So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane

I don't know when I'll be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go

chantal kreviazuk - leaving on a jet plane

two days before i'm going back to the states. ironically, i'm once again filled with mixed emotions as i have when i left the US three weeks ago. eager but reluctant the same time. eager to see ryan again and thrilled to meet my friends there once more. reluctant because leaving the comforts of home has never been easy for me. thinking about it makes my heart feel somewhat heavy. but because of this trip, i am more determined to make my trip to malaysia an annual affair. on top of that, my parents said they want to plan family trips to other places so that they could include me in. this year was the malacca trip last weekend. next year they are thinking of going to bali - something that i am definitely look forward to.

the next two days are reserved for my family so i could spend more time with them before i leave. flight is 23 hours - soo long but it is shorter than my trip back to malaysia...lol.. i guess my next update would be when i get back to the united states. i'm predicting some tear drops at the airport.

it's not goodbye, it's see you soon.

i am almost losing track of what i've been eating this past few days. so much food that it's all becoming a blur lol. in fact, my sisters are blaming me for their weight increase the past week. can't blame them, we've been eating a whole lot of food in this short period of time just so i can satisfy a lot more of  my cravings before returning to the states in less than a week.

day thirteen| thursday

meeting with yee lynn for lunch-ing session. she brought me to one utama, damansara since i've not been to this shopping mall since i've returned. i had trouble deciding on what to eat, so we were just exploring around the mall until we stumbled upon zanmai sushi, her favorite sushi place. since we had quite a few selection of item, i will write a separate entry on my japanese food adventure.

there was a whole lot of catching up and surprisingly it felt easy. it was easy to slip back into where we left off five years ago and chatting didn't really feel awkward or weird. since i wanted to treat her to desserts and i was craving for some, we went to secret recipe. we were delighted when we found out that they had a tea time special where we could get a free cup of tea or coffee with the purchase of a slice of cake.  so free cup of coffee and slice of cake for RM6.50 doesn't sound too bad. lol. i had the mango delight cake which is pretty self-explanatory what the cake tastes like - mango-y. the cake was only alright. i probably would not go for that cake again. speaking of mangoes, i love love looooooove mangoes a ton...like a lot. (my dad has been buying a ton of mangoes for my family to enjoy since it was mango season - yummy, succulent and sweet)

for dinner my mom cooked sweet and sour crabs for me which is a treat because she hardly cook crabs at home due to health reasons. oh and she steamed white pomfret fish in good soy sauce..oh how i miss those. they don't sell that type of fish in the US so i asked my mom if she could cook that for me before i went back to the states.

day fifteen&sixteen| saturday&sunday
my weekend malacca trip requires another entry so wait for it! :)

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others

as mentioned in my past entry, last sunday's dinner was with my friends from church whom i have not met for years.. venue of choice: the pressroom in bangsar. no, we weren't interviewed at a press conference or anything, it is actually a pretty hip restaurant in bangsar. i forgot to bring my camera this time so i have to use my words to describe the restaurant without boring you with details. lol.

the decor is modern contemporary highlighting shades of grey, black and white as the prominent color palatte which appealed to me a whole lot. classy, i thought. they offer a variety of cuisine that ranges from american to french to some dishes from italy. there were fish dishes, a few varieties of risotto, lamb shank, foie gras and even different steak cuts to name some of the foods offered on their menu.  i was torn between the risotto with chanterelle mushrooms and the duck confit but what caught my attention was duck confit. (i am not quite sure what is my fascination with duck confit ever since i had it at province but i just had to try it)

as most would say you would eat with your eyes first before your mouth and this restaurant takes that into account with great importance. the food presentation was fancy and i wanted to sink my teeth into my yummy looking duck confit with sauteed cepe and rosti potatoes (RM32) i had to find out what cepe is and it is actually a type of mushroom (arguably one of the best mushrooms similar to chanterelle, morel and field mushrooms). rosti potatoes is what i would describe as a thin layer of hashbrowns fried into a shape of a pancake. the whole dish was served with a drizzle of balsamic reduction around the plate. the balsamic reduction kinda made the dish come together but i wish there were more of it. the duck was crispy of the outside but sadly some parts of it were a lil dry and was not as tender as i hoped it would be. cepe was a nice touch and it did have a comfort feel to it. i overall did like the dish but it did have some small rooms for improvements.

these are what my friends order and their comment on their food.
josiah| lamb shank. he enjoyed his meal although he did think it was not worth the RM38.
melissa & kebin| both of them ordered a grilled salmon dish. they both seem to enjoy their dish and it did look appetizing.
aidan| fish of the day. can't remember what the fish was but he thought it was more effort than he would have preferred to put in with the bones and head and tail and everything. think he said it was pretty good.
(pictures would have made these description so much better)

since a majority of them ordered fish dishes, they ordered a bottle of pinor grigio (RM125) to which they seem to enjoy with their meal. i didn't drink any since i don't do well with alcohol. josiah had a glass at first but quickly decided to order a glass of beer since the wine didn't go too well with the dish he ordered.

just like any mid to high end restaurants, the portions offered were decent sized for some (imo) but small for others. the price ranges from RM28 for some fish and risotto dishes to RM90+ for a steak.


for desserts, josiah loves the creme brulee at the pressroom and was adamant about ordering it. melissa joined in the party by ordering a nutty dessert called amandine that has the combination of pistachio, hazelnut and almond ice cream topped with whipped cream. chopped nuts and butternut sauce. the rest passed on ordering desserts but had a bite or two to taste the two desserts. i thought the creme brulee was okay - had a nice caramalized crust but the cream flavor wasn't a favorite of mine. the ice cream was also alright but then i only had a very small bite so it might not have done the dessert justice. desserts were priced at RM16.

i love love the ambience - it reminded me of being in a cozy apartment with friends, sipping our drinks and chatting comfortably. the staff were very patient as we sat there and talked for a very long time even when it was nearing their closing time. we were the last customers there while they patiently waited for us to leave as they cleaned up the rest of the restaurant. i would return to the pressroom to hang out with friends for a couple of drinks or desserts mainly for the ambience. food comes close as the second reason of returning if you are willing to pay quite handsomely for it.

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.

day nine| sunday

my family and i visited an old friend of my family - my babysitter from when i was really young. she has taken care of me for several years and i consider her as someone dear. i haven't seen her for so long and it was quite awkward at first but it felt familiar again in no time at all. it was a lot of catching up and she cooked us a simple and great lunch. very home-y. i think the highlight of the lunch was the rice that was cooked in tumeric, spices and a lot more stuff (i left it to my mom to get the recipe so i can get it from her in turn. lol) our lunch looked like this:

i had dinner plans with my childhood church friends and it was awesome seeing them again after the last time since five years ago. we met at bangsar shopping center (bsc), more specifically the pressroom. i will share my experience in a coming entry. interesting though, my friends thought i haven't changed much from the last time they saw me and one of them said it didn't take him long to recognize me when i bumped into him at church that morning. i wonder if no change means it's a positive or negative thing....

on a personal note, that night i thought about a lot of things. about me returning to the states in about two weeks time and it affected me somewhat. i think it had to do with being back with my family again after such a long time. as i said i almost forgot the comfort and home-y-ness of being with my fam after being away for so long. and on top of that, a lot of my friends are here as well. thinking about leaving in less than two weeks brought tears to my eyes. i think i was being too comfortable not going back to malaysia . the last time i returned to united states from malaysia which was almost four years ago, the first few months was hard on me emotionally. and in the back of my head, i know the same scenario would repeat itself. it would be a rollercoaster ride of emotions when i leave to fly back to the states. so i was reluctant to have myself going through that. i am not gonna lie, the 27 hour flight doesn't really help either. but after this trip, i realize i do want to be back more often and will want to make an effort to return every year to see my fam. and friends <3

day ten| monday
this week was gonna be meeting my friends' week.

lunch was at a coffee shop near paramount - similar to a food court for the famous fish fillet noodle soup which was amazingly good. i liked the simple flavors of the overall dish, allowing me to taste the natural sweetness of the fish. besides that, i had beef noodles which was very disappointing and the flavors of herbs in the soup was overpowering the dish and the noodles did not absorb any flavors of the soup. the positive point of the dish was that the meat was not overcooked.

i had a date with my two friends at klcc - one from my foundation program - nad and another i met on a group trip to new york - hisyam. catching up with them felt nice. :) since hisyam knew that i was on a food mission to eat malaysian cuisines, he decided on having dinner at little penang cafe. they decorated the restaurant with a malaysian theme in mind and somehow it reminds me somewhat like a modern kampung house (kinda contradicting myself here huh).

i ordered char kuey teow which is supposed to be a signature dish here and could possibly take up to 20 minutes to be served. hisyam ordered their nasi lemak, nad with her lobak (no, not carrot although lobak means carrot in malay) and both nad and i ordered cendol each.

surprise surprise! my dish came before theirs which i found was somewhat funny since i expected my dish to arrive last. hehe. i thought my dish was alright - not great but not bad. hisyam had the same opinion about his nasi lemak but nad raved about her lobak (which is translated to five spice meat roll). cendol was a disappointment however, it being way too sweet for my liking. the prices were reasonable considering it was in klcc and each entree was priced at RM9.80 each while nad's lobak was at RM8.

as if my huge dinner at klcc wasn't enough, my bro-in-law bought me some food for supper since i was at my sis's place for the night. he asked me earlier that evening what are some of the foods that i have not eaten and i told him he didn't need to get me anything. instead, he didn't get one but three items that i mentioned in my long list of cravings: grilled chicken wings, hokkien noodles and satay! supper is so bad for me but i can't help it! yum :)



day eleven| tuesday
i reserved this as family day since i knew my nieces would be visiting. i was up till 3am in the morning making full use of the wifi at my sister's place the night before and so i was very much sleepy and tired. my dad, as usual (he's a secret foodie at heart... so is my mom) bought me a ton of food for my breakfast enjoyment. here are some of the deliciousness : chee cheong fun and shrimp dumplings (shui kao)



i napped after my huge breakfast (i attribute that to either food coma or lack of sleep the night before lol) to only wake up 3 hours later in time for lunch: pan mee. my personal preference is noodles in soup, served with anchovies and shitake mushrooms and the soup was savory with the very slight crunch of fried anchovies and the dough-y-ness of the noodles - delish!



durian was one of the top foods on my cravings' list. it was important for me to get some of the lovely fruit in my tummy since the only ones i get in the US are either frozen or in chip form. they don't call it the king of fruit without reason. hidden in a hardy and thorny exterior, the fruits are creamy and yummy-in-my-tummy goodness with the light bitterness and a slightly sweet end note with each bite.




i ain't gonna lie - i know a ton of people who despises the fruit with passion (mostly non south-east-asians and a few locals from personal experience) because of the strong pungent smell. they even nickname it the stink bomb but i consider that it adds to my enjoyment of eating it. my dad have somewhat a hard time to get huge ones since durian was not in season yet and apparently the pahang durian was close at the start of the season. my dad (being as awesome as he is) managed to get some the yummy creaminess that i craved. i had to say the fruit on those seeds were rather little so it wasn't the best durians around town but it was enough to make me very happy.


other things that my dad from the night market was putu mayam, a southern indian dish. it is enjoyed by eating noodles ( made from rice flour and water) with brown sugar and grated coconut. i wonder how they came up with such a pairing but it is oh so good.


dinner was home made but this time it was really special. my mom reserved a box of yee sang so i could have a chance to 'lou sang' with the family. instead of using the normal raw fish, my dad bought a generous amount of jellyfish and my oh my, it had an authentic taste although it came in a box from a grocery store, on sale. then the rest of the meal consists of home made lobak, assam fish, herbal soup, three yolk steamed egg (consist of century egg, salted egg and regular eggs) as well as a cabbage cooked in tumeric indian style. oh did i mention we also had herbal soup? it almost looked like a cny dinner. lol. my dinner was mostly the yee sang (i think i had half of the plate), some rice with a few bites of steamed egg (love love love) and one bite of the other dishes since there wasn't any more tummy space.



day twelve| wednesday
the morning i spent was mostly napping - for some reason i was really tired. my parents and i went for teo chew porridge for lunch. the dishes we ordered tasted home made but the highlight of the dish was probably pickled vegetables (which is simmered for long hours to get such flavors) and tofu in dark sauce. porridge aka congee is really good for such warm weathers.

then we headed towards atria for the famous penang rojak buah, a huge huge favorite of mine. the vendor sells his fantastic rojak buah in front of a food court on his motorbike . his fruit rojak typically consists of slices of cucumber, jicama, pineapple, young papaya (usually has crunch), young mango (sour-ish), water convolvulus, bean sprout and topped with some crackers. the dressing that is served with it is a mixture of water, shrimp paste, sugar, chilli and lime juice. it is thick which ensures that the dressing coats each bite-sized fruit completely.  it's sour, it's savory, it's sweet, it's shrimpy, it's got different textures and flavors in a single dish and it's awesomeness on a plate. it is still definitely one of the best rojaks i've ever had.


i asked my parents if they were interested in going to the curve in damansara to which they agreed to go. we sadly had only about an hour to spend there before we had to head home to avoid the mad traffic from rush hour. our hour was spent window shopping around curve then heading to ikea for their ever famous curry puffs (RM1) and refillable coffee/cappucino/tea (RM2) that was surprisingly good. the curry puffs have been a favorite of mine because the crust is flaky and the taste of the filling has just enough spice and has a nice surprise in each one: slice of the hard boiled egg. addicting!


dinner was with friends from my american foundation program: hadi, fu and acap. it was fun hanging out with them once more. we went to section 13 shah alam to meet up with acap for some satay which was actually scrumptious - flavored well and had the right amount of fat in it. these guys are such funny dudes but obviously could not help but tease me the whole time. apparently my spoken malay is rusty and i look more chinese (uhh... okay...thought i've always looked very chinese lol) even though things may feel somewhat familiar, it also felt different...like we drifted apart a lil bit. maybe i've changed...but nonetheless i had a really great time catching up with them.

i've got more food stories to cover in my coming entries. i have a malacca trip planned this weekend with fam.. can't wait! :D

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others

la cocina translates to kitchen from spanish.

la cocina was the spanish restaurant i went to on saturday with my family. my second sister who has been here twice recommended this place and since my parents have never had spanish food before so they were happy to give it a go. i was eager to compare it to the ones i had from tapas barcelona in evanston.

from the outside, the restaurant promised a cozy interior which wasn't too far off from my first impression. it had the features of what spanish restaurants usually have - bright walls, spanish related vintage posters and latin music playing in the background. it was lively and petite.

out of the three available combos they had, we opted for the family combo (RM 158) that includes six tapas (as pre fixed by the restaurant) and a serving of paella that is supposed to feed four persons. the other two combos were the tapas combo that serves five different tapas (RM52) and the other one is a combo for two (RM88) that includes three tapas and a smaller serving of paella.  the prices differs by RM10 to 20 depending on the type of paella chosen.

tapas| the tapas were served with baskets of sliced french bagatte for dipping.

01| chicken croquette. i've never really had these before. oops. i looked up what croquette was and realized i've had this before that my friend made but it was a lot different. it is actually a fried food roll that contains possibly mashed potatoes with meat or other ingredients. i only had a small bite of this since my nieces enjoyed it quite a bit. the sauce that came with was interesting and it tasted like it had a hint of garlic - kinda like a garlicky mayo.

02| tigress(damn typos)..tigres: shrimps and mussels croquettes. similar to the one above, only served on half shell of a mussel.

03| eggplant in olive oil. MY FAV! my second sister concurs enthusiastically. it is really gratinated eggplant with garlic, tomatoes, herbs and cheese. i would say i barely notice the cheese but the combination of the tomatoes, herbs and eggplant was awesome with the french bread. the cheese may have already been blended into the flavors that i might not have noticed it. i beg to differ when my eldest sister joked that it was putting pasta sauce on eggplant....(like no way dude!)

04| garlic shrimp was pretty good. had good flavors and the shrimp were fresh and cooked well.

05| tortilla. now this is confusing. when i read tortilla on the menu, i thought of this

but really what came out what this:

so naturally i had to turn to my semi-new best friend called wikipedia and ask what tortilla is. this is it:

so that was exactly what it is: an omelette with potatoes, onions, olive oil and fresh eggs. it was alright. it wasn't anything memorable.

06| marsala chicken. so the long story short, i have history of having issues when it comes to lamb meat so we asked if we could replace the lamb meatballs dish into something else. we then had a choice of either fried calamari or marsala chicken so we chose the latter since we have enough seafood for this meal.

the main dish that we planned our trip for: paella! we ordered paella de mariscos because well one, lamb in paella de cordero is a no no due to above mentioned reasons and two, paella negres has the odd squid ink in the rice turning rice into dark colored rice.

paella de mariscos is spanish saffron rice with large prawns, shrimps, clams, squid, mussels, fish fillet & vegetables. the serving size was decent and the taste is actually pretty authentic. mussels and prawns were fresh and cooked really well. also, the overall dish was flavorful.

we were concerned we weren't going to have enough food so we ordered a dish a la carte. chicken brochette was the dish of our choice since it looked (from picture in menu) and sounded pretty yummy. it is basically chicken chop pieces in a skewer with peppers, fresh mushroom & onion, served with mixed vegetables, grilled tomato, jacket potato with garlic butter & your choice of sauce. it was warm and sizzling when it came to our table which added to its appeal. we opted for the mushroom sauce and that was a great accompaniment. however, it was too peppery for my liking.

although we were all pretty stuffed, my sister and i insisted on trying out at least one dessert and it didn't took us long to decide.  my second sister's favorite is the crema catalana, a rich spanish custard with caramelized sugar. pretty much like creme brulee with a slight variation. i thought it was just okay. i am not sure if it was suppose to resemble a creme brulee but there wasn't a sugar crust on the top when having caramelized sugar.

since one wasn't enough to serve the seven of us, a second postres was ordered: empanadas de manzana, sliced apples with hazelnut & raisins wrapped in filo pastry with belgian chocolate, served warm with vanilla sauce.  the parcel was baked until golden brown and i took a bite of the parcel dipped in the vanilla sauce. i could barely taste any belgian chocolate but i could definitely taste the sliced apples. hazelnut flavor was almost none existent but it could be from the the corner piece i got. my first sis loved this much better to the creme catalana.

the server at our table was patient as we discussed what we were going to order and also somewhat accomodating. definitely kid-friendly place as they provided with a box of color pencils and some pictures for two of my nieces to occupy themselves with. and it also helped that we called in advance to reserve a table at one corner of the restaurant. my parents thought overall the price was somewhat steep. our check came up to about RM250 for six adults and two kids. in general, i thought it was a pretty good dining experience. :)

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.

as mentioned in a previous post, we had lunch at klcc after i picked my passport with a new visa stamp at ampang park. it was between having pizza at california pizza kitchen or having malaysian cuisine at madam kwan's. after further discussion we decided on madam kwan's since my dad isn't huge on western food. besides, i think they were also thinking about how much i want to eat as much malaysian food as i can for my whole break here.

friday afternoon usually meant huge crowd in klcc and we got there at about noon. we were worried about getting a spot at the restaurant since the working crowd would start bustling in at about that time. so i rushed to madam kwan's to get us a table. as soon as we got the table, the crowd starting pouring in. any later than the time we were there would force us to wait for a good half hour before we can get a seat. since we were still waiting for my second sis to come meet us for lunch from work, we started out with an appetizer and dessert.

appetizer/desserts courses| we started off with fried chicken wing which ended up being really tasty. i didn't have much expectation but i was surprised by the hint of garlic and it was crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside.

my dessert of choice was the sago gula melaka (RM5.90). it is malacca palm sugar with tapioca pearls in coconut milk. i love love love this dessert. although my mom said that it is easy to make, i thought the combination of the richness of coconut milk and the thickness and sweetness from gula melaka made it an extraordinary simple dessert with complicated flavors.

the shredded beef rendang was great and i like the sweetness, sourness and tinge of spicyness of the shrimp although i think the shrimp was cooked a tad too long. the chicken, although fried to perfection reminiscent of the fried chicken wing in terms of texture, it was a tad salty for my liking. the serving was huge and my mom and i were both stuffed.

my dad ordered the fish noodle soup which is a bowl of noodle soup with slices of fried red snapper with some pickled vegetable. i tried the soup, it was tasty and it was a huge bowl of it. my dad said he was more than stuffed once he was done.

my second sister finally arrived and she ordered the nasi lemak (RM15.90) which came with chicken curry and sambal. i didn't try it myself cos i was very much full and didn't want anymore food. she did say she enjoyed her food but i think she preferred nasi bojari.



since we knew that my niece can't eat a lot in general, we ordered a dish from the kiddo's menu - spaghetti with bolognese sauce (RM 9.90) that came with a serving of mixed vege and creamy mushroom soup on the side. it seemed like my niece loved it and my mom and sis had a taste of the creamy mushroom soup and liked it.

overall it was a pretty good experience. i had mixed feelings about the service they offered - some of them very friendly, others almost always had a frown on their faces. thank goodness they didn't decide to kick us out since we were sitting there for almost an hour and a half during their busy time of the day. food came out at a decent time but i have to say the nasi lemak came out in a jiffy.



my opinion of the place is that it was spacious and decorated with an asian flair. i was actually pleasantly surprised that my parents loved the taste of the food. although the prices are pretty high when compared to the ones you could possibly get from coffee shops out on the streets, the serving size were decent.

if i thought about it, i think my favorite dish was my sago gula melaka :)




disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.

continuation of my food adventures in malaysia.

day six| thursday

my breakfast was again a selection of food that my dad thought i would enjoy. i had some dim sum, a few bites of lo mai kai and  a malaysian kuih (something akin to pastries) called ang ku kueh. the ang ku kueh  is a glutinous rice cake that resembles a red tortoise filled with a bean paste. yummy yum yum is all i can say :)



our lunch place of choice was rock cafe. no, there isn't any rock formations around nor do they have rock music playing in the background. we've had a mix of different types of food. i finally have my plate of nasi lemak (finally!) and it was very satisfying! very. for reasonable amount of kerang sambal and a fried egg, it was only about RM3.50. and my sister gave me a piece of her fried spiced chicken from the malay rice shop. that was delicious too.

then it was shopping at sunway pyramid and i got myself two shades from fossil since it was at half price. :D this is one of sunglasses i purchased: the frame that i've always wanted - a pair of aviator sunglasses that finally fits my face.

dinner was mom's homemade meal again (definitely meant it in a good way) :)

day seven| friday
my parents bought for us tosai served with sambal and curry. tosai is like an indian crepe with a slight hint of sour and savory flavors. i haven't had that for a long time. it was nice to be reminded of the flavors once again.

we had plans to pick up my passport with my new visa stamp close to ampang park. so i suggested to spend some time at klcc since we were around the area.  we took the lrt (malaysian public train system) from petaling jaya to kuala lumpur but only without the stress of traffic and takes less time which was a fresh change.

i planned to have lunch with my sister since it was close to her office and it was during lunch hour. we went to madam kwan's for lunch which i will cover in one of my next entries. then it was shopping around the mall.

for dinner, we did most of the cooking before we left for klcc. well more like my mom did. she cooked a whole bunch of stuff that i craved for namely honey chicken with button mushroom (my mom does it better than i do) and winter melon with roasted char siew soup. those are yummy in my tummy :) home cooking is definitely one of the best things.

day eight| saturday

it is almost like a routine that my dad will bring home some breakfast food and it was no different that day. we had kuih apam balik which is a pastry filled with peanuts and sweet corn. it was crunchy and soft and sweet and salty, absolutely delicious. i also something called roti john. why is it called roti john, well beats me... maybe some guy named john came up with the recipe. it is actually an omelete sandwich which is then topped with mayo and chilli sauce.


then i had a jet lag attack and napped for almost two hours. maybe i am just making an excuse for myself to take such a long nap.. whatever it is it, felt way awesome. lol

remember i mentioned the one loh mee place that closed last monday? it was open on saturday and i was ecstatic since i have not had it for almost four years. i used to eat it every single day until my parents got sick of it. lol. it was as good as i remember maybe better since i haven't had it for such a long time. it was warm,  tasty and oddly comforting.


dinner was at la cocina, a spanish restaurant in subang. another post about it very soon. :)


more stories on my malaysian food experience in future entries..

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others.