Toy Story 3

And yet another great movie by Disney's Pixar.

The story continues as Andy gets ready to enter college and the toys are all sad and prepared to move into the attic once Andy would not need them anymore. Andy's mother enters the room and demands Andy to pack things he wouldn't need anymore (trash), stuff to put into the attic, stuff for college and stuff for donation (Sunnyside child care).

Andy then rounds up his toys and dump all of them into the 'Attic' bag, all except for the cowboy Woody, which he plans to bring to college. Then as he was about to put the 'Attic' bag into its designated place, Andy's sister calls for help and he drops the bag (without label, it looks just like a trash bag). Andy's mom passes by, sees the trash bag and drops it by the curb for the trashmen!

The toys then managed to free themselves from the trash bag and embark on an adventure to Sunnyside the child care centre. There, they meet Lotso (Lots 'of Huggin Bear) the scary pink bear that smells of strawberries hehe. He seems to be all nice until his true colors show when some of the toys try to escape.

There are so many scenes that tickles my funny bone. One of my fave is when Ken emerges from his Dream House through the house side lift ROFL so funny! Some more the lift like not smooth and is jerky. The movie is also very touching... understanding how the toys felt when the happy times with Andy ends and as they were being passed to the ever-shy Bonnie.

How can you not love Pixar movies?

Teochew Muoi

A very short post on one of my favorites. Well initially the plan is to head for vegetarian Indian fare but as I was feeling heaty, I told Stanley let's go for something less spicy and so Teochew porridge it is...

Along Changkat Thambi Dollah. There is also another Teochew porridge restaurant a few lots down the road. There is a wide selection of porridge side dishes for you to choose. Overwhelmed by gluttony, we chose 7 I think :D

Ok, I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time naming the dishes. Oh well. We have the mackerel fish dish with black beans, preserved radish and vegetables and hard-boiled egg in soy sauce. The bottom right dish - can't recall what's it called- tasted good, along with the hard boiled eggs. Can't say the same for the top right plate. Incredibly salty... The fish too. Come to think of it most of the side dishes are salty. To complement the otherwise bland porridge I presume.

And then the braised duck dish. Enough fat to salivate for more. But confirm cannot beat Sun Ming's duck rice hehehe.

The mackerel dish. It's actually not bad lor. Salty, yes.

I also requested for a bowl of old cucumber soup to soothe my sore throat. I think the soup is a bit too oily for my taste. It's no wonder because the chicken they use to boil the soup has not has its skin removed, hence the oiliness.

And another one of my faves, braised groundnuts (if it's even called that way lol).

The restaurant overlooks the walls of the Pudu Jail. Which is not there anymore. Our very sensible government has decided to demolish the walls in the name of progress. Screw you people who can make a difference, but did not.

Enjoy Fong Wah Teochew Porridge, sans Pudu Jail at
35 Changkat Thambi Dollah,
Off Jalan Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Maxwell Hill: A Misty Getaway

It's one of those moments when you are torn between two choices, each one seemingly better than the other.

I was caught in exactly that moment.

1. Wanted to take up scuba diving after more than 2 years of postponing. In Redang island.

2. Speedy bungalow on Maxwell Hill was ngam ngamly booked on the same weekend. fml.
I almost confirmed taking up Open Water diving course. Had everything planned out, reserved place with Kenneth, and almost bought bus tickets to Kuala Terengganu. Though at the same time I do so badly wanted to go to Maxwell Hill. The last time I went up on the hill was also during my second year in uni T_T

Fate rearranged itself and I found myself waking up at 6:15 in the morning and lugging my elephantine backpack on a road trip to Taiping ;)

Taiping is only about 1 hour drive from Penang. The whole journey smelt like garlic chili sauce. Because we tapao-ed like 15 boxes of chicken rice and they were all stuffed in TY's car, nicely marinating the interior. Jeez. I swear mosquitoes were practically zooming towards me as soon as I opened the door.
Anyways, as there were too many bags and equipments (rice cooker, thermal pot rofl) we didn't hike up the hill. Instead we hired a 4wd to drive us all up. Shots on the place later. Food first!

The chicken and duck rice spread that cost me a couple of mozzie bites. Some weirdos in the group went and arrange the rice packets like want to pai sin liddat.

Speedy! I love the place. I remember clearly when I was here back in 2006 (wtf almost 4 years liao). It was so cold and misty. Back then there weren't any water heaters! I remember TY having to boil water from the electric jug kettle so that I could bathe rofl.

But other than that, nothing much has changed I think. Well, this time around Kenneth isn't there to fall asleep half naked and snoring us all to deaf.


The others damn phobia that we get bad weather, hence we are disallowed to utter the words "good weather" or "sunny".

Well it sure was sunny all right :D

Evan getting all excited and giggly after catching an eagle on flight nearby.

Then it's cake making time!

No, not that kind of DIY cake.

Guess which cake?

Tangy lemon cheese cake.

With a picture that proves I worked on it.

There's really nothing much you can do on Maxwell Hill. Unless you're into bird-watching and herping. Me? I spent my afternoon reading a book (What The Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell) and napping hehe. When the others have gone out, the bungalow is just so quiet and serene. It's almost like being in a vacuum environment with only the occasional chirping of birds and other wildlife calling. Temperature is at a comfortable level. Sunny enough without being humid. This is exactly what I need.

Picturesque view from the bungalow.

Wei Inn has graciously offered to take up the role of 'Mom' and prepare her 11 children some good ol' home-cooked dishes.

A cute swiftlet's nest just edged on the top of the roof from the kitchen door. TY snapped this as the swift looks on curiously at the weird dark human with an even weirder squarish boxy thing the human carries which emanates an annoyingly bright flash of light.

Finally dinner is served ;)

Trust Inn Jie to come up with ABC soup with anchovies up high in the mountains, all in the span of a couple of hours.

Fried spam.

Curry chicken Ruo-Wen's mom made. It's cooked on this thermal pot thingy where you only cook your ingredients over the stove for 15 minutes, then lock the pot in this ceramic pot (well at least I think it is ceramic pot) and it continues to cook slowly. Hassle-free and cooking for hours and hours. Sounds like the kind of thing for Chinese soup...yummy.

The universal favorite food: Omelette.

Stir fried Chinese cabbage.

And the final complement to the dishes on a cold night in the hills. Sliced green chillies with chopped garlic.

Lemon tea to cleanse the system? Lol. An impromptu addition. Many thanks to Evan Quah. Waseh, the tea so good, drink liao super ka muan can die strait strait. Ok choi touch wood I take it back. I'm too young to die.

Soon after dinner, all of us accompanied Evan on his herping quest lol. Sprayed on an inch-thick of mozzie/leech repellent and rolled on long socks before I headed out. Saw a whole array of wildlife which I would never have been able to spot them myself.

And for the first time ever, trekked all the way to the Telekom tower at night.

A group shot of the six who made it all the way up ;) 50% success rate lol.

We then hurry down back to Speedy to get our sugar fix (well I was hurrying down to use the loo). Our lemon cheesecake is impatiently waiting for us in the fridge.

Hehe... slight imperfections but that's what made this cake luvly.

Covered the top with St Dalfour's blackberry jam and it's good to go. To the depths of our stomachs that is. I recalled making this once before, long, long time ago for TY's birthday. With all the same ingredients down to the blackberry jam (well, minus the lemon that is). I'll bet that ass has forgotten I made it once.

And all too soon, just like any other getaways, it's time to pack up and leave. I felt like I had just reached here.....

Chicken Chop @ Yut Kee

Brunch with Ian's close friends. Kean Choon and wife, Mee Sun (funny couple lol) recommended a shop which serves chicken chop. They then launched into this High Definition description of the Roti Babi that Yut Kee serves. The rest of us flooded the back seats with saliva.

The shop has been opened since 1928 (Ah Ma must be around 1 year old then?) (!!). They serve authentic Hainanese fare and the shops just brings you back in time with its dark wooden furniture and tiled floors.

Be warned that queues are long especially when the sun approaches its highest point in the sky. We had to wait for 15minutes before being able to get ourselves a table. But fret not because your order will be taken while you are in queue which ensures that your food is served as soon as you are seated.

With so much time to kill, we took advantage of the KL Tower view :p

Rule number one of makan spots hunting is to look out for a full house. Never can go wrong. Well unless there's only one restaurant for miles la.

Hail the vintage Hainanese recipe of the chicken chop.

The presentation is so simple yet the taste rendered all that unnecessary. Chicken chop dipped in flour batter and fried till brown. What I love is their generous serving of dark brown gravy. It is a bit watery but nevertheless the roast potatoes, onions and mixed peas thrown carelessly around the chop is enough to please me. It's the complete home made meal. (No doubt Mom's tasted better ;p)

They also serve pork chops, served the same style but maybe that will be for another day ;)

Then our sacred Roti Babi.

Deep fried bread stuffed with pork meat, onions and spices. I find that after the chicken chop, I couldn't enjoy this very much. Probably an overload of meat just doesn't cut it. But maybe if I was just a little hungry then I would appreciate it more.... That might just be the perfect excuse to get back to Yut Kee again.

A dash of Lea & Perrin's worchestershire sauce on the Roti Babi can make even the most devout of Muslims drool ;)

And finally Toasted Bread with Kaya and Buter.

I kinda like these. Not entirely sure what makes this toast so interesting. Maybe I am just a fan of toasts. The kaya isn't that impressive, both taste and texture wise. Though I did bought back a bottle of them hehe. Nothing beats home made kaya mah.

^^

Tuck into meaty chops at Yut Kee
35, Jalan Dang Wangi,
50100 Kuala Lumpur.
Contact number: 03-2698 8108
Closes every Monday.

Fong Lye Taiwanese Fare

I badly wanted to bring Ming Chi Chi and Ian to try out durian pork ribs at Aunties Ssam place but for some reason when we tried looking for the restaurant, we could not seem to find it! At first I blamed my poor sense of directions (though I can recognize parts of the road). I googled for the phone number on my phone and tried calling their number.

"Nombor yang anda dail telah ditamatkan perkhidmatannya." wtf? So sad.... wanted to bring Mom and Dad here to try their durian pork ribs.... oh well... sigh.

So Ian drove us over to this Taiwanese Restaurant that he frequents whenever he is in KL.

So! The place was already pretty full once we got there. Lucky for us, we only need to wait for around 5 minutes. Ian said that the branch in Jalan Imbi has a slightly shorter wait as compared to the branch in Mid Valley. You could sometimes wait up to half an hour.

The menu is not exactly extensive but we had Ian to order some of his favorites. First we were served with condiments - great start to tickle our taste buds. Ok, as I did not memorize the names of the dishes, I'm just going to try my best to describe them and call them whatever I want. Lol.

Left is this curious dish - reminds me of Thai salad. A mixture of onions, bittergourd (which is pleasantly not bitter at all), strips of black fungus in a slightly sour, spicy sauce. I loved it! Then on the right is the deep fried salted prawn.

Fong Lye has the cutest teapot girl.

Full moon faces lol.

First main dish - Stir fried chopped choy sum with minced pork, some tofu and spring onions. Loved this one too. But I think I am just a huge fan of anything fibrous.

Then we had the stir fried beef strips with colored sliced capsicums and onions. Flavorful to the last bite. Loved the 'zhap' from the beef fried with onions. I can't find anything wrong with this dish. Nomnomnomnom.

Then comes the mother of all seafood claypots.

There is a long list of seafood ingredients in this one monstrous pot. Flower crabs, lala, fish, prawns (like, huge), crabsticks, generous amount of cabbages...

Some may already have flown to cloud nine with the amount of seafood. Though I must say the seafood broth is really good, I can't say the same for the seafood. The crabmeat and prawns must have been cooked for a really long time. They have a dry, flaky texture and not fresh juicy ones. I think Fong Lye should just cook the crabs, remove the crabmeats and continue to boil the broth with the crab shells. Then patrons can enjoy the soft crabmeat and have awesome seafood at the same time ;)

Then my favorite...

3-variety Supreme Diced Chicken / Sam Pui Kai (ok, I didn't randomly name it like this, googled the dish and got this name lol). It's like this sweet-sour chicken in dark soy sauce but with the addition of basil leaves totally transformed the essence of the dish. 1 word. Awesomazing.

I am really pleased dining here. Service is impeccable, fast and professional. The waiters/waitresses are quick on their feet and changes your plates to a clean one, friendly... tons of times better than our dining experience at Dragon-i the night before. The waitresses practically glare at you when you're slow with the ordering, banging cutleries and bowls on the table... horror.

Fish cakes that all of us sayang want to eat lol.

Complimentary sour plum lime juice to cleanse the palate when we were done.

Bill came to around RM171 (including service taxes) for the four of us. Considering the services, the prices aren't exorbitant at all. Wouldn't hesitate to come here again. Surprisingly though, I have read bad reviews about the branch in Mid Valley. Maybe that's one place to avoid then.


MCC were laughing her head off when she saw this lol. My hands were on my tummy to show satisfaction alright ;)

Fong Lye Taiwanese Restaurant is at
No. 94, Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur.