Khmer Civilisation: Majestic Temples

Back from one of the best vacation I've had for some time. Been planning this trip for ages, purchased the tickets almost a year before lol. Siem Reap!

Flight from KL-Siem Reap is at 6:50am. The horror. TY, Ev and ZX from Penang were to take the last flight to KL on the night before, and we all spent the night at the airport. Lol. Logistics problems solved.

I'm going to cut the long story short and just say that we didn't really get to sleep much and after a breakfast of toast and coffee, we hopped onto the plane (almost full) and landed safely at the Siem Reap International airport close to 8am, local time.

The flat land of Siem Reap... I think I have close to 9GB worth of photos @@ some more all of them almost look the same, rocks, rocks, rocks or temples, temples, temples :p so I just selected a few of my favourite ones to save you from the torture of looking at repetitive shots :D

Already impressed by their airport! Clean, small and simple. We later found out from our guide, Hok, that another international airport roughly 40km from the current one will replace this airport. Shame, really. This one nice ma :(

Back to Hok. He was recommended by my sister who was there 5-6 years ago. When I exited the arrival hall, looking for my name and couldn't find it, and suddenly saw my name on a placard held by this dark man who emerged from the crowd and shook my hand lol. He later said to have thought that he could recognise me as I should look similar to Su Jen but later took back words :p Ev and the rest buat kacau and asked who's prettier, sister or me but Hok played it diplomatically and said both are. Ha!

Our guide drives a light blue-green Camry (superb air-conditioning that four-wheel has! In a different world between the car and in the dusty, hot roads of Siem Reap). Traffic in this town is a real chaos! Motorbikes (which they also call moto hehe), bicycles, cars all hog the roads, albeit at a slow pace. Oh, Cambodians drive on the right side of the road, but you can see that some of the drivers are seated on the right of the car! Hok says that some of the cars are brought in from Thailand at a cheap price, and hence the disparity.

Little piglets ('kon chirru' in Khmer kekeke) being transported. Oh by the way, only the first few shots are from my camera. The others are, of course from TY :D

We were all getting hungry after the mediocre breakfast and Hok said to check in to our hotels first before getting breakfast and we duly agreed.

Hotel, booked for us by Hok is a 3 and half star hotel. No complaints there. Decent, clean and complimentary breakfast! At $30 it's a great deal. Our hotel is located by the Siem Reap River (which flows to the Tonle Sap lake) and better still, a stone's throw away from Central Market, Old Market and Pub Street ;)

As it turns out, our rooms are still not ready and we took the stipulated 15 minutes to grab our second breakfast.

Hok brought us to a nearby local shop which serves noodles and rice, or whatever you please. I ordered a 'Thai noodles with fried chicken' (yes I know it sounds like a strange combination and trust me, it tastes a bit strange too, more on that later) with iced coffee while Ev had chicken rice, TY koay teow noodles with beef balls whereas ZX beef fried rice.

I don't know what got me to order this combination lol... Lack of sleep I presume. Anyways the 'Thai noodles' turn out to taste similar to maggi mee and the chicken..... had to tear the meat from the bones like a barbarian lol. Seriously the meat is really tough... like kampung chicken leh... In a sense I suppose that is good... but during my stay in Cambodia, I had to floss my teeth like, twice a day.

After the less-than-satisfactory breakfast, we got back to our hotel, got our keys and got our much needed shower and freshened up for our first photoshoot of the day!

Urh, photoshoot as in our mugshot for the three-day passes hehe. Anyways, our photos turn out pretty funny. I'll post them up when I can find them :) The three-day pass gives access to pretty much all the main temples around Siem Reap and is a better deal at $40 than the one-day pass at $20. When Su Jen went, it was also at the same rate. Great job for not hiking the price.

We have to keep the our temple passes with us at all times and show them to the temple guards on demand or upon entry. The others passed the less-than-glamourous job to me as the temple-pass holder.

As soon as we got out of the comfort of the air-conditioned car, we were soon cursing the hot, humid and dusty nature of Siem Reap! Just our luck that we were there on one of the hottest months hehehe. Oh well, that is not without its silver lining... temples are not as congested as they would have been during the peak season.

Our first temple.... Angkor Thom!

Angkor Thom is the biggest temple complex in Siem Reap, built under the ruling of King Jayavarnam VII. The entire complex covers 9km sq and its name literally means 'Great City'. Here we are at the South Gate of the complex. Two rows of sculptures on either side of the entrance depicts the Gods (left) and demons (right) both supporting the King of Snakes, Na-ga.

I'll try to save you from the boredom lah lol, you can always google for more historic in-depths of the temples. But look closely at the top tower of the gate and you will see four faces, all facing in opposite directions, believed to be sculptures of the king himself.

An overview of the Angkor Thom temple complex.

Bayon, the state temple is the first to greet us after the South Gate. Here Hok dropped us off and told us that he will let us explore the area for an hour and half before picking us at The Terrace of Leper King.

Bayon.

Look at the detail of the carvings... I mean, these may have been from restoration works, but still, the existence of the whole complex even after hundreds, possibly to a thousand years prove that the Cambodian of those years have already reached a level of intelligence to be beckoned with. Hok also explained that Cambodia was the first ever country in the world to have universities! It is such a shame that a country so advanced from others would end up poorer than even Malaysia through countless bloodbath and war.

Apsara dancers carvings on columns.

Apsara is, in Hok's terms, celestial dancers, or dancers from the heavens.

Out from one side of the Bayon and approaching Baphuon, the royal palace.

The raised platform walkway approaching the palace is truly breathtaking! One can only imagine the grandeur of those days, with pools on either side of the walkway as the king, flanked by his concubines and slaves sweep through the walkway into the palace. Hehe.... one the algae covered pond (which used to be a pool) is bigger than the other used to belong to the females. Because back then the number of females on the palace grounds is larger than the male. Of which the majority of females would have been made up of the king's concubines.

We weren't allowed to get into the palace though. I think it was never really open to the public before this.

While waiting for TY (he was really slow with his heavy duty DSLR and all), Evan spotted his first herp of the day lol...

It really is a beauty. But the blue on its neck only comes out after Ev tried his very best to disturb the poor little fella.

Before we could reach the Leper King Terrace however, ZX pointed out a Camry flashing at us from the distance lol.... Tired and dusty, we met up with Hok close to the Terrace of Elephants. Hok then launched into the rich history of the temples, but I was too tired from lack of sleep that I could only absord a quarter of what he said! Oops... blame the weather! Who could ever absorb history lessons in a weather so hot and humid?

The Terrace of the Elephants.

It was already close to 12pm by then and Hok brought us to have dinner at one of the restaurants downtown.

There were already two bus full of tourists in the restaurant when we arrived! Hok says that they were Koreans and that there was a sudden surge in the tourist from that country lol. In any case, it was a relief to finally be able to sip on cool coconut shakes and rest our tired feet.

Top left, Amok, which is the Cambodian version of our otak-otak: steamed egg custard with fish bits, and a number of local herbs and spices, yummy!, stir fried morning glory vege (also yummy), seaweed fish soup (tastes like our Chinese version of the seaweed soup really) and finally steamed fish with glass noodles and carrots. The amok has to be my favourite in this case. Oh and another interesting fact: Cambodians would have soup to accompany their every meal! There was once that Hok was reluctant to bring us to a restaurant that doesn't serve soup and he was asking, is that ok? Lol.

After a satisfying lunch, Hok dropped us back to the hotel to rest and told us that he will pick us up at 3:30pm. After another bath and a quick nap, we met up again at the lobby and Hok was already waiting for us. When he saw me (dressed in a sleeveless top and short shorts) and TY (sleeveless shirt), he stopped us and apologetically asked to cover our shoulders and knees at least as a sign of respect because entry to the topmost level of the Angkor Wat is typically for the teachers or monks lol.

Angkor Wat, jewel of Cambodia,the heart of a Cambodian and the main attraction of Cambodia. The Angkor Wat (in Khmer it means City Temple) is the first Hindu temple and was built by King Suryavarnam II.

Uhh, the upside to the dry season is you get nice clear blue sky as your background.

Such a scar to the beauty of the temple! Green nets were put up right smack on the front of the temple for restoration works. Hok has even planned out the route for us to take so we could maximise our time at the temple before going over to the ponds for sunset shots of the Angkor Wat.

Hok also told us to make our way for the top of the temple first before anything else. We had no trouble locating the route to the top as that is where everyone else seems to be heading.

Up the steep stairs to the third level of Angkor Wat. A limited number of people are allowed access at each time. But it didn't take long before it was our turn.

View of the front from the uppermost level of the temple. It's a beautiful place but such a shame that some sculptures or other pieces are missing because of the looters.

Air circulation was pretty bad in some parts of the structure though. We were sweating from the humidity!

We were really lucky to get the advice from Hok as when we made our way down from the third level, we noticed that the access to the top level has already been blocked off! Lucky, lucky.

We waited to get a sunset shot, but alas, there were clouds blocking the sun and we couldn't get a good shot of the temple bathed in the colours of the sunset. Well, still, we captured loads of good reflection shots of the temple on the pond.

Awww..... :p

There are plenty of little shops lined by the side of the pond with kids as young as five selling silk shawls, counterfeit books, and local crafts. I resisted and purchased my first buy in Cambodia - two pairs of silk shawls for USD 7... not exactly a steal but I was still getting warmed up to the marketing groove of the country!

By the time we finally decided to meet up with Hok outside, it was already close to 6:30pm. The sun sets around that hour in Cambodia. As we climbed into Hok's Camry, sweat, grime and all, Hok says that he will bring us to our buffet dinner at a restaurant called Tonle Sap, complete with Apsara performance. Though sticky and sweaty, I was game for the dinner as not to waste time because dinner starts at 7:30pm.

What can I say, buffet dinner was the worst meal I had during my stay in Siem Reap (which, in a way was good news because after that, each meal is significantly better than the buffet). But then again, anything produced in mass would typically not taste good. Though I have some shots of the food there, I'm not going to waste blogger photo space on that.

The Apsara performance was really something, though. Lots of controlled movement from the dancers. Graceful and not boring at all! I particularly enjoyed their elaborate and colourful costumes hehe.

Got fisherman and female farmers dance also lol.

After dinner, it was already close to 9pm. We requested for Hok to drive us to a nearby shop to buy drinking water and he dropped us at this place called Lucky Mall. There was already a concert of sort going on outside the mall. Apparently it's like some kind of talent show lah. Anyways, we got ourselves cheap beer there too :D

All of us were dead tired and had an early night... I think it was the only early night we had :)

More temples to come...

Fishy Fishy

Few photos to make up for the lack of anything visually simulating on this blog... I swear I will post something interesting .... in the next couple of weeks ;) ;)

Back for Cheng Meng and attempted one of my all-time favourite dishes.... with the help of Tua Ee of course :D

Hu Pau!!

Pictures look a bit different because I didn't bring my camera back, TY had his cam in the workshop and I ended up with Mum's lol.

What can I say? Highest order of compliment from Sien Ee and Ah Koo. "Tastes the way Ah Ma made it". Fulaooo!!! In truth, I took the recipe from my Nonya book but Tua Ee certainly added a few key ingredients that completely made all the difference.

And the rest of the spread:

That's the stir fried bayam, steamed egg custard, lotus root soup and kailan ;)

Damn this. Stomach rumbling in the middle of the night.

A Vanilla-Covered Note

Ah Ma,

How have you been ? Time flies by so incredibly fast. It's been half a year since you left for heaven. I hope you enjoyed the Cheng Beng feast we prepared for you.

We got a few vegetarian dishes for you because that is what you should have within three years of your departure. Ah Kong was luckier, he had sio bak, roasted chicken, fried fish. I was salivating the whole time hehe. Did you enjoy the vanilla ice-cream we got for you also? It was Mum's idea... We all still remember the sweet tooth you always have.

As always your daughters were bickering through the prayers. Ji Yee was nagging Tua Ee for not bringing a spoon over, well, you know the rest. I can imagine you there just shaking your head and completely ignoring them! I prayed for you and almost teared up, because you are the best grandma anyone can ever hope for.

How is Ah Kong? I'll bet you and Ah Kong are having the time of your lives there :) Are you still cooking great food for Ah Kong? I still remember asking pocket money from Ah Kong hehehe. He was always so generous.

How terribly missed you are, Ah Ma. Do take care, and do watch over the rest of us here.

Su Yin
(the chubi granddaughter of yours)

U R 'The One'

True story:

As old-time friends of mine got together during the past Chinese New Year, the topic of conversation (without missing a beat) landed on our respective partners. As each of us launched into long-winded tales of our mundane lives, one of us pronounced that she is still together with her long-time beau. Another friend asked, "Do you think that he's the One?". As the friend in question 'erm-ed', I retorted loudly, "There's no such thing as The One!".

Ok end of true story hehe don't blame me for sensationalizing an otherwise plain story.

We humans are so full of ourselves. We each think we are so unique, one-of-a-kind, that every other living beings are inferior to us.

In a sense that may be true, our brains are much more complex and unlike animals, we are able to apply logic and reason our thoughts. But otherwise, we are just about grouped under the same category, as tenants of Earth.

Our strength may lie in our intelligence, but, every other species have their own strength (which is to say, intelligence is not the only strength applicable). Like, say a cheetah's strength lies in its speed, and a camel for its capabilities to retain water and shit like that. When will we homo sapiens finally see past our huge egos that we are created with the purpose just like any other inhabitants of this planet. To survive, and then breed.

Okay, I may be digressing here, but trust me that I am getting to the point!

I have read books, and articles, heard testimonials all claiming they were somewhat guided to find their other halves. Or that they are still waiting for the person who is made for them.

Truth is, I think, and realistically, we are just living mammals, out there to breed. Plain and simple. Not fate, not destiny, not God's will, no crap.

And having said that, I don't believe in someone 'out there' who is 'made for you'. The world population is hitting to a close 7 billion and do we sincerely think that, out of that number, a minuscule 1 out 7,000,000,000,000 is just sitting there waiting to sweep us off our feet? Call me a skeptic but we weren't so choosy back then. Those days, any male who can hunt and bring home a wild boar already surpasses expectations, same goes to a female with a well-endowed busoms, or any sign of fertility is enough to guarantee her hand in marriage.

A relationship starts from an initial attraction (ok this is not counting in the mail order brides or whatever), then the phase evolves through dating, and eventually marriage (if all goes well). We can get along with many people but there are only a handful that we are able to live with, and of course, to be in love with. I am not skeptical about love, I am just skeptical with the simple-minded idea of 'The One'.

Really, we're not all that superior we have made ourselves out to be ;)

Things I Can't Tolerate

One of the questions consistently thrown at me these couple of years is, "when you getting married ah?".

One might think, what's the big deal? Well, if it's the first time you're asking me, it's ok, I can answer you in an overly polite manner. Second time, I'd say it matter-of-factly, third dose and pretty darn close to the eruption, answer given with gritted teeth. Fourth is kaboom.

It amazes me, why so many out there are even more 'enthusiastic' about me getting married than I am. We will get married when the time is right and who better to know that other than me and him? You think easy peasy matter to be wedded? Think it's just signing on a few pieces of paper, give aunty uncle drink tea, then yaaaaaaaaam seng one whole night then settle liaw?

Sorry I have to crush your fragile ideas about marriage, but no, it's not just that. It's a large responsibility and before the responsibility begins, me, like many other modern couples, would prefer to have a proper house we can call our own, and of course, financial stability.

And it gets better. Some of these 'questioners' (which normally comprise of folks of a senior category) would then launch into a long-winded lecture about how it is important to plan things out, having kids before hitting 30, no need wait so much money, no need house bla bla bla. Geez... different people have different opinions and while I do not force you to look from my point of view, I'd expect the same from you. And do you actually think that within the 9 months post-wedding a baby is going to pop out??

After so many years of being in a long distance relationship, I could really do with a nice, proper period to enjoy wedded moments before having a new life in the circle. I'm not against having babies but don't you think it's all rather tiring? Imagine the months and months of wedding planning, getting the actually wedding day through, then 9 months of TLC, couple of days in panic and excruciating labour pain, then indefinite number of years comprising of screaming babies, yelling toddlers, mayhem-filled lives.

NO. And I am firm about that. Let ME decide when I want to be married, and when I want to have kids. My life, not yours to determine.

At least Mom and Dad are really cool about all this, never really bringing up the marriage topic, knowing that I am wise and old enough to decide what's good for me. See?? I appreciate the concern people have for me but once is ok, more than that is not. I shall take your advice, but I may not act according to them, thank you very much.

Wah, super long-winded post this is turning out to become.

I also cannot tolerate people who love telling me what I CAN or CANNOT do.

Since young, I've been a really rebellious prat. I've been fighting for my freedom as far as I can remember. Mom used to take heavy parental control over us siblings, which is against my nature. I fought back, again and again to achieve independence.

And now that I'm all grown up, so used to the freedom that I have fought for, suddenly having some people telling me what I can or cannot do.... is something I have not experienced for a long, long time... And I'm telling you, I don't like it one bit. I take pride in the fact that I hardly make decisions on impulse and am wise enough to know what is good or bad for me.

Giving advice and stuff like that is fine... but being confined to do what others want me to.... hell no. It's quite scary sometimes, thinking that I might, in the future, unleash the rebel in me to get a point across. No, I don't want to do that.... so don't force that ugly side out of me!

Two-in-One Birthday Treats

The sin jamban :D

It was such a chaotic day. Got up on time but by the time most of us were ready, it was supposed to be time that we left SP for Penang. Some more TY's contact lenses dropped and Pickles was gambolling over the room floor.

But no worries. Pretty much happy ending. I think. Reached Straits Quay close to 12:30pm, found a car park real easy (the place is not so commercialized yet ) and made a quick decision to try Agua (yea, yea, whatever ah gua jokes you have in mind, heard them sudah, so let's move on), which serves Mediterranean cuisine with influences from Middle East, Morocco, Spain, France and Italy.

I love Straits Quay. It's clean (for now), the quaint colonial structure of the building is a refreshing sight to the usual squarish shopping malls. I already have my sights set on trying the Irish or German restaurants there once I get the chance.

Our waiter is so attentive! He's always checking on us and when he asked TY how is his ginger ale (or whatever it's called), and TY replied that they might have put in lime juice instead of ginger, he politely scooped the glass from under TY's nose and zipped over to the bar to get TY the right drink. Efficient, I loike! And most pleasantly surprising of all, the restaurant does not apply service charges.

As this is an atas restaurant, the main courses would set you back at RM40-50 per entree. They also provide set lunches, which Mom and Dad took of each.

Dad's Salad Agua. Fresh market salad with Serrano ham, walnuts, cheese and house dressing. I must say that this is quite an acquired taste. The cheese emits a strong smell and Dad could take no more than a couple bites from it hehe.

So he and Mom exchanged appetizers. lol.

Mom's Albondigas. Spanish meatballs in piquante tomato sauce. It's a sort of safe dish to me, though it may just simply be that I don't have a chef's sensitive tongue :p Well, mom likes it.

TY and I both shared an appetizer, and the day's special because I didn't feel like having too much, which is normally the case when I will be traveling.

So I ordered an Artichoke Bottom topped with tomato, serrano ham and manchego cheese. Dressing is similar to Dad's Salad Agua but the greens they use are really fresh and I love the combination of the salty serrano ham with the crisp crunch of the salad leaves and the softness of the cheese and tomatoes. First time trying artichokes too! Not exactly blown away by its taste and texture, but so far so good...

Our mains!

The day's special: Moussaka. A traditional Greek dish with minced lamb, aubergines, potatoes and savoury bechamel served with salad and fried potatoes.

Without doubt, I honestly think that this is the best of the three main dishes we ordered that day (a bit of a spoiler, this being the first main to be introduced... oh well). I just love how rich the taste of the different herbs and spices together transforming the minced lamb. While we were eating, I was confused as to what other ingredients that makes up the dish but after blogging and going through the menu only did I realize they are aubergines -.- Yummy regardless.

Oh and I must gush over the fried potatoes! The name itself may sound icky but how can anyone not love the crispy outer layer of the potato and the soft, crumbling insides? :D

Dad's Fillet of Fish (typical dad) St Tropez, pan fried with herbs, garlic, white wine reduction and cream. Dad's comments were oklah heheheh typical dad! Resistant to changes from his usual meals. He must have felt like the whole lunch thingy is a waste of money on food he doesn't appreciate :p I tried some of his fish and I'd say the fish is quite fresh, and the cream sauce is quite rich too.

Mom's Andalucian Chicken. Baked chicken, with onions and red capsicum, white wine and served with potatoes. Again, not Mum's type too. Says that it just tastes like steamed chicken of sort. I think Agua is doing this on purpose. Lousy-fying the set lunch menus but upping the oomph on the special ala cartes. But I have to agree with Mum on the Andalucian chicken. Takde oomph.

I love my parents :) oh... Mom's birthday is coming up!

Sweet treats!

Don't you just loooove how they presented the desserts??

Lemon Meringue Pie. Individual Tart with Vanilla ice-cream. By the way, the waiter pronounced 'meringue' as 'merenge' kekekkke someone needs to extend their F&B in-house training!

That dark glob is Dad's Pear Belle Helene. Vanilla poached pear served with vanilla ice-cream and with rich chocolate sauce. Well, they sure got that rich chocolate sauce darn right. It's so thick that it's really tough licking your spoon clean afterwards. I think I would have enjoyed this more if they omitted the chocolate sauce and just leave the vanilla poached pear alone with the ice-cream. Limelight stealer, that thick globby sauce.

And I decided to order something I have not tried before. Oranges in Caramel with Red Wine Sauce. (with red wine, cinnamon and cloves).

It's pretty and all but I don't quite like the overwhelming spices Agua used to create this. It's slightly bitter, sweet and the cinnamon/cloves is overpowering everything else. And you know what, I've come to a conclusion that I shall not visit another Middle Eastern/Greek-influenced restaurant again (I think). Especially the Middle Eastern part. I've tried them with an open heart, open mind and open mouth but I just can't seem to enjoy or even understand the 'culinary logic' in their tastes. Ah well, did I say happy ending? Only half true.

Bill came close to RM200 for the four of us, left a small tip for the waiter (what? I also need cari makan ohkayyyyy), only had enough time to bring Mum & Dad out on the quay for a glimpse and a shot before jostling back to the car.

Oh, happy ending cos I managed to check into my flight on time.

AGUA
3A-G 18 & 19 Straits Quay,
Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang,
Tanjung Tokong, 10470 Penang
Tel: 04-8908668

Five Star Meal

I ajak-ed Mom to have dinner at the Straits Quay (cos sin jamban ho pang sai) but Mom was reluctant about traveling all the way to Penang for dinner when I will be going back there again the next day for my flight back KL so we postponed the sin jamban dinner to the next day.

In the meantime, lucky me as I get more opportunity to have home-cooked food :)

Deep fried prawn fritters, pan-fried tofu, long beans and bean sprouts all combined to make an awesome gado-gado! I love Mom's cooking :)

Especially love the prawn fritters. I was already popping them in before the entire dish was put together hehe.

Hmm. The same could not be applied for this one though. Tua Ee made lotus root soup and she said it's quite kao and told Mom to dilute it a wee bit with water but Mom went and added mushroom-y water which kinda spoiled the soup flavor T-T Sigh.

Much to my ecstasy, a portion of perut ikan was frozen, waiting patiently for me to devour it! Oh yea baby :D Defrost, steaming, and sooooooooo heavenly with plain white rice. Mmmmmmm......

And you know what, it could never taste any better. The flavors are so intense and rich that I eat with a slightly glazed expression hehe.

Bigass steamed fish with mushroom and miscellaneous herbal components. It was so big that the cover of the pot could not close properly and hence we had to microwave this beast for ten more minutes -.-

I've said it once and I will say it again. I'm such not a fish person! Help! Getting sick of meat too (though I still get those awkward cravings every now and then.

And the heng chai leaves that I helped Mom to wash hehe... Simple and delicious way cooking them. Lip smacking.

Okie abrupt end of another torturous post at 9:45pm on a Saturday night.

Hai Boey Chu Char

Was back in Penang the previous weekend and usually an obligatory flow of stomach-rumbling-inducing sort of photos that I may or may not have sinfully gobbled.

Typical TY did not tell me we're going to a sandy area having chu chai and I thought we're heading to Straits Quay luckily I didn't bring my heels and stuff or else I'd skin him alive, fry his hairy skin and feed them to the stray dogs.

My fave deep fried sotong! Such a universal fave (no, I don't know that for sure, just saying). Dipped in Thai chili sauce while it's piping hot for a bit of heat to a satisfying crunch!

Thai style stir fry Kappa. Love the spice to it! I like the accompanying soup on the plate but normally I'd be reluctant to take too much of them because I have no means of finding out how well they clean the seashells and how safe is the water they included.

*Running out of ideas for food description.

Than. Not quite fond of these. Rather get my hands on those bloody hums any time.

Yippee! Another of my fave stir fried skinny french beans with garlic!

Oh crap, I just realized that TY did not take a shot of the stir fried xiao bai chai.

Pai kut ong. Ji Yee's pai kut ong still ichiban! Never tasted any other as good as hers. Hai Boey's version of the pai kut ong is a lot more caramelized and sweet. Not my type.

Braised tofu with a type of squash? Mushy, in a good way :D

And some expensive steamed fish that costs a whopping RM180. I'm such not a fish person! Every few days need to force feed myself with fish for whatever nutrients I may be lacking -.-

The grand finale salted egg yolk crabs! Delightful, though I have tasted better ones, in Teluk Kumbar. These sea creatures sets us back RM130 for a plate.

Bill came to about RM48 a person, not bad I suppose, considering the large amount of food we ordered. But the pain in the ass is in the long drive towards Gertak Sanggul. Only two lanes, one for a direction and some cars are slow-moving.

And to end this self-torture post, a self captured shot on TY's cam :D

Hai Boey @ Gertak Sanggul

Mom's and TY's birthday lunch (2 in 1) next :D