Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Best Foie Gras this side of Malaysia

I baked a cake recently. It was a warm moist chocolate cake with a fudgy shell and nice pink buttercream icing. My first ever birthday cake, my first ever cake self-baked actually - from scratch! I even bought a cake plate and box to transport it over to JH's house on Saturday morning after slaving over a hot oven all morning long. It wasn't very pretty - I didn't take a picture of it but he took one of a half-eaten cake! Hahahahahahah…actually am wondering if I used too much butter or my oven isn't hot enough cos the centre of it was just all very moist and it looked a bit like it was a steamed cake! But anyway, it tasted nice and nobody had to run to the toilet from uncooked eggs….

I still have some chocolate and buttercream left so may try to bake another cake tonight and experiment with less butter.

It was an achievement indeed but I felt a bit embarassed towards JH cos it wasn't a very pretty cake.

Then on Sunday night (yeah, it was a birthday weekend! Hhahahahahah) we went for a beautiful dinner at Café Café KL. We were seated next to a blogger - how do I know this? Well, she immediately whipped out a camera the moment they sat down and started 'kl-ick' 'kl-ick'ing away….aiyoyo, the other day also I saw a guy snapping away at every dish at a small Ramadan buffet.

So anyway, there was a Wagyu beef offering and I told JH he could have that but he didn't want to (sigh, you know the guy loves you when he won't eat beef just because he wouldn't be able to share it with you!)….So we each settled for a set. I had the Set 89 (RM89.00) with a lamb shank and he had the Set 149 (RM149.00) with cod. We switched the mains cos apparently, Mr Pampered has cod on a regular basis so didn't want to have it no more! Ahahahahah - I was happy though.

We had a foie gras starter which was just obscenely unimaginably delicious - I was swooning with delight. No joke! It had the thinnest crispy shell and the softest lightest inside. (Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose - not something I usually like!). I need to say it again - the foie gras was to DIE for!!!!!!!!!!!

We also had some crispy brie which was quite nice too with a battered crispy (fish and chips like) shell and then came my minestrone soup and his escargot. The minestrone was ordinary and the escargot was not much to my liking even though I usually love them. They were cooked 2 in a tiny 'cup' drowned in olive oil, garlic and herbs. There were 3 cups and 3 slices of bread. I prefer the garlic butter snails but without the burnt butter like most restaurants are wont to do nowadays, thank you very much!

His lamb was good enough - tender but with enough bite and my cod was juicy! I've never had cod that was juicy! As usual I didn't like the skin - rather fishy. It came with a thin melted butter and cream sauce which went nicely and didn't overpower the fish. And last of all, my lemon tart and his white truffle chocolate birthday cake with vanilla ice cream.

I didn't like the white truffle so much - thought it lent a woodsy taste to the cake that just didn't belong. My tart was tart enough and JH really enjoyed it!

So, we had a nice early dinner and then went home. It was a gorgeous night with marvellous company and the night only got better!!!

And then the weekend passed….and Errolyn's actual birthday present to JH kicked into effect - no getting angry with him for 1 month! Every slip up re-starts the clock! I am just speechless………

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The Sixth Cloud of Happiness

Last Sun morning I had the most wonderful massage! It wasn't my usual place and it wasn't my usual Indonesian oil massage but I wasn't feeling too good with a reaallly tight spot in my back and JH thought it would be good to cheer me up.

And I wasn't too keen on the idea of him waiting around for me so we both had one. It was at this giant place on the first floor in Sunway Damansara above a coffee shop. There are several massage places there in Sunway Damansara but this one has a humongous banner advertising it's 40% Discount from 11am - 2pm package!

It's a Chinese place and they do the really hard, really painful knot-attacking massage, which is fantastic for me in more ways than one. I had just told JH the night before that I couldn't stand the itsy bitsy light massages - those don't even count as massages to me! And to come here and spend RM49 on a 1.5 hour massage of real strength was just heaven-sent!

We used 2 girls and they were both wee little things with the strength of titans! Even JH said that all his stress was kneaded out of him. I usually do 2 hour massages but I didn't want to commit RM72 to a 2 hour massage (no oil) for a place yet untried……but I have definitely found a little haven. They also have a big lounge space with tv out front that does foot reflexology. All their masseurs are from China and so, they kinda only speak Mandarin. Good that JH was around - he will also be helpful in Macau this October!!!! :)

I can't remember the name of the place off hand but their contact number is 603-6141 7218 and I think they open from 11am onwards daily. Remember to 'jiang hua yi'.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I Wanna Have My Cake and EAT IT TOO!

I just found the MOST WONDERFUL cake site. It has such amazing cakes and I am just speechless seeing the miracles one after another. If only Malaysia had people like these - I wouldn't have to settle for the tacky 6-8 tier FAKE CAKE provided by hotels!!!!

And here we have.......the PINK....CAKE..BOX!!!!!!

I've also added it to my Blogroll!

Having Kids

I saw a wonderful ad today that asked:

Have you been a dad yet today?

It's such a natural thing to do (for children-friendly adults) and especially important when you do have children to be the father/mother figure for them day in and day out so I thought it was really opportune to show this ad in a time and age when adults/parents are too busy to spend some time with their children.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

GOOD FOOD!!! Only in Malaysia!!!

Hungrylah! I have been hankering for chicken rice, nasi lemak, great curry puff, roti jala with to-die-for curry chicken with lots of potatoes, char kuey teow, yong tau foo, banana leaf rice, lasagna, dominos pizza, nasi kandar, lotus root soup, watercress soup….(aiya, should have bought some pork ribs to cook soup with!)

So much food and so little time to eat! Nowadays it's like I can only eat on weekends and yet……

I'm hungry!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Malaysia's State - DO NOT PANIC

I know not many people read my blog but I would like to try to say this:

DO NOT CONGREGATE! DO NOT REPEAT BLOODY MURDER! SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO LOSE A FEW TO GAIN THE BIG PICTURE.

I know it may sound unfair of me to say that Raja Petra, Theresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng from Sin Chew Jit Poh and goodness knows who else may be targeted or sacrificed. But we cannot fall into their trap.

They are trying to get emergency situations that will be bad for us, for them, for the whole country in a desperate act of survival.

Just bear with the emotions a few more days, it is not worth it killing others when the real dalang (puppet master) is out of our reach.

Read the many blogs around, it's farcical and stinks of manipulation. But I repeat:

DO NOT COMMIT ANY ACTS OF VIOLENCE!

Think of the basic objectives and what consequent action plans could be and you will realise that you CANNOT go out and become the 'fray'! Think of their goal and do not give it to them!

Monday, September 08, 2008

August babies are fair of face/full of grace/fill the place/break the daze/soft as lace








(At Vivo fountain)


(The last two pics show how some people can recognise true ooomph when they see it - Celebrity Chase!)

Top 10 Things That Cheer Me Up

1. Panda bears
2. Beautiful intelligent looking dogs
3. Gorgeous fiery Diamonds
4. My card holder from aquaria klcc with a red clown fish floating on a sea of green jelly
5. Carl's Jr. chocolate malt shakes
6. Finding out I am 45kg light
7. Finding out I've come into a whole s*itload of money (without anything bad happening to anybody)
8. Listening to my old podcasts (which are GOOD!)
9. Looking out my office window and looking Far Far AWAY
10. Knowing that someone I like (in the sense that I have a good opinion of) likes me too (in the sense that he/she has a good opinion of me too).

Leave you with a cutie and a pretty:


(Kiss the fish to win your dream car!!!)


(My PRECIOUS!!!!)

I AM SO SAD

I just called a colleague to apologise for my embarrassing behaviour.....which occured through no fault of my own.

So sad! I feel beaten down. weary. help.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Ludicrousity is a Word?

You know, I hate it when people use their religion or religious practices to infringe on others or to demand certain privileges.

I just heard a Muslim lady on the phone shouting at the person on the other end, "Eh! I'm fasting you know today, you cannot speak to me like that!" I would prefer to say, "Excuse me! I'm human, please treat me with respect!". (The joke is that she isn't even fasting today, making it all the more abominable that she is using this as an excuse).

And there are those who cannot seem to fast without ridding themselves of all temptations (sight/smell/sound of food and water). I mean if you fight the temptation and conquer it, isn't it all the better? Forgive me but enlighten me. I fail to see how a fight without any real effort can claim a meaningful victory.

I don't eat beef. I do not go around proclaiming that eating places or cafeterias or offices need to NOT SERVE BEEF. I just don't eat it. I make myself responsible for what I do, not make others responsible for ensuring that I don't do what I'm not supposed to do.

I think it's another thing that is ridiculous!

Obviously there are a lot of earth princes out there who think they own this land and I am a 'pendatang' because of my name. Trust me, if I wasn't born here, I wouldn't want to be here!

The Worth of A Woman

Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply.

If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.

So - if you give her crap , you will get a bucket full of shit.

Nary A Second To Spare

Is it my imagination or has traffic doubled in the past 1 week? Is it due to the petrol price reduction from RM2.70/l to RM2.55/l or is it just cos it's Puasa and everyone wants to drive for convenience or it's just that everyone's as fed up with our public transportation system as our PM is….but whatever it is, it is inconveniencing the heck out of me! Seriously man! I was going to a friend's house yesterday and it took me half an hour to get from Tesco to Sunway Damansara!

I mean really! Where.is.everyone.going???? I always cannot understand where the traffic is going if everyone is stuck here!

Are our road systems ok? Can road and development planning be improved? Are the traffic police anywhere? Yeah - that brings me to another matter close to my heart. So many times I have seen traffic police who are joking with each other, talking on their handphones, sms-ing…everything but managing traffic. Our police are so out of shape that I cannot fathom how they can ever successfully catch up with a perpetrator. They look like politicians! Hahahhaha - isn't that the old joke? Politicians sit on their asses all day so they get fat?

Aiya, I better not say anymore since I myself also getting fat! Better get married soon - the license to get fat! Hahhahahahahahaa…..yeah yeah yeah - to all of you out there who are going to tell me I have to be slim and beautiful to keep my husband - I will do for him what he will do for me too! Besides I have other Special Skills! Hehehehhahahahaha….

Ok, back to my original rant - traffic is ridiculous, political state in the country is ridiculous (actually it seems like all over the world, people are unhappy with politics - except, SURPRISE! in America where there seems to actually be a good contender for the leader of a country, which is more than I can say for a million other places on Earth!)

I also am upset about the fact that time seems to slip through my fingers each day, each week, each month. God knows how the year has come to September without me moving an inch! I feel it - I feel each hour of the day slip by, vanish forever, in the way the morn morphs into evening and I am sitting in front of the tv once a gain trying not to fall asleep. I can feel it in that I have so much to tell JH before I yawn and words become incomprehensible. It has come to a stage where I already cut down what I file away to tell him….I wasn't one to relate every second of my day anyway but this is getting crazy!

The weekends whiz by and even when they don't, they kinda flutter and jizz and then again, they fizzle out in a wee second. It's depressing and sometimes when you have meaningful life conversations, you wonder what to do so you don't fall into the trap of falling into the trap! I don't want to end up regretting not spending enough time with my family, my good friends, my Siberian HUSKY(!!!!!), my hobbies, my self development….just last night someone was telling me that as a mum who works, there is hardly any time with the children and yes, there is hardly any time with the children but what about my spouse. I want to spend time with him too! I didn't marry him just so he could provide the sperm for my kids - if I am going to have any that is! So how do I do it? How do we keep everything in perspective and accord each facet of our lives the value it deserves?

Food for thought? Yeah! Lip service? Most probably. I yearn for the day I can be more disciplined about enjoying life.

;)