Random Notes 25

1. It's time for Random Notes again! I can't wait for the Chinese New Year holidays to come. I don't really feel the Chinese New Year mood this time, but I don't really care as long as I get to enjoy my holidays! How about you?

2. I finally tasted tarap! During my trip to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 3 years ago, I had searched for this elusive fruit without success. Read about it HERE. Thanks to Caroline who brought it back all the way from her hometown in Kota Kinabalu, I finally had the chance to taste it.

This is how the tarap fruit looks like. It was very smelly! And just like durians, you are not allowed to bring the tarap fruit on board the plane!

After opening up the fruit, this is how it looks like inside. Does it remind you of cempedak?

Unfortunately, the fruit was too ripe! The flesh has already turned yellow! It didn't taste good to me. I believe that if the fruit was not that ripe, it would have tasted awesome. But probably not as awesome as durians.

3. I am not a big fan of gardening, but I do like plants and flowers. Recently, I discovered this plant called bunga burung (literally bird flower). Don't you think the flowers look like little birds?



Now, maybe some of you are laughing at me for not knowing about the existence of this plant, but as I said earlier, I am not into gardening and I hardly go around shopping for plants.



Anyway, I now have two of these bunga burung plants in my garden. I hope the real birds that fly into my garden won't get confused with these "fake" birds! LOL!

4. Last November, my friend invited me to Bagel 'n' Coffee Station at Hartamas Shopping Centre for lunch. It was my first time eating a bagel, I kid you not!



If you are like me and have no freaking idea what a bagel is, well, it is actually a type of bread that is shaped like a ring or donut. The texture of a bagel is more chewy and hard compared to a donut, and of course, the ingredients and cooking method are completely different!

I ordered their famous Classic New York Lox Bagel which is really salmon bagel stuffed with cream cheese and vegetables. The combination of the salmon, cream cheese and vegetables were almost heavenly! Yum!!



If you ever drop by Hartamas Shopping Centre, do give this bagel outlet a try!

5. By now, I'm pretty sure you have heard of Chatime, which is synonymous with long queues! That's why I seldom go Chatime since I hate queues! Although I must say, I'll gladly queue up for a bowl of Snowflake! Haha!



Do you know Chatime is pronounced as Cha-Time (as in 'cha' for tea in Chinese) and NOT Chat-Time as some people called it? The owner should have spelt it as 'ChaTime' and not 'Chatime' to avoid the confusion, but then again, it's probably done on purpose since it's good to chat while drinking cha right?

6. Once in a while, I'll go fully vegetarian for just one meal like this lunch I had yesterday. I have to say I quite enjoy eating just vegetables with rice.



But when I say 'vegetarian', I mean real vegetables and NOT vegetables that are made to look like fish, beef or pork! I don't like fake meat - give me real meat anytime!

7. I seldom eat McDonald's but once in a blue moon, I would drop by their Drive Thru as it was very convenient. I did this some time last year and bought myself 20 pieces of Chicken McBites.



I don't know about you, but I did not really like these tiny 'popcorn' chicken. I preferred Chicken McNuggets much more. So yes, that's the last I heard of Chicken McBites!

8. Let me ask you a question. How do you normally put your toilet paper roll? Like this with the toilet paper almost touching the wall?



Or like this, in which the toilet paper is further away from the wall?



I am all for the latter. Have been doing that all my life. Don't ask me why. How about you? Please leave a comment below so that I can find out if the majority prefer the former or the latter - thank you!

9. Have you tried the chee cheong fun at Otak Otak Place? I thought it was quite good, smooth and tasty!



Now I am feeling hungry and craving for the chee cheong fun! Drool....

10. I was at Sunway Pyramid last December when I got lost and bumped into a dessert place called Justberrys. I was lucky as I have heard of this place before but never knew where it was exactly. I ordered one of their most popular dessert, the Durian Snow.



It was so delicious with real durian flesh, bits of pomelo and durian ice cream! I love it! However, I am wondering why the shop is called Justberrys when they are not really selling berries dessert!

11. Hmmm, it's funny that 7 out of the 10 random notes above are about food! What does that really say about me? LOL!

12. This is the year of the Water Dragon! Last year was the Metal Rabbit Year and I displayed rabbits in my home. See my rabbits HERE. Should I display dragons this year like the one below?



I spotted this dragon at the KL Convention Centre last Sunday. I thought it actually looked more like a dog to me. What do you think?

13. One of my new year resolutions for 2012 is to sleep early that is, latest by 1am. It is already nearing the end of January and I have yet to achieve it. Oh well, there are still more than 300 days to go. Haha!!

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My Shabu Shabu Dinner At Nagomi

I love shabu- shabu or steamboat! Especially on a cold and rainy night!

The weather had been just that recently, so it was not unusual that I ended up going for a few steamboat dinners these past two weeks. Of all the steamboat dinners I have been to, I think my favourite must be the Shabu-shabu Buffet at Nagomi Japanese Restaurant.

Located on the 1st floor of Menara Hap Seng at Jalan P. Ramlee KL, Nagomi is having a promotional price of their shabu-shabu buffet at only RM32.80++!



I actually loved Nagomi so much I went twice! The first time, it was my birthday dinner and my friend booked the restaurant at the last minute. So we ended up sitting at a table for two hidden at a far end corner.



It was OK cos we had lots or privacy. Haha!

The second time I went with two friends and we were given a table nearer to the buffet spread. Besides having easier access to the food, I discovered one major advantage sitting near the buffet spread and I'll tell you what it is later.



What makes Nagomi different from all the other steamboat restaurants? I must say it's their very fresh seafood! Yes, fresh seafood makes ALL the difference! I'm afraid that having eaten at Nagomi, I would find it hard to accept other lesser quality steamboat.

The first time I ate there, I was quite amazed to find endless supply of tiger prawns, crayfish (mini lobsters), flower crabs, salmon, scallops and oysters. Eat all these all you want at only RM32.80++? It was unbelievable!

I have to admit I have yet to eat such fresh lobsters and scallops in any KL restaurants at such an affordable price!! If you have, please let me know where!

However, during my second visit, some things changed and I would let you know what in a minute.


Scallops and fish slices


Crayfish (mini lobsters), tiger prawns and bamboo clams


Mussels, clams, and oysters



Scallops, flower crab, salmon and crayfish

There were many different types of sauces to dip your cooked seafood in. I could not remember their names, but after trying all of them, I settled for just one - the wafu sauce. It was yummy!!



So on my second visit, I took only my favourite wafu sauce! I thought of filling up a bowl with the sauce but then decided not to appear so greedy. Haha!



When I first ate at Nagomi, I was actually quite amazed that they were providing unlimited fresh salmon. As if unlimited lobsters and crabs were not enough! I remember telling my friend how on earth do they make money charging us at only RM32.80++ with all these expensive seafood?

And then, on my second visit, I discovered they did not have crabs and salmon! Nooooo!!!

Upon asking, we were told that salmon would be out only at 8pm. True enough, right on the dot at 8pm, a staff rang the bell announcing the servings of salmon. Then in true Malaysian style, everyone rushed to the counter to get their share of the salmon. Gosh! This almost reminded me of the uncivilized scrambling for chicken wings at Yuen Steamboat!



As I mentioned earlier, we were at an advantage sitting so near the buffet spread. Because of this, I was able to secure 4 plates of salmon! Haha!



The salmon was oh, so fresh and I immediately cooked them in the hotpot. By the way, it is all individual hotpot in Nagomi which is good as it is more hygienic and customizable. Besides, it's no fun cooking your salmon in a shared pot and finding out that someone else had eaten it! LOL!


My cooked salmon. Yum!

Besides seafood, Nagomi also serve thinly sliced meat. There were 4 choices to choose from - chicken, lamb, beef and duck. The first time I tried all, but on my second visit, I only went for the beef and duck.


Beef slices


Duck slices

Oh, did I mention that they also have sushi, vegetables, red bean soup, fruits and desserts too?

The sushi was not nice so I did not eat much. Anyway, you would not want to waste your stomach space for such things as sushi when there were abundance of seafood! Haha!

Fruits and desserts were rather limited. On my first visit, I did not know they have ice creams! I only discovered it during my second visit when I saw a staff manning an ice cream machine. Unfortunately, I was told the machine was down that evening! What a bummer!

Anyway, after the buffet, I and my friends went to Snowflake and I got myself a Japanese Combo II which was perfect after a hot steamboat meal!



The vegetables in Nagomi were very fresh but I noticed not many people eating them. This just shows how unhealthy most people's diets are with lots of meat and very little vegetables! If you go to Nagomi, make sure you eat their fresh vegetables too!


My hotpot containing tiger prawns, lobster and clams

I really enjoyed my steamboat buffet at Nagomi. I am not sure how much longer the price at RM32.80++ will remain but I may just go there again for the third time! Hopefully, the lobsters and scallops will not be missing like the crabs.

A Surprise Birthday Dinner At Mezze

When Witch invited me to dinner on a Monday evening, I had suspected something was amiss. My suspicion was confirmed that evening - it was a birthday dinner for both me and Caroline.

Both Caroline and I share the same birth day and month, which is December 1st. But while it had been a complete surprise for Caroline, I was not that easily fooled! Which is quite a pity, cos surprises are always good, especially if it's a pleasant surprise.

We had dinner at this restaurant, bistro and bar called Mezze located in Medan Damansara, KL. It was our first time there, so I did not know what to expect.

These were the dishes we ordered. (Sorry for the low quality photos as I did not bring my camera along - I had to depend on my iPhone 3Gs).

Spaghetti Carbonara



This dish looked rather unique with the raw egg yolk served in a shell. The taste was not bad, but after mixing the egg yolk with the pasta, it was a bit too creamy for my liking.

Olio Bacon



This pasta with bits and pieces of bacon was delicious! I would definitely recommend this dish!

Funghi au Truffle Pizza



This pizza with thin and light crust was yummy. With mushrooms, tomatoes, oregano, rocket leaves, truffle oil and layers of cheese on top, it was really quite delicious!

Salmon Pizza



I love salmon so this pizza is a favourite of mine! Thin and crispy crust with slices of smoked salmon on top, it was love at first bite! I thought the rocket leaves somehow matched the salmon very well!

Chargrilled Spatchcock Chicken



I have only one complaint about this dish - the chicken was way too small! It was hardly enough for one person, what more for all of us! (there were six of us there). Other than the size, everything else about this spring chicken was delightful! The meat was tender and juicy - it must have been very well marinated. I wish I could have the whole chicken to myself!

I was craving for some desserts, but both Caroline and I knew that there would be a birthday cake for us. And true enough, we were presented with a Cherry Cheesecake bought from Caffe Cino, PJ Hilton.



I guess Witch was a bit disappointed that both Caroline and I did not at least pretend to be surprised haha! So after the birthday song was sung and we both blew the candles, the cake was cut and I got to taste a slice of my birthday cake! Thank you for the delicious cake!



Here's a group photo of us which I have taken from Caroline's blog, with my face blanked out as usual and the birthday girl sitting next to me.



Mezze was a good place to dine and we had a great time. The only issue we had with the place was the smoky environment. Obviously they did not have non-smokers in mind! That's a real pity because the food were really quite good!

A French Dinner At Van's Restaurant

On our second evening in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, our good friend and host brought us to a high class French restaurant called Van's Restaurant.



As we entered the premises, I realized the restaurant was located in a historical French colonial style building. In fact, the building was originally an Indochina Bank building dating as far back as 1898. It became the property of the Cambodian Van family in 1960 and served as the family residence for many years.



When the civil war broke out in 1970, the whole family fled the country leaving the youngest, 2 year old Porleng Van the last to escape with her sister Porlim. When the economy opened up in 2003, the Van family returned and Porleng restored the building and decided to open it to the public as a French restaurant.



We went up the stairs and came upon this gramophone.



I thought the gramophone blended perfectly with the French colonial architecture of the interiors.



The entrance into the Dining Room looked especially warm and welcoming.



As we stepped inside, I marveled at the interiors and the furniture.



I decided to take a few snapshots of the Dining Room.



There were not many customers at that time so I felt comfortable snapping away.



Soon we were all seated and the waiter took our orders.



We were given the complimentary bread.



My bread and butter. Yummy!



Our entrée was the French Onion Soup.



It was delicious!



We also ordered a bottle of red wine. Here's my glass of red wine which I enjoyed.



I had actually forgotten what I ate for my Main Course - it was more than a year ago! - but if not mistaken, it was Baked Lamb Sirloin. I only remember I kind of enjoyed it.



For dessert, I had the Soft Chocolate Apple Brownie with Cream Sauce.



It was sinfully delicious!



As with our hotel stay and our lunch, this dinner was again taken care of by our generous host. I have never ever dreamed of having a free French dinner in Cambodia, but that was what happened and I am really thankful.



The dinner sure helped me lift my depression after visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum hours earlier, but I guess we did not expect what was to come next!

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