attempt and MIL has been bugging me for the leftover chilies in the fridge, I decided to try out this difficult recipe (for my standard) and I love it!

Presenting....


Curry Chicken, oppa Nyonya-style! 
(Like how you say Gangnam style!)

Here's the recipe:

Note: the red chilies should comes under B category and pounded together with the paste.

Wait a minute, for those like me who probably haven't heard of most of the ingredients above, DO NOT FRET.
The tip is you can get it all from those malay ministore that sells poultry, vegetables, etc.

Instructions:
1. Heat oil in wok, deep-fry potatoes wedges till golden brown in colour. Drain well and set aside.

2. Heat the balance cooking oil again, and stir-fry ingredients B till fragrant. Add in chicken, ingredients C and mix well. Stir-fry it for 10 minutes

3. Add in ingredients D and mix well. Lower down the flame and further simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add in fried potatoes and mix well.

Side notes:
I find that it get burnt easily while simmering in Step 3, so stir often.
In case if you are wondering, bunga kantan is to be finely chopped.
It tooks me more than 2 hours to complete this dish, so good luck to you!

Foods in Japan!

Paper pot shabu-shabu! It's really amusing that the paper won't get burn or leak

Huge strawberries and it's super duper sweet. 

The freshness and sweetness is incomparable even with those imported strawberries that we get here.

To rest our legs after so much of walking, we love to stop by at the coffee shops.

Green tea latte

Sushis!!!

Why our local sushi chain don't have this?!

Urchins and it's fresh! 

I've tried not-so-fresh urchins and it really taste really horrible. My dream is to eat urchin straight from its shell after catching it from the sea. =)

Local eggplant

Salmon with mayo

Sushi Display

Portuguese Tart

We saw people queuing for the tart so it must be not bad.

Heavenly indeed!

I haven't been to Macau but this is totally different from the ones back in Malaysia

Osaka's retail and restaurants display are super vibrant

A fugu restaurant

No idea what they are trying to sell with this grouchy looking chef

Crab

A Takoyaki stall

Big chunk of octopus for Takoyaki

Takoyaki

A popular noodle chain stall

More to come after this.. :)